.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

An old-time
scientific-like research
on religious groups:
A Russian Orthodox case /

Μια παλιομοδίτικη
επιστημονικοφανής μελέτη
σχετικά με τα θρησκεύματα:
Μια Ρωσορθόδοξη περίπτωση





An issue of the illegal —according to the Russian law "extremist"—
Watchtower (w12 4/15) magazine
with the title removed in copies circulating across Russia /

Τεύχος του εκτός νόμου —σύμφωνα με τον ρωσικό νόμο "εξτρεμιστικού"—
περιοδικού Η Σκοπιά (
w12 15/4)
χωρίς τον τίτλο του για τα αντίτυπα που κυκλοφορούν στη Ρωσία

*




Л. Е. Веснина,
КОММУНИКАТИВНАЯ СТРАТЕГИЯ
ЗАПУГИВАНИЯ В ТЕКСТАХ
РЕЛИГИОЗНОЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ «СВИДЕТЕЛИ ИЕГОВЫ»

[COMMUNICATIVE STRATEGY
OF INTIMIDATION IN THE TEXTS
OF THE RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION "JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES"
]

Политическая лингвистика
2 (40) 2012,
Екатеринбург, Россия,
pp./σσ. 66-70.

[Russian/Ρωσικά, PDF]




Sunday, August 26, 2012

Jews & "heretics"
under harsh persecution
in the Byzantine empire /

Ιουδαίοι & «αιρετικοί»
υπό σκληρό διωγμό
στη Βυζαντινή αυτοκρατορία










Ιουδαίοι που περιτέμνουν Χριστιανό
τιμωρούνται με κεφαλική ποινή και δημεύονται.

Jews who circumcise a Christian
they incure capital punishment and confiscation.




Μιχαήλ Ατταλειάτης / Michael Attaleiates,
Πόνημα νομικὸν ἤτοι σύνοψις πραγματική / Jus Graecoromanum,

ΤΙΤΛΟΣ Γʹ.
Περὶ τῆς ἀνωτάτω τριάδος καὶ πίστεως καθολικῆς,
καὶ περὶ τοῦ μηδένα τολμᾶν περὶ αὐτῆς δημοσίως ἀμφισβητεῖν,
καὶ περὶ αἱρετικῶν.

Ζήτει βιβλίον τῶν Βασιλικῶν αʹ.


αʹ. Χριστιανός ἐστιν, ὁ πιστεύων μίαν εἶναι θεότητα, ἐν ἴσῃ ἐξουσίᾳ τοῦ Πατρός, καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ, καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος. Ὁ γὰρ παρὰ τὰ εἰρημένα δοξάζων, αἱρετικός ἐστιν.

βʹ. Μηδεὶς τοῖς τῶν αἱρετικῶν μυστηρίοῖς, ἀνεώχθω τόπος.

γʹ. Μὴ λαμβανέτω Ἰουδαῖος Χριστιανήν, μήτε Χριστιανὸς Ἰουδαίαν. Καὶ ἁπλῶς αἱρετικοὶ καὶ ἀλλόπιστοι μηδὲ κατά τινα πρόφασιν Χριστιανοῖς πρὸς γάμον συναπτέσθωσαν.

δʹ. Μηδεὶς αἱρετικὸς ἐπίκτησιν ποιείτω πράγματος ἀκινήτου ἐκκλησιαστικοῦ, μηδὲ κατὰ μίσθωσιν ἢ ἐμφύτευσιν. Εἰ δέ τι τοιοῦτον ἁμαρτηθῇ, τὸ δοθὲν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοιαύτης αἰτίας ἀπολέσας ὁ αἱρετικός.

εʹ. Ὁ συκοφαντήσας ἐγκληματικῶς ἐπίσκοπον τριάκοντα χρυσίου λίτρας προστιμάσθω τῷ δημοσίῳ.

ϛʹ. Τοὺς ἐπισκόπους ἀπαγορεύομεν μὴ ἀφορίζειν τινὰ τῆς ἁγίας κοινωνίας, ἄνευ τὸ δειχθῆναι αἰτίαν εὔλογον. Ὁ δὲ ἀναποδείκτως ἀφορίζων, κωλύεται τῆς ἁγίας κοινωνίας ἐπὶ χρόνον.

