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).
34 verses where H7218 appears in the Construct state in the Book of Numbers. Filtered view — show all forms. 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.
Numbers
- Numbers 1:2 רֹאשׁ֙ n c ms cs "Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the number of the names, every male, one by one;
- Numbers 1:16 רָאשֵׁ֛י n c mp cs These are those who were called of the congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads of the thousands of Israel.
- Numbers 1:49 רֹאשָׁ֖/ם n c ms cs + sfx pers 3mp "Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, neither shall you take a census of them among the children of Israel;
- Numbers 4:2 רֹאשׁ֙ n c ms cs "Take a census of the sons of Kohath from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
- Numbers 4:22 רֹ֛אשׁ n c ms cs "Take a census of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their families;
- Numbers 5:7 בְּ/רֹאשׁ֔/וֹ prep + n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms then he shall confess his sin which he has done, and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty.
- Numbers 5:18 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs The priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman's head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse.
- Numbers 6:5 רֹאשׁ֑/וֹ רֹאשֽׁ/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms "All the days of his vow of separation there shall no razor come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
- Numbers 6:7 רֹאשֽׁ/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head.
- Numbers 6:9 רֹ֣אשׁ רֹאשׁ/וֹ֙ n c ms cs n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms "If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it.
- Numbers 6:11 רֹאשׁ֖/וֹ n c ms cs + sfx pers 3ms The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day.
- Numbers 6:18 רֹ֣אשׁ רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs n c ms cs The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.
- Numbers 7:2 רָאשֵׁ֖י n c mp cs that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, offered. These were the princes of the tribes. These are they who were over those who were numbered:
- Numbers 8:12 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs The Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering to Yahweh, to make atonement for the Levites.
- Numbers 10:4 רָאשֵׁ֖י n c mp cs If they blow but one, then the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.
- Numbers 10:10 וּ/בְ/רָאשֵׁ֣י conj + prep + n c mp cs Also in the day of your gladness, and in your set feasts, and in the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace-offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am Yahweh your God.
- Numbers 13:3 רָאשֵׁ֥י n c mp cs Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment of Yahweh: all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.
- Numbers 14:40 רֹאשׁ n c ms cs They rose up early in the morning, and got them up to the top of the mountain, saying, Behold, we are here, and will go up to the place which Yahweh has promised: for we have sinned.
- Numbers 14:44 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and Moses, didn't depart out of the camp.
- Numbers 17:3 לְ/רֹ֖אשׁ prep + n c ms cs You shall write Aaron's name on the rod of Levi; for there shall be one rod for each head of their fathers' houses.
- Numbers 20:28 בְּ/רֹ֣אשׁ prep + n c ms cs Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them on Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there on the top of the mountain: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
- Numbers 21:20 רֹ֖אשׁ n c ms cs and from Bamoth to the valley that is in the field of Moab, to the top of Pisgah, which looks down on the desert.
- Numbers 23:9 מֵ/רֹ֤אשׁ prep + n c ms cs For from the top of the rocks I see him, From the hills I see him: behold, it is a people that dwells alone, And shall not be reckoned among the nations.
- Numbers 23:14 רֹ֖אשׁ n c ms cs He took him into the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, and built seven altars, and offered up a bull and a ram on every altar.
- Numbers 23:28 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that looks down on the desert.
- Numbers 25:4 רָאשֵׁ֣י n c mp cs Yahweh said to Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh may turn away from Israel.
- Numbers 25:15 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a fathers' house in Midian.
- Numbers 26:2 רֹ֣אשׁ n c ms cs Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' houses, all who are able to go forth to war in Israel.
- Numbers 28:11 וּ/בְ/רָאשֵׁי֙ conj + prep + n c mp cs In the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to Yahweh: two young bulls, and one ram, seven he-lambs a year old without blemish;
- Numbers 30:1 רָאשֵׁ֣י n c mp cs Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded.
- Numbers 31:26 רֹ֤אשׁ וְ/רָאשֵׁ֖י n c ms cs conj + n c mp cs Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of animal, you, and Eleazar the priest, and the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the congregation;
- Numbers 31:49 רֹ֛אשׁ n c ms cs and they said to Moses, Your servants have taken the sum of the men of war who are under our charge, and there lacks not one man of us.
- Numbers 32:28 רָאשֵׁ֛י n c mp cs So Moses gave charge concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the tribes of the children of Israel.
- Numbers 36:1 רָאשֵׁ֣י רָאשֵׁ֥י n c mp cs n c mp cs The heads of the fathers' [houses] of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers' [houses] of the children of Israel:
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.
