What does אִי (ʾiy) mean in the Bible?
Coastland or island names a maritime place or its people according to the sentence. Genesis describes maritime peoples separated into territories, languages, clans and nations without ranking their worth.
Hebrew · H339
אִי
Coastland or island names a maritime place or its people according to the sentence. Genesis describes maritime peoples separated into territories, languages, clans and nations without ranking their worth.
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אִיH339
Pronunciationʾiy
What does אִי (ʾiy) mean in the Bible?
Reader summary
Full entry for אִי (H339) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H339?
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include the islands (6), coastlands (2), from the coasts (2), in the islands (2), O islands (2).
Where does אִי (ʾiy) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 10:5. Its strongest book concentrations include Isaiah (17), Ezekiel (9), Jeremiah (4), Psalms (2).
What This Word Actually Means
Coastland or island names a maritime place or its people according to the sentence. Genesis describes maritime peoples separated into territories, languages, clans and nations without ranking their worth. Isaiah calls distant places to hear, hope and praise, while its comparison of islands with fine dust emphasizes the Lord's greatness rather than permission to disregard people.
Jeremiah addresses distant coastlands with the announcement that the Lord will gather and keep Israel. Ezekiel describes coastland peoples appalled at Tyre's fall, giving them a role in the narrated response to loss. These settings preserve actual geography and people without identifying every modern nation in prophecy. Read the addressed audience, invitation or reaction, and avoid converting distance into lesser dignity, assuming one English rendering determines every shoreline or promising that present events follow an inferred prophetic map.
How the Bible Uses It
Maritime peoples, prophetic comparisons, hope, praise, announced gathering and grief at Tyre's fall give coastlands different roles. Named audiences and responses establish the reach without a modern geographic identification.
- Gen.10.5
From these, the maritime peoples separated into their territories, according to their languages, by clans within their nations.
Maritime peoples are described through territories, languages, clans and nations, supplying distribution without a hierarchy of human worth.
- Isa.42.4
He will not grow weak or discouraged before He has established justice on the earth. In His law the islands will put their hope.”
The islands put hope in the servant's law within the promise of justice and care for the bruised reed, preserving the announced action and audience.
- Jer.31.10
Hear, O nations, the word of the Lord, and proclaim it in distant coastlands: “The One who scattered Israel will gather them and keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.
Distant coastlands hear the announcement that the Lord will gather and shepherd Israel, retaining Israel as the named recipient rather than transferring identity to every hearer.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders Itthe islands6×Isaiah 40:15, Isaiah 41:5, Isaiah 42:4, Isaiah 51:5
coastlands2×Jeremiah 31:10, Ezekiel 27:15
from the coasts2×Jeremiah 47:4, Ezekiel 27:7
in the islands2×Isaiah 24:15, Isaiah 42:12
O islands2×Isaiah 41:1, Isaiah 49:1
of the coastland2×Isaiah 23:2, Isaiah 23:6
of the coastlands2×Jeremiah 25:22, Ezekiel 27:35
the coastlands2×Ezekiel 26:15, Ezekiel 26:18
and distant shores1×Psalms 72:10
and from the islands1×Isaiah 11:11
and the islands1×Isaiah 66:19
coastland1×Isaiah 20:6
coasts1×Ezekiel 27:3
even to its farthest shores1×Esther 10:1
in the coastlands1×Ezekiel 39:6
into dry land1×Isaiah 42:15
of wood from the coasts1×Ezekiel 27:6
shore1×Zephaniah 2:11
shores1×Psalms 97:1
the maritime1×Genesis 10:5
to the coastlands1×Daniel 11:18
to the coasts1×Jeremiah 2:10
to the islands1×Isaiah 59:18
you islands1×Isaiah 42:10
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 10:5אִיֵּ֤יtothe maritimeNoun - masculine plural constructEsther 10:1וְאִיֵּ֥יtoeven to its farthest shoresConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural constructPsalms 72:10וְ֭אִיִּיםtoand distant shoresConjunctive waw | Noun - masculine pluralPsalms 97:1אִיִּ֥יםtoshoresNoun - masculine pluralIsaiah 11:11וּמֵאִיֵּ֖יtoand from the islandsConjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural constructIsaiah 20:6הָאִ֣יtocoastlandArticle | Noun - masculine singularIsaiah 23:2אִ֑יtoof the coastlandNoun - masculine singularIsaiah 23:6אִֽי׃toof the coastlandNoun - masculine singularIsaiah 24:15בְּאִיֵּ֣יtoin the islandsPreposition-b | Noun - masculine plural constructIsaiah 40:15אִיִּ֖יםtothe islandsNoun - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned rowGenesis 10:5
Aligned rows36
Books represented8
Genesis1Esther1Psalms2Isaiah17Jeremiah4Ezekiel9Daniel1Zephaniah1
