מִי
mi
who?
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
Supported# The Hebrew Word מִי (mi): "Who?" The Hebrew word *mi* is an interrogative pronoun meaning "who?" and appears 423 times throughout the biblical text, making it one of the most frequently used question words in Scripture. As a direct interrogative, it functions to identify or seek information about a person or persons, forming the basic grammatical unit for questions of personal identity in Hebrew discourse. The high frequency of *mi* across biblical literature reflects its fundamental role in dialogue and narrative. Whether used in direct questioning between characters, in rhetorical questions posed by prophets and wisdom writers, or in existential inquiries, the word serves as the standard vehicle for asking about personal identity and agency. Its prevalence suggests that questions about "who" — about identity, responsibility, and distinction between persons — were central concerns throughout the various biblical compositions. While the lexicon data provided does not specify particular semantic variations or grammatical contexts where *mi* might take on specialized meanings, its straightforward definition and substantial occurrence count indicate that this was an essential, unmarked interrogative form used across different genres and periods of biblical Hebrew composition.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
423 total occurrences across the text — showing 50
Who was there among all the gods of those nations which my fathers utterly destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of my hand?
2 Chronicles 36:23“Cyrus king of Persia says, ‘Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given all the kingdoms of the earth to me; and he has commanded me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all his people, Yahweh his God be with him, and let him go up.’ ”
Ezra 1:3Whoever there is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of Yahweh, the God of Israel (he is God), which is in Jerusalem.
Job 4:2“If someone ventures to talk with you, will you be grieved? But who can withhold himself from speaking?
Nehemiah 6:11I said, “Should a man like me flee? Who is there that, being such as I, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”
Esther 4:14For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Esther 6:4The king said, “Who is in the court?” Now Haman had come into the outer court of the king’s house, to speak to the king about hanging Mordecai on the gallows that he had prepared for him.
Esther 6:6So Haman came in. The king said to him, “What shall be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” Now Haman said in his heart, “Who would the king delight to honor more than myself?”
Esther 7:5Then King Ahasuerus said to Esther the queen, “Who is he, and where is he who dared presume in his heart to do so?”
Job 4:7“Remember, now, whoever perished, being innocent? Or where were the upright cut off?
Job 5:1“Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Job 6:8“Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for,
Job 9:4God who is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who has hardened himself against him and prospered?
Job 9:12Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
Job 9:12Behold, he snatches away. Who can hinder him? Who will ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
Job 9:19If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty! If of justice, ‘Who,’ says he, ‘will summon me?’
Job 9:24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked. He covers the faces of its judges. If not he, then who is it?
Job 11:5But oh that God would speak, and open his lips against you,
Job 11:10If he passes by, or confines, or convenes a court, then who can oppose him?
Job 12:3But I have understanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Yes, who doesn’t know such things as these?
Job 12:9Who doesn’t know that in all these, Yahweh’s hand has done this,
Job 13:5Oh that you would be completely silent! Then you would be wise.
Job 13:19Who is he who will contend with me? For then would I hold my peace and give up the spirit.
Job 14:4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.
Job 14:13“Oh that you would hide me in Sheol, that you would keep me secret until your wrath is past, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me!
Job 17:3“Now give a pledge. Be collateral for me with yourself. Who is there who will strike hands with me?
Job 17:15where then is my hope? as for my hope, who will see it?
Job 19:23“Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Job 19:23“Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Job 21:31Who will declare his way to his face? Who will repay him what he has done?
Job 21:31Who will declare his way to his face? Who will repay him what he has done?
Job 23:3Oh that I knew where I might find him! That I might come even to his seat!
Job 23:13But he stands alone, and who can oppose him? What his soul desires, even that he does.
Job 24:25If it isn’t so now, who will prove me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?”
Job 25:3Can his armies be counted? On whom does his light not arise?
Job 26:4To whom have you uttered words? Whose spirit came out of you?
Job 26:4To whom have you uttered words? Whose spirit came out of you?
Job 26:14Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways. How small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?”
Job 29:2“Oh that I were as in the months of old, as in the days when God watched over me;
Job 31:31if the men of my tent have not said, ‘Who can find one who has not been filled with his meat?’
Job 31:35oh that I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me! Let the accuser write my indictment!
Job 34:7What man is like Job, who drinks scorn like water,
Job 34:13Who put him in charge of the earth? Or who has appointed him over the whole world?
Job 34:13Who put him in charge of the earth? Or who has appointed him over the whole world?
Job 34:29When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? He is over a nation or a man alike,
Job 34:29When he gives quietness, who then can condemn? When he hides his face, who then can see him? He is over a nation or a man alike,
Job 36:22Behold, God is exalted in his power. Who is a teacher like him?
Job 36:23Who has prescribed his way for him? Or who can say, ‘You have committed unrighteousness?’
Job 36:23Who has prescribed his way for him? Or who can say, ‘You have committed unrighteousness?’
Job 38:2“Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?