אַי
ʼay · H335 · Hebrew · 39 occurrences
Meanings
-
where or which
A reference to an unknown or not yet identified location, normally used to find out which location it is and sometimes used in rhetorical questions expressing the conviction that such a location cannot be found
ExamplesGenesis 3:9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
1 Samuel 9:18 Then Saul approached Samuel at the gateway and said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”
Genesis 4:9 Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
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from where?
A reference to an unknown location, normally used to find out from which location a person or object originates and sometimes used in rhetorical questions expressing the conviction that the location does not exist
ExamplesGenesis 16:8 He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave woman, from where have you come, and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.”
Judges 13:6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. So I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.
1 Samuel 25:11 “Shall I then take my bread and my water and my meat that I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men whose origin I do not know?”
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why or how
A reference to an unknown event that should make the main event in focus possible, sometimes used in rhetorical questions expressing the conviction that the event cannot possibly take place
ExamplesJeremiah 5:7 “Why should I forgive you? Your sons have forsaken Me And sworn by those who are not gods. When I had fed them to the full, They committed adultery And stayed at the prostitute’s house.
How it’s used In 1 role
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
29 occurrences in 9 groups
- זֶהthis 17
- נּוּhe 5
- Other words · 7 groups that occur once or twice (8) 8
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 1 word
- אַיִן ʼayin · H370 · from where?
- Both words are spatial interrogatives with clear overlap in sense ("whence, where"), distinct Hebrew words that could substitute for each other in questions of place.
In the other Testament 3 words
- ποῖος poîos · G4169 · which, which one, which sort of
- Greek ποῖος functions as the Septuagint's standard rendering of Hebrew אַי in interrogative contexts, both serving as individualizing interrogative particles that query the specific nature, character, or identity of something (what kind/sort, which one) rather than simple existence or location alone.
- ποῦ poû · G4226 · where?, where, in which
- Greek ποῦ functions as the standard interrogative adverb of place ('where'), directly corresponding to one of the core senses of Hebrew אַי as an interrogative marker for location.
- πόθεν póthen · G4159 · from where? whence? where?, how, in what manner
- Greek πόθεν interrogative specifically questioning source/origin ('from where?'), corresponding to Hebrew אַי in its locative-interrogative function, though Hebrew lemma encompasses broader interrogative range (how/what/whether) not all captured by this Greek equivalent.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- Spatial Referents003002005
- אַי is the interrogative "where," as the LORD calling to Adam, "Where are you?"
- Perceptive Referents003002004
- The word can also introduce a question of manner or perception, "how" or "whether" something is so.
Word family 5 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H335. ay [אַי] (, in Syriac in compounds as how ? WSG 120-2; compare Assyrian aiu, who?…
[אַי] (, in Syriac in compounds as how ? WSG 120-2; compare Assyrian aiu, who? what?).
1. interrogative adverb where?
a. so with suffix אַיֶּ֫כָּה [a verbal form, see Sta§ 355 b. 3] Gen 3:9; אַיּוֺ Exo 2:20, poetry where is he? = he is nowhere Job 14:10; Job 20:7 (Jer 37:19 read Qr אַיֵּה); אַיָּם Nah 3:17 (in indirect question) and the place thereof is not known, אַיָּם where they are. Idiomatically, with the suffix anticipating the noun to which it refers (Ew§ 309 c, compare DrSm. i. 21, 14) 2Ki 19:13 מֶלֶחחֲֿמָת אַיּוֺ where is he, the king of Hamath? (|| Isa 37:13 אַיֵּה) Isa 19:12; Mic 7:10. When used alone, or with other adverbs (see below), it is contracted to אֵי Gen 4:9; Deu 32:37; 1Sa 26:16; Pro 31:4 Qr. (The more usual form is אַיֵּה.)
b. strengthened by the enclitic זֶה (see זֶה, 4 אֵיזֶֿה15 where, then ? (never of a person, except Est 7:5 (late), & only once 1Ki 22:24 [but see 2Ch 18:23] with a verb) Isa 50:1; Isa 66:1 (twice in verse); Jer 6:16, in indirect question 1Sa 9:18; in the phrase ֗֗֗ הַדֶּרֶח אֵיזֶֿה where is the way (that) . . . ? 1Ki 13:12; 2Ki 3:8; 2Ch 18:23; Job 38:19 a. 24.
2 prefixed to other adverbs or pron., אֵי imparts to them an interrogative force: thus
a. אֵיזֶֿה which (of two or more)? only Ecc 2:3; Ecc 11:6 (late), in indirect question
b. אֵימִֿזֶּה whence ? (מִזֶּה = hence; see below זֶה) Gen 16:8 בָאתְ אֵימִֿזֶּה 1Sa 30:13; 2Sa 1:3, 2Sa 1:13; Job 2:2; in indirect question Jdg 13:6; 1Sa 25:11; with substantive annexed 2Sa 15:2 אַתָּה עִיר אֵימִֿזֶּה literally whence, as regards city, art thou ? Jon 1:8.
c. אֵילָֿזֹאת Jer 5:7 upon what ground ? (ᵑ9 super quo? how? With other adverbs, אֵי coalesces into one word, see אֵיפֹה אֵיכָכָה, אֵיכָה,.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 1 entry
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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