לֹא עַמִּי
𐤋𐤀 𐤏𐤌𐤉
Lo Ami
H3818 particle
SILEX Entry
Definition
Lôʾ ʿAmmî is a symbolic personal name meaning 'Not my people,' given to a son of the prophet Hosea as a prophetic sign. The name communicates the severed relationship between YHWH and the Israelite people within the context of Hosea's message, and functions as a statement of estrangement. In its lexical usage, it is a compound of a negation and a noun with pronominal suffix, denoting absence or denial of communal belonging, most specifically with reference to divine affiliation.
Semantic Range
not my people (prophetic symbolic name); designation of estrangement from covenanted community; marker of exclusion from communal or divine affiliation
Root / Etymology
Compound of the negative adverb לֹא ('not') and עַם ('people'), plus the first-person singular pronominal suffix י ('my'), meaning literally 'not my people.' The name is thus a grammatically formed phrase rather than a noun derived directly from a root.
Historical & Contextual Notes
Lôʾ ʿAmmî appears exclusively as a personal (symbolic) name in the Book of Hosea (Hosea 1:9). Within the prophetic enactment, it expresses the broken covenantal relationship between YHWH and the northern Israelites during the eighth century BCE. While 'people' (עַם) typically conveys a communal or ethnic group in familial or covenantal relationship, the prefixing of the negative adverb removes this relationship. English translations sometimes continue to use 'Lo-ammi' as a proper name or to render its literal meaning ('not my people'), but care should be taken that this reflects a specific prophetic pronouncement, not a technical designation for a new people group. Later interpretive traditions (post-biblical and Christian) sometimes spiritualize the term, but its original function is polemical and symbolic within Hosea's message. It has no known use outside this prophetic context, nor does it become an ethnic or geographic label.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from לֹא and עַם with pronominal suffix; not my people; Lo-Ammi, the symbolic name of a son of Hosea; Lo-ammi.
Bantu Hebrew
No Bantu Hebrew comparisons have been submitted for this word yet.
+ Add Bantu Hebrew WordRoot Family
עמם (ʿ-m-m) — to gather, associate, assemble
| Strong's | Lemma | SIBI-P1 |
|---|---|---|
| H532 | אָמִי | my people |
| H5971 | עַם | gathered people |
| H5972 | עַם | a gathered people |
| H5980 | עֻמָּה | in alignment with |
| H5991 | עַמִּיחוּר | My-Kinsman-is-Hur |
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H3818-02 |
לֹ֣א | lo | HTn |
Not | not | 1 |
H3818-01 |
עַמִּ֑י | ami | HNp |
My people | my people | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 total occurrences