A Preamble to the Exposition of the Book of Psalms also known as The Psalter and an Encomium of David §1 T he father of the present book is, in a word, God’s child and God’s father: it is written, I shall defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of David my boy, and again, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David.

§2 To compass all else in brief, he is, after Abraham, the sole father of the nations, our own Orpheus, the first calligrapher of the virtues, the first herald of the three persons of the one Godhead, shepherd and champion alike, both prophet and king, the heart and tongue and pen of the First King, a man witnessed to by God, and who acquired all such virtues as make man God and as distinguish man.

§3 He was the son of Jesse and the youngest of the brothers; unremarkable in appearance but most comely in soul, and of all prophets and generals and lawgivers and kings the most pro- ductive and most varied in gifts; most mild in spirit and most moderate in nature, yet most courageous in resolve and most robust in body; at once most princely and most common, most magnanimous and most modest, most simple and most multi-faceted; sweet in manner, sharp in word, mighty in mind, divinely inspired in intelligence of beings or of Being; self- taught or divinely taught; all of the spirit, of the whole spirit and wholly of the spirit. Passing over, or summing up, all of these things, he laid modest claim for himself to only two things, wisdom and courage.

§4 First we must treat of his wisdom. He says somewhere more profoundly or more enigmat- ically: My hands made a pipe, and my fingers tuned a psaltery.

§5 Wisdom, indeed, is nothing other than harmony of words and things. Moreover, even among the rational sciences, harmony is the fairest and highest branch of philosophy, at- tuning both itself and all the parts and splendours of philosophy both to itself and to one another through itself, being a kind of symphony or correspondence in everything. Thus whosoever has confessed to possessing this, has also in brief testified to possession of all in- telligence of beings.

§6 Note that to the pipe he assigned simply his hands and the fabricative faculty, while to the harp he assigned his fingers and the facility of harmony; for the former is simpler and more common, while the latter requires both expert and more refined capabilities and more precise invention.

§7 In an anagogical sense, hands may be regarded as practical virtue, making (like a pipe) one’s life melodious and in concord with itself, while fingers may be understood as the most exalted theoretical thoughts, tuning (like a harp) the intelligible criterion of reason, when inspired or struck from above and struck into motion through something other and greater.

§8 And furthermore elsewhere in the Psalms he says, The unmanifest and hidden things of your wisdom you have made manifest to me. What a prodigious claim! Not only has he been initiated into knowledge of things that appear to the senses, but into understanding of things ineffable, namely, that [God is] both triad and monad, and the mystery of the divine incar- nation. And again he says, You have made me wise above all by your commandment, speaking here of practical wisdom, in regard to which once again he was preeminent.

§9 So much then as concerns his wisdom. Of the things relating to his courage he himself once again gives account, saying, I went out to meet the Philistine, and he invoked curses on me by his idols; but I, drawing the sword at his side, beheaded him, and removed shame from the sons of Israel.

§ 10 Observe not his courage alone, but much more his modesty. For there were many and great things he had to say here: the multitudes of those ranged against him, their insolence, their arms, their martial arts and ploys; the arrogance of that giant or elephant himself, his experience, his strength, his stature; then the cowardice and fraught anxiety of the Jews; the perplexity of the king himself; and how all, generals and soldiers alike, both young and old, were terrified of the Philistine; and how he, in earliest youth, diminutive in stature, unarmed and unversed in war, faced down the barbarian and, having treated this so monstrous a tower and so savage a beast as if already dead, easily defeated him; and, with the man’s own sword severing head from body, he dispelled the fear, put an end to the killing, and saved the army and the ruler, his country and the graves of his forebears, ancestral customs and sacred rites, his parents and all kin and ages; of these things, however, he made no boast, but in most modest terms recounted his single combat with Goliath.

§ 11 But this youth, so great and of such tender age – not to tarry over every detail – is to begin with disparaged by his father, who looks only to his outward appearance; he is relegated to a place among the herdsmen, and indeed among those who stay behind with the lambing ewes.

§ 12 But whereas from below his father cast him aside, God from above adopted him, and, as for a royal son, arranged for him to study the princely or pastoral arts at first among the dumb beasts: how to be vigilant, to wage war, to brave dangers to the flock, to stand up against wild animals, against robbers, against thieves, against hunger, against frost, against fire, to lead from the front, to sustain with pastures, with places of shade, at wells and at brooks, to recall, to gather together by crook, by voice, by song and by shepherd’s pipe, to enliven and delight, to instil fear, to regulate their life and to administer medication. And the aim of all this was to make the flock not only well fattened, but also most prudent and well trained.

§ 13 But what need is there to draw out the tale? After a short time, the anointer comes and the one who is to be anointed is sought. The choir of youths steps out, mighty, handsome and brilliant. The horn is imposed; God superposes; he rejects them as the father had David.

§ 14 The disparager himself is forced to bring forth the one disparaged. He is brought forth. He is anointed in both, kingship and prophecy, by the horn and by the spirit, these being symbols also of the Saviour Jesus, anointed later as both king and God.

§ 15 What then comes after this? A war with the Philistines ensues, bitter and ineluctable and irresolvable. For the king and the whole nation things stand on a knife-edge.

§ 16 The deliverer appears, prophet and soldier and king at once. He is disparaged again, and passed over again; he surpasses again - his brothers in patience, Saul in self-vindication, Go- liath in courage, and all, both those before him, those of his time and those after him, by his extraordinary single combat with the giant. He saves all, having appeared one and alone on behalf of all and in place of all and above all.

§ 17 What then? He shares in kingship, in taking the field and in royal achievements, or rath- er he achieves what is lacking; he defeats the external enemies through the force of arms, and the internal enemy, namely the spirit of Saul, through both melody and the spirit. He is crowned and acclaimed by everyone and above everyone; a song is even heard among the women, Saul struck down in thousands, but David in tens of thousands.

§ 18 He is envied again; he is persecuted, he flees, he hides, he is encircled; he encircles the encircler; yet he does not seize the opportunity, he does not lay hold of a resolution to the war, he does not defend himself against the enemy, but rather defends him, fleeing, fearing not so much what he might suffer as what he might enact of those things he feared to suffer.

§ 19 To such a degree did he combine the opposites, meekness and courage, that while his courage was greater than in others, yet his meekness was greater than this very courage.

§ 20 What further? He reigns, he prophesies, he witnesses to God, is witnessed to by God, he is given sworn promise that he will have the throne eternally, that he will inherit the world and will surpass the stars in the number and splendour of his offspring.

§ 21 Then, alas such a calamity, alas such a transformation! The chosen one is suddenly an adulterer, the prophet, out of his mind, the god-possessed, possessed by madness, the truth- ful, guileful, the shepherd, a robber, the saviour, a murderer. 2Rg 11

§ 22 Hence the change of resolve and the rash deeds; hence the cessation of the divinely struck notes and the contraction of the spirit; hence the alteration in his life and the sea of evils; hence not only is the inspired prophet breathless, I mean without the breath from above, but the father is bereft of his son, and as for his sons, the ones are befouled and deflowerers of their sister, and the others, even more befouled, are murderers of their brother and parricides, while the king is a vagrant, the champion a fugitive, the shepherd, a stray on the mountains, and all that splendid house and throne is dashed to the ground. 2Rg 12-18

§ 23 Hence comes the hunger and wasting and bitter remorse for his deeds. Hence the new and triple and daily sacrifice: from his eyes, their nocturnal well streams and washings, from his heart, its contrition and groans, from his tongue, its continual prayer and confession. Such were the wounds, and such the medicaments or cauterizations or incisions.

§ 24 But here I have overtaken myself, and the tale has strayed, ever ready to race ahead.

§ 25 After the fall a prophet appears again to the prophet, as a physician to a sick and destitute physician. And as previously a prophet had come to anoint, so now one comes to revoke, not only the royal rank, but also the very spirit itself, should he play false in any way in relation to the cure and hide the wound and brush aside the rebuke.

§ 26 Along with the prophet and as executant of this judgement, as previously there came as guardian and redoubtable adjutant, so now there comes an avenging angel, with sword drawn [Ps 7.12-13] and ready to strike, should he not also, by pronouncing the verdict against himself, reverse the decision by his decision.

§ 27 On the one side stood the enactor of the trial and the avenging angel, on the other the impartial judge pronouncing the verdict against himself and removing the dart more swiftly than he received it, and God, not only healing the wound but obliterating it entirely, not only forgiving, but also removing the sin.

§ 28 Again the gift of grace, again the spirit, again the divinely struck notes, again the sover- eignty over all, and the covenants, both of divine adoption and of fatherhood of God.

§ 29 This man then, who suffered much, achieved much and experienced myriad vagaries of circumstance, transmits in this book his story and his adventures; and these constitute the first subject and aim of the work.

§ 30 A second chapter is the exposition of the ancient lore, not only of the Hebrews but of the even earlier period; in many Psalms he treats of Genesis, the acts of the Patriarchs, the wan- derings, the migration, the descent into Egypt, the slavery, the Exodus, the giving of the Law, the tent-shrine, the priesthood, the book of Numbers, of Deuteronomy, of Joshua, the distri- bution of the land, the Judges, the Kingdoms, and whatsoever is consequent on these things.

§ 31 A third, the account of natural phenomena, of heaven and the things of heaven, of earth and the things of the earth, of animals, of elements, and in short the whole of creation.

§ 32 A fourth, the divine economy concerning the Saviour, a prophecy more revealing than all others: the things concerning the Virgin, those concerning the incarnation, the events at the bringing of the gifts, the matters pertaining to the exile to Egypt and the return and public manifestation and teaching and wonder-working; the affairs relating to the synagogue, to the envy and the scheming and the betrayal and the arrest and the beatings and mockeries, the matters pertaining to the Cross and the piercing of the hands and the feet, the division of the garments and the casting of lots and the bitter tasting and the expiration and burial and resurrection and ascent into heaven and the sitting at the right hand and the victory and sovereign rule in all things and over all things.

§ 33 A fifth, the prophecy of the things thereafter: the calling of the nations, the glory of the disciples, the miracles, the preaching, the subjugation of the earth, the consolidation and progress of the Church, the victory of the Romans, the captivity of the Jews, the second and dread descent of the Saviour and such things as concern resurrection and judgement and retribution.

§ 34 A sixth, the theology concerning Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

§ 35 A seventh, matters concerning intelligible creatures, angels and demons, and mind and soul, and movements and powers of the soul.

§ 36 An eighth, the questions of moral upbringing, virtue, evil and suchlike.

§ 37 A ninth, on evil thoughts and the scheming of demons and their stratagems, on the curing of passions and on the struggle and strategy against them.

§ 38 A tenth, the exposition of the commandments, most precise and most elevated, and bare- ly or not at all inferior to the gospel precepts.

§ 39 These then are the general categories of the subject matter of the Psalms enumerated in ten headings in which the whole substance of the Psalms is contained.

§ 40 Then there are other more particular headings, namely the categories of doxology, thanks- giving, vow making, prayer, comfort, exhortation, dissuasion, and throughout the category of method: not only does the psalm exhort to do or not do something, but it proposes the manner and the time.

§ 41 And altogether it is a sanatorium possessing the medicine for every ailment, and all the words are fitting for all people, which is also the most miraculous and most unique charac- teristic of this book.

§ 42 There is thus no human action, or word, or passion, or notion for which one will not find the remedy herein, for it is an amalgamation replete with every way of life and point of view, a public treasury of teaching proffering to each what is fitting. It purges old wounds and brings swift relief to the newly injured; it keeps safe the one who is unharmed, and all in all rids of every mischief, and does so with a certain harmonious gratification and chaste pleasure, so that through the smooth and soothing sound in our ears we may imperceptibly accept the benefit from the words, in the manner of those wise physicians who smear the cup with hon- ey when administering bitter medicines. So thus in appearance we are singing, but in truth we are schooling our souls, and we retain indelibly the memory of the oracular words.

§ 43 A psalm is intercourse with God, attraction of angels, repulsion of demons, a cheerful disposition of the soul; repose from the labours of the day, protection from the terrors of the night; elementary instruction for beginners, growth for those progressing, consolidation for those being perfected; an impregnable shield and ornament of surpassing beauty for kings and commoners, rulers and the ruled, soldiers and civilians, the wise and the unlettered, monastics and city-dwellers, priests and laypersons, mainlanders and islanders, farmers and sailors, artisans and the unskilled, men and women, old and young, every nature and age and fortune and disposition, both collectively and individually and at all times, in both homes and in market-places, in Churches and in fields, in the wilds and on roadways and every- where, like the shining of light or the use of fire or all that is most common and useful, and, strangest of all, without any of these abandoning their work, but rather alleviating the burden of their chores through the melody, the aim of all of which is but one thing: for the student of the psalms to become good, and wise and God.

§ 44 Sufficient has thus been said about what and how many are the aims of the present book, what its uses are and what its ultimate purpose is. § 45 It would remain then to say whether the book is genuine and by David alone and what kind of title it bears; then to define what a psaltery is, what it is that is to be psalmed, what a psalm is, what a psalmist is and what the ‘inter-psalm’ is; then what an ode is, what a hymn is, what a song of praise, what a confession, what a prayer and what a vow is; and what an ode of a psalm is and what a psalm of an ode. Then how many psalms there are, why so many and by whom they were collected; how many chief singers there were and how many choirs and of whom they were composed and why so many and composed of so many; what is the difference between the psaltery and the other musical instruments; what is the order of the psalms; what is the obscurity in many of the psalms; how many translations from the Hebrew dialect into the Greek dialect were made and by whom; for what purpose was the melody invented; how is it that the divine Spirit is spoken of sometimes in the singular and sometimes in the plural. § 46 First we must address the first question. § 47 Some say that the psalms are not by David alone, but that some are also by Idithoum and the sons of Kore, and by Asaph and by Aitham and Aiman the Israelite, one is by Moses and others by Solomon, and this is clear from the superscriptions, having been gathered into a single collection after the captivity by Ezra. Many bear only the superscription Alleluia, while others have a superscription but are anonymous; others again are totally without su- perscription. And so it has been called simply the ‘Book of Psalms’, as we find in the Acts of the Apostles, without attribution to David alone. It is incorrect, indeed, to term this book a psalter, because strictly speaking, a psaltery is a kind of musical instrument, called a navla by the Hebrews, and is derived from the verb “to pluck”, just as an oratory derives from the verb orare. The title came to attach to the book in a different way, namely in the sense of ‘holding the psalms’. § 48 Others, among whom I count myself, say that all the psalms are by David. For just as the Ps 89 psalm with the superscription ‘of Moses’ is not of Moses, if it were, it would either have come first on account of his precedence of birth or would have been included among his books as are his Odes, one in Exodus, another in Numbers and another in Deuteronomy, so neither are the other psalms that appear to have a superscription belonging to some other person. Pss 71 & 126 § 49 And indeed they also say that two psalms are by Solomon, which, however, if they were, would have been placed last and next to one another or would have been included in the Book of Kingdoms or in the Paralipomena or would have been mentioned somewhere, as with the statement, His odes were five thousand and his parables three thousand; but divine Scripture makes no mention of psalms by him. § 50 The superscriptions ‘Of Idithoum’, and ‘Of the sons of Kore’, and ‘Of Asaph’, and ‘Of Aiman’, and ‘Of Aitham’ indicate accordingly that each of the psalms thus designated was specifically assigned to these men who had been ordained chief singers of the choirs that David had established from the tribe of Levi and allotted to praise God with various instru- ments, of which the final psalm gives a clear enumeration, while the other psalms were sung Ps150.3-5

in common by all. The psalm thus bore the superscription of the person by whom that psalm was specifically sung. And this is evident from what the Book of Paralipomena says, namely, that He sang this ode in the hand of Asaph, and also from the superscription to Psalm 38, Towards fulfilment, belonging to Idithoum, an ode belonging to David. It was composed by Da- vid, but was assigned to Idithoum to be sung. And again Psalm 43 is superscribed as follows: Towards fulfilment, belonging to the sons of Kore, a psalm belonging to David. § 51 And in all the psalms with superscriptions naming others, the superscription is not ‘Of so-and-so’, but ‘Belonging to so-and-so’, which is also a clear sign that, having been composed by David, they were assigned specifically to these people for singing. § 52 If someone objects that in most cases also the superscription is ‘A Psalm belonging to Da- vid’, we reply that in many again it is ‘A Psalm of David’, which you will not find in the others, so that we may know that they are also composed by David, not given and assigned. This was responsible for introducing the distinction. § 53 The psalm mentioning Moses has this superscription: ‘A prayer belonging to Moses, the man of God’, teaching, as it were, that this psalm is appropriate for those who through the divine water, that is, saving baptism, have become people of God; the name ‘Moses’ means ‘taken from water’. The baptized are taken from water and become people of God. § 54 We avow that the psalms allegedly by Solomon are spoken in regard to Christ. The name ‘Solomon’ means ‘most peaceful one’, which is Christ, who possesses peace by nature. As is written: My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you. § 55 In respect of the psalms without a superscription, many of the Hebrew copies have the first psalm joined to the second, since among the Hebrews a number is not attached to the psalms. Now the second psalm is indisputably by David, and this is testified by the Apostles who, addressing God in the Acts of the Apostles, say, You who by the mouth of David your servant said: ‘Why have the nations fretted’, etc. It is thereby also shown that the first psalm is by David. If the first and second of the psalms without superscription are by David, then so are all the others, such as Psalm 94, as the Apostle Paul testifies in his Letter to the Hebrews when he says: He appoints a certain day, ‘Today’, in David, saying so long afterward, as was said, ‘Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts’. § 56 The anonymous psalms are also by David, as we learn in the Acts of the Apostles from Ste- phen the first martyr. For he said to the Jews: Until the days of David who found favour in the sight of God and asked leave to find a habitation for the God of Jacob. This quotation is clearly from Psalm 131, which is anonymous. § 57 The psalms with the superscription Alleluia are, moreover, also by David, such as, for ex- ample, the first of those, Psalm 104, which in the Paralipomena is said to have been composed by David. § 58 The reason for some psalms being without superscription seems to be that each of such psalms is not spoken in regard to one single nation, and the reason for other psalms being anonymous is that they are spoken in regard to the Lord, while the reason for those with Alleluia is that they are a hymn and thanksgiving to God. § 59 So much then about this topic. It is time now to speak about the other matters.

§ 60 The one who is to be psalmed is God who is praised in song. The psalm is the poem together with the music to which it is set. The psalmodos (psalmist) is the composer of the poem and music. The psaltodos (psalm singer) is the choir that sings this.

§ 61 The ‘inter-psalm’ (diapsalma) denotes a change of meaning or melos, or some delay in the beat, or some flash of illumination at that point from the divine Spirit to the singers. All these things were recorded for the sake of precision.

§ 62 But a psalm in the strict sense is one that is intoned melodiously to the instrumental ac- companiment of the plucked psaltery; and an ode, in contrast, is a musical and harmonious intonation by mouth alone. In looser usage, however, a psalm is called an ode and an ode a psalm. The ode is the earlier; indeed, Moses inaugurated this and it continued up until Da- vid. He was the first to initiate psalms, even though the psaltery as an instrument pre-dated him, but it was artless and uncultivated and used only for strumming to the flocks. David constructed or attuned it more wisely, and redirected its use towards God.

§ 63 A hymn is an extended doxology. A song of praise is a short laudation. A confession is an intense declaration, either of good things we have had happen to us, or of evil things we have committed. A prayer is an entreaty and a vow is a promise. All are addressed to God.

§ 64 What a psalm and an ode are has thus been duly clarified.

§ 65 We understand odes of psalms as when instrumental music is given precedence and is followed by vocal song in second place. Psalms of odes are understood as the converse case.

§ 66 In anagogical terms, a psalm would be when by stretching out the body like a stringed psaltery and touching and plucking it somehow through good works we produce a good and harmonious action, even if we have not yet ascended to the heights of contemplation. An ode would be when without the practical element we contemplate the mysteries of truth, being already well exercised. An ode of a psalm would be when with good action having gone before we attain to contemplation, in accordance with the words: Do you desire wisdom? Keep the commandments and the Lord will grant her to you. A psalm of an ode would be when after contemplation has clarified some of the hidden ethical issues we then proceed to put them into practice. And perhaps for this reason the psalms are first and then the odes, because it is necessary to pass through practice to arrive at contemplation. And hence surely it is that there are many odes towards the end and where there is ascent there is nowhere a psalm to be Pss 119-133 found, not even interwoven with an ode. For in the ascents the saints are directed towards contemplating alone.

§ 67 Some have said that Ezra, others that Hezekiah made collection of the psalms, one hun- dred and fifty in number. For therein the number fifty, esteemed by the Hebrews, being ar- rived at through seven sevens, is perceived, and so too is the mystery of the Trinity, with the unit there being added on account of the one Godhead in three persons.

§ 68 The chief singers were four in number, leading four choirs, on account of the four cardi- nal points to which the psalms were to reach. Each choir had seventy-two singers, as some, drawing on Hebrew tradition, have said, by analogy with the languages that were confused,

or rather distinguished, at the building of the tower of Babel, on account of the fact that all languages were to sing these psalms.

§ 69 And while the others sang to the accompaniment of trumpet and drum and flute and cymbals, or lyre and cither, David held the royal instrument, the psaltery. Trumpets and pipes are wind instruments, the lyre and cither, strings. Cymbals and drums and those that produce sounds rather than notes are percussion instruments.

§ 70 The psaltery, which elsewhere is called kinnor and cither and lyre, belonged to the stringed instruments, but it was upright, and had the striking point for the notes high up, so that we might be upright and contemplate things on high and become a psaltery, with inner concord between soul and body and with the holy Spirit striking us like an artful musician.

§ 71 For ten tuning-pegs turning at the crosspiece of the psalter tightened and slackened the strings according to the intention of the player and the rhythm. And the right hand held the plectrum while the left hand, grasping and turning the pegs above, produced a low or high or mixed note. It had ten strings tuned in concord with each other, teaching us that we need to strike up a harmonious melody to God with ten strings tuned in concord with one another, namely the five faculties of the soul with the five senses of the body. PG91.1248

§ 72 The order of the psalms is not as they were originally composed, nor is it arbitrary, but rather it is by divine design, in no way revolving on chronological order. As in other practical arts or techniques, the discovery of the tools or of the rules is one thing, and their application on different occasions or situations is another. One physician will make an incision first, another will administer medicine, and another will anoint, and the one instils fear first, while the other offers comfort, and the practitioner cares nothing for the order of these things, but considers first of all their use or efficacy (which we call a disorderly order) for profit in the particular case. Thus it also is with our practitioner, the Holy Spirit, who, caring nothing for history, was concerned with the profit to the readers and how the statue of our soul might be duly sculpted and polished into beauty and finally formed towards God.

§ 73 For this reason, first of all in the first psalm he makes a break from godlessness and sin; in the second he indicates whose inheritance we are and to whom we must cleave; in the third he foretells the treachery and assaults of the enemy against those who have cloven to God, and thereafter he prescribes the cures for the passions or attacks or calamities that befall us.

§ 74 There is also another account, that once upon a time, the Jews having fallen into disregard for their God and having become forgetful of their ancestral customs, the books of Scripture most especially slipped from memory and were corrupted. Later on Ezra or Hezekiah, being zealous to collect them, gathered them together, not all at once, but one at a time, and set the present order on them according to the time they found each one, not according to the times they were uttered, but according to the times they were found.

§ 75 There is yet another version, that the psalms were ordered not according to the years, but rather according to the days on which they were first composed. Let us clarify this as follows: first we have the conception of God, then the nativity, then the name giving and circumcision, the presentation in the temple and meeting with the elder Symeon, then after thirty years we have the baptism, the public manifestation, the teaching, the miracles, the passion and last of all the resurrection. For us, however, the spaces between the feasts are quite the opposite: first we have the conception and then immediately the resurrection. Do you see the great distance between the feasts and yet the proximity of the days? Then there follow the ascension, the transfiguration, the nativity and last of all the theophany. Do you see how great the discrepancy is between the events? The order of the days in the months is preserved, but the order of the events has been severed completely and there has emerged a kind of order in disorder.

§ 76 It is time, however, to explain the obscurity in many psalms and to state how many trans- lations there were from the Hebrew dialect to the Greek and by whom they were made.

§ 77 The reason for the obscurity of ancient Scripture is both the symbolic nature of the things that foreshadowed Christ and the events surrounding Christ and, in a word, the new gift of grace, and also the idioms of the Hebrew language. For the prophetic habit employs things dissimilar, though not in everything; most things indeed are veiled over on account of the disobedience and obduracy of the listeners, and laid bare to few of the worthy, and judged aright only from their fulfilment.

§ 78 The final reason is the translation of these things from the Hebrew into the Greek lan- guage; for every language when transposed into another, presents, on the whole, some obscu- rity and difficulty in comprehension.

§ 79 The Scriptures were translated at the time Ptolemy Philadelphus was ruler of the kingdom [283-46 BC] of Egypt.

§ 80 Seven translations of the ancient Scripture were made.

§ 81 The first is that of the Seventy, who, as Hebrews, were chosen in accordance with the number of the seventy elders chosen by Moses, at the request of the above-mentioned king and they produced a translation agreeing in everything.

§ 82 The second is that of Aquila of Sinope. This man, a Greek from Pontus, was baptized in Jerusalem, then, taking offence with some Christians, he renounced his baptism and, joining with the Jews, published a translation of the Scripture under the reign of Hadrian the Leper, [118-138 AD] four hundred and thirty years after that of the Seventy. He corrupted much on account of his grudge towards the Christians.

§ 83 The third is that of Symmachus. He was a Samaritan, and not receiving the respect he desired, he switched to the Jews and was circumcised a second time, and out of antipathy towards the Samaritans he translated the divine Scripture under the reign of the Emperor Severus. Seeking to gratify the Hebrews, he distorted whatever was about Christ. This was [193-211 AD] fifty-six years after Aquila’s edition.

§ 84 The fourth is that of Theodotion of Ephesus, who, being of the heresy of Marcion and having quarrelled at some point with his fellow heretics, made his own edition under the reign of the Emperor Commodus. [180-192 AD] § 85 The fifth translation is of unknown paternity; it was found in Jericho, hidden in an earth- en cask, under the reign of the Emperor Caracalla. [211-217 AD] § 86 The sixth, also anonymous, was similarly found in Nikopolis near Aktion under the reign of Alexander the son of Mamaea. [222-235 AD] § 87 The seventh was undertaken by Lucian the great ascetic and martyr, who having knowl- [† 311 AD] edge of the previously mentioned editions and reading more closely and ascertaining the He- brew text, made for Christians an edition of his own in which nothing was lacking or super- fluous. This translation, written in his own hand, was found by Jews in a little tower covered in plaster near Nicomedia following his martyrdom during the persecution by Diocletian and Maximian under the reign of Constantine the Great. This accords with the translation of the Seventy, rejecting the corruptions of the others. § 88 What is very clear is that just as flocks are amenable to the sounds of the pipe so indeed most people are led and beguiled by music. This is very much so among ourselves and no less, the female more than the male, the immature more than the mature, the savage more than the civilized, the untaught more than the educated. And in the male himself there is the rational part of the soul and the irrational and brutal part over all of which pleasure holds sway. For these reasons accordingly there exists the music of the psalms through which the benefit therefrom for the soul is held together as by a pin, the music transforming and beguiling the bitterness of the spiritual medicines and seasoning things beneficial with things pleasurable. For what is pleasing and graceful sinks in gladly and remains more permanently. This then is the first reason for the music. § 89 And since through deceptive pleasure the enemy brings people to destruction, God con- trived through this artful and divinely crafted pleasure to rescue and save them. This is the second reason for the melody. § 90 The third reason is that it promotes love and concord, being able to bring dispositions together into unity, just as it does the tongues of those singing, and to join them together, both all and each to each and all. What indeed is more conciliatory of enmity than a com- mon hymn of supplication offered by each and all for each and all? Or who is so perverse as § 91 to regard as his enemy the person who is entreating God on his behalf ? And apart from these things, music has great power to build or amend character, trans- forming and adjusting it. Among the ancients there are musical modes conducive to chastity and to love, to war and to peace, to sadness and to joy, to the animation and to the dampening of the spirit. § 92 It is told of Pythagoras that when a youth was inflamed by love, by changing the tune of Iam. Vit. Pyth. the pipe he averted him from his passion; he also forestalled another youth who was rushing 25.112-113 with a sword. And Timotheos, in the middle of a banquet and entertainment, by striking up a Suid. (α1122) martial mode aroused the passion of Alexander and made him jump up grabbing his armour. Ἀλέξανδρος

§ 93 Our nature thus has a natural and pleasurable affinity with the strains of songs, just as when sucking babes are crying, they are put to sleep by these alone; their nursemaids enchant them with children’s ditties and through these put their eyelids to sleep.

§ 94 And very often travellers, driving along in the middle of the day, console the hardship of the journey with songs.

§ 95 And all artisans sing as they work, as if the soul, enchanted by the melody, easily bears the irksome and wearisome toil.

§ 96 And why do we have to speak of rational creatures? Wherever horses hear the sound of a trumpet they ready themselves for battle. Flocks follows after the shepherd’s pipes and there- by become more contented and thrive. And for many wild animals these things are charms and traps. And the unicorn falls prey to music and beauty.

§ 97 But those who interpret divine things more elegantly say that through the instrumental music the harmony of the soul is intimated. The music making of the soul is the concord of the parts within it - something about which we shall say more.

§ 100 If we have regard not to the positions and the names, but to the powers and the activities, then the middle note would rather be the reasoning part relating to the spirited part as to the highest note, because this is the most high-pitched and impulsive part of the soul, repre- senting the interval of a fifth. The reasoning part would relate to the appetitive part as to the lowest note, because this is the slackest and loosest part of the soul, representing the interval of a fourth. The reasoning part, by adjusting and tempering the intensity of the one and the relaxation of the other, will then produce the finest harmony.

§ 101 Having elucidated all these matters, it now remains for us to show how the holy Spirit, though one, is sometimes spoken of in the singular [The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for which sake he anointed me, and, Do not take your holy Spirit from me, and, By the Spirit of his mouth is all their power], and sometimes in the plural [The spirits of prophets are subject to prophets, and The seven spirits will rest upon him].

§ 102 It is clear then that the Spirit is one, just as the master musician is one, but the instruments are many; the latter indeed are the prophets, and for this reason the notes plucked or blown are various. And they are many, not only in relation to many prophets, but even in relation to the same prophet they are many and various, as the master musician flattens some, sharpens others and varies and mixes yet others. But in no way are all found in the one prophet. What indeed would constitute knowledge of the individual inspirations? The more general, how- ever, up to most specific have been defined according to both quantity and quality; these do no go beyond seven. § 103 Let us come then to the modes of prophecy. The one gave knowledge of things past, the other of things present and the other of things future, the one saying this specific thing, the other doing this specific thing, the one clearly and distinctly, and the other darkly and in riddles. And the modalities of these modes are again different. The one through vision, the other through hearing, another through smell or taste or touch, though all in a spiritual or intellectual sense. The senses of the spirit or mind are as many as those of the body, but all are called visions, in accordance with the more general or more privileged term. § 104 Ezekiel sees: And I beheld, and flesh was rising up and skin stretching itself across, and so on. But he also hears: And you, O son of man, hear the one who is speaking to you. And he tastes: And he fed me this scroll and said to me, O son of man, your mouth shall eat and your belly shall be filled with this scroll. Here he calls that outermost and most active part of the mind that first tastes the divine foods the ‘mouth’, while the second and most capacious part, that is the intellect, he calls the ‘belly’. This he says will be filled with the scroll, thereby being filled with many oracles as by small seeds of the Spirit. § 105 Isaiah also sees and hears: Who will go to this people? And I said, ‘Here am I, O Lord’. Here he is the hearer. And when is he one who sees? And I kept watching until the thrones were set and an Ancient of Days sat – these two acts allotting themselves, the one to the resurrection and the other to the judgement. § 106 There are thus many examples of seeing and hearing and tasting. § 107 What are the examples of touching? Naoum’s ‘divine assumption’ (θεῖον λῆμμα), by which he designates the case of being taken hold of by God, as if the governing faculty of the soul were being touched and struck by the holy Spirit. § 108 But to speak more succinctly, while other prophets were inspired in some other temporal dimension and modality, and certainly a few prophets in a few (in two temporal dimensions and modalities or perchance three), only David, the father of God (he might also be called the father of prophets), passed through all temporal dimensions and modalities, now speak- ing of things past, now of things present and now of things future. § 109 For at one moment he is seeing, saying, I saw the Lord or the things of the Lord. The next he hearing: for it is written, The Lord said to David. The next he is being touched: My tongue is the pen of a swiftly-writing scribe – speaking here not of the physical tongue (that would be said to speak rather than write) but of the inner tongue of the mind, touched in a strange and novel way by the Spirit as a pen by a scribe, and with it writing out most beautifully the §1092: I would see the Lord before me at all times [Ps 15.8α]. The Lord has sworn truth to David [Ps. 131.11α]. And in the book of Kingdoms you will find about these things more clearly.

knowledge revealed, and not simply so doing, but also writing swiftly. In this way through the writing he denoted the lucidity of the prophecy, and through the swift writing its acuity. Then at another moment he is testifying to his gustatory faculty: How sweet to my throat are your oracles! For the spiritual mouth was filled with a pleasant savour as it swallowed the words of the oracles and brought them up again, sensing great pleasure both at the ingestion and the issuing forth. Elsewhere he speaks of the heart eructing the good, saying, as it were, that the faculty of the mind that is deepest and receptive of everything is sated to overflowing with all the good foodstuffs of the Spirit. Rarely is the olfactory sense encountered in him, and it is much more difficult to track down than the others: intuiting the fragrance of Christ he says, Myrrh, aloes and cassia from your garments.

§ 110 Thus through all the senses of the mind he comprehended all the intelligences and powers of the Spirit.

§ 111 He manifests the prophetic manner through his discourse, and there is no difference for him in uttering things past or things future. Often indeed he alternates the order, at times speaking of things that have already happened as things to come, and at times vice versa. Such, on the one hand, are the words: Why have they fretted and stood side by side and gathered together, instead of ‘will fret’, and ‘will stand side by side’ and ‘will gather together’. And on the other hand, Through a river they will pass on foot, instead of, ‘they passed’. This is a most particular mark of the divine Spirit, namely, to have nothing past or future, but for all things to be present.

§ 112 Having surveyed these many matters, let us swiftly move on to the word by word exposi- tion of the psalms, with the plain and necessary caveat that not everything will be considered in one way, namely, in terms of history, or prophecy, or allegory, or ethical teaching, but rath- er the same words will often be subjected to examination in many and various ways, and, just as in the case of trees or seeds, there are many manifestations of growth and potentiality - in a tree there is the root, the trunk, the branches, the bark, the leaves and the pith, and in seeds there are the shoots, the stalk, the bristles and the husk, and the fruit instead of being one is myriad - thus and much more so is this the case with the Spirit. And while no blame attaches to the things that have been found, forbearance must be asked for the things that have been omitted. No one, indeed, could attain fittingly to their due value.

§ 113 Speaking in general terms, we can apply the psalms to ourselves by understanding the enemies of Christ as the demonic enemies of Christians, and Saul and Absalom and any tyrant as the devil himself; schemers and oppressors and persecutors and all suchlike we can understand once again as the demons, and David and Christ and king, as each one of us. Just as he was anointed with the oil of sovereignty to kingship, so we were anointed with the oil of baptism to kingship in heaven.

§ 114 Those words that do not lend themselves to application to ourselves, we pronounce sim- ply as utterances of the Holy Spirit, sanctifying ourselves through them. Such are the words of the second and other similar psalms.

1 Psalm 1 The first psalm, being without superscription among the Hebrews, did not receive a su- perscription from the translators either. It is not only ethical, but also dogmatic, for not only does it urge attention to the divine oracles, but it also contains indictment and punishment for impious and otherwise sinful people. B lessed is the man who has not made his path by the purpose of the impious, nor stood on the way of the sinful, nor sat on the seat of the plaguesome. Blessed, in the most eminent sense, is God, as Paul says, The blessed and sole ruler. And he conceded this appellation to us too, as also with the name ‘God’, as in: I said, you are gods, and in many other such instances. This word [μακάριος] then is the fruit of perfection in virtue; it also denotes what is inde- structible, as ‘free from all destruction’ [α-κηρ], with the letter m [μ] being redundant. The beatitude assuredly includes the woman, the part standing for the whole, for, The man, according to the Apostle, is the head of the woman. The parts of the body are attached to the head, and where the humanity is shared, there also the works and reward are shared. David, following the nature of the matter, imposed a certain order on the expressions. For the purpose in the heart is the root of the actions of the body, just as the Lord says that the things that defile a person are within. Hence we first set our purpose, then we establish our resolve, and thereafter we persist in the things resolved. Since the impious are those with no god or many gods, the sinful are those who have piety towards God but have chosen a lawless and corrupt way of life, and the plaguesome are those who are not only sinful but who also corrupt others and transmit this disease, he attributes blessedness to the man who has avoided all three and has neither shared with the impious their purpose against the true God, not even in passing – this I believe is what the ‘path’ means here – nor with the sinful their continued standing in evil – even if he may be snatched away somehow – nor with the plaguesome their permanence in this state – this is what the ‘seat’ denotes. This can also be understood differently, taking the ‘purpose’ of the impious as their ‘assem- bly’, as Aquila and Theodotion rendered it, the ‘way of the sinful’ as the devil (whoever does not stand in him will come to the Lord who said, I am the way, through which people walk to virtue), and the ‘seat’ as the teaching of the wicked. Since the avoidance of evil is not sufficient for perfection in virtue -Turn away from evil and do good, says the psalm, and Isaiah says, Cease from your wickedness, learn to do good - he continued very appropriately: 2 But rather his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he will meditate day and night. 1: David calls even the living blessed, but Solomon [Solon] advises not to call any man blessed before death on account of the uncertainty of life. It can be said therefore that in relation to men the word ‘blessedness’ has a double meaning, indicating at times the one who is praiseworthy and enviable, and at times the one who is free from death and destruction and passion. The first meaning then is fitting for the living, the second for the deceased, from which meaning Solomon precludes those who have not yet died.

Blessed, he says, is the man who not only has not shared in any of the afore-mentioned, but who also has attuned his own will to the law of the Lord, willing those things that it enjoins, and meditating on it continually and regulating his own life thereby. God indeed legislated thus through Moses, saying, And let the words of this law be continually in your mouth, and you will meditate on it sitting and standing up and lying down, and you will affix it on your arm and it will be unwavering before your eyes. Then he shows the fruit that is engendered therefrom.

3 And he will be like the tree planted by passagings of waters that will give its fruit in its sea- son and will not shed its leaves, and all, whatsoever he may do, will be brought to prosper. The man who is thus, namely, planted beside the streams of the divine oracles and watered by their teaching, will flourish and prosper like a tree planted beside streams of water, bearing the virtues as fruit in due time and not casting his leaves, namely, the humility that shelters and preserves those virtues. Alternatively, ‘fruit’ is to be understood as the spiritual wealth garnered from toil and tra- vail, and ‘leaves’ as the comforting hope of salvation, which, removing the sense of sufferings, are at no time cast away. Fittingly he represented the divine oracles by waters, on account of their giving drink and nourishment to the souls as waters do to plants. Christ, moreover, spoke of his own teaching in the same way, saying, If anyone thirsts let them come to me and drink, and Whoever believes in me, rivers of living water will flow from their belly, and Whoever drinks the water I shall give them, will never thirst. And God works together with such a man in all things, for it is written, His steps are guid- ed by the Lord, and he will delight greatly in his way. And again the Apostle says, All things work together for good for those who love God. The term, ‘all things’, is used with precision, for the person who has attained to this will never wish to do anything evil, and for this reason he is made to fare well in all things by God. Having urged onwards in this way towards virtue, he also anoints the athletes through the opposites by saying:

4α Not so the impious, not so. That is, unlike the aforementioned man, they will not flourish and bear fruit and enjoy the other blessings. Through the reduplication he confirmed the prohibition. But how will they be?

4β But rather like dust that the wind casts away from the face of the earth. Just as the wind driving down easily carries away and scatters the dust, so also the demons blowing against them drive away the impious. [2]: The word ‘law’ has various meanings in divine Scripture, for law is that given through Moses ordaining what one is and is not to do. And again it calls law the history according to Moses, for the Apostle says, Do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman [Gal 4.21-22]. And once again it calls law the book of Psalms, as in, So as to fulfil the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause’. It also calls the prophetic books ‘law’, as the Apostle says that, In the law it is written, ‘By men of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people’ [1 Cor 14.21 (Isa 28.11)], and this is a prophetical utterance.

The ‘face of the earth’ is to be understood as its visible surface; the same holds for the ‘back’ of the earth, as supporting the bodies that are on it, just as the ‘bosom’ of the earth is its depths. He calls ‘the impious’ here all the above-mentioned, using the designation as a general term. The impious may also be understood as the Jews, as not evincing reverence towards the Son, who were scattered abroad when the preaching of the holy Apostles blew.

5α For this the impious will not arise in judgement. Observe the precision of the divine Spirit. He did not say simply, ‘they will not arise’, but added, ‘in judgement’. For they, too, will arise, but not to be judged. How could they after all, being self-condemned? For it is written: He who does not believe in me has already been judged. Rather they will arise to be punished. Note that with Moses having said nothing about resurrection, it was David who first taught about this.

5β Nor the sinful in the purpose of the just. In this case, he calls ‘the sinful’ all those who are not impious, but who are otherwise corrupt and good-for-nothing, who will be judged on their own and dispatched far from the just. Here, too, Aquila and Theodotion translated ‘purpose’ as the ‘assembly’ of the just. It is habitual in divine Scripture to call ‘the just’ not only those who have exercised the specific virtue of justice, but in general all the saints as justified by God.

6α For the Lord knows the way of the just. This shows that no one escapes God. And indeed he is cognizant of the ways of the just, as is written, The Lord knows the ways of the blameless, and again, The Lord knows those who are his, since he said himself, I am the way, and he knows those who walk through him, that is, through his decrees. Evil things he pretends not to know, as being unworthy of his knowl- edge, on which account after Adam had sinned, he inquires where he is. He did the same in the case of Cain and of many others also.

6β And the way of the impious will perish. The virtues of the just remain as their wealth and crown, while the actions and wick- edness of the good-for-nothing, which he here calls their ‘way’, will disappear and become inoperative.

Similar to this is the Apostle’s saying: If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss.

2 Psalm 2 The second psalm too is without superscription among the Hebrews. It foretells the scheming against the Saviour by those who slew him, then both the calling of the nations and the destruction of the Jews. 1-2α Why have nations fretted and peoples meditated futilities? The kings of the earth have stood side by side and the rulers have gathered together. David, seeing their fury with his prophetic eyes, starts out his lay indignantly and mourn- fully. For, alas, why have they been thrown into such a frenzied uproar, and have stirred everything into confusion, and become so full of themselves? Such is the meaning of ‘fretted’ according to those who translated the Hebrew into Greek. The nations are the Roman soldiers around Pilate, and the peoples are the Jews around Annas and Caiaphas, the kings, Herod, and the rulers, Pilate, for thus it is told in the book of Acts. He said ‘kings’ and ‘rulers’ in the plural, in line with the custom of the Hebrew dialect, which often uses plurals for singulars, or else denoting a profounder perfidy, for along with King Herod, the king of sin, the devil, was arming himself, and along with the ruler Pilate, the rulers and authorities of the demons, against whom we have our struggle, as the divine Apostle says. For Christ being from two natures, invisible and visible, the combat was also twofold, from invisible and visible adversaries. They meditated futilities, in the sense that they busied themselves in vain, conspiring to get rid of him, for he arose and lives forever. The words are also directed against the Jews alone, because they studied Scripture in vain, not understanding all that it proclaimed about him.

2β Against the Lord and against his Christ. They fretted and stood side by side and gathered together against the Father no less than against the Son, whom the Father anointed as king of all nations, having given them to him as an inheritance. The war against the Son transfers to the Father as well. The Lord is to be understood as the Father, Christ as the Son, and ‘his’ according to the explanation already given, since he set him as king over them, in accordance with the logic of divine economy. If we were to read ‘against their Christ’, as is found in many copies, we shall extend the ‘their’ to include everyone, Jews, nations and demons, since to him Every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and beneath the earth.

2γ Inter-psalm. We dealt with this clearly in the preamble. § 61 3 Let us break their bonds asunder and let us cast away their yoke from us. These words are either as from the holy Spirit, commanding the future faithful to break away both from the idolatrous Romans and the witless Jews - in regard to the former to break asunder the bonds of slavery encompassing them, and in regard to the latter to cast away the yoke of the law oppressing them, as heavy and mortifying, and to choose the yoke of Christ, as light and life-giving. Or else they are as from the Saviour’s slayers, having spoken them as it were both through what they did and through what they said, and rebelling against both the bonds of servitude to the Father and to the Son and against the yoke of subjugation in which they were held according to the order of nature. 4 He who dwells in the heavens will richly deride them, and the Lord will richly mock them. They who are blasphemed by them, both the Father who dwells in heaven and the Son, the Lord of all in respect of his divinity, will laugh exceedingly and will mock them – the pre- fix ἐκ to the Greek verbs is a mark of intensification – and will prove them to be fools, having attempted things unachievable, because they presumed to put life to death, and because the Romans chose demons in place of God, and the Jews a shadow in place of the truth. 5α Then he will speak to them in his anger. When, that is, he openly rebuked the Jews and prophesied the evils that would overtake them, saying amongst many other things, Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for the kingdom of God will be taken from you, and so on. 5β And in his rage he will trouble them. Enraged at their acts of wickedness, and on this account foretelling futures calamities, he filled them with agitation and apprehension, for many understood him to be a prophet. Some say that the agitation was the turmoil that ensued later as a result of the siege by the Romans. These words may also be understood to be about the last judgement when, condemning them, he will subject them to punishments. 4: The divine is uncircumscribable as unbounded; we call heaven his dwelling place as a place more akin to him, for it is free of evil while the earth is full thereof, because on earth is the devil, the creator of evil.

6α But I have been established as king by him. From here the words are spoken in the person of Christ, for such is the nature of prophe- cy, to speak now about this and now about that, and to jump from one thing to another, mak- ing it clear that like a musical instrument they were uttering that with which they were made resonant by the Spirit. And he is proclaiming prophetically the kingship that he received from the Father as man, for it is written, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 6β-7α On Zion his holy mountain, proclaiming the Lord’s decree. By the mountain called Zion he signified the whole of Judea. The sense of the phrase is that I was made king, teaching the Gospel commandments by Mount Zion, namely, in Jerusalem. He called ‘the Lord’s decree’ those commandments, manifesting that both he and the Father were of one will: I do not say anything of my own, but whatsoever I hear from the Father.

7β The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son’. This is said of the pre-eternal generation.

7γ Today I have begotten you. This is said of the incarnate economy. The word ‘today’ is used in the sense of ‘in time’, ‘in the present times’, while the verb ‘begotten’ is used in the sense of ‘created’. God is said to be Father of created things as their fashioner and maker.

8α Ask from me and I shall give you nations as your inheritance. Since being kindred with the Hebrews according to the flesh he came to his own as teach- er but they rejected him, he fittingly makes the nations his own, having been urged by the Father to ask and receive them as an inheritance. And indeed having become Son of God according to his humanity, he was due an inheritance.

8β And the ends of the earth as your possession. And authority over your inheritance, stretching to the ends of the earth.

The words of the Gospel indeed went out into all the earth and to the ends of the inhabited world. The Father proposes the request, approving and desiring the refashioning of mankind. And the Son makes the request, having become man for our sake and mediator between God and humanity. Let Jews then be confounded, having nothing to which to apply these words. Who else after all has acquired such a possession?

9α You will shepherd them with an iron rod. This is spoken by the prophet; for since, he says, they failed to accept your words, you will chastise them with an unbending scourge, thereby signifying the Roman rule. For since they refused his own kingship and confessed to Caesar as their king, he brought upon them the rule of Caesar, by which they were destroyed. He described the rod as ‘iron’ on account of its strength and because Daniel had seen Roman rule as iron in his visions.

9β Like a potter’s vessels you will crush them. This is about the ease of their destruction. Others say that it alludes to the salvation of those from among the nations, namely, you will shepherd them in your almighty power, and just as the potter, when he sees his ready fashioned vessels are defective, crushes them before placing them in the firing oven and remoulds them, so you will crush their way of thinking with the Gospel and will refashion them through the bath of regeneration and will make them firm through the divine fire of the Spirit.

10 And now, O kings, acquire understanding; be corrected, all you who judge the earth. The word ‘now’ is used in the sense of ‘for this reason’, O you kings of the Romans and of the other nations, and, O you judges throughout the earth, or you who judge earthly people, now that you have learned what calamities have befallen those who rejected him, and know that he has chosen you as an inheritance, become wise, casting off your prior foolishness, and be corrected by these things and by the divine Scriptures. By mention of the rulers he included the ruled.

11α Serve the Lord in fear. Having come to realize that he is both God and avenger and fearful, and that you are now his possession and allotted portion, and having fittingly changed your ways, serve him as Master in fear, for where there is fear, there is keeping of commandments. PG36.344A

11β And rejoice in him with trembling.

And as you serve him, rejoice in him as guardian and Saviour: Rejoice in the Lord always, rejoice! But let your joy be mixed with trembling and not carefree. Rejoice on account of your hope, but tremble on account of your sin, for he is an exact and unerring inquisitor.

12α Lay hold on correction. This is a further intensification of the previous ‘be corrected’, that is, not superficially, but thoroughly, employing the metaphor of those who hold something firmly in their fist.

12β Lest the Lord be angry and you perish from the just way. The just way is what he calls the habitual way of life and order of the just (the word ‘way’ for the Hebrews has many meanings), or else because they are walking towards this way.

12γ When his rage is swiftly kindled. This points to the Day of Judgement. ‘Swiftly’, is in the sense of forcefully and quickly, for at present, even though he rages, he does so more gently and tardily, allowing room for repentance.

12δ Blessed are all who have trusted in him. Those who have shunned earthly things and have placed all their hope in him. Those who join this psalm to the first one find support here, as they say that David, having started with a beatitude, concluded with a beatitude. § 55

3 Psalm 3

1 A Psalm belonging to David when he fled from the face of Absalom his son. The superscription to the psalm is clear to those who have read the story in the book of Kingdoms. It is applicable to everyone who is being attacked by enemies, whether visible or invisible.

2α O Lord, why have those who afflict me been multiplied? The prophet, complaining woefully that he has experienced such treachery at the hands of his subjects and friends, lifts up his soul to God alone asking why his enemies grouped around the parricide Absalom – these are the ones whom he said are afflicting him – are being multiplied by the addition of those variously going over to join them, though none of them had ever been wronged by him. Or else the words refer to the demons.

2β Many rise up against me. This is a clarification of ‘they have been multiplied’.

3α Many say to my soul, ‘There is no salvation for him in his God’. Many, he says, of those rising up against me, emboldening one another, are saying about my soul, that is, about me, that being so easily pursued down, he has already forfeited God’s help on account of his sins; or else many of those witnessing my misfortunes. ‘In his God’, is in the sense of, ‘in the God in whom he ever trusts’.

3β Inter-psalm. This is discussed in the preamble. § 61

4α But you, O Lord, are my helper. Let them say what they will, he says, but you assist those who in trials, and most especially if they are worthy of help.

4β My glory and lifter up of my head. Other people have other things as their glory, their family, or fortune or wealth or some such thing, but I find courage and confidence in you alone. For you glorify me by becoming my helper, and you raise up my head in victory, where previously it was bowed low in mis- fortunes.

5α With my voice I cried to the Lord, and he heard me from his holy mountain. I did no more than cry out, whether sensibly or in thought, and swiftly he heard me, for The Lord is close to all those who call on him. ‘Holy mountain’ is either what he called Zion, for here God was believed to visit and converse with the saints, or else it is to be understood as heaven, which we call God’s dwelling place.

5β Inter-psalm. This has been mentioned earlier.

6α I lay down.

I reclined, he says, dragged down by the stupefying weight of sorrows, and remained inert.

6β And I slept. I was possessed by this mood for some considerable time.

6γ I awoke because the Lord will come to my aid. Having sensed as a prophet that you will help me, I at once raised from sleep my fallen spirits. Some say that this about the resurrection, in the sense that I shall lie down in death and sleep for a long time with the body remaining inert. I shall be awakened in later years, either when Christ, having descended into Hades, will raise up those held captive, or when he will raise all the dead at the final consummation.

7 I shall not be afraid of ten thousands of people who join in attacking me from every side. Trusting, that is, on your protection. Those who ‘join in attacking’ him are what he calls those attempting to lay hands on him, that is, either, in a historical sense, those allied with Absalom, or in anagogical sense, the demons. In the case of the demons, the attack from every side is to be understood as follows: they scheme against him from in front when they present him with hopes of well-being, and from behind when they defile his soul with the memory of passions from the past, and from the right when working together with him towards virtue they propel him into vainglory, and from the left when undisguisedly they force him into sin.

8α Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God. The word ‘arise’ is in the sense of ‘move against my enemies’, you who by your long-suffer- ing appear to be sleeping. Or else the Saviour’s resurrection from the dead is being pre-echoed, calling on him to save mankind, to which he alludes through himself.

8β For you have struck down all who without cause are hostile towards me. Foreseeing already with his prophetic eyes the destruction of his enemies, he gives thanks and confesses the favour received.

8γ You have smashed the teeth of sinners. Their strength, that is to say, using the metaphor of wild beasts, which have their strength

in their teeth. He calls ‘sinners’ all those hostile towards him; they sin by waging war on him for no reason, out of wickedness alone.

9α Salvation belongs to the Lord. This, too, is an exclamation of thanksgiving, declaring that the Lord saved him and none other.

9β And your blessing is upon your people. And your blessing, he says, has come upon your people - either the people who are waging war at my side, or simply the people throughout my whole kingdom, or the people of the faithful. Blessing is to be understood as peace and benefaction, as having become the cause of blessing. For both the people themselves glorified God and also those who witnessed the help he enjoyed.

4 Psalm 4

1 A Psalm belonging to David; towards fulfilment; in hymns. It has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’ on account of prophesying the resurrection from the dead (as we shall demonstrate further on), which is of the age to come, which we know to be the fulfilment of the present age, or else on account simply of foretelling certain things which as a prophet he was aware would find fulfilment. ‘In hymns’, on account of its proclaiming the wonders of God, who made him victorious over Absalom’s tyrannous rule, after which he sang the present psalm. It is appropriate for everyone who has been delivered from danger.

2α Even as I was calling on him, the God of my justice heard me. Observe the speed. While I was still calling upon him, he heard, for it is written, Even while you are speaking, I shall say: Here I am. For it is not a multitude of words that persuades God, but a pure disposition of the soul. ‘The God of my justice’ is a circumlocution for ‘the God of me, who am just’, in relation, that is, to the injustice of Absalom. For I was wronged, I did not wrong. In many places he uses this figure of speech, calling himself just and devout and suchlike, not boasting, but comparing himself to the wicked acts of those waging war on him.

2β In affliction you have given me expanse. Joy expands, affliction straitens, but for me, on the contrary, in my time of sorrow you made me magnanimous rather, so as to command that my parricide child be spared.

2γ Have compassion on me and hear my prayer. He importunes to be shown mercy even further, and should he fall once again into temp- tations, for the entreaty then offered not to be overlooked.

3α Sons of men, how long will you be heavy hearted? The words are addressed to his friends and acquaintances, who were endeavouring to help him escape from his present situation when misfortunes were prevailing. He says therefore how long will you cease to raise your heart to God in the midst of afflictions, but weigh it down, drawing it down with human thoughts and worldly cares. ‘Sons of men’ is again a circumlocution, standing for ‘O people’. This is common for the Hebrew dialect.

3β Why do you love futility and seek falsehood? Human artifices are unprofitable; they beguile with hopes, but fail to bring results. Or else he says this for the sake of those who cling to things present as if permanent, but which do not stand; they seem to be by reason of their appearance, but are not by reason of change. And indeed he himself, a king, became a commoner and was persecuted.

4α And know that the Lord has made marvellous the one who is devoted to him. The conjunction ‘and’ is redundant here. This too is an idiom of Hebrew style, as we shall find very often in our continuing observations. Learn then, he says, that God has made me an object of marvel, who am devoted and ded- icated to him, and who have my hopes in him alone. And how could he fail to be renowned, having usurped the usurper, and as fugitive defeated his pursuer, routing with a small band of men one who employed myriads?

4β The Lord will hear me even as I cry to him. Having succeeded thus in obtaining swift succour, and having been saved alive against all hope from such a danger, I know that God will have mercy on me and I trust that he will hear me again when I cry to him in dire straits.

5α Swell with anger and do not sin. Swell with anger as human, but do not sin by being swept away by the intensity of the passion, or by raging beyond measure, or by being possessed by anger for a long period, or by being vengeful towards people unseasonably or without cause. Rage was planted in people

against evil. The person who avenges himself swells with anger and sins. The person who corrects another swells with anger and does not sin, like a father who is angry with his son.

5β For what you say in your hearts, be pierced with remorse on your beds. When going to bed, which is a time of ease, examine yourselves at your leisure about your thoughts of the day, and for the things that wrongfully occupy you during the day, repent for them at the time of repose. Doing so myself, I prosper, and having learned the benefit of this from experience, I exhort you to do the same. And if we ought to reprove our inner thoughts, how much more ought we chasten our actions. Observe how he uses both preventative and corrective medicines. On the one hand, Swell with anger and do not sin, is preventative, and on the other, For what you say in your hearts, be pierced with remorse on your beds, is corrective.

6 Sacrifice a sacrifice of justice and hope in the Lord. Bring offering to God of justice alone, wronging no one, and you will receive help from God, who allies himself most especially with those who are being subjected to insults. He also outlines in advance the ecclesiastical way of life, which would in future offer the spiritual sacrifice of virtues in place of animals, if we take justice, not in the narrow sense, but in the general sense of all virtue.

7α Many say, ‘Who will show us good things’. Having backed up his exhortation with his own example, he sets out an antithesis with the faint-hearted. Some, he says, when they are confronted with trials, become heavy-hearted and fall into despair and do not believe that The Lord is near to all who call on him, but they say, ‘Who will help us?’ which, as an expression of ultimate despair, implies that there will be no one. Or the words are about the lovers of the flesh who think good is comfort and luxury and strive for these things alone, hating profoundly the sufferings that befall by divine economy. The phrase, ‘Who will show us?’ is to be understood of a soul yearning fervently.

7β The light of your face, O Lord, has been signed upon us. But I am not such a one, and indeed the protection of your caring oversight has been signed upon me, for this is how ‘light’ is to be understood, dispersing the darkness of de- spondency, and as if engraved upon me, it has made me recognizable even to those afar off.

Some say that this is a prophecy about the Christians on whom Christ was signed, that is, set as a mark, in their being called Christians. Christ, moreover, is the light of the Father, for through him we have seen the Father, He who has seen me, has seen the Father, and he is the exact imprint and form of the Father. The prophet numbered himself among those on account of both his kinship and conformity with the virtues.

8α You have given gladness to my heart. Either through the protection mentioned, or through the title derived from Christ borne by the faithful.

8β From the fruit of wheat and wine and oil with these they have become full. He speaks again of the lovers of the flesh, namely, that even to the earthly minded you give abundantly out of your great goodness, for he lists that they have become full with the fruit of wheat and oil and wine, that is, they have been sated with these, namely with the things enumerated, by which, as the most essential, he includes the other kinds of food.

9α In peace I shall together lie down and sleep. Having set aside the fears unsettling me, I shall lie down untroubled and will sleep to sati- ety. The word ‘together’ seeks to indicate ‘at the same time’, namely, that I shall do both these things. ‘I shall sleep’ is an intensification of the lying down. Or else he is making a prophecy about his own death, that he will not die violently, but naturally, in which case we shall understand the ‘together’ as speaking about the body and the soul, namely, that I shall lie down in peace together, both in body and in soul, the body having been released from visible enemies and the soul from invisible enemies. The ‘sleep’ alludes to the long time until the resurrection.

9β For you, O Lord, have made me dwell alone in hope. You have made me dwell separated from the wicked in hope of salvation. Some say that he prophesied this about the resurrection from the dead, speaking as from the body and saying, You, O Lord, have ordained for me to dwell in the tomb, separated from my consort soul, not in an absolute sense, however, but in hope of the resurrection when I shall receive back the soul. The ‘for’ seems redundant, and this indeed is also an idiom often found in the Ancient Scripture. It is also understood as confirmatory, in the sense of ‘truly’.

5 Psalm 5

1 Towards fulfilment; for her who is inheriting. What the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’ stands for has already been said. Some say that there is allusion here to the last days when the Lord became man, for at that time the shadow of the law came to fulfilment, and they confirm this by what follows, for the prophet composes the psalm in the person of the Church of the later faithful, even though it fits no less well with his own circumstances. He called the Church ‘she who is inheriting’, as having been adopted through the rebirth of baptism; her inheritance is what eye has not seen, and so on. Paul, speaking of her as a bride, says: I have betrothed a pure virgin to present to Christ, and John says, He who has the bride is the bridegroom, while David himself says, The queen has stood at your right hand. He said ‘she who is inheriting’ and not she who has inherited or who will inherit, because she is always inheriting and never ceases to. 2-3α Give ear to my words, O Lord, be understanding of my cry, attend to the voice of my en- treaty. This either signifies the same thing through different but equivalent words as is customary for those making heartfelt entreaty, or else he is calling the entreaty ‘my words’ as compris- ing of words, a ‘cry’ as uttered with accentuation of the spirit, and a ‘voice’ as meaningful, because strictly a cry is meaningless. And the verbs form fitting complements: give ear, and be understanding of the purpose and, moreover, do not set the entreaty aside as of minor import, whether uttered with lips or silently. It is an idiom of Scripture to call divine energies by human ones, as the juxtaposition of these energies shows.

3β My king and my God. For I, the Church, having cast down the idols, have you alone as my king, as my providen- tial provider, and God, as my maker.

3γ For to you, O Lord, I shall pray. Hear me, because from now on I shall pray to you and not to any other god as previously.

4 In the morning you will hear my voice, in the morning I shall appear before you and you will watch over me.

When, that is to say, Christ, the Sun of Justice, will dawn, for at that time I (the Church) shall constitute myself from among the nations and the Jews and I shall call on you, and I shall present myself before you through the closeness of virtuous life, and thus you will see me approaching. For it is written, The eyes of the Lord are upon the just. Some of the copies, instead of ‘you will watch over me’ have ‘I shall be seen’ in the sense of ‘I shall appear’. In terms of David’s situation, the morning is to be understood as denoting the hour before dawn. Before all work, he says, I shall call upon you, and so on, which is what we do also immediately on rising from bed, not that it is not necessary to pray at any other time, for it is written, I shall bless the Lord at all times.

5α For you are not a God who delights in lawlessness. It is the idols that love lawlessness. He calls ‘lawlessness’ every sin, as being outwith the ambit of the divine law.

5β An evildoer will not tarry beside you. The gods of the nations are not only subject to passions as the books about them tell, but they treat zealots for similar passions as their kindred and open to them their profane tem- ples. An evildoer will not attain closeness and familiarity with you – for this is how ‘tarrying beside’ is to be understood here – for it is written, The Lord is near to those crushed in heart and to those who fear him. By the evildoer he alludes to every kind of sinner.

6α Nor will law-breakers remain before your eyes. This they say was prophesied in regard to the Jews, who as long as they observed the law enjoyed divine oversight, but once they became transgressors of it they were justly ejected.

6β You have hated all the workers of lawlessness. This is about the unbelieving nations that have not received God’s law. It can be understood differently: A lawbreaker is one who has learned the law but trans- gresses it; a lawless person is one who has not suffered to learn. Often we call a lawbreaker lawless as not living under the law. Having spoken generally about sinners without distinction, he sets out in turn what seemed to him at that time the most capital of sins.

7α You will destroy all who speak falsehood.

This is first and foremost about those who honour a god other than the true God and the heretics, and secondarily it is about those who lie in any way as being servants of the devil (for Satan is the father of lies), whether they have come from among the Jews or from among the nations. By saying ‘you will destroy’ he presented their punishment as more grievous, or else he aimed to instil fear into those who lie lightly, since such people are very common and are inured to lying on account of the ease with which it is done, or because they not only render themselves worthless, but also become authors of destruction for many others.

7β The Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and guile. Observe how he classed the man of guile along with the murderer, for by deceiving and placing in danger he seems to murder.

8α But I in the multitude of your mercy shall enter into your house. But I (the Church), freed from error on account of your great mercy, shall enter into your house, which previously I foolishly undermined. Or alternatively, I shall enter into your house, having been made worthy of this privilege, not on account of my own virtue, but on account of your mercy alone. Some say that the house of God is the virtuous way of life, for God rests on and dwells in those who walk in this way, just as in the Gospels the Saviour said that he would come with the Father and make a dwelling with the worthy.

8β I shall worship towards your holy temple in your fear. Entering with all reverence, I (the Church) will worship in fear, either in your earthly temple or in your heavenly temple. The nations on the contrary behave in an unseemly and licentious manner in the temples of their gods. In terms of himself, the prophet, having gone through in summary the kinds of evil and shown them to be abhorrent to God, returns to his own situation and promises to worship truly and conscientiously, not as one who has been justified, but as having been shown mercy, even though the way in which he inveighs against sinners and grants himself access to the divine temple makes it seem so.

9α O Lord, guide me in your justice. Direct me through the justice of your Son, who is justice and sanctification and redemp- tion, according to the Apostle. Or in your law, for there is also human justice.

9β For the sake of my enemies make straight my way before you. On account of my enemies both visible and invisible who constantly sow obstacles and snares in my path make smooth my way towards you; ‘make smooth’ is how Symmachus translated ‘make straight’. Or else make my way incline neither to right nor to left on account of the intriguers who lie in wait. These things are also fitting for David.

10α For in their mouth there is no truth, their heart is vain. As deceivers they lie, and as wicked they pursue things unprofitable.

10β Their throat is an opened tomb. This is about the dead dogmas and foul smelling blasphemies of the heretics, or else about the decay-dripping words of depravity, or the shameful insults against David. It is not cov- ered over, for thus it would have concealed the stench.

10γ They have dealt guilefully with their tongues. If someone is guileful he is a liar, but if someone is a liar he is not necessarily guileful. The evil of guile is greater. This says accordingly that they would plot and confer treacherously against me.

11α Judge them, O God. Condemn those who are doing such things, you who, as previously stated, hate all such people.

11β Let them fail in their intrigues. Let their purposes fall wide of the mark.

11γ In accord with the multitude of their impieties cast them out. Thrust them out on account of their impiety, for they do not honour you, and not on my account, even though I (the Church) am your inheritance. Or otherwise, to the extent that they are impious, in such measure let them be driven away. Impious is not only the person with no god, but also the one who does not honour God fittingly.

11δ For they have embittered you, O Lord.

I am not so concerned about what they do to me, but I am pained on your account, be- cause they have embittered you through their aforementioned practices. Moreover, by at- tacking me, who keep your commandments, they embitter you my Master.

12α And let all who hope in you be glad. For when your enemies are distressed, the pious on the contrary rejoice, because trusting in you alone, they overcome adversaries so many and so great.

12β To the age they will rejoice. In the sense of, ‘continuously’, ever having your strengthening help at hand.

12γ And you will dwell in them. Finding repose in the beauty of their souls, as is written, I shall dwell in them and walk among them, and I shall be their God and they will be my people.

12δ And those who love your name will boast in you. Because they alone have recognized the true God and have placed their hopes in him alone. And otherwise, the Christians love the divine name of Christ so much that they want to be known by this alone and boast in Christ alone, as the Apostle said: Far be it from me to boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, that is, in the crucified Christ.

13α For you will bless the just, O Lord. Not only heralding them abroad in the present life, but also in the life to come when you will say: Come, O blessed of my Father. You therefore will bless them, even though the wicked abuse them. With these words he consoles those who are blasphemed on account of virtue.

13β As with a shield of good will you have crowned us. You have surely encircled us and walled us about with the Cross, the shield of good will, namely, of your ineffable economy. Or else, a shield of good will is to be understood as a ‘goodly’ or ‘trusty’ shield. This figure is common in Ancient Scripture where ‘son of strength’ designates a strong person, ‘man of bloodshed’ a murderer, and ‘man of peace’ a peaceful person.

The syntax is as follows: you have walled us about with your power as with a trusty and steadfast shield; for a crown is a circle, and walling is circular. 6 Psalm 6 1 Towards fulfilment; in hymns; for the eighth; a psalm belonging to David. What ‘towards fulfilment’ signifies was said previously. The prophet, hymning and praising God entreats for the eighth, that is, for the age to come. The present age is the seventh, being measured, recycled and completed in the number seven; the age to come is the eighth as coming after this seventh age. He makes his entreaty to the Lord who will judge at that time in the future not only in his own person, but also in the person of all of us. He composed the psalm while surrounded by trials brought upon him on account of certain transgressions. 2 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your rage, nor chastise me in your anger. In the book of Job it is written, Blessed is the man whom the Lord has rebuked upon the earth, and David himself says elsewhere, Blessed is the man whom you will chastise, O Lord. It is not therefore rebuke or chastisement as such that he eschews, but rebuke with rage and chastisement with anger, so that he might not be destroyed by unbearable correction, but rather that having been improved by moderate correction, he might escape the punishments at the last judgement. Following on rebuke he added chastisement as consequent thereon. Divinity is free of rage and anger and every kind of passion. The prophets, however, at- tributed such dispositions to God, seeking to persuade people that he exercises providence over everything, and sees and hears and feels pleasure and sorrow and judges and rages and is angered, and so on, so that out of fear they might desist from evil. The prophets, moreover, indicate the divine energies by means of the human energies, because those who speak and hear are human, and the language is human. And besides it is not possible to speak with those in the body except by bodily means. Indeed, when we speak with barbarians, we use their language, and when we address a little child we babble in baby talk, and even if we are wise a thousand times over, we nevertheless descend to their lowly level. And let this be a general teaching for you on such matters. Accordingly, Do not rebuke me in your rage, nor chastise me in your anger, means do not condemn me as I deserve, nor demand worthy punishment of me. 3α Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak. For if my mind had not become enfeebled, the passions would not have overcome it. 2: From Basil the Great: The difference between rage and anger is alleged to lie in disposition and impulsive action, with the angry person having the passion in disposition alone, as indicated by the one who says, Swell with anger and do not sin [Ps 4.5α], but with the person who is enraged already showing something more, for it is written, Rage in them is after the likeness of a snake [Ps 57.5α], and, Herod was enraged with the people of Tyre and Sidon [Ac 12.20].

Or else, for I am weak towards the invisible enemy, who openly and surreptitiously works to undermine me. Or else, that having been crushed, I became weak, so take account of my weakness and do not condemn me utterly as if defeated voluntarily. The cry ‘have mercy on me’ is one that we all need at all times. Later on indeed he says: For if you will keep watch on lawless acts, O Lord, O Lord, who will endure? and For no one living will be justified before you. And again another said: Who will boast of having a chaste heart? Or who will speak confidently of being pure of pollution? We all therefore have need of mercy, but we do not all receive mercy, for divine mercy seeks out the one who is worthy. And of ourselves we are all weak: Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders have laboured in vain, unless the Lord guards the city, the guard has stayed awake in vain.

3β Heal me, O Lord, for my bones have been troubled. The pain from my trials has permeated even to my insensible bones and deeply agitated them. In this way he presented the excessiveness of his suffering. Or else bones are to be understood as the powers of the mind on which the mind is supported.

4α And my soul has been troubled greatly. Unable to bear the ferocity of the pain. This verse is also apposite when someone has been stung into irrational rage or into some shameful desire, for then the devil breathing mightily has troubled both the body and the soul like a gale hitting the sea, and both are stirred into confusion and rise up in seething waves and do not preserve their own order and state.

4β And you, O Lord, how long? This is not from someone making an accusation, but from someone racked in agonies: In my state, he says, your overlooking of me has been long indeed. By divine economy God does not come at once to the aid of those who are tempted as a result of sin, as is written: At an acceptable time I have heard you. But for those tempted at the caprice of the evil one, his help is more than immediate, as is written: While you are still speaking, I shall say: Here I am.

5α Turn back, O Lord, deliver my soul. Turn towards me, even though you have turned away because of my sins, and free me from my afflictions.

5β Save me for your mercy’s sake.

Not for the sake of my virtues, for I have none.

6α For in death there is none who invokes your memory. Death is what he calls sin, as the cause of death, for in the beginning it was sin that intro- duced death. He is saying therefore that the person who commits a sin does not remember God at that moment, being intoxicated by the sin and made insensible. Or else he calls death the time after one’s demise, for after someone has died all calling to memory, that is, the invocation of God, is taken away, for it is unprofitable.

6β And in Hades who will confess to you? For repentance is possible prior to death; what comes thereafter is a time of requital only.

7 I have worn myself out with my groaning, every night I shall bathe my bed, I shall rain tears upon my bedding. I did not simply toil, but I wore myself out with sighs and groaning; this presents an in- crease in intensity. And I shall not simply shed tears, but I shall bathe my bed, and not once or twice, but every night. Since cares distract during the day, I shall make the time of repose a time of confession, when there is nothing to disturb, for this is a time well suited to repentance. The words ‘I shall rain’ are an explication of ‘I shall bathe’ as being even clearer. Let us commoners hear of a king’s repentance and be moved to emulation. He presents all this as a pretext for mercy, so that he might move the compassionate Lord, lest the excess of suffering exhaust the strength within him and render him useless.

8α My eye has been troubled by rage. The eye of the soul that is to say, namely, the mind. Reflecting on your rage towards sin- ners on the day of judgement, my mind has been sorely agitated. Fittingly he called the mind an ‘eye’ as that which leads a person, for the mind sees and the mind hears. Some say that his bodily eye was troubled, filled with rage against his enemies; this is a characteristic of people who are deeply angered.

8β I have been worn old among all my enemies. Like old garments, I have been dishonoured and despised by my enemies who prior to my sin feared me. Or else ‘I have been worn old’ in the sense of ‘I have become weak’, for the aged are weak.

9α Depart from me, all you who work lawlessness. Having already sensed God’s approaching aid, he takes courage, and from here onwards instils fear into his enemies and commands them to flee, whether they be visible or invisible enemies. 9β-10 For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping, the Lord has heard my entreaty, the Lord has accepted my prayer. He presents these things as the reason both for his own boldness and for their flight. Either the three phrases mean the same, as we have said elsewhere, or else because one also weeps at poverty and suchlike, he distinguished the equivocal sense of weeping by the word ‘entreaty’, indicating that the weeping took place in entreaty for help, and prayer again was placed to signify the intensity of the entreaty.

11α May all my enemies be shamed and troubled. He pleas for what has been made known to him to come to pass quickly. And how indeed will they not be shamed on seeing that in vain they had hoped he would be easy prey to them, having been stripped of heavenly favour, and having been shamed, how will they not be filled with fear?

11β May they be turned back and utterly shamed, greatly and swiftly. This being the case, they will retreat; ‘utterly shamed’ is an intensification of ‘shamed’. The adverbs ‘greatly and swiftly’ are to be attached to all the previous optative verbs, with the one who is praying asking that they may suffer these things swiftly. Some say that the speaker is praying rather than cursing here, as he entreats for his enemies to be shamed as they plot evil, to be filled with fear for God who is his ally, and to be turned away from their wickedness and so be bettered.

7 Psalm 7

1 A Psalm belonging to David which he sang to the Lord for the words of Chousi the son of Iemenei. It seems that the superscription runs contrary to the story in the book of Kingdoms in 2Rg 16-17 which the events of David’s time are recorded. There indeed Chousi is said to be the son of Arachi, but not of Iemenei. These things can be reconciled in the manner we shall say, either because his father had two names, or because Chousi - as David’s chief companion, he planned the desertion to Absalom and confounded the plans of Achitophel, a man thor- oughly versed in strategy, and on the one hand caused delays for the parricide, while on the

other he gave David the fugitive time to escape further afield and gather strength, as we shall find in greater detail in the book of Kingdoms – had been given this name on account of his bravery, for Chousi means ‘of the right hand’. It is customary in Scripture to often call sons from their characteristic attributes rather than from their fathers, for example, son of peace, children of wisdom, son of destruction. The son of the right hand is thus the one who is dexterous and most useful. But the superscription reads ‘for the words of Chousi’, yet throughout the psalm David makes no mention of Chousi, and once again we seem to be faced with a puzzle. But for us our perception of the matter is not to be kept hidden. For the prophet, having repented of the fact that he had placed his hope in the wisdom of Chousi (having suggested to Chousi the plan about deceiving Absalom and confounding the purpose of Achitophel), now sings this psalm to God, not about the things he achieved through the wisdom of Chou- si, but about the fact that, having left aside his hope in God, he had placed confidence in the words spoken to Absalom by Chousi his emissary. This is thus an ode of supplication, propi- 2Rg17.11-13 tiating God and entreating for help.

2α O Lord my God, in you I have hoped. Even though I have benefited from the wisdom of Chousi, having found a short breathing space and having taken the opportunity to regroup, now, not trusting in him, I shall fight back; I cling to hope in you alone, considering everything else secondary, both friends and allies and soldiers, for it is written, Cursed is the one who has hope in any man, and, Blessed is the man who hopes in you. And just as it is not right to worship anything other than God, so it is not right to hope in any other than God.

2β Save me from all my pursuers and deliver me. Someone is saved when preserved unhurt in wars, and delivered when freed on every side from attackers. He said ‘all my pursuers’ on account of the parricide’s co-rebels who had murderous intentions against him and thirsted for his death. Or else the one who is weak is saved and the one in captivity is delivered. Save me then as weak, and deliver me as a captive, for I expect at any time to be caught as in a net by my enemies. Or else he is saying, save me from the enemies who are persecuting me here and now, and deliver me from the invisible enemies who after death at once examine the marks of the soul to take possession of it, so that the entreaty is a double one, for the present and the future life.

3α Lest like a lion he seize my soul. He calls Absalom a lion on account of his ferocity and boldness and shameless impetu- osity.

Or else he is alluding to the devil: the mouth of the lion is foul smelling, as is the maw of the devil, belching forth blasphemies. And indeed the Lord at the time of his passion said, Now the ruler of this world is coming, and in me he will have nothing. Interpreted in relation to Absalom, ‘soul’ is to be understood as ‘life’, taken away by the killer, for the soul is the cause of life and we often call effects by the names of their causes, just as we call the Lord peace and justice and suchlike, and the devil sin and destruction, for the one became cause of the former, the other of the latter. The word ‘seize’ is used more loosely here signifying taking away. The present psalm will apply to everyone in danger if they understand pursuers as the demons, the lion as the prince of the demons who snatches the soul into sin or into despair, or when is it departing from the body.

3β There being neither redeemer nor saviour. These words provide a fitting continuation, with ‘saviour’ conforming to ‘save’ and ‘re- deemer’ to ‘deliver’. If you do not come to my aid, there will be neither saviour nor deliverer. 4-5 O Lord my God, if I have done this thing, if there is any injustice on my hands, if I have repaid [in return] those who repaid me [in return] with evils, may I then fall down empty before my enemies. Still sparing his son, he did not mention the nature of the sin. Deeply shamed, he did not even mention him by name, but rather euphemistically. If I have done this thing, that my son has done (for he has become a parricide and has been polluted by rape), and if I have wronged him with my hands (that is, in practice), even though having long sensed his wickedness, or caused injury to those who are joining him for battle and who, in return for the good they have received from me, are now repaying me with evils, may I not repel my enemies, but fall down having achieved nothing. Some people are puzzled by the fact that he will not fall down having achieved nothing, but will very certainly punish his enemies. How is it, they say, that he does not repay? To these we would reply that he is speaking about what went before. For many times up to that point, having encountered many wicked persons, he did not repay. But at this time, with his life being in danger, he defended himself, unable to bear any longer the lawlessness of the wicked. There is again another way of interpreting this, namely, may I fall down before my ene- mies empty of hopes; these hopes are not for them to be punished, but for them to be re- pelled as they attack so that they may cease to pursue me any longer and to seek to deprive me of my life. Observe, moreover, that he commanded his soldiers to spare the life of his child, and when he learned of his death, he lamented bitterly. Or in another way: they are to be understood as invisible enemies, before whom he says

he will fall down empty and having done nothing, not having defeated and shamed them through the resistance of the virtues. He does not say such things boasting, but, having fallen into necessity, he proffers them as supplications. We may take this passage also in relation to other persons, namely, that I did not wrong anyone, ejecting them from the kingdom by violence, nor did I repay Saul, who in return for all I did for him openly contrived my death, even though I had him in my power, as the story 1Rg 24.5 & tells. 26.7-9 But whether you will apply this verse to Absalom and his followers or to some other per- son or to Saul the truth is in no way harmed. The first use of ‘to repay in return’ is an improper use in the sense of, ‘to repay’. Payment is the initial giving of good or evil; repayment is the reciprocal giving of the same; repayment in return is a second giving of good or evil by the payers to the re-payers. This usage, however, is common in Scripture and especially in David.

6α May the enemy chase down my soul and take it. May Absalom, he says, chase down my soul, that is, me by circumlocution, and capture it.

6β And may he trample my life into the earth. Life here is to be understood as blood, for this is the cause of life, as being the most essen- tial of the other three elements that make up the animal. PG29.168A

6γ And may my glory dwell in the dust. He calls his ‘glory’ his glorious body, which was renowned among all for its vigorous strength and for the splendour that had been added thereto by the royal office. ‘May it dwell’ in the sense of ‘may it be made to dwell’, that is, to lie on the ground and be dissolved. The words can also be transposed onto the invisible enemy, with the imprecation that he be pursued by the invisible enemy and taken captive, no longer able to escape his attacks, and that his life be thrust down into the earth, namely into earthly things (this is what the ‘trampling’ signifies, stamping and shamefully jumping on him as he lies), and not only that his body have this fate, but that even his glory, namely, his mind (since this is the glory and honour of the soul), may also be brought down and transfixed to earthly things, no longer able to raise itself to God on the wings of contemplation.

7α Arise, O Lord, in your anger. There is an arising that is not in anger, as when he says, Arise, O Lord, save me, O my God, but now he summons him to vengeance.

Just as we do not take sitting in relation to God in a bodily sense, so neither do we un- derstand arising in this way. Rather the sitting manifests the characteristics of regality, judge- ment and permanence, while the arising manifests those of vengeance and coming to aid. Anger in relation to God once again is not to be conceived as a passion, but as the punish- ment of those deserving thereof.

7β Be exalted in the furthest bounds of your enemies. Being high and exalted, appear as such to the people. You will reveal this in the furthest ends, that is, in the deaths, of your enemies, for the end of everyone’s life is death; and my enemies are also your enemies, as transgressing your commandments.

7γ And awake, O Lord my God, by the decree, which you have commanded. Be long-suffering no more, but come to my defence on account of the decree, which you commanded through Moses. For it has been legislated: Honour your father and your mother. And now my son has raged against his father. This can also be understood in a different way, namely, that the prophet is praying about the mystery of the resurrection. For in the Gospels the Lord said to the Jews about his own body: Destroy this temple, and in three days I shall rebuild it. Awake, therefore, he says, on account of the decree, which you commanded, for you said, Destroy, and they will destroy.

8α And an assembly of peoples will encircle you. For if you come to my aid many will see and will be instilled with fear and will return to the Lord. They will ‘encircle’ in the sense that they will circle around you commandments, not deserting them, for God himself is infinite. And we can also take the phrase in relation to the resurrection. For at that time the assem- bly of the nations from all the ends of the earth came around Christ as in a circle. Or else they will encircle you in the sense of they will sing and hymn praise to you. Since it was the custom to offer up hymns in a circular chorus, from the shape of the thing he alluded to the thing itself, namely, praise and worship.

8β And on its behalf return on high. For the sake of this assembly, go up to the Father as mediator; return to the height of the glory that you had before the world came to be, having now brought the unutterable mystery to completion.

9α The Lord will judge peoples.

He will not overlook all that has been devised against me. Or else he will judge, condemn- ing the wicked and placing the good at his right hand.

9β Judge me, O Lord, according to your justice, and according to my innocence upon me. Because he mentioned judgement, he says, become a judge for me also, having examined the justice I observed towards both the parricide and those who follow him, and furthermore let judgement indeed be upon me according to my guilelessness. How is it then that while elsewhere he says, Do not enter into judgement with your serv- ant, here he prays to be judged? This is because there he is saying, Do not you be judged in relation to me, and do not compare my life with your benefactions, while here he is asking for judgement in relation to others, namely those who had wronged him and were seeking to kill him.

10α Let the wickedness of sinners be brought to an end, and you will keep the just man straight. If the wickedness of sinners will ever be stopped, the just will be directed straightly, that is, without impediment they will walk the way of virtue.

10β God is a searcher of hearts and reins. God examines and investigates the heart and the reins, that is, all that springs from the seat of the passions, for this is about the heart, and all that springs from the seat of desire, for this is about the reins, from which two all sin is composed.

11 Justly my help is from God who saves the straight in heart. Being straight in heart and guileless, and directing myself towards the straight way of virtue, justly I look for help, not human help which is worthless, but help from God who is able to save. Note that some translate ‘just’ as an adjective in relation to God and conjoin it to the pre- vious verse. Chrysostomos, however, reading justly in an emphatic way, joins it to this verse, as we have interpreted it. PG55.95

12α God is a judge, just and strong and patient. This he seems to address to those who are scandalized by the providence of God, that he permitted for a son to rebel against his father. He is just in that he measures rewards in line with actions, he is strong in that he is able to do all that he purposes, and he is patient in that he does not bring on punishment at once.

12β And not precipitating anger every day. This is a clarification of the patience, for we who sin every day are ever deserving of pun- ishment, but he, ever patient, grants time for repentance. We may understand ‘anger’ here as chastisement. Some ask how, if God is just, chastising as deserves, how is he benevolent? He is just in requiting as deserves, and benevolent in not punishing immediately, but rather showing forbearance and offering occasions for return and not permitting the enemy to do all he pur- poses and desiring our salvation in every way. 13 If you do not turn back, he will burnish his sword; he has drawn his bow and readied it. David, knowing as a prophet that all the nations would have his psalms in their hands, in- termingles teachings with his own affairs. If you who have strayed from the straight way and turned towards material things do not turn back, you will not escape punishment. The sword signifies a bitter death, the bow a swift death, burnishing and drawing point to the preparation of punishment and temporary forbearance, while the readying emphasizes the proximity of the strike and imminent shot. 14α And in this he has readied instruments of death. In the class of punishment epitomized by an arrow strike there are many modes of death – by slaughter, by fire, by water, by earthquake, by opening up of the earth, and all the kinds of illnesses we know, all of which became instruments of death, through which death is brought about. We need to know that though the words are human, the meanings are divine, and he em- ployed the coarseness of the words to penetrate the coarseness of the hearers. For this reason he presents God as having a sword and a bow and arrows and warlike apparel, and burnishing and drawing, so that in this way he might increase fear in his audience and through this combination of like words he might shake their stony mind. For God has no need of these things: He no more than looks on the earth and makes it tremble, in his hand is every breath, he dissolves mountains in his might and does all the other things that the hierophants have told of his inexpressible power. 14β He has contrived his arrows for those who are burning. With this he is offering comfort to the good, for, he says, the punishments of God have been made for those deserving of them. For it is those who have no refreshing drop of virtue that he calls ‘those who are burning’. So desiccated are they of good works that they are easily kindled by the fire of punishment and are already in anticipation being chastised. Or else he is speaking of those who are burning in the flames of the passions, of rage, pleasure, avarice and suchlike. 13: The ‘sharpness’ is the force of the punishment, the ‘drawing’ is its closeness, and the ‘preparation’ is the certainty of its striking unless they change.

Having thus delineated the multiform anger from on high and suspended it over the wicked, he continues by instructing on the basis of the events of his time and turns his dis- course towards Absalom.

15α See, he has swollen in travail with injustice. This rebel became pregnant with injustice, plotting unjustly to expel me from the king- ship given to me by God. He chose the word for birth pangs wishing to show what pain and paroxysms those who plan to wrong their fellows suffer. They are filled with rage, they are racked by anger, they are tossed by evil thoughts, they are led in myriad ways, they are over- taken by fear and anxiety, and altogether they cannot bear such tortures before they carry out their plan, though not even after the deed are they freed from the condemnation of their conscience. Accordingly, wherever Scripture wished to show insufferable pain, it underlined this by the use of the word for birth pangs (ὠδίς), which is derived from the verb ‘to cause to swell’ (οἰδαίνειν), that is, to grow. For the baby that has reached its term can no longer be carried and for this reason it causes acute pains as it pushes to exit. And it is shown hereby that wickedness is not innate in us, but is sown from without and grows and is accompanied by pangs.

15β He has conceived pain and given birth to lawlessness. In embryos first comes conception and then the birth pangs once the baby has grown; But there conception and birth pangs are said of the same embryo; Here, however, they are said of two different things. For having been in travail with injustice, and having been grievously distressed by it, on account both of the aforementioned reasons and of not finding a suitable opportunity, he conceived a pain, namely, he acquired a bodily ache, for when the soul is racked, the strength of the body is stricken. Accordingly, not only did he travail in soul, but also he fell subject to bodily pains until he gave birth to lawlessness. And truly it is lawless to dishonour and expel your father and to defile his concubines. Some preferring a less involved interpretation here call ‘travail’ the evil thought and ‘con- ception’ the continued insistence on the thought of tyranny. Or else that having been swollen in travail, and having suffered much on account of that thought, and being unable to bear it, he conceived again another thought about the same thing, which in turn became for him a pain and second travail.

16 He has opened a pit and dug it out and he will fall into the hole he has crafted. He prepared a hazardous trap for me, and a danger difficult to escape from. He signified this through the simile of a pit. Just as a pit is inescapable for those who fall into it, especially if someone digs it out, that is, makes it twice as deep, so it is with the things the parricide has

contrived against me – they have a depth of wickedness and a deadly circle – but he himself will fall into the trap, and with the things whereby he sought to capture me he himself will be caught.

17α His pain will turn back on his head. And both things came about. For he fell into a hazard and his eager haste was strangely turned around against his head. For when hastening to encourage and bring back his own people in battle, while racing along on horseback the hair of his head was caught up in the branches of a tree, and having been hung by his head he was agonizingly put to death.

17β And upon his crown his injustice will descend. The injustice that he initiated will descend upon him. By the most vital part of the body he signified the whole man. And indeed thus it was: having organized a war against his father, it was he who was killed.

18α I shall give thanks to the Lord according to his justice. But for my part, the battle having ended in this way, I shall give thanks to the Lord for his just judgement.

18β And with psaltery I shall sing to the name of the Lord Most High. And to his name I shall sing songs of victory, because I invoked his name and he helped me, and if his name has such power, who would not fear him? The Most High, that is, the one who is above all, the unsurpassable or heavenly one, as we have said previously. These things are not said by someone who is rejoicing in the slaughter of people and most especially in the blood of his child – how could they indeed when he proclaimed the day of victory as a day of mourning? – but rather by someone who is accepting the judgement of God, which justly overtakes the unjust. Some people, offering a more succinct interpretation of the passage from He opened a pit to his injustice will descend, say that this signifies metaphorically that what he contrived against me he will suffer himself. Such we also imprecate against the devil.

8 Psalm 8

1 Towards fulfilment; for the wine vats; a psalm belonging to David. What ‘towards fulfilment’ means has already been said in the foregoing exposition.

He calls ‘wine vats’ the temples throughout the world. For the Lord is the vine, the Apos- tles are the branches, faith is the grape-cluster which when crushed in the Churches gives teaching as a wine that gladdens the hearts of the faithful. This psalm is thus proclaimed by the prophet in the person of these spiritual wine vats. In ancient times one temple was built and in one place, Jerusalem, because it was allotted also to one single nation. Of this temple Isaiah says, I built a tower and I dug out a fore-vat, calling the temple the ‘tower’ and the altar the ‘fore-vat’. At the end of the ages, and moreo- ver at the end of worship according to the Law, this temple is now abolished and countless churches have been raised up throughout the earth in its place, because all the nations have also received knowledge of God. 2α O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth. Christ is Lord of unbelievers in a single way, that of creation, but of believers in a double way, that of creation and that of recognition, hence the reduplication here. The Churches of the believers ever say, O Lord Creator, now recently become our Lord through recognition, your name is very wonderful in all the earth. The mere invocation of your name puts demons to flight, raises the dead, dispels diseases, transforms elements, and is able to do all things. This same name elsewhere he calls fearful. It is wonderful on account of its extraordinary energies and fear inspiring on account of its unspeakable power. Observe how David classed himself with us, having foreseen the mystery and the faith having spread to the ends of the world. What will Jews say about this? For the name of the almighty was an object of contempt among most of the nations, for Isaiah says, Because of you my name is continually blasphemed among the nations, and so this verse is now irrefutably about Christ. 2β For your magnificence has been exalted high above the heavens. Here ‘magnificence’ is the name he gives to the divine incarnation, which is truly great and surpasses all understanding. This, he says, was exalted even by the powers above the heav- ens as surpassingly wondrous and beyond conception. And not only humans but also angels are astonished at this so great mystery of yours. Or alternatively, wishing to express the infinite power of the divine nature, he says, your magnificence was raised up high above the heavens, since earth could not contain it. Another prophet said this same thing, His virtue covered the heavens and the earth is full of his praise. 3α From the mouth of infants and unweaned babes you have fully fashioned praise. Here he foretells the hymns of the children in the temple. Indeed, of the many signs that Christ worked, he placed only the miracle of the children as being the most astonishing. Prior to this a dead man had been raised, a leper cleansed and a demon expelled, but a choir

of babes at breast then for the first time spoke loudly and clearly. And they were not simply children, but unweaned babes, which is the strangest of all. ‘You have fully fashioned’ in the sense that you have made perfect, from an imperfect mouth.

