Exposition of Psalm 118 8.12.1–8.38.3
Latin text: CSEL 62 (Latin text: Schenkl/Petschenig, CSEL 62, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (csel-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Exposition 8, chapter 12
8.12.1CSEL 62:156
Sed non illi soli dicit dominus Iesus: hodie mecum eris in paradiso, sed et tibi dicit: mecum eris in paradiso, si confitearis dominum Iesum, si eius patrocinium tibi poscas, si et ipse dicas: memento, domine, mei. cum ueneris in regnum tuum. sed tibi non dicit: hodie mecum eris; dicit martyri:
But the Lord Jesus does not say to him alone, “Today you will be with me in paradise”; he says to you too, “You will be with me in paradise,” if you confess the Lord Jesus, if you ask his protection for yourself, if you too say: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom.” But to you he does not say “Today you will be with me”; he says to the martyr:
Luke 23:42 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 23:43 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ promises paradise to all who confess him, but “today” to the martyr.
- Luke 23:42–43.
Topics: Martyrdom, Eschatology, Heaven and eternal reward
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.12.1 (CSEL 62:156; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-12-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.12.2CSEL 62:156
hodie mecum eris in paradiso. tibi non dicit, quia adhuc in hoc febrienti corpore constitutus, in hoc concupiscenti, in hoc terrena adhuc desideranti. sed cum potueris dicere: disrupisti uincula mea, hoc est: soluisti cursum istius uitae, liberasti me ex hoc mortis corpore, tunc tibi dicet: hodie mecum eris in paradiso.
“Today you will be with me in paradise.” To you he does not say it, because you are still placed in this feverish body, in this one that desires, in this one that still longs for earthly things. But when you can say, “You have broken my bonds,” that is, you have ended the course of this life, you have freed me from this body of death, then he will say to you: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:43 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 116:16 (115:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:24 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: When the believer is freed from this body of death, Christ will say to him too, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
- Luke 23:43; Ps 116:16 (LXX 115:7); Rom 7:24.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (spaced letters in the digital text): uincula m e a → uincula mea.
Topics: Eschatology, Heaven and eternal reward
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.12.2 (CSEL 62:156; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-12-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-12-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 13
8.13.1CSEL 62:156–157
Habes igitur, homo, inter multa proposita etiam huiusmodi portionem. proposuit tibi dominus in portione possessiones, in portione aurum, in portione argentum, in portione honores, in portione nobilitatem, proposuit etiam in portione se ipsum. habes plurimas portiones, elige quam putas. non te numerus perturbet, sed excitet gratia, non labor auertat, sed fructus inuitet. in portione diuina gemitus et labores sunt. unde et sanctus apostolus, cui portio deus erat, ait: heredes sumus dei, coheredes autem Christi, si tamen conpatimur ut simul glorificemur. uides quia, ubi hereditas Christi est, ibi debeat esse conpassio. qui autem conpatitur, non perfunctorie conpatitur, sed ut tribulationes Christi in corpore suo impleat, sicut implebat et Paulus, implebat et Hieremias, qui ait sub hac ipsa littera: misericordiae domini est quod non defecimus, quia non sunt consummatae miserationes eius. renouabit illas sicut lux matutina. multi sunt gemitus mei et cor meum defecit. sors mea dominus, dixi; ideo sustinebo eum. qui ergo sustinuit dominum, sors domini est. unde et Dauid, qui ait: sustinui dominum, et respexit me, hoc loco portionem sibi deum esse profitetur.
You have, then, O man, among many things set before you, a portion of this kind too. The Lord has set before you as a portion possessions, as a portion gold, as a portion silver, as a portion honors, as a portion nobility; he has also set before you himself as a portion. You have very many portions; choose which you think best. Let not the number confuse you, but let grace rouse you; let not the labor turn you away, but let the fruit invite you. In the divine portion there are groans and labors. Hence the holy apostle too, whose portion was God, says: “We are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him so that we may be glorified together.” You see that where the inheritance of Christ is, there suffering with him ought to be. And he who suffers with him does not suffer perfunctorily, but so as to fill up the tribulations of Christ in his body, as Paul filled them up, and Jeremiah filled them up, who says under this very letter: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we have not failed, because his compassions are not consumed. He will renew them like the morning light. Many are my groans and my heart has failed. The Lord is my lot, I said; therefore I will wait for him.” He, then, who has waited for the Lord is the Lord’s lot. Hence David too, who says, “I waited for the Lord, and he looked on me,” professes in this place that God is his portion.
Rom 8:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Lam 3:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 40:1 (39:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Of all portions, God offers himself; choosing him means sharing Christ’s sufferings, as Paul, Jeremiah, and David show.
- Rom 8:17; Col 1:24; Lam 3:22–24 (Greek form; in the Hebrew this is under the letter Heth, as Ambrose says); Ps 40:1 (LXX 39:2).
Topics: Suffering and affliction
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.13.1 (CSEL 62:156–157; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-13-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 14
8.14.1CSEL 62:157–158
Quam rarus qui istud usurpet sibi, non nobilitate, non diuitiis usurpatur! denique rex ille diues ait: sum quidem et ego mortalis homo similis omnibus et ex genere terreno illius qui prior factus est: et in uentre matris figuratus sum caro decem mensum tempore, coagulatus in sanguine ex semine hominis et delectamento somni conueniente; et ego natus hausi communem aerem et similiter in terram decidi et primam uocem similem omnibus natiuitatis; in inuolumentis nutritus sum et curis magnis. et addidit: nemo enim ex regibus diuersum habuit natiuitatis initium; unus ergo omnibus est
How rare is he who claims this for himself! It is not claimed by nobility nor by riches. Indeed that rich king says: “I too am a mortal man like all, and of the earthly race of him who was first made; and in my mother’s womb I was formed as flesh in the space of ten months, curdled in blood from the seed of man and the pleasure that accompanies sleep; and when I was born I drew in the common air and fell upon the earth likewise, and my first voice was like that of all at birth; I was nursed in swaddling clothes and with great cares.” And he added: “For no king had any other beginning of birth; there is one
Notes and citation
Summary: Solomon confesses in Wisdom that a king is born mortal like everyone else.
- Wis 7:1–5 (Vulgate form).
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 7:1 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.14.1 (CSEL 62:157–158; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-14-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.14.2CSEL 62:158
introitus [natiuitatis] ad uitam et similis exitus. et quia uidit commune esse emisi plorans exordium, elaborauit esse portio dei et inuocauit et uenit in eum spiritus sapientiae. sed luxuriosi aliam partem eligunt, qui dicunt: uino pretioso et unguentis nos impleamus, et non praetereat nos flos temporis; coronemus nos rosis antequam marcescant, et infra: quoniam haec pars nostra et haec sors.
entrance for all into life and a like exit.” And because he saw that it is common to send forth a weeping beginning, he labored to be God’s portion, and he called on him, and the spirit of wisdom came upon him. But the luxurious choose another part, who say: “Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and ointments, and let not the flower of the season pass us by; let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither,” and further on: “for this is our part and this our lot.”
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Solomon chose God as his portion, while the luxurious choose pleasure as theirs.
- Wis 7:6–7; Wis 2:7–9. The editor deletes “natiuitatis”. The digital text’s “emisi” is read as “emitti”, and “nosflos” as “nos flos”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): nosflos → nos flos.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 7:6 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation); Wis 2:7 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.14.2 (CSEL 62:158; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-14-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 16
8.16.1CSEL 62:158
Quam magnum contemnere diuitias, sed quam rarum hoc ipsum est! utique et Moyses potuit regis esse successor, nutritus a regis filia. potuit ergo esse non solum quasi Pharao sed etiam Pharao, et Pharao potuit esse sicut Moyses - uterque enim homo —, sed omnis potentia hominis in affectu. Moyses noluit rex esse, natiuitatis posset, sed obprobrium Christi thesauris Aegypti arbitratus est praeferendum.
How great a thing it is to despise riches, but how rare this very thing is! Surely Moses too could have been the king’s successor, nursed by the king’s daughter. He could, then, have been not only like Pharaoh but even Pharaoh, and Pharaoh could have been like Moses (for each was a man), but all the power of man lies in his disposition. Moses did not wish to be king, though by birth he could have been, but judged the reproach of Christ to be preferred to the treasures of Egypt.
Exod 2:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 11:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 11:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses, who could have been king, chose Christ’s reproach over Egypt’s treasures.
- Exod 2:10; Heb 11:24–26. The words “natiuitatis posset” are elliptical in the text; translated by sense.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.16.1 (CSEL 62:158; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-16-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.16.2CSEL 62:158–159
sed fugiendo potentiam potentior factus est: factus est enim in deum regi Pharao. rex erat Pharao, sed deus non erat; Moyses factus est illi deus, hoc est regi ipsi terribilis, quem rex metueret et timeret. sed haec erat potentia sanctitatis; in talium congregatione deorum deus stat atque discernit. et tu, si uis deus peccatoribus esse, terrori regibus, reuerentiae aliis, ut tamquam deo tibi uideantur esse subiecti, quia operaris in dei nomine, contemne quae saeculi sunt et dominicae passionis obprobrium contende omnibus praeferre diuitiis. obprobrium dico quod illis uideatur obprobrium, hoc est: Iudaeis scandalum, gentibus stultitia, nobis autem uirtus dei atque sapientia.
