--- title: אַי — where? · The Tanakh dictionary description: אַי (335), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 39 times: where?. BDB 1906: interrog.adv. where. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/335.html) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [dictionaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/) / [Tanakh](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/) / [א](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1488-4.md)‎ / אַי‎ # אַי «אַי» in the Tanakh dictionary: **where?** — how often it is used, MACULA's glosses, its meanings in the printed dictionaries and why they were chosen, and 2 verses in layers. **Used:** 39 times · **Key:** 335 · **BDB:** אַי ### Glosses where? (31); where.\[is\] (5); where.\[are\] (3) ### Meaning (OSHB) where? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/335/#m1) ### Meaning (BDB 1906) interrog.adv. where [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/335/#m2) **The whole BDB entry:** (أَىٌّ, አይ in Syr. in cpds. as ܐܰܝܟܰܢ how? WSG 120–2; cf. As. aiu, who? what?). interrog.adv. where? so with sf. אַיֶּ֫כָּה \[a verbal form, v. Sta§ 355 b. 3\] Gn 3:9; אַיּוֹ Ex 2:20, poet. where is he? = he is nowhere Jb 14:10; 20:7 (Je 37:19 rd. Qr אַיֵּה); אַיָּם Na 3:17 (in indirect qu.) and the place thereof is not known, אַיָּם where they are. Idiomatically, with the sf. anticipating the noun to which it refers (Ew§ 309 c, cf. DrSm i. 21, 14) 2 K 19:13 אַיּוֹ מֶלֶךְ־חֲמָת where is he, the king of Hamath? (‖ Is 37:13 אַיֵּה) Is 19:12 Mi 7:10. When used alone, or with other adverbs (v. infr.), it is contracted to אֵי Gn 4:9 Dt 32:37 1 S 26:16 Pr 31:4 Qr. (The more usual form is אַיֵּה.) strengthened by the enclitic זֶה (v. זֶה, 4) אֵי־זֶה15 where, then? (never of a person, exc. Est 7:5 (late), \& only once 1 K 22:24 \[but v. 2 Ch 18:23\] with a verb) Is 50:1; 66:1(×2) Je 6:16, in indirect qu. 1 S 9:18; in the phrase אֵי־זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ … where is the way (that) …? †1 K 13:12 2 K 3:8 2 Ch 18:23 Jb 38:19a, 24. prefixed to other adverbs or prons., אֵי imparts to them an interrog. force: thus אֵי־זֶה which (of two or more)? only Ec 2:3; 11:6 (late), in indirect qu. †אֵי־מִזֶּה whence? (מִזֶּה = hence; v. sub זֶה) Gn 16:8 אֵי־מִזֶּה בָאתְ 1 S 30:13 2 S 1:3, 13 Jb 2:2; in indirect qu. Ju 13:6 1 S 25:11; fem. subst. annexed 2 S 15:2 אֵי־מִזֶּה עִיר אַתָּה lit. whence, as regards city, art thou? Jon 1:8. †אֵי־לָזֹאת Je 5:7 upon what ground? (𝔙 super quo?) how? With other adverbs, אֵי coalesces into one word, v. אֵיכָה, אֵיכָכָה, אֵיפֹה. Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech not compared, 33 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses (6 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech not compared, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (5 candidates) ### Trees and pragmatics [Every English meaning of «אַי» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1488/335/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames. ### In the verses [Deuteronomy 32:37](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/DEU.32.37/) וְאָמַ֖ר אֵ֣י אֱלֹהֵ֑ימוֹ צ֖וּר חָסָ֥יוּ בֽוֹ׃ *Word for word:* and he.will.say where? gods \[are\].their \[the\].rock \[which\].they.sought.refuge in it *JPS 1917:* And it is said: Where are their gods, the rock in whom they trusted; [Job 38:24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.38.24/) אֵי־זֶ֣ה הַ֭דֶּרֶךְ יֵחָ֣לֶק א֑וֹר יָפֵ֖ץ קָדִ֣ים עֲלֵי־אָֽרֶץ׃ *Word for word:* where? this \[is\].the way \[where\].it.is.divided light \[where\].it.scatters \[the\].east.wind over \[the\].earth *JPS 1917:* By what way is the light parted, or the east wind scattered upon the earth? - ← previous: [אִטֵּר](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/334.md) - next →: [אִי](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/336.md) - ↑ back to [א](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1488-4.md)