רֹאשׁ
head
also: top, summit, upper part, chief fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
See every Construct-state word in the Hebrew Bible →
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Common
- A common noun — a general class of person, place, or thing (“king,” “city,” “water”), not a specific name.
State
- Construct
- A noun bound to a following noun in a possessive / “of” relationship (the construct chain).
- Absolute
- The independent form of a noun, not bound to a following word.
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
- Plural
- More than one (in Hebrew, generally three or more).
Every verse where H7218 appears in the Book of 1 Chronicles — 63 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.
1 Chronicles
- 1 Chronicles 4:42 בְּ/רֹאשָֽׁ/ם prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3mp Some of them, even of the sons of Simeon, five hundred men, went to Mount Seir, having for their captains Pelatiah, and Neariah, and Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi.
- 1 Chronicles 5:7 הָ/רֹ֥אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms His brothers by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,
- 1 Chronicles 5:12 הָ/רֹ֔אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms Joel the chief, and Shapham the second, and Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan.
- 1 Chronicles 5:15 רֹ֖אשׁ n c ms Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of their fathers' houses.
- 1 Chronicles 5:24 רָאשֵׁ֣י רָאשִׁ֖ים n c mp cs n c mp These were the heads of their fathers' houses: even Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of valor, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses.
- 1 Chronicles 7:2 רָאשִׁ֤ים n c mp The sons of Tola: Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Ibsam, and Shemuel, heads of their fathers' houses, [to wit], of Tola; mighty men of valor in their generations: their number in the days of David was twenty-two thousand six hundred.
- 1 Chronicles 7:3 רָאשִׁ֥ים n c mp The sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah. The sons of Izrahiah: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, Isshiah, five; all of them chief men.
- 1 Chronicles 7:7 רָאשֵׁי֙ n c mp cs The sons of Bela: Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth, and Iri, five; heads of fathers' houses, mighty men of valor; and they were reckoned by genealogy twenty-two thousand thirty-four.
- 1 Chronicles 7:9 רָאשֵׁי֙ n c mp cs They were reckoned by genealogy, after their generations, heads of their fathers' houses, mighty men of valor, twenty thousand two hundred.
- 1 Chronicles 7:11 לְ/רָאשֵׁ֣י prep + n c mp cs All these were sons of Jediael, according to the heads of their fathers' [houses], mighty men of valor, seventeen thousand and two hundred, who were able to go forth in the host for war.
- 1 Chronicles 7:40 רָאשֵׁ֨י רָאשֵׁ֖י n c mp cs n c mp cs All these were the children of Asher, heads of the fathers' houses, choice and mighty men of valor, chief of the princes. The number of them reckoned by genealogy for service in war was twenty-six thousand men.
- 1 Chronicles 8:6 רָאשֵׁ֤י n c mp cs These are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of fathers' [houses] of the inhabitants of Geba, and they carried them captive to Manahath:
- 1 Chronicles 8:10 רָאשֵׁ֥י n c mp cs and Jeuz, and Shachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers' [houses].
- 1 Chronicles 8:13 רָאשֵׁ֣י n c mp cs and Beriah, and Shema, who were heads of fathers' [houses] of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath;
- 1 Chronicles 8:28 רָאשֵׁ֥י רָאשִׁ֑ים n c mp cs n c mp These were heads of fathers' [houses] throughout their generations, chief men: these lived in Jerusalem.
- 1 Chronicles 9:9 רָאשֵׁ֥י n c mp cs and their brothers, according to their generations, nine hundred fifty-six. All these men were heads of fathers' [houses] by their fathers' houses.
- 1 Chronicles 9:13 רָאשִׁים֙ n c mp and their brothers, heads of their fathers' houses, one thousand seven hundred sixty; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.
- 1 Chronicles 9:17 הָ/רֹֽאשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms The porters: Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brothers (Shallum was the chief),
- 1 Chronicles 9:33 רָאשֵׁ֨י n c mp cs These are the singers, heads of fathers' [houses] of the Levites, [who lived] in the chambers [and were] free [from other service]; for they were employed in their work day and night.
- 1 Chronicles 9:34 רָאשֵׁ֨י רָאשִׁ֑ים n c mp cs n c mp These were heads of fathers' [houses] of the Levites, throughout their generations, chief men: these lived at Jerusalem.
- 1 Chronicles 10:9 רֹאשׁ֖/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms They stripped him, and took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the news to their idols, and to the people.
