Exposition of Psalm 118 0.1.1–2.2.2
Latin text: CSEL 62 (Latin text: Schenkl/Petschenig, CSEL 62, 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).
Exposition 0, chapter 1
0.1.1CSEL 62:3
Licet mystice quoque uelut tubae increpuerit sono Dauid propheta, tamen moralium magnus magister, quantum in eo excellat ethica, psalmi huius summa declarat gratia, siquidem cum suauis omnis doctrina moralis sit, tum maxime suauitate carminis et psallendi dulcedine delectat aures animumque demulcet.
Although David the prophet also sounded forth mystically, as with the blast of a trumpet, yet he is a great teacher of morals, and the surpassing grace of this psalm shows how much he excels in ethics. For while all moral teaching is pleasant, it delights the ears and soothes the mind most of all by the pleasantness of song and the sweetness of psalmody.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose introduces Psalm 118 as the chief moral psalm of David, the great teacher of ethics.
- Ambrose cites the psalm by the Greek and Latin numbering (Ps 118 = Ps 119 in the Hebrew and English Bible). Renderings kept throughout this work: iustificationes “statutes” (Ambrose discusses the word), testimonia “testimonies”, mandata “commandments”, praecepta “precepts”, iudicia “judgments”, lex “the law”, anima “soul”, eloquium “word” or “saying”. The psalm is translated as Ambrose quotes it (an Old Latin version made from the Greek), not from the Hebrew.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 0.1.1 (CSEL 62:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
0.1.2CSEL 62:3
meritoque plerisque locis moralium psalmorum sententias tamquam stellarum diffudit lumina, quae elucent atque eminent; centesimum uero et octauum decimum psalmum uelut pleni luminis solem meridiano feruentem calore in processa libri constituit aetate, ut neque matutini ortus semiplena exordia neque uespertini occasus quidam senilis defectus claritati aliquid perfecti splendoris decerperent.
And rightly in many places he has scattered the sayings of the moral psalms like the lights of the stars, which shine and stand out; but the hundred and eighteenth psalm he has set like a sun of full light, glowing with midday heat, in the advanced age of the book, so that neither the half-full beginnings of a morning rising nor the aged failing, as it were, of an evening setting should take anything from the brightness of its perfect splendor.
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalm 118 stands in the middle of the Psalter like the midday sun among the stars.
- “in processa … aetate”: the advanced (mature) stage of the book, i.e. well along in the Psalter.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 0.1.2 (CSEL 62:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-1-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
0.1.3CSEL 62:3
quem per singulas Hebraeorum digessit litteras, ut, quemadmodum paruulorum ingenia primis litterarum elementis adsuescunt discendi usum adsumere, ita etiam nos huiusmodi elementis usum discamus uiuendi.
He arranged it by the individual letters of the Hebrews, so that, just as the minds of little children grow accustomed to take up the practice of learning by the first elements of the letters, so we too may learn by such elements the practice of living.
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalm is arranged by the Hebrew alphabet so that we may learn the alphabet of living.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 0.1.3 (CSEL 62:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-1-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 0, chapter 2
0.2.1CSEL 62:3–4
Litteris autem singulis octonos uersiculos adscripsit, ut simul et unitatem doceret, non pluralitatem — unitas enim cohercet omnia et regit, cui subiecta sunt omnia -; et purgationem legitimae sanctificationis. octaua enim die sollemnis purgatio uel ex lege, quia octaua die circumcisionis sollemnitas impleri statuta est.
To each letter he assigned eight verses, so as to teach at once both unity, not plurality (for unity holds together and rules all things, and all things are subject to it), and the purification of lawful sanctification. For on the eighth day is the solemn purification, either according to the law, because the solemnity of circumcision was appointed to be fulfilled on the eighth day,
Lev 12:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 17:12 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The eight verses to each letter point to unity and to the purification of the eighth day.
- The law of circumcision on the eighth day: Gen 17:12; Lev 12:3.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 0.2.1 (CSEL 62:3–4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
0.2.2CSEL 62:4
uel quia totus mundus coinquinatus erat peccatis nostris et septem illis pollutus diebus. - ubi autem dies resurrectionis, conuiuificati domino Iesu resurreximus et erecti sumus in nouitate uitae praeferentes ablutionis gratiam. meritoque primogenita offerimus animantia in figura primogeniti filii dei castitatis et simplicitatis spiritale sacrificium acceptum deo non quarto aut quinto die, ne inmundum aut inconsummatum sacrificium sit, sed octaua die,
or because the whole world had been defiled by our sins and polluted during those seven days. But when the day of resurrection came, made alive together with the Lord Jesus, we rose again and were raised up in newness of life, displaying the grace of washing. And rightly we offer the firstborn animals, in the figure of the firstborn Son of God, a spiritual sacrifice of chastity and simplicity acceptable to God, not on the fourth or fifth day, lest the sacrifice be unclean or incomplete, but on the eighth day,
Rom 6:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 2:13 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 22:30 (allusion, medium confidence) · Lev 22:27 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The eighth day is the day of resurrection, on which the believer, washed, offers a spiritual sacrifice.
- The firstborn of the flock offered on the eighth day: Exod 22:30; Lev 22:27. “Made alive together”: Col 2:13; “newness of life”: Rom 6:4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated word in the digital text): ubi autem autem dies → ubi autem dies.
Topics: Baptism, Resurrection and ascension of Christ
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 0.2.2 (CSEL 62:4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-2-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
0.2.3CSEL 62:4
qua omnes in Christi resurrectione non solum resuscitati, sed etiam confirmati sumus.. unde licet in baptismate statim sit plena purgatio, tamen, quia ablutionis ipsius sacrificiique rationem baptizatus debet cognoscere, non offert sacrificium nisi octauum ingrediatur diem, ut informatus agnitione sacramentorum caelestium non quasi rudis hostia, sed quasi rationis capax tunc demum suum munus altaribus sacris offerat, cum coeperit esse instructior, ne offerentis inscitia contaminet oblationis mysterium.
on which in the resurrection of Christ we have all been not only raised up but also strengthened. Hence, although in baptism there is at once full purification, yet, because the baptized person must come to know the meaning of the washing itself and of the sacrifice, he does not offer sacrifice unless he enters the eighth day, so that, instructed in the knowledge of the heavenly sacraments, he may offer his gift on the holy altars not as an untrained victim but as one capable of reason, only when he has begun to be better instructed, lest the ignorance of the one offering defile the mystery of the oblation.
Notes and citation
Summary: Though baptism purifies at once, the newly baptized offer their gift only on the eighth day, after instruction in the sacraments.
- The newly baptized were instructed in the sacraments during the octave of Easter (compare Ambrose’s On the Mysteries and On the Sacraments) before offering at the altar.
Topics: Baptism, Eucharist, Catechumens and catechesis, Sacraments
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 0.2.3 (CSEL 62:4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-2-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 0, chapter 3
0.3.1CSEL 62:4–5
Titulus autem psalmi Alleluia est, hoc est, laus dei. in his enim hymnis uere deus laudatur, in quibus est peccatorum remissio. denique in superiore psalmo passio domini praemissa est, quae mundum hunc diluit, ut dignos faceret populos qui deum inmaculato ore laudarent. ipsa quoque litterarum elementa. ut omnia Hebraea nomina, non sunt rationabilis interpretationis uacua atque immunia. quorum significationes locis suis aperiemus. centesimus et undecimus psalmus per has litteras in Hebraeo in principiis uersiculorum digestus est et est totus ethicus; et centesimus et decimus mihi ita scriptus uidetur. denique uicenos et binos uersus habent et singulis uersibus singulae explicantur sententiae; unde et per metra adseruntur esse descripti.
The title of the psalm is Alleluia, that is, “praise of God.” For God is truly praised in those hymns in which there is forgiveness of sins. Indeed, in the preceding psalm the passion of the Lord was set forth, which washed this world clean, so that it might make peoples worthy to praise God with a spotless mouth. The very elements of the letters too, like all Hebrew names, are not empty of, or free from, a rational meaning. Their meanings we will disclose in their places. The hundred and eleventh psalm is arranged in Hebrew by these letters at the beginnings of its verses, and it is wholly ethical; and the hundred and tenth also seems to me to be written in this way. They each have twenty-two verses, and in each verse a single thought is unfolded; hence they are also said to have been written in meter.
Ps 112:1 (111:1 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 111:1 (110:1 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 118:22 (117:22 LXX) (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The title Alleluia means praise of God; Psalms 110 and 111 (Greek numbering) are also alphabetic.
- Ambrose reads Ps 117 (LXX; Ps 118 English) as a psalm of the passion. Psalms 111 and 110 in his numbering are Pss 112 and 111 in the English Bible, both alphabetic acrostics. “elementamenta” in the digital text is read as “elementa”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (dittography in the digital text): elementamenta → elementa.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 0.3.1 (CSEL 62:4–5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/0-3-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 1
1.1.1CSEL 62:5
Prima littera Aleph dicitur, cuius interpretatio doctrina est. sollicitus ergo auditor plenos doctrinae esse uersus qui secuntur debes praesumere.
