אִם
if
‘if’ is one of 8 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.
Every verse where H518 appears in the Book of 1 Samuel — 48 distinct verses. 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.
1 Samuel
- 1 Samuel 1:11 אִם conj She vowed a vow, and said, Yahweh of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your handmaid, and remember me, and not forget your handmaid, but will give to your handmaid a man-child, then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come on his head.
- 1 Samuel 2:15 אִם conj Yes, before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came, and said to the man who sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have boiled flesh of you, but raw.
- 1 Samuel 2:16 וְ/אִם conj + conj If the man said to him, They will surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as your soul desires; then he would say, No, but you shall give it me now: and if not, I will take it by force.
- 1 Samuel 2:25 אִם וְ/אִ֤ם conj conj + conj If one man sin against another, God shall judge him; but if a man sin against Yahweh, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding, they didn't listen to the voice of their father, because Yahweh was minded to kill them.
- 1 Samuel 3:9 אִם conj Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call you, that you shall say, Speak, Yahweh; for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
- 1 Samuel 3:14 אִֽם conj Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be expiated with sacrifice nor offering forever.
- 1 Samuel 3:17 אִם conj He said, "What is the thing that [Yahweh] has spoken to you? Please don't hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you."
- 1 Samuel 6:3 אִֽם conj They said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, don't send it empty; but by all means return him a trespass-offering: then you shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you."
- 1 Samuel 6:9 אִם וְ/אִם conj conj + conj Behold; if it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he has done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it was a chance that happened to us."
- 1 Samuel 7:3 אִם conj Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, If you do return to Yahweh with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to Yahweh, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
- 1 Samuel 8:19 אִם conj But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; and they said, No: but we will have a king over us,
- 1 Samuel 11:3 וְ/אִם conj + conj The elders of Jabesh said to him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers to all the borders of Israel; and then, if there be none to save us, we will come out to you.
- 1 Samuel 12:14 אִם conj If you will fear Yahweh, and serve him, and listen to his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, and both you and also the king who reigns over you are followers of Yahweh your God, [well]:
- 1 Samuel 12:15 וְ/אִם conj + conj but if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh, but rebel against the commandment of Yahweh, then will the hand of Yahweh be against you, as it was against your fathers.
- 1 Samuel 12:25 וְ/אִם conj + conj But if you shall still do wickedly, you shall be consumed, both you and your king."
- 1 Samuel 14:9 אִם conj If they say thus to us, Wait until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them.
- 1 Samuel 14:10 וְ/אִם conj + conj But if they say thus, Come up to us; then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand: and this shall be the sign to us.
- 1 Samuel 14:39 אִם conj For, as Yahweh lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people who answered him.
- 1 Samuel 14:45 אִם conj The people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it: as Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he has worked with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he didn't die.
- 1 Samuel 15:17 אִם conj Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;
- 1 Samuel 17:9 אִם וְ/אִם conj conj + conj If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall you be our servants, and serve us.
- 1 Samuel 17:55 אִם conj When Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I can't tell.
- 1 Samuel 19:6 אִם conj Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan: and Saul swore, As Yahweh lives, he shall not be put to death.
- 1 Samuel 19:11 אִם conj Saul sent messengers to David's house, to watch him, and to kill him in the morning: and Michal, David's wife, told him, saying, If you don't save your life tonight, tomorrow you will be slain.
- 1 Samuel 20:6 אִם conj If your father miss me at all, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Bethlehem his city; for it is the yearly sacrifice there for all the family.
- 1 Samuel 20:7 אִם וְ/אִם conj conj + conj If he says, 'It is well;' your servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, then know that evil is determined by him.
- 1 Samuel 20:8 וְ/אִם conj + conj Therefore deal kindly with your servant; for you have brought your servant into a covenant of Yahweh with you: but if there be in me iniquity, kill me yourself; for why should you bring me to your father?
- 1 Samuel 20:9 אִם conj Jonathan said, Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by my father to come on you, then wouldn't I tell you that?
- 1 Samuel 20:14 אִם conj You shall not only while yet I live show me the loving kindness of Yahweh, that I not die;
- 1 Samuel 20:21 אִם conj Behold, I will send the boy, [saying], Go, find the arrows. If I tell the boy, Behold, the arrows are on this side of you; take them, and come; for there is peace to you and no hurt, as Yahweh lives.
