Genesis 18:21:8Gen.18.21.W8TAB
וְאִם־לֹ֖א
veimlo
“and if not”
- Transliteration
- ve-im-LO
- Extended
- veh-ihm-LOH
- IPA
- /wə.ʔim.ˈloː/
Meaning by language
- English
- and if not
Hebrew · tap a syllable to hear it
Alphabet Analysis
| Vav | v as in vine; marks long ō / ū | |
| Sheva | vocal sheva — a short 'e' (ə), begins a syllable | |
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points | |
| Hireq | 'ee' as in machine | |
| Mem Sofit | final form of Mem — at word end | |
| Lamed | l as in law | |
| Holem | long 'oh' as in go | |
| Aleph | silent — a glottal stop; holds vowel points |
Tap any letter to hear its name and sound
Now you try — trace the word:
The word
Word in context
- word
ve-im-LO
- clause
ve-im-LO e-da-A
- sentence
e-ra-da-NA ve-er-EH hak-tsa-a-ka-TAH ha-BA-a e-LAI a-SU ka-LA ve-im-LO e-da-A
Exegesis
The clause ve-im-lo {וְאִם־לֹא | wə-ʾim-lōʾ} ‘and if not’ introduces a conditional alternative, followed by the cohortative edaah {אֵדָעָה | ʾē-dā-ʿāh} ‘I will know,’ which concludes the verse with God’s resolve to possess experiential, verified knowledge. The syntactic flow moves from intention (cohortatives) to evaluation (comparative “whether according to the outcry”) to conditional outcome (if so / if not), which undergirds the translations’ portrayal of God’s personal investigation and commitment to just judgment.
In context — Genesis 18:21
I will go down now and see whether they have acted completely according to the outcry that has come to Me; and if not, I will know.
About this coordinate
Genesis 18:21:8 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 8 of Genesis 18:21, so the Hebrew word וְאִם־לֹ֖א (veimlo) 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 Gen.18.21.W8, which extends further down to each syllable (Gen.18.21.W8.S1) and character.