AN I MAdve r S I o N e S “From God” or “from Heaven”? evx u[youj in Luke 1,78 the metaphor that brings the Lukan Benedictus to a close has long been considered a crux interpretum and has received extensive treatment, with few assured results 1. the text reads as follows: dia. spla,gcna evle,ouj qeou/ h`mw/n evn oi-j evpiske,yetai h`ma/j avnatolh. evx u[youj (1,78) evpifa/nai toi/j evn sko,tei kai. skia|/ qana,tou kaqhme,noij tou/ kateuqu/nai tou.j po,daj h`mw/n eivj o`do.n eivrh,nhj (1,79) this text has featured significantly in research on the source(s) and com- munity of origin of the Benedictus, its original language(s) of composition, the canonical author’s use of the Septuagint in the Infancy Narrative more broadly, messianic implications of the hymn itself, and much more. While some have argued that the referent of the metaphor is the coming of the messianic age in a more abstract sense, the vast majority of scholars hold that the coming of the avnatolh, (the primary source domain or vehicle of the metaphor) instead takes some kind of personal figure as its referent, given the use of evpiske,ptomai and kateuqu,nw, both of which take a personal subject 2. taking the metaphor purely as an abstraction for an age would strain the grammar. the locus of the debate, then, has been the identity and significance of this personal avnatolh,. yet earlier scholarship on this metaphor has been divided on how to take the significant prepositional phrase that modifies avnatolh,, namely, the final two words of 1,78, evx u[youj (u[youj is the neuter genitive singular of u[yoj). this short study aims to contribute to the discussion by making clear how these words must be taken in the context of 1,78-79, which in turn will prompt possible implications for the broader task of exegesis of this intriguing passage. Scholarly approaches to evx u[youj in 1,78 have been sharply divided into two camps. Numerous scholars interpret u[yoj as a circumlocution for God, taking evk in the sense of personal origination (bdAG 297, 3.d.α). Proponents of this view suggest that the phrase means “from the Most High” or “from 1 A. JAcoby, “ANATOLH EX UYOUS [Luke 1:78]”, ZNW 20 (1921) 205- 214; M. LAMbertz, “Sprachliches aus Septuaginta und Neuen testament: I, ev. Luc. 1:78b: avnatolh. evx u[youj”, WZUL 3 (1952/53) 79-87; P. WINter, “two Notes on Luke I, II with regard to the theory of “Imitation Hebraisms”, (I) avnatolh evx u[youj”, ST 7 (1953) 158-164; and S.J. GAtHercoLe, “the Heavenly avnatolh, (Luke 1:78-79)”, JTS 56/2 (2005) 471-488; M. del cArMeN oro, “bene- dictus de zacarias (Luc 1,68-79): ¿Indicios de una cristología arcaica?”, Revista Bíblica 45 (1983) 145-177; S. Muñoz IGLeSIAS, Los Evangelios de la Infancia 1: Los Cánticos del Evangelio de la Infancia según San Lucas (Madrid 21990) 231-241. 2 the former always takes a personal subject, and the latter 60 out of 63 times in Nt/LXX. BiBlica 97.1 (2016) 121-127