Explanation of Twelve Psalms 37.38.1–37.57.4
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 37, chapter 38
37.38.1CSEL 64:166
Constituamus etiam ante dominum omne desiderium nostrum. quid est desiderium? bonae enim rei legi desiderium: desiderio desideraui manducare hoc pascha uobiscum, et: ceruus desiderat ad fontes aquarum.
Let us also set before the Lord all our desire. What is desire? For I have read of desire for a good thing: "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you," and: "The deer desires the springs of waters."
Ps 38:9 (37:10 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 22:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 42:1 (41:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "Desire" is used of good things in Scripture.
- Ps 38:9 [LXX 37:10]; Luke 22:15; Ps 42:1 [LXX 41:2].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.38.1 (CSEL 64:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-38-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-38-1
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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.
37.38.2CSEL 64:166
puto autem, quod is qui paenitentiam gerit, qui se affligit, non bona sua debeat, sed commissa sibi enumerare peccata. denique uersiculis illis, ut arbitror, hoc docemur, quibus ait: deus, uitam meam nuntiabo tibi, posuisti lacrimas meas in conspectu tuo. non enim quasi innocentem uitam annuntiat, ubi lacrimae funduntur, quae solent legationem suscipere pro delictis. nisi forte sic intellegamus, quod, etsi innocens quisque sit, securus esse non possit, cui sint aduersus grauissimos hostes
But I think that he who does penance, who afflicts himself, ought to enumerate not his good things but the sins he has committed. Indeed by those verses, I think, we are taught this, where he says: "O God, I will declare my life to you; you have set my tears in your sight." For he does not proclaim his life as innocent where tears are shed, which usually undertake the embassy for offenses. Unless perhaps we understand it thus: that even if someone is innocent, he cannot be secure, who has against the gravest enemies
Ps 56:8 (55:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The penitent should list his sins, not his good deeds.
- Ps 56:8 [LXX 55:9] (Greek form).
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.38.2 (CSEL 64:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-38-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-38-2
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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.
37.38.3CSEL 64:166
cotidiana certamina et ideo et ubi laeta lucet conscientia, tamen pugna lacrimabilis. iuxta hos ergo uersiculos concupiscentiam possumus accipere magis quam desiderium; ἐπιθυμίαν enim Graecus posuit, concupiscentia autem et desiderium ἐπιθυμία dicitur, sed concupiscentia et de bono et de malo dicitur: concupiuit et defecit anima mea in atria domini pro bono, in lege autem aliter: nam concupiscentiam nesciebam, nisi lex diceret:
daily contests; and so even where a glad conscience shines, the fight is still tearful. According to these verses, then, we can take "concupiscence" rather than "desire"; for the Greek put ἐπιθυμίαν, and both concupiscence and desire are called ἐπιθυμία; but concupiscence is said both of good and of evil: "My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord," of good; but in the law otherwise: "For I did not know concupiscence, unless the law said:
Ps 84:2 (83:3 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Greek ἐπιθυμία can mean good desire or evil concupiscence.
- Ps 84:2 [LXX 83:3]; Rom 7:7.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.38.3 (CSEL 64:166; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-38-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-38-3
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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.
37.38.4CSEL 64:166–167
non concupisces, utique pro malo. denique subiecta nos doceant, quia occasione accepta peccatum per mandatum operatur omnem concupiscentiam in hominis affectu. possumus tamen sic accipere: ante te omne desiderium pono, hoc est tibi manifesto quae impetrare desidero, ut ad seriem petitionum, non ad iactantiam referendum uideatur esse uirtutum; iactantia enim insolens etiam in integro, deprecatio etiam in peccatore laudabilis.
you shall not covet," surely of evil. Indeed what follows teaches us that sin, seizing the occasion, through the commandment works every concupiscence in man's affection. Yet we can take it thus: I set all my desire before you, that is, I make plain to you what I desire to obtain, so that it seems to refer to the series of petitions, not to boasting of virtues; for boasting is insolent even in a sound man, entreaty praiseworthy even in a sinner.
Rom 7:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 38:9 (37:10 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "All my desire before you" means the petitions of prayer, not boasting.
- Rom 7:7–8; Ps 38:9 [LXX 37:10].
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.38.4 (CSEL 64:166–167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-38-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-38-4
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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 37, chapter 39
37.39.1CSEL 64:167
Addidit etiam hoc propheta, quia, cum cor suum conturbatum sit, deseruerit se fortitudo sua. magnum periculum, si cor exagitetur, quo credimus ad iustitiam. sed tamen ut in magnis periculis aegritudinum, si dolor sentitur et sensus eius exprimitur, remedium salutis ostenditur — dolere enim tolerabilius est quam non dolere; aliud enim uiuificationis adhuc manentis insigne, si doleas, aliud supremae mortis indicium, si nullus sensus doloris sit —, ita et cor salutis signa demonstrat, quando causas suae perturbationis agnoscit.
The prophet also added this: that, since his heart was troubled, his strength left him. A great danger, if the heart with which we believe unto justice is shaken. But yet, as in great dangers of sickness, if pain is felt and its sense expressed, a remedy of health is shown (for it is more bearable to feel pain than not to feel it; it is one sign of life still remaining if you feel pain, another a sign of final death if there is no sense of pain), so the heart too shows signs of health when it recognizes the causes of its disturbance.
Ps 38:10 (37:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 10:10 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A troubled heart that feels its pain shows signs of health.
- Ps 38:10 [LXX 37:11]; Rom 10:10.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.39.1 (CSEL 64:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-39-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-39-1
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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.
37.39.2CSEL 64:167
denique turbatum est cor Dauid aduersus Nabal hominem pestilentem et gratiam repperit. occurrit Abigaea, quae mitigaret commotionem indignationis et sanctificationem benedictionis acciperet. at uero Nabal duro et rigido corde uerbum uxoris ferre non potuit et obstupefactus obriguit, mortem incidit.
Indeed David's heart was troubled against Nabal, a pestilent man, and found grace. Abigail met him, to soothe the agitation of his indignation, and received the sanctification of blessing. But Nabal, with hard and rigid heart, could not bear his wife's word, and, stupefied, grew stiff and fell into death.
1 Sam 25:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 25:33 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 25:37 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 25:38 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David's troubled heart was calmed by Abigail; Nabal's hard heart died.
- 1 Sam 25:13, 23–38.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.39.2 (CSEL 64:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-39-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-39-2
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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 37, chapter 40
37.40.1CSEL 64:167
Quae autem prophetam deseruit fortitudo, utrum carnis an mentis? si carnis, non utique desperanda sanitas; nam uirtus in infirmitate perficitur. de quo non mediocriter disputauit arbiter et proeliator quidam luctae mentis et corporis, sciens temperare utriusque certamen, ut restringeret carnem, si cerneret fortiorem, ne in lege peccati captiuam duceret mentem. reuocabat itaque carnem, uirtutem autem mentis iungebat; sic ad coronam meruit peruenire.
And what strength left the prophet, of the flesh or of the mind? If of the flesh, health is surely not to be despaired of; for power is perfected in weakness. Of this one argued not lightly who was a judge and fighter in the wrestling of mind and body, knowing how to temper the contest of both, so as to restrain the flesh if he saw it stronger, lest it lead the mind captive in the law of sin. So he called back the flesh and joined it to the strength of the mind; thus he deserved to reach the crown.
2 Cor 12:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:23 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 9:27 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: If bodily strength fails, power is perfected in weakness, as Paul showed.
- 2 Cor 12:9; Rom 7:23; 1 Cor 9:27; 2 Tim 4:8.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.40.1 (CSEL 64:167; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-40-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-40-1
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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.
37.40.2CSEL 64:167–168
ergo, quod dicit propheta, si carnis fortitudo deseruit, mentis fortitudo praeualuit. quodsi fortitudinem mentis accipimus deseruisse, non mirum si in grauissimis temptationibus corde turbato putat se homo mentis suae fortitudine deseri. ipse te doceat dicens: fortitudo mea et laudatio mea dominus. dominum ergo quaerebat et ideo, ne deseri
So, as to what the prophet says: if the strength of the flesh left him, the strength of the mind prevailed. But if we take it that the strength of the mind left him, no wonder if in the gravest temptations, with troubled heart, a man thinks he is forsaken by the strength of his mind. Let him teach you himself, saying: "The Lord is my strength and my praise." He was seeking the Lord, then, and so, lest he deserve to be forsaken,
Ps 118:14 (117:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The strength that left him may be the Lord, his strength.
- Ps 118:14 [LXX 117:14].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.40.2 (CSEL 64:167–168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-40-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-40-2
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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.
