2β Before his eyes there is no fear of God. Before the eyes of the soul of such a person there is no fear of God, and hence he thinks and meditates on such things, not remembering that he does not escape notice.

3 For he dissimulated before him, [so as] to find his lawlessness and hate it. For, he says, observe what he has done. He spread out deceit before himself, that is, he has acted fraudulently to recognize his sin. The ‘so as’ is redundant here, too. He did not wish to discern his sin and hate it.

4α The words of his mouth are lawlessness and guile.

What he spoke to me about terms of peace was full of lawlessness and guile, as having the venom concealed, for this is at once both lawless and deceitful. And indeed he wanted to make me feel confident and thus be taken while off my guard.

4β He did not wish to understand so as to do good. He did not choose to lay hold of understanding so as to do what is good, namely, to cease from his hostility.

5α He devised lawlessness on his bed. Even when lying in bed he would ponder on wicked matters, for not even at the time of rest would he desist. Through this he represents the excess of his wickedness.

5β He stood by every way not good. He was ready for every evil deed.

5γ And with evil was not offended. And he has not regarded evil as burdensome, that is, he has not shaken it off. 6-7α O Lord, your mercy is in heaven and your truth is to the clouds, your justice is as the moun- tains of God, your judgements a mighty abyss. Just as above he showed the excessiveness of Saul’s wickedness, so here he indicates the magnificence of God’s forbearance and other goodness through these words. O Lord, your mercy is in heaven – ‘in heaven’ in the sense of reaching to heaven, that is, exalted and great. And your truth is to the clouds – ‘to the clouds’ in the sense once again of reaching to the clouds, for clouds go up to heaven. Your justice is as the mountains of God – again through the mountains he alluded to the height and magnitude; ‘the mountains of God’, those made by God. Your judgements are a mighty abyss – your divine designs are of infinite depth and incomprehensible.

7β You will save both men and beasts, O Lord. The verb ‘to save’ is at times used of eternal salvation, as in, The just are saved, and at times of temporal salvation, as now, which signifies simply the giving of life. For being such, he says, you give life not only to humans, but also to irrational animals, for by mention of the ‘beasts’, as more ritually pure, he signified every irrational animal. ‘You will save’ in the sense of ‘you save’, by the use of one tense for another.

Or else ‘men’ are those who live by reason, ‘beasts’ are those people who live unthinkingly. Or ‘men’ are the Jews who have been educated by the law, and ‘beasts’ are the pleasure-loving nations; and ‘you will save’ we shall then retain in a future sense, as by way of prophecy, for you will save them as they come to believe in the preaching of the Gospel.

8α How you have multiplied your mercy, O God! ‘How’ here is an expression of astonishment. For having been astonished at the excessive- ness of God’s goodness and mercy whereby he saves the one and the other, he exclaims that you have greatly multiplied your mercy towards us.

8β And the sons of men will hope in the shelter of your wings. ‘The sons of men’ in the sense of ‘men’, as was said previously in the fourth psalm. He says that those who are truly men, not having falsified the name by wicked actions, will hope in the shelter of your warmth and protection. Or in a different way, this is a prediction about the Christians.

9α They will be intoxicated by the fattiness of your house. ‘Intoxication’ here is what he calls gladness, just as ‘fattiness’ is what he calls wealth. For Wine makes glad the heart of man, and fattiness is an abundance of lard. The verse has this meaning: such people will be gladdened by the wealth of your house. The house of God is the Church of the faithful and its wealth the doctrines of piety which gladden spiritually those who participate in them. Or else the house of the Word of God is the assumed animate flesh in which he dwelt and ‘fattiness’ is the teaching about this which waters souls and fattens and gladdens, so that it is possible to say along with Paul, Who will separate us from the love of Christ?

9β And you will water them with the winter-flowing torrent of your delight. The meaning here is the same again, for having mentioned intoxication, accordingly he spoke generally about drinking. And, he says, you will water them with the river of gladness bestowed by you. The ‘winter-flowing torrent of delight’ is the stream of gladdening teach- ing. It is ‘winter-flowing’ on account of the temporary nature of the teaching from Christ’s own mouth and its mighty force and irresistibility against refutation and being composed of prophetic words. And a winter-flowing torrent is seasonal and forceful and irresistible and brought together from a confluence of waters. It is a ‘delight’ as gladdening and fattening as we have said. Some say the fattiness of the house of the Word of God is the blood that flowed from his immaculate side and the ‘winter-flowing torrent’ the water that was shed along with it. And

indeed they flowed in a time of winter and both intoxicated us, filling us with Bacchic frenzy for salvation, taking us away in ecstasy from the path of our former deception and error and gladdening us.

10α For with you is the source of life. This means that you are the giver of life. And indeed the Saviour says, I am the way and the truth and the life, for he had the upwelling of life within himself and not from outside as did the saints who raised the dead. Or else with you the Father the life-giving Son is inseparable. For, he says, I am in the Father and the Father is in me. He is the source of life, because through Jeremiah he says, They have abandoned me the source of the water of life.

10β In your light we shall see light. This is theology prophesying about the holy Trinity, for we, those who will believe, will come to recognize the holy Spirit through the Son of you the Father. For if God is a light shining with triple brightness, each of the three persons is light. The Son accordingly taught about the holy Spirit, calling it the Paraclete, and equal in power and Jn 14.16, 26; in honour. 15.26 Or else conversely, illumined by the holy Spirit we see the bright rays of the Son, for, it is written, No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’, except in the holy Spirit, and God has revealed to us through his Spirit.

11α Prolong your mercy towards those who know you. Show mercy continually towards those made worthy of knowledge of God; he says this making entreaty.

11β And your justice towards those who are straight in heart. And make constant your just help for those who are upright in both word and deed.

12α Let the foot of pride not come to me. That is, ‘pride’, the part standing for the whole. He is saying, may pride not attach itself to me. Through pride he alluded to all evil, for it is the pinnacle and begetter of all evil.

12β And may a sinner’s hand not rock me.

That is, ‘a sinner’, the part here also standing for the whole. He is speaking either of the devil or of Saul, as a law-breaker, or of every wicked person. To rock is to move away from the firm foundation in virtue.

13α There all the workers of lawlessness have fallen. ‘There’ in the sense of in that place or at the time ordained by God. He did not say ‘they will fall’, but ‘they have fallen’, as seeing their fall with his prophetic eyes. He is speaking of Saul and those around Saul and of anyone who is wicked.

13β They have been thrust out and will in no way be able to stand. They have already been thrust out from God’s help on account of their wickedness and henceforth will not be able to establish themselves to live.

36 Psalm 36

1α A psalm belonging to David. This psalm contains admonitions, exhorting to endure the things that befall with forbear- ance in everything and not to pay attention to the prosperity of the wicked.

1β Do not jealously rival those acting wickedly. One can call jealous rivalry ‘imitation’, namely, do not imitate those who are acting wick- edly if they are enjoying prosperity. One can also call it aggravation, namely, do not be aggra- vated to grief on seeing the wicked doing well. The syntax is indifferent following the Hebrew idiom [dative for expected accusative].

1γ Nor eagerly rival those acting lawlessly. For many seeing the wicked thriving are incited to emulate them out of meanness of spir- it; he deters from this, as something that is fatally destructive. ‘Eager rivalry’ is the desire to obtain what seems good belonging to one’s neighbour. It is used primarily of something good, but often of something bad. This verse is a clarification of the previous one and goes along with it. Or else ‘do not eagerly rival’ in the sense of, do not deem happy or wish to become like them.

2α For like grass they will swiftly be dried up. Not having a strong root.

2β And like shoots of greenery they will swiftly wilt away. This signifies the same again. ‘shoots of greenery’ in the sense of being green in colour and sprouting, or else shoots belonging to the category of green grass, for these when they dry up wilt away.

3α Hope in the Lord and do goodness. Hope, because he will not overlook the labours of the virtuous, and do only what is good, for this is what ‘goodness’ signals here.

3β And camp securely on the land. And so doing, camp securely without fear for you have God as your guardian.

3γ And you will be shepherded on its richness. And you will be shepherded by God on its good things so as to enjoy what is beneficial and avoid what is harmful.

4α Delight deeply in the Lord. Take delight in the Lord on account of his unquenchable love or on account of the insa- tiable study of his commandments.

4β And may he give you the requests of your heart. ‘May he give’ in the sense of ‘he will give’, an optative in the place of a future. For when loving God you will ask for nothing unworthy.

5α Reveal your way to the Lord. The ‘way’ here is to be understood as way of life, which he enjoins to make worthy of God’s oversight, for The Lord knows the way of the just, and seek this more clearly at the end of the first psalm.

5β And hope in him. Once again he holds out hope as necessary for those in afflictions, for this alone alleviates their pain.

5γ And he will act.

He will enact what you hope, what you ask, what is expedient.

6α And he will bring out your justice like light. Justice is to be taken here as a just verdict. And he will bring out a just verdict concerning you like a bright light before everyone, for, it is written, Your Father seeing in secret will reward you openly. Or he will bring your virtue into the open like a pure light, making it public and proclaim- ing it at a fitting time.

6β And your judgement like noonday. Either he is saying the same thing as with the previous exposition about the verdict (for noonday is the purest and highest point of the light of day), or once again that he will pub- licise like noonday ‘your judgement’, that is, the way of life that you judged and chose, for noonday is manifest to all as what is brightest.

7α Submit to the Lord. Keeping his commandments, or not protesting at the scourges that are brought on you, but rather giving thanks to him as he chastises.

7β And entreat him. So as to be shown mercy and be protected.

7γ Do not jealously rival a man prospering in his way, a man acting against the law. These words are the same as, Do not jealously rival those acting wickedly, nor eagerly rival those acting lawlessly, and are even clearer. In saying ‘a man prospering in his way’ he then defined precisely about whom he was speaking, namely, a law-breaker, for it is right to imitate a just man who is prospering.

8α Cease from anger and abandon rage. On seeing the unjust prospering, do not swell with anger and do not be enraged, neither against them as enjoying happiness unworthily, nor against yourself as suffering misfortune on account of loving virtue. Anger and rage are here used in parallel, but if you seek a difference between the two you will find it at the beginning of the sixth psalm. [Ps 2.5β]

8β Do not rival jealously so as to act wickedly. Since one rivals jealously both for evil and for good, he deters from the first. To rival jeal- ously so as to be virtuous is good. Observe how to begin with he used ‘do not rival jealously’ in an abstruse manner; later on he repeated the words more lucidly, and now he has clarified them completely. Often indeed he says the same things, and turns them this way and that in his concern to make the teaching certain in the souls of his listeners through the sequence of repetition. Then he sets out the reason why one must not act wickedly.

9α For those who act wickedly will be utterly destroyed. On the one hand, in peril in body, on the other, in soul.

9β But those who wait patiently on the Lord, they will inherit the earth. The heavenly dwelling-place and often the dwelling-place on this earth, for there is a heav- enly earth, since there is a heavenly Jerusalem. Or else the earth of paradise.

10α And yet a little and the sinner will be no more. He will not last long, for his wickedness will be extinguished, even if he seems to live long years. This, however, is not said in respect of our own pusillanimity, but in respect of God’s long forbearance.

10β And you will seek his place and will not find it. You will not find the sinner himself, having already died, nor his place, having at once become that of another.

11α But the meek will inherit the earth. The long-suffering and patient. The Saviour also said this in the beatitudes of the Gospel, confirming later through his own tongue what he spoke through the prophets. Appropriately they will inherit the yonder earth because they are deprived of this earth and the things of this earth on account of their meekness.

11β And they will delight deeply in an abundance of peace. And they will profoundly enjoy that earth in great peace, for there pain, sorrow and sigh- ing have fled away.

12α The sinner will keep watch on the just man. He will look askance at him, plotting evils. 12β And will gnash his teeth at him. He will grind, he will grate his teeth, seeking as it were to chew him up, which is a symbol of the frenzy in his heart. The sinner is also to be understood as the devil, who keeps watch and gnashes intelligibly as a bodiless being. 13α But the Lord will richly deride him. He will disparage him as weak and nothing other than wicked. 13β For he foresees that his day will come. For as God he foresees the day of his destruction coming. 14 The sinners have drawn their sword, they have stretched their bow to shoot down pauper and poor man, to slaughter the straight in heart. Being unable to endure seeing them at all, for they perceive their justice as a censure of their own lawlessness. The shooting down is placed in relation to the bow and the slaughtering in relation to the sword. By the difference in the weapons he alludes to the different forms of attack. Pauper and poor man are used indifferently for emphasis on pity. 15 May their sword enter into their hearts and may their bows be crushed. May their schemings be turned back against them and may they fall into the pit they have dug. He imprecates curses on them as wicked. For it is written, All who take the sword will perish by the sword. The sword and bow may also be the tongues of the wicked, for it is written, Their teeth are armaments and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword. May their tongue therefore kill them and may their lips be silenced in death. 16 Better is a little for the just man, than the great wealth of sinners. Truly a little with justice is deemed better by a just man and he does not yearn for the more of the unjust man; hence there is no need to rival jealously the prosperity of such.

17α The arms of sinners will be crushed. ‘Arms’ is what he called their powers, for the strength of the worker is in his arms.

17β But the Lord upholds the just. When being thronged both by wicked men and by demons. Note how from both sides, through the crushing of the sinners and the helping of the just, he urges the readers to virtue.

18α The Lord knows the ways of the blameless. For he himself legislated those ways; see also in a different sense at the end of the first psalm.

18β And their inheritance will be to the age. The inheritance of the just is the kingdom of heaven, for it is written, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you. ‘To the age’ in the sense of ‘eternal’, of which there shall be no end; or else it will be in the age to come, for in the present age they have no inheritance, knowing themselves to be strangers and sojourners.

19α They will not be put to shame at a grievous time. They will not be defeated at a painful time, namely, at a time of trial, for they have the one who is helping them. Or else ‘grievous time’ is what he calls the day of the last judgement which is grievous for the sinners.

19β And in days of famine they will be filled. Like Elijah being fed by a crow and many others strangely receiving their food from God. Or else they will be filled with the hopes of future blessings, not desiring corrupt nourish- ment, for it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone. Or else he is using ‘famine’ figuratively for every necessity and ‘filling’ for divine visitation.

20α For the sinners shall be destroyed. For their well-being will not remain with them; their destruction is not only to be under- stood as misfortune in earthly affairs, but also in relation to the future age we call ‘destruction’

the fall from salvation, for the sinner is extinguished from the inheritance of the just.

20β And the enemies of the Lord, no sooner than they have been glorified and exalted, vanish- ing like smoke have vanished. This is about the Jews who murdered Christ. For their leaders having been glorified by the crowd and exalted at the slaying of the Saviour, were not long after utterly destroyed by the Romans, having been scattered and eliminated like smoke. This may also be said about the idols, which, being glorified and exalted up to a point, were later eliminated, and through these also the demons dwelling in them.

21α The sinner borrows and will not repay. Not only does he not share out from his own resources, but he does not even repay what he owes, so hard and inconscient of the law is he.

21β But the just man shows pity and gives. He shows pity from his own resources and gives what is borrowed, in other words, he gives back, taking the opposite path to the sinner. Or else in a different sense, the just man, knowing that the sinner is an ungrateful debtor, nevertheless in time of need lends to him.

22 For those who bless him will inherit the earth, while those who curse him will be utterly destroyed. So great is God’s concern for the just man that he shows mercy on those who have good words for him and punishes those who insult him. Indeed, God said to Abraham, I shall bless those who bless you, and those who curse you I shall curse. ‘Curse’ is what he now called insult. The ‘for’ is not aetiological but declaratory, appearing redundant. He uses this idiom very widely.

23α A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. He teaches clearly that without help from God a man cannot achieve anything, for it is written, Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders have laboured in vain. He is accustomed to co-operate with willing desire. By ‘man’ he means the just man.

23β And his way he will desire greatly. The Lord will accept the just man’s way of life as blameless. Symmachus, instead of ‘he will desire’ said ‘he will make prosper’. 24 When he falls he will not be dashed to destruction, for the Lord props a hand for him. Both when having faced misfortunes in life like Job, and when having slid in soul like David, he will not remain in the fallen state because the Lord props, that is, places his hand, namely, his help, beneath him; and indeed repentance is God’s hand, as coming from God and drawing up from the fallen state. 25α I have been young and grown old, and have not seen a just man abandoned. The conjunction γάρ in the Greek is redundant. The meaning is this, namely, that I have been young and now I have grown old and in all my intervening life I have not seen a just man abandoned by God, for it is written, The Lord keeps all who love him. And if God has ap- peared to abandon some for a short time (as indeed he did with David), he has not, however, abandoned them completely, rather he has permitted this by design, so that having suffered they might subsequently become more careful. 25β Nor his seed seeking for bread. Nor have I seen his offspring going hungry; and even if for a time he will be in distress, it will not be for ever. Moreover, the assertion is partial, for David himself asserts that he has not hitherto seen such a person. 26α All day long the just man shows mercy and lends. ‘All day long’ in the sense of ‘always’. At times he is lending money to those who ask and at times beneficial words of advice. 26β And his seed will be for blessing. For God said to Moses that he shows mercy on children on account of their fathers’ virtue and that similarly he makes retribution on account of their fathers’ wickedness. ‘For blessing’ in the sense of blessed and praiseworthy on account of the father. 27α Turn away from evil and do good. This was said in the thirty third psalm. 25β : Or else this can be said in a higher sense: they are famished for spiritual food, in accordance with, The Lord will not starve the souls of the just [Prov 10.3]; moreover, the seed of Jacob sought bread in Egypt.

27β And camp securely to age of age. Having now learned what are the wages of virtue and what those of evil, choose the better and camp securely for a long time, for this is what ‘to age of age’ signifies. For the just men of old were long-lived, and even if some died in their youth, this was for reasons of economy. And Solomon promises a long old age to those that fear the Lord. Or else, camp securely in the age to come, being a sojourner in the present age on account of the transitory nature of life.

28α For the Lord loves judgement. That is, he is a judge. Or else he is calling justice ‘judgement’.

28β And he will not abandon his devoted servants. For it is just not to abandon those who do not abandon him. The ‘devoted servant’ here is the just or virtuous man.

28γ They will be guarded to the age. Both in the present age and in the future age.

28δ But the lawless will be driven out. Both from present and from future blessings.

28ε And the seed of the impious will be utterly destroyed. This was spoken about above in the exposition of the verse, And his seed will be for blessing.

29 But the just will inherit the earth and they will camp securely on it to age of age. This also was spoken about above at the verse, But those who wait patiently on the Lord, they will inherit the earth, and at the verse, And their inheritance will be to the age. He repeats the same things, wishing, as has been said, to make the remembrance more permanent in the souls of the listeners by the density of repetition.

30α The mouth of a just man will rehearse wisdom.

With pleasure David recounts the works of the just man for the sake of exhortation. He will have as the object of his declamation the wisdom of God given in the Scriptures.

30β And his tongue will speak judgement. The judgement appearing in the laws of God. Or else ‘judgement’ is what he calls discern- ing speech, for he will not utter whatever comes into his head unthinkingly.

31α The law of his God is in his heart. Indelible, both the unwritten and the written law.

31β And his footsteps will not be tripped up. His way towards God will not be impeded, neither by the visible enemies nor by the invis- ible enemies, for nothing is able to impede virtue.

32 The sinner observes well the just man and seeks to kill him. ‘Observes well’ in the sense of ‘watches’, ‘lies in wait for’. By the sinner you will understand not only the unjust person, but also the devil as cause and father of sin.

33α But in no way will the Lord abandon him into his hands. He will not abandon him entirely so as to dominate along with his body also his inner disposition, for once he has been tried, the Lord delivers him and proclaims him victor in soul, or else he often averts the attack completely, in sparing of his own servant.

33β Nor will he condemn him when he is judged along with him. Neither in the present life will he abandon him thus, nor at the time of the last judgement will God condemn the just man when the sinner is judged along with just man who has been subverted by him, for this is what the verb ‘is judged’ means. And besides, the demons will be judged in opposition to the just, accusing them if they have ever sinned in some small way.

34α Wait patiently for the Lord. When being subverted and tried, wait patiently for God who will deliver you, that is, hope in the Lord.

34β And keep his way. The way that he himself has marked out through the commandments. ‘Keep’ in the sense of ‘love’.

34γ And he will exalt you so as to inherit the earth. And he will make you superior to those who are subverting you; or else he will show you to be high and great among the people. Since the inheritance of land and the enjoyment of its goods, and long life and child-bear- ing and the destruction of enemies and suchlike were highly regarded by most people, by the promises of such things he exhorts to virtue. And this is the reason why he often reiterates these things, but they are understood in a higher manner by those of higher spirit as we have said before.

34δ You will see even as sinners are being utterly destroyed. Consoling the faint-heartedness of the many who are impatient at God’s forbearance to- wards the wicked, he says, Take courage, for you will see the destruction of the sinners. And the word is confirmed by what he himself has seen, for he continues:

35 I have seen the impious one over-exalted and elated like the cedars of Lebanon. He said ‘the impious one’ without any identification, but we may understand Goliath or Saul or Naas the Ammanite or other such figures whose elevation and destruction he wit- 1Rg 11.1ff. nessed. ‘Over-exalted’ by his subjects and ‘elated’ in his own eyes, or else both words signify the same in parallel. He represented him by the cedars on account or their barren height and bitterness.

36α And I passed by, and, see, he was not. And I left him in such a state, and thereupon he was not alive, for the exclamation ‘see’, means ‘thereupon’ here.

36β And I searched for him, and his place was not found. And after a time I sought in my mind to see him, and the place holding him as existing was not found. How indeed could it be found when he was not? Or else ‘his place’ is to be understood as his body, for this being the house of his soul is dissolved, having rotted away.

37α Keep innocence.

‘Simplicity’ is what Symmachus said.

37β And see directness. And preserve uprightness.

37γ For there is a remnant for a peaceful man. ‘Remnant’ is what he calls a memorial, and this is twofold, either in the begetting of chil- dren or in good works.

38α But the lawless will be utterly destroyed altogether. ‘Altogether’ in the sense of ‘all at once’, together with their memorial, which he also clari- fied through the following verse, saying:

38β The remnants of the impious will be utterly destroyed. By ‘the impious’ understand all the wicked. 39-40 But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their defender in time of affliction; and the Lord will help them and deliver them and free them from sinners and save them, because they have hoped in him. Observe how in a varied manner he described the varied help from God towards the just; for the modes of this help are various and brought into effect in various ways in accordance with multifarious wisdom of God. The words are clear and have nothing difficult to understand.

37 Psalm 37

1 A psalm belonging to David; in remembrance. This psalm closely resembles the sixth psalm, beginning with the same words, and like it, it loudly bewails the misfortunes brought on on account of his sin and entreats to be freed from these misfortunes and to find remission. It is likely that this was also spoken at the time he was being pursued by Absalom. It has the superscription ‘in remembrance’, that is of his transgressions and of his suffer- ings and misfortunes on their account.

2 O Lord, do not rebuke me in your rage, nor chastise me in your anger.

A discussion of these words was presented earlier in the sixth psalm. God’s rage and anger are not to be understood as passions, but as the ineluctable sentences due to those who sin.

3α For your arrows have stuck fast in me. Understand God’s arrows here as the reproving words fired at him through the prophet Nathan, or else the laws against adulterers and murderers, which had stuck so fast as to pierce continually and pain his soul. Or else arrows are the sufferings from the misfortunes brought on, fixed in and biting the heart like arrows. These sufferings are called God’s arrows as brought on by his dispensation. Symmachus said ‘have struck down on’ for ‘have stuck fast in’.

3β And you have made your hand to rest upon me. ‘You have made to rest’ in the sense of you have brought down in thick succession by scourging continually. Or else so heavy is the hand you have brought on me that I am unable to bear it as it strikes heavily. ‘Hand’ is to be understood as the punishing force.

4α There is no healing in my flesh before the face of your anger. ‘Before the face of your anger’ and ‘before the face of my sins’ and ‘before the face of my Ps 37.4β, 6 folly’ and suchlike are said by way of circumlocution in the sense of ‘on account of your anger’ and ‘on account of my sins’ and ‘on account of my folly’. There is therefore, he is saying, no healing for my flesh, namely, no libertion from the suffering that I have brought upon myself on account of your anger, that is, your threat made through the prophet Nathan or that threatened through the laws. He speaks of suffering of this kind in other psalms, I would humble my soul with fasting, and, My flesh would become distorted for oil, and, My bones have become glued to my flesh, and, I have grown weary crying aloud, my throat has become hoarse, and all suchlike.

4β There is no peace in my bones before the face of my sins. There is no stability and firm support in them, being agitated and trembling on account of my sins.

5α For my acts of lawlessness have risen above my head. Having increased and been brought to a pinnacle. He alludes by this to their magnitude, just as elsewhere he alludes to their multitude, as in, They have been multiplied above the hairs of my head.

5β As a heavy burden they have weighed heavily on me. And my acts of lawlessness are heavy for me on account of my being unable to bear the memory of them or on account of their bending me down like a burden, and indeed those who are downcast look at the ground like those bearing burdens. 6 My wounds have become stinking and putrid before the face of my folly. The wounds of my soul that came from the fiery darts of the devil have come to stink thoroughly, and not just smell superficially, and they have putrified completely. By this the corruption of the soul is suggested, as it being impossible for me to bear the foul smell, and this came about on account of my folly, for if I had not lost my wits I would not have been wounded in this way. Observe how he escalates his transgressions as he makes fervent confession, for he said that they are great and heavy and foul smelling. It is a sign of repentance to perceive the foul smell of sin, for then one comes to abominate it utterly. 7α I have worn myself out and been bent down to the uttermost. Utterly disheartened by the things mentioned. Or else, seeking to heal myself when find- ing myself in this miserable situation, I wore myself out and, falling ill, was bent down; ‘to the uttermost’ in the sense of completely. 7β All day long I would walk with downcast look. I would always go around with a sullen complexion even though I was living in royal dominion, as pricked by my conscience and not permitted to relax. 8α For my loins have been filled with mockings. Symmachus said ‘flanks’ for ‘loins’. Both signify the appetitive part. Round about these are the kidneys where the appetites for sexual union arise. He is saying therefore that my desire has been filled with mockings of the demon, for he mocked my desire by arousing it to out of place and unlawful motions. 8β And there is no healing in my flesh. And so having been mocked in this way, there is no respite for my flesh, for I punish it, as was said, and pay the penalty for love of pleasure. 8α: Passionate desire is mockery and falsehood, for it is not pleasure but the shadow of pleasure. Hence the Apostle says, Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth [Eph 6.14], that is, with true pleasure that comes from continence and justice.

9α I have been afflicted. Hungering, thirsting, holding vigils and sleeping on the ground, and all such things. 9β And humbled till greatly. ‘Till greatly’ is a Hebrew idiom in the sense of very greatly. 9γ I would howl from from the groaning of my heart. From the savagery of the groaning of my heart, pricked and bitterly pained, I seemed to be roaring like a lion, for Aquila said ‘I would roar’ for ‘I would howl’. A sinner having fallen into the depths of evils shows disdain, but a just man fears greatly even the slightest of sins. 10α O Lord, my every desire is before you. My desire after my sin, for you know that I ever desire salvation and liberation from my pain. 10β And my groaning has not been concealed from you. For you give ear to it as a cry sent up from the depths. 11α My heart has been troubled. By my conscience and by remorse. 11β My strength has left me. Having been worn out, as was said, by every ill suffering. 11γ And the light of my eyes and this is not with me. As a result of my harsh regime and thickly-falling tears I have become dim-sighted. The syntax is as follows: and the light of my eyes, this is not with me, having been lost, with the second conjunction being redundant. Or else the light of the eyes of his soul, the holy Spirit, is not with him, having in part flown away on account of his sin. 12α My friends and those near to me have approached and stood opposing me. 12α : Some have understood this and the following verse as having been foretold by Christ about his disciples.

He is alluding to Achitophel and many other such. My friends and my own people have come against me, for this is what they have approached and stood against me means, at all events God having permitted this on account of my faults. For thence the sea of misfortunes has washed over me in waves.

12β And my closest ones have stood afar off. The same people are to be understood; they approached in enmity as persecutors, and they stood afar off in respect of their good will as having distanced themselves from his friendship. Or else they are to be understood as his comrades, having fled on account of fear of Absalom.

13α And those seeking for my soul would press violently. And those seeking for my soul, that is, for me, by way of circumlocution, or else those seeking for my soul so as to do away with it, as he says in psalm thirty nine. They would vio- lently constrict me, afflicting me by every means.

13β And those seeking evils for me have uttered empty follies. And those seeking my fall have uttered blasphemies against me, reviling me and slander- ing me; he called these reproaches empty follies as being untrue.

13γ And have planned strategies of deceit all day long. Treacheries; how, once having deceived me, they might ensnare me.

14α But I like a deaf man would not hear. In truth I was hearing, but in appearance I was not hearing, as it were keeping silence and remaining undisturbed. Most likely in other cases as well, but certainly in the case of Shimei who was openly insulting and cursing him, he kept silence as if not hearing.

14β And like a dumb man not opening his mouth. The verb ‘I was’ is missing. It follows on his not hearing, that he would not speak about what he has not heard.

15 And I became like a man neither hearing nor having reproofs in his mouth. These words are a clarification of the previous two verses. ‘Reproofs’ is what he calls the refutations through which one reproves the person who is speaking faultily.

16α For in you, O Lord, I have hoped. I have grown dumb and kept silence because I have hoped to obtain remedy from you, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I shall repay, says the Lord.

16β You will hear, O Lord my God. And because you will always hear such blasphemies and will repay those who are wan- tonly insolent. Or else, you will hear those who are suffering such things and keeping silent.

17α For I have said, Let my enemies never rejoice over me. And indeed I have said to myself in prayer, May my enemies never rejoice over me.

17β And when my feet were made to falter they boasted loudly over me. And as soon as my path diverged from the way of the divine commandments, they at once took licence for shameless speech, boasting loudly of their intent to kill me.

18α For I am ready for scourges. Because having sinned and having been stripped of divine aid, I have become a ready tar- get for those wishing to chastise me. Or else you will understand the ‘for’ in a narrative sense and redundant, and the rest in the sense that I am ready for correction from you, always accepting it on account of my sins.

18β And my pain is ever before me. And the memory of my sin which grieves me is always before my eyes pricking me and I have not forgotten it like someone who is insensible.

19α For I shall proclaim my lawless act. Because I shall publicise my sin and become an indicter of myself.

19β And I shall care for my sin. And I shall attend to its healing. He called his transgressions a lawless act and a sin indif- ferently.

20α But my enemies are alive.

Those who are allied with Absalom. ‘They are alive’ in the sense of they are strong while I have become weak. 20β And prevail in strength over me. This is explanatory of ‘they are alive’. Or else ‘they are alive’ in the sense of they are well and they ‘prevail in strength’ in the sense of they have gained strength. 20γ And those who hate me unjustly have been multiplied. Not only are they alive and prevail in strength over me, but they have been multiplied, increasing in number. And they are hating me unjustly as having nothing credible to invoke as a reason for their hatred. 21 Those who are repaying me evils for good would accuse me falsely because I was pursuing goodness. This is about Absalom, for he, rewarding the care and goodness of his father with envy and treachery, used to falsely accuse him among those who were coming for judgement in court hearings as unjust and a lawbreaker, ever taking such men as his allies, as the book of Kingdoms told. He would accuse me falsely, he says, because I was seeking out and loving goodness, and I did not wish to do evil to him while he was displaying this disposition, for hence he increased his wickedness and became even more knavish. Or else ‘goodness’ here is what he is calling justice. For he would revile me because I pre- ferred justice and did not, as he did, love injustice. 22 Do not abandon me, O Lord my God, do not depart from me. For I am bereft of any ally worthy of note and have you alone as helper and guardian. 23 Turn to my help, O Lord of my salvation. Take care for my assistance, O you who have authority over my life. All this, however, has been applied to David in accordance with his story, but it also ap- plies to all those in sin, in relation to whom we may call ‘friends and those near’ the good angels who, rejoicing in our achievements and guarding us, when they see us having sinned, come opposite us and stand with a gloomy countenance, and where they were formerly clos- est to us they then distance themselves on account of the foul odour of sin. Thereafter the wicked demons coerce us into even worse errors and unseen whisper in our ears words that are vain and good for nothing and contrive snares for us.

But those who are imitating David’s vigilance, stop the ears of their soul and deem them unworthy of any reply and invoke God alone for revenge. The demons in turn, because those who are vigilant are choosing good repentance, distress them more violently through a suc- cession of trials and also accuse them falsely before all people as sinners.

38 Psalm 38

1 Towards fulfilment; belonging to Idithum; a ode belonging to David. How it is that the psalm being David’s also has Idithum added to the superscription, we explained sufficiently in the preamble to the whole book. § 49 It writes ‘towards fulfilment’ because recounting in tragic style the meanness of human nature, it tells of the consummation of this nature, saying, Make known to me, O Lord, my end, and so on.

2α I have said, I shall guard my ways, so that I shall not sin with my tongue. He spoke this psalm also bringing to mind what he suffered when he was fleeing from Absalom. For as I was escaping, he says, I said to myself, that henceforth I shall guard my ways, namely, those through the tongue, that is, my words, so that I do not sin with my tongue, emitting some blasphemous word out of faint-heartedness, for With chastisement the Lord has corrected me. That words are called ‘ways’ is testified by the great Paul in his letter to the Corinthians, I have sent Timothy to you who will remind you of my ways.

2β I have placed a guard on my mouth even as the sinner has taken up position against me. The tongue is ever ready for sin and for this reason he took great precaution with it. ‘To take up position’ here means ‘to array for battle’. Shemei is the one he calls a sinner, both on account of his neglectful life and on account of his shameful speech and insolence at that time, for he followed after David throwing insults and casting stones. He says therefore that when being insulted by him, I kept silent towards him.

3α I have grown dumb. Deliberately.

3β And have been humbled. Having called to mind that that through my sin this man also has rebelled against me.

3γ And I have kept silence out of good. Out of goodness, for being able to take vengeance I did not wish to do so out of clemency. For one of those with David, having rushed to kill him, was held back by David who said, Let him curse me, because the Lord has told him to abuse David, and so on.

3δ And my suffering has been renewed. And the pain on account of my sin has been renewed in my memory, for then I knew clearly that I am paying the penalty of my transgressions.

4α My heart has become heated within me. When being insulted I was inflamed with rage, but I kept my patience. He said ‘within me’ indicating that he did not disclose his rage. Not to react at all to insults is a mark of one who has achieved perfection, to bear them meekly is a mark of one making progress.

4β And fire will flare up in my musing. And as I muse on and go over the evils I have done and the fearful things I am suffering the fire of sorrow will always be reignited within me, setting my soul on fire.

4γ I have spoken in my tongue. Towards the enemy I kept silence, but towards God I spoke. ‘In my tongue’ in the sense of softly and as if in a whisper. Then he says what he spoke.

5α Make known to me, O Lord, my end. When it will be or how it will be. How long will my sorrows last?

5β And the number of my days, what it is, that I may know what I lack. And make known to me the number of days of my whole life, how much is the sum, so that having numbered the years I have lived up to the present I shall know what remains, for having learned the measure I shall have no little relief from the misfortunes that are being brought on me.

6α See, you have made my days mere palms. The arm measures are a fathom (ὀργυιά) [the length of the outstretched arms], a cubit

6β And my hypostasis is as nothing before you. From this point he starts to denigrate the transience and perishability of human nature, for he says that my hypostasis, that is, my existence, which is, I, in my whole being, am as nothing in comparison with your lasting blessedness and eternity, for this is what ‘before you’ means. For You are the same and your years will not cease, but I undergo change, having become a fugitive instead of a king, and my days pass by like a shadow.

6γ Except all things are vanity. Some have regarded the word ‘except’ here as redundant. Others say it is used in the sense of ‘truly’. David therefore, having looked at both those of old and his own situation, and hav- ing judged that life is inconsistent and untrustworthy, declares that truly all things are vanity, that is, uncertain – both wealth and glory and youth and beauty and stature and strength, and simply all human goods. It is clear, however, that the spiritual goods are pre-eminently excepted from this verdict.

6δ Every man living. In the sense of ‘every human life’. This also is a figure of the Hebrew tongue, as with, Every man is a liar, in the sense of all human glory is deceptive. All human life therefore, he says, is vanity, for this is a further clarification of ‘all things are vanity’. By human life he is referring to the life of the flesh, but not the life of the spirit.

7α Surely man makes his passage in a semblance.

‘Surely’ and ‘nay rather’ signify ‘truly’ and the ‘in a semblance’ is in the sense that he lives like an image. For just as the beauty deriving from the colors and the size and all that pro- ceeds from these are of no benefit in the painted image, so neither human blessedness is of any profit to man. Or else, ‘in a semblance’ in the sense of ‘in a shadow’, on account of the uncertainty of human affairs.

7β Except he troubles himself in vain. This ‘except’ is used in the sense of ‘therefore’. It is in vain, he says, that he exerts and dis- tracts himself.

7γ He lays up treasure and does not know for whom he will amass these things. And what is worst, wearing himself out in the amassing of money, he does not even know his inheritor. And the exhaustion is on the part of the one doing the gathering, but the profit is for another.

8α And now who is my patient endurance? Is it not the Lord? And so with this being the case, who is my hope? It it not the Lord alone? The verse is to be read as a question.

8β And my hypostasis is from you. And my existence, indeed my whole being itself, is from you. Hence care for your creature who gratefully recognizes his own maker.

9α And deliver me from all my acts of lawlessness. For acts of lawlessness bring on trials, hence he entreats to be freed from the causes. Or else in a figurative way he is calling the trials themselves ‘acts of lawlessness’, designating the effects by the causes.

9β You have given me over as a reproach to a fool. To Shemei, for he reproached him, calling him a lawless man and a man of blood. He repeated the words, drawing the compassionate one to pity through his continuous piteous appeal. The devil also reproaches those who are defeated by him with their defeat.

10α I have become dumb.

Voluntarily, so as to appear not to hear.

10β And I have not opened my mouth. I did not speak in my defence at all.

10γ For it is you who have done. For it is you who ordered him to insult me, (it is written, The Lord told him to abuse Da- vid), and ordered me to keep silence, (it is written, Have you sinned? Be still).

11α Take your scourges from me. The trials which with your consent are brought on from outside, and the blows coming from my conscience from within.

11β For I have fainted from the strength of your hand. ‘Hand’ is what he calls his punishing force. ‘I have fainted’ in the sense of ‘I have become completely weak’. Observe how in the previous psalm, when giving himself over to blows of chastisement, he said, For I am ready for scourges, while now, having been whipped sufficiently, he prays to be relieved lest he be swallowed up by excessive sorrow.

12α With rebukes for a lawless act you have corrected a man. By rebuking, that is, healing, you corrected a man on account of a lawless act and not for any other reason, so that your chastisement is saving; ‘a man’ is what he calls himself.

12β You have melted away his soul like a spider. You have emaciated his soul with trials, purifying its sinful thickness. The spider is an ex- ceedingly thin creature, especially in its legs. Sin thickens the soul, while suffering rarefies it.

12γ Except in vain every man. Again he repeated the words about this, for more certain assurance; the verb ‘troubles himself ’ is missing.

13α Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my entreaty.

He says the same thing in parallel, as is his custom.

13β Do not pass over my tears in silence. In the sense of ‘do not overlook’, for those who overlook someone remain silent. The syn- tax with the verbs ‘give ear to’ and ‘pass over in silence’ is indifferent here [genitive for dative]. Observe how he does not simply entreat, but with tears.

13γ For with you I am an alien resident and a resident in an alien place, as were all my fathers. An inhabitant is a permanent resident, and alien resident is a temporary resident who moves on when the master of the land so commands. In relation to other people I am an inhabitant, holding on to my land as my own. With you, however, that is, in relation to you, I am an alien resident, for when you, who are master of the land, so command I move on to another world. And the resident in an alien place, having stayed for a short period with some people, then goes off to where he came from. This is what every human being does, living for a time, then dying and being dissolved into that from which he was composed.

14α Let me be, that I may breathe again freely before I depart. Spare me, stop the lash, so that I may be comforted a little and shake off my afflictions before I die.

14β And assuredly exist no more. And having gone where my fathers went, I shall exist no more, that is, I shall no longer live, or I shall no longer exist in the present world. The words are importuning and deeply pitiable. The ‘assuredly’ is employed for confirmation of the words.

39 Psalm 39

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David. This psalm was imparted to David by the holy Spirit in the person of the Church of the Christians, giving thanks for the things in which she had been granted divine grace and pray- ing about the tyrants risen up against her. It has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’ on account of the words looking towards fulfilment, for all the things came to pass.

2α Waiting patiently, I waited patiently for the Lord.

Such reduplication is common among the Hebrews and is indicative of intensity as with Having seen, I have seen, and Coming to know, you will come to know, in the sense of ‘I have seen precisely’ and ‘you will come to know precisely’, and suchlike. Waiting patiently, therefore, I have waited patiently, in the sense of I have looked with great expectation to Christ as helper. For He, as is written, is the expectation of the nations, for about him the prophets foretold.

2β And he turned to me. And he looked on me attentively and favourably, as I was being distressed by the error of the idols.

2γ And he heard my entreaty. The entreaty on my behalf, for the prophets would entreat on behalf of the Church.

3α And raised me up from the pit of distress and the mire of slime. The ancients used to indicate the greatest dangers by such names. The ‘pit of distress’ may be understood as the cess-pit of error by which she was distressed in soul; the ‘mire of slime’, namely, that is slimy and foul smelling, is the consistence of the passions, which is destructive and retentive of the soul that falls into it.

3β And he stood my feet upon a rock. On the rock and security of faith.

3γ And made straight my footsteps. And having shown me the way of salvation through the Gospel commandments, he re- moved every thorn and made straight my path so that I no longer walk in a warped and erroneous manner.

4α And he placed in my mouth a new song. The songs that the Christians composed about the new attainments of the Saviour. Or the prayer, Our Father in heaven, that Christ introduced.

4β A hymn to our God. This is a clarification of the ‘song’.

4γ Many will see. The light of knowledge, previously being blind to the truth. Or else they will see the signs and wonders of Christ and of his saints.

4δ And will be seized with fear. Of Christ who works these things.

4ε And they will hope in the Lord. ‘They will hope’ in the sense of, ‘they will believe’, for the one who believes hopes. Or else they will hope that he will save them, believing in him. By ‘the Lord’ understand ‘Christ’.

5α Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord. ‘The name of the Lord’ in the sense of, ‘the Lord’. He calls ‘blessed’ the one trusts in God alone and not in any other thing. And elsewhere he says, Blessed is the man who hopes in the Lord. The syntax of this verse is as follows: Blessed the man for whom for him hope is the name of the Lord. We can also understand this in a different way about the Christians by taking the syntax according to the figure of hyperbaton in the following way: Blessed the one whose hope is the name of his Lord. For every Christian the name of Christ is hope and salvation, and the martyrs showed this before tyrants, confessing the name of Christianity as their glory and wealth and hope.

5β And has not looked to vain follies. Such a man has not busied himself with vain follies, namely the things that seem to the majority of people to be good.

5γ And lying frenzies. ‘He has not looked to’ is understood here also. ‘Lying frenzies’ are the arts of divination, for diviners in Bacchic frenzy would take leave of their settled senses, and behave strangely like frenzied maniacs and would lie in what they said. By the divinatory arts he alluded to the whole of idolatry, the part standing for the whole.

6α Many are the things you have done, O Lord my God, your wondrous acts.

The great David, astonished at the strange mystery of Christ’s incarnation, and unable to find any fitting words, exclaimed this alone, that many are the wondrous acts that you have done, O Lord my God. The Apostle Paul felt the same, and in an excess of wonder he cried out: O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways! By ‘wondrous acts’ he does not mean only those at the time of Moses and Joshua the son Nun and Samuel and such earlier miracles, but even more those at the incarnation of the Saviour, foreseeing which in the Spirit he exclaims the above verse in oracular tone.

6β And there is none who will be like you in your movements of thought. And there is none who will be like you in your movements of thought, namely, those about providence and salvation for mankind. For see what thing you have conceived, to be- come man for the sake of man.

6γ I have made report and spoken, they have been multiplied beyond number. I have made report and taught about many of your wonders in many psalms, but they have been multiplied still further and appeared innumerable, impossible to fall under number, and I have now come to realize that that they cannot be circumscribed on account of the magnificence of their nature. Or in a different way: being unable to say anything else, I have reported and said now this alone about them that they have been multiplied beyond number.

7α Sacrifice and offering you have not desired; but you have perfected a body for me. In the Letter to the Hebrews the Apostle Paul taught that the words from this point are spoken in the person of Christ. The Son and God says to the Father after the incarnation that henceforth you have rejected the sacrifice of the law and the offering therefrom. But you have constructed a body for me from virgin blood for this to be sacrificed for the salvation of mankind.

7β Whole burnt sacrifices and sin offerings you have not sought. In the book of Leviticus and of Deuteronomy you will find clearly what whole burnt Lev 1-7 sacrifices are and what the victims for sin offerings are, and in general the differences among Dt 12-16 the sacrifices and offerings. Now then, he says, that I have become incarnate, who am the rational and true victim who takes away the sin of the world, you have sought no victim as defined by the law.

8α Then I said, See, I come.

Then – when? When you rejected the victims of the law, for then I myself said, Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son. For ‘See, I come’ is in the sense of, ‘as you see, I am ready’.

8β In a book scroll it is written about me. The Hebrews call writings ‘books’ and rolls ‘scrolls’, as in O Son of man, eat this scroll, for they wrote on rolls and not on square books as we do. The Saviour is therefore saying that in the roll of a book it is written about me, meaning by ‘book’ a prophetic book, that is, the prophets foretold about my incarnation. This he also said to the Jews later, as with, If you believed in Moses you would believe in me, and many other such.

9α So as to do your will, O my God, I have purposed. And since the things about me had been pre-ordained and pre-announced, I have pur- posed to do your will. The ‘so as’ is redundant here. The will of the Father is the slaughter in the flesh of his Son for the salvation of mankind. About this Christ himself said later that I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

9β And your law in the midst of my belly. ‘In the midst of my belly’ in the sense of, ‘from the midst of my belly’, that is, from my heart, whole-heartedly, by the figure of one preposition [in] for another [from]. Once again ‘I have purposed to do’ is understood here, namely, to fulfil your law, that is, the commandments that you gave me, from the depths of my heart.

