ACC ~ John 19 v37

COMPARING HEBREW, GREEK AND LATIN TEXTS

JEROME: Look at this instance from Zechariah where the Evangelist John quotes from the Hebrew, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.” We read in the Septuagint, “And they shall look on me because they have mocked me.” In the Latin version, we read, “And they shall look on me for the things that they have mocked or insulted.” Here the Evangelist, the Septuagint and our own version [1] all differ. And yet, the divergence of language is atoned for by oneness of spirit. LETTER 57.7. [2]

“INSULT” AND “PIERCED” ARE BOTH APT DESCRIPTIONS

AUGUSTINE: Certainly the words that the Septuagint has translated, “They shall look on me because they insulted me,” stand in the Hebrew, “They shall look on me whom they pierced.” [3] And by this word the crucifixion of Christ is certainly more plainly indicated. But the Septuagint translators preferred to allude to the insult that was involved in his whole passion. For in point of fact they insulted him both when he was arrested and when he was bound, when he was judged, when he was mocked by the robe they put on him and the homage they did on bended knee, when he was crowned with thorns and struck with a rod on the head, when he bore his cross and when at last he hung upon the tree. And therefore we recognize more fully the Lord’s passion when we do not confine ourselves to one interpretation but combine both and read both “insulted” and “pierced.” When, therefore, we read in the prophetical books that God is to come to do judgment at the last, from the mere mention of the judgment, and although there is nothing else to determine the meaning, we must gather that Christ is meant. For though the Father will judge, he will judge by the coming of the Son. For he himself, by his own manifested presence, “judges no one but has committed all judgment to the Son.” [4] For as the Son was judged as a man, he shall also judge in human form. CITY OF GOD 20.30. [5]

[1] The Italic, for the Vulgate, which was not then published, accurately represents the Hebrew.

[2] NPNF 2 6:115**.

[3] See the Vulgate.

[4] Jn 5:22.

[5] NPNF 1 2:450*.

SEEING JESUS AT THE JUDGMENT

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS: Jesus will come at the consummation of the world with power and great glory to judge the living and the dead and to reward every one according to his works. And then shall they see the beloved Son of God whom they pierced, and when they know him, they shall mourn for themselves tribe by tribe. CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 5.19. [1]

[1] ANF 7:448**. Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 5.20, according to Greek source.

TWO AUDIENCES AT CHRIST’S SECOND COMING

THEODORET OF CYR: He promised to come again. And so, he will be seen both by those who have believed and those who have crucified, for it is written, “They shall look on him whom they pierced.” LETTER 151. [1]

[1] NPNF 2 3:331**. See also Dialogues (NPNF 2 3:200).

CHRIST THE HAMSTRUNG BULL

HIPPOLYTUS: “In their anger they killed men, in their passion they hamstrung a bull.” [1] This he says regarding the conspiracy into which they were to enter against the Lord. … By the “strong bull” he means Christ whom “they hamstrung,” since, when he was suspended on the tree, they pierced through his sinews. Again, “in their anger they hamstrung a bull.” And mark the appropriateness of the expression when it says, “They killed men, and hamstrung a bull.” For they killed the saints, and they remain dead, awaiting the time of the resurrection. But as a young bull, so to speak, when hamstrung, sinks down to the ground, such was Christ in submitting voluntarily to the death of the flesh. But he was not overcome by death. But though as man he became one of the dead, he remained alive in the nature of divinity. For Christ is the bull—an animal, above all, strong and sleek and devoted to sacred use. And the Son is Lord of all power, who did not sin but rather offered himself for us, a savor of a sweet smell to his God and Father. FRAGMENT ON GENESIS 49.6. [2]

[1] Gen 49:6.

[2] ANF 5:164**. ANF provides incorrect referencing.