adverb wherefore? (probably contracted from מַהיָּֿדוּעַ what being known ? i.e. from what motive? so Ges Ew^{§325 c} Ol^{§223 f}, compare in Greek τί μαθών;) — wherefore? on what account ? Genesis 26:27 מַדּוּעַ בָּאתֶם אֵלָ֑י, Genesis 40:7; Exodus 1:18; Exodus 2:18; Exodus 3:8 (in an indirect question), Exodus 5:14; Exodus 18:14; Leviticus 10:17; Joshua 17:14 (all in Hexateuch), Judges 5:28 (twice in verse); 2 Samuel 3:7; 2 Samuel 11:10 etc., Isaiah 5:4; Isaiah 50:2; Isaiah 63:2 (all in Isaiah); in Jeremiah 16 t., oft, rhetorically, after a double question introduced by הֲאִ֗֗֗ם, expressing affected surprise: Jeremiah 2:14 (see Gf) is Israel a slave (unable to defend himself)? wherefore, then, is he become a prey? (some other cause must therefore be found for Israel's misfortune), Jeremiah 2:31; Jeremiah 8:5,19,22; Jeremiah 14:19; Jeremiah 22:28; Jeremiah 49:1, compare Jeremiah 30:6; Job 3:12; Job 18:8 (never in Psalms).