Exposition of Psalm 118 20.41.1–21.14.1
Latin text: CSEL 62 (Latin text: Schenkl/Petschenig, CSEL 62, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (csel-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0).
Exposition 20, chapter 41
20.41.1CSEL 62:464–465
Omnia ergo a domino deo nostro mensura quadam et pondere fiunt. quis posuit, inquit, rupes in statera? et supra: quis mensus est manu aquam et caelum palmo? qui nostra examinat, sua utique examinata largitur et saluo omnia decernit examine. ponderat misericordiam, ponderat ultionem; in utroque certum pondus habilisque mensura est. unde et Dauid ait: et potum dabis illis in lacrimis in mensura, ne sine moderatione mensurae poenae cumulo grauarentur et sustinere non possent.
So all things are done by the Lord our God by a certain measure and weight. “Who has set the rocks in a balance?” he says; and above: “Who has measured the water with his hand and heaven with his palm?” He who examines our things surely bestows his own examined, and decides all things with sound examination. He weighs mercy, he weighs vengeance; in both there is a sure weight and a fit measure. Hence David too says: “And you will give them drink in tears by measure,” lest without moderation of measure they be weighed down by a heap of punishment and be unable to bear it.
Isa 40:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 80:5 (79:6 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God does all things by measure and weight, even punishment.
- Isa 40:12 (LXX form); Wis 11:20; Ps 80:5 (LXX 79:6).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray marks in the digital text; word split in the digital text): caelum palm o? → caelum palmo?; ponderat* t ultionem → ponderat ultionem.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 11:20 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.41.1 (CSEL 62:464–465; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-41-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-41-1
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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.
20.41.2CSEL 62:465
et alibi idem ait propheta: calix in manu domini uini meri plenus est mixto, et inclinauit ex hoc in hoc; uerumtamen faex eius non est exinanita. et Hieremias ait: calix aureus Babylon in manu domini, a quo inebriatae sunt gentes, hoc est: poena a nationibus persoluta est, ne diutius insultarent, quod dei populum acerbissima populatione uexarint.
And elsewhere the same prophet says: “A cup of unmixed wine is in the Lord’s hand, full of mixture, and he has poured from this into that; but its dregs have not been emptied.” And Jeremiah says: “Babylon is a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, by which the nations have been made drunk”; that is, punishment has been paid by the nations, so that they might no longer exult that they had harassed the people of God by most bitter ravaging.
Ps 75:8 (74:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 51:7 (28:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God’s cup of judgment is poured with measure, as the psalm and Jeremiah show.
- Ps 75:8 (LXX 74:9); Jer 51:7 (LXX 28:7).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.41.2 (CSEL 62:465; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-41-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-41-2
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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.
20.41.3CSEL 62:465
sensus igitur uersus Dauitici hic est: parata et plena est poena quae debetur impiis. quam dominus declinat in perfidos; sed tamen miseratione sua non usque ad faecem dignatur effundere, ne plenitudinem supplicii ferre non possint. inclinat ergo calicem. non euacuat; quod inclinat. censurae est, quod non euacuat, misericordiae.
So the sense of David’s verse is this: the punishment owed to the ungodly is ready and full, which the Lord turns upon the faithless; but yet in his mercy he does not deign to pour it out to the dregs, lest they be unable to bear the fullness of punishment. So he tilts the cup, does not empty it; that he tilts it belongs to censure, that he does not empty it to mercy.
Ps 75:8 (74:9 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God tilts the cup of punishment but does not empty it, in mercy.
- Ps 75:8 (LXX 74:9).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.41.3 (CSEL 62:465; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-41-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-41-3
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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 20, chapter 42
20.42.1CSEL 62:465–466
Ergo iudicium quoque misericordia temperat dominus deus noster. quis enim nostrum sine diuina potest miseratione subsistere? quid possumus dignum praemiis facere caelestibus? quis nostrum ita adsurgit in hoc corpore, ut animum suum eleuet, quo iugiter adhaereat Christo? quo tandem homini merito defertur, ut haec corruptibilis caro induat incorruptionem et mortale hoc induat inmortalitatem? quibus laboribus, quibus iniuriis possumus nostra eleuare peccata? indignae sunt passiones huius temporis ad superuenturam gloriam. non ergo secundum merita nostra, sed secundum misericordiam dei caelestium decretorum in homines forma procedit.
So the Lord our God tempers even judgment with mercy. For who of us can stand without divine mercy? What can we do worthy of heavenly rewards? Who of us so rises up in this body as to lift his mind so that it clings continually to Christ? By what merit at last is it granted to man that this corruptible flesh should put on incorruption and this mortal put on immortality? By what labors, by what injuries can we lift away our sins? The sufferings of this time are unworthy of the glory to come. So not according to our merits but according to God’s mercy does the form of the heavenly decrees proceed toward men.
1 Cor 15:53 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 8:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: No one merits heaven; God’s decrees toward us proceed from mercy, not merit.
- 1 Cor 15:53; Rom 8:18.
Topics: Eschatology, Good works and merit
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.42.1 (CSEL 62:465–466; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-42-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-42-1
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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 20, chapter 43
20.43.1CSEL 62:466
Sequitur uersus quintus: multi persequentes me et tribulantes me; a testimoniis tuis non declinaui. non est magnum, si tunc a dei testimoniis non declines, cum te nullus adfligit, nullus persequitur. quis enim inoffense sibi prosperorum euentuum secundante successu fieret ingratus? quis diuitiis
The fifth verse follows: “Many are those who persecute me and afflict me; I have not turned aside from your testimonies.” It is no great thing if you do not turn aside from God’s testimonies when no one afflicts you, no one persecutes you. For who, with prosperous events following with favoring success, would become ungrateful? Who, abounding
Ps 119:157 (118:157 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Fidelity is no great thing in prosperity; it is proved under persecution.
- Ps 119:157 (LXX 118:157).
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.43.1 (CSEL 62:466; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-43-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-43-1
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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.
20.43.2CSEL 62:466
adfluens, iugi salute robustus non ad dei gratiam referat quod sibi illa concessa sint? denique cum sanctum Iob dominus praedicaret, ait aduersarius: num quid gratis colit Iob dominum? nonne tu omnia dedisti ei? mitte manum tuam in omnia quae habet, si non in faciem te benedicet. tunc igitur plus probatus est, quando amissis opibus et filiis a domini cultu et gratia non recessit.
in riches and strong with continual health, would not refer to God’s grace what has been granted him? In fact when the Lord praised holy Job, the adversary said: “Does Job worship the Lord for nothing? Have you not given him all things? Put forth your hand on all that he has, and see if he does not bless you to your face.” So he was more proved then, when, having lost his wealth and sons, he did not withdraw from the Lord’s worship and grace.
Job 1:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 1:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 1:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Job was proved when he kept faith after losing everything.
- Job 1:9–11.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined and stray full stop; words joined in the digital text): colit Iobdominum?. → colit Iob dominum?; in faciemte benedicet → in faciem te benedicet.
Topics: Patience
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.43.2 (CSEL 62:466; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-43-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-43-2
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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.
20.43.3CSEL 62:466
sed non unus persecutor est, multos ministros habet. sed non te terreat. per multas enim tribulationes oportet nos introire in regnum dei. si multae persecutiones, multae probationes; ubi multae coronae. multa certamina. tibi ergo proficit quod multi persecutores sunt, ut inter multas persecutiones facilius inuenias quemadmodum coroneris.
But the persecutor is not one; he has many ministers. But let him not terrify you; for through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. If there are many persecutions, there are many proofs; where many crowns, many contests. So it profits you that there are many persecutors, so that among many persecutions you may more easily find how to be crowned.
Acts 14:22 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Many persecutions mean many crowns.
- Acts 14:22.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.43.3 (CSEL 62:466; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-43-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-43-3
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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 20, chapter 44
20.44.1CSEL 62:466
Utamur exemplo Sebastiani martyris, cuius hodie natalis est. hic Mediolanensis oriundo est. fortasse aut iam discesserat persecutor aut adhuc non uenerat in haec partium aut mitior erat. aduertit hic aut nullum esse aut tepere certamen. Romam profectus est, ubi propter fidei studium persecutiones acerbae feruebant; ibi passus est, hoc est ibi coronatus. itaque illic, quo hospes aduenit. domicilium inmortalitatis perpetuae conlocauit. si unus persecutor fuisset, coronatus hic martyr utique non fuisset.
Let us use the example of the martyr Sebastian, whose birthday it is today. He was a native of Milan. Perhaps the persecutor had either already left, or had not yet come to these parts, or was milder. He noticed that here there was either no contest or a lukewarm one. He set out for Rome, where bitter persecutions were raging because of zeal for the faith; there he suffered, that is, there he was crowned. So there, where he came as a guest, he set up the dwelling of perpetual immortality. If there had been only one persecutor, this martyr would surely not have been crowned.
Notes and citation
Summary: Sebastian of Milan went to Rome, where persecution raged, and was crowned a martyr.
- Sebastian’s feast is 20 January; this homily was preached that day.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.44.1 (CSEL 62:466; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-44-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-44-1
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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 20, chapter 45
20.45.1CSEL 62:466–467
Sed quod peius, non hi solum persecutores sunt qui uidentur, sed etiam qui non uidentur, et multo plures persecutores. sicut enim unus persecutor rex multis persecutionis praecepta mittebat et per singulas uel ciuitates uel prouincias erant diuersi persecutores, ita etiam diabolus multos ministros suos dirigit, qui non foris tantummodo. sed etiam intus faciant persecutiones in animis singulorum.
But what is worse, not only are those persecutors who are seen, but also those who are not seen, and the persecutors are far more. For as one persecuting king sent orders of persecution to many, and through the various cities or provinces there were different persecutors, so the devil too directs many ministers of his, who carry on persecutions not only outside but also within, in the souls of individuals.
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil sends invisible persecutors who attack souls from within.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.45.1 (CSEL 62:466–467; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-45-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-45-1
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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.
20.45.2CSEL 62:467
de his dictum est persecutionibus: omnes qui uolunt pie uiuere in Christo Iesu persecutionem patiuntur. omnes dixit, nullum excepit. quis enim exceptus potest esse, cum ipse dominus persecutionum temptamenta tolerauerit? persequitur auaritia, persequitur ambitio, persequitur luxuria, persequitur superbia, persequitur fornicatio. unde et apostolus ait: fugite fornicationem; nam qua causa fugeres. nisi illa te persequeretur? est enim malus spiritus fornicationis, est malus spiritus auaritiae, malus spiritus superbiae.
Of these persecutions it is said: “All who wish to live godly in Christ Jesus suffer persecution.” He said “all,” he excepted no one. For who can be excepted, when the Lord himself endured the temptations of persecutions? Avarice persecutes, ambition persecutes, luxury persecutes, pride persecutes, sexual immorality persecutes. Hence the apostle says: “Flee sexual immorality”; for why would you flee it unless it pursued you? For there is an evil spirit of sexual immorality, an evil spirit of avarice, an evil spirit of pride.
2 Tim 3:12 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 6:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: All the godly suffer persecution from vices, each an evil spirit.
- 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Cor 6:18.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter lost in the digital text): e his dictum est → de his dictum est.
Topics: Persecution, Ethics, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.45.2 (CSEL 62:467; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-45-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-45-2
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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 20, chapter 46
20.46.1CSEL 62:467
Isti sunt persecutores graues, qui sine gladii terrore mentem hominis frequenter elidunt, qui inlecebris magis quam terroribus animos expugnant fidelium. hi tibi hostes cauendi, hi grauiores tyranni. per quos Adam captus est. multi in persecutione publica coronati occulta hac persecutione ceciderunt.
These are the grievous persecutors, who without the terror of the sword often crush a man’s mind, who storm the souls of the faithful by allurements rather than terrors. These are the enemies you must beware of, these the more grievous tyrants, by whom Adam was captured. Many who were crowned in public persecution have fallen in this hidden persecution.
Notes and citation
Summary: Inner persecutors that tempt are worse than open tyrants; many martyrs fell to them.
Topics: Persecution, Temptation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.46.1 (CSEL 62:467; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-46-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-46-1
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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.
20.46.2CSEL 62:467
foris, inquit, pugnae, intus timores. aduertis quam graue certamen sit quod est intra hominem. ut secum ipse confligat, cum suis cupiditatibus proelietur? ipse apostolus fluctuat haeret adstringitur. captiuari se adserit in lege peccati et mortis corpore debellari nec potuisse euadere. nisi esset domini Iesu gratia liberatus.
“Fightings without,” he says, “fears within.” Do you notice how grievous is the contest within man, so that he conflicts with himself, battles with his own desires? The apostle himself wavers, sticks fast, is bound. He asserts that he is made captive in the law of sin and conquered by the body of death, and could not have escaped had he not been freed by the grace of the Lord Jesus.
2 Cor 7:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 7:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 7:25 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The inner war against desire is grievous; Paul was freed only by Christ’s grace.
- 2 Cor 7:5; Rom 7:23–25.
Topics: Temptation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.46.2 (CSEL 62:467; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-46-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-46-2
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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 20, chapter 47
20.47.1CSEL 62:467–468
Uerum ut multae persecutiones, ita multa martyria. cotidie testis es Christi. temptatus es spiritu fornicationis, sed ueritus Christi futurum iudicium temerandam mentis et corporis castimoniam non putasti: martyr es Christi. temptatus es spiritu auaritiae, ut possessionem minoris inuaderes, indefensae uiduae iura temerares, et tamen contemplatione caelestium praeceptorum opem magis ferendam quam inferendam iniuriam iudicasti:
But as there are many persecutions, so there are many martyrdoms. Every day you are a witness of Christ. You were tempted by the spirit of sexual immorality, but fearing the future judgment of Christ you did not think the chastity of mind and body should be violated: you are a martyr of Christ. You were tempted by the spirit of avarice, to invade a minor’s property, to violate the rights of a defenseless widow, and yet by contemplating the heavenly precepts you judged that help should be brought rather than injury done:
Notes and citation
Summary: Every victory over temptation makes one a martyr, a witness of Christ.
Topics: Martyrdom, Ethics, Temptation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.47.1 (CSEL 62:467–468; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-47-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-47-1
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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.
20.47.2CSEL 62:468
testis es Christi. denique tales uult testes Christus adsistere, secundum quod scriptum est: iudicate pupillo et iustificate uiduam. et uenite disputemus, dicit dominus. temptatus es spiritu superbiae, sed uidens inopem atque egenum pia mente conpassus es, humilitatem magis quam adrogantiam dilexisti: testis es Christi;
you are a witness of Christ. In fact Christ wishes such witnesses to stand by, according to what is written: “Judge for the orphan and justify the widow, and come, let us reason together, says the Lord.” You were tempted by the spirit of pride, but seeing the needy and poor you had compassion with a devout mind, you loved humility rather than arrogance: you are a witness of Christ;
Isa 1:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 1:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Defending the orphan and widow, or choosing humility, makes one Christ’s witness.
- Isa 1:17–18.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): et uer ite disputemus → et uenite disputemus; spiritu i uperbiae → spiritu superbiae.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.47.2 (CSEL 62:468; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-47-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-47-2
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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.
20.47.3CSEL 62:468
quod est amplius, non sermonis tantummodo, sed etiam operis testimonium praebuisti. quis enim locupletior testis est quam qui confitetur dominum Iesum in carne uenisse, cum euangelii praecepta custodit? nam qui audit et non facit, negat Christum; etsi uerbo fatetur, operibus negat. quam multis dicentibus: domine domine, nonne in tuo nomine prophetauimus et daemonia eiecimus et uirtutes multas fecimus? in illo die respondebit: discedite a me omnes operarii iniquitatis! ille ergo testis est, qui adstipulantibus factis domini Iesu praecepta testatur.
what is more, you have given testimony not only of word but also of deed. For who is a richer witness than he who confesses that the Lord Jesus has come in the flesh, when he keeps the precepts of the Gospel? For whoever hears and does not do denies Christ; even if he confesses with word, he denies with works. How many saying, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons and do many mighty works?”, he will answer on that day: “Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!” So he is a witness who testifies to the precepts of the Lord Jesus with deeds confirming them.
1 John 4:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 7:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Jas 1:22 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: True witness to Christ is given by deeds, not words alone.
- 1 John 4:2; Matt 7:22–23; Jas 1:22.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.47.3 (CSEL 62:468; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-47-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-47-3
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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 20, chapter 48
20.48.1CSEL 62:468
Quanti ergo cotidie in occulto martyres Christi sunt et Iesum dominum confitentur! nouit hoc martyrium apostolus et testimonium Christi fidele, qui dixit: haec est enim gloriatio nostra et testimonium conscientiae nostrae. quanti foris confessi sunt et intus negauerunt! namque uxoris ducendae gratia, quae gentili uiro a christianis parentibus negabatur, simulata ad tempus fide plerique produntur quod foris confessi sunt
How many, then, are daily hidden martyrs of Christ and confess the Lord Jesus! The apostle knew this martyrdom and faithful testimony of Christ, who said: “For this is our boast, the testimony of our conscience.” How many have confessed outwardly and denied inwardly! For many, for the sake of marrying a wife who was being refused to a pagan husband by her Christian parents, feigned faith for a time and are found to have
2 Cor 1:12 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Many are hidden martyrs; others confess outwardly and deny inwardly, like those who feign faith to marry a Christian.
- 2 Cor 1:12.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.48.1 (CSEL 62:468; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-48-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-48-1
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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.
20.48.2CSEL 62:468–469
intus negasse. an fornicationis causa tantummodo putamus dominum deum nostrum in populum Iudaeorum tam seuere esse commotum, ut uiginti tria milia de populo necarentur, propterea quod Madianitae gentis feminis concubitu miscerentur ac non eo, quod per illos concubitus alienigenarum discedere a fide, negare dominum cogerentur?
denied inwardly what they confessed outwardly. Or do we think that the Lord our God was so severely moved against the Jewish people, so that twenty-three thousand of the people were killed, only because of sexual immorality, because they mingled in intercourse with women of the Midianite nation, and not because through that intercourse with foreign women they were compelled to depart from the faith and deny the Lord?
Num 25:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 25:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God punished Israel at Baal-Peor because unions with foreign women led them to deny him.
- Num 25:1–9; 1 Cor 10:8 (twenty-three thousand).
Topics: Marriage
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.48.2 (CSEL 62:468–469; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-48-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-48-2
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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 20, chapter 49
20.49.1CSEL 62:469
Nolite, inquit, omni spiritui credere, sed a fructibus eorum cognoscite quibus credere debeatis. uenit quis in ecclesiam, dum honorem affectat sub imperatoribus christianis, simulata mente orationem deferre se fingit, inclinatur et solo sternitur qui genu mentis non flexerit. uidet illum homo, christianum putat; uidet homo orantem suppliciter et credit, sed deus audit negantem. discedit probatus ab homine, sed condemnatus a iudice.
“Do not believe every spirit,” he says, “but know by their fruits whom you ought to believe.” Someone comes into church while he seeks honor under Christian emperors; with feigned mind he pretends to offer prayer; he bows and lies on the ground who has not bent the knee of the mind. Man sees him and thinks him a Christian; man sees him praying humbly and believes, but God hears him denying. He departs approved by man, but condemned by the judge.
1 John 4:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Some feign piety to win honor under Christian emperors; God sees their denial.
- 1 John 4:1; Matt 7:16.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.49.1 (CSEL 62:469; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-49-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-49-1
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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.
20.49.2CSEL 62:469
quanto tolerabilius fuerat homini negasse et deo esse confessum! licet hoc quoque reprehensibile; perfecta enim confessio et animi quaerit deuotionem et uocis professionem; corde enim creditur ad iustitiam, ore autem confessio fit ad salutem.
How much more tolerable it would have been to deny before man and confess before God! Though this too is blameworthy; for perfect confession requires both the devotion of the mind and the profession of the voice; for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Perfect confession requires both heart and voice.
- Rom 10:10.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): adsalutem → ad salutem.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.49.2 (CSEL 62:469; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-49-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-49-2
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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 20, chapter 50
20.50.1CSEL 62:469
Ergo in persecutionibus interioribus esto fidelis et fortis, ut et istis forensibus persecutionibus adproberis. et in intimis persecutionibus sunt reges et praesides, terribiles iudices potestate. habes exemplum in domini temptatione quam pertulit. demonstrata sunt ei omnia regna et dictum ei est: tibi dabo haec omnia, si procidens adoraueris me. lectum est et alibi: non regnet peccatum in uestro mortali corpore.
So in inner persecutions be faithful and brave, so that you may also be approved in these outward persecutions. In the inner persecutions too there are kings and governors, judges terrible in power. You have an example in the Lord’s temptation which he endured. All the kingdoms were shown him and it was said to him: “All these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me.” It is also read elsewhere: “Let not sin reign in your mortal body.”
Matt 4:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 4:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 6:12 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Inner persecutions have their own kings and judges, as in Christ’s temptation.
- Matt 4:8–9; Rom 6:12.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): dictum eiest:tibi → dictum ei est: tibi.
Topics: Persecution, Temptation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.50.1 (CSEL 62:469; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-50-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-50-1
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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.
20.50.2CSEL 62:469
uides ante quos reges statueris, o homo, ante quos praesides peccatorum, si culpa regnat. quot peccata, quot uitia, tot reges; et ante hos adducimur et ante hos stamus. habent etiam isti reges tribunal in mentibus plurimorum. sed si quis Christum fateatur, statim regem illum facit esse captiuum, deicit de solio suae mentis. quomodo enim poterit diaboli tribunal manere in eo, cui Christi tribunal adsurgit?
You see before what kings you are set, O man, before what governors of sins, if guilt reigns. As many sins, as many vices, so many kings; and before these we are brought and before these we stand. These kings too have a tribunal in the minds of very many. But if anyone confesses Christ, at once he makes that king captive, casts him down from the throne of his mind. For how can the devil’s tribunal remain in one in whom Christ’s tribunal rises?
Notes and citation
Summary: Each vice is a tyrant in the mind, but confessing Christ dethrones it.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.50.2 (CSEL 62:469; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-50-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-50-2
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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 20, chapter 51
20.51.1CSEL 62:469–470
Multi ergo persequentes et tribulantes me. et fortasse Christus hoc dicit et dicit in uocibus singulorum, ipsum enim aduersarius persequitur in nobis. si declinas persequentes, Christum abicis, qui se temptari patitur, ut uincat. ubi illum uiderit diabolus, ibi insidias parat, ibi temptationum machinas admouet, ibi dolos nectit, ut illum, si possit, excludat. ubi autem
“Many, then, are those who persecute and afflict me.” And perhaps Christ says this, and says it in the voices of individuals, for the adversary persecutes him in us. If you shun the persecutors, you cast off Christ, who allows himself to be tempted so as to conquer. Where the devil sees him, there he prepares snares, there he moves up the engines of temptations, there he weaves wiles, to shut him out if he can. But where
Ps 119:157 (118:157 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is persecuted in us; to flee the struggle is to reject him.
- Ps 119:157 (LXX 118:157).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced words and OCR slip in the digital text): M u 11 i ergo persequentes et tribulantes m e. → Multi ergo persequentes et tribulantes me..
Topics: Persecution, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.51.1 (CSEL 62:469–470; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-51-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-51-1
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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.
20.51.2CSEL 62:470
diabolus proeliatur, ibi Christus adsistit, ubi diabolus adsidet, ibi Christus includitur, ibi murorum spiritalium saepta defendit. ergo, qui persecutorem refugit, reicit etiam defensorem. sed cum audis: multi persequentes et tribulantes me, noli timere. qui potes dicere: si deus pro nobis, quis contra nos? uerum hoc ille dicit, qui a testimoniis domini nullo uitiorum declinat anfractu.
the devil fights, there Christ stands by; where the devil besieges, there Christ is enclosed, there he defends the enclosures of the spiritual walls. So whoever flees the persecutor also rejects the defender. But when you hear, “Many are those who persecute and afflict me,” do not fear, you who can say: “If God is for us, who is against us?” But he says this who turns aside from the Lord’s testimonies by no winding of vices.
Rom 8:31 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Where the devil attacks, Christ defends; if God is for us, who is against us?
- Rom 8:31.
Topics: The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.51.2 (CSEL 62:470; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-51-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-51-2
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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 20, chapter 52
20.52.1CSEL 62:470
Sequitur uersus sextus: uidi non seruantes pactum et tabescebam, quoniam uerba tua non custodierunt. beatus qui in caritate dei tabescit, qui uidet non seruantes pactum. alius propter uitiosos amores tabescit, qui destillat, dum est dilatus amore dilectae, et dum protelatur flagrantis cu-
The sixth verse follows: “I saw those who did not keep the covenant and I pined away, because they did not keep your words.” Blessed is he who pines away in the love of God, who sees those who do not keep the covenant. Another pines away from vicious loves, who melts away while he is put off by the love of his beloved, and while the fulfillment of burning desire is delayed,
Ps 119:158 (118:158 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Blessed is one who pines for love of God, not from sinful passions.
- Ps 119:158 (LXX 118:158).
Topics: Love of God and neighbour
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.52.1 (CSEL 62:470; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-52-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-52-1
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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.
20.52.2CSEL 62:470–471
piditatis effectus, animus deficit, uires corporis quadam deformitate palloris fessorumque artuum tabe minuuntur. alius, qui pecuniam concupiscit, donec potiatur ea, auaro miser tabescit affectu. alius inmodice capessendi honoris inpatiens, si desideria longa suspiret, non mediocri mentis tabe conficitur. non talis qui dicit: quam distabuit caro mea in terra deserta et[in] inuia et sine aqua! hic enim castigabat carnem suam et tabescere faciebat, dum indefesso desiderio diuinae cognitionis intentus et lucem diei sollicita expectatione praeueniens antelucanum soluere domino canticis et hymnis gestiebat obsequium.
the mind fails, and the strength of the body is diminished by a certain ugliness of pallor and wasting of weary limbs. Another, who covets money, pines away wretchedly with avaricious feeling until he gets it. Another, impatient to seize honor beyond measure, if he sighs with long desires, is consumed by no small wasting of mind. Not such is he who says: “How my flesh has pined away in a desert land, trackless and without water!” For he chastised his flesh and made it waste away, while, intent with unwearied desire on divine knowledge and anticipating the light of day with anxious expectation, he longed to pay the Lord the service of songs and hymns before dawn.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Ps 63:1 (62:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:27 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Unlike those wasted by lust, greed or ambition, David pined with longing for God and prayed before dawn.
- Ps 63:1 (LXX 62:2); 1 Cor 9:27. The editor deletes “in” before inuia (in square brackets).
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.52.2 (CSEL 62:470–471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-52-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-52-2
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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 20, chapter 53
20.53.1CSEL 62:471
Tabescit ergo uir pacificus, quando alios uidet pacta rescindere, consensuum abolere concordiam, iurgia de pace reparare. in tumultus redire de gratia. quod utique non facit qui domini praecepta custodit, non facit qui audit dicentem: pacem meam do uobis, pacem meam relinquo uobis. ergo qui pactum seruat, is Christi oboedit imperiis, qui autem non seruat, ille Christi praecepta contemnit et, quod peius est, conperta fastidit et neglegit.
So the peaceable man pines away when he sees others breaking covenants, destroying the harmony of agreements, renewing quarrels out of peace, returning to tumult from grace. This surely is not done by one who keeps the Lord’s precepts, who hears him saying: “My peace I give you, my peace I leave you.” So whoever keeps the covenant obeys Christ’s commands; but whoever does not keep it despises Christ’s precepts and, what is worse, disdains and neglects them though known.
John 14:27 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The peaceable man grieves when others break covenants and peace, despising Christ’s commands.
- John 14:27.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray full stop and words joined): pacem meam do. uobis, pacem meamrelinquo uobis → pacem meam do uobis, pacem meam relinquo uobis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.53.1 (CSEL 62:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-53-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-53-1
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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 20, chapter 54
20.54.1CSEL 62:471
Sequitur uersus septimus: uide quia praecepta tua dilexi, domine; in misericordia tua uiuifica me. hic quoque inuitat dominum, ut plenum caritatis suae spectet affectum. nemo dicit uide nisi qui iudicat se, si uideatur, esse placiturum. et pulchre dicit uide et secundum legem dicit, quia lex praecipit. ut unusquisque ter in anno se offerat in conspectu domini.
The seventh verse follows: “See that I have loved your precepts, O Lord; in your mercy give me life.” Here too he invites the Lord to look on the full affection of his love. No one says “see” except one who judges that, if he is seen, he will please. And beautifully he says “see,” and says it according to the law, because the law commands that each one present himself three times a year in the sight of the Lord.
Ps 119:159 (118:159 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 23:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 16:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalmist invites God to see his love, as the law bids each appear before the Lord.
- Ps 119:159 (LXX 118:159); Exod 23:17; Deut 16:16.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma split in the digital text; stray hyphen in the digital text): uide qui a praecepta tua dilexi, domine; in misericordia tua uiui fica m e → uide quia praecepta tua dilexi, domine; in misericordia tua uiuifica me; secundum leg-em dicit → secundum legem dicit.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.54.1 (CSEL 62:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-54-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-54-1
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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.
20.54.2CSEL 62:471
cotidie sanctus se offert, cotidie apparet et non uacuus apparet; non est enim uacuus qui de plenitudine eius accepit. non erat uacuus Dauid, qui ait: repletum est gaudio os nostrum, quia gaudium fructus est spiritus sancti. et sicut de plenitudine uerbi nos omnes accepimus, quemadmodum dixit Iohannes, ita etiam spiritus sanctus de plenitudine sua repleuit orbem terrarum.
The saint offers himself daily, appears daily, and does not appear empty; for he is not empty who has received of his fullness. David was not empty, who says, “Our mouth is filled with joy,” for joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And as we have all received of the fullness of the Word, as John said, so too the Holy Spirit has filled the world from his fullness.
Deut 16:16 (allusion, high confidence) · John 1:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 126:2 (125:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 5:22 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The saint appears daily before God not empty, filled from the fullness of the Word and the Spirit.
- Deut 16:16; John 1:16; Ps 126:2 (LXX 125:2); Gal 5:22; Wis 1:7.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:7 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Trinity, The Holy Spirit
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.54.2 (CSEL 62:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-54-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-54-2
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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.
20.54.3CSEL 62:471
non erat uacuus Zacharias, qui repletus est spiritu sancto et prophetabat aduentum domini Iesu. non erat Paulus uacuus, qui euangelizabat in abundantia et repletus erat, accipiens odorem bonae suauitatis ab Ephesiis placentem deo hostiam. non erant Corinthii. in quibus abundabat dei gratia iuxta eiusdem apostoli testimonium.
Zechariah was not empty, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied the coming of the Lord Jesus. Paul was not empty, who preached the gospel in abundance and was filled, receiving from the Ephesians a fragrance of good sweetness, a sacrifice pleasing to God. The Corinthians were not empty, in whom the grace of God abounded according to the same apostle’s testimony.
Luke 1:67 (allusion, high confidence) · Phil 4:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:5 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Zechariah, Paul and the Corinthians were filled, not empty.
- Luke 1:67; Phil 4:18 (Ambrose says “Ephesians”); 1 Cor 1:4–5.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): Zacnanas → Zacharias.
Topics: The Holy Spirit
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.54.3 (CSEL 62:471; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-54-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-54-3
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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 20, chapter 55
20.55.1CSEL 62:471–472
Offerebat se ergo Dauid cotidie deo et non uacuus offerebat. qui poterat dicere: os meum aperui et duxi spiritum; ideo ergo dicebat: uide quia praecepta tua dilexi. audi in quo te offerre debeas Christo, non in his quae uidentur, sed in occultis, sed in abscondito, ut pater tuus qui uidet in abscondito reddat tibi et fidelem remuneretur affectum.
So David offered himself daily to God and did not offer himself empty, who could say, “I opened my mouth and drew in breath”; that is why he said, “See that I have loved your precepts.” Hear in what you ought to offer yourself to Christ: not in what is seen, but in the hidden, in secret, so that your Father who sees in secret may reward you and repay faithful affection.
Ps 119:131 (118:131 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:159 (118:159 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 6:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Offer yourself to God in secret, and the Father will reward you.
- Ps 119:131, 159 (LXX 118:131, 159); Matt 6:4, 6.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): duxi spiri tum → duxi spiritum.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.55.1 (CSEL 62:471–472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-55-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-55-1
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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.
20.55.2CSEL 62:472
praecepta, inquit, tua dilexi. non dixit seruaui, non dixit custodiui; nam inprudentes non custodierunt praecepta domini. aliqui enim codices habent άσυντούντας, hoc est insipientes, non intellegentes. ergo qui non intellegunt non sapiunt hique non custodiunt. qui autem perfectus est intellectu, perfectus sapientia, diligit, quod est amplius quam custodire;
“Your precepts,” he says, “I have loved.” He did not say “kept,” he did not say “guarded”; for the imprudent did not keep the Lord’s precepts. For some manuscripts have asynetountas, that is, “the foolish,” “those not understanding.” So those who do not understand are not wise, and these do not keep them. But he who is perfect in understanding, perfect in wisdom, loves, which is more than keeping;
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Ps 119:158 (118:158 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Loving God’s precepts is more than keeping them; some manuscripts call the transgressors “the foolish.”
- Ps 119:158 (LXX 118:158 has ἀσυνετοῦντας in some manuscripts; garbled in the digital text).
Topics: Love of God and neighbour
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.55.2 (CSEL 62:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-55-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-55-2
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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.
20.55.3CSEL 62:472
custodire enim necessitatis plerumque est et timoris, diligere caritatis. custodit qui euangelizat, sed qui uolens euangelizat mercedem accipit; quanto magis qui diligit mercede donatur! possumus enim non amare quod uolumus, non possumus nolle quod amamus. sed quamuis mercedem perfectae caritatis expectet, et miserationis diuinae suffragium poscit, ut in ea uiuificetur a domino. non ergo adrogans debitae mercedis exactor, sed uerecundus misericordiae diuinae est deprecator.
for keeping is generally a matter of necessity and fear, loving of charity. He keeps who preaches the gospel, but he who preaches willingly receives a reward; how much more is he who loves given a reward! For we can fail to love what we wish, but we cannot fail to wish what we love. But though he expects the reward of perfect love, he also asks the support of divine mercy, that he may be given life by the Lord in it. So he is not an arrogant exactor of a reward owed, but a modest suppliant of divine mercy.
1 Cor 9:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 119:159 (118:159 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Love surpasses duty; yet the lover still begs for mercy rather than demanding reward.
- 1 Cor 9:17; Ps 119:159 (LXX 118:159).
Topics: Love of God and neighbour, Good works and merit
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.55.3 (CSEL 62:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-55-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-55-3
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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 20, chapter 56
20.56.1CSEL 62:472
Sequitur ultimus uersus litterae huius: principium uerborum tuorum ueritas, in aeternum omnia iudicia iustitiae tuae. cum principium uerborum dei ueritas sit, ueritas utique fidei fundamentum est. primum etenim oportet ut credamus uera esse dei summi quae in diuinis scripturis legimus
The last verse of this letter follows: “The beginning of your words is truth; all the judgments of your righteousness are for ever.” Since the beginning of God’s words is truth, truth is surely the foundation of faith. For first we must believe that the oracles of the most high God which we read in the divine Scriptures are true;
Ps 119:160 (118:160 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Truth, the beginning of God’s words, is the foundation of faith.
- Ps 119:160 (LXX 118:160).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): tuorum uer itas → tuorum ueritas.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Faith
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.56.1 (CSEL 62:472; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-56-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-56-1
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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.
20.56.2CSEL 62:472–473
oracula, secundum est, ut uirtutem eorum pleniore cognitione discamus. sicut enim initium sapientiae timor domini, plenitudo autem sapientiae dilectio — lex enim sapientia, plenitudo autem legis dilectio —, ita plenitudo uerborum dei sapientia cognitioque iustitiae. namque sicut a timore domini processus quidam est ad gratiam caritatis, ita a ueritate ad iudicium iustitiae diuinae quidam uidetur fieri processus.
second, that we learn their force by fuller knowledge. For as the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and the fullness of wisdom is love (for the law is wisdom, and the fullness of the law is love), so the fullness of God’s words is wisdom and the knowledge of righteousness. For as from the fear of the Lord there is a kind of progress to the grace of love, so from truth there seems to be a kind of progress to the judgment of divine righteousness.
Ps 111:10 (110:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 13:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: As fear leads to love, so truth leads to knowledge of God’s righteousness.
- Ps 111:10 (LXX 110:10); Rom 13:10.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): diseamus → discamus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.56.2 (CSEL 62:472–473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-56-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-56-2
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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 20, chapter 57
20.57.1CSEL 62:473
Uenisti ad ecclesiam, audisti unum deum dici, unde lex incipit, sicut habes scriptum: audi, Israel, dominus deus tuus dominus unus est. crede unum deum esse, non plures deos. cum autem coeperis legere dominum Iesum dei filium in carne uenisse propter totius mundi redemptionem, distingue sapienter unum deum patrem esse, ex quo omnia et nos in illum, et unum dominum Iesum, per quem omnia et nos per ipsum.
You came to church, you heard that one God is spoken of, with which the law begins, as you have it written: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one Lord.” Believe that there is one God, not many gods. But when you begin to read that the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, came in the flesh for the redemption of the whole world, distinguish wisely that there is one God the Father, from whom are all things and we in him, and one Lord Jesus, through whom are all things and we through him.
Deut 6:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 8:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Believe in one God, and distinguish the one Father and one Lord Jesus.
- Deut 6:4; 1 Cor 8:6.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.57.1 (CSEL 62:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-57-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-57-1
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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.
20.57.2CSEL 62:473
cognosce quia ideo uenit, ut uirtutis semitis noster informaretur affectus, ut morum mansuetudinem conuersationis eius disceremus exemplo, ut aboleretur culpa per gratiam, et tunc a ueritatis confessione ad cognitionem iustitiae processisti. fides principium christiani est, plenitudo autem christiani iustitia est; fides in confessione populorum, iustitia in martyrii passione.
Know that he came so that our affection might be shaped by the paths of virtue, that we might learn meekness of character by the example of his way of life, that guilt might be abolished by grace; and then you have advanced from the confession of truth to the knowledge of righteousness. Faith is the beginning of the Christian, but righteousness is the fullness of the Christian; faith in the confession of peoples, righteousness in the passion of martyrdom.
Notes and citation
Summary: Faith is the Christian’s beginning, righteousness and martyrdom its fullness.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.57.2 (CSEL 62:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-57-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-57-2
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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 20, chapter 58
20.58.1CSEL 62:473
Scientes igitur in aeternum mansura iudicia omnia iustitiae dei caueamus, ne opera nostra displiceant et aeternum incipiamus subire iudicium nec, si aliquid boni fecimus, resupino soluamur affectu. omnes oportet nos ante tribunal Christi adsistere, ut recipiat unusquisque quod gessit, siue bonum siue malum.
So, knowing that all the judgments of God’s righteousness will remain for ever, let us take care that our works do not displease and we begin to undergo an eternal judgment, nor, if we have done some good, let us relax with a careless affection. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive what he has done, whether good or evil.
Ps 119:160 (118:160 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 5:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: All will stand before Christ’s judgment seat to receive for their deeds.
- Ps 119:160 (LXX 118:160); 2 Cor 5:10.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (words joined in the digital text): siuebonum → siue bonum.
Topics: Eschatology, The last judgment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.58.1 (CSEL 62:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-58-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-58-1
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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.
20.58.2CSEL 62:473
uides quia et Paulus adsistet, ut ipse commemorat. caue ne ligna, caue ne stipulam ad iudicium dei tecum deferas, quae ignis exurat. caue ne, cum in uno aut duobus habeas quod probetur, in pluribus operibus deferas quod offendat. si, cuius opus arserit, detrimentum patietur, potest tamen per ignem et ipse saluari.
You see that Paul too will stand there, as he himself recalls. Beware of bringing wood, beware of bringing stubble with you to God’s judgment, which the fire may burn up. Beware lest, when you have in one or two works what may be approved, you bring in more works what may offend. If anyone’s work burns up, he will suffer loss, yet he himself can be saved through fire.
1 Cor 3:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Do not bring wood and stubble to judgment; such work burns, though the person may be saved through fire.
- 1 Cor 3:12–15.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray mark in the digital text; words joined in the digital text): calle ne ligna → caue ne ligna; operibus? deferas → operibus deferas; perignem → per ignem.
Topics: Eschatology, The last judgment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.58.2 (CSEL 62:473; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-58-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-58-2
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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.
20.58.3CSEL 62:473–474
unde colligitur, quia idem homo et saluatur ex parte et condemnatur ex parte. cognoscentes itaque multa esse iudicia opera nostra examinemus omnia. in uiro iusto graue est detrimentum graue operis alicuius incendium, in impio poena miserabilis. sint magis omnia iudicia plena gratiae. plena florentium coronarum, ne forte, cum trutinantur facta nostra, culpa praeponderet.
From this it is gathered that the same man is both saved in part and condemned in part. So, knowing that there are many judgments, let us examine all our works. In a righteous man the burning of some work is a grave loss; in the ungodly a pitiable punishment. Let all our judgments rather be full of grace, full of flowering crowns, lest perhaps, when our deeds are weighed, guilt outweigh.
1 Cor 3:15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Let us examine all our works so that, when weighed, guilt does not prevail.
- 1 Cor 3:15.
Topics: Eschatology, The last judgment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 20.58.3 (CSEL 62:473–474; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-58-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/20-58-3
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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 21, chapter 1
21.1.1CSEL 62:474
Incipit littera Sin, quae Latine dicitur super uulnus. super uulnus quid est nisi medicamentum, quo uulneris acerbitas mitigatur? super uulnus oleum infunditur, ut omnis uulneris molliatur asperitas; super uulnus malagma, super uulnus alligatura, quibus omne uulnus fouetur.
The letter Sin begins, which in Latin is called “upon the wound.” What is “upon the wound” but a remedy, by which the bitterness of the wound is soothed? Oil is poured upon the wound, so that all the roughness of the wound may be softened; a plaster upon the wound, a bandage upon the wound, by which every wound is tended.
Notes and citation
Summary: Sin is interpreted “upon the wound,” that is, the remedy applied to it.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.1.1 (CSEL 62:474; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-1-1
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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.
21.1.2CSEL 62:474
ubi ergo spes refundendae est sanitatis, ibi adhibentur medicamenta uulneribus. ubi autem omne caput in dolore et omne cor in maestitia, non est uulnus neque cicatrix, non plaga cum feruore, hoc est: ubi non portio. sed uniuersitas periclitatur et quadam corrupti totius corporis tabe consumitur, ibi non est malagma inponere neque oleum neque alligaturam. multo igitur commodius, ut sit uulnus, quod foueas atque constringas, quam sine uulnere mors serpat interior.
So where there is hope of restoring health, there remedies are applied to wounds. But where “the whole head is in pain and the whole heart in sorrow, there is no wound or scar, no stripe with inflammation,” that is, where not a part but the whole is in danger and is consumed by a kind of wasting of the whole corrupted body, there one cannot apply a plaster or oil or bandage. So it is much better that there be a wound which you can tend and bind than that death creep inward without a wound.
Isa 1:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 1:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A wound that can be treated is better than a hidden, total corruption, as Isaiah describes.
- Isa 1:5–6 (LXX form).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.1.2 (CSEL 62:474; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-1-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 21, chapter 2
21.2.1CSEL 62:474–475
Sed est non solum corporis uulnus. sed etiam mentis, quod oleo quodam mollioris alloquii et pacifici sermonis suauitate mitescit. sunt fomenta uerborum, sunt medicamenta caelestium praeceptorum. quibus omne nequitiae uirus aboletur. sunt legis uincula quae non adurant. sed magis liberent alligatos, et malagma spiritale, quo conlisa animae quaedam membra solidentur.
But there is a wound not only of the body but also of the mind, which grows gentle with a kind of oil of milder address and the sweetness of peaceable speech. There are poultices of words, there are remedies of heavenly precepts, by which every poison of wickedness is removed. There are bonds of the law which do not burn but rather free the bound, and a spiritual plaster by which certain bruised members of the soul are made firm.
Notes and citation
Summary: The soul’s wounds are healed by the remedies of God’s word and law.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.2.1 (CSEL 62:474–475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 21, chapter 3
21.3.1CSEL 62:475
Consideremus igitur quid sit uulnus, quid supra uulnus: principes persecuti sunt me gratis uulnus est, exulto ego in uerba tua, sicut qui inuenit spolia multa, super uulnus est, quia uerbis dominicis uulneris dura curantur.
Let us consider, then, what is the wound and what is upon the wound. “Princes have persecuted me without cause” is the wound; “I exult in your words, as one who finds much spoil” is upon the wound, because the hard things of the wound are cured by the Lord’s words.
Ps 119:161 (118:161 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:162 (118:162 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Persecution is the wound; joy in God’s words is the remedy.
- Ps 119:161–162 (LXX 118:161–162).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; word split in the digital text): exuito ego → exulto ego; spolia mult a → spolia multa.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.3.1 (CSEL 62:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-3-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 21, chapter 4
21.4.1CSEL 62:475
In Threnis quoque Hieremiae habes sub hac littera scriptum: audisti obprobrium eorum, domine, omnia consilia eorum aduersum me, labia insurgentium mihi et meditationes eorum aduersum me tota die, sessionem eorum et resurrectionem eorum; uulnus est. sed subiecit: aspice in oculis eorum, redde de illis retributionem, domine, secundum opera manuum ipsorum; super uulnus est. quia uindicta plerumque dolorem solet uulneris mitigare.
In the Lamentations of Jeremiah too you have it written under this letter: “You have heard their reproach, O Lord, all their counsels against me, the lips of those who rise against me, and their meditations against me all day, their sitting and their rising”: this is the wound. But he added: “Look into their eyes, render them a recompense, O Lord, according to the works of their hands”: this is upon the wound, because vengeance usually soothes the pain of a wound.
Lam 3:61 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:62 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:63 (quotation, high confidence) · Lam 3:64 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Lamentations’ shin verses show the wound of reproach and the remedy of God’s vindication.
- Lam 3:61–64 (the shin verses of Lam 3, LXX form).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced words in the digital text): redde d e illis retrib utionem → redde de illis retributionem.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.4.1 (CSEL 62:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-4-1
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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.
21.4.2CSEL 62:475
et infra idem Hieremias ait: gaude et laetare, filia Idumaeae quae habitas in Geth, et quidem ad te transibit calix, bibes et inebriaberis adhuc; super uulnus est. calix enim domini remissio peccatorum est, quo sanguis effunditur, qui totius redemit peccata mundi. hic calix inebriauit gentes, ne proprii meminissent doloris, sed ueterem obliuiscerentur errorem.
And below the same Jeremiah says: “Rejoice and be glad, daughter of Edom, you who dwell in Gath; and indeed the cup will pass to you; you will drink and be drunk still”: this is upon the wound. For the Lord’s cup is the forgiveness of sins, by which the blood is shed which redeemed the sins of the whole world. This cup made the nations drunk, so that they did not remember their own pain but forgot their old error.
