A Metaphor for Apostasy

Psalm 73 in the Septuagint (where it is numbered Psalm 72) contains an unusual metaphor for apostasy:

οτι ιδου οι μακρυνοντες εαυτους απο σου απολουνται εξωλεθρευσας παντα τον πορνευοντα απο σου

For behold those who remove themselves from thee are lost; thou shalt destroy all those who fornicate from thee (Psalm 72:27 LXX).

This is actually a fairly close translation of the Hebrew. In the minds of the ancient Israelites immorality and apostasy are closely linked (see also Hosea).

The Bitter Cup

In Matthew 26:39 Jesus said:

Πάτερ μου, εἰ δυνατόν ἐστιν, παρελθάτω ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ τὸ ποτήριον τοῦτο πλὴν οὐχ ὡς ἐγὼ θέλω ἀλλ’ ὡς σύ.

The King James translation gives this as:

O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Because the cup is mentioned by Jesus, the expression is familiar, but where does the cup come from? Cups do figure into the Passover ceremony but not in such a way that it makes sense in the way that Jesus uses it.

The same term, cup (ποτήριον), shows up in Psalm 74:9 (Psalm 75:8 in the KJV):

ὅτι ποτήριον ἐν χειρὶ κυρίου οἴνου ἀκράτου πλῆρες κεράσματος καὶ ἔκλινεν ἐκ τούτου εἰς τοῦτο πλὴν ὁ τρυγίας αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐξεκενώθη πίονται πάντες οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ τῆς γῆς

For a cup of undiluted wine is in the Lord's hand, full of mixture and he tips it from this to this but its dregs will not be poured out, all the sinners of the earth shall drink them.

So the reference to drinking the cup seems to refer back to the cup that the Psalmist sang about, the cup of the wrath of God directed at sinners.

Psalm 3

Psalm 3 is supposed to have been written by David during his flight from the revolt of his son Absalom. (Harem conspiracies are not just an Egyptian thing.) What is interesting about the Septuagint version (which is the ancient Greek translation) of the Psalm is that salvation is equated with the destruction of his enemies (in this case his son). In Greek, salvation is a many faceted concept and the destruction of enemies is certainly one of the facets.

Psalm 2

The Septuagint version of Psalm 2 offering a slightly different understanding than the Hebrew text. It breaks into several sections.

The first part sets up the scenario as a dialogue:

1  ἵνα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά
2  παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ
διάψαλμα

1 Why do the nations behave wantonly, and the people strive for that which is empty?
2 On account of this the kings of the earth and the leaders gather together against the Lord and against his Christ.
Break.

Then comes the speech attributed to the kings and leaders:

3  διαρρήξωμεν τοὺς δεσμοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπορρίψωμεν ἀφ' ἡμῶν τὸν ζυγὸν αὐτῶν

3 We will rip open their bonds and cast away their yoke from us.

The bonds of the Lord and his Christ are not something that these leaders want to submit themselves to.

4  ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐκγελάσεται αὐτούς καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐκμυκτηριεῖ αὐτούς
5  τότε λαλήσει πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐν ὀργῇ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐν τῷ θυμῷ αὐτοῦ ταράξει αὐτούς

4 He who sits in the heavens will laugh at them and the Lord will mock them.
5 Then will he say to them in his wrath and trouble them in his anger.

The speech of the Lord is set up as rejecting the leader's argument in anger.

6  ἐγὼ δὲ κατεστάθην βασιλεὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ σιων ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ
7  διαγγέλλων τὸ πρόσταγμα κυρίου κύριος εἶπεν πρός με υἱός μου εἶ σύ ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε
8  αἴτησαι παρ' ἐμοῦ καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς
9  ποιμανεῖς αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ ὡς σκεῦος κεραμέως συντρίψεις αὐτούς

6 I set up the king under him on Zion, his holy mountain,
7 promulgating the decree of the Lord. The Lord said to me: Thou art my son; today I have begotten thee.
8 Ask me and I will give thee the nations for thy inheritance and the ends of the earth as thy possession.
9 Herd them with an iron rod; as a potter's vessel smash them.

Then comes the conclusion.

10  καὶ νῦν βασιλεῖς σύνετε παιδεύθητε πάντες οἱ κρίνοντες τὴν γῆν
11  δουλεύσατε τῷ κυρίῳ ἐν φόβῳ καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε αὐτῷ ἐν τρόμῳ
12  δράξασθε παιδείας μήποτε ὀργισθῇ κύριος καὶ ἀπολεῖσθε ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαίας ὅταν ἐκκαυθῇ ἐν τάχει ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ μακάριοι πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ' αὐτῷ

10 and now, O kings, understand; learn all who judge the earth.
11 Serve the Lord in fear and rejoice in him with trembling.
12 Serve the Son lest the Lord be angry and you will be destroyed from the way of righteousness when his anger is quickly kindled; blessed are all who trust in him.
(Psalms 2:1–12)

In the Septuagint, this psalm explicitly identifies the Christ with the Son of God. (The Christians did not invent that idea.)

One of the things that intrigues me about this psalm is the imagery and promises are very similar to the promises that the gods make to the Egyptian kings. In the Egyptian temples, the Egyptian gods often promise the Egyptian king that he will rule over everything that the sun encircles. Other nations are promised as the king's inheritance. The king is designated as the son of the god. The gods are to be feared and reverenced or they will be angry and burn their foes. Smashing pottery vessels as a means of cursing enemies is actually a ritual for the ancient Egyptians.

So this particular psalm has a clear ancient Near Eastern background, but since it was quoted half a dozen times in the New Testament, it was seen as a particularly Christian psalm.

Two Ways

Psalm 1 contrasts the two ways, the way of the sinners (ὁδῷ ἁμαρτωλῶν) or the way of the impious (ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν) with the way of the righteous (ὁδὸν δικαίων). There are thus two ways. One can choose which to follow.

The Septuagint version of the first Psalm, however, through its choice of words sets up an interesting dilemma. In the fifth verse, it says, οὐκ ἀναστήσονται ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει (Psalms 1:5). There are two ways of interpreting this verse. The first is, "The wicked shall rise up in judgment." The second is, "The impious shall not be resurrected in the judgment." Fortunately John 5:29 (ἐκπορεύσονται, οἱ τὰ ἀγαθὰ ποιήσαντες εἰς ἀνάστασιν ζωῆς, οἱ δὲ τὰ φαῦλα πράξαντες εἰς ἀνάστασιν κρίσεως. They shall go forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.) rules out the second interpretation. Though the vocabulary is the same the interpretation is not the same.

Singing Hymns in 1 Maccabees

After a big battle, the Maccabees sang a hymn:

καὶ ἐπιστραφέντες ὕμνουν καὶ εὐλόγουν εἰς οὐρανὸν ὅτι καλόν ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ

And they returned singing hymns and they praised heaven: "For he is good and his mercy endureth forever" (1 Maccabees 4:24)

The line "For he is good and his mercy endureth forever" is actually the name of the psalm that they sang. It was Psalm 118 which repeats the line a number of times during the course of the psalm. It is also said to have been sung in 2 Chronicles 5:13; 7:3; and Ezra 3:11. It appears to have been one of the more popular of the psalms. It seems to be less popular in modern times.