VOLUME 4 • ISSUE 2• NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016

The Good Word

Published by St. Seraphim of Sarov and St. John of Kronstadt Orthodox Church, La Mesa, CA with the Blessing of Bishop Auxentios of Etna and Portland prophecy as do virtually every study and Commentary of theirs in our modern age. However, since we Orthodox recognize that the Greek translation was the primary text of the OUT OF EGYPT I CALLED MY SON Church from its early days [except among the Jewish Christians in Judæa who spoke and read Hebrew], what By Dr. Seraphim Steger do we find when we examine the Prophet in our English translations of the Septuagint:

HOSEA 11:1-3 [Lxx, Charles Thompson translation²]: When was young I loved him, and I called his children out of Egypt. 2 The more I called them, the more they ran from my presence. They sacrificed to the Baalims, 3 and burned incense to graven images;

OSEE 11:1-2: [Lxx, Sir Lancelot Brenton translation³] for Israel is a child, and I loved him, and out of Egypt have I called his children. 2 As I called them, so they departed from my presence; they sacrificed to Baalim, and burnt incense to graven images. In these verses the above Septuagint translators GREEK FRESCO OF THE HOLY PROPHET HOSEA¹ Thompson and Brenton have rendered the Greek word tekna correctly as children. The root form of the In his New Testament Gospel we often see the word tekna is teknon , which means child, not son as Apostle Matthew quoting the Scriptures to show how we see quoted in the Gospel of Matthew. The our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled many Old Testament grammatical form of the word used in the Greek Text, prophecies. One quotation in particular has caused tekna, represents either the neuter nominative singular many western scholars to scratch and shake their heads. form (i.e., “child” being the subject of the sentence) or That is Matthew’s use of the prophecy “Out of Egypt I the accusative plural form (i.e., “children” being the called My Son:” object of the sentence) of the Greek word. The MATTHEW 2: 13-15, [KJV]: And when they were grammatical structure of the sentence demands tekna departed, behold, the angel of the Lord to be the direct object of the verb called, requiring the appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, word tekna to be in the accusative pleural case and, and take the young child and his mother, and flee thus, to be translated as children. Consequently, into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee passage literally reads “and called his children out of word: for Herod will seek the young child to Egypt”--a very historical statement of God’s care for destroy him. When he arose, he took the young the young nation of Israel, but quite different from the child and his mother by night, and departed into Apostle Matthew’s statement of the fulfillment of Egypt: and was there until the death of Herod: prophecy. Rahlfs’ critical text of the Greek Old that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son. 2. Charles Thompson, THE HOLY BIBLE, CONTAINING THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK, Jane Aitken, Virtually all annotated heterodox New Testament Philadelphia, PA, 1808 http://thetencommandmentsministry.us/ministry/ charles_thomson/hosea translations reference :1 as the source of that 3. THE SEPTUAGINT WITH APROCRYPHA, GREEK AND ENGLISH, (original) Samuel Bagster & Sons, London, England, 1831, (reissued 1. Fresco from the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopaidi by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI), pp. 1077-8. Testament, SEPTUAGINTA,4 and the official Greek HOSEA 11:1-2: [Chabad translation7] 11-1. For, language Old Testament of the Church of Greece at when Israel was young, I loved him, and from Apostolikh Diakonia,5 fail to list any alternative [out of] Egypt I called My son. 2. The more readings for this passage. So at first glance, this they8 called to them, the more they went away passage in Hosea appears only to refer to the children of from them; to the baalim they would slaughter Israel being led out of Egypt during the Exodus, not to sacrifices, and to the graven images they would the return of Jesus Christ in His childhood from Egypt. burn incense. Indeed, St. Cyril of Alexandria (AD 376-444), the So was St. Matthew following the Masoretic text for great 4th century scholar and commentator, agreed with this passage rather than the Septuagint text? Yes and this assessment in his COMMENTARY ON THE TWELVE no. Why “no”? Because here in verse 2 the MT has a PROPHETS: HOSEA where he writes regarding chapter plural