What?
מָהStrong’s H4101mah
Appears in 11 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Mah is the Aramaic word usually translated “what”, “why” and “whatever”. It appears in 11 verses of the Old Testament.
“He answered and said to Arioch the king’s captain, Why is the decree so hasty from the king? Then Arioch made the thing known to Daniel.”
Meaning
- What, whateverwhat? · whatever, what, whatsoever · how?, why?, wherefore? (with prefixes)
How it's translated
- what 7
- why 2
- and whatever 2
- how much 2
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Daniel 7
- Ezra 4
2 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Daniel 2:22In contextHe revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.
- Daniel 2:28In contextBut there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
- Daniel 2:29In contextAs for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass.
- Daniel 2:45In contextForasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
- Daniel 4:3In contextHow great are his signs! and how mighty are his wonders! his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation.
- Daniel 4:35In contextAnd all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Aramaic dictionary
מָה mah · 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 Aramaic, not from any one translation.