3β For the sake of your enemies to put down an enemy and avenger. He also tells the reason for the miracle, namely, that it happened on account of the wicked Jews, your enemies. For in the case of the other strange wonders, they suspected that their eyes were perhaps deceiving them, but in the case of the hymn of the infants, who were their own offspring and were being brought up in their own homes, they were barred from any contradiction. This was divinely disposed to occur so that the Jewish faction, the enemy and avenger of God, might be put down, that is, put to shame, for this faction is an enemy as hostile to the Son, and an avenger as believing that they are doing this for the sake of the Father. The devil also can be construed as enemy and avenger - an enemy as opposing God’s com- mandments and waging war on God’s friends, and an avenger as after casting people down, accusing them of contempt for God and dragging them off for punishment for transgressing the divine commandments. He also indeed at that time was put to shame and put down. He presents the things to come as having already happened, as if having seen them with his prophetic eyes, or else, as was stated, in the person of the Churches, as if being said at that time.

4α For I shall look at the heavens, the works of your fingers. Previously the nations used to call the pseudonymous gods the makers of the world, but after truth had shone forth, the Church of the faithful says, I shall recognize the heavens as works of your fingers. He calls ‘heavens’ both the one made in the beginning and the firmament. Or else he is Gen 1.1, 6 using the plural in place of the singular, according to the Hebrew idiom. By mention of the heaven, as all-containing, he indicated also the creation beneath. Some say that he spoke of fingers wishing to indicate that these things, so great and so wondrous, are works of your multifarious and incalculable power. To me it seems indifferent, and indeed he says elsewhere, The heavens are works of your hands.

4β Moon and stars, those you have firmly founded. Having mentioned heaven, he added also the ornament of heaven, for I shall recognize you as maker of the stars also. And with his reference to the moon he did not overlook the sun, but through the former indicated the latter also, since the moon is illuminated by the sun and both exist together in human consciousness; the two great luminaries form a pair,

and if one mentions the one, you one brings in the other also. And elsewhere he mentions the sun only, You, he says, have perfected rising light and sun, both being understood by one another. ‘Those’, that is, those stars or those works; and ‘firmly founded’ in the sense of fixed or established, so as never to fall from their appointed places, even though hanging above.

5 What is man that you are remember him, or the son of man that you visit him? This also he said in relation to the incarnation, having foreknowledge of this mystery. How, he asks, is man so great that when he has rebelled and ignored your sovereign rule you show mercy on him? The verse has been formed using the metaphor of those who forget someone and then at some point remember him out of affection. Not only does he remember, but he goes himself to assist and protect the person, for this is what the ‘visiting’ implies. For neither angel, nor ambassador, but the Lord himself has come and saved us. How, then, is man so great that these things are done on his account? When angels fell you did no such thing, but when man fell, you came to our extreme predicament. Man and son of man signify the same in parallel. This figure is customary in Ancient Scripture, for ‘son of man’ appears to be a circumlocution for ‘man’.

6α You lowered him a little in comparison with angels. He mentions also the blessings bestowed on man from the beginning. Having been formed, he was lowered a little in comparison with the angels on account of the body and the things of the body, and this was by divine design, so that when elated in pride on account of his mind he may be humbled on account of the dust. For if when weighed down by the body he displays such conceit, what would he be like living without a body?

6β With glory and honour you crowned him. With glory, on account of being made in the image of God, and with honour, on account of the subjection of all animals to him.

7α And you set him over the works of your hands. And you ordained him king of the creation that you made. For it is written: Increase and multiply and fill the earth and have dominion over it.

7β-9 You subjected all things beneath his feet, sheep and all cattle, and likewise the beasts of the field, the birds of heaven and the fish of the sea, all things that pass through the paths of the seas. This also is taken from the Mosaic book of Genesis where it is written: And rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and all the beasts and all the earth. Having said ‘all things’, he distinguished them, and started first with the tame sheep. He calls ‘beasts of the field’ all the quadrupeds that pasture in the fields, for the word ‘beast’ [κτῆνος] is used for every down-looking quadruped. And indeed by the beasts he implied every land animal, whether domestic or wild, for all were brought into being for the service of mankind, and the person who preserves the original dignity of the soul rules over them all. ‘The birds of heaven’, that is, of the air, because here, speaking loosely, he called the air ‘heaven’ as having been poured out over our head like a heaven. Having turned then to the whole multitude of the kinds of fish, he presented them all with one phrase, ‘all things that pass through the paths of the sea’. He moved from the mascu- line gender to the neuter in his desire to display the diversity of the kinds of fish. But these things we understand in relation to humanity in the simple sense. They can also, however, be interpreted in relation to the humanity of the Lord, as the Apostle took them in his Letter to the Hebrews: How, he says, is the man who was assumed by God the Word so great that you remember him? For he says, This is my beloved Son. And he called him Son of man in order to silence those who form the dogma that his flesh came from above. Hence in the Gospels he often calls himself in this way, manifesting that from virgin and spotless blood he had set up a temple for himself. A ‘son of man’ is one born of a woman, and a woman is a human. And you visit him because he says, I would see the Lord before me at all times, for he is at my right hand. You lessened him a little in comparison to angels, on account of his hungering and thirst- ing and being subject to the blameless passions of the body. You crowned him, that is, you adorned him with glory, his divinity, and honour, namely, that which he received from the angels, for in many places they would escort him. Or else with both the glory and honour which he received from mankind, for the believers would call him God and honour him with deep reverence. You subjected all things to him as the new Adam who had preserved the divine image. According to anagogical interpretation, ‘sheep’’ are those who believed from among the nations, whom he found astray on the hills and mountains and gathered into his fold; ‘cattle’ are the Jews, drawing the heavy yoke of the old law; ‘beasts of the field’ are those who have neither received the law of Moses nor the law of grace, but, continuing in idolatry, walk in the flat plain and lowliness of the pleasures of life, unable to race upwards to the height of contemplation; ‘birds of heaven’ are the angels; ‘fish of the sea’ are the demons, leaping in the waves of life and living off the brine of our wicked deeds; all will later be subjected to Christ, for to him every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

It is not be out of place to present a further elegant interpretation, namely, that ‘you low- ered’ is not spoken in relation to the angels, but in relation to the glory of the Father, and is to be read as follows: You lowered him a little, that is beneath your own dignity, on account of the nature of the flesh, then the remainder of the verse, in comparison with angels you crowned him with glory and honour, that is, to an even greater degree. None of the angels ever received the divine name or was granted such an escort. Let the Jews say when unweaned babes sang praise? What enemy did their song put down? How does David say, I shall look at the heavens, the works of your fingers, when Moses teaches about them that In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth?

10 O Lord our Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth. Since this psalm foretells the mystery relating to Christ – and Christ descended from heaven and ascended again, restored to the glory of the Father as in a circular movement – for this reason the psalm also in a circular way ended as it began, and beginning and ending did not cease from wonder.

9 Psalm 9

1 Towards fulfilment; for the hidden things of the son; a psalm belonging to David. ‘Towards fulfilment’ has been discussed in what has gone before. And moreover, the ful- filment of the life of the incarnate Son is his death on the Cross, since ‘hidden things’ is what he here calls the ‘death of the Son’, as the Hebrew text discloses. This indeed was a mystery hidden from all ages and unknown to angels, for Paul says it was hidden from the rulers of this age, For if they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. The present psalm accordingly points to the master’s death through which all the power of the enemy was put down. This psalm is long, and this is part of the wisdom of the Spirit, for it did not make all short nor did it prolong all, but varied the book, rousing from sloth by length and giving rest from weariness by brevity. The prophet composes the psalm as if he himself were also the beneficiary, or else in the person of those being benefited and freed from the tyranny of the enemy. In general we need to know that in divine Scripture parts are interpreted only historically, such as, In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth, other parts only in an anagogical manner, such as, Let your well of water be for you alone (for if you do not seek the interpre- tation in anagogical terms then the command not to share even water with anyone is pro- foundly inhuman; it is clear therefore that this is about one’s lawful wife, as being pleasurable by nature and pure on account of being unmixed); other parts are to be interpreted both in terms of history and in anagogical terms, such as the story about the brass serpent that Moses raised, for it both occurred and is taken as a type of Christ. For this reason in the psalms too there are many such verses and not all are interpreted in one manner only.

2α I shall make confession to you, O Lord, with my whole heart. Confession, as I have said, has a double meaning, both the revelation of sinful acts and thanksgiving for blessings received. I shall give thanks to you, he says, not in a superficial way, but from my whole heart, for the things that have happened to me and which will yet happen to me. 2β I shall tell of all your wonders. § 63 ‘Wonders’ is what he calls the benefactions, the victories over his enemy. 3α I shall be glad and shall rejoice in you. As having received experience of your assistance and power. I remembered God and was glad, and because he alone is strengthening consolation, alone being able to save. The rejoic- ing represents an intensification of the gladness in which the heart leaps for the great joy. 3β With psaltery I shall sing to your name, O Most High. It was customary for those amorously disposed towards someone to compose songs to that person and in this way to mollify their desire. Accordingly, employing the metaphor of such a person, by the words ‘with psaltery I shall sing’, he portrayed his intense love towards God; the verb also exhibits a musical rhythm. I shall sing he says, not to your nature, which is beyond conception, but to your name, plaiting for it fitting praise. 4 As soon as my enemy has been turned back behind, they will become weak and perish before your face. He begins to list the kinds of benefactions about which he is making confession. The tyrant once dared to confront the Saviour and assaulted him as a common man, but when he heard, Get behind me, Satan, he felt an irresistible power, and, covered in shame, he retreated. When he had been turned back and put to flight, the forces under his command became weak and perished, their tyrannous power, like a soul, taken away from them. For with Jesus having remained without sin until death and the devil having been thence cast down, and with his having clothed us in the armour of salvation (holy baptism and the study and keeping of the divine oracles), and having left us his own way of life as a path lead- ing to heaven, the demons were abolished completely and have no power whatsoever over us, unless we through our rash indifference willingly attract them by having neglected the commandments. 3α: Here it is intensification, but in other Psalms you will find gladness understood as greater than rejoicing, for it is written, He led his people forth with rejoicing, and his chosen ones with gladness [Ps 104.43], and rejoicing in relation to the body and gladness in relation to the soul [cf. Ps 13.7β].

‘Before your face’, that is, in dread of you, for in battles the face of champions is terrible.

5α For you executed my judgement and my right. For you judged me, who had come to believe in you. Previously I was oppressed by the devil and bitterly tyrannized on account of my ignorance, and, having seen that out of envy the evil one had enslaved your creature, you justified me, having extracted me from his hands and freed me from error; ‘my right’ is used here for ‘my justification’.

5β You took your seat upon a throne, you who judge justice. This is said of the Saviour’s assumption into heaven. For having fulfilled the incarnate economy, he was restored to the throne of judgement, namely, to the authority of divinity, without having abandoned which, he ineffably came to dwell with us. For having been taken up and having sat down at the right hand of the Father, having now received all authority in heaven and on earth, he helped his own creature for which he laid down his immaculate soul. These things are to be understood in a manner befitting God. For in relation to the Word and God, the sitting upon a throne may be construed as the power of judgement, which though he possessed it before, yet by divine design he concealed it, so that all justice might be fulfilled. You have therefore taken judgemental authority and assumed the form of a judge, you who are the only just judge, not impeded from unswerving directness of judgement by any ignorance or disposition.

6α You rebuked the nations, and the impious one perished. You reproached the nations with their error, and Satan fled from them, unable to bear the truth. The Apostles indeed on occasion rebuked the nations even more sternly, as did Paul, saying, O foolish Galatians, for on apprehending the rebuke they would be freed from the madness of idolatry, and this being destroyed, its patron the devil would also disappear. Such was the power of the rebuke alone.

6β You wiped out his name to the age, and to the age of the age. When God’s honour had been seized by the demons, those enslaved to them gave them names as the Theogony of the babbling Hesiod describes; passing over the rest, I mention only Zeus and Ares and Apollo and Hermes and Aphrodite and a further such swarm, which names after the diffusion of piety were wiped out, not only for all the present age, but much more so for the age to come.

This indeed is how the age of the age is to be understood, as the pre-eminent age on account of its continuing forever. It is customary for divine Scripture to denote what is of higher worth by this rhetorical figure, namely, the Holy of Holies, the Song of Songs, the Sabbath of Sabbaths, and suchlike. Or else ‘to the age of the age’ is a heightening of intensity, in the sense of, ‘forever’. For henceforth the rituals of the demons were completely ignored, their very names having been obliterated.

7α The swords of the enemy have passed away forever, and cities you have torn down. His swords are to be understood as the passions of dishonour through which the stricken soul, deceased to virtue, had been buried in the body as in a tomb. And the cities would be torn down when their impiety was abolished and piety was built up in its place. Or else ‘cities’ are to be understood as the people in whom the demons had found dwelling. Also it is not inopportune to call cities the polluted temples of the idols.

7β His remembrance has perished with resounding. For no one knows how to offer him sacrifice or how to invoke him in any way at all. The ‘with resounding’ is in the sense of ‘with a loud cry’, because the demons would flee shrieking. Or else ‘with resounding’ is in the sense that their remembrance perished along with their overweening conceit, or else along with the cry of the songs around their altars. He upbraids the demon in the singular, calling him the impious one and the enemy, there- by offering especial insult to the chief of the hostile powers as the one who had become the cause of the apostasy of the others, but through him he inveighs no less against the others.

8α And the Lord remains to the age. Being believed as God among the nations until the final consummation; The verse teaches the immutability of the piety of those who receive it.

8β He has prepared his throne in judgement. Having spoken a few verses earlier of the judgement against the demon executed on our behalf during the present life, he now alludes to the universal and final and fearful judgement to come, when he will reward each according to his works. The word ‘prepared’ is spoken in human terms.

9 And he himself will judge the inhabited world in justice, he will judge peoples with directness. The ‘inhabited world’ is what he calls the faithful, among whom he is believed to dwell through the churches throughout the world, while ‘peoples’ are what he calls the others in

whom are dense thickets of passions in which the demons lurk like wild beasts. For he will judge differently the former and differently the latter, mightily examining the mighty both in respect of their faith and their absence of faith. Or else by adding ‘peoples’ he clarified the meaning of the inhabited world, having indi- cated by the inclusive category those included therein. By having woven his justice and directness into his judgement, he proclaims the undevi- ating uprightness of the judge. 10α And the Lord has become a refuge for the poor man. The people from among the nations were poor in piety and virtue, but when they had come to believe, God became their refuge, for wealth in money is not to be trusted and uncertain. Or else this wishes to state that there is no partiality with God, and he accepts the poor man who flees to him for refuge and does not turn away from him. 10β A helper in opportune times, in afflictions. He helps the one who flees to him both in opportune times, that is, in prosperity, and in afflictions. Each one is to be read separately and unconditionally. For it is not only those in misfortunes who need a helper, but most especially those in well-being, so that they may preserve their good fortune and not fall into slothfulness, the mother of misfortunes. Some read ‘opportunely’ instead of ‘in opportune times’ and interpret that the Lord be- came a helper opportunely in afflictions, namely, at a time when help was needed. 11 And let those who know your name hope in you, for you have not abandoned those who seek you out, O Lord. And henceforth those who know your name (that is, by circumlocution, you, namely, those who believe in you), will hope in you as alone able to save. Indeed, some translated from the Hebrew ‘let them hope’ as ‘they will hope’. Or else the verse is in the imperative as also being didactic, commanding about things he knows with certainty. And moreover, ‘your name’ is felicitous, since no one knew his nature. And he added also the cause of the hope by saying ‘for you have not abandoned those who seek you out, O Lord’. Observe that he did not simply say ‘those who seek you’, but ‘those who seek you out’ signifying with the preposition a seeking with the whole soul. 12α Sing with psaltery to the Lord who dwells in Zion. The Lord, he says, being such as I have described above, sing to him with psaltery.

He said ‘he dwells’, not because God is enclosed in a place, but by speaking in this way he indicated his intimacy with the place, for he also dwells in the faithful, not as being con- tained, but as being intimately disposed towards them. This is to say, he who gives oracular responses in Zion and holds converse with the worthy is exhorting the Hebrews of that time to sing, or also those from among the nations, for he will be their God. Or else Zion is to be understood as the Church from the nations which he later took as his own.

12β Proclaim his practices among the nations. This is addressed to the Apostles, who having gone forth instructed all the nations. Instead of ‘practices’, Symmachus wrote ‘devices’, and Aquila ‘interchanges’. Accordingly, as actions they are ‘practices’, as wise they are ‘devices’, and as standing in the place of others they are ‘interchanges’, for those afar came near, those in the darkness of error came into the light of truth, those forgotten were brought to memory, those rejected were appropriated, God became man and man became God.

13α For he who seeks out blood has remembered them. He who does not overlook the blood shed in their sacrifices – because they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons – but seeks out from their hands the blood that they shed, blood they had not themselves infused, even he has arranged these things because he has remembered them, previously forgotten on account of their apostasy. Or else he is teaching about the avenging the internecine killings which at the demons’ bidding they used to commit, making clear that every murderer will have punishment exact- ed, for in the book of Genesis it says, I shall seek out your blood.

13β He would not forget the cry of the poor. For human nature, being tyrannized by its invisible enemies, seemed to be crying out to its maker, its so great suffering having become for it a cry. Or else he wishes to say that the prophets, seeing of old the mystery of the divine incar- nation, would cry out, calling on the one destined to become incarnate to help them, and he would not forget the cry of those prophets, poor also on account of their austere simplicity.

14α Have mercy on me, O Lord; see my abasement from my enemies. This also is spoken in the person of every Christian. See, he says, the abasement brought on me by my visible and invisible enemies; for they were striving to eradicate the entire race of Christians.

14β You who raise me up from the gates of death.

‘The gates of death’ is what he calls the manifold punishments of the martyrs from which they were raised up to a higher and more glorious state by the Saviour, for it is through tor- ments that one is led into death. These words can also be understood in relation to David who was frequently abased by enemies, but delivered paradoxically from death and made more glorious by God’s turning of the scale.

15α So that I may proclaim all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion. This is the reason, either for asking to be shown mercy or for being delivered from death, namely, so that I may proclaim all your praises – praise for your creation, praise for your providence, praise for your wisdom, praise for your justice, praise for your incarnation. For each of these you are deserving of praise. Here he calls the Church of the saints in heaven ‘Zion’. The gates of Zion are the various local Churches walking through which one ascends to the heavenly Church. For those suffer- ing for Christ, dwelling in the Churches, would proclaim the great divine marvels, upholding the faithful. And David also, through the book of Psalms, proclaims the praises of God in all Churches. And he called heavenly Zion a ‘daughter’ as beloved and constituted by God.

15β We shall rejoice in your salvation. ‘Salvation’ is what he calls the incarnation and the Saviour’s death, as the things that be- came the causes of the salvation of mankind, just as Symeon was to say later, My eyes have seen your salvation.

16α Nations have become stuck in the destruction they have wrought. ‘Nations’ here are to be understood as the Jews, as having become like the lawless nations in evil and envy, and ‘destruction’ simply as ruin. For having eagerly plotted to kill the author of life, they themselves met with utter destruction at the hands of the Romans, and having contrived death for him, were themselves at once enclosed in death. Or else the verse is about those who make war on the Christians, since in their haste to obliterate them they themselves were obliterated. It is not inopportune to understand this as also about the demons: having thought through death to check Christ’s power, through his death they were checked in their own power.

16β In this snare that they hid, their foot has been caught. He says the same again, by another image parading the destruction of the enemies.

He calls ‘snare’ their plotting and treachery; every snare is hidden, as is this one; for plot- ting secretly they later brought the murder to light.

17α The Lord is made known executing judgements. He calls ‘judgements’ his retributions, for he repays each according to his deserts.

17β By the works of his hands the sinner has been apprehended. This again is similar what has gone before; a reason is given for how the Lord comes to be known executing judgements, for it is not least from this that he appears as a just judge: he contrives for those who set traps for others to fall into their own trap in turn. You will draw the sinner into relation with the three ways in which the nations were ex- plained above, or else he simply is calling a sinner, any guileful person. Ps 9. 16α.

17γ Inter-psalm. This has been dealt with. § 61

18α Let sinners be turned back to Hades. Here he calls the unbelievers ‘sinners’, and punishment he refers to as ‘Hades’. ‘Let them be turned back’ is used in the sense of let them be led down from the present life, because the places of punishment are said to be beneath the earth. Or else, having been formed from earth, let them return to it, being unable to conceive anything above earthly things. He clarifies whom he is describing as sinners in what follows by adding:

18β All the nations that are forgetful of God. Through deliberate ignoring.

19α For the pauper will not be forgotten to the end. This, he says, is what will happen to such nations, because the believer will not be for- gotten forever. The believer is a pauper in regard to monetary wealth, but rich in regard to wealth in virtues. Or else he is describing the people from among the nations as ‘the pauper’, as having lost the dignity of the soul and having been impoverished in regard to the wealth of piety and virtue.

19β The patience of the poor will not be lost to the end.

He calls the poor here those from among the nations whose expectation will not be in vain to the end, for Christ is the ‘expectation of the nations’, as is written, And he will be the expectation of the nations, whom he addresses through another prophet, proclaiming, Wait patiently for me for the time of my resurrection.

20α Arise, O Lord, let no man make himself mighty. Another translator wrote, ‘Let no man make bold’. He says this on account of the upris- ings of the nations against one another. For men, not having true teachers and in ignorance of the fact that they are earth, rashly raised themselves above their nature, and with no limit to their foolhardiness, even set themselves up as gods. Sally forth, therefore, he says, and put down this wanton insolence. There is also the elegant interpretation that in regard to his divine image, man is God, but in regard to his earthly passions, he is a man. With these latter passions prevailing among men, he entreats Christ to rise from the dead, teaching through the Apostles for the passions not to raise themselves above the soul, nor dust above the mind. And, moreover, after the resurrection, when the preaching had spread throughout the world, the uprisings of the cities against one another were brought to an end.

20β Let nations be judged before you. In the sense of, let them be made worthy of your oversight, for the one who judges looks at the one being judged. Judgement is to be understood as that against the devil about which God spoke through Isaiah, saying, See, my servant whom I have chosen, my elect in whom my soul has been well pleased, he will bring forth judgement to the nations.

21α Set, O Lord, a lawgiver over them. Here he is alluding to Christ, in accordance with the words, But I have been established as king by him, for he gave a new law, that of the Gospel.

21β Let nations know that they are men. Let them learn at length to live as men and not as wild beasts. Or else, let them be taught that they are mortal, and not as their overweening conceit misleads them to think.

22α Why, O Lord, have you stood afar off ? From this point he broaches the questions of providence, with the wicked enjoying suc- cess and the good mired in misfortune, and in the person of the afflicted he sets out the case.

Why, he asks, have you permitted people to behave in just any way? - using the metaphor of people who stand at a distance displaying indifference?

22β You overlook in opportune times in afflictions. To overlook is to pretend not to see, while raising one’s eyes above what is seen. Why is it then that while being everywhere present you seem to stand afar off in your long-suffering, and while seeing all things you pretend not to see, not intervening positively in affairs and indeed at times requiring your oversight, namely in the afflictions of those suffering sorely? He says these things by way of supplication, not accusation. To these things God might reply with the words written in Isaiah: Your sins separate between you and me.

23α When the impious man displays arrogance the pauper is incensed. When the pious man who encounters impediments in everything sees the impious man elated on account of his prosperity in everything, he burns with jealousy at his success, emit- ting a groan from his mouth like a puff of smoke that this man being such is faring well. Or else when the demon is elated over the human race, the man who is impoverished in virtue is inflamed towards the passions.

23β They are caught up together in the purposes they are turning over in their minds. This also is about the impious, namely, that in a way they are working together towards what they are purposing, and their prospering is to be deemed a co-operation; or else they work together with those of like mind. Note that often, both in relation to the good and in relation to the wicked, he uses now the plural and now the singular, for the good are many in number but one in goodness, and the wicked are many in number but one in wickedness. Or else this verse is about the pious, namely, that in what they are thinking about the pros- perity of the impious they are caught up together, that is, they fall into this out of meanness of spirit, failing to consider the judgements of God.

24 For the sinner is praised for the desires of his soul, and the perpetrator of injustice is blessed therefor. It is to be noted that the initial ‘for’ is not always taken in a causal sense among the He- brews, but at times it is confirmatory and there is a custom of using it redundantly. Evil, he says, has prevailed to such an extent that those who sin rather receive praise for the immoralities that they desire in their passion, and those who commit injustice are honoured for their unholy deeds by those of like mind.

25α The sinner has provoked the Lord. He has roused him to vengeance, having himself goaded and hastened him by what he does.

25β According to the full measure of his anger he will not seek out. God will not demand satisfaction commensurate with his anger: For if you will keep watch on lawless acts, O Lord, O Lord, who will endure? God’s anger is just punishment. Since he is merciful, he will not impose chastisement unmixed. According to some, this can be explained differently. The sinner has provoked the Lord according to the full measure of his anger, that is, deserving of whatever anger is kindled in God by the sinner himself - kindled, that is to say, by his wicked actions. Then the next phrase is to be read as a question: ‘Will he not seek out?’ or again as a statement, namely, having thus provoked God, the sinner will not seek him out through repentance.

25γ God is not before him. God, as he thinks, does not see him so doing; or else God is not held before his eyes as present.

26α His ways are profaned at all time. The actions of the sinner, since he does not believe he is being seen, become defiled and sullied.

26β Your judgements are taken away [in return] from before his face. Your judgements are taken away from his mind (for it is the mind that sees), that is, they are cast out, since he does not have them at heart, nor does he consider that you are a judge, just and strong and patient. The words ‘in return’ are redundant and constitute a misuse as we explained in relation to ‘repaying in return’; it would have been enough to say ‘they are taken away’.Or otherwise: God’s judgements themselves are a taking away of sin, in that the sinner who remembers them desists from sin; the taking away in return of those judgements is forgetfulness of them.

26γ He will gain complete dominion over his enemies. He will ward off all who stand up against him, since on account of God’s long-suffering he is frequently permitted to be victorious in battles also.

27α For he has said in his heart: There is no way I shall be shaken.

He believed his prosperity was abiding. To be shaken is to be turned from his power.

27β From generation to generation without evil. The words ‘I shall be’ or ‘I shall walk confidently’ are missing. For he thought that he would be untouched by evil from generation to generation, that is, throughout his life; for ‘generation’ is here to be understood as life, namely, from his own life to that of the one after him.

28α Whose mouth [whose mouth of his] is full of cursing and bitterness and guile. ‘Of whomsoever his mouth’ - this figure is customary in the Hebrew dialect, and is found in many places, namely, the conjoining of relative pronouns with pronouns, as in, Blessed of whom the God of Jacob is his help, and, Blessed the man for whom protection for him is from you. His mouth is filled with cursing, calling down imprecations on all, and bitterness, bellow- ing angrily, and guile, not using words in accordance with his heart, but saying one thing and concealing others.

28β Beneath his tongue is weariness and pain. He utters those things that produce weariness and pain in the targets of his treachery. Or else in his teaching there is trouble and grief, which is shared by those who follow him, as they find no repose. Or else his tongue will toil and suffer pain as it speaks against his adversaries. By this pain in the tongue he indicated the unrelenting succession of the words.

29α He sits in ambush with the rich. An ambush is a hidden spot into which someone infiltrates himself and unnoticed attacks those who pass by. The passage lists the many kinds of evil the wicked are accustomed to per- petrate: acts of deceit, acts of treachery, abductions, murders and suchlike. He hides himself in ambush along with those rich in evil, those most renowned along with himself, for he keeps company with such as being of a similar mind. Then, elucidating the meaning of the ambush and at the same time adding the reason for it, he continues:

29β In hidden spots [in order] to kill the innocent. In order to put to death a person who has committed no fault and wronged no one. The language of the ancients often adds ‘in order’ [τοῦ] to the infinitive in an aetiological sense.

29γ His eyes are fixed on the poor man. Here he describes his insistent espial, gazing intently so that whenever the man passes he will opportunely seize him.

30α He sits in ambush in a hidden spot like a lion in its fold. He says the same once again, parading in various ways the villainy of the man and showing that he has openly become a wild beast. Just as the lion hiding in its own den – this is what ‘fold’ means – lies in wait for weaker animals passing by unsuspectingly, so does this man also, using a hidden spot as his lair.

30β He sits in ambush [in order] to seize a pauper, to seize a pauper in dragging him away. Having likened him to a lion in terms of cunning and cruelty and murderous intent, he continued with the figure of speech, transferring to him the works of the lion. For the lion seizes by falling suddenly upon its prey and dragging it to its lair. He lies in ambush, not so that he might catch some conspiring knave or enemy or wild beast, but a pauper, impover- ished in monetary wealth and ground down in human strength. And he explains the seizing, namely, that it is the dragging away. By the repetition of the words ‘ambush’ and ‘seize’ he is exhibiting his indignation, or else by the succession of emotive words he is rousing God to vengeance.

31α In his own snare he will humble him down. He will master him by his own guile; or else having slain him he will cast him down to earth, for what is earthbound is humble.

31β He will stoop and fall even as he has gained dominion over the poor. When the tyrant will gain dominion over the poor, then he, too, will be tipped over as he is humbled and he will perish, for those who fall stoop forward first. This occurs in order to reveal his incorrigible nature as well as God’s great forbearance, and the patience of those who had suffered and the avenging of the wronged.

32 For he said in his heart: God has forgotten, he has turned away his face [in order] not to see to the end. Being allowed to fulfil his soul’s desires, he falls into unwarranted hasty judgements, thinking to himself that God has forgotten his providence for the world and has averted his oversight so that he does not see at all what is happening. The phrase ‘to the end’ signifies on

the one hand ‘forever’ and on the other hand ‘completely’; but both may indicate the same thing for those examine the matter more closely. We should note that the previous words, suitably adapted, may also be understood in relation to the Jewish party and Christ. For the Jewish party set long ambush with the rulers of the people for the one who was innocent of sin and who for us had become poor, and kept him constantly under observation and took all measures, and finally when they killed him and expelled the Apostles, then it itself was summarily destroyed by the Romans.

33α Arise, O Lord my God, let your arm be raised on high. Be moved, he says, to vengeance. The phrase ‘let your arm be raised on high’ is used as a metaphor, because those who were punishing others would raise their arm bringing down the scourge. Or else, he says, since your power is high and supernal, now let this be shown decisively, for God’s arm is to be understood as this power.

33β Do not forget your poor to the end. ‘To the end’ in the sense of forever.

34α On what account has the impious man provoked God to anger? Having suffered greatly as a result of such insolent acts by the wicked, he formulates the verse as a question and then provides the answer by continuing:

34β For he has said in his heart, ‘He will not seek out’. This, he says, is the cause of his impious works, for he thinks that God will not examine his deeds.

35α You see. For you perceive pain and rage in order to deliver him into your hands. The words ‘you do see’ are to be read on their own followed by a full stop, so that the meaning is this, namely, that even though the wicked man believes this ten thousand times, being catapulted out of his right mind on account of your long forbearance, yet you do see all things, penetrating everywhere, because you see precisely both the pain of those who suffer injustice and the rage of those who commit it, for perception is meticulous diagnosis. And you see exactly so that you may hand him over later for your punishments, for the ‘hands’ here have this sense: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

35β To you the pauper has been left.

All people having turned their backs on him, to you alone he has remained for protection.

35γ To the orphan you were a helper. As his maker and master. These things are to be understood about paupers and orphans in the literal sense, but not least also about the people from among the nations - a people impoverished on account of the reasons already mentioned and orphanized on account of not knowing God their father and maker.

36α Crush the arm of the sinner and evildoer. He calls his power his ‘arm’, since a man’s strength is in his arm. The sinner is a person enslaved to tyrannous desires and an evildoer is a person evil and perverse by choice. You can also understand the devil as a sinner and evildoer.

36β His sin will be sought and will not be found. For if you will examine his sin and not forbear, then he will perish forthwith, having been judged deserving of death. The verse can also be taken in relation to Christ, foretelling that which Pilate later said, I find no fault in him, and again what Christ said, namely, Now the prince of this world is coming, and in me he wil find nothing. For neither did Pilate find any sin for which he should die, nor at the separation of his immaculate soul was the devil able to find sin of any kind, in spite of much effort.

37α The Lord is king to the age, and to the age of the age. This is addressed to those scandalized that the evildoer does not suffer punishment imme- diately. God’s kingship and judgement are not ephemeral, he says, and if he does not suffer punishment now he will at length. Or else he is foretelling the kingship of Christ, which while possessing as God he received as man after the resurrection, for it is written, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, so that he reigns not only in the present age, but also in the age to come.

37β You will perish, O nations, from his earth. ‘Nations’ he now calls those who did not accept the law of the Gospel, for the nations are lawless. The earth is the Lord’s and its fullness, and he is prophesying that from this earth they will be utterly destroyed when piety spreads abroad. Or else the earth of the Lord is how he refers to his kingdom, from which those who have lived in a lawless manner will fall away.

38 You have heard the desire of the poor, O Lord; your ear has attended to the preparation of their heart. With both, as it were, having cried to you, for they desired for the unjust to be destroyed and they were unswervingly straight in heart, with no evil impeding them. Or else that the prophets desired the Saviour’s incarnation, and those who accepted the incarnation were ready for reception of the faith. 39α To be a judge for the orphan and the humble. You have heard and you have attended, he says, so as to become a judge for the orphan and the humble and to vindicate his cause. 39β That man no more may presume to be haughty upon the earth. So that everyone, seeing the vindication of the wronged, will no longer dare to be haugh- ty, that is, to exalt himself and behave with arrogance towards persons of lower degree. ‘Upon the earth’ implies the entirety of the earth containing all mankind. 10 Psalm 10 1α Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David This psalm he sang while being pursued by Saul; and is ‘towards fulfilment’ inasmuch as it contains a prediction of the vengeance brought about for David. 1β In the Lord I have my trust; why do you say to my soul, ‘Flit to the mountains like a sparrow’? Whereas at a time when he had taken flight towards the wilderness those more kindly disposed towards him were advising him rather to change his abode to the mountains on account of the safety they offered, he censures them for making a recommendation that is not beyond reproach. In the Lord, he says, I have my trust, having disregarded all other help. And why do you say to my soul, that is, to me, Move like a sparrow to the mountains and flutter there like a frightened bird? Note that by way of circumlocution he often refers to himself through reference to his soul, as we have already mentioned in relation to the words, Many say to my soul. 2α For see, the sinners have drawn their bow; they have readied arrows in the quiver. Through the drawing of the bow and the preparation of arrows in the quiver he signified the whole mobilization for war; or else this is because arrows were used against fugitives.

These words provide a reason for his conviction. For he says, I have taken courage from the fact that it is sinners who are waging war on me. And indeed they are sinning by pursuing an innocent man and rewarding with death the one who became the cause for them of salva- tion both by slaying Goliath and by banishing the demon that was choking Saul.

2β [In order] to shoot down in moonless dark the straight in heart. They have prepared themselves to kill us who are unoffending and have no crookedness in our heart and, moreover, to shoot us down covertly and by treachery – for this is what the ‘moonless dark’ means here – and indeed those who are shot at on a moonless night do not see the archers. Or else it is ‘as’ in moonless dark with the adverb omitted. For having been darkened by envy they do not see whom they are trying to shoot at – their own benefactor and friend.

3α For what you have set upright, they have demolished. This, too, is a reason for his conviction. I have taken courage, moreover, because the one whom you anointed as king, those around to Saul have brought down. He uses the verb ‘to set upright’ for ‘to bring about’, and ‘to demolish’ for ‘to bring down’, borrowing the meta- phor from demolished buildings. By having ventured on this rash undertaking they now have you as their adversary, one whom they will not be able to withstand. Or else they are overthrowing the laws that you have established, for you have command- ed neither to wrong anyone nor kill any innocent person.

3β But he who is just, what has he done? But what wrong has the just man done to be persecuted in this way? He says this of him- self, not having wronged those who were wronging him. Or else he is wishing to teach about divine oversight. God, he says, who pre-eminently is just, who hates injustice and who alone judges correctly, what has he done in this situation? Has he overlooked? In no way.

4α The Lord is in his holy temple. The Lord, his throne is in heaven. He is both in the temple in Jerusalem and he sits in heaven, that is, he is present every- where and he sees those who are wronged. This latter point he makes in what follows:

4β His eyes look upon the poor man; his eyelids examine the sons of men. He did not say simply that he sees, but that he looks upon, indicating his oversight from on high.

The eyes of God are his precise knowledge of what happens. His eyelids are the suspension of this knowledge, because the eyelids are veils of the eyes. By the eyelids he signified that even where he seems not to see, such as in the recesses of the soul, he sees no less. Or else his all over-seeing is displayed by this, namely, that he sees not only with his eyes, but also with his eyelids, and knows all things from all quarters. To examine is to discern exactly; the sons of men are simply all people. A man is poor in a double sense, in relation to monetary wealth and in relation to wealth in virtues. He looks therefore upon the man who is poor in monetary wealth but rich in vir- tues, but turns his gaze from the man who is poor in virtues but rich in money.

5α The Lord examines the just and the impious. This offers clarification of the meaning of ‘the sons of men’, namely, it includes both the just and the unjust, those who act impiously in dishonouring God through their contempt for his commandments.

5β He who loves injustice hates his own soul. This also is a cause for confidence and teaches that the unjust person is bringing death to his own life, becoming an enemy of his own soul, for through his unholy actions he is pro- voking God against his soul.

6α He will rain down snares on sinners He will rain down, that is, he will bring down on sinners from above snares, namely, pun- ishments, being caught in which they will be arrested in their impetuosity. By ‘rain’ he allud- ed to the abundance and continuity of the punishments.

6β Fire and sulfur and storm wind is the portion of their cup. Fire is an active element, sulfur is food for fire (as an element highly conducive to burn- ing), and wind an element that whips up the flame. This kind of punishment destroyed Sodom of old. He wishes to say that the portion of the cup, that is, of punishment from God, is fire and sulfur and whirlwind. If the portion is thus unbearable, what might one say about the other portions, that is, kinds, of punishment? In many places in Scripture we find punishment called ‘cup’ and ‘chalice’, as in Isaiah, Arise, arise, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk the cup of perdition, the chalice of rage, and so on.

7 For the Lord is just and has loved deeds of justice, his face has looked on straight judge- ments. 4β¨ It is clear in this way: he sees the first, rich in what the second is poor, and he turns away from the second, poor in what the first is rich, conversely.

Just as being holy he rests on the saints, so being just he takes pleasure in deeds of justice. This being the case, he will avenge himself on the unjust, and for this reason one must have confidence in him. This indeed is the conclusion of the declaration of trust placed at the beginning of the psalm. The phrase ‘his face has looked on straight judgements’ has the same force as ‘he has loved deeds of justice’, for what one loves that also one looks at, just as again what one hates one turns away from. We understand ‘face’ as God’s overseeing power. But in this way the psalm has been interpreted according to the story of what happened to David. It also applies, however, to every person who is being wronged or subject to attack from either visible or invisible enemies. In this case the words, ‘Why do you say to my soul?’ might be addressed to thoughts suggesting a move to ideas that are thorn-ridden, precipitous, off the orthodox track and slippery, such as the idea that all things happen of themselves automatically, that there is no God of retribution, and suchlike, and, above all, they might be addressed to the demons who urge us to retreat into conceptions of such kinds. ‘Sinners’ are to be understood as both unjust men and wicked demons, and ‘bow’ and ‘arrow’, either as the instruments bringing death, or as the darts of unnatural temptation, and the rest of the psalm is to be taken accordingly.

11 Psalm 11

1 Towards fulfilment; for the eighth; a psalm belonging to David This psalm has a superscription similar to that in the sixth psalm, and it has been ad- equately expounded there. And indeed this one also prophesies about the resurrection of Christ and about the avenging of the faithful who suffer injustice. Besides, having accepted the fulfilment of his life in the world through death, he arose on the eighth day, namely, on the Lord’s day, which as the beginning of the days is called the first, but on account of its recurring again after the seventh day which is the Sabbath it is also called the eighth. The superscription does not write ‘about the eighth’, but ‘for the eighth’; it does not teach what the eighth is, but prays for that day to come quickly for the sake of avenging those being tyrannized by the devil and enslaved to idolatry.

2α Save me, O Lord, for a devout man is wanting. A just man is one who is unwavering in what is good in regard to other people, a devout man is one who is pious in matters regarding God, a holy man is one who through the per- fection of the virtues partakes in theosis. And these things are like a ladder leading those who ascend it toward God. It is said that the Scriptures at times call the just man the one who is perfect in virtue also, but we are not speaking about the just man in this sense at present. While some men who are just in regard to human and partial justice are still to be found, devout men have now disappeared, some having died, others having been driven out by the unholy, so he is praying accordingly to be saved from the wicked men who prevail all around.

The prophet formulates his prayer in the person of those who would in the future receive the preaching of the Gospel. For at that time devout men disappeared most eminently, when the Lord came among us in the flesh.

2β For truths have become few [from] among the sons of men. The devout have disappeared completely, but some few truths have been left among men; here he uses ‘from’ ([ἀπό] with the genitive) instead of ‘among’ ([ἐν] with the dative). For about critical matters they would lie, but in the fewest of matters they would speak truth.

3α Each has spoken vainly to his neighbour. That is, deceptively. Not only would they deceive strangers, but even their familiars, for he calls his ‘neighbour’ the one close to him, not in proximity but in familiarity.

3β Deceitful lips in the heart, and in his heart he has spoken evil. He calls the deceitful man ‘deceitful lips’, the part standing for the whole. The deceitful man, he says, has spoken evil and harmful things in duplicity of heart and disposition, having a different disposition inwardly and displaying a different disposition outwardly.

4 The Lord will destroy all deceitful lips, the boasting tongue. Scripture often expresses the optative through the future tense, as in the present case. He prays for deceitful persons to be done away with root and branch, and also those who be- have with overweening arrogance towards those weaker than they are and who boast grandly about themselves; or else he is prophesying their destruction. And indicating whom he is calling ‘boasters’ he continues:

5α Those who have said: We shall amplify our tongue. Those who have thought to themselves we shall amplify our tongue, that is, accustom it to utter exaggerated and arrogant things.

5β Our lips are our own; who is our lord? And who have said furthermore: We are in charge of our lips and so whom do we fear not to say these things? And who will hinder us from speaking such words?

6α On account of the distress of the paupers and the groaning of the poor, ‘Now I shall arise’, says the Lord.

6β I shall set in salvation; I shall speak openly in it. Having referred to the resurrection, he refers also to the burial, having reverted to the death on the Cross. And furthermore, the Lord says this, namely, that I shall be set, that is I shall be transfixed on the Cross. For it is the Cross that is to be understood by salvation, for the spear of the Cross, having impaled the tyrant, saved us and granted us safe and sound free- dom from error, and where we were enfeebled before, it strengthened us against the demons. I shall speak openly in it, that is, in the Cross itself I shall make known the power hidden within me, for the veil was torn, the sun was darkened, the stones were split and the earth trembled, and all the portentous things that occurred at that time. Or again, I shall set them in salvation, that is, I shall grant them salvation, and I shall speak openly in this their salvation, namely, I shall reveal, I shall display my strength.

7α The oracles of the Lord are pure oracles. Having said that the Lord says this and that, he affirms the truth or the Lord’s words, as being pure of falsehood.

7β Silver tried in the fire, tested in the earth. They are unmixed with deception even as smelted silver is unsullied with inferior matter. ‘Tested in the earth’ is in the sense of being proven in the earth, for the craftsmen would pour the smelted metal onto the earth. Or else ‘tested in the earth’ is in the sense of proved excellent from out of the earth. Heightening further the purity of the Lord’s words he added:

7γ Purified sevenfold.

‘Sevenfold’ indicates many times, for the Hebrew dialect uses ‘seven times’ for numerous times. The metal that is smelted many times is altogether pure. His words therefore are true, like silver smelted many times over. He called the oracles ‘little words’ [λόγια], not using the diminutive to belittle them, but because oracles were called ‘little words’ on account of their brevity, for in a few words they contained a great power of meaning.

8 You, O Lord, will guard us and preserve us from this generation and to the age. You will guard us from external enemies and preserve us from treachery from within. Or else you will guard us from the present generation and preserve us from those hereaf- ter, which is ‘to the age’, i.e., forever. And indeed the faith of those who received the preaching of the Gospel remained uncon- querable by the generation of that time, and it will remain to the age, and neither the Greeks who openly attacked it, nor the heretics among us who covertly aim to undermine it have prevailed against it or will be able to prevail.

9α In circle the impious walk round. On all sides, he says, they are encircling us, seeking to lay siege to the faith - so in regard to the Greeks. In regard to the heretics, ‘in circle they walk round’ indicates not directly but convoluted- ly and indirectly, for they misinterpret the divine Scriptures.

9β In your height you bestowed much care on the sons of men. Having been raised up on the Cross, he says, you honoured mankind with much care, because for them you suffered. Πολυωρία is much care, just as ὀλιγωρία is contempt. Or else, having been raised up to heaven at the time of the ascension you bestowed care on mankind, sending the Paraclete, illuminating and guiding the Apostles in their preaching. It is also possible to adapt this psalm historically to David. When David was fleeing from the presence of Saul, some feigning friendship, attempted to betray him to his pursuer. In the psalm he disparages their infidelity, their hypocrisy, their guile and their villainy and calls on God alone as Saviour, with his friends having being added to his enemies, and he forecasts their destruction; and he also foretells that the boastful talk of those around Saul will be extinguished.

