The etymology of the Hebrew name for the site, "Me'arat Machpelah", is uncertain. The word "Machpelah" means "doubled", "multiplied" or "twofold" and "Me'arat" means "cave" so a literal translation would simply be "the double cave". The name could refer to the layout of the cave which is thought to consist of two or more connected chambers. This hypothesis is discussed in the tractate Eruvin from the 6th century Babylonian Talmud which cites an argument between two influential rabbis, Rav and Shmuel, debating over the layout of the cave: