Precede
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
"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.
Webster's Dictionary [2]
(1): ( v. t.) To go before in place, rank, or importance.
(2): ( v. t.) To go before in order of time; to occur first with relation to anything.
(3): ( v. t.) To cause to be preceded; to preface; to introduce; - used with by or with before the instrumental object.
King James Dictionary [3]
Prece'De, L proecedo proe, before, and cedo, to more.
1. To go before in the order of time. The corruption of morals precedes the ruin of a state. 2. To go before in rank or importance. 3. To cause something to be before to make to take place in prior time.
It is usual to precede hostilities by a public declaration. Unusual.
