CHAP. VIII. ----That we need not attempt to correct the solecistic phrases of Scripture, and those which are unintelligible according to the letter, seeing that they contain great propriety of thought for those who can understand. From the Commentary on Hosea.

1. Inasmuch as the solecisms 184 in Scripture, if literally taken, often confuse the reader, so that he suspects the text to be neither correct, nor in accord with propriety of reason; and this to such an extent, that some persons by way of correction, even venture to make alterations and substitute another meaning for that of the seemingly inconsistent passages, I fear something similar may befall the language of the passages before us; we are therefore bound to see what their hidden meaning is. The Prophet after using the plural, "They wept and made supplication unto me," 185 and again the plural, showing the sequel, "In the house of On they found me," proceeds in the singular, "And there he spoke with him." A reader glancing at the words as they stand might suppose there was an error in the copy, and therefore write the plural in the last clause, or change the previous plurals into the singular. For when he reads, "They wept and made supplication unto me," and "In the house of On they found me," he would say that the next clause should be, "There he spake with them," that is, with those who wept and made supplication and found God in the house of On. But if we consider other passages we shall see that even here we have no inconsistency.

2. In Genesis God gives a command to Adam, saying, "Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ye shall not eat of it: for in the day that ye eat thereof ye shall surely die." 186 There, also, God begins by speaking in the singular, "Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat," but goes on in the plural, "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, ye shall not eat of it: for in the day that ye eat thereof, ye shall surely die." The explanation is that when God speaks of the commandment which He wished Adam to keep and live, He commands in the singular, "Of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat"; for they who walk in God's ways and hold fast His commandments, though they be many, yet by reason of their being of one mind the many are essentially one.187 And, therefore, when a commandment respecting goodness is given, the singular is used----"Thou mayest freely eat"; but in laying down the law respecting transgression, God no longer uses the singular, but the plural----"Ye shall not eat: for in the day that ye eat thereof, ye shall surely die."

3. And so it is with the present passage. When they still weep and make supplication to God, the plural is used----"They wept and made supplication to me "; but when they find God, He no longer uses the plural----"There He spake, not with them," but with him. For by finding God and by hearing His Word, they have already become one. For the individual when he sins is one of many, severed from God and divided, his unity gone; but the many who follow the commandments of God are one man; as also the Apostle testifies, saying, "For we who are many are one bread, one body";188 and again, "There is one God, and One Christ, and one faith, and one baptism";189 and elsewhere, "For all we are one body in Christ Jesus";190 and again, "I espoused you all to one husband, that I might present you as a pure virgin to the Lord."191 And that they are well pleasing to the Lord and one,192 is shown in the Lord's prayer to His Father for His disciples. "Holy Father," He says, "grant that as I and Thou are one, so also they may be one in us."193 And also, whenever the saints are said to be members of one another,194 the only conclusion is that they are one body. In The Shepherd,195 again, where we read of the building of the tower, a building composed of many stones, but seeming to be one solid block, what can the meaning of the Scripture be except the harmony and unity of the many?

