Explanation of Twelve Psalms 40.30.1–43.8.3
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 40, chapter 30
40.30.1CSEL 64:249
Sed forte dicas: et persecutores ceciderunt retrorsum; sic enim scriptum est, quia principes sacerdotum, quos adduxerat proditor ludas, et ceteri, qui ad comprehendendum aduenerant dominum Iesum, abierunt retrorsum et ceciderunt in terram. hoc est quod et ego dico, quia super peccatores uoluit cadere, non super iustos; iustus enim medico non indiget, sed peccatores. si apostolorum umbra sanabat, quanto magis caro Christi quos tangit a morte defendit!
But perhaps you say: the persecutors too fell backward; for so it is written, that the chief priests, whom Judas the traitor had brought, and the others who had come to seize the Lord Jesus, went backward and fell to the ground. That is just what I too say: that he willed to fall upon sinners, not upon the righteous; for the righteous man does not need a physician, but sinners do. If the shadow of the apostles healed, how much more does the flesh of Christ defend from death those it touches!
John 18:3 (allusion, high confidence) · John 18:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 9:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 5:15 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The persecutors fell backward at Christ’s word, because he willed to fall upon sinners in order to heal them.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.30.1 (CSEL 64:249; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-1
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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.
40.30.2CSEL 64:249
denique leprosum tetigit et sine dilatone mundauit. ut scias autem qui legis, quia et persecutores suos uoluit liberare, testem Christi interroga. nam cum inueheretur Petrus in Iudaeos, quod principem uitae interfecissent, remedium demonstrauit, ut agerent paenitentiam et remitti sibi peccatum quod admiserant mererentur. quid autem dubitas, quod ideo cecidit, ut resuscitaret, cum ipse dixerit: per cut i do met sanabo a b o? uerborum tamen uideto distantiam.
Finally, he touched the leper and cleansed him without delay. And so that you who read may know that he willed to free even his persecutors, ask Christ’s witness. For when Peter inveighed against the Jews because they had killed the prince of life, he showed them the remedy: that they should repent and be found worthy to have the sin they had committed forgiven. Why do you doubt that he fell for this purpose, to raise up, since he himself said: “I will strike and I will heal”? Yet note the difference of the words.
Matt 8:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 3:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 3:19 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 2:38 (allusion, medium confidence) · Deut 32:39 (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ willed to free even his persecutors, as Peter’s call to repentance shows.
- The quotation (Deut 32:39) is garbled in the digital text (per cut i do met sanabo a b o) and is translated by its sense.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.30.2 (CSEL 64:249; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-2
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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.
40.30.3CSEL 64:249–250
in Genesi habet: cadet eques retrorsum salutem expectans a domino, hoc est ut oculos non auertat a deo, mentem propriam non reflectat, resurrectionis suae praerogatiuam uindicet et diuina se resuscitet potestate. hic autem habet: abierunt retrorsum et ceciderunt in terram. qui terrenus est in terram cadit, qui caelestis caelo inhaeret. etsi corpore cadit, uirtute non cadit, sed quae sursum sunt semper intendit; semper enim ad patrem respicit, ut eius circa nos impleat uoluntatem.
In Genesis it has: “The rider will fall backward, awaiting salvation from the Lord”, that is, so that he does not turn his eyes away from God, does not turn his mind back, claims the prerogative of his resurrection, and raises himself by divine power. But here it has: “They went backward and fell to the ground.” He who is earthly falls to the earth; he who is heavenly clings to heaven. Even if he falls in the body, he does not fall in power, but always aims at the things above; for he always looks to the Father, to fulfil his will toward us.
Gen 49:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 49:18 (quotation, high confidence) · John 18:6 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:47 (allusion, medium confidence) · Col 3:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s fall was toward salvation from the Lord; his persecutors, earthly, fell to the earth.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.30.3 (CSEL 64:249–250; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-3
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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.
40.30.4CSEL 64:250
utinam et isti non abissent retrorsum, sed Christum excepissent, sicut excepit Ioseph et sepeliuit eum in monumento nouo! qui fidelis est in terram non cadit, qui infidelis cadit et descendit in inferiora terrarum, sicut scriptum est: descendant in infernum uiuentes. ergo persecutor super terram et in infernum cadit, Christus super resurrecturos, Christus super petram, Christus super ecclesiam. audi quomodo super ecclesiam cadat. retro erat
Would that they too had not gone backward, but had received Christ, as Joseph received him and buried him in a new tomb! He who is faithful does not fall to the earth; he who is unfaithful falls and goes down into the lower parts of the earth, as it is written: “Let them go down alive into hell.” So the persecutor falls on the earth and into hell; Christ falls upon those who will rise again, Christ upon the rock, Christ upon the church. Hear how he falls upon the church. Peter was behind
Matt 27:59 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 27:60 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 4:9 (echo, low confidence) · Ps 55:15 (54:16 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The faithless fall to the earth and to hell, but Christ falls upon the church.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.30.4 (CSEL 64:250; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-4
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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.
40.30.5CSEL 64:250
Petrus et sequebatur eum, cum a Iudaeis ad Caiphae domum synagogae principis duceretur. ipse est Petrus cui dixit: tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo ecclesiam meam. ubi Petrus, ibi ergo ecclesia, ubi ecclesia, ibi nulla mors, sed uita aeterna. et ideo addidit: et portae inferi non praeualebunt ei, et tibi dabo claues regni caelorum. beatus Petrus, cui non inferorum porta praeualuit, non caeli porta se clausit, sed e contrario destruxit inferni uestibula, patefecit caelestia. in terris itaque positus caelum aperuit, inferos clausit.
and was following him, when he was being led by the Jews to the house of Caiaphas, the chief of the synagogue. It is the same Peter to whom he said: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” Where Peter is, then, there is the church; where the church is, there is no death but eternal life. And therefore he added: “And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed Peter, against whom the gate of hell did not prevail, against whom the gate of heaven did not close, but who on the contrary destroyed the entrances of hell and opened the heavenly places. So, placed on earth, he opened heaven and closed hell.
Matt 26:58 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 26:57 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 16:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 16:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Peter followed behind Christ; where Peter is, there is the church, against which hell does not prevail.
- “Where Peter is, there is the church” (ubi Petrus, ibi ergo ecclesia) is Ambrose’s phrase; translated as written.
Topics: Church office, Rome and Peter
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.30.5 (CSEL 64:250; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-30-5
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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 40, chapter 31
40.31.1CSEL 64:250–251
Potest et illud conuenire huic loco, quod Samaritanus descendentem de Iericho hominem uulneratum illum a latronibus non praeteriuit, sed suscepit eum et uulnera eius curauit infundens oleum et uinum et imposuit supra iumentum suum et duxit ad stabulum. quid dubitas de equo bono, cum bonum et iumentum legeris, cum legeris in Hierusalem illam et equites multos et plurimos cum quadrigis et curribus introire?
That too can fit this place: that the Samaritan did not pass by that man who was going down from Jericho and had been wounded by robbers, but took him up and treated his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast and brought him to the inn. Why do you doubt about a good horse, when you read of a good beast too, when you read that into that Jerusalem many horsemen and very many enter with chariots and carriages?
Luke 10:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 10:33 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 10:34 (allusion, high confidence) · Jer 17:25 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Samaritan’s beast that carried the wounded man is another figure of the good “horse”.
- The many horsemen entering Jerusalem: Jer 17:25 (22:4).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.31.1 (CSEL 64:250–251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-31-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-31-1
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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.
40.31.2CSEL 64:251
nec te moueat, quod legisti: hi in curribus et hi in equis, nos autem in nomine domini dei nostri magnificabimur. ipsi obligati sunt et ceciderunt. sed Helias non cecidit, qui curru introiuit; ubi enim dei nomen est, ibi nullus obligatur, sed absoluuntur uniuersi. in nomine autem dei nostri et pauper est tutus et diues et nobilis et ignobilis et infirmus et potens. fidei non praeiudicant opes, si tamen uti opibus nouerimus.
And do not be troubled by what you have read: “Some in chariots and some in horses, but we will be magnified in the name of the Lord our God. They have been bound and have fallen.” But Elijah did not fall, who went in by chariot; for where the name of God is, there no one is bound, but all are set free. In the name of our God the poor man is safe, and the rich, the noble and the lowborn, the weak and the powerful. Riches do not prejudice faith, if only we know how to use riches.
Ps 20:7 (19:8 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 20:8 (19:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Kgs 2:11 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Tim 6:17 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Chariots and horses do not condemn: in God’s name all, rich or poor, are safe, if riches are well used.
- Ps 20:7–8 (LXX 19:8–9).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word space lost in the digital text): nosautem → nos autem; suntet → sunt et.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.31.2 (CSEL 64:251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-31-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-31-2
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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 40, chapter 32
40.32.1CSEL 64:251
Et ideo nomen dei in se habens dicit: tu autem, domine nnine, miserere mei et resuscita me, et retribuam illis. quod utique non quasi de resurrectione dubitans dicit qui in potestate habebat dicere: soluite templum hoc, et triduo resuscitabo illud, sed formam dat homini, ut misericordiam a deo et resurrectionem de deo speret. deinde non resuscitari se petit, sed resuscitari sibi postulat Mathiam in locum Iudae, ut apostolicus numerus impleatur. etenim quia necesse habebat perire filius perditionis, ut scriptura impleretur, oportebat in locum ipsius subrogari filium salutis. tertium accipe.
