H0369 H0369
There is not, nothing, nought; a particle of non-existence used for negating being, presence, or availability.
The particle 'ayin (construct 'en) is Hebrew's primary tool for denying existence — the dark mirror of yesh ('there is'). Where yesh affirms presence, 'en negates it: 'there is no king in Israel' (Judg 21:25), 'there is no God besides me' (Isa 45:5). It inflects with pronominal suffixes to create a pseudo-verbal paradigm — 'eneni ('I am not'), 'enekha ('you are not'), 'enennu ('he is not') — unique among Semitic negators. Arabic laysa serves a similar function, as do Aramaic layt and Ethiopic albo. Beyond flat negation, 'ayin develops a privative prepositional use ('without'), and in its absolute form can mean 'nothing, nought,' as when Isaiah declares God 'brings princes to nothing' (Isa 40:23).
Senses
1. existential negation: there is not — The core existential negation: 'there is not, there are not, he/she/it is not present.' This massive cluster of 738 occurrences covers all inflected forms with pronominal suffixes (1cs through 3mp) and with or without conjunctive waw. It functions as the standard negator of existence and presence throughout the Hebrew Bible. Joseph tells Pharaoh 'there is none who can interpret' (Gen 41:15); the spies report 'there is no one in the city' (Gen 19:31). Arabic laysa, French il n'y a pas, and German es gibt nicht all converge on the same existential-negation frame. The pseudo-verbal suffix conjugation ('eneni, 'enekha, 'enennu, etc.) gives this particle a verbal feel unmatched by simple adverbs. 738×
AR["لَيسَ","لَيْسَ","لَيْسَ-"]·ben["নেই","নেই-"]·DE["dort-ist-keiner","dort-ist-nein","dort-ist-nicht","es-gibt-keine","ist-nicht","kein","nicht-ist","nichts"]·EN["none","nothing","there-is-no","there-is-none","there-is-not"]·FR["aucun","là-est-aucun","là-est-ne-pas","là-est-non","là-est-pas","rien"]·heb["אין"]·HI["कोई-नहीं-है","नहि","नहि-","नही̃","नहीं","नहीं-है","नहीं-हो"]·ID["tidak","tidak ada","tidak-ada","tidak-ada-"]·IT["la-e-non","là-è-no","là-è-non","là-è-none","non-c'e","none","nulla"]·jav["boten-wonten","boten-wonten-","mboten-wonten","tanpa"]·KO["없다","없다고","없으면","없이"]·PT["nenhum","não","não-há"]·RU["не","нет"]·ES["no","no-está","no-hay","sin"]·SW["In","ata","hakuna","hayuko"]·TR["yok","yok-","yoktur"]·urd["نہیں","نہیں-ہے"]
2. privative: without, for lack of — Privative prepositional sense: 'without, for lack of, in the absence of.' Thirty-seven occurrences, typically with prefixed min (me'ayin), be (be'en), or le (le'en), yielding compound prepositions meaning 'without.' Exodus 21:11 stipulates a slave-wife may go free 'without payment'; Nehemiah exhorts the people to feast 'for those who have nothing prepared' (Neh 8:10). Spanish sin, German ohne, and Arabic bila all select dedicated privative prepositions here, distinguishing this clearly from simple non-existence. The semantic shift from 'there is not X' to 'lacking X' is natural but produces a genuinely distinct syntactic and semantic pattern. 37×
AR["إِين","بِدونِ","بِدُونِ","بِلاَ","بِلَا","بِلَا-","مِنْ-بِلَا","مِنْ-دُونِ"]·ben["কেউ-ছাড়া","ছাড়া-","ছাড়াই","নেই","নেই-","বিনা","বিনা-"]·DE["es-ist-nicht","ohne","ohne-kein","von-es-ist-nicht"]·EN["without"]·FR["de-il-n’y-a-pas","il-n'y-a-pas","il-n’y-a-pas","sans"]·heb["אין","מ-אין"]·HI["नहीं","नहीं-है","बिना","बिना-"]·ID["tanpa","tanpa-","tidak-ada"]·IT["da-non-c'e","non-c'e","non-c'e'","non-c'è","senza"]·jav["mboten-wonten","tanpa","tanpa-","tanpa-wonten"]·KO["없네","없는","없는-곳에서","없어","없어-","없이","없이-","에서-없는","에서-없이"]·PT["sem"]·RU["без","без-","нет","нет-"]·ES["sin","sin-"]·SW["asiye-na","bila","zisizo"]·TR["-den-olmayan","-siz","değil-","olmadan","olmadan-","olmaksızın","yok"]·urd["بغیر","بغیر-","جہاں-نہیں","نہیں","نہیں-ہے"]
