Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Oecumenius (6th century) and Psalm 110:3 (LXX: 109:3)

  

He says, the beginning of God’s creation: perhaps the Arians’ anti-Christ workshop would light upon this saying, as though the Son were described by these words as a creature. But let us not take notice of their unholy words. We must examine whether any such description occurs in another text, so that one might be able to form a judgment by comparing similar terms. (3) The wise apostle, writing to the Colossians, talks of the Son “who is the first-fruit” and “the first-born of all creation,” certainly not “the first-created.” And the prophet says, “From the womb before the morning-star I begot you,” certainly not “I created you.” (Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse [trans. John N. Suggit; The Fathers of the Church 112; Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2006], 50; cf. Brant Gardner on 1 Nephi 13:24-28 and a Note on Psalm 110:3 in the MT and LXX)