The Manifestation of Mercy in Day and Night
It signifies. I have said many times toward this point: that the punishment is diminished. Let it be said: let more people have done injustice; from these, some did not commit injustice, but showed mercy. His punishment is diminished, and these things have not been done to him sluggishly. When someone previously sinned, he has the works 'going before him to judgment'. They run ahead of him, leading him on to the judgment. But other sins follow. When someone, while acting, does good and a few sins, these follow. 'Likewise', he says, 'also the good works'. As I have said concerning sins, so also concerning good works I will say. However, no one having done good remains without fault above. From it, his punishment is diminished. And he who 'did not know sin nor did it' (1 John 3:5) and the words of the lapses, has far from himself his salvation; he has his salvation pure, neither sin nor lapse being left to it, but not even this, the word of a lapse.
3 O my God, I have cried days to you, and you do not listen, and night, and it does not come to my mind (Ps 142:2). The state of the life of men is diverse. It has some profitable aspects, and it has some dark aspects. And in these human things there are days, which are called 'day', and dark things, which are named 'night'. This therefore he says: and in the pleasant and bright things toward you I cry, and you listen, and in the night I do this, and it does not come to my mind; for after your departure and the dark things no longer being unclear, it has become manifest to me. He listens to our crying in the days; and at night, that is to say, being in the dark state, we have him helping, and in the matter we have received knowledge that he helps; for this is: 'and at night, and it does not come to my mind'. And even if it were to others that this were the case, if this were 'the man before God', he was abandoned, this was not to his mind; for he came to this voluntarily: 'I will go to myself toward the mountain of myrrh' (Song of Solomon 1:4). Myrrh...
His body has journeyed to the mountain, because on behalf of all those who were myrrh-soaked, he accepted death. As for why it is so, let us learn from another psalm: that the dark things are ignorance and night; 'by day,' he says, 'the Lord commands his mercy, and by night he will make it known' (Ps 92:2).
When we clearly and readily see men being pitied, God has commanded his mercy by day. And 'by night' he 'will make it known'; for if you know that God also punishes and hands over in order to make his mercy known—for he does not hand over men to punishments crudely—in this night, the dark one, he will establish it, and the mercy of God will be made known. And by day he commands the mercy when his mercy is manifest, and by night; it is possible to manifest it through the darkness of the state of those being punished. However, even if they also despair, he himself will make known even in the night his mercy.
'And not unto oblivion of me' (Ps 16:11); I do not cry out in ignorance at night, I do not cry out in ignorance that you listen. 'But you dwell among the saints, O praise of Israel' (Ps 67:35). See what he says: you who dwell among the saints and are the praise of all those having pure hearts and seeing you—for such people are Israel—you have not abandoned me; for if you dwell among the saints, and the saints suffer something, they were not abandoned; for how could you be in them, and not simply, but the praise of Israel?
And it is also possible that 'but you dwell among the saints' means this: even if you have surrounded some with a pitiful death and it seems to one that you have withdrawn from me, yet in the saints, in those I teach, in those I think upon, you dwell. If you are in these, I have not been abandoned. And it is possible for the holy things to be taken also upon the blessed logical beings, and upon the holy men, and upon the mysteries of the kingdom of the heavens. For God, being present everywhere, is found in such things, and all such things are his temple, a multi-purpose temple. Therefore, you are a praise in Israel; for he truly...
Greek
