BDB4266
לֹא or לוֺא
adverb
not (Arabic
[untranscribed source text 2705], Aramaic לָא,
[untranscribed source text 2706], Sabean לא, Ass. lâ; not in Ethiopic: compare Köii. 1. 236 WalkerAJSL 1896,
237 ff.) — לוֺא, according to Masora (
FrMM 248), 35 t., besides בְּלוֺא 6 t., and הֲלוֺא, the
orthography of which varies much (ib.p. 251), e.g. in Samuel always הֲלוֺא
, in Chronicles always הֲלֹא, on the whole הֲלוֺא 141 t., הֲלֹא
128 t.; twice, according to Masora, written לו (
Qr
לֹא),
1Sam 2:16; 1Sam
20:2, once לה
Deut 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 (Gen 2:5 b Gen 4:5 etc.) or imperfect (Gen 3:4; Gen 8:21; Gen 8:22 etc.);
in short circumstantial clauses, as
Gen 44:4
לא הרחיקו, Isa 40:20
לֹא יִמּוֺט, and with a final force Isa 41:7; Exod 28:32 (see Ges
«GKC:156»§ 156. 3 R. b, c Dr§ 162). Governing two
closely connected verbs (Dr§ 115, לא) Exod 28:43
וְלֹא יִשְׂאוּ עָוֺן וָמֵתוּ, Lev 19:12; Lev 19:29b Deut 7:25; Deut 7:26; Deut 19:10; Deut 22:1 and elsewhere; and two
parallel clauses (Ges«GKC:152»§ 152. 3) Isa 23:4b Ps 9:19; Ps 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
Gen 2:17
לֹא תאֹכַל
מִמֶּנּוּ thou shall not eat of it, Gen 3:1; Gen 3:3; Exod 20:3
לֹאיִֿהְיֶה
לְךָ there shall not be to thee, etc., Exod 20:13
לא תגנב, etc. With the coh. and jussive moods (which are negatived regularly by אַל
), it occurs only exceptionally (Ges«GKC:109»§ 109.
1 b
R. 1), Gen 24:8;
1Sam 14:36;
2Sam 17:12
;
2Sam 18:14
;
1Kgs 2:6; Ezek 48:14
. (
b) with the infinitive (which is negatived by בִּלְתִּי, q. v.), only
once, in
בְּלֹא (4.a.), and with לְ, in the sense
of cannot, or
must not; Judg 1:19
כי לא להורישׁ for it was not (possible) to
dispossess, etc.
Amos 6:10
לא
׳
להזכיר בשׁם י, 1Chr 5:1; 1Chr 15:2 (Dr§ 202. 2
); compare Aramaic לָא
Dan 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, Gen
32:29
לֹא יַעֲקֹב
׳
יֵאָמֵר עוֺד וג
not Jacob shall thy name be called any more, but Israel, Gen 45:8
לֹא אַתֶּם שְׁלַחְתֶּם אֹתִי
Not ye (in our idiom: It is not ye who) have sent me hither, but God, Exod 16:8;
1Sam 8:7
כִּי לֹא
׳
אֹתְךָ מָאָסוּ כִּי אֹתִי וג, Ps 115:17 without a following correcting clause,
Gen 38:9;
Num 16:29
שְׁלָחָנִי׃
׳
לֹא י
Not
׳
י (but another) hath sent me, Deut 32:27
לֹא
פָּעַל זֹאת
׳
י, 1Chr 17:4; Deut 8:9; Isa 28:28
לא לנצח ֗֗֗
not for ever (but only for a while) . . . (so Isa 57:16; Ps 9:19; Ps 49:18; Ps 103:9
but Isa
13:20
לא תשׁב לנצח is, will not be inhabited for ever), Isa 43:22
; Job
13:16; Job
32:9 hence rhetorically, insinuating something very different, not
named, 2Kgs
6:10
not once, and not twice (but repeatedly), Ezra 10:13
; Jer 4:11
a wind לֹא לְזָרוֺת וְלוֺא לְהַָבר׃
not to winnow, and not to cleanse (but to exterminate), Isa 45:13
; Isa 48:1
b Josh
24:12; Dan 11:20; Dan 11:29; Job 34:20
לֹא בְיָד (but by a Divine agency: compare Dan 2:34 also Job 20:26
אֵשׁ לֹא נֻפָּ֑ךְ fire not blown upon [but kindled from heaven],
Lam 4:6 and
אין
Isa 47:14
). (d) standing alone: (α) אִםלֹֿא
if not, Gen 18:21
וְאִםלֹֿא אֵדָֽעָה׃,
Gen 29:49
; Gen
42:16; Job
9:24;
Job 24:25 (β) הֲאִ֗֗֗םלֿא,
or not, Gen 24:21 waiting to know דַּרְכּוֺ אִםלֹֿא
׳
הַהִצְלִיחַ י, Gen 27:21; Gen 37:32; Exod 16:4; Num 11:23; Deut 8:2; Judg 2:22 (compare אִם
אַיִן, אַיִן
2.d.
β, δ). In answer to a question or request, to deny, or decline, Nay
, Nö: Judg 12:5
ויאמר לא, Hag 2:12
לא אדני
Gen
23:11;
Gen 42:10;
1Sam 1:15 +; often followed by כי
, Nö
for . . . = Nö
but . . ., Gen 18:15
ויאמר
לֹא כִּי צָחָ֑קְתְּ, Gen 19:2; Josh 5:14; Josh 24:21; 1Sam 2:16
Qr
(see Dr), 1Sam 10:19 (
ᵐ5
MSS
),
2Sam 16:18; 2Sam 24:24; 1Kgs 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«GKC:150»§ 150. 1 Dr
1Sam
11:12
): Jonah 4:11
׳
אַתָּה חַסְתָּוַ֗֗֗אֲנִי לֹא אָחוּס וג, Job 2:10; Job 22:11;
Exod
8:22;
2Kgs 5:26; Jer 49:9 (|| Obad 1:5
הֲלוֺא), Mal 2:15; Lam 3:38 and in passages, exegesis or text.
doubtful (see Commentaries), 1Sam 20:14; 2Sam 23:5 (but see Bu), Hos 10:9 (
Ew
We), Hos 11:5 (Ew
), Job
14:16b (but
ᵐ5
Ew
Di
תַעֲבֹר), Lam 1:12 (Ew
Ke), Lam 3:36 (Ke
Bä).
b. with adjectives
and substantives: (a) Gen
2:18
לֹא טוֺב הֱֶיוֺת הָאָדָם לְבַדֹּו
not good is man's being alone, Exod 18:17 + often (b
) Exod
4:16
לֹא אִישׁ דְּבָרִים
אָנֹכִי, Amos 7:14
לא נביא אנכי, Num 23:9
לֹא אִישׁ אֵל
וִיכַזֵּב, Deut 17:15 (see
אשׁר
2.b.) Deut 20:20; Deut 32:47; 1Sam 15:29; 2Sam 18:20
לֹא אִישׁ בְּשׂרָה אַתָּה הַיּוֺם, 2Sam 21:2; 1Kgs 22:33; 2Kgs 6:19
לא זִה הדרך, Mic 2:10; Isa 27:11; Hos 8:6
והמה
לא אלהים
Jer 2:11;
Jer 16:20
;
2Kgs 19:18
;
1Kgs
19:11 (twice in verse) לֹא
׳
בָרַעַשׁ י, Deut 30:12; Deut 30:13; Job 15:9; Job 28:14
לֹא בִי הִיא (|| אֵין
עִמָּדִי)s, Ps 74:9; Jer 5:10
המה
׳
לוא לי, Jer 10:16; Deut 32:21
בָּנִים לֹא אֵמוּן בָּם, Jer 10:14; Hab 1:14; Job 16:17; Job 38:26
מִדְבָּר לֹא אָדָם בּוֺ; 1Kgs 22:17
לֹא אֲדֹנִים לָאֵלֶּה, Jer 49:31; Ps 22:3
וְלֹא דוּמִיָּה לִי, Job 18:17; Job 18:19; Job 29:12
ולא עֹזֵר לו, Job 30:13; Job 33:9; Jer 2:19
וְלֹא פַחְדָּתִי אֵלַיִךְ and (that) my terror reached not unto thee, Job 21:9 absolute Gen 29:7
לֹאעֵֿתִ הֵאָסֵף הַמִּקְנֶה (Hag 1:2), Num 20:5; 2Kgs 4:23
לא חדשׁ ולא שׁבת, Isa 44:9; Jer 5:12
ויאמרו לוא הוא, Job 9:32; Job 22:16; Job 36:26; Job 41:2; Prov 19:7 (si vera lectio)
מְרַדֵּף
אֲמָרִים לֹאהֵֿמָּה words which are not, which are
nought.
