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the eye of the soul, and the belly that was given over, I gave myself to healing and therapy, giving my life over to pain and groans, and poverty, as if being healed by certain cycles. But instead of, In poverty is my strength, and my bones were troubled; Symmachus interpreted more clearly, saying: Because of my affliction my strength and my bones grew moldy. For so, he says, I afflicted myself, that because of the excess of the affliction my strength was exhausted and weakened, and the very bones of my soul, and the powers in which I was formerly strong grew moldy; or according to Aquila: And my bones were parched. And these things are necessary for the teaching and example of those wishing to obtain forgiveness for their own sins. I became a reproach beyond all my enemies, and very much so to my neighbors, and a fear to my acquaintances. Those who saw me outside fled from me; I was forgotten like a dead man from the heart; I became like a lost vessel. We refer these things to the time of the passion of our Savior, it would be fitting for them to be said by him, when his enemies, seeing him hanging, mocked him, reproaching, according to what is written in the Gospels; and his acquaintances, and disciples, and friends, falling into fear, withdrew, leaving him; when also the leader of the chorus of his disciples denied him a third time. Then he was also forgotten like a dead man from the heart; but also he was thought to have become like a lost vessel. But nevertheless these things also, being referred to the one confessing in the psalm, show his exceeding affliction. For so he wasted himself away, that his life failed in pain, and his years in groans, and his strength grew weak in poverty, and the bones of his soul were troubled; at which things he was also laughed at by his enemies, as if he were tormenting himself rashly and in vain. And not only among his enemies did he become a reproach, but also among his neighbors who especially knew him, because they lived closest. For these, seeing him wasting away in his confession to God, laughed at him and reproached him. But his kinsmen and friends were also afraid, as if he were mad and out of his senses; so that they withdrew and fled from him, despairing of his salvation, and forgetting him as if he were already dead, and being disposed toward him as about a lost vessel. He said that he had suffered all these things, afflicting himself by confession and repentance. But these, he says, have become such concerning me. But I did not conduct myself so without reason, but because I heard the blame of many dwelling round about, who then gathering together for the same purpose were plotting to take my soul; for the 23.272 unseen and invisible enemies, when I had fallen into sin, banded together with one another, so that they might snatch away my soul. Therefore I, being aware of their plot, gave myself over to so great a punishment, if somehow then God, on account of my so great humiliation, would have mercy on me and deliver me from the plot of the enemies. But I have hoped in you, O Lord; I said: You are my God, in your hands are my lots. While my enemies, he says, were plotting these things against me, I hoped in you, O Lord; and I said that you alone are a sufficient helper for me; for you are my God, in your hands are my lots; instead of which, "my times," the Hebrew reading and the other interpreters have rendered. For even if my enemies especially prevail now, as if having their opportunity against me, yet my times are kept in your hands; in which times I know that my lots are also kept by you. Therefore I rightly beseech and pray at the present to be delivered from my enemies and from those who persecute me. Make your face shine upon your servant; save me in your mercy; O Lord, let me not be ashamed, for I have called upon you. Just as when the sun rises, it is loosed

