Observations on ἱλασμὸν σωτηρίας

“[Soul-]saving forgiveness [of sins]” (ἱλασμὸν σωτηρίας).  This phrase does not make good sense in English:  “the pardon of salvation,” “the propitiation of salvation” etc. 
First, we must settle the definition of ἱ­λα­σμός.  Throughout the hymns ancient and modern, ἱλασμὸν ἁμαρτιῶν (which looks as if it is based on 1 John 4.10), ἱλασμὸν τῶν πταισμάτων and ἱλασμὸν ἐπταικότων appear regularly.  We note in particular that St. John of Damascus uses such expressions as πταισμάτων ἱλασμόν, πλημμελημάτων ἱλασμόν, ἱλασμὸν καὶ ἄφεσιν τῶν πταισμάτων in his Theotokarion.  We read also in the Triodion (canon 1, ode 9 of Monday of Cheesefare) that the fast is εἰς ἁμαρτημάτων ἀποτροπάς καὶ ἱλασμὸν σωτήριον, where the parallelism cinches our conclusion that the hymnographers seem to regard ἱλασμόν as a synonym for ἄφεσις.
How does ἱλασμὸν σωτηρίας fit together?  The crucial fact is that ἱλασμὸν καὶ σωτηρίαν καὶ μέγα ἔλεος is a common collocation in the hymns of the church.  No monastic hymnographer can escape seeing this collocation on a regular basis in the cycles of the services, particularly in the Menaion. 
This collocation can be broken up:  we find in the hymns ἱλασμὸν καὶ θεῖον ἔλεος and ἱλασμὸν καὶ σωτηρίαν.  E.g., St. Gerasimos also writes ἱλασμὸν τὸν σωτήριον, Παύλου τοῖς λόγοις ὡς ἐκομίσω (“when you received the salvific forgiveness by the words of Paul”) (St. Lydia of Philippi [May 20]).  
We can therefore suppose that ἱλασμὸν σωτηρίας and ἱλασμὸν τὸν σωτήριον are intended as poetic renderings of ἱλασμὸν καὶ σωτηρίαν.  The exact construction of ἱλασμὸν σωτηρίας I take in Wallace’s framework as an attributive genitive, which masks the attributive adjective as a genitive complement.  Apparently St. Gerasimos regarded ἱλασμὸν καὶ σωτηρίαν as hendiadys.   

Observations on πανάμωμος

 “Wholly pure” (πανάμωμος).  In the hymns of the church we often find the Mother God being described as "all-blameless" (πανάμωμος). Is that the best translation?  

Kittel reports that ἄμωμος is used mostly “for physical perfection as a presupposition of cultic use.” I.e., it describes the ideal victim of a sacrifice. He goes on to describe how ἄμωμος is spiritualized by Philo, which leads to the NT use of the word to refer to the “moral blamelessness” of Christians. These facts affect how we translate ἄμωμος or πανάμωμος. The ever-popular “all-immaculate” is out, as the Mother of God is not a sacrificial victim, and, as Cato points out, such a translation appears to lend backhand support to a Catholic heresy.  The DGE, Great Scott and Montie all agree that ἄμωμος is used to mean "pure" in the LXX and Christian literature. “Pure” has the advantages of ambiguity and acceptability of usage, while it avoids the distractions of translationese and Romish overtones. 

Observations on Placatory vs. Expiatory

 “Forgiveness” (ἱλαστήριον).  According to C. H. Dodd, ἱλαστήριον means “not propitiation, but ‘a means by which guilt is annulled,’” that is, “a means by which sin is forgiven” (The Epistle of Paul to the Romans, Fontana Books).  The placatory theory is, he observes, a purely pagan one, whereas the expiatory theory “is found in scores of passages” in the Septuagint.  We might suppose that the ἱλαστήριον might have been understood by our hymnographer as referring to the effect of the sacrifice of Christ—the forgiveness of sins.  In the same way, we find that ἱλασμός advances from meaning a means of appeasing, propitiation to meaning forgiveness (Abbott-Smith).   Akathist to the Protection of the Mother of God.

