Jer 22; הוֹי גּוֹי חֹטֵא ah, sinful nation! Is 1, 5 (ah! they that...).— For הַס cf. Hb 2, Zp 1, Zc 2.
[e] 2. Finally, instances of noun-clauses shortened in an unusual manner may perhaps occur in יְדֵיהֶם and רַגְלֵיהֶם ψ 115, for יָדַ֫יִם לָהֶם they have hands, &c.; cf. verses 5 and 6 פֶּֽה־לָהֶם, &c. Perhaps also וּפִֽילַגְשׁוֹ Gn 22, and וְחָלְיוֹ Ec 5 are to be regarded in the same way, but hardly נְבִֽיאֲכֶם Nu 12; cf. § 128 d above.
II. Special Kinds of Sentences.
[a] The originally interrogative מָה is used to introduce exclamations of wonder or indignation = O how! or ridicule, why! how! sometimes strengthened by זֶה or זֹאת according to § 136 c.—Astonishment or indignation at something which has happened is introduced by אֵיךְ how (likewise originally interrogative) with the perfect; the indignant refusal of a demand by אֵיךְ (but also by מָה Jb 31) with the imperfect; an exclamation of lamentation by אֵיכָה, less frequently אֵיךְ how!; in Jo 1 by מָה.
Examples:—
[b] מָה (or מַה־ with a following Dagĕš, see § 37) expressing admiration (or astonishment) before verbal-clauses, e.g. Gn 27 (מַה־זֶּה); 38:29, Nu 24 (how goodly are...!); ψ 21, Ct 7; before the predicate of noun-clauses, e.g. Gn 28, ψ 8; mockingly before the verb, 2 S 6 (how glorious was...!); Jer 22, Jb 26 f.; indignantly, Gn 3 מַה־וֹּאת; 4:10, 20:9, 31:26 what hast thou done!
אֵיךְ with the perfect, e.g. Gn 26, ψ 73; in scornful exclamation, Is 14, 12; in a lament (usually אֵיכָה), 2 S 1, 27; with the imperfect, in a reproachful question, Gn 39, 44, ψ 11, 137; in a mocking imitation of lament, Mi 2.
אֵיכָה with the perfect, Is 1, La 1; with the imperfect, La 2, 4.
[c] Rem. 1. The close relation between a question and an exclamation appears also in the interrogative personal pronoun מִי in such cases as Mi 7 מִי־אֵל כָּמ֫וֹךָ who is a God like unto thee? and so in general in rhetorical questions as the expression of a forcible denial; similarly in the use of an interrogative sentence to express a wish, see § 150 d, 151 a.
[d] 2. A weaker form of exclamation is sometimes produced by the insertion of a corroborative כִּי verily, surely, before the predicate, Gn 18; cf. 33:11, Is 7, and the analogous cases in the apodoses of conditional sentences, § 159 ee.
[a] The particle אִם, in the sense of certainly not, and אִם־לֹא (rarely כִּי Gn 22) in the sense of certainly, are used to introduce promises or threats confirmed by an oath (especially after such formulae as חַי־יְהֹוָה,
