Coeli enarrant. The works of God shew forth his glory: his law is greatly to be esteemed and loved.
Gods perfect goodnes and glorie is shewed by his great workes, and by his Apostles sent with heauenlie commission, to preach in al tongues to al nations. 6. Christ coming into the world, and returne vnto heauen. 8. his immaculate Law: 13. Wherin notwistanding the iust shal haue nede to pray for remission of smaller and daylie sinnes.
1Unto the end. A Psalm for David.Salmo di David.Vnto the end, the psalme of Dauid.In finem. Psalmus David. 2The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands.I Cieli narrano la gloria di Dio, e le opere delle mani di lui annunzia il firmamento.THE heauens shew forth the glorie of God, and the firmament declareth the workes of his handes.Cæli enarrant gloriam Dei, / et opera manuum ejus annuntiat firmamentum. 3Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge.Il giorno al giorno fa noia questa parola, e la notte ne da cognizione alla notte.Day vnto day vttereth word: and night vnto night sheweth knowledge.Dies diei eructat verbum, / et nox nocti indicat scientiam. 4There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard.Non havvi linguaggio, né favella, presso di cui intese non siano le loro voci.There are no languages, nor speaches, whose voyces are not heard.Non sunt loquelæ, neque sermones, / quorum non audiantur voces eorum. 5Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world.Il loro suono si è diffuso per tutta quanta la terra, e le loro parole sino a' confini della terra.Their sound hath gone forth into al the earth; and vnto the endes of the round world the wordes of them.In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, / et in fines orbis terræ verba eorum. 6He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he as a bridegroom coming out of his bridechamber, Hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way:Ha posto nel sole il suo padiglione, e questi come uno sposo, che esce dalla stanza nuziale, Spunta fuor qual gigante a fornir sua carriera:He put his tabernacle in the sunne: & himself as a bridgrome coming forth of his bridechamber. He hath reioyced as againt to runne the way,In sole posuit tabernaculum suum; / et ipse tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo. / Exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam; 7His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his heat.Dall'una estremità del cielo si parte; E corre fino all'altra estremità di esso, e non havvi chi al calore di lui si nasconda.his comming forth from the toppe of heauen: And his recourse euen to the toppe therof: neither is there that can hide him selfe from his heate.a summo cælo egressio ejus. / Et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus; / nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus. 8The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones.La legge del Signore immacolata, che converte le anime: la testimonianza del Signore è fedele, e ai piccoli da saggezza.The law of our Lord is immaculate conuerting soules: the testimonie of our Lord is faithful, geuing wisedome to litle ones.Lex Domini immaculata, convertens animas; / testimonium Domini fidele, sapientiam præstans parvulis.
9The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes.I precetti del Signore sono retti, e rallegrano i cuori: il comandamento del Signore è lucente, e gli occhi rischiara.The iustices of our Lord be right, making hartes ioyful: the precept of our Lord lightsome; illuminating the eies.Justitiæ Domini rectæ, lætificantes corda; / præceptum Domini lucidum, illuminans oculos. 10The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves.Santo il timor del Signore, che sussiste per tutti i secoli: i giudizj del Signore son verità, giusti in se stessi.The feare of our Lord is holie, permanent for euer and euer: the iudgmentes of our Lord be true, iustified in themselues.Timor Domini sanctus, permanens in sæculum sæculi; / judicia Domini vera, justificata in semetipsa, 11More to be desired than gold and many precious stones: and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.Più desiderevoli che l'oro, e le pietre molto preziose, e dolci più del miele, e del favo di miele.To be desired aboue gold and much pretious stone: and more sweete aboue honie and the honie combe.desiderabilia super aurum et lapidem pretiosum multum, / et dulciora super mel et favum. 12For thy servant keepeth them, and in keeping them there is a great reward.Imperocché il tuo servo diligentemente gli osserva, e grande è la mercede dell'osservarli.For thy seruant keepeth them, in keeping them is much reward.Etenim servus tuus custodit ea; / in custodiendis illis retributio multa. 13Who can understand sins? from my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord:Chi è che gli errori conosca? Mondami da' peccati, che a me sono occulti,Sinnes who vnderstandeth? from my secrete sinnes cleanse me:Delicta quis intelligit ? / ab occultis meis munda me; 14And from those of others spare thy servant. If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot: and I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin.E da' perversi uomini tienimi lontano. Se questi non prevarranno sopra di me, sarò allor senza macchia, e da delitto gravissimo sarò mondato.and from other mens spare thy seruant. If they shal not haue dominion ouer me, then shal I be immaculate; and shal be cleansed from the greatest sinne.et ab alienis parce servo tuo. / Si mei non fuerint dominati, tunc immaculatus ero, / et emundabor a delicto maximo. 15And the words of my mouth shall be such as may please: and the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. O Lord, my helper and my Redeemer.E a te accette saranno le parole della mia bocca, e la meditazione del cuor mio alla tua presenza in ogni tempo, O Signore, aiuto mio, e mio Redentore.And the wordes of my mouth shal be such as may please: and the meditation of my hart in thy sight alwayes. O Lord my helper, and my redemer.Et erunt ut complaceant eloquia oris mei, / et meditatio cordis mei in conspectu tuo semper. / Domine, adjutor meus, et redemptor meus.
18:1
Calmet
David. It is not known when this was composed. David praises the works and law of God. Some passages are applied to Jesus Christ and his apostles, Romans 10:18. (Calmet)
Worthington
When any text of a psalm is thus quoted, many judiciously conclude that the whole must be understood in the same sense, as the harmony will thus be greater. It seems there are two literal senses here, one regarding the law, whether natural or Mosaic; the other pertaining to the apostles and the law of the gospel; (Berthier) the "beloved" David of the latter days. (Worthington)
18:2
Berthier
Firmament. Hebrew, "expansion," or region of the stars, far above our atmosphere. (Berthier)
Calmet
These two sentences express the same idea, unless the former may denote what we behold, and the firmament be explained of the higher heavens, (Haydock) where we imagine the throne of God to be placed. Some have taken these expressions in a gross sense, and asserted that the heavens are animated, Job 38:7. But we must allow that they are figurative expressions, which seem to give a soul to plants, stars, etc. (Calmet)
Haydock
The beautiful works of God extort our admiration. (Haydock)
St. Chrysostom
The silence of heaven speaks louder than any trumpet. (St. Chrysostom)
Leg. i
"Who can behold the heavens, and yet be so foolish as not to acknowledge that a God exists? said Cicero, (Haydock) a learned pagan; (Arusp. and Nat. Deo. 2.; Calmet) though they cannot determine of what nature the Deity may be. (Leg. i.; Menochius)
Calmet
Hands. Chaldean, "Those who look up at the heavens, publish the glory of the Lord; and those who raise their eyes towards the air, announce his works." (Calmet)
Worthington
The silent works declare God's Majesty to those who consider them, and his preachers make the same known to their hearers by word of mouth. (Worthington)
Haydock
St. Paul reproaches the philosophers of paganism for not understanding the language of the creation, Romans 1:20., and Job 12:7. (Haydock)
St. John i
The Church, which is so often styled the kingdom of heaven, makes God known, not only as a Creator, but also as a Redeemer. The figure is here most beautifully preserved. Heaven denotes the Church, as the stars represent apostolic men, who cease not to perform their duties day or night, in happier days as well as under persecution. Jesus Christ is the true sun of justice, enlightening every man that cometh into the world, (St. John i.)
Berthier
The Fathers have made these remarks. (Berthier)
Haydock
What a consolation must it be for Catholics to think that the true doctrine will never cease, no more than the succession of day and night! We have received our creed, our orders and mission, from the apostles. The chain of succession has never been broken. Unhappy those who make a religion of their own to damn souls! who run, though God send them not! (Haydock)
18:3
Utterth, with great force and abundance, eructat.
Berthier
Knowledge of God. (Berthier)
Abenezra
Our knowledge is always on the increase. (Abenezra)
Eusebius † AD 339
The vicissitudes of day and night prove the wisdom of their author. (Eusebius)
Bellarmine
They seem to sing in succession the praises of God. (Bellarmine)
Worthington
This evinces the power of God, as the perpetual propagation of the gospel does that of Jesus Christ, whose Church will last till the end. (Worthington)
Haydock
All the chief reformers acknowledged that there was no salvation out of the one true Church, and that the Church of Rome is such. (Nightingale, p. 263.) (Haydock)
18:4
Haydock
There. Symmachus joins this with the preceding. "Will announce knowledge. Not by words or speeches, the sounds of which are not heard," so as to be understood. (Haydock)
Berthier
"They are not languages or words, the signification of which is unknown;" or Hebrew, "never has their voice been heard." Beli, "not," may also signify absque, "without;" and thus we may render, "no speeches, (or country) where their voice has not been heard." (Berthier)
Haydock
The sight of the heavens is sufficient to convince any one of the existence of God. (Haydock)
St. Augustine
No nation, however barbarous, can plead ignorance. The Fathers have explained this of the gift of tongues, by means of which the apostles spoke languages which they had not studied, Acts 2:4. (St. Augustine, etc.)
Worthington
Some of every nation have heard, (Worthington) or will embrace, (Haydock) the Christian religion. (Worthington)
18:5
Abenezra
Sound. So, St. Paul reads this text, though the Hebrew have, "line." Yet there is no reason why we should suppose that the Septuagint read differently, or that the Jews have corrupted their copies, as they could derive no advantage from so doing (Berthier) here, unless it were to discredit the apostle; as infidels assert the truth of the Old Testament, to vilify the new. Kum (Haydock) may signify a "line," (Berthier) or "writing." (Abenezra)
Calmet
The greatest exactitude has been observed in forming the world, as if all had been measured by an architect. But the sense of the Vulgate is preferable, and is adopted by Symmachus, St. Jerome, and the Syriac. (Calmet)
Menochius
Protestants, "their line." Marginal note, "their rule or direction." Kolam, "their voice," occurs in the preceding verse. The l might easily be lost, (Haydock) or omitted by a poetical licence. (Genebrard.) (Menochius)
Berthier
Their, refers to the heavens representing the apostles, as St. Paul explains this text, to prove that all were inexcusable who would not believe the gospel. (Berthier)
18:6
St. Augustine
Sun. Here God seems to reside, (Ferrand) and the magnificence of his works shines forth, insomuch that almost all nations have offered divine honours to the sun, and even the Manichees adored it, imagining that it was the very body of Jesus Christ. (St. Augustine, contra Faust. 14:12., and 20:6.)
Calmet
Hebrew, "For the sun he has place a tent in them," the heavens, (St. Jerome; Haydock) or the ends of the world. The Jews supposed that the heavens rested, like a tent, upon the earth. (Calmet, Diss.)
Amama
The Hebrew preposition l, may have (Haydock) different meanings, ad solem posuit, etc. "He placed a tent in them, at or for the sun." The idea of the Vulgate is more noble, but we would not exclude the other, which is very good, (Berthier) and obviates the gross mistake of the Manichees. (Amama)
Haydock
The Vulgate may admit the fig. hypallage, (M. Geneb.) as good authors say dare classibus austros, and thus it may signify "he placed the sun in his tent." (Haydock)
Diodorus
This vast body stands in need of no vehicle, or tent, but itself. (Diodorus)
Haydock
It was placed in the firmament at first, (Genesis 1:16.) and still performs its revolutions exactly. (Haydock)
Berthier
Giant. Moderns would render "a strong man;" and Bythner remarks that the bulk of a giant would render him less fit for running, as if the stoutest wrestlers were not often the most active. (Berthier)
Calmet
The sun is represented as a hero at some of the ancient games. St. Augustine and St. Jerome explain all this of Jesus Christ, who diffuses the light and warmth of his grace throughout the world. (Calmet)
Worthington
He always resides with the Church, and is never divorced from her. (Worthington)
18:7
Berthier
Circuit. So the Hebrew word is rendered "revolution." Septuagint and Vulgate, "meeting" occursus, may insinuate that the sun is found in the centre, while the earth moves daily and yearly round it, according to the Copernican system. But we must be more attentive to the life and motions of Jesus Christ, in whom the Deity resided corporally. (Berthier)
18:8
Haydock
The law. As the sun gives light to the world, so the law serves to direct mankind, and is another most powerful motive for us to praise God. This raises our hearts and minds still more perfectly to him, recalling us from our wanderings, and confirming our knowledge. Light is necessary for the body, and the law for the soul. The prophet admires eight characteristics of this divine law, which he designates by different names; as in the 118th psalm, some things relate only to the evangelical law, which converts souls, (Berthier) and lasts for ever, ver. 10. (Haydock)
Haydock
The law of nature and of Moses are nevertheless also commended, (Theodoret) inasmuch as the morality is always the same; and some faith in Christ, to come, or already past, is requisite under every dispensation. Hence he is called the Lamb slain from the beginning. [Apocalypse 13:8.] Implicit faith would suffice for the less informed, before our Saviour's coming; but now, under the light of the gospel, we must express our belief in his incarnation, as well as in the blessed Trinity. More is required of those to whom more has been given. [Luke 12:48.] (Haydock)
Calmet
Unspotted. Hebrew and Septuagint, "irreprehensible." (Calmet)
Haydock
Who indeed could pretend to find any fault with it, since it comes from God? (Haydock)
Berthier
The laws of men are imperfect, and liable to change. Those of Draco were too sanguinary, and gave place to Solon's, which were deemed too mild, etc. How happy would all be if they would embrace the law of the gospel! (Berthier)
Haydock
Converting. Hebrew, "tranquillizing souls," (Menochius) by keeping the passions under. (Haydock)
Testimony, declaring the will of God to men.
Calmet
Little ones. The simple, and the wicked; as both are so called. (Calmet)
Menochius
Pethi, "easily persuaded." (Menochius)
Calmet
It directs the former, and keeps the latter in awe by punishment. (Calmet)
Haydock
All, in general, must confess their ignorance, and want of the divine law, to reap any benefit from it. (Haydock)
Berthier
This is the first lesson which it imparts. (Berthier)
Worthington
The law is most pure in itself, whether we understand that given to Moses, or the gospel. But the latter makes the observers unspotted, by the grace which the Holy Ghost communicates to them, though all who barely read and know the law, have no share in this happiness. God is the author of salvation, sweetly inviting all by the perfections of his law, which confers light and gladness, to co-operate with grace, that they may obtain the promised reward, ver. 12., and 2 Timothy 4:6. (Worthington)
Haydock
The like grace was offered from the beginning, so that none will ever be punished who has not deserved it, having had the means to perform his duty. (Haydock)
18:9
Justices. The law displays what is just, and renders those who observe it agreeable to God, (St. Gregory of Nazianzus) filling their hearts with joy, by the testimony of a good conscience, and the prospect of felicity. (Calmet) (Proverbs 6:23.)
18:10
Berthier
Fear; or "the law accompanied with fear;" of which he is speaking. This fear is filial and pure, such as a child must have of displeasing his father. (Berthier)
Yet even servile fear, which restrains us from committing sin, lest we incur punishment, is a gift of God, and prepares the way for charity. (Council of Trent, Session 14:4.) But we must not stop here, like Achab and Antiochus. If we understand by fear, the moral law, it will subsist as long as there shall be men.
Calmet
Themselves. Septuagint, epi to oto, "by that very thing," that they are the judgments of the Lord, (Haydock) who cannot do wrong, Daniel 2:27. (Calmet)
Haydock
Hebrew, "truth itself, is justified altogether." (Haydock)
Berthier
Infidels acknowledge that the morality of the Gospel is excellent, but they reject the dogmatical part. Would He, who has prescribed such noble rules of conduct, lead our understanding astray, by requiring us to believe what is false? (Berthier)
18:11
Calmet
Stones. So St. Jerome renders the Hebrew. Protestants, "than gold; yea, than much fine gold." Paz (Haydock) denotes the finest gold of Uphan, or of the Phison; which is probably the river Phasis, Genesis 2:11. (Calmet)
Yet many explain this word of the topaz or chrysolite, which is of a golden colour. The Vulgate expresses topaz, (Psalm 118:127.) where the Septuagint have, "a precious stone."
Berthier
Honeycomb, as the English and German versions have it, though the Hebrew signify, "the dropping of the honeycombs;" which is the most excellent honey. (Berthier)
Haydock
This interpretation is inserted in the Protestant margin, and answers to St. Jerome's favum redundantem. Nothing can be more delicious, or more magnificent. (Haydock)
18:12
Calmet
For. I speak from experience. (Calmet)
Theodoret
If I had no other inducement, I would observe this law for the consolation, (Haydock) and repeated advantages which I have derived from it. (Theodoret)
Those who keep the same [law], and content not themselves with reading or hearing only, may feel the same impressions.
Worthington
Reward: on which account the prophet declares that he observed the justifications; (Psalm 118:112.) though that passage is corrupted in the Protestant version. (Worthington)
Calmet
Hebrew, "wherefore thy servant shall teach them;" (St. Jerome) or rather, "is instructed by them, and convinced that in keeping them there are frequent falls. Who," etc., 13. (Calmet)
Haydock
Hekeb may indeed signify "a fall," or tripping up the heels. But it is more commonly rendered "a reward," (as Protestants, Mont., etc., here agree) or end, as 1 Peter 1:9. has it. (Haydock)
Berthier
The instruction, which the observer of the laws obtains, arises from that observance, inasmuch as "he is attentive to them." Septuagint, phulassei auta. This must therefore be understood, and is well expressed by Custodit. Taste, and see that the Lord is sweet, Psalm 33:9. (Berthier)
18:13
Haydock
Sins. Who can always decide when a sin is only venial? (Haydock)
Calmet
Though I may have avoided the grosser transgressions, how can I be assured that my heart is innocent? (Calmet)
Berthier
This assurance is reserved for Methodists, who seem to look upon it as essential, before a person can obtain salvation. But where does God specify this condition? We know that (Haydock) we are to work out our salvation in fear and trembling; and that St. Paul, though conscious to himself of nothing, said: yet in this I am not justified, etc., 1 Corinthians 4:4., and 9:27., and Philippians 2:12. Hebrew speaks of "ignorances," which might not however be wholly blameless. (Berthier)
Haydock
Ones, or enemies: "....and from the proud preserve." (Symmachus; Chaldean) But he alludes to the distinction of sins of ignorance and of pride, (Leviticus 4:2., and Numbers 15:30.; Calmet) or malice. (Haydock)
Calmet
David had not fallen into many sins of the latter description, though his adultery and murder were such. But the former are daily sins, into which even the just fall frequently. (Calmet)
Worthington
None can be assured of their state, (Ecclesiastes ix.) but are kept between hope and fear. (Worthington)
18:14
Haydock
Those, etc. Or "from strangers," alienis, whose company we cannot avoid with too much caution. (Haydock)
Amama
Hebrew, "the proud." It is conjectured (Berthier) that the Septuagint read r for d, in mizzedim. (Haydock) (Amama)
Berthier
But this is not necessary, as they might include the proud, and all the wicked, under the name of "strangers," which term is particularly applicable to idolaters, (Isaias 13:11.) and all scandalous sinners, who are strangers to the law; and from whose society and dominion we may all beg to be delivered. (Berthier)
Haydock
Spare. Hebrew, "free," (St. Jerome) or "withhold." Nature is so prone to evil, that the prophet prays earnestly for grace to resist, or to be kept out of danger. (Haydock)
Rivet
All sins cannot be avoided, but preserve me from wilfully committing any enormous crime. (Rivet)
Theodoret
Deliver me from the devil's power. (Theodoret)
Haydock
Those who are in authority have much to dread, lest they be answerable for the sins of others, which they ought to have prevented; as all must fear giving scandal, etc., and so being accessory to another's crime. [1 Timothy 5:22.] (Haydock)
St. Augustine
Delicta aliena affigunt me. (St. Augustine)
Yet sins of frailty, and of malice, are here meant; (Bellarmine) which last ought to be strange, or very uncommon.
Haydock
Over me. Septuagint, mou. (Haydock)
Calmet
St. Augustine reads dominata, which agrees better with delicta. If my secret sins, or those of others, do not oppress me, I shall pray with confidence, and be heard. (Calmet)
Haydock
Yet dominata refers to alienis, strangers, or proud people, (Berthier) who are continually alluring to evil, both by word and example. How great must be the influence of such over their subjects, when even their equals take the infection so frequently! Vulgate might be rendered, "If my own had not ruled;" in which sense Pius IV used this explanation on his death bed, knowing that his kindred had abused their power. (Du Thou, B. vi. A.D. 1549.) (Haydock)
St. Jerome
Sin, pride; the source of all evil. (St. Jerome)
St. Augustine
"Let men at last blush to be proud, for whose sake God was humbled." (St. Augustine)
Worthington
If mortal sin be absent, the soul is just, and will be, one day, free from stain. (Worthington)
18:15
Haydock
Always. Hebrew, "to thy regards," such as thou mayst approve. (Haydock)
Berthier
He joins mental with vocal prayer, speaking like an evangelist. (Berthier)
Calmet
Helper. Hebrew, "rock." (Calmet)
Haydock
St. Jerome and Protestants, "strength." (Haydock)
18:1
perteyning to the beloued of the new Testament.
18:2
The silent workes of God declare his Maiestie to them that consider therof; his preachers declare the same by wordes, to al that wil heare.
18:3
The cōstant course of times sheweth that the same was disposed by Gods powre, and dayly propagation of faith, especially of Christian doctrine sheweth Christs powre, & assured perpetuitie of his Church.
18:4
Some of euery language or natiō haue beleued in Christ, receiuing the Catholique Religion.
18:5
S. Paul affirmeth that this hath bene fulfilled by the Apostles preaching in al the world. Rom. 10.
18:6
By the sunne a most excellent and superelemental creature, the Prophet describeth Christ, making his course through this world, illuminating, comforting and streingthning the Church his tabernacle, wherein he perpetually dwelleth.
Christ the bridgrome, and the Church his bride are neuer diuorsed; his loue, wisdome, and powre, euer conseruing her by his immaculute law.
18:7
Concordance Luc. 24.
18:8
•. The lavv of our lord is immaculate, conuerting soules.] Gods law in it selfe God conuerteth and iustifieth soules instructing thē by his law, and sweetly drawing their free cooperation by grace. being most pure, and immaculate, is the proper meanes, wherby the Holie Ghost conuerteth soules from sinnes to iustice. Not that euerie one is iust. fied, vvhich readeth, heareth, or knoweth the lavv, but by keping it, through grace of the Holie Ghost. VVho is the author and vvorker of ius••e, by disposing the soule to cooperate in maner, partly here described: Gods faithful and most true testimonie, by his lavv, geueth vvisdome, faith and knovvlege to the humble, his right iustices, comfort the hartes of the saithful, his clere precept teacheth them their dutie; his holie feare perseuireth vvith them; his true iudgements are most delectable, and desiderable aboue al vvorldlie riches or pleasures. So by these and like spiritual motiues the soule freely desiteth, accepteth, vndertaketh, endureth, and by continual assistance of grace, obserueth Gods lavv; and so meriteth the great revvard, vvhich is promised for keping it. v. 12. 2. Tim. 4. v. 6.
The old law was likewise pure i• it selfe and holy, but the new also maketh the obseruers immaculate.
Concordance Mat. 27. Mar. 15.
18:12
How swete the law of God is, his seruantes finde not by reading, or by hearing only, but by keping it.
Conformably to this text the prophete professeth (Psal. 118. v. 12.) that he kept them for reward, in which place the heretikes translation is corrupted.
Concordance Mat. 27. Mar. 15.
18:13
None in this life knoweth perfectly his owne estate, vvhether he be vvorthie of loue or hate, Eccle. 9 but hopeth and feareth.
18:14
If mortal sinnes haue not dominion in the soule it is iust: and shal be in time immaculate from al sinne.
18:15
Gods helping grace is stil necessarie to perseuer,
as his first grace redeeming man is nessarie for our first conuersion.
18:1
Pope St Clement I † AD 99 The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 27
… All things are open before Him, and nothing can be hidden from His counsel. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. And there are no words or speeches of which the voices are not heard.”
Theodotus † fl. AD 160 Excerpts of Theodotus 1
LI. “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 64
… In the sun has he set his habitation; and he, like a bridegroom going forth from his chamber, will rejoice as a giant to run his race: from the highest heaven is his going forth, and he returns to the highest heaven, and there is not one who shall be hidden from his heat.’ ”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 1.14.8
… As, then, he says, the seven powers glorify the Word, so also does the complaining soul of infants. For this reason, too, David said: “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise;” and again: “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 6.43
… As, then, he says, the seven powers glorify the Logos, so also does the sorrowing soul in babes (magnify Him). And on account of this, he says, David likewise has declared, “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise.” And again, “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 6.61
… But suppose that they are spoken in an improper and figurative sense, so that we may translate the following expressions, “And the firmament showeth forth His handywork,”
St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Containing Various Sections of the Works 2.5
… But never surely did he look up to heaven with eyes of true intelligence, so as to hear the clear voice from above, which another attentive spectator did hear, and of which he testified when he said, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Heathen (Contra Gentes) 27
… which moreover makes known, and witnesses to, the Father of the Word, Who is the Lord and Maker of these parts also, by the unbroken law of their obedience to Him, as the divine law also says: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handiwork
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.16
… as David says in the Psalms, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handy work
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.21
… Him ‘in all things to have the preeminence ,’ therefore He is created ‘a beginning of ways,’ that we, walking along it and entering through Him who says, ‘I am the Way’ and ‘the Door,’ and partaking of the knowledge of the Father, may also hear the words, ‘Blessed are the undefiled in the Way,’ and ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.22
… Itself, whose impress is the wisdom and knowledge poured out in the world, should say, as I have already explained, as if of Itself, ‘The Lord created me for His works?’ For the wisdom in the world is not creative, but is that which is created in the works, according to which ‘the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth His handywork
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 30
… Shall we say that the words are those of Wisdom herself, as it were of Knowledge and the Creator-word, in accordance with which all things were made? For Scripture often personifies many even lifeless objects; as for instance, “The Sea said” so and so; and, “The Depth saith, It is not in me;” and “The Heavens declare the glory of God;”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 38
XI. Mind, then, and sense, thus distinguished from each other, had remained within their own boundaries, and bore in themselves the magnificence of the Creator-Word, silent praisers
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Answer to Eunomius' Second Book 1
… Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge;” and after saying that the heavens and the firmament declare, and that day and that night showeth knowledge and speech, he adds to what he has said, that “there is neither speech nor language, and that their voices are not heard
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On the Holy Spirit 1
… How can you praise the Incomprehensible? If “all the nations are as a drop of a bucket ,” as Isaiah says, if all living humanity were to send up one united note of praise in harmony together, what addition will this gift of a mere drop be to that which is glorious essentially? The heavens are telling the glory of God
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Infants' Early Deaths 1
… Nevertheless we do not conceive of the employment of their lives as on the same level at all. The one has heard those heavenly announcements, by which, in the words of the Prophet, “the glory of God is declared
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 2.3
… For it is written: “Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and hath not stood in the way of sinners, and hath not sat in the seat of pestilence, but in the law of the Lord was his delight.” And again: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 3.5
31. But let them learn, as I have often said, that not inequality but unity of power is signified by this testimony; inasmuch as things which are the works of God are also the works of hands, and we read that the same are the works of fingers. For it is written: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth the work of His hands;”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 1.45
… What, then, is so much in accordance with nature as to be grateful to the Creator? Behold this heaven, does it not render thanks to its Creator when He is seen? For “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims His handywork.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.2
… for there be other heavens also whereinto the Word of God passeth, whereof it is said: “We have a great Priest, a High Priest, Who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God.” What are those heavens, but even the heavens whereof the prophet sayeth that “the heavens declare the glory of God”?
