Wednesday, November 4, 2015

From Torah to, in Christian interpretation, Christ (or "the outpouring of his Spirit on all flesh")

This is our God;
     no other can be compared to him!
He found the whole way to knowledge,
     and gave her to Jacob his servant
     and to Israel whom he loved.
Afterward she appeared on earth
     and lived among men.

οὗτος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν, οὐ λογισθήσεται ἕτερος πρὸς αὐτόν. 
ἐξεῦρεν πᾶσαν ὁδὸν ἐπιστήμης καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν Ιακωβ τῷ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ Ισραηλ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ· 
μετὰ τοῦτο ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὤφθη καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις συνανεστράφη.

     Baruch 3:35-37, RSV (36-38, LXX).  "She is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that endures for ever [(αὕτη ἡ βίβλος τῶν προσταγμάτων τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ὁ νόμος ὁ ὑπάρχων εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα)]" (4:1).  So the "she" (πᾶσαν ὁδὸν) comes from the context and 4:1 (αὕτη) explicitly.
     I was put onto this by Aidan Nichols, The chalice of God:  a systematic theology in outline (Collegeville, MN:  Liturgical Press, 2012), 34.

No comments: