The first , in place, time, order or rank (specifically, a firstfruit )
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H7225 is a Hebrew noun for a beginning, first portion, firstfruits, or chief part. Genesis 1:1 places God’s creative act at the beginning of the biblical story, before any creature can claim priority or independence.
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Full entry for רֵאשִׁית (H7225) · Open the biblical lexicon
H7225 is a Hebrew noun for a beginning, first portion, firstfruits, or chief part. Genesis 1:1 places God’s creative act at the beginning of the biblical story, before any creature can claim priority or independence.
The BSB source-word alignment has 51 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the firstfruits (5), At the beginning (3), the best (3), from the beginning (2), From the first (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 1:1. Its strongest book concentrations include Deuteronomy (7), Jeremiah (6), Proverbs (5), Ezekiel (4).
H7225 is a Hebrew noun for a beginning, first portion, firstfruits, or chief part. Genesis 1:1 places God’s creative act at the beginning of the biblical story, before any creature can claim priority or independence. Proverbs 1:7 calls the fear of the Lord the beginning of knowledge, identifying reverent covenant orientation as knowledge’s governing foundation rather than a disposable first lesson.
Exodus 23:19 uses the word for the best of the firstfruits brought to God, joining priority with grateful worship. Other passages can use H7225 for what is first in time, foremost in rank, best in quality, or the opening stage of a process. The context must decide among these related senses. The word does not teach that every beginning is morally superior to every ending, since Ecclesiastes can prefer a matter’s end to its beginning.
H7225 opens teaching on creation, worship, wisdom, priority, and representative first portions. It corrects readings that force firstfruits language into a prosperity formula or treat “beginning” as one identical technical concept everywhere.
H7225 links beginnings, first portions, firstfruits, chief rank, and best portions through the idea of priority. Scripture applies that priority to creation, wisdom, worship, produce, people, and historical developments. Temporal, qualitative, representative, and rank-related uses must be distinguished.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The Bible opens with God creating the heavens and the earth, establishing creation as His work rather than an independent or rival reality.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
The fear of the Lord is presented as the beginning of knowledge, while despising wisdom and discipline marks folly.
Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
Israel is commanded to bring the best of the firstfruits of the soil to the Lord’s house, giving worshipful priority to the Giver.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Beginning that establishes primacy and principle; foundational priority in time, rank, or sacred offering.
Beginning that establishes primacy and principle; foundational priority in time, rank, or sacred offering.
the first, in place, time, order or rank (specifically, a firstfruit) BDB: beginning Usage: beginning, chief(-est), first(-fruits, part, time), principal thing.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 51 lexical occurrence verses.
רֵאשִׁית is built from this root:
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
H7225 teaches that what is first can reveal what governs the whole. Genesis begins with God, not because God begins there, but because created reality has its source in His sovereign action. Proverbs calls the fear of the Lord the beginning of knowledge, showing that wise understanding grows from rightly ordered reverence rather than autonomous mastery. Firstfruits passages give the first or best portion to God as a confession that land, harvest, and future provision are His gifts.
Yet the noun is not a universal code. It can describe the first stage of a kingdom, the foremost people, the best portion, or the beginning of a destructive path. Ecclesiastes even reminds readers that a good completion may exceed a promising start. Faithful teaching should therefore connect priority with allegiance and gratitude while allowing the local context to specify the sense.
In Christian canonical reading, themes of creation and firstfruits reach significant fulfillment in Christ and resurrection, but those later uses should illuminate rather than erase Israel’s historical worship. H7225 calls people to honor God at the source and center of life, not to use firstness as a technique for controlling Him.
Gen.1.1
H7225 is a noun built around priority and can denote beginning in time, first place or rank, chief quality, and a first or best portion offered as firstfruits. English renderings vary because the surrounding noun, action, and covenant institution determine the nuance.
The New Testament uses creation and firstfruits themes to proclaim Christ and resurrection hope. Those canonical connections depend on, but are not lexical replacements for, H7225 in each Old Testament occurrence. Israel’s offerings retain their own covenant and historical meaning.