ambassador

ambassador, noun The word ambassador occurs only four times in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, twice in the Hebrew Scriptures, once in a letter to the Corinthians from Paul and once in letter to the Ephesians claiming to be from Paul but probably written by someone else. In each case, the image of an ambassador that comes to the mind of a contemporary reader in an industrial nation is that of a powerful person, one with proven political connections, who can threaten and intimidate as well as negotiate in the international arena. Martyn Percy, however, has pointed out that the title had different connotations in the ancient world:

Typically, a community or person sent an ambassador in circumstances of weakness, dependence or vulnerability. Ambassadors were often dispensable people, who in many cases had to extol a brief that simultaneously made them expendable and integral. Essentially, ambassadors were supplicants ─ even though often they were people of high standing in the communities from which they came. . . Paul’s choice of the metaphor of ambassador precisely illustrates his understanding of his power ─ and weakness ─ as an apostle of Christ. . . It illustrates that at its heart, his task was to appeal, to supplicate, to beg, and to entreat.¹

The root for one of the Hebrew words translated as ambassador, tsiyr, suggests this weakness and vulnerability: hinge. A hinge can be forced to turn, so hinge became a metaphor not only for an ambassador or envoy but also for pain. Here is a sampling of the various translations of tsiyr:

As a door turns on its hinges, so does a lazy person in bed. [Proverbs 26:14]

Ah, land of whirring wings beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, sending ambassadors by the Nile in vessels of papyrus on the waters! Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth, to a people feared near and far, a nation mighty and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. [Isaiah 18:1-2, messenger = malak, see below]

You journeyed to Molech with oil, and multiplied your perfumes; you sent your envoys far away, and sent down even

to Sheol. [Isaiah 57:9]

The vision of Obadiah. Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: We have heard a report from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Rise up! Let us rise against it for battle!” [Obadiah 1:1]

Then one in human form touched my lips, and I opened my mouth to speak, and said to the one who stood before me, “My lord, because of the vision such pains have come upon me that I retain no strength.” [Daniel 10:16]

Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear, I am dismayed so that I cannot see. [Isaiah 21:3]

The other word translated as ambassador is malak, which usually appears in English as messenger or angel.²

He rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt, in order that they might give him horses and a large army. [Ezekiel 17:15]

The Greek word for ambassador in the early Christian letters is presbeuo, which is actually a verb meaning to act as an elder or to be a representative.

So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. [II Corinthians 5:20]

Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. [Ephesians 6:19-20]

The verb presbeuo has the same root as presbyteros, which is variously translated as presbyter, elder, or priest.³ In its original meaning, presbyteros identified an older person who was worthy of respect, but it came to be a title for a member of a governing council in Judaism and in the church. The two meanings ─ an older person and a person of high standing in a community ─ suggest that an ambassador was both a person of authority and one who was expendable. A sensible community would not want to choose as their envoy to a powerful adversary an able-bodied young person, who might be imprisoned or killed. An old man, no matter how wise, was always dispensable. Paul and the one who wrote in his name presumably used the term presbeuo to emphasize the weakness of Paul’s position.

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1. Martyn Percy, Power and the Church (London: Cassell, 1998), p. 47

2. For angel, see From Literal to Literary, pp. 24-27.

3. For priest, elder, and presbyter, see From Literal to Literary, pp. 197-199