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וַיְהִ֣יplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigהָיָה

hebrew

The word הָיָה means “to exist” or “to be” or “to become” or “to come into being” and occurs 3561 times in the Old Testament.

This is the foundational verb of existence, identity, becoming and occurrence.

* It is used in the creation narrative of Genesis 1, represented by the English words Genesis 1:3Exodus 3:12Ruth 1:1Isaiah 2:2 הַמֶּלְצַ֗ר נֹשֵׂא֙ אֶתplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigאֵת

hebrew

The Hebrew אֵת word does not have a corresponding word in English. In Hebrew, it is a marker of the accusative, i.e. the word following it is the object of the sentence.

For example, in Genesis 1:1 the word is preceded by בָּרָ֣א אֱלֹהִ֑ים ( פַּתְבָּגָ֔ם וְיֵ֖ין מִשְׁתֵּיהֶ֑ם וְנֹתֵ֥ן לָהֶ֖ם זֵרְעֹנִֽים