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 22.4
4. “The heavens,” it is said, “declare the glory of God.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 63.5
5. Let Him therefore stand in your midst, that the heavens, which declare the glory of God,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 9.4
… “For from the greatness and beauty of the creatures, proportionably the Maker of them is seen.” Seest thou the greatness? Marvel at the power of Him that made it! Seest thou the beauty? be astonished at the wisdom which adorned it! This it was which the prophet signified when he said, “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 10.8
8. And both of these points the Scriptures teach, for one in treating of the beauty of the heavens thus speaks; “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 12.4
4. On the three foregoing days, then, we have investigated one method of acquiring the knowledge of God, and have brought it to a conclusion; explaining how “the heavens declare the glory of God;”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 22
Wherefore then did He make them so beautiful? That He might display His own wisdom and the excellency of His power; that from everything we might learn His glory. For not “the Heavens only declare the glory of God,”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 3
Which also the prophet said, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 18
… Let us then flee those things from which we have been set free, and not give thanks with our mouths only, lest it be said of us also, “This people honoreth Me with their lips, but with their heart is far from Me.” ( Is. xxix. 13 .) For how is it else than unseemly, when the “heavens declare the glory of God” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 28
… ciii. 13 .) And of the things that are to meet us after our present life, and of that undisturbed condition, he teacheth, “Return unto thy rest, O my soul.” ( ib. cxvi. 7 .) Why the Heaven is so great, this he will also say. For it is because “the heavens declare the glory of God.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 2
“Whence it is then,” say you, “that all men do not choose them?” From their own infirmity. “And wherefore doth He not cut off their infirmity?” And how tell me—in what way—ought He to cut it off? Hath He not made a world that teacheth His loving-kindness and His power? For (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 21
… since this whole world also is both wonderful and great, and a sure proof of the wisdom of God, and “the heavens declare the glory of God, and day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night declareth knowledge;” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 3
… For if Moses feared lest any one should assert that the earth was uncreated, much more ought John to have feared this respecting the Son, if He was indeed created. The world being visible, by this very circumstance proclaims its Maker, (“the heavens,” says the Psalmist, “declare the glory of God”—
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 4.12
… For to us, too, that we may adore the lowly Christ, the “heavens have declared the glory of God, when their sound went into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness 20
… for I am holy.’ Whence blessed David likewise says: ‘O Lord, who shall sojourn in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest on Thy holy mountain? He that walketh without blame, and worketh righteousness.’ And in another passage: ‘I shall be blameless with Him.’ And yet again: ‘Blessed are the blameless in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.’
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 1.30
… that is to say, the Word, wedded with the flesh of man, came forth from the Virgin’s womb. Now has He rejoiced as a strong man, and has run His race. Now has His going forth been made from the height of heaven, and His return even to the height of heaven.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 3.14
… Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.” In so far therefore as they have their conversation there, they do bear God, and they are heaven; because they are the seat of God; and when they declare the words of God, “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 28.1
… What is a mountain to Him who possesseth the heavens? Which we not only read He doth, but in some sort see it with the eyes of the heart. He calleth that His kingdom, which in many places He calleth the “kingdom of heaven.” Now the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of the saints. “For the heavens declare the glory of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.2
2. “The heavens tell out the glory of God” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.11
… For how shall “He call the heaven from above,” when the heaven is always above? But those that He here calleth heaven, the same elsewhere He calleth heavens. What heavens? That tell out the glory of God: for, “The heavens tell out the glory of God:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.9
… and may the secret things of His mysteries, as far as Himself vouchsafeth, be disclosed. For in order that the earth might be moved to the Truth when into the desert of the Gentiles the Gospel was passing, “the Heavens dropped from the face of God.” These are the Heavens, whereof in another Psalm is sung, “The Heavens are telling forth the glory of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 68.10
… just as we said that those are called mountains, which were called Heavens? Nor in this sense ought it to move us that He saith “mountain,” not mountains, while in that place they were called “Heavens,” not Heaven: for in another Psalm also after it had been said, “The Heavens are telling forth the glory of God:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 89.3
… and that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.” Justly then is it added, “Thy truth shalt Thou stablish in the Heavens:” for all those Israelites who were called to be Apostles became as Heavens which declare the glory of God: as it is written by them, “The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handywork.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 97.8
8. “The heavens have declared His righteousness: and all the people have seen His glory” ( ver. 6 ). What heavens have declared? “The heavens declare the glory of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 144.6
… What are “heavens bowed down”? Apostles humbled. For those “heavens declare the glory of God;” and of these heavens declaring the glory of God it is presently said, “There is neither speech nor language, but their voices are heard among them,” etc.
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 19
… For, when the prophet says, “The heavens declare the glory of God , and the firmament showeth His handiwork: day unto day uttereth speech, and night showeth knowledge
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 2.6
… And again, What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou, O Jordan, that thou was driven back ? Mountains, too, and hills are asked the reason of their leaping in the same way as we are wont to say, the city was gathered together, when we do not mean the buildings, but the inhabitants of the city: again, the heavens declare the glory of God
Pseudo-Clement The Clementine Homilies 16.8
… For it is plainly declared that He who made them is one in the very first part of Scripture: ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And it did not say, ‘the gods.’ And somewhere else it says,
18:2
Pope St Clement I † AD 99 The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 27
… All things are open before Him, and nothing can be hidden from His counsel. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handy-work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. And there are no words or speeches of which the voices are not heard.”
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 The First Apology 40
… There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the sun hath He set His tabernacle, and he as a bridegroom going out of his chamber shall rejoice as a giant to run his course.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 9.6
… See also how the days alternately respond each to other in due order, in summer increasing, and in winter diminishing; but in spring and autumn granting equal intervals one to another. And the nights again complete the like courses; so that the Psalmist also says of them, Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night proclaimeth knowledge
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 22.6
6. “Day,” it is said, “unto day uttereth speech.”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 22.8
8. Nor let this seem at variance with the true faith: “Day unto day uttereth the word;” soul unto soul, life unto life, resurrection unto resurrection; “and night unto night showeth knowledge;”
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 22.15
15. Yesterday I handled the verse, “Day unto day uttereth speech,”
Rufinus of Aquileia † AD 411 The Apology of Rufinus. Addressed to Apronianus, in Reply to Jerome's Letter to Pammachius 2.2
“Hence Paul himself, who was one of the perfect, says in another Epistle “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect.” This then is what is commanded, that those mystic and secret things, which are full of divine truth, should be spoken by each man to his neighbour, so that day unto day may utter speech and night to night shew knowledge,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 62.6
… and it was night.” And he that went out was himself the night. “Therefore when” the night “was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified.” The day therefore uttered speech unto the day, that is, Christ did so to His faithful disciples, that they might hear and love Him as His followers; and the night showed knowledge unto the night,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.3
3. “Day unto day uttereth word” ( ver. 2 ). To the spiritual the Spirit giveth out the fulness of the unchangeable Wisdom of God, the Word which in the beginning is God with God. “And night unto night announceth knowledge.” And to the fleshly, as to those afar off, the mortality of the flesh, by conveying faith, announceth future knowledge.
18:3
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 5.4
… This, he says, is the kingdom of heaven, the grain of mustard seed, the point which is indivisible in the body; and, he says, no one knows this (point) save the spiritual only. This, he says, is what has been spoken: “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 9.5
… and the prophet himself intimated and indicated this fact, that the creation utters this voice so as to be intelligible to barbarians, and to Greeks, and to all mankind without exception, when he spoke on this wise; “There is no speech, nor language, where there voice is not heard.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 28
… cxvi. 7 .) Why the Heaven is so great, this he will also say. For it is because “the heavens declare the glory of God.” ( ib. xix. 1 .) Why day and night were made,—not that they may shine and give us rest only, but also that they may instruct us. “For there are no speeches nor words, the sounds of which (i.e. day and night) are not heard.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.20
… and the voices of Thy messengers flying above the earth, near to the firmament of Thy Book; that being set over them as an authority, under which they were to fly whithersoever they were to go. For “there is no speech, nor language, where their voice is not heard;” seeing their sound
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 4.20
… their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Concerning Faith of Things Not Seen 10
… For concerning these they had said, “There is neither speech nor language, whereof their voices are not heard; their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.32
… His going forth is from the end of heaven:" here you have the coming of the Lord in the flesh. "And His circuit unto the ends of it:" here you have His resurrection and ascension. "And there is nothing hid from the heat thereof:"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 28.1
… “For the heavens declare the glory of God.” And of these heavens it is immediately said in the Psalm, “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words unto the end of the world.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 2.3
… Let us awake, my brethren, let us rather see the gift of the Spirit of God, and let us believe the things spoken before concerning Him, and let us see fulfilled the things spoken before in the Psalm: “There are neither speeches nor discourses, but their voices are heard among them.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.4
4. “There is no speech nor language, in which their voices are not heard” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 39.2
… The Latin, not being able to express it strictly, expresses it by the general term; and in that it called them “steps,” left it undetermined, whether they were “steps” of persons ascending or descending. But because there is no “speech or language where their voices are not heard among them,”
18:4
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 42
… and through their voice it is that all the earth has been filled with the glory and grace of God and of His Christ. Wherefore David also says: ‘Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.’
St Pantaenus † AD 216 Pantænus, the Alexandrian Philosopher 1
… Hermogenes, for instance. As to His body, some say it is His tent, others the Church of the faithful. But our Pantænus said: “The language employed by prophecy is for the most part indefinite, the present tense being used for the future, and again the present for the past.”
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 5
… for from the rising sun unto the setting my Name hath been made famous among all the nations, saith the Lord Almighty: and in every place they offer clean sacrifices to my Name.” Again, in the Psalms, David says: “Bring to God, ye countries of the nations”—undoubtedly because “unto every land” the preaching of the apostles had to “go out”
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 7
… For whose right hand does God the Father hold but Christ’s, His Son?—whom all nations have heard, that is, whom all nations have believed,—whose preachers, withal, the apostles, are pointed to in the Psalms of David: “Into the universal earth,” says he, “is gone out their sound, and unto the ends of the earth their words.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.43
… Even to the last He taught us (the same truth of His mission), when He sent forth His apostles to preach His gospel “among all nations;” for He thus fulfilled the psalm: “Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 5.19
… For this quality, it will be evident, can only belong to that gospel which was the first to fill the world; in other words, to the gospel of that God who of old declared this of its promulgation: “Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”
Tertullian † AD 220 De Fuga in Persecutione 6
… so that, in very deed, their sound went forth into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
St Hippolytus † AD 235 The Refutation of All Heresies 8.10
… Now (Hermogenes) resorts to testimony, thinking to support himself by what is spoken, (viz.) what the Psalmist David says: “In the sun he hath placed his tabernacle, and himself (is) as a bridegroom coming forth from his nuptial chamber, (and) he will rejoice as a giant to run his course.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus i.62
… preaching of the Gospel, “the Lord gave the word in great power to them who preached it, even the King of the powers of the Beloved,” in order that the prophecy might be fulfilled which said, “His words shall run very swiftly.” And we see that “the voice of the apostles of Jesus has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 2.3.1
1. Thus , under the influence of heavenly power, and with the divine co-operation, the doctrine of the Saviour, like the rays of the sun, quickly illumined the whole world; and straightway, in accordance with the divine Scriptures,
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 3.8.11
… With better right could it be applied to Christ; to whom it was said by the Father, “Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession.” At that very time, indeed, the voice of his holy apostles “went throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”
Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 1.8
… This he showed beforehand with regard to Christ that the whole earth shall be filled with Him. For lo! by the faith of Christ are all the ends of the earth filled, as David said:— The sound of the Gospel of Christ has gone forth into all the earth .
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 41
… And how great, how august, is the Mystery. The dispensations of the Body of Christ are ended; or rather, what belongs to His Bodily Advent (for I hesitate to say the Dispensation of His Body, as long as no discourse persuades me that it is better to have put off the body
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 2.10
… That wood into which Paul entered indeed as a ravening wolf, but went forth as a shepherd, for “their sound is gone out into all the earth.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 25
… For the very preaching shall bear witness against them, and they will not be able hereafter to say, “We heard not;” for the word of godliness “hath gone out unto the ends of the world.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 18
… And we (1 mss. “let us”) stop their mouths by speaking of this change. For far better than the heaven is man, and a soul brighter than their beauty may he possess. For it, though visible for so long a time, did not persuade much. But Paul, after preaching a short time, drew the whole world unto him. (St. Aug. on
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 11
… 9; 1 Pet. ii. 22 .) “Seen of Angels.” So that Angels together with us saw the Son of God, not having before seen Him. Great, truly great, was this mystery! “Preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world.” He was heard of and believed in through all parts of the world, as the Prophet foreshowed, saying, “Their sound is gone out into all the world.” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 58.3
… then God ceased to be known in Judah only and His name to be great in Israel alone; the sound of the apostles went out into all the earth and their words into the ends of the world.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.25
… and they are due to them as men. They are due to them, too, as to the living soul, supplying itself as an example in all continency; and due unto them likewise as flying creatures, for their blessings which are multiplied upon the earth, since their sound went out into all lands.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 93.21
… persons, and went forth thence into Judæa and Samaria, and to all nations, as He had said unto them when He was about to ascend into heaven, “Ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth;” for “their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.14
… But what time would suffice me to collect from all the prophets all the testimonies to the Church dispersed throughout the world, all of which you endeavor to destroy and render nought by contradicting them? But you are caught; for "their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words to the end of the world."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.43
… for I trust in Thy word." When, therefore, I hear the words of the Lord, saying, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even in the whole earth," and through the voice of His prophet, "Their sound is gone out through all the earth, and their words into the ends of the world,"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.7
… “What indeed have we that we have not received?” Whence also Jeremiah says: “I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man to walk and direct his steps.” Accordingly, when in the Psalms one says to God, “Thou hast commanded me to keep Thy precepts diligently,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 9.1
… brief in the number of its words, sublime in the weight of its contents. But the prayer which you receive to-day to be learned by heart, and to be repeated eight days hence, was dictated (as you heard when the Gospel was being read) by the Lord Himself to His disciples, and came from them unto us, since “their sound went into all the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 79.5
… for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He shall have dominion over the nations.” Hear for the Head; And “He is as a bridegroom coming forth out of His bride-chamber.” And in this same Psalm hear for the Body; “Their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 93.1
… For such is His meaning when He saith, “He shall bear witness of me, and ye also shall bear witness.” That is to say, because He shall bear witness, ye also shall bear witness: He in your hearts, you in your voices; He by inspiration, you by utterance: that the words might be fulfilled, “Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.2
… In the manifestation. What meaneth, in the manifestation? In the sun, that is, in this light of day. And how should He be seen in the sun who made the sun, except as “in the sun He hath set His tabernacle; and Himself as a bridegroom going forth out of his chamber, exulted as a giant to run His course?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.5
5. “Their sound is gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 40.10
… “I have declared,” he says, “and have spoken.” It is Christ who speaks. “He hath declared it,” in His own Person, as our Head. He hath Himself declared it by His members. He Himself hath sent those who should “declare” it; He Himself hath sent the Apostles. “Their sound is gone out into all lands, and their words unto the ends of the world.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 40.15
… we shall be “glorified with Him.” “I have declared Thy righteousness in the great congregation.” How great an one is that? In all the world. How great is it? Even among all nations. Why among all nations? Because He is “the Seed of Abraham, in whom all nations shall be blessed.” Why among all nations? “Because their sound hath gone forth into all lands.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.13
… yet not one grain will it sweep from the side of the corn to the chaff: because not any rustic with three-pronged fork, but God, Three in One, is Judge. And the heavens shall declare His righteousness: for God is Judge. Let heavens go, let the heavens tell, into every land let their sound go out, and unto the ends of the world their words:
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 77.18
… “Unto every land hath gone forth the sound of them, and unto the ends of the orb the words of them.”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus 120
Your excellency has been fully informed as to the acts of the most righteous judges at Ephesus, for their sound has gone out into all lands and their most just judgment to the ends of the world.
