זֶה H2088
This, this one (demonstrative pronoun); with prepositions: from here, in this, like this/thus.
Zeh is the basic masculine near-demonstrative pronoun in Biblical Hebrew — 'this,' 'this one' — and in its unadorned form it points to something immediately present in the speaker's context or discourse. But what makes this lemma especially interesting is how Hebrew's agglutinative prepositional system generates an entire family of derived senses: miz-zeh becomes 'from this' or 'from here,' ba-zeh becomes 'in this' or 'here,' and ka-zeh becomes 'like this' or 'thus.' Each of these prepositional combinations has developed enough semantic independence that translators across languages reach for different vocabulary. The cognate demonstrative element z- runs throughout the Semitic family — Phoenician ze, Aramaic zi/zeh, Arabic dha — making this one of the oldest and most stable grammatical morphemes in human language.
1. this, this one (demonstrative) — The core demonstrative pronoun meaning 'this,' 'this one,' 'this thing' — by far the dominant sense at approximately 1,059 of 1,178 occurrences. It points to persons, objects, places, times, and situations in immediate proximity or discourse context: 'this day' (Gen 7:11), 'this man' (Gen 19:21), 'this place' (Gen 20:11). Spanish este/esta, French ce/cette, German dieser/diese, Korean 이 (i), and Arabic hadha all deploy their standard near-demonstrative forms, confirming the unmarked deictic function. The word frequently combines with the article (haz-zeh) for emphatic specification. 1059×
AR["الْ-هذِهِ","هذا","هَذَا","هٰذا","هٰذَا","هٰذِهِ"]·ben["-এই","-এর","এই"]·DE["das-dies","diese","diesem","diesen","dieser"]·EN["the-this","this"]·FR["ce","le-ce"]·heb["ה-זה"]·HI["इस","को","यह"]·ID["ini"]·IT["il-questo","questo"]·jav["punika"]·KO["이"]·PT["a-esta","esta","este","o-este"]·RU["-дня","-эта","-это","-этого","-этому","-эту","это","этого","этом","этот","эту"]·ES["el-este","esta","este","la-esta"]·SW["hapa","hii","hili","hiyo","huu","kwa-sababu","na-pia","siku"]·TR["-bu","bu"]·urd["-اس","اس","اِس","یہ"]
Gen 7:11, Gen 17:23, Gen 19:13, Gen 19:21, Gen 20:11, Gen 21:26, Gen 24:9, Gen 26:33, Gen 28:17, Gen 31:1, Gen 31:51, Gen 31:52 (+38 more)
▼ 3 more senses below
Senses
2. from this, from here (source) — With the preposition min: miz-zeh meaning 'from this,' 'from here,' 'from this side' — approximately 90 occurrences. This sense is especially prominent in the directional pair miz-zeh...u-miz-zeh ('on this side and on that side'), used to describe spatial flanking positions (Exod 17:12; Josh 8:22). In Gen 37:17 Joseph is told 'they have departed from here'; in Gen 15:4 God promises an heir who will come 'from your own body' (literally 'from this one'). Spanish de aqui, French d'ici, German von hier, and Korean 여기서 all use spatial-origin vocabulary rather than demonstrative forms, confirming that the prepositional fusion has produced a semantically distinct adverbial function. 90×
AR["مِن-هُنا","مِن-هُناكَ","مِنْ-هُنا","مِنْ-هُنَا","مِنْ-هٰذَا"]·ben["এ-দিক-থেকে","এই-দিক-থেকে","এই-দিকে","এখান-থেকে"]·DE["von-diesem","von-dieser","von-hier"]·EN["from-here","from-this"]·FR["de-ce","de-ici"]·heb["מ-זה"]·HI["इस-ओर","इस-ओर-से","उस-ओर","यहाँ-से","से-इधर","से-यहाँ","से-यहां"]·ID["dari-sebelah-sini","dari-sini","sebelah sana","sebelah sini"]·IT["da-questo","da-qui"]·jav["mrika;","mriki,","saking-mriki","saking-mriki,","saking-mriki.","saking-ngriki"]·KO["에서-여기","에서-여기에서","여기서","여기에서","이-쪽에서","저-쪽에서"]·PT["daquele","daqui","daqui;","deste"]·RU["отсюда","оттуда"]·ES["de-allí","de-aquí","treinta"]·SW["hii","kutoka-hapa","kutoka-huku","mbuya","upande-mmoja"]·TR["buradan","buradan-"]·urd["اُس","اِس","اِس-طرف-سے","یہاں-سے"]
3. in this, here (locative) — With the preposition be- or le-: ba-zeh meaning 'in this,' 'here,' 'in this place,' 'by this means' — approximately 19 occurrences. In Gen 38:21-22 Judah asks about the cult prostitute 'in this place' (ba-zeh); in Gen 48:9 Joseph says 'God has given me [children] in this [place]'; in Exod 24:14 Moses says 'wait here' (ba-zeh). Spanish aqui/en este, French dans ce lieu/ici, German hier/an diesem Ort, and Korean 여기에 all shift from demonstrative to locative vocabulary. The sense has crystallized into a genuine locative adverb, parallel to but distinct from the directional miz-zeh of sense 2. 19×
