Some remarks concerning the spiritual sense of taste
The passage from William of St. Thierry's De Natura Amoris quoted earlier in
this Home Page and Dumontier's remarks upon it demonstrate that the early Cistercians
were particularly attached to the Incarnation of God. Therefore it comes of no surprise
that the sense of taste also became a principle vehicle for expressing their insights into
divine reality. St. Bernard especially leans heavily upon sensual images in describing his
relationship to Christ and the Church which becomes evident even by a cursory reading of
his works.
Many medical doctors will say that the human faculty of taste is our most highly
developed sense organ. There is an indefinite number of flavors which the tongue alone is
able to distinguish, let alone the almost infinite number of combinations which can be
devised. It is this wide range of subtle distinctions that is so intriguing when applied to the
presence of God and his Word in Scripture.
Taste is also the most intimate sense organ we possess, being located inside the
body. It is closely akin to our sense of touch but is far more subtle as already noted. In
his first epistle St. John the Evangelist begins with "That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and
touched with our hands, concerning the word of life." This statement is eloquent
testimony to an intimate contact with Jesus Christ; John is describing Jesus as though he
were feeling a piece of fruit in the market. In fact, the verb pselaphao means "to touch,
handle, caress." Although we cannot do this to the historical person of Jesus Christ, it
serves as a good starting point to speak of an interior taste of the Word of God.
For clarity, St. John's statement may be outlined as follows:
Hear
Word of Life
Touch (that which was from See
the beginning)
Look
This new "garden of paradise," so to speak, is bounded on four sides by
perceptions arising from the human sense organs. They all interact as a unit to create a
place allowing for us to "taste" God.
Closely allied to this text of St. John is Psalm 34.8: "Taste and see that the Lord is
good." Notice the sequence: we are first requested to taste with the subsequent result of
seeing. Taste in Hebrew also means "to perceive;" the psalmist does not mean just
intellectual comprehension but a sense contact transcending the intellect. John is quick to
point out that this sense contact does not take place in isolation, for he says in verse 3,
"that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you may have fellowship
(koinonia) with us." This seems to be his way of stating that what he is announcing is so
good that it must be shared as we see in Matthew 28.8 where Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary run to tell the disciples about the resurrection.
Some of the early Cistercian writers saw a parallel between Psalm 34.8 and
Genesis 3.6 where Eve gave her husband the forbidden fruit to eat. Verse 7 reads, "the
eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked." This was the cause of
"original sin" or the introduction of evil into paradise. Psalm 34.8 counteracts man's
original sin in first mentioning "taste" and then "see." Only by turning around and
correcting the error from seeing and tasting to tasting and seeing are we able to regain our
lost primeval companionship with God.
The enjoyment of eternal life as related to taste may be found in Matthew 16.28:
"There are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man
coming in his kingdom." Christ seems to be inferring that the faculty of taste is bound up
with immortality. Once again we have taste as pertaining to death, rather, the avoidance
of death.
In Hebrews 6.5 we have another explicit mention of tasting God's word: "We
have tasted (geuomai) the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to
come." One can readily see the similarity between this verse and Psalm 34.8. Usually
connected with the reality of tasting is a sense of discrimination which allows for
perceiving the richness of God. In this case, discrimination is a means for transcending the
different stages or "flavors" of God than to analytically categorize them.
In the New Testament "to understand" means a conformity of wills (suniami, "to
send with"). After the resurrection Christ meets his disciples in Jerusalem and converses
with them, and while engaged in conversation he "opens their minds to understand
(suniami) the scriptures." We might say that the process of lectio divina is a walkinga
conformitywith the Word of God as understood here. An interesting note is that the
Greek text literally reads, "the mind (singular) of them (plural" for "their minds."
Once we have established the relationship between tasting and seeing, we can
better intuit why Christ refers to himself as the "living bread which came down from
heaven" (John 6.51). Here Christ is identified with bread or food which nourishes the
taste-see apprehension of reality. In the verse (49) immediately preceding, he states that
"your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died." In other words, they
saw--like Eve saw the fruit--the manna before tasting it. They became subject to the
same original sin of not using their faculty of tastingintuitingGod with their full
bodies and souls.
William of St. Thierry puts this living bread, Jesus Christ, in good perspective with
regard to the Old Testament:
"Its (Old Testament) eyes are the angels with their piercing contemplation; its
ears are the patriarchs with their obedience. Its nostrils are the prophets who
knew things far off. Touch is the sense common to all these. Now before the
Mediator came, all these senses were in the head. The rest of the body
languished because one sense was missing, namely taste. Without this sense
the body could not live, nor the other sense have their full power. For of what
use is food to the body if taste is lacking? When you taste food, the tasting
is followed by a sweet savor which the soul feels within itself. The other
senses cannot feel it; only taste distinguishes it and make a judgment on it.
Then all the senses can, as it were, grow fat on it." On the Nature and
Dignity of Love (London, 1956), chapter nine.
As this text clearly demonstrates, taste for William is the prime "organ" for
apprehending God. Because taste distinguishes flavors, it is not totally unrelated to
discernmentdiscernment of spirits. Thus lectio divina which seeks to "feel" the Spirit
pulsating between the lines, can be a powerful aid in discerning particular situations.