And therefore, having the name of God in himself, he says: “But you, Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up, and I will repay them.” He surely does not say this as though doubting about the resurrection, he who had it in his power to say: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”; but he gives a pattern to man, that he may hope for mercy from God and resurrection from God. Next, he does not ask to be raised himself, but asks that Matthias be raised up for him in the place of Judas, so that the apostolic number might be filled. For since the son of perdition had to perish, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, it was fitting that a son of salvation be put in his place. Take a third meaning.
Ps 41:10 (40:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:19 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · John 17:12 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: “Raise me up” gives man a pattern of hope, or asks for Matthias to be raised up in Judas’s place.
- A garbled word (nnine) stands after “Lord” in the digital text and is not translated.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray diacritic in the digital text; word split in the digital text): t u autem → tu autem; resuscita m e → resuscita me; potestatė → potestate.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.32.1 (CSEL 64:251; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-32-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-32-1
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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.
40.32.2CSEL 64:251–252
resuscitari se, hoc est corpus suum poscit, corpus autem Christi ecclesia est. et quia ludas figura erat infidelis populi Iudaeorum, qui pecunia uel emit uel uendidit Christum — quod faciunt qui pluris ducunt pecuniam quam religionem —, pro interitu plebis infidae significat ecclesiae sibi gratiam resurrecturam. unde et ipsa dicit in Canticis: si suscitaueritis et resuscitaueritis caritatem, cum quaereret de iuuenculis Christum, quia Christus caritas est.
He asks that he himself, that is, his body, be raised; and the body of Christ is the church. And since Judas was a figure of the unbelieving people of the Jews, who either bought or sold Christ for money — as those do who value money more than religion — he signifies that in place of the destruction of the unbelieving people the grace of the church will rise again for him. Hence the church herself says in the Song: “If you rouse and raise up love”, when she was seeking Christ from the young maidens, because Christ is love.
Col 1:24 (allusion, high confidence) · Song 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 4:8 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: “Raise me up” also means the raising of his body, the church, in place of the unbelieving people of whom Judas was a figure.
- The typology of Judas and the Jewish people is Ambrose’s; translated as written. The Song quotation is Song 2:7 (3:5) in the Latin form.
Topics: The church
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.32.2 (CSEL 64:251–252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-32-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-32-2
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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 40, chapter 33
40.33.1CSEL 64:252
Quod autem ait: retribuam eis, hoc intellegimus, quia florentis ecclesiae processibus cruciabuntur et tunc cognoscent, quae poena perfidiae sit, cum aduerterint, qui fidei sit splendor et gratiae. uel quia bonus dominus est, qui poterat dicere: retribuebant mihi mala pro bonis, et medium uerbum est retributionis uel in bono uel in malo, retributurum in bono esse se dicit, quia, etsi caecitas in Israel ex parte continget, tamen, cum plenitudo gentium intrauerit, tunc omnis Israel Christi miseratione saluabitur.
And what he says, “I will repay them”, we understand thus: that they will be tormented by the advances of the flourishing church, and then they will know what the punishment of faithlessness is, when they notice what the splendour of faith and grace is. Or, since the Lord is good, who could have said: “They repaid me evil for good”, and the word “repay” is neutral, whether for good or for evil, he says that he will repay for good; because, although blindness has befallen Israel in part, yet, when the fullness of the gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved by the mercy of Christ.
Ps 41:10 (40:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 35:12 (34:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:25 (quotation, high confidence) · Rom 11:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: “I will repay them” may mean punishment, or, since “repay” can be for good, the final salvation of all Israel.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.33.1 (CSEL 64:252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-33-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-33-1
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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 40, chapter 34
40.34.1CSEL 64:252
Et subiecit: in hoc cognoui quoniam uoluisti me, quoniam non gaudebit inimicus meus super me. superius de passione sua locutus est quasi homo, hinc iam aperit maiestatem suam, quod solus sine peccato, solus cui peccator inequitare non potuit, solus quem pater ut unicum filium dilexerit. qua ratione ergo inimicus non est laetatus super eum? quia, etsi
And he added: “In this I have known that you have willed me, because my enemy will not rejoice over me.” Above he spoke of his passion as a man; from here he now discloses his majesty: that he alone is without sin, he alone on whom the sinner could not ride, he alone whom the Father loved as his only Son. For what reason, then, did the enemy not rejoice over him? Because, although
Ps 41:11 (40:12 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 4:15 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 3:16 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Here Christ discloses his majesty: he alone is without sin, and his enemy did not rejoice over him.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray letter in the digital text): in hoc c cognoui → in hoc cognoui.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.34.1 (CSEL 64:252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-34-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-34-1
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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.
40.34.2CSEL 64:252
mortem suscepit pro nobis, resurrexit tamen et ipse insultauit inimico, cuius uictoriam destruxit et aculeum mortis infregit. et nos, licet in saeculo maesti simus atque in maerore nostro et contritione cordis animique nostri laetetur inimicus, tamen resurgentes eius gaudium destruimus. unde et Michaeas dixit: noli super me gaudere, inimica mea, quia cecidi, sed resurgam. resurrectio est ergo qua inimici omnia uincla soluuntur, triumphus omnis aboletur.
he took on death for us, yet he rose again and himself triumphed over the enemy, whose victory he destroyed and whose sting of death he broke. And we too, though we are sad in the world and the enemy rejoices in our grief and in the contrition of our heart and mind, yet by rising again we destroy his joy. Hence Micah too said: “Do not rejoice over me, my enemy, because I have fallen; but I will rise again.” The resurrection, then, is that by which all the enemy’s chains are loosed and all his triumph is abolished.
1 Cor 15:55 (allusion, high confidence) · Col 2:15 (echo, low confidence) · Mic 7:8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s resurrection, and ours, destroys the enemy’s joy and triumph.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): nostii → nostri; oboletur → aboletur.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.34.2 (CSEL 64:252; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-34-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-34-2
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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 40, chapter 35
40.35.1CSEL 64:252–253
Sequitur: propter innocentiam autem meam suscepisti me et confirmasti me in conspectu tuo in aeternum. benedictus dominus deus Israel in aeternum a saeculo et in saeculum; fiat, fiat. innocens nulli nocet, in neminem peccat. ideo sine peccato, sine dolo Christus scripturae diuinae auctoritate signatur; hoc igitur et hic declaratur, ubi dicit: propter innocentiam autem meam suscepisti me. quae autem susceptio significatur? nam et alibi legimus: suscepisti me ex utero matris meae.
There follows: “But because of my innocence you have upheld me and strengthened me in your sight for ever. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever, from age to age; so be it, so be it.” The innocent man harms no one, sins against no one. Therefore Christ is marked by the authority of divine Scripture as without sin, without deceit; and so this is declared here too, where he says: “But because of my innocence you have upheld me.” And what upholding is signified? For elsewhere too we read: “You have upheld me from my mother’s womb.”
Ps 41:12 (40:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 41:13 (40:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Pet 2:22 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 22:10 (21:11 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 71:6 (70:6 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s innocence, without sin or deceit, is why the Father upheld him.
- “Upheld” renders suscepisti (also “received, taken up”).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray hyphen in the digital text; word split in the digital text): inno centiam → innocentiam; con firmasti → confirmasti; b enedictus → benedictus; s aeculum → saeculum; hic- declaratur → hic declaratur.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.35.1 (CSEL 64:252–253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-35-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-35-1
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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.
40.35.2CSEL 64:253
ergo quia ab omni concretione generationis humanae mundus est natus qui de spiritu est natus et uirgine, ideo eum pater suscepit, quia ortum eius nulla corporeae generationis concretio usitata fuscauit. suscepit eum resurgentem, quia nulla eum offensio prolapsionis aspersit. inmaculatus ad patrem rediit a quo inmaculatus exiuit, quando descendit in terras. unde dicit ei pater: filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te, hoc est: generationis meae in te priuilegium recognosco, quem nulla macula potuit inquinare peccati.
So, because he who was born of the Spirit and the Virgin was born pure from every admixture of human generation, therefore the Father upheld him, because no usual admixture of bodily generation darkened his birth. He upheld him as he rose, because no stain of falling had spattered him. Spotless he returned to the Father, from whom he had come out spotless when he came down to earth. Hence the Father says to him: “You are my Son; today I have begotten you”, that is: I recognize in you the privilege of my generation, you whom no stain of sin could defile.
Luke 1:35 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 1:20 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 16:28 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 2:7 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Born of the Spirit and the Virgin without the stain of ordinary generation, Christ returned spotless to the Father.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word spaces lost in the digital text; word split in the digital text): undediciteipater → unde dicit ei pater; genui t e, → genui te,.
Topics: Christology, Mary, mother of Jesus
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.35.2 (CSEL 64:253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-35-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-35-2
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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.
40.35.3CSEL 64:253
inter peccatores uersatus es, peccata omnium suscepisti, peccatum pro omnibus factus es, maledictum pro omnibus factus es, sed nullus usus potuit ad te transire peccati. ita inter peccatores uersatus es, quasi inter angelos uersareris. fecisti terram esse quod caelum est, ut et ibi peccatum tolleres. hodie te genui in quo complacui. probasti te filium qui implesti patris in omnibus uoluntatem.
“You have lived among sinners, you have taken on the sins of all, you were made sin for all, you were made a curse for all; but no practice of sin could pass over to you. So you lived among sinners as though you were living among angels. You made earth to be what heaven is, so as to take away sin there too. Today I have begotten you, in whom I am well pleased. You have proved yourself the Son, you who have fulfilled the Father’s will in all things.
