StrongerBible

qodam

קֳדָם

AramaicH6925“before, in the presence of, ...”

Appears 42 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Ezr 4:18Ezr 4:23Ezr 7:14Ezr 7:19Dan 2:6Dan 2:9Dan 2:10Dan 2:11Dan 2:15Dan 2:18Dan 2:24Dan 2:25Dan 2:27Dan 2:36Dan 3:13Dan 4:2(3:32)Dan 4:6(3)Dan 4:7(4)Dan 4:8(5) (2×)Dan 5:13Dan 5:15Dan 5:17Dan 5:19Dan 5:23Dan 5:24Dan 6:1(2)Dan 6:18(19)Dan 6:22(23) (2×)Dan 6:26(27)Dan 7:7Dan 7:8Dan 7:10 (2×)Dan 7:13Dan 7:20
Word studykoh-DAHMpreposition

What qodam means

in front of, or in the presence of, someone or something (especially a king or God)

TranslatabilityApproximateCertaintySettled

This little word points to where one thing or person stands in relation to another: in front of it, or in its presence. In the night visions of Daniel it can be purely physical, marking one beast set apart from the beasts before it, or horns torn out from in front of another.

Far more often it places a person in the presence of someone greater. People are brought before the king, they speak and answer before him, and Daniel kneels and prays before his God. To stand before a king or before God is to be in their sight and under their authority, and this is the word's home ground in the court stories of Daniel and Ezra.

It also carries a polite habit of the Aramaic court. Rather than say the king decided something, the text says it seemed good before him; rather than say the king sent an order, it says the order went out from before him. The same care surrounds God: mercy is sought from before heaven, and Daniel says that before God he was found innocent, meaning in God's own judgment. The wording keeps a respectful distance, letting the king or God stand behind the action instead of being named as its plain subject.

Nuances

1ain front of: plain physical position, with no personal presence in view
TranslatabilityDirect
Dan 7:7Dan 7:8Dan 7:20
1bin the presence of a king or God: coming, standing, speaking, serving, or worshiping before someone greater
Ezr 4:18Ezr 4:23Ezr 7:19Dan 2:9Dan 2:10Dan 2:11Dan 2:24Dan 2:25Dan 2:27Dan 2:36Dan 3:13Dan 4:6(3)
1cthe polite court idiom in which "before" someone stands in for that person as the one who decides, sends, grants, or judges (so "from before the king" means by the king, and "good before me" means I approve)
TranslatabilityPartial
Ezr 7:14Dan 2:6Dan 2:15Dan 2:18Dan 4:2(3:32)Dan 5:24Dan 6:1(2)Dan 6:22(23) (2×)Dan 6:26(27)

What scholars say about qodam

The Biblical Aramaic preposition קֳדָם is uniformly analyzed as "before, in front of, in the presence of," the Aramaic counterpart of Hebrew לִפְנֵי, with the same extension from local position to standing in the presence of a superior (king or deity). The standard lexica (HALOT Aramaic section; Vogt) and grammars additionally note its deferential periphrastic function in the court narratives of Daniel and Ezra: with שְׁפַר it forms the polite "it seemed good before X" for X's decision, and מִן־קֳדָם expresses agency or source ("from before the king/God" for a decree, reward, mercy, or sending), a courtly avoidance of naming the king or God as direct grammatical subject or object. Rosenthal's grammar treats these constructions as a settled feature of the dialect. The sense of the word itself is not disputed.

Sources

  • HALOT (Koehler-Baumgartner-Stamm), Aramaic section, s.v. קֳדָםlexicon
  • E. Vogt, A Lexicon of Biblical Aramaic (rev. and trans. J. A. Fitzmyer), s.v. קֳדָםlexicon
  • F. Rosenthal, A Grammar of Biblical Aramaicgrammar
  • BDB, Biblical Aramaic section, s.v. קֳדָםlexicon

AI-generated word study · claude-opus-4-8

All attested forms of קֳדָם

c s construct

קֳדָם

Ezr 7:14, Ezr 7:19, Dan 2:10, Dan 2:11, Dan 2:15, Dan 2:18, Dan 2:24, Dan 2:25

c p construct

קָדָמַי, קֳדָמַי, קֳדָמָי, קָדָמָי

Dan 2:9, Dan 4:2, Dan 4:6, Dan 4:8, Dan 5:15, Dan 6:26, Dan 2:6, Ezr 4:18

m p construct

קָדָמוֹהִי, קֳדָמוֹהִי, קְדָמוֹהִי

Dan 4:8, Dan 6:18, Dan 6:22, Dan 7:10, Dan 5:19, Dan 5:24, Dan 7:10, Dan 7:13

c s absolute

קֳדָם

Ezr 4:23, Dan 5:17, Dan 6:1

c s construct

קֳדָמַהּ, קָדָמַיהּ

Dan 7:8, Dan 7:20, Dan 7:7

c s construct

קָדָמָךְ

Dan 5:23, Dan 6:22

m p construct

קֳדָמֵיהוֹן

Dan 4:7