Commentary on the Psalms 1 part 23/34

He said this concerning the temple of His body — not that His body alone was a temple, but that this part of the temple could be destroyed by men.

In any case, then, He understood the dissolution of the temple as applying to the body alone.

'I lay down My soul, that I may take it again' — He does not say:

They used therefore to call it a paradox at one time — such a thing — if He lays down His soul that He may take it again, and no one takes it from Him, but He Himself has authority to lay it down and to take it up.

Not by a common death was His life taken away from Him.

In any case, at least, those crucified together with Him had their legs broken, that they might die.

The Saviour, then, not having suffered this, was found already dead.

Having bowed His head, therefore, He gave up the spirit.

But if no one took His soul, but He Himself of His own accord laid it down, that He might take it again, then in this manner — as He says in one of the psalms:

'I became as a man without help, free among the dead.'

And according to the obvious sense we shall say that those who depart with their sins and are bound fast by the cords of their own sins are not 'free among the dead.'

Since, then, Jesus committed no sin nor knew it, He was free among the dead.

This soul alone was seen to be free there.

In any case, at least, the gatekeepers of Hades cowered before it.

According to a second interpretation, He became free among the dead in this way:

All who depart from this life and leave the body, if they are earnest, are led by the hand by light-bearing angels; but others are led by certain chastisers.

'And the poor man died and was carried by the angels into the bosom of Abraham.'

It did not come there of itself, but angels bore it away.

But to another, who loves this life, it is said:

'Fool, this night they demand your soul from you.'

If his soul is demanded, and it too is carried off by certain chastisers into Hades, then Jesus' soul alone went forth free.

Nor did it need angels to escort it, nor was it dragged away, since it did not have the causes for being dragged.

This, then, is the laying down and taking up of the soul; and 'no one,' He says, 'took it from Me.'

'I have authority to lay it down, that I may take it again.'

The divine instruction, given through the Saviour who became man, is the fatness of the house.

Things spoken from the spiritual and intelligible realm are not paradoxes.

Things that exist perceptibly as one thing are not perceptible as something else.

But that which is intelligible can also be conceived perceptibly.

It is impossible, then, on the level of sense-perception, to take the same one as both high priest and lamb.

But Jesus is both a lamb and a high priest.

It is impossible, on the level of the perceptible, to take door and house as the same thing.

But Jesus is both — both the door leading into the house and that very house into which the door leads.

And, in a word, all intelligible things are of this kind.

And so concerning the soul of man too we say that it cultivates itself — and again it is the plant; and that it is earth receiving seeds and bearing fruit; and that it becomes the bride of God the Word and bears children of salvation.

And we take these things according to their various conceptions, designations, and benefits.

When the soul is called earth, the lessons it is able to receive are seeds; but if it is called a bride, the seeds cast into it, and the ornaments about it, are the practical and moral virtues, and the intellectual and perfect ones.

Again, when it is called a sheep, its lessons are called pasture, and its instruction is called green herbage.

All things, then, can at the same time be one thing to some and another to others.

That which is called a house is also a vine bearing wine;

and again it is flesh that nourishes;

and it is a husbandman caring for plants, that they may bear fruit.

And observe that He Himself is both husbandman and vine, and both shepherd and sheep.

Taken according to different conceptions, these things show that it is an intelligible substance concerning which they are spoken.

Once, at any rate, when a Greek demanded, saying:

'Whence can you show from your Scripture that, say, the soul is intelligible? For all the things reported concerning it signify what belongs to bodies as well' — I said this very thing to him:

Surely each of the bodies has that one form according to which it is what it is;

but when it is said by participation to be all these things, nothing is said perceptibly.

It is called God, it is called spirit, it is called light — as though it were a man in shape and having members;

for spirit does not have members;

God does not have a sitting and a rising and feet and the rest;

from which it is established that the substances concerning which these things are said are certain intelligible ones.

'And You shall give them to drink of the torrent of Your delight.'

The flowing fatness of the house can, besides giving to drink, also lead into a sober intoxication.

