Doxology
(, only in eccl. Greek)
The name is given to brief forms of praise to God (or to Christ, or to the Trinity) used in early Christianity, the models of which were taken over from Judaism. They sometimes occur as a momentary interruption in the midst of a discourse, a sudden breaking forth of praise at the mention of the name of God, of which 2Co 11:31 is an example. We shall consider the most important of these in chronological order. 1. Gal 1:5.-The appropriate ascription of praise to the Father for His redemption of mankind according to His will, wherein is revealed His attributes of wisdom, holiness, love, in which for us His glory chiefly consists. 2. Rom 11:36.-The all things are the things which have to do only with the kingdom of grace to which He has invited Jew and Gentile, and the doxology is the natural climax of praise for such wisdom and love; the Him refers to God, not to Christ; v. 34 is an echo of Isa 40:13, and v. 35 of Job 41:11, and the first part of v. 36 cannot have Trinitarian reference, as the context does not suit. It is the relation of the Godhead as a whole to the universe and to created things. God (not necessarily the Father) is the source and inspirer and goal of all things.* [Note: Sanday-Headlam, Romans 5 (ICC, 1902), p. 340.] 3. Rom 16:27.-While grammatically the to whom (, if it be retained) could refer to Christ, and while according to the spirit and even language of the NT there is no objection to such reference, it is quite certain that the pronoun refers to the only wise God, as that is in accordance with the whole purpose of the writer. It is the most fitting close to the Epistle, as it embodies the faith from which its central chapters proceed. [Note: see F. J. A. Hort in JPh iii. [1870] 56; and for a convincing discussion of the genuineness of this doxology see E. H. Gifford in Speakers Com., Romans, 1881, pp. 22-27.] The dislocation of the language is probably to be explained by the intense spiritual feeling of the writer, who, without waiting to clear the matter up, bursts out into the usual doxology to God. 4. Eph 3:21.-It is the glory which is due to God and befits Him. It is rendered in the Church as the special domain where God is interested, viz. in a social brotherhood having organic life in Christ-the praise not being a thing of secular or voluntary ritual, but having its life and reason only in Christ and in a society redeemed and possessed by Him. 5. Php 4:20.-Notice here also the emphasis: the glory, that glory which is His attribute and element. 6. 1Ti 1:17.-Here we find echoes of Jewish forms: To 13:6, 10, Enoch ix. 4, Rev 15:3. The thought and phraseology are Hebraic. Bengel thought the aeons had indirect reference to Gnosticism, but this is not necessary. 7. 2Ti 4:18.-The Lord here refers to Christ (cf. 17), to whom this doxology is addressed.* [Note: See N. J. D. White, EGT, 2 Tim., 1910, p. 183.] 8. Heb 13:21.-This doxology may be to the God of peace of v. 20, but it is both more natural and more grammatical to refer it to Christ, immediately preceding. Throughout the whole Epistle the latter has been constantly before the mind of the writer. 9. 1Pe 4:11.-Hart well remarks that the insertion of is () changes the doxology to a statement of fact, and thus supports the interpretation of whose () as referring to the immediate antecedent, Jesus Christ, which seems also otherwise required. The thought is: already He possesses the glory and victory; therefore (v. 12) Christians endure joyfully their present suffering, [Note: H. A. Hart, EGT, 1 Pet. 1910, p. 73.] 10. 1Pe 5:11.-This refers to God, and dominion is emphasized as a consolation on account of the persecution. 11. 2Pe 3:18.-Here we have another doxology to Christ. For ever signifies lit. [Note: literally, literature.] unto the day of eternity, and occurs only here. Cf. Sir 18:10. Bigg makes the point that (unto the ages) became so immediately the ruling phrase that this doxology cannot have been written after liturgical expressions became in any degree stereotyped. 12. Jud 1:25.-Majesty (elsewhere Heb 1:3 only) and power are unusual in doxologies, 13. Rev 1:5-6.-The adoration of Christ, which vibrates in this doxology, is one of the most impressive features of the book. The prophet feels that the one hope for the loyalists of God in this period of trial is to be conscious that they owe everything to the redeeming love of Jesus. Faithfulness depends on faith, and faith is rallied by the grasp not of itself but of its object. Mysterious explanations of history follow, but it is passionate devotion to Jesus, and not any skill in exploring prophecy, which proves the source of moral heroism in the churches. Jesus sacrificed himself for us; . From this inward trust and wonder, which leap up at the sight of Jesus and His grace, the loyalty of Christians flows. [Note: Moffatt, EGT, Rev., 1910, p. 339, also art. in Expositor, 6th ser., v. 302 ff.] 14. Rev 5:13.-God and Christ (the Lamb) are linked together in this doxology, as often in thought among the early Christians (Joh 17:3, 1Ti 2:5, Rev 7:10 : salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb). 15, Rev 7:12.-It is a fine saying of Rabbi Pinchas and Rabbi Jochanan on Psa 100:2. Though all offerings cease in the future, the offering of praise alone shall not cease; though all prayers cease, thanksgiving alone shall not cease.
