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. 1 Chronicles 21:12מָֽה־ · how
    …between three years of famine, three months of being swept away before your enemies and overtaken by their swords, or three days of the sword of the LORD—days of plague upon the land, with the angel of the LORD ravaging every part of Israel.’ Now then, decide how I should reply to Him who sent me.”
  2. 1 Chronicles 21:17מֶ֣ה · what
    And David said to God, “Was it not I who gave the order to count the people? I am the one who has sinned and acted wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand fall upon me and my father’s house, but do not let this plague remain upon Your people.”
  3. 2 Chronicles 1:7מָ֥ה
    That night God appeared to Solomon and said, “Ask, and I will give it to you!”
  4. 2 Chronicles 7:21בַּמֶּ֨ה · Why
    And when this temple has become a heap of rubble, all who pass by it will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’
  5. 2 Chronicles 10:9מָ֚ה · 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’?”
  6. 2 Chronicles 10:16מַה־ · 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 all the Israelites went home,
  7. 2 Chronicles 18:15כַּמֶּ֥ה
    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?”
  8. 2 Chronicles 18:20בַּמָּֽה׃ · By what means
    Then a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD, and said, ‘I will entice him.’ ‘By what means?’ asked the LORD.
  9. 2 Chronicles 19:6מָֽה־ · what
    Then he said to the judges, “Consider carefully what you do, for you are not judging for man, but for the LORD, who is with you when you render judgment.
  10. 2 Chronicles 20:12מַֽה־ · what
    Our God, will You not judge them? For we are powerless before this vast army that comes against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
  11. 2 Chronicles 24:20לָמָה֩ · Why
    Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’”
  12. 2 Chronicles 25:9וּמַֽה־ · What
    Amaziah asked the man of God, “What should I do about the hundred talents I have given to the troops of Israel?” And the man of God replied, “The LORD is able to give you much more than this.”
  13. 2 Chronicles 25:15לָ֤מָּה · Why
    Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet, who said, “Why have you sought this people’s gods, which could not deliver them from your hand?”
  14. 2 Chronicles 25:16לָ֣מָּה · Why
    While he was still speaking, the king asked, “Have we made you the counselor to the king? Stop! Why be struck down?” So the prophet stopped, but he said, “I know that God has determined to destroy you, because you have done this and have not heeded my advice.”
  15. 2 Chronicles 25:19לָ֤מָּה · Why
    You have said, ‘Look, I have defeated Edom,’ and your heart has become proud and boastful. Now stay at home. Why should you stir up trouble so that you fall—you and Judah with you?”
  16. 2 Chronicles 30:3לְמַדַּ֔י · enough
    …since they had been unable to keep it at the regular time, because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not been gathered in Jerusalem.
  17. 2 Chronicles 32:4לָ֤מָּה · Why
    Many people assembled and stopped up all the springs and the stream that flowed through the land. “Why should the kings of Assyria come and find plenty of water?” they said.
  18. 2 Chronicles 32:10מָה֙ · What
    “This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: What is the basis of your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege?
  19. 2 Chronicles 32:13מֶ֤ה · what
    Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of these nations ever been able to deliver their land from my hand?
  20. 2 Chronicles 35:21מַה־ · What is the issue between you and me
    But Neco sent messengers to him, saying, “What is the issue between you and me, O king of Judah? I have not come against you today, but I am fighting another dynasty, and God has told me to hurry. So stop opposing God, who is with me, or He will destroy you!”
  21. Ezra 9:10מַה־ · what
    And now, our God, what can we say after this? For we have forsaken the commandments
  22. Nehemiah 2:4מַה־ · What
    “What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven
  23. Nehemiah 2:12מָ֗ה · what
    I set out at night with a few men. I did not tell anyone what my God had laid on my heart to do for Jerusalem. The only animal with me was the one on which I was riding.
  24. Nehemiah 2:16וּמָ֖ה · or what
    The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, for I had not yet told the Jews or priests or nobles or officials or any other workers.
  25. Nehemiah 2:19מָֽה־ · What
    But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard about this, they mocked us and ridiculed us, saying, “What is this you are doing? Are you rebelling against the king?”
  26. Nehemiah 4:2מָ֛ה · What
    …before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”
  27. Nehemiah 6:3לָ֣מָּה · Why
    So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to go down to you?”
  28. Nehemiah 13:17מָֽה־ · What
    Then I rebuked the nobles of Judah and asked, “What is this evil you are doing—profaning the Sabbath day?
  29. Esther 1:15מַֽה־ · he asked, “what
    “According to law,” he asked, “what should be done with Queen Vashti, since she refused to obey the command of King Xerxes delivered by the eunuchs?”
  30. Esther 2:11וּמַה־ · and what
    And every day Mordecai would walk back and forth in front of the court of the harem to learn about Esther’s welfare and what was happening to her.
  31. Esther 4:5מַה־ · what was troubling him; מַה־
    Then Esther summoned Hathach, one of the king’s eunuchs appointed to her, and she dispatched him to Mordecai to learn what was troubling him and why.
  32. Esther 5:3מַה־ · What; וּמַה־ · What [is]
    “What is it, Queen Esther?” the king inquired. “What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be given to you.”
  33. Esther 5:6מַה־ · What; וּמַה־ · What [is]
    And as they drank their wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.”
  34. Esther 6:3מַֽה־ · What
    The king inquired, “What honor or dignity has been bestowed on Mordecai for this act?” “Nothing has been done for him,” replied the king’s attendants.
  35. Esther 6:6מַה־ · What
    Haman entered, and the king asked him, “What should be done for the man whom the king is delighted to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king be delighted to honor more than me?”
  36. Esther 7:2מַה־ · what [is]; וּמַה־ · What [is]
    …and as they drank their wine on that second day, the king asked once more, “Queen Esther, what is your petition? It will be given to you. What is your request? Even up to half the kingdom, it will be fulfilled.”
  37. Esther 8:1מַ֥ה
    That same day King Xerxes awarded Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai entered the king’s presence because Esther had revealed his relation to her.
  38. Esther 9:12מֶ֣ה · What; וּמַה־ · Now what [is]; וּמַה־ · And what
    …who said to Queen Esther, “In the citadel of Susa the Jews have killed and destroyed five hundred men, including Haman’s ten sons. What have they done in the rest of the royal provinces? Now what is your petition? It will be given to you. And what further do you request? It will be fulfilled.”
  39. Esther 9:26וּמָֽה־ · and because of all; וּמָ֥ה · and experienced
    Therefore these days are called Purim, from the word Pur. Because of all the instructions in this letter, and because of all they had seen and experienced,
  40. Job 3:11לָ֤מָּה · Why
    Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb?
  41. Job 3:12וּמַה־ · [and]
    Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed?
  42. Job 3:20לָ֤מָּה · Why
    Why is light given to the miserable, and life to the bitter of soul,
  43. Job 6:11מַה־ · What
    What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What is my future, that I should be patient?