Dominus vobiscum – not to be confused with dominoes and biscuits
Dominus vobiscum is rooted in the
Judeo-Christian tradition. The great liturgical scholar Joseph Jungmann
points out that “both the greeting and the reply are ancient, their origins hid
in pre-Christian times.”
In Ruth 2:4 Booz (or Boaz) greets
the reapers with “Dominus vobiscum”. The
salutation was a part of everyday life and we find it several times in Holy
Scripture (Jungmann lists: 2 Timothy 4:22, Philemon 25, Galatians 6:18,
Philippians 4:23). The reapers of Booz reply (in
the Latin Vulgate of course) “Benedicat tibi Dominus…
May the Lord bless you.”
Jungmann offers that “we employ in its place a phrase which
means almost the same thing: Et cum spiritu tuo,
a formula which betrays its Hebrew origin and has many parallels in St.
Paul”. Jungmann adds in a footnote (p. 363, n 16): “This is a
Semitism: Spiritus tuus = your person =
you.”
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