He names it a torrent of delight, just as it is said that a river of delight goes forth from Eden and waters the paradise.

And the supply of teaching, the participation in instruction, is called a torrent of delight.

'You shall give them to drink of it,' since after this torrent they come to be even within the fountain itself.

As babes they are given drink; and, to speak from an apostolic expression:

To the beginners Paul writes:

Those are given drink who are not able to drink for themselves; those who are being instructed are given drink.

When they have been given to drink of this river of delight, thereafter they come to the very life itself, from which this river flows, since 'with You is the fountain of life.'

Since with You is a fountain of life.

It is not that with You a fountain of life has come to be, or shall begin to be a fountain of life, but with You is the fountain of life.

Ever is this the fountain of life.

When, however, those who are to drink draw near, it flows, and a stream comes to be from the fountain, called the torrent of delight.

'For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we shall see light.'

Behold here again the fountain:

But on the level of history and bodily interpretation these things are not possible.

If, then, the good things flow from Him and He does not receive them from anywhere as a cistern does, He is a head, a fountain of life.

And why do I speak at length? He Himself said:

Now to say 'life' and 'fountain of life' is one and the same thing.

It is life, since it gives life and leads to immortality; and it is a fountain, because it does not receive its life-giving powers from elsewhere, but has them of itself in itself.

In Thy light we shall see light.

But if this utterance is spoken to the Father, it says this:

Being the true light, He sees Thee who art light; in Thy light we shall see Thee who art light.

For he who has seen the Son has seen the Father,

and He is the image of the invisible God, showing forth Him whose image He is, and He is the express character of God's substance (hypostasis), making manifest the substance of God.

Therefore, in Thy light we shall see light.

But if this is also said to the Son, then in Thy luminous instruction and teaching we shall see Thee who art light.

'Extend, O God, Thy mercy to those who know Thee' — He speaks of that knowledge concerning which it is said:

'And this is life eternal, that they may know Thee the only true God.'

These, who possess such knowledge, are loved by God.

And God shows mercy unto thousands of those who love Him.

The phrase 'unto thousands' we understand in this way:

This number has a kinship with the monad (unity).

Therefore those who draw near to God, the One, and accordingly become one spirit with Him, accordingly become thousands and myriads.

But this is said according to this:

'The chariot of God is ten-thousandfold, thousands of them that rejoice.'

For neither do we here understand 'thousand' as ten times a hundred, but on account of its affinity with the monad.

And mercy comes upon them.

If, then, the mercy of God extends unto a thousand, so that it is said:

'For His mercy endureth for ever,' fittingly He says here:

'Extend Thy mercy to those who know Thee.'

In one way He has mercy on those who draw near in the manner of repentance, who ask for the forgiveness of sins;

He has mercy on those who know Him, so that they may be established and may ascend to the end that is above all things.

'And Thy righteousness to the upright in heart.'

Now the upright in heart and the pure in heart are the same people.

It is therefore a good thing for the pure in heart to behold God:

'For blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.'

Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of sinners move me.

Let not the foot of pride tread upon my mind — that is, let there be no walking of pride within me;

for members are often spoken of, both of the best ways and of the worst.

At any rate, it is said in the Proverbs:

'But the feet of folly bring those who use it down with death into Hades.'

As many as walk according to folly, using the feet of folly, are brought down into Hades.

Just as, then, there are feet of folly, so also there are feet of pride.

Therefore let not the foot of pride come to me — let there be no walking of pride in my soul and in my mind.

Neither let the hand of sinners move me.

Now 'hand' is often used for action, as when it says:

'Thorns grow in the hand of the drunkard' — the shameful desires, the unbridled pleasures.

'There have the workers of iniquity fallen.'

Where the foot of pride and the hand of the sinner are, there have the workers of iniquity fallen.

It was not nature that led them to their fall, but the activity and the working of iniquity.

'They are thrust out, and they shall not be able to stand.'

For since they themselves brought themselves down to the foot of pride, and are delivered over to the hand of the sinner, which they chose to have, this delivering-over is called their being thrust out.

