מָתַי

Genesis 30:30 מָתַ֛י when?

Indeed, you had very little before my arrival, but now your wealth has increased many times over. The LORD has blessed you wherever I set foot. But now, when may I also provide for my own household?”

Exodus 8:9 לְמָתַ֣י׀ to when?

Moses said to Pharaoh, “You may have the honor over me. When shall I pray for you and your officials and your people that the frogs (except for those in the Nile) may be taken away from you and your houses?”

Exodus 10:3 מָתַ֣י when?

So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him, “This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, so that they may worship Me.

Here: "Until when?" is an exasperated question, the same idiom used in the Psalms' laments ("How long, O LORD?"). Here God asks it of Pharaoh, and in 10:7 Pharaoh's own servants ask it of him.

Exodus 10:7 מָתַי֙ when?

Pharaoh’s officials asked him, “How long will this man be a snare to us? Let the people go, so that they may worship the LORD their God. Do you not yet realize that Egypt lies in ruins?”

Numbers 14:27 מָתַ֗י when?

“How long will this wicked congregation grumble against Me? I have heard the complaints that the Israelites are making against Me.

Here: With ʿad it makes "how long?", a question of exhausted patience rather than a request for a date. It picks up God's earlier "how long" in 14:11.

1 Samuel 1:14 מָתַ֖י when?

and said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put away your wine!”

1 Samuel 16:1 מָתַי֙ when?

Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have selected from his sons a king for Myself.”

Here: Together with 'ad' it makes 'How long?', a common Hebrew question that pushes someone to stop. Here it is a rebuke more than a request for information.

2 Samuel 2:26 מָתַי֙ when?

Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Do you not realize that this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”

Here: Together with 'until' it makes the impatient 'how long?' found in laments and protests (e.g. Ps 13:1). Here it presses Joab to act.

1 Kings 18:21 מָתַ֞י when?

Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people did not answer a word.

Here: Together, ʿad-mātay ("until when?", i.e. "how long?") is a cry of exasperation, used by Moses to Pharaoh (Exod 10:3) and in laments (Ps 13:1). It is a rebuke, not a request for a date.

Nehemiah 2:6 מָתַ֛י וּמָתַ֣י when?, and when?

Then the king, with the queen seated beside him, asked me, “How long will your journey take, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I set a time.

Job 7:4 מָתַ֣י when?

When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn.

Psalm 6:3 מָתָֽי׃ when?

My soul is deeply distressed. How long, O LORD, how long?

Psalm 41:5 מָתַ֥י when?

My enemies say with malice: “When will he die and be forgotten?”

Psalm 42:2 מָתַ֥י when?

My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence?

Here: "When?" A typical cry of lament. It asks a real question about time and also protests the delay, as in "how long must this go on?"

Psalm 74:10 מָתַ֣י when?

How long, O God, will the enemy taunt You? Will the foe revile Your name forever?

Psalm 80:4 מָתַ֥י when?

O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people?

Psalm 82:2 מָתַ֥י when?

“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

Here: With ʿad it makes "how long?", the cry of Israel's laments (Ps 13:1–2; 74:10; 94:3). Here God asks it, not a suffering human. It is a charge, not a request for information.

Psalm 90:13 מָתָ֑י when?

Return, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants.

Here: Joined with 'ad, this makes the cry 'How long?'. It breaks into the sentence between the two commands. It is a protest as much as a question: the time of anger has gone on too long.

Psalm 94:3 מָתַ֖י מָ֝תַ֗י when?

How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked exult?

Here: "When?" Joined to ʿad it makes "how long?", the standard opening of a complaint to God in the Psalms (6:3; 13:1–2; 74:10; 82:2; 90:13).

Psalm 94:8 מָתַ֥י when?

Take notice, O senseless among the people! O fools, when will you be wise?

Here: An exasperated "when on earth?" It echoes the psalmist's double "how long (ad-matay)?" to God in verse 3. He has been asking God when the wicked will stop, and now he asks the fools when they will wake up.

Psalm 101:2 מָ֭תַי when?

I will ponder the way that is blameless—when will You come to me? I will walk in my house with integrity of heart.

