Basic HTML Version
(
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, 7225), “beginning; first; choicest.” The abstract word
corresponds to the temporal and estimative sense of
!
connotes the
“beginning” of a fixed period of time: “… The eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon
it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” (Deut. 11:12). The
“beginning” of one’s period of life is intended in Job 42:12: “So the Lord blessed the
latter end of Job more than his beginning.…” This word can represent a point of
departure, as it does in Gen. 1:1 (the first occurrence): “In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth.” Estimatively, this word can mean the “first” or “choicest”: “The
first of the first fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God”
(Exod. 23:19). This nuance of
may appear in the comparative sense, meaning
“choicest” or “best.” Dan. 11:41 exhibits the nuance of “some”: “… But these shall
escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief [
NASB
, “foremost”] of the
children of Ammon” (Dan. 11:41).
Used substantively, the word can mean “first fruits”: “As for the oblation of the first
fruits, ye shall offer them unto the Lord: but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a
sweet savor” (Lev. 2:12). “… The first fruits of them which they shall offer unto the
Lord, them have I given thee” (Num. 18:12). Sometimes this word represents the “first
part” of an offering: “Ye shall offer up a cake of the first of your dough for a heave
offering …” (Num. 15:20).
B. Adjective.
(
, 7223), “first; foremost; preceding; former.” This word occurs about
182 times in biblical Hebrew. It denotes the “first” in a temporal sequence: “And it came
to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month
…” (Gen. 8:13). In Ezra 9:2,
is used both of precedence in time and of leadership:
“… The holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of those lands: yea, the hand
of the princes and rulers hath been chief in this trespass.”
A second meaning of this adjective is “preceding” or “former”: “… Unto the place of
the altar, which he had made there at the first …” (Gen. 13:4). Gen. 33:2 uses this word
locally: “And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her
children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost.” The “former ones” are “ancestors”:
“But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought
forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen …” (Lev. 26:45). But in most
cases, this adjective has a temporal emphasis.
TO HEAL
(
!
, 7495), “to heal.” This word is common to both ancient and modern
Hebrew. It occurs approximately 65 times in the Hebrew Old Testament, appearing first
in Gen. 20:17: “… God healed Abimelech.”
“To heal” may be described as “restoring to normal,” an act which God typically
performs. Thus, appeals to God for healing are common: “… O Lord, heal me; for my
bones are vexed” (Ps. 6:2); “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed …” (Jer. 17:14). Not
only are human diseases “healed,” but bad water is restored to normal or “healed” (2
Kings 2:22); salt water is “healed” or made fresh (Ezek. 47:8); even pottery is “healed” or
restored (Jer. 19:11).