Exposition of Psalm 118 18.2.1–18.31.2
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 18, chapter 2
18.2.1CSEL 62:396
Haec omnia in scripturis diuinis qui quaerit, inuenit. nam et primum illud, ut in dolore positos consolemur, docet illa. quae in libro Hieremiae flebiliter clamat ad captiuos et exules Iudaeorum: ite, proficiscimini, filii; ego enim derelicta sum deserta. exui me stolam pacis, indui autem stolam precationis meae et clamabo ad excelsum in diebus meis. animo aequo estote. filii. clamate ad dominum et extrahet uos de manu principum inimicorum. ego enim speraui in illo aeterno salutem uestram.
Whoever seeks all these things in the divine Scriptures finds them. For the first, that we should console those placed in grief, is taught by her who in the book of Jeremiah cries tearfully to the captives and exiles of the Jews: “Go, set out, my children; for I am left desolate. I have put off the robe of peace and put on the robe of my supplication, and I will cry to the Most High in my days. Be of good courage, my children; cry to the Lord, and he will draw you out of the hand of hostile rulers. For I have hoped in the Eternal for your salvation.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture teaches consolation in grief, as Jerusalem consoles her exiled children in Baruch.
- Bar 4:19–21, cited as “the book of Jeremiah.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip and stray hyphen): profieisc-imini → proficiscimini.
Extrabiblical texts: Bar 4:19 (Baruch [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.2.1 (CSEL 62:396; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-2-1
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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.
18.2.2CSEL 62:396
credentibus igitur in dominum est in domini misericordia consolatio. est etiam aliud consolationis genus his qui graues soluerint poenas, ut habes scriptum in Esaiae libro: consolamini consolamini populum meum, dicit dominus. sacerdotes. loquimini in cor Hierusalem, consolamini eam, quoniam repleta est humiliatio eius; so-
So for those who believe in the Lord, there is consolation in the Lord’s mercy. There is also another kind of consolation for those who have paid heavy penalties, as you have it written in the book of Isaiah: “Comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord. Priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, comfort her, because her humiliation is fulfilled; her sin is
Isa 40:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 40:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A second consolation is for those who have paid their penalty, as in Isaiah 40.
- Isa 40:1–2 (LXX form, with “priests”).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.2.2 (CSEL 62:396; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-2-2
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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.
18.2.3CSEL 62:396–397
lutum est peccatum eius, quoniam accepit de manu domini duplicia peccata sua. etiamsi fides deerat, poena satisfecerat;
loosed, because she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins.” Even if faith was lacking, punishment had made satisfaction;
Isa 40:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Where faith failed, punishment has made satisfaction.
- Isa 40:2.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.2.3 (CSEL 62:396–397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-2-3
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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.
18.2.4CSEL 62:397
releuantur solutione poenarum qui non absoluuntur commendatione meritorum. tertium est, cum lacrimis crimen abluitur, ut est illud: discedite a me omnes qui operamini iniquitatem, quoniam exaudiuit dominus uocem fletus mei. quod etiam hoc loco et plerisque locis in libro Psalmorum facile repperitur.
those are relieved by paying their penalties who are not acquitted by the commendation of merits. The third is when crime is washed away with tears, as in that verse: “Depart from me, all you who work iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.” This is easily found in this place too and in many places in the book of Psalms.
Ps 6:8 (6:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A third consolation is for those who wash away sin with tears.
- Ps 6:8 (LXX 6:9).
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.2.4 (CSEL 62:397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-2-4
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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 18, chapter 3
18.3.1CSEL 62:397
Consolatio igitur prima ordine, quoniam non obliuiscitur deus facere misericordiam neque in aeternum proicit quos putauerit cohercendos. secunda. quod decursis suppliciis, quae propter peccata nostra tolerauimus, ad ueniam pertinemus.
So the first consolation in order is that God does not forget to show mercy, nor does he cast off for ever those whom he has thought fit to restrain. The second, that when the punishments we have borne for our sins are run through, we attain pardon.
Ps 77:9 (76:10 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 77:7 (76:8 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God does not forget mercy; after punishment comes pardon.
- Ps 77:7, 9 (LXX 76:8, 10).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.3.1 (CSEL 62:397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-3-1
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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.
18.3.2CSEL 62:397
unde nonnulli philosophi disputarunt obesse inprobis absolutionem, prodesse mortem, quod in illa incentiuum sit delinquendi, in morte autem finis peccati. quod adsumptum esse de nostris cui dubium. cum in Prouerbiis Salomonis sit: qui parcit baculo, odit filium suum, castigat autem dominus quem diligit. et infra: flagellum equo et stimulus asino imperat, uirga autem nationi inprudenti? poena enim corrigit et emendat errantem. si talis est qui emendari non queat.
Hence some philosophers have argued that acquittal harms the wicked and death profits them, because in acquittal there is an incentive to offend, but in death the end of sin. Who doubts that this was taken from our writings, since in the Proverbs of Solomon it is: “He who spares the rod hates his son,” and “the Lord chastens him whom he loves”; and below: “A whip for the horse and a goad for the ass, and a rod for the foolish nation”? For punishment corrects and amends the one who errs. If he is such that he cannot be amended,
Prov 13:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 3:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 12:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Prov 26:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Philosophers borrowed from Scripture the idea that punishment corrects and death ends sin.
- Prov 13:24; Prov 3:12 (Heb 12:6); Prov 26:3 (LXX form). The philosophers are unnamed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): c astigat autem → castigat autem.
Topics: Philosophy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.3.2 (CSEL 62:397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-3-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
18.3.3CSEL 62:397
aufertur e medio. ne grauiora committat; mortuus enim iam nescit errare. ideoque Ecclesiastes ait: et laudaui ego mortuos magis quam uiuentes, et optimus supra hos qui nondum natus est, qui non uidit hoc opus mali. mortuus praefertur uiuenti, quia peccare desiuit. mortuo praefertur qui natus non est, quia peccare nesciuit.
he is taken out of the way, so that he may not commit worse things; for the dead man no longer knows how to err. And therefore Ecclesiastes says: “And I praised the dead more than the living, and better than these is he who is not yet born, who has not seen this evil work.” The dead is preferred to the living, because he has ceased to sin; he who is not born is preferred to the dead, because he has not known how to sin.
Eccl 4:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Eccl 4:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ecclesiastes prefers the dead, who have ceased to sin, and the unborn, who never sinned.
- Eccl 4:2–3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing space in the digital text): uiuenti.quia → uiuenti, quia.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.3.3 (CSEL 62:397; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-3-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 18, chapter 4
18.4.1CSEL 62:397–398
Nunc dicamus etiam de his qui poenas scelerum soluerunt suorum. nonne isti tulerunt culpae pretium et iam non integra his poena debetur? clamat per Esaiam dominus: consolamini
Now let us speak also of those who have paid the penalties of their crimes. Have not these borne the price of guilt, and is the full penalty no longer owed them? The Lord cries through Isaiah: “Comfort
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who have paid their penalty no longer owe it in full.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.4.1 (CSEL 62:397–398; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-4-1
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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.
18.4.2CSEL 62:398
populum meum, quia recepit de manu domini duplicia peccata. discite unde Plato haec sumpserit. eruditionis gratia in Aegyptum profectus, ut Moysi legis oracula, prophetarum dicta cognosceret, audiuit consolationem populi, qui supra peccati modum uidebatur fuisse punitus,
my people, because she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins.” Learn where Plato took this from. Having gone to Egypt for the sake of learning, to come to know the oracles of the law of Moses and the sayings of the prophets, he heard of the consolation of the people which seemed to have been punished beyond the measure of its sin,
Isa 40:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 40:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose claims Plato learned this idea in Egypt from Moses and the prophets.
- Isa 40:1–2. The claim that Plato learned from Moses is a common apologetic theme.
Topics: Philosophy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.4.2 (CSEL 62:398; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-4-2
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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.
18.4.3CSEL 62:398
et hunc locum quadam adopertum dote uerborum in dialogum transtulit quem scripsit de uirtute. quem locum tamen dominus in euangelio plenius conprehendit et apertius declarauit, dicens per Abrahae personam ad illum diuitem saeculi huius: fili, recordare quia recepisti bona in uita tua et Lazarus similiter mala; nunc autem hic consolationem habet, tu uero cruciaris. et in his omnibus inter uos et nos chaos magnum firmatum est, ut hi qui ueniunt hinc transire ad uos non possint neque inde huc transmeare. sed iam audiamus quid iustus in consolando se loquatur.
and, covering this passage with a certain grace of words, he transferred it into the dialogue he wrote on virtue. Yet the Lord in the Gospel embraced this passage more fully and declared it more openly, saying through the person of Abraham to that rich man of this world: “Son, remember that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things; but now he has consolation here, and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who come from here cannot cross to you, nor pass from there to here.” But now let us hear what the righteous man says in consoling himself.
Luke 16:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 16:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Plato put it in a dialogue; Christ declared it more fully in the story of the rich man and Lazarus.
- Which dialogue of Plato is meant is uncertain. Luke 16:25–26.
Extrabiblical texts: Plato, uncertain (Plato (works); allusion)
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.4.3 (CSEL 62:398; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-4-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 18, chapter 5
18.5.1CSEL 62:398
Iustus es, domine, et rectum iudicium tuum. [mandasti iustitiam testimonia tua et ueritatem tuam nimis.] uere iustus uir qui lacrimis profluens, inuolutus aerumnis, graui supplicio delicta persoluens non
“You are righteous, O Lord, and your judgment is right.” Truly righteous is the man who, flowing with tears, wrapped in hardships, paying for his offenses with heavy punishment, is not
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Ps 119:137 (118:137 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The righteous man in affliction confesses that God is righteous.
