H6423 H6423
a certain one, so-and-so (indefinite designation for unnamed person or place)
This pronoun serves as an indefinite placeholder—'a certain one' or 'so-and-so'—when avoiding or withholding a specific name. It always pairs with 'almonî (another indefinite term) in the idiom 'pelonî almonî, meaning 'such-and-such a person/place.' Ruth 4:1 has Boaz address the nearer kinsman as 'Come here, friend, and sit down'—literally 'so-and-so.' 1 Samuel 21:3 and 2 Kings 6:8 use it for unnamed places: 'such-and-such a place.' The construction parallels Arabic 'fulān and modern 'John Doe'—a deliberate non-identification, whether for privacy, anonymity, or rhetorical effect.
Senses
1. sense 1 — An indefinite pronoun meaning 'a certain one' or 'so-and-so,' used when deliberately not naming a person or place. Ruth 4:1 has Boaz call to the nearer kinsman: 'Turn aside, friend (פְּלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי), sit down here'—avoiding his name (perhaps because he failed his duty). 1 Samuel 21:3 (verse 2): 'the king has charged me...meet me at such-and-such a place (מְקוֹם פְּלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי).' 2 Kings 6:8: 'In such-and-such a place (בִּמְקוֹם פְּלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי) shall be my camp.' The paired phrase creates emphatic indefiniteness. Compare Arabic فُلَانُ. Translations: 'so-and-so,' 'such-and-such,' Spanish 'fulano,' 'tal.' 3×
AR["فُلانٍ", "فُلَانِي", "يَا-فُلَانُ"]·ben["অমুক"]·DE["[פלני]", "such-und-such"]·EN["so-and-so", "such-and-such"]·FR["ainsi-et-ainsi", "tel-et-tel"]·heb["פלוני"]·HI["अमुक", "किसि", "पलोनी"]·ID["Hai-Fulan", "ini", "tertentu"]·IT["così-e-così", "tale-e-tale"]·jav["fulan", "tartamtu"]·KO["아무개", "어느"]·PT["fulano", "tal"]·RU["такой-то", "такому", "такому-то"]·ES["fulano", "tal"]·SW["fulani", "mahali-fulani"]·TR["falan", "filan", "sunu"]·urd["اے-فلاں", "فلاں"]
Related Senses
H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)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×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)H5650 1. Servant, attendant, subject (723×)H0408 1. prohibitive negation do-not (712×)G2443 1. so that, in order that (purpose/result) (665×)G0575 1. from (649×)G1223 1. through, by means of (582×)H3541 1. thus, so, in this manner (569×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† I. פְּלֹנִי pron. a certain one; Gk. ὁ, ἡ δεῖνα (according to Thes from above √, through an unused noun פָּלֹן, proposes one defined, a particular one: NH id.; Aramaic ܦܠܳܢ, f. ܦܠܳܢܻܝܬܳܐ; Arabic فُلَانُ WAG i. § 353 R. c, voc. فُلُ SiegfZWTh xxvii. 355; Assyrian pulpul HptBAS i. 114), always joined with אַלְמֹנִי (proposes one not mentioned) in the sense of ‘ein gewisser verschwiegener’ (Ew§…