[1] Περὶ τοῦ μὴ δεῖν τὰ σολοικοειδῆ καὶ μὴ σώζοντα τὴν κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν ἀκολουθίαν ῥητὰ τῆς γραφῆς ἐπιχειρεῖν διορθοῦσθαι, πολὺ τοῖς συνιέναι δυναμένοις τὸ τῆς διανοίας ἀκόλουθον σώζοντα. ἐκ τῶν εἰς τὸν Ὠσηὲ ἐξηγητικῶν. Ἐπειδὴ πολλάκις 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 τινὰς προφάσει διορθώσεως μετατιθέντας ἀλλοιοῦν τὸν ἐγκείμενον περὶ τὰ δοκοῦντα ἀνακολούθως 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 εἰπών: Ἔκλαυσαν καὶ ἐδεήθησάν μου: καὶ πάλιν πληθυντικῶς τὸ ἑξῆς δηλώσας: Ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ὢν εὕρωσάν 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 γράψαι, ἢ τὰ προάγοντα εἰς ἑνικὸν μεταθείη. ἀναγνοὺς γάρ: Ἔκλαυσαν καὶ ἐδεήθησάν μου: καί: Ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ὢν εὕρωσάν με: εἴποι ἂν ὅτι καὶ τὸ ἑξῆς οὖν ἐστίν: Ἐκεῖ ἐλαλήθη πρὸς αὐτούς: τουτέστι, τοὺς κλαύσαντας καὶ δεηθέντας καὶ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ὢν εὑρόντας τὸν θεόν. ἐκ παρατηρήσεως δὲ ὁμοίων ῥητῶν καὶ τοῦτο ἀκολούθως εἰρῆσθαι δείξομεν.
[2] Ἐν τῇ Γενέσει τῷ Ἀδὰμ ὁ θεὸς 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: Ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φαγῇ: ἐπιφέρει πληθυντικῶς εἰπών: 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 [λέγει], δι' ἧς αὐτὸν ἐν ζωῇ ταύτην τηροῦντα ἠθέλησεν εἶναι, ἑνικῶς ἐντέλλεται, καί φησιν: Ἀπὸ παντὸς ξύλου τοῦ ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ βρώσει φαγῇ: οἱ γὰρ κατὰ θεὸν περιπατοῦντες καὶ τῶν ἐντολῶν αὐτοῦ ἀντεχόμενοι, κἂν πολλοὶ ὦσι, τῷ ὁμόφρονες εἶναι οἱ πολλοὶ ἕν εἰσι. διὰ τοῦτο ὅτε περὶ ἀγαθοῦ ἐντολὴ δίδοται, ἑνικῶς αὐτῷ λέγεται τό: Βρώσει φαγῇ: ὅτε δὲ ἤδη περὶ παραβάσεως διαστέλλεται, οὐχ ἑνικῶς ἀλλ' ἤδη πληθυντικῶς φησίν: Οὐ φάγεσθε: ᾗ δ' ἂν ἡμέρᾳ φάγητε, θανάτῳ ἀποθανεῖσθε.
[3] Οὕτως οὖν καὶ ἐνθάδε, ὅτε ἔτι κλαίουσι καὶ δέονται πρὸς θεὸν, πληθυντικῶς λέγεται τό: Ἔκλαυσαν καὶ ἐδεήθησάν μου: ὅτε δὲ εὑρίσκουσι τὸν θεὸν, οὐκέτι πληθυντικῶς φησὶ τό: Ἐκεῖ ἐλαλήθη πρὸς αὐτούς: ἀλλά: πρὸς αὐτόν. ἤδη γὰρ ἓν γεγόνασιν οἱ πολλοὶ ἐν τῷ εὑρηκέναι τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀκούειν λόγον αὐτοῦ. ὁ γὰρ εἷς ὅτε ἁμαρτάνει πολλοστός ἐστιν, ἀποσχιζόμενος ἀπὸ θεοῦ καὶ μεριζόμενος καὶ τῆς ἑνότητος ἐκπεσών: οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ ταῖς ἐντολαῖς ἑπόμενοι ταῖς τοῦ θεοῦ εἷς εἰσί: καθὼς καὶ ὁ ἀπόστολος μαρτυρεῖ, εἰπών: Ὅτι εἷς ἄρτος καὶ ἓν σῶμα οἱ πολλοί ἐσμεν: καὶ πάλιν: Εἷς θεὸς καὶ εἷς χριστὸς καὶ μία πίστις καὶ ἓν βάπτισμα: καὶ ἀλλαχοῦ: Ὅτι οἱ πάντες ἕν ἐσμεν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ: καὶ αὖθις: Ἡρμοσάμην γὰρ ὑμᾶς τοὺς πάντας ἑνὶ ἀνδρὶ παρθένον ἁγνὴν παραστῆσαι, τῷ κυρίῳ. καὶ ὅτι οἱ εὐαρεστοῦντες τῷ κυρίῳ ἕν εἰσιν, ἀπὸ τῆς προσευχῆς, ἧς ὁ σωτὴρ εὔχεται πρὸς τὸν πατέρα περὶ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ, ἔστιν ἰδεῖν: Πάτερ γάρ, φησιν, ἅγιε, δὸς ἵνα καθὼς ἐγὼ καὶ σὺ ἕν ἐσμεν οὕτω καὶ οὗτοι ἐν ἡμῖν ἓν ὦσιν. ὅταν δὲ καὶ ἀλλήλων μέλη εἶναι λέγωνται οἱ ἅγιοι, τί ἄλλο εἰ μὴ ἓν σῶμά εἰσι; καὶ ἐν τῷ Ποιμένι δὲ τὴν οἰκοδομὴν τοῦ πύργου, διὰ πολλῶν μὲν λίθων οἰκοδομουμένην, ἐξ ἑνὸς δὲ λίθου φαινομένην εἶναι τὴν οἰκοδομὴν, τί ἄλλο ἢ τὴν ἐκ πολλῶν συμφωνίαν καὶ ἑνότητα σημαίνει ἡ γραφή;