(c) with the participle לֹא is rare, a finite verb being
usually preferred (
Exod 34:7
וְנַקִּה לֹא יְנַקֶּה: Ew§ 320 c
Dr§ 162): 2Sam 3:34
יָדֶיךָ לֹא אֲסֻרוֺת, Ezek 4:14; Ezek 22:24; Deut 28:61; Ps 38:15
כְּאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר לֹא שֹׁמֵעַ who is not hearing, Job 12:3; Job 13:2
לֹא נֹפֵל אָנֹכִי מִכֶּם, Zeph 3:5 (very anomalous); 1Kgs 10:21
לא is probably textual error In וְהוּא לֹא שׂנֵא לוֺ or לא שׂנא
הוא לו
, Deut
4:42
; Deut 19:4
; Deut 19:6
; Josh 20:5
(compare אֹיֵב
Num 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 negate it, like the
Greek
ἀ‐, but usually by way of litotes: Hos 13:13
בן לאחֿכם an unwise son, Ps 36:5
דֶּרֶךְ לֹא טוֺב a way not good, Ps 43:1
גוי לא
חסיד, Prov 16:29; Prov 30:25; Prov 30:26; Ezek 20:25; 2Chr 30:17 : Isa 16:14
לוֺא כַבִּיר, compare Isa 10:7
לֹא מְעַט.
b. with a participle Jer 2:2
ארץ לא זרועה, Jer 18:15 (the finite verb is more common: see Isa 62:12
עִיר לֹא נֱעֶזָ֫בָה (compare Isa 54:11), Jer 6:8
אֶרֶץ לוֺא נוֺשָׁ֫בָה, Jer 15:18; Jer 22:6; Jer 31:18; Zeph 2:1).
c.
Gen 15:13
בארץ לא להם, Jer 5:19; Hab 1:6
מִשְׁכָּנוֺת לֹאלֿוֺ, Prov 26:17
רִיב לֹאלֿוֺ.
d. with a substantive, in poetry, forming a kind of
compound,
expressing pointedly its antithesis or negation (German un- is sometimes used similarly):
Deut 32:5(?).
17.
21 a they made me jealous בְּלֹא אֵל with a not-God (with what in no
respect
deserved the name of God), vb
בְּלֹא עָם i.e. with an unorganized horde, Amos 6:13
הַשְּׂמֵחִים לְלֹא דָבָר i.e. at a thing which is not, an unreality (of
their boasted strength), Isa 10:15
כְּהָרִים
מַטֶּה לֹא עֵץ like a rod's lifting up what is no wood (but the agent
wielding it), Isa
31:8
חרב לא
אישׁ, חרב לא אדם, Isa 55:2
בלוא לחם for what is not bread, בלוא לשׂבעה for
what is not for satiety, Jer 5:7
וַיּשָּֽׁבְעוּ בְּלֹא אֱלֹהִים by not-gods, in late prose 2Chr 13:9
כֹּהֵן לְלֹא אֱלֹהִים; Ps 44:13
תִּמְכֹּר
עַמְּךָ בְּלֹאהֿוֺן for no-value (i.e. cheaply), Prov 13:23; Job 10:12
צלמות וְלֹא סְדָרִים darkness and disorder; so לֹאעַֿמִּי
Hos 1:9; Hos 2:25: still
more pregnantly Job
26:2
a מֶהעָֿזַרְתָּ לְלֹאכֹֿחַ (poetic for לאשׁר אין לו כח) the
powerless, Job 26:2b; Job 26:3a (Ew§ 286 g
Ges«GKC:152»§ 152. 1 n.), Job 39:16
הִקְשִׁיחַ בָּנֶיהָ לְלֹא לָהּ useth hardly her young ones (making them) into none
of
hers; and even Hab 2:6
הַמַּרְבֶּה לֹאלֿוֺ
what is not his own (compare Job 18:15
מִבְּלִי לוֺ). compare with a verb, and ellipse of אשׁר, Isa 65:1
לְלֹא שָׁאָ֑לוּ to those who have not asked, vb
Jer 2:8
אַחֲרִי לֹא יוֺעִילוּ, Jer 2:11b; also לֹא רֻחָ֫מָה
Hos 1:6; Hos 1:8; Hos 2:25, and
probably Job
31:31
לֹא
נִשְׂבָּ֑ע (perfect in p.) one not satisfied.
e. in circumstantial clauses (Dr§ 164),
in
poetry and rare: qualifying a substantive, 2Sam 23:4
בֹּקֶר לֹא עָבוֺת a morning without clouds, Job 12:24
בְּתֹהוּ לֹא דֶרֶךְ in a pathless waste, Job 38:26a; and a verb Job 34:24
יָרֹעַ כַּבִּרִים לֹא חֵקֶר
without inquiry, Ps 59:4
לא פשׁעי ולא חטאתי (compare Ps 59:4
בלי עון), in late prose, twice, 1Chr 2:30; 1Chr 2:32
וימת
לא בנים (אֵין and
בְּלִי
, q. v., are more usual in such cases).
