Sirach is Positive for Pharmakon

Sirach uses pharmakon twice—and found positive each time.

The Book of Sirach—aka The Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach, aka The Wisdom of Sirach (or The Wisdom of Ben Sira), aka Ecclesiasticus—was written in the 2^nd century BC.¹ In Protestant tradition Sirach is considered a part of writings known as the (Old Testament²) Apocrypha. Roman Catholicism and Orthodox traditions include this work in their respective Deuterocanons (second canon).

In comparison with Sirach’s use, the term pharmakon occurs only once in the entire New Testament (NT). But the context indicates a negative sense: “And they did not repent of their murders, their pharmakōn_[pl]…” (Revelation 9:21).³ Looking at usages outside and predating the NT, the term can mean (see pharmakon in the LSJ)⁴ “a drug, whether healing or noxious”, “remedy, medicine”, “enchanted potion”, or “poison”. As with most any word, context will determine the connotation. But context may not provide enough to define fully.

Following are the two instances in Sirach:

Sirach 6:16: A faithful friend is a pharmakon of life, and those who fear the Lord shall find one.

Sirach 38:4: The Lord created pharmakōn_[pl] from the earth, and a prudent man shall not despise them.

Verse 6:16 seems best rendered medicine. The Revised Standard Version (RSV) translates the usage and associated clause “an elixir of life”, while the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) renders it “life-saving medicine”. However one prefers to translate, it speaks of the importance of a faithful friend!

Both the RSV and NRSV translate Sirach 38:4 simply “medicines”. We would probably all do well by seeking natural, God-made “pharmakōn_[pl] from the earth” when appropriate.

Valuable as they may be, these contexts in Sirach cannot shed any light on exactly what John the Revelator meant in 9:21.

[Research for this post is adapted from previous work on a for-now put aside conclusion to my earlier series “By Your Pharmakeia Were All the Nations Misled” (Revelation 18:23). See part I and part II.]

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¹ See David A. deSilva, Introducing the Apocrypha: Message, Context, and Significance (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2002), p 153.

² This is to differentiate from New Testament Apocrypha, which is a completely different, and less known, body of works. See, e.g., the two volume set by Wilhelm Schneemelcher,  New Testament Apocrypha, Rev. ed. English transl. edited by R. McL. Wilson (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 1991).

³ The subscripted _[pl] indicates plural over against singular.

⁴ LSJ refers to the Liddell, Scott and Jones lexicon, now available online. From the home page: “The Liddell, Scott, Jones Ancient Greek Lexicon (LSJ) is perhaps the best known Ancient Greek-English dictionary.”

Presently

We live in the ever-fleeting present.

As I type out the letters of the words in this sentence, each letter displays on the page, yet the action of typing each one recedes increasingly to the past. With each keystroke, previous strokes become further and further distant.

How can we graphically represent the present?

Imagine a number line. To the left of 0 (zero) are negative numbers, and to its right are positive numbers. Positive numbers indicate the future, negative the past. You and I are on zero on this ever-moving number line. We remain perpetually on zero—in the present.

We are never in the past or in the future. We may presently reminisce about the past or presently ponder the future. But we are always in the present—on zero.

God is omnipresent, everywhere present. There is nowhere God is not.

Omnipresence implies omnitemporality. In other words, God is not only everywhere present, God has been and will always be omnipresent. Thus, God is omnitemporal. God has been and will be omnipresent for all time. God exists omnitemporally.

God exists at everyplace on the number line all the time!

Too Oft Forgotten

For those who are grieving, healing occurs only through time. When you discover that an hour has passed since you’ve last thought about the object or subject of your grief, then you know you are traveling down the path of recovery. After hours or even days go by that you realize you’ve focused on other things to the exclusion of your grief, then you know you are recovering all the more.

But I find myself grieving in a sort of inverse manner with respect to time. When I discover that I’d not thought about my faith, my Savior, or about the Holy Spirit residing in me for an hour, I grieve. And when this has occurred over a few hours stretch, even more grief and disappointment ensue. I know I should always rely on the Spirit to guide me, even in the most mundane of things, yet I too often rely on myself.

The impetus for writing this post came when I revisited one of my favorite musical pieces, titled “Forgotten Love”. I wondered: To whom or what does the writer/pianist refer? Was this his own forgotten love? If so, what prompted the remembrance? Will it no longer be forgotten now that the piece itself provides a musical reminder?

I know Who my ‘forgotten love’ is (Rev 2:4). And now this music will help me remember not to forget.

And the Word Became Flesh

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us—Emmanuel, God with us. Some beheld Jesus’ glory. All will someday behold His glory.

