December 19

1st Reading: Judges 13:2-7, 24-25a

Samson, God's Nazirite from His Mother's Womb
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[2] And there was a certain man of Zorah of the tribe of the Danites whose
name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children [3] And the
angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Behold, you are
barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son [4]
Therefore beware and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean,
[5] for lo, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his
head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth; and he shall begin to
deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines." [6] Then the woman came and
told her husband, "A man of God came to me, and his countenance was like
the countenance of the angel of God, very terrible; I did not ask him whence
he was, and he did not tell me his name; [7] but he said to me, 'Behold, you
shall conceive and bear a son; so then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat
nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth to the day
of his death.'"

[24] And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the boy
grew and the Lord blessed him. [25a] And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir
him.
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Commentary:

13:1-21:25. History repeats itself once more (cf. 13:1): infidelity causes
the Israelites to lose the Lord’s favor. On this occasion they fall foul of the
Philistines, a Mediterranean people who had come down the coast and on
to the plains of Canaan; their military strength proved superior to Israel's.
However, God again decides to send a liberator--Samson, of the tribe of
Dan.

13,1-21,25. 역사는 다음과 같이 다시 한 번 더 스스로를 반복합니다(13,1을 참조하라): 
불충성(infidelity)은 이스라엘의 후손들로 하여금 주님의 총애를 상실하게 하였습니다. 
이 경우에 있어 그들은, [서쪽의] 해변 지역과 가나안 평야 지역에 이미 정착하였던 
한 개의 지중해 백성(a Mediterranean people)인, 필리스티아인(Philistines)들과 충돌하며, 
그리고 그들의 군사적 굳셈은 이스라엘의 그것보다 더 우수함이 증명되었습니다. 
그러나 하느님께서는, 단(Dan) 지파 출신의, 삼손(Samson)이라는 한 명의 해방자
(a liberator)를 보내기로 또다시 결정하십니다.

The story of Samson begins with the announcement of his birth; his parents
are told that he will be a Nazirite, consecrated to God, from his birth (13:2-24),
The account goes on to portray Samson as a rather empty-headed person
(14:1-19), and reports various feats which show that God endowed him with
a physical strength which enabled him to deal with his people’s enemies,
despite his personal defects (14:20-16:3). Still, he will end up being seduced
by Delilah and revealing to her the secret or his strength: as a result he will
fall into the hands of the Philistines and he imprisoned (16:4-22). Eventually
his hair will grow back and he will avenge himself for how he was treated,
losing his own life in the process but causing the death of many Philistines
(16:23-31).

삼손의 이야기는 그의 출생의 선포와 함께 시작하며, 그리고 그의 부모들은 그가, 
그의 출생에서부터, 하느님께 성별된(consecrated), 한 명의 나지르인(a Nazirite)이 
될 것임을 듣게 됩니다 (13,2-24).(*) 이 이야기는 삼손을 오히려 한 명의 빈손인 
(empty-handed) 자로서 묘사하는 것을 계속하며 (14,1-19), 그리고, 하느님께서 
그에게, 그의 인격적 결함들에도 불구하고, 그로하여금 자신의 백성의 원수들에 
대처하는 것을 허락하였던, 육체적 굳셈을 부여하셨음을 보여주는 다양한 무공
(feats)들을 기록합니다 (14,20-16,3). 그럼에도 불구하고, 그는 들릴라(Delilah)에 
의하여 유혹을 받게 되고 그리하여 그녀에게 자신의 굳셈의 비밀을 드러냄으로써 
다음과 같이 끝날 것입니다: 결과적으로, 그는 필리스티아인들의 손들 안쪽으로 
떨어지며 그리고 그는 감옥에 갇힙니다 (16,4-22). 결국에 그의 머리카락은 다시 
자랄 것이며 그리고 그는 자신이 어떻게 다루어졌는지에 대하여, 그 과정에서 
자신 고유의 목숨을 잃으나 그러나 많은 숫자의 필리스티아인들의 죽음을 
초래함으로써, 복수할 것입니다 (16,23-31).

