2. if not, except, unless — The conditional particle in the combination ei me (if not), functioning as an exceptive or restrictive marker meaning 'except, unless, only.' Occurs 65+ times in the NT, typically after negated clauses: Matt 5:13 salt good for nothing except to be thrown out, Matt 11:27 no one knows the Father except the Son, Matt 12:4,24,39 bread lawful for none except priests, Matt 13:57 a prophet without honor except in his homeland, Matt 14:17 only five loaves, Matt 15:24 sent only to the lost sheep, Mark 2:7 who can forgive except God alone. The translation signatures distinctively shift from pure conditional to exceptive: Arb illa (except), Heb im/ki-im (if/except), Kor ~i-animyeon (~if not/unless), Spa sino/si-no (but/except), Hin sivay (except/besides), Fra si-ce-n'est (if it is not). This exceptive function is grammatically and semantically distinct from the simple conditional. 65×
AR["إِلَّا","إِلّا"]·ben["ছাড়া","যদি"]·DE["wenn","wenn-"]·EN["except","except-","if","if-"]·FR["si"]·heb["אִם","כִּי"]·HI["पीछे","यदि-नहीं","सिवअय","सिवय","सिवाय"]·ID["jika","kecuali"]·IT["se"]·jav["kajaba","kajawi","kejawi"]·KO["-면","-외에는","-을","~아니면","~이-아니면","만약"]·PT["se","se-não","senão"]·RU["если"]·ES["si","sino"]·SW["-","ila","isipokuwa","isipokuwa-","tu"]·TR["-","-den-başka","eğer"]·urd["اگر","سوا","سوائے","مگر"]
Matt 5:13, Matt 11:27, Matt 11:27, Matt 12:4, Matt 12:24, Matt 12:39, Matt 13:57, Matt 14:17, Matt 15:24, Matt 16:4, Matt 17:8, Matt 17:21 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
1. if (conditional) — The primary conditional particle introducing protases of conditional sentences across all types (real, unreal, general). This is the overwhelmingly dominant NT sense with 439+ occurrences spanning every corpus: simple conditions (Matt 4:3,6 'if you are the Son of God'), contrary-to-fact (Matt 11:21,23 'if mighty works had been done'), logical conditions in Paul (Rom 4:2, 8:9,11,13,17,31, 1 Cor 15:12-19), and pastoral conditions (1 Tim 3:1, 5:8). All languages translate with their basic conditional particle: Arb in/law (if/if-counterfactual), Heb im (if), Kor manil (if), Spa si (if), Fra si (if), Deu wenn (if/when), Hin yadi/agar (if). Includes the concessive 'even if' usage (2 Cor 12:11, Heb 6:9) where ei kai or kai ei yield Hin yadyapi (although), Kor birok (even though), Spa aunque (although), as this is compositional rather than a distinct lexical sense. 442×
AR["إِن","إِنْ","إِنْ-كُنْتَ","فَ-إِنْ","لَو","وَ","وَ-إِلّا"]·ben["যদি"]·DE["wenn"]·EN["If","if","if-"]·FR["si"]·heb["אִלּוּ","אִם"]·HI["अगर","यदि"]·ID["Jika","jika"]·IT["se"]·jav["Manawi","Menawi","manawi","menawi"]·KO["~만약","만일"]·PT["Se","se"]·RU["Если","если"]·ES["Si","si"]·SW["Ikiwa","Kama","basi","basi-ikiwa","ikiwa","kama","lakini-ikiwa","na-ikiwa"]·TR["Eğer","eğer"]·urd["اگر"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
εἰ, Attic dialect-Ionic dialect and Refs 4th c.AD+ ἤ Refs in Epic dialect:— Particle used interjectionally with imperative and to express a wish, but usually either in conditions, if, or in indirect questions, whether. In the former use its regular negative is μ; in the latter, οὐ. __A INTERJECTIONALLY, in Refs 8th c.BC+, come now! with imperative, εἰ δὲ.. ἄκουσον Refs 8th c.BC+ __A.2 in wishes,…