אַי
where
‘where’ is one of 2 main senses 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.
Every verse where H335 appears — 36 distinct verses across 16 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.
Genesis 3 verses
- Genesis 3:9 אַיֶּֽ/כָּה ptcl inter + sfx pers 2ms Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"
- Genesis 4:9 אֵ֖י ptcl inter Yahweh said to Cain, "Where is Abel, your brother?" He said, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
- Genesis 16:8 אֵֽי ptcl inter He said, "Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, where did you come from? Where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarai."
Deuteronomy 1 verse
Judges 1 verse
1 Samuel 4 verses
- 1 Samuel 9:18 אֵי ptcl inter Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate, and said, Tell me, Please, where the seer's house is.
- 1 Samuel 25:11 אֵ֥י ptcl inter Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my meat that I have killed for my shearers, and give it to men who I don't know where they come from?
- 1 Samuel 26:16 אֵֽי ptcl inter This thing isn't good that you have done. As Yahweh lives, you are worthy to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, Yahweh's anointed. Now see where the king's spear is, and the jar of water that was at his head.
- 1 Samuel 30:13 וְ/אֵ֥י conj + ptcl inter David said to him, To whom belong you? and whence are you? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.
2 Samuel 3 verses
- 2 Samuel 1:3 אֵ֥י ptcl inter David said to him, From whence come you? He said to him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.
- 2 Samuel 1:13 אֵ֥י ptcl inter David said to the young man who told him, Whence are you? He answered, I am the son of a foreigner, an Amalekite.
- 2 Samuel 15:2 אֵֽי ptcl inter Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man had a suit which should come to the king for judgment, then Absalom called to him, and said, Of what city are you? He said, Your servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.
1 Kings 2 verses
- 1 Kings 13:12 אֵֽי ptcl inter Their father said to them, Which way did he go? Now his sons had seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah.
- 1 Kings 22:24 אֵי ptcl inter Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near, and struck Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of Yahweh from me to speak to you?
2 Kings 2 verses
2 Chronicles 1 verse
Esther 1 verse
Job 7 verses
- Job 2:2 אֵ֥י ptcl inter Yahweh said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered Yahweh, and said, "From going back and forth in the earth, and from walking up and down in it."
- Job 20:7 אַיּֽ/וֹ ptcl inter + sfx pers 3ms Yet he shall perish forever like his own dung, Those who have seen him shall say, 'Where is he?'
- Job 28:12 וְ/אֵ֥י conj + ptcl inter "But where shall wisdom be found? Where is the place of understanding?
- Job 28:20 וְ/אֵ֥י conj + ptcl inter Whence then comes wisdom? Where is the place of understanding?
- Job 35:10 אַ֭יֵּה ptcl inter But none says, 'Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night,
- Job 38:19 אֵי אֵי ptcl inter ptcl inter "What is the way to the dwelling of light? As for darkness, where is the place of it,
- Job 38:24 אֵי ptcl inter By what way is the lightning distributed, Or the east wind scattered on the earth?
Proverbs 1 verse
Ecclesiastes 2 verses
- Ecclesiastes 2:3 אֵי ptcl inter I searched in my heart how to cheer my flesh with wine, my heart yet guiding me with wisdom, and how to lay hold of folly, until I might see what it was good for the sons of men that they should do under heaven all the days of their lives.
- Ecclesiastes 11:6 אֵ֣י ptcl inter In the morning sow your seed, And in the evening don't withhold your hand; For you don't know which will prosper, whether this or that, Or whether they both will be equally good.
Isaiah 3 verses
- Isaiah 19:12 אַיָּ/ם֙ ptcl inter + sfx pers 3mp Where then are your wise men? and let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Hosts has purposed concerning Egypt.
- Isaiah 50:1 אֵ֣י ptcl inter Thus says Yahweh, Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
- Isaiah 66:1 אֵי וְ/אֵי ptcl inter conj + ptcl inter Thus says Yahweh, heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will you build to me? and what place shall be my rest?
Jeremiah 3 verses
- Jeremiah 5:7 אֵ֤י ptcl inter How can I pardon you? your children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses.
- Jeremiah 6:16 אֵי ptcl inter Thus says Yahweh, Stand you in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way; and walk therein, and you shall find rest for your souls: but they said, We will not walk [therein].
- Jeremiah 37:19 ו/אי/ו conj + ptcl inter + sfx pers 3ms Where now are your prophets who prophesied to you, saying, The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against this land?
Jonah 1 verse
Nahum 1 verse
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.
“where” is the headline sense of the Hebrew word אי (ʼay). First canonically at Genesis 3:9, it enters the text early. The Hebrew Bible uses it across 36 verses — moderately common. Carrying more than one sense, it rewards its full sense range. It shares a root with אין, אן and אי. See the sense tree, 36-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H335 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 →
- 36
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 36 distinct verses.
- 16 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 16 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #947
- by frequency
- Top 1000 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 947 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 36 occurrences in the concordance →
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 36 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 20 verses · 56%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 12 verses · 33%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 4 verses · 11%
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: Where 4×, What 3×, Whence 2×
- American Standard Version: What 2×, Whence 2×, Where 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: Where 21×, Which 5×, Is he 2×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Where 30×, Is 2×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H335 across 16 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 7 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 H335 across 16 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 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 H335 across 39 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 9 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H335 across 40 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
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 2 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. interrog. adv. where?