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(*) 번역자 주: 예수님과 예수님의 제자들에 대힌 칭호(title)인 "나자렛 사람들"을  
말하는 것이 전혀 아닌, "나지르인(Nazirite)"이라는 칭호와  "서원(vow)"에 대하여서는 
다음의 글을 읽도록 하라:
http://ch.catholic.or.kr/pundang/4/soh/1055.htm
-----

After narrating the story of Samson, the sacred writer again tags on some
other stories as an appendix. To his account of the deeds of Deborah he
attached the ancient canticle celebrating her victory; and after the death of
Gideon he described in detail the (failed) coup of Abimelech one of Gideon’s
sons. Now he brings in two stories which are similar in so far as the protago-
nist in each is a Levite and both men were given hospitality by Ephraimites.
Their connection with the history of Samson is through the tribe of Dan, to
which Samson belonged. The first of these two accounts (17:1-18:31) is
connected with the migration of the tribe of Dan (from their original place, in
the Shephelah, beside where the Philistines were in control, towards the north
of the country, to the slopes of the mountains of Lebanon), and the protagonist
is a Levite, who is taken in first by a man of Ephraim and later by the Danites
(17:1-18:31). The second story deals with another Levite given hospitality by
an Ephraimite in Gibeah, but the Benjaminites of that city want to sexually
abuse him and they ill-treat his concubine so badly that she dies. This sparks
a concerted attack on Benjamin by the other tribes which almost wipes out
the Benjaminites (19:1-21:25).

삼손(Samson)의 이야기를 말한 후에, 이 성스러운 저자는 한 개의 부록으로서 
어떤 다른 이야기들에 대하여 어떤 구체적인 방식으로 덧붙입니다(tags on). 
[여예언자이며 판관인] 드보라(Deborah)의 업적들에 대한 자신의 기술(記述, 
account)에다 그는 그녀의 승리를 경축하는 오래된 찬가(the ancient canticle)를 
첨부하였으며[판관기 제4-5장 참조], 그리고 [판관인] 기드온 (Gideon)의 죽음 
이후에 그는, 기드온의 아들들 중의 한 명인, 아비멜렉(Abimelech)의 (실패한) 일격
(coup)에 대하여 자세하게 기술하였습니다(described) [판관기 제9장]. 이제 그는 
각 경우에 있어 그 주역(the protagonist)이 한 명의 레위의 후손(a Levite)이며 그리고 
이들 두 사람들에게 에프라임의 후손(Ephraimites)들에 의하여 환대가 주어지는 
정도에까지 유사한(similar) 두 개의 이야기들을 꺼냅니다. 삼손의 이력(history)과 
이들의 관련은, 삼손이 속하였던, 단(Dan) 지파를 통하여서 입니다. 이들 두 개의 
기술(記述)의 첫 번째(17,1-18,31)는 [필리스티아인(the Philistines)들이 지배하고 
있었던 장소의 옆에,  유다의 산악 지역(Shephelah)에 있었던, 그들의 애초의 
자리로부터, 이 나라(country)의 북쪽을 향하여, 레바논 산맥(mountains of 
Lebanon)의 기슭들로] 단 지파의 이주(migration)(*)와 관련되어 있으며, 그리고 
그 주역은, 처음에  에프라임의 한 남자에 의하여 받아들여지고 그리고 나중에 
단의 후손(Dan)들에 의하여 받아들여졌던, 한 명의 레위의 후손인입니다(17,1-18,31).  
두 번째 이야기는 기브아(Gibeah)에서 한 명의 에프라임 사람에 의하여 환대가 
주어졌던 또다른 레위의 후손을 다루나, 그러나 바로 이 성읍(city)의 벤야민의 
후손(the Benjaminites)들은 그를 성적으로 학대하는 것을 원하며 그리고 그들은 
그의 소실(concubine)을, 너무도 나쁘게 다루어 그 결과 그녀가 죽도록, 나쁘게 
다룹니다. 이것은 벤야민에 대한 다른 지파들에 의한 협동의 공격(a concerted 
attack)의 발단이 되며, 이 공격은 벤야민의 후손(the Benjaminites)들을 거의 
제거합니다(wipes out) (19,1-21,25).

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(*) 번역자 주: 여호수아기 19,40-45 및 이어지는 몇 개의 절들을 참고하라. 그리고 
단 지파의 이주 지역으로서 여호수아기 19,47에서 "레셈"으로 불리는 지역은, 요르단 
강의 근원지 가운데 한 곳 곁에 자리하고있었는데 (판관 18,7에 대한 "주석 성경"의 
주석), 판관기 제18장에서는 이 지역을 "라이스"로 부르고 있다.
-----

Both episodes show ever more clearly the internal anarchy affecting the tribes
of Israel and the decadent state of morality to which they have been reduced;
there is no one capable of re-establishing order--as the text repeatedly says,
"in those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his
own eyes" (17:6 and 21:25; cf. 18:1 and 19:1).

