A
popular hymn, “’Immar Ly ‘Edta,” chanted
during the liturgical season of the
Sanctification of the Church, which is
now occurring, is so rich with exquisite
poetry and solid doctrine as to deserve
the best of our attention and at least a
basic comment.
The text:
Immar Ly ‘Edta
Tell me, O church, where do you wish me
to build you?
Shall I build you upon the
sun?
No, no, for it is said in the
Scriptures,
“The rays of the sun are darkened.”
(Joel 2:10)
Tell me, O church, where do you wish me
to build you?
Shall I build you upon
the
moon?
No, no, for it is said in the
Scriptures,
“The moon does not show forth its
light.” (Isaiah 13:10)
Tell me, O church, where do you wish me
to build you?
Shall I
build you upon the
stars?
No, no, for it is said in the
Scriptures,
“The stars fall like leaves.” (Isaiah
34:4)
Tell me, O church, where do you wish me
to build you?
Shall I
build you upon the
mountains?
No, no, for it is said in the
Scriptures,
“The mountains melt like wax.”
(Psalms 97:5)
Tell me, O church, where do you wish me
to build you?
Shall I
build you upon the
rock?
Yes, yes, for it is said in the
Scriptures,
“Upon the rock I will build my Church.”
(Matthew 16:18)
In order to grasp the basic meaning of
the hymn we ought to understand, first
of all, who are the interlocutors?
Who are those speaking?
a)
Who
is talking to the Church?
- Is
it Christ who is asking the Church:
where she wants to be build?
* But
then, how would he need to make an
inquiry, and finally rely on the
reported reference to the Scriptures in
the fifth verse? Christ should not need
that at all, because he is the Author of
that Scripture!
- Is
he the poet, the author of the hymn?
* It
cannot be, because to build a church one
must receive a mandate from God, not to
be a poet only.
-
Indeed, it must be someone who has the
mandate from God to build a church,
according to the divinely inspired
prescriptions. Therefore, the
interlocutor or speaker must be a
shepherd, entrusted with the mission of
building the Church, or
a church that embodies the
Church.
b)
Who is the addressee of the discourse?
- Is
the other side of the dialogue the
Church to be established?
* But
the Lord has already established his
Church; he is the one who decides where
and how to build it; he does not need to
ask about it.
- Is
it a local church, not yet fully
established, but in need of becoming
established and incorporated into the
Ecclesiastic Body of the Lord, therefore
expressing her compliance with the plan
of the Lord?
-
Indeed, this hymn is about a shepherd
talking to a local church that is to be
fashioned according to the model
established by the Lord for his Church.
c)
What are: the sun, moon, stars, and
mountains?
-
We
may follow the style of poetry
and interpret them as: earthly
intellectual enlightenment (the sun),
sensual fantasies (the moon), vain
glories (the stars), and mighty power
(the mountains). The church must reject
to be built on such worldly foundations;
she must be established upon the Rock
which is the Faith of Simon Bar Yawna,
sustained with the divine promises.
