H3884 H3884
if not, unless, were it not (counterfactual conjunction)
Senses
1. if not, unless, were it not (counterfactual conjunction) — The conjunction lule' / lulei meaning 'if not, unless, were it not that' — a counterfactual conditional particle introducing hypothetical situations contrary to fact; Arabic لَوْلَا (lawla) 'if not for / were it not'; Korean 만일 아니면 (manil animyeon) 'if not' and 만약 아니라면 (manyak anira-myeon) 'if it were not'; Spanish si no 'if not' and si no fuera que 'were it not that'; Hindi यदि नहीं (yadi nahin) 'if not' and यदि न होता (yadi na hota) 'had it not been'; Swahili kama si 'if not' and isipokuwa 'except/unless.' All 14 occurrences express the same counterfactual conditional meaning — the 13-occurrence cluster and the 1-occurrence cluster differ only in minor translational phrasing across languages, not in underlying Hebrew semantics. Used throughout the Pentateuch, Psalms, and Prophets in contexts like Gen 31:42, Deut 32:27, Ps 27:13, Ps 94:17, and Isa 1:9. 14×
AR["لَولا","لَولَا","لَوْ-لا","لَوْلا","لَوْلاَ","لَوْلَا"]·ben["যদি-না"]·DE["[לולי]","ausser","es-sei-denn","hatte-nicht","waren-es-nicht","wenn-nicht"]·EN["except","had-not","if-not","unless","were-it-not"]·FR["[לולי]","sauf","si-ne-pas","si-pas","à-moins-que","à-sans","étaient-cela-ne-pas"]·heb["לולא","לולי"]·HI["यदि-न-","यदि-न-होता","यदि-नहीं","यदि-नहीं-होता"]·ID["Kalau-bukan","Seandainya","Sekiranya","jika-tidak","kalau-bukan","kalau-tidak","seandainya","seandainya-tidak","sekiranya-tidak"]·IT["[לולי]","a-meno-che","furono-esso-non","se-non","tranne"]·jav["Menawi-boten","Menawi-mboten","Saumpami-boten","Saumpami-sanes","Saupami","Saupami-mboten","menawi-boten","saumpami-boten","saupami","saupami-mboten"]·KO["만약-아니라면","만일","만일-아니","만일-아니라면","만일-아니면","만일-아니었다면","만일-아니었더라면","만일-아니었더면","아니라면"]·PT["Certamente","Se","Se-não","Se-não-fosse","se-não","se-não-fosse"]·RU["Если-бы-не","если-бы-не","если-не"]·ES["Si-no","si-no","si-no-fuera-por","si-no-fuera-porque","si-no-fuera-que"]·SW["Isipokuwa","Kama-si","kama","kama-si","kama-si-kwa","kama-usingesema"]·TR["Eğer-değilse","[?]","eger-degilse","eğer","eğer-değil","eğer-değilse","eğer-olmasa","eğer-olmasaydı"]·urd["اگر","اگر-نہ","اگر-نہ-ہوتا","اگر-نہ-ہوتی","اگر-نہیں"]
Gen 31:42, Gen 43:10, Deut 32:27, Judg 14:18, 1 Sam 25:34, 2 Sam 2:27, 2 Kgs 3:14, Ps 27:13, Ps 94:17, Ps 106:23, Ps 119:92, Ps 124:1 (+2 more)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† לוּלֵא Gn 43:10; Ju 14:18; 2 S 2:27; ψ 27:13, elsewhere לוּלֵי10 if not, unless (from לוּ if, and לֵא, by dissim. (Köii 236, 489) for לֹא not; cf. Arabic لَوْلَا ), the neg. of לוּ, and used similarly:— a. sq. pf., Ju 14:18 לולא חרשׁתם … לא מצאתם unless ye had ploughed with my heifer, ye would not have found out my riddle, 1 S 25:34 (second כי resumptive: כִּי 1 d), ψ 106:23; with apod. introd.…