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they were living under wild brushwood. 30,8a Sons of fools and a dishonorable name 8b and glory extinguished from the earth. See another virtue; as the prophet said: the wicked one is despised before him, but he glorifies those who fear the Lord. Dishonorable, he says, and depraved, lacking every good thing, who even chewed on the roots of trees. Another wickedness is to be such even in poverty. Poor, city-less, homeless, having no cause for pride either from worldly prosperity or from virtue of the soul. 156 30,9a But now, he says, I am their lyre, 9b and they hold me as a byword. 30,10a They loathed me, standing far off, 10b and they did not spare to spit in my face. 30,11a Opening his quiver, he afflicted me 11b and sent a bridle upon my face. 30,12a They rose up at the right hand of my offspring, 12b he stretched out his foot 12c and made paths of their destruction upon me. 30,13a My paths were worn away. Do you see what things most grieve him? To be mocked by such people to their own harm. “Thieves,” he says, “and wicked and defiled and lawless men have made us a study and a byword.” Then he speaks of the calamity and again raises and dramatizes it, that God has done this; 30,13b for he stripped, he says, my robe from me. 30,14a He shot me down with his arrows, 14b and he has dealt with me as he wished; I am steeped in pains. 30,15a My pains return, 15b and my hope is gone like the wind, 15c and my salvation has passed by like a cloud. 30,16a And now my soul will be poured out upon me, 16b and days of pains possess me, 30,17a and by night my bones were crushed 17b and my sinews are loosed. 30,18a With great strength he took hold of my robe; 18b like the collar of my tunic he encompassed me. 30,19a He has considered me as equal to clay, 19b my portion is in earth and ash. 30,20a I have cried to you, and you do not hear me. 20b They stood and considered me, 30,21a and they came upon me unmercifully, 21b I have been scourged with a mighty hand. 30,22a You have set me in pains 22b and cast me away from salvation. 30,23a For I know that death will wear me out; 23b for earth is the house for every mortal. 30,24a For if only, he says, I were able to subdue myself, 24b or to ask another and he would do this for me. Do you see that he says 'I were able' not because of weakness, but because he was prevented? 157 30,25a But I wept for every helpless person. This is not a small thing, beloved,—but could you say something even greater than that?—to have a compassionate mind. 30,25b I groaned when I saw a man in distress. “And yet, though I was wealthy, I did no such thing; I did not rejoice,” he says, “in the calamities of others, which I am now suffering.” 