STRONGS NUMBER G3756

Original Word: οὐ
Transliteration: ou
Phonetic Spelling: (oo)
Part of Speech: Particle, Negative
Short Definition: not, no
Meaning: not, nonay, neither, never, no

Also (before a vowel) ouk (ook), and (before an aspirate) ouch (ookh) a primary word; the absolute negative (compare me) adverb; no or not -- + long, nay, neither, never, no (X man), none, (can-)not, + nothing, + special, un(-worthy), when, + without, + yet but. See also ou me, mekos.

see GREEK me

see GREEK ou me

see GREEK mekos

STRONGS NT 3756: οὐ

οὐ before a consonant, οὐκ before a vowel with a smooth breathing, and οὐχ before an aspirated vowel; but sometimes in the best manuscripts οὐχ occurs even before a smooth breathing; accordingly, L T WH marginal reading have adopted οὐχ ἰδού, Acts 2:7; L T οὐχ Ἰουδαϊκῶς, Galatians 2:14 (see WH, Introduction, § 409); L οὐχ ὀλίγος, Acts 19:23; οὐχ ἠγάπησαν, Revelation 12:11; and contrariwise οὐκ before an aspirate, as οὐκ ἕστηκεν, John 8:44 T; (οὐκ ἕνεκεν, 2 Corinthians 7:12 T); (οὐκ εὗρον, Luke 24:3; (οὐκ ὑπάρχει, Acts 3:6) in manuscript א (also C*; cf. the Alex. manuscript in 1 Esdr. 4:2, 12; Job 19:16; Job 38:11, 26)); cf. Winers Grammar, § 5, 1 d. 14; Buttmann, 7; (A. V. Schütz, Hist. Alphab. Art., Berol. 1875, pp. 54-58; Sophocles, Hist. of Greek Alphab., 1st edition 1848, p. 64f (on the breathing); Tdf., the Sept., edition 4, Proleg., pp. xxxiii. xxxiv.; Scrivener, Collation etc., 2nd edition, p. 55: no. 9; id. manuscript Bezae, p. xlvii. no. 11 (cf. p. xiii. no. 5); Kuenen and Cobet, N. T. etc., p. 87f; Tdf. Proleg., p. 90f; WH. Introductory §§ 405ff, and Appendix, p. 143f); the Sept. for לֹא, אַיִן, אֵין; a particle of negation, not (how it differs from μή has been explained in μή, at the beginning); it is used:

1. absolutely and accented, οὐ, nay, no (Winer's Grammar, 476 (444)): in answers, ὁ δέ φησίν. οὐ, Matthew 13:29; ἀπεκρίθη. Οὐ, John 1:21; (), cf. 7:12; repeated, οὐ οὐ, it strengthens the negation, nay, nay, by no means, Matthew 5:37; ἤτω ὑμῶν τό οὐ οὐ, let your denial be truthful, James 5:12; on 2 Corinthians 1:17-19, see ναί.

