3759. ouai
Berean Strong's Lexicon
ouai: Woe, alas

Original Word: οὐαί
Part of Speech: Interjection, Noun, Indeclinable, Other Type
Transliteration: ouai
Pronunciation: oo-ah'-ee
Phonetic Spelling: (oo-ah'-ee)
Definition: Woe, alas
Meaning: woe!, alas!, uttered in grief or denunciation.

Word Origin: A primary exclamation of grief

Corresponding Greek / Hebrew Entries: The Hebrew equivalent often used in similar contexts is אוֹי (H188), which also conveys a sense of lamentation or impending judgment.

Usage: The Greek word "οὐαί" (ouai) is an interjection used to express deep distress, lamentation, or denunciation. It is often translated as "woe" or "alas" in English. In the New Testament, it is frequently used by Jesus to pronounce judgment or express sorrow over the spiritual state of individuals or groups, particularly the Pharisees and cities that rejected His message.

Cultural and Historical Background: In the ancient Near Eastern context, expressions of woe were common in both secular and religious texts. They were used to lament misfortune or impending doom and were often part of prophetic literature to warn of divine judgment. In the Greco-Roman world, such expressions were understood as serious pronouncements, often linked to the moral and spiritual failings of individuals or societies.

NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
a prim. interj.
Definition
alas! woe! (an expression of grief or denunciation)
NASB Translation
woe (46), woes (1).

Thayer's Greek Lexicon
STRONGS NT 3759: οὐαί

οὐαί, an interjection of grief or of denunciation; the Sept. chiefly for הוי and אוי; "Alas! Woe!" with a dat of person added, Matthew 11:21; Matthew 18:7; Matthew 23:13-16, 23, 25, 27, 29; Matthew 24:19; Matthew 26:24; Mark 13:17; Mark 14:21; Luke 6:24-26; Luke 10:13; Luke 11:42-44, 46f, 52; Luke 21:23; Luke 22:22; Jude 1:11; Revelation 12:12 R G L, small edition. (see below) (Numbers 21:29; Isaiah 3:9, and often in the Sept.); thrice repeated, and followed by a dative, Revelation 8:13 R G L WH marginal reading (see below); the dative is omitted in Luke 17:1; twice repeated and followed by a nominative in place of a vocative, Revelation 18:10, 16, 19 (Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 5:8-22; Habakkuk 2:6, 12, etc.); exceptionally, with an accusative of the person, in Revelation 8:13 T Tr WH text, and L T Tr WH; this accusative, I think, must be regarded either as an accusative of exclamation (cf. Matthiae, § 410), or as an imitation of the construction of the accusative after verbs of injuring (Buttmann, § 131, 14 judges otherwise); with the addition of ἀπό and a genitive of the evil the infliction of which is deplored (cf. Buttmann, 322 (277); Winer's Grammar, 371 (348)), Matthew 18:7; also of ἐκ, Revelation 8:13. As a substantive, οὐαί (the writer seems to have been led to use the feminine by the similarity of θλῖψις or ταλαιπωρία; cf. Winers Grammar, 179 (169)) woe, calamity: Revelation 9:12; Revelation 11:14; δύο οὐαί, Revelation 9:12 (οὐαί ἐπί οὐαί ἔσται, Ezekiel 7:26; οὐαί ἡμᾶς λήψεται Evang. Nicod c. 21 (Pars ii., 5:1 (edited by Tdf.))); so also in the phrase οὐαί μοι ἐστιν, woe is unto me, i. e. divine penalty threatens me, 1 Corinthians 9:16, cf. Hosea 9:12; (Jeremiah 6:4); Epictetus diss. 3, 19, 1 (frequent in ecclesiastical writings).

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance
alas, woe.

A primary exclamation of grief; "woe" -- alas, woe.

Forms and Transliterations
Ουαι ουαί Οὐαί Οὐαὶ ουδαμού Ouai Ouaí Ouaì
Links
Interlinear GreekInterlinear HebrewStrong's NumbersEnglishman's Greek ConcordanceEnglishman's Hebrew ConcordanceParallel Texts
Englishman's Concordance
Matthew 11:21 Inj
GRK: Οὐαί σοι Χοραζίν
NAS: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe
KJV: Woe unto thee, Chorazin!
INT: Woe to you Chorazin

Matthew 11:21 Inj
GRK: σοι Χοραζίν οὐαί σοι Βηθσαϊδά
NAS: to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
KJV: Chorazin! woe unto thee,
INT: to you Chorazin woe to you Bethsaida

