Hebrew

What

מָאStrong’s H4100

Appears in 659 verses of the Old Testament

In short

Ma is the Hebrew word usually translated “what”, “why” and “how”. It appears in 659 verses of the Old Testament.

“And the prince of the eunuchs said unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king.”

Daniel 1:10 KJV

Meaning

What, whateverwhat? · whatever, what, whatsoever · how?, why?, wherefore? (with prefixes)

How it's translated

what 366
why 165
and what 67
how 58
and why 40
whatever 16
and how 8
how many 7

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most

Psalms 57
Genesis 56
1 Samuel 56
Job 52
Jeremiah 43
2 Samuel 42

37 books in all.

Related words

Explore in Scripture

All 659 verses, by book

Genesis 56: 2:19 3:13 4:6 4:10 12:18 12:19 15:2 15:8 18:13 20:9 20:10 21:17 21:29 23:15 24:31 25:22 25:32 26:10 27:20 27:37 27:45 27:46 28:17 29:15 29:25 30:31 31:26 31:27 31:30 31:32 31:36 31:37 31:43 32:27 32:29 33:15 37:10 37:15 37:20 37:26 38:16 38:18 38:29 39:8 42:1 42:28 43:6 44:4 44:7 44:15 44:16 46:33 47:3 47:8 47:15 47:19
Exodus 30: 2:4 2:13 2:20 3:13 4:2 5:4 5:15 5:22 10:26 12:26 13:14 14:5 14:11 14:15 15:24 16:7 16:8 16:15 17:2 17:3 17:4 18:14 22:27 32:1 32:11 32:12 32:21 32:23 33:5 33:16
Leviticus 1: 25:20
Numbers 27: 9:7 9:8 11:11 11:20 13:18 13:19 13:20 14:3 14:41 15:34 16:11 20:4 20:5 21:5 22:19 22:28 22:32 22:37 23:3 23:8 23:11 23:17 23:23 24:5 24:22 27:4 32:7
Deuteronomy 5: 5:25 6:20 10:12 29:24 32:20
Joshua 13: 4:6 4:21 5:14 7:7 7:8 7:9 7:10 7:19 7:25 9:22 15:18 22:16 22:24
Judges 35: 1:14 2:2 5:16 5:17 6:13 6:15 7:11 8:1 8:2 8:3 9:2 9:48 11:12 12:3 13:8 13:12 13:18 14:18 15:10 15:11 16:5 16:6 16:10 16:13 16:15 18:3 18:8 18:14 18:18 18:23 18:24 20:12 21:3 21:7 21:16
Ruth 2: 1:11 1:21
1 Samuel 56: 1:8 2:23 2:29 3:17 4:3 4:6 4:14 4:16 5:8 6:2 6:3 6:4 6:6 9:7 9:21 10:2 10:11 10:15 10:27 11:5 13:11 14:38 14:41 14:43 15:14 15:19 17:8 17:26 17:28 17:29 19:3 19:5 19:17 20:1 20:4 20:8 20:10 20:32 21:3 21:14 22:3 22:13 24:9 25:17 26:15 26:18 27:5 28:9 28:12 28:13 28:14 28:15 28:16 29:3 29:4 29:8
2 Samuel 42: 1:4 2:22 3:24 6:20 7:7 7:20 9:8 11:21 12:21 12:23 13:26 14:5 14:13 14:31 14:32 15:19 16:2 16:9 16:10 16:17 16:20 17:5 18:22 18:23 18:29 19:10 19:11 19:12 19:22 19:25 19:28 19:29 19:34 19:35 19:36 19:42 20:19 21:3 21:4 24:3 24:13 24:17
1 Kings 19: 1:16 2:22 3:5 9:8 9:13 11:22 12:9 12:16 14:3 14:6 14:14 17:18 18:9 19:9 19:13 19:20 21:5 22:16 22:22
2 Kings 23: 1:5 1:7 2:9 3:13 4:2 4:13 4:14 4:43 5:8 6:28 6:33 7:3 8:13 8:14 9:18 9:19 9:22 14:10 18:19 20:8 20:14 20:15 23:17
1 Chronicles 7: 12:32 15:13 17:6 17:18 21:3 21:12 21:17
2 Chronicles 18: 1:7 7:21 10:9 10:16 18:15 18:20 19:6 20:12 24:20 25:9 25:15 25:16 25:19 30:3 32:4 32:10 32:13 35:21
Ezra 1: 9:10
Nehemiah 7: 2:4 2:12 2:16 2:19 4:2 6:3 13:17
Esther 11: 1:15 2:11 4:5 5:3 5:6 6:3 6:6 7:2 8:1 9:12 9:26
