Explanation of Twelve Psalms 1.1.1–1.24.5
Latin text: CSEL 64 (Latin text: Schenkl/Petschenig, CSEL 64, 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).
Explanation 1, chapter 1
1.1.1CSEL 64:3
Summum incentiuum uirtutis proposuit deus futurae beatitudinis delectationem; uehemens quoque calcar erroris delectationem esse diabolus excogitauit. utriusque sententiae praestat indicium primus humani generis Adam a domino deo in paradiso positus uoluptatis, ut aeterna delectatione frueretur ad uirtutem futurae subolis prouocandam — neque enim erat incognitum deo locum eum errori daturum et ceteris propositam spem salutis esse debere, qua in praereptam humano sedem generi contenderent reformari —, et idem per speciem serpentis, quae praefigurauit delectationis illecebras, uxoria persuasione deceptus.
God set before us, as the highest incentive to virtue, the delight of future blessedness; the devil, for his part, devised delight as a vehement spur to error. Of both purposes the first of the human race gives proof: Adam, placed by the Lord God in the paradise of pleasure so that he might enjoy everlasting delight and so be roused to the virtue of the offspring to come (for it was not unknown to God that he would give way to error, and that the hope of salvation must be set before the rest, by which they might strive to be restored to the seat snatched away from the human race), was the same Adam who, through the form of the serpent, which prefigured the enticements of delight, was deceived by his wife's persuasion.
Gen 2:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Delight was set by God as a spur to virtue and turned by the devil into a spur to error, as Adam's story shows.
- Key renderings for this work (for later chunks): beatus/beatitudo "blessed/blessedness"; delectatio "delight"; uoluptas "pleasure"; impius "ungodly"; peccator "sinner"; iniquus "unjust"; consilium "counsel"; cathedra pestilentiae "seat of pestilence"; lex "law"; meditari "meditate"; psallere "sing psalms"; psalmus "psalm"; mysterium/sacramentum "mystery" (sacramentum "sacrament" only of baptism/eucharist); uirtus "virtue" or "power" by sense; saeculum "the world"; caro "flesh"; gratia "grace"; paenitentia "repentance"; ecclesia "church"; episcopus/presbyter/diaconus "bishop/presbyter/deacon"; adulterium "adultery", fornicatio/stuprum "sexual immorality". Psalm numbers in the work's references are Ambrose's (LXX/Vulgate); Scripture tags use Protestant numbering with the LXX number as alternative. The Old Latin psalm text is translated as Ambrose quotes it.
- "Paradise of pleasure" renders the Latin Bible's paradisus uoluptatis (Gen 2:8; 3:23).
Topics: The devil and demons, The fall
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.1.1 (CSEL 64:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.1.2CSEL 64:3
occasione igitur accepta aduersarius per delectationem mihi operatus est mortem. itaque quod diuina gratia tributum erat ad uitam, factum est mihi in mortem eoque faciliorem inimicus assensum hominis habuit ad lapsum, quo speciem praetendit naturae. delectarunt enim opera sua dominum, delectarunt prima naturae exordia, quae uidens dominus ait: bona ualde.
So the adversary, seizing the occasion, worked death for me through delight. Thus what had been granted by divine grace for life became for me a means of death, and the enemy found man's consent to the fall all the easier because he held out the appearance of nature. For his works delighted the Lord; the first beginnings of nature delighted him; seeing them the Lord said: "Very good."
Rom 7:11 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 7:13 (echo, low confidence) · Gen 1:31 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil used delight, which God himself took in his works, to bring death.
- Compare Rom 7:11, 13 ("sin, seizing the occasion … worked death in me").
Topics: The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.1.2 (CSEL 64:3; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-1-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 2
1.2.1CSEL 64:3–4
Laudant angeli dominum, psallunt ei potestates caelorum et ante ipsum initium mundi Cherubim et Seraphim cum suauitate canorae uocis suae dicunt: sanctus sanctus sanctus. innumera angelorum milia adsistunt et seniores et turba magna sicut uoces aquarum multarum concinunt: alleluia. ipsum axem caeli fert expressior sermo cum quadam perpetui concentus
The angels praise the Lord, the powers of the heavens sing psalms to him, and before the very beginning of the world the Cherubim and Seraphim, with the sweetness of their tuneful voice, say: "Holy, holy, holy." Countless thousands of angels stand by, and the elders and a great multitude, like the sound of many waters, sing together: "Alleluia." A more explicit saying holds that the very axis of heaven turns with a certain
Isa 6:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 4:8 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 5:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 19:6 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Angels and the heavenly host praise God in song.
- The sentence runs on into 1.2.2. The "more explicit saying" about the singing heavens probably alludes to the philosophical idea of the music of the spheres; uncertain.
Topics: Angels, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.2.1 (CSEL 64:3–4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.2.2CSEL 64:4
suauitate uersari, ut sonus eius extremis terrarum partibus audiretur, ubi sunt quaedam secreta naturae. nec id ab usu naturae alienum uidetur, quandoquidem uox missa gratiore plausu e nemoribus resultet aut montibus et suauiore sono reddant quod acceperint. in scopulis quoque ipsis et lapidibus repperit natura quod delectaret; aliorum specula, aliorum usus delectat aut gratia. ferae ipsae atque aues loci amoenioris aut modulatioris uocis delectatione mulcentur, lactantibus quoque paruulis aut seueritas terrori est aut blanditiae uoluptati. naturalis igitur delectatio est.
sweetness of unceasing harmony, so that its sound is heard in the farthest parts of the earth, where certain secrets of nature lie. Nor does this seem foreign to the way nature works, since a voice sent out rebounds with a more pleasing echo from woods or mountains, and they return with sweeter sound what they have received. Even in cliffs and stones nature has found something to delight: some delight by their outlook, others by their use or their beauty. Wild beasts themselves and birds are soothed by the delight of a pleasanter place or a more tuneful voice; and in nursing infants severity causes fear and caresses pleasure. Delight, therefore, is natural.
Ps 19:4 (18:5 LXX) (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Delight is natural, as nature's echoes, beasts, birds and infants show.
- "Its sound is heard in the farthest parts of the earth" echoes Ps 19:4 [LXX 18:5].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.2.2 (CSEL 64:4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-2-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 3
1.3.1CSEL 64:4
Unde et Dauid sanctus, qui aduerteret, unde homo et qua esset fraude deiectus — nam si tenuisset infusam sibi a domino aeternae illius caelestisque delectationis gratiam nec saecularibus captus amisisset illecebris, numquam tam miserabilis aerumnae subisset iniurias —, itaque reparare eam studens et reformare psallendi munere caelestis nobis instar conuersationis instituit.
Hence holy David too, who perceived from what height man had fallen and by what fraud he had been cast down (for if he had held fast the grace of that eternal and heavenly delight poured into him by the Lord, and had not lost it, captured by the enticements of the world, he would never have suffered the injuries of so wretched a hardship), therefore, eager to restore and re-form it, established for us, through the office of psalm-singing, a likeness of the heavenly way of life.
Notes and citation
Summary: David gave us psalm-singing to restore something of the heavenly delight Adam lost.
Topics: Hymns and singing, The fall
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.3.1 (CSEL 64:4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-3-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 4
1.4.1CSEL 64:4
Etenim licet omnis scriptura diuina dei gratiam spiret, praecipue tamen dulcis Psalmorum liber, quandoquidem ipse Moyses, qui plano gesta maiorum sermone descripsit, ubi tamen per Mare Rubrum populum patrum memorabili admiratione transduxit, demersum aspiciens regem Pharaonem cum suis copiis, in maiora
For although all divine Scripture breathes the grace of God, the book of Psalms is especially sweet. Moses himself, who described the deeds of the ancestors in plain speech, nevertheless, when he had led the people of the fathers through the Red Sea in a crossing worthy of wonder, seeing King Pharaoh drowned with his forces, raised his genius to greater things,
Exod 14:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Exod 14:28 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: All Scripture breathes God's grace, but the Psalms are especially sweet; even Moses broke into song at the Red Sea.
- The sentence continues in 1.4.2.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.4.1 (CSEL 64:4; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-4-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.4.2CSEL 64:4–5
ingenium attollens suum, quia maiora uiribus suis fuerat assecutus, canticum domino cecinit triumphale. Maria quoque tympanum sumens ceteras hortabatur dicens: cantemus domino, gloriose enim honorificatus est; equum et ascensorem proiecit in mare. ipse etiam Moyses cum legem domini legisset, quo eius memoriam pectoribus affigeret audientium, per canticum locutus est dicens: audi caelum, et loquar; expectetur sicut pluuia eloquium meum et descendant sicut ros uerba mea, sicut imber super gramen et sicut nix super faenum.
because he had achieved things greater than his own strength, and sang to the Lord a song of triumph. Miriam also, taking a timbrel, urged the other women, saying: "Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously honored; horse and rider he has thrown into the sea." Moses himself, too, when he had read the law of the Lord, in order to fix its memory in the hearts of the hearers, spoke by means of a song, saying: "Hear, O heaven, and I will speak; let my utterance be awaited like rain, and let my words come down like dew, like a shower upon the grass and like snow upon the hay."
Exod 15:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 15:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 15:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 32:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 32:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses and Miriam sang at the Red Sea, and Moses gave the law its memory in a song.
- Exod 15:1, 20–21; Deut 32:1–2 in the Old Latin form (the last clause, "like snow upon the hay", follows the Greek, not the Hebrew).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters; digitization: spaced letters and 1 for l): cae 1 um → caelum; f a e n u m → faenum.
Topics: Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.4.2 (CSEL 64:4–5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-4-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 5
1.5.1CSEL 64:5
Delectatur igitur cantico deus non solum laudari, sed etiam reconciliari. inde et Moyses tunc maxime cantico usus est, quando caelum testificabatur et terram, ut salutem suam caelestis sono gratiae concinentem auidius mundus audiret et sacrae suauitate dulcedinis in aeternum legis obseruantia mentibus inoleret humanis.
God, then, is delighted by song, not only to be praised but also to be reconciled. That is why Moses made most use of song at the time when he was calling heaven and earth to witness, so that the world might listen more eagerly to its own salvation sounding together with the strain of heavenly grace, and the keeping of the law might be implanted for ever in human minds by the sweetness of a sacred delight.
Deut 32:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God takes delight in song both as praise and as a means of reconciliation.
Topics: Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.5.1 (CSEL 64:5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-5-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.5.2CSEL 64:5
denique legis tabulae priusquam cantico firmarentur, per indignationem Moysi fractae et comminutae sunt; ubi uero tali signaculo consecratae sunt, humana locum ira non habuit, quia sanctificatio eam sacrae suauitatis exclusit. canticum itaque domini sicut ros mollior descendit e caelo et fidem hominum sicut gramen imbre quodam gratiae spiritalis infudit. duo igitur haec cantica in libris Moysi tamquam duo mundi oculi caelique lumina totum corpus operis eius illustrant.
Indeed, before the tablets of the law were confirmed by a song, they were broken and shattered through Moses' indignation; but when they were consecrated with such a seal, human anger had no place, because the sanctification of sacred sweetness shut it out. And so the Lord's song came down from heaven like gentle dew and poured faith into men as a shower of spiritual grace falls on grass. These two songs, then, in the books of Moses, like two eyes of the world and lights of heaven, illumine the whole body of his work.
Exod 32:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Deut 32:2 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Moses' two songs, in Exodus and Deuteronomy, light up his whole work.
Topics: Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.5.2 (CSEL 64:5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-5-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 6
1.6.1CSEL 64:5
At uero Dauid principaliter a domino ad hoc munus electus est, ut, quod in aliis rarum praeminere reliquo operi uidetur, in hoc iuge et continuum refulgeret. unum canticum legimus in libro Iudicum, reliqua historiae more decursa, quibus expressa sunt gesta maiorum. unum Esaias canticum scripsit, quo legentium corda mulceret, in reliquis terribili tuba correptionis infremuit.
But David was chosen by the Lord chiefly for this office, so that what in others seems rare and stands out above the rest of their work should shine in him constantly and without break. We read one song in the book of Judges; the rest is told in the manner of history, in which the deeds of the ancestors are set out. Isaiah wrote one song, with which to soothe the hearts of his readers; in the rest he roared with the terrible trumpet of rebuke.
Judg 5:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 5:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Songs are rare elsewhere in Scripture, but constant in David.
- The song of Deborah (Judg 5) and probably the song of the vineyard (Isa 5:1–7).
Topics: Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.6.1 (CSEL 64:5; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-6-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.6.2CSEL 64:5–6
canticum ei ne ipsi quidem inimici obicere potuerunt, qui eum propter alia dicta usque ad necem sunt persecuti. unum Danihel, unum Habacuc, Salomon ipse Dauid filius, licet innumera cantica cecinisse dicatur, unum tamen quod ecclesia receperit Canticorum canticum dereliquit; scripsit idem Prouerbia. in aliis igitur singula aduertere licet.
Not even his enemies, who persecuted him to death on account of his other sayings, could reproach him for his song. Daniel wrote one, Habakkuk one; Solomon himself, David's son, though he is said to have sung countless songs, left only one that the church has received, the Song of Songs; he also wrote Proverbs. In the others, then, one may notice single instances.
Hab 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 4:32 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 1:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Daniel, Habakkuk and Solomon each left one song.
- The persecuted author is Isaiah, said by tradition to have been killed (sawn in two) by his enemies. Daniel's "one song" is probably the song of the three young men (Dan 3 Greek, an addition outside the 66 books); Habakkuk's is Hab 3; Solomon's songs, 1 Kgs 4:32.
Extrabiblical texts: Pr Azar (Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Young Men [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Topics: Scripture and canon, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.6.2 (CSEL 64:5–6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-6-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 7
1.7.1CSEL 64:6
Historia instruit, lex docet, prophetia annuntiat, correptio castigat, moralitas suadet; in libro Psalmorum profectus est omnium et medicina quaedam salutis humanae. quicumque legerit, habet quo propriae uulnera passionis speciali possit curare remedio. quicumque cernere uoluerit, tamquam in communi animarum gymnasio et quodam stadio uirtutum diuersa genera certaminum rep-
History instructs, the law teaches, prophecy announces, rebuke chastises, moral teaching persuades; in the book of Psalms there is the progress of all, and a kind of medicine for human salvation. Whoever reads it has a special remedy with which to heal the wounds of his own passion. Whoever wishes to look into it, finding various kinds of contests made ready, as in a common gymnasium of souls and a sort of stadium of virtues,
Notes and citation
Summary: The Psalms contain everything found in the other books and are a medicine for the soul.
- The word "finding" is split between this section and the next in the digital text (rep-/periens).
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.7.1 (CSEL 64:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-7-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.7.2CSEL 64:6
periens praeparata id sibi eligat, cui se intellegit aptiorem, quo facilius perueniat ad coronam. si quis gesta studet recensere maiorum atque imitari uelit, intra unum psalmum totam paternae historiae seriem accipit conprehensam, ut thesaurum memoriae conpendio lectionis adquirat. faciliora quoque uidentur quae breuius explicantur. illud etiam quantae altitudinis, quod breui interuallo offensionum aduersa distinxit et reconciliationis secunda subtexuit, ut
may choose the one for which he knows himself fitter, so as to reach the crown more easily. If anyone is eager to review the deeds of the ancestors and wishes to imitate them, he receives the whole course of the fathers' history gathered within one psalm, so that he may acquire a treasury of memory in a brief reading. And what is explained more briefly also seems easier. How profound, too, that in a short space he set out the adversities that came from offenses and added the blessings of reconciliation, so that
Ps 78:1 (77:1 LXX) (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A single psalm can hold the whole history of the fathers.
- Probably Ps 78 [LXX 77] or Ps 105–106 [LXX 104–105].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.7.2 (CSEL 64:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-7-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.7.3CSEL 64:6
simul cognosceres, quid incredulitatis obesset offensa, quid fides prompta conferret! si quis uim legis explorat, quae tota in uinculo caritatis est — qui enim diligit proximum legem impleuit —, in psalmis legat, quanto dilectionis affectu pro totius plebis obprobrio repellendo periculis se grauibus solus obiecerit; in quo non imparem caritatis gloriam triumpho uirtutis agnoscet. si quis correptionum saeua formidat, audiat dicentem: domine, ne in ira tua arguas me neque in furore tuo
you might learn at once what harm the offense of unbelief does and what ready faith confers! If anyone examines the force of the law, which consists wholly in the bond of love (for "he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law"), let him read in the psalms with what affection of love he alone exposed himself to grave dangers to remove the reproach from the whole people; and in this he will recognize a glory of love not unequal to the triumph of courage. If anyone fears the harshness of rebukes, let him hear one saying: "Lord, do not reprove me in your wrath, nor in your fury
Rom 13:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 17:26 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 6:1 (6:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Psalms teach love, as David risked himself for the people, and how to bear rebuke.
- Rom 13:8. David's facing Goliath for Israel's reproach (1 Sam 17:26), sung in the psalms (e.g. Ps 151 LXX, outside the 66 books, or Ps 144 [LXX 143]); uncertain. Ps 6:1 [LXX 6:2], continued in 1.7.4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: m for in; digitization: spaced letters and 1 for l): tota m uinculo → tota in uinculo; i m p 1 e u i t → impleuit.
Topics: Love of God and neighbour
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.7.3 (CSEL 64:6; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-7-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-7-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.7.4CSEL 64:6–7
corripias me et discat, quemadmodum debeat irati iudicis temperare censuram. si quis patientiae cognoscere gestit exemplum, legat in psalmis: si reddidi retribuentibus mihi mala et aduertat, quia praeceptum euangelicum spiritu praeuidit, uirtute praeuenit. habes itaque illud prouerbiale, quia mansuetus homo cordis est medicus. si quis praeterea aduersus nequitiae spiritalis incursus uult esse munitus, quid magis quam psallendum sibi esse nouerit? psallebat Dauid adulescentior et Saulis nequam spiritum fugabat, qui eum antea stringebat.
chasten me," and let him learn how he ought to temper the sentence of an angry judge. If anyone longs to know an example of patience, let him read in the psalms: "If I have repaid those who rendered evils to me," and let him note that he foresaw the gospel precept in spirit and anticipated it in virtue. So you have that proverb: "A gentle man is a physician of the heart." And further, if anyone wants to be armed against the assaults of spiritual wickedness, what should he know better than that he must sing psalms? David sang psalms when quite young and put to flight the evil spirit of Saul, which had been gripping him before.
Ps 6:1 (6:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 7:4 (7:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:39 (allusion, medium confidence) · Prov 14:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 6:12 (echo, low confidence) · 1 Sam 16:23 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Psalms teach patience and arm us against evil spirits, as David's playing drove off Saul's spirit.
- Ps 7:4 [LXX 7:5]; the gospel precept is Matt 5:39–44. The proverb is Prov 14:30 in the Greek form ("a gentle man is a physician of the heart"). 1 Sam 16:23.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters; digitization: words joined): meet discat → me et discat; m a nsuetus → mansuetus.
Topics: Prayer, Patience, The devil and demons
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.7.4 (CSEL 64:6–7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-7-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-7-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 8
1.8.1CSEL 64:7
De uirtute autem prophetiae quid loquar? quod alii annuntiauerunt per aenigmata, huic soli palam atque aperte uidetur esse promissum, ut dominus Iesus ex eius semine nasceretur, sicut dixit ad eum dominus: de fructu uentris tui ponam super sedem tuam.
And what shall I say of the power of prophecy? What others announced through riddles seems to have been promised to him alone, plainly and openly: that the Lord Jesus would be born of his seed, as the Lord said to him: "Of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne."
Ps 132:11 (131:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David alone was openly promised that Christ would come from his seed.
- Ps 132:11 [LXX 131:11].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: g for s): guper → super.
Topics: Christology, Prophecy and fulfilment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.8.1 (CSEL 64:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-8-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.8.2CSEL 64:7
in psalmis itaque nobis non solum nascitur Iesus, sed etiam salutarem illam suscipit corporis passionem, quiescit, resurgit, ascendit ad caelum, sedet ad dexteram patris. id quod nemo praesumpserit hominum dicere, hoc solus hic propheta annuntiauit, postea ipse dominus in euangelio praedicauit.
So in the psalms Jesus is not only born for us, but also undergoes that saving passion of the body, rests, rises again, ascends to heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father. What no man would have dared to say, this prophet alone announced, and afterwards the Lord himself proclaimed it in the gospel.
Ps 110:1 (109:1 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 16:10 (15:10 LXX) (allusion, low confidence) · Luke 24:44 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalms foretell Christ's birth, passion, resurrection, ascension and session.
Topics: Christology, Prophecy and fulfilment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.8.2 (CSEL 64:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-8-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 9
1.9.1CSEL 64:7
Omnes praeterea scriptores psalmorum in suis scriptis exempla posuerunt aut aliqua dicta superiorum; psalmi nihil praeter quod suum est habent. quid igitur psalmo gratius? unde pulchre ipse Dauid: laudate, inquit, dominum, quoniam bonus est psalmus; deo nostro sit iocunda decoraque laudatio. et uere; psalmus enim benedictio populi est, dei laus, plebis laudatio, plausus omnium, sermo uniuersorum, uox ecclesiae, fidei canora confessio, auctoritatis plena deuotio, libertatis laetitia, clamor iocunditatis, laetitiae resultatio. ab iracundia mitigat, a sollicitudine abdicat, a maerore alleuat;
Moreover, all the other writers have placed in their writings examples or some sayings of those before them; the psalms have nothing but what is their own. What, then, is more pleasing than a psalm? So David himself says finely: "Praise the Lord, for a psalm is good; to our God let there be joyful and seemly praise." And truly: for a psalm is the blessing of the people, the praise of God, the commendation of the multitude, the applause of all, the speech of everyone, the voice of the church, the tuneful confession of faith, devotion full of authority, the gladness of freedom, the cry of joy, the echo of gladness. It calms from anger, frees from anxiety, relieves from grief;
Ps 147:1 (146:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A psalm is wholly its own, and is the praise and joy of the whole people.
- Ps 147:1 [LXX 146:1], Old Latin.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.9.1 (CSEL 64:7; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.9.2CSEL 64:7–8
nocturna arma, diurna magisteria, scutum in timore, festum in sanctitate, imago tranquillitatis, pignus pacis atque concordiae, citharae modo ex diuersis et disparibus uocibus unam exprimens cantilenam. diei ortus psalmum resultat, psalmum resonat occasus.
it is armor by night, instruction by day, a shield in fear, a feast in holiness, an image of tranquillity, a pledge of peace and concord, expressing, like a lyre, one song out of different and unlike voices. The rising of the day re-echoes a psalm; its setting resounds with a psalm.
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalm serves day and night and makes one song from many voices.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.9.2 (CSEL 64:7–8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.9.3CSEL 64:8
Mulieres apostolus in ecclesia tacere iubet, psalmum etiam bene clamant; hic omni dulcis aetati, hic utrique aptus est sexui. hunc senes rigore senectutis deposito canunt, hunc ueterani tristes in cordis sui iocunditate respondent, hunc iuuenes sine inuidia cantant lasciuiae, hunc adulescentes sine lubricae aetatis periculo et temptamento concinunt uoluptatis, iuuenculae ipsae sine dispendio matronalis psallunt pudoris, puellulae sine prolapsione
The apostle bids women keep silent in church, yet they do well to cry out a psalm; it is sweet to every age, fitting for either sex. Old men sing it, laying aside the stiffness of old age; sad veterans answer it in the joy of their heart; young men sing it without reproach of wantonness; youths sing it together without the danger of a slippery age and the temptation of pleasure; young women themselves sing psalms without loss of a matron's modesty; little girls, without lapse
1 Cor 14:34 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalm-singing suits every age and both sexes, women included.
- 1 Cor 14:34.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing, Women
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.9.3 (CSEL 64:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.9.4CSEL 64:8
uerecundiae cum sobrietate grauitatis hymnum deo inflexae uocis suauitate modulantur. hunc tenere gestit pueritia, hunc meditari gaudet infantia, quae alia declinat ediscere; ludus quidam est iste doctrinae maioris profectus quam cum seria traditur disciplina. quantum laboratur in ecclesia, ut fiat silentium, cum lectiones leguntur! si unus loquatur, obstrepunt uniuersi; cum psalmus legitur, ipse sibi est effector silentii; omnes locuntur et nullus obstrepit.
of modesty, with sober gravity, sing a hymn to God in the sweetness of a modulated voice. Boyhood longs to hold it fast, infancy rejoices to practice it, though it shrinks from learning other things; it is a kind of play of learning, more profitable than when discipline is handed down in earnest. How hard it is in church to get silence when the readings are read! If one person speaks, everyone makes a din; when a psalm is read, it makes its own silence: all speak and no one makes a din.
Notes and citation
Summary: Children learn the psalms gladly, and the psalm creates its own silence in church.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.9.4 (CSEL 64:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.9.5CSEL 64:8
psalmum reges sine potestatis supercilio resultant, in hoc se ministerio Dauid gaudebat uideri; psalmus cantatur ab imperatoribus, iubilatur a populis. certantur clamare singuli quod omnibus proficit. domi psalmus canitur, foris recensetur; sine labore percipitur, cum uoluptate seruatur. psalmus dissidentes copulat, discordes sociat, offensos reconciliat; quis enim non remittat ei, cum quo unam ad deum uocem emiserit? magnum plane unitatis uinculum, in unum chorum totius numerum plebis coire.
Kings sing a psalm aloud without the arrogance of power; David rejoiced to be seen in this ministry. A psalm is sung by emperors, shouted with joy by peoples. Each strives to cry out what profits all. A psalm is sung at home and repeated outside; it is learned without labor and kept with pleasure. A psalm joins those at variance, unites those in discord, reconciles the offended; for who will not forgive one with whom he has lifted a single voice to God? It is truly a great bond of unity, for the whole number of the people to come together into one choir.
2 Sam 6:14 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalm is sung by kings and peoples alike and makes the people one.
- David's dancing before the ark (2 Sam 6:14–22) may be in view.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: m for in): sme → sine.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.9.5 (CSEL 64:8; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.9.6CSEL 64:8–9
dispares citharae nerui sunt, sed una symphonia. in paucissimis chordis saepe errant digiti artificis, sed in populo spiritus artifex nescit errare. psalmus nocturni operis commercium, diurnae requiei stipendium, institutio incipientium, perfectorum confirmatio, angelorum ministerium, militia caelestis, hostia spiritalis. psalmum et saxa respondent; psalmus canitur et ipsa etiam saxosa pectora molliuntur: uidemus flere praeduros, flecti inmisericordes.
The strings of a lyre are unlike, but the harmony is one. On very few strings the fingers of a craftsman often err, but in the people the Spirit, as craftsman, does not know how to err. The psalm is the exchange of night's work, the wage of daytime rest, the instruction of beginners, the strengthening of the perfect, the ministry of angels, the warfare of heaven, a spiritual sacrifice. Even rocks answer a psalm; a psalm is sung and even rocky hearts are softened: we see the hardest weep and the merciless bend.
