Explanation of Twelve Psalms 35.28.1–36.18.6
Latin text: CSEL 64 (Latin text: Schenkl/Petschenig, CSEL 64, 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).
Explanation 35, chapter 28
35.28.1CSEL 64:68–69
Unde addidit: ibi ceciderunt qui operantur iniquitatem. quid est ibi? utrum ubi est Superbia, ubi est manus peccatorum, an ubi stabant, ubi erant ante plantati, ibi ceciderunt, an in caeno, an in continenti, quasi in ipso tempore, in ipso loco? et uidetur ambiguum. sed alibi docemur quid sit ibi, ubi dicitur: ibi dolores sicut parturientis. bonus dolor ei, cui partus est fidei, quo Christus in ecclesia formatur et nascitur.
Hence he added: "There the workers of iniquity fell." What is "there"? Is it where pride is, where the hand of sinners is, or where they stood, where they had been planted before, there they fell; or in the mud, or at once, as it were at that very time, in that very place? It seems ambiguous. But elsewhere we are taught what "there" is, where it is said: "There, pains as of a woman in labor." Good is the pain for one who has a birth of faith, by which Christ is formed and born in the church.
Ps 36:12 (35:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 48:6 (47:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: What does "there" mean? Other psalms use it of the pangs by which Christ is formed in the church.
- Ps 36:12 [LXX 35:13]; Ps 48:6 [LXX 47:7]; Gal 4:19.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 35.28.1 (CSEL 64:68–69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-28-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-28-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-35-28-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
35.28.2CSEL 64:69
et alibi dicit memor ero Raab et Babylonis scientibus me; etenim alienigenae et Tyrus et populus Aethiopum, hi fuerunt ibi, id est: ubi scientes me, ubi fundamenta in montibus sanctis, ibi et alienigenae, quia et ipsi in me putauerunt esse credendum. ibi ergo ceciderunt ubi magis stare debuerunt, quia et in paradiso cecidit Adam et Christus in ruinam uenit et in resurrectionem, ut ruina sit perfidorum, iustorum autem et fidelium resurrectio.
And elsewhere he says: "I will be mindful of Rahab and Babylon for those who know me"; for "the foreigners and Tyre and the people of the Ethiopians, these were there," that is: where those who know me are, where the foundations are on the holy mountains, there are the foreigners too, because they also thought they should believe in me. There, then, they fell where they ought rather to have stood; for Adam fell even in paradise, and Christ came "for the fall and for the rising," so that there might be the ruin of the faithless but the rising of the just and faithful.
Ps 87:4 (86:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 87:1 (86:1 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 2:34 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "There" is where they ought to have stood; Christ is set for the fall and rising of many.
- Ps 87:1, 4 [LXX 86:1, 4]; Luke 2:34.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: OCR letter slips; digitization: words joined): idest → id est; in minam uenit → in ruinam uenit.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 35.28.2 (CSEL 64:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-28-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-28-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-35-28-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 35, chapter 29
35.29.1CSEL 64:69
Denique expulsi sunt, quia iniusti uiri in loco sancto stare non poterant. unde et apostolus dixit: et tu qui stas uide ne cadas, et utique ei dixit qui non corpore, sed fide dabat. possumus et in futurum intellegere ibi, ut est: ibi erit fletus et stridor dentium et: nudus ibi pergam. quam breuis autem in exitu et quanta conclusio!
Then "they were driven out," because unjust men could not stand in the holy place. Hence the apostle too said: "And you who stand, see that you do not fall," and he certainly said it to one who stood not in body but in faith. We can also understand "there" of the future, as in: "There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth," and: "Naked I shall go there." How brief, then, in its close, and how great a conclusion!
Ps 36:12 (35:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:20 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 8:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 1:21 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "There" may also refer to the judgment to come.
- Ps 36:12 [LXX 35:13]; 1 Cor 10:12 with Rom 11:20; Matt 8:12; Job 1:21.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 35.29.1 (CSEL 64:69; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-29-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-29-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-35-29-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
35.29.2CSEL 64:69–70
non sim, inquit, superbus, ut peccem; non peccem, ne mouear; non mouear, ne cadam; non cadam, ne expellar, sicut Adam de paradiso expulsus est, quia in ipso primum pes superbiae stare non potuit. nescit stare superbia et, si ceciderit, non nouit resurgere. et ideo pulchre iste et in superioribus locutus est de superbis: hi in curribus et hi in equis, nos autem in nomine dei nostri magnificabimur — hoc enim stabile, illud infidum - et subiecit:
Let me not be proud, he says, lest I sin; let me not sin, lest I be moved; let me not be moved, lest I fall; let me not fall, lest I be driven out, as Adam was driven out of paradise, because in him first the foot of pride could not stand. Pride does not know how to stand, and if it falls it does not know how to rise again. And so he finely spoke in earlier psalms too of the proud: "Some in chariots and some in horses, but we will be magnified in the name of our God" (for this is stable, that untrustworthy), and added:
Gen 3:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 20:7 (19:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Pride leads to sin, fall and expulsion, as for Adam.
- Gen 3:23–24; Ps 20:7 [LXX 19:8], continued in 35.29.3.
Topics: Humility and pride, The fall
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 35.29.2 (CSEL 64:69–70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-29-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-29-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-35-29-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
35.29.3CSEL 64:70
ipsi obligati sunt et ceciderunt, nos uero surreximus et erecti sumus. et libro Michaeae scriptum est prophetae: noli superbe gaudere mihi, inimica mea, quia cecidi; sed resurgam. cecidimus enim in hoc mundo, sed in Christo resurreximus, cui est honor, gloria, uirtus, perpetuitas et a saeculis et nunc et semper et in omnia saecula saeculorum. amen.
"They were bound and fell, but we have risen and stand upright." And in the book of the prophet Micah it is written: "Do not proudly rejoice over me, my enemy, because I have fallen; but I shall rise again." For we have fallen in this world, but in Christ we have risen, to whom be honor, glory, power, eternity, both from the ages and now and always and for all the ages of ages. Amen.
Ps 20:8 (19:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Mic 7:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We fell in Adam but rise in Christ.
- Ps 20:8 [LXX 19:9]; Mic 7:8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: u for n): uoli superbe → noli superbe.
Topics: The fall
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 35.29.3 (CSEL 64:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-29-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/35-29-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-35-29-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 1
36.1.1CSEL 64:70
Omnis scriptura diuina uel naturalis uel mystica uel moralis est: naturalis in Genesi, in qua exprimitur, quomodo facta sunt caelum maria, terrae et quemadmodum mundus iste sit constitutus; mystica in Leuitico, in quo comprehenditur sacerdotale mysterium; moralis in Deuteronomio, in quo secundum legis praeceptum uita humana formatur. unde et Salomonis tres libri ex plurimis uidentur electi: Ecclesiastes de naturalibus, Cantica canticorum de mysticis, Prouerbia de moralibus.
All divine Scripture is either natural or mystical or moral: natural in Genesis, in which it is expressed how heaven, seas and lands were made and how this world was established; mystical in Leviticus, in which the priestly mystery is contained; moral in Deuteronomy, in which human life is formed according to the precept of the law. Hence too three books of Solomon seem to have been chosen out of very many: Ecclesiastes on natural things, the Song of Songs on mystical, Proverbs on moral.
1 Kgs 4:32 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture is natural, mystical or moral, as Genesis, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, and Solomon's three books show.
- Ambrose's Psalm 36 is Ps 37 in the English numbering. The threefold division of philosophy (physics, ethics, logic) applied to Solomon's books goes back to Origen's prologue to the Song of Songs.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray number): moralis 10 est → moralis est.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.1.1 (CSEL 64:70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-1-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-1-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 2
36.2.1CSEL 64:70–71
Sed quia omnium psalmorum corpus unum est, idcirco nihil in his diuisum est atque distinctum, sed prout se obtulit ratio, nulla intermissa doctrinae istiusmodi disciplina est. namque et naturalem euidentissime comprehendit dicendo de angelis atque uirtutibus, sole et luna, stellis et lumine caeli caelorum et aqua quae super caelos est: quia ipse dixit et facta sunt, ipse mandauit et creata sunt. statuit ea in saeculum saeculi; praeceptum posuit, et non praeteribit.
But because the body of all the psalms is one, nothing in them is divided and distinguished; but as the occasion presented itself, no part of this kind of teaching has been left out. For it includes the natural very plainly when it speaks of angels and powers, sun and moon, stars and light, the heaven of heavens and the water above the heavens: "For he spoke and they were made, he commanded and they were created. He established them for ever and ever; he set a precept, and it will not pass away."
Ps 148:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 148:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 148:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 148:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 148:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalms include natural teaching, as Psalm 148 shows.
- Ps 148:2–6.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.2.1 (CSEL 64:70–71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-2-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-2-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.2.2CSEL 64:71
et de mysticis locutus est, cum de occultis et sacrae unctionis unguento et de consummatione scripserit tabernaculi. quorum multiplex gratia, quoniam multifariam et multis modis locutus est dominus in prophetis. nam et uenturum praefatus est dei filium principem sacerdotum, et passurum esse pro nobis et sanguine suo mundaturum nostra peccata tituli pro torcularibus declararunt et resurrecturum psalmus resurrectionis expressit, et alius postea titulus indicauit, in quo terra eius est restituta, commutationem quoque uniuersorum futuram fidei sacramentis.
And it has spoken of mystical things, since it has written of hidden things, of the ointment of sacred anointing and of the completion of the tabernacle. Their grace is manifold, since in many ways and many manners the Lord spoke in the prophets. For it foretold that the Son of God would come as chief of priests; the titles "for the winepresses" declared that he would suffer for us and cleanse our sins with his blood; the psalm of the resurrection expressed that he would rise; and another title afterwards indicated, in which his land was restored, the change also of all things that is to come through the mysteries of faith.
Ps 133:2 (132:2 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Heb 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 110:4 (109:4 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 3:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalms also hold mystical teaching about Christ's priesthood, passion and resurrection.
- Ps 133:2 [LXX 132:2]; Heb 1:1; Ps 110:4 [LXX 109:4]; titles of Ps 8, 81, 84 [LXX 8, 80, 83] ("for the winepresses"); Ps 3:5 (the resurrection psalm). The title about the restored land and the "change" is probably that of Ps 45 or Ps 80 [LXX 44, 79] ("for those who will be changed"); uncertain.
Topics: Christology, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.2.2 (CSEL 64:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-2-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-2-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.2.3CSEL 64:71
et de moralibus plura contexuit diuersaque uirtutum genera demonstrauit et dedit praecepta uiuendi, quibus ulcera nostrorum sanauit errorum moresque renouauit humanos atque intimos mutauit affectus, sicut docet psalmus tricesimus tertius, quem etiam Petrus sanctus in epistula sua tamquam medicamentum nostris pectoribus affixit, atque iste, qui nobis hodierna lectione propositus est. nam isti prae ceteris ethici repperiuntur, sed iste diffusior, qui tricesimus sextus inscribitur.
And of moral things it has woven together a great deal and shown different kinds of virtues and given precepts for living, by which it has healed the sores of our errors, renewed human conduct and changed our inmost feelings, as the thirty-third psalm teaches, which holy Peter too fixed in his epistle on our hearts like a plaster, and this one, which has been set before us in today's reading. For these are found to be ethical above the others, but this one more fully, which is entitled the thirty-sixth.
Ps 34:12 (33:13 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 3:10 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalms 33 (34) and 36 (37) are the chief moral psalms.
- Ps 34 [LXX 33], quoted in 1 Pet 3:10–12.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.2.3 (CSEL 64:71; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-2-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-2-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.2.4CSEL 64:71–72
nam etsi ille praedulcis et lucidus est, iste tamen dulcior, quia ille me docuit cohibere linguam a malo, iste desinere ab ira, indignationem relinquere, ille praecepit sine dolo loqui, iste instituit esse mansuetum, qui praemia mansuetudinis demonstrauit. quae maiora fomenta sunt cordis humani quam mansuetudo atque simplicitas, quibus et dolor omnis acceptae leuatur iniuriae et labes criminis omnis excluditur?
For although that one is very sweet and clear, this one is sweeter, because that one taught me to restrain my tongue from evil, this one to cease from anger and leave indignation; that one directed me to speak without deceit, this one trained me to be gentle, for it showed the rewards of gentleness. What greater salves are there for the human heart than gentleness and simplicity, by which every pain of an injury received is relieved and every stain of crime is shut out?
Ps 34:13 (33:14 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 37:8 (36:8 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 37:11 (36:11 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalm 36 (37) teaches gentleness, the best salve for the heart.
- Ps 34:13 [LXX 33:14]; Ps 37:8, 11 [LXX 36:8, 11].
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.2.4 (CSEL 64:71–72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-2-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-2-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 3
36.3.1CSEL 64:72
Ad haec igitur manum medicamenta mittamus, ut uulnera nostra curemus, ne, si uelimus dicere quod alios curare possimus, dicatur nobis: medice, cura te ipsum. ergo quod etiam non medicis, sed uulgo quoque solet esse commune, ut medicinam pauci profiteantur, plurimi tamen remedia eius aliqua scire se dicant, uel quod medicorum pueri faciunt, nos quoque alieno medicamento remedium indigentibus deferamus.
To these remedies, then, let us put our hand, to cure our wounds, lest, if we wish to say that we can cure others, it be said to us: "Physician, heal yourself." So, as is common not only to physicians but to ordinary people too, that few profess medicine but very many say they know some of its remedies, or as physicians' boys do, let us too bring a remedy to the needy from another's medicine.
Luke 4:23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose will apply the psalm's remedies, borrowed from the divine physician.
- Luke 4:23.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.3.1 (CSEL 64:72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-3-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-3-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.3.2CSEL 64:72
diues magistrum adhibeat, pauper ministrum. qui perfecti altitudinem capit, sumat ex ipso, qui planiora desiderat, in ualle pascatur, ut paruulus, qui fluuium metuit, de riuulo bibit et qui profundum pauet, ad litora natat. pulchre autem sanctus Dauid in superiore psalmo iniusti uitam describit, hic iusti; ibi iniustus exponitur, hic iustus instituitur; ille sibi delinquit, hic tollit etiam aliena peccata. et ideo quod primum medicamentum sit iustitiae, consideremus.
Let the rich man engage a master, the poor man an assistant. Let him who grasps the height of the perfect take from the psalm itself; let him who desires plainer things graze in the valley, as a little child who fears the river drinks from the brook, and one who is afraid of the deep swims by the shore. Finely holy David describes in the previous psalm the life of the unjust man, here that of the just; there the unjust man is set out, here the just man is trained; the one sins against himself, the other takes away even the sins of others. So let us consider what the first remedy of justice is.
Ps 36:1 (35:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalm 35 (36) depicts the unjust man, Psalm 36 (37) trains the just.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: i for e; digitization: i for t): magisirum → magistrum; profundum pauit → profundum pauet.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.3.2 (CSEL 64:72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-3-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-3-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 4
36.4.1CSEL 64:72–73
Noli, inquit, malignari inter malignantes neque aemulatus fueris facientes iniquitatem. primum discamus quid sit aemulari, licet minor uis sermonis huius sit in Latino quam in Graeco; nam et in bono aemulationem legimus et in malo. denique apostolus dicit: bonum est aemulari in bono semper, et supra ipse dixit: aemulantur uos non bene, sed excludere uos uolunt, ut illos aemulemini, et iterum ipse ait: aemulamini meliora charismata. ad Romanos habes: dico ergo: numquid sic offenderunt ut caderent? absit; sed illorum delictum salus est gentibus, ut illos aemulentur, et infra: uobis enim dico gentibus: quamdiu ego sum gentium apostolus, ministerium meum inlustrabo, si quo modo aemuler carnem meam et saluos faciam aliquos ex ipsis, hoc est: afficiam carnem meam; denique παραζηλώσω Graecus habet. nam et hic μὴ παραζήλου ἐν πονηρευομένοις habet et μηδὲ ζήλου τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὴν ἀνομίαν, hoc est: noli malignos in aemulationem excitare, quoniam illi non de bono, sed de malo certant.
"Do not be malicious," he says, "among the malicious, and do not envy those who do iniquity." First let us learn what it is to be emulous, although the force of this word is less in Latin than in Greek; for we read of emulation both in a good sense and in a bad. Indeed the apostle says: "It is good always to be emulous in a good thing"; and above he himself said: "They are zealous for you not well, but they want to shut you out, so that you may be zealous for them"; and again he says: "Be emulous for the better gifts." To the Romans you have: "I say, then: did they so stumble as to fall? Far from it; but by their offense salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them emulous"; and below: "For I say to you Gentiles: as long as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I will glorify my ministry, if somehow I may provoke my own flesh to emulation and save some of them," that is: I may move my flesh; indeed the Greek has παραζηλώσω ("I will provoke to jealousy"). For here too it has μὴ παραζήλου ἐν πονηρευομένοις and μηδὲ ζήλου τοὺς ποιοῦντας τὴν ἀνομίαν, that is: do not provoke the malicious to emulation, since they contend not about good but about evil.
Ps 37:1 (36:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:17 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:31 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "Emulation" can be good or bad; the Greek of Ps 37:1 means "do not provoke the malicious to rivalry".
- Ps 37:1 [LXX 36:1], with the Greek; Gal 4:18, 17; 1 Cor 12:31; Rom 11:11, 13–14. Aemulari is rendered "be emulous/envy" by context; parazelum (Greek παραζηλοῦν) "provoke to jealousy". One word is an editor's supplement.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters; digitization: split word; digitization: words joined): aemul atus fueris f aciente s → aemulatus fueris facientes; charismata adRomanos → charismata. ad Romanos; ap ostolus → apostolus.