A famous passage often Interpreted as a doxology either to Christ or to God the Father is Rom 9:5. For referring all words after of whom (or from whom, ) to Christ it may be argued that: (a) it supplies the antithesis which according to the flesh supports, and (b) it is grammatically better, for (he being) naturally applies to what precedes: the person who is over all is naturally the person first mentioned. If we punctuate so as to read God who is over all, there are objection: (1) would in that case be abnormal, and (2) blessed would he unparalleled in position, as it ought to stand first in the sentence as in Eph 1:3 and in the Septuagint . Besides, the doxology to God seems here without a motive, without either psychological or rhetorical reason, a solecism which jars on the harmonies of St. Pauls pen. Then almost all the ancient interpreters, whatever their views, referred the whole to Christ. From consideration of language Socinus consented. Against this Strmann argues* [Note: ZNTW, 1907, pp. 4, 319.] that (i.) God. blessed for ever occurs frequently in the OT (though that does not prevent the predicate from being also used for Christ in the NT); (ii.) blessed for ever is used for God in Rom 1:25 (but similar expressions are also given to Christ in the NT [see above], and when once the possibility is granted, each case must be judged on its merits); (iii.) where blessed is used in the NT it is always used of God (but exactly equivalent expressions are used also of Christ). It is true that the fact of St. Pauls not calling Christ God outright, but even making a distinction (1Co 8:6), strikes Meyer and Denney [Note: Meyer, Com. in loc.; Denney, EGT, Rom., 1900, p. 658.] so strongly that they Cannot allow the interpretation here. But to this theological argument it may be replied that passages like 2Co 4:4; 2Co 13:14, Col 1:13-20, Php 2:5-11 ascribe no less dignity to Christ than if St. Paul had used God of Him. While a Christian Jew would ordinarily use God for the Father, and Lord for Christ, he might also use Lord for the Father (1Co 3:5) and Spirit for Christ (2Co 3:17). As soon as the religions idea that meant the Divinity of Christ reacted in the use of names, the word God would be used of Him, as we see in John, Ignatius, Act 20:28 (the two oldest Manuscripts ), and Ti 2:13. [Note: See Sanday-Headlam, Romans 5, pp. 233-238; Gifford, Speakers Com., Romans, pp. 18, 168, 178-9. Lepsius, Bischoff, and Strmann (ZNTW, 1907, p. 319, 1908, p. 80) conjecture that the true reading is (instead or ): i.e. of whom (of the Israelites) is God over all, blessed for ever.] There is no impossibility in such a use here, therefore, and we are again driven back to the natural, and grammatical, interpretation.
In the sub-Apostolic Ago we have in Clement of Rome (a.d. 97) to whom (God) be the glory for ever and ever, chs. 38, 43, 45, 50 perhaps of Christ, 58 through whom (Christ) is the glory, etc., and 65 through whom (Christ) he glory and honour, power and greatness and eternal dominion unto him (God) from the ages past and for ever and ever. Amen. Ignatius uses none of the doxologies. The Didache (circa, about a.d. 100 to 125) adds to the Lords Prayer: For thine is the power and glory for ever and ever (ch. 8); gives in the Eucharistic prayers twice: Thine is the glory for ever and ever, and once: For thine is the glory and the power through Jeans Christ for ever and ever (ch. 9). In the post-Eucharistic prayer it gives twice the same benediction again: Thine is the glory for ever and ever, and once; Thine is the power and the glory for ever and ever. The doxologies in the Martyrdom of Polycarp and in Justin Martyr are too late for this work.
