What does בֶּשֶׂם · רֹאשׁ mean in the Bible?
בֶּשֶׂם · רֹאשׁ is a Hebrew phrase meaning "chief or choice aromatic spices".
Hebrew · H1314, H7218
בְּשָׂמִים רֹאשׁ
Fragrance ; by implication, spicery ; also the balsam plant · the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.)
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Words in this compound — expand to study each participant
בֶּשֶׂם H1314 fragrance ; by implication, spicery ; also the balsam plant
Pronunciation bešem
Aromatic substance suggesting pleasure, luxury, and divine favor; literal spices evoke metaphorical sweetness.
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רֹאשׁ H7218 the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.)
Pronunciation rosh
Physical apex extends metaphorically to leadership, primacy, and authority across spatial, temporal, and social domains.
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What does בְּשָׂמִים רֹאשׁ (besamim rosh) mean in the Bible?
בֶּשֶׂם · רֹאשׁ is a Hebrew phrase meaning "chief or choice aromatic spices".
Full entry for בְּשָׂמִים רֹאשׁ (H1314, H7218) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How many biblical occurrences are listed for H1314, H7218?
H1314, H7218 is connected to 629 lexical occurrence verses in the lexicon data.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew phrase. chief or choice aromatic spices
Strong's H1314, H7218
Lexical occurrences 629 verses Source Gloss
chief or choice aromatic spices
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
בְּשָׂמִים רֹאשׁ is built from this root:
בָּשָׂם H1313
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain