Exposition of Psalm 118 14.40.1–15.24.1
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 14, chapter 40
14.40.1CSEL 62:325
Hereditaui testimonia tua in aeternum, quoniam exultatio cordis mei sunt. etiam ista uox martyrum est dicentium quod hereditatem acceperint caelestium testimoniorum. dicit ergo propheta: heres sum mandatorum tuorum, successionem tuam fidei pietatisque iure non potest dicere istud nisi qui mandata custodit caelo et terra testibus adquisita. dixit enim dominus: audi, caelum, et percipe auribus, terra.
“I have inherited your testimonies for ever, for they are the joy of my heart.” This too is the voice of the martyrs, who say that they have received the inheritance of the heavenly testimonies. So the prophet says: I am heir of your commandments; your succession, by right of faith and godliness. No one can say this except one who keeps the commandments, acquired with heaven and earth as witnesses. For the Lord said: “Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth.”
Ps 119:111 (118:111 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 1:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The martyrs inherit God’s testimonies, which were given with heaven and earth as witnesses.
- Ps 119:111 (LXX 118:111); Isa 1:2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma garbled in the digital text; repeated word in the digital text): quoniam am e exultatio cor dis mei sunt → quoniam exultatio cordis mei sunt; pietatisque iure iure non → pietatisque iure non.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.40.1 (CSEL 62:325; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-40-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-40-1
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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.
14.40.2CSEL 62:325–326
testatur elementa dominus ad redarguendos eos, qui noluerint praecepta diuina seruare, ut refugia omnia excusationis obsaepiat. testatur et in homines dicens: estote mihi testes, et ego testis, dicit dominus. mandata ergo domini plena sunt testimoniis et ipsa sunt testimonia, quorum satis idoneus testis est qui non mentitur deus, apud quem et conscientia tua testis est, cogitationibus accusantibus aut etiam defendentibus,
The Lord calls the elements to witness to refute those who refuse to keep the divine precepts, so as to block every refuge of excuse. He calls men to witness too, saying: “Be my witnesses, and I am a witness, says the Lord.” So the commandments of the Lord are full of testimonies and are themselves testimonies, of which God, who does not lie, is a sufficiently fit witness; and before him your conscience too is a witness, your thoughts accusing or even defending you,
Isa 43:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Titus 1:2 (echo, medium confidence) · Rom 2:15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God calls creation, men and conscience as witnesses to his commandments.
- Isa 43:10 (LXX form); Titus 1:2; Rom 2:15.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line number leaked and letters lost in the digital text): excusatio- 25 nis obsaepia → excusationis obsaepiat.
Topics: Conscience
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.40.2 (CSEL 62:325–326; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-40-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-40-2
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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.
14.40.3CSEL 62:326
satis fidelis etiam in infido pectore, quoniam arbitrum omnium quaecumque commissa sunt latere non possunt. nam si in iudicio terrestri etiam is, qui ad mentiendum uenerit subornatus, tamen, si testimonio fuerit conuictus alterius, solet prodere ueritatem, quanto magis in iudicio caelesti apud dominum Iesum necesse habet quae uera sunt confiteri, quem nouit scire quod factum est!
faithful enough even in an unfaithful breast, since whatever has been committed cannot be hidden from the judge of all. For if in an earthly court even one who has come suborned to lie usually betrays the truth when convicted by another’s testimony, how much more in the heavenly court before the Lord Jesus must he confess what is true, knowing that he knows what was done!
Notes and citation
Summary: Conscience will force confession before Christ, who knows all.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): nam si m iudicio → nam si in iudicio.
Topics: Eschatology, Conscience
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.40.3 (CSEL 62:326; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-40-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-40-3
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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 14, chapter 41
14.41.1CSEL 62:326
Et bene ait: hereditate quaesiui testimonia tua, quoniam, sicut ante heredes fuimus peccatoris, ita nunc heredes sumus Christi. illa fuit criminum, haec est uirtutis hereditas; illa nos obligauit, haec soluit; illa obaeratos faenore de-
And well does he say: “I have sought your testimonies as an inheritance,” for as before we were heirs of the sinner, so now we are heirs of Christ. That was the inheritance of crimes, this of virtue; that bound us, this looses; that, burdened with the interest of
Ps 119:111 (118:111 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:17 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We were heirs of the sinner and are now heirs of Christ.
- Ps 119:111 (LXX 118:111); Rom 8:17.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.41.1 (CSEL 62:326; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-41-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-41-1
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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.
14.41.2CSEL 62:326
lictorum adiudicauit inimico, haec redemptos dominicae titulo passionis Christo adquisiuit. mala Euae successio totum hominem deuorabat, praeclara Christi hereditas totum hominem liberauit. non ad unum quidem, non ad paucos, sed ad omnes testamentum suum scripsit Iesus. omnes scripti heredes sumus non pro portione, sed pro uniuersitate.
sins, handed us over to the enemy; this, redeemed by the title of the Lord’s passion, acquired us for Christ. Eve’s evil succession was devouring the whole man; Christ’s glorious inheritance has freed the whole man. Jesus wrote his testament not for one, not for a few, but for all. We are all written in as heirs, not for a share but for the whole.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s testament makes all heirs of the whole, freeing what Eve’s inheritance devoured.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.41.2 (CSEL 62:326; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-41-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-41-2
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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.
14.41.3CSEL 62:326
testamentum commune est et ius omnium, hereditas uniuersorum et soliditas singulorum. nouum tamen testamentum et singuli adeunt et omnes possident nec minuitur heredi quicquid a coheredibus uindicatur. manet emolumentum integrum et eo magis singulis crescit, quo pluribus fuerit adquisitum. alia condicio est hereditatis humanae.
The testament is common and the right of all, the inheritance of everyone and the full possession of each. Yet the New Testament is both entered upon by each and possessed by all, nor is anything taken from an heir which is claimed by his co-heirs. The benefit remains whole and grows for each the more, the more people it is acquired by. The condition of a human inheritance is different.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s inheritance is whole to each and grows the more heirs it has.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.41.3 (CSEL 62:326; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-41-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-41-3
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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.
14.41.4CSEL 62:326–327
si diuisa fuerit, emolumenta minuuntur et heredis est damnum adscriptio coheredis. indiuisum regnum Christi est, indiuisa hereditas. quomodo fieri poterat, ut diuisa esset hereditas, cum hereditatis fructus sit indiuisus, quod est regnum caelorum? aurum argentum praedium ab homine pluribus derelictum distribuitur ac secatur, solida ad singulos Christi dona perueniunt; omnes habent et nemo fraudatur.
If it is divided, the benefits are diminished, and the enrolling of a co-heir is the heir’s loss. Undivided is the kingdom of Christ, undivided the inheritance. How could it happen that the inheritance should be divided, when the fruit of the inheritance, which is the kingdom of heaven, is undivided? Gold, silver, an estate left by a man to several are distributed and cut up; the gifts of Christ reach each in full; all have them and no one is cheated.
Notes and citation
Summary: Human inheritances shrink when divided; Christ’s kingdom reaches each in full.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line number leaked into the digital text): regnum 25 Christi → regnum Christi.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.41.4 (CSEL 62:326–327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-41-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-41-4
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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 14, chapter 42
14.42.1CSEL 62:327
Audiamus igitur commoda hereditaria. remissio peccatorum hereditas Christi est. certe solida per singulos et in commune est lucratiua; quibuscumque enim conlata fuerit, nulli decedit, accedit omnibus. corpori adquiritur quicquid unicuique relaxatur. nam si angeli super uno peccatore paenitentiam agente laetantur, quia lucrum suum putant hominis redemptionem, quanto magis lucrum summ generis quod est lucrum naturae!
Let us hear, then, the benefits of the inheritance. The forgiveness of sins is Christ’s inheritance. It is surely whole for each and profitable in common; for to whomever it is granted, it is taken from no one and added to all. Whatever is remitted to each is gained for the body. For if the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents, because they think the redemption of a man their gain, how much more is it the gain of one’s own race, which is the gain of nature!
Luke 15:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:10 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Forgiveness of sins, Christ’s inheritance, profits each and the whole body.
- Luke 15:7, 10. “lucrum summ generis” is faulty in the digital text; translated by sense as “the gain of one’s own race.”
Topics: Forgiveness of sins
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.42.1 (CSEL 62:327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-42-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-42-1
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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.
14.42.2CSEL 62:327
hereditas Christi est resurrectio. hanc quisquam damnum suum dixerit, quae in uno communis gratiae nomen inuenit? Christus enim resurgens omnibus resurrexit, quoniam per hominem resurrectio mortuorum. quomodo igitur potest singulorum esse dispendium quae est totius corporis et humani generis reformatio?
The resurrection is Christ’s inheritance. Would anyone call this his loss, which in one found the name of a common grace? For Christ, rising, rose for all, since through a man came the resurrection of the dead. How then can that be a loss to individuals which is the remaking of the whole body and of the human race?
1 Cor 15:21 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The resurrection, Christ’s inheritance, is the remaking of the whole human race.
- 1 Cor 15:21.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): resurrecno → resurrectio; quae m uno → quae in uno.
Topics: Eschatology, Resurrection of the body
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.42.2 (CSEL 62:327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-42-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-42-2
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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.
14.42.3CSEL 62:327
recitetur itaque testamentum et institutiones eius consideremus: testis est autem nobis et spiritus sanctus; cum enim dixerit: hoc autem testamentum quod testabor ad illos, dicit dominus, dando leges meas in cordibus eorum, et in sensibus eorum scribam eas et peccati et iniustitiae eorum non ero memor.