The first letter is called Aleph, which means “teaching.” You, then, an attentive hearer, ought to assume that the verses which follow are full of teaching.
Notes and citation
Summary: Aleph means teaching, so the first eight verses are full of teaching.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.1.1 (CSEL 62:5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 2
1.2.1CSEL 62:5–6
Beati inmaculati, inquit, in uia, qui ambulant in lege domini. beati qui scrutantur testimonia eius, in toto corde exquirunt eum. quam pulcher ordo, quam plenus doctrinae et gratiae! non prius: qui scrutantur testimonia eius dixit - potuit enim conuenire secundum litteram —, sed prius: beati inmaculati in uia. ante enim uita quam doctrina quaerenda est. uita enim bona et sine doctrina habet gratiam, doctrina sine uita integritatem non habet; i n maliuolam etenim animam non cadet sapientia. ideoque ait: quaerent me mali et non inuenient, quia inprobitate caecatur mentis oculus et caligante sibi iniquitate mysteria profunda inuenire non potest. primum ergo exercenda est uitae militia, corrigendi mores. cum haec instituerimus ad cursum debitum, ut sit offensionis correctio, puritatis gratia, tunc ad studia percipiendae cognitionis ueniamus suo ordine et uia. prima igitur sunt moralia, secunda mystica. in illis uita, in his cognitio, ita ut, si perfectionem requiras, nec uita sine cognitione nec cognitio sine uita sit, utrumque adstipuletur alteri. ideoque ait scriptura: seminate uobis ad iustitiam, uindemiate ad fructum uitae, inluminate uobis lumen cognitionis. non prius inluminate, sed seminate nec solum seminate prius ad iustitiam, sed etiam uindemiate, inquit, ad fructum uitae, et sic inluminate lumen cognitionis, ut perfectio non solum consitis, sed etiam receptisfructibus adprobetur. in primo quoque psalmo hunc ordinem tenuit, ut in uia ambulandum doceret prius et tunc in lege meditandum. qui enim non abiit in consilio impiorum, utique de pietatis uia et iustitiae semita non recessit meritoque in uia ambulans beatus pronuntiatur et die ac nocte meditationem legis exercens habet gratiam beatitudinis.
“Blessed are the undefiled in the way,” he says, “who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who search his testimonies; with the whole heart they seek him.” How beautiful an order, how full of teaching and grace! He did not first say, “who search his testimonies” (that could have fitted according to the letter), but first, “Blessed are the undefiled in the way.” For life must be sought before teaching. A good life has grace even without teaching; teaching without life does not have integrity, for “wisdom will not enter a malicious soul.” And so it says: “The wicked will seek me and will not find me,” because the eye of the mind is blinded by wickedness, and when iniquity darkens it, it cannot find deep mysteries. First, then, the warfare of life must be practiced, and morals corrected. When we have set these on their due course, so that there is correction of offense and the grace of purity, then let us come in proper order and way to the pursuit of acquiring knowledge. First, then, come moral matters, second mystical ones. In the former is life, in the latter knowledge, so that, if you seek perfection, there is neither life without knowledge nor knowledge without life; each supports the other. And so Scripture says: “Sow for yourselves unto righteousness, gather the vintage unto the fruit of life, light for yourselves the light of knowledge.” It does not first say, “light,” but “sow”; and not only “sow first unto righteousness,” but also “gather the vintage,” it says, “unto the fruit of life,” and so “light the light of knowledge,” so that perfection may be proved not only by fruits planted but also by fruits gathered in. In the first psalm too he kept this order, teaching first that one must walk in the way and then meditate on the law. For he who “has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly” has surely not departed from the way of godliness and the path of righteousness, and rightly, walking in the way, he is pronounced blessed, and, practicing meditation on the law day and night, he has the grace of blessedness.
Ps 119:1 (118:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:2 (118:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 1:28 (quotation, medium confidence) · Hos 10:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 1:2 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalm puts a good life before knowledge, as Hosea and Psalm 1 also do.
- Ps 118:1–2 (Ps 119:1–2). “Wisdom will not enter a malicious soul”: Wis 1:4. “The wicked will seek me”: Prov 1:28. “Sow for yourselves …”: Hos 10:12, in the Greek form. Ps 1:1–2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (split word in the digital text): exquirunt eu m. → exquirunt eum..
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:4 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.2.1 (CSEL 62:5–6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 3
1.3.1CSEL 62:6
Quam institutionem secutus Salomon librum de Prouerbiis scripsit, quo moralem locum uberius expressit. naturalem in Ecclesiaste, mysticum in Canticis canticorum. quamquam si diligenter discutias, et in Prouerbiis mystica pleraque repperies et in Canticis moralium suauitatem. nam utique mysticum est: sapientia
Following this method, Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, in which he set out the moral part more fully, the natural part in Ecclesiastes, the mystical in the Song of Songs. And yet, if you examine carefully, you will find much that is mystical in Proverbs and the sweetness of morals in the Song. For surely this is mystical: “Wisdom
Notes and citation
Summary: Solomon’s three books follow the order moral, natural, mystical, though each contains the others.
- The division of Solomon’s books into ethics, physics, and mystical knowledge goes back to Origen’s prologue to the Song of Songs.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.3.1 (CSEL 62:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-3-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.3.2CSEL 62:6
aedificauit sibi domum et subdidit columnas septem; interfecit suas hostias et cetera. hoc quoque in Canticis, licet tam mysticum quam morale, in quo blanditiarum suauitas et affectus amantis exprimitur: osculetur me ab osculo oris sui, quoniam optima ubera tua super uinum et odor unguentorum tuorum super omnia aromata.
has built herself a house and set up seven pillars; she has slain her victims,” and so on. This too in the Song, though it is as mystical as it is moral, in which the sweetness of endearments and the affection of a lover are expressed: “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth, for your breasts are better than wine, and the fragrance of your ointments above all spices.”
Prov 9:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 9:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 1:3 (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Proverbs contains mystical sayings, and the Song both mystical and moral ones.
- Prov 9:1–2; Song 1:2–3 in the Greek form (“breasts”).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.3.2 (CSEL 62:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-3-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 4
1.4.1CSEL 62:6–7
Constitue ergo uirginem desponsatam multo tempore et iusto feruentem amore, quae multa praeclara opera dilecti probabilium testium adsertione cognouerit, desideriis suspensis dilatam frequenter iam non ferentem moras, quae omnia fecisset, ut sponsum uideret, aliquando uotis potitam suis ad inprouisum sponsi aduentum gaudio turbatam non quaerere primordia salutationis, non uerborum uices, sed statim quod desiderasset exigere.
Picture, then, a virgin long betrothed and burning with a just love, who has learned many splendid works of her beloved from the statements of trustworthy witnesses; her longing held in suspense, often put off, no longer able to bear delay, she who would have done anything to see her bridegroom; at last, gaining her wish at the bridegroom’s unexpected coming, confused with joy, she does not look for the preliminaries of a greeting or an exchange of words, but at once demands what she had longed for.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose pictures a long-betrothed virgin who at the bridegroom’s coming at once asks for his kiss.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.4.1 (CSEL 62:6–7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-4-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.4.2CSEL 62:7
ita ergo et sancta ecclesia, quae in primordiis mundi desponsata in paradiso. praefigurata in diluuio, adnuntiata per legem, uocata per prophetas diu redemptionem hominum, euangelii decorem, dilecti expectasset aduentum. inpatiens morae in oscula ruit dicens: osculetur me ab osculo oris sui et delectata osculis adiecit: quoniam optima ubera tua super uinum.
So too the holy church, which was betrothed in paradise at the beginnings of the world, prefigured in the flood, announced through the law, called through the prophets, had long awaited the redemption of mankind, the beauty of the gospel, the coming of the beloved. Impatient of delay, she rushes into his kisses, saying: “Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth,” and, delighted with his kisses, she added: “for your breasts are better than wine.”
Song 1:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church, long betrothed, greets Christ’s coming with the bride’s words in the Song.
