אֲנַ֫חְנוּ, H0587
We — first person common plural independent pronoun, used for emphasis, contrast, or as explicit subject
Anachnu is the emphatic first person plural pronoun in biblical Hebrew, the plural counterpart of anokhi/ani ('I'). Because Hebrew verbs already encode their subject, the independent pronoun appears only when emphasis or contrast is intended: 'we are all one man's sons' (Gen 42:11), 'we are honest men' (Gen 42:31). It often follows a participle to supply an explicit subject (Gen 19:13; Num 10:29) or is appended to a finite verb for rhetorical force (Judg 9:28; 2 Kgs 10:4). Cognate forms appear across the Semitic family — Aramaic anachna, Arabic nahnu, Ethiopic nihna — testifying to deep shared ancestry. Spanish 'nosotros,' French 'nous,' and German 'wir' serve as straightforward equivalents.
Senses
1. we (first person plural pronoun) — The independent first person common plural pronoun 'we,' deployed in biblical Hebrew when the speaker(s) wish to make the subject explicit for emphasis, contrast, or identification. It frequently appears in self-identifying declarations — 'we are your brothers' (Gen 42:13), 'we are passing through' (Judg 19:18) — and can follow participles or be appended to verbs for rhetorical weight (Gen 19:13; 2 Kgs 10:4). Cognate forms across Semitic (Aramaic anachna, Arabic nahnu) confirm its ancient pedigree. Spanish 'nosotros,' French 'nous,' and German 'wir' render it uniformly. 121×
AR["نَحْنُ"]·ben["আমরা"]·DE["sind-wir", "wir"]·EN["we", "we-are"]·FR["nous", "nous-sont"]·heb["אנחנו"]·HI["हम", "हैं-हम"]·ID["kami", "kita"]·IT["noi", "noi-sono"]·jav["kawula", "kawula-sedaya", "kita", "kula-sedaya"]·KO["우리-는", "우리가", "우리는", "우리도", "우리이다"]·PT["nós"]·RU["мы"]·ES["Nosotros", "nosotros"]·SW["mtumishi-wako", "na-sisi", "na-wewe", "sisi", "tutako", "wenu", "wenyewe"]·TR["biz"]·urd["ہم", "ہیں-ہم"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
אֲנַ֫חְנוּ, אֲנָ֑חְנוּ pron. 1 pl. comm. we (the pl. corresp. to אָנֹכִי, as אֲנוּ to אֲנִי; v. WSG p. 100; Ph. אנחן, Aramaic אֲנַחְנָא, 𝔗 also נַחְנָא, Syriac ܐܶܢܚܢܰܢ, ܐܶܢܰܚܢܰܢ, ܚܢܰܢ, Arabic نَحْنُ, Ethiopic ንሕነ ) Gn 13:8; 29:4; 37:7; 42:11, 13; Nu 9:7; Dt 1:28, 41; Jo 2:17, 18, etc. Like אֲנִי, following a ptcp. as its subj. Gn 19:13; Nu 10:29; Ju 19:18 2 K 18:26; appended to a vb. for emph. Ju 9:28 2 K 10:4; Is 20:6.