And God, doing them good, thrusts them out, so that they may not be able to stand fast in evil.

It was therefore not nature, nor any outward force casting him down, but his own working, which is iniquity and wickedness.

He thrusts him out, therefore, that he may not remain, that he may not hold an immovable standing in it.

And it is fitting to expound the Scriptures more fully;

and this is what the one truly wise in God does.

Nevertheless, if they are not thus expounded, but too meagrely, neither their own greatness is shown, nor that of Him who gave them.

The Jews, at any rate, taking them according to the surface meaning and in a human way, are said neither to understand what they say nor concerning what they make their assertions.

'For those that do wickedly shall be utterly destroyed.'

not to be overthrown, but they are destroyed in that which makes them wicked, so that they may no longer be such.

It also signifies chastisement.

Again, it is a hindrance to wickedness.

'But those who wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.'

Those who wait upon the Lord inherit the earth already interpreted — the one set on high, lying in heaven.

And this same David said:

'I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.'

For it belongs to a king to possess the good things of his own land and to have dominion over it.

But no one believes that he shall receive what he already has; rather, he believes that he has received it.

'I believe that I shall see' — not that I have already seen — those good things which God gives to those who ask Him, when they pray genuinely for them.

Those, then, who wait upon the Lord shall inherit the earth.

Patient endurance is the greatest prize of virtue;

'Tribulation worketh patient endurance.'

You see that patient endurance comes after tribulation.

That man, then, waits upon the Lord as he ought, who has no other patient endurance than Him.

And just as wisdom and righteousness and sanctification come to some, so also does patient endurance.

This same David, then, says in another psalm:

And now, what is my patience? Is it not the Lord? This patience those who strive for virtue and godliness are ever eager to possess.

Again this same psalmist somewhere says:

Waiting I waited for the Lord.

He did not simply say 'I waited,' but 'waiting I waited,' as in the expression:

To pursue what is just, justly.

The servants of God have an inheritance.

And hear now what is truly astonishing:

To inherit belongs to sons, not to servants.

Therefore it is the surpassing goodness of Him who is inherited that, as far as their own condition and nature would allow, leads them — though they are servants — into an inheritance.

And I once gave an illustration bearing on the text:

By grace you have been saved through faith, not from works.

And I said that it is altogether impossible to have faith apart from works;

for it is dead without works.

Through faith, not from works.

And I offered such an image:

When one is generous, in return for the labour that some perform and the service they render, he gives a reward exceeding the worth of the wage.

And I took up such an image, namely:

Suppose there is an owner, and let him entrust a farm to someone, and say to him:

If you tend it as you ought and work it as is fitting, I give it to you as a free gift.

We say of that man that he received the inheritance not from works, but from the grace of the one who bestowed it.

There is an inheritance for those who serve the Lord.

And yet a little while, and the sinner shall be no more.

Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of those who work iniquity.

God fashioned you a creature that loves the good.

And it belongs to those who love the good not to desire things temporary and present;

for things temporary and present belong even to sinners.

Do not, then, be envious of him if he is rich, if he is in good health;

— I mean not his substance, but his character.

The temporary? — If you are ready to take it superficially, then by no longer sinning he seems not to be a sinner.

For at that time the works of sin are not active.

But sin has a temporary enjoyment, as Paul writes.

The enjoyment of sin no longer exists.

To the many, then, we say that by no longer sinning he seems no longer to be a sinner; but according to the true account:

sin neither was from the beginning, nor shall it be forever;

for concerning its foremost species, idolatry itself, this has been said, that:

neither from the beginning nor forever.

But if this very thing, which surpasses all the vices, had not even a beginning — such that it should be unceasing — then clearly it will never receive an end either.

Yet a little while, and the sinner shall be no more.

You have it also in the ninth psalm:

Break the arm of the sinner and the evil one.

He did not say 'of a sinner,' but 'of the sinner.'

And if the arm of the sinner is broken, much more the arms of those who are lesser.

And you shall seek out his place, and shall by no means find it.

For one must also give the more popular expositions.

