Arbattis

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(only in the dat. plur. Ἀρβάττοις , with many var. readings, see Grimm, Handb. in loc.), a city or region named in connection with Galilee as being despoiled by Simon Maccabaus ( 1 Maccabees 5:23). Ewald (Isr. Gesch. 4, 359 note) thinks (from the Syriac reading Ard Bot) that the district now called Ard el-Batbah, north of the sea of Galilee, is intended, and others have conjectured the Arabah, Arabia, etc.; but the most probable supposition is that of Reland (Palest. p. 192), that the name is a corruption (comp.  2 Maccabees 5:3) of that of the toparchy called by Josephus (War, 3, 3, 4 and 5) ACRABATTINE (See Acrabattine) (q.v.).