Bible Dictionaries
Precede

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: φθάνω

(Strong's #5348 — Verb — phthano — fthan'-o )

"to anticipate, to come sooner," is translated "shall (in no wise) precede" in 1 Thessalonians 4:15 , RV (AV, "prevent"), i.e., "shall in no wise obtain any advantage over" (the verb does not convey the thought of a mere succession of one event after another); the Apostle, in reassuring the bereaved concerning their departed fellow believers, declares that, as to any advantage, the dead in Christ will "rise first." See ATTAIN , No. 3, COME, No. 32.

Bibliography Information
Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Precede'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​ved/​p/precede.html. 1940.