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הִי

𐤄𐤉

hîy

H1958 noun

SILEX Entry

Root נחה (uncertain) to lament (root, if any), to wail (onomatopoeic), to voice a cry of grief

Definition

An interjection expressing lamentation, intense grief, or wailing, used to signal or provoke communal or individual mourning. The word functions less as a descriptive noun and more as an exclamation of sorrow, often appearing in poetic or prophetic contexts as a call to mourn or as an onomatopoeic cry of distress. Semantic range includes uses as a cry of woe, a lament, or the vocalization of grief in funeral or disaster settings.

Semantic Range

cry of lament, expression of woe, exclamation of distress, onomatopoeic wailing, call to communal mourning

Root / Etymology

Root: נחה (uncertain if directly derived from a clear root); most scholars regard הִי as an onomatopoeic or mimetic word, echoing the sound of weeping or lament. It is closely related to נְהִי (nehi, 'lamentation'), but is used as an exclamatory interjection. The etymology is thus uncertain, but its use suggests imitation of the sound of mourning.

Historical & Contextual Notes

הִי occurs rarely in the Hebrew Bible (Isaiah 23:1, 46:12, Ezekiel 2:10; cf. parallel forms in other Semitic languages). It functions as a poetic or liturgical exclamation to initiate grief, particularly in prophetic dirges against peoples or lands (e.g., the famed widow's wail in Israelite mourning customs). Unlike the related term נְהִי ('lamentation'), which denotes the practice or occasion of mourning, הִי is the actual spoken or sung cry. English translations as 'woe' or 'alas' approximate meaning but fail to capture the performative, auditory quality. In post-exilic and later Hebrew, similar forms were retained in traditional laments. The translation 'woe' (reflecting LXX ouai) corresponds to the sense used by later interpreters, but in its earliest contexts it functions as an expressive, not a descriptive term.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

for נְהִי; lamentation; woe. (For hiyr. See הוּא, הוּא.)

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

נחה (uncertain) (n-ḥ-h (uncertain)) — lament, wail, cry out in grief

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H1958-01 וָ/הִֽי vahi HC/Ncmsa and-woe and—woe! 1

Occurrences in Scripture

1 total occurrence

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H1958-01 Ezekiel 2:10 וָ/הִֽי vahi HC/Ncmsa and-woe and—woe!
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