מָתַי43 H4970
When? — interrogative adverb of time, often in the urgent cry 'how long?' (ad-matay)
An interrogative adverb asking 'when?' with respect to future time. Standing alone it voices a speaker's impatience or longing — 'When shall I arise?' (Job 7:4), 'When will you do something for my household too?' (Gen 30:30). Combined with the preposition 'ad ('until'), it becomes the anguished refrain 'how long?' echoing through the psalms of lament (Ps 74:10; 82:2; 94:3) and prophetic rebuke (1 Kgs 18:21). This particle captures one of Scripture's most emotionally charged questions: the cry of the suffering for divine intervention.
Senses
1. when — Interrogative 'when?' for future time. Alone it asks a simple question (Gen 30:30; Neh 2:6); with le- it means 'by when?' (Exod 8:5). In the compound 'ad-matay it becomes the lament cry 'how long?' (Ps 74:10; 94:3). French 'quand' and Spanish 'cuándo' mirror the bare form, while English 'how long' captures the 'ad-matay construction. 43×
AR["مَتى", "مَتَى"]·ben["কখন", "কতকাল", "কতক্ষণ", "কবে", "পর্যন্ত"]·DE["[מתי]", "als", "lang", "wann"]·EN["long", "when"]·FR["[מתי]", "de-comment", "quand", "quand?"]·heb["מתי"]·HI["कब", "कब-तक"]·ID["kapan"]·IT["[מתי]", "quando"]·jav["dangu", "kapan", "pinten-dangu", "pinten-dangunipun", "pundi"]·KO["언제", "언제까지"]·PT["Quando", "quando"]·RU["каких-пор", "когда", "чего"]·ES["cuándo", "cuándo?", "¿Cuándo", "¿cuándo?"]·SW["Lini", "lini", "na"]·TR["ne-kadar", "ne-zaman", "ne-zamana", "ne-zamana-dek", "ne-zamana-kadar"]·urd["کب", "کب-تک", "کہاں-تک", "ہو-گا"]
Gen 30:30, Exod 8:9, Exod 10:3, Exod 10:7, Num 14:27, 1 Sam 1:14, 1 Sam 16:1, 2 Sam 2:26, 1 Kgs 18:21, Neh 2:6, Neh 2:6, Job 7:4 (+31 more)
Related Senses
H3117 1. day, specific time (2231×)H5704 1. until, unto, as far as (1238×)H8141 1. year, unit of time (880×)H6258 1. and now (421×)G2250 1. day (388×)H5750 1. again, more, further (288×)H5769 1. forever, to eternity (280×)H6256 1. time, period (264×)H2320 1. month, calendar period (260×)H0310a 2. after (temporal) (258×)H3915 1. night, period of darkness (234×)H1242 1. morning (214×)H5750 2. still, yet (continuative) (166×)G5119 1. then (160×)G3568 1. now (147×)G2193 1. until (143×)G3825 1. (141×)G3752 1. (123×)H6153 1. evening, time of day (123×)H0227a 1. then (122×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
מָתַי43 interrog.adv. when? (Arabic مَتَى Assyrian mati: in NH and Aramaic with the interrog. אַי, אֵימָתִי, אֵימָת, ܐܶܡܰܬܝ ), in OT only of future time: a. alone, †Gn 30:30 מָתַי אעשׂה גם אנכי לביתי when shall I also do, etc.? Am 8:5 ψ 41:6; 42:3; 94:8; 101:2; 119:82, 84 Pr 6:9b; 23:35 Jb 7:4 מָתַי אָקוּם, Ne 2:6. b. לְמָתַי against when? †Ex 8:5 לְמָתַי אַעְתִּיר לְךָ. c. עַד־מָתַי until when?…