HOLY AND GREAT COUNCIL DOCUMENT

Draft Synodical Document

Κυριακή 13 Νοεμβρίου 2016

THEOTOKOS A NEW TABERNACLE AND A LIVING TEMPLE (OLD TESTAMENT IN THE VESPERS FOR THE ENTRY INTO THE TEMPLE OF THE MOTHER OF GOD)

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 Tabernacle and the Ark of the covenant are witness for the Gods presence among His people, for Gods nearness to them and because of that in the Septuagint the tabernacle is namedtabernacle of witness[3] (σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου / et־mšekan ohel môēd[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 next reading continues the build up, which will find its climax in the liturgy for the feast.
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 Theotokosa temple and Theotokosa 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.




[1] All citations are on NKJV.
[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 ( 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 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.
[16] Clark, Timothy S. Op.cit., р.88.
[17] Ibid.
[18] see: Ladouceur, Paul. Op.cit., p.43.
[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.
[24] Clark, T. Op.cit., 93.
[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.
[28] ἀπαύγασμα τῆς δόξης (Hebr 1:3)