Exposition of Psalm 118 7.20.1–8.11.2
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 7, chapter 20
7.20.1CSEL 62:138–139
Ita ergo etiam iustus et cum contemnitur a peccatore, non auertitur, et cum laeditur, furoris illud putat esse, non inprobitatis, magisque uulneri eius medicinam adferre desiderat et conpatitur et dolet non propter se, sed propter illum, qui desperato laborat incommodo, et dicit hunc unum ex fratribus sic laborare, sic adfici, ut faciat mihi iniuriam, qui si agnosceret me honoraret utique, certe non laederet.
So too the righteous man, even when he is despised by the sinner, does not turn away, and when he is hurt he thinks it madness, not wickedness, and desires rather to bring medicine to his wound, and suffers with him and grieves, not for his own sake but for him who labors under a desperate affliction, and says that this one of his brothers so suffers, is so affected, that he does me injury, who, if he knew me, would surely honor me, certainly would not hurt me.
Notes and citation
Summary: The righteous man treats his injurer as one sick with madness and pities him.
Topics: Ethics, Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.20.1 (CSEL 62:138–139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-20-1
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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.
7.20.2CSEL 62:139
quid enim laesus est meo facto, ut habeat laedentis affectum? quoniam ergo non subpetit causa laedendi, non potest culpa esse propositi. ergo, si iustus sum, adficior propter caritatem, propter dilectionem, propter ecclesiae damnum, propter corporis detrimentum. possum etiam illud dolere, quod, etiamsi ego laedentem non laeserim et non sim mihi conscius, quod eum in me aliquibus iniuriis excitauerim, tamen causa illi fuerim lapsus eius, quod innocentem laedendo delinquat, quod factus sim ei materia peccati.
For in what has he been hurt by my deed, that he should have the feeling of one who hurts? Since, then, there is no cause for hurting, there cannot be guilt in my intention. So, if I am righteous, I am affected on account of love, on account of affection, on account of the loss to the church, on account of the harm to the body. I can also grieve over this, that, even if I have not hurt the one who hurts me and am not conscious of having provoked him by any injuries against me, I have nevertheless been the occasion of his fall, in that he sins by hurting an innocent man, in that I have become for him the material of sin.
Notes and citation
Summary: The righteous man grieves for the harm to the church and that he has been an occasion of another’s sin.
- The digital text’s “IneO” is read as “meo”, and “affectum t” as “affectum?”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): laesus est IneO facto → laesus est meo facto; laedentis affectum t quoniam → laedentis affectum? quoniam.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.20.2 (CSEL 62:139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-20-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 7, chapter 21
7.21.1CSEL 62:139
Hoc ergo dolet Dauid et ideo dolet, quia, cum unum membrum patitur, et cetera membra conpatiuntur. ideo forte et illud positum est: iustus in exordio sermonis accusator est sui. nam etsi possit iustus habere in se quod accuset et iustus esse, quia nemo sine peccato praeter unum deum, et possit etiam peccator hoc ipso iustus esse, quia accusator est sui secundum illud: dic iniquitates tuas, ut iustificeris, attamen forsitan etiam aliquibus non uideatur absurdum, ut etiam de illo dictum sit, quod iustus sit qui se accusat pro alio, etiamsi in se nihil habeat quod accuset.
This, then, David grieves over, and he grieves for this reason, that when one member suffers, the other members suffer with it. That is perhaps why it was also said: “The righteous man is his own accuser at the beginning of his speech.” For although the righteous man can have in himself something to accuse and still be righteous, because no one is without sin except God alone, and although even a sinner can be righteous by this very fact, that he is his own accuser, according to the saying, “Tell your iniquities so that you may be justified,” yet perhaps it may not seem absurd to some that it was also said of this, that he is righteous who accuses himself on behalf of another, even if he has nothing in himself to accuse.
1 Cor 12:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 18:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 10:18 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 43:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David grieves as a member of one body; the righteous man may even accuse himself for another’s sake.
- 1 Cor 12:26; Prov 18:17 (Greek form); Mark 10:18; Isa 43:26 (Greek form).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.21.1 (CSEL 62:139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-21-1
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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 7, chapter 22
7.22.1CSEL 62:139–140
Quam igitur in his omnibus sancto Dauid uiri iusti prima persona conueniat, consideremus. accusauit se nullo accusante, peccatum confessus est proprium, quando percussus est corde, eo quod numerauerit plebem. qui et dixit ad dominum: peccaui, domine, quod fecerim hoc uerbum. et nunc,
Let us consider, then, how well the chief character of a righteous man in all these things fits holy David. He accused himself with no one accusing him; he confessed his own sin when his heart struck him because he had numbered the people. And he said to the Lord: “I have sinned, Lord, in doing this thing. And now,
2 Sam 24:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David accused himself, unprompted, for numbering the people.
- 2 Sam 24:10.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.22.1 (CSEL 62:139–140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-22-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-22-1
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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.
7.22.2CSEL 62:140
domine, aufer iniquitatem serui tui, quod deliqui uehementer. itaque quamuis scriptura habeat, quod adposita est ira dei, ut irasceretur in Israel, quo regis prolapsio excusari uideretur, tamen, cum uidisset angelum qui stragem plebis efficiebat, percutientis ictui se ipsum obiecit dicens: ecce ego peccaui et ego pastor malignum feci, et hic grex quid fecit?
Lord, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have sinned greatly.” And so, although Scripture has it that the wrath of God was added so that he was angry with Israel, by which the king’s fall might seem excused, yet when he saw the angel who was making the slaughter of the people, he threw himself before the blow of the one striking, saying: “Behold, I have sinned, and I the shepherd have done evil; and this flock, what has it done?
2 Sam 24:10 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Though Scripture might excuse him, David offered himself to the destroying angel in place of the people.
- 2 Sam 24:10, 1, 17.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.22.2 (CSEL 62:140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-22-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-22-2
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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.
7.22.3CSEL 62:140
fiat manus tua in me et in domo patris mei. quasi iustus ergo accusator sui in ipso sermonis exordio et peccatum suum agnouit et iniquitatem propriam confitendo iustificatus est in semet ipso. alibi quoque de Uriae morte coargutus a propheta ait: peccaui domino; cui responsum est propter paenitentiam ablatum a domino eius esse peccatum.
Let your hand be against me and against my father’s house.” As a righteous man, then, his own accuser at the very beginning of his speech, he both acknowledged his sin and, by confessing his own iniquity, was justified in himself. Elsewhere too, when he was convicted by the prophet concerning the death of Uriah, he said, “I have sinned against the Lord,” to whom it was answered that because of his repentance his sin had been taken away by the Lord.
2 Sam 24:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 18:17 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 12:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: By confessing his sins, over the census and over Uriah, David was justified and forgiven.
- 2 Sam 24:17; Prov 18:17; 2 Sam 12:13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (spaced letters in the digital text): patris m e i → patris mei.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.22.3 (CSEL 62:140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-22-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-22-3
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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 7, chapter 23
7.23.1CSEL 62:140
Item alio loco, cum Semei malediceret ei et lapidaret eum saeptum bellatoribus, per quos uindicare se posset, patienter ferebat, ne uerbo quidem referens contumeliam. quin etiam cum Abisai dux eius caput maledicentis uellet auferre, ait rex: quid mihi et tibi est, fili Saruiae? quod maledicit mihi.
Likewise in another place, when Shimei cursed him and stoned him, though he was surrounded by warriors through whom he could avenge himself, he bore it patiently, not returning the insult even with a word. Indeed, when Abishai, his commander, wished to take off the head of the one cursing, the king said: “What have I to do with you, son of Zeruiah? Let him curse me;
2 Sam 16:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David bore Shimei’s curses patiently and restrained Abishai.
- 2 Sam 16:5–10.
Topics: Patience
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.23.1 (CSEL 62:140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-23-1
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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.
7.23.2CSEL 62:140
dominus dixit ei maledicere Dauid. primum igitur culpam eius excusauit et causam ad domini retulit uoluntatem, secundo in suum meritum retorsit, ut non illum errasse, sed se meruisse significaret, tertio maledictionem illius sibi non solum non nocere, sed etiam prodesse memorauit, sicut scriptum est: et dixit Dauid ad Abisai et ad omnes pueros eius: ecce filius meus, qui exiuit de semine meo, quaerit animam meam; quanto magis filius Ieminei!
the Lord told him to curse David.” First, then, he excused his fault and referred the cause to the Lord’s will; second, he turned it back on his own deserving, to show that the other had not erred, but that he himself had deserved it; third, he said that the other’s cursing not only did him no harm but even did him good, as it is written: “And David said to Abishai and to all his servants: Behold, my son, who came out of my seed, seeks my life; how much more the son of Jemini!
2 Sam 16:10 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David excused Shimei, blamed himself, and judged the curse useful to him.
- 2 Sam 16:10–11 (Greek form: “son of Jemini”, i.e. Benjaminite).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.23.2 (CSEL 62:140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-23-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-23-2
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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.
7.23.3CSEL 62:140–141
granditer impetum infregit ultoris: quomodo enim maledictum extranei pro regis iniuria uindicaret. cum filii adhuc parricidium inultum maneret? non utique extranei maledictum et filii parricidium aequa esset lance pensandum. et addidit: sine illum maledicere. quoniam dixit ii dominus, donec uideat humilitatem meam et retribuat mihi dominus bona pro maledicto.