30,26a And I was occupied with good things, 26b and behold, days of evil rather met me. 30,27a My belly boiled and will not be silent, 27b and days of poverty have come upon me. 30,28a Groaning I have gone without a muzzle, 28b and I have stood in the assembly, crying out. 30,29a I have become a brother of sirens, 29b and a companion of sparrows. For the excess of the terrible things that had befallen him forced him to mourn and lament. “Not even if I wanted to can I be quiet,” he says, “and I have stood in the assembly, crying out, respecting none of those present, nor ashamed of the multitude of the gathering.” This happens from the greatness of the calamity. “I have fallen into the wildness of the birds,” he says; “I have become ignorant of my own nature, I am in no better state than they.” David also says this: I have become like a pelican of the wilderness, I have become as an owl in a ruined house. 30,30a And my skin, he says, has become very black, 30b and my bones were roasted from the heat. 30,31a And my lyre has turned to mourning, 31b and my song to weeping for me. See also a certain unpleasant and repulsive sight, all his beauty having faded. And my bones, he says, were roasted from the heat, either from the calamity, or from being always out in the open air. 158 The calamity is varied and manifold, the terrible things are of all kinds. My lyre has turned to mourning, and my song to weeping for me. So he also used a lyre. “But no longer for me

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ὑπὸ φρύγανα ἄγρια διῃτῶντο. 30,8a ἀφρόνων υἱοὶ καὶ ἄτιμον ὄνομα 8b καὶ κλέος ἐσβεσμένον ἀπὸ γῆς. ὅρα καὶ ἑτέραν ἀρετήν· ὅπερ ὁ προφήτης ἔλεγεν· ἐξουδένωται ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ πονηρευόμενος, τοὺς δὲ φοβουμένους τὸν κύριον δοξάζει. ἄτιμοι, φησίν, καὶ πεφαυλισμένοι, ἐνδεεῖς παντὸς ἀγαθοῦ, οἳ καὶ ῥίζας ξύλων ἐμασῶντο. ἑτέρα πονηρία τὸ καὶ ἐν πενίᾳ τοιούτους εἶναι. πένητες, ἀπόλιδες, ἀνέστιοι, οὔτε ἀπὸ κοσμικῆς εὐημερίας ἔχοντες μέγα φρονεῖν οὔτε ἀπὸ ἀρετῆς τῆς κατὰ ψυχήν. 156 30,9a νυνὶ δέ, φησίν, κιθάρα αὐτῶν ἐγώ εἰμι, 9b καὶ ἐμὲ θρύλημα ἔχουσιν. 30,10a ἐβδελύξαντό με ἀποστάντες μακράν, 10b ἀπὸ δὲ προσώπου μου οὐκ ἐφείσαντο πτυέλου. 30,11a ἀνοίξας φαρέτραν αὐτοῦ ἐκάκωσέ με 11b καὶ χαλινὸν ἐπὶ πρόσωπόν μου ἐξαπέστειλεν. 30,12a ἐπὶ δὲ δεξιῶν τοῦ βλαστοῦ μου ἐπανέστησαν, 12b πόδα αὐτοῦ ἐξέτεινε 12c καὶ ὡδοποίησεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ τρίβους ἀπωλείας αὐτῶν. 30,13a ἐξετρίβησαν τρίβοι μου. ὁρᾷς, τίνα ἐστὶ τὰ μάλιστα αὐτὸν λυποῦντα; τὸ παρὰ τοιούτων σκώπτεσθαι ἐπὶ βλάβῃ τῇ ἐκείνων. «κλέπται», φησίν, «καὶ πονηροὶ καὶ μιαροὶ ἄνδρες καὶ παράνομοι μελέτημα καὶ θρύλημα ἡμᾶς ἐποιήσαντο.» εἶτα λέγει τὴν συμφορὰν καὶ ἐπαίρει πάλιν καὶ ἐκτραγῳδεῖ, ὅτι ὁ θεὸς τοῦτο ἐποίησεν· 30,13b ἐξέδυσε γάρ, φησίν, μὲ τὴν στολήν μου. 30,14a βέλεσιν αὐτοῦ κατηκόντισέ με, 14b κέχρηται δέ μοι, ὡς ἐβούλετο· ἐν ὀδύναις πέφυρμαι. 