Preparing The Way

Ecce ego mitto angelum meum et praeparabit viam ante faciam meam: et statim veniet ad templum suum dominator quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti quem vos vultis. LXX: Ecce ego mittam angelum meum, et praeparabit viam ante faciem meam: et subito veniet ad templum suum Dominus quem vos quaeritis, et angelus justitiae quem vos vultis.   Hoc interpretatus est Dominus in Evangelio de Joanne Baptisa, dicens: Iste est de quo scriptum: Ecce ego mittam angelum meum ante faciem tuam, et praeparabit viam tuam coram me; nec eisdem usus est verbis, quae LXX interpretes transtulerunt. Marcus quoque evangelista duo testimonia Malachiae et Isaiae sub unius prophetae sermone contexens ita exorsus est: Initium Evangelii Jesu Christi, sicut scriptum est in Isaia propheta: Ecce ego mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuum, qui praeparabit viam tuam. Hoc licet verbis aliis in Malachia legimus. Quod autem sequitur: Vox clamantis in deserto, parate viam Domini, rectas facite semitas ejus, ab Isaia propheta dicitur: statimque utrumque testimonium de quo dicatur, exponens: Fuit, inquit, Joannes in deserto, baptizans, et praedicans baptismum poenitentiae, in remissionem peccatorum. Sed et evangelistae vaticinium prophetarum super Joanne interpretati sunt cumque in sensu consentiant, in verbis discrepant. Pro eo enim quod LXX transtulerunt: Rectas facite semitas Dei nostri, Marcus Lucasque dixerunt: Rectas facite semitas ejus. Joannes autem: Dirigite, ait, viam Domini. Ex quo perspicuum est, apostolos, et evangelistas, et ipsum Dominum Salvatorem non LXX interpretum auctoritatem sequi, qua Hebraeae linguae habentes scientiam, non indigent; sed ex Hebraeo transferre quod legerint: non curantes de syllabis punctisque verborum; dummodo sententiarum veritas transferratur. Quod quidem et in pluribus locis eos fecisse docuimus, et maxime in eo libro qui a nobis inscriptus est, de optimo genere interpretandi, multis simul testimoniis approbatum est. Hoc ergo quod dicitur: Ecce ego mitto angelum meum et praeparabit viam ante faciem meam, ex persona Christi dicitur, quod Joannem miserit in deserto Judaeae praedicare bapistmum poenitentiae, in remissionem peccatorum. Quod autem sequitur: Et statim veniet ad templum suum dominator quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti quem vos vultis, ita de se quasi de altero loquitur, juxta consuetudinem Scripturarum. Nullisque dubium est quin Dominator iste salvator sit, qui Creator est ominum, et angelus testamenti, et magni consilii Angelus appellatur. Alii vero hoc quod dicitur: Ecce ego mitto angelum meum et praeparabit viam ante faciem meam , ex persona Patris dictum putant: et quod sequitur: Statim veniet ad templum suum dominator quem vos quaeritis, et angelus testamenti quem vos vultis, de Domnio Salvatore ab eo dictum intelligunt. Praeparat autem viam Joannes, et rectas facit semitas Dei nostri in cordibus credentium, in quibus propter pravitatem, et incredulitatem, prius Deus ambulare non poterat. Templum autem vel Ecclesiam interpretantur, vel unumquemque credentium in Ecclesia: Aedificamini domos spirituales, sacerdotium sanctum: offerentes spirituales victimas, et acceptabiles Deo per Christum Jesum. Eos vero qui crediderint: Nescitis quod templum Dei estis, et spiritus Dei habitat in vobis? Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarium In Malachiam Prophetam

Behold I send my angel and he shall prepare the way before my face. And suddenly he shall come to his temple, the ruler whom you seek and the angel of the testament for whom you long. The Septuagint has: Behold, I shall sent my angel and he shall prepare my way before my face, and suddenly the Lord shall come to his temple, he whom you seek, and the angel of righteousness for whom you long. 1 The Lord interpretated this in the Gospel to be about John the Baptist, when He said, 'This is the one of whom it is written, 'Behold I shall send my angel before your face, and he shall prepare your way before me.' 2 But the same words are not used by the Septuagint translators. Also Mark the Evangelist combines two testimonies of Malachi and Isaiah within one prophetic speech, beginning: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it is written in the Prophet Isaiah, Behold I sent my angel before your face, who shall prepare your way. 3 And this we read in somewhat different words in Malachi. And then follows: 'A voice crying out in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make right his paths.' 4 which is spoken by Isaiah the Prophet, and once both testimonies have been given, he expounds them: 'John was in the desert, baptizing and preaching the baptism of penance for forgiveness of sins.' 5 But even the Evangelists understand the prophecy of the Prophets about John in a harmonious sense, though in different words. For what the Septuagint translates as: 'Make straight the paths of our God,' Mark and Luke have as: 'Make right His paths.' And John says, 'Make straight the way of the Lord.' From which it is easy to see that the Apostles and the Evangelists and the Lord Saviour Himself did not follow the authority of the Septuagint since they did not lack the knowledge of the Hebrew tongue, but from the Hebrew they translated what they read, not caring about the syllables and punctuation of words, but translating the meaning of truth. For certainly in many places we have taught this, and greatly in that book which by us was written concerning the best method of translation, confirmed with many testimonies. Thus when it is said, 'Behold I send my angel and he shall prepare a way before my face,' it is the person of Christ speaking, that He sent John into the Judean desert to preach baptism for penance for forgiveness of sins. Then follows, 'And suddenly he shall come to his temple, the ruler whom you seek and the angel of testament for whom you long.' Thus as concerning another He speaks, as is a custom in the Scriptures. And there is no doubt that the ruler is the Saviour who is the creator of everything, and he is named the angel of testament and the angel of great counsel . Others, however, concerning this which is said, 'Behold I send my angel and he shall prepare a way before my face,' think that it is spoken in the person of the Father, and also what follows, 'Suddenly he shall come to his temple, the ruler whom you seek and the angel of testament for whom you long,' they understand as being spoken by Him about the Lord Saviour. John prepares the way and makes straight the paths of our God in the hearts of believers, which on account of depravity and incredulity was not able to walk before God. The temple they would understand as the Church, or any one of the faithful in the Church: 'Build yourselves spiritual houses , a holy place of priests, offering spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ .' 6 And to those who truly believe: 'Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?' 7 Saint Jerome, Commentary on The Prophet Malachi 1 Mal 3.1 2 Mt 11.10 3 Mk 1.2 4 Is 40.3 5 Mk 1.4 6 1 Pet 2.5 7 1 Cor 3.16

A Useful Infidel

Πᾶσαι αἱ θεῖαι Βίβλοι τῆς Παλαιᾶς Διαθήκης τῇ Ἐβραίων γλώττῃ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἧσαν συντεθειμέναι, καὶ τοῦτο πάντες ἄν ἡμῖν συνομολογήσαιεν. Οὐ πρὸ πολλῶν δὲ ἐτῶν τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρουσίας βασιλεύς τις Πτολεμαῖος περὶ τὴν τῶν βιβλίων συναγωγὴν πολλήν τινα σπουδὴν ποινσάμενος, καὶ ταύτας τὰς βίβλους συναγαγεῖν. Μεταπεμψάμενος οὖν τινας τῶν ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις Ἰουδαίωμ, μεταβαλεῖν εἰς τὴν Ἡλλάδα γλῶτταν προσέταξε· καὶ δὴ τοῦτο εἰς ἔργον αὐτῷ ἐξενήνεχται. Ἐγένετο δὲ καὶ τοῦτο τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ οἰκονομίας ἔργον, ὥστε μὴ μόνον τοὺς τὴν Ἑβραίων γλῶτταν ἠσκημένους, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντας τοὺς τὴν οἰκουμένην οἰκοῦντας τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὠφέλειαν καρπώσασθαι. καὶ τὸ δὴ θαυμαστὸν καὶ παράδοξον, ὁτι οὐ τῶν τὰ Ἰουδαῖκὰ φρονούντων τις τὴν σπουδὴν ταύτην ἐποιήσατο, ἀλλ' ἀνὴρ τοῖς εἰδώλοις προστετηκὼ, καὶ ἀπεναντίας τῇ θρησκείᾳ διακείμενος. Τοιαῦτα γάρ ἐστιν ἄπαντα τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Δεσπότου τοῦ ἡμετέρου οἰκονομούμενα· αἐὶ διὰ τῶν ἐναντίων αὔξει τὰ τῆς ἀληθείας προστὰγματα. Ὁμῖλία Δ'  Εἰς Την Γενεσιν, Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος

All the Divine Books of the Old Testament were from the beginning composed in the Hebrew tongue, and to this everyone agrees. Now not many years before advent of Christ a certain King Ptolemy was an eager collector of books, having many diverse volumes and he thought that these books also were worthy collecting. And so he sent to the Jews of Jerusalem that they translate them into the Greek tongue and it was done and completed. And this is a work of the Divine Dispensation, that not only those skilled in the Hebrew tongue but even all the inhabitants of the earth may read these texts. And how wonderful and glorious it is that he who did so was not of the religion of the Jews but a follower of the cult of the idols and opposed to them in thought. But all things have been disposed by our Lord so that even through opposition the teaching of truth grows. From The Fourth Homily on Genesis, Saint John Chrysostom

Translating a Heretic

Timotheus, exstincto ab Alexandrinis Proterio epsicopo, tumultuante adhuc plebe aut voluit, aut passus est se ab uno episcopo in locum occisi episcopum fieri. Et ne contra legem factus merito abjiceretur, ad gratiam plebis, quae Proterium exosum habuerat, omnes quibus ille communicaverat, Nestorianos esse pronuntiat: et maculam conscientiae, temeritate abluendam praesumens, scripsit ad Leonem imperatorem libellum valde suasorium, quem pravo sensu Patrum testimoniis in tantum roborare conatus est, ut ad decipiendum imperatorem, et suam haeresin constituendam, pene Leonem, urbis Romae pontificem et Chalcedonensem synodum, ac totos Occidentales episcopos aliorum adminiculo Nestorianos ostenderet. Sed, favente Deo, a Chalcedonensi concilio hostis Ecclesiae arguitur et confutatur. Vivere adhuc in exsilio iam haeresiarcha dicitur et habetur. Hunc ipsum libellum noscendi gratia ego, rogatus fratribus, in Latinum transtuli, et cavendum praetitulavi.  Gennadius Massiliensis, Liber De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis

Timotheus, the previous bishop Proterius having been slain by the Alexandrians, in response to the tumults of the people, willingly or under duress, allowed himself to be made bishop by a single bishop in place of the one who had been killed. And lest he who had been appointed contrary to the law should be deservedly deposed at the will of the people who had hated Proterius, he pronounced all those who had communicated with him to be Nestorians, and boldly presuming to wash out the stain on his conscience, he wrote a very persuasive book to the Emperor Leo, which he tried to fortify by testimonies of the Fathers, used in a perverted sense, for the sake of deceiving the Emperor and establishing his heresy, that Leo, pontiff of Rome, and the synod of Chalcedon, and all the Western bishops were little less than Nestorians. But by the grace of God, the enemy of the church was denounced and refuted at the Council of Chalcedon. He is said to be living in exile, still an heresiarch, and it is likely so. This book of his for learning's sake, by request of the brethren, I translated into Latin and prefixed a warning. Gennadius of Massilia, Book of Ecclesiastical Writers