# 若 Opens 1,344 Conditionals in the Bible

> 若 opens a condition in 1,344 clauses of the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), where a modern text and an HSK 2 course would use 如果.

**Pattern:** 若 + condition + 就 / 便 + result
**HSK level:** 6 — the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'
**Rule used to find it:** 若 with another word after it in the same clause — the condition it opens.
**Confidence:** counted — 30 of 1,344 matches checked, 100% correct, by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker

若 is if. 人若死了, if a man die; 我们若说自己无罪, if we say that we have no sin. It usually stands after the subject rather than in front of it, which is the first thing to get used to, and the result clause often picks up with 就 or 便.

The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 若 1,345 times. 1 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.

This is the widest gap between the textbook and the text on the whole site. 如果 is taught early and occurs a handful of times in the entire Bible; 若 is not taught until HSK 6 and carries essentially every conditional in it. The alternatives table puts the two counts side by side.

It is commonest in Leviticus, with 153 of them, and 65% of all of them fall in the Old Testament — which is mostly a statement about length, since the Old Testament is the longer part of the book.

## Examples

- **James 2:17** — 这样，信心若没有行为就是死的。
  - zhè yàng ， xìn xīn ruò méi yǒu xíng wéi jiù shì sǐ de 。
  - Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself.
  - construction: 若没有
- **Luke 22:68** — 我若问你们，你们也不回答。
  - wǒ ruò wèn nǐ men ， nǐ men yě bù huí dá 。
  - and if I ask, you will in no way answer me or let me go.
  - construction: 若问
- **John 14:15** — 「你们若爱我，就必遵守我的命令。
  - 「 nǐ men ruò ài wǒ ， jiù bì zūn shǒu wǒ de mìng lìng 。
  - If you love me, keep my commandments.
  - construction: 若爱
- **1 Corinthians 16:4** — 若我也该去，他们可以和我同去。
  - ruò wǒ yě gāi qù ， tā men kě yǐ hé wǒ tóng qù 。
  - If it is appropriate for me to go also, they will go with me.
  - construction: 若我
- **Hebrews 11:15** — 他们若想念所离开的家乡，还有可以回去的机会。
  - tā men ruò xiǎng niàn suǒ lí kāi de jiā xiāng ， hái yǒu kě yǐ huí qu de jī huì 。
  - If indeed they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had enough time to return.
  - construction: 若想念
- **Matthew 6:22** — 「眼睛就是身上的灯。你的眼睛若了亮，全身就光明；
  - 「 yǎn jing jiù shì shēn shang de dēng 。 nǐ de yǎn jing ruò le liàng ， quán shēn jiù guāng míng ；
  - “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light.
  - construction: 若了

## The words this point is built on

| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 若 | ruò | 6 | 1,345 |

The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 6.

## What those occurrences are doing

|  | Occurrences | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| the construction | 1,344 | 100% |
| the same words doing something else | 1 | 0% |

## Where it occurs most

| Book | Clauses |
| --- | --- |
| Leviticus | 153 |
| Deuteronomy | 78 |
| 1 Corinthians | 76 |
| John | 75 |
| Exodus | 72 |

Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.

## Words the 和合本 uses in the same slot

| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 凡 | fán | 7 | 767 | 'whoever', a conditional by generalisation |
| 倘若 | tǎng ruò | 7 | 68 | a heavier literary 'if' |
| 如果 | rú guǒ | 2 | 13 | the modern conditional taught at HSK 2 |

The candidates are chosen by hand; the counts are measured, and a candidate the corpus cannot illustrate with a real verse is left out. No claim is made that they are interchangeable.

## Questions

**Is 若 still used in modern Chinese?**

In writing, yes — 若有 is unremarkable in a formal document. In speech it has been almost entirely replaced by 如果 and 要是, which is why a course teaches those first.

**How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?**

1,344 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 1,345 occurrences of the words that mark it.

**Which book of the Bible uses it most?**

Leviticus, with 153 — followed by Deuteronomy (78), 1 Corinthians (76), John (75).

**How do you know the count is right?**

The rule is: 若 with another word after it in the same clause — the condition it opens. 30 of its 1,344 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.

Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/grammar/ruo-conditional

---

- Definitions: CC-CEDICT, licensed CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- If you share this file onward, keep this notice and share alike.
- Character data: Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License / LGPL).
- Bible text: public domain — 和合本 · World English Bible · Louis Segond 1910.
- Built with https://chinese-bible.com