Literature.-Besides the books referred to above, see F. H. Chase, The Lords Prayer in the Early Church (= Texts and Studies i. 3 [1891]), 168-178; and, especially for liturgical use, Thalhofer in Wetzer-Welte [Note: etzer-Welte Wetzer-Weltes Kirchenlexikon.] 2, iii. 2006-10; P. Meyer in Realencyklopdie fr protestantische Theologie und Kirche 3 v. 593-4; H. Fortescue in Catholic Encyclopedia v. [1909] 150-1; Wolff in RGG [Note: GG Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart.] ii. [Tbingen, 1910] 930ff.; G. Rietschel, Lehrbuch der Liturgik, Berlin, 1900, p. 355f.
J. Alfred Faulkner.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
DOXOLOGY
A hymn used in praise of the Almighty, distinguished by the titles of the Greater and the Less. Both the doxologies are used in the church of England; the former being repeated after every psalm, and the latter used in the communion service. Doxology the Greater, or the angelic hymn, was of great note in the ancient church. It began with the words the angels sung at the birth of Christ, “Glory to God, ” &c. Doxology the Less, was anciently only a single sentence without a response, running in these words: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, world without end, amen.” Part of the latter clause, “as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, ” &c. was inserted some time after the first composition.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
doxology
(Greek: doxe, praise; logos, word)
Tribute of praise, as in the Gloria in Excelsis (Glory in the highest), hymn of the angels at the Birth of Our Saviour, repeated at every Mass, except at votive and requiem Masses; and in the Gloria Patri (Glory be to the Father), the short doxology.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Doxology
In general this word means a short verse praising God and beginning, as a rule, with the Greek word Doxa. The custom of ending a rite or a hymn with such a formula comes from the Synagogue (cf. the Prayer of Manasses: tibi est gloria in sæcula sæculorum. Amen). St. Paul uses doxologies constantly (Romans 11:36; Galatians 1:5; Ephesians 3:21; etc.). The earliest examples are addressed to God the Father alone, or to Him through (dia) the Son (Romans 16:27; Jude 25; I Clem., xli; Mart. Polyc., xx; etc.) and in (en) or with (syn, meta) the Holy Ghost (Mart. Polyc., xiv, xxii, etc.). The form of baptism (Matthew 28:19) had set an example of naming the three Persons in parallel order. Especially in the fourth century, as a protest against Arian subordination (since heretics appealed to these prepositions; cf. St. Basil, “De Spir, Sancto”, ii-v), the custom of using the form: “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost”, became universal among Catholics. From this time we must distinguish two doxologies, a greater (doxologia maior) and a shorter (minor). The greater doxology is the Gloria in Excelsis Deo (q.v.) in the Mass. The shorter form, which is the one generally referred to under the name “doxology”, is the Gloria Patri. It is continued by an answer to the effect that this glory shall last for ever. The form, eis tous aionas ton aionon is very common in the first centuries (Romans 16:27; Galatians 1:5; 1 Timothy 1:17; Hebrews 13:21; 1 Peter 4:11; I Clem., 20, 32, 38, 43, 45, etc.; Mart. Polyc., 22, etc.). It is a common Hebraism (Tobit 13:23; Psalm 83:5; repeatedly in the Apocalypse 1:6, 18; 14:11; 19:3; etc.) meaning simply “for ever”. The simple form, eis tous aionas, is also common (Romans 11:36; Doctr. XII Apost., 9:10; in the Liturgy of the Apostolic Constitutions, passim) Parallel formulæ are: eis tous mellontas aionas (Mart. Polyc., xiv); apo geneas eis genean (ibid.); etc. This expression was soon enlarged into: “now and ever and in ages of ages” (cf. Hebrews 13:8; Mart. Polyc., 14:etc.). In this form it occurs constantly at the end of prayers in the Greek Liturgy of St. James (Brightman, Eastern Liturgies, pp. 31, 32, 33, 34, 41, etc.). and in all the Eastern rites. The Greek form then became: Doxa patri kai yio kai hagio pneumati, kai nun kai aei kai eis tous aionas ton aionon. Amen. In this shape it is used in the Eastern Churches at various points of