--- title: הֲ — interrogative particle · The Tanakh dictionary description: הֲ (lemma:הֲ), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 658 times: interrogative particle. BDB 1906: interrog.part. 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/lemma_3a_5d4_5b2.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/) / [ה](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1492.md)‎ / הֲ‎ # הֲ «הֲ» in the Tanakh dictionary: **interrogative particle** — 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:** 658 times · **Key:** lemma:הֲ · **BDB:** הֲ ### Glosses ? (373); will (92); \[is\] (25) ### Meaning (OSHB) interrogative particle [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/lemma_3a_5d4_5b2/#m1) ### Meaning (BDB 1906) interrog.part. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/lemma_3a_5d4_5b2/#m2) **The whole BDB entry:** (on the different forms, see Ges§ 100. 4: on Dt 32:6, v. הַל, p. 210), interrog.part. (Biblical Aramaic and 𝔗 הֲ, Arabic أَ ), prefixed, as a rule, to the first word of a sentence (or clause). in direct questions: as a simple interrogative, where the answer expected is uncertain, Ex 2:7 הַאֵלֵךְ shall I go and call thee a nurse? 1 S 23:11 הֲיַסְגִּרֻנִי will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? הֲיֵרֵד שָׁאוּל will Saul come down? Jb 1:8; and frequently. often in questions, expressed in a tone of surprise, or put rhetorically, to which a negative answer is expected (= Lat. num?): Gn 4:9 הֲשֹׁמֵר אָחִי אָנֹכִי Am I my brother’s keeper? 18:17 shall I hide from Abraham that which I am about to do? 30:2; 50:19 Nu 11:23 a Dt 4:33 הֲשָׁמַע עַם … Did a people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, … and live? 20:19 (read with 𝔊 𝔗 𝔖 𝔙 Ew Ke Di etc. הֶאָדָם for הָאָדָם), 2 S 7:5 הַֽאַתָּה תִּבְנֶה־לִּי בַיִת (altered in 1 Ch 17:4 to the neg. לֹא אַתָּה תִּבְנֶה וג׳), 2 K 6:22 הַאֲשֶׁר שָׁבִיתָ … those whom thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow, wilt thou smite? Is 28:24; 36:12 a; 57:6; 58:5 Je 15:12; 16:20 Am 5:25 ψ 50:13 Jb 8:11; 15:7, 8, 11; 38:12, 16, 17, 22 etc.; before an inf. absol. (Ew§ 328 a) Je 7:9 Jb 40:2 and prob. Mi 2:7 (read הֶאָמוֹר: see p. 55). After a protasis, הִנֵּה … הֲ Nu 22:38 2 K 7:2, 19 Je 32:27 Ez 17:10; after הֵן Je 3:1 Hg 2:12: cf. after אוּלַי Gn 24:5; after אִם Jb 14:14 אִם יָמוּת גֶּבֶר הֲיִחְיֶה if a man dieth, shall he live? Occasionally, one or more words precede הֲ (in the same clause) for special emphasis: 2 S 7:7 Jb 34:31 כִּי אֶל־אֵל הֶאָמַר for to God did one ever say …? Ne 13:27; Je 22:15 (הֲלֹא), cf. 23:26. it is used in questions which, by seeming to make doubtful what cannot be denied, have the force of an impassioned or indignant affirmation: Gn 27:36 (‘dubitantis speciem prae se fert Esavus, ut eo acerbius affirmet,’ Maurer, cited by Ges), 1 S 2:27 הֲנִגְלֹה נִגְלֵיתִי וג׳ Did I reveal myself to the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt? etc. (i.e. of course I did, although thy sons, by their actions, appear to belie it), 1 K 16:31 (expressing astonishment), 21:19 הֲרָצַחְתָּ וְגַם־יָרָ֑שְׁתָּ Hast thou slain, and also taken possession? Je 31:20 Jb 20:4; 41:1 (cf. Hi); also Gn 16:13, and the phrases הַרְּאִיתֶם do ye see? 1 S 10:24 2 K 6:32; הֲרָאִיתָ does thou see? 1 K 20:13 Ez 8:12, 15, 17; 9:8; 20:4; 22:2. in disjunctive question, the first being introduced usually by הֲ, the second by אִם or (more rarely) וְאִם: see exx. under אִם 2 (p. 50). The disjunctive question may express a real alternative (as Jos 5:13), or (as especially in poetry) the same thought may be repeated in a different form, in two parallel clauses (e.g. Is 10:15): in the latter case, the answer No is usually expected (v. p. 50). Only very rarely is the second question introduced by הֲ Ju 14:15 (where, however, הֲלֹם ought no doubt to be read, with MSS., 𝔗 Be al., for הֲלֹא), or אוֹ Ju 18:19 Jb 16:3; 38:28, 31. In indirect interrogation, whether (Germ. ob …?)— singly, after verbs of seeing Gn 8:8 לִרְאוֹת הֲ to see whether, 18:21; Ex 4:18; Ct 6:11, telling Gn 43:6, trying Dt 13:4, knowing Ju 3:4; Ec 3:21 (read הַעֹלָה and הֲיֹרֶדֶת: v. De or Wr ad loc.) disjunctively,—usually הֲ … אִם, Nu 13:18 end, 19 a (and see the land) הֲטוֹבָה הִיא אִם רָעָה … whether it be good or bad, v 19 b. 20(×2); הֲ … אִם לֹא Gn 24:21; 27:21; 37:32 Ex 16:4 that I may try it (the people) הֲיֵלֵךְ בְּתוֹרָתִי אִם לֹא whether it will walk in my law or not, Nu 11:23 Dt 8:2 Ju 2:22; הֲ … הֲ Nu 13:18 (by side of הֲ … אִם); הֲ … אוֹ Ec 2:19; 11:6. It is prefixed to other particles, as הַאִם, הַאַף, הֲגַם, הֲכִי, הֲלֹא: see אִם, אַף, etc. Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech not compared, 87 of its verses cited, 0 words shared with the glosses (3 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech not compared, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 0 with the glosses (2 candidates) ### Trees and pragmatics [Every English meaning of «הֲ» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/lemma_3a_5d4_5b2/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames. ### In the verses [Amos 3:3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/AMO.3.3/) הֲיֵלְכ֥וּ שְׁנַ֖יִם יַחְדָּ֑ו בִּלְתִּ֖י אִם־נוֹעָֽדוּ׃ *Word for word:* do they.walk? two.\[people\] together except if they.have.met.by.appointment *JPS 1917:* Will two walk together, except they have agreed? [Job 22:15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/JOB.22.15/) הַאֹ֣רַח עוֹלָ֣ם תִּשְׁמֹ֑ר אֲשֶׁ֖ר דָּרְכ֣וּ מְתֵי־אָֽוֶן׃ *Word for word:* a path? of.antiquity will.you.keep which they.have.trodden men of.wickedness *JPS 1917:* Wilt thou keep the old way which wicked men have trodden? - ← previous: [ה](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/lemma_3a_5d4.md) - next →: [הַ](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/w/lemma_3a_5d4_5b7.md) - ↑ back to [ה](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/tanakh/1492.md)