The Table of Spiritual Food
It has happened through wandering to sin, but the shepherd turned my soul back to the strayed. It should be noted that no one is inherently bad if they are open to returning. One returns to where they began. Since sin has happened to those turning away from God, it should be abolished.
Regarding the shepherd, he says, 'He led me' (Ps 22:3bc), leading forward and making a way so that we may step into it, himself treading the paths, following his own tracks. For if he drives out the sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him. He speaks of righteousness, that by which the practitioners are righteous, and the paths of it are the things performed according to it. Perhaps righteousness is the general virtue, and the paths of it are the specific virtues. Because of this, the one called upon me led me onto the aforementioned paths of righteousness.
When God is with one, nothing harmful can harm or injure, as the prophet says: 'Behold, the Lord will help me; who will harm me?' (Ps 22:4ab). If indeed one has walked in tribulations and pains, which is called the shadow of death (Ps 22:4c), I will not fear the harmful things, having God with me. The evils here are not the strictly evil things, but the painful ones: poverty, sickness, distress, and the like, concerning which Job says: 'We shall not suffer evils' (Job 1:21). For no one having God with himself encounters evils that are the opposite of the strictly good; for sin is far from all that is in union with God.
He speaks of the rod to rebuke and to discipline, according to the question 'What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod?'; and the staff to support through counsel, exhortation, and advice.
In the beginning, we say that the one in the progresses dwells in a place of grass. Since the one progressing reaches even to the end, there is no remaining sheep.
But having been shown to be rational, a table of rational foods has been beautifully prepared by the Lord. For the Lord, being the one who prepared His own table with wisdom, upon which He set the holy sacrifices, says, 'I have prepared a table before me' (Ps 23:5), which is not an inductive and ethical teaching as before, but a mystical one and the contemplation of the truth.
But consider, even if one is, in this life, seeing the truth through a mirror and through an enigma, being a sheep led by a shepherd, having passed over to the coming age, approaching truth face to face, he approaches the spiritual table according to the promise: 'And I will make a covenant with you to eat and drink at the table of the Father in the truth'; therefore, 'I have prepared' is said. For the God prepared from that place—'Eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and it has not ascended into the heart of man' (Ps 22:5)—God prepared for those who love Him.
And 'Before me' indicates that the Table has been made manifest to me and known to me in the presence of those distressing me, many desiring to contend with me and therefore distressing me. The Lord, wishing to establish me strongly against them, prepared a table before me, upon which solid food is set, so that, having been strongly equipped with this, I might be able to stand bravely against those distressing me. For we do not only attain to the good and perfect, but we have strong and many opponents; as the apostle says, 'For a great door is opened to me, and the opponents are many' (1 Cor 16:9).
This is to say, applying the mind lavishly to it; and this is the priestly anointing, the ointment which Aaron bore as a symbol; for he says, 'Like ointment which descends upon the head, upon the beard, the beard of Aaron' (Ps 133:2). Since wisdom prepared not only a table but also mixed her own wine in a bowl, having been made from a true vine, He mixed this...
Greek
