אוֹ
or
‘or’ is one of 2 main senses fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Conjunction
- A joining word (e.g. “and,” “but”) linking words or clauses.
Page 2 of 2 — showing verses 201–218 of 218 distinct verses where H176 appears, across 21 books. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Song of Solomon 5 verses
- Song of Solomon 2:7 א֖וֹ conj I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That you not stir up, nor awaken love, Until it so desires.
- Song of Solomon 2:9 א֖וֹ conj My beloved is like a roe or a young hart. Behold, he stands behind our wall! He looks in at the windows. He glances through the lattice.
- Song of Solomon 2:17 א֛וֹ conj Until the day is cool, and the shadows flee away, Turn, my beloved, And be like a roe or a young hart on the mountains of Bether.
- Song of Solomon 3:5 א֖וֹ conj I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, By the roes, or by the hinds of the field, That you not stir up, nor awaken love, Until it so desires.
- Song of Solomon 8:14 א֚וֹ conj Come away, my beloved! Be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices!
Isaiah 4 verses
- Isaiah 7:11 א֖וֹ conj "Ask a sign of Yahweh your God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above."
- Isaiah 27:5 א֚וֹ conj Or else let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; [yes], let him make peace with me.
- Isaiah 41:22 א֥וֹ conj Let them bring forth, and declare to us what shall happen: declare you the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.
- Isaiah 50:1 א֚וֹ conj Thus says Yahweh, Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, with which I have put her away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities were you sold, and for your transgressions was your mother put away.
Jeremiah 2 verses
- Jeremiah 23:33 אֽוֹ אֽוֹ conj conj When this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask you, saying, What is the burden of Yahweh? then shall you tell them, What burden! I will cast you off, says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 40:5 א֠וֹ conj Now while he was not yet gone back, Go back then, [said he], to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon has made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people; or go wherever it seems right to you to go. So the captain of the guard gave him food and a present, and let him go.
Ezekiel 4 verses
- Ezekiel 14:17 א֛וֹ conj Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off from it man and animal;
- Ezekiel 14:19 א֛וֹ conj Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my wrath on it in blood, to cut off from it man and animal;
- Ezekiel 21:10 א֣וֹ conj it is sharpened that it may make a slaughter; it is furbished that it may be as lightning: shall we then make mirth? the rod of my son, it condemns every tree.
- Ezekiel 46:12 אֽוֹ conj When the prince shall prepare a freewill-offering, a burnt offering or peace-offerings as a freewill-offering to Yahweh, one shall open for him the gate that looks toward the east; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace-offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day: then he shall go forth; and after his going forth one shall shut the gate.
Amos 1 verse
Malachi 2 verses
- Malachi 1:8 א֚וֹ conj When you offer the blind for sacrifice, isn't that evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, isn't that evil? Present it now to your governor! Will he be pleased with you? Or will he accept your person?" says Yahweh of Hosts.
- Malachi 2:17 א֥וֹ conj You have wearied Yahweh with your words. Yet you say, 'How have we wearied him?' In that you say, 'Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of Yahweh, and he delights in them;' or 'Where is the God of justice?'
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
“or” is the headline sense of the Hebrew word או (ʼôw). First canonically at Genesis 24:49, it enters the text early. It appears 218 verses across 21 books of the Hebrew Bible, among its common vocabulary. More than a third of its appearances fall in Leviticus. Its meaning spans more than one sense — see its full sense range. See the sense tree, 218-verse concordance, and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H176 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 218
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 218 distinct verses.
- 21 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 21 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #154
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 154 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 218 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 218 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 157 verses · 72%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 39 verses · 18%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 22 verses · 10%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
BDB lists this Strong’s number as 2 distinct words (homographs). Each count above pools all of them and is not split by sense — see the Senses section below. A low-frequency rendering may belong to a different one of those words, not the primary meaning.
- King James Version†: Or 9×, And 2×, Either 2×
- American Standard Version†: Or 13×
- Berean Standard Bible†: Or 240×, If 5×, Whether 5×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text†: Or 306×, Whether 4×, If 3×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H176 across 20† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 7 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 1 further occurrence.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H176 across 21† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 8 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H176 across 265† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 6 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 56 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H176 across 321† tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 5 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in the full BDB
What do BDB’s symbols mean?
BDB uses these scholarly abbreviations:
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 𝔊 | the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation, LXX) |
| 𝔙 | the Vulgate (the Latin translation) |
| 𝔖 | the Syriac version (the Peshitta) |
| 𝔗 | the Targum (the Aramaic translation) |
| ψ | the Psalms |
| √ | root (the underlying root or stem) |
| ‖ | parallel passage (a synonymous or contrasted parallel) |
| † | the dagger: every passage where the word occurs is cited |
The 4 senses and sub-senses the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency), with BDB’s own verbatim wording and sub-sense lettering. Shown in Hebrew script with BDB’s own scholarly abbreviations. The condensed entry is in the Lexicon Entry tab. See also the Forms in the corpus table below.
או I (أَوْ, ܐܰܘ, አው ), conj. or (whether aut or vel).