- 1 Chronicles 11:6 לְ/רֹ֖אשׁ לְ/רֹֽאשׁ prep + n c ms prep + n c ms David said, Whoever strikes the Jebusites first shall be chief and captain. Joab the son of Zeruiah went up first, and was made chief.
- 1 Chronicles 11:10 רָאשֵׁ֤י n c mp cs Now these are the chief of the mighty men whom David had, who shown themselves strong with him in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of Yahweh concerning Israel.
- 1 Chronicles 11:11 רֹ֚אשׁ n c ms cs This is the number of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them at one time.
- 1 Chronicles 11:15 רֹ֤אשׁ n c ms Three of the thirty chief men went down to the rock to David, into the cave of Adullam; and the host of the Philistines were encamped in the valley of Rephaim.
- 1 Chronicles 11:20 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs Abishai, the brother of Joab, he was chief of the three; for he lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three.
- 1 Chronicles 11:42 רֹ֛אשׁ n c ms Adina the son of Shiza the Reubenite, a chief of the Reubenites, and thirty with him,
- 1 Chronicles 12:3 הָ/רֹ֨אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms The chief was Ahiezer; then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite, and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth, and Beracah, and Jehu the Anathothite,
- 1 Chronicles 12:9 הָ/רֹ֑אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms Ezer the chief, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,
- 1 Chronicles 12:14 רָאשֵׁ֣י n c mp cs These of the sons of Gad were captains of the host: he who was least was equal to one hundred, and the greatest to one thousand.
- 1 Chronicles 12:18 רֹ֣אשׁ בְּ/רָאשֵׁ֥י n c ms cs prep + n c mp cs Then the Spirit came on Amasai, who was chief of the thirty, [and he said], "We are yours, David, and on your side, you son of Jesse: peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you." Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.
- 1 Chronicles 12:19 בְּ/רָאשֵׁ֕י/נוּ prep + n c mp cs + sfx pers 1cp Of Manasseh also there fell away some to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they didn't help them; for the lords of the Philistines sent him away after consultation, saying, He will fall away to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.
- 1 Chronicles 12:20 רָאשֵׁ֥י n c mp cs As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zillethai, captains of thousands who were of Manasseh.
- 1 Chronicles 12:23 רָאשֵׁ֤י n c mp cs These are the numbers of the heads of those who were armed for war, who came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of Yahweh.
- 1 Chronicles 12:32 רָאשֵׁי/הֶ֣ם n c mp cs + sfx pers 3mp Of the children of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brothers were at their commandment.
- 1 Chronicles 14:15 בְּ/רָאשֵׁ֣י prep + n c mp cs It shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then you shall go out to battle; for God is gone out before you to strike the host of the Philistines.
- 1 Chronicles 15:12 רָאשֵׁ֥י n c mp cs and said to them, You are the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both you and your brothers, that you may bring up the ark of Yahweh, the God of Israel, to [the place] that I have prepared for it.
- 1 Chronicles 16:5 הָ/רֹ֖אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, with psalteries and with harps; and Asaph with cymbals, sounding aloud;
- 1 Chronicles 16:7 בָּ/רֹ֔אשׁ prep det + n c ms Then on that day David first ordained to give thanks to Yahweh, by the hand of Asaph and his brothers.
- 1 Chronicles 20:2 רֹאשׁ֜/וֹ רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms n c ms cs David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set on David's head: and he brought forth the spoil of the city, exceeding much.
- 1 Chronicles 23:8 הָ/רֹ֧אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief, and Zetham, and Joel, three.
- 1 Chronicles 23:9 רָאשֵׁ֥י n c mp cs The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, and Haziel, and Haran, three. These were the heads of the fathers' [houses] of Ladan.
- 1 Chronicles 23:11 הָ/רֹ֔אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms Jahath was the chief, and Zizah the second: but Jeush and Beriah didn't have many sons; therefore they became a fathers' house in one reckoning.
- 1 Chronicles 23:16 הָ/רֹֽאשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms The sons of Gershom: Shebuel the chief.
- 1 Chronicles 23:17 הָ/רֹ֑אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms The sons of Eliezer were: Rehabiah the chief; and Eliezer had no other sons; but the sons of Rehabiah were very many.
- 1 Chronicles 23:18 הָ/רֹֽאשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms The sons of Izhar: Shelomith the chief.
