Sequence - (10)
I have the toothache today, so I know how Leviathan felt when he had the
armilla though his maxilla - or was it the maxilla through his armilla?
Anyway, we proceed to our next stanza:
13. Sic de Iuda leo fortis,
fractis portis dirae mortis,
die surgens tertia,
'So' - making the link with the last stanza, Samson carrying away the gates
of Gaza -
'So, the strong lion of Judah -
Cf. Revelation 5:5 'Ne fleveris: ecce vicit leo de tribu Iuda, radix David
. . .'
'Do not cry: behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, has conquered . . .'
And this image in turn depends on Genesis 49:9,
Catulus leonis Iuda:
Ad praedam, fili mi, ascendisti:
Requiescens accubuisti ut leo,
Et quasi leaena, quis suscitabit eum?
'Judah is a lion's whelp;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
Resting, you crouched down like a lion,
and like a lioness, who will raise him up?'
'having broken the gates of dire death, rising on the third day,'
14. Rugiente voce patris,
Ad supernae sinum matris
tot revexit spolia.
'With the voice of the Father roaring, he has carried back so many spoils to
the bosom of his heavenly mother.'
Raby comments 'Christ is once more the Lion of the Bestiary'. I don't have
a bestiary to hand, but as I remember it, the lion's cubs are said to be
born dead and to be brought to life on the third day by the roaring of their
father. Some gentle punter will correct me if I'm wrong.
We have in any case an instance of God roaring like a lion at Amos 3:8,
Leo rugiet, quis non timebit?
Dominus Deus locutus est, quis non prophetabit?
'The lion will roar, who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken, who will not prophesy?'
Or again Amos 1:2, 'Dominus de Sion rugiet, Et de Ierusalem dabit vocem
suam'; cf. Joel 3:16.
Or Hosea 11:10,
Post Dominum ambulabunt:
Quasi leo rugiet;
Quia ipse rugiet.
'They will walk after the Lord:
As a lion he will roar;
Because he himself will roar.'
Or again Isaiah 25:30
Dominus de excelso rugiet,
Et de habitaculo sancto suo dabit vocem suam;
Rugiens rugiet super decorem suum;
'The Lord shall roar from on high,
And shall utter his voice from his holy habitation;
he shall mightily roar upon his habitation.'
I don't know if 'tot spolia' refers to Psalm 67(68):19
Ascendisti in altum, cepisti captivitatem,
Accepisti dona in hominibus
'Thou hast gone up on high, thou hast led captivity captive,
Thou hast received gifts from men'
This is seen at Ephesians 4:8 as a prophecy of Christ's death, resurrection
and ascension. The verbal parallel is not close, but the general idea is
the same.
I am open to suggestions about 'the bosom of his heavenly mother'.
More tomorrow,
Elasticus, quamquam colaphizatus.
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