This is an interrogative negative: “Did you not say…” “Is it not true…” “Are
you not able to please?”
Karl W. Randolph.
2010/1/2 Richard <aaa AT endlyss.com>
> What is this construction, the first word in Genesis verse 7 (Genesis 4:7
> Halo הלוא)? According to what I can find out it would mean (hyperliterally)
> "the no". It seems to be a negative but I would like to know more about it
> if it is a Biblical idiom/construction and the possible ways it could be
> translated. In this case, it seems awkward to translate.
>
> Toda rabba!
>
> Richard Conaway
>