1:3 A: The reflection of glory.
It says of wisdom in Wis 7:26: “She is a reflection ἀπαύγασμα of the eternal light and an immaculate
mirror ἔσοπτρον of God’s work
and a likeness of his goodness” εἰκὼν τῆς ἀγαθότητος αὐτοῦ. — From rabbinic literature, we can
compare this to expressions like זִיו יְקָרָא
“splendor of glory,”a זִיו אִיקוֹנִין
“splendor of likeness, of appearance”b and נוֹבֶלֶת = “likeness, reflection, (imperfect)
counterpart.”c
a. See Tg. Onk. Exod. 34:29 at § 2 Cor 3:7
C, #1. ‖ See Tg. Onk. Deut. 34:7 at § 2 Cor 3:7 C, #3.
b. See Tg. Yer. I Exod. 34:29 at § 2 Cor 3:7
C, #1. ‖ Genesis Rabbah 53 (33D): “Sarah … bore Abraham a son in her old age לִזְקֻנָיו” (Gen 21:2); this shows that the splendor
of his (Isaac’s) image (appearance) was like his (Abraham’s). — The midrash
interprets לזקניו as a notarikon = לְזִיו אִיקוֹנָיו = “after (according to) the splendor of
his image.”
c. Genesis Rabbah 17 (12A): R. Hanina b.
Isaac (in the 4th cent.) said, “There are three likenesses נוֹבְלוֹת: The likeness of death is sleep, the
likeness of prophecy is a dream, the likeness of the future world is the
Sabbath.” R. Abin (I, ca. 325; II, ca. 370) added two more, “The likeness
(reflection) of the upper light is the orb of the sun, the likeness (reflection)
of the upper wisdom is the Torah.” — The same is found in Gen. Rab. 44 (27D).
1:3 B: The imprint (impress) of his being.
χαρακτήρ = קְלַסְטֵר (קְלַסְתֵּר) “imprint, facial features, face.”a — χαρακτήριον = כְּלַקְטֵירִין “imprint, image, facial features.”b
a. Babylonian Talmud Baba Meṣiʿa 87A: (After
Isaac’s birth, the people said,) “Abraham, the hundred-year-old, is supposed to
have begotten? Immediately Isaac’s facial expression קלסתר פנים changed so that he was like Abraham.” ‖
See b. Ber. 7A at § 2 Cor 3:7 C, #2, n. e.
b. Leviticus Rabbah 23 (122B): (The
adulterer) does not know that the one who sits in the hidden place of the
world, that is, God, forms its (the child’s) imprint (facial features כלקטירין; so read instead of כל קטורין) according to his (the adulterer’s)
likeness, in order to make it known (as a bastard). — The same is found in
Pesiq. Rab. 24 (124B); in a broader version in Num. Rab. 9 at the beginning;
Tanḥ. נשא 195A; the last two passages replace the
foreign word with צוּרָה
= form, image.
1:3 C: The one who bears all things by the word of his power.
Genesis Rabbah 22 (15B): “Cain said to Yahweh, ‘My guilt is too great
to bear’ ” (Gen 4:13). The ones above and those below you bear אתה סובל, but my sin you do not bear. ‖ Exodus
Rabbah 36 (95D): “You would call, and I would answer; you would long for the
work of your hands” (Job 14:15). In four pieces God longs for the works of his
hands … And these are: God bears סוֹבֵל
his world (see Isa 46:4) …, God protects his world …, He illuminates the world.
(The 4th piece is missing; yet see the commentaries.) ‖ Leviticus
Rabbah 4 (107D): The soul bears the body and God bears סובל his world (see Isa 46:4). So let the soul, which bears the
body, come and praise God, who bears his world. ‖ Targum Yerušalmi I
Deuteronomy 33:27: “The dwelling (of God) was from the beginning and under the
arm of his strength, which bears the סביל
world.” — See more on this passage the excursus “The Memra of Yahweh,” #4, A,
n. c. (Hermann L. Strack
and Paul Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and
Midrash, ed. Jacob N. Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and Joseph
Longarino; Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2021], 3:782-83)
