Original Language Studio
Exodus 12:29
“And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.” (KJV)
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Lexical meaning
H1961 · Hebrew
- Definition
- to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)
- Derivation
- a primitive root (compare H1933 (הָוָא));
- KJV renderings
- beacon, [idiom] altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, [phrase] follow, happen, [idiom] have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, [idiom] use.
- Grammar
- וַ — conjunction
- יְהִ֣י — verb Qal, sequential imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, singular
- Usage
- Occurs 3,575 times in the Hebrew Bible.Genesis 1:2Genesis 1:3Genesis 1:3Genesis 1:5Genesis 1:5
Theological interpretation (AI)
The card on the left shows lexical data from published sources. Interpretation is separate: ask the Companion to explain how traditions read הָיָה here.
Hebrew text: Westminster Leningrad Codex (public domain). Morphology & lemmas: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, CC BY 4.0 (hb.openscriptures.org). Lexicon: Strong's Hebrew Dictionary (1894, public domain; JSON edition © Open Scriptures, CC BY-SA). Verse numbers follow the Hebrew text, which occasionally differs from English Bibles.