It has the superscription ‘for the eighth’, however, on account of the ‘Now I shall arise’, and the subsequent words, which adapt better to the resurrection of the Saviour. For if we shall transpose these things also onto David, as having heard God promising to stir himself up to avenge him at the time of his betrayal, and to set the paupers and poor in safety, and to speak openly, that is, to appear strong and just on account of their salvation, then we shall run counter to the superscription of the eighth.

12 Psalm 12

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David. After his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah, David fell into various sore trials: his daughter was raped by her brother Amnon, and her brother Absalom killed Amnon, and the royal houses were thrown into no small confusion; then finally this son Absalom, having plotted to seize the throne, expelled him from his kingship, and he did not stop his rage at this but gathered his forces and prepared to pursue his father and kill him. Considering the multitude and magnitude of his misfortunes, David supposed that he had suffered these things on account of the aforementioned adultery and murder, with God having abandoned him, even though at the time he was forgiven. For this reason he com- posed the present psalm, after the third psalm, when, as we have said, Chousi, having foiled Achitophel’s strategy, conveyed to him all of Absalom’s plan and suggested what to do. It has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’ on account of the prediction in it about the defeat of the rebel having come to fulfilment, for it is written, My heart will rejoice in your salvation.

2α How long, O Lord, will you forget me completely? Forgetfulness is the loss of memory, but for God all things are before him, and not actions only, but even the motions of the mind. Forgetfulness in relation to God one must therefore suppose to be the abandonment of those who have erred, permitting them to be subject to trials for their instruction and chastisement. ‘Completely’ is taken in the sense of ‘so very much’.

2β How long will you turn away your face from me? The face of God is his overseeing and beneficent power; turning away indicates activation in the opposite direction, averting his oversight from the unworthy because of his loathing of their actions. He characterizes the divine by the human. And indeed those who abandon someone at the same time abandon his memory, and those who turn away do not see those from whom they turn away.

3α How long will I lay purposes to my soul, griefs to my heart day and night? Pondering and worrying how I might be delivered from my trials, and unable to find any respite, I am racked in pain continually.

3β How long will my enemy be exalted over me? The parricide, long raging against me from the time he killed Amnon my son. ‘Will be exalted’ in the sense of ‘will flourish’, for the one, exulting, raises his head, the other, grieving, is bent low and humbled. Or else the devil is to be understood as the enemy, for he is the cause of the trials, treading on the sufferers and as it were trampling and crushing them, deprived as they are of God’s turning of the scale.

4α Look upon me; hear me, O Lord my God. In response to ‘you turn away’ ‘look upon’ is appropriate. Make me worthy of your favour. Look upon me as I suffer wretchedly, and having mercy, hear me as I invoke your aid.

4β Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death. The night of misfortunes having been poured out around me, a sleep of despondency has possessed my eyes - for those deeply grieved are accustomed to be brought down in sleep, the pain of heart producing darkness and heaviness in the eyes. Therefore, give light to them, that is, make them see clearly by instilling joy into my heart, and leaping with this joy, it will expel the sleep from my eyes, lest I sleep mortally. Or else he calls his ‘eyes’ those of the soul, namely, the mind, being darkened by the gloom of sin, from the darkness of which he entreats to be delivered, lest, he says, I die a death in sin, being already dead to virtue, or else a death in despair, mortified in my whole being towards your hope.

5α Lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him’. For if I suffer any such thing, the enemy will attribute my death to his own power, as having been the cause of my griefs. ‘Enemy’ may be understood either as the visible or the invisible one.

5β Those who afflict me will rejoice if I am made to rock.

If I am disturbed from my secure stability in you, my enemies will rejoice, being embold- ened then to hurl me headlong down, as having no foundation of salvation.

6α But I have hoped in your mercy. Having forfeited the boldness of speech that comes from virtue on account of the evils I have committed, I have placed my hope in your mercy alone, for it is abundant and inex- haustible.

6β My heart will rejoice in your salvation. Clearly divining the defeat of his adversary with his foreseeing eyes, he says, that for my part I shall exult in the salvation given to me from you.

6γ I shall sing to the Lord who has been my benefactor, and with psaltery I shall praise the name of the Lord Most High. I shall sing with my tongue, and with psaltery I shall praise, or in other words, I shall rejoice in contemplation and in practice. This psalm also is fitting for everyone who is suffering injustice.

13 Psalm 13

1α Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David This psalm also promises fulfilment of the things foretold in it. Some say that it foretells the things that occurred in later years at the time of Hezekiah the king of Jerusalem and Sennacherib the Assyrian who was laying siege to him, and others say it foretells the things 4Rg 18-19 that occurred during the years when the Lord had become incarnate. We shall provide both expositions.

1β The fool has said in his heart, ‘God he is not’. The foolish Sennacherib has averred in his heart that the God of the Judeans is not God. If he had been wise, he would not have arrived at this thought, after hearing every day all the strange wonders that God had worked against those hostile to the Judeans. Thinking in himself in this way, he blasphemed God in spoken word, by sending Rabsaces the chief of his forces to stand before the city wall and through him conveying what we find on reading his story.

1γ They have been corrupted and made loathsome in their practices.

On the one hand, those around Sennacherib were corrupted, having strayed from the cor- rect appraisal of the situation, and on the other hand they were made loathsome to God by their impious actions, for they insulted God, for they would both reproach him with weak- ness as not being God, and would threaten his people with destruction. And being arrogant in this way, they would wallow in acts of drunkenness and licentiousness and were utterly debauched. The verse may also be understood by the figure of hyperbaton, namely, that they were corrupted in their practices and made loathsome.

1δ There is none doing good. No one among them is good, but all are wicked.

2 From heaven the Lord has stooped down on the sons of men to see if there is any under- standing or seeking out God. ‘On the sons of men’, in the sense of on those people who are we have described. ‘From heaven’, namely, from where he is understood to dwell, according to He who dwells in the heavens. He looked down to see if any among them is understanding God from his porten- tous deeds or seeking him out, that is, invoking him, as in I sought out the Lord and he heard me, for some, while understanding him in some respects, are wilfully evil. He presented the Lord in a human manner as stooping down from upper rooms and view- ing, though being everywhere present he knows all things. It is to be noted that this figure is encountered in very many places in Scripture. Moreover, this reveals the all-seeing character of divine oversight, as looking down from heaven on the earth and discerning fully, with the great distance imposing no impediment.

3 All have turned aside and have been rendered useless, there is none doing good, not so far as one. They have deviated into the practices previously mentioned; and they have been rendered useless, becoming loathsome, and accordingly there is not even one who is good among them.

4α Will all those practising lawlessness not come to know? This is to be read as a question so that the sense is: even though they have said God is not God, will all those people, licentious in speech and in every other indulgence, therefore never come to know that the God of the Jews is God? Yes, indeed they will come to know when 185,000 will be slaughtered by the angel of God. And Sennacherib himself, fleeing in shame, will know who is the one who has raised the victory banner; or not only they, but also all the other lawless nations on learning of the devastating destruction of the Assyrians will come to know that God is the one who destroyed them.

4β They who are eating my peole in a feasting on bread have not invoked the Lord. This verse is spoken in the person of God, namely, that those who are expending and con- suming my people like a feasting on bread, by the mouth of siege, famine and menace, have not invoked me the Lord of all, that is, they have not named me God. The people then being besieged might also be called the people of David as descendants of his kingdom, so that the words could be spoken in the person of David, the ‘Lord’ referring not to himself, but to God.

5α There they have cowered in fear where there was no fear. In Jerusalem; at that time those around Hezekiah cowered in fear before Sennacherib where there was no fear, that is, whom they ought not to have feared, since he was unable to instil alarm on account of his having God as his adversary. He makes this clear from what follows, saying:

5β For the Lord is among the generation of the just. By the ‘just’ he means the pious, for such were those around Hezekiah who was shepherd- ing his subjects in a manner pleasing to God. He said ‘generation’ because all the Israelites are from one root. Or else conversely those around Sennacherib cowered there in fear of God where there was no fear among them prior to their experience of God. For indeed God himself was among the generation of the besieged Judeans fighting for them. Or else they cowered in fear before Hezekiah where there was no fear, since he was trem- bling even more, expecting on the next day to be slaughtered along with all those around him. For when the Assyrians were being slaughtered, they thought they were being slaughtered by the king of the Judeans, and from this they learned that the God of the Hebrews is God, coming to their aid.

6 On the purpose of the pauper you have poured shame, but the Lord is his hope. He addresses this to the Assyrians, namely, that you have poured scorn on and dispar- aged the thought that Hezekiah, a pauper in regard to his military preparations, thought to himself. Despairing of all else, he purposed in sackcloth and ashes to seek refuge in God, which, when they learned of it, those with Sennacherib ridiculed as fruitless. You, he says, have poured shame on his purpose, but he has the Lord as his hope, expecting help from him alone.

7α Who out of Zion will give the salvation of Israel?

Who out of those dwelling in Zion will confer salvation on the Israelites, profoundly weakened as they are? And who will deliver them from the hands of Sennacherib? No hu- man, but only the God in whom they have hoped; and he indeed seemed to dwell in the temple in Zion. 7β When the Lord will turn back the captivity of his people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad. He calls ‘captivity’ not a captivity that occurred, but the captivity anticipated by them because of the impending fear of the city’s imminent fall, for being encircled and ensnared at spear point they were in a way held bound. By Jacob and Israel, he signifies the people themselves as descended from the root of Jacob who was also called Israel. What he is saying is this, namely, that when the Lord has freed them, being as if already captive, those liberated will rejoice and be glad; and they will rejoice in body and be glad in soul – on the one hand through abundance of food and on the other through the study of the divine oracles, from both of which they were impeded while under siege. But we have offered an exposition in relation to Hezekiah and Sennacherib. We must now also offer and exposition in relation to events at the time when the Lord became incarnate. [1β] The foolish mass of Jews, he says, failing to understand the prophecies about Christ, said that Christ who was working divine signs among them is not God. Having first thought in this way among themselves, they then openly brought the charge against him of adopting the name of God. The rest is to be understood in accordance with the exposition given above. [1δ] There was none doing good among them, that is among those who failed to accept his teaching. [2] From heaven the Lord stooped down, that is, the Son, stooping down from heaven, de- scended to earth among the people and conversed in the flesh with them, for ‘to stoop’ is to bend down from a height to the earth. What follows is according to the above exposition. [3] There is not so far as one in the sense of ‘except for one’, namely, Christ, who alone dwelt among them doing good works. [4α] Will all those practising lawlessness not come to know? is to be read here as a statement rath- er than as question, namely, they will not come to know, for those who envied and plotted wickedly like lawless nations did not want to recognize him. [4β] They who are eating my people is to be spoken in the person of Christ to the ungrateful Jews, who by the mouth of the sword and of every ill treatment were eating his disciples like a feasting on bread, and did not call their Lord, that is, the Son of God, God. They have cowered there in fear where there was no fear: they were fearful to confess Christ [5α] as God lest they transgress the law that prescribed, You shall have no other God. And again then they cowered when there was no fear, when having nailed him to the Cross they thought to have got rid of him, being already dead: At that time they feared greatly on seeing the earth- quake and the signs that occurred then, and again they fell into fear lest his disciples coming

in the night might steal him, and for that reason they set soldiers by the tomb, yet there again they cowered in fear where there was no fear because the disciples had no thought of doing such a thing since he had foretold that by his own power he would arise on the third day. [5β] The Lord is among the generation of the just, in the sense that he is in the body of believers from among the nations, who, after recognizing him, walked on the just and royal way, for when the Jews did not accept him he turned to the nations. [6] On the purpose of the pauper you have poured shame, we shall understand as having been said to the Jews in relation to the people from among the nations, who of old were poor in the wealth of knowledge of God, from which they had fallen having been brought down into idolatry, and later they were poor in monetary wealth for the sake of Christ. The Jews poured scorn on and ridiculed the purpose of this people as futile. Its purpose was to receive the faith in Christ. [7α] Who out of Zion will give the salvation of Israel? is to be understood in the sense of, Who having gone up onto the mountain surrounding Jerusalem that is called Zion, will read to the people their salvation, that is, the laws? It was the custom to do so on certain days. He says this prophesying that once Jerusalem has been besieged by the Romans and the Gospel has embraced the ends of the earth, this will no longer take place. [7β] When Christ will turn back the captvity of his people - for it is written, I shall give you na- tions as your inheritance, an inheritance that the devil had taken captive at the spear point of error - Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad. This is said of the prophets who sprang from the root of Jacob, who is called Israel, and who foretold all this. They will rejoice and be glad on seeing the fulfilments of their prophecies. Or else Jacob and Israel are those who have be- lieved, as having been introduced in place of the Jews of whom Jacob was forefather. To ‘turn back’ is to return them to their own from which they had fallen.

14 Psalm 14

1α Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David And in a further sense this psalm has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’ because it traces out what the person who is perfect in virtue must be like.

1β O Lord, who will sojourn in your tent-shrine, or who will encamp on your holy mountain? The Jew who hears of God’s tent-shrine and the holy mountain thinks at once of the tem- ple in Jerusalem and the neighbouring Mount Zion, but we must remember that the temple had not yet been built and Mount Zion had not been sanctified, for all these things took place after David. The words accordingly must be given an anagogical meaning. David formulates the verse as a question, enquiring who it is that will do this and that.

O Lord, who will sojourn in your tent-shrine? ‘Sojourning’ is spending time for a tempo- rary period in a home belonging to someone else; and the tent-shrine of the soul is the body in which it has been placed to dwell. He is asking therefore to learn who is the perfect person who will consider his life in the body as a temporary sojourning and will use the body as something foreign, caring little for it. He added the possessive pronoun ‘your’ to the tent- shrine, manifesting that it is a thing wrought by God the Word, and was constructed by him for the soul, or else that he would at some time dwell in it, becoming man for our sake. Or who will encamp on your holy mountain? An encampment is a secure resting place from a journey by road; and the holy mountain is a super-celestial place raised above lowly and worldly things, for the Apostle says, You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God. And who, he says, from the present life, which is a racecourse, having run a straight race, will encamp in the everlasting celestial tents?

2α He who progresses blameless and practises justice. This is the answer to the question, namely, he who has acquired the things that will be mentioned will sojourn and will encamp; he then proceeds to paint in words the virtuous person. That man, he says, who will progress blameless and practise justice. Blameless is to be understood as the person who is perfected in contemplation, for through contemplation the mind progresses toward heaven. ‘Just’ is the person who is well versed in action, for practising is a matter of action. He used the present tense for both, because such a person ought never to cease from these. Since practice involves many parts, he encompassed all practice by the name of justice in general, for only justice rides upon all the virtues. Justice indeed is care for the right action specific to each virtue. Having mentioned justice in general, he then analyses it part by part.

2β Who speaks truth in his heart. Who takes as doctrine and thinks what is true.

3α Who has not deceived with his tongue. And who, moreover, speaks what is true and guileless, that is, who thinks what is true inwardly and speaks so to others. By the ‘heart’ he signified the inner speech of the mind and by the ‘tongue’ speech that is outwardly articulated.

3β Nor done evil to his neighbour.

We are neighbours to one another, either by the nature of humanity, or by the identity of faith or by the relationship of kin. ‘Evil’ is what he calls harm.

3γ Nor taken up reproach against his nearest. Neighbour and nearest are the same thing. And who has not taken up reproach like a weapon against those nearest him, that is, who has not reproached them when they have erred or been incapacitated or otherwise have fallen into misfortune. For reproach has the aim of ridicule, while rebuke has that of correcting an error. We therefore understand rebuke in a good sense, but never so reproach as being its very antith- esis.

4α Before him an evildoer is despised, but those who fear the Lord he glorifies. Apportioning to each according to his deserts, he counts the evildoer worthy of naught holding him as good-for-nothing, even though he may plume himself with wealth or nobili- ty, or be resplendent with other superficial splendour, but those who fear God he magnifies, even though they may be found in diametrically opposite misfortunes for, Blessed are all who fear the Lord.

4β He swears an oath to his neighbour and does not renege. The people of old take ‘to swear an oath’ in the sense of ‘to make a strong affirmation’, for an oath is nothing other thaν an affirmation through speech invoking God as witness. To be sure, in the ancient law a true oath sworn by God was permissible so that they might not be taken prey by swearing by the idols, but the law of the Gospels, legislating more per- fectly for the more perfect, barred the oath completely. There are some formulae that have the form of oaths while not being oaths but are rather a gesture of deference towards the listeners: we find, By the health of Pharaoh! and writing to Gen 42.15,16 the Corinthians the Apostle says, By my boasting of you! The divinely voiced Paul left a model of oaths for Christians, saying: God is my witness, whom I worship, and again, I call on God as witness, and suchlike.

5α His silver he has not given out at interest. For the ancients usury was considered disgraceful in the extreme, and dishonourable and despicable, for a merciful man, when he lends, deems it sufficient to receive back only what he gave. It may also be understood thus, namely, that he has not disbursed the preaching of faith, which is silver tried in the fire, tested in the earth, in order to receive any bodily good in return, but freely and without reward he has instructed all.

5β And against the innocent he has not taken bribes. In regard to innocent people, in order to harm the guiltless.

5γ He who does these things will not be shaken to the age. Having painted in diverse colors the one who is perfect in virtue, he placed a worthy con- clusion to the psalm. He who does the things mentioned, being perfect, will not be moved from his foundation in God. ‘To the age’ is in the sense of ‘forever’ or else during the present life, and if during the present life, all the more so during the life to come.

15 Psalm15

1α A pillar inscription belonging to David. Stone pillars and images and statues were assigned to champions to their indelible renown, proclaiming their deeds of bravery. Wherefore, instead of these monuments, this psalm has been set up to Christ the conqueror, who by the lance of the Cross has destroyed both death and the devil who has the power of death. For having remained without sin, neither was his soul abandoned in Hades, having instead despoiled it, nor did his flesh see corruption, having risen after three days, about which Peter the Apostle spoke in the Book of Acts, applying the present psalm to Christ. Through David’s tongue the Saviour thus raised up this pillar as a monument to himself for his own achievements, with the all-holy Spirit having inspired and moved the prophet. It records and proclaims the kind of the victory and all that occurred prior to its consummation.

1β Guard me, O Lord, for in you I have hoped. The words of the psalm are spoken as befits his humanity, for it was not as God, but as man that he defeated the enemy, teaching in part that he is easily defeated by those who are vigilant and in part the ways by which he has overthrown him, leaving for us an exact arche- type for emulation. He prays accordingly as a human being to God, and indeed in the Gospels also he is mentioned as having prayed at various times. He entreats to be guarded from all treacherous designs, overt and covert, saying, Guard me, because in you alone I have hoped, trusting in nothing else, for I know that you save those who hope in you.

2α I have said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord’. I have said to the Father, the Lord of all, that you are Lord for me also, as man and not as God, and for this reason guard me on all sides. For as man he had need of God’s watchful protection, for it is written, I submitted to the Lord, and entreated him. PG35.408A

2β For of my goods you have no need. I said moreover that you have no need of my gifts offered in sacrifice, that I should sacri- fice to you and thus have you as helper. For even though God accepts the things offered in pi- ety, it is not as being in need of them, but rather so that he may judge them proof of gratitude and make them a pretext for giving in return things very much greater.

3α Among the saints on his earth the Lord has worked wonders. I am filled with hope, he says, knowing that among the saints on his earth the Lord has done wondrous and strange things. A saint is one who loves God purely and without qualifi- cation and who trusts in him, as was the one speaking these words. Those of whom he speaks may also be all those who were well pleasing to God prior to Christ’s appearance. You may call ‘his earth’ either this one, for The earth is the Lord’s, or Je- rusalem on high, in which even while below the saints would live and in which on dying they dwell. Or else the Apostles and those who believed through them (and who were delivered from multiple dangers and deaths) are to be understood as the saints, and the Church in which they dwell is to be understood as the earth. Then he sets out the reason for which he works wonders among them.

3β All the things that he wills are among them. For where the things that God wills are being done, God is most certainly among them, guarding and guiding.

4α Their infirmities were multiplied; thereafter they made speed. Their pains and afflictions he calls ‘infirmities’, which, after having been multiplied by divine dispensation, then, at God’s command, speedily passed away. For it is written, Many are the afflictions of the just and the Lord will deliver them from them all. Or in a different way, the sins of those who believed in Christ had earlier been multiplied, for it is when the soul becomes frail that sin occurs, then after the Gospel had been preached, they sped towards piety. The words from this point onwards are spoken not as man, but as God.

4β I shall not gather their gatherings from bloodshed. This is about the Jews who killed him, the multitudes of whom he refuses gather from slaughter, as they are about to be destroyed at the hands of the Romans.

4γ Nor will I remember their names with my lips.

That people used to be called the ‘people of God’, a ‘special’ people’, a ‘vineyard’, a ‘portion’, an ‘inheritance’, a ‘measured lot’, and so on. No longer, therefore, will I call the Jews with the names used before, but ‘blemished children’, a ‘crooked generation’, ‘offspring of vipers’, ‘wicked seed’ and things of such kind. Or else we should understand both verses as about those from among the nations, namely, I shall not make my own their assemblies from bloody sacrifices, but those from sincere faith and spiritual sacrifice, nor will I remember the names with which I used to name them of old through the prophets, but instead of enemies I shall call them friends, instead of unbelievers, believers, and such names as are consequent on these. God’s lips may be understood as his words, for the lips are organs of speech. And besides, when the Saviour later became incarnate, he used to call the Jews and those from among the nations by the opposite of the previous names, as has been stated.

5α The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup. It is not contrary to the will of the Father, he says, that I became man, for he, too, through his good will is a participant in the people from among the nations that have believed, for it is this people that he calls ‘his inheritance’, as was stated earlier in the second psalm. He has, moreover, also portion in his death, for in certain places in Scripture death is expressed as a ‘cup’, and in the Gospels he says, The cup that I drink you are not able to drink, and again, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, for in his good will the Father consented both to the recalling of the nations and to the death of the Son. Or else you can understand the portion as wealth, so that the sense is that God is the wealth of my inheritance from among the nations and furthermore he is the wealth and cap- ital of my teaching, for throughout the Gospel he speaks of the Father. But wealth, on the one hand, is the portion, as in, You are my portion in the land of the living, and indeed for the children who share the wealth of their father, the portion for each is the wealth of each, so it comes about that the same is called portion and wealth and inher- itance, as being apportioned, as making wealthy, and as descending from the father. And teaching, on the other hand, is the cup, because this teaching is wine on account of making glad, and because Christ is the vine.

5β You are the one who is restoring to me my inheritance. For the nations, being a creation of God the Son, had turned away into idolatry, and then were restored to him through faith. And he attributes the gift to the Father as being the cause. And this verse is a clarification of the one before. For this reason indeed, he says, you are a partner in my inheritance and in my cup, because it is you who have restored it to me. He placed the inheritance prior to the cup, because the former became the reason for his death; it was for this inheritance that he died.

We must also mention an elegant reading of this passage, namely, that the evil one, having tempted and tyrannized mankind (created in God’s image and for that reason the creator’s inheritance), wrenched him away and took him for his own. But the heir sent letters to him via the prophets, demanding back the stolen heritage. When the evil one held out even more strongly, the heir himself, taking his title deeds from the Father, comes down to the usurper and the Father becomes his judge. And after condemning the violent brigand, he restores the inheritance to the Son, for which reason the Son called him a partner in his success.

6α Measuring lines have fallen on me amid my most mighty ones. Those who are assigning an inheritance of land, mark it out by measuring it with ropes or measuring lines. He therefore wishes to say that when my inheritance was restored to me, there fell on me, that is, they threw on me and allotted to me, many measuring lines, and with these this inheritance was measured and demarcated and became recognizable, for by refer- ence to the measured allotments of land he alluded both to the multitude of the believers and to their recognizability, for these are the two things that the measuring of lots achieves, as we have said. He calls his inheritance ‘his most mighty ones’, and this he clarified by what follows:

6β For indeed my inheritance is most mighty to me. Above he spoke of ‘most mighty ones’ in the plural, on account of the many individual believers, here he uses the singular on account of the one assembly and one faith of the many individual believers. ‘Most mighty’ he uses for ‘special’ and ‘beloved’ or as the ‘brave and strong one’ who overthrows the adversary. The measuring lines or ropes may also be understood as the bonds that fell on Christ at the hands of the Jews as he was being led to Pilate. They fell on him for the sake of the ‘most mighty ones’, that is, for the faithful for whom he suffered. Of old the Jews were God’s inheritance, as is written, His people Jacob became the Lord’s portion, Israel the measured lot of his inheritance. But when they had been rejected, he took in their place another inheritance, the kingdom of those from among the nations, which he called ‘most mighty’, as being above the earlier inheritance.

7α I shall bless the Lord who has brought me understanding. From this point he speaks as man. The evangelist says of him: And the child grew and became mighty in spirit, filled with wisdom. He shows gratitude accordingly for the treasury of wisdom granted him.

7β And besides, even till night my reins have chastised me.

‘Reins’ are to be understood as the appetitive part of the soul, for this lies around the kidneys as we said in our previous expositions, and ‘night’ as the Master’s death. For up un- til death, he says, my desire has guided and moderated me, having loved nothing of earthly things, but longing only for things divine. Or else ‘night’ is to be understood as the hidden mysteries so that the sense would be that my desire has guided me even to these things that are unknown to other people. 8α I would see the Lord before me at all times. Above all else, I would see God at all times with the eyes of my soul appearing before me. For he is at my right hand that I may not be swayed. I would see him before me, because he is with my right-handed actions, taking repose in them, for God approaches those who approach him through virtue. He is at my right hand so that being helped by him I may not deviate from the straight way towards the contrary path, for The Lord keeps those who love him. 9α Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has rejoiced. For with my heart having been filled with gladness (with my inheritance now received back, the enemy being overthrown and having such a helper at my side), my tongue has joined in relishing the great joy, singing the triumphant hymn and telling of God’s greatness. 9β And besides, even my flesh will dwell in hope. This is about the burial of the Master’s body, for he will dwell in the tomb in hope of swift resurrection; and knowing this he often foretold to his disciples that, After three days I shall arise. 10α For you will not abandon my soul in Hades. He also gives the reason for his hope. And indeed, he says, you will not abandon my soul in Hades where the souls of the deceased are held. Hades is a place beneath the earth assigned for the souls of those who die. Where then is the delirious Apollinarios who, mindless himself, asserted that the assumed flesh was without soul and without mind? 10β Nor will you allow your devout servant to see corruption. This is about the Master’s body. Nor will you allow me, dedicated as I am to you through

affinity of virtues, to suffer corruption of the body, but as being without sin you will preserve it undissolved in its own parts, so that once the soul has been re-established in it, I may quick- ly arise, with the body perfectly sound. ‘Destruction’ [φθορά] in regard to those who die is the separation of the soul from the body. ‘Corruption’ [διαφθορά] is the dissolution of the parts and members of the body into dust.

11α You have made known to me ways of life. You have taught me the virtues that lead to immortal life. Or else you have revealed to me the ways of my resurrection about which he spoke often to his disciples, or you have taught me paths of resurrection and return to life that I, having trodden them myself, will open up for my disciples.

11β You will fill me with gladness along with your face. The face of the Father is the Son, He who has seen me, has seen the Father, since he is called his exact impression and image. Accordingly, you will gladden me - the man whose nature has been assumed, along with the God who assumed human nature - for prior to this he would be sorrowful and weep and be distressed, in accordance with the law of nature. Or else ‘along with your face’ means ‘along with you’ by way of circumlocution, for the Father was united with the Son, and the Son was united with the Father, and they shared the gladness at the salvation of mankind, which the death on the Cross had brought about.

11γ Delight is at your right hand to the end. The right hand of the Father is the Son, as both strong arm and power. Delight and rejoic- ing will be forever with your Son, who has raised up with himself those who had fallen and received back his inheritance.

16 Psalm 16

1α A prayer belonging to David While being pursued by Saul and being variously subjected to intrigue and sedition, he wrote this psalm calling on God for assistance.

1β Hearken, O Lord, to my justice. Hearken to my disposition towards what is just, which through my actions cries out as if given a tongue, for being at various times in a position to kill Saul, implacable in his hostility towards me, I spared him as reigning by divine appointment, and I never dared to insult him even by word of mouth, for he is head of all the people and it is right to spare him on this 1α: And it also is fitting for every virtuous person subject to attack.

account in all things. Or else he calls his justice the justification whereby he is justified and which he sets out in what follows. When we understand it in this way, the prophet does not seem to be boasting, but to be entreating with good reason.

1γ Turn to my entreaty. Entreaty is to be understood as the attitude of supplication, an attitude that is pitiful - full of dejection, devastation and abasement – and by its very aspect able to move to mercy.

1δ Give ear to my prayer, not from deceitful lips. This is to be read according to the rhetorical figure of hyperbaton, so that it would be ‘my not deceitfully spoken prayer’. Or else according to the figure of ellipse: give ear to my prayer not uttered or offered from deceitful lips. For my lips are free of guile and falsehood and I am not aware of ever having spoken deceitful things to Saul, but, having confessed my devotion to him, I maintain my confession unalloyed, even though he is playing false to his agreements with me. He is puts forward three things in his plea for assistance, his justice, his attitude of en- treaty, and his prayer from guileless lips so that he might rouse all the more to his defence.

2α May my verdict come forth from your face. May you judge us since you know everything concerning us with exactness and are the sole impartial judge. God is indeed a just judge and with the power to carry into effect his own judgement. ‘From you face’ in the sense of ‘from you’ by way of circumlocution, or ‘be- fore you’. ‘My verdict’, that is, the decision about me. Because I consider it unjust to judge my own case and to punish the one who is hastening to kill me.

2β Let my eyes see straight judgements. May I see decisions pronounced upon us.

3α You have tried my heart; you have visited by night. Not only have I kept away from any unjust action, but also from evil desires, for you, the knower of hearts, have searched and you have not found any design against Saul in my heart. And you have seen it to be upright, not only in times of good fortune, but also in the night of trials and afflictions which darken the mind and contrive for it to be led astray from the straight path. To put it in Job’s words: In your light I would make my path in darkness, because Your law was a lamp to my feet and a light to my paths.

Or else by ‘night’ he is referring to the night in which having Saul in his hands in the cave he did not kill him.

3β You have tested me by fire and injustice has not been found in me. You have proven me in the fire of temptations as goldsmiths test gold in the fire so that they may know if it is pure, and having been smelted in these temptations and thoroughly tested, no injustice has been found in me against Saul, not even when losing heart under the force of constraint did I shall anything evil against him.

4α That my mouth might not speak of the works of men. This verse is not inconsequent as some have thought, but seems to present a reason for the testing in fire. For this reason you permitted for me to be tested in the fire of temptations, so that I would not by remaining untouched by them give myself airs and reproach those around Saul, noising abroad the unjust things they are doing. Or else so that quickly turning back to you, for in affliction we have remembered you, I may speak rather of your works, how you arrange all things for profit.

4β On account of the words of your lips I have kept hard ways. He calls the words of God’s lips the commandments of the law given through Moses. He says these are from God’s lips (using some poetic license), as having been introduced and dictated by God. On account of these commandments, therefore, he says, I kept, that is, I walked along, hard ways, namely, those of the virtues, for those ways are rough and arduous, deprived of all bodily pleasure. ‘To keep’, according to the custom of Scripture, means in most cases ‘to carry out’, as in, I have kept your commandments, that is, I have fulfilled them, having carried them out in practice.

5 Order my steps aright in your paths, that my steps may not falter. In the first part of the verse he called ‘steps’ the movements of the mind, in the second part, the movements of the body, namely, make my thoughts perfect and correct in your prescriptions which lead those who walk in them to you, for with these once made perfect, neither would the actions of my body go astray. Or ‘order my steps aright’, that is, all my energy in walking in your paths which you opened up through the commandments for those who are eager to come to you, so that they are not diverted from what is fitting, in steps that are not ordered aright by you, for you are The one who teaches man knowledge.

6α I have cried, for you have heard me, O God.

I am not making my supplication in vain, because when I have called on you before, you have heard.

6β Incline your ear to me, and hearken to what I say. For us, of course, the ear is not something that can incline, but when the head is inclined towards the speaker is seems that the ear is inclined. It has been said before that from human actions he characterizes divine actions, more condescendingly, on account of the weakness of the listeners, because those who wish to hear someone more exactly when he is speaking feebly on account of infirmity bend their head and hence their ear to him. Incline as high to low, as a physician to a patient. God’s vision may indicate his simple knowledge of things, while the ear may signify a more refined knowledge, for visible things are coarser than audible things on account of their materiality. Throughout his supplication he uses the verbs ‘to hearken’, ‘to turn to’, ‘to give ear’ and suchlike, to emphasize a whole-hearted disposition of readiness towards the request.

7α Make wondrous your mercies, O you who save those who hope in you. Make them appear worthy of wonder. ‘Mercies’ is how he terms help and protection, be- cause those who witnessed him being defended, marveled at this help, as swift and irresistible and as helping not only the just, but also sinners. 7β-8α From those who have resisted your right arm, O Lord, protect me like the pupil of the eye. Guard me, O Lord, from the treachery of those around Saul, who have resisted your anointing hand, for this is what he signified by the ‘right arm’. For you have ordained me as king through the prophet who anointed me, whereas they strive to kill me, not accepting this. The protection of the pupil of the eye is truly worthy of wonder, for layer upon layer and various coverings surround it with a wall of protection. Some are thin and transparent, so that they might not abrade the pupil, which is moist and tender, while outwardly the cover- ing of the eyelids is thick and divided into two semi-circles, so that it can keep out the dust and prevent harm from the wind and flying insects. It has been furnished with hair so as to stop the local perspiration that runs down, for this is pungent and distressing. Above this a valley of the eyebrow has been formed like a kind of firm roof; this, too, has been covered closely with hairs so that the perspiration descending from above will not invade onto the covering of the pupil but, being diverted from there, may be channelled over the side of the forehead. 8β-9α In the shelter of you wings you will shelter me from the face of the impious who have sorely distressed me.

Having found another image of protection he requests to be protected in the manner of a nestling, calling ‘wings’ the maintaining, preserving and nurturing powers of all-powerful providence, using the metaphor of birds that cover their chicks with their wings. The future ‘you will shelter’ we shall accordingly understand as an optative, something we find in many places in Scripture, or else it is prophesying help from God. The ‘face of the impious’ is what he calls the impious tout court. He here used the word ‘impious’ in an imprecise sense to describe those around Saul - as living like the impious in lawless acts, thirsting to kill the innocent and, as said, not respecting his anointment by God as king. These people sorely distressed him when during his flight he was made to suffer every kind of misery.

9β My enemies have encompassed my soul. By his soul he denoted himself, the part standing for the whole. ‘Encompassed’ in the sense of ‘surrounded’, setting up ambushes on every side.

10α They have shut off their fat. By ‘fat’ he denotes the heart and bowels, for around them is lots of lard. And he says, they have shut me off from the mercy of their heart and bowels, from which seats of affection mercy proceeds. Others call ‘fat’ health and wellbeing, interpreting the verse as saying that they shut it up and held it fast as if it would never leave and would always be with them.

10β Their mouth has spoken arrogance. For they boasted they would capture him quickly as easy prey, having no help from anywhere.

11α Having cast me out, they have now encircled me. Having expelled me from all that was mine, they were not content, but they now have encircled me seeking to put me to death.

11β Their eyes they have set to incline to the earth. They have set and resolved to turn their eyes away from you who dwell in the heavens, and away from your ordinances, which command not to wrong the innocent, and to turn them towards the earth, that is, to earthly desires, which are to gorge themselves irrationally with everything that involves pleasure. Or else they have fixed their eyes on me, watching for an occasion to incline and cast me down to the earth, slaughtered at their hands.

12 They have come upon me like a lion ready for its prey, and like a lion cub lurking in hiding. In terms of their own expectations, they have come upon me, that is, having crept up on me, they have snatched me up from the earth and carried me away. Some have interpreted the difference between the hunting of the lion and of the lion cub as being that the one, trusting in its strength, hunts openly, while the cub, still not daring to attack in the open, lurks in hiding. And accordingly among his enemies, some had the confi- dence to hunt him openly, while others, lacking self-confidence, did so by stealth. There is nothing to prevent both lion and lion cub from signifying the same thing. The prophet when describing sufferings was accustomed very often to repeat the same thing with varying words, so that by heightening the emotion, he might attract mercy.

13α Arise, O Lord. You, who appear to be sleeping on account of your forbearance, stir yourself to defence.

13β Forestall them. Before they carry out their plan, prevent them.

13γ And trip them up. Impede their sprinting towards me. This employs the metaphor of people who wish to impede the passage of others, and stick out their legs under their feet as they are running past and thus easily bring them down.

13δ Deliver my soul from an impious man, by your sword from the enemies of your hand. By your sword deliver my soul from the impious Saul and from his subjects who are hos- tile to my ordination, that is, to me, or those who are hostile to your anointing hand, that is, to you, by way of circumlocution. For if they are waging war on me and I am yours, then those who are waging war on the one who is your own are waging war on you. We have already explained the reason why he calls him impious. The two phrases are to be read on their own, separately. The words, Deliver my soul, come as a fitting response to the words spoken above, My enemies have encompassed my soul. Some are puzzled about how the man who spared Saul in the cave, is now praying for him to be killed by God’s sword. And we reply that he did not dare himself to become a king’s murderer, as we explained at the beginning of the psalm, but when sorely distressed by every misery he called on God for vengeance. Just as the first is unjust, so the second is just. Or else when he says a sword, he does not mean a sword that kills but one that instills fear only. The metaphor, moreover, is human, and a person who wishes to deliver someone

surrounded by enemies, drawing his sword, rushes towards them. The fact that he did not wish for those around Saul to be killed, but only to divert them from their aim is clear from what follows:

14α O Lord, from the few of the earth, set them apart in their life. Even while they are still living, separate them from the good people, and let them not be among their number. This he also says elsewhere: Let them not be inscribed with the just, for having been set apart, they will at some point be required to pay the penalty. Scripture often calls the good ‘the few’, for the most part is ever evil and always the meaner [Hom Od. things prevail. Few, it is said, are saved and Few are chosen. 18.404] After saying ‘few’ he added ‘of the earth’, showing that they, too, are of the earth, but that this constituted no impediment to virtue for them. The syntax is as follows: Set them apart from the few, who are of the earth.

14β And their belly has been filled with your hidden things. Some have said that the ‘hidden things’ are gold and silver, which being hidden in the hollows of the earth are dug up and mined. With these accordingly their belly has been filled, namely, their pouches, carried around like bellies, or else their stomachs have been filled as they supply themselves with as many delicacies as they can lay their hands on. Others say that the ‘hidden things’ are the punishments stored up with God, since Moses in Deuteronomy speaking in the person of God of the various punishments, added, See, are not all these things gathered together with me and sealed in my treasuries? They say accordingly that he is prophesying that their belly (that is, they themselves, the part standing for the whole) will be filled with the unseen punishments. In speaking of repletion it was appropriate to mention the belly. He proclaimed the future things as if present, beholding as it were these things with his foreseeing eyes.

14γ They have been sated with swine. The Hebrews regarded the swine as unclean on account of its not chewing the cud among cloven-hoofed animals and its love of filth. Accordingly, by the swine here he alluded to un- cleanness. For, he says, they have been sated with impurities, consuming wealth for pleasure. The more exact among the expositors read ‘sons’, or ‘children’, in place of ‘swine’, since the word in Hebrew is banim, that is, children, so that the sense is that, just as with money, so they have also been sated with children, by having many children. Or else according to the double exposition, namely, they have been sated with either mon- ey or punishments along with their sons (with the preposition ‘along’ being omitted). Not only they, but also their children were enriched or were punished.

14δ And they have left the leftovers to their infants. Continuing even to the offspring of the sons; ‘to their infants’, that is to say, to those of their sons, that is, the wealth or punishment extended to the whole generation. And if we understand these things as about punishment, it is a prophecy about the evils that met with his enemies, and if we take them as about prosperity, it is a heightening of the indictment, because having enjoyed so many benefits they continued to live in transgression of the law, disregarding God’s forbearance.

15α But I in justice will be seen before your face. For my justice which was spoken about at the beginning of the psalm will make me wor- thy of your oversight, and I shall appear before you at the time of the last judgement and requiting.

15β I shall be sated when I see your glory. And seeing your glory at that time, I shall be filled with my desire, which is to be seen by you and to see your glory, for the sinful will not see the face of God. And the Lord says in the Gospels: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be sated, namely, with the eternal goods that they desire. This psalm is appropriate for every virtuous person under attack and who, not loving deceptions, will seek to be judged in relation to his enemy, for he will consider ‘Saul’ as his enemy, whether he be sensible or intelligible. This person will understand the words from God’s lips as the Gospel commandments, those who have resisted God’s right arm as the demons, as adversaries and apostates, and the impious and enemies he will likewise understand as the demons, who expelled him from God’s shelter or from paradise, and he will take the rest accordingly. He will pray for the demons to set apart and scattered from among good men as long as these good people are alive, for after death they do not fear. And the things and about wealth or punishments and the rest he will apply to the demons as rulers of the world whose sons and grandsons he will understand as the evil people who are their disciples and instruments, for the father of such is the devil.

17 Psalm 17

1 Towards fulfilment; belonging to David the Lord’s boy; that he spoke to the Lord, the words of this ode, on the day the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul,

2α and he said:

This psalm has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’ either on account of the fact that it contains prophecies that will be fulfilled (for it speaks about Christ and in part about the calling of the nations), or because at the consummation of his enemies he dedicated this hymn to God as a hymn of thanksgiving for every blessing he enjoyed, or else because he composed the present psalm at the end of his own life. Belonging to David the Lord’s boy, and not to the king or the prophet, because these things are gifts of God. A boy of the Lord is something one becomes, either through the display of gratitude as a faithful servant, or else through actions that are well pleasing as a beloved child. David through both acquired both meanings of ‘boy’, having become both servant and child of God, and this for him was a source of greater pride as having been ob- tained through labour and devotion. ‘That he spoke to the Lord’: here the words ‘these are the things’ have been omitted, namely, he spoke the words of this ode. He inscribed it as an ode and not as a psalm, because he sang this ode not with musical instruments but by voice alone, having already reached old age, as is recorded in the book of Kingdoms. We, speaking more loosely, call an ode a psalm also. § 62 ‘On the day the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies’, that is, on the day when he thought he had been freed from all those who had been against him up to that point, whether from other tribes or from among his own people. Distinguishing Saul from his other enemies, he placed him on his own and last, either as the one who had been the most hostile towards him, or out of reluctance to include him among his other enemies as his king and one time benefactor and father-in-law.

2β I shall love you, O Lord, my strength. Having obtained many and great blessings from you, and being unable to repay (What shall I repay the Lord in return for all that he in return has repaid me?), I shall do the only thing that I can, and that is I shall love you, not as having not loved before, but as doing so even more. This indeed is the first of the commandments: You will love the Lord your God with all your strength and with all your heart. He called God his strength as having strengthened his weakness against so many and so great enemies.

3α The Lord is my firm foundation and my refuge and my deliverer. A firm foundation as having established him and made him unshakeable in the face of the attacks from the various temptations, a refuge as taking him under his protection when he was fleeing and shielding him on every side by the rampart of divine assistance, and a deliver- er as extricating him from those hoping to besiege and capture him.

3β My God is my helper and in him I shall hope.

My God alone is ever my helper, and so I shall hope in him alone, not losing heart in the face of what befalls nor despairing of salvation.

3γ My shielding defender and horn of my salvation and my upholder. Having set his protection before me in battle that I might not be struck by arrows, for those who are defending someone hold up their shields around him to avert arrows from any direction. He is a ‘horn of salvation’, in the sense of an effective defence able to save, for horned ani- mals strongly defend themselves with their horns in battles. Since the one is a defensive weapon and the other a weapon of attack, God became for me both the one and the other, protecting in battle and destroying my enemies. He is my upholder as holding me up when I fall into despondency and otherwise reviving me from afflictions.

4 With praises I shall call upon the Lord, and from my enemies I shall be saved. Having hymned God in this way with various designations for assistance as having helped him at diverse times and in diverse ways, he says, I have not compiled this catalogue of so many and so great names only in thanksgiving for what has gone before as if no longer in need of the Lord, but through these names, praising and extolling him for all the benefits he has shown me and displaying my gratitude I shall continue to call upon him all my life. And for this reason he said, in him I shall hope and with certainty from my enemies I shall be saved. For even though I have been delivered from my enemies to date, it is nonetheless likely that others will rise up as my life continues. Having said so much, he goes over them again and lists his various predicaments and the manifold help he received from God. He continues the narrative more figuratively to give greater emphasis to the matters.

5α Pangs of death encompassed me. In relation to men we understand ‘pangs’ as pains from the pressure of afflictions, just as in relation to women birth pangs occur when the passageways are subjected to pressure on account of the narrowly confined space. In relation to the latter, however, the pangs would be called pangs of life, since they lead the one held within into the light of life, while in relation to the former they are, on the contrary, pangs of death, as leading the one caught in them into darkness. Accordingly, he wishes to say that I have been held fast in unbearable pains, for by the use of the word ‘pangs’ he represented their keenness.

5β And torrents of lawlessness threw me into confusion.

By ‘torrents of lawlessness’ he refers to the occasional and sudden and violent attacks of the lawless nations. Such indeed are ‘torrents’, flowing in wintertime, suddenly and violently, for they would act wickedly, envying and seeking to kill him. The verb ‘they threw into confusion’ is appropriate, because torrents rush wildly and churn along whatever falls in their path. And he accordingly suffered turmoil and vertigo in his thoughts at the suddenness of the unexpected events.

6α Pangs of Hades encircled me. This has the same meaning as ‘pangs of death have encompassed me’, for ‘to encompass’ and ‘to encircle’ have the same meaning, and “Hades’ and ‘death’ are contained in one anoth- er. ‘Hades’ was said to be an ‘odious’ place beneath the earth for those who had died. Since therefore pangs are of birth, he says that pangs giving birth to death, an attendant of Hades, have encircled me, for the one separates the soul, the other receives it and holds it. Or else ‘pangs of Hades’ are pains leading to Hades or servants of Hades.

6β Snares of death surprised me. Deadly ambushes have taken me by surprise; for what snares are to hunters, ambushes are to warriors.

