Explanation of Twelve Psalms 36.79.1–37.18.1
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 36, chapter 79
36.79.1CSEL 64:133
Et tu, si iustus es, transi a praesentibus ad ea quae futura sunt, et transibunt tibi praesentia. caelum et terra transibunt, uerba autem mea non praeteribunt. iusto ergo omnia transeunt. transit impius, similis uanitati est et dies eius sicut umbra praetereunt. nec solum praetereunt iusto praesentia, sed etiam cum ad ea quae sunt futura intenderit, iam ista praetereunt.
And you, if you are just, pass from present things to those that are to come, and present things will pass for you. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." For the just man, then, all things pass. The ungodly man passes; he is like vanity and his days pass like a shadow. And not only do present things pass for the just man, but when he has turned his attention to things to come, these already pass.
Matt 24:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 144:4 (143:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: For the just all present things pass away.
- Matt 24:35; Ps 144:4 [LXX 143:4].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.79.1 (CSEL 64:133; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-79-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-79-1
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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.
36.79.2CSEL 64:133–134
uide quomodo iusto praesentia praeterierunt. utique temporibus Dauid prophetae synagoga erat, ecclesia ex gentibus non erat et idem futuris quasi praesentibus dicit: benedicite, gentes, deum nostrum, deinde supra ait: ascendit deus in iubilatione. transiuit perfidiae uentura tempora non aetate, sed mente et resurrectionem domini multo post saeculo futuram pia fidei deuotione celebrauit dicens: psallite deo nostro, psallite;
See how present things passed for the just man. Certainly in the times of the prophet David there was the synagogue; the church from the Gentiles did not exist; and yet he speaks of future things as present: "Bless our God, you nations"; then above he says: "God has gone up with jubilation." He passed over the times to come of faithlessness, not by age but by mind, and celebrated with the pious devotion of faith the Lord's resurrection, which was to come many ages later, saying: "Sing psalms to our God, sing psalms;
Ps 66:8 (65:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 47:5 (46:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 47:6 (46:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David passed in mind beyond his times and sang of the church and Christ's resurrection as present.
- Ps 66:8 [LXX 65:8]; Ps 47:5–6 [LXX 46:6–7].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: OCR letter slips): deais in iubiatione → deus in iubilatione.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.79.2 (CSEL 64:133–134; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-79-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-79-2
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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.
36.79.3CSEL 64:134
psallite regi nostro, psallite. quasi interesset ipsis Christi et ecclesiae nuptialis copulae sacramentis, ita tripudiat et gaudet. causam quoque celebritatis expressit dicens: regnauit dominus super omnem terram. ergo si nos praetereamus, et illa praeterisse quae futura sunt nobis uidentur, ut, si in nauigando terram praetereas, illam quoque uideas praeterire et quasi a te discedere. saepe nautae, maxime in tempestate, fugiunt terram et tamen, cum eam fugiant nauigantes, ipsa potius fugere uidetur a nauigantibus.
sing psalms to our King, sing psalms." As though present at the very mysteries of the marriage union of Christ and the church, he so dances and rejoices. He also expressed the cause of the celebration, saying: "The Lord has reigned over all the earth." So if we pass on, the things to come also seem to us to have passed, just as, if you pass the land in sailing, you see it too pass and, as it were, depart from you. Often sailors, especially in a storm, flee the land, and yet, while they flee it as they sail, it rather seems to flee from them.
Ps 47:6 (46:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 47:8 (46:9 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence) · Eph 5:32 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: As the coast seems to flee from the sailor, the world passes for one who passes beyond it.
- Ps 47:6–8 [LXX 46:7–9] ("the Lord has reigned over all the earth" combines vv. 2 and 8); Eph 5:32.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.79.3 (CSEL 64:134; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-79-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-79-3
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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.
36.79.4CSEL 64:134
et tu si fugias mundum hunc, et ipse te fugiet; si praetereas terram hanc, et ipsa te praeterit. et tu in mari hoc nauigas et in hoc saeculo fluctuas: fuge terram, saxa habet, lapides habet, sicut scriptum est: lapides de uia proicite. si festines per aerium hoc profundum ad portum diuinae uoluptatis, uidebis tibi haec omnia praeterisse. quid enim interest, utrum praeterierint an tibi ea iudices praeterisse?
And you, if you flee this world, it too will flee you; if you pass this land, it too passes you. You too are sailing on this sea and tossed on the waves in this world: flee the land, it has rocks, it has stones, as it is written: "Throw the stones out of the way." If you hasten through this airy deep to the harbor of divine pleasure, you will see that all these things have passed for you. For what difference does it make whether they have passed or you judge that they have passed for you?
Isa 62:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Flee the world like a ship fleeing a rocky coast toward God's harbor.
- Isa 62:10.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.79.4 (CSEL 64:134; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-79-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-79-4
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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 80
36.80.1CSEL 64:134
Est et alius impius qui uidetur exaltatus et eleuatus super cedros Libani et, si transeas, non erit nec locum eius inuenies. uide mihi scribam Iudaicum reddentem seriem ueterum scripturarum, sed non sequentem; audis quia labiis reddit, miraris ut doctum. interrogas quid sentiat; respondet secundum litteram, percurrit historiam.
There is also another ungodly man who seems exalted and lifted above the cedars of Lebanon, and, if you pass by, he will not be, nor will you find his place. See, I pray, the Jewish scribe reciting the series of the old Scriptures but not following it; you hear that he recites with his lips, you admire him as learned. You ask what he understands; he answers according to the letter, runs through the history.
Ps 37:35 (36:35 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 37:36 (36:36 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Another such ungodly man is the scribe who reads Scripture only by the letter.
- Ps 37:35–36 [LXX 36:35–36]. Ambrose's portrait of the Jewish scribe is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray mark): secundum* → secundum.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.80.1 (CSEL 64:134; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-80-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-80-1
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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.
36.80.2CSEL 64:134
superexaltatus tibi uidetur et eleuatus, si litteram cogites. transi ad intellegentiam spiritalem, quia lex spiritalis; uides illum nihil esse, tum dicis: uidi impium superexaltatum et transiui, et ecce non erat; et quaesiui eum, et non est inuentus locus eius. quaesiui eum ubi esse debuerat, ubi uita est; non illum inueni, non
He seems to you exalted and lifted up, if you think of the letter. Pass to the spiritual understanding, for the law is spiritual; you see that he is nothing; then you say: "I saw the ungodly man exalted and I passed by, and behold, he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not found." I sought him where he should have been, where life is; I did not find him; he was not
Rom 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:35 (36:35 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:36 (36:36 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Passing to the spiritual sense, the literalist is found to be nothing.
- Rom 7:14; Ps 37:35–36 [LXX 36:35–36].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: split word): quae siui → quaesiui.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.80.2 (CSEL 64:134; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-80-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-80-2
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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.
36.80.3CSEL 64:134–135
erat ibi ubi uita erat, quia mortuus erat, et ideo nec locus eius inuentus est. qui enim mortui locus, qui non erat nec fuit umquam? non enim fuit qui in littera erat; littera enim occidit, spiritus autem uiuificat. quaesiui ergo eum ut inuenirem; ille se non praebuit ut inueniretur, hoc est: ego eum uolui conuertere, ille se mihi praebere noluit ut conuerteretur. feci quae erant quaerentis, ille refugit ea quae esse debuerant reuertentis.
there where life was, because he was dead, and so neither was his place found. For what place has a dead man, who was not and never has been? For he who was in the letter did not exist; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. I sought him, then, to find him; he did not offer himself to be found; that is: I wanted to convert him; he would not offer himself to me to be converted. I did what belonged to one who seeks; he shunned what should have belonged to one who returns.
2 Cor 3:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The letter kills; the literalist would not let himself be found and converted.
- 2 Cor 3:6.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Interpreting Scripture
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.80.3 (CSEL 64:134–135; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-80-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-80-3
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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.
36.80.4CSEL 64:135
denique anima quae conuerti uult uerbum requirit et cum inuenerit dicit: tenui eum et non dimittam eum, hoc est dei filium, dei uerbum. iniustum autem, qui sanari noluit, quaesiui eum et non inueni, et ideo non illum imiteris.
In short, the soul that wishes to be converted seeks the Word, and when it has found him says: "I held him and will not let him go," that is, the Son of God, the Word of God. But the unjust man, who would not be healed, I sought, and did not find; and so do not imitate him.
Song 3:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The converted soul holds fast the Word; the unjust refuses healing.
- Song 3:4.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.80.4 (CSEL 64:135; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-80-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-80-4
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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 81
36.81.1CSEL 64:135
Custodi innocentiam et uide aequitatem. qui custodit innocentiam, aequitatem uidet, quoniam qui mundus est deum uidet, cuius uirga recta est et recta iustitia, ut auersetur eos qui declinauerint ad studia prauitatis. bona innocentia quae deum uidet. denique alii posuerunt: custodi perfectionem; perfectus est enim qui malitiam nescit nec dolum nouit.
"Keep innocence and see equity." He who keeps innocence sees equity, since he who is clean sees God, whose rod is a straight rod and straight justice, so as to turn away from those who have turned aside to pursuits of depravity. Good is innocence, which sees God. Indeed others have put: "Keep perfection"; for he is perfect who does not know malice nor know deceit.