- 1 Chronicles 23:19 הָ/רֹאשׁ֙ ptcl def.art + n c ms The sons of Hebron: Jeriah the chief, Amariah the second, Jahaziel the third, and Jekameam the fourth.
- 1 Chronicles 23:20 הָ/רֹ֔אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms The sons of Uzziel: Micah the chief, and Isshiah the second.
- 1 Chronicles 23:24 רָאשֵׁ֧י n c mp cs These were the sons of Levi after their fathers' houses, even the heads of the fathers' [houses] of those of those who were counted, in the number of names by their polls, who did the work for the service of the house of Yahweh, from twenty years old and upward.
- 1 Chronicles 24:4 לְ/רָאשֵׁ֧י רָאשִׁ֤ים prep + n c mp cs n c mp There were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and [thus] were they divided: of the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen, heads of fathers' houses; and of the sons of Ithamar, according to their fathers' houses, eight.
- 1 Chronicles 24:6 וְ/רָאשֵׁי֙ conj + n c mp cs Shemaiah the son of Nethanel the scribe, who was of the Levites, wrote them in the presence of the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the priests and of the Levites; one fathers' house being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar.
- 1 Chronicles 24:21 הָ/רֹ֖אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms Of Rehabiah: of the sons of Rehabiah, Isshiah the chief.
- 1 Chronicles 24:31 וְ/רָאשֵׁי֙ הָ/רֹ֔אשׁ conj + n c mp cs ptcl def.art + n c ms These likewise cast lots even as their brothers the sons of Aaron in the presence of David the king, and Zadok, and Ahimelech, and the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the priests and of the Levites; the fathers' [houses] of the chief even as those of his younger brother.
- 1 Chronicles 26:10 הָ/רֹאשׁ֙ לְ/רֹֽאשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms prep + n c ms Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had sons: Shimri the chief, (for though he was not the firstborn, yet his father made him chief),
- 1 Chronicles 26:12 לְ/רָאשֵׁ֧י prep + n c mp cs Of these were the divisions of the doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having offices like their brothers, to minister in the house of Yahweh.
- 1 Chronicles 26:21 רָאשֵׁ֧י n c mp cs The sons of Ladan, the sons of the Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of the fathers' [houses] belonging to Ladan the Gershonite: Jehieli.
- 1 Chronicles 26:26 וְ/רָאשֵׁ֧י conj + n c mp cs This Shelomoth and his brothers were over all the treasures of the dedicated things, which David the king, and the heads of the fathers' [houses], the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host, had dedicated.
- 1 Chronicles 26:31 הָ/רֹ֔אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms Of the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even of the Hebronites, according to their generations by fathers' [houses]. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were sought for, and there were found among them mighty men of valor at Jazer of Gilead.
- 1 Chronicles 26:32 רָאשֵׁ֣י n c mp cs His brothers, men of valor, were two thousand seven hundred, heads of fathers' [houses], whom king David made overseers over the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites, for every matter pertaining to God, and for the affairs of the king.
- 1 Chronicles 27:1 רָאשֵׁ֣י n c mp cs Now the children of Israel after their number, the heads of fathers' [houses] and the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king, in any matter of the divisions which came in and went out month by month throughout all the months of the year--of every division were twenty-four thousand.
- 1 Chronicles 27:3 הָ/רֹ֛אשׁ ptcl def.art + n c ms [He was] of the children of Perez, the chief of all the captains of the host for the first month.
- 1 Chronicles 27:5 רֹ֑אשׁ n c ms The third captain of the host for the third month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, chief: and in his division were twenty-four thousand.
- 1 Chronicles 29:11 לְ/רֹֽאשׁ prep + n c ms Yours, Yahweh, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, Yahweh, and you are exalted as head above all.
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.
The Hebrew noun ראש centers on the idea of “head.” Beyond “head” it also covers “top”, “summit”, and “upper part” — see its full sense range. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 547 verses — among the most common. First canonically at Genesis 2:10, it enters the text early. Related forms include מראשה, ראש and ראש. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H7218 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 →
- 547
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 547 distinct verses.