이들 에피소드들 둘 다는 참으로 더 분명하게 이스라엘의 지파들에 영향을 끼치는 
내부적 무정부 상태(internal anarchy)와, 거기로 그들이 이미 환원되어버린, 윤리의 
퇴폐적 상태(the decadent state of morality)를, 그리고, 본문이 "그 시대에는 
이스라엘에 임금이 없었다. 그래서 사람들은 저마다 제 눈에 옳게 보이는 대로 
하였다" (17,6 및 21,25; 18,1 및 19,1을 참조하라) 라고 반복적으로 말하듯이, 
질서를 재 정립할 능력을 가진 자가 없음을 보여줍니다. 

Thus, the book draws to a close by illustrating that, despite the exceptional
patience and mercy of God who constantly forgave his people for their unfaith-
fulness and raised up one savior after another, Israel continued to sin against
him. Therefore, they could have no reason to complain against God if he left
them at the mercy of their enemies. When the sacred writer was gathering all
these ancient traditions during the Babylonian exile and composing this book
in its present form, he made it quite clear that they could not blame the course
of events on the Lord or argue that his power had weakened: history shows
that they themselves were to blame for what happened.

따라서 이 책은, 당신의 백성을 그들의 불충실함에 대하여 지속적으로 용서해주셨던 
그리고  잇따라 구원자를(one savior after another) [즉, 판관을(3,31; 6,15; 10,1 
참조)]  일으켜 세우셨던(raised up) 분이신, 하느님의 예외적인 인내와 자비에도 
불구하고, 이스라엘이 당신에 반하여 계속하여 죄를 짓는 것을 예시함으로써 한 개의 
끝맺음(a close)에 다가갑니다. 그러므로, 그들은, 설사 당신께서 그들을 그들의 원수들의 
자비에 방치하셨다고 하더라도, 하느님에 반하여 불평할 어떠한 이유도 가질 수 
없었습니다. 성스러운 저자가 바빌론 유배 기간 동안에 이러한 오래된 전통들 모두를 
수집하고 그리고 이 책을, 그것의 현재의 형식으로, 구성하였던 때에, 그는 그들이 
사건들의 진행을 주님께 전가하거나 혹은 당신의 힘이 이미 약해졌다고 주장할 수 
없었음을 다음과 같이 상당히 분명하게 하였습니다: 역사는 그들 스스로가 발생하였던 
바에 대하여 비난받아야 하였음을 보여준다.

13:2-25. Samson’s vocation was decided by God from even before he was
conceived. This account has a structure similar to that of the calling of Gideon
(6:11-23). God sends his angel to a woman who is barren and tells her she will
have a son (v. 5), who will be consecrated to God as a Nazirite (cf. Num 6:1-21
and its note), and he will perform a specific mission--to save his people from
the Philistines. In this account, vocation, dedication to God and mission are
all closely linked.

The main features of vocation are outlined here. The initiative comes from God
who sees his people’s predicament and prepares, from birth onwards, a man
who will save them from their enemies. In due course he announces his plans
through a messenger: an angel presents himself to the wife of Manoah (v. 3)
-- she sees him as a "man of God" (v. 6) -- and he tells her about God’s plans.
The couple's readiness to go along with God’s will is plain to see (vv. 8 and
12). As happens in some supernatural communications, in special
circumstances the Lord offers some remarkable sign to demonstrate that the
message indeed comes from him and that what he says will happen (cf. 6:2 1;
Lk 1:20, 36).

Some of God’s ways of acting to be seen in Gideon's vocation (6:11-24) are
also found in the annunciation to Mary (cf. Lk 1:26-38). The way Manoah and
his wife make themselves available for God's plan to work, as also Mary's great
refinement and generosity in doing the divine will, are messages to the reader
of God's word in Scripture--to check his or her own readiness to go along with
God's plans.


Gospel Reading: Luke 1:5-25

The Birth of John the Baptist Foretold
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[5] In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named
Zechariah, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife of the daughters
of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. [6] And they were both righ-
teous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances
of the Lord blameless. [7] But they had no child, because Elizabeth
was barren, and both were advanced in years.

[8] Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division
was on duty, [9] according to the custom of the priesthood, it fell to
him by lot to enter the temple of Lord and burn incense. [10] And the
whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of in-
cense. [11] And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing
on the right side of the altar of incense. [12] And Zechariah was trou-
bled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. [13] But the angel said
to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer is heard, and your
wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.
[14] And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his
birth; [15] for he will be great before the Lord, and he shall drink no
wine nor strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even
from his mother's womb. [16] And he will turn many of the sons of
Israel to the Lord their God, [17] and he will go before him in the spirit
and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the
Lord a people prepared."

