The first occurrence.
That which was torn by beasts I did not bring to you; I bore the loss of it; of my hand you required it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night. Gen 31:39
The primitive root.
Strong’s H1245 בקש baqash, a primitive root meaning, “to search out, to strive after.” The 3-letter root is pey + quph + shin, as per the Ancient Hebrew Lexicon, the modern bet was transposed from an original pey.
pey פ ף = mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge
quph ק = on the horizon, thus condense, circle, time
shin ש = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
The story: To turn (pey, as the lip of a bowl is a turned edge) and concentrate (quph, as light leaves the earth and sky and is concentrated to the sun when it is on the horizon), pressing in (shin) to a goal.
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