Homilies on the Psalms

Homilies on the Psalms

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Homily 32, on Psalm 105

1 Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos, Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin). Alleluia, alleluia. We ought to hold to this rule, wherever two alleluias are set at the head of a psalm: let us understand that the one belongs to the end of the previous psalm, and the other to the psalm that follows. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. O you who sin grievously, and despair of your own salvation, and think that because of the greatness of your sins you cannot obtain pardon: I command you — that is, the prophet does — give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. Great are your sins: but great is the Lord, who has mercy on you. Give thanks, therefore, to the Lord. Do penance; do not despair of your salvation: the Lord is kind. Give thanks to the Lord, you who have great sins. Do not trust in your own strength, but in the mercy of the Lord. For his mercy endures forever. See what he says — forever. 'But in hell, who shall give thanks to the Lord?' For there is no one who can do penance in hell. While you are in this world, I urge you to do penance. Give thanks, therefore, to the Lord, because it is only in this world that he is merciful. Here he can have mercy on the penitent: for there he is a judge, he is not merciful. Here he is merciful, there he is a judge. Here he stretches out his hand to the one who falls: there he sits as judge. And I have said all this against those who say that there is penance even in hell.

2 Who shall tell the mighty acts of the Lord? No one is worthy to proclaim the mighty acts of the Father, except the Son. No one can tell the might of the Father, except him who is himself also mighty: the mighty acts of the Mighty One he alone who is in the bosom of the Father, he who is himself mighty, can proclaim and tell. Shall he make all his praises heard? Before our Lord in the Gospel proclaimed the praises of the Father, they had not been heard in the world. Everything that is written in the old Law, if it be understood spiritually, this can be understood of the Father. 3 Blessed are they who keep judgment, and do justice at all times. David speaks rightly. He too had done judgment, he had done justice: but because he did not do it at all times, therefore he fell. For what does he say? Blessed are they who keep judgment, and do justice at all times. But blessed are they who do it at all times. For what does it profit a man to be in continence for twenty years, and afterwards to fall? — according to what is written in the prophet: 'The justice of the just man shall not profit him on whatever day he goes astray: it shall not free him, nor save him. And the sin of the sinner shall not harm him on whatever day he turns and does penance.' Neither ought the just man to be secure, nor ought the sinner to despair of his salvation: for in both of them there is both fear and hope. He who does justice. Justice is our Lord: for our Lord and Savior is called the justice of the Lord. Blessed therefore is he who does justice, that is, who makes Christ. How then do we make Christ, that is, justice? If we act justly, justice is conceived in us, and justice is brought forth from us, and we are the mother of justice. Happy and blessed is he who at all times is both father and mother of justice.

4 Remember us, O Lord, in the good pleasure of your people. What blessed David says is this: I know, O Lord, the old Law; the perfect blessedness is not in the old Law, but in the Gospel; I know that the former people offended you, and that a new people is being created, which will serve you: I know that your Son will come, and will save the whole human race, and those who are chosen will believe in him: therefore, then, I ask, since I was born earlier under the old Law, that you would reckon to me a reward together with the new people. This seems to be our opinion. Let us read the very verses, and we shall find the meaning to be that which we have said. Visit us with your salvation. That is, in your Son, when he shall come. That we may see in the goodness of your chosen ones. That is, give us a portion with the apostles: for we indeed went before them in time, but they go before us in spiritual things. That is, that we may see your goodness, which you are about to work with your chosen ones. That we may rejoice in the joy of your nation. We are the Lord's nation, if indeed we are his nation. 'For a people, he says, that shall be born, which the Lord has made.' That we may be praised with your inheritance. That is, that we too who were made under the old Law may have a portion together with the Gospel. For Abraham our father saw your day, and was glad. Let us too, then, see, and rejoice with your inheritance.

5 We have sinned with our fathers. As sons we have followed our fathers: we have done what our fathers also did. 'For he has shut up all under sin, that he might have mercy on all.' We have acted unjustly, we have committed iniquity. Note carefully what he says: We have sinned with our fathers, we have acted unjustly, we have committed iniquity. Did he say, we have acted impiously? It is one thing to be a sinner and unjust, another to be impious. The sinner is frequently overcome by the weakness of the body: but the impious man denies God. Therefore, then, because I am not impious, but a sinner, therefore I dare to pray for my sins. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand your wonders. They saw, and they did not see: they saw with the eyes of the flesh, and with spiritual eyes they did not see. He did not say, they did not see: but, they did not understand. For just as those men saw the wonders, and did not understand: so also in the Gospel, if anyone indeed sees and hears carnally, but does not understand spiritually, he does not see. Blessed therefore are we who have not seen and yet have believed, more than those who saw and did not believe. They saw the Red Sea, they saw Pharaoh drowned, and understood only this, which they saw. But we, who have not seen him, understand better.

6 In Pharaoh we understand the devil, in his army we understand the demons, in the sea we understand baptism. They understand Marah to be bitter waters, and they pass through Marah: but we daily see the baptism of heretics to be bitter waters. They hang up the bronze serpent in the desert. Let the anchorites hear, let those who dwell in the wilderness hear. But we, what have we done? We too have hung up the true and ancient serpent in the wilderness. Although the apostle does not interpret this of the Lord in the way we suppose. But what does he say? On the cross of the Lord the devil was hung up and fastened. The Lord indeed was crucified, but the devil died. This one fulfilled the mystery, and appeared as victor: but the other did not appear, but was spiritually slain, just as the apostle also signifies.

Homily 33, on Psalm 106

1 Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos, Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin). Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever. Therefore confess to him your sins, because he is good and forgives sins. But if he were not good, he would not say to you, "Give thanks"; and, "Give thanks to him, for his mercy endures for ever." This is mercy: for the rest, above there is justice. "For his mercy endures for ever." As long as you are in this age, give thanks. 2 Let them say so who have been redeemed by the Lord, whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy. He is speaking properly about the calling of the Gentiles: for this psalm holds this mystery. "Who have been redeemed" — in the Lord's passion. "Let them say so who have been redeemed": for he himself is the savior and the redeemer and the price. "Let them say so who have been redeemed": he himself redeemed, he himself gives the price, his own blood. But why did he give as the price his own blood? That he might redeem us from the hand of the enemy. For we were held captive in the hand of the devil: and for this reason he came and redeemed us, that he might set us free from the hand of the devil. "Whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy. "That you may destroy the enemy and the defender. "Whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy. "An enemy man oversowed the tares. And the enemy is the devil. "Whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy. He is an enemy, and yet he is the possessor. Therefore he holds us in his hand: not because he loves, but because he hates. "Whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy. Great is the majesty and great the power of the Lord's blood, which loosed the hand of the devil.

3 For just as there are certain animals which grip something enclosed within themselves (this both the doctors and the natural philosophers say), so that unless it be broken, it is not parted from them, nor does it let go what it holds shut inside; but if oil be applied, at once it is dissolved, and what had been gripped tight is scattered and divided into parts: so too the blood of Christ loosed the most hardened hand of the devil. He was unwilling to let us go: the Lord poured out his blood like the oil of mercy, and through it he set us free. "From the regions he gathered them. See how great is the hand of the devil. "Whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy. But these whom he redeemed from the hand of the enemy — they were being held in all regions in the hand of the enemy. "From the regions he gathered them": throughout the whole world the hand of the devil possessed us.