Notes and citation
Summary: In the singing people the Spirit plays without error, and the psalm softens hard hearts.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing, The Holy Spirit
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.9.6 (CSEL 64:8–9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-9-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 10
1.10.1CSEL 64:9
Certat in psalmo doctrina cum gratia; simul cantatur ad delectationem, discitur ad eruditionem. nam uiolentiora praecepta non permanent; quod autem cum suauitate perceperis, id infusum semel praecordiis non consueuit elabi. quid est quod non tibi occurrat psalmos legenti?
In the psalm teaching vies with grace; it is sung for delight and learned for instruction. For harsher precepts do not last; but what you have received with sweetness, once poured into the heart, does not usually slip away. What is there that does not meet you as you read the psalms?
Notes and citation
Summary: What is learned with sweetness in the psalms is retained.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.10.1 (CSEL 64:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-10-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.10.2CSEL 64:9
in his lego canticum pro dilecto et sacrae desiderio caritatis inflammor, in his torcularia diuini mysterii recognosco, in his reuelationum gratiam, resurrectionis recenseo testimonia, repromissionis munera, in his disco uitare peccatum, dedisco erubescere paenitentiam delictorum. tantus rex, tantus propheta suo me prouocauit exemplo, ut aut commissum studeam extenuare peccatum aut non commissum cauere.
In them I read the song for the beloved and am set on fire with longing for sacred love; in them I recognize the winepresses of the divine mystery; in them the grace of revelations; I review the testimonies of the resurrection, the gifts of the promise; in them I learn to avoid sin and unlearn being ashamed of repentance for my offenses. So great a king, so great a prophet has challenged me by his example, that I strive either to lessen a sin committed or to guard against one not committed.
Ps 45:1 (44:1 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 8:1 (8:1 LXX) (allusion, low confidence) · Ps 51:3 (50:5 LXX) (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalms kindle love, reveal mysteries, and teach both avoiding sin and repenting of it.
- "The song for the beloved" is Ps 45 [LXX 44] (title "pro dilecto"); "the winepresses" refers to the titles of Ps 8, 81, 84 [LXX 8, 80, 83] ("for the winepresses").
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.10.2 (CSEL 64:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-10-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 11
1.11.1CSEL 64:9
Quid igitur psalmus nisi uirtutum est organum, quod sancti spiritus plectro pangens propheta uenerabilis caelestis sonitus fecit in terris dulcedinem resultare? simul, cum ille in fidibus et chordis, hoc est in reliquiis mortuis diuersarum uocum modulatus discrimina diuinae laudationis ad caelestia dirigeret cantilenam, docuit utique prius nobis peccato esse moriendum et tunc demum in hoc corpore diuersa opera discriminanda uirtutum, quibus ad dominum deuotionis nostrae gratia perueniret, ut occupatis intentione caelestium nulla inreperet terrenorum libido uitiorum, simul animus caelestis gratiae suauitate nitesceret. merito igitur tanti ministrum muneris dominus laudans ait: inueni Dauid secundum cor meum.
What, then, is a psalm but an instrument of the virtues, which the venerable prophet, playing it with the plectrum of the Holy Spirit, made to echo the sweetness of heavenly sound on earth? At the same time, since he directed his song of divine praise to heavenly things on strings and chords, that is, on dead remains, modulating the differences of various notes, he taught us that we must first die to sin, and only then, in this body, distinguish the various works of the virtues, by which the grace of our devotion may reach the Lord; so that, while we are occupied with the pursuit of heavenly things, no lust for earthly vices may creep in, and at the same time the soul may shine with the sweetness of heavenly grace. Rightly, then, does the Lord praise the minister of so great an office, saying: "I have found David after my own heart."
Rom 6:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 89:20 (88:21 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 13:22 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Sam 13:14 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalm is an instrument of virtue played by the Spirit; its strings of dead gut teach us to die to sin.
- The strings were made of gut ("dead remains"). Ps 89:20 [LXX 88:21] with 1 Sam 13:14 and Acts 13:22.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: line-end hyphen and stray comma; digitization: n for m and split word): ad do-, minum → ad dominum; n erito → merito.
Topics: Hymns and singing, The Holy Spirit
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.11.1 (CSEL 64:9; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-11-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 12
1.12.1CSEL 64:9–10
Aiunt etiam eorum, qui cithara canunt, peritiores intus canere, ut ferunt fabulae de Aspendio citharista, causas quoque modulaminum et quaedam claustra rhythmorum in superiore parte esse psalterii. docuit ergo Dauid intus nos canere oportere, intus psallere, quemadmodum canebat et Paulus dicens: orabo spiritu, orabo et mente; psallam spiritu, psallam et mente, et ad superiorum intuitum uitam nostram actusque formare, ne delectatio dulcedinis excitet corporis passiones, quibus non redimitur nostra anima, sed grauatur, cum ad redemptionem animae suae psallere se sanctus propheta memorauerit dicens: psallam tibi, deus, in cithara, sanctus Israel. gaudebunt labia mea, cum cantauero tibi, et anima mea quam redemisti. sed iam psalmi istius, qui propositus est nobis, ingrediamur exordia.
They say too that the more skilful of those who sing to the lyre sing inwardly, as the stories tell of the lyre-player of Aspendus, and that the principles of the melodies and certain closures of the rhythms lie in the upper part of the psaltery. So David taught that we must sing inwardly, sing psalms inwardly, as Paul also sang when he said: "I will pray with the spirit, I will pray with the mind also; I will sing psalms with the spirit, I will sing psalms with the mind also"; and that we must shape our life and actions by looking to higher things, lest the delight of sweetness stir up the passions of the body, by which our soul is not redeemed but weighed down; since the holy prophet declared that he sang psalms for the redemption of his soul, saying: "I will sing psalms to you, O God, on the lyre, Holy One of Israel. My lips will rejoice when I have sung to you, and my soul, which you have redeemed." But let us now enter on the opening of this psalm which is set before us.
1 Cor 14:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 71:22 (70:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 71:23 (70:23 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We must sing inwardly and with the mind, not for the body's pleasure.
- The lyre-player of Aspendus, proverbial for playing "inwardly" (for himself alone), is mentioned by Cicero, Verr. 2.1.53. The psaltery, unlike the lyre, had its sounding box above (a contrast Ambrose develops elsewhere). 1 Cor 14:15; Ps 71:22–23 [LXX 70:22–23].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): s p iritu → spiritu; e t m e n t e → et mente.
Extrabiblical texts: Cicero, Verr. 2.1.53 (Cicero; allusion)
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.12.1 (CSEL 64:9–10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-12-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 13
1.13.1CSEL 64:10
Beatus, inquit, uir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum. quam aptum, quam oportunum principium! namque ut hi, qui agonis aliquam sollemnitatem receperint exhibendam, proponere praemium solent, iactare coronae nobilitatem, quo certaturi studio maiore conueniant, nisu quoque propensiore decertent, ita dominus noster Iesus regni caelestis gloriam, perpetuae quietis
"Blessed," he says, "is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly." How apt, how timely a beginning! For just as those who have undertaken to stage some solemn contest usually set out the prize and display the splendor of the crown, so that the competitors may gather with greater zeal and contend with more eager effort, so our Lord Jesus has set before human virtue, as its incentives, the glory of the heavenly kingdom, the grace of everlasting rest,
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalm opens, like a contest, with the prize: blessedness.
- Ps 1:1.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.13.1 (CSEL 64:10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-13-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.13.2CSEL 64:10
gratiam, uitae aeternae beatitudinem ad uirtutis humanae incentiua proposuit. imperator quoque, cum progreditur ad bellum, donatiuum militi et promotiones dignitatum in numeris militaribus pollicetur, ut spes commodi furetur labores et metum abscondat periculi. uelut praeco igitur magni imperatoris sanctus Dauid hortatur milites, athletas uocat, praemium exprimit dicens: beatus uir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum. a praemio coepit, ut pondus futuri certaminis eleuaret, mercedem praemisit, ut unusquisque praesentium rerum sollicitudines ac labores corde transi-
and the blessedness of eternal life. An emperor too, when he goes out to war, promises the soldier a donative and promotions in rank in the military units, so that the hope of gain may steal away the toil and hide the fear of danger. So holy David, like the herald of a great emperor, exhorts the soldiers, calls the athletes, names the prize, saying: "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly." He began with the prize, to lighten the weight of the contest to come; he put the reward first, so that each one, passing over in his heart the anxieties and toils of present things,
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like an emperor's herald, David names the reward first to lighten the struggle.
