Hebrew word · H3863

לוּ

lu-

if

Lu' is the Hebrew particle for wishing and for unreal conditions ('if…, then…' when the 'if' is not true). With a past-tense (perfect) verb it usually looks back at something that did not happen: Numbers 14:2, lu matnu, 'if only we had died in Egypt'; Joshua 7:7.

Appears 22 times in 21 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

1) if, oh that!, if only!

1a) if (unlikely condition)

1b) if only!, oh that!, would that!

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Isaiah 48:18

Range of meaning

Lu' is the Hebrew particle for wishing and for unreal conditions ('if…, then…' when the 'if' is not true). With a past-tense (perfect) verb it usually looks back at something that did not happen: Numbers 14:2, lu matnu, 'if only we had died in Egypt'; Joshua 7:7. It can also express a present wish or hypothesis: Deuteronomy 32:29, 'if they were wise, they would understand'; Isaiah 63:19, 'O that you would tear open the heavens.' Qashav in the hiphil (a causative/active verb stem) means 'to make the ear attentive': to listen carefully and give heed. It often pairs with shama', 'hear/obey'.

Against the English

KJV, ESV and WEB render it 'O that you had…', which keeps the sound of a sigh. BSB and NIV render it 'If only you had…', which keeps the regret. Both capture the unreal-past sense. YLT's 'O that thou hadst attended… Then as a river is thy peace' moves the second half into the present, so the outcome sounds still possible.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same pattern of divine longing appears in Psalm 81:13–16 (Hebrew 81:14–17): 'O that my people would listen to me… I would quickly subdue their enemies… I would feed you with the finest wheat.' Deuteronomy 5:29 is close too: 'Oh that they had such a heart… that it might go well with them.' The Greek Septuagint uses a past unreal construction (ei ēkousas… egeneto an, 'if you had heard… it would have been'), so the ancient translators read the verse as looking back.

From the study of Isaiah 64:1

Range of meaning

A particle for wishes and for conditions that are not real: 'oh that', 'if only', 'if (but it is not so)'. With a past-tense (perfect) verb it often looks back on something that did not happen: 'would that we had died in Egypt' (Num 14:2, לוּ־מַתְנוּ). With a future-tense (imperfect) verb or a participle it looks forward.

Against the English

KJV, WEB, ESV and NIV have 'Oh that you would…' and BSB has 'If only You would…'. These are wishes for the future. YLT turns it into a question about the past ('Didst Thou not rend…?'). Few translations show that the Hebrew verbs are past-tense in form.

Used elsewhere in the period

The standard Hebrew grammars (Gesenius–Kautzsch §151e; Joüon–Muraoka §163c) list lu with the perfect as a wish that something had happened in the past. Classic cases are Num 14:2 and 20:3, and Josh 7:7 ('would that we had been content…').

From the study of Joshua 7:7

Range of meaning

Lu introduces a wish for something that did not happen ('if only'). Yaʾal in this form means 'be willing, agree, resolve, undertake'. With yashav, 'settle, stay', it forms a set phrase: 'agree to settle down'.

Against the English

'Content' (KJV, WEB, BSB, NIV) originally meant 'willing, agreeable'. Today it suggests an inner feeling of satisfaction. The Hebrew describes a decision to accept, not a feeling.

How it drifted

In the English of 1611, 'be content to' meant 'be willing to' (KJV Exod 2:21: 'Moses was content to dwell with the man'). The modern sense of emotional contentment has largely replaced it.

Used elsewhere in the period

The same pair of verbs is used of Moses agreeing to live with Jethro (Exod 2:21) and the Levite agreeing to stay with Micah (Judg 17:11). Lu with a regret about the past is the language of the wilderness grumbling: 'If only we had died in Egypt!' (Num 14:2; cf. Num 20:3; Exod 16:3).

Where it appears

Genesis · 4

  1. Genesis 17:18 ל֥וּ if

    And Abraham said to God, “O that Ishmael might live under Your blessing!”