In Song 2.9 we have a better description of how this pulsating or palpitating of the
Holy Spirit takes place: "Behold, there he (the bridegroom) stands behind our wall,
gazing in at the windows, looking through the lattice." More properly the Hebrew and
Septuagint have "lookingpeeping through the nets." As the Septuagint has it, "looking"
implies a kind of stooping or turning one's head in an affectionate manner. The nets may
symbolize the words of scripture which tend to separate or spread apart the more one
becomes aligned to this divine "peeping." Luke 24.45 mentioned earlier may be likened to
God's peeping when Christ opened the disciples' minds to understand the scriptures.
Once this separation of the "nets" occurs, only can Song 2.3 be correctly applied:
"With great delight I sat in his shadow (the bridegroom's), and his fruit was sweet to my
taste." The bride perceives sweetness by sitting in the bridegroom's shadow. St. Bernard
quotes 2Corinthians 3.18 when speaking of the conformity of wills between bride and
bridegroom or in this context, the reader of scripture and That (Him) which is read: "And
we, with unveiled face, are beholding (reflecting) the glory of the Lord, are being changed
(here this 'changing' may be taken as the passing from 'taste' to 'see') into his likeness
from one degree of glory to another."
Another passage from William of St. Thierry may be helpful to sum up these
remarks on spiritual tasting:
"This is the sense of taste which the Spirit of understanding has made for us
in Christ; that is, the understanding of God's scriptures and mysteries which
Christ opened unto his apostles after his resurrection. When we begin not
only to understand but in some way to touch with our hands and to feel the
inner sense of the scripture and the power of God's mysteries and sacraments,
then Wisdom begins to offer her riches. This touching and feeling is produced
by the inner sense when these are well practiced in the art of reading the
soul's secrets and the hidden action of God's grace. To those whom she
judges worthy, Wisdom teaches all things by means of her anointing." On the
Nature and Dignity of Love, chapter nine.
* * *
Some remarks concerning the biblical background to the dedication of a church
In order to gain a fuller appreciation of the dedication and consecration of a
church, it is helpful to examine briefly this notion contained within the Bible. A very rich
awareness of God's holiness pervades both the Old and New Testaments, and for our
purposes it is good to center upon the text of Genesis 28.10-22, Jacob's dream at Bethel.
Here we have the famous story of Jacob's vision of angels descending and ascending a
ladder situated between heaven and earth, signifying the union of the divine sphere with
the human condition.
Our explanation will deal more specifically with this point of contact, or the
enlivening of our human awareness in light of God's transcendent being. In verse twelve
we first encounter a ladder "set upon the earth." The very notion contained in a ladder
suggests a bridging of opposites; we could almost say this bridging takes a full lifetime
between two opposite realities. Ladder (sulam in Hebrew) fundamentally means
"something which is lifted up, elevated. This is closely related to an important biblical
notion, righteousness (sedeq), which is unfortunately misunderstood and not appreciated.
First of all, a certain amount of "cleansing" or removal of cultural accretions is
required to grasp the mystery in all its pristine fullness. We normally tend to think of
righteousness as a purely moral concept devoid of any feeling. In other words, it connotes
the idea of rigor, hardness and even fear. Certainly God did not intend a distasteful and
unappealing presence to be imparted to his creatures.
The Hebrew notion tied in with righteousness is "straightness, taking aim and
direction." Synonymous with righteousness, then, is creativity. Naturally our minds are
able to turn towards God the Father, source of all creativity, who looks within
himselfseesbeholds himself. Upon this realization, the Second Person of the Trinity
comes to birth or better still, is always coming to birth as he eternally proceeds from his
Father.
Righteousness cannot be separated from the Trinity or the procession of Persons
as it was seminally revealed in the minds of the inspired authors of scripture. Its
fundamental meaning is that God the Father constantly gazes and begets begetting his Son.
Of course, such a gaze must take form or direction according to a pattern, to use human
terminology. This may be likened to a person shooting an arrow. The person first shoots
with a bow, becomes the arrow itself, and immediately rushes in front to receive the
arrow, completing the process or the process-ion.
Thus when Psalm 7.8 says "Judge me O lord, because I am just," it may be
interpreted as God aiming his divine life of sonship into a person in righteousness. The
only way a person may acknowledge this stream of life, of righteousness, is to say that he
or she has become just or has become the target of God. If anyone fails to become an
object of righteousness, this person is said to have sinned in the original sense of "missing
the mark" or katarah. The ladder is therefore not established.
Notice carefully that the person is just; he or she has no need of striving after an
object in order to obtain it. His or her justice is at the level of being, or that which is
inmost and proper to him or herself as made in God's image and likeness. This person is
"perfected" (literally, "made through") as Christ desires his disciples in saying "Be
perfect" or look within yourself and see the divine activity at work, forming and shaping
your being; no attaining is demanded, merely a gentle recognition of what is already
present.
We may liken this shift of awareness to a ray of sunlight effortlessly moving from
one object to another in an almost imperceptible manner. This shift is not noticed if we
concentrate or urge the light on, but if we turn our minds away from this desire to hasten
the light, we soon notice that it moves without our interference. Indeed perfection is well
worth investigation in itself, and it relates nicely with the concept of being cured, healed
and even relaxationrealities hardly associated with our traditional ideas of perfection.
