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Saturday, June 11, 2005
I Believed, Thus I Spoke
Since then we have the same spirit of faith according to that which is written -- I believed therefore I spoke -- we too believe and therefore speak * knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and place us with you in his presence. (2 Cor. 4:13-14)
In 2 Cor. 4:13, St. Paul quotes from a text of the psalms. Our modern translations usually associate the quotation with Psalm 116:10 "I believed, therefore I spoke" on the basis of the Hebrew Massoretic text. The LXX however has the same line as the first verse of Psalm 115 which appears thus:
1I believed therefore I spoke,
I was greatly afflicted.
2And
so, in a moment of madness, I said
"Every man is a liar"
3What shall I give back to the Lord
for all that he has
given me?
4I shall raise the cup of salvation
and I
shall call on the Lord's name.*
6Precious before the Lord
is the death of his holy ones
7O
Lord, I am your servant
I am your servant, the son of your handmaid.
You
have broken my chains.
8To you will I offer a sacrifice of praise
9I
will pay my vows to the Lord
before all his people
10in
the halls of the house of the Lord
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
The LXX's Psalm 115 is -- as it stands -- the soul's expression of thanksgiving to God who has proven Himself faithful and liberating. In Psalm 114, the same soul had been asking to be saved from death. God responded, showing His favor to the suppliant, and therefore, Psalm 115 which is the psalmist's thanksgiving for a prayer that has been heard. Here, the psalmist takes note of the "death of His holy ones" which he realizes is precious in the eyes of the Lord. St. Paul, associates this "death" to the daily dying that the ministers of the new covenant undergo. The psalm ends with the assurance of victory, not defeat; the resounding voice of praise in the midst of the God's house. Hence St. Paul writes that inspite of the sufferings, "everything indeed is for you so that the grace bestowed (cf. Ps. 115:3, LXX) in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God. (2 Cor. 4:15)" In the light of this, what does "I believed, therefore I spoke" mean? It is clear that St. Paul understood the line as reflecting the situation of his apostolate. He proclaimed what he believed in, and so is afflicted, thus the experience of Christ's death in the apostolate.
Note: There is no mistake here. There is no verse 5 in the Critical edition I am using. The Massoretic text's Ps 116:1-9 is equivalent to the LXX Psalm 114 while Ps 116:10-19 is the LXX's Ps. 115.