הוּא
he
also: she, it fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Pronoun
- A word standing in for a noun (“he,” “this,” “who”).
Person
- 3rd Person
- The one spoken about (“he / she / it / they”).
Gender
- Masculine
- Grammatically masculine.
- Feminine
- Grammatically feminine.
Number
- Singular
- One.
Every verse where H1931 appears in the Book of 2 Chronicles — 55 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
2 Chronicles
- 2 Chronicles 1:7 הַ/ה֔וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms In that night did God appear to Solomon, and said to him, Ask what I shall give you.
- 2 Chronicles 4:21 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms and the flowers, and the lamps, and the tongs, of gold, and that perfect gold;
- 2 Chronicles 5:2 הִ֥יא pron pers 3fs Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers' [houses] of the children of Israel, to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of the city of David, which is Zion.
- 2 Chronicles 5:3 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, which was [in] the seventh month.
- 2 Chronicles 6:9 הֽוּא pron pers 3ms nevertheless you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come forth out of your loins, he shall build the house for my name.
- 2 Chronicles 6:32 הוּא֒ pron pers 3ms Moreover concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he shall come from a far country for your great name's sake, and your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm; when they shall come and pray toward this house:
- 2 Chronicles 7:8 הַ/הִ֜יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs So Solomon held the feast at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly, from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt.
- 2 Chronicles 9:9 הַ/ה֔וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.
- 2 Chronicles 9:12 הִ֥יא pron pers 3fs King Solomon gave to the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatever she asked, besides that which she had brought to the king. So she turned, and went to her own land, she and her servants.
- 2 Chronicles 10:2 וְ/ה֣וּא conj + pron pers 3ms It happened, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat heard of it, (for he was in Egypt, where he had fled from the presence of king Solomon), that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.
- 2 Chronicles 13:18 הַ/הִ֑יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs Thus the children of Israel were brought under at that time, and the children of Judah prevailed, because they relied on Yahweh, the God of their fathers.
- 2 Chronicles 15:11 הַ/ה֔וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms They sacrificed to Yahweh in that day, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.
- 2 Chronicles 16:7 הַ/הִ֗יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs At that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him, Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on Yahweh your God, therefore is the host of the king of Syria escaped out of your hand.
- 2 Chronicles 16:10 הַ/הִֽיא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in the prison-house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
- 2 Chronicles 18:7 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of Yahweh: but I hate him; for he never prophesies good concerning me, but always evil: the same is Micaiah the son of Imla. Jehoshaphat said, Don't let the king say so.
- 2 Chronicles 18:24 הַ/ה֑וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms Micaiah said, Behold, you shall see on that day, when you shall go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.
- 2 Chronicles 18:31 ה֔וּא pron pers 3ms It happened, when the captains of the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is the king of Israel. Therefore they turned about to fight against him: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and Yahweh helped him; and God moved them [to depart] from him.
- 2 Chronicles 18:34 הַ/ה֔וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms The battle increased that day: however the king of Israel stayed himself up in his chariot against the Syrians until the even; and about the time of the going down of the sun he died.
- 2 Chronicles 20:2 הִ֖יא pron pers 3fs Then there came some who told Jehoshaphat, saying, There comes a great multitude against you from beyond the sea from Syria; and, behold, they are in Hazazon Tamar (the same is En Gedi).
- 2 Chronicles 20:6 ה֤וּא pron pers 3ms and he said, Yahweh, the God of our fathers, aren't you God in heaven? and aren't you ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations? and in your hand is power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.
- 2 Chronicles 20:25 הֽוּא pron pers 3ms When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches and dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.
- 2 Chronicles 20:26 הַ/ה֛וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms On the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Beracah; for there they blessed Yahweh: therefore the name of that place was called The valley of Beracah to this day.
- 2 Chronicles 20:35 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms After this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel; the same did very wickedly:
- 2 Chronicles 21:3 ה֥וּא pron pers 3ms Their father gave them great gifts, of silver, and of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah: but the kingdom gave he to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn.
- 2 Chronicles 21:10 הַ/הִ֖יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs So Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day: then did Libnah revolt at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken Yahweh, the God of his fathers.
- 2 Chronicles 21:11 ה֥וּא pron pers 3ms Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the prostitute, and led Judah astray.
- 2 Chronicles 22:3 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab; for his mother was his counselor to do wickedly.
