Exposition of Psalm 118 17.2.1–18.1.1 (Exposition of Psalm 118)

Ambrose

Exposition of Psalm 118 17.2.1–18.1.1

Ambrose · Exposition of Psalm 118 · ca. 386-397 · Milan · 73 passages

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).

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Exposition 17, chapter 2

17.2.1CSEL 62:378

In Hieremiae quoque Threnis lacrimabilior series sub hac littera est: expandit Sion manus suas, non est qui consoletur eam. dignam remunerationem recepit, ut, quae expandentem manus audire neglexit et sub alas eius succedere. ipsa postea expanderet manus et consolantem inuenire non posset.

In the Lamentations of Jeremiah too there is a more tearful sequence under this letter: “Zion has spread out her hands; there is no one to comfort her.” She received a fitting recompense, so that she who neglected to hear him spreading out his hands and to come under his wings should herself afterwards spread out her hands and be unable to find a comforter.

Lam 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 23:37 (allusion, medium confidence) · Isa 65:2 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Lamentations’ phe verse: Zion, who refused Christ’s outstretched hands, finds no comforter.

Lam 1:17 (the pe verse of Lam 1); Matt 23:37; Isa 65:2. Translated as written.

Topics: The church and Israel

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.2.1 (CSEL 62:378; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-2-1

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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.

17.2.2CSEL 62:378

nam etsi ante aduentum domini Hieremias captiuitatem Iudaeorum inlatam eis a Babyloniis deflere uideatur, tamen prophetico spiritu istam magis captiuitatem praeuidens, qua eos intellegibilis Babylonius in perpetui erroris uincla subiecit et domesticae uirtutis ex-

For although before the Lord’s coming Jeremiah seems to lament the captivity of the Jews inflicted on them by the Babylonians, yet by the prophetic Spirit he foresaw rather this captivity, by which the intelligible Babylonian subjected them to the chains of perpetual error and, driving them, banished from their home

Notes and citation

Summary: Jeremiah foresaw a deeper captivity of error under the spiritual Babylonian.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.2.2 (CSEL 62:378; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-2-2

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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.

17.2.3CSEL 62:378

torres de statu paternae deuotionis eliminans longinquae adfecit peregrinationis exilio, miserabili dolore deplorat. nulla enim patria uerior quam fides, quae eos qui longe erant prope esse fecit et aduenas atque peregrinos ciuitatis supernae iure conexuit, sicut scriptum est: ergo iam non estis aduenae atque peregrini. sed estis ciues sanctorum et domestici dei.

virtue, out of the state of their fathers’ devotion, afflicted them with the exile of distant wandering; this he laments with pitiful grief. For there is no truer homeland than faith, which made near those who were far off and joined strangers and pilgrims by the right of the heavenly city, as it is written: “So you are no longer strangers and pilgrims, but fellow citizens of the saints and members of God’s household.”

Eph 2:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:19 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Faith is the true homeland, which makes strangers citizens of heaven.

Eph 2:13, 19.

Topics: Faith

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.2.3 (CSEL 62:378; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-2-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-2-3

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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 17, chapter 3

17.3.1CSEL 62:378

Alibi quoque Hieremias dicit sub hac littera: aperuerunt in te os omnes inimici tui, sibilauerunt et fremuerunt dentibus, dixerunt: deglutiuimus eam: tamen haec est dies quam sperabamus, inuenimus eam, uidimus. et hic sic[ut] Iudaeorum populus os aperuit in Christum. quemadmodum in uice-

Elsewhere too Jeremiah says under this letter: “All your enemies have opened their mouth against you; they hissed and gnashed their teeth; they said: We have swallowed her up; yet this is the day we hoped for; we have found it, we have seen it.” And here so the Jewish people opened its mouth against Christ, as in the twenty-

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Lam 2:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Lam 2:16 tells of enemies opening their mouths, as the people did against Christ.

Lam 2:16 (the pe verse of Lam 2). The editor deletes “ut” in sic[ut] (square brackets).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): inimicitui → inimici tui.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.3.1 (CSEL 62:378; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-3-1

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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.

17.3.2CSEL 62:378–379

simo primo psalmo de eius passione legisti, quod aperuerunt os suam maledicentes. dignae sortem remunerationis agnoscis. ut ipsi ab inimicis suis talia sustinerent et fremeret in eos dentibus intellegibilis ille peccator diabolus, sicut leo rugiens et requirens quem deuoret. isti igitur non dixerunt: benedictus dominus qui non dedit nos in capturam dentibus eorum, quia sperandum de domino non putarunt. ergo excidium eorum diabolus quod praesumebat inuenit. deglutiuit eos, quoniam deerat pastor offensus qui extraheret de ore leonis crura ouis aut cartillaginem.

first psalm you have read of his passion, that they opened their mouth cursing. You recognize the lot of a fitting recompense, that they themselves should suffer such things from their enemies, and that the intelligible sinner, the devil, should gnash his teeth at them, like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. So these did not say, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as prey to their teeth,” because they did not think one should hope in the Lord. So the devil found the destruction he presumed. He swallowed them, since the offended shepherd was absent who would draw out of the lion’s mouth the legs of the sheep or a piece of ear.

Ps 22:13 (21:14 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Pet 5:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 124:6 (123:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Amos 3:12 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Having opened their mouths against Christ, the people fell to the devil, with no shepherd to rescue them.

Ps 22:13 (LXX 21:14), cited by its LXX number 21; 1 Pet 5:8; Ps 124:6 (LXX 123:6); Amos 3:12. Translated as written.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.3.2 (CSEL 62:378–379; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-3-2

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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 17, chapter 4

17.4.1CSEL 62:379

Sequi noluerunt, audire noluerunt. ideo decedente pastore uestigia eorum atque aures suis faucibus occupauit, quia faciem sanctorum non receperunt et nobilibus misericordiam non dederunt. ut tertio Hieremias sub hac littera dicit in Threnis. qui erant nobiles nisi qui non obscuram hanc uitam. sed in lumine sanctitatis egerunt? et omnibus quidem misericordia inopibus iure debetur, sed maior quidam, cum ex diuitibus atque nobilibus in ultimum statum atque egestatis necessitatem aliquos aerumna deiecit, miserationis pulsat affectus.

They would not follow, would not hear. Therefore, when the shepherd departed, he seized their steps and ears in his jaws, because they did not receive the face of the saints and did not show mercy to the noble, as Jeremiah says a third time under this letter in Lamentations. Who were the noble but those who led not an obscure life but one in the light of holiness? And mercy is owed by right to all the needy, but a greater feeling of compassion is stirred when misfortune has cast some from among the rich and noble into the last state and necessity of poverty.

Lam 4:16 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Lam 4:16: they did not honor the saints; mercy is owed especially to the fallen noble.

Lam 4:16 (the pe verse of Lam 4). Translated as written.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.4.1 (CSEL 62:379; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-4-1

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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.

Exposition 17, chapter 5

17.5.1CSEL 62:379

Hieremias ergo flebiliter satis, utpote qui perpetuae aculeo mortis deploraret amissos; Dauid uero moderate, quasi qui obremortis doleret erroris, remedium non desperaret correctionis, ut contristaretur, non absorberetur.

So Jeremiah wept very mournfully, as one who lamented those lost by the sting of perpetual death; but David moderately, as one who grieved over error but did not despair of the remedy of correction, so that he was saddened but not swallowed up.

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

2 Cor 2:7 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jeremiah wept for those lost; David grieved moderately, hoping for correction.

2 Cor 2:7. “obremortis” in the digital text is unclear; translated by sense.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.5.1 (CSEL 62:379; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-5-1

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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.

Exposition 17, chapter 6

17.6.1CSEL 62:379–380

Denique confirmatus sobrietate paenitentiae et spe ueniae prouocatus sic coepit: mirabilia testimonia tua, propterea scrutata est ea anima mea. moralis oratio, ut, quoniam eum puderet erroris, deum tamen propriae miserationis testimoniis conueniret. hoc est dicere: ego in exordio sermonis loqui mea peccata non audeo. leuare oculos meos ad te deum uiuum.

In fact, strengthened by the sobriety of repentance and roused by hope of pardon, he began thus: “Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore my soul has searched them out.” A moral speech, so that, since he was ashamed of his error, he might still appeal to God by the testimonies of his own mercy. That is to say: at the beginning of my speech I do not dare to speak my sins, to lift my eyes to you, the living God.

Ps 119:129 (118:129 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Ashamed of his error, David appeals to the testimonies of God’s mercy.

Ps 119:129 (LXX 118:129).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text; word split in the digital text): s crutata est ea → scrutata est ea; moralis* oratio → moralis oratio.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.6.1 (CSEL 62:379–380; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-6-1

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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.

17.6.2CSEL 62:380

sed tu, domine, me ad sperandam ueniam tantarum indulgentiarum titulis prouocasti. mirabilia testimonia tua, cum in Abraham non lapsu incuriae iuuenalis offensus es, sed eum permouisti, ut Chaldaeorum errores. patrum cognationem relinqueret, et euocatum uirtutis exercitiis erudisti, cum Hebraeorum populum a paternae studio nobilitatis auersum et uiles escas Aegypti super diuina munera praeferentem non solum solidatis Rubri Maris fluctibus liberasti, uerum etiam triumphis plurimis euexisti ad gloriam et uberis terrae possessione donasti ad quietem.

But you, Lord, have roused me to hope for pardon by the titles of such great indulgences. Your testimonies are wonderful, when you were not offended by a lapse of youthful carelessness in Abraham, but moved him to leave the errors of the Chaldeans, the kinship of his fathers, and having called him out trained him by exercises of virtue; when the people of the Hebrews, turned from zeal for their fathers’ nobility and preferring the cheap food of Egypt to divine gifts, you not only freed by making firm the waves of the Red Sea, but also raised to glory by very many triumphs and gave possession of a rich land for rest.

