Justin confirms Jesus called "τῇ ἀνατολῇ"

[Blood]

Dialogue with Trypho 100.4:

For [Christ] called one of His disciples— previously known by the name of Simon—Peter; since he recognised Him to be Christ the Son of God, by the revelation of His Father: and since we find it recorded in the memoirs of His apostles that He is the Son of God, and since we call Him the Son, we have understood that He proceeded before all creatures from the Father by His power and will (for He is addressed in the writings of the prophets in one way or another as Wisdom, and the Day, and the East (τῇ ἀνατολῇ), and a Sword, and a Stone, and a Rod, and Jacob, and Israel); and that He became man by the Virgin, in order that the disobedience which proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her,

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf01.viii.iv.c.html

Christ was known by a lot of names in the Prophets, including "the East," Jacob, and Israel.

That's also an interesting antithesis between Eve and the Virgin Mary, demonstrating how that theology may have developed between the time of Mark and the time of Matthew. Eve disobeyed God, conceived "the Word of the Serpent" which "brought forth death" (thereby worshipping the creature rather than the creator, Romans 1:25), but Mary obeyed God and conceived of "the Spirit of the Lord."

[Stephan Huller]

It appears many times in the Dialogue and is a standard messianic terminology. Tsemach (צמח) has the same gematria as "Menachem" (מנחם) so the 'sprout' = 'comforter.' Both are messianic titles.

[Stephan Huller]

Not that anyone will be interested but ...

The two main groups of meanings of tsemaḥ in Hebrew and anatolê in Greek are sprouting and first appearing over the horizon. The two verbs tsamaḥ and anatellein have the same range of meaning as the noun. I think the word applies to eyes of potatoes in both languages. (= “Behold a man whose name is Sprout. Well, behold a man whose name is the eye of the potato”). These are not exactly two meanings in themselves, but applications of the meaning, which is to appear as the start of a process or start of an event, with NOTHING before except an apparently inert bud or the time by the clock in the case of sunrise.

Aquila and Symmachus translate correctly. The Bible de Jérusalem and the Traduction Ecuménique de la Bible both translate correctly as “germe”. The NRSV and NEB with their translation “branch” are right off track. Note carefully that the Hebrew of the phrase following has been misunderstood.

The Hebrew of the words following is ומתחתיו יצמח meaning “and he will appear over the horizon or show the first sprout”. More literally “and he will rise from where he is”. Even what I have given as the literal meaning is still slightly paraphrastic. It is literally “from under himself”. It means the place where someone is before any movement. It would be used to speak of a cat pouncing from a waiting position.

Jastrow gives the example of someone saying that money from the treasury is to be counted in his presence here in the treasury, rather than being taken out and then counted in his presence. These words in Zechariah, combined with the concept of the return of Moses, lie behind the words in John 7:27 “When the Messiah comes, no-one will know where he comes from”. The NRSV and NEB translate “branch out”, but this translation shows absence of feeling for Hebrew. Any branching out would have to be after the sprouting.

Here is what the Targum has for verses 12 and 13. “And you shall say … “Behold a man whose name is Meshiḥa [the Anointed]. He will be revealed. He will become great [not “will be great”] and will build the Temple of the Lord. He will build the Temple of the Lord and will bloom. He will sit and rule on his throne. [The blooming is not the first event]. The High Priest will be on his throne. The King of Peace will be between them”.

In Genesis 22:8 the words meaning that God himself will provide are a special syntactic use of a word meaning to see. The LXX and Peshitta recognise this usage. In verse 14 there is the same usage. “Abraham called the place ‘The Lord Provides’. As it is said to this day “On the mount of the Lord it is provided [or will be provided]”. The Targums are surprisingly specific in verse 8. Targum Onkelos says “the sheep for the offering has been revealed”. Targum Yonatan has “God will choose a sheep himself for the offering”. The Fragmentary Targum has “God will provide me with a sheep, or otherwise you will be the offering”. In verse 22, all the Versions have some variant on the concept of seeing and being seen.