σημαίνει. εἶπον πολλάκις εἰς τοῦτο ὅτι ἐλαττοῦται ἡ κόλασις. φέρε εἰπεῖν, ἀδικείτωσαν πλείονες· ἐκ τούτων δέ τινες μὴ ἀδικείτωσαν, ἀλλὰ ἐλεάτωσαν. ἐλαττοῦται αὐτοῦ ἡ τιμωρία καὶ οὐκ ἀργῶς πέπρακται αὐτῷ ταῦτα. ὅταν τις προηγουμένως ἁμαρτήσῃ, ἔχει τὰ ἔργα "προάγοντα εἰς κρίσιν". προτρέχουσιν αὐτοῦ, χειραγωγοῦσιν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ τὴν κρίσιν. ἄλλοις δὲ ἐπακολουθοῦσιν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα. ὅταν τις πράττων καλὰ ποιῇ καὶ ὀλίγα ἁμαρτήματα, ἐπακολουθεῖ ταῦτα. "ὡσαύτως", φησίν, "καὶ τὰ καλὰ ἔργα". ὡς εἶπον περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων, καὶ περὶ τῶν καλῶν ἔργων ἐρῶ. ὅμως οὐδεὶς πράξας καλὸν ἀνω φελὴς μένει. ἐξ αὐτοῦ μειουμένην ἔχει τὴν κόλασιν. ὁ δὲ "ἁμαρτίαν μὴ γνοὺς μηδὲ ποιήσας αὐτὴν" καὶ τοὺς λόγους τῶν παραπτωμάτων πόρρω ἔχει ἀπὸ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ σωτηρίας, καθαρὰν ἔχει τὴν σωτηρίαν, οὐδὲ ἁμάρτημα ἢ παράπτωμα παραμέμεικται αὐτῇ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτο, λόγος παραπτώματος. 3 ὁ θεός μου, κεκράξομαι ἡμέρας πρός σε, καὶ οὐκ εἰσακούσῃ, καὶ νυκτός, καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἄνοιαν ἐμοί. ἡ κατάστασις τοῦ βίου τῶν ἀνθρώπων διάφορός ἐστιν. ἔχει καὶ ἐπωφελῆ τινα, ἔχει δὲ καὶ σκυθρωπά. καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς τούτοις τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις εἰσὶν ἡδέα, καὶ καλεῖται ταῦτα "ἡμέρα", καὶ σκυθρωπά, ἃ ὀνομάζεται "νύξ". τοῦτο οὖν λέγει· καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἡδέσιν καὶ λαμπροῖς πρός σε κράζω, καὶ εἰσακούεις, καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ τοῦτο ποιῶ, καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἄνοιαν ἐμοὶ γίνεται· ἐπινεύσαντος γάρ σου καὶ τῶν σκυθρωπῶν μηκέτι ἀσαφῶν ὄντων, γέγονέν μοι φανερόν. εἰσακούει ἡμέρας ἡμῶν βοώντων· καὶ νυκτὸς δέ, τουτέστιν 27 ἐν τῇ σκυθρωπῇ καταστάσει ὄντες, ἔχομεν αὐτὸν βοηθοῦντα καὶ τῷ πράγματι ἐλάβομεν γνῶσιν ὅτι βοηθεῖ· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν τό· "καὶ νυκτός, καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἄνοιαν ἐμοί". κἂν ἄλλοις ἦν ὅτι οὗτος, εἰ ἦν "ὁ ἄνθρωπος παρὰ θεοῦ" οὗτος, ἐνκατελείπετο, αὐτῷ οὐκ εἰς ἄνοιαν ἦν τοῦτο· ἑκουσίως γὰρ εἰς τοῦτο ἐλήλυθεν· "πορεύσομαι ἐμαυτῷ πρὸς τὸ ὄρος τῆς σζμύρνης"· σζμύρνη γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα. πρὸς τὸ ὄρος πεπόρευται, ὅτι ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν σζμυρνισθέντων ἀνεδέξατο τὸν θάνατον. ὅτι δὲ τοῦθ' οὕτως ἔχει, καὶ ἐξ ἄλλου ψαλμοῦ μάθωμεν, ὅτι τὰ σκυθρωπὰ ἄγνοιά ἐστιν καὶ νύξ· "ἡμέρας", φησίν, "ἐντελεῖται κύριος τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ, καὶ νυκτὸς δηλώσει". ὅτε φανερῶς καὶ προχείρως ἐλεουμένους ἀνθρώπους ὁρῶμεν, ἡμέρας ἐνετείλατο ὁ θεὸς τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ. "καὶ νυκτὸς" δὲ "δηλώσει"· ἐὰν γὰρ εἰδῇς ὅτι καὶ κολάσει παραδίδωσιν θεός, ἵνα δηλώσῃ τὸ ἔλεος ἑαυτοῦ –οὐδὲ γὰρ ὠμῶς παραδίδωσιν κολάσεσιν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους–, ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ νυκτί, τῇ σκυθρωπῇ καταστάσει, δηλωθήσεται τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ἡμέρας δὲ ἐντέλλεται τὸν ἔλεον, ὅταν φανερὰ ᾖν ἡ ἐλεημοσύνη αὐτοῦ, 18 καὶ νυκτός· δύναται διὰ τὸ σκυθρωπὸν τῆς καταστάσεως τῶν κολαζομένων. πλὴν εἰ κἀκεῖνοι ἀφελπίζουσιν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς δηλώσει καὶ ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ τὸν ἔλεον αὐτοῦ. "καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἄνοιαν ἐμοί"· οὐκ ἀγνοῶ κράζων νυκτός, οὐκ ἀγνοῶ ὅτι ἐπακούεις. 4 σὺ δὲ ἐν ἁγίοις κατοικεῖς, ὁ ἔπαινος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ. θεώρει τί λέγει· σὺ ὁ ἐν ἁγίοις κατοικῶν καὶ ἔπαινος ὢν πάντων τῶν καθαρὰν καρδίαν ἐχόντων καὶ ὁρώντων σε –οἱ τοιοῦτοι γάρ εἰσιν ὁ Ἰσραήλ–οὐκ ἐνκατέλειψάς με· εἰ γὰρ ἐν ἁγίοις κατοικεῖς, πάσχουσιν δέ τι οἱ ἅγιοι, οὐκ ἐνκατελείφθησαν ἐκεῖνοι· πῶς γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς ἦς ἄν, καὶ οὐχ ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ' ἔπαινος τοῦ Ἰσραήλ; δυνατὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ "σὺ δὲ ἐν ἁγίοις κατοικεῖς" οὕτως· εἰ καὶ οἰκτρῷ θανάτῳ περιέβαλόν μέ τινες καὶ δοκεῖς κατὰ τοῦτο ἀπεσχοινίσθαι μου, ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις, ἐν τοἷς διδάσκω, ἐν οἷς φρονῶ, κατοικεῖς. εἰ δὲ ἐν τούτοις πάρει, οὐκ ἐνκατελείφθην. δύναται δὲ καθόλου τὰ ἅγια ληφθῆναι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν μακαρίων λογικῶν καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἀνδρῶν καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῶν τῶν μυστηρίων τῆς βασιλείας τῶν οὐρανῶν. πανταχοῦ δὲ παρὼν θεὸς ἐν τοῖς τοιούτοις εὑρίσκεται, καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα ναὸς αὐτοῦ εἰσιν, πολύτροπος ναός. ἔπαινος εἶ οὖν ἐν Ἰσραήλ· ὁ γὰρ ἀληθῶς
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.