But by fleeing power he became more powerful: for he was made a god to King Pharaoh. Pharaoh was king, but he was not god; Moses was made a god to him, that is, terrible to the king himself, whom the king feared and dreaded. But this was the power of holiness: “In the assembly of such gods God stands and judges.” And you too, if you wish to be a god to sinners, a terror to kings, an object of reverence to others, so that they may be subject to you as to a god because you work in God’s name, despise the things of the world and strive to prefer the reproach of the Lord’s passion to all riches. I say reproach, which seems a reproach to them, that is, “a stumbling block to Jews, folly to Gentiles, but to us the power and wisdom of God.”
Exod 7:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 82:1 (81:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses, fleeing power, was made a god to Pharaoh; whoever prefers Christ’s reproach to wealth gains the power of holiness.
- Exod 7:1; Ps 82:1 (LXX 81:1); 1 Cor 1:23–24. The stray “i.” in the digital text is not translated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): deus non erat; i. Moyses → deus non erat; Moyses.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.16.2 (CSEL 62:158–159; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-16-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.16.3CSEL 62:159
sed hoc Pharao obprobrium putans, hoc est inopiam ignobilitatem contumelias, maluit diaboli esse quam dei portio et ideo, qui deo subiectus esse nolebat, intercessioni hominis se ipse subiecit. ergo quia portio dei erat sanctus propheta Dauid, recte ait: dixi custodire legem tuam; spiritalem utique legem dicit, sicut et Paulus ostendit. nam qui corporaliter legem interpretati sunt, non custodiunt legem, sed praeuaricantur.
But Pharaoh, thinking this a reproach, that is, poverty, low birth, insults, preferred to be the devil’s portion rather than God’s, and so he who would not be subject to God subjected himself to the intercession of a man. Since, then, the holy prophet David was God’s portion, he rightly says: “I have said that I will keep your law”; he means surely the spiritual law, as Paul too shows. For those who have interpreted the law bodily do not keep the law but transgress it.
Exod 8:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:57 (118:57 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:14 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Pharaoh chose the devil’s portion; David, God’s portion, keeps the law in its spiritual sense.
- Exod 8:8, 28; 9:28; Ps 119:57; Rom 7:14.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): praeuaricantur., → praeuaricantur..
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.16.3 (CSEL 62:159; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-16-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-16-3
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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 17
8.17.1CSEL 62:159
Ueniamus ad secundum uersum, qui ita est: deprecabar uultum tuum, domine, in toto corde meo, miserere mei secundum eloquium tuum. legimus in ueteri testamento, quod deprecatus sit Moyses, ut uultum dei uideret, et responsum sit ei: nemo uidebit faciem meam et uiuet. mystice hoc primum intellegamus. Moyses legis figuram accepit.
Let us come to the second verse, which is as follows: “I entreated your face, Lord, with my whole heart; have mercy on me according to your word.” We read in the old testament that Moses entreated to see the face of God, and it was answered him: “No one shall see my face and live.” Let us understand this first mystically. Moses received the figure of the law.
Ps 119:58 (118:58 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 33:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 58: like Moses, the psalmist seeks God’s face; mystically Moses stands for the law.
- Ps 118:58 (Ps 119:58); Exod 33:18, 20. The digital text’s “de precabar” and “m miserere” are read as “deprecabar” and “miserere”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split word in the digital text; stray letter in the digital text): de precabar → deprecabar; m miserere mei → miserere mei.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.17.1 (CSEL 62:159; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-17-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.17.2CSEL 62:159–160
lex per occulta mysteria nuntiat Christum, non facie ad faciem demonstrauit, sicut euangelium demonstrauit. in ipso enim facie ad faciem loquebatur. licet in euangelio homo natus ex uirgine apparuerit, uerbum autem se per opera demonstrauerit. et fortasse hoc declaratum sit Moysi, quod populus Iudaeorum moriturus esset, eo quod facie ad faciem Christum uidisset et non credidisset. quod si ad legem referas, etiam legis finis Christus secundum illud apostolicum: finis enim Christus est secundum legem omni credenti et mortua est legis interpretatio corporalis, ubi dominus Christus Iesus spiritalem eius gratiam demonstrauit. uel certe quia omnes, qui Christum induimus et baptizati in Christo sumus, mortui sumus peccato, quia uiuentes legis uinculis tenebamur. ubi autem in Christo mortui sumus, mortificati utique sumus legi per corpus Christi, ut simus alterius qui ex mortuis resurrexit. sed hoc mysticum est.
The law proclaims Christ through hidden mysteries; it did not show him face to face, as the gospel showed him. For in the gospel he spoke face to face, although in the gospel a man born of a virgin appeared, while the Word showed himself through his works. And perhaps this was declared to Moses, that the Jewish people would die because it had seen Christ face to face and had not believed. But if you refer it to the law, Christ is also the end of the law, according to the apostle’s saying: “For Christ is the end of the law to everyone who believes”; and the bodily interpretation of the law died when the Lord Christ Jesus showed its spiritual grace. Or surely because all of us who have put on Christ and been baptized into Christ have died to sin, since while we lived we were held by the bonds of the law. But when we died in Christ, we were surely put to death to the law through the body of Christ, so as to belong to another, who rose from the dead. But this is mystical.
Rom 10:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 3:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 6:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 7:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The law showed Christ only in figures; the gospel shows him face to face, and in baptism we die to the law to belong to the risen Christ.
- Rom 10:4 (Ambrose’s form); Gal 3:27; Rom 6:2–3; Rom 7:4, 6. Ambrose’s remark on the Jewish people is translated as written.
Topics: Baptism, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.17.2 (CSEL 62:159–160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-17-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-17-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 18
8.18.1CSEL 62:160
Morale autem historiae ueteris facit nos meminisse debere quae est de sancto Moyse, qui rogauit deum, ut se demonstraret ei deus et facie ad faciem eum uideret. norat utique sanctus uates domini, quod inuisibilem deum facie ad faciem uidere non posset. sed mensuram supergreditur sancta deuotio et putauit deo etiam
But the moral sense of the old history, which concerns holy Moses, makes us remember that he asked God to show himself to him and that he might see him face to face. Surely the holy prophet of the Lord knew that he could not see the invisible God face to face. But holy devotion goes beyond measure, and he thought that even this was possible to God,
Exod 33:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 33:11 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Morally, Moses, knowing God is invisible, still longed in devotion to see him.
- Exod 33:11, 18.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.18.1 (CSEL 62:160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-18-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.18.2CSEL 62:160
hoc esse possibile, ut corporeis oculis faceret id quod est incorporeum conprehendi. non reprehensibilis hic error, sed etiam grata cupiditas atque inexplebilis, quod dominum suum uelut manu tenere et obtutu oculorum uidere cupiebat. sciebat ad imaginem et similitudinem dei factum esse hominem. quando enim electus a domino est ad populum liberandum, impletus est spiritu sapientiae, uiderat angelum illum et faciem eius in gloria. denique fulgente eius lumine pauefactus est et uidit rubum uri et non exuri. uisum coepit fulgoremque mirari:
to make what is incorporeal grasped by bodily eyes. This error is not blameworthy, but rather a welcome and insatiable longing, that he desired to hold his Lord as it were by the hand and to see him with the gaze of his eyes. He knew that man was made in the image and likeness of God. For when he was chosen by the Lord to free the people, he was filled with the spirit of wisdom; he had seen that angel and his face in glory. Indeed he was terrified by its shining light and saw the bush burning and not consumed. He began to wonder at the sight and its brightness:
Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 3:3 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses’ longing to see God was no fault; he had already seen the angel in the burning bush.
- Gen 1:26; Exod 3:2–3.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.18.2 (CSEL 62:160; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-18-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.18.3CSEL 62:160–161
accessit cupiditate et gratia prouocatus, ut diligentius fulgorem illum in rubo consideraret. itaque si tantum accepit ardorem, tantam subiit cupiditatem, cum angelum uidisset in flamma ignis de rubo, ut, licet pauore adprehensus considerare non auderet, considerare tamen uellet, quanto magis domini uultum corporaliter uidere desiderabat, dicens intra se uultum illum plenum lucis, plenum gloriae, plenum uirtutis, plenum diuinitatis! non possum plus dicere uel sentire de deo: cum enim consummauerit homo, incipit. et cum finierit, tunc aporiabitur, ut scriptum est, quia inconprehensibilis est dei aeterna maiestas.
he drew near, called by desire and grace, to consider that brightness in the bush more carefully. And so, if he received such ardor and was seized by such longing when he had seen the angel in the flame of fire from the bush that, though gripped with dread and not daring to look, he still wished to look, how much more did he desire to see bodily the face of the Lord, saying within himself that that face is full of light, full of glory, full of power, full of divinity! I cannot say or think more of God: for “when man has finished, he begins; and when he has ended, then he will be at a loss,” as it is written, because the eternal majesty of God is incomprehensible.
