Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction: the enigma of the sanctus
- PART I
- 1 The Old Testament background and setting
- 2 The worship of heaven and the qeduššah in Judaism
- 3 Continuity and influence in early Christian documents
- PART II
- PART III
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index of modern authors
- Index of eucharistic prayers and liturgical rites
1 - The Old Testament background and setting
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- List of abbreviations
- Introduction: the enigma of the sanctus
- PART I
- 1 The Old Testament background and setting
- 2 The worship of heaven and the qeduššah in Judaism
- 3 Continuity and influence in early Christian documents
- PART II
- PART III
- Notes
- Bibliography
- Index of modern authors
- Index of eucharistic prayers and liturgical rites
Summary
THE DIVINE COUNCIL OF YAHWEH
the ultimate source of the sanctus, that is, the earliest document in which it is recorded, is the book of the prophet Isaiah, whose prophecies are generally dated c. 742–700 BCE. Here it is usually referred to as the trisagion. It occurs on the lips of creatures called seraphim in a vision in which the prophet sees Yahweh on his throne. However, this vision must be seen in the wider context of the Old Testament conception of a Divine Council attending Yahweh.
In an important article entitled ‘The Council of Yahweh’, H. Wheeler Robinson drew attention to the fact that when Jeremiah asked
Who hath stood in the council of Yahweh
that he should perceive and know his word?
(Jer 22:18)the word for council, sôd, is not a figurative or poetic expression, but reflects a real belief in a divine assembly presided over by Yahweh. There is a large amount of evidence in the Old Testament for the heavenly assembly or council, presided over by Yahweh, and composed of divine attendants, heralds and administrators. The Old Testament itself contains no uniform or systematic account of these celestial beings, but the different books yield what must have been a commonly believed, albeit diverse, angelology.
In Psalm 82:1 we read:
God stationed himself in the divine assembly [‘adat'El]
in the midst of the gods ['elohîm] he has judged.
This psalm pictures a courtroom scene in which God, as head of the council, has indicted some beings called 'elohîm for violating the law.
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- Information
- The Sanctus in the Eucharistic Prayer , pp. 11 - 24Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1991