הוּא

H1931. hu
or hi הוּ Jer 29:23 Kt, see הוּא.
הוּא masculine הִיא feminine (plural masculine הֵם הֵ֫מָּה,; feminine הֵן הֵ֫נָּה, [the latter only with prefixes]; see these words),
pronoun of the 3rd person singular, he, she, used also (in both Genders) for the neuter it, Latin is, ea, id. (The א is not orthographic merely, but radical, being written on Moabite and Phoenician inscriptions, though dropped in some of the later dialects. [In Hebrew only Jer 29:23 Kt, and in the proper name אֱלִיהוּ.] Moabite (MI6; 27) and Phoenician (often) הא; Aramaic of Zinjirli הא, once הו (DHMInschr. von Sendschirli 55); הִיא הוּא, ᵑ7 Syriac , ; Arabic , (for h¥°a, h£°a, WSG 104); Ethiopic we°§t¥, ye°§t£; perhaps also Assyrian šû, šî, himself, herself suffix šu, ši; compare demonstrative šuatu, šiati (see KraeBAS. i. 383 & references, WSG 98, 105 Dl§ 55b, 57). In the Pentateuch, הוא is of common Gender, the feminine form הִיא occurring only 11 times, namely Gen 14:2; Gen 20:5; Gen 38:25 (see Masora here), Lev 11:39; Lev 13:10, Lev 13:21; Lev 16:31; Lev 20:17; Lev 21:9; Num 5:13-14,. The punctuators, however, sought to assimilate the usage of the Pentateuch to that of the rest of the OT, and accordingly wherever הוא was construed as a feminine pointed it הִוא (as a Qr perpetuum). Outside the Pentateuch the same Qr occurs 1Ki 17:15; Isa 30:33; Job 31:11a — probably for the sake of removing gramm. anomalies: five instances of the converse change, namely of היא to be read as הוּא, occur for a similar reason, 1Ki 17:15 (הוּאוָֿהִיא וַתּאֹכַל to be read as הִיאוָֿהוּא וַתּאֹכַל, on account of the feminine verb) Psa 73:16; Job 31:11b (פלילים עָוֺן והיא זמה הוא כי to be read as פלילים עון והוא זמה היא כי), Ecc 5:8; 1Ch 29:16. The origin of the peculiarity in the Pentateuch is uncertain. It can hardly be a real archaism : for the fact that arab., Aramaic, & Ethiopic have distinct forms for masculine & feminine shews that both must have formed part of the original Semitic stock, and consequently of Hebrew as well, from its earliest existence as an independent language. Nor is the peculiarity confined to the Pentateuch: in the Manuscript of the Later Prophets, of A.D. , now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile by Strack (1876), the feminine occurs written הוא (see the passages cited in the Adnotationes Criticae, p. 026). In Phoenician both masculine and feminine are alike written הא (CIS i. 1Ch 1:9 הא צדק מלך, 1Ch 1:13 הא מלאכת, 1Ch 3:10 הא אדם, 1Ch 1:11 הא ממלכת, 1Chron 93:2; 1Chron 94:2), though naturally this would be read as hu° or hi° as occasion required. Hence, as ᵐ5 shews that in the older Hebrew MSS. the scriptio plena was not yet Generally introduced, it is probably that originally הא was written for both Genders in Hebrew likewise, and that the epicene הוא in the Pentateuch originated at a comparatively late epoch in the transmission of the text — perhaps in connection with the assumption, which is partly borne out by facts (compare DeZKWL 1880, pp. 393-399), that in the older language feminine forms were more sparingly used than subsequently.)