The place of the sinner seems to be the region about the earth;

for here iniquity comes to pass, here sins are accomplished.

Thus the earth together with heaven.

You shall seek out, then, his place, and shall by no means find it.

'Place,' properly speaking, is called the position of each thing.

Indeed, concerning Judas too it is said that he transgressed the place of his ministry;

for a place of ministry is the position pertaining to that ministry.

For when Paul says that:

there are appointed first apostles, second prophets, third — these are ranks made clear by their position.

Indeed, in the ranks of the army too they say that:

he holds the post of a beneficiarius, of an aide — and likewise in the churches.

The position of the sinner will not be found, if he is a sinner no longer.

For his place was sin.

But the meek shall inherit the earth.

Since after a little while the sinner will be no more, nor will his place be found even if it be sought, the place of the meek abides forever;

for it is eternal.

And concerning the earnest man it is said that:

his righteousness abides unto ages of ages.

The meek, then — that is, those who possess meekness, who succeed in freedom from anger — shall inherit the earth;

for the meek man is the one free from anger;

for we must not heed certain others who say that such a man is meek even though he grows angry at those with whom one ought to be angry.

This kind of meekness is rather civic and rhetorical.

Why so? Because the earnest man is free from anger;

for indeed in the preceding verses it has been said:

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.

And they shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

But when does the abundance of this peace come to be? It comes whenever the prayer of those who say this is heard:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Among those who hated peace I was peaceable; he possesses an abundance of peace, and he delights himself in the abundance of this peace.

Having been removed from this region, where wars and tumults occur, they come to be in the land of the meek, where peace holds sway as a citizen.

I have said this on another occasion too, that such a topic is treated in the treatises on argumentation:

which virtue has need of which? And it says this:

when all are righteous, there is no need of courage.

By 'courage' he means the more civic kind, the sort that is displayed in wars.

When all are righteous, there is no need of courage.

But when courage is present, there is need of righteousness.

And here too, then, they delight themselves in the abundance of peace, whenever they are meek.

And the meek man, as has been said by us, remains undisturbed in the face of provocations to anger.

And consider the greatness of the virtue from him who taught it and prepared us for the imitation of himself:

'Learn from me,' he says, 'for I am meek and lowly in heart.'

He did not simply say 'lowly,' but 'in heart.'

According to my disposition I am meek, according to the heart.

He who is free from vainglory is lowly in heart.

But since the evangelical text has come up, we must refute those who say that Jesus did not possess a mind, but an irrational soul.

In all the Scriptures, both New and Old, 'heart' is said in place of 'mind':

'Hear me, you who have lost your heart'—that is, those who have lost the power of understanding.

And a 'heart of stone' is foolish thinking.

If therefore he has a heart, and this heart possesses virtue—for he is meek in heart and lowly—then he has assumed a complete human being.

The sinner shall watch closely for the righteous man, and shall gnash his teeth against him.

The sinner always wishes to be an enemy of the righteous man, and not only an enemy, but he wishes even to be murderous against him.

And observe how the word 'shall watch closely' (paratērēsetai) is set here:

properly speaking, 'to watch closely' means to watch out for how one might harm another.

He who wishes to strike him with arrows watches closely which limb of his is unguarded, and there he sends the arrow.

Since, then, the righteous man is fortified and is not unguarded, but has put on the whole armor of God and taken up the breastplate of faith and is wholly made secure,

But if 'shall watch closely' (paratērēsetai) stands in place of 'shall keep' (tērēsei)—for often verbs spoken with a prefix mean the same thing, as 'going' and 'going down':

'he goes down'—if, then, it stands for 'shall keep,' it means two things: either 'to watch closely' is meant, or 'to guard.'

For instance, when the Savior says in the Gospel:

'Holy Father, keep them,' he means 'guard them.'

'When I was with them, I kept them'—that is, 'I was guarding them.'

'You shall keep us from this generation'—they mean 'you shall preserve us.'

It signifies, as I said, that 'to keep' can mean 'to watch closely.'

'He shall watch your head, and you his heel.'