Excursus on κόρη in the Greek hymns.

Throughout the hymns of the church we find references to the Mother of God as maiden.  Why is that?

Let’s examine the evidence of the lexicographers.

Great Scott lists girl, maiden (“with respect to virginity”), bride, daughter. 

Schrevelius lists virgin, handsome woman.

Donnegan reports virgin.

Giles reports virgin, daughter, bride.

Which of these several definitions should we understand in our hymns? 

Let’s take a randomly chosen line from the menaion for the conception of the Forerunner—χαῖρε, ἀκήρατε Κόρη—and apply each of the several definitions in turn:

(1)  Hail, pure girl. 

We can strike this one out, as the Mother of God is not a girl in the NT. 

(2)  Hail, pure handsome-woman.

We can strike this one out without further comment. 

(3)  Hail, pure bride.

We need to provide more evidence on bride before we dismiss it.  Montie reports that it means married or wooed daughter.  Clearly this sense does not fit any context in which this word is used in or texts.  Option (4) is dismissed together with (3).

(5)  Hail, pure maiden.

This is the option of most translators.

(6)  Hail, pure virgin.

No one seems to use this one.

 

Let’s take a closer look at (5).  COED defines maiden as “girl, young (unmarried) woman, virgin, spinster.”  Returning to χαῖρε ἀκήρατε Κόρη, we get the following possibilities.

(7)  Hail, pure girl.

(8)  Hail, pure young (unmarried) woman.

(9)  Hail, pure virgin.

(10)  Hail, pure spinster.

We can dismiss (7) and (10) immediately.  It takes a moment of thought to realize that since the Mother of God appears in the Gospel as already betrothed, she cannot be counted as a young (unmarried) woman.  This leaves us with virgin.

Another fact to consider is that if we translate κόρη as virgin in any hymn of the church, we will always get a true statement.  If we translate it as maiden in any hymn of the church, we will never get a statement consistent with the facts which we accept, for she is not a girl, an unmarried young woman or a spinster. 

Two questions remain:  why is the word used at all in our hymns and what does our conclusion mean for translating our hymns?

As to the former, our hymnographers rely on synonymia heavily.  This word allows the hymnographer to invoke the saint twice in a troparion—as always—without using the same  name or title. However, this device translates badly into English—it really breaks up the flow of thought and creates syntactical nightmares.  I propose to simply omit the κόρη if both appear, as metrical convenience is not something we worry about in English and double invocations are a mere artifice.  Arguably the doubled and tripled invocations heighten the emotional intensity—at least in Greek, though no one has ever mentioned it—but such an expedient to intensify one’s emotions is not even on the map of an Anglophone hymnographer.  There is in the translations from the Slavonic a tendency to avoid this device—among others.  When κόρη appears alone, I translate it as virgin.

 

OBSERVATIONS ON ἄχραντος AND RELATED ADJECTIVES

“Pure” (ἄχραντε).

In this digression I aim to clear up some problems that arise when one translates hymnographical Greek into English.  The first point I wish to make is the modest one that privative adjectives need not be translated by privative adjectives.  The second is the less modest one that privative adjective translations can be problematic.

(1)  What are the possible definitions of ἄχραντος?

DGE reports that ἄχραντος means no manchado, puro, sagrado etc.  The first thing we notice is that ἄχραντος is a privative (or negated) adjective.  The DGE reports no tocado, no puesto en contacto, no manchado, puro, sagrado, no contaminado, intacto.  Of seven definitions, three are simple.  (The DGE also reports some specialized uses of ἄχραντος which are relevant to our hymns, to which we will return below.)  By contrast, Great Scott reports only privative adjectives: undefiled, immaculate.  Montie reports two privative adjectives (uncontaminated, intact) and one simple (pure, which is identified as a later definition to be found in Iamblichus [saec. iii-iv]), inter al.  Lampe reports that ἄχραντος means “undefiled by sin.”  While Anglophone translaters generally tend to use privative adjectives, it is apparent from just three lexica that we have a choice of privative or simple adjectives. 

Why are privative adjectives problematic in English?

(1)  The most important may be that negated adjectives in English tend to emphasize the absence of a quality and so lose sight of the positive quality intended by the author.  Let’s take adjectives like stainless and undefiled as our example here and in what follows.  They obviously describe what quality is lacking but do not denote what was undoubtedly intended, namely, purity. 

(2)  Privative adjectives can be distracting.  For example, stainless is commonly collocated with steel.  Again, undefiled does not even belong to the top 20,000 words of our language, according to Davis.  In the case of the much-used immaculate, its normal reference to tidiness does not well serve the purpose of our hymns (is the Mother of God tidy?) and otherwise may be thought to confirm the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception.

(3)  Privative adjectives can produce grossly inappropriate associations.  The rara avis who looks up undefiled in the COED will surmise that it means not made dirty, not polluted, not deprived of virginity.  Are these associations which we want believers to form with the Mother of God?

Let’s illustrate the problem of privative adjectives with an example.  We may refer to an authoritative translation of a hymn which informs us that the Mother of God “experienced no deflowerment” (μὴ τῆς φθορᾶς διαπείρᾳ κυοφορήσασα “having been pregnant without corruption”).  Such a barbaric translation is the outcome of a strict adherence to privative adjectives; the fact that no lexicon suggests that φθορά can be so crudely translated adds mystery to vulgarity. 

Must φθορά be translated even as corruption?  The COED defines it as “decomposition; moral deterioration; use of corrupt practices (bribery etc.); perversion (of language, text, etc.) from its original state; deformation (of words).”  None of these definitions seem to apply to the Mother of God or to the manner in which she gave birth.  There is no reason in English for φθορά to be taken as corruption.

What should corruption be replaced with?  The solution appears to be found in the Ἄξιόν ἐστιν, in which the birth of God the Word is described as ἀδιαφθόρως. 

Great Scott reports that ἀδιάφθορος means not affected by decay, chaste, incorruptible (of judges), imperishable.  DGE adds puro.  DGE also adds that ἀδιαφθόρως means de manera pura.  Puro and de manera pura seem much more relevant to the Mother of God than the privatives listed by Great Scott (“you gave birth to God the word without being affected by decay”? “you gave birth to God the Word incorruptibly”? “you gave birth to God the Word imperishably”?).  Puro and de manera allow us to say things that are indeed relevant to the Mother of God:  “you gave birth to God the word chastely,” “you gave birth to God the Word purely,” “you gave birth to God the Word in a pure manner.”  All of these seem applicable in one fashion or another, though they are awkward. 

In short, τὴν ἀδιαφθόρως Θεὸν Λόγον τεκοῦσαν can be translated literally as “you gave birth to God the Word in a pure manner.”

By contrast, the monstrous phrase, “you experienced no deflowerment,” reduces a divine conception to a vulgar comment on the maidenhead.  Can we fix the translation of μὴ τῆς φθορᾶς διαπείρᾳ κυοφορήσασα, too?  One way to do this is to take the entire phrase as an elaborate and crude paraphrase of τὴν ἀδιαφθόρως Θεὸν Λόγον τεκοῦσαν.  The hymnographers often reword commonplace expressions with non-Biblical words in order to introduce some variety or to meet metrical requirements.  So, then, we take μὴ τῆς φθορᾶς διαπείρᾳ as a non-Biblical and crude paraphrase of ἀδιαφθόρως, while κυοφορήσασα is the non-Biblical equivalent of τεκοῦσαν.  Note that both τεκοῦσαν and κυοφορήσασα are aor. act. ptcs.  Note also that τῆς φθορᾶς διαπείρᾳ is problematic, since we have already demonstrated that φθορά has no meaning in the lexica which is relevant to the Mother of God.  However, taken as a whole, μὴ τῆς φθορᾶς διαπείρᾳ corresponds to another word in this hymn, ἀπείρανδρος (that has not known a man [Great Scott]) as well as to St. Athanasius’ expression, ἀνδρὸς ἄπειρος (“not knowing a man”; cf. St. Luke’s ἄνδρα οὐ γινώσκω), i.e., a virgin.  All three expressions rely on the root which is apparent in πεῖρα (trial, experience and of course temptation [Great Scott]).

