It's a particle that expresses the protasis of an improbable condition, and is common to all Semitic languages as far as I know.
John Leake ---------------------------------- ان صاحب حياة هانئة لا يدونها انما يحياها He who has a comfortable life doesn't write about it - he lives it ---------------------------------- On 16 May 2013, at 06:49, Mike Burke <[email protected]> wrote: > >>>>Something more like "would it might be," "if only," or "Oh that". Not > >>>>just "if". > > And in modern Hebrew it means exactly the same thing.<<<< > > So does the word express desire, and/or desire for something that is unlikely > to be realized? > > Michael Gerard Burke > From: Yigal Levin <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Monday, May 13, 2013 11:45 PM > Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] לו luw {loo} > > Something more like "would it might be," "if only," or "Oh that". Not just > "if". > > And in modern Hebrew it means exactly the same thing. > > Yigal Levin > > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mike Burke > Sent: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 4:15 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [b-hebrew] לו luw {loo} > > > What exactly does ל֥וּ mean in the following context? > > וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אַבְרָהָ֖ם אֶל־ הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים ל֥וּ יִשְׁמָעֵ֖אל יִחְיֶ֥ה > לְפָנֶֽיךָ׃ > > Does it just mean "if," or does it mean something more like "would it might > be," "if only," or "Oh that"? > > And what does it mean in modern Hebrew? > > Michael Gerard Burke > > _______________________________________________ > b-hebrew mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew > > > _______________________________________________ > b-hebrew mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew
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