---
title: הָוָה — become · The Tanakh dictionary
description: הָוָה (lemma:הָוָה), a word of Biblical Hebrew, used 5 times: become. BDB 1906: vb. become. With 2 verses in Hebrew, word for word and JPS 1917.
---

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# הָוָה

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«הָוָה» in the Tanakh dictionary: **become** — 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:** 5 times · **Key:** lemma:הָוָה · **BDB:** הָוָה

### Glosses

become (2); \[are\].about.to.become (1); \[is\].becoming (1)

### Meaning (OSHB)

become [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/lemma_3a_5d4_5b8_5d5_5b8_5d4/#m1)

### Meaning (BDB 1906)

vb. become [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/lemma_3a_5d4_5b8_5d5_5b8_5d4/#m2)

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**The whole BDB entry:** vb. become (Arabic هَوَى to fall (v. הָוָא), also to gape or yawn, and to desire (cf. הַוָּה): cf. FlDe Jb 6:2; Aramaic הֲוָא, ܗܘܳܐ the usual word for to be (prob. orig. to fall out, accidit, hence come to pass, come to be, γίγνεσθαι), Mish. id. very common) a rare syn. of הָיָה q.v.:— Impf. apoc. יְהוּא Ec 11:3 (for יְהוּ with א otiosum; Ges§ 75 R. I 3 e Kön p. 597 f.; but Gr. plausibly הוּא); Imv. ms. הֱוֵה Gn 27:29, fs. הֱוִי Is 16:4, Pt. הֹוֶה Ec 2:22; Ne 6:6:—Gn 27:29 הֱוֵה גְבִיר לְאַחֶיךָ become lord to thy brethren, Is 16:4 (perhaps in imit. of Moab. dialect) הֱוִי סֵתֶר לָמוֹ become thou (Zion) a defence to them, Ec 2:22; 11:3; Ne 6:6.

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Why these entries: BDB: headword, part of speech agrees, 5 of its verses cited, 1 words shared with the glosses (9 candidates); OSHB: headword, part of speech agrees, 1 words shared with the BDB entry, 1 with the glosses (8 candidates)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every English meaning of «הָוָה» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/tanakh/1492/lemma_3a_5d4_5b8_5d5_5b8_5d4/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.

### In the verses

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[Ecclesiastes 2:22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/ECC.2.22/)

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כִּ֠י מֶֽה־הֹוֶ֤ה לָֽאָדָם֙ בְּכָל־עֲמָל֔וֹ וּבְרַעְי֖וֹן לִבּו֑שֶׁה֥וּא עָמֵ֖ל תַּ֥חַת הַשָּֽׁמֶשׁ׃

*Word for word:* (dm) what? \[is\].becoming to the person in all toil his and in the.striving his.heart his which he \[was\].toiling under the sun

*JPS 1917:* For what hath a man of all his labour, and of the striving of his heart, wherein he laboureth under the sun?

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[Isaiah 16:4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/ISA.16.4/)

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יָג֤וּרוּ בָךְ֙ נִדָּחַ֔י מוֹאָ֛ב הֱוִי־סֵ֥תֶר לָ֖מוֹ מִפְּנֵ֣י שׁוֹדֵ֑ד כִּֽי־אָפֵ֤ס הַמֵּץ֙ כָּ֣לָה שֹׁ֔ד תַּ֥מּוּ רֹמֵ֖ס מִן־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

*Word for word:* let.them.sojourn among you my.banished \[ones\] Moab become a.shelter for them from before \[the\].destroyer (dm) he.will.come.to.an.end the oppressor it.will.cease devastation they.will.be.finished \[the\].trampler from the land

*JPS 1917:* Let mine outcasts dwell with thee; as for Moab, be thou a covert to him from the face of the spoiler.' For the extortion is at an end, spoiling ceaseth, they that trampled down are consumed out of the land;

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