Ps 37:37 (36:37 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 45:6 (44:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Innocence sees God; others read "keep perfection".
- Ps 37:37 [LXX 36:37]; Matt 5:8; Ps 45:6 [LXX 44:7].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: repeated syllable, split word): Custodi di inno centiam → Custodi innocentiam.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.81.1 (CSEL 64:135; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-81-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-81-1
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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.
36.81.2CSEL 64:135
ideo, inquit, custodi perfectionem, quia sunt reliquiae homini pacifico. reliquiae dicuntur hominis de corpore mortui, de eius exuuiis. ideo reliquiae, quia post mortem hominis uidentur superesse; supersunt enim quae seruantur ad resurrectionem. oportet enim hoc corruptibile induere incorruptionem et hoc mortale induere inmortalitatem.
"So keep perfection," he says, "for there are remains for the peaceable man." The remains of a man are said of the body of the dead, of his spoils. They are called remains because they seem to survive after a man's death; for what is kept for the resurrection survives. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal put on immortality."
Ps 37:37 (36:37 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:53 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The "remains" of the peaceable man are what survives for the resurrection.
- Ps 37:37 [LXX 36:37] (Greek ἐγκατάλειμμα, "remnant"); 1 Cor 15:53.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): r eliquiae homini p a cifi c o → reliquiae homini pacifico.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.81.2 (CSEL 64:135; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-81-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-81-2
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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.
36.81.3CSEL 64:135
ergo magis reliquiae sunt homini spes resurrectionis et fides conuersionis et gratia dilectionis, quoniam impii non resurgunt in iudicium, uita autem iustorum nota est deo et iudicio domini comprobatur. huic loco pulchre illud conuenit: reliquiae secundum electionem gratiae saluae factae sunt.
So rather a man's remains are the hope of resurrection, the faith of conversion and the grace of love, since the ungodly do not rise in judgment, but the life of the just is known to God and approved by the Lord's judgment. To this place that saying is finely suited: "The remnant according to the election of grace has been saved."
Ps 1:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 11:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The true remains are hope, faith and love; the remnant is saved by grace.
- Ps 1:5–6; Rom 11:5.
Topics: Eschatology, Hope
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.81.3 (CSEL 64:135; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-81-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-81-3
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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 82
36.82.1CSEL 64:135–136
Iniusti autem disperibunt simul, reliquiae impiorum interibunt. iustorum reliquiae uirtutes sunt, impiorum reliquiae improbitas atque perfidia ac peccatum. ea delebuntur, ut non sint.
"But the unjust will perish together; the remains of the ungodly will be destroyed." The remains of the just are virtues; the remains of the ungodly are wickedness and faithlessness and sin. These will be blotted out, so as not to be.
Ps 37:38 (36:38 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: What remains of the ungodly, their sin, will be blotted out.
- Ps 37:38 [LXX 36:38].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): I niusti autem disp er ibunt simul, r eliquiae → Iniusti autem disperibunt simul, reliquiae.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.82.1 (CSEL 64:135–136; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-82-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-82-1
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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 83
36.83.1CSEL 64:136
Salus autem iustorum a domino, non saeculo, non ab elemento; caelum et terra praeteribunt. non committo salutem meam caelo, quia et ipsum praeterit, quia de pluribus caelis dictum est: ipsi peribunt, tu autem permanes. deo soli committo qui permanet, qui potest donare peccata, ut protector meus sit in tempore tribulationis et adiuuet me et liberet me et eripiat me a peccatoribus iudicii sui tempore et saluum me faciat, quoniam speraui in eum. in ipsum solum speraui; non uult enim nos et sibi et alii seruire. qui ipsi soli seruit, liberatur, quoniam ipsi est laus, gloria, perpetuitas a saeculis et nunc et semper et in omnia saecula saeculorum. amen.
"But the salvation of the just is from the Lord," not from the world, not from an element; "heaven and earth will pass away." I do not entrust my salvation to heaven, because it too passes, since it was said of the many heavens: "They will perish, but you remain." I entrust it to God alone, who remains, who can forgive sins, that he may be my protector in the time of tribulation and help me and free me and rescue me from sinners in the time of his judgment and save me, because I have hoped in him. In him alone I have hoped; for he does not want us to serve both himself and another. He who serves him alone is freed, for to him is praise, glory, eternity, from the ages and now and always and for all the ages of ages. Amen.
Ps 37:39 (36:39 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 37:40 (36:40 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:35 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 102:26 (101:27 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:24 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Salvation is from the Lord alone, who remains when heaven passes.
- Ps 37:39–40 [LXX 36:39–40]; Matt 24:35; Ps 102:26 [LXX 101:27]; Matt 6:24.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters; digitization: words joined): praeterib u n t → praeteribunt; ipsiperibunt → ipsi peribunt.
Topics: Salvation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 36.83.1 (CSEL 64:136; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-83-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/36-83-1
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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 37, chapter 1
37.1.1CSEL 64:136
De paenitentia duos iam dudum scripsi libellos et iterum scribendum arbitror. primum, quia utile est uel cotidie ueniam delictorum precari, deinde, quoniam in illis duobus libellis adhortatio paenitentiae uel profectus est, si geratur, nunc autem, quemadmodum agi paenitentia debeat, exprimendum est; nihil enim prodest agere, nisi ita agatur ut oportet. in quo sanctus Dauid sequendum nobis proposuit magisterium, qui ideo mihi uidetur gustasse peccatum doceret quemadmodum peccatum posset aboleri. unde enim medicina nisi de uulnere sumpsit exordium? dum prima aetas generis humani docet alios quod sibi profuit et, quem-
I wrote two little books on repentance some time ago, and I think I must write again. First, because it is useful to pray for pardon of offenses even daily; then, because in those two books there is exhortation to repentance, or its progress if it is done, but now it must be set out how repentance ought to be done; for it is of no use to do it unless it is done as it ought to be. In this holy David has set before us a teaching to follow, who seems to me to have tasted sin so that he might teach how sin could be abolished. For from what did medicine take its beginning but from a wound? While the first age of the human race teaches others what profited it, and shows others how
2 Sam 12:13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: After his two books On Repentance, Ambrose will show from Psalm 37 (38) how penance should be done.
- Ambrose's Psalm 37 is Ps 38 in the English numbering. His two books On Repentance (De paenitentia) are not on the site. "So that he might teach" supplies a missing ut. Paenitentia is rendered "repentance", or "penance" where the church's discipline is meant.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.1.1 (CSEL 64:136; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-1-1
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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.
37.1.2CSEL 64:136–137
admodum uulnus suum sanauerit, aliis ostendit, usus artem fecit et aegritudo magisterium. ipsa est enim prima et ualida secta medicinae, quam experientia, non coniectura formauit. ideoque ab experientia empirici primo medici sunt uocati et ex ea secta ceterae deriuatae sunt atque ab ea sucum quendam suae sumpsere uirtutis. quid autem est ad cohortationem paenitentiae ualidius quam quod sanctus propheta Dauid peccatorum nostrorum nos docuit paenitere? quis enim dedignetur humiliare se deo, cum rex se humiliauerit, aut quis dubitet affligere animam suam, cum propheta tantus afflixerit, soluens pretium lacrimarum pro redemptione peccati?
it healed its own wound, experience made the art and sickness the teaching. For this is the first and strong school of medicine, which experience, not conjecture, formed; and so from experience physicians were first called empirics, and from that school the others derived and took from it a kind of sap of their own strength. And what is stronger for exhortation to repentance than that the holy prophet David taught us to repent of our sins? For who would disdain to humble himself before God, when a king has humbled himself, or who would hesitate to afflict his soul, when so great a prophet afflicted his, paying the price of tears for the redemption of sin?
2 Sam 12:13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like empirical medicine, penance is learned from experience; David, a king, humbled himself.
- The "empiric" school of ancient medicine claimed to be the oldest. 2 Sam 12:13.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.1.2 (CSEL 64:136–137; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-1-2
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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.
37.1.3CSEL 64:137
et quamuis toto scriptorum suorum corpore gerendae paenitentiae praecepta diffuderit — quis enim eius psalmus non medicamentum est conscientiae peccatricis, cum alibi, quemadmodum impulsus sit, alibi, quemadmodum conturbatus ostenderit, ut non solum quemadmodum sananda, sed etiam quemadmodum cauenda uulnera demonstraret et suo nos doceret exemplo? quis autem stare se credat, ubi lapsus est etiam fortior? —, tamen in tricesimo septimo psalmo maiorem uim doloris interni et lamentabilis deplorationis expressit.
And although he spread precepts for doing penance through the whole body of his writings (for which of his psalms is not a medicine for a sinning conscience, since in one he shows how he was pushed, in another how he was troubled, so as to show not only how wounds are to be healed but also how they are to be avoided, and teach us by his own example? And who would think himself standing, where even the stronger has fallen?), yet in the thirty-seventh psalm he expressed a greater force of inner grief and lamenting.
Ps 118:13 (117:13 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 10:12 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: All the psalms teach penance, but Psalm 37 (38) most strongly.
