- Aug 21, 2021
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We are presently in the time of year when this classical piece of music is often performed, especially where I live in the south. Even non-Christians can share an appreciation for this wonderful repetition of scripture texts, sung in choruses that both stir and comfort the soul.
It wasn't until a few years ago when I did a closer study on the choice of scripture selections Handel set to music. Probably unknown to him, there are some which elevate the role of women preachers in the OT scriptures. When I hear these sung, I get a secret satisfaction in hearing God's love and encouragement for women to preach the gospel freely.
To preach is to proclaim or to be a herald of good tidings. This is what women did who encountered Christ (such as the Samaritan woman), or who followed Him during His earthly ministry (such as Mary Magdalene and the other women delivering Christ's message about His resurrection), or those from Pentecost onward who exercised the Spirit's gift of speaking about God's wonderful works in various languages - the women apostles in that first century.
The first of three OT texts in Handel's Messiah about women preaching is the short, lively chorus taken from Psalms 68:11. Handel's chorus triumphantly sings, "The Lord gave the word: great was the company of the preachers." However, this translation is not an accurate reflection of the original Hebrew gender found in this verse. Over half of the translations DO recognize the correct gender as found in the Hebrew, and render this verse correctly: "The Lord gave the word: THE WOMEN who publish the tidings are a great host."
The context surrounding this Psalms 68:11 verse above includes a prophecy of the Lord's resurrection in Psalms 68:18: "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men..." which Ephesians 4:8-12 links directly to Christ's resurrection and the multitude of Matthew 27:52-53 saints raised with Him. Once Christ had risen from the dead, His very first meetings with Mary Magdalene and the group of women who met Him (John 20:17, Matthew 28:7-10) included His command for them to publish the good tidings to His disciples. The number of women who published the good news grew increasingly numerous at Pentecost when God poured out His Spirit's gift on both sons and daughters - the handmaidens who Joel 2:28-29 predicted would receive this gift. This was truly a "great host" of women who published the word that the Lord gave in that first century.
The next chorus of the Messiah is based on Isaiah 40:9, with the context describing the time of Christ's ministry when John the Baptist as the "voice in the wilderness" had prepared the way of the Lord. "O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion" is yet another case of a Hebrew verb in the feminine gender. Those who told the good tidings to Zion and Jerusalem were WOMEN in this text.
When Isaiah 40:9 said to "get thee up into the high mountain", this was also a Hebrew verb in the feminine gender. In other words, the WOMEN were to go into the high mountain in Jerusalem (the Temple site), and proclaim the message of a risen Christ to those in Mount Zion. The whole intent of this verse was meant to encourage these women to NOT be timid, but to "lift up thy voice with STRENGTH; lift it up, BE NOT AFRAID; say unto the cities of Judah 'Behold your God!' " This was indeed how the women of that first century carried the good news of Christ's resurrection to their fellow Jews.
So faithfully did they carry out this mission that Saul included women as well as men in his persecution from city to city. He had women from the house churches thrown in prison along with men for the offense of spreading the gospel. As a result of Saul's / Paul's persecution, these women as well as the men were scattered and went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:3-4).
The third Messiah chorus is centered around Zechariah 9:9 (LXX). "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; PROCLAIM IT ALOUD, O daughter of Jerusalem." To proclaim (kerusse) is to preach or to publish. If anyone thinks God really wanted His daughters to be silent with regard to spreading the good news, this verse would contradict that idea most obviously, since the term "daughter" is repeated twice here. This was a prophecy timed for fulfillment when Christ entered Jerusalem on the foal of an ass - a display meant to show Christ as the fulfillment of being Israel's Savior and King. God fully intended women as well as men to publish this message of His salvation and His kingdom, just like Anna, the aged, faithful prophetess in the temple who spoke of the infant Christ to all in Israel who were looking for the Messiah.
Probably this emphasis on women preaching is not the interpretation Handel himself would have put on all of these verses he used, but that's not the important thing.
It wasn't until a few years ago when I did a closer study on the choice of scripture selections Handel set to music. Probably unknown to him, there are some which elevate the role of women preachers in the OT scriptures. When I hear these sung, I get a secret satisfaction in hearing God's love and encouragement for women to preach the gospel freely.
To preach is to proclaim or to be a herald of good tidings. This is what women did who encountered Christ (such as the Samaritan woman), or who followed Him during His earthly ministry (such as Mary Magdalene and the other women delivering Christ's message about His resurrection), or those from Pentecost onward who exercised the Spirit's gift of speaking about God's wonderful works in various languages - the women apostles in that first century.
The first of three OT texts in Handel's Messiah about women preaching is the short, lively chorus taken from Psalms 68:11. Handel's chorus triumphantly sings, "The Lord gave the word: great was the company of the preachers." However, this translation is not an accurate reflection of the original Hebrew gender found in this verse. Over half of the translations DO recognize the correct gender as found in the Hebrew, and render this verse correctly: "The Lord gave the word: THE WOMEN who publish the tidings are a great host."
The context surrounding this Psalms 68:11 verse above includes a prophecy of the Lord's resurrection in Psalms 68:18: "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men..." which Ephesians 4:8-12 links directly to Christ's resurrection and the multitude of Matthew 27:52-53 saints raised with Him. Once Christ had risen from the dead, His very first meetings with Mary Magdalene and the group of women who met Him (John 20:17, Matthew 28:7-10) included His command for them to publish the good tidings to His disciples. The number of women who published the good news grew increasingly numerous at Pentecost when God poured out His Spirit's gift on both sons and daughters - the handmaidens who Joel 2:28-29 predicted would receive this gift. This was truly a "great host" of women who published the word that the Lord gave in that first century.
The next chorus of the Messiah is based on Isaiah 40:9, with the context describing the time of Christ's ministry when John the Baptist as the "voice in the wilderness" had prepared the way of the Lord. "O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion" is yet another case of a Hebrew verb in the feminine gender. Those who told the good tidings to Zion and Jerusalem were WOMEN in this text.
When Isaiah 40:9 said to "get thee up into the high mountain", this was also a Hebrew verb in the feminine gender. In other words, the WOMEN were to go into the high mountain in Jerusalem (the Temple site), and proclaim the message of a risen Christ to those in Mount Zion. The whole intent of this verse was meant to encourage these women to NOT be timid, but to "lift up thy voice with STRENGTH; lift it up, BE NOT AFRAID; say unto the cities of Judah 'Behold your God!' " This was indeed how the women of that first century carried the good news of Christ's resurrection to their fellow Jews.
So faithfully did they carry out this mission that Saul included women as well as men in his persecution from city to city. He had women from the house churches thrown in prison along with men for the offense of spreading the gospel. As a result of Saul's / Paul's persecution, these women as well as the men were scattered and went everywhere preaching the word (Acts 8:3-4).
The third Messiah chorus is centered around Zechariah 9:9 (LXX). "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; PROCLAIM IT ALOUD, O daughter of Jerusalem." To proclaim (kerusse) is to preach or to publish. If anyone thinks God really wanted His daughters to be silent with regard to spreading the good news, this verse would contradict that idea most obviously, since the term "daughter" is repeated twice here. This was a prophecy timed for fulfillment when Christ entered Jerusalem on the foal of an ass - a display meant to show Christ as the fulfillment of being Israel's Savior and King. God fully intended women as well as men to publish this message of His salvation and His kingdom, just like Anna, the aged, faithful prophetess in the temple who spoke of the infant Christ to all in Israel who were looking for the Messiah.
Probably this emphasis on women preaching is not the interpretation Handel himself would have put on all of these verses he used, but that's not the important thing.
