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אַתָּה

𐤀𐤕𐤄

ʼattâh

H859 pronoun

SILEX Entry

Definition

Direct second person singular independent personal pronoun, addressing a male individual as 'you.' Used primarily to refer directly to the person spoken to, with form and context indicating gender and number. The forms attest to distinctions of gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) in Biblical Hebrew. In its primary sense, אַתָּה specifies the addressee in both narrative and dialogue.

Semantic Range

you (masculine singular), you (feminine singular: אַתְּ), you (plural masculine: אַתֶּם), you (plural feminine: אַתֶּן / אַתֵּנָה); second person address pronoun in direct speech and narrative

Root / Etymology

Root uncertain. The term is classified as a primary (or 'primitive') pronoun, representing a core component of the ancient Hebrew pronominal system. There is no widely agreed-upon triliteral verbal root, as is typical for pronouns across Semitic languages. Cognate forms exist in related Semitic languages (e.g., Ugaritic 'att', Akkadian 'atta/atti', Aramaic 'ant/atti'), pointing to a common ancient Near Eastern pronominal system.

Historical & Contextual Notes

אַתָּה and its forms represent Hebrew's direct second person pronouns, distinct in gender and number. Masculine singular is אַתָּה (attâ), feminine singular אַתְּ (at), with an extended feminine form אַתִּי (attî) occurring rarely. The masculine plural is אַתֶּם (attem), the feminine plural אַתֶּן or אַתֵּנָה (atten/attenah). Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the masculine singular אַתָּה is far more frequently attested than the feminine, reflecting the male-centric narrative voice and address in ancient Israelite texts. Feminine forms sometimes display regional or chronological distribution, with אַתִּי (attî) found in late biblical or poetic usage. Unlike in English, Hebrew marks gender and number directly within its pronominal forms, underscoring the language's concern with precise social address. Later translations (including KJV) render אַתָּה as 'thou'/'thee', but these do not fully represent the Hebrew gender/number distinctions or the specificity of address. In post-exilic and later stages, the pronoun system remains generally stable, but with further contraction or simplification in some dialectal forms. Compared with the emphatic independent pronoun אָנֹכִי (ʾanokhî) for 'I', אַתָּה is parallel as the independent 'you' (singular, masculine).

Translation Consistency

primary "you" 804 occurrences

אַתָּה is the direct second-person singular pronoun; the overwhelmingly common and natural English equivalent is “you.” Using “you” ensures consistent, idiomatic rendering for all gender/number variants of the second person in this Strong’s entry.

Alternatives (300 occurrences):
"(masculine plural)" (213x) "men" (70x) "are" (10x) "(masculine singular)" (7x)

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

or (shortened); אַתָּ; or אַת; feminine (irregular) sometimes אַתִּי; plural masculine אַתֶּם; feminine אַתֶּן; or אַתֵּנָהlemma אתֵּנָה missing vowel, corrected to אַתֵּנָה; or אַתֵּנָּה; a primitive pronoun of the second person; thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you; thee, thou, ye, you.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

אתה (ʾ-t-h) — direct address, second-person reference, designated addressee

Root uncertain to address directly, to refer to the second person, to indicate direct addressee
Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H2978 יְאִתוֹן entryway
H6258 עַתָּה you
H8160 שָׁעָה you
H857 אָתָה we have come

Word Forms

18 distinct forms

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H859-02 אָ֑תָּה atah HPp2ms you you you 536
H859-04 אַתֶּ֑ם atem HPp2mp you you (masculine plural) you (masculine plural) 213
H859-12 וְ/אַתָּ֖ה veatah HC/Pp2ms and you and you (masculine singular) and you 194
H859-14 וְ/אַתֶּ֖ם veatem HC/Pp2mp and you and you men and you men 69
H859-03 אָֽתְּ ate HPp2fs you you you 44
H859-13 וְ/אַ֗תְּ veate HC/Pp2fs and you and you and you 15
H859-06 הַֽ/אַתָּ֥ה haatah HTi/Pp2ms are you you (masculine singular) are you 10
H859-10 אתי ty HPp2fs you you you 5
H859-09 את t HPp2ms [direct object marker] you you 3
H859-16 וְ/אַתֵּ֖נָה veatenah HC/Pp2fp and you and you and you 3

Occurrences in Scripture

1104 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H859-02 Genesis 3:11 אָ֑תָּה atah HPp2ms you are you you
H859-02 Genesis 3:14 אַתָּה֙ atah HPp2ms are you you you
H859-12 Genesis 3:15 וְ/אַתָּ֖ה veatah HC/Pp2ms and you and you (masculine singular) and you
H859-02 Genesis 3:19 אַ֔תָּה atah HPp2ms you are you you are
H859-12 Genesis 4:7 וְ/אַתָּ֖ה veatah HC/Pp2ms and you and you (masculine singular) and you
H859-02 Genesis 4:11 אָ֑תָּה atah HPp2ms you you you
H859-02 Genesis 6:18 אַתָּ֕ה atah HPp2ms you you you
H859-12 Genesis 6:21 וְ/אַתָּ֣ה veatah HC/Pp2ms And you and you (masculine singular) and you
H859-02 Genesis 7:1 אַתָּ֥ה atah HPp2ms you you you
H859-02 Genesis 8:16 אַתָּ֕ה atah HPp2ms you you you
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