Commentary for (Luke IX, 28-36; 2 Peter I, 10-19; Matthew XVII, 1-9)

Oleksandr Zhabenko 🇬🇧
Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
🌞

Since in the work published at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082025.html
and even earlier in others, published at the links:
https://churchandsociety.org.ua/pdf/projects/zbirnyk.pdf
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/17082024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27112024.html
it is written that the use of prepositions has important significance for the correct understanding of important and topical questions, particularly the question of power, I am writing comments regarding the use of precisely these prepositions. As advice regarding reading what is written — one can read the verse in translation or/and original (whoever has such possibility), and then the corresponding comment regarding prepositions here. Then it is necessary to understand which part of the verse the comment concerns, and also to consider what essential for understanding it affirms — or more rarely — denies. Such thoughtful reading helps to deepen understanding and protects from the mentioned mistakes.
The correct statements in the work at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082025.html
are connected with comments written during more than a year, during which I better understood the ideas, usage, logic, even peculiarities of pronunciation, therefore now it is appropriate to review and correct the allowed inaccuracies. Instead of correcting in old texts, I will correct in new ones (I have already begun to do this). Therefore the work continues, particularly it is necessary to consider the readings during about two weeks in August-September 2024, when I did not have access to the Internet network. If you notice inaccuracies in the comments at the links cited there, then it is worth checking whether there are newer ones regarding the same reading. I will update the list of links regarding prepositions at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/02082025.html
to keep the version of the text current and in future.

Happy feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ!
🌞

Matins:
(Luke IX, 28-36)
Luke IX, 28 — 'εἰς τὸ ὄρος' - 'eis to oros' - to the mountain; on the mountain. The second translation is grammatically correct.

Luke IX, 29 — 'ἐν τῷ προσεύχεσθαι αὐτὸν' - 'en to proseukhesthai auton' - in His high prayer; in His inspired prayer; as He prayed high. When.

Luke IX, 31 — 'οἳ ὀφθέντες ἐν δόξῃ' - 'hoi ophthentes en doxe' - who were visible in glory. 'πληροῦν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ' - 'pleroun en Hierousalem' - to accomplish (to bring to fullness, to make complete) in Jerusalem. Where. This speaks of the voluntary Sufferings, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and Sending of the Holy Spirit. One can think that also of the Second Glorious Coming, since Christ is to come also to Jerusalem. This particularly testifies that Moses and Elijah knew about Christ, and now they see Him, having transmitted in writing, words, prefigurations, examples to the faithful, about which they spoke with Jesus now. More is known about Moses in this regard, but also about Elijah much can be seen and said. See particularly in English at:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/Elias.html

Luke IX, 33 — 'ἐν τῷ διαχωρίζεσθαι αὐτοὺς ἀπ' αὐτοῦ' - 'en to diakhorizesthai autou ap autou' - when they were departing from Him. That is, Peter's words were also an attempt to stop Moses and Elijah, so that they would stay longer together with them. Generally the idea of three tents is strange, probably a purely human thought of Peter in elevation, in which one should not seek theological depth. Moses and Elijah were clothed, were in glory, therefore from the point of view of completeness of the picture they did not need tents from the apostles in any way. But here one can clearly trace Peter's intuition regarding the desire and need to cooperate with God.

Luke IX, 34 — 'ἐν τῷ εἰσελθεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν νεφέλην' - 'en to eiselthein autous eis ten nephelen' - when they entered into the cloud. When.

Luke IX, 35 — 'ἐκ τῆς νεφέλης' - 'ek tes nepheles' - from the cloud. Whence. The cloud is here as place of the Father's manifestation.

Luke IX, 36 — 'ἐν τῷ γενέσθαι τὴν φωνὴν' - 'en to genesthai ten phonen' - when the voice occurred. When. 'ἐν ἐκείναις ταῖς ἡμέραις' - 'en ekeinas tais hemerais' - in those days; during those days. When.

Liturgy:
(2 Peter I, 10-19)
2 Peter I, 11 — 'εἰς τὴν αἰώνιον βασιλείαν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ' - 'eis ten aionion basileian tou kyriou hemon kai soteros Iesou CHristou' - into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Where to.

2 Peter I, 12 — 'ἐν τῇ παρούσῃ ἀληθείᾳ' - 'en te parouse alatheia' - in the present truth; in the near truth. The words have several meanings, indicating particularly that the Second Coming is to be soon. One needs to remember that regardless of the duration of time until the Second Coming (about which I have written in other places, particularly see at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/09022023.html
https://churchandsociety.org.ua/pdf/projects/zbirnyk.pdf
), the main and decisive events before the Second Coming have already fulfilled (the First Coming of Jesus Christ), God knows when this will be (see at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/20042025.html
) and from the perspective of eternity any finite duration (and it is such) is, softly speaking, short, therefore, as noted, time can be perceived as short.

2 Peter I, 13 — 'ἐν τούτῳ τῷ σκηνώματι' - 'en touto to skenomati' - in this dwelling; in this habitation. That is while in the body (while I live the present life). See more about this at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/29032025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23112024.html
https://www.instagram.com/p/C8AN3CfikTS/
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04112023.html
'ἐν ὑπομνήσει' — 'en hypomnesei' - in reminding; with reminder. Rather the second variant, because it is simpler to understand. The apostle very humbly sees his mission particularly in awakening with reminder. One can see here also the memory of the cockerel's crow, when Peter denied Christ (according to the testimony of many, Peter all his life remembered and repented of those his actions). Peter sees his weakness, implicitly comparing himself and his role in these words with a cockerel. Comparison with nature, particularly with animals, was typical for the then Semitic culture (we see many other examples in the New Testament, particularly comparison of the faithful with sheep, Herod with a predatory fox, people who after purification return to old impurities with swine, inconspicuous faithful with small birds and others). Of course, even in such case the comparison does not exhaust all the significance of the foremost apostle, but here his humility is obvious.

