STRONGS NUMBER H3808

H3808. lo

לֹא‎ or לוֺא‎ adverb not (Arabic , Aramaic לָא‎, , Sabean לא‎, Ass. lâ; not in Ethiopic: compare Kö^{ii. 1. 236} Walker^{AJSL 1896, 237 ff.}) — לוֺא‎, according to Masora (Fr^{MM 248}), 35 t., besides בְּלוֺא‎6t., and הֲלוֺא‎, the orthography of which varies much (ib.^{p. 251}), e.g. in Samuel always הֲלוֺא‎, in Chronicles always הֲלֹא‎, on the whole הֲלוֺא‎141t., הֲלֹא‎128t.; twice, according to Masora, written לו‎ (Qr לֹא‎), 1 Samuel 2:16; 20:2, once לה‎ Deuteronomy 3:11 Kt: — not — denying objectively, like οὐ (not μὴ = אַל‎): —

1 in predication:

a. with a verb; so most frequently, and nearly always (a) with the finite tenses, whether perfect (Genesis 2:5; b 4:5 etc.) or imperfect (3:4; 8:21-22, etc.); in short circumstantial clauses, as 44:4 הרחיקו לא‎, Isaiah 40:20 יִמּוֺט לֹא‎, and with a final force 41:7; Exodus 28:32 (see Ges^{§ 156}. 3 R. b, c Dr^{§ 162}). Governing two closely connected verbs (Dr^{§ 115}, לא‎) 28:43 וָמֵתוּ עָוֺן יִשְׂאוּ וְלֹא‎, Leviticus 19:12, 29b Deuteronomy 7:25-26, 19:10; 22:1 and elsewhere; and two parallel clauses (Ges^{§ 152}. 3) Isaiah 23:4b Psalm 9:19; 44:19; Job 3:1 and elsewhere With the imperfect, especially with 2 person, לֹא‎ often expresses (not, like אַל‎, a deprecation, do not . . ., let not . . ., but) a prohibition, as Genesis 2:17 מִמֶּנּוּ תאֹכַל לֹא‎ thou shall not eat of it, 3:1, 3; Exodus 20:3 לְךָ לֹאיִֿהְיֶה‎ there shall not be to thee, etc., 20:13 תגנב לא‎, etc. With the coh. and jussive moods (which are negatived regularly by אַל‎), it occurs only exceptionally (Ges^{§ 109}. 1 b R. 1), Genesis 24:8; 1 Samuel 14:36; 2 Samuel 17:12; 18:14; 1 Kings 2:6; Ezekiel 48:14. (b) with the infinitive (which is negatived by בִּלְתִּי‎, q. v.), only once, in בְּלֹא‎ (4a), and with לְ‎, in the sense of cannot, or must not; Judges 1:19 להורישׁ לא כי‎ for it was not (possible) to dispossess, etc. Amos 6:10 י בשׁם ׳להזכיר לא‎, 1 Chronicles 5:1; 15:2 (Dr^{§ 202. 2}); compare Aramaic לָא‎ Daniel 6:9; Ezra 6:8. On its use with the participle, see