2 Cor 5:21 (allusion, high confidence) · Gal 3:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 3:17 (allusion, high confidence) · John 4:34 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Father speaks: the Son lived among sinners and bore their sin without being touched by it, fulfilling the Father’s will.
- The Father’s words continue.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.35.3 (CSEL 64:253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-35-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-35-3
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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.
40.35.4CSEL 64:253
hodie te genui in quo lucem inmaculatae prolis agnosco. heri mihi et hodie ipse es et in saeculum. nox in te nulla est, quia totus es dies. bene confirmatus in conspectu patris dicitur in aeternum, quia apud patrem semper est et uere in conspectu eius, cuius splendor est gloriae et imago substantiae. sed quemadmodum complacet in filio pater, ita et filius benedicit patrem; pater enim honorificat filium et filius honorificat patrem.
Today I have begotten you, in whom I recognize the light of a spotless offspring. Yesterday and today you are the same, and for ever. There is no night in you, because you are wholly day.” Rightly he is said to be strengthened in the sight of the Father for ever, because he is always with the Father and truly in his sight, being the brightness of his glory and the image of his substance. But as the Father is well pleased in the Son, so also the Son blesses the Father; for the Father honours the Son and the Son honours the Father.
Ps 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 13:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 1:5 (echo, low confidence) · Ps 41:12 (40:13 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Heb 1:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 8:54 (allusion, medium confidence) · John 17:1 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Son, the spotless light, is always with the Father; the Father and the Son honour each other.
Topics: Trinity, Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.35.4 (CSEL 64:253; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-35-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-35-4
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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 40, chapter 36
40.36.1CSEL 64:253–254
Benedictus, inquit, dominus deus Israel, hoc est populi deum uidentis, qui et dominum suum et deum credit, a saeculo et in saeculum; fiat, fiat. in Hebraeo habet amen, amen, ut asseruerunt qui librum legerunt in Hebraicis litteris scriptum. Graecus hoc loco γένοιτο, γένοιτο dixit, quod est fiat, fiat. quod uerbum diuersas signi-
“Blessed,” he says, “be the Lord God of Israel”, that is, the God of the people that sees God, which believes him to be both its Lord and God, “from age to age; so be it, so be it.” The Hebrew has “amen, amen”, as those have asserted who have read the book written in Hebrew letters. The Greek in this place said genoito, genoito, which is “so be it, so be it”. This word has different
Ps 41:13 (40:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The doxology’s “so be it, so be it” renders the Hebrew “amen, amen”.
- “Israel” is interpreted as “the people that sees God”. The Greek words are garbled in the digital text and are restored (γένοιτο, γένοιτο). The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Greek words garbled by font encoding in the digital text; stray line number and lost word space in the digital text): deum 30 credit, asaeculo → deum credit, a saeculo; yevdoaw, yevioao) → γένοιτο, γένοιτο.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.36.1 (CSEL 64:253–254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-36-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-36-1
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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.
40.36.2CSEL 64:254
ficationes habet, ut sit interdum imperantis, interdum precantis, interdum confirmantis aliquid. imperantis est, cum superior inferiori statuit quid faciendum sit uel sequendum. precantis est sicut illud: fiat uoluntas tua; non enim deo quis imperat, sed precem fundit. confirmantis est, cum benedicit propheta uel sacerdos uel sanctus aliquis et populus respondet: fiat, fiat. hic ergo magis confirmatio mihi uidetur benedictionis quam oratio uel deprecatio, maxime quia repetitio ipsius facta sermonis est.
meanings: sometimes it is of one commanding, sometimes of one praying, sometimes of one confirming something. It is of one commanding when a superior lays down for an inferior what is to be done or followed. It is of one praying, as in that: “Your will be done”; for no one commands God, but pours out a prayer. It is of one confirming when a prophet or a priest or some holy man blesses and the people answers: “So be it, so be it.” Here, then, it seems to me rather a confirmation of the blessing than a prayer or entreaty, especially because the word itself is repeated.
Matt 6:10 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: “So be it” can command, pray, or confirm; here it confirms the blessing.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.36.2 (CSEL 64:254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-36-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-36-2
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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.
40.36.3CSEL 64:254
I et uidetur Hebraeus quidem sermo mutatus, sed idem sensus expressus. sicut enim, cum sacerdos benedicit, populus respondet amen, confirmans benedictionem sibi quam plebi sacerdos a domino deprecatur, ita in psalmo responsum est fiat, fiat quasi amen, amen. amen autem confirmationis uerbum euidenter ostenditur in euangelio, ubi dominus confirmans sermonem suum dicit:
And it seems that the Hebrew word has indeed been changed, but the same sense expressed. For just as, when the priest blesses, the people answers “amen”, confirming for itself the blessing which the priest asks from the Lord for the people, so in the psalm the answer is “so be it, so be it”, as though “amen, amen”. And that amen is a word of confirmation is clearly shown in the gospel, where the Lord, confirming his word, says:
1 Cor 14:16 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: As the people answer the priest’s blessing with “amen”, so the psalm answers “so be it”, a word of confirmation.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray mark in the digital text): fiat> fiat → fiat, fiat.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.36.3 (CSEL 64:254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-36-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-36-3
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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.
40.36.4CSEL 64:254
amen dico uobis. maior autem uis est, ubi repetitus est sermo, quod in libro euangelii secundum Iohannem frequentius inuenimus, quia ipse maxime de caelestibus et profundis mysteriis est locutus, sicut scriptum est: amen amen dico tibi, nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et spiritu sancto, non potest introire in regnum dei, et alibi: amen amen dico uobis, si quid petieritis a patre in nomine meo dabit uobis. abundant duo exempla; reliqua uero, si quis quaerit, inueniet.
“Amen I say to you.” But the force is greater where the word is repeated, as we find more often in the book of the gospel according to John, because he above all spoke of heavenly and deep mysteries, as it is written: “Amen, amen I say to you, unless one is reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”, and elsewhere: “Amen, amen I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Two examples are enough; the rest anyone who seeks will find.
Matt 5:18 (quotation, medium confidence) · John 3:5 (quotation, high confidence) · John 16:23 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The doubled “amen” in John marks the deepest mysteries.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word space lost in the digital text): inregnum → in regnum.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.36.4 (CSEL 64:254; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-36-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-36-4
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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 40, chapter 37
40.37.1CSEL 64:254–255
Indicium quoque est libri finiti fiat, fiat. nam in quinque libros diuisum uidetur esse psalterium. primus liber hoc psalmo finitur, hoc est quadragesimo. et pulchre usque ad passionem saluatoris quadragesimus psalmus est comprehensus qui finem libro daret, quoniam passio domini finis est quadragesimae, ut secundus liber a mysteriis renouationis inciperet, qui liber, utpote quadragesimae, perfectiora sacramenta complectitur.
“So be it, so be it” is also the sign of a finished book. For the Psalter seems to be divided into five books. The first book ends with this psalm, that is, the fortieth. And beautifully the fortieth psalm, which takes in everything up to the passion of the Saviour, was to end the book, since the Lord’s passion is the end of Lent, so that the second book might begin from the mysteries of renewal; and this book, as following Lent, contains more perfect sacraments.
Notes and citation
Summary: “So be it” closes the first of the five books of the Psalter; the fortieth psalm ends with the passion, as the passion ends Lent.
- “Lent” translates quadragesima, the forty days’ fast before Easter.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip and word split in the digital text): E ecundus → secundus.
Topics: Fasting
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.37.1 (CSEL 64:254–255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-37-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-37-1
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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.
40.37.2CSEL 64:255
nam et baptismatis praenuntiat sacramenta, cum dicit: sicut ceruus desiderat ad fontes aquarum, et requiem sanctorum, qui ad tabernaculum caeleste peruenerint, et spiritus sancti descensionem, quando effusa est gratia spiritalis in quadam uoce caelestium cataractarum, quia uirtute magna spiritus ferebatur, ut legimus in Actibus apostolorum, et ingressum renouati hominis ad altare et saluatoris ascensum et sanctificationem propositi uirginalis.
For it foretells the sacraments of baptism, when it says: “As the hart longs for the springs of waters”; and the rest of the saints who reach the heavenly tabernacle; and the descent of the Holy Spirit, when the spiritual grace was poured out in a certain sound of heavenly cataracts, because the Spirit came with great power, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles; and the entry of the renewed man to the altar; and the Saviour’s ascension; and the sanctification of the virginal life.
Ps 42:1 (41:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 42:4 (41:5 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 42:7 (41:8 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 2:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 43:4 (42:4 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 47:5 (46:6 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 45:14 (44:15 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The second book of psalms foretells baptism, the rest of the saints, Pentecost, the altar, the ascension and virginity.
- Ambrose refers to Ps 42 (LXX 41: the hart, the cataracts, the tabernacle), Ps 43:4 (LXX 42:4: the altar), Ps 47:5 (LXX 46:6: the ascension) and Ps 45 (LXX 44: the virgins).
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.37.2 (CSEL 64:255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-37-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-37-2
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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.
40.37.3CSEL 64:255
qui liber finitur in psalmo septuagesimo primo, quo regnum Christi pacificum toto orbe diffusum prophetico sermone annuntiatur remissioque peccatorum; ubi, cum benedictionem domini praemisisset, subtexuit: et replebitur maiestate eius omnis terra. fiat, fiat. tertius quoque liber finitur octuagesimo octauo psalmo, et ibi habet: benedictus dominus in aeternum. fiat, fiat. quartus liber finitur centesimo quinto psalmo, et ibi habet: benedictus dominus deus Israel a saeculo et usque in saeculum; et dicet omnis populus: fiat, fiat. quintus liber usque ad finem est, ubi pro hoc uerbo propheta dicit: omnis spiritus laudet dominum.
