קֳדָם
before
‘before’ is one of 3 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Preposition
- A relational word (e.g. “in,” “to,” “from”) governing a noun.
Every verse where H6925 appears in the Book of Ezra — 4 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Ezra
- Ezra 4:18 קָדָמָֽ/י prep + sfx pers 1cs The letter which you sent to us has been plainly read before me.
- Ezra 4:23 קֳדָם prep Then when the copy of king Artaxerxes' letter was read before Rehum, and Shimshai the scribe, and their companions, they went in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and made them to cease by force and power.
- Ezra 7:14 קֳדָ֨ם prep Because you are sent of the king and his seven counselors, to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, according to the law of your God which is in your hand,
- Ezra 7:19 קֳדָ֖ם prep The vessels that are given you for the service of the house of your God, deliver you before the God of Jerusalem.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
קדם — transliterated qŏdâm — is a Hebrew preposition carrying the sense “before.” Its uses cluster heavily in Daniel (89% of all occurrences). Spanning 38 verses in 2 books, it ranks among the moderately common words of the Hebrew Bible. Debuting at Ezra 4:18, it then recurs through the corpus. Its lexical range runs to 3 senses. See the sense tree, 38-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H6925 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 38
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 38 distinct verses.
- 2 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 2 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #796
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 796 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 38 occurrences in the concordance →
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 38 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 38 verses · 100%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Before 26×, Him 2×
- American Standard Version: Before 22×, Before him 3×, Before me 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Before 5×, Presence 4×, To 4×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Before 15×, Before him 6×, Before me 5×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H6925 across 36 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 6 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H6925 across 36 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 9 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H6925 across 28 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 10 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 14 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H6925 across 43 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 11 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in BDB
The 3 senses BDB distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- before, in front of
- before
- from before
Word origin
Derived from קדם (qedem) (H6924) — east.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
קָדַם
- (b. h.) [to bend, go forward,] to advance, precede; to anticipate. Y. Meg. III, 74ᵃ bot. צפה … מוטב שיִקְדּוֹם … לכספו וכ׳ the Lord foresaw that Haman the wicked would weigh his silver for Israel’s destruction (Esth. III, 9), and he said, it is better that my children’s silver (the half-Shekel, Ex. XXX, 11 sq.) anticipate Haman’s silver (to act as a protection from evil designs); ib. I, 70ᵈ bot. שיַּקְדִּים (Hif.). Sifra Vayiḳra, Ḥob., Par. 3, ch. V, v. infra. Gen. R. s. 1 ששה דברים קָדְמוּ וכ׳ six things preceded the creation of the world. Ib. איני יודע איזה מהן קוֹדֵם אם התורה קָדְמָה וכ׳ I know not yet, which of them was first, whether the Torah was created before the throne of glory &c. Ib. התורה קדמה וכ׳, v. קְרִימָה. Ḥull. 100ᵃ, sq. ק׳ וסלקו he removed it first (before putting in other pieces). Snh. 38ᵃ; Lev. R. s. 14, beg. יתוש קְדָמְךָ, v. יַתּוּשׁ. B. Mets. II, 11 אבדתו … אבדתו קוֹדֶמֶת if a man’s own loss and his father’s loss are to be attended to, his own has the precedence; ib. שלו קודמת (Bab. ed. 33ᵃ קודם). Ab. III, 9 כל … קודמת לחכמתו וכ׳ he to whom fear of sin comes before his learning, his learning will endure. Y. Ned. IX, 42ᶜ bot. חיי העיר הזאת קוֹדְמִין וכ׳ the supply of provisions for the people of one’s own town has the precedence over &c. Kel. XXV, 4, v. כַּתְּ; a. fr. e.g. Esther 3:9
- , Taan. 20ᵃ נקדמה, v. נָקַד I.]
- to get the start of. Y. Taan. I, end, 64ᵈ שלא יְקַדְּמֶנּוּ אחר lest another man get ahead of him (in proposing to a woman he desires to marry); Y. Bets. V, 63ᵃ bot. Sifré Deut. 34 לא קִידְּמוּם מצוות וכ׳ no other commands were promulgated before them; a. fr.
