תהי, to gaze, be astonished; to be confounded, be waste. Gen. R. s. 2, beg., v. בָּהָא. Ib., end כבר … יושב ותוֹהֵא once R. S. b. Z. sat gazing (deep in thought, absent-minded). Taan. 6ᵇ (play on ת̇מ̇ט̇ר̇, Am. IV, 7) ת̇הא מקום מ̇ט̇ר̇ the place where the rain fell became waste (through destructive showers); a. e.
תהי, to pause, bethink one’s self, regret. Y. Taan. III, 66ᶜ bot. שלשה … ות׳ שבראן three things God created, and regretted that he had created them. Ib. I, 65ᵇ bot. (ref. to Num. XXIII, 19) אם יאמר לך אדם … בן אדם אני סופו לִתְהוֹת בו וכ׳ if a man says to thee, I am a God, he lies; (if he says,) I am the son of man, he shall regret it; (and if he says,) I will rise to heaven, he says, but he shall not fulfill it. Y. Ned. I, 36ᵈ bot. [read:] מכיון שנודר … סופו לתהות מכיון שהוא תוהא וכ׳ when one vows in rashness, he will finally regret it, and when he does regret, his sacrifices are like slaughtering profane beasts in the Temple court. Kidd. 40ᵇ בתוהא על הראשונות when he is sorry for his good deeds in the past; Y. Peah I, 16ᵇ top. Num. R. s. 10, beg. בתוהא על הראשונות (not הרשע; ed. Wil. בתוֹהֶה) when he (the wicked) regrets his doings in the past. Ex. R. s. 202התחיל המוכר תוהא the seller was sorry; a. fr.
