לֹא H3808
Not, no; the objective negative particle negating verbs, clauses, and assertions, also used rhetorically and as a standalone refusal.
The workhorse of Hebrew negation, lo' denies reality rather than volition (contrast 'al, which prohibits). Appearing over 5,000 times, it negates verbs ('he did not'), adjectives ('not good'), and entire clauses. Its rhetorical power emerges in the hundreds of halo' questions — 'Is it not so?' — which expect a 'yes' and carry persuasive force (Gen 4:7; 13:9). Combined with prepositions it forms 'without' (Num 35:22), and standing alone it becomes the blunt refusal 'No!' (Gen 18:15; 19:2). Every target language mirrors this range: Spanish 'no,' French 'pas/non,' German 'nicht/nein.'
1. simple negation (not) — The standard negative particle used to negate verbs, adjectives, and clauses — the plain assertion that something is not the case. This accounts for the vast majority of occurrences (4,839x), from 'it had not rained' (Gen 2:5) to 'he did not regard' (Gen 4:5). Spanish 'no,' French 'pas,' and German 'nicht' all function identically, reflecting the universality of simple propositional negation. 4839×
AR["لا","لَا","لَم","لَمْ","لَيْسَ"]·ben["না"]·DE["nicht","nicht-"]·EN["not"]·FR["pas"]·heb["לא"]·HI["नहि","नही̃","नहीं","नहीं-"]·ID["Jangan","bukan-","tidak"]·IT["non"]·jav["Sampun","boten","dereng","dèrèng","mboten"]·KO["아니","아니-","아니냐","아니다","아니라면","아니한다","않다","않으면","않을-것이다","않을-것이다-"]·PT["Não","não","não-"]·RU["не","нет"]·ES["no"]·SW["Sitaharibu","ata","haikuwa-","haitakuwepo","haitakuwepo-","hakuikubali","hakuwa","hamtaondoka","hapana","hata","hatuku","kondoo","kwa-ajili-ya","msifanye","si","sikufikiria","sikujulikana","wala"]·TR["Değil","değil"]·urd["نہیں"]
Gen 2:5, Gen 4:5, Gen 18:28, Gen 21:26, Gen 24:21, Gen 26:29, Gen 29:7, Gen 34:17, Gen 37:32, Gen 43:5, Gen 44:23, Gen 48:11 (+38 more)
▼ 4 more senses below
Senses
2. rhetorical interrogative negation — The rhetorical interrogative negation, typically as halo' (הֲלֹא), expecting an affirmative answer: 'Is it not the case that...?' With 275 occurrences, this is a major persuasive device in Hebrew discourse. 'Did not I bring Israel up from Egypt?' (Amos 9:7) demands assent. Spanish 'Acaso-no' (is it not perhaps) and French 'Est-pas' capture the rhetorical inversion where negation paradoxically affirms. 275×
AR["ألَيسَ","أَ-لَيْسَ","أَلَا","أَلَمْ","أَلَيسَ","أَلَيْسَ","أَلَيْسَتْ"]·ben["কি","কি-নয়","কি-না","না-কি"]·DE["Did-nicht","habe-nicht","hat-nicht","ist-es-nicht","ist-es-nicht-","ist-nicht","nicht","nicht-auch","tat-nicht"]·EN["Did-not","Is-not","are-they-not","did-not","have-I-not","have-not","is-it-not","is-not","not","not-also","shall-I-not"]·FR["Est-pas","Fit-ne-pas","ai-pas","devra-je-ne-pas","est-cela-pas","est-ne-pas","est-pas","fit-ne-pas","ne-pas-aussi","ne...pas","n’est-ce-pas","pas"]·heb["ה-לא","הֲ-לֹא","הלא","לא"]·HI["क्य-नहि","क्या-नही̃","क्या-नहीं","हलो"]·ID["Bukankah","Bukankah-","Tidakkah","bukankah","tidakkah"]·IT["Did-non","Is-non","avere-non","dovere-io-non","fece-non","non","non-anche","non-e-forse","non-è","è-esso-non","è-non"]·jav["Menapa-boten","Menapa-mboten","Punapa-boten","Punapa-mboten","Punapa-sanes","Punapa-sanès","menapa-boten","menapa-mboten","menapa-sanès","punapa-boten","punapa-mboten","punapa-sanes","sanès","sanès-ta"]·KO["(의문)아니","(질문)아니하여","아니","아니-","아니-냐","아니-하였느냐","아니냐","아니냐-","안-","하지-않았느냐"]·PT["Acaso-não","Não","Não-é","Porventura-não","acaso-não","não"]·RU["Разве-не","не","разве-не"]·ES["Acaso-no","acaso-no","no-están","¿Acaso-no","¿No","¿No-es-así?","¿No?","¿acaso-no","¿no","¿no-es"]·SW["Je","Je-","je","je-haku-","je-hamkuwauliza","je-si","je-si-hivyo","kwamba","si"]·TR["Değil-mi","degil-mi","değil-mi"]·urd["کیا-نہ","کیا-نہیں"]
