Exploring the Meaning of Hos in Greek

ὅς expresses a relative connection, introducing a clause that identifies or further describes a person or thing (“which”). In the passages below it links key nouns—people, a name, a star, a time, commandments, and spoken charges—to clarifying information that follows.

Root and Related Words

Related to ho (ὁ) — the/this/who (Strong’s G3588).

Occurrences

Matthew 1:16 Jacob became the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, from whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

Here ὅς attaches an identifying clause to “Jesus.” After stating that Jesus was born “from whom” (Mary), the relative clause “who is called Christ” specifies the designation by which Jesus is known in this genealogy line. The word functions as the hinge that turns from birth and lineage language to a naming-identification statement.

Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel;” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”

In this quotation, ὅς introduces an explanatory aside about the name “Immanuel.” The narrative gives the name, then uses the relative connector to supply an interpretation: “which is, being interpreted, ‘God with us.’” The word marks the shift from the cited wording to the author’s clarifying gloss, tying the interpretation directly to the name just mentioned.

Matthew 1:25 and didn’t know her sexually until she had given birth to her firstborn son. He named him Jesus.

Within this sentence the narrative moves from Joseph’s conduct toward Mary to the completion of birth and then to naming the child. ὅς serves as a relative link inside the flow of description, supporting the chain of events and the identification of the child who receives the name “Jesus.”

Matthew 2:9 They, having heard the king, went their way; and behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was.

ὅς connects “the star” to a descriptive clause: “which they saw in the east.” That relative detail identifies the star being referenced as the same one already observed earlier. The word also helps keep the narrative coherent as the star becomes the subject of action—going before them and then standing over the place where the child was.

Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked by the wise men, was exceedingly angry, and sent out, and killed all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside, from two years old and under, according to the exact time which he had learned from the wise men.

This verse contains two relative connections. First, ὅς narrows the object of Herod’s violence: “all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding countryside,” specifying location as the defining feature of the targeted group. Second, the phrase “the exact time which he had learned from the wise men” links “time” with its source, grounding Herod’s age limit (“from two years old and under”) in what he had obtained from the wise men. In both cases the word enables precision—defining which children and which time.

Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

ὅς supports two characterizing clauses about “he” who comes after. The first—“he who comes after me”—identifies the coming figure by his relation to the speaker’s ministry. The second—“whose sandals I am not worthy to carry”—adds a humility statement that further describes the same person. The word thus anchors comparative language (“mightier than I”) in concrete relational description.

Matthew 3:12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”

In this agricultural imagery, ὅς participates in specifying the items under discussion, keeping “his” actions tied to the proper objects: fork, floor, wheat, barn, chaff, and fire. The relative function contributes to the clear assignment of actions and outcomes within the picture of sorting and judgment-like separation presented in the sentence.

Matthew 3:17 Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

The voice identifies “my beloved Son” and then adds an evaluative clause introduced by ὅς: “with whom I am well pleased.” The word links the divine pleasure directly to the Son being identified, making the clause a defining affirmation attached to the title “Son,” not a detached comment.

Matthew 5:19 Whoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments, and teach others to do so, shall be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them shall be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Here ὅς frames two conditional characterizations: “Whoever…shall break…” and “whoever shall do and teach….” The relative form groups people by their relationship to “these least commandments” and by what they teach others. It functions to set categories that receive corresponding evaluations (“least” and “great”) within “the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not murder;’ and ‘Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’

ὅς marks the generalizing scope of the prohibition’s consequence: “Whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.” The word turns the statement into an open-ended category—any person who commits the act named—so the warning is not limited to a single case but applies broadly to the defined action.

Matthew 5:22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause will be in danger of the judgment. Whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ will be in danger of the council. Whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of Gehenna.

This verse uses ὅς repeatedly to structure escalating examples. “Everyone who is angry…” specifies the kind of person in view and connects that condition to a stated liability. Then “Whoever says… ‘Raca!’” and “Whoever says, ‘You fool!’” define two speech-actions, each attached to a distinct consequence (“the council,” “the fire of Gehenna”). The word’s relative force organizes the teaching into recognizable case descriptions: the one who does X is exposed to Y.

Matthew 5:31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce,’

ὅς introduces a legal-style condition: “Whoever shall put away his wife…” The clause defines the circumstance under which the instruction applies (“let him give her a writing of divorce”). The word thereby frames the quoted rule in terms of a person characterized by a specific action, and then attaches the required response.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages ὅς serves as the standard relative connector that binds an identifying or qualifying clause to what immediately precedes. When attached to a person (“Jesus,” “he,” “my beloved Son,” “whoever”), it links identity, relationship, or evaluation to that person: “Jesus, who is called Christ” (Matthew 1:16), “he who comes after me” (Matthew 3:11), and “with whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). When attached to a thing (“the star,” “the exact time,” “these least commandments”), it supplies delimiting detail—what star is meant (Matthew 2:9), what time is meant (Matthew 2:16), and which commandments are in view (Matthew 5:19).

The word also regularly shapes discourse by turning statements into definable categories. In Matthew 5:19–22 and 5:31, the repeated “Whoever…” clauses create classes of people identified by a behavior (breaking commandments, doing and teaching them, murdering, being angry, speaking certain insults, putting away a wife) and then link each class to an outcome or instruction. In narrative settings, the same relative force keeps complex sentences coherent, allowing the author to introduce clarifications without breaking the flow (Matthew 1:23; 2:9; 2:16). In each case, ὅς signals that what follows is not a new topic but a clause that specifies what is already on the table.

Imagery in Context

Several occurrences place ὅς inside vivid scenes where identification matters: a star “which they saw in the east” guiding travelers to “where the young child was” (Matthew 2:9), and Herod’s rage directed toward children “who were in Bethlehem” under a time-frame “which he had learned from the wise men” (Matthew 2:16). The word’s quiet work in such lines is to pin the story to concrete referents—this star, these children, that learned time—so the reader can follow the narrative and its consequences with specificity.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).