Gen 12:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 11:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:22 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God’s mercies to Abraham and Israel give hope of pardon.

Gen 12:1; Num 11:5; Exod 14:21–22.

Topics: Forgiveness of sins

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.6.2 (CSEL 62:380; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-6-2

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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.

17.6.3CSEL 62:380

te fotus securitate deseruit, te bellorum acerbitate depressus inuocauit et ut iniurias tuas obliuiscereris emeruit. te Iesus Naue ducem sibi caelestis militiae uenisse cognouit. te populus triumphator, ut Madian sibi dominaretur, offenderat. te, ut Madian. uinceretur, orauit. tibi in saul rege non obtemperauit, ut de eo alienigenae triumpharent, tibi Dauid praeeunte seruiuit, ut de alienigenis uictoriam reportaret.

Cherished by you, it deserted you in its security; pressed by the bitterness of wars, it called on you and earned that you should forget your injuries. Joshua son of Nun knew that you had come as captain of the heavenly host for him. The triumphant people had offended you, so that Midian ruled over it; it prayed to you, so that Midian was conquered. It did not obey you in King Saul, so that foreigners triumphed over it; it served you under David’s lead, so that it won victory over the foreigners.

Josh 5:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Judg 6:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Judg 6:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Sam 31:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Sam 5:20 (allusion, low confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Israel’s history shows God forgiving and delivering whenever the people turned back to him.

Josh 5:14; Judg 6:1–7; 1 Sam 15; 1 Sam 31; 2 Sam 5.

Topics: Forgiveness of sins

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.6.3 (CSEL 62:380; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-6-3

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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.

17.6.4CSEL 62:380

ego quoque pastor malignum feci et confessione peccati ueniam reportaui. pulcherrimus itaque uersiculus ad martyrum cohortationem. denique prophetica anima sic proficit in melius, dum mirabile credit dei testimonium et, quia credidit, diligenti indage quaesiuit. profectum quaeris? agnosce ex his uersiculis qui secuntur.

I too, the shepherd, did evil, and by confessing my sin obtained pardon. So this is a most beautiful verse for the encouragement of martyrs. In fact the prophetic soul thus advances to better things, while it believes God’s testimony wonderful and, because it believed, sought it with diligent search. Do you seek its progress? Recognize it from these verses that follow.

2 Sam 24:17 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David himself was pardoned on confession; the soul that believes God’s testimonies advances.

2 Sam 24:17.

Topics: Martyrdom, Repentance

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.6.4 (CSEL 62:380; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-6-4

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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 17, chapter 7

17.7.1CSEL 62:380–381

Manifestatio sermonum tuorum inluminat me et intellectum dat paruulis. in euangelio cum mitteret discipulos suos Iohannes ad dominum Iesum, dicebat: tu es qui uenturus es. an alium expectamus? respondit Iesus caecos uidere, claudos ambulare. audire surdos; hoc enim aduentus sui testimonium fore per Esaiam prophetam significauerat.

“The manifestation of your words enlightens me and gives understanding to little ones.” In the Gospel, when John sent his disciples to the Lord Jesus, he said: “Are you he who is to come, or do we look for another?” Jesus answered that the blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear; for he had signified through the prophet Isaiah that this would be the testimony of his coming.

Ps 119:130 (118:130 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 35:5 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ’s miracles manifested what Isaiah’s words foretold.

Ps 119:130 (LXX 118:130); Matt 11:3–5; Isa 35:5–6.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma split in the digital text): inluminat me e t intelle ectum d a t par u u l i s → inluminat me et intellectum dat paruulis.

Topics: Christology, Miracles

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.7.1 (CSEL 62:380–381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-7-1

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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.

17.7.2CSEL 62:381

haec ergo quae adnuntiauit per prophetas in euangelio manifestauit et quod ipse locutus est per prophetas in euangelio ipse conpleuit. ipsius ergo sermo erat propheticus sermo, sicut habes scriptum: audi, caelum, et percipe auribus, terra. quoniam dominus locutus est.

So what he announced through the prophets he manifested in the Gospel, and what he himself spoke through the prophets he himself fulfilled in the Gospel. So his word was the prophetic word, as you have it written: “Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken.”

Isa 1:2 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ spoke through the prophets and fulfilled their word in the Gospel.

Isa 1:2.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): caelum, e t percipe → caelum, et percipe.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.7.2 (CSEL 62:381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-7-2

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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 17, chapter 8

17.8.1CSEL 62:381

Intellectus ergo datus est etiam his qui perfectam sapientiam non haberent, dum muti locuntur, mortui resuscitantur. his enim signis intellectum est ab his qui rudes erant et adhuc quasi in cunabulis fidei constituti, ut erat populus nationum, ipsum uenisse qui expectabatur. inluminat igitur fidei claritatem resurrectionis suae gloria, diuinorum operum potestate, et intellectum dat paruulis.

So understanding was given even to those who did not have perfect wisdom, when the dumb spoke and the dead were raised. For by these signs it was understood by those who were untaught and still, as it were, in the cradle of faith, as the people of the nations was, that the one who was expected had himself come. So he enlightens the brightness of faith by the glory of his resurrection and the power of his divine works, and gives understanding to little ones.

Ps 119:130 (118:130 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 11:5 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ’s miracles and resurrection gave understanding even to the untaught nations.

Ps 119:130 (LXX 118:130); Matt 11:5.

Topics: Miracles

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.8.1 (CSEL 62:381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-8-1

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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.

17.8.2CSEL 62:381

quibus utique nisi de quibus in euangelio gratias agit patri in eo quod ipse operabatur filius, quod mysteria sua deus abscondisset a sapientibus et paruulis reuelasset, ostendens citius plebem ex gentibus uel status inferioris uiros quam scribas et principes Iudaeorum et diuites huius saeculi credituros? ideo diuites eguerunt et esurierunt, pauper autem clamauit et exauditus est.

To whom, surely, but those for whom in the Gospel he gives thanks to the Father, for what the Son himself was doing, that God had hidden his mysteries from the wise and revealed them to little ones, showing that the people from the nations, or men of lower station, would believe sooner than the scribes and rulers of the Jews and the rich of this world? That is why the rich became poor and hungry, but the poor man cried and was heard.

Matt 11:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 34:10 (33:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 34:6 (33:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God revealed his mysteries to little ones rather than to the wise and rich.

Matt 11:25; Ps 34:10 (LXX 33:11); Ps 34:6 (LXX 33:7).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.8.2 (CSEL 62:381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-8-2

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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 17, chapter 9

17.9.1CSEL 62:381

Sequitur tertius uersiculus: os meum aperui. et duxi spiritum, quoniam praecepta tua concupiscebam. habemus in euangelio quod dominus Iesus aperuit os suum. cum benedictiones ediceret. sed ille os aperuit, ut daret aliis spiritum, Dauid aperuit, ut acciperet.

The third verse follows: “I opened my mouth and drew in breath, because I longed for your precepts.” We have in the Gospel that the Lord Jesus opened his mouth when he pronounced the blessings. But he opened his mouth to give the Spirit to others; David opened his to receive it.

Ps 119:131 (118:131 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:2 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ opened his mouth to give the Spirit; David opened his to receive it.

Ps 119:131 (LXX 118:131); Matt 5:2. Latin spiritus means both “breath” and “Spirit.”

Topics: The Holy Spirit

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.9.1 (CSEL 62:381; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-9-1

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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.

17.9.2CSEL 62:381–382

denique Iesus dicit: accipite spiritum sanctum, Iesus dicit: dilata os tuum et adimplebo illud. hoc homini dicit; plenitudo enim Christus est: qui implet omnia, implet os tuum. scribe ergo quae dicit in latitudine cordis tui, hoc est: os tuum clamet ad dominum.

In fact Jesus says, “Receive the Holy Spirit”; Jesus says, “Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.” He says this to man; for Christ is the fullness: he who fills all things fills your mouth. So write what he says on the breadth of your heart, that is: let your mouth cry to the Lord.

John 20:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 81:10 (80:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 1:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 3:3 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ, the fullness, fills the open mouth with his Spirit.

John 20:22; Ps 81:10 (LXX 80:11); Eph 1:23; Prov 3:3 (LXX form).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter-spaced word in the digital text): dilata o s tuum → dilata os tuum.

Topics: The Holy Spirit

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.9.2 (CSEL 62:381–382; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.9.3CSEL 62:382

clamat os tuum et cum tacet, sicut et Moyses, cum taceret uoce, clamabat spiritu. ab hominibus non audiebatur, apud deum personabat; est enim interioris clamor affectus qui auditur e caelo. Anna quoque, cum oraret, tacita clamabat, labia non mouebat et interioris uoce pia mentis excitabat Iesum. denique cum effectu rediit quae cum silentio precabatur, quia clamabat in ea spiritus dei, qui etiam tacentibus nobis clamat: abba pater.

Your mouth cries even when it is silent, as Moses too, when silent in voice, cried out in spirit. He was not heard by men; before God he resounded; for there is a cry of inner affection which is heard from heaven. Hannah too, when she prayed, cried out silently; she did not move her lips, and by the devout voice of her inner mind she stirred Jesus. In fact she who prayed in silence returned with effect, because the Spirit of God cried in her, who cries even in us when we are silent: “Abba, Father.”

Exod 14:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 1:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 4:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:15 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The heart cries silently to God, as Moses and Hannah did, with the Spirit crying “Abba, Father.”

Exod 14:15; 1 Sam 1:13; Gal 4:6. Ambrose writes that Hannah stirred “Jesus,” i.e. God.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): abbapater → abba pater.

