Explanation of Twelve Psalms 38.20.1–39.4.1
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 38, chapter 20
38.20.1CSEL 64:199
Sed tamen, quia et architectorum mensurae palaestae dici feruntur, quibus ad structurae numerum uel modum spatii colligendum aedificia metiuntur locumque eum, in quo aedificia sunt locanda, et quia per Esaiam locutus est deus: quis mensus est manu aquam et caelum palmo et uniuersam terram clausa manu? quis statuit montes in statera?, uideamus, ne forte hic sensus hoc sermone sit colligendus, eo quod cognitos dies omnium habeat deus, cui nihil inmensum sit, qui omnia mensura quadam suae scientiae comprehendat, nihilque ei sit inaestimabile, nihil inexaminatum atque inenumerabile, qui ait: sed et capilli capitis uestri omnes numerati sunt.
But yet, since the measures of architects are also said to be called palaestae, by which they measure buildings to gather the number of the structure or the extent of the space and the place in which buildings are to be set; and since God spoke through Isaiah: "Who has measured the water with his hand and heaven with his span and the whole earth with closed hand? Who has set the mountains in a balance?", let us see whether this sense is not perhaps to be gathered from this word: that God has the days of all known, to whom nothing is immeasurable, who comprehends all things by a kind of measure of his knowledge, and to whom nothing is beyond estimate, nothing unexamined and innumerable, who says: "But even the hairs of your head are all numbered."
Isa 40:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:30 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: As a builder's measure, "handbreadths" means God has measured our days.
- Isa 40:12; Matt 10:30.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.20.1 (CSEL 64:199; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-20-1
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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.
38.20.2CSEL 64:199–200
hoc ergo dicit propheta: ecce nouisti dies meos, non te praetereunt cotidiani actus mei, peccata mea ante oculos tuos posuisti et ideo substantia mea tamquam nihil ante te. quid enim est homo nisi quia memor eius es? homo uanitati similis factus est, homo in peccato et, si aliquid habeat probitatis atque uirtutis, recte ceteris terrenis animantibus antefertur et in conspectu animalium quibus est praepositus antecellit, in conspectu autem dei tamquam nihil est eius substantia. unde et alibi ait: quoniam non iustificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis homo uiuens, quod Symmachus manifestius expressit dicens: et uita mea tamquam nihil ante te.
This, then, the prophet says: Behold, you know my days, my daily actions do not escape you, you have set my sins before your eyes; "and so my substance is as nothing before you." For what is man that you are mindful of him? "Man has become like vanity"; man is in sin, and, if he has something of uprightness and virtue, he is rightly preferred to the other earthly living things and excels in the sight of the animals over which he is set; but in God's sight his substance is as nothing. Hence too elsewhere he says: "For no man living will be justified in your sight"; which Symmachus expressed more plainly, saying: "And my life is as nothing before you."
Ps 39:5 (38:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 8:4 (8:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 144:4 (143:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 143:2 (142:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Before God man's substance is as nothing.
- Ps 39:5 [LXX 38:6]; Ps 8:4 [LXX 8:5]; Ps 144:4 [LXX 143:4]; Ps 143:2 [LXX 142:2]. Symmachus cited from the Hexapla.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: OCR letter slips; digitization: spaced letters): sui stantia → substantia; ante t e → ante te; h o mo → homo.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.20.2 (CSEL 64:199–200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-20-2
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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 38, chapter 21
38.21.1CSEL 64:200
Sunt autem qui breues putant dies dictos, quia Symmachus σπιθαμάς posuit. σπιθαμή autem palmus est et quia palmo mensus dicitur deus caelum - palma autem uel palmus portio manus est metientis et aliquid comprehendentis —, ideo tamquam breues dies aestimant nuncupatos, cum cognitio dei per mensuram, ut supra diximus, possit intellegi, caelestis autem ista cognitio, ut ad mensuram facta sint omnia. non ergo breues, sed magni dies prophetae possunt intellegi quos deus mensus est palmo, quo mensus est caelum.
But there are those who think the days are called short, because Symmachus put "spans." A span is a palm's breadth; and because God is said to have measured heaven with his span (and a palm or span is a portion of the hand that measures and grasps something), they therefore think the days are called short; whereas the knowledge of God can be understood through measure, as we said above, and this is heavenly knowledge, that all things were made to measure. Not short, then, but great days of the prophet can be understood, which God measured with the span with which he measured heaven.
Ps 39:5 (38:6 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 40:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "Spans" need not mean short days: God measured heaven with a span.
- Symmachus σπιθαμάς (garbled in the digital text); Isa 40:12.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: Greek read as Latin letters; digitization: stray point): dies. dictos → dies dictos; ont{}ap,à<; → σπιθαμάς; ont{}aĮJ:q → σπιθαμή.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.21.1 (CSEL 64:200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-21-1
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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.
38.21.2CSEL 64:200
neque enim breues suae uitae diceret qui postea ait: heu me quia incolatus meus prolongatus est, nisi forte quia propter peccata hominum breuiores uitae istius dies fecit, quae ante et nongentis et septingentis annis extendebatur, ut nunc intra centum annorum curricula claudatur. sic ergo intellegendum: ecce peccato obnoxios dies meos nosti; dies enim uitae huius quae peccato est obnoxia breues sunt, dies autem uitae aeternae sine fine.
For he would not call the days of his life short who afterwards said: "Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged!" unless perhaps because, on account of men's sins, he made the days of this life shorter, which before extended to nine hundred and seven hundred years, so that now it is enclosed within a course of a hundred years. So it must be understood thus: behold, you know my days liable to sin; for the days of this life, which is liable to sin, are short, but the days of eternal life without end.
Ps 120:5 (119:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 5:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 6:3 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The days of sinful life were shortened; eternal days have no end.
- Ps 120:5 [LXX 119:5]; Gen 5; Gen 6:3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): nequeenimbreuessuaeuitaediceretquiposteaait → neque enim breues suae uitae diceret qui postea ait.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.21.2 (CSEL 64:200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-21-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-21-2
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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 38, chapter 22
38.22.1CSEL 64:200
Aut certe sic — nostrum est enim argumentis quaerere ueritatem, tuum est eligere quid sequaris —: ne peccatum, inquit, cresceret, adbreuiasti dies uitae humanae qua uiuimus in his terris, et tamen, cum maturior in hoc breui cursu istius uitae finis sit peccatorum mortis celeritate, substantia mea tamquam nihil ante te, quia, etsi ad imaginem et similitudinem dei facti sumus, grauat nos tamen in hoc corpore constitutos quaedam terrena contagio, quae non grauaret, si nos exuere magis ueterem hominem, cum induimus gratiam, quam superuestire mallemus;
Or certainly thus (for it is ours to seek truth by arguments, yours to choose what to follow): lest sin increase, he says, you have shortened the days of human life by which we live on this earth; and yet, though in this short course of this life the end of sins comes sooner by the swiftness of death, my substance is as nothing before you, because, although we were made after the image and likeness of God, yet a certain earthly contagion weighs on us set in this body, which would not weigh on us if we chose rather to put off the old man when we put on grace than to be clothed over;
Ps 39:5 (38:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 3:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Life was shortened to limit sin; earthly contagion weighs on us unless we put off the old man.
- Ps 39:5 [LXX 38:6]; Gen 1:26; Col 3:9–10; 2 Cor 5:4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: OCR letter slips): DOS → nos.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.22.1 (CSEL 64:200; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-22-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-22-1
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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.
38.22.2CSEL 64:200–201
minorem enim laborem nobis expoliatus homo uetus quam superuestitus afferret. nam quod expoliamus, abicimus, quod superuestimus, includimus et ideo ingemescimus et laboramus, donec mortale hoc ueteris hominis indumentum errori effectum obnoxium nouitate suae uitae spiritalis absorbeatur, ut, si supra uenenum plurima mella fundantur, aegre ac nimis sero ueneni uirus aboletur, aqua etiam multa diu cum ueneni felle luctatur, si non illud expuat, sed absorbeat. ideo laboriosa paenitentia, suauis gratia, quia peccatum expoliatur ubi gratia est, absorbetur ubi paenitentia; ibi remittitur, hic absconditur, et ideo scriptum est: beati quorum remissae sunt iniquitates et quorum tecta sunt peccata.
for the old man stripped off would bring us less labor than one clothed over. For what we strip off we cast away; what we put on over we enclose; and so we groan and labor until this mortal garment of the old man, made liable to error, is swallowed up by the newness of its spiritual life; as, if much honey is poured over poison, the poison's venom is abolished with difficulty and too late, and much water too struggles long with the gall of poison, if one does not spit it out but swallows it. So penance is laborious, grace sweet, because sin is stripped off where grace is, swallowed up where penance is; there it is remitted, here hidden; and so it is written: "Blessed are those whose iniquities are remitted and whose sins are covered."
2 Cor 5:2 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 32:1 (31:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Grace strips sin off; penance covers it with labor; both are blessed.
- 2 Cor 5:2–4; Ps 32:1 [LXX 31:1].
Topics: Baptism, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.22.2 (CSEL 64:200–201; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-22-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-22-2
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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 38, chapter 23
38.23.1CSEL 64:201
Et requieuit paulisper, ingemescens humanae condicionis aerumnam, quia dixerat: uerumtamen uniuersa uanitas, omnis homo uiuens, et post diapsalma resumpto spiritu ait: quamquam in imagine dei ambulet homo, tamen uane conturbabitur; thesaurizat, et ignorat cui congregat ea. uide quomodo ante asperitatem suae sententiae temperauit, postea rationem suae uocis absoluit. temperauit dicendo, quia in imagine dei ambulat homo.