the Liturgy (e.g. in St. Chrysostom’s Rite; see Brightman, pp. 354, 364, etc.) and as the last two verses of psalms, though not so invariably as with us. The second part is occasionally slightly modified and other verses are sometimes introduced between the two halves. In the Latin Rite it seems originally to have had exactly the same form as in the East. In 529 the Second Synod of Vasio (Vaison in the province of Avignon) says that the additional words, Sicut erat in principio, are used in Rome, the East, and Africa as a protest against Arianism, and orders them to be said likewise in Gaul (can. v.). As far as the East is concerned the synod is mistaken. These words have never been used in any Eastern rite and the Greeks complained of their use in the West [Walafrid Strabo (9th century), De rebus eccl., xxv]. The explanation that sicut erat in principio was meant as a denial of Arianism leads to a question whose answer is less obvious than it seems. To what do the words refer? Everyone now understands gloria as the subject of erat: “As it [the glory] was in the beginning”, etc. It seems, however, that originally they were meant to refer to Filius, and that the meaning of the second part, in the West at any rate, was: “As He [the Son] was in the beginning, so is He now and so shall He be for ever.” The in principio, then, is a clear allusion to the first words of the Fourth Gospel, and so the sentence is obviously directed against Arianism. There are medieval German versions in the form: “Als er war im Anfang”.
The doxology in the form in which we know it has been used since about the seventh century all over Western Christendom, except in one corner. In the Mozarabic Rite the formula is: “Gloria et honor Patri et Filio et Spiritui sancto in sæcula sæculorum” (so in the Missal of this rite; see P.L., LXXXV, 109, 119, etc.). The Fourth Synod of Toledo in 633 ordered this form (can. xv). A common medieval tradition, founded on a spurious letter of St. Jerome (in the Benedictine edition, Paris, 1706, V, 415) says that Pope Damasus (366-384) introduced the Gloria Patri at the end of psalms. Cassian (died c. 435) speaks of this as a special custom of the Western Church (De instit. coen., II, viii). The use of the shorter doxology in the Latin Church is this: the two parts are always said or sung as a verse with response. They occur always at the end of psalms (when several psalms are joined together as one, as the sixty-second and sixty-sixth and again the one hundred and forty-eighth, one hundred and forty-ninth and one hundred and fiftieth at Lauds, the Gloria Patri occurs once only at the end of the group; on the other hand each group of sixteen verses of the one hundred and eighteenth psalm in the day Hours has the Gloria) except on occasions of mourning. For this reason (since the shorter doxology, like the greater one, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, in naturally a joyful chant) it is left out on the last three days of Holy Week; in the Office for the Dead its place is taken by the verses: Requiem æternam, etc., and Et lux perpetua, etc. It also occurs after canticles, except that the Benedicite has its own doxology (Benedicamus Patrem . . . Benedictus es Domine, etc. — the only alternative one left in the Roman Rite). In the Mass it occurs after three psalms, the “Judica me” at the beginning, the fragment of the Introit-Psalm, and the “Lavabo” (omitted in Passiontide, except on feasts, and at requiem Masses). The first part only occurs in the responsoria throughout the Office, with a variable answer (the second part of the first verse) instead of “Sicut erat,” the whole doxology after the “Deus in adjutorium,” and in the preces at Prime; and again, this time as one verse, at the end of the invitatorium at Matins. At all these places it is left out in the Office for the Dead and at the end of Holy Week. The Gloria Patri is also constantly used in extraliturgical services, such as the Rosary. It was a common custom in the Middle Ages for preachers to end sermons with it. In some countries, Germany especially, people make the sign of the cross at the first part of the doxology, considering it as chiefly a profession of faith.