Topics: Prayer

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.9.3 (CSEL 62:382; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-9-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 10

17.10.1CSEL 62:382

Intellege ergo quid os sit, utrum cor an interioris hominis habitus. habet os anima quae habet membra. hoc os aperi non solum Christo, sed etiam Christi discipulo, qui os suum Christo inplendum praebuit et ideo dicit:

Understand, then, what the mouth is, whether the heart or the disposition of the inner man. The soul, which has members, has a mouth. Open this mouth not only to Christ but also to Christ’s disciple, who offered his mouth to be filled by Christ and therefore says:

Notes and citation

Summary: The soul’s mouth should be opened to Christ and to his apostle.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.10.1 (CSEL 62:382; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.10.2CSEL 62:382

os nostrum patet ad uos, o Corinthii, cor nostrum dilatatum est. ideo imitatores nos sui esse debere admonet, sicut ipse Christi est. qui sanctior est, Christo aperiat os suum, qui inferior, apostolo. prius propheta legatur et apostolus et sic euangelium, in quo uerba lucida, sed ualidiora praecepta. lex dicit: diliges proximum tuum, et euangelium dicit tibi: diliges inimicum tuum.

“Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians; our heart is enlarged.” Therefore he admonishes that we ought to be imitators of him, as he is of Christ. Let the holier open his mouth to Christ, the lesser to the apostle. Let the prophet and the apostle be read first, and so the Gospel, in which the words are clear but the precepts stronger. The law says, “You shall love your neighbor,” and the Gospel says to you, “You shall love your enemy.”

2 Cor 6:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Lev 19:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:44 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Read prophet and apostle first, then the Gospel with its stronger precepts, such as love of enemies.

2 Cor 6:11; 1 Cor 11:1; Lev 19:18; Matt 5:43–44.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): o Corinthn → o Corinthii.

Topics: Scripture and canon, Ethics

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.10.2 (CSEL 62:382; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 11

17.11.1CSEL 62:382–383

Dauid ergo quasi perfectus propheta os suum Christo aperuit et ideo in parabolis aperuit os suum. aperuit os, duxit spiritum. merito ait: quam dulcia faucibus meis uerba tua. super mel et fauum ori meo. sponsa Christi os suum sponso aperuit. percepit omni melle dulciora praecepta et ideo testata est dicens: fauces eius dulcedinis et totus desiderium. delectata igitur tenuit eum et non dimisit eum. et introduxi, inquit. eum in domum matris meae et in secretum eius quae me concepit.

So David, as a perfect prophet, opened his mouth to Christ, and therefore opened his mouth in parables. He opened his mouth; he drew in the Spirit. Rightly he says: “How sweet are your words to my throat, above honey and the honeycomb to my mouth.” The bride of Christ opened her mouth to the bridegroom, received precepts sweeter than all honey, and therefore testified, saying: “His throat is sweetness, and he is all desire.” So, delighted, she held him and would not let him go. “And I brought him,” she says, “into my mother’s house and into the chamber of her who conceived me.”

Ps 78:2 (77:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:103 (118:103 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Song 5:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 3:4 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David and the bride opened their mouths to Christ and found his words sweeter than honey.

Ps 78:2 (LXX 77:2); Ps 119:103 (LXX 118:103); Song 5:16; Song 3:4.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.11.1 (CSEL 62:382–383; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.11.2CSEL 62:383

fortasse domus est in qua praefulget moralium disciplina, secretum autem illud in quo sunt altiora mysteria. merito ergo concupiscebat praecepta domini, in quibus diuinae gratiae mella redolebant. an non omni melle dulcior peccatorum remissio, non omni flore gratior resurrectio mortuorum?

Perhaps the house is that in which the discipline of morals shines, and the chamber that in which are the higher mysteries. Rightly, then, he longed for the precepts of the Lord, in which the honeys of divine grace were fragrant. Is not the forgiveness of sins sweeter than all honey, the resurrection of the dead more welcome than every flower?

Notes and citation

Summary: The house is moral teaching, the chamber the higher mysteries; forgiveness is sweeter than honey.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.11.2 (CSEL 62:383; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 12

17.12.1CSEL 62:383

Quartus uersiculus: respice in me et miserere mei secundum iudicium diligentium nomen tuum. pulchre addidit: respice in me et miserere mei, quia respicit et iratus, ut respexit super castra Aegyptiorum et ligatis axibus curruum omnes eos deiecit in fluctus. respexit super Sodomam et Gomorram, quarum utraque peccatorum suorum luitura supplicium diuinae pretium soluit offensae. scriptum est etiam: aspicies super terram et facies eam tremere, et contra: respexit super munera Abel, super Cain autem munera non respexit. quo exasperatus Cain parricidali crimine cruorem fratris effudit.

The fourth verse: “Look upon me and have mercy on me, according to the judgment of those who love your name.” Beautifully he added, “Look upon me and have mercy on me,” because he looks even when angry, as he looked upon the camp of the Egyptians and, binding the axles of their chariots, cast them all into the waves. He looked upon Sodom and Gomorrah, each of which, to pay the penalty of its sins, paid the price of the divine offense. It is also written: “You will look upon the earth and make it tremble”; and on the contrary: “He looked upon Abel’s gifts, but upon Cain’s gifts he did not look.” Exasperated by this, Cain shed his brother’s blood in the crime of fratricide.

Ps 119:132 (118:132 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 14:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 19:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 104:32 (103:32 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence) · Gen 4:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 4:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 4:8 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God’s look can be in anger, as on Egypt and Sodom, so David asks to be looked on with mercy.

Ps 119:132 (LXX 118:132); Exod 14:24–25; Gen 19:24–28; Ps 104:32 (LXX 103:32); Gen 4:4–5, 8.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma split in the digital text): mis er er e mei → miserere mei.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.12.1 (CSEL 62:383; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-12-1

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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.

Exposition 17, chapter 13

17.13.1CSEL 62:383–384

Quid sit autem respicere deum euidentissime illo testimonio declaratur: quia respexit super filios pauperum et non despexit preces eorum; oculus enim domini non aspernatur iustorum munera. denique oculos nostros, cum in aliquem mouemur, auertimus, quasi indignum eum aspectu iudicemus quem oderimus affectu.

What it is for God to look is declared most clearly by that testimony: “For he has looked upon the sons of the poor and has not despised their prayers”; for the eye of the Lord does not spurn the gifts of the righteous. In fact, when we are moved against someone, we turn away our eyes, as though we judged unworthy of our sight one whom we hate in our affection.

Ps 102:17 (101:18 LXX) (quotation, medium confidence) · Ps 34:15 (33:16 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God’s merciful look means he does not despise the prayers of the poor.

Ps 102:17 (LXX 101:18), freely cited; Ps 34:15 (LXX 33:16).

Topics: Prayer

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.13.1 (CSEL 62:383–384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 14

17.14.1CSEL 62:384

Sequitur: gressus meos dirige secundum uerbum tuum, et non dominetur mihi omnis iniquitas. gressus pro profectibus animae accipiendos frequentibus scripturarum testimoniis admonemur. nam quis tam stolido

There follows: “Direct my steps according to your word, and let no iniquity rule over me.” We are admonished by frequent testimonies of the Scriptures that “steps” are to be taken for the progress of the soul. For who is of so stupid

Ps 119:133 (118:133 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: “Steps” in Scripture mean the soul’s progress.

Ps 119:133 (LXX 118:133).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.14.1 (CSEL 62:384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.14.2CSEL 62:384

ingenio est, qui putet Dauid de pedum suorum corporali gressu esse sollicitum et his diuinae directionis auxilium postulare? ille uero ut sanctus uitae suae cursum dirigi gestiebat, sicut et alibi scriptura testatur dicens: a domino diriguntur gressus uiri. denique ipsius utamur testimonio, qui ait in superioribus: paulo minus effusi sunt gressus mei, quia zelaui in peccatoribus pacem.

a mind as to think that David was anxious about the bodily walking of his feet and asked the help of divine direction for them? Rather, as a saint, he longed for the course of his life to be directed, as Scripture elsewhere also testifies, saying: “The steps of a man are directed by the Lord.” In fact let us use his own testimony, who says in an earlier psalm: “My steps had well-nigh slipped, because I was envious of the peace of sinners.”

Ps 37:23 (36:23 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 20:24 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 73:2 (72:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 73:3 (72:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David meant the course of his life, as when his steps nearly slipped through envy of sinners.

Ps 37:23 (LXX 36:23); Prov 20:24; Ps 73:2–3 (LXX 72:2–3).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.14.2 (CSEL 62:384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.14.3CSEL 62:384

animi itaque sui ostendit claudicasse uestigium, dum pacem peccatorum putat esse mirandam. uidentur quidem habere tranquillitatem, uidentur quiete frui, sed non est quies ubi animus inquietus est, non est tranquillitas mentis ubi animus exagitatur obnoxiae stimulis conscientiae. quomodo securitas.

So he showed that the step of his soul had limped, while he thought the peace of sinners worth admiring. They seem indeed to have tranquility, they seem to enjoy quiet; but there is no quiet where the mind is unquiet; there is no tranquility of mind where the soul is driven by the goads of a guilty conscience. How can there be security

Notes and citation

Summary: Sinners only seem at peace; a guilty conscience has no quiet.

Topics: Conscience

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.14.3 (CSEL 62:384; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-14-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.14.4CSEL 62:384–385

ubi diuersarum pugna est passionum, ubi conflictus grauium concitationum? unde dominus definiens quid sit pacem habere ait: pacem relinquo uobis, pacem meam do uobis; non sicut mundus dat ego do uobis, ostendens pacem quam mundus dat uerae pacis gratiam non habere. ideoque non in homine esse pacem uolens docere addidit: pacem relinquo uobis, et iterum: pacem meam do uobis. denique propheta dicebat: pax pax; et ubi est pax? manifestum est igitur eum de titubatione suae dixisse sententiae, in qua animi. non corporis titubauerat gressus.

where there is a battle of various passions, a conflict of grave disturbances? Hence the Lord, defining what it is to have peace, says: “Peace I leave you, my peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you,” showing that the peace which the world gives does not have the grace of true peace. And therefore, wishing to teach that peace is not in man, he added, “Peace I leave you,” and again, “My peace I give you.” In fact the prophet said: “Peace, peace; and where is peace?” So it is clear that he spoke of the wavering of his judgment, in which the step not of the body but of the soul had wavered.

