Before
נֶ֫גֶדStrong’s H5048neged (ne-ged)
Appears in 143 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Neged is the Hebrew word usually translated “before”, “from before” and “before me”. It appears in 143 verses of the Old Testament.
“And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.”
Meaning
- What is conspicuous, what is in front of
- In front of, straight forward, before, in sight of
- In front of oneself, straightforward
- Before your face, in your view or purpose
- What is in front of, corresponding to
- In front of, before
- In the sight or presence of
- Parallel to
- Over, for
- In front, opposite
- At a distance
- From the front of, away from
- From before the eyes of, opposite to, at a distance from
- From before, in front of
- As far as the front of
How it's translated
- before 54
- from before 21
- to before 13
- to before me 10
- before you 8
- and before 8
- before him 7
- before me 6
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Psalms 36
- Nehemiah 19
- Isaiah 9
- Genesis 7
- Joshua 7
- 2 Samuel 5
30 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Daniel 10:13In contextBut the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.
- Daniel 10:16In contextAnd, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.
- Genesis 2:18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
- Genesis 2:20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
- Genesis 21:16And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bow shot: for she said, Let me not see the death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept.
- Genesis 31:32With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.
All 143 verses, by book
Hebrew dictionary
נֶ֫גֶד neged · before
subst 1) what is conspicuous, what is in front of adv 2) in front of, straight forward, before, in sight of 3) in front of oneself, straightforward 4) before your face, in your view or purpose with prep 5) what is in front of, corresponding to 6) in front of, before 7) in the sight or presence of 8) parallel to 9) over, for 10) in front, opposite 11) at a distance prep 12) from the front of, away from 13) from before the eyes of, opposite to, at a distance from 14) from before, in front of 15) as far as the front of Aramaic equivalent: ne.ged (נֶ֫גֶד "before" H5049)
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.