- 2 Chronicles 22:6 הֽוּא pron pers 3ms He returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which they had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Azariah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Jehoram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
- 2 Chronicles 22:9 וְ/ה֧וּא ה֔וּא conj + pron pers 3ms pron pers 3ms He sought Ahaziah, and they caught him (now he was hiding in Samaria), and they brought him to Jehu, and killed him; and they buried him, for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought Yahweh with all his heart. The house of Ahaziah had no power to hold the kingdom.
- 2 Chronicles 22:11 הִיא֩ pron pers 3fs But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were slain, and put him and his nurse in the bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah, so that she didn't kill him.
- 2 Chronicles 25:20 הִ֔יא pron pers 3fs But Amaziah would not hear; for it was of God, that he might deliver them into the hand [of their enemies], because they had sought after the gods of Edom.
- 2 Chronicles 25:21 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms So Joash king of Israel went up; and he and Amaziah king of Judah looked one another in the face at Beth-shemesh, which belongs to Judah.
- 2 Chronicles 26:1 וְ/ה֕וּא conj + pron pers 3ms All the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
- 2 Chronicles 26:2 ה֚וּא pron pers 3ms He built Eloth, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.
- 2 Chronicles 26:20 ה֤וּא הוּא֙ pron pers 3ms pron pers 3ms Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked on him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from there; yes, himself hurried also to go out, because Yahweh had struck him.
- 2 Chronicles 26:23 ה֑וּא pron pers 3ms So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his son reigned in his place.
- 2 Chronicles 27:3 ה֗וּא pron pers 3ms He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.
- 2 Chronicles 27:5 וְ֠/הוּא הַ/הִ֗יא conj + pron pers 3ms ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs He fought also with the king of the children of Ammon, and prevailed against them. The children of Ammon gave him the same year one hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and ten thousand of barley. So much did the children of Ammon render to him, in the second year also, and in the third.
- 2 Chronicles 28:3 וְ/ה֥וּא conj + pron pers 3ms Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom Yahweh cast out before the children of Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 28:16 הַ/הִ֗יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs At that time did king Ahaz send to the kings of Assyria to help him.
- 2 Chronicles 28:22 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms In the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against Yahweh, this same king Ahaz.
- 2 Chronicles 29:3 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of Yahweh, and repaired them.
- 2 Chronicles 30:3 הַ/הִ֑יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs For they could not keep it at that time, because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, neither had the people gathered themselves together to Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 32:9 וְ/הוּא֙ conj + pron pers 3ms After this did Sennacherib king of Assyria send his servants to Jerusalem, (now he was before Lachish, and all his power with him), to Hezekiah king of Judah, and to all Judah who were at Jerusalem, saying,
- 2 Chronicles 32:12 הוּא֙ pron pers 3ms Has not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars, and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, saying, You shall worship before one altar, and on it shall you burn incense?
- 2 Chronicles 32:26 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of Yahweh didn't come on them in the days of Hezekiah.
- 2 Chronicles 32:30 וְ/ה֣וּא conj + pron pers 3ms This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper spring of the waters of Gihon, and brought them straight down on the west side of the city of David. Hezekiah prospered in all his works.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6 וְ/הוּא֩ conj + pron pers 3ms He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practiced sorcery, and used enchantments, and practiced sorcery, and dealt with those who had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he worked much evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger.
- 2 Chronicles 33:13 ה֥וּא pron pers 3ms He prayed to him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Yahweh he was God.
- 2 Chronicles 33:23 ה֥וּא pron pers 3ms He didn't humble himself before Yahweh, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more.
- 2 Chronicles 34:3 וְ/הוּא֙ conj + pron pers 3ms For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the Asherim, and the engraved images, and the molten images.
- 2 Chronicles 34:22 וְ/הִ֛יא conj + pron pers 3fs So Hilkiah, and they whom the king [had commanded], went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tokhath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter;) and they spoke to her to that effect.
- 2 Chronicles 35:16 הַ/הוּא֙ ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms So all the service of Yahweh was prepared the same day, to keep the Passover, and to offer burnt-offerings on the altar of Yahweh, according to the commandment of king Josiah.
- 2 Chronicles 35:17 הַ/הִ֑יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs The children of Israel who were present kept the Passover at that time, and the feast of unleavened bread seven days.
