Thursday, September 22, 2011

The olive branch, birds, and St. Jerome

. "Noah's Ark" . It's part of the Bible Stories exhibit still going on at Mamilla mall. Genesis 8: 8 And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground. 9 But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth; and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark. 10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. 11 And the dove came in to him at eventide; וְהִנֵּה עֲלֵה-זַיִת טָרָף בְּפִיהָ and lo in her mouth an olive-leaf freshly plucked; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. . . An interesting tidbit from Wiki:
In his 4th century Latin translation of the story of Noah, St Jerome rendered "leaf of olive" (Hebrew alay zayit) in Genesis 8:11 as "branch of olive" (Latin ramum olivae). In the 5th century, by which time a dove with an olive branch had become established as a Christian symbol of peace, St Augustine wrote in On Christian Doctrine that, "perpetual peace is indicated by the olive branch (oleae ramusculo) which the dove brought with it when it returned to the ark." However, in Jewish tradition there is no reference to an olive branch in the story of the Flood and no association of the olive leaf with peace in the story of the flood. 
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12 comments:

  1. I love the sculpture! Looks like a good Bible telling story to kids...

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  2. Looks like the Giraffes didn't want to leave the ark! Or are they trying it on for size before the flood? A charming sculpture and an interesting bit about the olive branch and peace too.

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  3. Interesting how stories morph over time. Nice art :)

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  4. I like you Wiki link. Makes sense to me.

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  5. Fascinating scholarship!




    טוב שבתWarm Aloha from Waikiki;

    Comfort Spiral


    > < } } ( ° >

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  6. Not sure about the rest, but I like the bench!

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  7. This is such a beautiful sculpture. I'll bet the kids love it!

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  8. Great art of a well-known Bible history. Everyone has heard this story, even if they are not Christians (at least here).
    Happy Saturday!

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  9. The coolest Noah's Arch I've seen! Fantastic.

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