Definition

a conditional particle; if; by implication (interj. as a wish) would that!

Etymology

or לֻא; or לוּ;

Where the KJV renders it

• if (haply)
• peradventure
• I pray thee
• though
• I would
• would God (that)

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.