- The word "passing over" is split between this section and the next in the digital text.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: ip for m): gratiaip → gratiam.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.13.2 (CSEL 64:10; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-13-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-13-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.13.3CSEL 64:10–11
liens ad emerendam beatitudinem futurorum auida festinatione contenderet. beatus, inquit, uir. quid plus potuit homini donari quam quo nihil amplius potuit deo apostolica auctoritate deferri? beatus enim et solus potens et rex regum et dominus dominantium deus dictus est. ille solus potens, ille rex regum, ille dominus dominantium beatitudinis tamen non supergreditur potestatem; donauit nobis appellationis eius commune consortium, quae digna aestimata est honore diuino.
might strive with eager haste to earn the blessedness of things to come. "Blessed," he says, "is the man." What more could be given to man than that than which nothing greater could be ascribed to God on apostolic authority? For God is called "blessed and only potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords." He who alone is potentate, King of kings, Lord of lords, does not yet go beyond the power of blessedness; and he has given us a common share in that title, which was judged worthy of divine honor.
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Tim 6:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To be called blessed is to share a title the apostle gives to God himself.
- 1 Tim 6:15.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.13.3 (CSEL 64:10–11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-13-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-13-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 14
1.14.1CSEL 64:11
Consideremus nunc, qua ratione beatus uir dixerit et non magis beati homines, cum uterque sexus uocetur ad gratiam. numquid a consortio beatitudinis exclusit mulieres, quia uirum solum beatum nuncupauit? absit, quia nec a consortio creaturae exclusit deus feminas, quia prius uirum condidit.
Let us consider now for what reason he said "blessed is the man" and not rather "blessed are human beings," since both sexes are called to grace. Did he exclude women from a share in blessedness because he named the man alone blessed? Far from it; for neither did God exclude women from a share in creation because he made the man first.
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Saying "blessed is the man" does not exclude women from blessedness.
- Ambrose plays on uir (a male, a husband) and homo (a human being).
Topics: Women
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.14.1 (CSEL 64:11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.14.2CSEL 64:11
dixit enim deus: faciamus hominem secundum imaginem nostram et secundum similitudinem nostram, et fecit, inquit, deus hominem, ad imaginem dei fecit illum, masculum et feminam fecit eos. in homine uterque signatur, in uiro sexus exprimitur. sed quemadmodum, cum homo dicitur, uterque comprehenditur, ita, cum uir nominatur, et mulier cuius uir ille sit intellegitur.
For God said: "Let us make man according to our image and according to our likeness"; and "God made man," it says, "in the image of God he made him; male and female he made them." In "man" (homo) both are marked; in "man" (uir) the sex is expressed. But just as both are included when "human being" is said, so when "man" is named, the woman whose man (husband) he is is also understood.
Gen 1:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:27 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Genesis shows that "man" includes the woman.
- Gen 1:26–27.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): e o s → eos.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.14.2 (CSEL 64:11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.14.3CSEL 64:11
denique haec uocabitur, inquit, mulier, quoniam de uiro suo sumpta est. accedit illud, quoniam, quorum natura eadem, eorum operationes utique non possunt esse discretae, et quorum opus aequale, eorum utique aequalis et merces. uirum igitur scriptura dicendo consortem copulae non praetermisit, quia et hominem dicendo consortem non tacuit naturae.
Then: "She shall be called woman," it says, "because she was taken from her man." Add this, that those whose nature is the same cannot have separate operations, and those whose work is equal certainly have an equal reward. So when Scripture said "man," it did not pass over his partner in the union, just as in saying "human being" it did not keep silent about his partner in nature.
Gen 2:23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Man and woman share one nature, so their work and reward are equal.
- Gen 2:23.
Topics: Women
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.14.3 (CSEL 64:11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.14.4CSEL 64:11
itaque quemadmodum illic hominem factum legimus et, cum sit una natura, tamen principalem sexum prius creatum negare non possumus, ita et hic, cum legimus uirum, de principali portione sexum quoque subparem recognoscimus. paria igitur studia uirtutis, quia par praerogatiua est creaturae. quid autem sexum discutias, ubi non corporis a te, sed animae certamina postulantur, quae sexum non habet? non ergo illic discernas honorem, mercedem diuidas, ubi non discernitur sexus.
So, just as there we read that man was made and, though the nature is one, we cannot deny that the principal sex was created first, so here too, when we read "man," we recognize from the principal part the nearly equal sex as well. Equal, then, are the pursuits of virtue, because equal is the privilege of creation. Why do you examine the sex, where contests not of the body but of the soul are required of you, and the soul has no sex? Do not, then, distinguish honor or divide the reward where sex is not distinguished.
Gen 2:7 (allusion, low confidence) · Gal 3:28 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Since the contest is of the soul, which has no sex, the reward is the same for both.
- "Nearly equal" renders subpar.
Topics: Ethics, Women, The soul
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.14.4 (CSEL 64:11; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.14.5CSEL 64:11–12
non incaute tamen, si prior uocetur ad exercitium, qui fuit posterior ad lapsum. quae male coepit, sequi debet, non praecedere; uel post experimentum sit uerecundior. male Eua naturae ordinem praetermisit, expectare debuit praecedentem. astute serpens a posteriore coepit; ideo propheta ad superiorem reuertitur, eum utique qui lapsus non esset, nisi esset posteriorem secutus.
Yet it is not without care that he who was later in the fall is called first to the exercise. She who began badly ought to follow, not to lead; or, after the experience, let her be more modest. Eve did wrong in passing over the order of nature; she ought to have waited for the one who went before. The serpent cunningly began with the later one; so the prophet returns to the earlier, the one who would not have fallen had he not followed the later.
Gen 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 3:6 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 2:13 (echo, medium confidence) · 1 Tim 2:14 (echo, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The man is named first because Eve, who fell first, broke the order of nature.
- Compare 1 Tim 2:13–14.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.14.5 (CSEL 64:11–12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-14-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 15
1.15.1CSEL 64:12
Denique prius nos reuocauit a lapsu quam ad palmam uictoriae prouocauit. beatus, inquit, uir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum. uide, ubi beatus appelleris o homo: non in diuitiis, non in potestatibus et honoribus, non in nobilitate generis aut decore et pulchritudine, non in corporis salubritate, in quibus nihil naturae est bonum; denique non solum facilem commutationem habent in contraria, uerum etiam ministerium ad culpam exhibent ei, qui uti his nesciat. quis enim iustus propter pecuniam, quis humilis in potestatibus, quis misericors propter nobilitatem, quis castus propter decorem? illecebrosa haec magis sunt ad peccatum quam fructuosa ad uirtutis profectum.
So he called us back from the fall before he called us to the palm of victory. "Blessed," he says, "is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly." See where you are called blessed, O man: not in riches, not in powers and honors, not in nobility of birth or comeliness and beauty, not in health of body, in which there is nothing good by nature. Indeed, not only do these change easily into their opposites; they also serve as an instrument of guilt for one who does not know how to use them. For who is just because of money, who humble in high office, who merciful because of nobility, who chaste because of beauty? These things entice to sin more than they bear fruit for progress in virtue.
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Blessedness lies not in wealth, power, birth, beauty or health.
Topics: Ethics, Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.15.1 (CSEL 64:12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-15-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-15-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 16
1.16.1CSEL 64:12
Quid sibi deinde uult quod maluit dicere: non abiit et non stetit quasi de praeterito, cum potuerit dicere: beatus uir qui non abit in consilio impiorum et in uia peccatorum non stat et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedet? uide dogma; non enim
What, then, does it mean that he chose to say "has not walked" and "has not stood" as of the past, when he could have said: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, and does not stand in the way of sinners, and does not sit in the seat of pestilence"? See the teaching: for not
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose asks why the verbs of Ps 1:1 are in the past tense.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.16.1 (CSEL 64:12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-16-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-16-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.16.2CSEL 64:12
statim beatus, qui non est impius aut peccator, propter incerta exitus. non enim otiose scriptum est: ante mortem ne laudaueris aliquem. ergo dum in hac uita quisquam est, non potest definita praedicatione laudari, cum patere adhuc possit errori; ille autem, qui uitam sine offensione concluserit, iure beati appellatione censetur, qui utitur consortio beatorum.
at once is he blessed who is not ungodly or a sinner, because the outcome is uncertain. For it is not idly written: "Before death do not praise anyone." So while anyone is in this life he cannot be praised with a final verdict, since he can still be open to error; but he who has ended his life without stumbling is rightly judged worthy of the name of blessed, for he enjoys the company of the blessed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Only one who has finished life without falling can be called blessed.
- Sir 11:28 ("call no one blessed before his death"; Old Latin "ante mortem ne laudes hominem").
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): lauda a u e r i s → laudaueris.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 11:28 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.16.2 (CSEL 64:12; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-16-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-16-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 17
1.17.1CSEL 64:12–13
Sed forte dicas: qua ratione ergo alibi dixit: beatus qui intellegit super egenum et pauperem? non enim dixit beatum qui intellexerit, sed eum qui intellegit. quoniam, qui bonum operantur, in ipso opere et quo probentur inueniunt, remunerationem sui in ipso opere consequentes, siquidem beatae fructus est conscientiae bonum factum. qui autem a malo temperant, non, si semel aut bis declinauerint culpam, statim beati, sed si potuerint culpae contagium per omne tutae suae tempus euadere..
