rak´ath ( רקּת , raḳḳath ; Codex Vaticanus Ωμαθαδακέθ , Ōmathadakéth ; Codex Alexandrinus Ῥεκκάθ , Rhekkáth ): The Greek is obviously the result of confusing the two names Rakkath and Hammath, taking r in the former for d . Rakkath was one of the fortified cities in Naphtali ( Joshua 19:35 ). It is named between Hammath and Chinnereth. Hammath is identified with the hot baths to the South of Tiberias. There are traces of ancient fortifications here. The rabbis think that Tiberias was built on the site of Rakkath. Certain it is that Herod's town was built upon an ancient site, the graves of the old inhabitants being disturbed in digging the new foundations (Neubauer, Geog. du Talmud , 208).
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) was edited by James Orr, John Nuelsen, Edgar Mullins, Morris Evans, and Melvin Grove Kyle and was published complete in 1939. This web site includes the complete text.
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