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ὀφθαλμὸν τῆς ψυχῆς, καὶ τὴν γαστέρα τὴν παραδεδομένην, ἰατρείᾳ καὶ θεραπείᾳ ἐμαυτὸν παρεῖχον, ὀδύνῃ καὶ στεναγμοῖς, καὶ πτωχείᾳ παραδιδοὺς τὸν ἐμαυτοῦ βίον, ὥσπερ διά τινων κύκλων ἰατρευόμενος. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, Ἐν πτωχείᾳ ἡ ἰσχύς μου, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ἐταράχθησαν· σαφέστερον ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσεν εἰπών· ∆ιὰ τὴν κάκωσίν μου ἡ ἰσχύς μου καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ηὐρωτίασαν. Οὕτω γὰρ, φησὶν, ἐμαυτὸν ἐκάκουν, ὡς διὰ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς κακώσεως ἐξατονῆσαί μου καὶ ἐξασθενῆσαι τὴν ἰσχὺν, καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ τῆς ψυχῆς μου ὀστέα, καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐν αἷς πάλαι ἠνδριζόμην ηὐρωτίασαν· ἢ κατὰ τὸν Ἀκύλαν· Καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ μου ηὐχμώθη. Ταῦτα δὲ ἀναγκαῖα πρὸς διδασκαλίαν καὶ ὑπογραμμὸν τῶν ἀφέσεως τυχεῖν βουλομένων τῶν οἰκείων πλημμελημάτων. Παρὰ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθρούς μου ἐγενήθην ὄνειδος, καὶ τοῖς γείτοσί μου σφόδρα, καὶ φόβος τοῖς γνωστοῖς μου. Οἱ θεωροῦντές με ἔξω ἔφυγον ἀπ' ἐμοῦ· ἐπελήσθην ὡσεὶ νεκρὸς ἀπὸ καρδίας· ἐγενήθην ὡσεὶ σκεῦος ἀπολωλός. Ταῦτα ἀναφέρομεν ἐπὶ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦ πάθους τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν, ἁρμόζοι ἂν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ λέγεσθαι, ὅτε οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἀνηρτημένον ὁρῶντες αὐτὸν ἐπετώθαζον ὀνειδίζοντες, κατὰ τὰ γεγραμμένα ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις· οἵ τε γνωστοὶ, καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ, καὶ φίλοι, φόβῳ ὑποπεσόντες, ἀνεχώρουν καταλείποντες αὐτόν· ὅτε καὶ ὁ πρωτοστάτης τοῦ χοροῦ τῶν αὐτοῦ μαθητῶν ἤρνηται αὐτὸν τρίτον. Τότε δὲ καὶ ἀπελήσθη ὡσεὶ νεκρὸς ἀπὸ καρδίας· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐνομίσθη γεγονέναι ὡς σκεῦος ἀπολωλός. Πλὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τὸν ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ ἐξομολογούμενον ἀναφερόμενα ὑπερβάλλουσαν αὐτοῦ παρίστησι κάκωσιν. Οὕτω γὰρ ἑαυτὸν ἐξέτηκεν, ὡς ἐκλείπειν μὲν αὐτοῦ ἐν ὀδύνῃ τὴν ζωὴν, καὶ ἔτη ἐν στεναγμοῖς, ἀσθενῆσαι δὲ ἐν πτωχείᾳ τὴν ἰσχὺν, καὶ τὰ ὀστέα τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ ταραχθῆναι· ἐφ' οἷς καὶ ἐγελᾶτο ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ὡς εἰκῆ καὶ μάτην ἑαυτὸν κατακόπτων. Οὐ μόνον δὲ παρὰ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ἐγίνετο ὄνειδος, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς γείτοσιν αὐτοῦ τοῖς μάλιστα αὐτὸν εἰδόσι, διὰ τὸ ἔγγιστα οἰκεῖν. Οὗτοι γὰρ, ὁρῶντες αὐτὸν κατατρύχοντα ἐν τῇ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐξομολογήσει, κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ καὶ ὠνείδιζον. Οἱ δὲ προσήκοντες αὐτῷ συγγενεῖς καὶ φίλοι καὶ ἐφοβοῦντο, ὡς μεμηνότα καὶ τὰς φρένας ἐξεστηκότα· ὥστε ἀναχωρεῖν καὶ φεύγειν ἐξ αὐτοῦ, ἀπογινώσκοντας αὐτοῦ τὴν σωτηρίαν, λήθην τε αὐτοῦ ποιεῖσθαι ὡσεὶ καὶ νεκροῦ ἤδη γενομένου, καὶ ὡς περὶ σκεύους ἀπολωλότος διακεῖσθαι. Ταῦτα πάντα πεπονθέναι ἔφασκεν, ἑαυτὸν κακῶν ἐξομολογήσει καὶ μετανοίᾳ. Ἀλλ' οἵδε μὲν, φησὶ, τοιοῦτοι γεγόνασι περὶ ἐμέ. Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ ἄνευ λόγου οὕτως ἐμαυτὸν ἦγον, ἀλλ' ἐπειδήπερ ἤκουον ψόγον πολλῶν παροικούντων κυκλόθεν, οἱ τότε συναιρόμενοι ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ λαβεῖν τὴν ψυχήν μου ἐνεθυμοῦντο· οἱ γὰρ 23.272 ἀφανεῖς καὶ ἀόρατοι ἐχθροὶ, περιπεσόντος μου τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ, συνετάσσοντο πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ὅπως διαρπάσωσι τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχήν. ∆ιόπερ ἐγὼ, τῆς τούτων ἐπιβουλῆς συναισθόμενος, τῇ τοσαύτῃ ἐμαυτὸν ἐπεδίδουν τιμωρίᾳ, εἴ πως ἄρα ὁ Θεὸς διὰ τὴν τοσαύτην μου ταπείνωσιν ἐλεήσειέ με καὶ ῥύσαιτο τῆς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπιβουλῆς. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπὶ σοὶ ἤλπισα, Κύριε· εἶπα· Σὺ εἶ ὁ Θεός μου, ἐν ταῖς χερσί σου οἱ κλῆροί μου. Ταῦτα τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου, φησὶ, βουλευομένων κατ' ἐμοῦ, ἐπὶ σὲ ἤλπισα, Κύριε· ἔλεγόν τέ σε μόνον βοηθόν μοι ἀπαρκεῖν· Θεὸς γάρ μου εἶ σὺ, ἐν ταῖς χερσί σου οἱ κλῆροί μου· ἀνθ' οὗ, οἱ καιροί μου, ἡ Ἑβραϊκὴ ἀνάγνωσις καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ ἑρμηνευταὶ ἐκδεδώκασιν. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ τὰ μάλιστα νῦν οἱ ἐχθροὶ κατισχύουσιν, ὥσπερ καιρὸν ἔχοντες κατ' ἐμοῦ, ἀλλ' οἱ ἐμοὶ καιροὶ πεφυλαγμένοι εἰσὶν ἐν ταῖς σαῖς χερσίν· ἐν οἷς καιροῖς καὶ τοὺς ἐμαυτοῦ κλήρους οἶδα παρὰ σοὶ φυλάττεσθαι. ∆ιὸ εἰκότως ἱκετεύω καὶ δέομαι ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ῥυσθῆναι ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου καὶ ἐκ τῶν καταδιωκόντων με. Ἐπίφανον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἐπὶ τὸν δοῦλόν σου σῶσόν με ἐν ἐλέει σου· Κύριε, μὴ καταισχυνθείην, ὅτι ἐπεκαλεσάμην σε. Ὥσπερ ἡλίου ἀνατείλαντος λύεται