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 10
… “Their sound has gone out into every land, and their words into the ends of the world
18:5
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 The First Apology 54
… And when they heard it said by the other prophet Isaiah, that He should be born of a virgin, and by His own means ascend into heaven, they pretended that Perseus was spoken of. And when they knew what was said, as has been cited above, in the prophecies written aforetime, “Strong as a giant to run his course,”
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 69
… And when they tell that Hercules was strong, and travelled over all the world, and was begotten by Jove of Alcmene, and ascended to heaven when he died, do I not perceive that the Scripture which speaks of Christ, ‘strong as a giant to run his race,’
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 3.22
You have the work of the apostles also predicted: “How beautiful are the feet of them which preach the gospel of peace, which bring good tidings of good,” not of war nor evil tidings. In response to which is the psalm, “Their sound is gone through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world;”
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.11
… I hold also that it is my Christ who is meant by the bridegroom, of whom the psalm says: “He is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and His return is back to the end of it again.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 2.20
… the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride.” Also in the eighteenth Psalm: “And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; he exulted as a giant to run his course. From the height of heaven is his going forth, and his circuit even to the end of it; and there is nothing which is hid from his heat.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 9.6
6. But what? Is there not cause to wonder when one looks at the constitution of the sun? For being to the sight as it were a small body he contains a mighty power; appearing from the East, and sending forth his light unto the West: whose rising at dawn the Psalmist described, saying: And he cometh forth out of his chamber as a bridegroom
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 28
… The proof of this is that they shine against him, but he outshines them and does not even allow it to be perceived that they rose simultaneously with him, fair as a bridegroom, swift and great as a giant
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.66
… Basil’s beauty was virtue, his greatness theology, his course the perpetual motion reaching even to God by its ascents, and his power the sowing and distribution of the Word. So that I will not hesitate to say even this, his utterance went out into all lands,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 18
… then it is quite clear that the not believing was their own fault only. And that because God’s part had been fulfilled completely.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 24
… And that which happened to the Babylonian dragon, when, having taken the food it burst asunder in the midst, this also happened unto him. For Christ came not forth again by the mouth of death, but having burst asunder and ripped up in the very midst, the belly of the dragon, thus from His secret chambers (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 8
… as it is, there is nothing of the kind; but, as though they were going forth from Heaven itself, so went they forth. And what the Prophet says of the Sun, that “He is as a bridegroom coming forth out of his chamber,” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 14
Here he shows that [God] counts us worthy of greater and of spiritual [privileges]: for it is said “their sound went out into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 4.12
… and thundering He called loudly to us to return hence to Him into that secret place whence He came forth to us—first into the Virgin’s womb, where the human creature was married to Him,—our mortal flesh, that it might not be for ever mortal,—and thence “as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, rejoicing as a strong man to run a race.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.12
… For, according to the form of God, He is the beginning, that also speaketh unto us, in which “beginning” God created the heaven and the earth; but according to the form of a servant, “He is a bridegroom coming out of His chamber.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.7
… “O that my ways,” says he, “were directed to keep Thy statutes! Then should I not be ashamed, when I have respect to all Thy commandments?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin 2.29
… “As a bridegroom He cometh out of His chamber; as a giant did He exult to run His course. His going forth is from the extremity of heaven, and His circuit runs to the other end of heaven; and no one is hidden from His heat.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 76.6
6. He brought thee then a temporal miracle, that thou mayest seek and admire Him who is Eternal. For He “who came forth as a Bridegroom out of His chamber,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 79.5
… for the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He shall have dominion over the nations.” Hear for the Head; And “He is as a bridegroom coming forth out of His bride-chamber.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 8.4
… For the Word was the Bridegroom, and human flesh the bride; and both one, the Son of God, the same also being Son of man. The womb of the Virgin Mary, in which He became head of the Church, was His bridal chamber: thence He came forth, as a bridegroom from his chamber, as the Scripture foretold, “And rejoiced as a giant to run his way.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 59.3
… the sequence from the similar arrangement of words in the other clause, “He that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me,” would be the unity in nature of the Son and His messenger. And there might, indeed, be no impropriety in so understanding it, seeing that a twofold substance belongeth to the strong man, who hath rejoiced to run the race;
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.6
6. “In the sun hath He set His tabernacle.” Now that He might war against the powers of temporal error, the Lord, being about to send not peace but a sword on earth, in time, or in manifestation, set so to say His military dwelling, that is, the dispensation of His incarnation. “And He as a bridegroom coming forth out of His chamber” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 45.3
… and the very persons invited are the Bride herself. For the Church is “the Bride,” Christ the Bridegroom. There are commonly spoken by balladists certain verses to Bridegrooms and Brides, called Epithalamia . Whatever is sung there, is sung in honour of the Bride and Bridegroom. Is there then no Bridechamber
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 88.9
… where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world?” there is no incongruity in calling them physicians, as if by their own unaided skill they promised the salvation of souls: against whom it is said, “Of the Lord is safety.” But if we take the word giant in a good sense, as it is said of our Lord, “He rejoiceth as a giant to run his course;”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 1.5
… For it was not God the Father who was made man, nor the Holy Ghost, but the Only Begotten of the Father; and so we must hold that there is one Person of the Flesh and the Word: so as faithfully and without any doubt to believe that one and the same Son of God, who can never be divided, existing in two natures (who was also spoken of as a “giant”
18:6
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.33.13
… And when they expressed themselves thus, “His going forth is from the height of heaven, and His returning even to the highest heaven; and there is no one who can hide himself from His heat,”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 Treatise on Christ and Antichrist 64
… and there is no one hid from the heat thereof.”
Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 13
… For He it is who “as a bridegroom goeth forth from his bride-chamber; He exulted as a giant to run his way. His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and His return unto the ends of it.”
St Dionysius of Alexandria † AD 265 Exegetical Fragments 1.2
… For as the eyes of the swine do not turn naturally up towards heaven, just because it is made by nature to have an inclination toward the belly; so the mind of the man who has once been enervated by pleasures is not easily diverted from the tendency thus assumed, because he has not “respect unto all the commandments of the Lord.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 41
III. As to the honour paid to Seven there are many testimonies, but we will be content with a few out of the many. For instance, seven precious spirits are named; for I think Isaiah loves to call the activities of the Spirit spirits; and the Oracles of the Lord are purified seven times according to David,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.66
66. The sun is extolled by David for its beauty, its greatness, its swift course, and its power, splendid as a bridegroom, majestic as a giant;
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Virginity 16
… from which they are very reluctant to extricate themselves. This is always happening, whenever any emotion, instead of virtuous reason, controls the course of a life. For the commandment of the Lord is exceedingly far-shining, so as to “enlighten the eyes” even of “the simple
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.117
117. For it is no small light wherewith Christ encompasses His world: since “His going forth is from the height of heaven, and His progress to the height thereof, nor is there any who can hide himself from His heat.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 10.8
… They shall perish, but Thou remainest, and they all shall wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed.” And again, David saith of the sun, that “he is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a giant to run his course.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Dialogue Against the Luciferians 1
… The strong man is bound, and his goods are spoiled. What the Father says is fulfilled, “Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” “Then the channels of water appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid bare.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 5.1
… say, “Lord, who is like unto Thee?” For neither does he who confesses to Thee teach Thee what may be passing within him, because a closed heart doth not exclude Thine eye, nor does man’s hardness of heart repulse Thine hand, but Thou dissolvest it when Thou wiliest, either in pity or in vengeance, “and there is no One who can hide himself from Thy heart.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 9.4
… What utterances used I to send up unto Thee in those Psalms, and how was I inflamed towards Thee by them, and burned to rehearse them, if it were possible, throughout the whole world, against the pride of the human race! And yet they are sung throughout the whole world, and none can hide himself from Thy heat.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.93
… The calf, then, represents every body or society of Gentile idolaters. This impious society the Lord Christ burns with that fire of which He says in the Gospel, "I am come to send fire on the earth;" for, as there is nothing hid from His heat,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Harmony of the Gospels 1.30
… But now who is so obdurate as not to be moved, who so dull as not to be inflamed, seeing that the saying of Scripture is fulfilled, “For there is not one that is hid from the heat thereof;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 37.9
… For then even one man having received the Holy Ghost, spake by himself with the tongues of all nations. But now in the Church oneness itself, as one man speaks in the tongues of all nations. For what tongue has not the Christian religion reached? to what limits does it not extend? Now is there no one “who hideth himself from the heat thereof;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.7
7. “His going forth is from the highest heaven” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 46.12
… The bow is plots; arms, public warfare; shields, vain presuming of self-protection: the fire wherewith they are burned, is that whereof the Lord said, “I am come to send fire on the earth;” of which fire saith the Psalm, “There is nothing hid from the heat thereof.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 50.3
… For “He hath called the world from the rising of the sun unto the going down.” There is no place where may lurk the conspiracies of heretics, they have no place wherein they may hide themselves under the shadow of falsehood; for “there is none that can hide himself from the heat thereof.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 51.23
… “Oblations and holocausts.” What are “holocausts”? A whole victim by fire consumed. When a whole beast was laid upon the altar with fire to be consumed, it was called a holocaust. May divine fire take us up whole, and that fervour catch us whole. What fervour? “Neither is there that hideth himself from the heat thereof.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 55.24
… “For God hath delivered them unto the desires of their heart.” For they have loved darkness, and not light; they have loved blindness, and not seeing. For behold the Lord Jesus hath shone out to the whole world, let them sing in unity with the whole world: “For there is not one that can hide himself from the heat of Him.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 66.15
… nor though it be called heat, shall we be hot there, but we shall be fervent in spirit. Observe that same heat in another Psalm: “nor is there any one that hideth himself from the heat thereof.”
18:7
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.1
… for a law shall proceed from me, and my judgment for a light to the nations;” wherefore He had determined and decreed that the nations also were to be enlightened by the law and the word of the gospel. This will be that law which (according to David also) is unblameable, because “perfect, converting the soul”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Modesty 6
… “Liberty in Christ” has done no injury to innocence. The law of piety, sanctity, humanity, truth, chastity, justice, mercy, benevolence, modesty, remains in its entirety; in which law “blessed (is) the man who shall meditate by day and by night.” About that (law) the same David (says) again: “The law of the Lord (is) unblameable,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.15
17. Let us look, O Lord, “upon the heavens, the work of Thy fingers;” clear from our eyes that mist with which Thou hast covered them. There is that testimony of Thine which giveth wisdom unto the little ones.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 43
… Yea, “The Lord maketh wise the blind:” and, “The testimony of the Lord is faithful, it giveth wisdom unto little ones:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter 48
… For they too were men, and there was inherent in them that power of nature, which enables the rational soul both to perceive and do what is lawful; but the godliness which transfers to another life happy and immortal has “a spotless law, converting souls,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 22
… if thou wouldst take the light from it, thou dost also at the same time extinguish it; for without the light it cannot remain. But Christ is light inextinguishable and co-eternal with the Father, always bright, always shining, always burning: for if He were not burning, would it be said in the psalm, “Nor is there any that can hide himself from his heat?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.8
8. “The law of the Lord is undefiled, converting souls” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 102.31
31. Perhaps by the heavens we here may understand, without being far-fetched, the righteous themselves, the saints of God, abiding in whom God hath thundered in His commandments, lightened in His miracles, watered the earth with the wisdom of truth, for “The heavens have declared the glory of God.”
18:8
Theodotus † fl. AD 160 Excerpts of Theodotus 1
LVIII. “The law of God is perfect, converting souls.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 7.34
… and what is more wonderful, they speak of a diviner sense, which is very different from the senses as commonly spoken of. For when the prophet says, “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law,” or, “the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.15
… Perfect, O my God, Thy praise out of the mouth of babes and sucklings. Nor have we known any other books so destructive to pride, so destructive to the enemy and the defender, who resisteth Thy reconciliation in defence of his own sins. I know not, O Lord, I know not other such “pure”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.9
9. “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” (
18:9
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 2.20
… And because the sacred word knows the things which produce light, Isaiah says: “Because Thy commandments are a light upon the earth,” and David says in the Psalm,
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.21
… “The covenant was with life and peace; and I gave to them the fear to fear me from the face of my name.” Also in the thirty-third Psalm: “Fear the Lord, all ye His saints: for there is no want to them that fear Him.” Also in the eighteenth Psalm: “The fear of the Lord is chaste, abiding for ever.”