ζʹ. Οἱ ἐπίσκοποι δωρεὰν καὶ ἀμισθὶ προχειριζέσθωσαν. Ἐὰν γάρ τι δοθῇ, ἐκπίπτει τῆς ἱερωσύνης καὶ ὁ λαβὼν καὶ ὁ δεδωκώς. Εἰ δὲ λαϊκός ἐστιν ὁ δεδωκώς, δίδωσι τὸ διπλάσιον.

ηʹ. Οἱ ἐπίσκοποι, καὶ οἱ μοναχοὶ μὴ γινέσθωσαν ἐπίτροποι ἢ κουράτορες, κἂν θέλωσι.

θʹ. Μοναχὸς τοῦ μοναστηρίου ἀναχωρῶν, καὶ ἰδιώτου βίον ἑλόμενος, ἀπόλλει ὅσα εἰσήγαγεν εἰς τὸ μοναστήριον.

ιʹ. Πρεσβύτερος ἢ διάκονος χρηματικῶς ψευδομαρτυρῶν, τρεῖς ἐνιαυτοὺς τῆς ἱερουργίας χωρίζεται· ἐγκληματικῶς δέ, τῆς ἀξίας γυμνούμενος τιμωρεῖται.

ιαʹ. Δοῦλος γινώσκοντος τοῦ δεσπότου καὶ σιωπῶντος χειροτονούμενος κληρικός, ἐλευθεροῦται.

ιβʹ. Οὔτε μητροπολίτης οὔτε ἐπίσκοπος ἀπαιτεῖται ἐγγύην οὐδὲ ὁμολογίαν ὑπὲρ δίκης κἂν ἐνάγηται.

ιγʹ. Ὁ ὑβρίζων ἐπίσκοπον ἢ κληρικὸν ἐν ἁγίᾳ λειτουργίᾳ ἢ ἐν λιτῇ, βασανίζεται καὶ ἐξορίᾳ παραπέμπεται. Ὁ δὲ ταράσσων τὰς θείας λειτουργίας ἢ τὰς ἁγίας λιτάς, καὶ κωλύων αὐτὰς μὴ γίνεσθαι, κεφαλικῶς τιμωρεῖται.

ιδʹ. Οὐδεμίαν ἄδειαν παρέχομεν ἢ τοῖς γονεῦσι τοὺς παῖδας ἢ τοῖς παισὶ τοῦ γονεῖς τὴν κοσμικὴν διαγωγὴν καταλιμπάνοντας ὡς ἀχαρίστους ἀποκλείειν τῆς ἰδίας κληρονομίας ὑπὲρ αἰτίας πρὸ τοῦ μοναχικοῦ βίου προακολουθησάσης.

ιεʹ. Ἐὰν μοναχὸς καταλείψας τὸ ἴδιον μοναστήριον εἰς ἄλλο ἔλθῃ, εἴ τινα πράγματα ἐν τῷ καιρῷ, καθ’ ὃν τὸ μοναστήριον κατέλειπεν, ἔχειν φανῇ, τῷ πρώτῳ μοναστηρίῳ, ἐν ᾧ ἐξαρχῆς εἰσῆλθε, διαφέρειν κελεύομεν.

ιϛʹ. Εἴ τις ἁρπάσῃ ἢ ὑπονοθεύσῃ ἢ διαφθείρῃ ἀσκήτριαν, ἢ διακόνισσαν ἢ μονάστριαν, τὰ τούτου πράγματα καὶ τῶν τοιούτου μύσους αὐτῷ συμμετασχόντων κελεύομεν τῷ εὐαγεῖ τόπῳ ἐν ᾧ ἡ τοιαύτη γυνὴ ᾤκει, ἐκδικεῖσθαι· τοὺς δὲ τὰ τοιαῦτα πλημμελήσαντας καὶ τοὺς μετασχόντας τὸν ἐκ τοῦ νόμου κίνδυνον ὑπομένειν· τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας ἀναζητεῖσθαι, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων πραγμάτων εἰς μοναστήριον ἐμβάλλεσθαι.

ιζʹ. Ἐξέστω ἑκάστῳ τελευτῶντι τὰ οἰκεῖα πράγματα καταλιμπάνειν ταῖς ἁγίαις ἐκκλησίαις, προστάττειν δὲ διὰ τούτων καὶ εὐκτήριον οἶκον καὶ ξενῶνα καὶ νοσοκομεῖον καὶ μοναστήριον κτίζεσθαι, καὶ διοικεῖσθαι κατὰ τὸ διατεταγμένον παρ’ αὐτοῦ. Δεῖ γὰρ φυλάττεσθαι τὰς γνώμας αὐτῶν.

