Hebrew word · H3528

כְּבָר

kevar

already

Already, long ago, formerly.

Appears 9 times in 8 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

already, long ago, a great while

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ecclesiastes 6:10

Range of meaning

Already, long ago, formerly.

Against the English

BSB 'long ago' and KJV 'already' both work. 'Already' keeps the link to Qohelet's earlier uses better.

Used elsewhere in the period

Within the Bible this word belongs to Ecclesiastes alone (1:10; 2:12, 16; 3:15; 4:2; 6:10; 9:6, 7). Later Hebrew (the Mishnah) uses it commonly.

From the study of Ecclesiastes 9:7

Range of meaning

'Already, long ago, before now.' In the Hebrew Bible it occurs only in Ecclesiastes (1:10; 2:12, 16; 3:15 twice; 4:2; 6:10; 9:6, 7). It belongs to later Hebrew and is common in the Mishnah. There is a related Aramaic word.

Against the English

KJV's 'now accepteth' loses 'already' and turns a settled fact into an ongoing present. BSB, NIV, ESV, NASB, WEB and YLT keep 'already'.

How it drifted

KJV's 'now' reflects 17th-century translation choices, not the Hebrew. A KJV reader may hear the approval as a present state that might change, when Qohelet stresses that it is already settled.

Used elsewhere in the period

Elsewhere in Qohelet, kevar expresses that something is fixed or has gone before: 'it has been already, in the ages before us' (1:10); 'whatever is has already been named' (6:10). Its late-Hebrew character is one of the language features scholars use to date the book to the Persian or early Hellenistic period.

From the study of Ecclesiastes 2:16

Range of meaning

'Already, long ago, in time past.' A late Hebrew word (common in Aramaic and in the Mishnah). In the Bible it appears only in Ecclesiastes (1:10; 2:12, 16; 3:15 twice; 4:2; 6:10; 9:6, 7).

Against the English

KJV "that which now [is]" and YLT "that which [is] already" read it as 'what exists now'. BSB and WEB fold it into the time frame: 'in the days to come all will have been long forgotten.'

Used elsewhere in the period

HALOT and BDB treat it as a late word. Its spread through Ecclesiastes is one piece of the linguistic evidence (along with the relative particle she-) that many scholars use to date the book's language to the Persian or Hellenistic period.

Where it appears

Ecclesiastes · 9

  1. Ecclesiastes 1:10 כְּבָר֙ already

    Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

  2. Ecclesiastes 2:12 כְּבָ֖ר already

    Then I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly; for what more can the king’s successor do than what has already been accomplished?

  3. Ecclesiastes 2:16 בְּשֶׁכְּבָ֞ר in that already

    For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the fool!

    Here: "Seeing that already": a compound of late Hebrew (in, that, already). Looking ahead, Qohelet talks about the future as though the forgetting were *already* done.

  4. Ecclesiastes 3:15 כְּבָ֣ר כְּבָ֣ר [has been] already, already

    What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

  5. Ecclesiastes 4:2 שֶׁכְּבָ֣ר who already

    So I admired the dead, who had already died, above the living, who are still alive.

  6. Ecclesiastes 6:10 כְּבָר֙ already

    Whatever exists was named long ago, and it is known what man is; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

    Here: One of Qohelet's signature words. Outside Ecclesiastes it does not appear in the Bible (1:10; 2:12, 16; 3:15; 4:2; 9:6, 7). It hits a nerve he struck at 1:10 and 3:15: nothing waits to be defined for the first time, because it all 'already' was.

  7. Ecclesiastes 9:6 כְּבָ֣ר already

    Their love, their hate, and their envy have already vanished, and they will never again have a share in all that is done under the sun.

  8. Ecclesiastes 9:7 כְבָ֔ר already

    Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:

    Here: 'Already, long since.' The same word appears in the verse before, where the love, hate and envy of the dead have 'already' perished. The living have 'already' been approved. The question is settled, so there is nothing to wait for.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.