adverb with strong asseverative force:

a. surely, truly, especially at beginning of a speech (stronger & more decided than אַח) Genesis 28:16; Exodus 2:14; 1 Samuel 15:32; Isaiah 40:7; Isaiah 45:15; Jeremiah 3:23 (twice in verse); Jeremiah 4:10; Jeremiah 8:8. In 1 Kings 11:2 אָבֵן stands unusually; and מֶּןֿ (compare ᵐ5 ᵑ6 ᵑ7) should probably be read (so Klo).

b. emphasizing a contrast, but indeed, but in fact, especially after אָמַרְתִּי I said or thought, expressing the reality, in opposed to what had been wrongly imagined, Isaiah 49:4b (opposed to v^a) Isaiah 53:4 (opposed to Isaiah 53:3 end) Jeremiah 3:20 (opposed to the expectation Jeremiah 3:19 b) Zephaniah 3:7b Psalm 31:23b (opposed to Psalm 31:23a) Psalm 66:19; Psalm 82:7 (opposed to Psalm 82:6) Job 32:8 (opposed to Job 32:7).