- 2. prefixed to other adverbs or prons., אַי imparts an interrog. force
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
Derived from אין (ʼayin) (H370) — where.
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.
אִי II
- (= אִין; h. אִם; cmp. אוֹ)
- 1. if, whether. Targ. Cant. VII, 13; a. e.—Ber. 2ᵃ, a. fr. אי הכי (abbrev. א"ה) if this be so (introducing an argument against one’s opinion).—R. Hash. 3ᵃ כי משמש וכ׳ khi has four meanings, אי if, &c.—אי נמי (abbrev. א"נ) a) if you choose, it may also be said; or. B. Mets. 98ᵃ; a. fr.—b) even if, v. נַמִּי. Ḥull. 12ᵃ א"נ דילמא וכ׳ (Rashi א"נ שמע איניש וכ׳) even if somebody else overheard it; a. fr.—אי אמרת בשלמא (abbr. אא"ב = בשלמא אי אמרת) I grant, if you were to say … היינו then would be right what &c.; v. בשלמא. Yoma 17ᵇ; a. fr.—אי … אי whether … or. Targ. Koh. XI, 6. B. Mets. 98ᵃ; a. fr.
- 2. adv. of interrogation, v. אִין II. Targ. Job XI, 2 Ms. (ed. אין).
אִי־
- prefix, v. אִ־
אִי I
- fem. of אוּ q. v.
אִי III
- (= h. אֵין) not. Git. IV, 5 אי אפשר it is impossible. Keth. XII, 3 אי אפשי I want not; a. fr.
אִי IV
- (abbr. of אִית, as לי = לית) there is. Y. Snh. VI, 23ᵇ bot. אי בי וכ׳ there is in me (the possibility of) doing, i.e. I can do it. Ib. מה אי וכ׳ what is it thou canst do? (v. Y. Ḥag. II, 78ᵃ top).
אֵי II
- Interj. Eh! Oh! Woe! Targ. Y. II, Lev. XXVI, 29.—Taan. 7ᵃ אי חכמה וכ׳ Oh, for such a brilliant mind in such an ugly vessel (body)! R. Hash. 19ᵃ אי שמים Oh heavens!; a. fr. Y. Shek. V, end, 49ᵇ אי לי שאני וכ׳ woe unto me, that I thus see thee! Y. Yeb. XIII, 14ᵃ top; a. fr. [Babli, usually אוֹי.]
אֵי III
- (אֵיי) h. (b. h. אֵי, אַיֵה) where? what? how?—אי מנן whence? Targ. Josh. II, 4; a. e.—Hebr. אי זה (often אֵיזֶה, אֵזֶה in one word) who? which? Y. Kil. VIII, beg. 31ᵇ לאי זה דבר נאמר with regard to what (in what way, sense) has it been said? Y. Shebi. I, beg. 33ᵃ ואי זה זה and which (ploughing time) is this?; a. v. fr.—Y. Peah III, 17ᶜ top ואיי דינו מירוג (= אידין) and what is the meaning of merog? Kerith. 6ᵇ לאיי מיצרך צריכי what need is there (of the others)? Cmp. אֵיזֶה; אֵימָתי; Kerith. 6ᵇ לאיי מיצרך צריכי what need is there (of the others)? Cmp. אֵיזֶה; אֵימָתי; כֵּיצַד.
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 16 distinct written forms H335 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| אֵי | Particle, Interrogative | Ecclesiastes 2:3 | 9 |
| אֵ֣י | Particle, Interrogative | Deuteronomy 32:37 | 5 |
| אֵֽי | Particle, Interrogative | Genesis 16:8 | 5 |
| אֵ֥י | Particle, Interrogative | 1 Samuel 25:11 | 4 |
| וְ/אֵ֥י | Particle, Interrogative | 1 Samuel 30:13 | 3 |
| וְ/אֵֽי | Particle, Interrogative | Esther 7:5 | 2 |
| אֵ֖י | Particle, Interrogative | Genesis 4:9 | 1 |
| אֵ֤י | Particle, Interrogative | Jeremiah 5:7 | 1 |
| אַ֭יֵּה | Particle, Interrogative | Job 35:10 | 1 |
| אַיּ֤/וֹ | Particle, Interrogative | 2 Kings 19:13 | 1 |
| אַיֶּֽ/כָּה | Particle, Interrogative | Genesis 3:9 | 1 |
| אַיָּ/ם֙ | Particle, Interrogative | Isaiah 19:12 | 1 |
| אַיָּֽ/ם | Particle, Interrogative | Nahum 3:17 | 1 |
| אַיּֽ/וֹ | Particle, Interrogative | Job 20:7 | 1 |
| ו/אי/ו | Particle, Interrogative | Jeremiah 37:19 | 1 |
| וְ/אֵי | Particle, Interrogative | Isaiah 66:1 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H335, 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
Derived from this word
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 7 — not the complete family. They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 36 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 36 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 3:9
- Deuteronomy 32:37
- Judges 13:6
- 1 Samuel 9:18
- 2 Samuel 1:3
- 1 Kings 13:12
- 2 Kings 3:8
- 2 Chronicles 18:23
- Esther 7:5
- Job 2:2
- Proverbs 31:4
- Ecclesiastes 2:3
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.