In usage הוּא (feminine הִיא; plural הֵ֫נָּה ׃ הֵם, הֵ֫מָּה, see הֵ֫מָּה) is
1 an emphatic he (she, it, they), sometimes equivalent to himself (herself, itself, themselves), or (especially with the article) that (those):
a. Gen 3:15 ראשׁ ישׁופך הוא he (ᵐ5 αὐτὸς) shall bruise thee as to the head (opposed to the following אתה thou), Gen 3:20 for she (and no one else) was the mother of all living (so often in causal sentences, where some emphasis on the subject is desirable as Jdg 14:3; Psa 24:2; Psa 25:15; Psa 33:9; Psa 91:3; Psa 103:14; Psa 148:5; Job 5:18; Job 11:11; Job 28:24; Jer 5:5; Jer 34:7b Hos 6:1; Hos 11:10 : Dr1Sa 14:18), 1Sa 4:20 Adah bare Jabal אהלים ישׁב אבי היה הוא he (ἐκεῖνος) was the father of tent-dwellers, 1Sa 4:21; 1Sa 10:8 he began to be a mighty one in the earth, 1Sa 20:5 (αὐτός), Jdg 13:5; Isa 32:7; Isa 33:22; 2Ki 14:7, 2Ki 14:22, 2Ki 14:25; Hos 10:2 he — the unseen observer of their thoughts and deeds (Che), Hos 13:15 b (he, the foe figured by the east wind). (For its use thus in circumstantial clauses see Dr§ 157, 160, 168, 169.) And where the predicate is a substantive or participle, Gen 2:11 ֗֗֗ הַסֹּבֵב הוּא that is the one which encompasseth etc., Gen 2:13; Gen 2:14; Gen 10:12 that is the great city. So in the explanatory notices, Gen 14:3 הַמֶּלַת יָם הוּא that is the salt sea, Gen 14:8 הוּאצֹֿעַר that is Zoar, Gen 36:1 +?
b. pointing back to the subj. and contrasting it with something else : Gen 4:4 גסהֿוא הבל Abel, he also ... Gen 4:26; Gen 10:21; Gen 20:5 וְהִיאגַֿםהִֿוא and she, herself also said, Exo 1:10 +?
c. appended alone to a verb (more rarely, but always with intentional emphasis), Exo 4:14 I know הוא ידבר דבר כי that he can speak, Exo 4:16; 1Sa 22:18 בכהנים הוא ויפגע and he (though none else would do it) smote the priests, 1Sa 23:22 for one hath told me, הוּא יַעְרִם עָרֹם He can deal subtilly, Eze 12:12 (peculiarly), compare Dr§ 160 n.: very rarely indeed to a noun Num 18:23 הוּא הַלֵּוִי Isa 7:14 ׳י הוא, Est 9:1 (הֵמָּה) being probably all the examples in the OT.
d. Gen 13:1 and Abram came up out of Egypt, וְאִשְׁתּוֺ הוּא himself and his wife, and all that he had, Gen 14:15 וַעֲבָדָיו הוּא he and his servants, Gen 19:30; so very often
e. prefixed to a noun (very rare, and mostly late), Exo 12:42b Eze 3:8 & Eze 33:8 רָשָׁע הוּא : to proper names Exo 6:27 ואהרן משׁה הוא, 1Ch 26:26 that Shelomoth, 1Ch 27:6; 2Ch 28:22; 2Ch 32:12 (different from 2Ki 18:22), 2Ki 18:30; 2Ki 33:23; Ezr 7:6: compare הֵם Neh 10:38 (compare in Syriac , Nö§ 227): compare Psa 87:5; 1Sa 20:29.
