Keraia
Lexicon

מָה

mahwhat?How to read Hebrew
hebrewOld TestamentQuestion word751 occurrences37 books657 verses

Definition

or מַה; or מָ; or מַ; also מֶה; a primitive particle; properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?); but also exclamation, what! (including how!), or indefinitely what (including whatever, and even relatively, that which); often used with prefixes in various adverbial or conjunctive senses
Traditional renderings: how (long, oft, (-soever)), (no-) thing, what (end, good, purpose, thing), whereby(-fore, -in, -to, -with), (for) why.

In the Greek Old Testament

How the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament renders מָה:

Usage patterns

Old TestamentNew Testament

Occurrences

751 total
  1. 2 Samuel 24:17מֶ֣ה · what
    When David saw the angel striking down the people, he said to the LORD, “Surely I, the shepherd, have sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house.”
  2. 1 Kings 1:16מַה־ · What
    And Bathsheba bowed down in homage to the king, who asked, “What is your desire?”
  3. 1 Kings 2:22וְלָמָה֩ · Why
    King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”
  4. 1 Kings 3:5מָ֥ה
    One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”
  5. 1 Kings 9:8מֶ֨ה
    And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and will hiss and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
  6. 1 Kings 9:13מָ֚ה · What
    “What are these towns you have given me, my brother?” asked Hiram, and he called them the Land of Cabul, as they are called to this day.
  7. 1 Kings 11:22מָה־ · What
    But Pharaoh asked him, “What have you lacked here with me that you suddenly want to go back to your own country?” “Nothing,” Hadad replied, “but please let me go.”
  8. 1 Kings 12:9מָ֚ה · What
    He asked them, “What message do you advise that we send back to these people who have spoken to me, saying, ‘Lighten the yoke your father put on us’?”
  9. 1 Kings 12:16מַה־ · What
    When all Israel saw that the king had refused to listen to them, they answered the king: “What portion do we have in David, and what inheritance in the son of Jesse? To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, O David!” So the Israelites went home,
  10. 1 Kings 14:3מַה־ · what
    Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the boy.”
  11. 1 Kings 14:6לָ֣מָּה · Why
    So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised? For I have been sent to you with bad news.
  12. 1 Kings 14:14וּמֶ֖ה
    Moreover, the LORD will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam. This is the day—yes, even today!
  13. 1 Kings 17:18מַה־ · what
    “O man of God,” said the woman to Elijah, “what have you done to me? Have you come to remind me of my iniquity and cause the death of my son?”
  14. 1 Kings 18:9מֶ֣ה · How
    But Obadiah replied, “How have I sinned, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to put me to death?
  15. 1 Kings 19:9מַה־ · What
    There Elijah entered a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
  16. 1 Kings 19:13מַה־ · What
    When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
  17. 1 Kings 19:20מֶה־ · what
    So Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, “Please let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will follow you.” “Go on back,” Elijah replied, “for what have I done to you?”
  18. 1 Kings 21:5מַה־ · Why
    Soon his wife Jezebel came in and asked, “Why are you so sullen that you refuse to eat?”
  19. 1 Kings 22:16כַּמֶּ֥ה
    But the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear not to tell me anything but the truth in the name of the LORD?”
  20. 1 Kings 22:21בַּמָּֽה׃ · By what means
    Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD.
  21. 2 Kings 1:5מַה־ · Why
    When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?”
  22. 2 Kings 1:7מֶ֚ה · What
    The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?”
  23. 2 Kings 2:9מָ֣ה · what
    After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken away from you?” “Please, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
  24. 2 Kings 3:13מַה־ · What have we to do
    Elisha, however, said to the king of Israel, “What have we to do with each other? Go to the prophets of your father and of your mother!” “No,” replied the king of Israel, “for it is the LORD who has summoned these three kings to deliver them into the hand of Moab.”
  25. 2 Kings 4:2מָ֣ה · How; מַה־ · what