He is full of grace and truth. To all those who receive Him—to those believing in Jesus’ name—He gives authority to become God’s children. Grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ.

God with us. Christ with us.

Christ with me.

Ambiguous Signs

While driving the other day I saw this sign:

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPING CONVICTS

Given that there is a ‘corrections’ facility nearby, this probably means, “Hitchhikers may be escapees from prison.” The word ESCAPING is functioning as an adjective—specifically, an adjectival participle—modifying the noun CONVICTS. Therefore, it means:

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE CONVICTS THAT ARE ESCAPING

But the way the sign is written, ESCAPING could be interpreted as a verb rather than the intended adjective:

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPING FROM CONVICTS

This places an entirely different meaning over what was intended!

Should those responsible for creating this sign see this blog post, I hope they are convicted . . . of their unintended ambiguity. That is, I hope the writers would come under conviction for their imprecise wording. Making one minor change would alleviate the ambiguity:

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPED CONVICTS

If convicts are hitchhiking, they have already escaped! So, changing the adjectival participle from present (-ing) to past (-ed) would convey the message properly.

Praising Polysemy

But sometimes ambiguity is intentionally employed as a linguistic device to enrich a text. It can take the form of polysemy, in which a text plays on a particular word’s myriad shades of meanings (also known as multivalence). Our Scriptures contain quite a few instances of such. An example is in John 1:5:¹

1:₁ In the beginning the Word existed, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ₂ He was in the beginning with God. ₃ Through Him all things came to be, and without Him not even one thing came to be that has come to be. ₄ In Him was life, and that life was the Light of humanity. ₅ The Light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not apprehend [katelaben] it.

D. A. Carson calls 1:5 “a masterpiece of planned ambiguity”.² A newcomer to John’s Gospel may only see the creation event of Genesis 1-2 here. But, of course, the Gospel writer intends much more than that.³

The final verb katelaben [aorist active indicative form] is a compound word consisting of the preposition kata and the verb lambanō. The former means ~down, the latter take or receive. But as with many words prefixed with a preposition, the resulting word acquires intensification and an additional nuance. Its basic definition is grasp, as in either hostile (seize) or non-hostile (secure), though, alternatively, it can carry the idea of mental grasping (perceive).⁴ Danker asserts that the writer in this context intends the combined “sense of grasp as seize and comprehend.”⁵ The translation “apprehend” above is an attempt to capture this perceived polysemy.

On first reading, one could understand all of 1:1-5 cosmologically, such that the darkness of Genesis 1:2 would not overcome the light of Genesis 1:3. But after having read through John’s Gospel, a subsequent reading of the prologue (John 1:1–18) may prompt the reader to see an allusion to Genesis 3.⁶ More likely, the light/darkness dichotomy exhibited throughout the Gospel will bring the reader to perceive a connection between v. 5 and vv. 10-11.⁷ While the Light continued and continues to shine (imperfective aspect) in order to illuminate the darkness (John 8:12; 9:5), the darkness chose to remain in darkness (John 3:19-21), failing to comprehend the true nature of the Light (John 11:9-10; 12:35-36, 46).⁸ Those in darkness can be brought to the Light through the continuous shining of the Light, but the darkness itself remains.

Continuing in this light (pun intended), the reader can see an illusion to Revelation 12:4: And the dragon [darkness] stood before the woman who was about to give birth [to the Light], so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. Yet despite the dragon’s best efforts, Christmas did come!

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¹ My translation.

² D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, Pillar New Testament Commentary, D. A. Carson, gen. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991), p 119. [I am also reminded of one of my favorite lyric lines: well-defined ambiguity (from “Straight Jacket”, written by Mike Watt, as performed and recorded by Minutemen, The Punch Line, SST records, SST-004, 1981.)]

³ Carson, Gospel, states, “it is quite possible that John, subtle writer that he is, wants his readers to see in the Word both the light of creation and the light of the redemption the Word brings in his incarnation” (p 120).

⁴ F. W. Danker, The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago, IL: Chicago, 2009), p 191.

⁵ Ibid; emphasis in original. Cf. Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, two volumes (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, [2003] 2010 [1^st softcover ed.]), p 1.387. Contra, e.g., Andreas J. Köstenberger, Encountering John, Encountering Biblical Studies Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1999), p 55, in which the author opines that “overcome” is the primary meaning, though “understand” may be ‘latent’ (my word) in the verse “in preparation of 1:10-11”.

⁶ See Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I-XII, The Anchor Yale Bible; (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974), p 8. Under this understanding the aorist κατέλαβεν, katelaben is interpreted as a one-time past event.