τῆς νομῆς διὰ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν γεγονός, ἀλλ' ὁ ἐπιστρέφων τὸ πεπλανημένον ποιμὴν τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐπέστρεψεν. σημειωτέον ο τι οὐδεὶς κακὸς φύσει τῷ δεκτικὸς ει ναι ἐπιστροφῆς. ἐπιστρέφεται δέ τις ἐκεῖ ε νθα τὴν ἀρχὴν διῆγεν. συμβεβηκυῖα α ρα ἡ ἁμαρτία τοῖς ἀποστραφεῖσι θεόν· διὸ καὶ ἀναιρεθείη. 202 Ps 22,3bc Περὶ τοῦ ποιμένος φησὶν τὸ ̔Ωδήγησέν με, προάγοντος καὶ ὁδοποιοῦντος ι ν' ἐπιβαίνωμεν αι ς αὐτὸς ε τριψε τρίβοις ἐπακολουθοῦντες τοῖς ι χνεσιν αὐτοῦ. ο τ' α ν γὰρ τὰ ι δια πρόβατα ἐκβάλῃ, ε μπροσθεν αὐτῶν πορεύεται, καὶ τὰ ι δια πρόβατα αὐτῷ ἀκολουθεῖ. δικαιοσύνην δὲ λέγει τὴν ε ξιν καθ' η ν πρακτικοὶ τῶν δικαίων ἐσμέν, τρίβους δὲ αὐτῆς τὰ κατ' αὐτὴν ἐπιτελούμενα. η τάχα δικαιοσύνη ἐστὶν ἡ καθ' ο λου καὶ γενικὴ ἀρετή, τρίβοι δὲ αὐτῆς αἱ κατ' ει δος ἀρεταί. ε νεκεν ου ν τῆς ἐπικληθείσης αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ἐμὲ προσηγορίας ὡδήγησέν με ἐπὶ τὰς προειρημένας τρίβους τῆς δικαιοσύνης. 203 Ps 22,4ab Οτ' α ν συνῇ θεός, οὐδὲν τῶν ἐπιβλαβῶν βλάψαι η ζημιῶσαι δύναται, ω ς φησιν ὁ προφήτης· ̓Ιδοὺ κύριος βοηθήσει μοι· τίς κακώσει με; ει ποτ' ου ν καὶ πορευθείην ἐν θλιβεροῖς καὶ ἐπιπόνοις α λέγεται σκιὰ θανάτου, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι τὰ κακωτικά, θεὸν ε χων μετ' ἐμαυτοῦ. κακὰ δὲ ἐνταῦθα οὐ τὰ κυρίως λέγει ἀλλὰ τὰ ἐπίπονα, πενίαν, νόσον, δυσφορίαν καὶ τὰ παραπλήσια, περὶ ω ν ὁ ̓Ιώβ· Τὰ κακὰ οὐχ ὑποίσομεν. οὐ γὰρ θεόν τις ε χων μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ γίνεται ε νθα κακὰ τὰ ἀντικείμενα τοῖς κυρίως ἀγαθοῖς· μακρὰν γὰρ ἡ ἁμαρτία παντὸς συνόντος θεῷ. 204 Ps 22,4c Τὴν μὲν ῥάβδον ἐπιτιμᾶν φησιν καὶ παιδεύειν κατὰ τὸ Τί θέλετε; ἐν ῥάβδῳ ε λθω πρὸς ὑμᾶς; τὴν δὲ βακτηρίαν ὑποστηρίζειν διὰ συμβουλῆς προτροπῆς τε καὶ παραινέσεως. 205 Ps 22,5a 205 ̓Εν ἀρχαῖς ἐφάσκομεν τὸν ἐν ταῖς προκοπαῖς ο ντα κατασκηνοῦν εἰς τόπον χλόης. ἐπεὶ ου ν ὁ προκόπτων καὶ ἐπὶ τὸ τέλος φθάσειεν, οὐκ ε τι μείνας πρόβατον ἀλλὰ λογικὸς ἀναδειχθείς, τράπεζαν ε χει λογικῶν τροφῶν ηὐτρεπισμένην ὑπὸ κυρίου. τῷ γὰρ κυρίῳ τυγχάνοντι καὶ σοφίᾳ ἑτοιμασάσῃ τὴν ἑαυτῆς τράπεζαν, ἐφ' ῃ τὰ ι δια θύματα παρέθηκεν, εὐχαριστῶν φησιν ̔Ητοίμασας 53 ἐνώπιόν μου τράπεζαν, οὐκ ε τι ἐπαγωγικὴν καὶ ἠθικὴν διδασκαλίαν καθὰ πρότερον ἀλλὰ μυστικὴν καὶ τὴν τῆς ἀληθείας θεωρίαν. ἐπίστησον δὲ εἰ καί, ο σον τίς ἐστιν ἐν τῷ βίῳ τούτῳ, δι' ἐσόπτρου καὶ δι' αἰνίγματος τὴν ἀλήθειαν βλέπων πρόβατόν ἐστιν ὑπὸ ποιμένι ἀγόμενον, μεταβὰς δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν μέλλοντα αἰῶνα πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον προσβάλλων τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, πνευματικῇ προσβάλλει τραπέζῃ κατὰ τὸ Κἀγὼ διαθήσομαι ὑμῖν διαθήκην ἐσθίειν καὶ πίνειν ἐπὶ τῆς τραπέζης τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ· ο θεν καὶ τὸ ̔Ητοίμασας ει ρηται. ἀπεντεῦθεν γὰρ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ θεός, Α ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ ι δεν καὶ ου ς οὐκ η κουσεν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη, α ἡτοίμασεν ὁ θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν. καὶ τὸ ̓Ενώπιον δέ μου δηλοῖ πεφανερῶσθαί μοι καὶ ἐγνῶσθαί μοι τὴν Τράπεζαν ἐξ ἐναντίας τῶν θλιβόντων με, πολλῶν ἐχθρεύειν μοι βουλομένων καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θλιβόντων με. ἐνίστασθαί με ἰσχυρῶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ κύριος θέλων ἡτοίμασεν ἐνώπιόν μου τράπεζαν, ἐν ῃ ἐπίκειται στερεὰ τροφή, ι να ταύτης ἀθλητικῶς ἐμφορηθεὶς ἀντιστῆναι γενναίως πρὸς τοὺς θλιβόντας δυνηθῶ. καὶ γὰρ ο τε ἀγαθῶν τελείων τυγχάνομεν, ἰσχυροὺς καὶ πλείονας ε χομεν τοὺς ἀντικειμένους· ῃ φησιν ὁ ἀπόστολος· Θύρα γάρ μοι ἀνέῳγεν μεγάλη, καὶ οἱ ἀντικείμενοι πολλοί. 206 Ps 22,5b Τουτέστιν τὸν νοῦν δαψιλῶς ἐπιχέων αὐτό· τοῦτο δὲ τὸ χρῖσμα ἱερατικόν ἐστι μύρον ου σύμβολον ε φερεν ̓Ααρών· ̔Ως μύρον γάρ φησιν ἐπὶ κεφαλὴν τὸ καταβαῖνον ἐπὶ πώγωνα, τὸν πώγωνα τὸν ̓Ααρών. 207 Ps 22,5c ̓Επεὶ μὴ μόνον τράπεζαν ἡτοίμασεν ἡ σοφία ἀλλὰ καὶ εἰς κρατῆρα ἐκέρασεν τὸν ἑαυτῆς οι νον, ἐξ αὐτῆς γεγενημένον ου σης ἀμπέλου ἀληθινῆς, ἐκέρασεν δὲ τοῦτον
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Discover how early Christians interpreted the Psalms as divine messages and prophecies about salvation and judgment.
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