4 "From the rising of the sun and from its setting, from the north and the sea. He seems indeed to have named four climes: the east, the west, the south, and the north — that is, the four climes of the world. But the psalm does not contain it so. For here it has: "from the rising of the sun and from its setting" — behold, two climes; "from the north," that is, from the region of the septentrion — behold, three climes. "And the sea. The sea, surely, is in the west. So then see that he named the west twice, and the south not even once. Why then did he name three climes, and refuse to mention one? We read in Habakkuk: "God will come from the south, and the Holy One from the shady mountain. "God will come from the south. It is said of the Savior: because God was born in the south. For by the situation of Jerusalem, Bethlehem is set to the south: therefore it is said, "God will come from the south. But if "God will come from the south," how is it now said, "From the rising of the sun and from its setting, from the north"? The south wind, the auster and the notus, is passed over in silence. "From the rising of the sun and from its setting. "Amen, amen, I say to you, that many will come from the east and the west, and will recline in the bosom of Abraham:

5 but the sons of this generation will be far off. "From the rising of the sun and from its setting" — the foreigners, surely. "And from the north": "The north wind is the most hardened wind, but by name it is called the right hand"; "From the north," he says, "evils will blaze forth over the earth. The sea is read of in Numbers and in Exodus and in all holy Scripture; and wherever you hear "the sea," according to the climes it is always understood as the west. For by the situation of Jerusalem this great sea, as it is called, is in the west. See therefore the mystery of the Scriptures: in this place the west is named twice, and the notus not even once. Why is this said? Because in this psalm the people of the Jews is not written as to be called, but only that of the Gentiles. Finally, what does he say?

6 "They wandered in the wilderness, in a waterless place: they did not find the way of the city of habitation, hungering and thirsting. And that you may know that it is written properly about the calling of the Gentiles and about the driving-out of the Jews, in what follows of this very psalm it is written: "He turned rivers into desert" — namely, of the Jews. "They wandered in the wilderness, in a waterless place. Do you wish to know that we too were before in a waterless place? "They wandered in the wilderness, in a waterless place. We have said what the waters were, we have said what the rivers were. "They did not find the way of the city of habitation, hungering and thirsting. Let us set forth how the people of the Gentiles was in a desert where there were no waters, that is, in a waterless place, and how "they did not find the way of the city of habitation, hungering and thirsting. Of those of whom it is said "they did not find," it is plain that they sought. "They did not find the way of the city of habitation. Therefore they sought a way, a way by which they might come to the city: hungering they sought, and thirsting. "Their soul failed within them. "They failed, searching with searching. They failed, they sought, and did not find, and in their hunger and thirst "they did not find the way of the city of habitation, hungering and thirsting.

7 There were many who kept promising that way which would lead to the city. Socrates promised, Plato promised, Aristotle promised. The woman with the issue of blood, who flowed with blood, sought many physicians, and by none could be healed. "They did not find the way of the city of habitation. Their teaching produced hunger for the truth rather than fullness. The woman with the issue of blood spent all her substance on physicians: hungering and thirsting her soul failed within her. But because she had lost all her substance — that is, the Church gathered from the Gentiles, because her soul failed within her — she cried out to the Lord when she was in tribulation. The touch of the Lord's hem was the cry of one believing. 8 "And they cried out to the Lord when they were in tribulation." "To the Lord," he says, "when I was in tribulation I cried out, and he heard me." Then are we heard by the Lord, when not a mere voice but tribulation cries out to the Lord. "And he led them into the right way." Because "they did not find the way of the city of habitation," therefore "he led them into the right way." So he shows that before they did indeed find ways, but crooked ones and not right. "And he led them into the right way." The Way led them into a way. The Lord himself and Savior led them into the right way. The Way led them into the right way: he made them walk in himself, being himself both the leader and the way. "And he led them into the right way": that by this way, that is, by the Lord the Savior, they might go into the city of habitation, into his Church, which had been founded upon himself, both the rock and the way and the leader. And at the same time it is to be considered that in this psalm it is said a third time: "Let them confess to the Lord his mercies, and his wonders to the sons of men. Because he satisfied the empty soul," and so on. Afterward it is written: "Let them confess to the Lord his mercies, and his wonders to the sons of men: because he shattered the gates of bronze." And afterward this same thing is said: let the prudent reader find it. Though some say it is even written a fourth time: so that what is offered to the Trinity may be gathered into one in the Gospels.

9 The psalm is long, and we cannot linger over each little verse. But only this much has been signified, that it speaks of the calling of the Gentiles and of the rejection of the Jews. Let us therefore entreat the Lord, that, since the former branches were broken off, and we from the wild olive have been grafted into the root of the good olive, we may bear good fruits, lest we too likewise be cut off. For our husbandman seeks fruits. For if he cut off the former branches for this reason, because they bore no fruit: we too, if we do not bear fruits, shall suffer the like. But fruits are not only in the body, but also in the soul. And when the body indeed serves the Lord, the soul also serves, and the body also serves God. "In a land untrodden and waterless, so did I appear to you in the sanctuary. "How manifoldly to you," he says, "does my flesh. See what he says: "How manifoldly to you does my flesh. How manifoldly? Let us not read πῶς ἁπλῶς (how simply), but ποσαπλῶς (in how many ways), that is, manifoldly. In many kinds does my flesh serve you: in fastings, in sleepings-on-the-ground (chameuniai), in tribulation, in distress, in hunger, in thirst, in cold. "How manifoldly to you does my flesh. What then serves the Lord manifoldly? "In a land untrodden and waterless. See what he says: untrodden, deserted, and waterless.

10 See that this flesh cannot serve the Lord manifoldly except in a deserted land, in a deserted and waterless one, when the flesh is dry, when we are made as it were a wineskin in the frost, when all the moisture is dried up and burned away, when our flesh seeks not lust, but food. Our flesh, when it is parched, and is waterless, and has no moistures, seeks not wantonness, but seeks food. But when our land, which before had been dry, is watered with the water and rains of delights, it must needs bring forth and sprout, and he who is holy bears good fruits; but he who is a sinner, at once his land generates thorns. Why I say all this, the prudent hearer understands: because fastings profit much the Christian soul. 11 They humble the body: and when the body is humbled, the soul too is humbled, and when the body is humbled the soul none the less suffers its own burnings. But if to the burning of the soul there be joined also the burning of the body, who can bear a double burning? The burning of the soul frequent prayer extinguishes, and faith toward the Lord. For the rest, the burning of the flesh we have in our own power: when we wish, we quench the spark of that burning. Although we extinguish it, yet it still remains in the soul. This I have said, because the spark of concupiscences always remains in the soul. Just as if there be a spark in ashes, and it have no fuel, there is indeed a spark, but it makes no flame: so the spark of our thought, if it have not the wantonness of the flesh, is smothered. We all have this spark. Let someone say it, or not say it: whoever denies it, lies. God the creator of all is one: he who created me, also created you: he who created the emperor, he himself created the soldier: he who created the most noble senator, he himself created also the lowly slave. The condition is diverse, the nature is one. As we enter naked, so also we go out naked. On earth we have diverse garments, we live differently day by day: but for the rest, both for those entering and for those departing the condition is one.

12 Why do I say all this? To show that the nature of the body of all men is one: just as the face indeed is diverse, and yet the likeness itself is the same. For example, that one may have more, another less: yet the face of man is one. For I do not have the face of a man, and you that of a lion or of some wild beast. Each one therefore, according to the quality of his own spark, which he knows himself to have, so also let him gather ashes. When we eat, when we take richer foods, that spark of ours, which lay hidden in the ashes, receives fuel. But let us entreat the Lord, that that spark may always be in a deserted land, untrodden and waterless, that it may not have the fuel of vices. And let us bless the Lord.

Homily 34, on Psalm 107

1 Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos, Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin). A song of a psalm of David. A "song" always refers to the mind, but a "psalm" refers to bodily things. To put it more plainly, a song refers to contemplation (theoria), whereas a psalm refers to practice (praxis), that is, to action. Since, then, it is written in the title, "A song of a psalm," rightly and consistently he says in the second verse, "I will sing and I will make melody in my glory." 2 "My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready." I am ready not only in deed, but also in heart and mind. "My heart is ready," in the mind; "my heart is ready," in deed, that is, in practice. Since I am ready not only in heart and mind but also in deed, therefore in the second place I say, "I will sing and I will make melody in my glory." "I will sing": that is, in my heart. "And I will make melody." Just as a psaltery is composed of many strings, and if one string is broken the psaltery is ruined, so too in our actions, if we transgress a single commandment, our psaltery is broken. Therefore he said, "I will sing and I will make melody in my glory." In other manuscripts it reads "in your glory"; but it is better to read according to the Hebrew "in my glory." What he says is this: "I will sing and I will make melody in my glory." This, O Lord, that I make melody to you, that I sing to you — I am doing no favor to you, but to myself. For in another psalm he says: "For you have no need of my goods." What, therefore, I do, I do for myself. For the fact that I serve you is my glory. We fast: do we thereby bestow anything on God? We do this for our own sins. We lie in sackcloth: what do we thereby furnish to the Lord? This alone do we furnish to him, that we may save our own souls; for this is what he himself desires. Just as a good and merciful physician, if he has healed someone, rejoices himself, and so does the one who has been healed, so too our Lord.

