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,…