And he rested a little, groaning over the hardship of the human condition, because he had said: "Yet all things are vanity, every man living"; and after the pause, taking up his breath again, he says: "Although man walks in the image of God, yet he is troubled in vain; he heaps up treasure, and does not know for whom he gathers it." See how he first tempered the harshness of his sentence, and afterwards set out the reason of his word. He tempered it by saying that man walks in the image of God.
Ps 39:5 (38:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 39:6 (38:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Man walks in God's image, yet heaps up treasure in vain.
- Ps 39:5–6 [LXX 38:6–7]. Diapsalma ("pause") is the Greek for Selah.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced and garbled letters; digitization: stray word, split word; digitization: words joined): uniuer s a u finit → uniuersa uanitas; et ignorat at cui congr egat → et ignorat cui congregat; temperauitdicendo → temperauit dicendo.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.23.1 (CSEL 64:201; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-23-1
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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.
38.23.2CSEL 64:201–202
beatus homo, qui ad similitudinem dei per fidem ambulas; beatus quia in te fidem habes, beatior si auaritiam non haberes. aliud bonum mentis aeternum, aliud uanum carnalis cupiditatis incendium; fides enim deo militat, auaritia temptatori; ista congerit quod sibi prosit, illa quod proficiat alienis. quid igitur tam uanum quam nescire cui laboret heredi? quis enim scit, si aut filius aut nepos proprius superuiuat? saepe aut in tabulis testamenti scriptus heres funesto obitu testatorem praecedit ad tumulum aut heredi-
Blessed are you, man, who walk by faith after the likeness of God; blessed because you have faith in you, more blessed if you had no avarice. One is the eternal good of the mind, another the vain fire of fleshly desire; for faith serves God, avarice the tempter; the one heaps up what profits itself, the other what profits others. What, then, is so vain as not to know for what heir one labors? For who knows whether his son or his own grandson will survive? Often either the heir written in the tablets of the will precedes the testator to the tomb by a deadly death, or the survivor swallows the inheritance,
Ps 39:6 (38:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 6:24 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Faith serves God, avarice the tempter; the rich man does not know his heir.
- Ps 39:6 [LXX 38:7]; Matt 6:24.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): militatauaritiatemptatori → militat, auaritia temptatori.
Topics: Ethics, Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.23.2 (CSEL 64:201–202; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-23-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-23-2
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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.
38.23.3CSEL 64:202
tatem superstes absorbet aut luxuriosus dissipat aut stultissimus non tuetur aut proscriptus amittit. si quem ergo uideris studiose diuitias congregantem, dices tu: uane conturbatur; thesaurizat, et ignorat cui congregat ea. neque enim secum potest auferre quae possidet et, cum morietur, relinquet alienis diuitias suas. succedit frequenter inimicus et ingratus et decessori successor insultat; quos ille dilexit iste persequitur, quos ille nutriuit hic uendit.
or the luxurious man dissipates it, or the very foolish does not look after it, or the proscribed loses it. If, then, you see someone eagerly gathering riches, you will say: "He is troubled in vain; he heaps up treasure and does not know for whom he gathers it." For he cannot take with him what he possesses, and when he dies he will leave his riches to others. Often an enemy and ungrateful man succeeds, and the successor insults his predecessor; those whom he loved this one persecutes, those whom he nourished this one sells.
Ps 39:6 (38:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 49:10 (48:11 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 12:20 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Riches pass to unknown and often ungrateful heirs.
- Ps 39:6 [LXX 38:7]; Ps 49:10, 17 [LXX 48:11, 18]; Luke 12:20.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined, t for s): dicettu:uane → dices tu: uane.
Topics: Ethics, Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.23.3 (CSEL 64:202; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-23-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-23-3
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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 38, chapter 24
38.24.1CSEL 64:202
Graecus tamen non habet: in imagine dei, sed tantummodo: in imagine. in qua ergo imagine ambulat homo? in ea utique ambulat ad cuius similitudinem factus est, id est ad imaginem dei; imago autem dei Christus, qui est splendor gloriae et imago substantiae eius. Christus ergo imago sancti. ad imaginem haec imago uenit in terras, ut iam non in umbra ambularemus, sed in imagine;
The Greek, however, does not have "in the image of God," but only "in the image." In what image, then, does man walk? Surely in that after whose likeness he was made, that is, after the image of God; and the image of God is Christ, who is the brightness of his glory and the image of his substance. Christ, then, is the image of the saint. After the image this Image came to earth, so that we might no longer walk in shadow but in the image;
Ps 39:6 (38:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 1:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The image in which man walks is Christ, God's image.
- Ps 39:6 [LXX 38:7]; Gen 1:26; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: c for e): dci → dei.
Topics: Christology, The image of God
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.24.1 (CSEL 64:202; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-24-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-24-1
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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.
38.24.2CSEL 64:202
in Christo enim ambulat qui sequitur euangelium. ideo discipulo suo dicit: uade retro post me, ut me sequaris. ideo errauit populus Iudaeorum, quia in umbra ambulauit; ideo non errat populus christianus, quia in imagine ambulat, habens solem sibi iustitiae refulgentem. bona imago non ceris picturae figurata radiantis, sed plenitudine diuinitatis expressa.
for he walks in Christ who follows the gospel. So he says to his disciple: "Get behind me," so that you may follow me. So the Jewish people erred, because it walked in shadow; so the Christian people does not err, because it walks in the image, having the sun of justice shining for it. Good is the image, not formed in the wax of a gleaming picture, but expressed by the fullness of the Godhead.
Mark 8:33 (quotation, high confidence) · Mal 4:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 2:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians walk in Christ the image, the Jews in the shadow.
- Mark 8:33 (Matt 16:23), read as a call to follow; Mal 4:2; Col 2:9.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: a for s): Chriato → Christo.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.24.2 (CSEL 64:202; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-24-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-24-2
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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.
38.24.3CSEL 64:202–203
in qua imagine et pater simul uidetur et filius, quia utriusque eorum unitas operationis effulget. etsi iam resurrexerit Christus, tamen in euangelio nobis adhuc eius imago monstratur. lego quod Lazarum suscitauerit, et patris opus et filii credo. filius uocauit, pater audiuit, Lazarus ambulauit. lego quia eum daemones fatebantur; et patrem, qui dei filium precabantur, fatebantur et in ipso uel per ipsum eiciebantur, (ut) scriptum est: quodsi in spiritu dei eicio daemonia, filii uestri in quo eiciunt?
In this image both Father and Son are seen together, because the unity of operation of both shines forth. Although Christ has already risen, yet in the gospel his image is still shown us. I read that he raised Lazarus, and I believe it the work of Father and Son. The Son called, the Father heard, Lazarus walked. I read that the demons confessed him; they confessed the Father too, who besought the Son of God, and they were cast out in him or through him, as it is written: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, by whom do your sons cast them out?"
John 11:41 (allusion, high confidence) · John 11:43 (allusion, high confidence) · Mark 3:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 12:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 12:27 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In Christ the image, Father and Son are seen working as one.
- John 11:41–44; Mark 3:11; Matt 12:27–28 (conflated). "As" is an editor's supplement.
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.24.3 (CSEL 64:202–203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-24-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-24-3
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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 38, chapter 25
38.25.1CSEL 64:203
Primum igitur umbra praecessit, secuta est imago, erit ueritas; umbra in lege, imago uero in euangelio, ueritas in caelestibus. umbra euangelii et ecclesiae congregationis in lege, imago futurae ueritatis in euangelio, ueritas in iudicio dei; ergo quae nunc celebrantur in ecclesia, eorum umbra erat in sermonibus prophetarum, umbra in diluuio, umbra in Rubro Mari, quando baptizati sunt patres nostri in nube et in mari, umbra in petra quae aquam fluxit et populum sequebatur.
First, then, the shadow went before, the image followed, the truth will be: the shadow in the law, the image in the gospel, the truth in heavenly things. The shadow of the gospel and of the congregation of the church was in the law; the image of the future truth in the gospel; the truth in the judgment of God. So the things now celebrated in the church had their shadow in the words of the prophets; a shadow in the flood, a shadow in the Red Sea, when our fathers were baptized in the cloud and in the sea; a shadow in the rock that flowed with water and followed the people.
Heb 10:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 3:20 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 10:2 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Shadow in the law, image in the gospel, truth in heaven; the church's mysteries were foreshadowed.
- Heb 10:1; 1 Pet 3:20–21; 1 Cor 10:1–4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): praecessitsecuta → praecessit, secuta.
Topics: Baptism, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.25.1 (CSEL 64:203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-25-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-25-1
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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.
38.25.2CSEL 64:203
nonne illud in umbra erat sacrosancti huius mysterii sacramentum? nonne in umbra erat aqua de petra quasi sanguis de Christo, qui fugientes se populos sequebatur, ut biberent et non sitirent, redimerentur et non perirent? sed iam discessit umbra noctis et caliginis Iudaeorum, dies appropinquauit ecclesiae. uidemus nunc per imaginem bona et tenemus imaginis bona. uidimus principem sacerdotum ad nos uenientem, uidimus et audiuimus offerentem pro nobis sanguinem suum.
Was not the sacrament of this most sacred mystery in shadow? Was not the water from the rock in shadow, as the blood from Christ, which followed the peoples fleeing it, so that they might drink and not thirst, be redeemed and not perish? But now the shadow of the night and gloom of the Jews has departed; the day of the church has drawn near. We now see good things through the image and hold the good things of the image. We have seen the chief of priests coming to us; we have seen and heard him offering his blood for us.
1 Cor 10:4 (allusion, high confidence) · John 19:34 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 13:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 9:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 9:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rock's water foreshadowed Christ's blood; now we see the high priest offering his blood.
- 1 Cor 10:4; John 19:34; Rom 13:12; Heb 9:11–12.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.25.2 (CSEL 64:203; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-25-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-25-2
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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.
38.25.3CSEL 64:203–204
sequimur ut possumus sacerdotes; ut offeramus pro populo sacrificium etsi infirmi merito, tamen honorabiles sacrificio, quia, etsi nunc Christus non uidetur offerre, tamen ipse offertur in terris, quia Christi corpus offertur, immo ipse offerre manifestatur in nobis, cuius sermo sanctificat sacrificium quod offertur. et ipse quidem nobis apud patrem aduocatus adsistit, sed nunc eum non uidemus; tunc uidebimus, cum imago transierit, ueritas uenerit. tunc iam non per speculum, sed facie ad faciem ea quae sunt perfecta uidebuntur.
We priests follow as we can, so as to offer sacrifice for the people, though weak in merit, yet honorable by the sacrifice; because, although Christ is not now seen to offer, yet he himself is offered on earth, because the body of Christ is offered; rather he himself is shown to offer in us, whose word sanctifies the sacrifice that is offered. And he himself indeed stands by us as advocate with the Father, but now we do not see him; then we shall see him, when the image has passed and the truth has come. Then no longer through a mirror, but face to face, the things that are perfect will be seen.
1 John 2:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:12 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Priests offer the sacrifice, in which Christ is offered and himself offers by his word.
- 1 John 2:1; 1 Cor 13:12. An important witness to Ambrose's eucharistic teaching; translated exactly.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: l for i; digitization: stray number): cuius 25 sermo → cuius sermo; tunc lam non → tunc iam non.
Topics: Eucharist, Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.25.3 (CSEL 64:203–204; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-25-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-25-3
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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 38, chapter 26
38.26.1CSEL 64:204
Ascende ergo, homo, in caelum et uidebis illa, quorum umbra hic erat uel imago; uidebis non ex parte, non in aenigmate, sed in consummatione, non in uelamine, sed in luce. uidebis uerum lumen, aeternum atque perpetuum sacerdotem, cuius hic imagines uidebas Petrum Paulum Iohannem Iacobum Matthaeum Thomam. uidebis perfectum hominem iam non in imagine, sed in ueritate; qualis enim caelestis, tales et caelestes, utique et ipsi iam in gloria uel decore, iam in resurrectionis gratia, non in corpore mortis et corruptionis deformitate.
Ascend, then, O man, into heaven, and you will see those things whose shadow or image was here; you will see not in part, not in a riddle, but in completion, not under a veil but in light. You will see the true light, the eternal and perpetual priest, whose images you saw here: Peter, Paul, John, James, Matthew, Thomas. You will see the perfect man no longer in image but in truth; for as is the heavenly, such are the heavenly, they too already in glory or beauty, already in the grace of resurrection, not in the body of death and the deformity of corruption.
1 Cor 13:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:18 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 1:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 4:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:48 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In heaven we shall see face to face the true light and the perfected saints.
- 1 Cor 13:12; 2 Cor 3:18; John 1:9; Eph 4:13; 1 Cor 15:48.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.26.1 (CSEL 64:204; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-26-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-26-1
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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 38, chapter 27
38.27.1CSEL 64:204
Uide ne eo deferas imaginem terrestris, ubi lux caelestium est. hic si quis tyranni imagines habeat, qui iam uictus interiit, iure damnatur. quomodo tu hostis et aduersarii imaginem in ciuitatem ueri imperatoris inducis, nisi ut ipse te damnet? et si uolueris imaginem terrestris inferre, contradicet tibi princeps istius mundi; dicet: mea est imago haec et quae offers mea sunt. quid facies deprehensus, cum tibi dixerit: mea est auaritia, mea est ambitio, meae diuitiae, quarum imaginem in te recognosco?
See that you do not carry the image of the earthly where the light of the heavenly is. Here, if anyone has images of a tyrant who has been defeated and perished, he is rightly condemned. How do you bring the image of the enemy and adversary into the city of the true emperor, except so that he condemn you? And if you wish to bring in the image of the earthly, the prince of this world will contradict you; he will say: "This image is mine, and what you offer is mine." What will you do, caught, when he says to you: "Avarice is mine, ambition is mine, mine are the riches whose image I recognize in you"?
1 Cor 15:49 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:30 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Do not bring the devil's image of avarice and ambition into Christ's city.
- 1 Cor 15:49; John 14:30. Displaying images of a defeated usurper was a crime (Ambrose may think of Eugenius, d. 394).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.27.1 (CSEL 64:204; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-27-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-27-1
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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.
38.27.2CSEL 64:204–205
ipse est enim aduersarius et defensor. quodsi fueris qualis Iacob, dices Labae qui se transfigurat in angelum lucis: recognosce si quid tuorum in me inueni. tunc ille requiret et non inueniens confutatus abscedet, quia abscondisti atque obliterasti omnia simulacra uitiorum. beatus qui potest dicere: ueniet huius mundi princeps et in me suum inueniet nihil. quae sua sunt enim quaerit ille, non ista quae Christi. si ergo Christum sequeris, noli quas non habeas affectare diuitias, augere quas habeas, sed diuitem te sibi sentiat pauper.
For he is both adversary and defender. But if you are such as Jacob, you will say to the Laban who transforms himself into an angel of light: "Recognize if you have found anything of yours with me." Then he will search and, finding nothing, go away confounded, because you have hidden and blotted out all the idols of vices. Blessed is he who can say: "The prince of this world will come and will find nothing of his in me." For he seeks what is his, not what is Christ's. If, then, you follow Christ, do not strive for riches you do not have, nor increase those you have; but let the poor man feel you rich for him.
Gen 31:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 31:35 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 11:14 (allusion, high confidence) · John 14:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:21 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like Jacob before Laban, let the devil find nothing of his in you.
- Gen 31:32–35; 2 Cor 11:14; John 14:30; Phil 2:21.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: garbled letters; digitization: spaced letters, stray numbers): quatslacob → qualis Iacob; n ihi 1. 25 quae → nihil. quae.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.27.2 (CSEL 64:204–205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-27-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-27-2
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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.
38.27.3CSEL 64:205
induc in domum tuam inopem, frange panem esurienti et nudum operi, ut tibi thesaurus condatur in caelo qui tecum transeat. pauper Christus est factus, cum diues esset, ut nos sua inopia diuites faceret. noli ergo propter diuitias uane conturbari, excitari de somno, cogitare quemadmodum pecuniam tuam serues, opes tuas augeas, de nocte procedere, excubare ad iudicis domum, ut aliena diripias, litem moueas pauperi, uerearis exactorem tributi. uana est ista conturbatio.
Bring the needy into your house, break bread for the hungry and cover the naked, so that a treasure may be laid up for you in heaven which may pass with you. Christ became poor, though he was rich, so as to make us rich by his poverty. Do not, then, be troubled in vain on account of riches, roused from sleep, thinking how to keep your money, how to increase your wealth, setting out by night, keeping watch at the judge's house to plunder others' goods, bringing a lawsuit against a poor man, fearing the tax-collector. Vain is that disturbance.
Isa 58:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:20 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 8:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 39:6 (38:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Give to the poor rather than be troubled in vain over riches.
- Isa 58:7; Matt 6:20; 2 Cor 8:9; Ps 39:6 [LXX 38:7].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: a for d; digitization: garbled letters; digitization: stray question mark): rndiic → induc; serues?, opes → serues, opes; ae nocte → de nocte.
Topics: Ethics, Almsgiving and care for the poor
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.27.3 (CSEL 64:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-27-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-27-3
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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 38, chapter 28
38.28.1CSEL 64:205
Et ideo iustus dixit: et nunc quae est expectatio mea? nonne dominus? et substantia mea ante te est. spes et patientia nostra Christus est, ipse factus est redemptio nostra, ipse est nostra expectatio, ut dicamus singuli: expectans expectaui dominum et respexit me. respice ergo nos in iudicio tuo, respiciat super nos misericordia tua, ut qui de merito diffidimus nostro per tuam misericordiam liberemur cuius potestate est animae nostrae uitaeque substantia. et ideo non timeamus corporis mortem, sed eum qui potest animam nostram uel seruare uel perdere, cuius substantia uirtus est, quam deus ad similitudinem sui pectoribus infudit humanis.
And so the just man said: "And now what is my expectation? Is it not the Lord? And my substance is before you." Our hope and patience is Christ; he has become our redemption, he is our expectation, so that each of us may say: "Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and he looked upon me." Look, then, on us in your judgment, let your mercy look upon us, so that we who distrust our own merit may be freed through your mercy, in whose power is the substance of our soul and life. And so let us not fear the death of the body, but him who can either save or destroy our soul, whose substance is virtue, which God poured into human hearts after his own likeness.
Ps 39:7 (38:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 40:1 (39:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 10:28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is our expectation; fear only him who can save or destroy the soul.
