詩篇註釋殘篇 第 1 章 第 11/40 段

And in this way, the apprehension concerning God which we hold according to an accurate conception of God is the appellation of God.

For insofar as some men are in error and ignorance, the appellation of God is in a certain manner defiled, being dragged toward things it ought not.

Some, at any rate, have called idols and their own belly gods.

Since to the words 'I sought' there is rendered in response 'He heard me,' it is clear that 'to seek out' also signifies to entreat;

or, since he accomplishes the matter of prayer not by name alone but also by right understanding and a pure life, having sought out the Lord through all these things, he obtained him giving assent.

And out of all my afflictions he delivered me.

It is also transmitted as 'And out of all my sojournings he delivered me.'

Since the Lord is the true light, he who draws near to him, partaking of him, is illumined;

and having been illumined, taking up much boldness, he has a face that cannot be put to shame.

And the Spirit commands us to draw near to the Lord of our own free choice, that being illumined we may cast off all shame from the face of the soul.

By 'poor man' here he calls the one who is unable to save himself from present afflictions.

And all of us have this poverty, so that he speaks concerning everyone who needs salvation from God.

If here he means by those who fear the Lord those who have the spirit of bondage, these need angels encircling them who deliver them from those who wish to harm them, just as also the little ones among those who believe on the Saviour have angels present with them who behold the face of the Father who is in heaven, while the perfect have God, the Lord of the angels, present with them.

But if we understand by those who fear God the perfect, then we shall say that the angel encamping round about them to deliver them is none other than the Angel of the great counsel of God, the Saviour.

Consonant with this is also what is said by Jacob:

'The Angel who delivers me out of all my evils';

for no angel is able to deliver out of all evils, but only he who is signified, the Saviour.

In the case of God, 'the good' (chreston) signifies the same as 'the good' (agathon).

Since, then, he who is the bread of life is also nourishing, the Spirit commands those who have no appetite to be filled with him, that they might at least taste of him.

For the taste is sufficient to make them hungry for him, so that they will even desire to delight themselves fully in him.

And 'to taste' signifies to attend to and examine concerning God, even if only in some measure.

For a mere taste, he says, of things above man and wondrous instils in souls an incomparable longing for the enjoyment.

Blessed is the man who hopes in him.

He who, by hoping perfectly and without deficiency in God, is truly a man, is blessed.

We have said that fear is twofold.

For at the outset, one who draws near to God, taking up fear toward him, sets right all his commandments.

'Fear God and keep his commandments.'

But in the present verse he speaks about a fear that has ascended higher, to which he calls those who have already become saints;

for having received the introductory fear, they hastened toward holiness.

But now, to those who are themselves saints, he commands them to fear God with the fear that fills one with every good thing, so that he who possesses it is without deficiency.

It is to be noted that, like the other good things, so also divine fear is something taught, from which we learn that it is not the passible fear that is meant;

for that fear, being untaught by nature, exists not only in men but also in the irrational animals.

Since the powers of God that survey the whole, called 'eyes' in a figurative sense, look upon the righteous, and moreover his 'ears' are ready to receive their supplication, for this reason he says:

if you wish to enjoy these things, turn away from evil and do good.

Those who suppose this universe to be without providence, and on this account do evil as though God did not oversee, when they encounter punishment will take it to heart, for God is present exacting justice from them.

And in accordance with this, God's face is said to appear against them, in order that their memorial may be utterly destroyed — not merely once, but out of the earth.

And blessed is it that the memorial of some should be destroyed out of the earth;

for thus one's name shall be inscribed in the heavens.

And it is the workers of wickedness who do evil.

The bones of the righteous, being either the doctrines of truth or the powers of the soul, the Lord shall guard, not permitting even one of them to be broken, in that neither the doctrines of the righteous man nor his powers themselves are overthrown.

He who sins is deprived of the life that comes through the keeping of the commandments, falling into an evil death.