He broke the attack of the avenger powerfully: for how should he avenge a stranger’s cursing as an injury to the king, while the parricide of his son still remained unavenged? Surely a stranger’s cursing and a son’s parricide were not to be weighed in an equal balance. And he added: “Let him curse, for the Lord has told him, so that he may see my humiliation, and the Lord may repay me good for the cursing.”
2 Sam 16:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:12 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David reasoned that a stranger’s curse was nothing beside his son’s attempt on his life, and hoped for God’s reward.
- 2 Sam 16:11–12. The digital text’s “dixit ii dominus” and “d dominus” are read as “dixit ei dominus” and “dominus”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (doubled letter in the digital text): mihi d dominus → mihi dominus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.23.3 (CSEL 62:140–141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-23-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-23-3
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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.
7.23.4CSEL 62:141
est et aliud iusti propositum longe omnibus perfectius et potentius, interuenire pro persequentibus, excusare peccantes, quod legimus in euangelio dicente domino Iesu, cum crucifixus esset a perfidis: pater, dimitte illis: non enim sciunt quid faciunt.
There is also another purpose of the righteous man, far more perfect and powerful than all: to intercede for persecutors, to excuse those who sin, which we read in the gospel when the Lord Jesus, crucified by the faithless, says: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”
Luke 23:34 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The highest purpose of the righteous is to pray for persecutors, as Christ did on the cross.
- Luke 23:34.
Topics: Persecution, Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.23.4 (CSEL 62:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-23-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-23-4
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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 7, chapter 24
7.24.1CSEL 62:141
Liquet igitur his magisteriis doctrinae caelestis, quod iustus se accusare malit quam alium deformare. denique de Ioseph, cui desponsata erat Maria mater domini, scriptum est quod, cum eam grauem utero uidisset, cum esset iustus, noluit eam traducere, et utique nullum adhuc audierat oraculum.
It is clear, then, from these lessons of heavenly teaching, that the righteous man would rather accuse himself than disgrace another. Indeed it is written of Joseph, to whom Mary the mother of the Lord was betrothed, that when he saw her with child, being a righteous man, he was unwilling to expose her; and surely he had not yet heard any oracle.
Matt 1:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 1:18 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Joseph, though not yet told the truth, would not expose Mary: the righteous prefer not to accuse.
- Matt 1:18–20. The digital text’s “ac-cusare” is read as “accusare”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): ac-cusare → accusare.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.24.1 (CSEL 62:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-24-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-24-1
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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.
7.24.2CSEL 62:141
ita non solum ab ultionis atrocitate, sed etiam ab accusationis seueritate iusti aliena persona est potiusque ducit suam remissionem accusari, quod non uindicauerit, quam alienum crimen urgere. sed dices: quomodo dixit ipse Dauid: laetabitur iustus, cum uiderit uindictam impiorum? mihi uidetur, quia laetetur quod ipse euaserit, non quia impii puniantur. quaeramus aliud iusti propositum ex sequentibus.
So the character of the righteous man is foreign not only to the cruelty of revenge but also to the severity of accusation, and he would rather have his leniency accused, in that he did not avenge, than press another’s crime. But you will say: how did David himself say, “The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance on the ungodly”? It seems to me that he rejoices that he himself has escaped, not that the ungodly are punished. Let us seek another purpose of the righteous man from what follows.
Ps 58:10 (57:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The righteous man prefers leniency to accusation; he rejoices at his own escape, not at others’ punishment.
- Ps 58:10 (LXX 57:11).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.24.2 (CSEL 62:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-24-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-24-2
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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.
Exposition 7, chapter 25
7.25.1CSEL 62:141–142
Itaque dicit: cantabiles mihi erant iustificationes tuae in loco seueritate s meae. merito peregrinationibus non frangebatur, superbos declinabat eorumque prosperis successibus non mouebatur, consolabatur se in iudiciis caelestibus, angebatur in alienis peccatis, quia cantabiles habebat iustificationes dei. quae enim bene tenemus cantare consueuimus
And so he says: “Your statutes were songs to me in the place of my sojourning.” Rightly he was not broken by his wanderings, he avoided the proud and was not moved by their prosperous successes, he comforted himself in the heavenly judgments, he was distressed at others’ sins, because he had the statutes of God as songs. For what we hold well we are accustomed to sing,
Ps 119:54 (118:54 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 54: God’s statutes were songs to the psalmist in his exile.
- Ps 118:54 (Ps 119:54). The digital text reads “in loco seueritates meae”; Ambrose’s text, as 7.28.1 shows, is “in loco peregrinationis meae”, and it is translated so.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split words in the digital text): er ant iustif icationes → erant iustificationes.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.25.1 (CSEL 62:141–142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-25-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-25-1
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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.
7.25.2CSEL 62:142
et quae cantantur melius nostris adhaerent sensibus. non enim perfunctorie transeamus quae legimus, ut tunc tantum, cum legimus ea, in memoriam eorum redire uideamur, sed etiam, cum abest codex manibus, tamquam animantia, quae probantur et munda habentur in lege, etiam quando non pascuntur ruminare consuerunt, ex semet ipsis alimenta sibi recondita proferentia, ita et nos de nostrae me-
and what is sung clings better to our minds. Let us not pass over perfunctorily what we read, so as to seem to return to the memory of it only when we read it; but even when the book is out of our hands, like the animals approved and held clean in the law, which are accustomed to chew the cud even when they are not feeding, bringing up from themselves food stored within, so let us too bring out from the treasury of our
Lev 11:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 14:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: What is sung clings to memory; like clean animals chewing the cud, we should ruminate on Scripture.
- Lev 11:3; Deut 14:6.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.25.2 (CSEL 62:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-25-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-25-2
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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.
7.25.3CSEL 62:142
moriae thesauro, de interioribus nostris ruminandum nobis pabulum spiritale promamus. hymni nobis, canticum nobis, psalmi nobis iustificationes domini sint. psallamus spiritu, psallamus et mente, ne, si obliti fuerimus. in tempore necessitatis dicatur unicuique nostrum: abiecisti sermones meos post te.
memory, from our inner parts, spiritual fodder to be chewed. Let the statutes of the Lord be hymns to us, a song to us, psalms to us. Let us sing with the spirit, let us sing with the mind also, lest, if we have forgotten, in the time of need it be said to each of us: “You have cast my words behind you.”
Eph 5:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 14:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 50:17 (49:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s statutes should be our hymns, sung with spirit and mind, lest we forget them.
- Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; 1 Cor 14:15; Ps 50:17 (LXX 49:17).
Topics: Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.25.3 (CSEL 62:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-25-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-25-3
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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 7, chapter 26
7.26.1CSEL 62:142
Ideoque. ut expelleretur et eliminaretur obliuio a domo sancta sua, cantatores sibi fecit uerus Salomon, qui toto spiritu inquirendae cognitioni diuinitatis intenderent, ne psallentes deessent ecclesiae suae, quorum cantu nequam spiritus fugaretur, sicut Dauid sancti docemur exemplo, quo psallente malus ille spiritus expellebatur, qui Saul regis corda uexabat.
And so, so that forgetfulness might be driven out and banished from his holy house, the true Solomon made singers for himself, who would apply themselves with their whole spirit to seeking the knowledge of the divinity, so that his church should not lack psalm-singers, by whose singing the wicked spirit might be put to flight, as we are taught by the example of holy David, at whose playing that evil spirit which troubled King Saul’s heart was driven out.
1 Kgs 10:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Chr 25:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Sam 16:23 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, the true Solomon, gave his church singers whose psalms drive away evil spirits, as David’s did for Saul.
- 1 Kgs 10:12; 1 Chr 25:1–7; 1 Sam 16:23.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.26.1 (CSEL 62:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-26-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-26-1
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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.
7.26.2CSEL 62:142
prophetae quoque, ut prophetarent, psallendi peritum iubebant psallere, quo suaui inuitata dulcedine spiritalis infunderetur gratia. et in euangelio legimus in domo patris illius filium recuperantis percrepuisse symphoniam, qua epulantes delectabantur fideles, perfidus autem inpatienter audiebat. dulcis igitur est cantilena quae non corpus effeminat. sed mentem animumque confirmat. ideoque canticum dicitur domini testamentum, quia
The prophets too, in order to prophesy, ordered one skilled in playing to play, so that spiritual grace, invited by the sweet melody, might be poured in. And in the gospel we read that in the house of that father who recovered his son a symphony resounded, in which the faithful feasting took delight, but the faithless one heard it with impatience. Sweet, then, is the song which does not make the body effeminate but strengthens the mind and spirit. And so the Lord’s testament is called a song, because
2 Kgs 3:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Holy music invites the Spirit, as with the prophets and in the house of the prodigal’s father.
- 2 Kgs 3:15; Luke 15:25–28.
Topics: Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.26.2 (CSEL 62:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-26-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-26-2
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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.