⁷ See C. K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text, 2^nd ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978), p 158.

⁸ See Keener, Gospel of John, pp 1.382-387 for fuller discussion of light, including light as Wisdom and Torah; cf. Brown, John I-XII, pp 519-522.

Thanking God in Failure: Arvo Pärt | Litany | Orient & Occident

“…It was July 25^th, 1976. I was sitting in the [Pühtitsa] monastery’s yard on a bench, in the shadow of the bushes, with my notebook. ‘What are you doing; what are you writing there?’ The girl, who was around ten, asked me. ‘I’m trying to write music, but it’s not turning out well.’ I said. And then the unexpected words from her, ‘Have you thanked God for this failure already?’”¹

During the Soviet control of Estonia, composer Arvo Pärt found himself at odds with Moscow numerous times. One of these occurred with the premiere of his 1968 work Credo, which contains the words (Latin), Credo in Jesum Christum—I believe in Jesus Christ. Consequently, Pärt was unofficially censured. “[T]he composition was hushed up and further performances were banned.”²

The middle section of Credo was structured “to imitate chaos and destruction”, in order to juxtapose an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, with but I say to you, do not resist evil (Matt 5:38–39).³ As Pärt relates, this could have been interpreted as “the collapse of the Soviet regime”.⁴

Tensions increased to the point the composer realized it was becoming economically infeasible to continue in his profession while under Soviet rule.⁵  Shortly thereafter, a ‘recommendation’ prompted him to leave his homeland, as his wife, Nora recounts:

“A leading member of the Central Committee visited us at home in autumn 1979; he recommended that we leave the country. It was supposed to look like a voluntary decision—but in fact it was an expulsion which, at that time, was irreversible; we boarded the train to Vienna shortly afterwards.”⁶

Residing now in the West, freed from Soviet shackles, Pärt increasingly undergirded his works with Christian-themed texts. After the Soviet Union disintegrated, Pärt eventually returned to his homeland, Estonia.⁷

Born September 11, 1935 in Paide, Estonia to an Orthodox father and a Lutheran mother, Arvo Pärt was raised as a Protestant, though not especially religious as a youth.⁸ At conservatory, during his studies of Western composers, particularly their sacred texts, he was moved by the works’ spiritual nature. This, in turn, motivated him to pursue his own spirituality, to the extent it would inextricably intertwine with his music.⁹

Pärt formally converted to the Orthodox Church in 1972.¹⁰

Two album releases post-expulsion (and Soviet disintegration) are reviewed below:

Litany (ECM New Series 1592, BMG 78118-21592, © ECM Records, 1996)
Orient & Occident (ECM New Series 1795, Universal Classics 289 472 080, © ECM Records, 2002)

Litany consists of three pieces. The first (title piece Litany) features the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra (Tõnu Kaljuste conducting), Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and the Hilliard Ensemble (vocal quartet). The second and third pieces are instrumental, featuring the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (Saulius Sondeckis conducting). Disappointingly, besides the text for the title piece, Litany, no explanatory liner notes are provided; so, information had to be obtained through other research.

—Litany is set to the (King James) English text of 4^th century theologian John Chrysostom’s hourly prayers—24, for each hour of the day. At nearly 23 minutes long, it comprises a bit over half the length of the entire disc. Each prayer begins with the vocative, “O, Lord…” Due to differing lengths, Pärt scored the music asymetrically, in order to match the specific pattern of each one.

It reaches its climax during the singing of the 24^th. This prayer reads, O Lord, Thou knowest that Thou dost as Thou wilt, let then Thy will be done in me, a sinner, for blessed art Thou unto the ages. Amen. I find the 23^rd the most poignant: O Lord, shelter me from certain men, from demons and passions, and from any other unbecoming thing. (Click on the hyperlinked title above [and those below] to listen to the entire piece.)

—Psalom (Slavonic, Psalm): The Slavonic text of Psalm 112 LXX (aka Septuagint) underlies this fully instrumental work. The Orthodox Psalter sources the Greek LXX (rather than the Hebrew Masoretic Text), so the equivalent text in typical Protestant versions is Psalm 113. Its words are exchanged for musical notation. Separating each verse-as-music are long pauses (rests), which provide space for reflection.

