רִאשֹׁנִי
ri.sho.ni
first
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# Biblical Analysis of רִאשֹׁנִי (ri.sho.ni) The Hebrew word רִאשֹׁנִי carries the straightforward meaning of "first," denoting priority in sequence or order. With only a single occurrence in the biblical text, this term represents a relatively rare usage within Scripture, which limits our ability to observe variations in how it was deployed across different contexts or authors. The scarcity of this particular form—appearing only once—suggests it may be a variant or alternative expression for conveying the concept of "first" compared to other more frequently used Hebrew terms. While the lexicon data provided does not specify where this single occurrence appears, the minimal usage indicates this was not a standard or preferred word choice for biblical writers when expressing firstness or primacy. This rarity makes it difficult to assess whether the word carried specialized theological or literary significance or whether it was simply an occasional alternative to more common expressions. For biblical scholars and readers, this word's singular appearance serves as a reminder that Hebrew vocabulary for basic concepts like sequence and order had multiple available terms, and the choice of one over another may have been stylistic or contextual rather than semantically substantial. Without additional usage data, the full nuance of this term remains largely inaccessible through the lexicon alone.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
1 total occurrence across the text