3 "Arise, O psaltery and harp." O psaltery, O harp, you were made and created to make melody to God: arise and make melody, why do you lie idle? O monk, you who stand upright in body, why does your soul lie idle, and you do not make melody to the Lord? "Cursed is the man who does the work of God negligently." If you are a psaltery, if you are a harp, why are you deaf, and do not glorify God? "I will arise at daybreak." God cannot be blessed and praised in the darkness, but he is blessed in the light. I say a wondrous thing: even if we rise in the night, we bless God in the light. For a Christian it is never night: for a Christian the sun of righteousness always rises. And these things indeed we say according to the Jews. But according to the higher sense, it is the Lord who sings these things. "My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready." I am ready here, I am ready in the future: I save both on earth and I save in heaven; that is, I save both the angels and men. "Arise, O psaltery and harp." The Lord speaks to his own body: O psaltery and harp, you who descended into hell and lay there, arise and praise the Lord. And you see what he says. It is not he himself, who moves the harp and psaltery, that praises; but the harp and psaltery themselves, they themselves bless the Father. For he is God, and is blessed and praised by others; but his body, and the man whom he took upon himself, this itself praises the Lord. And so that you may know that the prophet speaks in the person of the Lord, and that I do not say this of myself, see what follows.

4 "I will confess to you among the peoples, O Lord." Understand "the peoples" as the Jews. "And I will make melody to you among the nations." He speaks of us. For by "the Jews" he means those who first believed from among the Jews. And notice the order: first he praises God among the peoples, and afterward he praises God among the nations. For first they believed from among the Jews, and afterward they believed from among the Gentiles. 5 "For your mercy is great above the heavens." There is no creature that does not stand in need of God's mercy. All of us stand in need of God's mercy. Gabriel, Michael, the Seraphim, the Cherubim, the Powers, the Dominions, are indeed holy, but they stand in need of the mercy of their creator. I do not disparage the angels, but I proclaim the creator; since the angels themselves gladly have their creator proclaimed. And we can say it another way: "For your mercy raises up from the earth to the heavens. And your truth reaches even to the clouds." Where are the Jews, where are those like the Jews, who understand only according to the letter? How is the truth of God "even to the clouds"? The Son of God says, "I am the way and the life and the truth": and he descended to the earth, and dwelt among men. And how is your truth "even to the clouds"? The sense is plain, that he speaks of the apostles and of the saints, that they should not rain their rain upon the Jews, but upon the Gentiles, as it is written: "I will command my clouds not to rain rain upon Israel." In these clouds, then, is the truth of God. But if the truth of God is in these clouds, how does Montanus say, and how do the Cataphrygians say, that what was not revealed to the apostles has been revealed to us?

6 "Be exalted above the heavens, O God." God is not exalted except above the heavens, he is not exalted above the earth. When we are earthly, we do not exalt God; but if from earthly we have been made heavenly, then we exalt God. And our Lord, when he was on earth, did not exalt us. Someone may say: You speak rashly, since he himself says in the Gospel: "When I have been lifted up, I will draw all things to myself." See what he says: When I have been lifted up into the heavens, then I will draw all things to myself. This sense is indeed pious, but I understand something else. When I have been lifted up, when I have been crucified, then I will draw all to myself. "That your beloved may be delivered." O wondrous understanding! for this reason the Lord is crucified and lifted up, that his beloved may be delivered. "That your beloved may be delivered," he says, "be exalted above the heavens, O God." What we asked for has come to pass: he has been exalted, and we have been delivered.

7 "God has spoken in his holy one": whether in the temple, or in each one of the saints, or in a prophet. He is heard in Moses, he is heard in an apostle; and more truly I say, he has spoken in his Son. What, then, has God spoken? These things that follow. "I will be exalted, and I will divide Shechem." For this reason, he says, I am crucified, that I may divide Shechem. "Shechem" is interpreted in our language as "shoulders." And "shoulders" are interpreted as "works." The sense, then, is this: for this reason I am crucified, that I may divide my works among my saints; for this reason I am crucified, that I may lay my sweet yoke and my light burden upon the necks of men. You have done, O Lord, what you promised: you have been exalted, and you have divided Shechem. "And I will measure out the valley of tabernacles." Truly our Lord and Savior entered down into this valley of tears, into the place of our lowliness, that is, into this world. However holy a man may be in this world, he does not yet know as he ought to know. "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part."

8 "Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine." Our Lord and Savior rejoices, possessing greater riches. "Gilead" is interpreted "migration": he rejoices, therefore, when the people migrated from among the Gentiles and came to him. "Manasseh" is interpreted "from forgetfulness." See, then, what he says. That son who received the substance and consumed it, and had forgotten me, now has remembered me; and he is called Manasseh, that is, "from forgetfulness," because he has not forgotten, but has returned to his father. And "Ephraim" is interpreted "fruitful." "Ephraim," he says, "is the receiving of my head." He has here put "receiving" for "crown": for that which is placed upon the head is a crown, and in the Scriptures the crown is called by various names. In another place it has: "His truth will surround you with a shield." And in another psalm: "Who crowns you in mercy and compassions." For just as there he put "shield" for "crown," so too here he has put "receiving" for "crown." See, then, what he says. You have become Gilead, you have become Manasseh, that is, you have migrated to the Lord, and after forgetfulness you have returned to your father: be Ephraim, be fruitful, have good works, and afterward you will be the crown of the Lord.

9 "Judah is my king. See in how great glory he is who does penance: for "Judah" is interpreted "confession. "Moab is the pot of my hope. A great mystery is recognized in few words. I beg you, pay careful attention: since it profits both me who speak, and you who hear. "Moab" is interpreted "from the father. "AB" means "father," "MO" means "from. Who is this one "from the father"? He who lost his father, who abandoned his father, who did not return to his own father, and is not worthy to be called Manasseh. Who is this Moab? An enemy of the Lord, of whose lineage, even to the fourth generation, and the tenth, and even forever, he shall not enter into the church of the Lord. Who is this Moab? He who is born of an unclean coupling in a dark cave. For from Lot and from his daughters two were born, Moab and Ammon, and Moab is the elder son. See, then, how a mystery is hidden in the letter. In darkness, in a cave: not in the sun, not in the light. "Moab," then, is interpreted "the devil," who has forgotten his father. In fine, Absalom too, who persecuted his own father, is interpreted "the devil. How, then, is this Moab "the pot of the Lord's hope"? "Pot" (lebes) is interpreted "cooking-pot" (olla). How is a cooking-pot the hope of the Lord? Is it, then, credible that Moab, who is interpreted "the devil," should be the pot of the Lord's hope?

10 How is he the hope of the Lord? The Apostle says: "Whom I have handed over to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. The devil is, as it were, the Lord's torturer-examiner. Those who do not walk rightly toward God are handed over to the devil. Why? That they may perish forever? And where then is the clemency of God? where is the merciful father? where is he who makes his sun rise over the just and sinners, and rains upon sinners and the just? What he says is this: I hand over, he says, sinners to the devil, that, being tormented by him, they may be converted to me. It is said also in Jeremiah: "What do you see, Jeremiah? "A boiling pot," he says. See, then, that into this pot flesh is cast. This is written in Ezekiel. "And I cast," he says, "flesh into the pot": that it may become soft, and the hard may be converted to the Lord, and from a heart of stone may become a heart of flesh, so that where before it could not be written upon because of hardness, afterward it may be written upon because of softness. "I will kindle," he says, "this pot, and I will boil down the flesh and the bones, until they lose all moisture and filth. And see what is said afterward. "And let them learn," he says, "that I am the Lord. Great mercy, great sacrament.