Such a divine reality is contained by the term "ladder" as the text of Genesis
shows. The ladder's top is where God the Father is situated looking upon the earth and
pouring himself out to Jacob below. Angels are seen "ascending and descending" the
ladder, signifying movement of divine life. We might even say that these angels represent
different levels of awareness stemming from Jacob at the ladder's bottom all the way up to
God himself. They help Jacob ascend according to God's plan in righteousness.
God makes it explicitly clear that he is initiator of this revelation, for he says in
verse 13, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac." In light
of New Testament revelation, Jesus Christ quotes a similar Old Testament passage in
reference to the resurrection: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is not the God of the dead but of the living; for
all live to him" (Luke 10.37). That is to say, I am the one who enlivens, redeems and
glorifies humanity according to the will of my eternal Father.
Notice that the Genesis narrative explicitly mentions in verse 13 "land": "the land
on which you lie will I give to you." This land or ha'erets does not imply a specific
locality. We have before us just a vague and unfixed area in the space-time continuum
without any importance attached. A person needs some kind of definite spot in order to
contact the divine presence and sanctify his or her abode. Otherwise, it will appear hostile
and profaneprofanus"outside the temple."
A person sets limits to his or her place of worship much as a child defines certain
boundaries and invents rules to play a game. The reality of this setting limits worship
which is not unlike playing, for both require a designated place and guidelines for it to
work. However, both realities stem from the same basic, almost primitive awareness of a
person to define the world and to enjoy living in it. The ancient Hebrews engaged in this,
for they make a difference between their ordinary world, ha'erets, and their "playground,"
as it were. Here activities outside and above the seriousness of daily life could be
accomplished without interference from them. In this sphere the worshipper and child are
at home, for they both represent transcendent values beyond their normal consciousness in
a common earnest attitude.
It is worth mentioning that maqom or "place" occurs in every book of the Old
Testament except for the Song of Songs. A suggested reason for this is that the Song is
concerned with the dynamics transpiring within the Temple (God) itself. In this book we
have transcended the inherent dualisms of an ordinary place versus a sacred place, and our
whole being is shifted to the source of both what we call sacred and profane. In Christ's
words, we are now "where I am, they may also be."
Returning to our original point of departure, the Genesis episode of the ladder, we
may view Jacob's words in light of exchanging his previous vague conception of reality
symbolized by ha'erets to a definite locality: "Surely the Lord is in this place (maqom)
and I did not know it" (verse 16). Jacob now has been made righteoushe has received
direction, life and the awareness of God according to righteousness as mentioned above.
The most natural reaction to such a vision is fear, a healthy apprehension seeking to
cement his contact with God and not loosing it among the various distractions of daily life.
Jacob exclaims in verse 17 that "this is none other than the house of God, and this
is the gate of heaven." Notice that we have two elements, house and gate. The first
signifies God the Father's dwelling in heaven at the top of the ladder. It is completely
inaccessible to Jacob as he struggles with the overpowering and dreadful vision of God.
Nevertheless, he is sharp enough to distinguish in his vision a gate, the entrance to the
ladder's summit. Being mindful of the Old Testament foreshadowing the New, we may
intuit Christ as saying "I am the gate." That is, I, Christ, am the entrance and way to the
Father. Inaccessibility has been overcome, and the divine life is allowed to flow freely
between God and humankind.
Continuing along in verse 18, "and Jacob rose up early in the morning," delightful
summons by Christ to enter his joy and awareness of the Father and to drink from the
"stream of his delights." Later in another encounter with God, Jacob wrestles and prevails
over God himself. He is so successful that God yells out, "Let me go, for the day is
breaking!" (Genesis 32.26), interpreted as the preference God has for darkness and
hiddenness. God must vanish from Jacob's overwhelming strength, else the daybreak will
full reveal him. Thus returning to Genesis 18.18, Jacob's "rising up early in the morning"
foreshadows his ultimate "conquest" of God or better still, his bringing to light the depths
and riches within God himself, the Son, Jesus Christ. Jacob is ascending the ladder into
God's house by way of "conquest;" he becomes one of those who are taking the kingdom
of God by storm" until he ultimately rests in the Father's bosom.
Notice that upon rising early Jacob takes the stone on which he used as pillows.
The original text is explicit here: the stone (singular) is used as pillows (plural). On his
mystical ascent up the ladder, Jacob brings along a piece of earth (ha'erets), notably a
stone symbolizing the transferal of creation from the profane to the sacred realm. Actually
the stone in itself has not changed but its meaning.
These stones which Jacob set up as a pillar may be considered in light of Christ's
words, "God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones" Matthew 3.9).
What more precisely s this raising up, and how is it related to the Genesis narrative?
Jacob proceeds to erect a pillar from the stones of the earth upon which he pours oil. We
could say that he anoints the pillar, thereby sanctifying it as fit for a temple of God.
Closely connected with Jacob's anointing is Christ himself whose name means "the
anointed one, the Messiah." It is Christ who becomes the ladder "raising up children to
Abraham," the person at the ladder's summit with God, as it were. Now Christ is the
vehicle of ascent to God and Abraham. Verse 18 specifically says, "the top of the ladder,
the very same word used for the pillows upon which Jacob rested his head when first
awakened by God. Jacob only anoints the pillar after realizing how dreadful was the spot
on which he stood.