7α And as I was being sorely pressed I called upon the Lord. To come to my aid.

7β And I cried out to my God. I raised my voice, while still being mortally constrained.

7γ He heard my voice from his holy temple. The ‘holy temple’ is to be understood as heaven, as we have said earlier, or else as the tent of witness, for the great temple in Jerusalem was built later by Solomon. He heard, not sensibly, but in a manner befitting God, for being unable to know and tell of the powers holding the universe together, we allocate them to images of the senses where- by we perceive beings.

7δ And my cry before him. My cry is always before him, crying to him alone in constraints.

7ε Will enter into his ears. And at the critical time he will hear me. These words we may also use, both giving thanks and at the same time telling of the at- tacks of the demons. 8α And the earth was shaken and overtaken by trembling. The words from here onwards prophesy about Christ, treating the things to come as hav- ing already happened, for this is a prophetic idiom. And indeed in relation to David nothing of the kind is recorded as having occurred. In place of ‘the earth was shaken and trembled in fear’, Aquila wrote ‘it was moved and quaked’. ‘Earth’ here denotes the people from the earth or the people dwelling on the earth. For when Christ was teaching, both the Hebrews and the nations were thrown into con- fusion by his fame – for ‘shaking’ is a confusing – and were alarmed, seeing the wonders he performed, for ‘trembling’ denotes fear here, because those who are greatly afraid tremble. And by the other translation, ‘they were moved’, flocking towards him as his fame spread, and they ‘quaked’, having been thrown into confusion in their convictions. 8β And the foundations of the mountains were troubled and shaken, for God had been pro- voked to anger against them. By ‘mountains’ you will understand the demons, on account of their high conceit and pre- tension, and by ‘foundations’ the deep and perfidious movements of their thoughts. For on seeing the irresistible power of Christ, they were confused in their thoughts, at a loss to know who he is, and considering what they would have to suffer. Their thoughts therefore were in this way troubled and they were shaken, having been moved from the power on which they had been founded. And they suffered this when God was provoked to anger with them for having for so long tyrannized and enslaved the wretched people. It is possible to understand this verse also about the things that occurred at the time of the Master’s passion when the earth was shaken and the stones were split, because God had been provoked to anger against them, namely, the Jews. 9α Smoke went up in his anger. The Creator having been angered at the destruction of his creature, smoke preceded his vengeance, which smoke was the partial cessation of the one who had been exercising tyran- ny, for he both took the believers away from his error and drove out the evil spirits from the demoniacs. This was a prelude to the final vengeance, since smoke is a prelude to fire. The demons shouted as they were being driven away: What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come to torment us before the time?

9β And fire will flare up from his face. If smoke will precede, then fire will follow, which is the final retribution and the complete inoperativity of the devil. From his face, in the sense of, from him, who was one person of the three hypostases of the one Godhead. Or else, ‘from his face’, that is, before him. For it is written: Fire will go before him and will set his enemies ablaze all around. ‘Will flare up’ in the sense of ‘will be ignited’. 9γ Coals were kindled from it. For since God is fire consuming the power of evil, the disciples also participated in this energy, and from this fire these coals were kindled, burning the strength of the enemy by the fire of their own faith. For See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. 10α And he made the heavens incline and came down. The prophet, wishing to indicate how the divine incarnation escaped all notice, said that he made the heavens incline to the earth and came down soundlessly. For escaping the notice of all the powers, he dwelt in the virgin womb. He thus described the matter with figures of speech in a more corporeal way, and this is clear from what follows, for he says: 10β And thick darkness was beneath his feet. ‘Thick darkness’ is obscurity, and his ‘feet’ are his path, for the way of the incarnation is hidden and its manner incomprehensible. Or in a different way, just as earthly people or the people who live on the earth are often called ‘earth’, so it is that the heavenly angels or those that dwell in heaven are called ‘heavens’, and these he inclined to the earth as he descended, for it is written in the Gospels that Angels ministered to him. Do not understand the descent of God in a corporeal sense, for he is uncircumscribable and fills all things, but as being beyond any comprehension and ineffable. 11 And he mounted on the Cherubim and flew; he flew on the wings of the winds. This is a prophesy about Christ’s ascension. Ezekiel, having seen this with his prophetic eyes, teaches that the Cherubim at that time received Jesus, saying, And the Cherubim lifted their wings, and the wheels were beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was upon them, above them, and the glory of the Lord ascended from the midst of the city. Indisputably he says this about the Saviour’s ascension, because Paul also called him the radiance of his glory. 10β: Inclining is humbling and the heavens are the height of divinity. Accordingly, he humbled the height of his own divinity to the earth, having assumed an earthly body, and condescended to mankind.

He flew on the wings of the Cherubim which he calls ‘winds’ on account of the alacrity of the movement. And in truth he was mounted on the Cherubim, approaching the godhead, but to the Apostles it seemed he was being carried on the wings of the winds, that is, by the winds. He presented the winds as winged on account of the swift movement in the air, for the things that pass through the air are winged, and because the clouds are carried along by the wind.

12α And he set darkness as his hiding place. Darkness is to be thought of as no longer being seen. Accordingly, invisibility has hidden him, for he placed invisibility around himself as concealment, for having been taken up, he was hidden from their eyes. Or else ‘darkness’ is to be understood as the flesh, with his divinity hidden in it. Or else, ‘he set darkness’, that is, incomprehensibility, concealing him in regard to his di- vinity. Those who attempt to penetrate the depths of knowledge about him become dark- ened in mind.

12β His tent shrine encircling him. ‘Tent shrine’ is what he calls the assumed flesh, which he also called his temple. Destroy this temple, he says, and in three days I shall raise it up. Encircling him, because he dwelled in it, not as being circumscribed by it, but as ineffably indwelling, as almighty. He said this, showing that he was taken up along with the flesh, and did not put it off as some later fool- ishly postulated. Or else he calls his unapproachable radiance his ‘tent shrine’, because he is also described as ‘dwelling in light inaccessible’, which being around the godhead, both hides it and averts the eyes of those who wish to see in.

12γ Dark water in clouds of the winds. Here he is calling ‘water’ the message about Christ, ‘clouds’ the prophecies, and ‘winds’ the prophets. And the meaning that emerges is that the proclamation about Christ in the prophecies of the prophets is dark and difficult to see prior to its fulfilment. It is ‘water’ as re- freshing those who are fainting in error; the prophecies are ‘clouds’ as having what is declared concealed within; and the prophets are ‘winds’ on account of the purity and subtlety of their mind. The fact that Scripture often calls the prophets ‘clouds’ is seen in Isaiah, for after he had addressed the house of Israel as a vineyard, he introduced clouds being commanded to rain on it no longer, that is, for there to be no longer prophets foretelling.

13α At the far-shining brightness before him the clouds passed over. 12α: Darkness: ignorance of what is.

At the brilliance of his epiphany, which shines not only on those near, but also on those far off, the dark prophecies have been dissolved, and with their obscurity having been dis- persed, what was hidden has been brought to light. For when the sun has risen, the gloom of the clouds is dissolved and the part that was hidden by them is seen clearly. Or else ‘clouds’ here are to be understood as the mist of the dark law. For when Christ had shone forth the veil of its enigmas was dissolved and they appeared as prefiguring and foreshadowing Christ. But according to these explanations you will join the words ‘before him’ to the phrase ‘at the far shining brightness’, so that the meaning is at the far shining brightness that is before him, namely, that is his, or of his epiphany. In another way you can separate off the phrase ‘at his far shining brightness’ and, placing a comma, explain the rest in relation to what has gone before, and this will produce the follow- ing meaning, namely, that when the Lord had shone forth in his life in the body, before him, that is, in his person and instead of him, the Apostles raining down the word of preaching passed over the whole world, filling the arable land of the souls like clouds and awakening them to fructifying power of the virtues.

13β Hail and coals of fire. This we shall conform to the first understanding: the prophecies are likened to hail on ac- count of the hardness of obscurity, and to fire, on account of their burning up the objections of the unbelievers. So that cloud and hail and fire are to be understood as the same thing for the reasons given. It can be conformed, however, no less to the second explanation if we similarly take the Apostles to be hail and fire, hail as blinding and destroying error, and fire and burning up impiety.

14 And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Most High gave forth his voice. The Lord and the Most High, namely, God as Master and as exalted. He thundered and gave forth his voice when the Son cried out to the Father, Father, glorify your name. For then, as is written, a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and will glorify it again’. The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered. Accordingly, ‘he thundered’ is said in regard to the understanding of those who heard it and ‘he gave his voice’ in regard to the truth, for being a voice it seemed to those who heard it to be a clap of thunder. We should not be surprised when prophecies do not follow a sequence and order, because from this it is shown that the prophets did not prophecy what they wanted, but whatsoever they were made resonant with by the Spirit.

15α He sent forth arrows and scattered them. [13α]: Far-shining is what he calls the bright outburst of light of the lightning shaft.

Arrows are what he calls the disciples, sent out into all the world. Through them Christ scattered the demons to whom allusion is made by the pronoun. For just as the holy Spirit hates them, so it hates their name.

15β And he multiplied lightning shafts and threw them into confusion. Arrows and lightning shafts are to be understood as the same thing, arrows as shooting and overthrowing the error of the demons, and lightning shafts as burning up impiety and its cultic precincts. For being shot at by prayers, the adversaries would fall, and being unable to bear the lightning of the holy Spirit dwelling in the disciples, they would be thrown into confusion and reduced to helplessness.

16α And the sources of the waters were seen. The sources of the waters once again are the Apostles, the first teachers of faith in Christ, having been ordained by him, for ‘water’ is the teaching of gospel, and the sources are its first fountains, which were seen by all having been sent out to all.

16β And the foundations of the inhabited world were revealed. The same Apostles are also the foundations of the inhabited world, as the first to have believed and having set a basis of faith for the inhabited world that is firm and immovable and upon which all are built. They have been revealed through the sparkle of their way of life and the brilliance of the wonders they performed. Whereas for other edifices the foundations are hidden in the earth, those of faith, on the contrary, appear above earth to all, shining in both deed and word.

16γ At your rebuke, O Lord. These things took place after the demons had been rebuked by you and put to flight.

16δ At the breathing of the breath of your anger. Anger is like fire, and when kindled gives off a smoky vapor and is breathed into the air through the nostrils. Hence it is called the breath of anger, and we say of those who are ex- ceedingly angered that they are breathing rage. By this he alluded to the movement of anger, speaking about it in human terms. You have, he says, been so greatly roused to anger as to breathe of the breath of anger into the air, scattering your enemies.

17α He sent out from on high and took me.

From this point onwards the prophet speaks about himself, returning to the train of his discourse. God, he says, sent out help from heaven and delivered me.

17β He took me to himself out of many waters. Waters in divine Scripture are at times taken as purification and refreshment, as when we understand waters as teaching, and at times as drowning and destruction as in the present case. Such is the nature of water, purifying on the one hand and drowning on the other, and especially when they are many and deep. It is necessary therefore to regard many waters as the multitude of misfortunes or of en- emies. He has taken me to himself, in the sense that he has drawn me out to himself, for the one who drags someone out, pulls them towards himself in coming to their aid.

18α He will deliver me from my powerful enemies. Powerful enemies here are to be understood as the demons, fighting against him both overtly and covertly and by night and by day and via every sense and having a nature that is tireless in battles, for they are spirits. God who has delivered me from my visible enemies will therefore deliver me also from my invisible enemies, powerful in evil and destruction.

18β And from those who hate me, for they have taken a firm hold over me. For these demons, hating mankind, hate me also, and especially when I am in receipt of help from God. For this reason the Lord will deliver me from them because they have con- trived and fought together and prevailed against me, as was only to be expected, when I was not fenced around by the shields of virtue, but debilitated. Or else, they have an immaterial nature and shoot their arrows seeing their target, while I have a material nature and do not see those who are wounding me.

19α They have overtaken me in the day of my affliction. To overtake does not always mean to take in advance but at times it simply means to take, and to attack as in the present case. My enemies, whether visible or invisible, have attacked me, he says, in the day of my affliction, that is of my weakness in regard to military preparation, whether visible or invisible, for when they see me debilitated, then they attack even more.

19β And the Lord has become my support. As I was about to fall, by having provided a firm counterforce, he became a prop to my weakness, like a supporting staff.

20α And he has led me out to a place of expanse. From the narrowness of afflictions into the expanse or diffusion of gladness, as with, In affliction you have given me expanse. Or else that surrounding enemies tightly enclose the one who is entrapped and when he is extricated from them, he enjoys free space, no longer being constricted.

20β He will deliver me, because he has desired me. Having granted me such protecting care, he will certainly deliver me in the future. He has desired me, that is, he has chosen me.

21α And the Lord will reward me according to my justice. Not having wronged those who are hostile towards me, and having appeared just in rela- tion to them, for this I shall obtain recompense from God, and in return for this he will repay me as for a debt, with his help.

21β And according to the purity of my hands he will reward me. ‘The purity of my hands’ is a clarification of ‘my justice’, for I neither plundered nor claimed a larger share nor did I scheme against those who were scheming against me, but I have kept my hands pure of all defilement in comparison with their hands. Or else by reference to his hands he signified simply his actions, since we act with our hands.

22 For I have kept the Lord’s ways and I have not acted impiously towards my God. This gives the reason for the purity of his hands. I have kept myself pure because I have kept the Lord’s ways, that is, his commandments and did not turn away from him, as do the impious. The one who observes the commandments and makes his way by them will of ne- cessity keep himself pure.

23 For all his judgements are before me, and I have not dismissed his statutes from my presence. Law is one thing, a commandment another and a testimony another, and again a judge- ment is one thing and a statute yet another. Law is the general term inclusive of the commandments, as in The law was given by Moses. The commandments are the particulars of the law, namely, You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, and such as are spoken about in specific terms. Ex 20. 13, 15

A testimony is what the lawgiver enjoins on his listeners with some appeal to witnesses, as when Moses says to the people, if you do this or that, then I call today heaven and earth as witness against you that in destruction you will perish. Judgements are such as were written following God’s judicial decisions, as in the case of the man who had blasphemed the dread name. Moses referred the matter for God’s decision and when he commanded for the man to be stoned, this became a standard measure against other blasphemers. Statutes are ordinances of the type, If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall work for you for six years, and so on, which are full of justice. Such then is the division of these terms, but they are often used interchangeably, and especially in Psalm one hundred and eighteen. Here by reference to the judgements and statutes he included all the commandments, the part standing for the whole. All your commandments, he says, are before me being read out and never set aside.

24α And I shall be blameless with him. In the sense of ‘through him’ or ‘being with him’.

24β And I shall guard myself from my lawlessness. Here guarding is what he calls keeping away from, and lawlessness what he calls sin. The personal pronoun is attached to the lawlessness on account of the fact that sin is proper to the flesh, or else he is acknowledging that he has erred as a man, for there no one without sin.

25 And the Lord will reward me according to my justice, and according to the purity of my hands before his eyes. If I have been and will continue to be such, then I shall certainly obtain recompense, as was said before. The purity of my hands that is before him - for I did not do this for show before men but in order to be pleasing to God. 26-27 With the devout you will be devout, with the innocent you will be innocent, with the elect you will be elect and with the perverse you will pervert. A devout man is one who is pious towards God, an innocent man, one who is guiltless before men, an elect man one who is perfect in virtue and a perverse man one who is crooked. The verse is didactic and is addressed to the reader, saying that such as is the person with whom you live, so you will be also, acquiring his habits of life. The phrase ‘you will pervert’ is in the sense of ‘you will be perverse’ or you will pervert your opinion.

These words can also be applied to God and give the following sense, namely, that being most just, you will give to each according to his deserts, and you will be making devout the devout, absolving the guiltless, electing the elect, and perverting and impeding the perverse. And the rhetorical figure is that of ‘noun standing for participle’, ‘devout’ for ‘making devout’.

28 For you will save a humble people and humble the eyes of the proud. Those who are humble by reason of virtue. The ‘eyes of the proud’, mean ‘the proud’, the part standing for the whole, or else because such people are usually characterized by their eyes, superciliously raising the brow, for the word for ‘proud’ comes from stretching ‘the eyes upwards’. Accordingly, you will make such eyes look to the earth in affliction. Or else the ‘humble people’ is the people from among the nations, forced to bow down by the weight of sins and the ‘proud’ are the Jews, boasting of the law and of their forebears.

29 For you, O Lord, will illumine my lamp; my God, you will illumine my darkness. The eye of the soul is the mind, and the eye is a lamp, in that it guides. Darkness of the soul is rage and desire. He is saying, accordingly, that you will illumine my mind with divine flashes of enlightenment. And by illumining my mind you will illumine my darkness, for when the mind is illumined the other parts of the soul are filled with light. This is what is said by the Saviour in the Gospels: If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness, that is, if the mind is darkened, then much more so are the irrational powers of the soul. The mind can be called both light and darkness. In relation to the nature of things it is light, in relation to God it is darkness, since God is invisible to it. Or else the lamp is the Mosaic law, leading those who read it towards what is good. Dark- ness is the veil of obscurity that covers it, the hidden things of which David prophesies will be illumined and revealed, when God has become incarnate, that is to say. Or alternatively, the lamp is the preaching of the Gospel, illumined and made known to us by the Saviour, while darkness is the error of the idols and ignorance of the true faith. Or else the lamp is the mind, that guides a person, and darkness is the body, on account of its occultation and dense consistency. Both will be illumined, the one by divine flashes of enlightenment, the other by purification. Some say that the lamp here is a name for Jesus who is from the seed of David, and whom the Word illumined once united with that seed and granted him to send forth his rays every- where, for he says: I am the light of the world. Darkness is the flesh, having assumed which, he made it brilliant with light and deified it.

30α For in you I shall be delivered from trial. ‘In you’, or in other words, through you; ‘trial’, that is temptation, brought on by people or by demons.

30β And in my God I shall leap over a wall. Being helped by my God, I shall leap over the sins that block my path to him, namely, those sins over which Satan has the power and through which he impedes my ascent to the heavens. Or else ‘trial’ is life itself, as Job says, in which, there are baits of pleasure and snares of death, and ambushes and adversaries, sensible and intelligible. And the ‘wall’ is the body, set up before the soul and blocking from it the divine rays, or else ‘wall’ denotes the airy demons that impede souls as they pass through.

31α My God, his way in blameless. This also is a figure of Ancient Scripture. Instead of saying ‘the way of my God is blame- less’, he said, ‘my God, his way is blameless’. God’s way is virtue, as leading to him. The person walking along the way of virtue must therefore also be blameless. Or else the verse is about the Saviour: having walked through life he committed no sin.

31β The oracles of the Lord are tried in the fire. They are true and free from all blemish like smelted gold. And indeed elsewhere he says, The Lord’s oracles are pure oracles, and silver tried in the fire.

31γ He is a champion of all who hope in him. For when promising to help he does not lie.

32α For who is God besides the Lord? The ‘for’ is redundant here, or else it is in the sense of ‘since’. Who other is God by nature apart from the Lord, that is, the Father?

32β Or who is God except for our God. He called the Son ‘God’ here. In saying ‘our’ he numbered himself among the faithful, as knowing in advance the perfect fulfilment of faith.

33α God who girds me with power. This is about the Holy Spirit. But if someone will say that the three verses articulate the same thing in parallel, there nothing unreasonable in that. ‘Girding me with power’ in battles.

33β And he has ordained my way as blameless. Through the commandments he has regulated my behaviour during my life. Or else, the verse is about the Saviour, spoken in the person of the Church of the faithful, namely, that he has smoothed out the way for me through his own path and has made it blameless.

34α Fashioning my feet like a hind’s. Preparing, perfecting them to run in time of flight.

34β And standing me on the heights. And saving me in the mountains, and stopping me and giving me rest from the chase like deer that flee up into the mountains and on being released from fear stop and breathe freely. Or else making me swift of foot so as to escape the demons that seek to catch me, and leading me up to the heights of virtue.

35α Instructing my hands for war. It is he who gave me the wisdom of military art, not only against the visible enemies, but also against the demons, to handle well the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit, and to subdue the demons through the practical virtues, which are signified by the hands. The raising of hands to God may also be a marshalling against enemies.

35β And my arms you have made a bow of bronze. The word ‘like’ is missing, so that it would be ‘like a bow of bronze’, firm and not wearying in the shooting of arrows.

36α And you have given me a shield covering of salvation. Protection, not unavailing but saving.

36β And your right arm has come to my aid. For those who come to offer assistance are accustomed to use their right arm, for it is more efficient and stronger and more practiced than the left. Or else the right arm is to be under- stood as the incarnate Creator of creation who came to the aid of our nature.

36γ And your correction has set me upright to the end.

You will understand ‘correction’ as the correcting and guiding law through which he was perfected completely in virtue. Or else he calls God’s correction the trials inflicted by divine concession for the sake of correction. From both sides, he says, you have benefited me, on the one hand coming to my aid, and on the other by permitting me to be tempted.

36δ And your correction it is that will instruct me. And again you will correct and instruct me as your servant. As Isaiah says, In small affliction your correction comes upon us. For when we are well off we give ourselves over to indolence, but when we fall into afflictions at critical times we rouse ourselves and become more prudent.

37α You have expanded my footsteps beneath me. You have expanded them by extricating them from the snares and traps amid which I was nar- rowly constrained when walking, and now I proceed without fear with no one lying in ambush.

37β And my footprints have not become faint. Formerly when I was fleeing from my enemies I would tread lightly on the ground leaving only faint tracks on account of my concern that they would not be recognized by my pursu- ers, in case they would follow them, but now I walk with a firm step fearing no one. The verse may also be as if spoken by the Church, giving thanks because its path is being broadened as many walk along it day by day and the imprints of the Gospel way of life are not being rendered faint but are becoming brighter and shining through the succession of those following this way of life.

38α I shall pursue my enemies and overtake them. Having received full assurance from the preceding wonders, he says also of the future that if again enemies rise against me, I shall pursue them, and they, unable to resist, will not escape from my hands.

38β And I shall not turn back until they are no more. Having overtaken them, I shall not then withdraw, leaving them as already defeated, but I shall destroy all utterly.

39α I shall force them out and they will not be able to stand. Having said ‘I shall pursue my enemies’, he then says how he will do so: I shall constrain them, pressing them closely and pressurizing them on every side and they will not to stand facing in line of battle.

39β They will fall beneath my feet. Being overtaken and surrounded in a net from which they cannot escape, they will fall down in supplication.

40α And you have girded me about with strength in battle. Again he lists God’s previous benefactions.

40β Hand and foot you have bound beneath me all who have risen up against me. You have thwarted them, cast them down.

41α And my enemies you have given to me [as] a back. Namely, turning their backs, that is, fleeing, for those who are fleeing, turning their backs, are called a ‘back’. Or else the words ‘having become’ are missing, so that it would be, ‘having become a back’ in turning around; or else the word ‘as’ is missing, so that it would be ‘as a back’, so as to fire at them unguarded.

41β And you have utterly destroyed those who hate me. You have mown them away completely from the earth.

42 They cried and there was none to save; to the Lord and he not heard them not. Having said ‘they cried’ he added to whom, but on account of their sins they were not heard.

43α And I shall grind them thin like dust before the face of the wind. I shall obliterate them like dust powdered before the wind, for the wind bearing directly down on the earth separates away the dust, which is very fine and light.

43β Like mud on highways I shall polish them smooth. ‘Polish smooth’, that is, ‘trample down’, for when the mud on streets is trampled it is pol- ished smooth. By the result therefore he signified the prior cause. A ‘highway’ is a wide road traversed by wagons, wide in relation to lanes, which are very narrow.

44α You will deliver me from the gainsaying of the people.

You will keep me above the gainsaying of the people subject to me, trembling before me as their king and not daring to dispute my decrees.

44β You will establish me as head of nations. Not only will you remove all gainsaying from the Jews subject to me, but you will also subject nations to me. From this point it is more appropriate to apply the words to Christ, saying to the Father in his humanity that you will establish me as a head of nations, in accordance with, I shall give you nations as your inheritance. His own people having not accepted him, but being disobedi- ent and contradicting him and finally having killed the Master, he has, on the one hand, been delivered from them, having turned death against them, and having risen, and thus having escaped those who had thoroughly secured the tomb, and, on the other hand, he has come to rule over the nations, having accepted their voluntary subjugation.

44γ A people that I knew not has come to serve me. The people from among the nations, previously unknown to me, as ignorant of me, for the Lord knows those who know him.

45α At the hearing of ear, it has obeyed me. With the hearing of ear, it has received my Gospel.

45β Alien sons have denied me. We shall understand this verse as spoken by the prophet, upbraiding the Jews as denying their descent, for by laying claim for themselves to Abraham and David as progenitors, they acted contrary to them. He calls them ‘sons’ as being descended from him, but ‘alien’ on ac- count of their lack of similarity in their ways.

46 Alien sons have become old and limped from their paths. They have been dishonoured, they have become useless, like worn-out vessels, on account of their wicked deeds. The have limped, that is, they have been turned aside from the way determined for them by the commandments. The path of the lame person is deviant on account of the dislocation of the joints.

47α The Lord lives.

David foretells this about the resurrection to the Jews who presume Christ to have died, crying out that he lives, for he has risen.

47β And God is to be blessed. And he is worthy to be blessed and praised.

47γ And let the God of my salvation be raised on high. He hastens him on to the ascension, so that, having departed, he may send the Paraclete to the Apostles who would then go forth preaching. But formerly the Son was the God of creation, whereas now he is the God of re-creation, or in other words, of salvation. He added the possessive pronoun making himself a communicant in what is ours. This can be interpreted in a different way in accordance with the situation of David, namely, The Lord lives, that is, he is eternal, having neither beginning nor end, but is forever, for the prophet at times mixes doctrines with his words for the benefit of the readers. And he is to be blessed on account of the wonders he has worked, and ‘let him be raised on high’ in the sense of ‘let him be deemed great by us’.

48 The God who gives retributions to me and has subjugated peoples under me. Retributions against my enemies; and who has subjugated the Jews who fight against me on account of Saul and who now, against their will, have bowed to me as king. In relation to Christ you will understand retributions as against the Hebrews, who were destroyed by the Romans, and the subjection of peoples, namely that of the people from the nations.

49α My deliverer from my enemies who are inured to anger. All these words are a thanksgiving to God, cast in the nominative case but having a voc- ative force. His ‘enemies who are inured anger’ is what he calls those around Saul, who never ceased from their anger as long as they survived, or else the demons.

49β You will raise me over those who rebel against me. What he said before, he now repeats again, taking delight in reiterating these things, which are an occasion of such joy.

49γ From an unjust man you will deliver me.

If any will rise up against me after the manner of Saul’s followers you will place me above them, and if any is unjust towards me after the manner of Saul, forming designs against the one who is keeping him safe, you will deliver me also from him.

50α For this I shall confess you among the nations, O Lord. Because you are such as my speech has extolled, I shall give thanks to you among all the nations. And indeed this he did through the book of his own psalms, opened for reading among all nations.

50β And with psaltery I shall sing to your name. That is, to you, in accordance with the words, I shall sing to you with the lyre.

51α Magnifying the deliverances of the king. The words ‘O Lord’ must be supplied here, so that it would read, O Lord, who are making of great renown the deliverances of me the king.

51β And showing mercy to his anointed one. The one who has been anointed by you, that is, at your decree.

51γ To David and his seed forever. Having said ‘king’, then ‘anointed one’, he adds in turn the name. Being shown mercy by God is something that can apply to those of David’s line who ruled from among the Jews, but the ‘forever’ is out of place, for after the return from captivity, with Zorobabel alone having exercised sovereignty, he did not leave heirs to the dynasty. There remains accordingly Jesus Christ, whose kingdom will have no end, as the one to be called the seed of David here, on account of his mother being descended from David. Hence the evangelist said, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, with God the Word showing mercy on him as having united with him and deified him.

18 Psalm 18

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David This psalm is also ‘towards fulfilment’ because he composed it in old age looking already to the end of his life, or else because it proclaims beforehand something that will be fulfilled, for he silences the future godlessness of those who foolishly rave that all things have come about of themselves automatically.

2α The heavens are telling the glory of God. The heavens themselves, he says, are ever proclaiming the magnificence of God, using their appearance as a voice. For from the greatness and beauty of the creations, their orig- inator, he says, is seen by analogy. And everyone on seeing the magnitude and splendour and form and setting and other such attributes of the sky, having as it were this view as their instructor, believes about the power of God. He calls ‘heavens’ the one above the vaulted firmament, using the plural in place of the sin- gular according to the habit of the Hebrew dialect, which names the sky at times in the plural and at times in the singular. For even though it is invisible, nevertheless from the firmament we infer it also. Or else he is speaking only of the firmament, as the only one seen, so that the second verse is a clarification of the first.

2β The firmament is proclaiming the work of his hands. If you take the second verse as a clarification of the first, what he there called ‘heavens’ he here called ‘firmament’ and what they ‘are telling’, this ‘is proclaiming’, and what there is ‘glory’, here is the work or ‘doing’ of his hands. In short, he is saying this, namely, that the heaven by its appearance alone is a sufficient teacher of the magnificence of the work of God its maker, for this is what he called both ‘glory’ and ‘work of his hands’.

3α Day is roaring out utterance to day. If the world were moved of itself, the days and nights would not keep to their own bounds. But now he has such providential care for everything that from the extreme good order it seems that the one day is ever instructing the next about the boundary of the order that has been allotted to them. For in a way the one day is roaring forth to the next, that is, it communicates to it an utterance, namely, God’s decree about this.

3β And night is proclaiming knowledge to night. This is also to be seen in respect of the nights. And it is proclaiming ‘knowledge’, namely, instruction about the boundary of its order, so that night and day do not infringe on one another, but according to a certain order at times the days are longer, at times the nights, and at times they are equal and in everything they are well tempered. Or else it roars out utterance and proclaims knowledge that there is divine providence, for order is a teacher of the existence of providence. In a different way: the Father is day and the Son is day, on account of the radiance of divin- ity, and the Father speaks to the Son. And indeed it is written, I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what

to speak. And again Christ, according to his humanity and in comparison with his divinity, is night and he proclaims to night, that is, to humankind, knowledge of God.

4 Neither speakings, nor words are there, the voices of which are not being heard. This is to be read as a question, as if David were saying, ‘Are there then neither speakings nor words of these inanimate creations of which not even their voices are being heard?’ If their voice is not being heard, on account of there being none, it is clear that there will be neither speaking nor words, for these are parts of the voice. Having thus posed the question, he goes on to provide the answer.

5α Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. Yes, he says, these are so great that the whole world has been filled with their sound, in the manner we have said. The second part of the verse, ‘and their words to the end of the inhab- ited world’ has the same meaning. He made the repetition for the sake of emphasis, for ‘the ends’ are indicative of length and breadth, just as again ‘speaking’ and ‘words’ are the same. It is customary among the prophets, and especially with David, to express the same meaning with various differing words. This can also be interpreted in a different way, namely, that the prophet (having taught that the created things mentioned emit as it were a voice that divine providence exists, ordering and holding everything together), wishes to foretell that accordingly in every nation there will be some people who recognize this voice of inanimate things, and who will proclaim it with their own voice. Hence he says that there are neither speak- ings nor words of any gentile dialect through which there will not be heard (i.e. pro- claimed) those speechless voices of created things. And this has come to pass through- out the whole earth. In every nation those with understanding proclaim that there is di- vine providence. On this interpretation, we shall understand ‘being heard’ in the sense of ‘will be heard’, by the use of one tense for another, or else he used the present tense on account of the prophetic character, seeing future things as having already happened.

5β In the sun he has set his shrine. The meaning of this verse is that God ordained for the sun a dwelling place in the sky. Moses indeed says about the two great luminaries, And God set them in the firmament of the sky so as to give light upon the earth. To most people this verse has seemed ungrammatical, but we, by placing a comma after ‘shrine’, and understanding the following word αὐτοῦ not as a pronoun [his] but as an adverb [there], restore a tolerable syntax to the verse, namely, he has set and ordained for the sun an enshrinement and dwelling there, that is, in the firmament of the sky, with the preposition ‘in’ being redundant, as we have noted with many other things in many other verses. And the sun, accordingly, never leaving its ordained place of enshrinement, the sky, becomes a herald of God’s glory and providence.

6α And he [is] like a bridegroom coming forth from his bridal chamber. The verb ‘is’ is missing. He (the sun) is comely, he says, in the beauty of its brightly shining rays, like a bridegroom emerging from the inner chamber.

6β He will rejoice like a giant to run his course. Here, too, we have understood one tense as being used for another, for the sun rejoices to run the course ordained for it, trusting in its strength like a giant, that is, it is ever untiring, serving God’s decree for so many years.

7α From heaven’s extremity his outgoing and to heaven’s extremity his goal. Its outgoing is its rising as it comes above the eastern horizon and its goal is its setting, as it sinks down into the western horizon, and in one day runs across the entire hemisphere, or, if you like, in one day and night, the entire world.

7β And there is none that will hide from his heat. No place or no human being; and understood as ‘place’ he included all material things and understood as ‘human being’ all living things. For this is what is most marvellous, that from the same distance it gives both light and warmth. The fire that we know gives light from afar but does not give warmth unless you approach. Having thus praised its beauty and its strength and its course and its usefulness, he shows thereby the munificent power of the one who made it. Such then is the literal exposition of these verses. Some, however, applying an allegorical interpretation, say the ‘heavens’ are the heavenly orders of the bodiless powers, which constantly glorify God, as Ezekiel and Isaiah heard, or else they are the people who are above earthly things and through theoretical philosophy are reaching upwards to heaven. The ‘firmament’ represents men who are firmly rooted through practical philosophy and are invulnerable to the attacks of temptations. The ‘day’ again denotes the luminous powers of the bodiless ones, for they are called sec- ond lights, transmitting the divine commands to one another, while ‘night’ denotes people on account of the occulting darkness of fleshly materiality before the soul, and so on and so forth. In the epistle to the Hebrews the great Apostle Paul opportunely assigned and adapted the words, Their sound has gone out into all the world, to the evangelists and Apostles of Christ.

The verse ‘In the sun he has set his shrine’ they interpret allegorically in the sense that Christ dwells in the person who shines with the rays of the virtues, as is written, I and the Father will come and we shall make a dwelling with him. Or else the enshrinement of Christ is the assumed humanity, having dwelt in which he then set in the light, living under the sun, and himself living openly as a bridegroom, Comely in beauty among the sons of men, as is written, made to shine brilliantly on every side with the graces of the virtues, and who rejoiced to run for us the course towards death. Descending from heavens’ extremity, he returned to it again. No one will hide from the warmth of his words: some will be warmed, others burned by them, for to him Every knee will bow, as the Apostle says. 8α The Lord’s law is blameless, turning back souls. The unwritten law, he says, would have been sufficient to teach knowledge of God, speak- ing through the magnificence and beauty and order of created things, but now he has given also a written law through which one may learn his providence and wisdom. He calls the law by different names: ‘law’ as regulating the way of life, ‘testimony’ as con- juring sinners through witnesses, ‘statutes’ as teaching what is just, ‘commandment’ as com- manding what is to be done, ‘fear’ as inexorable, ‘judgements’ as delivering verdicts, as we have said previously at greater length in seventeenth psalm. The Lord’s law is blameless, turning back souls. For what could one find to reproach in it? and, moreover, it was ordained for the return of souls, through little things teaching the greater. 8β The Lord’s testimony is sure, bestowing wisdom on infants. It is trustworthy because it is of God. ‘Infants’ are to be understood either in relation to their age, as with Daniel and his companions, or in relation to their ignorance of human wisdom or in relation to their innocence. 9α The Lord’s statutes are unswerving, gladdening the heart. Having nothing crooked, but rather gladdening through teaching the reasons, or else they are unswerving as creating unswerving directness. 9β The Lord’s commandment is far-shining, giving light to the eyes. To those of the soul and through those, also to the eyes of the body, so as not to walk on a path of wickedness. 10α The Lord’s fear is pure, enduring to age of age. 10α: It is pure because it comes after purification and endures because the first fear reaching as far as purifica- tion is cast out by love, while the second fear introduced in its place endures along with love forever.

It is pure in being free of reproach; for human fear is open to reproach, being called cow- ardice. Or else he calls ‘fear’ here the fear that leads to perfection. This alone is pure in that it consists only in fear of falling from affinity with God. Fear that instructs at an elemental level is not pure, for it consists in one’s own failings and depends on these. Or else it is pure as productive of purity. This fear is not a passing fear like human fear or elemental fear, but extends through the whole of life. The lasting nature of this fear is indicat- ed, I believe, by the ‘age of age’.

10β The Lord’s judgements are true. True as alone truly inerrant, in contradistinction to human judgements, which are errant relative to great precision on account of the weakness of the mind.

10γ And proven just altogether. And just at the same time, for what is true in an eminent sense is also just.

11α To be desired above gold and much precious stone. Above materials deemed precious by people; for the person who has distanced himself from yearning for these things will have an insatiable desire for God’s judgements, that is, for the divine law.

11β And sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. Above the sweetness of the hive, which is most pleasant to sight and taste. By mentioning the most valuable materials and the most pleasant food, he indicated the desirability and sweetness of the divine judgements.

12α And so your servant keeps them. He speaks either about himself or because everyone who is his servant in respect of their disposition towards virtue of necessity keeps them, that is, all the things previously men- tioned. He ‘keeps’ in the sense of he loves and puts into practice.

12β In keeping them there is much reward. Not only in the life to come, but also in the present life.

13α Who will have understanding of transgressions?

Since the keeping of these things involves the avoidance of trespasses, and this is difficult to achieve, he very naturally asks, Who will be sufficiently perceptive in discriminating tres- passes so as to avoid falling into them? For some of them are delicate and easily escape notice, and consist rather in things of the soul.

13β Cleanse me from my hidden faults. His hidden faults are either the wrongs committed in secret or the shameful thoughts brought into the mind, about which he implores fervently. For these thoughts just as they are invisible so they are difficult to combat, and defile at every opportunity. One can overcome very obvious sins unless one is completely undisciplined.

14α And from what is of others spare your servant. And in the sins of others, spare me. For a king is also caught up in the sins of his subjects, and a bishop in those of the people, and a father in those of his children, and a master in those of his slaves, whenever they sin as a result of negligence on the part of their superiors. Or else by ‘what is of others’ he means chance transgressions that occur not by design but circumstantially. Or else by the ‘others’ you will understand his enemies, whether visible or invisible.

14β If they do not take mastery over me, then I shall be blameless. If these do not defeat me, then I shall have a perfect state, for now, even though I am a keeper of the law, yet I still fear these.

14γ And I shall be cleansed of great sin. Great sin is what he calls those previously mentioned, even if to some they appear negligi- ble, for even defilement in the mind expels the grace of the Spirit, and overlooking the faults of those under one’s authority is worthy of equal if not greater condemnation.

15α And the words of my mouth will be well pleasing. Then, he says, the words of my prayer will be well pleasing to you and you will accept them when I am cleansed from these things.

15β And the meditation of my heart before you continually. Will be, that is; if my heart does not unlearn meditating on shameful things, it will not meditate on what is yours and on the things in which you delight. 13β: Or else you will understand ‘hidden things’ as the sins committed in ignorance.

15γ O Lord, my helper and my redeemer. For you will help me to be redeemed and will redeem me from those things. Or else, O Lord, who helps me in what I achieve and redeems from the things into which I fall. All the words from ‘Cleanse me from my hidden faults’ onwards are appropriate to be said by all believers.

19 Psalm 19

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David This psalm is also ‘towards fulfilment’ as foretelling the things that would be fulfilled under king Hezekiah. When the Assyrian Sennacherib had made those blasphemous declarations through Rabsaces, Hezekiah deeply distraught, ran to the divine temple, as the book of Kingdoms re- lates, and reported everything to God, summoning him to take vengeance. All those around 4Rg 18-19 him, among whom was Isaiah the prophet, when they saw the contrition of his soul, ac- Isa 36-37 claimed him with something approaching the import of the present words, praying that the supplication of the king might be accepted. Observe how divine grace showed to David, not only the events that were to take place many years later, but also what it was likely that those around the king would say at that time.

2α May the Lord hear you in a day of affliction. And indeed when Hezekiah and his followers sent messengers to Isaiah they spoke in this way: A day of affliction and reproach.

2β May the name of the God of Jacob shield you. The name disparaged and insulted by the Assyrians. He called Jacob to mind, since he, too, had known great trials and alarms and had been delivered by God from them all.

3α May he send help to you from his holy place. The temple in which they believed God was regularly present was called the ‘holy place’.

3β And may he come to your aid from Zion. For Zion was dedicated to God. May God who is in Zion, coming from there, help you.

4α May he remember your every sacrifice. Which you, who are most pious, offered in time of peace.

4β And let your burnt offering be fat. And may the victim that you will offer as a holocaust be fat. It will become fat through enjoying free grazing. And this will happen once the siege has been lifted, so that through the fatness of the victim, the prayer seeks for the lifting of the siege. Or ‘let it be fat’ in the sense of let it be considered fat and acceptable. It was called a burnt offering or holocaust because it was burned entirely. And indeed in some cases the victims were burned completely, in other cases certain parts of the victim were burned – the omentum, the kidneys, the hard fat, and other such sections – as the book of Leviticus taught. Lev 3. 9-11

5α May the Lord give to you according to your heart. As your heart wishes. The prophet often calls the soul the heart on account of the soul being attached to the heart more than to the other members of the body, as in, My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.

5β And may he fulfil your every purpose. The purpose being good and just.

6α We shall rejoice in your salvation. We trust that on account his goodness and your noble virtue God will work salvation for you and will make you unassailable and we too will delight in this salvation.

6β And in the name of our Lord God we shall be magnified. For if he crushes our enemies, the very mention of the name of the God of Israel will in- stilfear among the nations and through this name we, too, will be magnified being implicated in this name.

6γ May the Lord fulfil all your requests. They insist on the prayer on account of the persistent contrition and abasement of the king.

7α Now I have come to know that the Lord has saved his anointed one.

This is as if spoken by each of those praying at that time, having received an assurance from the Holy Spirit. The ‘anointed one’ is the king, as being anointed. 7β He will hear him from his holy heaven. He both dwelt in heaven and overshadowed in the temple, and so at time they invoked him from the temple and at times from heaven. It is ‘holy’ as dedicated to him. 7γ In mighty acts is the salvation of his right hand. The salvation of someone by the divine right hand comes in preeminence of power. And so we need to take courage and not fear the apparent invincible force of the adversaries. 8α They in chariots and they in horses. Those who have encircled us trust in chariots and horses. ‘They and they’ are the same people; this is an idiom of the Hebrew dialect. 8β But we shall call upon the name of our Lord God. But we shall call on the name of the Lord, disparaged by our enemies, for help. Or else, on account of the outraged name of the Lord, we shall call on the Lord as helper. 9 They have been fettered and have fallen, but we have arisen and been set upright. The previous words were from the time of lamentation and wailing, the words from here onwards are after the invisible destruction of the Assyrians once the siege had been lifted, and when all were rejoicing and glorifying God and saying such things. For they were bound fast by divine power and struck down in a mortal fall, while we who had fallen down in fear have risen up in morale. 10 O Lord, save the king, and hear us on whatever day we call upon you. Just as you have saved him now from the hand of his enemies, do so also in the future, since he is worthy to be saved on account of his virtue; and hear us also again, just as now, as often as we call upon you. The psalm has thus been interpreted and applied to Hezekiah. Some, however, attempt to apply it to David, drawn up in battle order against his advanc- ing enemies, and they say that David himself cast the psalm in the person of the companions with him.

It would also adapt to every believer, standing against the demons, as if with the body praying for the soul. For the demons also disparaged the name of God. The holy place and Zion he will understand as heaven, as has often been said. His anointed one and king, is the Ps 17. 7γ Christian, as we have said before, ‘in chariots and in horses’, are the demons, on account of § 114 their swiftness and mobilization in battles. This psalm may also be sung against our sensible enemies, the barbarians, and for our king.

20 Psalm 20

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David This psalm is also ‘towards fulfilment’, as containing a prophecy, which also found ful- filment at the time of Hezekiah, for they say that after that incurable disease, when fifteen years had been added to his life as the book of Kingdom relates, those around him, seeing the wonder, gave thanks to God. This psalm accordingly gives dramatic presentation to their voices, as is written, He asked life from you and you gave it to him, or else, David, foreseeing this, pronounced it as a prayer for Hezekiah.

2α O Lord, in your power the king will be glad. In the power helping him, and thereafter he will be glad, and this we believe from the previous benefactions.

2β And in your salvation he will rejoice greatly. In the salvation that comes from you.

3α You have given him his heart’s desire. Either the victory over his enemies, or the addition of life, or simply his every request.

3β And what his lips have willed you have not denied him. He signified the same again, as it were delighting in the thanksgiving, for what one de- sires, that he requests by his lips, for here we shall understand the ‘willing’ as his request.

4α For you have surprised him with blessings of goodness. Because you anticipated him, often bestowing blessings before his request. We shall take ‘blessing’ here as joy; by the blessings of your goodness.

4β You have set on his head a crown of precious stone. He lists the deeds of goodness, that above all you bestowed on him the diadem of kingship.

5α He asked life from you, and you gave it to him. So as to die neither from enemies nor from diseases, for we shall understand both here.

5β Length of days to age of age. And not only life, but also long life. The prophet uses ‘age of age’ primarily of the future and perpetual age, but there are times when he uses it for a long temporal extension, and times when he uses it for what is certain and unchangeable, as in the present case, namely, you gave him life, and long life, and certain length of days. If he is speaking also about the eternal life, then this also is not out of place.

6α Great is his glory in your salvation. For after enjoying divine support and intervention, he became great among all and uni- versally admired, so that kings would send embassies and money to him. This occurred on account of the oversight he enjoyed from God.

6β Glory and majesty you will place upon him. And you will glorify him even further and make him great on account of your being well pleased with him.

7α For blessing may you give him to age of age. Blessing at times means praise, as in Bless the Lord, O my soul, at times grace, as in You have surprised him with blessings of goodness, and furthermore the transmission of sanctification, as in the present case. It can also on occasion signify blasphemy, as in Surely he will bless you to your face, and even a greeting, as Elishah says to Giezi in the fourth book of Kingdoms, If you meet a man, you shall not bless him, and if a man blesses you, you shall not answer. ‘May you give’ instead of ‘you will give’, the optative in place of the future.

7β You will gladden him in joy with your face.

Symmachus wrote ‘from your face’ here, that is through your oversight, for you will look upon him and he will be filled with joy.

