קֳדָם42 H6925
Before, in the presence of; an Aramaic preposition marking spatial presence or (rarely) temporal priority
An Aramaic preposition found exclusively in Daniel and Ezra, functioning as the equivalent of Hebrew liphnei ('before the face of'). Nearly all 46 occurrences describe being in the presence of a superior -- speaking before the king, praying before God, reading before an official -- where the relational tone carries deference and formality. A single occurrence in Daniel 7:7 shifts to temporal meaning ('before it'), a distinction confirmed by Arabic qablaha and Spanish antes de ella, both temporal markers that differ from the spatial devant/ante used everywhere else.
Senses
1. before, in the presence of — Spatial and relational preposition meaning 'before, in the presence of,' used 45 times in formal Aramaic court and cultic settings. Governs pronominal suffixes across all persons (qodamai, qodamakh, qodamohi, etc.). The multilingual evidence is remarkably uniform -- French devant, Spanish ante/delante de, German vor -- all spatial. Key passages include Daniel 2:9 ('to say before me') and Ezra 4:18 ('read before us'), where the sense conveys face-to-face presence before an authority. 45×
AR["أَمَامَ","أَمَامَ-","أَمَامِ","أَمَامِي","قُدَّامَ","قُدَّامَ-","قُدَّامِ","قُدَّامِي"]·ben["-আমার-সামনে","-সামনে","-সামনে-","আমার-কাছে","আমার-সামনে","সামনে","সামনে-"]·DE["vor"]·EN["before","before-","before-me"]·FR["[קדמי]","devant"]·heb["לפני"]·HI["के-सामने","मेरे-सामने","सामने"]·ID["di-hadapan","di-hadapanku","hadapan","hadapanku","ke-hadapan"]·IT["davanti-a"]·jav["ing-ngarsaning-kawula","ing-ngarsaning-kula","ing-ngarsanipun","ing-ngarsanipun-","ngarsaning-kawula","ngarsanipun","wonten-ing-ngarsanipun","wonten-ing-ngarsanipun-","wonten-ngarsanipun"]·KO["내-앞-에","앞-","앞-나의","앞-에","앞-에서","앞에","앞에-나의","앞에서","앞에서-"]·PT["diante-de","diante-de-mim","diante-do"]·RU["перед","перед-","передо-мной"]·ES["ante","delante-de","delante-de-mí"]·SW["mbele-ya","mbele-ya-","mbele-yangu"]·TR["önümde","önümden","önünde","önünde-","önünden","önüne"]·urd["سامنے","میرے-سامنے","کے-سامنے"]
2. before (temporal) — Temporal preposition meaning 'before, prior to,' attested once in Daniel 7:7 describing the fourth beast devouring what came before it. The multilingual translations split clearly here: Arabic shifts from amama (spatial) to qablaha (temporal 'before it'), Spanish moves from delante de to antes de ella, and Hindi uses usse pahle ('before it' in time). This convergence across unrelated language families confirms a genuinely distinct temporal sense rather than a spatial metaphor. 1×
AR["قَبْلَهُ"]·ben["এর-আগে"]·DE["vor"]·EN["before-it"]·FR["[קדמיה]"]·heb["לפניה"]·HI["उससे-पहले-के"]·ID["sebelumnya"]·IT["davanti-a"]·jav["saderengipun"]·KO["그것의-앞에"]·PT["antes-dele"]·RU["перед-ним"]·ES["antes-de-ella"]·SW["kabla-yake"]·TR["öncesinde"]·urd["اُس-سے-پہلے-تھے"]
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×)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×)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×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
קֳדָם42 prep. before (so Old Aramaic Nab. Palm. etc. (Lzb360 f.), 𝔗 קָדָם, Syriac ܩܕܳܡ; proposes a subst. the front, cf. Arabic قُدَّام the front; for √ v. BH קדם);—sf. קֳדָמַי Dn 2:9 +, -מָ֑י v 6; קדמיך Kt, קֳדָמָךְ Qr, †5:23; 6:23; קֳדָמוֹהִי 4:5 + (cf. Nerab קדמוה, Cooke189); 3 fs. קדמיה Kt, קֳדָמַהּ Qr, †7:7, 8, 20; קֳדָמֵיהוֹן †4:4;— 1. before (= Heb. לִפְנֵי), especially in the phrases to…