2 It resumes the subject with emphasis:
a. when the predicate is a verb (especially if it be separated from its subject by an intervening clause), Gen 15:4 but one that shall come forth out of thine own bowels, יִירָשֶׁ֑ךָ הוּא he shall be thy heir, Gen 3:12 the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, לי נתנה הוא she gave to me, Gen 24:7; Gen 44:17 etc. Jdg 7:4; 2Sa 14:19 (throwing stress on יוֺאָב) 1Ch 11:20; Isa 33:15-16; Isa 34:16; Isa 38:19; Isa 47:10; Isa 59:16; Isa 63:5; Hos 7:8; often in Proverbs, as Hosea 10:18; Hosea 10:22; Hosea 10:24; Hosea 11:28; Hos 13:13; Hos 19:21; Hos 22:9; Hos 24:12; 1Sa 1:13 (see Dr), Psalm 68:36.
b. when the predicate is a noun, Gen 2:14 and the fourth river, פְרָת הוּא it was the Euphrates, Gen 2:19; Gen 9:18; Gen 15:2; Gen 42:6 הוּא וְיוֺסֵף הַשַּׁלִּיט and Joseph, he was the ruler etc.: in sentences of the type ׳י נַחֲלָתְךָ הוּא לָכֶם, ׳י הַנִּלְחָם הוּא ׳י, הָאֱלֹהִים הוּא, Deu 3:22; Deu 4:35; Deu 7:9; Deu 10:9; Jos 13:14, Jos 13:33; Isa 9:14; Isa 33:6; Hos 11:5 (in these cases, to avoid stiffness, it is convenient often to drop the pronoun in translating, as 'And the fourth river was the Euphrates:' the pronoun, however, though it then corresponds to the substantive verb in English, does not really express it, the copula, as the examples shew, being in fact understood. Sts. in AV the pronoun is retained for emphasis, as Deuteronomy ll. cc.) So
c. after אֲשֶׁר in an affirmative sentence, Gen 9:3 all creeping things הוּאחַֿי אֲשֶׁר which are living, Lev 11:39; Num 9:13; Num 14:8; Num 35:31 לָמוּת רָשָׁע הוּא אֲשֶׁר who is guilty of death, Deu 20:20; 1Sa 10:19; Hag 1:9 and elsewhere (On
2, compare Dr§ 199, with Obs.)
3 Where, however, the pron. follows the predicate, its position gives it the minimum of emphasis, and it expresses (or resumes) the subject as unobtrusively as possible: thus
a. Gen 12:18 why didst thou not tell me הוא אשׁתך כי that she was thy wife ? Gen 20:13; Gen 21:13 הוא זרעך כי for he is thy seed, Gen 31:20 because he told him not הוּא בֹרֵחַ כִּי, Gen 37:3 + often (the opposite order rare and emphatic: Gen 24:65; Deu 4:6; Deu 30:20; Jos 10:2; 1Ki 2:22; 1Ki 3:4; 1Ki 21:2; Hos 2:4; Psa 45:12).
b. resuming the subject, Gen 31:16 all the wealth which God hath taken etc., ולבנינו הוא לנו it is ours and our children's, Gen 31:43 and all that thou seest, הוא לי it is mine (or, omitting the pronoun, as not required in our idiom, simply) is mine, Gen 41:26 הוא אחד פרעה חלום the dream of Pharaoh is one, Gen 48:5 (הם לי), Exo 3:5 for the place where on thou standest, הוּא קֹדֶשׁ אַדְמַת it is holy ground, Num 13:32; Num 21:26; Deu 1:17; Jos 5:15; Jos 6:19; Job 3:19 + often; Gen 23:15 מַההִֿוא ֗֗֗ ארץ, so Psa 39:5; Isa 41:22 (הֵנָּה); הֵמָּה .... אַתֶּם (unusual) Zep 2:12. (In all such cases the predicate is not referred directly to the subject, but, the subject being made a casus pendens, it is resumed by the pronoun, and the predicate thus referred to it indirectly. By this means the sentence is lightened and relieved, especially if the subject consist of many words: in Gen 31:16 for instance, the direct form of predicate מֵאָבִינוּ אֱלֹהִים הִצִּיל אֲשֶׁר כָּלהָֿעשֶׁר וּלְבָנֵינוּ לָנוּ כִּי would have been heavy and inelegant.) So
c. after אֲשֶׁר in a negative sentence, Gen 7:2; Gen 17:12 הוּא מִזַּרְעֲךָ לאֹ אֲשֶׁר which is not of thy seed, Num 17:5; Deu 17:5; 1Ki 8:41 (compareהֵמָּה 3c).
