Hi!
I dug up something
Andy wrote a few years ago, and it answers your question and looks right to me:
http://www.behindthename.com/bb/arcview.php?id=39620&board=gen
Edit: Is there anyone who speaks Arabic on the boards and who can confirm the root RBQ meaning tie? Because I tried looking it up in online dictionaries and only found RBT.
So I'm not sure about the Arabic part, but egel marbek does mean fattened calf in Hebrew. Egel means calf, and marbek is the place they were tied up for fattening.
This message was edited 4/27/2008, 11:05 AM