# H7218 - rosh **Strong's:** [H7218](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h7218/) · BLB lookup **Pronunciation:** roshe (rhymes with "gosh") **Part of speech:** noun, masculine **OT occurrences:** ~600 **Greek equivalent (LXX):** *kephalē* (G2776, "head") for the bodily/headship senses; *archē* (G746, "beginning, ruler") for the beginning/chief senses ## Semantic range (BDB / HALOT) The noun *rosh* is one of the most semantically extended common nouns in the Hebrew Bible. Five overlapping senses run through the lexeme: 1. **Anatomical "head"**, the literal head of a human or animal ([Gen 40:16-19](/codex/genesis-40-16-19/), the baker's basket on his *rosh*; [1 Sam 17:46](/codex/1-samuel-17-46/), Goliath's head; [Lev 16:21](/codex/leviticus-16-21/), the goat's head). 2. **"Top, summit"**, the highest point of a mountain ([Ex 19:20](/codex/exodus-19-20/), the *rosh* of Sinai), tower ([Gen 11:4](/codex/genesis-11-4/)), ladder ([Gen 28:12](/codex/genesis-28-12/)), staff, or building. 3. **"Chief, leader, captain, head-of-household"**, the social-political head ([Num 1:16](/codex/numbers-1-16/), *rashei alphei Yisrael*, "heads of the thousands of Israel"; [Ex 18:25](/codex/exodus-18-25/), *rashei ha-am*, "heads of the people"; [1 Chr 12:32](/codex/1-chronicles-12-32/), *rashei avoth*, "heads of fathers' [houses]"). 4. **"Beginning, first" (in time or sequence)**, *rosh chodesh* ("head of the month," i.e., new moon, [Num 10:10](/codex/numbers-10-10/)); *rosh hashanah* ("head of the year," [Ezek 40:1](/codex/ezekiel-40-1/)); *me-rosh* ("from the beginning," [Isa 40:21](/codex/isaiah-40-21/); 48:16). The opening word of the Hebrew Bible itself, *bereshit* ("in the beginning," [Gen 1:1](/codex/genesis-1-1/)), is built from the cognate root via [H7225 - reshit](/codex/h7225-reshit/) *reshit*. 5. **"Sum, total, census-count"**, the *rosh* of a count, head-by-head reckoning ([Num 1:2](/codex/numbers-1-2/), *seu et-rosh kol-adat bnei-Yisrael*, "lift up the head of the whole congregation," i.e., take the census; [Ex 30:12](/codex/exodus-30-12/); [Num 4:2](/codex/numbers-4-2/), [22](/codex/numbers-4-22/)). The senses are *integrated by metaphor*: the *head* is the *top* (spatial); the *top* is the *first* (temporal); the *first* is the *chief* (rank); the chief is the *one-by-one count-leader* (enumeration). Hebrew thought does not partition these the way English does. ## Theological force ### Federal headship The most theologically loaded use of *rosh* is *representational-federal-headship*. In [Lev 16:21](/codex/leviticus-16-21/) the high priest lays both hands on the *rosh* of the live goat and confesses the iniquities of Israel; the *head* is the locus of guilt-transfer to the substitute. In [Num 1:2](/codex/numbers-1-2/) the population is counted "by their heads" (*le-gulgelotam*, the related lexeme) and *rashei avoth* (heads of fathers' houses) stand for whole clans before YHWH. The federal-head pattern runs from Adam ([1 Cor 15:22](/codex/1-corinthians-15-22/)) through Israel's *rashei* (heads of tribes / families) to its consummation in Christ, the *kephalē* (head) of the Body, the church ([Eph 1:22](/codex/ephesians-1-22/); 4:15; 5:23; [Col 1:18](/codex/colossians-1-18/); 2:10, 19). Christ is the second Adam, the new federal *rosh* of redeemed humanity. ### The cornerstone Christology [Psalms 118.22](/codex/psalms-118-22/), "the stone