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 Kings — 57 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 Kings
- 2 Kings 1:8 הֽוּא pron pers 3ms They answered him, He was a hairy man, and girt with a belt of leather about his loins. He said, It is Elijah the Tishbite.
- 2 Kings 2:12 וְ/ה֤וּא conj + pron pers 3ms Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen of it! He saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and tore them in two pieces.
- 2 Kings 2:14 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and struck the waters, and said, Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah? and when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha went over.
- 2 Kings 2:18 וְ/ה֖וּא conj + pron pers 3ms They came back to him, while he stayed at Jericho; and he said to them, "Didn't I tell you, 'Don't go?'"
- 2 Kings 2:23 וְ/ה֣וּא conj + pron pers 3ms He went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up by the way, there came forth young lads out of the city, and mocked him, and said to him, Go up, you baldy; go up, you baldhead.
- 2 Kings 3:6 הַ/ה֖וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms King Jehoram went out of Samaria at that time, and mustered all Israel.
- 2 Kings 3:17 הַ/ה֖וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms For thus says Yahweh, You shall not see wind, neither shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, and you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your animals.
- 2 Kings 4:5 וְ/הִ֥יא conj + pron pers 3fs So she went from him, and shut the door on her and on her sons; they brought [the vessels] to her, and she poured out.
- 2 Kings 4:9 ה֑וּא pron pers 3ms She said to her husband, See now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God, that passes by us continually.
- 2 Kings 5:7 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms It happened, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he tore his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man does send to me to recover a man of his leprosy? but consider, I pray you, and see how he seeks a quarrel against me.
- 2 Kings 5:15 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms He returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, See now, I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, please take a present from your servant.
- 2 Kings 5:18 וְ/ה֣וּא conj + pron pers 3ms In this thing Yahweh pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, Yahweh pardon your servant in this thing.
- 2 Kings 5:25 וְ/הוּא conj + pron pers 3ms But he went in, and stood before his master. Elisha said to him, Whence come you, Gehazi? He said, Your servant went no where.
- 2 Kings 6:5 וְ/ה֥וּא conj + pron pers 3ms But as one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water; and he cried, and said, Alas, my master! for it was borrowed.
- 2 Kings 6:13 ה֔וּא pron pers 3ms He said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him. It was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
- 2 Kings 6:30 וְ/ה֖וּא conj + pron pers 3ms It happened, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he tore his clothes (now he was passing by on the wall); and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within on his flesh.
- 2 Kings 6:32 וְ/ה֣וּא conj + pron pers 3ms But Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him; and [the king] sent a man from before him: but before the messenger came to him, he said to the elders, See you how this son of a murderer has sent to take away my head? behold, when the messenger comes, shut the door, and hold the door fast against him: isn't the sound of his master's feet behind him?
- 2 Kings 7:7 הִ֑יא pron pers 3fs Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their donkeys, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
- 2 Kings 7:9 ה֔וּא pron pers 3ms Then they said one to another, We aren't doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we hold our peace: if we wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us; now therefore come, let us go and tell the king's household.
- 2 Kings 8:2 הִיא֙ pron pers 3fs The woman arose, and did according to the word of the man of God; and she went with her household, and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
- 2 Kings 8:5 ה֥וּא pron pers 3ms It happened, as he was telling the king how he had restored to life him who was dead, that behold, the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for her house and for her land. Gehazi said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elisha restored to life.
- 2 Kings 8:21 ה֞וּא pron pers 3ms Then Joram passed over to Zair, and all his chariots with him: and he rose up by night, and struck the Edomites who surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots; and the people fled to their tents.
- 2 Kings 8:22 הַ/הִֽיא 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.
- 2 Kings 8:27 הֽוּא pron pers 3ms He walked in the way of the house of Ahab, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, as did the house of Ahab; for he was the son-in-law of the house of Ahab.
- 2 Kings 8:29 הֽוּא pron pers 3ms King Joram returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds which the Syrians had given him at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was sick.
- 2 Kings 9:14 ה֚וּא pron pers 3ms So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram was keeping Ramoth-gilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria;
- 2 Kings 9:34 הִֽיא pron pers 3fs When he was come in, he ate and drink; and he said, See now to this cursed woman, and bury her; for she is a king's daughter.
