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Bible Dictionaries
Doxology
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or DOXOLOGY.—An ascription of praise to God in forms of words more or less fixed by usage. Though the term does not occur in the NT, it contains many doxologies, and they were an important element in the devotional life of the primitive Christians. This indeed was inevitable, because they carried with them what was best in the practice of Judaism, and were especially influenced in the expression of their worship by the language of the OT.
1. The OT and Jewish usage.—Doxologies are common in the OT, being found in germ even in its oldest portions. In the Song of Deborah praise is given to Jehovah for national deliverance (Judges 5:2; Judges 5:9; cf. Exodus 18:10). In 1 Kings 1:48; 1 Kings 8:15 there is thankful recognition of Jehovah’s power and control in national events. The Psalms are especially rich (Psalms 28:6; Psalms 34:2-3; Psalms 135, 146), though one form, ‘give thanks unto Jehovah, for His lovingkindness endureth for ever,’ seems to be the most common both in the Psalms and all post-exilic literature (Psalms 106:1; Psalms 107:1; Psalms 118:1-3, 1 Chronicles 16:34, 2 Chronicles 5:13; 2 Chronicles 7:3; 2 Chronicles 7:6, Ezra 3:11). The regular liturgical conclusion of the services of the Temple, and afterwards of the Synagogue, came to be a doxology beginning ‘blessed be (or ‘is’) God.’ By the time of our Lord the employment of doxological expressions had increased so largely, that they were in the mouth of the people for any event which stirred their gratitude or wonder, in fact as thanksgiving for almost everything in life. Though the fundamental religious idea of the doxology, that Jehovah is the Holy One whose sovereign power must be acknowledged at all times, was a noble one, its use had too often degenerated into the veriest formalism.
2. NT usage.—Traces of Jewish custom may be seen in the Gospels (Matthew 15:31, Mark 2:12, Luke 1:46; Luke 1:68; Luke 2:20; Luke 5:25-26; Luke 7:18). The words and attendant conditions of the life of Jesus so impressed the people that a new hope was born in them, and they praised God for signs of His returning favour to Israel through this prophet. Jesus does not yet receive Divine homage. No doxology is offered to Him anywhere in the Gospels, for the Messianic acclaim (Mark 11:9-10) is not to be so interpreted (see Dalman, Words of Jesus, 220ff., and Swete, in loc.). God alone has the right to such ascription, for He is ‘holy’; He is ὁ εὐλογητός, the One to whom blessing is due (Mark 14:61), הַקרושׁ בָּרוּךְ היִא being a well-known Jewish formula. See artt. Benediction and Blessing.
Immediately after the Resurrection, Jesus is associated with the Father in glory, and receives worship as Messiah and Son of God. This is the universal Apostolic view (Acts 2:33-36; Acts 3:13; Acts 3:15; Acts 5:31, Romans 1:4, Philippians 2:6-11, Hebrews 1:3; Hebrews 2:9, James 2:1; 1 Peter 1:21). So the ascription of doxologies to the risen Christ naturally followed. But the doxology continued to be addressed most frequently to God the Father (Romans 11:36, Galatians 1:5, Ephesians 3:20-21, Philippians 4:20, 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 Peter 5:11, Revelation 7:12). In several Jesus Christ is associated more or less directly with God the Father (Romans 16:27; 1 Peter 4:11, Judges 1:25, Revelation 5:13). Romans 9:5 and Hebrews 13:21 present battling evidence as to the recipient; but in 2 Timothy 4:18; 2 Peter 3:18, Revelation 1:6 glory is ascribed to Jesus Christ. Thus in conformity with Christian belief the OT usage was expanded, so that at a very early date there arose a Christian formula, which in the public adoration of the worship of the Church would serve in a secondary sense as a creed, expressing the doctrine that the risen Christ shared in Divine honour with the Father.
