אוֹ ʼôw

Meaning

desire (and so probably in Proverbs 31:4); hence (by way of alternative) or, also if

In the King James Version: also, and, either, if, at the least, [idiom] nor, or, otherwise, then, whether.

Derivation: presumed to be the 'constructive' or genitival form of אַו ; short for H185 (אַוָּה);

Where it is used

• Numbers 19:16 Anyone in the open field who touches someone who has been killed by the sword or has died of natural causes, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
• Numbers 19:18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain.
• Numbers 22:18 But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.
• Numbers 24:13 that even if Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the LORD? I must speak whatever the LORD says.
• Numbers 30:2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.
• Numbers 30:6 If a woman marries while under a vow or rash promise by which she has bound herself,
• Numbers 30:10 If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath,
• Numbers 30:14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all the vows and pledges that bind her. He has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard about them.
• Numbers 35:18 If anyone has in his hand a deadly object of wood, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
• Numbers 35:20 Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him,
• Numbers 35:21 or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.
• Numbers 35:22 But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,
• Numbers 35:23 or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him,
• Deuteronomy 4:16 that you do not act corruptly and make an idol for yourselves of any form or shape, whether in the likeness of a male or female,
• Deuteronomy 4:32 Indeed, ask now from one end of the heavens to the other about the days that long preceded you, from the day that God created man on earth: Has anything as great as this ever happened or been reported?
• Deuteronomy 4:34 Or has any god tried to take as his own a nation out of another nation—by trials, signs, wonders, and war, by a strong hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors—as the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, before your eyes?
• Deuteronomy 13:1 If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,
• Deuteronomy 13:3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. For the LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
• Deuteronomy 13:5 Such a prophet or dreamer must be put to death, because he has advocated rebellion against the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery; he has tried to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God has commanded you to walk. So you must purge the evil from among you.
• Deuteronomy 13:6 If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you embrace, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (which neither you nor your fathers have known,
• Deuteronomy 13:7 the gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, whether from one end of the earth or the other),
• Deuteronomy 14:21 You are not to eat any carcass; you may give it to the foreigner residing within your gates, and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
• Deuteronomy 15:12 If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, is sold to you and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you must set him free.
• Deuteronomy 15:21 But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
• Deuteronomy 17:2 If a man or woman among you in one of the towns that the LORD your God gives you is found doing evil in the sight of the LORD your God by transgressing His covenant
• Deuteronomy 17:3 and going to worship other gods, bowing down to them or to the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven—which I have forbidden—
• Deuteronomy 17:5 you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death.
• Deuteronomy 17:6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness.
• Deuteronomy 17:12 But the man who acts presumptuously, refusing to listen either to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, or to the judge, must be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel.
• Deuteronomy 19:15 A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
• Deuteronomy 22:1 If you see your brother’s ox or sheep straying, you must not ignore it; be sure to return it to your brother.
• Deuteronomy 22:4 If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, you must not ignore it; you must help him lift it up.
• Deuteronomy 22:6 If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with the young.
• Deuteronomy 24:3 and the second man hates her, writes her a certificate of divorce, hands it to her, and sends her away from his house, or if he dies,
• Deuteronomy 24:14 Do not oppress a hired hand who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother or a foreigner residing in one of your towns.
• Deuteronomy 27:22 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his sister, the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
• Deuteronomy 29:18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure there is no root among you that bears such poisonous and bitter fruit,
• Joshua 7:3 On returning to Joshua, they reported, “There is no need to send all the people; two or three thousand men are enough to go up and attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, you need not wear out all our people there.”
• Judges 11:34 And when Jephthah returned home to Mizpah, there was his daughter coming out to meet him with tambourines and dancing! She was his only child; he had no son or daughter besides her.
• Judges 18:19 “Be quiet,” they told him. “Put your hand over your mouth and come with us and be a father and a priest to us. Is it better for you to be a priest for the house of one person or a priest for a tribe and family in Israel?”
• Judges 19:13 He continued, “Come, let us try to reach one of these towns to spend the night in Gibeah or Ramah.”
• Judges 21:22 When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favor by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.’”
• 1 Samuel 2:14 and plunge it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or cooking pot. And the priest would claim for himself whatever the meat fork brought up. This is how they treated all the Israelites who came to Shiloh.
• 1 Samuel 13:19 And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.”
• 1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan said to the young man bearing his armor, “Come, let us cross over to the outpost of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the LORD will work on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.”
• 1 Samuel 14:41 So Saul said to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have You not answered Your servant this day? If the fault is with me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the fault is with the men of Israel, respond with Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were selected, but the people were cleared of the charge.
• 1 Samuel 20:2 “Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!”
• 1 Samuel 20:10 Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”
• 1 Samuel 21:3 Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever can be found.”
• 1 Samuel 21:8 Then David asked Ahimelech, “Is there not a spear or sword on hand here? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s mission was urgent.”
• 1 Samuel 22:15 Was that day the first time I inquired of God for him? Far be it from me! Let not the king accuse your servant or any of my father’s household, for your servant knew nothing of this whole affair—not in part or in whole.”
• 1 Samuel 26:10 David added, “As surely as the LORD lives, the LORD Himself will strike him down; either his day will come and he will die, or he will go into battle and perish.
• 1 Samuel 29:3 Then the commanders of the Philistines asked, “What about these Hebrews?” Achish replied, “Is this not David, the servant of King Saul of Israel? He has been with me all these days, even years, and from the day he defected until today I have found no fault in him.”
• 2 Samuel 2:21 So Abner told him, “Turn to your right or to your left, seize one of the young men, and take his equipment for yourself.” But Asahel would not stop chasing him.
• 2 Samuel 3:35 Then all the people came and urged David to eat something while it was still day, but David took an oath, saying, “May God punish me, and ever so severely, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!”
• 2 Samuel 17:9 Surely by now he is hiding in a cave or some other location. If some of your troops fall first, whoever hears of it will say, ‘There has been a slaughter among the troops who follow Absalom.’
• 2 Samuel 18:13 If I had jeopardized my own life—and nothing is hidden from the king—you would have abandoned me.”
• 1 Kings 8:46 When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,
• 1 Kings 20:39 As the king passed by, he cried out to the king: “Your servant had marched out into the middle of the battle, when suddenly a man came over with a captive and told me, ‘Guard this man! If he goes missing for any reason, your life will be exchanged for his life, or you will weigh out a talent of silver.’
• 1 Kings 21:6 Ahab answered, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and told him, ‘Give me your vineyard for silver, or if you wish, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ And he replied, ‘I will not give you my vineyard!’”