ιηʹ. Μέχρι τῶν πρὸ τῆς δημοσίας ἀγορᾶς τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὅρων τὸ ἀσφαλὲς ἐχέτωσαν οἱ πρόσφυγες.

ιθʹ. Ὁ ἐξεῶν τινὰ προσφυγόντα τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ, ὡς ἱερόσυλος τιμωρεῖται.

κʹ. Μηδεὶς εὐαγὴς οἶκος Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἐκποιείτω ἀκίνητον πρᾶγμα, μήτε κατὰ πρᾶσιν, μήτε κατ’ ἐμφύτευσιν, εἰμὴ ἐρημοτόπιόν ἐστιν ἀπρόσοδον. Τὰ δὲ μοναστήρια τὰ ἐν τῇ βασιλευούσῃ καὶ τὰ ἐν ἐπαρχίαις, καὶ αἱ ἐν ἐπαρχίαις ἐκκλησίαι δύνανται καὶ ἐκποιεῖσθαι καὶ διηνεκῶς εἰς ἐμφύτευσιν ἐκδιδόναι, μετὰ συντετηρημένης καὶ εὐλόγου αἰτίας.

καʹ. Χρεῶν ὑπόντων δύνανται καὶ εὐαγεῖς οἶκοι πωλεῖν τὰ περιττὰ ἱερά.

κβʹ. Ἐὰν ὁ λαβὼν εἰς ἐμφύτευσιν ἀπὸ ἐκκλησίας ἐπὶ δύο ἐνιαυτοὺς μὴ παράσχῃ τὸ ἐμφυτευτικὸν δημόσιον, μετὰ ἐπιφωνήσεις καὶ ὀχλήσεις ἐκπίπτει τοῦ πράγματος.

κγʹ. Ἀπαγορεύομεν καὶ τοῖς ὁσιωτάτοις ἐπισκόποις πράγματα κινητὰ ἢ ἀκίνητα ἢ αὐτοκίνητα, ὅσα μετὰ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν εἰς αὐτοὺς οἱῳδήποτε τρόπῳ περιέλθοι, εἰς ἰδίους συγγενεῖς κατά τινα τρόπον μεταφέρειν· εἰς αἰχμαλώτων δὲ ἀνάῤῥησιν καὶ πτωχῶν ἀποτροφάς, καὶ εἰς ἄλλας εὐσεβεῖς αἰτίας, ἢ ὑπὲρ τοῦ συμφέροντος τῆς ἰδίας ἐκκλησίας (ἐκ τούτων δαπανᾶν ἄδειαν ἐχέτωσαν)· δύνανται δὲ ἅπερ πρὸ τῆς ἐπισκοπῆς εἶχον, ἢ μετὰ τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν ἀπὸ συγγενῶν ἔλαβον, καταλιμπάνειν οἷς ἂν βουληθεῖεν.

κδʹ. Πᾶσα ἀγωγὴ ἁρμόζουσα σεπτῷ οἴκῳ, εἰς τεσσαρακονταετίαν ἐπεκτείνεται. Ἔσωθεν γὰρ ταύτης δύναται τὸ μέρος τῆς ἐκκλησίας κινεῖν καὶ ζητεῖν τὸ ἴδιον παρὰ ἀλλοτρίου κατεχόμενον, εἴτε κινητόν ἐστιν ἢ ἀκίνητον, εἴτε χρεωστούμενον ἐξ οἱασδηποτοῦν αἰτίας. Ὅταν δὲ εὐαγὴς οἶκος πρὸς εὐαγῆ οἶκον ἔχῃ, ἡ τριακονταετία ἀντίκειται.

[...]

σλεʹ. Ὁ ἀπὸ Χριστιανῶν Ἰουδαῖος γενόμενος δημευέσθω.