Once this has been accomplished, Jacob names the place of his awakening Bethel,
"house of God." In the biblical tradition, giving a name is of the utmost importance,
tantamount to having intimate knowledge of God. Whenever God knows someone by
name, he has that person share in his eternal begetting of the Son, even if it were not fully
realized by people of the Old Testament. Jacob then shares in this divine power of
naming, of imparting life where it was not in evidence. Consider a passages which testifies
to Jacob's new divinely bestowed power, Genesis 28.18, where Jacob rolls away a stone
from a well, thus watering Laban's flocks. This passage also prefigures the rolling away
of the stone in front of Christ's tomb, setting free, so to speak, the divine waters
"springing to life eternal."
Jacob sums up his experience by "making a vow to the Lord" and ardently wishes
to eat bread (verse 20). With a little play on words, we may transfer the name Bethel,
"House of God," to Bethlehem, "House of Bread," the house in which God manifests
himself now through the "pillar of bread" extending into heaven. The meaning of this
liberty with the text is quite obvious, namely, the dedicated and consecrated place,
maqom, is a site for the eucharistic celebration. The angels "ascending and descending"
are now, according to ancient tradition, the means by which we center our attention upon
Christ's eternal yet mysterious procession from his Father. With this biblical background
into a key Old Testament narrative we have better understanding and appreciation of
patristic interpretations related to the dedication of a church.
* * *
An Article Entitled "The Name of Jesus (Yeshuah) and The Psalms"
In biblical times the name of a person expressed his or her role in the world at large and served to define a mission. A name was perceived not merely as a label of identity but as expressing the essential nature of its bearer. In Origen's words, "A name is a term which summarizes and expresses the specific quality of the thing named" (Irenaeus Hausher, The Name of Jesus, Kalamazoo, Michigan, 1978, p.3). This definition of a name by a noted Church Father fits in well with the Semitic concept of a name being the representation of a person. Nothing exists apart from a name, hence creation is not complete until all creatures receive a name [cf. Genesis 2.19]. A name thus has the inherent power of exercising constraint upon its bearer: a person must conform to his or her essential nature as expressed in one's name. "As his name is, so is he; Nabal [fool] is his name, and folly is with him" [1Samuel 25.25]. As this passage illustrates, to change one's name is to change one's personality. E. Cothonet remarks that in contrast to the Semitic world, our modern society has a rather superficial appreciation of a name: "Le nom devient une designation purement conventionelle, susceptible d'etre remplacee par un code chiffre." (Dictionnaire de Spiritualite, Paris, 1982, vol. xi, col. 397).
In early Christian centuries, especially in Eastern monastic circles, a form of prayer
was created from this Semitic background of a name which consists of the literal, vocal
invocation of the name Jesus. This method of prayer has a history reaching far back into
antiquity and has come to form the nucleus of Orthodox monastic life. Prayer in this
tradition developed into the form of calling upon the name Jesus with roots in Acts 4.12:
"There is no other name [onoma] under heaven given to men by which we are to be
saved."
Full disclosure of God's nature and character is given in Jesus Christ who has
manifested his name: "Holy Father, keep them in your name which you have given me,
that they may be one even as we are one" [John 17.11]. Although name here is attributed
to the Father, it is shared by the Son, his revelation. The incarnation of God in the world
revealed his inner being and relationship to mankind. Right at the beginning of Matthew's
account of the Incarnation we have the bestowal of Christ's name by the angel Gabriel:
"You will conceive a son and call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their
sins" [1.21] (It should be noted that in the Old Testament, a name was given at birth or
shortly thereafter. Only in New Testament times is it given with circumcision on the
eighth day). This passage is interesting to read in Hebrew transliteration, for it elicits the
close association between the name Jesus and his mission to save: "...Jesus (Yeshuah) will
save (yosheyah)" (The New Testament in Hebrew and English, London (no date
given).
The Gospels depict Jesus Christ as a person endowed with perception and
penetrating insight. A sense of mystery hangs over him, a sense of unmistakable otherness
that is not subject to analysis. Awareness of his proper name surely had to play a role in
Christ's realization of personal divinity and mission in the days before his public ministry.
Christ's Jewish contemporaries found both their God and self-identity in God's past acts
and in their hope for a future restoration of their lives and character. They viewed the
present as a time of preserving what God had done as summed up in the Law and in the
fulfillment of the promises. As a result, the present became relatively insignificant.
However, Jesus proclaims that the "kingdom of God is at hand" [Mk 1.15], a statement
which had roots in his reading of scripture, especially the psalms.
For some historical observations on the name Jesus, refer to the following:
"The name Jesus was common among the Jews up to the beginning of the
second century AD. Early Christianity adopted the current Greek form of the
Hebrew Jeshuah to Iesous. Among Palestinian Jews and also among the Jews
of the diaspora the name Jesus was widely distributed in the pre-Christian era
and in the early part of the Christian era. Josephus (first century AD) gives
no fewer than nineteen bearers of the name Jesus. It is even borne by one of
Christ's ancestors, Joshua (Luke 3.29). by the end of the first century AD,
the name Jesus died out among the Jews." Theological Dictionary of the
New Testament edited by G. Kittel (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1965), p.284
ff.