[18] And Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am
an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." [19] And the angel
answered him, "I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I
was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news. [20] And
behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these
things come to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will
be fulfilled in their time." [21] And the people were waiting for Zechariah,
and they wondered at his delay in the temple. [22] And when he came
out, he could not speak to them, and they perceived that he had seen
a vision in the temple; and he made signs to them and remained dumb.
[23] And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.

[24] After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months
she hid herself, saying, [25] "Thus the Lord has done to me in the days
when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among men."

***********************************************************************
Commentary:

6. After referring to the noble ancestry of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the
evangelist now speaks of a higher type of nobility, the nobility of virtue:
"Both were righteous before God." "For not everyone who is righteous
in men's eyes is righteous in God's; men have one way of seeing and
God another; men see externals but God sees into the heart. It can
happen that someone seems righteous because his virtue is false and
is practiced to win people's approval; but he is not virtuous in God's
sight if his righteousness is not born of simplicity of soul but is only
simulated in order to appear good.

"Perfect praise consists in being righteous before God, because only
he can be called perfect who is approved by Him who cannot be de-
ceived" (St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").

In the last analysis what a Christian must be is righteous before God.
St. Paul is advocating this when he tells the Corinthians, "But with me
it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human
court. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judg-
ment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the
things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the
heart. Then every man will receive his commendation from God" (1
Corinthians 4:3ff). On the notion of the just or righteous man, see the
note on Matthew 1:19.

8. There were twenty-four groups or turns of priests to which functions
were allocated by the drawing of lots; the eighth group was that of the
family of Abijah (cf. 1 Chronicles 24:7-19), to which Zechariah
belonged.

9-10. Within the sacred precincts, in a walled-off area, stood the
temple proper. Rectangular in form, there was first a large area which
was called "the Holy Place", in which was located the altar of incense
referred to in verse 9. Behind this was the inner sanctum, called "the
Holy of Holies", where the Ark of the Covenant with the tablets of the
Law used to be kept; only the high priest had access to this, the most
sacred part of the temple. The veil or great curtain of the temple sepa-
rated these two area from one another. The sacred building was sur-
rounded by a courtyard, called the courtyard of the priests and outside
this, at the front of the temple, was what was called the courtyard of
the Israelites, where the people stayed during the ceremony of incen-
sing.

10. While the priest offered incense to God, the people in the courtyard
joined with him in spirit: even in the Old Testament every external act
of worship was meant to be accompanied by an interior disposition of
self-offering to God.

With much more reason should there be this union between external
and internal worship in the liturgical rites of the New Covenant (cf. "Me-
diator Dei", 8), in the liturgy of the Church. Besides, this consistency
befits the nature of man, comprised as he is of body and soul.

11. Angels are pure spirits, that is, they have no body of any kind;
therefore, "they do not appear to men exactly as they are; rather, they
manifest themselves in forms which God gives them so that they can
be seen by those to whom He sends them" (St. John Damascene, "De
Fide Orthodoxa," 2, 3).

In addition to adoring and serving God, angelic spirits act as God's
messengers and channels of His providence towards men; this explains
why they appear so often in salvation history and why Sacred Scripture
refers to them in so many passages (cf., e.g. Hebrews 1:14).

Christ's birth was such an important event that angels were given a very
prominent role in connection with it. Here, as at the Annunciation to
Mary, the archangel St. Gabriel is charged with delivering God's message.

"It is no accident that the angel makes his appearance in the temple,
for this announces the imminent coming of the true Priest and prepares
the heavenly sacrifice at which the angels will minister. Let it not be
doubted, then, that the angels will be present when Christ is immolated"
(St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii Sec. Lucam, in loc.").

12. "No matter how righteous a man be, he cannot look at an angel
without feeling afraid; that is why Zechariah was alarmed: he could not
but quake at the presence of the angel; he could not take the brightness
that surrounded him" (St. John Chrysostom, "De Incomprehensibili Dei
Natura"). The reason for this is not so much the angels' superiority to
man as the fact that the grandeur of God's majesty shines out through
the angel: "And the angel said to me, `Write this: Blessed are those
who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to
me, `These are true words of God.' Then I fell down at his feet to wor-
ship him, but he said to me, `You must not do that! I am a fellow ser-
vant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus.
Worship God'" (Revelation 19:9-10).

