אַךְ 159 adverb (perhaps from the same demonstrative, root found also in 
כִּי, 
כֹּה, 
כֵּן). 
    1. surely.
    2. with a restrictive force, emphasizing what follows:
    a. in contrast to what precedes, howbeit;
    b. in contrast with other ideas generally, only.
    1. asseverative, often introducing with emphasis the expression of a truth (or supposed truth) newly perceived, especially in colloquial language, 
surely, no doubt (doch wohl); 
Genesis 26:9 אַךְ הִנֵּה אִשְׁתְּךָ הִוא of a surety, lo, she is thy wife ! 
Genesis 29:14; 
Genesis 44:28; 
Judges 3:24; 
Judges 20:39; 
1 Samuel 16:6 surely the anointed of 
י׳ is before him ! 
1 Samuel 25:21; 
Jeremiah 5:4; Psalm 58:12; 
Psalm 73:1; 
Psalm 73:13; but also in other cases, though rarely, 
Isaiah 34:14, 
15; 
Zephaniah 3:7; 
Psalm 23:6; 
Psalm 139:11; Psalm 140:14; 
Job 16:7; 
Job 18:21; & rather singularly 
Exodus 12:15; 
Exodus 31:13; 
Leviticus 23:27, 
39 (all P).
 
    2. restrictive:
    a. in contrast to what precedes, 
howbeit, yet, but : Genesis 9:4 howbeit, flesh with the life thereof... ye shall not eat, 
Genesis 20:12; 
Exodus 21:21; 
Leviticus 21:23; 
Leviticus 27:26; 
Numbers 18:15, 
17; 
2 Samuel 3:13; 
Jeremiah 10:24 correct me, 
בְּמִשְׁפָּט אַךְ but with judgment, 
Job 2:6; 
Job 13:15; sometimes with an adversative force, as 
Isaiah 14:15; 
Isaiah 43:24; before an imperative (minimizing the request), 
Genesis 23:13 only, if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me ! 
Genesis 27:13; 
Judges 10:15; 
1 Samuel 18:17; 
1 Kings 17:13 and elsewhere 
So 1 Samuel 8:9 אַךְ כִּי (see 
כִּי; and compare 
πλὴν ὅτι).
 
    b. in contrast to other ideas generally : —
Note. — In some passages the affirmative and restrictive senses agree equally with the context; and authorities read the Hebrew differently. Thus 
only = nought but, altogether, is adopted by Ges Ew Hi De in 
Psalm 23:6; 
Psalm 62:10; 
Psalm 73:1; 
Psalm 73:13; by Ew Hi De in 
Psalm 39:6; 
Psalm 39:7 (Che 
surely); by Ges Ew De in 
Psalm 39:12 (but Hi Che 
surely); by Ew Hi in 
Psalm 73:18 (De Che 
surely); by Ges Hi De in 
Psalm 139:11 (Ew 
doch). 
Isaiah 45:14 Ges Ew Hi Di 
only; but De Che 
of a truth.
														
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon, Unabridged, Electronic Database.
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