Ὅς

ὅς (hos, ὅς, ἥ, ὅ)

Gloss: relative pronoun - who, which

Strong's 3739

GK 4005

Frequency in New Testament: 1435


 * not surprising that this is the 12th most common word in the NT.
 * the relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in gender and number.
 * case is decided by its function inside the relative clause, not the case of its antecedent!

Case of the relative pronoun - examples
As noted above, the case of the relative pronoun depends on its function in the relative clause, not the antecedent in the sentence as a whole. The trick is to imagine the relative clause as standing on its own. The relative pronoun, if it were the person or thing in that clause, what case would it be? That would be the case of the relative pronoun.


 * οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ἀγαπητός, ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα - This is my beloved son in whom I am please. The antecedent "my son" is nominative but in the relative clause the son is one "in whom" God is pleased. So the relative pronoun is the dative sg. masc. ᾧ
 * ἰδοὺ ὁ παῖς μου ὃν ᾑρέτισα - Behold my servant whom I have chosen. The antecedent is "ὁ παῖς μου", my servant, which is the subject and is in the nominative. But in the relative clause, God chose "him", he is the object of God's choice. So "whom" is in the accusative "ὃν".