8 For the king hopes in the Lord, and in the mercy of the Most High he will not be shaken. He trusts not in armies, nor in wealth, nor in any such things, but only in God who helps him, and therefore he will not be overturned.

9α May your hand be found on all your enemies. God’s hand is his divine power, into which he prays all those that blaspheme God may fall; may it be found on them, he says, for punishment.

9β May your right hand find all who hate you. May it lay hold of them.

10α For you will make them like an oven of fire at the time of your face. You will burn them in the fire of your anger. An oven of fire is the bread oven. ‘At the time of your face’ in the sense of at the time of your visitation, when you will look upon them with animosity, as is written, The face of the Lord is upon evil-doers to expunge their remembrance from the earth. 10β- The Lord in his anger will throw them into confusion and fire will devour them; you will

11 destroy their fruit from the earth and their seed from among the sons of men. He foretells the destruction of the enemies and enumerates the kinds of their punish- ments, for having experienced divine anger, they will be thrown into confusion, being made destitute on every side, and they will be burned with fire and the fruit of their fields will be destroyed, and quite simply they will perish with their whole race, for this is how the seed is to be understood now; ‘sons of men’ is what he called the race of men.

12α For they inclined evils against you. They will suffer these things because they moved evils against you, blaspheming your name and plotting against and ill-treating your servants.

12β They moved their thoughts to purposes in which they will not be able to stand.

For even though they have meditated much against you and yours, but they will not be able to abide in their resolves, for their purposes will be overturned.

13α For you will make them a back. The one who is fleeing becomes ‘a back’, for nothing else of him appears except his back.

13β Among your remnants you will prepare their face. This we shall construe according to the figure of hyperbaton if we wish to maintain the sequence of thought, namely, among their remnants you will prepare your face, that is, not even those who have survived the slaughter in battle and have turned to flight will be saved, but you will make ready your visitation against them so that they do not escape.

14α Be exalted, O Lord, in your power. It was clarified in the seventh psalm what ‘be exalted’ means, for the present verse has the same import as Be exalted in the furthest bounds of your enemies.

14β We shall sing and with psaltery we shall praise your mighty acts. At the end of the twelfth psalm we discussed the meaning of ‘sing’ and ‘praise with psaltery’. Some apply the present psalm to David saying that he wrote it on behalf of himself. If we shall accept this – and there is nothing to prevent this – we shall reinterpret the words. And so for example we shall understand He will be glad in your power, and, He will rejoice [2] in your salvation, as being said about Christ, because Christ is God’s power as the great Paul says, Christ the power of God. And again he is also Saviour, as the evangelist says, For he will save his people. To the Father he said, O Lord in your power, and to the Son, And in your salvation’, that is, in the salvation of mankind brought about by you. Thus also in what follows, part would be addressed to the Father and part to the Son. And truly David was gladdened and rejoiced having seen also after death the mystery of the divine incarnation. For if while still enveiled in the mist of the flesh he saw future things with the eyes of his soul, how much more clearly and perspicuously would he see when he had set it aside. Accordingly, we shall understand his heart’s desire as his yearning to the see the incarna- [3] tion of the Saviour, of which he foresaw the type. What his lips have willed is to sing praise to God at all times, and indeed he sings contin- ually using the lips of the faithful.

He asked for life and received it, having been frequently in danger of dying at the hands of his enemies and having been saved alive through prayer. [5] Great is his glory in your salvation, that is, on account of the salvation from you. He has been truly glorified, because from his root our salvation blossomed forth and he became great and renowned. [6] You will gladden him in joy with your face, in the sense of you will delight him through your Son, for the face of the Father is the Son, as is written, He who has seen me has seen the Father. [7] You will understand God’s enemies as the Christ-hating Jews, on whom he imprecates the most dread curses and he prophesies what they then indeed suffered, and the seed of whom was utterly destroyed, that is, of those who crucified the Lord. Those who were scattered abroad escaped that destruction. [9] You will make them like an oven of fire at the time of your face, that is, of your Son, as we have said. For after his advent they suffered this, and fearful things began to overtake them from the time Christ said to them, The Kingdom will be taken from you. [10] Among your remnants, that is, in those among them who believed in you the Son, and were left over to you. You will prepare, namely, you will adorn and glorify their race, for the glory for the Hebrews now is that they became the fathers of the Apostles, even if in them- selves they are inglorious and to be avoided. [13] We shall adapt this psalm also to our own king against the barbarians, as in the case of the previous psalm. 21 Psalm 21 1 Towards fulfilment; for the coming to aid of the early morning; a psalm belonging to David. This psalm is clearly to be interpreted in relation to Christ, for it foretells the things about the assumed humanity and the things about his saving passion which came to fulfilment. It is inscribed ‘for the coming to aid’ on account of its containing an entreaty for strength- ening assistance to come to him from the Father in the hour of his passion. ‘Of the early morning’ is added, in the sense of, ‘of Christ’, because he is called the ‘Dawn’, which is the beginning of the day, for truly the Sun of Justice and light of knowledge dawned on us who were sitting in the darkness of error. He entreated as a man, teaching us to pray at the time of death, for by nature even the most just man is afraid at that time of the unknown event of the disjunction of body and soul. Some by construing one preposition for another [‘about’ in place of ‘for] (for this is cus- tomary among the ancients), say that the psalm is this, about the sufferings of Christ, for these sufferings are ‘early morning aid’, when this ‘Dawn’, which is Christ, came to our aid in the most eminent sense, by death having conquered the one who has the power of death.

2α O God, my God, turn to me. Why have you forsaken me? The words are expressive of human trepidation. And this is confirmation of the incarna- tion, for being a perfect man, he was subject to natural fear. Turn to me. It is customary for those handing someone over to executioners to turn away their faces. Why have you forsaken me? In truth he never parted from him, once having been united to the Son and God, but he says he has been forsaken on account of his trepidation. For if you, he says, had not withheld your help I would not have feared death. The evangelists also spoke of this fear when he prayed for the cup of death to pass. And these words of the psalm he spoke on the Cross, O God, my God, why have you forsak- en me? Namely, why have you abandoned me to cowardice, knowing that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak? Or why have you handed me over to death, knowing that I have com- mitted no sin deserving of death?

2β Far from my salvation are the reckonings of my transgressions. The accounts rendered of my sins are far from my salvation, that is, they do not impede it, by reason of the sins being non existent, for it is written, He committed no lawlessness. It is for sinners that death is the penalty. Or else in a different way, as our kin he assumes the person of the whole of mankind’s nature and says, Why have you abandoned me, mankind, to die? Then he adduces the reason, for the judgements against me are far from salvation, from which therefore I too am far dis- tanced. For if they were near, I would be saved from death.

3 O my God, I shall cry by day and you will not hear, and by night and it is not folly for me. This took place on the day he ate the Passover with his disciples. For the evangelists de- clared that on that night he prayed, and it is manifest from this verse that he also prayed before the evening. Do not be surprised that what came first he placed later, for prophetic utterances are such in many places. The reason is so that it might not appear that he is speaking as of himself, but rather he is saying whatsoever and howsoever he might hear from the Spirit that is imparting the words to him. And during the day, he says, I shall entreat for the time of death to pass, and you will not hear me, and in the night again similarly, but it is not folly to me why you will not hear, for I understood that it is for the salvation of mankind for whose sake I became incarnate. Some say that the day and night are the time of the crucifixion, for from the sixth to the ninth hour darkness descended, so that that day could be called a day and night, at which time also he prayed for those who were crucifying him to be forgiven, but he was not heard, as they were given over to destruction, and the reason for this, he knew well, was that they

would slander his resurrection and increase their sin. 4 But you, O praise of Israel, dwell in the holy one. The ‘holy one’ is what he calls the Son and God united to himself. And in the Gospel he says, I am in the Father and the Father is in me. The ‘praise of Israel’ is the Father, for the Jews boasted in knowledge of God alone, not executing judgement and justice and not possessing virtue. By saying that you dwell in the Son, he showed that the Son also desires the salvation of mankind and does not shrink from the death of the assumed nature, for the will of both Father and Son is one. 5-6 In you our fathers hoped; they hoped and you delivered them; to you they cried and were saved; in you they hoped and were not put to shame. He unites himself with those who are ill-treated, and says that our fathers in the flesh who shone brilliantly in life before my coming hoped in you, and having cried, they were delivered from dangers. And now I, emulating them as being similar to them, similarly myself make entreaty. It is customary for the prophet often to repeat the words twice or three times over to emphasize the emotion of his heart. Those with wisdom about things divine say that deliverance from danger is not only about the body, but much more about the soul, when, bravely enduring pains, it suffers nothing in relation to its resolve. For thus the martyrs who were put to death are said to have triumphed on account of the invincible resolve of the soul. 7α But I am a worm and not a man. This he said abasing himself. And David, the prophet and king, calls himself a ‘dead dog’ in the book of Kingdoms. And if the sinless Jesus denigrates himself in this way, what should we who are sinners and good-for-nothing do? Some say that this was said about his birth without copulation, for just as the worm is [cf. Arist. GA conceived when dew has descended from above onto the earth, so Christ was begotten, when 762a 10] the Holy Spirit had descended from above on the Virgin. And for this reason he may be called a worm, and ‘not a man’ again on account of his supernatural conception and birth. Or else in a different way, namely, that as bait for the demons he wore the flesh beneath which had been hidden the hook of divinity, for a worm is bait for fish. And he was not a simple man. Or else that the worm is mean in appearance but destructive of matter, and Christ was mean in appearance, but destructive of the power of the adversary. 7α: For he became a bait to catch the intelligible sea-monster swimming in the sea of the present life; his hu- manity having been placed around the hook of his divinity, when the sea-monster opened its mouth to the bait it was pierced through by the hook. [ Job 40.25]

7β An object of reproach to men and a butt of contempt to the people. This clearly foretells the drunken insults they hurled at him at the time of his passion, mocking and jeering. The ‘butt of contempt’ may be the same as the ‘object of reproach’, or else an object of reproach to men, that is, to the Roman soldiers and a butt of contempt to the people of the Jews. 8-9 All who gaze on me have sneered at me, they have spoken with their lips, they have wagged their head; he hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him, let him save him because he delights in him. These things you will find clearly in Matthew, for he says, And those who passed by blas- phemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, and so on.

10α For you are the one who has drawn me from the womb. Intercourse with a man opens up the virgin door-bars of the belly and the sperm as it is javelined forth naturally opens the womb, and then the womb, having closed, holds it until it is brought to perfection as a baby, and so the womb being constrained by the size, opens again and allows the baby to slip through. In the case of the Saviour, just as the conception was without intercourse with a man, so the emergence of the baby was supernatural, the power of God having drawn it out, without the door-bars having been opened at all.

10β My hope from my mother’s breasts. O my hope from the very nipple! From that time I knew you as my hope, having been giv- en understanding by the divinity united to me. And Luke speaks of this, And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

11α On you I have been cast from the womb. I have been cast on your protection, as not having a father upon earth.

11β From my mother’s womb you are my God. I recognized you at once as God, having been given understanding, as said before. The phrase ‘from the womb’ either means while still in the womb or on emerging from the womb.

12 Do not depart from me, for afflictions are near, for there is none helping me.

The Gospel writers also speak about this, namely, He began to be sorrowful and sorely trou- bled, and again, Then all the disciples deserted him and fled. 13 Many bullocks have encircled me, fatted bulls have pressed in on me. ‘Bullocks’ is the name he gives to the populous mass of the Jews, on account of their more youthful and undisciplined nature, while ‘bulls’ are the chief priests and scribes and elders of the people, on account of their superior and leading position, whom he also calls ‘fatted’ be- cause they had enjoyed many gifts from him. For Moses, too, had previously said, And Jacob ate and was filled, and the beloved kicked away, he was oiled, he grew fat, he became bloated, and abandoned God who made him. 14 They have opened their mouth against me like a lion ravening and roaring. When having gathered together they would cry out, ‘Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!’ 15α All my bones have been poured out like water and scattered abroad. We shall understand his bones as the Apostles, as holding together and supporting the remaining body of the Church of Christ, for all, deserting him, fled at that time. For Zachari- ah says, I shall smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. ‘Pouring’ is how he describes their movement away from him. 15β My heart has become like wax melting in the midst of my belly. My heart melted like wax dissolved by the fire of afflictions and weakened entirely. He uses ‘belly’ here for the cavity of the whole body. 16α My strength has been dried up like an earthen vessel. Fired hard by the fire of those afflictions and its energy drained of every drop of moisture. 16β And my tongue has stuck fast to my throat. When the false witnesses were accusing him and he made no reply, but stood in silence, or else when he thirsted on the Cross. 16γ And you have brought me down to the dust of death. The ‘dust of death’ is the grave, as those who are being buried have dust heaped over them, to which death you of your own will brought me down for the sake of mankind.

17α For many dogs have encircled me. Appropriately he called the Jews ‘bulls’, as being under the yoke of the law, even though they transgressed the law; he now calls ‘dogs’ the soldiers from Rome, as being unclean ac- cording to the law and shameless. Christ also named the Canaanite woman in this way, say- ing, It is not good to throw the children’s bread to the dogs.

17β An assembly of evildoers has pressed hard on me. Of the envious Jews.

17γ They have gouged my hands and my feet. By the perforation of the nails.

18α They have counted all my bones. Having hung me naked and stretched me out to the uttermost so that the joints of the bones appeared and could be counted by those who wished.

18β But they have apprehended well. They were curious about me as I was hanging, wondering if I am the Son of God, for they said, If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross.

18γ And they have looked upon me. And they recognized that I am on seeing creation joining in my suffering, even though they still remained obdurate. For Matthew says, When the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, ‘Truly this man was God’s Son!’ Or else in a different way: They were curious about whether I would be taken down from the Cross by my disciples and for that reason the looked on me, that is, they watched over me with a guard of soldiers.

19 They have divided my garments among themselves, and on my clothing they have cast a lot. John the evangelist interpreted this clearly, for he says thus: When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top. So they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.’

In order, he says, to fulfil what the scripture says, namely, the present words which he quoted there. Accordingly, he calls ‘garments’ the sewn clothes, which they divided among themselves, and ‘clothing’ the seamless tunic woven from the top, for which they cast lots.

20 But you, O Lord, do not distance your help from me; turn to my aid. That is, as these things are happening. 21-22 Deliver my soul from the sword and from the hand of the dog my uniquely begotten; save me from the lion’s maw and my lowliness from the horns of unicorns. The sword-bearing soldiers from Rome he calls the ‘sword’ just as he also calls them ‘dogs’, as we stated above. ‘Lion’ is what he calls the Jews on account of their cruelty and their thirst for his death and their lying in ambush, and he also named them in this way a little earlier. He also calls them ‘unicorns’ as believing in one hypostasis of God. The unicorn is a wild animal taking its name from the one horn on its forehead. He spoke of the dog and the lion in the singular on account of the race, through which we recognize each individual. He calls his own soul ‘uniquely begotten’ as single and solitary, on account of it alone among other souls not having tasted sin, and alone having the Son united to it in hypostasis. About his lowliness, he himself taught in the sacred Gospels, saying, Learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart. For whose sake he was praying in this way we have already said, and also what sort of deliverance he was seeking.

23α I shall tell of your name to my brethren. Note that the Holy Spirit says some things as having already happened, seeing them in advance, and others as in the future, according to the custom of prophecy. He says ‘your name’, meaning the name of paternity; for the Hebrews confessed God, but they did not know the Father of a Son, just as in John’s Gospel he said, I have manifested your name to men. ‘Brethren’ is what he calls the Apostles, just as after the resurrection he said to the women, Go, tell my brethren. Mt 28.10 [7]

23β In the midst of the assembly I shall hymn you. For he did not only teach the Apostles in private, but in the synagogues of the Jews he spoke openly, telling of the magnificence of God the Father. The present prophecy is there- fore about these things.

And this he continues to do through his Gospel, which is read out both privately and publicly.

24α O you that fear the Lord, praise him. As already having been heard, he exhorts the believers to thanksgiving, and first those from the nations, because after his resurrection from the dead he first sent the Apostles out into the nations, saying, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, whom he also calls ‘those who fear the Lord’, addressing them by their virtue. And Peter named them in this way in the Acts of the Apostles, saying, Men of Israel, and you that fear God. Ac 13.16 [26] But since the Church of believers was built up not only from the nations, but also from the Jews, he urges them also to doxology, for he says:

24β O all you seed of Jacob, glorify him. All who have believed from among the Jews, for Jacob was the progenitor of the tribes.

24γ Let all the seed of Israel be seized with fear before him. Here he is speaking of both parts, for everyone who has recognized Christ is Israel, since ‘Israel’ translates as ‘mind beholding God’. Accordingly, he is commanding both to hymn God and to fear him always as almighty. Or else he is enjoining the other Jews to fear him, as about to bring destruction upon them on account of their fury against his Son.

25α For he has not spurned nor wearied of the pauper’s entreaty. He has not overlooked nor regarded as burdensome my entreaty to defeat the devil and to bestow on you the victory. He called himself a ‘pauper’, both on account of the meanness of the flesh and because he was poor besides in respect of money and property.

25β Nor has he turned away his face from me. We have spoken about this idiom in the exposition of the twelfth psalm.

25γ And even as I was crying out to him, he heard me. Immediately when I called out to him, he heard.

26α From you is my commendation. When a voice came from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, and again, I have glorified, and again I shall glorify.

26β In a great assembly I shall confess you. ‘Confession’ here is what he calls praise. The Church of the faithful is great as reaching to the ends of the earth or also as being composed of great men. Through the Gospel in the midst of the great Church he is ever hymning the Father. Above he called the synagogue of the Jews, or else the partial assembly of the faithful in each parish, simply the ‘assembly’, but now he calls the great assembly, the universal Church of the faithful.

26γ I shall repay my vows in the presence of those that fear him. ‘Vows’ he now calls his promises, namely his promises to proclaim the name of the Father and to praise him.

27α The poor will eat and will be filled. Those who until then were poor in respect of piety, or in respect of human wealth, for true Christians are without property. They will eat the spiritual food of the gospel teaching which gives growth to the soul.

27β And those that seek him out will praise the Lord. For he did not spare his Only-Begotten for the salvation of mankind. One seeks out God by walking the path of his commandments, which leads straight to him. Or else in a different way, they will eat the body of the Saviour, in which his blood is also included, and they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and they will praise him with hymns around the sacramental table, so that this is a prophecy not only about the Gospel, but also about the sacramental table.

27γ Their hearts will live to age of age. The Lord says in the Gospels, I am the bread of life, and again, If any one eats of this bread, Jn 6.35, 48 he will live for ever, keeping, that is, the commandments. By the heart, as the most vital organ, he signified the whole living being, for even though he will die according to nature, he will nonetheless arise again to eternal life.

28α All the ends of the earth will remember and will turn back to the Lord. Remembrance is said of something that is already known. It appears accordingly that knowledge of God is innate in man, but among the nations the mist of error had covered it, but when the mist had been scattered by Christ the Sun of Justice, they remembered the Creator and turned back to him. Or they will be made worthy of remembrance by God, having until then been overlooked. Observe how he has employed an order: they will remember, then they will turn back, then they will worship.

28β And all the lineages of the nations will worship before him. And, of course, neither all the ends of the earth believed, nor did all the lineages of the nations, but because the Gospel reached all the ends of the earth and all the nations, by the whole he signified the part, just as elsewhere he signified the whole by the part. Moreover, what he calls ‘lineages’ are kin groups, and it is clear that kin from all nations believed in Christ and through him worshipped the Father.

29 For kingship is the Lord’s and he holds mastery over the nations. He is both their king and Master, in accordance with And I shall give you nations as your inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession, and for this reason they will worship him, having been freed from the tyranny of the devil.

30α All the fatted of the earth have eaten and have worshipped. ‘Fatted’ is what he calls the wealthy, those who have become rich in piety and who previ- ously were poor as we have said before.

30β All who descend into the earth will fall down before him. All who die and are dissolved into the earth will worship him, for after the common resur- rection, to him Every knee will bow, as the Apostle says, some willingly and with desire, others unwillingly and with fear.

30γ And my soul lives for him. He is the one who gives life to it and does not permit it to die out of sin; this can be un- derstood in relation to the Father and in relation to the Son.

And besides, he says, my soul lives for God as being active towards him, just as on the contrary it has died to the demon as being inactive towards his suggestions.

31α And my seed will serve him. The seed of Christ, or in other words his children, are all who have been begotten by him through the Gospel and whom he placed under the Father.

31β The coming generation will be announced to the Lord. The generation of faithful from the nations, which will come in the days of the incarna- tion of the Son, will be made known to God.

32α And they will announce his justice to a people to be born. Those who have been born through faith will announce to those who will be born, and so on for ever. They will announce his justice, because he brought down the adversary who was wronging mankind.

32β That the Lord has made. That he has made, or, in other words, has put together as a people for himself, formerly being not a people, but thrust aside; or else that he has created. Some have interpreted the words ‘it will be announced to the Lord’ in a different way, say- ing that this is a prophecy about the Greeks in Jerusalem who asked to see Jesus, for John the evangelist says, These came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.’ See therefore how that generation was announced to Christ by the Apostles, namely, the generation of the Greeks, coming to him, as a precursor of all who came from among the nations.

22 Psalm 22

1α A psalm belonging to David. The divine Spirit dictated the present psalm to David in the person of the nations.

1β [The] Lord is shepherding me and there is nothing I shall lack. He himself says in the Gospel, I am the good shepherd. Accordingly, he found those from the nations like sheep straying in places of destruction, and led them to a sheepfold, and

henceforth he shepherds them. Therefore each one of these in thanksgiving recounts his ben- efactions, saying, the Lord is shepherding me and henceforth nothing that is necessary will be wanting. It is to be noted that things that are exceedingly well known are often expressed without the definite article.

2α In a place of verdant pasture, there he has camped me down. He has camped me down where there is a place of fresh green shoots. He continued with the figure of shepherding, for green pasture and water are the prosperity of a flock. He wishes to indicate that he established me in enjoyment of pasturage. And in a different way, the place of verdant pasture is the Church, the young green shoots being the faithful flourishing in virtue. Or else you can understand the young green shoots as the faith of Christians, ever new and young, for the faith of the Greeks has grown old like grass and has dried up.

2β By water of rest he has reared me. This is about the bath of baptism, for when cleansed by such water we cast away the pain and weight of sin, and thereafter we are at rest. Hence the Lord said, Come to me all you who labour and are heavy-laden and I shall give you rest. Or else in a different way: water is the flowing and life-giving stream of Christ’s teaching, as we said previously in the first psalm when expounding the phrase by passagings of waters.

3α My soul he has turned back. From the error of the idols.

3β He has guided me on paths of justice. He speaks of justice here in the universal sense, inclusive of all of the virtues. The paths of this justice are the partial virtues, because they lead to it, for he having become incarnate, opened up these paths, and, having walked on them, he has marked them out by deed and word, thereby having guided us.

3γ For the sake of his name. That I may be called a Christian, or so that his name might not be blasphemed through foul deeds by the unbelievers. 2α: The place of verdant pasture is practical virtue, while water of rest is contemplative philosophy.

4α For even if I should walk amid the shadow of death, I shall not fear evils, for you are with me. The shadow of death is the pain of every danger as being like death on account of the bitterness and suffering, a shadow indeed on account of the likeness, and evils are the temp- tations. The Lord is with all those who are truly Christian, for these are his words: And see, I am with you always, even to the consummation of the age.

4β Your rod and your staff, these have encouraged me. The rod is the correcting rod for the errant, while the staff is the supporting prop for the faint hearted, that is, when I have sinned you have corrected me and when I have become weary you have upheld me and through both you have benefited me. The syntax is as follows: these have encouraged me, your rod and your staff. ‘They have encouraged me’ in the sense that they have admonished me, for the one who admonishes encourages and draws towards what is profitable. Some have called the rod and staff the Cross as being composed of two parts, of which the upright is the staff, through which we were set upright when lying in error, and the horizontal is the rod, through which he struck and smote down the demons, for those who are striking strongly bring down the blow sideways. They say that the rod was placed first because first through the Cross he destroyed the tyrant and then through the same he delivered us, so that the interpretation is that your Cross has encouraged me towards piety.

5α You have prepared a table before me in the face of those who are afflicting me. Not only have you benefited me, as I said, but you have bestowed on me spiritual delight, for this is what the ‘table’ means, and this in the face of my enemies, so that they will be grieved on seeing it. Or else ‘in the face of ’ in the sense of as the opposite of what they desire, for they rather always seek to bring grief to me. Or else he is calling ‘table’ the enjoyment of the future blessings that God has prepared for those who love him, or else the table of the altar on which the mystical supper is laid.

5β You have anointed my head with oil. The oil of spiritual grace. The head is to be understood as the mind (the container denot- ing what is contained), for the grace of the Spirit gladdens and gives unguent to the mind. Or else he is foretelling the chrismation with the oil of baptism, or with the myrrh, in which cases we shall understand by the head the whole person. 4α: The shadow of death is the present world, for just as death separates the soul from the body, so the present world separates the worldly person from God; and if someone is with God, then God is with him. 4β: The rod is God’s judgement, and the staff is his providence, which encourage towards salvation.

5γ And your cup is inebriating to me as if most potent. The drink of the gospel words is inebriating to me, for it brings about an ecstatic displace- ment from the former state of mind, as most potent against enemies. Or else the cup is that of the bloodless sacrifice.

6α And your mercy will pursue me all the days of my life. ‘Will pursue me’ in the sense of, ‘will follow me’, that is, as long as I continue on this path and avoid error. Or else, ‘will pursue’ in the sense of ‘will seek me out’ and will not leave me.

6β And my dwelling in the house of the Lord to length of days. And my dwelling in the Lord’s protection, guarded on every side, will also pursue me. Or else he is calling the ‘house of the Lord’ the Church and the assembly of the faithful in which the Lord dwells, seen by the worthy, that is, I shall be granted mercy and I shall be guarded and I shall remain faithful. Or else in a different way, my dwelling in the house of the Lord will be for me to length of days, or in other words, for the whole of my life.

23 Psalm 23

1α A Psalm belonging to David; of the first of the week This psalm is ‘of the first of the week’, or in other words, of the day on which Christ arose, having foretold about this day, which the evangelists also clearly called the ‘first of the week’. It treats also of the Saviour’s ascension at the end.

1β The earth is the Lord’s and its fullness. When, that is, having risen from the tomb, he appeared to the disciples and said, All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth. For from that day the earth, previously ruled by the demons, became Christ’s. And accordingly throughout the earth in place of idolatrous precincts, divine temples were founded as the gospel preaching spread to the ends of the inhabited world, as we have said before. ‘Its fullness’, namely, that whereof it is made full, are the people who fill it. By the whole, he indicated the majority, for not all became of the Lord. By the name of the earth he included, of course, the islands, since they are also earth.

1γ The inhabited world and all who dwell in it. This is explanatory of the previous verse, for what there he called ‘earth’, here he called ‘inhabited world’, and what there is ‘its fullness’, is here ‘all those who dwell in it’.

5 : The table is practical virtue, and the oil that anoints the mind as the head is the contemplation of the principles within beings [cf. PG90.265B], the cup is knowledge of God, his mercy is the merciful Son and God who through his incarnation ever pursues until he catches all who are to be saved, the house is his kingdom in which all the saints are established, and length of days is the eternal life.

And in a different way: even though not all the earth and all people became the Lord’s, but they were considered by the believers as being the Lord’s, for they were assured that he was their maker and Lord. 2 Upon seas he has founded it, and upon rivers he has readied it. And in this there is nothing strange, for he was the one who founded the earth in the beginning. All things, it is said, were made through him. Then he weaves in the strange and novel character of the founding, namely, that he established it on seas and rivers. This he says, however, not in a general way, for if it were, the water would be lower, but Moses taught that the earth was lower. It is clear therefore that he said this in a partial way, for in many cavern- ous hollows of the earth certain sections of the sea flow under, and these he called ‘seas’, using the name of the whole. And Moses indeed says, And the systems of the waters he called seas. For about the rivers what need is there to say that many after running underground for a long distance then rise to the surface? It is remarkable how such weights of the earth do not set- tle down, for entire mountains are established on such waters and nevertheless they remain founded upon them and held in place only by the Maker’s decree. ‘Readied’ is in the sense of ‘adorned’. 3 Who will go up to the mountain of the Lord? Or who will stand in his holy place? This, I believe, was foretold about the priests, sketching out what they should be like. And ‘the mountain of the Lord’ you will understand as the principle temple in every place, on account of its raised and distinguished position and its being battered on every side by the contrary winds of the enemies of the faith, and the ‘holy place’ as the place in front of the altar. Observe the precision of the words, for he said ‘go up’ since in front of the entrance it was the custom to construct a number of steps. Some call the ‘mountain of the Lord’ the height of the virtues which Christ commanded through the Gospel and the ‘holy place’ the place of the promised kingdom of heaven. Or in a different way, the ‘mountain’ is the height of the theology about Christ and of the true doctrines about his incarnation. 4α The innocent in hands and pure in heart. Having formulated the previous verse as a question, he now answers. And by ‘hands’ he signifies the actions and by ‘heart’ the desires, namely, the person who will go up and will stand is the one who has blameless actions and pure desires, for ‘innocent’ here is the blame- less, so that the one who is not such neither goes up, nor does he stand, even if he seems to. See how he joined both together, for each without the other is not acceptable. 2: One should know that Basil the Great [PG29.21-24], asserting that the Lord’s decree alone is the founda- tion of the earth and neither water or anything else, says that through this verse the place of water at the beginning of the world’s genesis is manifested, lying on the earth and as it were raised up and held together and not flowing away. For it is likely for the same thing to be called both seas and rivers on account of their multitude, since Moses also called this the abyss on account of its depth. And indeed it is written that, A spirit of God was carried over the abyss [Gen 1.2]. But John Chrysostom [PG49.103] takes this verse as sure proof that waters lie under all the earth like foundations.

4β Who has not taken his soul for folly. Who has not taken his soul from God for the sake of folly, so as to treat it idly, or who has not used his soul for evils, having been created for good.

4γ And has not sworn with guile to his neighbour. And has not committed perjury, for the perjurer acts with guile so that either he will be released from debt when he owes or receive when he is not owed. He said similar things in psalm fourteen and look there for more about the oath at the verse He swears an oath to his neighbour and does not renege.

5α This man will receive blessing from the Lord. The one who is good in action and pure in desire, who eschews follies and does not per- jure his neighbour will receive grace freely in the present life.

5β And mercy from God his saviour. In the future life, for everyone, even the most just, is in need of mercy from God. For if he will not mix in his own sympathy, no one living will be justified before him. And moreover, what works are worthy of the kingdom of heaven?

6α This is the generation of those seeking the Lord. This generation that lives in such a way is the generation of men seeking, or in other words loving, the Lord, for what one loves one seeks.

6β Seeking the face of the God of Jacob. It seemed to the Hebrews that the Father was the God of Jacob, and the face of the Father is the Son, for it is written, He who has seen me has seen the Father. Jacob is continually placed in the psalms as the father of the twelve tribes. Or in a different way: seeking to see God in the future age when the worthy will see him face to face, as Paul says.

6γ Inter-psalm. About the ‘inter-psalm’ we have spoken sufficiently in the preamble to the present book. § 61

7α Lift away your gates, O you rulers.

From here onwards he foretells the Saviour’s ascension into the heavens, for he presents the angels serving Christ on earth as rising up with him and going before and ordering those who guard the entrance to heaven to lift away the gates. The verse is to be read as follows: O you rulers, lift away your gates, or in other words, you who exercise authority over these gates, lift them away – ‘your’ gates in the sense of those over which you have authority. He did not say ‘open’, but lift them away completely, signifying thereby that the glory of the one who was about to enter could not be contained. The gates are to be understood as the act of guarding itself.

7β And be lifted up, O gates eternal. The eternal guard, on account of the eternity of the guarding angels. Or else, ‘eternal’ on account of never having been opened, for while these remained closed he came down to earth, escaping the notice of all the heavenly powers.

7γ And the king of glory will enter in. He is called ‘king of glory’ and ‘Lord of glory’ as glorious beyond measure and as giver of glory and as reigning and ruling over all of the glorious.

8α Who is this the king of glory? When the rulers of the gates heard they were puzzled, since they knew God alone to be the king of glory, who, being in three hypostases, they expected to dwell in the super-celestial sphere. And, moreover, the covering of the flesh astonished them. Hence they ask and at once they hear:

8β The Lord mighty and powerful, the Lord powerful in battles. It is the Lord you know, mighty and powerful, and again the Lord, powerful in battles. The repetition leads them to recognition, and at the same time extols his victory over the tyrant whom he had overthrown, having made war on his attacker and transfixed him with the Cross as with a spear.

9 Lift away your gates, O you rulers, and be lifted up, O gates eternal, and the king of glory will enter in. The rulers of the gates of the second heaven, that is, the firmament, having heard what was said by the angels leading the way and seeing and rejoicing beyond measure at the salvation of mankind, ran ahead, commanding the same things to the rulers of the first heaven, the one above the firmament.

10α Who is this the king of glory? They similarly are puzzled and ask the same thing and they hear:

10β The Lord of powers, he is the king of glory. The powerful Lord, the giver of powers or the master of the powerful, he is the one pro- claimed by us as the king of glory. We should know that the Hebrews apply the present psalm and the one before this to their captives in Babylon, the former psalm allegedly relating the joyous events at their re- turn, and the present psalm offering comfort for the afflictions in captivity and teaching not to have scruples about the place since the whole earth is God’s, and that everyone can be pleasing to God in every place. They are refuted very clearly by the order, because if it were so the former psalm would have been placed after the latter, as telling of the things after the re- turn of the captives. Even more they are refuted by the words themselves, for where did God’s mercy remain with them for their whole life as the previous psalm states, and what eternal gates did Jerusalem have, as the present psalm says, to pass over the other matters?

24 Psalm 24

1α A psalm belonging to David Some say that David wrote this psalm as a supplication, fitting for all those who in trou- bles call upon God and teaching how to make entreaty, but there is nothing to prevent him previously having uttered it on his own behalf when being attacked by enemies such as he had.

1β To you, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul. I have lifted up, I have raised it up, having detached it from earthly things, from which there is no salvation for me.

2α O my God, in you I trust, may I not be put to shame to the age. Either to the present age or to the future age, or else to the age in the sense of for long and forever.

2β Nor let my enemies deride me. Either sensible enemies or intelligible enemies. For they will deride me if they defeat me.

3α For all who wait patiently on you will not be shamed. ‘Wait patiently’ in the sense of awaiting and expecting, for this is what the word very often means in David, and this is how Aquila also translated it. For whoever eagerly awaits you as helper will not be shamed. 3β Let those who are wantonly lawless be shamed. Some act lawlessly circumstantially and others out of natural weakness, but those who do not act lawlessly for these reasons are wantonly lawless, that is, for no reason, sinning out of an excess of evil. Such were those who were waging war on him, whether visible or invisible enemies, for they were futilely attacking one who had done nothing to wrong them. 4 Make known your ways to me, O Lord, and teach me your paths. Both phrases say the same thing, as he was accustomed to do so often, displaying the in- tensity of the yearning of his heart. Ways and paths are all the things that are pleasing to God, along which the person who does those things walks unerringly towards God. He is praying to be taught such things by God with precision, for those who are worthy learn what to do directly from God. Some call the ways and paths the divine designs for things which divine providence trav- erses, with the prophet seeking to learn how all things are governed so that theoretical knowl- edge may be added to practical knowledge, with ways being the more general principles, while paths are the more particular. Others say that ways and paths are the commandments which having learned in book he prays to learn in deed, so that having been constrained by God to do them he may come to know from experience what he knew only in word. 5α Guide me into your truth. So that I may not stray into human thoughts, choosing some things in place of others. 5β And teach me that you are God my saviour. And, of course, he knew him as his God, but he seeks to learn this in deed, and he will learn so in being delivered from his enemies. Then the proof will be beyond dispute, for having trust- ed in him alone, he has been delivered against expectation, having had no help from people. And on you I have waited patiently all day long. 5γ In deed, as I said, teach me that you are God who is saving me and that truly I have waited and expected you as helper and have not been deceived.

The prophet frequently uses ‘all day long’ in the sense of continually, just as he uses ‘to the age’. And, moreover, the Hebrews say ‘all day long’ for all their life, for when sleeping at night they do not appear to be living. But in this way the words have been interpreted historically. It is also possible to under- stand them anagogically in relation to Christ, namely, with the prophet foreseeing his incar- nation with his spiritual eyes and entreating to learn more clearly which ways and paths he will choose when incarnate. Christ’s truth is his teaching, which he also prays to learn, for in the Gospels he says, I am the truth, and again, I tell you the truth, and the prophet is saying, teach me this truth. Here a full stop is to be placed, and what follows is to be read as from a new beginning, namely, teach me these things for you are God my saviour, and I am assured about this, for Jesus means Saviour, and truly the Saviour saved him, having descended into Hades and taken him up from there. I expect you always, therefore, he says, and I do not despair.

6 Remember your acts of compassion, O Lord, and your mercies, for they are from the age. Remember that you are compassionate and merciful from the age, that is, always and by nature. The translators placed the word ‘mercies’ indifferently in the accusative case rather than the genitive, either because the Hebrew word was in this case or because the ancients had the license to change the cases as we shall discover in many places. Remember, not as having forgotten, but as appearing to us to be forgetting them when you are slow in coming to our aid.

7α Do not remember the sins of my youth and of my ignorance. Observe how he entreats for the sins in his youth and for those in ignorance when he had now become perfect, even though we count them at naught. Why did he not entreat for those committed in knowledge? Because the former are eradicated by prayer alone, while the latter also require practical penitence.

7β According to your mercy remember me. Just as your mercy is great, so remember me with much mercy, or else in your mercy re- member me, that is, in order to be merciful and not in order to punish.

7γ For the sake of your goodness, O Lord. Because you are good by nature, even if against your nature you come to punish on ac- count of our sins.

8α The Lord is good and direct. Good as showing mercy and direct as demanding satisfaction for transgressions, for ‘di- rect’ now is the one who is upright in judgement. 8β-9α Hence with law he will regulate those who sin in the way, he will lead the meek with judge- ment. Because he is merciful and unswerving, he will regulate with law, that is, he will place under law, and will punish those who sin in the way, or in other words, in life, for life is what he calls ‘way’ here, because all people are borne along it. And he will lead the meek so that they are not led astray, and with judgement, that is, with discrimination, as being worthy of guidance. The words ‘regulate with law’ can be understood differently, namely, that he will ordain laws for sinners, the accusative having been used indifferently for the dative case. To legislate in order to correct and not to punish the sinner is a mark of someone most direct and upright. These words can also be interpreted anagogically in relation to Christ who legislated for sinners through the way he travelled, so that by travelling along this way they might sin no more, and he led the meek by pronouncing them blessed and thus encouraging them, for he says, Blessed are the meek.

9β He will teach the meek his ways. This is clearly about Christ and his disciples, for they became meek in not contradicting him, for he says, Learn from me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. He taught them the ways of his own life as eye-witnesses and followers of his.

10 All the Lord’s ways are mercy and truth for those who seek out his covenant and his testi- monies. ‘Ways’ we shall understand here as the commandments of the law alone, which, for those who search the written law, are mercy and truth, for these appear, because God legislated them showing mercy for mankind and they are true in what they say as having been pre- scribed by the true God. “Covenant’ and ‘testimony’ is what he called the law, a ‘covenant’ or ‘disposition’ because he made disposition of it to the sons of Israel, and a ‘testimony’ because he appealed to wit- nesses in it, as we explained previously in Psalm eighteen. In relation to Christ the solution will be clear, for all the paths of his earthly life are mercy and truth for those who seek our his new covenant, namely, those who believe in his teaching and in the prophetic testimonies about him, for in all his life he was merciful in performing good works and was true in his teaching.

11 For the sake of your name, O Lord, and be gracious to my sin, for it is great. The conjunction ‘and’ is redundant here; this also is a frequent idiom of the Hebrews. He is saying accordingly that because you are called merciful and good, for this reason be gracious to my sin, though certainly towards the sin from which I have ceased, for it is great in comparison to the purity that I owe. And it may also be addressed to Christ, for he is called the lamb that takes away the sin of the world.

12α Who is the man that fears the Lord? He is rare certainly, but listen what rewards are promised him when found:

12β He will legislate for him in the way that he has chosen. Various are the ways of those who are being saved, that is, their ways of life, one is coeno- bitic, another that of the anchorite, one practical, another contemplative and another differ- ent again, but all lead to God. Whichever the man who fears God will choose, however, God will be for him a teacher in it of what to do, as we stated earlier. Do not take ‘fear of God’ in a simple sense but as heartfelt fear.

13α His soul will come to settle among good things. Having flown away from he body, it will be among those good things that eye has not seen, nor ear heard.

13β And his seed will inherit the earth. Since the procreation of children was much wished for among the Hebrews, he incites to virtue with assurances of this, promising that he will have children as heirs to the land he possessed. The seed can also be understood as teaching, and through this again those who have been taught, for he says that not only will he be saved, but also his spiritual children will inherit the earth of the meek.

14α The Lord is the stronghold of those who fear him. The strength, the fortification.

14β And his covenant will make manifest to them.

His law will manifest to them that God becomes the stronghold of such men, for so the law promises. Or else by ‘covenant’ he means simply a divinely given instruction manifesting what is to be done, and not only what is to be done, but also divine mysteries, which the law also does for those who follow it with purity. 15 My eyes are forever towards the Lord, for he will pluck my feet from a snare. The eyes of the soul, which, he says, I have always directed towards God, in the knowledge that he alone will pluck my feet from the nooses and ambushes of visible and invisible ene- mies should they get caught in them. 16α Look upon me and have mercy on me. How God looks on we have said previously in other psalms. 16β For I am uniquely begotten and poor. David, of course, had many brothers, but he often calls ‘uniquely begotten’ what is isolat- ed as left all alone - such was the phrase, and from the hand of the dog my uniquely begotten. And he was poor as bereft of human help. 17α The afflictions of my heart have been multiplied. For every affliction, whether from evil people or from impassioned thoughts, directs itself against the heart. 17β Release me from my constraints. From the circumstances that oppress me. 18α See my humility and my weariness. ‘Humility’, in sensible terms, is bodily weakness in relation to the so great power of the en- emies, in intelligible terms, it is contrition of the soul, and ‘weariness’ again, in sensible terms, is the bodily fatigue he suffered while fleeing and racked by anxiety, in intelligible terms, it is weariness of soul that comes from continence and long periods of standing and sleeping on the ground and the other exercises of virtue. 18β And forgive all my sins. 18α: Or else in a different way: See the weakness that I have suffered in having been humbled, that is, in having been worn down by my enemy; and furthermore the weariness that I undergo in struggling to escape his tyranny and being unable on account of being oppressed on every side, and for this reason as merciful forgive my transgres- sions since I have been tyrannized and become weak.

The previous sins from which I have desisted. Observe how not only desistance from sin is required, but also humility and wearisome exertion for complete remission.

19α See my enemies that they have been multiplied. Whether you regard them as sensible or as intelligible.

19β And with an unjust hatred they have hated me. For neither have I wronged my visible enemies, having in no way ill-treated them, nor my invisible enemies, for in sinning I wronged myself, not the demons, and so their hatred of me is without occasion, and comes from envy alone.

20α Guard my soul. So that it will not fall to them. And through the soul he understands the body as well, for the soul directs the body.

20β And deliver me. If I should fall. Or else, guard my soul from its invisible enemies and deliver me from the sensible enemies that seek to have mastery over my body.

20γ May I not be put to shame that I have hoped in you. Knowing that all who wait patiently on you will not be put to shame, as I said at the begin- ning of the psalm, may I neither be put to shame because I too have hoped in you.

21 The innocent and upright would cling fast to me because I waited patiently for you, O Lord. He is speaking of something in the past. And at another time, he says, when waiting pa- tiently for you and not having been put to shame, I drew many to a zeal similar to my own, persuaded by my example that you are alone are an unfailing helper, and they would cling fast to me, that is, they were bound to me as friends, attached to me because, rightly, I waited patiently for you. Who were these people? They were the innocent, that is, the good and upright, or in other words, the just, and on account of such people therefore hear me, so that through me others also may become well pleasing to you.

22 Redeem Israel, O God, from all his afflictions.

Having prayed sufficiently for himself, he prays also for the whole people which also is suffering. For not only when the Philistines attacked under his rule did the people suffer with him, if we shall grant that the psalm was spoken then, but also under the rule of Saul when David was fleeing and under Absalom many were afflicted on his account. He calls them ‘Israel’ as being descended from him. It is not unreasonable that he would even call himself Israel as deriving his descent from him. If you wish you can also interpret the prayer as addressed to Christ so as to help those who are being afflicted for his sake by the enemies of the faith, for we have said previously that, correctly speaking, ‘Israel’ would be those Christians who see Christ through faith, for Israel means ‘mind beholding God’.

25 Psalm 25

1α A psalm belonging to David He wrote this psalm under Saul when, as a fugitive, he was living among the Philistines. 1Rg 27-31 In some verses it is also fitting for the captives in Babylon. At the outset he pleads his cause, knowing God to be just.

1β Judge me, O Lord, for in my innocence I have made my path. Judge, or in other words, examine further, even though knowing all things in advance, for I am confident that I have lived till now in my innocence. ‘Innocence’ is what he calls his forbearance and long-suffering. For having been wronged in many ways by Saul, he says, I did nothing to take vengeance, even though at times being in a position to do so, as the book of Kingdoms recorded.

1γ And hoping in the Lord I shall not grow weak. And hoping in the Lord, I shall not fall in spirit, strengthened by the hopes in him. This verse is spoken to his enemies.

2α Test me, O Lord, and try me. He does not say these things out of pride, but entreating to be tested, that is, to be exam- ined in relation to what has gone before, and to be tried, namely, to give proof also in the future as to whether he will be the same again.

2β Fire my reins and my heart. By the reins he signifies the appetitive part of the soul, and by the heart, the spirited part. ‘Fire’ in the sense of ‘test’, just as goldsmiths test gold in fire, for I have not desired the throne nor have I taken vengeance on Saul.

3α For your mercy is before my eyes.

My disposition is such because I have before my eyes the mercy from you which you grant to those who are long-suffering.

3β And I have been well-pleasing in your truth. And intending to speak about his other virtuous attainments, which are set out in what follows, he first corrects himself and attributes the grace to God: for other things also I have attained on account of your truth, for you have promised in the law to have mercy on those who are well pleasing to you. Accordingly, your mercy and your truth have become the causes for me of all these things. Then he lists the attainments.