3. Structure.—The doxologies of the NT consist of three main parts.
(a) The Person to whom praise is given. This is, as we have seen, most frequently God the Father, though Jesus Christ is associated with Him. Attributes are often added, usually to emphasize the Divine blessing which has occasioned the praise. In Ephesians 3:20-21, e.g. a clause descriptive of the power of the Almighty serves to justify the Apostle’s prayer for strength on behalf of his readers. See Romans 16:27, 1 Timothy 1:17; 1 Timothy 6:16; 2 Peter 3:18, Judges 1:24-25, Revelation 1:5-6; Revelation 5:13.
(b) The second term is almost invariably δόξα (‘glory’), either alone or with some significant addition (Ephesians 3:21), the chief exceptions being 1 Timothy 6:16 (‘honour and power’), 1 Peter 5:11 (‘the dominion’). The amplitude of the doxologies in the Apocalypse deserves attention, the praise being threefold (Revelation 4:11; Revelation 19:1), fourfold (Revelation 5:13), or sevenfold in its perfection (Revelation 7:12). This full-voiced glory offered to the Lamb (Revelation 5:13) in this book of Hebrew cast, shows how thoroughly it was the belief of the circle from which it issued that Jesus transcended every created being.
Except in 1 Peter 4:11 the copula is omitted, so that it must be determined from the context whether the doxology is affirmative or precatory (see Lightfoot on Galatians 1:5; Chase, Lord’s Prayer, p. 169; Didache, viii. 2; Clement of Rome, 58).
(c) The third integral part of the doxology in its simplest form is εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας (‘unto the ages’), which denotes the eternity of the sovereign rule of the Lord. Before the mind of the Apostolic writers, however, the future rolls out in a series of aeons, so that the normal form is expanded very frequently into εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων, in order to cover all possible periods of time (Galatians 1:5, Philippians 4:20, 1 Timothy 1:17, 2 Timothy 4:18, Hebrews 13:21; 1 Peter 4:11, Revelation 5:13; Revelation 7:12. See also Ephesians 3:21; 2 Peter 3:18, Judges 1:25).
The conclusion of all doxologies except 2 Peter 3:18 is ἀμήν.
4. The Doxology in the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:13).—It can no longer be doubted that this was not a part of the prayer as it stood originally in Matthew. The uncial evidence is very weak (LΔΣ), and the variations in the early versions are numerous (Syrcur omits ‘and the power’; the Sinaitic is defective, and the old Latin (k) and the Sahidic differ from each other and from the Syriac). The form found in the Didache (viii. 2, x. 5) ultimately developed into the full expression (‘the kingdom and the power and the glory’), which probably passed into the Syrian text from the liturgical usage of the Syrian Church. (See Hort’s Notes on Select Readings, p. 9). Of this final doxology the original source may have been 1 Chronicles 29:11, which shaped the Synagogue usage and thereby that of the Christian Church. No Jewish benediction was complete without reference to ‘the kingdom’ of Jehovah. ‘It calls attention to this that He to whom the kingdom belongs, also has the power to hear the prayer which primarily has in view the establishing of that kingdom, and that He is therefore to be praised for ever’ (Weiss). See, further, art. Lord’s Prayer.
5. The Angelic Hymn (Luke 2:14), in its longer and less correct text, gave rise to the Gloria in Excelsis (Apost. Const. vii. 47). The Doxologia Minor (‘Glory be to the Father,’ etc.) may possibly be traced back to Matthew 28:19, but there is no other sign of it in the NT. However, to follow the fortunes of these doxologies would carry us beyond our limits. (See Smith’s Dictionary of Christian Antiquities).
Literature.—Jewish Ency. vol. viii. art. ‘Liturgy’; Herzog-Hauck’s PRE [Note: RE Real-Encyklopädie fur protest. Theologic und Kirche.] 3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] vol. xi. art. ‘Liturgische Formeln’; Chase, The Lord’s Prayer in the Early Church; Westcott, Epistle to the Hebrews, Add. Note ‘Apostolic Doxologies.’
R. A. Falconer.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Doxology'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/d/doxology.html. 1906-1918.
