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The Blue Letter Bible

Lexicon :: Strong's H3863 - lû'

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לוּא
Transliteration
lû'
Pronunciation
loo
Listen
Part of Speech
conjunction
Root Word (Etymology)
A conditional particle
Dictionary Aids

TWOT Reference: 1085

Variant Spellings

Variant spellings for this word: לוא (Strongs and Gesenius) לו (Strongs and Gesenius) לה (Strongs)

Strong’s Definitions

לוּא lûwʼ, loo; or לֻא luʼ; or לוּ lûw; a conditional particle; if; by implication (interj. as a wish) would that!:—if (haply), peradventure, I pray thee, though, I would, would God (that).

KJV Translation Count — Total: 22x

The KJV translates Strong's H3863 in the following manner: if (6x), would God (4x), O that (3x), Oh (2x), would it might be (1x), if haply (1x), peradventure (1x), Oh that (1x), pray thee (1x), Though (1x), would (1x).

KJV Translation Count — Total: 22x
The KJV translates Strong's H3863 in the following manner: if (6x), would God (4x), O that (3x), Oh (2x), would it might be (1x), if haply (1x), peradventure (1x), Oh that (1x), pray thee (1x), Though (1x), would (1x).

  1. if, oh that!, if only!

    1. if (unlikely condition)

    2. if only!, oh that!, would that!

Strong’s Definitions [?](Strong’s Definitions Legend)
לוּא lûwʼ, loo; or לֻא luʼ; or לוּ lûw; a conditional particle; if; by implication (interj. as a wish) would that!:—if (haply), peradventure, I pray thee, though, I would, would God (that).
STRONGS H3863: Abbreviations
† לוּ 17 and לוּא (1 Samuel 14:30; Isaiah 48:18; Isaiah 63:19), also לֻא (Qr לוּ), 2 Samuel 18:12; 2 Samuel 19:7 (Arabic bdb053001, Aramaic bdb053002, לְוַי, Mishna לְוַי, Assyrian lû, with optative force, Dl§§ 78 end, 93, 145; compare Köii. 333), conjunction if, O that: —
1. if (stating a case which has not been, or is not likely to be, realized):
a. followed by perfect (so mostly), Deuteronomy 32:29 לו חכמו ישׂכילו זאת if they had been wise (which they are not), they would understand this; Micah 2:11 (apodosis וְהָיָה); Judges 8:19; Judges 13:23 להמיתנו לא לקח לו חפץ י׳ if J. had desired to slay us, he would not have taken, &c.; 1 Samuel 14:30; 2 Samuel 19:7.
b. followed by imperfect Ezekiel 14:15 if I were to send, &c. (but read probably אוֺ, compare Ezekiel 14:17; Ezekiel 14:19).
c. followed by participle, 2 Samuel 18:12 וְלֻא אָנֹכִי שֹׁקֵל and though I should be weighing 1000 pieces of silver upon my hand, I would not, &c.; Psalm 81:14-17 לו עמי שֹׁמֵעַ לי if my people were hearkening to me,... quickly would I bow down, &c.
d. followed by יֵשׁ Job 16:4. — With the apodosis omitted, Genesis 50:15 לוּ יִשְׂטְמֵנוּ if Joseph were to hate us (how should we fare then ?).
2. If only...! i.e. O that! would that! (compare εἰ γάρ, εἴθε) usually followed by perf., as Numbers 14:2 (twice in verse) לוּ מַתְנוּ if only we had died in the land of Egypt! Numbers 20:3; Joshua 7:7 וְלוּ הוֺאַלְנוּ וַנֵּשֶׁב Isaiah 48:18; Isaiah 63:19; followed by יֵשׁ Numbers 22:29; followed by imperfect Genesis 17:18 לו יחיה O that Ishmael might live before thee! Job 6:2; followed by jussive Genesis 30:34 כדברך לו יהי; followed by imperative Genesis 23:13 אם אתה לוּ שׁמעני if thou — O that thou wouldst hear me! (+ probably Genesis 23:5 לאמר ׃ לוּ שׁמעני for לאמרֹ לוֺ ׃ שׁ׳, and similarly Genesis 23:15). — Read also probably לֻא for Masoretic לֹא Judges 21:22 (with כִּי עַתָּה), 1 Samuel 13:13; 1 Samuel 20:14 (twice in verse); Job 9:33 (followed by יֵשׁ); and perhaps Job 14:4 (Ew Kö).
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc.
All rights reserved. Used by permission. BibleSoft.com