John 14:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 6:14 (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: True peace is Christ’s gift, not the world’s; David’s slipping was of the soul.

John 14:27; Jer 6:14.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.14.4 (CSEL 62:384–385; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-14-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 15

17.15.1CSEL 62:385

Et Moyses ait: transiens uidebo hoc uisum magnum. etenim ut deum uideret, progressione quadam uirtutis ad altiora processit. pastor erat ouium et dux factus est ciuium. et ad sponsam dicitur in Canticis: speciosi facti sunt gressus tui in calciamentis, filia Aminadab. moduli femorum tuorum similes torquibus opere artificis. non est dubium gressus hic quoque ecclesiae uel animae profectus significari: quam speciosi sunt pedes euangelizantium pacem, euangelizantium bona!

And Moses says: “Passing over, I will see this great sight.” For in order to see God he went on to higher things by a kind of progress of virtue. He was a shepherd of sheep and was made leader of citizens. And to the bride it is said in the Song of Songs: “Your steps have become beautiful in sandals, daughter of Aminadab; the measures of your thighs are like necklaces, the work of a craftsman.” There is no doubt that here too the steps signify the progress of the church or of the soul: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who preach good things!”

Exod 3:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 7:1 (7:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 52:7 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Steps mean spiritual progress, as with Moses and the bride’s beautiful steps.

Exod 3:3; Song 7:1 (LXX 7:2); Rom 10:15 (Isa 52:7).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.15.1 (CSEL 62:385; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.15.2CSEL 62:385

utique speciosos dicit euangelicae praedicationis et disputationis progressus, ut alibi dicitur: transgredere flumina. hoc est: fluentia et lubrica istius mundi transcurre stabili mentis incessu. quod de animae gressu dici in posterioribus hic ipse Dauid euidenter ostendit, adserens quod torrentem iniquitatum sua anima transisset.

Surely he calls beautiful the progress of evangelical preaching and discourse, as it is said elsewhere: “Cross the rivers,” that is: run across the flowing and slippery things of this world with a steady step of mind. That this is said of the soul’s step this same David clearly shows in a later psalm, asserting that his soul had crossed the torrent of iniquities.

Ps 124:5 (123:5 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The soul crosses the slippery torrents of this world with steady steps.

The first saying is unidentified. Ps 124:4–5 (LXX 123:4–5).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.15.2 (CSEL 62:385; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-15-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 16

17.16.1CSEL 62:385

Sed reuertamur ad sponsae gressus. quid sibi uult quod addidit in calciamentis speciosos gressus esse ecclesiae? legimus itaque dictum ad Moysen: solue calciamentum pedum tuorum, quo uidetur admonitus, ne corporalibus uinculis teneretur adstrictus. ergo speciosam significat in Canticis animae pulchritudinem, quae carne tamquam calciamento utitur et in ipso calciamento inpedimentum non patitur, sed incessus decore praecellit. calciat se ergo carne anima [ecclesiastica gratia].

But let us return to the steps of the bride. What does it mean that he added that the church’s steps are beautiful in sandals? We read that it was said to Moses, “Loose the sandal from your feet,” by which he seems to have been admonished not to be held bound by bodily chains. So in the Song of Songs it signifies the fair beauty of the soul, which uses the flesh as a sandal and suffers no hindrance in that sandal, but excels in grace of gait. So the soul shoes itself with the flesh,

Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.

Exod 3:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 7:1 (7:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The sandal is the flesh, which the beautiful soul wears without being hindered.

Exod 3:5; Song 7:1. The editor deletes the words “by the church’s grace” (in square brackets).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.16.1 (CSEL 62:385; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-16-1

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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.

17.16.2CSEL 62:385–386

ut cursum uitae huius et transitum cum decore praetereat. quod fit, si calciamentum suum non inquinet luto corporali nec in uitiorum merset uoraginem, si castiget carnem suam, ne moretur ad cursum et aruinae pinguis pondere degrauetur.

so as to pass through the course and passage of this life with grace. This happens if it does not soil its sandal with bodily mud nor plunge it into the whirlpool of vices, if it chastises its flesh, lest it be slow in the race and weighed down by the burden of rich fat.

1 Cor 9:27 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The soul keeps its sandal of flesh clean by chastising the body.

1 Cor 9:27.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.16.2 (CSEL 62:385–386; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-16-2

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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.

17.16.3CSEL 62:386

bonum calciamentum animae pudicitia est, bonus gressus est in uestigio castitatis. sapientia autem amictus est animae, unde scriptum est: honora eam, et amplectetur te. utamur igitur corpore tamquam calciamento ad inferioris opera uirtutis, ad ministerium, non ad praeceptum, ad obsequium, non ad delectationem, ad oboedientiam, non ad dissensionem et in uia sapientiae uestigium conlocemus, ne gressus nostros uis torrentis aliqua concludat.

A good sandal of the soul is modesty; a good step is in the track of chastity. But wisdom is the soul’s mantle, whence it is written: “Honor her, and she will embrace you.” So let us use the body like a sandal for the works of lower virtue, for service, not command; for obedience, not delight; for compliance, not dissension; and let us set our foot in the way of wisdom, lest any force of the torrent shut in our steps.

Prov 4:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Modesty is the soul’s sandal and wisdom its mantle; the body should serve, not rule.

Prov 4:8.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter-spaced word in the digital text): amplectetur t e → amplectetur te.

Topics: Ethics

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.16.3 (CSEL 62:386; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-16-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 17

17.17.1CSEL 62:386

Ideo ad Moysen dictum est: solue calciamentum, dictum est et ad Iesum Naue, ad Christum autem non est dictum, sed magis scriptum est dicente Baptista: post me uenit uir cuius non sum dignus calciamenta portare,

That is why it was said to Moses, “Loose your sandal,” and it was said also to Joshua son of Nun; but to Christ it was not said; rather it is written, the Baptist saying: “After me comes a man whose sandals I am not worthy to carry,”

Exod 3:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Josh 5:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 3:11 (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:27 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Moses and Joshua were told to remove their sandals, but not Christ.

Exod 3:5; Josh 5:15; Matt 3:11 (with John 1:27).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.17.1 (CSEL 62:386; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-17-1

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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.

17.17.2CSEL 62:386

quia illi bene admonentur ut soluant calciamentum suum, qui sine peccato esse non poterant. hic autem non solum calciamentum non soluit, sed etiam calciamenta aliorum absoluit, quia non solum corpus suum peccatis inmune seruauit, sed etiam omnium dedit indulgentiam peccatorum. ergo ecclesia ad imitationem Christi speciosa est et in calciamentis omni abluta delicto.

because those are rightly admonished to loose their sandal who could not be without sin. But he not only did not loose his sandal but even loosed the sandals of others, because he not only kept his own body free of sins, but also gave pardon of all sins. So the church, in imitation of Christ, is beautiful also in its sandals, washed from every offense.

Notes and citation

Summary: Christ, sinless, did not remove his sandals but loosed others from sin; the church imitates him.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.17.2 (CSEL 62:386; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-17-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-17-2

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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.

Exposition 17, chapter 18

17.18.1CSEL 62:386–387

Et fortasse, quando sapientiam inter perfectos loquitur, speciosa est in superioribus membris; quando autem etiam inferioris status aut doctrinae homines uerbum secuntur, fidei seriem non obliuiscuntur, sacerdotis praecepta custodiunt, speciosa est in calciamentis. plerumque clerus errauit, sacerdos mutauit sententiam, diuites cum saeculi istius terreno rege senserunt: populus fidem propriam reseruauit. unde etiam de domino Iesu bene possumus dicere.

And perhaps, when she speaks wisdom among the perfect, she is beautiful in her upper members; but when men of lower station or teaching also follow the word, do not forget the sequence of faith and keep the priest’s precepts, she is beautiful in her sandals. Often the clergy has erred, the bishop has changed his opinion, the rich have sided with the earthly king of this world: the people has kept its faith. Hence we can well say of the Lord Jesus too,

1 Cor 2:6 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The church is beautiful even in its humble members; often the people kept the faith when clergy and bishop erred.

1 Cor 2:6. Latin sacerdos here translated “bishop”; the reference is probably to the Arian crisis (uncertain).

Topics: Church office, Heresy

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.18.1 (CSEL 62:386–387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.18.2CSEL 62:387

quia et in his quae corporalia sunt speciosos gressus uerbum habeat, cum de moralibus disputatur. et apostoli ideo fortasse nudis mittuntur pedibus, ne obumbraretur eorum disputatio, sed eluceret. itaque ecclesia, filia Aminadab, hoc est uoluntarii uel beneplaciti. quia uoluntarius eam et beneplacitus congregauit, et in calciamentis speciosa est.

that the Word has beautiful steps even in what is bodily, when morals are discussed. And perhaps the apostles are sent with bare feet so that their teaching might not be shadowed but shine out. So the church, daughter of Aminadab, that is, of the willing or well-pleasing one, because the willing and well-pleasing one gathered her, is beautiful also in sandals.

Matt 10:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 7:1 (7:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The apostles went barefoot so their teaching would shine; the church, “daughter of the willing one,” is beautiful.

Matt 10:10; Song 7:1 (LXX 7:2).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.18.2 (CSEL 62:387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 19

17.19.1CSEL 62:387

Meritoque additum est in Canticis: moduli femorum tuorum similes torquibus opere manuum artificis, ut posteritatis ecclesiae ornamenta canerentur. per femur enim insigne generationis agnoscimus iuxta illud: accingere gladium tuum circum femur, potentissime, quo significatur. quod filius dei, cum semet ipsum exinanisset, uerbi accinctus diuinitatem et generationem calciatus humanam prodiret ex uirgine. omnibus daturus salutem.