- Ps 118:13 [LXX 117:13]; 1 Cor 10:12.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray hyphen and letter): quemad-i modum → quemadmodum.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.1.3 (CSEL 64:137; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-1-3
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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 37, chapter 2
37.2.1CSEL 64:137
Denique in exordio ipse nos titulus ammonet huiusmodi praecepta formari; sic enim legimus: in commemorationem, inquit, de die sabbati psalmus Dauid. plena enim est definitio paenitentiae commemoratio delictorum, ut unusquisque peccata sua uelut quodam cotidiani sermonis castiget flagello et commissa sibi flagitia condemnet. sic enim docemur dicente deo: dic iniquitates tuas, ut iustificeris, et apostolus ait: ore confessio fit ad salutem.
Indeed at the opening the title itself warns us that precepts of this kind are being formed; for so we read: "For remembrance," he says, "concerning the sabbath day, a psalm of David." For the full definition of repentance is the remembrance of offenses, so that each one may chastise his sins as with the whip of daily speech and condemn the shameful deeds he has committed. For so we are taught, when God says: "Tell your iniquities, that you may be justified," and the apostle says: "With the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Ps 38:1 (37:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 43:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The title "for remembrance" defines penance as remembering and confessing sins.
- Title of Ps 38 [LXX 37:1] (Greek "concerning the sabbath"); Isa 43:26 (Greek form); Rom 10:10.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: split word, repeated syllable): commemoration em, ininquit → commemorationem, inquit.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.2.1 (CSEL 64:137; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-2-1
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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.
37.2.2CSEL 64:137–138
sed forte moueat, quia non dixit peccatorum commemorationem, sed de die sabbati aut, sicut alius habet, sabbatorum. quid est ergo sabbatum nisi requies futurorum, leuamen praesentium, quo lex iubet hominum opera feriari, onera deponi? quae sunt grauiora onera nisi nostra peccata?
But perhaps it may trouble someone that he did not say "remembrance of sins," but "concerning the sabbath day," or, as another has it, "of the sabbaths." What, then, is the sabbath but the rest of things to come, the relief of things present, on which the law bids men's works cease and burdens be laid down? What are heavier burdens than our sins?
Exod 20:10 (allusion, medium confidence) · Jer 17:21 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The sabbath means rest, laying down the burden of sins.
- Exod 20:10; Jer 17:21–22.
Topics: The Lord's day and the Sabbath
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.2.2 (CSEL 64:137–138; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-2-2
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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.
37.2.3CSEL 64:138
haec deponantur in sabbatorum diebus, hoc est in hoc uitae istius tempore. septem enim diebus ebdomada omnis concluditur, sex diebus mundus iste formatus est, septimo die requieuit dominus ab opere suo, qui in nostra mansuetudine requiescit, sicut ipse dixit: super quem requiescam nisi supra humilem atque mansuetum? absolue te ergo omni sabbato, ableua pondus erroris, ut securus ad illius futuri sabbati requiem peruenire merearis; nam si hinc peccata grauia portaueris, illic requiem non habebis. exonera igitur tuam mentem, reice om-
Let these be laid down on the sabbath days, that is, in this time of this life. For every week is concluded in seven days; in six days this world was formed; on the seventh day the Lord rested from his work, who rests in our gentleness, as he himself said: "On whom shall I rest but on the humble and gentle?" Free yourself, then, every sabbath; lift off the weight of error, so that you may deserve to come secure to the rest of that future sabbath; for if you carry grave sins from here, you will have no rest there. Unburden your mind, then; cast off all
Gen 2:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 66:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 4:9 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lay down sins now, to reach the rest of the future sabbath.
- Gen 2:2; Isa 66:2 (Old Latin).
Topics: Eschatology, The Lord's day and the Sabbath
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.2.3 (CSEL 64:138; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-2-3
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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.
37.2.4CSEL 64:138
nia quibus conscientia grauatur et premitur, ne fiat fuga tua hieme uel sabbato. uita haec in labore est, illa in requie. leuiorem te saeculi huius repperiat consummatio, ne oneratus peccatis fugere non possis. ante fuge, ut praeuenias. fugit saeculum qui saeculi inlecebris non tenetur, qui se omni cura eius absoluit. fuge etiam futuram iram, hoc est iudicii diem. fugit eam qui egerit paenitentiam; sic enim definiuit Baptista Iohannes dicens: generatio uiperarum, quis uobis demonstrauit fugere ab ira futura? facite ergo fructus dignos paenitentiae.
that weighs and presses on your conscience, lest your flight be in winter or on the sabbath. This life is in labor, that in rest. Let the end of this world find you lighter, lest, weighed down with sins, you cannot flee. Flee beforehand, so as to anticipate. He flees the world who is not held by the world's enticements, who frees himself from all its care. Flee also the wrath to come, that is, the day of judgment. He flees it who has done penance; for so John the Baptist defined it, saying: "Brood of vipers, who showed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits, then, worthy of repentance."
Matt 24:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 3:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 3:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Penance is flight from the wrath to come.
- Matt 24:20; Matt 3:7–8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): fructusdignospaenitentiae → fructus dignos paenitentiae.
Topics: Eschatology, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.2.4 (CSEL 64:138; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-2-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-2-4
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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 37, chapter 3
37.3.1CSEL 64:138
Audistis hodie legi, quia Iohannes baptizabat in Aenon iuxta Salim. Aenon dicitur oculus suppliciorum, Salim ipse ascendens; hoc habet interpretatio. qui ergo baptizari eligit, sup-
You heard it read today that John was baptizing in Aenon near Salim. Aenon is interpreted "eye of punishments," Salim "he who ascends"; so the interpretation has it. He, then, who chooses to be baptized
John 3:23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: John baptized at Aenon ("eye of punishments") near Salim ("he who ascends").
- John 3:23, read in the service that day. The name meanings come from lists of Hebrew names.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.3.1 (CSEL 64:138; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-3-1
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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.
37.3.2CSEL 64:138–139
plicia praeuidet et ideo confugit ad baptismatis sacramentum, ut peccatum omne deponat, ne obnoxius incipiat esse suppliciis. et forte supplicia praeuidet qui baptizatur baptismo paenitentiae; at uero ille gratiam spectat qui baptizatur in Christo. baptismum ergo Iohannis oculus suppliciorum est, baptismus Christi oculus gratiarum. tamen, etsi in Aenon baptizabat Iohannes, iuxta ascendentem baptizabat; hoc enim et ista habet interpretatio, ut Salim dicatur ipse ascendens. proximus.
foresees punishments and so flees to the sacrament of baptism, to lay down every sin, lest he begin to be liable to punishments. And perhaps he who is baptized with the baptism of repentance foresees punishments; but he who is baptized in Christ looks to grace. John's baptism, then, is the eye of punishments, Christ's baptism the eye of graces. Yet, though John baptized in Aenon, he baptized near the one ascending; for this too the interpretation has, that Salim is called "he who ascends." Near,
Acts 19:4 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: John's baptism looks to punishment, Christ's to grace.
- Acts 19:4.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.3.2 (CSEL 64:138–139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-3-2
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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.
37.3.3CSEL 64:139
ergo erat Christo qui eius nuntiabat aduentum. etenim filius hominis, qui descendit de caelo, ipse est et qui ascendit in caelum, ut impleret omnia. sed quia qualis caelestis, tales et caelestes, et ille ascendit in caelum qui terrena deponens consepelitur in Christo, ut cum Christo resurgat a morte peccati ad nouitatem uitae hereditatisque consortium, ut fiat, sicut scriptum est, dei heres, Christi coheres.
then, to Christ was he who announced his coming. For the Son of Man who came down from heaven is he who also ascended into heaven, to fill all things. But because "as is the heavenly, such are the heavenly," he too ascends into heaven who, laying aside earthly things, is buried with Christ, so as to rise with Christ from the death of sin to newness of life and share in the inheritance, to become, as it is written, an heir of God, a co-heir with Christ.
John 3:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 4:10 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:48 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 6:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ, who ascended, raises the baptized to newness of life as co-heirs.
- John 3:13; Eph 4:10; 1 Cor 15:48; Rom 6:4; Rom 8:17.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.3.3 (CSEL 64:139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-3-3
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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 37, chapter 4
37.4.1CSEL 64:139
Uera ergo medicina est gerere paenitentiam, quae tunc legitime praedicata est quando medicus uenit e caelo, qui non exasperaret uulnera, sed sanaret. bonus medicus, qui docuit quemadmodum in hac terra corporis nostri remedia quaereremus, cum flos nobis herbae salutaris oriretur, qui de peccato damnauit peccatum in carne.
True medicine, then, is to do penance, which was rightly preached when the physician came from heaven, who would not inflame wounds but heal them. A good physician, who taught how we should seek remedies in this earth of our body, when the flower of the healing herb arose for us, who condemned sin by sin in the flesh.
Matt 9:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 11:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 8:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Penance is the medicine taught by Christ the physician.
- Matt 9:12; Isa 11:1; Rom 8:3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): i n carne → in carne.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.4.1 (CSEL 64:139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-4-1
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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.
37.4.2CSEL 64:139
antidotum ergo facta est caro, quae erat uenenum ante peccati, quia erat inlecebra peccatorum. audi, quemadmodum antidoton caro: dei uerbum factum est caro, misit manum in cauernam aspidum, uenenum euacuauit, peccatum abstulit, id est: de peccato damnauit peccatum in carne.
So the flesh, which before was the poison of sin, became an antidote, since it was the enticement of sins. Hear how the flesh is an antidote: the Word of God became flesh, put his hand into the hole of asps, emptied the poison, took away sin; that is, "he condemned sin by sin in the flesh."
John 1:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 11:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 8:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ's flesh became the antidote to sin's poison.
- John 1:14; Isa 11:8; Rom 8:3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): idest → id est.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.4.2 (CSEL 64:139; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-4-2
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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 37, chapter 5
37.5.1CSEL 64:139–140
Et ut hoc possit plenius considerari, ipsum apostoli capitulum recenseamus. namque ita scriptum est: deus filium suum mittens in similitudine carnis peccati et de peccato damnauit peccatum in carne, ut iustificatio legis impleretur in nobis, ut non secundum carnem ambulemus, sed secundum spiritum. uenit ergo filius dei in similitudine carnis peccati; non utique in similitudine carnis uenit qui ueram carnem suscepit, sed in similitudine carnis peccati, id est carnis peccatricis;
And so that this can be considered more fully, let us review the very passage of the apostle. For so it is written: "God, sending his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, also by sin condemned sin in the flesh, so that the justification of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." The Son of God came, then, in the likeness of sinful flesh; he certainly did not come in the likeness of flesh, who took true flesh, but in the likeness of the flesh of sin, that is, of sinful flesh;
Rom 8:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ came in true flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh.
- Rom 8:3–4.
Topics: Christology, Incarnation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.5.1 (CSEL 64:139–140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-5-1
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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.
37.5.2CSEL 64:140
facta enim erat fraude et ueneno infusa serpentis caro nostra caro peccati. postquam est obnoxia facta peccato, facta erat caro mortis, quia erat morti debita. huius carnis iam reae, iam praeiudicatae similitudinem Christus in sua carne suscepit, quia, etsi naturalem substantiam huius susceperat carnis, non tamen contagia ulla susceperat nec in iniquitatibus conceptus et natus est in delictis,
for by the serpent's fraud and poured-in poison our flesh had become the flesh of sin. After it became liable to sin, it had become the flesh of death, because it was owed to death. The likeness of this flesh, already guilty, already prejudged, Christ took in his own flesh, because, though he had taken the natural substance of this flesh, yet he had taken no contagion, nor was he conceived in iniquities and born in offenses,
Rom 8:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 51:5 (50:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ took our nature, but without the contagion of sin.
- Rom 8:3; Gen 3:1–6; Ps 51:5 [LXX 50:7].
Topics: Christology, Incarnation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.5.2 (CSEL 64:140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-5-2
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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.
37.5.3CSEL 64:140
qui non ex sanguinibus neque ex uoluntate carnis neque ex uoluntate uiri, sed de spiritu sancto natus ac uirgine est. quid ergo est: de peccato peccatum damnauit in carne? utrum de similitudine carnis peccati an quia peccata nostra Christus non usu, sed qualitate suscepit, non crimine, sed suae misericordiae sacramento, et peccatum pro nobis factus est qui peccatum ipse non fecit; an uero quia etiam de ista carne peccati, hoc est nostra hac obnoxia et praeiudicata damnauit peccatum in carne, docendo
who was born not of bloods nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of the Holy Spirit and the virgin. What, then, is: "by sin he condemned sin in the flesh"? Is it by the likeness of sinful flesh, or because Christ took our sins not by practice but by condition, not by crime but by the mystery of his mercy, and he who did no sin was made sin for us? Or rather because even by this flesh of sin, that is, this liable and prejudged flesh of ours, he condemned sin in the flesh, by teaching
John 1:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:35 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 8:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:21 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:22 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Three ways of reading "by sin he condemned sin in the flesh".
- John 1:13; Luke 1:35; Rom 8:3; 2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.5.3 (CSEL 64:140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-5-3
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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.
37.5.4CSEL 64:140
quemadmodum in carne positi non secundum carnem ambulemus, sed secundum spiritum? peccatum est quippe secundum carnem ambulare, quia luxui et uoluptatibus et lasciuiis et carnis cupiditatibus uiuit, qui secundum carnis sapientiam conuersatur; sapientia enim carnis inimica est deo, unde qui in carne sunt deo placere non possunt. ideoque peccatum damnat de peccato, qui se a carnis uitiis ableuando secundum spiritum uiuit totus deo deditus et caelestibus intentus oraculis, propter quod Christus aduenit, ut non suam, id est carnis, sed dei faceret uoluntatem. si quis ergo illum sequatur, ut faciat quae placent deo et carnis suae comprimat appetentiam, imitator est Christi.
how, placed in the flesh, we may walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit? For it is sin to walk according to the flesh, because he lives for luxury and pleasures and wantonness and the desires of the flesh who conducts himself according to the wisdom of the flesh; for the wisdom of the flesh is hostile to God, hence those who are in the flesh cannot please God. And so he condemns sin by sin who, lifting himself from the vices of the flesh, lives according to the Spirit, wholly given to God and intent on the heavenly oracles; for this Christ came, to do not his own will, that is the flesh's, but God's. If anyone follows him, then, so as to do what pleases God and restrain the appetite of his flesh, he is an imitator of Christ.
Rom 8:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:8 (quotation, high confidence) · John 6:38 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Whoever lives by the Spirit and restrains the flesh condemns sin in the flesh and imitates Christ.
- Rom 8:4–8; John 6:38.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray mark): ambulare,*quia → ambulare, quia.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.5.4 (CSEL 64:140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-5-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-5-4
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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 37, chapter 6
37.6.1CSEL 64:140–141
Quid senserimus, expressimus; qui legis, elige quid sequaris. nullus error, ubi simplex pietatis affectus atque omnis fidelis est sensus. damnauit peccatum Christus suscipiendo similitudinem carnis peccati, ut delicta nostrae carnis aboleret. damnauit peccatum, ut peccata nostra in sua carne crucifigeret, factus pro nobis ipse peccatum, ut nos in ipso essemus iustitia dei qui eramus captiuitas mortis et praeda serpentis.
We have expressed what we think; you who read, choose what to follow. There is no error where there is a simple feeling of piety and every sense is faithful. Christ condemned sin by taking the likeness of sinful flesh, so as to abolish the offenses of our flesh. He condemned sin, so as to crucify our sins in his flesh, himself made sin for us, so that we might be the justice of God in him, who were the captivity of death and the prey of the serpent.
Rom 8:3 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:14 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ condemned sin by taking our flesh and being made sin for us.
- Rom 8:3; Col 2:14; 2 Cor 5:21.
Topics: Christology, Atonement
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.6.1 (CSEL 64:140–141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-6-1
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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.
37.6.2CSEL 64:141
ergo pietatis est susceptio peccatorum ista, non criminis. per hoc peccatum nos deus aeternus absoluit, qui filio suo proprio non pepercit et peccatum eum fecit esse pro nobis. deinde damnauit peccatum Christus in carne de ipsa carne peccati, quae iudicabili quodam uigore et auctoritate censoria odit uitia quae amare consueuerat et horret inpudicitiam quam uoluptatem putabat.
This taking of sins, then, is one of piety, not of crime. By this sin the eternal God absolved us, who did not spare his own Son and made him to be sin for us. Then Christ condemned sin in the flesh by the very flesh of sin, which, with a kind of judging vigor and censorial authority, hates the vices it used to love and shudders at the impurity it used to think pleasure.
Rom 8:32 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:21 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In Christ the flesh itself now hates the vices it once loved.
- Rom 8:32; 2 Cor 5:21.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.6.2 (CSEL 64:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-6-2
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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.
37.6.3CSEL 64:141
segregat se a lasciuiis, abdicat a cupiditatibus, renuntiat criminibus atque flagitiis, propulsat auaritiam, quae uirilitatem quandam carnis effeminat. en tibi illum Christi imitatorem et ipsum de peccato peccatum in carne damnantem: sic curro, inquit, non ut in incertum, sic luctor non ut aera caedens, sed castigo corpus meum et seruituti redigo, ne, cum aliis praedicauerim, ipse reprobus efficiar.
It separates itself from wantonness, renounces desires, renounces crimes and shameful deeds, drives off avarice, which makes effeminate a certain manliness of the flesh. Here you have that imitator of Christ himself condemning sin by sin in the flesh: "So I run," he says, "not as uncertainly; so I wrestle, not as beating the air; but I chastise my body and bring it into servitude, lest, having preached to others, I myself become reprobate."
1 Cor 9:26 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:27 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul, disciplining his body, is the model of one condemning sin in the flesh.
- 1 Cor 9:26–27.
Topics: Ethics, Asceticism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.6.3 (CSEL 64:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-6-3
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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 37, chapter 7
37.7.1CSEL 64:141
Non superfluo, ut arbitror, euagati sumus, quia et hoc ad medicinam hominis pertinebat. cui medicinae prospiciens deus, sicut terram istam salubres herbarum atque arborum sucos ferre praecepit, quibus carnis uulnera curarentur, ita etiam praeceptis salutaribus repleuit diuinarum seriem scripturarum, quibus infirmitas animae sanaretur.