- Ps 119:137 (LXX 118:137). The editor deletes the next verse (Ps 119:138), printed in square brackets.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split and stray full stop in the digital text): Iustus es. domin e, → Iustus es, domine,.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.5.1 (CSEL 62:398; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-5-1
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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.
18.5.2CSEL 62:398–399
taedio uincitur, non metu frangitur, non labore lassatur, non ingratus aut tristis est. plerumque enim uulgus hominum sua delicta non reputans iniuste se putat tolerare quae patitur. at uero uir iustus, qui se ipsum statim in exordio sermonis accusat, iustitiam domini praedicat, quod meritis suis digna patiatur. dicendo autem iustum deum de sua quidem iniustitia ante pronuntiat. sed de iustitia domini sperat et ueniam. iustus enim non semper irascitur; sicut ultor culpae, ita moderator est poenae, sicut uindex peccatorum, ita remunerator est uirtutum optimorumque meritorum.
overcome by weariness, broken by fear, tired by toil, nor ungrateful or sad. For mostly the common run of men, not reckoning their own offenses, think they bear unjustly what they suffer. But the righteous man, who accuses himself at the very beginning of his speech, proclaims the Lord’s justice, that he suffers what his deserts merit. And by calling God just, he first pronounces on his own injustice, but hopes also for pardon from the Lord’s justice. For the just one is not always angry; as he is the avenger of guilt, so he is the moderator of punishment; as he is the punisher of sins, so he is the rewarder of virtues and the best merits.
Ps 103:9 (102:9 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The righteous accuse themselves and praise God’s justice, which punishes but also moderates and rewards.
- Ps 103:9 (LXX 102:9).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.5.2 (CSEL 62:398–399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-5-2
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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.
18.5.3CSEL 62:399
qui uult dare praemium, debet spectare certamen, quia nemo sine certamine coronatur. sinit ergo nos saepe temptari. uolens iuste praemia dare luctanti utique, non dormienti. non decet redimitos floribus corona, sed puluerulentos nec molles deliciis, sed labore exercitatos ornat uictoria.
He who wishes to give a prize must watch the contest, because no one is crowned without a contest. So he often lets us be tempted, wishing justly to give prizes to one who wrestles, surely not to one who sleeps. A crown does not befit those garlanded with flowers, but victory adorns those covered with dust, not those soft with delights but those trained by toil.
2 Tim 2:5 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God lets us be tempted so as to crown those who strive.
- 2 Tim 2:5.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): qui uuit dare → qui uult dare.
Topics: Temptation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.5.3 (CSEL 62:399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-5-3
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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 18, chapter 6
18.6.1CSEL 62:399
Iustus ergo in aduersis suis iustitiam dei laudat. sed non hoc sentit amissis teneris parens liberis, non inmaturo nuptae uiduatus consortio, non aeger in dolore, non naufragus in periculo, non reus in iudicio, non captiuus in laqueo. clamat tamen Hieremias, cum futurae adnuntians populis captiuitatis aerumnam in luti uoragine turpi necandus inluuie mergeretur: iustus es, domine.
So the righteous man praises God’s justice in his adversities. But the parent who has lost tender children does not feel this, nor the bride widowed of an early marriage, nor the sick man in pain, nor the shipwrecked in danger, nor the defendant in court, nor the captive in the snare. Yet Jeremiah cries out, when, announcing to the peoples the misery of the coming captivity, he was plunged to be killed in the foul filth of a pit of mud: “You are righteous, O Lord.”
Jer 38:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 12:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Most sufferers do not praise God’s justice; Jeremiah did even in the muddy pit.
- Jer 38:6; Jer 12:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): captiuitaris → captiuitatis.
Topics: Suffering and affliction
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.6.1 (CSEL 62:399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-1
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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.
18.6.2CSEL 62:399
clamat iterum, cum uictae plebis miserandis seruitiis angeretur: iustus est dominus, quia os eius inritaui. a foris sine filiis fecit et ab intus mors. clamabant Hebraei, cum propter uirtutem deuotionis et fidei gratiam fornacis ardentis ambirentur incendiis: iustus es in omnibus quae fecisti et ideo meruerunt, ut inlaesi ignibus domini iustitias praedicarent. Danihel
He cries again, when he was distressed by the pitiable servitude of the conquered people: “The Lord is righteous, for I have provoked his mouth. Outside he has made me childless, and within there is death.” The Hebrews cried, when for the virtue of devotion and the grace of faith they were surrounded by the flames of the burning furnace: “You are righteous in all that you have done”; and so they deserved, unharmed by the fires, to proclaim the Lord’s justice. Daniel
Lam 1:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 1:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Jeremiah in captivity and the three youths in the furnace confessed God’s justice.
- Lam 1:18, 20; Pr Azar 4 (Dan 3:27 LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray mark in the digital text): cJamat → clamat; Danihel! → Danihel.
Extrabiblical texts: Pr Azar 4 (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.6.2 (CSEL 62:399; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-2
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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.
18.6.3CSEL 62:399–400
quoque propheta secundo in lacum missus leonum et inmanium ferarum saeuitia atque horrore circumdatus recta omnia in conspectu esse domini inperterrito clamore iactabat. Ionas inclusus utero bestiali anhelandi spiritus uix habens commeatum iustus iniustorum sorte damnatus clamabat de uentre ceti in mari: cum uoce laudis et confessionis supplico tibi.
the prophet too, sent a second time into the lions’ den and surrounded by the savagery and horror of the monstrous beasts, proclaimed with fearless cry that all things are right in the sight of the Lord. Jonah, shut in the beast’s belly, scarcely having passage for breath, righteous yet condemned to the lot of the unrighteous, cried from the belly of the whale in the sea: “With the voice of praise and confession I make supplication to you.”
Jonah 2:9 (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Daniel in the lions’ den and Jonah in the whale confessed God’s justice.
- Daniel’s second den: Bel 31–42; Jonah 2:9 (LXX 2:10), freely cited.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray hyphen in the digital text; word split in the digital text): lima:; inclusus → Ionas inclusus; c um uoce laudis → cum uoce laudis; supplic-o tibi → supplico tibi.
Extrabiblical texts: Bel 31 (Bel and the Dragon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.6.3 (CSEL 62:399–400; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-3
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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.
18.6.4CSEL 62:400
Dauid cum fugeret a facie Abessalon parricidalibus armis et telis pulsus et regno egressus, cum pro totius populi se offerret excidio, dicebat: iustus es, domine, et rectum iudicium tuum. grex innocens iste quid fecit? ego pastor feci malignum.
David, when he fled from the face of Absalom, driven out by parricidal arms and darts and gone out of his kingdom, when he offered himself for the destruction of the whole people, said: “You are righteous, O Lord, and your judgment is right. This innocent flock, what has it done? I the shepherd have done evil.
2 Sam 15:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:137 (118:137 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David in flight and in the plague confessed God’s justice and took the blame.
- 2 Sam 15:14; Ps 119:137 (LXX 118:137); 2 Sam 24:17.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced words in the digital text): e t rectum i u dicium → et rectum iudicium.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.6.4 (CSEL 62:400; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-4
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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.
18.6.5CSEL 62:400
apud iustum deum poena de culpae auctore sumatur. ipse pater fidei Abraham, cum ad immolandum unicus a sene filius posceretur, paternae pietatis affectum diuinae confessione iustitiae temperabat dicens: iustus es, domine. non enim poscis alienum, sed tuum reposcis; ipsum tibi restituo quem dedisti. hunc imitatus Iob extinctis liberis patrimonioque nudatus amisso amictum sui corporis scindens ait: nudus natus sum, nudus, inquit, et moriar. dominus dedit, dominus abstulit; sit nomen domini benedictum.
Before a just God let the punishment be taken from the author of the guilt.” Abraham himself, the father of faith, when his only son was demanded of the old man for sacrifice, tempered the affection of fatherly love by confession of divine justice, saying: “You are righteous, O Lord. For you do not ask what is another’s, but ask back what is yours; I restore to you the very one you gave.” Imitating him, Job, his children dead and stripped of his lost patrimony, tearing the garment of his body, said: “Naked I was born, naked,” he says, “I shall also die. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Gen 22:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 1:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 1:21 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Abraham offering Isaac and Job in his losses confessed God’s justice.
- Gen 22:2; Abraham’s words are Ambrose’s own composition; Job 1:20–21.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): benedictum m. → benedictum..
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.6.5 (CSEL 62:400; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-6-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 18, chapter 7
18.7.1CSEL 62:400
Omnes ergo iustum dominum praedicemus. et qui moribunda sepulchro sua membra conponit et qui damno feritur aut funere filiorum, dicat: iustus es, domine. quid enim nostrum amittimus? clamat apostolus: quid habes quod non accepisti?
So let us all proclaim the Lord just. Let both he who lays his dying limbs in the tomb and he who is struck by loss or the death of his children say: “You are righteous, O Lord.” For what of our own do we lose? The apostle cries: “What do you have that you did not receive?”
Ps 119:137 (118:137 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 4:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: All should confess God’s justice in loss, for we lose nothing that was ours.
- Ps 119:137 (LXX 118:137); 1 Cor 4:7.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.7.1 (CSEL 62:400; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-7-1
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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.
18.7.2CSEL 62:400
quod habemus ergo accepimus, quod igitur amittimus reddimus, non amittimus. iustus dominus in periculis, iustus in damnis, iustus in ultionibus est, non solum quia unusquisque iuste culpae suae pretium luit, uerum etiam quia, dum unus punitur. plurimi corriguntur. Ananias in Actibus apostolorum fraudati pretii, quod de agri uenditione perceperat.
So what we have we received; what we lose, then, we give back, we do not lose. The Lord is just in dangers, just in losses, just in punishments, not only because each one justly pays the price of his own guilt, but also because, while one is punished, very many are corrected. Ananias in the Acts of the Apostles, having defrauded the price he received from the sale of his field,
Acts 5:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 5:2 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God is just in punishing, for one person’s punishment corrects many, as with Ananias.
- Acts 5:1–2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): in perculis → in periculis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.7.2 (CSEL 62:400; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-7-2
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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.
18.7.3CSEL 62:400–401
crimen admisit. qui potuerat nihil offerre et crimen euadere. uerum ne quis inpune circumscribendos apostolos arbitraretur aut misericordiae suae munus fraude contaminaret perfidiae, morti addictus aeternae uniuersos ad fidei studium iusto terrore conposuit. Pharao cum populo suo fluctibus mersus mundanae conuersationis exemplum est, ne quis dei populum persequatur.
committed a crime, though he could have offered nothing and escaped the crime. But lest anyone think the apostles could be cheated with impunity, or should defile the gift of his mercy with the fraud of faithlessness, he was given over to eternal death and settled everyone into zeal for faith by a just terror. Pharaoh drowned with his people in the waves is an example to worldly life, that no one should persecute the people of God.
Acts 5:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 5:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ananias’s death and Pharaoh’s drowning served as warnings to all.
- Acts 5:5, 11; Exod 14:28.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.7.3 (CSEL 62:400–401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-7-3
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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.
18.7.4CSEL 62:401
denique potuit deus eum uoluntati suae facere oboedientem, sed eius poena omnes uoluit emendari, ideoque dicit ad eum dominus: quia ad hoc ipsum te suscitaui, ut ostendam in te uirtutem meam et adnuntietur nomen meum in uniuersa terra. non utique dominus suae laudis, sed nostrae correctionis incrementa quaerebat.
In fact God could have made him obedient to his will, but he wished all to be amended by his punishment; and therefore the Lord says to him: “For this very purpose I raised you up, that I might show my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” The Lord was surely not seeking increases of his own praise, but of our correction.
Exod 9:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 9:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God raised up Pharaoh so that his punishment would correct others.
- Exod 9:16 (Rom 9:17).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.7.4 (CSEL 62:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-7-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-7-4
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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 18, chapter 8
18.8.1CSEL 62:401
Omnes ergo sapientes dicunt: iustus es, domine, et rectum iudicium tuum. neque enim tradimur aduersariis sine iudicio ipsius neque sine ipsius iudicio in tribulationes uenimus. haec iustorum est consolatio, hoc est domini iudicium, denique et supra habes: memor fui iudiciorum tuorum quae a saeculo sunt et me consolatus sum. aduertis ergo quia domini iudicia consolationes sunt.
So all the wise say: “You are righteous, O Lord, and your judgment is right.” For we are not handed over to adversaries without his judgment, nor do we come into tribulations without his judgment. This is the consolation of the righteous, this is the Lord’s judgment; in fact you have above too: “I remembered your judgments which are from of old, and I was comforted.” You notice, then, that the Lord’s judgments are consolations.
Ps 119:137 (118:137 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:52 (118:52 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Nothing befalls us without God’s judgment, which is the consolation of the righteous.
- Ps 119:137, 52 (LXX 118:137, 52).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): domine, e t rectum → domine, et rectum.
Topics: Providence
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.8.1 (CSEL 62:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-8-1
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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.
Exposition 18, chapter 9
18.9.1CSEL 62:401
Mandasti iustitiam testimonia tua et ueritatem tuam nimis. utrum nimis mandasti an nimiam ueritatem? sed et nimia ueritas plena laudis et nimium mandare prouidentiae atque cautelae est. etenim infirmos nouerat; ideo saepius admonebat, ut non obliuiscerentur.
“You have commanded righteousness, your testimonies, and your truth exceedingly.” Did you command exceedingly, or exceeding truth? But exceeding truth is full of praise, and to command exceedingly belongs to providence and caution. For he knew the weak; therefore he admonished them more often, so that they would not forget.
Ps 119:138 (118:138 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God commanded his testimonies exceedingly, often reminding the weak.
- Ps 119:138 (LXX 118:138).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma split in the digital text): Mandasti iustitiam m testi monia tua et ueritatem t u a m nimis → Mandasti iustitiam testimonia tua et ueritatem tuam nimis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.9.1 (CSEL 62:401; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-9-1
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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.
Exposition 18, chapter 10
18.10.1CSEL 62:401–402
Sequitur uersus tertius: exquisiuit me zelus domus tuae, quoniam inimici mei obliti sunt uerborum tuorum. est zelus ad uitam et est zelus ad mortem. ad uitam zelus est diuina praecepta seruare et amore domini eius custodire mandata, ut fecit Phinees, de quo legimus in Numeris dicente domino ad Moysen: Phinees filius Eleazar filii Aaron sacerdotis sedauit furorem meum a filiis Israel in eo quod aemulatus est zelum meum in illis. et non consummaui filios Israel in zelo meo. sic dixi: ecce ego do ei testamentum pacis et erit illi et semini eius post eum testamentum sacerdotii aeternum. propter quod
The third verse follows: “The zeal of your house has sought me out, because my enemies have forgotten your words.” There is a zeal for life and a zeal for death. Zeal for life is to keep the divine precepts and guard his commandments for love of the Lord, as Phinehas did, of whom we read in Numbers, the Lord saying to Moses: “Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest has turned away my fury from the sons of Israel, in that he was zealous with my zeal among them, and I did not consume the sons of Israel in my zeal. So I said: Behold, I give him a covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and his seed after him a covenant of everlasting priesthood, because
Ps 119:139 (118:139 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 69:9 (68:10 LXX) (echo, medium confidence) · Num 25:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Num 25:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Num 25:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Good zeal keeps God’s commandments, as Phinehas did and received a covenant of peace.
- Ps 119:139 (LXX 118:139), in a form recalling Ps 69:9; Num 25:11–13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced word in the digital text; word split in the digital text): zelus d omus tuae → zelus domus tuae; obliti sunt uerb or um tuorum → obliti sunt uerborum tuorum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.10.1 (CSEL 62:401–402; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-10-1
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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.
18.10.2CSEL 62:402
aemulatus est deum suum et non exorauit pro filiis Israel. caesa iacebant uiginti quattuor milia populorum; tendebat poena in omnes nec ullus finis exitii. adripuit siromasten Phinees, duos occidit interdicta sibi consuetudine copulatos, redemit omnes, indignationem domini mitigauit, dedit uictoriam quibus negabat salutem. quam salutaris igitur est dei zelus!
he was zealous for his God and did not plead for the sons of Israel.” Twenty-four thousand of the people lay slain; the punishment stretched toward all, nor was there any end of destruction. Phinehas seized a spear, killed the two who were joined in an intercourse forbidden to them, redeemed all, softened the Lord’s indignation, gave victory to those to whom he denied safety. How saving, then, is the zeal of God!
Num 25:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 25:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 25:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Phinehas’s zeal in killing the two offenders ended the plague.
- Num 25:7–9, 13. The last part of the quotation in 18.10.1–2 is a free rendering.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.10.2 (CSEL 62:402; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-10-2
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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.
Exposition 18, chapter 11
18.11.1CSEL 62:402
Non unius temporis illud uitium fuit; et nunc Madianitis miscetur Iudaeo. Madianitis est quae nullo est uxoris legitimae copulata coniugio, nullo fidei iuncta consortio. Madianitis est haereticorum perfidia, cum populum dei temptat. quam multis populis
That vice did not belong to one time only; now too a Midianite woman mixes with the Jew. A Midianite is she who is joined by no marriage of a lawful wife, joined by no fellowship of faith. The Midianite is the faithlessness of heretics, when it tempts the people of God. Into how many peoples
Num 25:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Midianite woman stands for heresy seducing God’s people.
- Num 25:6. Allegory of heresy; translated as written.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.11.1 (CSEL 62:402; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-11-1
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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.
18.11.2CSEL 62:402
meretrix ista feralis inrepsit, quae publico funere totum populum communi morte tumulauit! ueni et nunc, Phinees, arripe gladium uerbi, interfice perfidiam, iugulato haeresim, ne propter eam populus uniuersus intereat. urget ira caelestis: percute ipsam uuluam impietatis generatoriumque perfidiae, ne partus formetur infelix, ne adulterina conceptio diffundat seminarium praeuaricationis et sceleris,
has this deadly harlot crept, who has buried the whole people in a common death with public funeral! Come now too, Phinehas, seize the sword of the word, kill faithlessness, slay heresy, lest the whole people perish because of it. The heavenly wrath presses: strike the very womb of ungodliness and the generator of faithlessness, lest an unhappy offspring be formed, lest an adulterous conception spread the seedbed of transgression and crime,
Num 25:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 6:17 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose calls for a new Phinehas to slay heresy with the sword of the word.
- Num 25:8; Eph 6:17. Translated as written.
Topics: Heresy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.11.2 (CSEL 62:402; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-11-2
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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.
18.11.3CSEL 62:402–403
ut dominus tecum statuat testamentum pacis et testamentum gratiae, testamentum promissionum caelestium. zelum habere debet sacerdos, qui incorruptam seruare studet ecclesiae castitatem, et ideo princeps sacerdotum dicit: zelus domus tuae conrodit me. et Phinees sacerdos erat et nepos sacerdotis et filius sacerdotis. bonus zelus et utilis in sacerdote, praecipue ne neglegens, ne remissus sit. melius est ut unius aut duorum damnatione plurimi liberentur quam duorum absolutione plures periclitentur.
so that the Lord may establish with you a covenant of peace and a covenant of grace, a covenant of heavenly promises. A priest ought to have zeal, who is eager to keep the church’s chastity uncorrupted; and therefore the prince of priests says: “The zeal of your house has gnawed me.” And Phinehas was a priest, and grandson of a priest and son of a priest. Good and useful is zeal in a priest, especially so that he may not be negligent or slack. It is better that by the condemnation of one or two very many be freed than that by the acquittal of two more be endangered.
