English

Alternative forms

• Rebecca

Proper noun

Rebekah

1. The sister of Laban; Isaac's wife; the mother of Jacob and Esau.
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 25:20

     And Isaac was fortie yeeres old when hee tooke Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan Aram, the ſiſter to Laban the Syrian.

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Romans 9:10, 12

     And not onely this, but when Rebecca also had conceiued by one, euen by our father Isaac, [...] It was ſaid vnto her, The elder ſhall ſerue the yonger.

2. A female given name, a less-common variant of Rebecca.

Usage notes

The spelling Rebecca originates from the Latin Vulgate, which from the 4th century onward was the Bible that was used for centuries in Western Christianity. When the King James Version appeared in 1611, the spelling Rebekah was used in the Old Testament, but the spelling Rebecca was retained in the New Testament.

Translations