61 Biblical Firsts

As another entry in my Biblical survey posts, I thought it might be a revealing study to consider the first occurrence of key words in the Bible.

A few notes:
I’m using ESV
No proper names, (except Satan, I guess)
Yes, I know there are translations issues.
Nine times I list out word pairs (like Joy and Joyful, Praise and Praising) in different passages.
About half of them are found in Genesis.

One result of this study is that I’m (once again) very grateful to be a New Testament/ New Covenant Follower of God.

The following shows the first occurrences of each word – in Biblical order:

God
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Good
Genesis 1:4
And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.

Holy
Genesis 2:3
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Lord
Genesis 2:4
The Creation of Man and Woman
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Evil
Genesis 2:9
And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Die
Genesis 2:17
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Wise
Genesis 3:6 – So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Help
Genesis 4:1
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.”

Sin
Genesis 4:7
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Covenant
Genesis 6:18
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

Fear
Genesis 9:2
The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.

Bless/Blessing
Genesis 12:2
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

Hebrew
Genesis 14:13
Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner. These were allies of Abram.

Word
Genesis 15:1
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Judgment
Genesis 15:14
But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.

Peace
From God’s Covenant with Abram
Genesis 15:15
As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age.

Judge
Genesis 16:5
And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!”

Wicked
Genesis 18:23
Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Death
Genesis 18:25
Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

Merciful
Genesis 19:16
But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

Dead
Genesis 20:3
But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

Pray
Genesis 20:7
Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

Prophet
Genesis 20:7
Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”
(So both Prayer and Prophet are first found in Genesis 20:7)

False
Genesis 21:23
Now therefore swear to me here by God that you will not deal falsely with me or with my descendants or with my posterity, but as I have dealt kindly with you, so you will deal with me and with the land where you have sojourned.”

Love
Genesis 22:2
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

Bad
Genesis 24:50
Then Laban and Bethuel answered and said, “The thing has come from the LORD; we cannot speak to you bad or good.

Prayer
Genesis 25:21
And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife, because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived.

Praise
Genesis 29:35
And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called his name Judah. Then she ceased bearing.

Sacrifice
Genesis 31:54
and Jacob offered a sacrifice in the hill country and called his kinsmen to eat bread. They ate bread and spent the night in the hill country.

Truth
Genesis 42:16
Send one of you, and let him bring your brother, while you remain confined, that your words may be tested, whether there is truth in you. Or else, by the life of Pharaoh, surely you are spies.”

Mercy
Genesis 43:14
May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, and may he send back your other brother and Benjamin. And as for me, if I am bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.”

Salvation
Genesis 49:18
I wait for your salvation, O LORD.

Holiness
Exodus 15:11
“Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

Goodness
Exodus 33:19
And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

Demon(s)
Leviticus 17:7
So they shall no more sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons, after whom they whore. This shall be a statute forever for them throughout their generations.

Idol(s)
Leviticus 19:4
Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves any gods of cast metal: I am the LORD your God.

Amen (this one is especially dark)
Numbers 5:22
May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.’

True
Numbers 11:23
And the Lord said to Moses, “Is the Lord’s hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

Faithful
Numbers 12:7
Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house.

Wisdom
Deuteronomy 4:6 – Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

Loving
Deuteronomy 11:22
For if you will be careful to do all this commandment that I command you to do, loving the Lord your God, walking in all his ways, and holding fast to him,

Rejoice
Deuteronomy 12:7
And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.

Joyful
Deuteronomy 16:15 – For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

Gentle
Deuteronomy 32:2
May my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distill as the dew,
like gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and like showers upon the herb.

Joy
Judges 19:3
Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.

Hope
Ruth 1:12
Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons,

Temple (place of worship)
1 Samuel 1:9
After they had eaten and drunk in Shiloh, Hannah rose. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the Lord.

Savior
2 Samuel 22:3
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence.

Jew(s)
2 Kings 25:25
But in the seventh month, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down Gedaliah and put him to death along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.

Satan
1 Chronicles 21:1
Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel.

Praising
1 Chronicles 23:30
And they were to stand every morning, thanking and praising the Lord, and likewise at evening

Grace
Esther 2:17
the king loved Esther more than all the women, and she won grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

Atone
Psalm 65:3
When iniquities prevail against me,
you atone for our transgressions.

Patience
Proverbs 25:15
With patience a ruler may be persuaded,
and a soft tongue will break a bone.

Disciple(s) – This is the only time it’s in the old testament
Isaiah 8:16
Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples

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Here are seven words that are not found in the Old Testament

Devil
Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

Gospel
Matthew 4:23
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

Kingdom of God
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Apostles
Matthew 10:1
And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.

Church
Matthew 16:18
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Messiah
John 1:41
He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).

Sovereign
Acts 4:24
And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,

In contrast with the first Amen, the very last Amen in the Bible (the last word of the Bible) is much more joyful.

Revelation 22:21
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.

Any other words I should add to the list?

In case you’re curious, here is a list of other posts on my blogs which show a whole category of items from the Bible.