And rightly it was added in the Song: “The measures of your thighs are like necklaces, the work of a craftsman’s hands,” so that the ornaments of the church’s posterity might be sung. For by the thigh we recognize the sign of generation, according to that verse: “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty,” by which it is signified that the Son of God, when he had emptied himself, girded with the divinity of the Word and shod with human generation, came forth from a virgin, to give salvation to all.

Song 7:1 (7:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 45:3 (44:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Phil 2:7 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The thigh signifies generation: the church’s offspring, and Christ born of a virgin.

Song 7:1 (LXX 7:2); Ps 45:3 (LXX 44:4); Phil 2:7.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.19.1 (CSEL 62:387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-19-1

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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.

17.19.2CSEL 62:387

moduli autem dicuntur ornamenta pretiosa quae suspendi matronarum ceruicibus solent. tantus ergo processus ecclesiae significatur, ut ornamentis pretiosissimis conparatus sit et torquibus triumphantium; haec enim ornamenta sunt bellatorum. unde et Symmachus περιτραχήλια dixit. hoc est quae sunt circa collum. siue ergo generatio Christi ex uirgine siue ecclesiae propagatio specie quidem tamquam manu artificis torquibus adornatis, uere autem uirtutis insignibus spiritalibus ceruices fidelium coronauit.

And “measures” is the name for precious ornaments that are usually hung on the necks of matrons. So the church’s progress is signified as so great that it is compared to the most precious ornaments and to the necklaces of triumphant men; for these are the ornaments of warriors. Hence Symmachus too said peritrachēlia, that is, things around the neck. So whether the generation of Christ from the virgin or the spread of the church, in appearance as with necklaces adorned by a craftsman’s hand, but truly with spiritual insignia of virtue, has crowned the necks of the faithful.

Song 7:1 (7:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The necklaces signify the church’s growth, crowning the faithful with spiritual honors.

Symmachus’s Greek translation of Song 7:1. The Greek word is garbled in the digital text.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (Greek garbled and joined to the next word in the digital text): πεϱlτϱαχήλlαdixit → περιτραχήλια dixit.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.19.2 (CSEL 62:387; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-19-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-19-2

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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 17, chapter 20

17.20.1CSEL 62:387–388

Denique tota ista descriptio membrorum ecclesiae plena decoris et laudis est. nam et umbilicus eius tamquam crater tornatilis praedicatur mixto non deficiens, eo quod in omni doctrina tornatus plenitudine cognitionis et potu non deficiat spiritali et uenter eius non solum aceruo tritici, id est cibis fortioribus caelestis mysterii saginetur, uerum etiam tamquam liliis quibusdam moralium suauitate repleatur.

In fact this whole description of the church’s members is full of beauty and praise. For her navel too is praised as a turned bowl, not lacking mixed wine, because, turned in all teaching, she does not lack the fullness of knowledge and spiritual drink; and her belly is fattened not only with a heap of wheat, that is, with the stronger food of the heavenly mystery, but is also filled, as with lilies, with the sweetness of moral teaching.

Song 7:2 (7:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The bride’s navel and belly signify the church’s fullness of teaching, mystical and moral.

Song 7:2 (LXX 7:3).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.20.1 (CSEL 62:387–388; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-20-1

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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 17, chapter 21

17.21.1CSEL 62:388

Unde et ipsa tamquam bene merita regina Christi sanguine coronatur, sicut scriptum est: et ornatus capitis tui sicut purpura. sanguis Christi purpura est, qui inficit sanctorum animas, non solum colore resplendens, sed etiam potestate. quia reges facit et meliores reges, quibus regnum donet aeternum.

Hence she too, as a well-deserving queen, is crowned with the blood of Christ, as it is written: “And the adornment of your head is like purple.” The blood of Christ is purple, which dyes the souls of the saints, shining not only in color but also in power, because it makes kings, and better kings, to whom it gives an eternal kingdom.

Song 7:5 (7:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 1:6 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The church is crowned with Christ’s blood, the purple that makes the saints kings.

Song 7:5 (LXX 7:6); Rev 1:5–6.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.21.1 (CSEL 62:388; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-21-1

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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 17, chapter 22

17.22.1CSEL 62:388

Meritoque ad tantum ecclesiae decorem, cui Christi sanguis inrutilat, spiritus sanctus inclamat: quam pulchra et suauis facta es, caritas, in deliciis tuis! pulchra decore uirtutis, suauis iucunditate gratiae, remissione uitiorum, quam nulla uexat amaritudo peccati, et ipsa iam caritas, quae diligendo dominum ipsius et nomen acceperit. quia deus caritas est.

And rightly, at such beauty of the church, on which the blood of Christ glows red, the Holy Spirit cries out: “How beautiful and sweet you have become, O love, in your delights!” Beautiful with the beauty of virtue, sweet with the pleasantness of grace, with the remission of vices, she whom no bitterness of sin troubles, and who is now love itself, having received its name by loving the Lord, because God is love.

Song 7:6 (7:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 4:8 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The church, made beautiful by Christ’s blood, is called “love,” for God is love.

Song 7:6 (LXX 7:7); 1 John 4:8.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.22.1 (CSEL 62:388; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-22-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-22-1

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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 17, chapter 23

17.23.1CSEL 62:388–389

Recte ergo Dauid petit gressus suos dirigi secundum uerbum dei, ut fiant et ipsi speciosi et non dominetur ei iniquitas. quam iure praecauit. sciebat enim et Abraham gressus suos secundum praecepta domini dirigentem et adpetito speciosae uxoris pudore temptatum, sed non confusum et in unici immolatione filii postulata patriae mentis pietate luctatum, sed coronatum, se quoque in furore Saul, incestu Amnon, Abessalon parricidio iniquitatis inprobae feralibus temptationibus adpetitum hoc solo euasisse, quod dirigens gressus suos secundum pietatem domini a paterno non recessit affectu, intra se gemens crimen incesti, a se relegans odia parricidae. filius meus Abessalon, filius meus, inquit, Abessalon, quis dabit mihi mortem pro te? memor naturae pietas, offensae inmemor, de quo ante quaesiuit: puerne uiuit?

Rightly, then, David asks that his steps be directed according to the word of God, so that they too may become beautiful and iniquity may not rule over him. Rightly he guarded against this. For he knew that Abraham too, directing his steps according to the Lord’s precepts, was tempted when the modesty of his beautiful wife was assailed, but was not confounded; and that, when the sacrifice of his only son was demanded, he struggled with a father’s love but was crowned; and that he himself, assailed by the deadly temptations of wicked iniquity in Saul’s fury, Amnon’s incest and Absalom’s parricide, had escaped by this alone, that directing his steps according to the Lord’s mercy he did not depart from a father’s affection, groaning within himself at the crime of incest and putting away from himself hatred of the parricide. “My son Absalom, my son,” he says, “Absalom, who will grant me to die for you?” Piety mindful of nature, forgetful of offense, he who earlier asked about him: “Is the young man alive?”

Ps 119:133 (118:133 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 12:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 22:2 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 13:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · 2 Sam 18:33 (2 Kgdms 19:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 18:29 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David, like Abraham, came through temptations by directing his steps by God, loving even the parricide Absalom.

Ps 119:133 (LXX 118:133); Gen 12:14–20; Gen 22:2; 2 Sam 13; 2 Sam 18:29, 33 (LXX 19:1).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.23.1 (CSEL 62:388–389; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-23-1

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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 17, chapter 24

17.24.1CSEL 62:389

Et fortasse quaerendum sit, qua ratione ante puerum dixit, postea filium nominauit, cur non in utroque aut puerum dixit aut filium. si uiueret, puer erat quia parricidio petebat patrem; non ergo pietatis nomen accipere debebat, sed infirmitatis, ideoque uir iustus, quod religionis fuit, tacuit, quod infirmitatis, aspersit. ubi uero est mortuus, apud pium patrem personae crimen defecit, naturae nomen remansit.

And perhaps one should ask why he first said “young man” and afterwards named him “son,” why he did not say either “young man” or “son” in both places. While he lived, he was a young man, because by parricide he was attacking his father; so he ought not to receive the name of piety, but of weakness; and so the righteous man kept silent what belonged to religion and sprinkled in what belonged to weakness. But when he died, with the devoted father the crime of the person ceased, the name of nature remained.

2 Sam 18:29 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 18:33 (2 Kgdms 19:1 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David called Absalom “young man” while he rebelled, and “son” once he was dead.

2 Sam 18:29, 33. Latin puer (“boy”) also suggests immaturity.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (repeated syllable in the digital text): pietatis tis nomen → pietatis nomen.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.24.1 (CSEL 62:389; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-24-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-24-1

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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 17, chapter 25

17.25.1CSEL 62:389

Sequitur: libera me a calumnia hominum. et custodiam mandata tua. non unum genus est nostrae adflictionis. est et temptatio, est et calumnia, sed temptatio leuior, calumnia grauior, siquidem temptatio potest esse calumnia, calumnia in se et temptationem habet. est et humana temptatio quam ferre possumus. calumnia autem grauis est. et ideo dominus quae sunt grauiora suscepit et calumniis adpetitus silentium detulit triumphale.

There follows: “Free me from the slander of men, and I will keep your commandments.” Our affliction is not of one kind. There is temptation, there is slander; but temptation is lighter, slander heavier, since temptation can be slander, and slander has temptation in itself. There is also human temptation, which we can bear; but slander is heavy. And therefore the Lord took on what is heavier, and assailed by slanders he offered a triumphant silence.

Ps 119:134 (118:134 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:14 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Slander is heavier than temptation; Christ answered slander with triumphant silence.

Ps 119:134 (LXX 118:134); 1 Cor 10:13; Matt 27:12–14.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): hominum. e t custodiam → hominum. et custodiam.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.25.1 (CSEL 62:389; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-25-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-25-1

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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.