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Hexæmeron 8.8
… You have often served the flesh for pleasure, to-day persevere in the ministry of the soul. “Delight thyself also in the Lord and he shall give thee the desire of thine heart.” Do you love riches? Here are spiritual riches. “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold and precious stones.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.16
… argue—“that a little child scarcely able to recognize its mother by a laugh or a look of joy, which has done nothing either good or evil, is seized by a devil or overwhelmed with jaundice or doomed to bear afflictions which godless men escape, while God’s servants have to bear them?” Now if God’s judgments, they say, are “true and righteous altogether,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 4.2
… But this ill thing I also refused, not out of a pure love
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 145.4
… but he will become the friend of righteousness if through love of it he sin not, for then he will be really afraid to sin. For the man who only fears the flames of hell is afraid not of sinning, but of being burned; but the man who hates sin as much as he hates hell is afraid to sin. This is the “fear of the Lord,” which “is pure, enduring for ever.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 14.9
… for love is susceptible of this fear, yea, love alone is capable of it. But the fear which is not in love is of that kind of which Paul himself says, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear.” But as for that “clean fear which endureth for ever,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 39
… fear thou His severity: neither suffers thee to be proud. For by loving you fear, lest you grievously offend One Who is loved and loves. For what more grievous offense, than that by pride thou displease Him, Who for thy sake hath been displeasing to the proud? And where ought there to be more that “chaste fear abiding for ever and ever,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 2.11
… For if it is the fear of God through which the poor in spirit are blessed, inasmuch as theirs is the kingdom of heaven; let us ask that the name of God may be hallowed among men through that “fear which is clean, enduring for ever.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 43.5
… For how does God tempt not any man , and how does the Lord your God tempt you, to know whether ye love Him? It is also written, “There is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear;” and in another place it is written, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 85.3
… For just as there are two kinds of fear, which produce two classes of fearers; so there are two kinds of service, which produce two classes of servants. There is a fear, which perfect love casteth out; and there is another fear, which is clean, and endureth for ever.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 88.1
… whereas, when it is here said, “The servant is not greater than his lord: if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you,” that servant is meant who is distinguished by the clean fear which endureth for ever.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John 9.5
5. But there is another sentence, which seems contrary to this if it have not one that understands. Namely, it is said in a certain place of the Psalms, “The fear of the Lord is chaste, enduring forever.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.10
10. “The fear of the Lord is chaste, enduring for ever” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.5
… not that fear of which the Apostle saith, “Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear;” for “perfect love casteth out” this “fear,” but that fear which the Prophet calleth “the spirit of the fear of the Lord;” that fear which “is pure, and endureth for ever;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.15
… as though he should say, Perfect in me the fear of Thee; for I have feared Thy judgments? But there is here even a higher sense, which must, as far as God alloweth, be derived from searching the recesses of this Scripture: that is, in the chaste fear of Thee, which abideth from age to age, let my carnal desires be quenched;
18:10
Tertullian † AD 220 Scorpiace 1
… Therefore the state of the times has prompted me to prepare by my pen, in opposition to the little beasts which trouble our sect, our antidote against poison, that I may thereby effect cures. You who read will at the same time drink. Nor is the draught bitter. If the utterances of the Lord are sweeter than honey and the honeycombs,
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Hexæmeron 8.8
… Here are spiritual riches. “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold and precious stones.” Do you love enjoyment and pleasures? Behold the oracles of the Lord, which, for a healthy soul, are “sweeter than honey and the honey-comb.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.77
… And the words of God were made sweet as honeycombs
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 10
Why do you aim at finery in your clothing? He clothed thee with a garment and with sandals. But where is there any reason for these things? “The judgments of God,” he says, “are more to be desired than gold; yea than much fine gold.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 1
… Now, to show that they very exceedingly surpass the nature of precious stones, and the sweetness of any honey, hear the prophet speaking concerning them, and declaring this superiority; “More to be desired are they,” he saith “than gold and much precious stone; sweeter are they also than honey and the honeycomb.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.11
… For neither in His threatenings nor His promises doth God deceive any man, nor can any withdraw either from the ungodly His punishment, or from the godly His reward. “To be desired more than gold, and much precious stone” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.16
126. “Therefore,” he saith, “I love Thy commandments above gold and topaz” ( ver. 127 ). Grace hath this object, that the commandments, which could not be fulfilled by fear, may be fulfilled by love…Therefore, they are above gold and topaz stones. For this is read in another Psalm also, “Above gold and exceeding precious stones.”
18:11
Tertullian † AD 220 The Five Books Against Marcion 4.17
… But God is truly kind even in spiritual blessings. “The utterances of the Lord are sweeter than honey and honeycombs.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.12
12. “For Thy servant keepeth them” ( ver. 11 ). For to him who keepeth them not the day of the Lord is bitter. “In keeping them there is great reward.” Not in any external benefit, but in the thing itself, that God’s judgments are kept, is there great reward; great because one rejoiceth therein.
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 14.14
… “Like the ointment upon the head, which ran down upon the beard of Aaron, which ran down upon the edge of his garment,” nor will it keep undefiled that spiritual knowledge and the words of Scripture which are “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.”
18:12
Theodotus † fl. AD 160 Excerpts of Theodotus 1
“The judgments of the Lord are true,”—sure, and incapable of being overturned; and giving rewards according to what is right, bringing the righteous to the unity of the faith. For this is shown in the words, “justified for the same.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.57
… “Man looketh on the face, but God on the heart.” Also in the Apocalypse: “And all the churches shall know that I am the searcher of the reins and heart; and I will give to every one of you according to his works.” Also in the eighteenth Psalm: “Who understands his faults? Cleanse Thou me from my secret sins, O Lord.”
St Methodius † AD 311 From the Discourse on the Resurrection, Part III 2
… And consider whether it was not for these very things that David entreated God, grieving that he thought of those things which he did not will: “O cleanse Thou me from my secret faults. Keep Thy servant also from presumptuous sins, lest they get the dominion over me; so shall I be undefiled, and innocent from the great offence.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus 2.7
… David also draws the distinction in a few words between the faults due to his own will and the incentives of vice when he says
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.8
… “for yielding pacifieth great offences.” The meaning is, that if the serpent finds his way into your thoughts you must “keep your heart with all diligence” and sing with David, “cleanse thou me from secret faults: keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins,” and come not to “the great transgression”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.12
… and that he is never safe, but must dread shipwreck even in fair weather; and, therefore, that a man cannot be without sin. Solomon says, “There is not a righteous man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not”; and likewise in the book of Kings: “There is no man that sinneth not.” So, also, the blessed David says:
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.28
… “We ought not to commit even light offences.” And for fear some one might think you had not explained in the work the meaning of light, you add that, “We must not even think an evil thought,” forgetting the words,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 1.5
6. Cramped is the dwelling of my soul; do Thou expand it, that Thou mayest enter in. It is in ruins, restore Thou it. There is that about it which must offend Thine eyes; I confess and know it, but who will cleanse it? or to whom shall I cry but to Thee? Cleanse me from my secret sins,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 2.9
17. By what feelings, then, was I animated? For it was in truth too shameful; and woe was me who had it. But still what was it? “Who can understand his errors?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 10.37
… And in this respect also dost Thou command us to be continent. Give what Thou commandest, and command what Thou wilt. Regarding this matter, Thou knowest the groans of my heart, and the rivers of mine eyes. For I am not able to ascertain how far I am clean of this plague, and I stand in great fear of my “secret faults,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 12.7
… And so no other sense but the ear can perceive silence, and yet it is only perceived by not hearing. Thus, too, our mind perceives intelligible forms by understanding them; but when they are deficient, it knows them by not knowing them; for “who can understand defects?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness 33
… For how great soever ever a man’s righteousness may be, he ought to reflect and think, lest there should be found something blameworthy, which has escaped indeed his own notice, when that righteous King shall sit upon His throne, whose cognizance no sins can possibly escape, not even those of which it is said, “Who understandeth his transgressions?”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.13
… 12. ) But what sort of sweetness can there be in sins, where there is no understanding? For who can understand sins, which close the very eye, to which truth is pleasant, to which the judgments of God are desirable and sweet? yea, as darkness closes the eye, so do sins the mind, and suffer it not to see either the light, or itself.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 36.15
… What is the hand of the sinner? The working of him that adviseth ill. Hast thou become proud? Quickly he corrupteth thee who adviseth ill. Humbly fix thyself in God, and care not much what is said to thee. Hence is that which is elsewhere spoken, “From my secret sins cleanse Thou me; and from others’ sins also keep Thy servant.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 40.19
“Innumerable evils have compassed me about” ( ver. 12 ). Who can number sins? Who can count his own sins, and those of others? A burden under which he was groaning, who said, “Cleanse Thou me from my secret faults; and from the faults of others, spare Thou Thy servant, O Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 71.6
… he that now crieth, “Unhappy man I, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Within is a foe, that law in the members; there are without also enemies: unto what cryest thou? Unto Him, to whom hath been cried, “From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord, and from strange sins spare Thy servant.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 20.12
… offences for which David also prays the Lord, and asks for purification and pardon, and says: “Who can understand sins? from my secret ones cleanse me; and from those of others spare Thy servant;”
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 125.11
… Direct both body and mind to the Lord, overcome wrath by patience, love the knowledge of scripture, and you will no longer love the sins of the flesh. Do not let your mind become a prey to excitement, for if this effects a lodgment in your breast it will have dominion over you and will lead you into the great transgression.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.8
… Rather slay the allurements to vice while they are still only thoughts; and dash the little ones of the daughter of Babylon against the stones where the serpent can leave no trail. Be wary and vow a vow unto the Lord: “let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.14
14. “Cleanse me, O Lord, from my secret faults.” From the lusts which lie hid in me, cleanse me, O Lord. “And from the” faults “of others preserve Thy servant” (
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 11
… wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.’ And again, ‘I have meditated on all Thy works, and on the work of Thy hands has been my meditation.’ And, ‘If I have remembered Thee on my bed, and in the morning have meditated on Thee .’ Afterwards, advancing in boldness, they say, ‘The meditation of my heart is before Thee at all times
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 8.6
13. And how, then, Thou didst deliver me out of the bonds of carnal desire, wherewith I was most firmly fettered, and out of the drudgery of worldly business, will I now declare and confess unto Thy name, “O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 9.1
… And this was the result, that I willed not to do what I willed, and willed to do what thou willedst. But where, during all those years, and out of what deep and secret retreat was my free will summoned forth in a moment, whereby I gave my neck to Thy “easy yoke,” and my shoulders to Thy “light burden,” O Christ Jesus, “my strength and my Redeemer”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.15
15. “And the words of my mouth shall be pleasing, and the meditation of my heart is always in Thy sight” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 35.12
… For who is thy helper but the Lord to whom thou sayest, “O Lord, My Strength, and My Redeemer.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.15
15. “And the words of my mouth shall be pleasing, and the meditation of my heart is always in Thy sight” ( ver. 14 ). The meditation of my heart is not after the vain glory of pleasing men, for now there is pride no more, but in Thy sight alway, who regardest a pure conscience. “O Lord, my Helper, and my Redeemer” (
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Supra Psalmista multipliciter egit gratias de beneficiis datis et speratis: hic autem ex consideratione illorum beneficiorum consurgit in laudem benefactoris. Titulus patet, in finem Psalmus David. Secundum litteram refertur ad David; secundum autem mysterium ad Christum, in finem. Dividitur autem Psalmus iste in duas partes. In prima enim commendatur Deus ex sua eruditione, qua nos instruit. Et hoc dupliciter. Una communi, quae se habet aequaliter ad omnes: et haec per opera sua manifestatur: Rom. 1: invisibilia Dei per ea quae facta sunt, intellecta conspiciuntur. Alia speciali, per legis lationem, quae est solum ad fideles. Secundum, ibi, lex domini immaculata. Psalmus iste secundum veritatem exponitur de Christo, quia apostolus de hoc auctoritatem ad mysterium Christi Rom. 1 inducit, in omnem terram exivit et cetera. Nihilominus tamen, sicut mysteria Christi repraesentantur figuraliter quandoque in figuris veteris testamenti, ita quandoque figuraliter praemonstrantur in figuris operum sanctorum. Et ideo primo exponetur iste Psalmus quoad figuram. Secundo quoad veritatem. Et primo loquitur de caelis. Secundo de sole. Per caelos apostoli; per solem Christus intelligitur. In sole. Circa hoc duo facit. Primo ponit doctrinam qua nos erudit Deus per caelos, quomodocumque intellectos. Secundo excludit impedimenta hujus doctrinae, ibi, dies diei eructat verbum et cetera. Duo necesse est cognoscere de Deo. Unum, scilicet gloriam Dei in qua est gloriosus. Secundo opera ejus. Si respiciamus corporales caelos, isti nuntiant nobis gloriam Dei: quia in eis est mira et ordinata distinctio, quae est quaedam redundantia illius in firmitate gloriae: Eccl. 43: species caeli gloria stellarum, mundum illuminans in excelsis dominus. Et quia sol illuminans per omnia respexit, et gloria domini plenum est opus ejus. Et ideo intelliguntur isti caeli materiales indicare nobis gloriam Dei, non quasi animalia materialia, ut Rabbi Moyses dicit, sed in ejus pulchritudine qua multo magis indicatur eorum artifex. Et firmamentum demonstrat nobis, quantum Deus sit magnificus. Firmamentum dicitur caelum, ut dicitur Gen. 1: vocavit Deus firmamentum caelum.
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Secundum autem distinctionem dicitur caelum: et sic in caelorum distinctione apparet divina sapientia: si totum accipiatur simul, sic narrat ejus virtutem; et ideo dicit quod caeli enarrant, idest manifestant, gloriam Dei, et firmamentum nuntiat opera manuum ejus, per quae opera apparet ejus virtus. Secundum autem veritatem, per caelos intelliguntur apostoli, in quibus tamquam in caelis habitat Deus. Et dicuntur caeli propter sublimitatem conversationis: Phil. 3: nostra conversatio in caelis est. Item stellati, propter multarum virtutum abundantiam: Eccl. 43: species caeli gloria stellarum: Is. 55: sicut exaltati sunt caeli a terra etc. quia lucidi per doctrinam et exemplum: Matth. 5: sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, ut videant opera vestra bona, et glorificent patrem vestrum qui in caelis est. Quia volubiles per obedientiam et discursum praedicationis: Eccl. 24: gyrum caeli circuivi sola, et in fluctibus maris ambulavi, et profundum abyssi penetravi, et in omni terra steti, et in omni populo et in omni gente primatum tenui. Isti enarrant gloriam Dei, scilicet patris, in qua est Christus. Et quia Christus est aequalis patri; et quod est Deus, et quod gratis peccata dimittit: Isa. 52: gratis venumdati estis, et sine argento redimemini. Item apostoli dicuntur firmamentum, quia firmati virtute spiritus sancti: Luc. ult. Sedete in civitate donec induamini virtute ex alto. Et annuntiant opera manuum ejus, idest mirabilia quae fecit Christus, scilicet nativitatem, passionem, resurrectionem, et ascensionem: Eccle. 42: nonne Deus fecit sanctos enarrare omnia mirabilia ejus? Isa. 12: annunciate hoc in universa terra. Psal. 95: annunciate inter gentes gloriam ejus, in omnibus populis mirabilia ejus. Vel caeli enarrant, quia caeli novam stellam miserunt, ortum salvatoris nuntiantem: Matth. 2: vidimus stellam ejus in oriente.
