Re: PROSKUNEW

From: Jeffrey B. Gibson (jgibson000@mailhost.chi.ameritech.net)
Date: Mon Jun 07 1999 - 20:31:39 EDT


Linda Gray wrote:

> >From what I have gathered from all of the comments about this is that at
> Hebrews 1:6 you could translate it: "But whenever he should again lead in
> the Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says, "And let all angels of God
> do obeisance toward him." So, 'obeisance' is an acceptable word for
> 'PROSKUNEW'.
>

It seems acceptable -- but I cannot help but wonder if finding the right English word
gets at all that the author of Hebrews meant to convey by the imagery and the
associations evoked by the sentence in which PROSKUNEW is a part. It seems to me that
there is a good chance that in his choice of words our author is casting a sidelong
glance at a Jewish legend known to us from the Vita of Adam and Eve that when God
created Adam he brought him before all the angels so that they might acknowledge Adam
as the firstborn of God's creation and offer him fealty. Then again, there is a
formal parallel between Heb. 1:6 and Deut. 6:10; 11:29 LXX so that what we have here
is a competitive comparison between Jesus and Israel who was destined to have the
world as its inheritance and whom the angels were to server.

Yours,

Jeffrey Gibson

--
Jeffrey B. Gibson
7423 N. Sheridan Road #2A
Chicago, Illinois 60626
e-mail jgibson000@ameritech.net

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