17.25.2CSEL 62:389

calumnia autem eo grauior est, quia non solum falsa conponit, uerum etiam quae pie gesta sunt decolorat, ut Ioseph non solum adulterii oblatione temptatus est et inuitamento erilis inlecebrae, uerum etiam temptatus calumniis, conposito, quod ipsum adulterium dominae suae inferre uoluisset conprehensusque exuerit uestem, ne fraudis indicium atque insigne criminis teneretur, cum utique amictum ideo fugiens dereliquerit, ut laqueos conferentis et nexus inlecebrosae artis euaderet.

And slander is heavier because it not only composes falsehoods but even discolors what has been done piously, as Joseph was not only tempted by the offer of adultery and the enticement of his mistress’s allurement, but also tempted by slanders, it being made up that he had wished to commit that adultery on his mistress, and when seized had stripped off his garment so as not to be held by the evidence of fraud and the mark of crime, when in fact he left his cloak in flight precisely to escape the snares of the one pressing him and the knots of her seductive art.

Gen 39:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 39:17 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Joseph was both tempted to adultery and falsely accused of it.

Gen 39:7–18.

Topics: Temptation

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.25.2 (CSEL 62:389; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-25-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-25-2

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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.

17.25.3CSEL 62:389–390

ipse Dauid senserat quod timebat: quibus enim Saul regis calumniis laborauit! perterritis omnibus allophyli impetum lusit et singulari certamine summam belli et totius proelii pondus excepit, uirtute sua solus commune crimen refellens et totius retorquens in hostem plebis obprobrium. et tamen, quia iuuenculae dixerunt: Saul triumphauit in milibus,

David himself had experienced what he feared: for under what slanders of King Saul he labored! When all were terrified, he mocked the attack of the foreigner and in single combat took on the whole of the war and the weight of the entire battle, by his courage alone refuting the common reproach and turning the disgrace of the whole people back on the enemy. And yet, because the young women said, “Saul has triumphed among thousands,

1 Sam 17:49 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 18:7 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David, who saved Israel from Goliath, suffered Saul’s slanders.

1 Sam 17; 1 Sam 18:7.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): senserat quod timehat → senserat quod timebat.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.25.3 (CSEL 62:389–390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-25-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-25-3

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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.

17.25.4CSEL 62:390

Dauid in decem milibus, gloria in inuidiam uersa odio coepit urgeri. et ut de posterioribus loquamur, Susanna bene sibi conscia erat et apud homines sibi adesse non poterat. duo presbyteri senes falsum testimonium deferebant, numerus sacerdotum atque senectus uocem auferebant puellae, sola conscientia erat apud deum libera: denique hominum damnata iudicio nutu absoluta diuino est.

David among ten thousands,” his glory was turned to envy and he began to be pressed by hatred. And to speak of later things: Susanna was well conscious of herself, yet could not defend herself before men. Two elders, presbyters, bore false witness; the number of the priests and their age took away the girl’s voice; her conscience alone was free before God. In fact, condemned by the judgment of men, she was acquitted by the divine will.

1 Sam 18:8 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David’s glory provoked envy; Susanna, falsely accused by elders, was saved by God.

1 Sam 18:7–9; Sus 34–62.

Extrabiblical texts: Sus 41 (Susanna [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.25.4 (CSEL 62:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-25-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-25-4

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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 17, chapter 26

17.26.1CSEL 62:390

Ideo ait propheta: libera me a calumnia hominum. ut custodiam mandata tua. qui enim obprimitur calumnia, non facile potest custodire mandata diuina, tristitiae necesse est plerumque aut timori cedat et adfligatur uel metu calumniae uel dolore.

That is why the prophet says: “Free me from the slander of men, that I may keep your commandments.” For one who is oppressed by slander cannot easily keep the divine commandments; he must generally yield to sadness or fear and be afflicted either by fear of slander or by grief.

Ps 119:134 (118:134 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Slander makes it hard to keep God’s commandments, so the prophet asks to be freed from it.

Ps 119:134 (LXX 118:134).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter-spaced word in the digital text; line number leaked into the digital text): calumnia h o minum → calumnia hominum; tristitiae 10 necesse → tristitiae necesse.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.26.1 (CSEL 62:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-26-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-26-1

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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 17, chapter 27

17.27.1CSEL 62:390

Sequitur septimus uersus: uultum tuum inlumina super seruum tuum et doce me iustificationes tuas. inluminat dominus sanctos suos et lucet in corde iustorum. itaque cum sapientem uideris, cognosce quia descendit super eum dei

The seventh verse follows: “Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.” The Lord enlightens his saints and shines in the heart of the righteous. So when you see a wise man, know that the glory of God has come down on him;

Ps 119:135 (118:135 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God shines in the hearts of the righteous; the wise man bears his glory.

Ps 119:135 (LXX 118:135).

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma split in the digital text): uultum t u u m i n l u m ina super s er uum tuum → uultum tuum inlumina super seruum tuum.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.27.1 (CSEL 62:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-27-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-27-1

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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.

17.27.2CSEL 62:390

gloria, inluminauit eius mentem scientiae fulgore cognitionisque diuinae. inluminauit autem etiam corporaliter faciem Moysi et transfigurata est gloria uultus eius, quam uidentes Iudaei trepidauerunt; et ideo factum est, ut Moyses uelamen poneret super faciem suam, ne in eam filii Israel intenderent et superturbarentur. simul declarabatur mysterium, quod illud uelamen, quod in facie Moysi corporaliter ponebatur, in cordibus Iudaeorum mystice poneretur, eo quod ueram legis claritatem uidere non possent. uultus enim Moysi fulgor

it has enlightened his mind with the brightness of knowledge and divine understanding. He also enlightened bodily the face of Moses, and the glory of his countenance was transfigured; seeing it, the Jews trembled, and so it happened that Moses put a veil over his face, so that the sons of Israel might not look on it and be thrown into confusion. At the same time a mystery was declared, that the veil which was put bodily on Moses’ face was put mystically on the hearts of the Jews, because they could not see the true brightness of the law. For the face of Moses is the brightness

Exod 34:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 34:33 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:15 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Moses’ shining face and veil signify that the law’s brightness is veiled from the Jews.

Exod 34:29–35; 2 Cor 3:7, 13–15. Translated as written.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.27.2 (CSEL 62:390; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-27-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-27-2

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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.

17.27.3CSEL 62:390–391

est legis, fulgor autem legis non in littera, sed in intellectu est spiritali. itaque quamdiu uixit Moyses et adloquebatur Iudaeorum populum. uelamen habebat in facie sua, mortuo autem Moyse Iesus Naue iam non per uelamen, sed facie reuelata et presbyteros adloquebatur et populum et nemo trepidabat, cum utique et ipsi dixerit deus, quod cum ipso ita esset futurus ut fuit cum Moyse et eum similiter inluminaret gestorum utique, non uultus gloria, hoc significante spiritu sancto, quod uenturus esset Iesus uerus, ad quem si quis conuerteretur et eum uellet audire, de corde suo uelamen auferretur et reuelata facie uerum saluatorem uideret.

of the law, and the brightness of the law is not in the letter but in the spiritual understanding. So as long as Moses lived and spoke to the Jewish people, he had a veil on his face; but when Moses died, Joshua son of Nun spoke to the elders and the people no longer through a veil but with face uncovered, and no one trembled, though God had said to him too that he would be with him as he was with Moses and would likewise enlighten him with the glory of deeds, not of countenance; the Holy Spirit signifying by this that the true Jesus would come, to whom if anyone turned and wished to hear him, the veil would be taken from his heart, and with face uncovered he would see the true Savior.

Josh 1:5 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:16 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:18 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Joshua spoke unveiled, figuring the true Jesus, who removes the veil from the heart.

Josh 1:5; 2 Cor 3:16, 18. Latin Iesus names both Joshua and Jesus.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.27.3 (CSEL 62:390–391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-27-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-27-3

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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 17, chapter 28

17.28.1CSEL 62:391

Ergo deus omnipotens pater, qui in Moysi facie excaecauit populum Iudaeorum non duritia, sed praescientia nec malitia, sed aequitate atque iustitia — ipsi enim sibi posuere uelamen qui legem intellegere noluerunt; Lex enim spiritalis est, sicut dixit Hebraeus —, is utique secundum illud quod dat unicuique nostrum, in quo non tribuentis, sed diligentis est culpa, iste, inquam, dominus inluminauit cor populi nationum in facie Christi Iesu per eius aduentum, quod euidenter apostolico declaratur exemplo, sicut scriptum habemus: quoniam deus, qui dixit de tenebris lumen splendescere, inluxit in cordibus nostris ad inluminationem scientiae claritatis dei in facie Christi Iesu.

So God the almighty Father, who in the face of Moses blinded the Jewish people, not by harshness but by foreknowledge, not by malice but by equity and justice (for they themselves put on the veil, who would not understand the law; for the law is spiritual, as the Hebrew said), he surely according to what he gives to each of us, in which the fault is not the giver’s but the lover’s; this Lord, I say, has enlightened the heart of the people of the nations in the face of Christ Jesus through his coming, as is clearly declared by the apostle’s example, as we have it written: “For God, who said that light should shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.”

Rom 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 4:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:14 (allusion, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Jews veiled themselves; God has enlightened the nations in the face of Christ.

Rom 7:14 (Paul, “the Hebrew”); 2 Cor 4:6. The clause on fault is compressed in the printed text; translated by sense. Translated as written.

Topics: Jews and Judaism

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.28.1 (CSEL 62:391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-28-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-28-1

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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 17, chapter 29

17.29.1CSEL 62:391

Ideo ergo dicit Dauid ad dominum Iesum: uultum tuum inlumina super seruum tuum. faciem Christi uidere cupiebat. ut mens eius inluminari posset. et secundum incarnationem potest accipi; multi enim prophetae et iusti uidere uoluerunt, ut ipse dominus declarauit. quod autem negatum Moysi fuerat, non quaerebat, ut corporaliter dei uultum incorporei uideret, si tamen et Moyses tam sapiens et eruditus hoc potuerit simpliciter magis quam in mysterio postulare.

