O Adonai: O Sacred Lord

O Adonai,
et Dux domus Israel
qui Moysi in igne flammae rubi apparuisti
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extenso.

“Literal” translation:

O Lord,
and Leader of the house of Israel,
who appeared to Moses in the red flames [ed. note: should read “burning bush”],
and who gave the Law to him on Sinai:
come, for liberating us with [your] outstretched arm.

Present ICEL Translation:

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 our your mighty hand to set us free.

Assigned as the Gospel Verse at Eucharist and the Antiphon for the Canticle of Mary at Evening Prayer on 18 December, “O Adonai” continues the Advental theme of longing for God’s transformation of the human condition. Employing the same musical phrases as the other “O” Antiphons, it exhibits the same two-part grammatical structure: a divine invocation under various titles and relative clauses followed by the request to come for a particular purpose.

While there may be some debate over whether the Triune God or specifically Christ is invoked in this antiphon, I take “Adonai” to refer to the one God known as YHWH to the Jews and manifested as a Trinity of Divine Persons with the incarnation of the Second Person in Jesus of Nazareth. As is well known, “Adonai” means “my Lord” in Hebrew and was substituted in public recitation of the scriptures for the sacred Tetragrammaton, YHWH, representing God’s proper name as revealed in Exodus 3. This God is named as the true guide and protector (dux) of the house of Israel, and by extension those who enjoy covenant relationship with this God. As in other First Testament passages when God is identified as “God of…” (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.), here God is presented as preeminently “God of Moses,” both because of the mysterious divine calling to Moses from the burning bush which eventuates in the revelation of the divine name and because of the great gift of Torah represented by the ten “words” (commandments) bestowed upon Moses as the covenant stipulations established for the Hebrew people. Notice that both of the verbs in these relative clauses are in the perfect tense indicating actions completed in the past whose effects continue into the present.

The unique focus of the request in this antiphon is that God would come to free those who are praying. At core the verb used evokes the idea of redemption and is taken from the world of economics: a payment is made on our behalf in order to cancel our debt. That this payment would be made by God’s “outstretched arm” at once recalls the refrain in the Deuteronomic history of God’s intervention in human history “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” and the Christian midrash in which the extended arms of the Crucified Christ become the ultimate sign of redemption. How wonderfully, then, does this antiphon highlight the praise of the God who “has shown the strength of his arm” and “lifted up the lowly…” as the Magnificat so powerfully sings!

Michael Joncas

Ordained in 1980 as a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN, Fr. (Jan) Michael Joncas holds degrees in English from the (then) College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and in liturgical studies from the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN and the Pontificio Istituto Liturgico of the Ateneo S. Anselmo in Rome. He has served as a parochial vicar, a campus minister, and a parochial administrator (pastor). He is the author of six books and more than two hundred fifty articles and reviews in journals such as Worship, Ecclesia Orans, and Questions Liturgiques. He has composed and arranged more than 300 pieces of liturgical music. He has recently retired as a faculty member in the Theology and Catholic Studies departments and as Artist in Residence and Research Fellow in Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota.

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Comments

12 responses to “O Adonai: O Sacred Lord”

  1. Alan Griffiths

    I may get into (more?) trouble for presuming to comment on matters relating to the translation of liturgical text, but surely “rubi” does not mean “red” as in “fire.”

    I think it refers rather to the burning bush: “Rubus” – a thorn bush.

    Is the text given by Mr. Joncas an “edited” version, perhaps?

    Alan Griffiths.

    Reply
  2. Joe O'Leary

    Alan Griffiths appears to have spotted a manifest howler. In the Vatican Court is it always a faux pas to point out howlers.

    Reply
  3. Joe O'Leary

    Or is the text cited not from the New Translation but just Mr Joncas’ own hasty rendering?

    Reply
  4. Fr. Jan Michael Joncas

    Yes, it is my own hasty rendering. I admit the mistake. It delights me that the colleagues on this blog will charitably call one’s attention to such mistakes. One hopes that that that mis-translation will not invalidate the rest of the commentary, but I’m open to correction there as well.

    Now corrected in the original post. -ed.

    Reply
  5. Alan Griffiths

    Fr. Michael,

    Don’t worry. We all make mistakes.