Exod 3:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: If the angel in the bush so moved Moses, how much more he longed for God’s face; God’s majesty is beyond comprehension.
- Exod 3:3–6; Sir 18:7 (Greek form). The digital text’s “aporiabitur” is translated “he will be at a loss”.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 18:7 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.18.3 (CSEL 62:160–161; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-18-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-18-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 19
8.19.1CSEL 62:161
Inritus quidem erat postulationis effectus, sed affectus probabilis serui, qui ultra naturam suam deuotione progressus de domini angelis aestimabat, quantum in domini uultu plus desideraret, quo cupiditatem suam gestiret explere. nouerat in ipso homine aliam post mortem futuram gloriam, aliam claritatem.
The result of the request was indeed void, but the affection of the servant was praiseworthy, who, advancing beyond his nature by devotion, judged from the Lord’s angels how much more he desired in the Lord’s face, with which he longed to satisfy his desire. He knew that in man himself there would be another glory after death, another brightness.
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses’ request failed, but his longing was good, and he knew of a future glory after death.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.19.1 (CSEL 62:161; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-19-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.19.2CSEL 62:161
sicut enim stella a stella in claritate est, ita et resurrectio mortuorum; quae etsi seminatur in corruptione, surgit tamen in incorruptione, surgit in gloria, surgit in uirtute, surgit corpus spiritale. qui ergo hoc scire poterat, merito praesumebat, ut uultum dei uidere cuperet, quem esset obita corporis morte uisurus. talem certe etiam formam receperat, talem dominus iam probabat, ut non distaret ab angelis caelestis minister et exsecutor oraculi.
For just as star differs from star in brightness, so also is the resurrection of the dead; which, though it is sown in corruption, yet rises in incorruption, rises in glory, rises in power, rises a spiritual body. He, then, who could know this rightly presumed to desire to see the face of God, which he would see after the death of the body had been met. Surely he had already received such a form, the Lord was already approving such a one, that the minister and executor of the heavenly oracle did not differ from the angels.
1 Cor 15:41 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:42 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:43 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:44 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Knowing the glory of the resurrection, Moses rightly longed to see God, whom he would see after death.
- 1 Cor 15:41–44.
Topics: Eschatology, Resurrection of the body
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.19.2 (CSEL 62:161; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-19-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-19-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.19.3CSEL 62:161
et ideo cum sciret, quia angeli pusillorum cotidie uiderent faciem patris qui in caelis est, putauit quod iam eam uidere deberet, tamquam oblitus corporis et carne deposita, sicut ille, qui in corpore adhuc positus cum raperetur in paradisum, utrum in corpore siue extra corpus raptus esset ad tertium caelum, nescire se dixit.
And so, since he knew that the angels of the little ones daily see the face of the Father who is in heaven, he thought that he ought already to see it, as though forgetful of the body and with the flesh laid aside, like him who, still placed in the body when he was caught up into paradise, said he did not know whether he had been caught up to the third heaven in the body or out of the body.
Matt 18:10 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:2 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses, like Paul caught up to the third heaven, forgot the body in his longing.
- Matt 18:10; 2 Cor 12:2–4.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.19.3 (CSEL 62:161; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-19-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-19-3
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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.
8.19.4CSEL 62:161
sancti enim etiam cum gerunt corpus non sunt tamen in carne, sed in spiritu, quoniam qui in cupiditate et conuersatione carnali sunt deo placere non possunt. sancti autem conuersatio in carne non erat, sed in caelo, sicut Paulus ostendit.
For the saints, even when they bear a body, are nevertheless not in the flesh but in the Spirit, since those who are in carnal desire and conduct cannot please God. But the saint’s conduct was not in the flesh but in heaven, as Paul shows.
Rom 8:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:20 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The saints, though in the body, live in the Spirit with their citizenship in heaven.
- Rom 8:8–9; Phil 3:20. The digital text’s “emm” is read as “enim”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): sancti emm etiam → sancti enim etiam.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.19.4 (CSEL 62:161; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-19-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-19-4
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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 20
8.20.1CSEL 62:161–162
Et quid dicamus de probabili desiderio uultus diuini? homines sume: si quem nobilem, si quem fortem, si quem sapientem esse audiunt, tamquam supra hominem arbitrantes concupiscunt uidere. procedit imperator, cuius regiae potestati commissa pars est orbis terrarum: concurrunt omnes et in tanta multitudine illum
And what shall we say of the praiseworthy longing for the divine face? Take men: if they hear that someone is noble, someone brave, someone wise, they long to see him as though they judged him above a man. An emperor goes forth, to whose royal power a part of the world has been entrusted: all run together, and in so great a crowd
Notes and citation
Summary: People long to see the great and the emperor; how much more God.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.20.1 (CSEL 62:161–162; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-20-1
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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.
8.20.2CSEL 62:162
solum aspicere gestiunt et de fulgore purpurae plus quiddam esse in uultu imperatoris existimant. miraris, si dei desiderabilis uultus est, cum conformem sui hominem humanus omnis miretur affectus? hinc datur intellegi etiam illud, quod imperatori unusquisque nullius reus criminis gestit occurrere. nam etsi crimen habeat con-
they long to look at him alone, and from the gleam of the purple they think there is something more in the emperor’s face. Do you wonder if God’s face is desirable, when every human affection wonders at a man like itself? Hence that too may be understood, that everyone guilty of no crime longs to meet the emperor. For even if the conscience
Notes and citation
Summary: If an emperor’s face is so desired, how much more God’s; the innocent gladly meet the emperor.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.20.2 (CSEL 62:162; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-20-2
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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.
8.20.3CSEL 62:162
scientia, tegunt illud tamen cordis occulta, dummodo publico non sit inuolutus reatu nec sit aliquod eius crimen expressum. denique ubi rei aliqui fuerint aduocati, et imperatori se et ipsis iudicibus offerre prohibentur, quemadmodum turpes lenonum meretricumque personae a conspectu uel iudicis uel imperatoris arcentur, ne turpissimorum uisus offendat uultus regii claritatem. qui autem bene sibi conscius est, nullius criminis reus, quasi innocens prodit in medium.
has a crime, the hidden places of the heart cover it, provided it is not caught up in public guilt and no crime of his is exposed. Indeed, when some accused persons have been summoned, they are forbidden to present themselves to the emperor and to the judges themselves, just as the shameful persons of pimps and prostitutes are kept from the sight of judge or emperor, lest the sight of the most shameful offend the brightness of the royal countenance. But he who has a good conscience, guilty of no crime, comes forward into the midst as innocent.
Notes and citation
Summary: The guilty are kept from the emperor’s sight, while the innocent come forward freely.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.20.3 (CSEL 62:162; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-20-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-20-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 21
8.21.1CSEL 62:162
Ex his ergo sancti Moysi conprehendamus affectum. uidere dei uultum quasi innocens uelut quodam uultu conscientiae desiderabat, aperire ei faciem mentis internae. cognosci plenius gestiebat et Moyses et ipse sanctus Dauid, qui alibi ait: proba me, domine, et tempta me; non enim uellet probari, si
From these things, then, let us grasp the affection of holy Moses. As one innocent, he desired to see God’s face with, as it were, a countenance of conscience, and to open to him the face of his inner mind. Both Moses and holy David himself longed to be known more fully, David who says elsewhere: “Prove me, Lord, and try me”; for he would not wish to be proved if
Ps 26:2 (25:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses and David, with clear consciences, wished to be fully known and tested by God.
- Ps 26:2 (LXX 25:2).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.21.1 (CSEL 62:162; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-21-1
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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.
8.21.2CSEL 62:162
in se crimen agnosceret, nec temptari, si passionibus grauibus se sciret obnoxium. liber igitur a peccato deo se cupidus offerebat. sed fortasse, quia adhuc frequentioribus dei uisitationibus mundus a uitio non foret, non fuerit in principio perfectus, utpote cui ante paululum dictum erat: solue calciamentum pedum tuorum, illud utique calciamentum quod de Aegypto detulerat, hoc est corporeae conuersationis inuolucrum. ideo dicit ei dominus: nemo homo uidebit faciem meam et uiuet.
he recognized a crime in himself, nor to be tried if he knew himself liable to grave passions. Free from sin, then, he eagerly offered himself to God. But perhaps, because by the more frequent visitations of God he was not yet clean from vice, he was not perfect at the beginning, since a little before it had been said to him: “Loose the sandal from your feet,” surely that sandal which he had brought from Egypt, that is, the covering of bodily conduct. So the Lord says to him: “No man shall see my face and live.”
Exod 3:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses was not yet perfect, still wearing the sandal of Egypt, and so could not yet see God’s face.
- Exod 3:5; Exod 33:20.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.21.2 (CSEL 62:162; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-21-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-21-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 22
8.22.1CSEL 62:162–163
Quando dictum sit, considera. nondum ei dictum erat: faciam te in deum regi Pharao. adhuc homo erat, ideo istud ei dicitur. processus ei debebatur, ut deus fieret, et ideo dictum est ei: de homine dixi. desiste hominis habere peccata et uidebis faciem meam: qui enim faciem meam uidet, debet esse sine peccato. sed quia homo sine peccato esse non potest, ideo, ut in dei appellationem possit excrescere, commonetur.
Consider when it was said. Not yet had it been said to him: “I will make you a god to King Pharaoh.” He was still a man; so this is said to him. Progress was owed him, so that he might become a god, and so it was said to him: I spoke of a man. Cease to have the sins of a man, and you will see my face: for he who sees my face must be without sin. But because man cannot be without sin, he is therefore admonished, so that he may grow into the name of God.
Exod 7:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:20 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses was told “no man shall see my face” while still a man; he was to grow toward being called a god.
- Exod 7:1; Exod 33:20. The digital text’s “regiPharao” is read as “regi Pharao”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): regiPharao → regi Pharao.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.22.1 (CSEL 62:162–163; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-22-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-22-1
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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.
8.22.2CSEL 62:163
et quid de dei appellatione dicam? esto angelus, hoc est diuini minister imperii, obsequere mandatis domini. cum fueris angelus, uidebis faciem dei. magnum est uidere dei uultum. lex tibi dicit, ut tertio te offeras in Hierusalem. ipse dominus Iesus ait: beati mundo corde, ipsi enim deum uidebunt.
And what shall I say of the name of God? Be an angel, that is, a minister of the divine command; obey the commandments of the Lord. When you are an angel, you will see the face of God. It is a great thing to see God’s face. The law tells you to present yourself three times in Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus himself says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
Exod 23:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 16:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 5:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Whoever serves God like an angel and is pure in heart will see God.
- Exod 23:17; Deut 16:16; Matt 5:8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): ipsi enim -deum → ipsi enim deum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.22.2 (CSEL 62:163; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-22-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-22-2
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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.
8.22.3CSEL 62:163
aduertis quid a te exigatur, ut uideas deum, cui uitae proposita sit praerogatiua uidendi deum? emunda igitur cor tuum, ut quasi nouus creeris renouato spiritu, omnes pollutas cogitationes de corde tuo abice, nihil sit quo tuus inquinetur affectus, simplex mens, pura sinceritas sit. talibus se dominus, cum inuolucrum corporis deposuerint, demonstrare dignatur.
Do you notice what is required of you, so that you may see God, you to whom the privilege of seeing God has been set as the aim of life? Cleanse, then, your heart, so that you may be created as new with a renewed spirit; cast away all polluted thoughts from your heart; let there be nothing by which your affection is defiled; let there be a simple mind, a pure sincerity. To such the Lord deigns to show himself, when they have laid aside the covering of the body.
Ps 51:10 (50:12 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To see God, cleanse the heart; God shows himself to the pure when they have put off the body.
- Ps 51:10 (LXX 50:12).
Topics: Heaven and eternal reward
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.22.3 (CSEL 62:163; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-22-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-22-3
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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 8, chapter 23
8.23.1CSEL 62:163–164
Nunc de reliqua ipsius uersus parte dicamus. miserere, inquit, mei secundum uerbum tuum. misericordia quidem iustitiae portio est, ut si uelis donare pauperibus, haec misericordia iustitia est secundum illud: dispersit, dedit pauperibus, iustitia eius manet in aeternum deinde quia conformis tuus iniustum est ut non adiuuetur a socio, cum praesertim dominus deus noster terram hanc possessionem omnium hominum uoluerit esse communem et fructus omnium ministrare: sed auaritia possessionum iura distribuit: iustum est igitur ut, si tibi aliquid priuatum uindicas, quod generi humano, immo omnibus animantibus in commune conlatum est, saltem aliquid inde pauperibus aspergas, ut, quibus iuris tui consortium debes, his alimenta non deneges.
Now let us speak of the rest of this verse. “Have mercy on me,” he says, “according to your word.” Mercy is indeed a part of justice, so that, if you wish to give to the poor, this mercy is justice, according to the saying: “He has scattered, he has given to the poor; his righteousness remains for ever.” Then, because he is like you, it is unjust that he should not be helped by his fellow, especially since the Lord our God willed this earth to be the common possession of all men and to supply fruits to all; but greed distributed the rights of possession. It is just, then, that if you claim for yourself as private something that was granted in common to the human race, indeed to all living creatures, you should at least sprinkle something from it to the poor, so that you do not deny food to those to whom you owe a share in your right.
Ps 119:58 (118:58 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 112:9 (111:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 9:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Mercy to the poor is justice, for God gave the earth in common; greed made it private property.
- Ps 119:58; Ps 112:9 (LXX 111:9); 2 Cor 9:9. Ambrose’s teaching on common possession is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split word in the digital text): mi serere, inquit → miserere, inquit.
Topics: Ethics, Wealth and poverty, Almsgiving and care for the poor
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.23.1 (CSEL 62:163–164; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-23-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 24
8.24.1CSEL 62:164
Est etiam misericordiae donare peccatum; et misericordia est et iustitia est. denique iustitiae adscribit scriptura diuina ueniam peccatorum secundum illud. quod hodie lectum est: benedictum lignum quod fit per iustitiam, maledictum autem lignum quod fit per manum hominum.
It belongs also to mercy to forgive sin; and it is both mercy and justice. Indeed divine Scripture ascribes the pardon of sins to justice, according to what was read today: “Blessed is the wood through which justice comes, but cursed is the wood made by the hands of men.”
Notes and citation
Summary: Forgiving sin is both mercy and justice, as the blessed wood of the cross shows.
- Wis 14:7–8. The digital text’s “per r in st it ia m” is read as “per iustitiam”. “Read today” refers to the service’s readings.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (spaced letters and OCR slip in the digital text): per r in st it ia m → per iustitiam.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 14:7 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.24.1 (CSEL 62:164; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-24-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-24-1
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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.
8.24.2CSEL 62:164
superius ad crucem domini retulit, posterius ad errorem gentilium qui ligna uenerantur. iustitia autem quae est crucis, nisi quod ascendens illud patibulum dominus Iesus Christus peccatorum nostrorum chirographum crucifixit et totius orbis peccatum suo cruore mundauit? in quo ergo iustus deus nisi in eo,
The former he referred to the Lord’s cross, the latter to the error of the Gentiles who worship wood. And what is the justice of the cross, but that the Lord Jesus Christ, mounting that gibbet, crucified the bond of our sins and cleansed the sin of the whole world with his blood? In what, then, is God just, but in this,
Col 2:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 John 1:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The justice of the cross is that Christ nailed our debt to it and washed away the world’s sin.
- Wis 14:7–8; Col 2:14; 1 John 1:7.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 14:8 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Passion and death of Christ
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.24.2 (CSEL 62:164; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-24-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-24-2
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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.
8.24.3CSEL 62:164
quia sciuit quod de limo terrae hominem figurauit, quae terra utique corruptelae obnoxia est ac uitio lubricae passionis? propterea ergo dominus, qui secundum animam te ad imaginem et similitudinem sui fecit, hoc est rationabilem iustum pudicum — in eo enim ad imaginem dei es, si sis iustus, ut sis imago iustitiae, si sis castus, ut inmaculati in te figura praefulgeat —, sciens ergo secundum corporis fragilitatem corruptelae patere hominem quasi iustus fragili lubricaeque naturae delicta concessit.
that he knew that he formed man from the clay of the earth, which earth is surely liable to corruption and to the vice of slippery passion? Therefore the Lord, who according to the soul made you in his image and likeness, that is, rational, just, chaste (for you are in the image of God in this, if you are just, so that you are the image of justice; if you are chaste, so that the figure of the spotless one shines forth in you), knowing, then, that according to the frailty of the body man is open to corruption, as one just he granted pardon for the sins of a frail and slippery nature.
Gen 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God, knowing man was made from earth and frail in body, justly forgives the sins of weak nature.
- Gen 2:7; Gen 1:26. The digital text’s “terraehominemfigurauit” is read as “terrae hominem figurauit”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): terraehominemfigurauit → terrae hominem figurauit.
Topics: Forgiveness of sins
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.24.3 (CSEL 62:164; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-24-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-24-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 25
8.25.1CSEL 62:164
Ac ne forte dicat aliquis: cur ergo Adam maledicto sententiaeque subiacuit? numquid iniustus deus? non utique. sed quia quasi fragili atque infirmo quid caueret ante praescripsit — infirmus enim non usurpare debet, sed oboedire mandatis —, ideo praeuaricationis reum tenuit quam prolapsionis addixit. in illum
And lest anyone perhaps say: “Why, then, was Adam subject to the curse and the sentence? Is God unjust?” Surely not. But because he had prescribed beforehand to one frail and weak what he should beware of (for the weak man ought not to presume but to obey the commandments), he held him guilty of transgression rather than consigning him for a slip. Against him,
Gen 2:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:17 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Adam was condemned because he transgressed a clear command, not merely because he was weak.
