Word study
Ahead
4 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “ahead”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “ahead” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- פָּנִים pânîmface, beforetranslated this way 39 times of its 1,836 uses · Strong’s H6440Noun · Translated: before 448, face 222, presence 147, before you 123Full study and all 1,671 verses →
Genesis 32:3 Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
Exodus 17:5 And the LORD said to Moses, “Walk on ahead of the people and take some of the elders of Israel with you. Take along in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.
- נֶגֶד negedwhat is conspicuous or in fronttranslated this way 3 times of its 142 uses · Strong’s H5048Preposition · Translated: before 24, before me 11, opposite 11, presence 9Full study and all 135 verses →
Genesis 33:12 Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”
Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.
- הָלַךְ hâlakgo, come, walktranslated this way 2 times of its 1,461 uses · Strong’s H1980Verb · Translated: go 338, went 173, walk 116, Come 84Full study and all 1,299 verses →
Exodus 2:8 “Go ahead,” Pharaoh’s daughter told her. And the girl went and called the boy’s mother.
Ruth 2:2 And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go into the fields and glean heads of grain after someone in whose sight I may find favor.” “Go ahead, my daughter,” Naomi replied.
- אֵל êlmotion totranslated this way 2 times of its 4,199 uses · Strong’s H413Preposition · Translated: to 1,941, to me 285, to you 149, to him 137Full study and all 3,455 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- προάγω proágōI lead forth, go beforetranslated this way 12 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G4254Verb · Translated: went ahead 3, going ahead 3, go on ahead 2, go ahead 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Matthew 2:9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the Child was.
Mark 6:45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd.
- πρό próbeforetranslated this way 5 times of its 47 uses · Strong’s G4253Preposition · Translated: before 31, ahead 5, at 3, time ago 2Full study and all 47 verses →
Matthew 11:10 This is the one about whom it is written: ‘Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way before You.’
Mark 1:2 As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I will send My messenger ahead of You, who will prepare Your way.”
- ἔμπροσθεν émprosthenin front, before the facetranslated this way 5 times of its 46 uses · Strong’s G1715Preposition · Translated: before 25, ahead 5, front 4, presence 3Full study and all 43 verses →
Luke 19:4 So he ran on ahead and climbed a sycamore tree to see Him, since Jesus was about to pass that way.
John 3:28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but am sent ahead of Him.’
- κατέναντι katénantiopposite, in front oftranslated this way 3 times of its 8 uses · Strong’s G2713Preposition · Translated: ahead 3, opposite 2, before 2, presence 1Full study and all 8 verses →
Matthew 21:2 saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt beside her. Untie them and bring them to Me.
Mark 11:2 and said to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it here.
- προέρχομαι proérchomaiI go before, precedetranslated this way 2 times of its 9 uses · Strong’s G4281Verb · Translated: went on ahead 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Acts 20:5 These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas.
Acts 20:13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, where we were to take Paul aboard. He had arranged this because he was going there on foot.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.