אַחַר H0310a
After, behind — spatial position following or pursuing; temporal succession, afterward.
A versatile preposition and adverb whose two senses divide neatly along spatial and temporal lines. In its spatial sense, achar places someone behind or in pursuit of another — 'he went achar his brothers' (Gen 37:17). In its temporal sense, it marks sequence: 'after these things' (Gen 15:1), 'afterward' (Gen 10:18). Spanish distinguishes the two cleanly: detrás de (behind/spatial) versus después de (after/temporal), and German similarly differentiates hinter from nach, confirming the cross-linguistic reality of this semantic split.
2. after (temporal) — Temporal succession — afterward, subsequently, following an event in time. The priestly legislation in Leviticus and Numbers uses we-achar repeatedly to mark ritual sequences (Lev 14:8; 15:28). Spanish después de and German nach confirm this as a distinct temporal reading, separate from spatial pursuit. 258×
AR["بَعْدَ","بَعْدَ-","بَعْدَمَا"]·ben["পরে"]·DE["nach","nach-"]·EN["after","after-"]·FR["après","après-"]·heb["אחרי"]·HI["बअद","बाद","बाद-मेइन","बाद-मेइन-"]·ID["sesudah","setelah"]·IT["dopo","dopo-"]·jav["sasampunipun"]·KO["에-후","후에"]·PT["depois-","depois-de"]·RU["после","после-"]·ES["después-de","después-de-"]·SW["baada-ya"]·TR["sonrasında","sonrasında-"]·urd["بعد"]
Gen 5:4, Gen 5:7, Gen 5:10, Gen 5:13, Gen 5:16, Gen 5:19, Gen 5:22, Gen 5:26, Gen 5:30, Gen 6:4, Gen 9:28, Gen 10:1 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. behind, after (spatial/pursuit) — Spatial position behind or following in pursuit, including directional 'from behind' with the min-preposition. Translations consistently use spatial terms: detrás de (Spa.), hinter (Ger.), après in spatial contexts (Fra.). Frequent with halak ('to walk/go after') to describe following a leader, army, or deity (Gen 37:17; 1 Kgs 18:21). 459×
AR["تَمامًا","وَراءَ","وَراءَ-","وَرَاءَ"]·ben["পরে","পশ্চাতে","পিছনে","পেছনে","পেছনে-"]·DE["hinter","hinter-","nach"]·EN["after"]·FR["après"]·heb["אחר","אחרי","אחרי-"]·HI["के-पीछे","पीछे","पीछे-","पूरी-तरह-अनुसरण-किया"]·ID["di-belakang","mengikuti","mengikuti-","sesudah"]·IT["dopo"]·jav["ing-wingking","miturut","ndherekaken","ndèrèk","ngiringi","sabibaripun","sasampunipun","wingking","wingkinging","wonten-wingking"]·KO["뒤-를","뒤-에","뒤를","뒤를-","뒤에","뒤에서","후에"]·PT["após","após-","atrás-de","atrás-de-"]·RU["вслед","за","за-"]·ES["detrás-de","tras"]·SW["baada","kikamilifu","kufuata","kufuatia","kumfuata","nyuma-ya","nyuma-ya-"]·TR["ardında","ardında-","ardından","ardından-","arkasından","peşinden","peşinden-"]·urd["-پیچھے","پیچھے","پیچھے-"]
Gen 24:61, Gen 32:19, Gen 35:5, Gen 37:17, Gen 44:4, Exod 14:8, Exod 23:2, Exod 23:2, Exod 33:8, Exod 34:15, Exod 34:16, Exod 34:16 (+38 more)
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
אַחַר proposes subst. the hinder or following part (cf. the pl.) 1. adv. a. of place, behind, twice Gn 22:13 (many MSS. Sam. 𝔊 𝔖 Ol Ew read אֶחָד v. Di) ψ 68:26. b. of time, afterwards Gn 10:18; 18:5; 24:55; 30:21 Ju 19:5 +; וְאַחַר in laws of P, as Lv 14:8, 19; 15:28; 22:7 Nu 5:26 al. 2. prep. a. of place, behind, after Ex 3:1; 11:5 2 K 11:6 Ct 2:9 Is 57:8: הָלַךְ אַחַר to go after, follow Gn…