← H6923 H6925 →

קֶדֶם

𐤒𐤃𐤌

qedem

H6924 noun

SILEX Entry

Definition

The primary lexical meaning of קֶדֶם (qedem) is 'the front' or 'that which is before,' with extended senses referring both to spatial position—particularly 'east' (the area in front when one faces sunrise)—and to temporal concepts such as 'ancient times,' 'antiquity,' or 'formerly.' In some contexts, it denotes 'former times' or 'the earliest period,' and can also function as an adverb meaning 'eastward' or 'formerly.'

Semantic Range

the east, the front, before (in place), formerly, ancient times, antiquity, primeval era, eastward (adverb), the region toward sunrise, earliest times

Root / Etymology

From the root קדם, which in its verbal form means 'to precede,' 'to be in front,' or 'to go before.' The noun קֶדֶם derives from this core notion of what is 'in front' or 'coming before,' applied both to physical orientation (facing east) and chronological precedence (earlier times).

Historical & Contextual Notes

In earlier Israelite usage, קֶדֶם referred both to the geographical east—the direction of sunrise, which served as a reference point for orientation in the ancient Near East—and to the early, primeval age (antiquity) or 'times past.' This spatial/temporal ambiguity is seen in passages that use the term for both 'east' (cf. Genesis 2:8; Isaiah 9:11) and 'ancient' (cf. Deuteronomy 33:27; Isaiah 46:10). Over time, קֶדֶם became a poetic or literary term for the remote past or the primal origins of things. English translations often alternate between 'east,' 'ancient times,' and 'old' depending on context, but may miss the Hebrew association of physically facing the sunrise with looking back to the distant past. The related adjective קַדְמוֹנִי (qadmōnī, 'former, ancient') and adverb קֵדְמָה (qēdma, 'eastward') are also built from this root. In post-biblical Hebrew, distinctions between these senses can become more pronounced, but the biblical data shows their overlap.

Translation Consistency

primary "east" 36 occurrences

Most frequent and natural rendering across contexts is the geographic/positional sense ‘east’ (and by extension ‘eastward’ or ‘the front’). Although qedem can mean ‘ancient’ or ‘formerly’ in some contexts, the primary and typical usage in the corpus is spatial—facing sunrise—so using ‘east’ gives a consistent, natural English base word for all forms.

Alternatives (51 occurrences):
"eastward" (29x) "ancient times" (6x) "old" (6x) "before" (2x) "ancient" (1x) "antiquity" (1x) "formerly" (1x) "everlasting" (1x) "long ago" (1x) "earliest times of" (1x) "former times" (1x) "like ancient times" (1x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

or קֵדְמָה; from קָדַם; the front, of place (absolutely, the fore part, relatively the East) or time (antiquity); often used adverbially (before, anciently, eastward); aforetime, ancient (time), before, east (end, part, side, -ward), eternal, [idiom] ever(-lasting), forward, old, past. Compare קִדְמָה.

Bantu Hebrew

No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.

+ Add Bantu Hebrew Word

Root Family

קדם (q-d-m) — to precede, to be before, to come first

Root קדם to precede, to be before, to come first
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H6917 קָדוּם those from before
H6921 קָדִים the east
H6923 קָדַם I will go ahead to meet
H6925 קֳדָם before you
H6926 קִדְמָה front/eastern region of

Word Forms

9 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H6924-05 קֶֽדֶם qedem HNcmsa the east front the east 33
H6924-06 קֵ֖דְמָ/ה qedemah HNcmsa/Sd eastward frontward eastward 24
H6924-04 מִ/קֶּ֑דֶם miqedem HR/Ncmsa of old from before from the east 22
H6924-09 וָ/קֵ֥דְמָ/ה vaqedemah HC/Ncmsa/Sd and eastward and toward the front and eastward 2
H6924-02 כְּ/קֶ֔דֶם keqedem HR/Ncmsa as formerly like ancient times as formerly 2
H6924-07 וּ/מִ/קֶּ֖דֶם umiqedem HC/R/Ncmsa and from ancient times and from before and from ancient times 1
H6924-03 מִ/קַּדְמֵי miqademey HR/Ncmpc from the earliest times from former times of from the earliest times of 1
H6924-08 וָ/קֶ֣דֶם vaqedem HC/Ncmsa and before and the front and before 1
H6924-01 הַ/קֶּֽדֶם haqedem HTd/Ncmsa of the east the front the east 1

Occurrences in Scripture

87 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H6924-04 Genesis 2:8 מִ/קֶּ֑דֶם miqedem HR/Ncmsa eastward from before eastward
H6924-04 Genesis 3:24 מִ/קֶּ֨דֶם miqedem HR/Ncmsa at the east of from before at the east of
H6924-01 Genesis 10:30 הַ/קֶּֽדֶם haqedem HTd/Ncmsa of the east the front the east
H6924-04 Genesis 11:2 מִ/קֶּ֑דֶם miqedem HR/Ncmsa from the east from before from the east
H6924-04 Genesis 12:8 מִ/קֶּ֛דֶם miqedem HR/Ncmsa east from before eastward
H6924-04 Genesis 12:8 מִ/קֶּ֔דֶם miqedem-2 HR/Ncmsa on the east from before eastward
H6924-04 Genesis 13:11 מִ/קֶּ֑דֶם miqedem HR/Ncmsa eastward from before from the east
H6924-09 Genesis 13:14 וָ/קֵ֥דְמָ/ה vaqedemah HC/Ncmsa/Sd and eastward and toward the front and eastward
H6924-06 Genesis 25:6 קֵ֖דְמָ/ה qedemah HNcmsa/Sd eastward frontward eastward
H6924-05 Genesis 25:6 קֶֽדֶם qedem HNcmsa of the east front the east
← H6923 Hebrew Lexicon H6925 →