I must confess to my shame that we have conducted ourselves as weaklings

ὅτι (Hom.+) conjunction (B-D-F §396f; 408; 416; 470, 1 al.; Rob. 1032–36, al. [s. index]; HPernot, Études sur la langue des Évang. 1927, 41ff) originally the neuter of ὅστις.

① marker of narrative or discourse content, direct or indirect, that. Used after verbs that denote mental or sense perception, or the transmission of such perception, or an act of the mind, to indicate the content of what is said, etc.

ⓐ after verbs of saying, indicating, etc.: ἀπαγγέλλω, ἀποκρίνομαι, δείκνυμι, δῆλόν (ἐστιν), διδάσκω, εἶπον, ἐμφανίζω, λέγω, μαρτυρέω, ὁμολογέω, φημί etc.; s. the entries in question. Likew. after verbs of swearing, affirming and corresponding formulae: μαρτύρομαι Ac 20:26; Gal 5:3. μάρτυρα τὸν θεὸν ἐπικαλοῦμαι 2 Cor 1:23. ὀμνύω Rv 10:6. Cp. the sim. exprs. πιστὸς ὁ θεός 2 Cor 1:18. ἰδοὺ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ Gal 1:20.—2 Cor 11:10. Cp. also φάσις … ὅτι Ac 21:31. αἱ γραφαὶ ὅτι the Scriptures (which state) that Mt 26:54.—On 1J 2:12–14 s. BNoack, NTS 6, ’60, 236–41.

ⓑ after verbs that denote sense perception ἀκούω, θεάομαι, θεωρέω (q.v. 1); s. these entries.

ⓒ after verbs that denote mental perception ἀγνοέω, ἀναγινώσκω, βλέπω (perceive), γινώσκω, γνωστόν ἐστιν, ἐπιγινώσκω, ἐπίσταμαι, θεωρέω (q.v. 2a), καταλαμβάνω, μιμνῄσκομαι, μνημονεύω, νοέω, οἶδα, ὁράω (q.v. A4a), συνίημι, ὑπομιμνῄσκω; s. these entries. In Gal 1:11 ὅτι comes later in the sentence so as to permit the emphatic portion of the subordinate clause to come to the forefront.

ⓓ after verbs of thinking, judging, believing, hoping: δοκέω (q.v. 1d), ἐλπίζω (q.v. 2), κρίνω, λογίζομαι, νομίζω (q.v. 2), οἶμαι, πέπεισμαι, πέποιθα, πιστεύω (q.v. 1aβ), ὑπολαμβάνω; s. these entries. εἶχον τὸν Ἰωάννην ὅτι προφήτης ἦν they held that John was a prophet Mk 11:32 (s. B-D-F §330; 397, 2; Rob. 1029; 1034).

ⓔ after verbs that denote an emotion and its expression ἀγανακτέω, ἐξομολογέομαι, ἐπαινέω, εὐχαριστέω, θαυμάζω, μέλει μοι, συγχαίρω, χαίρω, χάριν ἔχω τινί; s. these entries.

ⓕ Very oft. the subj. of the ὅτι-clause is drawn into the main clause, and becomes the object of the latter: ἐπεγίνωσκον αὐτοὺς ὅτι (=ὅτι αὐτοὶ) σὺν τῷ Ἰησοῦ ἦσαν Ac 4:13. οἴδατε τὴν οἰκίαν Στεφανᾶ ὅτι (=ὅτι ἡ οἰκία Σ.) ἐστὶν ἀπαρχή 1 Cor 16:15. Cp. Mt 25:24; Mk 12:34; J 8:54; 9:8; Ac 3:10; 1 Cor 3:20 (Ps 93:11); 1 Th 2:1; Rv 17:8. Somet. the subj. is repeated by a demonstrative pron. in the ὅτι-clause: ἐκήρυσσεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ Ac 9:20.—Pass. εἰ Χριστὸς κηρύσσεται ὅτι ἐκ νεκρῶν ἐγήγερται (=εἰ κηρύσσεται ὅτι Χρ. ἐκ νεκ. ἐγ.) 1 Cor 15:12.