- Gen 2:17; 3:17–19.
Topics: The fall
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.25.1 (CSEL 62:164; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-25-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-25-1
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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.
8.25.2CSEL 62:164–165
igitur iusta seueritatis processit sententia, Quia scire uoluit quod scire non profuit. nobis autem, qui hereditario uinculo tenemur adstricti, qui in hac carne sumus, quae priorum praeiudicio detrita iam atque adsuefacta peccatis non poterat emergere, quasi iustus indulsit: iuste enim ignouit heredi qui praeiudicio laborat auctoris.
then, the just sentence of severity went forth, because he wished to know what it did not profit him to know. But to us, who are held bound by a hereditary bond, who are in this flesh, which, worn down by the prejudgment of those before and accustomed to sins, could not emerge, he granted pardon as one just: for he justly forgave the heir who labors under the prejudgment of the author.
Gen 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God justly condemned Adam but justly pardons us, his heirs, bound by inherited weakness.
- Gen 3:5–6.
Topics: The fall, Original sin and concupiscence
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.25.2 (CSEL 62:164–165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-25-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-25-2
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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.
Exposition 8, chapter 26
8.26.1CSEL 62:165
Est ergo iusta misericordia, sed est etiam iniusta misericordia. denique in lege scriptum est de quodam: non misereberis illius et in libris Regnorum legis, quia Saul propterea contraxit offensam, quia miseratus est Agag hostium regem, quem prohibuerat sententia diuina seruari. ut si quis latronem filiis deprecantibus motus et lacrimis coniugis eius inflexus absoluendum putet, cui adhuc latrocinandi adspiret affectus, nonne innocentes tradet exitio qui liberat multorum exitia cogitantem?
There is, then, just mercy, but there is also unjust mercy. Indeed it is written in the law of someone, “You shall not have mercy on him,” and in the books of Kingdoms you read that Saul incurred offense because he had mercy on Agag, king of the enemies, whom the divine sentence had forbidden to be spared. As if someone, moved by the pleading of a robber’s children and swayed by his wife’s tears, should think he should be acquitted, when the desire to rob still breathes in him: will he not hand over the innocent to destruction who frees one who plots the destruction of many?
Deut 13:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 19:13 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Sam 15:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: There is unjust mercy, like Saul’s sparing of Agag or acquitting an unrepentant robber.
- Deut 13:8; 19:13; 1 Sam 15:9, 23.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.26.1 (CSEL 62:165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-26-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-26-1
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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.
8.26.2CSEL 62:165
certe si gladium reprimit, uincla dissoluit, cur laxat exilio? cur latrocinandi qua potest clementiore uia non eripit facultatem, qui uoluntatem extorquere non potuit? deinde inter duos, hoc est accusatorem et reum pari periculo de capite decernentes, alterum si non probasset, alterum si non esset ab accusatore conuictus, non id quod iustitiae est iudex sequatur, sed, dum miseretur rei, damnet probantem aut, dum accusatori fauet qui probare non possit, addicat innoxium? non potest igitur haec dici iusta misericordia.
Surely, if he holds back the sword and loosens the chains, why does he release him to exile? Why does he not take away by whatever milder way he can the ability to rob, from one whose will he could not wrest away? Then between two, that is, an accuser and an accused deciding at equal risk of their heads, if the one has not proved his case and the other has not been convicted by the accuser, shall the judge not follow what belongs to justice, but, while he has mercy on the accused, condemn the one who proves, or, while he favors the accuser who cannot prove, consign the innocent? This, then, cannot be called just mercy.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mercy that endangers others or perverts judgment is not just mercy.
- In Roman law an accuser who failed to prove a capital charge risked the same penalty (talio).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.26.2 (CSEL 62:165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-26-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-26-2
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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.
Exposition 8, chapter 27
8.27.1CSEL 62:165
In ipsa ecclesia, ubi maxime misereri decet, teneri quam maxime debet forma iustitiae, ne quis a consortio communionis abstentus breui lacrimula atque ad tempus parata uel etiam uberioribus fletibus communionem, quam plurimis debet postulare temporibus, facilitate sacerdotis extorqueat. nonne, cum uni indulget indigno, plurimos facit ad prolapsionis contagium prouocari? facilitas enim ueniae incentiuum tribuit delinquendi.
In the church itself, where it is most fitting to show mercy, the form of justice must be kept as much as possible, lest someone excluded from the fellowship of communion should, by a brief little tear, ready for the moment, or even by more abundant weeping, extort through the priest’s easiness the communion which he ought to ask for over a very long time. When he indulges one unworthy man, does he not provoke very many to the contagion of falling? For easy pardon gives an incentive to sin.
Notes and citation
Summary: In the church’s penance, excommunicated sinners must not be readmitted too easily, for easy pardon invites sin.
- Ambrose refers to the public penance of his day; sacerdos here is the bishop.
Topics: Church office, Church discipline and penance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.27.1 (CSEL 62:165; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-27-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-27-1
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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.
8.27.2CSEL 62:165–166
hoc eo dictum est, ut sciamus secundum uerbum dei, secundum rationem dispensandam esse misericordiam debitoribus. medicus ipse si serpentis interius inueniat uulneris cicatricem, cum debeat resecare ulceris uitium, ne latius serpat, tamen a secandi urendique proposito lacrimis inflexus aegroti medicamentis tegat quod ferro aperiendum fuit, nonne ista inutilis misericordia est, si propter
This has been said so that we may know that mercy must be dispensed to debtors according to the word of God, according to reason. If a physician himself finds within the scar of a creeping wound, though he ought to cut away the fault of the ulcer lest it spread more widely, yet, swayed by the sick man’s tears from his purpose of cutting and burning, covers with medicines what should have been opened with the knife, is not this useless mercy, if, because of
Notes and citation
Summary: Mercy must follow reason, like a physician who must cut despite the patient’s tears.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.27.2 (CSEL 62:165–166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-27-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-27-2
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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.
8.27.3CSEL 62:166
breuem incisionis uel exustionis dolorem corpus omne tabescat, uitae usus intereat? recte igitur et sacerdos uulnus, ne latius serpat, a toto corpore ecclesiae quasi bonus medicus debet abscidere et prodere uirus criminis quod latet, non fouere, ne, dum unum excludendum non putat, plures dignos faciat quos excludat ab ecclesia.
the brief pain of cutting or burning, the whole body wastes away and the use of life perishes? Rightly, then, the priest too, as a good physician, must cut off the wound from the whole body of the church, lest it spread more widely, and expose the hidden poison of the crime, not cherish it, lest, while he does not think one should be excluded, he make many worthy of being excluded from the church.
1 Cor 5:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 5:13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The bishop must cut off the infected member to protect the whole church.
- 1 Cor 5:6, 13.
Topics: Church office, Church discipline and penance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.27.3 (CSEL 62:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-27-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-27-3
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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 8, chapter 28
8.28.1CSEL 62:166
Iure ergo apostolus diuino nos hortatur exemplo dicens: uide ergo bonitatem et seueritatem dei: in eos quidem qui ceciderunt seueritatem, in te autem bonitatem, si permanseris in bonitate, ostendens Iudaeorum populum iure esse a corpore ecclesiae separatum, ne perfidiae uirus contaminaret ecclesiam, populum au-
Rightly, then, the apostle exhorts us by a divine example, saying: “See, then, the goodness and severity of God: on those who have fallen, severity, but on you goodness, if you continue in goodness,” showing that the Jewish people has rightly been separated from the body of the church, lest the poison of unbelief contaminate the church, while the people
Rom 11:22 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul’s “goodness and severity of God” shows both the separation of the unbelieving and the welcome of the Gentiles.
- Rom 11:22. Ambrose’s remark on the Jewish people is translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.28.1 (CSEL 62:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-28-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-28-1
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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.
8.28.2CSEL 62:166
tem gentium bonitate domini receptum et oboedientiae munere gloriari. iure igitur huic diuina bonitas suffragatur, cum in diuina bonitate permaneat: si uero et ipse desciscat, pro criminis sui qualitate damnabitur. qua gratia dominus et lux et ignis esse describitur,
of the Gentiles, received by the Lord’s goodness, glories in the gift of obedience. Rightly, then, divine goodness supports it, as long as it remains in divine goodness; but if it too falls away, it will be condemned according to the quality of its crime. For this reason the Lord is described as both light and fire,
Rom 11:22 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 John 1:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 12:29 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Gentiles keep God’s favor only while they remain in his goodness; God is both light and fire.
- Rom 11:21–22; 1 John 1:5; Heb 12:29.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.28.2 (CSEL 62:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-28-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-28-2
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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.