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ERMELIUS, Dissertatio historica de veteri christianâ doxologia (1684); SCHMIDT, De insignibus veteribus christianis formulis (1696); A SEELEN, Commentarius ad doxologiæ solemnis Gloria Patri verba: Sicut erat in principio in his Miscellanea (1732); BONA, Rerum liturgicarum libri duo (Cologne, 1674), II, 471; THALHOFER, Handbuch der kath. Liturgik, I, 490 sq.; IDEM in Augsburger Pastoralblatt (1863), 289 sq.; RIETSCHEL, Lehrbuch der Liturgik, I, 355sq.; KRAUS, Real-Encyk., I, 377 sq.
ADRIAN FORTESCUE Transcribed by Tony de Melo
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VCopyright © 1909 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, May 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Doxology
(, a praising, giving glory), an ascription of glory or praise to God.
1. Doxologies in N.T. Short ascriptions, which may be called doxologies, abound in the Psalms (e.g. Psa 96:6; Psa 112:1; Psa 113:1), and were used in the synagogue. We naturally, therefore, find the apostles using them; e.g. Rom 11:36; Eph 3:21; 1Ti 1:17. The Apocalypse (Rev 19:1) gives, as a celestial doxology, “Alleluia! Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord our God;” and another (Rev 5:13), “Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever.” The song of the angels, Luk 2:14, is a doxology (see below, No. 2). The doxology at the close of the Lord’s Prayer “for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen” is thought by most critics to be an interpolation. It is not used in the Roman liturgy in repeating the Lord’s Prayer, but is used in the worship of the Greek Church, and in all Protestant churches. SEE LORDS PRAYER.
2. Liturgical Doxologies. There are three doxologies of special note, which have been in use in Church worship from a very early period, viz.:
(1.) The Lesser Doxology, or Gloria Patti, originally in the form, “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;” to which was added later, “world without end;” and later still the form became what it is now: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” The use of this noble doxology has been a constant testimony to the Church’s faith in the Holy Trinity. In the Church of England it must be said or sung at the end of the reading of every psalm; in the Protestant Episcopal Church it may be said or sung at the end of every psalm, but either it or the greater doxology must be said or sung at the end of the whole portion of Psalms for the day. For further details, SEE GLORIA PATRI.
(2.) The Greater Doxology, or Gloria in Excelsis, called also the Angelical Hymn (q.v.), a doxology of praise and thanksgiving founded on the song of the angels, Luk 11:14 (“Glory be to God on high,” etc.). For its form and history; SEE GLORIA IN EXCELSIS. It is used in the eucharistic services of the Church of England, the Methodist Episcopal and Protestant Episcopal churches, and, in fact in most Protestant churches.
(3.) The Trisagion (Latin Tersanctus), a doxology as old as the second century, beginning with the words, “Therefore, with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name.” It is used in the communion service of the Church of England, the Methodist Episcopal, Protestant Episcopal, and some other Protestant churches. For its form and history, SEE TRISAGION.
3. Metrical Doxologies. It is usual in Protestant churches, at the end of the singing of a hymn, or at least at the end of the last hymn in the service, to sing the doxology in the same meter. The hymn-books of the churches, therefore, contain a collection of versions of the Gloria Patri in various metres, adapted to all the metres of the hymns. See Bingham, Biog. Ecclesiastes book 14, chapter 2; Siegel, christl. Alterhmer, 1:515 sq.; Procter, On Common Prayer, page 212; Palmer, Orig. Liturg. 4, 23.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Doxology (2)
The exact periods of the origin of the liturgical doxologies are unknown, iwing to the scantiness of early Christian literature. But it may be safely conjectured that, in their earliest forms, they came into use soon after the circulation of the Gospel narratives. The “Gloria in Excelsis” is unquestionably of Eastern origin. Liturgical speculators have ingeniously discovered a reference to its existence in very early writers. It has frequently been assumed that it was, in fact, “the hymn” which Christians sang on all solemn occasions, including such as are referred to in Act 16:25; 1Co 14:26; and Col 3:16. The origin and history of the “Gloria Patri,” or lesser doxology, is even more obscure than that of the “Gloria in Excelsis,” and in its present shape it is the result of the Arian controversies concerning the nature of Christ.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Doxology
DOXOLOGY.An ascription of praise to God in forms of words more or less fixed by usage. Though the term does not occur in the NT, it contains many doxologies, and they were an important element in the devotional life of the primitive Christians. This indeed was inevitable, because they carried with them what was best in the practice of Judaism, and were especially influenced in the expression of their worship by the language of the OT.