Lam 4:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 26:28 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The cup offered to Edom is the Lord’s cup of forgiveness, which made the nations forget their error.
- Lam 4:21 (LXX form); Matt 26:28.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing space in the digital text): ait:gaude → ait: gaude.
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.4.2 (CSEL 62:475; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-4-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
21.4.3CSEL 62:475–476
bona igitur ebrietas spiritalis, quae turbare corporis nescit incessum, leuare mentis nouit uestigium. bona ebrietas poculi salutaris. quae maestitiam peccatricis abolet conscientiae. iucunditatem uitae infundit aeternae. ideo scriptura dicit: et poculum tuum inebrians quam praeclarum est!
Good, then, is spiritual drunkenness, which does not know how to disturb the body’s gait, but knows how to lift the step of the mind. Good is the drunkenness of the cup of salvation, which removes the sorrow of a sinful conscience, pours in the joy of eternal life. That is why Scripture says: “And your cup that makes drunk, how splendid it is!”
Ps 23:5 (22:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 116:13 (115:4 LXX) (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The cup of salvation gives a good, spiritual drunkenness that removes sorrow.
- Ps 23:5 (LXX 22:5); Ps 116:13 (LXX 115:4).
Topics: Eucharist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.4.3 (CSEL 62:475–476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-4-3
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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 21, chapter 5
21.5.1CSEL 62:476
Medicamentum igitur super uulnus est, quia medicus ipse dominus Iesus, qui uulnera nostra curauit, infundens uinum et oleum et alligans uulnera Adae illius, qui descendens ab Hierusalem a latronibus uulneratus est. caueat ergo unusquisque, ne descendat ab Hierusalem;
So the remedy is upon the wound, because the doctor is the Lord Jesus himself, who cured our wounds, pouring in wine and oil and binding the wounds of that Adam who, going down from Jerusalem, was wounded by robbers. So let each beware lest he go down from Jerusalem;
Luke 10:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 10:34 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ is the doctor who treated the wounds of Adam, the man fallen among robbers.
- Luke 10:30, 34.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.5.1 (CSEL 62:476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-5-1
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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.
21.5.2CSEL 62:476
peccatis enim suis unusquisque descendit et meritis ascendit. aut, quia fragiles sumus, qui descendit currat ad illum Samaritanum, custodem operis sui, custodem legis et gratiae, ut uulneri suo possit inuenire medicinam, qui alligaturam uerborum caelestium super uulnus inponat dicens: paenitentiam agite; adpropinquauit enim regnum caelorum. bona alligatura, quae fracta animae tuae ossa conectat et soliditate reparata in pristinas uires reformet ac discissos artus sine ulla sibi cicatricis offensione restituat.
for each goes down by his sins and goes up by his merits. Or, because we are frail, let one who goes down run to that Samaritan, the guardian of his work, the guardian of law and grace, so that he can find medicine for his wound, who lays the bandage of heavenly words upon the wound, saying: “Repent; for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near.” A good bandage, which joins the broken bones of your soul and, its firmness restored, reshapes it to its former strength and restores the torn limbs without any offense of a scar.
Luke 10:33 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 4:17 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fallen should run to Christ the Samaritan, whose call to repentance binds the soul’s wounds.
- Luke 10:33; Matt 4:17.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; missing space in the digital text): ad ilium Samaritanum → ad illum Samaritanum; agite;adpropinquauit → agite; adpropinquauit.
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.5.2 (CSEL 62:476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-5-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 21, chapter 6
21.6.1CSEL 62:476
De litterae interpretatione satis pro captu nostro dictum putamus. adoriamur sancti prophetae uersus considerare, quos spiritu sancto reuelante subiecit: principes persecuti sunt me gratis, et a uerbis tuis trepidauit cor meum. si ueterem repetamus historiam, et Saul et Abessalon et multi alieni-
We think enough has been said about the interpretation of the letter according to our capacity. Let us undertake to consider the verses of the holy prophet, which he set down by the revelation of the Holy Spirit: “Princes have persecuted me without cause, and my heart has trembled at your words.” If we recall the old history, both Saul and Absalom and many foreign
Ps 119:161 (118:161 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The first verse: princes persecuted David without cause.
- Ps 119:161 (LXX 118:161).
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.6.1 (CSEL 62:476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-6-1
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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.
21.6.2CSEL 62:476
genae principes sanctum Dauid persecuti sunt, sed nemo de eo potuit triumphare. sunt et principes mundi rectoresque tenebrarum, qui te in tuo pectore conantur obprimere et persecutionum saeua intus operantur, promittentes regna terrarum, honores atque diuitias, si fragili mente subcumbas et oboediendum eorum imperiis arbitreris. isti principes interdum gratis persecuntur, interdum non gratis.
princes persecuted holy David, but no one could triumph over him. There are also princes of the world and rulers of darkness, who try to overpower you in your breast and work the cruelties of persecutions within, promising kingdoms of the earth, honors and riches, if you yield with a frail mind and think their commands must be obeyed. These princes sometimes persecute without cause, sometimes not without cause.
Eph 6:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 4:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Spiritual princes persecute within, offering worldly rewards.
- Eph 6:12; Matt 4:8–9.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.6.2 (CSEL 62:476; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-6-2
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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.
21.6.3CSEL 62:476–477
gratis persecuntur apud quem nihil suum inueniunt et eum subiugare contendunt, non gratis persecuntur eum. qui se eorum dederit potestati et in possessionem saeculi totus intrauerit. in suos enim iure sibi dominatum uindicant atque ab his mercedem iniquitatis efflagitant.
They persecute without cause one in whom they find nothing of their own and still strive to subdue; they persecute not without cause one who has given himself to their power and entered wholly into the possession of the world. For over their own they claim dominion by right and demand from them the wages of iniquity.
John 14:30 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: They persecute without cause the one who has nothing of theirs; over their own they rule by right.
- John 14:30.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.6.3 (CSEL 62:476–477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-6-3
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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.
Exposition 21, chapter 7
21.7.1CSEL 62:477
Bene hoc martyr dicit, quod iniuste persecutionum tormenta sustineat, qui nihil rapuerit, nullum uiolentus oppresserit. nullius sanguinem fuderit, nullius torum putauerit esse uiolandum, qui nihil legibus debeat et grauiora latronum sustinere cogatur supplicia. qui loquatur iusta et non audiatur, qui loquatur plena salutis et inpugnetur, ut possit dicere: cum loquebar illis, inpugnabant me gratis. gratis igitur persecutionem patitur qui inpugnatur sine crimine, inpugnatur ut noxius, cum sit in tali confessione laudabilis, inpugnatur quasi ueneficus, quia in nomine domini gloriatur, cum pietas uirtutum omnium fundamentum sit. uere frustra inpugnatur, qui apud impios et infidos impietatis accersitur. cum fidei sit magister.
Well does the martyr say this, that he unjustly bears the torments of persecutions, who has seized nothing, violently oppressed no one, shed no one’s blood, thought no one’s bed should be violated, who owes nothing to the laws and is forced to bear punishments harsher than robbers, who speaks just things and is not heard, who speaks things full of salvation and is attacked, so that he can say: “When I spoke to them, they attacked me without cause.” So he suffers persecution without cause who is attacked without crime, attacked as guilty when he is praiseworthy in such a confession, attacked as a sorcerer because he glories in the name of the Lord, though godliness is the foundation of all virtues. Truly he is attacked in vain who is accused of ungodliness among the ungodly and faithless, though he is a teacher of faith.
Ps 120:7 (119:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The innocent martyr is persecuted without cause, accused of what he is not.
- Ps 120:7 (LXX 119:7).
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.7.1 (CSEL 62:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-7-1
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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.
Exposition 21, chapter 8
21.8.1CSEL 62:477
Uerum qui gratis inpugnatur fortis esse debet et constans. quomodo ergo subtexuit: et a uerbis tuis trepidauit cor meum? trepidare infirmitatis est, timoris atque formidinis; sed est etiam infirmitas ad salutem, est etiam timor sanctorum. timete dominum, sancti eius et: beatus uir qui timet dominum. qua ratione beatus? quia in mandatis eius cupiet nimis.
But one who is attacked without cause should be brave and steadfast. How, then, did he add, “And my heart trembled at your words”? To tremble belongs to weakness, fear and dread; but there is also a weakness unto salvation, there is also a fear of the saints. “Fear the Lord, you his saints,” and: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.” Why blessed? Because “he will greatly delight in his commandments.”
Ps 119:161 (118:161 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 34:9 (33:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 112:1 (111:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Trembling at God’s words is a holy fear, which makes one blessed.
- Ps 119:161 (LXX 118:161); Ps 34:9 (LXX 33:10); Ps 112:1 (LXX 111:1).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): t imete dominum → timete dominum; quia i n mandatis → quia in mandatis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.8.1 (CSEL 62:477; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-8-1
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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.
