וַי, woe; (interj.) oh! woe! Targ. Prov. XXIII, 29 ed. Wil. (ed. Lag. וָיָא or וַיָא). —Targ. Ps. CXX, 5; a. fr.—Gen. R. s. 26 לא ישלה ווי מפומך the word woe shall never cease from thy lips. Ib. ווי דלא וכ׳ woe that my son does not eat &c. Ab. Zar. 11ᵇ ו׳ לדין כד וכ׳ woe to this one (Esau), when that one (Jacob) shall rise. Meg. 16ᵃ ויי מביתא וכ׳ woe from inside, woe from outside! Ib. 11ᵃ (play on vayhi, Esth. I, 1) ויי והי הדא וכ׳ (Ms. M. ויי הוה מה וכ׳; v. Rabb. D. S. a. l. note, a. marg. note in ed.) woe and grief, as it is written &c.; a. fr.
וַי, the preformativeוַי in the Imperfect with Vav Conversive.—Pl. וַויִּן. Snh. 70ᵃ י"ג ו׳ נאמרו ביין thirteen times do we read vay (woe) in the chapter about wine (Gen. IX, 20 to 24); Gen. R. s. 36. כתיב בה ו׳ י"ד פעמים fourteen times &c. (Gen. IX, 20 to 25).