We have not strayed superfluously, I think, for this too belonged to man's medicine. Providing for this medicine, God, as he commanded this earth to bear healing juices of herbs and trees by which the wounds of the flesh might be cured, so also filled the series of the divine Scriptures with healing precepts by which the weakness of the soul might be healed.
Gen 1:11 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God gave herbs for the body and Scripture for the soul.
- Gen 1:11–12; Sir 38:4.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 38:4 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.7.1 (CSEL 64:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-7-1
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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.
37.7.2CSEL 64:141
itaque quam graue est, ut muta animalia medicari sibi nouerint et uulneribus suis herbas salubres requirant, deligere non refutent, et hominum industria non requirat, quibus etiam medicus est missus, qui medicinae salutaris in ueteribus scripturis semina demonstraret et noua ipse deferret! quam multa itaque salubria sunt, quae noxia perfunctorie iudicantur, de ipsa terra sumamus exempla.
So how grave it is that dumb animals know how to doctor themselves and seek healing herbs for their wounds, and do not refuse to choose them, while human diligence does not seek them, to whom a physician was even sent, to show the seeds of healing medicine in the old Scriptures and to bring new ones himself! How many things, then, are healthful that are lightly judged harmful: let us take examples from the earth itself.
Matt 9:12 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Animals seek remedies; men neglect the medicine Christ brought.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.7.2 (CSEL 64:141; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-7-2
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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 37, chapter 8
37.8.1CSEL 64:141–142
Serpens alit uenenum, morsus noxios habet, uulnerat carnem; sed in ipso quoque eius ueneno antidotum repperies, si requiras. denique caro eius exuritur, cuius puluere theriaca conficitur, qua ueneni uis consueuit hebetari, ut nocere non possit. non terra ergo in uitio, quae serpentem generat, sed ille qui nescit cauere serpentem.
The serpent nourishes venom, has harmful bites, wounds the flesh; but in its very venom you will find an antidote, if you seek it. Indeed its flesh is burned, and from its ash theriac is made, by which the force of venom is usually blunted so that it cannot harm. The fault, then, is not in the earth, which produces the serpent, but in him who does not know how to beware of the serpent.
Notes and citation
Summary: Even the serpent's flesh yields an antidote, theriac.
- Theriac, an ancient antidote made partly from viper's flesh.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray number): uulnerat 30 carnem → uulnerat carnem.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.8.1 (CSEL 64:141–142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-8-1
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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.
37.8.2CSEL 64:142
ipse serpens potest tibi prodesse, si intellegas, immo si medici praecepta non spernas. imitandum disce quem putas esse fugiendum: estote, inquit, astuti sicut serpentes et simplices sicut columbae. serua caput tuum sicut serpens; etsi laceratus toto corpore fueris, reuiuesces. caput tuum Christus est, quia caput ipse est uiri; si seruaueris fidem, etsi mortuus fueris sicut serpens, et tu resurges. imitare serpentem, qui exteriorem suum exuit, ut renouetur interior; imitare serpentem, qui uenenum suum euomit.
The serpent itself can profit you, if you understand, or rather if you do not spurn the physician's precepts. Learn to imitate him whom you think should be fled: "Be wise," he says, "as serpents and simple as doves." Guard your head as the serpent does; even if you are torn in your whole body, you will revive. Your head is Christ, for he is the head of man; if you keep the faith, even if you die like the serpent, you too will rise again. Imitate the serpent, which strips off its outer self so that the inner may be renewed; imitate the serpent, which vomits up its venom.
Matt 10:16 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Cor 4:16 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Imitate the serpent: guard your head, Christ; shed the old self; spit out venom.
- Matt 10:16; 1 Cor 11:3; Col 3:9–10; 2 Cor 4:16.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.8.2 (CSEL 64:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-8-2
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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.
37.8.3CSEL 64:142
beatus si et tu cogitationes tuas malas euomas et malitiae tuae uenena deponas. celebris sermo est et scriptorum auctoritate robustus serpentem aquis appropinquantem sibilo sibi feminae anguis sponsare concubitus; illam propriae consulentem saluti ea spondere lege petitos coitus sui usus, si serpens uenenum euomat, captumque oboedire iussis, arma deponere et proprii more conuentus caput ori eius inserere atque, ubi calescere coeperit consuetudo, seu naturae quadam uiolentia seu libidinis ardore feminam stringere ora morsusque libidinis osculis premere atque ita caput serpentis abscidi.
Blessed are you if you too vomit up your evil thoughts and lay aside the poisons of your malice. It is a well-known saying, strengthened by the authority of writers, that the serpent, approaching the waters, betroths by a hiss the embraces of a female eel; she, looking to her own safety, promises the use of the union he seeks on this condition, that the serpent vomit up his venom; and he, caught, obeys the commands, lays down his arms and, in the manner of their union, puts his head into her mouth; and when the intimacy begins to grow warm, whether by a kind of violence of nature or by the heat of lust, the female grips his mouth and presses her bites with the kisses of lust, and so the serpent's head is cut off.
Notes and citation
Summary: The story of the serpent who spits out his venom to mate with the moray eel and loses his head.
- A natural-history tale (the viper and the moray) also told by Basil, Hexaemeron 7.5, and by Ambrose, Hexameron 5.7.18.
Extrabiblical texts: Ambrose, Hex. 5.7.18 (Hexameron; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.8.3 (CSEL 64:142; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-8-3
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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 37, chapter 9
37.9.1CSEL 64:142–143
Nonne in natura serpentis mysterium fidei recognosces? serpens ille paradisi prior feminam ad culpae adulterium prouocauit. sed ubi uenenum eius effusum est in hunc mundum, suboles illius feminae circumuentionem parentis et fraudem ulta serpentis armis eum suis exuit et caput illius amputauit. quodsi uenena praeualuerint et peccatum in quo est aculeus mortis inrepserit, utere medicorum exemplo, ut tibi serpens uel sero moriatur: conteras eius uenenum corpusque comminuas et admixtum salutaribus sucis noueris temperandum, ut non solum uim suam et uirus amittat, sed etiam fiat remedium de ueneno.
Will you not recognize in the serpent's nature the mystery of faith? That serpent of paradise first provoked the woman to the adultery of guilt. But when his venom had been poured out into this world, the offspring of that woman, avenging the deceiving of their mother and the serpent's fraud, stripped him of his own arms and cut off his head. But if the poisons have prevailed and sin, in which is the sting of death, has crept in, use the physicians' example, so that the serpent may die for you even late: crush his venom and grind his body, and know that it must be mixed with healing juices, so that it not only loses its force and poison but even a remedy is made from the venom.
Gen 3:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:56 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The woman's offspring, Christ, cut off the serpent's head; from sin's venom penance makes a remedy.
- Gen 3:1–6, 15; 1 Cor 15:56.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.9.1 (CSEL 64:142–143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-9-1
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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.
37.9.2CSEL 64:143
moritur autem tibi serpens ille intellegibilis, si tu moriaris peccato et tibi tua peccata moriantur. sic conteritur eius uenenum, si te tua facta conpungant; sic omnis uis eius aboletur, si bonis operibus tegas et fideli confessione temperes crimen admissum. audi, quemadmodum uirtus draconis ipsius conteratur: conterat, inquit, deus satanan sub pedibus uestris. contere primo cor tuum, in quo erat draconis cubile, ut non inueniat ubi possit habitare. contere carnes draconis; carnes eius peccata nostra sunt.
And that intelligible serpent dies for you if you die to sin and your sins die to you. So his venom is crushed if your deeds prick you; so all his force is abolished if you cover the crime committed with good works and temper it with faithful confession. Hear how the power of the dragon himself is crushed: "May God," he says, "crush Satan under your feet." Crush first your heart, in which was the dragon's lair, so that he finds nowhere to dwell. Crush the dragon's flesh; his flesh is our sins.
Rom 6:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 6:11 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 16:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The serpent dies when we die to sin, confess and do good works.
- Rom 6:2, 11; Rom 16:20.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.9.2 (CSEL 64:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-9-2
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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.
37.9.3CSEL 64:143
ideo tibi dicit deus: epulantur in eo gentes et infra ait: praecurrit mori. carnes autem corporis eius sunt adhaerentes ei. sicut enim sancti corpus et membra sunt Christi, ita peccatores, qui peccatum non deserunt, sed peccato inhaerent, corpus draconis et membra. ideo nos Christi corpus epulamur, illi autem corpus epulantur draconis. nos epulamur, qui Christo adhaerere contendimus, remissionem cotidianam et ueniam peccatorum, illi autem, qui peccatis cotidie peccata conectunt, continuationem flagitiorum epulantur et criminum.
So God says to you: "Nations feast on him," and below he says: "Death runs before him." And the flesh of his body is those who cling to him. For as the saints are the body and members of Christ, so sinners, who do not leave sin but cling to sin, are the dragon's body and members. So we feast on the body of Christ, but they feast on the body of the dragon. We who strive to cling to Christ feast on daily remission and pardon of sins; but they, who daily link sins to sins, feast on a continuation of shameful deeds and crimes.
