Dark Sayings

Addendum

One of the most Frequently Asked Questions of me is, “where can I find an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo translation of Scripture in English?” The short answer is no where. The long answer is that there are workarounds you can do (Lexham English Septuagint, Fr. Laurent Cleenewerck’s Greek Orthodox Bible for New Testament, Jubilees, and a Rasta translation of the inexplicably unique Ge’ez Maccabees), but ultimately serious students of Scripture and patristics have to learn the original languages.

For Scripture, that means Biblical Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, and Old Greek. For the Tewahdo tradition, that means Ge’ez. In Dark Sayings Fr. Marc Boulos is dealing with Scripture. He begins the book with his beloved Palestinian Rite (a subtle subsection of the Byzantine Rite) emphasis on the Psalms, and selects the first eight verses of the eponymous Psalm 78. Good and faithful bondservant of the Biblical Hebrew that he is, instead of looking for an ideal version to pay for, or quoting the public domain KJV, he translates the text himself. A duty and task that every generation should take upon themselves to complete, unto the glory of the Lord.

A Maskil (“wise teaching”) of Asaph.

Listen, O my people, to my instruction (torah);

Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable (mashal);

I will utter dark sayings (hidot) of old,

Which we have heard and known,

And our fathers have told us.

We will not conceal them from their children,

But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,

His strength and his wondrous works that he has done.

For he established a testimony in Jacob

And appointed a law in Israel,

Which he commanded our fathers

That they should teach them to their children,

That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born.

That they may arise and tell them to their children,

That they should put their confidence in God

and not forget the works of God,

But keep his commandments,

And not be like their fathers,

A stubborn and rebellious generation,

A generation that did not prepare its heart

And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

In his preface, Fr. Marc points out something that Fr. Paul Nadim Tarazi points to in Fr. Paul’s commentary on the Scroll of Ezekiel. Myriad translations of Ezekiel 17:2 miss the Biblical Hebrew emphasis on using the same root word back-to-back in verb and noun form.

Son of man (ben ‘adam), riddle a riddle (hud hidah) and parable a parable (meshol mashal) to the house (el-bayt) of Israel.

This was my phone’s screen saver, in the original non-vocalized consonantal Biblical Hebrew (חוד חידה ומשל משל), for quite awhile.

The superlative and utmost importance of riddling riddles and parabling parables is that they are the best forms of teaching. Why not just write a one-page instruction model? Why is Scripture longer than the Greek epics The Iliad and The Odyssey combined? Narrative is the most effective form of teaching. The ultimate tool to bore into you, rather than bore you. Riddles and parables are “wisdom as a cautionary tale”. An “example of what not to do.”

So, what do we do? “Our best hope is to submit to God, our heavenly Father, grasping not at our strength but trusting in his wisdom.” If you have the intestinal fortitude not to examine yourself but to let the Scriptural God examine you, as you hear his words, this book is for you.