3. Once (according to many
MSS
), as a substantive, Job 6:21
כִּיעַֿתָּה הֱיִיתֶם לֹא for now are ye become nothing, Hi
De
Kö (compare Dan 4:32 (Aramaic) כְּלָה
חֲשִׁיבִין,
ᵑ7
here כְּלָא
הֲוֵיתוּן, 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 נַחַל אַכְזָב of Job 24:15];
but even
לוֺ yields a forced sense; and text is probably wrong: Mich
Ew
Ol Sgf Bu
כֵּןלִ֗֗֗י (
ᵐ5
ᵑ6
also read לִי); Bö
Di
כִּילְ֗֗֗אָ֑יִן. compare Köii. 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
,
Jer 22:13
בונה ביתו בלאֿ
צדק
without justice (|| בלא משׁפט; so Ezek 22:29; Prov 16:8), Isa 55:1 (twice
in verse); Prov
19:2; Job
8:11
הֲיִגְאֶהגֹּֿמֶא בְּלֹא
בִצָּה
without mire || כלי מים, Job 30:28
בְּלֹא חַמָּה (=not through the sun), Lam 1:6
וילכו בלאכֿח, Num 35:22
בְּלֹא אֵיבָה ֗֗֗ בְּלֹא צְדִיָּה, Num 35:23 (followed by infinitive) בְּלֹא רְאוֺת
, 2Chr
21:20;
Eccl 10:11
;
Ps 17:1
תְּפִלָּתִי בְּלֹא
שִׂפְתֵי מִרְמָה; used more freely in Chronicles, 1Chr 12:18
בְּלֹא חָמָס בְּכַפָּֽי׃, v.1Chr 12:34
בְּלֹא לֵב וָלֵב, 2Chr 30:18
בְּלֹא כַכָּתוּב. With ellipse of rel., Lam 4:14
בְּלֹא
יוּכְלוּ יִגְּעוּ
without (that) men are able to touch, etc. (b) of time,
in
not, i.e. outside of, Lev 15:25
בלא עֶתנִֿדָּתָהּ, before
Job 15:32
בלאיֿומו, Eccl 7:17
בְּלֹא עִתֶּךְ׃. (c) where לֹא belongs to the following
word,
and is only accidentally preceded by ב (see above 2.d.),
Deut 32:21
(twice in verse); Jer
5:7;
Prov 13:23
בלא משׁפט through injustice; with בְּ
pretii, Ps 44:13; Isa 55:2 (twice in verse); Jer 2:11
בְּלוֺא יוֺעִיל
for (that which) profiteth not.
b.
הֲלֹא
nonne ?
Gen 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:
Gen 13:19
Is not the whole land before thee ? Gen 19:20; Gen 20:5; Gen 27:36; Gen 29:25
; Exod 4:11
Who maketh dumb or deaf,
etc. Do not I ? Exod 33:16; Judg 4:6; Judg 4:14; Judg 8:2; Judg 9:28; Judg 9:38; 1Sam 9:20; 1Sam 9:21;
1Sam 15:17
etc.; with a verb in 1 person, Josh 1:9
הלא צויתיך, Judg 6:14
הלא שׁלחתיך, 1Sam 20:30; 2Sam 19:23; Ruth 2:9: similarly in a poetical or rhetorical style, Judg 5:30
הלא ימצאו יחלקו שׁלל, Isa 8:19; Isa 10:8; Isa 10:9; Isa 10:11; Isa 28:25; Isa 29:17
; Isa
40:21; Isa 40:23; Isa 42:24;
Isa 43:19
etc., Job 4:6;
Job 4:21;
Job 7:1; Job 10:10
;
Job 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: Deut 3:11
הֲלֹה הִיא בְרַבַּת בְּנֵי עַמּוֺן, Deut 11:30; 1Sam 21:12
הלוא
׳
זה דוד וג (compare 1Sam 29:3; 1Sam 29:5; 2Sam 11:3), 2Sam 23:19;
2Sam 26:1
;
2Sam 15:35
it is thus nearly = הִנֵּה (
ᵐ5
sometimes represents it by ιδου, as Josh 1:9; Judg 6:14; Ruth 2:9; 2Sam 15:35); so especially in
the phrase of the compiler
of Kings, And the rest of the acts of . . ., הֲלֹא הֵם (הֵמָּה) כְּתוּבִים
are they not written in, etc. ? 1Kgs 11:41; 1Kgs 14:29
+ often (with
which there interchanges הִנָּם כְּתוּבִים
1Kgs 14:19
;
2Kgs
15:11; 2Kgs 15:26; 2Kgs 15:31, which is generally used by the Chronicles, 2Chr 16:11
; 2Chr
20:34
, etc.),
Josh 10:13 (compare 2Sam 1:18
הִנֵּה), 1Kgs 8:53
ᵐ5
, Esth
10:2;
Ps 56:14 (strangely: contr. Ps 116:8). — הֲלֹא הִנֵּה
Hab 2:13;
2Chr 25:26
(הִנָּם). — On Judg 14:15, see
הֲ
1
end.
