interrogative

There are a number of different ways that Hebrew marks a sentence as interrogative.  The most common is the interrogative marker (not to be confused with the article).  It looks like this:

-הֲ

This is prefixed to a noun and nearly always appears at the beginning of a clause to indicate that the clause is a question and not a statement.  Other ways of marking a question are given below.

Parsing

Hebrew

Gloss

noun

סוּס

horse

noun + article

הַסּוּס

the horse

noun + interrogative prefix

הֲסוּס

a horse?

 

-הֲ on a noun where the first letter has a sheva for its vowel

Parsing

Hebrew

Gloss

noun

מְרַגֵּל

spy

noun + article

הַמְּרַגֵּל

the spy

noun + interrogative prefix

הַמְרַגֵּל

a spy?

 

-הֲ on a noun where the first letter is a guttural

Parsing

Hebrew

Gloss

noun

אִישׁ

man

noun + article

הָאִישׁ

the man

noun + interrogative prefix

הַאִישׁ

a man?

 

 -הֲ on a noun where the first letter is a guttural and has a qamats for its vowel

Parsing

Hebrew

Gloss

noun

אָב

father

noun + article

הָאָב

the father

noun + interrogative particle

הֶאָב

a father?

 

       

הֲיֵשׁ לָכֶם אָח

הַאַתָּה יוֹאָב

[quest.]-is-there to-you brother

[quest.]-are-you Joab

Do you have a brother?

Are you Joab?

 

מִי is the standard personal interrogative particle, “personal” because it is used to refer to persons, not objects.  It is generally translated with “who…?”.

מִי־הָאִישׁ הַלָּזֶה

מִי־כָמֹכָה בָּאֵלִם יְהוָה

לְמִי־אַתָּה

Who_the-man the-that

Who_like-you among-the-gods Yahweh

To-whom_you

Who is that man?

Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods?

To whom do you belong?

 

מָה is the standard impersonal interrogative particle, “impersonal” because it is used to refer to objects, not persons.  It is generally translated as “what?”.

מַה־פִּשְׁעִי

מָה אַתֶּם עֹשִׂים

בַּמָּה אֵדַע

כַּמָּה יְמֵי שְׁנֵי חַיֶּיךָ

What_my-iniquity

What you are-doing

By-the-what will-I-know

Like-what days-of years-of your-life

What is my iniquity?

What are you doing?

How will I know?

How long have you lived?

 

 מָה used in conjunction with certain prepositions and a conjunction.

עַד־מָה יְהוָה תֶּאֱנַף לָנֶצַח

עַל־מָה הִכִּיתָ אֶת־אֲתֹנְךָ

וּמַה־נִּצְטַדָּק

Until_what Yahweh will-you-be-angry forever

On_what did-you-strike [dir.obj]_your-donkey

and-what we-will-justify-ourselves

How long, Yahweh? Will you stay angry forever?

Why have you struck your donkey?

or how can we justify ourselves?

 

איך and איכה are adverbs which show manner (cf. adverbial questions) and are often translated as “how?”, “why?”, or even “how!”.

אֵ֗יךְ נָשִׁ֥יר

אֵ֗יךְ נָשִׁ֥יר

אֵ֚יךְ אַתֶּ֣ם נֽוֹעָצִ֔ים

How will-we-sing

How can-we-sing

How you advise

How could we sing?

How could we sing?

How do you advise me

 

 אי and איה are adverbs which show place (cf. adverbial questions) and can be translated as “where?” or “where is?”.

אֵי הֶבֶל

אַיֵּה שָׂרָה אִשְׁתֶּךָ

אַיֵּה הָאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר־בָּאוּ אֵלֶיךָ

Where Abel

Where Sarah your-wife

Where the-men that_came-in to-you

Where is Abel?

Where is Sarah your wife?

Where are the men that came in to you?

 

 מָתַי is an adverb showing time (cf. adverbial questions) and can be translated as “when?”.  It is often used with the preposition עַד in the compound particle עַד־מָתַי which literally means “until when?” but is usually translated “how long?”.

מָתַי אָקוּם

עַד־מָתַי אֱלֹהִים יְחָרֶף צָר

When will-I-get-up

How_long God will-throw-insults enemy

How long will it be until I get up?

God, how long will our enemies make fun of you?

 

לָמָה and לָמָּה are adverbs showing cause (cf adverbial questions) and literally mean “for what?”, but they are usually translated as “why?”.

לָ֚מָּה חָ֣רָה לָ֔ךְ וְלָ֖מָּה נָפְל֥וּ פָנֶֽיךָ

לָמָ֪ה שְׁכַ֫חְתָּ֥נִי לָֽמָּה־קֹדֵ֥ר אֵלֵ֗ךְ בְּלַ֣חַץ

אוֹיֵֽב׃

For-what you-angry to-you and-for-what has-fallen your-face

Why have-you-forgotten-me why mourning I-will-go

because-of-oppression-of enemy

Why are you angry and why are you scowling?

Why have you forgotten me? You know the hardships that my enemies

bring on me.

 

מַדּוּעַ (why?)

מַדּוּעַ אֲדֹנִי בֹכֶה

עַד־אָן תְּמַלֶּל־אֵלֶּה

לַאֲנָשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לֹא יָדַעְתִּי אֵי מִזֶּה הֵמָּה׃

Why my-master is-weeping

How_long will-you-say_these-things

to-men who not I-know where from this they.

Sir, why are you crying?

How much longer will you talk like this?

to men who come from I do not know where?

 

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