σλϛʹ. Ὁ τὴν ὀρθόδοξον πίστιν κλέπτων, μήτε διατιθέσθω, μήτε δωρείσθω, μήτε διὰ πράσεως εἰκονικῆς εἰς ἀπάτην τοῦ νόμου φερέτω. Διαδεχέσθωσαν δὲ αὐτὸν ἐξ ἀδιαθέτου μόνοι Χριστιανοὶ συγγενεῖς. Ἡ δὲ κατ’ αὐτοῦ ἀγωγὴ μὴ περιοριζέσθω χρόνῳ. Ἐκεῖνος δὲ ἔστω μόνος ὑπὸ μέμψιν, ὃς ἔθυσεν ἢ θύσαι τινὶ ἐνετείλατο.

σλζʹ. Ἐὰν Ἰουδαῖος Χριστιανὸν πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν θρησκείαν ἐφελκύσαι τολμήσῃ, δημευέσθω καὶ τὴν δι’ αἵματος τιμωρίαν ὑπομενέτω.

σληʹ. Πᾶς μὴ Χριστιανὸς οἰκέτην ἔχων Χριστιανόν, τριάκοντα χρυσίου λίτρας καταθήσει τῷ δημοσίῳ, καὶ εἰς ἐλευθερίαν ἁρπαζομένου τοῦ οἰκέτου.






* Iuris Graeco-Romani tomus secundus,
(Marquard Freher & Johannes Leunclavius, 1596),
pp./σσ. 6-8.
[Greek-Latin/Ελληνικά-Λατινικά, PDF]


Friday, August 24, 2012

Η οντοθεολογία
που επιβλήθηκε στο Βιβλικό κείμενο
από τη μετάφραση των Ο' /

The ontotheology
superimposed on the Bible text
by Septuagint








Alfred Jäger,
“The living God and the endangered reality of life”,
in/στο:
Orrin F. Summerell,
The Otherness of God
[Η Ετερότητα του Θεού],

The University Press of Virginia, 1998,
p./σ. 245.

Η περίφημη περικοπή «Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν» [κυριολ. αγγλ. «Είμαι αυτός που είμαι»] (Εξ. 3:14) δεν έχει καμία σχέση με την οντολογία. [...] Η μετάφραση αυτής της περικοπής στην Εβδομήκοντα, όμως, αποτέλεσε τη δίοδο για να εισαχθεί η ελληνική μεταφυσική στην κατανόηση του Βιβλικού κειμένου.





Jean-Luc Marion,
God Without Being: Hors-Texte,
[Ο Θεός χωρίς Είναι: Εκτός κειμένου],
University of Chicago Press, 1995,
p./σ. 73.

Το εβραϊκό ρήμα χαγιάχ δεν επαρκεί ώστε να εισαχθεί η έννοια τού «Είναι»· ιστορικά, η μετάβαση από τη βιβλική καταγραφή στην νοητική [ή, εννοιολογική] διένεξη μεταξύ φιλοσόφων και θεολόγων βασίζεται στη μετάφραση της Εβδομήκοντα: Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν. Αυτή η μετάφραση αντικαθιστά μια κλιτή μορφή, μια ενεστωτική εξακολούθηση για κάτι ανολοκλήρωτο με μια μετοχή, [δηλ.] ὁ ὤν· με λίγα λόγια, μια ενέργεια μπορεί να γίνει ιδίωμα, ακόμη δε και όνομα.



Ο Μιχαήλ Ψελλός
& το ιερό Τετραγράμματο /

Michael Psellos
& the sacred Tetragrammaton






Michael Psellos /
Μιχαήλ Ψελλός

*







* Τζίνα Πολίτη,
«Σε αναζήτηση του χαμένου κλειδιού
(Η ιστορία των Μεταμορφώσεων του Γιάννη Πάνου)
»

στην:
Νέα Εστία,
τόμ. 146, τεύχ. 1714,
Ιούλιος-Αύγουστος 1999,
σσ. 23, 24. *


Thursday, August 23, 2012

Ο Ιππόλυτος Ρώμης
περί Τριάδας & αγίου Πνεύματος /

Hippolytus of Rome
on the Trinity & the holy Spirit




Johann Nepomuk Huber,
Die Philosophie der Kirchenväter,
J. G. Cotta 1859, p. 98.
[German/Γερμανικά, PDF]
 Ιγν. Μοσχάκης (μετάφρ.),
Η φιλοσοφία των πατέρων της εκκλησίας,
εν Αθήναις 1883, σ. 105.



Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν, ἀδελφοί, σημαίνουσιν ἡμῖν αἱ γραφαί. ταύτην τὴν οἰκονομίαν παραδίδωσιν ἡμῖν καὶ ὁ μακάριος Ἰωάννης ἐν εὐαγγελίῳ μαρτυρῶν, καὶ τοῦτον τὸν Λόγον Θεὸν ὁμολογεῖ οὕτως λέγων, Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ Λόγος καὶ ὁ Λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ Λόγος. εἰ δὲ οὖν ὁ Λόγος πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν Θεὸς ὤν, τί οὖν, φήσειεν ἄν τις, δύο λέγειν θεούς; δύο μὲν οὐκ ἐρῶ θεούς, ἀλλ’ ἢ ἕνα· πρόσωπα δὲ δύο, οἰκονομίαν τε τρίτην τὴν χάριν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος. Πατὴρ μὲν γὰρ εἷς, πρόσωπα δὲ δύο, ὅτι καὶ ὁ Υἱός· τὸ δὲ τρίτον καὶ ἅγιον πνεῦμα. Πατὴρ ἐντέλλεται, Λόγος ἀποτελεῖ, Υἱὸς δὲ δείκνυται δι’ οὗ Πατὴρ πιστεύεται. οἰκονομίᾳ συμφωνίας συνάγεται εἰς ἕνα Θεόν. εἷς γάρ ἐστιν ὁ Θεός. ὁ γὰρ κελεύων Πατήρ, ὁ δὲ ὑπακούων Υἱός, τὸ δὲ συνετίζον ἅγιον πνεῦμα. ὁ ὢν Πατὴρ ἐπὶ πάντων, ὁ δὲ Υἱὸς διὰ πάντων, τὸ δὲ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἐν πᾶσιν. ἄλλως τε ἕνα Θεὸν νοῆσαι οὐ δυνάμεθα, ἐὰν μὴ ὄντως Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι πιστεύσωμεν. Ἰουδαῖοι μὲν γὰρ ἐδόξασαν Πατέρα, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ηὐχαρίστησαν· Υἱὸν γὰρ οὐκ ἐπέγνωσαν. μαθηταὶ ἐπέγνωσαν Υἱόν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ· διὸ καὶ ἠρνήσαντο. γινώσκων τοίνυν ὁ πατρῷος Λόγος τὴν οἰκονομίαν καὶ τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρὸς ὅτι οὐκ ἄλλως βούλεται δοξάζεσθαι ὁ Πατὴρ ἢ οὕτως, ἀναστὰς παρέδωκεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς λέγων, Πορευθέντες μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη βαπτίζοντες αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, δεικνύων ὅτι πᾶς ὃς ἂν ἕν τι τούτων ἐλλίπῃ, τελείως Θεὸν οὐκ ἐδόξασεν.  διὰ γὰρ τῆς τριάδος ταύτης Πατὴρ δοξάζεται. Πατὴρ γὰρ ἠθέλησεν, Υἱὸς ἐποίησεν, πνεῦμα ἐφανέρωσεν. πᾶσαι τοίνυν αἱ γραφαὶ περὶ τούτου κηρύσσουσιν.

Hippolytus of Rome, Contra haeresin Noeti 14 /
    Ιππόλυτος Ρώμης, Εἰς τὴν αἵρεσιν Νοητοῦ τινος 14.

These things then, brethren, are declared by the Scriptures. And the blessed John, in the testimony of his Gospel, gives us an account of this economy (disposition) and acknowledges this Word as God, when he says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." If, then, the Word was with God, and was also God, what follows? Would one say that he speaks of two Gods? I shall not indeed speak of two Gods, but of one; of two Persons however, and of a third economy (disposition), viz., the grace of the Holy Ghost. For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is also the Son; and then there is the third, the Holy Spirit. The Father decrees, the Word executes, and the Son is manifested, through whom the Father is believed on. The economy of harmony is led back to one God; for God is One. It is the Father who commands, and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding: the Father who is above all, and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Spirit who is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God, but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For the Jews glorified (or gloried in) the Father, but gave Him not thanks, for they did not recognise the Son. The disciples recognised the Son, but not in the Holy Ghost; wherefore they also denied Him. The Father's Word, therefore, knowing the economy (disposition) and the will of the Father, to wit, that the Father seeks to be worshipped in none other way than this, gave this charge to the disciples after He rose from the dead: "Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." And by this He showed, that whosoever omitted any one of these, failed in glorifying God perfectly. For it is through this Trinity that the Father is glorified. For the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit manifested. The whole Scriptures, then, proclaim this truth.