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Dies. Hic excludit impedimentum doctrinae: et excludit triplex impedimentum. Aliquando impeditur doctrina, ut non possit addisci, ex tempore: aliquando ex linguarum varietate: aliquando ex locorum diversitate. Primum impedimentum est de nocte: non enim est tempus legendi, cum sit tempus quiescendi: et secundum diversa tempora convenit docere et discere. Et primo dicendum est de materialibus diebus qui causantur secundum naturam ex motu caeli: et ideo non solum substantiam caelorum oportet considerare, sed etiam motum firmamenti: et sic oportet accipere in hac vicissitudine sapientiam: Eccl. 33: quare dies diem superat, et lux lucem, et annus annum a sole? A domini scientia separati sunt, idest dispositi supra. Et ideo dicit dies, succedens, diei eructat verbum, idest diem sapientiae, idest manifestat ordinem et bonitatem divinae sapientiae, inquantum una dies est major alia et cetera. Una die est major aestus quam alia: et sic de singulis. Et nox. Supra ostendit divinam sapientiam et ordinem dispositionis divinae, quia ordinate nox nocti succedit: et dicit quia dies eructat, quia tempus diei est tempus loquendi; et ideo est tempus verbi. Propter quod dicit, eructat verbum. Sed tempus noctis est tempus meditationis propter quietem; et ideo in quiete noctis homo meditatur, et adinvenit multa ex quibus fit sciens; et ideo est tempus scientiae. Et ideo dicit, et nox, succedens, nocti indicat scientiam, idest Dei; quia in una nocte est alia dispositio temporis quam in alia: et hoc totum a scientia Dei disponente. Secundum veritatem apostoli dicuntur dies: et hoc est quod dicit, dies, idest apostoli, eructat verbum, divinae sapientiae: diei, idest perfectis: 1 Cor. 2: scientiam loquimur inter perfectos: non enim omnibus omnia praedicantur; sed clara claris, sancta sanctis, magnis magna praedicant. Item apostolus inquantum est nox, idest in carne vivens et mortalis, infirmitati et ignorantiae rudium condescendens, tanquam nox indicat nocti, idest perfectis scientiam, sed de rebus humanis: 1 Cor. 3: non potui vobis loqui quasi spiritualibus, sed quasi carnalibus. Tamquam parvulis in Christo lac vobis dedi, non escam. Vel dies, idest Gabriel, eructat verbum diei, idest virgini beatae proponit verbum salvatoris; sed, nox, idest Diabolus, indicat scientiam nocti, idest Evae: Gen. 3: eritis sicut dii, scientes bonum et malum. Item secundo impeditur doctrina, secundum varietatem linguarum; sed haec doctrina per hoc non impeditur, quia, non sunt loquelae neque sermones: idest, quaecumque sint illae linguae seu nationes, possunt erudiri de divina sapientia et virtute; et hoc sive per caelos, sive per apostolos: sed secundum veritatem dicendum quod non sunt loquelae et cetera.
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Quorum non audiantur verba eorum, quia voces, sive praedicationes, sive doctrina apostolorum auditur a quolibet. Sed de loquela apostolorum duplex est opinio. Quidam enim dicunt quod apostoli una lingua loquebantur; sed alii omnes eos intelligebant. Sed contra hoc est apostolus 1 Cor. 14: gratias ago Deo meo, quod omnium vestrum lingua loquor. Unde non sunt loquelae, in quibus non audiuntur loqui. Loquelae significant linguas principales; sed sermones significant varietates idiomatum in eadem lingua. Vel loquelae linguae, sermones sunt modi loquendi. Est autem triplex modus loquendi: unus humilis, quem communiter loquimur; alius, quando est coloratus; et alius, quando est ornatus tantum. Primus convenit docenti. Secundus persuadenti. Tertius delectanti; et quolibet istorum modorum loquebantur apostoli: Isa. 28: in loquela labii et lingua altera loquar ad populum istum. Item impedimentum doctrinae est diversitas et remotio loci: quia doctrina aliquando non vadit ad remotas partes; sed non ita est de ista; quia, in omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, scilicet caelorum, vel apostolorum: quia ubique est doctrina, qua caeli erudiunt: sed de apostolis melius dicitur, quia dicit exivit, non exierunt, sonus, idest fama, et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum. Isa. 12: cantate domino, quoniam magnifice fecit; annuntiate hoc in universa terra: Matth. ult.: euntes docete omnes gentes.
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Et ideo dicit, in fines orbis terrae verba eorum: quia sonus pervenit ad remota; et verba ad loca propinqua. Sed non est ita de apostolis; immo etiam verba, idest distinctio soni, pervenit ad fines orbis terrarum, vel prophetia aliqua, vel fama miraculorum.
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In sole. Supra Psalmista fecit mentionem de caelis; et hic ad ostendendam laudem creatoris agit de sole. Et sicut per caelos intelliguntur apostoli, ita per solem intelligitur Christus: Malach. 4: vobis timentibus nomen meum, orietur sol justitiae. Et quaedam prophetiae dicunt hoc de Christo sub figura solis; ideo primo ponit figuram per quam incipit veritatem de Christo explicare. Circa figuram tria ponit. Primo situm solis. Secundo motum, et ipse tamquam sponsus. Tertio effectum ejus: non est qui se abscondat et cetera. Primo sciendum est, quod haec diversa littera Hieronymi habet, soli posuit tabernaculum in eis; quasi dicat: ita caeli enarrant et cetera. Et pro eis, scilicet caelis, posuit soli tabernaculum, idest collocavit eum in caelis. Ponitur convenienter tabernaculum: quia hic mundus est locus viatorum, non habitantium in certo loco, quia sunt in continuo motu. Nostra autem littera habet, in sole posuit tabernaculum suum. Domus alicujus domini pulchrius stat in civitate quam in rure; ita pulchrius in caelo videtur tabernaculum Dei: et ideo dicit, in sole posuit tabernaculum suum; quasi dicat: sol est ejus tabernaculum: non quod Deus in loco contineatur, sed quia, ut Dionysius dicit, in sole maxime repraesentatur bonitas et virtus Dei, sive divina. De motu solis duo dicit, a summo caelo. Nota quod loquitur de caelo sicut est in motu suo, qui est finis noctis et principium diei. Et secundum quod est finis noctis, non est nisi exitus de occulto in manifestum: quia non oritur quasi tunc esse incipiat, sed quia tunc manifestatur: et ideo assimilat eum sponso egredienti de thalamo: quia sicut occultatur sponsus in thalamo, sic occultatur sol de nocte; ideo dicit, ipse tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo. Secundum autem quod est principium diei, quatuor ponit: scilicet proprietatem sive efficaciam ejus, magnitudinem, velocitatem, et regularitatem motus ejus. Proprietatem, quia nox tristitiam indicat; sed dies laetificat: Psalm. 29: ad vesperum demorabitur fletus, et ad matutinum laetitia: et ideo dicit, exultavit. Magnitudinem, quia magnus inter omnia corporalia particularia; et ideo dicit, ut gigas. Velocitatem; unde dicit. Ad currendam. Regularitatem; unde dicit, viam, quia non exorbitat a rectitudine viae, sicut aliqui planetae. Item hanc similitudinem exponit, cum dicit, a summo caelo. Et quod hic dicitur, potest dupliciter intelligi. Uno modo, quia sunt duo puncta secundum astrologos, scilicet summitas caelorum, ubi sol est quando est in meridie, et punctus oppositus qui est angulus terrae, ubi est sol in medio noctis: et hoc est quod dicit, a summo caelo egressio ejus, secundum illos qui incipiunt diem a medio noctis, et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus, quantum ad angulum caeli ubi est in meridie. Sed si ad unum punctum summum referatur, sic est unus punctus, ubi sol est in meridie. Et hoc est quod secundum astrologos plures dies computantur a medio diei; quasi dicat: a puncto meridionali est recursus ejus, scilicet solis, usque ad locum illum: Eccl. 1: oritur sol et occidit, et ad locum suum revertitur.
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Effectus ejus manifestatur cum dicit, nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus; quasi dicat, sol in meridiano ita exurit terram, et ita calidus est quod in aliquibus terris vix homo subsistit: Eccl. 43: in meridiano exurit terram, et in conspectu ardoris ejus quis potest subsistere? Secundum autem rem significatam designantur mysteria Christi. Et primo designatur ipsius conceptio. Secundo nativitas. Tertio ejus progressus. Quarto ejus ascensio. Conceptio designatur, cum dicitur, in sole posuit tabernaculum suum. Est autem consuetum, quod per tabernaculum intelligitur corpus: 2 Pet. 1: scio quod velox est depositio tabernaculi mei, secundum quod dominus noster Jesus Christus significavit mihi: 2 Cor. 5: qui sumus in hoc tabernaculo, ingemiscimus. Quod ergo dicit, in sole posuit etc. idest corpus suum posuit in sole, idest in beata virgine, quae nullam habuit obscuritatem peccati: Cant. 4: tota pulchra es amica mea, et macula non est in te. Vel in sole sunt tria. Lucet, ardet, et distinguit vices temporum. In sole posuit tabernaculum suum, idest in manifesto, quia cum invisibilis esset, per assumptionem corporis factus est visibilis: Jo. 1: verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Item in sole, idest ardore, posuit tabernaculum suum, idest corpus suum, quia suscepit passibile: Isa. 53: vere languores nostros ipse tulit, et dolores nostros ipse portavit. Item subjecit ipsum varietati: et qui secundum quod Deus erat aeternus, secundum quod homo factus est temporalis: Psalm. 30: in manibus tuis tempora mea. Vel, tabernaculum suum, idest Ecclesiam: Apoc. 21: ecce tabernaculum Dei cum hominibus. Posuit in sole, idest in manifesto: Matth. 5: non potest civitas abscondi supra montem posita. Nativitas designatur cum dicitur, ipse tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo. Thalamus uterus virginalis est: de hoc sicut sponsus processit, quia in ea unione perpetua desponsavit humanam naturam: unde in morte divinitas remansit unita animae et corpori: Oseae 2: sponsabo te mihi in fide. Processus viae ejus describitur a jucunditate. Unde, exultavit, interius scilicet cum laetitia spirituali, quam nec mors nec tristitia aliqua in sensualitate potuit perturbare: quia etiam in passione fruebatur: Isa. 42: non erit tristis neque turbulentus; quia ex tristitia sensualitatis nulla tristitia in parte superiori fuit: tamen tota patiebatur secundum quod erat natura; non autem secundum quod erat conversa ad Deum. Item describitur magnitudine: quia, ut gigas, geminae substantiae: quia naturae divinae in qua magnus: Ps. 76: quis Deus magnus sicut etc., et humanae naturae in qua etiam magnus: Luc. 1: hic erit magnus: et cetera. A velocitate: quia salutem nostram operatus est in modico tempore: unde dicit, ad currendam viam: Act. 10: pertransivit benefaciendo et sanando, quasi velociter.
A summo. Hic prosequitur de ascensione: et circa hoc tria facit. Primo ponit ascensionem debitam. Secundo ejus terminum. Tertio effectum debitum ponit. Primum, cum dicit, a summo caelo egressio ejus. Naturale est cuilibet rei tendere in locum suum sibi connaturalem. Locus naturalis summus debetur ei qui habet summam naturam. Christus est natus a patre habens summam naturam: Ephes. 4: qui descendit, ipse est qui et ascendit. Et ideo dicit, a summo caelo egressio ejus, scilicet per aeternam generationem. Et dicit, a summo, non ex aethereo vel Empyreo, vel alio; sed ab esse Trinitatis, quia est consubstantialis patri, idem in essentia. Deinde ponit terminum. Dicit ergo: et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus: Jo. 16: exivi a patre, et veni in mundum: iterum relinquo mundum, et vado ad patrem. Sequitur effectus: nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus: Ephes. 4: dedit dona hominibus. Ibidem: ascendit super omnes caelos, ut adimpleret omnia. Sol quando est in alto, omnes calefacit. Sic Christus ascendens misit spiritum sanctum discipulis; unde dicit. Nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus. Spiritus sanctus calefacit: Can. 8: lampades ejus lampades ignis. Sed numquid multi non recipiunt calorem ejus? Dicendum quod sicut est de sole materiali, ita contingit de spiritu sancto. Multi autem possunt se abscondere, et non recipere calorem solis, sed sol ex parte sua se exhibet omnibus; sic spiritus sanctus effunditur ubique, et petit ab omnibus recipi, nisi aliquis se per malitiam abscondat. Vel non est qui se abscondat etc.: quia licet peccator non recipiat eum, tamen non potest abscondi quin cognoscatur ab eo et cetera. Prov. 15: Infernus et perditio coram domino.
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Lex. Supra Psalmista egit de sua generali instructione, quae fit per creaturas; nunc agit de speciali quae fit per legislationem: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ponit legis commendationem. Secundo agit de delictis quae committuntur contra legem, ibi, delicta quis intelligit. Et convenienter post mysteria incarnationis Christi, agit de lege veteri, quae est per Christum impleta, et nova tradita: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ostendit legis bonitatem sive rectitudinem. Secundo ejus suavitatem seu dilectionem, ibi: desiderabilia. Circa primum tria facit. Primo commendat legem in generali. Secundo ea quae in lege continentur, ibi, testimonium domini. Tertio commendat ea quae adjacent legi, ibi, timor domini. Est autem considerandum, quod de lege domini dicit duo: et quod est immaculata, et quod est convertens: et potest ad utramque legem referri, scilicet novam et veterem: et ponuntur ad differentiam legis humanae, in qua quaedam illicita permittuntur, sicut usurae et prostibula; non enim potest omnia corrigere. Sed lex domini non est talis, sed est immaculata, idest omnia mala excludens: Psalm. 11: eloquia domini, eloquia casta et cetera. Job 6: non invenietis in lingua mea iniquitatem, nec in faucibus meis stultitia personabit. Item lex humana non extendit se nisi ad ea ad quae se habet judicium humanum, scilicet tantum ad exteriora: 1 Reg. 16: homo videt quae apparent, Deus autem intuetur cor. Et ideo lex humana retrahit ab exterioribus, licet divina lex convertat cor ad Deum; et ideo dicit, convertens, non tantum exteriores actus, sed et animas. Sed lex vetus hoc faciebat imperfecte, lex nova perfecte: quia lex vetus cohibet per poenas temporales, quae coercent manum; sed lex nova cohibet per poenas aeternas, quae coercent cor. Continentur autem in lege tria: testimonia, judicia, et praecepta. Testimonia, quia lex divina procedit ex necessitate super aliqua credulitate: Heb. 11: accedentem ad dominum oportet credere. Et ideo necessaria sunt testimonia per quae fides recta hominis probetur; et ita in ea sunt testimonia et caeremoniae. Et dicit de eis duo: quod testimonia sive praecepta habent aliquid fidele, et quod sapientiam praestant. Doctrinae autem humanae habent aliquid non fidele, nec sapientiam praestant. Non fidele, quia antiquitus confinxerunt in legibus quaedam falsa, secundum quod videbatur eis ad utilitatem civitatum: sicut quod quidam homines nati sunt ex diis, ut conciperent magnos animos; et quod bene regentes transferebantur ad deos, ut animarent ad bonum reipublicae. Sed testimonium domini, idest doctrina, seu mandatum divinum est fidele, idest habet veritatem; sed illud, scilicet doctrina illorum est falsa: Psalm. 92: testimonia tua, domine, credibilia facta sunt nimis: et hoc ideo est, quia lex illa ordinat ea quae sunt in vita ista tantum; sed lex divina ordinat ad futuram vitam. Rom. 8: non sunt condignae passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quae revelabitur in nobis. Testimonia proprie dicuntur in lege illa quae generant auctoritatem praecipientis in corde subditorum, ut obediant praeceptis; ut quod Deus sit unus, et quod sit creator caeli et terrae, et hujusmodi. Et quia caeremonialia praecepta sunt ex sola auctoritate divina debita, possent dici testimonia; praecepta vero moralia fundantur in debito omnis virtutis; judicialia vero praecepta fundantur in debito, quod est inter homines quantum ad contractus. Lex autem illa humana non praestat sapientiam: aliqua enim sapientia est in humanis, ubi est aliqua veritas, ut philosophica: et quaedam sapientia est qua utebantur sacerdotes in templo, et haec est falsa: et haec multis proponebatur; sed illa philosophica paucis, sed divina parvulis, quia populis: Deut. 4: haec est sapientia vestra et intellectus coram populis. Vel, parvulis, idest humilibus: Matth. 11: abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis. Justitiae domini rectae, seu judicia illa quae dicuntur Exod. 22: qui furatus fuerit bovem aut ovem et cetera. Isa. 26: rectus callis justi ad ambulandum: Prov. 21: gaudium est justo facere justitiam, et pavor operantibus iniquitatem. Et dicit duo de eis: quod recta, et quod jucunda. Recta, quia continent justitiam. Rectum dicitur justum: Prov. 8: justi sunt omnes sermones mei, et non est in eis pravum quid nec perversum: recti sunt intelligentibus et cetera. Jucunda, non severa et perturbativa, quia sunt aequitati permixta; unde dicit, laetificantes corda, propter aequitatem et spem praemii: Ps. 118: laetabor ego super eloquia tua.
