לְ/אָ֑יִן

𐤋/𐤀𐤉𐤍

ʼayin

to nothing

A particle of negation meaning 'there is not,' 'is not,' or 'does not exist'; used to express the absence, non-existence, or lack of a person, thing, quality, or condition. By extension, it can mark someone as lacking (e.g., fatherless), or denote a place or thing as absent or no longer present. Rarely functions substantively to indicate a non-entity or nothingness.

H369

Isaiah 40:23 · Word #3

Lexicon H369

Lemmaאַיִן
Lemma (Paleo)𐤀𐤉𐤍
Transliterationʼayin
Strong'sH369
DefinitionA particle of negation meaning 'there is not,' 'is not,' or 'does not exist'; used to express the absence, non-existence, or lack of a person, thing, quality, or condition. By extension, it can mark someone as lacking (e.g., fatherless), or denote a place or thing as absent or no longer present. Rarely functions substantively to indicate a non-entity or nothingness.

Morphology HR/Tn All morphology codes

Part of Speech T — Particle — Function word
Subtype n — Negative — Negative particle

Common Translation

Phraseto nothing

SIBI-P1 Translation H369-15

to non-existence

Morphological NotesPreposition לְ (to/toward) prefixed to the negative existential particle אַיִן; fixed particle, not inflected for gender or number.
Rendering RationaleThe particle אַיִן asserts categorical non-existence or absence; with the prefixed preposition לְ it expresses movement or direction toward that state. "To non-existence" preserves both the existential negation and the prefixed directional force.

View full lexicon entry for H369 →

SILEX v2

SIBI-P2 (Context-Aware)

to nothing

Same as P1No — adjusted for context
RationaleP1 'to non-existence' is too abstract; 'to nothing' is the conventional rendering in this idiom and faithful to context.