Job 52: 3:11 3:12 3:20 6:11 6:24 6:25 7:17 7:19 7:20 7:21 9:2 9:12 9:29 10:2 10:18 11:8 13:13 13:14 13:23 13:24 15:9 15:12 15:14 16:3 16:6 19:22 19:28 21:15 21:17 21:21 22:13 22:17 23:5 25:4 26:2 26:3 26:7 26:14 27:8 27:12 30:2 31:1 31:2 31:14 34:4 34:33 35:3 35:6 35:7 37:19 38:6 40:4
Psalms 57: 2:1 3:1 4:2 8:1 8:4 8:9 10:1 10:13 11:3 21:1 22:1 30:9 31:19 35:17 36:7 39:4 39:7 42:5 42:9 42:11 43:2 43:5 44:23 44:24 49:5 50:16 52:1 56:4 56:11 66:3 68:16 74:1 74:9 74:11 78:40 79:5 79:10 80:12 84:1 85:8 88:14 89:46 89:47 92:5 104:24 114:5 115:2 116:12 118:6 119:9 119:84 119:97 119:103 120:3 133:1 139:17 144:3
Proverbs 13: 4:19 5:20 9:13 15:23 16:16 17:16 20:24 22:27 25:8 27:1 30:4 30:13 31:2
Ecclesiastes 25: 1:3 1:9 2:2 2:12 2:15 2:22 3:9 3:15 3:22 5:6 5:11 5:16 6:8 6:10 6:11 6:12 7:10 7:16 7:17 7:24 8:4 8:7 10:14 11:2 11:5
Song of Solomon 9: 1:7 4:10 5:8 5:9 6:13 7:1 7:6 8:4 8:8
Isaiah 27: 1:5 1:11 2:22 3:15 5:4 10:3 14:32 19:12 21:11 22:1 22:16 36:4 38:15 38:22 39:3 39:4 40:6 40:18 40:27 41:22 45:9 45:10 52:5 52:7 55:2 58:3 63:17
Jeremiah 43: 1:11 1:13 2:5 2:18 2:23 2:29 2:33 2:36 4:30 5:15 5:19 5:31 6:20 7:17 8:6 8:9 8:14 9:12 11:15 13:21 14:8 14:9 15:18 16:10 20:18 22:8 22:23 23:28 23:33 23:35 23:37 24:3 27:13 27:17 29:27 30:15 33:24 37:18 38:25 40:15 44:7 48:19 49:4
Lamentations 4: 2:13 3:39 5:1 5:20
Ezekiel 16: 8:6 12:9 12:22 15:2 16:30 17:12 18:2 18:31 19:2 20:29 21:7 21:13 24:19 33:11 33:30 37:18
Daniel 3: 1:10 10:20 12:8
Hosea 5: 6:4 9:5 9:14 10:3 14:8
Joel 3: 1:18 2:17 3:4
Amos 4: 4:13 5:18 7:8 8:2
Jonah 5: 1:6 1:8 1:10 1:11 4:5
Micah 5: 4:9 6:3 6:5 6:6 6:8
Nahum 1: 1:9
Habakkuk 4: 1:3 1:13 2:1 2:18
Haggai 2: 1:9 2:3
Zechariah 17: 1:9 1:19 1:21 2:2 4:2 4:4 4:5 4:11 4:12 4:13 5:2 5:5 5:6 6:4 7:3 9:17 13:6
Malachi 11: 1:2 1:6 1:7 1:13 2:14 2:15 2:17 3:7 3:8 3:13 3:14

Hebrew dictionary

מָא ma · what

1) what, whatever 1a) what? 1b) whatever, what, whatsoever 1c) how?, why?, wherefore? (with prefixes)

From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “what” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

WHAT, pronoun

relative or substitute. [G., Latin See Wight.]

That which.
Which part.
what is the substitute for a sentence or clause of a sentence.
what is used as an adjective, of both genders, often in specifying sorts or particulars.

All definitions and other forms of “what”

what is much used in asking questions. what sort of character is this? what poem is this? what man is this we see coming?
what time, at the time or on the day when.
To how great a degree.
Whatever.
Some part, or some.
what is sometimes used elliptically for what is this, or how is this?“WHAT! Could ye not watch with me one hour?” Matthew 26:40
what is used interrogatively and elliptically, as equivalent to what will be the consequence? what will follow? As in the phrase, what if I undertake this business myself?

WHAT, noun

Fare; things; matter. [Not in use.]

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.