μή G3361
Not (subjective negation); lest; emphatic never; interrogative expecting 'no'; except; perhaps.
The Greek negative particle me stands alongside ou as one of the two pillars of negation in the New Testament, but where ou flatly denies a fact, me operates in the realm of will, thought, and possibility. It negates commands ('do not fear'), conditions ('if anyone does not'), purposes ('lest they turn'), and expectations ('surely not?'). Combined with ou in the construction ou me, it produces the strongest denial Greek can express — 'by no means,' 'never' — as in Jesus' promise 'whoever believes in me shall never die' (John 11:26). Its range from prohibition to doubt makes it indispensable to the grammar of faith, fear, and hope.
6. dubitative (perhaps, whether) — Dubitative use expressing uncertainty: 'perhaps,' 'whether perhaps,' 'it may be that.' In 2 Tim 2:25, gentle correction is urged 'perhaps (mepos) God may grant them repentance.' Spanish quizas and the tentative tone distinguish this from confident negation — me here softens into possibility. 4×
AR["رُبَّما","رُبَّمَا","لعلَّ","هَلْ"]·ben["না","হয়তো","হয়তো-"]·DE["nicht-"]·EN["Not-","lest","not-","perhaps"]·FR["ne-pas","ne-pas-"]·heb["הֲ-","פֶּן","פֶּן-","שֶׁמָּא-"]·HI["कभी-न","कहिइन","कहिन","कहीं"]·ID["Mungkinkah","jangan-jangan","mungkin"]·IT["non","non-"]·jav["Punapa-","[mbok-bilih","mbokbilih"]·KO["[혹시","혹시"]·PT["Será","[de-modo-nenhum]","não","talvez"]·RU["не-","неужели-"]·ES["no-sea-que","quizás","¿Acaso"]·SW["Labda","labda"]·TR["acaba-mı","belki"]·urd["شاید","نہ","کہیں"]
▼ 5 more senses below
Senses
1. subjective negation (not) — General subjective negation with non-indicative moods: subjunctive, imperative, infinitive, participle. Spanish no, French ne...pas, German nicht all translate it flatly, but the grammatical context — commands, conditions, general statements — sets it apart from ou. The backbone of all prohibitions: 'do not worry' (Matt 6:25), 'do not judge' (Matt 7:1). 834×
AR["-","أَنْ-لَا","لا","لَا","لَم","لَمْ"]·ben["না"]·DE["nicht"]·EN["not","not-"]·FR["ne-pas"]·heb["אַל","לֹא"]·HI["न","नहीं","मत"]·ID["Jangan","jangan","tidak"]·IT["non"]·jav["boten","mboten","sampun"]·KO["-아니","-않고는","-지-말라","~아니면","~않는","~않으며","않는","않도록","않으면"]·PT["não"]·RU["не"]·ES["no"]·SW["asi-","hai-","hamta","msi","msi-","si","usi","wasio-weza"]·TR["değil","değilse","endişelenmeyin","gitmeyin","korkmayın","yapmayan","yargılanmayasınız","öldüremeyen"]·urd["نہ","نہیں"]
2. emphatic negation (never, by no means) — Emphatic negation in the ou me construction with aorist subjunctive: 'by no means,' 'never,' 'certainly not.' Spanish de ninguna manera, French jamais capture the intensified force. Jesus' solemn assurances rely on this — 'I will never again drink of this fruit' (Matt 26:29), 'you will never taste death' (John 8:52). 110×
AR["-","أَبَدًا","لا","لَن","لَنْ"]·ben["কখনও","কখনো","না"]·DE["nicht","nicht-"]·EN["hands","not","not-"]·FR["ne-pas"]·heb["לֹא"]·HI["कदापि","कभी","न","नहिन"]·ID["-","akan","sama-sekali","tidak"]·IT["non"]·jav["badhe","badhé","bakal","boten","mboten","nate"]·KO["~않으리다","~않으리라","결코","결코-아니-","않는다","않을-것이다"]·PT["de-modo-algum","jamais","não"]·RU["-","не","не-","нет","ни","никак","никогда"]·ES["*","de-ninguna-manera","de-ningún-modo","jamás","nunca"]·SW["hatu-","hawata","kamwe"]·TR["-","-kesinlikle","asla","değil","kesinlikle"]·urd["نہ","کبھی","ہرگز"]
Matt 25:9, Matt 26:29, Matt 26:35, Mark 9:1, Mark 9:41, Mark 10:15, Mark 13:2, Mark 13:2, Mark 13:19, Mark 13:30, Mark 13:31, Mark 14:25 (+38 more)
3. interrogative negative (expects 'no') — Interrogative use expecting a negative answer: 'surely not?', 'it cannot be that...?' In Matt 7:9 — 'What man among you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?' The expected answer is 'no one.' French est-ce que...ne...pas and Spanish acaso signal the rhetorical force. 53×
