קֳדָם

Ezra 4:18 קָדָמָֽי׃ before me

The letter you sent us has been translated and read in my presence.

Ezra 4:23 קֳדָם־ before

When the text of the letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai the scribe, and their associates, they went immediately to the Jews in Jerusalem and forcibly stopped them.

Ezra 7:14 קֳדָ֨ם before

You are sent by the king and his seven counselors to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the Law of your God, which is in your hand.

Ezra 7:19 קֳדָ֖ם before

You must deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.

Daniel 2:6 קֳדָמָ֑י before me

But if you tell me the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and its interpretation.”

Daniel 2:9 קָֽדָמַ֔י before me

If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one decree for you. You have conspired to speak before me false and fraudulent words, hoping the situation will change. Therefore tell me the dream, and I will know that you can give me its interpretation.”

Daniel 2:10 קֳדָם־ before

The astrologers answered the king, “No one on earth can do what the king requests! No king, however great and powerful, has ever asked anything like this of any magician, enchanter, or astrologer.

Daniel 2:11 קֳדָ֣ם before

What the king requests is so difficult that no one can tell it to him except the gods, whose dwelling is not with mortals.”

Here: "Before": the standard language of the royal presence. One does not simply tell a king something, one sets it before him.

Daniel 2:15 קֳדָ֣ם before

“Why is the decree from the king so harsh?” he asked. Then Arioch explained the situation to Daniel.

Daniel 2:18 קֳדָם֙ before

urging them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be killed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

Here: 'From before' is court language. A petitioner stands in the presence of a ruler and does not address him too directly. The same word is used for standing 'before the king' in this chapter (2:9–11, 24–25).

Daniel 2:24 קֳדָ֣ם before

Therefore Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I will give him the interpretation.”

Daniel 2:25 קֳדָ֣ם before

Arioch hastily brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who will tell the king the interpretation.”

Daniel 2:27 קֳדָ֥ם before

Daniel answered the king, “No wise man, enchanter, medium, or magician can explain to the king the mystery of which he inquires.

Daniel 2:36 קֳדָם־ before

This was the dream; now we will tell the king its interpretation.

Daniel 3:13 קֳדָ֥ם before

Then Nebuchadnezzar, furious with rage, summoned Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. So these men were brought before the king,

Here: "Before, in front of." This is the language of standing in a king's presence for an audience or a trial.

Daniel 4:2 קָֽדָמַ֖י before me

I am pleased to declare the signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

Here: 'Before me', meaning 'in my sight, to me.' Together with the previous word: 'I have judged it good.'

Daniel 4:6 קָֽדָמַ֔י before me

So I issued a decree that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before me to interpret the dream for me.

Daniel 4:7 קֳדָ֣מֵיה֔וֹן before them

When the magicians, enchanters, astrologers, and diviners came in, I told them the dream, but they could not interpret it for me.

Daniel 4:8 קָֽדָמַ֨י קָֽדָמ֥וֹהִי before me, before him

But at last, into my presence came Daniel (whose name is Belteshazzar after the name of my god, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods). And I told him the dream:

Here: 'Before me.' This is the court phrase for being brought into the king's presence. Nebuchadnezzar is speaking in the first person, because the whole chapter is framed as his own public letter (4:1).

Daniel 5:13 קֳדָ֣ם before

So Daniel was brought before the king, who asked him, “Are you Daniel, one of the exiles my father the king brought from Judah?

Daniel 5:15 קָֽדָמַ֗י before me

Now the wise men and enchanters were brought before me to read this inscription and interpret it for me, but they could not give its interpretation.

Here: 'In front of me,' the normal court phrase for standing in audience before a king. The king puts himself at the centre of the failed consultation.

Daniel 5:17 קֳדָ֣ם before

In response, Daniel said to the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the inscription for the king and interpret it for him.

Daniel 5:19 קֳדָמ֑וֹהִי before him

Because of the greatness that He bestowed on him, the people of every nation and language trembled in fear before him. He killed whom he wished and kept alive whom he wished; he exalted whom he wished and humbled whom he wished.