10α I have proclaimed the good tidings of justice in a great assembly. He calls the Gospel ‘justice’ as justifying all who believe in it and keep its commandments, whoever they may be. The law of Moses was given only to the Jews, but the Gospel to all the nations. It is just not not call only this one and that to salvation, but all equally. ‘A great assembly’ is what he calls the populous synagogues of the Jews in which he used to speak openly.

10β See, I will not restrain my lips; O Lord, you know. As you see, I will not restrain my lips from speaking about salvation, but you know that I will not restrain them, knowing me as I know you.

11α I have not hidden your justice in my heart. Again about the Gospel he says that I have not kept secret the things of the Gospel, but I have revealed them to all.

11β Your truth and your salvation I have proclaimed. Again he names the Gospel in this way, for not only is it full of justice, but also of truth, for it is written, I tell you the truth, and not only is it full of these, but it also promises salva- tion to those who believe.

11γ I have not hidden your mercy and your truth from a great assembly. These words are also about the Gospel, for the Gospel is mercy as being given to us on account God’s mercy towards us, since God no longer suffered for his own creature to be tyr- annized and did not spare his only begotten Son for our salvation. Thus he called the Gospel with various names on account of its multifarious grace.

12α But you, O Lord, do not distance your compassionate kindnesses from me. What follows from here onwards is spoken once again in the person of the Church of the faithful, entreating not to be abandoned after receiving the seal of grace when she is faced with many dangers from men and demons.

12β May your mercy and your truth ever protect me. Your truth, that is, your true promise, for you said, And see, I am with you all the days. A number of copies write ‘they have ever protected me’, and it is understood that up to now they have protected. The optative ‘may they ever protect’ is better.

13α For evils of which there is no number have surrounded me. I see around me, he says, the various designs against me, and already I am encircled by them.

13β My acts of lawlessness have laid hold of me. Observe how out of extreme modesty the just ever attribute to their own sins their trials of whatever kind.

Thus the Three Youths in the furnace sang in unison, We sinned, we acted lawlessly, and so on, even while suffering for God.

13γ And I have not been able to see. Trials darken the eyes of the soul, as not being able to see what is profitable, but the light of God’s strengthening consolation dissolves the mist therefrom. Here again the τοῦ [so as] in the Greek is redundant.

13δ They have been multiplied more than the hairs of my head. Such words are, on the one hand, and expression of modesty, but, on the other hand, it is not unlikely that there were some interspersed among the faithful living negligently whose sins the just make their own for the sake of the unity and communion of faith.

13ε And my heart has forsaken me. As it seems I have lost my heart in not having strength to act boldly, for the heart embold- ens and rouses to action.

14α Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me. Be willing to rescue me from these things.

14β Turn, O Lord, to help me. ‘Turn’ in the sense of look attentively

15α May those seeking my soul to make away with it be put to shame and disgraced at once. Let them suffer both these things simultaneously. May those seeking my soul in order to draw it out by every kind of torture be put to shame on the one hand, having been defeated by our patience, and be disgraced on the other hand, witnessing your irresistible power on our behalf. Or else ‘at once’ in the sense of ‘all of them together’.

15β May those wishing evils for me be turned back in retreat and be utterly shamed. May they be turned back unsuccessful, not having overcome my resistance, and on this account may they be utterly shamed. He varies the imprecation to emphasize the pain in his soul.

16 Let those who are saying to me ‘Good indeed, good indeed!’ forthwith receive back for themselves their shame. About the ‘Good indeed, good indeed!’ we have said previously that it is a mocking in- terjection.

17α Let all seeking you rejoice and be glad in you, O Lord. If you wish, regard ‘let them rejoice and be glad’ as meaning the same, but if otherwise you have the difference between them in the third verse of the ninth psalm. ‘In you’ in the sense of ‘in faith in you’.

17β And let those who love your salvation say continually, ‘Let the Lord be magnified’. Those who love your salvation, namely, the salvation that comes form you. Or else he is calling his incarnation his salvation, for this became a saving event for those who were lost. Let them say thus as enjoying help from you. Let him be magnified in the sense of let him be considered great.

18α But I am poor and needy. This is spoken in the person of each believer. Poor as having given away everything for the sake of Christ and needy as producing his necessities by his own labour. Poor [πτωχός] as having fallen from what he had and needy [πένης] as labouring, namely, working and toiling.

18β The Lord will care for me. For I have taken refuge in him alone and he will not overlook me who hope in him.

18γ You are my helper and defender, O my God, do not delay. O my God, do not be slow to help me. But I perceive something deeper here. Applying the phrase ‘I am poor and needy’ to bless- ed David, I find that, foreseeing the richness of grace to be poured out on the Christians, he desired this and, being far from these days, he became despondent, and deprecating his unhappiness, said, ‘But I am poor and needy’ not enjoying such richness. God, however, will care for me so that I, too, may participate in the coming glory of the faithful in the kingdom of heaven. For Christ himself said that David desired to see my time, and so he entreats the Son of the Father not to delay in becoming incarnate.

40 Psalm 40

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David. This has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’ as containing prophecy pressing towards fulfilment, for it foretells about the apostasy of Judas. The obvious subject of the present psalm is love for the poor, but in a more mystical way it refers to Christ who became poor for our salvation as he himself taught in the Gospel ac- cording to John, for he spoke as follows to his disciples: I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘He who is eating bread with me has lifted his heel against me.’ No other Scripture is to be found saying this except that of the present psalm, for it says, He who eats my bread has exalted a heel-snare against me.

2α Blessed is he who is wisely minded towards the poor and needy. ‘Wisely minded’ in the sense of rightly disposed, for sagacity is being well disposed. He was accustomed to call a person without means ‘poor’ and ‘needy’ indifferently. The ancients used to call the beggar ‘poor’ [πτωχός] from the verb ‘to crouch’ or ‘cower’ [καταπτήσσω], and the person who gained his daily sustenance from the labour of his hands ‘needy’ [πένης]. Blessed is such a man as having God as his debtor, for he says through Solomon that The one who shows mercy to the poor is lending to God, and by his own tongue, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me. Such then concerning the poor in a simple sense. In a more profound sense it may be said about Christ that blessed is the person who perceives that he who goes around in penury and has nowhere to lay down his head for rest is God. He will understand this from what Christ does and teaches.

2β In a grievous day the Lord will deliver him. He teaches the benefit of such wise understanding. What the grievous day is we said pre- viously in the thirty sixth psalm interpreting the verse, They will not be put to shame in a grievous time. A grievous time and a grievous day are the same.

3α May the Lord preserve him. The prophet invokes blessings on such a man as good.

3β And give him life. And regenerate him.

3γ And make him blessed on the land. And may he show him to be blessed and worthy of emulation, not only in the present land, but also in the land of the kingdom of heaven.

3δ And may he not surrender him into the hands of his enemies. Neither visible nor invisible.

4α May the Lord help him on his bed of pain. ‘On his bed of pain’, namely, the bed that receives him as he suffers in sickness. Both Aquila and Theodotion used not the optative, but the future for these verses, name- ly, he will preserve and will give life, and so forth, judging all these things as a reward.

4β You have turned about his whole sick-bed in his debility. ‘Sick-bed’ is what he calls his lying in confinement; ‘you have turned about’ in the sense of ‘you have changed’. Accordingly, for such a man, he says, you have changed his lying in bed in time of illness from sickness to health; ‘whole’ in the sense of entirely. ‘You have turned’ in the sense of ‘you will turn’; or else he spoke of what will occur as having already happened conjecturally or rather prophetically.

5α I have said, O Lord, have mercy on me. Everything from this point onwards is spoken in the person of Christ. As man he entreats God, showing that every person is in need of God’s mercy.

5β Heal my soul, for I have sinned against you. It is written certainly that, He committed no sin, but since for our sake he became like us, he makes his own both the passions and words of those who are his own, and what our sin- ning nature ought to cry out, this he himself cries out on its behalf for it, as being himself of the same nature, even if without sin. Just as according to the law the victim sacrificed for sin took the sin upon itself and would burn the sin along with itself, so too he, being sacrificed for our sins, took them upon himself, and as if having sinned himself, so also he would pray, and he died on account of excessive love for mankind.

6α My enemies have spoken evil to me.

The enemies of Christ are the Jews who, cut to the quick with envy, spoke evil - ‘words’ is understood; ‘evil’ in the sense of, what is painful to me. What they said, hear from what follows:

6β When will he die? Even the sight of him is burdensome to us.

6γ And his name perish? For seeing this name filled with great power and healing every sickness and every infir- mity, they supposed it would be extinguished by death.

7α And he would enter to see. Judas the betrayer would as usual enter unhindered where I was lodging to see if there is an opportunity to betray me.

7β Vainly he would speak in his heart. Vainly his heart would speak in itself about the betrayal when he would come in to see, in other words, vainly he would try to escape my notice, for as knower of hearts I would know all he was purposing and plotting.

7γ He has gathered lawlessness on himself. Having calculated these things, the wretched man has done nothing but gather lawless- ness on himself as plotting treachery against his teacher and Saviour. Some place a full stop after ‘vainly he would speak’, so that the meaning would be vainly he would speak peaceably to me while plotting hostility, but the first is better.

7δ He would go out and speak together. It is written, Having received the piece of bread, he went out immediately. ‘Together’ in the sense of ‘together with these my enemies’, for he would speak with them about the betrayal: What will you give me? and so on. The evangelists clearly tell how all these things occurred.

8α All my enemies would whisper against me. Being afraid of the crowd, they would whisper into each other’s ear the plans for treachery.

8β They would calculate evils against me. They would devise plans to bring about my death. They took counsel against Jesus to put him to death.

9α They have set down an unlawful word against me. ‘They have set down’ in the sense of ‘they have given in solemn answer’, for when asked by Pilate, What shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ? They replied, ‘Let him be crucified.’ The word was unlawful, for it was not permitted to condemn an innocent man to death. Pilate reproached them with this, saying many times that, I have found no fault worthy of death in him, and See to it yourselves. Or else ‘they have set down’ in the sense of, ‘they have contrived’, for they said that he stirred up the people against Caesar. This word was also unlawful, for it was not permitted to bear false witness.

9β Will the one who is sleeping not go on to rise? This he speaks as a question as God: will the one who is sleeping not then wish to rise? For the Hebrews often take the verb ‘he has gone on’ for ‘he has wished’. And if the one who is sleeping will rise, then I, too, having died, will quickly arise, for my death is like sleep. For as one by one’s own free will goes to sleep, so by my own free will I, too, will die.

10 And the man of my peace, in whom I have hoped, who eats my bread, has enlarged a heel- snare against me. The conjunction γάρ in the Greek is redundant. The meaning is this: my own man has turned against me. The Hebrews call a peaceful person a ‘man of peace’. He says therefore that my peaceful one, that is, my friend, by which he means Judas, whom I trusted as my own, whom I nour- ished along with the other disciples, has enlarged guile against me, namely, has brought guile to bear against me, for a ‘heel-snare’ is guile, by metaphor of the person who trips someone up at the heels when he is running. He brought this guile to bear through his agreement with the chief priests and scribes.

11 But you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up and I shall repay them. ‘Have mercy on me and raise me up’ are spoken in a human manner, for having become man, he did not exempt himself from making entreaty to God, which is a characteristic of human nature; indeed he prayed on many occasions. ‘I shall repay them’ is spoken in a man- ner befitting God; and he did indeed repay them, having surrendered them to the Romans.

12 By this I know that you have delighted in me, for my enemy will surely not rejoice over me. ‘You have delighted in’ in the sense of you have loved me, for what one loves that also one desires and takes delight in. By this, he says, I have known that you have loved me, by the fact that my enemy has not rejoiced over me, that is, by your having returned me to life, and by my name having been preached throughout the whole world, which is grievous to him, for what he seeks is for me to die and for my name to perish. By ‘enemy’ you will understand the devil and the Jew.

13α But on account of my innocence you have taken my part. These words also are spoken as by the assumed humanity; ‘innocence’ is what he calls his purity, for it is written, He committed no lawlessness.

13β And you have confirmed me before you to the age. And you have established me beside yourself, as is written, Sit at my right hand until I set your enemies as a footstool for your feet.

14 The Lord God of Israel is to be blessed from the age and to the age. So be it, so be it. David having foretold these things and having expressed his wonder at the ineffable con- descension and benevolence of the Saviour, he improvises a hymn to him saying, the God of Israel in the eminent sense, which is of the faithful, is to be praised from the present age to the future age. We spoke about Israel in this sense in the twenty first psalm when we were interpreting, Let all the seed of Israel be seized with fear before him. Then he prays for the Master’s incarnation to come quickly by saying, So be it, so be it. The reduplication of ‘So be it’ indicates the intensity of the prayer.

41 Psalm 41

1 Towards fulfilment; for understanding; belonging to the sons of Kore. We spoke previously about the sons of Kore in the preamble to the present book. § 49 It has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’ on account of the prophecies in it pressing towards fulfilment. Since the Hebrews were to be taken captive by the Babylonians many years later on ac- count of their acts of lawlessness and to spend seventy years in Babylon, David, moved by his far-seeing spirit, assumed the person of each of more pious among the captives, namely, Daniel, Ezekiel and the Three Youths, and such ones, and sets out what follows.

‘For understanding’ is added, teaching that each of these persons having been given un- derstanding cried out to God, or else that understanding is required by those reading these things.

2 As the deer yearns for the springs of water, so my soul yearns for you, O God. Wishing to present the intensity of his desire, he took as an example the ever thirsty deer. For the deer being by nature hot, and being further enflamed by the flesh of the snakes that it ever greedily consumes, has a fervent love of springs. According to Aquila, ‘yearns’ means ‘hastens and presses urgently towards’. ‘For you’, namely, who dwell in Jerusalem, for in Babylon they did not believe they would encounter God on account of the idolatry of the land.

3α My soul has thirsted for God, the strong and the living. ‘Has thirsted’ in the sense of ‘has had deep desire’, for the word indicates the fervency of his desire. He calls God ‘strong’ and ‘living’ on account of the weak and lifeless gods of the Babylonians. Some say that the Trisagion hymn was composed on the basis of this verse. PG103.772B

3β When will I come and appear before the face of God? The verse is spoken by one desiring strongly. When, he says, will I come to you, O Jeru- salem, and appear before the face of God, that is, God, by circumlocution. I shall appear through my worship and presence in the temple, which does not exist in Babylon.

4 My tears have become bread for me day and night, as it is said to me every day, ‘Where is your God?’ As the Babylonians reproach me with the weakness of my God, my tears have become bread, not in respect of nourishment, but in respect of appetite. For I would long for tears, as for food, and these were necessary for me as food is necessary for every person. And this appetite and need was with me not only by day, but also by night.

5α These things I remembered and I poured out my soul upon me. ‘These things’ in the sense of ‘such things’, namely, ‘Where is your God?’ ‘I poured out’ in the sense of, ‘I have made my soul limp within myself ’, ‘I loosed it of its tension’, for what is solidified is made firm, while what flows away is made flaccid. As a general point it is necessary to know that the Hebrew dialect for the most part em- ploys syntactical forms indifferently as here, saying ‘upon me’ in the sense of ‘within me’.

If you relate ‘I remembered these things’ to the following verse, you will produce a differ- ent meaning, namely, that I remembered these things and I let loose, that is, I relaxed my soul within myself, hitherto constrained in affliction. What were the things I remembered? Namely the things mentioned in the following verse, for it says: 5β For I shall pass through in the place of the wondrous tent-shrine, even to the house of God. I relaxed, he says, having remembered that I shall walk again in the temple, even to its innermost sanctuary. For the ‘wondrous tent-shrine’ is what he calls the renowned temple of Solomon, while the ‘house of God’ is what he calls the innermost sanctuary of the temple. In relation to the first explanation, the word ‘for’ is to be understood in a confirmatory sense, as with the speaker uttering a prophecy. 5γ With a voice of rejoicing and thanksgiving, the clamour of one keeping festival. And I shall pass through with a voice of joy and a voice of thanksgiving, of festive clamour, that is, I shall celebrate again as before and will take part in the worship of the law. 6α Why are you deeply grieved, O my soul, and why do you trouble me? Why do you sorrow and why do you confuse me and do not permit me to be at peace? He said these things having received full prophetic assurance about the return. 6β Hope in God, for I shall confess him. For I shall give thanks to him, having returned, that is. 6γ O salvation of my face and my God! Having remembered God’s benefaction in later times, he invokes him with pleasure, say- ing, O my salvation (by circumlocution), and O my God! 7α To myself my soul has been troubled. ‘To myself ’ in the sense of ‘in myself ’, with no one apart from myself being aware of this sorrow of mine. It has been troubled, considering the sins for which we have been surren- dered to our enemies, or else considering the slowness of the return. 7β Therefore, I shall remember you from the land of Jordan and Hermon, from the small mountain. 5β: The tent-shrine is the Word’s holy flesh taken from ourselves. It is wondrous as having been constituted without seed. The house is its intelligible soul, for through this God conversed with the flesh. The place is the Word himself, having in himself hypostasised and established the assumed nature. Accordingly, he is saying that, led by the Word of God, I will pass through even to the soul of the assumed humanity, reflecting about these things and beholding them as far as I am able, but I will not be permitted to proceed any further.

Therefore, being sorrowful now I shall remember you, that is, I shall make mention of your care for us, of the good things we enjoyed in the promised land. For by Jordan and the mountain next to it, which is called Hermon and Aermon, he signified the whole of Judea. He added also the characteristic of the mountain, namely, that it is small.

8α Deep calls to deep at the voice of your cataracts. Having made mention of the benefaction, in tragic terms he tells also of the abandon- ment, calling the depths of misfortunes ‘deep’. Deep sorrow, he says, calls out to deep sorrow, at the loud cry of your downfallen, that is, so greatly do misfortunes come in succession against us your downfallen servants that they seem to be urging one another on, and so great- ly do they sting that we shout out in pain. Cataracts (downfalling) in the sense of ‘downfall- en’, active in place of the passive. It may also be understood in a more anagogical sense. Deep and deep are the Ancient and the New Scripture on account of the depths of the hidden meanings. The New then invokes the Old on account of the voice of the prophets, and they are called ‘cataracts’ on account of the fact that the water of prophecy pours down from above. The New accordingly invokes the Old as a witness in order to show that the prophets foretold about Christ.

8β All your upsurgings and your waves have passed over upon me. ‘Upsurgings’ is what he calls the uprisings of temptations, and similarly with ‘waves’. He is saying therefore that all your scourges have marched over upon me. He said ‘all’ on account of their diversity.

9α By day the Lord will command his mercy. ‘By day’ in the sense of ‘in the daytime’, that is, openly, for the day is light. ‘He will command’ in the sense of ‘he will send forth’, for the person who sends out gives a command, or else he will order the mercy that is from him. The verse now foretells that their call to return will take place in a way visible to everyone.

9β And by night his song will be with me. In the night-time throughout my whole captivity I shall sing to him, at that time having taken advantage of a safe occasion, for during the day I have no leisure, working for my mas- ters and having no opportunity.

9γ Prayer to the God of my life. And not only will his song be with me, but also prayer; a song in thanksgiving for oppor- tune deliverance, a prayer in entreaty to make freedom come swiftly. 8α: And in a different way: The measurelessness if our sins calls out to the measurelessness of your mercies, so as for the voice of the apostolic preaching to be heard / to be made to be heard. For the cataracts are the apostles, bringing down every diabolic elation.

‘To the God of my life’ in the sense of ‘my life-giver’, just as, The God of my salvation is used in the sense of ‘my Saviour’. 10 I will say to God, ‘You are my helper, why have you forgotten me? And why do I walk downcast while my enemy afflicts me?’ He seems to be forgotten, on account of his being still abandoned among his enemies and his being thus afflicted, as is to be expected with those languishing in captivity. 11 Even as my bones were being crushed my enemies would reproach me, saying to me every day, ‘Where is your God’. As my bones were being crushed by the weight of the burdens or by beatings and as the strength in me was being worn out (which strength he signified by the bones), my enemies would mock me by saying constantly, ‘Where is your God?’ namely, so that he will deliver you. 12 Why are you deeply grieved, O my soul, and why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I shall confess him, O salvation of my face and my God. He repeated the words spoken previously which we discussed above. He repeated these things filling himself with courage and patience. The words of the present psalm are also fitting for everyone who has suffered considerably in this life for God and who desires to depart and return to God. This person will understand the mockers not only as the demons, but also as the barbarian enemies. The land of Jordan is the ‘lowest’ in relation to heaven, for ‘Jordan’ is translated as ‘lowest land’ and Hermon as ‘place of sorrow’, and he will explain the rest appropriately. 42 Psalm 42 1α A psalm belonging to David; without superscription among the Hebrews. It is without superscription as being of the same import as the one before it; it seems indeed to be a part of it on account of having such great agreement, for the one who was the speaker of the words in the previous psalm is the speaker of the words in this one. One and the same is the speaker and the one who is takes on himself the sufferings of the race, for such a one is rare. 1β Judge me, O God. ‘Judge’, if it is followed by the accusative case means primarily ‘condemn’ as in, Judge them, O God, if (as here) it is followed by the dative case it means ‘become a judge’ (on my behalf ).

1γ And give judgement on my case from a nation that is not devout. ‘From a nation’ in the sense ‘against a nation’; or else my case coming from a nation which is not devout and which is unjust in things regarding God, for such is the man who is not devout. He is speaking about the Babylonians. 1δ From an unjust and deceitful man deliver me. ‘Unjust’ as lawless and ‘deceitful’ as a cheat. The prayer of the Three Youths also declares this, for it says, You surrendered us to a king unjust and most wicked above all the earth. He indicts them thus sometimes in the plural and sometimes in the singular, because communally and singularly they passed their lives in wickedness. But you will understand ‘nation’ also as the demons and similarly the ‘unjust and deceitful man’ as the devil, as has been said before. 2α For you, O God, are my stronghold. My solidity, my strength. 2β Why have you thrust me away? Having given me over to captivity, for I am your servant and they are your enemies. 2γ And why do I go about downcast while my enemy afflicts me. He says these words not as an indictment, but as an entreaty. 3α Send forth you light and your truth. In an anagogical sense, it alludes to Christ, for he says, I am the light and the truth and the life. In a historical sense, light is what he calls divine visitation which dissolves the darkness of affliction with the light of joy, and truth is what he calls true assistance. 3β These have guided me and led me to your holy mountain and to your tent-shrine dwellings. The tense is interchanged, in the sense of, they will guide and will lead. These, that is, your light and your truth. The holy mountain is Zion and the tent-shrine dwellings are the divine temple. In an anagogical sense, Christ will guide and lead the faithful to Zion on high and to the heavenly dwelling places, for, he says, I am the way. 1δ : For he differs from man in no way in regard to his impassionate nature and love of pleasure, like man having a love of the body and embroiled in the passions.

4α And I shall enter in to the altar of God Worshipping him and making sacrifice.

4β To God who gladdens my youth. This is spoken in the person of those born in captivity and going up to Jerusalem as youths, for it is likely their fathers had died. Or else ‘youth’ is what he calls youthfulness in disposition, for they were young in their eagerness for the worship of God. In an anagogical sense, youth is the renewal through baptism and the putting off of the old man.

4γ I shall confess you with the lyre, O God my God. I shall assume my former state, for this he signified by the lyre. And I shall give thanks to you with musical instruments which, when we were taken captive, we hung on the willows as thereupon condemned to idleness. In an anagogical sense, the lyre is practical virtue, as we have said elsewhere. The apostrophe, ‘O God, my God’, displays his most fervent disposition towards God.

5 Why are you deeply grieved, O my soul, and why do you trouble me? Hope in God, for I shall confess him, O salvation of my face and my God Once again he enjoins the same things on himself by way of encouragement.

43 Psalm 43

1 Towards fulfilment; belonging to the sons of Kore; for understanding. Such also is the superscription of the forty first psalm and we spoke about it there. Now it is necessary to say this much, namely, that David proclaims the present psalm in the person of Matthias the Maccabean and his children. After Judea had been subdued and 1Macc 2 plundered by Antiochus Epiphanes and the Macedonians, they, now fugitives, at length re- gained courage, and having gathered together as many as they were able, prepared themselves for revenge, trusting in God. The Maccabean books of Josephus tell their story in detail. To AJ xii.270 those gathered together from exile who were cowering in fear because of the brutality of the BJ i.36 Macedonians they deliver an exhortation in the form of a prayer, encouraging them and in- citing them to war by recollection of the wonders that took place at the time of their fathers.

2 O God, we have heard in our ears, our fathers have proclaimed to us the work that you wrought in their days, in days of old. ‘We have heard in our ears’ is added for confirmation of the words, and indeed we are accustomed when we are telling about things we are fully convinced of to invoke our senses as witnesses, as with That which our eyes have seen and our hands have touched. Having said that we have heard, he goes on to say from whom, namely, from our fathers, and evidently through the writings they left behind. What it is that they heard and that God worked, hear now through what follows:

3α Your hand destroyed nations utterly and you planted them firmly. ‘Nations’ are those of the Canaanites and of the other peoples who formerly lived in the promised land. God’s hand is what he calls divine power. ‘You planted them firmly’ in the sense of, you settled our fathers. Observe the precision of the words: in relation to the former ‘you destroyed utterly’ on ac- count of their complete devastation, in relation to the latter, ‘you planted firmly’ on account of their taking root - even indeed if they later became migrants, though not they themselves but their children, and that was on account of their own sins. Omitting the earlier miracles, the verse mentions only this as relevant to the subject. For if when they were strangers he established them in an alien land, very much more when they have been ejected from their land will he restore them and gather them together.

3β You sorely afflicted the peoples and drove them out. The nations, for not only were they driven out, but first they were sorely afflicted by war and divine wrath.

4α For not by their sword did they inherit the land. They did not inherit the promised land with weaponry.

4β Nor did their arm save them. Neither did their power deliver them from so large and so mighty nations.

4γ But your right hand and your arm. Some say God’s right hand is his assistance and his arm is his power, while others say that both signify his power in parallel.

4δ And the light of your face. And your oversight, for it is written, Show forth your face and we shall be saved. God’s Ps 79.4,8,20 oversight is his assistance, for one assists when seeing.

4ε For you were well pleased in them. For you willed what is good among our fathers, for this is what ‘you were well pleased’ means.

5α You are the same, my king and my God. You who wrought those things are the same now also, being unchangeable, and we are their descendants, and so, work wonders similarly, you whom I have as king and God as did they.

5β Who gives command for the salvation of Jacob. This is said on account of the ease and speed of his assistance. Who use only a word to save the people descended from Jacob. Or else the one who in war advises how he may be saved, saying, ‘Do this and that’.

6α In you we shall butt away our enemies. We shall prevail against, by a metaphor from animals that defeat every rival with their horns.

6β And in your name we shall set at naught those who rise up against us. We believe, he says, that by brandishing your name alone at them and simply shouting out that you are the God of Israel we shall regard them as naught and make them seem con- temptible.

7 For I shall not hope in my bow, nor will my sword save me. Even though I am equipped with these as is the custom of war, but I have no trust in them. The ‘sword’ is the broad sword.

8 For you have saved us from those afflicting us and have put to shame those hating us.

For we have had experience of help from you before and we know that you give assistance.

9α In God we shall be praised all day long. The ‘we shall be praised’ Symmachus rendered as ‘we shall boast’, for the boaster prais- es himself. We shall not boast, he says, in any other thing whatsoever, even though having much to say, but only in recognition of God. Symmachus everywhere renders ‘all day long’ as ‘throughout the whole day’ and Aquila as ‘throughout all my life’.

9β And in your name we shall make confession to the age. Some have understood ‘we shall make confession’ in the sense of ‘we shall make narration’, that is, in your name we make a narration, recounting to all people all the magnificent things that this name has effected both among our fathers and among ourselves. Or else in a different sense, we shall give thanks to your name with the preposition [ἐν in the Greek] being redundant. All say that ‘to the age’ in every case means ‘for ever’.

10α But at this moment you have thrust us away and put us to shame. You have thrust us away as unworthy and put us to shame in the sense of you have made us be ashamed by not helping us when we are suffering such things.

10β And you will not march out, O God, with our forces. Here too there is an interchange of tense as Symmachus rendered it, namely, and you are not coming out with our armed forces, for these are what he called ‘forces’.

11α You have turned us back to the rear in regard to our enemies. You have turned us, who were set in first place in the presence of your overseeing care, to the very last place and you have relegated us beneath our enemies.

11β And those who hate us were taking plunder for themselves. They were plundering our own goods.

12α You have given us as sheep for eating. ‘You have given’ in the sense of ‘you have surrendered us’, ‘you have delivered us up’, and not even as sheep for owning, but for eating, for the former are less valued than the latter as being fit only for slaughter.

12β And you have scattered us among the nations. In slavery, for various nations were campaigning alongside the Macedonians. He is appro- priating the person of the captives. 13α You have given over your people without a fee. You have delivered up to slavery the people formerly loved by you without payment. He says this indicating the worthlessness of the people, for we are accustomed to surrender ex- ceedingly wicked servants without payment as being useless and valueless, thinking it a gain merely to be rid of them. God says this also through Isaiah, namely, that You have been sold for nothing. 13β And there was no great number in our exchange values. And our prices were not much, for the exchange value [ἄλλαγμα] of a slave is the payment made in return. They are employing heavy irony against themselves in saying this, for they were surrendered without any price. Some copies have in ‘in our ululations’ [ἀλαλάγματα], namely, there was no great number of enemies shouting victory ululations against us, for they prevailed against us being few in relation to us. 14 You have made us a reproach to our neighbours, the butt of sarcasm and derision to those around us. ‘Sarcasm’ is what he calls contempt and ‘derision’ what he calls jibes. The neighbours and those around them are the alien tribes, the Idumaeans and Moabites and Ammanites and other such. 15α You have made us a watchword among the nations. In the sense of an example, for they are wont to say, ‘May all our enemies suffer the things that overcame the Israelites’. Or else as a tale, for they tell about our misfortunes. 15β A wagging of the head among the peoples. ‘You have made us’ is understood; as a wagging of the head among the peoples of the na- tions, for they wag their heads at us, some commiserating and others rejoicing rather and as it were saying, ‘Good indeed, good indeed!’ 16α All day long my disgrace is before me.

It is continually in front of me. 16β And the shame of my face has covered me. Being thus shamefully despoiled and scattered abroad. This also means the same. 17 At the voice of the denouncer and maligner, at the face of the enemy and persecutor. There is shame for me, he says, from what my disparaging neighbours say and from how my enemies look haughtily, and I do not even have the strength to look them in the face. Aquila said ‘blasphemer’ for ‘maligner’. 18α All these things have come upon us. We have undergone all these sufferings. 18β And we have not forgotten you. So as to invoke the name of another god. 18γ And we have not done wrong in your covenant. We have not transgressed your law, for the person who transgresses the law wrongs it. 19α And our heart has not turned backwards. And it has not turned to the worse. It is the more pious among the people who say all these things, namely, those who throughout all such sufferings keep God’s commandments and who on behalf of all those remaining plead their cause to God, urging them also to take courage. 19β And you have diverted our paths from your way. And you have turned away our paths from the way to your temple, as being no longer able to walk towards it, the ones having been taken captive, and the others having fled from their homeland. 20α For you have humbled us in a place of affliction. The place of exile and that of captivity.

20β And the shadow of death has covered us over. Sorrow like death on account of its bitterness, for the shadow is like the prototype and imitates it.

21α If we have forgotten the name of our God. Our God, by circumlocution.

21β And if we have stretched out our hands to an alien god. This is a clarification of what was said previously.

22α Will not God seek out these things? If we did this or that, then will not God examine them?

22β For he knows the hidden things of the heart. That we did even desire any such thing.

23α For on account of you we are being put to death all day. In disposition; and indeed being able to join with the idolaters and live at ease, on your account we endure everything and are ready for slaughter. The ‘for’ is redundant.

23β We have been counted as sheep for slaughter. On account both of the ease with which we can be killed and of our inability to defend ourselves.

24α Awake. To avenge your people.

24β Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Why do you keep still, continuing to show forbearance? For the sleeper keeps still.

24γ Arise.

To help. This is the same as the ‘awake’. As we have said frequently, he is accustomed to characterize the divine from human actions and passions, being unable to communicate oth- erwise on account of the infirmity of the hearers. 24δ And do not reject to the end. Having rejected us in part and for a time, do not reject us for ever. 25α Why do you turn away your face? Your oversight as from the unworthy. 25β Forget our poverty and our affliction? ‘Why do you’ is understood again. ‘Poverty’ here is what he calls ill-treatment, for ill-treat- ment is a characteristic of poverty. ‘Forget’ in the sense of, ‘you treat these things as insignif- icant’. For our soul has been humbled to the dust. ‘Our soul’ in the sense of ‘we’, by circumlocution; he says that we have been brought down to earth and lie fallen. Our belly has become glued to the earth. From lying on the ground or from stooping constantly towards the earth, bent down un- der the weight of sorrows. The one who clings to earthly things is humbled down to the dust, and the glutton and fornicator and every pleasure lover is glued to the earth. 27α Rise up, O Lord, help us. For you appear to be sitting down, when you thus overlook us as we are being destroyed. 27β And redeem us for the sake of your name. Not for the sake of our virtues, for they are not worthy, but so that your name may be fearsome and not be blasphemed among the idolaters. In a historical sense then the psalm has been interpreted sufficiently. In an anagogical sense, all of the martyrs, having suffered innumerable things on his behalf and being put to death all day, might be addressing the words of this psalm to Christ, and so might all of the pious, being both insulted and ravaged by the murderous nations.

44 Psalm 44

1 Towards fulfilment; for those who will be altered; belonging to the sons of Kore; for understanding; an ode for the beloved. ‘Towards fulfilment’ on account of the prophecies in it that are driving on towards ful- filment. ‘For those who will be altered’, that is, for the Christians who will be altered through the rebirth of holy baptism, putting off the old man and putting on the new, for it is written, The old has passed away, see, all things have become new. For alteration is the remaking and exchanging of their way of life. ‘Belonging to the sons of Kore’, because the psalm was handed to them by David to be chanted by them as we explained previously in the preamble to the book of psalms. § 50 ‘For understanding’, because the readers need understanding on account of the hidden divine meanings. ‘An ode’, because it was chanted not along with musical instruments, but by voice alone. ‘For the beloved’ is a recapitulation of the entire superscription because the psalm tells about Christ, and he is beloved to the Father as his only begotten Son, and to us as our most caring father. For the Father says about him, This is my beloved Son. ‘For the beloved’, in the sense of, ‘about the beloved’, just as we have said elsewhere, one preposition standing for an- other.

2α My heart has eructed a good word. The prophet having understood that he was about to foretell great things about Christ, says by way of introduction that he will utter a good and saving word. Note the significance of ‘eructed’. For he is saying, as it were, that just as an eructation is emitted involuntarily, being sent up by the belly, so also my heart has sent up from below the word about Christ, having been filled with the food of the holy Spirit.

2β I tell my works to the king. I therefore address my works to Christ the King, that is, my prophecies about him, for the work of a prophet is to weave prophecy.

2γ My tongue is the reed-pen of a fast-writing scribe. By this too he is showing that he will not speak of himself, for just as the pen serves only the hand of the writer, being moved wheresoever that hand will move it, so also my tongue is the pen of a scribe or writer, that is, of the holy Spirit, moved howsoever that Spirit will move it.

He said ‘fast-writing’ on account of the ease of the diction, for men dictate and write more slowly, being preoccupied with the finding of meanings and the compounding of words on account of the infirmity of the mind. Concluding his preamble with this, and addressing himself now to Christ, he commences his discourse about the virtues of the assumed humanity.

3α Comely in beauty beyond the sons of men. ‘You are’ is missing. The comeliness of beauty refers not to that of the body but of the soul, for he kept this unsullied, having remained without sin beyond all others. And when Isaiah says, For we saw him and he had neither form nor beauty, but his form was dishonourable and deficient beyond the sons of men, he is speaking about his body as it was at the time of the passion, bespattered and scourged and suffering countless insults.

3β Grace has been poured out in your lips. The evangelist says that, The crowds marvelled at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth. Christ’s lips can also be understood as the Apostles into whom the grace of the holy Spirit was poured out abundantly, as silencing all by the power of the word and easily convincing whomsoever they wish.

3γ For this God has blessed you to the age. On account of these your virtues then God has blessed you, that is, has glorified you, for he says, And I have glorified and again I shall glorify. Or else, ‘he has blessed’ in the sense of ‘he has made to be blessed’, as to be praised and hymned continually by the pious. For the Adam of old is accursed on account of his disobe- dience, the new Adam is blessed on account of his obedience and he transmitted the blessing to us also, for David says, You are blessed in the Lord.

4α Gird your sword on your thigh, O powerful one. Having addressed him as comely and most beauteous and as eloquent, he now also shows him as a warrior, for the former were marks of his sinlessness and his teaching, while the latter those of his war against the devil. For he is summoning him to take up the battle against the devil so that that, having set up the trophy of the devil’s defeat, he might free us who have been taken captive. He arms him in a human way so as to present him as fearsome, for warriors are girded with their broad-sword on their thigh.

The meaning of the verse in brief is this: Arm yourself and wage war against the tyrant. Christ’s weapons are the punitive power he employed against the demons. He called him ‘powerful one’ in accordance with the divinity united in him.

4β In your comeliness and your beauty. Gird your sword, he says, along with your comeliness and your beauty, so that by your sword you may instilfear in your enemies, and by the comeliness of your soul and the beauty of your virtues you may attract your friends. It is not unlikely that comeliness and beauty mean the same.

5α And tauten. And intensify your resolve.

5β And bring to success. And achieve everything that you desire.

5γ And reign. And master those who come against you. Though these words appear to be imperatives, yet it is thus that Scripture forms optatives, for it is written, Let your name be sanctified, let your kingdom come, and so on.

5δ For the sake of truth and meekness and justice. Achieve all these things and triumph as truthful and meek and just, for the Lord himself says, I am the way and the truth, and, Learn from me that I am meek, and, Thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all justice. Or else, do these things so that you will sow upon the earth truth and meekness and jus- tice in place of falsehood and savagery and injustice.

5ε And your right hand will guide you marvellously. Your right-handedness, that is, your good nature, will lead you to these achievements, for you will rely on yourself having no need of any other, and it is marvellous for someone to be guided by himself.

6 Your arrows are sharpened, O powerful one, peoples will fall beneath you in the heart of the king’s enemies.

All interpreters construe this verse in terms of the figure of hyperbaton, namely, ‘Your arrows are sharpened, O powerful one, in the heart of the king’s enemies’, then, ‘Peoples will fall beneath you’ by way of a parenthesis. Christ’s arrows are the words of the Gospel both on account of their racing swiftly across the world and their well-aimed striking at sensitive souls. They are ‘sharpened’ on account of their shining brilliance and piercing incisiveness, for they shine with truth and sever sin. He calls Christ ‘powerful one’, not only on account of his almighty divinity, but also on account of his defeating of the devil through the courage of the virtues of his humanity. These arrows are impaled in the heart of the former enemies of God the King, so that the multitude of them are able to say, I am wounded by love. For having wounded they did not slay, but rather revived those who were dead to virtue and drew them towards divine love. ‘Peoples will fall down beneath you’, namely, many, as many that is as were wounded, will fall down before you in subjection. Christ’s arrows may also be understood as the Apostles, sharpened on account of the brightness of their way of life and their penetrating into the hearts of their followers through their teaching. Having dwelt up to this point on the words concerning Christ’s humanity, he now pro- ceeds to those concerning his divinity.

7α Your throne, O God, is to the age of the age. The throne, being a symbol of kingship, alludes to his kingship. He says that your king- ship is eternal. Observe how he has openly named Christ as God.

7β The rod of your kingship is a rod of directness. The rod is a symbol of judicial authority. He says therefore that your judicial authority is of directness, passing judgement rightly. Or else in a different sense, understand ‘rod’ as his chastising force, and this then is ‘of directness’, scourging justly.

8α You have loved justice and have hated lawlessness. ‘Lawlessness’ is what he calls injustice. In various ways he ascribes justice to Christ as the one who will judge all people. Then he turns his discourse once again to the assumed humanity.

8β On this account God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your partakers. Partakers are sharers. All kings share with Christ this name, since they also are called ‘christs’ or anointed ones, by virtue of being anointed. But it was prophets who anointed

them and with a specially prepared oil as a symbol of kingship. But God has anointed you as king in a different way superior to them, I, it is written, have been established as king by him, and not with oil of this kind, but with an anointing of gladness. Just as when we hear of God’s sword and bows and arrows and all such things we do not understand them in a material sense, but in terms of their effect, so here we take ‘oil’ as the anointing, and the ‘anointing of gladness’ as the visitation of the holy Spirit, for the holy Spirit makes glad. The anointing is all embracing, for the whole Spirit was joined with the whole of him, and it was not a partial gift of grace as with spirit-bearing men, and in this respect also it was different.

9α Myrrh and myrrh drops and cassia from your garments. The garments of the Word’s divinity are the soul and flesh of the assumed humanity into which that divinity came to be ineffably contained, and which the Apostle Paul called ‘cur- taining veils’. The prophet now wishes to say that from your flesh there will be death and incorruption, for myrrh is a symbol of these (myrrh is anointed onto dead bodies for the sake of incorrup- tion), from your soul there will be a descent into Hades, for myrrh drops are the oil from myrrh which drips down when poured out (every drop has a downward tendency, as the great Basil explained). Cassia in turn is a most fragrant aroma from bark and through this PG29.408 he alludes to the fragrance of the Lord’s body, for it was by nature fragrant on account of his sinlessness.

9β From ivory mansions. Large houses and temples were called ‘mansions’. Again he is calling the soul and body of the assumed humanity ‘mansions’, for just as these are ‘garments’ of the divinity, so they are also the dwelling-place and temple of the divinity; the things mentioned will be such, from your garments, I mean indeed from your mansions. ‘Ivory’ is in the sense of ‘brilliant’, because things of ivory are brilliant on account of its extreme brightness. 9γ- From which kings’ daughters have made you glad in your honour. For the sake of which, namely, on account of the death and incorruption and descent into Hades and all that concerns your voluntary suffering for mankind, the souls that have believed in you have made you glad, for ‘kings’ daughters’ are to be understood as these souls. For if the Apostles are sons and co-heritors of the heavenly kingdom, it is evident that they are also ‘kings’, and they begot the souls of those who believed through divine baptism, as Paul says, Through the Gospel I have begotten you. How have they made you glad? By honour- ing you unfeignedly. All this, however, is according to a more elevated interpretation. In accordance with a more accessible interpretation, you will understand the words in a different way, namely, that

a rich fragrance of virtues wafts from your assumed humanity, and not only from this, but also from your radiant temples in every locality, for the variety of the types of fragrance sig- nifies the variety of the fragrance of the virtues. From these temples those who have eagerly built them in faith have made you glad. In accordance with prophetic custom, he says ‘have made you glad’, as something that has already occurred, as he will also do further on. Then he says, ‘kings’ daughters in your honour’, because not only common people, but also kings will honour you, and, what is strangest of all, so will kings’ daughters who are guarded by thou- sands of eyes and shut up in the innermost chambers of royal palaces, like the wise Catherine and many others.

10β The queen has stood at your right hand. ‘The queen’ is the name he gives here to the assembly of the most pious Christians, which Christ the king took as his bride through her faith in him, where formerly she had been unit- ed to the idols. This queen has reigned over the passions and has come to reign together with the bridegroom over the kingdom of heaven. The bridegroom sits at the right hand of the Father as consubstantial and equal in honour, while she stood at the right hand of the bridegroom along with the bodiless powers. And even though she is bride and queen, yet she is of created nature, and for such a nature this is stupendous, namely, to be made worthy of such a position and proximity. Paul does not contradict this when he says about God that, He has raised us up with him and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. For he is saying that through Christ the Lord having sat as our head, the remaining body of the Church has partaken in the honour.

10γ In clothing threaded with gold she is arrayed, embellished. Arrayed in bright garments, namely, in the grace of divine baptism or in the covering of the holy Spirit and embellished in the embroidery of the comely virtues. He is speaking of a spiritual covering and embroidery as he will show more clearly further on.

11α Listen, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear. Observe how he betroths her in advance to Christ. He calls the same assembly Christ’s daughter. In respect of human beings, it is not permitted for the same person to be someone’s bride and daughter. But is regard to Christ both are permitted, for they are spiritual: he took her as bride through the Gospel and regenerated her through baptism. Listen, he says, to what I say, and see all that the bridegroom has suffered on your account, or all the miracles he has wrought, and incline your ear, namely, place it under his commandments.

11β And forget your people.

Your nation, that is, their wicked way of life and former habits.

11γ And your father’s house. And the temple of the devil, your father, for it is written, Everyone who commits sin is born of the devil. Forget also the defiled sacrifices and their polluted rites. And besides the nations claimed the fabulous gods as their fathers. What might Jews have to say about these things? For very clearly he is not speaking about their synagogue, since for them it was very specifically a law not to abandon ancestral cus- toms.

12α And the king will desire your beauty. And he will love you if you do what I have said. Her beauty is comeliness of the soul as we have said. 12β- For he is your Lord and you will worship him. Be wedded to him and be adopted, because he is your Master as creator. O such infinite condescension and benevolence! And you will worship him in the manner of a servant, even though he has made you his bride and daughter.

13β And the daughter of Tyre with gifts. Tyre was full of idols and much more impious than other cities. He prophesies according- ly that even she will bring temple buildings and votive offerings and all things pertaining to worship as gifts to Christ. ‘She will be’ with gifts, he says. The ‘daughter of Tyre’ in the sense of, ‘the daughter Tyre’, for this also is a Hebrew idiom, so also is the ‘daughter of Babylon’ and other suchlike. The call the city a ‘daughter’ in relation to the whole country of which the city is part.

13γ The rich among the people will make procession in supplication to your face. ‘Face’ here is what he calls the head, for Christ is the head of the assembly of the faithful and to him kings and leaders will make procession in supplication, that is, they will make entreaty, or ‘will honour’ as Theodotion said, and if these people do so, even more will their subjects. Or else the priests are the face of the Church, and kings will honour them as ministers of God.

14α All the glory of the king’s daughter is within. 13β: See about this idiom at the end of the seventy-second psalm [Ps 72.28].