That is why David says to the Lord Jesus: “Make your face shine upon your servant.” He longed to see the face of Christ, so that his mind might be enlightened. It can also be taken of the incarnation; for “many prophets and righteous men desired to see,” as the Lord himself declared. But he did not seek what had been denied Moses, to see bodily the face of the incorporeal God, if indeed Moses, so wise and learned, could have asked this simply rather than in a mystery.

Ps 119:135 (118:135 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 33:20 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David longed to see Christ’s face, as prophets desired to see his coming.

Ps 119:135 (LXX 118:135); Matt 13:17; Exod 33:20.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (letter-spaced words and OCR slip (11 for ll) in the digital text; repeated word in the digital text): super super seruum → super seruum; m u 11 i enim prophetae e t iusti → multi enim prophetae et iusti.

Topics: Christology

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.29.1 (CSEL 62:391; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-29-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-29-1

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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.

17.29.2CSEL 62:391–392

humanum tamen est desideria supra nos extendere, nec inmerito faciem eius aduenientis ex uirgine quaerebat uidere, ut inluminaretur in corde, sicut inluminabantur etiam illi qui dicebant: nonne cor nostrum ardebat in nobis. cum aperiret nobis scripturas? quod si quis ad deum patrem dictum uult uideri, potest accipi uultus patris filius; qui enim uidet filium, uidet et patrem.

Yet it is human to stretch our desires beyond ourselves, and not without reason he sought to see the face of him who was coming from a virgin, so as to be enlightened in heart, as those too were enlightened who said: “Was not our heart burning within us when he opened the Scriptures to us?” But if anyone wishes it to seem said to God the Father, the Father’s face can be taken as the Son; for whoever sees the Son sees the Father too.

Luke 24:32 (quotation, high confidence) · John 14:9 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David sought Christ’s face to be enlightened; or the Father’s face is the Son.

Luke 24:32; John 14:9.

Topics: Trinity

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.29.2 (CSEL 62:391–392; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-29-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-29-2

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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 17, chapter 30

17.30.1CSEL 62:392

Inluminat tamen uultus dei secundum quod oculi eius super iustos habentur. quod cum spiritaliter sit probandum, tamen, quia

Yet the face of God enlightens according as his eyes are on the righteous. Though this must be proved spiritually, yet because

Ps 34:15 (33:16 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: God’s face enlightens the righteous on whom his eyes rest.

Ps 34:15 (LXX 33:16).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.30.1 (CSEL 62:392; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-30-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-30-1

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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.

17.30.2CSEL 62:392

incidit inluminationis uultus Moysi historia, ne quis non putet corporaliter fieri potuisse. cognoscat. etenim usu solis multis etiam pallore confectis totius corporis figura mutatur et ignis uapore calefactis species uultus rutilantis offunditur; oriente die rubent terrae croceo colore perfusae, imaginem de beneficio mutuatae; gemmarum

the story of the enlightening of Moses’ face has come up, let no one think it could not have happened bodily; let him learn. For by exposure to the sun the whole bodily appearance of many changes, even of those worn with pallor; and in those warmed by the heat of fire a ruddy look spreads over the face; at dawn the lands blush, steeped in saffron color, borrowing an image from the gift; necklaces of

Exod 34:29 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Natural examples show Moses’ face could truly shine bodily.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): corporaliter m fieri → corporaliter fieri.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.30.2 (CSEL 62:392; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-30-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-30-2

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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.

17.30.3CSEL 62:392

quoque monilia coruscantia transfundunt finitimis quod ipsa radiauerint: et miraris, si Moysi uultus diuinae infectus est claritate praesentiae, miraris, si refulgente dei gratia iusti uaporetur ingenium? non dubitauit propheta, qui poposcit inluminari prius, ut iustitias domini posset addiscere.

flashing gems too pass on to what is near them what they themselves radiate: and do you wonder that the face of Moses was tinged with the brightness of the divine presence, wonder that the mind of the righteous glows when God’s grace shines on it? The prophet did not doubt, who asked first to be enlightened, so that he might learn the Lord’s statutes.

Ps 119:135 (118:135 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: If gems pass on their radiance, God’s glory could surely shine on Moses and the righteous.

Ps 119:135 (LXX 118:135).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.30.3 (CSEL 62:392; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-30-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-30-3

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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 17, chapter 32

17.32.1CSEL 62:392–393

Decursus aquarum descenderunt oculi mei quia non custodiui legem tuam. granditer affectum paenitentiam gerentis expressit, dicens quod aquarum decursus oculi sui descenderint, siue quia per eos tamquam meatus undantium fluentorum ita exuberantium lacrimarum se quidam ductus effuderit et fletus inrigui continuum quoddam et iuge profluuium, siue quod ipsi descenderint oculi. habet enim hoc uis summi doloris, ut cum lacrimis oculi quodammodo ipsi uideantur descendere, eo quod tanta uis lacrimarum sit, ut putentur oculi in fletus resolui et in lacrimas effundi

“My eyes have gone down in streams of waters, because I did not keep your law.” He expressed greatly the feeling of one doing penance, saying that his eyes had gone down in streams of waters, either because through them, as through the channels of flowing streams, a kind of conduit of overflowing tears poured out and a continuous and unceasing flood of watering weeping, or because the eyes themselves went down. For the force of the deepest grief has this, that with tears the eyes themselves seem somehow to go down, because the force of tears is so great that the eyes are thought to dissolve into weeping and pour out in tears.

Ps 119:136 (118:136 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The psalmist’s eyes “go down in streams” in the tears of repentance.

Ps 119:136 (LXX 118:136). The digital text has no section numbered 17.31.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): laerimarum → lacrimarum.

Topics: Repentance

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.32.1 (CSEL 62:392–393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-32-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-32-1

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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 17, chapter 33

17.33.1CSEL 62:393

Oculi ergo ipsi tamquam in decursus descendunt aquarum. quo uerbo impetus deplorantium uehemens expressius deplorantium secundum illud quod in Canticis scriptum est: fons hortorum, puteus aquae uiuae et impetus descendens a Libano.

So the eyes themselves go down as into streams of waters. By this word the vehement rush of mourners is expressed more clearly, according to that which is written in the Song of Songs: “A spring of gardens, a well of living water, and a rush coming down from Lebanon.”

Song 4:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The rush of tears recalls the rush of water from Lebanon in the Song.

Song 4:15. The sentence repeats “deplorantium” in the printed text; translated by sense.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.33.1 (CSEL 62:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-33-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-33-1

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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.

17.33.2CSEL 62:393

hic impetus ecclesiam deduxit a Libano, hoc impetu diluuntur peccata, hoc impetu puri fontis spiritus sancti adfuit a Libano sponsa et a principio fidei transiuit saeculum et pertransiuit ad regnum. aliis fons est. aliis puteus pro captu nostro gratia spiritalis. aliis hortus clausus, fons signatus. aliis hortorum fons qui in ecclesiae dote numeratur, aliis impetus descendens a Libano et magnus impetus, qui numquam deficit.

This rush brought the church down from Lebanon; by this rush sins are washed away; by this rush of the pure spring of the Holy Spirit the bride came from Lebanon and from the beginning of faith passed over the world and passed through to the kingdom. To some spiritual grace is a spring, to others a well, according to our capacity; to others a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed; to others the spring of gardens which is counted in the church’s dowry; to others a rush coming down from Lebanon, and a great rush that never fails.

Song 4:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 4:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 4:15 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The Spirit’s grace is spring, well, sealed fountain or rushing stream according to each one’s capacity.

Song 4:8, 12, 15.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): horto torum fons → hortorum fons.

Topics: The Holy Spirit

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.33.2 (CSEL 62:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-33-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.33.3CSEL 62:393

non enim deficiunt de petra ubera neque nix a Libano neque aqua quae fertur ualido uento uirginis Hierusalem. descendit impetus a Libano, quando collectis in unum apostolis et plurimis credentibus factus est subito de caelo sonus. tamquam ui magna spiritus ferretur, et repleti sunt omnes spiritu sancto diuersitates donante linguarum. bonus impetus qui laedere nesciat, norit inplere.

For “the breasts do not fail from the rock, nor the snow from Lebanon, nor the water that is carried by a strong wind,” of the virgin Jerusalem. The rush came down from Lebanon when, the apostles and very many believers being gathered together, suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty rushing spirit, and all were filled with the Holy Spirit, who gave diversities of tongues. Good is the rush that knows not how to harm, knows how to fill.

Jer 18:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 2:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 2:4 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: The rush from Lebanon came at Pentecost, when the Spirit filled the apostles.

Jer 18:14 (LXX form); Acts 2:1–4.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (OCR slip): dinersitates → diuersitates.

Topics: The Holy Spirit

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.33.3 (CSEL 62:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-33-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 34

17.34.1CSEL 62:393

Si quis igitur hunc impetum superuenientis e caelo gratiae uult mereri. descendat etiam ipse oculis in decursus aquarum. qui hunc primum impetum fuderit, illum merebitur. descendit oculis suis in hos ductus aquarum. quae lacrimis inrigauit in euangelio domini pedes, et ideo fidei suae pretio emit animae suae et corporis sanitatem iam non sanguinis proflua, sed gratiae spiritalis.

So if anyone wishes to deserve this rush of grace coming upon him from heaven, let him too go down with his eyes into the streams of waters. Whoever has poured out this first rush will deserve that one. She went down with her eyes into these channels of waters who watered the Lord’s feet with tears in the Gospel, and so by the price of her faith bought health of soul and body, no longer a flow of blood but of spiritual grace.

Luke 7:38 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 7:50 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 8:44 (echo, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Tears of repentance, like the sinful woman’s, win the outpouring of grace.

Luke 7:38, 50; Luke 8:44–48 (combined).