But perhaps you say: For what reason, then, did he say elsewhere: "Blessed is he who considers the needy and the poor"? He did not say blessed is he who has considered, but he who considers. Because those who do good find in the work itself that by which they are approved, obtaining their reward in the work itself, since a good deed is the fruit of a blessed conscience. But those who refrain from evil are not at once blessed if they have avoided a fault once or twice, but only if they have been able to escape the contagion of fault through the whole time of their life.
Ps 41:1 (40:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Doers of good are blessed in the very act; abstainers from evil only at the end of a sinless life.
- Ps 41:1 [LXX 40:2]. "Of their life" renders tutae suae, perhaps a slip for uitae suae; translated by sense.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.17.1 (CSEL 64:12–13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-17-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-17-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 18
1.18.1CSEL 64:13
Nunc illud occurrit, cur beatum dicere maluerit non eum, qui pietatis aliquo sit functus officio, sed eum, qui ab impiorum consilio temperauerit. uidetur enim magis laudandus, qui uirtutis munus impleuerit quam qui peccatum euaserit, siquidem nec bos nec equus nec lapis in peccato esse consueuerit aut sedere in cathedra pestilentiae. sed illa beatitudinis non haber.
Now the question arises why he chose to call blessed not him who has performed some office of piety, but him who has refrained from the counsel of the ungodly. For he who has fulfilled a duty of virtue seems more to be praised than he who has escaped sin, since neither an ox nor a horse nor a stone is accustomed to be in sin or to sit in the seat of pestilence. But those things do not have
Ps 1:1 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Why is blessedness tied to avoiding evil rather than doing good?
- The word habent is split between this section and the next in the digital text.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.18.1 (CSEL 64:13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-18-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-18-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.18.2CSEL 64:13
t fructum, quae uirtutis non habent sensum; nam quomodo perueniunt ad legis praemium quae non habent sequendae legis affectum? de rationabilibus ergo propositam sententiam uideo, hoc est de nobis. nobis autem initium bonorum abstinentia peccatorum est, quoniam legimus: declina a malo et fac bonum. hic enim ordo est disciplinae, ut ab inferioribus ad perfectiora contendas, ne terrearis mole maiorum, qui leuiorum exordio debeas prouocari.
the fruit of blessedness, since they have no sense of virtue; for how do they reach the reward of the law who have no desire to follow the law? So I see that the sentence set before us is about rational beings, that is, about us. And for us the beginning of good things is abstaining from sins, since we read: "Turn aside from evil and do good." For this is the order of discipline: that you strive from lower things to more perfect, lest you be frightened by the bulk of the greater when you ought to be drawn on by beginning with the lighter.
Ps 34:14 (33:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: For rational beings, abstaining from sin is the first step to goodness.
- Ps 34:14 [LXX 33:15].
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.18.2 (CSEL 64:13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-18-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-18-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.18.3CSEL 64:13
scalarum enim similem esse scriptura nos docet pietatis ascensum, per quas uidit angelos domini ascendentes et descendentes sanctus Iacob uir exercitationis, qui nobis propositus est, ut per illum cognosceremus gradum uirtutis paulatim nos proferre debere et ita posse ab imis ad summa contendere, si per processus gradiamur exiguos ad ea, quae uidentur humanae altiora naturae. has tibi scalas semper habeto propositas.
For Scripture teaches us that the ascent of piety is like the ladder on which holy Jacob, the man of exercise, saw the angels of the Lord ascending and descending; he is set before us so that through him we may learn that we must advance a step of virtue little by little, and that we can so strive from the lowest to the highest, if by small advances we go on to things that seem higher than human nature. Keep this ladder always before you.
Gen 28:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The ascent of virtue is like Jacob's ladder, step by step.
- Gen 28:12. "Man of exercise" (uir exercitationis) is Ambrose's usual interpretation of the name Jacob as "supplanter" or "wrestler".
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.18.3 (CSEL 64:13; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-18-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-18-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.18.4CSEL 64:13–14
ne timeas, o homo, gradus hos ascendere disciplinae. primus gradus uicinus est terrae, sequens similis est prioris. sic per aequales gradus ad summa conscenditur. ne fastidias, o homo, primum illum uelut uilissimum gradum. ille primus ascensus te a terris separat, aerem calcas, ubi ab humo eleuaueris uestigium. in uirtute positus surgendo reliquisti terram; terram relinquis, si culpam declinas. exordium ergo processionis ad uirtutem est abstinere a peccato.
Do not fear, O man, to climb these steps of discipline. The first step is near the earth; the next is like the first. So by equal steps one climbs to the top. Do not despise, O man, that first step as if it were the meanest. That first ascent separates you from the earth; you tread the air when you have lifted your foot from the ground. Set in virtue, by rising you have left the earth; you leave the earth if you turn aside from sin. The beginning of progress toward virtue, then, is to abstain from sin.
Notes and citation
Summary: The first step, abstaining from sin, already lifts us from the earth.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: words joined): separataaerem → separat, aerem.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.18.4 (CSEL 64:13–14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-18-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-18-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 19
1.19.1CSEL 64:14
Ut sciamus autem hanc disciplinam esse doctrinae, audi legem dicentem: non adulterabis, non homicidium facies; inperfectis enim ista praecepta conuenientia uidebantur. denique ipse dominus Iesus sciens inperfectum, a quo interrogabatur quibus ad uitam aeternam operibus perueniret, respondit ei:
And so that we may know that this is the discipline of the teaching, hear the law saying: "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder"; for these precepts seemed fitting for the imperfect. Indeed the Lord Jesus himself, knowing that the man who asked him by what works he might attain eternal life was imperfect, answered him:
Exod 20:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 19:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The law's prohibitions suit beginners, as Jesus' answer to the rich young man shows.
- Exod 20:13–14; Matt 19:16–18. The sentence continues in 1.19.2.
Topics: The law of Moses
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.19.1 (CSEL 64:14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-19-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.19.2CSEL 64:14
non adulterabis, non homicidium facies, non facies furtum et cetera. deinde dicenti, quod fecisset illa omnia, adiecit perfectiora dicens: uende omnia quae habes et da pauperibus et habebis thesaurum in caelo, tantumque abesse docuit inter malorum declinationem et imitationem bonorum, ut haec abnueret qui illa sibi facilia iudicabat. sed quia nec illa ascenderat, ideo ad haec se aptare non potuit;
"You shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit murder, you shall not steal," and so on. Then, when he said he had done all these things, he added the more perfect, saying: "Sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven"; and he taught that turning away from evil is so far from imitating the good that the man refused the latter who judged the former easy for himself. But because he had not climbed even those, he could not fit himself for these;
Matt 19:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 19:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 19:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 19:22 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rich man who claimed to keep the commandments could not take the next step.
- Matt 19:18–21.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters and 10 for lo): i n c a e 10 → in caelo.
Topics: Ethics, Wealth and poverty
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.19.2 (CSEL 64:14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-19-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-19-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.19.3CSEL 64:14
nam si dilexisset proximum, potuisset pauperibus subsidia sui patrimonii non negare. ideoque gradum primum legis ascende, ut possis ad euangelii caeleste fastigium peruenire. unde arbitror, quod quasi sub lege positus, morem legis in primo psalmo secutus, ex sua persona sanctus propheta magis cauenda denuntiet quam sequenda proponat, in quadragesimo autem psalmo, qui ex persona
for had he loved his neighbor, he could not have refused the poor the help of his patrimony. And so climb the first step of the law, so that you may be able to reach the heavenly summit of the gospel. Hence I think that the holy prophet, as one placed under the law and following the manner of the law in the first psalm, speaking in his own person, declares rather what is to be avoided than proposes what is to be followed; whereas in the fortieth psalm, which is spoken in the person
Ps 41:1 (40:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Lev 19:18 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalm 1, under the law, warns against evil; Psalm 40 (41), in Christ's person, exhorts to virtue.
- Ambrose's Psalm 40 is Ps 41 in the English numbering ("Blessed is he who considers the poor").
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.19.3 (CSEL 64:14; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-19-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-19-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.19.4CSEL 64:14–15
dicitur saluatoris, adhortatio magis uirtutis fiat quam erroris repressio; de passione enim saluatoris loquitur. et ideo euangelii dispensator etiam, sicut possumus aestimare, cum audiuimus dicentem: beati misericordes, et psalmo aeque propriae passionis et in euangelio misericordiam coronauit. sed adoriamur iam psalmi explanationem et uirtutem inspiciamus propheticam.
of the Savior, there is rather an exhortation to virtue than a restraint of error; for it speaks of the Savior's passion. And therefore he, as steward of the gospel too, as we may judge when we hear him say: "Blessed are the merciful," crowned mercy both in the psalm of his own passion and in the gospel. But let us now take up the explanation of the psalm and look into its prophetic power.
Matt 5:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 41:1 (40:2 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ crowns mercy both in Psalm 41 and in the Beatitudes.
- Matt 5:7.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.19.4 (CSEL 64:14–15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-19-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-19-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 20
1.20.1CSEL 64:15
Beatus, inquit, uir qui non abiit in consilio impiorum et in uia peccatorum non stetit et in cathedra pestilentiae non sedit. possumus dicere tres esse species peccatorum, quas hic putamus expressas, cogitationis, operationis, permansionis, beatumque eum significari, qui et non cogitauerit quod malum est.