- 1 Samuel 20:22 וְ/אִם conj + conj But if I say thus to the boy, Behold, the arrows are beyond you; go your way; for Yahweh has sent you away.
- 1 Samuel 20:29 אִם conj and he said, Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he has commanded me [to be there]: and now, if I have found favor in your eyes, let me get away, I pray you, and see my brothers. Therefore he is not come to the king's table.
- 1 Samuel 21:4 אִם אִם conj conj The priest answered David, and said, There is no common bread under my hand, but there is holy bread; if only the young men have kept themselves from women.
- 1 Samuel 21:5 אִם conj David answered the priest, and said to him, Of a truth women have been kept from us about these three days; when I came out, the vessels of the young men were holy, though it was but a common journey; how much more then today shall their vessels be holy?
- 1 Samuel 21:6 אִם conj So the priest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no bread there but the show bread, that was taken from before Yahweh, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away.
- 1 Samuel 21:9 אִם conj The priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if you will take that, take it; for there is no other except that here. David said, There is none like that; give it me.
- 1 Samuel 23:23 אִם conj See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come you again to me of a certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall happen, if he be in the land, that I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.
- 1 Samuel 24:6 אִם conj He said to his men, Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is Yahweh's anointed.
- 1 Samuel 24:21 אִם וְ/אִם conj conj + conj Swear now therefore to me by Yahweh, that you will not cut off my seed after me, and that you will not destroy my name out of my father's house.
- 1 Samuel 25:22 אִם conj God do so to the enemies of David, and more also, if I leave of all that belongs to him by the morning light so much as one man-child.
- 1 Samuel 25:34 אִם conj For in very deed, as Yahweh, the God of Israel, lives, who has withheld me from hurting you, except you had hurried and come to meet me, surely there wouldn't have been left to Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child.
- 1 Samuel 26:10 אִם conj David said, As Yahweh lives, Yahweh will strike him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall go down into battle and perish.
- 1 Samuel 26:19 אִם וְ/אִ֣ם conj conj + conj Now therefore, please let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it be Yahweh that has stirred you up against me, let him accept an offering: but if it be the children of men, cursed be they before Yahweh: for they have driven me out this day that I shouldn't cling to Yahweh's inheritance, saying, Go, serve other gods.
- 1 Samuel 27:5 אִם conj David said to Achish, If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?
- 1 Samuel 28:10 אִֽם conj Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, As Yahweh lives, there shall no punishment happen to you for this thing.
- 1 Samuel 30:15 אִם וְ/אִם conj conj + conj David said to him, Will you bring me down to this troop? He said, Swear to me by God, that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me up into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this troop.
- 1 Samuel 30:17 אִם conj David struck them from the twilight even to the evening of the next day: and there not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who rode on camels and fled.
- 1 Samuel 30:22 אִם conj Then answered all the wicked men and base fellows, of those who went with David, and said, Because they didn't go with us, we will not give them anything of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that he may lead them away, and depart.
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.
אם — transliterated ʼim — is a Hebrew word carrying the sense “if.” The lexicon spreads it across several senses; see its full sense range. Spanning 931 verses in 37 books, it ranks among the most common words of the Hebrew Bible. Its earliest occurrence is Genesis 4:7. Each statement above links to its evidence; the full detail follows below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H518 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 →
- 931
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 931 distinct verses.
- 37 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 37 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #39
- by frequency
- Top 50 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 39 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 931 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 931 distinct verses.
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 377 verses · 40%
- Torah (Pentateuch) 295 verses · 32%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 259 verses · 28%
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).
- King James Version: If 4×, But 2×, I will not 2×
- American Standard Version: If 4×, But 2×, Him 2×
- Berean Standard Bible: If 522×, Or 64×, When 25×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: If 701×, Or 65×, Except 36×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H518 across 43 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 29 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 H518 across 43 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 29 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 H518 across 867 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 56 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 202 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H518 across 1,048 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus other, less common renderings. Plus 36 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
8 senses and sub-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 8 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.
- 1. hypoth. part. if.