- 1. to advance; to do first; to anticipate, provide against. Y. Meg. l. c. לפיכך מַקְדִּימִין וקירין וכ׳ therefore we read the section of Sh’ḳalim first (before the first of Adar, and before the Sabbath Zakhor); Bab. ib. 13ᵇ לפיכך ה׳ שקליהן וכ׳ therefore the Lord ordered their Shekels in anticipation of his (Haman’s) Shekels, v. supra. Ib. 30ᵃ מקדימין לשבת שעברה we read it the Sabbath before, opp. מאחרין. Ib. when Purim falls on a Friday, מקדימין פרשת זכור we read the section Zakhor on the Sabbath previous. Y. Sot. VIII, 22ᵈ bot. ה׳ לו שכרי if he paid the builder in advance. Zeb. 106ᵃ (ref. to Lev. IV, 12) שיהא שם דשן שיַקְדִּים לשם דשן this means that ashes must be there, that he must first have put ashes there; Sifra Vayikra l. c. שׁיִקְדּו̇ם; a. fr.—ה׳ שלום to salute first. Ber. 6ᵇ כל שיודע … יקדים לו שלום he who knows his neighbor to be in the habit of greeting him, should salute him first. Ib. 17ᵃ לא הִקְדִּימוֹ אדם וכ׳ never was a man the first in saluting him, not even a stranger &c. Ex. R. s. 23 באו … להַקְדִּים שירה the angels came wanting to be the first to offer song; יַקְדִּימוּ בני תחלה let my children be the first; a. v. fr.—Part. pass. מוּקְדָּם; f. מוּקְדֶּמֶת; pl. מוּקְדָּמִים &c. Pes. 6ᵇ, a. fr. אין מ׳ ומאוחר וכ׳, v. אָחַר. Shebi. X, 5, v. פְּרוֹזְבּוּל. Ib. שטרי חוב המ׳ antedated notes of indebtedness. M. Mets. V, 10 נתן עיניו … זו היא רבית מ׳ if he intends to borrow money, and he sends his neighbor a gift and says, ‘in order to make thee inclined to lend me money’,—this is interest paid in advance; a. fr.—2) to be early, zealous. Naz. 23ᵇ, a. e. לעולם יקדים אדם לדבר וכ׳ man should always be anxious to do a good deed as early as possible. Pes. 4ᵃ, a. e. מקדימין וכ׳, v. זָרִיז; a. fr.—[Y. Erub. V, 22ᵈ top שמקדימין העליון, read: שמקדירין or שמקדרין, v. קָדַר I.] e.g. Leviticus 4:12
קְדַם
- ; Pa. קַדֵּם
- 1. to precede; to do early, be early, first. Targ. Ps. LXIX, 32 דקַדִּימוּ קרנוי וכ׳ (some ed. דקָדִ׳) whose horns grew prior to its hoofs. Targ. Gen. XIX, 2; a. fr.—Ber. 8ᵃ מְקַדְּמֵי וכ׳; קַדִּימוּ וחשיכו, v. חֲשַׁךְ I. Tam. 27ᵇ וקַדֵּים וכ׳, v. הֲשַׁךְ I; a. e.
- 2. to go before, come to meet. Targ. Ps. LXXXVIII, 14. Ib. LXXIX, 8 יקדמון לן Ms. (ed. לך, corr. acc.); a. fr.
- 1. to be early. Targ. Gen. XXVI, 31. Targ. I Sam. XVII, 16; a. fr.
- 2. to precede, anticipate. Targ. Job XLI, 3; a. e.
- 3. to get the start of; to prevent. Targ. Ps. XVII, 13; a. e.—3) to be earlier than, be quick in doing. Ib. CXIX, 147, sq.; a. fr.—Sabb. 119ᵃ אי רגיליתו לאַקְדּוּמֵי … אַקְדִּימוּ if you are accustomed to take an early meal, make it later (on the Sabbath), and if you are used to dine late, dine earlier. Ib. 151ᵇ when a poor man comes, אַקְדִּים … דליקַדְּמוּ וכ׳ be quick in giving him bread, in order that people may be ready to do so to thy children.