So that no one should think that he spoke earlier about sensible garments or beauty, he turns the listeners’ mind to spiritual things, saying that all her comeliness and majesty and ornamentation is in her soul, for God accepts beauty of the soul and the robe of the virtues. 14β In tasselled golden she is arrayed, embellished. Above he said ‘in’, here he says ‘in tasselled’, that is, in tasselled cinctures; some translated this as ‘waistbands’ from which tassels hang down. By ‘cincture’ you will understand chastity, tightly binding the appetitive part, on which many virtues hang, for the person who has bridled desire will achieve much. Others said ‘tassels’ for ‘tasselled’, calling ‘tassels’ the variety of the virtues or the variety of spiritual gifts. 15α In her train virgins will be brought to the king. He prophesies that the life of virginity will not appear along with the establishment of the assembly of the faithful but ‘in her train’, that is, afterwards, for after the institution of the Church virgins were brought to Christ through the teaching of the Apostles. Another says that every soul made kin through perfection with God is both bride and daughter while a virgin is the soul cleansed of the passions but still imperfect that is led to God in second place behind the more perfect. 15β Those close to her will be brought to you. Those who approach the bride and daughter in life and belief and in a small way fall short of her. 16α They will be brought in gladness and rejoicing. The Apostle Paul says that women who marry Will have trouble in the flesh, namely, with anxious care for their husband, their children, their servants, their house, and suchlike, while the virgin, having been freed from such care and looking only to the heavenly bridegroom, rejoices spiritually. 16β They will be led into the temple of the king. Either that orders of virgins will be set apart among the clergy of the Church, or else he is calling the temple the heavenly temple and talking about the palaces in heaven into which they are led by the angels. 15α: And in an anagogical sense, those who love virginity are in a way imitating the Theotokos, namely, they are following her through imitation, so that by this espousal of virginity they may become mothers of Christ, for the great Gregory the Theologian says, Christ is from a Virgin. O women, espouse virginity so that you may become mothers of Christ. [PG36.313A]

17α The sons have become for you in place of your fathers. This David said to the assembly of the faithful. For since he enjoined the assembly to take leave of the paternal home, he offers consolation that its offspring, namely, those who have believed and been reborn through baptism, will become in place of its fathers in respect of leadership, for bishops and leaders of the local Churches were established, as he declared through what follows, saying:

17β You will establish them as rulers over all the earth. Or else, [rather than to the assembly of the faithful] the words are addressed to Christ, whose fathers, as from his mother, are Abraham and the other patriarchs or the prophets, and whose sons are the Apostles, who assumed the rank of his fathers, both in becoming patriarchs in turn by begetting through baptism all the nations, and in being made worthy of the gift of prophecy; moreover, they were sent out by him as rulers to all the earth, for he says, Go and make disciples of all the nations. And not only while alive did they rule, but even after death, for all the faithful everywhere obey their laws and instructions and are directed by them. Let the Jews then show which of their sons have ruled over all the earth, when rather they are in servitude to all the earth.

18α I shall remember your name in every generation and generation. This the Church says, having been made worthy of such honours; the duplication of the ‘generation’ indicates the succession for ever. And very truly the Church ever remembers Christ, since it is from him that she is called Christian.

18β For this peoples will confess you to the age. Because you have made me worthy of so much consideration, crowds of believers will give thanks to you, throughout all human life.

18γ And to the age of the age. And not only in the age of the present world, but also in the age of the world to come, for this is the age of age, as more highly valued and without end.

45 Psalm 45

1 Towards fulfilment; for the sons of Kore; for the hidden things; a psalm. ‘Towards fulfilment’ because the prophecies in this psalm look towards fulfilment. It fore- tells the rebellions of the tyrants against the Church at the beginning of the preaching and

the Church’s patient endurance and the subsequent peace. Hence it is justly placed after the previous psalm. The previous one contains the calling of the Church, while this one contains the things after the calling. In some of the ancient copies the superscription is not ‘for the sons of Kore’, but ‘belong- ing to the sons of Kore, and it is clear that the former is by oversight of the original copyist, from whom it was passed on to the others. We can, however, also interpret the inscription in the following way, taking the preposi- tion ‘for’ in the sense of ‘through’, namely, through the sons of Kore, for it was composed by David but was sung through the sons of Kore, for they say that the Hebrew word means both ‘through the sons’ and ‘for the sons’. ‘For the hidden things’ in the sense of, about the things hidden to the many, for there are many enigmatic things in this. It is spoken in the person of the Apostles and of the martyrs.

2α Our God is refuge and power. Christ in whom we have believed is refuge when we are fleeing and power when we are resisting, for he commanded to flee trials, but on falling into them to resist through patient endurance so as not to be defeated by them.

2β A helper very greatly in afflictions that beset us. Chrysostomos relates the ‘very greatly’ to the ‘helper’. PG55.204 Note that afflictions beset those who live in a godly way, pursuing them by God’s consent so that having been exercised they may become stronger, for as is written, Affliction produces endurance, and endurance strength of character. God does not prevent trials for the reason mentioned, but when they supervene he stands by as a helper.

3 Therefore we shall not be afraid when the earth is troubled and mountains are moved in the hearts of the seas. Neither Basil the Great nor Chrysostomos took this verse in an anagogical sense, but they PG29.420B both agreed that the saints are saying that when Christ is helping us very greatly, we shall PG55.204 never be afraid, not even if the whole earth be shaken with violent earthquakes, nor if the mountains, having been torn up from their natural seat, be catapulted away into the depths of the sea. And if we shall not fear when the elements are thus confused, much more we shall not fear when tyrants attack us. Hence Paul said, Who will separate us from the love of Christ? This? Or that?

4 Their waters have echoed and been troubled; the mountains have been troubled at his sov- ereign might.

This, they say, is that our helper is all-powerful, for often the waters of the seas have ech- oed and been troubled, stirred up and made to foam by the violent force of the winds bearing down on them, and the mountains moreover have been shaken by earthquake. All this occurs by your power, as is written, Who converts the cavity of the sea, and, Who looks on the earth and Ps 64.8 [65.6] makes it tremble. He spoke of seas in the plural in accordance with the Hebrew custom as we have said Ps 2.2α, 8.4α, elsewhere. Or else ‘seas’ is what he calls the various gulfs – the Aegean, the Ionian, and so on. 18.2α It is not out of place to interpret the previous verses in an anagogical sense also. We shall not fear when the earth is troubled, namely, the earthly minded tyrants and subjects, for they were troubled on being moved from their hereditary way of life. Indeed, not even when the mountains, that is, the elated demons, are moved, namely, enter into the hearts of briny and bitter people, maddening them to murderous rage against us, for the book of the Acts of the Apostles presents many such things as having happened. Their (that is the demons’) waters are the idolaters, carried here and there like waters by the blusterings of demonic deception. These idolaters echoed on the one hand by shouting out and urging one another on, and on the other hand they were troubled, unsettled by the strange wonders worked by the servants of God and their insuperable power; the mountains were also troubled, that is, the demons themselves, becoming debilitated and being driven away.

5α The surgings of the river gladden the city of God. Here are the hidden and secret things. Christ is the river on account of the fresh streams of his teaching watering and enriching and leading the souls of the faithful to productiveness in virtues, for he says through one of the prophets, See, I avert towards them like a river of peace. The divine Apostles are his surgings, surging forth from him to teach the faithful, for he says, Go, make disciples of all the nations. The Church of Christians is the city of God on account of their godly way of life. The Apostles gladden the Church both by their life and their preaching. And in another sense, the Holy Spirit is a river and its surgings are the various gifts of grace with which the Church is adorned.

5β The Most High has sanctified his tent-shrine dwelling. And this city is also the tent-shrine dwelling of God, for it is written, I shall dwell among them and will walk in them.

6α God is in her midst and she will not be shaken. And see, he says, I am with you all the days, and, Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

She will not be shaken by the violent attacks of the visible and invisible enemies attempt- ing to overturn her, for as is written, The gates of Hades will not prevail against her.

6β God will help her at morning towards morning. He will help her in dangers with the greatest speed. ‘At morning towards morning’ in- dicates intensity of speed and a comparison of the morning to another morning, hence the syntax of the Greek demands the definite article be taken with the second ‘morning’, namely, at morning in relation to another morning.

7α Nations have been troubled. With the preaching of the Gospel being sown abroad, all have been stirred into motion, some running towards the faith, others running it down.

7β Kingdoms have fallen. The kingdoms waging war on the Church have been defeated when renouncing her, or else they have fallen down to her in worship through faith, for both the one and the other occurred in various cities.

7γ The Most High has given his voice; the earth has been shaken. By this he proclaimed the great power of God, who has only to speak and at once the earth trembles. Elsewhere also he says, Who looks on the earth and makes it tremble. Such things are spoken by way of metaphor from those who are commanding that some be pun- ished or looking angrily. God’s anger is what we call his verdict. Or else in a different sense, he gave his voice to the world through the Gospel, and all were stirred into motion, as we said previously. By the ‘earth’ you will understand those who dwell on the earth, as with, And the whole earth was one lip.

8 The Lord of powers is with us; the God of Jacob is our helper. These things the Church says strengthening herself and giving herself courage. His mention of Jacob is opportune both because God delivered him when he was under threat now from Esau, now from Laban, and now from various others, and also because he was the first to prophesy the calling of the nations, saying, A ruler will not fail from Judas nor a leader from his thighs until there comes the one for whom it is ordained and he is the expectation of the nations.

9 Come and see the works of God, the portents he has set upon the earth.

The prophet invites those able to see and comprehend more acutely than others. ‘Works’ are what he calls the attainments of the Gospel which he also deemed ‘portents’, for he says, these things God has set as portents upon the earth so as through them to proclaim the inef- fable power of his divinity. For these things did not proceed according to the sequence of na- ture: fishermen would defeat philosophers, a few, the entire world, the naked, heavily armed warriors, the destitute, kings, those mortal and visible, immortal and invisible demons.

10α Killing off wars in return even to the ends of the earth. When Christ was born the wars of the nations against one another ceased, with monarchy over all having passing to Rome alone, for it is written, A decree went out from Caesar Augus- tus that all the world should be registered, and thereupon, there being profound peace, weap- ons became of no use, all having been turned to farming and other arts. This Isaiah declares saying, They shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks, and nation shall not take up sword against nation. Observe the force of the verb ‘killing off in return’: prior to Christ wars killed off people, but Christ killed off the wars themselves in return for those they used to kill. “Killing off in return’ therefore is in the sense of ‘extinguishing’.

10β Bow he will crush bow and weapon he will smash and shields he will burn in fire. All these things happened in story as Ezekiel also tells. ‘Weapon’ is what he calls the sword and any implement of war. Appropriately David at- tributes the effecting of this attainment to God.

11α Take respite and know that I am God. Take respite from constant wars, visible and invisible, and know that I am God in the true sense, from the signs worked through the power of the Gospel.

11β I shall be exalted among the nations. Being great by nature, I shall through miracles also be esteemed great among the nations.

11γ I shall be exalted on the earth. In heaven all the bodiless powers know my sublimity, and hereafter this will also be recog- nized on earth; ‘on the earth’, that is, on all the earth.

12 The Lord of powers is with us, the God of Jacob is our helper. The Church repeated the previously uttered encouraging interjection to boost their mo- rale and patient endurance, as she tramples and jumps on the enemy. 46 Psalm 46 1 Towards fulfilment; for the sons of Kore; a psalm belonging to David. ‘Towards fulfilment’ on account of the prophecies in it as we have said very often, for this psalm also foretells in turn the insuperable might of the Gospel message. We interpreted the ‘for the sons of Kore’ in the psalm before this, for it too has this su- perscription. In the present psalm, however, there is nothing hidden, and everything is clear and easy to discern. David speaks the words of the psalm prophetically in the person of the Apostles, who making good progress and leading many to the faith, would in great joy call on the nations to whom they had been sent by the Saviour to rejoice - to rejoice because they had become God’s inheritance. 2α Clap your hands, O all you nations. The clapping of hands is a symbols of surpassing joy. Accordingly, from the symbol he incited to joy, not for you to employ the striking of hands in a bodily manner, but for you to rejoice in soul, having been made worthy of such a Master, benevolent and all-powerful. 2β Make ululation to God with a voice of rejoicing. ‘Make ululation’ here is used in a metaphorical way in the sense of ‘sing a hymn of victory to God’, for, strictly speaking, ‘ululation’ is a war cry of those victorious in battle, striking terror into enemies already turning in flight. ‘A voice of rejoicing’ is one filled with gladness. Thereafter he provides the reason. 3 For the Lord Most High is fearsome, a great king over all the earth. Because Christ, who is highest in his divinity, is now fearsome from the signs that he works marvellously every day, whose name alone scourges and drives away the demons and dissolves illnesses. And he is a great king over all the earth, for in all the earth he has estab- lished an inheritance for himself through us who have been sent out. The word ‘great’ is used to distinguish him from temporary kings who are small and reign over small people. 4α He has subjected peoples to us.

The peoples from among the Jews for they, three thousand and five thousand, were the Ac 2.41, 4.4 first to believe, having cast off their enmity and run towards the Apostles immediately after the visitation on them of the Paraclete and before they went out to the nations.

4β And nations beneath our feet. Those from among the nations who believed and who would bow down with fervour at the Apostles’ feet and reverently kiss the marks of their footsteps.

5α He has chosen for us his inheritance. Through us the stewards of his Church he has chosen those worthy from among the nations as his inheritance, in accordance with, I shall give you nations as your inheritance, and whom through us, as through some army commanders, this great king has recruited for himself.

5β The beauty of Jacob, which he has loved. And not only those from among the nations, but also the best from the race of Jacob, for these are whom he called the ‘beauty of Jacob’, as the most beauteous from Jacob, which beauty, that is, which beauteous ones, he loved as being beautified with the virtues. Above he placed the Jews first, as the first to believe in Christ after the resurrection, while here he did the opposite, on account of those from the nations ever believing in great num- bers and those believing from Israel being a small part in relation to those from the nations.

6 God has gone up with ululation, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Here David is foretelling Christ’s ascension into heaven as we also noted in the twenty third psalm. Ululation and the sound of a trumpet are what he calls the voices of the angels that went before him at that time, an ‘ululation’ on account of, The Lord mighty and powerful, the Lord powerful in battle, for this is a hymn of victory and ululation is a victory shout, and the sound of a trumpet on account of, Lift away your gates, O you rulers, and so on, for the trumpet leads the way for kings returning in triumph from war. Or else in a different manner ululation and the sound of a trumpet are what he calls the voices of the angels on account of such words having become audible clearly and sharply to all the ends of the world through the teaching of the Apostles.

7 Sing to our God with psaltery, sing with psaltery; sing to our king with psaltery, sing with psaltery. Having told of the greatness of Christ’s achievements, he calls the whole inhabited world to give praise with great fervour, for this is what the double reduplication of ‘sing with psaltery’

indicates. ‘Sing with psaltery’ in the sense of ‘make melodious song’. Then he provides the reason to ‘sing with psaltery’. 8 For God is king over all the earth, sing mindfully with psaltery. Make music, he says, to God our king, that is, to Christ, because he is king over all the earth, as is written, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Sing with psal- tery, not in a simple way, but mindfully, namely, not with the tongue alone, but also with the mind, understanding to whom you are singing and for what attainments. 9α God has come to reign over the nations. Formerly he reigned over them as creator, without their willing consent, now he reigns as redeemer, with their consent. And since he was of dual nature, prior to the incarnation he held kingship as God, while after his resurrection from the dead he received it as man, for it was then that he said, All authority has been given to me, and so on. Over all the nations, that is, because people believed in all nations, in some cases the whole nation altogether, in other cases, half of the people, and in others, a part of the people, for the sound of the Apostles went out into all the earth. 9β God is seated on his holy throne. The throne is a symbol of kingship and being seated a symbol of steadfastness. He is saying therefore that Christ is secured in his kingship, in accordance with, He has sat at the right hand of majesty on high (these are words of the great Paul). He called the throne ‘holy’ as being free of all respect of persons and incapable of being abolished. 10α Rulers of peoples have gathered with the God of Abraham. Here he shows the power of the Gospel preaching, namely, that it touched not only com- moners but also kings and rulers. And they themselves gathered together with Christ, having become of his party. He said the ‘God of Abraham’ indicating that Christ was the God of Abraham and of those descended from him and that the lawgiver of the Old and the New Testament is one and the same. 10β For God’s mighty of the earth have been greatly exalted. They gathered with God because the Apostles – they are those whom called ‘mighty of the earth’, as made mighty by the power of the holy Spirit and prevailing mightily against demons and tyrants – have been raised greatly above all earthly things, held captive neither by pleasures nor by sorrows, but shining in both life and speech, and it is by them that the rulers were led to Christ. 8: From Basil the Great [PG31.1280A]: What the sense of the quality of each foodstuff is in relation to food, this is what understanding is in relation to the words of holy Scripture, for the throat tastes foods, while the mind discriminates words [ Job 12.11]; if therefore someone thus disposes his soul towards the power of each word in the way he disposes his taste towards the quality of each food, he has fulfilled the commandment saying: Sing mindfully with psaltery.

47 Psalm 47

1 A psalm of an ode; belonging to the sons of Kore; on the second of the sabbath. What a ‘psalm of an ode’ means we set out previously in the preamble to the present book § 65 where the phrase ‘belonging to the sons of Kore’ was also clarified. § 50 ‘On the second of the Sabbath’ denotes the day on which it was sung. The Hebrews call the whole week ‘Sabbath’. This psalm contains a thanksgiving of those who have come back again to Jerusalem from the captivity in Babylon. It is fitting also for the faithful returning from the captivity of the idols to knowledge of God.

2α The Lord is great. Great in power, in wisdom and in goodness.

2β And greatly to be praised. And exceedingly worthy to be praised on account of the great marvels worked for us, namely, that having been forgotten we have been strangely recalled and become recipients of his benevolence.

2γ In the city of our God. And to be praised in Jerusalem which knows him, for those who do not know him do not praise.

2δ In his holy mountain. Having said the ‘city’, he then mentioned Mount Zion, as being united to the city on ac- count of its great proximity, and often he indicates Jerusalem by this mountain alone. The Church of the faithful in which God is believed to dwell may also be understood as the city of God. This same Church is also a mountain as set above all earthbound wickedness and reaching up towards heaven.

3α Well rooted, the joy of all the earth. And the mountain that is well rooted, that is the joy of all the earth. A comma is to be placed after ‘well rooted’, then ‘the joy’ is to be read. ‘The joy of all the earth’, in the sense of, ‘the delight’.

3β O mountains of Zion, the sides of the north, the city of the great king.

What is turned sideways in relation to me may be called my sides, for what is sideways is at the side. Since Mount Zion does not lie directly but sideways in relation to the north wind (for it does not blow directly onto it), he called it its side, saying, O mountains of Zion, sideways to the north wind, lying to its side. Full of joy he invokes both the mountain and the city. He calls the mountain ‘mountains’ in accordance with the Hebrew dialect as we have often said, and he calls God ‘the great king’, for only this city was dedicated to him alone. In an anagogical sense we shall present another meaning, because Scripture often refers to the devil as the north: From the north evil will flare up over all the earth, and again, I shall drive out the north from among you. His sides, that is, his members, are the nations. He is saying therefore that the members of the devil, all those over whom he ruled, have become mountains of Zion, that is, towers and bulwarks of the Church of the faithful on account of their having been raised up above lowly earthbound things, and also on account of their courage. And why do I say ‘towers and bulwarks’? The city of Christ the king is these very things, for from such the Church was established.

4 God is known in her great buildings when he comes to her aid. ‘Great buildings’ are the most conspicuous dwellings; these may now be understood as the temple in Jerusalem in which, it is said, he appears to the priests whenever at time of war he will come to help them. He said this in praise of the city. In an anagogical sense, the life of faith of Christians everywhere is a ‘city’, for this life is one and the same on account of the unity and communion of piety. ‘Great buildings’ and dwellings are the local temples of these Christians in which Christ appears when at time of persecution he will defend them. It is necessary to realize that the Church of the faithful is referred to as one and as many: it is one on account of the one life of faith, and many on account of the many temples in different cities and places.

5α For see the kings of the earth have gathered together. Against Jerusalem or against the Church of the faithful.

5β They have passed through together. They have gone past against her together, fighting side by side with one another.

6α On having seen, so they have marvelled. ‘So’, in the sense of ‘after having seen’, for before seeing they were not marvelling.

6β They have been troubled. They have been unsettled.

6γ They have been shaken. They have been shaken out of the frame of mind they had.

7α Trembling has overtaken them. Having been greatly terrified.

7β There there are pangs as of a woman giving birth. Among them are anguished frettings and pains and apprehensions of dangers, like a wom- an giving birth.

8 With a violent wind you will crush the ships of Tharsis. With a sudden movement of anger you will crush them like the ships of Tharsis; the ‘like’ is missing. ‘Tharsis’ is the name of place where large and fine ships were built. Or else this indicates the ships themselves, namely, you will crush the ships of Tharsis carrying hostile forces. Some identify Tharsis with the Libyan Carthage.

9α As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of powers, in the city of our God. Those who escaped the uprisings of the enemies here say that in agreement with what we had heard, we have now seen in the city of our powerful God. For we heard that God has worked many wonders for his people, and we have seen his wonders now also, and what we have seen confirms what we have heard.

9β God has founded her to the age. This fits only with the Church of the faithful, for as is written, The gates of Hades will not prevail against her, for Jerusalem was razed to its very foundations, and the Jews have no answer to make to this.

10 We have made assumption, O God, of your mercy in the midst of your people. We have looked to your help and we have not been disappointed.

Some say that ‘we have made assumption’ means here that ‘we have discerned’.

11α As with your name, O God, so also will your praise be to the ends of the earth. Just as your name has spread to the ends of the earth on account of the miracles, so also will your praise spread abroad and all will honour you as exceedingly powerful.

11β Your right hand is full of justice. As justly taking vengeance on those who wrong us.

12α Let mount Zion be glad and let the daughters of Judea rejoice. By the mountain, he urges those dwelling on it to rejoice. The ‘daughters of Judea’ is what he calls either the women, as more fearful and more given to sorrow than the men (and if the women are to rejoice, then much more so the men), or else the surrounding cities subject to Jerusalem. The ‘mount’ may also be understood as the one Church of the faithful, as we have said, and the ‘daughters of Judea’ (that is, of confession and of faith), as the souls of the faithful, or else the various local Churches.

12β For the sake of your judgements, O Lord. This is the reason for the joy, because, he says, you have adjudged our case and condemned our enemies.

13α Encircle Zion and surround her. Since Jerusalem had formerly been a ruin, but after the captivity was settled and strength- ened beyond expectation, the prophet urges the people to go around it and see that she has regained her previous strength and decorum. Encircle and surround, in the sense of, encom- pass in a circle, or else both words mean the same.

13β Recount the tale in her towers. While sitting on her towers recount the tale of what she suffered before at the hands of the Babylonians and what she has now become. Chrysostomos took the ‘recount the tale’ in the sense of, make a tally of her towers how PG55.221 many they are.

14α Set your hearts in her power.

Set your mind, that is, comprehend her new power.

14β And divide her great buildings. Not only dwelling houses are called ‘great buildings’, but also the towers. He is saying therefore for each one of you to divide among yourselves her towers so that you can examine them at leisure by yourself. 14γ- So that you may tell to another generation that this is our God to the age and to the age of

15α the age. He is saying, do all the things that I have said, so that having learnt therefrom the power of God you may tell those who come after that this our God is in this age and in the eternal age, namely, that he is for ever. Such then is the matter in a historical sense. In an anagogical sense, however, the prophet is urging the Apostles and teachers to encompass the Church of the faithful in a circle, on ac- count of her visible and invisible enemies. By the towers of the universal Church understand the various local Churches, which he also calls ‘great buildings’. He is urging the Apostles and teachers to tell of the greatness of God in them and to divide these Churches among them- selves under their leadership and protection, and to set their hearts, namely, to take care to strengthen the Church, so that having built her up, they may tell those who come after, using the tongue of the believers as their instrument.

15β He will shepherd us to the ages. For he says, I am the good Shepherd.

48 Psalm 48

1 Towards fulfilment; belonging to the sons of Kore; a psalm. The psalm treats of the future universal judgement which is the fulfilment of the present life, and hence it has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’, because it will speak of the last day. The rest of the inscription is clear from what has been discussed before.

2 Listen to these things, O all you nations. Give ear, O all you that dwell in the inhabited world. The prophet convokes the whole nature of mankind to listen. The nations are simply all the races that use various languages and dwell in groups in cit- ies, in villages, in the countryside. Since, however, there are some people who do not live in groups, but all alone in mountains, in caves and in clefts of rocks, he added the more universal

designation, namely, all who dwell wheresoever in the inhabited world so that no one might be left out of the invitation. Even though ‘give ear’ seems to be the same as ‘listen’, it involves nevertheless a certain intensification, namely, not simply to hear, but to put in one’s ear what is heard.

3α O both you earth-born and you sons of men. Basil the Great interprets ‘earth-born’ as those who are earthly minded in all things and PG29.433B entirely absorbed with the earth, and ‘sons of men’ as those who are endowed with reason, for reason is a characteristic of man. Chrysostomos dealt with the exposition in a different way, for he says that the prophet, PG55.223 having called together all people without differentiation, brought down to size at the very outset any among them who might have a sense of superiority towards others, reminding them that they are all made of earth, of base matter. Then, so it would not appear that they had sprouted from the earth in the beginning after the manner of the Greek myths about ‘sown men’, he added ‘and sons of men’. Listen, he says, O men, both ‘earth-born’ on account of your first progenitor having been formed from clay, and ‘sons of men’ on account of your engenderment from sexual union thereafter.

3β Rich and poor at once. I do not differentiate, he says, the rich from the poor, for the holy Spirit calls all as equal in value, seeking for the soul able to understand, something given not by wealth but by fear of God. ‘At once’, in the sense of, ‘together’, ‘similarly’.

4α My mouth will utter wisdom. He excites the listeners to attention, indicating that he is not going to speak about any ephemeral matters, but about great and fearsome things. ‘Wisdom’ is what he calls oracles filled with wisdom.

4β And the meditation of my heart understanding. Here he states that he will not speak thoughtlessly, but after careful consideration. For, he says, the meditation of my heart, that is, the precise scrutiny of my mind, will utter words full of understanding, or words requiring understanding in order to be construed.

5α I shall incline my ear to a parable. And as I am speaking to you, he says, I shall incline in part the ear of my soul to the parable being resonated in it by the holy Spirit. ‘Parable’ is what he here calls enigmas, and indeed

prophecy is enigmatic on account of the hidden meanings. He invested his words with trust- worthiness as being inspired from on high.

5β I shall open my proposition on the psaltery. ‘Proposition’ is what he calls his speech, proposited for the exhortation and benefit of his listeners. ‘I shall open’, that is, I shall reveal my discourse with music on the psaltery, for the one who opens a door reveals what is inside. From what precedes therefore he signifies what fol- lows. With instrumental music so the discourse may become sweeter. The person who acts and teaches and has his actions in harmony with his words opens his proposition on the psaltery, for the melody of the psaltery is produced by the hands and the hands are a symbol of practice.

6α Why do I fear on a grievous day? To be read as a question. Do you wish to learn why I fear on the day of the last judgement? This is the day he ‘grievous’ as we explained previously in the second verse of the fortieth psalm. Then listen.

6β The lawlessness of my heel will encircle me. I fear that the lawlessness of my sin will then encircle. ‘Heel’ indicates ‘deception’ as we said before in the psalm mentioned and deception is sin as deceiving the sinner: the lawless- ness of my sin, that is, my sin, by circumlocution. Do you see words that are wise and astute? By presenting himself as fearful, he urged to fear sin, while at the same time teaching the there will be impartial judgement.

7 Those who trust in their power and boast in the abundance of their wealth. ‘Listen those of you who trust’ is to be understood here. He describes here as ‘powerful’ not only those powerful in deed but also in word and as ‘rich’ not only those rich in monetary wealth, but also those rich in rational speculations. Having called those in particular, he says:

8α A brother does not redeem; will a man redeem? There, he says, it is not possible even for a brother, who is dearest by nature, to redeem from punishment, for power and money do not cross over with one. And if a brother does not redeem, will a stranger redeem?

‘A brother does not redeem’ is to be read as a statement; ‘will a man redeem’ as a question with emphasis. So therefore there is no redemption there, but rather one must redeem oneself here through repentance, for Scripture says, If Noah and Job and Daniel were to arise, their sons and daughters they will not rescue.

8β He will not give God propitiation for himself. Neither a brother nor a stranger will give propitiation there, that is, ransom for himself, he will undergo punishment, being himself responsible.

9 And the price for the redemption of his soul. And he will not give the price, that is, the purchase price for the freedom of his soul, for not even the whole world is worth as much as a human soul. And since our Saviour when coming to redeem the human soul taken captive by the devil did not give land, or sea, or the world, but his own precious blood, what worthy ransom will one find there? Observe here words wise and astute and enigmatic.

10α And he has laboured to the age and will live to the end. Having censured the unrepentant, he turns also to those repenting and consoles their la- bour of penitence with hopes for the future. The penitent, he says, has laboured in this age and thereafter he will live forever, for this is what ‘to the end’ means. By ‘life’ he means true life, that without toil, for in relation to life here the word is a mis- appropriation of the term, as we have explained before. ‘End’ you will also understand as the future age, for it is the end of the present age.

10β He will not see utter destruction when he sees wise men dying. Such a person being assured about the last judgement, when he sees those who are wise in relation to things divine, that is, the virtuous, dying, will not believe that he is seeing utter destruction into non being, but a change from corruption to incorruption. Or else when he sees people wise about vain matters dying, he will not believe he is seeing the utter destruction of both body and soul, as they defined death when they were alive, but a migration to another world. All this, however, is according to the more simple explanation. Basil the Great, providing PG29.441 an anagogical interpretation, says that ‘a man will redeem’ and what follows were prophesied about Christ, for since we were taken captive of old by the devil, David foretold that it is not a brother, that is, a prophet, that redeems the captives - for the prophets who came for us are

our brothers, being of the same nature. Finally, it is a man who will redeem, namely Christ, perfect man and perfect God, who preserves intact the dignity of humanity, and who for this reason is man in the true sense. He will not give God propitiation for himself, nor the price for the redemption of his soul, for, as is said, He has committed no sin. Accordingly it was for us and not for himself that he gave his own blood by way of propitiation. He also laboured in the present age when ‘wearied from the journey’ he sat down by the well. Moreover, he will not see utter destruction when the others die, for it is written, Nor will you allow your devout servant to see corruption.

11α Together the fool and the witless man will perish. Both the fool, namely, the one who does not know the true God (for it is written, The fool has said in his heart: God he is not), and the witless man, namely, the one who knows God, but is distracted by earthly things alone and gives no consideration to anything heavenly, will disappear from the earth and from the company of the saved.

11β And they will leave their wealth to strangers. Having died suddenly, they will leave what they have gathered with much labour.

12α And their graves will be their homes to the age. They built for themselves luxurious houses, but with others having taken these, for them- selves their graves will be their homes for all of the present age.

12β Their billets to generation and generation. He says the same again, further mocking their utter folly. Their graves, he says, will be their living quarters.

12γ They gave their names to their lands. Observe a further kind of depravity, for out of vainglory they have have imposed their names on their estates in abiding memory. Byzantion is called after Byzas, the Diogenian field from Diogenianos, the Hermoneion theatre after Hermon, and so on. They ought rather to have shown care not for their name, but for their soul.

13α And man being with honour has not understood. Being with honour as alone having been created in God’s image, he has not understood his own dignity, but having neglected to imitate his archetype, see what he has done:

13β He has been cast down beside the mindless beasts and has become like them. ‘He has been cast down beside’, in the sense of, ‘he has been classed with’, for having been honoured with reason and commanded to rule over the irrational animals, he classed himself with the beasts, as far as their irrationality is concerned, namely, failing to consider heavenly things, but engaging only with earthly matters, and like irrational animals being drawn to the passions whenever either inclination or desire so moves, and pursuing pleasure of the flesh in every way. ‘Beasts’ is what he calls now all the irrational animals. 14α This way of theirs is a stumbling-block to them. Their likening themselves to the beasts is an impediment to them and does them great harm. 14β And after this they will be well-pleased in their mouth. And after such people make themselves like beasts, having done base things, they will then declare their pleasure in what they have done with their mouth, for this is what ‘they will be well-pleased’ means here, which is something worthy of even greater condemnation, because not only to they do evil, but they also display pride in it in their speech. 15α He has set them like sheep in Hades. God then has set such people in Hades like sheep, that is, as having become irrational, or else as being unable to help themselves, or as fit for slaughter. 15β Death will shepherd them. Having spoken of sheep, he added the shepherd, keeping the figure of speech. ‘Death’ is what he now calls punishment, for not even when having been slaughtered will they be freed of punishment. ‘Will shepherd them’, in the sense of, ‘will put them in order’. It should be known that Scripture is accustomed to call punishment ‘death of the soul’ and ‘destruction of the soul’. 15γ And the upright will have dominion over them in the morning. ‘In the morning’, in the sense of, ‘swiftly’. ‘They will have dominion’, in the sense of, ‘they will be mightier’. He says that those who live rightly, the virtuous, will swiftly be mightier than such men, even though being poor. And not only there where victory crowns are given, but also here, protected by God and honoured by men and not defeated by their wickedness. For look at Joseph who while being in servitude became mightier than his mistress.

15δ And their help will become old in Hades. ‘Will become old’, in the sense of, ‘will be useless’, that is, it will cease to be, for what is old is useless, and what is useless has already ceased to be. They trusted, he says, in the help of their wealth and their friends, which help is of no use in Hades, since it does not cross over with them. 15ε They have been thrust out from their glory. And this was not all they suffered, having chosen irrationality, but they also lost their glory on account of which moreover they then were lost, for they strove to leave behind a memory of praise for themselves, but they threw this away also, with this memory either having been blackened or having given over its place instead to censure. 16 Except God will redeem my soul from the hand of Hades when he takes me. This is a prophecy both about the incarnation of God and about the freeing of the souls in Hades. He will redeem my soul, he says, when he takes me as a dwelling place for himself through the incarnation. 17-18 Do not fear when a man is enriched or when the glory of his house is increased, for when he dies he will not take it all, nor will his glory go down with him. By ‘a man’ he means here an unjust man. Do not be dismayed, he says, as if God were not observing human affairs, for nothing of these things will descend with him into Hades, but he will depart stripped of everything. The ‘glory of his house’ is what he calls its magnificence, its pretension, its conspicuous appearance. 19α For his soul will be well-spoken of during his life. For as long as he is alive he will be deemed blessed, being praised by those ignorant of what constitutes a blessed life, but once he has died he will suffer the opposite. 19β He will give thanks to you when you do good to him. The verse is addressed to the poor man, namely, when you do good things for him, that is, things that are pleasing to him, only then will he thank you, for the rest, he will disdain you and look down on you, even though you will attain every virtue. Or else the words are addressed to God, namely, when you do good things for him, he will give thanks, but when he encounters sorrows, he will blaspheme, whereas the just man will bless the Lord at all times. 15ε: The glory of a house lies in colonnades, covered walks, a golden roof, a floor decorated with mosaics, meadows, gardens, herds of slaves, costly furnishings and vessels, and such things. The glory of a man’s body lies in both the things mentioned and strength and beauty and stature and whatever is of that sort, while the glory of the soul is only virtue. Hence we understand, All a man’s glory is like a flower of grass [Isa. 40.6], as being said about bodily glory.

20α He will enter as far as the generation of his fathers. On dying he will enter the deepest parts of the earth, as far as Hades, where the generation of his fathers is.

20β As long as an age he will not see light. As long as there is an age, and there is ever an age, so eternally he will not see light, having been dispatched into darkness.

21 And man being with honour has not understood. He has been cast down beside the mind- less beasts and has become like them. He expresses indignation again that man, having been made slightly lesser than angels, and about whom Solomon says, Mankind is something great and a man something precious, has been cast down beside the mindless beasts.

49 Psalm 49

1α A psalm belonging to Asaph. We discussed the ‘Asaph’ inscription in the preamble to the book of psalms and I think it is superfluous to speak about it again. § 50 For good reason this psalm follows the one before it, for in this one also there is a calling to witness and a censure. Except that in the previous psalm the whole nature of mankind is called to listen, while in this one it is heaven and earth, for it says, He will summon the heaven above and the earth. Also in the previous psalm it was simply everyone who lives wickedly who was indicted, while in this one it is the Jews who are censured. Another prophet also introduces God judging and censuring in this way, saying, Hear, you chasms and foundations of the earth, because God has judgement towards his people and he will dispute with Israel. And Isaiah says, Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth. And this kind of figure is familiar in Scripture; it is very striking and deeply shaming, because the inanimate elements sit in judgement over the animate beings, and at the same time it is strong proof of God’s benevolence, showing such condescension as even to be judged along with men.

1β The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken and summoned the earth. We find four meanings of the name ‘God’ in Scripture. The first, in the eminent sense, is as the God of all and creator. The second is by way of imitation and likeness, as with, The Lord, the God of gods, has spoken, and, God has stood in the assembly of gods, in the midst he will make judgement on the gods, and, I have said, ‘You are gods and sons of the Most High all’, and, You will not revile gods

and you will not speak evil of the rulers of your people. It is clear that in these usages he is call- ing ‘gods’ those who through virtue are imitating God and those who are likened to God in respect of ruling and judging, as are rulers and judges. The third meaning is by analogy, as when Moses is called the ‘god of Pharaoh’, as working wonders against him and punishing him and using his will to produce the chastisements and having Aaron as the prophet of his will and appearing to Pharaoh as lord of death and life. This differs from the second meaning, because he not simply called ‘god’ as he is there, but the ‘god of Pharaoh’. The fourth, is by illusion, as with, Go and cry aloud to the gods whom you have chosen for yourselves, and, You shall not make for yourselves gods of silver or of gold. David therefore is saying through the holy Spirit that the Creator of the rulers and of the judges of the earth, in a word, the Lord of all things, has spoken. What he spoke, another prophet said, as we mentioned above, Hear, you chasms and foundations of the earth. And through this utterance he called the earth to listen.

1γ From the rising of the sun to its setting. That is, the whole earth, for by these extremities the whole is delimited.

2α Out of Zion is the splendour of his comeliness. This and the following verses form a parenthesis containing prophecies. This verse pre- sents a meaning such that formerly in Zion was the temple of the Father, a temple that was an ornament and glory of his divinity, and later again out of Zion will come the temple of the Son, that is, his assumed humanity, which similarly will be an ornament and glory of the divinity dwelling in it. You will understand comeliness as divinity, for what is more comely than divinity? 2β-3α God will come manifestly, our God, and will not keep silence. This is a prophecy about the second coming of Christ. In the first he came non-manifestly, escaping the notice of even the devil, otherwise he would not have asked him on the mountain if he is the Son of God. In the second, however, he will come openly with power and great glory. For then he came in the form of a servant as a retriever of one who had slipped the reins, but later he will come as judge of his creature. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man, visible to all and fearful. ‘He will not keep silence’, in the sense of, ‘he will not show forbearance forever’.

3β Fire will flare up before him and around him a mighty squall.

With these words he is foretelling the awesome and irresistible nature of his presence. This is how Daniel also saw it: A river of fire was drawn out before him; his throne was a flame of fire; its wheels were burning fire. A squall is a violent and irresistible rush of wind. 4 He will summon the heaven above and the earth to make judgement of his people. [The ‘heaven above’ transposes the normal Greek word order, ὁ ἄνω οὐρανός, and so is read according to the figure of hyperbaton.] He summons them in order to make judgement of his people who are living wickedly. ‘To make judgement of ’ is what he here calls ‘to censure’. Note that Moses also when leading the people into the promised land invoked the heaven and the earth as witnesses to the covenants, as most permanent bodies and as embracing those who are sinning or living aright. The figure is that of personification, when we confer on inanimate things the persons of animate beings. 5α Gather to him his devoted servants. ‘Devoted servants’ is what he calls the Israelites, as devoted and dedicated to him alone. 5β Those who are carrying out his covenant in respect of sacrifices. Those who are administering and fulfilling (as they imagine) God’s covenant with them in sacrifices. ‘Covenant’ is what he calls the law. For by keeping only what concerned sacrifices they imagined they were keeping the whole of the law, and they would boast about their sacrifices as if most as deeply pious. Gather these to him at the times ordained for the readings of the prophetic words. 6α And the heavens will proclaim his justice. As he is about to introduce God pleading his cause, he first announces that God will speak justly, and indeed he says that even the inanimate things will proclaim his justice. Or else by ‘heavens’ he means the orders of the bodiless powers in heaven, seeing that they are ever about God. 6β For God is judge. This is a state of justice, because God, who is about to plead his cause, is judge of everything and hence he will speak justly having justice by nature.

7α Listen, O my people, and I shall speak to you. From this point onwards the words are those of God. Above all he commands them to pay attention, saying, ‘listen’, that is, pay attention.

7β O Israel, and I shall testify to you. ‘Listen’ is understood again. Having said ‘people’, he added the characteristic of the peo- ple and the sweetest name, O Israel. ‘I shall testify to you’, in the sense of, ‘I shall hold con- verse with you’.

7γ I am God, your God. I, who am holding converse with you, I am your God. Shudder in fear. He says this as proof of his ineffable forbearance, as even holding converse with his servants. He repeated the word ‘God’ by way of disparagement of the insensitivity and dullness of their hearing.

8 I shall not reprove you in respect of your sacrifices, your whole burnt offerings are before me continually. I have not instituted the present reproof, to accuse you about sacrifices being neglected. In no way. Indeed your whole burnt offerings are continually on the altar of my temple and accordingly in respect of sacrifices you remain without reproach. But I bring other charges against you.

9 I shall not accept bullocks from your house nor he-goats from your flocks. By sacrificing assiduously, do not think you are thereby doing service to me, for I have no need of sacrifice, being in want of nothing and rather being the provider of everything. Hence from now on I shall not accept such sacrifices. He upbraids these things more vigorously through Isaiah, saying, What to me is the mul- titude of your sacrifices? I am full. I do not wish whole burnt offerings of rams, and lambs’ fat and bulls’ and goats’ blood. Who has asked for these things from your hands? And Jeremiah says, Isa 1.11, 12 Why do you bring me frankincense from Saba and cinnamon from a land far away? And again, I did not speak to your fathers about sacrifices, and gave no commandments to them about whole burnt offerings, and various prophets say other such things. Yet surely he did legislate a great deal about sacrifices through Moses. The solution to the apparent contradiction is that I have not previously legislated about sacrifices on my own account for I had no need of them, but out of condescension on account of your hardness. For knowing that, having once learned to sacrifice in Egypt, you had become pleasurably

attached to it and that it was difficult for you to tear yourselves away from it, I permitted it by special dispensation, having transferred the sacrifices to myself, so that by their continuous succession you might remember me and the pleasure of sacrifices might preserve honour towards me among people who are ungrateful and easily forget. Now, however, with the long passage of time and so many signs on each occasion having confirmed for you that I am God alone, I lay bare my own will and I explicitly forbid sacrifices as useless and superfluous. Let Jews be ashamed, slighting the truth and closing their eyes to the light in these words. 10 For all the beasts of the field are mine, cattle on the mountains and oxen. I shall not accept, he says, the animals here mentioned, because they are all mine. ‘Beasts of the field’ is what he calls the clean tetrapods grazing in the fields. Scripture uses the word for beasts [θηρία] at times for wild animals and at times for domesticated animals. They are mine in the sense of my having created them. A number of copies write ‘beasts of the coppice’ in which you will understand rather wild animals, for fields are cultivated lands, while coppices are wooded lands home to wild beasts. The exposition you will give is that not only are the domesticated animals mine, but so are the wild animals. By a few animals he indicates all those sacrificed. 11α Known to me are all the birds of the sky. I know them and have them numbered as their Master. 11β And the fair ripeness of the field is with me. ‘The fair ripeness of the field’ is what he called the crops growing in the fields, for they are both the beauty of the fields and are called ‘ripe’ on account of the seasons of the year. ‘With me’, in the sense of, ‘in my hands’, ‘in my power’. Observe how in brief he made mention of all sacrifices, for sacrifices were offered from among the tetrapods, oxen and he-goats and sheep, from among the birds, common doves and turtle-doves, and from among the crops, wheaten flour and wine and oil. 12α If I shall be hungry I shall not tell you. This he said ironically, disparaging their dullness in thinking God needs sacrifices as food. He says therefore that even if you were correct in your assumption, I would not ask to eat from you. And listen to the reason: 12β For the inhabited world is mine and all that fills it.

Being mine, I would therefore take myself.

13 Shall I eat the meat of bulls or drink the blood of goats? With a question he censures their folly even more strongly. Do I, he says, like the falsely so-called gods of the nations, have any need of such food and drink, when indeed many of the more civilised people refuse and spurn it?

14α Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise. Observe the worship of the law being openly rejected and the worship of the Gospel be- ing introduced in its place, for sacrifice through praise is allotted to the Christians. By praise he means words of acclamation or thanksgiving, and indeed it is necessary to do both by reason of the fact that we were brought into being from non-being and acquired everything for our needs and our delight and also received the light of knowledge and, quite simply, were accorded such great blessings.

14β And pay your vows to the Most High. Your prayers for your salvation, for you have an obligation to do this. Or else ‘vows’ is what he calls ‘promises’ about being well-pleasing to him, for the Jews promised to do so and we also promise to do so as servants to their Master. Only the virtuous person is well-pleasing, and sacrificing animals is not a virtue, nor are the nations virtuous on this account.

15 And call on me in the day of your affliction and I shall deliver you and you will glorify me. Accordingly, sacrifice and pay what you owe to do, and then with boldness call on me and I shall deliver you from your affliction, whether issuing from men or from from demons, and you will glorify me as an unfailing and swift helper. It is to be noted how God in opening the door to the worship of the Gospel at once gave indication of the holy Trinity, for he says, ‘Sacrifice to God’, then ‘pay to the Most High’ and then ‘and call on me’, not so that only the Father is to be understood as God and only the Son as Most High and only the holy Spirit as worthy to be called on, but so that by such a division the division of the hypostases might be alluded to. 16-17 To the sinner God as said: Why do you recite my statutes and take up my covenant in your mouth? You have hated instruction and cast out my words behind. The ‘sinner’ is what he calls the assembly of priests and scribes among the Jews who would recite to the people the statutes of the law and had the whole covenant of the law in their

mouth alone, not in their heart. While boasting in this alone, and justifying themselves thereby, they would commit every sin. About them Christ said to the people: Do what they tell you to do, but do not do according to their works. Why is it, he says, that on the one hand you teach others, but on the other hand you have hated the instruction and ordering of the soul that proceeds from what you teach and you have cast out my words behind, that is, you have rejected them? For one pushes behind what is hated. You have rejected them in not doing what they enjoin, so that you adopt them in word but reject them in practice. 18α If you would see a thief, you would run along with him. Observe as if in a painting the colours of sin. If you would see a thief, you would either collaborate with, or join in giving approval to the perpetrator, by not bringing him to his senses but rather covering up for him. 18β And with the adulterer you would throw in your lot. And you would join with the adulterer in the same way that you would run along with the thief. By the adulterer here he indicates also the fornicator and every kind of licentious person. 19α Your mouth has brimmed with evil. It has been filled with falsehood. The syntax is indifferent [accusative case in place of the expected genitive]. And your tongue would entwine deceit. This is clear. You would sit and speak against your brother Sitting with others. 20β And against the son of your mother you would set a stumbling block. He says the same again, increasing the indictment by the clarification. A stumbling block is a snare. 21α You did these things and I kept silent. I showed forbearance waiting for your change of heart.

