Conditionals — ’im and lu אִם ’im · lu
A conditional sentence has a first clause (the condition) and a second (the result): “if A, then B.” What may happen is said with אִם (’im) + imperfect; what is not actually so, with לוּ (lu) or לוּלֵא (lule) + perfect. Often no word marks “then,” and leaving out the result turns the sentence into a wish or an oath. Genesis 1–2 has no conditional sentences, so the examples come from later in Genesis, the Torah, and other books.
אִם “if” · לוּ “if it were, oh that” · לוּלֵא “if … not”
Colour key blue = added at the front · orange = added at the end · purple = a mark inside (dot · doubled letter · changed vowel) · underline = the word this page is about
1What a conditional sentence is
A conditional sentence has two clauses: “if A, then B.” The first is the condition; the second is the result when the condition is met. Grammars call the first the protasis (“what is set before”) and the second the apodosis (“what is given back”).
Biblical Hebrew opens conditions mainly with two words. (1) אִם (’im) — a condition that may come true, “if”: 1,070 times in the OSHB. (2) לוּ (lu) and לוּלֵא (lule, “if … not”) — a condition contrary to fact, “if it had been,” or a wish, “oh that”: לוּ 25 times, לוּלֵא / לוּלֵי 14 times. In addition, Torah laws open the main case with כִּי (when, if).
Conditions are mostly found in speech — promises, warnings, laws, oaths, bargaining. Genesis 1–2 narrates God’s works and commands, and אִם and לוּ do not occur there at all (checked in the OSHB). “In the day you eat” (בְּיוֹם אֲכָלְךָ, 2:17) is not a condition but a statement of time.
2The names — אִם ’im · לוּ lu · לוּלֵא lule
אִם (’im) is א (a silent first letter) + hireq ִ (i) + final ם, read “’im.” It is often tied to the next word with a maqqef (אִם־אֶמְצָא). A second branch opens with וְאִם (ve’im, “and if, but if”).
לוּ (lu) is ל + shureq וּ (u). לוּלֵא (lule) is לוּ + לֵא (a form of לֹא “not” with a changed vowel), saying “if … not” in one word; לוּלֵי, ending in י, is the same word.
Grammars call these conditional particles, and distinguish the real condition (אִם) from the unreal, contrary-to-fact condition (לוּ).
3At a glance — how to recognize a conditional
- First word of the first clauseאִם (if — may happen) · לוּ (if it were — contrary to fact) · לוּלֵא (if … had not) · in laws, כִּי (when, if).
- Start of the resultOften there is no word for “then”; the result begins where the condition ends (43:4 … נֵרְדָה). A weqatal (וְ + perfect) may open the result (18:26 וְנָשָׂאתִי). The result of a לוּ condition is often opened by כִּי עַתָּה (then by now).
- Verb formsאִם conditions concern the future: imperfect or participle (אֶמְצָא, מְשַׁלֵּחַ). לוּ conditions concern a past contrary to fact: perfects in both halves (חָפֵץ … לֹא־לָקַח).
- Two branchesאִם … וְאִם, “if … but if …,” sets two ways side by side (4:7 · 43:4–5 · Exod 21:3).
4Kinds of conditional sentence — in one table
The kinds are told apart by the word that opens the first clause and by the verb forms.
| Kind | First clause | Result | Meaning | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possible (real) | אִם + imperfect · participle · יֵשׁ / אֵין | imperfect · cohortative · weqatal | if …, (then) … will | Gen 18:26 · 43:4 · 43:5 · Exod 19:5 |
| Law | main case כִּי + imperfect → sub-cases אִם | imperfect | when / if …, … shall | Exod 21:2 · 21:3 |
| Contrary to fact | לוּ + perfect · לוּלֵא + perfect | (כִּי עַתָּה) + perfect | if … had …, … would have | Num 22:29 · Judg 13:23 · Gen 43:10 · 31:42 |
| Wish · fear | לוּ + imperfect · jussive (no result) | — | oh that … · what if … | Gen 17:18 · 30:34 · 50:15 |
| Oath | חֵי … etc. + אִם (no result) | — | surely not … | Gen 42:15 · 14:23 |
| Two-way question | הֲ …? + אִם | — | is it …, or …? | Gen 27:21 |
5אִם — a possible condition, “if”
It speaks of the future: “if this happens …, if that happens ….” The verb of the first clause is an imperfect or a participle.
’im-’emtsa visdom ḥamishshim tsaddiqim — if I find in Sodom fifty righteous
אִם (if) + the imperfect אֶמְצָא (I will find; prefix א = I). A condition about something that may happen. The result (the second half) is the weqatal וְנָשָׂאתִי at the end of the verse (then I will forgive): after a condition, וְ + perfect opens “then I will ….”
YLVAnd YHWH said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will forgive all the place for their sake."