21.8.2CSEL 62:477–478
pone ergo martyrem inter pericula constitutum, cum inde inmanitas bestiarum ad incutiendum terrorem infremat, aliunde stridor candentium laminarum et flamma fornacis ardentis exaestuet, ex parte alia personent tractus grauium catenarum, hinc carnifex cruentus adsistat: pone, inquam, circumspectantem omnia plena suppliciis. deinde cogitantem mandata diuina. illum ignem perpetuum, illud sine fine incendium perfidorum. illam poenae recrudescentis aerumnam, trepidare corde, ne, dum praesentibus cedit, perpetuis se dedat exitiis, perturbari animo, dum fu-
So picture a martyr placed among dangers, when on one side the savagery of beasts roars to strike terror, on another the hiss of red-hot plates and the flame of a burning furnace blaze, on another the dragging of heavy chains resounds, here the bloody executioner stands by: picture him, I say, looking around at all things full of punishments, then thinking of the divine commandments, that everlasting fire, that endless burning of the faithless, that misery of ever-renewed punishment, trembling in heart lest, while he yields to present things, he give himself to everlasting destruction, troubled in mind while he gazes, as if seeing it, on that terrible sword of the future
Notes and citation
Summary: The martyr amid tortures trembles more at the thought of eternal punishment.
Topics: Martyrdom, Eschatology, Hell and eternal punishment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.8.2 (CSEL 62:477–478; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-8-2
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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.
21.8.3CSEL 62:478
turi iudicii romphaeam illam terribilem quadam conspectus specie contuetur. nonne hanc trepidationem fiduciae uiri constantis aequabis? in eundem concurrit effectum confidentia cupientis aeterna et diuina trepidantis. sit tamen fortior ille qui sperat, sit fortior qui praesumit.
judgment. Will you not make this trembling equal to the confidence of a steadfast man? The confidence of one who longs for eternal things and the trembling of one who fears divine things run to the same effect. Yet let him be braver who hopes, braver who presumes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Holy trembling and confident hope lead to the same steadfastness.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.8.3 (CSEL 62:478; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-8-3
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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 21, chapter 9
21.9.1CSEL 62:478
Utinam ego talis esse merear, ut, si forte persecutor ingruerit, non considerem suppliciorum meorum acerbitates, non metiar tormenta, non poenas, non cogitem ullius atrocitatem doloris, sed haec omnia leuia ducam, trepidem autem ne Christus me neget, ne Christus excludat, ne me repellat de concilio sacerdotum, si indignum eo collegio iudicauerit, uideat magis, licet permotum corporalium terrore poenarum, plus tamen trepidantem futura iudicia! etsi dixerit mihi: modicae fidei, quare dubitasti?, porriget tamen dexteram et insurgentis fluctus saecularis huius mole turbatum fida mentis statione firmabit.
Would that I might deserve to be such that, if a persecutor should fall upon us, I would not consider the bitterness of my punishments, not measure torments or penalties, not think of the atrocity of any pain, but count all these light, and tremble rather lest Christ deny me, lest Christ shut me out, lest he drive me from the council of bishops if he judged me unworthy of that college; may he rather see me, though shaken by terror of bodily punishments, yet trembling more at the judgments to come! Even if he says to me, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”, he will still stretch out his right hand and, though I am troubled by the mass of the rising wave of this world, will make me firm with a faithful stance of mind.
Matt 10:33 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 14:31 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose prays that in persecution he may fear Christ’s rejection more than torture.
- Matt 10:33; Matt 14:31. Latin concilium sacerdotum (“council of bishops”) refers to the episcopal college.
Topics: Martyrdom, Church office, Hell and eternal punishment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.9.1 (CSEL 62:478; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-9-1
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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.
Exposition 21, chapter 10
21.10.1CSEL 62:478–479
Sequitur uersus secundus: exulto in uerbis tuis, sicut qui inuenit spolia multa. bona ergo trepidatio a uerbis dei, si exultationem generat; qui enim trepidat a uerbis dei, postea exultat in dei uerbis. ergo qui habet in aula sua, corde uidelicet suo uerba dei, excludit sermones principum a corde suo, excludit timor timorem. si enim quis ingressus balneas solis deponit aestus et calor excludit calorem, quanto magis diuini iudicii terror hunc terrorem excludit humanum. feruorem gratiae saecularis gratiae feruor aeternae!
The second verse follows: “I exult in your words, as one who finds much spoil.” Good, then, is trembling at God’s words, if it produces exultation; for whoever trembles at God’s words afterwards exults in God’s words. So whoever has in his hall, that is, in his heart, the words of God shuts out the speeches of princes from his heart; fear shuts out fear. For if one who enters the baths lays aside the heat of the sun, and heat shuts out heat, how much more does the terror of divine judgment shut out this human terror, the fervor of eternal grace the fervor of worldly grace!
Ps 119:162 (118:162 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Fear of God shuts out fear of men and turns to joy in his words.
- Ps 119:162 (LXX 118:162).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma garbled in the digital text; stray letters in the digital text; word split in the digital text): e dxulto in uerbis tuis t uis, sicut qui inuenit s poli a multa → exulto in uerbis tuis, sicut qui inuenit spolia multa; corde uide- Licet suo → corde uidelicet suo; excludit iit humanum → excludit humanum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.10.1 (CSEL 62:478–479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-10-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Exposition 21, chapter 11
21.11.1CSEL 62:479
Exultat ergo qui habet uerbum dei; habet enim spolia multa quae Iudaeis abstulit, habet prostrati hostis exuuias. sicut Dauid abstulit ei gladium et ipsius gladio caput eius exsecuit, sic uerus Dauid, humilis atque mansuetus dominus Iesus, intellegibilis Goliae caput armis ipsius amputauit. arma enim diaboli gentes erant, fide autem gentium uulneratus caput quod habebat amisit.
So he exults who has the word of God; for he has much spoil, which he took from the Jews; he has the spoils of the enemy laid low. As David took his sword from him and with his own sword cut off his head, so the true David, the humble and meek Lord Jesus, cut off the head of the intelligible Goliath with his own weapons. For the devil’s weapons were the nations, and wounded by the faith of the nations he lost the head he had.
1 Sam 17:51 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: As David beheaded Goliath with his own sword, Christ defeated the devil through the faith of the nations.
- 1 Sam 17:51. Translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter lost in the digital text): abstulit e gladium → abstulit ei gladium.
Topics: Christology, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.11.1 (CSEL 62:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-11-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
21.11.2CSEL 62:479
detracta sunt spolia prostrato, uasa eius direpta, quia alligatus est fortis. uas diaboli caro erat hominis peccatoris; sed posteaquam in Christum credidimus. caro nostra coepit esse uas electionis, ut habes de apostolo Paulo, qui ad gentes missus est, dictum ad Ananiam a domino Iesu: uade, quoniam uas electionis mihi est.
The spoils were taken from the fallen one, his vessels plundered, because the strong man was bound. The devil’s vessel was the flesh of sinful man; but after we believed in Christ, our flesh began to be a vessel of election, as you have of the apostle Paul, who was sent to the gentiles, it being said by the Lord Jesus to Ananias: “Go, for he is a chosen vessel to me.”
Matt 12:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 9:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ bound the strong man and made sinful flesh a chosen vessel.
- Matt 12:29; Acts 9:15.
Topics: The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.11.2 (CSEL 62:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-11-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
21.11.3CSEL 62:479
merito ergo uocatum nomen est Christi uelociter spolia detrahe, cito diuide, quia, priusquam sciat puer uocare patrem aut matrem, accipiet uirtutem Damasci et spolia Samariae contra regem Assyriorum. ergo rex Assyriorum, eorum scilicet quos uanos perfidia fecerat. amisit spolia quae tenebat.
Rightly, then, the name of Christ was called “Take the spoils quickly, divide swiftly,” because “before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will receive the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of the Assyrians.” So the king of the Assyrians, that is, of those whom faithlessness had made vain, lost the spoils he held.
Isa 8:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 8:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Isaiah’s child named “Swift spoil” is Christ, who plundered the devil.
- Isa 8:3–4 (LXX form).
Topics: Christology, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.11.3 (CSEL 62:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-11-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-11-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
21.11.4CSEL 62:479
et ut iterum cognoscas, quia spolia Christus a diabolo, quae in Adam ille inuaserat, uindicauit, et Sabain uiri excelsi ad dominum Iesum alligati uinculis transierunt atque ipsum adorare coeperunt, quia captiuam duxit captiuitatem. ideo caput eius abstulit, ut ipse caput esset corporis interempti. merito nunc gentes toto orbe caput regale circumferunt, quia membra sunt Christi.
And that you may know again that Christ reclaimed from the devil the spoils which he had seized in Adam: the Sabaeans too, men of stature, passed over to the Lord Jesus bound in chains and began to worship him, because he led captivity captive. That is why he took off his head, so that he himself might be the head of the slain body. Rightly the nations now carry the royal head throughout the world, because they are members of Christ.
Isa 45:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 4:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:27 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ reclaimed the nations, led captivity captive, and became their head.
- Isa 45:14; Eph 4:8; 1 Cor 12:27.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.11.4 (CSEL 62:479; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-11-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-11-4
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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 21, chapter 12
21.12.1CSEL 62:479–480
Cognouisti de nationibus. cognosce etiam de Iudaeis, quibus dominus Iesus abstulit spolia, hoc est regnum caelorum abstulit et dedit genti facienti fructum eius. abstulit uirtutem panis et uirtutem aquae, prophetam et admirabilem consiliarium et prudentem architectum et sapientem auditorem illis abstulit, nobis dedit;
You have learned about the nations; learn also about the Jews, from whom the Lord Jesus took spoils, that is, he took away the kingdom of heaven and gave it to a nation producing its fruits. He took away the strength of bread and the strength of water; the prophet and the wonderful counselor and the prudent architect and the wise hearer he took from them and gave to us;
Matt 21:43 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 3:3 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ took the kingdom and its gifts from the Jews and gave them to the church.
- Matt 21:43; Isa 3:1–3. Translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letters in the digital text): uirtutem panis i s et → uirtutem panis et.
Topics: The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.12.1 (CSEL 62:479–480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-12-1
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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.