This book ends in the seventy-first psalm, in which the peaceful kingdom of Christ spread through the whole world and the forgiveness of sins are announced in prophetic language; there, after giving the blessing of the Lord, it added: “And the whole earth will be filled with his majesty. So be it, so be it.” The third book also ends with the eighty-eighth psalm, and there it has: “Blessed be the Lord for ever. So be it, so be it.” The fourth book ends with the hundred and fifth psalm, and there it has: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from age to age; and all the people will say: So be it, so be it.” The fifth book runs to the end, where instead of this word the prophet says: “Let every spirit praise the Lord.”
Ps 72:19 (71:19 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 89:52 (88:53 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 106:48 (105:48 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 150:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The other books of the Psalter end in Psalms 71, 88 and 105 (LXX numbering) with “So be it”, and the fifth with “Let every spirit praise the Lord”.
- Ambrose’s numbers are LXX/Vulgate: 71 = Ps 72, 88 = Ps 89, 105 = Ps 106, in the Protestant numbering.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; word split and stray period in the digital text): mpiestate → maiestate; domi n.us → dominus; omris → omnis.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.37.3 (CSEL 64:255; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-37-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-37-3
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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 40, chapter 38
40.38.1CSEL 64:255–256
Sed iterum forsitan moueat, quomodo libros quinque adseram, cum unum psalterium sit. sed etiam euangelium unum est et quattuor libros esse negare non possumus. unum autem euangelium esse et alibi, ni fallor, intimauimus et, si iterum exigitur, facile possumus edocere, cum saluator dixerit: amen dico uobis, ubicumque praedicatum fuerit euangelium, et apostolus: miror quod sic tam cito transferimini in aliud euangelium quod non est aliud, nisi aliqui sunt qui uos peruertunt, et alibi: notum enim facio uobis, fratres, euangelium, nec usquam habes aliter de corpore isto quattuor librorum nisi euangelium significatum. denique quia unum corpus est etiam psalmorum, scriptura dixit: in decachordo psalterio cum cantico in cithara. sed iterum quia quinque libri sunt, dixit alibi: in uasis psalmorum.
But perhaps it may trouble someone again how I can assert five books when there is one Psalter. But the gospel too is one, and we cannot deny that there are four books. That the gospel is one we have shown elsewhere, if I am not mistaken, and if it is asked again, we can easily show it, since the Saviour said: “Amen I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached”, and the apostle: “I wonder that you are so soon being moved to another gospel, which is not another, except that there are some who pervert you”, and elsewhere: “For I make known to you, brothers, the gospel”; nor do you ever find this body of four books signified otherwise than as “the gospel”. Finally, because the psalms too are one body, Scripture said: “On the ten-stringed psaltery with a song on the harp.” But again, because there are five books, it said elsewhere: “On the vessels of psalms.”
Matt 26:13 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 1:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 1:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 92:3 (91:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 71:22 (70:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: As the one gospel has four books, so the one Psalter has five books.
- “On the vessels of psalms”: Ps 71:22 (LXX 70:22).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip and word split in the digital text): af seram → adseram.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.38.1 (CSEL 64:255–256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-38-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-38-1
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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.
Explanation 40, chapter 39
40.39.1CSEL 64:256
Pulchre autem quinque libri et unum psalterium, quoniam quinque sensibus homo exterior uiuificatur et rursus quinque spiritalibus sensibus ille absconditus cordis homo noster consummatur interior, qui solus ante deum locuples Petri apostoli testimonio repperitur. qui habet, inquit, aures audiendi audiat. habes unum sensum.
Beautifully, then, there are five books and one Psalter, since the outer man is given life by five senses, and again our inner man, that hidden man of the heart, is perfected by five spiritual senses, which alone is found rich before God, by the testimony of the apostle Peter. “He who has ears to hear,” he says, “let him hear.” You have one sense.
1 Pet 3:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 11:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The five books of the Psalter answer to the five bodily senses and the five spiritual senses of the inner man.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.39.1 (CSEL 64:256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-39-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-39-1
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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.
40.39.2CSEL 64:256
et sicut sunt qui oculos habent et non uident, ita sunt qui oculis non uidentibus plus uidere creduntur. unde et prophetae dicebantur uidentes, etiam qui oculis non uiderent. bonus etiam ille odor de quo apostolus dixit: bonus odor Christi sumus deo, unde et Iob dixit: et spiritus diuinus qui est in naribus meis. idem ergo odor Christi et spiritus sancti est deo, quia unus odor est trinitatis. est et interior cibus, de quo dixit dominus: meus cibus est ut
And just as there are those who have eyes and do not see, so there are those who, with eyes that do not see, are believed to see more. Hence the prophets were called seers, even those who did not see with their eyes. Good too is that fragrance of which the apostle said: “We are the good fragrance of Christ to God”; hence Job too said: “And the divine Spirit which is in my nostrils.” The same, then, is the fragrance of Christ and of the Holy Spirit to God, because there is one fragrance of the Trinity. There is also an inner food, of which the Lord said: “My food is to
Mark 8:18 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 9:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Cor 2:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Job 27:3 (quotation, high confidence) · John 4:34 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The spiritual senses: inner sight, the fragrance of Christ and the Spirit, and inner food.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): dusit → dixit.
Topics: Trinity
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.39.2 (CSEL 64:256; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-39-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-39-2
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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.
40.39.3CSEL 64:256–257
faciam uoluntatem patris mei qui in caelo est. est et interior tactus, quo Christum tetigit illa in euangelio, quae per duodecim annos sanguinem profluebat nec a medicis acceperat sanitatem, sed accepit a Christo. fidei tactus est quo tangitur Christus. denique eum homines non uidebant, sed uidebat Iesus et se uidisse testatus est dicens: tetigit me aliquis; nam et ego cognoui uirtutem de me exisse. cognitio Christi conlatio sanitatis est. ergo quoniam decem sensus homini inesse manifestum est, ideo Dauid, qui et foris et intus canebat, foris corpore, intus corde, dicit in psalmo: in decachordo psalterio psallam tibi.
do the will of my Father who is in heaven.” There is also an inner touch, by which in the gospel she touched Christ who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years and had not received health from physicians, but received it from Christ. It is the touch of faith by which Christ is touched. Finally, men did not see her, but Jesus saw, and testified that he had seen, saying: “Someone touched me; for I perceived that power had gone out from me.” To be known by Christ is the gift of health. So, since it is clear that there are ten senses in man, David, who sang both outwardly and inwardly, outwardly with the body, inwardly with the heart, says in the psalm: “On the ten-stringed psaltery I will sing psalms to you.”
John 4:34 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 7:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 8:43 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 8:46 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 144:9 (143:9 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The inner touch is faith, as with the woman healed by touching Christ; the ten senses are the ten strings of the psaltery.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.39.3 (CSEL 64:256–257; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-39-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-39-3
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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 40, chapter 40
40.40.1CSEL 64:257
Psalterium ergo est homo consummatus in Christo, in quo, sicut arte concinentium fila chordarum, ita conuenientium resonant opera canora uirtutum, ut possit dicere: psallam tibi, deus, in cithara, sanctus Israel. gaudebunt labia mea cum cantauero tibi, et anima mea quam redemisti. Paulus ait de se: foris pugnae, intus timores.
The psaltery, then, is the man perfected in Christ, in whom, as the strings sound together by the art of the players, so the melodious works of harmonious virtues resound, so that he can say: “I will sing psalms to you, God, on the harp, Holy One of Israel. My lips will rejoice when I sing to you, and my soul, which you have redeemed.” Paul says of himself: “Fightings without, fears within.”
Ps 71:22 (70:22 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 71:23 (70:23 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Cor 7:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psaltery is the man perfected in Christ, whose virtues sound in harmony.
- Ps 71:22–23 (LXX 70:22–23); 2 Cor 7:5.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.40.1 (CSEL 64:257; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-40-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-40-1
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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.
40.40.2CSEL 64:257
hic et intus et foris gaudet, sed ille adhuc in certamine, iste in remissione, quia redemptionem animae suae se meruisse cognouerat. qui psallit, in laetitia est, qui luctatur, in sollicitudine. uerum et Paulus sciebat psallere, sed adhuc se processibus reseruabat, cum foret plenius comprobatus, ut psalleret. et ideo dixit: orabo spiritu, orabo et mente; psallam spiritu, psallam et mente.
This man rejoices both within and without, but that one was still in the contest, this one in release, because he knew that he had obtained the redemption of his soul. He who sings psalms is in gladness; he who wrestles is in anxiety. Yet Paul too knew how to sing psalms, but he was still keeping himself for further advances, until, more fully proved, he might sing psalms. And therefore he said: “I will pray with the spirit, I will pray with the mind also; I will sing psalms with the spirit, I will sing psalms with the mind also.”
1 Cor 14:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The psalmist sings in joy, while Paul was still in the contest, though he too sang with spirit and mind.
Topics: Prayer, Hymns and singing
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.40.2 (CSEL 64:257; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-40-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-40-2
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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.
Explanation 40, chapter 41
40.41.1CSEL 64:257
Et quia geminum psallendi officium demonstrauit, geminam quoque uocem esse scriptura edocuit propheta dicente: uoce mea ad dominum clamaui et uox mea ad deum, et intendit mihi. quid est mea? potuit enim dicere: clamaui ad dominum. sed quae nostra est uox nisi ista quae melior est, quae nescit errare? nam ex multiloquio peccatum incurrimus et uitare non possumus.
