ra.chav denotes making something wider or more spacious, from borders and structures to mouths, hearts, and desire.

The verb most often describes expanding physical space or limits: borders, territory, room, steps, structures, and other spatial capacity. It also occurs for widened mouths or lips and for the enlargement of inward realities such as the heart, desire, troubles, or a bed.

1. Making space or boundaries broader · dominant

   In Deuteronomy 12:20 and Exodus 34:24, Hiphil forms place the widening of Israel's border in clauses where the LORD acts. The same spatial result appears in Genesis 26:22, where room is made after a disputed well is left behind, and in Ezekiel 41:7, where the house's surrounding structure widens upward. In Isaiah 54:2, an imperative calls for the tent's place to be made larger.

   Deuteronomy 12:20Exodus 34:24Genesis 26:22Ezekiel 41:7Isaiah 54:22 Samuel 22:37
2. Widening mouth, lip, or heart · common

   In 1 Samuel 2:1, the Qal perfect occurs in Hannah's statement about her mouth in relation to her enemies. Hiphil forms concern the lip in Isaiah 57:4 and the mouth in Psalm 35:21, where the APB renders the clause "They open their mouth wide against me." In Psalm 119:32, the speaker's running in the way of the commandments is linked to God enlarging the heart.

   1 Samuel 2:1Isaiah 57:4Psalm 35:21Psalm 119:32Isaiah 60:5Psalm 81:11
3. Expanding desire, trouble, or personal claim · occasional

   In Isaiah 5:14, the subject is Sheol's desire, followed by the opening of its mouth without measure. Habakkuk 2:5 describes a proud person's soul as enlarged and immediately portrays his gathering of nations and peoples. Isaiah 57:8 applies the verb to enlarging a bed, while Psalm 25:17 uses a plural Hiphil perfect in the clause about the troubles of the heart.

   Isaiah 5:14Habakkuk 2:5Isaiah 57:8Psalm 25:17Amos 1:13

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the spatial uses with "enlarges," "made room," or widening language, as in borders, a house, and a tent. Elsewhere it uses clauses about an enlarged heart or desire and an opened mouth; Individual English wording cannot always be assigned precisely to the Hebrew form.