- 2 Chronicles 36:23 וְ/הֽוּא conj + pron pers 3ms Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth has Yahweh, the God of heaven, given me; and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, Yahweh his God be with him, and let him go up.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
The Hebrew word הוא centers on the idea of “he.” Translators differ — “that” in the King James Version, then “he” (Berean Standard Bible), as the renderings breakdown shows. It turns up in 1,693 verses across 39 books, one of the most common footprint. First canonically at Genesis 2:11, it enters the text early. Beyond “he” it also covers “she” and “it” — see its full sense range. Dig into 1,693-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H1931 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 1,693
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 1,693 distinct verses.
- 39 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 39 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #23
- by frequency
- Top 25 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 23 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 1,693 occurrences in the concordance →
Most concentrated in
- Genesis 164 verses 10%
- Leviticus 145 verses 9%
- Deuteronomy 109 verses 6%
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 1,693 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 777 verses · 46%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 560 verses · 33%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 356 verses · 21%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: That 5×, Same 4×, He 3×
- American Standard Version: Same 6×, That 6×, He 3×
- Berean Standard Bible: He 362×, That 358×, It 167×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: He 601×, That 425×, It 330×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H1931 across 36 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 13 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 2 further occurrences.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H1931 across 37 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 15 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H1931 across 1,421 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 110 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 449 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H1931 across 1,992 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 38 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
23 senses and sub-senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 23 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
- 1. an emph. he (she, it, they), sometimes equivalent to himself (herself, itself, themselves), or (especially with the art.) that (those):
- a. Gn 3:15 הוא ישׁופך ראשׁ he (𝔊 αὐτὸς) shall bruise thee as to the head (opp. to the foll. אתה thou), v 20 for she (and no one else) was the mother of all living (so often in causal sentences, where some emph. on the subject is desirable, as Ju 14:3 ψ 24:2; 25:15; 33:9; 91:3; 103:14; 148:5 Jb 5:18; 11:11; 28:24 Je 5:5; 34:7b Ho 6:1; 11:10: Dr 1 S 14, 18), 4:20 Adah bare Jabal הוא היה אבי ישׁב אהלים he (ἐκεῖνος) was the father of tent-dwellers, v 21; 10:8 he began to be a mighty one in the earth, 20:5 (αὐτός), Ju 13:5 Is 32:7; 33:22 2 K 14:7, 22, 25; Ho 10:2 he—the unseen observer of their thoughts and deeds (Che), 13:15b (he, the foe figured by the E. wind). (For its use thus in circ. clauses v. Dr§ 157, 160, 168, 169.) And where the predic. is a subst. or ptcp., Gn 2:11 הוּא הַסֹּבֵב … that is the one which encompasseth etc., v 13, 14 10:12 that is the great city. So in the explanatory notices, Gn 14:3 הוּא יָם הַמֶּלַח that is the salt sea, v 8 הוּא־צֹעַר that is Zoar, 36:1 + often e.g. Genesis 3:15
- b. pointing back to the subj. and contrasting it with something else: Gn 4:4 הבל גם־הוא Abel, he also … v 26; 10:21; 20:5 וְהִיא־גַם־הִוא and she, herself also said, Ex 1:10 + often e.g. Genesis 4:4