- 4. to give preference to. Y. Snh. I, 18ᶜ bot. אַקִדְּמוּן ליה … בעיבור they preferred a certain old man to him at the session for intercalation; Y. R. Hash. II, 58ᵇ top; a. e.
קֶדֶם
- (b. h.) olden time, (adv.) before, v. קוֹדֶם.
קֶדֶם ²
- Targ. Ez. XXXVIII, 17; a. e.
קָדָם
- (preced.) [precedence,]
- 1. (prepos. of time and place) before. Targ. Gen. XXIX, 26. Ib. XLIII, 29; a. fr.—With suffix of personal pronoun mostly in pl. Targ. Prov. XXIII, 1 קָדָמָךְ ed. Lag. (oth. ed. קָדָמָיִךְ). Targ. Ps. XCVI, 9 מן קֳדָמוֹי. Ib. 8 לִקְדָמוֹי; a. fr.—Lev. R. s. 37 נפק … קדמוי וכ׳ a proclamation went before him, and all the people came out to meet him. Lam. R. to III, 16; a. fr.
- 2. (conj.) a) ere, before; b) מן ק׳ since, because(h.. Targ. Y. Gen. XIII, 10 ק׳ עד לא. Targ. Prov. VIII, 23. Ib. 25 Ms. (ed. קְדִים); a. fr.—Targ. O. a. Y. II Ex. XIX, 18 מן ק׳ (Y. I מן בגלל).—Y. Yeb. XII, 13ᵃ top; Y. Snh. I, 19ᵃ bot. קרבת קַדְמָנָא she came before us; ורקת קדמנא and spat in our presence; Y. M. Kat. III, 82ᵃ bot. קוּדְמֵינָא; Yeb. 39ᵇ; a. e.—V. קַדְמִין. e.g. Exodus 19:18
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 28 distinct written forms H6925 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| קֳדָ֣ם | Preposition | Daniel 2:11 | 9 |
| קֳדָם | Preposition | Daniel 2:10 | 4 |
| קֳדָ֥ם | Preposition | Daniel 2:27 | 3 |
| קדמי/ה | Particle, Definite Article | Daniel 7:8 | 2 |
| קֳדָ֖ם | Preposition | Daniel 6:26 | 2 |
| קֳדָמ֔וֹ/הִי | Preposition | Daniel 5:24 | 2 |
| קָֽדָמַ֔/י | Preposition | Daniel 2:9 | 2 |
| קדמי/ך | Preposition | Daniel 5:23 | 2 |
| וּ/קְדָמ֖וֹ/הִי | Preposition | Daniel 7:13 | 1 |
| קֳדָ֣מֵי/ה֔וֹן | Preposition | Daniel 4:7 | 1 |
| קֳדָ֨ם | Preposition | Ezra 7:14 | 1 |
| קֳדָם֙ | Preposition | Daniel 2:18 | 1 |
| קֳדָמ֑וֹ/הִי | Preposition | Daniel 5:19 | 1 |
| קֳדָמַ/י֮ | Preposition | Daniel 6:26 | 1 |
| קֳדָמַ֑/הּ | Preposition | Daniel 7:8 | 1 |
| קֳדָמַ֖/הּ | Preposition | Daniel 7:20 | 1 |
| קֳדָמָ֑/י | Preposition | Daniel 2:6 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמ֑וֹ/הִי | Preposition | Daniel 6:18 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמ֥וֹ/הִי | Preposition | Daniel 4:8 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמ֨וֹ/הִי֙ | Preposition | Daniel 6:22 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמַ֗/י | Preposition | Daniel 5:15 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמַ֨/י | Preposition | Daniel 4:8 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמָ/ךְ֙ | Preposition | Daniel 6:22 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמָ֗/ךְ | Preposition | Daniel 5:23 | 1 |
| קָדָמָֽ/י | Preposition | Ezra 4:18 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמ֣וֹ/הִי | Preposition | Daniel 7:10 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמַ֔י/הּ | Particle, Definite Article | Daniel 7:7 | 1 |
| קָֽדָמַ֖/י | Preposition | Daniel 4:2 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H6925, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 36 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 38 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