Topics: Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.4.1 (CSEL 64:72–73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-4-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-4-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 5
36.5.1CSEL 64:73
Quid est in aemulationem excitare? exemplo, si possumus, aperiamus. intemperantes mulieres quaedam sunt, quae aliorum coniugum corda sollicitant. quos cum suae consuetudini probroque subdiderint, non contentae erroris sui habere secretum student coram iugalibus eorum suum iactare flagitium, ut eas in zelum sui excitent et inflamment triumphum quendam de dolore probarum mentium et commotione captantes.
What is "to provoke to emulation"? Let us show it by an example, if we can. There are certain immoderate women who tempt the hearts of other women's husbands. When they have subjected them to their own habit and shame, not content to keep their error secret, they are eager to flaunt their shameful deed before the men's wives, so as to rouse and inflame them to jealousy of them, seizing a kind of triumph from the pain and agitation of virtuous minds.
Notes and citation
Summary: An example: adulteresses who flaunt their affairs to provoke the men's wives.
- Ambrose's illustration of "provoking to jealousy" (parazelum).
Topics: Marriage
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.5.1 (CSEL 64:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-5-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-5-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.5.2CSEL 64:73
quae aemulatione feminea tori proprii contumeliam non ferentes soluunt conplaciti uincla coniugii aut cotidiana lite decernunt fitque ex aemulatione discordia, ex dissensione dissidium, quo domus tota turbetur. exemplo igitur proteruae mulieris cognosce, qui legis, partes esse nequissimae detestabilisque uersutiae inproba aemulatione alterius animam commouere aliudque esse zelum, aliud parazelum.
The wives, who with a woman's jealousy cannot bear the insult to their own marriage bed, either dissolve the bonds of the marriage they had agreed to, or contend in daily quarrels; and from emulation comes discord, from dissension separation, by which the whole house is thrown into confusion. By the example of a wanton woman, then, recognize, reader, that it is the part of the vilest and most detestable cunning to stir another's soul by wicked emulation, and that jealousy is one thing, provoking to jealousy another.
Notes and citation
Summary: Such provocation leads wives to break the marriage bond or to constant quarrels; provoking jealousy is vile.
- Ambrose describes, without comment on its lawfulness, wives dissolving the marriage bond (soluunt … uincla coniugii) and separation (dissidium) as the result of such provocation.
Topics: Marriage, Divorce and remarriage, Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.5.2 (CSEL 64:73; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-5-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-5-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.5.3CSEL 64:73–74
haec est enim praua aemulatio quae bonorum subintrat affectum, qua etiam Iudaeus errauit, qui a uero et bono euangelicae disciplinae deuius legis aemulatione deflexit, sicut de se apostolus ait, quod secundum aemulationem legis persequebatur ecclesiam Christi.
For this is the depraved emulation that steals into the affection of good people, by which the Jew too erred, who, straying from the true and good of the gospel discipline, was turned aside by emulation of the law, as the apostle says of himself, that in zeal for the law he persecuted the church of Christ.
Gal 1:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 1:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 3:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Misplaced zeal for the law made Paul persecute the church.
- Gal 1:13–14; Phil 3:6.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.5.3 (CSEL 64:73–74; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-5-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-5-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 6
36.6.1CSEL 64:74
Ergo quamuis deus noster ingratis Iudaeorum offenderetur frequenter affectibus et querelis, tamen adsumptum semel et electum sibi populum minime relinquebat; sed synagoga tamquam meretrix procax irritare eum coepit in aemulationis amaritudinem praeuaricationis se miscendo sacrilegiis. denique dixit ad sacerdotem Aaron:
So, although our God was often offended by the ungrateful feelings and complaints of the Jews, he did not abandon the people he had once taken up and chosen for himself; but the synagogue, like a wanton harlot, began to provoke him to the bitterness of jealousy by mixing itself in the sacrileges of transgression. Indeed they said to the priest Aaron:
Hos 2:5 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The synagogue provoked God to jealousy like an unfaithful wife.
- The image of Israel as an unfaithful wife comes from the prophets (e.g. Hos 2; Ezek 16).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: t for r): ptocax → procax.
Topics: The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.6.1 (CSEL 64:74; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-6-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-6-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.6.2CSEL 64:74
fac nobis deos, ut adoremus, et uituli caput adorare coeperunt. unde per canticum magnum Moysi dominus in ore ipsius resultauit dicens: ipsi excitauerunt me in aemulationem in non deo, irritauerunt me in simulacris suis; ego autem excitabo eos in aemulationem in non gente, in.
"Make us gods that we may worship," and they began to worship the head of a calf. Hence through the great song of Moses the Lord resounded in his mouth, saying: "They provoked me to jealousy with what is not God, they angered me with their idols; and I will provoke them to jealousy with what is not a nation, with a
Exod 32:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 32:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 32:21 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Israel worshipped the calf; God answered by provoking them with a non-nation.
- Exod 32:1, 4; Deut 32:21.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: missing letter): simulacri suis → simulacris suis.
Topics: Idolatry, The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.6.2 (CSEL 64:74; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-6-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-6-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.6.3CSEL 64:74
natione insipienti irritabo eos. en quomodo dominus condemnauit synagogam propter meretricios mores, quo ipsorum in eos uersutiam retorqueret et suo afficerentur ingenio, qui dominum deum suum, a quo assumpti fuerant, grauibus sacrilegiis refutarunt deos sibi quos colerent eligentes, assumens e contrario sibi ecclesiam de profanis, quos praelatos sibi sine lege, sine gratia Iudaeorum populus ingemesceret atque eo amplius in aemulationem illorum excitaretur affectus, quo uiliorum facta esset electio;
foolish nation I will anger them." See how the Lord condemned the synagogue for its harlot's ways, so as to turn their own cunning back on them and let them be moved by their own device, who rejected the Lord their God, by whom they had been taken up, with grave sacrileges, choosing for themselves gods to worship; while he for his part took for himself the church from the profane, so that the Jewish people would groan that these were preferred to them without law, without grace, and their feeling would be roused to jealousy of them the more, the meaner those chosen were;
Deut 32:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God chose the church from the Gentiles to provoke Israel to jealousy.
- Deut 32:21; Rom 10:19. Ambrose's polemic is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: f for i): amplfus → amplius.
Topics: The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.6.3 (CSEL 64:74; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-6-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-6-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.6.4CSEL 64:74–75
nam ante quo afficeretur populus non habebat, cum solum se a domino consideraret electum. ubi uero aduertit adscitam ex nationibus conuenam plebem, quae sibi legem domini, prophetarum oracula, testamentum nouum domini uindicaret, tunc demum excruciari nimio coepit affectu, posteaquam se repudiatum esse cognouit. denique si uideat gentilium caeremonias, non mouetur; si audiat profectum ecclesiae, misera torquetur inuidia. completur ergo in Iudaea: et ego in aemulationem eos excitabo in non gente.
for before the people had nothing to be moved by, since it considered that it alone was chosen by the Lord. But when it noticed a people gathered in from the nations, which claimed for itself the Lord's law, the oracles of the prophets, the Lord's new testament, then at last it began to be tormented with excessive feeling, after it learned that it had been repudiated. Indeed if it sees the ceremonies of the Gentiles, it is not moved; if it hears of the progress of the church, it is tormented with wretched envy. So it is fulfilled in Judea: "And I will provoke them to jealousy with what is not a nation."
Deut 32:21 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Israel is stirred to jealousy only by the church's claim to its Scriptures.
- Deut 32:21.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: tii for m): aetiiulationem → aemulationem.
Topics: The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.6.4 (CSEL 64:74–75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-6-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-6-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 7
36.7.1CSEL 64:75
Accedit ad cruciatus grauioris aerumnam, quod ex gentibus peccatores sibi uidentur esse praelati, qui ne gentis quidem alicuius aut nationis nomen attollant. nam omnis congregatio cuiusque regionis nomen sibi uindicare consueuit, ut Aegyptii Aethiopes Syri Iudaei Arabes prouinciae suae terrarumque suarum uocabulum praeferunt.
To the misery of a heavier torment is added this, that sinners from the Gentiles seem to have been preferred to them, who do not even bear the name of any nation or people. For every gathering of any region is accustomed to claim a name for itself, as Egyptians, Ethiopians, Syrians, Jews, Arabs bear the title of their province and lands.
Notes and citation
Summary: The church has no national name, unlike other peoples.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.7.1 (CSEL 64:75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-7-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-7-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.7.2CSEL 64:75
nos de diuersis populis congregati uocabulum nobis unius gentis non possumus usurpare et ideo, quia nomen non habebamus in terris, de caelo accepimus, ut Christi populus diceremur. sed hoc gentilis stultitiam putat, Iudaeus obprobrium. uerum est ergo quod scriptum est, quia ultus est deus propriam contumeliam ecclesiam sibi ex non gente quaerendo et eam ex gente insipiente uetusto illi atque regali populo praeferendo.