The holy one keeps watch on the head of the serpent, so that, by destroying the chief of its wickedness, he may hold the whole of it in a deadened state.

But the serpent cannot watch the head of the man, but rather his heel—that is, it watches his lowest powers, those that draw near to the earth.

But no mortal wound or serious harm comes upon the heel.

It is said, at any rate, elsewhere too:

'The iniquity of my heel shall encompass me;'

'then I was afraid in the evil day.'

If the iniquity had kept watch on my head, it would have laid hold of my head, as of that one concerning whom it is written:

'His trouble shall return upon his own head.'

'I have given their ways upon their own heads'—that is:

And it is well too that he calls him 'the righteous man,' not simply righteous, but the perfect righteous man, the one beyond reproach:

For often the term that is predicated of the perfect is applied also to those who are still making progress, as for instance:

'The wise do not turn aside from the mouth of the Lord.'

None of the wise comes to be outside the word of the Lord, doing all things with reason.

'Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.'

The sinner borrows and will not repay, but the righteous man shows compassion and gives.

He not only repays what he borrowed, but also becomes a benefactor to others.

He who has mercy on the poor lends to God.

The righteous man who borrows from God and gathers an abundance of works and of spiritual riches also confers benefit on another:

For the wicked harm those who associate with them, but the righteous benefit them.

And that the wicked man is harmful is evident.

It is said, at any rate, in Proverbs, that the wise man benefits and improves others:

'Reprove a wise man, and he will love you.'

When reproved, he receives the reproofs well, so as to love the one who reproved him.

And having come to love the one who reproved him, he no longer does the things for which the reproof was given.

'He who does evil is like a brother of him who destroys himself.'

The wicked man, then, harms himself before all others.

The righteous man, therefore, shows compassion and gives and is bountiful, and, quite simply, he shares in good things with his neighbor.

Those who say to a brother or sister, if they should be naked and lacking daily food:

'Go in peace, be filled,' but do not give them the necessities—they have profited them nothing, since he neither shows compassion nor gives.

But it is possible to understand it also in this way:

The sinner, borrowing from God the common notions given to him and the commandments, will not repay—neither what he has, nor what he received, neither the gain nor the interest.

But the righteous God still more shows compassion and gives.

That one, though he receives, does not repay; yet He himself all the more shows compassion and gives.

Then compassion and beneficence are made manifest, when the one who receives is ungrateful.

He is kind toward the ungrateful and the wicked, and He gives to them.

Those who receive are ungrateful — for by not rendering back what ought to be rendered, they are found to be ungrateful and wicked — yet God is still kind even toward these.

Whence the righteous man shows compassion all the more, and bestows his gifts.

The imitator of God, therefore, who has mercy on the poor and lends to God, even if the borrower does not render what he ought to render, is still compassionate, still bestows.

And take up for me the parable of the Gospel concerning the talents.

To each according to his own capacity He gave His rational goods — not to each according to his nature, but according to the capacity which each has fashioned for himself by his free choice.

And to one He gave five, to another two, to another one.

Having received the talents, he worked with them and doubled them.

But he who received the one and hid it away in the ground neither worked with it nor rendered interest, but hid it in the ground.

Whenever you see a man who has the ability to do good or to show kindness and does not do it, what he received he has hidden in the ground; he has buried it in his own material-minded will.

And when it was demanded back of him — when at last the time came for 'gather in' from those who had received the rational silver — he says:

And indeed he laid the blame on God, wishing to ascribe his own slothfulness to another:

'I knew you,' he says, 'I knew that you are a hard man, taking up what you did not lay down, reaping what you did not sow;'

'and being afraid, I hid your silver in the ground and gave it to no one.'

Out of the very words he spoke, he received his reproof and condemnation:

'You wicked and slothful servant, so you knew that I take up what I did not lay down — if I take up goods not my own, I have overreached my own portion, not those who received; if I reap where I did not sow? At all events I would have received my own, had you deposited it at the bank, that it might be multiplied.'

And so the sinner too, often borrowing, if he does not render back what he owes to render, shall one day be deprived of those benefits.