37.40.3CSEL 64:168
mereretur, saepius putabat esse quaerendum et, sicubi fluctuabat, putabat se esse desertum. sic apostoli excitant dormientem, ne obdormiret sibi, non quia eum obdormisse credebant. sic Heliseus, ut superiorum utamur exemplis, ubi est, inquit, deus Heliae?, non quo putaret absentem, sed quia praesentiam eius in beneficiis requirebat. sic Hieremias sequebatur ut medicum dicens: sana me, domine, et sanabor; saluum me fac, et saluabor. non laboraui sequens post te.
he thought he must seek him more often, and, if ever he wavered, thought himself forsaken. So the apostles woke the sleeping one, lest he sleep for himself, not because they believed he had fallen asleep. So Elisha, to use examples from earlier: "Where," he says, "is the God of Elijah?" not because he thought him absent, but because he sought his presence in benefits. So Jeremiah followed him as a physician, saying: "Heal me, Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved. I have not labored following after you."
Mark 4:38 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 2:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 17:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Jer 17:16 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The saints call on God as if absent, to seek his presence.
- Mark 4:38; 2 Kgs 2:14; Jer 17:14, 16 (Greek form).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: missing letter): Heiae → Heliae.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.40.3 (CSEL 64:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-40-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-40-3
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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.
37.40.4CSEL 64:168
sic ecclesia requirebat eum in Canticis canticorum et rogabat filias Hierusalem, ut suscitarent dilectionem; quaerebat ut inueniret, quem sua dilectione retinebat nec umquam sentiebat absentem. sic ergo et Dauid non querebatur a Christo se esse desertum, sed iudicabat illo praesente se non posse turbari.
So the church sought him in the Song of Songs and asked the daughters of Jerusalem to rouse love; she sought so as to find him whom she held by her love and never felt absent. So, then, David too did not complain that he was forsaken by Christ, but judged that, with him present, he could not be troubled.
Song 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:7 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like the bride of the Song, David sought the Christ he never truly lost.
- Song 3:1–5; 2:7.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.40.4 (CSEL 64:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-40-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-40-4
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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 37, chapter 41
37.41.1CSEL 64:168
Denique ut scias de Christo magis intellegendum, addidit: et lumen oculorum meorum non est mecum. quod est uerum lumen omnium nisi Christus, de quo Iohannes dicit: erat uerum lumen quod inluminat omnem hominem uenientem in hunc mundum, quia ipse est qui inluminat et corporis oculos et mentis obtutum? rogemus ergo, ut semper nobis suum lumen infundat et semper nobiscum sit, sicut erat cum Dauid. et ideo audebat dicere: quoniam apud
Indeed, so that you may know it is rather to be understood of Christ, he added: "And the light of my eyes is not with me." What is the true light of all but Christ, of whom John says: "He was the true light which enlightens every man coming into this world," since he it is who enlightens both the eyes of the body and the sight of the mind? Let us ask, then, that he always pour his light into us and always be with us, as he was with David. And so he dared to say: "For with
Ps 38:10 (37:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 1:9 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The light of the eyes is Christ, the true light.
- Ps 38:10 [LXX 37:11]; John 1:9.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.41.1 (CSEL 64:168; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-41-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-41-1
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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.
37.41.2CSEL 64:168–169
te fons uitae et in lumine tuo uidebimus lumen. ille certe quasi propheta magnum uiderat lumen; nobis lucerna eius luceat, ne possimus errare, et lucerna uerbum est, sicut uerum lumen est uerbum quod totum inluminat mundum. denique lucerna pedibus meis uerbum tuum, domine, et lucernam illam etiam propheta quaerebat, non lanternam, sed lucernam. lucernam Iohannes inuenit et demonstrauit, cum lanterna, persecutor aduenit et demonstrauit; lanterna enim clausum habet, non liberum lumen.
you is the fountain of life, and in your light we shall see light." He certainly, as a prophet, had seen a great light; for us let his lamp shine, so that we cannot go astray; and the lamp is the word, as the true light is the Word who enlightens the whole world. Indeed: "Your word, Lord, is a lamp to my feet"; and the prophet sought that lamp, not a lantern, but a lamp. John found the lamp and pointed it out; with a lantern the persecutor came and pointed him out; for a lantern has a closed, not a free, light.
Ps 36:9 (35:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 119:105 (118:105 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 5:35 (allusion, high confidence) · John 18:3 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's word is a lamp; the persecutors came with lanterns, light shut in.
- Ps 36:9 [LXX 35:10]; Ps 119:105 [LXX 118:105]; John 5:35 (John as a lamp); John 18:3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): lum e n → lumen.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.41.2 (CSEL 64:168–169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-41-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-41-2
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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.
37.41.3CSEL 64:169
lumen Iudaeorum quasi lucerna sub modio uel faces sub uelamine; potest uideri, sed non uidetur. nos autem reuelata facie gloriam domini speculamur aeternam, ut ad eius imaginem a gloria in gloriam per spiritum sanctum reformemur. uenit ergo persecutorum turba cum lanternis et ideo inclusam lucem uidere eorum oculi nequiuerunt; uenit cum facibus, quae plus habent in fumo caliginis quam splendoris in lumine.
The light of the Jews is like a lamp under a bushel or torches under a veil; it can be seen, but is not seen. But we, with unveiled face, behold the eternal glory of the Lord, so as to be re-formed into his image from glory to glory through the Holy Spirit. So the crowd of persecutors came with lanterns, and so their eyes could not see the enclosed light; it came with torches, which have more gloom in their smoke than splendor in their light.
Matt 5:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:18 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 3:15 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 18:3 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Jews' light is veiled; Christians see God's glory unveiled.
- Matt 5:15; 2 Cor 3:13–18; John 18:3. Ambrose's contrast is translated as written.
Topics: Jews and Judaism, The church and Israel
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.41.3 (CSEL 64:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-41-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-41-3
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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.
37.41.4CSEL 64:169
denique facibus mortuorum cadauera ardere consuerunt. sibi ergo Iudaei iam ferebant incendia, qui persequebantur salutis auctorem. uenere cum armis, significantes armis se perituros esse a Romanis usque ad excidium totius ciuitatis et templi, qui pacem domini recusarunt.
Indeed corpses of the dead are usually burned with torches. So the Jews were already carrying burnings for themselves, who persecuted the author of salvation. They came with weapons, signifying that by weapons they would perish at the hands of the Romans, to the destruction of the whole city and temple, they who refused the Lord's peace.
John 18:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 19:42 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 19:44 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The torches and weapons foreshadowed the destruction of Jerusalem.
- John 18:3; Luke 19:42–44; 21:20. Ambrose's polemic is translated as written.
Topics: Jews and Judaism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.41.4 (CSEL 64:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-41-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-41-4
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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 37, chapter 42
37.42.1CSEL 64:169
Amici mei et proximi mei aduersum me appropinquauerunt et steterunt et proximi mei a longe steterunt; et uim faciebant qui quaerebant animam meam et qui inquirebant mala mea locuti sunt uanitatem et dolum tota die meditabantur. ego autem uel surdus non audiebam et sicut mutus qui non aperit os suum, et factus sum sicut homo non audiens et non habens in ore suo increpationes.
"My friends and my neighbors drew near against me and stood, and my neighbors stood far off; and those who sought my soul used violence, and those who sought my evils spoke vanity and meditated deceit all day long. But I, like one deaf, did not hear, and like a dumb man who does not open his mouth; and I became like a man who does not hear and has no rebukes in his mouth."
Ps 38:11 (37:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:12 (37:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:13 (37:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:14 (37:15 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalmist's friends turned against him, and he kept silent like a deaf mute.
- Ps 38:11–14 [LXX 37:12–15].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters, stray letter; digitization: split word): sur dus → surdus; f actus sum sicut homo non audiens et non habens in ore e suo incr ep atione s → factus sum sicut homo non audiens et non habens in ore suo increpationes.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.42.1 (CSEL 64:169; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-1
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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.
37.42.2CSEL 64:169–170
uidero qui sint, qui argute ista discutiant. mihi in primo praecipue isto uersiculo domini uidetur tenenda sententia, quia in temptationibus inimici fiunt hominis etiam domestici eius. hoc ergo sanctus Dauid pure atque sincere et dolenter fatetur. uerus enim dolor est et interioris cordis confessio, quando enumerantur omnia quibus secreta mentis uiscera amarissimo conpunguntur affectu et domestico felle exacerbantur.
I shall see who they are who discuss these things subtly. To me, especially in this first verse, the Lord's saying seems to be kept, that in temptations a man's enemies are even those of his household. This, then, holy David confesses purely and sincerely and with grief. For true grief and confession of the inner heart is when all those things are enumerated by which the secret inner parts of the mind are pricked with most bitter feeling and embittered by domestic gall.
Matt 10:36 (allusion, high confidence) · Mic 7:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In temptation a man's enemies are those of his own household.
- Matt 10:36 (Mic 7:6).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.42.2 (CSEL 64:169–170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-2
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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.
37.42.3CSEL 64:170
deplorat igitur propheta ab amicis se et proximis inpugnatum, a quibus utique non inpugnari debuit, sed iuuari. quod utique cum sancti Iob querimonia concurrit, quia et ipse arguebat tres illos reges consolatores malorum, qui maiora ei inferebant certamina, cum ad consolandum eum amicitiae gratia conuenissent; quod utique cauendum est nobis. consolatio enim mitis debet esse, non
So the prophet laments that he was attacked by friends and neighbors, by whom he surely ought not to have been attacked but helped. This agrees with holy Job's complaint, for he too reproached those three kings as comforters of evils, who brought him greater contests when they had come together, by the grace of friendship, to comfort him; and this we must beware of. For consolation should be gentle, not
Job 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 16:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like Job's friends, comforters can become attackers; consolation must be gentle.
