מִי 423 pronoun interrogative who? of persons, as 
מָה (which see) of things (Ethiopic 

 but only = 
What ? and 
How ? Assyrian 
mî, me (rare) Jäger
BAS. ii. 277, the usual Semitic form for 
Who? has 
n, namely Assyrian 
mannu, manu (Dl
HWB 419), Ethiopic 
 manū
 manū, Aramaic 

 Arabic 

, Vulgar Arabic 
min, mīn, from a form resembling which, by rejection of 
n, probably Hebrew 
מִי : W
SG 123 f.): — 
who ? (
τίς; 
quis ?) 
Genesis 3:11 הִגִּיד לְךָ מִי who told thee ? 
Genesis 24:65 מִי הָאִישׁ הַלָּזֶה who is this man ? 
Genesis 27:18 מי אתה בני who art thou, my son ? 
Numbers 22:9; 
Judges 1:1; 
Judges 6:29; 
Judges 15:6; 
Judges 18:3; 
Judges 20:18; 
2 Samuel 1:8 + often; 
Ruth 3:9 מִי אָ֑תְּ who art thou, (feminine) ? 
Isaiah 51:12; of more than one, 
מִי אֵלָּה who are these ? 
Genesis 33:5; 
Genesis 48:8; 
Isaiah 60:8; 
מי אתם 2 Kings 10:13; once, more explicitly, 
מִי זָמִי הַהֹלְכִים Exodus 10:8; = 
as who ? (i.e. in what condition, or capacity), 
Amos 7:2 יעקב מי יקום vAmos 7:5; 
Isaiah 51:19 מִי אֲנַחֲמֵךְ (but Vrss Che Lag Brd Du 
מִי יְ׳, as || 
מִי יָנוּד), 
Ruth 3:16 (Be Ke Kö
iii. 388). Note in particular: 
    e. strengthened and emphatic forms of interrogative:
    (c) in impassioned prose, and especially in poetry, implying the answer 
few or 
none, it is equivalent to a rhetorical negative, 
Deuteronomy 9:2 מִי יִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי בְנֵי עֲנָק who can stand, etc.? 
Deuteronomy 30:12 מִי יַעֲלֶהלָּֿנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה Deuteronomy 30:13; 
1 Samuel 4:8 מִי יַצִּילֵנוּ וג׳, 
1 Samuel 6:20; 
1 Samuel 22:14; 
1 Samuel 26:9, 
15; 
2 Samuel 16:10; 
מי יאמר who shall (or can) say ? 
Job 9:12; 
Proverbs 20:9; 
Ecclesiastes 8:4; with the perfect (of experience), 
who has ever... ? Numbers 23:10; 
Deuteronomy 5:23; 
Isaiah 36:20; 
Isaiah 66:8 (twice in verse); 
Jeremiah 18:13 מִי שָׁמַע כָּאֵלֶּה, 
Jeremiah 23:18 (MT), 
Jeremiah 30:21; 
Job 4:7; 
Job 9:4 מִי הִקְשָׁה אֵלָיו וַיִּשְׁלָ֑ם, 
Job 41:3; 
Proverbs 30:4; 
Lamentations 3:37; in poetry, very often, as 
Genesis 49:9 מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ וּכְלָבִיא who can rouse him up ? (i.e. no one), 
Exodus 15:11 (twice in verse) 
מִי כָמוֺךָ (so 
Psalm 35:10 and elsewhere), 
Numbers 24:9, 
23; 
1 Samuel 2:25 מי יתפלל לו who shall intercede for him ? (i.e. no one), 
Isaiah 1:12; 
Isaiah 10:3; 
Isaiah 40:13, 
14, 
18; 
Isaiah 41:26; 
Isaiah 42:19; 
Isaiah 43:9; 
Isaiah 48:14; 
Isaiah 50:1; 
Isaiah 53:1 מִי הֶאֱמִין לִשְׁמֻעָתֵנוּ (i.e. few or none), etc.; 
Psalm 18:32 מִי אֱלוֺהַּ מִבַּלְעֲדֵי י׳, 
Psalm 76:8; 
Psalm 89:7; 
Psalm 130:3; 
Job 21:31; 
Job 34:29; 
Jeremiah 17:9; 
Joel 2:11; 
Malachi 3:2; 
מִי לֹא ֗֗֗ Amos 3:8; 
Jeremiah 10:7; 
Job 12:9 (compare 
Job 25:3; 
Nahum 3:19); (
יְשִׁיבֶנָּה) 
מִי יְשִׁיבֶנּוּ who shall (can) turn it back ? † 
Job 9:12; 
Job 11:10; 
Job 23:13; 
Isaiah 14:27; 
Isaiah 43:13; 
Jeremiah 2:24; implying the answer, 
no one but God, 
Isaiah 40:12; 
Isaiah 41:2; 
Job 38:5; 
Job 35:6; Job 35:25, etc.; defiantly, 
Isaiah 50:9 מִי הוּא יַרְשִׁיעֵנִי, 
Jeremiah 21:13; 
Jeremiah 49:4 מִי יָבוֺא אֵלַי, 
Jeremiah 49:19; 
Obadiah 3; 
Psalm 12:5 מִי אָדוֺן לָנוּ, 
Psalm 59:8; 
Psalm 64:6; 
Job 9:19 לְמִשְׁפָּט וְאִם יוֺעִידֵנִי מִי, 
Job 13:19 מִי הוּא יָרִיב עִמָּדִי who is he that will contend with me ? 
Job 17:3; 
Job 41:2. Notice in examples of this kind the frequent 
order of words: 
Proverbs 20:6 ואישׁ אמוּנים מי ימצא, 
Proverbs 24:22 יודע ופיד שׁניהם מי, 
Proverbs 31:10; 
Nahum 1:6 לפני זעמו מי יעמד, 
Psalm 147:17 קֹרָתוֺ מי יעמד לפני, 
Job 4:2 וַעְצֹר בְּמִלִּין מִי יוּכ֑ל, 
Job 26:14; 
Job 38:37; 
Job 39:5; 
Job 41:5; 
Job 41:6; 
Psalm 6:6 בִּשְׁאוֺל מִי יוֺדֶהלָּֿ֑ךְ, 
Psalm 19:13; and with the 
nom. pendens, 
Jeremiah 2:24 תַּאֲנָתָהּ מִי יְשִׁיבֶנָּה, 
Proverbs 18:14; 
Job 17:15 וְתִקְוָתִי מִי יְשׁוּרֶנָּה, 
Job 38:29 וּכְפֹר שָׁמַיִם מִי יְלָדוֺ.
 
