לוּ lu

Hebrew word for “if” · Strong’s H3863 · used 22 times in 21 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

1) if, oh that!, if only!; 1a) if (unlikely condition); 1b) if only!, oh that!, would that!

How it is translated

Glosses given for lu in context, with how often each is used:

• if 20

Where it is used

Chapters where it is used most

Genesis 17 (1), Genesis 23 (1), Genesis 30 (1), Genesis 50 (1), Numbers 14 (1), Numbers 20 (1), Numbers 22 (1), Deuteronomy 32 (1), Joshua 7 (1), Judges 8 (1)

Forms

• לו 16
• לוא 3
• ולו 2
• ולוא 1

Words used with it

Words that share verses with lu more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• מוּת mut “to die” 5
• שָׁקַל shaqal “to weigh” 2
• חַי chay “alive” 3
• אָח ach “brother” 3
• אֲבִישָׁלוֹם avishalom “Absalom” 2
• יֵשׁ yesh “there” 2
• הָרַג harag “to kill” 2
• אֹזֶן ozen “ear” 2
• זֶה zeh “this” 3
• שָׁמַע shama “to hear” 3
• חָיָה chayah “to live” 2
• אָנֹכִי anokhi “I” 2

Key verses

The verses using lu that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• Genesis 50:15 — And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did…
• Numbers 14:2 — And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of…
• Numbers 20:3 — And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD!
• Deuteronomy 32:29 — O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!
• Joshua 7:7 — And Joshua said, Alas, O Lord GOD, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?…
• Job 6:2 — Oh that my grief were throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the balances together!
• Job 16:4 — I also could speak as ye if your soul were in my soul’s stead, I could heap up words against you, and shake mine head at you.
• Psalms 81:13 — Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways!
• Isaiah 48:18 — O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
• Isaiah 64:1 — Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
• Ezekiel 14:15 — If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
• Micah 2:11 — If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people.

See all 21 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.