subject, they (the prophets), and not the Lxx’s 11: singular God who is doing the calling.9 Thus, Matthew “If the people of the bloodline of Israel were due 2:15 does appear to be quoted from the Masoretic in time to be rejected, to leave God’s presence, Hebrew text, but the way he uses it departs from the and to be loathsome and hated, why at all were sense of the context in Hosea 11:1-2. Now, it is both they called in the first place? In response God interesting and important to realize that Matthew’s very properly gives some kind of explanation by Gospel was originally written in Hebrew some 8 years saying Israel was an infant and I loved him, and after the Ascension of Christ, then later translated into 10 I called his children to leave Egypt. was a Greek by an unknown translator. Indeed, Matthew simple man, he is saying, who was given a uses a few Old Testament quotes that more closely different name: Israel: consequently, I loved follow the current Masoretic text than the Septuagint him, saying even when they were in their Greek text.¹¹ Why? Because, being a Hebrew-speaking mother’s womb, I loved Jacob, but hated Esau. Apostle of the “Nazarene Sect” in Israel, his first Because I loved him, therefore, consequently I purpose was to teach and evangelize his fellow also rescued his children from the oppression of countrymen in their own native tongue. So quoting from the Hebrew Scriptures that they read in the the Egyptians.”6 Synagogue would be much more effective than using St. Cyril of Alexandria interprets this passage in its the Septuagint Scriptures popular in the Greek context in a historical manner--as referring to the speaking areas of the Roman Empire. We have to exodus of the children of Israel out of Egypt and their assume that Matthew utilized the Hebrew text deliverance from bondage and oppression there. commonly read in Jerusalem/Judæa at that time. Subsequently, they turned away from the LORD, However, the present official Jewish text is only one of sacrificed to the Baalim, and burnt incense to idols. several different textual traditions in circulation in the This is the same interpretation that the Rabbinical Jews 1st century AD. That this is true can be seen in the have held for the past 2,000 years for Hosea 11:1-2. So numbers of Old Testament textual variants discovered how can we apply this verse in Hosea to Jesus’ in Qumran among the . The official prophetic return to Nazareth from Egypt in Matthew’s Jewish Bible was only finalized in its text in the 9th Gospel? century AD by the Masoretes. This official Masoretic When we look at the present day Masoretic-Hebrew text tends to obfuscate certain passages that they text for Hosea, we see that the text does read “Out of deemed too prophetic of Christ Jesus being the Messiah Egypt I called My son” just as Matthew quotes, and not of Israel as we shall see. “Out of Egypt I called My Children:” The earliest Apostolic Father to witness to Matthew’s Hebrew Gospel was Papias of Hierapolis (c.

7. THE COMPLETE JEWISH BIBLE WITH RASHI COMMENTARY, Chabad 4. Alfred Rahlfs, SEPTUAGINTA, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Online Translation, http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdøaid/ Germany, 1979, p. 499. 16165 [Note: Rashi is considered the Jews’ premier commentator.] 5. http://www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/bible/bible.asp? 8. In Rashi’s commentary: “they” = the prophets (see website above). contents=old_testament/ 9. Lxx has metekavlesa = I called, not they called. contents_Osie.asp&main=osie&file=31.11.htm 10. Preface by Blessed Theophylact, THE EXPLANATION BY BLESSED 6. St. Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE TWELVE PROPHETS, THEOPHYLACT OF THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, VOLUME 1, The Fathers of the Church, A New Translation, Volume Chrysostom Press, Hot Springs, Missouri, 1993, p. 8. 115, The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C., 11. R. Grant Jones, NOTES ON THE SEPTUAGINT, Feb 2006, pp. 188, 2007, p. 210. https://www.areopage.net/PDF/LXXNotesFeb06.pdf 2 AD 70- 163) who wrote the following in his now lost forms exist ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son,’ EXPOSITION OF THE SAYINGS OF THE LORD: “Matthew and ‘for he shall be called a Nazarene.’”17 wrote the oracles in the Hebrew Language, and every St. Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem AD 634-638 one interpreted them as he was able.”¹² in his LIFE OF THE EVANGELIST MATTHEW states that he St. Irenæus, Bishop of Lyon (AD 130-202) noted: copied the Hebrew text that was preserved to his day in “Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the the library of Caesarea. But otherwise he essentially Hebrews in their own dialect.”