הֵא (he)
he
behold
H:IntjQuick Reference
- Language
- Biblical Hebrew
- Testament
- Old Testament
- Occurrences
- 1 verses
- Root
- —
- Part of speech
- H:Intj
Word Overview
The Hebrew particle he functions as an exclamation meaning "behold" or "lo." It serves to arrest the reader’s attention, signaling that something significant or unexpected is about to be revealed in the narrative.
This word appears only once in the Bible, in Genesis 16:5. Here, Hagar uses it to express her distress and frustration with Sarai. The brevity of the term carries weight, marking a moment of intense emotional confrontation within the patriarchal family story.
Its rarity makes this single occurrence stand out. Rather than a common filler word, he acts as a sharp punctuation mark in the text, highlighting the raw human emotion present even in foundational biblical accounts.
Based on public-domain lexicons (Strong's, Thayer, Gesenius, Brown-Driver-Briggs and others).
What This Word Means for Your Faith
The Hebrew particle he appears only once in Scripture, serving as a sharp call to attention. In Genesis 16:5, Hagar uses it to voice her pain. This single word captures the raw emotion of someone feeling wronged and desperate for justice.
When you feel overlooked or treated unfairly, this verse reminds you that God hears your cries. The Bible does not shy away from human anger or frustration. It shows us that bringing our honest feelings to God is part of a faithful life.
How it's translated
How this word is rendered word-by-word in the 1 verses where it appears, by frequency.
- here!1×
Forms in the text
The inflected forms of this word as they appear in Scripture, by frequency.
- הֵֽא\־1×