21.12.2CSEL 62:480
merito exulto. sicut qui inuenit spolia multa. sine labore meo inueni spolia quae non habebam, inueni Heptateuchum, inueni Regnorum libros, inueni prophetarum scripturam, inueni Esdram, inueni Psalmos, inueni Prouerbia, inueni Ecclesiasten, inueni Cantica canticorum, inueni admirabilem consiliarium Christum, inueni Paulum prudentem architectum, inueni sapientem auditorem populum christianum, qui nouit ea quae leguntur audire;
rightly I exult, as one who finds much spoil. Without my labor I found spoils I did not have: I found the Heptateuch, I found the books of Kingdoms, I found the writing of the prophets, I found Ezra, I found the Psalms, I found the Proverbs, I found Ecclesiastes, I found the Song of Songs, I found the wonderful Counselor, Christ, I found Paul the prudent architect, I found the wise hearer, the Christian people, which knows how to hear what is read;
Isa 9:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:10 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church has found the spoils of the Old Testament books, Christ and Paul.
- Isa 9:6; 1 Cor 3:10.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text): -qui nouit ea → qui nouit ea.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.12.2 (CSEL 62:480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-12-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-12-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
21.12.3CSEL 62:480
ille enim audit, qui ea quae audit intellegit. lex spiritalis est; non illam audit Iudaeus qui audit corporaliter, sed ille audit qui audit in spiritu. habent illi libros, sed sensum librorum non habent; habent prophetas, sed non habent quem illi prophetauerunt. quomodo enim habent quem non receperunt?
for he hears who understands what he hears. The law is spiritual; the Jew does not hear it who hears bodily, but he hears it who hears in the spirit. They have the books, but they do not have the sense of the books; they have the prophets, but they do not have him whom they prophesied. For how do they have him whom they did not receive?
Rom 7:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The law is spiritual; without Christ the books lack their sense.
- Rom 7:14. Translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ille enim au:iit → ille enim audit.
Topics: Scripture and canon, The law of Moses
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.12.3 (CSEL 62:480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-12-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-12-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
21.12.4CSEL 62:480
ideo cum Moyse et Helia mihi apparuit, quia ab illis recessit. multa habet spolia qui habet dei uerbum; habet resurrectionem, habet iustitiam, uirtutem atque sapientiam, habet omnia, quia omnia in ipso constant. Hebraei spoliauerunt Aegyptios et uasa eorum abstulerunt; Iudaeorum spolia habet populus christianus et totum habemus, quod illi habere se nesciebant. illi aurum et argentum materiale abstulerunt, nos aurum mentis accepimus. nos adquisiuimus caelestis sermonis argentum.
That is why he appeared to me with Moses and Elijah, because he withdrew from them. He has much spoil who has the word of God: he has the resurrection, he has righteousness, power and wisdom, he has all things, because all things hold together in him. The Hebrews despoiled the Egyptians and carried off their vessels; the Christian people has the spoils of the Jews, and we have all which they did not know they had. They carried off material gold and silver; we have received the gold of the mind, we have acquired the silver of the heavenly word.
Matt 17:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 1:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 12:36 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: As Israel despoiled Egypt, the church has received the spiritual riches of Scripture and Christ.
- Matt 17:3; Col 1:17; Exod 12:35–36. Translated as written.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.12.4 (CSEL 62:480; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-12-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-12-4
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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 21, chapter 13
21.13.1CSEL 62:480–481
Sequitur uersus tertius: iniustitiam odio habui et abominatus sum, legem autem tuam dilexi. merito odit iniustitiam qui habet arma iustitiae. Hebraeus cum haberet haec arma. hoc est legem et prophetas, abominabatur mortuum. quia lex dicit: omnis qui tetigerit mortuum inmundus erit, et humanitatis suprema negabat officia defunctis; sed legi non est mortuus nisi qui iniustus est.
The third verse follows: “I have hated and abhorred injustice, but I have loved your law.” Rightly he hates injustice who has the weapons of righteousness. The Hebrew, though he had these weapons, that is, the law and the prophets, abhorred the dead, because the law says, “Everyone who touches a dead body shall be unclean,” and he refused the last duties of humanity to the dead; but to the law no one is dead except one who is unjust.
Ps 119:163 (118:163 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Num 19:11 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The law calls the dead unclean, but in truth only the unjust are dead.
- Ps 119:163 (LXX 118:163); Num 19:11.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (letter-spaced lemma split in the digital text): odio habui m et abominatus sum, le gem aut em → odio habui et abominatus sum, legem autem.
Topics: The law of Moses
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.13.1 (CSEL 62:480–481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-13-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
21.13.2CSEL 62:481
haec est inmunditia iusti, quae iniquitas. quid enim inmundius quam mentem, qua nihil homini pretiosius est datum, turpibus commaculare criminibus et atrocibus efferare commentis? quid illis prodest, quod mortuum hominem uisere reformidant? utinam uita eorum non pollueret adpropinquantem. quorum mors contaminare neminem potest! mors nemini nocet; utinam uita non noceat!
This is the uncleanness of the righteous, which is iniquity. For what is more unclean than to stain the mind, than which nothing more precious has been given to man, with shameful crimes and to make it savage with atrocious schemes? What does it profit them that they dread to visit a dead man? Would that their life did not pollute one who draws near, whose death can defile no one! Death harms no one; would that life did not harm!
Notes and citation
Summary: Iniquity, not a corpse, is true uncleanness; a sinful life defiles, not death.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.13.2 (CSEL 62:481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-13-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-13-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
21.13.3CSEL 62:481
contagium conluuionis consortium iniquitatis est. quomodo ergo contaminare potest qui iniquus esse iam non potest, cum, etiamsi fuit, tamen esse desiuit? fuge ergo iniquitatem, ne te conprehendat, fuge iniustitiam, quae uiuentes adhuc mortuos facit.
The contagion of filth is fellowship in iniquity. How then can one defile who can no longer be unjust, since, even if he was, he has ceased to be? So flee iniquity, lest it seize you; flee injustice, which makes the living already dead.
Notes and citation
Summary: Flee injustice, which makes the living dead.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.13.3 (CSEL 62:481; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-13-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-13-3
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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 21, chapter 14
21.14.1CSEL 62:481–482
Sed nemo fugit iniquitatem nisi qui diligit aequitatem, et ideo ait: legem autem tuam dilexi. in lege aequitas est. si spiritalem accipias legem, si consurgas cum Christo et ibi altare sacrosanctum illud caeleste consideres, non altare terrenum, quod hostili populatione destructum est; si illam Hierusalem spectes quae in caelo est, non istam quae a populo Iudaeorum frequentabatur in terris, quae propter incolarum perfidiam a Romano exercitu triumphata iniecto flagrauit incendio; si intuearis in illum principem sacerdotum de quo scriptum est: habentes itaque magnum sacerdotem egressum de caelis. Iesum filium dei, teneamus confessionem fidelem. qui cotidie aduocatus pro nobis est apud patrem, ut, pro quibus in diebus carnis suae misericordi est compassus affectu, pro his operetur remissionem cotidie peccatorum. quae enim spes alia generi humano. nisi omnium uiuentium delicta donentur? ille ergo princeps solus est sacerdotum, cui adstant pii sacerdotes in caelestium sacrarium illud altissimum merito proprii cruoris ingressi. illa ergo lex diligenda, in qua uerus Hebraeus liber ab omni seruitute uitiorum est, in qua magnum sabbatum et inoffensa requies defunctorum, in qua mortui populi semen resuscitatur non conmixtione, sed redemptione fraterna. secundum hanc ergo legem odio habet sanctus iniustitiam, non iniustum, qui potest saepe conuerti, nec mortuorum reliquias, sed mortuam iniquitatem exsecratur.
But no one flees iniquity except one who loves equity, and therefore he says: “But I have loved your law.” In the law is equity, if you take the law as spiritual, if you rise with Christ and there consider that most holy heavenly altar, not the earthly altar which was destroyed by hostile ravaging; if you look at that Jerusalem which is in heaven, not this one frequented by the Jewish people on earth, which because of the faithlessness of its inhabitants was conquered by a Roman army and blazed with fire set to it; if you gaze on that prince of priests of whom it is written: “Having therefore a great high priest who has gone out from the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our faithful confession,” who daily is advocate for us with the Father, so that for those with whom in the days of his flesh he suffered with merciful affection, for them he may work daily the remission of sins. For what other hope is there for the human race but that the offenses of all the living be forgiven? So he alone is the prince of priests, by whom stand devout priests, having entered that highest heavenly sanctuary by the merit of his own blood. So that law is to be loved in which the true Hebrew is free from all slavery of vices, in which is the great sabbath and the untroubled rest of the dead, in which the seed of the dead people is raised up not by intercourse but by brotherly redemption. According to this law, then, the saint hates injustice, not the unjust man, who can often be converted; and he abhors not the remains of the dead, but dead iniquity.
Ps 119:163 (118:163 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 4:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 5:7 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 John 2:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 9:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 25:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The spiritual law points to the heavenly altar, Jerusalem, and Christ the high priest; the saint hates injustice, not the unjust.
- Ps 119:163 (LXX 118:163); Gal 4:26; Heb 4:14; Heb 5:7; 1 John 2:1; Heb 9:12. The raising of the dead brother’s seed alludes to levirate marriage (Deut 25:5–6), here fulfilled by Christ’s brotherly redemption.
Topics: Christology, Divorce and remarriage
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Exp. Ps. 118 21.14.1 (CSEL 62:481–482; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmo-118/21-14-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 62, 1913); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.