15 lines
983 B
TeX
15 lines
983 B
TeX
\ifdefiningfootnotes
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\DeclareFixedFootnote{\fnAbraam}{ ABRAAM aka "Abraham": The Greek (LXX/NT) form of Hebrew Avraham — indeclinable, transliterated
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directly rather than given a Greek grammatical ending, as befits so foundational a name.
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Originally ABRAM ("exalted father"), the name is changed by divine speech in Genesis 17:5 to
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ABRAHAM, understood there as "father of a multitude [of nations]" — one of the few instances
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in Scripture where a name's meaning is not merely traditional etymology but is stated as the
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explicit content of the text itself: the name is remade to match a promised destiny.
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\fnPar{}
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Luke's Magnificat invokes ABRAAM at its close (1:55) — "as he spoke to our fathers, to ABRAAM
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and his seed forever" — anchoring MARIAM's song of reversal (the proud scattered, the humble
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raised) to the oldest covenant promise in Israel's memory. The child about to be born is set,
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from the very first chapter, within a story already centuries deep.}
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\fi
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