And since he showed a twofold duty of singing psalms, Scripture taught that there is also a twofold voice, the prophet saying: “With my voice I cried to the Lord, and my voice to God, and he gave heed to me.” What is “my”? For he could have said: “I cried to the Lord.” But what is our voice but that which is better, which does not know how to err? For from much speaking we incur sin and cannot avoid it.
Ps 77:1 (76:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 10:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: There is a twofold voice; the psalmist’s “my voice” is the inner voice that does not err.
- Ps 77:1 (LXX 76:2); Prov 10:19.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): erraie → errare.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.41.1 (CSEL 64:257; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-41-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-41-1
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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.
40.41.2CSEL 64:257–258
illa uox prophetae est quae ad deum peruenit, quae tacente Moyse clamauit ad dominum, qua etiam in orationibus suis Anna clamabat, cum oris sui labia non moueret, et impetrauit filium quem ante diu non impetrauerat, cum corporis uoce clamasset. de hac uoce dixit dominus: tu autem cum oras, intra in cubiculum tuum et clauso ostio ora patrem tuum qui est in abscondito; et pater tuus qui uidet in abscondito reddet tibi. quid est reddet? hoc est quod deprecatus es, quod orasti.
That is the voice of the prophet which reaches God, which cried to the Lord while Moses was silent, with which Hannah too cried out in her prayers when she did not move the lips of her mouth, and obtained the son whom she had long not obtained when she had cried out with the voice of the body. Of this voice the Lord said: “But you, when you pray, go into your room and, shutting the door, pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” What is “will repay”? That is, what you have entreated, what you have prayed for.
Exod 14:15 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 1:13 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Sam 1:20 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 6:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The inner voice is that of Moses’ silent cry and Hannah’s silent prayer, which God hears and repays.
- Moses’ silent cry: Exod 14:15; Hannah: 1 Sam 1:13.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray line number in the digital text): qua 30 etiam → qua etiam; clapiabat → clamabat.
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.41.2 (CSEL 64:257–258; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-41-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-41-2
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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.
40.41.3CSEL 64:258
sicut enim peccatores de manu domini recipiunt peccata sua duplicia, ita e contrario iusti recipiunt cum effectu propria postulata. audi quomodo recipiant. ascendit oratio tua ad deum et descendit ad. unde et in psalmo legimus: et oratio mea in sinum meum conuertetur, ut fructum scilicet referat postulanti. benedictus dominus deus Israel, qui tanta nobis aperuit mysteria, a saeculo et in saeculum, id est ex infinito in infinitum. fiat, fiat.
For just as sinners receive their sins double from the hand of the Lord, so on the contrary the righteous receive their own requests with effect. Hear how they receive them. Your prayer goes up to God and comes down to [you]. Hence in the psalm too we read: “And my prayer will return into my bosom”, that is, so as to bring back fruit to the one who asks. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has opened such great mysteries to us, from age to age, that is, from the infinite into the infinite. So be it, so be it.
Isa 40:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 35:13 (34:13 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 41:13 (40:14 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The prayer of the righteous returns to them with its fruit; Ambrose closes with the psalm’s doxology.
- The digital text breaks off after “comes down to” (descendit ad.); “[you]” is supplied for the sense. Quotations: Isa 40:2; Ps 35:13 (LXX 34:13); Ps 41:13 (LXX 40:14).
Topics: Prayer
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 40.41.3 (CSEL 64:258; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-41-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/40-41-3
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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.
Explanation 43, chapter 1
43.1.1CSEL 64:258–259
Psalmi titulus est: in finem; filiis Core intellectus. ubi passionis dominicae et baptismatis et ingressionis ad altare sacrosanctum decursa mysteria sunt, docet sanctus propheta Dauid, quemadmodum athletam suum, cuius nomen teneatur in agone sanctorum, Christus exerceat. sicut enim sine labore nostro non ex operibus, sed ex fide per gratiam suam nobis peccata donauit et ad coronae petitionem indulgentissimus nos et benignus admisit nec superiora nobis fecit obesse flagitia, quibus tanto certamine iudicaremur indigni — quaeritur enim etiam in his, qui lustrale certamen hoc subeunt, etiam disciplina uiuendi —, ita rursus, ne tanta peccatorum donatione resoluti in superiora flagitia uel desidiam reuertamur, psalmus iste nos ammonet multa nobis et grauia certamina esse proposita, ut nemo nisi qui legitime certauerit coronetur.
The title of the psalm is: “To the end; for the sons of Korah, for understanding.” After the mysteries of the Lord’s passion and of baptism and of the entry to the most holy altar have been gone through, the holy prophet David teaches how Christ trains his athlete, whose name is to be held in the contest of the saints. For just as, without labour of ours, not from works but from faith, he forgave us our sins by his grace, and most indulgently and kindly admitted us to seek the crown, and did not let our former crimes stand against us, by which we would be judged unworthy of so great a contest — for even in those who undergo this contest of purification a discipline of living is also required —, so again, lest, relaxed by so great a forgiveness of sins, we return to our former crimes or to sloth, this psalm warns us that many and grave contests are set before us, so that no one is crowned unless he has competed lawfully.
Ps 44:1 (43:1 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Eph 2:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Eph 2:9 (allusion, high confidence) · 2 Tim 2:5 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Psalm 43 (Protestant 44) follows the mysteries of passion, baptism and altar by teaching how Christ trains his athlete for the contests that follow forgiveness.
- Psalm 43 in Ambrose’s (LXX/Vulgate) numbering is Psalm 44 in the Protestant numbering; Scripture tags give the Protestant number with the LXX number as alternative. The title is Ps 44 superscription (LXX 43:1).
- “No one is crowned unless he has competed lawfully”: 2 Tim 2:5.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip and word splits in the digital text): 1 n finem; filiis C or e → in finem; filiis Core.
Topics: Baptism
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.1.1 (CSEL 64:258–259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-1-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-1-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.1.2CSEL 64:259
luctandum est igitur aduersus carnis huius inlecebras et feruorem sanguinis, luctandum est aduersus nequitias spiritales. nemo grauior domestico aduersario, nemo nocentior eo hoste cui caelestis substantiae potentia suffragatur. cum dico nemo, diuini memento sermonis, quo dixit dominus, quia maior ex natis mulieris Iohanne Baptista nemo; nam qui natus est ex uirgine, ipse super omnes est. et ideo neminem uereamur qui Christum habemus, quoniam, si Christus pro nobis, quis contra nos?
We must wrestle, then, against the enticements of this flesh and the heat of the blood; we must wrestle against spiritual wickedness. No adversary is more grievous than the one at home, no enemy more harmful than the one supported by the power of a heavenly substance. When I say “no one”, remember the divine saying in which the Lord said that among those born of woman none is greater than John the Baptist; for he who was born of the Virgin is himself above all. And therefore let us fear no one, we who have Christ; since, if Christ is for us, who is against us?
Gal 5:17 (allusion, medium confidence) · Eph 6:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 11:11 (allusion, high confidence) · John 3:31 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rom 8:31 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We must wrestle against the flesh and spiritual wickedness, but with Christ we need fear no one.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): inlecebras er, feruorem → inlecebras et feruorem.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.1.2 (CSEL 64:259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-1-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-1-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.1.3CSEL 64:259
certemus ergo usque ad finem, ut euacuatis omnibus, quae aduersum Iesum et domini uoluntatem in nostro ante corpore militabant, uerae exercitiis uirtutis intenti soli deo nostro et domino seruiamus. hic enim finis, ut scriptum est: primitiae Christus, deinde finis, cum tradiderit regnum deo et patri, cum euacuauerit omnem principatum et potestatem et uirtutem, ut mors nouissima destruatur et incipiamus deo esse subiecti regnum in nobis caeleste seruantes, ubi erat ante conluuio peccatorum.
Let us contend, then, to the end, so that, when everything has been made void which formerly fought in our body against Jesus and the will of the Lord, we may be intent on the exercises of true virtue and serve our God and Lord alone. For this is the end, as it is written: “Christ the firstfruits, then the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he has made void every principality and authority and power”, so that death may be destroyed last, and we may begin to be subject to God, keeping the heavenly kingdom in us where formerly there was the filth of sins.
1 Cor 15:23 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:24 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:26 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:28 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 17:21 (echo, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: We contend to the end, when Christ hands the kingdom to the Father and death is destroyed, so that God may reign in us.
- The “end” takes up the title “to the end”. 1 Cor 15:23–26, 28.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.1.3 (CSEL 64:259; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-1-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-1-3
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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 43, chapter 2
43.2.1CSEL 64:259–260
Merito ergo in finem; filiis Core intellectus inscribitur, ut in eo cognoscendo non uulgaris auditus, sed intellectus spiritalis operetur. denique Aquilas psalmum disciplinae posuit. et ideo tibi dicit scriptura: da in disciplinam cor tuum, aures autem tuas praepara sermonibus intellectus, et alibi dilige sapientiam et disciplinam.
Rightly, then, it is entitled “To the end; for the sons of Korah, for understanding”, so that in knowing it not common hearing but spiritual understanding may be at work. Indeed Aquila put “a psalm of discipline”. And therefore Scripture says to you: “Give your heart to discipline, and prepare your ears for words of understanding”, and elsewhere: “Love wisdom and discipline.”
Prov 23:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Prov 4:6 (allusion, low confidence) · Prov 8:10 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The title “for understanding” calls for spiritual understanding; Aquila renders “discipline”.
