Matthew 2:3
Footnote:
7a | Little known, much ignored fact, the Greek here for Jerusalem Ἱεροσόλυμα is grammatically plural. More interesting is that it is referred to with a feminine all/every. Scholars worked hard to come up with explanations (for not translating either the feminine or plural): "the unusual coupling of the feminine πᾶσα with the neuter plural Ἱεροσόλυμα is easily explained by the supposition that the appellative idea, ἡ πόλις, was in the writer's mind" Thayers Greek Lexicon Scholarly explanations often seem to be used as excuses not to translate what is there, i.e. justifications for putting what is written out of public view. It is odd to use the word "πᾶσα" (which is feminine) with "Ἱεροσόλυμα" (which is neuter plural), because they don’t go together in Greek grammar. The scholar's explanation is that the writer is mentally associating "Ἱεροσόλυμα" (Jerusalem) with a different word "πόλις" (city), which is feminine. In other words, the writer screwed up, but the scholars, who can read minds of ancient writers, understand what he intended. Therefore, the public does not need to see or be bothered by the "discrepency." There are in fact two forms for this name used in the NT: The singular Ἰερουσαλήμ And the Greek neuter plural Ἱεροσόλυμα The writer knows what he is writing, and his intentions behind using a feminine all with Jerusalems don't need to be changed. |