The Sacred and Secular Vocabulary of Ordination

The development of a sacred language by the Catholic Church is something which took many years, and was based primarily on either borrowing, or modifying existing words to narrow their meaning to terminology used primarily by the Church to describe her sacred actions and articles. The number of biblical words borrowed directly from Hebrew is small; the number of Greek words borrowed into Latin is large. By the time you reach English ecclesiastical vocabulary, the number of words that are borrowed is very large. In the process of borrowing the words, their meaning was narrowed down because they were used only in a religious context. As an example, the word episkopos in Greek has a double meaning: in pre-Christian times it meant overseer. Christianity adopted it as the title for the head of the various diocesan churches, because it was the equivalent of Hebrew paqiyd, the term used in the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the bible for the religious leader in charge of the priests. These sacral terms (which in the original biblical language were normally words with double meaning: a primary secular one and a secondary sacred meaning), were adopted into Christian usage in stages:

FROM HEBREW TO GREEK: The apostolic period, approximately 100 A.D. - The transition from Hebrew to Greek, both by borrowing from the Old Testament in Greek (the Septuagint) and from pre-Christian Greek religion. At this stage, Hebrew words borrowed directly into Greek developed a primary, usually exclusive religious meaning.

Example: carmel, which means garden in Hebrew, became the word for a walled in monastery or convent in Greek, Latin, and English.

FROM GREEK TO LATIN: The early Church period, approximately 200 A.D. – This is the transition from Greek to Latin among Christians of the West, which started in Africa, then moved to Italy, and spread throughout the Roman Empire. It began with Pope Victor, the first African Pope, who changed the language of the Mass in Rome to Latin. A large amount of Greek vocabulary was borrowed and became Latinized.

Example: Greek episkopos became Latin episcopo. Episcopo in Latin only means bishop, it is not used with the original Greek secular meaning of overseer (Latin uses antistite for overseer).

FROM LATIN TO THE VERNACULAR: The late medieval period, approximately 1300 A.D.- The transition which started with King Alfonso the Wise in Spain, in which to counteract Moslem influence, he had all the cultural writings of Spain translated into Spanish. The first English language bible, Wycliff’s, appeared in the 1380s.

Example: One of the words studied in this article has a primary sacred meaning in English, but not in Biblical Latin: ordinare, to ordain. It must have been some time after St. Jerome written the Vulgate that ecclesiastical Latin developed the meaning of ordinare as ordain.

This article will analyze the terms used for the sacrament of ordination, and how they developed into a sacred vocabulary during the three periods listed above: the Apostolic Church period, the Early Church Fathers period, and the Vernacular period.

The argument against using secular vocabulary to describe ordination (or any other sacrament) is that once the sacred development has occurred, “going back” to the earlier secular meaning of the biblical word is not a true development. It less precisely represents the biblical authors' meaning since, when they used the word, they intended the sacral meaning which is conveyed by the developed sacral term.

The Catholic Sacrament of Ordination borrowed the ritual act of Ordination, the laying on of hands, from the Hebrew, Old Testament ritual.  In the Hebrew language, the word for lay, samak, added to the word yad for hand, made up the phrase samak yad, laying on hands.  In post biblical usage, after the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, in the second century, A.D., ordination was performed for the synagogue rabbis, the words samiyk (ordain) and samikah (ordination) being adopted.  According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, samikah was dropped in favor of appointment (manah) when the Christians adopted the laying on of hands.  Manah is used in one Old Testament verse, 1 Ch 9:29, where “porters” were ‘appointed’.  The Assyrian (Chaldean) Rite of Iraq uses the name siamidha for ordination, which is based on the Aramaic language, the cousin language of Hebrew.

Up until the year 1885, with the appearance of the English Revised Version Bible, English language bibles maintained the word ordain in the New Testament verses which describe primitive Church practice; examples 1-2 refer to the sacrament of Holy Orders.  The third example refers to the priesthood of Jesus Christ, which is compared to that of the High Priest.

