Glory Be to Jesus Christ!
🌞
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.
As Lent has begun, the readings from the New Testament are replaced by readings from the Old Testament to encourage people to repentance.
Since I am commenting on several Ancient Greek (koine) prepositions, I will continue to comment on the Old Testament readings by looking at the first complete translation into Ancient Greek, the Septuagint.
In the 6th hour:
Isaiah LXV, 8 — ‘ὁ ῥὼξ ἐν τῷ βότρυι’ - ‘ho rox en to botryi’ - ‘a grape (one berry) in a cluster’. ‘εὐλογία κυρίου ἐστὶν ἐν αὐτῷ’ - ‘eulogia kyriou estin en auto’ - ‘the blessing of the Lord is in him’.
Isaiah LXV, 9 — ‘ἐξ Ιακωβ’ - ‘ex Iakob’ - ‘from Jacob’. ‘ἐξ Ιουδα’ - ‘ex Iouda’ - ‘from Judah’. The preposition ‘ek’ in its form before the next vowel indicates where the Offspring, i.e. Christ, will come from.
Isaiah LXV, 10 — ‘φάραγξ Αχωρ εἰς ἀνάπαυσιν βουκολίων’ - ‘pharanx Akhor eis anapausin boukolion’ - ‘the valley of the Achor for the rest of the herds of oxen’. The preposition ‘eis’ indicates what the Lord will do with the valley.
Isaiah LXV, 12 — ‘εἰς μάχαιραν’ - ‘eis makhairan’ - ‘for the sword’. That is, those people will lose hope of being saved from the sword. ‘πάντες ἐν σφαγῇ πεσεῖσθε’ - ‘pantes en sphage peseisthe’ - ‘all of you (men, i.e. warriors) will make yourselves fallen in sacrifice’. It is difficult to translate the middle tense of the future tense verb correctly here. The point is that those men (in the context of war, soldiers, but here it can refer not necessarily to war, but also to spiritual struggle) have made themselves destined to become victims because they have forsaken the Lord. The Lord will allow them to become victims of their own actions, of their forgetfulness, of their forsaking God, of their unrepentance and apostasy.
Isaiah LXV, 14 — ‘ἀγαλλιάσονται ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ’ - ‘agalliasontai en euphrosyne’ - ‘they will rejoice exaltedly, solemnly, triumphantly; they will be lifted up in joy; they will be lifted up with gladness’. Literally, this is the second or third version of the translation. ‘ἀπὸ συντριβῆς πνεύματος ὀλολύξετε’ - ‘apo syntribes pneumatos ololyxete’ - ‘from the breaking of your spirit you will wail loudly (lament)’. That is, inconsolable crying from the loss of hope. Those people had departed from God, putting their hope in something else, and when they would lose that hope, they would be inconsolable. The preposition ‘apo’ here indicates that the lamentation will not be spiritual, but rather spiritless. Now repentance leads to salvation, but then the vision of the truth will not comfort those who have departed from it.
Isaiah LXV, 15 — ‘εἰς πλησμονὴν τοῖς ἐκλεκτοῖς μου’ - ‘eis plesmones tois eklektois mou’ - ‘for the satiation (satiety) of My elect’. It is difficult to understand this well, and one might think that it means that it will be something that is not obligatory from God's gifts to the faithful, something ‘superfluous’ (a parallel to the Gospel image of taking and giving talent from the evil servant who buried it in the ground). That is, the emphasis here is that these people will not want to, but their story will be something that can also be instructive as an example of what to do is wrong.
For more on the reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06042023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/25042024.html
At vespers:
Genesis XLVI, 2 — ‘ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτὸς’ - ‘en oramati tes nyktos’ - ‘in a night vision’.
Genesis XVI, 3 — ‘μὴ φοβοῦ καταβῆναι εἰς Αἴγυπτον’ - ‘me phobou katabenai eis Aigypton’ - ‘do not frighten yourself (do not be afraid) to go down to Egypt’. That is, where to. The middle mood indicates that Jacob could have frightened himself, that he should not have done this. ‘εἰς γὰρ ἔθνος μέγα ποιήσω σε ἐκεῖ’ - ‘eis gar ethnos mega poieso se ekei’ - ‘for I will make you a great nation (a great people) there’. The preposition ‘eis’ indicates here what the Lord will turn these events into.
