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Hebrew word · Strong H3863

What does “would to God” mean in the Bible?

“Would to God” is the King James way of saying “if only” or “I wish”: it voices a wish, not a statement about what God wants. It renders Hebrew and Greek words of longing such as lu (H3863) and ophelon (G3785): “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt!” (Numbers 14:2).

The Hebrew word behind “would God”

לוּא

lûwʼ · transliteration · loo · pronunciation

In Strong’s lexicon
a conditional particle; if; by implication (interj. as a wish) would that!
In the King James
  • if6
Appears in
21 verses

See the full H3863 entry →Also in the lexicon: G3785 ὄφελον · H305 אַחֲלַי

A wish, not a statement

In the Bible, wishing shows up in the most human moments. The people in the wilderness, worn out, longed for Egypt: “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!” (Numbers 14:2). Moses, on the other hand, wished the Spirit would come on everyone: “would God that all the LORD'S people were prophets” (Numbers 11:29). And God himself speaks this way of his people: “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me” (Deuteronomy 5:29).

In the prophets the wish becomes God's lament — “O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river” (Isaiah 48:18) — and in the psalms, a prayer: “O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!” (Psalm 119:5). In the New Testament, the Greek ophelon is Jesus' word to the lukewarm church of Laodicea: “I would thou wert cold or hot” (Revelation 3:15), and Paul uses it with irony: “I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you” (1 Corinthians 4:8).

Where the Bible says it

Numbers 14:2

And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness!
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Isaiah 48:18

O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:
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Isaiah 64:1

Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
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1 Corinthians 4:8

Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you.
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Revelation 3:15

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
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Frequently asked questions

Does “would to God” mean that God wants something?
No. It is an old English way of voicing a wish — “if only”, “I wish that”. The Hebrew lu and the Greek ophelon behind it are simply words of longing; English at the time often put “God” into a wish, as in “would God”.
What does “I would thou wert cold or hot” mean?
It is Jesus' word to the church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:15-16): its faith was lukewarm, neither one thing nor the other, and he wishes it were not. The next verse gives the reason: “because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth” (Revelation 3:16).

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