2. It is joined to other words — to a finite verb, simply to deny that what is declared in the verb applies to the subject of the sentence: Matthew 1:25 (οὐκ ἐγίνωσκεν αὐτήν); Mark 3:25; Luke 6:43; John 10:28; Acts 7:5; Romans 1:16, and times without number. It has the same force when conjoined to participles: ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων, 1 Corinthians 9:26; οὐκ ὄντος αὐτῷ τέκνου, at the time when he had no child, Acts 7:5 (μή ὄντος would be, although he had no child); add, Romans 8:20; 1 Corinthians 4:14; 2 Corinthians 4:8; Galatians 4:8, 27; Colossians 2:19; Philippians 3:3; Hebrews 11:35; 1 Peter 1:8; ὁ ... οὐκ ὤν ποιμήν, John 10:12 (where according to classical usage μή must have been employed, because such a person is imagined as is not a shepherd; (cf. Buttmann, 351 (301) and μή, I. 5 b.)). in relative sentences: εἰσιν ... τινες οἱ οὐ πιστεύουσιν, John 6:64; add, Matthew 10:38; Matthew 12:2; Luke 6:2; Romans 15:21; Galatians 3:10, etc.; οὐκ ἐστιν ὅς and οὐδέν ἐστιν ὁ followed by a future: Matthew 10:26; Luke 8:17; Luke 12:2; τίς ἐστιν, ὅς οὐ followed by a present indicative: Acts 19:35; Hebrews 12:7; cf. Winers Grammar, 481 (448); Buttmann, 355 (305); in statements introduced by ὅτι after verbs of understanding, perceiving, saying, etc.: John 5:42; John 8:55, etc.; ὅτι οὐκ (where οὐκ is pleonastic) after ἀρνεῖσθαι, 1 John 2:22; cf. Buttmann, § 148, 13; (Winer's Grammar, § 65, 2 β.); — to an infinitive, where μή might have been expected: τίς ἔτι χρεία κατά τήν τάξιν Μελχισέδεκ ἕτερον ἀνίστασθαι ἱερέα καί οὐ κατά τήν τάξιν Ἀαρών λέγεσθαι, Hebrews 7:11 (where the difficulty is hardly removed by saying (e. g. with Winer's Grammar, 482 (449)) that οὐ belongs only to κατά τήν τάξιν Ἀαρών, not to the infinitive). it serves to deny other parts of statements: οὐκ ἐν σοφία λόγου, 1 Corinthians 1:17; οὐ μέλανι, οὐκ ἐν πλαξί λιθίναις, 2 Corinthians 3:3, and many other examples; — to deny the object, ἔλεος (R G ἔλεον) θέλω, οὐ θυσίαν, Matthew 9:13; Matthew 12:7; οὐκ ἐμέ δέχεται, Mark 9:37. It blends with the term to which it is prefixed into a single and that an affirmative idea (Winers Grammar, 476 (444); cf. Buttmann, 347 (298)); as, οὐκ ἐάω, to present, hinder, Acts 16:7; Acts 19:30 (cf., on this phrase, Herm. ad Vig., p. 887f); οὐκ ἔχω, to be poor, Matthew 13:12; Mark 4:25 (see ἔχω, I. 2 a., p. 266{b}); τά οὐκ ἀνήκοντα (or ἅ οὐκ ἀνῆκεν, L T Tr WH), unseemly, dishonorable, Ephesians 5:4 (see μή, I. 5 d. at the end, p. 410a; (cf. Buttmann, § 148, 7{a}.; Winer's Grammar, 486 (452))); often so as to form a litotes; as, οὐκ ἀγνοέω, to know well, 2 Corinthians 2:11 (Wis. 12:10); οὐκ ὀλίγοι, not a few, i. e. very many, Acts 17:4, 12; Acts 19:23; Acts 15:2; Acts 14:28; Acts 27:20; οὐ πολλαί ἡμέραι, a few days, Luke 15:13; John 2:12; Acts 1:5; οὐ πολύ, Acts 27:14; οὐ μετρίως, Acts 20:12; οὐκ ἄσημος, not undistinguished (A. V. no mean etc.), Acts 21:39; οὐκ ἐκ μέτρου, John 3:34. it serves to limit the term to which it is joined: οὐ πάντως, not altogether, not entirely (see πάντως, c. β.); οὐ πᾶς, not any and every one, Matthew 7:21; plural, οὐ πάντες, not all, Matthew 19:11; Romans 9:6; Romans 10:16; οὐ πᾶσα σάρξ, not every kind of flesh, 1 Corinthians 15:39; οὐ παντί τῷ λαῷ, not to all the people, Acts 10:41; on the other hand, when οὐ is joined to the verb, πᾶς ... οὐ must be rendered no one, no (as in Hebrew, now כָּל ... לֹא, now לֹא ... כָּל; cf. Winer, Lex. Hebrew et Chald., p. 513f): Luke 1:31; Ephesians 5:5; 1 John 2:21; Revelation 22:3; πᾶσα σάρξ ... οὐ with a verb, no flesh, no mortal, Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20; Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; cf. Winers Grammar, § 26, 1; (Buttmann, 121 (106)). Joined to a noun it denies and annuls the idea of the noun; as, τόν οὐ λαόν, a people that is not a people (German einNichtvolk, a no-people), Romans 9:25, cf. 1 Peter 2:10; ἐπ' οὐκ ἔθνει (R. V. with that which is no nation), Romans 10:19 (so עָם לֹא; אֵל לֹא, a no-god, Deuteronomy 32:21; עֵץ לֹא, a not-wood, Isaiah 10:15; οὐκ ἀρχιερεύς, 2 Macc. 4:13; ἡ οὐ διάλυσις, Thucydides 1, 137, 4; ἡ οὐ περιτείχισις 3, 95, 2; ἡ οὐκ ἐξουσία 5, 50, 3; δἰ ἀπειροσυναν ... κουκ ἀπόδειξιν, Euripides, Hippolytus 196, and other examples in Greek writings; non sutor, Horace sat. 2, 3, 106; non corpus, Cicero, acad. 1, 39 at the end); cf. Winers Grammar, 476 (444); (Buttmann, § 148, 9); ἡ οὐκ ἠγαπημένη, Romans 9:25; οἱ οὐκ ἠλεημένοι, 1 Peter 2:10.