b c. (c) לא‎ always negates properly the word immediately following: hence, in a verbal sentence, where this is not the verb, some special stress rests upon it, Genesis 32:29 וג עוֺד ׳יֵאָמֵר יַעֲקֹב לֹא‎ not Jacob shall thy name be called any more, but Israel, 45:8 אֹתִי שְׁלַחְתֶּם אַתֶּם לֹא‎ Not ye (in our idiom: It is not ye who) have sent me hither, but God, Exodus 16:8; 1 Samuel 8:7 וג אֹתִי כִּי מָאָסוּ ׳אֹתְךָ לֹא כִּי‎, Psalm 115:17; without a following correcting clause, Genesis 38:9; Numbers 16:29 י ׳לֹא שְׁלָחָנִי׃‎ Not ׳י‎ (but another) hath sent me, Deuteronomy 32:27 ׳י זֹאת מָּעַל לֹא‎, 1 Chronicles 17:4; Deuteronomy 8:9; Isaiah 28:28 ֗֗֗ לנצח לא‎ not for ever (but only for a while) . . . (so 57:16; Psalm 9:19; 49:18; 103:9; but Isaiah 13:20 לנצח תשׁב לא‎ is, will not be inhabited for ever), 43:22; Job 13:16; 32:9; hence rhetorically, insinuating something very different, not named, 2 Kings 6:10 not once, and not twice (but repeatedly), Ezra 10:13; Jeremiah 4:11 a wind לְהַָבר׃ וְלוֺא לְזָרוֺת לֹא‎ not to winnow, and not to cleanse (but to exterminate), Isaiah 45:13; 48:1b Joshua 24:12; Daniel 11:20, 29; Job 34:20 בְיָד לֹא‎ (but by a Divine agency: compare Daniel 2:34; also Job 20:26 נֻמָּ֑ךְ לֹא אֵשׁ‎ fire not blown upon [but kindled from heaven], Lamentations 4:6; and אין‎ Isaiah 47:14). (d) standing alone: (a) אִםלֹֿא‎ if not, Genesis 18:21 אֵדָֽעָה׃ וְאִםלֹֿא‎, Genesis 29:49; 42:16; Job 9:24; 24:25; (β) הֲאִ֗֗֗םלֿא‎, or not, Genesis 24:21 waiting to know י ׳הַהִצְלִיחַ אִםלֹֿא דַּרְכּוֺ‎, 27:21; 37:32; Exodus 16:4; Numbers 11:23; Deuteronomy 8:2; Judges 2:22 (compare אַיִן אַיִן, אִם‎ 2d β, δ). In answer to a question or request, to deny, or decline, Nay, Nö: 12:5 לא ויאמר‎, Haggai 2:12; אדני לא‎ Genesis 23:11; 42:10; 1 Samuel 1:15 +; often followed by כי‎, Nö for . . . = Nö but . . ., Genesis 18:15 צָחָ֑קְתְּ כִּי לֹא ויאמר‎, 19:2; Joshua 5:14; 24:21; 1 Samuel 2:16 Qr (see Dr), 10:19 (ᵐ5‎ MSS), 2 Samuel 16:18; 24:24; 1 Kings 3:22 (twice in verse) +; Job 23:6 (strangely). (compare, in deprecation, אַל‎.) (e) with an interrogative force, which however does not lie in לא‎ as such, but (as in other cases) in the contrast with a preceding clause, or in the tone of voice (compare וְ‎

1 f; Ew^{§ 324 a} Ges^{§ 150}. 1 Dr^{1 Samuel 11:12}): Jonah 4:11 וג אָחוּס לֹא חַסְתָּוַ֗֗֗אֲנִי ׳אַתָּה‎, Job 2:10; 22:11; Exodus 8:22; 2 Kings 5:26; Jeremiah 49:9 ("" Obadiah 5 הֲלוֺא‎), Malachi 2:15; Lamentations 3:38; and in passages, exegesis or text. doubtful (see Commentaries), 1 Samuel 20:14; 2 Samuel 23:5 (but see Bu), Hosea 10:9 (Ew We), 11:5 (Ew), Job 14:16b (but ᵐ5‎ Ew Di תַעֲבֹר‎), Lamentations 1:12 (Ew Ke), 3:36 (Ke Bä).

b. with adjectives and substantive: (a) Genesis 2:18 לְבַדֹּו הָאָדָם הֱֶיוֺת טוֺב לֹא‎ not good is man's being alone, Exodus 18:17 + often (b) 4:16 אָנֹכִי דְּבָרִים אִישׁ לֹא‎, Amos 7:14 אנכי נביא לא‎, Numbers 23:9 וִיכַזֵּב אֵל אִישׁ לֹא‎, Deuteronomy 17:15 (see אשׁר‎