1. The OT and Jewish usage.Doxologies are common in the OT, being found in germ even in its oldest portions. In the Song of Deborah praise is given to Jehovah for national deliverance (Jdg 5:2; Jdg 5:9; cf. Exo 18:10). In 1Ki 1:48; 1Ki 8:15 there is thankful recognition of Jehovahs power and control in national events. The Psalms are especially rich (Psa 28:6; Psa 34:2-3; Psalms 135, 146), though one form, give thanks unto Jehovah, for His lovingkindness endureth for ever, seems to be the most common both in the Psalms and all post-exilic literature (Psa 106:1; Psa 107:1; Psa 118:1-3, 1Ch 16:34, 2Ch 5:13; 2Ch 7:3; 2Ch 7:6, Ezr 3:11). The regular liturgical conclusion of the services of the Temple, and afterwards of the Synagogue, came to be a doxology beginning blessed be (or is) God. By the time of our Lord the employment of doxological expressions had increased so largely, that they were in the mouth of the people for any event which stirred their gratitude or wonder, in fact as thanksgiving for almost everything in life. Though the fundamental religious idea of the doxology, that Jehovah is the Holy One whose sovereign power must be acknowledged at all times, was a noble one, its use had too often degenerated into the veriest formalism.
2. NT usage.Traces of Jewish custom may be seen in the Gospels (Mat 15:31, Mar 2:12, Luk 1:46; Luk 1:68; Luk 2:20; Luk 5:25-26; Luk 7:18). The words and attendant conditions of the life of Jesus so impressed the people that a new hope was born in them, and they praised God for signs of His returning favour to Israel through this prophet. Jesus does not yet receive Divine homage. No doxology is offered to Him anywhere in the Gospels, for the Messianic acclaim (Mar 11:9-10) is not to be so interpreted (see Dalman, Words of Jesus, 220ff., and Swete, in loc.). God alone has the right to such ascription, for He is holy; He is , the One to whom blessing is due (Mar 14:61), being a well-known Jewish formula. See artt. Benediction and Blessing.
Immediately after the Resurrection, Jesus is associated with the Father in glory, and receives worship as Messiah and Son of God. This is the universal Apostolic view (Act 2:33-36; Act 3:13; Act 3:15; Act 5:31, Rom 1:4, Php 2:6-11, Heb 1:3; Heb 2:9, Jam 2:1; 1Pe 1:21). So the ascription of doxologies to the risen Christ naturally followed. But the doxology continued to be addressed most frequently to God the Father (Rom 11:36, Gal 1:5, Eph 3:20-21, Php 4:20, 1Ti 1:17; 1Ti 6:16; 1Pe 5:11, Rev 7:12). In several Jesus Christ is associated more or less directly with God the Father (Rom 16:27; 1Pe 4:11, Jud 1:25, Rev 5:13). Rom 9:5 and Heb 13:21 present battling evidence as to the recipient; but in 2Ti 4:18; 2Pe 3:18, Rev 1:6 glory is ascribed to Jesus Christ. Thus in conformity with Christian belief the OT usage was expanded, so that at a very early date there arose a Christian formula, which in the public adoration of the worship of the Church would serve in a secondary sense as a creed, expressing the doctrine that the risen Christ shared in Divine honour with the Father.
3. Structure.The doxologies of the NT consist of three main parts.
(a) The Person to whom praise is given. This is, as we have seen, most frequently God the Father, though Jesus Christ is associated with Him. Attributes are often added, usually to emphasize the Divine blessing which has occasioned the praise. In Eph 3:20-21, e.g. a clause descriptive of the power of the Almighty serves to justify the Apostles prayer for strength on behalf of his readers. See Rom 16:27, 1Ti 1:17; 1Ti 6:16; 2Pe 3:18, Jud 1:24-25, Rev 1:5-6; Rev 5:13.