BLB Scripture Index of Brown-Driver-Briggs

Genesis

17:18; 23:5; 23:13; 23:15; 30:34; 50:15

Numbers

14:2; 20:3; 22:29

Deuteronomy

32:29

Joshua

7:7

Judges

8:19; 13:23; 21:22

1 Samuel

13:13; 14:30; 14:30; 20:14

2 Samuel

18:12; 18:12; 19:7; 19:7

Job

6:2; 9:33; 14:4; 16:4

Isaiah

48:18; 48:18; 63:19; 63:19

Ezekiel

14:15; 14:17; 14:19

Micah

2:11

H3863

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Word / Phrase / Strong's Search

Strong's Number H3863 matches the Hebrew לוּא (lû'),
which occurs 25 times in 22 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Gen 17:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 17:18 - And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael [my firstborn] might live before You!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 23:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 23:13 - He said to Ephron in the presence of the people of the land, “If you will only please listen to me and accept my offer. I will give you the price of the field; accept it from me and I will bury my dead there.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 30:34

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 30:34 - And Laban said, “Good! Let it be done as you say.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 50:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 50:15 -

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph carries a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 14:2

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 14:2 - All the Israelites murmured [in discontent] against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Oh that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or that we had died in this wilderness!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 20:3

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 20:3 - The people contended with Moses, and said, “If only we had perished when our brothers perished [in the plague] before the LORD!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:29

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 22:29 - Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Deu 32:29

Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 32:29 -

“O that they were wise, that they understood this,

That they could discern their future and ultimate fate!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jos 7:7

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 7:7 - Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord [fn]GOD, why have You brought this people across the Jordan at all, only to hand us over to the Amorites, to destroy us? If only we had been willing to live beyond the Jordan!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 8:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 8:19 - He said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if only you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 13:23

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 13:23 - But his [sensible] wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have received a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have announced such things as these at this time.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 14:30

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 14:30 - How much better [it would have been] if only the people had eaten freely today from the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 18:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 18:12 - The man told Joab, “Even if I were to feel the weight of a thousand pieces of silver in my hands, I would not put out my hand against the king’s son; for [fn]we all heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, saying, ‘Protect the young man Absalom, for my sake.’

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 19:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 19:6 - “For you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have shown today that commanders and servants are nothing to you; for today I know that if Absalom had lived and all the rest of us had died today, then you would be pleased.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 6:2

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 6:2 -

“Oh, that my grief could actually be weighed

And placed in the balances together with my tragedy [to see if my grief is the grief of a coward]!

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 9:33

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 9:33 -

“There is no arbitrator between us,

Who could lay his hand upon us both [would that there were].

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 16:4

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 16:4 -

“I also could speak like you,

If you were in my place;

I could compose and join words together against you

And shake my head at you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Psa 81:13

Unchecked Copy BoxPsa 81:13 -

“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,

That Israel would walk in My ways!

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 48:18

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 48:18 -

“Oh, that you had paid attention to My commandments!

Then your peace and prosperity would have been like a [flowing] river,

And your righteousness [the holiness and purity of the nation] like the [abundant] waves of the sea.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 64:1

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 64:1 -

Oh, that You would tear open the heavens and come down,

That the mountains might quake at Your presence—

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Unchecked Copy Box Eze 14:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEze 14:15 - “If I were to cause predatory beasts to pass through the land and they ravaged it and depopulated it of children, and it became desolate so that no one would pass through because of the predators,

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Unchecked Copy Box Mic 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxMic 2:11 -

“If a man walking in a false spirit [spouting deception]

Should lie and say,

‘I will prophesy to you [O Israel] of wine and liquor (greed, sensual pleasure),’

He would be the acceptable spokesman of this people.

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