- Job 2:11; 16:2 (Greek "comforters of evils"; the friends are "kings" in the Greek).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.42.3 (CSEL 64:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-3
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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.
37.42.4CSEL 64:170
aspera, quae magis dolorem leniat, feruorem mitiget quam commotionem excitet. certe ipsius corporis medicina nos doceat, quae feruentibus uulneribus molliora medicamenta consueuit adhibere, quibus dolorem alleuet. ideoque fouentur primo uulnera, post secantur, ne offendat ipsa durities et incisio uulnus exasperet. quanto igitur magis cauere nos conuenit, ut, cum uenerimus ad consolandum, non facile, non perfunctorie loquamur! septem diebus tacuit Iob,
harsh, so as rather to soothe pain and calm fever than stir up agitation. Certainly the medicine of the body itself may teach us, which is accustomed to apply milder remedies to inflamed wounds, by which to relieve pain. And so wounds are first fomented, afterwards cut, lest the hardness itself offend and the incision inflame the wound. How much more, then, ought we to take care, when we have come to console, not to speak easily or carelessly! Job was silent for seven days;
Job 2:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Like physicians, comforters should soothe first and speak with care.
- Job 2:13.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.42.4 (CSEL 64:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-4
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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.
37.42.5CSEL 64:170
tacuerunt amici nec locuti essent, nisi Iob dolore prorupisset in uocem. quaerendum est enim unde incipias, ne in ipso sermone offendat consolatio tua; etiam taciturnitas ipsa medicina est et uelox in sermonibus magis uulnerat. quid miraris si alterum uulnerat, cum frequenter ipse uulneretur, quia ex multiloquio peccatum non fugit? etenim si medicus medendi tempus expectat, ut digestis aegritudinibus medicinae subsidia deferantur, ne acerba adhuc et inmatura, ut asserunt, aegritudo curationis remediis reluctetur et beneficium sentire non possit, quanto magis explorare nos con-
his friends were silent, and they would not have spoken had not Job in his pain burst into speech. For you must seek where to begin, lest in the very speech your consolation offend; even silence itself is medicine, and one quick in words rather wounds. Why do you wonder if he wounds another, when he himself is often wounded, since in much speaking he does not escape sin? For if a physician waits for the time of healing, so that the aids of medicine may be applied when the sicknesses have been digested, lest the sickness, still harsh and unripe, as they assert, resist the remedies of cure and be unable to feel the benefit, how much more ought we to
Job 2:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 10:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Silence can heal; the comforter must wait for the right moment.
- Job 2:13; 3:1; Prov 10:19.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.42.5 (CSEL 64:170; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-5
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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.
37.42.6CSEL 64:170–171
uenit, ut oportune a nobis medicabilis sermo procedat, qui non accendere luctum, sed lenire uideatur! uis urget doloris, premitur cor mulieris afflictae, quae inmaturo obitu maritum amisit aut filios: quid properas, cum te illa non audiat, nisi deferuescat dolor? saepe lites de consolationibus uidimus excitatas. uenisti ut doleas, non ut litiges. ordo sermonis ipse quaerendus est, ne peccatum apud deum incurras, dum desideras hominem consolari, ne dicenti tibi: audi haec et alia multa quae nihil prosint, [et] respondeat: audite, consolatores malorum, ne in luctu alterius certamen garrulae disputationis inducas, ne non accedas, cum oporteat, ne accedas et durior sit tuus sermo. denique quid dicatur de talibus, doceat te sanctus Iob: simul mihi uenerunt temptationes grauissimae, circumdederunt me considerantes. fratres mei discesserunt a me, cognouerunt extraneos magis quam me; amici mei inmisericordes facti sunt. hic ergo naturalis est sensus etiam sancti prophetae Dauid: queritur se ab amicis inpugnatum, a proximis destitutum.
examine, so that a healing word may come from us opportunely, which seems not to kindle grief but to soothe it! The force of grief presses, the heart of an afflicted woman is crushed, who has lost her husband or children by untimely death: why do you hurry, when she does not hear you until the grief cools? We have often seen quarrels stirred up over consolations. You came to grieve, not to quarrel. The order of speech must be sought, lest you incur sin before God while you wish to console a man; lest, when you say: "Hear these and many other things," which are of no profit, she answer: "Hear, comforters of evils"; lest you bring into another's mourning the contest of a chattering dispute; lest you not come when you ought, or come and your speech be too harsh. Indeed let holy Job teach you what is said of such men: "At once the gravest temptations came upon me, they surrounded me, watching. My brothers departed from me, they acknowledged strangers rather than me; my friends became merciless." This, then, is the natural sense of holy David the prophet too: he complains that he was attacked by friends, abandoned by neighbors.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Job 16:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 19:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 19:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 19:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:11 (37:12 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Comforters must speak at the right time; Job and David complain of their friends.
- Job 16:2 (Greek form); Job 19:12–14 (Greek form). The editor deletes "and" before "answer".
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: garbled letters; digitization: stray mark and number; digitization: words joined): *audi haec1 → audi haec; tahbug → talibus; prophetaeDauid → prophetae Dauid.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.42.6 (CSEL 64:170–171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-42-6
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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 37, chapter 43
37.43.1CSEL 64:171
Sed ne mysticus quidem abhorreat pietatis affectus, ut pro angelis dixerit qui praetendunt timentibus dominum, ut eripiant eos de temptationibus quas ferre non possunt. quomodo ergo longe stant qui ad adiumentum sunt attributi? sed non illi se separant, sed qui urgetur temptationibus putat eos longe abesse, quos propius sibi adesse desiderat, et arbitratur dissimulare, cum illi iuuandi tempus nutu sui imperatoris expectent, qui athletam suum, quo gloriosius uinceret, diutius certare praecepit.
But not even a mystical feeling of piety should be shunned, so that he may have spoken of the angels, who are set before those who fear the Lord, to rescue them from temptations they cannot bear. How, then, do they stand far off who are assigned to help? But they do not separate themselves; rather he who is pressed by temptations thinks they are far off, whom he desires to be nearer to him, and thinks they hold back, while they await the time for helping at the nod of their commander, who has ordered his athlete to contend longer so as to win more gloriously.
Ps 38:11 (37:12 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 34:7 (33:8 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 10:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Mystically, the "neighbors far off" are the guardian angels, who wait God's time to help.
- Ps 38:11 [LXX 37:12]; Ps 34:7 [LXX 33:8]; 1 Cor 10:13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray point; digitization: words joined): dixeritqui → dixerit qui; non.possunt → non possunt.
Topics: Angels
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.43.1 (CSEL 64:171; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-43-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-43-1
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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.
37.43.2CSEL 64:171–172
et uidetur hoc magis sequentibus conuenire, quia angelis protectionis excubias relaxantibus insidiabantur inimici, quaerentes in anima eius inuenire quod noceat. tunc enim potestas illis grauioris temptationis permittitur, cum culpa animae grauior repperitur. unde habes illud in libro Regnorum regis Achab ad Heliam dictum, quando eum propheta uehementer increpauit et mortem ei denuntiauit:
And this seems to fit better with what follows, because, when the angels relaxed the watches of protection, the enemies lay in wait, seeking to find in his soul something to harm. For power of graver temptation is permitted them when graver guilt of soul is found. Hence you have in the book of Kingdoms that saying of King Ahab to Elijah, when the prophet rebuked him vehemently and announced his death to him:
Ps 38:12 (37:13 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Kgs 21:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: When the soul's guilt is greater, the enemies gain more power, as with Ahab.
- Ps 38:12 [LXX 37:13]; 1 Kgs 21:19–20.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.43.2 (CSEL 64:171–172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-43-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-43-2
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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.
37.43.3CSEL 64:172
inuenisti, inquit, me? et respondit Helias: inueni, quia fecisti malignum in conspectu domini. uides ergo, quia regibus non temere uel a prophetis dei uel a sacerdotibus facienda iniuria sit, si nulla sint grauiora peccata in quibus debeant argui. ubi autem peccata grauiora sunt, ibi non uidetur a sacerdote parcendum, ut iustis increpationibus corrigantur
"Have you found me?" he says; and Elijah answered: "I have found you, because you have done evil in the sight of the Lord." You see, then, that kings must not be rashly wronged by God's prophets or priests, if there are no graver sins for which they should be rebuked. But where sins are graver, there it seems the priest should not spare, so that they may be corrected by just rebukes.
1 Kgs 21:20 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Priests should rebuke kings only for grave sins, but then without sparing.