- c. appended alone to a verb (more rarely, but always with intentional emphasis), Ex 4:14 I know כי דבר ידבר הוא that he can speak, v 16 1 S 22:18 ויפגע הוא בכהנים and he (though none else would do it) smote the priests, 23:22 for one hath told me, עָרֹם יַעְרִם הוּא He can deal subtilly, Ez 12:12 (peculiarly), cf. Dr§ 160 n.: very rarely indeed to a noun Nu 18:23 הַלֵּוִי הוּא, Is 7:14 י׳ הוא, Est 9:1 (הֵמָּה) being probably all the exx. in the OT e.g. Exodus 4:14
- d. Gn 13:1 and Abram came up out of Egypt, הוּא וְאִשְׁתּוֹ himself and his wife, and all that he had, 14:15 הוּא וַעֲבָדָיו he and his servants, 19:30; so very often e.g. Genesis 13:1
- e. prefixed to a noun (very rare, and mostly late), Ex 12:42b Ez 3:8 & 33:8 הוּא רָשָׁע: to pr. names Ex 6:27 הוא משׁה ואהרן, 1 Ch 26:26 that Shelomoth, 27:6 2 Ch 28:22; 32:12 (diff. from 2 K 18:22), v 30; 33:23 Ezr 7:6: cf. הֵם Ne 10:38 (comp. in Syriac ܗܽܘ, Nö§ 227): cf. ψ 87:5 1 S 20:29. e.g. Exodus 12:42
- 2. It resumes the subj. with emph.:
- a. when the predic. is a verb (especially if it be separated from its subject by an intervening clause), Gn 15:4 but one that shall come forth out of thine own bowels, הוּא יִירָשֶׁ֑ךָ he shall be thy heir, 3:12 the woman whom thou gavest to be with me, הוא נתנה לי she gave to me, 24:7; 44:17 etc. Ju 7:4 2 S 14:19 (throwing stress on יוֹאָב) 1 Ch 11:20 Is 33:15–16; 34:16; 38:19; 47:10; 59:16; 63:5 Ho 7:8; often in Pr, as 10:18, 22, 24; 11:28; 13:13; 19:21; 22:9; 24:12; 1 S 1:13 (v. Dr), ψ 68:36. e.g. Genesis 15:4
- b. when the predic. is a noun, Gn 2:14 and the fourth river, הוּא פְרָת it was the Euphrates, v 19 9:18; 15:2; 42:6 וְיוֹסֵף הוּא הַשַּׁלִּיט and Joseph, he was the ruler etc.: in sentences of the type י׳ הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים, י׳ הוּא הַנִּלְחָם לָכֶם, י׳ הוּא נַחֲלָתְֽךָ, Dt 3:22; 4:35; 7:9; 10:9 Jos 13:14, 33 Is 9:14; 33:6 Ho 11:5 (in these cases, to avoid stiffness, it is convenient often to drop the pron. 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 exx. shew, being in fact understood. Sts. in AV the pron. is retained for emphasis, as Dt. ll. cc.) So e.g. Genesis 2:14
- c. after אֲשֶׁר in an affirmative sentence, Gn 9:3 all creeping things אֲשֶׁר הוּא־חַי which are living, Lv 11:39 Nu 9:13; 14:8; 35:31 אֲשֶׁר הוּא רָשָׁע לָמוּת who is guilty of death, Dt 20:20 1 S 10:19 Hg 1:9 Ru 4:15 +. (On 2, cf. Dr§ 199, with Obs.) e.g. Genesis 9:3
- 3. Where, however, the pron. follows the pred., its position gives it the minimum of emphasis, and it expresses (or resumes) the subject as unobtrusively as possible: thus
- a. Gn 12:18 why didst thou not tell me כי אשׁתך הוא that she was thy wife? 20:13; 21:13 כי זרעך הוא for he is thy seed, 31:20 because he told him not כִּי בֹרֵחַ הוּא, 37:3 + often (the opp. order rare and emph.: Gn 24:65 Dt 4:6; 30:20 Jos 10:2 1 K 2:22; 3:4; 21:2 Ho 2:4 ψ 45:12). e.g. Genesis 12:18
- b. resuming the subj., Gn 31:16 all the wealther which God hath taken etc., לנו הוא ולבנינו it is ours and our children’s, v 43 and all that thou seest, לי הוא it is mine (or, omitting the pronoun, as not required in our idiom, simply) is mine, 41:25 חלום פרעה אחד הוא the dream of Pharaoh is one, 48:5 (לי הם), Ex 3:5 for the place whereon thou standest, אַדְמַת קֹדֶשׁ הוּא it is holy ground, Nu 13:22; 21:26; Dt 1:17; Jos 5:15; 6:19; Jb 3:19 + often; Gn 23:15 ארץ … מַה־הִוא, so ψ 39:5 Is 41:22 (הֵנָּה); אַתֶּם … הֵמָּה (unusual) Zp 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 pron., and the pred. thus referred to it indirectly. By this means the sentence is lightened and relieved, especially if the subject consist of many words: in Gn 31:16 for instance, the direct form of predicate כִּי לָנוּ וּלְבָנֵינוּ כָּל־הָעֹשֶׁר אֲשֶׁר הִצִּיל אֱלֹהִים מֵאָבִינוּ would have been heavy and inelegant.) So e.g. Genesis 31:16
- c. after אֲשֶׁר in a negative sentence, Gn 7:2; 17:12 אֲשֶׁר לֹא מִוַּרְעֲךָ הוּא which is not of thy seed, Nu 17:5; Dt 17:15; 1 K 8:41 (cf. הֵמָּה 3 c). e.g. Genesis 7:2
- d. peculiarly, as the subject of לֹא, Je 5:12 לוֹא הוּא He is not; and as embracing its predicate in itself, Is 18:2, 7 a nation terrible מִן־הוּא (= מֵאֲשֶׁר הוּא) from (the time that) it was, Na 2:9 מִימֵי הִיא from the days that (st. c. Ges§ 130.4) it was, 2 K 7:7 they left the camp כַּאֲשֶׁר הִיא as it was (cf. כַּאֲשֶׁר הֵמָּה v 10). (On 3, cf. Dr§ 198, with Obs.) e.g. Jeremiah 5:12
- 4. It anticipates (as it seems) the subject viz.
