Exposition of Psalm 118 10.34.1–11.12.3
Latin text: CSEL 62 (Latin text: Schenkl/Petschenig, CSEL 62, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (csel-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Exposition 10, chapter 34
10.34.1CSEL 62:223–224
Sequitur uersus quartus: fiat nunc mi is e ricor di a tua, u t exhortetur me secundum uerbum tuum s eruo t u o. aliqui habent in hoc loco: consoletur me. sed etiam in apostolo legimus exhortationem pro consolatione dictam et consolationem pro exhortatione. magna est ergo misericordia dei, quae non solum remissionem tribuit peccatorum, sed etiam certantibus adhibet exhortationis calcaria, ne suscepti certaminis passiones inbelli formidine derelinquant. non ergo misericordiam, quasi is qui uictus cedat, aut ut ueniam peccator implorat, sed ut dei miseratione succinctus maiora uiribus tanto munere fultus expediat. egregiam et singularem prophetae spectato uirtutem.
The fourth verse follows: “Let your mercy now be, so as to exhort me according to your word to your servant.” Some have in this place: “so as to console me.” But in the apostle too we read exhortation said for consolation and consolation for exhortation. Great, then, is the mercy of God, which not only grants forgiveness of sins but also applies the spurs of exhortation to those who contend, lest they abandon the sufferings of the contest they have undertaken from unwarlike fear. He does not, then, ask for mercy as one who yields defeated, or as a sinner implores pardon, but so that, girded by God’s compassion and supported by so great a gift, he may carry out things greater than his strength. Behold the excellent and singular virtue of the prophet.
Ps 119:76 (118:76 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:4 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 76: God’s mercy not only forgives but exhorts those who strive; the psalmist asks for strength, not relief.
- Ps 118:76 (Ps 119:76; Greek παρακαλέσαι, “exhort” or “console”); 2 Cor 1:4–6. The spaced letters of the verse in the digital text are translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letters in the digital text): consoletur r m e → consoletur me.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.34.1 (CSEL 62:223–224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-34-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-34-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.34.2CSEL 62:224
alius enim humiliatus aerumnis posceret, ut circa eum temptamenta desinerent et sedare aduersa dominus dignaretur, ne tribulationum procella in eum saeuiret; iste autem tamquam athleta fortis et patiens, qui exerceri et ungi animam suam tribulationibus nosset, non tristia dimouere, non inpugnantia declinare desiderat, non illud omne desinere quod fatigationem et laborem adferret exposcit, sed maioris in tempore laboris sui aduersus temptationum procellas dari sibi uerbum consolationis exposcit, ut possit forti quae ingruunt mente tolerare, ne aliqua maestitiae perturbatione lassetur. in eo igitur obsecrat misericordiam dei, ne auxilio destitutus expediendi coeptam militiam derelinquat.
For another, humbled by miseries, would ask that the temptations around him cease and that the Lord deign to calm adversities, lest the storm of tribulations rage against him; but this one, like a strong and patient athlete, who knew that his soul was exercised and anointed by tribulations, does not wish to remove sad things or avoid attacks, does not ask that everything bringing weariness and labor should cease, but asks that in the time of his greater labor against the storms of temptations a word of consolation be given him, so that he may bear with strong mind what falls upon him and not be wearied by any disturbance of sadness. In this, then, he entreats God’s mercy, lest, deprived of help, he abandon the warfare he has begun to carry out.
Notes and citation
Summary: Like a strong athlete, the psalmist asks not to be spared trials but to be strengthened in them.
Topics: Suffering and affliction
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.34.2 (CSEL 62:224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-34-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-34-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 35
10.35.1CSEL 62:224
Denique adhortationis diuinae esse misericordiam euidens testimonium docet. Moysi enim dicit deus: miserebor cui misertus ero et misericordiam praestabo cui misericordiam praestitero. igitur non est uolentis neque currentis, sed miserentis dei. forte dicas: ergo non debemus uelle, currere? atqui neglegentes deus deserere consueuit.
Indeed clear testimony teaches that divine exhortation belongs to mercy. For God says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have had mercy, and I will show mercy to whom I have shown mercy.” So it is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy. Perhaps you say: then we ought not to will, to run? Yet God is wont to desert the negligent.
Exod 33:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 9:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 9:16 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s mercy, as Paul says, is not of him who wills or runs; yet God deserts the negligent.
- Exod 33:19; Rom 9:15–16. The digital text’s “misere b or” is read as “miserebor”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split word in the digital text): misere b or cui → miserebor cui.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.35.1 (CSEL 62:224; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-35-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-35-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.35.2CSEL 62:224–225
non ergo hoc dicit, sed quid dicat consideremus. non uolentis neque currentis hominis perseuerantia est; non est in hominis potestate, sed miserentis dei est, ut possis complere quae coeperis. denique iterum Moysi dicit: quia in hoc ipsum te suscitaui, ut ostendam in te uirtutem meam. colligitur ergo adhortationem diuinae misericordiae deputandam. unde sequitur: ergo cui uult miseretur et quem uult obdurat. hunc miseratus hortatur, illum non reuocat exsecratus. et uere misericordia est dei nostrarum militia passionum, per quam nobis peccata minuuntur. denique Lazarus pauper, quia in hac uita tolerauit mala complurima, in gremio Abrahae requiem consolationis inuenit, ille autem diues, qui consolationem habuit in saeculo, post curricula uitae huius fructum quietis amisit; quem si miseratus esset deus, castigasset potius in hoc saeculo, ut postea non flagellaretur. denique Iob, licet grauiter flagellatus et quidem flagellis plurimis inopiae, amissionis filiorum, doloribus corporis, obprobriis amicorum, consolatione tamen fruitur aeterna.
He does not, then, say this, but let us consider what he says. Perseverance does not belong to the man who wills or runs; it is not in man’s power, but it belongs to God who has mercy, that you can complete what you have begun. Indeed again he says to Moses: “For this very purpose I raised you up, that I might show my power in you.” It is gathered, then, that exhortation is to be attributed to divine mercy. Hence follows: “So he has mercy on whom he wills, and whom he wills he hardens.” This one, having mercy, he exhorts; that one, cursing, he does not call back. And truly the warfare of our sufferings is God’s mercy, by which our sins are lessened. Indeed the poor man Lazarus, because in this life he endured very many evils, found the rest of consolation in Abraham’s bosom; but that rich man, who had consolation in the world, after the course of this life lost the fruit of rest; if God had had mercy on him, he would rather have chastised him in this world, so that afterwards he would not be scourged. Indeed Job, though grievously scourged, and with many scourges of poverty, loss of children, pains of body, reproaches of friends, nevertheless enjoys eternal consolation.
Rom 9:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 9:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 9:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 16:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 16:22 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Perseverance is God’s gift; trials are his mercy, as Lazarus and Job show, while the rich man’s comfort here led to loss.
- Rom 9:17–18 (the words to Pharaoh, which Ambrose attributes to Moses); Luke 16:22–25; Job 1–2; 42. Ambrose’s reading of Romans 9 is translated as written. The digital text’s “i-azarus” is read as “Lazarus”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): i-azarus → Lazarus.
Topics: Perseverance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.35.2 (CSEL 62:224–225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-35-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-35-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 36
10.36.1CSEL 62:225
Ergo quanto maiores tribulationes fuerint, tanto uberior consolatio reseruatur. et tamen, ne cadas atque succumbas, quanto maiores temptationes uideris, tanto magis roga uerbum dei, ut adhortationem tibi adferat, sicut rogauit et Paulus, qui ait: benedictus deus et pater domini nostri Iesu Christi, pater misericordiarum et deus omnis consolationis, qui nos exhortatur in omni angustia, ut possimus et ipsi consolari eos qui sunt in omni tribulatione per exhortationem qua et ipsi aduocamur a deo. quoniam sicut abundant passiones Christi in nobis, ita per Christum abundat etiam consolatio nostra.
So the greater the tribulations, the more abundant the consolation reserved. And yet, lest you fall and succumb, the greater the temptations you see, the more ask the word of God to bring you exhortation, as Paul too asked, who says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all consolation, who exhorts us in every distress, so that we too may be able to console those who are in any tribulation through the exhortation with which we ourselves are called by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so through Christ our consolation also abounds.”
2 Cor 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The greater the trial, the greater the consolation; we should ask for God’s exhortation, as Paul did.
- 2 Cor 1:3–5. The digital text’s “be nedictus” and “misericor diarum” are read as “benedictus” and “misericordiarum”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split word in the digital text): be nedictus deus → benedictus deus; misericor diarum → misericordiarum.
Topics: Suffering and affliction
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.36.1 (CSEL 62:225; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-36-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-36-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.36.2CSEL 62:225–226
tanta ui apostolicae petitionis rogat, ut consolationem accipiat a domino in omni tribulatione, quo non solum ipse induat tolerantiam, uerum etiam alios consoletur, ut et ipsi possint propriae mentis angustias sustinere. si igitur ipse in omni tribulatione idoneus fueris adprobatus, tunc demum dignus eris qui consolationem accipias in omni tribulatione. et tamen non omnis passio digna consolatione est, sed quae passio per Christum est, haec consolationem Christi meretur.