We, gathered from different peoples, cannot take for ourselves the name of one nation; and so, because we had no name on earth, we received one from heaven, so as to be called Christ's people. But the pagan thinks this folly, the Jew a reproach. True, then, is what is written, that God avenged the insult to himself by seeking a church for himself from a non-nation and preferring it, from a foolish nation, to that ancient and royal people.
Deut 32:21 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:23 (allusion, medium confidence) · Acts 11:26 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church, from no one nation, takes its name from Christ.
- Deut 32:21; 1 Cor 1:23; Acts 11:26.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.7.2 (CSEL 64:75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-7-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-7-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.7.3CSEL 64:75
quae sit gens insipiens quae praelata sit, audi dicentem: quoniam stulta mundi elegit deus, ut confundat sapientes, et iterum: si quis uidetur sapiens esse inter uos in hoc saeculo, stultus fiat, ut sit sapiens. reddidit ergo, non intulit dominus aemulationis commotionem, ut esset non in forma imitationis, sed in poena iniquitatis.
Hear one saying what the foolish nation is that has been preferred: "For God chose the foolish things of the world to confound the wise," and again: "If anyone among you seems wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise." So the Lord returned, did not inflict, the disturbance of jealousy, so that it might be not in the form of imitation but in the punishment of iniquity.
1 Cor 1:27 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The foolish nation is the church chosen to shame the wise.
- 1 Cor 1:27; 1 Cor 3:18.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.7.3 (CSEL 64:75; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-7-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-7-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 8
36.8.1CSEL 64:75–76
Denique Latinus interpres uolens distinctionem facere inter aemulationem uirtutis et aemulationem offensionis ait: numquid aemulamur domino? hoc est: numquid domino offensionem aemulationis inferimus, ut de his edamus quae immolata simulacris sunt, sicut Iudaei eum sacrificando simulacris exasperarunt? quodsi inter homines excitandae aemulationis offendit intentio et frequenter persona exasperati superior inuenitur, quod incentori aemulationis fraudi esse consueuit, cuius stultitiae est maiestatem irritare diuinam et offendiculo aemulationis incessere, ubi nulla ultionis est difficultas!
Indeed the Latin translator, wishing to distinguish between emulation of virtue and emulation of offense, says: "Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?" that is: do we bring on the Lord the offense of jealousy by eating of things sacrificed to idols, as the Jews exasperated him by sacrificing to idols? And if among men the intention of stirring jealousy gives offense, and often the person exasperated is found to be the stronger, which usually turns to the harm of the instigator, what folly it is to provoke the divine majesty and assail it with the stumbling-block of jealousy, where vengeance has no difficulty!
1 Cor 10:22 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To provoke God to jealousy, as by idol meat, is folly.
- 1 Cor 10:19–22.
Topics: Idolatry
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.8.1 (CSEL 64:75–76; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-8-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-8-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 9
36.9.1CSEL 64:76
Non debemus igitur malignis aemulandi aduersum nos aculeos ministrare, qui etiam non lacessiti inuidiae stimulis excitantur ut noceant, sicut Cain fratrem occidit, quia magis illius sacrificium acceptum est quam quod ipse putauerat offerendum; in quo non aemulatus Abel, sed inuidus Cain praelationis gratiam scelesto parricidio persecutus est. non enim ille fratris uoluit obumbrare sacrificium, sed seruare sacrificii disciplinam, ut primitias nulla desi-
We must not, then, furnish the malicious with goads of jealousy against us, who, even unprovoked, are roused by the stings of envy to do harm, as Cain killed his brother because his sacrifice was accepted rather than the one he had thought fit to offer; in which Abel was not emulous, but envious Cain pursued with criminal fratricide the favor of preference. For Abel did not wish to overshadow his brother's sacrifice, but to keep the discipline of sacrifice, so that no
Gen 4:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 4:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 4:8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Cain killed Abel from envy, though Abel had provoked nothing.
- Gen 4:3–8. The word "sloth" (desidia) is split between this section and the next.
Topics: Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.9.1 (CSEL 64:76; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-9-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-9-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.9.2CSEL 64:76
dia moraretur nec aliqua in usus proprios deriuata usurpatione uiolaret. Saul quoque triumphatorem Palaestinorum Dauid prophetam et propriae conseruatorem salutis iuuencularum sibi sermone praelatum temptauit insidiis, teli iactu parauit occidere ac paene sanguinem generi fuderat innocentis, nisi uulnus ille sinuati corporis inflexione lusisset. quae ibi malitia, si iuuenculae dixerunt: Saul in milibus, Dauid in decem milibus? quam atrox autem inuidia regis Saul, qui sermonis errorem in innocentis exitium deriuauit!
sloth should delay the firstfruits, nor any usurpation violate them by diverting them to private use. Saul too, when David the prophet, the triumpher over the Philistines and preserver of his own safety, was preferred to him in the speech of young women, assailed him with plots, prepared to kill him with the cast of a spear, and almost shed the innocent blood of his son-in-law, had not David evaded the wound by bending his body. What malice was there, if the young women said: "Saul among thousands, David among ten thousands"? But how fierce the envy of King Saul, who turned an error of speech to the ruin of an innocent man!
1 Sam 18:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 18:11 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 19:10 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Saul's envy of David shows how the malicious are stirred without cause.
- 1 Sam 18:7–11; 19:10. David became Saul's son-in-law (1 Sam 18:27).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: 1 for l): Sau1 → Saul.
Topics: Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.9.2 (CSEL 64:76; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-9-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-9-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 10
36.10.1CSEL 64:76–77
Neque aemulatus, inquit, fueris facientes iniquitatem. non repetiuit, quod dixerat, sed mutauit. aliud est enim subaemulari, aliud aemulari; subaemulatio astutiam habet, aemulatio simplicitatem. sed tamen etiam ipsa cauta debet esse simplicitas et prouida, ut nouerit quid cauendum sit; neque enim otiose dictum est: estote astuti sicut serpentes et simplices sicut columbae. spiritalis ergo debet esse astutia, quae seruet salutem, dolum nesciat, spiritalis debet esse simplicitas.
"And do not envy," he says, "those who do iniquity." He did not repeat what he had said but changed it. For it is one thing to provoke to emulation, another to emulate; provoking has cunning, emulation simplicity. But even simplicity itself must be cautious and provident, so as to know what to beware of; for not idly was it said: "Be cunning as serpents and simple as doves." Cunning, then, must be spiritual, preserving salvation and knowing no deceit; simplicity must be spiritual.
Ps 37:1 (36:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:16 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Provoking to rivalry is cunning, emulation simple; both must be spiritual.
- Ps 37:1 [LXX 36:1]; Matt 10:16. Subaemulari renders the Greek παραζηλοῦν.
Topics: Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.10.1 (CSEL 64:76–77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-10-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-10-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.10.2CSEL 64:77
uidetur autem etiam alio loco distinctionem subaemulationis scriptura fecisse, cum dicit: et auferetur zelus Ephrem et inimici Iudae peribunt; non erit aemulus Ephrem Iudae et Iuda non uexabit Ephrem. alibi autem habet: sic et uos, quoniam aemulatores estis spiritalium aedificationem ecclesiae quaerite ut abundetis. aemulatores pro bonis et bonae rei imitatoribus posuit, aemulum pro oblico et inuido.
Scripture seems to have made the distinction of provoking to emulation in another place too, when it says: "And the jealousy of Ephraim will be taken away and the enemies of Judah will perish; Ephraim will not be the rival of Judah, and Judah will not vex Ephraim." But elsewhere it has: "So you too, since you are emulous of spiritual gifts, seek the building up of the church, that you may abound." He used "emulous" for the good and imitators of a good thing, "rival" for the oblique and envious.
Isa 11:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 14:12 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture distinguishes the envious rival from the good emulator.
- Isa 11:13; 1 Cor 14:12.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: n for ri): scnptura → scriptura.
Topics: Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.10.2 (CSEL 64:77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-10-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-10-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 11
36.11.1CSEL 64:77
Primum est ergo, ne malignos ad aemulationis malignitatem lacessas, secundum, ut non aemuleris iniquitatem facientes. plerumque enim uidentes pii fraude aliquos et astutia quaesisse diuitias et peruenisse ad honores aemulatione deformi uias eorum sequi gestiunt, ut ad diuitias et honores simili arte perueniant uel in contrahendo coniugio circumscribant adulescentulas.
The first, then, is not to provoke the malicious to the malice of rivalry; the second, not to envy those who do iniquity. For often the pious, seeing that some have sought riches by fraud and cunning and reached honors, long, with an ugly emulation, to follow their ways, so as to reach riches and honors by a like art, or to trick young girls in contracting marriage.
Ps 37:1 (36:1 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The pious must not envy and imitate the dishonest rich.
Topics: Ethics, Anger and envy, Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.11.1 (CSEL 64:77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-11-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-11-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.11.2CSEL 64:77
quid enim prodest, cum ipsae diuitiae et omnis gloria saecularis tamquam faenum cito arescat et tamquam holera herbarum in ipsa specie sui floris intercidant? omnis caro faenum et omnis gloria hominis ut flos faeni. noli ergo magnopere affectare quod perpetuum esse non possit, noli esse aemulus et oblicus, noli esse contentiosus et decertator in zelo. unde et Aquilas dixit: noli concertare in malignantibus, Symmachus: noli contendere.