And an 'evil death' is either that which is contrary to the good life, or that which brings pain upon the one subjected to it;

for it was with such an evil sore that Job was smitten, that is, one causing pain.

Those who hate what is worthy of love harm not others but themselves.

At any rate, he who hates the righteous man, who is diligent, transgresses and falls into punishment.

It is to be noted that redemption properly frees souls from captivity;

for if it also at times redeems bodies, it does this not primarily but incidentally;

and souls too are delivered, being none other than those of his servants.

Those who hope in the Lord would not fail of the things hoped for and awaited.

He teaches also in other places who they were that warred against him, saying, 'For many are they that war against me from on high.'

Those, then, who made war upon him were doing wrong to one who had done no wrong.

But he prays, not that his enemies may suffer wrong, but that judgement may be passed upon the injustice of his enemies, setting against it the righteousness of God, which is destructive of injustice, just as light happens to be destructive of darkness.

Injustice, then, being contrary and opposed to the righteousness of God, would be warred against by it.

Wherefore also the unrighteous man might be called an enemy of the righteous man.

It makes the righteous man a friend of God, since indeed like things are dear to like.

And the righteous man, taking courage in his own righteousness, might say: 'Judge me, O Lord, and try my cause.'

The Lord, therefore, in passing judgement upon the unjust, destroys the injustice that is in them.

And in this way he also makes war upon those who make war upon the righteous man, doing this for the good of those warred against, that they may at some time cease from doing the things hostile to righteousness.

That 'to do wrong' signifies harm is clear from the words: 'Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.'

Since many, through false doctrine and other wickedness, have set themselves to make war on me, for this reason do you, in my stead, make war upon them.

'Taking hold of your fitting shield and the weapon of truth, arise to my help' — that is, become my champion.

In the same manner you will understand also the broadsword.

It is to be noted that in the foregoing verses he has used imperative verbs in place of optative ones.

For 'Let their way become' stands for 'may their way become,' and 'Let it come' for 'may it come,' and the rest likewise.

'And into the snare which he hid let him fall therein.'

For each man is requited according to his deed.

When these things have befallen those men, my soul shall exult, beholding by divine providence the wicked being punished and the diligent being benefited;

but it shall also have delight, having taken experience of the salvation which is of God.

Let those who desire to take everything from the bare letter and nothing allegorically be refuted even from the present verse.

For nothing is so foolish as to suppose that the physical bones have a conception of God, so as to hymn him and to know that none is like unto him.

For it is concerning the bones of the inward man (and these are his faculties and true doctrines) that the words are spoken: 'All my bones.'

For through every conception and true doctrine I have been confirmed that none of created things is like unto the Lord;

for he alone is the image of the invisible God and the impress of the divine substance.

But you will consider whether the poor man is other than the needy man, and whether they differ in substance or in conception, since it is possible for the same person both to be poor, having become poor by falling away from the wealth which he had, and to be needy in that with toil he provides the things necessary for living.

Witnesses not of righteousness but of injustice, rising up and rousing themselves, ask me sophistically about things I do not know.

For the diligent man knows none of the base things — that is, he has been mingled with none of the wicked;

'He that keeps the commandment shall know no evil thing.'

For here too the phrase 'shall not know' stands for 'has not been made of like quality with' nor 'been mingled according to an evil word.'

For it is a falsehood to suppose that he who keeps the divine commandment does not understand an evil thing;

for having discernment of evil and good, he turned away from all other things and came to the keeping of the commandment.

What he says, then, is of this sort:

Provoking me — who had no experience nor knowledge nor conception of evils — they questioned me concerning them, just as the Egyptian woman questioned Joseph and the elders questioned Susanna.

While I was zealous to fulfil blamelessly my duties toward all men, desiring, if possible, to be at peace with all men, they, in return for these good things, repaid me with evils, showing themselves in every way to be enemies and adversaries;

and, so far as in them lay, they endeavoured to destroy the good fruitfulness of my soul in good things.

