As mentioned yesterday in some online venues, due to (1) chronic migraines and other medical issues flaring up the past number of months and (2) a few accidents resulting in ruptured premolars (yes, pain in the butt), and (3) lacking a medical card and insurance here, decided to set up a GoFundMe. If (1) you feel inclined and (2) you are in a position to do such, feel free to donate via:
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Thanks!
Elohim (el-o-heem) Hebrew:
"gods." The term, which is plural, is also uses for Adonai and
Jehovah. Latter-day Saints use the term as the exalted name-title of God the
Father. (Missionary Training Manual: For Use in the Jewish Proselyting
Program [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
1978, 1979], 20)
4. If you are asked, "Are
you Christians?" answer: "We are Mormons. We are neither Catholic nor
Protestant. We are here for the purpose of telling you and your family that God
has again spoken and that there is a living prophet upon the earth." If
the contact persists, say, "As we said, we are Mormon elders. We do not
believe in the Christ of the Crusades or the Christ of the Spanish Inquisition
which were responsible for the persecution of the Jews. Nor do we believe in
the Christ of the "Christians" who massacred the Mormon people and
burned them out of their homes in the middle of winter. But we do accept the
humble Jewish carpenter of Nazareth as the true Messiah, and we bear testimony
that he is the Christ." (Missionary Training Manual: For Use in the
Jewish Proselyting Program [Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, 1978, 1979], 31)
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The major interpretive issue
in v. 5b is the reference to “water”
(υδωρ). The preposition εκ is
not repeated before the second noun, πνευμα: the formulation is
not εξ υδατος και εκ πνευματος,
but εξ υδατος και πνευματος. The
preposition governs both nouns, which means that wate and Spirit are presented
as a single or unified agency of divine begetting: “from water-and-Spirit.” Moreover,
as already noted above, the formulation εξ υδατος
και πνευματος
becomes simply εκ του πνευματος in
v. 6b, as also in v. 8 where Jesus will explain begetting
γεννηθηναι ανωθεν(v.
7) in terms of the mysterious work of the Spirit without any mention of water
(see commentary there). Begetting εξ
υδατος και πνευματος is
thus interchangeable with begetting εκ
του πνευματος (as
also with begetting ανωθεν in vv. 3b, 7 and begetting εκ θεου in
1:13c). The article του in the formulation εκ του πνευματος
(vv. 6b, 8) is probably to be regarded as anaphoric, referring back to the
anathrous πνευματος in v. 5b. In light of such considerations, the
copulative και in v. 5b is probably best understood as epexegetical
or explanatory: “from water, i.e., from Spirit.” “Water” (υδωρ) is
evidently being used as a symbol for the Spirit, as in the case of 7:38-39 (see
commentary there).
The use of water as a symbol
of the Spirit in Johannine thought probably has its roots in baptism. In 3:22-30,
the baptizing activity of Jesus himself is mentioned (3:22, 26; 4:1), alongside
that of JohnB. Water was clearly used by both figures in the performance of the
rite (3:22-23). That Jesus and JohnB both had a baptizing ministry is already
intimated earlier, since according to 1:26, 31, and 33b, John B baptized εν υδατι, whereas, according to 1:33d, Jesus
baptized εν πνευματι αγιω. Jesus’ baptizing activity is
differentiated from that of JohnB by the presence and work of the (holy)
Spirit, because it is on him (Jesus) that το πνευμα descended and remained (1:33b; see
commentary on 1:32-34). The presence and work of the Spirit also marked the
baptizing activity which Johannine disciples carried out in Jesus’ name (4:2),
if not before then certainly after Easter. The water used in the baptismal rite
by Johannine disciples eventually came to function as a symbol for the presence
and work of the Spirit. It was the Spirit, not the rite itself, which effected
divine begetting. Through the rite they knew themselves to have become children
of God by the Spirit (1:12-13).
