Commentary for (John XX, 19-23; Acts II, 1-11; John VII, 37-52; VIII, 12)

Oleksandr Zhabenko 🇬
Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
🌞

Happy Descent of the Holy Spirit onto the apostles, Pentecost, Holy Trinity Day and Birthday of the Church!

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
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27112024.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.

Matins:
(John XX, 19-23)
For more on the reading from Gospel, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/20042025.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23042023.html

Liturgy:
(Acts II, 1-11)
Acts II, 1 — 'ἐν τῷ συνπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς' - 'en to synplerousthai ten hemeran tes pentekostes' - in the complete fulfilment of the day of Pentecost; when the day of Pentecost was completely fulfilled. That is, on the day following the Jewish feast of Pentecost (that year it was on a Saturday on the 49th day after Christ's Resurrection, because the Jewish Passover was on the Saturday before Christ's Resurrection), and this following day was Sunday, the 50th day after Christ's Resurrection, whence actually comes the tradition of celebrating Christian Pentecost on the 50th day after Easter, Christ's Glorious Resurrection.

Acts II, 2 — 'ἐγένετο ἄφνω ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἦχος ὥσπερ φερομένης πνοῆς βιαίας καὶ ἐπλήρωσεν ὅλον τὸν οἶκον οὗ ἦσαν καθήμενοι' - 'egeneto aphno ek tou ouranou ekhos hosper pheromenes pnoes biaias kai eplerosen holon ton oikon hou esan kathemenoi' - there came suddenly from the heaven a sound as of a mighty rushing wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. The preposition 'ek' indicates here that the sound was truly heavenly, that is, it concerned the spiritual the heaven most of all, but also the visible physical one as a consequence. The sound filled the house like wind — a description of a supernatural phenomenon — that is, approximately — the space where they were gathered began invisibly to sound without obvious physical causes, completely filling the entire sound range, but not with physical noise as a somewhat chaotic set of random frequencies, but with a full spectrum of sounds (multi-sound, a divinely ordered totality of all possible sounds), that is, the Creator of all sounds shows His presence.

Acts II, 5 — 'εἰς Ἱερουσαλὴμ κατοικοῦντες' - 'eis Hierousalem katoikountes' - dwelling in Jerusalem (for permanent residence). Where to, that is, they had moved to Jerusalem. 'ἄνδρες εὐλαβεῖς ἀπὸ παντὸς ἔθνους τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανόν' - 'andres eulabeis apo pantos ethnous ton hypo ton ouranon' - devout men from every nation under the heaven. The preposition 'apo' indicates here that they had left their nations for the sake of life in Jerusalem, which points to their devotion to expectations of the Messiah-Christ. The preposition 'hypo' here is with the accusative and indicates here what these people were literally under (the heaven as the space above their heads).

Acts II, 8 — 'πῶς ἡμεῖς ἀκούομεν ἕκαστος τῇ ἰδίᾳ διαλέκτῳ ἡμῶν ἐν ᾗ ἐγεννήθημεν;' - 'pos hemeis akouomen hekastos te idia dialekto hemon en he egennethemen' - how do we hear each one in our own dialect (our own, our native language) in which we were born?. People are born in a certain language according to these words. One can understand this to mean that children even in the womb hear the language of their environment, the language of their parents, and are born in it, in the language.

For more on the reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04062023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/23062024.html

(John VII, 37-52; VIII, 12)
John VII, 37 — 'Ἐν δὲ τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ μεγάλῃ τῆς ἑορτῆς' - 'en de te eskhate hemera te megale tes heortes' - on the last great day of the feast. When.

John VII, 38 — 'ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ' - 'ho pisteuon eis eme' - he who believes in Me. The preposition 'eis' indicates here that true faith leads to Christ, He is the goal and final destination of faith. 'ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ' - 'ek tes koilias autou' - from his belly; from his womb. From where. The preposition 'ek' indicates here that the belly (womb) of such a person will become the source of that water, that is, a person will be so filled with grace that even their body, and even not the most honoured parts of it, will be able to transmit grace to others, and also manifest the action of the Holy Spirit to the world.

John VII, 39 — 'οἱ πιστεύσοντες εἰς αὐτόν' - 'hoi pisteusontes eis auton' - those who believe in Him. See above regarding verse 38.

John VII, 40 — 'Ἐκ τοῦ ὄχλου' - 'ek tou okhlou' - from the crowd. From where. The preposition 'ek' indicates here that those people completely shared the views and state of the crowd, that is, they did not investigate the matter carefully.

John VII, 41 — 'ἐκ τῆς Γαλιλαίας' - 'ek tes Galilaias' - from Galilee. From where. The preposition 'ek' indicates here origin. Those people did not know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, because after fleeing from Herod to Egypt, then returning to Israel, they lived in Nazareth, in Galilee. Christ does not want to testify to the Jews about His miraculous birth, because they reject Him prejudicially here. This is clearly seen from verse 52, where they deny the possibility of even a prophet (not to mention the Messiah) coming from Galilee. In reality, such a position testifies to their chauvinism and non-acceptance of Galileans as true Jews, which Scripture exposes — a prophet can come from Galilee, can be sent to the Gentiles and the like. There is also an opinion that Christ often makes testimony about the Virgin Mary implicitly, in order to protect Her from possible persecution by the Jews.

John VII, 42 — 'ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος Δαυεὶδ καὶ ἀπὸ Βηθλεὲμ τῆς κώμης' - 'ek tou spermatos Daueid kai apo Bethleem tes komes' - from the seed of David and from the village of Bethlehem. The preposition 'ek' indicates here that Christ was to be descended from the descendants of King David (He indeed was, and also from Bethlehem), and the preposition 'apo' indicates here that the Messiah, according to Jewish conceptions, was to leave Bethlehem to carry out His activity.

John VII, 44 — 'ἐξ αὐτῶν' - 'ex auton' - from them. The preposition 'ek' in its form before the following vowel indicates here that those people were generally similar to others from the crowd, that is, to people who did not understand the matter.

John VII, 48 — 'μή τις ἐκ τῶν ἀρχόντων ἐπίστευσεν εἰς αὐτὸν ἢ ἐκ τῶν Φαρισαίων;' - 'me tis ek ton arkhonton episteusen eis auton e ek ton Pharisaion' - has anyone of the rulers believed in Him, or of the Pharisees (anyone)?. Regarding 'eis' see above regarding verse 38. The preposition 'ek' indicates here that those people were to be generally representatives of the elders or Pharisees, that is, to completely share the views of the latter.

John VII, 50 — 'ἐξ αὐτῶν' - 'ex auton' - of them. Nicodemus was one of the teachers (elders, rabbis) of Israel, but did not share the views of many others among them regarding Jesus, even more than that, after a secret conversation at night (John III) he became a secret disciple of Jesus. One of my beloved Saints.

John VII, 52 — 'ἐκ τῆς Γαλιλαίας' - 'ek tes Galilaias' - from Galilee. The preposition 'ek' indicates here origin. See above, and also at the links below.

For more on the reading from the Gospel, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/04062023.html

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