- Song 1:2.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.4.2 (CSEL 62:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-4-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 5
1.5.1CSEL 62:7–8
Et ut moralius dicamus, intellege mihi carnem illam, quae madefacta fuerat in Adam serpentis ueneno, quae criminum marcebat faetore, quae procedebat in filiabus Sion alta ceruice et nutibus oculorum et itinere pedum trahens tunicas et pedibus suis ludens, crinibus cincinnis et conpositis uultibus atque redimiculis et omni affectato decore plus dedecens, eandem tamen plurimis edoctam oraculis, quod uenturus esset qui serpentis inlecebris exclusis sancti spiritus infunderet gratiam, ut omnis caro uideret salutare dei, omnis caro ad deum ueniret, inarsisse desiderio, sed metuentem, ne ut inpatiens, ut lasciua, ut luxuriosa, ut querula, sicut ante fuerat, displiceret, quamuis longiore quam ferre iam morantis aduentus dominici expectatione quateretur, non inmurmurantem tamen nec transgredientem, sed leuantem in omni loco puras manus sine ira et disceptatione in habitu ornato, cum uerecundia et sobrietate ornantem se, non intortis crinibus aut auro aut margaritis aut ueste pretiosa, sed his quae castitatis et bonae conuersationis decerent gratiam, orare dicentem:
And to speak more morally, understand, I pray, that flesh which had been soaked with the serpent’s venom in Adam, which was rotting with the stench of crimes, which went forth among the daughters of Zion with outstretched neck and with winking of the eyes and mincing steps, trailing its robes and playing with its feet, with curled hair and painted faces and headbands and every affected ornament, the more unseemly for it; and yet, taught by many oracles that he would come who, shutting out the serpent’s enticements, would pour in the grace of the Holy Spirit, so that “all flesh should see the salvation of God” and all flesh should come to God, it burned with desire, but feared that it would displease, as impatient, as wanton, as luxurious, as complaining, as it had been before. Although it was shaken by a waiting for the Lord’s delayed coming longer than it could bear, yet not murmuring nor transgressing, but lifting up pure hands in every place without anger and disputing, in modest dress, adorning itself with modesty and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but with what befitted the grace of chastity and good conduct, it prayed, saying:
Isa 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 3:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 65:2 (64:3 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Tim 2:8 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 2:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Morally, the bride is human flesh, once vain and corrupt, now longing modestly for Christ’s coming.
- The daughters of Zion: Isa 3:16–23. “All flesh shall see the salvation of God”: Luke 3:6 (Isa 40:5). “All flesh shall come”: Ps 65:2. Lifting pure hands and modest dress: 1 Tim 2:8–10.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.5.1 (CSEL 62:7–8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-5-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.5.2CSEL 62:8
osculetur me ab osculo oris sui, quoniam optima ubera tua super uinum. iam uolebat adhaerere Christo caro, iam festinabat innubere, ut esset unus spiritus et fieret caro Christi, quae erat ante meretricis. osculetur, inquit, me — osculatur nos dei uerbum, quando sensum nostrum spiritus cognitionis inluminat — et tamquam despiciens omnes iucunditates et delectationes suas, caelestibus cupiens inhaerere mandatis ait: quoniam optima praecepta testamentorum tuorum super omnem adpetentiam carnis et saeculi uoluptatem..
“Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth, for your breasts are better than wine.” Already the flesh wished to cleave to Christ, already it hastened to be married, so as to be one spirit and become the flesh of Christ, which before was the flesh of a harlot. “Let him kiss me,” it says. (The Word of God kisses us when the Spirit of knowledge enlightens our understanding.) And, as though despising all its pleasures and delights, longing to cleave to the heavenly commandments, it says: “for the precepts of your testaments are better than every appetite of the flesh and pleasure of the world.”
Song 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 6:17 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 6:15 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The flesh longs to be joined to Christ as one spirit and prefers his precepts to every pleasure.
- Song 1:2; “one spirit” and the harlot: 1 Cor 6:15–17. The last sentence interprets “your breasts are better than wine”.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.5.2 (CSEL 62:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-5-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.5.3CSEL 62:8
meminerat enim se m Eua ante sic lapsam, dum uoluptatem corporis praefert mandatis caelestibus. unguentum exinanitum nomen tuum, hoc est: totus inmundus inpuritatibus diuersorum facinorum faetebat hic mundus; nunc spirat ubique suauitas pudicitiae, unguentum fidei. flos integritatis. et a moralibus uenit ad mystica dicens: introduxit me rex in cubiculum suum. exultemus et laetemur in te; diligamus ubera tua super uinum. simplex est enim osculum, negotiosum autem cubiculi secretum.
For it remembered that it had fallen before in Eve, by preferring the pleasure of the body to the heavenly commandments. “Your name is ointment poured out,” that is: this whole world was unclean and stank with the impurities of various crimes; now the sweetness of modesty breathes everywhere, the ointment of faith, the flower of integrity. And from moral things it comes to mystical, saying: “The king has brought me into his chamber. Let us rejoice and be glad in you; let us love your breasts more than wine.” For a kiss is simple, but the secret of the chamber is a weighty matter.
Song 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 1:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: From the moral sense of the kiss the bride moves to the mystical sense of the king’s chamber.
- Song 1:3–4. The digital text has a stray “m” in “se m Eua”; it is translated as “se in Eua”.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.5.3 (CSEL 62:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-5-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 6
1.6.1CSEL 62:8–9
In ipso quoque euangelio pulcherrimus de moralibus locus est, ut unusquisque uas suum mundet, dicente domino: Phari saee caece, munda prius quod intus est calicis et parapsidis, ut fiat et id quod foris est mundum. nam nisi se unusquisque intus mundauerit, etiamsi foris speciosus uideatur et iustus, similis erit dealbatis sepulchris, ut foris quidem iustus uideatur. intus uero sit faetidus. sic est doctrina sine uitae innocentia.
In the gospel itself too there is a most beautiful passage about morals, that each should cleanse his own vessel, as the Lord says: “Blind Pharisee, first cleanse what is inside the cup and the dish, so that what is outside may also become clean.” For unless each cleanses himself within, even if outwardly he seems handsome and righteous, he will be like whitewashed tombs, so that outwardly he seems righteous but inwardly he stinks. So is teaching without innocence of life.
Matt 23:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 23:28 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s word about cleansing the inside of the cup shows that teaching without a pure life is worthless.
- Matt 23:26–28.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.6.1 (CSEL 62:8–9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-6-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.6.2CSEL 62:9
sed nec ipsa doctrina potest mercedem habere, ubi gratiam non habet innocentia. peccatori autem dixit deus: quare tu enarras iustitias meas? sed reuertamur ad propositum psalmum.
But teaching itself cannot have a reward where innocence has no grace. For to the sinner God said: “Why do you declare my righteous deeds?” But let us return to the psalm before us.
Ps 50:16 (49:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God rebukes the sinner who teaches his righteousness.
- Ps 50:16 (LXX 49:16).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.6.2 (CSEL 62:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-6-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 7
1.7.1CSEL 62:9
Beati, inquit, inmaculati in u i a, qui a ambulant in lege domini. beati qui scrutantur testimonia eius, in toto corde exquirunt eum. primus uersus moralis, secundus mysticus. quis hoc dicit? propheta utique, qui fungebatur carnis alloquio, et dicit hoc post eum psalmum, quo descripta est domini nostri Iesu Christi passio.
“Blessed,” he says, “are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who search his testimonies; with the whole heart they seek him.” The first verse is moral, the second mystical. Who says this? The prophet, surely, who spoke as one in the flesh, and he says it after that psalm in which the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ is described.
Ps 119:1 (118:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:2 (118:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The first verse of the psalm is moral, the second mystical, and both follow a psalm of the passion.
- Ps 118:1–2 (Ps 119:1–2).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.7.1 (CSEL 62:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-7-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.7.2CSEL 62:9
ubi: ergo ei diuina sacramenta reuelata sunt et induit dominicae resurrectionis laetitiam et passionis degustauit gratiam, uidit iustorum congregationes, populos redemptorum, perditorum salutem, mortuorum resurrectionem, sanctificationem sacramentorum, exclamauit dicens: beati inmaculati in uia, qui ambulant in lege domini, hoc est: ecce maledicta terra in Adam coepit habere beatitudinem, si tamen legem domini non derelinquat; ecce inmaculatus est homo, qui erat ante pollutus. quam pretiosum est iam custodire praeceptum domini, quam pretiosum etiam praecepti ipsius scire mysterium!
When, then, the divine sacraments were revealed to him, and he put on the joy of the Lord’s resurrection and tasted the grace of the passion, he saw the assemblies of the righteous, the peoples of the redeemed, the salvation of the lost, the resurrection of the dead, the sanctification of the sacraments, and he cried out, saying: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord,” that is: see, the earth cursed in Adam has begun to have blessedness, provided it does not abandon the law of the Lord; see, man is undefiled, who before was polluted. How precious it is now to keep the Lord’s precept, how precious too to know the mystery of the precept itself!
Ps 119:1 (118:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:17 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Having foreseen the passion and resurrection, the prophet calls blessed those made undefiled in Christ.
- Ps 119:1; the earth cursed in Adam: Gen 3:17.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.7.2 (CSEL 62:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-7-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 8
1.8.1CSEL 62:9
Sed quis est inmaculatus? non utique qui in quacumque uia ambulat, sed qui in Christo ambulat. ipse enim dixit: ego sum u i a. in hac uia qui ambulat, errare non nouit, si tamen ab hac uia numquam recedat. est et uia lex, et ideo, dum inmaculatus est. in lege domini ambulat; nec ambulare uia hac desinat. ne inmaculatus esse desistat. non declinet in dexteram aut laeuam.
But who is undefiled? Not anyone who walks in any way at all, but he who walks in Christ. For he himself said: “I am the way.” He who walks in this way does not know how to go astray, provided he never departs from this way. The law too is a way, and therefore, as long as he is undefiled, he walks in the law of the Lord; and let him not cease to walk in this way, lest he cease to be undefiled. Let him not turn aside to the right or to the left;
John 14:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 5:32 (allusion, medium confidence) · Josh 1:7 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The undefiled is the one who walks in Christ, the way, and in the law without turning aside.
- John 14:6; not turning to right or left: Deut 5:32; Josh 1:7.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.8.1 (CSEL 62:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-8-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.8.2CSEL 62:9–10
non titubet, non resistat, non expectet, sed ambulet superiora obliuiscens et ea quae sunt priora appetens ad destinatum sequatur, ad brauium festinet, contendat usque ad finem; finis enim legis est Christus. multi uolunt ambulare in uia, sed non usque ad finem. non ambulant Iudaei usque ad finem, qui non usque ad Christum ambulant, non ambulat Manicheus in uia, qui legem refutat, sed ambulat uera fides, quae et legem suscipit et plenitudinem legis agnoscit.
let him not stagger, not stand still, not wait, but walk, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching out to what lies ahead,” let him press on to the goal, hasten to the prize, strive to the end; for “the end of the law is Christ.” Many wish to walk in the way, but not to the end. The Jews do not walk to the end, since they do not walk as far as Christ; the Manichee does not walk in the way, since he rejects the law; but the true faith walks, which both accepts the law and recognizes the fullness of the law.
Phil 3:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 3:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 10:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: One must walk the way to its end, Christ; Jews stop short and Manichees reject the law, but the true faith goes on.
- Phil 3:13–14; Rom 10:4. Ambrose’s remark on the Jews and the Manichees is translated as written.
Topics: Heresy, Jews and Judaism, Manichaeism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.8.2 (CSEL 62:9–10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-8-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 9
1.9.1CSEL 62:10
Si quis ergo in uia ambulat, scrutetur testimonia domini. quod licet mysticum sit, tamen etiam moralia in se habet, quoniam melius potest ambulare in uia, qui scrutatur domini testimonia. nam ut quis intemperantissimus, captus adulterinae cupiditatis aestu et uictus libidine uel indulgens flagitiis, qui repugnare nolit adpetentiae suae carnis, conuersus huc atque illuc, si neminem forte uideat. in facinus ruit, idem tamen quamuis parata occasione potiendi explorat diligenter omnia, in diuersum oculos suos incuriosus iustitiae, sollicitus famae detorquet frequenter, erubescit testimonium erroris. qui non erubescit errorem, ac si quem forte spectatorem cognouerit facinoris sui, uerecundia sequestrat intemperantiam et, quamuis cum ancilla uel meretrice uulgari, ubi nullum sit deprehendendi periculum. temptamenta moliatur libidinis, pudore tamen inceptum deserit, quanto magis, si quis alleuet mentis oculos et consideret plena esse angelorum omnia, aera terras mare ecclesias, quibus angeli praesunt - mittit enim dominus angelos suos ad defensionem eorum.
If anyone, then, walks in the way, let him search the testimonies of the Lord. Though this is mystical, yet it has moral content too, since he who searches the Lord’s testimonies can walk better in the way. For take some utterly intemperate man, seized by the heat of adulterous desire and overcome by lust or given to vice, unwilling to resist the appetite of his flesh: turning this way and that, if perhaps he sees no one, he rushes into the deed; and yet, even with an opportunity ready to hand, he searches everything carefully, often turns his eyes in every direction, careless of righteousness but anxious for his reputation; he blushes at a witness to his sin, though he does not blush at the sin; and if he perhaps learns of some spectator of his deed, shame puts his intemperance aside, and even if he is attempting the temptations of lust with a slave woman or a common prostitute, where there is no danger of being caught, yet from shame he abandons what he began. How much more, if one lifts the eyes of the mind and considers that all things are full of angels, the air, the lands, the sea, the churches, over which angels preside (for the Lord sends his angels for the defense of those
Heb 1:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 34:7 (33:8 LXX) (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: If shame before a human witness can stop a sinner, how much more the thought that angels are everywhere present.
- Angels sent to defend the heirs of salvation: Heb 1:14; Ps 34:7 (LXX 33:8).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.9.1 (CSEL 62:10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-9-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.9.2CSEL 62:10–11
qui heredes futuri sunt promissorum caelestium -, concepto potest renuntiare peccato! unde ista turba innocentium, nisi ex illis peccatoribus? eadem natura est omnium, sed diuersa disciplina. circumcisio nihil est et gentilitas nihil est, sed obseruatio mandatorum dei naturae ipsius auget gratiam. (an) merita commutat ille, qui dicit: tenebrae in circuitu, et parietes me operiunt; peccatorum meorum non erit memor altissimus?
who are to be heirs of the heavenly promises), can he renounce a sin already conceived! Where does this crowd of the innocent come from, if not from those sinners? The nature of all is the same, but the discipline differs. Circumcision is nothing and being a Gentile is nothing, but the keeping of God’s commandments increases the grace of nature itself. (Or) does he change his deserts who says: “Darkness is round about, and the walls cover me; the Most High will not remember my sins”?
1 Cor 7:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: All share one nature; keeping God’s commandments, not circumcision, makes the difference.
- 1 Cor 7:19. The quotation is Sir 23:18 (Vulgate 23:26). “(an)” is the editor’s supplement; the sense of the last sentence is uncertain.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): quiheredesfuturisunt → qui heredes futuri sunt.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 23:18 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.9.2 (CSEL 62:10–11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-9-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 10
1.10.1CSEL 62:11
Non reueritus esses angelorum praesentiam, si praesentes esse crederes? non metueres non dicam facere, sed loqui aut etiam cogitare quod prauum est, si tibi scriptura diuina suasisset, quia deus cogitationum arbiter, secretorum testis est uerax, sicut ipse ait: estote mihi testes, et ego testis, dicit dominus deus, et puer meus quem elegi? hominem uereris praesentem, dei patris et filii non uereris praesentiam? sed non uis credere, ne possis cauere; non uis audire, cum legitur. quia deus nouit occulta hominum, ne incipias scire quod timeas et timere ne pecces. audi ergo scripturam diuinam, ut conuertaris a uia praua et maligna.
Would you not stand in awe of the presence of angels, if you believed them present? Would you not fear, I will not say to do, but to speak or even think what is wicked, if divine Scripture had persuaded you that God is the judge of thoughts, a true witness of secrets, as he himself says: “Be my witnesses, and I am a witness, says the Lord God, and my servant whom I have chosen”? You stand in awe of a man who is present; do you not stand in awe of the presence of God the Father and the Son? But you do not want to believe, lest you have to beware; you do not want to listen when it is read that God knows the hidden things of men, lest you begin to know what you should fear, and to fear lest you sin. Hear, then, divine Scripture, so that you may be turned from the crooked and evil way.
Isa 43:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Whoever believed that God and his angels witness every thought would fear to sin even in secret.
- Isa 43:10.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.10.1 (CSEL 62:11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-10-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.10.2CSEL 62:11
noli, sicut caecus oculis corporalibus aut sicut surdus, qui eo, quod non potest uidere aut audire praesentes, solum esse se credit et in plurimorum coetu, dum putat nullum esse praesentem, perpetrare adoritur quod arbitratur esse secretum — non enim potest uidentes uidere qui non uidet —, similiter et tu mentis caecatus oculis noli aestimare quod sine teste delinquas. quia hominis praesentiam declinare potuisti; plures sunt qui redarguant quam quos cauere potuisti. ipsum te fugere tui accusatorem non potes, quem conuenit propria conscientia, et si negas aliis, tibi non negas, et si homini infitiaris. deo fateris, et si uolueris negare, tuae te cogitationes reuincunt.
Do not be like one blind in his bodily eyes or like a deaf man, who, because he cannot see or hear those present, believes himself alone, and in a crowd of many, thinking no one is present, sets about doing what he thinks is secret (for he who does not see cannot see those who see); likewise, do not you, blinded in the eyes of the mind, think that you sin without a witness because you were able to avoid a man’s presence. There are more who will convict you than you were able to avoid. You cannot flee yourself, your own accuser, whom your own conscience confronts; and if you deny it to others, you do not deny it to yourself; and if you deny it to man, you confess it to God; and if you wish to deny it, your own thoughts refute you.
Notes and citation
Summary: The secret sinner is like a blind man who thinks he is alone; his own conscience accuses him.
Topics: Ethics, Conscience
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.10.2 (CSEL 62:11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-10-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 11
1.11.1CSEL 62:11–12
Heliseo adsistebant angeli quos uidebat, et ideo agmina hostium non timebat; sed timebat puer eius, qui angelos non uidebat. aperuit oculos eius ad uocem prophetae gratia dei, uidit angelorum exercitus et credidit esse praesentes, quos antea, quia non uidebat, putabat absentes. et tu lege prophetam, ut uideas, lege. ut aperiat oculos tuos, ne te hostilis legio perterreat et obsessum
Angels stood by Elisha, whom he saw, and so he did not fear the ranks of the enemy; but his servant, who did not see the angels, was afraid. At the prophet’s word the grace of God opened his eyes; he saw the armies of angels and believed them present, whom before, because he did not see them, he thought absent. You too, read the prophet, so that you may see; read, so that he may open your eyes, lest the enemy legion terrify you and you believe yourself besieged
2 Kgs 6:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 6:17 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like Elisha’s servant, the reader of the prophets has his eyes opened to see the angels around him.
