H3528 H3528
Already; an adverb of past time indicating something has previously occurred, used exclusively in Ecclesiastes.
The adverb kevar (כְּבָר) means 'already' and is a hallmark of Ecclesiastes' distinctive late Biblical Hebrew vocabulary. It appears nine times, all within Qoheleth's philosophical reflections on the cyclical nature of existence. The famous declaration 'there is nothing new under the sun — it has already been' (Eccl 1:10) captures its characteristic use. The word emphasizes prior completion or established reality, reinforcing Qoheleth's theme that everything repeats. Common in Mishnaic Hebrew and attested in Aramaic and Syriac, its restriction to Ecclesiastes within the Bible is one of the clearest markers of that book's late linguistic profile.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A temporal adverb meaning 'already, previously,' marking an action or state as having occurred before the present moment. Confined entirely to Ecclesiastes, it serves Qoheleth's argument about the futility of novelty: what exists has 'already been' in ages past (Eccl 1:10; 3:15). Spanish ya and German schon capture the sense precisely. The word's frequency in Mishnaic Hebrew and its cognates in Aramaic (כבר) and Syriac (ܟܒܰܪ) confirm it as a late linguistic feature, making it a key diagnostic for dating Ecclesiastes within the biblical corpus. 9×
AR["الأَبَدِ", "الَّذِي-", "الَّذِينَ-", "قَدْ-", "كَانَ", "كِبَر"]·ben["আগেই", "কারণ-আগেই", "যারা-আগেই"]·DE["schon"]·EN["already", "in-that-already", "that-already"]·FR["déjà"]·heb["ב-שׁ-כבר", "כבר", "שׁ-כבר"]·HI["क्योंकि-पहले-से", "जो-पहले-से", "पहले-से"]·ID["oleh-karena-sudah", "sudah", "telah", "yang-sudah"]·IT["già", "in-già"]·jav["ing-sampun", "ingkang-sampun", "sampun"]·KO["그-이미", "이미"]·PT["já", "pois-já", "que-já"]·RU["в-том-что-уже", "которые-уже", "уже"]·ES["que-ya", "ya", "ya-que"]·SW["ambao-tayari", "kwa-sababu-tayari", "tayari"]·TR["ki-zaten", "zaten"]·urd["جو-پہلے-ہی", "پہلے-سے", "پہلے-ہی", "کیونکہ-پہلے-ہی"]
Related Senses
H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H6258 1. and now (421×)G2250 1. day (388×)H5750 1. again, more, further (288×)H5769 1. forever, to eternity (280×)H6256 1. time, period (264×)H2320 1. month, calendar period (260×)H0310a 2. after (temporal) (258×)H3915 1. night, period of darkness (234×)H1242 1. morning (214×)H5750 2. still, yet (continuative) (166×)G5119 1. then (160×)G3568 1. now (147×)G2193 1. until (143×)G3825 1. (141×)G3752 1. (123×)H6153 1. evening, time of day (123×)H0227a 1. then (122×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. כְּבָר adv. (late) already (freq. in Mish. and NH; 𝔗 כבר (rare) Syriac ܟܒܰܪ usually perhaps, occas. already (Mt 11:21 Heb 1:1); Mand. כבאר already, NöM. p. 202. Der. uncertain, connexion with √ כבר being dub.)—already, Ec 1:10 כְּבָר הָיָה it hath already been, 2:12, 16; 3:15(×2); 4:2; 6:10; 9:6, 7.