YahGerechtigkeit

Jeremiah 23:1-6 King James Version (KJV)

1 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord. 2 Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. 3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the Lord. 5 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. 6 In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness יְהוָה צִדְקֵנוּ .

This is our First Reading Sunday, the last Sunday of the Church Year, celebrated as the Feast of Christ the King. Jeremiah did not have Jesus of Nazareth in mind when he wrote his prophecy in the seventh century BC, in fact, he had no idea whom God would raise up as his new king; but we Christians may say that God knew and simply tarried until his time was fulfilled. I like that, it sounds pious and holy, doesn’t it.

Reading verse 6, Jeremiah seems to say that the name of the new king will be Yahweh our Righteousness or Adonai our Righteousness. You can see יְהוָה Yahweh in the name, but צִדְקֵנוּ the vowel-less second part that means "the righteousness of us" or "our righteousness" is fairly unpronounceable -- just cough and clear your throat. The name as Luther has it in his Bible is Der Herr unsre Gerechtigkeit. I like that. YahGerechtigkeit. Jegerechtigkeit. 

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