• 1.  Acts 14:23 reads:  And when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed with fasting, the commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed.
• 2.  Titus 1:5 For this cause I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and shouldest ordain priests in every city, as I also appointed thee:
• 3. Heb. 5:1, For every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in the things that appertain to God, that he may offer up gifts and sacrifices for sins:

The English Revised Version was the first English language bible to replace “ordain” with “appoint”. The same change which happened to the rabbis now happened to the Protestant ministers.  Eighty five years later, and a “Catholic” version of the Bible, the New American Bible, (NAB), 1970 adopted the same vocabulary, the word ordain was dropped from these three verses and replaced with appoint.  The change for each of these three groups was done for different reasons:

• a. The Jewish reason was to make a sharp distinction between their practice and the practice of the Christians. Once the ritual action was dropped, the terminology had to change, because the word for ordain and lay on hands is from the same root.
• b. The Protestant reason was to emphasize the priesthood of the laity and remove mention of the traditional Christian priesthood.  The only Protestant version to maintain the word “ordain” in these verses is the King James Bible from the 18th century. The Catholic influence at that time concerning ordination may have been stronger that it is in the modern period; the modern King James version uses “hand-pick” for at least one of the verses in which the 18th century one uses ‘ordain’..
• c. The modern Catholic reason was to develop an ecumenical version of the bible that could be read by Protestants but had the authority of the Church behind it. All the readings and Gospels in the English language Mass come from the NAB.  So while this makes everyone comfortable, it doesn’t help reverse the 97% decline in seminarians that the Church in the United States has suffered from 1965 – 1998.

The prototype for ordination is found in the book of Acts, 1:22 – 1:26. The apostles wanted to replace Judas, who had committed suicide. In these verses, the following verbs are used: made, appointed, praying, shew, chosen, numbered. Basically two men were appointed, and after praying, they asked God to show them who he had chosen prior to taking a vote. Once Mattias had won the vote, they numbered him as an apostle.

The two words in English are both derived from Latin.  Appoint focuses more on the process which allows someone to take office.  It comes from Latin ad “to” and Latin punctum “point”, because someone being voted for had their name marked off a list of names on a waxen tablet.  Ordain refers more to a regular succession of appointments, with an emphasis on continuity. Ordain comes from Latin ordinare, to plant in rows, set soldiers in rank; secondarily it means to appoint. Ordinare comes from Latin ordo, meaning order, series. Ordinatio became (through French) an English language ecclesiastical term in the 15th century, because it not only conveys the notion in Latin of appointing to Holy Orders, but that of Apostolic Succession as well.  So in the Catholic sense, the bishop not only appoints, but creates a replacement, a successor.  When the Latin and Greek use the term appoint in reference to ordination, it is possible that there is Hebrew influence involved.  In the Old Testament, the Paqiyd, or overseer in the sacred sense of the word is best described in Neh 11:2.

And the overseer (Greek episkopos, Latin episcopus) of the Levites in Jerusalem, was Azzi the son of Bani, the son of Hasabia, the son of Mathania, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, were the singing men in the ministry of the house of God.

Paqad, to appoint, is used in a sacred sense in the following two verses:  Nu. 1:50 (appointing Levites, episteson, constitue); Nu 3:10 (appointing Aaron and his sons, katasteseis, constitues). Since paqiyd - episcopus became the title for the church leaders who ordain, it makes sense that paqad - constituo would be maintained until such time that the Hebrew link between bishop and appoint was forgotten; then the Latin church migrated to the use of ordinatio.   The Latin term is different from the Greek and Hebrew, in that it does not contain the word “hand” within it.  Instead, reference is to the ordo, or series of steps which one takes to reach the top, i.e., to become a priest or bishop. Perhaps a clue to this change is the fact that the phrase in succession in Latin is ex ordino. Apostolic succession was especially important in the west because of the Pope in Rome who was the successor of Sts. Peter and Paul.

In the Greek New Testament, there are two words used for ordain: cheirotoneo and kathistemi.  However, in the post-biblical period, the Greek speaking church chose cheirotoneo for the official name of the sacrament.  For the major orders, the actual term used is chirotonia, where the laying on of hands occurs.  For the minor orders, who do not receive ordination, but a blessing, the term is cheirothesia, in which the hands are extended over the head, but there is no touching of the head of the candidate for ordination.

Besides the loss of the word “ordain” from Christian vocabulary, the use of the word appoint has a problem which did not exist in the early church; ever since the Reformation, the appointment of bishops was controlled not by the bishop of Rome, but by the Protestant monarch of each nation. So the appointment of a bishop became a secular, political function, to be distinguished from ordination, which remained a religious activity of bishops.