With such force of apostolic petition he asks to receive consolation from the Lord in every tribulation, so that not only might he himself put on endurance, but also console others, so that they too may be able to bear the distresses of their own minds. If, then, you yourself have been proved fit in every tribulation, then at last you will be worthy to receive consolation in every tribulation. And yet not every suffering is worthy of consolation, but the suffering that is through Christ merits the consolation of Christ.
2 Cor 1:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 1:5 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Consolation is given to those proved in tribulation, and only suffering for Christ merits Christ’s consolation.
- 2 Cor 1:4–5.
Topics: Suffering and affliction
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.36.2 (CSEL 62:225–226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-36-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-36-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 37
10.37.1CSEL 62:226
Pulchre autem addidit: secundum uerbum tuum seruo tuo. ipse enim dominus pro suo nomine proeliantibus auxilium pollicetur dicens: cum ergo tradent uos, nolite cogitare quomodo aut quid loquamini; dabitur nobis in illa die quid loquamini; non enim uos estis qui loquimini, sed pater meus qui loquitur in uobis. ergo, ne inpares simus certamini, diuinum semper oremus auxilium, ut nobis tribuat adhortationem; si enim habeamus eum qui nos exhortetur, non facile cedimus.
And he beautifully added: “according to your word to your servant.” For the Lord himself promises help to those who fight for his name, saying: “When they hand you over, do not think how or what you should speak; it will be given you in that day what to speak; for it is not you who speak, but my Father who speaks in you.” So, lest we be unequal to the contest, let us always pray for divine help, that he may grant us exhortation; for if we have him who exhorts us, we do not easily yield.
Ps 119:76 (118:76 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ promised to give words to those handed over for his name; we should pray for his exhortation.
- Ps 119:76; Matt 10:19–20. The digital text’s “see u n dum” and “dabitur nobis” are read as “secundum” and “dabitur uobis”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): see u n dum → secundum.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.37.1 (CSEL 62:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-37-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-37-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 38
10.38.1CSEL 62:226
Plerique autem habent: qui consoletur nos, nec abhorret a uero. instigantis enim aliquem blanda quaedam est exhortatio, quae certantem studio laudis accendat et uelut quadam consolatione demulceat, ne laborum asperitate reuocetur.
But many have “to console us,” and it is not far from the truth. For the exhortation of one urging someone on is a kind of gentle thing, which kindles the contender with zeal for praise and soothes him as with a kind of consolation, lest he be called back by the harshness of labors.
Ps 119:76 (118:76 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The variant “console” is close to “exhort”, for encouragement comforts the contender.
- Ps 119:76.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.38.1 (CSEL 62:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-38-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-38-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 39
10.39.1CSEL 62:226
Sequitur uersus quintus: ueniant mihi miserationes tuae et uiuam, quoniam lex tua meditatio mea est. cui lex dei meditatio est, huic praesto sunt misericordiae, ut uiuat in aeternum. quomodo enim beatus quis potest esse sine miseratione diuina? beatus autem qui in lege domini die ac nocte meditatur. sed qui meditatur
The fifth verse follows: “Let your compassions come to me, and I shall live, for your law is my meditation.” To him for whom God’s law is meditation, mercies are at hand, so that he may live for ever. For how can anyone be blessed without divine compassion? But “blessed is he who meditates on the law of the Lord day and night.” But he who meditates
Ps 119:77 (118:77 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 1:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 77: God’s mercies are at hand for those who meditate on his law.
- Ps 118:77 (Ps 119:77); Ps 1:1–2. The digital text’s “lex tua me meditatio” is read as “lex tua meditatio”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray word in the digital text): lex tua me meditatio → lex tua meditatio.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.39.1 (CSEL 62:226; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-39-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-39-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.39.2CSEL 62:226–227
in lege eruditur in lege et quem lex erudierit dominus erudiuit, qui locutus est legem. ideoque scriptum est: b e at u s quem tu erudieris, domine, et de lege tua docueris eum. discamus ergo et nos in lege meditari, non auocemur saecularibus inlecebris, non occupemur inpedimentis, sed semper ad legem simus adtenti. scriptum est enim: os iusti meditabitur sapientiam et lingua eius loquetur iudicium. hoc in ueteri testamento; audi dicentem et in nouo: prope est uerbum in ore tuo et in corde tuo.
on the law is instructed in the law, and whom the law has instructed, the Lord has instructed, who spoke the law. And so it is written: “Blessed is he whom you instruct, Lord, and teach from your law.” Let us too, then, learn to meditate on the law; let us not be called away by worldly enticements, not be occupied with hindrances, but be always attentive to the law. For it is written: “The mouth of the righteous will meditate wisdom, and his tongue will speak judgment.” This in the old testament; hear him say in the new too: “The word is near, in your mouth and in your heart.”
Ps 94:12 (93:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:30 (36:30 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Whoever meditates on the law is taught by God; the righteous speak wisdom with the word near in mouth and heart.
- Ps 94:12 (LXX 93:12); Ps 37:30 (LXX 36:30); Rom 10:8. The digital text’s “b e at u s” is read as “beatus”.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.39.2 (CSEL 62:226–227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-39-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-39-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.39.3CSEL 62:227
et maxime hanc meditationem sacerdotibus necessariam ostendit ad Titum scribens, quia debet episcopus amplecti eum qui secundum doctrinam est fidelem sermonem, ut potens sit exhortari in doctrina sana et eos qui contradicunt arguere. quod utique sollicitae atque intentae meditationis est, non perfunctoriae lectionis. et ad Timotheum scribens ait: adtende lectioni, exhortationi, doctrinae. lectio enim frequens nec intermissione aliqua destituta doctrinae munus operatur.
And he shows this meditation to be especially necessary for priests, writing to Titus that a bishop must hold fast the faithful word which is according to the teaching, so that he may be able to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict. This surely belongs to anxious and intent meditation, not to perfunctory reading. And writing to Timothy he says: “Attend to reading, to exhortation, to teaching.” For frequent reading, not deprived by any interruption, performs the office of teaching.
Titus 1:9 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 4:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Bishops above all must meditate on Scripture to teach and refute, as Paul told Titus and Timothy.
- Titus 1:9; 1 Tim 4:13.
Topics: Church office, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.39.3 (CSEL 62:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-39-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-39-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 40
10.40.1CSEL 62:227
Quod autem poscit ut uiuat, frequenter ostendimus huius corporis uitam uerae uitae gratiam non habere, sed illam ueram uitam fore, cuius bona unusquisque sanctorum credit se uidere in terra uiuentium. quod credimus nos uisuros, non praesens utique, sed futurum est.
But as to his asking that he may live, we have often shown that the life of this body does not have the grace of true life, but that that will be the true life whose good things each of the saints believes he will see in the land of the living. What we believe we shall see is surely not present but future.
Ps 27:13 (26:13 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The true life he asks for is the future life in the land of the living.
- Ps 27:13 (LXX 26:13).
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.40.1 (CSEL 62:227; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-40-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-40-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 41
10.41.1CSEL 62:227–228
Sequitur uersus sextus: con fundantur sup erbi, quoni am iniuste iniquitatem gesserunt in m e; ego autem exercebor in praeceptis tuis. superius ait idem propheta: si reddidi retribuentibus mihi mala. numquid ille maledicit his qui in se iniqua gesserunt? non utique; uidebat enim caritatem etiam inimicissimis deferendam, cum uenisset euangelii praedicator. unde arbitror quia quasi medicus uelit eos ipsos sanare qui laeserint, ut iniquitatis suae contemplatione conuenti de propriis flagitiis erubescant, in quo
The sixth verse follows: “Let the proud be put to shame, for they have unjustly done iniquity against me; but I will be exercised in your precepts.” Above the same prophet says: “If I have repaid those who repay me with evil.” Does he curse those who did wicked things against him? Surely not; for he saw that love must be shown even to the bitterest enemies, since the preacher of the gospel had come. Hence I think that, like a physician, he wishes to heal the very ones who hurt him, so that, confronted by the contemplation of their iniquity, they may blush for their own wrongdoings; in this
Ps 119:78 (118:78 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 7:4 (7:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:44 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 78: the psalmist does not curse his enemies but, like a physician, wishes them to blush and be healed.
- Ps 118:78 (Ps 119:78); Ps 7:4 (LXX 7:5); Matt 5:44. The spaced letters of the verse in the digital text are translated as written.