Topics: Repentance

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.34.1 (CSEL 62:393; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-34-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 17, chapter 35

17.35.1CSEL 62:393–394

Descendit ergo Dauid propheta; ideo de peccato gratiam rettulit. descendit in aquarum ductus, hoc est: repleuit eos et decurrentium aquarum lacrimis suis fluenta cumulauit aut inanes et uacuos ductus solis repleuit fletibus.

So the prophet David went down; therefore from sin he brought back grace. He went down into the channels of waters, that is, he filled them and heaped up the streams of running waters with his tears, or he filled the empty and void channels with his weeping alone.

Notes and citation

Summary: David’s tears filled the channels of waters and won him grace.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.35.1 (CSEL 62:393–394; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-35-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.35.2CSEL 62:394

an, quod elocutionis moralis quidam sensus ostendit, descendit in aquarum ductus, transiuit eos et possemus dicere: transcendit eos et supergressus est\\ sed minuitur uis eloquii, quo uis maior afluentiae descendentis quam ascendentis exprimitur. uide, rogo, quid de usu uerba habeant, ut impetum suum

Or, as a certain moral sense of the expression shows, he went down into the channels of waters, passed them, and we could say: “he went above them and stepped over them.” But the force of the expression is lessened, by which a greater force of a descending than an ascending flood is expressed. See, I ask, what force words have from usage, so that the prophetic speech does not lose

Notes and citation

Summary: “Went down” expresses the force of a descending flood better than “stepped over.”

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.35.2 (CSEL 62:394; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-35-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.35.3CSEL 62:394

sermo propheticus non amittat, licet usus ipse scriptorum sensui seruire maiore decore consueuerit. diuerse hoc et saepe significauit et propemodum incrementa semper adsumpsit. dixit enim primo: lauabo per singulas noctes lectum meum, in lacrimis stratum meum rigabo. dixit iterum: fuerunt mihi lacrimae meae panis. dixit etiam: et potum meum cum fletu miscebam. hic addidit dicens: decursus aquarum descenderunt oculi mei.

its force, though usage itself usually serves the sense of writers with greater grace. He signified this in various ways and often, and nearly always took on increases. For first he said: “I will wash my bed every night; I will water my couch with tears.” He said again: “My tears have been my bread.” He said also: “And I mingled my drink with weeping.” Here he added, saying: “My eyes have gone down in streams of waters.”

Ps 6:6 (6:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 42:3 (41:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 102:9 (101:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:136 (118:136 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David’s weeping grows across the psalms, culminating in “streams of waters.”

Ps 6:6 (LXX 6:7); Ps 42:3 (LXX 41:4); Ps 102:9 (LXX 101:10); Ps 119:136 (LXX 118:136).

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.35.3 (CSEL 62:394; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-35-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-35-3

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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 17, chapter 36

17.36.1CSEL 62:394

Hoc secutus in Threnis Hieremias affectum doloris expressit, uim oculi descendentis imitatus; sic enim habes: defecerunt in lacrimas oculi mei; oculi mei caligauerunt. tamquam descendunt oculi qui deficiunt in lacrimis. et alibi: oculus meus absortus est.

Following this, Jeremiah in Lamentations expressed the feeling of grief, imitating the force of the descending eye; for thus you have: “My eyes have failed in tears; my eyes are darkened.” Eyes that fail in tears go down, as it were. And elsewhere: “My eye is swallowed up.”

Lam 2:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 5:17 (quotation, medium confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Jeremiah too speaks of eyes failing and darkened with tears.

Lam 2:11; Lam 5:17; the last quotation is uncertain.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.36.1 (CSEL 62:394; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-36-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-36-1

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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.

17.36.2CSEL 62:394–395

sed plus est aquam lacrimis uincere quam oculos absorberi fletibus. et alibi idem Hieremias: exclamauit cor eorum ad dominum: muri filiae Sion deducant torrentes, fluant lacrimas die ac nocte; noli dare tibi requiem, non sileat pupilla oculi tui. oculi igitur, qui torrentes deducunt lacrimis suis, ipsi ductus aquarum descendunt, hoc est cumulant, ut faciant eos suis augentes fletibus impetu exundare torrentium.

But it is more to overcome water with tears than for the eyes to be swallowed up by weeping. And elsewhere the same Jeremiah: “Their heart cried out to the Lord: walls of the daughter of Zion, let them bring down torrents; let tears flow day and night; give yourself no rest; let not the pupil of your eye be silent.” So the eyes which bring down torrents with their tears themselves go down the channels of waters, that is, heap them up, so that, swelling them with their weeping, they make them overflow with the rush of torrents.

Lam 2:18 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Like Jerusalem in Lamentations, eyes can make torrents overflow with tears.

Lam 2:18.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.36.2 (CSEL 62:394–395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-36-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-36-2

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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 17, chapter 37

17.37.1CSEL 62:395

Sunt tamen codices qui habeant: διεξόδους ὑδάτων ϰατεβιβαϭαν hoc ὀϕϑαλμοι μου, hoc est: ductus aquarum deuexerunt oculi mei. sed ego in Graeco codice meo ϰατέβηϭαν legi, hoc est: descenderunt. in quo potest fieri, ut in utramlibet partem duarum adiectione aut deminutione litterarum scriptor errauerit.

Yet there are manuscripts which have: dieksodous hydatōn katebibasan hoi ophthalmoi mou, that is, “my eyes have brought down channels of waters.” But I read katebēsan in my Greek manuscript, that is, “they went down.” In which it may happen that the scribe erred one way or the other by adding or dropping two letters.

Ps 119:136 (118:136 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: Ambrose notes a Greek variant, “brought down” versus “went down,” differing by two letters.

Ps 119:136 (LXX 118:136): κατεβίβασαν vs κατέβησαν.

Topics: Scripture and canon

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.37.1 (CSEL 62:395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-37-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-37-1

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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 17, chapter 38

17.38.1CSEL 62:395

Et habuit quidem multa quae fleret, uel incestum filiae uel interitum filiorum. sed hic non hoc fleuisse se dicit, sed quia non custodiuit legem domini. a sancto uiro plus culpa quam aerumna defletur. fleuit itaque, quando Nathan ei de Uriae morte indignationem domini nuntiauit, et peccatum suum de praeuaricatione legis agnouit.

And he indeed had much to weep over, either the incest of his daughter or the death of his sons. But here he says he did not weep for this, but because he did not keep the law of the Lord. A holy man weeps more for guilt than for misfortune. So he wept when Nathan announced to him the Lord’s indignation over the death of Uriah, and he acknowledged his sin of transgressing the law.

Ps 119:136 (118:136 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 13:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 12:13 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David wept not for his misfortunes but for his sin, as when Nathan rebuked him.

Ps 119:136 (LXX 118:136); 2 Sam 13 (Tamar); 2 Sam 12:1–13.

Topics: Repentance

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.38.1 (CSEL 62:395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-38-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.38.2CSEL 62:395

denique filio in aegritudine constituto neque cibum sumpsit neque regium thronum aut cubile conscendit, sed stratus in terra ieiuna ora lacrimis diluebat, non tam filii mortem quam peccati poenam in illo lauare desiderans. fleuit, quando numerato populo repente corde percussus est. denique: peccaui, inquit, grauiter, peccaui stulte.

In fact, when his son was in sickness, he took no food and did not go up to the royal throne or bed, but lying on the ground washed his fasting face with tears, desiring not so much to wash away his son’s death as the penalty of sin in him. He wept when, having numbered the people, he was suddenly struck in heart. In fact: “I have sinned,” he says, “grievously; I have sinned foolishly.”

2 Sam 12:16 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:10 (quotation, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David fasted and wept for his sin when his son was sick and after the census.

2 Sam 12:16; 2 Sam 24:10.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): grauiter r, peccaui → grauiter, peccaui.

Topics: Fasting, Repentance

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.38.2 (CSEL 62:395; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-38-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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.

17.38.3CSEL 62:395–396

fleuit igitur primo, quia elatus regia Potestate quaerendo numerum plebis mensuram egressus est condicionis humanae, deinde quia sui erroris pretio uindicabatur in plebem. sed a domino haec proposita poena fuerat, non a rege est postulata. domini tamen se committendo misericordiae electionis causam probauit, simul, quia propter eum populus laborabat, ipse se offerendo pro populo elationis soluit iniuriam, pietatis probauit affectum.

So he wept first because, lifted up by royal power, in seeking the number of the people he went beyond the measure of the human condition; then because the price of his error was exacted on the people. But this punishment had been set by the Lord, not asked for by the king. Yet by committing himself to the Lord’s mercy he proved the reason for his choice; at the same time, because the people suffered on his account, by offering himself for the people he paid for the injury of his pride and proved his feeling of piety.

2 Sam 24:14 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:17 (allusion, high confidence)

Notes and citation

Summary: David wept for his pride in the census and offered himself for the suffering people.

2 Sam 24:12–17.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 17.38.3 (CSEL 62:395–396; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/17-38-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)

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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 18, chapter 1

18.1.1CSEL 62:396

Sequitur psalmi centesimi octaui decimi Sade littera octaua decima, quae Latina interpretatione dicitur consolatio. post more torrentium lacrimas profluentes et graues fletus doloris oportebat consolationem sequi. nam et qui in doloribus sunt, consolatione indigent, et qui grauibus aerumnis poenas commissorum luerunt criminum, sperant indulgentiam, et qui fletibus et lacrimis propria delicta lauerunt, requiem promerentur.

There follows the eighteenth letter of the hundred and eighteenth psalm, Sade, which in Latin interpretation is called “consolation.” After tears flowing like torrents and heavy weeping of grief, consolation had to follow. For those in griefs need consolation, and those who have paid the penalties of crimes committed by grave misfortunes hope for pardon, and those who have washed away their own offenses with weeping and tears earn rest.

Notes and citation

Summary: Sade means “consolation,” which follows rightly after the tears of repentance.

Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 18.1.1 (CSEL 62:396; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)

Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/18-1-1

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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.