- a. construction (v. more fully Dr§ 136–138, 143 Friedrich Die Hebr. Condit. sätze 1884): (1) with impf. (continued by pff. & waw consec.; apod. usually begins with pf. & waw consec. or bare impf.; or, if necess., with imper. or juss.) (a) of future time: Gn 18:26 אִם־אֶמְצָא if I shall find 50 righteous in Sodom, וְנָשָׂאתִי I will pardon, etc., 24:8; 32:9 Dt 19:8 f. 1 K 1:52 b; 6:12 ψ 89:31–33; Gn 42:37 Ju 13:16 1 K 1:52 a ψ 132:12. (b) of past time (rare, but classical): Gn 31:8 אִם יֹאמַר if ever he said … וְיָֽלְדוּ then they used to bear, etc., Ex 40:37; & in the protestations Jb 31:7, 13, 16, 25 etc. (alternating with pff., v. infr., & with jussives in apod.) (c) assuming a purely imaginary case (with impf. in both clauses, like the double opt. in Greek), if, though: Gn 13:16 so that אִם־יוּכַל if a man were able to number the stars, thy seed also יִמָּנֶה might be numbered, Nu 22:18 Is 1:18 אִם־יִהְיוּ ח׳ כַּשָּׁנִים יַלְבִּינוּ though your sins were as scarlet, they should become white as snow, Am 9:2–4 אִם־יַחְתְּרוּ though they were to dig into Sheôl, from thence תִּקָּחֵם would my hand fetch them, ψ 27:3; 139:8 +. (2) with pt. (expressing either a present process, or an approaching future: apod. as 1 a) Gn 24:42, 49 Ju 6:36 (+ ישׁ) 9:15; 11:9 אִם מְשִׁיבִים אַתֶּם if ye are going to bring me back וְנָתַן י׳ then י׳ will, etc.; similarly with יֵשׁ or אֵין Gn 44:26 Ex 22:2 1 S 20:8; 23:23; & with no explicit copula Dt 22:2; 25:2 Lv 1:3, 14, etc. (3) with perf. (a) of fut. or pres. time (continued by pff. & waw consec.: apod. as 1 a) Gn 43:9 אִם־לֹא הֲבִיאֹתִיו אֵלָיךָ וְהִצַּגְתִּיו לְפָנֶיךָ if I do not bring him back (si eum non reduxero) and set him before thee, I will be guilty for ever, 47:6 if thou knowest that there are men of worth among them וְשַׂמְתָּם then make them, etc., Ju 16:17 2 S 15:33 2 K 7:4 ψ 41:7; 94:18 Jb 7:4; 9:30 f. 10:14 אִם חָטָאתִי וּשְׁמַרְתָּ֑נִי if I sin, thou watchest me. On אִם־נָא Gn 18:3 al. v. נָא. (b) of past time, whether (α) in actual fact, or (β) in an assumed case (the pf. is here continued by the impf. and waw consec.; apod. begins as before). (4) (a) Ju 9:16–19 אִם … עֲשִׂיתֶם if ye have done honestly וַתַּמְלִיכוּ and have made Abimelech king …, 1 S 26:19; especially in protestations, as ψ 7:4 אִם עָשִׂיתִי זאת if I have done this …, let the enemy pursue my soul, etc. Je 33:25 f. Jb 31:5 f. 9, etc. (b) Nu 5:27 if she have defiled herself וַתִּמְעֹל and been faithless, וּבָאוּ then shall they come, etc., 15:24; 35:22–24. (c) with bare pf. in apod., in sense of If … had …, only Dt 32:30 אִם־לֹא כִּי were it not that …, ψ 73:15. (לוּ is more usual in such cases.) (5) with inf. once (si vera l.) Jb 9:27 אִם אָמְרִי = if I say (lit. if (there is) my saying).—Note that the vb. following אִם is often strengthened by the inf. abs., as Ex 15:26; 19:5; 21:5; 22:3, 12, 16, 22 Ju 11:30; 14:12; 16:11 etc.; cf. DrSm 1:20, 6. e.g. Genesis 18:26