the builders rejected has become the *rosh pinnah*" ("head of the corner," i.e., chief cornerstone), is the most-cited single OT verse in the NT. Jesus deploys it at the climax of the Parable of the Tenants ([Matt 21:42](/codex/matthew-21-42/) // [Mark 12:10-11](/codex/mark-12-10-11/) // [Luke 20:17](/codex/luke-20-17/)); Peter uses it as the kerygmatic interpretive key at Pentecost ([Acts 4:11](/codex/acts-4-11/)) and in his epistle ([1 Pet 2:7](/codex/1-peter-2-7/)). The figure trades on the structural sense of *rosh*, the *primary, load-bearing, defining* element of the building. Christological cornerstone-theology is part of the broader NT *kephalē*-Christology and one of the central messianic-fulfillment patterns of the apostolic preaching. ### Headship over the nations [Deuteronomy 28.13](/codex/deuteronomy-28-13/) frames covenant-blessing as Israel becoming *the head and not the tail* among the nations, covenantal *primacy*. The figure runs as eschatological hope through [Isa 60:1-3](/codex/isaiah-60-1-3/), [12](/codex/isaiah-60-12/) (nations stream to a restored Zion) and [Zech 8:23](/codex/zechariah-8-23/) (ten men of every nation take hold of a Jew's robe). In its NT fulfillment, Christ is exalted as head over all rule and authority ([Eph 1:20-22](/codex/ephesians-1-20-22/); [Phil 2:9-11](/codex/philippians-2-9-11/); [Heb 1:3](/codex/hebrews-1-3/)); the church-in-Christ inherits the *rosh*-position by participation, not by ethnic-national merit. ### Beginning (rosh / reshit) The temporal-beginning sense of *rosh* feeds the cognate *bereshit* of [Genesis 1:1](/codex/genesis-1-1/), the Day-of-Atonement *rosh chodesh*, the *rosh hashanah* of Israel's liturgical calendar, and the eschatological *rosh* / *acharit* ("beginning" / "end") frame of OT prophecy. The NT extends this with Christ as the *archē* (Greek correspondent), the beginning and end ([Rev 1:8](/codex/revelation-1-8/); 21:6; 22:13), and the *firstborn of creation* ([Col 1:15-18](/codex/colossians-1-15-18/)) who is simultaneously the *beginning* and the *head* of the church. ### Imperial succession [Daniel 2.32](/codex/daniel-2-32/) names Nebuchadnezzar's empire as the *rosh of fine gold* atop the four-part metallic image, the apex and starting-point of the imperial-succession schema. The figure runs through OT-prophetic political theology: human empires rise as *rosh*-claims; only the stone-cut-without-hands divine kingdom outlasts them. ## Apologetic / theological significance *Rosh* anchors: 1. **Federal-headship theology** (Adam, Israel-by-its-*rashei*, Christ as the second Adam), the structural grammar of imputation and corporate-representative atonement. 2. **Cornerstone Christology**, the most-cited NT messianic-prophetic typology and the lens through which the apostles read Jesus' rejection-and-exaltation. 3. **The bereshit / archē frame**, Christ as the *beginning* who is also the *head*, the eternal Logos through whom and for whom all things were created. 4. **Christian political theology**, [Daniel 2](/codex/daniel-2/) / [Daniel 7](/codex/daniel-7/) imperial-succession theology, the kingdom-of-God-vs-empires frame. 