8.28.3CSEL 62:166
ut in tenebris ambulanti luceat quasi lumen, ne diutius possit errare qui quaerit luminis claritatem. ei autem, qui multa fuerit operatus quae manere non debeant, sed ardere, ignis est dominus, ut operis nostri faenum stipulamque consumat atque utili nos saluos faciat detrimento, sicut aurum quod excoquitur plus probatur.
so that he may shine like a light for one walking in darkness, lest he who seeks the brightness of light wander any longer. But to him who has done many works which ought not to remain but to burn, the Lord is fire, so that he may consume the hay and stubble of our work and make us saved by a useful loss, as gold that is refined is proved the more.
1 Cor 3:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 1:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God is light to guide and fire to burn away worthless works, saving us by loss.
- 1 Cor 3:12–15; 1 Pet 1:7.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.28.3 (CSEL 62:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-28-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-28-3
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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 29
8.29.1CSEL 62:166–167
Fortasse dicat aliquis, qua ratione scripserit propheta: miserere mei secundum eloquium tuum; uerbum enim dei iustitia est. si igitur iustitia fretus erat, cur misericordiam ante praemisit, aut si misericordiam requirebat, cur eam ad mensuram iustitiae putauit esse poscendam? qui enim bene agit et bene uiuit, opus non habet misericordia, quia misericordia a peccato liberat.
Perhaps someone may say for what reason the prophet wrote: “Have mercy on me according to your word”; for the word of God is justice. If, then, he relied on justice, why did he first put mercy? Or if he sought mercy, why did he think it should be asked according to the measure of justice? For he who acts well and lives well has no need of mercy, because mercy frees from sin.
Ps 119:58 (118:58 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Why does the psalmist ask for mercy according to God’s word, which is justice?
- Ps 119:58.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.29.1 (CSEL 62:166–167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-29-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-29-1
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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.
8.29.2CSEL 62:167
denique non diuitibus, non fortibus et felicitate subnixis misericordia conferri consueuit a nobis, sed egentibus uel debilibus uel his, qui ex diuitiis in paupertatem aut captiuitatem aut necessitatem aliquam deciderunt. ergo qui eget misericordia peccator est, qui autem peccator non est utique iustus est et non eget misericordia dei.
Indeed we are not accustomed to grant mercy to the rich, to the strong, and to those supported by good fortune, but to the needy or the weak or those who have fallen from riches into poverty or captivity or some necessity. So he who needs mercy is a sinner, but he who is not a sinner is surely righteous and does not need God’s mercy.
Notes and citation
Summary: Mercy is for the needy; so whoever needs mercy is a sinner.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.29.2 (CSEL 62:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-29-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-29-2
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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 8, chapter 30
8.30.1CSEL 62:167
Secundum quid igitur unusquisque, hoc est secundum quem statum egeat misericordia aut iustitiam habeat, considerandum est. aliter enim eget iustitia dei angelus, aliter homo, aliter eget misericordia archangelus, aliter homo. angelica enim natura non utique ita corruptelae obnoxia est ut natura generis humani, et ideo illa eget misericordia dei, ne possit errare et auersa a se dei gratia labatur in uitium, homo autem, etsi iam firmiore proposito est, tamen propter contractorum seriem peccatorum misericordiam quaerit.
According to what, then, that is, according to what state each one needs mercy or has justice, must be considered. For an angel needs God’s justice in one way, a man in another; an archangel needs mercy in one way, a man in another. For the angelic nature is surely not as liable to corruption as the nature of the human race, and so it needs God’s mercy lest it should err and, with God’s grace turned away from it, slip into vice; but man, even if he is now of firmer purpose, nevertheless seeks mercy because of the sequence of sins he has contracted.
Notes and citation
Summary: Angels and men need mercy differently: angels to be kept from falling, men because of past sins.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.30.1 (CSEL 62:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-30-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-30-1
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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.
8.30.2CSEL 62:167
itaque etsi uterque misericordia indiget, aliter tamen angelo misericordia, aliter homini debetur. leue enim uitium in angelo iudicio grauiore censetur, peccatum quoque adulescentiae in homine mitiore sententia quam peccatum senectutis adstringitur et citius relaxatur.
And so, although both need mercy, mercy is owed differently to an angel and to a man. For a slight fault in an angel is judged with a heavier judgment, and the sin of youth in a man is bound with a milder sentence than the sin of old age, and is more quickly released.
Notes and citation
Summary: Faults are weighed by the nature and age of the one who sins.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.30.2 (CSEL 62:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-30-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-30-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 8, chapter 31
8.31.1CSEL 62:167–168
Propheta igitur in isto uersiculo diuidit causas, ut et misericordiam quasi homo postulet, quia nemo sine sorde peccati, et iustitiam quasi propheta deposcat uel certe quoniam, licet peccauerit sicut homo et quasi peccator misericordia egeat, tamen correxit errorem, paenitentiam gessit, abstinuit a temulentia delinquendi sobrietate uirtutis. petit ergo iustitiam secundum uerbum dei, quia uerbi dei sententia est, ut conuersis uenia donetur, si legitime est facta conuersio.
The prophet, then, in this verse divides the cases, so that he asks for mercy as a man, because no one is without the stain of sin, and asks for justice as a prophet; or surely because, though he sinned as a man and needs mercy as a sinner, yet he corrected his error, did penance, and abstained from the drunkenness of sinning by the sobriety of virtue. He asks, then, for justice according to the word of God, because it is the sentence of God’s word that pardon be granted to those who turn, if the conversion has been done lawfully.
Ps 119:58 (118:58 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ezek 18:21 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalmist asks mercy as a sinner and justice as one who has repented, for God’s word promises pardon to the converted.
- Ps 119:58; Ezek 18:21–23.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.31.1 (CSEL 62:167–168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-31-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-31-1
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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.
Exposition 8, chapter 32
8.32.1CSEL 62:168
Cogitaui uias meas et auerti pedes meos in testimonia tua. diuiduus sensus: aut quia uias superiores meas cogitaui plenas lapsus atque peccati, et ideo, ut remissionem peccatorum possim mereri morum conuersione studioque uirtutum, auerti pedes meos in testimonia tua, ut non iam meis gressibus, quibus ante sum lapsus, sed testimoniorum tuorum iti-
“I have thought on my ways and turned my feet to your testimonies.” The sense is twofold: either “because I have thought on my former ways, full of falling and sin, and therefore, so that I may deserve the forgiveness of sins by conversion of conduct and zeal for virtues, I have turned my feet to your testimonies,” so that I might walk no longer in my own steps, by which I fell before, but on the roads
Ps 119:59 (118:59 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 59: thinking on his past sinful ways, the psalmist turns his feet to God’s testimonies.
- Ps 118:59 (Ps 119:59).
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.32.1 (CSEL 62:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-32-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-32-1
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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.
8.32.2CSEL 62:168
neribus ambularem, quo tuorum semitae mandatorum me errare non sinerent nec uestigium in deuia et tortuosa deflecterem. frequenter enim ignorantes iter, si strata uiarum sequantur, perueniunt quo desiderant peruenire et carent erroris anfractu; sin autem usurpent scire quod nesciunt et putent aliqua sequenda conpendia, a publici tractus itinere recedentes erroris labyrinthos frequenter incurrunt, ut eos de itinere deflexisse paeniteat, et ideo post multa laborum dispendia ad iter quod reliquerant redire contendunt.
of your testimonies, so that the paths of your commandments might not let me go astray, nor turn my step aside into byways and crooked places. For often those who do not know the route, if they follow the paved roads, reach where they wish to arrive and are free of the windings of error; but if they presume to know what they do not know and think some shortcuts should be followed, leaving the public highway they often run into labyrinths of error, so that they repent of having turned aside from the road, and so after much loss of labor they strive to return to the road they had left.
Notes and citation
Summary: As travelers do best to keep to the highway, so we should keep to God’s commandments.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text): sequantur. perueniunt → sequantur, perueniunt.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.32.2 (CSEL 62:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-32-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-32-2
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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 8, chapter 33
8.33.1CSEL 62:168–169
Hic ergo sensus unus est, alius autem ita: cogitaui uias meas, non superiores, sed futuras, ut ante meos actus cogitationibus praeuenirem, ne inconsulta operatione progressus aliquid in ipsis conationibus offensionis inciderem, ut, si agere aliquid uelim, ante cogitem utrum agendum sit illud quod desidero aut quo agendum modo, similiter si adloquendum, utrum adloqui debeam, deinde publice an secreto loqui, praesentibus aliquibus aut nullis; sicut illud est ut, si uelis fratrem corripere, primo solus corripias, secundo praesentibus duobus aut tribus testibus. tertio, si non audierit, coram ecclesia. itaque si praetermisso ordine uelis coram ecclesia fratrem increpare quem ante monere debueras, erratum ipse cognoscis. omnia igitur cum cogitatione facito, ut non te paeniteat operis tui.
This, then, is one sense; the other is this: “I have thought on my ways,” not past but future, so that I might anticipate my actions with thought, lest, proceeding by ill-considered action, I should fall into some offense in my very attempts; so that, if I wish to do something, I first consider whether what I desire should be done, or in what way; likewise, if I must speak to someone, whether I ought to speak, then whether to speak publicly or privately, with some present or none; as in that saying, that if you wish to correct a brother, first correct him alone, second with two or three witnesses present, third, if he does not listen, before the church. And so, if, neglecting the order, you wish to rebuke before the church a brother whom you ought first to have warned, you yourself recognize the mistake. Do everything, then, with thought, so that you may not repent of your work.
Matt 18:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 18:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 18:17 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Alternatively: think ahead before acting or speaking, as in Christ’s order for correcting a brother.
- Matt 18:15–17; Sir 32:19 (Vulgate 32:24).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (punctuation slip in the digital text): ante cogitem. utrum → ante cogitem utrum.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 32:19 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.33.1 (CSEL 62:168–169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-33-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-33-1
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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.
8.33.2CSEL 62:169
an uero si uiam ingressus, cum ueneris ad competum aliquod — ita enim appellatur plurimarum uelut quidam concursus uiarum —, si nescias quod iter ingredi debeas, stas tamen et cogitas ipse tecum, utrum primam an secundam an tertiam an quartam uel certe quintam, si ita est, uiam eligas quam sequaris nec putas prius adoriundum iter quam animo definieris et pleniore mentis intentione decideris, stas igitur cogitans quae sit uia, quae in ciuitatem ducat ad quam tibi putas esse pergendum, quanto igitur magis animo debes ac mente consistere, qui ad regnum caeleste contendis, et cogitare tecum, quia non omnis uia illo ducit, non omnis uia illo dirigit ad Hierusalem illam quae in caelo est!
Or if, having set out on a road, when you come to a crossroads (for so a kind of meeting of many roads is called), if you do not know which road you should take, you nevertheless stop and think with yourself whether you should choose the first or the second or the third or the fourth or even the fifth road, if there are so many, to follow, and you do not think you should set out on the journey before you have defined it in your mind and decided with fuller attention; you stop, then, thinking which is the road that leads to the city to which you think you must go: how much more ought you to stand firm in mind and spirit, you who strive toward the heavenly kingdom, and think with yourself that not every road leads there, not every road directs to that Jerusalem which is in heaven!
Gal 4:26 (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 12:22 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: As a traveler stops to choose his road at a crossroads, so much more must we choose the way to the heavenly Jerusalem.
- Gal 4:26; Heb 12:22.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.33.2 (CSEL 62:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-33-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-33-2
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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 8, chapter 34
8.34.1CSEL 62:169
Sunt uiae quae malos exitus habent, quas diaboli temptamenta triuerunt, et ideo exitus earum exitus mortis sunt. hae nempe sunt uiae, de quibus legisti in Prouerbiis, quia sunt uiae quae uidentur uiro rectae esse, ultima autem earum aspiciunt in profundum inferni. est autem uia angustior illa quae ducit ad dei regnum. uolens igitur eam ingredi uiam, quae ad deum ducit, non circumspicies, non tecum ipse tractabis, non considerabis, ne facile capiaris affectu, si uiae latitudine prouocatus ingrediaris iter quod ad inferna deducat? cogita ergo ante atque perpende quid facias.
There are roads that have evil ends, which the temptations of the devil have worn, and so their ends are the ends of death. These are surely the roads of which you have read in Proverbs, that “there are ways which seem right to a man, but their last parts look into the depth of hell.” But the way that leads to the kingdom of God is narrower. Wishing, then, to enter on the way that leads to God, will you not look around, will you not discuss with yourself, will you not consider, lest you be easily caught by affection, if, enticed by the breadth of a road, you enter on a journey that leads down to hell? Think, then, beforehand and weigh what you do.
Prov 14:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 16:25 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 7:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 7:14 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Some roads that seem right end in death; the way to God is narrow, so we must choose carefully.
- Prov 14:12; 16:25 (Greek form); Matt 7:13–14.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.34.1 (CSEL 62:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-34-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-34-1
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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.
Exposition 8, chapter 35
8.35.1CSEL 62:169–170
Qui uiderit, inquit, mulierem ad concupiscendum eam, iam adulterauit eam in corde suo. hic utique cogitauit, ut uideret mulierem, ut uideret ad concupiscendum; sed mala haec cogitatio relinquat uias suas. alius non cogitauit quidem, sed subito aspexit et captus est et uidit et concupiuit et ideo lapsus est. quodsi fragilem suum considerasset affectum et ante
“Whoever looks at a woman,” he says, “to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This man surely thought about seeing a woman, about seeing her to lust; but let this evil thought leave its ways. Another did not think about it, but suddenly looked and was caught, and saw and lusted, and so fell. But if he had considered his frail affection and had first
Matt 5:28 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The man who looks at a woman to lust has already sinned; another falls by a sudden glance for lack of forethought.
- Matt 5:28. The digital text’s “concupiscen dum” and “s u o” are read as “concupiscendum” and “suo”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (spaced letters in the digital text; split word in the digital text): concupiscen dum → concupiscendum; corde s u o → corde suo.
Topics: Ethics, Sexual morality
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.35.1 (CSEL 62:169–170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-35-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-35-1
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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.
8.35.2CSEL 62:170
timuisset, ne, cum uidisset mulierem, mente caperetur et animo, utique non prospexisset ad mulierem, ne concupisceret eam. uidens ergo mulierem non direxit pedem suum in testimonia domini, qui, si ante lapsum suum cogitare potuisset, forsitan direxisset. unusquisque ergo prius cogitet quomodo uideat mulierem, ut non uideat ad concupiscendum eam, ut non adtendat eam. si autem uidens repente uel bona cogitatione fundatus dirigat pedem suum ad testimonia domini, ne in captiuitate permaneat, utique ei profuit cogitatio.
feared that, when he saw a woman, he would be captured in mind and spirit, he surely would not have looked toward the woman, so as not to lust after her. Seeing the woman, then, he did not direct his foot to the testimonies of the Lord, he who, if he had been able to think before his fall, would perhaps have directed it. Let each one, then, first think how he looks at a woman, so as not to look at her to lust after her, so as not to attend to her. But if, seeing her suddenly, or grounded in good thought, he directs his foot to the testimonies of the Lord, so as not to remain in captivity, surely the thought has profited him.
Matt 5:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:59 (118:59 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Forethought guards against lust; even after a sudden glance, turning to God’s testimonies frees one from captivity.
- Matt 5:28; Ps 119:59. The digital text’s “concupisc-endum” is read as “concupiscendum”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): concupisc-endum → concupiscendum.
Topics: Ethics, Sexual morality
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.35.2 (CSEL 62:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-35-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-35-2
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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.
8.35.3CSEL 62:170
postremo amans mulierem diligens concupiscens Christum consideret, iudicium eius, testimonia eius de praemiis castitatis et relinquat uias concupiscentiae, sequatur uias Christi et habebit laudem in eis, si contemplatus dominum Iesum contemnat carnis ardorem, flammam libidinis quasi quodam fonte restinguat, adlidat teneras et infirmas cupiditates ad petram Christi.
Finally, let one loving a woman, cherishing, desiring her, consider Christ, his judgment, his testimonies on the rewards of chastity, and let him leave the ways of desire, follow the ways of Christ, and he will have praise in them, if, contemplating the Lord Jesus, he despises the heat of the flesh, quenches the flame of lust as with a spring, and dashes his tender and weak desires against the rock of Christ.
Ps 137:9 (136:9 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: One gripped by love for a woman should consider Christ and dash his desires against the rock of Christ.
- Ps 137:9 (LXX 136:9), read allegorically; 1 Cor 10:4. The digital text’s “concupisc-ens” is read as “concupiscens”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): concupisc-ens → concupiscens.
Topics: Ethics, Sexual morality
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.35.3 (CSEL 62:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-35-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-35-3
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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 8, chapter 36
8.36.1CSEL 62:170
Cogitet ergo primum, ut eadem repetam, quemadmodum uideat, quemadmodum loquatur. bene cogitauit qui dixit: pone, domine, custodiam ori meo, ne forte, dum mens inflam-
Let him think first, then, to repeat the same things, how he looks, how he speaks. He thought well who said: “Set a guard, Lord, on my mouth,” lest perhaps, while the mind inflames
Ps 141:3 (140:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Forethought must also govern speech, as the psalmist prays for a guard on his mouth.
- Ps 141:3 (LXX 140:3).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.36.1 (CSEL 62:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-36-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-36-1
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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.
