אָֽנֹכִ֫י אָנֹ֑כִי (once Job 33:9 אָֽנֹכִ֑י pronoun 1st person singular common I; Genesis 3:10; Genesis 7:4; Genesis 15:1, 2; Genesis 16:5 —הֲ הֶאָנֹכִי Numbers 11:12; Job 21:4. (Assyrian anâku, Phoenician & Moabite אנך : not in Arabic, Aramaic, Ethiopic; but ku appears as the affix of the 1st person singular in the Ethiopic verb (e.g. waladku = Hebrew יָלַדְתִּי). אָנֹכִי and אֲנִי appear to be two parallel formations (both containing the element ani [compare the suffix نِيَ -, נִי-] or ana, & one strengthened by the addition of the demonstrative basis Ku [probably akin to axk, כָּא, כֹּה here]: compare Sta^{§ 179} W^{SG 95 f.} 98-101), of which, in most of the Semitic languages, one prevailed to the exclusion of the other, but which in Hebrew maintained their place side by side.) In some cases אני and אנכי appear capable of being used indifferently; in others the choice seems to have been determined, partly by rhythmical considerations, partly by a growing preference for אֲנִי among later writers. Thus when appended to the verb for emphasis (whether with or without גַּם) the lighter form אֲנִי is nearly always used)Leviticus 20:5; Leviticus 26:24, 32; Deuteronomy 12:30; Judges 1:3; Judges 8:23; 2 Samuel 12:28; 2 Samuel 17:15; 2 Samuel 18:2, 22; Jeremiah 17:18; Jeremiah 21:5; Ezekiel 17:22; Job 13:2 +; compare the cases Genesis 27:34; 1 Samuel 25:24; 2 Samuel 19:1; 1 Kings 1:26; Proverbs 23:15); on the contrary, in the emphatic rhetorical style of Deuteronomy, אָנֹכִי is preferred (in the discourses, uniformly, except Deuteronomy 12:30, in accusative with usage just noted, & Deuteronomy 29:5 in a standing expression; on Deuteronomy 32:48, 51 (P) compare below) In particular phrases, also, usage prefers sometimes אֶני sometimes אָנכי thus there occurs חַי־אָנִי Numbers 14:21 & always, except Deuteronomy 32:40; (אָ֑נִי) אִתְּךָ אֲנִי (Jeremiah 1:9, 19; 30:11; 46:18; Isaiah 43:2, 5); אֲנִי יהוה Exodus 6:2, 6, 8 & elsewhere in P, & especially frequently in H (Leviticus 18:2, 4, 6 etc.) & Ezekiel, also Genesis 15:7; Genesis 28:13; Deuteronomy 29:5; Judges 6:10 +; (אנכי יהוה much less frequently; only J E & prophetic writers, Exodus 20:2 = Deuteronomy 5:6; Hosea 12:10; Hosea 13:4; Psalm 81:11; Exodus 20:5 = Deuteronomy 5:9; Isaiah 43:11; Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 51:15 (Exodus 4:11 is different); compare Dr^{JPh xi. 224 f.}); אני אמרתי Isaiah 38:10 (Hez.) Isaiah 49:4; Jeremiah 5:4; Jeremiah 10:19 (Jeremiah 3:19 אנכי) Ruth 4:4; Psalm 30:7; Psalm 31:23; Psalm 41:5; Psalm 82:6 +; ויאמר אָ֫נִי (in response to a question) Genesis 27:24; Judges 13:11; 2 Samuel 20:17; 1 Kings 13:14; 1 Kings 18:8 (אנכי וי׳ only 2 Samuel 2:20; on the contrary, with a predicate, אָנֹבִי is regularly employed, Genesis 24:34; 1 Samuel 30:13; 2 Samuel 1:8 עֲמָלֵקִי אָנֹ֑בִי 2 Samuel 11:5; 2 Samuel 20:17; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 1:6; Jonah 1:9); (הִנְנִי) וַאֲנִי הִנֵּה Genesis 6:17; Genesis 9:9; Exodus 31:6; Numbers 3:12 + (but הִנֵּה אָנֹכִי Genesis 24:14, 43; Genesis 25:32; Exodus 3:13; Exodus 19:9 +; הִנֵּה אֲנִי is very uncommon; see ib.²²⁶). So far as the usage of particular books is concerned, in the Pentateuch (except Deuteronomy) אֲנִי is used in P (including H) always (about + 130 times) except Genesis 23:4 (compare Ezekiel below); in J E אנכי is preferred, though not exclusively (81 : 48). In Samuel there are 50 instances of each form. Jeremiah has some 54 instances of אֶני 37 of אנכי. In later books the preponderance of אֲנִי is evident. Thus in Ezekiel אני occurs + 138 times, אנכי once Genesis 36:28 (perhaps a reminiscence of Jeremiah 11:4b; Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 30:22); in Lamentations, Haggai, Ezra, Esther, Ecclesiastes אני + 45 times, אנכי never; in Chronicles אני + 30 times, אנכי once 1 Chronicles 17:1 (from 2 Samuel 7:2); in Daniel אני + 23 times, אנכי once 2 Samuel 10:11. See more fully Gies^{ZAW 1881, 251-8} Dr^{l.c. 222-7}.

BLB Scripture Index of Brown-Driver-Briggs