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Moralia vero praecepta sunt lucida et illuminativa; unde dicit, praeceptum domini lucidum. Lucidum dicitur, quia in se est manifestum et evidens, sicut hic, non occides, non moechaberis, non furtum facies, et similia: quae habent in se claritatem, quod quilibet servare tenetur dicens, Prov. 6: mandatum lucerna, et lex lux. Praeceptum dicitur ad quod attenditur secundum imperium superioris; et est de agendis, et importat debitum faciendi in eo cui praecipitur: quod quidem debitum est vel ex parte regulae divinae quam tenemur sequi; et sic illud cadit sub debito, sine quo rationis ordo servari non potest: vel est debitum ex auctoritate praecipientis, cui obedire tenemur: vel ex parte finis, quem omnino volumus, qui est praestitutus nobis; et tunc cadit sub praecepto illud sine quo non possumus servare subjectionem ad praecipientem; vel sine quo non possumus consequi finem intentum. Dicitur enim praeceptum quasi praecise ceptum, scilicet ad agendum: quasi quod praecise teneamur illud agere: ideo tale praeceptum est: illuminans oculos, scilicet rationis, qui oculi tenebrescunt per cupiditatem exteriorum et concupiscentias interiorum passionum: et hoc removet praeceptum domini, et ideo illuminans oculos. Illumina oculos meos, ne unquam obdormiam in morte, Psal. 12.
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Timor. Hic ponit quaedam adjacentia legi: quorum unum est ex parte nostra, scilicet timor, qui inducit nos ad servandum praecepta: Eccl. ult.: Deum time, et mandata ejus observa. Et de timore isto duo dicit. Primo dicit eum sanctum. Secundo dicit eum permanentem. Omnis autem timor ex amore causatur; quia illud timet homo perdere quod amat. Et ideo sicut est duplex amor, ita est duplex timor: quidam est timor sanctus qui causatur ab amore sancto: quidam non sanctus, qui a non sancto causatur. Sanctus amor est quo amatur Deus: Rom. 5: charitas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per spiritum sanctum qui datus est nobis. Timor iste sanctus tria facit. Primo timet Deum offendere. Secundo recusat ab eo separari. Tertio se Deo per reverentiam subjicit: et iste timor dicitur castus et filialis. Non sanctus timor est qui causatur ab amore non sancto, qui est mundi, et suiipsius; et de tali amore non sancto causatur duplex timor non sanctus. Servilis, qui est ex amore sui: et mundanus, qui procedit ab amore mundi: Matth. 10: nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus et cetera. De timore sancto: Ps. 33: timete Deum, omnes sancti ejus, quoniam non est inopia timentibus eum. Mundanus timor non permanet nisi cum mundo: servilis permanet in malis in perpetuum, sed sanctus permanet in bonis. De hoc dicit Psalmus: timor domini sanctus permanet in saeculum saeculi. Sed contra. Perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem, 1 Joan. 4. Dicendum, quod charitas expellit timorem servilem: sed filialis timor dupliciter permanet: scilicet in patria. Primo quantum ad sui praemium: Ps. 9: patientia pauperum non peribit in finem. Non quod ibi sit patientia, quia non est ibi tribulatio, sed fructus ejus: et sic fructus timoris permanet: Eccl. 1: timenti Deum bene erit in extremis, et in die defunctionis suae benedicetur. Vel manet secundum aliquem sui actum: non quod timeat offendere, quia ibi non timet peccatum nec separationem, sed quantum ad reverentiam, quia submittent se Deo, nec audebunt se ei aequare: Job 26: columnae caeli contremiscunt et pavent ad nutum ejus. Ex parte Dei est aliud, scilicet judicium ejus: quod dicitur executio justitiae: Ps. 93: quousque justitia convertatur in judicium. Et haec fiunt secundum quod punit vel praemiat; et ideo judicia domini dicuntur vera et justificata: vera propter rectitudinem, quia in eis semper est veritas: Rom. 2: judicium Dei est secundum veritatem in eos qui talia agunt: non enim sequitur, testimonia humana, sed justificata in semetipsa dicuntur, quia vel non sequuntur aliam superiorem legem, sed in semetipsa. Vel quia in semetipsis ipsa judicia domini habent evidentem justitiam: Ps. 36: et educet quasi lumen justitiam tuam, et judicium tuum tamquam meridiem.
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Desiderabilia. Supra Psalmista commendavit legem divinam quantum ad ejus rectitudinem; hic autem commendat quantum ad ejus suavitatem et jucunditatem: et circa hoc duo facit. Primo ponit ejus commendationem. Secundo talem commendationem probat, ibi, etenim servus tuus. Praefert autem legem quantum ad desiderium animae omnibus rebus mundi. In rebus autem mundanis desiderantur exteriores divitiae et voluptates corporales. Et supra ista est delectatio legis Dei. Quantum ad primum dicit ista quae dicta sunt: desiderabilia super aurum: Prov. 8: melior est sapientia cunctis opibus pretiosissimis, et omne desiderabile ei non potest comparari: Ps. 118: dilexi mandata tua super aurum et cetera. Et tangit illa duo quae homines desiderant; unde dicit, aurum; et pompas, unde lapidem pretiosum. Lapides pretiosi non serviunt nisi ad apparentiam: unde ibi multum potest referri, vel ad lapidem, vel ad pretiosum. Item quantum ad secundum dicit, et dulciora super mel et favum: Psal. 118: quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua. Super mel ori meo. Dicitur mel et favum, quantum ad delectationes corporales. Mel extrahitur a cera; sed favus est mel et cera. Delectationes corporales quandoque sunt manifestae, et sic est mel; quandoque sunt absconditae et dulciores, et sic est favus: Prov. 9: aquae furtivae dulciores sunt et cetera. Vel praeferuntur favo propter vetus testimonium, in quo est mel in favo, veritas in figura: melli propter novum ubi est veritas manifesta. Sed numquid spirituales delectationes sunt delectabiliores? Dicendum est quod sic: et est triplex ratio. Una ex parte boni delectati quod est potius bonum, et ex causa delectationis, quod est majus bonum, ergo magis delectabile. Secunda ex parte potentiae delectantis, quia vis intellectiva est fortior sensitiva. Tertia ex modo delectationum. Corporales delectationes consistunt in fieri et in motu; sicut in cibis et in aliis. Motus autem est quid imperfectum; et quoddam futurum et praeteritum importat; quia non habetur totum simul. Spirituales autem delectationes non sunt in motu: quia consistunt in amando et intelligendo bonum, quod non est in motu; sed per accidens plus desiderantur illae, inquantum abundant aliqui in sensu, et deficiunt in intellectu. Vel sancti homines plus diligunt praecepta Dei quam seipsos. Et sancti designantur per aurum et lapidem pretiosum: 1 Cor. 3: si quis aedificaverit super fundamentum hoc aurum, argentum, lapides pretiosos. Item per mel et favum significantur illi qui alieni sunt a rebus mundi; sed favus sunt illi qui adhuc rebus mundi delectantur: et tales, quia non sunt totaliter alieni, diligunt plus se quam praecepta; alii diligunt plus praecepta quam se. Et hoc probat dupliciter. Primo experimento. Secundo ex effectu.
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Experimento, cum dicit, etenim servus tuus custodit ea; quasi dicat: possum dicere quia dulcia sunt, quia probavi ea: nam ego diligo et experior ea. Nullus autem testimonium potest ferre nisi qui experitur: Joan. 7: si quis voluerit voluntatem ejus facere, cognoscet de doctrina mea utrum ex Deo sit, an ego a meipso loquar: Job 23: vestigia ejus sequutus est pes meus. Ex effectu, idest remuneratione probat idem, cum dicit, in custodiendis illis retributio multa: Matth. 5: gaudete et exultate, quia merces vestra copiosa est in caelis. Et non dicit pro custodia; sed, in custodiendis illis, quia ipsa custodia eorum est magna retributio, scilicet gloria cordis et munditia: 2 Cor. 1: gloria nostra haec est, testimonium conscientiae nostrae. Et sic commendatur lex ab honestate, quando dicit, in custodiendis illis etc. quia honestum idem est quod virtus; et est per se appetibile.
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Delicta. Hic orat pro delictis illorum qui praetereunt legem. Et primo proponit occultationem peccatorum. Secundo petit eorum remissionem, ibi, ab occultis. Tertio ponit rationem petitionis, ibi, si mei et cetera. Dicit ergo: legem frequenter offendimus, sed, delicta quis intelligit? Quasi dicat, nullus. Et hoc propter tria. Primo, quia delictum excaecat oculos peccantis, unde non de facili discernuntur parva peccata: Sap. 2: excaecavit eos malitia eorum. Secundo, quia peccata sunt multa: Psal. 39: circumdederunt me mala quorum non est numerus; comprehenderunt me iniquitates meae, et non potui ut viderem. Item propter eorum subtilitatem: Ps. 39: multiplicati sunt super capillos capitis mei, ex subtilitate: sed non dicit peccata, sed, delicta. Duplex est peccatum: scilicet transgressionis: et hoc facilius cognoscitur, quia homo scit se fecisse actum pravum. Item omissionis: et hoc difficile cognoscitur, quia haec non obligant ad semper, sed pro loco et tempore. Et distingue. Quando est locus et tempus, est difficile affirmare: et quando danda est eleemosyna, qualiter etc. et ubi. Consequenter ponit peccatorum remissionem. Est autem duplex genus peccati. Unum quod sumit initium a nobis; et hoc est praecipue originale, et quae ex corruptione fomitis procedunt, ut peccata carnalia; et haec animam inquinant, quia conjungunt eam rebus terrenis. Et ideo dicit, ab occultis meis munda me, idest quae ab occulta radice procedunt, vel quae in occulto fiunt, vel quae a secreta voluntate oriuntur: Eph. 5: quae in occulto fiunt ab ipsis, turpe est et dicere.
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Aliquando sumunt originem ab alio: ideo dicit, ab alienis parce servo tuo. Sed numquid alicui imputatur alienum peccatum? Ezech. 18: anima quae peccaverit, ipsa morietur. Dicendum, quod non, quando totaliter est alienum; sed quando transit ad te per imitationem: Eccl. 13: qui tetigerit picem, inquinabitur ab ea. Vel persuasionem, vel consensum: Prov. 1: fili mi, si te lactaverint peccatores, non acquiescas eis. Vel per dissimulationem tempore et loco debito, tunc fit tuum, et imputatur: Rom. 1: non solum qui faciunt ea, digni sunt morte, sed etiam qui consentiunt facientibus. Et hoc maxime in praelatis quando dissimulant scienter scelera subditorum. Et dicit, parce servo tuo, quia haec peccata videntur in nobis ex divina ira provenire, quod scilicet hujusmodi occasiones peccati dentur nobis. Vel, ab alienis, superbis hominibus: Psal. 17: filii alieni mentiti sunt mihi.
Si mei. Hic ponitur ratio petitionis. Et primo ex parte David petit immunitatem a malo. Secundo perfectionem in bono, et erunt ut complaceant. Petit autem immunitatem a malo. Et hoc dupliciter: a futuro et a praeterito. Dicit ergo, si mei non fuerint dominati, vel, dominata, scilicet peccata: Ps. 62: in matutinis interficiebam omnes peccatores terrae, idest omnia peccata, quae terra dicuntur propter multas proprietates terrae. Ut disperderem de civitate domini omnes operantes iniquitatem, idest omnes operationes iniquas. Vel dominati, scilicet superbi. Vel, alieni, idest peccatores, vel Daemones qui dicuntur tunc dominari, quando pertrahunt ad consensum: Joan. 8: qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati. Si ergo non fuerint dominati, tunc immaculatus ero, idest servabo me sine macula peccati mortalis, etsi non venialis: Job 15: quid est homo ut immaculatus sit? De praeterito dicit, et emundabor a delicto maximo: Is. 1: si fuerint peccata vestra sicut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur; Job 11: si iniquitatem quae est in manu tua abstuleris a te, et non permanebit in tabernaculo tuo injustitia, tunc levare poteris faciem tuam. Vel maximo, scilicet superbia, quia est initium omnis peccati: Eccl. 10: non est majus peccatum quam apostatare a Deo: et hoc fit per superbiam. Unde peccatum quod est ex superbia, potius est eo quod fit ex ignorantia, vel ex infirmitate: superbia namque est initium et causa omnis peccati; et qui caret illa, est vere immaculatus. Consequenter ponit illud quod pertinet ad perfectionem in bono. Et primo oris; unde dicit, et erunt ut complaceant eloquia oris mei. Quamdiu homo est in peccatis, eloquia sua non placent Deo: Eccl. 15: non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris: Psalm. 49: peccatori autem dixit Deus: quare tu enarras justitias meas, et assumis testamentum meum per os tuum?
