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
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.
1 Thessalonians I, 1 — ‘ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ’ - ‘en theo patri’ - ‘in God the Father’.
1 Thessalonians I, 4 — ‘ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ’ - ‘hypo tou theou’ - ‘under God; through God; by God’. There is a possibility of different interpretations here, since this phrase stands between two phrases of which it can be a part. It can refer to love, or it can refer to election. It is also possible that the apostle used this double order to affirm both thoughts at the same time. If the words refer to love, it means that the brothers, and the faithful in general, are loved by God, and if they refer to election, it means that the faithful are in a special way cared for by God. However, since the preposition ‘hypo’ has a connotation of instrumentality, it is less appropriate for words of love and more for words of election. So it is rather ‘knowing, beloved brethren, of your election through God’, i.e. that the faithful receive the significance of the chosen ones because they are faithful in Christ to God.
1 Thessalonians I, 5 — ‘εἰς ὑμᾶς ἐν λόγῳ μόνον’ - ‘eis hymas en logo monon’ - ‘in you only in the word; to you only with the word’. ‘καὶ ἐν δυνάμει καὶ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ καὶ πληροφορίᾳ πολλῇ’ - ‘kai en dynamei kai en pneumati agio kai plerophoria polle’ - ‘in power, and in the Holy Spirit, and with great confidence, persuasion; and with power, and with the Holy Spirit, and with great persuasion’. The first translation is preferable because with regard to the Holy Spirit, God, the second says that He is just the evidence, rather than Himself, which is a clear understatement. ‘ἐν ὑμῖν’ - ‘en hymin’ - ‘in you; among you’.
For more information about the reading from the Apostle, please refer to the link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/06112023.html
Luke XIX, 38 — ‘ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου’ - ‘en onomati kyriou’ - ‘(coming) in (for) the name of the Lord; (is) in the name of the Lord; with the name of the Lord’. All three variants are possible here, although they have different meanings. The first and most commonly used means that Jesus, as King, is coming to do God's will and for God's glory; the second means that Jesus is the Lord Himself, that is, He has the name ‘Lord’, that is, He is now receiving glory according to His true dignity (but it must be understood that Christ is not only King, but also God-human, and thus human glory cannot be fully equal to the greatness of God's glory); third, that Christ is the King according to God's will and is coming to Jerusalem to fulfil this will in full (the latter is more of a prophecy that the people who announced it did not understand). ‘ἐν οὐρανῷ’ - ‘en ourano’ - ‘in heaven’. ‘ἐν ὑψίστοις’ - ‘en hypsistois’ - ‘in the highest’ (i.e. in the heavens of heavens, the highest heavens).
Luke XIX, 39 — ‘ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου’ - ‘apo tou okhlou’ - ‘from the crowd’. The preposition ‘apo’ indicates that these Pharisees stood out from the crowd, ‘fell out’ of the general picture.
Luke XIX, 42 — ‘ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ’ - ‘en te hemera’ - ‘on (this) day; on this day’. A regular expression. ‘ἀπὸ ὀφθαλμῶν’ - ‘apo ophthalmon’ - ‘from the eyes’. The preposition ‘apo’ emphasises here that the people did not understand at all.
Luke XIX, 44 — ‘ἐν σοί’ - ‘en soi’ - ‘in you’.
For more information on the Gospel reading, please refer to the following link:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/27112023.html
To the Theotokos:
For more on these readings, please refer to the link and others cited there:
https://oleksandr-zhabenko.github.io/en/commentaries/21112024.html
Glory be to Thee, our God, glory be to Thee!