c.
וָלֹ֕א
and not=and if not, 2Sam 13:26; 2Kgs 5:17. compare
וָּיֵשׁ
.
d.
כְּלוֺא
Obad 1:16
והיו כלוא היו, poetic for כאשׁר, as though they had
not
been.
e.
לְלֹא
without, literally in the condition of no . . . 2Chr 15:3
(compare לְאֵין, also in Chronicles). Elsewhere לא belongs to the
following
word, Amos 6:13
; 2Chr
13:9
; Isa 65:1
(twice in verse); Job 26:2; Job 26:3; Job 39:16 (see above 2.d.).
Note. — Fifteen times, according to Masora (see De
Ps 100
.
3
FrMM 247
StrProl. Cr. 84), לא is written by error
for
לוֺ, namely Exod 21:8; Lev 11:21; Lev 25:30; 1Sam 2:3; 2Sam 16:18; 2Kgs 8:10; Isa 9:2; Isa 63:9; Ps 100:3; Ps 139:16; Job 13:15; Job 41:4; Prov 19:7;
Prov 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 Isa 49:5; 1Chr 11:20
but
these were not considered to rest upon equal authority, and are hence not reckoned with the fifteen. — In Judg 21:22
(see
GFM), 1Sam 13:13; 1Sam 20:14 (twice in verse), and in Job 9:33
לֹא יֵשׁ, read probably לֻא for לֹא.
BDB9632
לָא (לָה
Dan 4:32)
adverb
not (Biblical Hebrew לא; Aramaic of Têma, Egyptian, etc., לא;
Nerab ל (Lzb301
CookG1. 67);
ᵑ7
לָא; Syriac
[untranscribed source text 6061]); — not
Jer 10:11;
Dan 2:5; Dan 2:9; Dan 2:10, etc.;
before a participle (so rarely in Biblical Hebrew, 1.b.c.), Dan 2:27; Dan 2:43; Dan 3:16; Dan 4:4; Dan 4:6; Dan 4:15 +, so v.Dan 4:32
וְכָלדָּֿאְרֵי אַרְעָא כְּלָה חֲשׁיבִין; are as men not accounted of
(so Bev
Behrm Marti, compare Isa 53:8
ᵑ7
בסירין ולא חשׁיבין; > most 'accounted as nothing,' for which no
analogy, yet compare Ps 39:6
ᵑ7
); followed by אִיתַי, see
אִיתַי
. With infinitive and לְ
Dan 6:9
דִּי לָא לִהַשְׁנָיָה which it is not to alter = which is
not to be altered (compare v.Dan 6:16), Ezra 6:8 (K§ 67,
1
Dr§ 202, 2.; compare Isa 35:6
ᵑ7
, DAramaic Dialektproben, p. 1). With interr.
הֲלָא
Dan 3:24;
Dan 4:27;
Dan 6:13.
BDB9640
II. לָהֵן
conjunction
except, but (from לָא and הֵן 'not if' (compare Hebrew
אם לא
Gen 24:38); so
Nabataean and Egyptian Aramaic להן
Cooke217, 219, 241
S-CPap. C 6, 7 +; lâinnî, however
SocArab. Dial. see Marokko 44, Anm. 103;
ᵑ7
אִילָּהֵין
Gen 32:28; Gen 43:3 and
elsewhere); —
1. after a negative (= Biblical Hebrew
כִּי אִם, q. v.):
a.
except
Dan 2:11; Dan 3:28; Dan 6:6; Dan 6:8.
b.
but (German sondern) Dan 2:30.
2. without a negative: however, but
Ezra 5:12.