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Item ponit perfectionem cordis quae requirit placentiam Dei; unde dicit, et meditatio cordis mei in conspectu tuo semper, idest coram Angelis: vel, qui intus vides et conscientiam inspicis. Et hoc dico, quia tu, domine, es adjutor meus, in bonis agendis, et redemptor meus, a malis cavendis: Isa. 44: revertere ad me, quia redemi te.
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2. Coeli enarrant gloriam Dei, | etopera manuum eiusannuntiat firmamentum. | Duos fontes cognitionis Deus nobis aperuit, duo magna luminaria dedit : creaturarum naturam et revelationem, solem et legem seriptam, subsidium unum naturale, supernaturale alterum. Ex utroque homo erudiatur oportet, utrumque admiratione dignum et ad gloriam Dei manifestandam factum. In hoc unitas carminis concluditur. Semper et ubique coeli annuntiant gloriam Dei ; sol ab ortu usque ad occasum girans calore cuncta penetrat (v. 2-7) ; lex Domini perfecta est, illuminat, laetificat, fructificat ; utinam resplendeat in vita mea (v. 8- 15). : « Sufficit vel sola coelorum quae cernitur pulchritudo atque magnitudo ad Opificis magnificentiam praedicandam ; si enim qui maximum et pulcherrimum aedificium inspicit, architectum miratur et qui navigium videt bene et eleganter constructum, artificem considerat, multo magis mundi fabrica quae cernitur ad Opificem videntes ducit » (Theodoretus). Docetur v. 2 idem quod Sap. 13 proponitur et Rom. 1,20 legitur : invisibilia Dei per ea quae facta sunt intellecta conspiciuntur, sempiterna quippe eius virtus ac divinitas. Personificatio coeli enarrant satis frequens est ; cf. 49,6; 96,6 ; 97,4.8; 148,3 seq. Job 12,8 eto. ; v. à dies diei eructat verbum hebr scaturire facit, plenam et claram tradit notionem ; continuo, interdiu et nocte multipliei modo res crea- er E ל eA "o PS 48, 4-8. 81 xA | - . tae gloriam Dei praedicant. Quomodo autem praedicent, exponitur in - v. ket 5, etin priore quidem ita praedicare dicuntur, ut sermones non possint non audiri, in altero vero ita, ut vox per orbem universum usque ad extremos fines pertingat ; v. 4 non sunt loquelae neque sermones tales, quorum non audiantur voces, non sunt sermones obscuri, submissi, qui nequeant percipi, sed sunt clari, aperti, qui necessario sese auribus ingerant. Sunt qui hune v. 4 ineptum existiment. At sententia videtur satis obvia, ut prius dicatur in hac personificatione verba seu sermones ita fieri, ut debeant audiri et dein quousque extendatur . illa annuntiatio. Bene declarat v. 4 Eusebius : adeo vociferantur ipsis - operibus illae dierum ac noctium 70008 ut eorum doctrina nullas aures lateat. Rem clare quoque expressit Sym : νὺξ νυχτὶ ἀναγγέλλει γνῶσιν, οὐ δήσεσιν οὐδὲ λόγοις, ὧν οὐχ ἀχούονται αἱ φωναὶ, ἀλλ᾽ εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γὴν ἐξῆλθεν - 5 ἦχος αὐτῶν et similiter Aq, annuntiant non sermonibus, quorum non audiuntur voces, sed v. 5 in omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, ὁ φθόγ- γος αὐτῶν, 2407 ὁ χανὼν αὐτῶν; hebr legitur ΘῚΡ funis eorum ? vel sonus? P alii emendant קולם et in fines orbis verba eorum ; ubique itaque et con- E — tinuo haec annuntiatio gloriae divinae promulgatur. . Iam-n coelis sidus consideratur dominans diei nobisque praeclarissi- | mum, et quidem hebr : soli posuit tabernaculum in eis (Hier), in ipsis ; , coelis posuit Deus tabernaculum seu tentorium soli; ei sedem assi- E gnavit; et ex tentorio singulis diebus splendens et gloriosus progreditur v. 6 tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo, ewsultavit, iubilat seu laetatur αὖ gigas ad currendam viam, currere in descriplione herois fortis non deesse potest; cf. 17,34 et Saul et Ionathan celebrantur in carmine aquilis velociores (2 Reg. 1,23) et Asael in - narratione historica vocatur velox in pedibus (vulg cursor velocissimus, 2 Reg. 2,18). Uti in hebr, ita: alii quoque 4 Sym Theod quinta, syr posuit tabernaculum suum τὸ σχήνωμα, αὐτοῦ, ld quod Diodorus ita 3 explicat : 6 fecit Deus, ut. sol nullo vehiculo ferretur, sed ut 1pse a se m gestaretur seque ipsum ferret; hoc namque est : tabernaculum suum 3 posuit in ipso, id est, solem ut sese ferret constituit » (Ag. Corderius, 3 Catena I, p. 360 longiorem locum afferunt). Assentiendum est Theoj doreto monenti hune versiculum magis dilucide σαφέστερον tres inter- , ^ . pretes (Aq Sym Theod) edidisse et ipsum divinum David dixisse ὅτ' : ἔθετο τὸ σχήνωμα ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς τῷ ἡλίῳ. Peragit cursum suum v. 7 a summo coelo egressio eius, a fine, ab extremo coelorum egressus eius e£ occursus eius, circuitus eius usque ad fines eius (coeli), usque 4 ad alterum coeli extremum —- et cuneta calore perfunduntur; « in 7 omnes mundi partes pervenit vitalis eius calor; non autem dixit : non est qui se abscondat a lumine eius, id enim fortasse qui velit effugere posset; at calorem effugere Eum modo potest, cum ille etiam in abditas terrae partes penetret » (Ag.). | | Qui per creaturas Deum ante laudaverat, nunc eum per dationem legis incipit praedicare (Hier). Iam altioris Solet lucis supernaturalis, praeconia recensentur. Nam mandatum lucerna est et lex lux (Prov. 6,23) et lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum et lumen semitis meis (Ps. 118,105). Vocatur autem haec lex divina populo per Moysen et prophetas proposita variis nominibus hie et in psalmo 118 : lex, testimonium, iustitiae, praeceptum seu mandatum, iudicia Dei ;
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v. 8 lez Domini | immaculata, ἄμωμος, תמזים dicitur de vietimis in quibus nullus est defectus; lex itaque sine ullo naevo, omnino sancta, ÀÁq τέλειος, al χαθαρός ; convertens animas, explica potius hebr : recreat, pacat, reficit animam, quasi reducens et restaurans vim et vigorem (erquicken, germanice) festimonium Domini, quo scil. Deus testatur quid a nobis exigat et de se et suis consilus velut testimonium nobis exhibet ; arctius accipitur quasi protestatio quaedam ae denuntiatio seu mulctae 0 poenae violatoribus legis irrogandae, seu commodi ac praemii observatoribus rependendi (Ag. sim. Theod.); fidele, firmum, verax, cui fidi omnino potest ac debet; sapientiam praestans parvulis, simplicibus; testimonium Dei, id quod Deus hominibus testatur, veram in se conünet et piis et humilibus exhibet sapientiam ;
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v. 9 iustitiae Domini | rectae, τὰ διχαιώματα, quae docent 1ustum τὸ δίχαιον et. prohibent iniustum τὸ ἄδιχον (Theod.); hebr 1ussa, praecepta (Hier), quae recta docent et per rectum iter ducunt, adeoque /aetificantes corda ; nam qui rectum - ac Iustum ubique sequitur, pace ac laetitia animi fruetur et ipsa recti cognitio affert gaudium ; praeceptum Domini seu mandatum /ucidum, hebr purum, Sym 4 ἐντολὴ χαθαρά, Aq ἐχλεχτή, sanctum, unice hominis integritatem morum spectans, illuminans oculos, veram tribuens cognitionem, lucem quandam divinam ex doctrina Dei mentibus afferens, qua dignoscatur quae sit voluntas Dei bona et beneplacens et Bene adnotat Ag. ad
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v. 10 timorem Domini solet scriptura τὴν εὐσέ- ῥειαν, 14 est, Dei cultum appellare, v. 10 timor Domini sanctus timor, quem Deus exigit, pietas, cultus, religio nihil habet et postulat nisi eo iam longissime distat a cultu idolorum ; permanens in saeculum saeculi, bfüctum hoc pro creaturis manet in deti p EE ; nunquam Deus iuri suo ut colatur cedere potest nec creatura ab illo officio eximi ; iudicia Domini vera, statuta, iura a Deo stabilita, decreta sunt ל (hebr) e£ iustificata in semetipsa ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ, iusta sunt universa (hebr), . ad unum omnia, pariter iusta sunt, Quanto studio itaque haec Dei statuta et leges prosequenda sint, comparatione effertur
18:11
v. 11 desiderabilia super aurum et aurum purissimum multum (hebr) maiore itaque aestimatione et ardentiore desiderio appetenda quam pretiosissima in rebus possidendis ; insuper afferunt summam quandam suavitatem et animi delicias dulciora super mel et favum, favum redundantem (Hier), super destillationem favorum (Gen. hebr ad verbum), itaque super mel optimum ac purissimum, quod scil. praebet favus mellis stillans. - Laudibus legis celebratis restat ut lex revera fiat et sit norma vitae instituendae ; ν.
18:12
12 etenim servus tuus custodit ea, hebr etiam servus tuus monetur ns, docetur 115, im custodiendis illis retributio multa, merces magna. Lege quidem edocetur simulque perspectum habet praemium magnum observantibus propositum ; at quis tam cautus est et cireumspectus, ut non per ignorantiam aut inconsiderantiam ei multi defectus obrepant (cf. Ag.). De eiusmodi negligentus ait.
18:13
v. 13 - delicta quis intelligit? nam שגג est deficere, errare, peccare « per ignorantiam » (cf. Lev. 5,18) in oppositione ad peccata, quae ex composito et formali rebellione, quasi de industria, « alta manu », manu quasicontra Deum erecta committuntur. Illos errores naevosque quis advertit? quis omnium eorum sibi conscius est? Isti defectus saepe sunt occulti et 1psos pios latent; unde fit petitio : a5 occultis meis munda me ; ignosce ea, ab eis me fac innocentem. Fute in v. 13 posuerünt Áq ἀγνοίας, Sym ἀγνοήματα. | Verum ahud idque maius periculum. imminet : ef ab alienis parce servo (tuo, cum statim sequatur s; mei non fuerint dominati, patet etiam secundum textum latinum postulari, ut liberetur ab hominibus alienis, inimicis ; ut Deus ab illis eum retineat, retrahat (hebr); hebr etiam ab insolentibus, superbis (Hier) contine servum tuum ; Sym ἀπὸ ὑπερηφάνων συντήρησον τὸν δοῦλόν σου. Petit, ne eiusmodi homines superbi — sibi dominentur (hebr); LXX vulg si mei non fuerint dominati, tunc immaculatus ero et immunis ero a delicto maximo, a rebellione contra Deum, ab apostasia. Indicatur periculum quod hominibus creatur a tyrannis, a facinorosis dominatoribus. Quod si autem absit iniqua Ooppressio ac dominatio scelerum ferax, vita quoque ex lege Dei facihus transigetur
18:15
v. 15 e£ erunt ut complaceant eloquia oris mei, verba et cogitationes cordis erunt in beneplacitum coram Iahve, saxo meo et tutore meo (cf. hebr), qui scil. meam causam iusque meum tamquam vindex tuetur.
18:1
… realities, which are manifested to man only by starting from sensible realities and through them (cf. Rom. 1:20). The heavens declare the glory of God, the birds of the air and the lilies of the field awaken in the soul the idea of divine Providence (cf. Ps. 18:1 or Mt. 6:26-30). This is not a matter here of a simple conceptual and logical inference, but of a perception of a poetic kind.
18:2
Sometimes the Bible deals in a practical manner with the problem of God's existence and resolves it with the principle of causality (Heb. 11:3; Rom. 1:20; Wis. 13:1-15:19; Ps. 18:2; Job 12:7 ff.; Jer. 10:11; Is. 37:16; 40:7). Usually the demonstration is based on the cosmological argument. …
18:5
COLOMBO, CRISTOFORO - Psalterium Octaplum by Agostino Giustiniani, Genoa 1516. Beginning of the biographical notes on Columbus ("patria Genuensis") added as a marginal gloss to Ps. 18:5. Copy in the Pont. …
… In it G. inserted, in his commentary on Ps. 18, 5, the first biography of Christopher Columbus (v.).
(by courtesy of Fr. Attorio Vaccaro) GIUSTINIANI, AGONTINO - Page of the Patterium Octaplum of A. G. Genoa 1516, with biographical notes on Christopher Columbus added as a marginal gloss to Ps. 18, 5. Copy of the Pont. …
GIUSTINIANI, AGOSTINO - Page from the Psalterium Octaplum of A. G. Genoa 1516, with biographical notes on Christopher Columbus added as a marginal gloss to Ps. 18, 5. Copy in the Pont. …
18:6
… This doctrine is not Greek, but corresponds to the speculations of the Gnostics in Syria and has much affinity with that of Tatian; in fact Hippolytus treats the two heretics one after the other (Refutatio VIII, chaps. 16 and 17). In his ascension Jesus would have left, according to Ps. 18:6, his body in the sun (Refutatio VIII, chap. 17,3 ff.); a doctrine that was also known to Clement of Alexandria (Eclog. proph., 56,2) and that presupposes the luminous character of …
Although allusions to accessory or ceremonial elements are not lacking (cf. Gen. 29:22, 27; Ecclus. 14:10; Ps. 18:6; Is. 61:10; Jer. 7:34; 16:9; Cant. 3:11; I Mach. 9:37; Mt. 25:1 etc.), in the Bible only in Tob. 8:24 is there mention of a written document drawn up at the time of the marriage.
18:11
Cherubim (Hebrew Plural Hērubhîm)
… From there, from the place "between the c.," God gave his oracles (Ex. 25:18-22; 37:7-9; Num. 7:89) and was therefore called "He who sits above the c." (I Sam. 4:4; II Sam. 6:2; Isa. 37:16; Ps. 80:2; 99:1). When he manifests himself in the storm "he rides upon the c." (Ps. 18:11). They were introduced into Solomon's temple: two, standing at the two ends of the ark, covered it with their lower wings, while the upper ones reached as far as to touch the opposite walls. …
18:16
This disk rests on the primordial waters of the great abyss or tĕhōm (Gen. 1:2; cf. the Akkadian tāmtu) and is consolidated by columns (Ps. 18:16). From the great abyss the waters rise up to feed the springs and rivers. …
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.