Topics: Ethics, Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.41.1 (CSEL 62:227–228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-41-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-41-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.41.2CSEL 62:228
non solum propheticam incipiunt probare patientiam, uerum etiam emendare insolentiam suam. pudor enim plerumque correctio est nostra et, dum incipit nos pudere commissi, ne diutius pudeat, deserere quae erubescenda sunt admonemur. non ergo maledicit propheta, sed quasi bonus medicus uult illos cognoscere quid fecerint, ut, cum in suam conscientiam receperint quanta suorum sit con-
they not only begin to approve the prophet’s patience, but also to correct their own insolence. For shame is often our correction, and when we begin to be ashamed of what we have done, we are warned to abandon what is to be blushed at, so that we may not be ashamed longer. The prophet, then, does not curse, but like a good physician wishes them to know what they have done, so that, when they have taken into their conscience how great is the
Notes and citation
Summary: Shame often corrects; the psalmist wants his enemies to recognize their sin.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.41.2 (CSEL 62:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-41-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-41-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.41.3CSEL 62:228
luuies delictorum, incipiant erubescere, erubescentes autem possint prioribus renuntiare peccatis. considera mihi nunc aliquos fornicantes, inequitantes uiduis ac pupillis, aliena rapientes et in his non solum non erubescere, sed etiam gloriari solere, tamquam uel pulchritudinis uel potentiae suae titulos deferentes, de quibus bene dixit apostolus quod eorum gloria in confusione ipso-
filth of their offenses, they may begin to blush, and, blushing, may renounce their former sins. Consider for me now some fornicators, men who ride roughshod over widows and orphans, who seize what belongs to others, and who in these things not only do not blush but are even wont to boast, as though bringing forward titles of their beauty or power, of whom the apostle well said that their glory is in their shame,
Phil 3:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Some sinners even boast of fornication and oppression, glorying in their shame.
- Phil 3:19. The digital text’s “inequitantes” is translated “ride roughshod over”.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.41.3 (CSEL 62:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-41-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-41-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.41.4CSEL 62:228
r u m, eo detestabiliores ipsis criminibus suis, quod, cum tanta committant, non confundantur. uerum eorum si quis postea ueniat in ecclesiam, credat in dominum Iesum, audiat euangelium, conpungatur corde, tunc demum incipiet quam atrocia et grauia deliquerit agnoscere et in his quae agnouerit erubescere.
the more detestable than their very crimes because, though they commit such things, they are not put to shame. But if any of them afterwards comes into the church, believes in the Lord Jesus, hears the gospel, and is pierced in heart, then at last he will begin to recognize how atrocious and grave are the offenses he has committed and to blush at what he has recognized.
Acts 2:37 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: When such men come to the church and believe, they begin at last to see and be ashamed of their sins.
- Acts 2:37.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.41.4 (CSEL 62:228; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-41-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-41-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 42
10.42.1CSEL 62:228–229
Quid sit autem exerceri in praeceptis domini nostri, quia dixit: ego autem exercebor in praeceptis tuis, in lege didicisti, hoc est: si bos aduersarii ceciderit uel iumentum, ut non deserendum existimes, sed potius eleuandum. quod autem ait: iniuste iniquitatem gesserunt, in quem hoc dicatur considera nisi in eum, qui forte iuste iniquitatem gerat, id est: si laesus per legem se cupiat uindicare iuxta praecepta Moysi, iuste uidetur facere iniquitatem, sed non secundum euangelii praecepta. et ideo ait: non ueni uocare iustos, sed peccatores, quia Iudaei ad uindicandum se auctoritate legis utuntur.
But what it is to be exercised in the precepts of our Lord, since he said, “But I will be exercised in your precepts,” you have learned in the law, that is: if your adversary’s ox or beast of burden has fallen, you should not think it should be left but rather lifted up. But as to his saying, “they have unjustly done iniquity,” consider against whom this is said, if not one who perhaps does iniquity justly; that is, if, when injured, he wishes to avenge himself by the law according to the precepts of Moses, he seems to do iniquity justly, but not according to the precepts of the gospel. And so he says: “I came not to call the righteous but sinners,” because the Jews use the authority of the law to avenge themselves.
Exod 23:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 22:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 21:24 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 9:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Being exercised in God’s precepts means helping even an enemy; vengeance permitted by the law is not allowed by the gospel.
- Exod 23:4–5; Deut 22:4; Exod 21:24; Matt 9:13. The digital text’s “ueliumentum” is read as “uel iumentum”. Ambrose’s remark on the Jews is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): ueliumentum → uel iumentum.
Topics: Ethics, Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.42.1 (CSEL 62:228–229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-42-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-42-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 43
10.43.1CSEL 62:229
Habes hoc et in apostolo: sobrii estote et iuste. non solum sobrios nos, sed etiam iuste sobrios esse debere docuit euidenter. potest aliquis et sobrius esse et non iuste sobrius, ut sobrius sit a uino et non sit sobrius aequitate atque iustitia — est enim crapula iniquitatis —, potest et aliquis ebrietati et luxuriae semper indulgens, dum aliena tamen diripere conatur, eo occupatus studio sobrius esse a uino et non sobrius a rapinis; nec iste iuste sobrius.
You have this in the apostle too: “Be sober, and justly.” He taught clearly that we ought to be not only sober but justly sober. Someone can be sober and not justly sober, so that he is sober from wine and is not sober in equity and justice (for there is a drunkenness of iniquity); someone too who always indulges in drunkenness and luxury, while yet trying to seize what belongs to others, occupied with that pursuit, can be sober from wine and not sober from robberies; nor is he justly sober.
1 Cor 15:34 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul calls us to be justly sober: sober not only from wine but from injustice.
- 1 Cor 15:34.
Topics: Ethics, Self-control in food and drink
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.43.1 (CSEL 62:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-43-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-43-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.43.2CSEL 62:229
ideo apostolus admonet, ut sit in nobis iusta sobrietas. denique addidit: et nolite peccare. qui enim peccat, etsi sobrius sit, non potest tamen tamquam iuste sobrius praedicari. nolite, inquit, seduci — hoc est: ne alieni erroris ebrietas uos faciat temulentos —; corrumpunt bonos mores conloquia mala, eo quod ore et labiis infidelium tamquam ebrietas quaedam moribus audientis infunditur. meritoque addidit:
So the apostle warns that there should be just sobriety in us. Indeed he added: “and do not sin.” For he who sins, even if he is sober, cannot be proclaimed as justly sober. “Do not be deceived,” he says (that is, let not the drunkenness of another’s error make you drunk); “bad company corrupts good morals,” because from the mouth and lips of unbelievers a kind of drunkenness is poured into the morals of the hearer. And rightly he added:
1 Cor 15:33 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:34 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sobriety must be joined to sinlessness; bad company makes one drunk with error.
- 1 Cor 15:33–34.
Topics: Self-control in food and drink
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.43.2 (CSEL 62:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-43-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-43-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.43.3CSEL 62:229
sobrii estote iuste et nolite peccare. ignorantiam enim dei quidam habent, ut sobrius ille sit, qui non habet ignorantiam dei nec titubat ebrietate perfidiae; iuste autem sobrius, in quo operum gratia cum fidei sobrietate resplendet.
“Be sober justly and do not sin. For some have ignorance of God,” so that he is sober who does not have ignorance of God nor staggers with the drunkenness of unbelief; but he is justly sober in whom the grace of works shines with the sobriety of faith.
1 Cor 15:34 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: True sobriety is knowledge of God joined to good works.
- 1 Cor 15:34.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.43.3 (CSEL 62:229; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-43-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-43-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 44
10.44.1CSEL 62:229–230
Sequitur uersus septimus: conuertant u r ad me qua timent t e et qui sciunt testimonia tua. alius habet maxime iuxta Graecum: conuertantur mihi. si ad me legimus, conuertantur qui timent deum, de commissis propriis erubescant uel certe luant supplicia delictorum, conuertantur autem ad dei seruulum propheticamque doctrinam, ut dediscant pudenda committere et tanti emendatione doctoris exuant mores suos delictorumque labe detersa uirtutum induant disciplinam.
The seventh verse follows: “Let those who fear you turn to me, and those who know your testimonies.” Another has, especially according to the Greek: “Let them turn to me” (as dative). If we read “to me,” let those who fear God turn, blush for their own misdeeds, or certainly pay the penalties of their offenses, but turn to the little servant of God and the prophetic teaching, so as to unlearn the doing of shameful things and, by the correction of so great a teacher, put off their ways and, the stain of offenses wiped away, put on the discipline of the virtues.
Ps 119:79 (118:79 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 79: those who fear God should turn to the prophet’s teaching and put off their sins.
- Ps 118:79 (Ps 119:79). Ambrose distinguishes “ad me” and the dative “mihi” of the Greek. The digital text’s “conuertant u r ad me qua timent t e” is read as “conuertantur ad me qui timent te”.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.44.1 (CSEL 62:229–230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-44-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-44-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.44.2CSEL 62:230
si autem ita legimus: conuertantur mihi, hoc est: quoniam exercebor in praeceptis tuis, [ut] mihi conuertantur, mihi iam non peccanti, iam non erranti. conuertantur, inquit, qui timentes te propriis renuntiauere peccatis, ut consortio iustorum propheta ad uberius prouehatur et ipse de ea gratia, quae in ipso est, plurimum conferat audientibus. conuertantur igitur iam non peccante me iusti ad iustum. de testimoniis autem puto iam non opus esse repetere, cum ante iam dictum sit.
But if we read thus, “Let them turn to me,” that is: since I will be exercised in your precepts, let them turn to me, to me who now no longer sin, who no longer go astray. “Let them turn,” he says, “who, fearing you, have renounced their own sins,” so that by the fellowship of the righteous the prophet may be carried forward more abundantly and may himself confer very much on his hearers from the grace that is in him. Let the righteous, then, turn to the righteous, now that I no longer sin. As for the testimonies, I think there is no need to repeat, since it has already been said before.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Ps 119:79 (118:79 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Or: let those who have renounced sin turn to the righteous prophet, so that both may grow.
