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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.

Tools

Unchecked Copy Box Gen 17:18

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

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 23:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 23:13 - and he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, “If you will give it, please hear me. I will give you money for the field; take 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, “Oh, that it were according to your word!”

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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, “Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 14:2

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 14:2 - And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 20:3

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 20:3 - And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:29

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 22:29 - And Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have abused me. I wish there were a sword in my hand, for now I would kill you!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Deu 32:29

Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 32:29 - Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jos 7:7

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 7:7 - And Joshua said, “Alas, Lord GOD, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all—to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us? Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordan!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 8:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 8:19 - Then he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the LORD lives, if 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 wife said to him, “If the LORD had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have told us 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 if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 18:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 18:12 - But the man said to Joab, “Though I were to receive a thousand shekels of silver in my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. For in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware lest anyone touch the young man Absalom!’[fn]

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 19:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 19:6 - “in that you love your enemies and hate your friends. For you have declared today that you regard neither princes nor servants; for today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 6:2

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 6:2 - “Oh, that my grief were fully weighed,
And my calamity laid with it on the scales!

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 9:33

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 9:33 - Nor is there any mediator between us,
Who may lay his hand on us both.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 16:4

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 16:4 - I also could speak as you do,
If your soul were in my soul’s place.
I could heap up words 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 heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness 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!
That You would come down!
That the mountains might shake at Your presence—

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Unchecked Copy Box Eze 14:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEze 14:15 - “If I cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, and make it so desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts,

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Unchecked Copy Box Mic 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxMic 2:11 - If a man should walk in a false spirit
And speak a lie, saying,
‘I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,’
Even he would be the prattler of this people.
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