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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.

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 17:18

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 17:18 - And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 23:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 23:13 - and he said to Ephron in their hearing, “Listen to me, if you will. I will pay the price of the field. Accept it from me so I can bury my dead there.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 30:34

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 30:34 - “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”

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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 holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 14:2

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 14:2 - All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 20:3

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 20:3 - They quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had died when our brothers fell dead before the LORD!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:29

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 22:29 - Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Deu 32:29

Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 32:29 - If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jos 7:7

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 7:7 - And Joshua said, “Alas, Sovereign LORD, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 8:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 8:19 - Gideon replied, “Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 13:23

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 13:23 - But his wife answered, “If the LORD had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 14:30

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 14:30 - How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 18:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 18:12 - But the man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels[fn] were weighed out into my hands, I would not lay a hand on the king’s son. In our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.[fn]’

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 19:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 19:6 - You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absalom were alive today and all of us were dead.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 6:2

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 6:2 - “If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales!

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 9:33

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 9:33 - If only there were someone to mediate between us, someone to bring us together,

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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 make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you.

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Unchecked Copy Box Psa 81:13

Unchecked Copy BoxPsa 81:13 - “If my people would only listen to me, if Israel would only follow my ways,

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 48:18

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 48:18 - If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 64:1

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 64:1 - Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!

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Unchecked Copy Box Eze 14:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEze 14:15 - “Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts,

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Unchecked Copy Box Mic 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxMic 2:11 - If a liar and deceiver comes and says, ‘I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,’ that would be just the prophet for this people!
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