Last evening, the reading from Hebrew Scriptures was the establishing of the Aaronic Blessing, "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine on you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." (Num 6:22-27 NRSV) And this morning, the psalm appointed was Psalm 80, with its refrain: "Restore us, O Lord God of hosts, * show us the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved." (BCP p. 702f)
Interestingly, the Septuagint (Greek text) for both "face" and "countenance" is the same word in the Numbers passage, and is the same word in Psalm 80 as well. I can't read the Hebrew, but the Tanakh (the definitive English translation by Jewish scholars from the Hebrew) puts the blessing this way: "The Lord bless you and protect you! The Lord deal kindly and graciously with you! The Lord bestow his favor upon you and grant you peace!" Note the exclamation marks - they are included in the Tanakh version.
RFSJ
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Thank you. I wait upon his countenance.
Post a Comment