3. privative without — The privative sense 'without, lacking,' formed with prepositions belo' (בְּלֹא) or lelo' (לְלֹא). Numbers 35:22-23 uses this construction for killing 'without enmity' and 'without seeing.' German 'ohne' (without) and Spanish 'de-modo-que-no' show how the negative particle combines with prepositions to create a distinct grammatical category expressing absence or privation. 51×
AR["بِ-غَيْرِ","بِ-لاَ","بِ-لَا","بِدُونِ","بِلا","بِلا-","بِلَا","بِلَا-","تَمُوتُ","فِي-غَيْرِ-","وَبِ-لاَ"]·ben["-তার-আগে-","-বিনা","আর-ছাড়া-না","ছাড়া","ছাড়া-","ছাড়া-না","না","না-থাকতে","বিনা","বিনা-"]·DE["in-nicht","nicht","ohne","ohne-","und-zu-nicht","zu-nicht"]·EN["and-without","for-lack-of","for-no","in-not","in-not-","not","so-that-not","with-no","with-no-","with-not","without","without-"]·FR["dans-ne...pas","et-zu-ne-pas","in-ne-pas","ne-pas","sans","sans-","zu-ne-pas"]·heb["ב-לא","ב-לא-","ב-לא־","ו-ל-לא","ל-לא","לא"]·HI["और-के-नहीं","के-नहीं","नहीं","बिना","बिना-","में-बिना"]·ID["bukan-di","dan-tanpa","sebelum","sehingga-tidak","tanpa","tanpa-"]·IT["a-non","e-a-non","in-non","non","senza","senza-"]·jav["boten","lan-tanpa","mboten","mboten-","saderengipun","tanpa","tanpa-"]·KO["-없이","그리고-없이-","아니하여-","없다","없음-으로","없이","없이-","없이-에-의","에-없이"]·PT["Antes-de","e-sem","por-falta-de","sem","sem-"]·RU["без","без-","и-без","не","не-","не-в","прежде-","так-что-не"]·ES["Antes-de","antes-de","de-modo-que-no","fuera-de","sin","sin-","y-sin"]·SW["bila","bila-","kabla-ya","kwa-kukosa","na-bila"]·TR["-siz","-siz-düşmanlık","-sız","değil","değil-","olmadan","olmadan-","pusu","ve-olmadan"]·urd["اور-بغیر","بغیر","بغیر-","نہیں"]
Lev 15:25, Lev 25:30, Num 35:22, Num 35:22, Num 35:23, 1 Sam 20:2, 2 Sam 16:18, 2 Sam 23:4, 1 Chr 12:18, 1 Chr 12:34, 2 Chr 15:3, 2 Chr 15:3 (+38 more)
4. standalone no (refusal/denial) — Standalone 'no!' as a complete utterance of refusal or denial. Sarah says 'No!' when caught laughing (Gen 18:15), the angels refuse Lot's hospitality with 'No!' (Gen 19:2), and Joseph's brothers protest 'No, my lord' (Gen 42:10). Spanish 'No' and German 'nein' function identically as independent exclamatory negatives, distinct from the particle's clause-level syntactic role. 28×
AR["(لَا)","لا","لا-","لاَ","لَا","لَا-"]·ben["(না)","কি","না","না-"]·DE["nein","nein-"]·EN["no"]·FR["non"]·heb["לא"]·HI["नहि","नहीं"]·ID["Tidak","tidak","tidak-ada-"]·IT["no"]·jav["Mboten-","boten","boten-wonten-","mboten"]·KO["아니","아니-있다","아니다","아니라","아닙니다"]·PT["(não)","Não","não"]·RU["Нет","нет"]·ES["(no)","No","no","no-hay"]·SW["Hapana","ata","hakuna-","hapana","kwa-sababu","na-huyu","si"]·TR["(hayır)","Hayır","Hayır-","değil-","hayır"]·urd["(نہیں)","نہ-","نہیں","نہیں۔"]
Gen 18:15, Gen 19:2, Gen 23:11, Gen 42:10, Gen 42:12, Num 22:30, Num 23:23, Josh 5:14, Josh 24:21, Judg 12:5, Judg 15:13, 1 Sam 1:15 (+16 more)
5. nor (conjunctive series negation) — Conjunctive series negation 'nor, and not either,' linking additional negated items in a chain. In Ps 115:17 'the dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down to silence,' the waw + lo' extends a prior negation. Spanish 'ni' (nor) and French 'et-ne...pas' show how this rare usage coordinates successive denials into a cumulative negative series. 1×
AR["وَ-لا"]·ben["কিন্তু-না"]·DE["nicht"]·EN["nor"]·FR["et-ne...pas"]·heb["ו-לא"]·HI["और-नहीं"]·ID["dan-bukan"]·IT["e-non"]·jav["lan-sanes"]·KO["그리고-아니"]·PT["nem"]·RU["и-не"]·ES["ni"]·SW["wala-si"]·TR["ve-değil"]·urd["اور-نہ"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)H5869a 1. in the eyes/sight of (evaluative) (734×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
לֹא or לוֹא adv. not (Arabic لَا, Aramaic לָא, ܠܴܐ, Sab. לא, Assyrian lâ; not in Ethiopic: cf. Köii. 1. 236 Walker AJSL 1896, 237 ff.)—לוֹא, according to Mass. (FrMM 248), 35 times, besides בְּלוֹא 6 times, and הֲלוֹא, the orthogr. of which varies much (ib.p. 251), e.g. in S always הֲלוֹא, in Chr always הֲלֹא, on the whole הֲלוֹא 141 times, הֲלֹא 128 times; twice, according to Mass, written לו…