With respect to anatolê it should be said that the term does NOT mean the direction of east. It means the newly risen sun, or otherwise the first appearance of anything at all. It only means the east in the phrase anatolê hêliou literally “the appearance of the sun”, and even then only with the right preposition in front, e.g. en anatolêi hêliou “in the east”. It does NOT mean the East in this passage, as anyone with any feeling for Greek will see. The word can mean the time or point of rising of a constellation over the horizon; the Ascendant (as an astrological term); the first half of the morning; teeth coming through; the first sprouting of new grass above ground; the first appearance of a river above ground. The nearest I can get to an English equivalent for it in this passage is the upwelling or the first shining.

Of course it does mean the Logos. Proverbs 8:22: The Lord acquired me (or brought me into existence, wrought me) as the first (or at the start of, reshit) his ways (not “his act of creation”).

Again Tsade-Mem-Ḥet does not mean a branch in Hebrew. It means a new shoot. There are two meanings of the root in Hebrew and in Aramaic. In Hebrew and Palestinian Aramaic it means to sprout, except here in Hebrew. In Syriac it means shining, but occasionally means sprouting or a sprout. Have a look at the root Tsade-Mem-Ḥet in Syriac. Have a look at Malachi 3:20. It would definitely be a mistranslation to say either the Hebrew or the Greek word means the sun in Zechariah 6:12, but it would be correct to say that in the right context they can both mean the first appearance of the sun, and a suitable English equivalent in this verse would be “the newly-risen sun”.

Do people actually LEARN Hebrew or Greek, or do they just misuse dictionaries? Oh yes, many scholars are complete fucking idiots ...

[Peter Kirby]

Do people actually LEARN Hebrew or Greek, or do they just misuse dictionaries? Oh yes, many scholars are complete fucking idiots ...

Not trying to bash anyone in particular, but I'm starting to come around to your point of view here. Although I think it's more a lack of goodwill than anything else. Not enough young blood who want to tackle problems, plenty of piss and vinegar young and old that want to fight for old agendas. And any absence of raw talent is just a symptom, not a cause. I mean, in general, even nerds think it's weird to be studying religion, and that's saying something. You're gonna get a lot more cred if you take up physics, computers, literature, or any of a number of much more attractive subjects.

Perhaps there was a moment in early twentieth century Germany when historical-critical theologians were rockstars, but that moment has long since past. We may never get another Harnack... and if we did, would anybody care?

[Blood]

With respect to anatolê it should be said that the term does NOT mean the direction of east. It means the newly risen sun, or otherwise the first appearance of anything at all. It only means the east in the phrase anatolê hêliou literally “the appearance of the sun”, and even then only with the right preposition in front, e.g. en anatolêi hêliou “in the east”. It does NOT mean the East in this passage, as anyone with any feeling for Greek will see. The word can mean the time or point of rising of a constellation over the horizon; the Ascendant (as an astrological term); the first half of the morning; teeth coming through; the first sprouting of new grass above ground; the first appearance of a river above ground. The nearest I can get to an English equivalent for it in this passage is the upwelling or the first shining.

Why do scholars continue to (mis)translate τῇ ἀνατολῇ as "the East"? Laziness? Fear of translating it as "the first shining"?

The standard current print version of Trypho, translated by Thomas B. Falls, also says "the East" at 100.4.

[Adam]

Oh yes, many scholars are complete fucking idiots ...

....
Perhaps there was a moment in early twentieth century Germany when historical-critical theologians were rockstars, but that moment has long since past. We may never get another Harnack... and if we did, would anybody care?

Your question is quite a propos. For those who believe in reincarnation, Harnack would have returned sometime after 1930. Any candidates for the unrecognized Harnack of our day?

[DCHindley]

Why do scholars continue to (mis)translate τῇ ἀνατολῇ as "the East"? Laziness? Fear of translating it as "the first shining"? The standard current print version of Trypho, translated by Thomas B. Falls, also says "the East" at 100.4.

It just so happens that the sun, moon or any star always rise in the east and set in the west. Astronomical terminology of the day called this the "rising" of the body. The sun, moon and stars are lights. Just like a lot of things, "rising" became synonymous with morning = break of day, but it also used as a nickname for stars which sometimes rose from the eastern horizon just before dawn (venus, mars).

DCH