- b. Special uses: (1) repeated אִם … אִם whether … or (sive … sive) Ex 19:13 Dt 18:3 2 S 15:21; similarly אִם … וְאִם Gn 31:52 Je 42:6 Ez 2:5 Ec 11:3; 12:14 (cf. ܐܶܢ … ܐܶܢ, ܘܶܐܢ … ܐܢ PS250; وَإِنْ … إِنْ & وَإِمَّا … إِمَّا); cf. Pr 2:3. (2) After an oath (expressed, or merely implied) אִם (the formula of imprecation being omitted) becomes an emph. negative, and אִם־לֹא an emph. affirmative: 2 S 11:11 by thy life אִם־אֶעֱשֶׂה אֶת־הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה (may God bring all manner of evil upon me) if I do this thing! = surely I will not do this thing! (cf. the full phrases in 1 S 3:17 2 K 6:31) Gn 14:23; 42:15 Nu 14:23 1 S 3:14; 19:6 2 K 2:2; 3:14 & often; Is 22:14 ψ 89:36; 95:11 Jb 6:28; אִם־לֹא Nu 14:28 Jos 14:9 1 K 20:23 2 K 9:26 Is 5:9; 14:24 Je 15:11; 49:20 Jb 1:11 + especially Ez; after a neg. clause, emphasizing a contrasted idea, Gn 24:38 (where the expl. by Aramaic אֶלָּא is not supported by Heb. usage), cf. Je 22:6. Repeated, אִם … וְאִם 2 S 20:20 2 K 3:14 Is 62:8 Je 38:16; Ez 14:16. In adjurations (with 2nd or 3rd ps.) = that not Gn 21:23; 26:29; 31:50 1 S 24:22 1 K 1:51 Ct 2:7; 3:5 +. Of past or present time: 1 S 25:34 as י׳ liveth (I say) that, unless thou hadst hastened …, כִּי אִם נוֹתַר that surely there had not been left …! 17:55 as thy soul liveth אִם־יָדָֽעְתִּי if I know it! 1 K 17:12; 18:10—both אִם־יֵשׁ (כִּי in 1 K 17:12 introduces the fact sworn to, & need not be translated; so 2 S 3:35: v. כִּי); ψ 131:2 אִם־לֹא (after a neg. clause: cf. supr. Gn 24:38). Cf. Str§ 90. (3) Part. of wishing, if but …! oh that …! (rare) ψ 81:9 If thou wouldest hearken to me! 95:7; 139:19 Pr 24:11 1 Ch 4:10. Cf. Ex 32:32. With imv. (si vera l.) Jb 34:16 וְאִם־בִּֽינָה; and with an anacoluthon, Gu 23:13 (P) אִם־אַתָּה לוּ שְמָעֵנִי if thou!—oh that thou wouldst hear me! (4) Nearly = when—with the pf.: (a) of past, Gn 38:9 Nu 21:9 וְהָיָה אִם־נָשַׁךְ … וְהִבִּיט and it used to be, if or when a serpent had bitten a man, that he would look, etc., Ju 6:3 ψ 78:34 (v. Dr§ 136 δ Obs.); Am 7:2. (b) of pres. or fut., Is 4:4 אִם רָחַץ when the Lord shall have washed, 24:13; 28:25; cf. Nu 36:4 (with the impf.) e.g. Exodus 19:13
- c. Compounded with other particles:—(α) בִּלְתִּי אִם except if, except, †Gn 47:18 Ju 7:14 Am 3:3, 4. (β) הֲלוֹא אִם †2 K 20:19 (for which Is 39:8 has simply כִּי), perhaps Is it not (good), if …? (De Di). (γ) כִּי־אִם, q.v. (δ) עַד אִם †Gn 24:19, 33 Is 30:17 Ru 2:21, & עַד אֲשֶׁר אִם †Gn 28:15 Nu 32:17 Is 6:11, until, proposes until if or when. (ε) רַק אִם if only (v. sub רַק). אִם־לֹא in Ez 3:6b is very difficult. The Vrss render If I had sent, etc., implying לֻא for אִם־לֹא (for Ew’s אִם־לֻא = אִלּוּ, q.v., is precarious): Ges Hi Co ‘but (אִם־לֹא after a neg., cf. supr. Gn 24:38 ψ 131:2) unto them (Isr.) have I sent thee: they can understand thee’ (but understand is a dub. rendering of שָׁמַע אֶל). e.g. Genesis 47:18
- 2. Interrog.part.