Let the testament be read, then, and let us consider its provisions; and the Holy Spirit is also witness to us; for he has said: “This is the testament which I will make with them, says the Lord, putting my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds, and I will not remember their sin and their unrighteousness.”
Heb 10:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 10:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 10:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 31:33 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Spirit witnesses to the new testament: God writes his laws on hearts and forgets sins.
- Heb 10:15–17 (Jer 31:33–34).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.42.3 (CSEL 62:327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-42-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-42-3
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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.
14.42.4CSEL 62:327
o uere testator aeternus, qui nostris cordibus leges adfigit suas et scribit in sensibus, ut nihil aliud cogitare nisi diuina praecepta possimus, nihil aliud sentire nisi dei oracula debeamus! dedit gratiam, reformauit naturam, sibi qui obliuisci nihil solet memoriam meorum abstulit peccatorum, mihi dedit praeceptorum suorum.
O truly eternal testator, who fixes his laws on our hearts and writes them on our minds, so that we can think of nothing but the divine precepts and ought to feel nothing but the oracles of God! He gave grace, remade nature; he who forgets nothing took away from himself the memory of my sins and gave me the memory of his precepts.
Heb 10:17 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God writes his law on our hearts, forgets our sins, and gives us memory of his precepts.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.42.4 (CSEL 62:327; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-42-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-42-4
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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 14, chapter 43
14.43.1CSEL 62:327–328
Noli ergo tollere de corde tuo legem dei et adfigere legem peccati; noli scribere in sensibus tuis diaboli inlecebras et dei delere mandata. ecce ego, inquit, pinxi muros tuos, dicit dominus ad Hierusalem, hoc est ad animam studiosam tranquillitatis et pacis quam fecit ad imaginem suam.
So do not take God’s law from your heart and fix there the law of sin; do not write the devil’s allurements on your mind and blot out God’s commandments. “Behold,” he says, “I have painted your walls,” says the Lord to Jerusalem, that is, to the soul eager for tranquility and peace, which he made in his image.
Rom 7:23 (echo, medium confidence) · Isa 49:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Do not replace God’s law in the heart with the law of sin; God has painted the soul’s walls in his image.
- Rom 7:23; Isa 49:16 (LXX form); Gen 1:26.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.43.1 (CSEL 62:327–328; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-43-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-43-1
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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.
14.43.2CSEL 62:328
noli, inquam, auferre imaginem caelestem et imaginem mortis inponere. recusasti hereditatem saeculi; serua Christi testimonia, quoniam in his exultatio atque laetitia est, quandoquidem omnis fletus delebitur et mors non erit amplius neque luctus neque fletus neque clamor. passio Christi regni fuit imago caelestis. nemo audiuit in plateis uocem eius, quia
Do not, I say, remove the heavenly image and impose the image of death. You have refused the inheritance of the world; keep the testimonies of Christ, for in them is exultation and gladness, since all weeping will be wiped away, and there will be no more death, nor mourning, nor weeping, nor crying. The passion of Christ was the heavenly image of the kingdom. No one heard his voice in the streets, because
1 Cor 15:49 (echo, medium confidence) · Ps 119:111 (118:111 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 21:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 42:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 12:19 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Keep Christ’s testimonies, in which is the joy of the kingdom where tears and death end.
- 1 Cor 15:49; Ps 119:111 (LXX 118:111); Rev 21:4; Isa 42:2 (Matt 12:19).
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.43.2 (CSEL 62:328; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-43-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-43-2
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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.
14.43.3CSEL 62:328
illo silentio passionis suae clamorem omnem in posterum impiae uocis abolebat. nolebat fleri qui dicebat ad filias Hierusalem: filiae Hierusalem, nolite me flere, sed uos ipsas flete. ablaturus enim omnes lacrimas suae beneficio crucis in passione propria futurae instar beatitudinis exhibebat, ut nemo fleret nisi qui Christi beneficia non teneret.
by that silence of his passion he was abolishing every cry of ungodly voice for the future. He did not want to be wept for, who said to the daughters of Jerusalem: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves.” For, being about to take away all tears by the benefit of his cross, he showed in his own passion an image of the blessedness to come, so that no one should weep except one who did not hold fast to Christ’s benefits.
Luke 23:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 7:17 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s silent passion foreshadows the blessedness without tears.
- Luke 23:28; Rev 7:17.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.43.3 (CSEL 62:328; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-43-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-43-3
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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 14, chapter 44
14.44.1CSEL 62:328
Merito ergo uir euangelicus dicit: hereditate quaesiui testimonia tua in aeternum, quoniam exultatio cordis mei sunt. quis non exultet, quia caelum et terram hereditate quaesiuit, quae duo elementa contestatus est etiam deus, cum legem daret, quia quaesiuit deum de quo dicit sanctus: portio mea dominus, quaesiuit dominum Iesum, quaesiuit spiritum sanctum et post illa quaesiuit angelos et cum illis uiuit non hodie tantum et cras, sed in aeternum nec ullis pro nomine domini contristatur iniuriis? denique gaudebant apostoli eum uerberarentur, cum in carcerem truderentur.
Rightly, then, does the man of the Gospel say: “I have sought your testimonies as an inheritance for ever, for they are the joy of my heart.” Who would not exult that he has sought as an inheritance heaven and earth, the two elements God also called to witness when he gave the law; that he has sought God, of whom the saint says, “The Lord is my portion”; that he has sought the Lord Jesus, sought the Holy Spirit, and after these sought the angels, and lives with them not only today and tomorrow but for ever, and is saddened by no injuries for the name of the Lord? In fact the apostles rejoiced when they were beaten, when they were thrust into prison.
Ps 119:111 (118:111 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 32:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 119:57 (118:57 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 5:41 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The heir of God’s testimonies inherits God, Christ, the Spirit and the angels, and rejoices even in suffering.
- Ps 119:111 (LXX 118:111); Deut 32:1; Ps 119:57 (LXX 118:57); Acts 5:41.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.44.1 (CSEL 62:328; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-44-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-44-1
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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.
Exposition 14, chapter 45
14.45.1CSEL 62:328–329
Exultans igitur in testimoniis domini iure dicebat: inclinaui cor meum ad faciendas iustitias tuas in aeternum propter retributionem. qui retributionem bonorum operum sperat a deo et ad eum festinat, inclinat cor suum, ut faciat Christi iustitias. quae est Christi iustitia? sine nos, inquit, implere omnem iustitiam, qua peccatum minuitur, culpa laxatur.
So, exulting in the Lord’s testimonies, he rightly said: “I have inclined my heart to do your righteous deeds for ever, for the sake of the reward.” Whoever hopes from God for the reward of good works and hastens to him inclines his heart to do the righteous deeds of Christ. What is Christ’s righteousness? “Let us,” he says, “fulfill all righteousness,” by which sin is lessened and guilt released.
Ps 119:112 (118:112 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 3:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hoping for God’s reward, one inclines the heart to Christ’s righteousness.
- Ps 119:112 (LXX 118:112); Matt 3:15.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma garbled in the digital text): i inclina ui cor meum ad faciendas iustitias tuas in aeternum pr proter r retributi on em → inclinaui cor meum ad faciendas iustitias tuas in aeternum propter retributionem.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.45.1 (CSEL 62:328–329; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-45-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-45-1
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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.
14.45.2CSEL 62:329
et bene ait inclinaui, ut non sit tibi arduum atque difficile, cum mentem tuam quasi ad humilia et plana conuertas. aut certe, quoniam sapientia carnis legi dei non est subdita, uidetur inclinare cor suum, qui legi facit esse subiectum extollentem se corporis sensum et contuitu religionis inflectit. atque ille dudum extollens se frustra et inflatus mente carnis suae, cum se humiliat, inclinat.
And well does he say “I have inclined,” so that it may not be steep and difficult for you, when you turn your mind, as it were, to low and level ground. Or at least, since the wisdom of the flesh is not subject to the law of God, he seems to incline his heart who makes the body’s self-exalting sense subject to the law and bends it by regard for religion. And he who long exalted himself in vain, puffed up by the mind of his flesh, inclines when he humbles himself.
Rom 8:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:18 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To incline the heart is to humble the self-exalting flesh under God’s law.
- Rom 8:7; Col 2:18.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.45.2 (CSEL 62:329; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-45-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-45-2
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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 14, chapter 46
14.46.1CSEL 62:329
Humiliauit enim et ipse se Christus, ut nouum conderet testamentum. cum lego euangelium, audio filium dei carnem sumpsisse de Maria, uideor mihi cum Christo ipse descendere. lego enim eum, qui cum esset in forma dei semet ipsum exinaniuit, exinaniuit autem, ut formam serui acciperet, et specie inuentus ut homo humiliauit se usque ad mortem, lego dicentem: qui se exaltauerit humiliabitur, lego dicentem: uenite ad me omnes qui laboratis et onerati estis, et ego uos reficiam. tollite iugum meum super uos et discite a me, quia mitis sum et humilis corde.
For Christ too humbled himself to establish the New Testament. When I read the Gospel, I hear that the Son of God took flesh from Mary; I seem to myself to come down with Christ. For I read that he, being in the form of God, emptied himself, and emptied himself to take the form of a servant, and being found in fashion as a man humbled himself even to death; I read him saying: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled”; I read him saying: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart.”
Phil 2:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 14:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:29 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ humbled himself in the incarnation and calls us to learn humility from him.
- Phil 2:6–8; Luke 14:11; Matt 11:28–29.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split and OCR slip in the digital text): acci- Peret → acciperet.
Topics: Christology, Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.46.1 (CSEL 62:329; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-46-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-46-1
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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.