4α I have not sat together with a council of folly. Of those who gather together for idle chatter and untimely words and mythical tales.

4β And I shall not enter together with law-breakers. Those who act treacherously towards one another, or towards Saul himself, for it is likely that some would incite him to insurrection.

5α I have hated an assembly of evil-doers. The assembly of the all wicked people, for with the name of ‘evil’ he included all wicked persons.

5β And I shall not sit together with the impious. Here he is speaking of the Philistines among whom he was a fugitive and whose company he shunned. Or else understand ‘I shall not sit’ as ‘I shall not tarry long’.

6α I shall wash my hands among the innocent. The ancients wishing to testify that they were innocent of some thing, would wash their hands in water before the crowd, displaying the purity of their conscience through the clean- ness of their hands, which Pilate also did later in regard to Christ. David is therefore saying that I too shall wash my hands along with those who are inno- cent, testifying that I am guiltless of all they have said.

6β And I shall encircle your altar, O Lord.

Among the Hebrews the propitiatory was in the inmost part, while the sacrificial altar was outside the veil. He prophesies that he will encircle this latter altar with a multitude of sacrifices and those ministering to them on account of his innocence.

7α In order to hear the voice of your praise. So as to hear the voice of those singing as they dance celebrating the peace.

7β And to tell of all your wonders. Through the reading out at leisure of the divine law and the Mosaic books, for these used constantly to be read aloud to the people as something the law requires. He calls ‘wonders’ the marvels worked against the Egyptians and those thereafter, or else simply all the wonders that God has worked from the beginning.

8α O Lord, I have loved the seemliness of your house. I have loved, and so I long to see it again. The seemliness of the house is what he calls the good order of the Mosaic tent-shrine, for the temple had not yet been built.

8β And the place of the shrining of your glory. But I have also loved the place on which the tent-shrine of your glory has been pitched. Or else he calls the ‘place of the shrining’ the tent-shrine itself once again as is his custom.

9α Do not destroy my soul along with the impious. Among whom I am now living. But lead me quickly to the city, for destruction will very imminently overtake these people on account of their lawless acts.

9β And my life along with men of blood. For they are not only impious, but also men of blood, that is, concerning themselves with bloodshed.

10α In whose hands is lawlessness. For whom lawlessness is ever ready to hand.

10β Their right hand has been filled with gifts.

And not only are they impious and murderers, but they also accept bribes, bartering jus- tice for gifts.

11α But I have made my path in my innocence. Again he reminds God of his innocence, presenting it, as it were, as his intercessor.

11β Redeem me, O Lord. From this unjust exile, or from an exile among such people.

11γ And have mercy on me. So that I may no longer meet with such people.

12α My foot has stood on a straight course. Because my foot has been established in uprightness, that is, my ways shun crookedness, which is like the earlier verse, I have made my path in my innocence.

12β In assemblies I shall bless you, O Lord When this is done, I shall thereafter compose psalms through which I shall praise you in all assemblies, and indeed every Church of Christians has David as their music master and teacher. The psalm is fitting for each of us when we are counter purposed and persecuted by ene- mies, for we shall plead our cause saying, I have shown forbearance when being harmed and I did not wrong the one who was working against me; then we shall take the ‘impious’ as the heterodox, the ‘altar’ as the local church (the part standing for the whole), and the ‘house of God’ in the same sense, and shall accommodate all the rest accordingly.

26 Psalm 26

1α A psalm belonging to David; before being anointed. David was anointed to kingship on three occasions. First by Samuel in Bethlehem, then by the tribe of Judah in Hebron after the slaying of Saul, and thirdly by all the tribes after the death of Memphibosthe. So before the second anointing he composed the present psalm while still being pursued by Saul.

It is fitting for each one of us against enemies visible and invisible, when suitably under- stood.

1β The Lord is my illumination and my saviour, whom shall I fear? My illumination as scattering the mist of sorrow from my eyes and illumining them with the light of his succour, and my saviour as delivering me from the treachery of the enemies. ‘Whom’, in the sense of ‘no one’.

1γ The Lord is the shielding protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? For when he is shielding someone, of whom will such a man be afraid? About his shield- ing protection we spoke clearly in psalm seventeen.

2 Even as men of evil intent were approaching me to devour my flesh, my afflicters and my enemies, they became feeble and fell. He proclaims with wonder what was done for him, for even as my waylaying enemies were approaching me to chew upon my flesh – which indicates their extreme bestiality – they grew weak, unable to harm me in any way, and fell down, failing in their aim.

3α If a camp in battle order were to be drawn up against me, my heart will not be afraid. Among the Hebrews a ‘camp’ means an army. Because I have been thus strangely deliv- ered, I shall no longer be afraid, not even of an entire army, much less of some ambush.

3β If a war were to break out against me, in this I hope. In this my heart that is no longer afraid on account of God’s help. Some who interpret this as an elliptic figure supply the word ‘hope’, namely, in this hope in God.

4α One [thing] I have asked of the Lord. ‘One’ is an adverb in the sense of ‘once only’. Or else this too is elliptic with the word ‘request’ missing. This also is a rhetorical figure of the ancients.

4β This I shall seek. After being delivered, I asked one request, which I shall seek through entreaty. What this is, listen:

4γ To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. With good reason the present psalm has been placed after the previous one. In the previ- ous one he said, O Lord, I have loved the seemliness of your house, and now he similarly seeks dwelling, that is, sojourning, in the tent-shrine, and as to why, he continues: 4δ So I may behold the delightfulness of the Lord, and look upon his temple. So that, he says, beholding its seemliness, I may find delight and at the same time oversee lest anything is being neglected of what is proper, for he was exceedingly pious. 5α For he hid me in his tent-shrine on the day of my evils. Because great things have been done for me by him, for on the day of my dangers, he hid me under his protection. This is what he called ‘tent-shrine’ because it guarded the one seeking refuge like a tent. 5β He sheltered me in the secret part of his tent-shrine. He says the same again, proclaiming even more clearly what had been done for him. The ‘secret part’ is the innermost part, that is, he made me entirely invisible to those searching me out. 5γ He raised me on a rock. He established me in security and fearlessness, by the metaphor of those who are fleeing and climb up onto a precipitous rock. 6α And now, see, he has raised my head over my enemies. Having sensed ineffably a divine decision confirming his request, he prophesies about things of the future as if having already occurred, namely, the Lord having heard me, see, he has made me triumphant over my enemies - since victors carry their neck high over the defeated. And indeed otherwise his request could not be fulfilled unless his enemies were first subdued. 6β I have encircled and sacrificed in his tent-shrine. What in the previous psalm he spoke of as in the future, he now says as having been ful- filled. There he said, And I shall encircle your altar, O Lord, and here he says, I have encircled and sacrificed.

Aquila wrote, ‘and I shall raise up and encircle and sacrifice’, with the tense being changed. He calls ‘tent-shrine’ the one that Moses pitched.

6γ A sacrifice of praise and ululation. Of praise for the ways in which I have been sheltered, and of ululation for the things in which I have been victorious, for ululation is a war-cry against enemies. It is used here in the sense of a victory paean. The sacrifice, he says, is both a sacrifice of thanksgiving and a victory sacrifice.

6δ I shall sing to the Lord and praise him with psaltery. We discussed the difference between singing and praising with psaltery earlier in psalm twelve.

7α Hearken, O Lord, to my voice, to that which I cried. Having foretold about himself through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he returns to his earlier aim, calling his ‘voice’ his utterance concerning that one request.

7β Have mercy on me and hear me. You have no obligation to hear me on account of my unworthiness, but on account of your innate mercy hear.

8α To you my heart has said, ‘I shall seek the Lord’. My heart itself from its very depths has said to you and not my lips in a superficial way. And it has said that ‘I shall seek the Lord”, that is, my Master, having despised all human help.

8β My face has sought you out. The addition of the adverb ‘out’ indicates intensity. He says accordingly that I have dili- gently sought you as helper. The face of David is David himself by way of circumlocution, namely, I myself have sought you out.

8γ I shall seek your face, O Lord. I shall seek your oversight still more and will never cease to.

9α Avert not your face from me. Your oversight which in time of need has sheltered me. 9β And do not turn away in anger from your servant. Do not depart in anger from me, you who are with me as a guardian, even if as a man I shall transgress against you, but having corrected me with benevolence, come once again to my aid. 9γ Become a helper for me. In the future also. 9δ Do not send me to the crows. Do not spurn me. The translators into Greek took this phrase from a Greek proverb. Hsch. q.v. 9ε And do not abandon me, O God my saviour. He entreats repeatedly, displaying the insistent and heart-felt quality of his prayer. 10α For my father and my mother have abandoned me. Because I am deprived even of consolation from my parents, not only of support from friends, for all are afraid of Saul. 10β But the Lord has taken me to himself. This he said comforting himself. Even though all have abandoned me, he says, yet the Lord has taken me to himself, sheltering and delivering. 11α Ordain laws for me, O Lord, in your way. Instead of ‘ordain laws for me’, Aquila wrote ‘give understanding to me’, or in other words, teach me saving laws as I walk on the spiritual way leading to you. 11β And lead me on a straight path. On a right path, that of salvation, so that I may not err by falling into crooked thoughts. 11α: MP in marg.: The Mosaic law and the worship it ordains; but the spiritual law is the Lord, for the Apostle says, And the Lord is the Spirit [2Cor. 3.17].

11γ- For the sake of my enemies, do not hand me over to the souls of those afflicting me. ‘To the souls of those afflicting me’, namely, to the soldiers afflicting me, by way of circum- locution. Do not therefore surrender me into their hands, lest my enemies who sent them to arrest me rejoice - by this he means Saul.

12β For unjust witnesses have risen up against me. For unjustly Saul used to bear witness against him that he was plotting to kill him.

12γ And the injustice has belied itself. And such witness belied itself, that is, it was not found true, for in no way did I wrong him, on the contrary, rather I was of benefit to him. Or otherwise, this injustice, promising to itself to arrest me, belied itself by failing in its aim.

13α I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord. I believe the Holy Spirit that is assuring me that I shall triumph and that I shall receive back the kingship and shall enjoy its good things.

13β In the land of the living. In the world, for the land of the living is this world, the land of the dead is Hades. It can also be interpreted in a different way, namely, that he is making a dogmatic state- ment about the resurrection of the dead, speaking of the kingdom of heaven as the ‘land of the living’ and the ‘good things’ being those that God has prepared for those who love him.

14α Wait patiently on the Lord. This and the next verse he addresses to himself, consoling himself by song in his sorrow and commanding himself not to let his spirits fall. ‘Wait patiently’ in the sense of await, expect as helper.

14β Take courage and let your heart be strong, and wait patiently on the Lord. The interjections are aimed at encouraging and strengthening the soul, for being left alone he was reviving and emboldening himself. He repeats the words ‘wait patiently for the Lord’ for greater encouragement and relief for his soul.

27 Psalm 27 1α A psalm belonging to David. This psalm also he wrote while still being persecuted by Saul. 1β To you, O Lord, I shall cry. As looking to nothing else, for I have been deserted by all allies fit for battle. And by the ‘cry’ the intensity of his prayer is manifested. 1γ O my God, do not pass me by in silence. Do not ignore me, by way of metaphor, for those who are pretending not to hear are ac- customed to keep silent, and say nothing to those making request. 1δ Lest you pass me by in silence. Never ignore me, who am ever in need of your help. 1ε And I become like those going down into the pit. And if you will disregard me, I shall at once become like the dead, or in other words, I shall die, for the grave is a pit. Or else we shall understand ‘pit’ as the cesspit, for the person who falls into it is helpless because there is no escape. 2 Hear, O Lord, the voice of my entreaty even as I am praying to you, even as I am raising my hands towards your holy temple. ‘Temple’, as we have said before, is what he calls the tent-shrine, towards which he would stretch his hands in prayer, even though he was far away. Thus also Daniel praying in Babylon would open the windows facing towards Jerusalem, not circumscribing the divinity there, but having learned that the divine epiphany took place there. Or the temple is to be understood as heaven, in accordance with He who dwells in the heavens. 3α Do not drag me away along with sinners. With whom I often keep company. Do not therefore on account of my keeping company with them drag me away also with them to be put on trial, for you know that I do this against my will. The prefix σύν is redundant. We, when we are praying these words on our own be- half, will understand ‘sinners’ as the heterodox or the demons, and similarly the lawless.

3β And do not destroy me along with those engaged in lawlessness. This is a clarification of the previous phrase and signifies the same.

3γ Who speak peace with their neighbours but evils are in their hearts. Some of those with Saul feigned open friendship towards David, but secretly plotted against him, and most of all Saul himself.

4α Give to them, O Lord, according to their works. Worthy of their evil.

4β And according to the wickedness of their practices. And this is a clarification of the previous phrase.

4γ According to the works of their hands give to them. Through the repetition he displays the pain of his soul, inflamed by the zeal of hatred of wickedness.

4δ Give them back their repayment. Render to them the due avenging for their evil. From this it appears that he is not cursing them as embittered, but rather as a lover of justice he is hastening on the due punishment so that those who are evil may become better.

5α For they have not understood the works of the Lord. For until now they have not comprehended the divine dispensations whereby God toler- ates them acting in this wicked way so that their good-for-nothingness may be confuted and in due time they may be punished unpardonably.

5β And the works of his hands. ‘Works’, namely, those he works to some end, for the ‘hands’ here signify the calculated nature of the works.

5γ You will tear them down and never build them up. 5α-β : ‘Works’ on its own we shall understand as God’s long-suffering during which they continued to sin, and ‘works of the Lord’s hands’ as his hiding of him when he was being pursued, his alliance with him, his delivering of him when in danger, and suchlike. Accordingly, they did not understand from these things that he would not have shown him such providence unless he was well-pleasing to him, and neither that God’s long-suffering is affording them time for repentance.

This is a prophecy of their destruction, that once they have fallen they will never be raised up again.

6 The Lord is to be blessed, for he has heard the voice of my entreaty. He is to be blessed, in the sense of, he is worthy to be praised and hymned; as having re- ceived assurance about what he asked for, he says, that he has heard me.

7α The Lord is my helper and my protector. This is also something about which he has received assurance.

7β In him my heart has hoped. As my only unfailing helper.

7γ And I have been helped. And I have not failed in my hope.

7δ And my flesh has flourished again. Which before this had wasted away with cares and adversities.

7ε And of my will I shall confess him. From my heart, eagerly, not out of necessity. Such also is the phrase: willingly I shall sacri- fice to you. ‘Confession’ is what he here calls thanksgiving.

8 The Lord is the stronghold of his people and the champion of the salvation of his anointed one. The Lord both strengthens the people dedicated to him and champions the salvation of the one anointed as king by his decree. He is speaking both about the whole people and about himself, in knowledge of the coming reversal.

9α Save your people and bless your inheritance. As about to take back the kingship, he prays for the people. And in the book of Exodus God called the Israelites the people of his possession, that is, Ex 19.5, 23.22 the people of his inheritance.

9β And shepherd them. Reigning along with me.

9γ And lift them up to the age. And raise them up with the trophies of victory for ever. It is also possible for the curse, Give to them, O Lord, according to their works, and so on, to be applied against the Jews who crucified Christ, and who, being exceedingly wicked, did not understand about the marvels he was working, and once having been deposed, they were never again raised up, while God strengthened the faithful people, and so on. And again the prayer can be taken as addressed to Christ for his people from among the nations which was given to him as an inheritance and which he shepherded and raised up very truly.

28 Psalm 28

1α A psalm belonging to David; of the exit from the tent-shrine. In a historical sense, the present psalm may be taken as a decree for the priests and Levites concerning the exit from the tent-shrine, or in other words, the procession out of the temple, about what they would do as they came out on the following day for ever, namely, that they would bring new-born male offspring of rams, and glory through praise and psalms, and hon- our through orderliness and reverence, and that this would take place in the sacred enclosure of the temple and in no other place. In an anagogical sense, it may be taken as about the exit from the body, which the Apostle calls a tent-shrine, for the body is the tent-shrine of the soul. The psalm commands what 2Cor 5.1, 4 we ought to do as we pack our baggage for exit from the body, seeing that our actions here become provisions for the soul at that time.

1β Bring to the Lord, O sons of God, bring sons of rams to the Lord. ‘Sons of God’ are the Apostles, for thus the Lord also addressed them saying, I am ascend- ing to my Father and your Father. ‘Sons of rams’ are those from the nations whose fathers were unreasoning brutes on account of their error. Accordingly, he is urging the Apostles to bring the nations to Christ. The words are to be arranged as follows: O sons of God, bring to the Lord, bring sons of rams. The repetition is expressive of zeal. Or in a different way, ‘sons of God’ are those who have been adopted by Christ through the rebirth of baptism and perfected in virtue, while the ‘sons of rams’ are those who have been born to the Apostles through the preaching of the Gospel but are still imperfect, for the Apostles are, if you like, ‘rams’ as leaders of the flock. The meaning then is this: you who are more perfect, lead those who are less perfect, for this is acceptable to God, for he says to Peter, If you love me, shepherd my sheep.

1γ Bring to the Lord glory and honour. ‘Glory’ through the singing of hymns and ‘honour’ through fear or through the keeping of his commandments. If, to speak in the manner of the Apostle, you dishonour God through the transgression of the law, it is evident that you honour him through the keeping of the law.

2α Bring to the Lord glory to his name. Through praiseworthy actions, for it is said to those who are sinning, My name is being blasphemed among the nations on your account, for the gentile, seeing the way of life of the believer, if it is good, praises Christ as a teacher of virtue, if it is bad, he disparages him rather as a promoter of evil. Bring therefore to the Lord praise for his name, that is for him, by way of circumlocution.

2β Worship the Lord in his holy enclosure. The assembly in Jerusalem was formerly the holy enclosure for the Jews, but after their wanton violence against Christ their camp enclosure became desolate. Thereafter the Church and faith of the Christians became the holy enclosure of Christ in which the verse urges us to worship him, prohibiting schismatic conventicles, and approving only the faith handed down from Christ. It is possible to understand by ‘enclosure’ the heavenly enclosures. Hence whose who are planted here in the house of the Lord, namely, in the Church of the believers, will flourish there in the sacred enclosures of our God.

3α The voice of the Lord upon the waters. This is a prophecy about the voice conveyed from above at the Jordan when Christ was baptized saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I have been well pleased.

3β The God of glory has thundered. The Father sent forth that voice which he calls thunder on account of its having being brought down from heaven whence come thunderclaps and also on account of its power and clear audibility. ‘God of glory’ in the sense of ‘glorious’, just as the God of truth is the true God, and the Pss 30.6, God of vengeance, the avenging God, and the God of powers, the powerful God, and the 93.1, 58.6 God of mercy, the merciful God and so on, for this also is an idiom of ancient Scripture.

3γ The Lord upon many waters. Christ in the waters, namely those of the Jordan, and through these in all waters, sancti- fying their nature in the Jordan.

4α The voice of the Lord in strength. To the man who is strong against the passions there comes the voice of Lord, strengthen- ing him and indicating to him what he ought to do.

4β The voice of the Lord in magnificence. And to the man of conspicuous greatness who disregards earthly things but has his mind on heavenly things, so that by strength practical virtue is signified and by magnificence con- templative virtue.

5α The voice of the Lord, who is crushing cedars. The cedar is sometimes taken in a good sense on account of its resistance to decay its rich foliage and its sweet fragrance, as is, The just man will flourish like a palm tree and will be multiplied like the cedar in Lebanon. On other occasions it is taken in a bad sense on account of its lack of fruit and its unbendable nature, as in, I saw the impious man over-exalted and raised up like the cedars of Lebanon. He is now therefore calling cedars the demons on account of their pride, for it was their pride that threw them headlong down from heaven. The voice of the Lord, he says, is heard when he is crushing and dashing down the demons. For a comma is required after ‘Lord’ so that the indirect syntax may be understood. He also used this figure further on.

5β And the Lord will crush the cedars of Lebanon. The Lebanon is a high cedar covered mountain in Palestine consecrated to idolatrous temples. Hence the cedars of Lebanon is what he calls the precincts of the idols there, signi- fying what is contained by the thing containing them, moreover, the precincts are like cedars on account of the height of their roofing and their heavy foliage and lack of fruit. The verse foretells their destruction, and through these allusion is made to all such precincts.

6α And he will grind them down like the calf, the Lebanon. And just as through Moses he ground down the calf made by the Hebrews at Horeb and scattered it, so he will do to these. A comma is to be placed next and ‘the Lebanon’ is to be read on its own, so that it will be understood that he will grind them down, namely, the whole of Lebanon, and its grinding down will not be partial but total.

6β And the beloved as a son of unicorns. The verse is about Christ, for he is beloved as only-begotten. Thus indeed the Father also

called him, saying, This is my beloved Son. He is a son of unicorns on account of his invincible strength and being untamable, for the book of Job says that this animal has a nature of this kind. Observe that when the Son offers himself to the Father as a sacrifice for our sins he is called a lamb and a sheep, as in Behold, the lamb of God, and He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, but when there is need to ward off and bring down the dynasty of the evil one, he is called the son of unicorns. He may also be called ‘son of unicorns’ as being born on both sides of a single kind, from his Father without a mother and from his mother without a father. When these then are crushed and ground down, Christ will be invincible, for the gates of Hades will not prevail against his Church.

7 The voice of the Lord, who cuts through a flame of fire. Here too the verb ‘there comes’ is missing. This foretells, in the first instance, about the furnace in Babylon, which having been cut through, received a whistling breeze of fresh dew, and in the second instance, about the fires that received the martyrs of Christ. It may also be said about the verdict on the day of judgement when it will cut through and divide the flame of fire so that its illuminative and brightening power is allotted to the just, while its burning and chastening power is allotted to the sinners.

8α The voice of the Lord, who causes the desert to quake. The ‘desert’ is what he calls the nations on account of the bleak absence of knowledge of God and the drought of spiritual teaching and the barrenness of the virtues. When Christ appeared he caused this desert to quake, moving it to himself and tilling it with the plough of faith.

8β And the Lord will cause the desert of Kadesh to quake. He will cause not all of the desert to quake, but that of Kadesh, namely, the desert that is holy and dedicated to and worthy of him, for the word ‘Kadesh’ translates as ‘holy’.

9α The voice of the Lord that is readying deer. On the basis of this verse some people claim that the verse The voice of the Lord, who is crushing cedars and the others of the same form are not elliptic, nor examples of indirect syntax, but represent a figure involving a change of both gender and case:’ the Lord [male gender] who is crushing’ is in the sense of ‘the voice [female gender] that is crushing’ and the genitive case [of the Lord] has also been substituted for the nominative case [the voice].

‘Deer’ is what he calls Christ’s disciples, for just as the deer disregards the danger from Physiologus, venomous snakes and hunts them out through its sense of smell and, drawing them by the Περὶ ἐλάφου force of the breath from its mouth, destroys them, so every disciple of Christ received author- ity to tread on snakes and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy. This voice of the Sav- iour therefore readied them for running the course of preaching and virtue, namely the voice saying, See, I am giving you authority, and so on. And they would hunt down the spiritual serpents by the spiritual sense of smell and would destroy them by the power of the word sent forth from their mouth.

9β And he will uncover thickets. ‘Thickets’ is what he calls the woody and fruitless souls of the nations in which there would lurk like wild beasts the various and wild passions which he will uncover, taking away the density of their darkness by the word which, as is written, is sharper than any two-edged sword, so the that wild beasts are revealed and become easy prey for the deer.

9γ And in his temple everyone says ‘glory’. In the temple that is in every place and every believer, and not only in the temple in Jeru- salem nor only Jews. And everyone says ‘glory’ in the sense of, they sing a hymn, thanking him as Redeemer and Saviour, and they say so when the occasion demands.

10α The Lord will make the flood to dwell. ‘Flood’ is what he calls the nations, flooded by the deluge of the passions. These nations, he says, Christ will make to dwell in the lands of his Church. Or else understand ‘flood’ as divine baptism, washing away sins. He will make this bap- tism dwell in the Church.

10β And the Lord will be established on the throne as king to the age. As king of the faithful who have been cleansed, for, it is written, Authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. ‘He will be established on the throne’ in the sense of ‘he will remain’, on account of the permanence of the sitting.

11α The Lord will give strength to his people. The people of Christians, when being attacked by tyrants and demons and passions.

11β The Lord will bless his people in peace.

In time of war he will strengthen them, and in time of peace he will bless them, that is, he will reward them with grace through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Or he will bless them in the sense of, he will praise them as being well-pleasing to him.

29 Psalm 29

1 A psalm of an ode; for the renewal of the house; of David. What a psalm of an ode is was explained earlier in the preamble to the exposition offered in the present book. For the rest of the superscription there are various suggestions. §§ 65-66 Some say that David’s soul has been called a ‘house’ as having become a dwelling place of the prophetic gift, and the ‘renewal’ was its renewal when after his adultery and the murder of Uriah, on having repented fervently, he was granted once again the gift of prophecy as before. Some say that the ‘house’ is the Church of believers and the ‘renewal’ is its renewal through the rebirth of baptism. Others have called the ‘renewal’ the feast like one of renewal or dedication that Hezekiah celebrated in the temple, the house of the Lord, after the destruction of the Assyrians, so that 2Par 29-31 this psalm is a psalm of an ode for the renewal of the house, proclaiming in advance what words were likely be said then either by David or by the Church or by Hezekiah, for it could apply to each of them. The words ‘of David’ are to be read on their own, indicating the composer. § 52

2α I shall exalt you, O Lord, for you have upheld me. How the can the lowly exalt the lofty, except, that is, by confessing him as sublime? For thus the one who asserts the doctrine of his greatness magnifies him, while on the contrary the one who utters lowly and mean things about him humbles and diminishes him. ‘You have upheld me’ in the sense of, you have raised me up, you have lightened me of a burden when I was downcast by sin, having placed beneath me the hand of your support.

2β And you have not gladdened my enemies over me. In terms of David, the enemies are those to whom through the prophet Nathan God threatened that his kingdom would be given. In terms of the Church, the enemies are the demons. And in terms of Hezekiah, they are the Assyrians.

3 O Lord my God, I cried to you and you healed me. Clearly not after long, for when David said, I have sinned against the Lord, he heard at once that the Lord has taken away your sin. And the Church, when calling on him at the time of baptism, is at once washed of the wounds of sin.

And Hezekiah, when girding himself with sackcloth and making supplication, was swiftly healed of the wound of the siege. 4α O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Hades. In terms of David and the Church, from the darkness of sin, or else this is on account of the dissolution of Hades and the freedom of the souls. In terms of Hezekiah, from the dark- ness of timidity that creates clouding of the mind. 4β You have saved me from those descending into the pit. He said the same thing again, for it is the custom among those who are giving thanks to vary the account of what has been done for them. By ‘pit’ you will understand an inescapable danger, such as the cesspit or the grave or Hades, for these are in the depths of the earth and inescapable. You have saved me, he says, from those who are descending into danger –in terms of Da- vid and the Church a danger to the soul, and in terms of Hezekiah a bodily danger. We must recognize that not all of the following verses apply to all of these, but only some, for such, for the most part, are prophetic utterances. 5α Sing to the Lord, O you his devoted servants. His just or virtuous servants, for those who are not such, when they sing do not sing, for it is not possible for a bad tree to bear good fruits, nor for a death-dealing heart to bring forth words of life. 5β And confess to the remembrance of his holiness. And return thanks to his remembrance, for his holiness has remembered us who were forgotten on account of our sins. 6α For anger is in his rage and life in his will. ‘Anger’ is what he here calls his punishment and ‘rage’ his vexation. The meaning is like this, that there is punishment in his vexation, but life in his will, that is, when vexed he punishes, being just, but, being merciful, he wills ever to engender life, so that the one is by unchosen circumstance and the other by his willing nature. For he says through Ezekiel, Is it by my will that I will the death of the sinner rather than for him to turn back and live? Scripture places the sorrowful before the pleasurable, for good things are more pleasant after the woeful, as in, I will slay and I will make to live, I will strike and I will heal.

6β In the evening weeping will enter to lodge, and in the morning rejoicing. This signifies that repentance swiftly procures forgiveness, for the person who has wept in the evening will at once rejoice in the morning, being consoled by the advent of the holy Spirit. It is also a prophecy about the Apostles to whom, weeping on the evening of the Sabbath after the burial of Saviour, the women brought the good tidings of joy that the Lord has risen. And those around Hezekiah, after the dread threat from Sennacherib, having gathered together in the evening and having wept in the belief they were on the very brink of being taken captive, in the morning they were filled with joy by so many thousands having been struck down invisibly in the night. ‘Will enter to lodge’, in the sense of, ‘will encamp’.

7 But I said in my abundance, ‘I shall be not rocked to the age’. This is about David and about Hezekiah who in their days of plenty thought they would never fall on hard times, for ‘abundance’ is well-being, and ‘rocking’ is the overturning of stability.

8 O Lord, by your will you granted power to my splendour, but you turned away your face and I became troubled. These words are about the same things, for he says, whatever power my splendour, that is, the brilliance and illustriousness of my kingship, possessed previously, it possessed by your will and not by my virtue. You turned away your oversight on account of my self-conceit, however, and at once I was plunged into turmoil and misfortune.

9α To you, O Lord, I shall cry. Having enjoyed swift aid, I shall cry to you also in the future. Note that Scripture uses the verbs ‘to cry’ [κράζειν] and ‘to shout’ [βοᾶν] for those who are praying from the heart.

9β And to my God I shall make entreaty. This also says the same. Or else ‘to you’ for the Father and ‘to my God’ for the Son. It seems to foretell the day on which David himself, being persecuted by Absalom, called on God, or on which Hezekiah, having been informed the prophet that he will die the next day, supplicated the Lord for his own life. I shall cry, he says, and I shall make entreaty, saying as follows:

10α What profit is there in my blood in my going down into corruption? ‘Blood’ is what he calls the flesh, for flesh is coagulated blood. Ps 7. 6β What, he asks, is the profit for my flesh, having been so increased and so adorned, since I am about to descend into decay. For better it would be for me not to have been born. He denigrates human nature as subject to death and short-lived, for it is written, Man has been made like vanity.

10β Shall dust confess you or shall it proclaim your truth? These words are like the verse, The dead, O Lord, will not praise you, nor all who go down to Hades, but we the living will bless the Lord, from now and until the age. For trusting in God’s forbearance he pleads his cause saying, Will the dust into which I am in danger of dissolving give thanks to you? Or will it teach those who are ignorant that you are truly God? Or that you are true - on the one hand, because the other gods are false, and on the other hand, be- cause you fulfil what you promise? It is better therefore for me to still live, even if not on my own account, but so that I may glorify you and hymn and proclaim your truth.

11α The Lord has heard and has shown mercy on me. Having sensed the imminent help, he tells of it as having already come about. He has heard my cry, that is, he has admitted my entreaty, for those who do not admit neither suffer to hear.

11β The Lord has become my helper. Having heard, he has shown mercy, and having shown mercy, he has helped me, having delivered me from death at that time.

12α You have turned my lamentation into joy for me. Lamentation [κοπετός from the verb ‘to strike’ κόπτω] is wailing and striking one’s breast and cheeks. You have changed my sorrow into joy.

12β You have torn off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness. Sackcloth was a symbol of repentance and abasement, for those who had fallen into some great and inconsolable misfortune would clothe themselves in sackcloth and spatter ash on their head, and when they were consoled they would tear it off and gird themselves in gar- ments of joyousness. ‘You have torn off ’ in the sense of you have divested me of mourning and ‘you have girded’, that is, you have clothed me with joy.

13α So that my glory may sing to you. So that my glorified life may hymn you – glorified on account of the help from you. Or else ‘glory’ is what he calls the mind by which we have been honoured on account of its being in the image of God.

13β And I be not pierced by remorse. Instead of ‘I be not pierced by remorse’, Symmachus translated this as ‘I keep not silence’, from what went before, therefore, what ensued was manifested, because silence follows on piercing by remorse. Or else, ‘I be not pierced by remorse’ in the sense of ‘I may sin no more’ as signifying what went before by what follows, because piercing by remorse follows for those who sin.

13γ O Lord my God, I shall confess you to the age. I shall give thanks to you forever, having been granted such salvation. And besides indeed, throughout all the present age he gives thanks to him using our mouths whenever we sing the psalm.

30 Psalm 30

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David; of ecstasy. Towards fulfilment as containing a prophecy looking towards fulfilment; it is a psalm ‘of ecstasy’ as commemorating the aberration into which he strayed when he committed adul- tery with the wife of Uriah and killed him, because they interpret ‘ecstasy’ as aberration from a straight course. It was uttered at the time he was being persecuted by his son Absalom. The words of the psalm are no less suited to each of us, when we understand Absalom and Achitophel and such enemies as the devil and the other demons and take the rest accordingly.

2α In you, O Lord, I have hoped, may I not be put to shame to the age. This has the same import as, O my God, in you I trust, may I not be put to shame to the age. Look therefore at the exposition of this in the second verse of the twenty fourth psalm.

2β In your justice deliver me and rescue me. Even though I am unworthy of help, yet deliver me on account of your justice, which condemns parricides and quite simply all wrong-doers. ‘Deliver me’ and ‘rescue me’ are the same, and clearly mean from death and ambush. 13α: Seek also in the one hundred and seventh psalm the verse, In my glory I shall sing and praise with psaltery [Ps 107.2].

3α Incline your ear to me. We spoke about the inclining of the divine ear in the sixteenth psalm at the verse: Incline your ear to me, and hearken to what I say.

3β Make haste to rescue me. Do not simply rescue, but do so quickly.

3γ Become for me as a God who defends. The phrase ‘as a God who defends’ means simply ‘a God who defends’, for this also is an idiom of ancient Scripture, or else be for me as this and that. And, of course, he was his God, but he seeks for him to be not simply his God, but a God who defends him in time of distress.

3δ And as a house of refuge to save me. In order to save me in the time of my flight, as I flee to you as to some impregnable fortress.

4α For you are my stronghold and my refuge. Because you have become for me both of the things I ask for, and I have experienced help from you on previous occasions.

4β And for the sake of your name you will lead me and sustain me. And I trust that even if not on account of my virtue, but rather on account of your name – for you are called ‘merciful’ – you will lead me to a place of life, leading me out of danger, and you will sustain me, being pressed by lack of necessities. Or else, ‘of your name’ in the sense of ‘you’, by way of circumlocution.

5α You will pluck me from this snare that they have hidden for me. ‘Snare’ is what he now calls the advice that Achitophel gave to Absalom, suggesting he encircle David in a place from which he could not escape. It is a ‘snare’ as capturing the one who falls into it and was ‘hidden for him’ on account of the stealth, for every snare is hidden. You may also understand ‘snare’ differently as the ever active scheming of the demons.

5β For you, O Lord, are my defender.

Again he attributes his help to God alone, on the one hand by way of thanksgiving as hav- ing benefited from his protection in the past, and on the other hand summoning him to pity through the insistence of his speech, by confirming that he has no other helper worthy of note.

6α Into your hands I shall commit my spirit. To your power I shall now entrust my soul, that is, myself, having confidence in nothing else. ‘God’s hands’ is what he calls his strength, for power is in the hands.

6β You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth. For many times you have saved me, from Goliath, from Saul and from other dangers. Or else he is prophesying about his salvation. ‘God of truth’ in the sense of ‘true God’ as we explained previously at the sixth verse of the twenty-eighth psalm.

7α You have hated those who maintain vanities to no end. You have turned away from those who keep vain purposes and do not repent of them, but trust in them, such as were those around Absalom. The words ‘to no end’ are added in the sense of ‘uselessly’ and ‘superfluously’ because of their failure to achieve their aim.

7β But I have hoped in the Lord. And not in villainies as they do.

8α I shall rejoice and be glad in your mercy. Through the tautology he wishes to present the surpassing excellence of the future de- light; or else seek for the difference between the two words in the third verse of the ninth psalm. In the mercy that you have shown to me, who am worthy of mercy on account of what I have suffered. [Ps 13.7β]

8β For you have looked upon my humility. Humility sometimes denotes lack of arrogance and sometimes misery and distress as now. I am persuaded, he says, that you have looked upon the crushing humiliation that I am under- going at the hands of those persecuting me, for The eyes of the Lord are upon the just.

8γ You have saved my soul from constraints.

He foretells his salvation, presenting it as if having already happened in accordance with prophetic custom, or else he is recalling earlier help. ‘From constraints’, from difficulties and dangers. By the soul he denoted his whole self. Sometimes the person is signified by the soul, as in the book of Leviticus, And every soul that eats a carcass or what has been torn by wild animals, and so on, and sometimes by the flesh, as in, To you all flesh will come.

9α And you have not enclosed me in the hands of my enemies. This is clear.

9β You have set my feet in an open space. In ‘an open space’, that is, in an expanse of freedom from the narrow constraint of the enemies’ encirclement.

10α Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am afflicted. Again he reverts to his former supplication, expediting his salvation through the extended piteous appeal.

10β In rage my eye has been troubled. In your rage, that is, for if you had not been enraged on account of my previous errors, I would not have been distressed in this way, and so my eye has been troubled by constant weeping. Symmachus had ‘clouded’ for ‘troubled’.

10γ My soul and my belly. The one from being sorely anguished and wearied, the other from not accepting food. It can also be understood in an anagogical sense, with the eye being the mind, as we said in the sixth psalm, and the soul being the hopes that revive the faint-hearted, and the belly being the memory-storing part of the soul, in which rational nourishment is stored up.

11α For my life has wasted away in pain, and my years in groans. ‘Have mercy on me’ is also to be understood here, because, he says, my life has wasted away from my intense pain and so have my years, namely, the days of my life, from my bitter groaning. The same is signified by both phrases.

It is an idiom of ancient Scripture to say of extreme suffering that I have died, on account, that is, of the infirmity of the bodily powers.

11β My strength has grown weak in penury. Penury here is to be understood as that arising from want of food, and this indeed is what the story described.

11γ And my bones have been troubled. They have been dislocated from the firmness they once had, unable to hold me together as before. Once again strength may be understood as the courage of the soul and in relation to the soul you may say penury is that arising from divine abandonment, and bones are steadfast thoughts.

12α Among all my enemies I have become an object of reproach. Among all, for all; for they reproach me with cowardice as taking flight and as defeated on account of my sins.

12β And for my neighbours most strongly. And for those nations neighbouring on my kingdom I have most particularly become an object of reproach; for whereas in earlier times they envied me on account of my prosperity, they now freely mock my distress and misfortune.

12γ And an object of fear to my acquaintances. Fearing they will be in danger on account of their association with me.

12δ Those sighting me have fled away from me. They would turn away from me so as not to arouse suspicion that they are connected with me and thereby suffer a ruinous fate.

13α I have been forgotten from the heart like a dead man. I have been forgotten from the heart of my friends, that is, I have been lost from memory as already dead on account of the inescapable nature of my destruction, or else just as a dead man is cast into oblivion, so am I, with my friends fearing the suspicion.

13β I have become like a lost vessel. Just as a household vessel, when preserved, seems useful, but when lost, it is forgotten, and so indeed am I.

14α For I have heard the invective of many of those dwelling round about. Here, too, ‘have mercy’ is to be understood, because with my own ears I have heard invec- tive from many, one of whom was Shimei, reviling and slandering David as he fled.

14β Even as they gathered together against me, they laid plans to take my soul. My enemies having gathered together plotted against me so as to take away my soul from my body, for the ‘against me’ now indicates the body. He is speaking about the plan that Achitophel proposed, for he would learn everything through the priests Sadok and Abiathar, as the book of Kingdoms tells.

15α But I, O Lord, have hoped in you. They do thus, but I trust in you alone.

15β I have said, You are my God. You are the one with authority over me, for this is what ‘God’ now signifies, and so man- age all things concerning me as you so will.

16α In your hands are my lots. My ‘lots’, the decisions concerning my death and my life, or concerning my misfortune or good fortune, lie in your power, for ‘hands’ here are to be understood in this sense, for The Lord brings death and engenders life, he humbles and exalts, so that according as you will I 1Rg 2.6, 7 shall either live having triumphed or I shall die having been defeated.

16β Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who are pursuing me. I know that you do not wish my death as being most sacrilegious, for it is my son who is pressing for it. Not only were enemies those who deposed him from the throne, but also when he was fleeing they pursued him closely.

17α Show forth your face upon your servant.

‘Show forth’ in the sense of ‘turn back’, for in not helping me you seem to turn away your face on account of the ugliness of my sins. ‘Face’ is what he calls his oversight and familiar affection.

17β Save me in your mercy. If not on my account, then on account of your mercy, for you have said in the book of Leviticus, I am merciful.

18α O Lord, may I not be put to shame, for I have called on you. This is like the phrase in the twenty fourth psalm, May I not be put to shame, for I have hoped in you.

18β May the impious be shamed and brought down to Hades. ‘Impious’ is what he calls Achitophel as not respecting God’s laws against parricides when 2Rg 16.21, inciting son against father. 17.1 Some say that the present words have the form of a curse, but have the force of a proph- ecy, for he foretold what he would suffer, for he was shamed when the advice of Chousi was [Hom Od. preferred and he was destroyed, having ‘fastened a noose’. 11.277-8]

19 Let deceitful lips become speechless, lips that speak lawlessness against the just man with pride and disparagement. ‘Deceitful lips’ are those of the same Achitophel, as having concealed their long-standing guile until then, and his lips indeed became speechless when he was strangled not long after. He calls himself a ‘just man’ as having wronged neither Absalom nor Achitophel nor any of those with them. He names Achitophel’s advice ‘lawlessness’, for it was lawless in inciting a son against his father, and it was ‘with pride’ for he boasted of being able throughout that night to fall on and slay David, as the book of Kingdoms told, and ‘with disparagement’ because he insulted him.

20α How great is the magnitude of your goodness, O Lord, that which you have hidden for those who fear you. ‘How’ is in the sense of ‘very’. He is reflecting on God’s forbearance at certain times and his vengeance at other times, and he says that very great is your goodness, which you have hidden for a time from your servants, thereby exercising their patience by your continued postponement.

20β Which you have brought about for those who hope in you before the sons of men. 18β: He calls forth divine wrath against those making war on him for many reasons: one is so as for them to be made better, for it is written, Strike impure silver and it will be purified [Prov 25.4], another is so that having been chastised here they may be delivered from eternal punishments there, a third is so that others may be brought to their senses through them, for it is written, A knavish man on seeing a fool being chastised is mightily instructed [Prov 22.3], a fourth is so that life is ridded of infectious evil, a fifth so that others, terrified by the stripes brought on such people, may not attack him, and a sixth so that people will not say, There is no salvation for him in his God [Ps 3.3α].

You have brought your goodness to fulfilment and made it evident to those who hope in you, when you wished, and before many people, so that they may learn that you defend your own. About the ‘sons of men’ we have spoken earlier in the third verse of the fourth psalm.

21α You will hide them away in the secret hiding of your face. He confesses the manifold help of God, how he extricates those who fear him from every danger, for, he says, you will hide away those who are being sought after by enemies in your secret hiding, that is, your secret hiding place, for ‘of your face’ is a circumlocution for ‘you’.

21β From the tumult of men you will shelter them in a tent. At a time of rebellious tumult you will shelter them in a tent of your protection, or like a tent.

21γ From the gainsaying of tongues. ‘You will shelter them’ is to be understood, at a time of gainsaying by the people, for by the ‘tongues’ he signified those speaking; ‘gainsaying’ is the disobedience of the subjects.

22 The Lord is to be blessed, for he has made his mercy wondrous in a city of enclosure. A wall is an enclosure and a city of enclosure is a city that is walled around. He is saying therefore that God is to be praised because he made his mercy to be admired in me, a fortified city, for like such a city I shall be impregnable through his guardianship.

23α But in my ecstasy I said, I have been cast away from the face of your eyes. Ecstasy, as we said previously, is what he calls the aberration from the straight way of the divine commandments; when, he says, I transgressed by adultery and murder, having repent- ed, I said that from now on I have been cast away from the manifestation of your oversight.

23β On this account you have heard the voice of my entreaty, even as I cried to you. On account of my repentance and contrition you heard me, when I cried aloud to you. For I am convinced of this and you will bestow help.

24α Love the Lord, all you his devoted servants. From the things whereby he himself sensed the divine turning of the scale, he urges the

devoted servants, or in other words, the virtuous, to love the Lord, not simply, but from all their heart. For he declared this through what follows, saying:

24β For the Lord seeks out truths. True loving dispositions towards him.

24γ And he repays those who display arrogance to excess. This is on account of Achitophel, as we have said. Ps 30. 19 With those who simply display pride he has forbearance, but those who do so to excess before long he repays them for this with punishment.

25 Take courage and let your heart be strong, all you who hope in the Lord. For he will undoubtedly help and will not overlook, for those who trust in him will surely not be shamed. He addressed the same words to himself at the end of the twenty-sixth psalm. Ps 26. 14β

31 Psalm 31

1α A psalm belonging to David; of understanding. Because he wrote these things having been filled with understanding, or because here un- derstanding is required on the part of the reader on account of the depth of the meanings, or because he is instilling understanding into the readers, for he says, Do not become like a horse and mule in which there is no understanding. He spoke the present psalm also after his adultery and the murder of Uriah. For since that time having fallen into various misfortunes he composed various psalms commemorating that sin. The psalm is fitting for us also when understood in due manner.

1β Blessed are those whose lawless acts have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered over. Having toiled much in repentance after his sin, he calls blessed those who without pain are washed of their crimes, alluding thereby to the baptized. Since some of those are from the nations and others from among the circumcised, he said ‘lawless acts’ for those from the nations to whom a law had not been given, and ‘sin’ for those from among the circumcised, who were under the law, for sin is a breach of law.

2α Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will reckon no sin.

To whom he will not attribute, he will not account, on account of its having been re- moved by the bath of regeneration. ‘Sin’ he now used indifferently for any reproachful act. Some take the above two verses indifferently in parallel, saying both mean the same.

2β And in whose mouth there is no guile. And who neither after baptism has proved false to his covenants with God. ‘Guile’ now is to be understood as falsehood. For the person who is being baptized promises to renounce the works of the demon and embrace the commandments of Christ.

3α For I have fallen silent. Blessed are these, for I, having grown weary in mourning, have fallen silent.

