What does קֶדֶם (qedem) mean in the Bible?
H6924 can point spatially to the east or front and temporally to what came before, antiquity, or days of old. English translations therefore vary with construction and setting.
Hebrew · H6924
קֶדֶם
The front , of place (absolutely, the fore part , relatively the East ) or time ( antiquity ); often used adverbially ( before , anciently , eastward )
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קֶדֶםH6924
Pronunciationqedem
What does קֶדֶם (qedem) mean in the Bible?
H6924 can point spatially to the east or front and temporally to what came before, antiquity, or days of old. English translations therefore vary with construction and setting.
Reader summary
Full entry for קֶדֶם (H6924) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H6924?
The BSB source-word alignment has 87 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include of the east (13), of old (11), east (6), eastward (4), long ago (4).
Where does קֶדֶם (qedem) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 2:8. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (12), Psalms (11), Numbers (10), Isaiah (9).
What This Word Actually Means
H6924 can point spatially to the east or front and temporally to what came before, antiquity, or days of old. English translations therefore vary with construction and setting. In Gen. 2. 8, the Lord plants a garden in Eden in the east and places the formed man there, using geographic orientation within the creation narrative. In Ps. 44. 1, the community remembers works God performed in the days of old, grounding lament in received testimony rather than nostalgia alone.
In Mic. 5. 2, the promised ruler's origins are described as from old, from ancient days, joining Bethlehem's smallness to God's long-established purpose. H6924 opens teaching on place, memory, and divine purpose across generations. It does not make the east intrinsically holy or evil, treat everything ancient as authoritative, or allow this word by itself to settle every christological question in Micah.
Spatial and temporal senses must remain distinct until context joins them.
How the Bible Uses It
H6924 spans eastward orientation, peoples or lands of the East, former times, antiquity, and enduring duration in certain constructions. The semantic bridge is what lies in front or before, but grammar and literary setting determine whether place or time is active.
- Gen.2.8
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
The Lord God plants a garden in Eden in the east and places there the man He has formed and commissioned.
- Ps.44.1
We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old.
The worshiping community recalls ancestral testimony about God's works in days of old as it brings present defeat and confusion before Him.
- Mic.5.2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days of eternity.
Micah promises that a ruler for Israel will come from small Bethlehem and describes his origins as from old, from ancient days.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itof the east13×Genesis 25:6, Genesis 29:1, Numbers 23:7, Judges 6:3
of old11×2 Kings 19:25, Psalms 44:1, Psalms 68:33, Psalms 77:5
east6×Genesis 12:8, Numbers 34:11, Judges 8:11, Job 23:8
eastward4×Genesis 11:2, Joshua 19:12, Joshua 19:13, 1 Kings 17:3
long ago4×Nehemiah 12:46, Psalms 74:2, Psalms 119:152, Isaiah 45:21
on the east side4×Genesis 3:24, Numbers 2:3, Numbers 10:5, Numbers 34:11
to the east4×Genesis 12:8, Leviticus 1:16, Numbers 3:38, Joshua 7:2
On the east3×Numbers 34:3, Numbers 35:5, Joshua 18:20
The east3×Exodus 27:13, Leviticus 16:14, 2 Kings 13:17
and east2×Genesis 13:14, Genesis 28:14
at the southeast corner2×1 Kings 7:39, 2 Chronicles 4:10
toward the east2×Genesis 13:11, Ezekiel 8:16
-1×Genesis 25:6
[with influences] from the east1×Isaiah 2:6
and before1×Psalms 139:5
and from ancient times1×Isaiah 46:10
And the east1×Exodus 38:13
And your eastern1×Numbers 34:10
are of old1×Micah 5:2
as in days of old1×Jeremiah 30:20
as of old1×Lamentations 5:21
before1×Proverbs 8:22
began1×Proverbs 8:23
for the ages1×Psalms 55:19
from ancient times1×Psalms 74:12
from everlasting1×Habakkuk 1:12
from the east1×Isaiah 9:12
from the eastern1×Ezekiel 45:7
gone by1×Job 29:2
in the east1×Genesis 2:8
in the eastern1×Genesis 10:30
is from antiquity1×Isaiah 23:7
of eastern1×Isaiah 19:11
of it1×Jonah 4:5
of the ancient1×Deuteronomy 33:15
past1×Isaiah 51:9
the beginning1×Psalms 78:2
The eastern1×Joshua 15:5
The eternal1×Deuteronomy 33:27
vvv1×Numbers 34:15
were bowing to the east1×Ezekiel 8:16
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 2:8מִקֶּ֑דֶםtoin the eastPreposition-m | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 3:24מִקֶּ֨דֶםtoon the east sidePreposition-m | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 10:30הַקֶּֽדֶם׃toin the easternArticle | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 11:2מִקֶּ֑דֶםtoeastwardPreposition-m | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 12:8מִקֶּ֛דֶםtoeastPreposition-m | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 12:8מִקֶּ֔דֶםtoto the eastPreposition-m | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 13:11מִקֶּ֑דֶםtotoward the eastPreposition-m | Noun - masculine singularGenesis 13:14וָקֵ֥דְמָהtoand eastConjunctive waw | Adverb | third person feminine singularGenesis 25:6קֵ֖דְמָהto-Adverb | third person feminine singularGenesis 25:6קֶֽדֶם׃toof the eastNoun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 2:8
Aligned rows87
Books represented22
