'Rather' in the Bible

and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.”

Suppose my father touches me. Then I will be revealed to him as a deceiver and bring a curse rather than a blessing on myself.”

Leah looked rather plain, but Rachel was lovely in form and appearance.

Laban replied, "I'd rather give her to you than to another man. Stay with me."

And I have given to you one slope [of land] rather than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorites by my sword and with my bow."

Moses said to Pharaoh, “You make the choice rather than me. When should I ask on behalf of you, your officials, and your people, that the frogs be taken away from you and your houses, and remain only in the Nile?”

Do not eat any of it raw or boiled at all with water, but rather roasted with fire, both its head and its legs along with its entrails.

Moses also said, "When the LORD gives you meat to eat in the evening, and bread in the morning to satisfy you, the LORD will hear your complaints directed against him. Who are we? Your complaints aren't against us, but rather against the LORD."

If you see your enemy's donkey lying helpless under its load, you must not abandon it; rather, you are certainly to return it to him.

Rather, you are to tear down their altars, you are to smash their sacred pillars, and you are to cut down their sacred poles

This is so that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they were sacrificing [to idols] in the open field [where they killed them], that they may bring them in to the Lord, at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting to the priest, and sacrifice them as sacrifices of peace offerings to the Lord.

A widow, or a divorced woman, or one who is profaned by harlotry, these he may not take; but rather he is to marry a virgin of his own people,

But he said to him, “I will not come, but rather will go to my own land and relatives.”

Thus an inheritance of the {Israelites} will not go around from tribe to tribe. Rather, the inheritance of each tribe of his father will remain with the {Israelites}.

Rather it is because of his love for you and his faithfulness to the promise he solemnly vowed to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with great power, redeeming you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Therefore {there was not} for Levi an allotment or an inheritance [along] with his brothers; [rather] Yahweh [is] his inheritance [just] as Yahweh your God {promised} to him.

and the curse, if you [do] not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but [rather] you turn from the way that I [am] commanding you {today} to go after other gods that you have not known.

[Rather] {before Yahweh} your God you shall eat it year by year at the place Yahweh will choose, you and your household.

"And there shall not be for the Levitical priests, the whole tribe of Levi, a plot of ground and an inheritance with Israel, [rather] they may eat an offering made by fire [as] their inheritance, for Yahweh.

And there shall not be for them an inheritance [of land] in the midst of his brothers; [rather] Yahweh is his inheritance, [just] as he {promised} to them.

Rather, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, [just] as Yahweh your God has commanded you,

Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved wife as firstborn and give him the double portion of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father's procreative power -- to him should go the right of the firstborn.

[Rather] a full and honest weight shall be {for your use}; there shall be for you a full and honest {measure}, so that your days on the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you may be long.

The Lord shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven.

The [one] saying of his father and of his mother, 'I have not regarded them,' and his brothers he [did] not acknowledge, and his children [he did] not know, but [rather] they observed your word, and your covenant they kept.

He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”

And if we have not rather done it for fear of this thing, saying, In time to come your children might speak unto our children, saying, What have ye to do with the LORD God of Israel?

rather it shall be a witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.”’

"That's also why we said, "It may be if they say these things to us and to our descendants in the future, so we will respond, "Look at this replica of the altar of the LORD that our ancestors made, not for burnt offerings or sacrifice, but rather as a reminder between us and you.

But Hannah replied, "That's not the way it is, my lord! I am under a great deal of stress. I have drunk neither wine nor beer. Rather, I have poured out my soul to the Lord.

Don't consider your maid servant a worthless woman. Rather, all this time I've been speaking because I'm very anxious and distressed."

The only one I will not cut off from my altar [is you]. [Rather], to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, {all the members of your household} will die [as] men.

They said, "If you send the Ark of the God of Israel back, don't send it empty, but rather be sure to send back to him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed and will know why his oppression has not been removed from you."

But keep an eye on it. If it should go up by the way of its own border to Beth Shemesh, then he has brought this great calamity on us. But if that is not the case, then we will know that it was not his hand that struck us; rather, it just happened to us by accident."

The LORD told Samuel, "Listen to the people in all that they say to you. In fact, it's not you they have rejected, but rather they have rejected me from being their king.

The Philistine leaders said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" Achish asked the Philistine leaders, "Isn't this David, the servant of King Saul of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years? I've found no fault in him from the day he deserted until now."

So David inquired of Yahweh, but he said, "You shall not go up. [Rather,] go around to their rear and come to them from opposite the balsam trees.

And David said to Michal, It was before Jehovah, who chose me rather than thy father, and than all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of Jehovah, over Israel; and I played before Jehovah.

For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought up the {Israelites} from Egypt until this day; [rather,] I [was] going about in a tent and in a tabernacle.

And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?

“Now a traveler came to the rich man,And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”

Then Hushai said to Absalom, "No, rather, whom Yahweh and this people and all the men of Israel have chosen, to him I will be, and with him I will remain.

You love those who hate you and hate those who love you! You've made it abundantly clear today that your officers and the men under them mean nothing to you! I've learned today that you would rather have Absalom alive today and all the rest of us dead!

The Gibeonites were not Israelites but rather a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but Saul had tried to kill them in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah. So David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

So Benaiah went into the LORD's tent and told Joab, "The king orders you to come out!" "No," Joab said, "I'd rather die here!" So Benaiah went and informed the king, "This is how Joab answered me."