(Transl. J.H. MacMahon)



Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Ο Στ. Σάκκος περί του Ιακώβου 4:16:
Ο κομπασμός
& η «επίδειξη του πλούτου»




νῦν δὲ καυχᾶσθε ἐν ταῖς ἀλαζονείαις ὑμῶν·
πᾶσα καύχησις τοιαύτη πονηρά ἐστιν.

—James / Ιακώβου 4:16.





Στ. Σάκκος,
Ερμηνεία εις την Επιστολήν του Ιακώβου,
Θεσσαλονίκη, 1975,
σ. 132.





666, the number of the beast:
A daring (& timely?) interpretation
of the role of the world commerce /

666, ο αριθμός του θηρίου:
Μια τολμηρή (& επίκαιρη;) ερμηνεία
για το ρόλο του παγκόσμιου εμπορίου




Ὧδε ἡ σοφία ἐστίν.
ὁ ἔχων νοῦν ψηφισάτω τὸν ἀριθμὸν τοῦ θηρίου,
ἀριθμὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἐστίν,
καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτοῦ ἑξακόσιοι ἑξήκοντα ἕξ.

—Revelation / Αποκάλυψη 13:18.




Ι. Φ. Ρόδερφορντ / J. F. Rutherford, *
Φως [Light],
Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1930,
vol./τόμ. 1, p./σ. 96.




Φως 1:323



Light 1:299
[English/Αγγλικά, PDF]



*


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The sacred Tetragrammaton
in the text of the Hebrew Matthew /

Το ιερό Τετραγράμματο
στο κείμενο του Εβραϊκού Ματθαίου






Hebrew Matthew 1:18–25 / Εβραϊκός Ματθαίος 1:18–25,
British Library, manuscript Add. 26964
.




While the Jewish scribes who preserved Hebrew Matthew carefully copied the gospel word for word, rabbinical tradition required them to introduce certain changes. Foremost among these changes was the suppression of the divine name Yehovah (or: Yahweh) originally written with the four Hebrew letters Yod-He-Vav-He יהוה. Whenever a Jewish scribe came across the name YHVH he reduced it to a single letter, the Hebrew letter he ה, equivalent to the English "H". The Hebrew letter was then marked with the gershayim or double-apostrophe symbol to identify it as an abbreviation. The reason for this change is that the Rabbis considered the name of God too holy to write out in full in any book other than the Tanakh (Old Testament). Jewish readers knew whenever they saw the single Hebrew letter H" "ה marked with a double-apostrophe that it represented the divine name YHVH. This shorthand representation of the divine name is even used in the Talmud and other texts which the Rabbis considered sacred.

In accordance with this tradition, the Jewish scribes who preserved Hebrew Matthew systematically replaced the divine name YHVH with the H" "ה abbreviation. Working backwards, whenever Hebrew Matthew has H" the original gospel must have had the full name YHVH. This is important because the Greek New Testament does not contain the name YHVH even a single time. Even when the Greek quotes a passage from the Tanakh that has the name YHVH it replaces it with "Lord". Unfortunately the word "Lord" in the Greek can represent either the Hebrew word for Lord (Adonai) or the name YHVH. In contrast, Hebrew Matthew's H" "ה abbreviation can only represent the divine name YHVH.

As one might expect, whenever Hebrew Matthew quotes Tanakh verses with the name YHVH, it represents this name as H" "ה. But more importantly, Hebrew Matthew has the abbreviation for YHVH in numerous places which are not Tanakh quotations. For example, Hebrew Matthew 1:22 says:

All of this to fulfill what was written from the prophet by the mouth of H".

The H" abbreviation in Hebrew Matthew indicates that the original First Century gospel must have read "by the mouth of YHVH". The divine name appears a second time in this passage: Greek Matthew 1:24 has the phrase angel of the Lord, but Hebrew Matthew has angel of H" which must have originally been: angel of YHVH.

* Nehemia Gordon,
The Naming of Jesus in Hebrew Matthew
[Ο Ονοματισμός του Ιησού στον Εβραϊκό Ματθαίο],
Hilkiah Press, 2008,
pp./σσ. 9, 10.