"Blessed," he says, "is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of pestilence." We can say that there are three kinds of sins, which we think are expressed here: of thought, of action, of persistence; and that he is meant as blessed who has not even thought what is evil.
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Ps 1:1 names three kinds of sin: thought, deed and persistence.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): c ath e dr a → cathedra.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.20.1 (CSEL 64:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.20.2CSEL 64:15
nam quo modo potest beatus esse, qui suis cogitationibus accusantibus die iudicii reuincendus est? etiamsi hominem fefellit, testem refugit accusatorem euasit, se tamen sui accusatorem uitare non poterit; - quem maxime debet timere, quia et accusatorem habebit et confitentem reum.
For how can he be blessed who, with his own thoughts accusing him, is to be convicted on the day of judgment? Even if he has deceived a man, fled a witness, escaped an accuser, he will not be able to escape himself as his own accuser; and him he ought most to fear, for he will have both an accuser and a confessing defendant.
Rom 2:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Rom 2:16 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Evil thoughts will accuse us at the judgment.
- Rom 2:15–16.
Topics: Eschatology, The last judgment
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.20.2 (CSEL 64:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.20.3CSEL 64:15
beatus ergo est, qui et non cogitauerit quod malum est et non operatus fuerit peccatum — quia interdum et sine cogitatione delinquimus; ex multiloquio enim non effugimus peccatum — et non perseuerauerit in peccato. uel sic: qui et non cogitauerit quod esset erroris uel in ea cogitatione non steterit uel certe non perseuerauerit in his cogitationibus, quas plenas erroris aduerterit.
Blessed, then, is he who has not thought what is evil, and has not committed sin (for sometimes we offend even without thought; for "in much speaking we do not escape sin"), and has not persisted in sin. Or thus: he who has not thought what belongs to error, or has not stood in that thought, or at least has not persisted in thoughts he perceived to be full of error.
Prov 10:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Two ways of reading the three stages of Ps 1:1.
- Prov 10:19.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.20.3 (CSEL 64:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.20.4CSEL 64:15
sed haec utrum recte conueniant, qui legerit aestimabit. nam qui semel male cogitauit, nec stare in eo debuit nec perseuerare. sed etsi non perseuerauerit, beatus esse non potuit, quia stetit in eo quod improbe cogitauit; etsi non stetit, tamen eo ipso, quod cogitauit male, utrum habeat beatitudinis fructum, clementem aliquem quaerere debet interpretem.
But whether these agree correctly the reader will judge. For he who has once thought evil ought neither to stand in it nor to persist. But even if he did not persist, he could not be blessed, because he stood in what he wickedly thought; and even if he did not stand, yet whether by the very fact that he thought evil he has the fruit of blessedness, he must look for some lenient interpreter.
Notes and citation
Summary: Ambrose doubts the second reading.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.20.4 (CSEL 64:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.20.5CSEL 64:15
postremo quia nemo potest dicere mundum se habere cor, esto ut ueniabilis cogitatio sit: numquid ueniabilis operatio peccatorum? postremo si ueniabilis statio, numquid etiam plena beatitudinis eo, quod non perseuerat in crimine? deinde qui non cogitauit quae inproba sunt, quomodo in peccato stare potuit aut perseuerare? ut beatus sit, qui tria haec iure seruauerit, certe ordo diuersus est.
Lastly, since no one can say that he has a clean heart, grant that a thought is pardonable: is the doing of sins pardonable? Again, if standing is pardonable, is it also full of blessedness merely because he does not persist in the crime? Then, how could he who did not think wicked things stand in sin or persist in it? For him to be blessed who has rightly kept these three, the order must surely be different.
Prov 20:9 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The order of the three must be reconsidered.
- Prov 20:9.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray hyphen): deinde-qui → deinde qui.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.20.5 (CSEL 64:15; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.20.6CSEL 64:16
primum est enim, ut non perseueret in peccato, secundum, ut non steterit in eo, tertium, ut non cogitauerit quod esset erroris. qui enim non perseuerauit, potuit tamen stare, qui non stetit, potuit cogitare, qui autem nec cogitauit, uere beatus est.
For the first is not to persist in sin, the second not to have stood in it, the third not to have thought what belongs to error. For he who did not persist could still have stood; he who did not stand could have thought; but he who did not even think is truly blessed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Rising order: not persisting, not standing, not even thinking evil.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.20.6 (CSEL 64:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-20-6
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 21
1.21.1CSEL 64:16
Unde alteram quoque traditionem non praetermittendam putaui, quo tres gradus recto ordine factos asseramus, ut, qui beatus uult esse, non abeat in consilio impiorum, hoc est in eorum
So I thought that another tradition should not be passed over, by which we may assert that the three steps are made in the right order: that he who wishes to be blessed should not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, that is, should not go about in their
Ps 1:1 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Another reading takes the three steps in the psalm's own order.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.21.1 (CSEL 64:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-21-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-21-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.21.2CSEL 64:16
cogitationibus non ambulet, deinde non stet in uia peccatorum, tertio non sedeat in cathedra pestilentiae. tu igitur, qui ad ecclesiam factus es christianus, uel tu, qui ad gratiam tendis, abstine ab impiorum consiliis, ut possis dicere: ne perdas cum impiis, deus, animam meam et cum uiris sanguinum uitam meam nec cogites quae sunt impia. quae sunt illa nisi quae in dei excogitantur iniuriam?
thoughts; next, should not stand in the way of sinners; third, should not sit in the seat of pestilence. You, then, who have been made a Christian for the church, or you who are making your way toward grace, abstain from the counsels of the ungodly, so that you may say: "Do not destroy my soul with the ungodly, O God, nor my life with men of blood," and do not think what is ungodly. What are these but things devised to wrong God?
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 26:9 (25:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christians and catechumens should keep from the counsels of the ungodly.
- Ps 26:9 [LXX 25:9]. "You who are making your way toward grace": those preparing for baptism. Part of this sentence is an editor's supplement where the manuscripts are damaged.
Topics: Baptism, Catechumens and catechesis
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.21.2 (CSEL 64:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-21-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-21-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.21.3CSEL 64:16
pietas enim prima in deum, secunda in parentes. et quidem inimicus inserit frequenter diuersa mentibus nostris et ideo caute propheta cogitationes magis quam infusiones inprouisas putauit ad crimen tenendas. abstinuisti ergo ab impiorum consiliis; recte, non tamen statim beatus. caue etiam, ne in uia peccatorum steteris.
For piety is first toward God, second toward parents. And indeed the enemy often plants various things in our minds; so the prophet cautiously judged that thoughts, rather than sudden suggestions, are to be held as guilt. You have abstained, then, from the counsels of the ungodly; rightly so, yet you are not at once blessed. Take care also not to have stood in the way of sinners.
Ps 1:1 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Sudden suggestions from the enemy are not yet guilt; deliberate thoughts are.
Topics: Ethics, Temptation
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.21.3 (CSEL 64:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-21-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-21-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 22
1.22.1CSEL 64:16
Quanto examine scripturae diuinae uerba ponuntur! etenim quia omnes sub peccato sumus, non a te exigit quod ultra naturam est, ut peccatum non facias, quia nec unius diei infans sine peccato, sed ut non maneas in peccato quadam statione diuturna. non omnes impii sunt; ideo reuocaris ab omnibus cogitationibus et coniurationibus impiorum; sed omnes peccatores; ideo ammoneris ut desinas peccare. si fueris adulescentioris lapsus aetatis, debet te maturitatis emendare processus.
With what scrutiny the words of divine Scripture are set down! For since we are all under sin, it does not demand of you what is beyond nature, that you commit no sin, for not even an infant of one day is without sin; but that you do not remain in sin by a kind of lasting standing. Not all are ungodly; so you are called back from all the thoughts and conspiracies of the ungodly. But all are sinners; so you are warned to cease from sinning. If you have fallen in the more youthful time of life, the advance of maturity ought to correct you.
Rom 3:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · Job 14:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 14:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 1:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture asks not sinlessness but that we not remain in sin.
- Rom 3:9; Job 14:4–5 in the Greek form ("no one is clean from filth, not even if his life is one day").
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.22.1 (CSEL 64:16; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-22-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-22-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.22.2CSEL 64:16–17
ergo in grauiora non abeas, in leuioribus non stes, habes hoc et in Esaia dictum a domino: exi a Babylone fugiens a Chaldaeis, hoc est: etsi intrasti in confusionem uitiorum, exi. non oportuit intrare, sed ingressus es carnis lege cogente et captiuante te in lege peccati; exi, egredere uel serius, exue te seruitio graui. non potuisti non introire in peccatum per fragilitatem; datur tibi exire peccato per sobrietatem. exi ergo de Babylone fugiens a Chaldaeis. Babylon confusio est, quae uirtutum ordinem non tenet; confusa enim inlecebris mente delinquimus.
