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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 saith unto God, 'O that Ishmael may live before Thee;'

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 23:13

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 23:13 - and speaketh unto Ephron in the ears of the people of the land, saying, 'Only -- if thou wouldst hear me -- I have given the money of the field -- accept from me, and I bury my dead there.'

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 30:34

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 30:34 - And Laban saith, 'Lo, O that it were according to thy word;'

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 50:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 50:15 - And the brethren of Joseph see that their father is dead, and say, 'Peradventure Joseph doth hate us, and doth certainly return to us all the evil which we did with him.'

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 14:2

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 14:2 - and all the sons of Israel murmur against Moses, and against Aaron, and all the company say unto them, 'O that we had died in the land of Egypt, or in this wilderness, O that we had died!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 20:3

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 20:3 - and the people strive with Moses, and speak, saying, 'And oh that we had expired when our brethren expired before Jehovah!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 22:29

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 22:29 - and Balaam saith to the ass, 'Because thou hast rolled thyself against me; oh that there were a sword in my hand, for now I had slain thee;'

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Unchecked Copy Box Deu 32:29

Unchecked Copy BoxDeu 32:29 - If they were wise -- They deal wisely with this; They attend to their latter end:

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Unchecked Copy Box Jos 7:7

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 7:7 - And Joshua saith, 'Ah, Lord Jehovah, why hast Thou at all caused this people to pass over the Jordan, to give us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us? -- and oh that we had been willing -- and we dwell beyond the Jordan!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 8:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 8:19 - And he saith, 'My brethren -- sons of my mother -- they; Jehovah liveth, if ye had kept them alive -- I had not slain you.'

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 13:23

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 13:23 - And his wife saith to him, 'If Jehovah were desirous to put us to death, He had not received from our hands burnt-offering and present, nor shewed us all these things, nor as at this time caused us to hear anything like this.'

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 14:30

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 14:30 - How much more if the people had well eaten to-day of the spoil of its enemies which it hath found, for now, the smiting hath not been great among the Philistines.'

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 18:12

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 18:12 - And the man saith unto Joab, 'Yea, though I am weighing on my hand a thousand silverlings, I do not put forth my hand unto the son of the king; for in our ears hath the king charged thee, and Abishai, and Ittai, saying, Observe ye who is against the youth -- against Absalom;

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 19:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 19:6 - to love thine enemies, and to hate those loving thee, for thou hast declared to-day that thou hast no princes and servants, for I have known to-day that if Absalom were alive, and all of us to-day dead, that then it were right in thine eyes.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 6:2

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 6:2 - O that my provocation were thoroughly weighed, And my calamity in balances They would lift up together!

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 9:33

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 9:33 - If there were between us an umpire, He doth place his hand on us both.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 16:4

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 16:4 - I also, like you, might speak, If your soul were in my soul's stead. I might join against you with words, And nod at you with my head.

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Unchecked Copy Box Psa 81:13

Unchecked Copy BoxPsa 81:13 - O that My people were hearkening to Me, Israel in My ways would walk.

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 48:18

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 48:18 - O that thou hadst attended to My commands, Then as a river is thy peace, And thy righteousness as billows of the sea,

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Unchecked Copy Box Isa 64:1

Unchecked Copy BoxIsa 64:1 - Didst Thou not rend the heavens? Thou didst come down, From thy presence did mountains flow,

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Unchecked Copy Box Eze 14:15

Unchecked Copy BoxEze 14:15 - 'If an evil beast I cause to pass through the land, and it hath bereaved, and it hath been a desolation, without any passing through because of the beast --

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Unchecked Copy Box Mic 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxMic 2:11 - If one is going with the wind, And with falsehood hath lied: 'I prophesy to thee of wine, and of strong drink,' He hath been the prophet of this people!
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