2 b) Deuteronomy 20:20; 32:47; 1 Samuel 15:29; 2 Samuel 18:20 הַיּוֺם אַתָּה בְּשׂרָה אִישׁ לֹא‎, 21:2; 1 Kings 22:33; 2 Kings 6:19 הדרך זִה לא‎, Micah 2:10; Isaiah 27:11; Hosea 8:6; אלהים לא והמה‎ Jeremiah 2:11; 16:20; 2 Kings 19:18; 1 Kings 19:11 (twice in verse) י ׳בָרַעַשׁ לֹא‎, Deuteronomy 30:12-13, Job 15:9; 28:14 הִיא בִי לֹא‎ ("" עִמָּדִי אֵין‎)s, Psalm 74:9; Jeremiah 5:10 לי ׳לוא המה‎, 10:16; Deuteronomy 32:21 בָּם אֵמוּן לֹא בָּנִים‎, Jeremiah 10:14; Habakkuk 1:14; Job 16:17; 38:26 בּוֺ אָדָם לֹא מִדְבָּר‎; 1 Kings 22:17 לָאֵלֶּה אֲדֹנִים לֹא‎, Jeremiah 49:31; Psalm 22:3 לִי דוּמִיָּה וְלֹא‎, Job 18:17, 19; 29:12 לו עֹזֵר ולא‎, 30:13; 33:9; Jeremiah 2:19 אֵלַיִךְ פַחְדָּתִי וְלֹא‎ and (that) my terror reached not unto thee, Job 21:9; absolute Genesis 29:7 הַמִּקְנֶה הֵאָסֵף לֹאעֵֿתִ‎ (Haggai 1:2), Numbers 20:5; 2 Kings 4:23 שׁבת ולא חדשׁ לא‎, Isaiah 44:9; Jeremiah 5:12 הוא לוא ויאמרו‎, Job 9:32; 22:16; 36:26; 41:2; Proverbs 19:7 (si vera lectio) לֹאהֵֿמָּה אֲמָרִים מְרַדֵּף‎ words which are not, which are nought. (c) with the participle לֹא‎ is rare, a finite verb being usually preferred (Exodus 34:7 יְנַקֶּה לֹא וְנַקִּה‎: Ew^{§ 320 c} Dr^{§ 162}): 2 Samuel 3:34 אֲסֻרוֺת לֹא יָדֶיךָ‎, Ezekiel 4:14; 22:24; Deuteronomy 28:61; Psalm 38:15 שֹׁמֵעַ לֹא אֲשֶׁר כְּאִישׁ‎ who is not hearing, Job 12:3; 13:2 מִכֶּם אָנֹכִי נֹפֵל לֹא‎, Zephaniah 3:5 (very anomalous); 1 Kings 10:21 לא‎ is probably textual error In לוֺ שׂנֵא לֹא וְהוּא‎ or לו הוא שׂנא לא‎, Deuteronomy 4:42; 19:4, 6; Joshua 20:5 (compare אֹיֵב‎ Numbers 35:23), שׂנֵא‎ is best construed as a substantive, he being a not-hater to him afore-time. — In most of the cases under b, c, אין‎ could have been employed; but the negation by לֹא‎ is more pointed and forcible.

2 Not in predication:

a. coupled to an adjective to negative it, like the Greek ἀ-, but usually by way of litotes: Hosea 13:13 לאחֿכם בן‎ an unwise son, Psalm 36:5 טוֺב לֹא דֶּרֶךְ‎ a way not good, 43:1 חסיד לא גוי‎, Proverbs 16:29; 30:25-26, Ezekiel 20:25; 2 Chronicles 30:17 : Isaiah 16:14 כַבִּיר לוֺא‎, compare 10:7 מְעַט לֹא‎.

b. with a participle Jeremiah 2:2 זרועה לא ארץ‎, 18:15 (the finite verb is more common: see Isaiah 62:12 נֱעֶזָ֫בָה לֹא עִיר‎ (compare 54:11), Jeremiah 6:8 נוֺשָׁ֫בָה לוֺא אֶרֶץ‎, 15:18; 22:6; 31:18; Zephaniah 2:1).

c. Genesis 15:13 להם לא בארץ‎, Jeremiah 5:19; Habakkuk 1:6 לֹאלֿוֺ מִשְׁכָּנוֺת‎, Proverbs 26:17 לֹאלֿוֺ רִיב‎.

