מִי

מִי₄₂₃ pronoun interrogative who? of persons, as מָה (q. v.) 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 man¥, Aramaic Arabic , Vulgar Arabic min, m£n, from a form resembling which, by rejection of n, probably Hebrew מִי: W^{SG 123 f.}): — who ? (τίς; quis ?) 1 Mos 3,11 הִגִּיד לְךָ מִי who told thee ? 1 Mos 24,65 מִי הָאִישׁ הַלָּזֶה who is this man ? 1 Mos 27,18 מי אתה בני who art thou, my son ? 4 Mos 22,9; Dom 1,1; Dom 6,29; Dom 15,6; Dom 18,3; Dom 20,18; 2 Sam 1,8 + often; Rut 3,9 מִי אָ֑תְּ who art thou, (feminine) ? Es 51,12 of more than one, מִי אֵלָּה who are these ? 1 Mos 33,5; 1 Mos 48,8; Es 60,8 מי אתם 2 Kong 10,13 once, more explicitly, מִי זָמִי הַהֹלְכִים 2 Mos 10,8 = as who ? (i.e. in what condition, or capacity), Amos 7,2 יעקב מי יקום vAmos 7,5; Es 51,19 מִי אֲנַחֲמֵךְ (but Vrss Che Lag Brd Du ׳מִי יְ, as || מִי יָנוּד), Rut 3,16 (Be Ke Kö^{iii. 388}). Note in particular:
\ \ a. מִי is rarely used of things, and usually where persons are understood or implied: 1 Mos 33,8 מי לך כלהֿמחנה הזה who (or what) to thee is all this camp ? 5 Mos 4,7; Dom 9,28 שְׁכֶם מִי who is Shechem (i.e. the Shechemites) ? Mik 1,5 מִיפֶֿשַׁע יַעֲקֹב הֲלֹא שֹׁמְרוֺן, v^b Hoj 3,6; Dom 13,17 מִי שְׁמֶ֑ךָ ( but מה 1 Mos 32,28; 2 Mos 3,13: with מי compare מַן in Aramaic Ezr 5,4 Genesis, Exodus ll. cc. ᵑ7; and see Nö^{M. p. 341}). On 1 Sam 18,18, see II. חַי
\ \ b. in the genitive, בַּתמִֿי אַתְּ whose daughter art thou ? 1 Mos 24,23; 1 Mos 24,47; 1 Sam 12,3 (3 t. in verse); 1 Sam 17,55; Jer 44,28; Job 26,4; Job 33,28 after various prepositions, as אַחֲרֵי מִי 1 Sam 24,15 (twice in verse); אֶלמִֿי 1 Sam 6,20; 2 Kong 9,5 +; בְּמִי by whom ? 1 Kong 20,14, לְמִי₂₀ to whom ? whose ? 1 Mos 32,18 לְמִי אַתָּה, 1 Mos 38,25; Ord 20,20 (6 t.) +; מִמִּי Ezk 32,19; Sl 27,1 (twice in verse); עַלמִֿי 2 Kong 18,20; 2 Kong 19,22; Es 57,4 +; אֶתמִֿי (so always in accusative), 1 Sam 12,3 (twice in verse); 1 Sam 28,11; Es 6,8 = with whom ? Job 12,3.
\ \ c. in an indirect question, as 1 Mos 21,26; 1 Mos 43,22 לא ידענו מי שׂם we do not know who put, etc., 5 Mos 21,1; Sl 39,7; Jos 24,15 בַּחֲרוּ ֗֗֗ אֶתמִֿי תַעֲבֹד֑וּן choose whom ye will serve, after ראה 1 Sam 14,17, שׁאל 1 Sam 17,56, הגיד 1 Kong 1,20, הודיע v1 Kong 1,27.
\ \ d. ׳מי ב who among ... ? 1 Sam 22,14; Es 36,20; Es 43,9; Es 48,14 (בהם) Es 42,23; Es 50,10; Hag 2,3 ( all בכם); מי מן who of ... ? Dom 21,8; 2 Kong 6,11; Es 50,1.