Sunday, August 19, 2012

P.Oxy.XXXVI 2745
(3rd-4th cent./3ος-4ος αι.):

A Christian onomasticon of Hebrew names
using the IAO form
of the sacred Tetragrammaton /

Χριστιανικό ονομαστικό εβραϊκών ονομάτων
που χρησιμοποιεί τη μορφή ΙΑΩ
του ιερού Τετραγράμματου






Onomasticon of Hebrew Names
ed. D. Rokeah


Publication date: 1970
Author: Origen?
Date: Third/fourth century
Provenance: Oxyrhynchus
Location: Papyrology Rooms, Sackler Library, Oxford
Genre: Lexicography
Format: Roll
Material: Papyrus

Source / Πηγή: Oxyrhynchus Online.

------------------------------


A doubted basis for a conclusion
concerning the excusively Jewish use of the form IAO: /

Μια εν αμφιβόλω βάση για συμπέρασμα
αναφορικά με την αποκλειστικά ιουδαϊκή χρήση της μορφής ΙΑΩ:


P. Kahle (based on Rev. Dr. J. Barns commenting),
"The Greek Bible and the Gospels",
Studia Evangelica, vol./τόμ. 1, 1959, p./σ. 616.




Η ‘νέα μετάφραση’
της Προς Τίτον Επιστολής
από τον Αδαμάντιο Κοραή (1829) /

The ‘new translation’
of the Epistle to Titus
by Adamantios Korais (1829)







Αδαμάντιος Κοραής / Adamantios Korais,
Άτακτα, τόμ. 3, 1830, σσ. 279-326.




Martin Rösel:

Die Notwendigkeit
eines erneuten Fragens
nach der ursprünglichen Wiedergabe des Gottesnamens
in der Septuaginta /

The need
for a renewed questioning
of the original role of the divine name
in the Septuagint /

Η ανάγκη για μια εκ νέου αμφισβήτηση
του αρχικού ρόλου του θεϊκού ονόματος
στην Ο'







Martin Rösel,
"Die Übersetzung der Gottesnamen
in der Genesis-Septuaginta
"
"The translation of the name of God
in
the Septuagintal Genesis
"
«Η μετάφραση του ονόματος του Θεού
στην εβδομηκόντεια Γένεση
»,
in/στο:
Dwight R. Daniels, Uwe Gleßmer
& Martin Rösel (eds.),
Ernten, was man sät (Fs. K. Koch),
Neukirchen-Vluyn 1991, p./σ. 357 [357-377].

Friday, August 10, 2012

Joseph Priestley
on using the Tetragrammaton
in the New Testament text /

Ο Τζόζεφ Πρίσλεϊ
περί της χρήσης του Τετραγράμματου
στο κείμενο της Καινής Διαθήκης




*




In the Old Testament let the word Jehovah be rendered by Jehovah, and also the word Kurios in the New [Testament], in passages in which there is an allusion to the Old [Testament], or where it may be proper to distinguish God from Christ.


Στην Παλαιά Διαθήκη να αποδίδεται η λέξη Ιεχωβά ως Ιεχωβά και επίσης η λέξη Κύριος στην Καινή [Διαθήκη], σε χωρία στα οποία γίνεται αναφορά στην Παλαιά [Διαθήκη] ή όπου είναι κατάλληλο να γίνεται διάκριση μεταξύ Θεού και Χριστού.


* Joseph Priestley / Τζόζεφ Πρίσλεϊ,
Rules of translating
for “A plan to procure a continually improving translation of the Scriptures”
Κανόνες μετάφρασης»
για το «Σχέδιο που θα εξασφαλίζει τη συνεχή βελτίωση της μετάφρασης των Γραφών»]
in/στο:
J. T. Rutt,
The theological and miscellaneous works of Joseph Priestley,
vol./τόμ. 17 (London: G. Smallfield, 1797),
p./σ. 532.



