The Judgment of Cities and the Error of the Jews
From here he brings in other words of the psalm. We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, being crowned with glory and honor through the suffering of death; for it was necessary for him, through whom all things and through whom all things, to lead many sons into glory, to perfect the leader of their salvation through sufferings (Ps 8:8–9).
Behold the sequence: it is not set to rule over all mortal creatures, but over the days (Ps 8:10). For the one-horned does not hold sway, nor does he stand against the others, strong and wild, as to rule the days, from the sheep and the ox and all the cattle of the field, and the following. I think this is not well said. For before these transgressions, man ruled; and the righteous rule even after these transgressions, as Daniel, having been thrown into the den of lions and suffering no harm from any of them, and Paul, having shaken off the viper from his own hand upon the fire. For wild beasts, they say, shall make peace with you; and in addition to these, the beasts of the field are included, as we have learned in Genesis.
It is fitting that the song spoken concerning the resurrection of the Savior should have a resemblance to the end at the beginning (Ps 8:10); for beginning and ending use the same words, the Spirit teaching the beginning to be the end according to the subject. It agrees with 'O Lord, how wonderful is your name in all the earth: let all the earth worship you and sing praises to you' (Ps 9:1).
Since it is not being defined who the Son is, what the Savior is is being made manifest in many ways by being so named. Indeed, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, Paul says, 'Christ, if he is a Son upon his own house, not we are' (Heb 1:8/2:13 context); and again, 'At the end of these days he spoke to us in a Son' (Heb 1:2); and the Savior himself writes about himself in the Gospel, 'If the Son does not set you free, you will be free indeed' (John 8:36). And also the proposed triumphal song has a reference to the end. For on account of that end, the Savior arrived, about which the precursor of the apostles writes: 'Having grasped the end of faith, the salvation of souls, concerning which salvation the prophets searched and inquired, and after a little time, testifying to the sufferings toward Christ...'
Regarding the glories that follow these things. Perhaps the Jews, concerning Absalom as the son of the one singing, will say that the inscription is true, being rebuked as they have not rightly received it, and because they are always in error for not searching the Scriptures. For what is it even plausible to say in the work 'On the Hidden Things', if they do not uncover the thoughts of Absalom that occurred in secret, regarding how the hidden things lie? And what is said by them possesses much elegance.
Such a sitting signifies him as a judge, but not that a certain seat has been established. Stand firm, if there is room to say, that after the nations have been rebuked, the impious shall perish in the manner of their ways, so as to no longer profit them. And this shall happen, the previously spoken thing being fulfilled thus: 'The way of the ungodly shall perish' (Ps 9:7a).
But the aggressions of the enemy are, in a sense, the heretical teachings and the vices according to appearance, which some have left as if they could no longer contend super-abundantly as cities, and they themselves shall be destroyed; for cities are collections of people standing together and being governed unlawfully. For it has been written concerning the one establishing them as 'building cities in vain and preparing cities in iniquity'. For their substance is wrongdoing and the shedding of blood of those being scandalized. The Savior, having arrived, pulls these down, pulling down the enemy who wishes to rule tyrannically, having been as it were cities.
Having seen this courage with divine eyes and speaking well, they say he is the best, as if uttering a gracious voice from one voice, beginning thus: 'Lord my God, I will glorify you, I will praise your name, what you have done wonderful things, an ancient and true counsel'; may it be, Lord, that what you have made cities into dust, a city of the ungodly, shall never be built for ever. Stand firm, if it signifies the raised ruin of Jerusalem, of the Savior having been crucified in it, of its citizens being the remainder of the ungodly because of the killing of the Lord (Ps 9:7b). 'The structure after the shout instead of with peace of those conquering has risen' (Ps 9:7b).
It exhorts the things set forth to withdraw indeed from wickedness and impiety, and to approach indeed virtue and piety (Ps 9:8b-9). For what mind, believing these things spoken thus, would not...