—Trisagion (Greek, Tri-Holy, Thrice Holy): “Although it is an instrumental piece, the parameters of this text in Church Slavonic (number of syllables per word, accentuations etc.) are the determining factor in the composition.”¹¹ Part of Orthodox liturgy, the Trisagion text itself contains portions of Scripture, beginning with the Tri-aspect of Matthew 28:19, which is then followed by Luke 18:13 (be merciful to me, a sinner). Its middle reads, “O Holy God, Holy Strong, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us”, which is thrice recited. It concludes with ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, aka ‘Our Father’. In the score this text is written under the notes, in order to guide the musicians.¹²

All in all, I rate Litany a 4.5 out of 5. Well programmed, with Psalom providing a welcome break after the more demanding listen of the title piece and Trisagion fitting as a finale. Perhaps a good place for the Pärt novice to begin.

The Orient & Occident release consists of three pieces. All tracks feature the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir, with Tõnu Kaljuste conducting. At over 30 minutes, the five piece suite of the final work Como cierva sedienta constitutes two-thirds of the disc’s duration.

—Wallfahrtslied / Pilgrims’ Song: The version here is for men’s choir and string orchestra (2001). It was originally written (1984—for tenor or baritone voice and string orch) after the death of friend Grigori Kromanov, Estonian film and stage director. Pärt’s musical intent here is to bridge the chasm now forged between the two—between time and timelessness, temporality and eternality. The orchestra musically represents the time side; the men’s choir, the other. The text, sung in German, is Psalm 121 (LXX), which begins, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…”

Orient & Occident (East & West): As Psalom and Trisagion in the earlier (above) release, the text here speaks through the music. The underlying words come from the Old Slavonic of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (381).¹³ This Creed is “among the few religious texts that are the same in the Western and Eastern Church.”¹⁴ The music is a commingling of Eastern and Western styles.¹⁵ The composition appears to reflect Pärt’s Christian ecumenism—a seeming desire that Christians be, perhaps, less sectarian.¹⁶

Como cierva sedienta (Spanish, like a thirsty deer): The text here is Psalms 42–43 (LXX), sung in Spanish, featuring Helena Olsson, soprano.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?

David’s refrain here is universal in appeal. We all feel this from time to time. “My soul” represents the soul of each of us. Yet, David’s solution to his plight is distinctive:

Hope thou in God:
For I shall yet praise Him

Given the length of Como cierva sedienta, Orient & Occident stands or falls on its relative merits. Candidly, much in the way I dislike sustained high register trumpeting, I do not much care for sustained high pitched soprano singing. It’s just a bit too much for these ears at times. But my assessment is, of course, subjective. You may quite like it. And that’s not to say the piece has no merits. It certainly does. That said, I still prefer the first two works, the first especially. Overall I’d rate this release a 4 out of 5.

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¹ Taken from Arvo Pärt’s commencement speech at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, May 31, 2014.

² Arvo Pärt Centre > Timeline > 1968 > Premiere of Credo in November.

³ “I Seek a Common Denominator”, Italian musicologist Enzo Restagno’s interview with Nora and Arvo Pärt, 2010, as taken from Arvo Pärt Centre.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Peter C. Bouteneff, Arvo Pärt: Out of Silence (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2015), p 51.

⁸ Bouteneff, Out of Silence, p 48.

⁹ Bouteneff, Out of Silence, pp 48–51.

¹⁰ Bouteneff, Out of Silence, p 48.

¹¹ “Works: Trisagion”, as taken from the short description from Arvo Pärt Center site; see hyperlink at main text.

¹² Text obtained from Universal Edition’s page for Trisagion, page 2.

¹³ See description under the hyperlink at the beginning of this paragraph.

¹⁴ Ibid.

¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ These are my own thoughts, extrapolated from various sources. See, e.g., Bouteneff, Out of Silence, pp 50, 51–53; cf. source at footnote 3 above.

For Whom the Bells Toll

The church bells suspend
yet the sound keeps blooming
out of the flowers

Throughout the West, in select towns and villages large and small, church bells beckon congregants on Sundays and Holy Days. The ringing bells reverberate down the streets and corridors, the streams and river beds, and in and through creation—both God’s and man’s.

Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad; let the sea and all it contains roar; let the fields and all that’s in them exult: then all the trees in the forest will joyfully shout before the LORD (Ps 96:11–13).

The bells toll for whom?

The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims His handiwork (Ps 19:1).

Opening this post is an adaptation of a Matsuo Bashō haiku.¹ Imbued with God’s radiance, the flowers, as all God’s creation, wait in anticipation for the coming emancipation—the glorious Day of the Lord (Rom 8:18–25).

For from the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made (Rom 1:20).

[See also Music for the Times: Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem.]

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¹ As translated by Robert Bly: The temple bell stops, but the sound keeps coming out of the flowers. The idea for this blog post arose from reading the liner notes to Arvo Pärt’s Arbos, ECM NEW SERIES 1325 (831-959-1), ©1987 ECM Records GmbH.

