From Pascha until the Wednesday before Ascension, Byzantines sing the following hymn:

“Shine in splendor, O new Jerusalem. For the glory of the Lord is risen upon you, O Sion; sing with joy and rejoice! And you, pure Mother of God, rejoice in the resurrection of your Son.”

At first it may seem puzzling why this hymn includes motifs of: Jerusalem, Sion, the Mother of God, resurrection and the Son. What exactly does the Mother of God or Theotokos have to do with the other motifs? This particular hymn takes the place of “It is truly proper” at the Divine Liturgy, a part devoted to the Theotokos. We also sing it as the refrain at the blessing of Resurrection Matins. But why this bit on Sion? What is the significance? What is the connection?

A few months ago we had some commentaries and reflections on the Lenten readings of Isaiah. Might our Fifth Evangelist Prophet have anything to do with this mixture of motifs?

In the past decade there has been much study on Isaiah's depiction of Jerusalem as a woman. Some of you might have heard of Wisdom (Sophia) being depicted as feminine, but how about Sion or Zion-Jerusalem? Sophia is a popular woman's name but not many women go around with the name “Zion.”

Isaiah equates the city of Jerusalem (sitting on Mount Sion or Zion) in the feminine. For starters, she (Jerusalem) is a “whore” (Isa 1.21) having some possibility of becoming a “daughter” like Sodom and Gomorrah (Isa 1.8). Not a very good commentary on our urban lady. Of course, this title is in regards to the sins of the inhabitants living in Jerusalem. Fast forward to Isa 12 where a totally new image of Zion is given: Queen. We often hear the Theotokos being called the Queen of Heaven. Might that have come from Isaiah?

In Isaiah 60 we read the following:

"Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you."

... and in Isaiah 12:

“Shout aloud and sing for joy,
O royal Zion,
For great in your midst is the
Holy One of Israel”

Let's return to our liturgical hymn “Shine in splendor” and compare it with our Isaiah text:

"Shine in splendor, O new Jerusalem" (Liturgy) // "Arise, shine, for your [implies Jerusalem] light has come" (Isaiah)

"the glory of the Lord is risen upon you" (Liturgy) // "the glory of the Lord rises upon you" (Isaiah)

“O Sion” (Liturgy) // “O royal Zion” (Isaiah)

“Sing with joy and rejoice” (Liturgy) // “Shout aloud and sing for joy” (Isaiah)

“O Mother of God” (Liturgy) // a woman implied in this address (Isaiah)

“Rejoice in the resurrection of your Son” (Liturgy) // “For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah)

Christians, especially us Byzantines, sing the song of Isaiah addressed to the Queen of our hearts. Christ is Risen to all you Old Calendar folks!

How does this change your understanding and/or appreciation of Jerusalem or Zion as being imaged as a woman? as being used in our Liturgy? Can one really do Christian theology without Isaiah or the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament)? Our Old Testament still gets little attention (and is sometimes the first to go) in our desire to see with Byzantine eyes. We are good at liturgy but are we cognisant of the sources of that wellspring of worship? Do we see the onion domes but fail to see the foundation that supports it?


Cantor Joe Thur

[ 05-16-2002: Message edited by: J Thur ]

Dear Cantor Joe,

A beautiful issue that you have presented so wonderfully!

"Queen of Heaven" as a title could definitely have its roots in Isaiah.

This term also referred to a pagan goddess at the time.

What is fascinating is the presence of the Unknown Woman in the Old Testament.

We see Her mentioned in the Psalms, especially Psalm 44/45 which is the Greek Church's Polyeleos Psalm on Feasts of the Theotokos.

An ancient Jewish tradition has it that the Prophet Elias established a shrine on Mt. Carmel to the "Mother of the Messiah to come."

The Ark of the Covenant, the Mountain densely wooded, the Jar of Manna and other Old Testament images are definitely feminine and refer to the image of the Mother as they are seen as receptacles and containers of the Word of God.

