Today is the second day of the O Antiphons. If you did not read yesterday’s post, I am going to post one O Antiphon for the 7 days on which they are used as the antiphon for the Magnificat at Vespers. The antiphons are different names for the Messiah and today’s is O Adonai.
I am late in assembling this post and gratefully so because of something I found this morning. Adonai, which also means Lord, has some other meanings as well. This is one of my own personal challenges with more literal translations of things in general. (No, I am not complaining about the New Roman Missal, but offering my own perspective about the challenge of translation!) Words have cultural values as well and their meanings are often expressed through the context of the time in which they are used.
Which is why I was interested to read this at the CSJ Prayer Online Advent Calendar, which is written by Baya Clare, CSJ. Baya is in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, but has ties back to our local Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet community in Latham.
Baya writes about how the term Adonai also refers to the “bread keeper,” indicating that this “bread keepers’” followers would be fed. And our Lord Jesus comes to us as bread and as our keeper, He certainly does keep us fed.
O Adonai, et dux domus Israel,
qui Moyse in igne flammae rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.
O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel,
who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush,
who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain:
Come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.
Filed under: Advent, Advent 2011, O Antiphons
beautiful way to start my day thank you!
Yes, I am so glad you do this series. A beautiful way to keep on the path of Advent
Thank you, Fran/
Claire – I am so grateful that you visit with us and pray with us. We are far if one measures the land and sea between us, but in our hearts and in Christ we are one!
Hey Father Jerry, so glad you liked this. I know that the O Antiphons are an “evening” thing, but I tend to post in the mornings, so…
Have a great day. Happy 4th week of Advent!
[...] of the meanings of Adonai is “bread keeper?” Neither did I! Go read more about it over here or here… It seems important to ponder that at a blog called, There Will Be Bread, [...]
But wait, the bread keeper is the meaning of the Old English word for lord.
In Hebrew, however, “Adonai” has no such connotation, (to the best of my knowledge).
Adon in the singular means lord, master, or owner. In the Bible it referred variously to God or angels or men. Adon came from the Ugaritic adn, meaning lord or father and the Akkadian addanu, meaning mighty. And in the plural, Adonai, it refers to the God of Israel.
Thanks for teaching us a new way to think about the word Lord.
Actually that is correct, if you click over to Baya’s post that I link to, she addresses the old English that apparently comes from the Venerable Bede. You are one smart woman Dina and I am always grateful when you come by here!
Hehe, I just get very protective when it comes to my Hebrew language.
I love learning about language(s), so it was a welcome lesson that came from your post that led me to Baya’s post that prodded me to search other websites in order to learn more about the Old English word and about adon derivatives.
For instance http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/Adonai/adonai.html
Hebrew4Christians.com is a very helpful and friendly website.
Beautiful, Fran – thanks for sharing! I had no idea about the “bread” connection – much to chew on there (pun intended).