Hebrew word · H370

אַ֫יִן

me'ayin

whence?

"From where?" The question word 'ayin ("where?") with the prefix "from." In biblical Hebrew it asks about origin, and it is always a question. It is never used to mean "the place from which."

Appears 17 times in 17 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

where?, whence?

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 Psalm 121:1

Range of meaning

"From where?" The question word 'ayin ("where?") with the prefix "from." In biblical Hebrew it asks about origin, and it is always a question. It is never used to mean "the place from which."

Against the English

BSB, WEB, YLT, ESV, NIV, NASB and NLT all print a question. The KJV's "from whence cometh my help" was printed in 1611 ending with a full stop, so it reads naturally as a statement: the hills are where my help comes from. Many later printings and most memories keep that reading.

How it drifted

Early English Bibles, including the Coverdale Psalter used in the Book of Common Prayer, put a colon or full stop here. The Latin unde used in the Vulgate can mean either "from where?" or "from which," and that ambiguity carried into English. The Hebrew has no such ambiguity.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 29:4 ("Brothers, where are you from?"); Josh 2:4; Judg 13:6; 2 Kgs 5:25 (with a different form of the word); Job 28:12, 20 ("But wisdom, from where shall it come?"). The Greek Septuagint uses πόθεν ("from where?"), which is clearly a question.

From the study of Isaiah 39:3

Range of meaning

'From where?', a question about origin. In Hebrew narrative it is often asked by someone who already knows or suspects the answer, to draw out an admission.

Against the English

Most English versions translate it accurately. The BSB, however, moves this question ahead of 'what did they say?', which hides the order Isaiah actually asked them in.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 16:8 has the angel ask Hagar 'where have you come from?' even though he knows. Gen 29:4 and Judg 17:9 use it as an ordinary greeting. Josh 9:8 has Joshua ask the Gibeonites 'where do you come from?', and their answer is 'from a very distant land' (9:9).

From the study of Job 1:7

Range of meaning

'From where are you coming?' A stock question put to someone who arrives, whether a guest, a stranger, or a traveller.

Against the English

All major versions render this accurately. 'Whence comest thou?' (KJV) can sound solemn and grand today, but the Hebrew is a plain, everyday question.

Used elsewhere in the period

The identical wording appears in Judges 17:9 (Micah to a travelling Levite) and Jonah 1:8 (sailors to Jonah), with close forms in Judges 19:17 and Joshua 9:8. Job 2:2 uses a synonymous phrase in the second heavenly scene. For God asking questions that do not imply ignorance, compare Genesis 3:9 and 4:9.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 29:4 מֵאַ֣יִן from where?

    “My brothers,” Jacob asked the shepherds, “where are you from?” “We are from Haran,” they answered.

  2. Genesis 42:7 מֵאַ֣יִן from where?

    And when Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them as strangers and spoke harshly to them. “Where have you come from?” he asked. “From the land of Canaan,” they replied. “We are here to buy food.”

Numbers · 1

  1. Numbers 11:13 מֵאַ֤יִן from where?

    Where can I get meat for all these people? For they keep crying out to me, ‘Give us meat to eat!’

Joshua · 2

  1. Joshua 2:4 מֵאַ֥יִן from where

    But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. So she said, “Yes, the men did come to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

  2. Joshua 9:8 וּמֵאַ֥יִן and from where?

    “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua. Then Joshua asked them, “Who are you and where have you come from?”

    Here: 'And' plus 'from' plus 'where?'. This is the decisive question. Under Deuteronomy 20:10–18, whether a people was near or far decided whether Israel could make peace with them at all, and v. 7 has just voiced that worry.

Judges · 2

  1. Judges 17:9 מֵאַ֣יִן from where?

    “Where are you from?” Micah asked him. “I am a Levite from Bethlehem in Judah,” he replied, “and I am on my way to settle wherever I can find a place.”

    Here: “Whence?” This is the standard question a host asks a stranger to place him: where he comes from, and so who his people are (compare Gen 29:4; Judg 19:17).

  2. Judges 19:17 וּמֵאַ֥יִן and from where?

    When he looked up and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going, and where have you come from?”

2 Kings · 3

  1. 2 Kings 5:25 מֵאַ֖יִן from whence?

    When Gehazi went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Gehazi, where have you been?” “Your servant did not go anywhere,” he replied.

  2. 2 Kings 6:27 מֵאַ֖יִן from where?

    He answered, “If the LORD does not help you, where can I find help for you? From the threshing floor or the winepress?”

  3. 2 Kings 20:14 וּמֵאַ֙יִן֙ and from where?

    Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”

    Here: The second question asks where they came from. It is the one Hezekiah chooses to answer.

Job · 3

  1. Job 1:7 מֵאַ֣יִן from where?

    “Where have you come from?” said the LORD to Satan. “From roaming through the earth,” he replied, “and walking back and forth in it.”

    Here: 'From where?' This is the everyday opening when someone arrives, used of travellers and strangers elsewhere in the Bible. It does not imply that God lacks information.

  2. Job 28:12 מֵאַ֣יִן from where?

    But where can wisdom be found, and where does understanding dwell?

    Here: Literally 'from where?', asking where it comes from, not just where it sits. It answers verse 1, where silver has a motsa', an 'outlet' or source mine. Silver has a source you can dig to. Where is wisdom's source?

  3. Job 28:20 מֵאַ֣יִן from where?

    From where, then, does wisdom come, and where does understanding dwell?

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 121:1 מֵ֝אַ֗יִן from where?

    A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

    Here: "From where?" In biblical Hebrew this word is a question every time it occurs. It opens a real question, and the next verse answers it.

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 39:3 וּמֵאַ֙יִן֙ and from where?

    Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came to me from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”

    Here: The second question asks where they came from. Isaiah can hardly have been ignorant, so the question invites the king to say it out loud himself.

Jonah · 1

  1. Jonah 1:8 וּמֵאַ֣יִן and from where?

    “Tell us now,” they demanded, “who is to blame for this calamity that is upon us? What is your occupation, and where have you come from? What is your country, and who are your people?”

Nahum · 1

  1. Nahum 3:7 מֵאַ֛יִן from where?

    Then all who see you will recoil from you and say, ‘Nineveh is devastated; who will grieve for her?’ Where can I find comforters for you?”

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