- a. (rare) Ct 6:9 אַחַת הִיא יוֹנָתִי תַמָּתִי one is she, my dove my perfect one, Lv 25:11; Ez 11:15; 21:16, La 1:18 צַדִּיק הוּא י׳ (often so in NH); Ec 6:10 וְנוֹדָע אֲשֶׁר הוּא אָדָם and that which he, even man, is, is known (De Now); cf. 1 S 6:19 מִקְרֶה הוּא הָיָה לָנוּ an accident is it, (that) hath befallen us. (Cf. הֵמָּה 4 a.) e.g. Song of Solomon 6:9
- b. after pronouns—(α) 2 S 7:28 אַתָּה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים Thou art he—God, ψ 44:5 אתה הוא מלכי thou art he—my king, Is 37:16; 43:25 (אנכי), 51:9, 10, 12; 52:6; Je 14:22; 29:23 Kt +; cf. Je 49:12 וְאַתָּה הוּא נָקֹה תִנָּקֶה and art thou he (that) shall be unpunished? (with change of pers. κατὰ σύνεσιν, cf. Ju 13:11; 1 Ch 21:17; Ez 38:17.) So Ew§ 297 b Müll § 499. But others, as GesThes Roo § 563 De Is 37:16; ψ 44:5, treat הוא as emphasizing the pronoun, ‘Thou, he, art God’ i.e. Thou and none else art God; ‘Thou (emph.) art my king.’ (β) מִי הוּא, sq. a ptcp. or subst. Gn 27:33 ψ 24:10 מִי הוּא זֶה מֶלֶךְ הַכָּבוֹד who is he, then—the king of glory? (according to others, as before, ‘Who (emph.), then, is the king of glory?’); sq. a verb Is 50:9 מִי הוּא יַרְשִׁיעֵנִי who is he (that) will condemn me? (al. ‘Who (emph.) will condemn me?’) Jb 4:7; 13:19; 17:3; 41:2 Je 30:21 (so with הֵנָּה Gn 21:29, הֵמָּה Zc 1:9; 4:5). (γ) זֶה־הוּא †1 Ch 22:1; Ec 1:17 (freq. in NH, where the two words coalesce into one זֶהוּ). On the analogous אֵלֶּה הֵם …, v. הֵמָּה 4 b (γ). (Cf. Dr§ 200, 201.) e.g. 2 Samuel 7:28
- 5. As an emph. predicate, of God, ‘I am He,’ i.e. I am He Who is (opp. to unreal gods, named in context, or to transitory world), the Unseen, yet Omni-present, and Self-consistent, Ruler of the world, †Dt 32:39 אֲנִי אֲנִי הוּא I, I am he, and beside me there is no God, Is 41:4 (v. Che) 43:10, 13 even from to-day I am he, 46:4; 48:12 ψ 102:28 (v. Che) thou art he, and thy years have no end (𝔊 usually ἐγώ εἰμι: in ψ σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς εἶ). So also, according to many, Jb 3:19, but is הוא a mere predicate of identity? v. rather 3 b. e.g. Deuteronomy 32:39
- 6. In a neuter sense, that, it (of an action, occurrence, matter, etc.)—
- a. Jos 2:21 כְּדִבְרֵיכֶם כֶּן־הוּא according to your words, so be it; Gn 42:14 הוא אשׁר דברתי that is what I said, Ex 16:23; Lv 10:3; 2 K 9:36; Jb 8:19 הן הוא משׂושׂ דרכו lo that (what has just been described) is the joy of his way, 13:16; 15:9; 31:28; Pr 7:23; Ec 2:1; 3:22; 9:9; Est 9:1b; similarly the fem. הִיא, Ju 14:4 they knew not כי מי׳ היא that it was from י׳, Nu 14:41; Jos 10:13; Is 14:24; ψ 77:10 חַלּוֹתִי הִיא it (this perplexity) is my sickness, Jb 9:22; Pr 18:13; Je 22:16; 2 Ch 25:20 Ec 3:13; ref. to זאת Am 7:6; ψ 118:23 Jb 5:27, זֹה Ec 2:24. (Where there is a predicate, the gender of this usually regulates the choice of m. or f.: hence הִוא Gn 34:14; Ex 8:15; Nu 15:25 (Ec 5:5) Dt 4:6 +.) e.g. Joshua 2:21
