The Arma Christi [General discussion]

[arca_libraria]

I guess I found the nails?

f90v1


Root is a feline brandishing its claws. In Germanic languages, nail/nagel... can mean both fingernails and metal spikes.

There's potentially another layer of allusion here. Rev 5.5 describes Jesus as "the lion of the tribe of Judah" and "the root of David". The reference in Revelation (a New Testament book) is seen as an allusion to several verses in the Old Testament that Christians believe are prophecies concerning Jesus as the Messiah. There's a surprisingly(!) good summary on this Bible study website You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

In addition, that Rev 5:5 passage was incorporated into a medieval poem that seems to have existed since at least 890:
Ecce crucem domini / fugite partes adversae! / Vicit leo de tribu iuda / radix David.

Behold the cross of the Lord,
Flee hostile forces.
The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered,
The root of David.

The poem is sometimes known as the Prayer of St Anthony of Padua, although it seems to predate his existence by quite some time. I have seen the poem used as part of a charm to stop a nosebleed in a manuscript of c. 1100–1140, but I have no idea how widely it was known or used in a medical context.

So if (and this is an enormous if, let's be honest) a number of guesses all turn out to be correct, then we have a lion root, which sprouts a cross shape made of nails - so maybe Jesus as the new testament fruit of the old testament root?

The Rev 5:5 verses in full:
Rev 5:5 (Vulgate version): Et unus de senioribus dicit mihi: "Ne fleveris; ecce vicit leo de tribu Iudae, radix David, aperire librum et septem signacula eius".
Rev 5:5 (NRSV): Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."