מִי 423 pronoun interrogative who? of persons, as
מָה (which see) of things (Ethiopic
but only =
What ? and
How ? Assyrian
mî, me (rare) Jäger
BAS. ii. 277, the usual Semitic form for
Who? has
n, namely Assyrian
mannu, manu (Dl
HWB 419), Ethiopic
manū, Aramaic
Arabic
, Vulgar Arabic
min, mīn, from a form resembling which, by rejection of
n, probably Hebrew
מִי : W
SG 123 f.): —
who ? (
τίς;
quis ?)
Genesis 3:11 הִגִּיד לְךָ מִי who told thee ?
Genesis 24:65 מִי הָאִישׁ הַלָּזֶה who is this man ?
Genesis 27:18 מי אתה בני who art thou, my son ?
Numbers 22:9;
Judges 1:1;
Judges 6:29;
Judges 15:6;
Judges 18:3;
Judges 20:18;
2 Samuel 1:8 + often;
Ruth 3:9 מִי אָ֑תְּ who art thou, (feminine) ?
Isaiah 51:12; of more than one,
מִי אֵלָּה who are these ?
Genesis 33:5;
Genesis 48:8;
Isaiah 60:8;
מי אתם 2 Kings 10:13; once, more explicitly,
מִי זָמִי הַהֹלְכִים Exodus 10:8; =
as who ? (i.e. in what condition, or capacity),
Amos 7:2 יעקב מי יקום vAmos 7:5;
Isaiah 51:19 מִי אֲנַחֲמֵךְ (but Vrss Che Lag Brd Du
מִי יְ׳, as ||
מִי יָנוּד),
Ruth 3:16 (Be Ke Kö
iii. 388). Note in particular:
e. strengthened and emphatic forms of interrogative:
(c) in impassioned prose, and especially in poetry, implying the answer
few or
none, it is equivalent to a rhetorical negative,
Deuteronomy 9:2 מִי יִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי בְנֵי עֲנָק who can stand, etc.?
Deuteronomy 30:12 מִי יַעֲלֶהלָּֿנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה Deuteronomy 30:13;
1 Samuel 4:8 מִי יַצִּילֵנוּ וג׳,
1 Samuel 6:20;
1 Samuel 22:14;
1 Samuel 26:9,
15;
2 Samuel 16:10;
מי יאמר who shall (or can) say ?
Job 9:12;
Proverbs 20:9;
Ecclesiastes 8:4; with the perfect (of experience),
who has ever... ? Numbers 23:10;
Deuteronomy 5:23;
Isaiah 36:20;
Isaiah 66:8 (twice in verse);
Jeremiah 18:13 מִי שָׁמַע כָּאֵלֶּה,
Jeremiah 23:18 (MT),
Jeremiah 30:21;
Job 4:7;
Job 9:4 מִי הִקְשָׁה אֵלָיו וַיִּשְׁלָ֑ם,
Job 41:3;
Proverbs 30:4;
Lamentations 3:37; in poetry, very often, as
Genesis 49:9 מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ וּכְלָבִיא who can rouse him up ? (i.e. no one),
Exodus 15:11 (twice in verse)
מִי כָמוֺךָ (so
Psalm 35:10 and elsewhere),
Numbers 24:9,
23;
1 Samuel 2:25 מי יתפלל לו who shall intercede for him ? (i.e. no one),
Isaiah 1:12;
Isaiah 10:3;
Isaiah 40:13,
14,
18;
Isaiah 41:26;
Isaiah 42:19;
Isaiah 43:9;
Isaiah 48:14;
Isaiah 50:1;
Isaiah 53:1 מִי הֶאֱמִין לִשְׁמֻעָתֵנוּ (i.e. few or none), etc.;
Psalm 18:32 מִי אֱלוֺהַּ מִבַּלְעֲדֵי י׳,
Psalm 76:8;
Psalm 89:7;
Psalm 130:3;
Job 21:31;
Job 34:29;
Jeremiah 17:9;
Joel 2:11;
Malachi 3:2;
מִי לֹא ֗֗֗ Amos 3:8;
Jeremiah 10:7;
Job 12:9 (compare
Job 25:3;
Nahum 3:19); (
יְשִׁיבֶנָּה)
מִי יְשִׁיבֶנּוּ who shall (can) turn it back ? †
Job 9:12;
Job 11:10;
Job 23:13;
Isaiah 14:27;
Isaiah 43:13;
Jeremiah 2:24; implying the answer,
no one but God,
Isaiah 40:12;
Isaiah 41:2;
Job 38:5;
Job 35:6; Job 35:25, etc.; defiantly,
Isaiah 50:9 מִי הוּא יַרְשִׁיעֵנִי,
Jeremiah 21:13;
Jeremiah 49:4 מִי יָבוֺא אֵלַי,
Jeremiah 49:19;
Obadiah 3;
Psalm 12:5 מִי אָדוֺן לָנוּ,
Psalm 59:8;
Psalm 64:6;
Job 9:19 לְמִשְׁפָּט וְאִם יוֺעִידֵנִי מִי,
Job 13:19 מִי הוּא יָרִיב עִמָּדִי who is he that will contend with me ?