If, then, being persuaded by their questions, I had become such as they wished to make me, my soul would have been made childless, no longer receiving the divine offspring of the Bridegroom.

But if the disciples of the teacher may be called children, then in this way too the soul of the teacher is made childless, when it falls into faults through its own stumbling-block, destroying those who were born of it through discipleship.

Luxury, arousing the irrational pleasures, irrationally lifts up the soul; fasting, doing the contrary, casts down the passions;

and moreover the praiseworthy fast works also the casting down of sins, and, truly effecting freedom from vanity in the soul, humbles it.

The prayer of him who has prayed rightly returns back upon himself, bringing the good things for which it was made, and, turning back, is gathered into the bosom of him who sent it up.

And the bosom signifies their ruling faculty;

for 'This their contempt in the land of Egypt returns into their bosom,' and 'Into the bosom come all things upon the unjust;'

and by this same reckoning also all the righteous pass into the bosom of Abraham — that is, into the same mind and promise as his.

I was so kindly disposed toward those who wished to harm the things aforesaid, as one might be well-pleasing to his neighbour and his own brother — or rather, thus: as a neighbour of theirs and as their own brother I sought to please them.

Since I was disposed toward them as toward true brothers, seeing them being put to death by the things they do, as one mourning and grieving over them I humbled myself, propitiating him who was able to preserve me unharmed from them.

The present passage may be explanatory of the words: 'They repaid me evil for good.'

For while I mourned and grieved over them for the deadness which they had, they, gathering themselves against me, had gladness, thinking to take me as one subject to their power;

and both these things they did against me — namely, being gathered together and rejoicing.

By the things they attempted against me, they scourged my soul in a spiritual manner;

but I, remaining unharmed, had neither perception nor knowledge of the things brought to bear by them.

But if ever, when the enemies were provoking me to sin, a disturbance arose in my reasonings, so that I was scourged by the perception of the things proceeding from those reasonings, I did not disclose these scourgings to my adversaries, lest, taking occasion from the agitation of my soul, they should assail me still the more.

Having gathered themselves against me and rejoiced, they were divided asunder by divine providence;

yet, although dissolved and thus scattered, they were not pricked in conscience — that is, they did not repent of the evils they had plotted, but again attempted the same things.

Through all that they did, being eager to take trial of me, they were not able to catch me;

wherefore they turned instead to mocking and deriding me.

After the manner of wild beasts they gnashed their teeth against me — that is, their wrathful and passionate power;

for wishing to devour me, they failed.

'O Lord, when wilt thou look upon this?' For when thou dost look, all the things aforesaid shall depart, passing away together with those who do them.

And he calls his own soul 'only-begotten' in that he has it alone;

for one must not give heed to the myth-making concerning transmigration of souls.

Or perhaps the 'only-begotten' is, besides his soul, the substance of the spirit which is yoked together with the soul;

for this is only-begotten in that it is separated off from all the things in us according to its divinity.

A 'great church' is that which is gathered out of many saints; a 'weighty people' is the steadfast and firm, set in contrast to the superficial and frivolous.

Since, when thou art present with me, the enemies are far off;

'Depart not from me,' lest they come upon me when I have been left alone of thee.

Since in many places the long-suffering of God is called his 'sleep,' when the enemies press hard, he rouses the Lord to indignation, saying:

'Awake, O Lord, and attend to my cause' — that is, set in place thy overseeing power, that the things concerning me may be examined against my enemies.

For this is unto good, since they are hostile to me unjustly and shall by all means be condemned — 'They that hate me without a cause.'

And this commentator understood the psalm as referring both to David and to Christ, or rather to Christ;

another, indefinitely, as referring to a righteous man;

and the third, as referring to David alone.

These things are said so that they may be ashamed and put to confusion, and gain a perception of their own sins, and turn back from the way along which they had traveled.

But he says that David lived according to the polity of the Law, and not according to the gospel;

for the Law, he says, decrees that one should love one's neighbor and hate one's enemy, and even speak evil of him.