    The rest of the piece was great. It’s good to have these lovely and imaginative texts brought out and unfolded like this.

    Years ago, I asked one of my students, who was an artist, to draw large cartoons of these Antiphons to be displayed in the Seminary Chapel during Advent. They received a positive response from both students and staff.

    Many of them, though reciting them regularly, had never actually pondered these Antiphons, or thought about their Scriptural background, and how Old Testament texts were being reconstructed as Christological, or what that meant, and so on.

    More of the same, please.

    Alan Griffiths.

    Reply
    1. Bill deHaas

      What a great idea….would love to see them.

      Fr. Joncas – always looking for ways to relate to human events and the OT and NT Antiphon images of an outstretched hand and arms links nicely to any experience of parents and children who depend upon the safety and comfort of a parents’ outstretched arms/hands especially when connected to birth/nativity. Advent as preparing for “births” in our lives.

      Reply
  6. Jeffrey Pinyan

    +JMJ+

    Fr. Jan, thank you for this reflection. I especially like that the reflections (thus far, at least) have connected the antiphon back to the Magnificat, a connection I had never really considered, probably because I have not been praying the Liturgy of the Hours with regularity in recent years. Regardless of circumstance, I think we tend to isolate the O Antiphons from the Magnificat and only consider them in relation to themselves, so I really do appreciate this series.

    made by God’s “outstretched arm” at once recalls the refrain in the Deuteronomic history of God’s intervention in human history “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” and the Christian midrash in which the extended arms of the Crucified Christ become the ultimate sign of redemption

    Last year, when I was teaching salvation history to 6th graders, I drew this connection as well (between the outstretched arm and the crucifixion). Nice to know I wasn’t making it up. 😉

    Reply
  7. Linda Reid

    “a payment is made on our behalf in order to cancel our debt. That this payment would be made by God’s “outstretched arm” at once recalls the refrain in the Deuteronomic history of God’s intervention in human history “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” ”
    As I read this, it also brought to mind Isaiah 40:2,”and proclaim to her that her service is at an end, her guilt is expiated;”, as an indentured servant’s contract is paid – and is also reflected in psalm 98.
    Once again, thank you for offering this reflection!

    Reply
  8. Tim English

    As a cantor, it is helpful to compare the ICEL translations of the Psalmsand Gospel verse and the literal translation of the psalms and Gospel verse. That way we can see what the true message really is. That’s why I bought a copy of the NRSV so that I can do some parallel reading of Scripture between the NRSV and the NAB, particularly before I cantor. The nice thing about the NRSV is it has footnotes with the English meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words so that the reader can grasp the whole meaning of the psalm,Gospel or other reading.
    And while we’re on the subject of Liturgical translation, if you read the Genius of the Roman Rite, Fr. Pecklers points out that there has always been disagreement of how liturgical text should be translated going back to when Hebrew was translated from the Greek and Latin was translated from the Hebrew, and now more recently when Latin was translated into English.So it’s no surprise then that there is disagreement with how the new Roman Missal is being translated, nothing new in the liturgical history of the Church.

    Reply
  9. M. Jackson osborn

    How many here do the eighth O antiphon:
    O virgo virginem?

    How many sing Magnificat in the proper tone for each of the antiphons when sung on ocassions other than the office?

    How many sing them at the office with Magnificat.

    Reply
    1. Michael Podrebarac

      I sing them, along with the Magnificat (both as taken from the LU), at the Evening office (praying from the Liturgy of the Hours).

      Reply
  10. Xavier Rindfleisch

    Roman (Liber Usualis, I think):
    http://youtu.be/dn1cloz0ssQ

    Dominican variation on that chant:
    http://youtu.be/CvafrxZ_Ww4

    Sarum begins the O Antiphons on December 16 and adds the O Virgo virginum to the sequence on the 23rd.

    Amongst the Carmelites of the Ancient Observance (O.Carm.), 18 December is the “Expectation of the Childbearing of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” and the Magnificat antiphon at Second Vespers is O Virgo virginum, with the commemoration of the Advent feria following the Collect, i.e., the chanting of the O Adonai. Imagine: TWO O Antiphons warming up that one cold evening!

    Reply

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