Bible word study

Rosh (Strong’s H7218): Meaning in the Bible

Rosh (רֹאשׁ) is the Hebrew word numbered H7218 in Strong’s concordance of the Bible. Strong’s defines it as the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.). In the King James Bible it is translated band, beginning, captain, chapiter, chief(-est place.

רֹאשׁ
rôʼsh · Hebrew
Strong’s H7218 · roshe

The full Strong’s definition

the head (as most easily shaken), whether literal or figurative (in many applications, of place, time, rank, itc.)

Derivation. from an unused root apparently meaning to shake;

How the King James Bible translates it

band, beginning, captain, chapiter, chief(-est place, man, things), company, end, × every (man), excellent, first, forefront, (be-)head, height, (on) high(-est part, (priest)), × lead, × poor, principal, ruler, sum, top. (The × marks places where the word shapes the phrasing rather than being rendered by a single English word.)

Why the word matters

Every word the biblical writers chose carries weight. Studying Rosh in the original Hebrew lets you read the passages where it appears more carefully, closer to what the first hearers understood, so the meaning is drawn from the text itself rather than from the English alone.

The lexical data on this page comes from the public-domain Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890), a Hebrew and Greek dictionary keyed to the King James Bible. It is a reference tool, not a settled verdict: no single word decides a doctrine, and meaning is finally shaped by how a word is used in its sentences. Read the passages themselves, prayerfully, and in full.

Related words

Reshith (H7225)All Bible word studies

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