Stefka Kancheva
the Entry into the Temple of the Mother of
God is the
Marian feast full of Old Testament images and ideas, because of its
specificity. The article examines the three Old Testament readings during the
Vesper – from Exodus, 3 Kings and Ezekiel and the connection between the
readings and hymnography of the feast.
Key words: Theotokos, tabernacle,
temple, Ark of the covenant
Because of its specific
character the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple is a feast, full of Old Testament images and
ideas. With the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple begins our
salvation. The beginning of the New Testament - The Virgin, chosen to become a temple of the
living God enters into the Temple
- the most holy place for the Old Testament people. On The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into
the Temple the first meets the second tabernacle, the prefiguration meets the
fulfillment, the man-made tabernacle meets “the greater and more perfect
tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation” (Hebr.9:11). [1]
The selected Old Testament readings
for the feast foretell us about the Virgin, which will become a temple of the
leaving God. Paroimies for the Entry are Exodus
40:1–5,9–10,16,34–35, 1 King (on LXX – 3 Kings) 7:51; 8:1,3–7,9–11 and Ezekiel
43:27; 44:1–4 (reading also for the Nativity of Theotokos, Annunciation and
Dormition).
The association of
the Most Holy Theotokos with the temple is a part of exegetical traditions,
which emerge clearly around Nestorian controversies. The depiction of the Mother of God as
a living temple is presented in the hymnography of all her feasts.
The festal liturgical service underlines the typological exegesis of Old
Testament tabernacle and the temple in relation to Theotokos – “second
tabernacle”. The three stages of the history of the temple are reviled consecutively
– the movable temple (tabernacle), Solomon’s Temple and the future temple from
the vision of Ezekiel.
The first Old Testament reading is from Exodus:
THE Lord
spake to Moses, saying: On the first day of the first month, thou shalt set up
the tabernacle of witness, and thou shalt place in it the ark of the testimony,
and shalt cover the ark with the veil, and thou shalt bring in the table and
the lampstand, and thou shalt place the golden censer, to burn incense before
the ark of the testimony; and thou shalt put a covering of a veil on the door
of the tabernacle of witness. And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and shalt
anoint the tabernacle, and all that is therein; and shalt sanctify it, and all
the vessels thereof, and it shall be holy. And thou shalt hallow the altar, and
the altar shall be most holy. And Moses did all things whatsoever the Lord
commanded him, so did he. And the cloud covered the tabernacle of witness, and
the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. And Moses was not able to
enter into the tabernacle of witness, because the cloud overshadowed it, and
the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. (Exodus 40:1-5, 9-10, 16,
34-35)[2]
The Tabernacle and the Ark of the covenant are witness for the God’s presence among His people, for God’s nearness to them and because of that in the Septuagint the tabernacle is named “tabernacle of witness”[3] (σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου / et־mšekan o’hel mô῾ēd[4]). In Exodus 40:3 the Ark is named also “ark of the testimony” (κιβωτὸν τοῦ
μαρτυρίου/’árôn hā῾ēdôt). The reading tells us about the hallowing of the
tabernacle and then after all Moses did, cloud covered the tabernacle and the
glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. What is the common between
consecration of the Old Testament tabernacle and the feast?
First of all the emphases is on the nearness of God
and the witness about God. During the time before the Incarnation the nearness
of God was expressed through material objects – tabernacle, its utensils, the
cloud as a sign of God’s glory.
The Exodus reading expresses also the preparation for
service – by God’s instruction Moses set up the tabernacle’s utensils and
hallowed it with oil, this was a preparation for serving of God. With the
Entrance of Theotokos in the temple starts her preparation for her destined
service – to become container of uncontainable God, to become a ladder, on
which God will descent among men to stretch His not-made tabernacle. [5]
This
typological meaning of tabernacle in relation to the Theotokos is expressed not
only in the readings, but also in the hymnography for the feast.
The Church praises the
Most Holy Theotokos as “the spotless tabernacle of God” (aposticha, 2 tone),
“which hath contained God the Word uncontainable” (first stichera on Lord I
have cried, tone 1).