11 The flesh is cast into the pot, that it may be boiled down and may learn that he is the Lord. There are many things that might be said about Moab and the pot, but for now it would be too long. 12 "Into Idumea I will stretch out my shoe." "Idumea" is interpreted "earthly and bloody." The merciful God wills to possess not only heavenly things, but also earthly ones. "The foreigners have been made friends to me." He speaks of us, who have believed from among the Gentiles. "Who will lead me into the fortified city?" No one, O Lord, for you are the one who says: "I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the nations there was no man with me." "For all have turned aside, together they have become useless: there is none that does good, there is not even one." Who, then, will lead me into the fortified city? No one, O Lord: since even Peter, who had promised to die for you, afterward denied you. What is this fortified city? Hell, where they are shut in, from which it is not permitted to go out. And truly from this city no other victor came out except the Lord. And truly this city is fortified. Moses could not come out of this city. And Jacob likewise entered into this city, and did not return. Do you wish to know that he did not return? In fine, he says to his sons: "Mourning I will descend to the netherworld." But he descended to the netherworld, because paradise had not yet been opened by the thief. This city is fortified against going out, but it is open for entering in. "Who will lead me even into Idumea?" Where is the place of punishments and of blood. For "Idumea" is interpreted "bloody." The place of the slaying of souls, where many souls are slain. For no one descended a victor into hell, except you alone, O Lord.

13 "You who have cast us off." Was it not you, O God, who have cast us off? He did not say, "Who cast us off," but "Who once cast us off." "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" These things are to be read interrogatively: "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" You who suffered for us, why do you not help us, but allow us to be trampled by the most cruel devil? "And will you not go out, O God, in our powers?" See what he says. He did not say, "you did not go out," but "will you not go out, O God, in our powers." This he means to say: When we labor, then God helps us. "For it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy." See what he says: Is it not of him who lies idle, nor of him who sleeps, but of God who has mercy? But see what he says: It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy. If, then, we do not will and run, God will profit us nothing. It is ours to will and to run, and afterward God has mercy. For a sleeping athlete loses the victory.

14 "Give us help from tribulation." He did not say, "Give us help from delights," but "from tribulation." "To the Lord, when I was in tribulation, I cried out, and he heard me." He did not say, "when I was in delights I cried out," or "sleeping I cried out." Do you wish to be heard by the Lord? Be in tribulation: cry out, and you will be heard. If, then, anyone is not in tribulation, he cannot call upon the help of the Lord. "For vain is the salvation of man." "Cursed is the man who has his hope in man." There is no need to interpret this: this saying is plain to all. Someone hoped in an emperor, hoped in a prince, in a father, or a mother: in the course of some affair the spirit of the one in whom he hoped was suddenly taken away, and his salvation vanished. He did not say, "vain is the salvation of that man in whom he hopes," but "the salvation of him who hopes in man."

15 "In God we will do valiantly." Let us have hope in nothing except in God alone. Let us not say: If this should happen to me, or that, whence shall I have the means to live? I answer you: what is greater, if persecution should come, whence do you have the means to live? For a Christian there is always persecution, always nakedness is set before him. No one, then, ought to make arrangements about this life, let no one fear, let no one say: If I grow old, whence shall I have the means to live? if I become sick, whence do I live? You have Christ, and do you fear? If he feeds the birds of the sky, do you doubt that he can feed you? The devil feeds his own men, and shall Christ not feed his own servants? The devil makes the judges of this world and the rich, and can Christ not make it so that you do not beg? The devil gives gold and gems, and can Christ not give bread? Let us cast all anxiety out of our hearts, and let us say: "In God we will do valiantly." He himself will be our valor, he himself our bread, he himself will be our ruler. "And he himself will bring our enemies to nothing." He himself crowns us, he himself fights alongside us: or rather, he himself conquers in us. For what do we say? "In God we will do valiantly." For when we are strong, he himself will bring our enemies to nothing. He did not say "he will fight," or "he will slay," but "he will bring to nothing." He will bring them to nothing for this reason, that, if he should wish, he may make them strong, and glorify them. Let us, therefore, bless God: to whom be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Homily 35, on Psalm 108

1 Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos, Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin). To the end, a psalm of David. When it says "to the end," let us understand that it is spoken not of the present, but of the future. And if it is spoken of the future, then the prophecy is about Christ. 2 O God, do not keep silent about my praise. That is: Judas betrayed me, the Jews persecuted me and crucified me, and they thought that they would destroy me utterly, to the end. But you, O God, do not keep silent about my praise. All the churches, day by day, praise the Lord, and the prayer of the Lord has been fulfilled, when he said: O God, do not keep silent about my praise. See of what dignity the priests are. The priests speak: and in the priests God does not keep silent about the praise of his Son. For the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful man has been opened against me. Let us see how the mouth of Judas the betrayer was opened against the Lord. He comes to the Lord in order to betray him, and he says: Rabbi — that is, master. Behold, the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful man. I in my clemency wish to save him, and I offer him a kiss, and I wish to overcome his malice; yet he persists in doing evil, so as to betray me. In a particular sense it is understood of Judas; but in a general sense of the Jews. In that time in which they were saying, "Crucify, crucify such a man," the mouth of the sinner was opened against the Lord. And that you may see that he speaks of all the Jews, you will recognize it from what follows. For what does he say?

3 They have spoken against me with a deceitful tongue. I was being crucified for them, and they were mocking me. My wounds were their medicine, and I seemed to them a thing of derision. And they have surrounded me with words of hatred. Not that they might believe, but that they might war against me. And they have warred against me without cause. "Without cause" is understood in two ways. That is, without reason: for I had not sinned, and I did not deserve that they should make war upon me. And what worthy cause was there that they should war against me? Because I had healed their sick? because I had raised their dead? because I had done other signs? See therefore that they warred against him without cause. And it is understood in another way as well: They wished to extinguish and blot out my name, and yet they were not able. When someone persecutes another, and gains nothing, and does not fulfill his desire, he persecutes without cause.

4 Instead of loving me, they disparaged me: but I kept praying. In return for the benefits which I had conferred upon them, they were doing me insults. But what was I doing? I kept praying. These are the weapons of the Lord: and these are our weapons too, prayer. So then, whenever anyone persecutes us, and hates us, let us say: Instead of loving me, they disparaged me. But what was I doing? I kept praying. That I might overcome them? Far from it: for whom did the Lord pray that he might overcome? But what did he say — but I kept praying? What was I saying? "Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do." And they set against me evils in return for goods. And set upon the cross, I kept praying for those who were crucifying me, while they were saying: "Aha, you who destroy the temple, and in three days build it up. Let him save himself. Let the Father who loves you come now and set you free." I rose again from the dead for their sakes, and they say: "His disciples came by night, and stole him away." And hatred in return for my love. Consider, O Christian, consider, O monk: if the Lord received his persecutor and betrayer with a kiss, and prays for those who were crucifying him, what ought we to do for our brothers?

5 Set a sinner over him. Since I prayed for them upon the cross, and they saw my wounds — I gave them room for repentance and they do not repent, and they refuse to have me as king — let them have the devil as king. They will not have Jesus as king: let them have Barabbas as king, Barabbas, which is interpreted "son of the father," that is, of the devil. This Barabbas, who was he? A seditious man and a robber. And truly they have Barabbas as king even to the present day, a seditious man and a robber, who slays the Jews themselves. Barabbas the robber, who delights in blood, before the Lord was crucified, before the Jews crucified him, was shut up in prison. They denied the Lord, and Barabbas was released. For from that time Barabbas began to have power over them; and that demon, who had been cast out of the man, and out of that generation, and was walking about in the desert, and could find no place, brought with him seven other demons worse than himself, and entered into the synagogue, and the last state of that man became worse than the first. In short, the synagogue of the Jews, before it crucified the Lord, was indeed a sinner, but it had only one demon. It crucified the Lord, and eight demons entered into it at once. So then was fulfilled what he said: Set a sinner over him.