d. with a substantive, in poetry, forming a kind of compound, expressing pointedly its antithesis or negation (German un- is sometimes used similarly): Deuteronomy 32:5(?). 17. 21 a they made me jealous אֵל בְּלֹא‎ with a not-God (with what in no respect deserved the name of God), v^b עָם בְּלֹא‎ i.e. with an unorganized horde, Amos 6:13 דָבָר לְלֹא הַשְּׂמֵחִים‎ i.e. at a thing which is not, an unreality (of their boasted strength), Isaiah 10:15 עֵץ לֹא מַטֶּה כְּהָרִים‎ like a rod's lifting up what is no wood (but the agent wielding it), 31:8 אדם לא חרב אישׁ, לא חרב‎, 55:2 לחם בלוא‎ for what is not bread, לשׂבעה בלוא‎ for what is not for satiety, Jeremiah 5:7 אֱלֹהִים בְּלֹא וַיּשָּֽׁבְעוּ‎ by not-gods, in late prose 2 Chronicles 13:9 אֱלֹהִים לְלֹא כֹּהֵן‎; Psalm 44:13 בְּלֹאהֿוֺן עַמְּךָ תִּמְכֹּר‎ for no-value (i.e. cheaply), Proverbs 13:23; Job 10:12 סְדָרִים וְלֹא צלמות‎ darkness and disorder; so לֹאעַֿמִּי‎ Hosea 1:9; Hosea 2:25: still more pregnantly Job 26:2 a לְלֹאכֹֿחַ מֶהעָֿזַרְתָּ‎ (poetic for כח לו אין לאשׁר‎) the powerless, 26:2b; 26:3a (Ew^{§ 286 g} Ges^{§ 152}. 1 n.), 39:16 לָהּ לְלֹא בָּנֶיהָ הִקְשִׁיחַ‎ useth hardly her young ones (making them) into none of hers; and even Habakkuk 2:6 לֹאלֿוֺ הַמַּרְבֶּה‎ what is not his own (compare Job 18:15 לוֺ מִבְּלִי‎). compare with a verb, and ellipse of אשׁר‎, Isaiah 65:1 שָׁאָ֑לוּ לְלֹא‎ to those who have not asked, v^b Jeremiah 2:8 יוֺעִילוּ לֹא אַחֲרִי‎, 2:11b; also רֻחָ֫מָה לֹא‎ Hosea 1:6, 8; Hosea 2:25, and probably Job 31:31 נִשְׂבָּ֑ע לֹא‎ (perfect in p.) one not satisfied.

e. in circumstantial clauses (Dr^{§ 164}), in poetry and rare: qualifying a substantive, 2 Samuel 23:4 עָבוֺת לֹא בֹּקֶר‎ a morning without clouds, Job 12:24 דֶרֶךְ לֹא בְּתֹהוּ‎ in a pathless waste, 38:26a; and a verb 34:24 חֵקֶר לֹא כַּבִּרִים יָרֹעַ‎ without inquiry, Psalm 59:4 חטאתי ולא פשׁעי לא‎ (compare 59:4 עון בלי‎), in late prose, twice, 1 Chronicles 2:30, 32 בנים לא וימת‎ (אֵין‎ and בְּלִי‎, q. v., are more usual in such cases).

3 Once (according to many MSS), as a substantive, Job 6:21 לֹא הֱיִיתֶם כִּיעַֿתָּה‎ for now are ye become nothing, Hi De Kö (compare Daniel 4:32 (Aramaic) ᵑ7 חֲשִׁיבִין, כְּלָה‎ here הֲוֵיתוּן כְּלָא‎, and אַל‎ Job 24:25); but reading fluctuates (Orientals לֹא‎, Qr לו‎, Westerns, Baer (see pp. 37, 56) לוֺ‎ ['now are ye become that,' namely the אַכְזָב נַחַל‎ of 24:15]; but even לוֺ‎ yields a forced sense; and text is probably wrong: Mich Ew Ol Sgf Bu כֵּןלִ֗֗֗י‎ (ᵑ6 ᵐ5‎ also read לִי‎); Bö Di כִּילְ֗֗֗אָ֑יִן‎. compare Kö^{ii. 1. 236 f}. 4 With prefixes: —

