מָהmâh

what? how? aught, used of things, as מִי of persons

Pronunciation: maw · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H4100

Meanings

1. interrogative what?

a. in a direct question, before either verbs or nouns (Genesis 4:10; Genesis 15:2; Exodus 3:13)

b. often in an indirect question, as after ראה (Genesis 2:19; Genesis 37:20; Numbers 13:19)

c. = of what kind? (Genesis 37:10; Genesis 44:15; Joshua 22:16)

d. often used in questions to which the answer little, or nothing, is expected, and it thus becomes equivalent to a rhetorical negative (Genesis 23:15; Genesis 27:37; Judges 8:3)

e. = whatsoever (Judges 9:48; 2 Samuel 21:4; Job 6:24)

2. Used adverbially

a. how?, why?, as an interrogative (Genesis 44:16; Numbers 23:8; 1 Samuel 10:27)

b. how …!, as an exclamation (Genesis 28:17; Genesis 38:29; Numbers 24:5)

3. anything, aught, indefinite pronoun (Numbers 23:3; 1 Samuel 19:3; 1 Samuel 20:10)

4. With prepositions

a. wherein?, whereby? (Exodus 22:26; Judges 16:5; 1 Samuel 14:38)

b. because of what? (Haggai 1:9)

c. the like of what?, how much? how many? (Genesis 47:8; 2 Samuel 19:35; Psalms 119:84)

d. for what reason? why? (Psalms 42:10; Psalms 43:2; 1 Samuel 28:15)

e. until when? how long? (Psalms 4:3; Numbers 24:22; Psalms 79:5)

f. upon what?, upon what ground? wherefore? (Job 38:6; 2 Chronicles 32:10; Numbers 22:32)

Same root

Where it appears

Appears 752 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 2:19 So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one.
  • Genesis 3:13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
  • Genesis 4:6 “Why are you so angry?” the Lord asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected?
  • Genesis 4:10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!
  • Genesis 12:18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram and accused him sharply. “What have you done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?
  • Genesis 12:19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ and allow me to take her as my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and get out of here!”
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).