Recent Mass readings from Ezekiel bring the inspiring phrase, the glory of the LORD, to our attention. It shows up 41 times in the Bible, only 3 of those in the New Testament. It is in Ezekiel 10 times, more than in any other bible book. Here are the New Testament instances.
In that region there were shepherds living in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
Then an angel of the Lord stood before them,
and the glory of the Lord shone around them,
and they were terrified.
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—
I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people. – Luke 2:8-10
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Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord
as though reflected in a mirror,
are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another;
for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:17-18
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With him we are sending the brother who is famous among all the churches
for his proclaiming the good news; and not only that,
but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us
while we are administering this generous undertaking for the glory of the Lord himself and to show our goodwill. – 2 Corinthians 8:18-19
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Below is the Strong’s Concordance explanation of the Greek word translated glory.
Lost in Translation Issue?
The Hebrew word translated glory in the Old Testament has a deeper meaning than the New Testament Greek Word or the modern English glory. It suggests weight, importance, worth, and value. At the website of a Christian organization in Israel, Firmisrael.org, there is a simple and well written explanation of the Hebrew word Kavod. I can’t improve on it, so I recommend it. Maybe we should always bow when hearing the Old Testament phrase The Glory of the Lord. Maybe we should always be capitalizing glory along with Lord.
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The chart below reveals the location of the 41 instances of the phrase in the Bible. Ezekiel leading the way.
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In the Catechism
The phrase Glory of the Lord appears three times in the Catechism, the first two in the section on Liturgy and the third in the section on prayer, none seeming to suggest the weight of the Hebrew word. The second one, incidentally, is especially provocative, reminding us that God “has neither a body nor a face.” Footnote 27 identifies St. John Damascene, De imag. 1, 16: PG 96: 1245-1248 as the source of that quote. In CCC-2676, the pertinent phrase is in the 11th line from the top.