For what does it profit, when riches themselves and all worldly glory dry up like hay and perish like garden herbs in the very beauty of their flower? "All flesh is hay, and all the glory of man like the flower of hay." Do not, then, greatly strive after what cannot be lasting; do not be a rival and oblique; do not be contentious and a combatant in jealousy. Hence Aquila too said: "Do not compete among the malicious"; Symmachus: "Do not contend."
Ps 37:2 (36:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 40:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 1:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:1 (36:1 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Worldly glory withers like grass; do not compete with the wicked.
- Ps 37:2 [LXX 36:2]; Isa 40:6 (1 Pet 1:24). Aquila and Symmachus are cited from the Hexapla for Ps 37:1.
Topics: Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.11.2 (CSEL 64:77; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-11-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-11-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.11.3CSEL 64:77–78
Noli etiam esse imitator iniquitatis et fraudis, sed esto apostolicae doctrinae, propheticae gratiae sanctorumque uirtutis imitator, ut fructum feras et messem bonitatis recondas, sicut Ioseph, qui multitudine frumenti famem diuturnae sterilitatis exclusit, ut Habacuc, qui prandium messoribus deferendo eleuatus ab angelo aerii tramitis iter carpsit et redditus terris inter saeuos leonum strepitus pio prophetae dulce conuiuium ministrauit.
Do not be an imitator of iniquity and fraud either, but be an imitator of the apostles' teaching, the prophets' grace and the saints' virtue, so that you may bear fruit and store up a harvest of goodness, like Joseph, who with a multitude of grain shut out the famine of long barrenness; like Habakkuk, who, carrying lunch to the reapers, was lifted by an angel and took a path through the air, and, returned to earth amid the fierce roaring of lions, served a sweet meal to the pious prophet.
Gen 41:49 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 41:56 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Imitate the saints, like Joseph and Habakkuk, who fed others.
- Gen 41:47–57; Bel 33–39 (the Greek additions to Daniel).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: L for N): Loli → Noli.
Extrabiblical texts: Bel 33 (Bel and the Dragon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.11.3 (CSEL 64:77–78; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-11-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-11-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-11-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 12
36.12.1CSEL 64:78
Recte ergo dicit propheta: spera in domino et fac bonitatem et inhabita terram et pasceris in diuitiis eius. quae est terra quam suadet inhabitandam nisi anima tua, quam bene debes excolere, frequenter spiritalibus inarare uomeribus, ne longo inhorrescat situ? bonus enim agricola cotidiana operatione et peruigili sollicitudine exercet agrum suum et
Rightly, then, the prophet says: "Hope in the Lord and do goodness, and dwell in the land, and you will be fed in its riches." What is the land he urges you to dwell in but your soul, which you ought to cultivate well, often ploughing it with spiritual ploughshares, lest it grow rough with long neglect? For a good farmer works his field with daily labor and watchful care and
Ps 37:3 (36:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The land to dwell in is one's own soul, to be cultivated.
- Ps 37:3 [LXX 36:3] (Greek form).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): spera a i n domino → spera in domino.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.12.1 (CSEL 64:78; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-12-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-12-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.12.2CSEL 64:78
propria rura custodit, ne deuastet ea aper de silua et fructus maturos raptor eripiat. ara ergo terram tuam, ut, cum uenerit qui seminat uerbum, animam tuam inueniat praeparatam, ne supra inculta cordis tui decidat semen et ueniant aues caeli et diripiant quod fuerit seminatum. quae sit ergo terra, audi dicentem: ecce exiit qui seminat seminare agrum suum. et dum seminat, aliud cecidit secus uiam, aliud supra petram, aliud supra terram bonam. quod autem supra terram bonam, hi sunt qui in corde bono
guards his own fields, lest the boar from the forest lay them waste and a robber snatch the ripe fruit. Plough your land, then, so that when he comes who sows the word he may find your soul prepared, lest the seed fall on the uncultivated parts of your heart and the birds of heaven come and snatch what has been sown. Hear one saying, then, what the land is: "Behold, the sower went out to sow his field. And as he sowed, some fell by the way, some on rock, some on good ground." And what fell on good ground, these are those who with a good heart
Ps 80:13 (79:14 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 13:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 8:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 8:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The soul must be ploughed to receive the Word, as in the parable of the sower.
- Ps 80:13 [LXX 79:14]; Matt 13:3–8; Luke 8:5–8, 15.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray hyphen; digitization: words joined): animam-tuam → animam tuam; supraterram bonam, hi → supra terram bonam, hi.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.12.2 (CSEL 64:78; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-12-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-12-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-12-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.12.3CSEL 64:78
audientes uerbum retinent et fructum afferunt per patientiam. mundum sit ergo cor tuum, munda sit anima tua, ut fructum bonitatis possis afferre, hoc est gratiae spiritalis. bonitas enim fructus est spiritus sancti, sicut scriptum est: fructus autem spiritus est caritas, gaudium, pax, patientia, benignitas, bonitas, fides, modestia, continentia. hi sunt fructus, quorum diuitiis pascimur et ubertate satiamur. in hac terra uitem illam fructiferam iustus Noe plantauit et de fructu eius bibit
hear the word, keep it, and bear fruit through patience. Let your heart, then, be clean, let your soul be clean, so that you can bear the fruit of goodness, that is, of spiritual grace. For goodness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, as it is written: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, modesty, continence." These are the fruits on whose riches we are fed and with whose abundance we are filled. In this land righteous Noah planted that fruitful vine, and drank of its fruit
Luke 8:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 9:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 9:21 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Goodness is the fruit of the Spirit grown in a clean soul.
- Luke 8:15; Gal 5:22–23; Gen 9:20–21.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: ij for u): fructijs → fructus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.12.3 (CSEL 64:78; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-12-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-12-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-12-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.12.4CSEL 64:78–79
atque intimo corde solutus est, quando eum laudabili pietatis amictu induit uirtutum suarum geminata posteritas. alio quoque loco nobis istas propheta sanctus diuitias demonstrauit, quibus erat diues in Christo et omnibus, quae ad uitam aeternam conducerent, abundauit. et re uera quis ditior quam qui diues in domino est, ut possit dicere: in uia testimoniorum tuorum delectatus sum quasi in omnibus diuitiis? quid enim poterat deesse uiro qui caelestibus ditabatur oraculis? et ideo suadet hoc psalmo, ut thesaurum illum nobis quaeramus aeternum et delectationem eius adquisitione capiamus.
and was loosened in his inmost heart, when his twofold descendants clothed him with the praiseworthy cloak of their piety and virtues. In another place too the holy prophet showed us these riches, in which he was rich in Christ and abounded in all things that lead to eternal life. And indeed who is richer than he who is rich in the Lord, so that he can say: "In the way of your testimonies I have delighted as in all riches"? For what could be lacking to a man who was enriched by heavenly oracles? And so in this psalm he urges us to seek for ourselves that eternal treasure and take delight in its acquisition.
Gen 9:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:14 (118:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:3 (36:3 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The true riches are those of God's word.
- Gen 9:23 (Shem and Japheth cover Noah, here read as a figure); Ps 119:14 [LXX 118:14].
Topics: Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.12.4 (CSEL 64:78–79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-12-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-12-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-12-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 13
36.13.1CSEL 64:79
Ideoque ait: delectare in domino, et dabit tibi petitiones cordis tui. quare non dixit tuas, sed cordis tui petitiones? etenim petitiones exterioris hominis interiorisque communes non sunt nec omnes probantur a Christo, quia lex carnis legi mentis frequenter repugnat. quae autem interioris sunt hominis, qui renouatus est spiritu, illas petitiones dominus petitus donat effectu.
And so he says: "Delight in the Lord, and he will give you the requests of your heart." Why did he not say "your requests" but "the requests of your heart"? For the requests of the outer man and the inner are not common, nor are all approved by Christ, since the law of the flesh often fights against the law of the mind. But those requests that belong to the inner man, renewed by the Spirit, the Lord, when asked, grants in effect.
Ps 37:4 (36:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 4:23 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Cor 4:16 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God grants the requests of the inner man, not of the flesh.
- Ps 37:4 [LXX 36:4]; Rom 7:23; Eph 4:23.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray letter): delectare e in domino → delectare in domino.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.13.1 (CSEL 64:79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-13-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-13-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.13.2CSEL 64:79
unde et alibi ait: tribuat tibi dominus secundum cor tuum et omnes petitiones tuas confirmet. secundum cor ait, non secundum appetentiam carnis et illas petitiones, inquit, quae prodeunt ex intimo corde, confirmet, non quae ex carnis huius inlecebra et uoluptatibus diriguntur.
Hence he says elsewhere too: "May the Lord grant you according to your heart and confirm all your requests." He says "according to the heart," not according to the appetite of the flesh; and may he confirm, he says, those requests which come from the inmost heart, not those directed by the enticement and pleasures of this flesh.
Ps 20:4 (19:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalm 20 likewise asks that God grant what is according to the heart.
- Ps 20:4 [LXX 19:5].
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.13.2 (CSEL 64:79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-13-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-13-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-13-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 14
36.14.1CSEL 64:79
Reuela ad dominum uiam tuam et spera in eum, et ipse faciet; et educet sicut lumen iustitiam tuam et iudicium tuum sicut meridiem. hoc solo uersiculo qualis esse debeas declarauit; quis enim reuelat uiam suam nisi qui deo occultorum suorum arbitro interna sui pectoris confitetur?
"Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in him, and he himself will act; and he will bring forth your justice like light and your judgment like noonday." By this one verse he has declared what you ought to be; for who reveals his way but he who confesses the inner things of his heart to God, the judge of his secrets?
Ps 37:5 (36:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:6 (36:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To reveal one's way is to confess one's heart to God.
- Ps 37:5–6 [LXX 36:5–6].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: split word; digitization: stray points): do minum → dominum; et..educet → et educet.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.14.1 (CSEL 64:79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-14-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.14.2CSEL 64:79
bene ait reuela, hoc est: aperi conscientiam tuam, ne eam saeculi istius grauet umbra uel carnis. prorumpentia enim semina si fuerint obumbrata, tenuantur, soli obiecta pinguescunt. quid de seminibus loquor? ipsas arbusculas, quo minus sese in altum subiciant, umbra siluestris internecat et prohibet brachia ramosa diffundere.
Well does he say "reveal," that is, open your conscience, lest the shadow of this world or of the flesh weigh it down. For sprouting seeds, if overshadowed, grow thin; exposed to the sun they grow fat. Why speak of seeds? The shade of the forest kills even shrubs, so that they do not rise on high, and prevents them from spreading their branching arms.
Notes and citation
Summary: Open your conscience to the light, as plants need the sun.
Topics: Conscience
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.14.2 (CSEL 64:79; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-14-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.14.3CSEL 64:79–80
pulchre autem dixit: reuela ad dominum uiam tuam, quia natura hominum prona peccato uelut quoddam menti nostrae uelamen obducit, ne nostra domino peccata fateamur, qui potest uulnera nostra sanare,
And finely he says: "Reveal your way to the Lord," because human nature, prone to sin, draws a kind of veil over our mind, so that we do not confess our sins to the Lord, who can heal our wounds,
Ps 37:5 (36:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:15 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sin veils the mind and hinders confession.
- 2 Cor 3:15–16.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.14.3 (CSEL 64:79–80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-14-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.14.4CSEL 64:80
ut erubescat quis ore proprio postulare medicinam, ne coram hominibus sua prodantur obprobria. premit igitur se intra hominem conscientia, cum latere non possit, et tamdiu differt, quoad uulnus efferueat, ut iam non fidei salubritate, sed inmedicabili atrocitate ulceris detegatur. reuela, inquit, ad dominum uiam tuam, hoc est: aperi uiam tuam, noli abscondere, sicut abscondebat Cain, qui latere cupiebat;
so that a man is ashamed to ask for medicine with his own mouth, lest his disgraces be exposed before men. So conscience presses itself in within a man, though it cannot be hidden, and puts off so long that the wound festers, until it is uncovered no longer by the health of faith but by the incurable fierceness of the ulcer. "Reveal," he says, "your way to the Lord," that is, open your way, do not hide it, as Cain hid it, who wished to lie hidden;
Ps 37:5 (36:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 4:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Hidden sin festers; we must not hide like Cain.
- Gen 4:9, 14.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: missing letter): reuea → reuela.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.14.4 (CSEL 64:80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-14-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.14.5CSEL 64:80
omnis enim qui male agit odit lucem. reuelabat Dauid uiam suam, qui ait: dico ego opera mea regi. aperi sensum tuum, ut nihil sit quod timeas reprehendi; reuelauit et Paulus, qui praesumpsit dicere: nihil mihi conscius sum. is actus, ea uita sit, ut uia tua coram patre tuo luceat qui in caelis est.
for "everyone who does evil hates the light." David revealed his way, who said: "I tell my works to the king." Open your mind, so that there is nothing you fear to be blamed for; Paul too revealed his, who dared to say: "I am conscious of nothing against myself." Let your action, your life be such that your way may shine before your Father who is in heaven.
John 3:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 45:1 (44:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 4:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David and Paul laid their ways open; so should we.
- John 3:20; Ps 45:1 [LXX 44:2]; 1 Cor 4:4; Matt 5:16.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.14.5 (CSEL 64:80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-14-5
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-14-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 15
36.15.1CSEL 64:80
Sed quia obnoxia fragilitati omnis humana condicio est et non nostrae est potestatis iter nostrum ex uoluntate dirigere, ideo tibi dicit: spera in domino, et ipse faciet, hoc est: ut aperiat uiam tuam nec talem te esse permittat, ut fugias lucem, dum times prodi, et diligas tenebras, ut tua possis occultare flagitia dicens: tenebrae operiunt me;
But because every human condition is subject to frailty and it is not in our power to direct our path by our will, he therefore says to you: "Hope in the Lord, and he himself will act," that is, to open your way and not allow you to be such as to flee the light, fearing to be exposed, and love darkness so as to be able to hide your shameful deeds, saying: "Darkness covers me;
Jer 10:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 37:5 (36:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 3:19 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We cannot direct our own path; God will open our way.
- Jer 10:23; Ps 37:5 [LXX 36:5]; John 3:19; Sir 23:18, continued in 36.15.2.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 23:18 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.15.1 (CSEL 64:80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-15-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-15-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.15.2CSEL 64:80
quis scit si uidet altissimus? quomodo enim potest, qui adulterium molitur, non noctem suis accommodam quaerere temptamentis, qui falsum cogitat, testem suae fraudi adhibere, qui corruptelam iudicis captat, ut opprimat innocentem, iniquitatis non explorare secretum? latro solitudines obsidet, noctis tenebras operitur, ut sceleri cedat effectus.
who knows whether the Most High sees?" For how can he who plots adultery not seek a night suited to his attempts, he who plans falsehood not bring a witness to his fraud, he who seeks to corrupt a judge in order to crush the innocent not explore the secrecy of iniquity? The robber besets lonely places and covers himself with the darkness of night so that his crime may succeed.
Job 24:15 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sinners seek darkness to hide their deeds.
- Sir 23:18; Job 24:15.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 23:18 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.15.2 (CSEL 64:80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-15-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-15-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-15-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.15.3CSEL 64:80–81
iniquitas ergo tenebrae sunt, deus lux est. et si tu uelis tuam occultare iustitiam, deus eam educit in lucem nec patitur latere iudicium, quo ea quae bona sunt elegisti, quae improba refutasti. nec solum facit tuum lucere iudicium, sed lucere sicut meridiem. quando se sol iste in splendorem totus effundit, meridies est; meridies erat, quando Ioseph cum fratribus epulabatur non ultus iniuriam, sed oblitus.
Iniquity, then, is darkness; God is light. And even if you wish to hide your justice, God brings it out into the light and does not allow the judgment to lie hidden by which you chose what is good and rejected what is wicked. And he not only makes your judgment shine, but shine like noonday. When this sun pours itself out wholly into splendor, it is noon; it was noon when Joseph feasted with his brothers, not avenging the injury but forgetting it.
1 John 1:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 37:6 (36:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 43:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 45:5 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God brings the just man's judgment into the full light of noon, as with Joseph.
- 1 John 1:5; Ps 37:6 [LXX 36:6]; Gen 43:16, 25.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: 1 for l, split word; digitization: OCR letter slips): 1u x → lux; uehs → uelis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.15.3 (CSEL 64:80–81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-15-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-15-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-15-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 16
36.16.1CSEL 64:81
Subditus esto domino et obsecra eum. non solum ut subiectus domino sis, moneris, sed etiam ut obsecres dominum, quo possis tuae studium subiectionis implere, sicut et supra ait: reuela domino uiam tuam et spera in eum. non solum reuelare uiam tuam te conuenit, sed etiam sperare in domino. bona autem subiectio non abiecta, non uilis, sed gloriosa atque sublimis; ille enim subditus deo est qui facit domini uoluntatem.
"Be subject to the Lord and entreat him." You are warned not only to be subject to the Lord but also to entreat the Lord, so that you may fulfil your zeal for subjection; as he said above: "Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in him." It is fitting not only to reveal your way but also to hope in the Lord. Good subjection is not abject, not base, but glorious and sublime; for he is subject to God who does the Lord's will.
Ps 37:7 (36:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:5 (36:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Subjection to God is glorious; it means doing his will.
- Ps 37:7, 5 [LXX 36:7, 5].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters, n for u): S nb ditus → Subditus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.16.1 (CSEL 64:81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-16-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.16.2CSEL 64:81
denique quis ignorat, quod sapientia mentis praestantior quam carnis sapientia sit? sapientia autem mentis subiecta est dei legi, sapientia carnis non est subdita, et addidit apostolus: nec enim potest. esto ergo subditus, hoc est proximus Christo, ut legem impleas. denique Christus faciendo uoluntatem patris legem impleuit et ideo finis est legis et plenitudo est caritatis, quia diligens patrem effectum omnem eius adhibuit uoluntati.
Indeed, who does not know that the wisdom of the mind is more excellent than the wisdom of the flesh? And the wisdom of the mind is subject to God's law, the wisdom of the flesh is not subject, and the apostle added: "nor can it be." Be subject, then, that is, near to Christ, so that you may fulfil the law. Indeed Christ fulfilled the law by doing the Father's will, and so he is the end of the law and the fullness of love, because, loving the Father, he applied all his effort to his will.
Rom 8:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 13:10 (allusion, high confidence) · John 6:38 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, subject to the Father's will, fulfilled the law.
- Rom 8:6–7; Rom 10:4; Rom 13:10; John 6:38.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.16.2 (CSEL 64:81; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-16-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.16.3CSEL 64:81–82
unde pro gloria apostolus dixit: cum autem subiecta illi fuerint omnia, tunc et ipse subiectus erit illi qui sibi subiecit omnia, ut sit deus omnia in omnibus, et ipse de ait: nonne deo subdita est anima mea? ab ipso enim salutare meum. denique pro pietate erat, non pro infirmitate Ioseph et Mariae parentibus subditus. gloria autem Christi maxima, ut se uniuersorum hominum pectoribus infundat et omnes reuocet ab impietate perfidiae et gentilitatis
Hence the apostle said as a matter of glory: "But when all things have been subjected to him, then he himself also will be subject to him who subjected all things to himself, that God may be all in all"; and he himself says: "Is not my soul subject to God? For from him is my salvation." Indeed it was out of piety, not weakness, that he was subject to his parents Joseph and Mary. And Christ's greatest glory is to pour himself into the hearts of all men and call all back from the ungodliness of faithlessness and the attachment to paganism,
1 Cor 15:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 62:1 (61:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 2:51 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ's subjection is his glory, as in 1 Cor 15:28.
- 1 Cor 15:28; Ps 62:1 [LXX 61:2]; Luke 2:51. "He himself says" translates an uncertain phrase (et ipse de ait); the speaker seems to be Christ in the psalm.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.16.3 (CSEL 64:81–82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-16-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.16.4CSEL 64:82
affectu, ut sibi faciat esse subiectos. cum autem sibi subiecerit omnia, cum intrauerit plenitudo gentium et saluus factus fuerit omnis Israel et toto orbe unum fuerit corpus in Christo, tunc erit et ipse subiectus, munus suum deo patri offerens et quasi princeps omnium sacerdotum et caelestibus compos altaribus, ut sit sacrificium fides omnium. pietatis ergo est ista subiectio, quod
so as to make them subject to himself. But when he has subjected all things to himself, when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and all Israel has been saved and there is one body in Christ in the whole world, then he himself will be subject, offering his gift to God the Father, as the chief of all priests and possessor of the heavenly altars, so that the faith of all may be the sacrifice. This subjection, then, is one of piety, in that
Rom 11:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:26 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:28 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 8:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ will be subject when he offers the whole church to the Father as high priest.
- Rom 11:25–26; 1 Cor 15:28; Heb 8:1–2.
Topics: Christology, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.16.4 (CSEL 64:82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-16-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.16.5CSEL 64:82
erit subiectus in corpore dominus Iesus, cuius nos sumus corpus et membra. esto ergo, homo, subiectus Christo, hoc est: subditus sapientiae dei, subditus uerbo, subditus iustitiae, subditus uirtuti, quia haec omnia Christus est. omnis homo deo se subiciat; non enim
the Lord Jesus will be subject in his body, whose body and members we are. Be subject, then, O man, to Christ, that is, subject to the wisdom of God, subject to the Word, subject to justice, subject to power, because Christ is all these. Let every man subject himself to God; for
1 Cor 12:27 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:30 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is subject in his body, the church; we must be subject to him.
- 1 Cor 12:27; 1 Cor 1:24. Ambrose explains 1 Cor 15:28 of Christ's body, an answer to Arian use of the verse.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: garbled word): GJlflstO → Christo.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.16.5 (CSEL 64:82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-5
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-16-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.16.6CSEL 64:82
unum, sed omnes docet, ut subiciant cor suum, subiciant animam suam, subiciant carnem suam, quo sit deus omnia et in omnibus. subiectus ergo est qui plenus est gratiae et suscipit iugum Christi et mandata domini strenue et incunctanter exequitur, sine subiectione autem, qui se frustra extollit sensu propriae carnis inflatus, insolens deuotionis et piae declinans obseruantiam seruitutis, quam ipso iure naturae auctori debemus aeterno. postremo qui sine peccato est subiectus est Christo, quoniam redemptus a domino est; qui autem in peccato est, non potest dici liber, sed seruus, quem grauia tenent uincla peccati.
he teaches not one but all to subject their heart, subject their soul, subject their flesh, so that God may be all in all. He is subject, then, who is full of grace and takes up the yoke of Christ and carries out the Lord's commands vigorously and without delay; but he is without subjection who exalts himself in vain, puffed up by the sense of his own flesh, unaccustomed to devotion and turning from the observance of loving service which by the very law of nature we owe to the eternal Author. Lastly, he who is without sin is subject to Christ, because he has been redeemed by the Lord; but he who is in sin cannot be called free, but a slave, whom the heavy chains of sin hold.
1 Cor 15:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:29 (allusion, high confidence) · John 8:34 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 2:18 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Subjection means bearing Christ's yoke; the sinner is a slave.
- 1 Cor 15:28; Matt 11:29; John 8:34.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: joined words, garbled letters): suamsubiciant carnem suamquo sit deus omnia et III ommbus.subiectus → suam, subiciant carnem suam, quo sit deus omnia et in omnibus. subiectus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.16.6 (CSEL 64:82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-16-6
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-16-6) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 17
36.17.1CSEL 64:82–83
Sequitur: ne aemulatus fueris eum, qui prospere dirigitur in uia sua faciens iniquitatem. euidenter hic quid superius senserit intimauit, non excitandos malignos aemulatione ad malignitatem neque imitandos facientes iniquitatem. non enim iniquitas, sed prosperae res, quae proueniunt iniqua gerentibus, nos saepe sollicitant, ut eos putemus imitandos, quo ad eorum possimus peruenire successus, dicentes: ecce ipsi peccatores et abundantes in saeculo optinuerunt diuitias. et dixi: ergo sine causa iustificaui cor meum et laui inter innocentes manus meas et fui flagellatus tota die.
There follows: "Do not envy him who prospers in his way, doing iniquity." Here he has plainly indicated what he meant above: that the malicious are not to be roused by rivalry to malice, nor those who do iniquity imitated. For it is not iniquity but the prosperity that comes to those who act unjustly that often tempts us to think them worth imitating, so that we may reach their successes, saying: "Behold, these are sinners, and, abounding in the world, they have gained riches. And I said: then in vain have I justified my heart and washed my hands among the innocent, and I have been scourged all day long."
Ps 37:7 (36:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 73:12 (72:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 73:13 (72:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 73:14 (72:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Do not envy the prosperity of the wicked, as the psalmist was tempted to do.
- Ps 37:7 [LXX 36:7]; Ps 73:12–14 [LXX 72:12–14].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): f aciens → faciens.
Topics: Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.17.1 (CSEL 64:82–83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-17-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-17-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.17.2CSEL 64:83
si igitur flagellatus est Dauid, cauere debemus, ne et nos flagellemur et dicatur nobis, quia diuitiae honores potentiae generationi huic uideantur esse disposita quasi uaga et incerta pecuniae opera iniquitatisque compendia, non quasi praemia ulla uirtutis ideoque uelut somnium ueniant et cum somnio te surgente deficiant. ipsos athletas, cum uicerint, certum est coronari, non antequam uincant.
If, then, David was scourged, we must take care that we are not scourged too, and that it be said to us that riches, honors, powers seem to be allotted to this generation as wandering and uncertain products of money and profits of iniquity, not as any rewards of virtue, and so they come like a dream and vanish with the dream as you rise. Athletes themselves, it is certain, are crowned when they have won, not before they win.
Ps 73:20 (72:20 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Tim 2:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Worldly goods are no reward of virtue; the crown comes after victory.
- Ps 73:20 [LXX 72:20].
Topics: Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.17.2 (CSEL 64:83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-17-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-17-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-17-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.17.3CSEL 64:83
nobis lucta cum saeculo est; uince ante saeculum quam coronam petas. nemo ante coronatur, nisi certamen impleuerit. qui stadium currunt, numquid ante brauium accipiunt quam stadium percucurrerint? quanti priores in exitu cadunt et cursus sui celeritate fraudantur! numquid tu deo quam Paulus acceptior? ille uas electionis, ille gentium doctor numquam sibi in hoc saeculo coronam ausus est postulare. denique audi dicentem: certamen bonum certaui, cursum consummaui, fidem seruaui; quod reliquum, reposita est mihi iustitiae corona, quam reddet mihi dominus in illo die.