Daniel 5:23 קָֽדָמָ֗ךְ before you

Instead, you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. The vessels from His house were brought to you, and as you drank wine from them with your nobles, wives, and concubines, you praised your gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you have failed to glorify the God who holds in His hand your very breath and all your ways.

Here: 'Before you.' The holy objects were set in front of the king for his use and display.

Daniel 5:24 קֳדָמ֔וֹהִי before him

Therefore He sent the hand that wrote the inscription.

Here: 'Before him', meaning from his presence. 'Him' is the God of verse 23 who holds Belshazzar's breath. In Aramaic this was the usual polite and reverent way to speak of a king's or God's action: things are issued 'from before' him, the way decrees left the throne room.

Daniel 6:1 קֳדָ֣ם before

Now it pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom,

Daniel 6:10 קֳדָ֣ם before

Now when Daniel learned that the document had been signed, he went into his house, where the windows of his upper room opened toward Jerusalem, and three times a day he got down on his knees, prayed, and gave thanks to his God, just as he had done before.

Here: 'Before' in the sense of 'in the presence of', the way one appears before a king. The same word is used for standing before Darius elsewhere in the chapter.

Daniel 6:11 קֳדָ֥ם before

Then these men went as a group and found Daniel petitioning and imploring his God.

Daniel 6:12 קֳדָם־ before

So they approached the king and asked about his royal decree: “Did you not sign a decree that for thirty days any man who petitions any god or man except you, O king, will be thrown into the den of lions?” The king replied, “According to the law of the Medes and Persians the order stands, and it cannot be repealed.”

Daniel 6:13 קֳדָ֣ם before

Then they told the king, “Daniel, one of the exiles from Judah, shows no regard for you, O king, or for the decree that you have signed. He still makes his petition three times a day.”

Daniel 6:18 קָֽדָמ֑וֹהִי before him

Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting. No entertainment was brought before him, and sleep fled from him.

Daniel 6:22 קָֽדָמ֙וֹהִי֙ קָֽדָמָךְ֙ before him, before you

My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”

Here: 'Before him.' This is courtroom and palace language: standing in front of the one who judges. God is pictured as the judge who examined the case.

Daniel 6:26 קֳדָמַי֮ קֳדָ֖ם before me, before

I hereby decree that in every part of my kingdom, men are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel: For He is the living God, and He endures forever; His kingdom will never be destroyed, and His dominion will never end.

Here: "From before me." This is court language that puts a little distance between the king and the order. Persian-era decrees often say simply "from me" (Ezra 6:11; 7:13).

Daniel 7:7 קָֽדָמַ֔יהּ [was] before it

After this, as I watched in my vision in the night, suddenly a fourth beast appeared, and it was terrifying—dreadful and extremely strong—with large iron teeth. It devoured and crushed; then it trampled underfoot whatever was left. It was different from all the beasts before it, and it had ten horns.

Here: 'Before it' in time: the beasts that came earlier in the sequence.

Daniel 7:8 קֳדָמַ֑הּ before it

While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.

Here: 'Before it', or 'to make way for it'. The three horns are cleared out of the new horn's path.

Daniel 7:10 קֳדָמ֔וֹהִי קָֽדָמ֣וֹהִי before him

A river of fire was flowing, coming out from His presence. Thousands upon thousands attended Him, and myriads upon myriads stood before Him. The court was convened, and the books were opened.

Here: Literally 'from before him'. This was the respectful way Aramaic spoke of a king's presence: the river comes from right in front of the Ancient of Days.

Daniel 7:13 וּקְדָמ֖וֹהִי and before him

In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.

Here: 'And before him', in front of the Ancient of Days. This is court language for being in a king's presence (compare 2:24–25; 5:13).

Daniel 7:20 קֳדָמַ֖הּ before it

I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn whose appearance was more imposing than the others, with eyes and with a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.