21β You made assumption of lawlessness, that I shall be like you. Not only did you not correct yourself, but you also inferred wickedness, which was, name- ly, that I would be like you in giving approval to those sinning.

21γ I shall reprove you and present your sins before your face. On the day of judgement.

22α Mind well these things, O you who are forgetful of God. Apprehend what has been said, you who are forgetful of God, because he is showing pa- tience with our sins.

22β Lest he snatch away and there be no deliverer. O such inconceivable forbearance! Showing still further forbearance, he safeguards them. Lest, he says, he suddenly snatches away your souls through relentless angels.

23α A sacrifice of praise will glorify me. Once again he makes an exhortation about the new sacrifice, for this, he says, will glorify me, that is, honour me, and not the sacrifice of animals.

23β And there is the way in which I shall show to him my salvation. And in that sacrifice is the way to salvation, through which way I shall show to him who is making the sacrifice the salvation that comes from me. Certain copies write ‘which I shall show’, and this is to be understood as ‘according to which’. Others place a punctuation mark after the word ‘show’ and then say ‘my very salva- tion’. The way to salvation is to be understood as baptism or repentance.

50 Psalm 50

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David;

2 even as the prophet Nathan came in to him at the time when he went in to Barsheba the wife of Uriah. ‘Towards fulfilment’ because it has prophecies referring the readers to their fulfilment.

For through the present psalm not only did he produce a suitable remedy of confession for the wound of his adultery with Barsheba and of the murder of her husband Uriah, but also concerning various other things. And furthermore he also foretold about the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return of the captives from Babylon, for the gift of prophecy did not fly away from him completely, with God foreknowing that swiftly he will wash away the stain and will become even brighter. He did not indeed ask to receive the holy Spirit, but for it not to be removed from him, for he said, And do not in return take your holy Spirit from me. The present confession is fitting for all who have sinned. It was composed and completed when the prophet Nathan came in to him, for it was then that he came to awareness, when previously giving it no thought. ‘At the time he went into Barsheba’ does not indicate that Nathan came in to him imme- diately, for some considerable time passed as the book of Kingdoms tells, rather ‘at the time’ in this present instance denotes at a later time, namely, after he came into Barsheba and made her pregnant.

3α Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy. Have mercy on me in a manner worthy of your great mercy, because I have sinned greatly.

3β And according to the abundance of your compassion blot out my lawless deed. He duplicated the same meaning, for this is customary for those making entreaty. ‘Lawless deed’ is what he calls the transgression of adultery and murder, for the law pro- hibited both. He called his transgression a ‘lawless deed’ because he transgressed like a for- Ex 20.13, 15 eigner not under the law.

4α Wash me still more from my lawlessness. He was forgiven through Nathan when Nathan said, The Lord has taken away your sinful action. But in his fervour he entreats to be washed still further, or else ‘still more’ is in the sense of, ‘exceedingly’.

4β And cleanse me from my sin. Once again he calls the same thing ‘sin’, for sin strictly speaking is the transgression of the law. For the most part, however, he uses the words ‘lawlessness’, ‘transgression’ and ‘sin’ indifferently and interchangeably.

5 For I know my lawlessness and my sin is before me continually.

Have mercy on me, he says, and cleanse me, because I have not forgotten my sin as negli- gible on account of the dignity of kingship; and even if it escaped the notice of the people, yet I know the sin how great it is and I see it night and day with the eyes of my conscience bitterly striking at my soul, which is a sure sign of true repentance and a cause of forgiveness.

6α Against you only have I sinned. As being subject to you alone as judge, for being king, I have you alone as judge of my actions, being lord over all others and by authority doing whatever I want. Or else, that having transgressed your laws, I sinned against you alone their legislator.

6β And done what is evil before you. For you see all things, and not only when they occur, but also when they are going to. He said this covering himself in shame for not having felt shame before God who was observing the sin taking place. Observe how he seems to be speaking about one sin, on account of the murder being consequent on the adultery, for it was the latter that occasioned the former.

6γ That you might be justified in your words and prevail when brought to trial. I have done what is wicked before you, against my own head, so that in your pleas of justification against me and when you are brought to trial with me – about the case that you made me king and glorified me so greatly, whereas I set your laws at naught and incited your wrath – it is you who will be justified and you will condemn me, a wretch, as being ungrateful towards his benefactor. For such was the aim of the demon who overpowered and defeated me, namely, to make me myself the cause of my own condemnation. God made his plea of justification and was judged against David through Nathan, and brought proof that, having taken him as a shepherd boy, he had established him as a great king and delivered him from countless assaults, while he had rewarded his benefactor with a wicked act. He set out also the judgement against him, namely, Thus says the Lord, See, I am raising up evils against you from your own house, and so on, as the book mentioned describes.

7 For, see, amid lawlessness I was conceived, and in sins my mother longed for me. Drawing God to sympathy, he reverts in his discourse to his own birth. For if Adam had not sinned he would not have been united to Eve. So that sin begot sexual union, and sexual union begot the offspring of Adam and Eve, and they those following, and so on up to David. And even though marriage became honourable for the law on account of the begetting of children, but the mode thereof proceeds from sin.

Accordingly, I have been conceived and have been born out of sin, for Symmachus wrote ‘gave birth to’ in place of ‘longed for’. And it is nothing great if he also sinned, having suffered the mark of his race.

8α For, see, you have loved truth. This is said in relation to his previously mentioned confession, for he is saying that you have loved truth and for this reason I have confessed truth, namely, that I have sinned. The ‘for see’ is redundant, both in the present verse and in the previous one, according to the Hebrew habit; for many such expressions are redundant.

8β The unmanifest and hidden things of your wisdom you have manifested to me. This he said to his own shame, namely, that you loved me so much that through the pro- phetic spirit you manifested to me the secret things of your wise providence, but I proved ungrateful.

9α You will sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be cleansed. Many things have been said about this verse by many, but no one has written anything clear or not open to objection. For my part, I say that David is prophesying about himself in this, namely, that he will both be forgiven his sin more completely and that he will be filled with joy. Since the law used to purify some of those who had incurred defilement with a sprinkling by hyssop (hyssop is a kind of grass with great purgative powers), by metaphor from that purification he said that you will sprinkle me with a purgative sprinkling. This may also be interpreted as the word of forgiveness or the tear of repentance, for this also is bestowed from God.

9β You will wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow. He says the same again in gratification.

10α You will make me hear joy and gladness. You will resonate joy in the hearing of my soul, that you have forgiven me. Joy and gladness now mean the same.

10β Bones made humble will rejoice.

My bones, he says, brought low under the weight of sin, will rejoice, having been lightened by forgiveness. By the part of his bones he signified is whole self. Some say that the ‘you will make me hear joy’ is said about the incarnation of the Saviour, namely, that you will announce to me the joy of the whole world, that is, the ineffable incar- nation, and at once my humbled bones will leap up and skip in delight. 11 Avert your face from my sins, and blot out all my lawless acts. My sins lie bare to your all-overseeing supervision. Remove this supervision from them and blot out all my lawless acts from the book of my deeds. 12α Create in me a clean heart, O God. Not bringing another heart into being, but restoring the existing heart to its ancient beau- ty. For if you remove from it its oldness deriving from the stain of sin, you will create in me a clean heart. ‘Create’ therefore, in the sense of, ‘restore’. 12β And renew a straight spirit in my inward parts. ‘Renew’ in the sense of ‘put in place anew’, namely, from now on, a gift of straightness, straightening out the crookednesses introduced into me by the demon. ‘Inward parts’ is what he calls the innermost parts of his self. And through Ezekiel God says to those in Babylon that, I shall give them a new heart and a new spirit, that is, I shall renew their heart and their zeal that has become enfeebled. 13α Do not cast me away from your face. As having become unworthy of your oversight. 13β And do not in return take your holy Spirit from me. He speaks of the gift of prophecy. Do not, in return for all I have sinned, remove this from me. 14α Give me back the joy of your salvation. The joy I had from being saved through you. Observe that what he has not lost, he asks not to be taken away, and what has been taken away he prays for this to be restored, for prior to his sin he would rejoice in having such a Saviour. 12α: ‘Heart’ has many meanings, sometimes the bodily organ, sometimes the deepest part of the guiding faculty of the soul, as in, And why do questionings arise in your hearts [Lk 24.38], and sometimes the will and dis- position, as in, Their heart is far from me [Isa 29.13], sometimes approval and well-pleasing, as in, I have found in David a man after my heart [Ac 13.22], and sometimes the soul, as in the present case, Create in me a clean heart.

14β And support me with a guiding spirit. And strengthen me with a gift of grace able to master the passions, or able to guide to what is better. The grace of straightness and the grace of guiding may be understood as the various powers given to the soul from the holy Spirit. 15 I shall teach the lawless your ways and the impious will turn back to you. This also is a prophecy about the future, for with the preaching of the Gospel having spread to the lawless nations, David’s book of psalms ever becomes a teacher for them. 16α Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation. In a historical sense, ‘bloodshed’ is what he calls unjust murders, as he brings to mind the murder of Uriah. In an anagogical sense, ‘bloodshed’ is what he calls the demons as delighting and wallow- ing in bloodshed, with people being slaughtered and other animals being sacrificed. ‘The God of my salvation’, in the sense of, ‘my Saviour’ and we have often said. The redu- plication signifies the heart-felt intensity of the prayer. 16β My tongue will rejoice in your justice. Even my tongue itself will take pleasure in the recital of your justice. ‘Justice’ now is what he calls the justification given to him by God, namely, the freedom from sin, for the person who is liberated is justified. A number of copies write not ‘in your justice’ [dative case], but ‘your justice’ [accusative case], in which the sense is that my tongue will ‘make rejoicing’ this very justification from you, and on account of this justification will leap to hymns of praise. 17 O Lord, you will open my lips and my mouth will proclaim your praise. Having learned so through the prophetic spirit, I know that my lips, which are now closed under the weight of condemnation, you will open again to praise you, just as prior to my sin. 18 For if you had desired a sacrifice, I would have given it; in whole burnt offerings you will take no pleasure. Observe once again the irrational sacrifices of the law being rejected. If you were wanting them, he says, I would have given them, but even whole burnt offerings you will not ac- cept, for whole burnt offerings were more highly valued than the others. And so David, even though he continued to sacrifice after this, did so not by his own choice, but on account of the law and because the time of the new sacrifice had not yet come.

19α A sacrifice to God is a spirit that is crushed. An acceptable sacrifice to God is a soul that is crushed by voluntary abasement.

19β A heart that is crushed and abased God will not disdain. Scripture often calls the soul ‘heart’, on account of the heart being very close to the soul and the soul being deeply implanted in the heart. Hence when the heart suffers the soul flies from the whole body. Disdain is what he calls aversion.

20α Make Zion good, O Lord, in your good pleasure. Here he entreats about the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the return from Babylon. ‘Make good’, in the sense of, ‘exert beneficent influence on’, ‘show kindness to’. A number of copies write ‘for Zion’, in which you will interpret ‘make good’ in the sense of, ‘do good things for’. This is different from the former meaning and is like, Do good, O Lord, to the good. ‘In your good pleasure’, that is, ‘with your cooperation’.

20β And let the walls of Jerusalem be built. The verb ‘let them be built’ has a hortatory force, even though it appears as an imperative.

21α Then you will have pleasure in a sacrifice of justice. Then you will accept a just sacrifice; for one does not sacrifice justly in another place, for it was only in Jerusalem that the law permitted sacrifice.

21β Oblation and whole burnt offerings. ‘Oblation’ is what he calls the ‘parts taken away’, the offerings in part, while ‘whole burnt offerings’ are the offerings burned in their entirety.

21γ Then they will offer calves upon your altar. This all is in a historical sense. In an anagogical sense, he is prophesying about the Church of the faithful and the Gospel sacrifice, calling ‘good pleasure’ the incarnation of the Saviour as God’s good purpose, ‘Zion’ the community of Christians; its ‘walls’, the bishops and teachers; ‘then’ he will accept a sac- rifice of justice, namely of virtue; ‘oblation’, the partial combustions of the confessors, ‘whole

burnt offerings’ the total immolations of the martyrs; or else the one being the amputations by sword suffered by the confessors and the other being the slayings of the martyrs; or the one being partial virtue (as in marriage or some other form of life), the other being perfect virtue (as the life in virginity or in solitude); calves (fed by the abundance of the virtues and fat in the holy Spirit and butting the devil with their horns), all those in general who are perfect in deed and in word and who are led up to the heavenly altar as a savour of sweet fragrance to God. We need to know that many often take the force of the future tense in the sense of the optative, saying that this is a idiom of the Hebrew dialect, as with, You will sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be cleansed, you will wash me and I shall be made whiter than snow, and suchlike.

51 Psalm 51

1 Towards fulfilment; of understanding; belonging to David;

2 when Doek the Idumaean came and reported to Saul, and said to him, ‘David has come to the house of Abimelech’. As David was fleeing from Saul, he became hungry and, having gone to Nomba the city of the priests to Abimelech the chief priest, he did as we explained in the inscription to the thirty third psalm. On seeing him, Doek, the steward of the royal mules, informed against him to Saul, and Saul became so enraged against Abimelech that he sent for and slew through Doek the hun- dred and fifty priests and slaughtered those of every age in the city and razed it to the ground. David, having learnt of this, wrote this psalm urging endurance to those who are wronged. And it has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’, exhorting to take regard to the end of those who do wrong and to have forbearance. ‘Of understanding’, because the person who is wronged needs understanding to have pa- tient endurance.

3α Why do you pride yourself on wickedness, O powerful man? The words are addressed to Doek, who ought rather to be hiding himself about his wick- edness. ‘Wickedness’ is what he calls evil in general. He called him ‘powerful’ on account of his familiarity with Saul, or else as powerful in doing evil. 3β-4α Lawlessness, injustice is what your tongue has tallied all day long. For ‘tallied’, Theodotion said ‘uttered’ and for ‘all day long’, Symmachus says ‘every day’. The syntax is as follows: your tongue has ever uttered lawlessness, injustice – without the conjunction ‘and’, namely, lawless and unjust things.

He disparages his whole life as altogether corrupt, for he would not have destroyed such a city had he not been wholly incurable.

4β You have worked deceit like a sharpened razor. ‘Deceit’ here is what he calls the malicious slander that he contrived so efficaciously as to mow down like a razor the entire city of priests, for he slandered those around Abimelech as being accomplices of David.

5 You have loved wickedness above goodness, injustice above speaking justice. You have ever embraced evil rather than good, and saying unjust things rather than just things.

6 You have loved all words of drowning with a deceitful tongue. All words that drown and obliterate people, over whom they would be poured like waves; and you have loved these with a treacherous tongue, that is, a scheming tongue. A number of copies write instead of ‘with a deceitful tongue’ simply ‘a deceitful tongue’, in which case you will separate the ‘deceitful tongue’ with punctuation so that the meaning is, you have loved also a deceitful tongue.

7α For this may God demolish you utterly. As being badly constructed, even though you have been exalted by your act of informing. Even though the verbs are optative, yet they are prophecies of his utter destruction in the form of a curse.

7β May he pluck you out. As wickedly planted in his vineyard.

7γ And may he migrate you from your tent-dwelling. Your soul from your body, or else the whole of you from your house, being carried out dead.

7δ And your stem from the land of the living. And your race. Doek’s stem is his father and his child, the one as having engendered him and the other as having been left as the stem of his continuing line. By the stem therefore he indicated ascendants and descendants and simply his entire race.

The ‘land of the living’ is what he calls both the present land in which the living dwell and also the place in heaven of those who live forever.

8α Just men will see and will be seized with fear. They will see the coming destruction of Doek and, awestruck at the inescapable judge- ment, they will become more assured.

8β And they will laugh at him. And they will be glad at him suffering punishment, for it is written, The just man will be glad when he sees vengeance. The syntax here also is indifferent [accusative instead of dative]. 8γ-9α And they will say, ‘See, a man who did not make God his helper’. By doing everything to conceal the persecuted fugitive. But having betrayed him, he made the champion of those wronged his enemy.

9β ‘But who trusted in the abundance of his wealth.’ It is likely that he was rich. Or else ‘his wealth’ is what he calls the wickedness in which he said he was powerful.

9γ ‘And built his power on his vanity.’ ‘Vanity’ is what he called his riches, as of no avail to him in his hour of danger.

10α But I shall be like a fruit-laden olive tree in the house of God. He now prophesies about himself. For they, scheming madly against me in this way de- stroy cities and spare no one, but I shall retain my integrity like a fruit-laden olive tree whose fruit has not been spoilt, and I shall keep myself intact in God’s shelter like an olive tree in a garden. Or else he is calling the tent-shrine the ‘house of God’, foretelling that having defeat- ed Saul he will have the kingship and the cities and the tent-shrine.

10β I have trusted in God’s mercy to the age, and to the age of the age. I have trusted not in wealth or power of any kind as they have, but only in the mercy that comes from God, which he himself gives to those who are wronged, and I have hope in God’s mercy both in the present age and in the age to come when there will be the judgement of works.

11α I shall confess you to the age, for you have wrought. I shall give thanks to you, O Lord, for you have wrought. Here ‘vengeance’ is to be under- stood. ‘You have wrought’ is spoken inwardly, rising up from the heart, and hence it is elliptic. It is customary for those who are being avenged to utter their words elliptically, as if joy were cutting off what is missing, as in, I have seen, You have given, namely, I have seen venge- ance, and, You have given retribution, for he foreknew the destruction of his enemies. 11β I shall wait on your name. I shall wait on you as avenger; the phrase is a circumlocution, or else out of great respect he often takes the ‘name of God’ in the sense of ‘God’. 11γ For it is good before your devoted servants. For this name is beneficial in the sight of those who are devoted and dedicated to you. The psalm may also be recited by us against the demon, ever working lawlessness and guile. And up to the verse, May he migrate you from your tent-dwelling, the words adapt easily. By the ‘tent-dwelling’ of the demon you will understand his presence at our side, and and his ‘stem’ the rooted establishment of his presence. The just will see the defeat of the enemy and will fear God even more, who helps those who fear him. The ‘man’ here we shall understand as the devil, as will be explained in the first verse of psalm fifty five. And the rest of the words we shall take in a suitably adapted sense. 52 Psalm 52 1 Towards fulfilment; for maeleth; of understanding; belonging to David. This psalm is the same as psalm thirteen, having only two additional verses, which we shall duly interpret. All the rest of its exposition we provided in the thirteen psalm. The two verses are added so that it would not appear that the one psalm has been includ- ed twice, but rather to teach that even though they are the same in their recitation, they are distinct in meaning. The former indicts the mad rage of Sennacherib and Rabsaces against Hezekiah, while this one indicts the fury of the Jews against Christ. If this were not the case, it would not have escaped the notice of all the interpreters, nor indeed of the Hebrews them- selves, as having been included twice or repeated for no reason. Now the Jews have nothing to say, even though they deliberately blind themselves. And indeed this psalm is allotted a different inscription to the other one, pointing ‘to- wards fulfilment’ on account of the prophecies against the Jews contained in it, for it is nec- essary for the readers to look to their fulfilment.

The words ‘for maeleth’ are translated in the sense of ‘concerning choral dance’, for on reading this psalm we Christians now dance on account of the fulfilment of what was proph- esied, for the psalm says, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad, which we are, as we ex- plained in psalm thirteen. The ‘for understanding’ teaches that the readers require understanding to recognize that even though in recitation it is the same as the thirteenth psalm, it nevertheless has a mysteri- ous difference in meaning. And so therefore only the two verses are to be interpreted. 2 The fool has said in his heart, ‘God he is not’. They have been corrupted and made loathsome in lawless acts. There is none doing good. 3 From heaven God has stooped down on the sons of men to see if there is any understanding or seeking out God. 4 All have turned aside and at once been rendered useless, there is none doing good, not so far as one. 5 Will all those practising lawlessness not come to know? They who are devouring my people in a feasting on bread have not invoked the Lord. 6α There they have cowered in fear where there was no fear. 6β For God has scattered the bones of man-pleasers. ‘Man-pleasers’ is what he names the Jews, something which Christ also often reproached them with, calling them ‘hypocrites’ and ‘judging by appearances’, and who, paying court to Caesar, would cry out, We have no king but Caesar, and addressing Pilate would say, If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. He scattered their bones, namely, their tribes, of which they were composed, for they were scattered in slavery to all nations. Or else, because, having been slain by the Roman sword, they became carrion torn and mangled by wild beasts and birds. 6γ They have been put to shame, for God has set them at naught. They have been displayed as a shame in all nations, having become the most ill-starred and most unfortunate and most calamity-stricken of all people ever, and they suffered this because Christ made them an object of contempt and reproach. 7 Who out of Zion will give the salvation of Israel? When the Lord will turn back the captivity of his people, Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad.

53 Psalm 53

1 Towards fulfilment; in hymns; of understanding; belonging to David;

2 when the Zephites came and reported to Saul, ‘See, is not David hiding among us?’ As David was fleeing from Saul, he stayed in the wilderness of Ziph. The Ziphites feigned friendship towards David, but informed on him to Saul, who marched out against him. An attack by the Philistines, however, thereupon drew Saul from away from him, and so David having been delivered fled from there and composed the present psalm in thanksgiving for God having skilfully contrived to dissipate the threat. Hence also it has the inscription ‘in hymns’, for is says, I shall confess your name, O Lord, for it is good, for you have delivered me from every affliction. ‘Towards fulfilment’, because the prediction contained in it is hastening towards fulfil- ment, for he foretold the destruction of those scheming against him, saying, He will turn the evils back on my enemies, and My eye has seen among my enemies, which we shall expound clearly in the appropriate places. ‘Of understanding’, because it is a mark of a man with understanding at such a time to set all else aside and hymn God and invoke him as judge.

3α O God, save me by your name. On account of your name, because you are named ‘Saviour’ and ‘merciful’ and ‘just’. And save me again and again, because treacherous threats are on every side.

3β And in your power you will judge me. And, as I well know, being powerful you will judge me against the one who is oppressing my weakness, I mean of course Saul, and you will take vengeance. The syntax of the verb ‘to judge’ is indifferent here [accusative instead of dative].

4 O God, hear my prayer, give ear to the words of my mouth. The verbs ‘hear’ and ‘give ear’ and suchlike seem not to indicate a difference in meaning, but insistence and intensity of prayer. So it is at the beginning of the fifth psalm, at the be- ginning of the sixteenth psalm and at the beginning of the fifty fourth psalm, and in many others, even though the more diligent detect some difference. Here we could say that ‘prayer’ is that of the mind and ‘words of the mouth’ the entreaty proceeding from the lips. This entreaty would be, O God, save me by your name, and any such words.

5α For strangers have risen up against me and mighty ones have sought my soul.

He is naming those around Saul in this way: ‘strangers’ as enemies to him, and ‘mighty ones’ as powerful in military capability. Or else he is naming the Ziphites ‘strangers’, as having been estranged from a right favour- able disposition towards him, and those around Saul ‘mighty ones’.

5β And they have not set God before them. ‘They have not set before’, in the sense of, they have not set up before themselves mentally, for the person who fears God sets God before the face of his soul in a mental impression, forbidding evil.

6 For, see, God will help me, and the Lord will be protector of my soul. The conjunction ‘for’ is redundant. Having already received assurance about the coming assistance from on high he proclaims this with pleasure. The ‘see’, is in the sense of, not dis- tantly but now.

7α He will turn back the evils on my enemies. The evils that they planned against me.

7β Destroy them in your truth. Truth here is what he calls justice. Or else, because truth extinguishes falsehood, you who are true destroy them who are false. For the Ziphites played false in their disposition towards him, as did Saul also, having often affirmed that he would no longer plot against him.

8α Willingly I shall sacrifice to you. ‘Willingly’, in the sense of, ‘readily’, ‘joyously’. I shall sacrifice to you, who are such a helper of the wronged, not so much out of obligation to the law as out of fervent inclination.

8β I shall confess your name, O Lord. I shall give thanks to you.

8γ For it is good. It is good to give thanks, that is, for it is written, It is good to give thanks to the Lord.

9α For you have delivered me from all affliction. By having now dissipated Saul’s attack and drawn him away to another war. 9β And my eye has seen among my enemies. As a prophet having seen with the eye of his soul the destruction of both Saul and the Ziphites he foretold that already my eye has seen among my enemies. ‘What I desired’ or ‘what they will suffer’ is missing, as we explained previously in the thirty fourth psalm. This psalm may also be spoken by us against the demons, who are both ‘strangers’ to God, as apostates and adversaries, and ‘mighty’ in evil, as bodiless and rulers of the world. 54 Psalm 54 1 Towards fulfilment; in hymns; of understanding; belonging to David. He composed this psalm also while fleeing from Saul and wandering in the wilderness. With his own sufferings he prefigures the sufferings of Christ and hence it is inscribed ‘in hymns’ and ‘of understanding’, as referring the listener to the fulfilment of the things prophe- sied in it about Christ, both urging him to praise the one who accepted to suffer such things for us and requiring him to listen with understanding on account of the obscurity of the prophecy. 2-3α Give ear, O God, to my prayer and do not overlook my entreaty; turn to me and hear me. We spoke previously about these at the second verse of the fifty-third psalm. It should be noted that the sixteenth psalm has a reverse order to the present. In that psalm ‘hear’ comes first than ‘turn to’ and finally ‘give ear’, from which the indifference of the words is already clear. 3β I have been grieved in my rumination. The word for ‘rumination’ [ἀδολεσχία] is used primarily for idle talk, but the prophet often takes it for continued meditation, as in, And I would ruminate on your statutes, that is, I would meditate on your law. Now similarly he is saying that I have been grieved in my meditation about how I might escape the menacing plots of my enemies. He was grieved, not finding any means. 3β: The word is also taken for reflective enjoyment of a view, as in, Isaac went out toward evening to ruminate on the plain [Gen 24.63].

3γ-4α And I have been troubled by the enemy’s voice and the sinner’s oppression. Saul is who he names his enemy, as scheming against him, and a sinner, as sinning against a just man, for Saul was pursuing an innocent man and seeking to kill his benefactor. And ‘voice’ is what he calls his insults, and ‘oppression’ what he calls his persecution.

4β For they have turned lawlessness against me. Because, he says, those around Saul have moved lawlessness against me, they have brought a charge against me, attributing instead to me treachery against Saul. A number of copies write lawlessnesses have turned against me, by which we understand that lawless people have been moved against me, for in this way we often call the unjust man ‘injustice’, thereby unbraiding him more vehemently.

4γ And in anger they would bear rancour towards me. And when raging against me they would bear malice towards me; for ‘rancour’ is derived from anger enduring and lingering.

5α My heart has been troubled within me. ‘Heart’ is what he calls his soul, which he says was troubled, being whirled around by the treacherous attacks of the enemies.

5β And the trepidation of death has fallen upon me. How is that elsewhere he says, I shall not be afraid of ten thousands of people who join in attacking me from every side, and many such things, whereas now he openly confesses to being afraid? It is because when he would feel divine assistance he would take courage, but when by divine design he would be abandoned in order for his patient endurance and his steadfastness in making entreaty to God to appear, then he would be overcome with anxiety and would not conceal his fear.

6α Fear and trembling have come upon me. He says the same again, showing the intensity of his trepidation, for trepidation when increased becomes fear, and when fear is intensified it becomes trembling.

6β And darkness has covered me. The darkness of despondency and grief, for these darken pre-eminently, confusing the soul.

7 And I said, ‘Who will give me wings like a dove, and I shall fly and find rest?’ He asked for the wings of a dove, because it flies swiftly and because this creature is tame and harmless, as was he. And I shall fly, he says, to safe places, and I shall find rest from my constant fears and pains. 8 See, I have gone far setting to flight, and have encamped in the wilderness. ‘Setting to flight’, in the sense of, ‘fleeing’. 9 I would wait for God who saves me from faint-heartedness and sudden tempest. When camping in the wilderness, I would even till now expect none other except you God alone. ‘Sudden tempest’ is what he calls the violent force and driving storm of trials. 10α Drown, O Lord, and utterly divide their tongues. The rest is against the Jews and about Christ. Drown, O Lord, their tongues, which utter blasphemies against your Son, that is, sink them without trace, having drowned them in the depths of the mouth, and utterly divide them, having made them disagree with one another, so as no longer being able to conspire against the Saviour, which things indeed they suffered later, having been destroyed by the Romans. 10β For I have seen lawlessness and gainsaying in the city. Because, he says, I have seen in the city of Jerusalem with my prophetic eyes, lawlessness on the one hand, for contrary to the the law they were seeking to slay the bestower of life, and gainsaying on the other hand, for they would contradict him when he was teaching about salvation. 11α Day and night it will encircle her up to her walls. ‘Day and night’, in the sense of, the lawlessness, namely the transgression of the law, will press in on her greatly, even up to her walls, that is, on the entire city. For the Jews remained such even after the slaying of Christ, until the time the Romans having undertaken an expedition against them would utterly destroy them. 11β And lawlessness and oppressive drudgery are in her midst and injustice. He repeats the mention of lawlessness once again, disparaging them even more insist- 7: Or as with the wings figuring the Spirit in which alone we escape dread dangers.

ently, for while boasting of living in accordance with the law they would transgress the law constantly. Having said that lawlessness will surround the city up to her very walls, he teaches that it will not be absent from within the city either, but in the midst of her there will be lawlessness in the judgements of the courts and oppressive drudgery in the contrivances and ploys against the innocent and injustice in the graspings of greed.

12 And usury and fraud have not left her broadways. In every city there are wide roads and narrow lanes. The broadways are roads for wagons (we call them ‘open air’ roads), while the lanes are the roads for entrance porticos. He referred to the broadways here because markets and commercial transactions were in the broadways. He mentioned ‘usury’ because they would surreptitiously charge interest since it was pro- hibited by the law and ‘fraud’ on account of dishonest dealings in transactions or other acts of deception. Thus he ascribed to them every kind of evil.

13 For if an enemy had reviled me I could have borne it, and if someone who hates me had raised his voice against me, I would have hidden from him. From here onwards the words are spoken in the person of Christ against Judas. ‘Reviled’ is taken in the sense of, disparaged and slandered, and ‘raised his voice against me’, in the sense of, ‘treated shamelessly’ and ‘threatened’. And indeed Judas did both, for he mocked him with the Jews and threatened to deliver him up to death. The ‘for’ may be understood as an introductory conjunction, which they also call a ‘nar- rative’ conjunction.

14 But you, O man of like soul, my leader and my familiar. ‘You reviled’ is to be understood here also. ‘Of like soul’ is used in the sense of, ‘friend’. He called him his ‘leader’ because he along with the other disciples had been ordained a leader of the believers, for it is written, You will establish them as rulers over all the earth, and ‘my familiar’, in the sense of, my well known friend, my very own.

15α Who together have sweetened sweetmeats for me. ‘Together’, in the sense of, ‘being together with me’. ‘You have sweetened’, in the sense of, ‘you have prepared’, for every food that is prepared becomes sweeter. Or else you will understand ‘sweetmeats’ as the teaching of the preaching with which the souls of the believers were fed. Judas as an Apostle also would sweeten this teaching, namely, he would make it acceptable to Christ.

15β In the house of God we have walked in concord.

We have walked in the sanctuary in oneness of mind. So greatly did I have you as insepa- rable and trusted.

16α Let death truly come upon them. David, seeing these things, lays a curse on both Judas and the Christ-slaying Jews around Annas and Caiaphas.

16β And let them descend into Hades alive. If death were to come upon them, how will they descend alive into Hades? For some of them died violently (for he is calling ‘death’, not a natural death, but one by hanging and bat- tle and whatever painful means), while others out of necessity and the Roman attack lowered themselves over a precipice and remained for a long time in a pit, distressed by hunger and thirst and fear, as Josephus tells. Hence he called that pit ‘Hades’, because it became a grave BJ iii.34ff for them, as they were destroyed in it one by one. Some say that because both Jews and the demons schemed against Christ, he imprecated on the Jews a vengeful death, and on the demons, a descent into the depths of the earth, calling them ‘living’, as immortal, for he says, ‘Let them descend into Hades alive’, on account of their nature.

16γ For wickedness is in their habitations in the midst of them. Because wickedness dwells in their habitations in the city, and not superficially, but in their midst, that is, in depth, in their hearts. He called their homes ‘habitations’ on account of their temporary nature, very soon to be destroyed.

17 But I have cried to God and the Lord has heard me. Having already received full assurance, he says that he has heard me. There is a more elegant reading, namely, that I cried to the Father, but the Son heard me, since he himself destroyed the Jews in accordance with, But you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up and I shall repay them.

18 At evening and morning and noonday I shall recite and lay forth, and he will hear my voice. He indicates the times of the three great assemblies which we call vespers, matins and liturgy.

I shall recite the wonders of God and lay forth these things to all those with me, ‘recite’ and ‘lay forth’ here being the same; or else I shall recite the things of old and lay forth the things that have happened to me. 19 He will redeem my soul in peace from those nearest me, for among many they were with me. ‘In peace’, in the sense of, ‘without war’. ‘Those nearest’ is what he calls those around Saul, as kinsmen and fellow soldiers. Then he gives the reason for their nearness, because, he says, along with many and other soldiers they were barracked and enlisted with me. 20α God will hear and he who exists before the ages will humble them. For he it was who made the ages, and hence he is said to exist before the ages. 20β For in them is no exchange, since they feared not God. In them, he says, there is no changing from wickedness to goodness, but they remain un- changeable, and this is what Symmchos wrote. These verses may also be spoken against the Christ-slaying Jews, for having cursed them earlier, he now says that Christ will hear me and will humble them. And indeed some of them were killed while others, having survived, will work, humbled, as slaves in all nations in the meanest employments. He who exists before the ages in respect of his divinity; for they would say he had his beginning from his mother alone. Furthermore, ‘in them is no exchange’ is also understood in a different way in relation to the Jews, namely, that he was given in exchange for all people, but because they did not accept him, there is for them no other worthy exchange. 21α He has stretched out his hand in making repayment. God has stretched out his punitive power in order to render to them their due punish- ment. 21β They profaned his covenant. Those around Saul profaned, that is, have showed contempt for the law which says, You will love your neighbour, and such things, while the Christ-slayers despised the Gospel. Pro- fane is what is common and unholy. 20β: Exchange may also be interpreted as repentance or atonement of whatever kind.

22α They were dissevered by the anger of his face, and their hearts came near. By the anger of Christ, that is, for with the Roman war besieging them they were sev- ered apart. For some of them said that they were suffering these things on account of Christ, one of whom was Josephus, who in his book about the fall of Jerusalem came little short of confessing him to be God. And their hearts came near to the truth, as they pondered that perhaps he was God, for uncertainty is nearness.

22β Their words were made smoother than oil, yet the same are hurled barbs. This is said in common about all the Christ-slayers, who before doing away with him, would offer him smooth words, calling him, ‘Rabbi’, and saying, We know that You are true, and teach the word of God in truth, and so on. But inside they were sharpened arrows, yearn- ing for his blood. This may also be said about Saul who, feigning friendship, would say, David, my child, 1Rg 24.17, and such things. 26.17, 21

23α Cast your care on the Lord and he will sustain you with nourishment. He makes a common exhortation to all who are under attack. For he will nourish you in both body and soul, and if he will nourish you, he will also clothe you, and if he will clothe you, he will also guard you and deliver you.

23β He will not give swelling seas to the just man to the age. He will not give the just man the rough swell of temptation for very long, for the Apostle says, God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. He said, ‘he will not give’, because when permitting temptations to be brought on by the devil, it seems that he is bringing them on, for being able to prevent them, he did not prevent.

24α But you, O God, will bring them down into a well-pit of destruction. Those who contrive against the innocent. ‘Well-pit of destruction’ is what he called the depth and inescapability of punishment, for the well-pit is such.

24β Men of bloodshed and guile will not live out half their days. About such men he says in another psalm that, And full days will be found in them. It is clear therefore that in that psalm he is saying ‘full days’, not in respect of their measure of life, but in respect of evil, for their days will be full of evil. Here he is saying that God, knowing the limitless measure of their evil, cuts them down early so that they do not sin even more, and the punishment becomes an act of benevolence.

The statement is not universal, but about the majority, since some such have grown old along with their wickedness. He said this instilling fear into the murderous and guileful. He said ‘men of bloodshed and guile’ as having grown to manhood inured to murder and guile – by guile he alluded to every kind of evil. Moreover, just as he calls a peaceful man a ‘man of peace’, so he calls a man who delights in bloodshed a ‘man of bloodshed’ and so with other such designations.

24γ But I, O Lord, will hope in you. This is an ever characteristic concluding interjection for David, for having once tasted the fruit of hope in God he hopes always and confesses his hope. The psalm may also adapt well to ourselves, with the exception of a few verses which we shall indicate in what follows. The verses that are easily understood I shall pass over as to be understood in the manner already given, but the more difficult ones we shall treat again. [3] I have been grieved in my rumination, that is, in my converse with my impassioned thoughts – for it produces grief afterwards from remorse – or else in my inopportune words to random people. And I have been troubled, by the prompting of the demon who is hateful to me and sinful. [8] I have gone far from God, having attached myself to the demons through the foulness of my way of life and have encamped in desolation and barrenness. [10] Drown, O Lord, and utterly divide the tongues of the demons so that they are unable to agree in their schemings against me. For I have seen lawlessness and gainsaying in the city, [11] namely, in their habits of life, for they act lawlessly in sinning and speak against your decrees. Her walls are the most powerful among them, oppressive drudgery is in her midst on account [12] of those resolutely struggling against them. Her broadways are the paths of the demons as opposed to the narrow path of God. Usury is the addition and incrementation of sin. [13] The verses from, For if an enemy had reviled me, to, Let death truly come upon them, we speak in the person of Christ against Judas, as we said. Let death come upon the demons, namely, total inoperativeness. The rest is as already expounded. [16] Their habitations are their approachings to us. Understand those nearest as those same [19] demons, as ever attacking us. Among many they were with me, in the sense of, ‘with many they were amid me’, by an exchange of prepositions, which is, many gathered against me. [20] In them is no exchange, namely, interchange from evil to goodness, as previously noted. They profaned his covenant, in the sense of, ‘they set it at naught’. Their hearts came near, [21] that is, their evil purposings. Their words were made smooth in giving advice, for they beguile [22] with what is good but end in what is evil.

55 Psalm 55 1 Towards fulfilment; for the people distanced from the holies; belonging to David; as a pillar inscription; when the Philistines held him in Geth. Just as the psalms with the superscription ‘of understanding’ have been placed next to one Pss 51-54 another, so also have those designated ‘as a pillar inscription’, the first of which is the present Pss 55-59 one. The people he speaks of is the Jewish people which, taken captive and enslaved among the Babylonians, was distanced from the holy places, namely, from the temple in Jerusalem. Hence it has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’, as hastening towards fulfilment the things prophesied in it about the people. The people can also be understood as all those who for a time are distanced from the holy men on account of having been taken captive by sins. ‘For the people’, in the sense of, ‘in the person of the people’. Then a second superscription is added: ‘belonging to David, as a pillar inscription, etc.’, indicating that the subject of the psalm is twofold. We said previously in the thirty third psalm that when fleeing form Saul he went to Achous in Geth, and when it was suspected who he was he found himself in imminent dan- ger. Then on enacting madness as an epileptic he was let go and escaped against expectation. Accordingly, at that time he also wrote this psalm, which fits both with his own sufferings at that point and with those of the people later. Seeking always to proclaim his divine benefaction, he wrote the title ‘as a pillar inscrip- tion’, that is, as indelible writing, by metaphor from those who inscribe certain words for enduring memory on stone or bronze pillars. 2α Have mercy on me, O God, for a man has trampled me underfoot. ‘He has trampled me underfoot’, in the sense of, ‘he has crushed me’. Taking the words therefore as from the captive people, ‘a man’ is what he is calling the Babylonian king. Taking them as from those captive in sins, it is the devil who is so called, for thus Scripture often names him on account of pleasure-loving nature, just as in the parable of the weeds it called him ‘a hostile man’. Taking them as from David, he is alluding to Saul. ‘He has trampled underfoot’ indeed also means ‘he has despised’ as in, He who has tram- pled the Son of God underfoot. 2β Waging war all day long he has afflicted me. ‘All day long’, in the sense of, every day, and ‘waging war’ in the sense of, ‘molesting’, ‘at- tacking’. 3α My enemies have trampled me underfoot all day long.

Those around the Babylonian [king], or the rebellious powers around the demon, or those around Saul.

3β For many are those waging war on me from a height. By ‘height’ here he is speaking of overlordship or of good aim, for those who shoot from a height above at those who are standing beneath at a lower level hit their mark.

4 Days I shall not fear, but in you I shall hope. ‘Days’ now are what he calls the days of his enemies’ prosperity, for recovering himself and prophesying his deliverance, he says that I shall not fear such times of prosperity.

5α In God I shall praise my words. ‘I shall praise’ is now taken in the sense of, ‘I shall adorn’. I shall make, he says, my words worthy of praise in speaking about God, for the only word that is adorned is the one that makes mention of God. Or else, because he boasted in saying, Days I shall not fear, he qualified this, saying, that in God I shall praise, that is, I shall swell my words to boasting.

5β In God I have hoped; I shall not fear what flesh will do to me. Flesh, namely, an impassioned man.

6α All day long they would abhor my words. They would despise them, whatever I would say, once having despised me.

6β All the movements of their thought are against me for evil. To do harm to me.

7α They will lie near and hide. They will keep wait for me and will hide for me an ambush and snares.

7β Those very ones will keep watch on my heel. They will observe the path of my life so as to enclose me in snares. By these verses he sig- nifies their various subversions.

7γ-8α Just as they have laid wait on my soul, you will thrust them out for nothing. Even as they waited in ambush for me (by circumlocution), so you will thrust them out, that is, you will drive them away; the preposition ‘for’ here is in the sense of, ‘in exchange for’, namely, in return for nothing you will thrust them out, that is easily, as being nothing.

8β In anger you will bring down peoples. Simply having been angered, you will bring down entire multitudes, that is, you will crush them.

9α O God, my life I have made known to you. I have revealed to you the way I have lived my life till now.

9β You have set my tears before you, as in your promise. You have looked upon my tears as you pledged in your promise; for when giving the law he promised concerning the person who is being wronged that he will bewail his plight to me and I shall hear him, for I am merciful.

10α My enemies will turn backwards. They will turn backwards, that is, they will flee. This also is a prophecy. In an anagogical sense, when the demons have mastery over us they go before us, showing the path leading to destruction; when they are being defeated they follow behind barking.

10β On whatever day I call on you, see, I have known that you are my God. When I call on you fervently, he says, at once I have known (in the sense of, ‘I know’, by use of one tense for another) that you are my God. How do I know? At all events by being heard.

11 For God I shall utter forth praise, for the Lord I shall tell forth praise. ‘I shall praise’ here is such as we said in the verse, In God I shall praise my words. ‘Utter forth’ indicates a short declaration of praise, and ‘tell forth’ a longer one.

12 In God I have hoped, I shall not fear what a man will do to me. The one whom he called ‘a man’ at the beginning of the psalm, For a man has trampled me underfoot, is the same as the one he mentions now.

13 With me, O God, are the vows of your praise that I shall repay. In my memory are the promises of your praise that I shall repay; for he had undertaken to praise God his benefactor. 14α For you have delivered my soul from death. ‘My soul’, in the sense of, ‘me’, by way of circumlocution. If you wish to understand this as the soul itself, then by ‘death’ you will understand sin, as that which became the cause of death in the beginning for the first-formed man. 14β My eyes from tears and my feet from slipping. Understand ‘slipping’ as the precipice or the snare, and ‘feet’, if you like, as the path of life. 14γ I shall be well pleasing before the Lord in the light of the living. I shall do things that are well pleasing as long as I see this light that shines on the living, for after death there is no well-pleasing. And in a different sense, God’s commandments are the light of the living, for it is written, The Lord’s command is far-shining, illumining eyes, and, Your law is a lamp to my feet. Or else, I shall appear as well-pleasing in the eternal light of those who live forever. 56 Psalm 56 1 Towards fulfilment; do not destroy; belonging to David; as a pillar inscription; when he was fleeing from the face of Saul in the cave. Having also against all expectation escaped the danger in the cave in the wilderness of 1Rg 24 Gedi, (when, while he was hiding in it, Saul also entered and encamped there, as we have said before), he composed the present psalm, and like the one before it, gave it the superscription ‘as a pillar inscription’ for the reason we have stated. This psalm is also ‘towards fulfilment’, as hastening towards the fulfilment of the things prophesied in it about the calling of the nations. The phrase ‘do not destroy’ is to be read as to himself and on its own, for in that night, sword in hand, he came upon Saul as he was sleeping and by repeating to himself this watch- word continually like a spell he subdued his rage and did not slay him. Hence he wrote this phrase also, both indicating how he himself controlled his rage and at the same time exhort- ing everyone not to destroy forbearance. It should be known that he composed this psalm once having exited from cave, whereas he wrote psalm 141 while still in it and wracked by anxiety, being as still hemmed in.

2α Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for my soul trusts in you. The repetition of ‘have mercy’ indicates the intensity of the entreaty. I do not trust, he says, in anything else at all, except in you alone. Hence have mercy on me who am being persecuted thus.

2β And in the shadow of your wings I shall hope until lawlessness will pass away. ‘Shadow of your wings’ is what he calls the shelter of your wings, about which we spoke clearly in the sixteenth psalm at the verse, In the shelter of your wings you will shelter me. Aquila gave the translation ‘treachery’ for ‘lawlessness’. This may be understood as the treachery from both visible and invisible enemies. It will pass away at all events when he will depart to God to be crowned.

