Re: צביוני and the Origin of the Ebionites
Posted: Wed May 16, 2018 10:27 am
is this a joke? Seriously. Paul and Ebion?
Investigating the roots of western civilization (ye olde BC&H forum of IIDB lives on...)
https://earlywritings.com/forum/
You see? There is growing evidence that Zivyioni/Evyoni is related to a lost terminology essentially meaning 'martyr' (= witness). In fact a martyr is one who testifies to God's will through his person. Same idea.The Rabbis say: He [sc. God] adjured them by the generation of the great persecution. They are called zebaoth because they carried out My will (zibyoni) in the world and through them My will was executed; and HINDS OF THE FIELD because they poured out their blood for the sanctification of My Name . . . R. b. Abba said: If one should say to me, “Sacrifice your life for the sanctification of God's name,'' I am ready to do so, on condition only that they slay me at once. But I could not endure the tortures of the great persecution. What did they formerly do? They brought iron discs and made them red-hot and put them under their armpits till they expired. Or they brought needles and stuck them under their nails, till they expired [and there are other generations where they did more evil to us]. And we endured all of this which happened to us. [Midrash Shir Hashirim Rabbah, Parashah 2, Siman]
Millet-Gérard notes:D'abord en invoquant l'interprétation traditionnelle, qui voit dans les « cerfs ou antilopes les patriarches, les prophètes [...] qui, comme en saillies rapides, soudaines, intermittentes, donnèrent avertissement du Sauveur à venir
Nous ne savons pas qui sont « les anciens commentateurs » ici invoqués par Claudel. Cette interprétation n'apparaît ni chez Origène, ni chez Menochius, ni chez Bossuet. En revanche, elle est midra- shique ! Voir Midrash rabbah, op. cit., p. 113 : « BI - ZEBAOTH ('by the gazelles') are the Patriarchs who carried out My will Çzibyoni) and through whom My will was executed ».
This last Psalm is of course used by Irenaeus to describe the period of persecution for Christians:To the rabbis this verse seemed appropriate: / adjure you 0 maidens of Jerusalem, by gazelles or by hinds of the field [Song of Songs 2:7], 151 which means — / adjure you, 0 maidens of Jerusalem, the persecuted generations; by gazelles those who did for Me what I desired, and I did what they desired; "by the hinds of the field”—those who shed their blood for Me like the blood of the gazelles and the hinds, about whom it is said, It is for your sake that we are slain all day long |Ps 44:23].”
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep for the slaughter."(7) But here the expression "all the day long" is put for all this time during which we suffer persecution, and are killed as sheep. As then this day does not signify one which consists of twelve hours, but the whole time during which believers in Christ suffer and are put to death for His sake, so also the year there mentioned does not denote one which consists of twelve months, but the whole time of faith during which men hear and believe the preaching of the Gospel, and those become acceptable to God who unite themselves to Him.
The specific equation of gazelles with martyrs occurs in the Origenist Eusebius of Caesarea in his Commentary on Isaiah https://books.google.com/books?id=R7Q_D ... le&f=false“My beloved is like a gazelle” (Song 2:9). Rabbi Yitzhaq said, “Just as this gazelle can be seen and then again hides itself, so the first Messiah [Moses] revealed himself to the Children of Israel and then again hid himself from them.”
This is exactly what we are suggesting. By being made martyrs the individuals become Christs as they are conformed to God's will. Notice this is also at the core of the 'Ebionaean' description in the Philosophumena:Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name ... So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
It's very slight but it is IMHO an echo of a similar understanding albeit now with respect to 'the Law' rather than martyrdom. But there is an underlying similarity.The Ebionaeans, however, acknowledge that the world was made by Him Who is in reality God, but they propound legends concerning the Christ similarly with Cerinthus and Carpocrates. They live conformably to the customs of the Jews, alleging that they are justified. according to the law, and saying that Jesus was justified by fulfilling the law. And therefore it was, (according to the Ebionaeans,) that (the Saviour) was named (the) Christ of God and Jesus, since not one of the rest (of mankind) had observed completely the law. For if even any other had fulfilled the commandments (contained) in the law, he would have been that Christ. And the (Ebionaeans allege) that they themselves also, when in like manner they fulfil (the law), are able to become Christs; for they assert that our Lord Himself was a man in a like sense with all (the rest of the human family).