6 And let the devil stand at his right hand. Because he stood at their right hand, therefore the synagogue had a withered right hand, as it is written in the Gospel. But let us pray that the Lord may stand at our right hand, and the devil at our left. It is written in Zechariah: "And he showed me Jesus the great priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan stood at his right hand, to fight with him." If, then, the devil stands at the right hand of the Lord, how does he now say of Judas, And let the devil stand at his right hand? But see what he says. The devil stood at the right hand of Jesus to oppose him: that is, he wished to be an adversary to his right hand. But here he does not say that he wishes to fight, but that he had already conquered Judas. There the devil desires to fight against the right hand; but here he has gained mastery over the right hand of Judas. But this too must be considered. At that time he stood at the Lord's right hand to oppose him, when Jesus had filthy garments. For so it is written there as well: "And Jesus had filthy garments." As long as the Lord Jesus has filthy garments, so long does the devil stand at his right hand: as long as he bears our sins, in our sins the devil opposes him. But when it is said in Zechariah, "Take away his filthy garments and clothe him with the changes of raiment," immediately Jesus says to the devil, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan, may he rebuke you who has chosen Jerusalem." All this we have said for this reason, because it is written, And let the devil stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him come forth condemned. Let him come not into judgment, but into condemnation. For where there is judgment, there is doubt: but where there is condemnation, the sentence is already plain. And let his prayer be turned into sin. The repentance of Judas was made a worse sin. How was the repentance of Judas made a worse sin? He went and perished by hanging; and he who became the betrayer of the Lord, this same man came to be his own slayer. In view of the clemency of the Lord I say this, that by this he offended the Lord more, because he hanged himself, than because he betrayed the Lord. His prayer ought to have turned into repentance, and it was turned into sin. You see a heretic praying, you see a Jew, you see a Manichaean: though they fast, though they pray, yet their prayer is turned into sin.

8 Let his days be few. His days were made few, but his nights increased: for he was cut off in the middle of his days. The sun withdrew from him, and behold, darkness was multiplied for him. And let another receive his episcopate. This too is interpreted more plainly in the Acts of the Apostles. But it was not only spoken of Judas in that time, it is spoken even to this day. If Judas lost his apostleship, let priests and bishops guard themselves, lest they too lose their own priesthood. If an apostle fell, a monk can fall more easily. The power does not perish, though the man falls and perishes. Nevertheless the Lord gives out his denarii at interest: if that man does not double them, his money is taken away and given to him who has. The Lord's money cannot be idle. 9 Let his children become orphans, and his wife a widow. See that the things which are spoken are mysteries. Whom do you suppose to be the children of Judas? The Jews. And they are called Jews, not from that holy Judah, but from this betrayer. From that holy one, we are the spiritual Jews; but from this betrayer, those are the carnal Jews. In short, there are two apostles who are called by the name of Judas. There is the eleventh apostle, who is called Judas of James. And there is the twelfth and the last, who is called Judas Iscariot. From that Judas of James, then, we are called Jews; but from this Iscariot, those are called Jews. That Judas our father is called "of James," that is, Judah the son of the supplanter: for we have supplanted the people of the Jews, and have received their birthright. But those are called "Iscariot," which is uncertain whether it signifies his father or his village. But however you interpret it, it is interpreted "wages" and "price. Therefore this Judas, who was going to betray the Lord and to receive a price, received his name from the price. Though he returned the price to the priests of the Jews, yet they condemn him, since they refuse to receive the price of blood. See the disagreement of the Pharisees and the misfortune of Judas. If you bought the blood of Jesus rightly, why did you not take back your money?

10 But if you refuse to take it because it is the price of blood, you show that you yourselves have shed the blood unjustly and wickedly. But see what they do. That very money, he says, they do not put into the corban, but they buy a field with it, and they call it Aceldama, which is interpreted "the price of blood. Why do they buy it? For the burial of strangers. Blessed are we, for whom a field is bought from the price of the Lord's blood. 11 And his wife a widow. The synagogue, who first was made the wife of God, of whom he said, "And I gave her a writing of divorce, and again I took her back, and I said to her, Turn to me": that synagogue, then, received her divorce from the Savior, and was made the wife of Judas the betrayer. In short, what did she do? She received no dowry, but gave a dowry to her husband. And again that most wretched Judas, who betrayed the Lord, will not receive an evil dowry; but he returns to the harlot, his wife, the evil dowry which he received from her. And what does he say? You displeased your former husband, he repudiated you and cast you out, and gave you a writing of divorce: I refuse to have you as wife. You gave me a price, and you deceived me: and you who killed your Lord, you have killed me too. For I cannot find in Scripture that Judas had either a wife or children.

12 Let his children be carried away wandering, and let them beg. Consider carefully: for indeed the things that follow are difficult. From that time in which the Lord was crucified, from then on the Jews are ever moved about, they do not stand in their own place. In short, it is said of Cain also: "And Cain, he says, went out from the face of God, and dwelt in the land of Nod." Now Nod is interpreted "commotion." Because Cain had gone out from the face of God, rightly he did not stand still, but dwelt in the land of Nod, that is, in commotion. So then these too, since they crucified their God and Lord, are carried away wandering. For they are not in their own places, but are scattered throughout the whole world. Here he speaks of a begging for spiritual riches. For they do not have prophets, they do not have the law, they do not have priesthood, they do not have sacrifice, but they have truly been made beggars.

13 Let the moneylender search out all his substance. You gave him money, O Lord, you gave to him as also to the others. But what did he do? He did not bind it up in a napkin, nor bury it in the earth, nor was he negligent: but when he had the Lord's talent and money, he took a price from the enemies of the Lord, and sold his own Lord. Therefore I say to you, O Lord, exact from him the interest of your money. And let strangers plunder his labors. The Lord manifestly proved to be a moneylender, and what happened? Let strangers plunder his labors. Whether we understand it generally of all the Jews, because they were laid waste by the Romans: or truly in a particular sense, that Judas was plundered by the demons, and the people itself. Let there be no helper for him, nor let there be any who will pity his orphans. In that time the people of the Jews had no helper. Answer me, O Jews. You were in Babylon: there you had prophets, Daniel, Ezekiel: and indeed you were idolaters. For seventy years you were in captivity, and afterward you came back into your own land. Behold, now it is four hundred years: why has no prophet been sent to you? In that time you worshiped idols, and God had pity on you. But now you do not worship idols: why has the Lord forsaken you? Behold, it is four hundred years. But then you forsook the Lord, and worshiped idols: whereas now you have crucified and slain the Lord. And therefore there will be no helper for them.

14 In one generation let his name be blotted out. O prophecy, O mystery of prophecy! In one generation let his name be blotted out. After the passion of the Lord, forty-two years passed, and that people was blotted out. Indeed the full age comes in the fortieth year. So then, after the passion of the Lord, in the forty-second year Jerusalem was blotted out. See therefore that in one generation his name was blotted out. But in this too is the clemency of the Lord. They crucified him, and he gave them forty-two years for repentance. I say it plainly: he slew them after forty-two years for this reason, because of those who crucified the Lord, none of them remained. Judas is cursed, so that in Judas the Jews may be cursed. Let the iniquity of his fathers come into remembrance in the sight of the Lord. They sinned in the desert, he forgave them: now he reckons against them what they sinned then, since they have crucified the Lord. Or let us interpret it otherwise. He reckons against them the cruelty of their murders, and forgives them nothing. And let the sin of his mother not be blotted out. Who is the mother of Judas? Jerusalem, who rejoices in blood, who slew the prophets and her own Lord himself.

