Genesis singular permission, plural prohibition
…and those who begged, and who, while he was in the house, found God. From like sayings we can show that this too is said consistently.
In Genesis, when God commands Adam, he says: "From every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die."
There too he begins in the singular—"you may freely eat"—and then shifts to the plural prohibition and warning. When the command is about the life-keeping precept, he addresses Adam in the singular. Those who walk according to God and hold his commandments, even if many, by…
Greek
καὶ δεηθέντας, καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ ὢν, εὑρόντας τὸν Θεόν. Ἐκ παρατηρήσεως δὲ ὁμοίων ῥητῶν καὶ τοῦτο ἀκολούθως εἰρῆσθαι δείξομεν. Ἐν τῇ Γενέσει ὁ Θεὸς τῷ Ἀδὰμ ἐντολὴν διδοὺς, οὕτω φησίν· Ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φαγῇ· ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν, οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ· ᾗ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε. Ἀρξάμενος γὰρ κἀκεῖ ἀπὸ ἑνικοῦ ἐν τῷ εἰρηκέναι, παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φαγῇ, ἐπιφέρει πληθυντικῶς, εἰπὼν, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ γινώσκειν καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν, οὐ φάγεσθε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ· ᾗ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε. Ὅτε γὰρ περὶ τῆς ἐντολῆς δι' ἧς αὐτὸν ἐν ζωῇ ταύτην τηροῦντα ἠθέλησεν εἶναι, ἑνικῶς ἐντέλλεται, καὶ φησίν· Ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φαγῇ. Οἱ γὰρ κατὰ Θεὸν περιπατοῦντες καὶ τῶν ἐντολῶν αὐτοῦ ἀντεχόμενοι, κἂν πολλοὶ ὦσι, τῷ
About this text
Origen of Alexandria, Fragmentum ex commentariis in Osee (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.