\ \ e. strengthened and emphatic forms of interrogative:
\ \ \ (a) מי זה (see זה 4 b), מי הוא (see הוא 4 b β), הוא זה מי Sl 24,10; Jer 30,21; Est 7,5 (see ibid.);
\ \ \ (b) אֶחָד מִי what single one ... ? Dom 21,8, compare 2 Sam 7,23 ( = 1 Kron 17,21). feminine various rhetorical uses ( often repeated in || clause, as Sl 15,1; Sl 18,32; Es 28,9; Es 29,15): — (a) followed by imperfect it expresses a wish ( the question implying a desire that the person asked for were present ), 2 Sam 15,4 מִי יְשִׂמֵנִי שֹׁפֵט who will set me judge ? i.e. would that some one would make me judge ! 2 Sam 23,15 מִי יַשְׁקֵנִי מַיִם = O that one would give me to drink, etc. ! compare 4 Mos 11,4; 4 Mos 11,18; Mal 1,10; Sl 4,7; Sl 60,11; Sl 94,16; Es 42,23, and very often in the phrase מִי יִתֵּן who will give? i.e. would that there were. . . ! as 4 Mos 11,29 נביאים ׳ומי יתן כל עם י = and would that all ׳י's people were prophets! 5 Mos 28,67 מי יתן ערב = would it were even! Dom 9,29 + (see נָתַן). (b) it expresses contempt (who ? implying the answer no one at all), 2 Mos 5,2 ׳אשׁר אשׁמע בקולו מי י who is ׳י that I should listen to his voice ? Dom 9,28 מִי אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וּמִי שְׁכֶם כִּי נַעַבְדֶנּוּ, vDom 9,38; 1 Sam 17,26 who is this Philistine that he should have reproached, etc.? 1 Sam 25,10 מי דוד ומי בן ישׁי Es 28,9; Job 26,4; Ord 30,9 ׳מי י; or modesty (real or assumed), 2 Mos 3,11 מִי אָנֹכִי כִּי אֵלֵךְ אֶלפַּֿרְעֹה 1 Sam 18,18 ומי חיי מי אנכי who am I, and who is my clan (חַיִּי), that I should be the king's son-in-law ? 2 Sam 7,18; 1 Kron 29,14; 2 Kron 2,5 or surprise, Es 44,10; Es 49,21. (c) in impassioned prose, and especially in poetry, implying the answer few or none, it is equivalent to a rhetorical negative, 5 Mos 9,2 מִי יִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי בְנֵי עֲנָק who can stand, etc.? 5 Mos 30,12 מִי יַעֲלֶהלָּֿנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה v5 Mos 30,13; 1 Sam 4,8 ׳מִי יַצִּילֵנוּ וג, 1 Sam 6,20; 1 Sam 22,14; 1 Sam 26,9; 1 Sam 26,15; 2 Sam 16,10 מי יאמר who shall (or can) say ? Job 9,12; Ord 20,9; Praed 8,4 with the perfect (of experience), who has ever . . . ? 4 Mos 23,10; 5 Mos 5,23; Es 36,20; Es 66,8 (twice in verse); Jer 18,13 מִי שָׁמַע כָּאֵלֶּה, Jer 23,18 (ᵑ0), Jer 30,21; Job 4,7; Job 9,4 מִי הִקְשָׁה אֵלָיו וַיִּשְׁלָ֑ם, Job 41,3; Ord 30,4; Klg 3,37 in poetry, very often, as 1 Mos 49,9 מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ וּכְלָבִיא who can rouse him up ? (i.e. no one), 2 Mos 15,11 (twice in verse) מִי כָמוֺךָ (so Sl 35,10 and elsewhere), 4 Mos 24,9; 4 Mos 24,23; 1 Sam 2,25 מי יתפלל לו who shall intercede for him ? (i.e. no one), Es 1,12; Es 10,3; Es 40,13; Es 40,14; Es 40,18; Es 41,26; Es 42,19; Es 43,9; Es 48,14; Es 50,1; Es 53,1 מִי הֶאֱמִין לִשְׁמֻעָתֵנוּ (i.e. few or none), etc.; Sl 18,32 ׳מִי אֱלוֺהַּ מִבַּלְעֲדֵי י, Sl 76,8; Sl 89,7; Sl 130,3; Job 21,31; Job 34,29; Jer 17,9; Joel 2,11; Mal 3,2 מִי לֹא ֗֗֗ Amos 3,8; Jer 10,7; Job 12,9 (compare Job 25,3; Nah 3,19); (יְשִׁיבֶנָּה) מִי יְשִׁיבֶנּוּ who shall (can) turn it back ? Job 9,12; Job 11,10; Job 23,13; Es 14,27; Es 43,13; Jer 2,24 implying the answer, no one but God, Es 40,12; Es 41,2; Es 35,6; Es 35,25, etc.; defiantly, Es 50,9 מִי הוּא יַרְשִׁיעֵנִי, Jer 21,13; Jer 49,4 מִי יָבוֺא אֵלַי, vJer 49,19; Ob 1,3; Sl 12,5 מִי אָדוֺן לָנוּ, Sl 59,8; Sl 64,6; Job 9,19 מִי יוֺעִידֵנִי וְאִם לְמִשְׁפָּט, 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: Ord 20,6 ואישׁ אמוּנים מי ימצא, Ord 24,22 יודע ופיד שׁניהם מי, Ord 31,10; Nah 1,6 לפני זעמו מי יעמד, Sl 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; Sl 6,6 בִּשְׁאוֺל מִי יוֺדֶהלָּֿ֑ךְ, Sl 19,13 and with the nom. pendens, Jer 2,24 תַּאֲנָתָהּ מִי יְשִׁיבֶנָּה, Ord 18,14; Job 17,15 וְתִקְוָתִי מִי יְשׁוּרֶנָּה, Job 38,29 וּכְפֹר שָׁמַיִם מִי יְלָדוֺ.
