Afore, Before Revisited

Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge, Proverbs 19:27.

I recently received an email notifying me that a reader had submitted a a series of questions via the Chat function of this blog in which the writer asked me to clarify the meaning of "before" in a number of specified verses.

"Please help. Why Genesis 27: 4, 7 use "before"? It referred to time. Isn't it?

Genesis 27:4, 7 use "before I die/my death" instead of "afore". Why?

So is Genesis 24:45

Also Gen27: 33, 30:30

Lastly, Luke 22:61 ...Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice."

The reader, Yam Weng Kong from Malaysia had recently read my post from April of this year in which I made the assertion that "Afore" always referred to time in a King James Bible whereas "Before" always referred to the order in which something is placed. In his personal study he found verses that poked holes in that assertion.

In each of the verses that he cited, he showed the word "before" being used to designate something's place in time. That directly contradicted what I had written. This is the type of criticism that I deeply appreciate. By taking the word of God itself, Yam demonstrated that I had erred.

He did so with a deference and politeness that is typical of Southeast Asian cultures and that should be standard among Christians. Yam is not the first reader to point out an error that I have made but he is among the most polite and I am grateful to him for it.

What then is the difference between "afore" and "before"? "Before" can be used as a placement; In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Exodus 27:21. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord GOD, Exodus 23:17.

It can also be used to pinpoint a placement in time. Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice, Mark 14:72. "Before is used when the timing is important, not general. And before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebekah came forth with her pitcher on her shoulder, Genesis 24:45. It was very important to Abraham's servant that we understand the exact timing. It was not a general reference harkening back to a general time.

"Afore" is only used seven times in our English Bible. It is always a reference to time. What distinguishes it from "before" is that it is used as a more general reference to time.

For afore the harvest, when the bud is perfect, and the sour grape is ripening in the flower, he shall both cut off the sprigs with pruning hooks, and take away and cut down the branches, Isaiah 18:5. Isaiah is not trying to give an exact chronological order. He is giving a general time that could in actuality cover quite a while. There is a time in every growing season in which some buds are perfect and in which grapes are ripening. At sometime in that growing process, the Lord was going to cut off the sprigs and haul the branches away.

And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 2nd Kings 20:4. Here "afore" is used because we are not to see the time as a specific "bang, bang bang" in which an exact chronological set of events happened. The import part of that verse is that the Lord spoke to Isaiah. The timing is general. We know that happened at a general time at some point prior to Isaiah going out into the middle court.