In short, we can render μὴ τῆς φθορᾶς διαπείρᾳ κυοφορήσασα as “you carried [your Son in your womb] in a pure fashion.”  We can even say “you carried [your Son in your womb] as a virgin,” based on the St. Athanasius’ virtual definition of virgin.  It is interesting that Mr. K. defines κυοφορέω as to be pregnant in the family way.

Returning now to the general problem, it seems very advisable that translators use simple adjectives to render Greek’s innumerable simple and privative adjectives.  

Supplicatory Canon of Repentance to the Judge of Those Who Repent, Our Compassionate Lord Jesus Christ

 

Ode I.
Irmos.  After crossing the sea as if it were dry ground and escaping the wickedness of Egypt, the Israelite cried out:  Let us sing to our redeemer and God.

Grant soul-saving repentance to your unprofitable slave who wallows in corruption and earthly minded passions, O Savior, for you came to save sinners, O Lord.

In the hour of my examination, O Savior, do not throw your slave into the fire of Gehenna, O Christ, for you are merciful and compassionate, and you know the unsteadiness of my nature.

Quench the flame of the passions of your slave with the streams of your immeasurable compassion, most just Judge, for you cleanse the streams of my tears with a towel of love.

Deem all men worthy, O Mother of God, to obtain the sympathy of the infinite mercies of your Son, though they, alas! daily insult him in word and deed.

 

Ode III.

Irmos.  You covered the vault of the sky with a roof, O Lord, and built the church; confirm me in your love, O summit of desires, support of the faithful and only compassionate Lord.

Now hearken, O Savior, compassionate Word of God, to your mean slave who cries out in compunction, and deliver even me from condemnation to frightful punishment, sweetest Jesus, for you alone are patient.

Alas!  That time of my life on Earth which you gave me I have squandered, O Savior, on impious passions; wherefore I entreat you:  Do not reject me in an evil hour, but give me forgiveness for the things which I have done.

Grant me, your sinful slave, pardon, for I glorify you with longing as the most just Judge, the multitude of whose mercies, O compassionate one, triumph over your impartial judgement.

Ever-virgin Mother and highly favored one, I cry to you to cause the passions of the flesh of your worthless slave to abate, and do not permit me to be a prey to our enemy who hates goodness, for I have recourse to you.  

Long-suffering one, as you had pity on Manasses, have pity on me and receive me as a prodigal in your warm embrace, and save me, O Savior, as I repent.

 

Kathisma
O Christ Jesus, receive your slave into your bosom, for I repent on account of the pernicious sins of life, O wholly merciful Christ, O very merciful Savior, for you granted abundant repentance to the prodigal and the thief.

 

Ode IV. 

Irmos.  I have heard, O Lord, the mystery of your dispensation; I have meditated on your works and glorified your divinity.

Save, O Savior, your sinful slave, as you are greatly compassionate, and deliver me from the punishment of Gehenna, O sweetest Jesus.

I, a wretch, cry out to you, for no other mortal has sinned as I have done; wherefore I beg of you fervently, grant me life.

Open to me the gates of repentance, O giver of life, though I sin every day and by my offences provoke your goodness.

Be my defender, O Mother of God, in the hour of trial and soothe the struggles of my body, for you conceived the sinless one.

 

Ode V

Irmos.  Enlighten us with your commandments, O Lord, and by your lofty arm grant us your peace, O merciful God.

Deliver me from my sufferings and heal the incurable wounds of my soul, O Word of God, with the medicine of your life-giving favor.

As you fell among impious thieves, O compassionate one, and were covered with wounds, O Christ, I beseech you:  Heal me with your grace. 

Be gracious to your slave, O Jesus, our just judge, in the hour of trial, though I have insolently insulted your calling with sins.

Save your slave from the eternal fire, O Mother of God, who has wickedly squandered the time of life, which your Son gave me.

 

Ode VI  

Irmos.  I will pour out my supplication to the Lord and to him will I declare my afflictions, for my soul has been filled with troubles and my life has approached Hades, so like Jonah I pray:  Raise me up from death, O God.

Do not deem your passion-plagued slave worthy of the portion of those on the left, O Lord, O Christ, but place me in the same class as the sheep on your right, though I, an utterly useless lover of sin, embitter you by my sins, O Good One.

O giver of life, raise your slave with your immaculate hand from daily falls, for I am tempted sordidly by the senseless lion, and guide me to salvific dispassion, O Lord.

Cause the passions of my flesh to abate, O compassionate Savior, for I think on the outer fire, the darkness of death and the gnashing of teeth, and I cry, “Just Judge, Jesus, have mercy on me, though I grieve you by my deeds.” 

Undefiled, stainless and immaculate Mother of the Word of God Most High, by the streams of your fervent prayers to your compassionate Son cleanse your slave who defiles his spirit and flesh with corrupt words and worthless deeds.

 

Kontakion.
Open to me the gates of repentance, greatly merciful Christ, O compassionate one, and chase away the gloom of the thoughts of our sins by the splendors of your compassion, only benevolent one.

 

Ode VII

Irmos.  The youths from Judea, having come to Babylon of old, by their faith in the Trinity trampled down the flame of the furnace, chanting, O God of our fathers, blessed are you.

Since you desire to save me, O Savior, from the fire of Gehenna, most compassionate one, quench the flame of my base passions, which ever burn the utterly wretched soul of your miserable slave.

I fervently implore you to raise my mind from the abyss of destruction, all-merciful Jesus, for I have no streams of repentant tears, O compassionate one, to cleanse my soul of its passions.  

With a sprinkling of your great sympathy, thoroughly wash the tunic of my soul, which is evilly stained, from every sin and wickedness, O Jesus, and quickly make it become as white as snow.

O beauty of the heavenly bridal chamber, O Mother of God, raise even my earthbound mind to Heaven, O Virgin, and save your slave from corruption, for I flee to your attentive care amid dangers.

 

Ode VIII

Irmos.  The king of Heaven whom the hosts of angels hymn, hymn and exalt him above all forever.

Now I beseech you, all-merciful one:  Open to me the gates of repentance, O Savior, for I tread the path of sin.

Cause me to understand and give compunction, O Savior, to your slave through repentance, for I want to cleanse the filth from my heart.

O Lord of all, medicine which purifies the stains left by my sins, O Savior, deliver me from every disgusting custom of life.

O Mother of God, help one to walk the salvific paths of repentance, though he daily grieves your Son with vile deeds.

 

Ode IX

Irmos.  O Mother of God, we who have been saved through you fittingly confess you, and with the incorporeal choirs magnify you, O pure Virgin.

With your compassionate mercy cleanse the filth from my heart, most just Judge, and enable me to attain to the lot of those on your right.

O all-compassionate one, most speedily make clean the garment of my soul, which is filthy from idle talk, hankering for pleasure, idleness and lust for power.

O Christ, keep your slave in watchfulness, so that I will not be agitated in the hour of my death, O Lord, but hasten into your habitation.

O Virgin, make intercession that the Lord, your Son, appoint me who repent the portion of the just in the hour of the just judgement.

ENDNOTES FOR THE CIRCUMSPECT

I thank Zoilus Junior for his critical comments; his keen wit amended my translation at several points.  I thank Aeteia, the Lawfully Wedded, for checking my English.  The reader who points out errors and mishaps in the translation may advise me on Facebook (Orthodox Canons to the Saints).