AR["بِـ-هذَا","بِـ-هَذَا","بِهَذَا","فِي-هَذَا","لِهَذَا","هُنا","هُنَا"]·ben["এখানে","এটাতে","এটার-জন্য","এতেও"]·DE["an-diesem-Ort","hier","in-dies","in-dieser","in-dieser-Ort","in-dieser-eins","zu-dieser"]·EN["for-this","here","in-this","in-this-one","in-this-place"]·FR["dans-ce","dans-ce-lieu","dans-ceci","dans-ceci-lieu","dans-ceci-un","dans-celui-ci","ici","à-celui-ci"]·heb["ב-זה","ל-זה"]·HI["इसे","यहन","यहाँ","यहां"]·ID["bagi-yang-ini","di sini","di-sini","di-tempat-ini","yang-ini"]·IT["in-questo","in-questo-luogo","in-questo-uno","per-questo","qui"]·jav["ing-mriki","ing-ngriki","ingkang-punika","punika","tumrap-punika","wonten-ing-mriki","wonten-ing-ngriki","wonten-mriki,","wonten-ngriki"]·KO["-에-여기","안-에-이것","에-이곳","여기-에","여기서","여기에","여기에서","이-사람에게서","이것-에게","이것-위에서","이것-을"]·PT["aqui","em-este","nesta","neste","nisto","nisto?","para-este"]·RU["за-это,","здесь","на-этом","этого","этому"]·ES["aquí","de-esto","en-este","en-esto?","para-este"]·SW["hapa","hili","huyu","kwa-huyu"]·TR["-burada","-de-burda","buna","bunu","burada"]·urd["اِس-کو","اِسے","یہاں"]
Gen 38:21, Gen 38:22, Gen 48:9, Exod 24:14, Num 22:19, Num 23:1, Num 23:1, Num 23:29, Num 23:29, Judg 18:3, 1 Sam 1:26, 1 Sam 9:11 (+7 more)
4. like this, thus (comparative/manner) — With the preposition ke-: ka-zeh meaning 'like this,' 'thus,' 'in this way,' 'such' — approximately 10 occurrences. The idiom ka-zeh ve-kha-zeh ('such and such,' literally 'like this and like that') appears in 2 Sam 11:25 when David tells Joab 'do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another — thus and so.' In Gen 41:38 Pharaoh asks 'can we find such a one as this?'; in Isa 56:12 the drunkards say 'tomorrow will be like this day.' Spanish como este, French comme ceci, German so/wie dies, and Korean 이와 같은 (iwa gateun) all deploy comparative or manner-adverbial forms rather than pure demonstratives, confirming that the ke- prefix has shifted the word's function from deixis to comparison or exemplification. 10×
AR["أَ-لِ-هَذَا","أَكَ-هَذَا","كَ-هَذَا","كَـ-هٰذِهِ","كَهٰذَا","كَهٰذِهِ","وَ-كَذَا","وَكَهٰذا"]·ben["এই-রকম","এইটিকি","এইরকম","এইরকমকি","এবং-এইরকম","এবং-এভাবে","এবং-এমন","এমন"]·DE["dieser","und-so","und-wie-dass","wie-diesen","wie-dieser"]·EN["Is-like-this","and-like-that","and-thus","is-this","like-this","this"]·FR["ce","comme-ce","et-ainsi","et-comme-que"]·heb["ה-כ-זה","ה-ל-זה","ו-כ-זה","כ-זה"]·HI["ऐसा","ऐसी","और-ऐसा","और-वैसा","क्या-इसे","क्या-ऐसा"]·ID["Apakah-seperti-ini","apakah-ini","dan-begitu","dan-seperti-itu","seperti-ini"]·IT["come-questo","e-come-che","e-così","questo"]·jav["Punapa-kados-punika","Punapa-punika","ingkang-kados-punika","kados-makaten","kados-punika","lan-kados-punika","lan-kados-puniki","lan-mekaten"]·KO["그리고-이같이","그리고-저런것을","그리고-저렇게","이같은가","이것같이-","이것에","이것을","이와-같은","이와같은"]·PT["Porventura-como-este","assim","como-este","e-assim","porventura-a-isto"]·RU["hа-такой-ли","hа-это-ли","и-так","как-этот","такого","такой"]·ES["como-esta","como-este","y-así","¿A-esto","¿Es-como-este"]·SW["hivi","je-hii","je-kama-hii","kama-hii","kama-hili","kama-huyu","na-hivi"]·TR["Boyle-mi","boyle-","buna-mi","bunun-gibi","böyle","ve-böyle","ve-şöyle"]·urd["اور-ایسا","اور-ویسا","اور-ویسے","ایسا","ایسی-ہے","کیا-اِسے","کیا-ایسا"]
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×)H0776 1. land, country, territory (2323×)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×)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
זֶה demonstr. pron. and adv. fem. זֹאת, once זֹאתה, Jer 26:6 Kt (also זֹה and זוֹ, q.v.); comm. זוּ (q.v.): this, here (the element ז = ذ = ܕ is widely diffused in the Semitic languages, as a demonstr. particle, often acquiring, like Engl. that, Germ. der, die, das, the force of a relative. Thus a. Ph. זֶ this (e.g. קבר ז this grave), also sometimes זן, f. זא, comm. אז (v. CIS I. i. 1:4, 5, 6,…