Nicodemus, through a
believer at some rudimentary level, has evidently not yet been baptized, which
for Johannine disciples entailed being begotten from water and Spirit, i.e.,
from the Spirit from above, from God. Nicodemus is not yet a child of God in
the Johannine sense, and therefore cannot (ου δυνατι) enter into the Kingdom of God, i.e.,
possess eternal life. That counts also for those on whose behalf Nicodemus
speaks (cf. οιδαμεν in
v. 2b). If this passage is directed particularly at secret believers (12:42;
19:38), as are suggested in the commentary on v. 2a, it points out to them that
they are missing something, salvation itself. At the same time it subtly
challenges them to make their faith public in a visible way, i.e., by
undergoing baptism (cf. Rensberger 1988: 58, 68-69), therefore “identifying with
a new people, complete with its own characteristic practices and commitments”
(Thompson 81). (Martinus C. De Boer, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on
the Gospel According to John: Introduction and Commentary on John 1-6 [The
International Critical Commentary; London” T&T Clark, 2025], 433-35)
In the above (p. 434 n. 101), alongside Ezek 36:25-27, 1QS
4:19-21 was also referenced. Here is a translation of the text:
19 of the visitation he will obliterate it
for ever. Then truth shall rise up forever (in) the world, for it has been
defiled in paths of wickedness during the dominion of injustice until
20 the time appointed for the judgment
decided. Then God will refine, with his truth, all man’s deeds, and will purify
for himself the structure of man, ripping out all spirit of injustice from the
innermost part
21 of his flesh, and cleansing him with the
spirit of holiness from every wicked deeds. He will sprinkle over him the
spirit of truth like lustral water (in order to cleanse him) from all the
abhorrences of deceit and (from) the defilement. (The Dead Sea Scrolls:
Study Edition, ed. Florentino Garcı́a Martı́nez and Eibert J. C. Tigchelaar
[Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1997-1998], 79)
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Before we turn to prophecy
for today, we need to say a little something about the sensus plenior—a Latin
phrase referring to a “fuller” or “deeper” meaning of a prophetic text. We see
this kind of interpretation taking place on a number of occasions in the New Testament
in relation to Old Testament texts: For example, “So was fulfilled what the
Lord had saith through the prophet: ‘Our of Egypt I called my son’” in Matt
2:15.
Sensus plenior is
a somewhat controversial idea insofar as it stretches a text’s “meaning” beyond
that of which the original writer and audience would have been aware and
therefore breaks the “first rule” of interpretation. And yet it’s something we
see the New Testament writers doing when it comes to messianic prophecies, in
particular. So what does this mean for us?
The first thing to say is
that just because the New Testament writers do this it does not give us license
to—they were themselves writing inspired Scripture in their sensus plenior interpretations,
we would not be. Once we lose the anchor of the original meaning of a text, the
sky is the limit when it comes to finding “meaning” in something. The more
creative a proposed reading is, the more potentially prone to error it will be.
The second thing to say is
that because a sensus plenior reading can only be identified in
hindsight adds to its riskiness. Losing our mooring in the original meaning
means we are into the realms of speculation.
That said, it somewhat depends
on what we mean by “meaning!” We know that at a personal, devotional level, the
Holy Spirit can and does speak meaningfully to us through texts outside
the original meaning. Btu this is never the same thing as that text’s “meaning.”
Whether something is the Holy Spirit speaking (or not) is to be discerned
through its consonance with Scripture as a whole, and specifically whether it
sounds like something Jesus would say: whether it accords with the nature and
character of God.
Tangential to sensus
plenior is seeing an implication that can be derived from a text
through a present within it as such. Stein cites a helpful example—outside
of a messianic context in 1 Cor 9:9, where Paul quotes Deut 25:4 (“You shall
not muzzle the ox when it is treading out the grain”) in justification of
ministers of the gospel receiving financial support for what they do; if oxen
are allowed to share in the benefits of their work, how much more so ministers?
The point here, however, is not so much a fuller or deeper meaning, but an
inference that may reasonably be drawn by analogy.