For David, living according to the gospel, said: 'If I have requited with evil those who requited me with evil.'

Finally, however, this man too said that these things were spoken prophetically, as things that would most certainly come to pass.

He who is lawless by settled disposition, reasoning within himself, would say nothing other than to sin.

For one who has first consented in his mind then passes over to sinning in deed.

And it is possible also for one to say 'sinning within himself,' such as is that saying: 'But you said in your mind, I will ascend into heaven,' and what follows.

If he had the fear of the inner man before his eyes, he would have kept himself from all sin; but since he does not have it, he says, there is within him the inclination to sin.

A testimony that he who has fear does not sin is this: 'That his fear may be in you, so that you may not sin.'

He who has become lawless, knowing that his lawlessness proves hateful,

if it should be observed, deals deceitfully before himself, so that the shamefulness of his lawlessness may not be found out, and so that it might be hated.

This is what those do who, in sophistical fashion, plead in favor of sin as if it came about fittingly and not contrary to reason.

There is another Scripture that says:

'The words of his mouth are lawlessness and toil'; that is, they are burdensome, so as to bring toil upon those who attend to them.

'He did not wish to understand so as to do good.'

It is clear from what has been said that the lawless man is not such by his constitution;

for the unwillingness to have understanding for the doing of good belongs to free will.

'He stood beside every way that was not good, and did not abhor evil.'

Such is the saying: 'Woe to those who work evil upon their beds, and at daybreak they carry it out.'

Thus, then, having reckoned lawlessness while lying upon his bed, 'he takes his stand beside every way that is not good,' that is, beside every wicked deed;

not abhorring his own evil, but embracing it as the vilest of settled dispositions, he begins in practice to travel every way that is not good.

And in Isaiah, together with the clouds, it is mentioned thus:

'Let the heaven rejoice from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness.'

But the perceptible clouds pour down not righteousness or truth, but rain.

The clouds, then, that pour down righteousness are the divine men, pouring forth the spiritual rain, that is, the word according to virtue.

But above these is the heaven that rejoices, whether it be the blessed natures that dwell in heaven, or the Savior thus named allegorically;

for this heaven is 'from above,' that is, it is above every begotten nature, and it rejoices for the benefit of all.

And here too, then, in the heaven — I mean in the Savior — is the mercy of the Lord who has mercy upon all;

but his truth, which is set in contrast to evil and to the types, is in the aforementioned clouds.

For even if the prophets lived according to the shadow, yet they were not ignorant of the truth of which this shadow was a symbol.

That human beings who keep the character according to the image and the rational movement should attain salvation is no marvel;

but when one sees those who have already become brutish, and have become like horses mad for the mare, and have taken on the character of the other irrational beasts, coming to salvation, then, astonished at the goodness of God, he will say: 'Since you have multiplied your mercy, O God, not only men but also cattle are saved';

for great sins require a greater and more abundant mercy.

Since the house of God is the Church, its fatness is the ecclesiastical teaching.

From this those who partake of it shall be made drunk with a sober intoxication.

But if the house of God be the Savior, then those who enjoy it shall be made drunk from his instruction, which is fatness.

of life — and this life is he who said, 'I am the One who is' — fittingly you will also give to drink the torrent of your delight, coming from the fountain of life, to those made drunk from the fatness of your house.

And the Savior is the fountain of life in that he has it not from without, but himself supplies it to all that live, not to men only but also to those who have ascended above them to the same divine life; whence he is also called the fountain of wisdom;

and the torrent of delight is the Holy Spirit, in that those who have drunk of it delight, receiving his diverse gifts of grace.

'In your light we shall see light.'

The light of God is the true light, the Radiance of the eternal light.

In this light, then, we shall see light — you, the eternal light, concerning whom it is said, 'God is light.'

You will compare with this the saying, 'He who has seen me has seen the Father.'

