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 Judges — 27 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.
Judges
- Judges 5:26 רֹאשׁ֔/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms She put her hand to the tent-pin, Her right hand to the workmen's hammer; With the hammer she struck Sisera, she struck through his head; Yes, she pierced and struck through his temples.
- Judges 5:30 לְ/רֹ֣אשׁ prep + n c ms cs Have they not found, have they not divided the spoil? A lady, two ladies to every man; To Sisera a spoil of dyed garments, A spoil of dyed garments embroidered, Of dyed garments embroidered on both sides, on the necks of the spoil?
- Judges 6:26 רֹ֧אשׁ n c ms cs and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.
- Judges 7:16 רָאשִׁ֑ים n c mp He divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put into the hands of all of them trumpets, and empty pitchers, with torches within the pitchers.
- Judges 7:19 רֹ֚אשׁ n c ms cs So Gideon, and the hundred men who were with him, came to the outermost part of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, when they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and broke in pieces the pitchers that were in their hands.
- Judges 7:20 הָ/רָאשִׁ֥ים ptcl def.art + n c mp The three companies blew the trumpets, and broke the pitchers, and held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands with which to blow; and they cried, The sword of Yahweh and of Gideon.
- Judges 7:25 וְ/רֹאשׁ conj + n c ms cs They took the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb; and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb, and pursued Midian: and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan.
- Judges 8:28 רֹאשָׁ֑/ם n c ms cs + sfx pers 3mp So Midian was subdued before the children of Israel, and they lifted up their heads no more. The land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.
- Judges 9:7 בְּ/רֹ֣אשׁ prep + n c ms cs When they told it to Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said to them, Listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you.
- Judges 9:25 רָאשֵׁ֣י n c mp cs The men of Shechem set liers-in-wait for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.
- Judges 9:34 רָאשִֽׁים n c mp Abimelech rose up, and all the people who were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.
- Judges 9:36 מֵ/רָאשֵׁ֖י prep + n c mp cs When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the tops of the mountains. Zebul said to him, You see the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.
- Judges 9:37 וְ/רֹאשׁ conj + n c ms Gaal spoke again and said, Behold, there come people down by the middle of the land, and one company comes by the way of the oak of Meonenim.
- Judges 9:43 רָאשִׁ֔ים n c mp He took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field; and he looked, and, behold, the people came forth out of the city; He rose up against them, and struck them.
- Judges 9:44 וְ/הָ/רָאשִׁים֙ הָֽ/רָאשִׁ֗ים conj + ptcl def.art + n c mp ptcl def.art + n c mp Abimelech, and the companies that were with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city: and the two companies rushed on all who were in the field, and struck them.
- Judges 9:53 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs A certain woman cast an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, and broke his skull.
- Judges 9:57 בְּ/רֹאשָׁ֑/ם prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3mp and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God requite on their heads: and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
- Judges 10:18 לְ/רֹ֔אשׁ prep + n c ms The people, the princes of Gilead, said one to another, What man is he who will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
- Judges 11:8 לְ/רֹ֔אשׁ prep + n c ms The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, Therefore are we turned again to you now, that you may go with us, and fight with the children of Ammon; and you shall be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
- Judges 11:9 לְ/רֹֽאשׁ prep + n c ms Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, If you bring me home again to fight with the children of Ammon, and Yahweh deliver them before me, shall I be your head?
- Judges 11:11 לְ/רֹ֣אשׁ prep + n c ms Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them: and Jephthah spoke all his words before Yahweh in Mizpah.
- Judges 13:5 רֹאשׁ֔/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms for, behold, you shall conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb: and he shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.
- Judges 16:3 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs Samson lay until midnight, and arose at midnight, and laid hold of the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and plucked them up, bar and all, and put them on his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of the mountain that is before Hebron.
- Judges 16:13 רֹאשִׁ֖/י n c ms cs + sfx pers 1cs Delilah said to Samson, Hitherto you have mocked me, and told me lies: tell me with which you might be bound. He said to her, If you weave the seven locks of my head with the web.
- Judges 16:17 רֹאשִׁ֔/י n c ms cs + sfx pers 1cs He told her all his heart, and said to her, "No razor has ever come on my head; for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will go from me, and I will become weak, and be like any other man."
- Judges 16:19 רֹאשׁ֑/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms She made him sleep on her knees; and she called for a man, and shaved off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him.
- Judges 16:22 רֹאשׁ֛/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms However the hair of his head began to grow again after he was shaved.
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.
