H0165 H0165
where? (interrogative particle related to אֵי and אַיֵּה, used in prophetic challenge)
This rare interrogative particle appears only in Hosea 13:10, 14, where God challenges Israel about the fate of their king and the location of death's sting. Ancient versions (Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate, Targum) and most modern scholars understand it as 'where?'—a taunting question. Some older interpreters took it as a first-person verb 'I would be,' but the context and jussive form favor the interrogative reading. Paul's quotation in 1 Corinthians 15:55 ('O death, where is your sting?') confirms the interrogative sense, transforming Hosea's judgment oracle into a resurrection triumph.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The interrogative sense 'where?' serves a rhetorical function in prophetic challenge. In Hosea 13:10, God asks 'where is your king?' after Israel rejected Him. In verse 14, the double use—'where are your plagues, O death? where is your destruction, O grave?'—can be read either as a summons (calling forth judgment) or as a taunt (death's power is gone). The Septuagint's ποῦ (where) established the interpretation that Paul adopted for resurrection victory. The Spanish 'seré' (I will be) reflects the minority verbal interpretation, while English 'where' and French 'Ehé' preserve the interrogative. 3×
AR["أَكونُ"]·ben["আমি-হব"]·DE["ich-werde-sein"]·EN["where"]·FR["Ehé"]·heb["אהי"]·HI["मैं-हूंगा", "मैं-होऊंगा"]·IT["dove"]·jav["pundi"]·KO["되리라"]·PT["Onde-está", "Onde-estão"]·RU["где"]·ES["seré"]·SW["iko-wapi", "niko-wapi"]·TR["nerede"]·urd["میں-ہوں-گا"]
Related Senses
H8033 1. There (locative adverb) (835×)H7760a 1. put, place, set physically (444×)H8064 1. heavens / sky (329×)H5439 1. around, all around (spatial) (319×)H4057b 1. wilderness, desert region (270×)H3220 1. sea, body of water (269×)H0520a 1. cubit (unit of length) (246×)H0127 1. ground, land (territory) (210×)H3383 1. Jordan River (proper noun) (183×)G1093 1. earth, the world (176×)H5800a 1. forsake, abandon (Qal active) (166×)H8121 1. sun (celestial body) (133×)H7126 1. offer, present sacrificially (122×)H6828 1. north, cardinal direction (120×)H2351 1. outside, exterior space (119×)H5104 1. river, stream (119×)H7341 1. width, breadth (101×)G1563 1. there (95×)H7126 2. draw near, approach (95×)G2281 1. sea, large body of water (91×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אֱהִי Ho. 13:10, 14(×2) adv. where? = אֵי, אַיֵּה. So 𝔊 𝔖 𝔙 𝔗 AW in Ho 13:10, & 𝔊 𝔖 (cf. 1 Cor 15:55) AW in Ho 13:14. Taken by many of the older interpreters, and even by Ges in 13:14, as 1 s. impf. apoc. of היה I would be: but this is less suited to the context, and the jussive form is an objection, being unusual with the 1 ps.