- The editor deletes “ut”.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.44.2 (CSEL 62:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-44-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-44-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 45
10.45.1CSEL 62:230
Sequitur uersus octauus: fiat cor meum inmaculatum in iustificationibus tuis, ut non confundar. quanto excelsior est propheta uel munere prophetiae uel regni gratia, tanto magis sequitur humilitatem et docet quid nos debeamus imitari, eo quod propheta tantus inmaculatum cor fieri sibi deposcit. supra postulauit: cor mundum crea in me, deus.
The eighth verse follows: “Let my heart be made spotless in your statutes, so that I may not be put to shame.” The more exalted the prophet is, whether by the gift of prophecy or by the grace of the kingdom, the more he pursues humility and teaches what we ought to imitate, in that so great a prophet asks for his heart to be made spotless. Above he asked: “Create a clean heart in me, O God.”
Ps 119:80 (118:80 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 51:10 (50:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 80: so great a prophet humbly asks for a spotless heart.
- Ps 118:80 (Ps 119:80); Ps 51:10 (LXX 50:12). The digital text’s “f iat” and “in maculatum” are read as “fiat” and “inmaculatum”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split words in the digital text): f iat cor meum in maculatum → fiat cor meum inmaculatum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.45.1 (CSEL 62:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-45-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-45-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.45.2CSEL 62:230
non dixit fac, sed crea, ut de integro cor eius instauret et mundet. maior quidam in hoc sermone ambitus est; grande enim cor est a domino creatum, quod recipiat uerbum de caelestibus uirtutibus ac potestatibus, grande cor, quod recipiat ipsum dominum dicentem: inhabitabo in illis et deambulabo in ipsis. ut haec igitur recipiat, creatorem sibi cordis sui non angelum fieri, sed ipsum dominum deprecatur, qui caelum creauit et terram.
He did not say “make” but “create,” so that he might restore and cleanse his heart anew. There is a greater scope in this word; for great is the heart created by the Lord, which can receive the Word from the heavenly virtues and powers; great the heart that can receive the Lord himself, who says: “I will dwell in them and walk among them.” So that it may receive these things, then, he prays that the creator of his heart be not an angel but the Lord himself, who created heaven and earth.
Ps 51:10 (50:12 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 6:16 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: He asks God to create his heart anew, a heart great enough to receive God himself.
- Ps 51:10; 2 Cor 6:16.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.45.2 (CSEL 62:230; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-45-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-45-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 46
10.46.1CSEL 62:230–231
Et bene ait inmaculatum, quia cor hominis ueluti indecentium cogitationum conluuione maculatur. si cogitatio ipsa polluit, quanto etiam facta ipsa contaminant! noli extraordinariis cogitationibus [aduersa naturae] contaminare penetralia, ne id inquinamento graui polluas quod putas habere te mundum. manus lauas, quasi possis crimen eluere, cum mentem tuam inmundis cogitationibus inquinatam lauare non possis. et Pilatus manus lauit, sed cor suum lauare non potuit; mansit scelere pollutus, quamuis manus suas aquae infusione lauisset.
And he well says “spotless,” because the heart of man is stained as it were by the filth of unseemly thoughts. If thought itself pollutes, how much more do deeds themselves contaminate! Do not contaminate your inner rooms with extraordinary thoughts, lest you pollute with grave defilement what you think you have clean. You wash your hands, as if you could wash away a crime, when you cannot wash your mind defiled with unclean thoughts. Pilate too washed his hands, but he could not wash his heart; he remained polluted with crime, though he had washed his hands with the pouring of water.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Matt 27:24 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Unclean thoughts stain the heart, which, like Pilate’s, cannot be washed by washing hands.
- Matt 27:24. The editor deletes “aduersa naturae” (“contrary to nature”). The digital text’s “manus lauas. quasi” is read as “manus lauas, quasi”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text): manus lauas. quasi → manus lauas, quasi.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.46.1 (CSEL 62:230–231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-46-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-46-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.46.2CSEL 62:231
audi, quia et cogitatio inquinat: non quod intrat in os coinquinat hominem, sed quod exit de ore. de corde enim exeunt cogitationes malae, homicidia, adulteria, fornicationes, furta, falsa testimonia, blasphemiae. haec sunt quae coinquinant hominem. si ergo intus coinquinaris, munda prius quod intus est.
Hear that thought too defiles: “Not what enters into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are what defile a man.” If, then, you are defiled within, cleanse first what is within.
Matt 15:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 15:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 15:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:26 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ teaches that evil comes from the heart; we must cleanse the inside first.
- Matt 15:11, 19–20; Matt 23:26. The digital text’s “inqmnat” and “maiae” are read as “inquinat” and “malae”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): inqmnat → inquinat; cogitationes maiae → cogitationes malae.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.46.2 (CSEL 62:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-46-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-46-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.46.3CSEL 62:231
si quod intus est mundaueris, et exteriora mundasti, ut si aqua turum fluat frustra lacum putes esse mundandum, si fons profluat caenulentus; receptacula enim tersisse nihil proderit, cum in fonte sit uitium. ipse tibi ante purgandus es, ut fluat omne quod purum est. cor tuum cogitationum tuarum est scaturrigo. in illo fonte uel turbida aqua inpuritatis euomitur uel sincera pietatis unda prorumpit.
If you cleanse what is within, you have also cleansed the outside; as, if water flows turbid, you would think in vain that the pool should be cleaned, if the spring flows muddy; for it will profit nothing to have wiped the reservoirs when the fault is in the spring. You must first be purified yourself, so that all that is pure may flow. Your heart is the wellspring of your thoughts. From that spring either the turbid water of impurity is spewed out or the clear wave of godliness bursts forth.
Prov 4:23 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The heart is the spring of thoughts; cleanse the spring and the stream runs clean.
- Prov 4:23. The digital text’s “rnundaueris” and “turum” are read as “mundaueris” and “turbida”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): rnundaueris → mundaueris.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.46.3 (CSEL 62:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-46-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-46-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 10, chapter 47
10.47.1CSEL 62:231
Didicisti cor esse mundandum; disce quemadmodum mundes. mundat hunc fontem iustificatio legitima, hoc est confessio peccatorum. denique publicanus ille, qui peccata propria fatebatur, iustificatus magis de templo quam Pharisaeus exiuit, quia ieiunia sua et munera Pharisaeus atque innocentiam praeferebat. munda ergo aquam tuam, illam aquam de qua dictum est: aqua alta consilium in corde uiri.
You have learned that the heart must be cleansed; learn how you may cleanse it. Lawful justification cleanses this spring, that is, the confession of sins. Indeed that tax collector who confessed his own sins went out of the temple justified rather than the Pharisee, because the Pharisee put forward his fasts and gifts and innocence. Cleanse, then, your water, that water of which it was said: “Counsel in the heart of a man is deep water.”
Luke 18:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 18:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 20:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The heart is cleansed by confession of sins, as the tax collector was justified.
- Luke 18:10–14; Prov 20:5.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.47.1 (CSEL 62:231; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-47-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-47-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.47.2CSEL 62:231–232
bonam tibi aquam natura dedit, nisi eam caeno tuo polluas; ipsa te diluit, si pura, si simplex, si etiam naturalis sit, si nihil habeat sordidum atque terrenum. quid mali est, si ea polluat aqua quae mundare debeat! sed non est aqua tua quae te polluit, ista aqua aliena est. denique dictum est tibi: ab aqua aliena abstine te. aliena aqua mentitur et fallit et contrarium naturae profluit. ideo ait: filii alieni mentiti sunt mihi;
Nature gave you good water, unless you pollute it with your mud; it washes you if it is pure, simple, even natural, if it has nothing sordid and earthly. What evil it is if the water that should cleanse pollutes! But it is not your water that pollutes you; that water belongs to another. Indeed it was said to you: “Abstain from another’s water.” Another’s water lies and deceives and flows contrary to nature. Therefore he says: “Foreign sons have lied to me;
Prov 9:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 18:44 (17:45 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Our nature’s water is good; what defiles is the foreign water of sin.
- Prov 9:18 (Greek addition, “abstain from strange water”); Ps 18:44–45 (LXX 17:45–46).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.47.2 (CSEL 62:231–232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-47-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-47-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
10.47.3CSEL 62:232
nam si alieni non fuissent, utique non fefellissent. nemo ergo glorietur castum se habere cor, quemadmodum Salomon dixit, sed qui gloriatur in domino glorietur, qui sanctis suis cor mundum creare dignatus est et inmaculatum facere iustificationibus suis. quae sint iustificationes, audisti dicentem: dic iniquitates tuas, ut iustificeris. ergo qui iniquitates dicit iustificatur, qui autem iustificatur non confunditur, quia pudorem peccatorum matura confessione praeuenit.
for if they had not been foreign, surely they would not have deceived.” Let no one, then, boast that he has a chaste heart, as Solomon said, but “let him who boasts boast in the Lord,” who has deigned to create a clean heart in his saints and to make it spotless by his statutes. What the statutes are, you have heard him say: “Tell your iniquities, so that you may be justified.” He, then, who tells his iniquities is justified, and he who is justified is not put to shame, because he has forestalled the shame of sins by timely confession.
