Hebrew

Particle

הֵן • ‎(hen)

1. Lo! also (as expressing surprise) if: - behold, if, lo, though.
   • Numbers 23:9, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     כִּי־מֵרֹאשׁ צֻרִים אֶרְאֶנּוּ וּמִגְּבָעוֹת אֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ הֶן־עָם לְבָדָד יִשְׁכֹּן וּבַגּוֹיִם לֹא יִתְחַשָּׁב׃‎

     ki-merósh tsurím 'er'énu umig'va'ót 'ashurénu hen-'ám l'vadád yishkón uvagoyím ló yitkhasháv.
     kī-mērōš ṣūrīm ʾerʾénnū ūmiggəḇāʿōṯ ʾăšūrénnū hen-ʿām ləḇāḏāḏ yiškōn ūḇaggōyīm lō yiṯḥaššāḇ.

     For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

2. (formal) yes, yea, aye

Antonyms

• לַאו ‎(lav)

Derived terms

• בהן צדק
• מכלל הן אתה שומע לאו

Usage notes

• Due to being the affirmative, it is used as a copula, inflected identically to (and confused with) הִנֵּה ‎(hiné). Although this is in parralel to usage of the negative אֵין ‎(ēn), this is discouraged by the Academy of the Hebrew Language.

Pronoun

הֵן • ‎(hen) f pl

1. They (feminine).

See also

References

• “H2005”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible, 1979