The bishops are defined as the successors of the apostles.  Ordo in English has a specifically ecclesiastical meaning, which is that of the set order of prayers used in the Roman Missal.  This term relates also to the Hebrew prayers and practices of the seder, which in Hebrew means order.  The seder had to be eaten in a very specific order, each dish accompanied by at least one prayer. A related Hebrew root is siddur, meaning prayer book in Hebrew, because the prayers are in a very set order.

Genesis 14:18.  But Melchisedech the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God. 

In Psalm 110:4, the phrase first appears:  thou art a priest according to the order (Hebrew: dibrah) of Melchisedech.  Dibrah translates as taxis in the Greek Septuagint for this verse, and as ordo in the Latin Vulgate.  One of the meanings of dibrah is “way”.  Later in the New Testament, Melchisedech is compared to Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 5:6. As he saith also in another place: Thou art a priest for ever, according to the order of Melchisedech. 

St. Paul mentions the importance of order in:

Col 2:5.  For though I be absent in body, yet in spirit I am with you; rejoicing, and beholding your order, (Latin ordinem) and the steadfastness of your faith which is in Christ.

It is almost certain that St. Paul here is referring to the worship service (Mass) of the early Christians.

Melchisedech is mentioned in the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I) as one of three “priestly” precursors to Jesus Christ: “... and the bread and wine offered by your priest Melchisedech.”  Melchisedech’s “way” is by offering a bloodless sacrifice to God, and by being a non-Hebrew priest.  The Christian priesthood is the same, the priests are neither from the Hebrew race, nor is the sacrifice they offer bloody.

When Jacob tricked his father into giving him his final blessing, he had to first bring his father meat to eat in his hands (presumably in a bowl).  This act was considered an “offering”, and it entitled the offerer once his father ate the food to receive this final blessing which made the recipient heir to the family property.  Additionally, they received the authority to offer sacrifice on behalf of the entire family.  This explains Esau’s anger when this blessing was stolen from him because of Jacob’s deceit:

And she gave him the savory meat, and delivered* him bread that she had baked. Gen 27:17

Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son? Gen 27:18

And Jacob said: I am Esau thy firstborn: I have done as thou didst command me: arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. Gen 27:19

* (literally “into the hand” in Hebrew, tradidit in Latin, to hand over, deliver). The hand switches from the being the vehicle for carrying the offering, to the channel of power of the priesthood.

To understand what Jacob did in the context of “priesthood”, you need to know that the secondary meaning of the Hebrew word for hand yad means power.

And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking back and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven, had no more power to flee this way or that way: especially as they that had counterfeited flight, end were going toward the wilderness, turned back most valiantly against them that pursued.  Joshua 8:20.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue: they that love it, shall eat the fruits thereof. Proverbs 18:21

Behold they are as stubble, fire hath burnt them, they shall not deliver them- selves from the power of the flames: there are no coals wherewith they may be warmed, nor fire, that they may sit thereat. Isaiah 47:14.

This brings us to the next reference to the hand, an idiom in Hebrew, mala yad, literally meaning fill the hand.  In certain cases, it translates as either to consecrate, or to ordain.  Why, because the sacrifice involved carrying the sacrificial offering to the altar, which in times prior to Moses, was considered the mechanism for being ordained:

And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites: and you have made you priests, like all the nations of the earth: whosoever cometh and consecrateth his hand with a bullock of the herd, and with seven rams, is made a priest of those who are no gods. 2Ch 13:9

(This phrase “consecrate his hand with a bullock” means that he became a priest by carrying the slain victim to the altar and sacrificed it).

The distinction between the pagan and Hebrew priesthood was that the Hebrew priests were chosen by God, in the sense that he established that priests could only come from Aaron and his descendants.  Ordination took an entire week.  In the calendar discovered at Qumran, it is mentioned that there was daily sacrifice offered by the priestly candidate throughout the week.

Ex 28:41, And with all these things thou shalt vest Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him. And thou shalt consecrate the hands of them all, (mala yad) and shalt sanctify them, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

Ex 29:9, To wit, Aaron and his children, and thou shalt put miters upon them: and they shall be priests to me by a perpetual ordinance. After thou shalt have consecrated their hands, (mala yad).

