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 Zechariah — 32 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.
Zechariah
- Zechariah 1:7 הוּא pron pers 3ms On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying,
- Zechariah 1:8 וְ/ה֣וּא conj + pron pers 3ms "I had a vision in the night, and, behold, a man riding on a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in a ravine; and behind him there were red, brown, and white horses.
- Zechariah 2:11 הַ/ה֔וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that Yahweh of Hosts has sent me to you.
- Zechariah 3:9 הַ/הִ֖יא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3fs For, behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the engraving of it,' says Yahweh of Hosts, 'and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
- Zechariah 3:10 הַ/ה֗וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms In that day,' says Yahweh of hosts, 'you will invite every man his neighbor under the vine and under the fig tree.'"
- Zechariah 5:6 הִ֑יא pron pers 3fs I said, "What is it?" He said, "This is the ephah basket that is appearing." He said moreover, "This is their appearance in all the land
- Zechariah 6:10 הַ/ה֔וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms "Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah; and come the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah, where they have come from Babylon.
- Zechariah 6:13 וְ֠/הוּא וְ/הֽוּא conj + pron pers 3ms conj + pron pers 3ms even he shall build the temple of Yahweh; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule on his throne; and he shall be a priest on his throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
- Zechariah 9:4 וְ/הִ֖יא conj + pron pers 3fs Behold, the Lord will dispossess her, And he will strike her power in the sea; And she will be devoured with fire.
- Zechariah 9:7 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms I will take away his blood out of his mouth, And his abominations from between his teeth; And he also will be a remnant for our God; And he will be as a chieftain in Judah, And Ekron as a Jebusite.
- Zechariah 9:9 ה֑וּא pron pers 3ms Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; Lowly, and riding on a donkey, Even on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
- Zechariah 9:16 הַ/ה֖וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms Yahweh their God will save them in that day as the flock of his people; For they are like the jewels of a crown, Lifted on high over his land.
- Zechariah 11:11 הַ/ה֑וּא הֽוּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms pron pers 3ms It was broken in that day; and thus the poor of the flock that listened to me knew that it was the word of Yahweh.
- Zechariah 12:3 הַ֠/הוּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.
- Zechariah 12:4 הַ/ה֜וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms In that day," says Yahweh, "I will strike every horse with terror, and his rider with madness; and I will open my eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
- Zechariah 12:6 הַ/ה֡וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 12:8 הַ/ה֗וּא הַ/ה֖וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of Yahweh before them.
- Zechariah 12:9 הַ/ה֑וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms It will happen in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 12:11 הַ/ה֗וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms In that day there will be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
- Zechariah 13:1 הַ/ה֗וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms "In that day there will be a spring opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
- Zechariah 13:2 הַ/ה֜וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms It will come to pass in that day, says Yahweh of Hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they will no more be remembered; and also I will cause the prophets and the spirit of impurity to pass out of the land.
- Zechariah 13:4 הַ/ה֗וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms It will happen in that day, that the prophets will each be ashamed of his vision, when he prophesies; neither will they wear a hairy mantle to deceive:
- Zechariah 13:9 ה֣וּא ה֔וּא וְ/ה֥וּא pron pers 3ms pron pers 3ms conj + pron pers 3ms I will bring the third part into the fire, And will refine them as silver is refined, And will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, 'It is my people;' And they will say, 'Yahweh is my God.'"
- Zechariah 14:4 הַ֠/הוּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two, from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
- Zechariah 14:6 הַ/ה֑וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms It will happen in that day, that there will not be light, cold, or frost.
- Zechariah 14:7 ה֛וּא pron pers 3ms It will be a unique day which is known to Yahweh; not day, and not night; but it will come to pass, that at evening time there will be light.
- Zechariah 14:8 הַ/ה֗וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms It will happen in that day, that living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea; in summer and in winter will it be.
- Zechariah 14:9 הַ/ה֗וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms Yahweh will be King over all the earth. In that day Yahweh will be one, and his name one.
- Zechariah 14:12 וְ/הוּא֙ conj + pron pers 3ms This will be the plague with which Yahweh will strike all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth.
- Zechariah 14:13 הַ/ה֔וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms It will happen in that day, that a great panic from Yahweh will be among them; and they will lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor.
- Zechariah 14:20 הַ/ה֗וּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms In that day there will be on the bells of the horses, "HOLY TO YAHWEH;" and the pots in Yahweh's house will be like the bowls before the altar.
- Zechariah 14:21 הַ/הֽוּא ptcl def.art + pron pers 3ms Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Yahweh of Hosts; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Yahweh of Hosts.
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.