15 Because he did not remember to show mercy. See how great the clemency of the Lord is. He sees him coming with the officers, he sees him coming with clubs, and he offers him a kiss. That man comes to betray, and the Lord gives a kiss; so that he who did not fear his master might at least be overcome by clemency. And he persecuted a man needy and a beggar. "Who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor." The Lord calls himself needy and a beggar: and who glories in his riches? You have consolation, O poor: for the Lord is poor with you. And to put to death one pricked at heart. What is it that he said, "one pricked at heart, to put to death"? What he also said in the Gospel: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." And again when he said: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." Otherwise: this grieved me, and I was made sorrowful for those persecuting me, because they refused to repent. I was hanging on the cross, and washing away their filth with my blood: and they themselves refused to repent. These were my tears, this my compunction, that those who persecuted me I could not save.

16 Deliver me, for I am needy and poor. The Lord calls himself poor, that he might console the poor. With men he was made poor, that no one of the poor might despair of salvation. And my heart is troubled within me. See what he says: And my heart is troubled within me. This is the same thing which he says elsewhere: "I was troubled, and did not speak." That I am troubled, belongs to a man: but to overcome the trouble and the anger, this belongs to great virtue. Therefore the apostle also says: "Be angry, and do not sin." Are you angry? You are a man. Does the anger not remain in you? You are a Christian. I am shaken off like locusts. I indeed had come to protect my people, and I said: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often did I wish to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings." I had come like a hen to protect them: but they received me with a most hostile mind. I had come as a mother: and they slew me as if I were their murderer. I am shaken off. What is this? They persecuted me, they cast me out. They persecuted me from Nazareth, I came to Capernaum: they persecuted me from Capernaum, I came to Bethsaida, and from there they persecuted me. I came to Jerusalem, I was unwilling to withdraw from my people; and from there they persecuted me, and so they treated me like locusts. And what did I do? Was I angry, did I defend myself, did I curse them, and abandon them? Not one of these things did I do. But what did I do? I prayed for them.

17 My knees are weakened from fasting. Take consolation, O monk, in fasting: since the Lord too did this. I say that when a monk fasts, he becomes stronger through fasting; and when his knees are weakened by fasting, then he is most of all strengthened. And my flesh is changed on account of oil. I seem to be saying a difficult thing, and I interpret it according to the letter, that I may edify my hearers: for even the letter edifies me. It is good to fast, it is good to flee from delicacies. Before I come to the spiritual understanding, I linger in the letter. He who says that he does not eat oil, is far from the rest of the delicacies. All this I have said, because he said, And my flesh is changed on account of oil. This I have interpreted otherwise. But what he says is this. Oil is an image of brightness; oil is, as it were, the food of light. So then the Jews too received oil from me, they received life, they received light. Let no one suppose that he says "oil" for mercy: in the Hebrew it signifies intelligible oil. It is changed not into joy, but into sadness; not that I might be found more beautiful, but that I might appear more disfigured. Therefore he says: "We saw him, and he had no beauty." Why? because his flesh was changed on account of oil. He had not the delights of the body, but of the spirit. And we too, then, when we fast, when our faces are pale, when we appear disfigured, let us recognize that we then appear more beautiful to Christ. Such soldiers Christ loves, who give themselves to fasting. Our provision and our food is fasting. Why? because in fasting is victory, and in victory is triumph. In short, the apostle too glories not in fullness, but in weakness. "For when I am weak, then I am stronger."

18 And I have become a reproach to them. For they called me a Samaritan, and said: "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he casts out demons." "Is not this the son of Joseph the carpenter? are not his brothers and sisters all with us?" And again: "You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days." And again: "Let us see whether Elijah comes to save him." He was calling out "Eli, Eli," which is "My God, my God"; and they thought it was Elijah. See the untutored Jews. Did the Son of God ask for the help of Elijah? They saw me, and they shook their heads. Why did they shake their heads? because they had already moved their feet as well. 19 Save me according to your mercy. He says also in the Gospel: "I have power to lay down my soul and to take it up again." And again: "No one takes it from me." And how does he ask for mercy? He himself asks for mercy, and he himself bestows it; he himself as man asks, and as God bestows. And let them know that this is your hand, and you, O Lord, have made it. What is it that he says, And let them know that this is your hand, and you, O Lord, have made it? Let the Jews understand that they did not prevail against me by their own strength: but my will and your will was done, that I should suffer. And I willed to suffer; therefore I say, according to what I am as man: "My God, I willed to do your will." And your will was also mine, that I should suffer. It was not, then, their treacheries and strength that brought it about: but I and you willed that I should suffer. For you struck your shepherd, and the sheep were scattered. This is written in Zechariah: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered." That I should suffer, was my will and yours. What you willed, I too willed. The scandal had to come, but woe to him through whom it comes.

20 They will curse, and you will bless. To this day this happens: they curse in the synagogue, and the Lord blesses in the church. Those who rise up against me, let them be confounded: but your servant will rejoice. They rise up against me: but I, your servant, will rejoice. But why "your servant"? because "He who, though he was in the form of God, did not count it robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant." 21 Let those who disparage me be clothed with shame. It profits us greatly to understand what we say. The clemency of God appears in this, in his saying "let them be clothed. He does not say, let them perish; he does not say, let them be blotted out forever: but what does he say? let them be confounded, that is, let them understand their error, and be confounded, and stand in repentance. He who is clothed with shame is near to salvation: for if anyone is truly confounded, he begins to repent. Consider, O monks, if you ever have anything against your brother, you ought always to pray to God for him. The Lord is crucified, and he prays for those crucifying him. But you, if you hear an evil word, do not hold on to anger. "Let not the sun set upon your wrath. And let them be covered with their confusion as with a double cloak (diplois). The diplois is a kind of cloak: indeed, in the Hebrew it is called ME'IL. It is called diplois for this reason, because the cloak is double. Therefore I say to you, O Lord: my enemies are the Jews, they have persecuted me, they have crucified me, they have done me every evil, they have blasphemed me: be gracious to them, since I, who have suffered, pray for them. And what do I ask? Let them blush and be confounded, and so be saved. They are naked, they have lost my tunic.

22 Give them confusion, give them disgrace, and let them have a double cloak: that is, let them not have a single confusion, but a double one, that they may repent the more. He does not speak against the Jews, but he speaks for them. For he is the Creator both of them and of us: he has not rooted them out altogether. Do you wish to know? Peter was of them, Paul was of them, and all the apostles were of them. We have been grafted into their root; we are the branches, they the root. We ought not to curse the roots, but we ought to pray for our roots. We who have been grafted into the root, let us beseech the Lord, that just as the branches are saved, so also the root may be saved. Perhaps someone may say: You pray for the Jews, for blasphemers? I pray to the Lord for them: for if he himself has pity on his persecutors, how much more will he have pity on me?

23 I will confess to the Lord exceedingly with my mouth. This is said after the resurrection, and it is sung of the future church. And in the midst of many I will praise him. For not in Judea alone, but in the whole world, in the church I will praise you. Because he stood at the right hand of the poor man. The devil stood at the right hand of Judas: but for me the Lord stood at my right hand. That he might save my soul from those who persecute it. My soul, he says, he will save. And elsewhere he says: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." He who is sorrowful, had a faculty of feeling. For a soul without feeling has no perception, a soul without feeling has neither perception nor pain: for where there is pain and sadness, there is feeling. If then he had sadness, if he had pain, then he had also feeling: for feeling is pain.

24 If, then, they should wish to say to us: We do not say that he had feeling, for this reason, lest he seem to have sin; let us answer them: Did he have a body like us, or did he not have one? If they say, he had one, let us answer them: Then he had also the sufferings of our body. Everyone understands what I say. But if they deny that he had the passions or lusts of the body, then we say to them, that he did not have a body either. And let us say to them: Just as he had a true body like ours, and yet did not have the sin of the body; so also he had a true soul, and did not have the sin of the soul. Let us therefore confess that he had a true body and a true soul. For if the Lord did not take upon himself all the things that are man's, he did not save man. But if he took a body, and did not take a soul: then he saved the body, but he did not save the soul. Yet we wish rather that our soul be saved than our body. The Lord therefore took upon himself both body and soul, that he might save both, that he might save the whole man, just as he also created him.