Matthew 18:7 Inj
GRK: Οὐαὶ τῷ κόσμῳ
NAS: Woe to the world because
KJV: Woe unto the world because of
INT: Woe to the world

Matthew 18:7 Inj
GRK: σκάνδαλα πλὴν οὐαὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ
NAS: come; but woe to that man
KJV: come; but woe to that man by
INT: trespasses yet woe the man

Matthew 23:13 Inj
GRK: Οὐαὶ δὲ ὑμῖν
NAS: But woe to you, scribes
KJV: But woe unto you, scribes
INT: woe moreover to you

Matthew 23:14 I
GRK: Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς
KJV: Woe unto you, scribes
INT: Woe to you scribes

Matthew 23:15 Inj
GRK: Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς
NAS: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
KJV: Woe unto you, scribes
INT: Woe to you scribes

Matthew 23:16 Inj
GRK: Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν ὁδηγοὶ
NAS: Woe to you, blind guides,
KJV: Woe unto you, [ye] blind
INT: Woe to you guides

Matthew 23:23 Inj
GRK: Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς
NAS: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
KJV: Woe unto you, scribes
INT: Woe to you scribes

Matthew 23:25 Inj
GRK: Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς
NAS: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
KJV: Woe unto you, scribes
INT: Woe to you scribes

Matthew 23:27 Inj
GRK: Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς
NAS: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
KJV: Woe unto you, scribes
INT: Woe to you scribes

Matthew 23:29 Inj
GRK: Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν γραμματεῖς
NAS: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,
KJV: Woe unto you, scribes
INT: Woe to you scribes

Matthew 24:19 Inj
GRK: οὐαὶ δὲ ταῖς
NAS: But woe to those who are pregnant
KJV: And woe unto them that are with
INT: woe moreover to those that

Matthew 26:24 Inj
GRK: περὶ αὐτοῦ οὐαὶ δὲ τῷ
NAS: as it is written of Him; but woe to that man
KJV: him: but woe unto that man
INT: concerning him woe moreover

Mark 13:17 Inj
GRK: οὐαὶ δὲ ταῖς
NAS: But woe to those who are pregnant
KJV: But woe to them that are with
INT: woe moreover to those that

Mark 14:21 Inj
GRK: περὶ αὐτοῦ οὐαὶ δὲ τῷ
NAS: as it is written of Him; but woe to that man
KJV: him: but woe to that man
INT: concerning him woe however to the

Luke 6:24 Inj
GRK: Πλὴν οὐαὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς
NAS: But woe to you who are rich,
KJV: But woe unto you that are rich!
INT: But woe to you who are

Luke 6:25 Inj
GRK: οὐαὶ ὑμῖν οἱ
NAS: Woe to you who are well-fed now,
KJV: Woe unto you that are full!
INT: Woe to you who

Luke 6:25 Inj
GRK: ὅτι πεινάσετε οὐαί οἱ γελῶντες
NAS: for you shall be hungry. Woe [to you] who laugh
KJV: ye shall hunger. Woe unto you
INT: for you will hunger Woe to you who laugh

Luke 6:26 Inj
GRK: οὐαὶ ὅταν καλῶς
NAS: Woe [to you] when all
KJV: Woe unto you, when
INT: Woe to you when well

Luke 10:13 Inj
GRK: Οὐαί σοι Χοραζίν
NAS: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe
KJV: Woe unto thee, Chorazin!
INT: Woe to you Chorazin

Luke 10:13 Inj
GRK: σοι Χοραζίν οὐαί σοι Βηθσαιδά
NAS: to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida!
KJV: Chorazin! woe unto thee,
INT: to you Chorazin woe to you Bethsaida

Luke 11:42 Inj
GRK: ἀλλὰ οὐαὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς
NAS: But woe to you Pharisees!
KJV: But woe unto you, Pharisees!
INT: But woe to you

Luke 11:43 Inj
GRK: οὐαὶ ὑμῖν τοῖς
NAS: Woe to you Pharisees! For you love
KJV: Woe unto you, Pharisees!
INT: Woe to you

Luke 11:44 Inj
GRK: οὐαὶ ὑμῖν ὅτι
NAS: Woe to you! For you are like
KJV: Woe unto you, scribes
INT: Woe to you for

Strong's Greek 3759
47 Occurrences


Οὐαί — 47 Occ.

















3758
Top of Page
Top of Page