- 2 Kgs 6:15–17.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.11.1 (CSEL 62:11–12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-11-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.11.2CSEL 62:12
esse te credas qui liber es, qui munitus es spiritalibus turmis, si prophetam non derelinquas. cum tibi propheta loquitur, quia deus dixit: ego caelum et terram compleo, cum tibi propheta dicit: quia plures nobiscum sunt, quia in circuitu nostro angeli sunt, attolle oculos mentis et uidebis non solum angelos, sed etiam deum, qui dicat tibi: aperi mihi, soror mea, proxima mea. pulsat ad ianuam et quando tu dormis; si tamen uel excitatus euigiles uel uocatus ianuam tui pectoris aperias, introibit. quodsi fugias lectionem propheticam, si domi non legas, in ecclesia audire nolis, nonne, sicut ille, qui auerso coniuet obtutu, ne uideat quod possit uidere, claudit oculos, ne aspiciat, cui potestas uidendi est, aut sicut in furore plerique
when you are free, you who are fortified by spiritual squadrons, provided you do not abandon the prophet. When the prophet tells you that God said, “I fill heaven and earth,” when the prophet tells you, “There are more with us,” that angels are round about us, lift the eyes of your mind and you will see not only angels but also God, who says to you: “Open to me, my sister, my neighbor.” He knocks at the door even when you are asleep; if only you wake up when roused, or open the door of your heart when called, he will come in. But if you flee the reading of the prophets, if you do not read at home and will not listen in church, are you not like one who shuts his eyes with averted gaze so as not to see what he could see, who closes his eyes so as not to look, though he has the power of seeing; or as many in madness
Jer 23:24 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 6:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 5:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 3:20 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Whoever will not read or hear the prophets shuts his own eyes to the God who knocks at his heart.
- Jer 23:24; 2 Kgs 6:16; Song 5:2 (“my neighbor” for proxima, the Latin of the Greek “near one”); the knocking: Rev 3:20.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.11.2 (CSEL 62:12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-11-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.11.3CSEL 62:12
iniecere manus oculis suis, ita et tu primo auerteris coniuenti magis dissimulatione quam refragatione praerupta? nam cum ad ecclesiam uenis et christianum te adseris, sanus uideris, aperis oculos, quibus possis uidere; sed dum audire dissimulas quae leguntur, claudis, ne uideas tibi, etsi aliis uidere uideris, inicis etiam quasdam perfidiae et intemperantiae manus oculis animae tuae et caecitatem infers cordi tuo, quod est grauius, uoluntariam, ut uidens non uideas, audiens non audias.
lay hands on their own eyes, so you too at first turn away, by a pretended blinking rather than by outright refusal? For when you come to church and declare yourself a Christian, you seem sound, you open your eyes, with which you can see; but while you pretend not to hear what is read, you close them so as not to see for yourself, even if you seem to others to see. You even lay certain hands of unbelief and intemperance on the eyes of your soul and bring blindness on your heart, and what is worse, a voluntary blindness, so that seeing you do not see, and hearing you do not hear.
Matt 13:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who come to church but ignore the readings blind themselves willingly.
- Matt 13:13.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.11.3 (CSEL 62:12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-11-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-11-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 12
1.12.1CSEL 62:12–13
Putas te solum esse, cum fornicaris, et non recordaris, quia oculi domini uident orbem terrarum? non audis dicentem: ecce uenit hora ut dispergamini unus quisque in sua et me solum relinquatis; sed non sum solus, quia pater mecum est? adest ergo pater, adest et filius dei, adsunt ministri, adsunt Cherubim et Seraphim, quae dicunt: sanctus sanctus sanctus, plena est terra maiestatis tuae.
Do you think you are alone when you commit fornication, and do you not remember that “the eyes of the Lord see the whole world”? Do you not hear him say: “Behold, the hour comes when you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave me alone; but I am not alone, for the Father is with me”? The Father, then, is present, the Son of God is present too, the ministers are present, the Cherubim and Seraphim are present, who say: “Holy, holy, holy, the earth is full of your majesty.”
Zech 4:10 (allusion, low confidence) · 2 Chr 16:9 (allusion, low confidence) · John 16:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 6:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fornicator is never alone: the Father, the Son, and the angels are present.
- The eyes of the Lord: compare Zech 4:10; 2 Chr 16:9; Sir 23:19 (source uncertain). John 16:32; Isa 6:3. fornicari is rendered “commit fornication”.
Topics: Ethics, Sexual morality
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.12.1 (CSEL 62:12–13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-12-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.12.2CSEL 62:13
plenus est mundus sanctarum uirtutum. quia plenus est nequitiarum; plenus est orbis terrarum remediis. quia plenus est laqueis. putas quod in lupanari Christus te non uideat, quem uidet lupanar intrare? putas quod in adulterio te non deprehendat, quem uidet adulterium cogitantem? num parietes refugit, qui spectat errores, et secretum criminis auersatur. qui sc-enam criminis intuetur? an putas tunc primum te intrare meritorium, cum fornicem meretricis ingrederis? intrasti iam. quando cogitationes tuas meretrix introiuit, intrasti iam, quando ad potiendae prostibulae cupiditatem gressu mentis intrasti, pulsasti lupanaris fores, quando ad mulieris concupiscendae decorem oculos mentis aperuisti.
The world is full of holy powers, because it is full of wickedness; the whole earth is full of remedies, because it is full of snares. Do you think Christ does not see you in the brothel, when he sees you enter the brothel? Do you think he does not catch you in adultery, when he sees you thinking of adultery? Does he who watches over errors shrink from walls, and turn away from the secret of the crime, he who looks upon the stage of the crime? Or do you think you enter the house of hire for the first time when you go through the harlot’s arch? You have entered already, when the harlot entered your thoughts; you entered already when with the step of your mind you entered into the desire of possessing a prostitute; you knocked at the brothel door when you opened the eyes of your mind to the beauty of a woman to be lusted after.
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ sees the adulterer, who has entered the brothel already in his thoughts.
- “meritorium”: a house of hire (brothel); “fornix”: the arch or vault, the brothel. The digital text’s “sc-enam” is read as “scaenam”.
Topics: Ethics, Sexual morality
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.12.2 (CSEL 62:13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-12-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-12-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.12.3CSEL 62:13
et si uerum audire uis, quomodo te in lupanan non uidit Christus, quando te uidit, quia adulterando in corde tuo te ipsum lupanar esse fecisti? denique ipse dicit dominus Iesus: qui uiderit mulierem ad concupiscendum e a m, iam adulterauit eam in corde suo. unde tamen tam religiosus in opinione. qui tam probrosus in crimine?
And if you want to hear the truth, how did Christ not see you in the brothel, when he saw you, since by committing adultery in your heart you had made yourself a brothel? Indeed the Lord Jesus himself says: “Whoever looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” How then can one so religious in reputation be so shameful in crime?
Matt 5:28 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: By adultery in the heart, Christ says, a man makes himself a brothel.
- Matt 5:28.
Topics: Ethics, Sexual morality
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.12.3 (CSEL 62:13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-12-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-12-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 13
1.13.1CSEL 62:13–14
Sed adquiesco tibi. quod Iesus te nolit uidere. nolit reuincere qui nolit acc-usare, nolint uidere et angeli; sed uidet diabolus qui tecum introiuit, immo qui te introduxit, uident ministri eius qui te circumdederunt, ne uideres angelos dei, uidet Belial, uidet legio, qui te inpulerunt, ne quis reuocaret, ne quis teneret. noli putare, quod conludium tibi praestet silentii, qui uult tecum supplicii habere consortium. studet plures similes sui uidere et in eo habet gloriam, quod plures perditos fecerit. ipse est incentor. ipse accusator;
But suppose I grant you that Jesus is unwilling to see you, that he who is unwilling to accuse is unwilling to convict, and that the angels too are unwilling to see; yet the devil sees, who went in with you, or rather who led you in; his ministers see, who surrounded you so that you would not see the angels of God; Belial sees, the legion sees, who drove you on, lest anyone call you back, lest anyone hold you. Do not think that he who wishes to share punishment with you will grant you the collusion of silence. He is eager to see many like himself, and his glory is in having ruined many. He himself is the instigator, he himself the accuser;
2 Cor 6:15 (allusion, low confidence) · Mark 5:9 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Even if Christ and the angels looked away, the devil, who led the sinner in, would see and accuse him.
- Belial: 2 Cor 6:15; the legion: Mark 5:9.