- 1 Kgs 21:20. Ambrose himself rebuked Theodosius (390).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters; digitization: stray hyphen): m e? → me?; parc-endum → parcendum.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.43.3 (CSEL 64:172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-43-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-43-3
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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 37, chapter 44
37.44.1CSEL 64:172
Tamen Dauid in hoc loco dicit quod nihil inuenisse uideantur, et ideo inimici eius uanitatem locuti sunt, quoniam nihil quod pro ueritate loquerentur inuenerint. aut certe quia, etsi peccaui, tamen peccata mea paenitendi dolore purgabam; in quo illi cum dolo mecum loquebantur, ut obiurgatione confunderent et a conuersione reuocarent. et uide ne hoc magis senserit, quaesisse illos mala eius, sed, cum uellent accusare, praeuentos, quod uulnera sua ipse patefecerit sui accusator existens, et ideo uim accusationis eorum esse tenuatam, locutos autem ueri uana, quae confesso culpam iam nocere non possent.
Yet David in this place says that they seem to have found nothing, and so his enemies spoke vanity, since they found nothing to speak for the truth. Or at least: although I sinned, yet I was purging my sins with the grief of repentance; in which they spoke with me with deceit, to confound me with reproach and call me back from conversion. And see whether he did not rather mean this: that they sought his evils, but, when they wished to accuse, were forestalled, because he himself laid open his wounds, being his own accuser, and so the force of their accusation was weakened, and they spoke vain things of the truth, which could not harm one who had already confessed his guilt.
Ps 38:12 (37:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 18:17 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Confession forestalled his accusers, so they spoke vanity.
- Ps 38:12 [LXX 37:13]; Prov 18:17.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.44.1 (CSEL 64:172; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-44-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-44-1
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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 37, chapter 45
37.45.1CSEL 64:172–173
Exclusi igitur a criminationis inuidia dolum adhibebant, ut insurgerent, inquit, mihi et insultarent, quo me stimularent ad aliquam commotionem; quorum ego dolum uidens uelut surdus non audiebam. considera uim sermonis. non dixit quia simulabam non me audire quae dicerent, sed non audiebam dixit et quod intentione mentis uocem loquentis excluderet nec aperiret os suum sicut mutus.
Shut out, then, from the odium of accusation, they used deceit, "to rise up," he says, "against me and insult me," so as to goad me to some agitation; seeing their deceit, I, like one deaf, did not hear. Consider the force of the word. He did not say: I pretended not to hear what they said; but he said "I did not hear," and that by the attention of his mind he shut out the voice of the speaker and did not open his mouth, like a dumb man.
Ps 38:13 (37:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David truly did not hear his provokers, shutting them out with his mind.
- Ps 38:13 [LXX 37:14].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.45.1 (CSEL 64:172–173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-1
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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.
37.45.2CSEL 64:173
beatus qui potest tantam habere uirtutem, ut lacessitus non irascatur, commotus se nolit ulcisci. inimici hoc agunt, ut prouocent ad iracundiam, maledicunt, ut maledicamus, criminantur, ut crimen retorqueamus, conuiciantur, ut excitent nos ad uicissitudinem contumeliae. unde praeclare Petrus de domino Iesu in epistula sua posuit, quia cum malediceretur non maledicebat, cum pateretur non comminabatur.
Blessed is he who can have such virtue that, provoked, he is not angry, stirred, he does not want to avenge himself. Enemies do this to provoke to anger: they curse that we may curse, accuse that we may turn the accusation back, revile to rouse us to return the insult. Hence Peter excellently put in his epistle of the Lord Jesus, that when he was cursed he did not curse, when he suffered he did not threaten.
1 Pet 2:23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Blessed is he who does not return insult, like Christ.
- 1 Pet 2:23.
Topics: Ethics, Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.45.2 (CSEL 64:173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-2
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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.
37.45.3CSEL 64:173
ad eius similitudinem atque imaginem iustus suae uitae cupiens instituta formare accusatus tacet, laesus remittit, dissimulat lacessitus et non aperit os suum, ut illum imitetur, qui sicut agnus ad uictimam ductus est et non aperit os suum et, cum posset habere quod referat, magis uult silere quam dicere.
To his likeness and image the just man, desiring to form the ordering of his life, when accused is silent, when hurt forgives, when provoked lets it pass, and does not open his mouth, so as to imitate him who was led like a lamb to the sacrifice and does not open his mouth, and, though he could have something to reply, prefers to be silent rather than speak.
Isa 53:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The just man imitates Christ, the silent lamb.
- Isa 53:7.
Topics: Ethics, Patience, Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.45.3 (CSEL 64:173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-3
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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.
37.45.4CSEL 64:173
ipse enim dominus Iesus uere cum accusaretur tacebat et cum percuteretur non repercutiebat. denique percussus respondit: si male locutus sum, testimonium perhibe de malo; si bene, quid me caedis? uide quemadmodum quasi uere infirmus et quasi is, qui se uindicare non posset, puerili quodam loquebatur affectu. ita ergo et tu, si habeas quo redarguas arguentem, melius tacebis, ne redarguendi uicissitudine commotionem tuam prodas; melius est enim dissimulare iniuriam quam, cum redarguis, uindicare.
For the Lord Jesus himself was truly silent when he was accused, and when he was struck did not strike back. Indeed, when struck, he answered: "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; if well, why do you strike me?" See how, as if truly weak and as one who could not avenge himself, he spoke with a kind of childlike feeling. So you too, if you have the means to refute your accuser, will do better to be silent, lest by refuting in turn you betray your agitation; for it is better to overlook an injury than to avenge it by refuting.
Matt 26:63 (allusion, high confidence) · John 18:23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ answered a blow gently; it is better to overlook an injury.
- Matt 26:63; John 18:23.
Topics: Ethics, Love of enemies and forgiveness of wrongs
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.45.4 (CSEL 64:173; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-4
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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.
37.45.5CSEL 64:173–174
bonus mutus qui loqui male nescit, cuius ex ore crimen exire non nouit. hic est mutus uere beatus, qui cum tacet intra se loquitur: dominus dat mihi linguam eruditionis, quando oporteat me dicere sermonem. talia loquebatur intra se Zacharias, cum ommutuisset, et uere, quia loqui ei non profuerat, ne loqueretur ommutuit et ut loqueretur exauditus a Christo est. denique scripsit quod Christus exaudiret et uocem recepit quam
Good is the dumb man who does not know how to speak evil, from whose mouth crime does not know how to go out. This is the truly blessed dumb man, who, when silent, speaks within himself: "The Lord gives me a tongue of instruction, when I should speak a word." Such things Zechariah spoke within himself when he had become dumb; and truly, because speaking had not profited him, he became dumb so as not to speak, and was heard by Christ so as to speak. Indeed he wrote what Christ would hear, and received the voice which
Isa 50:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 1:20 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:63 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 1:64 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The blessed dumb man speaks inwardly to God, like Zechariah.
- Isa 50:4; Luke 1:20, 63–64.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray number): eruditionis, 25 quando → eruditionis, quando; Christo est. 7 denique → Christo est. denique.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.45.5 (CSEL 64:173–174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-5
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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.
37.45.6CSEL 64:174
Christus indulsit et gratiam adiunxit quam ante non habuit, ut prophetaret eum cuius mandatis ante non credidit. quid de domino omnium uirtutum loquor, cum mulier Susanna nec sexus infirmitate turbata, quibus se ad periculum mortis cognouit addictam, uocem emiserit? accusabatur et tacebat, ducebatur ad mortem et silentio se tegebat, ne nudaret pudorem. intra se tamen loquebatur deo, qui eam magis audiuit tacentem, quae si uoluisset loqui forsitan non esset audita.
Christ granted, and added a grace he had not had before, so as to prophesy of him whose commands he had not believed before. Why speak of the Lord of all virtues, when the woman Susanna, not troubled even by the weakness of her sex, uttered no word to those by whom she knew herself handed over to the danger of death? She was accused and was silent, she was led to death and covered herself with silence, lest she bare her modesty. Yet within herself she spoke to God, who heard her the more when silent, who, had she wished to speak, perhaps would not have been heard.
Luke 1:67 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Susanna, silent before her accusers, spoke inwardly to God and was heard.
- Luke 1:67; Sus 35, 42–44 (Greek additions to Daniel).
Extrabiblical texts: Sus 35 (Susanna [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion); Sus 42 (Susanna [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.45.6 (CSEL 64:174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-45-6
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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 37, chapter 46
37.46.1CSEL 64:174
Et tu ergo, qui proposuisti satisfacere pro delictis domino deo tuo, illi soli interiore corde te purga, illum contuere qui potest peccata diluere. adiuuat te qui putauerit arguendum. denique cum malediceretur Dauid et eius dux Abessa eius iniuriam uellet ulcisci, dixit ad eum Dauid: dimitte illum, ut maledicat, quoniam dixit illi dominus, ut uideatis humilitatem meam et retribuat mihi dominus bona pro maledicto hoc. uides igitur, quod a conuiciantibus adiuueris, ut dominus audiat te et peccatum tuum remittat.
You too, then, who have resolved to make satisfaction for your offenses to the Lord your God, purify yourself to him alone with your inner heart; look to him who can wash away sins. He helps you who thinks you should be reproved. Indeed, when David was being cursed and his captain Abishai wished to avenge his injury, David said to him: "Let him alone, that he may curse, for the Lord has told him, that you may see my humiliation, and the Lord may repay me good for this cursing." You see, then, that you are helped by those who revile you, so that the Lord may hear you and remit your sin.