    g. מִי may sometimes be rendered 
whosoever, though, as the examples will shew, it does not really mean it: 
Exodus 24:14 מי בעל דברים יִגַּשׁ אליהם, literally 
Who hath a cause ? let him draw nigh unto them, i.e. 
whoso hath a cause, let him, etc., 
Isaiah 50:8b אֵלַי יִגַּשׁ מִשְׁפָּטִי בַעַל מִי, 
Isaiah 54:15; 
Judges 7:3 מִי יָרֵא וְחָרֵד יָשֹׁב וג׳ who is fearful and trembling ? let him return, 
Proverbs 9:4, 
16 מִיפֶֿ֖תִי יָסֻר הֵגָּה, 
Ezra 1:3 (compare with 
וְ in apodosis 
Jeremiah 9:11; Hosea 14:10; 
Psalm 107:43; 
Zechariah 4:10 is dubious, on account of anomalous tense and construction); so with 
מי האישׁ אשׁר ֗֗֗ Deuteronomy 20:5, 
6, 
7; 
Judges 10:18, compare 
Psalm 25:12. With 1person in apodosis, 
Exodus 32:33 חָטָא לִי אֶמְחֶגּוּ מִסִּפְרִי מִי אֲשֶׁר, 
Jeremiah 49:19 (= 
Jeremiah 50:44) 
אֵלָיהָ אֶפְקֹד וּמִי בָחוּר and 
who is chosen? 
I will appoint him over her! 
Isaiah 50:8a; with an imperative in the apodosis 
Exodus 32:24 (against accents; see Ra) 
התפרקו למי זהב who hath gold ? break it off you! 
Genesis 19:12; 
1 Samuel 11:12, compare 
Psalm 34:13f.; without a verb, 
Exodus 32:26 אלי מי לי׳ who is on J.'s side ? (let him come) to me! 
so 2 Samuel 20:11 (
מי אשׁר); 
Ecclesiastes 5:9; 
Ecclesiastes 9:4 (
מי אשׁר).
 
    h. once, following a verb (compare 
מָה 3), 
any one, 
2 Samuel 18:12 שִׁמְרוּמִֿי בַּנַּעַר באבשׁלום Have a care, 
whosoever ye be, of, etc. (but 
 
  
 
 Bu 
לִי; compare 
2 Samuel 18:5).
 
See related Aramaic BDB entry 
H4479.
														
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
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