- Aquila: the later Greek translator of the Old Testament. The quotations are Prov 23:12 and a combination of Proverbs passages (compare Prov 4:6; 8:10, 17).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-end hyphen, OCR slip and word split in the digital text; stray letter in the digital text; stray question mark in the digital text; word space lost in the digital text): filiisCore → filiis Core; auditus,? → auditus,; intel- 1 e c t u s → intellectus; idilige → dilige.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.2.1 (CSEL 64:259–260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-2-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-2-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.2.2CSEL 64:260
sapientia est quae sensu scaturit, disciplina in habitudinem quandam naturae coalita forma uirtutum et mentis confirmata sententia scientiae disciplinis. intellegere quoque obscurum sermonem atque dictionum prudentiam et aenigmata Prouerbiorum scriptura nos docuit, cuius auctoritate colligimus has prudentiae principales esse uirtutes, eo quod sapientia semper quasi mater fecunda parturiat, disciplina quasi seuerior magistra distringat, intellectus quasi diligens quaesitor inueniat et ueram iustitiam iudiciumque rimetur.
Wisdom is what springs from the mind; discipline is the form of the virtues grown together into a kind of natural habit and the judgment of the mind made firm by the disciplines of knowledge. Scripture has also taught us to understand dark sayings and the prudence of words and the riddles of Proverbs; by its authority we gather that these are the principal virtues of prudence, because wisdom always gives birth like a fruitful mother, discipline restrains like a sterner teacher, understanding finds like a diligent searcher and investigates true justice and judgment.
Prov 1:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 1:3 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Wisdom, discipline and understanding are the chief virtues of prudence: mother, teacher and searcher.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.2.2 (CSEL 64:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-2-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-2-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
Explanation 43, chapter 3
43.3.1CSEL 64:260
Doceamus haec sacrae testimoniis lectionis. Sapientia dicit: ego quasi fons a paradiso dixi: rigabo meum hortum et adhuc doctrinam quasi prophetiam effundam; nam generationes suas menti hominis et bonos sensus quasi pia mater infundit. accipe etiam testimonia disciplinae: fili, ne neglexeris disciplinam dei nec defeceris ab eo correptus;
Let us teach these things by the testimonies of the sacred reading. Wisdom says: “I said, like a fountain from paradise: I will water my garden; and further I will pour out teaching like prophecy”; for like a loving mother she pours her offspring and good thoughts into the mind of man. Take also the testimonies of discipline: “My son, do not neglect the discipline of God, nor faint when you are rebuked by him;
Prov 3:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 12:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Scripture testifies to wisdom, which waters like a fountain, and to discipline, which corrects.
- Wisdom’s words: Sir 24:30–33 (Latin 24:42–46). The quotation of Prov 3:11 continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period inside the word): negle.xeris → neglexeris.
Extrabiblical texts: Sir 24:30 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.3.1 (CSEL 64:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-3-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-3-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.3.2CSEL 64:260
quem enim diligit deus corripit. seuera quidem in corripiendo, sed dulcis in corrigendo est disciplina, ne fluitemus et uagemur errantes, sed recipiamur a Christo; disciplina enim non examinata uagatur, ut scriptum est. sed pro conuersatione hic posuit disciplinam. tamen sicut sapientia, ita et disciplina: et perfecta et inperfecta eodem nomine nuncupatur;
for whom God loves he rebukes.” Discipline is severe indeed in rebuking, but sweet in correcting, so that we may not drift and wander in error, but be received by Christ; for undisciplined discipline wanders, as it is written. But here he has put “discipline” for “way of life”. Yet, like wisdom, discipline too, both perfect and imperfect, is called by the same name;
Prov 3:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 12:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Discipline is severe in rebuke but sweet in correction; like wisdom, the word can mean both perfect and imperfect discipline.
- “Undisciplined discipline wanders”: Sir 21:21? The source is uncertain (compare Prov 10:17).
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.3.2 (CSEL 64:260; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-3-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-3-2
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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.
43.3.3CSEL 64:260–261
sed ubi sine adiectione uel disciplina uel sapientia nuncupantur, definitionem perfectionis accipiunt. inexaminata ergo fluitat disciplina, sed examinata non fluitat. de intellectu quoque eadem scriptura definit, quia intellectus bonus est omnibus qui eum faciunt. intellectus autem cum in se et sapientiae gratiam habeat et ordinem disciplinae, utique docemur quod et sapientia et disciplina bonae sint eis, qui earum instituta suis ministeriis execuntur. diximus de titulo, psalmum adoriamur.
but where discipline or wisdom are named without qualification, they take the definition of perfection. Undisciplined discipline, then, drifts; but disciplined discipline does not drift. Of understanding too the same Scripture defines that “understanding is good to all who do it”. And since understanding has in itself both the grace of wisdom and the order of discipline, we are surely taught that both wisdom and discipline are good to those who carry out their precepts in their services. We have spoken of the title; let us approach the psalm.
Ps 111:10 (110:10 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Without qualification the terms mean perfection; understanding, which contains wisdom and discipline, is good to those who practise it.
- “Understanding is good to all who do it”: Ps 111:10 (LXX 110:10).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): ect omnibus → est omnibus.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.3.3 (CSEL 64:260–261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-3-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-3-3
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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 43, chapter 4
43.4.1CSEL 64:261
Deus, auribus nostris audiuimus. sic Symmachus. Theodotion in auribus nostris dixit, sicut et Septuaginta uiri. quid est quod ait nostris auribus? quodsi non satis esset audiuimus, certe, si hoc placuerat, auribus audiuimus plenum erat. cum ergo additum est nostris, quid sibi hoc uult, nisi ut intellegas illa esse nostra quae mentis sunt et ea esse meliora quam quae istius corporis?
“O God, with our ears we have heard.” So Symmachus. Theodotion said “in our ears”, as did the Seventy. What does he mean by “our ears”? If “we have heard” was not enough, surely, if that was what he wanted, “with ears we have heard” was complete. Since, then, “our” has been added, what does it mean, unless that you should understand that the things of the mind are ours, and that they are better than those of this body?
Ps 44:1 (43:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: “With our ears” means the ears of the mind, which are truly ours.
- Symmachus and Theodotion are later Greek translators; the Seventy are the Septuagint.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.4.1 (CSEL 64:261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-4-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-4-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.4.2CSEL 64:261
et ideo quasi de alio dicit hic ipse propheta: non timebo quid faciat mihi caro, et alibi uoce mea ad dominum clamaui, et uox mea ad deum, et respexit me. illa uox mea, quae auditur a Christo, non quae resultat in publico. non uult igitur suum esse quod corruptibile atque terrenum est, qui ad imaginem dei et similitudinem meminit se creatum. denique scriptura nos edocet prius hominem ad imaginem dei esse formatum, postea de luto factum. quasi?
And therefore this same prophet says, as though of another: “I will not fear what flesh may do to me”, and elsewhere: “With my voice I cried to the Lord, and my voice to God, and he looked on me.” That is my voice which is heard by Christ, not that which resounds in public. He who remembers that he was created to the image and likeness of God does not wish what is corruptible and earthly to be his own. Indeed, Scripture teaches us that man was first formed to the image of God, afterwards made from clay.
Ps 56:4 (55:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 77:1 (76:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 1:26 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 1:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Gen 2:7 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Our true self is the mind made in God’s image; the psalmist speaks of the flesh as of another.
- Ps 56:4 (LXX 55:5); Ps 77:1 (LXX 76:2); Gen 1:26–27; 2:7. The section ends with a stray word (quasi?) that belongs to the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; word splits in the digital text): dcminum → dominum; e t respexit m e. → et respexit me..
Topics: The image of God
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.4.2 (CSEL 64:261; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-4-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-4-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.4.3CSEL 64:261–262
i superior ergo — superior enim qui antiquior — et gubernator et rector huius corporis animae uigor dicit: auribus nostris audiuimus. quis iste est nisi cui dicitur: qui habet aures audiendi audiat? sunt enim qui aures habent et mysteria audire non possunt, de quibus dicit Iesus in Reuelatione Iohannis: foras canes et ueneficos et inpudicos, quibus flagitiorum cupiditas et aerugo pecuniae aurem obstruit audiendi. consideremus igitur, quae audisse se dicant uel a quibus audisse commemorent.
So as the superior — for the superior is the older — the vigour of the soul, the governor and ruler of this body, says: “With our ears we have heard.” Who is this but the one to whom it is said: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear”? For there are those who have ears and cannot hear the mysteries, of whom Jesus says in the Revelation of John: “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the unchaste”, whose ear for hearing is stopped by the lust of crimes and the rust of money. Let us consider, then, what they say they have heard, or from whom they recall that they heard it.
Matt 11:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 22:15 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The soul, the body’s older ruler, is the one who hears; those blocked by vice and greed cannot hear the mysteries.
- The sentence begins with a garbled word in the digital text (quasi? i), translated by sense as “as”.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): flajitiorum → flagitiorum.
Topics: The soul
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.4.3 (CSEL 64:261–262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-4-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-4-3
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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 43, chapter 5
43.5.1CSEL 64:262
Patres, inquit, nostri annuntiauerunt nobis. qui isti sunt patres? titulus habet, quia psalmus filiis Core scriptus sit, ut ab ipsis canatur, qui psallendi munus receperunt et in huiusmodi officium fuerant deputati. Core autem et Dathan et Abiron cum aliis, qui aduersum Moysen et Aaron insurrexerant studio contumaci, terrae hiatu in deserto uorati sunt et necati. quibus mortuis qui alii patres eorum filiis mirabilia opera domini annuntiare potuerunt?
