---
title: הוֹי — Ah · The Tanakh dictionary
description: הוֹי (1945), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 51 times: Ah. BDB 1906: interj. Ah, Alas, Ha. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# הוֹי

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«הוֹי» in the Tanakh dictionary: **Ah** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers.

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**Used:** 51 times · **Key:** 1945 · **BDB:** הוֹי

### Glosses

woe.to! (34); alas! (11); woe! (6)

### Meaning (OSHB)

Ah [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/1945/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

interj. Ah, Alas, Ha [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/1945/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** interj. (onomatop.; cf. ܗܳܘܳܝ = הוֹ הוֹ Am 5:16 𝔖, = הֵידָד Je 51:14 𝔖; also Mod. Aramaic ú hú, ú hú (in a lament), SoUrmia-Dial. 102.4)—expressing usually dissatisfaction and pain, Ah, Alas, Ha (not distinctly Woe! which is אוֹי): used in lamentations, 1 K 13:30 and they mourned over him (saying) הוֹי אָחִי Ah, my brother! Je 22:18 הוֹי אָחִי וְהוֹי אָחוֹת … הוֹי אָדוֹן וְהוֹי הֹדֹה, 34:5 וְהוֹי אָדוֹן יִסְפְּדוּ לָ֑ךְ (cf. הוֹ־הוֹ Am 5:16): hence Is 1:4 הוֹי גּוֹי חֹטֵא Ah! sinful nation, v 24 Ah! I will ease me of my adversaries; especially preparatory to a declaration of judgment, Is 10:5 הוֹי אַשּׁוּר שֵׁבֶט אַפִּי, 17:12; 28:1, often sq. a ptcp. Ah! those that …, 5:8, 11, 18; 29:15; 31:1; 45:9, 10 Je 22:13 Am 5:18; 6:1 Hb 2:6, 9, 12, 15, 19; Zc 11:17 + (more sympathetic than אוֹי לְ): sq. כִּי Je 30:7, אֶל 48:1, עַל 50:27; Ez 13:3, לְ 13:18. Sometimes hardly more than an exclam. arousing attention Ha! (though perh. with a touch of sympathy or pity) Is 18:1; 55:1 Zc 2:10(×2), 11 Je 47:6.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech not compared, 34 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses, lists its Strong's number (1 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech not compared, 0 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (1 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «הוֹי» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/1945/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Zechariah 2:11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ZEC.2.11/)

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ה֥וֹי צִיּ֖וֹן הִמָּלְטִ֑י יוֹשֶׁ֖בֶת בַּת־בָּבֶֽל׃ס

*Word for word:* alas! O.Zion escape O.inhabitant\[s\] of.the.daughter of.Babylon

*JPS 1917:* Ho, Zion, escape, thou that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.'

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[Zephaniah 3:1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ZEP.3.1/)

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ה֥וֹי מֹרְאָ֖ה וְנִגְאָלָ֑ה הָעִ֖יר הַיּוֹנָֽה׃

*Word for word:* woe.to! \[the.one.who.is\].rebellious and \[the.one.who.is\].defiled the city \[which\] oppresses

*JPS 1917:* Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!

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