- b. affirming the presence or existence of something (rare): 2 K 18:36 = Is 36:21 כִּי מִצְוַת הַמֶּלֶךְ הִיא for it was the king’s command, saying etc., 1 S 20:33 (text dub.), Je 50:15, 25; 51:6, 11; Mi 2:3, perhaps Jb 32:8. Cf. Dr§ § 198–201. e.g. 2 Kings 18:36
- 7. With the art. הַהוּא, הַהִיא, הָהֵ֫מָּה, הָהֵם, הָהֵ֫נָּה: so regularly when joined to a subst. defined itself by the art.: Gn 2:12 הָאָרֶץ הַהִוא that land, 19:35 ובלילה ההוא and in that night, 21:22 בָּעֵת הַהִוא at that time, Dt 1:19 המדבר הגדול והנורא ההוא. Only four times does there occur the anomalous construction בַּלַּיְלָה הוּא Gn 19:33; 30:16; 32:23; 1 S 19:10. e.g. Genesis 2:12
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
m. הִיא f. (pl. m. הֵ֫מָּה, הֵם; fem. הֵ֫נָּה, הֵן [the latter only with prefixes]; see these words), pron. of the 3rd ps. sing., he, she, used also (in both genders) for the neuter, it, Lat. is, ea, id. (The א is not orthographic merely, but radical, being written on Moab. and Ph. inscriptions, though dropped in some of the later dialects. [In Heb. only Je 29:23 Kt, and in the prn. אֱלִיהוּ.] Moab. (MI 6.27) and Ph. (often) הא; Aramaic of Zinjirli הא, once הו (DHMInschr. von Sendschirli 55); 𝔗 הוּא, הִיא, Syriac ܗܽܘ, ܗܺܝ Arabic هُوَ, هِىَ (for hūʾa, hīʾa, WSG 104); Ethiopic ውእቱ, ይእቲ weʾĕtū, yeʾĕtī; perhaps also Assyrian šû, šî, himself, herself, suff. s̆u, ši, cf. demonstr. šuatu, šiati (v. KraetzschmarBAS i. 383 & reff., WSG 98, 105 Dl§ 55 b, 57). In the Pent., הוא is of common gender, the fem. form הִיא occurring only 11 times, viz. Gn 14:2; 20:5; 38:25 (v. Mass here), Lv 11:39; 13:10, 21; 16:31; 20:17; 21:9 Nu 5:13, 14. The punctuators, however, sought to assimilate the usage of the Pent. to that of the rest of the OT, and accordingly wherever הוא was construed as a fem. pointed it הִוא (as a Qrê perpetuum). Outside the Pent. the same Qrê occurs 1 K 17:15 Is 30:33 Jb 31:11a—prob. for the sake of removing gramm. anomalies: five instances of the converse change, viz. of היא to be read as הוּא, occur for a similar reason, 1 K 17:15 (וַתֹּאכַל הוּא־וָהִיא to be read as וַתֹּאכַל הִיא־וָהוּא, on account of the fem. verb) ψ 73:16 Jb 31:11b (כי הוא זמה והיא עָוֹן פלילים to be read as כי היא זמה והוא עון פלילים), Ec 5:8 1 Ch 29:16. The origin of the peculiarity in the Pent. is uncertain. It can hardly be a real archaism: for the fact that Arabic, Aramaic, & Ethiopic have distinct forms for masc. & fem. 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 Pent.: in the ms. of the Later Prophets, of a.d. 916, now at S. Petersburg, published in facsimile by Strack (1876), the fem. occurs written הוא (see the passages cited in the Adnotationes Criticae, p. 026). In Ph. both masc. and fem. ar alike written הא (CIS i. 1:9 מלך צדק הא, 1:13 מלאכת הא, 3:19 אדם הא, l:11 ממלכת הא, 93:2; 94:2), though naturally this would be read as hu’ or hi’ as occasion required. Hence, as 𝔊 shews that in the older Heb. MSS. the scriptio plena was not yet generally introduced, it is prob. that originally הא was written for both genders in Hebrew likewise, and that the epicene הוא in the Pent. originated at a comparatively late epoch in the transmission of the text—perhaps in connexion with the assumption, which is partly borne out by facts (cf. DeZKWL 1880, pp. 393–399), that in the older language fem. forms were more sparingly used than subsequently.)In usage הוּא (f. הִיא; pl. הֵ֫מָּה, הֵם, הֵ֫נָּה: v. הֵ֫מָּה is