2 Sam 16:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:11 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Sam 16:12 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who revile a penitent help him, as Shimei's curses helped David.
- 2 Sam 16:9–12.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: OCR letter slips; digitization: words joined): pro debetis domino ieo tuo → pro delictis domino deo tuo; utuideatis → ut uideatis; retribuatmihidominus → retribuat mihi dominus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.46.1 (CSEL 64:174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-46-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-46-1
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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.
37.46.2CSEL 64:174
nam cum ipse accusator tuus esse debeas et coacerbare flagitia teque ipsum offerre supplicio, quomodo negare obiecta desideras? paenitentia patientiam quaerit, patientia mitigat delicta magna. quomodo irasceris aliis tuae ipse reus conscientiae? quomodo commoueris, cum debeas esse miserabilis? qui arguitur et, quod est amplius, a semet ipso, curare debet sua uulnera, non alterum uulnerare. nemo alium uulnerando se sanat. medice, cura te ipsum. si medicus, quanto magis reus prius curare se debet!
For since you ought to be your own accuser and heap up your shameful deeds and offer yourself to punishment, how do you desire to deny what is charged? Repentance seeks patience; patience soothes great offenses. How are you angry with others, yourself guilty in your conscience? How are you stirred, when you ought to be pitiable? He who is reproved, and what is more by himself, must cure his own wounds, not wound another. No one heals himself by wounding another. "Physician, heal yourself." If a physician, how much more must a defendant cure himself first!
Eccl 10:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 4:23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The penitent should accuse himself, not quarrel with accusers.
- Eccl 10:4; Luke 4:23.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.46.2 (CSEL 64:174; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-46-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-46-2
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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.
37.46.3CSEL 64:174–175
confiteris peccatum tuum et medicum profiteris alienum: etsi ueritatis est quod retorques, temporis non est; peccatori enim dixit deus: quare tu enarras iustitias meas? usurpasti tibi ut de lege arguas, qui contra legem ipse stetisti. quid lacrimarum tempus amittis? quid concertando uanos sermones aut audis aut loqueris, cum tibi scriptum sit: non accipias auditum uanum, cum legeris in euangelio pro omni sermone otioso iudicium esse subeundum? etsi alius loquitur, tace, etsi alius conuiciatur, aurem tuam obstrue.
You confess your sin, and profess yourself another's physician: even if what you retort belongs to truth, it does not belong to the time; for God said to the sinner: "Why do you recount my justices?" You have usurped the right to reprove from the law, you who have stood against the law. Why do you lose the time for tears? Why, by contending, do you either hear or speak vain words, when it is written for you: "Do not receive a vain report," when you have read in the gospel that judgment must be undergone for every idle word? Even if another speaks, be silent; even if another reviles, stop your ear.
Ps 50:16 (49:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 23:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 12:36 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: A sinner should spend his time in tears, not in disputes.
- Ps 50:16 [LXX 49:16]; Exod 23:1; Matt 12:36.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: c for o; digitization: spaced letters; digitization: stray point): quod. retorques → quod retorques; t u enarras → tu enarras; lcquitur → loquitur.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.46.3 (CSEL 64:174–175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-46-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-46-3
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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 37, chapter 47
37.47.1CSEL 64:175
Dauid tacendo uicit aduersarios suos et, quia sicut mutus factus est, uocem recepit, quia conuersus ad dominum loquebatur dicens: quoniam in te, domine, speraui; tu exaudies me, domine deus meus. quia dixi: ne aliquando exultent in me inimici mei. uide singula. tacebat Dauid, loquebantur inimici, prouocabant ut aliquid et ipse loqueretur.
David overcame his adversaries by keeping silent, and, because he became like a dumb man, he received his voice, for, turned to the Lord, he spoke, saying: "For in you, Lord, have I hoped; you will hear me, O Lord my God. For I said: lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me." See each point. David was silent, the enemies spoke, they provoked him so that he too might say something.
Ps 38:15 (37:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:16 (37:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David, silent before men, spoke to God in hope.
- Ps 38:15–16 [LXX 37:16–17].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): e xaudies → exaudies.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.47.1 (CSEL 64:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-47-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-47-1
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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.
37.47.2CSEL 64:175
dicebant: audiamus uocem tuam, intra se ille tacitus loquebatur. quid opus est ut ista audiant quibus prodesse non possunt? in te, domine, speraui, tibi soli loquor, tu audi qui exaudire potes. a te semper poposci, ne aliquando exultent in me inimici mei, quia, etsi peccaui, tu peccatum dimittis, etsi ego cecidi, tu resuscitas, ne habeant unde exultare possint qui peccatis laetantur alienis.
They said: let us hear your voice; he, silent, spoke within himself. What need is there for these to hear what cannot profit them? In you, Lord, I have hoped, to you alone I speak; you hear, who can hear. I have always asked of you that my enemies may never rejoice over me, because, even if I sinned, you forgive sin; even if I fell, you raise up; so that those who rejoice in others' sins may have nothing to exult over.
Ps 38:15 (37:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:16 (37:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David speaks only to God, who forgives and raises the fallen.
- Ps 38:15–16 [LXX 37:16–17].
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.47.2 (CSEL 64:175; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-47-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-47-2
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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.
37.47.3CSEL 64:175–176
plus enim adquisiuimus qui plus peccauimus, quia beatiores facit tua gratia quam nostra innocentia. habemus hunc sensum et in libro Michaeae prophetae: noli gaudere super me inimica mea, quia cecidi, sed resurgam. non est grauis infirmitatis ruina, si non sit etiam uoluntatis studium ab ea non surgendi. habe uoluntatem surgendi: praesens est qui faciat ut resurgas.
For we who have sinned more have gained more, because your grace makes us more blessed than our innocence. We have this sense in the book of the prophet Micah too: "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, because I have fallen; but I shall rise." The fall of weakness is not grave, if there is not also a will's desire not to rise from it. Have the will to rise: he is present who will make you rise again.
Rom 5:20 (allusion, medium confidence) · Mic 7:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Grace makes sinners more blessed than innocence; have the will to rise.
- Rom 5:20; Mic 7:8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: t for s, p for s): habemut hunc pensum → habemus hunc sensum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.47.3 (CSEL 64:175–176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-47-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-47-3
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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 37, chapter 48
37.48.1CSEL 64:176
Dixit ergo Dauid in corde suo, petens ut exaudiretur a domino et ut non exultarent in eum eius inimici, petens etiam ut in conuersionis suae proposito permaneret, ne, dum propositi sui gressus quasi quidam pedes suae animae commouentur, in eum aduersarii superba et magniloquentiae plena loquerentur, ut faciunt qui insultare desiderant.
David spoke, then, in his heart, asking to be heard by the Lord and that his enemies should not exult over him, asking too that he might persevere in the purpose of his conversion, lest, while the steps of his purpose, like certain feet of his soul, were shaken, his adversaries should speak proud things full of boasting against him, as those do who desire to insult.
Ps 38:16 (37:17 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David prayed to persevere, lest his enemies boast if he faltered.
- Ps 38:16 [LXX 37:17].
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.48.1 (CSEL 64:176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-48-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-48-1
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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.
37.48.2CSEL 64:176
tamen, etsi moueatur ut homo, paratum ad flagella se dicit, ut uel supplicio soluat errorem. etsi cessent flagella domini, se tamen dolore proprio memorat flagellari, ut non inueniat culpa quod damnet, quam bona confessio praeuenerit. hoc est ergo quod ait: et dum commouentur pedes mei, in me magna locuti sunt, eo quod tam prompti sunt ad insultationis ludibria, ut in commotione pedum meorum paratam habuerint magniloquentiam. uel certe sic: dum commouentur pedes mei, putantes quod caderem, superba iam et magniloqua sunt locuti.
Yet, even if he is shaken as a man, he says he is ready for scourges, so as to pay for his error even by punishment. Even if the Lord's scourges cease, he recalls that he is scourged by his own grief, so that guilt, which good confession has forestalled, may find nothing to condemn. This, then, is what he says: "And while my feet were moved, they spoke great things against me," because they are so ready for the mockeries of insult that in the moving of my feet they had boasting ready. Or certainly thus: while my feet were moved, thinking I would fall, they already spoke proud and boastful things.
Ps 38:16 (37:17 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:17 (37:18 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David stands ready for chastisement, scourged by his own grief.
- Ps 38:16–17 [LXX 37:17–18].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters): e t dum → et dum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.48.2 (CSEL 64:176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-48-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-48-2
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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 37, chapter 49
37.49.1CSEL 64:176
Sed tamen quia ipse in posterioribus paene motos pedes suos dixit, ne quid oriatur hinc scrupuli, considera hic doceri nos affectum paenitentiae, ibi opinionem eius erroris excludi, quod diuitiae et successus prosperior flagitiosorum nos mouere non debeant.
But yet, because in a later psalm he himself said his feet were almost moved, lest any scruple arise from this, consider that here we are taught the feeling of penance, there the opinion of that error is excluded, that the riches and more prosperous success of the shameless should not move us.