Genesis XLVI, 4 — ‘ἐγὼ καταβήσομαι μετὰ σοῦ εἰς Αἴγυπτον’ - ‘ego katabesomai meta sou eis Aigypton’ - ‘I will go down with you to Egypt’. Similar to the previous one. ‘εἰς τέλος’ - ‘eis telos’ - ‘to the end; to the completion’. That is, the Lord will continue to take care of Jacob there until his death.
Genesis XLVI, 5 — ‘ἀπὸ τοῦ φρέατος τοῦ ὅρκου’ - ‘apo tou phreatos tou orkou’ - ‘from the well of the oath’. In the Hebrew text, this is Beer-sheba, the place where God had appeared to Jacob earlier.
Genesis XLVI, 6, 7 — ‘ἐν γῇ Χανααν’ - ‘en ge Khanaan’ - ‘in the land of Canaan’. ‘εἰς Αἴγυπτον’ - ‘eis Aigypton’ - ‘into Egypt; to Egypt’. That is, where to.
For more information about the reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06042023.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/25042024.html
Proverbs XXIII, 17 — ‘ἐν φόβῳ κυρίου’ - ‘en phobo kyriou’ - ‘in the fear of the Lord’. For more on the fear of God, see this link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/DialogueOnWordsChristFear.html
https://www.facebook.com/groups/mereza/posts/3554517061513547/
Proverbs XXIII, 30 — ‘ἐν οἴνοις’ - ‘en oinois’ - ‘in wines’. This refers to drunkenness.
Proverbs XXIII, 31 — ‘ὁμιλεῖτε ἐν περιπάτοις’ - ‘omileite en peripatois’ - ‘talk in walks; talk in walks’. ‘εἰς τὰς φιάλας καὶ τὰ ποτήρια’ - ‘eis tas phialas kai ta poteria’ - ‘for phials and beer cups (or wine cups)’. This is again about drinking.
Proverbs XXIII, 32 — ‘ὥσπερ ὑπὸ ὄφεως πεπληγὼς’ - ‘hosper hypo opheos peplegos’ - ‘as if bitten by a snake’. The preposition ‘hypo’ is here with the genitive case and indicates that it is the passive voice of the participle ’bitten‘. ‘ὥσπερ ὑπὸ κεράστου’ - ‘hosper hypo kerastou’ - ‘as if through a horned (poisonous) snake’. The preposition ‘hypo’ here is with the genitive case and indicates that the poison acts through the snake, and the latter acts as an intermediary for its effect on the body. Drunkenness is compared to being poisoned by a snake.
Proverbs XXIII, 34 — ‘κατακείσῃ ὥσπερ ἐν καρδίᾳ θαλάσσης καὶ ὥσπερ κυβερνήτης ἐν πολλῷ κλύδωνι’ - ‘katakeise hosper en kardia thalasses kai hosper kybernetes en pollo klydoni’ - ‘you will lie (sick), as if in the heart of the sea and as if a skipper in a great storm (waves of water)’. A comparison of the state of a drunken person.
Proverbs XXIV, 4 — ‘μετὰ αἰσθήσεως ἐμπίμπλαται ταμίεια ἐκ παντὸς πλούτου τιμίου καὶ καλοῦ’ - ‘meta aistheseos empimplatai tamieia ek pantos ploutou timiou kai kalou’ - ‘with perception (knowledge), secret rooms (which are not shown to outsiders) are filled with all kinds of precious and beautiful (highly good) wealth’. The preposition ‘ek’ here indicates that it is more about spiritual riches and how God, their owner, bestows them on human beings - they pass from God to the person as His gift. There is a parallel here with the Sermon on the Mount, which also speaks of a secret room. See more here:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/01032025.html
For more information about the reading, please refer to the following links:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/25042024.html
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/25042024.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!