“Our fathers,” he says, “have told us.” Who are these fathers? The title has it that the psalm was written for the sons of Korah, to be sung by them, who had received the office of singing psalms and had been appointed to that kind of duty. But Korah and Dathan and Abiram, with others who had risen against Moses and Aaron with stubborn zeal, were swallowed up in the desert by the opening of the earth and killed. When they were dead, what other fathers could have told their sons the wonderful works of the Lord?
Ps 44:1 (43:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Num 16:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Num 16:32 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Chr 6:31 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Who were the fathers of the sons of Korah, since Korah perished in the desert?
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word split in the digital text): P atr es → Patres.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.5.1 (CSEL 64:262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-5-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-5-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.5.2CSEL 64:262
in maliuolam enim animam non ingreditur sapientia. si suis ergo non annuntiarunt filiis, alienis multo minus, qui declinarent subolem perfidorum. qui sunt itaque isti patres? uide ne illi, de quibus dictum est: interroga patrem tuum, ipse tibi dicet. interrogas quando legis Paulum; uel si non legis et mouet te aliquid, in ipso require. ipse est enim bonus pater, qui potest docere et formare in nobis dominum Iesum. sicut ipse testatus est dicens: filioli mei, quos ego parturio, donec formetur Christus in uobis.
For wisdom does not enter a malicious soul. If, then, they did not tell their own sons, much less others’, who would avoid the offspring of the faithless. Who, then, are these fathers? See whether they are not those of whom it was said: “Ask your father, and he will tell you.” You ask when you read Paul; or if you do not read him and something troubles you, seek it in him. For he is the good father, who can teach and form the Lord Jesus in us, as he himself testified, saying: “My little children, with whom I am in labour until Christ is formed in you.”
Deut 32:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Gal 4:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fathers who tell are teachers like Paul, who forms Christ in us.
- “Wisdom does not enter a malicious soul”: Wis 1:4. “Ask your father”: Deut 32:7.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; word space lost and stray period in the digital text): maliuoiam → maliuolam; quosego parturio. → quos ego parturio,.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 1:4 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; quotation)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.5.2 (CSEL 64:262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-5-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-5-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.5.3CSEL 64:262
ostendit tibi hos patres euangelista Iohannes, qui ait: dico uobis patres, qui cognouistis quod ab initio est. isti sunt patres, quorum senectus uita inmaculata est. ideo in conuentu seniorum appone digitum ori tuo, ut audias quod tibi prosit et uitae aeternae sacramenta cognoscas, ne interstrepas insolens tiro doctoribus et qui adhuc discere debeas dicere praesumas. quid igitur isti patres annuntiauerint Core filiis, audiamus.
John the evangelist shows you these fathers, who says: “I say to you, fathers, who have known what is from the beginning.” These are the fathers whose old age is a spotless life. Therefore in the assembly of the elders put your finger to your lips, so that you may hear what is profitable to you and come to know the mysteries of eternal life, so that you do not, as an insolent recruit, make a noise against the teachers and presume to speak when you still ought to learn. Let us hear, then, what these fathers told the sons of Korah.
1 John 2:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The fathers are those who know him who is from the beginning; the learner should listen in silence.
- 1 John 2:13; “whose old age is a spotless life”: Wis 4:9; compare Sir 32:9 on silence among elders.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray period in the digital text; word split in the digital text): e s t. → est.; tuo,.ut → tuo, ut.
Extrabiblical texts: Wis 4:9 (Wisdom of Solomon [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion); Sir 32:9 (Sirach [in RC, EO, ETH canons]; allusion)
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.5.3 (CSEL 64:262; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-5-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-5-3
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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 43, chapter 6
43.6.1CSEL 64:262–263
Opus, inquit, quod operatus es in diebus antiquis. qui sunt isti dies, in quibus deus magna et mirabilia operatus sit, requiramus. edocet nos scriptura esse aliquos praeclaros dies, in quibus refulserint facta diuina, cum lectum sit, quia sol in tenebras conuertetur et luna in sanguinem, priusquam ueniat dies domini magnus et inlustris; et erit quicumque inuocauerit nomen domini saluus erit.
“The work,” he says, “which you worked in the days of old.” Let us inquire which are these days in which God worked great and wonderful things. Scripture teaches us that there are certain glorious days in which divine deeds have shone, since we have read that the sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes; and whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Ps 44:1 (43:2 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Joel 2:31 (quotation, high confidence) · Joel 2:32 (quotation, high confidence) · Acts 2:20 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The “days of old” point to the glorious day of the Lord foretold by Joel.
- Joel 2:31–32 (Acts 2:20–21).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray line number in the digital text; word space lost in the digital text; word split in the digital text): ant i qui s → antiquis; mirabilia 25 operatus → mirabilia operatus; etluna → et luna.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.6.1 (CSEL 64:262–263; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.6.2CSEL 64:263
in ipso enim die Christus hominibus resurrexit et ideo specialiter de ipso dictum est: hic est dies quem fecit dominus; exultemus et laetemur in eo. cum igitur omnes dies deus fecerit, huic tamen diei prae ceteris diuini operis praerogatiua delata est, quo peccatum omne sublatum est; dies autem alii peccatorum sunt. hic ergo est dies quem inluminauit sol ille iustitiae; nam et ipsa ortus suos et occasus habere consueuit, unde et scriptum est: orietur in diebus eius iustitia. sunt ergo dies Christi quibus.
For on that day Christ rose again for men, and therefore it was said specially of it: “This is the day which the Lord has made; let us exult and rejoice in it.” Although God made all days, yet to this day above the rest the privilege of divine work has been given, on which all sin was taken away; but other days belong to sins. This, then, is the day which that sun of righteousness has lit; for righteousness too is accustomed to have its risings and settings, and so it is written: “In his days righteousness will rise.” There are, then, days of Christ in which
Ps 118:24 (117:24 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Mal 4:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 72:7 (71:7 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The day of the resurrection, lit by the sun of righteousness, is the day the Lord made; there are “days of Christ” in which righteousness rises.
- Ps 118:24 (LXX 117:24); Mal 4:2; Ps 72:7 (LXX 71:7). The sentence continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word splits in the digital text): i n e o. → in eo..
Topics: Resurrection and ascension of Christ
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.6.2 (CSEL 64:263; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.6.3CSEL 64:263
orta iustitia est, sunt dies Christi quibus orta est pacis abundantia, sunt dies Christi quibus orta sapientia est. audi quomodo exoriatur sapientia: si quis uidetur sapiens esse inter uos in hoc saeculo, stultus fiat, ut sit sapiens. et ideo dicit Sapientia, quae stulta istius mundi elegit: dominus creauit me principium uiarum suarum in opera sua. sicut enim in diebus Oziae regis, in diebus Nabuchodonosor exorta perfidia est, dominata captiuitas, sic in diebus domini Iesu exorta est fides, quae splendorem suae claritatis et luminis toto orbe diffudit.
righteousness has risen; there are days of Christ in which abundance of peace has risen; there are days of Christ in which wisdom has risen. Hear how wisdom rises: “If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become foolish, that he may be wise.” And therefore Wisdom, which chose the foolish things of this world, says: “The Lord created me the beginning of his ways for his works.” For just as in the days of King Uzziah, in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, faithlessness arose and captivity held sway, so in the days of the Lord Jesus faith arose, which has spread the splendour of its brightness and light over the whole world.
Ps 72:7 (71:7 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 3:18 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 1:27 (allusion, high confidence) · Prov 8:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 6:1 (allusion, low confidence) · 2 Kgs 25:1 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: In the days of Christ righteousness, peace and wisdom have risen, and faith has spread over the world.
- “The Lord created me …” (Prov 8:22 in the Greek and Old Latin), which Ambrose elsewhere refers to Christ’s incarnation, not his divine generation.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): orta mstitia → orta iustitia; p, apiens → sapiens.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.6.3 (CSEL 64:263; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-3
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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.
43.6.4CSEL 64:263–264
qui enim meliores dies quam quibus refulsit nobis uisio dei, sicut dixit Iacob? sic enim scriptum est: uidi deum facie ad faciem et saluata est anima mea. et continuo exortus est ei sol. quis iste sol nisi qui dies fecit fulgere iustitiae, quibus in terra natus est Christus ex uirgine? in specie uidit Iacob et deum uidisse se dixit; in ueritate uiderunt Iudaei et non crediderunt.
For what better days than those in which the vision of God shone upon us, as Jacob said? For so it is written: “I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.” And at once the sun rose upon him. Who is this sun but the one who made the days of righteousness shine, in which Christ was born on earth of the Virgin? Jacob saw in a figure, and said that he had seen God; the Jews saw in truth and did not believe.
Gen 32:30 (quotation, high confidence) · Gen 32:31 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Jacob saw God in a figure at Penuel; the Jews saw him in truth in Christ’s days and did not believe.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.6.4 (CSEL 64:263–264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-4
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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.
43.6.5CSEL 64:264
ideo illis breuiati sunt dies, nobis inluminati, quoniam illis deficiebat dies, nobis appropinquabat. unde Iudaicam sanctus Dauid refugiens caecitatem ait: ne deducas in dimidium dierum meorum. sic enim dies domini magnus et inlustris est utique non prolixitate temporis, sed iustitiae uel gratiae claritate. ergo sunt dimidii dies quibus breuiantur impietatis caligine et squalore perfidiae, quibus occidit sol super prophetas, sicut scriptum est. namque ut iustis oritur sol iustitiae, sic occidit infidelibus.
Therefore for them the days were shortened, for us lit up, since for them the day was failing, for us it was drawing near. Hence holy David, shunning the blindness of the Jews, says: “Do not take me away in the half of my days.” For so the great and glorious day of the Lord is so certainly not by length of time, but by the brightness of righteousness or grace. So there are half-days, which are shortened by the darkness of impiety and the squalor of faithlessness, in which the sun sets upon the prophets, as it is written. For as the sun of righteousness rises for the righteous, so it sets for the unbelieving.
Rom 13:12 (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 102:24 (101:25 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Mic 3:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Mal 4:2 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The “half of my days” are days darkened by unbelief; the sun of righteousness rises for the righteous and sets for the unbelieving.
- Ps 102:24 (LXX 101:25); Mic 3:6 (the sun setting on the prophets). The contrast with the Jews is Ambrose’s; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip and stray hyphen in the digital text; word space lost in the digital text): Dauidrefugiens → Dauid refugiens; di-s midium → dimidium.
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.6.5 (CSEL 64:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-6-5
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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 43, chapter 7
43.7.1CSEL 64:264
Sed occurrit illud, quia dicit dominus: propter electos breuiabuntur dies et uidetur contrarium, nisi diligenter aduertas et superiora repetas. dicit enim dominus: tunc si quis uobis dixerit: ecce hic Christus, aut: ecce illic, nolite credere; surgent enim pseudochristi et pseudoprophetae et dabunt signa
But this occurs to us, that the Lord says: “For the sake of the elect the days will be shortened”, and it seems contrary, unless you pay close attention and go back over what precedes. For the Lord says: “Then if anyone says to you, See, here is the Christ, or, See, there, do not believe; for false christs and false prophets will arise and will give great signs
Matt 24:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:24 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Christ’s saying that the days will be shortened for the elect must be read with what precedes it.
- The quotation (Matt 24:22–24) continues in the next section.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (word spaces lost in the digital text): illicnolite credere;surgent → illic, nolite credere; surgent.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.7.1 (CSEL 64:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-7-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.7.2CSEL 64:264
magna et prodigia, ita ut in errorem inducantur, si fieri potest, etiam electi. et ideo, ne decipiantur electi, ammonet dominus quid sequendum sit, ut non falsorum prophetarum sermone capiamur neque nos eorum aliqua prodigiosa facta decipiant, sed tunc credamus Christum esse uenturum, cum dies pleni iustitiae coeperint refulgere. Christus enim pleno maiestatis suae lumine reuelabitur et, sicut fulgur exit ab oriente et toto lumen suum usque in occidentem orbe diffundit, sic
and wonders, so as to lead into error, if possible, even the elect.” And therefore, so that the elect may not be deceived, the Lord warns what is to be followed: that we should not be caught by the talk of false prophets nor be deceived by any of their prodigious deeds, but believe that Christ is coming when days full of righteousness begin to shine. For Christ will be revealed in the full light of his majesty, and, as lightning goes out from the east and spreads its light over the whole world to the west, so
Matt 24:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:27 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The elect must not follow false prophets but await Christ, who will come like lightning in full majesty.
- The sentence continues in the next section.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.7.2 (CSEL 64:264; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-7-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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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.
43.7.8CSEL 64:264–265
et filius hominis cum suis angelis ueniens inluminabit hunc mundum, ut credat omnis homo et salua fiat omnis caro. non ergo credamus antichristo, de quo dicent falsi prophetae: hic est Christus; dies enim perfidiae erunt antichristi dies. non credamus his qui dicent: Christus in deserto, Christus in penetralibus; iam enim omnia plena sunt Christi, ubi appropinquare coeperit Christus. sed cum uiderimus facta quae Christus in euangelio suo ante praedixit, tunc credamus eius aduentum, ne, dum uerum quaerimus lumen, infidelitatis tenebras incidamus.
the Son of Man too, coming with his angels, will light up this world, so that every man may believe and all flesh be saved. So let us not believe the Antichrist, of whom false prophets will say: “This is the Christ”; for the days of faithlessness will be the days of the Antichrist. Let us not believe those who will say: “Christ in the desert, Christ in the inner rooms”; for by then all things are full of Christ, when Christ begins to draw near. But when we see the things that Christ foretold in his gospel, then let us believe his coming, lest, while we seek the true light, we fall into the darkness of unbelief.
Matt 24:30 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 25:31 (allusion, medium confidence) · Luke 3:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 24:23 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 24:26 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: When Christ comes, all will be full of his light; we must not believe the Antichrist’s heralds but the signs Christ foretold.
- The digital text numbers this section 7.8 (probably for 7.3); the reference is kept as staged.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip; stray hyphen in the digital text): hic est-Christus → hic est Christus; ChristuS → Christus.
Topics: Eschatology, Antichrist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.7.8 (CSEL 64:264–265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-7-8). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-7-8
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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 43, chapter 8
43.8.1CSEL 64:265
Cauenda ergo signa perfidiae, quibus breuiantur dies atque minuuntur. sol enim obscurabitur, stellae cadent, hoc est iusti dei; sunt enim qui fulgeant sicut stellae in caelo. cum haec uidens, crede adhuc tardare Christum; ubi enim Christus, ibi fides clarior, ubi antichristus, ibi dies dimidii. de quibus utique non quereretur Dauid propheta, si ad temporis breuitatem uideretur esse referendum, cum ipse alibi dixerit: heu me quod incolatus meus prolongatus est!
We must beware, then, of the signs of faithlessness by which the days are shortened and diminished. For the sun will be darkened, the stars will fall, that is, the righteous of God; for there are those who shine like stars in heaven. When you see these things, believe that Christ is still delaying; for where Christ is, there faith is brighter; where the Antichrist is, there are the half-days. Of these the prophet David would surely not complain, if they were to be referred to shortness of time, since he himself says elsewhere: “Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged!”
Matt 24:29 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 12:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 102:24 (101:25 LXX) (allusion, medium confidence) · Ps 120:5 (119:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The “half-days” are the days of faithlessness under the Antichrist, not short days, for David lamented that his sojourning was prolonged.
- Matt 24:29; Dan 12:3; Ps 120:5 (LXX 119:5).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): taidare → tardare.
Topics: Eschatology, Antichrist
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.8.1 (CSEL 64:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-8-1
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.8.2CSEL 64:265
quomodo aut illum dilatum incolatum caelestem aut hunc terrenum comperendinatum doleret, qui ante poposcerat, ne in dimidium dierum suorum deduceretur, cum dierum breuitas celerandi cursus istius compendium uideretur afferre? unde colligitur et illud, quod ait: honora patrem et matrem, ut longaeuus sis super terram, quomodo intellegere debeamus. multi enim, qui honorant, cito saepe rapiuntur, ut inmatura aetate moriantur, multi etiam, qui minus deferunt parentibus suis, longaeuae fruuntur stipendiis senectutis, et nisi longaeuitatem illam uitae accipiamus aeternae, inuenitur scriptura destitui subsidio ueritatis.
How could he grieve either that the heavenly sojourning was delayed or that this earthly one was prolonged, he who had earlier asked not to be taken away in the half of his days, when shortness of days would seem to bring a shortcut to hasten this course? From this we also gather how we ought to understand that saying: “Honour your father and mother, that you may be long-lived upon the earth.” For many who honour them are often snatched away quickly, so as to die at an untimely age, and many who show less respect to their parents enjoy the long wages of old age; and unless we take that long life as eternal life, Scripture is found to be without the support of truth.
Exod 20:12 (quotation, high confidence) · Eph 6:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Eph 6:3 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The promise of long life for honouring parents must mean eternal life, since in this life the dutiful often die young.
- Exod 20:12; Eph 6:2–3.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR slip): etipendiis → stipendiis.
Topics: Ethics, Parents and children
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.8.2 (CSEL 64:265; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-8-2
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Translation: Translated by Claude from Petschenig's Latin (CSEL 64, 1919); no public-domain English translation exists, so the translation was re-read against the Latin.
43.8.3CSEL 64:265–266
unde Graecus expressius dixit: ut sis multorum dierum, hoc est πολυήμερος; quicumque enim cultus pios sedulo seruat officio, a tenebris noctis alienus in dierum luce uersatur. et ideo, qui legit Deuteronomium, leget, inquit, illud omnibus diebus uitae tuae, non utique noctibus, sed diebus, quia dies fulget legenti mysteria ueritatis et diuinae pietatis oracula. consideremus sequentia.
Hence the Greek said more expressly: “that you may be of many days”, that is, polyēmeros; for whoever diligently keeps the duties of piety lives in the light of days, a stranger to the darkness of night. And therefore he says of the one who reads Deuteronomy: “He shall read it all the days of his life”; certainly not by nights, but by days, because day shines on the one who reads the mysteries of truth and the oracles of divine piety. Let us consider what follows.
Deut 5:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Deut 17:19 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Greek “of many days” means living in the light of piety, as the law is to be read “all the days” of life.
- The Greek word is garbled in the digital text and is restored (πολυήμερος, Deut 5:16 LXX). Deut 17:19.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (Greek word garbled by font encoding in the digital text; OCR slip; word split and OCR slip in the digital text): ut s is multoram → ut sis multorum; noXvrf/ieQoq → πολυήμερος; ouae → tuae.
Topics: Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Ambrose, Expl. Ps. 43.8.3 (CSEL 64:265–266; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
Permanent link: https://sophiascriptura.com/p/ambrose-psalmos-xii/43-8-3
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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.