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Blessed is he who understands the poor and needy; in an evil day the Lord will deliver him. May the Lord preserve him and keep him alive, and make him blessed on the earth, and not deliver him to the soul of his enemies. May the Lord help him on his bed of pain; you have turned his whole couch in his sickness. The discourse, proceeding next, adds: For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. But our Savior and Lord has recorded these things in the Gospel according to John, as having been spoken from his own person in his discourse to the disciples; through which he said: Truly, truly, I say to you: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is an apostle greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you when you do them. I am not speaking of you all; I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture might be fulfilled: 'He who eats my bread has lifted his heel against me.' But no other Scripture is found saying this, but only the present one, through which it is said: 'He who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me.' It is time, therefore, to understand the things contained in the psalm as having been spoken prophetically with reference to his own person. Wherefore it is also inscribed 'To the end,' referring us either to the consummation of the age in which the things written were fulfilled, or to the last things of what is signified through the psalm. If, then, the preceding things refer to the Savior, you would say that the one who is able to understand the reason for which he took upon himself poverty for our sake is blessed. For though he was rich, for our sake he became poor, that we by his poverty might become rich; And being in the form of God, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, as the divine Apostle clearly taught. And someone else would understand 'the poor and needy' upon hearing him say in the Gospels: Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave me drink; I was a stranger, and you welcomed me; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me; to whom he adds: 'As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.' And thus, therefore, truly blessed is the one who understands the poor and needy who has been thus described. But if the things that have been said refer to David, you might say that these are connected in sequence with the psalm before this one. For since towards the end of the 39th [Psalm] it was said from the person of David: 'But I am poor and needy;' and so great a king said these things, one who had gathered untold wealth for the preparation of the temple afterwards raised by Solomon, making himself small 23.364 and humbling himself, and being modest in soul, and truly being poor in disposition; for this reason the present psalm is attached, blessing the one who understands such a poor man. But the word 'needy' appears neither in the Hebrew, nor among the other interpreters. And according to a fourth interpretation, one might say that the discourse is gnomic and exhortative of philanthropy and love for the poor. For it is fitting to be sympathetic and generous towards those commonly called poor, understanding that God, who judges them to be poor, has brought them into this condition; at once training them through poverty, and also willing that those with abundance in life provide the fruits of their own free will through fellowship with the needy. The rich man, therefore, is tested through the poor man, whether he is ruthless and unsympathetic and unmerciful, or philanthropic and compassionate. Wherefore there is much discourse concerning the needy and poor in the divine commands. And according to a fifth interpretation, you would find another order of the poor, the one blessed by the Savior according to: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven;' in which those

