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hayah
היה
also spelled יהי (yihi), אהיה (ahyah)
The opening scene of Genesis uses the word 'hayah' several times.
- On Earth we are worthless junk
- The Mayim spoke to the Elohim “We are light!”
- The Elohim studied light (in a) dark era; studying night, we are evening
'Hayah' is just one of many possible spellings and pronunciations of the Hebrew word meaning “to be”.
Although there are many minor variations on spelling and pronunciation of this family of words, there is little debate regarding the meanings of this family of words. The verb “to be”, and its many forms “is”, “was”, etc., are universally acknowledged.
In the book of Exodus we are shown that 'hayah' is the root of the name Yahweh/Jehovah. Notice the personal nature of the word as it is used in Exodus. 'Jehovah' is very definitively understood to mean “I AM”. Jehovah does NOT mean “it is” or “it was”.
Bringing this personal understanding back to the context of Genesis, we have applied 'hayah' to the opening scene with this same consistent personal nature, this time spoken by the plural Elohim, to mean “we are”. This interpretation is arguably more consistent across the uses of the word 'hayah', and in particular, its use as the basis for Jehovah's name.
Notice that the Genesis account also uses a different word for “to be”. (hytah) היתה is used in Genesis
These are not the same word and should not be lumped together in the same Strong Number
These seem to be three separate words, implying that:
this word may or may not be related to hytah היתה, the word used in Genesis 1:2 to describe how the Earth was
“and the earth was formless and void”