CHAPTER 1

Liturgy and Politics

1. The etymology and meaning of the Greek term leitourgia(from which our word liturgy derives) are clear. Leitourgia (fromlaos, people, and ergon, work) means "public work" and in classicalGreece designates the obligation that the city imposes onthe citizens who have a certain income to provide a series of servicesfor the common interest. These services ranged from theorganization of gymnasia and gymnastic games (gymnasiarchia)to the preparation of a chorus for the city festival (choregia, forexample the tragic choruses for the Dionysian festival), from theacquisition of grain and oil (sitegia) to arming and commandinga trireme (trierarchia) in case of war, from directing the city'sdelegation to the Olympic or Delphic games (architheoria) to theexpectation that the fifteen richest citizens would pay the city forall the citizens' property taxes (proeisphora). It was a matter of servicesthat were of a personal and real character ("each one," writesDemosthenes, "liturgizes both with person and with property"[tois somasi kai tais ousiais leitourgesai]; Fourth Philippic Oration28) that, even if they were not numbered among the magistracies(archai), had a part in the "care of common things" (ton koinonepimeleian; Isocrates 25). Although the services of the liturgycould be extremely onerous (the verb kataleitourgeo meant "to beruined by liturgies") and there were citizens (called for this reasondiadrasipolitai, "citizens in hiding") who sought by every meansto exempt themselves from them, the fulfillment of the liturgieswas seen as a way of obtaining honor and reputation, to the pointthat many (the prime example, referred to by Lysis, is that of acitizen who had spent in nine years more than twenty thousanddrachmae for the liturgies) did not hesitate to renounce their rightnot to serve the liturgies for the two following years. Aristotle, inthe Politics (1309a18–21), cautions against the custom, typical ofdemocracies, of "costly but useless liturgies like equipping chorusesand torch-races and all other similar services."

Since the expenses for the cult also concern the community (tapros tous theous dapanemata koina pases tes poleos estin), Aristotlecan write that a part of the common land must be assigned to theliturgies for the gods (pros tous theous leitourgias; ibid., 1330a13).The lexicons register numerous witnesses, both epigraphic andliterary, of this cultic use of the term, which we will see takenup again with a singular continuity both in Judaism and amongChristian authors. Moreover, as often happens in these cases, thetechnico-political meaning of the term, in which the referenceto the "public" is always primary, is extended, at times jokingly,to services that have nothing to do with politics. A few pagesafter the passage cited, Aristotle can thus speak, in reference tothe season best suited to sexual reproduction, of a "public servicefor the procreation of children" (leitourgein ... pros teknopoiian;ibid., 1335b29); in the same sense, with even more accentuatedirony, an epigram will evoke "the liturgies" of a prostitute(Anthologia Palatina 5.49.1; qtd. in Strathmann, 217). It is inexactto claim that in these cases "the significance of the leitos [publicelement] is lost" (Strathmann, 217). On the contrary, the expressionalways acquires its antiphrastic sense only in relation to theoriginary political meaning. When the same Aristotle presents asa "liturgy" the nursing of puppies on the part of the mother (Deanimalia incessu 711b30; qtd. in Strathmann, 217) or when we readin a papyrus the expression "to oblige to private liturgies" (OxyrhynchusPapyri 3.475.18; qtd. in Strathmann, 218), in both casesthe ear must perceive the forcing implicit in the metaphorical shiftof the term from the public and social sphere to the private andnatural sphere.

* The system of liturgies (munera in Latin) reached its greatest diffusionin imperial Rome starting in the third century AD. Once Christianitybecomes so to speak the religion of the State, the problem of theexemption of the clergy from the obligation of public services acquiresa special interest. Already Constantine had established that "those whosee to the ministry of the divine cult [divini cultui ministeria impendunt],that is, those who are called clergy, must be completely exemptedfrom any public service [ab omnibus omnino muneribus excusentur]"(qtd. in Drecoll, 56). Although this exemption implied the risk thataffluent people would become clergy to escape onerous munera, as asubsequent decree of Constantine that prohibited decuriones from takingpart in the clergy proves, the privilege was maintained, albeit withvarious limitations.

This proves that the priesthood was seen in some way as a publicservice and this may be among the reasons that will lead to the specializationof the term leitourgia in a cultic sense in the sphere of Greek-speakingChristianity.

