Wednesday 28 December 2011

Paarl Gimnasium Motto

http://www.soliustitiae.co.za/blog/2010/09/02/origin-of-sol-iustitiae-illustra-nos/


What is the origin of the motto “Sol Iustitiae Illustra Nos”?

Many a visitor enters the building of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Stellenbosch without taking any notice of the motto written on the gable in the centre. The few who do notice the motto “sol iustitiae illustra nos” might not be aware of how it became part of the building erected in 1905.

Dutch Ancestry

The very same motto was accepted by the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands, way back in 1636. This Latin motto was gleaned from a literal Latin translation of Malachi 4:2 and can be rendered as: “Son of righteousness shine upon us”.
But how did the motto get from the Netherlands on to a gable in Stellenbosch? Many theological students from South Africa studied during the eighteenth and nineteenth century at the University of Utrecht and when the Theological Seminary started in 1859, the Curatorium proposed that the fledgling institution choose the same motto.

Similar Motto’s

The Faculty of Theology at Stellenbosch is not the only institution that emulated the University of Utrecht with regards to their motto:
  • In 1766 when Rutgers University in New Jersey (USA) was founded, it decided on a motto similar to Utrecht University: “sol iustitiae et occidentem illustra”. This adapted motto can be translated as “sun of righteousness shine upon the west also”. (Perhaps Stellenbosch can consider contextualizing the motto by referring the need of the south to be illuminated!?)
  • Closer to home the old and well known Strooidakkerk in Paarl decided to mention this motto in the western gable of the church that was erected in 1805.
  • The same motto was accepted in 1858 by the Paarl Gimnasium when the local DRC minister GWA van der Lingen (an alumnus of Utrecht University) suggested it. In a similar vein one can note that the school newspaper of Paarl Gimnasium is appropriately known as “Sollie”!

Brief Notes on Malachi 4:2

Without indulging in a lengthy sermon, the following brief notes can be made of Malachi 4:2 – with special emphasis on the translation of the construct – genitive phrase shemesh tsedaqa that is used only once in the whole Hebrew Bible:
  • As an attributive genitive the phrase can be rendered as an adjective = “a righteous or just sun” (Calvin choose this option!).
  • Most commentators prefer to translate the phrase as an epexigetical genitive that translates the genitive as an explanation of the noun = “a sun of righteousness”.
  • This phrase forms part of the sixth oracle in the book of Malachi in which the relationship between God and his people is discussed and explained.
  • The phrase must be closely related to Malachi’s expectation that the Day of the Lord as a day of judgment will soon take place during which the justice of the Lord will manifest itself.
  • The late dating of Malachi makes it probable that one should interpret this oracle in the context of the Persian Empire during which the Zaroastrian god Ahuramazda was venerated as the god of justice. Therefore expecting Yahweh as the “sun of righteousness” was a polemical alternative to Ahuramazda (who was represented by a winged sun disk in Persian iconography).

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