2 Peter I, 18 — 'ἐξ οὐρανοῦ' - 'ex ouranou' - from heaven. The preposition 'ex' (form of the preposition 'ek' before the following vowel) answers the question From where?. 'ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ' - 'en to orei to hagio' - on the holy mountain. Where.

2 Peter I, 19 — 'προσεχοντες' - 'prosekhontes' - attending; devoting themselves; having additionally or besides that. 'εως ου ημερα' - 'heos hou hemera' - until that day — here is meant the Day of the Second Coming of Christ, that is until Christ comes again. Prophecies are valid until the Second Coming — both those that have been fulfilled and those that are to be fulfilled. 'ἐν αὐχμηρῷ τόπῳ' - 'en aukhmero topo' - in a dark place. Where. 'ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν' - 'en tais kardiais hymon' - in your hearts. The preposition 'en' indicates the place of action.

Entrance into the Kingdom of God — here is also meant the ability to consciously live according to God's will and design already now, even before the coming of the Kingdom of God, but also the very Kingdom of God itself after the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

My present dwelling (in the original a word that shares the root with the word tabernacle, tent, and also recalls both the Old Testament tabernacle and the Transfiguration, which is spoken of further) — Peter's body until his death.

Christ revealed to Peter that he would soon depart to the Lord, about which Peter mentions here.

Peter saw as one of the tasks of his ministry to strengthen others in faith and virtues (compare, for example: Luke XXII, 32; John XXI, 15-25), and does this even after bodily death.

Then he refers to the Transfiguration of the Lord, of which he was a direct witness and participant himself. Many Gentiles myths and legends contain artistic fabrications, fantasy of authors, often quite inventive, but the apostles were witnesses of Christ.

And here Peter testifies about the Transfiguration, the feast of which is today.

About the completion of the reading said above, the wealth of meanings in the complex metaphor with several components is very great, therefore it is difficult to give a good translation. Prophetic words both need to have additionally, and oneself can entrust to God, believing in them, and on them it is worth also attending, paying attention. Great is the significance of Old Testament prophecies for strengthening in faith.

More about the reading from the Apostle see at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06082024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19082023.html

(Matthew XVII, 1-9)
Matthew XVII, 1 — 'εἰς ὄρος ὑψηλὸν' - 'eis oros hypselon' - to a high mountain. Where to.

Matthew XVII, 5 — 'ἐκ τῆς νεφέλης' - 'ek tes nepheles' - from the cloud. Whence. 'ἐν ᾧ εὐδόκησα' - 'en ho eudokesa' - in Whom I am well pleased.

Matthew XVII, 9 — 'ἐκ τοῦ ὄρους' - 'ek tou orous' - from the mountain. The preposition 'ek' indicates descent from the mountain, that is the mountain as if the initial point of movement. The pair 'eis' - 'ek' in verses 1 and 9 indicates movement. 'ἐκ νεκρῶν' - 'ek nekron' - from the dead. Here the preposition 'ek' also indicates that from which the exit occurs — from the dead to life.

The reading about the Transfiguration of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ.

As is understood, this manifestation was for strengthening faith in the apostles, when they would see Christ suffering on the cross, during the time of His Sufferings, Death and Resurrection. The prohibition to tell could just be caused by the fact that the disciples still did not understand the future events with Jesus, although He had already told them about them, therefore, so as not to spread incorrect vision of the event, Jesus forbade them then to tell.

Also here we see the manifestation of the Trinity — the Son was transfigured, the Father testified with voice, and the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a light-bearing cloud. There is a parallel with the manifestation of the Trinity at the time of the Baptism of Jesus Christ in Jordan.

In the description of the event we see brightly the manifestations of the human spirit (about which I wrote earlier). Most brightly the human spirit manifests itself in three spheres — striving for God (thirst and hunger for righteousness — one of the variants to say about that in other words), fear of God and conscience (directly connected with the ability to be aware of good and evil) (see about this particularly in Ukrainian at the link:
https://parafia.org.ua/biblioteka/hrystyyanstvo-virovchennya-ta-tradytsiji/zakon-bozhyj
).

Here we see just high degrees of manifestation of all three simultaneously — It is good for us to be here… and the desire to remain — this is striving for God; great fear in the disciples — manifestation of fear of God (about which more is written at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/DialogueOnWordsChristFear.html
https://www.facebook.com/Oleksandr.S.Zhabenko/posts/
); and It is good for us to be here… — also manifestation of conscience, which testifies that this is good — to see the light of Transfiguration, God's light.

Therefore, the Lord indeed manifested to the disciples His glory to the extent that they could contain — fully for the spirit, vision with bodily eyes, and all together — significance for souls.

Also regarding what the Tabor light was, in the XIII century there were discussions, and the teaching about this light was formulated by Saint Gregory Palamas. Without going into details, I will say that the Tabor light is Divine energy, action of God beyond His own nature, action in creation, grace, which is uncreated, eternal. One can say that this is — God Himself (but not in Himself, but in creation) manifests, reveals Himself.

As I wrote earlier, the word grace in Scripture can be used in other meanings as well. See, particularly at the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/11082023.html

More about the reading from the Gospel see at the links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06082024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/19082023.html

Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!