¹³ copies St. Jerome’s text from ILLUSTRIOUS MEN: The church historian Eusebius (AD 263-339) also testified of Matthew’s Hebrew Gospel in The Church “Matthew, also known as Levi, tax collector History: turned apostle, was the first to compose the Gospel of Christ in Judea in the Hebrew “4...Matthew at first preached to the Hebrews, language for those of the circumcision who and when he planned to go to others also, he believed. It is unknown by whom it was later wrote his Gospel in his own native language translated into Greek. The Hebrew text is for those he was leaving, his writing filling the preserved to this day in the library of Caesarea 14 gap left by his departure.” that was most diligently assembled by the Martyr The Blessed Jerome (AD c. 340-420), a Hebrew Pamphilus. The Nazarenes of Berroia in Syria, scholar, concurs. In his LETTER TO HEDIBIA he states: who use this text, gave me permission to copy it. From this one is easily convinced that where the “The Gospel that Saint Matthew wrote in evangelist makes use of the testimony of the Old Hebrew15 does not say that the veil was torn, but Testament Scriptures, either himself, or in the that the top of the portal, which was of prodigious person of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, he size, was completely reversed. The earth shook, does not follow the authority of the Seventy, but because it could not support the weight attached of the Hebrew text. It is from the latter that these to its God on the cross.”16 two passages come: Out of Egypt have I called And in his book of ILLUSTRIOUS MEN, Jerome writes: My Son, and He shall be called a Nazarene.”18 “Matthew, also called Levi, apostle and But was St. Matthew intending to base his quotation aforetimes publican, composed a gospel of on Hosea 11:1? Certainly the Jews would be familiar Christ at first published in Judea in Hebrew with the passage as well as its traditional interpretation. for the sake of those of the circumcision who Wouldn’t they react strongly against the way St. believed, but this was afterwards translated into Matthew used it here, if, in their opinion, he misused it? Greek, though by what author is uncertain. The I believe they would have, just as the Jews of today Hebrew itself has been preserved until the present normally would. How does one spiritualize this day in the library at Cæserea which Pamphilus so passage and apply it to a single person long after the diligently gathered. I have also had the Exodus to which it “obviously” referred? The great 4th opportunity of having the volume described to me century Patristic Father St. John Chrysostom provides by the Nazarenes of Berœa, a city of Syria, who the answer. He was able to analyze, expound upon, and use it. In this it is to be noted that wherever the broaden the traditional Jewish interpretation as follows: Evangelist, whether on his own account or in the Here in Homily 8 on the Gospel of Matthew, II, 2 he person of our Lord the Saviour[,] quotes the writes: testimony of the Old Testament he does not “5. And if the Jews should raise a question follow the authority of the translators of the touching the prophecy, and say, that the words, Septuagint but the Hebrew. Wherefore these two “Out of Egypt have I called my Son,” were 12. Eusebius Pamphilius, CHURCH HISTORY, BK III.39.16. https:// uttered concerning themselves; we would tell www.ccel.org/ccełschaff/npnf201.iii.viii.xxxix.html them, This is a law of prophecy, that in many 13. St. Irenæus, AGAINST HERESIES, BK III.1.1, https://www.ccel.org/ ccełschaff/anf01.ix.iv.ii.html cases much that is spoken of one set of persons 14. Paul L. Maier (translator & commentary), EUSEBIUS: THE is fulfilled in another; of which kind is that CHURCH HISTORY: Book III, ¶24, Kregal Publications, Grand Rapids, MI, 2007, p. 99. 17. Jerome, DE VIRIS ILLUSTRIBUS (ON ILLUSTRIOUS MEN), Chapter 3, 15. There are some that believe that Jerome was reading a non- Source: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/2708.htm Canonical Gospel of Matthew. 18. Fr. Christopher Stade (translator), Introduction, THE EXPLANATION 16. Jerome, “Answer to] Question #8,” in Letter to Hedibia, http:// BY BLESSED THEOPHYLACT OF THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_hedibia_2_trans.htm MATTHEW, Chrysostom Press, Hot Springs, Missouri, 1993, pp. 6. 