Glory be to Jesus Christ!
🌞
Happy Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord, Happy New Year, Happy Saint Basil the Great Day!
Since in the works published at the following links:
https://churchandsociety.org.ua/pdf/projects/zbirnyk.pdf
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17082024.html
it is written that the use of prepositions is important for the correct understanding of important and actual issues, in particular the issue of power, I am writing commentaries on the use of these prepositions. As a piece of advice on how to read the text, you can read the verse in translation and/or in the original (if you have the opportunity), and then the commentary on prepositions here. Next, you need to understand which part of the verse the commentary refers to, and consider what it affirms — or less often, denies — that is essential to understanding. This thoughtful reading helps to deepen understanding and protects against the mistakes mentioned above.
Of the Circumcision of the Lord:
Colossians II, 9, 10 — ‘ἐν αὐτῷ’ - ‘en auto’ - ‘in Him’.
Colossians II, 11 — ‘ἐν ᾧ’ - ‘en ho’ - ‘in Whom’. ‘ἐν τῇ ἀπεκδύσει τοῦ σώματος τῆς σαρκός’ - ‘en te apekdysei tou somatos tes sarkos’ - ‘in putting off (as a garment) the body of flesh’. In contrast to what is written about a similar combination of words at the following link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/13112024.html
where it refers to the human nature of Jesus Christ, here it refers to the sinfulness of people, the corruption of nature, and thus the meaning is different. But we can also say that it refers to the state of nature, but we need to understand ‘casting off, putting off’ (as in clothes) correctly. Let us recall that in the Psalms there are words: ‘The Lord has enthroned, He has clothed Himself with beauty’, which refers to His glorious Resurrection, where the renewal of human nature in the Resurrection, the clothe of incorruptibility and glorification are represented through the figure of a change of clothes. So, here, too, we can think that it refers to the likening to Christ in His Resurrection, to the renewal of human nature, but, unlike the Risen Christ, the believers in Baptism have not yet attained incorruptibility and glory, that is, they have not ‘put on beauty’, but have attained cleansing from sins. Paul speaks about the ‘putting on’ of the faithful in other places, which I wrote about by the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/28012024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23112024.html
We need to remember that we not so much can ‘put on glory’ but rather ‘clothe into Christ' so that we can access God's glory through Him. That is, it goes something like this: Baptism ‘puts off’ the old human being, the life in sins, in order to then through the co-operation of grace ‘put on into Christ’, ‘into love, mercy, and the like’, and at the Second Coming this is completed through incorruptibility and glorification. ‘ἐν τῇ περιτομῇ τοῦ Χριστοῦ’ — ‘en te peritome tou CHristou’ - ‘in the circumcision of Christ (Himself); in the circumcision of Christ (which belongs to Christ); by the circumcision of Christ; by the circumcision of Christ’. Here, rather, the options with belonging are appropriate. Otherwise, the Circumcision of Christ Himself, which is remembered today, would have a similar significance for the salvation of human nature to that of Baptism of Christ, and in these cases it would be logical to raise the question of the need for male Christians to be circumcised. And the options with belonging to Christ must be understood figuratively, i.e. ‘circumcision of Christ’ here is a symbolic name for these changes in the state of human nature just described.
Colossians II, 12 — ‘συνταφέντες αὐτῷ ἐν τῷ βαπτίσματι’ - ‘syntaphentes auto en to baptismati’ - ‘having been buried with Him in Baptism; having been buried with Him with Baptism’. Both translations are possible, see more above and at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19062023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/08072024.html
‘ἐν ᾧ καὶ συνηγέρθητε διὰ τῆς πίστεως τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῦ θεοῦ’ — ‘en ho kai synegerthete dia tes pisteos tes enegreias tou theou’ - ‘in Whom (by Whom) you have also been raised through the faith of the operation of God; by Whom you have also been raised through the faith, the operation of God’. These are multivalent words, which can mean that the Father raises up, or that the Son raises up, they can also mean that faith, together with God's operation, God's energy, is what makes the resurrection happen, or they can mean that faith in the resurrection in a similar way is God's work, that is, a gift of God's grace, that God's operation causes and grants such faith. It is also possible that all the meanings here are correct, and the apostle is using a multi-meaningful phrase. It should be added that the translation ‘in Whom’ means that in Christ's Resurrection we have all been resurrected. We also need to remember that the Scripture says both that the Father raised the Son and that the Son Himself was raised, which indicates the coessentiality of the Father and the Son. ‘τοῦ ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν’ - ‘tou egeirantos auton ek nekron’ - ‘Who raised Him from the dead’. It says that the Father raised the Son, and the preposition ‘ek’ indicates where the transition took place - from the dead to the living.
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/01012024.html
Luke II, 21 — ‘τὸ κληθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀγγέλου’ - ‘to klethen hypo tou angelou’ - ‘what was called through the angel (by the angel)’. The preposition ‘hypo’ here is with the genitive case, which can indicate the passive voice of the participle. ‘ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ’ - ‘en te koilia’ - ‘in the belly; in the womb’.
Luke II, 41, 45 — ‘εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ’ - ‘eis Hierousalem’ - ‘into Jerusalem’.
Luke II, 43 — ‘ἐν τῷ ὑποστρέφειν αὐτοὺς’ - ‘en to hypostrephein autous’ - ‘in their return; when they were returning back’. ‘ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ’ - ‘en Hierousalem’ - ‘in Jerusalem’.
Luke II, 44 — ‘ἐν τῇ συνοδίᾳ’ - ‘en te synodia’ - ‘in company; in a group’. ‘ἐν τοῖς συγγενεῦσιν καὶ τοῖς γνωστοῖς’ - ‘en tois syngeneusin kai tois gnostois’ - ‘with relatives and acquaintances’. The specification indicates that Jesus could easily find common ground with various godly people.
Luke II, 46 — ‘ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ’ - ‘en to hiero’ - ‘in the temple’. ‘ἐν μέσῳ’ - ‘en meso’ - ‘in the midst; in the middle’. A common expression.
Luke II, 49 — ‘ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου’ - ‘en tois tou patros mou’ - ‘in what is My Father's’. That is, ‘what belongs to the Father’.
Luke II, 51 — ‘εἰς Ναζαρέθ’ - ‘eis Nazareth’ - ‘to Nazareth’. ‘ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ’ - ‘en te kardia’ - ‘in the heart’.
Luke II, 52 — ‘ἐν τῇ σοφίᾳ καὶ ἡλικίᾳ καὶ χάριτι παρὰ θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώποις’ - ‘en te sophia kai helikia kai khariti para theo kai anthropois’ - ‘in wisdom, and stature (age), and favour in the vicinity of God and people; with wisdom, stature (age), and favour in the vicinity of God and people'.
Both translations are possible, the first indicating that wisdom, stature and grace are like ‘space for growth and development’ and the second that they are a force for growth. The preposition ‘para’, here with the dative case, emphasises that Christ built trusting, often intimate relationships with people (and the Father).
For more information on the Gospel reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/01012024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/15022023.html
To Saint Basil the Great:
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/31122024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/24052023.html
For more information on the Gospel reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/21092024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/22052023.html
To the Saint Amphilochius of Pochaev:
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/29122024.html
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/
For more information about the Gospel reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/21092024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/22052023.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!