He will no longer receive from the righteous man, though the righteous man shows compassion all the more and bestows.

For those who bless him shall inherit the earth.

Those who bless the righteous man.

It is to be taken according to both interpretations:

namely, either the righteous man or God.

He blesses God who does those things which He requires of him, so as to say:

'I will bless the Lord at all times.'

And the righteous man too is blessed:

'for the blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the righteous.'

This one shall receive a blessing from the Lord.

That land concerning which it was said:

'and He shall exalt you to inherit the land.'

But those who curse him shall be utterly destroyed.

He therefore curses the righteous man who speaks impiously concerning him — those concerning whom, or to whom, He says:

'Woe to them, for they have leapt away from Me;'

'wretched are they, for they have committed impious evils against Me;'

'I redeemed them, but they spoke lies against Me.'

'I,' He says, 'redeemed them, I led them into the washing of regeneration, bestowing complete remission of sins, blotting out their iniquities.'

'But they speak lies against Me, not doing those things for which they were called.'

'And they received remission of sins;'

'for not for this did I redeem them, that they should sin, but that they might come to be outside of sin.'

If then, after the ransom and price of deliverance, one does absurd things, he speaks against Him, in a certain manner speaking so as to say:

'It has profited me nothing' — he speaks lies against Him.

By the Lord are a man's steps directed, and He shall desire his way.

Man by his free choice passes over from the worse to the better, from the temporal to the eternal.

And it belongs to him to will the good, since it is not of him that runs nor of him that wills, but of God who shows mercy, that he should accomplish the way blamelessly.

By the Lord are a man's steps directed.

The steps are not given;

for it is ours to will to pass over from the base things to the good.

Straightway, at all events, John writes in his catholic epistle according to himself:

'We know that we have passed over from death into life.'

'We have passed over' — we were not led over by force.

It is no compulsion that sets us in this state, when God directs the steps, setting the crowning end upon steps thus rightly made.

And you have many such things in Scripture:

'I have run the way of your commandments, when you enlarged my heart.'

When God enlarges the heart, having given breadth to the understanding, a man accomplishes the way of the commandments.

Not because he ran was his heart enlarged, but because God enlarged it, casting out all the straitness that comes from base reasonings and afflictions; for this reason he ran the way of God.

I know that a man's way is not his own, neither shall a man walk and dir[ect his own steps].

The prophet's saying can bear a twofold sense:

Nebuchadnezzar threatens the demolition of Jerusalem and the deportation of the whole Hebrew race.

Even if he threatened, and we ourselves furnished the causes of suffering this, I know that a man's way is not his own.

You are able to hinder his way against us;

for even though a man may reckon himself to be great, yet his course is not made straight when You hinder it.

It is also possible to take it thus, according to the sense already rendered, in reference to:

'Not of him that wills nor of him that runs, but of God who shows mercy.'

You set before yourselves to run the way of salvation.

It is not ours to accomplish the way, but to will to come to the end of the way, so as to declare in turn:

'From Him is the directing, from Him the guiding as a guide leads a stranger.'

'Guide me unto your truth.'

He who is guided by God does not set himself straight by his own power.

But he longs to be set straight and has given himself over to Him who is able to lead him to perfection.

Such things, I mean, those that are according to God and that look toward Him, are richly brought to completion, and it is not possible to separate each from each.

If someone has longed for the good, he is eager to be an imitator of God, and to set before himself the taking up of virtue.

Having resolved upon it, he does not halt at the mere resolve, but he acts, he practices, he strives, he accustoms himself to do what is good.

For it has been declared to you, O man, what the Lord requires of you: nothing but to love mercy, and to do justice, and to be ready to walk with the Lord your God. He who prepares himself always to walk with the Lord God is in every way unhindered.

Let him only prepare himself for this, saying:

My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.

But none of those hindered by shameful reasonings or by any evil imagining is able to say:

My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready.

For he has fetters; he is bound tight by the cords of his own sins.

God wills the way of the one whose steps are directed aright.

And he walks willingly; he runs the way of life, that very One who said: