בִּלְעֲדֵי
bil.a.de
beside
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Bilʿadē (H1107): A Hebrew Preposition of Exclusion and Exception The Hebrew word *bilʿadē* functions as a preposition meaning "beside" or, more precisely, "apart from" or "except." Its literal spatial sense of "beside" extends into a logical function: marking what is excluded or separated from consideration. With only 17 occurrences in the biblical text, this is a relatively uncommon term, suggesting it served a specific communicative purpose rather than being a standard, everyday preposition. The word's primary semantic value lies in indicating exception or exclusion—essentially drawing a boundary around what is being discussed. When something is described as happening "bilʿadē" (apart from/beside) something else, the preposition signals that the stated exception stands outside the normal scope of what is being claimed. This makes it a useful tool for biblical authors seeking to qualify statements precisely, ruling out alternatives or clarifying limitations. The rarity of the term suggests its use was reserved for moments where such precise demarcation mattered rhetorically or legally to the text's meaning.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
17 total occurrences across the text
Teach me that which I don’t see. If I have done iniquity, I will do it no more’?
Psalms 18:31For who is God, except Yahweh? Who is a rock, besides our God,
Isaiah 36:10Have I come up now without Yahweh against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, “Go up against this land, and destroy it.” ’ ”
Isaiah 43:11I myself am Yahweh. Besides me, there is no savior.
Isaiah 44:6This is what Yahweh, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies, says: “I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God.
Isaiah 44:8Don’t fear, neither be afraid. Haven’t I declared it to you long ago, and shown it? You are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? Indeed, there is not. I don’t know any other Rock.”
Isaiah 45:21Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior. There is no one besides me.
Jeremiah 44:19“When we burned incense to the queen of the sky, and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her, without our husbands?”
Isaiah 45:6that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is no one besides me. I am Yahweh, and there is no one else.
Genesis 14:24I will accept nothing from you except that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre. Let them take their portion.”
Genesis 41:16Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
Genesis 41:44Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. Without you, no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.”
Numbers 5:20But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—”
Joshua 22:19However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than Yahweh our God’s altar.
2 Samuel 22:32For who is God, besides Yahweh? Who is a rock, besides our God?
2 Samuel 22:32For who is God, besides Yahweh? Who is a rock, besides our God?
2 Kings 18:25Have I now come up without Yahweh against this place to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, ‘Go up against this land, and destroy it.’ ” ’ ”