Ps 73:2 (72:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 73:3 (72:3 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The "moved feet" of Psalm 72 (73) concern envy of the wicked, not penance.
- Ps 73:2–3 [LXX 72:2–3].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: ti for n): tion debeant → non debeant.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.49.1 (CSEL 64:176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-49-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-49-1
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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.
37.49.2CSEL 64:176
consuetudo autem elocutionis in scripturis diuinis huiusmodi repperitur. sic enim et alibi: dum conuerteret dominus captiuitatem Sion, facti sumus sicut consolati, quamquam sanctus non in ostensione uerborum, sed in uirtute spiritus probari se uelit. sensus ergo nobis spectandus est semper, quem etiam ipsum frequens translatio ex Hebraeo in Graecum, ex Graeco in Latinum attenuare consueuit.
And a usage of expression of this kind is found in the divine Scriptures. For so elsewhere: "When the Lord turned back the captivity of Zion, we became like those comforted," although the saint wishes to be proved not in a display of words but in the power of the Spirit. The sense, then, must always be looked to, which frequent translation from Hebrew into Greek and from Greek into Latin usually weakens.
Ps 126:1 (125:1 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 2:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture's sense must be sought, which translation tends to weaken.
- Ps 126:1 [LXX 125:1]; 1 Cor 2:4.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: OCR letter slips): reppentur → repperitur.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.49.2 (CSEL 64:176; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-49-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-49-2
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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 37, chapter 50
37.50.1CSEL 64:176–177
Ad omnia itaque superiora pulchrum remedium, quod in flagella paratus est et offert se domino, ut quae placuerint deo flagella sustineat. elegisse quidem lego sanctum Dauid flagelli genus quod aequanimiter sustineret, sed elegit, quia de tribus ei condicionibus eligendae unius necessitas mandabatur.
For all the foregoing, then, there is a fine remedy: that he is ready for scourges and offers himself to the Lord, to bear whatever scourges please God. I read indeed that holy David chose a kind of scourge he could bear with equanimity; but he chose because the necessity of choosing one of three conditions was laid on him.
Ps 38:17 (37:18 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:12 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Sam 24:14 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The remedy: to stand ready for whatever chastisement God wills.
- Ps 38:17 [LXX 37:18] ("I am ready for scourges"); 2 Sam 24:12–14.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.50.1 (CSEL 64:176–177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-50-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-50-1
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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.
37.50.2CSEL 64:177
ubi autem non mandatur, ad omnia paratus est dei seruulus, seu corporalem aegritudinem subeat seu fugam a facie inimici siue obitum filiorum, quos non timet praemittere, quia recipere potest inperterritus. nam est sciens, quod, si hic fuerit punitus supplicio temporali, leuare in futurum perpetuae possit poenam aerumnae. rogat ergo, ut recipiatur petitio sua et castigetur ipse, ut recipiatur; castigat enim dominus omnem filium quem recipit.
But where it is not commanded, God's servant is ready for everything, whether he undergo bodily sickness or flight from the face of the enemy or the death of his children, whom he does not fear to send ahead, because he can receive them back undaunted. For he knows that, if he is punished here with temporal punishment, he can lighten the penalty of perpetual misery in the future. He asks, then, that his petition be received and that he himself be chastised so as to be received; "for the Lord chastises every son whom he receives."
Heb 12:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's servant accepts any chastisement, knowing it lightens future punishment.
- Heb 12:6.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: OCR letter slips): criim → enim.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.50.2 (CSEL 64:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-50-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-50-2
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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 37, chapter 51
37.51.1CSEL 64:177
Si seruulum tuum uideas peccata propria confitentem ultro offerre se poenae, inflecteris, ignoscis: et de domini miseratione diffidis? iudex ipse, cui non licet in plurimis causis a gladio temperare, quia legibus seruit, potest tamen lucrum donare poenarum, et tu adhuc trepidas, quid a legum domino et misericordiae auctore deposcas, cui lex uoluntas est et donandi ius, si tamen tu petas tibi tua peccata donari nec consideres honores tuos aut erubescas amicos tuos, ne dignitatem tuam flexisse uidearis?
If you see your slave confessing his own sins and offering himself of his own accord to punishment, you are moved, you forgive: and do you distrust the Lord's compassion? A judge himself, who in many cases may not hold back the sword because he serves the laws, can yet grant remission of penalties; and do you still tremble about what to ask of the Lord of the laws and author of mercy, whose will is law and who has the right to give, if only you ask that your sins be forgiven you, and do not consider your honors or blush before your friends, lest you seem to have bent your dignity?
Notes and citation
Summary: Do not let rank or shame keep you from asking God's forgiveness.
Topics: Forgiveness of sins
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.51.1 (CSEL 64:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-1
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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.
37.51.2CSEL 64:177
amicus dei, propheta dei, rex ab ipso electus deo et unctus in regnum flagellis se spontaneus offerebat nec erubescebat, et tu erubescis? non ista uerecundia multum tibi opitulabitur, cum ad iudicium dei ueneris, sed pudoris te istius paenitebit, cum in conspectu non solum hominum, sed etiam angelorum et omnium potestatum caelestium constitutus coeperis peccata propria non negare. quomodo excusabis, cum tanta commiseris? praetendes condicionis infirmitatem, quia nemo sine peccato.
A friend of God, a prophet of God, a king chosen by God himself and anointed to the kingdom, offered himself willingly to scourges and did not blush, and do you blush? That shame will not help you much when you come to God's judgment; but you will repent of that shame when, set in the sight not only of men but of angels and all the heavenly powers, you begin not to deny your own sins. How will you excuse yourself, when you have committed so much? You will plead the weakness of your condition, because no one is without sin.
Ps 89:20 (88:21 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 John 1:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David, though king, did not blush to do penance; false shame will be regretted at the judgment.
- Ps 89:20 [LXX 88:21]; 1 John 1:8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: l for r): plaetendes → praetendes.
Topics: Eschatology, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.51.2 (CSEL 64:177; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-2
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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.
37.51.3CSEL 64:177–178
respondebitur tibi: debuisti ergo agere paenitentiam; dederam remedium, cur refutasti? subtexes pudorem, quod honores tuos erubueris. dicet: si tu erubuisti me coram amicis tuis, et ego te erubescam coram patre meo qui est in caelis. disce uerum esse quod scriptum est, quia est uerecundia adducens peccatum. Dauid in conspectu suo dolorem suum ponebat, ne umquam obliuisceretur; Dauid iniquitatem suam ipse pronuntiabat; Dauid de peccato suo, non de opibus cogitabat; Dauid non erubescebat sua recensere peccata, ne de his erubesceret in meo iudicio constitutus:
It will be answered you: then you ought to have done penance; I had given a remedy, why did you refuse it? You will add shame, that you blushed for your honors. He will say: "If you were ashamed of me before your friends, I too will be ashamed of you before my Father who is in heaven." Learn that what is written is true, that "there is a shame that brings sin." David set his grief before his eyes, lest he ever forget it; David himself pronounced his iniquity; David thought about his sin, not his wealth; David did not blush to review his sins, lest he blush for them when set in my judgment:
Luke 9:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 10:33 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 38:17 (37:18 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 38:18 (37:19 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 51:3 (50:5 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Those ashamed to confess Christ will be shamed; David confessed openly.
- Luke 9:26 (Matt 10:33); Sir 4:21; Ps 38:17–18 [LXX 37:18–19]; Ps 51:3 [LXX 50:5].
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 4:21 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.51.3 (CSEL 64:177–178; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-3
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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.
37.51.4CSEL 64:178
et tu erubescebis? non esset hodie in requie seruulus meus Iob, si erubuisset tres illos reges amicos suos, non ipse Dauid, si erubuisset delicta propria confiteri. ergo quia non erubuit mihi sua aperire peccata, nec ego erubescam ei mea secreta reserare. et quia uterque eorum non erubuit factorum suorum pretium in mea ponere potestate, meo se iudicio uoluntatique committere, nec ego de talibus
and will you blush? My servant Job would not today be at rest if he had been ashamed before those three kings his friends; nor David himself, if he had been ashamed to confess his own offenses. So, because he was not ashamed to open his sins to me, neither will I be ashamed to unlock my secrets to him. And because neither of them was ashamed to place the price of his deeds in my power and to commit himself to my judgment and will, neither shall I be ashamed of such
Job 42:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 42:10 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Job and David were not ashamed to confess, and God will not be ashamed of them.
- Job 42:7–10.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: OCR letter slips; digitization: u for i): erubescebus → erubescebis; seruulus mpus → seruulus meus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.51.4 (CSEL 64:178; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-4
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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.
