What does אִי (ʾiy) mean in the Bible?
אִי (ʾiy): Habitable land conceptualized as desirable territory—emphasizes livability and human settlement potential, not mere geography
Hebrew · H339
אִי
Properly, a habitable spot (as desirable); dry land , a coast , an island
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אִי H339
Pronunciation ʾiy
What does אִי (ʾiy) mean in the Bible?
אִי (ʾiy): Habitable land conceptualized as desirable territory—emphasizes livability and human settlement potential, not mere geography
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).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It the islands 6× Isaiah 40:15, Isaiah 41:5, Isaiah 42:4, Isaiah 51:5
coastlands 2× Jeremiah 31:10, Ezekiel 27:15
from the coasts 2× Jeremiah 47:4, Ezekiel 27:7
in the islands 2× Isaiah 24:15, Isaiah 42:12
O islands 2× Isaiah 41:1, Isaiah 49:1
of the coastland 2× Isaiah 23:2, Isaiah 23:6
of the coastlands 2× Jeremiah 25:22, Ezekiel 27:35
the coastlands 2× Ezekiel 26:15, Ezekiel 26:18
and distant shores 1× Psalms 72:10
and from the islands 1× Isaiah 11:11
and the islands 1× Isaiah 66:19
coastland 1× Isaiah 20:6
coasts 1× Ezekiel 27:3
even to its farthest shores 1× Esther 10:1
in the coastlands 1× Ezekiel 39:6
into dry land 1× Isaiah 42:15
of wood from the coasts 1× Ezekiel 27:6
shore 1× Zephaniah 2:11
shores 1× Psalms 97:1
the maritime 1× Genesis 10:5
to the coastlands 1× Daniel 11:18
to the coasts 1× Jeremiah 2:10
to the islands 1× Isaiah 59:18
you islands 1× Isaiah 42:10
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 10:5 אִיֵּ֤י to the maritime Noun - masculine plural construct Esther 10:1 וְאִיֵּ֥י to even to its farthest shores Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural construct Psalms 72:10 וְ֭אִיִּים to and distant shores Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine plural Psalms 97:1 אִיִּ֥ים to shores Noun - masculine plural Isaiah 11:11 וּמֵאִיֵּ֖י to and from the islands Conjunctive waw, Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural construct Isaiah 20:6 הָאִ֣י to coastland Article | Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 23:2 אִ֑י to of the coastland Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 23:6 אִֽי׃ to of the coastland Noun - masculine singular Isaiah 24:15 בְּאִיֵּ֣י to in the islands Preposition-b | Noun - masculine plural construct Isaiah 40:15 אִיִּ֖ים to the islands Noun - masculine plural
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 10:5
Aligned rows 36
Books represented 8
Genesis 1 Esther 1 Psalms 2 Isaiah 17 Jeremiah 4 Ezekiel 9 Daniel 1 Zephaniah 1
Source forms
אִיִּ֥ים 3x ’î·yîm Psalms 97:1, Isaiah 42:4, Ezekiel 27:15
אִיִּ֖ים 3x ’î·yîm Isaiah 40:15, Isaiah 42:10, Ezekiel 27:3
אִיֵּ֤י 2x ’î·yê Genesis 10:5, Jeremiah 2:10
אִיִּים֙ 2x ’î·yîm Isaiah 41:5, Isaiah 49:1
אִיִּ֣ים 2x ’î·yîm Isaiah 51:5, Isaiah 60:9
אִ֑י 1x ’î Isaiah 23:2
אִ֥י 1x ’î Jeremiah 47:4
אִֽי׃ 1x ’î Isaiah 23:6
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine plural 11x Psalms 97:1, Isaiah 40:15, Isaiah 41:1, Isaiah 41:5
Article | Noun - masculine plural 6x Isaiah 66:19, Ezekiel 26:15, Ezekiel 26:18, Ezekiel 27:35
Noun - masculine plural construct 3x Genesis 10:5, Jeremiah 2:10, Zephaniah 2:11
Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Isaiah 20:6, Jeremiah 25:22
Noun - masculine singular 2x Isaiah 23:2, Isaiah 23:6
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine plural 2x Isaiah 42:12, Jeremiah 31:10
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine plural 2x Isaiah 42:15, Isaiah 59:18
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine plural construct 2x Ezekiel 27:6, Ezekiel 27:7
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 definition Source: 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.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain