בא

See also: באַ and Appendix:Variations of "ba"

Hebrew

Etymology

Root
ב־ו־א (b-w-ʾ)

Compare Phoenician 𐤁𐤀 (bʾ), Arabic بَاءَ (bāʔa, “to return, come back”), Ge'ez ቦአ (boʾä, “to enter”).

Pronunciation

• Audio

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Verb

בָּא • (ba) third-singular masculine past (pa'al construction, future יָבוֹא)

1. To come.
2. (colloquial, constructed with ל־ (l-)) Used in expressing a desire or impulse, or lack thereof.

   בא לך לטייל קצת?

   ba l'khá/lakh l'tayél ktzat?

   (literally) [Does it] come to you to tour a bit?
   (idiomatically) Do you feel like going for a walk?

   לא בא לי ללכת לים.

   lo ba li lalékhet la-yám.

   (literally) [It] doesn't come to me to go to the sea.
   (idiomatically) I don't feel like going to the beach.

3. (only in imperative mood) let us/let's; used with the first-person-plural future-tense form of a verb to produce its cohortative.

   בוא נדבר על זה מחר.

   bo n'dabér al ze makhár.

   (literally) Come we'll talk about this tomorrow.
   (idiomatically) Let's talk about this tomorrow.

4. To enter, to go in.
   • Tanach, Genesis 6:4, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     הַנְּפִלִים הָיוּ בָאָרֶץ בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם וְגַם אַחֲרֵי־כֵן אֲשֶׁר יָבֹאוּ בְּנֵי הָאֱלֹהִים אֶל־בְּנוֹת הָאָדָם וְיָלְדוּ לָהֶם הֵמָּה הַגִּבֹּרִים אֲשֶׁר מֵעוֹלָם אַנְשֵׁי הַשֵּׁם׃

     han'filím hayú va'árets bayamím hahém v'gám 'akharei-khén 'ashér yavó'u b'néi ha'elohím 'el-b'nót ha'adám v'yal'dú lahém héma hagiborím 'ashér me'olám 'anshéi hashém.
     hannəp̄īlīm hāyū ḇāʾā́reṣ bayyāmīm hāhēm wəḡam ʾaḥărē-ḵēn ʾăšer yāḇṓʾū bənē hāʾĕlōhīm ʾel-bənōṯ hāʾāḏām wəyāləḏū lāhem hḗmmā haggibbōrīm ʾăšer mēʿōlām ʾanəšē haššēm.

     The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown.

Conjugation

Conjugation of בָּא (see also Appendix:Hebrew verbs) 

non-finite forms		to-infinitive: לָבוֹא action noun: בִּיאָה
finite forms		singular		plural
		m.	f.	m.	f.
past	first	בָּאתִי		בָּאנוּ
	second	בָּאתָ	בָּאת	בָּאתֶם	בָּאתֶן
	third	בָּא	בָּאָה	בָּאוּ
present		בָּא	בָּאָה	בָּאִים	בָּאוֹת
future	first	אָבוֹא		נָבוֹא
	second	תָּבוֹא	תָּבוֹאִי	תָּבוֹאוּ	תבואנה / תָּבֹאנָה1
	third	יָבוֹא	תָּבוֹא	יָבוֹאוּ	תבואנה / תָּבֹאנָה1
imperative		בּוֹא	בּוֹאִי	בּוֹאוּ	בואנה / בֹּאנָה1
notes		Rare in Modern Hebrew.

Derived terms

• בָּא בַּיָּמִים (ba bayamím)
• בּוֹא הֵנָּה (bó héna)
• בָּא לְ־ (ba l-)
• בָּא עַל הֶחָתוּם (ba al hechatúm)
• בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא (barúkh habá)
• הֶמְשֵׁךְ יָבוֹא (hemshékh yavó)

Adjective

בָּא • (ba) (feminine בָּאָה, masculine plural בָּאִים, feminine plural בָּאוֹת)

1. Coming, next, upcoming.
   • “Bashana Haba'a” (Ehud Manor, 1970):

     בשנה הבאה נשב על המרפסת ונספור ציפורים נודדות.

     bashaná haba'á neshév al hamirpéset v'nispór tziporím nod'dót.

     Next year we'll sit on the porch and count the migrating birds.

Antonyms

• קוֹדֵם (kodém)

Derived terms

• הָעוֹלָם הַבָּא (ha'olám habá)

References

• H935 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Anagrams

• אב