37.51.5CSEL 64:178
seruulis erubescam, ut appellem amicos qui meam studuerint facere uoluntatem. ideoque quoniam illi ante in maerore, nunc in consolatione; tu quia in deliciis, nunc in suppliciis. chaos inter uos magnum est, ut neque illorum ad te gratia nec tua ad illos possit poena transire. audis ergo quid dicat Dauid? audi, dum tibi corrigere et emendare permittitur; si hic emendaueris, illic requiesces. non te dulcia mundi et saeculi huius amoena delectent; graue fel uomere consuerunt. non ille iocunda quaerebat positus in regno, qui eligebat mortem sanctorum quam uitam flagitiosorum.
servants, so as to call them friends who strove to do my will. And so, since they were formerly in grief, now in consolation; you, because you were in delights, now in torments. There is a great chasm between you, so that neither their grace can pass to you nor your punishment to them. Do you hear, then, what David says? Hear, while you are permitted to correct and amend; if you amend here, you will rest there. Let not the sweet things of the world and the pleasures of this age delight you; they usually vomit heavy gall. He did not seek pleasant things, though set in a kingdom, who chose the death of the saints rather than the life of the shameless.
John 15:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 16:25 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 16:26 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 5:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · Num 23:10 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Amend now while you can, as the parable of the rich man warns.
- John 15:14–15; Luke 16:25–26; Prov 5:3–4; Num 23:10.
Topics: Eschatology, Repentance
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.51.5 (CSEL 64:178; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-51-5
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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 37, chapter 52
37.52.1CSEL 64:178
Inimici, inquit, mei uiuunt et confirmati sunt super me et multiplicati sunt qui oderunt me inique; qui retribuunt mala pro bonis detrahebant mihi, quoniam subsecutus sum iustitiam. sed quanto ille inlustrior qui cotidie moriebatur, ut populum
"My enemies," he says, "live and are strengthened against me, and those who hate me wrongfully are multiplied; those who repay evil for good slandered me, because I followed after justice." But how much more illustrious he who died daily, to give life to his people,
Ps 38:19 (37:20 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:20 (37:21 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:31 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalmist's enemies thrive; Paul died daily for his people.
- Ps 38:19–20 [LXX 37:20–21]; 1 Cor 15:31.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters, stray letters; digitization: split word): con firmati → confirmati; qui retr ib uunt mala pro bonis detrahebant mihi, quoniam am subsecutus sum iustir tiam → qui retribuunt mala pro bonis detrahebant mihi, quoniam subsecutus sum iustitiam.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.52.1 (CSEL 64:178; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-52-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-52-1
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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.
37.52.2CSEL 64:178–179
suum uiuificaret, et corpus suum mortis uulneribus offerebat, sicut ipse ait: in mortibus frequenter! mors enim honesta redemptio uitae est etiam decoloris aut innoxiae firmamentum, exitus autem mortis in manu uitae; et ideo malebat apostolus cotidie mori, ut uitae suae meritum comprobaret; scriptum est enim: non laudes hominem in uita sua. qui enim uiuunt moriuntur, qui moriuntur resurgent. propior ergo saluti est, qui moritur ut resurgat, quam ille, qui uiuit ut moriatur.
and offered his body to the wounds of death, as he himself says: "in deaths often"! For an honorable death is the redemption even of a discolored life, or the confirmation of an innocent one, and the outcome of death is in the hand of life; and so the apostle preferred to die daily, to prove the merit of his life; for it is written: "Do not praise a man in his life." For those who live die; those who die will rise. He is nearer to salvation, then, who dies to rise again than he who lives to die.
2 Cor 11:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:31 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: An honorable death crowns a life; better to die to rise than to live to die.
- 2 Cor 11:23; 1 Cor 15:31; Sir 11:28.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 11:28 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Topics: Martyrdom, Death and burial
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.52.2 (CSEL 64:178–179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-52-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-52-2
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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.
37.52.3CSEL 64:179
quis est autem qui cotidie moriatur nisi qui mortem domini Iesu in sua carne circumfert, ut omnia ei peccata moriantur? confirmati autem et multiplicati sunt inimici Dauid in hoc saeculo; sed non idoneum firmamentum nisi eius, qui confirmatur in Christo. denique illi confirmantur in saeculo, qui oderunt iustum inique; non ergo iustum odium, sed iniustum, cum odissent inique.
And who is it that dies daily but he who carries about the death of the Lord Jesus in his flesh, so that all sins may die to him? David's enemies were strengthened and multiplied in this world; but no strengthening is sound except his who is strengthened in Christ. In short, those are strengthened in the world who hate the just man wrongfully; not, then, a just hatred but an unjust, since they hated wrongfully.
2 Cor 4:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 38:19 (37:20 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: To die daily is to carry Christ's death; only strength in Christ is sound.
- 2 Cor 4:10; Ps 38:19 [LXX 37:20].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: m for in; digitization: stray letter): Iesu m sua carne → Iesu in sua carne; sed non m idoneum → sed non idoneum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.52.3 (CSEL 64:179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-52-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-52-3
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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 37, chapter 53
37.53.1CSEL 64:179
Sed uide distantiam. in posterioribus ait: qui oderunt me gratis, hic habet: qui oderunt me inique. sed ibi ex persona Christi, hic ex persona sua; ubi ex persona Christi loquitur, gratis odio habetur, ubi ex sua, inique. homo enim potest uni alicui uulneri non patere — ut puta iniustitiae intemperantiae inpudicitiae —, aliis autem uulneribus patet; in Christo autem nulla causa esse potuit, qua peccati alicuius potuerit uulnus accipere inmunis a culpa et integer a delicto atque inmaculatus a uitio. sunt autem qui putant utrumque psalmum ex persona Christi esse decursum, qui pro nostris peccatis satisfiebat patri. hic ergo dicebat se appetitum contra iustitiam, illic contra gratiam.
But see the difference. In a later psalm he says: "those who hated me without cause"; here he has: "those who hated me wrongfully." But there he speaks in the person of Christ, here in his own; where he speaks in Christ's person, he is hated without cause; where in his own, wrongfully. For a man can be closed to some one wound (for example, injustice, intemperance, impurity) but open to other wounds; but in Christ there could be no cause by which he could receive the wound of any sin, immune from guilt, whole from offense and spotless from vice. Some, however, think both psalms were run through in the person of Christ, who was making satisfaction to the Father for our sins. Here, then, he said he was attacked against justice, there against grace.
Ps 69:4 (68:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:19 (37:20 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:22 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "Without cause" fits Christ, "wrongfully" fits David.
- Ps 69:4 [LXX 68:5]; Ps 38:19 [LXX 37:20].
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.53.1 (CSEL 64:179; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-53-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-53-1
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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 37, chapter 54
37.54.1CSEL 64:179–180
Et bene addit, ut probaret se iniuste appetitum: quoniam subsecutus sum iustitiam. quanta uis uerbi in huius syllabae adiectione, ut subsecutum se diceret iustitiam, non secutum! propior est enim qui subsequitur quam ille qui sequitur et subpar quam inpar et successio heredis magis quam accessio nuncupatur.
And well he adds, to prove that he was attacked unjustly: "because I followed after justice." What force of the word by the addition of this syllable, so that he said he "followed after" justice, not "followed"! For he who follows after is nearer than he who follows, and "nearly equal" than "unequal," and the succession of an heir is so called rather than an accession.
Ps 38:20 (37:21 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: "Followed after" justice implies close pursuit.
- Ps 38:20 [LXX 37:21]. Ambrose plays on the prefix sub- (subsequi, subpar, successio).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: m for in, OCR letter slips): uerbi m huius sylkbae → uerbi in huius syllabae.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.54.1 (CSEL 64:179–180; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-54-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-54-1
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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 37, chapter 55
37.55.1CSEL 64:180
Et tamen, quamuis subsequatur iustitiam, non suae uirtutis putat esse, sed gratiae caelestis, si non deseratur a Christo, eoque orat inpensius dicens: ne derelinquas me, domine; deus meus, ne discesseris a me, hoc est: homines me dereliquerunt, amici mei inpugnarunt dilectum sibi, proximi non appropinquauerunt. fugiebant me quasi mortuum et abominati sunt, quia peccata mea desideraui tibi confiteri, quia flagellis tuis
And yet, although he follows after justice, he thinks it belongs not to his own virtue but to heavenly grace, if he is not forsaken by Christ, and so he prays more earnestly, saying: "Do not forsake me, O Lord; my God, do not depart from me"; that is: men have forsaken me, my friends have attacked one dear to them, my neighbors have not come near. They fled me as one dead and abhorred me, because I desired to confess my sins to you, because to your scourges
Ps 38:21 (37:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:11 (37:12 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David attributes justice to grace and prays not to be forsaken.
- Ps 38:21 [LXX 37:22]; Ps 38:11 [LXX 37:12].
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: spaced letters; digitization: spaced letters, repeated syllable): ne der elin quas as me → ne derelinquas me; a m e, hoc est → a me, hoc est.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.55.1 (CSEL 64:180; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-55-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-55-1
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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.
37.55.2CSEL 64:180
me optuli uulnerandum, quia elegi cicatrices uulnerum super epulas regum et iactantiam potestatum. tu solus non me derelinquas, tu adhaereas seruulo tuo, qui de terra suscitas inopem et de stercore erigis pauperem. tuo comitatu fultus frequentiorem me ambientibus populis aestimabo. conputruerunt quidem cicatrices meae, sed adhuc tuorum uerberum desidero cicatrices, quae sanatis uulneribus obducuntur, ut postea nullum ulcus appareat.