- a. in direct qu.: (a) alone (not freq. and usually = Num? expecting the answer No, especially in a rhet. style): Gn 38:17 1 K 1:27; Ju 5:8 מָגֵן אִם־יֵרָאֶה וָרֹמַח was there a shield to be seen or a spear …? Is 29:16; and repeated Am 3:6 Je 48:27 Jb 6:12. (b) more freq. in disjunctive interrogation: (α) הֲ … אִם, expressing a real alternative Jos 5:13 הֲלָנוּ אַתָּה אִם־לְצָרֵינוּ art thou for us, or for our enemies? Ju 9:2 1 K 22:6, 15: more often expressing a merely formal alternative, especially in poetry (a rhetorical Num?) Gn 37:8 Nu 11:12, 22 Ju 11:25b 2 S 19:36 Is 10:15; 66:8 Je 3:5 Hb 3:8 ψ 77:10; 78:20 Jb 4:17; 6:5, 6; 10:4, 5; 11:7 etc. (β) הֲ … וְאִם (rarer than הֲ … אִם, but similar in use) 2 S 24:13 (a real alt.); Is 49:24; 50:2 Je 5:9 (v 29 אִם) 14:22 Jo 1:2; 4:4 Jb 8:3; 11:2; 21:4; 22:3; 34:17; 40:8f. (formal); Gn 17:17 P (with an anacol.) shall a child …? וְאִם־שָׂרָה הֲבַת־תִּשְׁעִים שָׁנָה תֵּלֵד or Sarah,—shall she that is 90 years old bear? Pr 27:24 (וְאִם after neg. clause). e.g. Genesis 38:17
- b. in oblique interrogation, if, whether: (a) alone, after verbs of seeing, inquiring, etc. 2 K 1:2 Je 5:1; 30:6 Mal 3:10 ψ 139:24 Ct 7:13 La 1:12 Ezr 2:59; once מִי יוֹדֵעַ אִם who knoweth if …? i. e. (like haud scio an) perhaps Est 4:14 (older syn. מִי יוֹדֵעַ alone: see 2 S 12:22 Jo 2:14 Jon 3:9). (b) disjunctively הֲ … אִם Gn 27:21 Nu 13:18–20; so אִם … וְאִם Jos 24:15. e.g. 2 Kings 1:2
- c. compounded with הֲ, הַאִם †Nu 17:28 הַאִם תַּמְנוּ לִגְוֹעַ prob. an emph. Num? Shall we ever have finished dying? Jb 6:13 difficult: perhaps Is it that my help is not in me? (a forcible means of expressing that that which might be thought impossible is nevertheless the case); Hi as an aposiop., If my help is not in me (am I still to wait)? (The view that הַאִם = הֲלֹא nonne? is inconsistent with the fact that אִם in a question has regularly the force of Num?) e.g. Numbers 17:28
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
conj. (= Aramaic ܐܶܢ if [and in ܐܶܠܴܐ, אֶלָּא = ܐܶܢ ܠܴܐ if not, except], Arabic إِنْ if [and in إِلَّا = إِنْ لَا if not, except], Ethiopic እመ if = מָה + אִם (إِنْ + مَا) [and in አላ if not, but], Assyrian šumma; SAr. hm; Arabic أَمْ (Lat. an?) = أَاِمْ, cf. הַאִם: v. NöM p. 208, ZMG 1886, p. 739; WAG i. § 367 e 𝔗Onk Jon. אִם, 𝔗Hag אין.)
— Brown-Driver-Briggs (Oxford 1906, public domain), digitized via Sefaria, supplemented by the OpenScriptures HebrewLexicon (CC BY 4.0). See Sources.
Origin: a primitive particle
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.
אִם
- 1. if, when. Mekh. Yithro, end כל א׳ שבתורה רשות every Im (If) in the Torah refers to voluntary actions (which you may or may not do) except three &c. Y. Gitt. VII, 48ᵈ בגין דאמר א׳ because he said, If (I die), i.e. conditional divorce. Succ. 53ᵃ א׳ אני כאן when I am here; a. fr.
- 2. whether. Yoma III, 1; a. fr.—א׳ … א׳ whether … or. Y. Pes. VI, beg. 33ᵃ א׳ פסח וכ׳ whether or not the Passover ceremonies supersede the Sabbath; a. fr. [Ib. אם יש תוחלת read יש וכ׳ אפשר, as before.]—אִם כֵּן (abbrev. א"כ) if this be so. Ber. I, 1; a. fr.—אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן (abbr. אא"כ) only when indeed, not until, unless. Keth. 76ᵃ; a. fr.
