H8462 H8462
Beginning, commencement; the initial point or first phase of a period, event, or activity
A feminine noun marking the starting point of something, whether temporal ('at the beginning of the harvest,' Ruth 1:22), sequential ('at the first,' Gen 13:3), or conceptual ('the beginning of wisdom,' Prov 9:10). Hosea 1:2 famously uses it in construct with divine speech: 'the beginning of the Lord's speaking through Hosea.' Typically preceded by the preposition be- ('in/at') to create an adverbial phrase meaning 'at the beginning.' Spanish comienzo, French commencement, and German equivalents all align perfectly, reflecting a single transparent sense with no polysemy across its 23 attestations.
Senses
1. beginning, commencement — The initial point, first phase, or commencement of an event, period, or process. Used both absolutely with the article (battekhillah, 'at the beginning,' Gen 13:3; 43:18) and in construct chains (tekhillat khokmah, 'the beginning of wisdom,' Prov 9:10; tekhillat dibber YHWH, 'when the Lord first spoke,' Hos 1:2). All multilingual glosses converge on 'beginning/commencement,' confirming a single well-defined lexical sense. 23×
AR["أَوَّلاً","أَوَّلًا","ال-بِدَايَةِ","بِدَايَةُ","بِدَايَةِ","تِحِلَّت","في-الْبِدايَةِ","فِي-ابْتِدَاءِ","فِي-الْ-بِدَايَةِ","فِي-الْبَدَايَةِ","فِي-الْبِدَايَةِ","فِي-بَدْءِ","فِي-بِدَايَةِ","مِنْ-بِدَايَةِ"]·ben["-ঐ আরম্ভ","-প্রথমে","-শুরুতে","আরম্ভ-থেকে","আরম্ভে","প্রথমে","শুরু","শুরুতে","শুরুতে-"]·DE["[בתחלה]","[בתחלת]","[התחלה]","[תחלת]","am-Anfang","bei-Anfang-von","bei-der-Anfang","bei-der-erster","beim-ersten-Mal","von-Anfang-von"]·EN["at-beginning-of","at-the-beginning","at-the-beginning-of-","at-the-first","from-beginning-of","in-beginning-of","the-beginning","the-beginning-of"]·FR["[בתחלת]","[התחלה]","commencement","de-commencement-de","à-commencement-de","à-le-commencement","à-le-premier","תחלת"]·heb["ב-ה-תחלה","ב-תחילה","ב-תחילת","ב-תחלת","ה-תחלה","מ-תחילת","תחילת"]·HI["आरंभ","आरंभ-में","आरंभ-से","आरम्भ","आरम्भ-में","पहले","में-शुरू","शुरु-मे","शुरू-करता-था","शुरू-में"]·ID["(permulaan)","Awal","Pada-awal","Permulaan","dari-permulaan","pada-awal","pada-awalnya","pada-mulanya","pada-permulaan","permulaan","pertama-tama"]·IT["[בתחלה]","[בתחלת]","[התחלה]","a-beginning-di","a-il-beginning","a-il-primo","a-il-principio","a-principio-di","da-principio-di","il-beginning-di"]·jav["(wonten-ing-wiwitan)","ing-wiwitan","ing-wiwitan-ipun","ing-wiwitaning","saking-wiwitan","wiwitan","wiwitan-punika","wiwitan-saking","wiwitanipun"]·KO["(에-시작-의)","-에서-시작-의","시작-이다","에-시작에","에-처음","처음","처음-에","처음에","처음의"]·PT["(no-início-de)","Início-de","No-princípio-de","Princípio-de","do-início-de","no-início","no-início-de","no-princípio","no-princípio-de","o-começo","o-início","primeiro"]·RU["Начало","в-начале","вначале","начало","начинающий","от-начала","сначала"]·ES["(en-comienzo-de)","En-comienzo-de","al-comienzo-de","al-principio","del-comienzo","desde-comienzo-de","en-comienzo-de","en-el-principio","principio-de"]·SW["Mwanzo-wa","amtacho","hapo-kwanza","katika-mwanzo","kuanza","kuanzia-mwanzo-wa","kwanza","mwanzo-wa","mwanzoni","mwanzoni-mwa","nyumba"]·TR["(başlangıcında)","-başlangıçta","basinda","baslangiç","başlangıcı","başlangıcında","başlangıcında-","başlangıcından","başlangıçta","başlatan"]·urd["(شروع-میں)","بِ-شروع","شروع","شروع-سے","شروع-میں","شروع-کرنے-کا","میں-شروع","پہلے"]
Gen 13:3, Gen 41:21, Gen 43:18, Gen 43:20, Judg 1:1, Judg 20:18, Judg 20:18, Ruth 1:22, 2 Sam 17:9, 2 Sam 21:9, 2 Sam 21:9, 2 Sam 21:10 (+11 more)
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)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×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† תְּחִלָּה n.f. beginning, הַתְּחִלָּה Ne 11:17 (read הַתְּהִלָּה 𝔊 𝔙 SS Öt), בַּתְּחִלָּה Gn 13:3 + 10 times; cstr. תְּחִלַּת Ho 1:2 Pr 9:10 Ec 10:13, בִּתְחִלַּת 2 K 17:25 + 4 times, ͦתְחִלַּת 2 S 21:9, מִתְּחִלַּת 2 S 21:10:—cstr. with nouns תּ׳ חָכְמָה Pr 9:10 the beginning, first principle of wisdom תּ׳ דִּבְרֵי Ec 10:13 the first word, sq. rel. clause תּ׳ דִּבֶּר י׳ at the beginning of,…