reshit · beginning, firstfruits

What it means

reshit (רֵאשִׁית) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “beginning, firstfruits”.

What is first in time, order or importance: the beginning of something. It is also used for the "firstfruits", the first part of a harvest; the best part.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. The beginning: "in the beginning".
2. The best of something, what is set apart for its quality.
3. The earliest part of the harvest, for YHWH.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• beginning ×20
• first ×18
• firstfruits ×9
• best ×2
• chief ×1
• finest ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×3
• Exodus×2
• Leviticus×2
• Numbers×4
• Deuteronomy×7
• 1 Samuel×2
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Nehemiah×2
• Job×3
• Psalms×3
• Proverbs×5
• Ecclesiastes×1
• Isaiah×1
• Jeremiah×6
• Ezekiel×4
• Daniel×1
• Hosea×1
• Amos×2
• Micah×1

• Genesis 1:1

  In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.

• Genesis 10:10

  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

• Genesis 49:3

  Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the first fruit of my vigor, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

• Exodus 23:19

  The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of YHWH your Elohim. You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.

• Exodus 34:26

  The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of YHWH your Elohim. You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.”

• Leviticus 2:12

  As an offering of firstfruits you may present them to YHWH, but to the altar they shall not go up as a pleasing aroma.

• Leviticus 23:10

  “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: When you come into the land that I am giving you and reap its harvest, you shall bring the sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the priest.

• Numbers 15:20

  Of the first of your dough you shall set apart a loaf as a contribution; like the contribution of the threshing floor, so you shall set it apart.

• Numbers 15:21

  Of the first of your dough you shall give to YHWH a contribution throughout your generations.

• Numbers 18:12

  All the best of the fresh oil and all the best of the new wine and grain, the first of them that they give to YHWH, I have given them to you.

• Numbers 24:20

  And he saw Amalek and took up his poem and said, “Amalek was the first of the nations, but his end shall be to destruction.”

• Deuteronomy 11:12

  a land that YHWH your Elohim cares for; the eyes of YHWH your Elohim are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

• Deuteronomy 18:4

  The firstfruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the firstfruits of the shearing of your flock, you shall give to him.

• Deuteronomy 21:17

  But the firstborn, the son of the hated one, he shall acknowledge by giving him a double portion of all that is found to be his, for he is the firstfruits of his vigor; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.

• Deuteronomy 26:2

  that you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground that you bring from your land that YHWH your Elohim is giving you, and you shall put it in the basket and go to the place that YHWH your Elohim chooses to make his name dwell there.

• Deuteronomy 26:10

  And now, look, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground that you have given me, YHWH.” And you shall set it down before YHWH your Elohim and bow down before YHWH your Elohim.

• Deuteronomy 33:21

  He chose the first part for himself, for there the portion of a commander was reserved; and he came with the heads of the people; he carried out the righteousness of YHWH and his judgments with Israel.”

• 1 Samuel 2:29

  Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering that I commanded for the dwelling place, and honor your sons more than me, fattening yourselves with the first part of every offering of Israel my people?

• 1 Samuel 15:21

  But the people took from the spoil animals of the flock and herd, the firstfruits of what was devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to YHWH your Elohim in Gilgal.”

• 2 Chronicles 31:5

  When the order spread, the sons of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, new wine, and oil, and honey, and of all the produce of the field; and the tithe of everything they brought in abundance.

• Nehemiah 10:37

  and the first of our dough, and our contributions, and the fruit of every tree, new wine and oil, we will bring to the priests, to the chambers of the house of our Elohim; and the tithe of our ground to the Levites; and they, the Levites, are the ones who receive the tithe in all the cities of our labor.

• Nehemiah 12:44

  And on that day men were appointed over the chambers for the treasures, for the contributions, for the first part and for the tithes, to gather into them, from the fields of the cities, the portions of the law for the priests and for the Levites; for the rejoicing of Judah was over the priests and over the Levites who stood in their place.

• Job 8:7

  And your beginning will have been small, but your end will grow very great.

• Job 40:19

  It is the beginning of the ways of El; its Maker brings near his sword.

• Job 42:12

  And YHWH blessed the end of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand female donkeys.

• Psalms 78:51

  And he struck every firstborn in Egypt, the beginning of vigor in the tents of Ham.

• Psalms 105:36

  And he struck every firstborn in their land, the beginning of all their vigor.

• Psalms 111:10

  The beginning of wisdom is the fear of YHWH; good understanding have all who practice them; his praise endures forever.

• Proverbs 1:7

  The fear of YHWH is the beginning of knowledge; wisdom and correction fools despise.

• Proverbs 3:9

  Honor YHWH with your wealth, and with the firstfruits of all your harvest;

• Proverbs 4:7

  The beginning of wisdom: acquire wisdom, and with all you possess acquire understanding.

• Proverbs 8:22

  YHWH acquired me as the beginning of his way, before his works, from of old.

• Proverbs 17:14

  Like releasing water is the beginning of strife; so before the dispute breaks out, leave it.

• Ecclesiastes 7:8

  Better is the end of a matter than its beginning; better is one long of spirit than one high of spirit.

• Isaiah 46:10

  declaring from the beginning the end, and from of old what has not been done; saying, ‘My counsel will stand, and all my desire I will do’;

• Jeremiah 2:3

  Israel was holiness to YHWH, the firstfruits of his harvest; all who devoured it incurred guilt; evil came upon them, declares YHWH.’”

• Jeremiah 26:1

  At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from YHWH, saying,

• Jeremiah 27:1

  At the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying,

• Jeremiah 28:1

  And it happened in that year, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, in the fifth month, that Hananiah son of Azzur, the prophet, said to me, who was from Gibeon, in the house of YHWH, before the eyes of the priests and of all the people, saying:

• Jeremiah 49:34

  That which came as the word of YHWH to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

And 11 more times.