In the kontakon of the feast is sung: “THE sacred
treasury of God's holy glory, the greatly precious bridal chamber and Virgin,
the Saviour's most pure temple, free of stain and undefiled, into the House of
the Lord on this day is brought forward and bringeth with herself the grace of
the Most Divine Spirit; her do God's Angels hymn with songs of praise, for she
is truly the heavenly tabernacle”.
The interpretation of tabernacle and its utensils as prefigurations of Theotokos has its expression in the iconography.
In a fresco of Dionisiat monastery (16 century) [6] there is a scene, picturing Moses and Aaron in the
tabernacle. The inscription is “η
σκηνὴν
τοῦ μαρτυρίου”. The typological exegesis is expressed on the cover of
the tabernacle and on the lampstand – there are medallions with Theotokos.
Similar scene can be found in Grachanica[7] monastery. The inscription is “The prophets Moses and
Aaron incense the holy table”.
The Ark
is on the table, the lampstand is behind the table and the Theotokos is
pictured on them. On the right side we can see the vessel with manna and again
on it is pictured the Virgin Mary.
The Reading
is from the Third Book of Kings (8:1, 3-4, 5, 6-7, 9, 10-11)
IT came to pass when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord,
that he assembled all the elders of Israel in Sion, to bring the ark of the
covenant of the Lord out of the city of David; this is Sion. And the priests
took up the ark and the tabernacle of witness, and the holy vessels that were
in the tabernacle of witness. And the king and all Israel were before the ark;
and the priests bring in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto the place
thereof, into the oracle of the house, even into the Holy of Holies, under the
wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread out their wings over the place
of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and the holy things thereof above.
There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone, the tablets of
the covenant which Moses put there in Horeb, which tablets the Lord gave. And
it came to pass when the priests departed out of the holy place, that the cloud
filled the house of the Lord. And the priests could not stand to minister
because of the presence of the cloud, because the glory of the Lord filled the
house of the Lord.
The time of wandering in
the wilderness is gone, the time of the transportable temple – tabernacle is
also gone. The reading tells us about the consecration of the Solomon’s temple
and the bringing of the Ark.
As in the previous reading
it is emphasized on the nearness of God to His people - the temple and the Holy
of Holies as a dwelling place of God. The accent is again on the preparation
for the service – the temple is sanctified and the glory of the Lord filled the
temple. In the canon is sung: THOU temple and palace higher than the heavens, O
all-pure one, thou purely art consecrated in the temple of God, there to be
prepared to be the divine dwelling and godly abode of His coming to us on
earth. (First Canon, ode one, second troparia)[8].
The consecration of the temple is seen by the Church
as a prefiguration of the solemn entry into the temple of the Theotokos. The
Virgin was presented into Temple when she was three years old to be able to
start her preparation for becoming a
dwelling-place, habitation for the
Son of God – The Heavenly King in the same way the Temple was God’s habitat.
TODAY the living temple of
the great King entereth into the temple, to be made ready for Him as His divine
dwelling. Rejoice, O ye peoples (Glory after Ps.50, Second Tone).
In the hymnography the Theotokos
is praised as: “who is truly the holiest temple of our Holy God” (sticheron on
Lord I have cried, tone 4), “the temple that containeth God” (second idiomelon
sticheron, tone 4 by George of Nicomedia), “temple and palace higher than the
heavens” (second troparia of the first ode, First canon); “Mary, the immaculate
living tabernacle, today is offered in the house of God” (eight ode of second
canon) and in the heirmos of the ninth ode she is called “living ark of God”. Theotokos
is also named with the titles of the temple’s/tabernacle’s utensils: on “both
now” after the first canon she is praised as herald by the prophets as the ark
of holiness, “the table, lampstand, and the urn, and the censer wrought all of
gold”.
