H0349c H0349c
How? An emphatic interrogative exclamation expressing dismay or emotional intensity
A compound interrogative particle formed from 'ay' (where? how?) and 'kakah' (thus, so), yielding an intensified 'How?!' that carries strong emotional force. It appears only four times, in two paired occurrences. In Esther 8:6, Queen Esther twice cries out 'How can I bear to see...?' as she pleads before Ahasuerus for her people's deliverance. In Song of Songs 5:3, the beloved twice asks 'How shall I...?' in her dreamy reluctance to rise and open the door. Both contexts use the word to express inner turmoil — anguish in Esther, tender hesitation in the Song.
Senses
1. sense 1 — How?! — an emphatic interrogative expressing emotional intensity, dismay, or perplexity. English renders simply 'how' and 'and-how'; Spanish captures the questioning force with '¿cómo' and '¿Y-cómo'; French offers 'comment.' The doubled occurrence in Esther 8:6 conveys Esther's anguished plea before the king, while the pair in Song of Songs 5:3 expresses the beloved's tender reluctance. The compound form (from 'ay' + 'kakah') intensifies the question beyond ordinary 'how,' lending rhetorical and emotional weight to moments of deep feeling. 4×
AR["أِيكَّكَه", "كَيْفَ", "وَ-كَيْفَ"]·ben["ও-কীভাবে", "কীভাবে"]·DE["[איככה]", "[ואיככה]"]·EN["and-how", "how"]·FR["[איככה]", "[ואיככה]", "comment"]·heb["איככה", "ו-איככה"]·HI["कैसे", "या-कैसे"]·ID["bagaimana", "dan-bagaimana"]·IT["[איככה]", "[ואיככה]", "come"]·jav["kados-pundi", "kadospundi", "lan-kados-pundi"]·KO["그리고-어떻게", "어떻게", "어찌"]·PT["como", "e-como"]·RU["И-как", "как"]·ES["cómo", "¿Y-cómo", "¿cómo"]·SW["na-nitaona", "nitaichafuaje", "nitaivalije", "nitawezaje"]·TR["nasil", "nasıl-", "ve-nasıl-"]·urd["اور-کیسے", "کیسے"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אֵיכָ֫כָה (Ct) אֵֽיכָכָ֫ה (Est) (from אַי & כָּ֫כָה thus) How? only Ct 5:3(×2) Est 8:6(×2).