\ \ \ (d) מִי יוֺדֵעַ who knoweth ? (Sl 90,11; Ord 24,22), followed by a verbal clause, becomes (compare nescio an) = it may be, perchance, 2 Sam 12,22 ׳מִי יוֺדֵעַ יְחָנֵּנִי י (Qr וְחַנַּנִי), Joel 2,14 ( = Jon 3,9) מי יודע ישׁוב ונחם, Est 4,14 יודע אם מי.
\ \ \ (e) especially in poetry, a question with מי, to which the answer follows, is an effective mode of affirming a fact, or introducing a description: Sl 15,1 (twice in verse) (see vSl 15,2); Sl 24,3; Sl 24,8; Sl 24,10; Es 23,8 מי יעץ ׳זאת וג (Es 23,9 the answ., יְעָצָהּ ׳צ ׳י), Es 33,14 (see vEs 33,15f.), Es 37,23; Es 41,2; Es 41,4; Es 60,8; Es 63,1; Jer 46,7; Hoj 3,6, compare Hoj 6,10; Hoj 8,3 answered by הֲלֹא 2 Mos 4,11; Es 42,24; Es 45,21; Mik 1,5 (twice in verse).
\ \ g. מִי may sometimes be rendered whosoever, though, as the examples will shew, it does not really mean it: 2 Mos 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., Es 50,8b מִי בַעַל מִשְׁפָּטִי יִגַּשׁ אֵלַי, Es 54,15; Dom 7,3 מִי יָרֵא וְחָרֵד יָשֹׁב ׳וג who is fearful and trembling ? let him return, Ord 9,4; Ord 9,16 מִיפֶֿ֖תִי יָסֻר הֵגָּה, Ezr 1,3 (compare with וְ in apodosis Jer 9,11; Hos 14,10; Sl 107,43; Zak 4,10 is dubious, on account of anomalous tense and construction); so with מי האישׁ אשׁר ֗֗֗ 5 Mos 20,5; 5 Mos 20,6; 5 Mos 20,7; Dom 10,18, compare Sl 25,12. With 1 person in apodosis, 2 Mos 32,33 חָטָא לִי אֶמְחֶגּוּ מִסִּפְרִי מִי אֲשֶׁר, Jer 49,19 ( = Jer 50,44) אֵלָיהָ אֶפְקֹד וּמִי בָחוּר and who is chosen? I will appoint him over her! Es 50,8a; with an imperative in the apodosis 2 Mos 32,24 (against accents; see Ra) התפרקו למי זהב who hath gold ? break it off you! 1 Mos 19,12; 1 Sam 11,12, compare Sl 34,13f.; without a verb, 2 Mos 32,26 אלי ׳מי לי who is on J.'s side ? (let him come) to me! so 2 Sam 20,11 (מי אשׁר); Praed 5,9; Praed 9,4 (מי אשׁר).
\ \ h. once, following a verb (compare מָה 3), any one, 2 Sam 18,12 שִׁמְרוּמִֿי בַּנַּעַר באבשׁלום Have a care, whosoever ye be, of, etc. (but ᵐ5 ᵑ6 ᵑ9 Bu לִי; compare v2 Sam 18,5).