An American Indictment

In reading a book on the importance of using proper methodologies prior to and during biblical exegesis, I found some sharp criticism of Americans generally. The author pointed to the lack of patience and sufficient motivation in American culture. Such a mindset leads to a desire for a quick answer to any question, no matter the complexity of the subject matter.

Americans seem to be oriented much more toward activity than our counterparts in other areas of the world . . . We simply do not have the patience to reflect, to weigh one idea against another, to discuss with others what a biblical text may or may not mean.¹

The book was written back in 1997, and I feel certain the author would agree things are even worse now. We must communicate in 140 or less characters! And who needs to really search for the relevant information surrounding a particular issue when the urge is to just ‘Google it’ and take the first few search results, or to just ‘go with your gut’, or even to merely stick to preconceived notions.

But I think rather than impatience being a primary factor, it is more likely distraction paramount over all. Many things command our attention in our entertainment-driven culture. (“Here we are now, entertain us!”)

I was reminded of a news account I had heard years ago. Preoccupied by her phone and not paying attention to where she was going, a woman managed to walk right off a pier and into the ocean! (I was immediately reminded of the idiom take a long walk off a short pier.) This happened in Australia. I thought to myself, “That HAD to have been an American!” And I was right. After her rescue, she was frantic about having lost her phone to the murky waters. Priorities, ya know.

Ever seen a Honda Pilto? Looks conspicuously like a Honda Pilot.

After some searching, I found that the Pilot was never manufactured outside North America. It was initially made in Ontario, Canada, from 2003-2007. Production moved to Lincoln, Alabama after that. Judging by the taillight, this one was made 2016 or later. So, it’s definitely American. No surprise.

Hey, but, then again, “pilto” means ball in Esperanto. Maybe there was purpose behind the “PILTO” for “PILOT” after all. But yet again the vehicle more closely resembles a cube than a ball.

Probably just a worker distracted by his phone.

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¹ Andrew H. Trotter, Jr. Interpreting the Epistle to the Hebrews, Guides to New Testament Exegesis series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1997), p 17.

Adrift on a Sea of Unreason

No, we won’t be needing reason anymore.

When I first heard (1990) the song below I was yet to be a believer. I liked its rather whimsical-sounding melody, its lazy pace, and its reminiscence of 1950s/1960s pop music while sounding modern. I didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics. But now I notice the lyrics, and I see them through a Christian apologetics lens.

I’m not really sure what the writer of the song intended with his lyrics. They could well by purposefully ambiguous. But I read them now as referring to those caught up in the over-emotionalism of what I term hyper-charismaticism. They go from conference to conference, ‘church’ meeting to ‘church’ meeting, searching for the next spiritual ‘high’ with a goal toward exceeding the greatest of their past. Doctrine is sidestepped in favor of experience. But what kind of spirit is being experienced?

We’re going ’round in circles
We have no single point of view
And like the clouds that turn to every passing wind
We turn to any signal that comes through

The Apostle Paul refers to these spiritually immature as being “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Eph 4:14, KJV).

We pushed the empty frame of reason out the cabin door
No, we won’t be needing reason anymore

It stands to reason that such a discarding of reason is spiritually dangerous.

But the captain never told them what he knew

Who’s steering the ship?

My heart truly weeps for those caught up in this.

“Empty Frame”
(Lyrics Brian Eno)

So they rode the sea
It went on and on
They were years away
Though it seemed so long
But the captain never told them what he knew
As the poor ship laboured on through the endless blue

Oh, the storm was strong
And the ship was so frail
But they stumbled on
Raising broken sails
And they held the heavy sky on their open hands
And they dreamed of when their po’ feet would touch the land

Maybe we’re going round in circles
Where is this place we’re going to?
Does anybody know we’re out here on the waves?
And are any of our signals coming through?

We’re going ’round in circles
We have no single point of view
And like the clouds that turn to every passing wind
We turn to any signal that comes through

At the edge of the sea
Were the signs of the dove
But the wrong way out
And the wrong way up
We pushed the empty frame of reason out the cabin door
No, we won’t be needing reason anymore

Music for the Times: Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem

Here I offer music for the times, accompanied by timeless images reflecting God’s wondrous creation.

Some may quibble at some of Pärt’s selections here (“Salve Regina”). But let’s focus on the larger picture.

Though there are many highlights in this album, I’ll close with this written piece set to music/voice, which closes this album. It’s from a sermon by John Henry Newman (1801–­1890) titled Wisdom and Innocence, preached on February 19, 1843:

May He support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done! Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at last.