30,15a ἐπιστρέφονται δέ μου αἱ ὀδύναι, 15b ᾤχετό μου δὲ ἡ ἐλπὶς ὥσπερ πνεῦμα, 15c καὶ ὥσπερ νέφος ἡ σωτηρία μου παρῆλθεν. 30,16a καὶ νῦν ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἐκχυθήσεται ἡ ψυχή μου, 16b ἔχουσι δέ με ἡμέραι ὀδυνῶν, 30,17a νυκτὸς δέ μου τὰ ὀστᾶ συνέθλασαν 17b καὶ τὰ νεῦρά μου διαλέλυται. 30,18a πολλῇ ἰσχύι ἐπελάβετό μου τῆς στολῆς· 18b ὥσπερ τὸ περιστόμιον τοῦ χιτῶνός μου περιέσχε με. 30,19a ἥγηται δέ με ἴσα πηλῷ, 19b ἐν γῇ καὶ σποδῷ ἡ μερίς μου. 30,20a κέκραγα δὲ πρὸς σέ, καὶ οὐκ εἰσακούεις μου. 20b ἔστησαν καὶ κατενόησάν μοι, 30,21a ἐπέβησαν δέ μοι ἀνελεημόνως, 21b χειρὶ κραταιᾷ μεμαστίγωμαι. 30,22a ἔταξας δέ με ἐν ὀδύναις 22b καὶ ἀπέρριψάς με ἀπὸ σωτηρίας. 30,23a οἶδα γάρ, ὅτι θάνατός με ἐκτρίψει· 23b οἰκία γὰρ παντὶ θνητῷ γῆ. 30,24a εἰ γὰρ ὄφελον, φησίν, ἠδυνάμην ἐμαυτὸν χειρώσασθαι 24b ἢ δεηθῆναί με ἑτέρου καὶ ποιήσει μοι τοῦτο. ὁρᾷς, ὅτι τὸ ἠδυνάμην οὐ δι' ἀσθένειαν λέγει, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ κεκωλῦσθαι; 157 30,25a ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ παντὶ ἀδυνάτῳ ἔκλαυσα. οὐ μικρὸν καὶ τοῦτο, ἀγαπητέ,-ἀλλ' εἰδείης τι εἰπεῖν καὶ ἐκείνου μεῖζον;-τὸ συμπαθητικὴν ἔχειν διάνοιαν. 30,25b ἐστέναξα δὲ ἰδὼν ἄνδρα ἐν ἀνάγκαις. «καίτοι ἐν πλούτῳ ὢν οὐδὲν τοιοῦτον ἐποίησα· οὐκ ἐφήσθην», φησίν, «ταῖς ἀλλοτρίαις συμφοραῖς, ὅπερ πάσχω νῦν.» 30,26a καὶ ἐπεῖχον ἐγὼ ἐν ἀγαθοῖς, 26b καὶ ἰδοὺ συνήντησάν μοι μᾶλλον ἡμέραι κακῶν. 30,27a ἡ κοιλία μου ἐξέζεσε καὶ οὐ σιωπήσεται, 27b προέφθασαν δέ με ἡμέραι πτωχείας. 30,28a στένων πεπόρευμαι ἄνευ φιμοῦ, 28b ἕστηκα δὲ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ κεκραγώς. 30,29a ἀδελφὸς γέγονα σειρήνων, 29b ἑταῖρος δὲ στρουθῶν. ἡ γὰρ ὑπερβολὴ τῶν κατειληφότων αὐτὸν δεινῶν ἠνάγκαζε θρηνεῖν καὶ ἀποδύρεσθαι. «οὐδὲ βουλόμενος ἡσυχάσαι δύναμαι», φησίν, «ἕστηκα δὲ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ κεκραγὼς οὐδένα τῶν παρόντων αἰδούμενος οὐδὲ αἰσχυνόμενος πλῆθος συνόδου.» τοῦτο δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ μεγέθους γίνεται τῆς συμφορᾶς. «εἰς τὴν τῶν ὀρνίθων θηριωδίαν ἐξέπεσον», φησίν· «ἠγνόησα τὴν φύσιν τὴν οἰκείαν, οὐδὲν ἐκείνων ἄμεινον διάκειμαι.» τοῦτο καὶ ὁ ∆αυίδ φησιν· ὡμοιώθην πελεκᾶνι ἐρημικῷ, ἐγενήθην ὡσεὶ νυκτικόραξ ἐν οἰκοπέδῳ. 30,30a τὸ δὲ δέρμα μου, φησίν, μεμελάνωται μεγάλως, 30b τὰ δὲ ὀστᾶ μου ἀπὸ καύματος συνεφρύγη. 30,31a ἀπέβη δὲ εἰς πένθος ἡ κιθάρα μου, 31b ὁ δὲ ψαλμός μου εἰς κλαυθμὸν ἐμοί. ὅρα καὶ ὄψιν ἀηδῆ τινα καὶ ἀποτρόπαιον, ἅπαν ἀπηνθισμένον αὐτῷ τὸ κάλλος. τὰ δὲ ὀστᾶ μου, φησίν, ἀπὸ καύματος συνεφρύγη, ἤτοι ἀπὸ τῆς 158 συμφορᾶς, ἤτοι ἀπὸ τοῦ αἴθριος εἶναι διὰ παντός. ποικίλη καὶ πολύτροπος ἡ συμφορά, παντοδαπὰ τὰ δεινά. ἀπέβη εἰς πένθος ἡ κιθάρα μου, ὁ δὲ ψαλμός μου εἰς κλαυθμὸν ἐμοί. ἄρα καὶ κιθάρᾳ ἐκέχρητο. «ἀλλ' οὐκέτι μοι