14.46.2CSEL 62:329–330
non dixit: discite a me quia potens sum, non dixit: discite a me quia gloriosus sum, sed: discite a me quia humilis sum, quod potestis imitari. nolite uos extollere, nolite exaltare cor uestrum. docuit me ergo humiliari et inclinare cor meum ad faciendas iustitias, non ad iniquitatem, sed ad aequitatem inclinare propter retributionem. retributio regnum caelorum et paradisi est incolatus.
He did not say, “Learn from me, for I am powerful”; he did not say, “Learn from me, for I am glorious”; but: “Learn from me, for I am humble,” which you can imitate. Do not exalt yourselves, do not lift up your heart. So he taught me to be humbled and to incline my heart to do righteous deeds, to incline it not to iniquity but to equity, for the sake of the reward. The reward is the kingdom of heaven and dwelling in paradise.
Matt 11:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:112 (118:112 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ teaches humility, which we can imitate, and its reward is the kingdom and paradise.
- Matt 11:29; Ps 119:112 (LXX 118:112).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced word in the digital text): quia humilis s u m → quia humilis sum.
Topics: Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 14.46.2 (CSEL 62:329–330; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-46-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/14-46-2
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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.
Exposition 15, chapter 1
15.1.1CSEL 62:330
Samech incipit littera quinta decima, quae interpretationem habet audi. est et alia eius interpretatio quae dicitur firmamentum. quid est audi? non otiose dicitur quod commune est omnibus et suppetit uniuersis ipso iure naturae. et ideo non est otiosum, quod admoneris ut audias, cum etiam inuiti et aliud agentes sonum tamen aut uocem audire solemus. sed quia non est solum audire hoc quod suppetit officio naturae, sed etiam illud quod maius est, ut audias non usu tantum corporis quantum intellectu mentis, ideo diligentius considera istius litterae interpretationem seriemque uersuum qui secuntur.
Samech, the fifteenth letter, begins, which has the interpretation “hear.” There is also another interpretation of it, which is said to be “firmament.” What is “hear”? That which is common to all and available to everyone by the very law of nature is not said idly. And so it is not idle that you are admonished to hear, since even unwillingly and while doing something else we usually hear a sound or a voice. But because hearing is not only what is supplied by nature’s function but also something greater, that you hear not so much with the body’s use as with the mind’s understanding, consider more carefully the interpretation of this letter and the sequence of the verses that follow.
Notes and citation
Summary: Samech means “hear” or “firmament”; true hearing is with the understanding.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.1.1 (CSEL 62:330; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-1-1
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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 15, chapter 2
15.2.1CSEL 62:330
Ut noueris autem mysticum esse audire, ut audias et intellegas mysteria, de Iudaeis scriptum est, quia mysteria legis audierunt, sed non intellexerunt. unde ait dominus: audi, populus meus, et loquar. lex utique spiritalis est; audi ergo spiritaliter. denique qui sciuit audire, ait: audiam quid loquatur in me deus, id est:
So that you may know that hearing is mystical, that you may hear and understand the mysteries, it is written of the Jews that they heard the mysteries of the law but did not understand. Hence the Lord says: “Hear, my people, and I will speak.” The law is surely spiritual; so hear spiritually. In fact one who knew how to hear says: “I will hear what God speaks in me,” that is:
Ps 50:7 (49:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 85:8 (84:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hearing must be spiritual, for the law is spiritual.
- Ps 50:7 (LXX 49:7); Rom 7:14; Ps 85:8 (LXX 84:9).
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.2.1 (CSEL 62:330; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-2-1
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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.
15.2.2CSEL 62:330–331
cognoscam quid locutus in me fuerit deus. ideoque alibi ait: quanta audiuimus et cognouimus ea, ut conprehenderet non solum audisse se, sed etiam intellexisse; nemo enim cognoscit nisi prius intellexerit. audi ergo, ne, si te uideat neglegentem, ueniat Petrus, arripiat gladium, abscidat auriculam tuam, quod superfluo habeas aurem corporis, qui audire et examinare non noueris. et fortasse uirtutem animae, qua examinantur quaecumque audiuntur, habeant amputatam, qui ea altitudine qua scriptum est audire non possunt.
I will know what God has spoken in me. And therefore he says elsewhere: “How many things we have heard and known,” to include not only having heard but also having understood; for no one knows unless he has first understood. So hear, lest, if he sees you negligent, Peter come, seize the sword and cut off your ear, because you have a bodily ear to no purpose, you who do not know how to hear and examine. And perhaps those have had cut off the power of the soul by which whatever is heard is examined, who cannot hear with the depth with which it is written.
Ps 78:3 (77:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 18:10 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hearing means understanding; the careless hearer is like Malchus whose ear Peter cut off.
- Ps 78:3 (LXX 77:3); John 18:10.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.2.2 (CSEL 62:330–331; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-2-2
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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 15, chapter 3
15.3.1CSEL 62:331
Meritoque hanc litteram firmamentum alii interpretati sunt, quod cum superiore interpretatione concurrit; nisi enim unusquisque audierit quid sequi debeat, nemo firmatur. in officio igitur audiendi omnium firmamentum est.
And rightly others have interpreted this letter as “firmament,” which agrees with the earlier interpretation; for unless each one has heard what he ought to follow, no one is made firm. So in the duty of hearing lies the firmament of all.
Notes and citation
Summary: “Hear” and “firmament” agree: one is made firm by hearing.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.3.1 (CSEL 62:331; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-3-1
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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.
Exposition 15, chapter 4
15.4.1CSEL 62:331
Dicit igitur tibi in Threnis Hieremias propheta per hanc litteram: audi. et ut scias mysticum esse quod audire debeas, subiecit huiusmodi seriem huic litterae: abstulit omnes fortes meos dominus de medio mei, uocauit in me tempus, ut contereret in me electos meos; lacum calcauit dominus uirgini filiae Iudae.
So the prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations says to you by this letter: “Hear.” And so that you may know that what you ought to hear is mystical, he added this sequence to this letter: “The Lord has taken away all my mighty men from my midst; he has called a time against me, to crush my chosen ones; the Lord has trodden the winepress for the virgin daughter of Judah.”
Lam 1:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lamentations’ samech verse speaks of the Lord treading the winepress of Judah.
- Lam 1:15 (the samech verse of Lam 1).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.4.1 (CSEL 62:331; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-4-1
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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.
15.4.2CSEL 62:331
non tunc abstulit omnes Iudaeae fortes dominus, quando in Babyloniam regionem captiuus ductus est populus Iudaeorum, sed quando Christus aduenit et libertatem animae suae captiua non uidit, nesciens grauibus incuruata peccatis mentis suae erigere ceruicem et quaedam fidei colla ad lucem cognitionis adtollere. ideo lacus factus est Iudaeis passio saluatoris, quae gentibus portum salutis ostendit, quia crux domini non credentibus praecipitium est, uita credentibus. hac ratione praemisit audi, ut futura cognosceres.
The Lord did not take away all the mighty men of Judea when the Jewish people was led captive into the region of Babylon, but when Christ came and the captive did not see the liberty of its soul, not knowing how, bent down by grievous sins, to lift up the neck of its mind and raise a kind of neck of faith to the light of knowledge. That is why the Savior’s passion became a winepress for the Jews, which showed the nations the harbor of salvation, because the cross of the Lord is a precipice to those who do not believe, life to those who believe. For this reason he first said “hear,” so that you might know things to come.
1 Cor 1:18 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The verse is fulfilled when Judea rejected Christ, whose cross is ruin to unbelievers and life to believers.
- 1 Cor 1:18. Translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.4.2 (CSEL 62:331; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-4-2
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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.
Exposition 15, chapter 5
15.5.1CSEL 62:331–332
Alio quoque loco litterae huic ista subiecit: tenuerunt super te manus omnes transeuntes per uiam, sibilauerunt et mouerunt caput suum super filiam Hierusalem; haec est ciuitas, dicent, corona gloriae et iucunditas uniuersae terrae a e. passionem saluatoris prophetans reliquit deflere Hieremias
In another place too he added these words to this letter: “All who pass by the way have clapped their hands over you; they have hissed and wagged their heads over the daughter of Jerusalem: ‘Is this the city,’ they will say, ‘the crown of glory, the joy of the whole earth?’” Prophesying the Savior’s passion, Jeremiah left behind a lament for
Lam 2:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lamentations’ other samech verse describes passers-by mocking Jerusalem.
- Lam 2:15 (the samech verse of Lam 2). The letters “a e” after terrae are unexplained in the digital text and are not translated.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.5.1 (CSEL 62:331–332; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-5-1
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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.
15.5.2CSEL 62:332
excidium Iudaeorum. quod cum ex aliis tum ex illo intellegi potest, quia in posterioribus habet: spiritus ante faciem nostram Christus dominus conprehensus est in interitu nostro, sub cuius umbra diximus: uiuemus inter gentes. quid hoc manifestius, quando et nomen expressum est et conprehensio inter manus persequentium perfidorum est declarata et umbra uiuificans et gratia gentibus conferenda descripta est?
the destruction of the Jews. This can be understood from other places, and especially from this, that later on he has: “The breath of our face, Christ the Lord, was taken in our destruction, under whose shadow we said: We shall live among the nations.” What is plainer than this, when both the name is expressed and the seizure by the hands of faithless persecutors is declared and the life-giving shadow and the grace to be given to the nations are described?
Lam 4:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lam 4:20 names Christ the Lord, his seizure, and his grace to the nations.
- Lam 4:20 (LXX form). Translated as written.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.5.2 (CSEL 62:332; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-5-2
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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 15, chapter 6
15.6.1CSEL 62:332
Sed etiam ipsa uerba significant quae in euangelio de passione domini legimus, quia hoc loco mors eius adnuntiata est per prophetam. sic enim Matthaeus scripsit: transeuntes autem blasphemabant eum mouentes capita sua et dicentes: uah qui destruebat templum dei et in triduo illud reaedificabat! libera te, si filius dei es. uulgus populi cum insultat alicui, sibilare consueuit.
But the very words also signify what we read in the Gospel about the Lord’s passion, because in this place his death was announced through the prophet. For thus Matthew wrote: “And those passing by blasphemed him, wagging their heads and saying: Aha, you who would destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days! Save yourself, if you are the Son of God.” When the common crowd insults someone, it usually hisses.
Matt 27:39 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 27:40 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 15:29 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lamentations foretells the mockers who wagged their heads at the cross.
- Matt 27:39–40 (with Mark 15:29).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.6.1 (CSEL 62:332; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-6-1
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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.
15.6.2CSEL 62:332
simul quia uocem non habebant, qui uerbum negabant, sicut inrationabilia animalia sibilabant et ideo transibant uiam qui in uia stare debuerant. non stabant ergo quasi constantes, sed transibant quasi mobiles. iusti autem pedes stabant in atriis Hierusalem, in quibus perfidi stare non poterant et ideo praeteribant, sicut Marcus significauit. praeterit umbra, non ueritas. dies eius sicut umbra praeterit qui obliuiscitur, qui derelinquit. sed et transire infideles legimus, sicut est illud:
At the same time, because they had no voice who denied the Word, they hissed like irrational animals; and so they passed by the way who ought to have stood in the way. So they did not stand as steadfast, but passed by as unstable. But the feet of the righteous stood in the courts of Jerusalem, in which the faithless could not stand, and so they passed by, as Mark indicated. The shadow passes, not the truth. His days pass like a shadow who forgets, who forsakes. But we also read that the unbelieving pass by, as in that verse:
Ps 122:2 (121:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Mark 15:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 144:4 (143:4 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The mockers passed by instead of standing; the righteous stand in Jerusalem’s courts.
- Ps 122:2 (LXX 121:2); Mark 15:29; Ps 144:4 (LXX 143:4).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.6.2 (CSEL 62:332; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-6-2
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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.
15.6.3CSEL 62:332–333
et uindemiant eam omnes transeuntes uiam. quis enim nisi perfidus despoliat uineam Christi? sed et alibi scriptum: et non dixerunt transeuntes uiam: benedictio domini super uos; stantibus enim dicitur: ecce nunc benedicite dominum. tamen et in bono legimus transire, ut est illud Moysi: transiens uidebo hoc uisum magnum, et qui uidit impium exaltatum ultra cedros Libani: transiui, inquit, et ecce non erat, et nemo dicit seruo: transi, recumbe.
“And all who pass by the way gather its grapes.” For who but the faithless despoils Christ’s vineyard? But it is also written elsewhere: “And those who passed by the way did not say: The blessing of the Lord be upon you”; for to those who stand it is said: “Behold now, bless the Lord.” Yet we also read “passing” in a good sense, as in that saying of Moses: “Passing over, I will see this great sight”; and the one who saw the ungodly exalted above the cedars of Lebanon: “I passed by,” he says, “and behold, he was not”; and no one says to a servant: “Pass on, recline.”
Ps 80:12 (79:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 129:8 (128:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 134:1 (133:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 3:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:35 (36:35 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 37:36 (36:36 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 17:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: “Passing by” is often bad, as with despoilers of the vine, but sometimes good, as with Moses at the bush.
- Ps 80:12 (LXX 79:13); Ps 129:8 (LXX 128:8); Ps 134:1 (LXX 133:1); Exod 3:3; Ps 37:35–36 (LXX 36:35–36); Luke 17:7.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; OCR slip (t for question mark); OCR slips in the digital text): uineam Christi t sed → uineam Christi? sed; seriptum → scriptum; bendicite do dominum → benedicite dominum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.6.3 (CSEL 62:332–333; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-6-3
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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 15, chapter 7
15.7.1CSEL 62:333
Quae ergo distinctio sit consideremus, nisi forte illa, quia, ubi in bono accipitur transire, absolute dictum est, non dixit hoc aut illud transiens, sed tantummodo transiens, ubi in malo: transeuntes, inquit, uiam. uia enim bona est quae a commeantibus frequentatur, non facile incursatur a latronibus, qui auersa uiarum obsidere consuerunt; iter regale munitum est.
Let us consider, then, what the distinction is; unless perhaps it is this: where “passing” is taken in a good sense, it is said absolutely; he did not say passing this or that, but only “passing”; where in a bad sense, “passing,” he says, “the way.” For the way is good which is frequented by travelers and not easily attacked by robbers, who usually beset the byways; the royal road is fortified.
Num 21:22 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: “Passing” alone is good; “passing the way” means leaving the good, safe road.
- Num 21:22 (the royal road).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.7.1 (CSEL 62:333; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-7-1
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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.
15.7.2CSEL 62:333
Moyses autem non transiuit uiam, sed in uia stetit, cui dictum est: tu autem hic sta mecum. stetit cum illo qui ait: ego sum uia, ueritas et uita. hanc qui uiam transit, labitur. Moyses autem non lapsus est, sed pertransiuit a saecularibus ad spiritalia, a temporalibus ad aeterna. et qui uidit impium nec remansit, sed pertransiuit, euasit, quia non adhaesit impio, ne fieret unum corpus, sed se ab eodem separauit.
But Moses did not pass by the way; he stood in the way, to whom it was said: “But you, stand here with me.” He stood with him who said: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Whoever passes by this way slips. But Moses did not slip; he passed over from worldly things to spiritual, from temporal to eternal. And he who saw the ungodly and did not stay, but passed by, escaped, because he did not cling to the ungodly, lest they become one body, but separated himself from him.
Deut 5:31 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:36 (36:36 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses stood in the way, which is Christ, and passed from temporal to eternal things.
- Deut 5:31; John 14:6; Ps 37:36 (LXX 36:36).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): t n autem hic → tu autem hic.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.7.2 (CSEL 62:333; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-7-2
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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.
15.7.3CSEL 62:333
et cui dicitur: transi, recumbe, euadit utique laboriosam praesentem seruitutem, ut habeat gloriosam futurorum quietem. et sponsae dicitur: ades huc a Libano, sponsa, ades huc a Libano- transibis et pertransibis a principio fidei. transit et pertransit quae festinat ad sponsum, pertransit saeculum, transit ad Christum.
And the one to whom it is said, “Pass on, recline,” surely escapes the toilsome present servitude, so as to have the glorious rest of things to come. And to the bride it is said: “Come hither from Lebanon, my bride, come hither from Lebanon; you will pass and pass through from the beginning of faith.” She passes and passes through who hastens to the bridegroom: she passes through the world, she passes to Christ.
Luke 17:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 4:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The bride passes through the world to Christ.
- Luke 17:7; Song 4:8 (LXX form).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips): tarnsit et pertramsit → transit et pertransit.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.7.3 (CSEL 62:333; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-7-3
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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 15, chapter 8
15.8.1CSEL 62:333–334
Nunc discutiamus quid sit mouere caput. quis est populi caput nisi Christus? caput enim mulieris uir, caput autem uiri Christus. sed etiam lex caput intellegibilis mulieris; denique mulier sub lege tamquam sub uiro fuit. mortificato autem ritu Iudaico, qui erat secundum litteram legis, innupsit ei mulier qui a mortuis
Now let us examine what it is to move the head. Who is the head of the people but Christ? For the head of the woman is the man, and the head of the man Christ. But the law too is the head of the intelligible woman; in fact the woman was under the law as under a husband. But when the Jewish rite, which was according to the letter of the law, had been put to death, the woman married him who rose from the
1 Cor 11:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 7:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The law was the head of the people as a husband; when it died, the people married the risen Christ.
- 1 Cor 11:3; Rom 7:1–4, the image of a wife free to marry again after her husband’s death, applied allegorically.
Topics: Divorce and remarriage
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.8.1 (CSEL 62:333–334; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-8-1
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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.
15.8.2CSEL 62:334
resurrexit. unde quidam mystice interpretati mortificato ritu Iudaico tamquam fratri defuncti ritus ueteris euangelio mulierem illam intellegibilem nubere ex lege uoluerunt, quia lex euangelium fraterna quadam praedicatione praecessit. ergo synagogae caput mortuum
dead. Hence some, interpreting mystically, held that when the Jewish rite was put to death, that intelligible woman married the Gospel by the law, as the brother of the deceased old rite, because the law went before the Gospel with a kind of brotherly preaching. So the head of the synagogue is dead,
Deut 25:5 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Some read this as a levirate marriage: the people married the Gospel, the brother of the dead law.
- Deut 25:5–6 (levirate marriage), applied allegorically by unnamed earlier interpreters.
Topics: Divorce and remarriage
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.8.2 (CSEL 62:334; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-8-2
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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.
15.8.3CSEL 62:334
est, hoc est caput eius lex mortua est, obseruatio uidelicet legis, euacuata est legis littera, spiritalis eius intellectus adstruitur. huius commotionis meminit Dauid in quadragesimo tertio psalmo dicens: posuisti nos in parabolam gentibus, commotionem capitis in populis, eo quod a lege in euangelium sit facta commotio quasi transitus quidam. in uicesimo autem et primo psalmo, in quo totius prophetatur series passionis, sic habet: omnes qui conspiciebant me aspernabantur me et locuti sunt labiis et mouerunt caput. sperauit in domino, eripiat eum; saluum faciat eum, quoniam uult eum. mouerunt ergo legem quae inmobilis uidebatur et finis legis Christus intrauit.
that is, its head the law is dead, namely the observance of the law; the letter of the law has been made void, its spiritual understanding is established. David remembers this moving in the forty-third psalm, saying: “You have made us a parable among the nations, a moving of the head among the peoples,” because a moving from the law to the Gospel took place, a kind of passage. And in the twenty-first psalm, in which the whole sequence of the passion is prophesied, he has this: “All who saw me scorned me, and they spoke with their lips and moved the head: He hoped in the Lord; let him rescue him; let him save him, since he delights in him.” So they moved the law which seemed immovable, and Christ, the end of the law, entered.
Ps 44:14 (43:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:7 (21:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 22:8 (21:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The “moving of the head” is the passage from law to Gospel, foretold in Pss 44 and 22.
- Ps 44:14 (LXX 43:15); Ps 22:7–8 (LXX 21:8–9); Rom 10:4. Ambrose cites the psalms by their LXX numbers (43, 21).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.8.3 (CSEL 62:334; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-8-3
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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 15, chapter 9
15.9.1CSEL 62:334
Qui mouerant capita Pharisaei fuerunt, id est a ueritate diuisi, unde et in ueritatem non crediderunt. sed et sic potest accipi: mouerunt caput suum Christum qui in sua uenerat, sed mouerunt eum, quia sui eum non receperunt. mouerunt autem dicentes: tolle tolle, crucifige eum. et mouerunt caput suum qui onera sua mouere nolebant, cum ligarent onera grauia et aliis in-
Those who moved their heads were the Pharisees, that is, the separated from the truth, whence they also did not believe in the truth. But it can also be taken this way: they moved their head, Christ, who had come to his own, but they moved him because his own did not receive him. And they moved him, saying: “Away with him, away with him, crucify him.” And they moved their head who would not move their own burdens, since they bound heavy burdens and laid them on others,
John 1:11 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Pharisees moved their head, Christ, rejecting him, and would not move their own burdens.
- John 1:11; John 19:15; Matt 23:4. “Pharisees” is glossed as “separated.” Translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.9.1 (CSEL 62:334; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-9-1
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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.
15.9.2CSEL 62:334–335
ponerent, ipsi autem digito, inquit, ea mouere nolunt. quod est mysticum, quia corporalis ritus obseruationem numquam mutare uoluerunt et introducere intellectum spiritalem. digitum pro spiritu legimus, ut lex digito dei scripta est, et ideo lex spiritalis est. noluerunt ergo onera sua mouere, quae sunt grauia, et leue Christi iugum atque onus eius suaue suscipere.
but they themselves, he says, will not move them with a finger. This is mystical, because they never wished to change the observance of the bodily rite and bring in the spiritual understanding. We read “finger” for the Spirit, as the law was written by the finger of God, and therefore the law is spiritual. So they would not move their burdens, which are heavy, and take up the light yoke of Christ and his sweet burden.
Matt 23:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 31:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 11:20 (echo, medium confidence) · Rom 7:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 11:30 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The finger means the Spirit; they refused the spiritual sense and Christ’s light yoke.
- Matt 23:4; Exod 31:18; Luke 11:20; Rom 7:14; Matt 11:30.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.9.2 (CSEL 62:334–335; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-9-2
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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.
Exposition 15, chapter 10
15.10.1CSEL 62:335
Uerum quia passio saluatoris omnes redemit, non absurdum est intellegere ita hos mouisse capita sua, sicut prophetabat princeps ille synagogae: expedit unum hominem mori pro populo. aliud dicere uolebat, aliud significabat. et isti aliter mouebant caput quasi insultantes et aliud adnuntiabant, quia ipse erat qui uenit, ut pigrum illud atque terrenum principale hominum commoueret, quo euacuata obseruatione litterae mysterium quaereremus in uerbis.
But since the Savior’s passion redeemed all, it is not absurd to understand that these moved their heads in the way that ruler of the synagogue prophesied: “It is expedient that one man die for the people.” He meant to say one thing, he signified another. And these moved their heads in one sense, as though insulting, and announced another, because he was the one who came to move that sluggish and earthly ruling part of men, so that, the observance of the letter being made void, we might seek the mystery in the words.
John 11:50 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like Caiaphas, the mockers unwittingly signified that Christ came to move men from the letter to the mystery.
- John 11:50.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.10.1 (CSEL 62:335; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-10-1
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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.
15.10.2CSEL 62:335
unde ait: posuisti nos in parabolam gentibus, commotionem capitis in populis. quod in bono utique accipitur, quia praemisit: et in nationes dispersisti nos. dispersi sunt enim Iudaei, ut reliquiae eorum saluae fierent secundum electionem gratiae, in parabolam autem positi, ut ea quae per parabolam dicta sunt reuelata esse illorum exitu disceremus uel eorum exemplo admoneremur cauere perfidiam.
Hence he says: “You have made us a parable among the nations, a moving of the head among the peoples.” This is surely taken in a good sense, because he said first: “And you have scattered us among the nations.” For the Jews were scattered so that their remnant might be saved according to the election of grace, and made a parable so that we might learn from their end that what was spoken in parables has been revealed, or be warned by their example to beware of faithlessness.
Ps 44:14 (43:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 44:11 (43:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:5 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The scattering of the Jews serves the salvation of a remnant and warns others against unbelief.
- Ps 44:11, 14 (LXX 43:12, 15); Rom 11:5. Translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): posuisti nos i Q parabolam → posuisti nos in parabolam.
Topics: The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.10.2 (CSEL 62:335; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-10-2
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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.
15.10.3CSEL 62:335
tunc enim magis cognouit Hieremias Iudaeam esse deflendam et ideo Hierusalem captam esse tunc temporis prophetauit, quando redemptorem proprium non recepit. illi igitur insultatur, de qua dicent, inquit: haec est ciuitas uniuersae terrae a e, eo quod, ubi erat ante fidei iucunditas, ibi nunc sit amaritudo perfidiae, uel certe mouendo caput suum et de corporalibus ad spiritalia transeundo mereatur audire, cum crediderit in Christum, quod corona sit gloriae.
For Jeremiah then knew the more that Judea was to be wept for, and therefore prophesied that Jerusalem was taken at that time, when it did not receive its own Redeemer. So she is mocked, of whom, he says, they will say: “Is this the city … of the whole earth?”, because where there was before the joy of faith, there is now the bitterness of faithlessness; or at least, by moving her head and passing from bodily to spiritual things, she may deserve to hear, when she has believed in Christ, that she is a crown of glory.
Lam 2:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Jerusalem, mocked for rejecting her Redeemer, may yet be called a crown of glory if she believes.
- Lam 2:15. The quotation is abridged in the printed text (“a e” stands where 15.5.1 has the full wording).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): deBendam → deflendam; Chnstum → Christum.
Topics: The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.10.3 (CSEL 62:335; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-10-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-10-3
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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 15, chapter 11
15.11.1CSEL 62:335–336
Quae est autem corona gloriae nisi ecclesia, quae caput suum Christum coronat? quae iucunditas uniuersae terrae nisi domus populi christiani, aula sanctorum, de quibus scriptum est: in omnem terram exiuit sonus eorum et in fines orbis terrae uerba eorum? ergo quia corona gloriae est ecclesia, ideo dicitur in Canticis: egredimini et uidete regem Salomonem in corona qua coronauit
And what is the crown of glory but the church, which crowns her head, Christ? What is the joy of the whole earth but the house of the Christian people, the hall of the saints, of whom it is written: “Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world”? So because the church is the crown of glory, it is said in the Song of Songs: “Go out and see King Solomon in the crown with which
Ps 19:4 (18:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:18 (allusion, medium confidence) · Song 3:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The crown of glory is the church, which crowns Christ, as in the Song.
- Ps 19:4 (LXX 18:5); Rom 10:18; Song 3:11.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): sonus eorum e. in fines → sonus eorum et in fines; Salomonem ir corona → Salomonem in corona.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.11.1 (CSEL 62:335–336; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-11-1
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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.
15.11.2CSEL 62:336
eum mater eius in die sponsalium eius et in die iucunditatis cordis eius. ad animas dicitur, ut e gurgustiis et claustris exeant corporalibus, extra corporis cogitationes exeant, egrediantur a cupiditatibus et a curis et a ceteris carnis istius affectibus et lubricis passionibus, supra mundum ascendant,
his mother crowned him on the day of his betrothal and on the day of the gladness of his heart.” It is said to souls, that they should go out from the hovels and enclosures of the body, go out beyond the thoughts of the body, go forth from desires and cares and the other affections and slippery passions of this flesh, rise above the world,
Song 3:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The souls are called to go out from the body’s confines to see Christ crowned.
- Song 3:11.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.11.2 (CSEL 62:336; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-11-2
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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.
15.11.3CSEL 62:336
de hoc mundo exeant, Christo occurrant, paratae adsint facibus ardentibus relucentes. quasi angeli Christi haec loquuntur: non potestis uidere claritatem eius et gloriam eius, nisi egrediamini humanae fragilitatis curps, filiae Hierusalem, quasi dicant: quid uiuentem
go out from this world, run to meet Christ, and be ready, shining with burning torches. The angels of Christ, as it were, say this: “You cannot see his brightness and his glory unless you go out from the body of human frailty, daughters of Jerusalem,” as if they said: “Why do you seek the living
Matt 25:7 (echo, medium confidence) · Luke 24:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s glory is seen only by those who go out beyond the frail body.