Topics: The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.13.1 (CSEL 62:13–14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-13-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.13.2CSEL 62:14
ipse in ludam introiuit, ipse eum ad proditionem inpulit, ipse misit ad laqueum. quanti dicturi sunt in illo die aduersus eum: tu nos circumuenisti, tu inpulisti! exemplum quaeris? accipe dicentem Euam praeuaricationis suae auctorem fuisse serpentem. sed illum implicauit, non se absoluit, cui respondit dominus: non praeceperam, ne gustaretis de ligno solo, quod est in medio paradiso? respondebit ergo et pluribus: diabolum audistis suadentem noxia; me non potuistis audire uitalia mandantem?
he entered into Judas, he drove him to betrayal, he sent him to the noose. How many will say against him on that day: “You deceived us, you drove us on!” Do you want an example? Hear Eve saying that the serpent was the author of her transgression. But she implicated him without acquitting herself, and the Lord answered her: “Had I not commanded that you should not taste of the one tree which is in the middle of paradise?” So he will answer many too: “You listened to the devil persuading you to harmful things; could you not listen to me commanding life-giving things?”
Luke 22:3 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 13:27 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 27:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 3:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:11 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil who drives men to sin will be blamed by them at the judgment, but, as with Eve, that will not acquit them.
- Judas: Luke 22:3; John 13:2, 27; Matt 27:5. Gen 3:13, 11 (the words to Eve are Ambrose’s adaptation).
Topics: The devil and demons, The last judgment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.13.2 (CSEL 62:14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-13-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-13-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 14
1.14.1CSEL 62:14
Et ideo operemur iustitias. non enim qui operantur iniquitate in uiis eius ambulauerunt. tu mandasti mandata tua custodire nimis. utinam dirigantur uiae meae ad custodiendas iusti iustificationes tuas!tunc non c o confundar. cum respiciam in omnia mandata tua.
And so let us work righteousness. “For those who work iniquity have not walked in his ways. You have commanded your commandments to be kept exceedingly. O that my ways may be directed to keep your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, when I look upon all your commandments.”
Ps 119:3 (118:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:4 (118:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:5 (118:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:6 (118:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose quotes the next verses: God commands that his commandments be kept exceedingly.
- Ps 118:3–6 (Ps 119:3–6). The digital text’s “iusti iustificationes” is a repeated syllable (“iustificationes”); “c o confundar” likewise. Both are translated by sense.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.14.1 (CSEL 62:14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-14-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.14.2CSEL 62:14–15
non solum: mandasti, inquit. custodire m a ndata tua, sed etiam: custodire nimis. quando hoc mandauit? in paradiso quidem mandauit Adae, ut custodiret mandata: sed fortasse non mandauerat nimis custodire et ideo lapsus est. ideo inflexus uoce mulieris suae, ideo deceptus erat a serpente putans quod, si in parte aliqua recederet a mandato. non penitus erraret. sed quia semel a semita mandatorum recessit. totam deseruit uiam, inuenit eum serpens extra uiam et expoliauit omnibus, nudum reliquit. ideo dominus, quia lapsus erat qui in paradiso erat, postea per legem per prophetas per euangelium per apostolos monuit, ut nimium custodias mandata domini dei tui. omne.
He says not only, “You have commanded your commandments to be kept,” but also, “to be kept exceedingly.” When did he command this? In paradise he commanded Adam to keep the commandments; but perhaps he had not commanded him to keep them exceedingly, and so he fell. So he was swayed by his wife’s voice, so he was deceived by the serpent, thinking that if he departed from the commandment in some part, he would not wholly go astray. But because he once departed from the path of the commandments, he abandoned the whole way; the serpent found him off the way, stripped him of everything, and left him naked. Therefore the Lord, because the one who was in paradise had fallen, afterwards through the law, through the prophets, through the gospel, through the apostles warned that you should keep exceedingly the commandments of the Lord your God. “Every
Gen 2:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 3:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Gen 3:7 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 10:30 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Adam fell because he did not keep the commandment exceedingly; so God has since warned us to keep it fully.
- Gen 2:16–17; 3:6–7. “Stripped him … left him naked” echoes Luke 10:30.
Topics: The fall
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.14.2 (CSEL 62:14–15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-14-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.14.3CSEL 62:15
inquit, uerbum quod locutus fueris, reddes pro eo rationem. noli dissimulare; ab aliquo mandato iota unum uel unus apex non praeterit. noli recedere de uia. si in uia ambulans uix tutus es a latrone, quid facies, si te extra uiam uagantem inuenerit? dirigantur gressus tui et, ne infirmus sis ad dirigendum, precare, ut dominus dirigat uias tuas.
word,” it says, “that you speak, you will render an account for it.” Do not overlook it; from any commandment not one iota or one stroke passes away. Do not leave the way. If, walking in the way, you are hardly safe from a robber, what will you do if he finds you wandering off the way? Let your steps be directed, and, lest you be too weak to direct them, pray that the Lord may direct your ways.
Matt 12:36 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:18 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 3:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Not one stroke of the commandments may be neglected; pray that the Lord direct your steps.
- Matt 12:36; Matt 5:18; Prov 3:6.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.14.3 (CSEL 62:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-14-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-14-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 15
1.15.1CSEL 62:15
Hic optat: utinam dirigantur uiae meae! alibi dicit: expectans expectaui dominum, et exaudiuit me; et statuit pedes meos in petra et direxit gressus meos. roga ergo et tu, ut dominus dirigat uestigia mentis tuae. quo possis domini custodire iustificationes. non confunderis, cum respexeris in omnia mandata; ante enim confusus es in Adam et Eua. denique nudus factus es, operuisti te foliis, quia confundebaris, abscondisti te a conspectu dei, quia erubescebas, ita ut diceret tibi deus: Adam, ubi es? cum illi dicit, tibi dicit; Adam enim interpretatione Latina homo dicitur, hoc est: homo, ubi es? et Adam respondit: timens, quia nudus eram et tota mente confusus, ante conspectum tuum uenire non ausus sum. ergo ne confundamur, custodiamus mandata domini et custodiamus omnia; nam si quis unum mandatum custodiat et aliud praeuaricetur. nihil ei prodest. custodiuit se aliquis a sanguine, non custodiuit ab adulterio; utique in uno conuictus punitur etiam legibus saecularibus nec prodest ei alterius criminis abstinentia, si in altero fuerit deprehensus.
Here he wishes: “O that my ways may be directed!” Elsewhere he says: “Waiting, I waited for the Lord, and he heard me; and he set my feet upon a rock and directed my steps.” Pray, then, you too, that the Lord may direct the footsteps of your mind, so that you can keep the statutes of the Lord. You will not be put to shame when you look upon all the commandments; for before you were put to shame in Adam and Eve. Indeed you were made naked, you covered yourself with leaves because you were ashamed, you hid yourself from the sight of God because you blushed, so that God said to you: “Adam, where are you?” When he says it to him, he says it to you; for Adam in Latin means “man,” that is: “Man, where are you?” And Adam answered: “Afraid, because I was naked and wholly put to shame, I did not dare to come before your sight.” So, that we may not be put to shame, let us keep the commandments of the Lord, and keep them all; for if anyone keeps one commandment and transgresses another, it profits him nothing. Someone has kept himself from bloodshed, but not from adultery; surely, convicted in the one, he is punished even by the laws of the world, and abstinence from the other crime does not profit him if he is caught in the other.
Ps 119:5 (118:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 40:1 (39:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 40:2 (39:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 3:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Jas 2:10 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Since Adam was put to shame by sin, we must keep all the commandments, for breaking one is enough to condemn.
- Ps 119:5–6; Ps 40:1–2 (LXX 39:2–3); Gen 3:7–10 (Adam’s answer paraphrased); Jas 2:10. The stray “\\” in the digital text is removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray marks in the digital text): ausus sum\\ ergo → ausus sum. ergo.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.15.1 (CSEL 62:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-15-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 16
1.16.1CSEL 62:15–16
C on f it Confitebor or tibi, domine, in directione co r dis — aduertis quas uias dirigas? —, in eocum didicero ice r o iudicia iustitiae tuae. iusti iustificationes tuas custodiam, non derelinquas me usque quaque. hoc loco mystica plenius cognoscere se uelle testatur,
“I will confess to you, Lord, in uprightness of heart” (do you notice which ways you are to direct?) “when I have learned the judgments of your righteousness. I will keep your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.” In this place he testifies that he wishes to know mystical things more fully,
Ps 119:7 (118:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:8 (118:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In verses 7–8 the psalmist asks to learn God’s judgments, that is, the mysteries.