2. The history of a term often coincides with the history of itstranslations or of its use in translations. An important momentin the history of the term leitourgia thus comes when the Alexandrianrabbis who carried out the translation of the Bible intoGreek choose the verb leitourgeo (often combined with leitourgia)to translate the Hebrew šeret whenever this term, which meansgenerically "to serve," is used in a cultic sense. Starting fromits first appearance in reference to Aaron's priestly functions,in which leitourgeo is used absolutely (en toi leitourgein: Exodus28:35), the term is often used in a technical combination withleitourgia to indicate the cult in the "tent of the Lord" (leitourgeinten leitourgian ... en tei skenei; Numbers 8:22, referring tothe Levites; leitourgein tas leitourgias tes skenes kyriou, in 16:9).Scholars have wondered about this choice with respect to otheravailable Greek terms, like latreuo or douleo, which are generallyreserved for less technical meanings in the Septuagint. It is morethan probable that the translators were well aware of the "political"meaning of the Greek term, if one remembers that the Lord'sinstructions for the organization of the cult in Exodus 25–30 (inwhich the term leitourgein appears for the first time) are only anexplication of the pact that a few pages earlier constituted Israel asa chosen people and as a "kingdom of priests" (mamleket kohanim)and a "holy nation" (goj qados) (Exodus 19:6). It is significant thatthe Septuagint here has recourse to the Greek term laos (esesthemoi laos periousios apo panton ton ethnon, "you shall be my treasuredpeople out of all the nations"; Exodus 19:5) in order then tosubsequently reinforce its "political" meaning by translating thetext's "kingdom of priests" as "royal priesthood" (basileion hierateuma,an image significantly taken up again in the First Epistleof Peter 2:9—"you are a chosen race, a basileon hierateuma"—andin Revelation 1:6) and goj qados as ethnos hagion.

The election of Israel as "people of God" immediately institutesits liturgical function (the priesthood is immediately royal, that is,political) and thus sanctifies it insofar as it is a nation (the normalterm for Israel is not goj, but am qados, laos hagios, "holy people";Deuteronomy 7:6).

* The technical meaning of leitourgia and leitourgeo to indicate thepriestly cult is standard in Alexandrian Judaism. Thus, in the Letterof Aristeas (second century BCE), ton hiereon he leitourgia refers to thecultic functions of the priest, meticulously laid out, from the choiceof victim to the care of the oil and the spice (Aristeas 92). A little afterEleazar en tei leitourgiai designates the high priest in the act of officiating,whose holy vestments and paraments are described with care(96ff.). The same can be said for Flavius Josephus and Philo (who alsouse the term in a metaphorical sense, for example with respect to theintellect: "when the mind is ministering to God [leitourgei theoi] inpurity, it is not human, but divine"; Philo 84).

3. All the more significant is the lack of importance of this lexicalgroup in the New Testament (with the notable exception ofthe Letter to the Hebrews). Beyond the Pauline corpus (where onealso reads the term leitourgos five times), leitourgein and leitourgiafigure only twice, the first time quite generically in reference toZechariah's priestly functions in the Temple (Luke 1:23) and thesecond in reference to five "prophets and teachers" of the ecclesiaof Antioch (Acts 13:1–2). The passage from Acts (leitourgountonde auton toi kyrioi; 13:2) does not mean, as some have wantedto suggest with an obvious anachronism, "while they were celebratingthe divine service in honor of the Lord." As the Vulgatehad already understood in translating it simply as ministrantibusautem illis Domino, leitourgein is here the equivalent of "whilethey were carrying out their function in the community for theLord" (which was precisely, as the text had just specified, that ofprophets and teachers—prophetai kai didaskaloi; Acts 13:1—andnot of priests, nor is it clear what other leitourgia could be in questionat this point; as to prayer, Luke generally refers to it with theterm orare).

Even in the Pauline letters the term often has the secularmeaning of "service for the community," as in the passage inwhich the collection made for the community is presented as aleitourgesai (Romans 15:27) or as diakonia tes leitourgias (2 Corinthians9:12). It is also said of the action of Epaphroditus, whohas put his life at risk, that he has carried it out in order to makeup for the "liturgy" that the Philippians have not been able toperform (Philippians 2:30). But even in the passages where leitourgiais deliberately connected to a properly priestly terminology,it is necessary to take care not to incautiously mix up therespective meanings, thus allowing the specificity and audacityof Paul's linguistic choice, which intentionally juxtaposes heterogeneousterms, to pass unnoticed. The exemplary case isRomans 15:16: "to be a leitourgos of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,carrying out the holy action of the good news of God [hierourgountato euangelion tou theou]." Here commentators projectonto leitourgos the cultic meaning of hierourgeo, writing: "Whatfollows shows that [Paul] is using leitourgos cultically almost inthe sense of priest. For he construes it in terms of hierourgeinto euanglion. He discharges a priestly ministry in relation tothe Gospel" (Strathmann, 230). The hapax hierourgein to euanglion,in which the good news becomes, with an extraordinaryforcing, the impossible object of a sacrum facere (just as, withan analogous tour de force, latreia, the sacrificial cult, is linkedin Romans 12:1 to the adjective logike, "linguistic"), is all themore effective if leitourgos conserves its proper meaning as "oneentrusted with a community function" (minister, as the Vulgatecorrectly translates it). The connection of the cultic terminologyof the Temple to something—the announcement made tothe pagans and, as is said immediately after, the "offering of theGentiles," prosphora ton ethnon—which can in no way take placein the Temple, has an obvious polemical meaning and does notintend to confer a sacrificial aura to Paul's preaching.