7.26.3CSEL 62:142–143
remissionem omnium peccatorum dominique iustitias in scripturis euangelii suaui mentis exultatione concinimus. ipse quoque dominus non dedignatus est dicere: cantauimus uobis et non saltastis. cantauit nobis in euangelio ueniam delictorum, debuerunt Iudaei mentem adtollere non histrionico corporis motu, sed sancto spiritu, non fecerunt; ideo reprehenduntur.
we sing together, with sweet exultation of mind, the forgiveness of all sins and the righteous deeds of the Lord in the Scriptures of the gospel. The Lord himself too did not disdain to say: “We sang to you and you did not dance.” He sang to us in the gospel the pardon of sins; the Jews ought to have lifted up their minds, not with the actor’s movement of the body but by the Holy Spirit; they did not, and so they are rebuked.
Matt 11:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:32 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ sang forgiveness in the gospel, but the Jews did not respond.
- Matt 11:17; Luke 7:32. Ambrose’s remark on the Jews is translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.26.3 (CSEL 62:142–143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-26-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-26-3
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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 7, chapter 27
7.27.1CSEL 62:143
Sed etiam et corporis saltatio in honore dei laudabilis habetur. denique saltauit Dauid ante arcam domini et uidit eum Melchol filia Saul saltantem et percutientem in organis harmonizatis in conspectu domini et ait ad eum, posteaquam se domum recepit: quid utique honorificatus est rex Israel, quia denudatus est hodie in oculis puellarum suarum ancillarum sicut unus ex saltatoribus?
But even dancing of the body in honor of God is held praiseworthy. Indeed David danced before the ark of the Lord, and Michal, the daughter of Saul, saw him dancing and striking on tuned instruments in the sight of the Lord, and said to him after he had returned home: “How has the king of Israel been honored today, who was uncovered today in the eyes of the girls, his maidservants, like one of the dancers?”
2 Sam 6:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 6:16 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 6:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David danced before the ark, and Michal mocked him.
- 2 Sam 6:14–16, 20 (Greek form). The digital text’s “aream” and “ronspec-tu” are read as “arcam” and “conspectu”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): ante aream domini → ante arcam domini; in ronspec-tu → in conspectu.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.27.1 (CSEL 62:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-27-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-27-1
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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.
7.27.2CSEL 62:143
et dixit Dauid ad Melchol in conspectu domini: benedictus dominus qui elegit me super patrem tuum et super omnem domum illius constituere in principem super plebem suam Israel; et ludam in conspectu domini et denudabor adhuc sic et ero nugas in conspectu tuo et cum puellis cum quibus dixisti me nudatum glorificabor.
And David said to Michal in the sight of the Lord: “Blessed is the Lord who chose me above your father and above all his house to appoint me prince over his people Israel; and I will play in the sight of the Lord, and I will be uncovered still more thus, and I will be a trifler in your sight, and with the girls with whom you said I was uncovered I will be glorified.”
2 Sam 6:21 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 6:22 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David answered that he would gladly be humbled before the Lord.
- 2 Sam 6:21–22 (Greek form).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.27.2 (CSEL 62:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-27-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-27-2
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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.
7.27.3CSEL 62:143
et Melchol, inquit, filiae Saul non erat filius usque in diem mortis eius. euidens itaque exemplum, quod et propheta, qui et percutiebat in organis et saltauit ante arcam domini, iustificatus est et illa, quae reprehendit eum, sterilitate damnata est.
“And Michal,” it says, “the daughter of Saul, had no son until the day of her death.” A clear example, then: the prophet who both struck the instruments and danced before the ark of the Lord was justified, and she who reproached him was condemned with barrenness.
2 Sam 6:23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David was justified and Michal punished with barrenness.
- 2 Sam 6:23.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.27.3 (CSEL 62:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-27-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-27-3
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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 7, chapter 28
7.28.1CSEL 62:143–144
Sed non satis est ut aliquis cantabiles habeat iustificationes dei, nisi terrenarum exeat seruitio sollicitudinum. ideoque addidit: in loco peregrinationis meae. conuenit sibi, siquidem et alibi ait: aduena ego sum in terra hac. unde et apostolus non uult nos in domo dei fideique uocatione aduenas esse atque peregrinos, sed ciues sanctorum et domesticos dei. qui enim domesticus est dei, exul est mundo, qui conuersatur in caelestibus, peregrinus est terris. peregrinabantur in hoc mundo Hebraei, naturam incendii non sentientes; cantabiles habebant iustificationes dei, cum hymnum deo de creaturarum laudatione cantarent.
But it is not enough for someone to have God’s statutes as songs, unless he goes out from the servitude of earthly cares. And so he added: “in the place of my sojourning.” This agrees with itself, since elsewhere too he says: “I am a stranger in this land.” Hence the apostle too does not wish us, in the house of God and in the calling of faith, to be strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of God’s household. For he who is of God’s household is an exile from the world; he whose citizenship is in heaven is a pilgrim on earth. The Hebrews were pilgrims in this world, not feeling the nature of the fire; they had the statutes of God as songs when they sang a hymn to God of the praise of creatures.
Ps 119:54 (118:54 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:19 (118:19 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 2:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 3:27 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s statutes are songs only to those who are pilgrims in this world, like the three young men in the furnace.
- Ps 119:54, 19; Eph 2:19; Phil 3:20; Dan 3:23–27 and the Song of the Three Young Men (Greek additions to Daniel).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): c-antabiles → cantabiles.
Extrabiblical texts: Pr Azar 35 (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.28.1 (CSEL 62:143–144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-28-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-28-1
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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.
Exposition 7, chapter 29
7.29.1CSEL 62:144
Denique qui cantat uacuus est et diuersarum cogitationum curas relegat, sequestrat auaritiam et non solum corporis uoce, sed etiam mentis uiuacitate se mulcet. non enim tamquam maestus inopiae sollicitudine, sed tamquam liber ab omnibus corporalium affectibus passionum canebat idem propheta: psallam tibi, deus, in cithara, sanctus Israel. gaudebunt
Indeed he who sings is free and banishes the cares of various thoughts, puts greed aside, and soothes himself not only with the voice of the body but also with the liveliness of the mind. For not as one sad with the anxiety of poverty, but as one free from all the affections of bodily passions, the same prophet sang: “I will sing to you, O God, on the lyre, Holy One of Israel. My lips will rejoice
Ps 71:22 (70:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Singing frees the mind from cares, as David sang free of bodily passions.
- Ps 71:22 (LXX 70:22).
Topics: Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.29.1 (CSEL 62:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-29-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-29-1
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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.
7.29.2CSEL 62:144
labia mea cum cantauero tibi, et anima mea quam redemisti. cantabat haec laetus, tamquam his melioribus epulis pasceretur; epulabatur enim animus piae deuotionis alimento. non solum itaque hymni et psalmi, sed etiam legis praecepta cantabilia sanctis sunt. denique cantabat Moyses, qui legem accepit, cum praetergressus pedibus mare seruati populi ductor iustificationes domini praedicaret.
when I sing to you, and my soul, which you have redeemed.” He sang these things gladly, as though he were fed on these better feasts; for his mind feasted on the food of godly devotion. So not only hymns and psalms but also the precepts of the law are songs to the saints. Indeed Moses sang, who received the law, when, having crossed the sea on foot, as leader of the people that was saved, he proclaimed the statutes of the Lord.
Ps 71:23 (70:23 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 15:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 15:26 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: For the saints even the law’s precepts are songs, as Moses sang after crossing the sea.
- Ps 71:23 (LXX 70:23); Exod 15:1, 25–26. The digital text’s “1abia” is read as “labia”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): 1abia mea → labia mea.
Topics: Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.29.2 (CSEL 62:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-29-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-29-2
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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.
Exposition 7, chapter 30
7.30.1CSEL 62:144–145
Superest adhuc propositum egregium uiri iusti, quia omni tempore circa dei laudes esse debet intentus, non solum die, sed etiam nocte. ideo addidit: memor fui nocte nominis tui, domine, et custodiui legem tuam. uideamus, si et ille memor est, qui uocat dominum uerbo, non custodit autem mandata diuina. de quo satis dictum est, quia non quicumque dicit domine domine acceptus est Christo, sed qui operibus bonis fidelem suum probare potuerit affectum. fides ergo, probitas, innocentia memorem probant. quod autem ait: memor fui nominis tui, plena deuotio est, quia nemo dicit dominum Iesum nisi in spiritu sancto. hoc nomen inuocetur diebus et noctibus, nullum tempus precandi uacuum sinat sancta deuotio praeterire.
There remains still an excellent purpose of the righteous man, that he ought to be intent on the praises of God at all times, not only by day but also by night. So he added: “I remembered your name in the night, Lord, and I have kept your law.” Let us see whether he too is mindful who calls on the Lord in word but does not keep the divine commandments. Of him enough has been said, that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” is accepted by Christ, but he who can prove his faithful affection by good works. Faith, then, uprightness, innocence prove one mindful. But his saying, “I remembered your name,” is full devotion, because no one says “Lord Jesus” except in the Holy Spirit. Let this name be called on day and night; let holy devotion let no time pass empty of prayer.
Ps 119:55 (118:55 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:21 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 55: the righteous remember God by night and prove it by keeping his law.
- Ps 118:55 (Ps 119:55); Matt 7:21; 1 Cor 12:3.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.30.1 (CSEL 62:144–145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-30-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-30-1
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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.
Exposition 7, chapter 31
7.31.1CSEL 62:145
Si studentes igitur doctrinis saecularibus perparum somno indulgent, quanto magis, qui deum cupiunt cognoscere, non debent somno corporis inpediri, nisi quantum naturae satis est! Dauid per singulas noctes lectum suum lacrimis diluebat, surgebat etiam noctis medio, ut domino confiteretur, et tu totam noctem sopori existimas deputandam?
If, then, those who study worldly learning indulge very little in sleep, how much more should those who long to know God not be hindered by the sleep of the body, except as much as is enough for nature! David bathed his bed with tears every night; he also rose at midnight to confess to the Lord; and do you think the whole night should be given to sleep?
Ps 6:6 (6:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:62 (118:62 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David wept and prayed at night; we should not give the whole night to sleep.
- Ps 6:6 (LXX 6:7); Ps 119:62.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.31.1 (CSEL 62:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-31-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-31-1
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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.
7.31.2CSEL 62:145
tunc magis tibi orandus est dominus, tunc praesidia postulanda, culpa cauenda, quando uidetur habere secretum; tunc maxime, quando tenebrae in circuitu meo et parietes me operiunt, considerandum, quia deus omnia intuetur abscondita. ne dixeris ergo: circumfusus sum tenebris; quis me uidet et quem uereor saeptus parietibus et inclusus?, quia uultus domini super facientes mala.
Then above all the Lord must be prayed to by you, then his protection must be asked, guilt guarded against, when it seems to have secrecy; then above all, when “darkness is round about me and the walls cover me,” it must be considered that God sees all hidden things. Do not say, then, “I am surrounded by darkness; who sees me, and whom do I fear, walled in and shut up?”, because “the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Ps 34:16 (33:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Night, when sin seems hidden, is the time to pray, for God sees all.
- Sir 23:18 (Vulgate 23:26); Ps 34:16 (LXX 33:17).
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 23:18 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.31.2 (CSEL 62:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-31-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-31-2
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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.
7.31.3CSEL 62:145
deinde, si arbitrum non uides, te ipsum non uides, tuae conscientiae testimonium non uereris? nescis illam caliginem noctis non opertorium, sed incentiuum esse peccati? cum somno et cibo feruent corpora, tunc etiam mentis uigor sopore laxatur, somno resoluitur, tunc inrepit inpuri libido concubitus, tunc perturbatur cor, squalor inmunditiae non ueretur, castitatis puritas non consideratur, pudicitiae gloria non recensetur. nox erat, quando ludas prodidit, quando Petrus negauit.
Then, if you do not see a judge, do you not see yourself, do you not fear the testimony of your conscience? Do you not know that the darkness of the night is not a covering but an incitement to sin? When bodies are heated with sleep and food, then the vigor of the mind too is loosened by drowsiness and dissolved by sleep; then the lust of impure intercourse creeps in; then the heart is disturbed, the filth of uncleanness is not dreaded, the purity of chastity is not considered, the glory of modesty is not recalled. It was night when Judas betrayed, when Peter denied.
John 13:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 22:60 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Night incites sin; it was night when Judas betrayed and Peter denied.
- John 13:30; Luke 22:54–60. The digital text’s “arbitmm” is read as “arbitrum”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): si arbitmm non → si arbitrum non.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.31.3 (CSEL 62:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-31-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-31-3
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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 7, chapter 32
7.32.1CSEL 62:145–146
Illo igitur praecipue tempore iustificationes dei animo retexendae sunt, relegenda mandata hortatoria, illa de castitate praecepta non absint, ut his occupata mens flagrantiam libidinis, carnis restinguat ardorem. tene illud animo: lauabo per singulas noctes lectum meum. qui enim stupris deditus, flagitiis inuolutus est, non lauat per singulas noctes lectum suum.
At that time above all, then, God’s statutes must be gone over in the mind, the exhorting commandments reread; let those precepts about chastity not be absent, so that the mind, occupied with them, may quench the burning of lust and the heat of the flesh. Hold this in mind: “I will wash my bed every night.” For he who is given to debauchery and wrapped in vice does not wash his bed every night.
Ps 6:6 (6:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: At night we should recall God’s precepts on chastity to quench lust.
- Ps 6:6 (LXX 6:7). stupris is rendered “debauchery”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text): flagrantiam libidinis. carnis → flagrantiam libidinis, carnis; stupris deditus. flagitiis → stupris deditus, flagitiis.
Topics: Ethics, Sexual morality
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.32.1 (CSEL 62:145–146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-32-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-32-1
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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.
7.32.2CSEL 62:146
nescit flere qui flenda committit et, cum sit ipse lacrimabilis, non habet poenae lacrimas suae. at ille, qui castigat corpus suum et sui sollicitus gubernator est atque ingemescens et dolens lapsus superioris offensam quaerit quomodo abluat fletibus paenitentiae. hic lauat per singulas noctes lectum suum. non dormiamus ergo totis noctibus, sed maximam partem earum lectioni et orationibus deputemus.
He does not know how to weep who commits what is to be wept for, and though he himself is lamentable, he has no tears for his punishment. But he who chastises his body and is an anxious governor of himself, groaning and grieving, seeks how to wash away the offense of his former fall with tears of repentance; he washes his bed every night. Let us not, then, sleep whole nights, but assign the greater part of them to reading and prayers.
1 Cor 9:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 6:6 (6:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The penitent washes his bed with tears; we should give most of the night to reading and prayer.
- 1 Cor 9:27; Ps 6:6.
Topics: Prayer, Scripture and canon, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.32.2 (CSEL 62:146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-32-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-32-2
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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 7, chapter 33
7.33.1CSEL 62:146
Audi ecclesiae uocem quaerentis etiam in noctibus Christum: in cubili, inquit, meo in noctibus quaesiui quem dilexit anima mea. accipe secundum litteram. quaesiuit in noctibus orando, deprecando, etiam lacrimis deplorando. quaesiuit in noctibus, quia posuit tenebras latibulum suum, ut quaerere eum sollicitius disceremus. quaesiuit igitur in prophetis ecclesia ex gentibus congregata, et ideo credidit. denique aduentus dominici testimonia de prophetis euangelistae Paulusque posuerunt, unde scriptum est.
Hear the voice of the church seeking Christ even in the nights: “On my bed,” she says, “in the nights I sought him whom my soul loved.” Take it according to the letter. She sought in the nights by praying, entreating, even lamenting with tears. She sought in the nights, because he made darkness his hiding place, so that we might learn to seek him more anxiously. The church gathered from the Gentiles sought him, then, in the prophets, and so she believed. Indeed the evangelists and Paul set out the testimonies of the Lord’s coming from the prophets; hence it is written:
Song 3:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 18:11 (17:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church sought Christ in the night of the prophets and believed.
- Song 3:1; Ps 18:11 (LXX 17:12).
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.33.1 (CSEL 62:146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-33-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-33-1
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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.
7.33.2CSEL 62:146–147
Quia nox nocti indicat scientiam. quaesiuit in noctibus, in persecutionibus et aduersis, in tribulationibus et laboribus duris. nox est omnibus quibus non est perfecta securitas. unde ait dominus: ueniet nox, quando nemo potest operari. cum in hoc mundo sum, lux huius mundi sum. non ergo operemur in tenebris. si enim lucent opera nostra, non operamur in tenebris, sed in lumine dei; (in lumine dei) est cui adest Christus.
“For night to night shows knowledge.” She sought in the nights, in persecutions and adversities, in tribulations and hard labors. It is night for all who do not have perfect security. Hence the Lord says: “Night will come, when no one can work. While I am in this world, I am the light of this world.” Let us not, then, work in darkness. For if our works shine, we do not work in darkness but in the light of God; (in the light of God) is he with whom Christ is present.
Ps 19:2 (18:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 9:4 (quotation, high confidence) · John 9:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Night is any time of persecution or insecurity; our works must shine in God’s light.
- Ps 19:2 (LXX 18:3); John 9:4–5. “(in lumine dei)” is the editor’s supplement.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.33.2 (CSEL 62:146–147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-33-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-33-2
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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 7, chapter 34
7.34.1CSEL 62:147
Non magnum igitur, si tunc domino gratias agas, quando in prosperis et secundis es, sed si tunc adhaereas Christo, quando te persecutor exagitat, quando aliqua procella perturbat. amisisti filium: in illo dolore, in illa nocte, in illa destitutione memento domini dei tui, ne quasi non exauditus ingratus sis et in tua praeuariceris aerumna. pulsus es in exilium: memento domini dei tui, ne patriae interdictae tibi caritatem deo praeferas.
It is no great thing, then, if you give thanks to the Lord when you are in prosperity and good fortune, but if you cleave to Christ when the persecutor harasses you, when some storm disturbs you. You have lost a son: in that grief, in that night, in that bereavement, remember the Lord your God, lest, as though unheard, you be ungrateful and transgress in your distress. You have been driven into exile: remember the Lord your God, lest you prefer to God the love of the fatherland forbidden to you.
Job 1:21 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The test is to remember God in the night of bereavement, exile, or persecution.
- Job 1:21.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.34.1 (CSEL 62:147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-34-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-34-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
7.34.2CSEL 62:147
alicuius diuitis oppressus potentia amisisti proprias facultates, indiges sumptu: memento domini dei tui, ne nox te egestatis abducat a deuotionis affectu. hoc est enim mandatum legis, ut in nocte magis quaeras, ut, quando magis exaudiaris a domino, et possis dicere: in tribulatione inuocaui dominum et exaudiuit me in latitudine.
Overwhelmed by the power of some rich man, you have lost your own property, you lack means: remember the Lord your God, lest the night of poverty draw you away from the affection of devotion. For this is the commandment of the law, that you seek more in the night, so that, when you are heard the more by the Lord, you may also be able to say: “In tribulation I called on the Lord, and he heard me in a broad place.”
Ps 118:5 (117:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In poverty too we must seek God in the night, so as to be heard.
- Ps 118:5 (LXX 117:5). The digital text’s “dnutis” is read as “diuitis”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): dnutis → diuitis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.34.2 (CSEL 62:147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-34-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-34-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 7, chapter 35
7.35.1CSEL 62:147
Sed nec quaerere perfunctorie abundat ad gratiam, sed ut insistas et intendas muneri. denique ista uel ecclesia uel anima quae requisiuit in cubili, quaesiuit in noctibus, primo non inuenit, quia fortasse in cubili quaesiuit, sed posteaquam surrexit et abiit in ciuitatem — uide ne in illam ciuitatem, in quam dominus celebraturus pascha discipulos destinauit: ite in ciuitatem ad quendam —, posteaquam in foro, ut dixi, quaesiuit, ubi oleum uenditur, quod expectantes sponsum emere consuerunt, ubi ius, ubi leges.
But even seeking perfunctorily is not enough for grace, but you must persist and apply yourself to the task. Indeed this church or soul that sought on her bed, sought in the nights, did not find at first, perhaps because she sought on her bed; but after she rose and went into the city (see whether it is not that city into which the Lord, about to celebrate the Passover, sent his disciples: “Go into the city to a certain man”), after she sought in the marketplace, as I said, where oil is sold, which those waiting for the bridegroom were accustomed to buy, where there is justice, where there are laws:
Song 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 26:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 25:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The bride did not find her beloved on her bed, but sought him in the city and marketplace.
- Song 3:1–2; Matt 26:18; Matt 25:9.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.35.1 (CSEL 62:147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-35-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-35-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
7.35.2CSEL 62:147–148
si lex spiritalis, et forum est utique spiritale, ubi disputant periti legis aeternae, quod forum non litibus tumultuosum est, sed Christi tribunalibus gloriosum. ubi quaesiuit, inquam, in foro et post quaesiuit in plateis — de quibus hi, qui ad patris familias euangelici prandium conuenirent, colligebantur, qui uocati excusandum ab huiusmodi epulis non putarunt —, posteaquam in foro, inquam, et plateis quaesiuit, incidit in eos, qui circumeunt ciuitatem, et tunc demum potuit inuenire quod quaesiuit, fortasse quod in tribulatione et metu posita magis inuenit gratiam.
if the law is spiritual, the marketplace too is surely spiritual, where those skilled in the eternal law dispute, a marketplace not turbulent with lawsuits but glorious with the tribunals of Christ; where, I say, she sought in the marketplace and afterwards sought in the streets (from which those were gathered who came to the dinner of the householder in the gospel, who, being invited, did not think they should excuse themselves from such feasts), after, I say, she sought in the marketplace and streets, she fell in with those who go about the city, and then at last she could find what she sought, perhaps because, placed in tribulation and fear, she found grace the more.
Rom 7:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 3:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 14:21 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: After searching the spiritual marketplace and streets, the bride met the watchmen and then found her beloved.
- Rom 7:14; Song 3:2–3; Luke 14:21. The digital text’s “inc-idit” is read as “incidit”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): inc-idit → incidit.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.35.2 (CSEL 62:147–148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-35-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-35-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
7.35.3CSEL 62:148
denique in posterioribus ait: inuenerunt me qui circumeunt ciuitatem, tulerunt mihi pallium. habuit ergo certamen; sed qua ratione supra non tulerint pallium, haereo reperire, nisi forte quia ibi interrogasse se dixit: numquid quem dilexit anima mea uidistis? quae Christum loquebatur, nec exuta est pallio et quem quaerebat inuenit.
Indeed in later passages she says: “Those who go about the city found me; they took my cloak from me.” She had a struggle, then; but why they did not take her cloak above, I am at a loss to find, unless perhaps because there she says she asked: “Have you seen him whom my soul loved?” She who spoke of Christ was not stripped of her cloak, and she found him whom she sought.
Song 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 3:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 3:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose asks why the watchmen took the bride’s cloak only in the later passage.
- Song 5:7; Song 3:3–4.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.35.3 (CSEL 62:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-35-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-35-3
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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 7, chapter 36
7.36.1CSEL 62:148
Disce, quemadmodum Christus quaeratur ab his utique, qui non perfunctorie quaerunt, uiolenter retinent, sicut ista, quae ait: tenui eum et non dimisi eum, fide inuenit, meditatione constrinxit. si bonos custodes accipimus, utique angeli sunt. qui ergo angelos transit, uerbum inuenit.
Learn how Christ is sought, surely by those who do not seek perfunctorily, who hold him by force, like her who says, “I held him and did not let him go”; she found him by faith, she held him fast by meditation. If we take the watchmen as good, they are surely angels. He who passes beyond the angels, then, finds the Word.
Song 3:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:12 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is found by those who seek him earnestly and hold him by faith; beyond the angels one finds the Word.
- Song 3:4; Matt 11:12.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.36.1 (CSEL 62:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-36-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-36-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
7.36.2CSEL 62:148
ideo non multum interualli fuit, cum transiuit ab his et inuenit Iesum. quomodo ergo infra tulerunt pallium, nisi forte quia processu operosae fidei ecclesia dum nudatur, a domino plus amatur, expolians se ueterem hominem, ut nouum induat, quem non operiunt indumenta, sed mentis secreta clarificant, aut quia amictum sapientiae saecularis ad Christum uentura deposuit? et Noe exutus est pallium, posteaquam coepit esse perfectior.
So there was no great interval when she passed from them and found Jesus. How, then, did they take her cloak further on, unless perhaps because by the advance of active faith the church, while she is stripped, is loved more by the Lord, putting off the old man so as to put on the new, whom garments do not cover but the secrets of the mind make bright; or because, about to come to Christ, she laid aside the covering of worldly wisdom? Noah too was stripped of his cloak after he began to be more perfect.
Song 3:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 5:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 9:21 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The removal of the cloak may mean putting off the old self or worldly wisdom to come to Christ.
- Song 3:4; 5:7; Col 3:9–10; Gen 9:21.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.36.2 (CSEL 62:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-36-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-36-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 7, chapter 37
7.37.1CSEL 62:148–149
Simus ergo memores iustificationum caelestium, ut, dum eas secreta mentis uoce cantamus, memores simus in nocte nominis domini et dicamus, ut scriptum est: haec facta est mihi, quoniam iustificationes tuas exquisiui, hoc est: haec memoria facta est mihi, ut memor essem et in nocte nominis tui, non ebrietate sopitus, non epulis resolutus in somnum, non curis saecularibus occupatus, ut obliuia mihi tuae uenerationis inreperent, sed cotidiana meditatione membra castigans et intentionem mentis exercens, ut adsiduitate fiat nobis cursus iste sollemnis, ut dominum Iesum etiam in noctibus toto ueneremur affectu, cui est gloria, laus, perpetuitas a saeculis et nunc et semper et in omnia saecula saeculorum.
Let us, then, be mindful of the heavenly statutes, so that, while we sing them with the voice of the secret mind, we may be mindful in the night of the name of the Lord and may say, as it is written: “This has happened to me, because I sought out your statutes,” that is: this remembrance has happened to me, that I was mindful even in the night of your name, not lulled by drunkenness, not relaxed into sleep by feasting, not occupied with worldly cares so that forgetfulness of your worship crept in on me, but chastising my members by daily meditation and exercising the intention of my mind, so that by persistence this course may become habitual to us, so that we may worship the Lord Jesus even in the nights with our whole affection, to whom is glory, praise, and everlastingness from the ages and now and always and to all the ages of ages.
Ps 119:56 (118:56 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:55 (118:55 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 56: by seeking God’s statutes the psalmist remembers his name even by night; Ambrose ends the sermon with a doxology.
- Ps 118:56 (Ps 119:56). The digital text’s “dum t as” and “quoniamiustificationes” are read as “dum eas” and “quoniam iustificationes”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text; words joined in the digital text): dum t as secreta → dum eas secreta; quoniamiustificationes → quoniam iustificationes.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 7.37.1 (CSEL 62:148–149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-37-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/7-37-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 1
8.1.1CSEL 62:149
Littera octaua Eth, quae interpretatione Latina dicitur pauor. sanctorum pauor esse consueuit. denique pauor cecidit in Abraham, cum sacrificium offerret plenum mysterii spiritalis. ipse quoque Dauid ait: ego dixi in pauore meo: omnis homo mendax. religionis enim reuerentiam significat magis quam infirmitatem timoris, licet etiam ipse timor secundum deum sanctus sit; initium enim sapientiae timor domini.
The eighth letter is Heth, which in Latin interpretation is called “dread.” Dread is wont to belong to the saints. Indeed dread fell upon Abraham when he was offering a sacrifice full of spiritual mystery. David himself too says: “I said in my dread: Every man is a liar.” For it signifies the reverence of religion rather than the weakness of fear, though even fear itself, if it is according to God, is holy; for “the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.”
Gen 15:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 116:11 (115:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 111:10 (110:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Heth means dread, which in the saints is holy reverence, the beginning of wisdom.
- Gen 15:12; Ps 116:11 (LXX 115:2); Ps 111:10 (LXX 110:10).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.1.1 (CSEL 62:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.1.2CSEL 62:149
ergo qui timentes deum, sapientes, qui autem sapientes, beati; beatus enim quem tu erudieris, domine, et de lege tua docueris eum. hi quoque, qui timent deum, beati sunt, sicut exempli extat auctoritas, quia beati omnes qui timent dominum. ita colligitur, quia timentes deum et sapientes sunt et beati. sanctus igitur timor domini, quia uere sanctorum est pauor.
So those who fear God are wise, and those who are wise are blessed; for “blessed is the man whom you instruct, Lord, and teach from your law.” These too who fear God are blessed, as the authority of the example stands: “Blessed are all who fear the Lord.” So it is gathered that those who fear God are both wise and blessed. Holy, then, is the fear of the Lord, because dread truly belongs to the saints.
Ps 94:12 (93:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 128:1 (127:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who fear God are wise and blessed.
- Ps 94:12 (LXX 93:12); Ps 128:1 (LXX 127:1).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.1.2 (CSEL 62:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-1-2
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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 8, chapter 2
8.2.1CSEL 62:149–150
Denique praemissa hac littera statim sequitur persona iusti dicens: portio mea, domine; dixi custodire legem tuam. plerique codices hunc uersiculum, qui primus est litterae octauae, ultimo loco litterae habent septimae; sed secundum Hebraeos emendatus apud Graecos Psalmorum liber hunc uersum docuit nos octauae litterae copulandum. deinde ordo ipse et numerus uersuum ita conuenit, ut ab eo incipiat octaua littera.
Indeed, once this letter is set first, the person of the righteous man at once follows, saying: “My portion, Lord; I have said that I will keep your law.” Most manuscripts have this verse, which is the first of the eighth letter, in the last place of the seventh letter; but the book of Psalms among the Greeks, corrected according to the Hebrews, has taught us to join this verse to the eighth letter. Then the order itself and the number of the verses so agree that the eighth letter begins with it.
Ps 119:57 (118:57 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 57: Ambrose explains that this verse begins Heth, though many manuscripts put it at the end of Zain.
- Ps 118:57 (Ps 119:57). The digital text’s “p or tio m ea” is read as “portio mea”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split words in the digital text): p or tio m ea → portio mea.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.2.1 (CSEL 62:149–150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-2-1
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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.
Exposition 8, chapter 3
8.3.1CSEL 62:150
Portio, inquit, mea dominus. quam rarus in terris, qui possit dicere: portio mea dominus, quam alienus a uitiis, quam segregatus ab omni labe peccati, qui nihil habeat commune cum saeculo, nihil mundi huius sibi uindicet, non sit corporalium possessio cupiditatum, quem non inflammet libido, non stimulet auaritia, non lasciuia effeminet, non luxuria decoloret, non sternat ambitio, non maceret inuidia, non aliqua negotiorum saecularium cura sollicitet, uerus minister altaris, deo, non sibi natus!
“My portion,” he says, “is the Lord.” How rare on earth is he who can say, “My portion is the Lord”; how free of vices, how separated from every stain of sin, who has nothing in common with the world, claims nothing of this world for himself, is not possessed by bodily desires, whom lust does not inflame, greed does not goad, wantonness does not make effeminate, luxury does not discolor, ambition does not lay low, envy does not waste, no care of worldly business disturbs: a true minister of the altar, born for God, not for himself!
Ps 119:57 (118:57 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Only one free of every worldly desire, a true minister of the altar, can say that the Lord is his portion.
- The digital text opens “inquit, inquit, mea dominus”: the word “Portio” has been lost and “inquit” doubled; translated by sense.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (lost word and repeated word in the digital text): inquit, inquit, mea dominus → Portio, inquit, mea dominus.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.3.1 (CSEL 62:150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-3-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 4
8.4.1CSEL 62:150
Leui enim, ut habet interpretatio, significat ipse mihi adsumptus, significat et ipse meus significat et tantum adsumptus, significat et adsumptus mihi ipse. idem et mihi Leui et deo est, quomodo idem et mihi sacerdos et deo est, et mihi aduocatus
For Levi, as the interpretation has it, signifies “he himself taken up for me,” it also signifies “he himself mine,” and it signifies “only taken up,” and it signifies “taken up, he himself, for me.” The same is Levi both to me and to God, just as the same is priest both to me and to God, and advocate for me
Gen 29:34 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose gives the meanings of the name Levi.
- The meanings come from the onomastic tradition (compare Gen 29:34).
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.4.1 (CSEL 62:150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-4-1
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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.
8.4.2CSEL 62:150
et domini deprecator, pro me offerens sacrificium et idem se offerens domino. denique et alia Leui interpretatione dicitur, id est pro me. etenim si a me nominetur Leui, pro me est, si pro me offerat, pro me est, si pro me interueniat, pro me est. sin autem uocetur a domino, ipse mihi dicitur, hoc est non alii tributarius, non decimarius, non de possessione munificus.
and intercessor with the Lord, offering sacrifice for me and the same offering himself to the Lord. Indeed Levi is said by another interpretation too, that is, “for me.” For if he is named Levi by me, he is for me; if he offers for me, he is for me; if he intercedes for me, he is for me. But if he is called by the Lord, he is called “he himself for me,” that is, not tributary to another, not a payer of tithes, not generous from a possession.
Notes and citation
Summary: Levi is “for me”: offering and interceding for the people, and belonging to God alone.
- The stray “\\” in the digital text is not translated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray marks in the digital text): pro me\\ etenim → pro me. etenim.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.4.2 (CSEL 62:150; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-4-2
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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.
8.4.3CSEL 62:150–151
ipse mihi, hoc est tamquam abundans pro his omnibus. non ab hoc decimas, non fructus, non dona quaero, non munera. ipse mihi pro munere est, ipse est pro tributo, non in possessione sua munificus mihi, sed ipse mihi possessio, ipse meus fructus, ipse meus census, adsumptus mihi uel adsumptus a me. non potest hoc sine diuina esse gratia. sicut enim possessio non potest mea esse nisi emero eam, sic non potest esse Leui nisi fuerit adsumptus a domino; cum enim adsumptus fuerit, recte dicitur ipse meus.
“He himself for me,” that is, as one abundant in place of all these. From him I do not seek tithes, nor fruits, nor gifts, nor presents. He himself is a gift to me, he himself is in place of tribute; not generous to me from his possession, but he himself my possession, he himself my fruit, he himself my revenue, taken up for me or taken up by me. This cannot be without divine grace. For just as a possession cannot be mine unless I buy it, so there cannot be a Levi unless he has been taken up by the Lord; for when he has been taken up, he is rightly called “mine.”
Num 3:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Num 8:14 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God claims the Levite himself as his possession, taken up by grace.
- Num 3:12; 8:14–16.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.4.3 (CSEL 62:150–151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-4-3
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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.
8.4.4CSEL 62:151
denique cum Moysi dictum esset, ut populo Iudaeorum per tribus singulas diuideret incolatus et distribueret singulis tribubus portionem, tribum Leuiticam excepit deus dicens: filiis Leui non erit portio neque sors in medio fratrum suorum, quia dominus deus pars eorum est, et alibi ego dominus portio eorum.
Indeed, when Moses had been told to divide the dwellings among the people of the Jews by individual tribes and to distribute a portion to each tribe, God excepted the tribe of Levi, saying: “The sons of Levi shall have no portion or lot among their brothers, because the Lord God is their portion,” and elsewhere: “I the Lord am their portion.”
Deut 10:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 18:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 18:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Levites received no land, for the Lord was their portion.
- Deut 10:9; 18:1–2; Num 18:20.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (spaced letters in the digital text): pars eorum e s t → pars eorum est.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.4.4 (CSEL 62:151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-4-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-4-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 5
8.5.1CSEL 62:151
Negatur his terrena diuisio, ut ipsi, dum saecularem sibi non uindicant portionem, fiant caelestis possessio; uel hoc solum nouerint possidere, hoc est fidei et deuotionis obsequium, multo ditiores quam qui possessionum suarum spatia ampla diffundunt. quantumlibet fines extendant suos, et terra deficit et mare includit insanas cupiditates et pendunt tributa maiora quam fructus sunt. at uero iste nihil sibi possidens nulli nisi deo militat, supra terram eius est portio, non eum terra deficit, non mari clauditur. cui portio deus est, totius possessor est naturae.
An earthly division is denied them, so that, while they claim no worldly portion for themselves, they may become a heavenly possession; or that they may know how to possess only this, that is, the service of faith and devotion, much richer than those who spread out the wide spaces of their possessions. However far they extend their boundaries, the land gives out, the sea shuts in their mad desires, and they pay taxes greater than the produce. But he, possessing nothing for himself, serves none but God; his portion is above the earth; the land does not fail him, he is not shut in by the sea. He whose portion is God is possessor of all nature.
Notes and citation
Summary: The Levite, possessing nothing, is richer than landowners, for his portion is God, possessor of all.
Topics: Church office, Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.5.1 (CSEL 62:151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-5-1
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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.