3 I shall cry to God the Most High, the God who has been my benefactor. ‘Most High’ as super-celestial; he has been my benefactor as having granted me help both formerly and now.

4α He has sent forth from heaven and has saved me. He sent power forth from on high, for he was not delivered from the anticipated danger in the cave by human help.

4β He has given those who are trampling me under foot over to disgrace. For those around Saul, having learned of the event, were greatly covered in shame as hav- ing erred so profoundly and having appeared ridiculous. What ‘to trample under foot’ is was said in the psalm before this. 4γ-5α God has sent forth his mercy and his truth and has delivered my soul from the midst of young lions. Having said first simply that ‘he has sent forth’, he now added what he sent. It is to be noted that he often names justice ‘truth’ as in this case, because it is from truth that justice is understood. He sent forth mercy therefore in order to have mercy on me and justice in order to give judgement against those wronging me. ‘Young lions’ is what he calls those around Saul, as being in the prime of their strength and as cruel and murderous, for such are the cubs of the lion. The verse can also be understood as spoken in the person of the Church of the faithful, namely, that the Father has sent forth the Son and has saved me who am lost. He has given

over to disgrace the demons who formerly were trampling me under foot. The Son is mercy endowed with being and truth, for having had mercy on us who were lost he became incar- nate, and he himself said, I am the Truth. And according to the meaning of ‘justice’, as the Apostle says, He became for us wisdom from God, justice and sanctification and redemption. Here also then understand the demons as ‘young lions’.

5β I have slept in agitation. When those around Saul came in after to the cave; for I slept a little, but my sleep was agitated on account of the surrounding danger.

5γ O sons of men, their teeth are armaments and arrows, and their tongue is a sharp sword. Listen, O sons of men. The teeth of those menacing me like wild beasts are armaments and arrows, and so on. By the teeth and the tongue, he signified their words, because with slanders and guileful intrigues they wound and as far as is in their power they kill. By ‘armaments’ here he is not speaking of defensive weapons, but the weapons that kill.

6 Be exalted upon the heavens, O God, and let your glory be upon all the earth. Make yourself known as exalted and heavenly to those who do not know you, and let your majesty run over all the earth through the strange wonders you work. Some address the verse to Christ, namely, that having accomplished the mystery of the in- carnation, go up once again to the heavens from which you came down and let your honour travel over all the earth.

7α They have prepared a snare for my feet and have bended down my soul. They have contrived traps for me and have humbled me; he is speaking of the various hostile designs.

7β They have dug a pit before my face and have fallen into it. They set up a hazard before me, but fell in themselves. I, having been protected by God, escaped unharmed, but they were imperilled, having fallen into my hands.

8α My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.

I am ready henceforth to face the coming temptations having you as my succour, or to do your will, or to praise you.

8β In my glory I shall sing and praise with psaltery. About ‘I shall sing and praise with psaltery’ we have spoken often; his ‘glory’ is what he calls his understanding on which account he was glorified.

9α Awake, O my glory. Glory once again is what he names his spiritual gift.

9β Awake, O psaltery and cithara. ‘Psaltery’ is what he calls the soul and ‘cithara’ the body for the reasons we gave previously Ps 48.5β, – in psalm 48 and psalm 42 and before these in psalm 32. 42.4γ, 32.2 He rouses his whole self to hymn God so that in spirit and soul and body he may hymn his benefactor.

9γ I shall awake before dawn. Swiftly.

10 Among peoples I shall to confess you, O Lord, among nations I shall sing to you with psaltery. ‘I shall confess to’, in the sense of, ‘I shall give thanks to’; the ‘peoples’ are the Jews. And indeed both among Jews and among the nations David gives thanks to God and sings to him with psaltery.

11 For your mercy has been magnified to the heavens and your truth to the clouds. He said these things in the thirty-fifth psalm also, O Lord, your mercy is in heaven and your truth is to the clouds, and seek the exposition there. He is saying that your mercy is great and exalted, as is your truth, extending from the earth up to the sky and the clouds.

12 Be exalted upon the heavens, O God, and let your glory be upon all the earth. We treated this verse above.

57 Psalm 57 1 Towards fulfilment; do not destroy; belonging to David; as a pillar inscription. He wrote the present psalm after the one before, being close to the same subject and hence it obtained the same superscription. 2 If then you are truly speaking justice, make straight judgements, O sons of men. The statement is addressed first of all to Saul and those around him, and then to all those who imitate his wickedness. He is saying that if truly you are speaking just things, saying amongst yourselves that you are pursuing me for good reason as someone harbouring designs against you, then having yourselves become judges of the matter, make straight judgements, namely, produce correct decisions in which matter you know me to be wicked. 3 And indeed in your heart you are working lawlessness on the earth; your hands are weaving injustice. He passed over ‘but you are unable to judge rightly’ as understood, yet in your heart you are meditating lawless things and your hands are practicing unjust things. He said ‘weaving’ using the metaphor of those who weave intrigues, on account of the variety of their endeavours. ‘On the earth’ is added, because you are doing these things on the earth, in Hades, however, your situation will not be thus. 4α The sinners have been alienated from the womb. He holds up to scorn the sinners who are unrepentant and teaches in a few words, that being people of which kind, which kind of end they will meet. While still being formed as babes in the womb they have been alienated from God, ac- cording to his foreknowledge, and have been reckoned as alienated for the future. 4β They have strayed from the belly. They have strayed far from the straight way of the divine commandments, not in actuality, but as we said, in God’s foreknowledge. God indeed spoke in this way to Jeremiah: Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you, and before you had come forth from the womb, I consecrated you. 4γ They have spoken falsehoods. This, not from the womb, but after coming of age. 4α: From the Church; for the Church is the womb and belly of those adopted by God, giving them rebirth through holy baptism.

5α Rage in them is after the likeness of a snake. They say that a snake having been once roused to fury against someone never lets go of the rage until it either accomplishes some evil or first dies. Rage therefore for them also is unrelenting and with unremitting hostile intent.

5β Like that of an asp, deaf and blocking its ears. He transfers the example of rage to the asp. Rage as of a deaf asp, and not deaf by nature, but by wile. For this reason, he added ‘and blocking its ears’. Then he explains when it is deaf.

6 That will not hear the voice of charmers, and of a sorcerer, while being ensorcelled by a wise man. ‘Charmers’ is how he terms the so-called ‘enchanters’, who, bewitching the venoms of the snakes through certain spells and thus calming their aggressiveness, take the venoms and use them for healing. The asp, therefore, and especially the one known as the ‘deadly’ asp, having a presentiment on the basis of certain signs of what is about to happen, blocks its ears and thus escapes. The syntax of the words is as follows: that will not hear the voice of charmers and of a sorcerer, that is, of an enchanter, when being enchanted by a wise man. A ‘wise man’ is what he now called the skilled handler. He used the example of the snake and the asp very appropriately, for Saul both bore a grudge like a snake, and often when being enchanted with good words by David (saying that he, Saul, is his lord and master and king while he, David, is his slave and a dead dog and a flea), Saul would be deliberately deaf like an asp.

7α God will crush their teeth in their mouth. ‘Teeth’ is what he calls the harm-inflicting powers of such people; and having said ‘teeth’, he also mentioned the mouth, which you will understand as all-embracing wickedness.

7β The Lord has shattered the lions’ molars. Having called them ‘young lions’ in the previous psalm, in the present psalm he speaks about teeth. This verse is a reduplication of the one before, as we have said in many cases, because ‘molars’ too are teeth. If you like, ‘teeth’ is what he called the incisors, and ‘molars’ what he called the teeth fur- ther back that we also call ‘grinding teeth’, signifying by these two terms the greater and lesser hurts with which they would harm those who fell in their way. Observe how sometimes he speaks as of the future, ‘he will crush’ and sometimes as of the

past, ‘he has shattered’, for such is the custom of those who prophesy, as has often been said. 8α They will be set at naught like water running away. Not river or spring water, but water that is poured away by someone and borne off and dispersed in a haphazard way. ‘They will be set at naught’, in the sense of, ‘they will be treated with contempt’. 8β He will stretch his bow until they become weak. He will stretch his punitive power against them and shoot. 9α Like melted wax they will be killed off in return. In return for their murderous intent they will be killed off easily like melted wax, for as soon as wax approaches fire it is instantly melted. 9β Fire has fallen upon them and they have not seen the sun. Having mentioned wax, he went on to add ‘fire’, by ‘fire’ indicating god-sent rage; and at once they did not live to see the next day. 10α Before your thorns perceive the woody spine. The verse is addressed to Saul, namely, that this fire will fall on you before your sins are increased. To clarify what is being said here: Scripture calls sin a ‘thorn’, and the ‘woody spine’ is a kind of thorn that is very large and very hard. He is saying, therefore, that the above-men- tioned fire will fall before your thorns, namely, your sins, perceive the woody spine, that is, have acquired the habit and become inured in you to the size and hardness of the woody spine, which is excessive evil. Thus indeed Saul, too, survived a short time with his wicked- ness. 10β It will swallow them down as if living, as if in anger. The aforementioned fire. ‘As if living’, on account of Saul not truly living from the time he 1Rg 28.7, 19 learned of his utter destruction from the ventriloquizing woman. ‘As if living’, therefore, is in the sense of, ‘not truly living’. ‘As if in anger’ is on account of the suddenness and absence of any fellow feeling in their destruction. He said ‘it will swallow down’, on account of the ease. 11α The just man will be glad when he will see vengeance. 11α: He will be glad, not taking pleasure in the fact that the other is being punished, but because by his pun- ishment the just man becomes both more self-controlled and more secure. For he will purify his hands, that is, his actions, by the other being slain, that is, punished.

‘The just man’ is what he calls the man who is being unjustly attacked. He will be glad, not at the fall of the wicked man, but at God’s justice, because he does not overlook those who are wronged, so that the faint-hearted may not be harmed.

11β He will wash his hands in the sinner’s blood. Not dipping them in his blood, but over the sinner’s blood he will wash his hands as in- nocent of the blood of such a man. We spoke about this mode of washing in the twenty-fifth psalm at the verse, I shall wash my hands among the innocent. Some say that when the blood of the sinner is shed the just man will cleanse even more thoroughly his own hands, that is, his actions, having become more scrupulous on account of his fear.

12 And a man will say, ‘If there is fruit for the just man, then there is God judging them on the earth.’ And the wise man, on seeing the one who is wronged having prevailed will say on re- flection, ‘if then there is fruit for the just man and if he does not pursue virtue in vain – it is evident that vengeance is fruit for him – then there is God judging them even in this world, namely, both the one who thinks in this way and the other people, and so he will become better in virtue from this.

58 Psalm 58

1 Towards fulfilment; do not destroy; Belonging to David; as a pillar inscription; when Saul sent away and set a guard on his house in order to put him to death Saul, envying David, would conspire against him unremittingly, and on one occasion when David was dining with him, Saul took a spear and threw it at him. David, however, eluded the spear and left. Saul then sent away and set a guard around his house. Melchol, Saul’s daughter and David’s wife, informed her husband of this, however, and arranged for him to escape out of a window, as the first book of Kingdoms tells in greater detail. On having escaped he composed the following psalm. In the present psalm, therefore, the heading ‘do not destroy’ is to be explained in a different way, for it exhorts to look towards the end of the trials and not to destroy patient endurance. Then the rest of the superscription says that it was composed by David for indelible re- membrance of the things that occurred. 2-3 Rescue me from my enemies, O God, and redeem me from those who are rising up against me; deliver me from those who are working lawlessness and from men of blood save me.

‘Those who are rising up against me’ is what he calls those who are attacking and set- ting upon him, namely, Saul and the soldiers around him and the demons co-operating with them. The same are those he calls ‘those working lawlessness’ and ‘men of blood’; for to con- spire against the innocent is lawless and a man of blood is one who delights in bloodshed.

4α For, see, they have hunted down my soul. For, as you see, as far as is in their power they have captured me, having encircled my house, even though through you I am saved.

4β Mighty men have come against me. He calls them strong on account both of their wealth and their great number and the strength that comes therefrom.

4γ Neither my lawlessness, nor my sin, O Lord. ‘Is the reason for this’ is missing, for neither have I acted lawlessly, nor have I sinned against them so that they might have some reason for their fury against me. If you seek for a distinction between the two here, then understand ‘lawlessness’ as a great transgression and ‘sin’ as a small transgression.

5α Without lawlessness I have run and kept a straight path. I have lived among them without fault, and for this reason I have achieved great things; or else, I have achieved all that I have achieved without lawlessness. The words ‘neither my lawlessness nor my sin’ and the rest would be most especially fitting for Christ, being unjustly conspired against by the Jews.

5β Awake to meet me and see. Come to meet me as I am fleeing and give me courage, and see all I am suffering. These things are said in a human way as we have often said, for the divine is unmoved and all-seeing.

6α And you, O Lord God of powers, O God of Israel, take heed to visit all the nations. ‘Powers’ is what he calls the angelic orders; or else God ‘of powers’, in the sense of, ‘who is powerful’, or who is the ‘giver of power’. Then he entreats him to visit all the nations through becoming man, in foreknowledge of this mystery.

6β Display no compassion on all those working lawlessness. Those who are unrepentant – those around Saul and around Annas and Caiaphas and the demons – so that through their example people may become more self-controlled.

7 They will turn back at evening and will be famished like a hound and will encircle the city. ‘At evening’ means ‘belatedly’. He is prophesying that there will be a time when some of the Jews will return to Jerusalem from their diaspora, and on not finding food in it on ac- count of those holding mastery over it being strangers, they will be greatly famished and will not be allowed even to stand in Jerusalem, but being driven out as a cursed pollution, they will encamp around their former city, which is observed to be the case even now. He took the dog as an example both because this animal is greatly famished and because of its shamelessness.

8α See, they will speak plainly with their mouth. They will deliver a sentence against Christ, Let him be crucified. It is to be noted that, as we have said before, ‘see’, which is very common in the Hebrew Pss 38.6α, dialect, is for the most part redundant. 50.8α

8β And a sword will be on their lips. A ‘sword’ is what he calls their death-bringing speech, which is the sentence just men- tioned.

8γ For who has heard? Such things they say, because as it seems to them, no one has heard, who is able to avenge the one against whom they conspire. Instead of ‘who’, Symmachus wrote, ‘no one’; because they believe, he says, that he is help- less.

9α And you, O Lord, will richly deride them. This is similar to, He who dwells in heaven will richly deride them, about which we spoke earlier in the second psalm.

9β You will set all the nations at naught.

The nations that do not accept the preaching of the Gospel, the nations that wage war on your servants. In another sense he is speaking of the ranks of the demons. 10α My sovereignty I shall keep towards you. They say that David said this about himself, namely, that the kingship which is due to me, I shall not appropriate myself by killing Saul, but I shall leave it in your hands – for this is what ‘I shall keep’ means here – to be given to me when you wish. ‘Towards you’, in the sense of, ‘with you’. 10β For you, O God, are my helper. Because you come to my aid, who are able to do all things. 11α O my God, his mercy will precede me. My God is such, his mercy will anticipate my request, so swift is he to help. My God will show to me among my enemies. ‘All I desire’ or ‘all that is fitting’ is omitted. Such was the verse, And my eye has seen among my enemies, found in the fifty-third psalm. 12 Slay them not lest they forget your law; scatter them in your power and bring them down, O Lord, my defender. Observe the prophet’s long forbearance, which we need also to emulate. He prays for his enemies not to be killed, so that they do not, by first having been killed, henceforth forget the divine commandments – for the person who has died thereupon forgets the law, for it is written, For in death there is none who invokes your memory – but for them to be scattered, having been defeated, and to be humbled and thus to be made better. David, therefore, made such a request, but God judged justly and destroyed those who were incurable while contriving for those who were destined to be made better to escape, and thus he fulfilled the request of the suppliant. ‘Bring down’, is in the sense of, ‘humble’. 13α The sin of their mouth is the word of their lips. He reverts to the Christ-slayers, saying that the sin of their mouth is the profane word of their lips that they spoke, saying, Let him be crucified, and suchlike.

13β And let them be arrested in their pride. Symmachus wrote, ‘along with their pride’, for they would boast of being Abraham’s de- scendants and guardians of the law. ‘Let them be arrested’ by the Romans. Jn 8.33, 19.7

13γ And from a curse and a lie they will be proclaimed abroad in final consummation. The ‘curse’ here is what he calls the blasphemy they used to pour on Christ, and the ‘lie’ is what he calls the lie they witnessed against him, namely, that he urges people not to pay the poll-tax to Caesar, even though he had clearly said, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. He is saying therefore that on account of the blasphemy and on account of the lie they will become something proclaimed and spoken about among all people, not for some achievement, but for the ruinous end whereby they have perished, for this is what he called ‘final consummation’.

14α In anger of final consummation, and they will surely no longer exist. And not simply for ‘final consummation’ but for ‘anger of final consummation’, and henceforth they will live no more.

14β And they will come to know that God is master over Jacob and over the ends of the earth. ‘God’ here is how he names Christ.

15 They will turn back at evening and will be famished like a hound and will encircle the city. He adds confirmation to the prophecy uttered above by the repetition of the words.

16α They will be scattered abroad to eat. Those who have been left of them, no longer having a city of their own, will be spread abroad, seeking food for themselves as beggars.

16β Yet if they have not been fed to satiety, they will murmur. He disparages them as having not abandoned their ancestral murmuring even in the dias- pora, for then again they will murmur against God.

17α But I shall sing of your power. I shall sing, in the sense of, I shall hymn with a song.

17β And I shall rejoice your mercy in the morning. And I shall rejoice in your mercy or in regard to your mercy in the morning, that is, swiftly, for I shall be shown mercy before long. The verb ‘I shall rejoice’ had its syntax indifferently. 17γ- For you have become my protector and my refuge; in the day of my affliction you are my help- 18 er; to you I shall sing with psaltery, for, O God, you are my protector, O my God, my mercy. All these things are clear, for he is giving thanks to God his benefactor. 59 Psalm 59 1 Towards fulfilment; for those who will be changed; as a pillar inscription belonging to David; as a teaching; 2 when he set fire to Mesopotamia of Syria and Syrian Sobal, and Joab returned and struck the Valley of Salts, twelve thousand. ‘Towards fulfilment’, because it exhorts to look to the fulfilment of the predictions con- tained in it. It foretells indeed the return from Babylon of the Jews who had later been taken captive and the restoration of Jerusalem. It makes this exhortation ‘for those who will be changed’, that is, for those who will return from slavery to freedom. And it was composed by David ‘as a pillar inscription’, namely, as an indelible and univer- sally known remembrance of God’s so great benefaction. And ‘as a teaching’ of thanksgiving or patient endurance. The rest explains when, having been made resonant by the holy Spirit, he wrote these things. In no history are the matters concerning Mesopotamia of Syria and Sobal of Syria and the Valley of Salts found clearly, unless in the second book of Kingdoms certain of these things appear dimly. 2Rg 8/10 It is likely that these things were also carried out and were omitted along with many oth- ers. The Valley of Salts is a place, and by the name of the place the superscription denoted those who lived there, having added the number of those slaughtered. Basil the Great calls the Christians pre-eminently ‘those who will be changed’ on account PG29.464B of their refashioning from baptism and their freedom from slavery to the demons, about which we shall speak later. For the moment the psalm is to be attributed to the captives in Babylon. 3α O God, you have thrust us away and brought us down. You have thrust us away, as having incited you to anger, and have brought us down, hav- ing handed us over to siege by the Babylonians. They were indeed deposed both from their kingdom and their power.

3β You have been provoked to anger and have shown pity on us. You were provoked to anger by reason of the things in which we sinned and during that time you showed pity on us, in not having immediately destroyed us along with the others, but having desired to recall us to our senses by being slaves to the Babylonians.

4α You have made the earth quake and troubled it. The quaking and troubling of the land of the Jews is what he calls the destruction of the cities in it and the plundering and confusion of the people.

4β Heal its ruins, for it has been rocked. Having said ‘earthquake’, he consequently cited both ruins and rocking, for these are the effects of an earthquake; he is alluding to the fall of Jerusalem.

5α You have shown your people harsh things. Understand ‘harsh things’ as the painful things, of the siege and of the captivity and of the slavery.

5β You have given us wine of compunction as drink. ‘Wine of compunction’ is what he calls the afflictions that bring about compunction and remorse for the ways in which they had sinned against God.

6 You have given a sign to those who fear you to flee from the face of the bow. Those who escaped the slaughter, he says, had a sign of life imperceptibly stamped by you on them as your servants. And on this account, when the engagement around the walls of Jerusalem took place, they were not killed, but taken alive into captivity. Ezekiel foretold about this sign, Slaughter to extinction, but do not approach all those on whom there is the sign on their forehead. The ‘face of the bow’ is the arrow as set in front of it, or else it is the bow itself by way of circumlocution. By the bow, every weapon is indicated, the part standing for the whole.

7α So that your beloved ones may be delivered. This is the reason for the placing of the sign.

7β Save by your right hand and hear me.

Your ‘right hand’ here is your ‘power’. Hear me, the people in captivity.

8α God has spoken in his holy one. David spoke the other things in the person of the captives, but this phrase he pronounces of himself, calling the ‘holy one’ either himself, as devoted to God, or the divine Spirit, and teaching that God has spoken to him and what he will say. What these things are, listen.

8β I shall rejoice. In the well-pleasing relief brought to those who have been taken captive, that is.

8γ And I shall divide Sikima. Sikima is a city of the tribe of Ephraim. He says, therefore, that I shall retake this city from the occupying enemies and I shall divide it among my people as a habitation.

8δ And the Valley of the Tents I shall measure out. And the Valley of the Tents was a district lying before Sikima which he promises also to distribute by measure to the captives. Through these places he indicated the whole of Judea, the part standing for the whole.

9α Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine. From the descendant he ascended to the ancestor, for Manasseh was the grandfather of Gilead, and by Manasseh he indicates his tribe, and through the other names he indicates the other more notable tribes in which the rest are also included. He is saying that now it is mine, even if I had thrust it away when it had incited me to anger.

9β And Ephraim is the strengthening of my head. ‘Head’ here is what he calls his rule, and this is how Symmachus translated it. He is there- fore saying that those from the race of Ephraim will constitute a mighty part of the kingdom of the Hebrews. With the pronoun ‘my’, God makes their kingdom his own, as being his own people, emboldening them.

9γ Judas is my king. And their king will be from the tribe of Judah, for after the captivity Zorobabel, who was descended from this tribe, ruled over them.

Here also the ‘my’ indicates a making his own of this kingship. 10α Moab is the cauldron of my hope. The cauldron is a menial vessel, and he is implying that the Moabite nation will be subject- ed to them and will be a subservient nation. ‘Of my hope’, in the sense of, ‘of those who hope in me’, or else ‘in whom I hope’, because they will be mine. 10β Over Idumaea I shall stretch out my shoe. ‘Shoe’ is what he calls a military march, that is, I shall subject this also to people, having marched out together against it. 10γ Alien tribes have been subjected to me. The above-mentioned Moabites and Idumaeans and those round about. ‘They have been subjected’ is spoken in the prophetic idiom about the future. 11α Who will bring me to a fortified city? The verse is spoken in the person of the captives. Jerusalem used to be called a ‘fortified city’ on account of it being well-walled and fortified. They say this in a transport of joy, because they were being held fast in a state admitting no escape in their captivity. 11β Or who will guide me as far as Idumaea? As not only having recovered the fatherland, but also having subjected the surrounding enemies. 12α Will it not be you, O God, who have thrust us away? This is to be read as a question, as is the next phrase. They ask as expecting from nowhere else to attain such salvation. 12β And will not you, O God, march out with our forces? This phrase lies also in the forty-third psalm and there you will find the exposition. 10β: Basil the Great from his interpretation of this fifty-ninth psalm [PG29.468]: All alien tribes have been subjected, having bowed beneath the yoke of Christ; on this account he imposes his shoe over Idumaea. The ‘shoe’ of divinity is the god-bearing flesh through which he set foot on mankind. For instead of ‘I shall stretch out’ ‘I shall impose’ is found in the one hundred and seventh psalm [Ps 107.10].

13 Give us help from affliction and human salvation is vain. The conjunction ‘and’ is redundant here, for Symmachus gave the following version: Give us help, for salvation from man is vain. 14 In God we shall produce power, and he will will set those who are afflicting us at naught. ‘We shall produce’, in the sense of, ‘we shall acquire’, for in ourselves we are weak. Such then is about the captives at the time of Zorobabel. But the psalm is also to be adapt- ed to the Christians who were formerly in captivity to the demons. [3] O God, you have thrust us away, before believing, and you have brought us down, having allowed us to be destroyed by wars and mutual slaughters and suchlike evils. And you have been provoked to anger, because we have not recognized you as our maker, but you have shown pity on us, because were have been deceived by the demons. [4] You have made the earth to quake and have troubled it, when, while living on the earth, you would give instruction. For at that time the report of your works and words disquieted all those on earth. Therefore, heal their injuries, because they have strayed from what they ought. [5] Through the Gospel you have shown us hard ways, namely, the narrow and straitened way. You have given us wine of compunction as drink, namely, the preaching which is called ‘wine’ on account of its gladdening, and ‘of compunction’ on account of its leading to repentance for our wrong-doings. [6] You have given a sign to those who fear you, namely, the seal of holy baptism and the sign of the life-bearing Cross, so as through it to flee from the manifold bow of the demons, and so on. [8] Furthermore, God has spoken in his holy one, you will understand as previously interpret- ed, except that you will take Christ as God, and similarly with I shall rejoice. I shall divide Sikima of the Hebrews among my own people, the Christians, and I shall measure out the Valley of the Tents for them. For the Christians later occupied all these and founded Churches in all these districts. [9] Christ says, Gilead is mine and Manasseh is mine and what follows, teaching that he has kinship with them in regard to his humanity, and he appropriates them for this reason. Or else he is appropriating the Israelites on account of those from among them who will believe. [10] The ‘shoe’ of his divinity is his god-bearing flesh through which he came to dwell among people in their various places and among those of alien tribes, subjecting them and leading them to faith. [11] Then the prophet, having desired to see with his senses what he had seen in spirit, says, Who will bring me to the Church of the faithful, which lives by the laws of the Gospel and is walled about by the blood of Christ and by baptism and by the Cross, or by the angels and teachers, or which encloses within herself every virtue? And Who will guide me and lead me away to the land of the unbelievers so that I may see them believing?

[12] Will it not be you, O God, who have thrust us away? Namely, who have rejected the Christ-slaying Jews descended from me. The rest is spoken in the person of the believers, but as previously interpreted.

60 Psalm 60

1 Towards fulfilment; in hymns; a psalm belonging to David. The present psalm also exhorts to look towards the fulfilment of the prophecies contained in it, and it also is spoken in the person of the captive people in Babylon. It foretells the re- turn, for it says, I shall make habitation in your tent-shrine to the ages. Hence also it is ordered following the previous psalm. And like the previous psalm it also adapts to the people of the Christians. It has the superscription ‘in hymns’, because it hymns the benefactor where it tells of his benefactions. It is to be noted that where the superscription has ‘in hymns’ alone, that hymn was sung by voice, without instrumental music, but where it has ‘in hymns a psalm’, then that one was performed with some instrument.

2 Hear my entreaty, O God, turn to my prayer. ‘Hear’ and ‘turn to’ were discussed in psalm sixteen.

3α From the ends of the earth I have cried to you. In a historical sense, he is calling Babylon ‘the ends of the earth’, on account of its lying at the extremity of the more civilised world. In an anagogical sense, ‘the ends of the earth’ may be taken as the worldly cares that distance from God.

3β Even as my heart has become weary, you have raised me up on a rock. A ‘rock’ is what he calls hope in him, on account of its firmness and security and on ac- count of its lofty and uplifting nature. As often, he says, as I have become weary, having wilted under afflictions, you have led me to hope in you, as if to a rock.

4α You have guided me, for you have become my hope. You have guided me in the past to good things. And indeed I had you alone as my hope of salvation.

4β A tower of strength from the face of the enemy. ‘You have become’ is understood here also. ‘A tower of strength’, in the sense of, ‘a strong tower’, before the enemy so as to impede him.

5α I shall make habitation in your tent-shrine to the ages. This is a prophecy about the return and restoration. God’s ‘tent-shrine’ is what he calls the divine temple, as we have often said. ‘To the ages’, in the sense of, ‘forever’. This prediction fell afterwards on us on account of the peevishness of the Jews. For they, having been obliterated by the Romans, no longer had habitation in the temple which had also been destroyed from the roots. The Christian people, however, ever has habitation in God’s temple in each locality, for divine temples are established everywhere.

5β I shall be sheltered in the shelter of your wings. This is similar to, In the shelter of you wings you will shelter me, about which we spoke in the sixteenth psalm.

6α For you, O God, have heard my vows. When, that is, I have called upon you.

6β You have given an inheritance to those who fear your name. In a historical sense, ‘inheritance’ is what he calls the earthly Jerusalem, in an anagogical sense, what he calls the heavenly Jerusalem, for it is written, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you.

7α You will add days to the days of the king. You will add an abundance of days to the days of the life of the king Zorobabel on account of his being beloved of God and on account of his wisdom. The following words are not fitting for Zorobabel, but for Christ, the new Zorobabel in the flesh, because Zorobabel also became a type of Christ. Just as Zorobabel led the body of captives from Babylon back to their ancestral land, so Christ led the body of captives from the error of the idols back to heaven where their fatherland was, for the soul is bestowed on men from above.

7β His years even to the days of generation and of generation. His years, he says, will be until the last day of both generations, of the old and the new people, that is, until the final consummation, for both the one and the other generation will extend until that time.

8α He will remain to the age before God. This is a clarification of the previous verse; of all the kings from the beginning of time, only Christ lives before God. For even though he died, yet he arose after three days and sat at the right hand of God.

8β Who will seek out his mercy and truth? Who will understand? In truth, no one, for he is an ocean of mercy and truth itself. We also spoke about mercy and truth earlier in the fifty-sixth psalm.

9α Thus I shall praise your name with psaltery to the ages. Just as I am now praising you with psaltery, so I shall hymn you continually.

9β To repay my vows day by day. So as to repay to you my promises day by day, namely, in the succession of days. For in the previous psalms he often promised to hymn God always.

61 Psalm 61

1 Towards fulfilment; for Idithum; a psalm belonging to David. ‘Towards fulfilment’ on account of the fulfilment of the prophecy contained in it, for it foretells the Maccabaeans’ resistance in support of piety. ‘For Idithum’, in the sense of, ‘by Idithum’, as it was performed by him, for Idithum was a choir-leader as we explained in the preamble to the book of psalms. This psalm is a kind of incitement to patient endurance and § 50 hope in God.

2 Shall not my soul be subject to God? For with him is my salvation. These words are spoken in the person of the body of pious Maccabaeans to their tyran- nous enemies, who were endeavouring to detach them from the laws of God and their ances- tral customs. They are fitting also for all those emulating their resistance in support of virtue. The sentence is by way of a question, namely: Shall I not rather give obedience to God, who commands not to depart from his laws? Yes, because with him lies my salvation.

3 And he indeed is my God and my saviour, my protector, I shall surely not waver any more.

I shall surely fear no more, even though before falling into trials I feared in a human way. ‘Wavering’ here is what he called cowardice.

4 How long will you keep assaulting a man, murdering, all of you, as at a tilted wall and a rammed fence? How long will you keep jumping on a weak man as one jumps on a tilted wall near to collapse and on a kicked down fence so that they are completely destroyed? The ‘How long?’ indicates that they attacked very often. Then comes the phrase in the middle with ‘How long will you keep’ being understood again, namely, ‘How long will you keep murdering, all of you?’ They confess to weakness as having sinned against God and for this reason having suffered much and having been worn down.

5α Except they have resolved to spurn my honour. These enemies, he says, have planned to cast away from me my bondage to God and to strip me of it, which for me is honour, being glorified on its account. For if to serve a king is an honour for the servant, it is much more so to serve God.

5β They have run with thirsting. They have not simply endeavoured to do so, but they have pressed on with great desire, for this is what he called ‘thirsting’. Those around Antiochus have activated every means to persuade them to reject God as we may find in the Maccabaean writings.

5γ With their mouth they would bless and in their heart they would curse. With their mouth they would praise me, flattering me, but in their heart they would in- sult me as an enemy on account of the difference in faith, and in appearance they would give me advice as friends, but in secret they would deceive me as bitterest enemies.

6 Except, O my soul, be subject to God, for my patient endurance is with him. With him is my patient endurance and he gives me perseverance in afflictions. They would give this advice to themselves, encouraging themselves to be of good courage.

7 For he is my God and my saviour, my protector, I shall surely not change my abode. I shall not change my abode from the service of God to the service of the king Antiochus.

8α In God is my salvation and my glory. In God’s power lies my being saved and being glorified and not in human power. Or else, in God I have both salvation and glory and not in any other thing whatsoever.

8β O God of my help. O God my helper, for they invoke him with pleasure in the words about him.

8γ And my hope is in God. They say the same things, both delighting and speaking openly. Then they also incite the others to similar zeal by saying:

9 Hope in him, O every assembly of peoples. Pour out your hearts before him, for God is your helper. ‘Hearts’ here is what he calls their entreaties, for it is written, I shall pour out my entreaty before him, for the pure entreaty is accustomed to be sent up from the midst of the heart. He said ‘pour out’ because speech flows from the mouth. And in another sense: Empty out before him the hidden passions of the heart through confession.

10α Except the sons of men are frivolous. The ‘except’ is used redundantly above, but here it means ‘truly’. For having made an exhortation and then realising that the wicked will not be persuaded, he utters the maxim that truly men are frivolous, as busying themselves with frivolities; ‘friv- olous’ is what is profitless and fruitless.

10β The sons of men are deceitful in balances to commit injustice. They are deceitful in their discriminations, for these are what he is calling ‘balances’. The standard of judgement is corrupted for them, he says, for rather than what is stable they choose what is unstable, and instead of the good they choose evil. They are deceitful so as to commit injustice; above all they do themselves injustice, de- frauding themselves of virtue. The verse has in view all wicked people, but most especially those around Antiochus who were doing injustice to the Jews on account of their greed.

10γ They out of frivolity come together. Out of frivolity they come to agreement to commit injustice.

11α Do not hope for injustice and do not yearn for sudden gain. David makes the exhortation to all people; ‘injustice’ is what he calls wealth from injus- tice. The preposition ἐπί before ‘sudden gain’ is redundant.

11β If wealth is flowing, do not invest your heart in it. If it is being transferred from some to others, as having a fluid and unstable nature, or from others to us, do not rivet your heart to it, so as to be addicted to it. Some copies write ‘with your heart’, which signifies do not be attached to it with your heart, namely, with your whole being. 12- Once God has spoken, two things I have heard, for sovereignty is God’s, and mercy, O

13α Lord, is yours. It is possible for someone having spoken once to have talked about several things, with the ‘once’ referring to the whole speech, and the speech containing various things. It is better now to take the ‘once’ in the sense of, ‘truly’. Truly, he says, God has spoken to me through the holy Spirit. What are the two things? That only God is sovereign and only he is merciful. What does this seek to say? That he is powerful to repulse our enemies and to have mercy on us, and that we may fear him as sovereign and run to him as merciful. ‘He has spoken’ can also be understood in an absolute sense, for he often said such things to Moses to report to the people.

13β For you will reward each according to his works. For at the future court of judgement you will assign to each his due merits for what he has done, good or bad. 12-13α: Some have understood this about the divine judgement, namely, that along with with God’s threatening judgement there is always also understood a release therefrom, for on this account he threatens so that when those who are sinning have repented the things threatened will not take place.

62 Psalm 62 1 A psalm belonging to David; when he was in the wilderness of Judea. When David was fleeing from Saul he came to the wilderness known as the Dry desert in which he composed the present psalm, showing the great love he had for God and fore- telling the destruction of those pursuing him, so that when we display such a disposition towards God in the wilderness of the pleasures our own visible and invisible enemies may be destroyed. Some of the copies write ‘in the wilderness of Idumea’, and it is likely that that desert, formerly belonging to the land of Idumea, later became part of Judea. 2α O God, my God, to you I awake before daybreak. To you, the dawn of the day, I direct my life. For on waking my thoughts turn at once to you, making my converse with you prior to any word or deed, and having dedicated such converse to you as the first-fruit of the day. 2β My soul has thirsted for you. By ‘thirst’ he alluded to the intensity of his love. This was discussed in the third verse of the forty-first psalm. 2γ How many times my flesh for you. For ‘how many times’ Theodotion wrote ‘in how many ways’. He is saying therefore that in so many ways I have love for you. By ‘his soul’ and ‘his flesh’ he refers to himself indivisibly by way of circumlocution, and by ‘in how many ways’, the multiplicity and surpassing excess is represented. 2δ In land desert and untrodden and waterless. Such is my state while in this wilderness, so that the comfortlessness of the present place has not altered my longing for you. 3α Thus I have appeared before you in the holy place. In this state I have appeared before you in the tent-shrine when I used to worship as the law enjoined on all people. For the tent-shrine is what he is calling the ‘holy place’; ‘thus’, namely, in my present state. He is saying that both when praying both there and here I preserve the same disposition.

3β To see your power and your glory. I do this so as to see your power, manifested by my enemies having been put to flight, and your glory, manifested by all having glorified you who help those who hope in you.

4α For your mercy is better than lives. ‘Lives’ is what he calls lives of luxury and regimens devoted to enjoyment. It is better for me, he says, to be shown mercy by you in the wilderness than to live in luxury and enjoyment of human pleasures.

4β My lips will praise you. And on this account I shall hymn you.

5α Thus I shall bless you in my life. ‘Thus’, as now, that is, purely with my whole soul.

5β In your name I shall lift up my hands. To you alone I shall stretch out my hands, or, invoking your name I shall stretch them out, and not invoking anything else whatsoever.

6α May my soul be filled as with fat and oil. Just as one is sated with fat and oil, for these are fattening foods, so may my soul be filled with your mercy, for this is what was being spoken of.

6β And with joyful lips my mouth will praise you. And then I shall praise you further with rejoicing lips.

7 If I would remember you upon my bed, before daybreak I would be meditating upon you. If I remember you when lying on my bed, before daybreak I am meditating on you, that is, I find myself thinking about you. He is saying that I go sleep with remembrance of you and with remembrance of you I awake again, and not even sleep interrupts this. It is at all events a great boon to go to sleep with the remembrance of God, and something that wards off shameful fantasies. The tenses of the verbs ‘to remember’ and ‘to meditate’ are changed [from present to imperfect].

8α For you have become my helper. I do this because I have you alone as helper. And so there is no need for me to have any- thing else in remembrance, for other things are superfluous as being unprofitable.

8β And in the shelter of your wings I shall rejoice. The shelter of the wings is spoken about in the the sixteenth psalm.

9α My soul has clung fast behind you. It has been bound fast behind you by the bond of desire, so as never to be separated from remembrance of you.

9β Your right hand has upheld me. From here he prophesies about his own help and about the destruction of his enemies around Saul.

10α But they in vain have sought for my soul. For God will help me.

10β They will enter into the deepest parts of the earth. Having died, they will descend into Hades.

11α They will be surrendered to the hands of a sword. Having said that they will die, he tells also the manner. He said ‘hands of a sword’ meta- phorically on account of the ineluctability of the sword.

11β They will be portions for foxes. On having been slaughtered, the foxes will divide them up among themselves as a feast. Or else not even noble enemies will destroy them, but enemies that are mean and weak and cunning, for such is the fox. For suchlike they will therefore become torn carrion; he is alluding to the alien tribes dwelling round about.

12α But the king will rejoice in God.

He is speaking of himself as anointed by God’s decree. He will rejoice, not in their slaugh- ter, as he later demonstrated, mourning and lamenting, but in God, as delivering those who love him.

12β All who swear by him will be praised. It was the custom to swear by the king, namely, ‘By the king’s salvation’. But as long as Saul was alive, anyone who dared to swear by the king David was abused and was at risk. After Saul’s death, however, he would be praised rather as being kindly disposed to him.

12γ For the mouth of those speaking unjust things has been stopped. It has been stopped by death; speaking unjust things against him by slandering and dis- paraging him and giving orders to one another for his death. But such is the interpretation in relation to the visible enemies. In relation to the invisible enemies, they will enter into the deepest parts of the earth, namely, into Tartarus. Peter the Apostle says that, God, having cast them into Tartarus, handed them over for judgement. Tar- tarus is said to be under the earth. In relation to these invisible enemies you will understand the sword as punishment.

63 Psalm 63

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm belonging to David. This psalm also lies close to the same subject. For it tells of the treacheries of the afore- mentioned enemies and prophesies liberation from them, for which reason also it has the superscription ‘towards fulfilment’. 2-3 Hear my voice, O God, as I make entreaty to you; deliver my soul from fear of the enemy; shelter me from a swarm of wicked men, from a multitude of wrong-doers. The rest of this verse is clear. ‘Swarm’ indicates a ‘phalanx’, a ‘body of men’.

4α Who have whetted their tongues like a sword. To slander easily and to contrive treacherous schemes. The verse is like, And their tongue is a sharp sword, which was discussed in the fifty-sixth psalm. 4β-5α They have stretched their bow, a bitter thing, to strike down a blameless man in hidden places. 12α-β: Or else you will understand ‘king’ as the man who masters the passions, and the ‘man who is praised’ as the one who makes sworn promise by God, namely, to God, of a virtuous life, and who confirms his confession through his works.

A ‘blameless man’ is what he calls an innocent man, namely, himself. The syntax is accord- ing to the figure of hyperbaton, namely, they have readied their bow to shoot down secretly the guiltless man, which is a bitter thing, that is, irksome or treacherous, to wit, the shooting down in secret, on account of being off his guard. He calls their tongue ‘their bow’. He called it a ‘sword’, as slaying those near at hand, and a ‘bow’, as striking also at those far off. For while praising and blessing openly, they would be covertly contriving.

5β Suddenly they will shoot him down and will not be afraid. ‘Suddenly’, in the sense of, ‘abruptly’, ‘unexpectedly’. And they will not be afraid either of the anger from God or of the condemnation from men.

6α They have fortified for themselves an evil word. They have ratified among themselves the word of treachery, as certain to be carried to conclusion.

6β They have made plans to hide snares ‘They have proposed’ is what Symmachus wrote. For they held counsel so as to hide traps by setting ambushes.

6γ They have said, ‘Who will see them?’ Who will see them to be avenger of the victim of their treachery? Which is to say, no one.

7α They have explored lawlessness. They have sought to employ lawlessness.

7β They have become faint exploring explorations. They have exhausted themselves questing on crafty quests and contriving artful contrivances. 7γ-8α A man will come forward, and a deep heart, and God will be exalted. A man who will serve their wicked intent against me will come forward to them as they are contriving their plans. And he will be a deep heart, that is, of profound wisdom, but for mischief (for there is also the man of profound wisdom for good). And notwithstanding his accomplishment, God, who grabs the wise in their craftiness and proves their plans to be of no

avail, will be magnified even more. For it is likely that some, courting favour with his enemies, would come forward to offer their services against the just man.

8β Their strikes have become an arrow of infants. Inefficacious. For such is the shot of infants on account of the weakness of those firing. Understand ‘strikes’ as injuries.

9α And their tongues for them have become feeble. ‘Tongues’ is what he calls their slanders and contrivances which are stitched together by the tongue and are the results of the tongue; their tongues have therefore become weak in them, having accomplished nothing more.

9β All those watching them have been troubled. Those watching such people and watching so many of their endeavours coming to noth- ing have been disquieted.

10α And every man has been filled with fear. Every one of those watching them has been filled with fear in himself, having come to realize that God is an avenger of those who are being wronged.

10β And has reported the works of God. Has reported to another the marvels that have come about on my account.

10γ And they have taken note of the things he has done. And they have come to know what things he does in helping his servants. He speaks of the things that will come about as having already happened, after the habit of prophecy.

11α The just man will rejoice in the Lord and will hope in him. He will rejoice and hope on seeing his guardianship over me.

11β And all the straight in heart will be praised. They will be praised by those men who have nothing crooked in their hearts, as he himself was, since God ever helps such people, for it is written, How good is God to the straight in heart.

Some say that A man will come forward was foretold about Judas, who being thoroughly depraved, came to the enemies of Christ and promised to betray him. But it was Christ rather who was magnified, having both worked dread wonders at the time of his crucifixion and having risen from the dead. The punishments that they brought upon him were counted as nothing on account of the impassibility of the divinity and on account of their having been unable to get rid of him as they believed. And all of those among the nations watching the Christ-slayers having been surrendered to the Romans for destruction were disquieted and filled with fear for Christ on account of whom those [responsible for his death] suffered so much. You will understand ‘the just’ as those from the nations, as having been justified through faith and who will rejoice by reason of Christ. The ‘straight in heart’ may be regarded as those same believers, as not not having strayed in their heart from the true faith in which they had come to share.

64 Psalm 64

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm of an ode belonging to David. This psalm is also ‘towards fulfilment’ because it prophesies about the return of the cap- tives in Babylon in the person of whom it is composed and about the piety of the nations. What ‘a psalm of an ode’ is is explained in the preamble to the book of the psalms. § 65-66

2α For you a hymn is most fitting, O God, in Zion. A hymn is conspicuously fitting for you in Zion, for that is where you prescribed to worship.

2β And for you a vow will be repaid in Jerusalem. Observe the prediction about the return. In an anagogical sense, Zion and Jerusalem may be interpreted as the universal Church of the faithful and the various local temples.

3α Hear my prayer. My prayer about the things for which I ever make entreaty.

3β To you all flesh will come. This is a prophecy about the nations. He called them ‘flesh’ either as the part standing for the whole or as living in a fleshly manner. Or else the verse is about the universal resurrection of the bodies.

4α The words of lawless men have overpowered us.

Our enemies’ blasphemies against God and against us have become mighty over us, that is, they have oppressed us - not daring to respond as being enslaved. Or the very opposite: they have over-empowered us, that is, strengthened us, having en- couraged us that he will not leave these blasphemies unavenged. A number of copies write ‘they have over-disempowered us’, which is, they have made us exceedingly weak.

4β And towards our impieties you will be merciful. And you will excuse the sins on account of which we have been taken captive and you will free us.

5α Blessed is the one whom you have chosen and taken to yourself; he will encamp in your enclosures. In a historical sense, he is saying that the people of the Jews, chosen above the other na- tions and known as your own, is enviable, because, having been honourably brought back from captivity, it will encamp once again in your city of Jerusalem; for this city is what he calls God’s enclosures on account of the far-famed temple in it. In an anagogical sense, he is alluding to the new people, chosen from among the nations as an inheritance for Christ; his enclosures are to be understood as the churches in each place. It can also be understood as about everyone who completes his life in piety, for having been chosen he is taken into Jerusalem on high, where the mansions of the just are enclosures.