Job 17:3;
Job 41:2. Notice in examples of this kind the frequent
order of words:
Proverbs 20:6 ואישׁ אמוּנים מי ימצא,
Proverbs 24:22 יודע ופיד שׁניהם מי,
Proverbs 31:10;
Nahum 1:6 לפני זעמו מי יעמד,
Psalm 147:17 קֹרָתוֺ מי יעמד לפני,
Job 4:2 וַעְצֹר בְּמִלִּין מִי יוּכ֑ל,
Job 26:14;
Job 38:37;
Job 39:5;
Job 41:5;
Job 41:6;
Psalm 6:6 בִּשְׁאוֺל מִי יוֺדֶהלָּֿ֑ךְ,
Psalm 19:13; and with the
nom. pendens,
Jeremiah 2:24 תַּאֲנָתָהּ מִי יְשִׁיבֶנָּה,
Proverbs 18:14;
Job 17:15 וְתִקְוָתִי מִי יְשׁוּרֶנָּה,
Job 38:29 וּכְפֹר שָׁמַיִם מִי יְלָדוֺ.
g. מִי may sometimes be rendered
whosoever, though, as the examples will shew, it does not really mean it:
Exodus 24:14 מי בעל דברים יִגַּשׁ אליהם, literally
Who hath a cause ? let him draw nigh unto them, i.e.
whoso hath a cause, let him, etc.,
Isaiah 50:8b אֵלַי יִגַּשׁ מִשְׁפָּטִי בַעַל מִי,
Isaiah 54:15;
Judges 7:3 מִי יָרֵא וְחָרֵד יָשֹׁב וג׳ who is fearful and trembling ? let him return,
Proverbs 9:4,
16 מִיפֶֿ֖תִי יָסֻר הֵגָּה,
Ezra 1:3 (compare with
וְ in apodosis
Jeremiah 9:11; Hosea 14:10;
Psalm 107:43;
Zechariah 4:10 is dubious, on account of anomalous tense and construction); so with
מי האישׁ אשׁר ֗֗֗ Deuteronomy 20:5,
6,
7;
Judges 10:18, compare
Psalm 25:12. With 1person in apodosis,
Exodus 32:33 חָטָא לִי אֶמְחֶגּוּ מִסִּפְרִי מִי אֲשֶׁר,
Jeremiah 49:19 (=
Jeremiah 50:44)
אֵלָיהָ אֶפְקֹד וּמִי בָחוּר and
who is chosen?
I will appoint him over her!
Isaiah 50:8a; with an imperative in the apodosis
Exodus 32:24 (against accents; see Ra)
התפרקו למי זהב who hath gold ? break it off you!
Genesis 19:12;
1 Samuel 11:12, compare
Psalm 34:13f.; without a verb,
Exodus 32:26 אלי מי לי׳ who is on J.'s side ? (let him come) to me!
so 2 Samuel 20:11 (
מי אשׁר);
Ecclesiastes 5:9;
Ecclesiastes 9:4 (
מי אשׁר).
h. once, following a verb (compare
מָה 3),
any one,
2 Samuel 18:12 שִׁמְרוּמִֿי בַּנַּעַר באבשׁלום Have a care,
whosoever ye be, of, etc. (but
Bu
לִי; compare
2 Samuel 18:5).
See related Aramaic BDB entry
H4479.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
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