Before
טֶ֫רֶםStrong’s H2962terem (te-rem)
Appears in 49 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Terem is the Hebrew word usually translated “before”, “not yet” and “just before”. It appears in 49 verses of the Old Testament.
“And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.”
Meaning
- Before, not yet, before that
How it's translated
- before 41
- not yet 10
- and before 2
- and just before 1
- and not yet 1
- from before 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Genesis 9
- Isaiah 8
- Exodus 4
- 1 Samuel 4
- Psalms 4
- Jeremiah 4
18 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Genesis 19:4But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
- Genesis 24:15And it came to pass, before he had done speaking, that, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel, son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham’s brother, with her pitcher upon her shoulder.
- Genesis 24:45And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder; and she went down unto the well, and drew water: and I said unto her, Let me drink, I pray thee.
- Genesis 27:4And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die.
- Genesis 27:33And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed.
- Genesis 37:18And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.
All 49 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
טֶ֫רֶם terem · before
before, not yet, before that
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “before” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
BEFO'RE, preposition
[be and fore, that is by fore, near the fore part.]
- In front; on the side with the face, at any distance; used of persons.
- In presence of, with the idea of power, authority, respect.“Abraham bowed before the people of the land” Genesis 23:12“Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord” Micah 2:13
- In sight of; as before the face.
- In the presence of, noting cognizance of jurisdiction.
All definitions and other forms of “before”
- In the power of, noting the right or ability to choose or possess; free to the choice.“My land is before thee” Genesis 20:15
- In front of any object; as before the house; before the fire.
- Preceding in time.“Before I was afflicted, I went astray” Psalms 119:67“Before Abraham was, I am” John 8:58
- In preference to.
- Superior; preceding in dignity.
- Prior to; having prior right; preceding in order; as, the eldest son is before the younger in succession.
- Previous to; in previous order; in order to.
- before the wind, is to move in the direction of the wind by its impulse.
BEFO'RE, adverb
In time preceding.
- In time preceding, to the present, or to this time; hitherto; as, tumults then arose which before were unknown.
- Further onward in place, in progress, or in front.“Reaching forth to those things which are before” Philippians 3:13
- In front; on the fore part.“The battle was before and behind” 2 Chronicles 13:14
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.