3. followed by another negative,

a. it strengthens the negation: οὐ κρίνω οὐδένα, John 8:15; add, Mark 5:37; 2 Corinthians 11:9 (8); οὗ οὐκ ἦν οὐδέπω οὐδείς κείμενος, Luke 23:53 (see οὐδέπω); οὐκ ... οὐδέν, nothing at all, Luke 4:2; John 6:63; John 11:49; John 12:19; John 15:5; οὐ μέλει σοι περί οὐδενός, Matthew 22:16; οὐκ ... οὐκέτι, Acts 8:39; cf. Matthiae, § 609, 3; Kühner, ii. § 516; Winers Grammar, § 55, 9{b}; (Buttmann, § 148, 11).

b. as in Latin, it changes a negation into an affirmation (cf. Matthiae, § 609, 2; Klotz ad Devar. ii. 2, p. 695f; Winers Grammar, § 55, 9 a.; Buttmann, § 148, 12); οὐ παρά τοῦτο οὐκ ἐστιν ἐκ τοῦ σώματος, not on this account is it not of the body, i. e. it belongs to the body, does not cease to be of the body, 1 Corinthians 12:15; οὐ δυνάμεθα ἅ εἴδομεν καί ἠκούσαμεν μή λαλεῖν, we are unable not to speak (A. V. we cannot but speak), Acts 4:20.

4. It is used in disjunctive statements where one thing is denied that another may be established (Winers Grammar, § 55, 8; cf. Buttmann, 356 (306)): οὐκ ... ἀλλά, Luke 8:52; Luke 24:6 (WH reject the clause); John 1:33; John 7:10, 12, 16; John 8:49; Acts 10:41; Romans 8:20; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 8:5; Hebrews 2:16, etc.; see ἀλλά II. 1; οὐχ ἵνα ... ἀλλ' ἵνα, John 3:17; οὐχ ἵνα ... ἀλλά, John 6:38; οὐ μόνον ... ἀλλά καί, see ἀλλά, II. 1 and μόνος, 2; οὐκ ... εἰ μή, see εἰ, III. 8 c., p. 171{b}; οὐ μή with subjunctive aorist followed by εἰ μή, Revelation 21:27 (see εἰ as above, β.).

5. It is joined to other particles: οὐ μή, not at all, by no means, surely not, in no wise, see μή, IV.; οὐ μηκέτι with aorist subjunctive Matthew 21:19 L T Tr marginal reading WH. μή οὐ, where μή is interrogative (Latinnum) and οὐ negative (cf. Buttmann, 248 (214), 354 (304); Winer's Grammar, 511 (476)): Romans 10:18; 1 Corinthians 9:4; 1 Corinthians 11:22. εἰ οὐ, see εἰ, III. 11, p. 172a. οὐ γάρ (see γάρ, I., p. 109b), Acts 16:37.

6. As in Hebrew לֹא with imperfect, so in Biblical Greek οὐ with 2 person future is used in emphatic prohibition (in secular authors it is milder; cf. Winers Grammar, § 43, 5 c.; also 501f (467f); (Buttmann, § 139, 64); Fritzsche on Matthew, p. 259f (cf. p. 252f) thinks otherwise, but not correctly): Matthew 6:5; and besides in the moral precepts of the O. T., Matthew 4:7; Matthew 19:18; Luke 4:12; Acts 23:5; Romans 7:7; Romans 13:9.

7. οὐ is used interrogatively — when an affirmative answer is expected (Latinnonne; (Winers Grammar, § 57, 3{a}; Buttmann, 247 (213))): Matthew 6:26, 30; Matthew 17:24; Mark 4:21; Mark 12:24; Luke 11:40; John 4:35; John 7:25; Acts 9:21; Romans 9:21; 1 Corinthians 9:1, 6f, 12; James 2:4, and often; οὐκ οἴδατε κτλ.; and the like, see εἰδῶ, II. 1, p. 174{a}; ἀλλ' οὐ, Hebrews 3:16 (see ἀλλά, I. 10, p. 28{a}); οὐκ ἀποκρίνῃ οὐδέν; answerest thou nothing at all? Mark 14:60; Mark 15:4; — where an exclamation of reproach or wonder, which denies directly, may take the place of a negative question: Mark 4:13, 38; Luke 17:18; Acts 13:10 (cf. Buttmann, § 139, 65); (on which see ἄρα, 1); cf. Winer's Grammar, as above; οὐ μή πίω αὐτό; shall I not drink it? John 18:11; cf. Winers Grammar, p. 512 (477); (cf. Buttmann, § 139, 2).

STRONGS NT 3756: οὐχοὐχ, see οὐ.