Thursday, August 2, 2012

Catlette v. United States
[132 F.2d 902, No. 4992 (1943)]:

Την εποχή
που οι ΗΠΑ
ήταν κατάφωρα μισαλλόδοξες /

The time
when USA
were grossly intolerant




The Pittsburgh Press,
June 4th 1942 / 4 Iουνίου 1942, p./σ. 29



 "That on June 28, 1940, Charles Stanley Jones and C. A. Cecil, two young, native-born citizens and residents of Mount Lookout, West Virginia, and members of the Jehovah Witness Company in that area, went to Richwood, an incorporated town within the Southern District of West Virginia, to distribute literature of said religious sect, seek converts, and secure signatures to a petition addressed to the Governor of Ohio, protesting the action of the Ohio State Fair Association in cancelling a contract for the use of the Ohio State Fair Grounds, at Columbus, Ohio, for a national convention of said sect or organization;

"That said Jones and Cecil were asked to come to State Police Headquarters at Richwood, to answer questions and under questioning by West Virginia State Policeman Bernard McLaughlin, advised him of their business and purpose in Richwood; said Jones and Cecil were thereafter questioned in said State Police Headquarters by about six members of the Richwood American Legion Post, including Lee Reese, Louis Baber, and the defendant Catlette, who accused said Jones and Cecil of being spies and Fifth Columnists and ordered Jones and Cecil to leave town within four hours; that Jones and Cecil returned to Mount Lookout, West Virginia, on the same day.

"On June 29, 1941, said Jones and Cecil, together with Walter Stull, 31; Arthur Stull, 30; Howard Stull, 20; John Leedy, 39; Harding Legg, 21; Carlton Stull, 27; and Robert Shawver, 18; also residents of Mount Lookout, returned to Richwood about 10:30 A. M. and stopped at the Town Hall, in order to present a letter to the Mayor, requesting police protection while carrying on their work as such Jehovah's Witnesses; Carlton Stull, Cecil, and Jones, leaving the other four Jehovah's Witnesses in the car, went toward the Mayor's Office, but did not find the Mayor and met the defendant Bert Stewart, who was then Chief of Police of Richwood, and the defendant Catlette, who was a Deputy Sheriff of Nicholas County acting under and pursuant to the laws of the State of West Virginia, in which county said Town of Richwood is situate. A letter was thereupon delivered to Chief of Police Stewart requesting police protection and explaining the intended activity of the group. The three were ushered into the Mayor's Office, which was also used by Catlette in the collection of taxes as a Deputy Sheriff, and who detained the Witnesses in his said office and was wearing his official badge at the time, and the defendant Stewart acted as doorkeeper.

"Thereupon, a mob gathered estimated to contain upwards of fifteen hundred persons, and other members of the American Legion arrived; that Catlette called other members of the American Legion by phone, saying among other things, `We have three of the S[ons] O[f] B[itches]'s here and we are rounding up the others'; that one Louis Baber, also a member of the local American Legion Post, brought the other four Jehovah's Witnesses into the room; that the defendant Catlette thereupon removed his badge as Deputy Sheriff of Nicholas County, West Virginia, and stated in substance and effect, `What is done from here on will not be done in the name of the law'; three of the Jehovah's Witnesses were forced to drink eight ounces of castor oil and another, who protested and at first refused, was required to drink sixteen ounces of castor oil, after having been threatened by a doctor with a stomach pump; that said seven Jehovah's Witnesses were thereupon tied along a large rope, each being fastened thereto by his left arm and some three or four feet removed from each other on the rope; that so tied they were marched to the front of the Richwood Post Office on the top of which was flying an American flag; the defendant Catlette read the preamble to the American Legion Constitution and all persons present saluted the flag, except the Jehovah's Witnesses;

"That said Jehovah's Witnesses were thereafter marched through the streets of the Town of Richwood and out of its corporate limits, yet attached to the rope, and there, released from the rope, restored to their automobiles, which had been damaged, and their other property, which had been covered with castor oil and uncomplimentary inscriptions, and advised never to return;

"That they entered the office of said Deputy Sheriff about 9:30 in the morning and were released between 3 and 4 o'clock P. M. in the afternoon of the same day, and except for said castor oil, none of said Jehovah's Witnesses received either food or drink during said hours, nor was permitted to go to a toilet;

"That between said hours no request for protection was made of the defendant Catlette and at no time did the defendant Catlette protect the Jehovah's Witnesses from the acts administered to them, but actually participated in the infliction of the same, and the only protest made during the time of such treatment was made by the Jehovah's Witness who originally refused to drink the castor oil."



* The case of Catlette v. United States
132 F.2d 902, No. 4992 (1943). *

* Chuck Smith,
"Catlette v. United States",
West Virginia State College. *




in: Derek Davis, Barry Hankins (eds.),
Baylor University Press, 2003,
pp 159-165.