Vox dei

For similar English terms, see Voice of God.
God the Son (center) hears the voice of God the Father (aloft, represented by the Hand of God) through God the Holy Spirit (overhead, represented by a white dove), with John the baptiser to the left and angels with towels to the right; Mosaic Baptism of Jesus from Daphni, c. 1100

In Christianity, vox dei (Latin "voice of god"; Persian: ندا, Neda) is a concept of divine revelation.[1]

In Art it is represented by the Hand of God.

New Testament

In the New Testament mention of “a voice from heaven” occurs in the following passages: Mat 3:17; Mar 1:11;[2] Luk 3:22 (at the baptism of Jesus); Mat 17:5; Mar 9:7; Luk 9:35 (at the transfiguration); Joh 12:28 (shortly before the Passion); Acts 9:4; Acts 22:7; Acts 26:14 (conversion of Paul), and Acts 10:13, Acts 10:15 (instruction of Peter concerning the clean and unclean).

It is clear that we have here to do with a conception of the nature and means of divine revelation that is distinctly inferior to the Biblical view. For even in the Biblical passages where mention is made of the voice from heaven, all that is really essential to the revelation is already present, at least in principle, without the audible voice. The concept appears in Dan 4:31:[1]

[T]here fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee (emphasis added).

Art

Christian art adopted the Hand of God to relevant New Testament scenes from the Jewish art which has often represented the Bath ḳōl.

Interpretation

Christian scholars interpreted "vox dei" as the Jews' replacement for the great prophets when, "after the death of Malachi, the spirit of prophecy wholly ceased in Israel" (taking the name to refer to its being "the daughter" of the main prophetic "voice").[3]

References

  1. 1 2 The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
  2. ↑ And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Mark 1:11
  3. ↑ Humphrey Prideaux, The Old and New Testament connected in the history of the Jews, 1851.

Sources

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