8.36.2CSEL 62:170–171
mat ardorem, lingua sermone labatur aut multiloquio incauto etiam, quod mens non cogitauit, incurrat loquendi facilitate. cogitet, quemadmodum pedem suum dirigat, manum adferat, ne impetu indignationis inpulsus, cum repellere debeat iniuriam, ipse alteri iactum notabilis caedis inlidat. cogitandum est igitur quid geramus; ubi enim praecedit cogitatio, maturitas operationis adhibetur. itaque pes iste fidei uestigium est, quem meditatione perpensa a corporalibus motibus ad testimonia diuina deflexit.
its ardor, the tongue slip in speech, or by careless talkativeness run into what the mind did not even think, through facility of speaking. Let him think how he directs his foot, how he lays his hand, lest, driven by an impulse of indignation, when he ought to repel an injury, he himself deal another a blow of notable slaughter. We must think, then, what we do; for where thought goes before, ripeness of action is applied. And so this foot is the footstep of faith, which, after weighing it in meditation, he turned from bodily movements to the divine testimonies.
Prov 10:19 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 119:59 (118:59 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Forethought restrains tongue and hand; the foot turned to God’s testimonies is the step of faith.
- Prov 10:19; Ps 119:59. The digital text’s “multiloauio” is read as “multiloquio”; the stray “25” is a line number.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text; line-break debris and stray line number in the digital text): multiloauio → multiloquio; iactum no- 25 tabilis → iactum notabilis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.36.2 (CSEL 62:170–171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-36-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-36-2
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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 8, chapter 37
8.37.1CSEL 62:171
Quid igitur prosit cogitare ante, quod postea facturus sis, docet uersiculus qui sequitur: paratus sum e t non sum turbatus, ut custodiam mandata tua. ubi cogitatione quis praeuenit quod acturus est, semper paratus ad agendum est, semper fixus et ualidus, ut non queat subita aliqua accidentium offensione turbari. nulla eum flabra scopulosae nimis ambitionis excutiunt, nulla procella atque tempestas iniustae inuasionis exagitat, non petulantis oculus meretricis inlaqueat; oculus enim meretricis laqueus amatoris est.
What profit there is, then, in thinking beforehand what you will afterwards do, the following verse teaches: “I am ready and I am not troubled, to keep your commandments.” When someone anticipates by thought what he is about to do, he is always ready to act, always fixed and strong, so that he cannot be troubled by any sudden offense of events. No blasts of very rocky ambition shake him, no squall and storm of unjust seizure harass him, the eye of a wanton harlot does not ensnare him; for the eye of a harlot is the snare of a lover.
Ps 119:60 (118:60 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 6:25 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On verse 60: whoever thinks ahead is ready and untroubled by ambition, injustice, or temptation.
- Ps 118:60 (Ps 119:60, Greek form); Prov 6:25–26. The digital text’s “e t non” and “m mandata” are read as “et non” and “mandata”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): custodiam m mandata → custodiam mandata.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.37.1 (CSEL 62:171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-37-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-37-1
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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.
8.37.2CSEL 62:171
in aliena miser capitur possessione, qui inprouiso igne praeuentus possessionem suae mentis amisit. si persecutio ingruit, inuenit iam paratum, ut, ubi possit esse perturbatio salutis incertae, ibi sperata sacri corona certaminis prouida futuri meditatione demulceat. si a maledicis obtrectatoribus frequenter obroditur, cogitet, quia non est discipulus super magistrum neque seruus supra dominum. si supra dei filium obprobria exprobrantium nefanda ceciderunt, quemadmodum seruus exortem eorum sperare se poterit?
The wretch is caught in another’s property who, overtaken by an unforeseen fire, has lost possession of his own mind. If persecution falls upon him, it finds him already prepared, so that, where there could be disturbance over uncertain safety, there the hoped-for crown of the holy contest may soothe him through provident meditation on the future. If he is often gnawed at by slanderous detractors, let him think that the disciple is not above the master nor the servant above the lord. If the abominable reproaches of those reproaching fell upon the Son of God, how can a servant hope to be exempt from them?
Matt 10:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 69:9 (68:10 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 15:3 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Forethought prepares one for persecution and slander, for the disciple is not above his master.
- Matt 10:24–25; Ps 69:9 (LXX 68:10); Rom 15:3.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.37.2 (CSEL 62:171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-37-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-37-2
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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.
8.37.3CSEL 62:171–172
ideoque mentem suam praeparare debet, ut, cum ista acciderint, turbare se non queant. praeparet animum et meditatione conponat, ut possit dicere, si tamen possit: quis nos separabit a caritate Christi? tribulatio an angustia an fames? et cetera. quare autem non separetur, adiecit: sed i n his omnibus superamus, inquit, et uincimus propter eum qui dilexit nos. meritoque confirmatus ait: confido enim quia neque mors neque uita neque angeli neque potestates neque praesentia neque futura separare nos poterunt a caritate dei quae est in Christo Iesu.
And so he must prepare his mind, so that, when these things happen, they cannot trouble him. Let him prepare his spirit and compose it by meditation, so that he can say, if indeed he can: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation or distress or famine?” and the rest. And why he is not separated, he added: “But in all these things we overcome,” he says, “and conquer because of him who loved us.” And rightly, strengthened, he says: “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor powers nor things present nor things to come can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.”
Rom 8:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:38 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:39 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A prepared mind can say with Paul that nothing can separate us from God’s love in Christ.
- Rom 8:35, 37–39.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.37.3 (CSEL 62:171–172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-37-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-37-3
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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 38
8.38.1CSEL 62:172
Multa apostolus dixit contra quae lucta nobis est; sed alia facilia sunt uel certe non huius temporis aut loci, ut discutere omnia debeamus, quae sint quae nos separare possint a caritate dei, nisi diligentius resistamus. illud nunc, quod uidetur obscurius, non praetermittimus, quia ait: ne que altitudo ne que profundum, quae sunt grauia temptamenta. denique habes in Esaia scriptum ad regem Achaz: pete tibi signum a domino in profun dum aut in altum.
The apostle named many things against which we struggle; but some are easy, or certainly not for this time or place, that we should discuss them all, which are those that could separate us from the love of God unless we resist more carefully. That which seems more obscure we will not pass over now, because he says: “neither height nor depth,” which are grave temptations. Indeed you have written in Isaiah to King Ahaz: “Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord, in the depth or in the height.”
Rom 8:39 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul’s “height and depth” are grave temptations, as Isaiah’s sign to Ahaz shows.
- Rom 8:39; Isa 7:11. The digital text’s “ne que” and “profun dum” are read as “neque” and “profundum”.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.38.1 (CSEL 62:172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-38-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-38-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
8.38.2CSEL 62:172
respondit ille: non petam neque temptabo dominum. mysticum illi propositum est, sed non intellexit et ueritus est, ne temptare dominum uideretur, si signum peteret in altum aut in profundum. dominus autem uolens grauia temptamenta remedio subplantare diuino, ait: ecce uirgo in utero concipiet. hoc est magnum signum, quod altitudinis et profundi temptamenta destruxit. dominus enim Iesus non rapinam arbitratus est esse se aequalem deo neque quae sua sunt
He answered: “I will not ask, nor will I tempt the Lord.” A mystical proposal was made to him, but he did not understand it and feared that he would seem to tempt the Lord if he asked for a sign in the height or in the depth. But the Lord, wishing to undermine grave temptations by a divine remedy, said: “Behold, a virgin will conceive in the womb.” This is the great sign, which destroyed the temptations of height and depth. For the Lord Jesus did not think it robbery to be equal with God, nor did he seek his own things,
Isa 7:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The sign given to Ahaz is the virgin birth; Christ, equal with God, humbled himself.
- Isa 7:12, 14; Phil 2:6; 1 Cor 13:5.
Topics: Christology, Incarnation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.38.2 (CSEL 62:172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-38-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-38-2
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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.
8.38.3CSEL 62:172–173
requisiuit, sed formam serui accepit, humiliauit se usque ad mortem. itaque neque elatus est potestate neque mortis quadam deiectione turbatus. hoc igitur signum proponitur regi, ut petat sibi remedium, per quod nec regiae potestatis extolleretur supercilio nec certe aerumnae alicuius exceptione perturbaretur, ut erat corde turbatus, cum bellum sibi uideret a Syris inferri. diuini igitur exemplo oraculi uoluimus ostendere quae essent haec grauia temptamenta, quibus remedium solus potuit Christus adferre.
but took the form of a servant, humbled himself even to death. And so he was neither lifted up by power nor troubled by any casting down of death. This sign, then, is set before the king, so that he may ask for himself the remedy by which he would neither be lifted up by the haughtiness of royal power nor be troubled by the onset of any hardship, as he was troubled in heart when he saw war being brought against him by the Syrians. By the example of the divine oracle, then, we wished to show what these grave temptations were, for which Christ alone could bring the remedy.
Phil 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 7:2 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, neither exalted by power nor shaken by death, is the remedy for the temptations of height and depth.
- Phil 2:7–8; Isa 7:2. The digital text’s “mortein” is read as “mortem”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): usque ad mortein → usque ad mortem.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 8.38.3 (CSEL 62:172–173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-38-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/8-38-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmo-118-8-38-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.