Prov 20:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:31 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 51:10 (50:12 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 43:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:80 (118:80 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: No one may boast of a pure heart; God makes it spotless, and confession forestalls shame.
- Prov 20:9; 1 Cor 1:31; Ps 51:10; Isa 43:26 (Greek form); Ps 119:80.
Topics: Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 10.47.3 (CSEL 62:232; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-47-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/10-47-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 1
11.1.1CSEL 62:232–233
Incipit littera undecima Caph, quae Latina interpretatione significat curuati sunt. sonus interpretationis ipse nos docet quid sit curuari; qui enim inclinatur in terram, curuari uidetur. unde ait propheta sub hac littera: paulo minus consummauerunt me i n terra. curuatur autem qui agit paenitentiam, eo quod ceruicem suam curuat, dum humiliatur ad dominum, et interiorem magis ceruicem, id est ceruicem mentis et cordis. nam de hac ceruice dictum est: nec si flectas u t circulum collum tuum; qui enim cor suum non flectit, frustra ceruicem suam flexerit.
The eleventh letter, Caph, begins, which in Latin interpretation means “they have been bowed down.” The sound of the interpretation itself teaches us what it is to be bowed; for he who is inclined toward the earth seems to be bowed. Hence the prophet says under this letter: “They almost made an end of me on the earth.” But he is bowed who does penance, because he bows his neck while he is humbled before the Lord, and more the inner neck, that is, the neck of mind and heart. For of this neck it was said: “Not even if you bend your neck like a ring”; for he who does not bend his heart will have bent his neck in vain.
Ps 119:87 (118:87 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 58:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Caph means “bowed down”; the penitent must bow not only his neck but his heart.
- Ps 119:87; Isa 58:5 (Greek form). The digital text’s “i n terra” and “u t circulum” are read as “in terra” and “ut circulum”.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.1.1 (CSEL 62:232–233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 2
11.2.1CSEL 62:233
Docet etiam Hieremias propheta humilitatem hac interpretatione signari; ait enim sub hac littera in Threnis: quia non repellet in aeternum dominus, quia cum humiliauerit miserebitur secundum multitudinem misericordiae suae, quia non humiliauit toto corde suo neque reppulit filios hominum. bonum ergo curuari, ut humiliemur domino et dominus misereatur.
The prophet Jeremiah too teaches that humility is signified by this interpretation; for he says under this letter in the Lamentations: “For the Lord will not cast off for ever, for when he has humbled he will have mercy according to the multitude of his mercy, for he has not humbled from his whole heart nor cast off the sons of men.” It is good, then, to be bowed, so that we may be humbled before the Lord and the Lord may have mercy.
Lam 3:31 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:33 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Jeremiah’s verses under the same letter show that God has mercy on those he humbles.
- Lam 3:31–33 (Caph verses, Greek form).
Topics: Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.2.1 (CSEL 62:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.2.2CSEL 62:233
denique et in superioribus sub hac littera idem Hieremias propheta ostendens gemitus et humilitatem plebis ait: omnis populus eius ingemescentes, quaerentes panem, dederunt desideria sua in escam, ut reficiant animam. uide, domine, et aspice, quia facta est sine honore. ergo qui animae suae quaerit refectionem, humilitate curuetur, quo possit citius ad domini peruenire misericordiam.
Indeed earlier too, under this letter, the same prophet Jeremiah, showing the groans and humility of the people, says: “All her people are groaning, seeking bread; they have given their desirable things for food, to refresh the soul. See, Lord, and behold, for she has become without honor.” So he who seeks the refreshment of his soul, let him be bowed by humility, so that he may come more quickly to the Lord’s mercy.
Lam 1:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The groaning people of Lamentations show that humility leads to God’s mercy.
- Lam 1:11 (Caph verse, Greek form). The digital text’s “factaest” is read as “facta est”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): factaest → facta est.
Topics: Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.2.2 (CSEL 62:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-2-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 3
11.3.1CSEL 62:233
Ideoque, tamquam curuatus multo amplius anima ac mente quam corpore, exorsus est Dauid dicens: defecit in salutare tuum anima mea, et i n uerbum tuum spero. non usitatus sermo nos capiat, ut tamquam corporeae fatigationis defectionem huiusmodi iudicemus. neque enim hoc solum dixit: defecit anima mea, sed: defecit in salutare tuum.
And so, as one bowed far more in soul and mind than in body, David began, saying: “My soul has fainted for your salvation, and I hope in your word.” Let not the ordinary use of speech catch us, so that we judge this to be a fainting from bodily weariness. For he did not say only, “My soul has fainted,” but, “has fainted for your salvation.”
Ps 119:81 (118:81 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 81: the soul fainting for God’s salvation means intense longing, not bodily weakness.
- Ps 118:81 (Ps 119:81). The digital text’s “i n uerbum” is read as “in uerbum”.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.3.1 (CSEL 62:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.3.2CSEL 62:233
itaque ut de usu capiamus exemplum, si uerbi gratia dicamus: defecit ille in illam, uidetur exprimi hoc uerbo, quod totus in mulieris desiderium cupiditate transierit. et quicquid est quod uehementer expetimus, nisi eius maturiorem habeamus effectum, id nos uidetur longa quadam intentione lassare.
And so, to take an example from usage, if, for example, we say, “He has fainted for her,” this word seems to express that he has passed wholly into desire for the woman with longing. And whatever it is that we eagerly seek, unless we obtain it rather soon, seems to weary us by a kind of long straining.
Notes and citation
Summary: To faint for something means to be wholly consumed by longing for it.
- The digital text’s “ille m illam” is read as “ille in illam”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): ille m illam → ille in illam.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.3.2 (CSEL 62:233; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.3.3CSEL 62:233–234
amor inpatiens die noctuque meretricias fores pulsans, si diutius potiendi desideria differantur, ipsa deficit expectatione, dum sperat; in quo utique non finis amoris, sed incrementum est. et quicquid est desiderabile, si non contingat desideranti, deficit in illud et quasi ipsam
Impatient love, knocking day and night at the harlot’s doors, if the desires of possessing are put off too long, faints in the very expectation, while it hopes; in which surely there is not the end of love but its increase. And whatever is desirable, if it does not come to the one desiring it, he who desires faints for it and as it were
Notes and citation
Summary: Delayed desire increases rather than ends love.
- The digital text’s “sinon” is read as “si non”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): sinon contingat → si non contingat.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.3.3 (CSEL 62:233–234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.3.4CSEL 62:234
deponit animam qui desiderat. si tamen spes propior adsurgat, dat uires spes proxima, si autem absentia sit dilecti, eo ipso quod absentem desiderat qui concupiuit animae suae patitur defectionem. itaque quanto longius est illud quod desideratur, tanto magis deficit qui desiderat. id est ergo deficere, in id unumquemque
lays down his very soul. If, however, a nearer hope arises, the nearness of hope gives strength; but if the beloved is absent, by the very fact that he desires one absent, he who longs suffers a fainting of his soul. And so the farther off what is desired, the more he faints who desires. This, then, is to faint: for each one
Notes and citation
Summary: The farther the beloved, the more the lover faints with longing.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.3.4 (CSEL 62:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.3.5CSEL 62:234
totis studiis migrare quod diligat. illud cogitat, illi adhaeret, illud personat quod receperit diligendum, in id quadam animae defectione transfunditur, ut si mater filii expectet praesentiam, quemadmodum expectabat Tobiae uxor filium peregrinantem deficiens a desiderio et in angustiis constituta et tamquam resoluta uiribus. quid enim aliud nisi defectum quendam eius uerba significant? sed quo magis lassatur affectus, eo amplius amor crescit et, quo diutius abest qui desideratur, eo expectantis desideria maiore quadam ui amoris ignescunt. caro deficit, sed cupiditas alitur et augetur.
to pass with all his zeal into what he loves. He thinks of that, cleaves to that, speaks of that which he has taken to love; into that he is poured as by a kind of fainting of the soul, as when a mother awaits her son’s presence, as the wife of Tobit awaited her son on his travels, fainting with longing, set in distress and as it were loosened in her strength. For what else do her words signify but a kind of fainting? But the more the affection is wearied, the more love grows, and the longer the one desired is absent, the more the desires of the one waiting burn with a greater force of love. The flesh fails, but the longing is fed and increased.
Notes and citation
Summary: As Tobit’s wife fainted waiting for her son, love grows the more it longs.
- Tob 10:4–7 (Anna mourning for Tobias).
Extrabiblical texts: Tob 10:4 (Tobit [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.3.5 (CSEL 62:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-3-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 4
11.4.1CSEL 62:234
Hinc ergo colligere possumus quid sit: defecit in salutare tuum anima mea. etenim spiritui adhaerens anima deficit ab eo quod est anima et fit unus spiritus, quoniam qui adhaeret domino unus spiritus est. itaque sanctus
From this, then, we can gather what “My soul has fainted for your salvation” means. For the soul cleaving to the spirit fails from what it is as soul and becomes one spirit, since “he who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit.” And so the saint
Ps 119:81 (118:81 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 6:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The soul cleaving to God passes beyond itself and becomes one spirit with him.