- 2 Kings 9:36 ה֔וּא pron pers 3ms Therefore they came back, and told him. He said, This is the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel;
- 2 Kings 10:12 ה֛וּא pron pers 3ms He arose and departed, and went to Samaria. As he was at the shearing-house of the shepherds in the way,
- 2 Kings 14:7 הוּא pron pers 3ms He killed of Edom in the Valley of Salt ten thousand, and took Sela by war, and called the name of it Joktheel, to this day.
- 2 Kings 14:11 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms But Amaziah would not hear. So Jehoash 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 Kings 14:21 וְ/ה֕וּא conj + pron pers 3ms All the people of Judah took Azariah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah.
- 2 Kings 14:22 ה֚וּא pron pers 3ms He built Elath, and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers.
- 2 Kings 14:25 ה֗וּא pron pers 3ms He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah, according to the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah the son of Amittai, the prophet, who was of Gath Hepher.
- 2 Kings 15:12 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms This was the word of Yahweh which he spoke to Jehu, saying, Your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel. So it came to pass.
- 2 Kings 15:35 ה֗וּא pron pers 3ms However the high places were not taken away: the people still sacrificed and burned incense in the high places. He built the upper gate of the house of Yahweh.
- 2 Kings 16:6 הַ/הִ֗יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drove the Jews from Elath; and the Syrians came to Elath, and lived there, to this day.
- 2 Kings 17:39 וְ/הוּא֙ conj + pron pers 3ms but Yahweh your God shall you fear; and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
- 2 Kings 18:4 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms He removed the high places, and broke the pillars, and cut down the Asherah: and he broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for to those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it; and he called it Nehushtan.
- 2 Kings 18:8 הֽוּא pron pers 3ms He struck the Philistines to Gaza and the borders of it, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.
- 2 Kings 18:9 הִ֚יא pron pers 3fs It happened in the fourth year of king Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, that Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria, and besieged it.
- 2 Kings 18:10 הִ֣יא pron pers 3fs At the end of three years they took it: in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was taken.
- 2 Kings 18:16 הַ/הִ֗יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs At that time did Hezekiah cut off [the gold from] the doors of the temple of Yahweh, and [from] the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
- 2 Kings 18:22 ה֗וּא pron pers 3ms But if you tell me, We trust in Yahweh our God; isn't that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
- 2 Kings 18:36 הִ֛יא pron pers 3fs But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word; for the king's commandment was, saying, Don't answer him.
- 2 Kings 19:15 ה֤וּא pron pers 3ms Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh, and said, Yahweh, the God of Israel, who sit [above] the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
- 2 Kings 19:35 הַ/הוּא֒ ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms It happened that night, that the angel of Yahweh went forth, and struck in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred eighty-five thousand: and when men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
- 2 Kings 19:37 ה֨וּא pron pers 3ms It happened, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him with the sword: and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Esar Haddon his son reigned in his place.
- 2 Kings 20:12 הַ/הִ֡יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs At that time Berodach-baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah; for he had heard that Hezekiah had been sick.
- 2 Kings 22:13 הִיא֙ pron pers 3fs Go you, inquire of Yahweh for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found; for great is the wrath of Yahweh that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that which is written concerning us.
- 2 Kings 22:14 וְ/הִ֛יא conj + pron pers 3fs So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam, and Achbor, and Shaphan, and Asaiah, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe (now she lived in Jerusalem in the second quarter); and they talked with her.
- 2 Kings 23:15 הַ/ה֛וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and beat it to dust, and burned the Asherah.
- 2 Kings 24:10 הַ/הִ֔יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
- 2 Kings 24:12 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
- 2 Kings 25:1 ה֧וּא pron pers 3ms It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and encamped against it; and they built forts against it round about.
- 2 Kings 25:8 הִ֗יא pron pers 3fs Now in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, to Jerusalem.
- 2 Kings 25:19 ה֥וּא pron pers 3ms and out of the city he took an officer who was set over the men of war; and five men of those who saw the king's face, who were found in the city; and the scribe, the captain of the host, who mustered the people of the land; and sixty men of the people of the land, who were found in the city.
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.