Ps 69:9 (68:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 25:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A bishop needs zeal to keep the church pure; Christ, the chief priest, was consumed by zeal.
- Ps 69:9 (LXX 68:10); John 2:17. Latin sacerdos is the bishop here.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced word in the digital text; stray hyphens and OCR slip): testamentum gra--tine → testamentum gratiae; conrodit m e → conrodit me.
Topics: Church office, Heresy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.11.3 (CSEL 62:402–403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-11-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-11-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 18, chapter 12
18.12.1CSEL 62:403
Exquisiuit, inquit, me zelus domus tuae. uides quia zelus dei gratia est, qui exquirit, qui superuenit, qui se iusti infundit pectori. zelus dei uita est. denique dominus ait: zelus domus tuae deuorauit me. sicut enim ante in Adam deuorauerat hominem mors praeualens, ita zelus deuorauit quem uiuificauit in Christo.
“The zeal of your house has sought me out,” he says. You see that the zeal of God is grace, which seeks out, comes upon, pours itself into the breast of the righteous. The zeal of God is life. In fact the Lord says: “The zeal of your house has devoured me.” For as earlier in Adam prevailing death had devoured man, so zeal devoured him whom it gave life in Christ.
Ps 119:139 (118:139 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:17 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:22 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:54 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s zeal is grace and life, devouring man to give him life in Christ.
- Ps 119:139 (LXX 118:139); Ps 69:9 (John 2:17); 1 Cor 15:22, 54.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): Exuuisiuit → Exquisiuit.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.12.1 (CSEL 62:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-12-1
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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.
18.12.2CSEL 62:403
zelum habuit Helias et ideo raptus ad caelum est — zelans, inquit, zelaui dominum -. zelum Mattathias Butanus, qui aduersus sacrilegia Antiochi excitauit dei plebem. zelum qui habent omnes sibi inimicos suos putant qui sunt hostes dei, quamuis patrem fratres sorores; de omnibus dicit: in hostes facti sunt mihi, sicut Dauid ait. quid multa? apostolus quoque domini hoc declaratus est nomine, ut Iudas Zelotes diceretur, sicut legimus in euangelio.
Elijah had zeal and so was caught up to heaven: “Being zealous,” he says, “I have been zealous for the Lord.” Mattathias had zeal, who stirred up God’s people against the sacrileges of Antiochus. Those who have zeal consider their enemies all who are enemies of God, even father, brothers, sisters; of all he says, “They became enemies to me,” as David says. In short, an apostle of the Lord too was designated by this name, so that he was called Judas the Zealot, as we read in the Gospel.
1 Kgs 19:10 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 139:22 (138:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 6:15 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Elijah, Mattathias and an apostle called the Zealot show holy zeal.
- 1 Kgs 19:10; 2 Kgs 2:11; 1 Macc 2:24–27; Ps 139:22 (LXX 138:22); Luke 6:15–16 (Ambrose merges Simon the Zealot and Judas). “Butanus” after Mattathias in the digital text is unexplained.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): exc-itauit → excitauit.
Extrabiblical texts: 1 Macc 2:24 (1 Maccabees [in RC, EO canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.12.2 (CSEL 62:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-12-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-12-2
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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 18, chapter 13
18.13.1CSEL 62:403
Zelo fidei populus gentilium uitam sibi adquisiuit aeternam neglegentia atque desidia Iudaeorum populus amisit. ideoque scriptum est: zelus adprehendet populum ineruditum. quoniam populus. qui erat eruditus in lege, nullum fidei habebat ardorem. contulit se zelus ad gentes. cuius tanta est gratia, ut electionis praerogatiuam uicerit. ut eruditionis industriam superarit. denique adprehendens populum ineruditum fecit esse meliorem.
By zeal of faith the people of the gentiles acquired eternal life for itself; by negligence and sloth the Jewish people lost it. And therefore it is written: “Zeal will seize an untaught people.” Since the people which was taught in the law had no ardor of faith, zeal betook itself to the gentiles. Its grace is so great that it overcame the prerogative of election and surpassed the industry of learning. In fact, seizing an untaught people, it made it better.
Isa 26:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Zeal passed from the learned but cold Jewish people to the untaught gentiles.
- Isa 26:11 (LXX form). Translated as written.
Topics: Jews and Judaism, Mission and the spread of the gospel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.13.1 (CSEL 62:403; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-13-1
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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.
18.13.2CSEL 62:403–404
itaque ea gratia operatus est in populo nationum, ut hereditatem domini mereretur, qua operatus est dominus, ut ecclesiam sibi ex nationibus copularet. zelus ergo caritas est. denique ualida est sicut mors caritas, durus sicut inferi zelus. durus zelus quem uitae huius nulla uincit inlecebra, durus sicut inferi, per quem peccato morimur, ut uiuamus deo.
So it worked in the people of the nations by that grace, so that it earned the Lord’s inheritance, by which the Lord worked to join the church to himself from the nations. So zeal is love. In fact, “love is strong as death, zeal hard as hell.” Hard is the zeal which no allurement of this life overcomes, hard as hell, by which we die to sin so as to live to God.
Song 8:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 6:11 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Zeal is love, strong as death, by which we die to sin and live to God.
- Song 8:6; Rom 6:11.
Topics: Love of God and neighbour
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.13.2 (CSEL 62:403–404; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-13-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-13-2
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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 18, chapter 14
18.14.1CSEL 62:404
Angeli quoque sine zelo nihil sunt et substantiae suae amittunt praerogatiuam, nisi eam zeli ardore sustentent. denique in Apocalypsi Iohannis dominus ad angelum Laodiciae dicit: scio opera tua: neque frigidus es neque calidus. utinam frigidus esses uel calidus. sed quia tepidus es, incipiam te euomere ex ore meo. quia dicis quod diues sum et ditatus et nullius egeo, et nescis quod tu es miser et miserabilis et mendicus et nudus et cae-
The angels too are nothing without zeal and lose the prerogative of their substance unless they sustain it with the ardor of zeal. In fact in the Apocalypse of John the Lord says to the angel of Laodicea: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot. But because you are lukewarm, I will begin to spit you out of my mouth. Because you say: I am rich and have become wealthy and need nothing, and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and a beggar and naked and blind,
Rev 3:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 3:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 3:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Even angels need zeal, as Christ’s rebuke of lukewarm Laodicea shows.
- Rev 3:15–17.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): uel c-alidus → uel calidus.
Topics: Angels
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.14.1 (CSEL 62:404; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-14-1
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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.
18.14.2CSEL 62:404
cus, consulo tibi ut emas a me aurum igne probatum. hic est dei zelus, hoc est fidei uapor deuotionisque feruor. qui nos uelut suauem cibum in Christo remollit et format. quanta domini gratia, ut nos in suo ore constituat et quasdam meritorum nostrorum epuletur dapes ac, si meremur, deuoret, si nostri cibi suauitatibus delectetur! beatus quem sapientia deuorauerit, quem uirtus hauserit, quem iustitia receperit. culpa in eo habere non potest portionem quem absorbuerit remissio peccatorum. ubi eum error inueniet quem integritas inmaculata susceperit?
I counsel you to buy from me gold tried in the fire.” This is the zeal of God, this the heat of faith and the fervor of devotion, which softens and shapes us in Christ like sweet food. How great is the Lord’s grace, that he should set us in his mouth and feast on certain dishes of our merits, and, if we deserve it, devour us, if he is delighted with the sweetness of our food! Blessed is he whom wisdom has devoured, whom virtue has swallowed, whom justice has received. Guilt can have no share in him whom the forgiveness of sins has absorbed. Where will error find him whom spotless integrity has taken up?
Rev 3:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s zeal is the fire of faith; blessed is the one whom wisdom and forgiveness swallow up.
- Rev 3:18.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.14.2 (CSEL 62:404; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-14-2
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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 18, chapter 15
18.15.1CSEL 62:404–405
Et quid miremur, si angeli eum habent? ipse deus pater ait: zelans zelabo Hierusalem zelo magno. quia magnus deus, ideo et zelus eius magnus est et pro uniuscuiusque potentiae qualitate ita zelus aut mediocris aut magnus est. zelo uindicatur Hierusalem, zelo ecclesia congregatur, zelo fides adquiritur. zelo pudicitia possidetur. dominus quoque Iesus ait: zelus domus tuae comedit me, increpans Iudaeos, quod domum orationis fecerint speluncam latronum, fecerint et domum negotiationis.
And why should we wonder if the angels have it? God the Father himself says: “Being zealous, I will be zealous for Jerusalem with great zeal.” Because God is great, therefore his zeal too is great, and according to the quality of each one’s power, so zeal is either moderate or great. By zeal Jerusalem is avenged, by zeal the church is gathered, by zeal faith is acquired, by zeal chastity is possessed. The Lord Jesus too says, “The zeal of your house has eaten me,” rebuking the Jews because they had made the house of prayer a den of robbers, and had made it a house of trade.
Zech 8:2 (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:17 (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 21:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God himself is zealous; Christ’s zeal cleansed the temple turned into a den of robbers.
- Zech 8:2 (1:14); John 2:16–17; Matt 21:13.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.15.1 (CSEL 62:404–405; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-15-1
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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.
