הִיא

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 an emph. he (she, it, they), sometimes equivalent to himself (herself, itself, themselves), or (especially with the art.) that (those): 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 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 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 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 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. It resumes the subj. with emph.: 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. 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 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.) 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 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). 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 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). 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.) It anticipates (as it seems) the subject viz. (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.) 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.) 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. In a neuter sense, that, it (of an action, occurrence, matter, etc.)— 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 +.) 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. 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.