② marker of explanatory clauses, that

ⓐ as a substitute for the epexegetical inf. (acc. w. inf.) after a preceding demonstrative (B-D-F §394; cp. Rob. 1034) αὕτη δέ ἐστιν ἡ κρίσις, ὅτι τὸ φῶς ἐλήλυθεν the judgment consists in this, that the light has come J 3:19. ἔστιν αὕτη ἡ ἀγγελία …, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς φῶς ἐστιν 1J 1:5. Cp. 3:16; 4:9, 10. ἐν τούτῳ …, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πνεύματος αὐτοῦ δέδωκεν ἡμῖν vs. 13; 5:11. περὶ τούτου … ὅτι about this …, that J 16:19. In ἔχω κατὰ σοῦ ὅτι … Rv 2:4, ὅτι is epexegetical to a τοῦτο that remains unexpressed. Cp. vs. 6. Of the same order is the use

ⓑ in ellipses τί ὅτι; what (is it) that? why? Lk 2:49; Ac 5:4, 9; Mk 2:16 v.l. (JosAs 16:5).—οὐχ ὅτι (=οὐ λέγω ὅτι) not that, not as if J 6:46; 7:22; 2 Cor 1:24; 3:5; Phil 3:12; 4:11; 2Th 3:9 (so μὴ ὅτι PLond I 42, 43 p. 30 [II B.C.]). ἐπεὶ οὐχ ὅτι since it is not the case that IMg 3:2.—οὐχ οἷον ὅτι Ro 9:6 (s. οἷος).—ὅτι alone is used for εἰς ἐκεῖνο ὅτι with regard to the fact that, in consideration of the fact that (Gen 40:15; Ruth 2:13) ποταπός ἐστιν οὗτος ὅτι; what sort of person is this, (in consideration of the fact) that? Mt 8:27 (but it is prob. that in this and sim. passages the causal force of ὅτι [s. 4 below] comes to the fore). τίς ὁ λόγος οὗτος ὅτι; Lk 4:36. Cp. 16:3; Mk 4:41; J 2:18; 8:22; 9:17; 11:47; 16:9–11.—ὅτι = ἐν τούτῳ ὅτι in that Ro 5:8. ὅτι = περὶ τούτου ὅτι concerning this, that Mt 16:8; Mk 8:17.—On ὅτι=why? (cp. Jos. Ant. 12, 213) Mk 9:11, 28 s. ὅστις 4b.

③ marker introducing direct discourse. In this case it is not to be rendered into English, but to be represented by quotation marks (ὅτι recitativum.—B-D-F §397, 5; 470, 1; EKieckers, IndogF 35, 1915, 21ff; Rob. 1027f. As early as Pla. [Apol. 23, 34 d.—Kühner-G. II, 366f]; Epict. 1, 9, 16; Arrian, Alex. An. 2, 12, 4; 2, 26, 4; 4, 8, 9; Philostrat., Vi. Apoll. 1, 38 p. 40; POxy 744, 11 [1 B.C.]; 119, 10; 1064, 5; LXX; TestAbr A 8 p. 85, 10 [Stone p. 18]; TestJob 6:7; 35:1; 36:3; ParJer 1:6; 2:7; ApcEsdr; AscIs 3:9; Jos. Ant. 11, 5; 18, 326, Vi. 55) ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι ‘βλασφημεῖς’ ὅτι εἶπον J 10:36. ὁμολογήσω αὐτοῖς ὅτι ‘οὐδέποτε ἔγνων ὑμᾶς’ Mt 7:23. So after var. verbs of saying as direct discourse: Mt 26:72–75; 27:43; Mk 1:37; 2:16; 5:28; 12:29; 13:6 (JSundwall, Om bruket av ὅτι recit. i Mk: Eranos 31, ’33, 73–81; MZerwick, Untersuchgen z. Mk-Stil ’37, 39–48); Lk 1:25, 61 (PWinter, HTR 48, ’55, 213–16); 4:41a; 5:26; 15:27a; J 1:20, 32; 4:17; 6:42; 16:17; Ac 5:23; 15:1; Ro 3:8 (B-D-F §470, 1; Rob. 1033; AFridrichsen, ZNW 34, ’35, 306–8); 2 Th 3:10; 1J 4:20 al. Scripture quotations are also introduced in this way (Appian, Bell. Civ. 62 §260 a saying of Caesar in direct discourse is introduced by ὅτι): Μωϋσῆς ἔγραψεν ἡμῖν ὅτι ‘ἐάν τινος κτλ.’ Mk 12:19.—Mt 2:23; 21:16; Lk 2:23; J 10:34; Ro 8:36; 1 Cor 14:21; Hb 11:18.—On ὅτι foll. by the acc. and inf. in direct discourse Lk 4:43 s. 5a below.

④ marker of causality

ⓐ subordinating, because, since ὅτι ἑώρακάς με, πεπίστευκας J 20:29.—Mt 2:18 (Jer 38:15); 5:3ff; 13:16; Mk 1:34; 5:9; Lk 4:41b; 6:20ff; 8:30; 10:13; 11:42ff; 13:2b; 15:27b; perh. 18:9 (TManson, The Sayings of Jesus ’54, 309); 19:17; J 1:30, 50a; 2:25; 3:18; 5:27; 9:16, 22; Ro 6:15; 1 Cor 12:15f. On 1J 2:12–14 s. BNoack, NTS 6, ’60, 236–41 (opposes causal mng.).—Used w. demonstr. and interrog. pronouns διὰ τοῦτο … ὅτι for this reason …, (namely) that J 8:47; 10:17; 12:39; 1J 3:1 al. διὰ τί; ὅτι … why? because … Ro 9:32; 2 Cor 11:11. χάριν τίνος; ὅτι … for what reason? because … 1J 3:12. Foll. by διὰ τοῦτο because … for this reason J 15:19. οὐχ ὅτι … ἀλλʼ ὅτι not because … but because 6:26; 12:6.

