{"id":6332,"date":"2010-12-19T02:44:56","date_gmt":"2010-12-19T08:44:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=6332"},"modified":"2011-12-20T06:16:42","modified_gmt":"2011-12-20T12:16:42","slug":"o-radix-jesse-o-root-of-jesse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/19\/o-radix-jesse-o-root-of-jesse\/","title":{"rendered":"O Radix Jesse: O Root of Jesse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The third O antiphon, <em>O Radix Jesse<\/em>, takes place on December 19. Here is the Latin:<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>O Radix Jesse,<br \/>\nqui stas in signum populorum,<br \/>\nsuper quem continebunt reges os suum,<br \/>\nquem gentes deprecabuntur:<br \/>\nveni ad liberandum nos,<br \/>\njam noli tardare.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>A somewhat literal translation into English might say,<\/p>\n<p><strong>O Root of Jesse,<br \/>\nyou stand as a sign among the peoples;<br \/>\nbefore you kings will hold their tongues,<br \/>\nand you the Gentiles will seek:<br \/>\ncome to deliver us,<br \/>\nand do not delay.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Applying a bit of dynamic equivalence, we might pray it this way:<\/p>\n<p><strong>O root from Jesse\u2019s stump,<br \/>\nan emblem for all peoples,<br \/>\nin whose presence kings shut their mouths<br \/>\nand nations bow low in disgrace,<br \/>\ncome and set us free.<br \/>\nDo not delay.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(As to the word, \u201cstump\u201d: at least one scholar says that after the Babylonian Exile only a stump of the Davidic dynasty would remain, but from it a new root would arise, leading to the Messiah. And \u201c. . . bow down in disgrace\u201d comes from the implication contained in the word <em>depricor<\/em>. It is root of the English words deprecate and depreciate.)<\/p>\n<p>This translation attempts to bring out a contrast between the first four lines, which address the one to come, and the last two lines, which are the request. The former are titles of great praise. They call out to the great messianic example that will be present for all people, and whose lineage goes all the way back to King David\u2019s father, Jesse; and nations become aware of their own shame, perhaps as Nineveh was. Even kings are brought to silence.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to this great dignity, the last two lines say, <em>veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare<\/em>. Come liberate us and do not be tardy, literally. To a non-Latin scholar such as myself, these words seem very direct, almost impudent, telling the messiah what to do. But of course I bow to those who know Latin more intimately. Nevertheless, this translation brings out the urgency of our longing for God, which I will speak of below.<\/p>\n<p>The scriptural references for this antiphon are from Isaiah 11: 10-11 (\u201cOn that day, the Gentiles shall seek out the root of Jesse, set up as a signal for the nations; his dwelling shall be glorious. On that day, the Lord shall again take it in hand to reclaim the remnant of his people.\u201d), as well as Is. 52:15 (\u201cSo shall he startle many nations; because of him kings shall stand speechless\u201d), and perhaps from Paul\u2019s quotation of Isaiah in Romans 12:15 (\u201cAnd again Isaiah says: &#8220;The root of Jesse shall come, raised up to rule the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles hope&#8221;). Of course it might be that <em>gentes<\/em> should be translated above as \u201cGentiles\u201d instead of \u201cnations\u201d, because of this passage, in which case the last lines might be better rendered, \u201clet nothing keep you from coming to our aid\u201d or something along that line.<\/p>\n<p>As we know, the English words for the ever popular Advent song, \u201cO Come, O Come Emmanuel\u201d, are based on the O Antiphons, but with the last antiphon made first. Here is today\u2019s verse, the one based on <em>O Radix<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cO come, O Rod of Jesse\u2019s stem,<br \/>\nfrom ev\u2019ry foe deliver them<br \/>\nThat trust your mighty pow\u2019r to save,<br \/>\nAnd give them victr\u2019y o\u2019er the grave.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel<br \/>\nShall come to you, O Israel!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It is, of course, only a meditation on the Radix antiphon, not a translation. As to the last two lines (which are actually the refrain) I heartily agree with those who object to \u201cEmmanuel\u201d being in the first phrase. There is a pause in the music after it and before \u201c\u2026 Shall come \u2026\u201d. This creates the musical impression that the Rejoice words are addressed to Emmanuel, which of course does not make sense. \u201cRejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel \/\/ Shall come to you, O Israel!\u201d Far better, to me, is the alternative translation, \u201cRejoice! Rejoice! O Israel! \/\/ To thee shall come Emmanuel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The first letters of the titles, if spelled backwards, form the Latin words, \u201c<em>ero crass<\/em>\u201d,<em> <\/em>or, I come tomorrow\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What impresses me about the O Antiphons, so distant from popular liturgical consciousness by now, is the growing sense of desire for the Lord that is expressed in them. Even the reverse ordering of \u201c<em>ero crass<\/em>\u201d indicates acrostically the waiting Christians must always be doing. Not even this sentence makes sense until the last Antiphon has arrived. The Lord has come but the Lord is coming, both into our lives and into the world.<\/p>\n<p>In this I think the ancients were quite accurate. Waiting is nearly the essence of human lives. Patience is one of our greatest needs. The only one that trumps it is the need, or rather, desire, for God-with-us. Love is on the way. Advent is worth its weight in waiting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I think the ancients were quite accurate. Waiting is nearly the essence of human lives. Patience is one of our greatest needs. The only one that trumps it is the need, or rather, desire, for God-with-us. Love is on the way. Advent is worth its weight in waiting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[91,18,21,285],"tags":[464,588],"class_list":["post-6332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liturgical-year","category-liturgy-of-the-hours","category-music-chant","category-pastoral-theology","tag-advent","tag-o-antiphons"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>O Radix Jesse: O Root of Jesse - Home<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/12\/19\/o-radix-jesse-o-root-of-jesse\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"O Radix Jesse: O Root of Jesse - Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I think the ancients were quite accurate. 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