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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 H3863 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 only please H3863 hear me; I will give the silver for the field, accept it from me that I may bury my dead there.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 30:34

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 30:34 - And Laban said, “Behold, [fn]let it be according to your word.”

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Unchecked Copy Box Gen 50:15

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 50:15 -

Then Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, and they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and returns back to us all the evil which we dealt against him!”

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 14:2

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 14:2 - And all the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron; and the whole congregation said to them, “Would H3863 that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would H3863 that we had died in this wilderness!

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Unchecked Copy Box Num 20:3

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 20:3 - The people thus contended with Moses and spoke, saying, “If H3863 only H3863 we had breathed our last when our brothers breathed their last before Yahweh!

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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 H3863 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 -

“Would H3863 that they were wise, that they had insight into this,

That they would understand their [fn]future!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jos 7:7

Unchecked Copy BoxJos 7:7 - Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord Yahweh, why did You ever bring this people over the Jordan, only to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to make us perish? If H3863 only H3863 we had been willing [fn]to live beyond the Jordan!

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Unchecked Copy Box Jdg 8:19

Unchecked Copy BoxJdg 8:19 - And he said, “They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As Yahweh lives, if H3863 only H3863 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 H3863 Yahweh had desired to put us to death, 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 let us hear things like this at this time.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 14:30

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 14:30 - “How much more, if H3863 only the people had eaten freely today of 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 - So the man said to Joab, “Even if H3863 I should receive one thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I would not send forth my hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘[fn]Keep for me the young man Absalom!’

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Unchecked Copy Box 2Sa 19:6

Unchecked Copy Box2Sa 19:6 - by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have informed all of us today that [fn]princes and servants are nothing to you; for I know this day that if H3863 Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, surely then it would be right in your eyes.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 6:2

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 6:2 -

“Oh H3863 that my vexation were actually weighed

And laid in the balances together with my destruction!

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 9:33

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 9:33 -

“There is no adjudicator between us,

Who may lay his hand upon us both.

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Unchecked Copy Box Job 16:4

Unchecked Copy BoxJob 16:4 -

“I too could speak like you,

If H3863 your soul were in the place of my soul.

I could compose 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 H3863 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 -

“If H3863 only H3863 you had paid attention to 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 -

[fn]Oh H3863, that You would rend 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 H3863 I were to cause wild beasts to pass through the land and they bereaved it of children and it became desolate so that no one would pass through it because of the beasts,

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Unchecked Copy Box Mic 2:11

Unchecked Copy BoxMic 2:11 -

“If H3863 a man walking after wind and lying

Had acted falsely and said,

‘I will speak, dripping out words to you concerning wine and liquor,’

He would be one who drips out words as a spokesman to this people.

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