Lev 8:33. And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle for seven days, until the day wherein the time of your consecration shall be expired. For in seven days the consecration (mala yad) is finished:

In the Hebrew of Is 58:9, the verb used is shalach, which means to stretch out.   In both the Dead Sea Scroll’s “Community Rule”, and in the Samaritan Passover, at both meals, the priest stretches forth his hand to bless the food before anyone else either eats or blesses it. This action is the equivalent of the priestly act during the prayer of the Roman Canon known as the Hanc igitur: the Priest joins his hands together and then extends them out together with his palms down over the Chalice and Host on the Paten

In the New Testament, the touch of Our Lord or the Apostles was sufficient to heal those who were sick; in the Old Testament, touch is mentioned in reference to worthiness to offer sacrifice:

• Seven days shalt thou expiate the altar and sanctify it, and it shall be most holy.  Every one that touch it shall be holy.  Ex 29:37
• And thou shalt sanctify all, and they shall be most holy: he that shall touch them shall be sanctified Ex 29:29
• Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof, shall be sanctified... Lev 6:27

In each of these three cases, the Septuagint translates touch as aptomenos, meaning “to grasp”

There is the miracle of the rod of Moses being converted into a snake, then back again to a rod:

Ex 4:4  And the Lord said: Put out thy hand and take it by the tail. He put forth his hand, and took hold of it, and it was turned into a rod.

There is also the penalty for touching something holy:

1 Chronicles 13:9. And when they came to the floor of Chidon, Oza put forth his hand, to hold up the ark: for the ox being wanton had made it lean a little on one side.

1Ch 13:10 And the Lord was angry with Oza, and struck him, because he had touched the ark; and he died there before the Lord.

Later, in Church practice, this healing concept of touch was dropped in favor of anointing, as mentioned in the Epistle of St. James.

To see the parallels between the Roman Rite of ordination, here in sequence are the verses from Exodus which spell out how God revealed to Moses that he wanted Aaron and his descendants to be ordained:

• EX 29:1 This is the rite you shall perform in consecrating them as my priests...
• Ex 29:3 - bring the gifts;
• Ex 29:5 put on priestly vestments;
• Ex 29:6 put the miter on Aaron’s head;
• Ex 29:7 pour anointing oil on Aaron’s head;
• Ex 29:9 gird with more vestments and consecrate Aaron and his sons; 
• Ex 29:19 laid their hands (samak yad) on the head of the ram of consecration;
• Ex 29:20 put blood on the thumbs of their right hands;
• Ex 29:21 sprinkle them and their vestments with blood and anointing oil;
• Ex 29:28 a portion of the peace offering from the people belongs to the priests; 
• Ex 29:33 eating the flesh and bread consecrates and sanctifies them, no stranger may eat of them.

In the traditional Roman Rite of ordination, the word power in Latin, potestatem is used to describe what the priest receives in ordination; potestatem is an active power. “Receive the power to offer the Sacrifice to God and to celebrate Masses for the living and the dead.”

When Our Lord described his own power to forgive sins, the word used in Mat. 9:6 is potestatem.

In the revised Roman Rite, the paragraph is modified, so that the word power is missing: “Let our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed by the Holy Ghost and by fortitude, guard you in order that you may offer the sacrifice to God and sanctify the Christian people.”

This concept of priestly power is not a Church invention, it is described in the Acts of the Apostles:

Acts 8:19  Saying: Give me also this power, (Latin postestatem) that on whomsoever I shall lay my hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost...

The loss of the term ordain in its primary, ecclesiastical meaning in the New American Bible and the corresponding readings/Gospels used in the English Mass constitute a small piece of the overall secularization of the Bible and the Mass. The 1969 Rite English Mass texts obscure the New Testament evidence of the Sacrament of Ordination, using a term which commonly refers to a secular process of choosing for an office. Incidentally, the word ‘appoint’ is used in 1970 to describe the process of making a layman an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion. “The Holy See has the power to permit the appointment of other known and worthy persons as ministers, if they have received a mandate.” Since those who attend Mass in English hear the same term used for sacramental ordination as for the Holy See’s appointment of lay ministers, this might explain the confusion among Catholics concerning the nature of the sacrament of Holy Orders.

In any future efforts by our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to begin a liturgical restoration, returning to the ancient biblical terminology of the hand, in the context of priestly power, would be a great place to start.

Ed Snyder