As for linking the Old Testament with the New, that is an ongoing realization for many of us.

The Ethiopians do it best. Even their priest's hand Crosses contain a square representation of the Ten Commandment tablets at the base.

Both the Ark and the Cross represent the Shekinah or Presence of God.

Thank you for your Resurrection wishes to us Old Calendarists.

Even though we are "Old" we sometimes make the effort to be contemporary, if not completely modern.

Alex

Of course you know that the prophecy is fulfilled in the coming of the Kingdom/Church of Christ as seen in Revelation 21.

Both the hymn and the reality are glorious!

Dan Lauffer

Revelation 21
9 (1) Then one of the seven angels who had the (2) seven bowls full of the (3) seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, "(4) Come here, I will show you the (5) bride, the wife of the Lamb."


The New Jerusalem

10 And (6) he carried me away [1] (7) in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me (8) the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
11 having (9) the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a (10) stone of (11) crystal-clear jasper.
12 It had a great and high wall, (12) with twelve (13) gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
13 There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west.
14 And the wall of the city had (14) twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the (15) twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring (16) rod to measure the city, and its (17) gates and its wall.
16 The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, [2] fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal.
17 And he measured its wall, [3] seventy-two yards, according to (18) human measurements, which are also (19) angelic measurements.
18 The material of the wall was (20) jasper; and the city was (21) pure gold, like clear (22) glass.
19 (23) The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was (24) jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, (25) emerald;
20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, (26) sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst.
21 And the twelve (27) gates were twelve (28) pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. And the street of the city was (29) pure gold, like transparent (30) glass.
22 I saw (31) no temple in it, for the (32) Lord God the Almighty and the (33) Lamb are its temple.
23 And the city (34) has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for (35) the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the (36) Lamb.
24 (37) The nations will walk by its light, and the (38) kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.
25 In the daytime (for (39) there will be no night there) (40) its gates (41) will never be closed;
26 and (42) they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it;
27 and (43) nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are (44) written in the Lamb's book of life.

Dan,

Revelation 21 surely gives us a totally different image than the whore mentioned in Isaiah 1. Thank you for reminding us of that.

Excuse me for chiming in ...

How totally different that image is compared to the one that awaits Jerusalem in 3:24, where: her perfume will be turned into stench, her sash into a rope, her well-set hair into baldness, rich robe into sackcloth, and her beauty into shame. Makes having a bad hair day for anyone almost welcoming. Might this be due to the fact that "Isaiah" was a composite of three different texts over the course of some years each having a different take on things? I know, I know, this is a different issue deserving its own thread.

"Isaiah" does mention that new Jerusalem you point out, especially in the later chapters, which, BTW, are so totally different from the first 39 chapters. In 65:17 where he writes:

"Lo, I am about to create a new heavens
and a new earth;
The things of the past shall not be remembered
or come to mind."

and, of course:

"... the new heavens and the new earth
which I will make
Shall endure before me, says the LORD, ..." (Isa 66:22)

The peace and accord should result from this as he later writes in 65:25, "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox." Such a nice book-end to the opening image of the wolf and lamb depicted in Isa 11:6-9.

Hopefully, we don't prevent that shining splendor from revealing his glory (Isa 60:2b)!

Have you noticed how similar Isa 55-66 is to Isa 1-12? They seem to parallel each other with similar themes, demands and predictions, yet Isa 55-66 is the flip-side to 1-12. The earlier chapters being negative and the later chapters being positive. The first chapters being destruction, the later ones being restoration. Hmmmmmm.

I recall, Dan, you mentioning that you taught a class on the Book of Revelation. How did your class take the passages you quoted in your above post? Did they consider it 'future-oriented' apocalyptic or something that already happened? I'm interestd in the understanding of past/present/future tense. You mentioned that it was a prophecy-fulfillment. Has your experience in the Byzantine Church (and its liturgy) influenced the way you yourself interpret and teach this text?

Joe

[ 05-17-2002: Message edited by: J Thur ]