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
- Particle
- A short function word — article, negation, interrogative, the sign of the direct object, and the like.
- 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.
Grammatical forms
- Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 8 times (36%)
- Particle, Accusative 6 times (27%)
- Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular 6 times (27%)
- Pronoun, Demonstrative, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular 1 time (5%)
- Pronoun, Demonstrative, Masculine, Singular 1 time (5%)
Parsed forms decoded from the imported morphology (morphhb / Westminster Leningrad Codex — WLC text public domain, morphhb tagging CC BY 4.0), counted across 22 parsed occurrences — not distinct verses.
Every verse where H1932 appears — 22 distinct verses across 2 books. 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.
Ezra 2 verses
- Ezra 5:8 וְ/ה֤וּא conj + pron pers 3ms Be it known to the king, that we went into the province of Judah, to the house of the great God, which is built with great stones, and timber is laid in the walls; and this work goes on with diligence and prospers in their hands.
- Ezra 6:15 הִ֣יא pron pers 3fs This house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.
Daniel 20 verses
- Daniel 2:9 הִ֣יא pron pers 3fs But if you don't make known to me the dream, there is but one law for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, until the time be changed: therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me the interpretation of it.
- Daniel 2:20 הִֽיא ptcl acc Daniel answered, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his.
- Daniel 2:21 וְ֠/הוּא conj + pron pers 3ms He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding;
- Daniel 2:22 ה֛וּא pron pers 3ms he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.
- Daniel 2:28 הֽוּא ptcl acc but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets, and he has made known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Your dream, and the visions of your head on your bed, are these:
- Daniel 2:32 ה֣וּא pron dem 3ms As for this image, its head was of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass,
- Daniel 2:38 ה֔וּא ptcl acc and wherever the children of men dwell, the animals of the field and the birds of the sky has he given into your hand, and has made you to rule over them all: you are the head of gold.
- Daniel 2:44 וְ/הִ֖יא conj + pron pers 3fs In the days of those kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall the sovereignty of it be left to another people; but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
- Daniel 2:47 ה֣וּא ptcl acc The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth your God is the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing you have been able to reveal this secret.
- Daniel 3:15 ה֣וּא ptcl acc Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to you fall down and worship the image which I have made, [well]: but if you don't worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that god that shall deliver you out of my hands?
- Daniel 4:22 ה֣וּא pron dem ms it is you, O king, that are grown and become strong; for your greatness is grown, and reaches to the sky, and your dominion to the end of the earth.
- Daniel 4:24 הִ֔יא pron pers 3fs this is the interpretation, O king, and it is the decree of the Most High, which is come on my lord the king:
- Daniel 4:30 הִ֖יא pron pers 3fs The king spoke and said, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?
- Daniel 5:13 ה֤וּא ptcl acc Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel, who are of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah?
- Daniel 6:4 ה֔וּא pron pers 3ms Then the presidents and the satraps sought to find occasion against Daniel as touching the kingdom; but they could find no occasion nor fault, because he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
- Daniel 6:10 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house (now his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem) and he kneeled on his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.
- Daniel 6:16 ה֖וּא pron pers 3ms Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. [Now] the king spoke and said to Daniel, Your God whom you serve continually, he will deliver you.
- Daniel 6:26 ה֣וּא pron pers 3ms I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for he is the living God, and steadfast forever, His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and his dominion shall be even to the end.
- Daniel 7:7 וְ/הִ֣יא conj + pron pers 3fs After this I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, a fourth animal, awesome and powerful, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the residue with its feet: and it was diverse from all the animals that were before it; and it had ten horns.
- Daniel 7:24 וְ/ה֤וּא conj + pron pers 3ms As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the former, and he shall put down three kings.
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.” Daniel dominates its distribution — 20 of 22 verses. Spanning 22 verses in 2 books, it ranks among the uncommon words of the Hebrew Bible. Debuting at Ezra 5:8, it then recurs through the corpus. Alongside “he” the lexicon also lists “she” and “it” — part of its full sense range. For the data behind this summary, explore the sense tree and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H1932 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 →
- 22
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 22 distinct verses.
- 2 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 2 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #1,412
- by frequency
- Top 2500 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 1,412 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 22 occurrences in the concordance →
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 22 distinct verses.
- Writings (Ketuvim) 22 verses · 100%
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: It 2×, This 2×
- American Standard Version: It 3×
- Berean Standard Bible: He 5×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: He 6×, Is 4×, It 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H1932 across 7 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 3 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H1932 across 8 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 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 H1932 across 9 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 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 13 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H1932 across 22 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 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.
Derived from הוא (hûwʼ) (H1931) — he.
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 14 distinct written forms H1932 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ה֣וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 6:10 | 6 |
| ה֔וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 6:4 | 2 |
| הִ֣יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Daniel 2:9 | 2 |
| וְ/ה֤וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 7:24 | 2 |
| ה֖וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 6:16 | 1 |
| ה֛וּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 2:22 | 1 |
| ה֤וּא | Particle, Accusative | Daniel 5:13 | 1 |
| הִ֔יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Daniel 4:24 | 1 |
| הִ֖יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Daniel 4:30 | 1 |
| הִֽיא | Particle, Accusative | Daniel 2:20 | 1 |
| הֽוּא | Particle, Accusative | Daniel 2:28 | 1 |
| וְ/הִ֖יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Daniel 2:44 | 1 |
| וְ/הִ֣יא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular | Daniel 7:7 | 1 |
| וְ֠/הוּא | Pronoun, Personal, 3rd Person, Masculine, Singular | Daniel 2:21 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H1932, 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.
Derives from
Shares the same root
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 21 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 22 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
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.
