first
ri.shon marks what comes first in a sequence, time setting, action, or earlier state.
The term most often identifies the first position in a numbered sequence or time designation, including lots, days, months, and rulers. It also marks an action or person proceeding before others and, in retrospective settings, describes a prior writing, custom, condition, or period.
Senses in use
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First in a sequence or time designation · dominant
Singular ordinal forms occur with ordered lots and calendrical points: in 1 Chronicles 24:7 the APB renders the lot assigned to Jehoiarib as “The first lot,” and in 2 Chronicles 29:17 it renders the opening day and month of the consecration as “the first day of the first month.” The same sequence-setting use appears for a king in Daniel 8:21 and for the first day of a month in Ezekiel 45:18.
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First to act or proceed · common
The form marks precedence within an action: in 1 Kings 17:13 the APB renders Elijah’s requested bun as made “first,” before food for the woman and her son, while 1 Kings 20:17 renders the young men as going out “first.” In 1 Chronicles 11:6, the feminine singular form is used in David’s challenge and again of Joab’s advance before he became head.
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Former or prior circumstance · common
In retrospective clauses, the term identifies what preceded the present situation. In Deuteronomy 10:4 the APB renders the writing on the tablets as “the first writing”; in 2 Kings 17:40 it renders continuing practices as “their former customs”; and in 2 Samuel 20:18 it renders an earlier saying as spoken “in former times.”
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses, the APB commonly uses “first” for sequence, dates, and precedence, while retrospective clauses may be rendered “former” or “before.” These English expressions present the clauses’ sense to the Hebrew term.