’im-yeshkha meshalleaḥ ’et-’aḥinu ’ittanu nerdah — if you are sending our brother with us, we will go down
First half: אִם + יֶשְׁךָ (יֵשׁ “there is” + ךָ “you” = if you are …) + the Piel participle מְשַׁלֵּחַ (sending). Second half: the cohortative נֵרְדָה (let us go down / we will go down). No separate word for “then” — when the first half ends, what follows is the result.
YLVIf you are sending our brother with us, we will go down and buy you food;
ve’im-’enkha meshalleaḥ lo nered — but if you are not sending, we will not go down
The pair of the verse before (43:4): וְאִם (and if) + אֵינְךָ (אֵין “there is not” + ךָ = if you are not …) + participle; result לֹא נֵרֵד (we will not go down). The two branches “if … / and if not …” stand side by side as אִם … וְאִם.
YLVbut if you are not sending him, we will not go down; for the man (ish) said to us, 'You shall not see my face unless your brother is with you.'"
’im-tetiv se’et — if you do well, (is there not) a lifting up?
אִם + the Hiphil imperfect תֵּיטִיב (you will do well) + the infinitive construct שְׂאֵת (lifting up). The question הֲלוֹא (is it not …?) before it covers the whole sentence. The opposite branch follows at once: וְאִם לֹא תֵיטִיב (and if you do not do well). God sets two ways before Cain as conditions.
YLVIs it not, if you do well, a lifting up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and to you is its desire, but you shall rule over it."
’im-shamoa‘ tishme‘u beqoli — if you will indeed hearken to my voice
אִם + the infinitive absolute שָׁמוֹעַ (hearing) + the imperfect תִּשְׁמְעוּ (you will hear) — the same root twice for force, “if you will indeed hear.” The first half continues with the weqatal וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם (and keep), and the result is the weqatal וִהְיִיתֶם (then you shall be). Since weqatals can both continue the condition and open the result, where “then” begins is decided by sense.
YLVAnd now, if you will indeed hearken to My voice and keep My covenant (berit), then you shall be to Me a treasured possession from among all the peoples; for all the earth is Mine.
6Laws — main case כִּי, sub-cases אִם
ki tiqneh ‘eved ‘ivri — when you buy a Hebrew servant
Torah laws open the main case with כִּי + imperfect: “when you buy a Hebrew servant.” The result is in imperfects, יַעֲבֹד (he shall serve) and יֵצֵא (he shall go out). The sub-cases within it are then divided with אִם from the next verse on (21:3).
YLVWhen you buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve (avad); and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
’im-begappo yavo begappo yetse — if he comes in by himself, he shall go out by himself
Sub-case (1): אִם + the fronted בְּגַפּוֹ (by himself) + the imperfect יָבֹא (he comes in). The result begins with the same word בְּגַפּוֹ and the imperfect יֵצֵא (he shall go out); the halves mirror each other: “as he came, so he goes.” The second אִם in the verse is sub-case (2), if he had a wife.
YLVIf by himself he comes in, by himself he shall go out; if he is the husband of a wife (ishah), then his wife (ishah) shall go out with him.
7לוּ · לוּלֵא — contrary to fact, “if …, … would have”
The speaker knows it was not so and says “had it been ….” Both halves are perfects, and the result often begins with כִּי עַתָּה (then by now).
lu yesh-ḥerev beyadi ki ‘attah haragtikh — if there were a sword in my hand, I would have killed you by now
לוּ sets up a condition that is not actually so — Balaam had no sword. First half לוּ יֶשׁ־חֶרֶב בְּיָדִי (if there were a sword in my hand); second half כִּי עַתָּה (then by now) + the perfect הֲרַגְתִּיךְ (I killed you → I would have killed you; תִּי = I, final ךְ = you). A result that never happened is still written as a perfect.
YLVAnd Balaam said to the she-donkey, "Because you have mocked me; if only there were a sword in my hand, for now I would have killed you."
lu ḥafets YHWH lahamitenu lo-laqaḥ — if YHWH had delighted to kill us, he would not have taken
לוּ + the perfect חָפֵץ (delighted, wished) + לַהֲמִיתֵנוּ (to kill us). The result לֹא־לָקַח (he would not have taken) is also a perfect. Manoah’s wife reasons with this “if he had …, he would not have …”: YHWH accepted the offering, so he did not intend to kill them. Both halves are past and both are contrary to fact.
YLVAnd his wife (ishah) said to him: If YHWH had delighted to kill us, He would not have taken from our hand a burnt offering and a meal offering, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor at this time have let us hear such as this.
ki lule hitmahmahnu ki-‘attah shavnu zeh fa‘amayim — for if we had not lingered, surely by now we would have returned twice
לוּלֵא is לוּ (if) + לֹא (not) fused: “if … had not.” Then the Hithpael perfect הִתְמַהְמָהְנוּ (we lingered; נוּ = we). The result again: כִּי־עַתָּה (by now) + the perfect שַׁבְנוּ (we would have returned). In fact they did linger, so they had not returned.