Here: A question word about time. In the Psalms it usually carries longing or impatience ('how long until…?'), so it breaks into the vow like a sudden cry.

Psalm 119:82 מָתַ֥י when?

My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”

Psalm 119:84 מָתַ֬י when?

How many days must Your servant wait? When will You execute judgment on my persecutors?

Proverbs 1:22 מָתַ֣י׀ when?

“How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

Here: With ʿad it makes 'How long?', the standard opening of a complaint or rebuke in the Hebrew Bible (Exod 10:3; Num 14:27; Ps 74:10). It is not a request for a date. It is an exasperated protest.

Proverbs 6:9 מָתַ֖י מָ֝תַ֗י when?

How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?

Here: With ʿad it forms "how long?". The speaker is not asking for information. In the Bible this is a cry of exasperation, the sound of patience running out.

Proverbs 23:35 מָתַ֥י when?

“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”

Isaiah 6:11 מָתַ֖י when?

Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,

Here: Combined with 'ad it makes 'until when?', i.e. 'how long?', the fixed opening of Israel's lament prayers (Ps 6:3; 13:1–2; 74:10; 90:13).

Jeremiah 4:14 מָתַ֛י when?

Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?

Here: Completes 'until when?' — an exasperated question used in laments and rebukes. It implies this has gone on too long and time is short.

Jeremiah 4:21 מָתַ֖י when?

How long must I see the signal flag and hear the sound of the horn?

Jeremiah 12:4 מָתַי֙ when?

How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”

Here: With ʿad it makes “how long?”. It is less a request for a date than a protest that the situation has lasted too long.

Jeremiah 13:27 מָתַ֖י when?

Your adulteries and lustful neighings, your shameless prostitution on the hills and in the fields—I have seen your detestable acts. Woe to you, O Jerusalem! How long will you remain unclean?”

Here: "When?" A question about time. It leaves a crack of possibility that a 'when' exists at all.

Jeremiah 23:26 מָתַ֗י when?

How long will this continue in the hearts of these prophets who prophesy falsehood, these prophets of the delusion of their own minds?

Jeremiah 31:22 מָתַי֙ when?

How long will you wander, O faithless daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the land—a woman will shelter a man.”

Here: With ʿad it forms "how long?", a phrase used in laments and rebukes. Here it sounds both exasperated and pleading.

Jeremiah 47:5 מָתַ֖י when?

The people of Gaza will shave their heads in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. O remnant of their valley, how long will you gash yourself?

Daniel 8:13 מָתַ֞י when?

Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to him, “How long until the fulfillment of the vision of the daily sacrifice, the rebellion that causes desolation, and the surrender of the sanctuary and of the host to be trampled?”

Here: 'Until when?' is the 'How long?' of Israel's laments (Ps 74:10; 79:5; 80:4; Hab 1:2; Zech 1:12). It asks both when this will end and how long God will allow it.

Daniel 12:6 מָתַ֖י when?

One of them said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long until the fulfillment of these wonders?”

Hosea 8:5 מָתַ֕י when?

He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence?

Amos 8:5 מָתַ֞י when?

asking, “When will the New Moon be over, that we may sell grain? When will the Sabbath end, that we may market wheat? Let us reduce the ephah and increase the shekel; let us cheat with dishonest scales.

Here: An impatient question: 'How long until…?' It carries their irritation that the holy day is holding up business.

Habakkuk 2:6 מָתַ֕י when?

Will not all of these take up a taunt against him, speaking with mockery and derision: ‘Woe to him who amasses what is not his and makes himself rich with many loans! How long will this go on?’

Here: 'Until when?' breaks into the middle of the woe. It is both a sneer ('how long do you think this lasts?') and the oppressed people's lament-cry, picking up Habakkuk's own 'how long' in 1:2.

Zechariah 1:12 מָתַ֗י when?

Then the angel of the LORD said, “How long, O LORD of Hosts, will You withhold mercy from Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been angry these seventy years?”

Here: "Until when?", which is the Hebrew "how long?" It is the stock cry of the lament psalms (Pss 6:3; 13:1–2; 74:10; 79:5; 80:4; 90:13) and of Habakkuk 1:2. It is less a request for a date than a protest that the suffering has gone on long enough.