Solecism of number in Hosea: plural tears, singular address
Scripture sometimes speaks with faulty wording that unsettles a reader and tempts the guess that the text was not written rightly or consistently. Some even dare, under the pretext of correction, to alter sayings and shift the sense that already lies in wording that looks consistent.
Here a similar case has fallen on the wording before us, so we must see the sense that lies in it. Hosea first speaks in the plural: "They wept and begged me" (sense of the plural tears), and again in the plural: "While I was in the house, they found me." Then he continues in the singular: "And there it was spoken toward him."
A reader fixed on bare wording and suspecting a slip would either pluralize the last clause or singularize what came before—reading on as if it said "spoken toward them," that is, toward those who wept…
Greek
Fragmentum ex commentariis in Osee ΕΚ ΤΩΝ ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΩΣΕΕ ΕΞΗΓΗΤΙΚΩΝ. 13.825 Ἐπειδὴ τὰ σολοικοειδῶς εἰρημένα κατὰ τὴν Γραφὴν ὅσα κατὰ τὴν λέξιν συγχύνει τὸν ἐντυγχάνοντα, ὡς ὑπονοεῖν οὐκ ὀρθῶς, οὐδὲ ἀκολούθως, οὐδὲ ὡς ἔχει, γεγράφθαι τὰ ῥητά· ὡς καὶ τολμᾷν τινας, προφάσει διορθώσεως, ἀλλοιοῦν, μετατιθέντας τὸν ἐγκείμενον περὶ τὰ δοκοῦντα ἀκολούθως γεγράφθαι ῥητὰ νοῦν· ἀναγκαίως καὶ ἐνθάδε τοῦ ὁμοίου ἐμπεσόντος, ὅσον κατὰ τὴν λέξιν περὶ τὰ προκείμενα ῥητὰ, ἴδωμεν τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐγκείμενον νοῦν. Πληθυντικῶς γὰρ εἰπὼν, Ἔκλαυσαν καὶ ἐδεήθησάν μου· καὶ πάλιν πληθυντικῶς τὸ ἑξῆς δηλώσας, Ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ ὢν, εὗρόν με, τὸ ἑξῆς ἐπὶ ἑνικοῦ ἐπιφέρει, λέγων· Καὶ ἐκεῖ ἐλαλήθη πρὸς αὐτόν. Τῇ γὰρ λέξει ψιλῇ τις ἐνιδὼν κατὰ πλάνην δοκῶν γεγράφθαι, ἢ καὶ τὸ τελευταῖον πληθυντικῶς γράψει· ἢ τὰ προά 13.828 γοντα εἰς ἑνικὸν μεταθείη. Ἀναγνοὺς γὰρ, Ἔκλαυσαν καὶ ἐδεήθησάν μου· καὶ, Ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ ὢν, εὗρόν με, εἴποι ἂν, ὅτι καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς οὖν ἐστιν, Ἐκεῖ ἐλαλήθη πρὸς αὐτούς· τουτέστι τοὺς κλαύσαντας
About this text
Origen of Alexandria, Fragmentum ex commentariis in Osee (Greek).
Original English Translation of Origen’s Fragmentum ex commentariis in Osee — new OET from PG 13 Greek.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 13 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.