- Matt 25:1–7; Luke 24:5. “curps” in the digital text is probably corpus (“body”); translated so.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.11.3 (CSEL 62:336; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-11-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-11-3
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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.
15.11.4CSEL 62:336
inter mortuos quaeritis? non intra hunc mundum quaeritur Christus, qui supra mundum suos uoluit esse discipulos. quae est corona qua coronatur Christus nisi corona gloriae? Ioseph coronam habuit castitatis, Paulus iustitiae, Petrus fidei — singularum uirtutum coronae sunt —: solus Christus habet coronam gloriae qua eum ecclesia coronauit. in hac corona omnes coronae sunt, quia gloria non portio unius coronae, sed praemium omnium coronarum est.
among the dead?” Christ is not sought within this world, he who wished his disciples to be above the world. What is the crown with which Christ is crowned but the crown of glory? Joseph had the crown of chastity, Paul of righteousness, Peter of faith (these are crowns of particular virtues); only Christ has the crown of glory, with which the church crowned him. In this crown are all crowns, because glory is not the share of one crown but the reward of all crowns.
Luke 24:5 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:8 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The saints have crowns of single virtues; Christ alone has the crown of glory, which includes all.
- Luke 24:5; 2 Tim 4:8.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.11.4 (CSEL 62:336; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-11-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-11-4
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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 15, chapter 12
15.12.1CSEL 62:336–337
Tertia traditione mouerunt caput suum, hoc est Christum qui est caput suae plebis: caput eius aurum cephaz. unde Aquila petram aurum dixit, Symmachus lapidem aureum, quod significat stabilem eminentemque sapientiam. corpus Christi ecclesia est. huius caput aurum sapientia pretiosa sanctorum est, hoc est uiri iusti atque prudentes. crines eius abietes, nigrae sicut corax, de quo alibi ait: capillamentum tuum ut grex tonsarum. ideo capillamentum, quia uirtus omnium sensuum in capite est; oculi enim sapientis in capite eius.
In a third understanding, they moved their head, that is, Christ, who is the head of his people: “his head is gold, cephaz.” Hence Aquila said “gold rock,” Symmachus “golden stone,” which signifies stable and eminent wisdom. The body of Christ is the church. Its head, the gold, is the precious wisdom of the saints, that is, of righteous and prudent men. “His locks are firs, black as a raven,” of which he says elsewhere: “Your hair is like a flock of shorn ewes.” Hair, because the power of all the senses is in the head; for “the eyes of the wise man are in his head.”
Song 5:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 4:2 (quotation, low confidence) · Eccl 2:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 1:23 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s golden head and black locks in the Song signify the wisdom and depth of the saints and teachers.
- Song 5:11 (LXX form, with the Hebrew word cephaz); Aquila and Symmachus are the Greek translators; Song 4:1–2; Eccl 2:14; Eph 1:22–23.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.12.1 (CSEL 62:336–337; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-12-1
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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.
15.12.2CSEL 62:337
profunda igitur doctorum prudentia, quae potest ea quae obscura sunt reuelare et alta aperire sensuum. et huiusmodi disputatores crines ecclesiae sunt, sicut pulli coruorum, quibus dominus escam dat, sicut dedit sancto Iacob a iuuentute eius et eum pauit. hos altos ac profundos ubertate doctrinae pascit dominus caelestibus sacramentis.
So it is the deep prudence of teachers, which can reveal what is obscure and open the depths of meanings. And such expounders are the locks of the church, like the young ravens to whom the Lord gives food, as he gave to holy Jacob from his youth and fed him. These, lofty and deep in the richness of their teaching, the Lord feeds with heavenly sacraments.
Ps 147:9 (146:9 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 48:15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church’s locks are its deep teachers, whom God feeds like the young ravens.
- Ps 147:9 (LXX 146:9); Gen 48:15.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.12.2 (CSEL 62:337; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-12-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-12-2
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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.
Exposition 15, chapter 13
15.13.1CSEL 62:337
Oculi quoque eius sicut columbae. oculi sunt uiri uidelicet spiritalibus ornati sensibus, qui ad uidenda mysteria sunt acuti et parati ad penetranda scripturae secreta diuinae, rationabili lacte fulgentes, in quibus non sit aliqua doli maculosa confusio, sed simplicis affectus pura et inmaculata sinceritas. ideo in aquarum abundantia lotas has columbas in lacte memorauit.
“His eyes too are like doves.” The eyes are men adorned with spiritual senses, sharp to see the mysteries and ready to penetrate the secrets of divine Scripture, shining with rational milk, in whom there is no spotted confusion of guile but the pure and spotless sincerity of a simple affection. That is why he recalled these doves washed in milk by the abundance of waters.
Song 5:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:2 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The doves’ eyes are spiritual men keen to see the mysteries of Scripture, pure and without guile.
- Song 5:12; 1 Pet 2:2.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.13.1 (CSEL 62:337; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-13-1
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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 15, chapter 14
15.14.1CSEL 62:337
Iam cetera, dentes et genas et sicut coccineum resticulum labia sponsae intellegimus animae esse uirtutes doctorumque diuersitates, qui uel spiritalem menti alimoniam dispensatione sedula subministrent uel praedicatione dominicae crucis sicut uerbi quadam linea alligent audientem uel modestia uerecundi et iuuentutis flore gratissimi etsi a tractatu pudore reuocentur, redoleat tamen in his odor Christi et, sicut in genas quasi de sacerdotali descendit unguentum, eluceat pulchritudo doctrinae.
The rest now, the teeth and cheeks and the bride’s lips like a scarlet thread, we understand to be the virtues of the soul and the varieties of teachers, who either supply spiritual nourishment to the mind by diligent dispensing, or bind the hearer by the preaching of the Lord’s cross as by a kind of cord of the word; or who, modest and most pleasing in the flower of youth, even if they are held back from discourse by shame, yet have the fragrance of Christ, and, as ointment comes down as from the priestly head upon the cheeks, the beauty of their teaching shines out.
Song 4:3 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 2:15 (echo, medium confidence) · Ps 133:2 (132:2 LXX) (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Teeth, cheeks and lips signify the various virtues and teachers of the church.
- Song 4:2–3; 2 Cor 2:15; Ps 133:2 (LXX 132:2).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): deacendit → descendit.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.14.1 (CSEL 62:337; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-14-1
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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.
15.14.2CSEL 62:337–338
et hoc caput mouit synagoga et ideo abstulit dominus mirabilem consiliarium et prudentem architectum et sapientem auditorem, caput, inquit, et caudam, quoniam qui caput non tenuerant nouissima habere non possunt. sed iam ea quae adnexa sunt consideremus.
And the synagogue moved this head, and therefore the Lord took away the wonderful counselor and the prudent architect and the wise hearer, “head,” he says, “and tail,” since those who had not held the head cannot have the last things. But let us now consider what follows.
Isa 3:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 9:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Rejecting its head, the synagogue lost its counselors, head and tail.
- Isa 3:3; Isa 9:14. Translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter lost in the digital text): architec um → architectum.
Topics: Jews and Judaism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.14.2 (CSEL 62:337–338; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-14-2
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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 15, chapter 15
15.15.1CSEL 62:338
Iniquos odio habui et legem tuam dilexi. quanto erga dominum propendat affectu, sanctus propheta Dauid hoc uersiculo declarauit, quia, cum suos inimicos nequaquam sit persecutus — utpote qui et regis Saul, a cuius insidiis periculum salutis cauere uix poterat, nec uitam putauerit adpetendam et mortem aestimauerit uindicandam et parricidae filii ingemuerit interitum et multorum persequentium se flagitiis adpetitus ignouerit, ut ipse
“I have hated the lawless and loved your law.” In this verse the holy prophet David declared how great an affection he had toward the Lord, because, though he by no means persecuted his own enemies (he who did not think he should seek the life of King Saul, from whose plots he could scarcely guard his own safety, and judged his death one to be avenged, and groaned over the death of his parricidal son, and pardoned many who persecuted him with crimes, so that, as he himself
Ps 119:113 (118:113 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 26:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Sam 1:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 18:33 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David, who never persecuted his own enemies, yet hated transgressors of God’s law.
- Ps 119:113 (LXX 118:113); 1 Sam 24; 26; 2 Sam 1:14–16; 18:33.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray number in the digital text): 1 Iniquos odio → Iniquos odio.
Topics: Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.15.1 (CSEL 62:338; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-15-1
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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.
15.15.2CSEL 62:338
ait, quia uicem iniuriae laedentibus non rependerit —, praeuaricatores tamen diuinae legis exosus horrescat. in quo utique et clementia morum eius mansuetudoque pietatis et uehemens deuotionis aperitur intentio euangelici praecepti conueniens disciplinae, quam prophetico spiritu praeuidebat. etenim dominus Iesus et nostrorum inimicorum dilectionem nobis expetendam esse praecepit et dei hostes, etiamsi nobis aut parentum aut filiorum aut coniugii germanitatisque necessitudine copulentur, odio persequendos. sic enim scriptum est: si quis uenerit ad me et non oderit patrem et matrem et uxorem et filios et fratres et sorores, adhuc etiam et animam suam, non est me dignus.
says, he did not repay injury to those who harmed him), yet he loathes and abhors the transgressors of the divine law. In this surely the mildness of his character and the gentleness of his piety are revealed, and also the vehement intention of his devotion, agreeing with the discipline of the Gospel precept which he foresaw by the prophetic Spirit. For the Lord Jesus commanded both that we should seek the love even of our enemies, and that the enemies of God, even if they are joined to us by the bond of parents or children or marriage or brotherhood, should be pursued with hatred. For thus it is written: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even his own soul, he is not worthy of me.”