- 35 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 35 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #80
- by frequency
- Top 100 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 80 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 547 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- 1 Chronicles 63 verses 12%
- Leviticus 38 verses 7%
- Ezekiel 38 verses 7%
By section of the Old Testament
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 547 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 226 verses · 41%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 190 verses · 35%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 131 verses · 24%
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).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 4 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Head 201×, Chief 63×, Heads 60×
- American Standard Version†: Head 174×, Heads 81×, Top 44×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Head 186×, Heads 92×, Top 28×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Head 222×, Head of 120×, Heads of 81×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H7218 across 598† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 94 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H7218 across 601† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 128 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 H7218 across 570† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 79 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 28 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H7218 across 617† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 36 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
18 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 18 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
ראש I
- 1.
- a. (c. 230 times) head, of human being; man Gn 40:16, 17 + often, לְר׳ גֶּבֶר Ju 5:30 for the head of a man, i.e. for each man, per capita; woman 2 K 9:30; Dt 21:12; Nu 5:18; Est 2:17; boy 2 K 4:19(×2); Gn 48:14(×2) +; of י׳, under fig. of armed man ψ 60:9 = 108:9; of idol 1 S 5:4; of gates, personif. ψ 24:7, 9. e.g. Genesis 40:16
- b. head, of animals: of serpent Gn 3:15, dog 2 S 3:8, ass 2 K 6:25, of הַחַיָּה in Ez 1:22 cf. v 22, 26, of הַכְּרֻבִים 10:1 cf. v 11; of sea-monsters, לִוְיָתָן Jb 40:31 ψ 74:14, תַּנִּינִים v 13; especially of animals for sacrifice Ex 12:9; 29:15, 19 Lv 1:4, 8, 12, 15; 3:2, 8 + 18 times P; in phr. ר׳ וְזָנָב Is 9:13 (fig. of noble and commoner) cf. v 14; 19:15, so (fig. of relative dignity, power, influence) Dt 28:13, 44. e.g. Genesis 3:15
- 2.
- a. top (88 times): of mt., הַר, Gn 8:5; Ex 19:20(×2); 24:17; 34:2 + 34 times; hill, גִּבְעָה, Ex 17:9, 10 (E), 2 S 8:25; ר׳ מְרוֹמִים Pr 8:2 + 1:21 Toy (for MT הֹמִיּוֹת), ר׳ גֵּיא שְׁמָנִים Is 28:1, 4; of rocks, צֻרִים, Nu 23:9 (JE), crag, סֶלַע, 2 Ch 25:12(×2); tower Gn 11:4 (J), stronghold Ju 6:26, ladder Gn 28:12 (E), tree 2 S 5:24 = 1 Ch 14:15, bough Is 17:6 cf. Ez 17:4, 22, mast (?; חִבֵּל) Pr 23:34 (otherwise Toy); of ears of grain, שִׁבֹּלֶת Jb 24:24, of stone Gn 28:18 (E), bed, מִטָּה, 47:31 (J), throne, ר׳ עָגוֹל לַכִּסֵּה 1 K 10:19, tabern., or its wall, Ex 26:24 = 36:29 (P); pillar (= capital) 1 K 7:16, 17 + 13 times, מְכוֹנָה v 35(×2), lampstand Zc 4:2(×2), h.p.’s robe, מְעִיל, Ex 28:32(P), ר׳ פִּנָּה ψ 118:22 top of (the) corner, i.e. most conspicuous stone (fig.); = tip, end, of staves 1 K 8:8=2 Ch 5:9, of sceptre Est 5:2. e.g. Genesis 8:5
- b. height of stars Jb 22:12 (‖ גֹּבַהּ שָׁמַיִם). e.g. Job 22:12
- 3.