He said, "I did not throw Israel into confusion; rather you and the house of your father [have] by forsaking the commands of Yahweh when you went after the Baals!

Now the servants of the king of Aram said to him, “Their gods are gods of the mountains, therefore they were stronger than we; but rather let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we will be stronger than they.

Ahab addressed Naboth and asked him, "I would like to plant a vegetable garden near my house. Please exchange your vineyard with a better one from me, or if you'd rather have cash, I'll buy it for its full value."

And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

Rather, Yahweh, who brought you out from the land of Egypt with great strength and with an outstretched arm--him you shall fear, and to him you shall bow down, and to him you shall sacrifice.

throwing their gods into the fire, since they weren't gods but rather were the product of men's handiwork wood and stone. And so they destroyed them.

And the king of Israel saith unto Jehoshaphat, 'Did I not say unto thee, He doth not prophesy concerning me good, but rather of evil?'

Then I look and realized God had not sent him; rather, he had spoken the prophecy against me [because] Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

Then Memucan replied in the presence of the king and his officials, "It is not the king alone whom Vashti has wronged, but rather all of the officials and all of the people who are in the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

So that my soul chooseth strangling, and death rather than my life.

He will not allow me to {catch} my breath; rather, he will fill me with bitterness.

Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the kindred of Ram: against Job was his wrath kindled, because he justified himself rather than God.

Take heed, regard not iniquity: for this hast thou chosen rather than affliction.

Rather for you I wait, O Yahweh. You will answer, O Lord my God.

For they did not conquer the land by their swords, and they did not prevail by their strength, but rather by your power, strength and good favor, for you were partial to them.

Rather you have saved us from our enemies, and have humiliated those who hate us.

Rather, on account of you we are killed {all day long}; we are accounted as sheep for slaughter.

You love justice and hate wickedness. That is why God, even your God, has anointed you rather than your companions with the oil of gladness.

Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.

rather God [is the] judge; one he brings low, and another he lifts up.

For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

Give me a desire for your rules, rather than for wealth gained unjustly.

Rather I have soothed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother, like the weaned child [is] my soul with me.

Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.

How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver!

Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

A fool finds no satisfaction in trying to understand, for he would rather express his own opinion.

To do righteousness and judgment, Is chosen of Jehovah rather than sacrifice.

A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord all the time.

Keep thy feet when thou goest unto a house of God, and draw near to hear rather than to give of fools the sacrifice, for they do not know they do evil.

For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.

moreover it hath not seen nor known the sun: this hath rest rather than the other.

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them.

The softly spoken words of the wise are to be heard rather than the shouts of a ruler of fools.

Yet it does not so intend,Nor does it plan so in its heart,But rather it is its purpose to destroyAnd to cut off many nations.

Rather, there Yahweh [will be] mighty for us, a place of rivers [and] {broad streams}, a galley ship with oars cannot go in it, and a mighty ship cannot pass through it.

and have thrown their gods into the fire but they are not gods, but rather the products of human hands, mere wood and stone. So the Assyrians destroyed them.

“You have bought Me not sweet cane with money,Nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices;Rather you have burdened Me with your sins,You have wearied Me with your iniquities.

“[Rather] is this not the fast which I choose,To undo the bonds of wickedness,To tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke,To let the oppressed go freeAnd break apart every [enslaving] yoke?

You must observe the Sabbath rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. You must look forward to the Sabbath and treat the Lord's holy day with respect. You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities, and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals.

Rather, your iniquities have been {barriers} between you and your God, and your sins have hidden [his] face from you, from hearing.

Yet in all this her treacherous sister Judah didn't return to me with her whole heart, but rather deceptively," declares the LORD.

but rather, truly change your ways and your deeds. If you truly practice justice between each person and his neighbor,

But I am not really the one being troubled!" says the Lord. "Rather they are bringing trouble on themselves to their own shame!

And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.

They use their tongues like a bow. Lies rather than truth fly throughout the land. They progress from one evil to another, and they don't know me," declares the LORD.

Rather, let the one who boasts, boast in this: that he understands and knows me, for I am the LORD who acts with gracious love, justice, and righteousness in the land. I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

If they fast, I will not hear their cry of despair. If they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. Rather, I will finish them off by sword, famine, and plague.”

Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, look! The prophets are saying to them, "You won't see the sword and you won't experience famine. Rather, I'll give you lasting peace in this place.'"

Therefore, this is what the Lord says:If you return, I will restore you;you will stand in My presence.And if you speak noble words,rather than worthless ones,you will be My spokesman.It is they who must return to you;you must not return to them.

but rather, ‘As the Lord lives who brought the Israelites from the land of the north and from all the other lands where He had banished them.’ For I will return them to their land that I gave to their ancestors.

"""Therefore, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when this place will no longer be called Topheth, or the Valley of Hinnom, but rather the Valley of Slaughter.

The next day, Pashhur released Jeremiah from the stocks, and Jeremiah told him, "The LORD has not named you Pashhur, but rather Magor-missabib.

Rather, carefully obey this message, and then kings sitting for David on his throne and riding in chariots and on horses will enter the gates of this house. The king will enter along with his officials and his people.