13. Through the archangel God intervenes in an exceptional way in the
married life of Zechariah and Elizabeth; but the message he brings has
much wider reference; it has significance for the whole world. Elizabeth
is already quite old but she is going to have a son who will be called
John ("God is gracious") and he will be the forerunner of the Messiah.
This showed that "the fullness of time" (cf. Galatians 4:4) was immi-
nent, for which all righteous people of Israel had yearned (cf. John 8:56;
Hebrews 11:13).

"Your prayer is heard," St. Jerome comments, "that is to say, you are
given more than you asked for. You prayed for the salvation of the peo-
ple, and you have been given the Precursor" ("Expositio Evangelium
Sec. Lucam, in loc."). Our Lord also sometimes gives us more than
we ask for: "There is a story about a beggar meeting Alexander the
Great and asking him for alms. Alexander stopped and instructed that
the man be given the government of five cities. The beggar, totally con-
fused and taken aback, explained, `I didn't ask for that much.' And Ale-
xander replied, `You asked like the man you are; I give like the man I
am" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 160). Since God responds
so generously and gives us more than we ask for, we should face up to
difficulties and not be cowed by them.

14-17. The archangel St. Gabriel gives Zechariah three reasons why he
should rejoice over the birth of this child; first, because God will bestow
exceptional holiness on him (verse 15); second, because he will lead
many to salvation (verse 16); and third, because his whole life, every-
thing he does, will prepare the way for the expected Messiah (verse
17).

In St. John the Baptist two prophecies of Malachi are fulfilled; in them
we are told that God will send a messenger ahead of Him to prepare
the way for Him (Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6). John prepares the way for the
first coming of the Messiah in the same way as Elijah will prepare the
way for His second coming (cf. St. Ambrose, "Expositio Evangelii Sec.
Lucam, in loc."; St. Thomas Aquinas, "Commentary on St. Matthew",
17, 11, "in loc."). This is why Christ will say, "What did you go out
to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This
is he of whom it is written, `Behold, I send My messenger before Thy
face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee'" (Luke 7:26-27).

18. Zechariah's incredulity and his sin lie not in his doubting that this
message has come from God but in forgetting that God is almighty,
and in thinking that he and Elizabeth are past having children. Later,
referring to the conception of John the Baptist, the same angel explains
to Mary that "with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:37). When
God asks us to take part in any undertaking we should rely on His
omnipotence rather than our own meagre resources.

19-20. "Gabriel" means "might of God". God commanded the arch-
angel Gabriel to announce the events connected with the incarnation of
the Word; already in the Old Testament it was Gabriel who proclaimed
to the prophet Daniel the time of the Messiah's coming (Daniel 8:15-26,
9:20-27). This present passage deals with the announcement of the
conception and birth of Christ's Precursor, and it is the time same angel
who will reveal to the Blessed Virgin the mystery of the Incarnation.

24. Elizabeth hid herself because of the strangeness of pregnancy at
her age and out of a holy modesty which advised her not to make known
God's gifts prematurely.

25. Married couples who want to have children, to whom God has not
yet given any, can learn from Zechariah and Elizabeth and have recourse
to them as intercessors. To couples in this situation Monsignor Escriva
de Balaguer recommended that "they should not give up hope too easily.
They should ask God to give them children and, if it is His will, to bless
them as He blessed the Patriarchs of the Old Testament. And then it
would be advisable for both of them to see a good doctor. If in spite of
everything God does not give them children, they should not feel frus-
trated. They should be happy, discovering in this very fact God's will for
them. Often God does not give them children because He is `asking
more'. God asks them to put the same effort and the same kind and
gentle dedication into helping their neighbors as they would have put
into raising their own children, without the human joy that comes from
parenthood. There is, then, no reason for feeling they are failures or for
giving way to sadness" ("Conversations", 96).

Here is the authoritative teaching of John Paul II on this subject: "It
must not be forgotten, however, that, even when procreation is not
possible, conjugal life does not for this reason lose its value. Physical
sterility in fact can be for spouses the occasion for other important
services to the life of the human person--for example, adoption, various
forms of educational work, assistance to other families and to poor or
handicapped children" ("Familiaris Consortio", 14).

　

*********************************************************************************************
Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States. We encourage readers to purchase
The Navarre Bible for personal study. See Scepter Publishers for details.

[참고: 이 파일은 저서명 "가톨릭 교회의 말씀 전례에 따른 성경공부 해설서"(엮은이: 소순태, 
출판사: 가톨릭출판사)의 각주의 연장으로 마련되었습니다. 그리고 우리말 번역에 대한 
저작권은 엮은이에게 있으며, 본문 중의 우리말 번역문들을 복사하여 가져가는 것을
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