3 which is said touching Simeon and Levi, “I will either the LXX nor the Masoretic text, and the second divide them,” saith He, “in Jacob, and scatter verse using the traditional Septuagint text: them in Israel. [Genesis 49:7] And yet not in HOSEA 10:15 - 11:1-2 (LXX, Michael Asser themselves did this come to pass, but in their (translator): 15 so shall I do unto you, O house of descendants; and Noah’s saying again about Israel, because of your wickedness. 11-1. Early Canaan, came to pass in the Gibeonites, in the morning were they cast out, (the) King (of) Canaan’s descendants. [Genesis 9:25; Joshua Israel was cast out; for Israel was an infant, and 9:27; 2 Paraleipomenon 8:7-9] And that I loved him, and called his son²² out of Egypt. 2. concerning Jacob one may see to have so come As I called them, so they went from before My to pass; for those blessings which say, “Be lord face; they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned over thy brother, and let thy father’s sons incense to graven images.²³ worship thee,” [Genesis 27:19] had no accomplishment in himself (how could they, he In this passage, the translator Michael Asser has being in fear and trembling, and worshipping presumably rendered the Greek word tevkna as son. So his brother over and over again? [Genesis his translation, his son, partly resembles the Masoretic [i, i.e., [to ִנְבִל י but in his offspring they had. The very Hebrew text which in Hosea 11:1 reads ,([33:3 same may be said in this case also. For which my son. Yet, according to Rahlfs24 and the official may be called the truer son of God, he that Greek language Old Testament of the Church of Greece worships a calf, and is joined to Baalpeor19 at Apostolikh Diakonia,25 there is no textual [Numbers 25:3] and sacrifices his sons to support for Mr. Asser’s translation of Hosea 11:1 either. devils? or He that is a Son by nature, and honors So was he trying to “correct” the translation of the Him that begat Him? So that, except this man Greek text of Hosea 11:1 to more closely match St. had come, the prophecy would not have Matthew? --or is there more to the story? Yes, there is. received, its due fulfillment. It is worth This past year during the Nativity cycle, while observing, too, that the evangelist intimates the chanting our Liturgical Texts surrounding the Nativity same by the phrase, “that it might be fulfilled;” and early earthly life of Christ, I realized that this implying that it would not have been fulfilled, passage from Hosea 11:1 is not read in any of our unless He had come.”20 services. Indeed it is not found in the liturgical texts of The Blessed Theophylact (AD c. 1050- 1107), in his the PROPHETOLOGION26, the MENAION nor the FESTAL EXPLANATION OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, summarizes MENAION for the Feast of Nativity. Instead, we find the and simplifies St. John Chrysostom’s commentary: third oracle of the pagan soothsayer Balaam from the Old Testament book of Numbers chapter 24 being “The Jews say that this was said of the people utilized in the second reading of Great Vespers for whom Moses led out of Egypt. We reply, is it December 25: anything remarkable that something which was NUMBERS (24:2-3,5-9,17-18): [2] The Spirit of spoken of the people in type as a foreshadowing, God came upon Balaam. [3] And he took up his was realized by Christ in truth? Furthermore, parable and said: ...[5] How goodly are thy who is the Son of God? The Hebrew people who habitations, O Jacob, and thy tents, O Israel! [6] worshipped the idols and carvings of Beelphegor, as shady glens, and as gardens by a river, and as or He Who truly is the Son of God?”²¹ tents which the Lord pitched, and as cedars by the waters. [7] There shall come a Man out of Is there anything more to add to these answers? Yes, his seed, and He shall rule over many nations; indeed! A recent translation from a traditional and His kingdom shall be exalted and shall Orthodox Christian, Michael Asser, reveals a significantly different Septuagint reading of Hosea 22. [lit. children, no textual variants, (accusative plural, not 11:1-2: the first verse using a reading not found in nominative singular of tekna)] 23. Michael Asser (translator), THE SEPTUAGINT, Orthodox England, 19. βεελφεγwvρ = Lord of Peor, a Moabite god associated with http://orthodoxengland.org.uk/zot.htm mount Peor in Moab. Peor also means “opening (mouth, anus).” 24. Alfred Rahlfs, SEPTUAGINTA, Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Germany, 1979, p. 499. 20. St. John Chrystostom, HOMILIES ON MATTHEW, Homily 8, §5, http://www.ccel.org/ccełschaff/npnf110.iii.VIII.html 25. http://www.apostoliki-diakonia.gr/bible/bible.asp? contents=old_testament/ 21. Fr. Christopher Stade (translator), THE EXPLANATION BY BLESSED contents_Osie.asp&main=osie&file=31.11.htm THEOPHYLACT OF THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, Chrysostom Press, Hot Springs, MO, 1993, p. 28. 