The 'O' Antiphons: Radix

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The sumup is here.

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O stock of Jesse, you stand as a signal for the nations; kings fall silent before you whom the peoples acclaim. O come to deliver us, and do not delay.

There is a repetition of the "humble roots" theme throughout the Bible. Jesse was a simple shepherd at a time when his tribe, Judah, was a sort of "country cousin" to the more wealthy and sophisticated tribes of the north. He was, moreover, the descendent of Moabite (via Ruth) which was just as politically compromising. David, who was to become the king, was the youngest of Jesse's sons. Saul, on the other hand, David's king and eventual rival, was from Benjamin, one of the most prestigious tribes.

Of course, the connection to David would've given any descendent a favorable sheen, but by the time we churn through one thousand plus years to arrive at Jesus, both Samaria and Jerusalem had been sacked, the Jews had been deported to Babylon and brought back again, followed by the horrors of the Selucid reign and then the Romans.

In short, we're still at a distance in the third antiphon... still discussion salvation in terms of abstractions and distance. Nevertheless, calling upon Jesus as the "step of Jesse" not only draws many parallels, but it expands the derivation of earthly royalty from earthly poverty to divinity arising from earthly poverty. In short, we're already moving away from a "traditional" messianic view of a savior as a distinguished military and political leader, and toward a limited and universal understanding, one that is consistant with, and even emphasized through, poverty.

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