הִוא. Gen. 34:21; 45:20, Ex. 3:5; 32:16, Nu. 11:7, Deu. 1:17; 4:24, Jos. 5:15, 2 S. 21:2, 1 K. 20:31, Mic. 7:3. Cf. Ps. 76:8.
The sent. is also compound when cas. pend. is resumed by convers. tenses, e.g. 1 K. 12:17.
Rem. 1. When the cas. pend. is to be resumed in acc. (c above) it may be put in acc. also in Ar. And in other languages —
Den König Wiswamitra,
Den treibt’s ohne Rast und Ruh …
Rem. 2. The fact that the pron. agrees with subj. in gend. and numb., e.g. הַדָּם הוּא הַנֶּפֶשׁ, seems to show that properly it is a resumption of the subj. and not an anticipation of the pred. Its occasional agreement with pred. (e.g. in Eth. &c.) is a familiar case of attraction, cf. Jer. 10:3.
The consn. is probably different when the pron. stands after a pron. of 1st or 2nd pers., as 2 S. 7:28 אַתּה הוּא האלהים. Here the 3rd pers. pron. strengthens the other, thou art God.[1] Is. 37:16, Jer. 14:22, Ps. 44:5, Neh. 9:6, 2 Chr. 20:6, cf. Is. 51:9, 10, and with 1st pers. Is. 43:25; 51:12; 52:6. So 1 Chr. 21:17 I am he-who (אשׁר) has sinned, Ez. 38:17, cf. Jer. 49:12. Others (Ew. Dr.) regard הוא in these cases as pred., 2 S. 7:28 thou art he — God. The same seems the consn. with זֶה הוּא Ecc. 1:17, 1 Chr. 22:1, and אֵלֶּה הֵם Gen. 25:16, Lev. 23:2, Nu. 3:20, 21, 27, 33, &c., though the emphasis here is very slight.
In some cases הוא appears to be pred., Is. 41:4 אֲנִי הוּא I am he (43:10, 13; 46:4; 48:12, Ps. 102:28), where he (it) expresses the divine consciousness of himself, cf. the
- ↑ This use of the third pers. pron. seems secondary. Naturally it would be used to strengthen only words in the 3rd pers., e.g. Is. 7:14, Nu. 18:23, Ex. 12:42, Ezr. 7:6, 2 Chr. 32:30. The same use of 3rd pers. pron. appears in the so-called Ar. “pron. of separation” (a mere empirical phrase). This 3rd pers. pron. should properly be used only after a subj. in 3rd pers., its use after I, thou, &c., is no doubt secondary and analogical, and is less classical. E.g. John 14:6 ana hua elṭarîq (van Dyck), I am the way, in the more classical trans. of the Jesuits is ana elṭarîq, ana elbâb, I am the door, &c.