The psalter formed an integral part of the Jewish liturgy of Christ's time. It
implores God's deliverance, decries injustices, threatens punishment and promises reward
for the righteous. Thus every feeling and hope of Israel, as well as each pious Jew, is
expressed here. ("There is no single experience of the soul of Israel that is not put into
words there [the psalter]. The psalms are the fullest expression of God's revelation in the
Old Testament." The Psalms by P. Drijvers, New York, 1965, p.4). Composed after the
saving events of Israel's history, the psalms manifest the collective tensions and aspirations
of the Jewish people, and this in turn illumines the Gospels.
We may assume that part of Christ's religious upbringing at Nazareth was learning
to read scripture in the Hebrew language. Although he must have received some training
in the local synagogue, his parents--and they were, to be sure, no ordinary parents--complemented his training at home. At the heart of Jewish spirituality lies the psalter,
around which this family's prayer life revolved as with the case for any devout Jewish
household of the time. Although the Gospels record no words of Joseph, Jesus' father, it
is intriguing to imagine this dreamer [cf. Matthew 1.20], named after his Old Testament
prototype, teaching his son how to read and interpret the scriptures. On the other hand
we have Mary. She is recorded in Luke's Gospel as keeping the events associated with her
son's birth close to her heart: "But Mary kept (suneterei) all these things, pondering them
(sumballousa, literally, 'placing together for comparison') in her heart" [2.19]. The Greek
verb suntereo means to keep or preserve closely, to protect. It implies that Mary
assimilated the significance of all these events associated with her son's birth. Principle
among these events was, of course, the angel Gabriel's command to call her son Jesus, that
is, Savior. Mary must have transmitted her ability of keeping and of pondering to Jesus in
the process of his education and learning to read scripture in the Hebrew language.
Coupled with Joseph's propensity for dreams, the inclination to linger over the
Hebrew text of scripture acquired from Mary must have wielded a powerful influence in
Jesus' consciousness as a young man. Towards the end of his life, we see something of
this keeping or remembrance handed down from Mary: "Holy Father, keep (tereson, from
tereo, which is related to suntereo regarding Luke 2.19 above) them in your name" [John
17.11]. The Father's name is, of course, the revelation of his Son, Jesus Christ. The
keeping takes up and perfects the keeping learned from his mother, Mary, and he wishes
to have his disciples participate in it. Only now it is Jesus' express wish to have his Father
effect the keeping of the disciples, that is, to "situate" them in his name.
Christ became more aware of his unique character while he was learning about the
history of his people. The frequency at which the Hebrew verbal root of his name,
Yeshuah (Jesus) occurred in the psalter certainly must have impressed him. (It should be
noted that the word yashah means "to be spacious, ample, broad;' figuratively, 'to be
opulent.' The significance of 'ample space' is in Hebrew applied to liberty, deliverance
from dangers and distresses, as on the other hand, narrowness of space is frequently used
of distresses and dangers." Gesenius' Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon by S. Tregelles,
Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1971, p.374).
We may assume that this frequency of yashah, in light of Jesus' parents religious
training, assisted to awaken in him an awareness of his role of Savior. This Hebrew verb
occurs one-hundred and thirty-four times in the psalter alone, both as a verb and as a
noun, quite an extraordinarily high frequency for so short a book. The verbal root yashah
occurs in other parts of the Hebrew Bible. These references must have impressed Jesus
Christ as well. Although such references are valuable in themselves, the scope of this
article is confined to the psalter. To share this experience of Jesus discovering the verbal
root of his name, one should examine the one-hundred and thirty-four excerpts from the
psalter listed in this article. Of course, this is simply a personal view with no basis in
contemporary scriptural studies, but it evolved from my own reading of the psalms in the
original language.
The Hebrew verbal root has been transliterated in this list to suggest something of
the effect Christ felt when reading these very same verses (Reading these verses is in the
tradition of monastic lectio divina as briefly explained in this Home Page's Introduction).
For Jesus, this experience of finding his name in the psalms must have been like seeing his
own face in a mirror. The meeting point of figure (the psalter) and reality (Jesus Christ)
reaches fullness in Christ's messianic awareness. This sacred place, so to speak, enables all
Old Testament history to come together and find unity. In the words of Henri DeLubac,
"The entire dialectic of the two Testaments is drawn together: The New Testament in its
entirety is brought forth by the Old, while at the same time the Old Testament in its
entirety is interpreted by the New...Jesus is aware that he is fulfilling the religion of Israel,
and that it becomes completely spiritual in him" (The Sources of Revelation, New York,
1968, p.40).
By an awareness of the root yashah which suggests his role as Savior, Christ takes
up Mary's keeping and pondering and passes this two-fold contemplative activity to his
disciples so that they might absorb the mystery of Christ's revelation in the flesh.
Subsequent generations of the Church, in turn, kept and pondered over the name Jesus in
order to appropriate it. For example, the name of Jesus to St. Bernard of Clairvaux "is
honey in the mouth, music in the ear, a song in the heart" (On the Song of Songs,
Spencer, Massachusetts, 1971, p.110).
