To be is to exist, as in 'To be, or not to be, that is the question.' This primary meaning is found in Ge 5:24 'Enoch walked with God; and he was not'; Heb 11:6 'he that cometh to God must believe that he is.' The auxiliary use is later. In 1611 'be' and 'are' were interchangeable auxiliary forms in the pres. indic, plu., as Ps 107:30 'Then are they glad because they be quiet.'