Fragments on the Psalms · §72

The Weight of Sin and the Call to Repentance

From on high the destruction of the wicked shall sweep away, being handed over to punishment (Ps 36:36). Having passed by, he says, in thought toward the coming life, the ungodly is not found, just as seeking his place and not finding it.

It has been said that the worthless ones are not found after these things, not by the vanishing of their essence, but by the quality according to which they are such; and regarding the not finding of their place in order, it has been demonstrated. If one were to say these things about Satan, since he is called the ruler of this world (and this world passes away), having searched, someone in the coming age will not find the place of this ruler.

And if even sin is a place of the devil according to 'Give no place to the devil' (Eph 4:27), the place of the ungodly was not found with the vanishing of evil. If you wish to understand according to the word the difference between iniquity and uprightness, if there is such a difference: if iniquity is the non-practice of the evil, uprightness is the state according to which we perform all things impassively; but if iniquity means the achievement of character, uprightness is the unbending contemplation of the dogmas of truth.

Either way, it commands to guard iniquity and to see uprightness as a remaining legacy for the coming life for the peaceful man, the hope that is not being shamed, of the ungodly being destroyed altogether at the same time according to the time of judgment. But the salvation of the righteous becomes by the Lord protecting them in the time of tribulation. To this is joined: 'But our salvation in the time of tribulation shall be' (Ps 34:19). And there shall be for them also the finding of help from the Lord and to be rescued from enemies, but also to be taken out of the hand of sinners, that is, the practice of evil powers; because they hoped in Him (Ps 37:38).

Therefore also this psalm is arranged in its own number of the things said in it. For it is the thirty-sixth. And this number is both triangular and square. Using the triangular, it is the side of the octagon, and the octagon is the resurrected day of the Savior. And the square has the number sixty as its side, for six times ten is sixty. And triangular according to this: for if from the unit six times eight is a number...

You will find no other number. A confessing person is introduced in this Psalm (Ps 37:2). For he says, 'If they have struck me, what kind of thing is it that I should be reproved by passion and instructed by anger, but having repented, I ask to be reproved by word and not by passion, and to be instructed by teaching and not by anger.'

The metaphor of the arrows and the beatings sometimes makes clear, as it is said in those things that lead forward (Ps 37:3a). He says therefore: 'Since I have committed sins, punishment follows: Your arrows have pierced me' (Ps 37:3a). 'My sins being laid bare' (Ps 37:4b); for it is a sign that they are present that their face is seen.

He says that iniquities have raised their head above his own (Ps 37:5-7a), so as to press and weigh down his ruling principle, which is called the head, and that these have also, in a way, burdened him like a weight; for since the nature of evil is inferior and most heavy, it is compared to a talent of lead, only the one repenting perceives the weight of it, supposing it to be lighter when it is acting with pleasure. But Jesus calls those who toil and are burdened toward himself through repentance, those having felt the heaviness of sin and having toiled from it. He says that the sores, having been taken from the burned arrows of the evil one, have become rotten and putrid from the face of having had sores; for evil does not consist with mere folly, as it acts with wisdom according to virtue.

And the following perhaps should not be read thus: 'Since, as an end, that is to say, through a lifetime, I was brought low, thinking of low things and looking toward the earth, the pitiful and miserable state followed me,' the 'I was brought low' stands from 'I was brought low' (Ps 37:7b). 'The arrows of my thoughts, of the evil spirits; from this I went about for a lifetime in darkness, all propitiation having been taken away (Ps 37:7b-8). And since the Scriptures say, 'My soul, and my hares were filled with mockeries' (Ps 37:8), it must be said that, since the seeds of the sheep and the hares are intended for upbringing, these things fall into mockeries if they are not accomplished for upbringing, but are accomplished in a profligate way.' Because of this