Ps 7:4 (7:5 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 14:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:37 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David anticipated the Gospel: love personal enemies, but hate God’s enemies even among one’s kin.
- Ps 7:4 (LXX 7:5); Luke 14:26 (with Matt 10:37).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced word in the digital text; stray letter in the digital text): oderit t patrem → oderit patrem; non est m e dignus → non est me dignus.
Topics: Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.15.2 (CSEL 62:338; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-15-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-15-2
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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 15, chapter 16
15.16.1CSEL 62:338–339
Quod si quis otiosis accipiat auribus, fortasse dicat: tu, domine Iesu, legem dedisti dicens: dilige dominum deum tuum, dilige proximum tuum, et ut impleres hanc legem uenisti. dixisti per legem: honora patrem et matrem, et in euangelio iubes ut parentes oderim? quomodo sibi conueniunt ista praecepta? sic mitis et humilis corde uenisti? non possum saluo pietatis iure odisse patrem, cui debeo quod creatus sum, matrem longo decem mensium fastidio pii fetus onera portantem, cui in absolutione plus periculi, in dilatione plus taedii est.
If anyone hears this with idle ears, he may perhaps say: “You, Lord Jesus, gave the law, saying, ‘Love the Lord your God, love your neighbor,’ and you came to fulfill this law. You said through the law, ‘Honor father and mother,’ and in the Gospel you command me to hate my parents? How do these precepts agree? Is this how you came, meek and humble of heart? I cannot, without violating the right of piety, hate my father, to whom I owe my being created, or my mother, who carried the burden of her loving offspring through ten long months of discomfort, for whom delivery held more danger and delay more weariness.
Matt 22:37 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 22:39 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 20:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:29 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: An objector asks how Christ can command hatred of parents when the law commands honoring them.
- Matt 22:37–39; Matt 5:17; Exod 20:12; Matt 11:29.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): taedii esi. → taedii est..
Topics: Parents and children
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.16.1 (CSEL 62:338–339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-16-1
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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.
15.16.2CSEL 62:339
quid dulcissimi merentur liberi, ut a paterno excludantur amore, cum sit impium mori nolle pro liberis? quid uxor carissima, quaedam uitae coheres et consortium commune naturae? quid fratres isdem concreti uisceribus atque formati eodem naturae hospitio in hunc usum lucis emissi? oderim ergo pignora caritatis? ita euangelii lenitate rigorem praedurae legis inflectis, ut, quorum lex condemnat iniurias, eorum tu euangelio tuo condemnes gratiam?
What do most sweet children deserve, that they should be shut out from a father’s love, when it is ungodly to be unwilling to die for one’s children? What has a most dear wife deserved, a kind of co-heir of life and a common partnership of nature? What brothers, formed together in the same womb and shaped in the same lodging of nature, sent forth into this use of light? Am I then to hate the pledges of love? Do you so bend the rigor of the very hard law by the mildness of the Gospel that you condemn by your Gospel the kindness toward those whose injuries the law condemns?”
Notes and citation
Summary: The objector protests that hating children, wife and brothers contradicts nature and law.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray number in the digital text): gratiam?5 → gratiam?.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.16.2 (CSEL 62:339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-16-2
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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 15, chapter 17
15.17.1CSEL 62:339
Uideo istiusmodi adsertioni me respondere non posse. sed tu, domine, responde; nec enim indiges ut excuseris, qui non eguisti ut uinceres. respondebit igitur: egone condemno pietatem qui odi iniquitatem? ego parentes praecipio non amandos qui inimicos suadeo diligendos? sed non legisti: tempus amandi et tempus odio habendi, et tempus belli et tempus pacis? de quo hoc dicit Ecclesiastes?
I see that I cannot answer an assertion of this kind. But you, Lord, answer; for you have no need to be excused, who had no need to conquer. He will answer, then: “Do I condemn piety, I who hate iniquity? Do I command that parents not be loved, I who urge that enemies be loved? But have you not read: ‘A time to love and a time to hate, a time of war and a time of peace’? Of what does Ecclesiastes say this?
Eccl 3:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ answers by citing Ecclesiastes: there is a time to love and a time to hate.
- Eccl 3:8.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.17.1 (CSEL 62:339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-17-1
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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.
15.17.2CSEL 62:339
nonne de eo quod ratione temporis fiat, ut aliquos pie et amare et odisse possimus, ut quos dilexeris odisse et quos oderis amare conueniat? non ego parentum infudi odia pectoribus filiorum nec coniugum suasi fastidia mentibus maritorum.
Is it not of the fact that, by reason of the time, we may both love and hate some people with piety, so that it is fitting to hate those you have loved and love those you have hated? I did not pour hatred of parents into the breasts of children, nor did I urge disdain of wives on the minds of husbands.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ did not teach children to hate parents or husbands to disdain wives.
Topics: Marriage, Parents and children
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.17.2 (CSEL 62:339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-17-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-17-2
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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.
15.17.3CSEL 62:339
naturam interroga quid exegerim, quae utique auctoris arbitrium genitali singularum necessitudinum testatur affectu. amare patribus filios lex naturae est, maritis coniuges lex diuina est, quae coniugii caritatem in naturam uertit, ut fiat una caro et unus spiritus. diligere fratribus fratres naturae praerogatiua est, quae eodem domicilio diu fotos adsuefecit ad gratiam caritatis.
Ask nature what I required, which surely testifies to the will of its author by the inborn affection of each relationship. For fathers to love their children is the law of nature; for husbands to love their wives is a divine law, which turns the love of marriage into nature, so that it becomes one flesh and one spirit. For brothers to love brothers is a prerogative of nature, which has accustomed those long nurtured in the same home to the grace of love.
Gen 2:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 6:17 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Love of children, wife and brothers is the law of nature and of God; marriage makes one flesh.
- Gen 2:24; 1 Cor 6:16–17.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): fiat uua caro → fiat una caro.
Topics: Marriage, Parents and children
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.17.3 (CSEL 62:339; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-17-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-17-3
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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 15, chapter 18
15.18.1CSEL 62:339–340
Non ergo necessitudinum intestina bella mandaui, sed inlecebram suspectam habui. an non iure suspectam, cum serpens ille callidus et astutus ad construendas nequitiae suae artes, quo incorruptae ac rudis naturae dote fundatum primogeniti Adam labefactaret affectum, femineis magis inlecebris quam suis commisit uenenis?
So I did not command civil wars among kin, but I held allurement suspect. And was it not rightly suspect, when that cunning and crafty serpent, in building the arts of his wickedness, to overthrow the affection of the firstborn Adam, founded on the endowment of an uncorrupted and innocent nature, entrusted himself to a woman’s allurements rather than to his own poisons?
Gen 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ warns against the allurement of kin, as the serpent used a woman to overthrow Adam.
- Gen 3:1–6.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.18.1 (CSEL 62:339–340; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-18-1
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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.
15.18.2CSEL 62:340
itaque femina uirum, quem serpens temptare non ausus est, cibo oris et ui amoris inflexum molli quadam et conciliatricula uxoriae sedulitatis affectione traduxit. et adhuc Eua liberos non habebat,
So the woman led astray the man, whom the serpent did not dare to tempt, bending him by the food of her mouth and the force of love, with a soft and coaxing affection of wifely attentiveness. And Eve did not yet have children,
Gen 3:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Eve led Adam astray through food and love.
- Gen 3:6.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.18.2 (CSEL 62:340; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-18-2
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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.
15.18.3CSEL 62:340
quorum gratia ut dulcis ad amorem, ita facilis ad lapsum plurimos a martyrii consummatione saepe reuocauit. denique saepe cognouimus, quoniam, quem formidolosa carnificum pompa non terruit nec diuisi lateris sulcus infregit nec ardentes laminae a triumphalis fortitudinis abducere rigore potuerunt, eum inter sacra iam praemia constitutum uxor tenerae subolis oblatione miserabilis unius lacrimae miseratione decepit. Samson captus est per uxorem: numquid tu fortior? Salomon captus est in uxore: numquid tu sapientior? ille igitur, cuius sapientia totis celebratur saeculis, factus est insipiens, quia nimium amauit uxorem.
whose charm, as sweet to love as it is easy to fall by, has often called back very many from the consummation of martyrdom. In fact we have often known that one whom the dreadful pomp of the executioners did not terrify, nor the furrow of his torn side break, nor the burning plates draw away from the firmness of triumphant courage, has been deceived, when already placed among the sacred rewards, by a wife offering their tender offspring with the pity of a single pitiable tear. Samson was taken through a wife: are you stronger? Solomon was taken in a wife: are you wiser? He, then, whose wisdom is celebrated through all ages, became foolish, because he loved his wife too much.
Judg 16:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 11:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Love of wife and children has turned many from martyrdom; Samson and Solomon fell through women.
- Judg 16:4–21; 1 Kgs 11:1–4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): quoriun gratia → quorum gratia.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.18.3 (CSEL 62:340; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-18-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-18-3
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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 15, chapter 19
15.19.1CSEL 62:340
Quid de fratribus dicam? experta est in liberis et prophetae domus detestabiliora oscula quam odia esse fraterna. itaque fratricidium quidem pater fleuit, sed magis est indignatus incestum. denique licet parricidam, percussorem tamen reuocabat incesti.