ⓑ The subordination is oft. so loose that the transl. for recommends itself (B-D-F §456, 1; Rob. 962f). Naturally the line betw. the two groups cannot be drawn with certainty: Mt 7:13; 11:29; Lk 7:47 (on this pass. and 1J 3:14 s. Schwyzer II 646, w. ref. to Il. 16, 34f: ‘infer this from the fact that’); 9:12; 13:31; 16:24; J 1:16f; 9:16; 1 Cor 1:25; 4:9; 10:17; 2 Cor 4:6; 7:8, 14; 1J 3:14.—MBlack, An Aramaic Approach³, ’67, 70ff.

⑤ special uses

ⓐ ὅτι w. acc. and inf. after θεωρεῖν Ac 27:10 (on the mingling of constructions cp. POxy 237 V, 8 δηλῶν ὅτι … δεῖσθαι τὸ πρᾶγμα; EpArist 125; schol. on Clem. of Alex., Protr. p. 296, 11f Stäh.—B-D-F §397, 6; Rob. 1036; Rdm.² 195; MArnim, De Philonis Byzantii dicendi genere, diss. Greifs-wald 1912, 88 [but s. on this Rdm.² 196, 1]). Less irregular is καὶ ὅτι w. a finite verb as the second member dependent on παρακαλεῖν after the inf. ἐμμένειν Ac 14:22.—S. also c, below and HCadbury, JBL 48, 1929, 412–25.

ⓑ ὡς ὅτι is found three times in Pauline letters and simply means ‘that’ in the later vernacular (exx. in Mlt. 212; B-D-F §396; Rob. 1033). But the subjective mng. of ὡς must be conceded for the NT, since the Vulgate renders ὡς ὅτι twice w. ‘quasi’ (2 Cor 11:21; 2 Th 2:2) and the third time (2 Cor 5:19) w. ‘quoniam quidem’: διʼ ἐπιστολῆς …, ὡς ὅτι ἐνέστηκεν ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου by a letter … (of such content) that (in the opinion of its writer) the day of the Lord is (now) here 2 Th 2:2. Paul says ironically: κατὰ ἀτιμίαν λέγω, ὡς ὅτι ἡμεῖς ἠσθενήκαμεν I must confess to my shame that we have conducted ourselves as weaklings (as I must concede when I compare my conduct w. the violent treatment you have had fr. others [vs. 20]) 2 Cor 11:21 (for the thought cp. Demosth. 18, 320: ‘I confess it. I am weak, but all the more loyal than you [Aeschines] to my fellow citizens’). Likew. 5:19; we are a new creation in Christ (vs. 17). This does not alter the fact that everything has its origin in God, who reconciled us w. himself through Christ (vs. 18), ὡς ὅτι θεὸς ἦν ἐν Χριστῷ κόσμον καταλλάσσων ἑαυτῷ that is (acc. to Paul’s own conviction), (that) it was God who was reconciling the world to himself in Christ.

ⓒ consecutive ὅτι so that (Pel.-Leg. p. 20 τί διδοῖς τοῖς ἀμνοῖς σου ὅτι ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχουσιν;=what do you give your sheep so that they have eternal life? Acta Christophori p. 68, 18 Usener τοιοῦτοι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ θεοὶ ὑμῶν, ὅτι ὑπὸ γυναικὸς ἐκινήθησαν. Gen 20:9; Judg 14:3; 1 Km 20:1; 3 Km 18:9) ποῦ οὗτος μέλλει πορεύεσθαι, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐχ εὑρήσομεν αὐτόν; J 7:35. τί γέγονεν ὅτι … ; what has happened, so that (=to bring it about that) …? 14:22 (so Rob. 1001; difft. Rdm.² 196 and B-D-F §480, 6). This is prob. also the place for οὐδὲν εἰσηνέγκαμεν εἰς τὸν κόσμον, ὅτι οὐδὲ ἐξενεγκεῖν τι δυνάμεθα we have brought nothing into the world, so that (as a result) we can take nothing out of it 1 Ti 6:7. τί ἐστιν ἄνθρωπος, ὅτι μιμνῄσκῃ αὐτοῦ; Hb 2:6 (Ps 8:5).—DELG. M-M.