The divine word knows how to employ what are called metonymies, as here it named 'foot' with reference to pride, which is not a footed animal but a settled disposition; and in Proverbs, 'For the feet of folly bring down';

so then, what he prays for is this:

may pride not find place in my soul so as to come upon me and deceive me; nor let a hand — that is, a deed — of a sinner shake me;

for if I should do the deeds of sinners, I shall be shaken away from virtue.

The word 'There' can signify the life to come, as in 'There shall be weeping,' and 'There the weary in body found rest,' and 'Naked shall I depart thither,' and any such saying.

He says, then, that 'There' — that is, in the life to come — 'all who work lawlessness are fallen.'

For even if here they seemed to stand and to carry out the works of lawlessness, yet there they have fallen, no longer permitted to be active as they were active before.

One ought not to be surprised if he speaks of the future as though it had already come to pass;

for many such things are said, as: 'They pierced my hands and my feet,' and 'They divided my garments among them';

for since he who prophetically foresees the things to be beholds them as things that shall most certainly come to pass, on this account he sets them forth as though they had already happened.

because they are no longer able to stand, their practical powers being hindered in their activity, yet not destroyed.

This kindness will procure for you the dwelling upon the holy land, so as to be shepherded upon its riches;

for you will have as shepherd the true one, leading you to divine pasture, which is called the riches of that land.

The rest is similar to what precedes it.

In every way offering himself as profitable to us, the Lord is found to be both our food and our drink.

When, therefore, we feed on him as the bread of life, and are filled with his flesh and blood, which are true food and drink, taking our delight in him, we shall have him bestowing all the requests of the heart, that is, of the mind — not the perceptible ones, but the spiritual and intelligible ones.

Take delight in the Lord, and having obtained the things foretold, make manifest your own way along which you travel in practice.

And when do you do these things? Whenever you are active in those things upon which God looks.

For he who sins hides from God, hastening to conceal his own way.

But making your way manifest to God, 'hope in him, and he himself will do' the things hoped for by you and awaited by you, so as to bring forth your righteousness, which was worked in secret, as light — like that of Job and of Joseph;

for the righteousness of these men, blazing forth after the manner of light, was spread throughout the whole inhabited world unto all generations; but also 'And your judgment,'

either that which he himself judged concerning you, or that which you judged and proved within yourself, he will bring forth in like manner as the noonday which has the light at its full height and utterly pure.

For thus, when all the things concerning you have been made manifest, you will become as a luminary in the world.

But for the present, now, 'Submit yourself to the Lord.'

asking of him the forgiveness of sins, and the obtaining of the things that have been spoken of.

Anger is a destructive passion, so as even to destroy the prudent;

For anger destroys even the prudent, and it is an obstacle to the working of virtue as well.

For the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God.

Therefore, 'Cease from anger and forsake wrath,' becoming a zealot for meekness and gentleness.

And one is able to cease from the anger which is of God and to forsake his wrath by abstaining from those things upon which follows the falling into anger and wrath.

Since the things of wickedness shall be brought to nothing when yet a little time has passed by, the sinner shall not subsist, for the disposition according to which he is such is no longer found.

Therefore also, though you seek his place, you shall not find it.

And 'place' is to be understood as one holds a position in some rank, as when a difference exists between a teacher and a pupil.

There is a place of the teacher and a place of the pupil; and when the pupil has been filled with knowledge, having become as the teacher, he shall leave the place of the pupil, so that it exists no more.

Since, then, among rational beings too a difference has arisen from their own choice, so that some occupy the place of the righteous and others the place of sinners, when wickedness is done away the place of the sinner shall no longer exist.

But the meek, having established steadfastness, shall be shown to be heirs of a land other than that on which we tread, so as even to delight themselves upon it, since there shall be an abundance of peace, when all the enemies against whom we wage war have been abolished.

It is possible to refer these words to the devil, who is named 'the sinner' with the article.