Exposition 18, chapter 16
18.16.1CSEL 62:405
Sed non solum locum ecclesiae zelare debemus, sed hanc quoque interiorem in nobis domum dei, ne sit domus negotiationis aut spelunca latronum. si enim lucra, quaestus pecuniae et emolumenta aucupemur, domum negotiationis fecimus; si inuadamus alienas possessiones, fines uiduae uel minorum, fecimus speluncam latronum. ergo ueniat uerbum dei et de hac domo proiciat fures direptores caupones, ut mundum sit cor tuum, pectus tuum.
But we must be zealous not only for the place of the church but also for this inner house of God in us, lest it be a house of trade or a den of robbers. For if we hunt after profits, gains of money and emoluments, we have made it a house of trade; if we invade others’ possessions, the boundaries of a widow or of minors, we have made it a den of robbers. So let the word of God come and cast out of this house thieves, plunderers, hucksters, so that your heart, your breast may be clean.
Matt 21:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 21:13 (allusion, high confidence) · John 2:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Our inner temple must not become a house of trade or a den of robbers through greed.
- Matt 21:12–13; John 2:16.
Topics: Ethics, Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.16.1 (CSEL 62:405; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-16-1
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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.
Exposition 18, chapter 17
18.17.1CSEL 62:405
Sed est zelus ad culpam, est zelus ad gratiam. nam et ipse Dauid ait: zelaui in peccatoribus pacem, et in Ecclesiastico scriptum est: non zeles mulierem sinus tui, ne ostendat super te malitiam doctrinae nequam, et mulier zelotypa in mulierem fidelem iure reprehenditur. aduertimus ergo, quod mensura quaedam et disciplina sit zeli, sicut disciplina uirtutis. et ideo beatus qui zeli nouerit disciplinam et oderit eos, qui domini gratiam relinquentes salutem propriam deserant, errorem sibi fraudis adsciscant.
But there is a zeal toward guilt, and a zeal toward grace. For David himself says, “I was zealous at the peace of sinners”; and in Ecclesiasticus it is written, “Do not be jealous of the wife of your bosom, lest she show the malice of wicked teaching against you”; and a woman jealous of a faithful woman is rightly rebuked. We notice, then, that there is a certain measure and discipline of zeal, as there is a discipline of virtue. And therefore blessed is he who knows the discipline of zeal and hates those who, abandoning the Lord’s grace, desert their own salvation and take to themselves the error of fraud.
Ps 73:3 (72:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Zeal can be sinful, as envy or jealousy; it needs discipline.
- Ps 73:3 (LXX 72:3); Sir 9:1; Sir 26:6.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): doctrinae nequam m, → doctrinae nequam,.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 9:1 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation); Sir 26:6 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.17.1 (CSEL 62:405; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-17-1
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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.
Exposition 18, chapter 18
18.18.1CSEL 62:405
Ideoque ait: quoniam obliti sunt uerborum tuorum inimici mei. qui sunt isti inimici? si populus Iudaeorum, quomodo inimici erant sub eius imperio constituti Dauid enim Iudaeos omnes regno proprio gubernabat. si gentiles. quomodo obliti uerborum dei qui legem domini nesciebant? nemo enim nisi id quod acceperit obliuisci potest.
And therefore he says: “Because my enemies have forgotten your words.” Who are these enemies? If the Jewish people, how were they enemies when placed under his rule? For David governed all the Jews in his own kingdom. If the gentiles, how did they forget the words of God who did not know the Lord’s law? For no one can forget anything but what he has received.
Ps 119:139 (118:139 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Who were David’s enemies who forgot God’s words?
- Ps 119:139 (LXX 118:139).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): uerborum m tuorum → uerborum tuorum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.18.1 (CSEL 62:405; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-18-1
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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.
18.18.2CSEL 62:405–406
illi ergo inimici mei qui inimici tui. qui dominum [proprie] in sua uenientem non erant recepturi. hos graues hostes, hos inimicos suos propheta testatur, non qui sibi essent, sed qui Christo rebelles. denique alibi dicit: et super inimicos tuos tabescebam, iusto odio oderam illos, grauiora putans arma perfidiae esse quam pugnae;
So those are my enemies who are your enemies, who were not going to receive the Lord coming to his own. These the prophet testifies to be grievous foes, his enemies, not those who were so to him, but those who were rebels against Christ. In fact elsewhere he says, “And I pined away over your enemies; I hated them with a just hatred,” thinking the weapons of faithlessness more grievous than those of battle;
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
John 1:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 139:21 (138:21 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 139:22 (138:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David’s enemies are Christ’s enemies, those who would not receive him.
- John 1:11; Ps 139:21–22 (LXX 138:21–22). The editor deletes “properly” (in square brackets). Translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): immici mei → inimici mei.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.18.2 (CSEL 62:405–406; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-18-2
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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.
18.18.3CSEL 62:406
nemo enim grauior hostis omnium quam qui omnium laedit auctorem. ideo ergo zelo magno adquisitus est populus nationum, quoniam a suo deus populo negabatur; nec enim poterant aut fidei deuotionem aut disciplinam tenere uirtutis. qui memoriam praeceptorum caelestium non tenebant. sic Adam de paradiso eiectus, sic populus Iudaeorum de praerogatiua electionis exclusus est.
for no enemy is more grievous than one who harms the author of all. So the people of the nations was acquired with great zeal because God was denied by his own people; for they could not hold either the devotion of faith or the discipline of virtue, who did not keep the memory of the heavenly precepts. So Adam was cast out of paradise, so the Jewish people was shut out from the prerogative of election.
Gen 3:23 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Forgetting God’s precepts cost Adam paradise and the Jewish people their election.
- Gen 3:23. Translated as written.
Topics: The fall, Jews and Judaism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.18.3 (CSEL 62:406; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-18-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-18-3
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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 18, chapter 19
18.19.1CSEL 62:406
Sequitur uersus quartus: ignitum eloquium tuum nimis, et seruus tuus dilexit illud. ignem quidem dominus misit in terram, non ut eam Sodomitano rursus, sicut scriptum est, arderet incendio nec ut eam donatae munere fecunditatis aut usu uel flore uiriditatis excluderet; opus enim suum dominus probare magis atque augere quam minuere aut damnare consueuit.
The fourth verse follows: “Your word is exceedingly fiery, and your servant has loved it.” The Lord indeed sent fire on the earth, not that it should burn again, as it is written, with the fire of Sodom, nor to shut it out from the gift of fruitfulness given it or the use or flower of its greenness; for the Lord is accustomed to prove and increase his work rather than diminish or condemn it.
Ps 119:140 (118:140 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 12:49 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 19:24 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fire Christ cast on earth is not destructive like Sodom’s.
- Ps 119:140 (LXX 118:140); Luke 12:49; Gen 19:24.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma split in the digital text): ignitum elo quium m tuum nimis, et seruus tuus dile xit illu d → ignitum eloquium tuum nimis, et seruus tuus dilexit illud.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.19.1 (CSEL 62:406; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-19-1
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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.
18.19.2CSEL 62:406–407
neque uero dignum erat, ut elementa innoxia nostri luerent sceleris ultionem. quid natura deliquerat, si adulta iam suboles errauit? non erat partus in uitio, si deuio lapsa est errore progenies, sed usus in culpa. quem ergo dominus. ignem in nouo sparsit testamento? qui secretos mentium diuinae cognitionis ardore inflammaret affectus, qui uaporem fidei et deuotionis adoleret. qui cupiditatem uirtutis accenderet. hoc igne calefactus Hieremias dicit: et erat ignis flammigerans in ossibus meis. hoc sermonum igne caelestium uaporati Cleopas et ille alius, qui simul cum domino ab Hierusalem usque in castellum confecerant iter, dicebant: nonne cor nostrum ardens erat in nobis, cum aperiret nobis scripturas?
Nor was it fitting that innocent elements should pay the penalty of our crime. What had nature done wrong if the grown offspring erred? The birth was not in fault if the progeny fell by straying error; the fault was in use. What fire, then, did the Lord scatter in the New Testament? One which would inflame the secret affections of minds with the ardor of divine knowledge, which would kindle the heat of faith and devotion, which would light the desire of virtue. Warmed by this fire Jeremiah says: “And there was a flaming fire in my bones.” Heated by this fire of heavenly words, Cleopas and that other who had made the journey with the Lord from Jerusalem to the village said: “Was not our heart burning within us when he opened the Scriptures to us?”
Jer 20:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 24:32 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s fire kindles knowledge and devotion, as in Jeremiah and the disciples at Emmaus.
- Jer 20:9; Luke 24:32.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.19.2 (CSEL 62:406–407; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-19-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-19-2
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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 18, chapter 20
18.20.1CSEL 62:407
Ignis ergo hic sermo Christi est, et bonus ignis qui calefacere nouit, nescit exurere nisi sola peccata. hoc igne super bonum fundamentum positum apostolicum illud aurum probatur, hoc igne illud merum operum examinatur argentum, hoc igne pretiosi illi lapides inluminantur, faenum autem et stipula consumitur. mundat ergo hic ignis animum. consumit errorem.
So this fire is the word of Christ, and a good fire which knows how to warm and knows not how to burn except sins alone. By this fire the apostolic gold set on the good foundation is proved, by this fire that pure silver of works is examined, by this fire those precious stones are made bright, but hay and stubble are consumed. So this fire cleanses the mind, consumes error.
1 Cor 3:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s word is a fire that tests good works and burns away sin.
- 1 Cor 3:12–13.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.20.1 (CSEL 62:407; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-20-1
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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.
18.20.2CSEL 62:407
unde et dominus ait: iam uos mundi estis propter sermonem quem locutus sum uobis. hic est ignis qui ardet ante dominum; nisi enim quis flagrantiam deuotionis adsumpserit, praesentiam domini habere non poterit. accende hunc prius ignem in mentibus tuis, ut Christi tibi lumen effulgeat.