YLVFor if we had not lingered, surely now we would have returned this second time."
lule ’elohe ’avi — unless the God of my father (had been for me)
The same “if … had not,” spelled לוּלֵי (ending in י). It continues … הָיָה לִי (had been for me) — “had God not been on my side” — and the result כִּי עַתָּה רֵיקָם שִׁלַּחְתָּנִי (surely now you would have sent me away empty). Exactly as in 43:10: “לוּלֵא … כִּי עַתָּה + perfect.”
YLVUnless the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had been for me, surely now you would have sent me away empty. God has seen my affliction and the labor of my hands, and gave judgment last night."
8לוּ with no result — wish or fear
lu yishma‘e’l yiḥyeh lefanekha — oh that Ishmael might live before you
Used alone, with no result clause, לוּ expresses a wish: “oh that ….” לוּ + the subject יִשְׁמָעֵאל + the imperfect יִחְיֶה (he will live). Saying only the “if” half and leaving the rest unspoken makes it a wish.
YLVAnd Abraham said to God, "Oh that Ishmael might live before you!"
hen lu yehi khidvarekha — behold, would that it might be according to your word
הֵן (behold, very well) + לוּ + the jussive יְהִי (may it be) + כִדְבָרֶךָ (according to your word; ךָ = your). לוּ + jussive expresses a wish.
YLVAnd Laban said, "Behold, would that it might be according to your word."
lu yistemenu yosef — it may be that Joseph will hate us
לוּ + the imperfect יִשְׂטְמֵנוּ (he will hate us; נוּ = us) + the subject יוֹסֵף. Here לוּ is not a wish but a feared possibility: “what if ….” The YLV renders “It may be that ….” The words that follow and the situation decide the sense of לוּ.
YLVAnd the brothers of Joseph saw that their father was dead, and they said, "It may be that Joseph will hate us, and will surely repay us all the evil which we dealt to him."
9אִם that is not “if” — oath “surely not” · question “or”
ḥe far‘oh ’im-tetse’u mizzeh — by the life of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from here
After the oath formula חֵי פַרְעֹה (by the life of Pharaoh), אִם means not “if” but “you shall not.” It is an oath of the shape “if you go out, (may such-and-such happen),” with the result left unsaid, so it amounts to “you shall not go out.” The YLV likewise has “you shall not go out.”
YLVBy this you shall be tested: by the life (chai) of Pharaoh, you shall not go out from this place except when your youngest brother comes here.
’im-miḥut ve‘ad serokh-na‘al — (not) from a thread even to a sandal-strap
Abram’s oath to the king of Sodom (the verse before: “I have lifted my hand”). אִם occurs twice (וְאִם־אֶקַּח “and if I take”), meaning “not a thread, not anything, will I take.” In an oath, אִם is negative.
YLVif from a thread even to a sandal-strap, and if I take from anything that is yours — lest you should say, I have made Abram rich;
ha’attah zeh beni ‘esav ’im-lo — whether you are my son Esau or not
After a question opened with the question marker הַ, אִם means “or.” הַאַתָּה … אִם־לֹא = “is it you, or not?” In a two-way question, אִם opens the second option.
YLVAnd Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near please, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are this my son Esau or not."
10Why it works this way — how a conditional is built
- 1. The condition comes firstHebrew almost always puts the condition first and the result after — the order in which things must be settled.
- 2. “Then” can be left outOnce אִם has opened the first clause, the hearer already expects a result, so often no word introduces it (43:4). When there is one, it is וְ (a weqatal, 18:26) or כִּי עַתָּה (with לוּ).
- 3. Future = imperfect, weqatalAn אִם condition is not yet fulfilled, so it uses the imperfect, and the result also speaks of the future with an imperfect or weqatal.
- 4. Contrary to fact = perfectA לוּ condition says “had it been so at that time,” so even the result that never happened is a perfect — הֲרַגְתִּיךְ (I would have killed you).
- 5. Leaving out the result changes the senseWithout a result, לוּ becomes a wish (17:18); in an oath, אִם without its result (“then may punishment come on me”) becomes “surely not” (42:15).
11Easy to confuse
אִם (’im, “if”) is not אֵם (’em, “mother”). Same consonants, different vowel — Gen 3:20 אֵם כָּל־חָי (mother of all living).
אִם is not always “if.” After an oath it is “surely not” (42:15); after a question, “or” (27:21); after כִּי with a negative before, “but rather” (כִּי אִם, see the כִּי page). First look at what precedes.
לוּ (lu) is not לוֹ (lo, “to him”). לוֹ is the preposition לְ + the suffix וֹ (him), with holem (o) (2:19 יִקְרָא־לוֹ); לוּ has shureq (u).
Time is not condition. בְּיוֹם + infinitive (2:17, “in the day you eat”) and וַיְהִי כִּי (6:1, “when”) give time. The כִּי of laws may be rendered “when” or “if” (YLV Exod 21:2, “When you buy”).