- 1 Cor 6:17. The digital text’s “ab en” is read as “ab eo”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): deficit ab en quod → deficit ab eo quod.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.4.1 (CSEL 62:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-4-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.4.2CSEL 62:234
et timens dominum nescit aliud desiderare nisi salutare dei, quod est Christus Iesus. illum concupiscit, illum desiderat, in illum totis intendit uiribus, illum gremio mentis fouet, illi se aperit et effundit et hoc solum ueretur, ne illum possit amittere. itaque quanto maiore desiderio exercitata fuerit anima cupiens adhaerere salutari suo, tanto magis deficit.
who fears the Lord does not know how to desire anything but the salvation of God, which is Christ Jesus. Him he longs for, him he desires, toward him he strains with all his strength, him he cherishes in the bosom of his mind, to him he opens and pours himself out, and this only. He fears lest he lose him. And so the more the soul longing to cleave to its salvation has been exercised with greater desire, the more it faints.
Notes and citation
Summary: The saint desires only Christ, God’s salvation, and faints the more with longing.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text): hoc solum. ueretur → hoc solum ueretur.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.4.2 (CSEL 62:234; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-4-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.4.3CSEL 62:234–235
ergo ista defectio inminutionem quidem fragilitatis, sed adsumptionem uirtutis operatur. denique ipse alibi dicens: sitiuit in te anima mea subiecit infra: a d haesit post te anima mea, me suscepit dextera tua. qui enim sitit, cupit semper adhaerere fonti nec aliud nisi aquam sibi expetere et contingere uidetur, ut ipso pascatur affectu. suscipiens ergo dextera (tua) animam meam et de sua uirtute mihi inpertiens facit eam esse quod non erat, ut dicat: uiuo autem iam non ego, uiuit autem in me Christus.
This fainting, then, works a lessening of frailty but a taking up of strength. Indeed he himself, saying elsewhere, “My soul has thirsted for you,” added below: “My soul has cleaved after you; your right hand has upheld me.” For he who thirsts desires always to cleave to the spring and seems to seek and touch nothing for himself but water, so as to be fed by that very affection. Your right hand, then, taking up my soul and imparting to me of its power, makes it to be what it was not, so that it says: “I live, yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me.”
Ps 63:1 (62:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 63:8 (62:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 2:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Fainting for God weakens frailty but brings strength; God’s right hand makes the soul live by Christ.
- Ps 63:1, 8 (LXX 62:2, 9); Gal 2:20. “(tua)” is the editor’s supplement. The digital text’s “a d haesit” is read as “adhaesit”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text): inminutionem quidem fragilitatis. sed → inminutionem quidem fragilitatis, sed.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.4.3 (CSEL 62:234–235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-4-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.4.4CSEL 62:235
disce autem etiam exemplo defectionem istam nimiae esse cupiditatis: concupiscit, inquit, e t deficit anima mea in atria domini. ante concupiscens, inquit, et quasi totam se effundens in concupiscentiam longo fine suspensa defectione dissoluitur. denique quomodo deficiat anima in salutare dei, Hieremias docet: et factum est, inquit, in corde meo ut ignis ardens flammans in ossibus meis, et dissolutus sum undique et ferre non possum. hoc igitur inflammatus desiderio ait Dauid: defecit in salutare tuum anima mea, et in uerbum tuum speraui.
Learn from an example too that this fainting belongs to excessive longing: “My soul longs and faints,” it says, “for the courts of the Lord.” Longing first, he says, and as it were pouring itself out wholly into longing, suspended for a long time, it is dissolved by fainting. Indeed how the soul faints for God’s salvation Jeremiah teaches: “And there was,” he says, “in my heart as it were a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I was dissolved on every side and cannot bear it.” Inflamed with this desire, then, David says: “My soul has fainted for your salvation, and I have hoped in your word.”
Ps 84:2 (83:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 20:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:81 (118:81 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Fainting comes from intense longing, like the psalmist’s for God’s courts and Jeremiah’s burning fire.
- Ps 84:2 (LXX 83:3); Jer 20:9 (Greek form); Ps 119:81. The digital text’s “e t deficit” is read as “et deficit”.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.4.4 (CSEL 62:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-4-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-4-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 5
11.5.1CSEL 62:235
Recte speraui dixit in uerbum; ante enim spes praecedit et ideo sequitur defectio. sperauit autem in uerbum quod praedicatum est esse uenturum, quod potest intellegi de deo uerbo. aut certe in uerbum sperauit qui uerbo caelesti credidit, quo domini nostri Iesu Christi adnuntiatur aduentus uel quo eius gloria declaratur.
He rightly said “I have hoped in the word”; for hope goes before, and so fainting follows. And he hoped in the word that was proclaimed to be coming, which can be understood of God the Word. Or certainly he hoped in the word who believed the heavenly word by which the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is announced or his glory declared.
Notes and citation
Summary: He hoped in the Word, Christ, or in the prophetic word announcing his coming.
- The digital text’s “glo ria” is read as “gloria”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split word in the digital text): glo ria declaratur → gloria declaratur.
Topics: Christology, Hope
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.5.1 (CSEL 62:235; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-5-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.5.2CSEL 62:235–236
ergo propheta, considerans quae legerat et cernens quod, cum adesset corpori uelut quibusdam ligatus huius uinculis uitae, aberat a salutare dei, concupiscebat desiderabat deficiebat et toto dissoluebatur affectu, ut totus illius fieret quod desiderabat, sicut etiam ipse in posterioribus dicit: effundo in conspectu eius orationem meam, tribulationem meam ante ipsum pronuntio in deficiendo ex me spiritum meum. deficit enim eius spiritus, immo ab eo deficit spiritus suus qui se ipsum negat, ut adhaereat Christo. unde semitae eius cognoscuntur a domino, quia non sunt carnis, sed Christi semitae.
So the prophet, considering what he had read and seeing that, while he was present in the body, bound as it were by the chains of this life, he was absent from God’s salvation, longed, desired, fainted, and was dissolved in his whole affection, so as to become wholly that which he desired, as he also says later: “I pour out my prayer before him, I declare my tribulation before him, when my spirit fails from me.” For his spirit fails, or rather his spirit fails from him, who denies himself so as to cleave to Christ. Hence his paths are known by the Lord, because they are not paths of the flesh but of Christ.
2 Cor 5:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 142:2 (141:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 142:3 (141:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:24 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Absent from Christ while in the body, the prophet longed for him and denied himself to cleave to Christ.
- 2 Cor 5:6; Ps 142:2–3 (LXX 141:3–4); Matt 16:24. The digital text’s “qu» d” is read as “quod”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): cernens qu» d → cernens quod.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.5.2 (CSEL 62:235–236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-5-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 6
11.6.1CSEL 62:236
Etenim requirentium deum uia Christus est. et nos igitur illud concupiscamus aeternum, illud salutare dei; non concupiscamus pecuniam quam auarissimi concupiscunt, non concupiscamus alienae uxoris decorem, non ambitionis exagitemur desiderio, non saeculari intendamus gloriae, non fallacis circumscriptionis studiis occupemur, non proximum circumuenire iniquitate cupiamus, non postremo partes uulpium simus in terrenae uoluptatis interiora
For Christ is the way of those who seek God. Let us too, then, long for that eternal thing, that salvation of God; let us not long for money, which the greediest long for; let us not long for the beauty of another man’s wife; let us not be harassed by the desire of ambition; let us not strain after worldly glory; let us not be occupied with the pursuits of deceitful fraud; let us not desire to cheat our neighbor by iniquity; let us not, finally, be the portion of foxes, sunk into the depths of earthly pleasure,
John 14:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 63:10 (62:11 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We should long for God’s salvation, not money, another’s wife, ambition, or fraud.
- John 14:6; Ps 63:10 (LXX 62:11, “portion of foxes”).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.6.1 (CSEL 62:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-6-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.6.2CSEL 62:236
demersi tamquam exules aeternorum et de illa supernae spei praesumptione deiecti. adtollatur igitur anima nostra deficiens suis uiribus, ut adhaereat salutari dei qui est Christus dominus Iesus, quod interpretatione dicitur domini salus. ipse est enim salus, ueritas, uirtus atque sapientia. qui igitur deficit sibi, ut uirtuti adhaereat, amittit quod suum est, accipit quod aeternum est.
like exiles from eternal things and cast down from that confident hope of things above. Let our soul, then, be lifted up, failing in its own strength, so as to cleave to the salvation of God, which is Christ the Lord Jesus, which by interpretation is called “the Lord’s salvation.” For he is salvation, truth, power, and wisdom. He, then, who fails to himself so as to cleave to power loses what is his own and receives what is eternal.
Matt 1:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Failing in ourselves, we cleave to Jesus, “the Lord’s salvation,” and gain what is eternal.
- The name Jesus is interpreted as “salvation of the Lord” (Matt 1:21); 1 Cor 1:24; John 14:6.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.6.2 (CSEL 62:236; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-6-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 7
11.7.1CSEL 62:236–237
Sequitur uersus secundus: defecerunt oculi mei in eloquium tuum dicentes: quando consolaberis me? supra πϱατιxόν hic ϑεωϱητιxόν. ibi in salutare defecit anima, eo quod concupiscit eum cuius passione seruata est, hic in uerbum dei prophetae oculi defecerunt. et uideamus ne, quemadmodum illic adhaerens Christo animo deficit in unum spiritum et fit unus spiritus, ita et deficiant oculi, ut fiat una mens. oculi enim mentis isti sunt, oculi scilicet interioris hominis, non hi oculi qui ministerio funguntur obtutus.
