{"id":5397,"date":"2021-12-20T06:34:08","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T12:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lostinaoneacrewood\/?p=5397"},"modified":"2023-02-13T08:20:18","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T14:20:18","slug":"gods-favor-in-the-angels-song-rests-on-whom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lostinaoneacrewood\/2021\/12\/20\/gods-favor-in-the-angels-song-rests-on-whom\/","title":{"rendered":"God\u2019s Favor (in the Angel\u2019s Song) Rests on \u2026 Whom?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"An
Among the least favored by their world, shepherds hear the announcement of God\u2019s favor. (Image credit: Deviant Art)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Luke\u2019s Gospel gives us a translation puzzle that has been solved to my satisfaction and that of most Bible scholars. The traditional \u201cGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men\u201d is out. Newer translations replace it with \u201cGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.\u201d (New American Bible) This is one of my favorite Bible passages. I add it to my praying of the Rosary when I come to the Third Joyful Mystery, the Incarnation. But the new translation takes some getting used to, especially since we still have the old in song and Christmas cards. Besides that, it raises a question in my mind: Who gets God\u2019s favor? I like to think that, whoever it is, it includes me; but does it?<\/p>\n

Translation: The manuscript evidence<\/strong><\/h4>\n

An online article<\/a> explains that the new translation depends on getting the original Greek text right. (This article is from the conservative Christian Apologetics Research Ministry, CARM. I have some disagreements with them, but they\u2019ve done good text analysis in this case.)<\/p>\n

Figuring out what the Gospel writers actually wrote is complicated. We have many manuscripts, some dating as far back as the fourth century, but no original texts. The ones we do have are copies of copies that differ in many details. In this case we\u2019re looking at the Greek words translated men (better, people) and good will or favor. Manuscripts differ by one letter in the word for favor. With that letter \u201cgood will\u201d (or favor) changes to \u201cof<\/em> good will\u201d (or favor). Translating the phrase, it\u2019s the difference between<\/p>\n

Peace, good will to people.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And<\/p>\n

Peace to people of favor.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Whether you say \u201cgood will\u201d or \u201cfavor,\u201d it\u2019s God\u2019s favor given to people. For better English, you have something like the translation Catholics use in church:<\/p>\n

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. (Luke 2:14, New American Bible)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of the manuscripts we have, the ones that contain the extra letter, giving us \u201cof favor,\u201d are on the whole earlier than those without it. The manuscript evidence favors (!) the new translation. There\u2019s also another kind of evidence.<\/p>\n

We can look at how \u201cfavor\u201d and \u201cof favor\u201d show up in other places in and outside of Scripture. In Psalms people \u201cwho hope in you\u201d are blessed \u201cwith a shield of favor<\/u>.\u201d (Psalm 5:12) And a non-biblical text from the Dead Sea Scrolls says God\u2019s mercy \u201cis toward the sons of thy goodwill<\/u>.\u201d So first century Jews would have been used to the \u201cof\u201d form of the word for God\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n

Who gets God\u2019s favor? Is it I?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

All the evidence together shows that the new translation is as close to Luke\u2019s original as we can probably get. But it raises a serious question for me. Who gets God\u2019s favor? I always thought, and the old translation implies, that it\u2019s everyone. The new translation, \u201cto all on whom God\u2019s favor rests,\u201d implies that not everyone is so lucky.<\/p>\n

The CARM article has a definite idea about who the lucky ones are. It\u2019s those who believe in Jesus, those who have the gift of faith. Protestants emphasize that faith is God\u2019s free gift, and Catholics believe the same. But I think Luke has something besides faith in mind. God\u2019s favor can rest on people who have not been favored with God\u2019s gift of faith. Luke gives us some clues about who those people might be.<\/p>\n

The first clue is the folks to whom the angels give this message. They are shepherds, among the poorest and most despised people in Israel. The second clue came in the chapter just before this one in Luke\u2019s Gospel. It\u2019s another of my favorite Bible passages, Mary\u2019s song of praise when visiting her cousin Elizabeth:<\/p>\n

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly. The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty. (Luke 1:52-53)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

God consistently shows favor toward those who are least favored among us. The prophets insisted that we must do the same, and Jesus acted out that requirement perfectly and didn\u2019t always require faith in advance.<\/p>\n

Christmas joy, and what else?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It looks like I have to face the facts, and they are not such as I would have chosen. When the angels sang about the ones on whom God\u2019s favor rests, they didn\u2019t mean me. I am among those most highly favored by the world. My low middle class standing in America\u2019s economy still puts me way above the majority of the world\u2019s people. I have enough of favor. I am one of those who need to be pursuing favor (that is, justice) for the poor, the sick and aged, the lonely and imprisoned, those facing discrimination by law or habit, climate migrants, and generations to come, for whom Earth will not be dispensing its favors as bounteously as it has for my generation.<\/p>\n

The world rejoices in God\u2019s favor announced at the first Christmas. For some of us, though, Christmas is a time for more than rejoicing.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Luke\u2019s Gospel gives us a translation puzzle that has been solved to my satisfaction and that of most Bible scholars. The traditional \u201cGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men\u201d is out. Newer translations replace it with \u201cGlory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3488,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advent-christmas"],"yoast_head":"\nGod\u2019s Favor (in the Angel\u2019s Song) Rests on \u2026 Whom?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""Peace to all on whom his favor rests." 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