Hebrew word · H1933

הָוָה

hoveh

to be

'To be, become, happen.' It is an older form of the verb hāyāh, close to Aramaic hăwā. The form yehû' is found only here in the Bible.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) Qal)

1a) to be, become, exist, happen

Aramaic equivalent: ha.va (הֲוָא "to be" H1934)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ecclesiastes 11:3

Range of meaning

'To be, become, happen.' It is an older form of the verb hāyāh, close to Aramaic hăwā. The form yehû' is found only here in the Bible.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'there it shall be,' YLT 'there it is,' BSB and most modern versions 'there it will lie.' 'Lie' is a reasonable rendering in context, but the Hebrew only says 'be,' meaning stay or remain.

Used elsewhere in the period

Grammars treat it as an unusual imperfect of hāwāh. The verb hāwāh appears elsewhere in Eccl 2:22 ('what does a man get') and in Neh 6:6. Aramaic-flavored vocabulary like this is one reason scholars date the Hebrew of Ecclesiastes late. The Septuagint has ekei estai, 'there it will be'; the Vulgate has ibi erit.

From the study of Ecclesiastes 2:22

Range of meaning

A rare form of 'to be' (normally היה, hayah). It is the regular verb in Aramaic. In the Hebrew Bible it appears in Gen 27:29 ('be lord over your brothers'), Isa 16:4, Neh 6:6, Eccl 2:22 and 11:3. As a participle it means 'is, is becoming, comes about.'

Against the English

'What does a man get' (BSB), 'what hath man' (KJV), 'what does a man have' (WEB), 'what hath been to a man' (YLT). These all agree on the sense. YLT's past tense misses the present force of the participle.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint renders it γίνεται (ginetai), 'comes to be.' The Aramaic-flavored form is one of several features (along with the relative 'she-' and the noun raʿyon) that lead most scholars to place the book's Hebrew late in Israel's history, in the Persian or early Greek period.

Where it appears

Genesis · 1

  1. Genesis 27:29 הֱוֵ֤ה be

    May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”

    Here: A command form from a rare, archaic or poetic verb 'to be' (the normal verb is hayah). It gives the line an old, solemn ring. In effect it means 'be established as'.

Nehemiah · 1

  1. Nehemiah 6:6 הֹוֶ֤ה [are] about to become

    that read: “It is reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt, and this is why you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king,

Job · 1

  1. Job 37:6 הֱוֵ֫א fall

    For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the gentle rain, ‘Pour out a mighty downpour.’

Ecclesiastes · 2

  1. Ecclesiastes 2:22 הֹוֶ֤ה [is] becoming

    For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?

    Here: A rare form of the verb 'to be,' close to Aramaic, used as a present-tense participle: 'what is coming to / what accrues to.' It asks what actually ends up in a person's hands from all his effort.

  2. Ecclesiastes 11:3 יְהֽוּא׃ it will be

    If the clouds are full, they will pour out rain upon the earth; whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where it falls, there it will lie.

    Here: 'It will be / it is,' meaning it stays put. This spelling of the verb 'to be' appears nowhere else in the Bible, apparently from an older or Aramaic-style root (hāwāh). Its point is that the result stands and nothing will move it.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 16:4 הֱוִי־ be

    Let my fugitives stay with you; be a refuge for Moab from the destroyer.” When the oppressor has gone, destruction has ceased, and the oppressors have vanished from the land,

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.