ὦ

ὦ interjection (Hom.+)

① marker of personal address O, O … ! (oft. before the voc., in accord w. the Koine and w. Semitic usage, but never used when calling upon God. See B-D-F §146; Rob. 463f; Mlt-Turner 33).

ⓐ mostly expressing emotion (at the beginning of a clause; Cornutus 14 p. 14, 9 ὦ πονηρέ, κτλ.; TestAbr B 10 p. 115, 3 [Stone p. 78] ὦ ταλαίπωρε ψυχή; ParJer 5:28 ὦ υἱέ μου; ApcEsdr 5:6; ApcSed 11:1ff; ApcMos 10; Just., D. 32, 1 ὦ ἄνθρωπε; Mel., P. 81, 596 ὦ Ἰσραὴλ παράνομε) ὦ γύναι Mt 15:28; within a statement Hv 1, 1, 7 (as TestAbr B 6 p. 110, 22 [Stone p. 68]; TestJob 24:9). Cp. Lk 24:25; Ro 2:1, 3; 9:20; Gal 3:1; 1 Ti 6:20; Js 2:20. ὦ ἀνόητοι 1 Cl 23:4. The nom. takes the place of the voc. (Maximus Tyr. 1, 10g; Philostrat., Ep. 37) Mt 17:17; Mk 9:19; Lk 9:41; Ac 13:10.

ⓑ without emotion (in accord w. Attic usage, also EpArist 1; 120; Ar. 2, 1; Just., A II, 1, 1; Mel., P. 32, 216; Tat. 14, 1) ὦ Θεόφιλε Ac 1:1. Cp. 18:14; 27:21.

② an exclamatory utterance, O, Oh, How … ! etc. (in this use it can also be written ὤ). In modern versions the term is frequently rendered in some functional equivalent, e.g. ‘I stand amazed at’ (so Phillips: Ro 11:33), or w. the punctuation mark (!) serving as a semantic component.

ⓐ w. the nom. (Aeschyl. et al.; Chariton 6, 6, 4; Is 6:5; TestAbr A 7 p. 84, 26 [Stone, p. 16] ὦ θαῦμα) ὦ βάθος πλούτου Ro 11:33.

ⓑ w. the gen. (Chariton 6, 2, 8; 10; 11; Galen: CMG V/9, 1 p. 387, 2 ὢ τῆς ἀσυνεσίας; Achilles Tat. 5, 11, 2; TestJob 21:3 ὢ τῆς ἀλαζονείας; Philo, Fuga 149 ὢ θαυμαστῆς δοκιμασίας; Jos., Bell. 4, 166, C. Ap. 1, 301 ὢ τῆς εὐχερείας; Ar. 9, 5 ὢ τῆς ἀνοίας; Just., A I, 9, 5 ὢ τῆς ἐμβροντησίας; Mel., P. 97, 738 ὢ φόνου καινοῦ, ὢ ἀδικίας καινῆς) ὢ τῆς ὑπερβαλλούσης φιλανθρωπίας τοῦ θεοῦ O, the surpassing kindness of God to humanity! Dg 9:2; cp. vs. 5abc. ὢ μεγάλης ἀγάπης, ὢ τελειότητος ἀνυπερβλήτου What strong affection, what unexcelled maturity! 1 Cl 53:5.—Johannessohn, Kasus 9–13. DELG. M-M.