In other places of his Commentary on the Song of Songs, Bernard describes the
name of Jesus as a kind of medicine and backs up this insight with biblical quotations. In
the person of Bernard we have one instance taken from the Church's long history where a
person realizes, like the historical Jesus, the significance of this name. We may envision
Jesus Christ himself reading scripture (like Bernard and others) drawing out a whole string
of biblical references pertaining to his name. Thus he was able to shed further light on his
proper identity as Savior of humankind. We may say that Christ indeed "grew and waxed
strong in the spirit, filled with wisdom" [Luke 2.40] while pondering all those one-hundred
and thirty-four references to his name in the psalter!
The realization of "being Savior" (Yeshuah) came to its fruition after Christ's
passion, death and resurrection. On the road to Emmaus we see Christ attempting to
impart this realization to his disciples. However, he had to rebuke them for their slowness
to understand the recent events in light of scripture [cf. Luke 24.45]. He proceeded to
interpret "in all the scriptures the things concerning himself (ta peri autou)" (verse 27).
Later in verse forty-four Christ elaborates the Old Testament prophecies pertaining to his
person by saying "everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and
the psalms must be fulfilled." The psalms to which Christ is referring here may be found
in numerous commentaries. However, it is enlightening to see how the one-hundred and
thirty-four verses from the psalter containing the verbal root yashah might amplify this
statement. Christ was, in a sense, teaching his disciples how to read and interpret
scripture on the road to Emmaus. Their response was "Did not our heart burn within us
while he opened to us the scriptures" [verse 32]? In other words, did not our hearts burn
within us while Jesus opened to us the hidden meaning of these one-hundred and thirty-four verses from the psalter containing the verbal root yashah, "to save?" Later when the
disciples invoked the name of Jesus in their ministry, they do so on the basis of this name's
capacity to reveal God's nature and character.
The Gospels display Jesus with a clear sense of mission and goal. The divine
sonship is present in all Christ's activities, and to interpret his mission, he possibly used
these verses from the psalms pertaining to yashah. A spiritual messiahship tends to be
uncovered...revealed...in them, a fact which also pervades the New Testament like leaven
to prepare us for the full revelation of his divinity. With the apostles, however, their
enlightenment as to the significance of the name Jesus (Yeshuah) came about after
experiencing the reality which had first occurred. Then they referred back to the obscurity
of the psalms as well as other books of scripture to see the deeper meaning which, in turn,
they related to their experiences to discover it in a greater depth of mystery.
To give a better appreciation of the one-hundred and thirty-four verses in the
psalter containing the verbal root yashah, they are broken down into six basic categories at
the end of this article. The first group contains those verses pertaining to God who effects
salvation (fifty-eight verses). Here God's relationship as Savior/saving is stressed, and
they must have been of special importance in the awakening of Christ's divinity and
mission to save. The second group indicates those psalm verses petitioning God to save
or rescue (forty-two verses). These passages depict Christ's humanity in relationship to
God the Father, for they are mostly cries of a man to implore God's salvation and mercy.
The third group has those references expressing jubilation or joy at experiencing salvation
(twenty-three verses). We may apply them to Christ giving thanks to his Father for his
mission to save, yashah. They are directed more properly to the Father as Source
(Begetter) of salvation, that is, to the One who bestows the reality of salvation (seven
verses). It shows the folly of looking for deliverance in places, persons or things other
than in Jesus or Yeshuah.
The fifth grouping is unique in the sense that words here are attributed directly to
God the Father. While only three such verses are found in the psalter, they show the
Father as utterer of yashah. This verse ("Why are you so far from helping me?") is
traditionally applied to Christ upon the cross. Occurring as it does at the conclusion of
Christ's earthly existence, this verse shows the fulfillment of the preceding five groupings
in that it was uttered by the Savior working out our salvation. Perhaps we may say that at
this point (Christ on the cross) Jesus had a full comprehension of his name as traced in the
psalter. After all, it is a psalm with the verbal root yashah quoted by the Savior, Yeshuah,
and this cry of despair is to be considered in light of Psalm twenty-two's victorious
conclusion.
* * *
A List of Verses from the Psalter Containing the Hebrew Verbal Root Yashah
It should be noted that those verses in brackets refer to the numbering in the Hebrew text
where it differs from the Revised Standard Version whose translation is used throughout.
Also it should be noted that the Hebrew verb forms which are transliterated here contain
the object of their action at the end of the verb as in the case of nouns with possessive
pronouns.
Psalm 3.2[3]: Many are saying of me, there is no help (yeshu'atah) for him in God.
7[8]: Arise, Lord, deliver (hoshi'eni) me, O my God.
8[9]: Deliverance (hayeshu'ah) belongs to the Lord.
6.4[5]: Turn, O Lord, save my life; deliver (hoshi'eni) me for the sake of your steadfast love.
7.1[2]: Save (hoshi'eni) me from all my pursuers and deliver me.
10[11]: My shield is with God who saves (moshi'a) the upright in heart.
9.14[15]: that I may rejoice in your deliverance (bishu'ataka).
12.1[2]: Help (hoshi'ah), Lord, for there is no longer any that is godly.
5[6]: I will place him in the safety (beyesha') for which he longs.
13.5[6]: My heart shall rejoice in your salvation (bishu'ateka).