I offered myself to be wounded, because I chose the scars of wounds above the banquets of kings and the boasting of powers. Do not you alone forsake me; you cling to your servant, who raise the needy from the earth and lift the poor from the dunghill. Supported by your company I will reckon myself more thronged than if peoples surrounded me. My scars have rotted indeed, but I still desire the scars of your blows, which close over healed wounds so that afterwards no sore appears.
Ps 113:7 (112:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:5 (37:6 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: David desires God's healing blows, which leave clean scars.
- Ps 113:7 [LXX 112:7]; Ps 38:5 [LXX 37:6].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.55.2 (CSEL 64:180; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-55-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-55-2
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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.
37.55.3CSEL 64:180
bonae triumphalium uulnerum cicatrices, quibus uictores huius terreni proelii gloriantur: quanto inlustriora uulnera, quae pro fide et nominis tui gloria uidentur excepta! ista est cicatrix quae caelum aperit, regnum adquirit, inmortalitatem inuenit. haec est ergo, fratres, cicatrix beata, quoniam beati qui lauerunt stolas suas in sanguine suo. sic coepit stola esse gloriae caro mortis, in qua et Paulus ante periclitabatur electus dei, nisi petisset se liberari de corpore mortis huius, ut legimus.
Good are the scars of triumphal wounds, in which the victors of this earthly battle glory: how much more illustrious the wounds seen to be received for faith and the glory of your name! This is the scar that opens heaven, gains the kingdom, finds immortality. This, then, brothers, is the blessed scar, since blessed are those who have washed their robes in their own blood. So the flesh of death began to be a robe of glory, in which even Paul, God's chosen, was once in danger, had he not asked to be freed from the body of this death, as we read.
Rev 7:14 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 7:24 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The martyrs' scars are glorious; the flesh of death becomes a robe of glory.
- Rev 7:14 ("in their own blood" for "in the blood of the Lamb"); Rom 7:24.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.55.3 (CSEL 64:180; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-55-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-55-3
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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 37, chapter 56
37.56.1CSEL 64:180–181
Et ideo qui sumus in hoc corpore mortis oremus, ne bonus ille dilectus dei nos medicus derelinquat, quem patriarcha Dauid ne a se discederet precabatur. ipsi nos committamus parati curari quo uelit medicamento. nemo dicit medico corporis sui quemadmodum sit curandus. nouit medicus quae singulis uulneribus medicamenta conueniant, cuius ulceris putredo ferro sit amputanda, ne in totius corporis serpat exitium.
And so, we who are in this body of death, let us pray that that good physician, beloved of God, may not forsake us, whom the patriarch David prayed not to depart from him. Let us commit ourselves to him, ready to be cured with whatever medicine he wishes. No one tells the physician of his body how he is to be cured. The physician knows what medicines suit each wound, which ulcer's rot must be cut off with iron, lest it creep on to the destruction of the whole body.
Rom 7:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 38:21 (37:22 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Commit yourself to Christ the physician and let him choose the cure.
- Rom 7:24; Ps 38:21 [LXX 37:22].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.56.1 (CSEL 64:180–181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-56-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-56-1
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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.
37.56.2CSEL 64:181
si dixerit medicus medicinae genus, quo curari aeger debeat, et ille fastidiat, discedit medicus et aegrum relinquit. uide eum, qui curari uelit, omni genere medico adquiescentem, adtende ordinem. aperit primo uulnera sua medico et dicit: cura me, sed rogo ne in ira tua, quia non sustinent duram medicinam infirmitates meae. medicina Christi correptio est; corripit enim dominus quem uult conuertere. ideo et Paulus ad medicum dicit: argue obsecra increpa. non ergo recusat curari qui petit argui, sed leuari uult poenam, ne iracundia arguatur et impetu irae corripiatur.
If the physician names the kind of medicine by which the sick man should be cured, and he disdains it, the physician leaves and abandons the sick man. See him who wishes to be cured consenting to every kind of medicine; note the order. He first opens his wounds to the physician and says: cure me, but I ask, not in your anger, because my weaknesses do not bear harsh medicine. Christ's medicine is rebuke; for the Lord rebukes him whom he wishes to convert. So Paul too says to the physician: "Reprove, entreat, rebuke." He does not, then, refuse to be cured who asks to be reproved; but he wishes the penalty lightened, lest he be reproved in anger and chastened by the impetus of wrath.
Ps 38:1 (37:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Tim 4:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ's medicine is rebuke; David asks for it without anger.
- Ps 38:1 [LXX 37:2]; 2 Tim 4:2.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.56.2 (CSEL 64:181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-56-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-56-2
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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 37, chapter 57
37.57.1CSEL 64:181
Et uide processum. primo petit argui, postea, quod maius est, corripi. deinde non solum confitetur peccata sua, sed etiam numerat et accusat; non uult enim sua latere delicta. nam ut febres, cum in alto sunt, non queunt mitigari, cum foras erumpunt, spem afferunt desinendi, ita peccatorum morbus dum tegitur inardescit, si confessionibus proditur euaporat.
And see the progress. First he asks to be reproved, then, what is greater, to be chastened. Then he not only confesses his sins but even counts them and accuses them; for he does not want his offenses to lie hidden. For as fevers, when deep within, cannot be soothed, but when they break out give hope of ending, so the disease of sins burns while it is covered, but evaporates if it is betrayed by confessions.
Ps 38:1 (37:2 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 38:18 (37:19 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Confessed sin, like a fever that breaks out, can end.
- Ps 38:1, 18 [LXX 37:2, 19].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.57.1 (CSEL 64:181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-57-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-57-1
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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.
37.57.2CSEL 64:181
et ideo iustus accusator est sui in principio sermonis, priusquam contagio ulceris serpat intrinsecus; grauat enim conscientiam memoria delictorum, nisi medicina poscatur. et si differt medicus, aeger offerre se debet, ut citius secetur, sicut offerebat se Dauid in flagella domini dicens: redde mihi duplicia peccata, dummodo hic uindices; noli me deserere, noli auertere a me faciem tuam, noli dedignari atque horrescere faetorem uulnerum meorum.
And so "the just man is his own accuser at the beginning of his speech," before the contagion of the ulcer creeps inward; for the memory of offenses weighs on the conscience unless medicine is asked. And if the physician delays, the sick man must offer himself, to be cut sooner, as David offered himself to the Lord's scourges, saying: Repay me double for my sins, so long as you punish here; do not desert me, do not turn your face from me, do not disdain and shudder at the stench of my wounds.
Prov 18:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 40:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 27:9 (26:9 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 38:5 (37:6 LXX) (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The sick man should offer himself to the cure, as David did.
- Prov 18:17; Isa 40:2; Ps 27:9 [LXX 26:9]; Ps 38:5 [LXX 37:6].
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.57.2 (CSEL 64:181; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-57-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-57-2
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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.
37.57.3CSEL 64:181–182
et Iob seruulus tuus percussus erat ulcere a pedibus usque ad caput et remedium suae sanitatis inuenit, licet illud uulnus uirtutis fuerit, istud erroris. faetebant uulnera quae medici curare non possent. locutus es, domine, mysteria sacramentorum tuorum, manifestasti uenena serpentis et solius sermonis tui medicamento serui tui curata sunt uulnera, quia tu eum non deseruisti;
And Job your servant was struck with an ulcer from the feet to the head and found the remedy of his health, although that wound was of virtue, this of error. The wounds stank which physicians could not cure. You spoke, O Lord, the mysteries of your sacraments, you made plain the serpent's poisons, and by the medicine of your word alone your servant's wounds were cured, because you did not desert him;
Job 2:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Job 38:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: God's word healed Job's wounds; may it heal mine.
- Job 2:7; Job 38–42.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (digitization: stray point): mysteria.sacramentorum → mysteria sacramentorum.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.57.3 (CSEL 64:181–182; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-57-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-57-3
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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.
37.57.4CSEL 64:182
et me non derelinquas, domine, ne discesseris a me. homines me dereliquerunt, quia sordent illis uulnera mea, quae pietati tuae putaui esse reseranda. illi dicunt: exi a nobis, quia peccator es tu, discede, ne nos polluas. tu autem, domine, curas et non pollueris, adiuuas et non contaminaris, quia deus salutis es, domine, et manus tua non perdere, sed sanare consueuit.
do not forsake me either, Lord; do not depart from me. Men have forsaken me, because my wounds, which I thought should be opened to your loving kindness, are foul to them. They say: Go away from us, because you are a sinner; depart, lest you pollute us. But you, Lord, cure and are not polluted, help and are not contaminated, because you are the God of salvation, Lord, and your hand is not wont to destroy but to heal.
Ps 38:21 (37:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 38:22 (37:23 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 5:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Men shun the sinner's wounds; God heals without being defiled.
- Ps 38:21–22 [LXX 37:22–23]; Luke 5:8.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 37.57.4 (CSEL 64:182; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-57-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/37-57-4
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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.