Hence the Lord too says: “You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” This is the fire which burns before the Lord; for unless one takes up the glow of devotion, he cannot have the presence of the Lord. Light this fire first in your mind, so that the light of Christ may shine for you.
John 15:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Lev 6:13 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The word cleanses; the fire of devotion must burn before the Lord.
- John 15:3; Lev 6:13.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.20.2 (CSEL 62:407; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-20-2
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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.
18.20.3CSEL 62:407
hoc igne urebatur rubus et non exurebatur; urit enim sermo unus, ut corrigat conscientiam peccatoris, non exurit, ut perdat. hic ignis hebetare, hic ignis extinguere materialium saeua flammarum consueuit incendia; denique Hebraei hoc igne succensi fornacis ardentis uaporem nec timere nec sentire potuerunt. merito ergo bonus seruus diligit ignitum domini alloquium quo induitur caritas, quae excludit timorem.
With this fire the bush burned and was not consumed; for the word burns to correct the sinner’s conscience, it does not consume to destroy. This fire is accustomed to blunt and quench the savage blazes of material flames; in fact the Hebrews, kindled by this fire, could neither fear nor feel the heat of the burning furnace. Rightly, then, the good servant loves the fiery speech of the Lord, by which love is put on, which casts out fear.
Exod 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 3:27 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 John 4:18 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The word’s fire corrects without destroying, like the burning bush and the furnace.
- Exod 3:2; Dan 3:27; 1 John 4:18.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.20.3 (CSEL 62:407; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-20-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-20-3
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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 18, chapter 21
18.21.1CSEL 62:407–408
Pulchre autem addidit nimis, quia omnis quidem doctor inflammat audientis affectum, sed supra omnes sermo est dei, diuisiones artuum et intima penetrans medullarum. tripliciter ergo describe tibi ignitum alloquium dei, uel quod mundat uel quod accendit uel quod inluminat audientes. ideo ait dominus: scrutatus sum Hierusalem ad lucernam, sed neminem in ea uel qui mundaretur uel qui accenderetur aut inluminaretur inuenit; ideo eam in tenebris dereliquit.
And beautifully he added “exceedingly,” because every teacher indeed inflames the hearer’s affection, but above all is the word of God, piercing the divisions of the joints and the inmost marrow. So describe for yourself threefold the fiery speech of God: that it cleanses, or kindles, or enlightens its hearers. That is why the Lord says, “I have searched Jerusalem with a lamp,” but found no one in her either to be cleansed or to be kindled or enlightened; so he left her in darkness.
Heb 4:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 22:20 (echo, medium confidence) · Zeph 1:12 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s fiery word cleanses, kindles and enlightens; in Jerusalem none responded.
- Heb 4:12; Prov 22:20 (“threefold”); Zeph 1:12.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.21.1 (CSEL 62:407–408; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-21-1
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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.
Exposition 18, chapter 22
18.22.1CSEL 62:408
Nec mireris, si seruus diligit ignitum domini alloquium, quod et sponsa dilexit, quae ait: sicut resticula coccinea labia tua; in cocco enim species ignis et crucis dominicae sanguis inrutilat. coccinea labia domini, quae passionem propriam loquebantur.
Nor should you wonder if the servant loves the Lord’s fiery speech, which the bride also loved, who says: “Your lips are like a scarlet thread”; for in scarlet glows the appearance of fire and the blood of the Lord’s cross. Scarlet are the lips of the Lord, which spoke of his own passion.
Song 4:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The bride loves Christ’s scarlet lips, which speak of his passion.
- Song 4:3.
Topics: Passion and death of Christ
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.22.1 (CSEL 62:408; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-22-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-22-1
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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.
18.22.2CSEL 62:408
denique in Exodo coccum pro igne conlocatum est. non enim ex cocco mundus, sed ex quattuor constat elementis; sed in cocco figura ignis expressa est, cuius uapor nisi caelum atque aerem, maria terrasque penetraret, omnia tamquam effetis uiribus soluerentur. per resticulam igitur uinculum per-
In fact in Exodus scarlet was placed to stand for fire. For the world does not consist of scarlet but of four elements; but in scarlet the figure of fire is expressed, whose heat, unless it penetrated heaven and air, seas and lands, all things would dissolve with exhausted powers. So by the thread we recognize the bond of per-
Exod 25:4 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scarlet in Exodus stands for fire, the element that holds the world together.
- Exod 25:4; 26:1.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): tamquam # effetis → tamquam effetis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.22.2 (CSEL 62:408; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-22-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-22-2
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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.
18.22.3CSEL 62:408
suasionis agnoscimus, per coccum uel cupiditatis ardorem, qui scintillet in animis audientium, uel indicium passionis. unde et alibi ait sponsa: labia eius lilia distillantia myrram plenam. per myrram enim passionis unguentum et resurrectionis gratia declaratur, quae rediuiuum uitae odorem suscitatis mortuorum uisceribus infundit. merito igitur alloquii eius accipiens suauitatem exclamans sponsa testatur: fauces eius dulcedines et totus desiderium.
suasion, by the scarlet either the ardor of desire which sparkles in the minds of hearers, or the sign of the passion. Hence the bride says elsewhere too: “His lips are lilies dripping full myrrh.” For by myrrh the ointment of the passion and the grace of the resurrection are declared, which pours the reviving fragrance of life into the raised bodies of the dead. Rightly, then, the bride, receiving the sweetness of his speech, exclaims and testifies: “His throat is sweetness, and he is all desire.”
Song 5:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 5:16 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The thread and scarlet signify persuasion and the passion; myrrh, the passion and resurrection.
- Song 5:13, 16.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): myrram penam → myrram plenam.
Topics: Passion and death of Christ
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.22.3 (CSEL 62:408; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-22-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-22-3
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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 18, chapter 23
18.23.1CSEL 62:408
Sequitur: iuuenis ego sum et despectus; iustificationes tuas non sum oblitus. multorum sanctorum, qui a prima adulescentia exerciti sunt. duris laboribus potest hic uersiculus conuenire. nam et Ioseph.
There follows: “I am young and despised; I have not forgotten your statutes.” This verse can fit many saints who from early youth were trained by hard labors. For Joseph too,
Ps 119:141 (118:141 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: “Young and despised” fits saints trained by hardship from youth.
- Ps 119:141 (LXX 118:141).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): iustification est tuas → iustificationes tuas.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.23.1 (CSEL 62:408; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-23-1
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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.
18.23.2CSEL 62:408–409
cum a fratribus in Aegyptum uenderetur, iunior erat et despectus, qui ad seruitutis iniuriam uendebatur. et postea, cum productus e carcere praepositus Aegypto populis frumenta diuideret, fratribus uicem iniuriae non referret, sed refuso pretio alimenta donaret, senilem patris a fame atque ieiunio uindicaret aetatem curruque submisso obuius et famulantibus ceteris amplae potestatis insignibus adoraret, iure dicebat: iuuenior ego sum et despectus; iustificationes tuas non sum oblitus.
when he was sold by his brothers into Egypt, was younger and despised, sold into the injury of slavery. And afterwards, when, brought out of prison and set over Egypt, he distributed grain to the peoples, did not repay his brothers injury for injury but gave food and returned the price, rescued his father’s old age from famine and fasting, and, sending a chariot, went to meet and do homage to him with the insignia of ample power while the others served, he rightly said: “I am younger and despised; I have not forgotten your statutes.”
Gen 37:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 42:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 46:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:141 (118:141 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Joseph, young and despised, rose to power and kept God’s statutes by forgiving his brothers.
- Gen 37:28; Gen 42:25; Gen 46:29; Ps 119:141 (LXX 118:141).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.23.2 (CSEL 62:408–409; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-23-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-23-2
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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 18, chapter 24
18.24.1CSEL 62:409
Ipse quoque iunior fratribus cum patris oues pasceret tamquam uili ablegatus obsequio, non oblatus est sacerdoti, quasi indignus qui ungeretur in regnum, sed a sacerdote quaesitus et accersitus a pascuis praerogatiuam regiae unctionis accepit. postea quoque progressus ad bellum, cum Golias totum populum Iudaeorum corporis sui mole despiciens singulari certamine prouocaret. timentibus ceteris poposcit a rege, ut congrediendi sibi permitteret facultatem.
He himself too, younger than his brothers, when he was feeding his father’s sheep, sent off as to a mean service, was not presented to the priest, as though unworthy to be anointed to the kingdom; but, sought by the priest and summoned from the pastures, he received the prerogative of royal anointing. Afterwards too, going out to war, when Goliath, despising the whole Jewish people by the bulk of his body, challenged them to single combat, while the others were afraid, he asked the king to permit him to engage.
1 Sam 16:11 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 16:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 17:32 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David, the despised youngest son, was anointed king and volunteered to fight Goliath.
- 1 Sam 16:11–13; 1 Sam 17:32.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.24.1 (CSEL 62:409; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-24-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-24-1
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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.
18.24.2CSEL 62:409
ne tum quidem tanto certamini habilis aestimatus est. rege dicente: non potes ire ad allophylum et pugnare cum eo, quoniam tu puer es et ille uir bellator est a iuuentute sua. neque esset admissus, nisi fecisset fidem, quod in sua adulescentia leonem suis manibus strangulatum extractis raptae ouis cruribus peremisset.
Not even then was he thought fit for so great a contest, the king saying: “You cannot go against the foreigner and fight with him, for you are a boy and he is a man of war from his youth.” Nor would he have been admitted had he not convinced him that in his youth he had strangled a lion with his own hands and killed it, drawing out the legs of the stolen sheep.