- Ps 118:7–8 (Ps 119:7–8). The digital text is garbled at the start (“C on f it Confitebor or”, “in eocum didicero ice r o”, “iusti iustificationes”); it is translated by sense, without corrections.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.16.1 (CSEL 62:15–16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-16-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.16.2CSEL 62:16
ut ingrediatur penetralia mysteriorum caelestium et aperiantur sibi thesauri sapientiae et scientiae in Christo absconditi. unde et Salomon ait: adtrahe nos; post te in odore u unguentorum tuorum curremus. introduxit me rex in cubiculum suum. et fortasse illud, quod ait supra: osculetur me ab osculis oris sui, significat spiritus sancti superuenientis gratiam, sicut angelus ad Mariam dixit: spiritus sanctus superueniet in te, et uirtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi. quando autem introduxit eam rex in cubiculum suum, passionis tempus, lateris conpunctio declaratur, sanguinis effusio, sepulturae unguentum, resurrectionis mysterium, ut osculum quasi sponsa acceperit, in cubiculum autem Christi sit introducta ecclesia non iam quasi tantummodo desponsata, sed etiam quasi nupta, nec solum
so that he may enter the inner rooms of the heavenly mysteries and the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ may be opened to him. Hence Solomon too says: “Draw us; we will run after you in the fragrance of your ointments. The king has brought me into his chamber.” And perhaps what he said above, “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,” signifies the grace of the Holy Spirit coming upon her, as the angel said to Mary: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” But when the king brought her into his chamber, the time of the passion is declared, the piercing of the side, the shedding of blood, the ointment of burial, the mystery of the resurrection, so that the church received the kiss as a bride, but was brought into Christ’s chamber no longer as only betrothed but also as married, and not only
Col 2:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 1:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 1:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:35 (quotation, high confidence) · John 19:34 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The kiss signifies the Spirit’s coming, and the king’s chamber the passion, by which the church is wedded to Christ.
- Col 2:3; Song 1:4, 2; Luke 1:35; the pierced side: John 19:34.
Topics: The Holy Spirit
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.16.2 (CSEL 62:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-16-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.16.3CSEL 62:16–17
thalamum sit ingressa, sed etiam legitimae claues copulae consecuta sit. ideoque quasi in thalamo sita ait: colligatio guttae frater meus mihi, inter media ubera re- quiescit. quodsi cubiculum quaerimus, ipse nos edoceat, qui ait: tu autem cum orabis, intra in cubiculum tuum etclauso ostio ora patrem tuum in abscondito. cubiculum ecclesiae corpus est Christi; introduxit eam rex in omnia interiora mysteria, dedit ei claues, ut aperiret sibi thesauros scientiae sacramentorum, clausas ante fores panderet, cognosceret quietis gratiam, defuncti somnum, uirtutem resurrectionis.
has she entered the bridal room, but she has also obtained the keys of a lawful union. And so, as one placed in the bridal room, she says: “My brother is to me a cluster of drops; he rests between my breasts.” And if we seek the chamber, let him teach us who says: “But you, when you pray, go into your chamber and, having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret.” The chamber of the church is the body of Christ; the king has brought her into all the inner mysteries, he has given her the keys, so that she might open for herself the treasures of the knowledge of the sacraments, throw open the doors that were shut before, and know the grace of rest, the sleep of the dead, the power of the resurrection.
Song 1:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:19 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Brought into the chamber, Christ’s body, the church receives the keys to the mysteries.
- Song 1:13 in the Greek form (“a cluster of drops”, i.e. of myrrh); Matt 6:6; the keys: Matt 16:19.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.16.3 (CSEL 62:16–17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-16-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-16-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 17
1.17.1CSEL 62:17
In illo cubiculo iustitias domini Iesu nupta repperit. quae sunt illae iustitiae? utique sacramenta baptismatis, sicut legimus, quia, cum uenienti ad baptismum diceret Iohannes: ego a te debeo baptizari, et tu uenis ad me?, respondit Iesus: sine modo; sic enim decet nos implere omnem iustitiam.
In that chamber the bride found the righteous acts of the Lord Jesus. What are those righteous acts? Surely the sacraments of baptism, as we read that, when John said to him as he came for baptism, “I ought to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”, Jesus answered: “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”
Matt 3:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 3:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The righteous acts the bride learns are the sacraments of baptism, by which Christ fulfilled all righteousness.
- Matt 3:14–15. iustitiae (plural) is rendered “righteous acts”.
Topics: Baptism, Sacraments
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.17.1 (CSEL 62:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-17-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.17.2CSEL 62:17
in illo cubiculo iustificationes didicit, consilium dei cognouit, sicut scriptum est, quia omnis populus audiens et publicani iustificauerunt deum, baptizati baptismo Iohannis; Pharisaei autem et legis periti consilium dei spreuerunt in se, non baptizati ab eo.
In that chamber she learned the statutes, she came to know the counsel of God, as it is written that “all the people who heard, and the tax collectors, justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John; but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the counsel of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.”
Luke 7:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 7:30 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those baptized by John justified God, while the Pharisees rejected God’s counsel.
- Luke 7:29–30. Ambrose links iustificationes (“statutes”) with iustificauerunt (“justified”).
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.17.2 (CSEL 62:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-17-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-17-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.17.3CSEL 62:17
quod illi spreuerunt, nos elegimus et sequimur consilium dei, quia nihil potest esse sublimius; hoc enim diuinum, quo fit remissio peccatorum. cum didicerit itaque iustitias domini, deum timens non confundetur. denique et Paulus ait: in nullo confundar.
What they rejected, we have chosen, and we follow the counsel of God, for nothing can be more sublime; for this is divine, by which forgiveness of sins comes about. When, then, she has learned the righteous acts of the Lord, fearing God she will not be put to shame. Indeed Paul too says: “In nothing shall I be put to shame.”
Phil 1:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We follow God’s counsel in baptism and, fearing him, shall not be put to shame.
- Phil 1:20.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.17.3 (CSEL 62:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-17-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-17-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 18
1.18.1CSEL 62:17
Et quia nullus potest perfectus esse sine fauore dei neque tutus, ideo rogare debet, ne penitus eum relinquat deus. nam supra rogauit Dauid, ne derelinqueretur, dicens: ne derelinquas me, domine deus meus, hic ait: ne derelinquas me usque quaque, hoc est multum. supra forte quasi adhuc inperfectus et in magnis perturbationibus positus. ne derelinqueretur, timebat, hic autem iam fortior non timet derelinqui, ut temptetur, sed rogat. ne penitus derelinquatur. plerumque enim derelinquit deus quos uult probari, penitus autem derelinquit quos deserit. dereliquit penitus ludam.
And because no one can be perfect without God’s favor, nor safe, one ought therefore to ask that God not abandon him utterly. For above David asked not to be forsaken, saying: “Do not forsake me, O Lord my God”; here he says: “Do not utterly forsake me,” that is, very much. There perhaps, as one still imperfect and set in great troubles, he feared to be forsaken; but here, now stronger, he does not fear to be forsaken so as to be tested, but asks not to be utterly forsaken. For God often forsakes those whom he wishes to be proved, but he utterly forsakes those whom he deserts. He utterly forsook Judas;
Ps 119:8 (118:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:21 (37:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God may leave a man for a time to test him, but the psalmist prays not to be utterly forsaken, as Judas was.
- Ps 119:8; Ps 38:21 (LXX 37:22).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.18.1 (CSEL 62:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-18-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.18.2CSEL 62:17–18
non derehquit autem sanctum Iob. in cuius patrimonium, in cuius corpus potestatem diabolo dedit. in animam non dedit; nam si dedisset in animam, penitus dereliquisset eum. numquid non ideo relictus est Iob, ut relictus probaretur, probatus coronaretur? dereliquit igitur ludam. cui ait: quod facis, fac celerius; dereliquit enim penitus. quem sceleris sui permisit effectui. alios autem apostolos cum uidisset esse turbatos, quia dixerat: quo ego uado, uos non potestis uenire. addidit: non turbetur cor uestrum, et infra:
but he did not forsake holy Job, over whose property and over whose body he gave the devil power; over his soul he did not give it, for if he had given it over his soul, he would have forsaken him utterly. Was not Job left precisely so that, being left, he might be proved, and, being proved, might be crowned? He forsook Judas, then, to whom he said: “What you are doing, do quickly”; for he utterly forsook the one whom he allowed to carry out his crime. But when he saw that the other apostles were troubled because he had said, “Where I am going you cannot come,” he added: “Let not your heart be troubled,” and further on:
Job 1:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 2:6 (allusion, high confidence) · John 13:27 (quotation, high confidence) · John 13:33 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Job was left only to be tested; Judas was utterly forsaken, but the troubled apostles were comforted.
- Job 1:12; 2:6; John 13:27, 33; 14:1.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.18.2 (CSEL 62:17–18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-18-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.18.3CSEL 62:18
iterum uenio et accersio uos ad me ipsum, ut ubi sum ego et uos sitis. denique turbatus Petrus, qui derelinqui timeret, ait: domine. quo uadis? uidit dominus turbari eum et respondit ei: quo ego uado non potes me modo sequi, sequeris autem postea. sic et in mari cum titubaret, clamauit ad Christum et porrexit ei dexteram Christus, ne penitus derelictus periret.
“I come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be.” Peter indeed, troubled because he feared to be forsaken, says: “Lord, where are you going?” The Lord saw that he was troubled and answered him: “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” So too, when he faltered on the sea, he cried out to Christ, and Christ stretched out his right hand to him, so that he should not perish utterly forsaken.
John 14:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 13:36 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 14:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 14:31 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ did not forsake the fearful Peter, either at the supper or on the sea.
