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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. Genesis 9:18 וַיִּֽהְי֣וּ vai.yih.Yu · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by them

    And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.

  2. Genesis 9:25 יִֽהְיֶ֥ה yih.Yeh · An action: simple action, not finished: still happening or still to come, done by him, her or it

    And he said, Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

  3. Genesis 9:26 וִיהִ֥י vi.Hi · A mild command: simple action, not finished: still happening or still to come, done by him, her or it

    And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.

  4. Genesis 9:27 וִיהִ֥י vi.Hi · A mild command: simple action, not finished: still happening or still to come, done by him, her or it

    God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.

  5. Genesis 9:29 וַיִּֽהְיוּ֙ vai.yih.Yu · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by them

    And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: And he died.

  6. Genesis 10:8 לִֽהְי֥וֹת lih.Yot · The “to do” form of an action: simple action

    And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

  7. Genesis 10:9 הָיָ֥ה ha.Yah · An action: simple action, finished, with a lasting result, done by him, her or it

    He was a mighty hunter before Jehovah: wherefore it is said, Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Jehovah.

  8. Genesis 10:10 וַתְּהִ֨י va.te.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

  9. Genesis 10:19 וַֽיְהִ֞י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And the border of the Canaanite was from Sidon, as thou goest toward Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, unto Lasha.

  10. Genesis 10:30 וַֽיְהִ֥י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.

  11. Genesis 11:1 וַֽיְהִ֥י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

  12. Genesis 11:2 וַֽיְהִ֖י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

  13. Genesis 11:3 וַתְּהִ֨י va.te.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

  14. Genesis 11:3 הָיָ֥ה ha.Yah · An action: simple action, finished, with a lasting result, done by him, her or it

    And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

  15. Genesis 11:30 וַתְּהִ֥י va.te.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And Sarai was barren; she had no child.

  16. Genesis 11:32 וַיִּהְי֣וּ vai.yih.Yu · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by them

    And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

  17. Genesis 12:2 וֶהְיֵ֖ה veh.Yeh · A command to you: simple action

    and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make they name great; and be thou a blessing:

  18. Genesis 12:10 וַיְהִ֥י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land.

  19. Genesis 12:11 וַיְהִ֕י vay.Hi · An action: simple action, and then it happened, done by him, her or it

    And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

  20. Genesis 12:12 וְהָיָ֗ה ve.ha.Yah · An action: simple action, and then it will happen, done by him, her or it

    and it will come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

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