Source forms
אִיִּ֥ים3x’î·yîmPsalms 97:1, Isaiah 42:4, Ezekiel 27:15
אִיִּ֖ים3x’î·yîmIsaiah 40:15, Isaiah 42:10, Ezekiel 27:3
אִיֵּ֤י2x’î·yêGenesis 10:5, Jeremiah 2:10
אִיִּים֙2x’î·yîmIsaiah 41:5, Isaiah 49:1
אִיִּ֣ים2x’î·yîmIsaiah 51:5, Isaiah 60:9
אִ֑י1x’îIsaiah 23:2
אִ֥י1x’îJeremiah 47:4
אִֽי׃1x’îIsaiah 23:6
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine plural11xPsalms 97:1, Isaiah 40:15, Isaiah 41:1, Isaiah 41:5
Article | Noun - masculine plural6xIsaiah 66:19, Ezekiel 26:15, Ezekiel 26:18, Ezekiel 27:35
Noun - masculine plural construct3xGenesis 10:5, Jeremiah 2:10, Zephaniah 2:11
Article | Noun - masculine singular2xIsaiah 20:6, Jeremiah 25:22
Noun - masculine singular2xIsaiah 23:2, Isaiah 23:6
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural2xIsaiah 42:12, Jeremiah 31:10
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine plural2xIsaiah 42:15, Isaiah 59:18
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural construct2xEzekiel 27:6, Ezekiel 27:7
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Include distant people's dignity and actual needs without ethnic ranking.
- Avoid present border claims, exclusive nation identities or event forecasts from the term.
Avoid claiming...
- Distance makes people spiritually inferior or reveals their individual guilt.
- One modern island nation exclusively fulfills every coastland reference or receives every named promise.
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. Habitable land conceptualized as desirable territory—emphasizes livability and human settlement potential, not mere geography
Source Gloss
properly, a habitable spot (as desirable); dry land , a coast , an island
Extended definitionSource: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
Habitable land conceptualized as desirable territory—emphasizes livability and human settlement potential, not mere geography
properly, a habitable spot (as desirable); dry land, a coast, an island BDB: coast Usage: country, isle, island.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Distant coastal regions from which voices of praise arise
Remote lands and coastal peoples bringing wealth and glory to Zion
Showing 2 selected witnesses from 36 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
אִי is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
Geographic distance does not erase people or determine their moral standing. Genesis names maritime peoples with territories, languages and clans, while Isaiah calls islands to hope and praise. Isaiah's dust comparison belongs to the Lord's greatness, not a permission to treat distant inhabitants as disposable. Jeremiah's announcement reaches coastlands but still names Israel as the people the Lord gathers and shepherds.
Ezekiel's coastland peoples respond with alarm to Tyre's fall, giving them a concrete role in the lament rather than one uniform prophetic identity. Preserve these addressed audiences, subjects and actions. Teach hope, praise or announced gathering where the passage places them, while avoiding ethnic ranking, unsupported identification of modern countries or a timeline drawn from an English map label.
The scope of the sentence must remain the guide rather than a preferred contemporary association.
Anchor passage
Isa.42.4
Doctrinal connections
- Genesis 10:3-5 describes maritime peoples through languages, territories and clans, keeping diversity as narrated distribution rather than a worth hierarchy.
- Isaiah 40:13-17 compares islands and nations with small things before the Lord, grounding the image in divine greatness without permission to mistreat people.
- Isaiah 42:2-6 joins islands' hope with the servant's justice and refusal to break the bruised reed, preserving the announced care and action.
- Isaiah 42:10-12 invites islands and their inhabitants to join praise from the earth's ends, explicitly including people rather than only landforms.
- Jeremiah 31:8-12 addresses distant coastlands with Israel's gathering and shepherding, retaining the named people and the actual restoration announcement.
- Ezekiel 27:33-36 depicts coastland peoples appalled at Tyre's fall, keeping their response within the named city's loss and lament.
The licensed Hebrew range includes coast, island and related place renderings. A sentence may address inhabitants or name a maritime region, so a modern map distinction should not be imposed automatically. The passage's actual audience and action matter more than deriving a fixed prophecy from an English label.
From Old to New Testament
Matthew 12:17-21 explicitly introduces Isaiah's servant passage and states that the nations will hope in his name. Read this beside Isaiah 42:4 while retaining the Hebrew islands wording and the Gospel's nations wording. The connection is supplied by Matthew rather than an inferred identity between every geographic term, and it does not authorize naming a modern island country as the passage's exclusive fulfillment.