a. בְּלֹא‎₃₁ (chiefly in poetry or late), according to the varying significance of בְּ‎: (a) usually with not = without, Jeremiah 22:13 צדק בלאֿ ביתו בונה‎ without justice ("" משׁפט בלא‎; so Ezekiel 22:29; Proverbs 16:8), Isaiah 55:1 (twice in verse); Proverbs 19:2; Job 8:11 בִצָּה בְּלֹא הֲיִגְאֶהגֹּֿמֶא‎ without mire "" מים כלי‎, 30:28 חַמָּה בְּלֹא‎ (=not through the sun), Lamentations 1:6 בלאכֿח וילכו‎, Numbers 35:22 צְדִיָּה בְּלֹא ֗֗֗ אֵיבָה בְּלֹא‎, 35:23 (followed by infinitive) רְאוֺת בְּלֹא‎, 2 Chronicles 21:20; Ecclesiastes 10:11; Psalm 17:1 מִרְמָה שִׂפְתֵי בְּלֹא תְּפִלָּתִי‎; used more freely in Chronicles, 1 Chronicles 12:18 בְּכַמָּֽי׃ חָמָס בְּלֹא‎, v.12:34 וָלֵב לֵב בְּלֹא‎, 2 Chronicles 30:18 כַכָּתוּב בְּלֹא‎. With ellipse of rel., Lamentations 4:14 יִגְּעוּ יוּכְלוּ בְּלֹא‎ without (that) men are able to touch, etc. (b) of time, in not, i.e. outside of, Leviticus 15:25 עֶתנִֿדָּתָהּ בלא‎, before Job 15:32 בלאיֿומו‎, Ecclesiastes 7:17 עִתֶּךְ׃ בְּלֹא‎. (c) where לֹא‎ belongs to the following word, and is only accidentally preceded by ב‎ (see above 2d), Deuteronomy 32:21 (twice in verse); Jeremiah 5:7; Proverbs 13:23 משׁפט בלא‎ through injustice; with בְּ‎ pretii, Psalm 44:13; Isaiah 55:2 (twice in verse); Jeremiah 2:11 יוֺעִיל בְּלוֺא‎ for (that which) profiteth not.

b. הֲלֹא‎ nonne ? Genesis 4:7 + often Inviting, as it does, an affirmative answer, it is often used, (a) especially in conversation, for pointing to a fact in such a way as to arouse the interest of the person addressed, or to win his assent: Genesis 13:19 Is not the whole land before thee ? 19:20; 20:5; 27:36; 29:25; Exodus 4:11 Who maketh dumb or deaf, etc. Do not I ? 33:16; Judges 4:6, 14; 8:2; 9:28, 38; 1 Samuel 9:20-21, 15:17 etc.; with a verb in 1person, Joshua 1:9 צויתיך הלא‎, Judges 6:14 שׁלחתיך הלא‎, 1 Samuel 20:30; 2 Samuel 19:23; Ruth 2:9: similarly in a poetical or rhetorical style, Judges 5:30 שׁלל יחלקו ימצאו הלא‎, Isaiah 8:19; 10:8-9, 11; 28:25; 29:17; 40:21, 23; 42:24; 43:19 etc., Job 4:6; 4:21; 7:1; 10:10; 10:20, etc. (β) it has a tendency to become little more than an affirm. particle, declaring with some rhetorical emphasis what is, or might be, well known: Deuteronomy 3:11 עַמּוֺן בְּנֵי בְרַבַּת הִיא הֲלֹה‎, 11:30; 1 Samuel 21:12 וג דוד ׳זה הלוא‎ (compare 29:3, 5; 2 Samuel 11:3), 23:19; 2Sam 26:1; 15:35; it is thus nearly = הִנֵּה‎ (ᵐ5‎ sometimes represents it by ιδου, as Joshua 1:9; Judges 6:14; Ruth 2:9; 2 Samuel 15:35); so especially in the phrase of the compiler of Kings, And the rest of the acts of . . ., כְּתוּבִים (הֵמָּה) הֵם הֲלֹא‎ are they not written in, etc. ? 1 Kings 11:41; 14:29 + often (with which there interchanges כְּתוּבִים הִנָּם‎ 14:19; 2 Kings 15:11, 26, 31, which is Generally used by the Chronicles, 2 Chronicles 16:11; 20:34, etc.), Joshua 10:13 (compare 2 Samuel 1:18 הִנֵּה‎), 1 Kings 8:53 ᵐ5‎, Esther 10:2; Psalm 56:14 (strangely: contr. Psalm 116:8). — הִנֵּה הֲלֹא‎ Habakkuk 2:13; 2 Chronicles 25:26 (הִנָּם‎). — On Judges 14:15, see הֲ‎