And the sinners draw the sword and bend the bow, that with their bows they may shoot down the poor and needy, and with the sword slay those who are upright in heart.

For they do not wound those who are rich in evils, since these are their friends, nor do they slay those who are crooked in heart, since they have fellowship with them.

And their bent bows are the wicked reasonings, and the sharpened sword is the tongue, that is, their word which is destructive of things that differ.

Since, then, the one who sins dies by his own sin, this very sword which they sharpened against others shall harm them, into their own heart.

Better for the righteous man to have a little knowledge with godliness than the wealth with impiety of the sinners, in which some suppose they are rich as they pursue the things of the falsely-named knowledge.

And by 'arms' here we must speak not of those of the body but of those of the soul, which are the practical faculties.

The Lord who knows the way of the righteous shall also know the ways of the blameless.

The matter of 'knowledge' here is to be spoken of not with respect to mere information but with respect to intimate union.

For the Lord knows all the ways of the blameless which they travel, being united with them in their blamelessness.

And there is also the reading, 'The Lord knows the days of the blameless.'

For since the blameless are never in darkness but ever in light and in day, for this reason the Lord knows such days of theirs, or indeed all the days of their life, since they ever work blamelessly and without reproach.

An 'evil time' is when someone receives grievous things on account of his sins.

In this time, then, the blameless shall not be put to shame, since they have no deeds for which it is fitting to suffer.

'For the sinners shall perish,' not in that their constitution is wholly dissolved, but in that they are sinners no longer.

Even if there be great scarcity of provisions because of a mighty famine, by the commandment of God ravens shall bring food, as to Elijah; and as to Daniel in the den of the lions, Habakkuk, borne aloft, shall bring a meal.

And this is according to the letter; but according to the deeper sense as follows:

From a youthful and unstable character, according to which, playing the youth, I was younger, having changed I have come to old age, having acquired an unstained life and a hoary-headed prudence.

And the rest similarly to the first.

For his whole life, being an exact and tested condition, he renders known to all.

And thus he shows mercy all the day long, being sociable, and he lends—either divine teachings to those who hear, or, according to 'He who has mercy on the poor lends to God,' he lends to God—so as to gain saving interest, so that even their seed is blessed with every spiritual blessing.

The righteous man, having accomplished every ethical virtue, has come to contemplation; wherefore also his word, figuratively called a mouth, meditates on nothing other than the wisdom that is in contemplation.

To this you may apply, 'The discourse of a godly man is wisdom continually, but the fool changes like the moon.'

And the tongue of the righteous man does not utter without examination nor at random.

For having judged and examined the difference between things to be spoken and things not to be spoken,

some things he will say, and others he will keep silent.

Such is the saying, 'The lips of the wise are bound by discernment,' in that they both speak and are silent with discernment.

He has used discernment as a bond of the lips.

The law which we have by nature in the heart, according to which we distinguish what is to be done and what is not to be done, is of no other than of God who made us according to his own image.

Assuredly, when we preserve our thoughts undistorted, abstaining from worse things, we lay claim to the better things.

Using this law as the guide of the way, without stumbling we pass over to the goal toward which we press.

And it is possible that the evangelical law is signified through the present phrase.

'For the righteous man,' whom 'the sinner watches, seeking to put him to death,' it is said:

even if you have many who thirst for murder against you, receive salvation from God.

And 'Wait for him and keep his way,' observing his commandments.

For to you who are so disposed there shall follow exaltation, so as to inherit the land which has already often been spoken of.

And it is to be noted that he says the land of the good news lies somewhere on high;

for it is not for inheriting the land beneath one's feet that a person is exalted, but the land established on high.

And indeed in Isaiah it is said, 'The Lord shall bring you up upon the good things of the land.'

And consider on what a height this land itself is, since God brings up onto it and exalts, so that one inherits it, because it is not possible for anyone to come upon it by himself.

And then, as from a height, you shall look upon the destruction of the sinners, as they are handed over to punishment.