Analogous considerations can be made for Philippians 2:17:"But even if I am being poured out as a libation [spendomai] overthe sacrifice and the offering of your faith [epi tei thysiai kai leitourgiaites pisteos], I am glad and rejoice with all of you." Whateverthe connection between spendomai and the words that follow,the affirmation gains its pregnancy only if, leaving aside theanachronism that sees in leitourgia a priestly service (the Paulinecommunity obviously could not have been familiar with priests),one perceives the contrast and almost the tension that Paul skillfullyintroduces between cultic terminology and "liturgical" terminologyin the proper sense.

* It has been known for some time (see Dunin-Borkowski) that inthe earliest Christian literature the terms hiereus and archiereus (priestand high priest) are reserved solely for Christ, while for the membersor heads of the communities, a properly priestly vocabulary is neverused (leaders are defined simply as episkopoi [superintendents], presbyteroi[elders], or diakonoi [servants]). A priestly vocabulary appearsonly with Tertullian (On Baptism 17.1; Against the Jews 6.1.14), Cyprian(Epistle 59.14, 66.8), and Origen (Homiliae in Numeros 10.1). In thePauline letters, which mention episkopoi and diakonoi (in Colossians1:25, Paul calls himself a diakonos), particular attention is dedicated tothe various functions carried out in the community, none of which isdefined in priestly terms. (Cf. 1 Corinthians 12:28–31: "And God hasappointed in the church first apostles [apostolous], second prophets[profetas], third teachers [didaskalous]; then deeds of power [dynameis],then gifts of healing [charismata iamaton], forms of assistance[antilepseis], of leadership [kyberneseis], various kinds of tongues [geneglosson]"; Romans 12:6–8: "We have gifts that differ according to thegrace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering[diakonian en tei diakoniai], the teacher, in teaching [didaskonen tei didaskaliai], the comforter, in comforting [parakalon en teiparaklesei].")

4. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews elaborates a theologyof the messianic priesthood of Christ, in the context ofwhich the lexical group that interests us occurs four times.Developing the Pauline argumentation about the two covenants(2 Corinthians 3:1–14), the theological nucleus of theletter plays on the opposition between the Levitical priesthood(levitike hierosyne, 7:11), corresponding to the old Mosaic covenantand encompassing the descendants of Aaron, and the newcovenant, in which the one who assumes the "liturgy" of thehigh priest (archiereus, this time encompassing the descendantsof Melchizedek) is Christ himself. Of the four appearances fromthe lexical family, two refer to the Levitical cult: in 9:21 Mosessprinkles with blood "the tent and all the vessels used in theliturgy" (panta ta skeue tes leitourgias); in 10:11 the author evokesthe priest of the old covenant, who "stands day after day forhis liturgical functions [leitourgon], offering again and again thesame sacrifices." The remaining two occurrences refer in turn toChrist, the high priest of the new covenant. In the first (8:2) he isdefined as "liturgue of the holy things and of the true tent" (tonhagion leitourgos kai tes skenes tes alethines; cf. Numbers 16:9); inthe second (8:6) it is said that he "has obtained a different andbetter liturgy (diaphoroteras tetychen leitourgias), to the degree towhich the covenant of which he is mediator is better." While infact the sacrifices of the Levites are only an example and shadow(hypodeigma kai skia, 8:5) of heavenly things and cannot thereforecomplete or render perfect (teleiosai, 9:9, 10:1) those whooffer them, the sacrifice of the new covenant, in which Christsacrifices himself, annuls sin (athetesin hamartias, 9:26) andpurifies (kathariei, 9:14) and sanctifies the faithful once and forall (teteleioken eis to dienekes tous hagiazomenous, 10:14).