In the canon
George of Nicomedia (9
century) composed for
the Entry of Theotokos he exposed different
prophecies and prefigurations for the Virgin Mary and included all of them that
are connected with the tabernacle and the temple[9] in the troparion of the ninth ode: “O pure Lady, the Law wondrously prefigured thee as holy tabernacle, divine urn of
manna and a strange ark, indestructible temple, and veil, and rod, and gate of
God…”
The Law is kept in The Ark
of Covenant and the Lawgiver is curried by the Virgin in her womb; the urn kept the
memory for the wandering in the wilderness – the manna and the Theotokos bear
the Heavenly Bread, the bread of Life (John 6:35); the lampstand and the censer
carried the fire and they were not damaged – the Virgin, down on the fire of
the Holy Spirit bear in her womb the God and she was not corrupt, after giving
a birth she remain a virgin. According the typological association with the
temple’s/tabernacle’s utensil we can say that they are sort of containers and
their contents are connected with worshiping God. The Most Holy Virgin is a
container but she bears God.
The last Old Testament reading depicts the future
temple, the temple of the eight day, as it is seen by the prophet Ezekiel.
The Reading
is from the Prophecy of Ezekiel (43:27; 44:1–4)
THUS saith
the Lord: Upon the eighth day and so forward, the priests shall make your
whole-burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings, and I will
accept you, saith the Lord. Then He brought me back by the way of the outer
gate of the sanctuary, which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. And the
Lord said unto me: Son of man, this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened,
and no man shall enter in by it; because the Lord, the God of Israel, shall
enter in by it, and it shall be shut. For this Prince shall sit on it to eat
bread before the Lord; He shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and
shall come forth by the way of the same. And He brought me by the way of the
north gate before the house, and I looked, and behold, the house of the Lord
was full of glory.
The vision of Ezekiel is a reading for all Theotokos’s feasts. “This
text from Ezekiel forms part of the prophet’s great vision while he was in
exile in Babylon with the deported Jewish people of the future Temple of the
people of Israel. This vision takes up the last part of the book of Ezekiel
(ch. 40-48).[10]
The first typological exegesis of this periscope belongs to st.Justin
the Martyr in his Dialog with Trypho (118:5) [11], but he interprets it Christologically – the Prince in front of the gate
is Christ. The first reference to the Mother of God is from st. Ephrem of
Syria (4 century).[12]
St. Proclus, patriarch of Constantinople, ends his sermon, said in
Nestorius’s presence with the citation of Ezekiel’s vision. After that he
concludes: “Behold, the holy Theotokos Mary is bodily shown forth here”[13]. St.
Germanus, patriarch of Constantinople in his sermon on the feast said: “Now is
opening the door of the divine temple and welcome the Emmanuel’s door, looking
at East and sealed”[14].
By the ninth century Mariology interpretation of
Ezekiel’s vision[15] had become standard Christian understanding of the passage.[16] “The understanding of Mary as temple relied on
the analogical similarity between the temple’s function as the house of God and
Mary’s role as the one who contained God in her womb”[17].
In the hymnography of Theotokos feasts the connection Theotokos –
a temple and Theotokos – a gate can be seen very often. On the Nativity of Theotokos the Church sings: “…and the Eastward Gate, which hath been born, awaiteth the
entrance of the Great Priest…” (second stichera on the vesper), “She
is the only gateway of the Only-begotten Son of God, Who, passing through this
gate (stichera on the Lord I have cried for the Nativity of Theotokos), “Today the barren gates open, and the virgin gate of God cometh
forth (stichera on Lord
I have cried).
This liturgical text itself provides the exegesis of
the east gate in Ezekiel: the references to "impassable,"
"sealed," "reserved" for God, are allusions to the
perpetual virginity of the Mother of God before, during and after the birth of
Christ.[18]
The same theme can be found on the feast of the
Dormition: “The Palace of King withdraws: the Ark of holiness is raised on
high. Let the gates be opened wide that the Gate of God may enter into abundant
joy” (second stichera on the small vesper for the Dormition).