d. peculiarly, as the subject of לֹא, Jer 5:12 הוּא לוֺא He is not; and as embracing its predicate in itself, Isa 18:2, Isa 18:7 a nation terrible מִןהֿוּא (= הוּא מַאֲשֶׁר) from (the time that) it was, Nah 2:9 הִיא מִימֵי from the days that (stative construct Ges§ 130. 4) as it was, 2Ki 7:7 they left the camp הִיא כַּאֲשֶׁר as it was (compare הֵמָּה כַּאֲשֶׁר 2Ki 7:10). (On
3, compare Dr§ 198, with Obs.)
4 It anticipates (as it seems) the subject namely
a. (rare) Son 6:9 תַמָּתִי יוֺנָתִי הִיא אַהַת one is she, my dove my perfect one, Lev 25:11; Eze 11:15; Eze 21:16; Lam 1:18 י הוּא ׳צַדִּיק (often so in Late Hebrew); EC Lam 6:10 אָדָם הוּא אֲשֶׁר וְנוֺדָע and that which he, even man, is, is known (De Now); compare 1Sa 6:19 לָנוּ הָיָה הוּא מִקְרֶה an accident is it, (that) hath befallen us. (compare הֵמָּה 4a.)
b. after pronouns — (α) 2Sa 7:28 הָאֱלֹהִים הוּא אַתָּה Thou art he — God, Psa 44:5 מלבי הוא אתה thou art he — my king, Isa 37:16; Isa 43:25 (אנכי), Isa 51:9-10, Isa 51:12; Isa 52:6; Jer 14:22; Jer 29:23 Kt +; compare Jer 49:12 תִנָּקֶה נָקֹה הוּא וְאַתָּה and art thou he (that) shall be unpunished ? (with change of person κατά σύνεσιν, compare Jdg 13:11; 1Ch 21:17; Eze 38:17.) So Ew§ 297 b Müll§ 499. But others, as GesThes Roo§ 563 DeIsa 37:16; Psalms 44.. 5, treat הוא as emphasizing the pronoun, 'Thou, he, art God' i.e. Thou and none else art God; 'Thou (emphatic) art my king.'. (β) הוּא מִי, followed by a participle or substantive Gen 27:33; Psa 24:10 הַכָּבוֺד מֶלֶךְ זֶה הוּא מִי who is he, then — the king of glory ? (according to others, as before, 'Who (emphatic), then, is the king of glory ?'); followed by a verb Isa 50:9 יַרְשִׁיעֵנִי הוּא מִי who is he (that) will condemn me ? (others 'Who (emphatic) will condemn me ?') Job 4:7; Job 13:19; Job 17:3; Job 41:2; Jer 30:21 (so with הֵנָּה Gen 21:29, הֵמָּה Zec 1:9; Zec 4:5). (γ) זֶההֿוּא 1Ch 22:1 EC 1Ch 1:17; (frequently in Late Hebrew, where the two words coalesce into one זֶהוּ) . On the analogous ֗֗֗ הֵם אֵלֶּה), see הֵמָּה 4b (γ). (compare Dr§ 200, 201)
5 As an emphatic predicate, of God, 'I am He,' i.e. I am He Who is (opposed to unreal gods, named in context, or to transitory world), the Unseen, yet Omni-present, and Self-consistent, Ruler of the world, Deu 32:39 הוּא אֲנִי אֲנִי I, I am he, and beside me there is no God, Isa 41:4 (see Che) Isa 43:10, Isa 43:13 even from to-day I am he, Isa 46:4; Isa 48:12; Psa 102:28 (see Che) thou art he, and thy years have no end (ᵐ5 usually ἐγώ εἰμι : in Psalms σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ). So also, according to many, <ref