26. http://almoutran.com/pdf/PROPHETOLOGION-Full.pdf 4 increase.27 [8] God led Him out of Egypt; He hard pressed. Nevertheless, he tried his best to provide hath as it were the glory of a unicorn; He shall an answer for her, but was unable to do so. consume the nations of His enemies, and He shall Lactantius (AD c. 250-325), a Latin-speaking North draw out the marrow of their fat bones, and with African Christian and counselor to Constantine the His darts shall He shoot down the enemy. [9] He Great, connected the dots beautifully in his EPITOME OF crouched, He lay down as a lion, and as a lion’s THE DIVINE INSTITUTES and thereby affirmed this whelp; who shall stir Him up? They that bless prophecy, in Numbers, as a Messianic prophecy in Thee are blessed, and they that curse Thee are which Christ is both man and God: cursed…[17] A Star shall rise out of Jacob, and “And the Lord shall send them a man who shall a Man shall spring out of Israel; and shall crush save them, and with judgment shall He heal them the princes of Moab, and shall despoil all the (Isaiah 19:20). Also Moses himself in the book of sons of Seth. [18] And Edom shall be an Numbers: There shall come a star out of Jacob, inheritance, and Esau his enemy shall be an and a man shall arise out of Israel. For this 28 inheritance, and Israel hath wrought valiantly. cause, therefore, being God, He took upon Him Here in the Fourth Book of Moses is the clearest flesh, that, becoming a mediator between God and most profound prophecy of the Messiah of Israel. and man, having overcome death, He might by A Man will come out of the seed of Jacob/of Israel Who His guidance lead man to God.”30 shall rule over many nations, Whose Kingdom shall be Bishop Caesarius of Arles³¹ (c. AD 468-542) and St. exalted and shall increase. And it is He Whom God Leo the Great, Pope of Rome³² (c. AD 400- 461) both led...out of Egypt, not the children of Israel in this allude to the same conclusion. So, according to the particular case--and all of this out of the mouth of the Fathers and Lactantius in particular, Balaam the gentile soothsayer Balaam, and not from a prophet of soothsayer prophesied that it was this God-become- Israel! Furthermore, A Star shall rise out of Jacob, and Man that God (the Father) called out of Egypt. a Man shall spring out of Israel. That was the Does today’s Masoretic text portray this prophecy in prophetic Star that drew the three magi out of Persia. the same way? Not at all. The first part of verse 7 has This prophecy in Numbers, that a man of Jacob’s seed been altered in the Masoretic text to remove/obfuscate shall rule over many nations, whose kingdom would be any reference to the coming of a man who shall save exalted, who would crush his enemies, whom God them, i.e., the man Jesus Who shall save his people led...out of Egypt, combined with Hosea’s prophecy, from their sins whose birth was announced by the star Out of Egypt I called My Son, together, lay a much that the Magi witnessed and followed. stronger foundation for St. Matthew’s interpretation in TANAKH, Davka Corp, DVD (an Orthodox Jewish Matthew 2:15, that it was not just a human Messiah, but educational company with the most literal translation I God’s Son, the God-man Jesus Christ, that the Father have found): called and led out of Egypt to fulfill the prophecy. Fabiola, a repentant woman who died in AD 399 and Numbers 24:5 How goodly are your tents, O was eulogized by Jerome (AD 347-420), engaged Jacob, and your tabernacles, O Israel! 6 Like Jerome in a discussion about this prophecy: “One day winding brooks, like gardens by the river’s side, we had the book of Numbers written by Moses, and she as aloes which the Lord has planted, and like modestly questioned me … how came it that the cedar trees beside the waters. 7 He shall pour soothsayer Balaam in prophesying of the future the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be mysteries of Christ spoke more plainly of Him than in many waters, and his king shall be higher than almost any other prophet?”29 Jerome admits he was 30. Lactantius, EPITOME OF THE DIVINE INSTITUTES, Chapter 44, http://www.ccel.org/ccełschaff/anf07.iii.ii.viii.xl.html [ANTE NICENE 27. Thompson v. 7 reads: And a kingdom greater than Gog’s shall be FATHERS, Vol. 7, pp. 239-240]. raised up; And his kingdom shall be enlarged. The NEW ENGLISH 31. Caesarius Bishop of Arles, “St. Jerome in the Middle of Lent on TRANSLATION OF THE SEPTUAGINT (NETS) is similar. Brenton reads: And the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be Balaam and Balac,” Sermon 113.2, in ST. CAESARIUS OF ARLES, SERMONS, VOLUME 2 (81-186), Fathers of the Church Series Volume increased. Rahlfs’ SEPTUAGINTA concurs with no variants. 47, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 1981, quoted 28. THE DECEMBER MENAION, VOLUME FOUR, Holy Transfiguration Monastery (translators from the Greek), Boston MA, 2005, p. 213. in ANCIENT CHRISTIAN COMMENTARY ON SCRIPTURE, OLD TESTAMENT, [Note: This is essentially what we see in Asser’s Lxx translations.] VOL. III, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2001, pp. 248-9. 29.Jerome, Letter 77 to Oceanus, in NICENE AND POST-NICENE 32. Leo the Great, Sermon 34.2, quoted in ANCIENT CHRISTIAN FATHERS (NPNF), 2ND SERIES, VOL. 6, Letter 77.7 .http:// COMMENTARY ON SCRIPTURE, OLD TESTAMENT, VOL. III, InterVarsity www.ccel.org/ccełschaff/npnf206.v.LXXVII.html Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2001, pp. 249. 5 Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 God synagogues and the Temple, (although no longer brought him out of Egypt; extant). We can also understand these examples of the The Chabad translation additionally obfuscates altering of prophetic portions of the Old Testament text by the Masoretic scribes to remove as much as possible NUMBERS 24:8 and substitutes Sceptre for a Man: prophetic passages about Christ Jesus. God, Who has brought them out of Egypt with Are there other Jewish translations/versions that the strength of His loftiness He shall consume the support the Lxx’s translation of NUMBERS 24? Yes, to a nations which are his adversaries, bare their limited degree: bones and dip His arrows [into their blood]...17 I shall see him, but not now, I shall behold him, but TARGUM PSEUDO-JONATHAN (c. 50 BC) not nigh; there shall come a star out of Jacob Numbers 24:7 ...O house of Israel...From them and a Sceptre shall rises out of Israel, and shall their King shall arise, and their Redeemer be of smite the corners of Moab and destroy all the them and among them, and the seed of the children of Sheth… children of Jakob shall rule over many nations...Unto Eloha [God], who brought them So today’s Masoretic text of NUMBERS reads quite out free from Mizraim [Egypt] power...17 I shall differently from that used by the Septuagint translators see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but it is some 11-12 centuries earlier. not near. When the mighty King of Jakob’s house The historian Eusebius of Caesarea in writes: shall reign, and the Meshiha [Messiah], the Power-sceptre of Israel, be anointed, ...I shall The oracle in the previously quoted prophecy see Him, but not now; I shall behold Him, but He (Numbers 24:3-9), in saying that the Lord would is not nigh. A King is to arise from the house of come into Egypt, foretold the journey of our Jakob, and a Redeemer and Ruler from the house Lord Jesus Christ when he went into Egypt with of Israel...34 his parents. Here we have the prophecy of his return from Egypt in its natural order, when he TARGUM ONKELOS: (c. AD 35-120) came back with his parents into the land of Numbers 24:7 … How goodly is thy land, O Israel, in the words God led him out of Egypt. Jakob, And the house of thy habitation, O For our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ of God, Israel!...The king anointed from his sons shall was the only one of the seed of Israel and of the increase, and have dominion over many Jewish race who has rule over many nations, so nations; His king shall be mightier than Agag, that it is indisputable that he is the fulfillment of and his kingdom be exalted...God, who brought the prophecy which says, literally, that a man them from Mizraim, [Egypt] is mighty and high, will come from the Jewish race and rule over and by Him shall Israel use the wealth of the many nations. If he is not, let him who suggests nations their foes, enjoy the spoils of their kings, some other famous man among the Hebrews who and inherit their lands...17 I see him, but not has ruled over many nations. But this he cannot now; I behold him, but not nigh. When a king do, for such a man never existed. But with shall arise out of Jakob, and the Meshiha regard to our Savior, truth itself will shout and [Messiah] be anointed from Israel, He will slay cry aloud, even if we say nothing. This shows the princes of Moab, and reign over all the plainly that his divine power has ruled, through children of men ...35 the human he took of the seed of Israel according to the flesh and even now will rule many The Targums quoted above certainly associate these nations.