Bible Lexicons

הוּא

(1) pron. 3 pers. sing. m. he; neut. it. The letter א in הוּא and הִיא is not paragogic and otiose but radical, as has been rightly remarked by Ewald in Heb. Gramm. page 176; referring to the Arab. هُوَ, and to the common Arabic, in which hué, hié is the pronunciation laid down by Caussin, Gramm. Arabe, page 51, 55. Also, the Maltese hû, huêae; haî hîae, as remarked by Vassalli in his Maltese Grammar, page 146; and Eth. ውእቱ፡ f. ደእቲ፡ in which the syllable ቱ ቲ, has a demonstrative power. Similar to this is e in the Germ. fie, wie, die. In Syr. the א is rejected: ܗܘܽ, ܗܺܝ; a form which is also found in the pr. name אֱלִיהוּ, and perhaps Jeremiah 29:23 כתיב, which ought, it appears, to be read אָנֹכִי הוּיֹדֵעַ. The Persians also have this pronoun without the ה (as in Eth.), وي, اوى, او [“Phœnic. הא, Samar. הוא, fem. הו and היא, הי”]; in the Germanic dialects the forms ho, hu, hue, hua, he, hei, are of frequent occurrence; see a great number of examples in Fulda’s German Wurzelwörter, page 223, 224; comp. Schmitthenner, Ursprachlehre, p. 228 [“As to its origin, see Hupfeld on the Phœnicio-Shemitic demonstr. particles in Zeitschr. f. d. Kunde des Morgenl. ii. page 127, seq.; 147, seq.”]. In the Pentateuch, הוּא also takes in the feminine, and stands instead of הִיא, which (according to the Masora on Genesis 38:25) is found but eleven times in the whole of the Pentateuch. Those who appended the points to the text, not attending to this idiom of the Pentateuch, whenever הוּא is feminine, have treated it as though it were an error, and have pointed it הִוא, to signify that it ought to be read הִיא; out of the Pentateuch הוּא fem. is found 1 Kings 17:15; Job 31:11; Isaiah 30:33, pointed in the same manner.

In Latin it would often be

(a) i.q. ipse, αὐτός, himself; Genesis 14:15, הוּא וַעֲבָדָיו “himself and his servants;” Genesis 20:5, הֲלֹא הוּא אָמַר לִי “did not he tell me himself;” Isaiah 7:14, לָכֵן יִתֵּן אֲדֹנָי הוּא לָכֶם אֹות “therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign;” and this is sometimes referred to God in an emphatic sense, although not to be regarded as one of the divine names (see Simonis Onomast. V. T. p. 549); Deuteronomy 32:39, “see ye כִּי אֲנִי אֲנִי הוּא וְאֵין עִמָּדִי אֱלֹהִים that I, even I, am He (αὐτός), and beside me there is no God,” that is, He who only is to be adored, who alone created and preserves the world; Isaiah 43:10, 13 Isaiah 43:13, 25 Isaiah 43:25, 48:12 Jeremiah 14:22, etc. So also in proper names אֱלִיהוּ (“whose God is He”), אֲבִיהוּ (“whose father is He”). The following examples may be referred to the same use, Psalms 44:5; 2 Samuel 7:28, אַתָּה הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים “thou art He, God.”

(b) this, that, he, hic, οὗτος, Genesis 4:4, וְהֶבֶל הֵבִיא גַם הוּא “and Abel even he offered;” Genesis 2:11, הוּא הַסֹּבֵב אֵת כָּל־אֶרֶץ הַחֲוִילָה “this it is, which compasseth the whole land of Havilah.” It is often used with a substantive, in which case it takes the article when the substantive has it; הָאִישׁ הַהוּא this man, Job 1:1 לַמָּקֹום הַהוּא to this place, Genesis 21:31 כַּיֹּום הַהוּא in that day, an expression of frequent use in the prophets, in speaking of a future time, [if the passages be examined in which this expression occurs, they will be found to be very definite; in all the examples here given, the time spoken of is previously pointed out]; Germ. an jenem Tage, Isaiah 2:11, 17, 20 3:7, 18 4:1, 5:30 7:18, 20, 21, 23 10:20, 27 Isaiah 10:27, etc. Sometimes it is used contemptuously, like οὗτος, iste; 2 Chronicles 28:22, הוּא הַמֶּלֶךְ אָחָז “this is that king Ahaz;” compare זֶה. Elsewhere δεικτικῶς for the pronoun of the first person, as in Latin hic homo, Job 13:28 compare Tibull. Eleg. ii. 6, 7, and the interpreters.

(2) It often includes the verb substantive he is, this is, will be, was. Genesis 2:11 (see 1, b); 20:7, כִּי נָבִיא הוּא “for he is a prophet;” Genesis 24:65, הוּא אֲדֹנִי “that is my master;” Genesis 15:2, “the possessor of my house הוּא ד׳ אֱלִיעֶזֶר he will be Eliezer of Damascus.” Hence often used for id est, as a formula of explaining; Genesis 14:8, בֶּלַע הוּא צֹעַר “Bela which (now) is Zoar;” verse Genesis 15:7, עֵין מִשְׁפָּט הוּא קָדֵשׁ “the fountain of judgment which (now) is Kadesh;” Deuteronomy 4:48; Esther 2:16, 3:7. More rarely it is put for the verb substantive itself, Genesis 17:12, אֲשֶׁר לֹא מִזַּרְעֲךָ הוּא “who is not of thy seed;” Lehrg. § 196, 1.

הוּא Ch. i.q. Heb. Daniel 2:21, 22, 28, 32, 38, 47 4:19, etc. [“Often as implying the verb to be, he is, she is, etc., Daniel 2:9, 20, 28, 32, 47 6:5 put also for the verb to be, Daniel 4:27.”]

ה֔וּא ה֖וּא ה֛וּא ה֣וּא ה֣וּא ׀ הִ֔יא הִ֖יא הִ֣יא הִֽיא׃ הֽוּא׃ הוא הוא׃ היא היא׃ וְ֠הוּא וְה֤וּא וְהִ֖יא וְהִ֣יא והוא והיא hi hî hu hū veHi veHu wə·hî wə·hū wəhî wəhū