(b) The second term is almost invariably (glory), either alone or with some significant addition (Eph 3:21), the chief exceptions being 1Ti 6:16 (honour and power), 1Pe 5:11 (the dominion). The amplitude of the doxologies in the Apocalypse deserves attention, the praise being threefold (Rev 4:11; Rev 19:1), fourfold (Rev 5:13), or sevenfold in its perfection (Rev 7:12). This full-voiced glory offered to the Lamb (Rev 5:13) in this book of Hebrew cast, shows how thoroughly it was the belief of the circle from which it issued that Jesus transcended every created being.
Except in 1Pe 4:11 the copula is omitted, so that it must be determined from the context whether the doxology is affirmative or precatory (see Lightfoot on Gal 1:5; Chase, Lords Prayer, p. 169; Didache, viii. 2; Clement of Rome, 58).
(c) The third integral part of the doxology in its simplest form is (unto the ages), which denotes the eternity of the sovereign rule of the Lord. Before the mind of the Apostolic writers, however, the future rolls out in a series of aeons, so that the normal form is expanded very frequently into , in order to cover all possible periods of time (Gal 1:5, Php 4:20, 1Ti 1:17, 2Ti 4:18, Heb 13:21; 1Pe 4:11, Rev 5:13; Rev 7:12. See also Eph 3:21; 2Pe 3:18, Jud 1:25).
The conclusion of all doxologies except 2Pe 3:18 is .
4. The Doxology in the Lords Prayer (Mat 6:13).It can no longer be doubted that this was not a part of the prayer as it stood originally in Matthew. The uncial evidence is very weak (L), and the variations in the early versions are numerous (Syrcur omits and the power; the Sinaitic is defective, and the old Latin (k) and the Sahidic differ from each other and from the Syriac). The form found in the Didache (viii. 2, x. 5) ultimately developed into the full expression (the kingdom and the power and the glory), which probably passed into the Syrian text from the liturgical usage of the Syrian Church. (See Horts Notes on Select Readings, p. 9). Of this final doxology the original source may have been 1Ch 29:11, which shaped the Synagogue usage and thereby that of the Christian Church. No Jewish benediction was complete without reference to the kingdom of Jehovah. It calls attention to this that He to whom the kingdom belongs, also has the power to hear the prayer which primarily has in view the establishing of that kingdom, and that He is therefore to be praised for ever (Weiss). See, further, art. Lords Prayer.
5. The Angelic Hymn (Luk 2:14), in its longer and less correct text, gave rise to the Gloria in Excelsis (Apost. Const. vii. 47). The Doxologia Minor (Glory be to the Father, etc.) may possibly be traced back to Mat 28:19, but there is no other sign of it in the NT. However, to follow the fortunes of these doxologies would carry us beyond our limits. (See Smiths Dictionary of Christian Antiquities).
Literature.Jewish Ency. vol. viii. art. Liturgy; Herzog-Haucks PRE [Note: RE Real-Encyklopdie fur protest. Theologic und Kirche.] 3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] vol. xi. art. Liturgische Formeln; Chase, The Lords Prayer in the Early Church; Westcott, Epistle to the Hebrews, Add. Note Apostolic Doxologies.
R. A. Falconer.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Doxology
dok-solo-ji (, doxologa, a praising, giving glory): A hymn or liturgical formula expressive of praise to God, as the Gloria in Excelsis (an expansion of Luk 2:14), sometimes called the Greater Doxology, and the Gloria Patri (Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, world without end, Amen) also known as the Lesser Doxology.
The clause, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, was probably added to the original simple formula to emphasize the church’s dissent from the Arian conception of Christ.
The term is applied in particular to the concluding paragraph of the Lord’s Prayer (Mat 6:13 margin, For thine is the kingdom, etc.; compare 1Ch 29:11, and see LORD’S PRAYER).
To the same general class belong Psa 41:13; Psa 72:18 f; Psa 89:52; Rom 16:27; Eph 2:20; 1Ti 1:17; Jud 1:25; Rev 5:13 f; Rev 19:1-3, and the modern stanza beginning Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Doxology
See Praise
Praise