Greek
ἐφεξῆς τὰς ἑτέρας λέξεις τοῦ ψαλμοῦ ἐπήγαγεν Τὸν δὲ βραχύ τι παρ' ἀγγέλους ἠλαττωμένον βλέπομεν ̓Ιησοῦν διὰ τὸ πάθημα τοῦ θανάτου δόξῃ καὶ τιμῇ ἐστεφανωμένον· ε πρεπεν γὰρ αὐτῷ, δι' ου τὰ πάντα καὶ δι' ο ν τὰ πάντα, πολλοὺς υἱοὺς εἰς δόξαν ἀγαγόντα, τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν διὰ παθημάτων τελειῶσαι. 50 Ps 8,8–9 Ορα τὴν ἀκολουθίαν· οὐ καθάπαξ πάντων θνητῶν ζῴων α ρχειν τέθειται, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἡμέρων. οὐ γὰρ κρατεῖ μονοκέρωτος, οὐδὲ τῶν α λλων ἰσχυρῶν τε καὶ ἀγρίων παρίσταται ὡς ἡμέρων α ρχειν ἐκ τοῦ Πρόβατα καὶ βόας πάσας, ε τι δὲ καὶ τὰ κτήνη τοῦ πεδίου, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. Νομίζω τοῦτο μὴ καλῶς εἰρῆσθαι. πρὸ γὰρ τῆς παραβάσεως καὶ τούτων η ρχεν ὁ α νθρωπος· οἱ δίκαιοι δὲ καὶ τούτων μετὰ τὴν παράβασιν α ρχουσιν, ὡς ∆ανιὴλ ἐν τῷ λάκκῳ τῶν λεόντων βληθεὶς καὶ μηδεμίαν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὑποστὰς βλάβην, καὶ ὁ Παῦλος τὴν ε χιδναν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ χειρὸς ἐκτινάξας ἐπὶ τὴν πυράν. Θῆρες γὰρ α γριοι, φησίν, εἰρηνεύσουσίν σοι· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις διὰ τῶν κτηνῶν τοῦ πεδίου περιείληπται καὶ τὰ θηρία, ὡς ἐν τῇ Γενέσει μεμαθήκαμεν. 51 Ps 8,10 Επρεπεν τὴν ἐπὶ ἀναστάσει τοῦ σωτῆρος λεγομένην ᾠδὴν ο μοιον ε χειν τῇ ἀρχῇ τὸ τέλος· καὶ γὰρ ἀρχόμενος καὶ λήγων τῇ αὐτῇ κέχρηται λέξει, διδάσκοντος τοῦ πνεύματος τὴν ἀρχὴν τῷ τέλει καθ' ὑποκείμενον ει ναι· συνᾴδει τῷ ̔Ως θαυμαστὸν τὸ ο νομά σου ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ τὸ Πᾶσα ἡ γῆ προσκυνησάτωσάν σοι καὶ ψαλάτωσάν σοι. 52 Ps 9,1 Μὴ προσκειμένου δὲ τοῦ τίνος ὁ υἱὸς ὑπάρχει, φανερὸν ο τι ὁ σωτήρ ἐστιν δηλούμενος πολλαχοῦ ου τως ὀνομαζόμενος. ἐν γοῦν τῇ πρὸς ̔Εβραίους ἐπιστολῇ ὁ Παῦλος, Χριστός, ει πεν, ὡς υἱὸς ἐπὶ τὸν οι κον αὐτοῦ, ου οι κός ἐσμεν ἡμεῖς· καὶ πάλιν ̓Επ' ἐσχάτου τῶν ἡμερῶν τούτων ἐλάλησεν ἡμῖν ἐν υἱῷ· καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ σωτὴρ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ ̓Εὰν ου ν ὁ υἱὸς ὑμᾶς ἐλευθερώσῃ, ο ντως ἐλεύθεροι γενήσεσθε. Ευ δὲ καὶ τὸ Εἰς τέλος ἀναφορὰν ε χειν τὴν προκειμένην ἐπινίκιον ᾠδήν. τοῦ γὰρ τέλους ἐκείνου χάριν ἐπεδήμησεν ὁ σωτήρ, περὶ ου ὁ πρόκριτος τῶν ἀποστόλων γράφει Κομιζόμενοι τὸ τέλος τῆς πίστεως σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν, περὶ η ς σωτηρίας ἐξεζήτησαν καὶ ἐξηρεύνησαν προφῆται, καὶ μετ' ὀλίγα Προμαρτυράμενοι τὰ εἰς Χριστὸν παθήματα καὶ τὰς μετὰ ταῦτα δόξας. Ισως ̓Ιουδαῖοι περὶ τοῦ ̓Αβεσσαλὼμ ο ντος υἱοῦ τοῦ ψάλλοντος ἐροῦσιν τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν ει ναι, ἐλεγχόμενοι ὡς οὐ καλῶς αὐτὴν ἐξειλήφασιν, α τε διὰ πάντων ἐσφαλμένοι τῷ μὴ ἐρευνᾶν τὰς γραφάς. τί γὰρ καὶ πειθανὸν εἰπεῖν ε χουσιν εἰς τὸ Περὶ τῶν κρυφίων, εἰ μὴ α ρα περὶ τῶν κρύβδην γεναμένων σκέψεων τοῦ ̓Αβεσσαλὼμ ἀροῦσιν τὰ ὑπὲρ τῶν κρυφίων κεῖσθαι; ε χει δὲ πολλὴν εὐήθειαν τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπ' αὐτῶν. 53 Ps 9,5–6 ̔Η τοιαύτη κάθισις κριτὴν αὐτὸν σημαίνει, ἀλλ' οὐ τὸ ἐπί τινος καθέδρας ἱδρῦσθαι. ἐπίστησον, εἰ χώραν ε χει ε τι εἰπεῖν, ἐπιτιμηθέντων τῶν ἐθνῶν, ἀπόλλυσθαι ἀσεβῆ τὸν α θεον τρόπον αὐτῶν ω στε μηκέτι χρηματίζειν αὐτούς. συμβήσεται δὲ τοῦτο, πληρουμένου τοῦ πρότερον εἰρημένου ε χοντος ου τως· ̔Οδὸς ἀσεβῶν ἀπολεῖται. 54 Ps 9,7a ̔Ρομφαῖαι δὲ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ ει εν α ν ι σως αἱ αἱρετικαὶ διδασκαλίαι καὶ αἱ κατ' ει δος κακίαι, αι τινες ἐξέλειπον ὡς μηκέτι δύνασθαι ὑπεραγωνίζεσθαι ω ν ει χον πόλεων, καὶ αὐταὶ καθαιρεθήσονται· ἀθροίσματα δὲ αἱ πόλεις παρανόμως συστᾶσαι 13 καὶ διοικούμεναι. γέγραπται γὰρ περὶ τοῦ ἱδρυσαμένου αὐτὰς ὡς ει η Οἰκοδομῶν πόλεις ἐν αι μασιν καὶ ἑτοιμάζων πόλεις ἐν ἀδικίαις. ἡ γὰρ υ λη αὐτῶν ἀδικήματα καὶ ε κχυσις αἱμάτων τῶν σκανδαλιζομένων ἐστίν. ταύτας καθελεῖ ἐπιδημήσας ὁ σωτήρ, καθελῶν τὸν ἐχθρὸν τυραννικῶς κρατεῖν θέλοντα ω ν ῳ ετο ἐσχηκέναι πόλεων. οἱ ταύτην τὴν ἀνδραγαθίαν ο μματι θείῳ θεασάμενοι εὐφημοῦντες τὸν ἀριστέα φασὶν ὡς ἐκ μιᾶς φωνῆς τὴν χαριστήριον προφέροντες φωνήν, ἀρχόμενοι ω δε· Κύριε ὁ θεός μου, δοξάσω σε, ὑμνήσω τὸ ο νομά σου, ο τι ἐποίησας θαυμαστὰ πράγματα, βουλὴν ἀρχαίαν ἀληθινήν· γένοιτο, κύριε, ο τι ε θηκας πόλεις εἰς χῶμα, πόλις τῶν ἀσεβῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα οὐ μὴ οἰκοδομηθῇ. ἐπίστησον εἰ σημαίνει τὸ ἀνέγερτον πτῶμα τῆς ̔Ιερουσαλὴμ, τοῦ σωτῆρος ἐν αὐτῇ σταυρωθέντος, τῶν πολιτῶν αὐτῆς ο ντων λοιπὸν ἀσεβῶν διὰ τὴν κυριοκτονίαν. Ps 9,7b Τὸ Μετ' η χους ἀντὶ τοῦ Οὐ σὺν ἠρεμίᾳ ἀλαλαγμοῦ νικησάντων τὸ κατόρθωμα ὑπῆρκται. 55 Ps 9,8b.9 Προτρέπει τὰ προκείμενα ἀναχωρῆσαι μὲν κακίας καὶ δυσσεβείας, προσελθεῖν δὲ ἀρετῇ καὶ εὐσεβείᾳ. τίς γὰρ νοῦν ε χων πιστεύσας τοῖς ου τως εἰρημένοις οὐ
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Discover how early Christians interpreted the Psalms as divine messages and prophecies about salvation and judgment.
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