5β We shall be filled with the good things of your house. God’s house is Jerusalem, both earthly and heavenly, and the temple in each locality. Its good things are the divine doctrines and all that is for enjoyment and delight. With these things, he says, we shall be filled, having been freed from enslavement to our enemies.

5γ Your temple is holy, wonderful in justice. God’s temple once again is the one in the earthly Jerusalem and in the heavenly Jerusalem, and the house of God in each place. It is holy therefore as the temple of the Holy One and as filled with sanctification and it is wonderful in the justice of the just men who people it. Or else ‘God’s temple’ is what he is calling the virtuous man who is the dwelling place of God. And he is ‘holy’ on account of his purity from the passions and wonderful for his justice.

6 Hear us, O God our Saviour, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of those in sea afar. This also is a prediction of the faith of the people from among the nations. Hear us, he says, O you who will later be the hope of all people.

The ‘ends of the earth’ therefore are those who dwell in the ends of the earth and ‘in sea’ are those who dwell in the islands. ‘Afar’ is an adverb signifying that which is distant from the mainland.

7α Readying mountains in his strength. He tells of God’s power, celebrating it in song. For ‘readying’ Symmachus wrote ‘establishing’. ‘He is’ is to be understood. He establishes the mountains so securely, he says, so as never to be rocked by the most vehement and con- tinuous batterings of the wild winds.

7β Girded in sovereign power. Circled about with sovereign power like a girdle, namely, with infinite power in respect of all created things and in every thing; and elsewhere he says, The Lord has clothed himself in power and has girded himself.

8α Who stirs up the cavern of the sea. The depth, so as to bring up sand from below, suddenly dislodged from such a great yawn- ing chasm. Note that the winds stir up the sea at God’s decree.

8β Who will withstand the roaring of its waves? Their sounds being deep and fearful and unbearable.

8γ The nations will be troubled. On account of the strange and unaccustomed nature of the Gospel proclamation, and on account of their ancestral worship being dissolved and their way of life being changed.

9α And those who inhabit the ends of the earth will be alarmed by your signs. Even those in the extremities of the earth will be seized with fear at the magnitude of your wondrous acts occurring at each time. And if those in the extremities will be affrighted, then very much more so will those at the centre of the earth. We say that these words were spoken about the miracles at the time of Christ, the Hebrews say they were about those at the time of Moses. They are debarred, however, by what follows.

9β You will give delight to the out-goings of early day and of evening.

You will give delight to your people both at the out-goings of the early day, when the early part of the day beings to unfold and again of evening, that is, at evening. It is an Attic idiom to say ‘of evening’ [genitive] rather than ‘at evening’ [dative]. The verse prophesies that they will be gladdened both at the beginning of the day and at its end – they will be delighted by divine hymns and sacred songs. Some call the ‘out-goings of the early day’ the eastern parts of the earth and ‘out-goings of evening’ the western parts, because in the former parts the early day seems to be born and in the latter parts the night. They say, therefore, that you will gladden those who dwell in the east and those in the west, having become man and having lived on the earth. The following verses will first be interpreted in a historical sense and then in an anagogical sense. Beyond doubt the anagogical interpretation is more appropriate for them as will be shown presently.

10α You have visited the earth and made it drunk. After the return from Babylon, he says, you gave help to Judea, then made barren, and made it drunk with rain.

10β You have multiplied all means to enrich it. You have multiplied the rain in order to enrich it with an abundance of fruits.

10γ The river of God has been filled with waters. The Jordan has risen in flood, for this was the most notable river in Judea.

10δ You have prepared their food, for in this manner the preparation. You have provided, brought to readiness, the food for those returning from Babylon. And indeed in this manner the preparation – ‘is’ or ‘is brought about’ is to be understood, namely, by the earth being made drunk with rain.

11α Make drunk its furrows, multiply its produce. Having prophesied the prosperity of the land in advance, he then entreats for these things to come about.

11β It will rejoice in its droplets as it sprouts growth. It will rejoice in the droplets that are for its sake, namely, in the dew, as it sprouts forth grass. ‘It will rejoice’ is metaphorical.

12α You will bless the crown of the year of your goodness. You will sanctify the whole cycle of that year of your goodness. For this year will be a gift of your goodness. 12β And your plains will be filled with lushness. With lushness for fruit-bearing. 13α The fair ripe fields of the desert will be enriched The ‘desert’ here is what he is calling Jerusalem, as having been laid waste by the Babylo- nians. The ‘fair ripe fields’ of Jerusalem are the parts of the land suited to the seasonal fruits of the year, namely, the fruitful parts. Or else ‘fair ripe fields’ is what he calls their fruits as produced at the right annual season. 13β And the mountains will gird themselves with rejoicing. Here, too, ‘will gird themselves with rejoicing’ is metaphorical. He is saying that they will rejoice all around and from every quarter. Having mentioned the plains and the ripe fields he added the mountains, and further on he mentions the valleys. 14α The rams among the sheep have been clothed. They have been clothed with an abundance of wool which comes from the lushness of the pasture. By the rams he signified all the flocks. 14β And the valleys will multiply in grain. This is clear. 14γ They will cry out and will celebrate indeed in song. So those who have been granted not only freedom but furthermore such prosperity will cry out giving heart-felt thanks, and they will celebrate you their Saviour and benefactor in song. The particle ‘indeed’ is redundant. But such is the interpretation according to the historical sense. According to the anagogical sense, these things are a prediction about the proclamation of the Gospel, and they may be addressed to the only-begotten Son. 12α: Pure faith is a crown of goodness, bejewelled with lofty expressions of doctrine as with precious stones and adorned with praises of God as with pearls, and, as if around a head, encircling and enwrapping and the mind that is good and beloved of God.

[10] You have visited the earth, namely, all the earth – and by the earth, understand the nations dwelling on the earth, for it is written, The dayspring from on high has visited us – and you have made it drunk with the wine of compunction as we expounded in an anagogical sense in the sixth verse of the fifty-ninth psalm. You have multiplied the irrigation by the Gospel so that you may enrich the earth in this sense in virtues. The ‘river of God’ is our Saviour Jesus, and the waters are his teachings, for as is written, The surgings of the river gladden the city of God, as we discussed previously in the seventh verse of the forty-fifth psalm. And from this river there flowed streams, the Apostles, and they irrigated the whole inhabited world. You have prepared the rational food for these nations. For he himself, having made it ready through his godly doctrines, gave it to the Apostles, instructing how they must feed the hungry souls, for in this manner is the true preparation of the true nourishment, namely, as he himself prepared, and not in any other way. [11] The furrows of this earth are the depths of people’s hearts which he enjoins to be watered intensely so as to be excited with Bacchic frenzy to love for God, and made ec-static from from all harshness and to be softened into gentleness. The virtues are its produce as the fruit of faith. Its droplets are the drops of teaching dripping from the teachers, or else they are the meanings distilled from the divine Scriptures, which like dew bring lush growth, by which drops the earth will rejoice as it blossoms and increases. [12] The ‘year of goodness’ is the most exceedingly good time of the Gospel preaching, and its crown is Christ, as having adorned and beautified this time in deed and word. You will refer the verse to the Father, for ‘you will bless’, which is, ‘you will speak well of ’, ‘you will praise’, and thus indeed he did, saying, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. About the plains and the mountains and the valleys, we say in a single word that he is foretelling the holy Spirit, namely, that every place will receive the faithful. The ‘plains’ are the clergy of the churches, the ‘mountains’ the anchorites, and the ‘valleys’ the cave-dwelling ascetics, who also will be the ‘lushness’ of such places and their ‘rejoicing’ and ‘grain’. This may also be interpreted in a different way, with the ‘plains’ being the humble souls that think nothing exalted, the ‘mountains’ being those highly opinionated with vain wisdom, and the ‘valleys’ being those who have slid down into the depth of sins. [13] The ‘fair ripe fields’ of the land that is a desert to virtue are the souls suited to bearing fruit. [14] The ‘rams among the sheep’ are the Apostles, as leaders of Christ’s rational flocks and who were clothed in the grace of the all-holy Spirit at the time of Pentecost, in accordance with the words, But stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high, or else they are the local bishops and priests who are clothed in Christ through baptism, for is it written, As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have been clothed in Christ. It is also necessary to say this, that in a historical sense we do not find those who returned from Babylon having enjoyed such prosperity, and so the anagogical interpretation is fitting.

65 Psalm 65

1α Towards fulfilment; an ode of a psalm; of resurrection. It is ‘towards fulfilment’ on account of the prophecy in it, as we have said about the other psalms with such a superscription, for it prophesies about the faith of the nations and fur- thermore also about the martyrs of Christ. What an ‘ode of a psalm’ is we explained previously in the preamble to the book of the psalms. § 65-66 It is ‘of resurrection’ in the sense of the raising up of the captives from slavery in Babylon to their own fatherland. The psalm is composed giving voice to this raising up, namely, giving the words which each of those now experiencing the return might say. It would be fitting also for everyone who is raised up or removed from the sin into which he has been dragged by the darts of the passions, having been taken captive by the demons.

1β Make ululation to the Lord, O all the earth. What ‘ululation’ is, we said at the second verse of the forty-sixth psalm. He is exhorting to sing a victory hymn to God, who has instilled fear in the captors and has delivered the captives from their slavery. ‘All the earth’, in the sense of, ‘all you upon the earth’; this indeed is what Symmachus wrote. Observe the calling of the nations.

2α Praise his name with psaltery. About this, see the exposition of the fourth verse of the ninth psalm.

2β Give glory to his praise. Give to his praise glory, that is, honour, magnificence. He is saying, praise him gloriously, and not as you praise humans.

3α Say to God, ‘How fearful are your works’. The marvels you worked in Egypt, and those before and those after.

3β In the abundance of your power your enemies will play false with you. Such is the meaning of the verse, that with knowledge of God having spread everywhere, many enemies of the truth, having been affrighted by your great power in the kingdom of the

pious, will play-act before you, that is, will feign faith in you. ‘Play false’ here is what he calls the hypocrisy. And indeed we find many such idolaters and heretics at all times. 4α Let all the earth worship you and praise you with psaltery. The calling of the nations is even clearer here. Let them worship first, having been made subject, then let them praise with voice and harp. The prophet boldly gives a command, as being fully assured about the matter. 4β Let them praise your name with psaltery, O Most High. This is like the fourth verse of the ninth psalm. In an excessive transport of joy, he recalls the great wonders of God and gives orders for all to praise with voice and harp and hymn God the deliverer. 5α Come and see the works of God. Which he does every day against expectation. He is convoking all the nations. 5β How fearful in purposes beyond the sons of men. ‘In artful devices’ is what Symmachus wrote. He is accordingly most fearful in artful de- vices, on account of his devising fearful things when he wishes to save his people, for such he devised against the Egyptians, ever defeating the artifices and counter-devices of men. He then lists the miracles of old. 6α Who converts the sea into dry land. This occurred at the Red Sea as the book of Exodus tells. Using one tense for another he said, ‘who converts’, in the sense of, ‘who converted’. 6β Through a river they will pass on foot. And this occurred at the Jordan as the Ark passed across. Here, too, there is use of one tense for another, in the sense of, ‘our ancestors passed across’. ‘On foot’, in the sense of, ‘walking on foot’; to walk on foot is to travel on dry land. He reminds God of the wonders at the time of the ascent [to the Promised Land] on account of the ascent lying before them so that he might make it easy for them in his habitual way. Symmachus maintained the sequence of tenses, for he wrote, ‘who converted the sea’ and again ‘they crossed through’. 6α: The watery way of the sea into a dry path.

6γ-7α There we shall delight over him, who in his sovereign might has dominion over the age. ‘There’, in the sense of, in the place towards which we are hastening. In relation to God we understand ‘sovereign might’ as his infinite and irresistible power. God has dominion over both the present and the future are as having a boundless kingship.

7β His eyes look upon the nations. Since in the future he will inherit them and make them his own through faith. Recognize, O Jew, that he has transferred his oversight away from you.

7γ Let the embitterers not be exalted in themselves. So let the Jews not be puffed up with themselves as alone known to God. For it is they whom he calls ‘embitterers’, as ever murmuring and contradicting. And other prophets called them ‘an embittering house’. They might also be called ‘embitterers’ in a different way as having given Christ gall for food and vinegar for his thirst. The prophetic words are enigmatic and unclear, for the reasons we have stated before. As for you, you should call the barbarous nations and the demons ‘embitterers’, while having God as your own overseer.

8α Bless our God, O nations. The nations onto which God’s oversight has been transferred.

8β And make heard the voice of his praise. ‘Make heard’, that is, make his praise more loud-voiced or speak this into the ear of those after you.

9α Who has disposed my soul for life. Since slavery is like death, as the wise say, ‘life’ here is what he calls freedom.

9β And has not given my feet to wavering. And has not allowed my way of life to be given over to deviation from piety.

10α For you have tested us, O God.

The words are primarily from the virtuous, namely, from Daniel and the Three Youths and suchlike, listing the kinds of chastisement. You have tested us with trials, that is, you have examined what faith and endurance we possess.

10β You have proved us by fire as silver is tried by fire. This is on account of the furnace kindled for the Three Youths; ‘fire’ may also be interpret- ed as the flame of afflictions.

11α You have led us into the trap. This is on account of the pit of lions into which Daniel was cast; it may also be interpreted as every constraint of distress.

11β You have set afflictions on our back. Afflicting scourges, for it is likely that they were beaten. Or else ‘afflictions’ is what he calls the burdens of temptations, and ‘backs’ what he calls themselves, the part standing for the whole.

12α You have had men set foot on our heads. You have subjected us to enemies; you have given us over to be trampled on. The verse is metaphorical, for long ago when kings would defeat enemies, in triumph they would step on the heads of those taken alive.

12β We have passed through fire and water. Understand ‘fire and water’ as misfortunes, the one as setting the soul of fire, the other as flooding over and drowning it. It is worth inquiring how with the Babylonians having subjected them to ill treatment they rather allege God as the cause, saying, ‘you have proved us by fire’, and ‘you have led us into the trap’, and suchlike. The solution to the question is that they recognized God as the cause of what they suffered, by permitting their enemies to treat his servants in such a manner.

12γ And you have led us out into respite. And yet having shown mercy on us, you have led us out to repose. It is necessary to know that the passage from You have tested us to And you have led us out to respite was prophesied especially in the person of the martyrs for Christ, as Paul the Apostle says, because severally they underwent all these things.

13α I shall enter into your house with whole burnt offerings. In a historical sense the verse is clear. In an anagogical sense, God’s house is heaven and whole burnt offerings are the wholly perfected labours of the virtues which all the just sacri- fice to God. 13β- I shall repay to you my vows that my lips have pronounced and my mouth has spoken in

14 my affliction. Here ‘vows’ are what he calls his promises; ‘has spoken’ is a clarification of ‘have pro- nounced’.

15α Whole burnt offerings filled with marrow I shall bring to you. Not simply whole burnt offerings, but ones rich in fat. The exceptional labour of virtue is rich in fat.

15β With incense and rams I shall bring you cattle with he-goats. In a historical sense, the kinds of sacrifice are clear, as has been said, for all the victims mentioned used to be offered. In an anagogical sense, ‘incense’ may be interpreted as the fragrance wafting from the pure soul, ‘rams’ as the thoughts that lead the soul, butting away the passions, ‘cattle’ as the activities of the body (for the ox is a worker of the earth, and the body is from the earth and acts in regard to the earth), and ‘he-goats’ as entreaties for sins (for in the past the he-goat used to be sacrificed for sins). He is saying accordingly that I shall bring all these to you, when you have freed me from slavery to my enemies.

16 Come, listen, and I shall tell you, O all you who fear God, all he has done for my soul. The syntax of these words is according to the figure of hyperbaton, so that it would be as follows: Come, listen, O all you who fear God, and I shall tell you all he has done for my soul, that is, for me. Or else the phrase ‘all he has done for my soul’ is to be read on its own expressively, namely, ‘O how many good things has he done for me!’ He then describes how he has been benefited.

17 I have cried to him with my mouth and raised up under my tongue. I have raised up, my voice that is, calling on him for help.

It is to be noted that the preposition ‘under’ is beyond doubt employed in the sense of ‘on’, namely, ‘on my tongue’. Such also is Under his tongue is suffering and pain, and, Vipers’ venom is under your lips.

18 If I was perceiving injustice in my heart, let the Lord not hear me. When, he says, I was entreating him, I was not perceiving any evil in my heart, and he confirms his assertion invoking a curse, namely, if I was aware of any such thing in my heart, let the Lord henceforth not hear me, however often I may call on him.

19α On this account God has heard me. Because I was praying with a pure heart. And it is necessary for us, too, if we are to suc- ceed, to entreat God with a pure conscience.

19β He has attended to the voice of my entreaty. This is like the third verse of the fifth psalm.

20α God is to be blessed, who has not put away my prayer. From himself, that is.

20β Nor his mercy from me. ‘Has he put away’ is to be understood here, too.

66 Psalm 66

1 Towards fulfilment; in hymns; a psalm of an ode. ‘Towards fulfilment’ because it proclaims in advance the incarnation of the Word and God, towards the fulfilment of which incarnation it enjoins the reader to look. ‘In hymns’ because it also gives orders to hymn him. We have previously explained the meaning of ‘a psalm of and ode’ in the preamble to the present book. § 65-66

2α May God have pity upon us and bless us. Knowing in advance the mystery of the divine incarnation, he prays for this to be fulfilled, and first for human nature to be pitied, being bitterly tyrannized by the devil, and then to be blessed, that is, to be sanctified.

See the meanings of blessing in the exposition of the fifth verse of the twentieth psalm.

2β May he show forth his face upon us. The face of the Father is the Son, for it is written, He who has seen me has seen my Father. In the optative mood, he says ‘may he show forth’, that is, may the face of the Father, namely, the Son, ‘be shown forth’ through the incarnation upon us who are on earth, or else the face of Christ according to the flesh, which is Christ himself, by circumlocution.

2γ And have mercy on us. ‘To have mercy’ is the same as ‘to have pity’. He is therefore wishing for the same thing twice, longing to attain what he asks for.

3α To come to know your way on the earth. May this and that be, he says, so that those on the earth may come to know the way of your life, which having trodden yourself, you will show to your disciples. The article ‘those’ is missing from ‘on the earth’.

3β Your salvation among all nations. And for those among all nations [to come to know] your incarnation on our behalf, for this is what he is calling ‘salvation’, since through it we are saved. The article ‘those’ is missing also from ‘among the nations’.

4 Let peoples confess you, O God, let all peoples confess you. ‘Peoples’ without qualification are those from the circumcision, ‘all peoples’, as more nu- merous, are those from many races. ‘Let them confess’, in the sense of, let those for whose salvation you will become incarnate give thanks, let them celebrate with hymns.

5α Let nations be glad and rejoice. About gladness and rejoicing we have already spoken variously. He then presents the rea- son for the joy.

5β For you will judge peoples with straightness and will guide nations on the earth. Because you will justly condemn the Jews, your former peoples, as not having accepted you, and you will guide, while being on the earth, the nations, or else the nations that are on the earth, with omission of the second article ‘that’.

6 Let peoples confess you, O God, let all peoples confess you. He repeated the same words again, urging the peoples onwards and making them more zealous.

7α The earth has given its fruit. With people having been blessed, the earth, too, has borne fruit abundantly. Or else the ‘fruit of the earth’ is what he calls the people who have sprung from the earth and borne fruit for God through martyrdom or ascetic struggle, or Christ himself. 7β-8α May God, our God, bless us, may God bless us. Observe the mystery of the holy Trinity being laid bare with the triple repetition of God and God and God.

8β And let all the ends of the earth fear him. By the triple repetition he indicated the three hypostases of the divinity, and by saying ‘him’ in the singular, he indicated the unity of the divinity. For even though each of the three persons is God, yet he is called one tri-hypostatic God.

67 Psalm 67

1 Towards fulfilment; a psalm of an ode belonging to David. ‘Towards fulfilment’, because this psalm, too, proclaims in advance even more conspicu- ously the epiphany of the Saviour and the dissolution of the demons. What a ‘psalm of an ode’ is has been said previously. § 65-66

2α Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered. With the demons exercising tyranny and with neither man nor angel helping those who have been enslaved, he calls the Maker of those being tyrannized himself to their defence. You will understand ‘arising’ (in a manner befitting God) as the movement towards vengeance. Even though ‘let him arise’ and so on are cast in the imperative, nevertheless they have the sense of the optative mood, as we have also said elsewhere, namely, ‘may he arise’ and ‘may they be scattered’ and ‘may they flee’ and ‘may they vanish’. God’s enemies are primarily the demons, as apostates and adversaries.

2β And let those who hate him flee from before his face.

From before his epiphany, unable to bear his presence in the flesh, for wherever he would pass through they would run away never to return.

3α As smoke vanishes, let them vanish. Just as smoke disperses by the blowing of the wind so they disperse by the blowing of the holy Spirit, being driven away and scattered.

3β As wax melts before the face of fire, so shall sinners perish before the face of God. Just as wax melts at the epiphany of fire, so at the epiphany of Christ, who is called a fire consuming depravity, they will be melted, flowing away. ‘They will perish’ does not mean their utter disappearance into non-being, but their dis- appearance into not being in those places any longer. The demons are the ‘sinners’, as first to have sinned and as inventors and teachers of sin.

4α And let the just be glad. And, when the tyranny of the demons has been dissolved, thereafter let those who have been justified by their faith in Christ be glad.

4β Let them rejoice before God, let them delight with merriment. ‘Before God’ who is ever looking upon them, for it is written, The eyes of the Lord are upon the just. ‘Let them be glad’ and ‘let them rejoice’ and ‘let them delight’ and ‘with merriment’, all meaning the same, indicate increasing intensity of joy.

5α Sing to God. You who are made worthy of such joy.

5β Praise his name with psaltery. This was discussed earlier in the fourth verse of the ninth psalm.

5γ Make ready the way for the one mounted on westerings, the Lord is his name. This verse is addressed to the Apostles, enjoining them to run to the nations, and to ready the path of their souls for the visitation of Christ through the preaching of the Gospel. Like this are the words, Prepare the way of the Lord. He is saying, ‘Make ready the way for Christ’,

having taken away every impediment. He said ‘the one mounted on westerings’ because, being Light unapproachable and the Sun of Justice, he has mounted on men’s souls by having come to dwell in them through faith. These souls were ‘westerings’, namely, ‘nights’, on account of the dullness and dark gloom of error formerly poured over them. Then he also says his name: that he is simply Lord of all, that is, God.

5δ And rejoice before him. This was interpreted above along with the seventh verse.

5ε Let them be thrown into confusion by his face. And this again along with the second verse.

6α The father of orphans and judge of widows. By the first part he presented his providential aspect and by the second his judicial aspect, for he is both guardian of those who are without protection and judge of those who are being wronged. Or else ‘orphans and widows’ is what he is calling those who have believed from the na- tions, on the one hand, as having rejected their former father the devil, and on the other hand, as having been bereaved from the same devil whom they had as bridegroom, by having been united to him. After the preaching of the Gospel, however, they took God instead as father and bridegroom – father as guardian, and bridegroom as having been conjoined to him through faith.

6β God in his holy place. In heaven; the copula ‘is’ is missing. Having said, ‘Let God arise’ and ‘Make ready the way for the one mounted on westerings’, of necessity he added, ‘God in his holy place’, teaching that while being in heaven, which is his holy place, he both rises up to vengeance and mounts on westerings, and brings about whatever he purposes, not employing change of location, for he is uncircumscribable. Such also is the passage, No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man, who is in heaven. For while living below he was also in heaven, inseparable from the Father. God’s holy place may also be interpreted as the Church of the faithful and every person dear to God.

7α God settles the single mannered in a house. 5γ: Or else ‘westerings’ are the world in accordance with, The light shines in the darkness [ Jn 1.5].

The ‘single mannered’ is what he calls the just, as having no duplicity of evil or alloy of wickedness, but a single aim, that of pursuing the service of God. He settles them in a house, about which Paul said, We have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Symmachus wrote ‘solitaries’, as being separated from every worldly thing, whom he set- tles in a dwelling place all alone; he is predicting the life of the anchorites.

7β Bringing out those bound in fetters with manly courage. Bringing out, that is, freeing, those bound by the cords of their own sins, or the bonds of the demon, which are the passions. He is speaking about those who have believed from the nations. Bringing them out with manly courage, namely, with the strength of divinity, which prevails against the tyrant, or else with the power of the Gospel words.

7γ Similarly, the embitterers dwelling in graves. Not only those, but also those from the circumcision, for he is calling the Jews ‘embitter- ers’ as we explained previously in the sixty-fifth psalm. These verses may also be interpreted as a prophecy about the universal resurrection from the dead, namely, that he will bring out from the graves all those bound mortally in fetters and similarly the Jews; then the clarification, namely, those dwelling in graves. By these he indicated also those destroyed by fire and at sea and howsoever. 8-9α O God, even as you were going out before your people, even as you were passing over in the desert, the earth was shaken and indeed the heavens dripped. When you said to the Jews, See, your house is left desolate for you, (the prophecy of Jere- miah there finding fulfilment, who, in your person, O Christ, said, I have forsaken my house, I have let go of my inheritance), then, after you had gone out and departed before those who up to that time were your people and had passed over to the about-to-be-assembled Church of the nations, desolate of knowledge of God and barren in virtue, the earth was shaken at the time of your passion and your resurrection, and the heavens dripped with the descent of the holy Spirit on the Apostles at the time of Pentecost. Or else the earth was shaken as the nations passed over from error to truth, and the Apostles dripped with the water of their preaching, refreshing souls; for the Apostles were ‘heavens’ on account of being heavenly minded and being above every earthly thing. The conjunction/particle ‘indeed’ is redundant.

9β From the face of the God of Sinai, from the face of the God of Israel.

‘From the face of God’ is by way of circumlocution, that is, from God, so that the meaning is such, namely, these things came about by the true God of Mount Sinai, for he is both God of Sinai and of Israel. He mentioned these, showing that the same God who worked wonders in Sinai and showed himself to Jacob is doing these things and is not a different God from that one.

10α Voluntary rain, O God, you will set apart for your inheritance. The nations are God’s inheritance, in accordance with, And I shall give you nations as your inheritance, and the word of the Gospel is rain, softening and watering souls. This rain is ‘voluntary’, because the Mosaic law was not in accordance with God’s will, but by divine expedience, for he had no need of sacrifices not for such other observances. For it is written, Who has asked for these things? and again, Moses for your hardness of heart wrote thus, while the word of the preaching is by God’s good pleasure. Or else that the Mosaic law forced them to keep the commandments against their will, by stoning, burning and bitterly slaying, while the Gospel compels no one but offers itself to those who wish.

10β And it was weak, but you have restored it. Your inheritance was weak in the past, crushed by the tyranny of the idols, but you made it whole, having renewed it through the rebirth of baptism and having established it firmly on the unshakeable rock of your commandments.

11α Your living beings will dwell in it. Those who are being nourished spiritually by you and are living the life in you. Or else, the Apostles are Christ’s living beings or ‘animals’. Habbakuk called them ‘horses’, saying, You have set your horses upon the sea, calling bitter unbelief ‘sea’.

11β In your goodness, O God, you have made preparation for the poor man. The people of the nations, having received no spiritual wealth, is the ‘poor man’. For it had neither law nor prophets, but God on account of his natural goodness prepared for it a different wealth, namely the voluntary rain just mentioned.

12 The Lord will give utterance in great power to those proclaiming good tidings. This is about the Apostles, to whom as fishermen and commoners God granted words of wisdom. He said ‘in great power’ because a divine power followed their words, working whatever wonders they might wish.

13α The king of the powers of the beloved. ‘Beloved’ is what he calls the only-begotten Son and God, for it is written, This is my beloved Son. His ‘powers’ or ‘forces’ are the Apostles, as his soldiers marshalled against the adversarial powers, whose king is the Father, who came to rule over them through the zeal of the Son.

13β To distribute spoils to the comeliness of the house. He will give the Apostles utterance to divide up spoils of the enemies, which are the na- tions (for having defeated the demons, they plundered them, taking away those enslaved to them), and to distribute them to the comeliest Church of the faithful in which God dwells. And they did indeed distribute them, the one bringing one nation and the other another. The comeliness of the Church may also be interpreted as the Gospel through which they divided them up.

14α If you fall asleep among the lots. ‘To fall asleep’ in the present verse we shall understand as ‘to die’. For he is saying to the Apostles that these spoils will be brought forward as offerings if you die among the lots, namely, among the nations allotted to you. And indeed they were slain while preaching. Or in a different sense, if you continue long, for a person who is sleeping continues long at rest.

14β Wings of a dove silvered all around, and its breast in paleness of gold. We consider the ‘dove’ to be Christ, on account of its love for man and its forbearing nature; its ‘wings’ may be interpreted as the body, as outermost, and the breast as the soul, as innermost. He is saying that his body is brilliant in splendour as being without sin, for silver is brilliant, while his soul is in purity of gold, as being united to divinity, because pale gold is most pure. Others, combining the verse before with the present one, say that if you are firmly es- tablished between the two Covenants, the Old and the New (for the one who is sleeping is firmly established without moving), and the Covenants are allotted, the one to the old people before the Cross, the other to the new people after the Cross - if therefore, he says, you do thus, mediating between and reconciling the New and Old (for the latter is the type, the former the truth), then the wings of the dove (that is, of the holy Spirit), namely the out- ermost and more simple meanings will appear brilliantly, and its breast, that is, the innermost and more mysterious meanings, will appear most purely like the paleness of gold (though silver is brilliant, gold is also brilliant, but the brilliance of gold is deeper). They understand the holy Spirit as the dove, because it descended in the form of a dove on Christ as he was being baptised.

15 As the heavenly one is expanding kings over her, they will become snow-white on Salmon. ‘Kings’ here is what he called the Apostles, as heirs to the kingdom of heaven, and whom he addressed as ‘rulers’ in the forty-fourth psalm. He is predicting here the overshadowing of the holy Spirit which came upon them at the time of Pentecost. He is saying, therefore, that as the heavenly God is sending forth or dividing and allotting kings over her, namely, the pre- viously mentioned inheritance, which is the nations – for it is written, Go, make disciples of all the nations – they will become snow-white, that is, they will be made white and glistening through the radiance of the holy Spirit. He added also the place: for Jerusalem, where they were remaining until they would be clothed with power from on high, was called Salmon. It is to be noted that the conjunction ‘as’ often indicates something that happened later, as in the present case: ‘as he is expanding’, in the sense of, ‘after he had expanded’. We also made this observation in the superscription to the fiftieth psalm.

16 The mountain of God, the mountain rich in fat, the mountain curdled as cheese, the moun- tain rich in fat. The mountain of God is what he calls the Church of the faithful, a ‘mountain’, as being raised above earthly things and stretching up towards heaven through action and contempla- tion, and ‘of God’ as made God’s own. It is ‘rich in fat’ on account of the abundance and ready availability of spiritual pasture in her, and ‘curdled as cheese’ on account of the congealed and firm nature of the doctrines of faith in her, for cheese is curdled. The once again ‘rich in fat’ by the abundance of the gifts of the holy Spirit. He sings the praises of this mountain on account of the variety of its powers.

17α Why do you take account of mountains curdled as cheese? He addresses himself to the enemies of the Church, saying, Why do you take account of other curdled mountains apart from this one?

17β The mountain in which God has been pleased to dwell. This, he says, is the mountain that God wished to dwell in, for it is written, This is my resting place to age of age.

17γ And indeed the Lord will encamp to the end. He will encamp on it to the end, in the sense of, forever. What would Jews have to say about this? For he did not dwell in Zion to the end, but for a specific time.

18α God’s chariot is ten-thousand fold. Having said above, Make ready the way for the one mounted on westerings, he now appro- priately mentioned a chariot. God’s chariot may be interpreted as all who have accepted the bridle of faith and have been yoked to the easy yoke of Christ and who have him as rider and charioteer. And this chariot he says is ten-thousand times that of the old chariot of the just among the Jews.

18β Thousands prospering abundantly. ‘There are’ is missing. ‘Prospering abundantly’ in bearing the fruits of the virtues.

18γ The Lord among them was on Sinai on the holy site. ‘Who’ is missing, so that the meaning would be, ‘The Lord is among them, who in the past was on Sinai, the holy site’, with the preposition ‘on’ before ‘the holy site’ being redun- dant. For he who gives laws both there and here is one and the same. Sinai is holy as having been sanctified by the visitation of God and as being dedicated to God.

19α You have gone up on high, you have taken captivity captive. To the height of the Cross or into heaven at the time of the Ascension. ‘You have gone up’ on account of the ascent being an act of free will. Having cast down the tyrannizing devil by the lance of the Cross, you have taken captive the captivity of the nations, which the devil had formerly taken captive, having enslaved them to himself. And indeed Christ himself said, When I am lifted up, will draw all men to myself.

19β You have taken gifts among men. The Apostle said, He has given gifts. And both things occurred, for on receiving faith and thanksgiving from those being added [to the Church], he would give various gifts of grace.

19γ And even the disobedient so as to make encampment. And you took even these, the previously disobedient people; and you took them to make encampment in them, having become a worthy habitation for you. 19δ- The Lord God is to be blessed, the Lord is to be blessed day every day. Observe the statement about the holy Trinity: Lord and God and Lord. This indeed is how Moses also spoke: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.

Having said that he is to be praised ‘day’ (by which is understood ‘on every’ day) he clari- fied the obscurity of the word adding ‘every day’. Some understand ‘day every day’ in a simple way, in the sense of, ‘day by day’, which is ‘ever’, in succession of days. 20β- The God of our deliverances will make us to prosper, our God, the God of saving. Observe here also the statement about the holy Trinity, for the word ‘God’ is placed three times. It is not inappropriate to read the word ‘deliverances’ with a circumflex accent. As a neu- ter it takes an accent on the penultimate syllable, as a feminine it takes a circumflex, for the word can be either neuter or feminine. ‘The God of our deliverances’ and ‘the God of saving’ mean the same thing, for the Lord of our deliverances is the Lord of saving, or else, the God of saving is God our Saviour.

21β And the passages from out of death are of the Lord’s Lord. To bring out from death to life belongs to the power of God. By ‘death’ understand both natural death and sin, for the one mortifies the body in relation to natural activities, the other mortifies the soul in relation to virtuous activities. This may also be interpreted as a prediction about the Saviour’s resurrection from the dead, for the passage from out of death occurred first for him, when he passed through death and rose in the flesh.

22α Except God will shatter the heads of his enemies. The most vital powers of the demons, for the most vital powers of the body are in the head. Here, too, ‘except’ is redundant. To put it briefly, he will shatter in a spiritual way their spiritual heads.

22β The crown of hair of those passing across in their trespasses. Of those passing across, that is trampling on, the crown of hair of sinners. Here you will understand ‘hair’ as ‘the head of hair’, and trampling on this head of hair when they are tres- passing. For when people sin, then the demons trample on them as being already subjected. It is possible to interpret this in a different way: ‘of those passing across’, that is, those making minute examination of people’s trespasses: ‘the hair of the crown’ (by the figure of enallage, instead of ‘the crown of hair’), that is, a person’s most subtle sin. For they examine even such sins at the time when the soul gives account of itself.

23α The Lord has said, ‘I shall bring back from Basan’.

‘Basan’ means ‘shame’. Accordingly, he has brought back those from the nations from the shame of the idols and the shame of sin.

23β I shall bring back in the depths of the sea. He brought them back from the shame mentioned through holy baptism, for this is what he here calls the ‘depths of the sea’, on account of its drowning of briny and bitter sin. And Micah indeed says, He himself will bring back and have mercy on us and he will sink our sins and they will be cast off into the depths of the sea. The depths of the sea may also be interpreted as the depths of sin, namely, the most griev- ous trespasses, from which God brought them back, having led them out into the light of vir- tue. In this case you will take ‘in the depths’ in the sense of, ‘from the depths’, one preposition standing for another.

24α That your foot may be dipped in blood. And this, O Lord, you will do so that you may defeat the demons utterly. The verse is metaphorical, for those who triumph in battle, trampling on the bodies of their slaughtered enemies, dip their feet in the blood flowing from them. Isaiah, speaking in the person of Christ, says, I trampled them in my rage and brought their blood down onto the earth and my garments were spattered utterly with the mark of their utter defeat. These words seek to indicate that he defeated them completely. In another sense, the Church may be interpreted as Christ’s foot, bearing him up through faith, since Christ himself is her head. The Church accordingly has been dipped in the blood of Christ, having been sealed by it and fortified, and tempered as iron is by dipping, or else in the blood of Christ’s martyrs, or in the spiritual blood of the demons, as they are spiritually slaughtered.

24β The tongue of your dogs from enemies by him. ‘That it may be dipped’ is understood here also. The bishops are Christ’s dogs, barking at the spiritual wolves and scaring away those with hostile designs and guarding the rational flocks. The spiritual tongue of these bishops, therefore, has been dipped, lapping from the enemies (their blood is understood here also). And their tongue may be dipped in the blood of their enemies ‘by him’, that is, being helped by God the Father. This also is metaphorical. For when enemies have been slain, the dogs of the slayers come and lap their blood and rend in pieces their bodies.

25α Your paths, O God, have been seen.

The ways and behaviours and manners of your life in the flesh, for the Apostles were eye witnesses of these. After this, as is written, he was seen on earth and associated with men.

25β The paths of my God, of the king who is in the Holy. Observe how David truly confesses Christ as God, as already given firm assurance. The Father in whom he was ineffably indwelling is whom he now calls ‘the Holy’, for it is written, I am in the Father, and the Father is in me.

26α First have come rulers, close to those praising with psaltery. ‘Rulers’ is what he calls the Apostles, for it is written, You will establish them as rulers over all the earth, as we explained in the forty-fourth psalm. They therefore came before all those from the nations, having been first to believe. ‘Those praising with psaltery’ is what he calls the prophets, as voicing aloud the things about Christ; the Apostles came near to them, that is, in close proximity to them, depending on them, that is, following them in both temporal sequence and in their preaching.

26β Amid young girls playing timbrels. Amid the Jewish synagogues, which are ‘young girls’ on account of the still unfulfilled nature of their way of life, and ‘playing timbrels’ on account of the bodily nature of their worship of God, for the frame-drum is made from a body. Or else amid the local Churches, which are ‘young girls’ on account of the youthfulness and purity of the faith, and ‘playing timbrels’ on account of mortifying the body for the sake of God, for the frame-drum is a dead body.

27α In assemblies bless God. This verse announces in advance the cessation of worship according to the law and fore- tells the multitude of the local Churches, for in the past there was one temple for all Jews.

27β The Lord from the well-springs of Israel. Bless the Lord again from the books of the law and the prophets, for these are the well- springs of the Israelite people, gushing forth knowledge of God to them. And indeed the god-bearing fathers composed their hymns to God having drawn from those books.

28α There is Benjamin the younger in ecstasy. There, where? In the Churches. ‘Benjamin’ is what he calls the Apostle Paul, as being from the Benjaminite tribe; he is ‘the younger’ as having believed later than the other Apostles; and ‘in ecstasy’ on account of his rapture to the third heaven about which he says, Whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. For in him the matters of the prophecy about Benjamin are fulfilled: Benjamin is a rapa- cious wolf; in the morning he devours and in the evening he distributes food. For like a wolf Paul ravaged the Church; and earlier he would devour her with rage and murder, while later he would give those in her spiritual food, distributing to them the heavenly bread.

28β Their leaders are the rulers of Judah, the rulers of Zabulon, the rulers of Nephthali. The leaders of these Churches, he says, will be the Apostles, whom he indicated through the leaders of their tribes. James and the other brothers of the Lord had Judah as their pa- triarch; Peter and Andrew and John and Philip were from the township of Bethsaida, while Matthew and James the son of Alphaeus are described as living in Capernaum; Simon the Mk 2.1, 14 Zealot was a Canaanite. All these are places in Galilee, and Galilee was allotted in inheritance to Zabulon and Nephthali. And the others again came from such places. He called them ‘rul- Jos 19.10-16, ers’, not as rulers of their homelands, but as distinguished and more honourable on account 32-39 of their nobility of soul; or else they are rulers from Judah, and rulers from Zabulon and rulers from Nephthali, with the preposition being supplied externally.

29α Command, O God, your power. This is addressed to the Father, so that he may command the Son concerning the preach- ing, for it is written, I say nothing on my own authority, but whatsoever I hear from the Father. And Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 29β- Empower, O God, this that you have accomplished among us from your temple in Jeru-

30α salem. This is addressed to the Son, so that he may strengthen the preaching of the Gospel which he accomplished in our regard or on our account. He accomplished, that is, completed this through his assumed humanity, for this is the temple and tent-shrine of the divinity. ‘From your temple’, in the sense of, ‘through your temple’, which went about and preached in Jerusalem, as is written, On Zion his holy mountain, proclaiming the Lord’s decree.

30β Kings will bring you gifts. The kings of nations everywhere. The gifts are temples, the lands dedicated to them and votive offerings of all kinds. They will bring you these things, having recognized you as their immortal king, as God. It can also be understood in a different way by a combination of the verses, namely, that from your temple in each locality the kings will bring you gifts to Jerusalem on high, for by conveying the gifts sensibly to the temples, through them they bring up intelligibly to heaven the offering and grace of the gifts.

31α Rebuke the wild beasts of the reed. Muzzle the intelligible lions, that is to say, the wild and cruel demons which, just as sen- sible lions lurk in the reeds, so they lurk in the hollowness and fruitlessness of people not supported by faith. Job also speaks of the devil in this way, Under trees of every kind he lies down, by the reed and papyrus and sedge, indicating that he finds rest in those who have the characteristics of those plants, namely, dryness towards virtue and wetness towards pleasure-loving, for such are the papyrus and the sedge.

31β The assembly of bulls among the heifers of the peoples so that those tried in silver be con- tained. ‘Bulls’ is what he calls the chief priests and scribes and the other rulers of the Jews, as bold and butting, and ‘heifers’ what he calls the multitudes of the peoples subjected to them, for the bull dominates and the heifer is subjected. He is saying therefore the leaders among the peoples would concern themselves with con- taining, that is, hindering the Apostles who were well tried in faith and virtue as they eagerly pressed on to preach, for it is written, Having called in the Apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus. ‘In silver’, in the sense of, ‘like silver’, for this also is a Hebrew idiom; or else ‘in a similar way to’ is missing.

31γ Scatter the nations that wish for wars. Both the intelligible and the sensible.

32α Ambassadors will come from Egypt. Understand Egypt as every land of the nations over which the intelligible Pharaoh, the devil, ruled, from all of which he prophesies believers will come to Christ, interceding as

ambassadors for the whole world.

32β Ethiopia will first reach with its hand to God. ‘Will first reach’, in the sense of, ‘will reach’, that is, ‘will stretch out’, for the person who reaches, stretching out his hand, reaches what is far away. By the consequent, therefore, [the act of reaching or arriving] he indicated the antecedent [the act of stretching out]. For Ethiopia stretched out Candaces to Christ, and he is the one called ‘its hand’, as a potentate of Ethiopia (for a person’s power is in his hand), since he exercised power alongside [PG36.396A] the queen. The word ‘first’ is redundant. Some say that by ‘Egypt’ all the earth is denoted (for the intelligible Pharaoh held sway over all the earth), and by ‘Ethiopia’ the very ends of the world are signified (for the Ethiopi- [Hom. Od. ans, the furthermost of all peoples, dwell in east and west). For it is written, All the ends of the A.23-24] earth will remember and will turn back to the Lord. In this case we take ‘will first reach with its hand’ simply in the sense of, Ethiopia will stretch out its hands in prayer to Christ, having already believed.

33 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, praise the Lord with psaltery. This is explanatory of the two verses mentioned, universally enjoining all nations to sing to Christ and praise him with voice and harp.

34α The one mounted on heaven’s heaven to the easterings. The one who has gone up to heaven in easterings, that is, manifestly, with the Apostles looking on from below and the bodiless powers from above. For on descending from heaven to earth, he descended in westerings, which is, impercep- tibly, escaping the notice of all, with his divinity ineffably hidden. On ascending from earth to heaven, however, he went up in easterings, for this is what ‘to the easterings’ signifies. Some say that ‘to the easterings’ is said on account of the fact that the Lord was taken up from the easternmost part of Jerusalem, for that is where the Mount of Olives lies. ‘Heaven’s heaven’ is what he called the heaven above the firmament, the one brought into Gen 1.1, 6 being before everything, for that is the heaven of the firmament, while the firmament in turn is our heaven.

34β See, he will give to his voice a voice of power. The Apostles are the voice of Christ as speaking his words. To them, therefore, he gave the holy Spirit at the time of Pentecost, which David here called ‘a voice of power’. On the one hand it is a ‘voice’, because Luke says, And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind – and a sound is certainly a voice. And on the other hand it is ‘of power’, because the Lord called it ‘power’, saying, Until you are clothed with power from on high.

Or in a different sense, John the Forerunner is the voice of God, for it is written, See, I am sending my messenger before your face, and Christ is the ‘voice of power’, there being a divine power consequent on his words, for as soon as he would speak the miracles would occur.

35α Give glory to God. This is addressed to the Christians, urging them to glorify God, having been made worthy of such benevolence.

35β His magnificence is upon Israel. The splendours of God are made known to the man of highest contemplation, for Israel is translated as the ‘mind seeing God’. For the person who has been blinded by passions is unable to comprehend how many and what kind of things God has brought about for the sake of our salvation. ‘Upon Israel’ is therefore in the sense of, ‘for Israel’. Or else in another sense: upon the Church of the faithful, which sees Christ spiritually, God’s wonders take place; and she is made worthy of these continually.

35γ And his power is in the clouds. ‘Clouds’ here is what he calls the Apostles, as transcending earthly things and filled with spiritual water. Having drawn up this water from the ocean depth of the Spirit, they would irrigate with it the fields of the believers’ souls.

36α God is wonderful among his saints. The saints alone, he says, marvel God, as being able to comprehend his magnificent de- signs; he is therefore wonderful for them.

36β The God of Israel. Everywhere he calls Christ the ‘God of Israel’, showing that the one who is benefactor of the new people was also benefactor of the old people, and the one is not different from the other.

36γ He will give power and strengthening to his people. To the new people. ‘Power’ to be delivered from the error of the idols, and ‘strengthening’ to remain constant in the blameless faith.

