And with your spirit

Origin of "Domine vobiscum"

"Boaz himself came from Bethlehem and said to the harvesters, 'The LORD be with you!' and they replied, 'The LORD bless you!'" (Ruth 2:4).

The Hebrew says nothing about 'and with your spirit.'

"With your spirit"

If these passages stand behind the tradition of "et cum spiritu tuo," they do not fit the theory that the spirit is a ministerial, sacramental spirit. Paul, the apostle of the Lord, greets the community. In the liturgy, "et cum spiritu to" is said by the congregation to the minister. I suspect that the early Church forgot why this phrase was used and later generations filled in the blanks.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (2 Timothy 4:22).

ο κυριος ιησους χριστος μετα του πνευματος σου. η χαρις μεθ υμων.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. (Galatians 6:18).

η χαρις του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου μετα του πνευματος υμων αδελφοι. αμην.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. (Philippians 4:23).

There seem to be two Greek variants for this passage.

η χαρις του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου μετα παντων υμων. αμην.

η χαρις του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου μετα του πνευματος. αμην.

I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Colossians (4:18).

η χαρις μεθ υμων. αμην.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philemon (1:25).

η χαρις του κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου μετα πνευματος μων. αμην.

Hebrew Roots

"Christians probably took these formulas over directly from the synagogue. There is clear evidence, for example, in St. Justin Martyr (100-165) that Christians spoke these answers from the very beginning.

"The fact that from the earliest times Christians conserved these phrases in their original form, in spite of their being foreign to both Greek and Latin mentalities, is a good argument to keep them intact in our current translations. In this way, we maintain a living connection with Christianity's historical origins just as we do with the conservation of other Hebrew forms and expressions such as Amen, Alleluia and Hosanna.

"The formula 'be with you' is considered as a greeting, of benevolence and of recognition of a reality: The Lord is present. The Semitic response, 'And with your spirit,' literally means 'And also with you,' as 'your spirit' literally means 'your person.' Therefore the current English translation could be considered as an accurate rendering of the Hebrew background."

Reverence for the Ministering Spirit

"The Greek word for spirit, pneuma, is never used in the Old Testament to render nephesh, but only when translating ruah. Thus, it seems clear that the use of 'spirit' in the liturgy is not intended merely as a euphemism for 'you' but bears some other special theological significance. ... The spirit' mentioned here refers specifically to the spirit received in ordination. It is an affirmation by the assembly that the ordained minister has received the appropriate anointing with the spirit to make him the leader in sacramental ministry. This usage has a special beauty: it is less about the person of the priest than about the office of the priesthood, which is supported and guaranteed by the Spirit of God given in ordination. Early Church Fathers, such as John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Narsai of Nisibis, and Abraham bar Lipheh explicitly back this interpretation.

"One scriptural usage may be set in objection to this interpretation: Galatians 6:18, Philippians 4:23, and Philemon 25 all use 'spirit' in a more general sense as addressed to the whole Church: 'The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.' Saint Paul is not referring here to the particular gifts of the Spirit possessed by each member of the local Church, because 'spirit' is in the singular. Rather, he is referring to that gift of the Spirit which each local Church possesses in so far as it is a unity in Christ for the worship of the Father (Milner, p. 206)."

Links

• Dominus vobiscum.
• Liturgiam authenticam.

56. Certain expressions that belong to the heritage of the whole or of a great part of the ancient Church, as well as others that have become part of the general human patrimony, are to be respected by a translation that is as literal as possible, as for example the words of the people’s response Et cum spiritu tuo, or the expression mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa in the Act of Penance of the Order of Mass.