The second verse follows: “My eyes have failed for your word, saying: When will you comfort me?” Above it was the practical, here the contemplative. There the soul fainted for salvation, because it longs for him by whose passion it was saved; here the prophet’s eyes failed for the word of God. And let us see whether, as there the soul cleaving to Christ fails into one spirit and becomes one spirit, so too the eyes fail so as to become one mind. For these are the eyes of the mind, the eyes, that is, of the inner man, not these eyes which perform the service of sight.
Ps 119:82 (118:82 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 82: the eyes that fail for God’s word are the eyes of the inner man, in contemplation.
- Ps 118:82 (Ps 119:82). The Greek words (πρακτικόν, θεωρητικόν) are garbled in the digital text. The digital text’s “w e i” and “animo” are read as “mei” and “anima”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): oculi w e i in eloquium → oculi mei in eloquium.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.7.1 (CSEL 62:236–237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-7-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.7.2CSEL 62:237
est enim oculus et mens carnis, sed ille caecus est oculus, qui non uidet quae diuina sunt, qui frustra mente carnis inflatus est. est et alius, sensus Christi, quo ecclesia uidet Christum, sicut ipse dicit ad sponsam: corde nos cepisti uno ab oculis tuis. merito uno oculo Christus uidetur, quia non uidetur oculo carnali. aut quia duos oculos habens ecclesia, moralem et mysticum, fidei oculo plus uidet Christum; mysticus enim oculus acutior est, moralis dulcior.
For there is an eye and mind of the flesh, but that eye is blind which does not see divine things, which is vainly puffed up by the mind of the flesh. There is also another, the mind of Christ, by which the church sees Christ, as he himself says to the bride: “You have taken our heart with one of your eyes.” Rightly Christ is seen with one eye, because he is not seen with the fleshly eye. Or because the church, having two eyes, the moral and the mystical, sees Christ more with the eye of faith; for the mystical eye is keener, the moral sweeter.
Col 2:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 4:9 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church sees Christ with the inner eye of faith; of her two eyes, the mystical is keener and the moral sweeter.
- Col 2:18; 1 Cor 2:16; Song 4:9 (Greek form).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.7.2 (CSEL 62:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-7-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 8
11.8.1CSEL 62:237
Et fortasse isti oculi sunt quibus Paulus uidebat aeterna, ubi coepit corporalia non uidere. denique qui Christum non uidebat, priusquam oculos amitteret, uidit eum, posteaquam uisum amisit oculorum. uidit enim qui dixit: quis es, domine? — uidebat utique Christum quem etiam dominum fatebatur — et infra: domine, inquit, quid me uis facere? non ergo uidebat eum cuius expectabat imperium? quibus igitur oculis uidere Paulus plus coepit nisi his, quos nobis ipse monstrauit dicens: orabo spiritu, orabo et mente?
And perhaps these are the eyes with which Paul saw eternal things, when he began not to see bodily things. Indeed he who did not see Christ before he lost his eyes saw him after he lost the sight of his eyes. For he saw who said, “Who are you, Lord?” (he surely saw Christ, whom he even confessed as Lord), and further on, “Lord,” he says, “what do you wish me to do?” Did he not, then, see him whose command he was awaiting? With what eyes, then, did Paul begin to see more but those which he himself showed us, saying: “I will pray with the spirit, I will pray with the mind also”?
Acts 9:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 22:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 9:8 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 14:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul, blinded on the road, began to see Christ with the inner eyes.
- Acts 9:5–8; 22:10; 1 Cor 14:15.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.8.1 (CSEL 62:237; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-8-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.8.2CSEL 62:237–238
denique ut scias quia uidit orando, factum est, inquit, reuertenti mihi in Hierusalem. cum orarem in templo, pauorem habui, uidi illum dicentem mihi: festina et exi citius de Hierusalem; non enim recipiunt testimonium tuum de me. isti ergo oculi in uerbum dei deficiunt et dicunt: quando consolaberis me? istis oculis prophetae dicebantur uidentes, quia per reuelationem ea, quae erant abscondita, mente cernebant.
Indeed, so that you may know that he saw by praying: “It happened,” he says, “when I returned to Jerusalem, while I was praying in the temple, I was in dread, I saw him saying to me: Hurry and go out quickly from Jerusalem; for they do not receive your testimony about me.” These eyes, then, fail for the word of God and say: “When will you comfort me?” By these eyes the prophets were called seers, because by revelation they discerned with the mind what was hidden.
Acts 22:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 22:18 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 9:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul saw Christ in prayer; with such inner eyes the prophets were called seers.
- Acts 22:17–18; 1 Sam 9:9. The digital text’s “factum e s t” is read as “factum est”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (spaced letters in the digital text): factum e s t, inquit → factum est, inquit.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.8.2 (CSEL 62:237–238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-8-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 9
11.9.1CSEL 62:238
Quid est oculos deficere? de corporalibus dicamus, ut intellegamus de spiritalibus. nonne, quando aliquem desideramus et speramus adfore, eo dirigimus oculos, unde speramus esse uenturum? itaque intenti diu cotidiana expectatione deficimus. sic Anna circumspiciens in uiam sollicitis aduentum filii explorabat excubiis. sic Dauid propheta currentem de proelio positis in turre exploratoribus interrogare de salute filii pater sedulus gestiebat.
What is it for the eyes to fail? Let us speak of bodily things, so that we may understand spiritual ones. When we desire someone and hope he will come, do we not direct our eyes to where we hope he will come from? And so, intent for a long time with daily waiting, we fail. So Anna, looking around at the road, watched with anxious vigils for her son’s coming. So David the prophet, a devoted father, longed to question the scouts placed on the tower about the safety of his son when a runner came from the battle.
2 Sam 18:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 18:29 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Eyes fail from long watching, as Tobit’s wife watched for her son and David for news of Absalom.
- Tob 11:5 (Anna, Tobit’s wife); 2 Sam 18:24–32.
Extrabiblical texts: Tob 11:5 (Tobit [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.9.1 (CSEL 62:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.9.2CSEL 62:238
sic tenerae uxor aetatis de specula litorali indefessa expectatione uiri praestolatur aduentum, ut, quamcumque nauem uiderit, illic putet coniugem nauigare metuatque, ne uidendi gratiam dilecti alius anteuertat nec ipsa possit prima dicere: uideo te, marite, sicut Anna dicebat ad filium: uideo te, fili, amodo
So a wife of tender age, from a watchtower on the shore, awaits her husband’s coming with tireless waiting, so that, whatever ship she sees, she thinks her husband is sailing there and fears lest another anticipate the joy of seeing her beloved and she herself be unable to say first, “I see you, husband,” as Anna said to her son: “I see you, son; from now on
Notes and citation
Summary: A young wife watches the sea for her husband, longing to be first to see him.
- Tob 11:9.
Extrabiblical texts: Tob 11:9 (Tobit [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Marriage
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.9.2 (CSEL 62:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.9.3CSEL 62:238
libenter moriar, mortis uidelicet dolorem exoptati conspectus suauitate non sentiens. ergo ut illa, quae aduenienti uiro se optat offerre, ablegatis omnibus domesticis occupationibus semitas uiantis aut pedum uestigia legit, sic propheta curis exutus saecularibus interiorum oculorum in uerbum dei peruigil custos usque ad defectionem sui intendebat obtutus, corpus suum re-
I will gladly die,” not feeling, that is, the pain of death through the sweetness of the longed-for sight. So, as she who wishes to present herself to her husband as he comes, putting aside all household occupations, reads the paths of the traveler or the traces of his feet, so the prophet, stripped of worldly cares, a wakeful guardian of his inner eyes, strained his gaze for the word of God even to the failing of himself,
Notes and citation
Summary: Like a wife watching for her husband, the prophet strained his inner eyes for God’s word.
- Tob 11:9.
Extrabiblical texts: Tob 11:9 (Tobit [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.9.3 (CSEL 62:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.9.4CSEL 62:238
digens seruituti et animam suam ad humilitatis patientiam araneae modo tabescentis erudiens. desiderabat enim sicut ceruus fontes aquarum et sitiebat in dominum deum suum, cupiens eius uidere praesentiam et apparere ante faciem dei nimioque desiderio et
bringing his body into subjection and training his soul to the patience of humility like a wasting spider. For he longed as the stag for springs of water and thirsted for the Lord his God, desiring to see his presence and to appear before the face of God, and, failing with excessive desire and
1 Cor 9:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 39:11 (38:12 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 42:1 (41:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 42:2 (41:3 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The prophet disciplined his body and thirsted for God like a stag for water.