5. **The headship-of-Christ doctrine** for the church, ecclesiology and the Pauline body-of-Christ ethic. ## Notable verses ### Anatomical / sacrificial - **[Genesis 3:15](/codex/genesis-3-15/)**, "He shall bruise your *rosh*", first-promise of victory over the serpent - **[Leviticus 16.21](/codex/leviticus-16-21/)**, the scapegoat ritual, guilt-transfer to the goat's *rosh* - **[1 Samuel 17:51](/codex/1-samuel-17-51/)**, David takes Goliath's *rosh* ### Federal / leadership - **[Numbers 1:2](/codex/numbers-1-2/)** (no stub yet), "lift up the *rosh* of the whole congregation", census by households - **[Exodus 18:25](/codex/exodus-18-25/)**, *rashei ha-am*, Jethro's judicial-organization advice to Moses - **[Deuteronomy 28.13](/codex/deuteronomy-28-13/)**, *the head and not the tail*, covenant-blessing primacy ### Cornerstone / Christological - **[Psalms 118.22](/codex/psalms-118-22/)**, *rosh pinnah*, the chief-cornerstone messianic verse - **[Isaiah 28:16](/codex/isaiah-28-16/)**, the tested cornerstone in Zion (parallel imagery) - **[Zechariah 4:7](/codex/zechariah-4-7/)**, the *eben ha-rosh'a* (top stone) of Zerubbabel's temple ### Beginning / temporal - **[Exodus 12:2](/codex/exodus-12-2/)**, *rosh chadashim*, the head of months (Passover institution) - **[Isaiah 40:21](/codex/isaiah-40-21/); 48:16**, *me-rosh*, from the beginning - **[Genesis 1:1](/codex/genesis-1-1/)**, *bereshit* (cognate of [H7225 - reshit](/codex/h7225-reshit/)), in the beginning ### Imperial / political - **[Daniel 2.32](/codex/daniel-2-32/)**, the *rosh* of fine gold, Nebuchadnezzar's empire - **[Isaiah 9:14-15](/codex/isaiah-9-14-15/)**, *rosh va-zanab* (head and tail), judgment of Israel's leaders ## Patristic / scholarly note The classical Christian theological tradition has consistently read *rosh* / *kephalē* through the federal-headship lens. **Irenaeus** (*Against Heresies* III.18-22) develops the *recapitulatio* theology that runs from Adam to Christ. **Augustine** (*Enchiridion*; *City of God* XIII-XIV) consolidates federal headship as the structural grammar of original sin and redemption. **Athanasius** and the Cappadocians extend it Christologically. The Reformed tradition (Calvin, *Institutes* II.6; Cocceius; the Westminster Standards; Hodge, *Systematic Theology* II.5-6) makes federal headship the explicit framework for covenant theology, with Adam as the head of the covenant of works and Christ as the head of the covenant of grace. On the cornerstone-Christology, **Cyril of Jerusalem** (*Catechetical Lectures* 13.26) and **Augustine** (*Tractates on John* 10) develop the *rosh pinnah* as the joining-stone uniting Jew and Gentile (per [Eph 2:20](/codex/ephesians-2-20/)). On the bereshit / archē frame, **John of Damascus** (*De Fide Orthodoxa* I.8-9) and the patristic *Logos*-theology read [Gen 1:1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) + [John 1:1](/codex/john-1-1/) in tandem. ## See also - [H7225 - reshit](/codex/h7225-reshit/), *reshit*, the cognate "beginning" noun ([Gen 1:1](/codex/genesis-1-1/) *bereshit*) - G2776 - kephale, *kephalē*, the Greek correspondent, NT headship-Christology - *G746 - arche*, *archē*, Greek "beginning, ruler" - [Federal Headship](/codex/romans-5-12-21/), the doctrinal frame - [Hypostatic Union](/codex/hypostatic-union/), head-of-the-Body Christology - Cornerstone Christology, the rejected-stone messianic pattern - Passages: [Genesis 3.15](/codex/genesis-3-15/), [Leviticus 16.21](/codex/leviticus-16-21/), [Deuteronomy 28.13](/codex/deuteronomy-28-13/), [Psalms 118.22](/codex/psalms-118-22/), [Daniel 2.32](/codex/daniel-2-32/) ## Notes _Lexical workspace for rosh._