36δ God is to be blessed.

Who by his design has thus brought these things about, who has created and recreated and deemed his people worthy of such great blessings. The present psalm therefore has thus been interpreted in an anagogical sense, and so adapted throughout to Christians. The Jews attempt to subject the psalm to their own affairs in a historical sense, but they are not able to succeed in everything. It is necessary, however, to learn how they draw it in a different direction. [2] They say, Let God arise to bring help to bodily Israel; then they call the Philistines ‘ene- [3] mies’ and ‘haters of God’ and furthermore describe them as ‘sinners’ as being lawless, while [4] the good people among the Jews are the ‘just’. [5] Make ready the way for the one mounted on westerings is, they say, spoken about the ark, as the holy Spirit gives command to prepare the way along which God would pass on the west- ern part of Jerusalem, for such was the position of the temple in which the ark later rested. 2Par 3.1, 5.7 [6] God in his holy place, in the sense of, ‘in the temple’, and he settles them also (being called ‘single-mannered’ as believing in one God) in his temple. [7] Then, they say, he catalogues the things that occurred during the exodus from Egypt. For in his own power he led them out, bound there in fetters in slavery; the same people he calls [8] ‘embitterers’ as said before; and they used to dwell in Egypt as if in graves, being unable to act on their own behalf. God went out before the people through the pillar of cloud and of fire, [9] and passed over in the desert with the people when also the earth quaked as a furious storm and whirlwind occurred at Sinai and the heavens dripped down the manna. [10] They interpret the ‘voluntary rain’ as the pleasing showers that bring about an abundance of fruits. The inheritance they enjoyed became weak, having been crushed in Egypt, but he [11] restored it, establishing them in a kingdom. Themselves they call God’s living beings as being dedicated to God. You have made preparation, they say, of the mentioned blessings for your poor people, wandering in the desert and having no land. [12] ‘Those proclaiming good tidings’ is what they call the prophets, proclaiming good tidings to the people to divide up spoils from their enemies and to dedicate them for the comeliness of the temple. This they tell falsely, for they dedicated no item of booty for the beauty of the temple, but this verse is to be taken in an anagogical sense as we said previously. [13] They give the name ‘beloved’ to David or Solomon. [14] About the verse, If you fall asleep among the lots, they say thus: If you establish yourselves between the places allotted to you in the promised land, you will increase in wealth so much so that the gypsum dove that the very rich were accustomed to place on the housetop as a symbol of extreme prosperity will have silver covered wings and its breast will be adorned with pale gold. Nowhere, however, do we learn about any such dove having stood on any Hebrew’s housetop. [15] And what follows: As he is expanding, namely, as the heavenly God is choosing kings over this very Jerusalem, they will shine in splendour in Jerusalem.

[16] The mountain of God is what they call Zion, and they call it a mountain rich in fat, as fat- tening the flocks grazing on it, and a mountain curdled as cheese, as producing milk from the abundance of the pasture. [17] About, And indeed the Lord will encamp to the end, we said that they have nothing con- vincing to say. [18] They call themselves God’s chariot, God resting in them alone. It is ten-thousand-fold in the sense of, very numerous, and they say there are thousands among them flourishing with wealth. The Lord is among them, as they believe, who was on Sinai in the past with their forebears. [19] And they say, addressing God, that you have been deemed exalted in the eyes of all. You have taken captivity captive through your people, having defeated their enemies. You have taken votive gifts consecrated to you and you have taken as slaves people who were formerly disobedient so as to encamp them along with your people, serving them. [20] The following words are clear. [21] The ways of death are from the Lord, who will shatter the heads of the alien tribes, and he [22] will also shatter the crown of flowing hair of men passing across in sins. [23] In ancient times the Lord declared that I shall bring back, namely, I shall deliver my people safe and sound from the land of Basan over which the giant Og ruled. I shall bring my people back from the depth of the sea of bloodshed; and torrents of blood overflowed then with those around Og having been slaughtered. [24] So that the foot of you the Hebrew may be dipped in the blood of those slaughtered, and the very tongue of your dogs [in blood] from the blood of the enemies (through him) of God. [25] They say the paths, that is, the tracks, of God were seen of old on mount Sinai. For it is written, And Moses and Aaron went up on the mountain, and so on, and then, And they saw the place where the God of Israel stood and that which was beneath his feet, like a work of sap- phire brick. They understand ‘the Holy’ as heaven. [26] Then prior to the people its rulers began to sing to and praise God with psaltery, standing in proximity to the choir singers; and ‘amid young girls playing timbrels’, they relate to the events after the Red Sea when Miriam, Aaron’s sister, led the young girls. The verse, In assemblies bless God, they are unable to deal with. [27] ‘Benjamin’ they call the tribe of Benjamin, being the youngest, for Benjamin was the [28] youngest son. ‘In ecstasy’ because when fighting the men of Benjamin used to be god-pos- sessed (this interpretation also is insipid). The rulers of the tribe of Judah were kings over the Hebrews, while the rulers of Zabulon and Nephthali [are mentioned] because these tribes were renowned on account of their acts of bravery in wars. Then, Command, O God, the things concerning your angels, for the angels are God’s pow- [29] er; and strengthen the kingdom you have brought into being among us. And if not on our ac- [30] count, then for the sake of your far-famed temple, for thus they understand From your temple. Kings will bring you gifts: Hiram brought cedar wood, and others other gifts under Solomon. [31] The savage nations that dwell in hidden and inaccessible places they call ‘wild beasts of the reed’. And the assembly of their own leaders will be among the subjected peoples, meeting

together and correcting and guarding them so that the people tried like silver for purity of faith be contained, or in other words, delivered. [32] They say ‘ambassadors will come from Egypt’ took place at the time of Solomon under whom Ethiopia also sent her own ruler the queen. They try to reconcile the rest, but are proven to be in error. It is a matter for wonder how the divine Spirit intertwined the anagogical aspect with the history, but at the most vital points set out the anagogical view stripped of history in refuta- tion of the gainsaying Jews.

68 Psalm 68

1 Towards fulfilment; for those who will be changed; a psalm belonging to David. ‘Towards fulfilment’ on account of the coming to pass of the predictions contained in it. ‘For those who will be changed’ because it speaks about changes in the states of things, for it is cast in the person of the captive people in Babylon who were changed, instead of slaves having become free again, and instead of in a foreign land having settled in their own. It is suited for every believer who is under attack, whether in body or in soul.

2 Save me, O God, for waters have invaded even as far as my soul. ‘Waters’ is what he here calls the influx of afflictions and temptations, brought upon by enemies either visible or invisible, the depths of which, like waters, drown the person caught in them. These waters, he says, having prevailed over the body, have touched even my very soul. Through this he indicates the acuteness of his suffering.

3α I have become stuck in the mire of the deep and there is nothing to stand on. A number of copies write ‘matter’ [ὕλη] for ‘mire’ [ἰλύς]; both, however, refer to the floor of sediment beneath the water of the deep. The verse is metaphorical, for those who are stuck in sediment of such a kind find nothing to stand on, namely, a stable foundation, since the sediment is always sinking on account of its swampy nature.

3β I have come into the depths of the sea and a tempest has drowned me. These three verses say the same thing, namely, that I have been drowned by misfortunes which he described in various ways: as ‘waters’ on account of their flooding and asphyxiating, as ‘mire of the deep’ on account of their boundlessness and ‘depths of the sea’, on account of their multitude and bitterness, and ‘tempest’ is what he calls their vehemence.

4α I have grown weary crying aloud. To you.

4β My throat has grown hoarse. From crying out constantly and intensely.

4γ My eyes have failed. They have grown tired; they have become utterly exhausted looking intently to you.

4δ From my hoping in my God. My eyes have suffered this on account of my hoping on you alone and expecting help from you alone and for this reason looking so intently.

5α Those who hate me without cause have multiplied more than the hairs of my head; my enemies have prevailed, those who banish me unjustly. They are both many and mighty; ‘those who banish’, in the sense of, ‘those who persecute’, namely, those who hate without cause.

5β What I would not seize hold of, I would then pay back. The verse is metaphorical, from those who pay back what they have not taken. It indicates that for matters in which I committed no injustice, I would then pay the penalties whenever they were demanded of me.

6 O God, you have known my folly, and my trespasses have not been hidden from you. You, he says, who know all things, know my folly, if in any thing I have acted foolishly towards them; and if I have trespassed in any way against them, it has not escaped you.

7α May those who are waiting patiently on you not be ashamed on my account, O Lord, O Lord of powers. The preposition ἐπί, used indifferently with accusative rather dative, is in the sense of ‘on account of ’, namely, my failing to receive the expected help from you. ‘Those who are waiting patiently’ are those who are waiting for you as their helper. He called him ‘Lord of powers’ as having the power to save those who call upon him.

7β May those who are seeking you not feel shame on my account, O God of Israel.

This is similar to the verse before; ‘those who are seeking’ are those who while suffering are calling upon you.

8 Because for your sake I have endured reproach; humiliation has covered my face. ‘Reproach’ is also spoken about in the forty-first psalm, namely, My enemies would re- proach me, saying to me every day, ‘Where is your God’. Humiliation follows on reproach.

9 I have become alienated from my brothers and a stranger to the sons of my mother. The words from here onwards adapt very clearly to Christ. Some also make a strained at- tempt to attribute the previous words to him also, speaking with great passion in accordance with the custom of human nature. ‘Brothers’ is what he calls the Jews because both he and they had Abraham as father, and he similarly calls them ‘sons of his mother’, on account of their common mother Sarah. They alienated and estranged him, saying, As for this man, we do not know where he comes from, and, Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? And the Evangelist says, He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.

10α Because zeal for your house has consumed me. This was fulfilled when freely and boldly he drove out the sellers and buyers from the tem- ple. For, he says, His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house has consumed me’. ‘Zeal’ is what he calls just indignation and anger on behalf of the temple.

10β The reproaches of those who are reproaching you have fallen on me. The great Paul took the present verse also in relation to Christ when writing to the Ro- mans. He is saying therefore to the Father that, being one with you, I have reckoned the re- proaches against you as my own, namely, those the idolaters used to cast reproaching you with weakness, as being honoured by only one race, that of the Jews, and hence I spread knowledge of God to all nations.

11α And I have covered my soul with fasting. I reduced and consumed myself with a forty day fast and on many other occasions.

11β And it has become a cause of reproaches for me.

And this fasting became a reproach for me; because from this the devil, presuming him to be weak, reproached him as a simple man, and hence tempted him in various ways.

12α And I have made sackcloth my clothing. ‘Sackcloth’ is what he calls the flesh, on account of its hard and resistant nature. 12β- And I have become a watchword for them; those sitting by the gates would idly chatter

13 against me and those drinking wine would toast me with songs. For it is likely that Christ, after having been executed, would have become a watchword for the Jews, namely, ‘May our enemy suffer as did the crucified one’, and indeed for those sitting together to babble against him and have him on their tongue – for in the past they used to gather around the gates of the temple – and for those frequenting drinking parties to address songs to him with mockery.

14α But I with my prayer to you. Having completed this narrative, he turns back again to what went before, saying that I before my passion, knowing these things, with my prayer to you – ‘I would pray’ is under- stood. Then he sets out in what follows the words of the prayer.

14β O Lord, it is the time of good pleasure. This is similar to the Gospel words, O Father, the hour has come. ‘Good pleasure’ is what he calls the death by the Cross, for ‘good pleasure’ is good will, and the will was good through such a death to give life to us, who had been made dead by sin.

14γ Hear me, O God, in the abundance of your mercy. We have said before that he used to pray in accordance with the custom of human nature and would ask for deliverance from temptations, as the Gospel story also tells. The present verse is like, Save me for the sake of your mercy. 14δ- In the truth of your salvation, save me from the mud so that I do not become embogged. Salvation that comes from you is the only true salvation, for it is not possible for a man to be of benefit to a man. Accordingly, ‘in the truth of your salvation’ is in the sense of, in your true salvation, for this also is an idiom of the Hebrew tongue. What he called ‘mire’ earlier he now called ‘mud’, and indeed he now employed those same figures of speech.

15β May I be delivered from those who hate me and from the depths of the waters. His enemies, both the intelligible and the sensible, are ‘those who hate him’, and the ‘depths of the waters’ are what he calls the hidden intrigues against him, for the depth is hidden.

16α Let not a squall of water drown me, nor the deep swallow me. It was said above about these expressions that they are all figurative and metaphorical.

16β Let not a well close its mouth over me. May I not be abandoned in the pit of temptations; for when someone has fallen into a well, when the mouth is open, he has some small consolation, but when it has been closed over he despairs completely of deliverance.

17α Hear me, O Lord, for your mercy is needful. For I have need of your mercy.

17β According to the abundance of your compassion look upon me. ‘According to the abundance of your compassion’ was expounded in the fiftieth psalm and the rest of the verse in the twenty-fourth psalm.

18 Avert not your face from your child, for I am afflicted; hear me swiftly. ‘Avert not your face’ was discussed in the twenty-sixth psalm; ‘from your child’, that is from your only-begotten.

19α Turn to my soul and redeem it. Turn to it in affliction.

19β For the sake of my enemies deliver me. That they may not rejoice in my death.

20α For you know my reproach and my shame and my humiliation. You know how they are reproaching me, calling me a glutton and drunkard, and a friend

of tax-collectors and sinners, and saying I have a demon and am opposed to God and shaming and humiliating me as they imagine.

20β All those who are afflicting me are before you. They are afflicting me before you who see all things, or else they are before you, unable to escape you. If anyone is puzzled how, having made such entreaty, he did not, however, escape such trials, then let them hear that he was praying as a man not to enter into temptation – and indeed he taught us also to pray in this way – because the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And since it was expedient for him to suffer for our salvation, he accepted the sufferings, preferring the divine will to the human will. And indeed having prayed, My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me, he went on later to add, My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, let your will be done.

21α My soul has expected reproach and suffering. I knew these things in advance, he says, and indeed he said to his disciples, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and so on.

21β And I waited for someone to share my sorrow and there was none, and for some to strength- en me and found none. ‘I waited’, in the sense of ‘I expected, I sought’, and ‘some to strengthen’, in the sense of, ‘some to comfort’. And this took place when, Having taken Peter and the sons of Zebedee, he began to be sor- rowful and troubled. Then Jesus says to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain Ps 41.6,12 here, and watch with me. Then having gone a little farther off and having prayed, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping; and spoke to Peter thus, ‘Were you not able to watch with me for one hour?’

22 And for my food they gave me gall, and for my thirst they poured me vinegar. John the Evangelist says, After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfil the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ Now a vessel stood there full of vinegar; and having soaked a sponge in the vinegar and placed it on hyssop, they brought it to his mouth, naming the present verse ‘Scripture’. And Matthew says, They gave him vinegar mixed with gall to drink. And Mark in turn says, Then someone ran and filled a sponge with vinegar, and having placed it on a reed, gave him to drink.

‘For my food’ and ‘for my thirst’, in the sense of, ‘for me to eat and drink’. But the Jews gave him to drink both gall and vinegar together, for it is written vinegar mixed with gall. The present prophecy divided the one for food, and the other for drink. It can therefore be said that, because he said, ‘I thirst’, in mockery they offered him, some only the vinegar to drink and some only the gall to eat, while some mixed the gall with the vinegar, to embitter the acerbity even further. It is likely that the gall was given to him first, for greater derision, so that he would not purportedly be disgusted by having the drink offered without having eaten.

23 Let their table become a snare before them and a retribution and a scandal. Some have said that by the ‘table’, cheerfulness is denoted and by the ‘snare’, ‘retribu- tion’ and ‘scandal’, sorrow is indicated, namely, let the joy of these people turn to affliction. For those at table are cheerful while those in a snare and repaying a penalty and at a stum- bling-block are distressed. In a more anagogical sense, it is possible to interpret the ‘table’ as the divinely inspired Scriptures that were set before the Jews every day and the knowledge of which used to nour- ish the souls of those who understood them. For while believing themselves to have been brought up in these and presuming on the basis of the Scriptures to entrap the Christians, they themselves rather are ensnared by them, as they clearly speak about Christ. This is as regards the ‘trap’; as regards ‘retribution’, because on account of the Scriptures they pay penal- ties in not understanding them, and as regards ‘scandal’, because in reading the writings about Christ literally they are scandalized, for example, about his earthly visitation that, The wolf will graze with the lamb and the leopard will rest with the kid and lion and ox will eat hay, and all such things. For these things, understood in an anagogical sense, have happened, while they, looking for them in a sensible manner, stumble over them, as not having happened up to the present day. The verbs ‘let them become’ and ‘let them be darkened’ and the ensuing imperatives have a future meaning, in the sense of, ‘they will become’, for he is foretelling the grievous events that will overtake them; and it is appropriate for him as God to command future events.

24α Let their eyes be darkened so as not to see. The eyes of the soul; since they have not wished to see the light that illumines every man Jn 1.9 Mal nor desired to behold the Sun of Justice, for having eyes they did not see, and having ears they 3.2 did not hear, just as Isaiah reproached them and as Christ did later.

24β And bend their back for ever. By the consequent he signified the antecedent. The verse alludes to slavery, for a conse- quence for those in slavery is that they walk stooped over, on the one hand carrying burdens and on the other hand bowed down by afflictions.

Observe the precision: he said ‘for ever’, because not as often before having been enslaved will they then be liberated, but up to the very consummation of the world they will work as slaves among all the nations.

25 Pour out your anger upon them and may the rage of your anger seize them. Both these phrases signify the same, except that the second is more vehement than the first.

26 Let their encampment become desolate and in their tents let there be none who dwells. ‘Encampment’ is what he calls the city of Jerusalem in general, in which all the Saviour’s murderers used to live; and ‘their tents’ what he calls their homes in particular. And indeed these things happened: none of them dwelt in them after the Roman destruction of Jerusa- lem. Peter the Apostle took these words in relation to Judas the betrayer, as being also of the party of the slayers of God.

27α Because the one you have struck, they have pursued down. ‘You have struck’, in the sense of, ‘you have handed over to be struck’. For this is how Zach- ariah spoke, I shall strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered, and Isaiah, The Lord has handed him over for our sins. It is indeed an idiom of the Hebrew tongue to call the granting of permission the act itself - the one granting permission being able to prevent it and not having prevented it. ‘They have pursued down’, in the sense of, ‘they have severely punished’, for the adverb [preposition] ‘down’ is indicative of intensity, or else they ran him down until they would kill him.

27β And they have added to the pain of my wounds. They have increased for me the pain of wounds by the addition of reproach or of slander, namely, that having been buried, he has been stolen and has not risen.

28α Add lawlessness to their lawlessness. The interpreters have understood ‘lawlessness’ here as misfortune, as in the fifty-sixth psalm, Until lawlessness will pass away. He is predicting therefore that you will increase mis- fortunes for them since they also will increase afflictions for me.

28β And let them not enter in in your justice.

And they will not come in to be justified by you and obtain mercy as will those who will hear, Come, you blessed of my Father. Some understand the Gospel as ‘justice’, for it is justice to call all people to salvation and to receive all those who come forward.

29α Let them be blotted out from the book of the living. When Moses spoke to God on behalf of the people who had made the calf, saying, If you will forgive them the sin, forgive, but if not, blot me out from the book that you have written, God replied, If anyone has sinned before me, I shall blot him out from my book. Ex 32.32,33 This book, therefore, in which those made worthy of life are written and which the psalm now called the ‘book of the living’, foretelling that they will die through slaughter, is one book. The book in which the just are inscribed is another book, which the psalm also indi- cated saying:

29β And let them not be inscribed along with the just. Christ also spoke about this book to the Apostles, saying, Rejoice rather because your names have been written in heaven. He is saying accordingly that they will die and will be classed together with the sinners. For there is also a third book in which the sinners are written, for it is said, A court sat in judgement and books were opened. ‘Books’ are what in a figurative way the Scriptures call God’s multifarious knowing.

30α I am poor and in pain. Christ’s poverty was spoken of in the twenty-first psalm and now it will be said that the king of all and wholly perfect one was born from an indigent mother and not in a house, but in a cave; he was placed, moreover, not on a bed, but in a manger for irrational beasts. He was clothed frugally and contemptibly and went about without a servant; he possessed not even a hut and was fed by others. And so let those who boast in their wealth be shamed. He was in pain through the sufferings of his all-holy body on our behalf. Up to here the words were those of the Only-begotten; the words that follow are com- posed in the person of the Church.

30β Your salvation, O God, has come to my aid. The salvation that is from you has freed me from error. 31-32 I shall praise the name of God with song; I shall magnify him with praising, and it will please God more that a young ox displaying horns and hooves.

Observe the Gospel sacrifice being preferred over the sacrifice of the law, the rational sacrifice over the irrational. The healthy growth of the horns and nails is a symbol of strength and vigour. These hint also at the death of the worship of the law, for the horns and hooves are dead.

33α Let paupers see and be glad. The paupers and the poor is what he called the faithful as we said previously in the ninth psalm. Let them see, he says, all that God suffered on their behalf and all that he has achieved.

33β Seek out God and your soul will live. It will live the blessed life.

34 For the Lord has heard the poor, and his fettered ones he has not despised. In the sixty-seventh psalm we said who those are who are bound in fetters.

35 Let the heavens and the earth praise him, the sea and all that crawl in it. Angels and men not sufficing for the fitting thanksgiving of God, he summons to praise even the elements that Moses mentioned at the beginning of Genesis. He added ‘all that crawl’ indifferently, or else on account of the multitude of the fish.

36α For God will save Zion. ‘Zion’ here is what calls the new Zion, namely, the Church of the faithful. Or else he will preserve Jerusalem itself for himself, and indeed it is dedicated to Christ and not to any other God, even though the impious are ruling over that land.

36β And the cities of Judea will be built up. They will be built up into temples by the Christians.

36γ And they will dwell there and will inherit it. The Christians.

37α And the seed of your servants will possess it firmly.

The Apostles are the servants of Christ, as is written, Paul, servant of Jesus Christ. And the seed of the Apostles are the Christians who are their disciples as having been reborn through the rebirth of baptism. The adverb/preposition ‘firmly’ indicates intensity and permanence, for only the Chris- tians live in it with certainty, the Hebrews having been completely driven out.

37β And those who love your name will encamp in it. The Christians who are called by your name. Just as some believers make a forced attempt to adapt the introduction of the psalm up to, I have become alienated from my brothers, to Christ, so also the Jews attribute the words from there to the end to the people captive in Babylon. It is necessary to say briefly how they take these things. [9] I have been alienated from my brothers, not being permitted to live together with them, as being enslaved to various masters and because the law does not recognize the kinship of slaves. [10] The following verse tells the same: reflecting on the desolation of the temple, I am con- sumed with sorrow, and I reckon as my own your reproaches with which you are reproached by the Babylonians as being unable to help me. [11] Hence, not accepting food, I wasted away, and they reproached me even more as fasting in vain, and I clothed myself in sackcloth, the symbol of affliction. The rest is clear. [14] Then I prayed, saying that it is the time of good will, namely, of mercy. [18] The words from here are as we interpreted them, except they say that ‘child’ is not the natural child, but the adopted one, for it is written, Israel is my firstborn son, or else in the different sense of, ‘a servant’. [21] Then I expected reproach on your account and the other sufferings as having been taken captive; hence I sought for a comforter and did not find one as not being allowed to converse opportunely with my fellow kinsmen. [22] At the verse, And for my food they gave me gall, and for my thirst they poured me vinegar, they are defeated, saying that my captors would throw me bitter food as a slave and when I was thirsty they would give me sour wine to drink; or else they made my food seem bitter and my drink seem acrid on account of my afflictions. [23] The verse, Let their table become a snare, is according to the first explanation, but what follows is, they say, imprecated against the Babylonians; and their city is their ‘encampment’. [27] Then, they say, the people that you handed over to be chastised they have punished most vehemently and again they added to the previous pains, and so on. [32] At the verse, And it will please God above a young ox, they are similarly defeated. They take the words from there on as favourable to themselves, agreeing with the story of the return of the captives. We, however, having followed the most exact of the Fathers, have provided a very sure interpretation.

69 Psalm 69

1 Towards fulfilment; belonging to David; in remembrance. David had the present psalm, which is composed of things said in the thirty-ninth psalm, ever ready to hand. And when he would remember his sin against Uriah, then he would sing this psalm as a kind of charm against the demons who had unsaddled him into that trespass, praying never again to come under their power. Others say that when he would remember simply all the things he had suffered at the hands of his enemies then he would use this psalm. It is ‘towards fulfilment’ because the prayer in this psalm found fulfilment.

2α Turn, O God, to my aid. In the thirty-ninth psalm he says, Turn, O Lord, to help me.

2β Hasten, O Lord, to help me. This has the same meaning as, Hasten to deliver me, in the thirtieth psalm.

3α Let those seeking my soul be shamed and disgraced. This also is contained in the thirty-ninth psalm.

3β Let those purposing evils against me be turned back in retreat and be utterly shamed. This also is found there, except that ‘let them be turned back and let them be utterly shamed’ is written as ‘may they be turned back and may they be utterly shamed’ in that psalm. From this it is clear that even though such things have an imperative form, yet they have an optative force.

4 Let those who are saying to me, ‘Good indeed, good indeed!’, be straightway turned back disgraced. This is like the verse in that psalm, Let those who are saying to me, ‘Good indeed, good in- deed!’ forthwith receive back for themselves their shame.

5α Let those who seek you, O God, rejoice and be glad. In that psalm, instead of ‘O God’, ‘O Lord’ is said.

5β And let those who love your salvation ever be saying, ‘Let God be magnified’. Again in that psalm ‘let them say continually’ is found instead of ‘let them ever be saying’ and instead of ‘God’, ‘the Lord’ is said.

6α But I am poor and needy; help me, O God. In that psalm, instead of, ‘help me, O God’, ‘the Lord will care for me’, is found.

6β You, O Lord, are my helper and deliverer, do not delay. In that psalm, instead of, ‘deliverer’, ‘defender, is found, and instead of ‘O Lord’, ‘O my God’.

70 Psalm 70

1α Belonging to David; a psalm; of the sons of Jonadab and those first taken captive; without superscription among the Hebrews. It is composed by David in the person, it says, of the sons of Jonadab and of the others first taken captive by the Babylonians. Jer 42 The Seventy, finding the psalm without superscription, gave it this superscription. The offspring of Jonadab were renowned at that time among the captives. The psalm asks for salvation and liberation from enemies, and hence it is also suitable for us against intelligible and sensible enemies. 1β-2 In you, O Lord, I have hoped, may I not be put to shame to the age; in your justice deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me. All these words are found in the thirtieth psalm, but instead of ‘save me’, he says there ‘make haste to rescue me’.

3α Become for me as a God who defends and as a fortified place to save me. In that psalm instead of ‘as a fortified place’, ‘as a house of refuge’ is said. Ps 30.3δ

3β For you are my firmament and my refuge. In that psalm he says, ‘for you are my stronghold’.

4 Deliver me, O my God, from the hand of a sinner, from the hand of a transgressor and a wrongdoer. Such were those mastering him.

5α For you, O Lord, are my patient endurance. In the thirty-eighth psalm it is said, And now, who is my patient endurance? Is it not the Lord? and in the twenty-fourth psalm, And on you I have waited patiently all day long.

5β My hope, O Lord, from my youth. This is clear.

6α On you I have been made to lean from the womb. And not only from my youth have I hoped in you, but from the very maternal womb, namely, from the very time of my birth I have been rested on you as on a firm stanchion by my parents. From this he indicates that he had pious parents. And moreover when circumcising the infants on the eighth day they would entrust them to God. It is necessary to know that the ancient dialect was accustomed to take phrases such as ‘from the womb’ and ‘from my mother’s belly’ according to the figure of hyperbole, signifying from the time someone began to have understanding. Job says indeed, And if I have eaten my bread alone and have not given to orphans… if I would not guide them from my mother’s belly, and so on. It is indeed impossible to do such things from the very time of birth. It is clear therefore that this figure signifies from the time I began to have understanding.

6β From my mother’s belly you are my protector. For if a divine power would not guard the embryo and keep watch over the new-born babe and shelter the infant it would be destroyed, falling into many dangers. David also placed these three verses with slight variation in the twenty-first psalm, except that these were understood in an anagogical sense in relation to Christ.

6γ With you is my hymning continually. ‘With you’, in the sense of, ‘to you’; you alone, he says, I would hymn for ever.

7 To the many I have become like a monster, and you are my mighty helper. Wasted away by fasting and dressed in sackcloth and appearing hateful from sorrow, I became like a monster to the many. He said, ‘like a monster’ by reason of not truly being a monster, but as appearing such, and not to those with understanding, but to the more vulgar, for ‘the many’ is what Scripture calls the meaner. And Paul says, We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise.

8 Let my mouth be filled with praise that I may hymn your glory, your magnificence all day long. ‘Let it be filled’, in the sense of, ‘may it be filled’. And it will be filled if I am released from slavery, for then with my mouth all filled with your praise I shall hymn your power to do great things and all things, and all that the pious suppose, that is, understand about you. Or else ‘glory’ is simply what he calls his greatness. And I shall hymn your magnificence not once, but continually; this indeed is how Sym- machus translated ‘all day long’. 9α Cast me not away in time of old age. You who help me since my youth, do not thrust me away in time of old age, for I have already grown old during the long time of slavery in Babylon; it is likely that the older among the people said such things. The old age of the body is well-known, but that of the soul is sin, being a kind of check on the activity of virtue. 9β When my strength fails, do not abandon me. This is a clarification of the previous verse, understood both of strength of body and of soul. 10α For my enemies have spoken on me. ‘On me’ in the sense of, ‘in reference to me’, that is, ‘on my account’; they have spoken to one another. 10β And those keeping watch on my soul have taken counsel together. This is a repetition of the verse before, and ‘they have taken counsel’ is a clarification of ‘they have spoken’. ‘Those who are keeping watch’ is what he now calls those plotting against him; ‘together’ in the sense of, ‘having come together’; these may be interpreted not only as the sensible ene- mies, but also as the intelligible ones. 11 Saying, ‘God has abandoned him; pursue him and seize him because there is no deliverer.’ These are the words of the enemies. ‘Pursue’, because even if this people will take to flight, then pursue and seize them, for with the God whom this people worships having abandoned them, there is no deliverer.

12α O my God, do not distance yourself from me. Even though the stench of my sins drives you away. This is something that another proph- et said to the Jews: Your sins make separation between you and God. God distances himself, not in essence, for he is indeterminate, but by providence.

12β Turn, O my God, to my aid. This phrase is found at the beginning of the psalm before this.

13α Let those who are falsely accusing my soul be shamed and be no more. For ‘let them be no more’ Symmachus said ‘let them be consumed’; ‘my soul’, in the sense of, ‘me’. Every enemy, whether sensible or intelligible, engages in slander.

13β Let those seeking evils for me be cloaked in shame and disgrace. Shame and disgrace were spoken about in the psalm before this. ‘Those seeking evils for me’ was interpreted in the thirty-seventh psalm. And in the one hundred and eighth psalm you will find, Let those who accuse me falsely be clothed in disgrace, and let them be wrapped in their shame as in a double-folded mantle.

14 But I forever shall hope in you, and will add to all your praise. When, that is, my prayer has found fulfilment. He said ‘all’ because praise is not only through words, but also through works. The Saviour indeed says, That they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

15α My mouth will proclaim your justice, your salvation all day long. It will proclaim both how you condemned our adversaries and how you saved us. 15β- For I have not learned scribal arts, in the Lord’s mighty power I shall enter in. Having promised to proclaim God’s justice and the salvation that comes from him, then having realized that he is not able, he says with modesty, I have not learned sophistic arts so as to be able to proclaim worthily, but I shall enter into my promise by the power of God, and trusting in this I shall put my hand to work. The ‘for’ is placed redundantly or else by way of confirmation, in the sense of, ‘truly’.

Some, understanding the ‘for’ causally, in the sense of, ‘because’, punctuate after ‘scribal arts’ and join on the rest. Others call ‘scribal arts’ the instructions of the Scribes, who instructed the people to enter Jerusalem and the temple three times a year; he says therefore that now I shall enter, not from their orders, but from divine power.

16β O Lord, I shall remember the justice of you alone. I shall never forget your so great justice, but I shall have it in my memory always. He said ‘alone’ indicating that you alone will judge between us and our enemies and no one else, and hence I shall remember not human justice, but the justice of you alone.

17 O my God, the things that you have taught me from my youth and till now, I shall relate, your marvellous works. The following words are understood as spoken by David. The syntax is according to the figure of hyperbaton. O my God, I shall relate your marvel- lous works that you have taught me from my youth and till now. ‘Marvellous works’ is what he calls those recorded in the books, namely, those that God worked marvellously for the salvation of the people of the Jews, or else those that happened in his days.

18α And until old age and elder years, O my God, do not abandon me. ‘Elder years’ are the extreme-most years of old age, from which comes the phrase ‘elders of the people’. The person who has been sheltered till then will not be abandoned for the rest. Or else in another sense, the word ‘until’ is indeterminate in accordance with the idiom of Scripture, where what follows is implied also. Ps 109.1δ

18β Until I shall tell of your strong arm to every coming generation. God’s strong arm was discussed in the forty-third psalm and the coming generation in the twenty-first psalm. Some of the copies write ‘until I shall tell’ and others ‘Until I may tell’. 18γ- Your mighty power and your justice, O God, to the highest. ‘Until I I tell of ’ is understood here also. ‘Mighty power’ is now a clarification of the ‘strong arm’. Your justice which is to the high- est, with the ‘which is’ omitted, or else according to the figure of hyperbaton, ‘your to-the- highest justice’.

The ‘highest’ are the the heavens, for it rises even to the heavens, with the heavenly powers learning about it and rejoicing together. The words that follow now are spoken again in the person of the people.

19β What magnificent things you have done for me. The ‘what’ is in the sense of ‘how many’; for this is to be read expressively from the heart. Some, placing a full stop after ‘and your justice’, join ‘to the highest’ to ‘what magnificent you have done for me’, following Aquila. For the magnificent works and benefactions that you have done have risen up to the heavenly powers in their wondrousness: you honoured me with your image, you established me as king over the things on earth, you feed, shelter, guard and rescue from dangers and all such things.

19γ O God, who is like you? No one.

20α How great afflictions you have shown me, many and pernicious. ‘How great afflictions you have shown me’ is also to be read expressively, in the sense of, ‘how many’, then the rest is to be added, that they are truly many and grievous. For I have been subject not only to benefactions but also to severe afflictions. The one by reason of your goodness, the other by reason of my wickedness.

20β And having turned back you have endowed me with life. Having turned back to me from whom you had previously turned away. Or else, having turned me back to you, you have endowed me with life, having rescued me from very immi- nent death. It is customary to call severe afflictions ‘death’, and deliverance from them ‘life’.

20γ And from the depths of the earth you have brought me up. Scripture often calls the abyss of temptations the ‘depths of the earth’, ‘Hades’, ‘the grave’, ‘the pit’ and suchlike. This is how God spoke to the Hebrews through Ezekiel, I shall open your graves and I shall bring you up from Babylon.

21α You have made your magnificence overabundant on me. You have lavished it upon me.

21β And having turned back, you have encouraged me and have brought me up again from the depths of the earth.

These things are fitting only for the people of the Christians, whom Christ, having turned back when straying in ignorance and idolatry, encouraged to salvation. Furthermore, he com- forted them, saying, Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I shall give you rest. And when having died according to the nature of the flesh, he brought them up again from the graves, for having revived his own deceased body, and having raised it up and made it im- mortal, he has already bestowed this great resurrection on all those worthy of him. And this is evident from the seeming repetition, not found superfluously, but for this reason. Moreover, the adverb ‘again’ which is added here made manifest the variation in the meaning.

22α And I indeed shall confess you, O Lord, among the peoples. The conjunction/adverb ‘indeed’ is redundant as we have remarked elsewhere. David is saying accordingly that henceforth I shall give thanks to you among the peoples, and not among one people alone, not, that is, among the Jews alone, but among all the nations. He said this even more clearly towards the end of the seventeenth psalm.

22β Your truth, O God, with implements of psalm. ‘Implements of psalm’ are the various kinds of musical instruments. And in an anagogical sense, the faithful, whose souls David has tuned and joined together, sing to God continually. ‘I shall confess’ is understood here, too, and it would be consistent for the syntax to follow here also in the dative case, but he used the accusative case indifferently. I shall give thanks, he says, to your truth, because you are true God, not only in regard to your essence but also in regard to your promises.

22γ I shall sing to you with the lyre, O holy one of Israel. This is a clarification of ‘I shall confess you with implements of psalm’, for the lyre is an implement, that is, an instrument of psalm. By this instrument he indicated also the other types of instrument. ‘Lyre’ is what he now calls the royal instrument, namely, the psaltery, as we explained in the preamble to the book of psalms. On this account he placed this instru- § 68 ment alone as specially privileged. So that it might adapt to ourselves, we shall understand the mouth, the lips, the tongue and all the organs of speech as the ‘implements of psalm’, and the soul as the ‘lyre’. “The holy one of Israel’ is the one who sanctifies Israel. Both God and man are called ‘holy’, the one as sanctifying, the other as sanctified, and the one by nature and the other by adoption, or by participation. And that this is true, the Apostle Paul says about Christ, Who Heb 3.1,14 from God became for us wisdom and justice and sanctification and redemption. He became indeed wisdom for those being made wise, justice for those being justified, and sanctification and redemption for those being sanctified and redeemed.

23α My lips will rejoice when I sing to you. The faithful may be interpreted as his lips, using whom he sings to God through them.

23β And my soul, which you have redeemed. Which you have redeemed from both visible and invisible enemies.

24α And yet more my tongue will rehearse your justice all day long. We have said many times that ‘all day long’ means for ever, and this is to be noted hence- forth. ‘I shall rehearse’, in the sense of, ‘I shall utter’, ‘I shall commemorate’.

24β When those seeking evils for me will be shamed and disgraced. And these things that I have promised I shall do when I am completely delivered from my enemies. Both divine ‘justice’ and ‘those seeking evils’ have been discussed above. Ps 70.13β, 15

71 Psalm 71

1α A psalm relating to Solomon. It was shown in the preamble to the book of psalms that the psalm is not by Solomon. It § 48 § 53 will now also be said that it is not spoken about Solomon. For he did not endure as long as the sun, but died, nor did he exist before the moon, nor did he rule over the ends of the earth, nor is his name before the sun. But since the name Solomon means ‘peaceful’, it is very clear that the psalm was spoken in relation to Christ who is peace as Paul says, For he is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of separation. The individual verses will show this.

1β Give, O God, your judgement to the king and your justice to the son of the king. David, foreseeing the things relating to Christ, asks for them to be hastened and for him to be given as man what he possessed as God. Christ indeed also spoke thus about the Father, namely, All judgment he has given to the Son, and again, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. David called him the ‘king’ and the ‘son of the king’ as God and the Son of God. ‘Judgement’ is what he calls the power of passing judgement, of which ‘justice’ is explana- tory. For on the one hand Christ was a just judge as God, and on the other hand he received this from the Father as a man, for he said, But I have been established as king by him.

It may also be said according to his humanity: one the one hand he is a ‘king’ as descended from a royal tribe and as ‘anointed’, and on the other hand he is the ‘son of the king’ as the son of David, for it is written, The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David. 2 To judge your people in justice and your poor in judgement. This is the reason for the prayer: so that you may make judgement, he says. ‘Your people’ is what he calls the Christians, for the people of the Son is also that of the Father. He also calls them God’s poor, as having become poor on account of God. By ‘justice’ you will understand the Last Judgement at which he will reward each accord- ing to his deserts, which he then proceeded to clarify by adding ‘in judgement’. To judge them along with both the devil and the Jews and the other enemies of the faith. Others say that ‘people’ is the Jewish people, once being the people of God, and ‘poor’ are the new people from among the nations. About the poverty of the new people from among the nations we spoke in the ninth and in the eleventh psalm. To judge them, and to justly condemn the ones and to justify the others. 3 Let the mountains take in hand peace for the people and the hills justice. By the figure of personification he commands the mountains to take in hand peace for the people of Christ and the hills to take in hand justice, the ones by affording them a peaceful abode, having expelled the seditious demons, and the others, by serving them justly as serv- ants of their Maker. By the mountains and the hills, as the higher parts, he included the whole earth in which anchorites and ascetics and soldiers of Christ would later dwell. Or else you will understand ‘mountains’ as the archangels, as being higher than the angels, and ‘hills’ as the angels, as being subordinate to them. Both the former and the latter are raised above earthly things as mountains and hills are raised above the earth. He urges them to bring peace henceforth to the people of Christ and to behave justly towards them as the Master’s inheritance. For formerly they were at bitter feud with this people on account of their impiety. Or ‘mountains’ are the kings and princes, and ‘hills’ are the subordinate rulers, for many such came to the faith, bringing peace and dealing justly with the people of Christ. 4α He will judge the poor among the people and will save the sons of the needy. They say that the ‘poor among the people’ are the more thick-witted among the Jews, being poor in understanding, as remaining with the bare letter of the law and being unable to see into the hidden wealth of the Spirit. The ‘sons of the needy’ are, they say, those who have believed in Christ, the fathers of whom were wanting in piety, not possessing the wealth of true knowledge of God, or else the ‘sons of the needy’ are to be regarded as the disciples of the

Apostles, for the Apostles were mean in outward appearance. He will therefore condemn the former as having failed to believe, while he will save the latter as having believed.

4β And he will humble the false accuser. The devil, who first falsely accused God himself, saying that on account of jealousy he had forbidden the tasting of the tree, and indeed he falsely accuses all people and ‘sets at variance’ [διαβάλλει], and hence he bears the name of ‘devil’ [διάβολος].

5 And he will endure as long as the sun and before the moon generations of generations. Wishing to indicate both the beginninglessness and endlessness of Christ in his divinity he compared these with the great luminaries, not finding any other more notable and more long-enduring images in the visible creation. For he will endure as long as the sun, he says, that is, he will be as long as the sun exists. It is an idiom of Scripture to define up to a certain point, but not to deny what follows, as we shall say elsewhere more fully. Such then is the endlessness. Ps 109.1δ Then he speaks about the beginninglessness, namely, that he was before the moon; the ‘generations of generations’, is in the sense of, intervals of intervals, namely, an infinite num- ber of intervals, calling a ‘generation’ the interval of time a single generation, that is, a man, may live. The sun can be interpreted in a different way as the divinity, for what the sun is for sensi- ble reality God is for intelligible reality, as Gregory the Theologian says. The humanity will PG36.364B remain as long as this divinity, once having been united to it, and will never be separated from it. Then you will understand the moon as the Church of the faithful, before whose face will stand Christ facing her; ‘generations of generations’, that is, for ever. For just as the moon receives light from the sun, so the Church receives the intelligible light from Christ the Son of Justice and shines on those in the night of error and shows them the straight way.

6 He will descend like rain upon a fleece and like a drop dropping on the earth. Here is disclosed the imperceptibility of the incarnation of the Word, having descended unperceived on the Virgin’s womb. For the rain descends soundlessly on the fleece as does the drop on the earth. The drop is that which comes down here and there and at intervals before it starts to snow.

7 Justice and abundance of peace will dawn in his days until the moon will be done away with in return. For at the birth of Christ the various local rulers of the nations came under the monarchy of the Romans. For it is written, A decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world

should be registered. Then the formerly warring cities enjoyed peace and justice towards one another, being guided under one kingship. The doing away with the moon in return, namely, the doing away of the moon, is what he calls its cessation at the consummation of the world, for it is written, The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the words ‘in return’ being redundant, as we noted in the seventh psalm. Even though justice and peace will not remain in all cities until the consum- mation, but in many cities for a time it will be preserved, for he did not speak of universal justice and peace. And moreover you may speak of justice and peace towards God, for in the days of Christ the blessed Trinity of the one Divinity was worshipped justly, that is, worthily, and peace prevailed between the things of heaven and the things of earth, which justice and peace will be preserved until the consummation.

8α And he will have dominion from sea to sea. He says sea and sea on account of the multitude of waters, both the Eastern Ocean and the Western Ocean, which are the ends of the inhabited world in length and again in breadth the [Hom Il. Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean, for they say the Ocean flows around the earth in a circle. Σ 399]

8β And from rivers to the ends of the inhabited world. This verse signifies the same, for what in the previous verse he called ‘seas’, the same things in this one he called ‘rivers’, as parts of the Oceanic river; the end of the inhabited world, from the Eastern Ocean is the Western Ocean, and from the Arctic Ocean it is the Southern Ocean, and vice versa, so that you might say from rivers to rivers. In a different sense, you will now understand ‘rivers’ as the Jordan, the plural for the sin- gular in accord with the Hebrew dialect, for from this river Christ began to have dominion over the faithful when with the all-holy Spirit descending in the form of a dove the Father also bore witness to the Son from above.

9α Before him Ethiopians will fall down prostrate. The race of Ethiopians is twofold as was said previously in the sixty-seventh psalm; the ones dwell in the extremity of the east and the others in the extremity of the west, and if the extreme-most nations will worship Christ, then most certainly will the ones in the middle. Or else you may interpret the Ethiopians as the demons, for suchlike they appear for the most part on account of their murky and dark character. But in relation to the sensible Ethiopians we take ‘they will fall down prostrate’ in the sense of, ‘they will worship’, with the ‘prostrate’ being superfluous. In relation to the intel- ligible Ethiopians we take it in the sense of, they will be brought down and humbled and overthrown.

9β And his enemies will lick dust. The Christ-slaying Jews will be slaughtered, for those who are being slain bite the earth from the unbearable pain and duress. Or else that those who are fighting against the Gospel preaching will be changed and will fervently kiss the floors of his sacred temples. Or again his enemies are to be understood as the demons, who will be cast down onto the earth by the pious and will trampled on so much so that they seem to be licking the earth, not being allowed to rise up. 10 Kings of Tharsis and islands will offer gifts, kings of Arabians and of Saba will furnish pre- sents. All identify Tharsis with Carthage the capital city of Libya. Saba is a city of India, the most notable of the cities there. Having mentioned therefore the most renowned kingdoms of the time, he signified by those the others also, which indeed he indicated by the following verses, saying collectively all kings and all nations, as in the sixty-seventh psalm. By ‘islands’ he refers to all those in the sea. And truly every nation brought gifts to Christ, the one temples and votive offerings, the other virtues, and the one sensible gifts, the other intelligible gifts. 11 And all the kings of the earth will worship him, all the nations will serve him. Not all have as yet worshipped him, though numbers from every nation have done so, as was said previously in the sixty-seventh psalm. This verse is like the words spoken by Jacob, And he is the expectation of the nations. 12 For he has delivered the pauper from the dynast and the poor man for whom there was no helper. The ‘pauper’ and the ‘poor man’ are what he now calls the people of Christians as was said before in the thirty-ninth psalm and much earlier in the ninth psalm. ‘Dynast’ is what he calls the devil, as having formerly held dominion over people. More- over, the prophet also brings fear upon human dynasts, showing God taking the part of the oppressed. 13 He will spare the pauper and the poor man and will save the souls of the poor. He says the same again; or else he is naming the Jewish people ‘the pauper’, as having fallen from the wealth of divine aid and the people of the nations ‘the poor man’. For he showed mercy on both and became incarnate for both. But the Jews, not having accepted hem, he let

alone, while the nations, having run to faith in him, he saved. And moreover he delivers and spares and saves those who are paupers and poor for his sake.

