מי יורש קנייני אלוה ו׳Who is the Heir of Divine Things 6
א׳
1[22] But observe on the other hand that confidence is blended with caution. For while the words “What wilt thou give me” (Gen. 15:2) shew confidence, “Master,” shews caution. While Moses usually employs two titles in speaking of the Cause, namely God and Lord, here he uses neither, but substitutes “Master.” In this he shews great caution and exactness in the use of terms. It is true that “Lord” and “Master” are said to be synonyms.
ב׳
2[23] But though one and the same thing is denoted by both, the connotations of the two titles are different. Κύριος (Lord) is derived from κῦρος (power) which is a thing secure and is the opposite of insecure and invalid (ἄκυρος), while δεσπότης (master) is from δεσμός (bond) from which I believe comes δέος (fear). Thus δεσπότης is a lord and something more, a terrible lord so to speak, one who is not only invested with the lordship and sovereignty of all things, but is also capable of inspiring fear and terror; perhaps too, since he is the bond of all things, one who holds them together indissolubly and binds them fast, when in themselves they are dissoluble.
ג׳
3[24] He who says, “Master, what wilt thou give me?” virtually says no less than this, “I am not ignorant of Thy transcendent sovereignty; I know the terrors of Thy power; I come before Thee in fear and trembling, and yet again I am confident. For Thou hast vouchsafed to bid me fear not;
ד׳
4[25] Thou hast given me a tongue of instruction that I should know when I should speak (Isaiah 50:4), my mouth that was knitted up Thou hast unsewn, and when Thou hadst opened it, Thou didst strengthen its nerves for speech; Thou hast taught me to say what should be said, confirming the oracle ‘I will open thy mouth and teach thee what thou shalt speak’ (Ex. 4:12).
ה׳
5[26] For who was I, that Thou shouldst impart speech to me, that Thou shouldst promise me something which stood higher in the scale of goods than ‘gift’ or grace, even a ‘reward’. Am I not a wanderer from my country, an outcast from my kinsfolk, an alien from my father’s house? Do not all men call me excommunicate, exile, desolate, disfranchised?
ו׳
6[27] But Thou, Master, art my country, my kinsfolk, my paternal hearth, my franchise, my free speech, my great and glorious and inalienable wealth.
ז׳
7[28] Why then shall I not take courage to say what I feel? Why shall I not inquire of Thee and claim to learn something more? Yet I, who proclaim my confidence, confess in turn my fear and consternation, and still the fear and the confidence are not at war within me in separate camps, as one might suppose, but are blended in a harmony.
ח׳
8[29] I find then a feast which does not cloy in this blending, which has schooled my speech to be neither bold without caution, nor cautious without boldness. For I have learnt to measure my own nothingness, and to gaze with wonder on the transcendent heights of Thy loving-kindnesses. And when I perceive that I am earth and cinders or whatever is still more worthless, it is just then that I have confidence to come before Thee, when I am humbled, cast down to the clay, reduced to such an elemental state, as seems not even to exist.