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Μακάριος ὁ συνιὼν ἐπὶ πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα· ἐν ἡμέρᾳ πονηρᾷ ῥύσεται αὐτὸν ὁ Κύριος. Κύριος διαφυλάξαι αὐτὸν καὶ ζωώσαι αὐτὸν, καὶ μακαρίσαι αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ γῇ, καὶ μὴ παραδῷ αὐτὸν εἰς ψυχὴν ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ. Κύριος βοηθήσαι αὐτῷ ἐπὶ κλίνης ὀδύνης αὐτοῦ, ὅλην τὴν κοίτην αὐτοῦ ἔστρεψας ἐν τῇ ἀῤῥωστίᾳ αὐτοῦ. Προιὼν ἑξῆς ὁ λόγος ἐπιφέρει· Καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἄνθρωπος τῆς εἰρήνης μου, ἐφ' ὃν ἤλπισα, ὁ ἐσθίων ἄρτους μου, ἐμεγάλυνεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ πτερνισμόν. Ταῦτα δὲ ἀναγέγραπται ὁ Σωτὴρ καὶ Κύριος ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ἰωάννην Εὐαγγελίῳ ὡς ἐξ οἰκείου προσώπου εἰρηκὼς ἐν τῇ πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς ὁμιλίᾳ· δι' ὧν ἔφασκεν· Ἀμὴν, ἀμὴν, λέγω ὑμῖν· Οὐκ ἔστι δοῦλος μείζων τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, οὐδὲ ἀπόστολος μείζων τοῦ πέμψαντος αὐτόν. Εἰ ταῦτα οἴδατε, μακάριοί ἐστε ὅταν ποιεῖτε αὐτά. Οὐ περὶ πάντων ὑμῖν λέγω· ἐγὼ οἶδα οὓς ἐξελεξάμην· ἀλλ' ἵνα ἡ Γραφὴ πληρωθῇ· Ὁ τρώγων μου τὸν ἄρτον ἐπῆρεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ πτέρναν αὐτοῦ. Ἄλλη δὲ Γραφὴ τοῦτο φήσασα οὐχ εὑρίσκεται, μόνη δὲ ἡ παροῦσα, δι' ἧς εἴρηται· Ὁ ἐσθίων ἄρτον μου ἐμεγάλυνεν ἐπ' ἐμὲ πτερνισμόν. Ὥρα τοιγαροῦν εἰς τὸ αὐτοῦ πρόσωπον τὰ ἐμφερόμενα τῷ ψαλμῷ ὡς ἂν προφητικῶς εἰρημένα ἐκλαβεῖν. ∆ιὸ καὶ εἰς τὸ τέλος ἐπιγέγραπται, ἀναπέμποντα ἡμᾶς ἤτοι ἐπὶ τὴν συντέλειαν τοῦ αἰῶνος καθ' ἣν ἐπληροῦτο τὰ ἀναγεγραμμένα, ἢ ἐπὶ τὰ τελευταῖα τῶν διὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ δηλουμένων. Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἀναφέροιτο τὰ προκείμενα, εἴποις ἂν μακαρίζεσθαι τὸν δυνάμενον συνιέναι δι' ἣν αἰτίαν ἀνείληφε δι' ἡμᾶς πτωχείαν. Ἔτι γὰρ πλούσιος ὢν, δι' ἡμᾶς ἐπτώχευσεν, ἵνα ἡμεῖς τῇ αὐτοῦ πτωχείᾳ πλουτήσωμεν· Ἐν μορφῇ τε Θεοῦ ὑπάρχων ἐκένωσεν ἑαυτὸν, μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν, σαφῶς ἐδίδαξεν ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος. Καὶ ἄλλος δ' ἄν τις συνήσει ἐπὶ πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα, ἀκούων αὐτοῦ λέγοντος ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις· ∆εῦτε, οἱ εὐλογημένοι τοῦ Πατρός μου, κληρονομήσατε τὴν ἡτοιμασμένην ὑμῖν βασιλείαν ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου. Ἐπείνασα γὰρ, καὶ ἐδώκατέ μοι φαγεῖν· ἐδίψησα, καὶ ἐποτίσατέ με· ξένος ἤμην, καὶ συνηγάγετέ με· γυμνὸς, καὶ περιεβάλετέ με· ἠσθένουν, καὶ ἐπεσκέψασθε· ἐν φυλακῇ ἤμην, καὶ ἤλθετε πρὸς μέ· οἷς ἐπιλέγει· Ἐφ' ὅσον ἐποιήσατε ἑνὶ τῶν τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου, ἐμοὶ ἐποιήσατε. Καὶ οὕτως οὖν μακάριος ἀληθῶς ὁ συνιὼν ἐπὶ τὸν οὕτως ἀποδοθέντα πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ∆αυῒδ ἀναφέροιτο τὰ λελεγμένα, εἴποις ἂν ἀκολούθως τῷ πρὸ τούτου ψαλμῷ ταῦτα συνῆφθαι. Ἐπεὶ γὰρ πρὸς τοῖς τελευταίοις τοῦ λθʹ ἐλέγετο ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ ∆αυΐδ· Ἐγὼ δὲ πένης εἰμὶ καὶ πτωχός· ταῦτα δ' ἔλεγεν ὁ τοσοῦτος βασιλεύς, ὁ τὸν ἄφατον πλοῦτον συναγηοχὼς εἰς τὴν παρασκευὴν τοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐγηγερμένου διὰ Σολομῶνος ναοῦ, σμικρύνων 23.364 ἑαυτὸν καὶ ταπεινῶν, καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ μετριοφρονῶν, καὶ ἀληθῶς τῇ διαθέσει πτωχεύων· τούτου χάριν ἐπισυνῆπται ὁ παρὼν ψαλμὸς, μακαρίζων τοῦ συνιέντος ἐπὶ τὸν οὕτω πτωχόν. Τὸ δὲ, πένητα, οὔτε ἐν τῷ Ἑβραϊκῷ, οὔτε παρὰ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἑρμηνευταῖς ἐμφέρεται. Καὶ κατὰ τετάρτην διάνοιαν εἴποι τις ἂν γνωμονικὸν εἶναι τὸν λόγον καὶ παραινετικὸν φιλανθρωπίας καὶ φιλοπτωχίας. Προσήκει γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν κοινότερον λεγομένων πτωχῶν συμπαθητικοὺς εἶναι καὶ μεταδοτικοὺς, συνιέντας, ὡς ὁ κρίνων αὐτοὺς πτωχεύειν Θεὸς εἰς ταύτην αὐτοὺς ἤγαγε τὴν κατάστασιν· ὁμοῦ μὲν καὶ αὐτοὺς γυμνάζων διὰ τῆς πτωχείας, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐν περιουσίᾳ βίου καρποὺς τῆς ἑαυτῶν προαιρέσεως παρέχειν διὰ τῆς εἰς τοὺς ἐνδεεῖς κοινωνίας βεβουλημένος. Πειράζεται γοῦν ὁ πλούσιος διὰ τοῦ πένητος, εἴτε τις ἀνηλεὴς καὶ ἀσυμπάθητος, καὶ ἄσπλαγχνος εἴη, εἴτε φιλάνθρωπος καὶ ἐλεημονικός. ∆ιὸ πολὺς ὁ περὶ τῶν πενήτων καὶ πτωχῶν λόγος ἐν τοῖς θείοις παραγγέλμασι. Καὶ κατὰ πέμπτην δὲ διάνοιαν ἄλλο τάγμα πτωχῶν εὕροις ἂν, τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Σωτῆρος μακαριζόμενον κατὰ τό· Μακάριοι οἱ πτωχοὶ τῷ πνεύματι, ὅτι αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν· ἐν οἷς τοὺς