AR["ألَعَلَّ","ألَعَلَّنا","أَ-","هَل","هَلْ"]·ben["কি","না","না-কি"]·DE["nicht","nicht-"]·EN["not","not-"]·FR["ne-pas-"]·heb["הֲ-","הַ-","הַאֲ-","הַאִם"]·HI["क्या","क्या-नहीं"]·ID["Apakah","Tidakkah","apakah"]·IT["non-"]·jav["Menapa","menapa","punapa"]·KO["~이-아니냐","~이-아니라","~이-아니하였느냐","~이-않았느냐","설마","아니","아니냐","아니다","않-느냐"]·PT["Acaso","Não","Por-acaso","Porventura","acaso","por-acaso","porventura"]·RU["-изделие","Разве-не","не-","неправедность","неужели-","разве","разве-"]·ES["Acaso","acaso","no","¿Acaso"]·SW["Je","Je,-Mungu","Je,-hatuna","Je,-kwa","Je,-tuna-nguvu-zaidi","je","si"]·TR["Pavlus","değil-mi","harman döven","mi","mı değil-","mı-","peygamberlerin"]·urd["نہیں","کیا"]
Matt 7:9, Matt 7:10, Matt 9:15, Matt 11:23, Mark 2:19, Luke 10:15, Luke 17:9, Luke 22:35, John 3:4, John 4:12, John 4:33, John 6:67 (+38 more)
4. purpose/fear negative (lest) — Purpose or fear clause negation: 'lest,' 'so that...not,' 'for fear that.' After verbs of fearing or caution — 'lest you strike your foot against a stone' (Matt 4:6). Spanish no sea que, French de peur que, German damit nicht all deploy dedicated apprehensive constructions matching this function. 51×
AR["أَنْ","لِئَلَّا","لِئَلّا","لِكَيْ"]·ben["-পাছে","না-","না-হয়","না-হলে","পাছে","যেন-না"]·DE["nicht","nicht-"]·EN["lest","lest-"]·FR["ne-pas","ne-pas-"]·heb["פֶּן","פֶּן-"]·HI["ऐसा-न-हो","और","कदाचित","कदापि-नहीं","कभी","कहिन","कहीं","कहीं-","कहेएन","कि-कहीं","नकहीं"]·ID["jangan","jangan-sampai","supaya-","supaya-jangan","supaya-tidak"]·IT["non","non-"]·jav["ampun-ngantos","bok-bilih","mboten-nate","sampun","sampun-ngantos","supados-","supados-mboten","supados-sampun-ngantos"]·KO["-하지-않도록","-혹시","~않도록","~하지-않도록","아니","아니-라면","않도록","혹시"]·PT["não","para-que-não","que"]·RU["да-не","как-бы","как-бы-не-","чтобы-не","чтобы-не-"]·ES["no","no-sea-","no-sea-que","no‒sea‒que"]·SW["asije","isi","isije","isisije-","msi-","msije","usi","wasije","wasije-"]·TR["değil","değil-mi","hiç","ki","nasıl olur da-","olmasın-ki-","sakın-","yoksa","yoksa-"]·urd["ایسا-نہ","ایسا-نہ-ہو","مبادا","نہ","کہ-نہ","کہیں","کہیں-"]
Matt 4:6, Matt 5:25, Matt 7:6, Matt 13:15, Matt 13:29, Matt 15:32, Matt 27:64, Mark 4:12, Mark 13:5, Mark 13:36, Mark 14:2, Luke 3:15 (+38 more)
5. exceptive negative (except, but only) — Exceptive or restrictive use: 'except,' 'but only,' typically in the idiom ei me. In 1 Cor 2:2, Paul resolved to know nothing 'except (ei me) Jesus Christ and him crucified.' Spanish sino, French sinon mark the contrastive restriction that carves out an exception from a general negation. 13×
AR["-","في","فَقَطْ","لا","لَم"]·ben["না","না,","শুধু","হয়-তবে"]·DE["nicht-"]·EN["-","not"]·FR["ne-pas","ne-pas-"]·heb["אִם","לֹא"]·HI["केवल","नहि","नहीं"]·ID["-","bahwa","tidak,"]·IT["non","non-"]·jav["boten","mboten","namung","sanès"]·KO["-외에는","아니다","아니라","아니라면","아니면","오직"]·PT["-","a-não-ser","de","não"]·RU["не","не-","что"]·ES["no","sino"]·SW["isipokuwa","si"]·TR["-dışında","Krispus'u","bir","boşuna","değil-","değilse","eğer değilse-","her birine","insani","o-","ruh-","İsa'yı"]·urd["صرف","مگر","نہ","نہیں","کہ"]
John 13:10, 1 Cor 1:14, 1 Cor 2:2, 1 Cor 2:11, 1 Cor 2:11, 1 Cor 7:17, 1 Cor 8:4, 1 Cor 10:13, 1 Cor 12:3, 1 Cor 15:2, 2 Cor 12:5, 2 Cor 12:13 (+1 more)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
μή, Elean μά [ᾱ] Refs 6th c.BC+. (Cf. Sanskrit mā´, Armenian mi [from I.-Refs 5th c.BC+ mē´], negative used in prohibitions):—not, the negative of the will and thought, as οὐ of fact and statement; μή rejects, οὐ denies; μή is relative, οὐ absolute; μή subjective, οὐ objective. (A few examples of μηδέ and μηδείς have been included.) __A in INDEPENDENT sentences, used in expressions of will or…