1 Sam 17:33 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 17:35 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Saul doubted the boy David until David told of killing the lion.
- 1 Sam 17:33–35.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips; stray full stop in the digital text): certammi habiiis → certamini habilis; strangula.tum → strangulatum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.24.2 (CSEL 62:409; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-24-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-24-2
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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.
18.24.3CSEL 62:409–410
ipse etiam despectus allophylo, quod aduersus armatum proeliatorem cum uirga et lapidibus processisset. rettulit non uiribus se fretum esse, non armis. sed in nomine domini confidentem ad proelium esse progressum, ut lacessitae plebis auferret obprobrium. hic ergo iuuenis atque despectus strauit allophylum potitusque uictoria in decem milibus iuuencularum psallentium testimonio triumphauit.
He was even despised by the foreigner, because he had come out against an armed warrior with a staff and stones. He answered that he relied not on strength, not on arms, but had gone out to battle trusting in the name of the Lord, to take away the reproach of the challenged people. So this young and despised one laid low the foreigner and, gaining the victory, triumphed among ten thousands by the testimony of the singing young women.
1 Sam 17:42 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 17:45 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 18:7 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The despised David defeated Goliath in the Lord’s name and was celebrated in song.
- 1 Sam 17:42–45, 50; 18:7.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray mark in the digital text): desectus allophylo → despectus allophylo; non uiribus? se → non uiribus se.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.24.3 (CSEL 62:409–410; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-24-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-24-3
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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 18, chapter 25
18.25.1CSEL 62:410
Gerebat enim typum eius qui quasi despectus uenturus esset in terras et sine legato, sine adiutore, sine nuntio totum populum mundi huius crucis suae proelio liberaret, cui adplauderent animae sanctorum per baptismatis sacramenta renouatae, quod
For he bore the type of the one who would come to earth as though despised, and without envoy, without helper, without messenger would free the whole people of this world by the battle of his cross; whom the souls of the saints, renewed through the sacraments of baptism, would applaud, because
Isa 63:9 (echo, medium confidence) · Isa 53:3 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David prefigured Christ, who alone freed the world by the cross.
- Isa 63:9; Isa 53:3.
Topics: Christology, Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.25.1 (CSEL 62:410; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-25-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-25-1
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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.
18.25.2CSEL 62:410
uerum illum Golian reuelatum nobis ac proditum uerbi sui gladio trucidasset. iacet igitur uerus Golias humilitate filii dei stratus, amisit caput, quod in multas artes uertebat et fraudes. psallunt securae iam animae, quae ante peccatorum suorum tormenta deflebant. dicunt tympanis, hoc est corporibus suis peccato mortuis resultantes:
he had slain with the sword of his word that true Goliath, revealed and betrayed to us. So the true Goliath lies laid low by the humility of the Son of God; he has lost his head, which he turned to many arts and frauds. The souls now secure sing, which before lamented the torments of their sins. They say on the timbrels, that is, resounding with their bodies dead to sin:
1 Sam 17:51 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 18:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ slew the true Goliath, the devil; the redeemed souls sing.
- 1 Sam 17:51; Heb 4:12; Rom 6:11.
Topics: Christology, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.25.2 (CSEL 62:410; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-25-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-25-2
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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.
18.25.3CSEL 62:410
Saul triumphauit in milibus, Dauid in decem milibus. rex ille durus indignatur et irascitur diabolus, eo quod canerent iuuenculae quia duritiae filius paucos decepit, Christus totum mundum redemit. dicit ergo Christus natus ex uirgine: iuuenis ego sum et despectus; iustificationes tuas non sum oblitus.
“Saul has triumphed among thousands, David among ten thousands.” That harsh king, the devil, is indignant and angry, because the young women sang that the son of hardness deceived few, Christ redeemed the whole world. So Christ, born of the virgin, says: “I am young and despised; I have not forgotten your statutes.”
1 Sam 18:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 18:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:141 (118:141 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, like David, redeemed the whole world; he says “I am young and despised.”
- 1 Sam 18:7–8; Ps 119:141 (LXX 118:141).
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.25.3 (CSEL 62:410; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-25-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-25-3
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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 18, chapter 26
18.26.1CSEL 62:410
Dicit etiam populus nationum ille in prima electione despectus, rudis adhuc fide et studio primaeuae deuotionis adulescens uel certe renouatus aquilae iuuentute per baptismatis sacramenta: iuuenis ego sum et despectus; iustificationes tuas non sum oblitus. ille ego despectus ante iam praeferor, iam anteponor electis, ille ante despectus
The people of the nations also says it, despised in the first election, still untaught in faith and young in the zeal of early devotion, or at least renewed in the youth of the eagle through the sacraments of baptism: “I am young and despised; I have not forgotten your statutes. I, once despised, am now preferred, now placed before the elect; the once despised
Ps 119:141 (118:141 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 103:5 (102:5 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The gentile people, once despised and now renewed by baptism, is preferred.
- Ps 119:141 (LXX 118:141); Ps 103:5 (LXX 102:5).
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.26.1 (CSEL 62:410; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-26-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-26-1
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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.
18.26.2CSEL 62:410–411
populus peccatorum habeo caelestium sacramentorum ueneranda consortia, iam mensae caelestis honore suscipior. epulis meis non pluuia undatur, non terrae partus laborat, non arborum fructus; potui meo non flumina quaerenda, non fontes. Christus mihi cibus. Christus est potus, caro dei cibus mihi et dei sanguis est potus. non iam ad satietatem mei annuos expecto prouentus, Christus mihi cotidie ministratur. non uerebor, ne qua mihi eum caeli intemperies aut sterilitas ruris inminuat, si pii cultus diligentia perseueret.
people of sinners, I have the venerable fellowship of the heavenly sacraments, I am now received with the honor of the heavenly table. For my feasts no rain is poured, no birth of the earth toils, no fruit of trees; for my drink no rivers, no springs are to be sought. Christ is my food, Christ is my drink; the flesh of God is my food and the blood of God is my drink. I no longer await yearly harvests for my fill; Christ is served to me every day. I shall not fear that any bad weather of the sky or barrenness of the field will lessen him for me, if the diligence of devout worship perseveres.
John 6:55 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The gentile church feeds daily on Christ, the flesh and blood of God, its unfailing food.
- John 6:55.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): peccatorimi → peccatorum.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.26.2 (CSEL 62:410–411; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-26-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-26-2
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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.
18.26.8CSEL 62:411
non iam coturnicum pluuias mihi opto descendere quas ante mirabar, non manna quod ante cibis omnibus praeferebam, quia qui manna manducauerunt patres esurierunt. meus cibus est. quem si quis manducauerit non esuriet, meus cibus est qui non corpus inpinguat, sed confirmat cor hominis.
I no longer wish showers of quails to come down to me, which I once marveled at, nor the manna which once I preferred to all foods, because the fathers who ate manna hungered. My food is he whom if anyone eats he will not hunger; my food is he who does not fatten the body but strengthens the heart of man.
Exod 16:13 (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:49 (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 104:15 (103:15 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is the food that satisfies, unlike the quails and manna.
- Exod 16:13; John 6:49, 35; Ps 104:15 (LXX 103:15).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slips): non lam coturnicuni → non iam coturnicum.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.26.8 (CSEL 62:411; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-26-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-26-8
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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 18, chapter 27
18.27.1CSEL 62:411
Fuerat mihi ante mirandus panis de caelo — scriptum est enim: panem de caelo dedit eis manducare —. sed non erat uerus ille panis, sed futuri umbra. panem de caelo illum uerum mihi seruauit pater. mihi ille panis dei descendit e caelo, qui uitam dat huic mundo. non Iudaeis descendit, non synagogae descendit, sed ecclesiae descendit, sed populo dei iuueniori descendit. nam quomodo Iudaeis descendit panis qui uitam dedit.
Before, the bread from heaven was something to marvel at for me (for it is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat”); but that was not the true bread, but the shadow of what was to come. The Father kept that true bread from heaven for me. For me that bread of God came down from heaven which gives life to this world. It did not come down for the Jews, it did not come down for the synagogue, but it came down for the church, for the younger people of God. For how did the bread which gave life come down for the Jews,
Ps 78:24 (77:24 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:31 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:32 (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:33 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The manna was a shadow; the true bread from heaven came down for the church.
- Ps 78:24 (LXX 77:24); John 6:31–33. Translated as written.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.27.1 (CSEL 62:411; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-27-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-27-1
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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.
18.27.2CSEL 62:411
cum omnes, qui illum panem manducauerunt. hoc est manna, quem putauerunt Iudaei uerum panem. in deserto mortui sunt? quomodo synagogae descendit, cum synagoga omnis interierit et aeterno ieiunio fidei macerata defecerit? denique si accepissent panem uerum, non dixissent: domine, semper da nobis panem hunc.
when all who ate that bread, that is, the manna, which the Jews thought the true bread, died in the desert? How did it come down for the synagogue, when the whole synagogue has perished and wasted away, withered by an eternal fast from faith? In fact, if they had received the true bread, they would not have said: “Lord, give us this bread always.”
John 6:49 (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:34 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who ate manna died; the Jews did not receive the true bread.
- John 6:49; John 6:34. Translated as written.
Topics: Jews and Judaism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.27.2 (CSEL 62:411; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-27-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 18, chapter 28
18.28.1CSEL 62:411
Quid petis. Iudaee, ut tribuat tibi panem quem dat omnibus. dat cotidie, dat semper? in te ipso est ut accipias hunc panem; accede ad hunc panem et accipies eum. de hoc pane dictum est: omnes qui elongant se abs te peribunt. si elongaueris ab eo, peribis, si adpropinquaueris ad eum, uiues. hic est panis uitae; qui ergo uitam manducat. mori non potest. quomodo enim morietur cui cibus uita est? quomodo deficiet qui habuerit uitalem substantiam?