³³ passages with a national Jewish Messiah who would rule and reign over Israel and the nations on a Consequently, it is only the Septuagint that gives the physical level, but don’t support God calling or whole story in a clear and lucid manner. This is why bringing His Son, a Man, out of Egypt. So the the Orthodox Church has preferred the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament Scriptures with its 34. TARGUM (PSEUDO-)JONATHAN is an Aramaic translation/ prophetic voice, but also accepts the Hebrew scrolls commentary on the Torah, originating in Jerusalem c 50 BC. It was used by Christ and the Apostles in the 1st century originally called TARGUM YERUSHALMI , http://targum.inføpj/ pjnum22-25.htm 33.“Proof of the Gospel” 8.3, in ANCIENT CHRISTIAN COMMENTARY ON 35. TARGUM ONKELOS is a 1st century AD Aramaic translation/ SCRIPTURE, OLD TESTAMENT III: EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS, commentary on the Torah originating in Babylon, http://targum.infø DEUTERONONY, Intervarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL, 2001, p.246, onk/NumOnk22_25.htm 6 theandric aspects of these combined prophecies have of Sabaoth, which He shall bring upon them. been removed, substituting the exodus of the And there shall be an altar to the Lord in the Hebrew people out of Egypt--the traditional Jewish land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof interpretation. Thus, we have a prime example of to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign unto the why the early Church preferred the Septuagint Lord for ever in the land of Egypt; for they shall version of the Old Testament Scriptures and how the cry unto the Lord, and He shall send them a Jews consciously sought to distance themselves from man that shall save them. And the Lord shall it after the Resurrection of Christ. be known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians So, prophetically, in the Scriptures God called shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do and led His Son out of Egypt. But where is the sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow vows prophecy of His Son entering Egypt and for what unto the Lord, and fulfill them.36 reason? We find it in Isaiah chapter 19 used in the Thus, in Isaiah 19 we see that the reason the LORD Liturgical texts of the MENAION and the FESTAL came into Egypt was in response to their crying out to MENAION for February 2, the feast of the Meeting of Him when they themselves came under the hand of the Lord in the Temple [with Simeon the Righteous cruel lords--just as the Hebrews cried out to the LORD to and the prophetess Anna] on the 40th day after his free them from the cruel hand and bondage of Pharaoh birth. in Egypt. This prophecy about the Lord being known was further fulfilled in the extensive monastic cities of the 4th and 5th centuries in the Egyptian desert.37 But the primary purpose for the Lord going into Egypt we all know from the Gospel of Matthew: ...the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt... (Matthew 2:13-14) So we are indeed poorer if we are not reading the ICON: FLIGHT INTO EGYPT, ST. CATHERINE’S MONASTERY, Septuagint version of the Old Testament Scriptures, SINAI, 12TH CENTURY since it contains unadulterated Messianic prophecies of Great Vespers, 3rd Reading from the Prophecy Jesus Christ the God-Man, which the Rabbinical Jews of Esaias (19:1, 3-5, 16, 19-21), The Meeting of our sought to obfuscate beginning in the 1st century AD. Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ in the Temple: Behold, the Lord shall sit upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt; and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at His presence, and their heart shall faint within them. And their spirit shall be troubled within them; and I will destroy their counsel; and the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of cruel lords, saith the Lord of Sabaoth. And the Egyptians shall drink the water that is by the sea, and the river shall fail and be dried up. Thus saith the Lord: Where now are thy wise men? and let them tell thee, SAINT NIKOLAJ (VELIMIROVIĆ), (1881-1956), and let them say what the Lord of Sabaoth hath purposed upon Egypt. In that day the Egyptians shall be like unto women, in fear and in 36. THE FEBRUARY MENAION, VOLUME SIX, February 2, HTM Monastery, Boston, MA, 2005, p 15 trembling at the presence of the hand of the Lord 37. Derwas J. Chitty, The Desert a City, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, Crestwood, NY, 1999, pp. 222. 7 THE GOOD WORD c/o St. Seraphim of Sarov & St. John of Kronstadt Orthodox Church 6063 Lake Murray Blvd. La Mesa, CA 91942-2506, U.S.A.