14.7: O that deliverance (yeshu'at) for Israel would come out of Zion.
17.7: O savior (moshi'a) of those who seek refuge.
18.2[3]: my shield, and the horn of my salvation (yishi'i).
3[4]: and I am saved ('ushi'a) from my enemies.
27[28]: for you deliver (toshi'a) a humble people.
35[36]: You have given me the shield of your salvation a(yish'eka).
41[42]: They cried for help, but there was none to save (moshi'a).
46[47]: and exalted be the God of my salvation (yish'i).
50[51]: great deliverance (yeshu'ot) he gives to his king.
20.5[6]: May we shout for joy over your victory (bishu'ateka).
6[7]: Now I know that the Lord will help (hoshi'a) his anointed.
6[7]: he will answer him from his holy heaven with mighty victory (yesha') by his right hand.
9[10]: Give victory (hoshi'ah) to the king, O Lord.
21.1[2]: and in your help (bishu'atka) how greatly does he [the king] rejoice.
5[6]: His glory is great through your help (bishu'ateka).
22.1[2]: Why are you so far from helping (mishu'ati) me?
21[22]: save (hushi'eni) me from the mouth of the lion.
24.5: He will receive...vindication from the God of his salvation (yish'u).
25.5: for you are the God of my salvation (yish'i).
27.1: The Lord is my light and my salvation (yish'i).
9: forsake me not, O God of my salvation (yish'i).
28.8: The Lord is...the saving (yeshu'ot) refuge of his anointed.
9: O save (hoshe'ah) your people.
31.2[3]: Be...a strong fortress to save (lehoshi'ni) me.
16[17]: save (hoshi'ni) me in your steadfast love.
33.16: A king is not saved (nosha') by his great army.
17: The war horse is a vain hope for victory (litshu'ah).
34.6[7]: [the Lord] saved (hoshi'o) the poor man out of all his troubles.
18[19]: [the Lord] saves (yoshi'a) the crushed in spirit.
35.3: Say to my soul, "I am your deliverance (yeshu'atek)."
9: exalting in his deliverance (bishu'ato).
36.6[7]: man and beast you save (toshi'a), O Lord.
37.39: The salvation (teshu'at) of the righteous is from the Lord.
40: he delivers them from the wicked and saves (yoshi'em) them.
38.22[23]: Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation (teshu'ati).
40.10[11]: I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation (teshu'atka).
16[17]: may those who love your salvation (teshu'ateka) say continually, "Great is the Lord."
42.5[6]: Hope in God...the salvation (yeshu'ot) of his countenance.
11[12]: for I shall again praise him, the salvation (yeshu'ot) of my countenance and my God.
43.5: for I shall again praise him, my help (yeshu'ot) and my God.
44.3[4]: nor did their own arm give them victory (lo-hushi'ah).
4[5]: You are my king and my God who ordained victories (yeshu'ot) for Jacob.
6[7]: nor can my sword save (lo-toshi'eni) me.
7[8]: But you have saved (hosha'tanu) us from our foes.
50.23: I will show the salvation (beyesha') of God.
51.12[14]: Restore to me the joy of your salvation (yish'eka).
14[16]: Deliver me from death, O God, you the God of my salvation (teshu'ati).
53.6[7]: O that deliverance (yeshu'ot) for Israel would come from Zion.
54.1[3]: Save (hoshi'eni) me, O God, by your name.
55.16[17]: But I call upon God, and the Lord will save (yoshi'eni) me.
57.3[4]: He will send from heaven and save (yoshi'eni) me.
59.2[3]: save (hoshi'eni) me from bloodthirsty men.
60.5[7]: give victory (hoshi'ah) by your right hand and answer us.
11[13]: for vain is the help (teshu'at) of man.
62.1[2]: from him comes my salvation (yishu'ati).
2[3]: He only is my rock and my salvation (yishu'ati).
6[7]: He only is my rock and my salvation (yishu'ati).
7[8]: On God rests my deliverance (yish'i) and my honor.
65.5[6]: O God of our salvation (yish'enu).
67.2[3]: that your saving (yeshu'ateka) power may be made known among all the nations.
68.19[20]: God is our salvation (yeshu'atenu).
20[21]: Our God is a God of salvation (lemosha'ot).
69.1[2]: Save (hoshi'eni) me, O God.
13[14]: with your faithful help (yish'eka) rescue me from sinking in the mire.
29[30]: let your salvation (yeshu'atka), O God, set me on high.
35[36]: For God will save (yoshi'a) Zion.
70.4[5]: May those who love your salvation (yeshu'ateka) say evermore, "God is great!"
71.2: incline your ear to me and save (hoshi'eni) me.
3: be to me a rock of refuge...which you have ordained to save (lehoshhi'eni) me.
15: my mouth will tell...of your deeds of salvation (teshu'ateka) all the day.
72.4: may he...give deliverance (yoshi'a) to the needy.
13: He saves (yoshi'a) the lives of the needy.
74.12: God...working salvation (yeshu'ot) in the midst of the earth.
76.9[10]: When God arose to establish judgment to save (lehoshi'a) all the oppressed of the earth.
78.22: they did not trust his saving (bishu'atu) power.
79.9: Help us, O god of our salvation (yish'enu).