A further possibility may be
a second meaning in a subsequent event (the prophetic words being fulfilled
more than once). For example, a prophecy that was first fulfilled in concrete
events in an earlier time being fulfilled once again in a messianic event in
New Testament times. (Stephen Burnhope, Reading the Bible With Its Writers:
What They Were Saying, Why They Said It, How They Said It [Eugene, Oreg.: Cascade
Books, 2025], 212-13)
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Fall and its effects in EO:
78. We are made in the image of
God concerning the noetic movement of the soul, while the body serves as the
house of the soul. With Adam’s transgression, not only were the lines of the
image within the soul tainted, but the body also fell into corruption. Therefore,
the holy Word of God incarnated and became man, offering us the water of holy
Baptism as God, so that we may be reborn. This rebirth happens through water by
the action of the Holy and Life-giving Spirit; immediately, we are cleansed
both in soul and body, provided we approach God with our whole heart. Then, the
Holy Spirit dwells within us, while sin is expelled. It is impossible, since
the soul is singular and simple by nature, for two presences to exist within
it, as some have thought. When divine grace lovingly aligns itself with the
lines of “the image” as a foretaste of likeness to God, where can the presence
of Satan fit? Especially since there is no communion between light and darkness
(2 Corinthians 6:14). Therefore, we, who run the sacred race of virtue, believe
that through the Baptism of incorruption, the multifacted serpent, Satan, is
driven out from the depths of the mind. And let us not marvel that after
baptism we still think both good and evil thoughts. This happens because the
Baptism of holiness removes the impurity of sin, but it does not change the
dual nature of our will immediately; nor does it prevent demons from attacking
us or whispering deceitful words. Therefore, what we did not guard when we were
natural men (Jude 19), that is, without the Spirit of God, we must now guard
with God’s strength and the weapons of righteousness (2 Corinthians 6:7) which we
received in baptism. (Saint Diadochos of Photiki, “Ascetic Discourse Divided
into 100 Practical Chapters of Spiritual Knowledge and Discernment,” in The Philokalia
of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5 vols. [trans. Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of
Australia and Oceania, 2024], 1:78)
Christification:
What was the Lord and what did He
become for us? From what bright heights of divinity was He revealed according
to the power of the heavenly beings, glorified by every rational nature,
Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Authorities, Cherubim,
and Seraphim, and whatever unknown intellectual forces (whose names did not
reach us, as hinted by the Apostle Paul [Ephesians 1:12]), to what depth of humility
of humans did He descend due to His unspeakable goodness, becoming in
everything like us, who sat in despair in the darkness of deception and
ungodliness and in the shadow of sin and death (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16; Luke
1:79), who by Adam’s transgression became captives, and the enemy rules us
through the energy of passions. In such a dreadful and wild captivity, we were,
having been conquered by the invisible and bitter death, yet the Lord of all
visible and invisible creation was not ashamed but humbled Himself and, taking
on human form, condemned under the passions of dishonor and desire by the royal
decree, became man like us in all things except sin (Hebrews 4:15), that is,
without the passions of dishonor. For the punishments imposed by the royal
decree for the sin of transgression on humans, the punishment of death, toil,
hunger, thirst, and others, the Lord Jesus took them all upon Himself, becoming
what we are so that we might become what He is. The Word became flesh (John
1:14) so that the flesh might become the Word. He was rich but became poor for
us so that through His poverty we might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). He
became like us out of great philanthropy so that we might become like Him through
every virtue. For since Christ came, the man who was made in His image and
likeness is indeed renewed by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit and
reaches the measures of perfect love, which casts out fear (1 John 4:18) and
never fails, for “love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:8). Love, as John says,
is God, and whoever abides in love abides in God (1 John 4:16). To this measure
were the Apostles and those who practiced virtue like the Apostles and
presented themselves perfect to the Lord, following Christ with perfect desire
throughout their lives. (Saint Mark the Ascetic, “Letter to the monk Nicholas,”
in The Philokalia of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5 vols. [trans. Nun
Christina; Virgin Mary of Australia and Oceania, 2024], 1:91)
90. One good word made that
previously impure thief clean and holy, placing him in Paradise (Luke
23:42-43). And one improper word barred Moses from the promised land (Numbers
20:12). Let us not consider idle talk a small sickness; for those who are
slanderers and idle talkers exclude themselves from the kingdom of Heaven. A
man with an evil tongue, evne if he prospers in this life, will not prosper
there but will stumble and be captured as pray by evil punishments and
destroyed (Psalm 139:12). It was rightly said by a wise man that it is better
to fall from a high place to the ground than from a tongue (Sirach 20:18).
Therefore, we should believe the Apostle James, who writes: “Every man should
be quick to hear, slow to speak” (James 1:10). (Saint John of Karpathos, “100 Consolatory
Chapters to the Monks of India,” in The Philokalia of the Holy Neptic
Fathers, 5 vols. [trans. Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of Australia and
Oceania, 2024], 1:157)
The Image of God in the Soul
50. Just as a newborn baby is the
image of a perfect man, so the soul is the image of God who created it. Just as
the child grows, so it knows its father, and when it reaches maturity, the
characteristics of the father are clearly seen in the son and of the son in the
father, and the paternal inheritance is revealed to him. Similarly, the soul, before
disobedience, was meant to progress and reach the perfect man (Ephesians 4:13).