The
Gate in Ezekiel’s vision looks eastward – from East comes the light and God is
called “Dayspring from on high” (ἀνατολὴ ἐξ ὕψους - Luk 1:78) and “The Sun of
Righteousness” (Malachi 4:2, troparion on the Nativity of our Lord God and
Savior Jesus Christ, tone 4)[19]. St. John of Damascus said in his Oration on the Nativity of the Holy
Theotokos Mary “Today
the
gate
that
looks
eastward, through which Christ will come in and go out (cf. Ezek
44.2-3), has been built, and the gate will be closed; inside it is Christ, “the
door of the sheep” (John 10.7), “his name is Orient” (Zach 6.12), and through
him we have granted access to the Father, who is the source of light.”[20] “Today
sterile gates are opened and virginal, divine gate comes forth, from which and
though which God (cf. Ezek 44.1-3), who is beyond all existing things, will
enter “into the world” (Heb.1.6) “bodily” (Col 2.9) according to Paul who heard
ineffable things (cf. 2 Cor 12.4).[21]
The other reason for the representing of the Theotokos
as a gate is taken from 3 Kings 6:31[22] - Solomon made a gate for the Holy of Holies. In the Canon of the Entry
into the Temple is sung: “On
foreseeing how thou wouldst bear God, O Lady, wise King Solomon spake darkly,
calling thee the King's gate and the living and sealed spring whence the unsullied
water issued forth to us” (9 ode of the canon).
The typological exegesis about the gate as Theotokos is spread out of
Theotokian feasts: “Divine and great new wonder! The Lord plainly passes
through the closed gate of the Virgin! He ethers unclothed, yet appears God
incarnate while the gate remains shut. Ineffably we magnify her as the Mother
of God!” (Octoechos, heirmos, resurrection canone, 9 ode, tone 3)
The message of the book’s final vision is that the
heavens will come down to the earth as Peter de Vries wrote. The temple
described in Ezekiel vision has a heavenly character. The aim of the worship in it is to connect heaven and earth[23]. “The
theme of the connection between the divine and the human worlds is elucidated
in the liturgical usage of Gen 28:10-17, one of two Old Testament passages
linked with Ezekiel in the lectionary of most Marian feast, which relates
Jacob’s dream of the heavenly ladder… The Genesis reading, like its Ezekielian
counterpart, emphasized Mary’s role as the link between God and humanity,
making her portal of communication from heaven to earth and from earth to
heaven.”[24]
This reading, as the previous two, ends with the glory
of the Lord, which filled the temple. The glory of the Lord kabôd־YHWH[25] in the Old Testament depicts the dwelling of the God among His people
and expressed “the revelation for the God existence, nature and presence among
the people”[26].
The cloud and the glory of the Lord were in the
tabernacle and the temple. The glory of the Lord is connected with the
theophanies in the Old Testament. The return of the Glory of YHWH is one of the
characteristics of messianic time, especially for the prophet Ezekiel – with
the returning of the glory of YHWH in the temple begins the establishment of the
Messiah’s Kingdom.
It is significant that the three readings end with the
glory of the Lord, filling God’s temple. In that way the readings are preparing
us for the glory of God which will manifest, filling the living Temple – the
Virgin – who will become the container of the Living God. In Septuagint kabôd־YHWH was translated with δόξα[27] and in Hebrews the Lord Jesus
Christ is named “brightness of His glory”[28] (Hebr 1:3)
The Old Testament readings in the Vespers of the Entry of Theotokos
emphasized on the nearness of God – He was at the cloud above the tabernacle
and temple, He filled with His glory the future temple, the same God enters
through the gates – one pure Virgin – in the men’s world. From that day begins
the singing of Nativity katavasias and the preparation for the condescension of
God.
[2] All
paroimies and liturgical texts in English language are from Menaion, translated
by Archimandrite Kallistos Ware and Mother Mary.
[3] See also: “Our fathers had the
tabernacle of witness (ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου) in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing
Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen” (Acts. 7:44)
[4] The masoretic text is transliterated because of the technical
reason.
[5] Καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν (John 1:14). ἐσκήνωσεν is aoristos of the verb σκηνόω - live, dwell, to spread a tent. „The flesh of the Word is His tabernacle”
– Събев, Павлин (о. Павел). Есхатологически аспекти в
посланието на св. ап. Павел до евреите Sabev, Pavlin. Eschatological aspects in
Hebrews (PhD tesis), 2011, Veliko Tarnovo Univesrity, p. 175, note 752 (in Bulgarian language).