- John 14:3; 13:36; Matt 14:30–31.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.18.3 (CSEL 62:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-18-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-18-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 1, chapter 19
1.19.1CSEL 62:18
Nemo autem debet inflari, quod numquam derelinquatur, uel dolere. quod aliquando derelinquatur, siquidem ipse filius se dicit derelictum, sicut habes: deus deus meus, respice m e; quare me dereliquisti? et ille quidem numquam derelictus a patre est, cum quo pater semper est; scriptum est enim: ecce iam uenit hora ut dispergamini unusquisque in sua et me solum relinquatis; sed non sum solus, quoniam pater mecum est.
No one ought to be puffed up because he is never forsaken, or to grieve because he is sometimes forsaken, since the Son himself says he was forsaken, as you have it: “God, my God, look upon me; why have you forsaken me?” And he indeed was never forsaken by the Father, with whom the Father always is; for it is written: “Behold, the hour now comes when you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave me alone; but I am not alone, for the Father is with me.”
Ps 22:1 (21:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 27:46 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 16:32 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Even the Son said he was forsaken, though the Father was always with him.
- Ps 22:1 (LXX 21:2), in the Greek form; John 16:32.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.19.1 (CSEL 62:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-19-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.19.2CSEL 62:18–19
sed secundum corpus, in quo est traditus passioni, uox ista processit, quoniam derelinqui nobis uidemur, quando sumus in periculis constituti. unde et Paulus ait de patre deo: qui filio prop.rio non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit eum. dereliquisse uidetur, quia non pepercit, qui tradidit morti; sed non penitus dereliquit, cui dicitur: quia non derelinques animam meam in inferno nec dabis sanctum tuum uidere corruptionem.
But that cry came forth according to the body, in which he was handed over to suffering, since we seem to ourselves to be forsaken when we are set in dangers. Hence Paul too says of God the Father: “He who did not spare his own Son, but handed him over for us all.” He seems to have forsaken him, because he did not spare him and handed him over to death; but he did not utterly forsake him, to whom it is said: “For you will not leave my soul in hell, nor will you let your holy one see corruption.”
Rom 8:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 16:10 (15:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Father seemed to forsake the Son by handing him over to death, but did not leave him in hell.
- Rom 8:32; Ps 16:10 (LXX 15:10). The digital text’s “peri -, periculis” is read as “periculis”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break debris in the digital text): in peri -, periculis → in periculis.
Topics: Christology, Descent into Hades
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 1.19.2 (CSEL 62:18–19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-19-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/1-19-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 2, chapter 1
2.1.1CSEL 62:19
In quo corrigit iuuenior uiam suam? superiorum octo uersuum non absurda nobis cecidit disputatio, ideoque et sequentia persequi studium fuit. et primum litterae secundae, hoc est Beth, interpretatio consideranda est. quae in Latino conuersa confusio declaratur.
“By what does a younger man correct his way?” Our discussion of the previous eight verses did not turn out unfittingly, and so we were eager to pursue what follows too. And first we must consider the meaning of the second letter, that is, Beth, which, rendered in Latin, is declared to mean “confusion.”
Ps 119:9 (118:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose turns to the second letter, Beth, which he takes to mean confusion.
- Ps 118:9 (Ps 119:9). Ambrose’s interpretation of Beth follows the onomastic lists of his time; it usually means “house”.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 2.1.1 (CSEL 62:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
2.1.2CSEL 62:19
sed qui uiam suam corrigit, non confundetur. uerum quia is, qui corrigit, ante in errore fuit — quomodo enim corrigitur, nisi quod ante deflexum fuit a uero? —, utique in lapsu positus et adulescentiae luxu ac lasciuae aetatis captus inlecebris, ubi ad iuuentutis prouectus confinia sobria mente resipiscit, tamquam confusus animo, quonam modo erubescenda deponat et plena probitatis adsumat, diu secum uoluit et diuersis fluctuans cogitationibus librat atque examinat posteriora obliuiscens et ea quae sunt priora appetens, quemadmodum uiam suam corrigat offensionemque adulescentioris aetatis seria iuuentutis fronte praetexat.
But he who corrects his way will not be put to shame. Yet because the one who corrects was formerly in error (for how is something corrected, unless it had before turned aside from the truth?), surely one who had fallen and been captured by the luxury of adolescence and the enticements of a wanton age, when, advanced to the borders of young manhood, he comes to his senses with a sober mind, as though confused in spirit, turns over long within himself how he may lay aside what he should blush at and take up what is full of uprightness; tossing between different thoughts he weighs and examines, “forgetting what lies behind and reaching out to what lies ahead,” how he may correct his way and cover the offense of his more youthful age with the serious face of young manhood.
Phil 3:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The young man who corrects his way has first erred and now, confused, weighs how to amend his life.
- Phil 3:13.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 2.1.2 (CSEL 62:19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-1-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
2.1.3CSEL 62:19–20
unde ne diu dubitet huiusmodi et in incerto haereat, dat propheta consilium quasi cum eo ipse deliberans; tunc enim salubriora consilia credimus, si propensiore meditatione examinata uideantur. sed ipsa deliberationis susceptio docta definitione distinguitur, ut diuersarum cogitationum concursus auferat, dicens: in quo corrigit iuuenior uiam suam? hic enim deliberantis est finis, quo uiam suam corrigat.
So that such a one may not doubt long and hang in uncertainty, the prophet gives counsel, as though deliberating with him himself; for we believe counsels to be more wholesome when they appear to have been examined with more careful meditation. But the very undertaking of deliberation is marked out by a learned definition, so as to remove the clash of different thoughts, when he says: “By what does a younger man correct his way?” For this is the goal of the one deliberating: by what he may correct his way.
Ps 119:9 (118:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The prophet deliberates with the young man and states the question precisely.
- Ps 119:9. The digital text’s “m incerto” is read as “in incerto”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): et m incerto → et in incerto.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 2.1.3 (CSEL 62:19–20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-1-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 2, chapter 2
2.2.1CSEL 62:20
Et respondet: in custodiendo uerba t u a. et bene ad deum conuersus respondit deliberanti, quasi prece atque oratione delata consilium hoc domini inspiratione reppererit, ut non praesumptionis humanae, sed dignationis diuinae remedium crederetur. mens enim nostra uerborum caelestium conspersa seminibus, quae ante degenerabat in stirpibus, meliores cultus edere fructusque adferre incipit. dirigamus igitur semitas nostras nec tortuosi serpentis sequamur anfractus. uiae enim domini rectae, peruersae autem uiae errantium, de quibus dicitur:
And he answers: “By keeping your words.” And well, turning to God, he answered the one deliberating, as though, having offered prayer and supplication, he had found this counsel by the Lord’s inspiration, so that it might be believed a remedy not of human presumption but of divine condescension. For our mind, sprinkled with the seeds of the heavenly words, which before degenerated into wild shoots, begins to bring forth better cultivation and to bear fruit. Let us therefore make our paths straight and not follow the windings of the crooked serpent. For “the ways of the Lord are straight,” but the ways of those who go astray are perverse, of whom it is said:
Ps 119:9 (118:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 27:1 (allusion, low confidence) · Hos 14:9 (14:10 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The answer, keeping God’s words, comes from God; it straightens our crooked paths.
- Ps 119:9; the crooked serpent: Isa 27:1; “the ways of the Lord are straight”: Hos 14:9 (LXX 14:10).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 2.2.1 (CSEL 62:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
2.2.2CSEL 62:20
o qui dereliquerunt semitas rectas! in ordinem seges laeta porrigitur atque in uersum quendam uineta ponuntur; ceruorum cursus directior, uulpiculae flexuosus. ideo de Herode dicitur: ite dicite uulpi illi, quia deflexerat a uia recta nec iter suum in iuuentute correxerat, dignus Hieremiae threno, quo deflentur peccatores qui iugum uerbi in iuuentute suscipere recusarunt. ideo captiui ducti sunt, ideo deplorantur tamquam mortui, quia uitae nescierunt semitas et digna opera cadauerum busto non declinauerunt. flens ergo mortem perpetuam Iudaeorum dicit Hieremias: bonum est uiro cum tollit iugum in iuuentute; sedebit singulariter et silebit, quia tulit in se.
“O you who have forsaken the straight paths!” In rows the glad crop stretches out, and vineyards are set in line; the stag runs straighter, the little fox winds about. That is why it is said of Herod: “Go, tell that fox,” because he had turned aside from the straight way and had not corrected his path in youth, worthy of the lament of Jeremiah, in which sinners are bewailed who refused to take up the yoke of the word in youth. That is why they were led captive, that is why they are lamented as dead, because they did not know the paths of life and did not turn aside from works worthy of the tomb of corpses. Bewailing, then, the everlasting death of the Jews, Jeremiah says: “It is good for a man when he takes up the yoke in his youth; he will sit alone and keep silence, because he has taken it upon himself.”
Prov 2:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 13:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:28 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Herod, the crooked fox, and those lamented by Jeremiah did not take up the yoke in youth.
- Prov 2:13; Luke 13:32; Lam 3:27–28. The digital text’s “m ordinem” is read as “in ordinem”. Ambrose’s phrase about the Jews is translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip in the digital text): m ordinem seges → in ordinem seges.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 2.2.2 (CSEL 62:20; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/2-2-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.