- Ps 39:7 [LXX 38:8] (Greek form); 1 Cor 1:30; Ps 40:1 [LXX 39:2]; Matt 10:28.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.28.1 (CSEL 64:205; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-28-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-28-1
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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 38, chapter 29
38.29.1CSEL 64:205–206
Quisquis igitur habet istam substantiam animae suae, dicit: ab omnibus iniquitatibus meis eripe me. non unius criminis lapsum fatetur qui ab omnibus se iniquitatibus solui precatur. scit enim quod, nisi dominus ignoscat, nemo saluus esse possit quicumque natus est sub peccato, quem ipsa noxiae condicionis hereditas adstrinxit ad culpam.
Whoever, then, has this substance of his soul says: "Rescue me from all my iniquities." He does not confess the fall of one crime who prays to be loosed from all iniquities. For he knows that, unless the Lord forgives, no one can be saved who was born under sin, whom the very inheritance of a guilty condition has bound to guilt.
Ps 39:8 (38:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 51:5 (50:7 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 5:12 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: He prays to be freed from all sins, knowing all are born under sin.
- Ps 39:8 [LXX 38:9]; Ps 51:5 [LXX 50:7]; Rom 5:12.
Topics: Sin
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.29.1 (CSEL 64:205–206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-29-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-29-1
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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 38, chapter 30
38.30.1CSEL 64:206
Obprobrium, inquit, insipienti dedisti me. quis est insipiens nisi qui peccatum facit et eligit mala pro bonis? ergo, qui auctor est peccatorum, ipse insipiens magis quam eius minister.
"You have given me," he says, "as a reproach to the fool." Who is the fool but he who commits sin and chooses evil for good? So he who is the author of sins is himself more a fool than his minister.
Ps 39:8 (38:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fool is the devil, author of sin.
- Ps 39:8 [LXX 38:9].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: split word): Obpr obrium → Obprobrium.
Topics: The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.30.1 (CSEL 64:206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-30-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-30-1
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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.
38.30.2CSEL 64:206
cum peccamus igitur, in obprobrium tradimur aduersario, ut ille nos quasi inimicus in die iudicii accuset et prodat. suscipiamus ergo obprobrium crucis Christi, quod suscepit Moyses et Aegypti thesauris regalibus praetulit et ideo non est insipienti in obprobrium traditus. alii habent codices: obprobrium insipienti ne tradas me. sed magis Dauid eam consuetudinem habet, ut sua magis obprobria et peccata fateatur nec de peccatis suis erubescat et obprobriis, qui scit in confessione esse ueniam et in peccati sui condemnatione iustitiam.
When we sin, then, we are handed over as a reproach to the adversary, so that he, as an enemy, may accuse and betray us on the day of judgment. Let us take up, then, the reproach of Christ's cross, which Moses took up and preferred to the royal treasures of Egypt; and so he was not handed over as a reproach to the fool. Other manuscripts have: "Do not give me as a reproach to the fool." But David rather has this habit, that he confesses his own reproaches and sins and does not blush at his sins and reproaches, for he knows that in confession is pardon and in condemnation of one's sin is justice.
Heb 11:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 13:13 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 39:8 (38:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Bear Christ's reproach like Moses; David confesses his own reproaches.
- Heb 11:26; Heb 13:13; Ps 39:8 [LXX 38:9].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray hyphen): in - obprobrium → in obprobrium; erubescat -et obprobriis → erubescat et obprobriis.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.30.2 (CSEL 64:206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-30-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-30-2
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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 38, chapter 31
38.31.1CSEL 64:206
Denique ex his quae secuntur manifestatur hic sensus, quia subiecit: ommutui et non aperui os meum, quoniam tu fecisti me, hoc est: dedisti me tu obprobrium insipienti; ideo ommutui et non aperui os meum, ne peccata maiora contraherem. agnoui uoluntatem tuam, ut ad tempus erubescerem et postea saluus fierem ueniam postulando. prodest ergo interdum et obprobrium, siquidem etiam ipse prodest carnis interitus, ut testificatur apostolus dicens: tradidi eum in interitum
Indeed from what follows this sense is made plain, for he added: "I was dumb and did not open my mouth, because you made me"; that is: you gave me as a reproach to the fool; so I was dumb and did not open my mouth, lest I contract greater sins. I recognized your will, that I should blush for a time and afterwards be saved by asking pardon. Reproach, then, sometimes profits, since even the destruction of the flesh profits, as the apostle testifies, saying: "I have handed him over to the destruction
Ps 39:9 (38:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 5:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Reproach accepted from God is profitable.
- Ps 39:9 [LXX 38:10]; 1 Cor 5:5.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.31.1 (CSEL 64:206; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-31-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-31-1
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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.
38.31.2CSEL 64:206–207
carnis, ut spiritus saluus sit in die domini nostri Iesu Christi. obprobrium quoque prodesse Dauid ipse testatus est dicens ad Abessam: sine maledicat mihi Iemineus, quoniam dixit illi dominus, ut uideat humilitatem meam et retribuat mihi dominus bona pro maledicto hoc. et re uera uidit obprobrium eius dominus, quod flens ibat et excalciatus operto capite, et amouit eius obprobrium. liquet igitur quia, cum datus in obprobrium fugerit et humiliatus sit et nudis pedibus domino satisfecerit et lapides iacientem non repercusserit et in maledicentem non permiserit uindicari et post haec regno suo integro resumptus sit, quia et obprobrium a domino sit et prosit magis sustinere obprobrium quam repellere. denique uictoria post secuta est.
of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ." That reproach profits, David himself testified, saying to Abishai: "Let the Benjaminite curse me, for the Lord has told him, that he may see my humiliation and the Lord repay me good for this cursing." And indeed the Lord saw his reproach, that he went weeping, barefoot, with covered head, and took away his reproach. It is clear, then, that since, given as a reproach, he fled and was humbled and made satisfaction to the Lord with bare feet and did not strike back at the one throwing stones and did not allow vengeance on the curser, and after this was restored to his kingdom intact, the reproach was from the Lord and it profits more to bear reproach than to repel it. Indeed victory followed afterwards.
1 Cor 5:5 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 15:30 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David bore Shimei's reproach and was restored; reproach accepted brings victory.
- 1 Cor 5:5; 2 Sam 16:11–12; 2 Sam 15:30; 2 Sam 19.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: garbled letters): sine mal e die at mihi Iemineus → sine maledicat mihi Iemineus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.31.2 (CSEL 64:206–207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-31-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-31-2
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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.
38.31.3CSEL 64:207
ergo obprobrium prodest. sed quid est quod addidit: quoniam tu fecisti me? nonne ideo ommutuisse se dicit et non aperuisse os suum, quia agnouit domini uoluntatem, et propterea patienter se pertulisse, ut satisfieret domino per obprobrium pro peccato?
Reproach, then, profits. But what is it that he added: "because you made me"? Does he not say he was dumb and did not open his mouth because he recognized the Lord's will, and therefore bore patiently, so as to make satisfaction to the Lord for sin through reproach?
Ps 39:9 (38:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: He kept silent, recognizing God's will in the reproach.
- Ps 39:9 [LXX 38:10].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: n for ri; digitization: question mark for i): obprobnum → obprobrium; add?dit → addidit.
Topics: Patience
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.31.3 (CSEL 64:207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-31-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-31-3
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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 38, chapter 32
38.32.1CSEL 64:207
Unde et adiunxit: amoue a me plagas meas. quomodo hoc sibi congruit? in superiore psalmo flagellis se optulit, hic flagella a se postulat amoueri, nisi quia soluit iam de manu domini duplicia peccata sua erubescendo, obprobria sustinendo. conpunctiones cordis sui sunt et cogitationum, sunt et increpationum flagella. uideamus tamen ne ideo dixerit ante deum esse substantiam animae suae, quia non inpugnaret aduersarius eam, nisi potestatem accepisset a domino; quod enim fecit dominus, et tuetur.
Hence he also added: "Remove your blows from me." How does this agree with itself? In the previous psalm he offered himself to the scourges; here he asks that the scourges be removed from him, unless because he has already paid double for his sins from the Lord's hand by blushing, by bearing reproaches. There are compunctions of his heart and thoughts, and there are scourges of rebukes. Let us see, though, whether he did not say that the substance of his soul is before God for this reason: that the adversary would not attack it unless he had received power from the Lord; for what the Lord made, he also protects.
Ps 39:10 (38:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:17 (37:18 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 40:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 39:7 (38:8 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Having paid for his sins by shame, he asks the blows to cease; God protects what he made.
- Ps 39:10 [LXX 38:11]; Ps 38:17 [LXX 37:18]; Isa 40:2; Ps 39:7 [LXX 38:8].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: split word): amou e a me → amoue a me.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.32.1 (CSEL 64:207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-32-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-32-1
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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.
38.32.2CSEL 64:207
denique angelus in circuitu est hominis, qui praetendat, ne quis noceat ei. non discedit angelus nisi iussus a domino, ut suus athleta decertet. ergo quasi substantia domini praesumit ueniam sibi iniquitatum suarum a conditore suo posse concedi et ideo rogat, quia nouit auctorem suum misericordem.
Indeed an angel is around a man, to stand guard lest anyone harm him. The angel does not depart unless commanded by the Lord, so that his athlete may contend. So, as the Lord's substance, he presumes that pardon of his iniquities can be granted him by his maker, and so he asks, because he knows his author is merciful.