Job 41:6 (40:30 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Job 41:22 (41:14 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence) · Job 41:23 (41:15 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 12:27 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sinners are the dragon's body; the faithful feast on Christ's body and pardon.
- Job 41:6, 22–23 [LXX 40:30; 41:14–15] (Greek form); 1 Cor 12:27.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): corpus epulamurilli → corpus epulamur, illi.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.9.3 (CSEL 64:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-9-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-9-3
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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 37, chapter 10
37.10.1CSEL 64:143
Contere igitur has carnes et super eas contritionem tui cordis asperge, deinde mitte super omnia ea Iordanis aquam. Iordanis enim descensio et ascensio est, quoniam, qui in fontem sacrum descenderit, et ascendit, ut quae superiora sunt quaerat; descendit enim in mortem Christi qui baptizatur in Christo et in resurrectionem eius ascendit.
Crush, then, this flesh, and sprinkle over it the contrition of your heart; then pour over all of it the water of the Jordan. For the Jordan is descent and ascent, since he who goes down into the sacred font also ascends, to seek the things above; for he who is baptized in Christ goes down into Christ's death and ascends into his resurrection.
Rom 6:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 6:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:1 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Jordan, the font of baptism, is descent into Christ's death and ascent into his resurrection.
- Rom 6:3–4; Col 3:1. "Jordan" interpreted as "descent".
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.10.1 (CSEL 64:143; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-10-1
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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.
37.10.2CSEL 64:143–144
si autem iam baptizatus errasti, mitte aquam lacrimarum non mendacem, sed ueram, ut de profundo clames ad dominum deum tuum et dicatur de te: uox audita est in Rama, fletus et ululatus multus; Rachel plorans filios suos et noluit consolari, quia non sunt.
But if, already baptized, you have strayed, pour the water of tears, not false but true, so that you cry from the depths to the Lord your God and it may be said of you: "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and much wailing; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, because they are not."
Ps 130:1 (129:1 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 31:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 2:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: After baptism, sin is washed by the water of tears.
- Ps 130:1 [LXX 129:1]; Jer 31:15 (Matt 2:18). Penance after baptism.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: missing word, R read as E): dicatur de: uox audita est in Eam → dicatur de te: uox audita est in Rama.
Topics: Baptism, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.10.2 (CSEL 64:143–144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-10-2
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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.
37.10.3CSEL 64:144
Rachel ecclesia est, in qua benedicitur plebs dei. ipsa pro te fleat, ipsa tua peccata deploret et fleat plurimum, ut consolationem non facile admittat, quemadmodum qui plurimum dolent. ideo consolari se noluit, quoniam qui eras esse desisti; sed hac perseuerantia doloris et fletus emereatur, ut dicat: filius meus mortuus erat et reuixit, perierat et inuentus est.
Rachel is the church, in which the people of God is blessed. Let her weep for you, let her lament your sins and weep very much, so that she does not easily admit consolation, as those who grieve very much. So she would not be consoled, because you who were have ceased to be; but by this perseverance of grief and weeping let her deserve to say: "My son was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and is found."
Jer 31:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 15:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 15:32 (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church, like Rachel, weeps for the sinner until he returns.
- Luke 15:24, 32.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): inuentus e s t → inuentus est.
Topics: Repentance, Church discipline and penance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.10.3 (CSEL 64:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-10-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-10-3
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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.
37.10.4CSEL 64:144
aut forte consolari se noluit Rachel in filiis Iudaeorum, quia non sunt, quos utique ideo genuerat, ut essent. et ideo non admisit consolationem occisis paruulis ab Herode, quia nec in aduentum Iesu crediderunt, mensuram sceleris adimplentes, ut et paruulos interficerent, ut inter eos et filius uirginis necaretur. ergo ecclesia domini in Iudaeis consolari se noluit, quia non sunt, in christianis autem, qui ex nationibus congregati sunt, epulatur et gaudet, quoniam coeperunt esse qui non erant.
Or perhaps Rachel would not be consoled in the children of the Jews, because they are not, whom she had borne for this, that they might be. And so she admitted no consolation when the little ones were killed by Herod, because they did not believe even in the coming of Jesus, filling up the measure of crime, so as even to kill little children, so that among them the virgin's son too might be killed. The Lord's church, then, would not be consoled among the Jews, because they are not; but among the Christians, gathered from the nations, she feasts and rejoices, because those who were not have begun to be.
Matt 2:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 23:32 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Thess 2:16 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Rachel's refusal of comfort may refer to the Jews; the church rejoices in the Gentiles.
- Matt 2:16; Matt 23:32; 1 Thess 2:16. Ambrose's language about the Jews is translated as written.
Topics: The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.10.4 (CSEL 64:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-10-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-10-4
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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 37, chapter 11
37.11.1CSEL 64:144
Misisti ergo aquam Iordanis, aquam gratiae; hoc primum bibe. misisti aquam lacrimarum, aquam paenitentiae; hoc secundum est poculum, ut primum repares. bibe aquam de tuis nasi, bibe aquam de tuis fletibus, ut dicas: et potum meum fletu temperabam. fletus ergo tuus potus est tuus et lacrimae tuae cibus est tuus.
You have poured, then, the water of the Jordan, the water of grace; "drink this first." You have poured the water of tears, the water of repentance; this is the second cup, to restore the first. Drink water from your own vessels, drink water from your own weeping, so that you may say: "And I tempered my drink with weeping." Your weeping, then, is your drink, and your tears are your food.
Isa 9:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 102:9 (101:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: First the water of baptism, then the water of tears.
- Isa 9:1 (Greek "drink this first"); Ps 102:9 [LXX 101:10]. "From your own vessels" renders the doubtful de tuis nasi; by sense (compare Prov 5:15).
Topics: Baptism, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.11.1 (CSEL 64:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-11-1
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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.
37.11.2CSEL 64:144
fuerunt, inquit, mihi lacrimae meae panis. si lacrimae panes, habes ex peccato iniquitatis cibum conuersionis secundum illud quod legis in euangelio, quoniam cui plus dimittitur plus diligit. unde saepe uidemus aliquos, qui ante neglegentes fuerint christiani, peccato aliquo
"My tears," he says, "have been my bread." If tears are bread, you have from the sin of iniquity the food of conversion, according to what you read in the gospel, that he to whom more is forgiven loves more. Hence we often see some who before were negligent Christians, after committing some sin,
Ps 42:3 (41:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:47 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Tears become bread; the one forgiven much loves much.
- Ps 42:3 [LXX 41:4]; Luke 7:47.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: 1 for l): 1acrimae → lacrimae.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.11.2 (CSEL 64:144; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-11-2
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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.
37.11.3CSEL 64:144–145
commisso fieri diligentiores et ex illo per paenitentiam euadere solere perfectos. sicut igitur ex peccato conuersio, ita remedium de ueneno. audi hoc remedium: iustus in principio sermonis accusator est sui. uenenum peccatum est, uenenum iniquitas est; confessio sui criminis remedium prolapsionis est. et ideo uere remedium de ueneno est, si dicas iniquitates tuas, ut iustificeris.
become more diligent, and through penance usually emerge from it perfect. As, then, conversion from sin, so a remedy from venom. Hear this remedy: "The just man at the beginning of his speech is his own accuser." Sin is venom, iniquity is venom; confession of one's crime is the remedy for the fall. And so truly there is a remedy from the venom if you tell your iniquities so as to be justified.
Prov 18:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 43:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Confession turns sin's venom into a remedy.
- Prov 18:17 (Old Latin); Isa 43:26 (Greek).
Topics: Repentance, Forgiveness of sins
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.11.3 (CSEL 64:144–145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-11-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-11-3
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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 37, chapter 12
37.12.1CSEL 64:145
Sed iam psalmum adoriamur, ut ipse nos doceat, quemadmodum agenda paenitentia sit. itaque sic incipit:
But let us now take up the psalm, so that it may itself teach us how penance is to be done. So it begins thus:
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose turns to the text of the psalm.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.12.1 (CSEL 64:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-12-1
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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 37, chapter 13
37.13.1CSEL 64:145
Domine, ne in ira tua arguas me neque in furore tuo corripias me. qui paenitentiam agit, paratus esse debet ad obprobria perferenda iniuriasque subeundas nec commoueri, si quis ei peccati sui crimen obiciat. cum enim ipse accusare se debeat, quemadmodum alium non sustinet arguentem? quodsi ab homine argui timere non debet, quanto magis a domino deo suo, cui omnes etiam in his quae sunt occulta peccamus, cum praesertim condemnatio praesentium absolutio futurorum sit; qui autem non condemnantur in saeculo, cum hominibus non flagellabuntur.
"Lord, do not reprove me in your wrath, nor chasten me in your fury." He who does penance must be ready to bear reproaches and undergo injuries, and not be disturbed if someone throws the crime of his sin at him. For since he himself ought to accuse himself, how does he not endure another reproving him? And if he ought not to fear being reproved by a man, how much less by the Lord his God, against whom we all sin even in hidden things, especially since condemnation in the present is absolution for the future; but those who are not condemned in the world will not be scourged with men.
Ps 38:1 (37:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:32 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 73:5 (72:5 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The penitent must accept rebuke, for condemnation now is absolution later.
- Ps 38:1 [LXX 37:2]; 1 Cor 11:32; Ps 73:5 [LXX 72:5].
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.13.1 (CSEL 64:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-13-1
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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.
37.13.2CSEL 64:145
uae mihi, si de me dicatur: habet mercedem suam! si bonum factum hac condemnatur sententia, quanto magis crimen grauatur! nam si misericordia facili iactata sermone fructu fraudatur aeterno, quanto magis iniquitatis poena acerbi faenoris accessione differtur! ergo qui paenitentiam agit offerre se debet ad poenam, ut hic puniatur a domino, non ad supplicia aeterna seruetur, nec expectare tempus, sed occurrere diuinae indignationi.
Woe to me if it is said of me: "He has his reward!" If a good deed is condemned by this sentence, how much more is a crime weighed down! For if mercy, flaunted in easy speech, is cheated of eternal fruit, how much more is the punishment of iniquity deferred with the accrual of bitter interest! He, then, who does penance must offer himself to punishment, so as to be punished here by the Lord, not kept for eternal torments; nor wait for the time, but go to meet the divine indignation.
Matt 6:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The penitent must offer himself to punishment now rather than later.
- Matt 6:2, 5.
Topics: Eschatology, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.13.2 (CSEL 64:145; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-13-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-13-2
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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 37, chapter 14
37.14.1CSEL 64:145–146
Uide facta Dauid eius precibus conuenire. offenderat dominum, quia numerari iusserat populum. confessione praeuenit dei nuntium peccasse se ualde et nimis stulte fecisse commemorans, non quasi ammoneret oblitum, sed quasi urgeret morantem, ne diutius commotionem differret offensae. peccaui, inquit, uade, quoniam hoc uerbum feci; et nunc, domine, dele iniquitatem serui tui. quomodo deleantur peccata, audi dicentem: solutum est peccatum eius,
See David's deeds agree with his prayers. He had offended the Lord because he had ordered the people to be numbered. By confession he anticipated God's messenger, saying that he had sinned greatly and acted very foolishly, not as though reminding one who had forgotten, but as though urging one who delayed, lest he put off longer the anger at the offense. "I have sinned," he says, "go, because I have done this thing; and now, Lord, blot out the iniquity of your servant." Hear one saying how sins are blotted out: "His sin is loosed,
2 Sam 24:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 40:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David confessed his sin in numbering the people before the prophet came.
- 2 Sam 24:10 (Old Latin, conflated); Isa 40:2 (Greek), continued in 37.14.2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: missing letter; digitization: stray point): peccase se → peccasse se; eius,. → eius,.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.14.1 (CSEL 64:145–146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-14-1
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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.
37.14.2CSEL 64:146
quia cepit de manu domini duplicia peccata sua. non ergo penitus sibi peccatum remitti postulat, sed moderata solutione deleri, hoc est ut in futurum eius memoria deleatur. denique quasi interpellantis uoce conuentus dominus, ne uindicta commissi protelaretur erroris, misit ad eum Nathan prophetam, et ille uenit ad regem et dixit ei: quid fieri uelis, elige: triennium famem super terram aut tribus mensibus fugere te a facie inimicorum tuorum et illos persequentes aut triduo fieri mortem in terra.
for he has received from the Lord's hand double for his sins." He does not ask, then, that the sin be entirely remitted to him, but that it be blotted out by a moderate payment, that is, that its memory be blotted out for the future. Indeed the Lord, as though summoned by the voice of one appealing, so that the vengeance of the error committed should not be drawn out, sent to him the prophet Nathan, and he came to the king and said to him: "Choose what you wish to be done: three years of famine on the land, or for three months to flee before your enemies while they pursue, or for three days death in the land.
Isa 40:2 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Chr 21:12 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God offered David a choice of three punishments.
- Isa 40:2; 2 Sam 24:11–13 (the prophet there is Gad, not Nathan; 1 Chr 21:12 has three years of famine).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.14.2 (CSEL 64:146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-14-2
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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.
37.14.3CSEL 64:146
et nunc scito et uide, quid respondeam illi qui misit me. uide docentem deum, qua moderatione eius indignatio leniatur, si non penitus uerbera recusemus, sed qualitatem leuandi, non euitandi supplicii postulemus. tria proposuit, ut quod moderatius putaret eligeret. uide etiam quemadmodum ad paenitentiam prouocat, ut nos offeramus iniuriae, eligere mandans, ut in ipsa poena electionis quaedam praerogatiua seruetur et reo suo blandiatur hoc uerbo. et dixit Dauid ad Nathan: angustiae mihi sunt in his tribus; sed magis incidam in manus domini, quo-
And now know and see what I shall answer him who sent me." See God teaching by what moderation his indignation is softened, if we do not entirely refuse the blows but ask for a kind of lightening, not avoiding, of the punishment. He proposed three, so that he might choose what he thought more moderate. See also how he calls to penance, so that we offer ourselves to suffering, commanding him to choose, so that even in the punishment a certain privilege of choice is kept and he flatters his defendant by this word. "And David said to Nathan: I am in straits in these three; but let me rather fall into the hands of the Lord, for
2 Sam 24:13 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's offer of choice teaches us to accept a lightened punishment.
- 2 Sam 24:13–14 (Nathan for Gad).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: c for t; digitization: words joined): scito ec uide → scito et uide; sedmagis → sed magis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.14.3 (CSEL 64:146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-14-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-14-3
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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.
37.14.4CSEL 64:146–147
niam magna est misericordia illius, quam in hominum manus. numquid donari sibi poenam poposcit erroris? quod si fecisset, inpudentiae notaretur, qui moderationi diuinae fuisset ingratus. plurimum suffragatur reo uerecunda confessio et poenam, quam defensione euitare non possumus, pudore releuamus. elegit non quod a flagello esset immune, sed quod moderatius iudicauit, ut dei lenitati magis, qui nosset ignoscere, quam hominum se committeret potestati, qui mensuram ultionis frequenter excederent. miseretur itaque qui nescit errare, non miseretur qui erroris est particeps.
his mercy is great, than into the hands of men." Did he ask that the penalty for his error be remitted? Had he done so, he would have been marked with impudence, as ungrateful to the divine moderation. A modest confession helps the defendant most, and the punishment that we cannot avoid by defense we lighten by shame. He chose not what was free of the scourge, but what he judged more moderate, so as to entrust himself to the gentleness of God, who knew how to forgive, rather than to the power of men, who often exceed the measure of vengeance. He has mercy who does not know how to err; he does not have mercy who shares in error.
2 Sam 24:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David chose God's mercy over men's, asking lightening, not remission.
- 2 Sam 24:14.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.14.4 (CSEL 64:146–147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-14-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-14-4
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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 37, chapter 15
37.15.1CSEL 64:147
Nec fefellit sanctum Dauid fides sua, sed in ipsa quoque offensione gratiam diuinae miserationis emeruit. nam qui proposuerat mortem triduo exercere in terra, ne unum quidem diem passus est praeterire, sed ad horam prandii libenter indulsit et, ut uerbo scripturae utar, habuit paenitentiam super malitiam. uide quomodo te scriptura hortatur, ut et tu paenitentiam non refugias, si sequaris deum quem sequi debes.
Nor did his faith deceive holy David, but even in the offense he won the grace of divine compassion. For he who had proposed to exercise death three days in the land did not let even one day pass, but at the hour of the midday meal gladly relented and, to use the word of Scripture, repented of the evil. See how Scripture urges you not to shun repentance either, if you follow God, whom you ought to follow.
2 Sam 24:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:16 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God shortened the plague and "repented"; we too should not shun repentance.
- 2 Sam 24:15–16 (Greek "until the hour of the midday meal").
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.15.1 (CSEL 64:147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-15-1
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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.
37.15.2CSEL 64:147
bene addidit super malitiam, quia uidetur omnis dura esse uindicta. ideo et dies iudicii dies dicitur mala, de qua beatus est qui per deum liberatur, ut scriptum est: in die mala liberabit eum dominus. et dixit, inquit, angelo dominus, ut sibi parceret. uide autem quia, quando uult dominus ignoscere, dat gratiam et fiduciam deprecandi. et uidit Dauid ferientem angelum et dixit: ecce ego sum. ego peccaui et ego pastor male feci; et isti in hoc grege quid fecerunt? fiat manus tua in me et in domo patris mei.
Well he added "of the evil," because every vengeance seems hard. So the day of judgment too is called an evil day, from which he is blessed who is freed through God, as it is written: "In the evil day the Lord will deliver him." "And the Lord said," it says, "to the angel, that he should spare." See that, when the Lord wishes to forgive, he gives the grace and confidence to pray. "And David saw the angel striking and said: Behold, it is I; I have sinned and I the shepherd have done evil; and these in this flock, what have they done? Let your hand be upon me and upon my father's house."
Ps 41:1 (40:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:16 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: When God wills to forgive, he gives the grace to pray, as David prayed for his people.