25 If, then, they say that the Lord did not take on feeling for this reason, that he might not sin, and they suppose this, that whoever has had human feeling cannot conquer it, let them tell us: Did John the Baptist have feeling, or did he not? In that time, in which he was in the desert, did he sin? Assuredly they say that he did not sin. Indeed, our Lord too says: "Amen I say to you, there has not been among those born of women a greater than John the Baptist. Did Peter have feeling, or did he not, and the rest of the holy apostles? If, then, the apostles conquered human feeling, did the Lord fear to take on feeling, lest he be conquered by it? And while they wish to glorify the Lord, they disparage him. How do they disparage him? by making the Lord seem to fear what the apostles did not fear. Let us therefore give thanks to almighty God, and say: In your feeling you had no sin. And: "The prince of this world came, and found nothing in you. So then grant to us, that just as in your own feeling you conquered the devil, so also in our feeling conquer the devil; that, just as you created us perfect, so also perfect you may save us. For you are the Creator, you are the master, you are the Lord, you are also the one who suffered for us: who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.

Homily 36, on Psalm 109

1 Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos, Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin). 2 The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand. A Psalm of David. It is David who speaks, a prophet, a holy man, a king. So what does the king say? What does the king and prophet say? The Lord said to my Lord. The Savior expounded this passage in the Gospel, saying: "If Christ is the son of David," he says, "how does David in the Spirit call him Lord? You see, then, what he is saying. If he is David's son, how do you say it — how does David in the Spirit call him Lord? Someone may say: So then he is not the son of David? He was saying this about the Pharisees, who confessed Christ to be merely the son of David. To the Jew and to Photinus I say this very thing: If he is the son of David, how does David call his own son Lord? But the one who confesses him to be Lord and God, and the Son of God — for instance the Manichaean, who denies that he is the son of David — before that man I prove that he is the son of David. To us, then, the one who is the Son of God, he himself is also the son of David: not one son here and another son there; I do not make two persons out of God and man; but the very one who is the Son of God, he himself is also the son of David. The Lord said to my Lord:

3 Sit at my right hand. In the Hebrew the first name of "Lord" is written with those letters with which it is written only of God. But the second name of "Lord" is written with those letters with which men are accustomed to call one "lord": just as one is called "lord" by a servant, and kings are called "lords. See, then, what he says. The Lord said to my Lord: to this Lord, who is commanded to sit. God does not sit; it is the assumption of a body that sits. To this one, then, it is commanded that he sit — the one who is man, who was assumed. This we say against the Arians, and against those who say: Greater is the Father, who bids him sit, than the one who is bidden. All the Gospels ring out concerning the person of the man, and now no proof is needed: because everything whatsoever that seems lowly is referred to the man, is referred to the flesh. Now let us speak about the psalm.

4 The Lord shall send forth the rod of your power out of Sion. "The rod." In the Hebrew it has not so much "rod" as "scepter," that is, the emblem of royal power. The Lord shall send forth the rod of your power out of Sion. "For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem." Rule in the midst of your enemies. He did not say, Kill your enemies. But what? Rule in the midst of your enemies. Make your enemies, who had been strangers, begin to be yours. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your enemies, of whom it is written in the sixty-seventh psalm: "The tongue of your dogs from the enemies, from him." These are the enemies, who were in another's power. Now, then, the psalmist prays for this: rule over your enemies, deign to be the Lord of your enemies.

5 With you is the beginning in the day of your power, in the splendors of the saints. The little verse is obscure. Let us see the day of the Lord's power, so that when we have known the day, then we may know what the "beginning" is, and how this beginning is with him and has been with him; how this very beginning is in the day of his power, in the splendors of the saints. This beginning, then, which is with the Lord in the day of his power, is with the Lord for this reason: that the saints may shine. With you is the beginning in the day of your power. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. The Father is a beginning, but the Son too is a beginning. For a beginning does not have a beginning: for if it should have another beginning, then it itself ceases to be a beginning. Whatever, therefore, we grant to the Father, this we grant also to the Son. For if the Father is in the Son, and the Son in the Father, and all things of the Father are the Son's, and all things of the Son are the Father's, then the beginning of the Father is the beginning of the Son. Therefore what he says is this:

6 At that time when you were suffering and were saying "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit," and you were speaking as it were out of the affection of a man, you were not making request as though weak. For with you was the beginning, with you was the divinity: but you besought help for this reason, that having received help you might give it to your saints, and they might shine. As for this that is said, "having received you might give" — let it be a stumbling-block to no one: he speaks according to the man. For if he assumed the body of a man, it is necessary that he also take on the words of a man. Christ is man, and truly man: we say this according to the assumption of flesh. If, then, he is man according to the body, you see the body, and you are not scandalized: and do you marvel if he speaks with the words of a man? But if the lowliness of the body scandalizes you, and the cross, and the injuries, and the blows, and the scourges, and every outrage of the cross — if this scandalizes you, return to the beginning, and you are not scandalized. For the Father says to the Son: From the womb before the morning star I begot you.

7 Do you marvel if our Lord and Savior, who truly assumed a man, speaks according to the man, when God the Father himself, who did not assume a man, speaks as it were as a man, "From the womb before the morning star I begot you"? I have no womb: but I cannot otherwise show myself to be a Father, unless I have spoken with the words of a man. From the womb before the morning star I begot you. "From the womb," from my substance. "From the womb. Hear, Eunomius, hear, Arius: if the Lord is a creature, if he is a thing made, does a craftsman ever beget his work? does a craftsman ever call his work a son? A carpenter-craftsman made a bench: did he beget it from his womb? does he say to it, "From my womb I begot you, O bench"? By no means does he say this. But what does he say? "I made you with my hand. But when a "womb" is spoken of, a son is signified, and a son not adopted. For adopted ones too are called sons. "For as many as received him, he gave them power to become sons of God. There he gave power: but here he begot from the womb, from his own nature, from his own inward parts, from his own substance. "From the womb," that is, from the marrow of his divinity. The whole of whatever the Father is in divinity, he gave to the Son whom he begot.

8 From the womb before the morning star I begot you. "Before the morning star. This figure is called in Greek synecdoche (συνεκδοχή), which the grammarians call "the whole from a part" (ἀπὸ μέρους τὸ πᾶν). So when it says "before the morning star," it names one creature, and it indicates all creatures. When it says "before the morning star," let us understand it thus, as though it had said, before the moon, before the sun, before every creature. From the womb before the morning star I begot you. "Before the morning star. Before that morning star which is seen in the world, the true light was begotten. Hence he says in another passage of the psalm: "In your light we shall see light. The speech is to the Father: O Father, in the light of the Son we shall see the light, the Holy Spirit. From the womb before the morning star I begot you.

9 The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent. "The Lord has sworn." In what he says, "he has sworn," it is not to the one who was begotten before the morning star, but he swore to the one who after the morning star was born of the Virgin. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedech. It is superfluous for us to wish to interpret this little verse, since the holy Apostle argued about it most fully to the Hebrews. For this Melchizedech himself is without father, without mother, without lineage. And there he interprets most diligently why "without father, without mother, without lineage"; and it has been said by all churchmen that he is called "without father" according to the flesh, and "without mother" according to God. Let us therefore interpret only this: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedech. Let us say only this, why he said "according to the order." "According to the order": by no means will you be a priest according to the Jewish victims, but you will be a priest according to the order of Melchizedech. For just as Melchizedech, king of Salem, offered bread and wine, so you too will offer your body and blood, the true bread and the true wine. This Melchizedech gave to us these mysteries which we have. He it is who said, "Whoever shall eat my flesh and drink my blood": according to the order of Melchizedech he handed down to us his sacrament.

