Lexical Summary hi: To fall, to be, to become Original Word: הִי Strong's Exhaustive Concordance woe For nhiy; lamentation -- woe. (For hiyr. See huw', huw.) see HEBREW nhiy see HEBREW huw' see HEBREW huw NAS Exhaustive Concordance Word Originof uncertain derivation Definition lamentation, wailing NASB Translation woe (1). Brown-Driver-Briggs הִי (?) noun [masculine] lamentation, wailing, only Ezekiel 2:10 וְכָתוּב אֵלָיהָ קִינִים וָהֶגֶה וָהִי and written in it were lamentations and mourning and wailing (ᵐ5 ουἀί, woe! Ew§ 101 c compare אִי, compare III. אִי above, according to Thes Sta§ 125 b and others הִי = נְהִי, נ being dropped; Ol§ 77 g, 144 c would emend נְהִי so Co; see נְהִי below נהה. Text very dubious). הִיא see הוּא. הֵידָד see below הדד. הֻיְּדוֺת see below ידה Topical Lexicon Canonical Location and Literary Setting The word appears only in Ezekiel 2:10, embedded in the prophet’s inaugural vision of a scroll “written on both front and back” and containing “lamentations, mourning, and woe” (Berean Standard Bible). Its unique placement makes the term a hapax legomenon, heightening its rhetorical weight within the passage. Historical Background Ezekiel’s calling occurs in 593 BC among the first wave of Judean exiles in Babylon. Israel’s covenant infidelity—idolatry, social injustice, and disregard for the Sabbath—had led to national collapse. Into that crisis the Lord commissions Ezekiel as a watchman, placing the scroll of sorrowful judgment in his mouth before any promise of restoration is offered. Prophetic Force of the Single Occurrence 1. Intensification of Judgment: By clustering “lamentations, mourning, and woe,” the oracle layers grief (personal pain), lament (public sorrow), and doom (divine verdict). The Broader Theology of ‘Woe’ While the word itself is rare, the concept saturates prophetic literature: These parallel passages reveal a consistent biblical pattern—divine “woe” precedes or accompanies judgment and serves as a final appeal to repentance. Echoes in New Testament Pronouncements The Greek equivalent (ouai) retains the same tenor: In each case the woe bridges divine holiness and human accountability, pointing forward to ultimate justice in Christ. Pastoral and Ministry Implications 1. Preaching with Tears: The prophet must deliver hard truth without hardness of heart, mirroring Ezekiel’s embodiment of the scroll. Eschatological Horizon The lonely appearance of the term in Ezekiel anticipates a future day when divine lament will give way to everlasting joy (Revelation 21:4). Until then, the Church, like Ezekiel, must digest the whole counsel of God—both sweet promises and bitter warnings—so that a faithful witness may stand amid a world still ripe for both judgment and mercy. Forms and Transliterations וָהִֽי׃ והי׃ vaHi wā·hî wāhîLinks Interlinear Greek • Interlinear Hebrew • Strong's Numbers • Englishman's Greek Concordance • Englishman's Hebrew Concordance • Parallel TextsEnglishman's Concordance Ezekiel 2:10 HEB: קִנִ֥ים וָהֶ֖גֶה וָהִֽי׃ ס NAS: mourning and woe. KJV: and mourning, and woe. INT: were lamentations mourning and woe |
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