Ou & Me: No, No, A Thousand Times No!

Word of the Week

August 16, 2025

Ou & Mē: No, No, A Thousand Times No!

 

And I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.

John 10:28 NASB

 

English teachers warn, “Don’t use a double negative!”

They will explain that when you say that you do NOT not do something, you’re really saying that you will do it.  The two “not’s” cancel each other.

Double negatives are common enough:  “That ain’t none of your business!”

But when a student begs, “Don’t tell my parents,” they know what it means when the teacher replies, “I’m not going to not tell them.”

Those are the rules in English.  But that’s not how it works in Greek.  When a Greek writer uses the word “not” twice, it doesn’t cancel the meaning.  It strengthens it.  It means, “This is really, really not going to happen!”

This special sort of emphasis occurs often in the Greek New Testament, but it doesn’t always come through clearly in our English translation.  Let’s look at a few verses where this bit of grammar makes a difference in our understanding of the passage.

New Testament Greek uses two words for “not”:  ou [ooh] and mē [may].  Either one makes it clear that something is not going to occur.  But when a Greek writer uses them both, he means, “There is no way this will ever be true!”

I love the fact that this combination of words shows up in passages that talk about the promises of God.  Consider some of the grand statements that Jesus made about God’s faithfulness.

• “Whoever comes to me I will never [ou mē] cast out” (John 6:37 ESV).

Do you worry that God might toss you of His family, even though you have come to Jesus for forgiveness?

Jesus says, “That is not . . . NOT going to happen.”

 

• “I give eternal life to them, and they will never [ou mē] perish” (John 10:28).

Are you afraid that you will end up in eternal destruction, even though you have trusted in Jesus and His gift of eternal life?

Jesus says, “Once you receive My gift of eternal life, you are not . . . definitely NOT going to perish.”

 

• “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never [ou mē] thirst” (John 4:14).

The Samaritan woman thought she was having a conversation about the kind of water that she had to fetch every day, but Jesus was offering her a different kind of water – the water of life.  Have you been looking for something that would satisfy your spiritual thirst for more than just a moment?

Jesus said, “I can give you something that will satisfy permanently and completely.  You will not . . . NOT be thirsty again, because the “water” He gives will become “a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

 

As you can see, double negatives provide emphatic reminders that God always keeps His promises.

But before we leave this topic, let me introduce you to a verse that pulls out all the stops in celebrating God’s reliability.  Hebrews 13:5 quotes from the book of Psalms:

I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.

In the Greek, the writer piles up not just two “not’s” – but five!  Here’s how it reads in the original:

I will not . . . NOT  [ou mē] desert you,

and not [ou + and]

I will not . . . NOT  [ou mē] forsake you.

That’s a quintuple negative, reminding me that God will not, not, not, not, not fail to care for me.  That’s why I can claim the rest of the verse:  “The Lord is my helper; what shall man do to me?”

 

Study Hint:

Greek grammar books will give detailed explanations of the different uses for our two versions of “not,” but there is no need to worry about those minutia at this point.

And you shouldn’t be disappointed if you find a promise that only comes with one negative, not two.  Greek has many ways to show certainty, and the Bible has endless ways to make the point that God always keeps Hisword.

 

Coming Up

The apostle Paul uses a distinctive phrase to make it totally clear that something is NOT true.  Next week we will look more closely to see how he denies something with vigor!

Ezra Project 2025