10 The Lord at your right hand. I see a new thing. It is said at the beginning: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand; and now it is said to him: The Lord at your right hand. If he himself sits at the right hand of the Father, how in turn does the Father sit at the right hand of the Son? For when it is said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, it is said most plainly that the Son sits at the right hand of the Father. But when it is said, The Lord at your right hand, this is said, that the Father sits at the right hand of the Son. All this is said for this reason, that the Son may be equal to the Father. There are many things that might be said. But to sinners the devil stands at the right hand. Yet that discussion is another matter. Whoever is a sinner, the devil stands at his right hand. But someone says: How is it that in Zechariah it is said to stand also to Jesus the son of Josedech? "And the devil was standing at his right hand. How is it written in Zechariah that the devil stands at the right hand of the Savior? You see that there is a question here. But at that time when the devil was standing at the right hand of the Savior, "Jesus," it says, "had filthy garments.

11 He was bearing our sins, he was wrapped in our vices: therefore the devil was standing at his right hand. He shall shatter kings in the day of his wrath. "All these things have been handed over to me. "In a moment of time," it says, "he showed him all the kingdoms of the earth. The devil shows the kingdoms of the world. And what does he say? "All these things have been handed over to me: if, falling down, you will adore before me, all will be yours. In the day, then, of war, in the day of contest, he shall shatter kings. "Of his wrath." 12 He shall judge among the nations. See the differences: kings are shattered, nations are judged. He shall fill up the ruins. Our Lord ascended upon the cross, and many ruins came about. "This one is set for the ruin and resurrection of many, and for a sign that shall be contradicted." He shall fill up the ruins: of those who do not believe, who did not believe the scouts, the apostles. For Moses too sent scouts into the world; and because the people did not believe the scouts, therefore they fell in the desert. Even to this day the bodies of those who do not believe fall in the desert of this world. He shall crush the heads in the land of many. He shall fill up the ruins of those who do not believe; he shall crush the heads of those who are doubtful, of those who do not have perfect faith. He shall crush the heads in the land of many, not of all: for if he had said "of all," none of us would have hope. "Of many" is said, so that others may be left.

13 He shall drink from the torrent in the way. Who shall drink from the torrent in the way? This one, to whom it was said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand: this one who heard, You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedech: this one who shattered kings in the day of his wrath, who judges the nations, shall fill up the ruins, shall crush the heads in the land of many: what else will this one do? He shall drink from the torrent in the way. Let us first look at the way, so that afterward we may look at the torrent in the way. The way of this world is meant, through which he walked. Indeed it is written in the Gospel: "Be agreeing with your adversary, while you are in the way" — that is, while you walk in this world, and you go along the way to him who is the true Way. Hence it is said also in the one hundred and eighteenth psalm: "Blessed are the unspotted in the way. Blessed are those who in the way of this world are unspotted, and in this world. Therefore the priest according to the order of Melchizedech, since he came into the way of the world, and walked in our way, he too drank from the torrent that was in the world. A torrent does not have natural waters, it does not have waters that always flow:

14 but it has waters from storms, from rains, from whirlwinds, from tempests. A torrent is never in the mountains, but always in the valleys, in steep places. It takes in foreign waters, and gives birth to them, and swelling it rushes on. He shall drink from the torrent in the way. A torrent never has clean water, but always turbid water. This is said because the waters of this world are always turbid, always full of storm. Do you wish to know how he drank from the turbid torrent? He himself said: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death. And the Gospel says: "And he began," it says, "to be sorrowful and troubled. Our Lord too, then, drank from the torrent of this world the turbid waters, the sorrowful waters, the waters that have no gladness. He took the cup, and filled it from the torrent of the world; and because the waters were turbid, he says: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. He drank, then, from the torrent of this world: but he did not drink as though in his own home, but in the way, hastening to go elsewhere. He shall drink from the torrent in the way. For this reason he drank from the torrent, because he was in the way. He shall drink from the torrent. If the Lord drank from the torrent of this world, how much more the saints? Do you wish to know that the saints always drink from the torrent? He says also in another place:

15 "Our soul has passed through the torrent. He shall drink from the torrent in the way. We have spoken about the torrent; let us speak also about the testimony, "Our soul has passed through the torrent. Do you wish to know of yet another torrent? Elijah the holy prophet, when Jezebel was persecuting him, when he received food, and passing on for forty days went into the wilderness: "He was," it says, "in the desert, and drank from the torrent of Chobar. But hearing of the torrent of this world, do not despair: frequently this torrent fails. It seems indeed to be swelling, it seems to have many waters: but it quickly fails, if you endure. As for Elijah, he did indeed drink water in the desert, at that time when he was in sorrow, when he was in distress... He had left Judea: see how great his fear had been: he had left Judea, and had gone on to Mount Sinai. For Jezebel was persecuting him, and therefore he had drunk from the torrent of Chobar. But because he persevered to the end, therefore the water of the torrent failed. And it was said to him by the Lord, when the water of the torrent had failed: "Go," it says, "to the widow in Sarepta of the Sidonians," and the rest. Behold, Elijah too drank from the torrent. But the Lord and Savior himself also drank the cup from the torrent of Cedron. For thus the Scripture reports, when they came and seized him.

16 "They came," it says, "and seized him at the torrent," and the rest. You see how lowly is the place of the torrent, how rugged. "Cedron" in the Hebrew tongue is interpreted "darkness. You see, then, that the torrents of this world are in darkness. The Lord, therefore, is handed over: he is not handed over up above on the Mount of Olives, he is not handed over in the temple: but he is handed over at the torrent, and the torrent of darkness, that is, Cedron. For all who hate the light love the darkness. He shall drink from the torrent in the way. Because, therefore, the Lord drank from the torrent and tasted death, therefore the Father exalted him, and gave him a name which is above every name. Next it is now said, He shall drink from the torrent in the way; and because he drank from the torrent in the way, therefore he lifted up his head. And what does he say? "When I have been lifted up, I will draw all things to myself. He is lifted up, and he lifted us up. His head has been exalted: as for the rest, the heads of the dragon have been crushed, and shattered in the sea. Therefore he lifted up his head. He did not say, "Therefore his head has been exalted," that is, exalted by another: but the one who had humbled himself, he himself exalted. For he himself says in the Gospel:

17 "I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it up again. Therefore he lifted up his head. He exalted himself, who is the head of all. Or else, when it says "he lifted up his head," he did not exalt himself. Therefore he lifted up his head: for he was always on high. But when it says "he lifted up his head," he exalted our head, we who were lying down below on the earth; he exalted our head, we who, bent over, could not look up to heaven, but to the earth. Do you wish to know that he himself lifted up the head? That woman too, whom the devil had bound, he himself set free, and lifted up her head, she who was always bent over: and she adored him. To whom is glory unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Homily 37, on Psalm 110

1 Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos, Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin). Confess to you, O Lord, with my whole heart. If David were not simple and had no guile, he would not have said: I will confess to you, O Lord, with my whole heart. Not with the lips only, but with the whole heart. In the council of the upright, and in the great congregation, are the works of the Lord. He says "of the upright," meaning those who before were sinners, but now are righteous. For is it not a thing to marvel at, when we see that the elephant and the camel, and likewise the fly and the gnat, have the same power of movement, the same breath of life, and the same members? He has given food to those who fear him. In famine he fed Elijah; in the desert he rained down manna for the people of the Jews: and that was fulfilled which is said, He has given food to those who fear him. This is according to the letter. But he gave as food the bread that came down from heaven: and if we are worthy of it, we are fed upon it. For how many martyrs were consumed by hunger, and are now with the Lord?

2 Holy and terrible is his name. Holy to the holy, terrible to sinners. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Those who do not fear the Lord have no wisdom in them: or those who have no wisdom have no fear. His praise endures unto the age of the age. Since in the title "alleluia" was written beforehand, rightly does the psalm end in praise: for indeed "alleluia" is interpreted, Praise the Lord.