Exod 21:11, 2 Chr 14:11, 2 Chr 14:13, Neh 8:10, Ps 32:9, Ps 88:4, Ps 104:25, Ps 105:34, Prov 8:24, Prov 8:24, Song 6:8, Isa 5:9 (+25 more)
3. sense 3 — Simple verbal negation in rhetorical or conditional contexts — 9 occurrences where 'en functions as a bare negator ('not') rather than expressing non-existence per se. Moses asks at Massah 'Is the LORD among us or not?' (Exod 17:7); God tells Moses 'if not, blot me out of your book' (Exod 32:32); the spies are instructed to assess the land — 'whether there are trees in it or not' (Num 13:20). The gloss evidence shows simple negation particles (English 'not,' Spanish no, French ne...pas, German nicht) rather than existential vocabulary, confirming a pragmatic shift from existential denial to general negation in certain discourse frames. 9×
AR["لا","لاَ","لَا","لَيسَ"]·ben["না","নেই","নেই?"]·DE["nicht"]·EN["not"]·FR["ne-pas","pas"]·heb["אין"]·HI["नहीं"]·ID["bukan","tidak"]·IT["non"]·jav["Boten","boten","boten,","mboten","mboten-wonten"]·KO["아니다","아니면","없는지","없다"]·PT["Não","não","não?"]·RU["-нет","не","нет"]·ES["no","no-hay","no?"]·SW["hapana","la","si","uso-wako"]·TR["degil","değil","hayır","yok","yoksa"]·urd["نہیں"]
4. sense 4 — Substantival or comparative use: 'nothingness, as nothing.' Six occurrences where 'ayin serves as a noun or in the comparative ke'ayin ('as nothing'). Isaiah 40:17 declares 'all the nations are as nothing before him'; Psalm 39:5 laments that every person standing firm is 'altogether as nothing'; Haggai 2:3 asks about the temple's former glory — 'is it not as nothing in your eyes?' The comparative ke'ayin is paired with Hebrew kim'at ('almost') in Ps 73:2, where the psalmist's feet 'almost' slipped — the sense of approaching zero, near-nothingness. Arabic ka'adam ('as non-existence') and German wie-es-ist-nicht both capture the comparative-nullity construction. 6×
AR["كَ-لا-شَيْءٍ","كَلا-شَيْءٍ","كَلَا-شَيْءٍ"]·ben["-শূন্যের-মতো","প্রায়-নেই","যেমন-শূন্য","শূন্যের-মতো"]·DE["kein","wie-es-ist-nicht"]·EN["almost","are-as-nothing","as-nothing","is-as-nothing"]·FR["comme-il-n'y-a-pas","comme-il-n’y-a-pas"]·heb["כ-אין"]·HI["के-जैसे-कुछ-नहीं","जैसे-कुछ-नहीं","लगभग"]·ID["hampir-","seperti-kosong","seperti-tidak-ada"]·IT["come-non-c'e","come-non-c'e'","come-non-c'è"]·jav["kados-boten-wonten","kados-mboten-wonten","meh-"]·KO["-없음-같도다","같으니라-아무것도-아닌","같이-아무것도","같이-아무것도-아닌-것","거의"]·PT["como-nada"]·RU["как-ничто","почти"]·ES["como-nada"]·SW["kama-si-kitu","karibu"]·TR["az-kalsın","hic-gibi","hiç-gibi"]·urd["ناچیز-کی-طرح","ناچیز-کی-طرح-ہیں","کَ-کچھ-نہیں"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)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×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
II. אַ֫יִן, אָ֑֫יִן cstr. אֵין subst. proposes nothing, nought (Moab. אן, As. iûnu). 1. †Is 40:23 הַנּוֹתֵן רוֹזְנִים לְאָ֑יִן who bringeth princes to nothing; †כְּאַיִן as nothing, ib. 40:17; 41:11, 12 Hg 2:3 ψ 39:6; almost (‖ כִּמְעַט) ψ 73:2; †מֵאַיִן of nothing Is 41:24. 2. cstr. אֵין, very freq. as particle of negation, is not, are not, was not, were not, etc. (corresp. to the affirm. יֵשׁ…