1 end.

c. וָלֹ֕א‎ and not=and if not, 2 Samuel 13:26; 2 Kings 5:17. compare וָּיֵשׁ‎.

d. כְּלוֺא‎ Obadiah 16 היו כלוא והיו‎, poetic for כאשׁר‎, as though they had not been.

e. לְלֹא‎ without, literally in the condition of no . . . 2 Chronicles 15:3 (compare לְאֵין‎, also in Chronicles). Elsewhere לא‎ belongs to the following word, Amos 6:13; 2 Chronicles 13:9; Isaiah 65:1 (twice in verse); Job 26:2-3, 39:16 (see above 2d).

Note. — Fifteen times, according to Masora (see De^{Psalms 100. 3} Fr^{MM 247} Str^{Prol. Cr. 84}), לא‎ is written by error for לוֺ‎, namely Exodus 21:8; Leviticus 11:21; 25:30; 1 Samuel 2:3; 2 Samuel 16:18; 2 Kings 8:10; Isaiah 9:2; 63:9; Psalm 100:3; 139:16; Job 13:15; 41:4; Proverbs 19:7; 26:2; Ezra 4:2 (always with Qr לוֺ‎). The passages must be considered each upon its own merits: in some לוֺ‎ yields a preferable sense; but this is not the case in all. There is the same קרי‎ (rightly) on Isaiah 49:5; 1 Chronicles 11:20; but these were not considered to rest upon equal authority, and are hence not reckoned with the fifteen. — In Judges 21:22 (see GFM), 1 Samuel 13:13; 20:14 (twice in verse), and in Job 9:33 יֵשׁ לֹא‎, read probably לֻא‎ for לֹא‎.

לוֺ‎ (Kt 1 Samuel 2:16; 20:2), לוֺא‎, see לֹא‎.

לָא‎ (לָה‎ Daniel 4:32) adverb not (Biblical Hebrew לא‎; Aramaic of Têma, Egyptian, etc., לא‎; Nerab ל‎ (Lzb³⁰¹ Cook^{G1. 67}); לָא ᵑ7‎; Syriac ); — not Jeremiah 10:11; Daniel 2:5, 9, 10, etc.; before a participle (so rarely in Biblical Hebrew,

1b c), Daniel 2:27, 43; 3:16; 4:4; 4:6; 4:15 +, so 4:32 חֲשׁיבִין כְּלָה אַרְעָא וְכָלדָּֿאְרֵי‎; are as men not accounted of (so Bev Behrm Marti, compare Isaiah 53:8 חשׁיבין ולא בסירין ᵑ7‎; > most 'accounted as nothing,' for which no analogy, yet compare Psalm 39:6 ᵑ7‎); followed by אִיתַי‎, see אִיתַי‎. With infinitive and לְ‎ Daniel 6:9 לִהַשְׁנָיָה לָא דִּי‎ which it is not to alter = which is not to be altered (compare 6:16), Ezra 6:8 (K^{§ 67, 1} Dr^{§ 202, 2}.; compare Isaiah 35:6 ᵑ7‎, D^{Aramaic Dialektproben, p. 1}). With interr. הֲלָא‎ Daniel 3:24; 4:27; 6:13.