Question
152
What
is the obscurity of Scripture.
The obscurity of the divine Scriptures
has many causes. First, because every language that is translated into another loses
its flow. Second, because the similar words of the Hebrews caused confusion for
the interpreters. For example, the word “kalos” can mean different things depending
in accent: one way it means beautiful, proper, noble, and fitting for virtue; another
way it means the rope of a ship. Likewise, the word “oros” can mean the
definition of a thing, or a hill and high place; another way it means the
watery residue of milk.
Third, there are Hebrew words which
cannot be explained in Greek with the meaning they carry, and so they were left
as they are, such as in Jeremiah, “the prison Sinōch.” Fourth, often punctuation itself produces obscurity, as
in “the good shall be the inhabitants of the earth,” if a punctuation mark is
not placed after “good.” Fifth, also the difference of accent, as in “Beginning
of wisdom, seek wisdom,” if we do not read “beginning” as a noun but instead as
a verb.
Sixth, there are many words which
have one form in both singular and plural, such as “god” and “gods.” Seventh, many
verbs change person, as in the word to Abraham, “Now I know that you fear God,”
which was spoken instead of “you have known.” Eighth, they also use genders in
the opposite way; the moon and the sea for them are the masculine gender.
Ninth, many times certain words are
missing, as in “Mountains are lifted up and plains are lowered”; the word “like”
is missing, so that it would be “They are lifted up like mountains” (for the
meaning is of the waves), and “they are lowered like plains.” Tenth, during the
captivity the sacred books had been burned, and afterwards, as those who dwelt
in Jerusalem sent them to those who had been carried off to Babylon, some lay
in wait and stole the books, and others again wrote with symbols with foreigners
could not understand, and for these reasons obscurity arose, until Ezra was inspired,
and after recalling all the books, recorded them.
Question
153
On
the same subject, more clearly.
One cause of the obscurity of the
Old Testament is the rough and beastlike character of its hearers, a fact
confirmed by Paul when he says, “The same veil remains during the reading of
the Old Testament, and it is not taken away, because it is done away in Christ.”
A second cause: Since Moses the
lawgiver wore a veil on his face, in a similar way he expressed his legislation
as through with a veil, by obscurity—not that any of this was worthy of blame,
but the reason was the spiritual weakness of the hearers. Moses wore the veil
because they could not endure the brightness of his face unless it was covered,
and the law, in place of that veil, for this reason was clothed with obscurity.
For he entrusted to them, as though they were treasuries, the most perfect and lofty
doctrines, which foreshadowed Christ and His Covenant. But to them, their
incomplete and diseased understanding stood as a barrier to their benefit from
it. Yet it was kept as a hidden treasure for us, so that, when Christ should
come, with the return to Him, the treasure might be revealed.
And consider to that a high
dignity the presence of the Lord has raised us: He has established us in the place
of Moses. Moreover, the prophecy of future things, even if it had no other
cause of difficulty, is not as clear as the narration of present things. But when
the things prophesied were fulfilled, their obscurity was changed into clarity.
Indeed, what the Saviour foretold, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I
will raise it up,” not only did the disobedient and foolish among the Jews not understand,
nor grasp its deeper meaning, btu even the more knowledge of them, who
delighted in the Lord’s teaching—the company of disciples—even they did not understanding,
but needed its fulfillment in order to comprehend the prophecy.
For this reason, the Jew is not
guilty of blame who did not understand the prophecies concerning Christ before
His coming. That is why the Saviour said: “If I had not come and spoken to them,
they would not have sin.” That is, even though Scripture foretold these things
about Christ, they remained dark on account of the absence of the One whom they
proclaimed. But when He came, nothing else obscured them any longer, except the
wickedness and malice of those who did not wish to acknowledge them.
Apart from these, another cause
of obscurity is that the Old Testament was not written in the Greek language,
but was translated into it from the Hebrew, and it is natural that every
language, when carried into another, brings with it some difficulty of
understanding. The Mosaic laws were first written in the Hebrew tongue, because
only the Jews at that time were devoted to the knowledge of God, while the
other nations had been brutalized, given over to idolatrous frenzy. But when
the time drew near for Christ to come and to call the world to Himself, and the
Greek language prevailed among the nations more than the others, then also the
Hebrew tongue was translated into Greek, not more than one hundred years before
the presence of the Savior, when Ptolemy reigned in Egypt. It was necessary,
therefore, that with the language by which the nations would be guided into the
knowledge of God, with that same language the prophecies should also be
announced, which foretold the common Saviour.
Languages, however, were divided
into many dialects because, although man had received one language in the
beginning, through arrogance he reached into folly and godlessness. Since he
used the one language to his harm, it was just that the multitude of tongues
should take its place. Yet the gain and usefulness of the one language, after
its division and scattering for so long a time, were restored when the disciples,
proclaiming with tongues of fire in their mouths, then made known and fulfilled
the mighty works of God. (Photius, The Collected Amphilochia, 3 vols.
[trans. Nun Christina; 2025], 3:419-21)
