various
rhetorical uses (often
repeated in ‖ cl., as
Psalms 15:1;
Psalms 18:32 Isaiah 28:9;
Isaiah 29:15):—(
a) followed by impf. it expresses a
wish (the question implying a desire that the person asked for were present),
II Samuel 15:4 מִי יְשִׂמֵנִי שֹׁפֵט who will set me judge? that is
would that some one would make me judge!
II Samuel 23:15 מִי יַשְׁקֵנִי מַיִם =
O that one would give me to drink, etc.! compare
Numbers 11:4,
Numbers 11:18 Malachi 1:10 Psalms 4:7;
Psalms 60:11;
Psalms 94:16 Isaiah 42:23, and very often in the phr.
מִי יִתֵּן who will give? that is
would that there were …! as
Numbers 11:29 ומי יתן כל עם י׳ נביאים = and
would that all
י׳’s people were prophets!
Deuteronomy 28:67 מי יתן ערב =
would it were even!
Judges 9:29 + (see
נָתַן). (
b) it expresses
contempt (
who? implying the answer
no one at all),
Exodus 5:2 מי י׳ אשׁר אשׁמע בקולו who is
י׳ that I should listen to his voice?
Judges 9:28 מִי אֲבִימֶלֶךְ וּמִי שְׁכֶם כִּי נַעַבְדֶנּוּ, v
Judges 9:38 I Samuel 17:26 who is this Phil. that he should have reproached, etc.?
I Samuel 25:10 מי דוד ומי בן ישׁי,
Isaiah 28:9 Job 26:4 Proverbs 30:9 מי י׳; or
modesty (real or assumed),
Exodus 3:11 מִי אָנֹכִי כִּי אֵלֵךְ אֶל־פַּרְעֹה,
I Samuel 18:18 מי אנכי ומי חיי who am I, and who is my clan
(חַיִּי), that I should be the king’s son-in-law?
II Samuel 7:18 I Chronicles 29:14 II Chronicles 2:5; or
surprise,
Isaiah 44:10;
Isaiah 49:21. (
c) in impassioned prose, and especially in poetry, implying the answer
few or
none, it is equiv. to a rhetorical negative,
Deuteronomy 9:2 מִי יִתְיַצֵּב לִפְנֵי בְנֵי עֲנָק who can stand, etc.?
Deuteronomy 30:12 מִי יַעֲלֶה־לָּנוּ הַשָּׁמַיְמָה, v
Deuteronomy 30:13 I Samuel 4:8 מִי יַצִּילֵנוּ וגי,
I Samuel 6:20;
I Samuel 22:14;
I Samuel 26:9,
I Samuel 26:15 II 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 5:20 Isaiah 36:20;
Isaiah 66:8(×2) Jeremiah 18:13 מִי שָׁמַע כָּאֵלֶּה,
Jeremiah 23:18 (Masoretic Text),
Jeremiah 30:21 Job 4:7;
Job 9:4 מִי הִקְשָׁה אֵלָיו וַיִּשְׁלָ֑ם,
Job 41:3 Proverbs 30:4 Lamentations 3:37; poet., very often, as
Genesis 49:9 וּכְלָבִיא מִי יְקִימֶנּוּ who can rouse him up? (that is no one),
Exodus 15:11(×2) מִי כָמוֹךָ (so
Psalms 35:10 al.),
Numbers 24:9,
Numbers 24:23 I Samuel 2:25 מי יתפלל לו who shall intercede for him? (that is no one),
Isaiah 1:12;
Isaiah 10:3;
Isaiah 40:13,
Isaiah 40:14,
Isaiah 40:18;
Isaiah 41:26;
Isaiah 42:19;
Isaiah 43:9;
Isaiah 48:14;
Isaiah 50:1;
Isaiah 53:1 מִי הֶאֱמִין לִשְׁמֻעָתֵנוּ (that is few or none), etc.;
Psalms 18:32 מִי אֱלוֹהַּ מִבַּלְעֲדֵי י׳,
Psalms 76:8;
Psalms 89:7;
Psalms 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 38:6,
Job 38:25, etc.; defiantly,
Isaiah 50:9 מִי הוּא יַרְשִׁיעֵנִי,
Jeremiah 21:13;
Jeremiah 49:4 מִי יָבוֹא אֵלַי, v
Jeremiah 49:19 Obadiah 1:3 Psalms 12:5 מִי אָדוֹן לָנוּ,
Psalms 59:8;
Psalms 64:6 Job 9:19 וְאִם לְמִשְׁפָּט מִי יוֹעִידֵנִי,
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 freq.
order of words:
Proverbs 20:6 ואישׁ אמוּנים מי ימצא,
Proverbs 24:22 ופיד שׁניהם מי יודע,
Proverbs 31:10 Nahum 1:6 לפני זעמו מי יעמד,
Psalms 147:17 לפני קֹרָתוֹ מי יעמד,
Job 4:2 וַעְצֹר בְּמִלִּין מִי יוּכ֑ל,
Job 26:14;
Job 38:37;
Job 39:5;
Job 41:5,
Psalms 41:6 Psalms 6:6 בִּשְׁאוֹל מִי יוֹדֶה־לָּ֑ךְ,
Psalms 19:13; and with the nom.
pendens,
Jeremiah 24 תַּאֲנָתָהּ מִי יְשִׁיבֶנָּה,
Proverbs 18:14 Job 17:15 וְתִקְוָתִי מִי יְשׁוּרֶנָּה,
Job 38:29 וּכְפֹר שָׁמַיִם מִי יְלָדוֹ, (
d)
מִי יוֹדֵעַ who knoweth? (
Psalms 90:11 Proverbs 24:22), followed by a verbal clause, becomes (compare
nescio an) =
it may be, perchance, †
II Samuel 12:22 מִי יוֹדֵעַ יְחָנֵּנִי י׳ (Qr
וְחַנַּנִי),
Joel 2:14 (=
Jonah 3:9)
מי יודע ישׁוב ונחם,
Esther 4:14 מי יודע אם. (
e) especially in poetry, a question with
מי, to which the answer follows, in an effective mode of affirming a fact, or introducing a description:
Psalms 15:1,
Psalms 15:1 (see v
Psalms 15:2-5),
Psalms 24:3,
Psalms 24:8,
Psalms 24:10 Isaiah 23:8 מי יעץ זאת וג׳ (v
Isaiah 23:9 the answ.,
י׳ צ׳ יְעָצָהּ),
Isaiah 33:14 (see v
Isaiah 33:15),
Isaiah 37:23;
Isaiah 41:2,
Isaiah 41:4;
Isaiah 60:8;
Isaiah 63:1 Jeremiah 46:7 Song of Songs 3:6, compare
Song of Songs 6:10;
Song of Songs 8:3; answered by
הֲלֹא Exodus 4:11 Isaiah 42:24;
Isaiah 45:21 Micah 1:5(×2).