Posted by suburbanbanshee

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As we all know from Catholic apologetics, Protestant Bible translations tend to translate the Greek word “paradosis” , and the verb version of it, as “tradition” if it’s bad or human-made or rabbinic, and as “teaching” or “doctrine” if it’s something good from Jesus.

To be fair, sometimes it really is hard to squeeze all the Greek meaning out into English.

Yesterday’s second reading from St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, and we see two uses of these words.

“I received (parelabon) from the Lord what (ho) I also handed on (paredoka) to y’all (hymin):

“That the Lord Jesus, on the night He was handed over (paredidoto, same verb as paredoka!), received (elaben – same root verb as parelabon!) bread,

“And having given thanks (eucharistesas), broke [it] (eklasen), and said, ‘Receive (labete), eat (phagete).’

” ‘This is My Body (touto mou estin to soma), that which for y’all is broken (to hyper hymoun kloumenon)’

” ‘Do this (touto poiete) in remembrance of Me (eis ten emen anamnesin).’ “

“Do” is technical language, in this case.

It’s a Greek translation of the Hebrew word used for sacrificing something in the Temple. As in a lot of languages, “to do” and “to make” are the same word in Greek and in Hebrew. And Hebrew ‘asa, and Greek poieou, are the “do/make” verbs used in the Bible for what we translate as “to sacrifice.”

So in the LXX version of Exodus 10:25, Moses tells Pharaoh that he needs to give the Israelites sacrifices (thysias) and burnt offerings (holokautoma), “so that we may sacrifice (poiesomen) to the Lord our God.”

The phrase translated as “keep Passover” is also “do Passover,” in both Hebrew (‘asa) and in Greek (poiesei, poiesai) in Exodus 12:47-48. So it’s not just the sacrifice, but its presentation, and all the associated feasting and prayer.

And that’s basically what we “do” at Mass — entering into the resurrected Christ’s eternal presentation of Himself as sacrificed on the Cross, and feasting with prayer upon Our Paschal Lamb.

There are other Hebrew words for “to sacrifice,” like zabah that literally means “to slaughter an animal,” and zabah is translated in the LXX by the Greek verb “thyo,” which means to sacrifice, to kill, or to slaughter an animal. So the Gospels could have said something else; but they don’t.

Anamnesis/anamnesin, remembrance, is also technical language from the LXX. It’s used in Leviticus 24:7 and other passages to translate Hebrew ‘azkara, “memorial sacrifice.” It means the portion of a food offering which is burned, like the bread sprinkled with frankincense. In Numbers 10:10 and other passages, it also translates Hebrew zikaron, a related word meaning “memorial.” It’s also used in the title/prologue of a couple of David’s Psalms, which are listed as being “eis anamnesin.”

The idea is that these sacrifices would remind God of the covenant and of His worshippers – ie, they reiterate and renew the situation. The Jewish spirituality today is that you acknowledge at Passover that you yourself were brought out of Egypt, rather than it being a historical event; and that’s also the kind of renewal that was being expressed in such sacrifices.

In Christ, we get a higher version of this, because it’s not just bread or an animal that is being presented. His presentation of Himself, as priest and sacrificial victim, takes place in Heaven’s Holy of Holies, to the Father, face to face.

“Emos” is the adjective form of “ego,” I. “Emen,” in this passage, is in the singular feminine accusative, to agree with anamnesin. So it’s more like “in/for mine remembrance,” but that’s not good English.

https://suburbanbanshee.wordpress.com/2025/06/23/paradosis-what-is-handed-down/

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