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive word
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
הוּא
- (b. h.) he, it; she; it is &c. Snh. III, 3 (24ᵇ) if he has no trade אלא הוא (Y. ed., Erub. 82ᵃ היא) except this (gambling &c.); יש לו אומנות שלא הוא (היא) if he has a trade besides this (v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note 80).—הוא—הוא, היא—היא it is the same, i.e. there is no difference between the two. Y. Ber. I, 3ᵇ היא היא both are equally precious. Gen. R. s. 9, end הוא מאד הוא אדם the word מאד has the same letters as אדם. Ber. 2ᵇ דילמא ביאת אורו הוא perhaps it is (means) the arrival of his day, v. אוֹר II; a. v. fr.—[Shebi. III, 8 עושה הוא; IV, 5 מכסה הוא, Y. ed. עוֹשֵׂהוּ, מְכַסֵּהוּ; ib. X, 6 מזכה הוא; Ms. M., Gitt. 37ᵃ מְזַכֵּהוּ.]—ולא היא but it is not so (it has a different reason &c.). Ber. 57ᵃ; a. fr.—כל שהוא (כל שהיא) a) whosoever, whatsoever (is). Peah II, 4 כל ש׳ אוכל whatever is eatable &c.; a. fr.—b) whatever it may be, a minimum, v. כָּל. Shebi. X, 6 כל שהוא; Gitt. l. c. כל שֶׁהוּ; a. fr.—ספר היא the Book Hi, name of a Pentateuch scroll in the Temple in which היא occurs nine times (for the archaic הִוא), whereas in others it appears eleven times (v. Ab. d’R. N. ch. XXXIV, ed. Schechter). Sifré Deut. 356; Y. Taan. IV, 68ᵃ bot.—הַהוּא, הַהִיא, mostly in Chald. diction, v. next w.—Pl. הֵם m., הֵן c. Ber. 2ᵇ והלא כהנים … הם טובלים but do not priests bathe &c.?—Meg. 14ᵇ רהמניות הן are compassionate. Ḥull. 127ᵇ הרי הן וכ׳ they are to be treated as if &c.; a. v. fr.—הן … הן are the same. Y. Ab. Zar. II, end, 42ᵃ, v. אִסְטַגְיוֹת.—With prep. מֵהֶם, מֵהֶן, לָהֶם &c.
הוּא ²
- , ch. same. Targ. Ex. I, 16; a. v. fr.—היא הדא, v. דָּא.—Y. Shebi. VII, 37ᶜ top בהוא אתר (R. S. to Shebi. VII, 3 בההוא אתרא) in the same place.—כל דהו whatsoever, v. preced. Arakh. 2ᵃ נפשות כל דהו human beings of any nature, v. כָּל.—Y. Kil. VI, 31ᵇ top כהיא דאמר וכ׳ (in Babli כי הא) as (that which) R. … said.—Pl. הֵן (perhaps only in Hebr. phrases); הִינוּן, הִינִין. Targ. Y. Ex. I, 10; Ib. 19 (O. אינ׳); a. fr.—With prefix ה: הַהוּא, הַהִיא. Targ. Y. Ex. XXI, 20; a. fr.—In Talmud frequ. used to introduce a case. Pes. 3ᵇ ה׳ ארמאה ד־ it occurred that a gentile &c. Keth. 78ᵇ ה׳ איתתא ד־ the case came up of a woman that &c.; a. v. fr.—ה׳ גברא, ה׳ איתתא frequ. euphemistically for myself, thyself (to avoid ominous speech or curse). Y. Maas. Sh. IV, 55ᵇ bot. אביו דה׳ ג׳ thy father. Ib.ᶜ top חמית ה׳ א׳ I saw; בעלה דה׳ א׳ thy husband; a. v. fr.—With prefix ד־: דהוא, דהיא, contr. דּוּ, דִּי, v. דְּ־ a. דּוּ.—With prefixed prep. בְּהוֹן, בּוֹן, לְהוֹן, לוֹן.
