Hebrew word · H6917
קָדוּם
kedumim
ancient
Found only here. The root q-d-m covers "front, east, before" and "former time, antiquity" (qedem, "of old"). As a verb it means "to go before, to meet, to confront", including meeting someone in hostility (Ps 18:5, 18 "the snares of death confronted me"; 2 Kgs 19:32).
Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
1) antiquity, ancient, onrushing
1a) meaning uncertain
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
- Range of meaning
Found only here. The root q-d-m covers "front, east, before" and "former time, antiquity" (qedem, "of old"). As a verb it means "to go before, to meet, to confront", including meeting someone in hostility (Ps 18:5, 18 "the snares of death confronted me"; 2 Kgs 19:32).
- Against the English
Most versions have "ancient river" or "age-old river". Some commentators and a few translations suggest "onrushing torrent" or "torrent of battles/confrontations". The Vulgate and one Greek manuscript just spell out the word as a name ("Cadumim").
- How it drifted
There is no drift in the English as such. The problem is that "ancient" is presented as certain when the word is genuinely uncertain.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Codex Alexandrinus of the Greek has archaiōn ("of ancient ones"). Codex Vaticanus transliterates it as kadēmeim. Aramaic Targum tradition expands it into the stream where mighty acts were done for Israel from of old. Modern commentators (e.g. Boling, Lindars, Block) record "ancient", "onrushing" and "confronting" as possibilities.
Where it appears
Judges · 1
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Judges 5:21 קְדוּמִ֖ים ancient times
The River Kishon swept them away, the ancient river, the River Kishon. March on, O my soul, in strength!
Here: Another word found only here. It comes from a root meaning "front, before, of old", and also "to meet or go out against". So it could mean "the age-old torrent" or "the torrent that rushed out to meet them". The meaning is uncertain (see debates).
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.