- a. head = chief (man) Ju 10:18; 11:8, 9, 11; Ex 18:25 (E), Nu 1:16 (P), Dt 1:15; Ho 2:2; Mi 3:1 + often; appar. combined with idea of first in a series 1 Ch 12:10 (van d. H. v 9, series of 11); of God 2 Ch 13:12. e.g. Judges 10:18
- b. = chief (city) Jos 11:10 (D), cf. (of city and king) Is 7:8(×2), 9(×2). e.g. Joshua 11:10
- c. chief nation Je 31:7. e.g. Jeremiah 31:7
- d. = chief (place, position) 1 S 9:22; 1 K 21:9, 12; Dt 20:9; 1 Ch 4:42 (cf. also 5). e.g. 1 Samuel 9:22
- e. כֹּהֵן הָרֹאשׁ chief priest 2 K 25:18 = Je 52:24; 2 Ch 19:11; 24:11; 26:20, הַכֹּהֵן רֹאשׁ 1 Ch 27:5, הַכּ׳ הָר׳ 2 Ch 31:10; Ezr 7:5; ר׳ alone 2 Ch 24:6; רָאשֵׁי הַכֹּהֲנִים Ne 12:7. e.g. 2 Kings 25:18
- f. especially = head of a family (P Chr); רָאשֵׁי בֵּית (rare רֹאשׁ) אֲבוֹתָ(ם) Ex 6:14; Nu 7:2; 17:18; Jos 22:14; 1 Ch 5:24; 7:7, 9; ר׳ בֵּית הָאָבוֹת v 40; ר׳ לְבֵית אֲבֹתָיו Nu 1:4, cf. 1 Ch 5:15, 24; 7:2; 9:13; 24:4; ר׳ אֻמּוֹת בֵּית־אָב Nu 25:15; ר׳ אֲבוֹת הָעֵדָה 31:26 cf. 32:28 Jos 14:1; 21:1; ר׳ אֲבוֹת הַלְוִיִּם Ex 6:25; Jos 21:1; ר׳ (הָ)אָבוֹת לַלְּוִיִּם 1 Ch 9:33, 34; 15:12, cf. Nu 36:1; Jos 19:51; 1 Ch 8:6, 13; 23:9, 24 + 10 times Chr.; abs. ר׳ (הָ)אָבוֹת 1 Ch 8:10, 28; 9:9; 26:32; 27:1; 2 Ch 1:2 + 8 times Ezr Ne (Chr); ר׳ אֲבֹתֵיהֶם Ezr 8:1; רָאשִׁים לְאָבוֹת Ne 11:13; so also ר׳ alone 1 Ch 5:7, 12; 7:3; 8:28 +; appar. combined with idea of first in a series 23:8 (series of 3), v 11 (of 4), v 19 (of 3), v 20 (of 2). e.g. Exodus 6:14
- 4.
- a. head = front, leader’s place Mi 2:13; 2 Ch 20:27, cf. Am 6:7. e.g. Micah 2:13
- b. of time, beginning, of night-watch Ju 7:19; La 2:19; abs. מֵרֹאשׁ from the beginning Is 40:21; 41:4, 26 (‖ מִלְּפָנִים), 48:16; Pr 8:23 (‖ מֵעוֹלָם), Ec 3:11 (‖ עַד־סוֹף); first of months Ex 12:2 (‖ רִאשׁוֹן), Nu 10:10; 28:11 (all P); בָּרֹאשׁ 1 Ch 16:7 at first. e.g. Judges 7:19
- c. of things, river-heads Gn 2:10 (J); ר׳ עַפְרוֹת תֵּבֵל Pr 8:26. e.g. Genesis 2:10
- 5. chief, choicest, best, of spices, בשׂמ(ים), Ez 27:22; Ex 30:23 (P), Ct 4:14; ר׳ שִׂמְחָתִי ψ 137:6 the choicest of my joy. e.g. Ezekiel 27:22
- 6. head = division of army, company, band: Ju 7:16, 20; 9:34, 37, 43, 44(×2); 1 S 11:11; 13:17(×2), 18(×2); Jb 1:17. e.g. Judges 7:16
