Original Language Studio
Isaiah 58:3
“Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.” (KJV)
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Lexical meaning
H4100 · Hebrew
- Definition
- properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses
- Derivation
- or מַה; or מָ; or מַ; also מֶה; a primitive particle;
- KJV renderings
- how (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.
- Grammar
- לָ֤ — preposition
- מָּה — particle (interrogative)
- Usage
- Occurs 750 times in the Hebrew Bible.Genesis 2:19Genesis 3:13Genesis 4:6Genesis 4:6Genesis 4:10
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 מָה 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.