Our wrestling is with the world; conquer the world before you seek the crown. No one is crowned before he has completed the contest. Do those who run the race receive the prize before they have run the course? How many who were ahead fall at the finish and are cheated of the speed of their running! Are you more acceptable to God than Paul? He, the vessel of election, the teacher of the Gentiles, never dared to ask for a crown for himself in this world. Indeed hear him saying: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; for the rest, there is laid up for me the crown of justice, which the Lord will give me on that day."
1 Cor 9:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 9:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 2:7 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Tim 4:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Even Paul expected his crown only at the end of the race.
- 1 Cor 9:24; Acts 9:15; 1 Tim 2:7; 2 Tim 4:7–8.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.17.3 (CSEL 64:83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-17-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-17-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-17-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.17.4CSEL 64:83
Paulus ille raptus in tertium caelum - qui audiuit ea quae non licet homini loqui, utrum corpore esset raptus an sine corpore, nescit, sicut ipse testatus est -, Paulus ergo dicit in illa die coronam sibi esse reddendam: tu hic tibi ut reddatur insistis? imple ergo certaminis tui tempus. non semel athleta luctatur nec semel proeliatur miles, ut stipendia sua possit implere; et tibi non cum una passione luctamen est.
Paul, who was caught up to the third heaven (who heard things that it is not lawful for a man to speak, and whether he was caught up in the body or without the body he does not know, as he himself testified), Paul, then, says that the crown is to be given him on that day: and do you insist that it be given you here? Complete, then, the time of your contest. An athlete does not wrestle once, nor does a soldier fight once, so as to complete his service; and you too have a struggle not with one passion only.
2 Cor 12:2 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 12:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Complete the time of your contest; the crown comes later.
- 2 Cor 12:2–4; 2 Tim 4:8.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.17.4 (CSEL 64:83; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-17-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-17-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-17-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 36, chapter 18
36.18.1CSEL 64:83–84
Superiores si euaseris passiones, ira succedit et ideo tibi dicit scriptura: desine ab ira et relinque indignationem. sunt multa uitia quae obrepunt insipientibus. ira grauis passio est; plerumque accendit inuitum et uolentem mitius uindicare in furorem rapit, ut perimat quem putauerit coercendum. com-
If you have escaped the earlier passions, anger follows; and so Scripture says to you: "Cease from anger and forsake indignation." There are many vices that creep up on the unwise. Anger is a heavy passion; it often kindles a man against his will, and, when he wants to punish mildly, sweeps him into fury, so that he kills one he thought should be corrected.
Ps 37:8 (36:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Anger is a heavy passion that turns correction into killing.
- Ps 37:8 [LXX 36:8].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: ft for n): uiftdicare → uindicare.
Topics: Ethics, Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.18.1 (CSEL 64:83–84; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-1
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-18-1) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.18.2CSEL 64:84
motus gladio saepe transuerberat innocentem, amicos et fratres per indignationem plurimi peremerunt. ideo sapiens dicit: ira perdit etiam sapientes. Salomonis dictum est, quia non solum quoscumque de medio homines, sed etiam ipsos perdat ira sapientes. et Dauid sapientem monet dicens: desine ab ira, ne, cum accenderis illa, non desinat priusquam te eius flamma consumat. relinque, inquit, indignationem, hoc est: natura te rapit, mouet affectus, culpa te alicuius excitat uel offensa, ut indigneris, sed non usque quaque, ut modum nescias:
Stirred up, he often runs an innocent man through with the sword; very many have killed friends and brothers through indignation. So the wise man says: "Anger destroys even the wise." It is a saying of Solomon that anger destroys not only any men from the crowd but the wise themselves. And David warns the wise man, saying: "Cease from anger," lest, once you are kindled by it, it should not cease before its flame consumes you. "Forsake," he says, "indignation," that is: nature sweeps you along, feeling moves you, someone's fault or offense rouses you to be indignant; but not without limit, so that you know no measure:
Prov 15:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:8 (36:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Anger destroys even the wise; it must be given a limit.
- Prov 15:1 (Greek, "anger destroys even the prudent"); Ps 37:8 [LXX 36:8].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters; digitization: split word): desine ab i r a → desine ab ira; indig nationem → indignationem.
Topics: Ethics, Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.18.2 (CSEL 64:84; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-2
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-18-2) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.18.3CSEL 64:84
relinque eam, finem inpone, ne te in peccatum trahat. hoc est quod supra dixit: irascimini et nolite peccare. non enim hortatur ut irascaris, sed ad tempus cedit affectui, dat tamen medicamentum, ne diutius uis ulceris serpat. irascimini, quod ait, tuae est passionis. medicus enim non statim adhibet medicamenta languori. si dolor feruet, fomenta adhibet, ut mitescat dolor; si febris
forsake it, put an end to it, lest it draw you into sin. This is what he said above: "Be angry and do not sin." For he does not urge you to be angry, but for a time yields to the feeling, yet gives a remedy, lest the force of the sore creep further. "Be angry," as he says, belongs to your passion. For a physician does not at once apply medicines to an illness. If the pain is burning, he applies poultices so that the pain may ease; if the fever
Ps 4:4 (4:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "Be angry and do not sin" concedes the feeling but limits it, like a physician.
- Ps 4:4 [LXX 4:5] (Eph 4:26).
Topics: Ethics, Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.18.3 (CSEL 64:84; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-3
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-18-3) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.18.4CSEL 64:84
exaestuat, remedii tempus expectat, ipsum potum sitientibus negare consueuit. non dicit: noli febrire, cum uapor feruet aegroti, sed dicit: expecta desinat febris, digeratur commotio. sic et propheta non potuit dicere homini, cuius caro ut uariis morborum, ita commotionum passionibus excitatur: non irasceris, sed dicit: desine ab ira et indignationem relinque, ne pecces;
rages, he waits for the time for the remedy, and is accustomed to deny drink itself to the thirsty. He does not say "do not be feverish" when the patient's heat is burning, but says: wait for the fever to stop, let the agitation be digested. So too the prophet could not say to man, whose flesh is stirred by various passions of agitation as by various diseases: "You shall not be angry," but he says: "Cease from anger and forsake indignation," lest you sin;
Ps 37:8 (36:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The prophet, like a physician, does not forbid anger outright but bids it cease.
- Ps 37:8 [LXX 36:8].
Topics: Ethics, Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.18.4 (CSEL 64:84; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-4
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-18-4) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.18.5CSEL 64:84–85
ira enim grauis est magistra, peccati. alius quoque medicus dicit: sol non occidat super iracundiam tuam, ne, dum diu differs, ueniat ille, qui calefactum corporis somno excitare consueuit, et stimulet te, inserat tibi cogitationes et in secreta se tui cordis inmergat dicens: uindica iniuriam tuam, uirum te esse cognosce; femineae infirmitatis est non capere uindictam.
for anger is a heavy teacher of sin. Another physician also says: "Let not the sun go down upon your wrath," lest, while you put it off long, he should come who is wont to rouse the warm body from sleep, and goad you, plant thoughts in you and plunge himself into the secret places of your heart, saying: "Avenge your injury, know that you are a man; it is a woman's weakness not to take vengeance.
Eph 4:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 4:27 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul bids anger end by sunset, lest the devil feed it in the night.
- Eph 4:26–27.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: 1 for l): so1 → sol.
Topics: Ethics, Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.18.5 (CSEL 64:84–85; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-5
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-18-5) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
36.18.6CSEL 64:85
ergo contemnere te debuit seruus, frater decipere, amicus illudere, et tu adhuc tuam non ulcisceris contumeliam? proscribas necesse est, gladio oportet insurgas et dolorem tuum aduersarii morte soleris. uir fuit ille, qui suum occidit inimicum; merito praedicatur, quia ita se uindicauit, ut alius irrogare ei non auderet iniuriam. his stimulis plus accenditur, plus mouetur, ut compleatur quod scriptum est: ira perdit etiam sapientes.
So a slave was to despise you, a brother deceive you, a friend mock you, and you still do not avenge your insult? You must proscribe him, you must rise up with the sword and console your pain with your adversary's death. He was a man who killed his enemy; he is rightly praised, because he avenged himself so that no one else would dare to do him wrong." With these goads he is kindled more, moved more, so that what is written is fulfilled: "Anger destroys even the wise."
Prov 15:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil's goads to revenge lead to the ruin that Proverbs describes.
- Prov 15:1 (Greek).
Topics: Ethics, Anger and envy
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.18.6 (CSEL 64:85; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-18-6
BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSON (whole work; this passage's key: sophiascriptura-ambrose-psalmos-xii-36-18-6) · Report an error
Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.