What shall I say of brothers? The prophet’s house too found in his children that brotherly kisses are more detestable than brotherly hatreds. So the father wept indeed for the fratricide, but he was more indignant at the incest. In fact, though he recalled the parricide, he recalled the one who struck down the man guilty of incest.
2 Sam 13:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 13:29 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 14:33 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David’s house shows the dangers among brothers: Amnon’s incest and Absalom’s fratricide.
- 2 Sam 13:1–39; 14:21–33. The last sentence is compressed in the printed text; translated by sense.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.19.1 (CSEL 62:340; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-19-1
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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 15, chapter 20
15.20.1CSEL 62:340–341
Tempus igitur amandi tempus odio habendi, hoc est tempus martyrii, quando ea quae diuina sunt omni caritati necessitudinum praeferenda sunt, tempus belli, quo etiam bellum pro Christi nomine perfidis pignoribus inferamus, tempus pacis, quia in pace locus eius. denique ipse in euangelio euidenter exposuit, qua ratione nostros debeamus odisse, dicens: qui diligit patrem et matrem plus quam me, non est me dignus.
“A time to love, a time to hate,” then: that is, the time of martyrdom, when the things of God must be preferred to all love of kin; “a time of war,” in which we wage war even on faithless relatives for the name of Christ; “a time of peace,” because his place is in peace. In fact he himself clearly explained in the Gospel how we ought to hate our own, saying: “Whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me.”
Eccl 3:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 76:2 (75:3 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 10:37 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The time to hate is martyrdom, when God must come before kin; Christ means loving him more than parents.
- Eccl 3:8; Ps 76:2 (LXX 75:3); Matt 10:37.
Topics: Martyrdom, Parents and children
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.20.1 (CSEL 62:340–341; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-20-1
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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.
15.20.2CSEL 62:341
non dixit indignos esse qui parentes suos diligit, sed eos indignos ait, qui plus parentes quam Christum diligunt. si enim ideo deferimus parentibus amorem, quia nostrae generationis auctores sunt, quanto magis Christum amare debemus, qui ipsorum est auctor parentum! isti dederunt quod non potestatis est, sed ministerii sui; Christus donat salutem, qui parentum beneficia conseruat.
He did not say that one who loves his parents is unworthy, but that those are unworthy who love their parents more than Christ. For if we give love to our parents because they are the authors of our generation, how much more ought we to love Christ, who is the author of the parents themselves! They gave what was not of their power but of their ministry; Christ gives salvation, who preserves the parents’ benefits.
Matt 10:37 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, the author of parents themselves, must be loved more than parents.
- Matt 10:37.
Topics: Parents and children
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.20.2 (CSEL 62:341; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-20-2
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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 15, chapter 21
15.21.1CSEL 62:341
Pulchre autem dixit: iniquos odio habui, legem autem tuam dilexi, quia, si legem amamus, odisse debemus aduersarios legis, qui operibus suis praecepta legis inpugnant. Graecus melius eos et proprie nuncupauit dicens: παϱανόμους; ἐ̓μίσησα, παϱάνομος exlex uocatur, qui extra legem est. hos ergo odit qui in lege Christi est, quia legis mandata non seruant.
And beautifully he said, “I have hated the lawless, but loved your law,” because if we love the law we must hate the adversaries of the law, who by their works assail the law’s precepts. The Greek named them better and more properly, saying paranomous emisēsa; a paranomos is called “outlaw,” one who is outside the law. These, then, he hates who is in the law of Christ, because they do not keep the law’s commandments.
Ps 119:113 (118:113 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Greek calls them “lawless” (paranomoi): those outside the law, whom the lover of the law hates.
- Ps 119:113 (LXX 118:113: παρανόμους ἐμίσησα).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray marks in the digital text): hos ergo.-odit → hos ergo odit.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.21.1 (CSEL 62:341; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-21-1
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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.
15.21.2CSEL 62:341
non solum enim qui legem nescit, sed etiam ille qui non agit secundum legem exsors legis est, quia non auditores legis, sed factores legis iustificabuntur. redarguit me ipse Dauid, si aliter intellegam. quomodo iniquos homines oderat, qui parricidam filium commendabat proeliatoribus, ne eum aliquis occideret, qui Saul regis mortem etiam uindicauit in eum qui a se nuntiauit occisum?
For not only one who does not know the law, but also one who does not act according to the law has no share in the law, because not the hearers of the law but the doers of the law will be justified. David himself refutes me if I understand otherwise. How did he hate lawless men, he who commended his parricidal son to the fighters so that no one would kill him, who even avenged King Saul’s death on the man who announced that he had killed him?
Rom 2:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 18:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 1:15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Doers, not hearers, of the law are justified; yet David spared Absalom and avenged Saul.
- Rom 2:13; 2 Sam 18:5; 2 Sam 1:15.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.21.2 (CSEL 62:341; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-21-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-21-2
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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 15, chapter 22
15.22.1CSEL 62:341–342
Ergo non iniquos homines, sed iniquos sermones oderat. denique iniquos, dixit, odio habui, non addidit uiros. deinde cum dicat Iesus in euangelio: diligite inimicos uestros, dicat apostolus: benedicite eos qui persecuntur uos et nolite maledicere, quomodo excusaretur iste uir secundum euangelicam uiuens disciplinam, si iniquos homines odisset, nisi intellegas quod iniquitatem odio habuit, non eos qui,
So he hated not lawless men but lawless words. In fact he said, “I have hated the lawless,” and did not add “men.” Then, since Jesus says in the Gospel, “Love your enemies,” and the apostle says, “Bless those who persecute you, and do not curse,” how would this man who lived by the Gospel’s discipline be excused if he had hated lawless men, unless you understand that he hated lawlessness, not those who,
Matt 5:44 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 12:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David hated lawlessness, not the lawless persons, in keeping with the Gospel command to love enemies.
- Matt 5:44; Rom 12:14.
Topics: Ethics, Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.22.1 (CSEL 62:341–342; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-22-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-22-1
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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.
15.22.2CSEL 62:342
etsi operarentur iniquitatem, possent tamen euangelica praedicatione conuerti? aut certe nisi ita accipimus, accipiamus quia, sicut ille qui non honorat patrem iniquus est, idem tamen secundum illud exosus patrem, quod scriptum est: qui non odit patrem aut matrem aut fratres aut sorores aut animam suam, non potest meus esse discipulus, etiam laudabilis habetur, sic et iste iniquos odio habuit, eodem modo et eos oderat quo patrem praeuaricantem aut animam suam, praeferens uidelicet uitae huius suauitati gratiam Christi.
even though they worked iniquity, could still be converted by the preaching of the Gospel? Or at least, if we do not take it so, let us take it that, as one who does not honor his father is lawless, and yet the same man, hating his father in the sense of what is written, “Whoever does not hate father or mother or brothers or sisters or his own soul cannot be my disciple,” is even held praiseworthy, so this man hated the lawless, and hated them in the same way as he would a transgressing father or his own soul, preferring the grace of Christ to the sweetness of this life.
Exod 20:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 14:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Or David hated the lawless as one hates even father or self for Christ’s sake.
- Exod 20:12; Luke 14:26.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.22.2 (CSEL 62:342; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-22-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-22-2
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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 15, chapter 23
15.23.1CSEL 62:342
Sequitur uersus secundus: adiutor et susceptor meus es tu, et in uerbum tuum spero. adiutor per legem, susceptor per euangelium. quos lege adiuuit, in carne suscepit, quia scriptum est: hic peccata nostra portat, et ideo in uerbum eius spero. Graecus tamen ἐϕήλπισα habet, quod est supersperaui, quod de eo dicitur qui semper addit ad sperandum et, cum sperauerit aliquid, iterum sperat et spe proficit, extendens se semper ad superiora et ea quae praeteriit obliuiscens.
The second verse follows: “You are my helper and my supporter, and in your word I hope.” Helper through the law, supporter through the Gospel. Those he helped by the law he took up in the flesh, because it is written: “He bears our sins”; and therefore I hope in his word. The Greek, however, has epēlpisa, that is, “I have hoped beyond,” which is said of one who always adds to his hoping and, when he has hoped for something, hopes again and advances in hope, always stretching himself to what is higher and forgetting what he has passed.
Ps 119:114 (118:114 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 53:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God helps through the law and supports through the Gospel; the Greek means “I have hoped still more.”
- Ps 119:114 (LXX 118:114); Isa 53:4; Phil 3:13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma split in the digital text): adiutor e t susceptor meus es tu, ei in uerb um tuum spero o. → adiutor et susceptor meus es tu, et in uerbum tuum spero..
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.23.1 (CSEL 62:342; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-23-1
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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 15, chapter 24
15.24.1CSEL 62:342–343
Pulchre autem ait: in uerbum tuum speraui, hoc est: non in prophetas speraui, non in legem, sed in uerbum tuum speraui, hoc est in aduentum tuum. ut uenias et suscipias peccatores, delicta condones, ouem lassam tuis in cruce humeris bonus pastor inponas. si quis sperat in Christum, separare se debet a consortio perfidorum.
And beautifully he says, “In your word I have hoped”; that is, I have not hoped in the prophets, not in the law, but in your word, that is, in your coming: that you may come and take up sinners, pardon offenses, and as the good shepherd lay the weary sheep on your shoulders on the cross. If anyone hopes in Christ, he must separate himself from the company of the faithless.
Luke 15:5 (allusion, high confidence) · John 10:11 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hope rests on Christ’s coming, the good shepherd who carries the lost sheep.
- Luke 15:5; John 10:11.
Topics: Christology, Hope
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 15.24.1 (CSEL 62:342–343; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-24-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/15-24-1
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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.