Word

רֵאשִׁית

rêʼshîyth · H7225 · Hebrew · 51 occurrences

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Meanings

beginning

Point in time at which an event starts happening

Examples
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Deuteronomy 11:12 a land for which the LORD your God cares; the eyes of the LORD your God are continually on it, from the beginning even to the end of the year.
best

State in which an object is of a relatively high quality

Examples
Deuteronomy 33:21 “Then he selected the choicest part for himself, For there the ruler’s portion was reserved; And he came with the leaders of the people; He executed the justice of the LORD, And His ordinances with Israel.”
1 Samuel 2:29 ‘Why are you showing contempt for My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded for My dwelling, and why are you honoring your sons above Me, by making yourselves fat with the choicest of every offering of My people Israel?’
1 Samuel 15:21 “But the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things designated for destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
chief, greatest

State in which a group has a relatively high status

Examples
Numbers 24:20 And he looked at Amalek and took up his discourse and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, But his end shall be destruction.”
Amos 6:1 Woe to those who are carefree in Zion, And to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, The dignitaries of the foremost of nations, To whom the house of Israel comes.
main part, chief part

The largest among two or more parts of one group

Examples
Daniel 11:41 “He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab, and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.
mainstay

Literally: best of power; hence: something that constitutes the chief support of a nation's military strength

Examples
Jeremiah 49:35 “This is what the LORD of armies says: ‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam, The finest of their might.
first

State in which a countable entity is the first or the previous in a range

Examples
Genesis 49:3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.
Exodus 23:19 “You shall bring the choice first fruits of your soil into the house of the LORD your God. “You are not to boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.
Exodus 34:26 “You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

How it’s used In 9 roles

Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.

the word studied the word it goes with

Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive

44 occurrences in 30 groups

עֲרִיסָהdough 4
בִּכּוּרfirst fruits 3
אוֹןstrength 3
מַמְלָכָהkingdom, kingship 3
Other words · 26 groups that occur once or twice (32) 32

Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles

3 occurrences in 2 groups

נָתַןto give, to put, to set 2
בּוֹאto come, to go in, to bring 1

Named alongside itApposition

5 occurrences in 6 groups

חֶלֶבfat 2
בְּכוֹרfirstborn 1
בָּקָרcattle, oxen 1
צֹאןflock, small cattle, sheep and goats 1
קֶדֶםeast, ancient time 1
קֶשֶׁתbow 1

What it doesIt is the subject

3 occurrences in 1 groups

הָיָהto be, to become 3

What is done to itIt is the object

10 occurrences in 5 groups

בּוֹאto come, to go in, to bring 4
נָתַןto give, to put, to set 3
דָּרַשׁto seek, to inquire 1
עָבַרto pass 1
רָאָהto see 1

What it is said to bePredicate

1 occurrences in 1 groups

פָּטַרexempt 1

What is said to be itIt is the predicate

7 occurrences in 4 groups

הוּאhe, she, it 3
יִרְאָהfear 2
חׇכְמָהwisdom 1
עֲמָלֵקAmalek 1

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

15 occurrences in 3 groups

מִןfrom 13
בin/on/with 11
לto/for 1

In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive

3 occurrences in 3 groups

נָקַבto pierce 1
עֹמֶרsheaf 1
קׇרְבָּןoffering 1

When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.

MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Near synonyms 1 word

תְּחִלָּה tᵉchillâh · H8462 · beginning: Both lexemes denote temporal or sequential priority ("beginning, first") and are true same-language near-synonyms that could substitute in many contexts.

Contrasting words 1 word

אַחֲרִית ʼachărîyth · H319 · farthest, last, surviving: The direct lexical opposite of רֵאשִׁית, denoting the end or latter part of a period as opposed to its beginning.

In the other Testament 2 words

ἀρχή archḗ · G746 · beginning, to begin: Greek ἀρχή renders Hebrew רֵאשִׁית in temporal-priority and rank-primacy senses ("beginning," "first," "chief"), constituting a direct cross-linguistic translation equivalent across both lexemes' core semantic range.
ἀπαρχή aparchḗ · G536 · first portion, first offering, first: Greek ἀπαρχή specifically denotes first-fruits or firstfruits offerings (the initial portion set apart for sacrifice), narrowing Hebrew רֵאשִׁית's broader semantic range of 'beginning/chief/first' to the cultic/sacrificial sense that dominated LXX rendering choices for this Hebrew term.