- Ps 41:1 [LXX 40:2]; 2 Sam 24:16–17.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: e for c): peceaui → peccaui.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.15.2 (CSEL 64:147; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-15-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-15-2
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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.
37.15.3CSEL 64:147–148
si mandauerat dominus angelo ut parceret, quomodo feriebat adhuc angelus, nisi quia dominus, etsi uult ignoscere, uult rogari et ut rogetur operatur? nec uidisset homo angelum ferientem, nisi dominus eius oculis angelum reuelasset. unde et Heliseus dicit: domine, aperi nunc oculos pueri huius ut uideat; et aperti sunt oculi pueri eius et uidit montem equis repletum et curribus in circuitu prophetae. nec te moueat, quod persona uilior seruuli quam prophetae uel regis, quia uilior et equorum et curruum species quam sanctitas angelorum.
If the Lord had commanded the angel to spare, how was the angel still striking, unless because the Lord, even when he wills to forgive, wills to be asked, and works so that he is asked? Nor would a man have seen the angel striking, unless the Lord had revealed the angel to his eyes. Hence Elisha too says: "Lord, open now the eyes of this boy that he may see"; and the eyes of his boy were opened and he saw the mountain full of horses and chariots around the prophet. Do not be troubled that the person of a servant is meaner than that of a prophet or king, because the sight of horses and chariots is also meaner than the holiness of angels.
2 Kgs 6:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God wills to be asked, and reveals what moves us to pray.
- 2 Kgs 6:17.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.15.3 (CSEL 64:147–148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-15-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-15-3
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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 37, chapter 16
37.16.1CSEL 64:148
Et fortasse aliquibus perfunctorie legentibus durum uideatur, quod Dauid ille humilis corde atque mansuetus, qui parcebat inimicis, mortem magis populi elegit quam suam fugam aut famem super terram. famem uitauit populi, quia grauior morte et omnibus suppliciis habetur, quam sequitur etiam pestilentia quae caelum contaminat, mortem aceruat. suam fugam non poposcit
And perhaps to some who read carelessly it may seem hard that David, humble of heart and gentle, who spared his enemies, chose the death of the people rather than his own flight or famine on the land. He avoided the famine of the people, because it is held graver than death and all punishments, and pestilence also follows it, which pollutes the sky and heaps up death. He did not ask for his own flight
2 Sam 24:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Why David chose the plague: famine is worse than death.
- 2 Sam 24:12–15.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.16.1 (CSEL 64:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-16-1
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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.
37.16.2CSEL 64:148
propter illud, quia propheta pro populo deprecari poterat, sicut factum est, populus pro propheta interuenire non poterat. scriptum est enim: si populus errauerit, sacerdos orabit pro eo. si sacerdos errauerit, quis rogabit pro eo? et tamen, ubi uidit occidi populum, ipse se angelo ferienti optulit, ut ipse potius pro populo feriretur. plus est quod nec ipsa perterritus specie mortuorum gladio se optulit, quam si remissionem propositae condicionis optasset. in electione itaque rationem secutus est, in dolore pietatem.
because the prophet could pray for the people, as happened, but the people could not intercede for the prophet. For it is written: "If the people err, the priest will pray for them. If the priest errs, who will ask for him?" And yet, when he saw the people being killed, he offered himself to the striking angel, so that he rather might be struck for the people. It is more that, not terrified even by the sight of the dead, he offered himself to the sword, than if he had wished for remission of the proposed condition. In the choice, then, he followed reason; in grief, piety.
1 Sam 2:25 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:17 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David chose so that he could pray for the people, then offered himself for them.
- 1 Sam 2:25 (Greek form); 2 Sam 24:17.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.16.2 (CSEL 64:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-16-2
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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 37, chapter 17
37.17.1CSEL 64:148
Uide autem domini gratiam, quod et ipse de proposita condicione deflexit. numquid aliquod miserationis est crimen, quia plus minatur et minus exigit? qui in remuneratione praemiorum sua promissa custodit, in exactione poenarum praescriptum remordet. cum irascitur, reum differt, cum miseretur, properat ut absoluat. terret ut corrigat, ammonet ut emendet, praeuenit ut ignoscat.
But see the Lord's grace, that he too turned from the proposed condition. Is it any crime of compassion that he threatens more and exacts less? He who in rewarding keeps his promises, in exacting punishments takes back what he prescribed. When he is angry, he puts off the defendant; when he has mercy, he hastens to absolve. He terrifies to correct, warns to amend, anticipates to forgive.
2 Sam 24:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God threatens more than he exacts; he is quick to absolve.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.17.1 (CSEL 64:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-17-1
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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.
37.17.2CSEL 64:148
unde et alibi ait propheta de domino: calix in manu domini uini meri plenus est mixto; uerumtamen faex eius non est exinanita. ad terrendum plenus est calix, ad feriendum non est exinanitus. plenus erat calix, cum
Hence elsewhere too the prophet says of the Lord: "A cup in the hand of the Lord is full of mixed unmixed wine; yet its dregs are not emptied." To terrify the cup is full; to strike it is not emptied. The cup was full when
Ps 75:8 (74:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's cup of wrath is full to warn, not emptied to strike.
- Ps 75:8 [LXX 74:9] (Greek form).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: split word): d omini → domini.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.17.2 (CSEL 64:148; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-17-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-17-2
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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.
37.17.3CSEL 64:148–149
mors per triduum mandaretur, sed occurrit misericordia dei, tenuit manum angeli, priusquam calicem istum exinaniret. ut scias autem, quia calix poena uel gladius est, audi dicentem: accipe calicem uini meri huius de manu mea, et potionabis omnes gentes ad quas ego mittam te, et uoment et insanient a facie gladii, et ad Hierusalem dicitur: bibisti calicem irae de manu domini; calicem enim ruinae bibisti et exinanisti, nec erat qui te consolaretur. Hierusalem mensuram bibit, quae supra mensuram peccauit.
death was commanded for three days; but God's mercy ran to meet it and held the angel's hand before he emptied that cup. And so that you may know that the cup is punishment or the sword, hear one saying: "Take this cup of unmixed wine from my hand, and you will make all the nations to which I send you drink, and they will vomit and go mad before the sword"; and to Jerusalem it is said: "You have drunk the cup of wrath from the hand of the Lord; for you have drunk the cup of ruin and emptied it, and there was none to comfort you." Jerusalem drank the measure, which sinned beyond measure.
Jer 25:15 (32:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 25:16 (32:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 51:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 51:18 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The cup is punishment; Jerusalem drank it to the dregs.
- Jer 25:15–16 [LXX 32:15–16]; Isa 51:17–18.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: jn for m): jnisericordia → misericordia.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.17.3 (CSEL 64:148–149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-17-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-17-3
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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.
37.17.4CSEL 64:149
ecclesia Christianorum calicem irae exinanire non nouit, sed exinaniuit unguentum, propter quam se Christus exinaniuit, ut ubique fragraret. de manu domini hoc munus accepit, poculum autem mortis ignorat. duos calices lego, unum mortis, alterum uitae. mortis calicem suo Christus exinaniuit in sanguine et nouum calicem ministrauit, ut dicamus: calicem salutaris accipiam, noui calicem testamenti, qui in remissionem effunditur peccatorum. effunditur hic calix et faex eius non inuenitur, quia mundat omne delictum.
The Christians' church does not know how to empty the cup of wrath, but it emptied the ointment, for whose sake Christ emptied himself, so that it might be fragrant everywhere. This gift it received from the Lord's hand, but it does not know the cup of death. I read of two cups, one of death, the other of life. The cup of death Christ emptied in his own blood and served a new cup, so that we may say: "I will take the cup of salvation," the cup of the new testament, which is poured out for the remission of sins. This cup is poured out, and its dregs are not found, because it cleanses every offense.
Song 1:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 116:13 (115:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 22:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 26:28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ emptied the cup of death in his blood and gives the cup of salvation.
- Song 1:3 (Greek "ointment emptied out"); Phil 2:7; Ps 116:13 [LXX 115:4]; Luke 22:20; Matt 26:28.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.17.4 (CSEL 64:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-17-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-17-4
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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 37, chapter 18
37.18.1CSEL 64:149
Diximus quemadmodum in ulciscendo inflectat dominus commotionem suam; dicamus quemadmodum in remunerando praeueniat nostram precationem et doceamus exemplo. audi illum ex duobus latronem dicentem domino: memento mei, domine, cum ueneris in regnum tuum. respondit dominus: amen dico tibi, hodie mecum eris in paradiso. ille adhuc rogabat, ut meminisset sui cum uenisset in regnum, et dominus iam regnum caeleste tribuebat. quam uelox misericordia! tardius uotum precantis quam remunerantis est praemium.
We have said how the Lord bends his anger in avenging; let us say how in rewarding he anticipates our prayer, and teach by an example. Hear that one of the two thieves saying to the Lord: "Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom." The Lord answered: "Amen I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise." He was still asking to be remembered when he came into the kingdom, and the Lord was already granting the heavenly kingdom. How swift a mercy! Slower is the vow of the one praying than the reward of the one giving.
Luke 23:42 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 23:43 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's reward outruns our prayer, as with the thief.
- Luke 23:42–43.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.18.1 (CSEL 64:149; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-18-1
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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.