In Syriac the plural form varies with the meaning (perhaps other than in poetry): "chief, noble one," etc. follows the adjectival, reduplicative patterns with or without final -ān (see s.v. rb adj.), while "teacher" uses ܪ̈ܲܒ̇ܵܢܸܐ‏; JBA pl. רבי, רבוותא ; many compounds keep the singular form rb even in the plural of the compound, e.g. ܪܒܥܠܢ̈ܐ‏ "chief shepherd"; JLA, LJLA use both רברבין and רברבנין as the plural for "noble". In Gal. forms with doubled /b/ display a vowel shift /a/>/e/, hence rebbī "rabbi", etc. Compare rbwn. The multiplicity of plural forms in Mandaic currently defies analysis!
In Jewish texts normally abbreviated ר' as a title.

In Jewish texts רבן as a title of respect occurs in embedded Hebrew passages, q.v. See also s.v. rbrbn. In the Talmud, רבי (often abbreviated ר׳) refers to Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi of the Mishnah.