Tabitha Meaning in the Bible

Tabitha is Aramaic (טְבִיתָא, tabyetha), meaning 'gazelle.' Luke gives the translation himself: 'a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas' (Acts 9:36) — Dorcas being the Greek word for the same animal. The gazelle stood for grace and beauty of movement in Semitic poetry.

She lived in Joppa and is the only woman in the New Testament called by the feminine form of 'disciple.' Luke describes her as 'full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.' When she fell sick and died, the widows stood by Peter in the upper room 'weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them' (Acts 9:39). Her ministry is held up as physical evidence.

Peter puts them all out, kneels, prays, and says, 'Tabitha, arise' — two words in Aramaic, almost identical to the 'Talitha cumi' Jesus spoke over Jairus' daughter. She opens her eyes, and Luke notes the result: 'it was known throughout all Joppa; and many believed in the Lord' (Acts 9:42).

The name has had steady English use since the Puritans and reads as warm rather than antique, with Tabby as the obvious short form. Dorcas societies — church sewing groups for the poor — were named after her and existed well into the twentieth century.