Semantic domains 7 entries

Begin002003003005: The word means beginning, directly illustrated by "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) and "the beginning of his kingdom was Babel" (Genesis 10:10).
Good002001001031: This domain is not independently illustrated by the sampled citations, which concern beginnings and firstfruits rather than goodness.
Great002001002012: The word's "preeminent" sense is directly illustrated by Reuben called "my might and the beginning of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power" (Genesis 49:3).
Groups001001003004: This domain is not independently illustrated by the sampled citations.
Intense002001003011: This domain is not independently illustrated by the sampled citations.
Quantity002001001046: This domain is not independently illustrated by the sampled citations, which concern the beginning of things rather than quantity.
Frequency002001003009: The word's "firstfruits" sense (the first of a recurring harvest) is directly illustrated by the command to bring "the choice first fruits of your soil" (Exodus 23:19, 34:26).

Word family 8 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

רֹאשׁ rôʼsh · H7218 · head, beginning · 599×רִאשׁוֹן riʼshôwn · H7223 · first, former, formost · 182×רֵאשִׁיתrêʼshîyth · H7225רֵאשׁ rêʼsh · H7217 · chief, head, sum · 14×רִאשָׁה riʼshâh · H7221 · first, former · 1×רֹאשָׁה rôʼshâh · H7222 · headstone · 1×רִאשֹׁנִי riʼshônîy · H7224 · first · 1×רַאֲשֹׁת raʼăshôth · H7226 · place at the head · 0×

Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H7225. reshith [רֵאשִׁית] noun feminine beginning, chief (for *רְאֵשִׁית NöGGA 1884,…

H7225. reshith
[רֵאשִׁית] noun feminine beginning, chief (for *רְאֵשִׁית NöGGA 1884, 1019, compare HolzHexateuch 465; Syriac ); — absolute ׳ר Deu 33:21+, construct ׳ר Gen 10:10+, רֵשִׁית Deu 11:12; suffix רֵאשִׁיתוֺ Ecc 7:8, רֵאשִׁתוֺ Job 42:12, etc.; —
1.a beginning of kingdom Gen 10:10 (J), year Deu 11:12, reign Jer 26:1; Jer 27:1; Jer 28:1; Jer 49:34;= first phase, step, or element in course of events Isa 46:10 (opposed to אַחֲרִית); of a thing (דָּבָר) Ecc 7:8 (opposed to id.); of sin Mic 1:13, strife Pro 17:14, wisdom Psa 111:10, knowledge Pro 1:7 thy beginning Job 8:7 +?his beginning Job 42:12 (both opposed to אַחֲרִית), ׳ר before clause, ׳בְּר א ׳בָּרָא Gen 1:1 in the beginning when god created (> absolute in the beginning God created); ׳ר אֹנִי Gen 49:3 (poem) beginning (first product) of my manly vigour (|| כֹּחִי בְּכֹרִי so Deu 21:17; Psa 78:51 (both || בְּכוֺת Psa 105:36; compare ׳ר אֵל דֵּרְכֵי Job 40:19 (of hippopotamus), ׳ר דַּרְכּוֺ Pro 8:22 (of wisdom);=first season (of a tree) Hos 9:10; גּוֺיִם׳ר Num 24:20 (JE), first, earliest, of nations.
b. first of fruits Exo 23:19 (E), Exo 34:26 (JE), Deu 26:2, Deu 26:10; Eze 44:30.a, of harvest Lev 23:10 (H), grain Deu 18:4; 2Ch 31:5 dough Num 15:20-21, (P), Eze 44:30b Neh 10:38, wool Deu 18:4; of כָּלתְּֿבוּאָתֶ֑ךָ Pro 3:9; Israel is ׳ר תְּבוּאָתֹה Jer 2:3 (i.e. of ׳יs increase); ׳ר=first-fruits Lev 2:12 (P), Num 18:12 (P), Neh 12:44; ׳ר הָאָרֶץ Eze 48:14
2 first chief, Amo 6:1; ׳ר גְּבוּרָתָם Jer 49:35 (of bows); so apparently ׳ר עַמּוֺן בְּנֵי Dan 11:41, i.e. the principal part of them (Buhl Marti conjecture שְׁאֵרִית after ᵑ6); ׳ר מַשְׁאוֺתֵיכֶם Eze 20:40, i.e. your chief oblations; ׳ר שְׁמָנִים Amo 6:6, i.e. choice oils; = choice part, of land Deu 33:21, offering 1Sa 2:29, הַחֵרֶם 1Sa 15:21; absolute chief thing Pro 4:7 (of wisdom).

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 6 entries

Groups1 occurrence Good7 occurrences Quantity23 occurrences Great2 occurrences Intense1 occurrence Begin17 occurrences

Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.

Sources

eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0