הוּא H1931
He, she, it (personal pronoun); that one (demonstrative); it is (copular identifier)
The pronoun הוּא (masculine) / הִיא (feminine) is one of Hebrew's most versatile grammatical words. In its primary role it is simply 'he,' 'she,' or 'it,' resuming a previously mentioned referent. But Hebrew retains an older demonstrative layer where הוּא means 'that' or 'that one,' pointing to a specific, often distant entity — visible in phrases like 'that night' (Gen 19:35) and 'that day' (Gen 26:24). Occasionally it functions as a copula, asserting identity: 'it is he' or 'this is it,' as in Lev 10:3.
Senses
1. personal pronoun he/she/it — The standard third-person singular personal pronoun: he, she, or it. It serves as subject pronoun, resumptive pronoun, and general anaphoric reference throughout the Hebrew Bible. All target languages render it with their basic pronoun forms — 'él,' 'il,' 'er' — confirming its unmarked referential function. From Gen 4:20 onward it appears over 1,400 times as the default way to track a discourse participant. 1431×
AR["هوَ", "هُوَ"]·ben["তাঁকে", "তার", "তিনি", "সে", "সেই"]·DE["er", "er-ist", "er-sei", "ihm", "ist", "ist-der", "ist-er"]·EN["he", "he-is"]·FR["il", "il-est"]·heb["הוא"]·HI["उसे", "उस्ने", "वह", "वह-है"]·ID["dia", "dialah"]·IT["egli", "egli-è"]·jav["piyambakipun"]·KO["그-가", "그-는", "그가", "그는", "그도", "그에게", "그와", "그이다"]·PT["Ele", "ele"]·RU["он"]·ES["él"]·SW["Yahwe", "kale", "kumbe", "mkono-wa", "yeye"]·TR["O", "o"]·urd["اُس-نے", "وہ", "وہ-ہے", "ہے", "ہے-وہ"]
2. demonstrative that one — The demonstrative use meaning 'that' or 'that one,' pointing to a specific referent that is typically distant in space, time, or discourse. Multilingual evidence confirms the demonstrative reading: Spanish renders it 'aquel/aquella,' Arabic 'ذٰلِكَ,' and German 'jener/jenes' — all distinctly demonstrative rather than merely pronominal. Key passages include Gen 19:35 ('that night'), Gen 21:31 ('that place'), and Gen 26:24 ('that night'), where temporal or spatial distance is foregrounded. 441×
AR["تِلكَ", "تِلْكَ", "ذَلِكَ", "ذٰلِكَ", "هُوَ"]·ben["-সেই", "-সেই।", "সেই"]·DE["der-jenes", "jenen", "jener", "jenes"]·EN["that", "the-that"]·FR["ce", "le-ce"]·heb["ה-הוא", "ה-היא", "ה-וא", "ה-יא", "הוא"]·HI["उस", "वह"]·ID["itu"]·IT["il-quello", "quello"]·jav["punika", "punika,"]·KO["그", "그-의"]·PT["a-aquela", "aquela", "aquele", "essa", "o-aquele", "o-esse"]·RU["-ту", "та", "то", "того", "той", "тому", "тот", "ту", "эта"]·ES["aquel", "aquella", "el-aquel", "el-ese", "esa", "ese", "la-esa"]·SW["Beeari", "Hhua", "hapo", "hili", "hiyo", "huo", "huu", "huyo", "pale", "ule"]·TR["-o", "o"]·urd["-اُس", "-وہ", "اس", "اُس", "وہ"]
3. copular identificational it is — A copular or identificational use where הוּא functions as a predicate marker asserting identity or equivalence: 'it is,' 'this is,' or 'the same is.' This is the rarest sense, appearing about 13 times. In Lev 10:3 God says 'this is what the LORD spoke,' and in Ezra 7:8 the construction identifies Ezra himself. German 'es ist' and French 'c'est' in the glosses confirm the equative reading distinct from simple pronoun reference. 13×
AR["هُوَ", "هِيَ", "هِيَ-"]·ben["এই", "এটা", "এটি", "তা", "তা-", "তিনিই", "সে", "সেটি", "হোক"]·DE["dies", "er", "es-ist", "sie"]·EN["are-the-same", "it", "it-is", "this", "which-was"]·FR["c'est", "ce", "elle", "il"]·heb["הוא", "היא"]·HI["जो-था", "यह-है", "वह", "वही-है", "है", "है-यह", "हो"]·ID["Dialah", "ini", "inilah", "itu", "jadilah"]·IT["egli", "ella", "essa", "questo", "è"]·jav["Panjenengan", "punika", "punika-"]·KO["그-이시도다", "그것", "그것-이", "그것은", "그것이", "그것이다", "그것이도다", "될-것이다"]·PT["Isto", "ela", "ele", "está", "é", "és-o-mesmo"]·RU["-Тот-же", "она", "она-", "пусть-будет", "это", "это-то"]·ES["ella", "es", "este", "esto-es", "está", "sea", "él"]·SW["Hili", "ilikuwa", "iwe", "ndiye", "ni", "ni-", "ni-hicho", "ni-hiki", "ni-huu"]·TR["Osun", "bu", "o", "o-", "odur"]·urd["وہ", "وہی-ہے", "ہیں", "ہے", "ہے-یہ", "یہ-ہے", "یہی-ہے"]
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×)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×)H0518a 1. conditional particle: if (827×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
הוּא m. הִיא f. (pl. m. הֵ֫מָּה, הֵם; fem. הֵ֫נָּה, הֵן [the latter only with prefixes]; see these words), pron. of the 3rd ps. sing., he, she, used also (in both genders) for the neuter, it, Lat. is, ea, id. (The א is not orthographic merely, but radical, being written on Moab. and Ph. inscriptions, though dropped in some of the later dialects. [In Heb. only Je 29:23 Kt, and in the prn.…