- 1 Cor 9:27; Ps 39:11 (LXX 38:12, “like a spider”); Ps 42:1–2 (LXX 41:2–3).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.9.4 (CSEL 62:238; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.9.5CSEL 62:238–239
uehementi cupiditate deficiens tunc se habiliorem his quae de domino poposcerit inpetrandis prophetica gratia praesumebat. et nos igitur intendamus cor nostrum, ut possimus intellegere series scripturarum, et uerbum nobis uenire a domino postulemus atque intellectum dari. si quis de longinquo uerbum dei obtutu mentis aspexerit nondum planum atque distinctum, is uelut quibusdam oculis interioribus uerbi nauigium adpropinquare animae suae cernit. quo autem expressius uidere coeperit, eo magis quasi ad portum ueritatis festinat accedere, ut sit proximus inuehendae.
vehement longing, he then presumed by prophetic grace that he was more fit to obtain what he had asked of the Lord. Let us too, then, strain our heart, so that we may understand the sequence of the Scriptures, and let us ask that the word come to us from the Lord and that understanding be given. If anyone has seen the word of God from afar with the gaze of the mind, not yet plain and distinct, he sees, as it were with certain inner eyes, the ship of the word approaching his soul. And the more clearly he begins to see, the more he hastens to come as to the harbor of truth, so as to be closest to the arrival.
Notes and citation
Summary: We should strain toward Scripture’s meaning, like watching a ship approach until we reach the harbor of truth.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.9.5 (CSEL 62:238–239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-9-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 10
11.10.1CSEL 62:239
Defecerunt ergo oculi prophetae in uerbum dei dicentes: quando consolaberis me? si oculi isti significati sunt, quibus cernimus et uidemus, dicere debuerunt: quando consolaberis nos?, hoc est non singulariter, sed pluraliter. sed quia oculus mentis et oculus carnis unus oculus fiunt et tunc homo consolatione fulcitur, cum caro et mens diuersa non cupiunt, sed unum desiderant, unum requirunt, ideo intenti ad eum, qui ait: ego et pater unum sumus, isti quoque oculi unum esse se confitentur, quia uno atque eodem desiderio officioque funguntur.
The prophet’s eyes, then, failed for the word of God, saying: “When will you comfort me?” If these eyes were meant by which we discern and see, they should have said, “When will you comfort us?”, that is, not singular but plural. But because the eye of the mind and the eye of the flesh become one eye, and then man is supported by consolation, when flesh and mind do not desire different things but desire one thing, seek one thing, therefore, intent on him who said, “I and the Father are one,” these eyes too confess themselves to be one, because they perform one and the same desire and office.
Ps 119:82 (118:82 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 10:30 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The eyes say “comfort me” in the singular because flesh and mind, united in one desire, become one eye.
- Ps 119:82; John 10:30. The digital text’s “etpater” is read as “et pater”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): ego etpater → ego et pater.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.10.1 (CSEL 62:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 11
11.11.1CSEL 62:239
Deficiebat ergo in uerbum propheta. nos autem otiosos nos putamus, si uerbo tantummodo studere uideamur, et pluris aestimamus eos, qui operantur, quam eos, qui studium cognoscendae diuinitatis exercent. dicunt enim plerique: ecce homo et opera eius, quasi qui uerbo studeat non operetur, cum magis opus istud quam cetera sint. si enim opus iustitia est, si opus temperantia, si opus fortitudo, utique opus est etiam sapientia; istae enim quattuor principales uirtutes habentur.
The prophet, then, fainted for the word. But we think ourselves idle if we seem only to study the word, and we value more those who work than those who practice the study of knowing the divinity. For many say, “Behold the man and his works,” as though he who studies the word does not work, when this work is rather greater than the others. For if righteousness is a work, if temperance is a work, if fortitude is a work, surely wisdom too is a work; for these four are held to be the principal virtues.
Notes and citation
Summary: Studying the word is not idleness; wisdom is a work like the other cardinal virtues.
- The four cardinal virtues: compare Wis 8:7. The stray marks in the digital text are not translated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): et pluris - aestimamus → et pluris aestimamus; ecce -homo → ecce homo.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 8:7 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.11.1 (CSEL 62:239; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-11-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.11.2CSEL 62:239–240
nam si operatur Christus secundum quod iustitia est, utique operatur secundum quod uerbum est et operabatur, cum esset in principio apud patrem. denique per ipsum omnia facta sunt, et scias operatorem omnium esse et opus nostrum esse Christum Iesum. etenim secundum quod uerbum est, uerbum
For if Christ works insofar as he is righteousness, surely he works insofar as he is the Word, and he was working when he was in the beginning with the Father. Indeed all things were made through him, and you may know that he is the worker of all things and that our work is Christ Jesus. For insofar as he is the Word, the Word
John 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:17 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, the Word, works and through him all things were made.
- John 1:1–3; John 5:17. The digital text’s “aerum” is read as “uerbum”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): secundum quod aerum est → secundum quod uerbum est.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.11.2 (CSEL 62:239–240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.11.3CSEL 62:240
inquirentibus, grande opus uerbum est. unde cum Martha festinaret circa ministerium, Maria autem uerbum domini audiret, ea quae audiebat ei quae ministrabat meruit anteferri. dicenti enim Marthae: domine, non est tibi curae quod soror mea reliquit me solam ministrare? dic ergo illi ut me adiuuet, respondens dixit dominus: Martha, Martha, Maria bonam partem elegit, quae non auferetur illi. ita uerbum cognoscere maius opus esse quam ministrare diuinae auctoritate sententiae definitur.
to those who seek is a great work. Hence, when Martha was busy about serving, but Mary was listening to the word of the Lord, she who was listening deserved to be preferred to her who was serving. For when Martha said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her, then, to help me,” the Lord answered and said: “Martha, Martha, Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken from her.” So by the authority of the divine sentence it is defined that to know the word is a greater work than to serve.
Luke 10:40 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:42 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Mary, listening to the word, chose the better part over Martha’s serving.
- Luke 10:38–42.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.11.3 (CSEL 62:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-11-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-11-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 11, chapter 12
11.12.1CSEL 62:240
Sed fortasse dicat aliquis dictum esse ab apostolo, quia non in sermone regnum est dei sed in uirtute. scriptum non nego, sed in quo sermone, cognosce: nempe quem inflatus effuderit, qui audientibus sermo prodesse non possit, qui sine ostensione sit spiritus atque uirtutis, hunc sermonem Paulus non dignatur cognoscere;
But perhaps someone may say that it was said by the apostle that the kingdom of God is not in word but in power. I do not deny it is written, but know in what word: surely that which a puffed-up man pours out, a word that cannot profit the hearers, that is without demonstration of the Spirit and of power; this word Paul does not deign to know;
1 Cor 4:20 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 4:19 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul’s “not in word but in power” refers to empty, puffed-up speech.
- 1 Cor 4:19–20; 1 Cor 2:4.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.12.1 (CSEL 62:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-12-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.12.2CSEL 62:240
uult enim magis uirtutem sermonis agnoscere. denique nolebat talem suum apostolus esse sermonem, qui in infirmitate ueniebat, ut alios faceret fortiores, in timore et tremore, ut timentes nihil metuerent nisi dominum Iesum, trementes pacem eius tranquillitatemque seruarent. audi ergo, qualem apostolus sermonem habebat: et sermo, inquit, meus et praedicatio mea non in persuasione sapientiae uerborum, sed in ostensione spiritus et uirtutis, quia fides non forensi sermone sapientiae, sed dei uirtute firmatur.
for he wishes rather to recognize the power of the word. Indeed the apostle did not wish his word to be such, he who came in weakness to make others stronger, in fear and trembling, so that those who fear might fear nothing but the Lord Jesus, and those who tremble might keep his peace and tranquility. Hear, then, what kind of word the apostle had: “And my word,” he says, “and my preaching were not in the persuasiveness of wisdom of words, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” because faith is made firm not by the forensic word of wisdom but by the power of God.
1 Cor 2:3 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:5 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul’s preaching rested not on eloquence but on the Spirit’s power.
- 1 Cor 2:3–5. The digital text’s “trementes. pacem” is read as “trementes pacem”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text): trementes. pacem → trementes pacem.
Topics: The Holy Spirit
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.12.2 (CSEL 62:240; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-12-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-12-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
11.12.3CSEL 62:240–241
ergo in sermone sanctorum uirtus est, in sermone autem forensi isto ac philosophico uanitas mundi. uirtutem autem esse in sermone sanctorum etiam iste propheta te doceat, qui ait: dominus dabit uerbum euangelizantibus uirtute multa, hoc est ut multa possint uirtute euangelium praedicare. probatum est ergo, quod in euangelii praedicatione sit uirtus; praedicatio autem euangelii sermo sanctorum est. ita dubium non residet, quia in sancto sermone sit uirtus.
So in the word of the saints there is power, but in this forensic and philosophical word the vanity of the world. Let this prophet too teach you that there is power in the word of the saints, who says: “The Lord will give the word to those who preach the gospel with much power,” that is, so that they may preach the gospel with much power. It is proved, then, that there is power in the preaching of the gospel; and the preaching of the gospel is the word of the saints. So no doubt remains that there is power in the holy word.
Ps 68:11 (67:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The holy word of the saints, the preaching of the gospel, has power.
- Ps 68:11 (LXX 67:12, Greek form).
Topics: Mission and the spread of the gospel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 11.12.3 (CSEL 62:240–241; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-12-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/11-12-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.