Greek

ἀφ' υ ψους τὸν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐπόψει ο λεθρον, παραδιδομένους κολάσει. 371 Ps 36,36 Παρελθών, φησίν, τῇ διανοίᾳ ἐπὶ τὸν μέλλοντα βίον οὐκ ε θ' ευ ρον τὸν ἀσεβῆ, ὡς ζητῆσαι τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ καὶ μὴ εὑρεῖν. ει ρηται δὲ μὴ εὑρίσκεσθαι τοὺς φαύλους μετὰ ταῦτα, οὐ τῆς οὐσίας αὐτῶν ἀφανιζομένης ἀλλὰ τῆς ποιότητος καθ' η ν εἰσιν τοιοῦτοι, καὶ περὶ τοῦ μὴ εὑρίσκεσθαι τὸν ἐν τάξει τόπον αὐτῶν προαποδέδεικται. εἰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ σατανᾶ ταῦτα λέγοιτο, ἐπεὶ α ρχων τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ει ρηται (παρέρχεται δὲ ου τος ὁ κόσμος), ζητήσας τις ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι τὸν τόπον τούτου τοῦ α ρχοντος οὐχ εὑρήσει. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἡ ἁμαρτία τόπος ἐστὶν τοῦ διαβόλου κατὰ τὸ Μὴ δίδοτε τόπον τῷ διαβόλῳ, τῆς κακίας ἀφανιζομένης οὐχ εὑρέθη ὁ τόπος τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς. εἰ δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὴν λέξιν βουληθείης νοῆσαι 372 Ps 36,37–40 Εἰ δὲ καὶ κατὰ τὴν λέξιν βουληθείης νοῆσαι, διαφορὰν ἀκακίας καὶ εὐθύτητος ει ποι α ν τις τοιαύτην· εἰ μὲν ἀκακίᾳ ῃ ἡ τῶν κακῶν ἀπραξία, εὐθύτης ει η ἡ ε ξις καθ' η ν ἀπαθῶς πάντα ἐνεργοῦμεν· εἰ δὲ ἀκακίαν λέγοι τὴν τοῦ η θους κατόρθωσιν, εὐθύτης ει η ἡ ἀκαμπὴς τῶν δογμάτων τῆς ἀληθείας θεωρία. ἑκατέρως προστάσσει φυλάσσειν ἀκακίαν καὶ ἰδεῖν εὐθύτητα τῷ ει ναι ἐγκατάλειμμα εἰς τὸν μέλλοντα βίον τῷ εἰρηνικῷ ἀνθρώπῳ τὴν οὐ καταισχύνουσαν ἐλπίδα, τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἐξολοθρευμένων ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ καὶ α μα κατὰ τὸν τῆς κρίσεως καιρόν. Σωτηρία δὲ τῶν δικαίων γίνεται παρὰ κυρίου ὑπερασπίζοντος αὐτῶν ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως. τούτῳ συνῳδὸν τὸ ̔Η σωτηρία ἡμῶν ἐν καιρῷ θλίψεως. ὑπάρξει δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ τὸ βοηθείας παρὰ τοῦ κυρίου τυχεῖν καὶ τὸ ῥυσθῆναι ἐκ πολεμίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἐξαιρεθῆναι ἐκ 78 χειρὸς ἁμαρτωλῶν τουτέστιν πράξεως η δυνάμεων πονηρῶν· διότι Ηλπισαν ἐπ' αὐτόν. ∆ιὸ καὶ ὁ ψαλμὸς ου τος ἐν οἰκείῳ ἀριθμῷ τῶν λεγομένων ἐν αὐτῷ τέτακται. ε στιν γὰρ τριακοστὸς ε κτος. ου τος δὲ ὁ ἀριθμὸς ὁμοῦ τρίγωνος καὶ τετράγωνός ἐστιν. χρώμενος μὲν ἡ τρίγωνός ἐστιν πλευρὰ τῇ ὀγδοάδι, ε στι δὲ ἡ ὀγδοὰς ἀναστάσιμος τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμέρα. ἡ δὲ τετράγωνος πλευρὰν ε χει τὸν ε ξ ο ντα ἀριθμὸν τέλειον· ἑξάκις γὰρ τριάκοντα ε ξ. τρίγωνος δὲ κατὰ τοῦτο· εἰ γὰρ ἀπὸ μονάδος ἑξῆς ε ως ὀγδοάδος ἀριθμήσεις, οὐκ α λλον τούτου εὑρήσεις ἀριθμόν. 