This “poem” is by “Dr. Charalampous M. Mpousia, hymnographer of the Church of Alexandria.”  The Greek of this author is generally troublesome.  I cannot be sure whether he does not know Greek as well as the occasion requires or whether he is so anxious to put on the dog that he trips over his own shoelaces.  The interested may find the source of this canon at Πηγή.

Ode I. 

“Grant” (βράβευσον):  Hederich reports tribuo [grant], praebeo [supply, offer].

“Slave” (δούλῳ).  Careful consideration of the lexica confirms that δοῦλος means slave, not servant.  As Kittel reports of the NT usage of the word, “alongside the will and commission of the κύριος there is no place for one’s own will or initiative.”

“Wallows” (κυλινδούμενον).  Mpousios  casts κυλινδούμενον in the accusative when it should be in the dative to agree with δούλῳ.

“My examination” (ἐτάσεως).  The lexicographers also report investigation, trial (not app. in the legal sense), affliction (presumably the emotion resulting from the investigation).  This unranked noun occurs three times in Job (10:17, 12:6, 31:14).  Great Scott declined to offer statistics on it.  Lust reports it as a neologism.  It does not appear in the NT.  Pape reports that ἔτασις = ἐτασμός, which is the unranked equivalent of our word (itself ranked 4644^th).  Great Scott reports that ἐτασμός means scrutiny, close examination.  This seems to be another example of the preference of hymnographers for rare words, although ἐτασμός is already pretty low-ranking.  The phrase ἐν ὥρᾳ ἐτάσεως is found five times in the Greek of the Triodion, four of which occur on Saturday before Last Judgement Sunday, the fifth on the Saturday before Cheesefare.

“Unsteadiness” (εὐόλισθον).  For εὐόλισθος, Montie reports slippery, slimy.  Lampe reports unstable, easily slipping.  These are adjectives, and no article has been supplied by the poet to make it a substantive.  Stephanus reports that this word is drawn from όλισθος (slipperiness; in Dutch, the delightful glibberigheid).  Lampe reports that όλισθος can mean slip, fall (lit. or moral), cause of moral lapse, temptation or danger; liability to slip or fall morally.  My guess is that Mpousios mistook εὐόλισθος as an abstract noun by analogy with όλισθος.  In view of the tendency of our hymnographers to prefer rarer words to common words and complex nouns to simplex nouns, I decided on unsteadiness.  Slipperiness is better, but suffers from a faintly comic ring.  Liability to fall morally is convoluted.

Ode III.
“Slave” (οἰκέτου).  Great Scott reports household slave.  Thayer reports that an οἰκέτης has “closer relations to the family than other slaves.”  My guess is that Mpousios is using οἰκέτης merely to relieve the monotony of using δοῦλος.       

My policy henceforth will be to render both words as slave.
“In an evil hour” (κακῶς).  Lit., “do not reject me vilely,” which seems to imply that Christ would do so “with evil intent, with malice in one’s heart” or “with disregard of right” (Cunliffe).  Those definitions correspond perfectly to English usage.  It is more likely that Mpousios means something like “in evil case or plight, miserably, with suffering,” “so as to bring suffering or sore trouble upon one” or “so as to bring trouble on oneself; in an evil hour” (Cunliffe).  We might think of these counterintuitive translations as examples of the subjective κακῶς.  It is up to the reader to decide for himself which translation is best.

