Numbers 16:12:9Num.16.12.W9TAB
לֹֽא
lo
“not”
- Transliteration
- LO
- Extended
- LOH
- IPA
- /loː/
Meaning by language
- English
- not
Alphabet Analysis
| 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
LO
- phraseyour reading level
va-yo-mru LO na-a-LEH
- clause
be-NEI e-li-AV va-yo-mru LO na-a-LEH
- sentence
va-yish-LAKH mo-SHEH lik-RO le-da-TAN u-la-a-vi-RAM be-NEI e-li-AV va-yo-mru LO na-a-LEH
Exegesis
The shift to direct speech occurs with vayomru {וַיֹּאמְרוּ | wayyōʾmə-rû} ‘and they said’, where the negation lo {לֹא | lōʾ} precedes the imperfect naaleh {נַעֲלֶה | naʿălēh} ‘we will go up’, signaling refusal. Rendering Hebrew VSO into English SVO preserves clarity while maintaining the Hebrew sequence’s emphasis on action before agent. The juxtaposition of Moses’s summons and the rebuttal heightens the theme of confrontation.
Root and etymology
א־מ־ר
“to say”
In context — Numbers 16:12
And Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, but they said, “We will not go up .”
About this coordinate
Numbers 16:12:9 is a BCV:P reference — Book · Chapter · Verse · Word Position. It addresses word 9 of Numbers 16:12, so the Hebrew word לֹֽא (lo) 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 Num.16.12.W9, which extends further down to each syllable (Num.16.12.W9.S1) and character.