8.5.2CSEL 62:151
pro agris igitur ipse sibi satis est, habens bonum fructum qui numquam possit perire; pro domibus satis est sibi, ut sit habitatio domini et dei templum, quo nihil potest esse pretiosius. quid enim pretiosius deo aut quid deest ei uiro, qui potest dicere: non contingat mihi gloriari nisi in cruce domini nostri Iesu Christi, per quem mihi mundus crucifixus est et ego mundo? non potest in hoc princeps mundi huius sibi consortium uindicare, in quo nihil suum inuenit.
In place of fields, then, he is enough for himself, having good fruit that can never perish; in place of houses he is enough for himself, being the dwelling of the Lord and the temple of God, than which nothing can be more precious. For what is more precious than God, or what does that man lack who can say: “Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world”? In such a one the prince of this world cannot claim a share for himself, since he finds nothing of his own in him.
1 Cor 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 6:14 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:30 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The one whose portion is God is God’s temple and glories only in the cross; the devil finds nothing in him.
- 1 Cor 3:16; Gal 6:14; John 14:30.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.5.2 (CSEL 62:151; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-5-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 6
8.6.1CSEL 62:151–152
Ideoque dominus, qui uenit docere, ut fieret nobis deus portio, ait: uenit enim huius mundi princeps et in me inuenit nihil, meritoque imitatores (nos) sui esse uolens ait: nolite possidere aurum neque argentum neque pecuniam. unde Petrus ostendens in deo portionem sibi esse, non in saeculo, ait: argentum et aurum non habeo, sed quod habeo do tibi: in nomine Iesu Nazareni surge et ambula, hoc est: portio mea Christus est; in nomine igitur Iesu Christi surge et ambula, hoc est:
And so the Lord, who came to teach that God should become our portion, says, “For the prince of this world comes and finds nothing in me”; and rightly, wishing us to be his imitators, he says: “Do not possess gold or silver or money.” Hence Peter, showing that his portion was in God, not in the world, says: “Silver and gold I have not, but what I have I give you: in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, rise and walk,” that is: my portion is Christ; in the name of Jesus Christ, then, rise and walk, that is:
John 14:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 3:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ taught us to have God as portion, and Peter, without silver or gold, healed in his name.
- John 14:30; Matt 10:9; Acts 3:6. “(nos)” is the editor’s supplement. The digital text’s “no-. mine” is read as “nomine”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break debris in the digital text): in no-. mine → in nomine.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.6.1 (CSEL 62:151–152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-6-1
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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.
8.6.2CSEL 62:152
in portione mea diues sum, in portione mea potens sum. merito tales praesumo fructus istius portionis, ut salus et uita donetur. quia hoc est istius patrimonium portionis quam elegi mihi. dixit hoc claudo, et surrexit qui erat claudus ab utero matris suae. quomodo ergo Petrus poterat portionis suae damna sentire qui naturae reparabat?
in my portion I am rich, in my portion I am powerful. Rightly I presume on such fruits of this portion, that health and life may be given, because this is the patrimony of the portion which I have chosen for myself. He said this to the lame man, and he rose who had been lame from his mother’s womb. How, then, could Peter feel the loss of his portion, who was repairing the losses of nature?
Acts 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 3:8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Peter, rich in Christ his portion, restored the lame man.
- Acts 3:2, 7–8. “naturae” is read as “naturae damna” (“losses of nature”), as the sense requires.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.6.2 (CSEL 62:152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-6-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 7
8.7.1CSEL 62:152
Quare non habeas argentum atque aurum, Petre, dic nobis; dic etiam quid sit istud quod habere te dicis, qui omnia quae habebas te reliquisse dixisti. sic enim locutus es domino: ecce nos omnia dereliquimus et secuti sumus te, hoc est: non quaesiuimus quae saeculi sunt, non quaesiuimus partem de possessionibus, sed te elegimus portionem. reliquisti ergo, Petre ante omnia quae habebas: unde habes quod habere te dicis?
Why do you not have silver and gold, Peter, tell us; tell us also what that is which you say you have, you who said you had left everything you had. For so you spoke to the Lord: “Behold, we have left everything and followed you,” that is: we have not sought the things of the world, we have not sought a share of possessions, but we have chosen you as our portion. You left, then, Peter, before all, everything you had: whence do you have what you say you have?
Matt 19:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 3:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Peter left everything for Christ; what he has is Christ himself.
- Matt 19:27; Acts 3:6.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.7.1 (CSEL 62:152; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-1
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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.
8.7.2CSEL 62:152–153
surgit claudus et sono tui sermonis erigitur; sanitatem donas aliis qui indigebas ipse tuae salutis auxilio. reliquisti ergo quae habebas et cepisti quae non habebas. Christus tibi portio, Christus tibi possessio est; illius nomen tibi munificum, illius nomen tibi est fructuosum, illius nomen tibi tributa dependit et bona tributa, non pecuniae, sed gratiae. portio tua non ariditate siccatur, non imbre diluitur, non frigore uritur, non tempestate quassatur; per diem sol non uret te neque luna per noctem.
The lame man rises and is raised up at the sound of your word; you give health to others, you who yourself needed the help of salvation. You left, then, what you had and took what you did not have. Christ is your portion, Christ is your possession; his name is generous to you, his name is fruitful to you, his name pays you taxes, and good taxes, not of money but of grace. Your portion is not dried up by drought, not washed away by rain, not burned by cold, not shaken by storm; “the sun will not burn you by day, nor the moon by night.”
Ps 121:6 (120:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is Peter’s portion, which no weather can destroy.
- Ps 121:6 (LXX 120:6).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.7.2 (CSEL 62:152–153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-2
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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.
8.7.3CSEL 62:153
serua portionem quam elegisti; ea est enim portio, quam terrenae partes aequare non possunt. quid enim est quod conferri possit his, de quibus deus dicit: et inhabitabo in his? quid magnificentius hospitio caelesti, quid beatius possessione diuina? et deambulabo, inquit, in his.
Keep the portion you have chosen; for it is a portion which earthly shares cannot equal. For what can be compared with those of whom God says, “And I will dwell in them”? What is more magnificent than heavenly hospitality, what more blessed than a divine possession? “And I will walk,” he says, “in them.”
2 Cor 6:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Lev 26:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: No earthly share equals having God dwell and walk in us.
- 2 Cor 6:16 (Lev 26:12).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.7.3 (CSEL 62:153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-3
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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.
8.7.4CSEL 62:153
alii queruntur de sui ruris angustiis; in te deo est ampla possessio, in quo deambulare se dicit, hoc est laxae spatia habitationis inueniens qui terram includit manu: sic enim scriptum est: quis mensus est manu aquas et caelum palmo et uniuersam terram clausa manu? cui mundus angustus est, tu ei ampla es domus. portio, inquit, mea dominus. dicit hoc martyr: ipsi ergo uiuamus, cui mori est gloriosum.
Others complain about the narrowness of their land; in you God has a broad possession, in whom he says he walks, that is, finding wide spaces for dwelling, he who encloses the earth in his hand: for so it is written: “Who has measured the waters with his hand and heaven with his palm and enclosed the whole earth in his hand?” To him for whom the world is narrow you are a broad house. “My portion,” he says, “is the Lord.” The martyr says this: let us live, then, for him for whom to die is glorious.
Isa 40:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:57 (118:57 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 14:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God, who holds the earth in his hand, finds a broad house in the faithful; the martyr says “my portion is the Lord.”
- Isa 40:12 (Greek form); Ps 119:57; Rom 14:8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (spaced letters in the digital text): palmo e t uniuersam → palmo et uniuersam.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.7.4 (CSEL 62:153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-4
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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.
8.7.5CSEL 62:153
aliis uerbis quam bene dixit hoc Paulus, ostendens nullam habere se in saeculo portionem! sic enim scriptum est: usque a d hanc horam et esurimus et sitimus et nudi sumus et colaphis uapulamus et instabiles sumus et laboramus operantes manibus nostris; maledicimur et benedicimus, persecutionem patimur et sustinemus. blasphemamur et obsecramus; tamquam lustramenta huius mundi facti sumus, omnium lustramenta usque adhuc.
In other words, how well Paul said this, showing that he had no portion in the world! For so it is written: “To this very hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked and beaten with fists, and are unsettled, and labor working with our own hands; we are cursed and we bless, we suffer persecution and endure it, we are blasphemed and we entreat; we have become as the refuse of this world, the offscouring of all until now.”
1 Cor 4:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 4:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 4:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul’s sufferings show that he had no portion in this world.
- 1 Cor 4:11–13.
Topics: Persecution, Suffering and affliction
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.7.5 (CSEL 62:153; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-7-5
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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 8, chapter 8
8.8.1CSEL 62:153–154
Fortasse moueat, quod purgamentum se esse dixit: non enim est. sed hoc saecularibus uidetur, qui putant summam in diuitiis esse gloriam uel decorem. nonne isti uniuersos purgamenta esse putant, quicumque illis obsecuntur propter diuitias et mirantur
Perhaps it may trouble someone that he said he was refuse: for he is not. But so it seems to worldly men, who think that the highest glory or beauty is in riches. Do these not think all men refuse who do not submit to them for their riches and admire
1 Cor 4:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul is “refuse” only in the eyes of worldly men who honor wealth.
- 1 Cor 4:13. The stray “sp” in the digital text is not translated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): purgamentum sp esse → purgamentum se esse.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.8.1 (CSEL 62:153–154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-8-1
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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.
