קַדְמָה (qad.mah)
qad.mah
former
H:N-FQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 2 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:N-F
Word Overview
The noun qadmah refers to antiquity, origin, or a former state of being. It points to what existed before the present moment, marking the beginning of something or the condition that preceded it. In the Hebrew text, this word often functions as a conjunction meaning "before," linking past circumstances to current events.
With only two occurrences in the Bible, its usage is specific and concentrated. In Isaiah 41:23, God challenges false gods to declare what happened in qadmah, or former times, to prove their divinity. This usage highlights the word’s role in establishing a timeline of history against which truth can be measured.
The term carries weight by grounding present reality in its origins. It reminds readers that current situations have a prior state, and that true knowledge involves understanding what came before. By focusing on antiquity and origin, qadmah serves as a linguistic bridge between the past and the present.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The word qadmah points to what came before, anchoring our present in the reality of origins. When Scripture speaks of former times, it invites us to look back not with regret, but with clarity. Understanding where we have been helps us see where we are going. This perspective grounds our faith in a history that is real and purposeful.
In Isaiah 41:23, God uses this concept to challenge false claims about the future by asking what happened in former times. True knowledge begins with remembering what God has already done. By reflecting on these earlier moments, we find stability. The past is not lost; it is the foundation for our current hope and trust.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 2 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- that/ before1×
- beginning/ its1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- שֶׁ/קַּדְמַ֖ת1×
- קַדְמָתָ/הּ֙1×
Key Verses
-
Isaiah 23:7
Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days, whose feet carried her far away to travel?
This verse uses the related concept of antiquity to describe Tyre's long history, showing how the word grounds identity in a deep past.
-
Psalms 129:6
Let them be as the grass on the housetops, which withers before it grows up,
While this verse uses a different Hebrew term for 'before', it shares the thematic weight of transience against enduring divine justice.