JAREB jâr’ ĭb (יָרֵ֑ב, let him contend). The name of an Assyrian king according to the KJV and the ASV (Hos 5:13; 10:6). The RSV, however, has “the great king.” There is no evidence, linguistically or historically, of an Assyrian king of the name of Jareb, unless, as someone has suggested, Jareb may possibly have been the earlier name of Sargon who destroyed Samaria in 722 b.c. The choice seems to lie between two alternatives taking the Heb. text in 5:13 as it stands (מֶ֣לֶכְ יָרֵ֑ב), or dividing the Heb. consonants differently (מַלְכִּי רַב). The first would require taking Jareb as a nickname, like “King Pick-Quarrel” or “King Contender,” and the historical reference would then be to the events of 738 b.c. Most of the ancient VSS support this. The second, which is favored by most scholars, results in the RSV rendering, “great king,” a title often applied to Assyrian kings. One cannot be too dogmatic on either the Heb. text or its meaning.