Genesis12Exodus2Leviticus2Numbers10Deuteronomy2Joshua5Judges51 Kings32 Kings22 Chronicles1Nehemiah1Job3Psalms11Proverbs2Isaiah9Jeremiah3Lamentations3Ezekiel6Jonah1Micah2Habakkuk1Zechariah1
Source forms
קֶֽדֶם׃8xqe·ḏemGenesis 25:6, Genesis 29:1, Job 1:3, Psalms 44:1
קֶ֑דֶם7xqe·ḏemDeuteronomy 33:15, Judges 8:10, 1 Kings 4:30, Job 29:2
מִקֶּ֑דֶם6xmiq·qe·ḏemGenesis 2:8, Genesis 11:2, Genesis 13:11, Nehemiah 12:46
קֶ֖דֶם6xqe·ḏemJudges 6:3, Judges 6:33, 2 Kings 19:25, Proverbs 8:22
קֵ֖דְמָה6xqê·ḏə·māhGenesis 25:6, 1 Kings 7:39, 2 Kings 13:17, 2 Chronicles 4:10
מִקֶּ֣דֶם4xmiq·qe·ḏemNumbers 34:11, Joshua 7:2, Psalms 77:11, Jonah 4:5
קֶ֔דֶם4xqe·ḏemNumbers 23:7, Deuteronomy 33:27, Isaiah 51:9, Lamentations 2:17
קֵ֑דְמָה4xqê·ḏə·māhLeviticus 16:14, Numbers 34:10, Joshua 18:20, 1 Kings 17:3
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular32xGenesis 25:6, Genesis 29:1, Numbers 23:7, Deuteronomy 33:15
Adverb | third person feminine singular24xGenesis 25:6, Exodus 27:13, Exodus 38:13, Leviticus 1:16
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular21xGenesis 2:8, Genesis 3:24, Genesis 11:2, Genesis 12:8
Conjunctive waw | Adverb | third person feminine singular2xGenesis 13:14, Genesis 28:14
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular2xJeremiah 30:20, Lamentations 5:21
Article | Noun - masculine singular1xGenesis 10:30
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular1xPsalms 139:5
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular1xIsaiah 46:10
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Do not assign spiritual guilt, wisdom, danger, or favor to contemporary eastern peoples or regions merely from H6924's directional uses.
- Do not dismiss present suffering with stories of former victories; Psalm 44 turns remembered testimony into honest lament before God.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that H6924 always means eternity; many occurrences simply mean east, eastward, formerly, or days of old.
- Do not claim that the antiquity language in Micah 5:2 by itself proves every later doctrinal conclusion apart from its canonical context.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Spatial-temporal anchor: eastward in place, antiquity in time; both convey primordial precedence and divine orientation
Source Gloss
the front , of place (absolutely, the fore part , relatively the East ) or time ( antiquity ); often used adverbially ( before , anciently , eastward )
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Spatial-temporal anchor: eastward in place, antiquity in time; both convey primordial precedence and divine orientation
the front, of place (absolutely, the fore part, relatively the East) or time (antiquity); often used adverbially (before, anciently, eastward) BDB: eastward Usage: aforetime, ancient (time), before, east (end, part, side, -ward), eternal, × ever(-lasting), forward, old, past. Compare 6926.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Word Origins
קֶדֶם is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
H6924 brings distant place and prior time into view without confusing them. Genesis locates Eden in the east, giving the garden a place within the story even though readers cannot turn that orientation into a recoverable modern coordinate. Psalm 44 looks to days of old because God's mighty acts were handed down by the fathers; remembering gives the lament language for both trust and bewildered appeal.
Micah announces a ruler from Bethlehem whose origins are from old, rooting future deliverance in a purpose that precedes the crisis. The word can therefore orient a courtyard, identify eastern peoples, recall former generations, or describe ancient duration. Faithful teaching honors those differences. The east has no automatic moral charge, and the past deserves neither contempt nor unquestioned imitation.
Biblical remembrance asks what God has truly done and how His revealed faithfulness addresses the present. Christian reading receives Micah within the fuller witness to Jesus the Messiah, while refusing to make one flexible Hebrew noun bear more than its prophetic sentence and canonical context support.
Anchor passage
Mic.5.2
Doctrinal connections
- H6924: creation unfolds in real ordered space under the Lord, who forms, places, commands, and provides for humanity.
- H6924: God's people receive testimony across generations and may bring present confusion to Him in light of remembered faithfulness.
- H6924: biblical remembrance is covenantal truth-telling rather than nostalgia that idealizes every feature of the past.
- H6924: the promised ruler from Bethlehem emerges from God's long-established purpose and shepherds in the strength of the Lord.
- H6924: ancient origin or purpose must be interpreted from grammar and context rather than treated as a uniform synonym for divine eternity.
- H6924: the New Testament identifies Jesus with Micah's Bethlehem ruler, supplying canonical fulfillment beyond what lexical range alone can prove.
H6924 is a Hebrew noun and adverbial form whose basic orientation can be front, east, or what lies before in time. Prepositions, construct relationships, parallel lines, and temporal nouns distinguish eastward from ancient or formerly.
From Old to New Testament
Matthew cites Micah's Bethlehem promise in the account of Jesus' birth, identifying Him as the ruler who shepherds God's people. The New Testament also calls believers to remember God's acts and apostolic testimony, while never making age alone a test of truth.