הֲוָא
- , v. הוי
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 149 distinct written forms H1931 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| הֽוּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 7:2 | 143 |
| ה֖וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 2:9 | 125 |
| ה֣וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 1:36 | 124 |
| ה֥וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 10:4 | 93 |
| ה֔וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 7:13 | 67 |
| הַ/ה֔וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 8:3 | 66 |
| ה֑וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 8:26 | 56 |
| הַ/ה֖וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 2:16 | 56 |
| הַ/ה֗וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 8:9 | 50 |
| הוּא֙ | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 14:8 | 48 |
| הַ/ה֑וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 13:3 | 39 |
| ה֚וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 10:17 | 37 |
| ה֗וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 8:18 | 33 |
| ה֤וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 30:20 | 33 |
| וְ/ה֣וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 10:21 | 32 |
| וְ/ה֥וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 9:3 | 32 |
| הִ֖יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ecclesiastes 3:21 | 31 |
| וְ/הוּא֙ | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 11:8 | 30 |
| הִ֣יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Esther 2:14 | 29 |
| וְ/ה֖וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Exodus 21:4 | 28 |
| הִֽוא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Deuteronomy 30:11 | 25 |
| הִ֥יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ecclesiastes 4:4 | 25 |
| הִ֑וא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Deuteronomy 2:20 | 24 |
| וְ/הֽוּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Ezekiel 21:23 | 24 |
| הַ/הֽוּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 12:3 | 22 |
| הַ/הוּא֙ | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 1:44 | 22 |
| הִ֔וא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Deuteronomy 3:11 | 21 |
| הַ/הִ֖וא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Deuteronomy 1:9 | 21 |
| ה֛וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 19:6 | 20 |
| הִיא֙ | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Amos 7:6 | 19 |
| הוּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 5:18 | 19 |
| הִ֖וא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Deuteronomy 24:4 | 17 |
| הַ/ה֜וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 8:13 | 16 |
| וְ/ה֤וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 29:13 | 16 |
| הִ֑יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ecclesiastes 5:6 | 14 |
| הִֽיא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Amos 5:13 | 14 |
| הַ/הִ֔יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | 1 Chronicles 21:28 | 14 |
| הַ/הִ֗יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | 1 Kings 19:8 | 14 |
| ה֭וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Job 8:16 | 13 |
| הַ/הִ֔וא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Deuteronomy 2:34 | 13 |
| ה֧וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Amos 1:15 | 12 |
| הַ/הִ֑יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Daniel 12:1 | 12 |
| ה֝֗וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Job 17:3 | 11 |
| הִ֛יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ezekiel 11:15 | 11 |
| הִ֔יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ezra 9:11 | 10 |
| ה֜וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Exodus 12:27 | 9 |
| וְ/ה֛וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 4:42 | 9 |
| הִ֚יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ezekiel 1:2 | 8 |
| הִוא֙ | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Deuteronomy 30:11 | 8 |
| הַ/ה֛וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Exodus 14:30 | 8 |
| הִ֗יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ezekiel 11:11 | 7 |
| הִ֣וא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Genesis 14:7 | 7 |
| הִ֥וא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Exodus 22:27 | 7 |
| הַ/ה֡וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Deuteronomy 13:5 | 7 |
| הַ/הִ֖יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Amos 5:13 | 7 |
| הַ/הִֽיא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ezra 8:34 | 7 |
| הַ/הִיא֙ | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Daniel 12:1 | 7 |
| וְ/הִ֖יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Ecclesiastes 7:23 | 7 |
| וְ֝/ה֗וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Job 21:22 | 7 |
| הִ֛וא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Genesis 3:12 | 6 |
The 60 most common forms are shown; 89 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1931, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 5 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 1,619 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 1,693 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 2:11
- Exodus 1:6
- Leviticus 1:13
- Numbers 1:4
- Deuteronomy 1:9
- Joshua 2:6
- Judges 1:26
- Ruth 1:1
- 1 Samuel 1:3
- 2 Samuel 2:16
- 1 Kings 1:6
- 2 Kings 1:8
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.