3β My bones have grown old from my crying out all day long. This is the reason for his silence. By his bones he indicated his strength, for the bones support the animal. ‘They have grown old’ in the sense of ‘they grown weak’, for what is old is weak; my strength, he says, has grown weak. ‘All day long’ in the sense of ‘continually’. For as often as he would fall into some trial he would lament that sin, in the belief that the malaise of his life had derived therefrom. Since death was the punishment for both adultery and murder, he was on the one hand released from this penalty through the prophet Nathan on confessing that he had sinned, when Nathan said, You shall not die, on the other hand, in spite of this, dire misfortunes to his household were threatened, having which before his eyes he would be deeply anguished.

4α For day and night your hand has weighed heavily on me. This in turn is the reason for his crying out. The ‘hand’ here is the punitive force, for one chastises with the hand; ‘has weighed heavily’ is in the sense of ‘has been brought down heav- ily’ and ‘day and night’ in the sense of ‘continually’.

4β I have revolved into misery since a thorn was planted in me. ‘Thorn’ is what he calls his sin, both as stabbed in from outside contrary to nature and also as pricking and paining. This having been planted in me, my happiness has revolved into misery.

5α I acknowledged my lawlessness and did not cover my sin. So that he would not appear to be complaining peevishly, he changed the direction of his

speech and tells how he found clemency. For with Nathan having dramatized my transgres- sion in the person of another and then adding, You are the one about whom these things are told, I acknowledged my own transgression and did not deny it, for this is what ‘I did not cover’ indicates. ‘Lawlessness’ here you will understand as ‘transgression’ and this in turn he called a ‘sin’.

5β I said, ‘Against myself I will openly confess my transgression to the Lord’. Realizing that I was trapped in inescapable condemnation, I said to myself, I shall do this; for at once he confessed, saying, I have sinned against the Lord.

5γ And you acquitted the impiety of my heart. Through the prophet Nathan who said forthwith, The Lord has taken away your fault. ‘Impiety of the heart’ is what he calls his sin, his heart not having respected the laws about adultery and murder. ‘You acquitted’, in the sense of, ‘you forgave’. Some are puzzled about why if he was forgiven his sin does he say that God’s punishing power has weighed heavily upon him. And we reply that when David himself, directing the trial enacted by Nathan, decided that the person guilty of such a crime was subject to both death and reparation, he was forthwith forgiven the death penalty on account of his fervent and heart-felt confession, but the reparation was demanded through the ensuing misfortunes in accordance with his own verdict, so that he would not, by being completely and swiftly exonerated, easily forget and fall again.

6α For this every devout man will pray to you in due time. ‘For this’ is in the sense of, moved by this sin that was forgiven me, every god-fearing person will entreat you, for on learning that having confessed I was at once forgiven, they will emulate me in time of repentance. He called this time ‘due’ as convenient and fitting. And this will be a pattern for the penitent, for the person who is not devout will not repent. This can be interpreted in a different way, namely, that he is prophesying about the believ- ers who in due time, that is, the time after the Gospel preaching, using the psalms about his sin, will appear to be praying for this sin.

6β Except in a flood of many waters they will not come near him. ‘Except’ we understand in the sense of the conjunction ‘and’, so that the meaning is this: and in a flood of temptations – ‘waters’ are to be thought of as such, as in, Deliver me and rescue me from many waters – these waters will not come near him, namely, the person who has thus confessed and been forgiven. By ‘coming near’ he alluded to touching and biting.

Or in a different way ‘flood’ may be understood as baptism through waters, over-flooding and washing away sin; ‘of many waters’ by the quality and power of the Spirit and not by the quantity of the streams, for thus we talk of ‘much wind’ as a strong wind. He will pray to you, he says, except in baptism they will not come near him, that is, sins will not come near, being overwhelmed and eradicated. 7α You are my refuge from the affliction encompassing me. For I flee from affliction towards you as towards gladness. 7β My transport of joy, redeem me from those who have encircled me. The exclamation is from the heart, O my joy! Deliver me from the temptations that have encircled me in which I am caught up, or from my enemies, visible and invisible. 7γ Inter-psalm 8α I shall bring you to understanding and walk with you [instruct you] on this way that that you will tread. The ‘inter-psalm’ that is inserted here indicates a change in the train of discourse, and in- § 61 deed the following words are spoken by God through a voice audible to prophets, responding that I shall bring you to understanding as to how you will prevail and I shall accompany you on the path of war before you (βιβῶ is from βαίνω ‘to walk’). The syntax is indifferent here also [‘you’ in the accusative instead of ‘with you’ in the dative case]. 8β I shall make my eyes rest upon you. I shall not look upon you only, but I shall do so unswervingly like those who are guarding someone in battle and have their eyes fixed on him so that if the person is in danger they may help. We have said many times that Scripture formulates divine things from human disposi- tions, out of condescension for the weakness of the listeners. 9α Do not become like a horse and a mule in which there is no understanding. In what follows David himself once again exhorts on the basis of what he suffered, saying, Do not become obsessed by females like a horse and on this account sterile towards virtue like the mule, which animals have no understanding of better and worse, as not being en- dowed with reason as we are. 9β With bridle and bit may you pinch the jaws of those who do not come near you. Having mentioned horse and mule he appropriately followed with mention of the curb, impre- cating curses on those who through their likeness to these dumb beasts become far from God: May you compress and tame and squeeze the jaws of those who do not approach you through virtue. 9α: Like a horse in their neighing for pleasures [ Jer 5.8] and like a mule in their neither conceiving any seed of virtue nor bearing its fruit, for the one is an activation of evil and the other an absence of virtue.

10α Many are the scourges of the sinner. I say these things, he asserts, knowing from my own experience that many chastisements fall in succession on the sinner.

10β But mercy will encircle the one who hopes in the Lord. If after the scourges he transfers all his hope to God he will be shown mercy on every side.

11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O you just, and boast loudly, all you who are upright in heart. Having made exhortation towards the weaker, he now turns to the stronger, whom he also calls ‘just’ on account of their living in a just manner, and ‘upright’ on account of the upright- ness of their life, and he says, be glad and rejoice and boast loudly, not for your virtues, for they are very uncertain if they are not guarded by God, but in the Lord alone who helps and shelters, for I trusting in virtue slipped and fell. We have spoken earlier of a distinction between ‘gladness’ and ‘rejoicing’ at the end of the exposition of the thirteenth psalm; or else they mean the same in parallel. The phrase ‘in the Lord’ uses the accusative case for the dative indifferently.

32 Psalm 32

1α A psalm belonging to David; without superscription among the Hebrews. This psalm is without superscription among the Hebrews. It seems to have been com- posed in regard to the events at the time of Hezekiah, exhorting the worthy to hymn God, who had invisibly destroyed the Assyrians. It may also be fitting for ourselves.

1β Rejoice in the Lord, O you just. What ‘rejoicing’ is we have already said; the ‘just’ is what he calls the virtuous, whom he summons to rejoice in Christ alone, the helper and giver of victory, and not in anything else, for neither strength, nor army, nor wealth, nor fortification was of benefit.

1γ Praise is fitting for those straight heart. Through the imperative ‘rejoice’ he signified ‘praise’, for a person who rejoices in some- thing will also certainly praise it. Since he attributed rejoicing and praise to the virtuous alone, he gives the reason, saying, that the praise of God befits those who live aright. As it is written, A song of praise is not good in the mouth of a sinner, and a crooked foot does not fit in a straight shoe. For the Lord our God is straight, and his face has looked on straight judgements. The devil, on the contrary, is twisted like a snake and takes pleasure in those who are similarly crooked.

2 Make confession to the Lord with the cithara, sing to him with the ten-stringed psaltery. For those of that time it was the custom to hymn God with the cithara and psaltery and with other musical instruments as we clearly set out in the preamble to the present book when we explained also the way in which the psaltery differed from the other instruments. § 68-70 We need also to give an anagogical interpretation. Understand the cithara as the body on account of the body having been fashioned togeth- er for us from below. For Basil the Great says that on the cithara and lyre the copper resonates PG29.213B to the plectrum from below. Make confession therefore, that is, give thanks to God, first through the body, you who have been strangely delivered from the siege of the intelligible Assyrian, namely, fast, weep, lie on the ground, sing and do all that is of practical virtue, offering these as gifts of thanksgiving. Take the psaltery as the mind, for just as on the musical psalter there were stretched ten strings and the striking point for the notes was at the top as we explained in detail in the aforementioned preamble, so also on the mind are lain ten commandments of the law, which were sounded from above by God; by keeping these commandments one sings through their harmony an intelligible melody to God. Thus from the cithara proceed to the psaltery and sing intelligibly through contemplative virtue.

3α Sing to him a new song. In a historical sense, sing a fresh song for a recently worked marvel; in an anagogical sense, the Christian songs are to be understood, namely, those that the believers have written to Christ, for these are new in relation to the songs of the ancient lawgiving.

3β Sing well to him with ululation. Ululation is the collective shout of a body of fighters, heartening themselves against ad- versaries. Through the ululation he exhorts to take courage, saying, sing with ululating voice, that is, a voice of confidence, the alarmed enemies having already been routed. ‘Well’ is in the sense of ‘undistractedly’ and ‘whole-heartedly’.

4 For the word of the Lord is straight and all his works are in faith. For, he says, the word that he made known through the prophet Isaiah about the raising of the siege is correct. And, see, the works that he did against the Assyrians are trustworthy, confirming the word. Or else all his works in general are ‘in faith’, that is, they move the person who beholds them to faith in the creator God; for example, now, to ignore the rest, the delicately formed sting of the bee, pipe-formed so as to infuse the venom through it, is instructive that such extreme delicacy is not hollowed out on its own but by divine power. In a different way again, the Saviour’s word of the New Covenant is straight, having noth- ing crooked or insoluble as do the things of the Old Covenant. Furthermore, all the works he did while living in the flesh, make trustworthy his word, being in concord with it, and they themselves are trustworthy as true and incontrovertible. Or else the Word is the Son himself, who is straight, as an unerring way and as truth, for he said, I am the way and the truth. And all the signs that he worked, he worked for the faith of those who beheld, so that they might believe in him. 5α The Lord loves mercy and judgement. Observe how prior to judgement he loves mercy, and so with sinners he awaits first their repentance, which is a mark of mercy, then when they remain incurable, he punishes, which is a mark of judgement. Or else that he mixes his every judgement with mercy, for If you will note lawless acts, O Lord, O Lord, who will endure? Or else he loves mercy for those who have been corrected and judgement for those who are irremediable. Or else, mercy in the present age, for he says, I did not come to judge the world, and judgement in the future age. Similar to this is, I shall sing mercy and judgement to you, O Lord; ‘I shall sing’ in the sense of ‘I shall make mercy and judgement an ode and hymn to you’, namely, in showing mercy you judge, in the manner we have said; both mercy is mixed with judgement and judgement with mercy, so that neither the mercy alone would produce slackness, nor the judgement despair. The words are understood in regard to the situation of Hezekiah in that having shown mercy on the besieged city of Jerusalem, he condemned the Assyrians who were wronging it. 5β The earth is full of the Lord’s mercy. For he shows mercy on all, even those who deny God, otherwise he would not permit them to live, except that on those who believe he shows mercy to a greater extent, and to a lesser extent on the others. Or else understand the Lord’s mercy as the preaching of the Gospel which is full of mercy and is bestowed out of the mercifulness of the one who created us, with which the whole earth has been filled through the teaching of the Apostles. He then moves his discourse to praise, telling of God’s wonders and he says:

6 By the word of the Lord the heavens have been established, and by the spirit of his mouth all their power. On the one hand, in the obvious sense, he is saying the same thing in parallel, for God said about each, Let it be, and it was so. And the word indeed is a spirit of the mouth, striking the Gen 1.1, 6 air; such as is the breath of mouth striking the air, such also is the word. Similarly establishing and power are the same; this may also be interpreted as their incorruptibility and well toned nature. On the other hand, in a higher sense, David is here making a theological statement about the holy Trinity, calling the Father ‘Lord’ and the Son ‘Word’ and the holy Spirit ‘Spirit’. He said ‘of the mouth’ because the Spirit is of the same essence with the Word projected and not something created from without. The heavenly powers of angels are the ‘powers of the heavens’. For it was not separately that the Son created mankind and the Spirit the angels, but the Son brought forth everything, for it is written, Through him all things came to be. The holy Spirit sanctified the angels on their creation; hence from the very beginning they are difficult to dislocate towards evil, having been hardened by sanctification as if by some tempering. The Apostles might also be understood as heavens, as being heavenly-minded and above earthly things. By the word of the Saviour’s teaching they became firm in faith and in the face of afflictions and all their power came by the word of his mouth. This indeed is understood as implied, for it is written, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’; ‘their power’ is the power through the signs they worked.

7α Gathering waters of the sea as if a flask. The word ‘into’ is missing, so that it would be ‘as if into a flask’; gathering, he says, the waters of the sea into the hollows of the earth as if into a flask. Or ‘as if a flask’ in the sense of ‘like a flask’, being swollen up by the force of the wind and contracted by its absence. Or else ‘flask’ is what he calls the fluid in the flask, using the container to denote what is contained, namely, gathering the waters of the sea as the fluid in a flask is held together and not scattered on the earth, the waters being held together by your decree, just as the fluid is held together by the bond of the flask. Some say that the words are about the vapors from the sea which being borne up a little, come together and form a shape like a flask and become clouds.

7β Placing the depths in treasuries. The depths of the waters is what he calls ‘depths’, (the ‘abyss’ [ἄβυσσος] into which one cannot enter [βύεται]). The treasuries of the depths are the hollows of the earth from which springs rise up and rivers flow.

Or else treasuries are the place above the firmament on which in the beginning God placed half of the waters; they are ‘treasuries’ on account of their abundance and being hid- den and being opened and closed at need, for these are the characteristics of a treasury. I myself adapt the verse to the Apostles who became treasuries and guardians of the depths, namely, of the deepest mysteries of the faith.

8α Let all the earth fear the Lord. He often calls the people ‘earth’ as now, either on account of having been fashioned from earth or on account of dwelling on the earth. Having displayed the power of the creator from the magnificence of the created things, he urges to fear and reverence him as God alone. Or else he is referring now to those who think only of earthly things (this meaning is found in many places in Scripture), whom he summons to fear God and keep his commandments.

8β And from him let all the inhabitants of the world be shaken. And from fear of him let the people be filled with trembling, for he is great and terrible. Basil the Great took the verse in a different way: ‘from him’ in the sense of ‘as he wills’ and PG29.337C ‘let them be shaken’ in the sense of ‘let them be moved’, namely, let their movements of body and mind be godly, cleaving to divine fear. I myself take the verse also in relation to Christ, for from his words and deeds all were shaken, some moved to faith, others thrown into confusion.

9α For he spoke and they came to be. The verse shows the reasonableness of the fear. He is, after all, he says, their creator. He said, ‘Let it be’, and whatever straightway came to be.

9β He gave the command and they were created. The same by way of parallelism; or else ‘he gave the command’ is a clarification of the previous ‘he spoke’; he not only spoke but he commanded as all-powerful. Or else ‘he spoke and they came to be’ is to attributed to the simple creation of mankind, while ‘he gave the command and they were created’ is to be attributed to the rebirth through the preaching, for he commanded the Apostles, Go and make disciples of all nations, and so on, and because the faithful are called a new creation.

10 The Lord scatters the purposes of the nations; he annuls the thoughts of peoples and annuls the purposes of princes. These words also can be understood in various ways: about the Assyrians who invested

Jerusalem, about those who crucified the Lord, and about those tyrannizing the Apostles and martyrs. In relation to the Assyrians, ‘nations’ is what he calls the Assyrians themselves, various nations having joined together in their expedition against Jerusalem; ‘peoples’ is what he calls the Hebrews (for some of them were thinking that it was necessary to hand themselves over to the enemies on account of the duress), and ‘princes’ what he calls the generals of the besiegers. And in relation to those who crucified the Lord you will learn the difference by reading the exposition of the second psalm. In relation to the tyrants, ‘nations’ are the various races in different cities, ‘peoples’, the Hebrews, ‘princes’ the kings and rulers.

11α But the purpose of the Lord remains to the age. The Lord’s purpose is the gospel preaching, purposing for all believers to be saved through it, which preaching remains invincible until the age to come.

11β The thoughts of his heart are to generation and generation. Just as above he mentioned purposes and thoughts, so he does again now. A ‘purpose’ is an intention that seems good, a ‘thought’ is a simple inward desire. The ancients were ac- customed to say ‘to generation and generation’ for ‘always’, namely, to every generation in succession. ‘God’s heart’ is used in a human manner for God’s will. The import of the words is this: what God purposes remains eternally, and not this only, but also what he desires, for the conception, he says, was made deed. There is also another interpretation: the thoughts of God’s heart are the Old and New Covenants and generation and generation that of the Jews and that of the Christians; the one remains for the former, the other for the latter. We can take the words simply as about the visible or invisible enemies scheming against us, for the Lord scatters their purposes and what he purposes he does for our salvation.

12α Blessed the nation, whose God is the Lord. Blessed the nation ruled and managed by God himself; this may be interpreted as the nation of the Christians alone to whom the Saviour promised saying, And see, I am with you all the days, even to the consummation of the age.

12β The people whom he has chosen as an inheritance for himself. We are these things - a ‘nation’ as having been gathered from the nations and a ‘people’ as having been brought in in place of the rejected people. And he chose us as an inheritance,

in accordance with, I shall give you the nations as your inheritance. And we are blessed on account of the enjoyment of the blessings prepared.

13α The Lord has looked down from heaven. This is found also in the thirteenth psalm, From heaven the Lord has stooped down on the sons of men, and look there for the exposition.

13β He has seen all the sons of men. For all live under heaven and so no one escapes notice.

14α From his ready dwelling. Which is prepared for seeing all things easily.

14β He has looked down on all those inhabiting the earth. By the repetition of the words ‘he has looked down’ he seeks to instil fear in the readers as not escaping notice in whatever they do.

15α He who has fashioned their hearts all alone. This is even more awesome, for if he has made them then he certainly knows their move- ments. It is necessary therefore to fear if not only in our actions do we not escape notice, but not even in thinking. ‘All alone’ in the sense of set alone and apart from evil and from entanglement with the passions. Or else ‘all alone’ in the sense of separated from the hearts of other animals as ra- tional.

15β Who has understanding for all their works. This also is very great, for he requires no sensory perception to understand what is done, said or thought, but simply comprehends in everything.

16 A king is not saved by great power and a giant will not be saved by the greatness of his strength. On account of great power, namely, power in his multitude of soldiers and horses and weaponry and wealth; and a giant, namely, one of great bodily force; so that if any of these are saved, they are saved by the grace of God and not thanks to these attributes.

17α A horse is false for salvation. Uncertain, for it is unclear if it will save the rider.

17β In the greatness of its power it will not be saved. The horse, that is; for Sennacherib though abundant in all these things gained nothing thereby, being utterly and completely destroyed.

18 See, the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear him, those who hope in his mercy. This is about all such people, but primarily about those around Hezekiah, for they were such. Then he gives the reason for the divine oversight.

19α To deliver their souls from death. The death expected by day, as we said previously, for In the evening weeping will enter to lodge, as is written.

19β And sustain them in famine. The famine arising from the siege, all which came about as the book of Kingdoms ex- pounds. 4Rg 18-19

20α But our soul will wait patiently for the Lord. And again in time of trials we shall wait patiently for the sake of the Lord, for on his ac- count we are hated by the heterodox. Then he presented the reason for the patience.

20β For he is our helper and defender. For we have been assured by many things that he will help us.

21α For in him our heart will be glad. We shall wait patiently, he says, because the Lord is our helper and because through him we shall be glad in victory.

21β And we have hoped in his holy name.

By way of circumlocution, in the sense of ‘in him’, or else in the acclamation of his name which is able to rout enemies. This may also be understood about Christians who hope to triumph in naming the name of Christ, for this name merely by being named has worked and continues to work many marvels, as is written, In the name of Christ arise, and suchlike. 22 May your mercy, O Lord, be upon us as we have hoped in you. May it be as we have hoped; we have hoped fervently and so may it be very much. 33 Psalm 33 1 A psalm belonging to David when he changed his face before Abimelech and he dismissed him and he went away When David was fleeing from Saul he came to Nomba, the city of the priests, and en- countering Abimelech, the most honourable of them, he pretended to have been sent by Saul on some mission, and asked for loaves of bread and a sword; on finding no others, he took the loaves of presentation and both he and those with him ate them, on account of the constraint of their hunger, contrary to the law, for they were reserved for the priests alone. Furthermore, he took Goliath’s spear, preserved there as votive offering to the Lord. And having left, he went to the Philistine Achous, the king of Geth. When those around Achous recognized him and began to whisper, he became afraid and pretended to be mad. He started to behave strangely, beating on the doors and falling down and saliva ran down his beard, and so appearing to be epileptic, he was sent away and escaped from there. Such then is the story. Some call Achimelech ‘Abimelech’, as having two names, and they call the ‘change of the face’ the play acting that took place, for when fleeing he pretended to have been sent on some [1Rg 30.7] mission so that he would not be detected and be informed against. But, even if we accept that Achimelech had two names, the book of Kingdoms records David having changed his face only with Achous and not with Achimelech. Hence Basil the Great says that the name ‘Abimelech’ was a common name for the kings PG29.349 of Geth, just as ‘Caesar’ and ‘Augustus’ used to be common names among the Romans and ‘Pharaoh’ a common name among the Egyptians, and suchlike, so that Achous had the com- mon royal name ‘Abimelech’ and the personal name ‘Achous’. David became afraid of him and having gladly escaped him he sang the following psalm of thanksgiving to God who had given him the good sense so as to be dismissed by enacting madness. It is fitting for everyone who has escaped from danger. 2α I shall bless the Lord at all time. Having now escaped the danger, I shall repay the God who saved me with continuous praise, as continually helping me.

Having learned from this, the great Apostle Paul says, Pray unceasingly, give thanks in everything.

2β His praise will be in my mouth continually. And how, when someone is necessarily busying himself with matters of daily life, either eating or drinking or sleeping, will praise be continually in his mouth? Rather it is clear that there is also an intelligible mouth of the inner man through which he partakes of the food of divine perceptions, about which it is written, I have opened my mouth and drawn in spirit, and, Open wide your mouth and I shall fill it, which mouth can never be hindered from always commemorating God for those wishing to stay vigilant. And in a different way, ‘at all time’, that is, at the fitting time, and ‘continually’, that is, when necessary. One ought then to praise God with the sensible mouth when no compelling business inhibits, and with the intelligible mouth continually, for One must remember God even more than PG36.16B one must breathe. And in the Song of Songs it is written, I am sleeping and my heart is awake.

3α My soul will be praised in the Lord. I shall be praised by people not on account of any virtue of my own, but on account of God, as having God as helper, for as is written, Blessed is he whose helper is the God of Jacob. ‘My soul’, in the sense of ‘I’, by way of circumlocution.

3β Let the meek hear and be glad. Let them hear that I am saved against all expectation. ‘Meek’ is what he calls the long-suf- fering such as he was himself. And let them be glad that God does not overlook such people, but when they are in danger he preserves them through the peril. Let them, he says, have me as an example and let them take courage.

4 Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. He is addressing himself still to the meek and calls on them to likewise magnify and exalt the Lord. As to how one exalts and magnifies God we spoke at the beginning of the twenty- ninth psalm. Then he tells how he was delivered.

5α I sought out the Lord and he heard me. The preposition ‘out’ manifests intensity of seeking. Having been abandoned amid dan- gers, he says, I sedulously sought the Lord to come to my aid and swiftly he heard me.

5β And he delivered me from all my afflictions.

For various afflictions possessed him, that he would be handed over to Saul, that he would be tortured that he would be buffeted and finally would be painfully killed.

6 Come to him and be illuminated and your faces will not be put to shame. Affliction is accustomed to confuse and darken the mind. Therefore, you who are in the darkness of affliction, come to God through seeking him out, as I do, and be illuminated by the joyfulness scattering the mist of affliction and you surely will not be put to shame in your hopes of salvation. In a more anagogical sense the exhortation is about divine baptism: come to the faith of Christ, you who are in the darkness of error, and be illuminated through baptism, bright- ening your soul and cleansing its vision completely and you will not be put to shame, on account of having washed away the causes of shame. ‘Your faces’ in the sense of ‘you’, the part standing for the whole.

7 This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him from all his afflictions. This, demonstratively, that is, I, whom you see. He calls himself poor as wanting in all human assistance, or else on account of the meanness of his race.

8 An angel of the Lord will encamp round those who fear him and will deliver them. He will take up position around each one, surrounding him with a wall. Observe the power of the guardian angel of each life, for being just one he is likened to an entire army. ‘Those who fear the Lord’ is what he calls those who keep the commandments, for Where there is fear, there is keeping of commandments. PG36.344A

9α O taste and see that the Lord is good. Come you also and learn this; ‘taste’ here is what he calls experience. How will you taste? If, as I do, you will cry out from your soul, if you will seek him out whole-heartedly, if you will hope in him unhesitatingly. And in another way he is exhorting to communicate in the body and blood of the Master; those who taste these worthily at once sense the influence and help from God.

9β Blessed is the man who hopes in him. If the one who hopes in man is accursed, on the contrary blessed is the one who hopes in the Lord.

10α Fear the Lord, O all you his saints. He calls ‘saints’ those who are dedicated to God. Fear then, because the fear of God fetters undisciplined impulses, for it is written, Nail down my flesh with your fear. The he presents the profit from fear.

10β For there is nothing wanting for those fear him. Those who have planted divine fear in their soul are not deficient in virtue, with fear constraining them. This can also be interpreted differently, namely, there is nothing wanting for them because they have divine baptism as clothing, the immaculate body and blood as nourishment and the precious Cross as a shield, and, in a word, they enjoy whatever they need.

11 The rich have become poor and gone hungry, but those who seek out the Lord will not be lacking in any good thing. Having said that there will be nothing wanting for them, he confirms his statement de- monstratively. The rich in this life have often become beggars and gone hungry, for material wealth is unstable and not to be trusted. Those who seek out the Lord through divine fear and the path of the commandments, will not be wanting in any good thing, that is, which is laid up for those who have been well-pleasing to him. For they will be wanting very much in human goods as they walk along the narrow and hard-pressed way. The verse also alludes to the Jews who were previously rich in cities and in the great num- bers of their army and in the far-famed temple and the divine law and their converse with God, but who were impoverished of all this because they foolishly killed the one who is rich in mercy and became poor for our sake and they went hungry because they did away with the bread of life, while those from the nations who seek out Christ will increase more and more.

12 Come, O children, listen to me, I shall teach you fear of the Lord. This is the voice of a teacher, for the child is the pupil of the one who is teaching, being forged in virtue and as it were formed. He said ‘fear of the Lord’ in contradistinction to the fear of the demon that the latter induces, about which he says elsewhere, Deliver my soul from fear of the enemy.

13α Who is the man who wishes for life? Saying, ‘Come’, he does not invite all indifferently, but if one wishes life, not this common life that even the dumb beasts live, but the true and eternal life, for the present life is rather

death, about which the Apostle said, Who will deliver me from the body of this death, calling the body ‘death’, or in other words, life in the body. 13β Who desires to see good days. Not the days of this age, for Jacob says, The days of my years are few and grievous, and the great Apostle Paul says, Buying up the time, because the days are grievous. Good days are rather the future age, ‘good’ on account of the unceasing and ineffable joy and ‘days’ on account of being all light. 14α Silence your tongue from evil. From here onwards he sets out the works of divine fear of the elementary kind. He places the tongue first as a slippery member and every ready for every kind of evil, for it executes blasphemies against God and insults against people, it panders to shameful de- sires, it slanders, defames and accuses, it weaves cunning, cheats, deceives, bears false witness and commits perjury, and all in all it is an instrument of every evil. 14β And your lips from speaking guile. Guile is covert evil-doing under the pretext of good. It is to be noted that by saying, Silence your tongue from evil, he included every evil word in general, but now he repeats most especially guile as most grievous on account of its clan- destine and inexorable action – the devil first vomited out this venom when he deceived Eve – and as exceedingly prevalent among people. 15α Turn away from evil and do good. Observe the excellent order. Because speech comes more easily than action, he exhorts first to shun evil speech. Silence your tongue from evil, he says, for speech is a path to action, as the wise say. Then he deters from evil action, saying, Turn away from evil. And thence he leads to good deeds, having first removed the impediments. Just as it is impossible to enjoy health without having been set free from illness, so it is impossible to do good without having distanced oneself from evil. See also that abstinence from evil alone is not enough, but it is also necessary to do good if one is not to desist from evil but not do good. 15β Seek peace and pursue it. 15α: On the one hand, so that you are not punished, and on the other hand so that you may be honoured. In a different way, not to do good is a different kind of evil as the absence of good; such absence is very manifestly evil.

Peace is the crown of all goods, which the Lord left behind as a kind of inheritance to his own disciples, saying, My peace I leave with you. For the one who is at peace with God and with men is above every passion. Do not therefore simply seek it, but do so with the greatest zeal, for this is what the word ‘pursue’ signifies, namely, hunt it down, chasing after its tracks so as to reach and catch it. 16 The eyes of the Lord are upon the just and his ears towards their supplication. The Lord’s eyes are his overseeing faculty and his ears his auditory faculty. He is saying ac- cordingly that God continually watches over the just, delighting in their actions and he hears their supplication as worthy of being heard. Here he calls ‘just’ the virtuous. 17 The face of the Lord is upon evil-doers to expunge their remembrance from the earth. He also sees those who do evil, but not in the way he does for the just. The latter he sees in order to guard them, but the former in order to exact punishment. And indeed each of these, when the time comes, is destroyed from the earth, either this earth or the land of the saved. Let all sinners then be filled with fear, since they do not escape notice in all they do. Or else he calls ‘the face of the Lord’ his appearance at the last judgement when he will look upon them bitterly and austerely. 18 The just have cried out and the Lord has heard them and has delivered them from all their afflictions. The one who is not asking for mean and earthly things, but for great and heavenly things, even if he keeps silent with his tongue, yet with his mind he cries out clearly and distinctly and his cry reaches even to God’s hearing. Where indeed it is heard and he is delivered from all affliction, on the one hand, by being freed from it, and on the other hand, by triumphing over its attack, which also is a redemption, as we have said elsewhere. 19α The Lord is near to those who are crushed in heart. God, on account of his goodness, is near to all; he says indeed, A God who draws near I am. We, on the contrary, on account of our depravity, keep far from him; it is written, See, those who distance themselves from you will perish. The crushed in heart are those who are punctured by remorse at their own sins. For contrition greatly crushes the spirit. 19β And he will save the humble in spirit.

First comes contrition and then humility follows. The humble in spirit, that is, in soul and not in body, which is in form, nor in word, nor from any constraint.

20 Many are the afflictions of the just and the Lord will deliver them from them all. For the Lord allows them to enter the arena of virtue, but he does not permit them to be defeated by the pains, which is a victory, as we have said before. Wherefore he says, In the world you will have affliction, but take courage, and then all the things the Apostle says, We are afflicted in every way, but not kept confined.

21 The Lord is guarding all their bones, not one of them will be crushed. And surely the bones of many martyrs have been crushed, but since man, it is said, is not only the outer man, that is, the body, but also the inner man, that is, the soul, this inner man possesses members homonymous with the members of the body, as in, The commandment of the Lord is far-shining, giving light to the eyes, namely, those of the soul, and, Let him who has ears to hear, hear, and, I have opened my mouth and drawn in spirit, and, You have crushed the teeth of sinners, and, In my belly I am pained, and, The foot of the just man shall surely not stumble, and all suchlike powers of the soul. Accordingly, he is now also calling ‘bones’ the thoughts that support and hold the soul together, just as the bones do the body. The Lord guards such people on account of their being well-pleasing to him. Not one of these will be crushed by the force of sin.

22α The death of sinners is grievous. Painful, full of suffering, for at that time they sense the retribution awaiting them. The death of the just, on the contrary, is blessed, as they sense the joy that will remain with them.

22β And those who hate the just man will err. Those who are mired in sins hate the just man, for if like delights in like, it is evident that it hates what is unlike, and those whose life is dissimilar have contrary dispositions. They will err by adding to their other sins the further sin of hatred towards him. Not only did they not emulate him, but they hated him. Or else ‘they will err’ is to be understood in the sense of ‘they will sin’ or ‘they will place themselves in danger’.

23α The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants. From human and demonic attacks which will be defeated by their patience.

23β And all who hope in him will surely not err. For neither will they sin, being guided by their hope in him, nor will they place their souls in danger. 34 Psalm 34 1α A psalm belonging to David. This psalm also he spoke while still being pursued by Saul and being allowed no place to remain at rest. It is also fitting for all who are being pursued by enemies. In all the psalms one ought to direct the curses against the demons (for they are the ones who spur on the people who attack us), and the reproaches against the people who harbour hostility towards us, but to proclaim all the virtuous actions in the name of David, so as to be moved to emulate them. 1β Pass judgement, O Lord, on those who are wronging me, and wage war on those who are warring against me. First, he says, pass judgement on those around Saul, then wage war on and punish them as evidently unjust. The syntax with the two verbs is indifferent [accusative for dative], follow- ing the habit of the ancient dialect. 2-3α Take up arms and shield and rise to my help, pour out your sword and close off against those pursuing me. Having mentioned war, he appropriately added the types of weaponry, not that God uses such, but, in a human way, striking terror into the wicked by the awe-inspiring rehearsal of the schema of the panoply. For God, of course, his will or word is enough to punish wrong-doers and to save those wronged. ‘Pour out’ in the sense of ‘draw out’, for the sword appears to be poured from the scabbard on account of the smoothness. ‘Close off ’ in the sense of fence them in from the front, so that they are unable to escape the danger from you. 3β Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation’. With your intelligible voice say to my intelligible soul this alone, ‘Do not be afraid, I am your salvation’; the ancient dialect uses εἶπον for εἰπέ [‘say’] like ποίησον [‘do’]. 4α Let those who are seeking my soul be shamed and disgraced. Let them be shamed and disgraced mean the same thing in parallel, which indeed they will suffer when they are unable to capture me. ‘My soul’, in the sense of ‘me’.

4β Let them be turned back in retreat. Empty handed and unsuccessful.

4γ And let those thinking out evils against me be utterly shamed. ‘Let them be utterly shamed’ is an intensification of the previous ‘let them be shamed’; ‘thinking out’ in the sense of ‘planning’, ‘plotting’.

5α Let them become like dust before the face of the wind. Like dust in being scattered as they flee away, for fine dust is scattered before the wind.

5β And an angel of the Lord coercing them. The words ‘let there be’ are missing. Angels indeed are often sent to punish, like the angel that destroyed the first-born of the Egyptians and the one that slew the 185,000 Assyrians.

6α Let their way become darkness and slipping. This underlines the intensity of the curse, for he is uttering the imprecation that as they are fleeing the way for them will become both dark so that they cannot walk rightly and slip- pery so that they are thrown down headlong.

6β And an angel of the Lord pursuing them. And even as they are encountering so many evils, let the coercing angel pursue them still further. What then is likely to befall someone who is helped by neither eye nor foot and at the same time is being hard pressed by a pursuer?

7α Because for nothing they hid for me the destruction of their snare. Symmachus interpreted ‘for nothing’ as ‘for no cause’. Having been in no way harmed by me, he says, they hid for me the death of their snare, because hunters conceal destruction through a trap.

7β In vain they reviled my soul. That is, ‘me’, by way of circumlocution. It is to be noted that in the psalms of David the

figure of circumlocution is very frequent, namely, ‘my soul’, ‘my life’, ‘my face’, ‘your name’, and suchlike. They reviled me, falsely calling me ungrateful and harbouring treachery towards the king. 8α Let a snare come upon him that he knows not. An unexpected misfortune. Upon ‘him’, namely, the one who concealed destruction and the one who reviled him, whether Saul or each of those firing him up against David. 8β And let the trap that he hid apprehend him. And let the net of the trap that he secretly laid against me apprehend him, that is, let his stratagem be turned against him. 8γ And in the snare he will fall in the very one. This signifies the same thing. Having said ‘in the snare’ he added ‘in the very one’, namely, in the one set by him. 9α But my soul will rejoice in the Lord. My enemies having thus been punished, I shall rejoice in the Lord who has justly pun- ished them. 9β It will delight in his salvation. For having destroyed them, he has saved me. 10 All my bones will say, ‘O Lord, Lord, who is like you, delivering the beggar from the hand of those stronger than him, and beggar and poor man from those who are despoiling him?’ All the members in the depths of my body. By this he indicates the all-embracing thanks- giving from the depths of the soul. Or else you will understand bones in relation rather to the soul as thoughts that are firm, supportive and cohesive, as we have often said. ‘Beggar’ is what Ps 6.3β, 30. he calls himself, as a fugitive and as wanting in necessities and set apart on his own. ‘Those 11γ, 33.21 stronger’ are those around Saul, as loaded in riches and military might. By saying ‘beggar’ twice and adding the ‘poor man’ he indicated his exceeding destitution and also using this humble speech to arouse pity. ‘Those who are despoiling’, that is, as far as their hopes are concerned. 11 Unjust witnesses having risen against me, they would ask me what I did not know. Both Saul himself and his flatterers; ‘witnesses’ as testifying against me and ‘unjust’ as lying. They, mocking him, would ask him whether he does not have designs on the throne.

And what they were testifying against him, he did not know, as being innocent. This we can also understand in relation to Christ on account of the false witnesses who asked him whether he has not committed blasphemy as the story in the Gospels tells.

12 They have repaid me with evil for good, and with childlessness for my soul. For after his having destroyed their common enemy Goliath and having defeated the Phil- istines and having expelled Saul’s evil spirit, they then persecuted him. And they also repaid me ‘with childlessness for my soul’, that is, fruitlessness in virtue, in that they planned to kill me and stop my soul bearing fruit in virtues. Or else they repaid me with childlessness for me, by way of circumlocution, so that I shall not live to beget children.

13α But I, even as they were harassing me, would put on sackcloth and humble my soul with fasting. From here he teaches how to resolve misfortunes, for when being slandered he would cause his soul, that is, himself, to languish with sackcloth and fasting, praying to be delivered from the treachery.

13β And my prayer will turn back into my bosom. I shall be heard. This figure is sometimes taken for the person who has not been heard, with the prayer turning back unsuccessful, and sometimes, as in the present case, for the person who has been heard, with the prayer returning successful, and to such an extent as if having been received into the bosom like a precious gift or as having filled the bosom of the supplicant with what he has asked for.

14α As towards a neighbour, as to our own brother, even so would I be amicable. Wishing to present the warmth of his love towards Saul, he employed the names of neigh- bour and brother; for we say primarily that we honour our parents and masters, and that we love our brothers, when we are childless. The syntax of the verb ‘to be amicable towards’ is indifferent [accusative in place of the expected dative].

14β As one mourning and downcast, even so would I humble myself. Knowing that he was deeply envious of me being praised by the crowds, I used to humble myself voluntarily, taking the form of someone in mourning and who is downcast, for the humility of the person who is envied mitigates the envy, just as on the contrary his arrogance increases it.

15α And they rejoiced against me and thronged together. And when I would do these things and was thus, they rejoiced, believing my strength had already ebbed away and they gathered together to plot treachery. 15β Scourges thronged against me and I did not know. Symmachus here called the ‘scourges’ ‘strikers’. He is saying therefore that murderers gath- ered together against me without my knowledge, laying an ambush for me. The story tells clearly about this, when his wife Melchol informed him of this plan and by fleeing he was saved. 15γ They were severed apart and were not moved to contrition. They were scattered, not having found me where they hoped, and yet they were not moved to contrition, nor did they repent. 16 They goaded me, with jeers they jeered at me, they gnashed their teeth against me. Those around Saul, he says, at times goaded me, testing my disposition, at times they mocked me with jesting, deriding me as weak, and then again they became openly savage. Gnashing of teeth occurs when being struck together out of excessive fear or rage they clatter. Now, he says, seething with rage, they rattle their teeth against me, eager to chew up my flesh. 17α O Lord, when will you look on? For in showing forbearance with them you appear not to see these things. When then will you look on and avenge? 17β Restore my soul from their malice. Having freed me from their malice, restore it to its former fearlessness. 17γ From lions my uniquely begotten. Roaring [βρυχάομαι] [cf. gnashing: βρύχω] is said primarily of lions. Accordingly, as hav- ing roared he called them ‘lions’ on account of their savagery and cunning. ‘Uniquely begot- ten’ is what he calls his own soul as we said in the twenty-first psalm.

The imperative ‘restore’ is understood here also.

18α I shall confess you in a mighty assembly. In the same psalm again he said, in a great assembly I shall confess you, and look for the exposition of that phrase.

18β Among a weighty people I shall praise you. For ‘weighty’ Symmachus said ‘multitudinous’. This is an explication of the previous verse.

19 May those who are unjustly hostile towards me not exult over me, those who hate me for nothing and wink their eyes. ‘For nothing’ in the sense of ‘without reason’, for in no way did I wrong them or display anything worthy of hatred. Those ‘who wink their eyes’ is how he refers to the flatterers who would make signs to Saul, ridiculing him in this way, if, when he was present, David said or did anything.

20 For to me they would speak peaceably, and in anger would be devising ruses. They would speak peacefully to me conversing about love, but on account of the anger they kept concealed they would be devising ruses as to how they might secretly drive me into danger.

21α And they opened wide their mouth against me. And afterwards they would openly and unconcealedly accuse me, for the person who is trying to escape notice whispers under his breath with lips drawn together.

21β They said, ‘Good indeed, good indeed! our eyes have seen’. ‘Good indeed, good indeed!’ was an ancient interjection of those attaining the aim for which they were praying, indicating by the reduplication the great pleasure of the matter. Having seen me, he says, fleeing and in distress, they exclaimed the interjection of delight, ‘Good indeed, good indeed!’ which signifies that the matter is well. Then the words ‘our eyes have seen’ are to be read on their own, namely, that they have seen what we were wanting; this latter phrase is missing as thought inwardly. Or else they are to be read conjoined to the interjection: our eyes have seen well, that is, as wished for.

22α You have seen, O Lord.

What I am suffering, that is.

22β Do not keep silence. Be patient no more, for those who wait patiently are accustomed to keep silence.

22γ O Lord, do not keep far from me. For whom there is no other helper.

23α Awake, O Lord, and attend to my judgement. These things are said in a human manner as we have often said. Awake, he says, for in showing forbearance and not helping you appear to be sleeping. The imperative ‘attend’ you will find in the exposition of the fifth psalm.

23β O my God and my Lord, to my cause. Here ‘attend’ is to be understood in relation to this also, and again he called his ‘judge- ment’ his ‘cause’. ‘O my God and my Lord’ and such accumulative phrases are characteristic of intense and whole-hearted entreaty and of fervent desire for God. They also bring about a certain gratification, for it is written, I remembered God and was glad.

24α Give judgement for me, O Lord, according to your justice. Judge my cause, for being just in regard to them, I have been wronged by them.

24β O Lord my God, and may they not rejoice over me. The conjunction is redundant, or else there is a missing emphatic ‘yes’, so that it would be, ‘Yes, O Lord my God’.

25α May they not say in their hearts, ‘Good indeed, good indeed, for our soul’. To be understood along with ‘good indeed’ is the verb ‘it has become’.

25β May they not say, ‘We have swallowed him down’. With the mouth of the sword, for they would say this if they will kill me.

26α May those who rejoice at my ills be at once both shamed and disgraced.

‘May they be shamed and disgraced’ denote the same thing in parallel, just as with the ‘let them rejoice and be glad’ in what follows. They will be shamed when turned back empty handed and unsuccessful. ‘At once’ is in the sense of ‘all together at one time’; ‘my ills’ or in other words, ‘my misfortunes’.

26β Let those who speak boastingly against me be clothed in shame and disgrace. Those who are vaunting themselves over me and insolently prattling that they will treat me harshly.

27α Let those who wish for my justice rejoice and be glad. Those who want my right, and it is my right not to be made war on for no reason, but rather for me to be saved, having done good in countless ways to those now attacking me.

27β And let those who wish for the peace of his servant ever say, ‘Let the Lord be magnified’. They would say this on seeing I had prevailed over those waging war on me. ‘Let him be magnified’ in the sense of ‘let him be believed great by all’.

28α And my tongue will rehearse your justice. If the things I have asked for come about. God’s justice is what he calls his just judgement.

28β All day long your praise. ‘It will rehearse’ is understood in relation to this also. ‘All day long’, in the sense of throughout my life, for at night-time when we are sleeping we do not appear to be living. ‘It will rehearse’ in the sense of it will proclaim, it will have as a continuous task. Thus far and such are the words of the psalm. Readers must not take from this a pretext for cursing one’s enemies, recognizing that David was following the way of life of the law and not that of the Gospel. Christ, teaching more perfect virtue, said, To the ancients it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and bless those who per- secute you. Moreover, David is possibly not cursing, but in the figure of a curse is foretelling what will happen to his enemies. And if he is cursing, this is of the law, as has been said. And besides it is said, Strike impure silver and it will be purified, for he was cursing, not in an embittered way, but out of hatred of evil, so that having been chastised they might escape future judgement, or so that they having suffered, others might become better.

It should be recognized that the greater and more essential parts of the psalm can be taken in relation to Christ against the ungrateful Jews who were persecuting him.

35 Psalm 35

1 Towards fulfilment; belonging to David the Lord’s boy. When David was being pursued by Saul, he took refuge in a cave to sleep; Saul arrived and took up night quarters in it, not knowing that David was hiding there. David rose up at night and came upon him while he was sleeping and, sparing him, he only removed with his sword the flap of his double-folded mantle as proof. Then when day came Saul went out and David, following after, shouted from afar and reproached him for his unjust hostility and proclaimed his own justice, displaying the flap from the double-cloak. Saul, having been put to shame, con- fessed and showed contrition and used words tinged with love towards David, but again he continued to persecute him. Hence David, heavy in heart, composed the present psalm, in the first instance upbraiding Saul, and then holding up to scorn the malice of every guileful person. 1Rg 24 It is inscribed ‘towards fulfilment’ on account of his prophesying in it the destruction of his enemies which came to fulfilment. David is the ‘Lord’s boy’ as we explained previously in the superscription to the seven- teenth psalm.

2α The law-breaker says to sin in himself. The ‘he says’ you will understand in the sense of ‘he thinks’, and the τοῦ in the Greek is redundant so that the meaning is this: the law-breaker thinks he is sinning in himself, that is, in his own conscience alone, with not even God seeing. Or else the law-breaker says in himself, or in other words, he meditates so as to sin. The article τοῦ sometimes has an adverbial force, meaning ‘so as to’, and sometimes is redundant. Saul is a law-breaker as hating his friend and son-in-law.