The Passion of the Word. Chapter 2 (original) (raw)

2023, The Passion of the Word. Chapter 2

The prophecies were like an arrow released into ‘the unknown’, travelling towards distant horizons yet to emerge as Israel travelled through the landscape of history with God. Or like a flare which for a few seconds lights up the dark landscape of the present, showing us the nature of our position. In terms of the arrow, the horizon could be manifold, revealing itself gradually, severally, with different aspects coming to fruition at various times as Israel travelled forward. Eventually the prophecies would take the complete form of a coherent perfection, as in the Paschal Mystery of Christ, so poignantly alluded to in the Servant Songs. Having reached the moment of fulfilment, the prophecy continues to travel by being embodied in the Eucharist and the phenomenon of the Ecclesia. In terms of the flare, the prophecies illuminate the inscape of religious consciousness, and cast their beams beyond, to the landscape, the expression of Israel’s identity and morality, her love or lack of love. The interface between that inscape and the landscape is where Israel’s sanctity, or lack of it, is bathed by the same lumen. In the time of the prophets ancient Hebrew was a sacred language with restricted vocabulary, and this played an important role in the consciousness of Israel. If, for example, the redactor used a particular word in the context of a prophecy, it resonated for the listeners who knew it in other contexts. Poetry works in a similar way and the prophecies and songs are essentially poetry. But the prophet was in an authentic prophetic ecstasy. His prophecies, when recorded and related, used the methods of poetry. I am discussing a society in which the oral tradition was still very important and cultures dependent upon oral tradition have memories far surpassing our own. The poetic form, the pun, assonance, onomatopoeia, repetition, alliteration and the balance of parallelisms to name some features, were used to perfection in the Semitic prophetic tradition to create a response in the receptive soul. This was instinctive and inspired, to preserve in the memory of the people their identity as a nation belonging to God. So as a particular word or sound fell on the ears of the listeners it created concentric circles of meaning upon the hearers’ consciousness like a pebble falling on water. The circles of meaning radiated outwards from the place of impact within the receptive psyche in a mixture of unconscious and conscious association. Perhaps the ordinary person could not have explained this, but if prompted he would show that he knew the connections and nuances. There was also a corresponding ‘downward’ projection of meaning as the phrase created or lit up layers descending into the historical consciousness, which reached backwards through the generations of the corporate ‘person’ who was Israel beloved of God.