- 7. = sum, especially in phr. נָשָׂא אֶת־ר׳ בְּנֵי־יִשׂ׳ Ex 30:12 take the sum of, enumerate, cf. Nu 1:2, 49; 4:2, 22; 26:2; 31:26, 49; בְּרֹאשׁוֹ Lv 5:24 in its sum, i.e. in full, so Nu 5:7 (all P); of י׳’s thoughts ψ 139:17; cf. רֹאשׁ דְּבָֽרְךָ אֱמֶת 119:160. 8. other phr. are: נָשָׂא אֶת־רֹאשׁ פ׳ v. נָשָׂא Qal 1 b (2); יָרוּם רֹאשִׁי עַל־אֹיְבַי ψ 27:6, י׳ מֵרִים רֹאשִׁי 3:4 (ψ 110:7; 140:10 v. רום); shake the head, v. נוּעַ Hiph., cf. יָנִיד בְּרֹאשׁוֹ Je 8:16, מְנוֹד רֹאשׁ ψ 44:15; נָתַן דֶּרֶךְ בְּרֹאשׁ, i.e. requite, v. נתן Qal 2 b ad fin.; יָשׁוּב גְּמֻלְךָ בְּר׳ Ob 15, cf. ψ 7:17 1 K 2:33 (sub דָּם 2 i), and (c. עַל־ר׳) Est 9:25, הֵשִׁיב רָעָה בְּרֹאשׁ Ju 9:57; 1 S 25:39; 1 K 2:44, cf. Jo 4:4, 7; 1 K 2:32 (sub דָּם 2 i), cf. Ne 3:36 (אֶל־רֹאשָׁם), v. also 2 S 3:29 sub I. חוּל 3; see, further, דָּם 2 i; Dn 1:10 v. חוּב Pi. e.g. Exodus 30:12
ראש II and (†Dt 32
- 1. a bitter and poisonous herb, + (or ‖) לַעֲנָה Dt 29:17; La 3:19, so (מֵי רֹאשׁ) Je 9:14; 23:15; מֵי ר׳ (without ל׳) 8:14; עִנְּבֵי־רוֹשׁ Dt 32:32 (‖ מְרֹרֹת); רֹאשׁ וּתְלָאָה La 3:5; ר׳ alone ψ 69:22; וּפָרַח כָּרֹאשׁ מִשְׁפָּט Ho 10:4, הֲפַכְתֶּם לְר׳ מִשְׁפָּט Am 6:12. e.g. Deuteronomy 29:17
- 2. venom, of serpents, ר׳ פְּתָנִים Dt 32:33; Jb 20:16. e.g. Deuteronomy 32:33
ראש III son of Benj.
ראש IV Rôsh (so 𝔊 and most
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. n.m. Lv 13:45 head (common Sem. word; earliest form *ra’š, Arabic رَأْسٌ, Sab. ראס PräZMG xxix (1875), 425 MordtmHim. Inschr. 31; Ethiopic ርእስ: Amh. ራስ: hence (a heightened) Assyrian rêšu (rarely râšu), Aramaic רֵישָׁא (Egyptian Aramaic ראשׁ CookeNorth-Sem. Inscr. 404), ܪܺܝܫܳܐ, mod. raïša, HuartJAs xii (1878), 491 Duvalid. xiii (1879), 464; Palm. רשׁא, Lzb366, cf. BH רִישׁוֹן, רֵאשִׁית; from *ra’š, also BH *רָאשׁ, רֹאשׁ (LagSymm. i. 113), TelAm. rušu(nu) Wkl 189, 18 (gloss to ḳaḳḳadunu), NH = BH; SI6 ראש, Ph. רש, ראש (in n.pr.), Pun. rus (in n.pr.loc.) SchrödPh. Spr. 133, ראשת choicest, chief; on MI20 (sf.) רשה, l.28 ש[ר], cf. Sm. u. So14 NöLCB Jan. 8, 1887, 60);—ר׳ abs. Gn 3:15 +, cstr. 40:20 +; sf. רֹאשִׁי v 16 +, etc.; pl. *רָאשִׁים (for רְאָשִׁם NöGGA 1884, 1019) Ex 18:25 +; cstr. רָאשֵׁי Ho 7:13 + [מֵרַאֲשֹׁתֵי 1 S 26:12 v. מְרַאֲשׁוֹת infr.]; sf. רָאשֵׁינוּ 1 Ch 12:19, רָאשֵׁיכֶם Is 29:10 +, etc.;—
II. and (†Dt 32:32) רוֹשׁ n.m. Dt 32:33 a bitter and poisonous herb, then venom, always fig.;—
III. n.m. son of Benj.;—Gn 46:21, Ρως.
IV. n.pr.gent. Rôsh (so 𝔊 and most; > chief Ew Sm al. (𝔙 principem capitis) Mosoch);—only in phr. נְשִׂיא רֹאשׁ (אֶרֶץ מָגוֹג) גּוֹג מֶשֶׁךְ וְתֻבָ֑ל Ez 38:2, 3; 39:1, Ρως; not identified.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: from an unused root apparently meaning to shake
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.
רָאשׁ
- poor, v. רָשׁ.
