Bible Encyclopedias
Former

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fôr´mẽr : The word in the sense of "maker," "framer," occurs only in Jeremiah 51:19 , "He is the former (from yācar , "to form") of all things." The adjective, in the sense of preceding in the order of time, is commonly in Hob the translation of rı̄'shōn , "first," "foremost" (Genesis 40:13; Numbers 21:26; Deuteronomy 24:4 , etc.); in Greek of próteros (Ephesians 4:22; Hebrews 10:32; 1 Peter 1:14 ); and in two cases (Acts 1:1; Revelation 21:4 ) of prō̇tos , where the Revised Version (British and American) has (in Acts in the margin) "the first." As denoting place or position the word occurs in the Old Testament in Zechariah 14:8 , "the former sea" as translation of , ḳadhmōnı̄ , "in front," where the Revised Version (British and American) has "eastern," i.e. the Dead Sea, in contrast with the Mediterranean, or western sea (compare Ezekiel 47:18; Joel 2:20 ). For "former iniquities" (Psalm 79:8 ) the Revised Version (British and American) has simply "the iniquities"; Other changes may be seen in Numbers 6:12; Isaiah 65:7; Ezekiel 36:11; Micah 4:8; Haggai 2:3 .

Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Former'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​isb/​f/former.html. 1915.