3. The Pantocrator
Literally, the Greek word Pantocrator translates to “he who has authority over everything.” It is understood as the Greek translation of two Hebrew expressions used to address God in the Old Testament, the “God of Hosts” (Sabaot) and, more commonly, the “Almighty” (El Shaddai), as found in the Septuagint Bible, the first translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The image we include is that of the oldest Pantocrator icon in the world, painted on a wooden board around the sixth or seventh century. Christ makes the traditional teacher’s gesture with his right hand and holds the Book of the Gospels in his left. This icon is still preserved in the Monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai in Egypt, one the oldest active monasteries on Earth.
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