However, due to disobedience, it sank into a sea of forgetfulness and a put of
deception and dwelled at the gates of Hades. After the soul distanced itself so
far from God, it could no longer approach and rightly know the Creator. But God
called it to return to Him and led it to His knowledge, initially through the
Prophets, the Creator. But God called it to return to Him and led it to His knowledge,
initially through the Prophets, and ultimately by coming Himself. He then
removed the forgetfulness and deception. After breaking the gates of Hades, He
entered the deceived soul, giving it Himself as an example through which it can
reach the full maturity and perfection of the Spirit. The Word of God undergoes
temptation by the evil one (Matthew 4:1) by divine economy. He then endures revilements,
humiliations, insults, and slaps from those insolent, and finally accepts even
crucifixion (Matthew 27:26-30), to show us what disposition we should have
toward those who revile, humiliate, or seek even our death. Thus, a man should
become deaf and mute before them, not opening his mouth (Psalm 38:14), so that,
seeing the action and skill of wickedness, and as if nailed to the cross, he
may cry out with a very loud voice to Him who can save him from death (Hebrews
5:7), saying: “Cleanse me from hidden faults; keep back your servant also from
presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me” (Psalm 19:12-13). Then,
having become blameless, he finds Him who commanded all things to be under his authority
(Psalm 8:6) and reigns and rests with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12). Due to disobedience,
material and impure thoughts have swallowed the soul and made it as if it were
irrational. Therefore, much effort is required to rise above this heap, to
understand well the skill of wickedness, and escaping it, to be united with the
eternal mind. (“Paraphrased Works of Saint Macarius the Egyptian into 150
Chapters,” in The Philokalia of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5 vols. [trans.
Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of Australia and Oceania, 2024], 3:443)
On the amount of prostrations
to be done every day.
39. As for the amount of
prostrations (γονυλισιαι) to
be done, the Father have prescribed that we do three hundred every twenty-four
hours of the five weekdays, since on Saturdays and Sundays and other
established (εξ
εθους σεσημειωμεναις) days, and even some
weeks, we are ordered to take a break from prostrations for some mystical and
untold reasons (κατα τινας μυστικους και απορρητους λογους). But
there are some who exceed this number, while others do less, each according to
their strength and will (προαιρεσεως).
You too should do them according to your strength. But of course truly blessed
is he, and indeed many times blessed, who always exerts himself (εκβιαζων εαυτον) in all the works of God, For
the kingdom of heaven is taken by force (βιαστη), and the forceful (βιασται) seize it (Mt. 11:12). (Saints Kallistos and Ignatios
Xanthopoulos, “An Exact Rule and Method for Hesychasts,” in The Philokalia
of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5 vols. [trans. Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of
Australia and Oceania, 2024], 5:653)
On the manner in which the
prophets beheld vision.
67. However, if some people suppose
that the visions and shapes and revelations of the prophets came about through
their imagination and the natural order, let them know that they are far from
the truth or any proper understanding of these matters. For the prophets, like
the divine mystics of the present time, did not see or imagine according to the
natural order and laws of nature, neither divine and supernatural manner
through the ineffable power and grace of the Holy Spirit, as Basil the Great
says: “For through some inexpressible power those who have kept their intellect
pure and undistracted have received revelations, and have the word of God
resounding within them.” And again, “The prophets beheld visions when their
commanding faculty (ηγεμονικον)
was among the angelic and heavenly powers,” and then, “Later He was active
among the patriarchs and the prophets, among whom the former saw (εφαντασθησαν) God or came to know Him,
while the latter foresaw the future, since their commanding faculty was formed
by the Spirit, and thus they knew the things to come as through they were
present.” (Saints Kallistos and Ignatios Xanthopoulos, “An Exact Rule and
Method for Hesychasts,” in The Philokalia of the Holy Neptic Fathers, 5
vols. [trans. Nun Christina; Virgin Mary of Australia and Oceania, 2024], 5:669)
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For work, I try to spend 30-60 minutes each day playing around on AI (usually Logos Bible Software and using the “reason” option on Chat GPT for translation). This is to see in what way AI will be able to help the research team of the organization I work for. The following is an image from Midrash Aleph Bet diR, Akiba. The Hebrew text is published in Adolf Jellinek, Bet ha-Midrasch, 3 vols. (Jerusalem: Wahrmann, 1967), 3:32:
When asked to provide a "reasoned" translation from Hebrew to English, here are the results:
Hebrew (line‑by‑line)
ואין יחמיר יד שלם אלא יד
שלם (שׁם־טוב) שוחד
הקב”ה נתן לעולם ולעולמים ביכורי
העולים ובת־הקדש
ובאמת נסתרים (לָהֶם) בַּגּוֹיִם,
והמוחזרים ביד־טוב גומרים ומטהרים
אין ביכולתו לומר כי בזה בית הפסל והעוגה (שם
“ייעוץ”)
אין תומך אלא לְחַבֵּר המוסר
על המחטיר ירושלים (שם פ’ י״ב)
וזהו לא שונא העולם הַחוֹשׁ הזה (פ’
סוכה)
וזהו לא שונא העָדָם הרוצחים אֶל הַקְּרָחוֹת,
וצר לָהֶם
כי כל מסחר העניין הקב”ה לוקח לכל הבחורים,
ומשלים אותם חסד על
ידי חייו בידו, כדי שיציל ויחיים
לעולמים;
לפי מדת יד המעלה עם
הטובים לכל הבודדים לעולם, אם יבואו, ואף
אם בם (שבע) פעמים השמים לארץ — יצוּר עליהם
כל העולם
לסור אחרי “הַחוֹשׁ” שעטור עליהם גזר־הלית־אסר (שם
פ’ י״ח)
ואין סולח לָשֶׁר קָרוּב לִבּוֹ שם
“הַפָּתוּחַ” ; אלא התּלוי הדב
ששני לעולמים — מהו לומר אף־כן יש בחבורה.