[8] Close to this by meaning is: THEY that divinely begat thee, O
all-immaculate and pure Lady, offered thee in the temple as a pure sacrifice;
and thou strangely abidest in the innermost sanctuary of God, to be prepared
beforehand as the dwelling of the Word. (Second Canon, ode eight).
[9] See:
Асмус, Михаил свящ. Храм Божества. // Образовательный портал Слово - http://www.portal-slovo.ru/theology/45624.php 12.03.2014.
[10] Ladouceur, Paul. Old testament Prefigurations of the Mother of God.
Source: St Vladimir's Theological Quarterly, 50 no 1-2 2006, p.41.
[11] And Ezekiel says, 'There shall be no other prince in the house but
He.' Ezekiel 44:3 For He is the chosen Priest and eternal King, the Christ,
inasmuch as He is the Son of God; - st. Justin Martyr. Dialogue with Trypho
(English translation - http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/01288.htm)
[12] see Clark, Timothy S. Ezekiel's Temple and
Mary's Virginity: A Peculiar Strand in Eastern Orthodox Interpretation of Old
Testament Sanctuary Motifs. // Exegesis and hermeneutics in the churches of the
East: select papers from the SBL Meeting in San Diego, 2007, ed. By Vahan
Hovhanessian, Nwe York, Peter Lang, 2009, р.88.
[13] Proclus of
Constantinople, De laudibus s.Mariae (PG 65.692) – cited by: Clark, Timothy S. Ezekiel's Temple and
Mary's Virginity: A Peculiar Strand in Eastern Orthodox Interpretation of Old
Testament Sanctuary Motifs. // Exegesis and hermeneutics in the churches of the
East: select papers from the SBL Meeting in San Diego, 2007, ed. By Vahan
Hovhanessian, New York, Peter Lang, 2009, р.89.
[14] Свт. Германъ, патр. Константинопольскій
(† 740 г.). Слово на Входъ въ храмъ Пресвятой Богородицы. Избранныя слова
святыхъ отцевъ въ честь и славу Пресвятой Богородицы. — Изданiе Русскаго на
Аѳонѣ Пантелеимонова Монастыря. — СПб.: Въ Типографiи А. И. Траншеля, 1869. —
С. 70-82 (in Russian language).
[15] This exegesis is expressed also in the iconography. In the
icon Theotokos with prophets, the prophet Ezekiel is depicted with gates in
front of him.
[19] ἥλιος δικαιοσύνης (Mal 3:20
LXT)
[20] English translation: Oration on the Nativity of the Holy Theotokos Mary by st. John of Damascus - http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2016/09/oration-on-nativity-of-holy-theotokos.html
9 October 2016
[21] Oration on
the Nativity of the Holy Theotokos Mary by st. John of Damascus - http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2016/09/oration-on-nativity-of-holy-theotokos.html
9 October 2016
[22] See: Olkinuora, Jaakko H. Byzantine Hymnography for the feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos:
an Intermedial Approach. Helsinki, 2015., р.89.
[23] Vries, Pieter de. The glory of YHWH in the Old Testament with
special attention to the book of Ezekiel. // Tyndale Bulletin, 62 (1) 2011, p. 154.
[25] NIDOTTE, vol.2, p.582. See also: Westermann, C. kbd. // Theological Lexicon of the Old Testament, vol.2. USA, 1997, pp. 590–602.
[26] See also: Moore, G. F. Intermediation in Jewish Theology: Memra,
Shekinah, Metatron. // The Harvard Theological Review, vol.15, No.1 (Jan.,
1922), pp. 41–85.
[27] In LXX δόξα translates 25 Hebrew words, but in more than one third of the total occurrences δόξα translates kabod – see: Forster, Arthur
Haire. The meaning of Doxa in the Greek Bible. // Anglican Theological
Review, 12 no 4 Ap 1930, p. 312, 314.