“Pardon” (Ἱλασμόν), Montie reporting.  Kittel elaborates:  “the setting aside of sin as guilt against God.”  Once again, the vast majority of translators rely on the cultic/ritual definitions, for which Great Scott reports “a means of appeasing” and “atonement, sin offering.”  Before we rely on them, we must consider whether anything has changed since such words were first used.  Has the New Covenant recast such terms?  Have men employed the expedient of expanding the semantic spheres of such terms?  In the case of the word under discussion, taking Kittel and Montie together, we would suppose that if one’s guilt has been set aside, then one is pardoned.  The tendency of translators to confine their attention to the oldest, “root” meanings of words when working on texts written under vastly different circumstances many eons later is inexcusable.  We do well to wonder how a word denoting a concept relevant to, say, the 13th century BC, would survive semantically unchanged into Late Antiquity, let alone into the 20th century.  Can anyone read 17t^h century Shakespeare without footnotes?  How many passages of Dickens are inscrutable to the early 21st-century reader because of semantic change! 

“Good-hating” (μισοκάλου).  Curious word.  It is, naturally, unranked.  Someday I hope to find its kenning definition.  From Homer on, Greek has always been fond of kennings.  The root-meaning fallacy alluded to above inclines many translators to produce meaningless translations (such as “lover of man”).

“Triumph” (κατακαυχᾶται).  Lit., exult.

 

Ode IV.

“Grant” (κληροδότησον).  Strictly, bequeath.  We have already met with Mpousios’ alternative in Ode I (βράβευσον).  He seems to be trying to avoid δίδωμι.

“Struggles” (σκιρτήματα).  Lampe reports bound and leap as literal definitions and unruliness, restiveness and turbulence as metaphorical.  All of those are in English singulare tantum.  He also reports surge of passions, which allows for the plural.  I like J. R. Ewing’s definition, but any of Lampe’s metaphorical definitions would do.

 

Ode V.

“Summons” (κλῆσιν).  Or invitation, calling.

 

Ode VI.

“Sordidly” (βαναύστως).  Mpousios appears to mean βαναύσως; the tau looks like an example of a vulgar epenthesis, like chimbley or temptation (> tentatio).  The DGE reports despreciativamente (contemptuously).  Bailly reports d’une façon vulgaire.  Lampe reports mechanical (as in artisan), “hence” vulgar, illiberal, low, sordid, slack, effeminate, luxurious.  Funny how a word can be read as red-neck (vulgar, illiberal, low, sordid) and hippie (slack, effeminate, luxurious).

“Senseless lion” (ἄφρονος μυρμηκολέων), lit. ant-lion.  The learned report that the μυρμηκολέων was described since the days of Herodotus as a kind of lion, a kind of ant or an unhappy combination of both.  Our hymnographer might have met this word in Job (μυρμηκολέων ὤλετο παρὰ τὸ μὴ ἔχειν βοράν, σκύμνοι δὲ λεόντων ἔλιπον ἀλλήλους [4:11]) or in eastern or western bestiaries.  I am unable to trace the most relevant quote, which reports that this creature non verum est animal sed Diabolus hac voce αλληγορηθεις (“not really an animal, but an allegorical reference to the devil”) (latin_latin.en-academic.com›40884/MYRMECOLEON).  My guess is that our hymnographer assumed that this creature is a kind of lion. 

Κινήματα.  Montie reports various benign definitions (movement, sensation etc.).  J. R. Ewing reports movement, tumults.  Stephanus reports perturbationes, i.e., disturbances, passions. 

Κόπασον.  Intr., but app. tr. here.

“Cause the passions etc.” (Κινήματα etc.).  Mpousios’s construction is baffling.  Lit., “cause the passions of my flesh to abate, thinking . . . on the outer fire, the darkness of death.”  Zoilus Secundus suspects textual corruption, but I suspect syntactical clumsiness.  Also, the allusion to Mt. 25 is odd, as we expect to hear about “the outer darkness” (Mt. 25:30), not “darkness of death,” and “the eternal fire” (25:41), not “the outer fire.”

 

Ode VII.

“Sprinkling” (ῥαντισμῶ).  This word appears four times in Nu 19, where it means of (ceremonial) purification.

 

Ode IX.  “Idle talk .  . . idleness . . . lust of power” (ἀργολογίας . . . ἀργίας . . . φιλαρχίας) are words which seem to be taken from the Prayer of St. Ephraim.