373 Ps 37,2 ̓Εξομολογούμενον πρόσωπον εἰσάγεται ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ τούτῳ. εἰ γὰρ πέπρακταί μοι, φησίν, τι τοιοῦτον ἐφ' ῳ α ξιον ὑπὸ θυμοῦ ἐλεγχθῆναι καὶ ὑπὸ ὀργῆς παιδευθῆναι, ἀλλά γε μετανοήσας παρακαλῶ ὑπὸ λόγου καὶ μὴ ὑπὸ θυμοῦ ἐλεγχθῆναι καὶ ὑπὸ διδασκαλίας καὶ μὴ ὑπὸ ὀργῆς παιδευθῆναι. 374 Ps 37,3a ∆ηλοῖ δέ ποτε ἡ τῶν βελῶν προσηγορία καὶ τὰς κολάσεις, ὡς ἐν τοῖς προάγουσιν ει ρηται. φησὶ τοίνυν· ἐπεὶ ἁμαρτίας πεποίηκα αι ς ἀκολουθεῖ κόλασις, Τὰ βέλη σου η δη ἐνεπάγησάν μοι. 375 Ps 37,4b ̓Επιφαινομένων τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν μου· δεῖγμα γὰρ τοῦ ε τι αὐτὰς παρεῖναι τὸ ὁρᾶσθαι αὐτῶν τὸ πρόσωπον. 376 Ps 37,5–7a Τὰς μὲν ἀνομίας ὑπερηρκέναι τὴν κεφαλὴν ἑαυτοῦ φησιν, ω στε πιέσαι καὶ βαρύναι τὸ ἡγεμονικὸν αὐτοῦ τροπικῶς κεφαλὴν ὀνομαζόμενον, ταύτας δὲ καὶ τρόπον φορτίου βεβαρύνθαι ἐπ' αὐτόν· τῆς γὰρ κακίας φύσει κατωφεροῦς καὶ βαρυτάτης ου σης ὡς ταλάντῳ μολίβδου παραβάλλεσθαι, μόνος ὁ μετανοῶν αι σθησιν τοῦ βάρους αὐτῆς λαμβάνει, οἰομένου κουφοτάτην αὐτὴν ὑπάρχειν τοῦ σὺν ἡδονῇ ἐνεργοῦντος αὐτήν. ο θεν ̓Ιησοῦς τοὺς κοπιῶντας καὶ πεφορτισμένους διὰ μετανοίας η κειν πρὸς αὐτὸν καλεῖ αἰσθηθέντας τοῦ α χθους τῆς ἁμαρτίας καὶ κοπιάσαντας ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. τοὺς δὲ μώλωπας ου ς ε σχεν ἀπὸ τῶν πεπυρωμένων τοῦ πονηροῦ βελῶν εἰς σῆψιν καὶ δυσωδίαν τετράφθαι φησὶν ἀπὸ προσώπου η ς ε σχεν ἀφροσύνης· σὺν ἀφροσύνῃ γὰρ οὐχ ἡ τυχοῦσα συνίσταται κακία, ὡς αυ μετὰ φρονήσεως τὰ κατ' ἀρετὴν ἐνεργεῖται. Τὰ δ' ἑξῆς τάχα ου τως ἀναγνωστέον· ἐπεὶ ε ως τέλους, τουτέστιν διὰ βίου, κατεκάμφθην τὰ κάτω φρονῶν καὶ ἐπὶ γῆν βλέπων, ἠκολούθησεν τὸ οἰκτρὸν καὶ ἐλεεινόν με ει ναι, ο παρίσταται ἐκ τοῦ ̓Εταλαιπώρησα. 377 Ps 37,7b.8 Ητοι τῶν λογισμῶν μου η τῶν πονηρῶν πνευμάτων· τούτου ε νεκα διὰ βίου σκυθρωπάζων ἐπορευόμην, πάσης ἱλαρίας ἀφαιρεθείσης. ἐπειδὴ δὲ φέρονται γραφαί, ω ν ἡ μὲν Ψύαι μου, ἡ δὲ Αἱ λαγόνες μου ἐπλήσθησαν ἐμπαιγμῶν, ῥητέον ο τι, ἐπεὶ περὶ τὰς ψύας καὶ τὰς λαγόνας συνίσταται τὰ σπέρματα εἰς παιδοποιΐαν συντείνοντα, ἐμπαιγμῶν ἐμπίπλαται ταῦτα, ο τ' α ν μὴ εἰς παιδοποιΐαν ἀλλὰ πορνικῶς ἐπιτελῆται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο

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Discover how early Christians interpreted the Psalms as divine messages and prophecies about salvation and judgment.

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