From THE PROLOGUE FROM OCHRID, December 27, Egypt but also in the entire world.” REFLECTION [on the flight into Egypt]:38 From the PROLOGUE FROM OCHRID, December 26, “A story of the Divine Christ-child: Both great prophets Isaiah [Another] REFLECTION [on the flight to Egypt]39 and Jeremiah, prophesied that the Lord would come to Egypt and that His presence would shake the pagan temples and “A story of the Divine Christ-child: When the holy family destroy the idols. Isaiah wrote: Behold, the Lord rideth upon a fled before Herod’s sword to Egypt, robbers leapt out on the swift cloud and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt road with the intention of stealing something. The righteous shall be moved at His presence (Isaiah 19:1, cf. Jeremiah Joseph was leading the donkey, on which were some 43:12-13 [LXX 50:12-13]). When the divine refugees came to belongings and on which the Most-holy Theotokos was riding the city of Hermopolis (Cairo), they approached a pagan with her Son at her breast. The robbers seized the donkey to temple, and all the idols in that temple suddenly fell down and lead it away. At that moment, one of the robbers approached were shattered. St. Palladius writes of this in his Lausiac the Mother of God to see what she was holding next to her History: ``We saw the pagan temple there, in which all the breast. The robber, seeing the Christ-child, was astonished at carved idols fell to the ground at the coming of the Savior.’’ In His unusual beauty and said in his astonishment: “If God were a certain place called Sirin there were 365 idols. When the to take upon Himself the flesh of man, He would not be more Most-holy Virgin entered that temple with the Divine Child in beautiful than this Child!’’ This robber then ordered his her arms, all these idols fell down and were shattered. All the companions to take nothing from these travelers. Filled with idols throughout Egypt fell in the same manner. The Holy gratitude toward this generous robber, the Most-holy Virgin Prophet Jeremiah, living in Egypt in old age, had prophesied said to him: “Know that this Child will repay you with a good to the pagan priests of Egypt that all the idols would fall and reward because you protected Him today.’’ Thirty-three years all the graven images would be destroyed at the time when a later, this same thief hung on the Cross for his crimes, Virgin Mother with a Child, born in a manger, would come to crucified on the right side of Christ’s Cross. His name was Egypt. The pagan priests remembered well this prophecy. In Dismas, and the name of the thief on the left side was Gestas. accordance with it, they carved out a representation of a Beholding Christ the Lord innocently crucified, Dismas Virgin as she lay on a bed and, next to her in a manger, her repented for all the evil of his life. While Gestas reviled the young Child wrapped in swaddling clothes; and they Lord, Dismas defended Him, saying: This man hath done venerated this representation. King Ptolemy asked the pagan nothing amiss. (:41). Dismas, therefore, was the wise priests what this representation meant, and they replied that it thief to whom our Lord said: Verily I say unto thee, Today was a mystery, foretold by a prophet to their fathers, and that shalt thou be with Me in Paradise (Luke 23:43). Thus the they were awaiting the fulfillment of this mystery. And, Lord granted Paradise to him who spared Him in childhood.” indeed, this mystery was fulfilled, and revealed not only in

38. 10. St. Nikolai Velimirović, December 27, Reflection, THE 39. St. Nikolai Velimirović, December 26, Reflection, THE PROLOGUE PROLOGUE OF OCHRID, VOL. 2, JULY TO DECEMBER, Serbian Diocese OF OCHRID, VOL. 2, JULY TO DECEMBER, Serbian Diocese of Western of Western America, Alhambra, CA, 2002, pp. 711. America, Alhambra, CA, 2002, pp. 707-8. For address changes or to request free B&W subscription copies, contact the Editor at: [email protected] For free PDF (color) copies click on “THE GOOD WORD” tab at http://www.stseraphimstjohnsandiego.org