80.2[3]: Stir up your might, and come to save (lishu'atah) us.
3[4]: let your face shine, that we may be saved (niuashe'ah).
7[8]: let your face shine, that we may be saved (niuashe'ah).
19[20]: let your face shine, that we may be saved (niuashe'ah).
85.4[5]: Restore us again, O god of our salvation (yish'enu).
7[8]: Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation (yesh'aka).
9[10]: Surely his salvation (yish'o) is at hand for those who fear him.
86.2: save (hosha') your servant who trusts in you.
16: save (hoshi'ah) the son of your handmaid.
88.1[2]: O Lord, God, of my salvation (yeshu'ati), I call by day.
89.26[27]: He shall cry to me, "...the rock of my salvation (yeshu'ati).
91.16: I will show him my salvation (bishu'ati).
96.2: tell of his salvation (yeshu'ato) from day to day.
98.1: His right hand has made know his victory (hoshi'ah).
2: The Lord has made known his victory (yeshu'ato).
3: All the ends of the earth have seen the victory (yeshu'at) of our God.
106.4: help me when you deliver (bishu'ateka) them.
10: So he saved (yoshi'em) them from the hand of the foe.
21: they forgot God their Savior (Moshi'am).
47: Save (hoshi'enu) us, O Lord our God.
107.13: and he delivered (yoshi'em) them from their distress.
19: and he delivered (yoshi'em) them from their distress.
108.6[7]: give help (hoshi'ah) by your right hand and answer us.
109.26: Save (hoshi'eni) me according to your steadfast love.
31: to save (lehoshi'a) his soul from judgment.
116.6: when I was brought low, he saved (yehoshi'a) me.
13: I will lift up the cup of salvation (yeshu'ot).
118.14: The Lord...has become my salvation (lishu'ah).
15: Glad songs and victory (yeshu'ah) in the tents of the righteous.
21: you have become my salvation (lishu'ah).
25: Save (hoshi'ah) us, we beseech you, O Lord.
119.41: your salvation (teshu'atka) according to your promise.
81: My soul languishes for your salvation (lithshu'atka).
94: I am yours, save (hushi'eni) me.
117: Hold me up, that I may be safe ('iwashe'ah).
123: My eyes fail with watching for your salvation (lishu'ateka).
146: I cry to you, save (hushi'eni) me.
155: Salvation (yeshu'ah) is far from the wicked.
166: I hope for your salvation (lishu'atka), O Lord.
174: I long for your salvation (lishu'atka), O Lord.
132.16: Her priests I will clothe with salvation (yesha').
138.7: and your right hand delivers (toshi'eni) me.
140.7[8]: O Lord, my God, my strong deliverer (yeshu'ati).
144.10: O God...who gives victory (teshu'ah) to kings.
145.19: he also hears their cry, and saves (yoshi'em) them.
149.4: The Lord...adorns the humble with victory (bishu'ah).
* * *
The 134 verses from the psalter containing the verbal root yashah are listed in this
table. They have been broken down into six categories starting with the highest
frequency.
Psalms with God as Savior or Giving Salvation
(58 references)
3.8[9], 3.10[11], 17.7. 18.2[3], 18.27[28], 20.6[7], 20.6[7], 21.5[6], 24.5, 28.8, 34.6[7],
34.18[19], 36.6[7], 37.39, 37.40, 42.5[6], 43.5, 44.3[4], 51.14[16], 55.16[17], 57.3[3],
62.1[2], 62.2[3], 62.6[7], 62.7[8], 65.7[8], 68.20[21], 69.29[30], 72.13, 74.12, 76.9[10],
78.22, 85.4[5], 85.9[10], 88.1[2], 88.4[5], 89.26[27], 91.16, 98.1, 98.2, 98.3, 106.8,
106.10, 106.21, 107.13, 107.19, 109.31, 116.13, 118.13, 119.41, 119.81, 119.123, 138.7,
140.7[8], 144.10, 145.19, 149.4
Psalms of Petition
(42 references)
3.7[8], 6.4[5], 7.1[2], 12.1[2], 14.7, 20.9[10], 22.21[22], 27.9, 28.9, 31.2[3], 31.16[17],
38.22[23], 51.12[14], 53.6[7], 54.1[3], 59.2[3], 60.5[7], 67.2[3], 69.1[2], 69.13[14],
69.29[30], 71.2, 71.3, 72.4, 79.9, 80.2[3], 80.3[4], 80.7[8], 80.19[20], 85.7[8], 86.2,
106.4, 106.47, 108.6[7], 109.26, 118.25, 119.94, 119.117, 119.146, 119.166, 119.174
Psalms of Jubilation
(23 references)
7.10[11], 9.14[15], 13.5[6], 18.3[4], 18.35[36], 18.46[47], 20.5[6], 21.1[2], 25.5, 27.1,
35.9, 40.10[11], 40.16[17], 42.11[12], 43.5, 44.7[8], 50.23, 70.4[5], 71.15, 95.1, 96.2,
118.15, 118.21
Psalms of Scorn
(7 references)
3.2[3], 118.41[42], 33.16, 33.17, 44.6[7], 60.11[13], 119.155
Psalms with God Speaking
3 references)
12.5[6], 35.3, 132.16
Psalms of Lament
(1 references)
22.1[2]