    “How can I help you?” asked Elisha. “Tell me, what do you have in the house?” She answered, “Your servant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.”
  26. 2 Kings 4:13מֶ֚ה · What
    …and Elisha said to Gehazi, “Now tell her, ‘Look, you have gone to all this trouble for us. What can we do for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’” “I have a home among my own people,” she replied.
  27. 2 Kings 4:14וּמֶ֖ה · Then what
    So he asked, “Then what should be done for her?” “Well, she has no son,” Gehazi replied, “and her husband is old.”
  28. 2 Kings 4:43מָ֚ה · How
    But his servant asked, “How am I to set twenty loaves before a hundred men?” “Give it to the people to eat,” said Elisha, “for this is what the LORD says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’”
  29. 2 Kings 5:8לָ֥מָּה · Why
    Now when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent a message to the king: “Why have you torn your clothes? Please let the man come to me, and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.”
  30. 2 Kings 6:28מַה־ · What
    Then the king asked her, “What is the matter?” And she answered, “This woman said to me, ‘Give up your son, that we may eat him, and tomorrow we will eat my son.’
  31. 2 Kings 6:33מָֽה־ · Why
    While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”
  32. 2 Kings 7:3מָ֗ה · Why
    Now there were four men with leprosy at the entrance of the city gate, and they said to one another, “Why just sit here until we die?
  33. 2 Kings 8:13מָ֤ה · how {could}
    “But how could your servant, a mere dog, do such a monstrous thing?” said Hazael. And Elisha answered, “The LORD has shown me that you will be king over Aram.”
  34. 2 Kings 8:14מָֽה־ · What
    So Hazael left Elisha and went to his master, who asked him, “What did Elisha say to you?” And he replied, “He told me that you would surely recover.”
  35. 2 Kings 9:18מַה־ · What
    So a horseman rode off to meet Jehu and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.” And the watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but he is not coming back.”
  36. 2 Kings 9:19מַה־ · What
    So the king sent out a second horseman, who went to them and said, “This is what the king asks: ‘Have you come in peace?’” “What do you know about peace?” Jehu replied. “Fall in behind me.”
  37. 2 Kings 9:22מָ֣ה · How
    When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Have you come in peace, Jehu?” “How can there be peace,” he replied, “as long as the idolatry and witchcraft of your mother Jezebel abound?”
  38. 2 Kings 14:10וְלָ֤מָּה · Why
    You have indeed defeated Edom, and your heart has become proud. Glory in that and stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”
  39. 2 Kings 18:19מָ֧ה · What
    The Rabshakeh said to them, “Tell Hezekiah that this is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: What is the basis of this confidence of yours?
  40. 2 Kings 20:8מָ֣ה · What
    Now Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, “What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the house of the LORD on the third day?”
  41. 2 Kings 20:14מָ֥ה · and what
    Then the prophet Isaiah went to King Hezekiah and asked, “Where did those men come from, and what did they say to you?” “They came from a distant land,” Hezekiah replied, “from Babylon.”
  42. 2 Kings 20:15מָ֥ה · What
    “What have they seen in your palace?” Isaiah asked. “They have seen everything in my palace,” answered Hezekiah. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”
  43. 2 Kings 23:17מָ֚ה · What
    Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?” And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things that you have done to the altar of Bethel.”
  44. 1 Chronicles 12:32מַה־ · what
    From Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do: 200 chiefs with all their kinsmen at their command.
  45. 1 Chronicles 15:13לְמַבָּרִ֥אשׁוֹנָ֖ה · the first time
    It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”
  46. 1 Chronicles 17:6לָ֛מָּה · Why
    In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked any of the leaders I appointed to shepherd My people, ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?’
  47. 1 Chronicles 17:18מַה־ · What
    What more can David say to You for honoring Your servant? For You know Your servant,
  48. 1 Chronicles 21:3לָ֣מָּה · Why; לָ֛מָּה · Why
    But Joab replied, “May the LORD multiply His troops a hundred times over. My lord the king, are they not all servants of my lord? Why does my lord want to do this? Why should he bring guilt on Israel?”