Why do you ask, Jew, that he give you the bread which he gives to all, gives every day, gives always? It is in your power to receive this bread; come to this bread and you will receive it. Of this bread it is said: “All who put themselves far from you will perish.” If you put yourself far from it, you will perish; if you draw near to it, you will live. This is the bread of life; so whoever eats life cannot die. For how will one die whose food is life? How will one fail who has a life-giving substance?
Ps 73:27 (72:27 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:48 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The bread of life is offered to all; whoever approaches it lives.
- Ps 73:27 (LXX 72:27); John 6:35, 48.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letters lost in the digital text): si adpropinquam ris → si adpropinquaueris.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.28.1 (CSEL 62:411; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-28-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-28-1
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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.
18.28.2CSEL 62:411–412
accedite ad eum et satiamini, quia panis est; accedite ad eum et potate, quia fons est; accedite ad eum et inluminamini, quia lux est; accedite ad eum et liberamini, quia ubi spiritus domini, ibi libertas; accedite ad eum et absoluimini, quia remissio peccatorum est. quis sit iste quaeritis? audite ipsum dicentem: ego sum panis uitae; qui uenit ad me non esuriet et qui credit in me non sitiet umquam. audistis eum et uidistis eum et non credidistis ei, ideo mortui estis. uel nunc credite, ut possitis uiuere.
Come to him and be satisfied, for he is bread; come to him and drink, for he is a spring; come to him and be enlightened, for he is light; come to him and be set free, for where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty; come to him and be absolved, for he is the forgiveness of sins. Do you ask who he is? Hear him saying: “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst.” You have heard him and seen him and have not believed him; that is why you are dead. At least now believe, so that you may live.
2 Cor 3:17 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:35 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:36 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is bread, spring, light, liberty and forgiveness; all are called to believe and live.
- 2 Cor 3:17; John 6:35–36.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.28.2 (CSEL 62:411–412; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-28-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 18, chapter 29
18.29.1CSEL 62:412
Sed miramini Moysen, quia patres uestros per mare siccis duxit uestigiis. Moyses non imperauit, sed impetrauit, non iussit mari, sed seruiuit iubenti fluctibus. Moysen laudatis. quia regem Pharao cum exercitu suo mersit. Moyses orabat et alius imperabat, Moyses precabatur, Christus operabatur, Moyses fugiebat. Christus
But you admire Moses, because he led your fathers through the sea with dry feet. Moses did not command but obtained by prayer; he did not order the sea, but served him who gave orders to the waves. You praise Moses because he drowned King Pharaoh with his army. Moses prayed and another commanded; Moses besought, Christ worked; Moses fled, Christ
Exod 14:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: At the Red Sea Moses prayed but Christ acted.
- Exod 14:15–28.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.29.1 (CSEL 62:412; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-29-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-29-1
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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.
18.29.2CSEL 62:412
insequebatur, Moyses columnam sequebatur, ut nocturnas tenebras declinaret, Christus inluminabat. Moysen agnoscitis, qui aquae amaritudinem temperauit, Moysen agnoscitis, qui aquam produxit de petra: Christum non agnoscitis, qui ueri illius Aegyptii regis strauit exercitum et abyssi mersit profundo, qui nos liberat cotidie de mundi huius fluctibus. ne nos saeculi procella demergat. quid profuit patribus transire per Mare Rubrum, quibus ad terram resurrectionis non licuit peruenire?
pursued; Moses followed the pillar to avoid the darkness of night, Christ gave light. You acknowledge Moses, who sweetened the bitterness of the water; you acknowledge Moses, who brought water from the rock: you do not acknowledge Christ, who laid low the army of that true Egyptian king and drowned it in the depth of the abyss, who frees us every day from the waves of this world, lest the storm of the age drown us. What did it profit the fathers to cross the Red Sea, when they were not allowed to reach the land of resurrection?
Exod 13:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 15:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 17:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, not Moses, defeated the true Pharaoh and saves us daily from the world’s waves.
- Exod 13:21; Exod 15:25; Exod 17:6. Translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.29.2 (CSEL 62:412; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-29-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-29-2
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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.
18.29.3CSEL 62:412–413
quicumque enim exierunt de Aegypto, perierunt in deserto. mortuus est Aaron, mortua est Maria, mortuus est et ipse Moyses; solum Iesum Naue nominis sacri similitudo seruauit. plaudat Iudaeus, quia sitienti illi undam saxa uomuerunt: mihi de corpore dei fons fluxit aeternus. meas amaritudines bibit Christus. ut mihi suae donaret gratiae suauitatem.
For all who came out of Egypt perished in the desert. Aaron died, Miriam died, Moses himself died too; only Joshua son of Nun did the likeness of the sacred name preserve. Let the Jew applaud because the rocks poured out water for him when he thirsted: for me an eternal spring flowed from the body of God. Christ drank my bitterness, to give me the sweetness of his grace.
Num 14:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 20:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 20:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 34:5 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:34 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Exodus generation died, but from Christ’s body flows an eternal spring.
- Num 14:29–30; Num 20:1, 28; Deut 34:5; John 19:34. Joshua shares the name Jesus.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.29.3 (CSEL 62:412–413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-29-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-29-3
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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 18, chapter 30
18.30.1CSEL 62:413
Dicit ergo populus christianus: iuuenis ego sum et despectus; iustificationes tuas non sum oblitus. bene hoc dicit qui iustificauit deum baptismatis sacramentis. qui enim baptizatur iustificat deum, quia peccata propria confitetur et a domino suorum praestolatur indulgentiam delictorum. iustificauit Dauid, qui ait: tibi soli peccaui et malum coram te feci, ut iustificeris in sermonibus tuis.
So the Christian people says: “I am young and despised; I have not forgotten your statutes.” Rightly he says this who has justified God by the sacraments of baptism. For he who is baptized justifies God, because he confesses his own sins and awaits from the Lord the pardon of his offenses. David justified him, who says: “Against you only have I sinned and done evil before you, that you may be justified in your words.”
Ps 119:141 (118:141 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 51:4 (50:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The baptized justify God by confessing their sins, as David did.
- Ps 119:141 (LXX 118:141); Ps 51:4 (LXX 50:6).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced word in the digital text; word split in the digital text): non sum o b lit u s → non sum oblitus; peccaui e t malum → peccaui et malum.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.30.1 (CSEL 62:413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-30-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-30-1
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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.
18.30.2CSEL 62:413
non iustificauerunt Pharisaei qui baptizari Iohannis baptismo noluerunt, ut in euangelio legisti. nec solum iustificare satis est, sed etiam non obliuisci iustificationum dei. id est ut intemerata gratiae spiritalis dona custodiat et sacrae remissionis munera inlibata atque inoffensa conseruet.
The Pharisees did not justify him, who would not be baptized with John’s baptism, as you have read in the Gospel. Nor is it enough to justify; one must also not forget the statutes of God, that is, keep the gifts of spiritual grace undefiled and preserve the gifts of the sacred remission unimpaired and unharmed.
Luke 7:30 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: One must not only justify God in baptism but preserve its grace.
- Luke 7:30.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): qui baptin Iohannis → qui baptizari Iohannis.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.30.2 (CSEL 62:413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-30-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-30-2
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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 18, chapter 31
18.31.1CSEL 62:413
Haec generalia. sed etiam specialis singulis christianis suppetit praerogatiua dicendi: iuuenis ego sum et despectus, si humilis corde sit, si mitis atque mansuetus. dicat ergo: iuuenis ego sum et despectus, praemittat aetatis generalem iactantiam. quo plus commendet humilitatis suae gratiam. non mirabilis humilitas in senectute, quae effeta uiribus, fracta debilitatibus, tristis doloribus, anhela suspiriis, cocta curarum aestibus et ipso uiuendi maesta fastidio alacritatem est oblita iactantiae.
These are general things. But each Christian individually also has the special prerogative of saying, “I am young and despised,” if he is humble of heart, if meek and gentle. So let him say, “I am young and despised”; let him put first the general boast of his age, so that he may commend the more the grace of his humility. Humility in old age is not wonderful, for old age, exhausted in strength, broken by infirmities, sad with pains, panting with sighs, baked by the heats of cares and gloomy with very weariness of living, has forgotten the eagerness of boasting.
Matt 11:29 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Humility is no wonder in the old; it is admirable in the young.
- Matt 11:29.
Topics: Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.31.1 (CSEL 62:413; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-31-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-31-1
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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.
18.31.2CSEL 62:413–414
rara sane in iuuenibus est humilitas ideoque miranda. dum aetas uiget, dum uires solidae, dum sanguis aestuat. dum sollicitudo nescitur, dum ignoratur debilitas. dum laetitia frequentatur, tunc feruet iactantia. tunc se iuuentutis superbus extollit affectus, tunc humilitas quasi uilescit, abiecta contemnitur, tunc subiectio degeneris conscientiae aestimatur infirmitas. grandis igitur morum adsuefacienda maturitas, quae uincat naturam.
Humility is truly rare in the young, and therefore admirable. While age is vigorous, while strength is solid, while the blood boils, while anxiety is unknown, while weakness is unknown, while gladness is frequent, then boasting is hot, then the proud affection of youth exalts itself, then humility grows cheap, so to speak, and is despised as abject, then submission is reckoned the weakness of a base conscience. So a great maturity of character must be formed by habit, to overcome nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: Youth is prone to pride, so humility in the young needs great maturity.
Topics: Ethics, Humility and pride
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.31.2 (CSEL 62:413–414; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-31-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-31-2
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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.