שְׁנֵיהֶם לעולמים על כל יסוכו — מי
שיהיו
על ידי עצמם הראש חי, והחיים למחוז
שייראו לשלום חלק
על צדיקים (סוף “יחידים”), ומי
שמקיימים לעולם — השמים והארץ
יתחננו עם השומרים, או עתים נוספים
לפני כן.
ומדת תום ישיבו (סוף פרק מעז); ואין
מות עליהם.
עלם פְּלָטֶר שפלטר ארבעין
— עָלַם עטרו למתתל לכל צדיק פרט
וָעתיק להם להגר, יען שעה וטבעי גשם,
מלוה מלוה לעולם והבא יעו
עם בטבעו, ולמלא להם מעולס זו.
יש בחברה כולה שמוחו להם — הקב”ה וחלק
שבר־טוב,
ושלאחד יחוה מלכה למו.
English Translation
“One should never exact a full
measure except that measure by which a good name is gained as a ‘bribe.’
The Holy One, blessed be He, has
given for time and eternity the first‑fruits of the pilgrims and the
offerings of the Sanctuary.
And in truth these are hidden
among the nations, and those who restore them into good hands bring them to
completion and purify them.
Nor is it within His power to
say, ‘This is the house of idolatry and abomination’ (see there, “House of
Counsel”).
He sustains only the company of
those who admonish the defilers of Jerusalem (ibid., ch. 12).
And this is not the world’s
hatred of that particular stain (ch. Sukkah).
Nor is it the hatred of the
murderous peoples toward the mortals, nor their distress,
for the Holy One Himself claims
all the trade and profit of the matter for the elect, and He completes them
with mercy
through “the hand of life in His
own hand,” so that He may save them and grant them eternal life.
According to the measure of
ascent by which the righteous advance, He appoints for every exile of the world
— if they will come,
yea, though they ascend seven
times from earth to heaven — the world cannot decree against them,
for no prohibition can stand
where the crown of the Law rests upon them (ibid., ch. 18).
Nor does He forgive one whose
heart is hardened, as in the verse “the door is opened” [i.e. devoid of mercy];
rather,
steadfast devotion endures
forever — truly there is a company for them.
These two remain for evermore in
every trial — whoever stands with a living mind,
and whose life is preserved for
inquiry, shall be shown a portion of peace among the righteous (end of “The
Unique Ones”),
and those who endure forever —
the heavens and the earth shall intercede on their behalf,
together with their guardians,
and revisit them at appointed seasons.
The measure of their perfection
shall return (end of the chapter “Defiance”), and death shall not touch them.
The hidden ones whom none can
overcome, whom the hosts guard — their crown is theirs for each righteous
individual,
and they sojourn in the heights,
for there neither time nor storm disturbs them; they journey forever, and the
next generation awaits them
in their own nature, to replenish
them with this bounty.
For in the entire company of the
blessed there is a counsel for them — the Holy One apportions to them the good
reward,
and to each one He reveals His
kingship.”
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The doctrine is problematic
on several levels. According to this way of thinking, we are all doomed to Gods’
wrath and judgment even before we’ve started in life. This flies in the face of
both personal accountability for our own actions and decisions and the idea
that God is both just and fair (since to condemn all humanity simply for “what
Adam did” is not just and fair). Furthermore, on that basis we can have no
confidence whatsoever that a deceased baby is not destined for hell (I’m using
their concepts here). The reader will need to make up her own mind on the validity
of the Calvinist interpretation of these things but suffice to say that in
Jewish thinking there is an “age of accountability” (or “an age of reason”)
corresponding to the ceremony of bar mitzvah/bat mitzvah (around the time of puberty).
(Stephen Burnhope, Reading the Bible With Its Writers: What They Were
Saying, Why They Said It, How They Said It [Eugene, Oreg.: Cascade Books,
2025], 32)
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