Ps 34:7 (33:8 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Job 1:10 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A guardian angel protects man unless God permits a contest.
- Ps 34:7 [LXX 33:8]; Job 1:10.
Topics: Angels
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.32.2 (CSEL 64:207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-32-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-32-2
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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.
38.32.3CSEL 64:207
deinde, quia datus sit in obprobrium, non resistit, sed patitur aduersum se assistere peccatorem et silet substantiae suae conscientia, quae bona est, et potest corporis ferocitatem refrenare, ut uirtus succedat, culpa ponatur. postremo, quia factus a domino est, citius sibi posse donari peccatum confidenter aestimat, qui fortitudinem manus domini potuerit sustinere.
Then, because he has been given as a reproach, he does not resist, but allows the sinner to stand against him, and the conscience of his substance, which is good, is silent and can rein in the body's ferocity, so that virtue may succeed and guilt be laid down. Lastly, because he was made by the Lord, he confidently reckons that sin can be forgiven him the sooner, who has been able to bear the strength of the Lord's hand.
Ps 39:1 (38:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 39:10 (38:11 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Made by God and patient under reproach, he trusts in quick forgiveness.
- Ps 39:1, 10 [LXX 38:2, 11].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray point): resistit,. sed → resistit, sed; donari. peccatum → donari peccatum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.32.3 (CSEL 64:207; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-32-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-32-3
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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 38, chapter 33
38.33.1CSEL 64:207–208
Et hoc utique bonae substantiae est, etsi fortitudine manus domini defecisse se dicit. fortis manus sicut male percutit, sic cito sanat; quae fortis ad uulnus, fortis et ad remedium est. unde et ipse ait: percutiam et sanabo, ut non meminerit uulneris qui sanatus euasit. denique haec manus domini sancto Iob omnia
And this surely belongs to a good substance, even though he says he failed from the strength of the Lord's hand. A strong hand, as it strikes hard, so it soon heals; that which is strong for the wound is strong also for the remedy. Hence he himself says: "I will strike and I will heal," so that he who has escaped healed does not remember the wound. Indeed this hand of the Lord took away everything from holy Job
Ps 39:10 (38:11 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 32:39 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's strong hand both strikes and heals.
- Ps 39:10 [LXX 38:11]; Deut 32:39.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): etipseait → et ipse ait.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.33.1 (CSEL 64:207–208; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-33-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-33-1
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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.
38.33.2CSEL 64:208
abstulit et omnia repraesentauit, immo omnia cumulo auxit, ut amissa geminaret. nec te moueat quod defecisse se dixit. est qui deficit et fortior surgit; suffulcit enim dominus omnes qui ruunt et corrigit omnes elisos; cum uirtute enim surgit quicumque corrigitur. defecit Paulus a fortitudine manus huius; cecidit persecutor et surrexit euangelii praedicator. hoc est quod ait: a fortitudine manus tuae ego defeci.
and restored everything, rather increased everything in abundance, so as to double what was lost. And do not be troubled that he said he failed. There is one who fails and rises stronger; for the Lord upholds all who fall and raises up all who are thrown down; for whoever is raised up rises with strength. Paul failed from the strength of this hand; the persecutor fell and the preacher of the gospel rose. This is what he says: "From the strength of your hand I have failed."
Job 42:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 145:14 (144:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 9:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 9:20 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 39:10 (38:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: One may fail under God's hand and rise stronger, like Job and Paul.
- Job 42:10; Ps 145:14 [LXX 144:14]; Acts 9:4–20; Ps 39:10 [LXX 38:11].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: missing letters; digitization: spaced letters): suffucit → suffulcit; a f ortitudine → a fortitudine.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.33.2 (CSEL 64:208; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-33-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-33-2
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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 38, chapter 34
38.34.1CSEL 64:208
Et addidit: in increpationibus super iniquitatem erudisti hominem et tabescere fecisti sicut araneam animam eius. Graecus ὑπὲρ ἀνομίας dixit, hoc est pro iniquitate et integrum uersum κατὰ κοινοῦ posuit, quod est: in increpationibus pro iniquitate erudisti hominem. ideo Sapiens dixit: quis mihi dabit cogitationum mearum flagella et labiorum meorum signaculum?, ut cor suum ipse suis cogitationibus flagellaret et signaret labia sua, quo et uetera peccata
And he added: "With rebukes for iniquity you have instructed man, and you have made his soul waste away like a spider." The Greek said ὑπὲρ ἀνομίας, that is, "for iniquity," and put the whole verse in common construction, which is: "With rebukes for iniquity you have instructed man." So the Wise Man said: "Who will give me scourges for my thoughts and a seal for my lips?", so that he might scourge his heart with his own thoughts and seal his lips, so as both to lessen old sins
Ps 39:11 (38:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God instructs man by rebukes for sin; the wise man scourges his own thoughts.
- Ps 39:11 [LXX 38:12] (Greek, garbled in the digital text); Sir 22:27–23:2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: Greek read as Latin letters, i for r; digitization: spaced letters, h for b): in incr ep ationibus super iniquit at em erudisti hominem et tahescere f ecisti → in increpationibus super iniquitatem erudisti hominem et tabescere fecisti; VTIEQ avojuiag dixit, hoc est pro iniquitate et integium uersum xara xoivdv → ὑπὲρ ἀνομίας dixit, hoc est pro iniquitate et integrum uersum κατὰ κοινοῦ.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 22:27 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation); Sir 23:2 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.34.1 (CSEL 64:208; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-1
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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.
38.34.2CSEL 64:208–209
minueret nec alia loquendo renouaret, quo propriis increpationibus eruditus exercitia uirtutis indueret. tabescit autem anima; quando peccatum minuitur, uel cum anima tabescit, culpa deponitur; incrassatur, cum peccata cumulantur. unde ait dominus de peccatoribus: non permanebit in his spiritus meus aeternum, quoniam carnes sunt, et alibi scriptura dicit: incrassatum est cor populi huius. ideo et Hieremias primum baculum uidit nucinum, deinde ollam feruentem, ut tabesceret anima prophetae incipientis, quo culpa decederet, ut accederet gratia.
and not renew others by speaking, so that, instructed by his own rebukes, he might put on the exercises of virtue. And the soul wastes away when sin is lessened; or, when the soul wastes away, guilt is laid down; it grows fat when sins are heaped up. Hence the Lord says of sinners: "My spirit will not remain in them for ever, because they are flesh"; and elsewhere Scripture says: "The heart of this people has grown fat." So Jeremiah too saw first a rod of almond, then a boiling pot, so that the soul of the beginning prophet might waste away, that guilt might depart and grace come in.
Gen 6:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 6:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:15 (quotation, medium confidence) · Jer 1:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 1:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The soul wastes away as sin lessens; sinners grow fat.
- Gen 6:3; Isa 6:10 (Matt 13:15); Jer 1:11, 13 ("rod of nut" in the Old Latin).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.34.2 (CSEL 64:208–209; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-2
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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.
38.34.3CSEL 64:209
sed cur prius baculum, postea ollam? quoniam qui baculo non corrigitur in ollam mittitur, ut ardeat et tabescat. et ideo et ad prophetam Hiezechiel dicitur: accipe tibi sartaginem et accipies iniquitates domus Israel et consummabis; et tabescent, inquit, in suis iniquitatibus, et alibi in eodem libro dicit dominus: sed ego magnum faciam titionem et multiplicabo ligna et succendam ignem, ut liquefiat caro et imminuatur ius.
But why first the rod, afterwards the pot? Because he who is not corrected by the rod is put into the pot, to burn and waste away. And so to the prophet Ezekiel too it is said: "Take for yourself a pan, and you will receive the iniquities of the house of Israel and complete them; and they will waste away," he says, "in their iniquities"; and elsewhere in the same book the Lord says: "But I will make the firebrand great and multiply the wood and kindle the fire, so that the flesh may melt and the broth be lessened."
Ezek 4:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 4:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Ezek 4:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 24:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those not corrected by the rod are put into the pot, as in Ezekiel.
- Ezek 4:3–5, 17; Ezek 24:10 (Greek form).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: split word; digitization: split word, stray mark): sartagin e*m → sartaginem; mag num → magnum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.34.3 (CSEL 64:209; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-3
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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.
38.34.4CSEL 64:209
quibus testimoniis significatur, quod animae perfidorum admoto igne tabescant, ut deponant crassitudinis quendam carnalis humorem. mittuntur ergo in sartaginem et animae peccatorum, ut defluat quaedam peccati caro, quae obduxerat animae ac mentis uigorem et uelut iure quodam ita quibusdam infuderat animam inlecebris cupiditatum. expectant igitur nos quaedam sartagines. ideo hic conteramus cor nostrum, ut subtile fiat et deponat omnem duritiam et pinguedinem quandam carnalis aruinae.
By these testimonies it is signified that the souls of the faithless waste away when fire is applied, so as to lay down a kind of fluid of carnal fatness. So the souls of sinners too are put into a pan, so that a certain flesh of sin may run off, which had covered the vigor of soul and mind and had, as it were, steeped the soul in the enticements of desires. Certain pans, then, await us. So let us crush our heart here, so that it becomes fine and lays down all hardness and a kind of fatness of carnal lard.
Notes and citation
Summary: A purifying fire awaits sinners; crush the heart now in penance.
Topics: Eschatology, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.34.4 (CSEL 64:209; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-4
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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.
38.34.5CSEL 64:209–210
quod patientur qui luxuriati sunt in hac uita et ludibria dedecorum quam opera ulla uirtutum exercenda sibi more Iudaico crediderunt. incrassatus est enim Iacob et pinguis factus est et surrexit ludere, quem a fidei ueritate lusus ille in perfidiae traduxit errorem. merito ergo Paulus castigabat corpus suum, ne nutriret carnes peccati; luxuriando enim facimus membra peccati, sobrietate autem membra iustitiae. non natura ergo, sed culpa delinquit.
This those will suffer who have lived in luxury in this life and believed, in the Jewish manner, that they should practice the mockeries of disgrace rather than any works of virtue. For Jacob grew fat and became thick and rose up to play, whom that play led from the truth of faith into the error of faithlessness. Rightly, then, Paul chastised his body, lest he nourish the flesh of sin; for by luxury we make members of sin, but by sobriety members of justice. It is not nature, then, but guilt that offends.
Deut 32:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 32:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 6:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 6:19 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Luxury fattens sin; Paul chastised his body; sin is of guilt, not nature.
- Deut 32:15; Exod 32:6; 1 Cor 9:27; Rom 6:13, 19. Ambrose's "Jewish manner" is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray point): corpus. suum → corpus suum.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.34.5 (CSEL 64:209–210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-34-5
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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 38, chapter 35
38.35.1CSEL 64:210
Nec iterum uana et inania sequamur, ne telam araneae texere iudicemur, eo quod peccata nullam perpetuitatis possunt habere substantiam. unde cum uideris aliquos studere facultatibus ampliandis, cumulandis potestatibus, affectando decori, dices illud Esaiae: telam araneae texunt isti in omnibus diei unius, quae diuturna esse non potest, sed cito diuiditur atque opus eius omne dissoluitur; non enim supra solidum aliquod firmamentum locatur, sed in uacuo suspenditur. nihil laxum, nihil molle uerum Christi militem decet; ecce enim qui mollibus uestiuntur in domibus regum sunt.
Nor again let us follow vain and empty things, lest we be judged to weave a spider's web, because sins can have no substance of permanence. Hence, when you see some eager to enlarge their means, heap up powers, seek after beauty, you will say that saying of Isaiah: "These weave a spider's web" in everything of a single day, which cannot last but is soon torn and all its work dissolved; for it is not set on any solid foundation but hung in the void. Nothing slack, nothing soft befits the true soldier of Christ; for behold, those who are clothed in soft garments are in kings' houses.
Ps 39:11 (38:12 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 59:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 8:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 11:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Worldly pursuits are spider's webs; Christ's soldier must be firm.
- Ps 39:11 [LXX 38:12]; Isa 59:5; Job 8:14; Matt 11:8. "True" renders ueruiii, read as uerum.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: garbled letters): ueruiii → uerum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.35.1 (CSEL 64:210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-35-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-35-1
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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.
38.35.2CSEL 64:210
arguti sibi et industrii omnes auari uidentur. quid argutius, quid sollicitius aranea, quae operi suo diebus ac noctibus semper intendit nec ullo sumptu ullaque inpensa conficit uestimentum? sed uanum est omne quod fecerit. sic homo omnis est qui opus suum supra Christi non constituit fundamentum; uane noctibus et diebus et ipse turbatur, cum eum plerumque araneae modo etiam in ipso suae improbitatis molimine operis sui ruina conuoluat.
All the greedy seem to themselves shrewd and industrious. What is shrewder, what more careful than the spider, which always attends to its work day and night and makes its garment with no cost or expense? But all it has made is vain. So is every man who does not set his work on the foundation of Christ; he too is troubled in vain nights and days, since often, like the spider, in the very effort of his wickedness the ruin of his work entangles him.
1 Cor 3:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 39:6 (38:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The greedy, like spiders, build in vain without Christ as foundation.
- 1 Cor 3:11; Ps 39:6 [LXX 38:7].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: i for r): aianeae → araneae.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.35.2 (CSEL 64:210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-35-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-35-2
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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 38, chapter 36
38.36.1CSEL 64:210
Et ideo sapiens, qui cognoscit huius saeculi uanitatem, non diuturnam uitae huius precatur usuram, sed ad illa aeterna festinat et labore huius corporis et dolore gestit absolui, sicut propheta desiderasse cognoscitur dicens: exaudi, domine, orationem meam et deprecationem meam, auribus percipe lacrimas meas. ne sileas a me, quoniam ego aduena sum apud te in terra et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei.
And so the wise man, who knows the vanity of this world, does not pray for a long use of this life, but hastens to those eternal things and longs to be freed from the labor and pain of this body, as the prophet is known to have desired, saying: "Hear, Lord, my prayer and my supplication; give ear to my tears. Do not be silent toward me, for I am a stranger with you on earth and a sojourner, as all my fathers were."
Ps 39:12 (38:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The wise man longs for eternity, a stranger on earth.
- Ps 39:12 [LXX 38:13].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters; digitization: split word): e xaudi, domine, or ationem m eam et depr ecationem meam → exaudi, domine, orationem meam et deprecationem meam; per egrinus → peregrinus.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.36.1 (CSEL 64:210; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-1
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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.
38.36.2CSEL 64:210–211
aliud est incola, aliud aduena, aliud accola: incola qui de loco est et genitalem locum incolit, aduena qui aliunde uenit, accola qui ad tempus colit et mutatur annorum uicibus. hoc est ergo quod dicit Dauid: apud te alienus sum, dum in terra sum; non sum nunc paradisi tui incola\\ unde exposuit hoc ipse subiciens: et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei. quod aperuit et apostolus Paulus, asserens quoniam, cum sumus in corpore, peregrinamur a domino, quia, etsi fides in nobis est, per fidem tamen ambulamus, non per speciem, id est non facie ad faciem quasi praesentes; ambulamus enim in aenigmate adhuc, non in ueritate.
An inhabitant is one thing, a stranger another, a sojourner another: the inhabitant is he who is from the place and dwells in his place of birth; the stranger he who comes from elsewhere; the sojourner he who dwells for a time and moves with the turns of years. This, then, is what David says: I am a foreigner with you while I am on earth; I am not now an inhabitant of your paradise. Hence he himself explained it, adding: "and a sojourner, as all my fathers." The apostle Paul too made this plain, asserting that, while we are in the body, we are exiles from the Lord, because, though faith is in us, we walk by faith, not by sight, that is, not face to face as though present; for we still walk in a riddle, not in truth.
Ps 39:12 (38:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:7 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 13:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Inhabitant, stranger, sojourner: in the body we are exiles from the Lord.
- Ps 39:12 [LXX 38:13]; 2 Cor 5:6–7; 1 Cor 13:12.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: i for f; digitization: m for in, missing letters; digitization: stray hyphen, garbled letters): apostolus - Paulus, assereils → apostolus Paulus, asserens; non iacie ad → non facie ad; non m uentate → non in ueritate.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.36.2 (CSEL 64:210–211; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-2
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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.
38.36.3CSEL 64:211
denique addidit: audemus ergo et confidimus magis peregrinari de corpore et adesse ad dominum. audemus praesumptionis in deo fidei, non temeritatis est uerbum, et confidimus id est: uolentes adquiescimus et optantes, non plenioris scientiae auctoritatem uelut principaliter nostro iudicio dependentes uolumus uerum esse quod cupimus, ut appropinquemus ad dominum, a quo nos uidetur futurorum et praesentium distantia separare. audemus ergo adesse, et ideo, inquit, conitimur. cognoscis uerbum uolentis adhuc peruenire, non eius qui peruenerit; affectus igitur in hoc sermone, non effectus ostenditur.
Then he added: "We are bold, then, and are confident rather to be exiled from the body and to be present with the Lord." "We are bold" is a word of the presumption of faith in God, not of rashness; and "we are confident," that is: willing we acquiesce and wishing, not depending as on our own judgment principally on the authority of fuller knowledge, we want what we desire to be true, that we may draw near to the Lord, from whom the distance of things future and present seems to separate us. We are bold, then, to be present, and so, he says, "we strive." You recognize the word of one still wishing to arrive, not of one who has arrived; desire, then, is shown in this word, not attainment.
2 Cor 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:9 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul's words show desire for the Lord, not yet attainment.
- 2 Cor 5:8–9.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.36.3 (CSEL 64:211; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-3
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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.
38.36.4CSEL 64:211–212
denique ipsum affectum sui sermonis interroga, immo audi dicentem uel potius audi dubitantem, cum dicit: ideo conitimur siue absentes siue praesentes placere illi, absentes adhuc per fidem, praesentes per speciem. unde et hoc potest intellegi, quod et hic positi et illic placere et nostro iudici, redemptori quoque nostrarum desideramus animarum. necesse est enim nos ei assistere per speciem, ut unusquisque operum suorum merita dignae adipiscatur sortis examine, uel iustus in requie
Indeed question the desire of his very word, or rather hear him saying, or rather hear him doubting, when he says: "So we strive, whether absent or present, to please him": absent still by faith, present by sight. Hence this too can be understood: that both placed here and there we desire to please both our judge and the redeemer of our souls. For we must stand before him by sight, so that each may obtain the merits of his works by the examination of a worthy lot, either the just in rest
2 Cor 5:9 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:10 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We strive to please God now and at the judgment.
- 2 Cor 5:9–10.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: missing letter; digitization: stray point): placere e nostro iudici → placere et nostro iudici; unusquisque. operum → unusquisque operum.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.36.4 (CSEL 64:211–212; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-4
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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.
38.36.5CSEL 64:212
uel impius in aerumna. fundit igitur lacrimas, quoniam, cum aduena in terram uenerit, demoretur et separetur a patria longo detentus exilio. considera nunc mihi illum Adam de paradiso eiectum in castellum relegatum spectantem, unde deiectus sit, flentem ubertim, quia reminiscitur quid amiserit quoue deciderit. et ideo gratias agamus deo, qui nos perpetuo exilio liberauit, aperiens ianuam qua reuertamur ad patriam. unde apostolus praesumpsit dicere: ergo iam non estis aduenae atque peregrini, sed estis ciues sanctorum et domestici dei.
or the ungodly in misery. He sheds tears, then, because, when the stranger has come to earth, he lingers and is separated from his homeland, held in long exile. Consider now, I pray, that Adam, cast out of paradise, banished to a stronghold, looking toward the place from which he was cast down, weeping abundantly, because he remembers what he lost or whence he fell. And so let us give thanks to God, who has freed us from perpetual exile, opening a door by which we may return to our homeland. Hence the apostle dared to say: "So you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of God's household."
Gen 3:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like Adam in exile we weep; Christ has opened our way home.
- Gen 3:23–24; Eph 2:19.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): eiectumin castellum → eiectum in castellum.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.36.5 (CSEL 64:212; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-36-5
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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 38, chapter 37
38.37.1CSEL 64:212
Hoc uolens recipere Dauid, antequam Christus ueniret in terras, dixit: remitte mihi ut refrigerem, priusquam eam, et amplius non ero, hoc est: hic mihi remitte ubi peccaui. nisi hic remiseris mihi, ibi remissionis requiem inuenire non potero; quod enim ligatum in terra manserit, ligatum manebit in caelo, quod solutum in terra fuerit, solutum erit in caelo. propheta enim et praedicator ecclesiae congregandae euangelico spiritu indulgentias domini praeuidebat et praecipienda apostolis
Wishing to receive this, David said, before Christ came to earth: "Remit to me, that I may be refreshed, before I go, and be no more"; that is: remit to me here where I sinned. Unless you remit to me here, I shall not be able to find there the rest of remission; for what remains bound on earth will remain bound in heaven; what is loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven. For the prophet and herald of the church to be gathered foresaw with the gospel spirit the Lord's pardons, and the Lord revealed to him what was to be commanded to the apostles;
Ps 39:13 (38:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 18:18 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sins must be remitted here; what is loosed on earth is loosed in heaven.
- Ps 39:13 [LXX 38:14] (Greek form); Matt 18:18.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced and garbled letters): remitte mihi ut ref rigerem, priusqua mea m, et amplius non er → remitte mihi ut refrigerem, priusquam eam, et amplius non ero.
Topics: Forgiveness of sins
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.37.1 (CSEL 64:212; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-37-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-37-1
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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.
38.37.2CSEL 64:212–213
ei dominus reuelabat, immo haec erat uetus sententia, ut qui se ligasset in terris uinctus migraret a corpore. ideo dominus, quod erat ante iudicii sui, dedit apostolis peccata remittendi aequitatem, soluenda ne diu ligata manerent. denique audi dicentem: tibi dabo claues regni caelorum, et quodcumque ligaueris super terram erit ligatum et in caelo, et quodcumque solueris super terram erit solutum et in caelo. tibi, inquit, dabo claues regni caelorum, ut et soluas et liges. hoc Nouatianus non audiuit, ecclesia dei audiuit; ideo ille in lapsu, nos in remissione, ille in inpaenitentia, nos in gratia. quod Petro dicitur, apostolis dicitur.
rather, this was the old sentence, that he who had bound himself on earth would depart from the body bound. So the Lord, what before belonged to his judgment, gave the apostles the equity of remitting sins, to be loosed lest they remain long bound. Indeed hear him saying: "To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound also in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed also in heaven." "To you," he says, "I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven," so that you may both loose and bind. This Novatian did not hear; the church of God heard it; so he is in a fall, we in remission; he in impenitence, we in grace. What is said to Peter is said to the apostles.
Matt 16:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 18:18 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ gave the apostles power to loose sins; Novatian denied it.
- Matt 16:19. Novatian's rigorist schism (251) refused reconciliation to the lapsed; Ambrose's judgment is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray hyphen; digitization: stray number, i for r): ne di-u ligata → ne diu ligata; super terram 25 eiit solutum → super terram erit solutum.
Topics: Church office, Heresy, Forgiveness of sins, Novatianism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.37.2 (CSEL 64:212–213; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-37-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-37-2
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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.
38.37.3CSEL 64:213
non potestatem usurpamus, sed seruimus imperio, ne postea, cum uenerit dominus et ligatos inuenerit quos oportuit solui, commoueatur aduersus dispensatorem, qui ligatos seruauerit seruos quos dominus iusserat solui dicens, quoniam qui cognouit uoluntatem domini sui et non fecit secundum uoluntatem eius, uapulabit multum; qui autem non cognouit et fecit digna plagis, uapulabit minus.
We do not usurp a power, but serve a command, lest afterwards, when the Lord comes and finds bound those who ought to have been loosed, he be moved against the steward who kept bound the servants whom the Lord had ordered to be loosed, saying that the servant who knew his master's will and did not act according to his will will be beaten much; but he who did not know and did what deserved blows will be beaten less.
Luke 12:47 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 12:48 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church must loose those the Lord wills to be loosed.
- Luke 12:47–48.
Topics: Church office, Forgiveness of sins, Church discipline and penance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.37.3 (CSEL 64:213; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-37-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-37-3
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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 38, chapter 38
38.38.1CSEL 64:213
Merito ergo Dauid remitti sibi postulat, quod sciebat non esse his qui secundum Aaron erant sacerdotibus adtributum, sed euangelio seruabatur. cui ergo non remittitur in exilio est, in peregrinationis iniuria perseuerat. hic ergo petenda est uenia — hic enim dictum est: beati qui fletis, quia ridebitis —, hic locus est ueniae postulandae. deploremus igitur in terris, ut mereamur indulgentiam.
Rightly, then, David asks that remission be given him, which he knew had not been granted to the priests after Aaron but was reserved for the gospel. He, then, to whom there is no remission is in exile, persists in the injury of sojourning. Here, then, pardon must be asked (for here it is said: "Blessed are you who weep, for you will laugh"); here is the place for asking pardon. Let us lament, then, on earth, so that we may deserve indulgence.
Heb 7:11 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 6:21 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Remission belongs to the gospel; pardon must be sought here with tears.
- Heb 7:11; Luke 6:21.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: i for r): meieamur → mereamur.
Topics: Forgiveness of sins
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.38.1 (CSEL 64:213; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-38-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-38-1
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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.
38.38.2CSEL 64:213
nisi remissum peccatum hic fuerit, non habebimus requiem, si requies non fuerit, non erit uita aeterna, si uita aeterna non fuerit, non erimus. ideo petit remitti sibi, antequam eat, ut sit. si enim remissum non fuerit, non ero, inquit, cum his qui sunt, cum his qui in paradisum merentur ascendere. qui autem non est, consumetur cum descendentibus in lacum, qui in catenis et carcere fuerit derelictus.
Unless sin has been remitted here, we shall not have rest; if there is no rest, there will be no eternal life; if there is no eternal life, we shall not be. So he asks that it be remitted to him before he goes, so that he may be. For if it is not remitted, I shall not be, he says, with those who are, with those who deserve to ascend into paradise. And he who is not will be consumed with those who go down into the pit, who has been left in chains and prison.
Ps 39:13 (38:14 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 88:4 (87:5 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 24:22 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Without remission here there is no rest, life or being hereafter.
- Ps 39:13 [LXX 38:14]; Ps 88:4 [LXX 87:5]; Isa 24:22.
Topics: Eschatology, Forgiveness of sins
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.38.2 (CSEL 64:213; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-38-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-38-2
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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 38, chapter 39
38.39.1CSEL 64:213–214
Non ergo definitiue dicit non ero, quia alibi dicit: psallam tibi in cithara, deus, sanctus Israel. gaudebunt labia mea cum cantauero tibi, et anima mea quam redemisti; de redemptione ergo praesumit. et alibi audi dicentem: placebo domino in regione uiuorum; erit ergo, qui placere praesumit. potest et sic intellegi, quia dixit: aduena ego sum apud te in terra et peregrinus sicut omnes patres mei et ideo remitte mihi, ut peregrinus esse desinam;
He does not, then, say definitively "I shall not be," because elsewhere he says: "I will sing psalms to you on the lyre, O God, Holy One of Israel. My lips will rejoice when I have sung to you, and my soul which you have redeemed"; he presumes, then, on redemption. And elsewhere hear him saying: "I will please the Lord in the land of the living"; he will be, then, who presumes to please. It can also be understood thus, because he said: "I am a stranger with you on earth and a sojourner, as all my fathers," and therefore: remit to me, so that I may cease to be a sojourner;
Ps 71:22 (70:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 71:23 (70:23 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 116:9 (114:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 39:12 (38:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 39:13 (38:14 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David trusts in redemption; "remit" can mean "end my exile".
- Ps 71:22–23 [LXX 70:22–23]; Ps 116:9 [LXX 114:9]; Ps 39:12–13 [LXX 38:13–14].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.39.1 (CSEL 64:213–214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-39-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-39-1
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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.
38.39.2CSEL 64:214
remitte mihi exilium quo relegatus sum. si remiseris, antequam discedam hinc, non ero amplius exul atque peregrinus; cum enim tu remiseris, non ero peregrinus, sed ciuis ero sanctorum tuorum, ero cum patribus meis qui et ipsi fuerunt ante peregrini, nunc uero iam ciues sunt. ero domesticus dei, ut poenam non timeam, gratiam merear per dominum nostrum Iesum, cum quo tibi est laus, honor, gloria, perpetuitas cum spiritu sancto a saeculis et nunc et semper et in omnia saecula saeculorum. amen.
remit to me the exile to which I have been banished. If you remit it before I go from here, I shall no longer be an exile and a sojourner; for when you have remitted it, I shall not be a sojourner, but I shall be a citizen of your saints, I shall be with my fathers, who themselves were sojourners before but now are citizens. I shall be a member of God's household, so as not to fear punishment and to deserve grace through our Lord Jesus, with whom to you be praise, honor, glory, eternity, with the Holy Spirit, from the ages and now and always and for all the ages of ages. Amen.
Eph 2:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 11:13 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Forgiven, he will be no exile but a citizen with the saints.
- Eph 2:19; Heb 11:13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: i for l; digitization: l for r): exui atque → exul atque; lemiseris → remiseris.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 38.39.2 (CSEL 64:214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-39-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/38-39-2
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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 39, chapter 1
39.1.1CSEL 64:214
In superioribus psalmis paenitentiam praedicauit, deinde de patientia sua et perturbatione hominis est locutus. in tricesimo autem et nono psalmo nouum adnuntiat testamentum; qui enim malorum paenitentiam agit expectat, sed non est perfecti expectare, sed expectasse; nemo enim, nisi qui perseuerauerit usque in finem, saluus erit.
In the preceding psalms he preached repentance; then he spoke of his own patience and of the distress of man. But in the thirty-ninth psalm he announces the New Testament. For one who does penance for evils is waiting; but it belongs to the perfect not to be waiting but to have waited; for no one will be saved except one who has persevered to the end.
Matt 10:22 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalm 39 (Protestant 40) announces the New Testament: the perfect are those who have already waited.
- Psalm 39 in Ambrose’s (LXX/Vulgate) numbering is Psalm 40 in the Protestant numbering; Scripture tags give the Protestant number with the LXX number as alternative. The key renderings follow those fixed for this work in the first chunk (paenitentia “repentance”, uirtus “virtue” or “power”, sacramentum/mysterium “mystery”, etc.).
- “No one will be saved …”: Matt 10:22.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 39.1.1 (CSEL 64:214; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-1-1
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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.
Explanation 39, chapter 2
39.2.1CSEL 64:214–215
Ideo addidit: expectans expectaui dominum. ubi ergo recte hoc dicitur nisi in euangelio? in quo iam nobis qui expectabatur aduenit, in quo iam nobis non legis caligat umbra, sed ueritas fulget, quia Christus inluxit, qui exaudiuit deprecationem suorum et eduxit nos de lacu miseriae et de luto faecis, ubi iam demersi tenebamur nostrorum uoragine peccatorum et totus homo noster inhaerebat nec poterat sese animus noster eruere, obrutus multiplicis labe flagitii.
Therefore he added: “Waiting, I waited for the Lord.” Where, then, is this rightly said but in the gospel? In it the one who was awaited has now come to us; in it the shadow of the law no longer darkens us, but the truth shines, because Christ has shone forth, who heard the prayer of his own and brought us out of the pit of misery and out of the mire of the dregs, where we were held sunk in the whirlpool of our sins, and our whole man stuck fast, and our mind, overwhelmed by the stain of manifold wickedness, could not pull itself out.
Ps 40:1 (39:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 40:2 (39:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 10:1 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The verse “Waiting, I waited for the Lord” is fulfilled in the gospel, where Christ lifts us from the pit of sin.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period inside the word in the digital text): e.xpectaui → expectaui.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 39.2.1 (CSEL 64:214–215; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-2-1
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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.
39.2.2CSEL 64:215
gratias igitur domino Iesu unigenito dei filio redemptori nostro, qui nobis peccata omnia remissurus descendit e caelo, ut nos de lacu ac limo istius mundi et caenulenta quadam palude terrarum, de corpore quoque mortis huius eriperet atque in carne sua statueret animi nostri interiora uestigia, ut confirmati in dei uerbo et per crucem dominici corporis absoluti ambulemus iam non in obprobrio dedecoris, sed in remissione peccati.
Thanks, then, to the Lord Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God, our Redeemer, who came down from heaven to forgive us all our sins, to rescue us from the pit and the slime of this world and from a kind of muddy swamp of the earth, and also from the body of this death, and to set in his own flesh the inner footsteps of our mind, so that, made firm in the word of God and set free through the cross of the Lord’s body, we may walk no longer in the reproach of disgrace but in the forgiveness of sin.
Ps 40:2 (39:3 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 7:24 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Thanks to Christ, who came down to rescue us from the mire of this world and set our steps firm in his flesh.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 39.2.2 (CSEL 64:215; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-2-2
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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.
39.2.3CSEL 64:215
confirmatus igitur et radicatus in Christo supra petram sibi memorat pedum suorum statuta uestigia. unde dicit apostolus: bibebant autem de consequenti petra, petra autem erat Christus. petra eo, quod sitientes sequatur, confirmet labentes, ne sitientibus aqua desit, labentibus firmamentum.
Made firm, then, and rooted in Christ, he recalls that the steps of his feet were set upon a rock. Hence the apostle says: “They drank from the rock that followed, and the rock was Christ.” A rock, in that it follows the thirsty and makes firm those who slip, so that the thirsty may not lack water nor those who slip a firm footing.
Ps 40:2 (39:3 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Col 2:7 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rock on which the psalmist’s feet are set is Christ, who gives water to the thirsty and footing to those who slip.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word spaces lost in the digital text): bibebantautemdeconsequentipetra → bibebant autem de consequenti petra.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 39.2.3 (CSEL 64:215; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-2-3
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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.
Explanation 39, chapter 3
39.3.1CSEL 64:215
Expectanti ergo mihi, domine Iesu, aliquando uenisti, direxisti gressus meos in euangelio, inmisisti in os meum canticum nouum quod est nouum testamentum. gaudentes iam canimus hymnum deo nostro, quia nouarum uirtutum praecepta cognouimus, ut nostra omnia relinquamus Christum sequentes et nostros diligamus inimicos. nouos etiam hausimus mores, ut pro persequentibus nos precem domino deferamus; maledicentes ecce benedicimus, nescimus opera nostra iactare aut celare peccata, angelorum etiam more nuptias refutamus.
To me, then, as I waited, Lord Jesus, you came at last; you directed my steps in the gospel; you put into my mouth a new song, which is the New Testament. Rejoicing, we now sing a hymn to our God, because we have come to know the precepts of new virtues: that we should leave all that is ours to follow Christ and should love our enemies. We have drunk in new ways of life too: that we should bring prayer to the Lord for those who persecute us. See, we bless those who curse; we do not know how to boast of our works or to hide our sins; after the manner of the angels we even decline marriage.
Ps 40:3 (39:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 19:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 5:44 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 6:28 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 4:12 (echo, low confidence) · Matt 22:30 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The “new song” is the New Testament, with its new precepts: leaving all for Christ, loving enemies, blessing those who curse, and virginity.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray hyphen in the digital text): r.ouum → nouum; ref-utamus → refutamus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 39.3.1 (CSEL 64:215; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-3-1
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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.
Explanation 39, chapter 4
39.4.1CSEL 64:215–216
Quid multa? de illo aerumnoso peccatore beatus homo factus est iam non respiciens in istius mundi uarias uanitates; uanitas enim uanitatum et omnia uanitas totus hic mundus est, sicut dixit sapiens Salomon. quid enim nisi uanum est ea sequi, quae perseuerare non possunt et omnia tamquam umbra praetereunt? insaniae autem falsae aut certamina ista bellorum, in quibus pro temporali possessione sanguis tantus est fusus, aut contentionum theatralium dissensiones aut circensium plena furoris studia declarantur aut haereticorum doctrina feralis aut pseudoprophetarum in modum oraculorum caelestium simulati gestus, uerba composita. sic enim dixit propheta: beatus uir cuius est nomen domini spes eius, et non respexit in uanitates et insanias falsas.
In short: from that wretched sinner a blessed man has been made, no longer looking to the varied vanities of this world; for this whole world is “vanity of vanities, and all is vanity”, as the wise Solomon said. For what is it but vain to pursue things that cannot last and all pass away like a shadow? And “false madnesses” is the name declared for these contests of wars, in which so much blood has been shed for a temporal possession, or the quarrels of the theatre’s contests, or the frenzied passions of the circus, or the deadly doctrine of heretics, or the feigned gestures and contrived words of false prophets in the manner of heavenly oracles. For so the prophet said: “Blessed is the man whose hope is the name of the Lord, and who has not looked to vanities and false madnesses.”
Eccl 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 40:4 (39:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 144:4 (143:4 LXX) (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The man made blessed no longer looks to the world’s vanities and “false madnesses”: wars, theatre, circus, heresy and false prophecy.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): u anitas → uanitas.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 39.4.1 (CSEL 64:215–216; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/39-4-1
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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.