8.8.2CSEL 62:154
eos propter opes, timent propter potentiam, laudant propter nobilitatem? sed haec omnia Paulus detrimenta magis putabat esse quam commoda, ideoque ait: quae mihi lucra fuerunt, haec duxi propter Christum detrimenta esse, propter eminentem scientiam Christi Iesu domini mei, propter quem omnium detrimen-
them for their wealth, fear them for their power, praise them for their nobility? But Paul thought all these things losses rather than gains, and so he says: “What things were gains to me, these I counted losses for Christ, for the surpassing knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things
Phil 3:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul counted all worldly gains as loss for Christ.
- Phil 3:7–8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (spaced letters in the digital text): domini m e i → domini mei.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.8.2 (CSEL 62:154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-8-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.8.3CSEL 62:154
tum passus sum et aestimor stercora, ut Christum lucri faciam. aestimor', inquit. non est haec mea, sed aliena sententia; frequenter enim aestimatur pauper ille inridendus et exsecrandus propter inluuiem uestium aut uulnerum cicatrices, eo quod in terra nullam habeat portionem. et tamen portio eius in caelo est, anima eius ibi sibi patrimonium conlocauit, quia audiuit Iesum dicentem: nolite thesaurum uobis condere in terra, sed thesaurum, inquit, uobis condite in caelo.
and am counted as dung, so that I may gain Christ.” “I am counted,” he says. This is not his judgment but another’s; for often the poor man is counted someone to be mocked and cursed for the filth of his clothes or the scars of his wounds, because he has no portion on earth. And yet his portion is in heaven; his soul has placed its patrimony there, because it has heard Jesus saying: “Do not lay up treasure for yourselves on earth, but lay up treasure,” he says, “for yourselves in heaven.”
Phil 3:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The poor are despised, but their portion and treasure are in heaven.
- Phil 3:8 (Ambrose reads “I am counted as dung”); Matt 6:19–20.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): conderein terra → condere in terra; conditeincaelo → condite in caelo.
Topics: Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.8.3 (CSEL 62:154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-8-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 9
8.9.1CSEL 62:154
Sed hoc diuites audire non possunt, clausas aures habent et sono aeris obtusas; nummus magis illis resonat quam uerba diuina. denique accessit quidam diues ad dominum, qui portionem dominum non habebat. habebat enim multas possessiones, sed dominus non inter multa numeratur;
But the rich cannot hear this; they have their ears closed and dulled by the sound of bronze; coin resounds more to them than divine words. Indeed a certain rich man came to the Lord who did not have the Lord as his portion. For he had many possessions, but the Lord is not numbered among many things;
Matt 19:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 19:22 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich, deafened by money, do not hear; so it was with the rich young man.
- Matt 19:16–22.
Topics: Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.9.1 (CSEL 62:154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-9-1
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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.
8.9.2CSEL 62:154
non enim dignatur cum saeculo habere consortium. quae enim portio iustitiae cum iniquitate? dicit ergo hic diues: quid faciens uitam aeternam possidebo? respondet ei dominus: m a ndata nosti: non homicidium facies, non adul-
for he does not deign to have fellowship with the world. For what share has righteousness with iniquity? This rich man, then, says: “What shall I do to possess eternal life?” The Lord answers him: “You know the commandments: You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit
2 Cor 6:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 18:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 18:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich man asks how to gain eternal life, and Jesus points him to the commandments.
- 2 Cor 6:14; Luke 18:18–20. The digital text’s “saeeulo” is read as “saeculo”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): saeeulo → saeculo.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.9.2 (CSEL 62:154; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-9-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.9.3CSEL 62:154–155
terabis, non falsum testimonium dices, ostendens uitam aeternam in his esse mandatis. at ille iustificare se uolens dicit: haec omnia feci; quid mihi restat? ad quem dominus, uolens ei dominum fieri portionem, non pecuniam, non possessiones, sed deum uerum, ait: si uis perfectus esse, uade uende omnia quae habes et d a pauperibus, et habebis thesaurum in caelo, et ueni sequere me.
adultery, you shall not bear false witness,” showing that eternal life is in these commandments. But he, wishing to justify himself, says: “All these I have done; what remains for me?” To him the Lord, wishing the Lord to become his portion, not money, not possessions, but the true God, says: “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.”
Luke 18:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 19:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 19:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 10:29 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Jesus told the rich man to sell everything so that God might be his portion.
- Luke 18:20–22; Matt 19:20–21; Luke 10:29.
Topics: Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.9.3 (CSEL 62:154–155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-9-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-9-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.9.4CSEL 62:155
uerum ille, cui portio aurum atque argentum erat, sine quibus esse non poterat et cum quibus dominus illi portio esse non poterat, contristatus est. unde dominus pronuntiauit inpossibile esse, ut diues intret in regnum caelorum, sed quod inpossibile per humanas cupiditates, hoc per diuinam gratiam solam posse esse possibile.
But he, whose portion was gold and silver, without which he could not be, and with which the Lord could not be his portion, was saddened. Hence the Lord pronounced that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, but that what is impossible through human desires can be possible through divine grace alone.
Matt 19:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 19:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 19:26 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich man went away sad; what is impossible to human greed is possible by God’s grace.
- Matt 19:22–26. The digital text’s “aurimi atque arg-entum” is read as “aurum atque argentum”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): aurimi atque arg-entum → aurum atque argentum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.9.4 (CSEL 62:155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-9-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-9-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 10
8.10.1CSEL 62:155
Alibi quoque ait: quicumque remiserit patrem aut matrem, domum aut fratres aut sorores, centuplum accipiet in hoc saeculo et uitam aeternam possidebit. forsitan dicas: utique qui relinquendo domum — per domum autem totum censum intellege —, qui relinquendo propinquos deum secutus fuerit, portio domini est et illi portio deus est, habet etiam uitam aeternam et, quia accepto centuplo fit in hoc saeculo diues, diues, inquis, intrat in regnum caelorum. deinde si centuplum dat dominus eorum, quae etiam simpla inpedimentum adferre consuerunt ad perceptionem hereditatis aeternae, centum ergo possessiones reddit pro una possessione, centum pondo auri pro uno pondere.
Elsewhere too he says: “Whoever has left father or mother, house or brothers or sisters, will receive a hundredfold in this age and will possess eternal life.” Perhaps you say: surely he who by leaving his house (by house understand his whole property), who by leaving his relatives has followed God, is the Lord’s portion and God is his portion; he also has eternal life, and because, having received a hundredfold, he becomes rich in this age, a rich man, you say, enters the kingdom of heaven. Then, if the Lord gives a hundredfold of the things which even singly are wont to be a hindrance to receiving the eternal inheritance, he gives back, then, a hundred possessions for one possession, a hundred pounds of gold for one pound.
Matt 19:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 10:30 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: An objection: if the Lord repays a hundredfold in this age, then the rich enter the kingdom after all.
- Matt 19:29; Mark 10:29–30.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.10.1 (CSEL 62:155; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-10-1
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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.
Exposition 8, chapter 11
8.11.1CSEL 62:155–156
Multos quidem in hoc saeculo, qui sua pauperibus donauerunt, uberiore thesauro locupletatos fuisse cognouimus. et pulcherrimus locus, ut etiam ad misericordiam prouocentur. sed non debent a domino saecularem huiusmodi exigere mercedem nec sperare quae mundi sunt, sed magis, quia his qui omnia reliquerint deus portio est. ipse est utique merces perfecta uirtutum, qui non
We know indeed of many in this world who gave their goods to the poor and were enriched with a richer treasure. And the passage is most beautiful, so that they may also be provoked to mercy. But they ought not to demand such a worldly reward from the Lord nor hope for the things of the world, but rather, because God is the portion of those who have left everything. He himself is surely the perfect reward of virtues, who is reckoned not
Notes and citation
Summary: God himself, not worldly wealth, is the hundredfold reward of those who give up everything.
Topics: Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.11.1 (CSEL 62:155–156; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-11-1
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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.
8.11.2CSEL 62:156
centupli enumeratione, sed perfectae plenitudinis aestimatione censetur. ego, inquit, deus tuus sum. non dixit ero sed iam sum, iam inhabito, iam possideo. aufert dilationem, ubi inuenit iusti confessionem. sane alibi ait: hodie mecum eris in paradiso. futurum promittit, sed id quod futurum est unius diei spatio non patitur protelari. denique potuit dicere: mecum eris in paradiso, sed addidit hodie, ne dilatione gratia minueretur.
by the counting of a hundredfold but by the estimate of perfect fullness. “I,” he says, “am your God.” He did not say “I will be” but “I am already,” I already dwell, I already possess. He takes away delay where he finds the confession of the righteous. Indeed elsewhere he says: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” He promises what is future, but what is future he does not allow to be put off by the space of one day. Indeed he could have said, “You will be with me in paradise,” but he added “today,” so that grace might not be lessened by delay.
Exod 20:2 (quotation, medium confidence) · Ps 50:7 (49:7 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 23:43 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God gives himself at once as reward, as Christ promised the thief paradise “today.”
- Exod 20:2; Ps 50:7 (LXX 49:7); Luke 23:43.
Topics: Eschatology, Heaven and eternal reward
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.11.2 (CSEL 62:156; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-11-2
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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.