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הָיָה

ha.yah · to be

Hebrew · Strong's H1961 · Verb · Sounds like: haw-yaw · 3,562 occurrences

English

Word meanings

Strong's dictionary

a primitive root (compare הָוָא); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary); beacon, [idiom] altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, [phrase] follow, happen, [idiom] have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, [idiom] use.

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (public domain)

Full lexicon entry (Brown-Driver-Briggs)
הָיָה 3570 vb. fall out, come to pass, become, be
Qal
I.
1.
a. Fall out, happen
b. occur, take place, come about, come to pass
2. esp. & very oft., come about, come to pass
a.
(1). וַיְהִי and it came to pass that, most often (c. 292 t.)
(2). rarely also Pf. c. וְ conj. וְהָיָה
b. less oft. וְהָיָה Pf. consec. and it shall come to pass, or frequentat. came to pass (repeatedly, etc.)
II. Come into being, become
1.
a. abs., in lively narrative, arise, appear, come
b. sq. prep.
2. become
a. sq. pred. noun (to be viewed as implicit accus.)
b. sq. pred. adj.
c. become like
d. sq. pred. לְ pers.
e. sq. לְ pred.
f. oft. c. לְ pred. לְ pers.
g. with עַל and לְ
h. sts. c. לְ pers. only = became the property of, come into the possession of
III. Be (often with subbordinate idea of becoming)
1. exist, be in existence
2. abide, remain, continue
3. with word of locality, be in or at a place, be situated, stand, lie
4. as copula, joining subj. & pred.
5. periphrastic conjug.
Niph.
1. either be done, be brought about, or occur, come to pass
2. be done, finished, gone

Every occurrence

  1. 2 Samuel 1:1 וַיְהִ֗י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag;

  2. 2 Samuel 1:2 וַיְהִ֣י׀ vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    it came to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.

  3. 2 Samuel 1:2 וַיְהִי֙ vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    it came to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul, with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.

  4. 2 Samuel 1:4 הָיָ֥ה ha.Yah · An action: simple action, finished, with a lasting result, done by him, her or it

    And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.

  5. 2 Samuel 2:1 וַיְהִ֣י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And Jehovah said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.

  6. 2 Samuel 2:7 וִֽהְיוּ֙ vih.Yu · A command to all of you: simple action

    Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be ye valiant; for Saul your lord is dead, and also the house of Judah have anointed me king over them.

  7. 2 Samuel 2:10 הָי֖וּ ha.Yu · An action: simple action, finished, with a lasting result, done by them

    Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.

  8. 2 Samuel 2:11 וַֽיְהִי֙ vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

  9. 2 Samuel 2:11 הָיָ֨ה ha.Yah · An action: simple action, finished, with a lasting result, done by him, her or it

    And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

  10. 2 Samuel 2:17 וַתְּהִ֧י va.te.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And the battle was very sore that day: and Abner was beaten, and the men of Israel, before the servants of David.

  11. 2 Samuel 2:18 וַיִּֽהְיוּ־ vai.yih.yu- · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by them

    And the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe.

  12. 2 Samuel 2:23 וַיְהִ֡י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him in the body, so that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.

  13. 2 Samuel 2:25 וַיִּהְי֖וּ vai.yih.Yu · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by them

    And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together after Abner, and became one band, and stood on the top of a hill.

  14. 2 Samuel 2:26 תִהְיֶ֖ה tih.Yeh · An action: simple action, not finished: still happening or still to come, done by him, her or it

    Then Abner called to Joab, and said, Shall the sword devour for ever? knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end? how long shall it be then, ere thou bid the people return from following their brethren?

  15. 2 Samuel 3:1 וַתְּהִ֤י va.te.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    Now there was long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: and David waxed stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker.

  16. 2 Samuel 3:2 וַיְהִ֤י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his first-born was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;

  17. 2 Samuel 3:6 וַיְהִ֗י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong in the house of Saul.

  18. 2 Samuel 3:6 בִּֽהְיוֹת֙ bih.yOt · The “to do” form of an action: simple action

    And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong in the house of Saul.

  19. 2 Samuel 3:6 הָיָ֥ה ha.Yah · An action: simple action, finished, with a lasting result, done by him, her or it

    And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, that Abner made himself strong in the house of Saul.

  20. 2 Samuel 3:17 הָיָ֔ה ha.Yah · An action: simple action, finished, with a lasting result, done by him, her or it

    And Abner had communication with the elders of Israel, saying, In times past ye sought for David to be king over you:

American Standard Version (1901). Public domain.

Greek and Hebrew data: STEPBible.org (Tyndale House Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Brown-Driver-Briggs from the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible, CC BY 4.0. All sources and licences