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 Exodus — 52 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.
Exodus
- Exodus 1:16 אִם וְ/אִם conj conj + conj and he said, "When you perform the duty of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birth stool; if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."
- Exodus 4:8 אִם conj "It will happen, if they will neither believe you nor listen to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.
- Exodus 4:9 אִם conj It will happen, if they will not believe even these two signs, neither listen to your voice, that you shall take of the water of the river, and pour it on the dry land. The water which you take out of the river will become blood on the dry land."
- Exodus 8:2 וְ/אִם conj + conj If you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your borders with frogs:
- Exodus 8:21 אִם conj Else, if you will not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and into your houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are.
- Exodus 9:2 אִם conj For if you refuse to let them go, and hold them still,
- Exodus 10:4 אִם conj Or else, if you refuse to let my people go, behold, tomorrow I will bring locusts into your country,
- Exodus 12:4 וְ/אִם conj + conj and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.
- Exodus 12:9 אִם conj Don't eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts.
- Exodus 13:13 וְ/אִם conj + conj Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your sons.
- Exodus 15:26 אִם conj and he said, "If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you."
- Exodus 16:4 אִם conj Then said Yahweh to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law, or not.
- Exodus 17:7 אִם conj He called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because the children of Israel quarreled, and because they tested Yahweh, saying, "Is Yahweh among us, or not?"
- Exodus 18:23 אִ֣ם conj If you will do this thing, and God commands you so, then you will be able to endure, and all of these people also will go to their place in peace."
- Exodus 19:5 אִם conj Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice, and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession from among all peoples; for all the earth is mine;
- Exodus 19:13 אִם אִם conj conj No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether it is animal or man, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come up to the mountain."
- Exodus 20:25 וְ/אִם conj + conj If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones; for if you lift up your tool on it, you have polluted it.
- Exodus 21:3 אִם אִם conj conj If he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself. If he is married, then his wife shall go out with him.
- Exodus 21:4 אִם conj If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself.
- Exodus 21:5 וְ/אִם conj + conj But if the servant shall plainly say, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I will not go out free;'
- Exodus 21:8 אִם conj If she doesn't please her master, who has married her to himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her.
- Exodus 21:9 וְ/אִם conj + conj If he marries her to his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters.
- Exodus 21:10 אִם conj If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, and her marital rights.
- Exodus 21:11 וְ/אִם conj + conj If he doesn't do these three things for her, she may go free without paying any money.
- Exodus 21:19 אִם conj if he rises again and walks around with his staff, then he who struck him shall be cleared: only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall provide for his healing until he is thoroughly healed.
- Exodus 21:21 אִם conj Notwithstanding, if he gets up after a day or two, he shall not be punished, for he is his property.
- Exodus 21:23 וְ/אִם conj + conj But if any harm follows, then you must take life for life,
- Exodus 21:27 וְ/אִם conj + conj If he strikes out his man-servant's tooth, or his maid-servant's tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.
- Exodus 21:29 וְ/אִ֡ם conj + conj But if the bull had a habit of goring in the past, and it has been testified to its owner, and he has not kept it in, but it has killed a man or a woman, the bull shall be stoned, and its owner shall also be put to death.
- Exodus 21:30 אִם conj If a ransom is laid on him, then he shall give for the redemption of his life whatever is laid on him.
- Exodus 21:32 אִם conj If the bull gores a man-servant or a maid-servant, thirty shekels of silver shall be given to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.
- Exodus 22:2 אִם conj If the thief is found breaking in, and is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt of bloodshed for him.
- Exodus 22:3 אִם אִם conj conj If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt of bloodshed for him; he shall make restitution. If he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.
- Exodus 22:4 אִֽם conj If the stolen property is found in his hand alive, whether it is ox, donkey, or sheep, he shall pay double.
- Exodus 22:7 אִם conj "If a man delivers to his neighbor money or stuff to keep, and it is stolen out of the man's house; if the thief is found, he shall pay double.
- Exodus 22:8 אִם אִם conj conj If the thief isn't found, then the master of the house shall come near to God, to find out if he hasn't put his hand to his neighbor's goods.
- Exodus 22:11 אִם conj the oath of Yahweh shall be between them both, whether he hasn't put his hand to his neighbor's goods; and the owner of it shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.
- Exodus 22:12 וְ/אִם conj + conj But if it is stolen from him, he shall make restitution to the owner of it.
- Exodus 22:13 אִם conj If it is torn in pieces, let him bring it for evidence. He shall not make good that which was torn.
- Exodus 22:15 אִם אִם conj conj If the owner of it is with it, he shall not make it good. If it is a leased thing, it came for its lease.
- Exodus 22:17 אִם conj If her father utterly refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money according to the dowry of virgins.
- Exodus 22:23 אִם אִם conj conj If you take advantage of them at all, and they cry at all to me, I will surely hear their cry;
- Exodus 22:25 אִם conj "If you lend money to any of my people with you who is poor, you shall not be to him as a creditor; neither shall you charge him interest.
- Exodus 22:26 אִם conj If you take your neighbor's garment as collateral, you shall restore it to him before the sun goes down,
- Exodus 23:22 אִם conj But if you indeed listen to his voice, and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and an adversary to your adversaries.
- Exodus 29:34 וְֽ/אִם conj + conj If anything of the flesh of the consecration, or of the bread, remains to the morning, then you shall burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.
- Exodus 32:32 אִם וְ/אִם conj conj + conj Yet now, if you will, forgive their sin-- and if not, please blot me out of your book which you have written."
- Exodus 33:13 אִם conj Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you, so that I may find favor in your sight: and consider that this nation is your people."
- Exodus 33:15 אִם conj He said to him, "If your presence doesn't go with me, don't carry us up from here.
- Exodus 34:9 אִם conj He said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us; although this is a stiff-necked people; pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."
- Exodus 34:20 וְ/אִם conj + conj The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb: and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. No one shall appear before me empty.
- Exodus 40:37 וְ/אִם conj + conj but if the cloud wasn't taken up, then they didn't travel until the day that it was taken up.
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.