- 1. Gn 24:49; 31:43 Ex 4:11 Ct 2:9 Lv 13:24 Nu 5:30 + often (especially in laws); sometimes implying a preference, nearly = or rather Gn 24:55 יָמִים אוֹ עָשׂוֹר a few days or ten Ju 18:19 1 S 29:3. Prefixed to the first as well as to the second alternative (rare) either (whether) … or Lv 5:1; 13:48, 51; = or, if not Ez 21:15 (si vera l.) Ke Mal 2:17 Jb 16:3; 22:11. e.g. Genesis 24:49
- 2. introducing a sentence, especially a particular case under a general principle, or = or if Ex 21:31 אוֹ־בֵן יִגַּח וג׳ or if he gore a son, etc. v 36 Lv 4:23, 28 (v. Di) 5:21, 22; 25:49b; Nu 5:14 2 S 18:13 or if I had dealt falsely against his life, then, etc., Ez 14:17, 19 or if I send, etc. e.g. Exodus 21:31
- 3. if perchance, 1 S 20:10 if perchance thy father answer thee with something hard, Lv 26:41. e.g. 1 Samuel 20:10
- 4. once, with the juss. (as in Arabic with the subjunct. v. Dr§ 175 = except: Is 27:5 I would burn them together, אוֹ יַחֲזֵק בְּמָעֻזִּי or else let him take hold (= except he take hold) of my strong-hold, etc.—אַו Pr 31:4 v. sub [אָוָה] on p. 16. e.g. Isaiah 27:5
או II cstr. אוֹ, Kt Pr 31
Senses from the full Brown-Driver-Briggs lexicon (Brown, Driver, Briggs; Oxford 1906 — public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). Full attribution on Sources.
Word origin
I. (أَوْ, ܐܰܘ, አው ), conj. or (whether aut or vel).
I. n.m. cstr. אוֹ, Kt Pr 31:4 desire, so Thes MV; but אֵי q.v.
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Derived from אוה (ʼavvâh) (H185) — desire.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
או־
- 1. prefix, esp. for verbal nouns, e.g. 1) prefix, esp. for verbal nouns, e.g. אודיצותא fr. דיץ.
- 2. או, אוו = εὐ-αὐ, v. אב
אוֹ I
- , v. Ges. H. Dict. s. v.) or; או … או either … or. Shebu. 27ᵃ או … לחלק the word אוֹ in the Bible text is necessary as a disjunctif, (one or the other), contrad. from ו־ which is conjunctive (one and the other). Men. 91ᵃ; או לדרשא the word אוֹ intimates something not explicitly stated in the text; a. fr.—Pl. אוֹאִין Shebu. 33ᵇ.—אוֹיִין, אוֹיִים, const. אוֹיֵי the word אוֹ in the biblical passages. Y. ibid. IV, 35ᶜᵈ
אוֹ
- Targ. Ex. XXI, 20; a. e. Targ. Prov. VI, 28 Ms. (ed. אי).—Ber. 2ᵇ, v. דילמא; a. v. fr.
אוֹ II
- (ὁ) the. Y. R. Hash. I, 57ᵃ bot. (in a Greek sentence), v. אגרפוס.
אוּ
- (contr. of אֲהוּ, אֲהִי v. הוּ, הִי)he, that, this (only in Y. Dial). [Y. Ber. II, 5ᵇ top או מקשי, read הוה מ׳; ed. Amst. בעי.] Y. B. Bath. III, 14ᵇ I was jesting באו גברא with that man. Y. Snh. XI, beg. 30ᵃ באו ד(א)מר with him who says—Fem. אִי.—Y. Erub. III, 21ᵇ bot. אי אידא אי אידא it is all the same; v. אִידָא II.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 16 distinct written forms H176 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| א֣וֹ | Conjunction | Amos 3:12 | 77 |
| א֥וֹ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 4:16 | 59 |
| אוֹ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 17:2 | 45 |
| אֽוֹ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 13:6 | 43 |
| א֖וֹ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 4:32 | 28 |
| א֤וֹ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 14:21 | 22 |
| א֚וֹ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 15:12 | 18 |
| א֛וֹ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 13:3 | 11 |
| א֧וֹ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 13:6 | 5 |
| א֠וֹ | Conjunction | Exodus 21:33 | 3 |
| א֨וֹ | Conjunction | Judges 21:22 | 3 |
| אוֹ֩ | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 17:5 | 3 |
| א֕וֹ | Conjunction | Leviticus 5:2 | 1 |
| א֡וֹ | Conjunction | Numbers 35:18 | 1 |
| או | Conjunction | Proverbs 31:4 | 1 |
| אוֹ֮ | Conjunction | Leviticus 5:11 | 1 |
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H176, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Derived from this word
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → 1 of the same-root words is a proper name (a person or place). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 217 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 218 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 24:49
- Exodus 4:11
- Leviticus 1:10
- Numbers 5:6
- Deuteronomy 4:16
- Joshua 7:3
- Judges 11:34
- 1 Samuel 2:14
- 2 Samuel 2:21
- 1 Kings 8:46
- 2 Kings 2:16
- 2 Chronicles 6:36
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
