Midvash

אִםʼim

if not, except

Pronunciation: eem · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H518

Meanings

1. if

a. construction

(1) future, past (Genesis 18:26; Genesis 24:8; Genesis 32:9)

(3) future, present (Genesis 43:9; Genesis 47:6; Judges 16:17)

b. Special uses

(1) whether, or (Exodus 19:13; Deuteronomy 18:3; 2 Samuel 15:21)

(2) if, surely I will not (2 Samuel 11:11; 1 Samuel 3:17; 2 Kings 6:31)

(3) if but…! oh that…! (Psalms 81:9; Psalms 95:7; Psalms 139:19)

(4) when (Genesis 38:9; Numbers 21:9; Judges 6:3)

c. except if, except, Compounded with other particles (Genesis 47:18; Judges 7:14; Amos 3:3)

2.

a. in direct question

(a) Num?, No (Genesis 38:17; 1 Kings 1:27; Judges 5:8)

(b) art, Num? (Joshua 5:13; Judges 9:2; 1 Kings 22:6)

b. if, whether, in oblique interrogation

(a) who knoweth if, haud scio an (2 Kings 1:2; Jeremiah 5:1; Jeremiah 30:6)

c. compounded with הֲ (Numbers 17:28; Job 6:13)

Where it appears

Appears 1,067 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 4:7 You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.”
  • Genesis 13:9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.”
  • Genesis 13:16 And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted!
  • Genesis 14:23 that I will not take so much as a single thread or sandal thong from what belongs to you. Otherwise you might say, ‘I am the one who made Abram rich.’
  • Genesis 15:4 Then the Lord said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.”
  • Genesis 15:5 Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).