רֹאשׁ
- (b. h.) head, point; beginning, heading; main thing, principal. Ḥull. IV, 1 הוציא את רֹאשׁוֹ וכ׳ if the embryo put forth its head, although it withdrew it again. Gen. R. s. 71, beg., v. סוֹף. Midr. Prov. to I, 7 ר׳ הפרק ר׳ המסכתא ר׳ הפרשה the heading of a chapter, of a treatise, of a section.—ר׳ החדש, ר׳ השנה &c., v. respective determinants.—Meg. 12ᵇ קופץ בר׳, v. הֶדְיוֹט.—בת ר׳, v. בַּת II.—Sifra B’ḥuck., Par. 2, ch. VIII (ref. to יען וביען, Lev. XXVI, 43) וכי ר׳ בר׳ פרעתי מהם וכ׳ did I collect from them full amount for full amount? did I not collect only one hundredth of their sins before me? Snh. 3ᵃ sq. ממון שאינו משתלם בר׳ הוא an indemnity not for the exact amount (more or less). B. Kam. 65ᵇ (ref. to Lev. V, 24) ממון … בר׳ מוסיף חומש וכ׳ where the indemnity is for the full amount (and no more), the fine of a fifth is added, but where it is not for the exact amount (but more) &c.; a. v. fr.—מֵר׳ from the beginning, over again. Ab. Zar. 3ᵃ תנה לנו מר׳ וכ׳ give us it (the Law) over again, and we will observe it.—Pl. רָאשִׁים, רָאשִׁין. Ḥull. II, 2 השוחט שני ר׳ כאחד if one cuts two heads at one time. Ḥag. 13ᵃ רָאשֵׁי פרקים, v. פֶּרֶק; a. fr.—Trnsf. a) chief, magistrate, leader, president. Y. R. Hash. I, 57ᵇ bot. ר׳ גדר היה וכ׳ it was the chief magistrate of Gadara &c., v. רֵאשִׁית; Bab. R. Hash. 22ᵃ שזפר ראשָׁהּ וכ׳ Sh. the chief &c. Sabb. 33ᵇ; Ber. 63ᵇ, v. מְדַבֵּר. Ib. 57ᵇ, v. יְשִׁיבָה. Y. Hor. III, 48ᵇ bot. ר׳ משמר the chief of the Temple guard; ר׳ בית אב the chief of a priestly family. Ib. [read:] ר׳ וזקן ר׳ קודם שאינו ר׳ וכ׳ as between the chief (the Nasi, of the academy) and an elder (scholar), the chief has the precedence, for none can be chief unless he has been an elder; a. v. fr.—Pl. as ab. Ib. משה הקדים ר׳ לזקנים Moses placed the chiefs before the elders (Deut. XXIX, 9). Gen. R. s. 61 כולהון ראשי אומות הן they are all (names derived from) tribal chiefs (v. לוּפָר, a. correct citation acc.); a. fr.—b) crossbeam. Neg. XIII, 2, v. פָּתִין.—Pl. as ab. Ib. נראה בר׳ Bab. ed. (Mish. ed. sing.) if the leprous spot appeared on the crossbeams.—c) ר׳ תּוֹר (Chaldaism) [ox-head,] triangle, wedge. Kel. XVIII, 2 כיצד … ר׳ ת׳ how is a piece of furniture with an arched top-piece measured? By drawing an equilateral triangle circumscribing the curve. Kil. II, 7 היה ר׳ ת׳ חטים וכ׳ if a triangular point of a wheat field is wedged in a barley field. Ib. III, 3. B. Bath. 62ᵃ (if the seller defined the limits of his field by describing one long side and one short side) ויקנה כנגד ר׳ ת׳ why not let the buyer have possession of an ‘ox-head’, i.e. draw a trapezoid with the two unequal sides?—Pl. רָאשֵׁי תוֹרִין. Y. Erub. I, 19ᶜ bot. e.g. Leviticus 26:43
רֹאשׁ ²
- ch., v. רֵישׁ II
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 203 distinct written forms H7218 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.
The 60 most common forms are shown; 143 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H7218, 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.
Derived from this word
- מראשה marʼâshâh H4761 dominion
- ראש rêʼsh H7217 chief
- ראש rôʼsh H7219 gall
- ראשה riʼshâh H7221 early time
- ראשה rôʼshâh H7222 top
- ראשית rêʼshîyth H7225 beginning
- ראשת raʼăshôth H7226 head place
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 → Showing 4 of 9 — not the complete family. 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 511 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 547 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
- Genesis 2:10
- Exodus 6:14
- Leviticus 1:4
- Numbers 1:2
- Deuteronomy 1:13
- Joshua 2:19
- Judges 5:26
- 1 Samuel 1:11
- 2 Samuel 1:2
- 1 Kings 2:32
- 2 Kings 1:9
- 1 Chronicles 4:42
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.