The number of English words from one Late Latin word is ridiculous 😆

Already in Old High German, 'furi' (> für) could mean both "before" and "for", while 'fora' (> vor) meant "before, against". The modern distinction in German seems to be partly artifical, but I don't know enough about the development of the German standard language.

In Old Dutch, there were ... 1/

A question for @yvanspijk.bsky.social, I think.

This is the reason why in old prints you can find German phrases like:
‹für und nach der Geburt Christi› (before [not: for!] and after the birth of Christ)

Modestin Fachs, Probier Büchlein…, Leipzig 1595
data.onb.ac.at/rep/10934315
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In any case, the ambiguity of this preposition is not an exclusively Yiddish invention. It also took place in Early New High German, and continued there until the 18th c, when the grammarians finally straightened up the confusion of ‹für› and ‹vor›.
www.dwds.de/wb/etymwb/f%...
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In the accompanying footnote it is already correct:
‹dzieci nie powinny umrzeć przed rodzicami› (children should not die before their parents)
Well, the editors did not acquit themselves very honourably here.
(I. L. Perec, Wybór opowiadań, Ossolineum 1958, Biblioteka Narodowa II 114)
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It does not make much sense here – parents should certainly die before their children. It must of course read:
for (= because of) their children,
with reference to Deut. 24:16.
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E.g., in the Polish translation of Peretz’s short story “Iber a shmek tabak” Anna Dresnerowa has:
‹i nie uśmierci się rodziców ᴘʀᴢᴇᴅ ich dziećmi› (and the parents shall not be put to death ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ their children).
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Die Menschheit ist zum Mond geflogen...
Tja, machen einen Joghurtdeckel, der nicht beim Öffnen in der Mitte durchrisse, können wir auch noch nicht.