1 Kings 18:27:171 Kgs.18.27.W17TAB
אוּלַ֛י
ulai
“perhaps”
- Transliteration
- u-LAI
- Extended
- oo-LAI
- IPA
- /ʔuːˈlaj/
Meaning by language
- English
- perhaps
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points | |
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Lamed | l as in law | |
| Patach | short 'ah' as in father | |
| Yod | y as in yes; marks long ī |
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Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
u-LAI
- clause
u-LAI ya-SHEN HU ve-yi-KATS
- sentence
va-ye-HI va-tso-ho-ra-YIM va-ye-hat-TEL BA-hem e-li-YA-hu va-yo-MER kir-E-u be-KOL-ga-DOL ki-e-lo-HIM HU KI SI-akh ve-khi-SIG LO ve-khi-DE-rekh LO u-LAI ya-SHEN HU ve-yi-KATS
Exegesis
The particle ulai {אוּלַי | ʾû-lay} “perhaps” introduces the participle yashen {יָשֵׁן | yā-šēn} “sleeping,” culminating in the imperfect veyikatz {וְיִקָֽץ | wə-yîqāṣ} “may he awaken,” which intensifies the mockery through potential action. The repetitive vav-consecutives and ki-clauses build rhetorical momentum in Elijah’s ridicule.
In context — 1 Kings 18:27
And it was at noon, and Elijah mocked them and said, “Call with a loud voice, for he is a god . For he is meditating , or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and will awaken.”
About this coordinate
1 Kings 18:27:17 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 17 of 1 Kings 18:27, so the Hebrew word אוּלַ֛י (ulai) can be cited, linked and studied at exactly this position rather than somewhere in the verse. In the Biblical Knowledge Coordinate System the same position is written 1 Kgs.18.27.W17, which extends further down to each syllable (1 Kgs.18.27.W17.S1) and character.