So do not go off into graver things; do not stand in lighter ones. You have this also said by the Lord in Isaiah: "Go out from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans"; that is: even if you have entered into the confusion of vices, go out. You ought not to have entered, but you went in under the compulsion of the law of the flesh, which takes you captive in the law of sin. Go out, depart even if late, strip yourself of a heavy slavery. Through frailty you could not avoid entering into sin; it is granted you to go out of sin through sobriety. Go out, then, from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans. Babylon is confusion, which does not keep the order of the virtues; for it is with a mind confused by enticements that we offend.
Isa 48:20 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 11:9 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like Israel told to leave Babylon, the sinner must go out of the confusion of vice.
- Isa 48:20; Rom 7:23. "Babylon" is interpreted as "confusion" (Gen 11:9).
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.22.2 (CSEL 64:16–17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-22-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-22-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.22.3CSEL 64:17
Chaldaei sunt, qui siderum cursus uanae studio superstitionis explorant et impiae serunt gentilitatis errores. ab his fuge, ne te capiant, ne te graui laqueo captiuitatis innectant. Abraham Chaldaeus fuit, sed fugit a Chaldaeis et ante legem; tu sub lege iam natus es, fuge ab impiis. ille hereditatem patrum respuit, ut fidei possideret; tu successionem corporis derelinque, hereditatem deuotionis adquire.
The Chaldeans are those who explore the courses of the stars with the zeal of vain superstition and sow the errors of ungodly paganism. Flee from them, lest they capture you, lest they bind you in the heavy snare of captivity. Abraham was a Chaldean, but he fled from the Chaldeans, and that before the law; you have been born already under the law: flee from the ungodly. He rejected the inheritance of his fathers so as to possess that of faith; you, leave the succession of the body and acquire the inheritance of devotion.
Gen 11:31 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 12:1 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Chaldeans stand for astrology and paganism; like Abraham we must flee them.
- Gen 11:31; 12:1.
Topics: Magic, divination, and astrology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.22.3 (CSEL 64:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-22-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-22-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 23
1.23.1CSEL 64:17
Si autem in peccato non steteris, nec sic beatus; adhuc habes quo carere debeas. multae sunt inlecebrae, multi a uirtute deflexus, grauia inritamenta sunt uoluptatum, grauis fomes auaritiae, cupiditas potestatum, honoris ambitio, quae uelut ueneno quodam mentes hominum et quadam animas pestilenti uitiorum tabe contaminant. haec est cathedra pestilentiae, super quam sederunt scribae et Pharisaei, qui inponunt hominibus onera grauia, ipsi autem digito nolunt ea mouere.
But if you have not stood in sin, even so you are not blessed; there is still something you must be free of. Many are the enticements, many the turnings aside from virtue; heavy are the provocations of pleasures, heavy the tinder of avarice, the desire for power, the ambition for honor, which, as by a kind of poison, defile the minds of men and, by a kind of pestilent wasting of vices, their souls. This is the seat of pestilence, on which the scribes and Pharisees sat, who lay heavy burdens on men but will not themselves move them with a finger.
Ps 1:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 23:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 23:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The seat of pestilence is the seat of pleasure, avarice and ambition, like that of the Pharisees.
- Matt 23:2, 4.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.23.1 (CSEL 64:17; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-23-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-23-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.23.2CSEL 64:17–18
has cathedras de templo saluator eiecit eorum, qui se de honore iactarent, primatus quaererent dignitatum, eorum, qui sacerdotio uel primatu honoris uterentur ad quaestum, eorum, qui indulgentes gulae nequaquam debitam continentiae praestarent custodiam. haec uera est pestilentia; denique Heli filii erant filii pestilentiae. in hac quadam sede uitiorum prohibet scriptura nos ceruicem reflectere uiresque totius corporis reclinare. aduerte igitur proprietates.
These seats the Savior cast out of the temple: the seats of those who boasted of honor and sought the primacy of dignities, of those who used the priesthood or the primacy of honor for gain, of those who, indulging their gluttony, by no means kept the guard of continence that was due. This is true pestilence; indeed the sons of Eli were sons of pestilence. On this seat, as it were, of vices Scripture forbids us to bend back our neck and recline the strength of the whole body. Note, then, the precise meanings.
Matt 21:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 2:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ overturned such seats in the temple; Eli's sons were "sons of pestilence".
- Matt 21:12 (the seats of the dove-sellers). 1 Sam 2:12 (LXX "sons of pestilence").
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.23.2 (CSEL 64:17–18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-23-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-23-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 1, chapter 24
1.24.1CSEL 64:18
Beatus qui in uia peccatorum non stetit et in cathedra quoque pestilentiae non sedit. uiam dici uitae huius cursum in dubium non uenit, cum ipsa scriptura dicat: in uia hac qua ambulabam absconderunt laqueum mihi, et: esto
"Blessed is he who has not stood in the way of sinners and has not sat in the seat of pestilence." That the course of this life is called a way is not in doubt, since Scripture itself says: "In this way where I was walking they hid a snare for me," and: "Be
Ps 1:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 142:3 (141:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:25 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The "way" is the course of this life.
- Ps 142:3 [LXX 141:4]; Matt 5:25, continued in 1.24.2.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.24.1 (CSEL 64:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.24.2CSEL 64:18
consentiens aduersario tuo cito, dum es cum illo in uia. etenim quamdiu cursum uitae huius currimus, habemus semitam per quam ambulamus cotidie, donec perueniamus ad finem; etsi non uidemur corporaliter ire, progredimur. nam sicut in nauibus dormientes uentis aguntur in portus, etsi nullus quiescentibus sensus est nauigandi, tamen cursus eos urget ad
agreeable with your adversary quickly, while you are with him on the way." For as long as we run the course of this life, we have a path on which we walk daily until we come to the end; even if we do not seem to go bodily, we advance. For just as those asleep on ships are driven by the winds into harbor, and though they have no sense of sailing while they rest, yet the voyage presses them on to
Matt 5:25 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like sleepers on a ship we move toward our end even when we seem still.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.24.2 (CSEL 64:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.24.3CSEL 64:18
finem et impellit ignaros, sic uitae nostrae spatio defluente ad proprium unusquisque finem cursu latente deducitur. unde dicitur: surge qui dormis - tu enim dormis et tempus tuum ambulat — et uide ne, dum diu dormis, praetereat tempus. ideo, etsi dormis, cor tuum uigilet, cor tuum non ferietur; si cor otiosum non sit, non sunt otiosa tempora tua. in uia es o homo; ambula, ut
the end and drives them on unawares, so, as the span of our life flows away, each one is carried to his own end by a hidden course. Hence it is said: "Rise, you who sleep" (for you are asleep and your time is walking on), and see that while you sleep long your time does not pass by. So, even if you sleep, let your heart keep watch; your heart will not be struck down. If your heart is not idle, your times are not idle. You are on the way, O man; walk, so that
Eph 5:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Song 5:2 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Our time moves on even while we sleep; let the heart keep watch.
- Eph 5:14; Song 5:2 ("I sleep, but my heart keeps watch").
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: r for n; digitization: words joined): uitae rostrae → uitae nostrae; tuenimdormis → tu enim dormis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.24.3 (CSEL 64:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-3
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.24.4CSEL 64:18
peruenias, ne te nox in uia occupet, ne consumatur dies uitae, antequam progressum uirtutis acceleres. uiator es uitae huius, omnia transeunt, omnia post te fiunt, omnia in hac uia cernis et transis. uidisti amoenitatem arborum, herbarum uiriditatem, puritatem fontium et quodcumque huiusmodi, quo delectantur oculi, iuuit spectare: delectauit parumper attendere; dum attendis, pertransisti. iterum, dum ambulas, incidisti scopulosum et confragosum iter, concaua rupium, praerupta montium, densa siluarum:
you may arrive, lest night overtake you on the way, lest the day of life be spent before you hasten your progress in virtue. You are a traveller through this life; all things pass, all things fall behind you; everything on this way you see and pass by. You saw the loveliness of trees, the greenness of grass, the clearness of springs and whatever of this kind delights the eyes: it pleased you to look; it delighted you to pause a little; while you pause, you have passed. Again, as you walk, you have come upon a rocky and rough road, hollow cliffs, steep mountains, dense forests:
John 12:35 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: On life's road pleasant and harsh sights alike pass by.
- Compare John 12:35.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.24.4 (CSEL 64:18; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-4
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
1.24.5CSEL 64:18–19
taediasti parum; iterum transisti. talis haec uita est, cuius nec prospera permanent nec aduersa diuturna sunt. ergo quasi in uia locatum neque secunda extollant neque aduersa te frangant nec plausibilia demorentur nec maesta detineant. festina semper ad finem, festina, ut peruenias; elige tamen uiam, antequam curras.
you were wearied a little; again you passed on. Such is this life: neither its prosperity lasts nor its adversity endures. So, as one placed on the way, let neither good fortune lift you up nor adversity break you, neither pleasing things delay you nor sad things hold you back. Hasten always to the end, hasten so that you may arrive; but choose your way before you run.
Notes and citation
Summary: Neither prosperity nor adversity should hold up the traveller; but he must choose his way.
Topics: Ethics
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 1.24.5 (CSEL 64:18–19; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/1-24-5
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.