The Psalm as the Voice of the Savior
The morning perception; a psalm of David. It is a spiritual day being made by the 'Sun of Righteousness,' about which much is laid down in the Scriptures, and especially in the New; 'as in a day,' he says, 'let us walk decently' (Ps 90:12). You know that even according to the literal sense, those doing something shameful do so in darkness, and especially then, when many good people were present. He who is, therefore, in ignorance of the existing good, is in darkness and does many things bringing shame. But when one is illumined by the light of the true one, 'walking in the day,' that is, progressing—for walking signifies progress—he does and thinks all things decently, nothing of those bringing shame.
The prophet Isaiah also presents this state, saying: 'My spirit cries out to you, O God, in the night' (Isa 26:9). This, therefore, is the morning perception; for even if we have illumination and the beginning of the day, we beg for the light to be present, so that the day may not fail, so that it may not be unable. 'Unto the end,' therefore, 'for the morning perception'; for having begun the day according to the perception of God, if the one perceiving remains in the same intention toward the one helping, he remains in that perception until the whole day; for if he perceives something in the beginning having only a little light, he perceives much more when it becomes midday. You find many such things lying in the Scriptures. God appeared to Abraham at no other time than at midday; for then the light had become at its peak. Moreover, the sun is at its zenith as if to be a shadowless thing to the air around us. But he says these things more allegorically, since even the literal sense leads to this.
This is also what the bride says to her own bridegroom: 'Tell me, whom my soul has loved, where do you graze and where do you gaze at midday?' (Song 3:1-4). At the beginning of the day, by which you graze, I have become. But I seek the midday time, when the light is at its peak. 'Where do you graze, where do you gaze?' so that being there as a companion with you, I may work the work; for I too want those sheep, which you graze, to graze. And the holy women who were shepherds, such as Rebekah, bring a symbol of such a state. 'For the' 'morning perception.' But who has the morning and the...
Is it possible to say at the beginning of the day, 'the night has passed, the day has approached'? For this reason also the women seeking Jesus, when he was crucified, did not see him at the midday hour (Matt 27:45), but from early morning. You know therefore also that the history concerning the Savior truly holds in general regarding everything significant, in which his works shine more than human things as light. We say that it happens in the morning time, when it takes hold of illumination so as to say: 'early I will stand before you and watch.' Such is also this: 'for you were darkness, but now in the light of the Lord' (Eph 5:8). 'Unto the end,' therefore, since the expected thing attained its end, which the economy of the Savior established and perfect virtue.
Listen then: this psalm is single-personed. That which says 'person' from the beginning until the end is the same. And there occur often in psalms and in prophecies shifts of persons, both of those speaking and toward what is being said and concerning what is being said; for everyone who speaks carries the person of the one announcing. And since he does not speak as it happens, but speaks to certain people, there is also a second person: the one hearing the speaker and the matter concerning which he announces. The speaking part therefore is one person here.
And many things were taken from this psalm in the New Covenant, as if spoken from the person of the Savior, the one the psalm is said to be. Entirely this is so: 'the God, my God' (Ps 22:1); the Savior, encountering the cross, said this voice. And 'they divided my garments among themselves' (John 19:24) was also said by the Savior, having been said in the Gospels. And 'I will announce your name to my brothers' (Heb 2:26); Paul in the Hebrews wrote that this was said from the person of the Savior. Since, therefore, three testimonies lie here from the psalm, that the speaker is the person of the Savior, the whole psalm must be received as having been announced from his person.
And I say this necessarily—and I have also inserted it in those works concerning the Incarnation—since they always present to us words as if concerning the body of the Savior having existed, such as: 'but a body I have prepared for myself,' and: 'Christ suffering in the flesh for us,' we say that: if it were appropriate 'only': 'but only a body I have prepared for myself.' There is sometimes to wear more garments. If someone says concerning someone, 'look, I have a cloak, I have a tunic, a garment...'
Greek
ἀντιλήμψεως τῆς ἑωθινῆς· ψαλμὸς τῷ ∆αυίδ. ἐστὶν ἡμέρα πνευματικὴ γινομένη ὑπὸ τοῦ "ἡλίου τῆς δικαιοσύνης", περὶ ἧς πολλὰ ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς καὶ μάλιστα ἐν τῇ καινῇ κεῖται· "ὡς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ", φησίν, "εὐσχημόνως περιπατήσωμεν". οἶδας ὅτι καὶ κατὰ τὸ ῥητὸν οἱ ἀσχήμονά τινα ποιοῦντες ἐν σκότει αὐτὰ ποιοῦσιν καὶ μάλιστα τότε, ὅτε ἐνῆσαν πολλοὶ καλοὶ ἄνθρωποι. ὁ ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ οὖν τῶν καλῶν ὑπάρχων ἐν σκότει ἐστὶν καὶ πράττει πολλὰ τῶν ἀσχημοσύνην φερόντων. ὅταν δέ τις καταυγασθῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ φωτὸς τοῦ ἀληθινοῦ "ἐν ἡμέρᾳ περιπατῶν", τουτέστιν προκόπτων–ὁ γὰρ περίπατος προκοπὴν δηλοῖ–, εὐσχημόνως πάντα πράττει καὶ φρονεῖ οὐδὲν τῶν φερόντων ἀσχημοσύνην. ταύτην τὴν κατάστασιν παριστὰς καὶ ὁ προφήτης Ἰσαίας λέγει· "ἐκ νυκτὸς ὀρθρίζει τὸ πνεῦμά μου πρὸς σέ, ὁ θεός". αὕτη οὖν ἡ ἑωθινὴ ἀντιλήμψεως χρῄζει· κἂν γὰρ ἔχωμεν φωτισμὸν καὶ ἀρχὴν ἡμέρας, δεόμεθα τοῦ φωτὸς παρεῖναι, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιλείψῃ ἡ ἡμέρα, ἵνα μὴ δύνῃ. "εἰς τὸ τέλος" οὖν, "ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀντιλήμψεως τῆς ἑωθινῆς"· ἀρξαμένης γὰρ τῆς ἡμέρας κατὰ ἀντίλημψιν θεοῦ, ἐὰν ὁ ἀντιλαμβανόμενος μένῃ ἐν τῇ αὐτῇ προθέσει π̣ρὸς τὸν βοηθουμενόν, καὶ μέχρι ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας ἐν τῇ ἀντιλήμψει μένει· εἰ γὰρ ἐν τῇ ἀρχῇ τῇ βραχὺ φέγγος ἐχούσῃ ἀν τιλαμβάνεται, πολλῷ πλέον, ὅταν μεσημβρία γένηται. εὑρίσκεις οὖν πολλὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς κείμενα. ὁ θεὸς ὤφθη τῷ Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἄλλῳ καιρῷ ἢ τῷ μεσημβρινῷ· τότε γὰρ ἀκμαῖον γέγονεν τὸ φῶς. καὶ λοιπὸν κατὰ κορυφῆς γέγονεν ὁ ἥλιος ὡς ἄσκιον εἶναι τὸν περὶ ἡμᾶς ἀέρα. ταῦτα δὲ ἀλληγορικώτερον λέγει, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ ῥητὸν χειραγωγεῖ εἰς τοῦτο. τοῦτό τοι καὶ ἡ νύμφη πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτῆς νυμφίον λέγει· "ἀπάγγειλόν μοι, ὃν ἠγάπησεν ἡ ψυχή μου, ποῦ ποιμαίνεις καὶ ποῦ κοιτάζεις ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ"; ἐν ἀρχῇ τῆς ἡμέρας, καθ' ἣν ποιμαίνεις, γέγονα. τὸν μεσημβρινὸν δὲ καιρόν, ὅτε ἀκμάζει τὸ φῶς, ζητῶ. "ποῦ ποιμαίνεις, ποῦ κοιτάζεις"; ἵν' ἐκεῖ γενομένη ὡς σύμβιος σὺν σοὶ ἐργάζωμαι τὸ ἔργον· κἀγὼ γὰρ βούλομαι ἐκεῖνα τὰ πρόβατα, ἃ ποιμαίνεις, νέμειν. καὶ σύμβολον τῆς τοιαύτης καταστάσεως φέρουσιν αἱ ἅγιαι γυναῖκες αἱ ποιμαίνουσαι, οἵα ἦν ἡ Ῥεβέκκα. "ὑπὲρ τῆς" οὖν "ἀντιλήμψεως τῆς ἑωθινῆς". τίς δὲ ἔχει τὴν ἑωθινὴν καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἡμέρας ἢ ὁ δυνάμενος εἰπεῖν· "ἡ νὺξ προέκοψεν, ἡ ἡμέρα ἤγγισεν"; διὰ τοῦτο καὶ αἱ γυναῖκες αἱ ζητοῦσαι τὸν Ἰησοῦν, ὅτε ἐσταυρώθη, ἐν 24 τῷ μεσημβρινῷ καιρῷ οὐχ εἶδον αὐτόν, ἀλλ' ἕωθεν πρωίας. οἴδατε οὖν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἱστορίας τῆς κατὰ τὸν σωτῆρα ἀληθῶς ἔχειν καθόλου μὲν περὶ παντὸς σπουδαίου, οὗ λάμπει τὰ ἔργα ἔνπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἷα φῶς. λέγομεν, ὅτι ἐν ἑωθινῷ καιρῷ γίνεται, ὅταν ἀρχὴν λάβῃ τοῦ φωτισμοῦ ὥστε εἰπεῖν· "τὸ πρωὶ παραστήσομαί σοι καὶ ἐφόψομαι". τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν καὶ τό· "ἦτε γὰρ σκότος, νῦν δὲ ἐν φωτὶ κυρίου". "εἰς τὸ τέλος" οὖν, ἐπεὶ τέλος ἀπέλαβεν τὸ προσδοκώμενον, ὃ ἡ οἰκονομία τοῦ σωτῆρος κατώρθωσεν καὶ ἡ τελεία ἀρετή. ἄκουε λοιπόν· ὁ ψαλμὸς οὗτος μονοπρόσωπός ἐστιν. τὸ λέγον πρόσωπον ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς μέχρι τοῦ τέλους τὸ αὐτό ἐστιν. γίνονται δὲ πολλάκις καὶ ἐν ψαλμοῖς καὶ ἐν προφητείαις μεταβολαὶ προσώπων, καὶ τῶν λεγόντων καὶ πρὸς ἃ λέγεται καὶ περὶ ὧν λέγεται· πᾶς γὰρ ὁ λέγων πρόσωπον φέρει τοῦ ἀπαγγέλλοντος. καὶ ἐπεὶ οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχεν λέγει, ἀλλὰ τισὶν λέγει, ἔστιν καὶ πρόσωπον δεύτερον τὸ ἀκοῦον τοῦ λέγοντος καὶ πρᾶγμα περὶ οὗ ἀπαγγέλλει. τὸ λέγον οὖν πρόσωπον ἐνταῦθα ἕν ἐστιν. ἐλήφθη δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τούτου ἐν τῇ καινῇ διαθήκῃ πολλὰ ῥητά, ὡς ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ σωτῆρος τοῦ ψαλμοῦ εἰρημένου. ὅλως αὐτὸ τοῦτο τό· "ὁ θεὸς ὁ θεός μου"· ὁ σωτὴρ ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ τυγχάνων εἶπε τὴν φωνήν. ἐλέχθη καὶ τὸ "διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτιά μου ἑαυτοῖς" ἀπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος εἰρημένον ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις. καὶ τό· "ἀπαγγελῶ τὸ ὄνομά σου τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου"· Παῦλος ἐν τοῖς Ἑβραίοις ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτὸ εἰρῆσθαι 16 ἔγραψεν. ἐπεὶ τοίνυν τρεῖς μαρτυρίαι κεῖνται ἀπὸ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ, ὅτι πρόσωπον τοῦ σωτῆρός ἐστιν τὸ λέγον, ὅλον τὸν ψαλμὸν ἐκ προσώπου αὐτοῦ ἀπαγγελθέντα δεῖ λαβεῖν. καὶ ἀναγκαίως τοῦτο λέγω–παρεθέμην δὲ αὐτὸ καὶ ἐν τοῖς περὶ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀεὶ φέρουσιν ἡμῖν ῥη τὰ ὡς σῶμα ἐσχηκότος τοῦ σωτῆρος οἷον· "σῶμα δὲ κατηρτίσω μοι", καί· "Χριστοῦ παθόντος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν σαρκί", ἐλέγομεν ὅτι· εἰ προσέκειτο "μόνον"· "σῶμα δὲ μόνον κατηρτίσω μοι". ἔστιν ποτὲ ἱμάτια πλείονα φορεῖν. ἐὰν περί τινός τις λέγῃ, φέρε, ὅτι ἔχω φᾶρον, ἔχω λώπιον, ἱμάτιον,
About this text
Didymus the Blind on the Psalms.
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.