14α From extortion and injustice he will redeem their souls. By ‘extortion’ he indicated avarice, being the worst of other passions, then with ‘injustice’ he included more generally every sin, for every person who sins does injustice, either to him- self alone or also to some other. He redeemed people from these through the commandments of the Gospel.

14β And his name is honoured before them. And truly it is so honoured that, rather than any dignity, it is a sufficient title of nobility for them to be called Christians.

15α And he will live. Some say that this has the same force as, And of his kingdom there will be no end, for he will live forever. To me it seems to foretell his resurrection from the dead, namely, that having died he will come to life again.

15β And to him will be given of the gold of Arabia. Arabia in the past had much and excellent gold, since indeed it was called Εὐδαίμων [Hap- py] and Χρυσή [Golden] by the Greeks. By this country, as being most notable in this regard, he intimates that every country will bring gifts to the temples of Christ. And in another way Arabs first received the faith through Paul as he himself tells when writing to the Galatians, saying, When God was pleased, and so on, then he says, I did not confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem, but I went away into Arabia.

15γ And they will pray about him continually. The Christians will pray about his salvation, namely, about the salvation from him, so that he will help and save them. Some apply the verse to the prophets, namely, that having foreseen his visitation to man- kind, they will entreat the Father to send him as soon as possible so as to dissolve the tyranny of the devil.

15δ All day long they will bless him.

The faithful will ever praise him with hymns.

16α He will be a support on the earth on the heights of the mountains. Christ will be a support on the earth, namely, for those on the earth, establishing and strengthening them as they are being driven in confusion by the devil. ‘On the heights of the mountains’, in the sense of, even to the mountain ridges; this is added on account of the ascetics dwelling on the heights of the mountains, since Christ is confirming and supporting them also.

16β His fruit will be raised up above the Lebanon. He now mentioned the Lebanon on account of its great height, because the fruit of Christ will increase exceedingly. The ‘fruit’ is what he calls his teaching, the Gospel. And in a different way ‘Lebanon’ may be understood as idolatry, on account of Lebanon having been full of idols in the past, and the ‘fruit’ as the preaching of the Gospel which pre- vailed completely over the idolatry and hid it from sight.

16γ And they will blossom forth from a city like grass of the earth. ‘A city’, indefinitely, on account of believers blossoming forth from every city; ‘like grass’ on account of its swift growth and abundance; the Church can also be understood as a ‘city’. Some take ‘city’ in a specific sense as Jerusalem, from which, as the preaching increased, the Jews blossomed forth and swiftly withered away like grass.

17α His name will be blessed to the ages. This is clear, for he will be praised for ever by the faithful everywhere. By ‘name’ he signi- fies the name ‘Christ’ or ‘Jesus’.

17β Before the sun his name remains. The name ‘He who is’, which he possesses eternally, as he himself names himself when making oracular utterance to Moses on the mountain. If you say also the name ‘Christ’, then you will understand ‘before the sun’ as ‘above the sun’, ‘more than the sun’. For at the consummation the sun will fall along with the other stars, but his name remains unfailing known to all.

17γ And in him all the tribes of the earth will be blessed. ‘They will be blessed in him’, in the sense of ‘they will sanctified’, ‘they will be filled with

grace’, for in being called Christians we are glorified. This is also what God promised to Abraham about his seed, which seed was Christ. ‘Tribes’ is what he called ‘generations’. 17δ All the nations will bless him. They will praise him. 18 To be blessed is the Lord the God of Israel, who alone works wonders. See, he has brought to light what was hidden, proclaiming him God and God of Israel, so that he may show that he is also the God of Israel who worked for it those wonders. The ‘alone’ is placed in contradistinction to the pseudonymous gods. 19α And blessed is the name of his glory to the age, and to the age of the age. The glory of Christ is his incarnation and sufferings in the flesh, for through these he was glorified by the faithful, because being God he suffered these things for our sake. The name of this glory is the name ‘Christ’, which name is blessed in the present age as was indicated above, and much more so in the age to come when there will be no one blaspheming it, and all people will then be subjected. We can say by way of circumlocution ‘of his glory’ in the sense of ‘his’. 19β And all the earth will be filled with his glory. So be it, so be it. This prophesies the faith of all the nations. Thus God spoke also to Moses, saying, For my name lives, because all the earth will be filled with my glory. Isaiah also heard this as the Seraphim were crying out, Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabaoth, all the earth is full of his glory. The ‘so be it’ is repeated twice as was said before at the end of the fortieth psalm. It is necessary to know that the Hebrews, dividing the Davidic psalms into five books, say the end of each of the four books is each psalm having ‘so be it, so be it’ at the end. And the end of the first book is the fortieth psalm, of the second the seventy-first, of the third the eighty-eighth, of the fourth the one hundred and fifth, and the last psalm is the end of the fifth book. 20 The hymns of David the son of Jesse have come to an end.

72 Psalm 72

1α A psalm belonging to Asaph. And indeed in the preamble to this book we showed that all the psalms are by David. § 48-57 How then have they come to an end? Accordingly, it is not the psalms that have come to an end, but the hymns. Among the psalms he composed, some he performed as hymns to God with his own lyre, others he gave to the choir-leaders to sing, just as the present one and the following eleven to Asaph, and others to others, as was previously explained in the afore- Pss 72-82 mentioned preamble. Accordingly, the statement ‘they have come to an end’ indicates that § 50 the remaining psalms which follow were not performed by David, even though they were composed by him. It is to be marvelled at how through the psalms the divine grace of the Spirit mixed var- ious medicines for the various passions of human thoughts, just as now with the present psalm, for the psalm has in sight those who are faint-hearted and scandalized by the inscru- table judgements of God, how he tolerates the wicked who are prospering while he overlooks the good who are suffering distress. And it is cast in the person of the captive people in Babylon and in particular of the more god-loving, but it is fitting for everyone, consoling the faint-heartedness of each.

1β How good is God to Israel. The ‘how’ is confirmative. Truly, he says, God is good to Israel, educating it through afflic- tions and bringing about salvation for it, for the chastisements are not out of hatred but out of love and towards correction.

1γ To those who are straight in heart. He is adjudged thus by those who think correctly, for ‘in heart’ here is to be understood as ‘in thought’.

2α But for me my feet have very nearly been rocked. ‘Feet’ is what he calls his thoughts that support the piety of the soul. I have nearly been led astray and been dragged down into the error of not believing God has providence for the world.

2β My steps have almost been poured away. ‘Steps’ here are his conceptions; ‘they have been poured away’, in the sense of, ‘they have become flaccid’, for what is poured is flaccid. He then adduces the reason for which he was in danger of being rocked and poured away.

3 For I have been zealous in indignation at the lawless on seeing the peace of sinners. We call ‘zeal’ reasonable rage against something unreasonable. For, he says, I was justly enraged, as I believed, on seeing them at peace, namely, not been attacked by a more powerful nation, but enjoying freedom from fear, even though being sinners.

4α For there is no repudiation in their death. And because there is nothing forbidding in their death, their death is not deprecable inas- much as it comes naturally and not violently.

4β Nor steadfastness in their lash. Nor persistence in their blows, for if they are ever subject to distress, they are swiftly freed from their affliction.

5 Nor are they in the toils of men, and with men they will not be scourged. Nor are they in toils like other men – for to labour and toil is a characteristic of man – but they acquire their goods without toil, nor, as it seems to me, will they be subject to distress like other men.

6α On this account pride has taken hold of them to the end. On account of everything going for them with the flow of events, pride has enveloped them completely.

6β They have cloaked themselves in their injustice and impiety. Having given themselves such pretensions, they have wrapped themselves in their injus- tice and impiety like a cloak. The wrapping around of clothing signifies the encircling and be- ing hemmed in on every side. In many places in the psalms this figure is used, as in, Let them cloak themselves in shame and disgrace, and again, Let those who accuse me falsely be clothed in disgrace, and let them be wrapped in their shame as in a double-folded mantle, and again, And he has put on a curse like a cloak, and all suchlike. In the present verse, showing off and plum- ing themselves is also implied.

7α Their injustice will come out as from fat. Oily and plentiful, for such is the run-off from fat. Or else ‘fat’ is what he is calling comfort and luxury, saying that it will come from luxury, namely from excessive luxury, with the adverb ‘as’ being redundant.

By the use of one tense for another ‘will come out’ is used in the sense of, ‘has come out’; this indeed is what Symmachus wrote. It is clear therefore that we are also able to understand ‘they will not be scourged’ in the sense of ‘they have not been scourged’.

7β They have arrived at a disposition of heart. They have come to a habit of injustice, for a habit is a disposition about something, name- ly, a condition of the heart.

8α They have conceived and spoken in wickedness. They have spoken evil things after consideration and thought and not simply being car- ried away on the spur of the moment.

8β They have spoken injustice to the height. ‘To the height’, in the sense of, against God the Most High, saying that he is not God, for it is injustice to deprive him of his glory and to attribute his glory to other gods. Everyone who attributes to God things unworthy of divinity speaks injustice to the height, for divinity is ‘height’ than which nothing is higher.

9 They have set their mouth to heaven, and their tongue has passed upon the earth. By ‘heaven’ he indicates God who dwells in heaven, and by ‘the earth’ he signifies the peo- ple dwelling on the earth, saying as it were that they moved their mouth against the God of heaven, uttering blasphemy against him, and their tongue in turn was moved against earthly people. For being well off and living indulgently, they would insult God and ridicule and calumniate all people. Or else this is about the philosophers among them, that they set their mouth to heaven, seeking to philosophize about the divine, but their tongue passed upon the earth, having prattled earthly and human things about God. Or else it is about the astrologers among them, that they set their mouth to heaven, talk- ing highly about the stars in heaven, and their tongue passed upon the earth, having filled all the earth with their frivolous talk.

10α On this account my people will return here. The prophet placed this verse as from the person of God, that on this account, namely, by reason of the aforementioned wickedness of their enemies, my people in captivity will return to their homeland, Judea, for the ‘here’ denotes this land, for David wrote the psalm while being in it.

10β And full days will be found in them. Days filled in measure of life or in measure of virtue. He is saying that they will grow old or that they will be pleasing to God. The verse can also be understood against their enemies, that their days will be found in them full of evil, as lacking nothing in wickedness.

11α And they have said, ‘How has God known?’ The more faint-hearted and more witless of the people, on seeing the outrages being com- mitted, would say, ‘How has God known these things and tolerated them? Therefore, in fact he has not known.

11β And ‘If there is knowledge in the Most High?’ ‘They have asked’ is understood here; ‘knowledge’, namely, of the things so occurring.

12 ‘See, these are sinners and, flourishing to the age, they have laid hold on wealth.’ Thinking in this way they would say, that see, these Babylonians are sinners and yet, thriv- ing throughout the present age, they have taken possession of wealth; or else ‘to the age’ is in the sense of, ‘for a long time’. Jeremiah addressed things similar to the present verse to God, saying, Why is it that the way of the impious prospers? Why have all those breaching breaches of faith flourished? You have planted them and they have taken root.

13α And I have said, Is it then in vain that I have justified my heart? And even I myself, the most high-minded and wisest, have been shaken in my own thoughts, and I said to myself, ‘Is it then in vain that I have made my heart just, having puri- fied it of every injustice?’

13β And washed my hands among the innocent? And again I have said, ‘Is it then in vain that I have washed my hands among the inno- cents’ What this means was said before in the twenty-fifth psalm. ‘And I have said, Is it then in vain’ is also to be understood in the following two verses, for these are also to be read dubitatively.

14α And been whipped all day long?

‘Whipped’ by fasting and vigils and such hardships for the sake of virtue every day.

14β And my reproach in the mornings? The ‘reproach’ that I make against myself in the morning, for I would reproach myself as having given offence to God and living unworthily.

15 If I would say, I shall tell thus, See, with the generation of your sons I have broken covenant. If I would say to myself, that I shall speak openly to others in this way as I myself have thought, that, Is it then in vain that I have justified my heart? and so on, see, I would then be imputing faithless things to the people, namely, things prejudicial and unacceptable. The Israelite people are the generation of God’s sons, for thus God himself named them, Israel is my firstborn son, and, I have begotten sons and exalted them. And, moreover, sons of God are those who know him as creator and keep his commandments. A number of copies write, ‘you have broken covenant’. This is understood as follows: the first half of the verse is as we have interpreted it, the second is that, in terms of such a narra- tive of mine, you have transgressed the agreements with your present people, namely, those towards Abraham and our ancestors about the promised land and our race, about our living securely in it and becoming great. For the verb ‘to break covenant’ also means ‘to transgress agreements’.

16α And I have conceived to know. And I have hoped to know what what is puzzling to me; the τοῦ is redundant.

16β This is a labour before me. But, as it seems, this, namely, knowing what is puzzling, is a great trouble to me and hard to discern.

17α Until I shall enter into God’s place of sanctification. It is a labour for me until I shall enter into the temple in Jerusalem in which the people is sanctified. For then, when it has received back its former good fortune, I shall know that it is not in vain that I justified my heart, and so on.

17β And understand their last ends. This is a clear prophecy. For he says that truly I shall understand and know by their final outcomes, namely, of the sinful Babylonians, when the end of both their prosperity and their

way of life comes upon them. For Cyrus, having defeated them, restored the Israelite people to Jerusalem and subjected the Babylonians to abject slavery. 2Esdr 1 In an anagogical sense, the Last Judgement, setting apart for each what he deserves, is God’s place of sanctification, for ‘to sanctify’ is ‘to set apart’. For then the faint-hearted learn precisely what is virtue and what is evil.

18α Except on account of their deceits you have set evils for them. From here on he prophesies more clearly the destruction of the Babylonians. The ‘except’ appears redundant, according to the Hebrew idiom; Symmachus wrote ‘tru- ly’ instead of ‘except. ‘You have set’, in the sense of, ‘you have prepared’.

18β You have cast them down even as they had been lifted up. Those lifted up by wealth and every kind of prosperity, you have dashed down again.

19α How on a sudden have they been made desolate? Foreseeing their destruction, he marvels at the suddenness of the change, for ‘on a sudden’ means ‘suddenly’.

19β They have vanished, they have been destroyed on account of their lawlessness. ‘They have been destroyed’ is explicatory of ‘they have vanished’, or else with both verbs meaning the same, they indicate the intensity of joy by the repetition of the designation.

20α Like the dream of a man awaking. The events concerning them, that is to say. Just as a person who has seen a pleasant dream becomes despondent on awaking, as having enjoyed it to no purpose, so also the Babylonians, with their prosperity having passed away, they will seem to have enjoyed well-being in vain. For such is human affluence, like dreams on account of its uncertainty and swift reversal.

20β O Lord, in your city you will set their semblance at naught. On account of your city Jerusalem you will dishonour their prosperity, for he called their prosperity a ‘semblance’ on account of its not truly being what it appears, but imitating it only, since the word ‘semblance’ comes from the verb ‘to seem’. The ‘city’ may be interpreted also as the people’s way of life or else as Jerusalem on high.

21α For my heart was inflamed. By the fire of rage, namely, by zeal. For in the introduction to the present psalm he said, For I have been zealous in indignation at the lawless on seeing the peace of sinners. Accordingly, he repeats those sentiments again.

21β And my reins were changed. By the reins he alludes to his desire, as we have said earlier elsewhere. For formerly desiring true goods, later, he says, I desired seeming goods, having been zealous in indignation at my enemies.

22α And I was set at naught, and did not know. This verse and the following ones are fitting for after the return. I was set at naught, he says, namely, I was cast away from you at that time on account of my sins, and on this account I did know the answer to what puzzled me, not having illumination from you. Instead of ‘I was set at naught’, Symmachus said ‘I was ignorant’.

22β I have become beast-like before you. Hence, I have become without mind to you, that is, I shall no longer waste my labour on investigating your judgements, but like a beast I shall follow your purposes without question. For I have discerned that you arrange everything with judgement. This bestiality before God is praiseworthy, while that before the demon is blameworthy, as in, He has been cast down beside the mindless beasts. Ps 48.13β, 21

23α And I [shall be] with you forever. ‘Shall be’ is understood, thinking of you always and uttering what is yours and never de- parting from memory of you.

23β You have held my right hand. Like a guide you have taken my hand and have led me out of the land of the Babylonians and out of their slavery. Or else by the ‘right hand’ he is hinting at the ‘right-handed’ action, namely, that having taken hold of this you have led me out.

24α And you have guided me in your purpose.

And you have proposed to me a purpose by which I was guided, passing through the nations. 24β And with glory you have received me. And you have granted me a conspicuous entrance into your city; for the return was heard of by all. And Cyrus sent out royal decrees about it to all the nations. 25 What is there for me in heaven, and from you what have I desired on earth? What else is desirable for me in heaven apart from you? And from you what else have I asked for on earth except for your help? This is the sense that Aquila gave. To make a general point, the expressions are very often elliptical on account of the suc- cinctness of the Hebrew dialect from which they were translated into Greek taking only the meaning of each word, not accepting expansion. 26α My heart has failed and my flesh. My heart has been consumed, melted by the fire of desire for you and my flesh again has suffered the same, turning away from comfort and sorely distressed. 26β O God of my heart. A circumlocution in the sense of, O my God. The expression is indicative of longing and disposition. 26γ And my portion, O God, to the age. And again, O God, who are my portion, that is, my lot and my wealth at all times. 27α For, see, those who distance themselves from you will perish. A person distances himself from God not by location, but by relationship, just as on the contrary he comes near through virtue. For sin flees from God like darkness from light. And the more one distances oneself from God the closer one comes to destruction. The ‘for’ is confirmatory in the sense of, ‘truly’. ‘Perishing’ is what he calls falling away from salvation. 27β You have destroyed everyone who whores away from you. 25: Some have understood this verse as spoken by God, saying to mankind: What else is there for me in heaven from the angels other than worship and obedience, and from you what else have I desired on earth other than these things alone?

Whoring away from God is what he calls apostasy, idolatry and any other worship of the demon, just as God says through Jeremiah, They went to every high mountain and under every woodland tree and played the whore there, and again, And she committed adultery with tree and Jer 3.6, 9 stone, in the sense of, ‘she worshipped’. And in the Church is called the bride of God, joined to him through faith and through the keeping of the commandments.

28α But for me it is good to cleave to God. To be joined to him like a bride and never to be separated from him.

28β To place my hope in the Lord. And furthermore to place my hope in the Lord. For, see, having hoped in him, I have not failed. Hence this is good for me, that is, beneficial and useful.

28γ So that I may proclaim all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion. So that having been covered by your protection, I may tell all that is to be praised about you, namely, your wonders, the praiseworthy things. Or in a different sense, so as to set out in writing the praises due to you. He said ‘all’ because they are as many as the powers of God. To proclaim these by the the gates of Zion, that is, of Jerusalem, for this city has two names, not only Jerusalem, but also Zion, receiving this other name from the neighbouring mountain. Zion itself is called ‘daughter of Zion’, just as man is called ‘son of man’, in accord- ance with the Hebrew idiom. They were accustomed to gather by the gates of the city and of the temple and tell tales. In an anagogical sense, the various local Churches are the ‘gates of Zion’, for through these one enters into Jerusalem on high.

73 Psalm 73

1α Of understanding; belonging to Asaph. Asaph has been spoken of. It is ‘of understanding’ because there is need of understand- ing by the readers, for it tells about the last capture of Jerusalem by the Romans. For even though it had been taken at various times before the Romans it had never before suffered any such thing, namely, lasting expulsion, torching of the temple and destruction of houses and complete sacking. And what is most evident, neither did any prophet survive among them thereafter. And the psalm while reporting the misfortunes of the Jews also brings good tidings of our salvation.

1β Why, O God, have you rejected to the end? He foretells the things of the future as having occurred, in accordance with prophetic custom. God’s goodness is worthy of marvel, because while knowing in advance the disobe- dience of the Jews, nevertheless, by the foretelling of their future misfortunes, he attempts to avert them from impiety and from their murderous intentions against the Saviour, even though on account of their freedom of will they remained unconverted. The prophet utters the words feeling pain for the people, suffering most lamentably and most pitiably. Or else he speaks the words in the person of the more sagacious among them. He did not only say ‘you have rejected’, but also ‘to the end’, which indicates their complete and utter abandonment. For previously he would reject them, but not to the end, but through the prophets he would ordain a specific time for each captivity of theirs. The ‘why?’ seems to be interrogative and inquiring into the cause, but among the Hebrews it is importunate and evocative of pity.

1γ Has your rage been roused to anger against the sheep of your pasture? ‘Why?’ is to be understood here again. We discussed anger and rage at the beginning of the sixth psalm. The people are the ‘sheep’ and divine pastures are the sacred words of divinely inspired Scripture with which those who live a godly live ever nourish their souls.

2α Remember your assembly that you acquired for yourself from the beginning. In the sense of, ‘that you acquired as a possession’. ‘From the beginning’, in the sense of, ‘in the first place’. It is hinting that he will acquire another assembly later, namely, that of the Church from the nations.

2β You redeemed the rod of your inheritance. He lists the previous benefactions. The rod indicates kingship as was said earlier in the forty-fourth psalm. Instead of ‘the rod of your inheritance’, Aquila wrote ‘the sceptre of your allotted portion’. He is speaking of the kingship of the Hebrews, that is of the royally ruled people. They are God’s inheritance, because Moses says, And his people Jacob became the Lord’s portion, Israel the measured lot of his inheritance. He has redeemed this people in various ways from wars and captivities.

2γ Mount Zion, this, on which you encamped [on it]. The much-famed Mount Zion is this, on which you encamped the aforementioned rod of your inheritance, or else on which you encamped yourself.

The ‘on it’ is redundant, according to the Hebrew idiom; or else ‘on which on it’, like whose mouth of his is full of cursing. The mountain is put forward by way of pleading, as being dedicated to God.

3α Raise your hands upon their arrogances to the end. Put down the elated pride of the enemies completely. For have taken Jerusalem, they be- came more overweening, and have been foolishly puffed up against you. He said ‘raise up your hands’ by metaphor of those who move their hands to strike down the enemy.

3β How great evils has the enemy perpetrated in your holy place. ‘The enemy’ is what he calls Titus and ‘holy place’ what he calls the temple, having treated which with drunken disdain, he razed it to the ground in manifold ways. The ‘how great evils’ BJ vi.220-66 in the sense of ‘alas, how many great evils!’

4α And those who hate you have vaunted themselves in the midst of your feast. The feast here is what he calls the feast of Pascha. For Titus set siege to Jerusalem in the BJ v.99 midst of this feast, taking them as they were feasting. And observe how, having crucified the Saviour at the feast of Pascha, at the same feast they were required to pay the penalty. 4β-5 They have set their standards as signs, and they have not known, as at the exit above. Every military unit employs a standard on a pole which advances in front so that what sort of contingent it is can be recognized – what we call a flag. Accordingly, the Roman contingents as they were entering set up these standards of theirs ‘as at the exit’, namely, at the gates to the city, above them (the ‘as’ is redundant). They set up these standards of theirs as signs of victory, as trophies. And those who were inside, still busying themselves with the feast, did not yet know. Or else the enemies themselves did not know that they had taken the city, because it was not on account of the weakness of the God of the Jews, but on account of their murderous disposition against Christ.

6α As in a copse of trees, with axes they have cut down her gates together. A copse is a mountainous woodland area. Like a copse of trees, he says, they cut down her gates completely. ‘Together’, in the sense of, ‘all the gates at once’.

6β With double-edged axe and stone-cutter they have dashed her down.

‘With double-edged axe’ the roofs and doors of the houses of the city and whatsoever is of wood, and ‘with stone cutter’ the house and city walls and whatsoever is of stone. The stone-cutter is a stone-working instrument made for cutting stones and house and city walls and demolishing. ‘Dashed down’ in the sense of, ‘thrown down’.

7α They have torched your place of sanctification with fire. God’s place of sanctification is what he called the temple, as was said in the previous psalm.

7β They have profaned to the ground the tent-shrine of your name. ‘They have profaned’, namely, they have profanely and impiously razed the temple to the ground. With precision he called it the ‘tent-shrine of your name’, for the essence of God is uncircumscribable. Some have understood ‘of your name’ as a circumlocution for ‘your’.

8α Their kindred have said together in their heart. The kindred of the enemies have said at once to one another. ‘In their heart’, in the sense of, ‘from their heart’, ‘with all their heart and all eagerness’. The following ‘Come’ prevents this from being understood as ‘they thought to themselves’, unless one takes the ‘Come’ not as hortatory but in an adverbial sense, like, ‘Come on!’ What they said, listen.

8β Come and let us abolish all the feasts of God from the earth. The rites of worship ordained by the law for this God whom the Jews honour. We shall achieve this by obliterating their laws and their way of life, which, indeed, by God’s permis- sion they did.

9α Their signs we have not seen. The miraculous wonders they say their God has worked for them, we, who have been besieging them, have so far not seen, for no such marvel has been worked against us.

9β There is no longer any prophet. ‘No longer’, in the sense of, ‘not hereafter’. And truly they said this. There is none among them, he says, foretelling anything against us and emboldening them.

9γ And he will not know us any longer. And since there is none, he will not know how things will be with us. This ‘any longer’ is in the sense of, ‘henceforth’.

10α How long, O God, will the enemy reproach? O God, he will reproach both us and you as weak.

10β The adversary will provoke your name to the end. He will blaspheme for ever, uttering provocative words against your name; even though you show forbearance, permitting them to do so on account of our sins.

11 Why do you turn away your hand and your right arm from within your bosom to the end? It is to be noted that ‘to the end’, which is found in many places in this psalm, signals the perpetual ejection of the Jews. He calls ‘hand’ and ‘right arm’ the same thing. God’s ‘bosom’ may be interpreted as his treasury of blessings, and his hand and right arm as the act of freely distributing blessings. The sense of the verse is, ‘Why are you not distributing your blessings to us as before?’ The words are metaphorical, as if someone who has his bosom filled with good things and up to a point distributes them freely, then having become enraged, he turns the giving hand away from his bosom, no longer taking the gifts for distribution.

12α But God is our king before the age. ‘Before the age’ is not a literal but an inexact use of the term, in the sense of, ‘from the beginning’. For how could he have been their king ‘before the age’ when sensible creation had not yet been produced. Or else you will understand ‘age’ as the present life, so that the meaning would be before our own life, namely, from the time of our ancestors he was king of our race. He is reminding God as it were of the wonders that took place for their ancestors in the past.

12β He worked salvation in the midst of the earth. ‘In the midst of the earth’, in the sense of, ‘in the midst of people’, ‘openly’. ‘Salvation’ is what he calls the liberation of the Jews from slavery in Egypt.

13α You gave mighty strength to the sea in your power.

You made firm the divided parts of the Red Sea: A wall on the right and a wall on the left, as is written. By your power their strongly flowing currents were held fixed. 13β You crushed the heads of the dragons in the water. ‘Dragons’ is what he calls the Egyptians on account of their wickedness, and their ‘heads’, the generals and commanders and captains, as rulers, for the head rules the other parts. All of these, the water having overwhelmed them, were crushed, that is, they were destroyed. 14α You shattered the head of the dragon. ‘Dragon’ in the singular is what he calls Pharaoh and the ‘shattering of his head’ the de- struction of his rule and kingship. 14β You gave him as fodder to the peoples of the Ethiopians. For the Ethiopians (bordering as they do on the Egyptians and bearing hostility towards them of old), when they saw their so great destruction, overrunning the country, they de- spoiled Egypt and slaughtered the survivors by the edge of the sword. ‘You have given him’, in the sense of, ‘you have handed him over’. Through the person of Pharaoh, he indicated the entire country under him. 15α You burst open well-springs and torrents. ‘You burst open’, you have sent up. He is speaking of the water that flowed from the rock in the desert. He said ‘well-springs’ on account of its bubbling up from below and ‘torrents’ on account of the forcefulness of the rushing flow. Both words are in the plural according to the habit of the Hebrew dialect. Symmachus and Aquila used the singular. You dried up the rivers of Etham. Symmachus translated ‘rivers of Etham’ as ‘ancient rivers’. He means those of Sodom and Gomorrah, which God reduced to ashes on account of their transgression of the law. Or else more simply, you sent up new waters and dried up the old in whatever places you wished. Isidore of Pelusium says Etham is the name of a place not far from Jerusalem formerly PG78.509A irrigated by rivers, but later, at the time of the siege by the Romans, these rivers were also dried up at God’s wrath. 16α Yours is the day and yours is the night.

From the special acts of wonder-working he moved on to the everyday miracles. Your creation, he says, is the day and the night and they obey your decree.

16β You primed rising light and sun. ‘Rising light’ is the dawning of the day, that is, the time of cock-crow. ‘You primed’, in the sense of, ‘you made’. Through the sun he alluded also to the other stars.

17α You made all the fair seasonable fruits of the earth. The annual fruits, for ὧρος is a year. Some, instead of ‘the fair seasonable fruits’ write ‘the boundaries’, that is, the limits. ‘Sea- sonable fruits’ is better, and this is clear from the following verse.

17β Summer and spring, you fashioned them. For spring is generative of these annual fruits and summer is perfective of them; hence he mentioned only the two seasons of the year, with the other two being included along with them, as they also are part of the year. The ‘them’ is redundant. Or the syntax may be interpreted as follows: You fashioned them, the summer and the spring. Indifferently he placed the summer first.

18α Remember her. Having said at the beginning of the psalm, Remember your assembly that you acquired for yourself from the beginning, he repeats this again now.

18β An enemy reproached the Lord. Titus or the army of Romans.

18γ And a foolish people provoked your name. He means those same ones, not being rightly minded about God. ‘Provoking’ was dis- cussed a few verses previously.

19α Do not surrender a soul confessing you to the wild beasts. The prophet, having foreseen the fate of the Jews, entreats that they may not be surrendered to the Romans, whom he calls ‘wild beasts’, on account of their savagery and inhumanity. By the ‘soul’ he signified the person, the part standing for the whole, as we have said before.

‘Confessing you’, in the sense of, ‘giving thanks to you’.

19β Do not forget the souls of your poor to the end. The syntax of ‘do not forget’ is indifferent [accusative instead of genitive]. ‘The souls of your poor’, by way of circumlocution in the sense of, ‘your poor’, or else by way of piteous appeal. ‘Poor’ is what calls the Jews once again, as at that time having been brought into dearth of every kind by the siege from without by the encircling enemies.

20α Look upon your covenant. That you made with Abraham and our ancestors, as we said previously in the previous psalm at the verse, See, with the generation of your sons you have broken covenant, and do not overlook it.

20β For the darkened of the earth have been filled with houses of lawlessnesses. For the darkened estates of the earth, namely, the Jews, darkened by the passions, have been filled with houses of lawlessnesses, that is, with a multitude of lawless acts. For he took ‘houses’ in the sense of, ‘a multitude’, as a measure, just as when we want to indicate that someone has an abundance of grain, we say, so-and-so has barns of grain.

21α Let the humbled not be turned back shamed. The people entreating you at the time of the siege, humbled and shamed in not being heard.

21β The poor and needy will praise your name. The aforementioned people, as we said shortly before at ‘the souls of your poor’. The Jews, he says, having been saved will praise and not their enemies.

22α Arise, O God, judge your suit. For a lawsuit has been set up between you and the enemies concerning insult, for their frenzy against the people was not enough for them, but in addition they would falsely accuse you as weak. Or else in a different way, the cause of your people is your cause.

22β Remember your reproach by the fool all day long.

‘Fool’ is what he calls Titus and every soldier of his. And earlier he said, And a foolish people has provoked your name. The reproach all day long, namely, that goes on continually.

23α Do not forget the voice of your suppliants. Of those who are supplicating you at that time, as we said. Some of the copies write ‘of your servants’.

23β The pride of those who hate you has gone up for ever. ‘Has gone up’, that is, ‘has been raised on high’, ‘has come to a peak’, or has gone up before you. Observe how no promise of blessings whatsoever is joined to these verses as in other psalms. But such is according to the version of the Hebrews. [12] More truly, however, the things from the verse saying, He worked salvation in the midst of the earth, and thereafter are taken in an anagogical sense in relation to Christ. For truly he worked salvation, having become incarnate and having freed us from error and having point- ed out the path of salvation. ‘In the midst of the earth’ is in the sense of, ‘in all the earth’. Some say that Jerusalem lies in the middle of the earth. [13] And he gave mighty strength to the sea, which is, he made the water of holy baptism mighty in strength against demons. Micah also called the water of baptism ‘sea’, saying to God, You will sink our sins into the depths of the sea. It is ‘sea’ as receiving the filth of the souls of those being baptized and as purging and as immeasurably vast on account of the grace, just as the sea is so on account of the multitude of waters. [14] And ‘dragons’ may be interpreted as the demons, and the ‘dragon’ as their ruler, the devil, whose heads he crushed and shattered in the water of baptism. Their ‘heads’ are the sins, for in these they have their destructive venom stored up. These heads having been destroyed through baptism, such dragons no longer live within us. The ‘peoples of the Ethiopians’ are those whose souls were previously blackened by the filth and smoke of sin, to whom he gave this intelligible dragon to become their fodder, namely, to be consumed, after baptism that is. He burst open, that is, he sent up well-springs and torrents of spiritual teaching in the [15] formerly desert world of the nations, ‘well-springs’ on account of its ever-flowing and pure and pleasant nature, and ‘torrents’ as was said previously in the thirty-fifth psalm. The ‘rivers of Etham’ are the prophecies among the Jews, ancient in relation to the new prophecies among the Christians, for they were dried up on account of their wickedness when the prophets ceased to exist. The following verses show Christ as the maker and Lord of all. [18] Remember this assembly of the new covenant, and not that of the old covenant.

And an enemy, the Jew and Greek, reproached Christ as not being God and weak and whatever other insults. The ‘foolish people’ are the Jewish and Greek people, and ‘wild beasts’ are both Jews and Greeks and the demons. [19] The ‘poor’ are the Christians, as having left everything and followed Christ, and simply as was said before in the ninth psalm. [20] Christ’s covenant is the various things about his help, and also the words, And see, I am with you all the days. And the ‘darkened of the earth’ are all unbelievers in general, being unable to see the day- light of truth. And the following verses will adapt similarly.

74 Psalm 74

1 Towards fulfilment; do not destroy; belonging to Asaph; a psalm of an ode. Containing prediction of God’s just judgement at the consummation of the world, with punishment for the sinful and honour for the just, the psalm exhorts everyone to look to the end of life and not to destroy themselves by sins. Some said ‘do not sin’ for ‘do not destroy’. About Asaph and the rest of the superscription we spoke in the preamble to the book of psalms. §§ 46, 49, 64 This psalm is also composed in the person of the captives in Babylon.

2α We shall confess you, O God, we shall confess you. We, having been freed from slavery, will give thanks to you. The repetition of ‘we shall confess’ represents an intensification or confirmation of the thanksgiving.

2β And we shall call upon your name. And we shall call for help upon your name that has been reproached by our enemies. For my own part, I believe that the verse is fitting for those who would come to believe in Christ, on whom the name of Christ was called as epithet, having been addressed as ‘Chris- tians’.

3α I shall tell of all your wonders. This verse is also found in the ninth psalm.

3β When I shall take time, I shall judge straight judgements. Some join ‘when I shall take time’ to the previous verse, saying, that I shall tell of all your wonders when I shall take time to tell, that is, when I am freed from enemies. It is better to

join it to the following verse, for the expression is introduced as from Christ, saying, ‘Do not be faint-hearted about the nations, for when I shall take the time of judgement, I shall judge justly between those who commit and those who suffer injustice’. The ‘I shall take’ is to be understood in a pious sense, for I shall take not from anyone else, but from myself as God, or else from my divinity as man.

4α The earth has been melted and all who dwell in it. Melting is the dissolution of strength. Accordingly, it has been melted at the advent of judgement, namely, it will be melted, for as is written, Heaven and earth will pass away, as will also all who dwell in it for all will die.

4β I have upheld its pillars. At my command it has been melted, because in the beginning I created it. Its ‘pillars’ are the decree that it be set firm, for it is this that upholds and supports it, being founded on nothing. Melting can also be interpreted as ruination, for the earth was brought to ruin by the idolatries and other sins of men, but I, moved to compassion at the perdition of my creation, upheld the Apostles, for we shall understand them as pillars of the inhabited world, as under- pinning and supporting believers everywhere with their teachings. This is also how the great Paul named them, saying, They who are reputed to be pillars. Some say that ‘the earth’ is that of Jerusalem, because it will be melted, having been be- sieged and torched by the Romans. And in this sense also he calls the Apostles ‘its pillars’, pillars for the reason given, and ‘its’ as going out from Jerusalem, or else because after being melted it will be upheld by the pillars of faith.

5 I have said to those transgressing, ‘Do not transgress’, and to those sinning, ‘Do not lift horn on high. In view of the advent of the last judgment, as has been said, the prophet says, that having adjured those who are transgressing, I said to them, ‘Do not transgress’, and again to those who are sinning, ‘Do not lift horn on high’, namely, do not vaunt yourselves or be proud of your sins as of great achievements, for this is the height of folly. He calls the same people sinners and transgressors in parallel. The ‘horn’ is placed in many places in the psalms, sometimes in the sense of power, and sometimes in the sense of boasting, for horned animals defend themselves and make display with their horns.

6α Do not raise your horn on high.

He says the same again in intensification of his adjuration. 6β And do not speak injustice against God. This has the same force as, They have spoken injustice to the height, that is found in the sevety-second psalm. 7 For neither from outgoings nor from westerings nor from desert mountains. ‘Outgoings’ is what he calls the rising of the sun, for it is written, From heaven’s extremity its outgoing, and ‘westerings’ what he calls its setting. The ‘desert mountains’ are the north and south latitudes, the parts towards the meridies and the arctic, for these climes are deserted of people, the one on account of the extreme cold, the other on account of the extreme heat. The figure is elliptical, for ‘does anything escape notice’ is missing. Nothing, he says, es- capes notice from any clime of the earth at the time of the Last Judgement. Hence do nothing unworthy, and if you do, do not imagine you will escape notice. Then he adds the reason that nothing escapes notice. 8α For God is a judge. God, who sees and knows all things before their origination, makes judgement. Sus 35a 8β One he humbles and one he exalts. The one he dishonours and the other he honours, in accordance with the economy of how each has lived and in accordance with the computation of his just judgement. 9α For a cup is in the Lord’s hand of unmixed wine, full of dilutive. The entire verse is metaphorical. The ‘Lord’s hand’ is what he calls his power, and the ‘cup of wine’ the measure of punishment, for ‘wine’ here is punishment, because, like wine, it takes away a person’s strength and loosens his joints and causes him to err. This wine is unmixed, as rough and sheer and unmixed with kindliness. But this cup is of unmixed wine; there is, however, in his hand another cup full of dilutive, that is, kindliness. For the dilutive of wine is water and the dilutive of austerity is kindliness. For the words ‘full of dilutive’ should not be joined to the preceding expression, but to read it on their own as an asyndeton figure with the conjunction ‘and’ missing but understood and drawing to itself the words ‘a cup is in the Lord’s hand’. For how could the same cup have unmixed wine and dilutive? The following verse shows that these are two cups. 7: Neither from the rising of the stars, nor from their settings, as the astrologers say, nor again from the demons who are barren of every good and called mountains on account of their presumption and arrogance, are either wealth or glory given, or poverty or contempt awarded, but by the just judgement of God.

9β And he has tipped from this into this. He poured from the measure of unmixed punishment into the measure of leniency so as to make a mixture and give this as drink to those who sin in a lesser way and to those who are curable. 9γ Except its dregs have not been emptied out. The ‘dregs’ are what he called the thick consistency of unmixed punishment, the ex- treme-most chastisement, that has been left over for those who transgress in the greatest way and for those who do not turn away from evil. 9δ All the sinful of the earth will drink. They will drink the dregs. He calls ‘the sinful’ those who sin unrepentantly. 10 But I shall rejoice to the age, with psaltery I shall praise the God of Jacob. Having been freed from slavery to the enemies, I shall rejoice at my release from griefs and sing songs of thanksgiving. 11α And all the horns of sinners I shall shatter. Of the adversaries who will once again make war on me. 11β And the horn of the just man will be raised on high. Having been victorious. For the Israelites, after their return from their slavery in Babylon, when the neighbouring nations were harassing them, were victorious, and the Christians, having returned to freedom from their slavery to the idols, shatter the powers of the sur- rounding demons who are attacking them. The ‘just man’ is what he calls every pious person. He may also be interpreted as Zoroba- bel, who at that time led the people back, but also as Christ, the pre-eminently ‘just man’, as without sin, of whom Zorobabel was the type. When those in body defeat their bodiless enemies, the power and praise of Christ who empowers them is raised on high. 75 Psalm 75 1 Towards fulfilment; in hymns; a psalm belonging to Asaph; an ode in respect of the Assyrian.

We said at the beginning that in the superscriptions to the psalms ‘towards fulfilment’ in- dicates a prophecy, exhorting to look to its fulfilment. So here, too, there is therefore a proph- ecy, according to the Hebrews, about the crushing of those around Sennacherib, according to the Christians, of those around the intelligible Sennacherib, that is, the devil. 4Rg 18-19 And, moreover, it is ‘towards fulfilment’ because at the end it treats about the end of the world, namely, the last judgement. ‘In hymns’, because the psalm is one of thanksgiving for victory over the enemies. About Asaph and also about the ode we have explained earlier in the preamble to the book of psalms. §§ 50, 62 ‘In respect of the Assyrian’, in the sense of, ‘in respect of the events at the time of the As- syrian Sennacherib’. Observe how the divine Spirit has co-entwined Christian doctrines with Jewish history, so as to edify the Hebrew, when taking the words in a humble way, while delighting even more the Christian, understanding them in a higher manner.

2α God is known in Judea. The Jews say that God is well-known in Judea alone, but God says to them through the prophet, According to the number your cities, so were your gods, O Judah, and according to the number of streets of Israel they would make offering to Baal. It is clear therefore that the psalm is not now talking about Judea in Palestine, but ‘Judea’ is what he calls the Judean Scripture, in which Christ is well-known to all, for both the Mo- saic books and all the others foretold about him, and the worship of the law itself was a type and shadow and prefiguring of Christ.

2β In Israel his name is great. And indeed not only in Israel. For again God says through the prophet that, From the rising of the sun to its setting my name is glorified among the nations, and again, But you defile it, and then, My name is great among the nations. Thus Israel again is what he names the Israelite Scripture given to the Israelite people, in which Scripture the name of Christ is sung as great and glorious. Maximus the great philosopher calls ‘Judea’ practical philosophy and ‘Israel’ theoretical PG90.325A philosophy, because Judea translates as ‘confession of sins’, which is the beginning of the prac- tical way, while Israel translates as ‘mind seeing God’. The practical man knows God, namely, that he is judge of the actions in the life of each and on this account he purifies himself, while the theoretical man comprehending his magnificence worthily magnifies him. New Judea may also be interpreted as the Church from the nations, which having con- fessed her old sins has recognized the true God. The same is also the new Israel, for the great Paul says, For he is not a Jew, who is one outwardly; neither is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, But he is a Jew, who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter.

3 His place has come to be in peace, and his dwelling-place in Zion. If Jerusalem had not been attacked and captured many times, there would be some reason for these things to be said about it, but now ‘peace’ is what he calls the man who is at peace, on the one hand towards people, in loving them, and on the other hand towards the passions, in subduing them. In such a man there comes to be a place capable of containing God. Zion translates as ‘watch tower’, and may be interpreted as the one who sees the incursions of hostile forces from afar.

4 There he has crushed the might of bows, shield and sword and war. In a historical sense, these words are about the destruction of the Assyrians. ‘There’ means in Zion. ‘He has crushed’, in the sense of, he has abolished the forces of archers. The ‘shield’ [ὅπλον], which can also mean ‘weapon’ in general, does not here denote an offensive weapon, but indicates defensive armour, such as the breastplate and any suchlike - hence the hoplite is the soldier covered in defensive armour, in contrast to light troops. ‘Sword’ is the broad- sword. He placed the bows first because the Assyrians prevailed for the most part through ar- chery. Then by the shield he denoted every kind of defensive armour and by the sword every Judith 9.7 kind of offensive weapon. Finally, he added war itself, on account of which these exist and of which these are instruments and implements. In an anagogical sense, ‘bows’ are the wiles and contrivances of the demons by whom the fiery arrows of the passions are discharged. The devil’s defensive weapon is God’s permission and the power of the enemy against us, for then when shot at by us he feels nothing. His cutting sword is our separation from God that comes about through the passions. ‘War’ is the struggle or else the devil himself, for just as God is peace, so the opposing demon is war. All these things God at once abolished in the man who is peaceful and watchful, as we said.

5 You give light marvellously from eternal mountains. ‘Eternal mountains’ is what he calls the heavens, ‘mountains’ on account of their height and ‘eternal’ on account of the long duration and long lasting nature of their being. He is saying that you illumine with the light of joy those in the darkness of sorrow and with the light of assistance those in the darkness of despair.

6α All those void of understanding in their heart were troubled. Being unexpectedly slain, they were troubled. He called them ‘void of understanding’ as fighting against God.

6β They slept their sleep and found nothing.

The besiegers went to sleep with great hopes, but they did not find anything of what they expected. It is also possible to interpret it in a different way, namely, that the besieged seeing their enemies all around and not comprehending the power of God were troubled; this indeed is what the story tells. Then they went to sleep in the expectation of being taken, and in the morning they did not find what they expected, or else they did not find any enemy, since one hundred and eighty-five thousand had been slain in that night. The ‘in their heart’ is redundant as an idiom, or else it is an intensification of their lack of understanding.