  2. Genesis 23:13 ל֖וּ if

    and said to Ephron in their presence, “If you will please listen to me, I will pay you the price of the field. Accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.”

  3. Genesis 30:34 ל֖וּ if

    “Agreed,” said Laban. “Let it be as you have said.”

  4. Genesis 50:15 ל֥וּ if

    When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge? Then he will surely repay us for all the evil that we did to him.”

Numbers · 4

  1. Numbers 14:2 לוּ־ לוּ־ if

    All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness!

    Here: A particle for wishing what did not or cannot happen: “if only…!” It carries longing and bitterness, not a request to anyone.

  2. Numbers 20:3 וְל֥וּ and if

    The people quarreled with Moses and said, “If only we had perished with our brothers before the LORD!

  3. Numbers 22:29 ל֤וּ if

    Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!”

    Here: Marks a wish about something that is not actually so: "If only there were…" He has no sword, and he wishes he did.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:29 ל֥וּ if

    If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.

    Here: Opens a condition that is not true: "if they were (but they are not)." The same particle also introduces wishes ("O that…"), so the line carries a sigh as well as logic.

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 7:7 וְלוּ֙ and if

    “O, Lord GOD,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring this people across the Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to be destroyed? If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan!

    Here: A word of wishing for what did not happen: 'if only…!' The same wish appears in the wilderness complaints (Num 14:2; 20:3).

Judges · 2

  1. Judges 8:19 ל֚וּ if

    “They were my brothers,” Gideon replied, “the sons of my mother! As surely as the LORD lives, if you had let them live, I would not kill you.”

  2. Judges 13:23 לוּ֩ if

    But his wife replied, “If the LORD had intended to kill us, He would not have accepted the burnt offering and the grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things or spoken to us this way.”

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 14:30 לוּא֩ <if>

    How much better it would have been if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been much greater?”

2 Samuel · 2

  1. 2 Samuel 18:12 וְל֨וּא and if

    The man replied, “Even if a thousand shekels of silver were weighed out into my hands, I would not raise my hand against the son of the king. For we heard the king command you and Abishai and Ittai, ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’

  2. 2 Samuel 19:6 ל֣וּ if

    You love those who hate you and hate those who love you! For you have made it clear today that the commanders and soldiers mean nothing to you. I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead, it would have pleased you!

Job · 2

  1. Job 6:2 ל֗וּ <if>

    “If only my grief could be weighed and placed with my calamity on the scales.

  2. Job 16:4 ל֤וּ־ if

    I could also speak like you if you were in my place; I could heap up words against you and shake my head at you.

    Here: Brings in a condition contrary to fact: 'if it were the case (and it is not).' It sets up the role reversal as something imagined.

Psalms · 1

  1. Psalm 81:13 ל֗וּ if

    If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,

    Here: A particle of wishing, used for a condition the speaker knows is not currently true. It makes the whole verse a longing sigh from God, not a neutral 'if'.

Isaiah · 2

  1. Isaiah 48:18 ל֥וּא if

    If only you had paid attention to My commandments, your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like waves of the sea.

    Here: A particle of longing that sets up a wish or an unreal condition. With the past-tense verb that follows, it normally means 'if only you had…', which implies that they did not. Here it is spelled with an extra aleph (לוּא), a spelling also found in Isaiah 63:19 (64:1 in English Bibles).

  2. Isaiah 64:1 לוּא־ if

    If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,

    Here: A particle for a wish that has not come true. It opens the verse as a cry of longing, not a calm request. With the following past-tense verbs it can even mean 'if only you had…' (see debates).

Ezekiel · 1

  1. Ezekiel 14:15 לֽוּ־ if

    Or if I send wild beasts through the land to leave it childless and desolate, with no man passing through it for fear of the beasts,

Micah · 1

  1. Micah 2:11 לוּ־ if

    If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!

    Here: Introduces a hypothetical, almost contrary-to-fact case: 'Suppose a man were to…'. It sets up a sarcastic scenario rather than reporting an actual event.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.