אֵם
- 1. mother, freq. = my mother. Sabb. 134ᵃ; a. fr.—Y. M. Kat. III, beg. 81ᶜ הניח חק אִמֹּו left his mother’s lap (Palestine).—Num. R. s. 10 (ref. to immo Prov. XXXI, 1) אמו זו … התורה וכ׳ ‘his mother’ that means the Law which trained Solomon and which is called a mother of those studying it, as you read (Prov. II, 3; text אִם is read אֵם ēm). e.g. Proverbs 31:1
- 2. womb, mouth of the womb. Ḥull. III, 2 (54ᵃ) ניטלה האם וכ׳ if the mouth of the womb is absent, cut out. Bekh. IV, 4 (28ᵇ).—Trnsf. legitimate existence, authority. Succ. 6ᵇ, a. fr. יש א׳ למסורת the traditional Scripture text (letters without vowels) is authoritative in Biblical interpretation, opp. יש א׳ למקרא the traditional reading (vowels) must guide us, e.g. בחלב (Ex. XXIII, 19) may be read בַּחֲלֵב as the traditional vocalization, or בְּחֵלֶב in the fat of.— Pl. אִמָּהוֹת, אִימָּהוֹת. Kidd. IV, 4 her genealogy must be traced back ארבע א׳ to the mothers of four generations (on each side) which is eight mothers. Y. Snh. II, 20ᵇ bot. they are not אֲמָהוֹת אלא אִימָּהוֹת maid-servants but mothers (of the nation).—Trnsf. א׳ של בצלים seed-onions. Peah III, 4. Erub. 29ᵃ; a. e.—Ch. אִימָּא. [Koh. R. to XII, 7 א׳ דבצלי׳, v. אַמָּה.] e.g. Exodus 23:19
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 30 distinct written forms H518 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| אִם | Conjunction | Amos 3:3 | 708 |
| וְ/אִם | Conjunction | Amos 9:3 | 214 |
| אִֽם | Conjunction | Amos 6:12 | 39 |
| וְ/אִ֣ם | Conjunction | Ecclesiastes 11:3 | 12 |
| וְ/אִ֨ם | Conjunction | Genesis 17:17 | 11 |
| וְ/אִם֙ | Conjunction | Genesis 4:7 | 11 |
| אִ֣ם | Conjunction | Esther 2:15 | 10 |
| אִ֚ם | Conjunction | Genesis 34:15 | 9 |
| אִ֥ם | Conjunction | Ezra 2:59 | 9 |
| וְ/אִֽם | Conjunction | Amos 9:2 | 7 |
| וְֽ/אִם | Conjunction | Deuteronomy 22:25 | 5 |
| אִ֤ם | Conjunction | Habakkuk 3:8 | 4 |
| וְ/אִ֡ם | Conjunction | Exodus 21:29 | 4 |
| וְ/אִ֥ם | Conjunction | Jeremiah 5:2 | 3 |
| אִ֖ם | Conjunction | Nehemiah 2:2 | 2 |
| אִ֡ם | Conjunction | Judges 6:37 | 2 |
| אם | Conjunction | Jeremiah 39:12 | 2 |
| וְ/אִ֖ם | Conjunction | Jeremiah 12:17 | 2 |
| וְ/אִ֤ם | Conjunction | 1 Samuel 2:25 | 2 |
| וְ/אִ֧ם | Conjunction | 1 Kings 20:18 | 2 |
| וְ/אִם֮ | Conjunction | Leviticus 13:53 | 2 |
| וְ֠/אִם | Conjunction | Leviticus 27:7 | 2 |
| אִ֗ם | Conjunction | 1 Kings 1:27 | 1 |
| אִ֛ם | Conjunction | Jeremiah 2:31 | 1 |
| אִ֨ם | Conjunction | Jeremiah 22:28 | 1 |
| אִם֙ | Conjunction | Genesis 15:4 | 1 |
| הַ/אִ֥ם | Conjunction | Numbers 17:13 | 1 |
| הַ/אִ֬ם | Conjunction | Job 6:13 | 1 |
| וְ/אִ֛ם | Conjunction | Leviticus 19:7 | 1 |
| וְ/אִם֩ | Conjunction | Joshua 24:15 | 1 |
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 899 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 931 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 4:7
- Exodus 1:16
- Leviticus 1:3
- Numbers 5:8
- Deuteronomy 1:35
- Joshua 2:14
- Judges 2:22
- Ruth 2:21
- 1 Samuel 1:11
- 2 Samuel 3:13
- 1 Kings 1:27
- 2 Kings 1:2
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.