Hebrew word · H3884

לוּלֵא

lule'

unless

A particle that introduces something contrary to fact: "if not", "unless", "were it not that". It is normally followed by a result clause saying what would have happened otherwise (Gen 31:42; 43:10; Judg 14:18; 1 Sam 25:34; Ps 94:17; 106:23; 119:92; 124:1–2).

Appears 14 times in 14 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

unless, if not, except

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 Psalm 27:13

Range of meaning

A particle that introduces something contrary to fact: "if not", "unless", "were it not that". It is normally followed by a result clause saying what would have happened otherwise (Gen 31:42; 43:10; Judg 14:18; 1 Sam 25:34; Ps 94:17; 106:23; 119:92; 124:1–2).

Against the English

KJV and NASB keep it and fill in the missing result in italics: KJV "[I had fainted]", NASB "I would have despaired". BSB, WEB, NIV and NLT turn it into a positive statement ("Still I am certain", "I remain confident"). ESV leaves it out and follows the Greek: "I believe that I shall look". YLT reads it as "I had not believed".

How it drifted

This is not a drift in meaning. It is real uncertainty about the text itself, and each English version settles it a different way.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Masoretic tradition (the Jewish scribes who preserved and annotated the Hebrew text) this word carries puncta extraordinaria, "extraordinary dots". This was the scribes' way of marking a word as doubtful. Ps 27:13 is the only place in the Hebrew Bible where the dots stand both above and below the letters. The Septuagint (Ps 26:13, πιστεύω τοῦ ἰδεῖν, "I believe [I will] see"), the Latin Vulgate and Jerome's translation from the Hebrew have no equivalent. The Talmud (b. Berakhot 4a) read the dots as a sign of hesitation: David was sure of God's promise but feared his own sin might forfeit it.

From the study of Genesis 43:10

Range of meaning

'If not, unless, had it not been that.' It introduces a condition that did not happen, and the main clause then says what would have followed.

Against the English

English versions handle it well with 'if we had not' or 'except we had'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 31:42: 'If the God of my father… had not been with me, surely now you would have sent me away empty.' That verse has the same pattern: lûlēʾ, then kî ʿattāh, 'surely now'. Also Judg 14:18; 1 Sam 25:34; Isa 1:9.

From the study of Psalm 119:92

Range of meaning

A compound of lû ('if', for unreal conditions) and lōʾ ('not'): 'if not, unless, were it not that'. It introduces a condition that did not happen, followed by what would have resulted.

Against the English

'Unless' (KJV, WEB, YLT) is a little weak in modern English because it can sound like a present or future warning. 'If… had not been' (BSB, ESV, NIV) makes the look-back clear.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gen 31:42 ('if the God of my father had not been with me…'); Judg 14:18; Ps 27:13; 94:17; 106:23; 124:1–2 ('if it had not been the LORD who was on our side… then, ʾăzay, they would have swallowed us alive'). See Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar §159x.

Where it appears

Genesis · 2

  1. Genesis 31:42 לוּלֵ֡י if not

    If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen my affliction and the toil of my hands, and last night He rendered judgment.”

    Here: Opens a contrary-to-fact condition: 'had it not been that…'. Jacob describes the disaster that did not happen because God stepped in.

  2. Genesis 43:10 לוּלֵ֣א if not

    If we had not delayed, we could have come and gone twice by now.”

    Here: A particle for something that did not happen: 'if we had not…'. It sets up a contrast with what really took place. The delay did happen, and the trip did not.

Deuteronomy · 1

  1. Deuteronomy 32:27 לוּלֵ֗י if not

    if I had not dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest their adversaries misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it was not the LORD who did all this.’”

    Here: Sets up a 'what would have happened' condition. It finishes the thought of v.26: 'I would have wiped them out, were it not that…' The destruction is pictured as something that would have happened and did not.

Judges · 1

  1. Judges 14:18 לוּלֵא֙ if not

    Before sunset on the seventh day, the men of the city said to Samson: “What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion?” So he said to them: “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle!”

1 Samuel · 1

  1. 1 Samuel 25:34 לוּלֵ֣י if not

    Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

2 Samuel · 1

  1. 2 Samuel 2:27 לוּלֵ֖א if not

    “As surely as God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops would have continued pursuing their brothers until morning.”

2 Kings · 1

  1. 2 Kings 3:14 לוּלֵ֛י if not

    Then Elisha said, “As surely as the LORD of Hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not for my regard for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or acknowledge you.

Psalms · 6

  1. Psalm 27:13 לׅׄוּלֵׅׄ֗אׅׄ if not

    Still I am certain to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.

    Here: Normally this word opens an "if this had not been so" sentence, as in Psalm 94:17: "If the LORD had not been my help, I would soon have dwelt in silence." Here the second half, "…then I would have…", never comes, so the sentence breaks off. The scribes put dots over and under the word to show they doubted it belonged in the text (see textual notes).

  2. Psalm 94:17 לוּלֵ֣י if not

    Unless the LORD had been my helper, I would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.

    Here: Opens a contrary-to-fact condition: 'if YHWH had not been…' — it describes something that did not happen. The speaker is looking back at a disaster that nearly came and did not.

  3. Psalm 106:23 לוּלֵ֡י if not

    So He said He would destroy them—had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach to divert His wrath from destroying them.

    Here: Introduces a condition that did not happen: "had it not been that…". The sentence breaks off before the result ("…he would have done it"), so the reader feels how close it came.

  4. Psalm 119:92 לוּלֵ֣י if not

    If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction.

    Here: Sets up a condition contrary to fact: 'had it not been the case that…'. The speaker is looking back at something that really did happen (the torah was his delight) and imagining the outcome if it had not. The word also starts with lamed, the letter this eight-verse stanza must begin each line with.

  5. Psalm 124:1 לוּלֵ֣י if not

    A song of ascents. Of David. If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel now declare—

    Here: Opens a condition contrary to fact: "if YHWH had not… (but he did)." It sets up a terrible alternative that never happened. The "then" half of the sentence does not arrive until verse 3.

  6. Psalm 124:2 לוּלֵ֣י if not

    if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,

Isaiah · 1

  1. Isaiah 1:9 לוּלֵי֙ if not

    Unless the LORD of Hosts had left us a few survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah.

    Here: Opens a condition that did not happen: 'had it not been that…'. It tells the hearer from the first word that the disaster described next was real but was stopped. Compare Genesis 31:42, 'had not the God of my father been with me…'.

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