אוֹ
ʼôw · H176 · Hebrew · 320 occurrences
Meanings
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Particle linking two entities by which X and Y are alternative options that exclude each other ((either X) or (Y))
ExamplesGenesis 24:49 “So now if you are going to deal kindly and truthfully with my master, tell me; and if not, tell me now, so that I may turn to the right or the left.”
Exodus 19:13 ‘No hand shall touch him, but he shall certainly be stoned or shot through; whether animal or person, the violator shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”
Leviticus 1:14 ‘But if his offering to the LORD is a burnt offering of birds, then he shall bring his offering from the turtledoves or from young doves.
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Particle linking two entities by which Y is added to X as an additional option ((be it X) or (Y))
ExamplesGenesis 24:50 Then Laban and Bethuel replied, “The matter has come from the LORD; so we cannot speak to you bad or good.
Genesis 24:55 But her brother and her mother said, “Let the young woman stay with us a few days, say ten; afterward she may go.”
Genesis 31:43 Then Laban replied to Jacob, “The daughters are my daughters, the children are my grandchildren, the flocks are my flocks, and everything that you see is mine. But what can I do this day to these daughters of mine or to their children to whom they have given birth?
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if, when, whether
Particle linking two events and denoting that X can take place only if Y is true
ExamplesLeviticus 26:41 I also was acting with hostility against them, to bring them into the land of their enemies—or if their uncircumcised heart is humbled so that they then make amends for their wrongdoing,
1 Samuel 20:10 Then David said to Jonathan, “Who will inform me if your father answers you harshly?”
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Exact meaning unknown, possible: particle marking an oath or a similar strongly worded statement (if... (then God may punish me!))
ExamplesEzekiel 21:10 ‘Sharpened to make a slaughter, Polished to flash like lightning!’ Or shall we rejoice, the rod of My son despising every tree?
How it’s used
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
In the other Testament 1 word
- ἤ ḗ · G2228 · or, than
- Greek ἤ (ḗ, G2228) serves as the standard disjunctive particle corresponding to Hebrew אוֹ (ʼôw, H176), functioning identically to present alternatives or contrasts in conditional and interrogative constructions across both languages.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Connection002003
- אוֹ functions as a connective conjunction joining alternatives, as the choice to turn to the right or the left.
- Stipulators004008
- The word can introduce a conditional alternative, setting out one option against another in a stipulation.
- Evaluators004005
- אוֹ can also mark a contrastive evaluation between two possibilities, as speaking bad or good.
Word family 7 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H176. o אוֺ320 , , ), conjunction or (whether aut or vel). 1 Gen 24:49; Gen 31:43; Exo…
אוֺ320 , , ),
conjunction or (whether aut or vel).
1 Gen 24:49; Gen 31:43; Exo 4:11; Son 2:9; Lev 13:24; Num 5:30 + often (especially in laws); sometimes implying a preference, nearly = or rather Gen 24:55 עָשׂוֺר אוֺ יָמִים a few days or ten Jdg 18:19; 1Sa 29:3. Prefixed to the first as well as to the second alternative (rare) either (whether) ... or Lev 5:1; Lev 13:48, Lev 13:51; = or, if not Eze 21:15 (si vera lectio) Ke Mal 2:17; Job 16:3; Job 22:11.
2 introducing a sentence, especially a particular case under a General principle, or = or if Exo 21:31 וג יִגַּח ׳אוֺבֵֿן or if he gore a son, etc. Exo 21:36; Lev 4:23, Lev 4:28 (see Di) Leviticus 5:21; Leviticus 5:22; Lev 25:49b; Num 5:14; 2Sa 18:13 or if I had dealt falsely against his life, then, etc., Eze 14:17, Eze 14:19 or if I send, etc.
3 if perchance, 1Sa 20:10 if perchance thy father answer thee with something hard, Lev 26:41.
4 once, with the jussive (as in Arabic with the subjunctive see Dr§ 175) = except: Isa 27:5 I would burn them together, בְּמָעֻזִּי יַחֲזֵק אוֺ or else let him take hold (= except he take hold) of my strong-hold, etc.
אוּ Pro 31:4 Kt, see [אַי].
[אַו] noun masculine construct אוֺ, Kt Pro 31:4 desire, so Thes MV; but < Qr אֵי q. v.
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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