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that the city might be deemed worthy of some pity, and regain its former good repute, with its walls rebuilt, and the worship according to the law being performed. For now, he says, it is not possible for those inhabiting a foreign land to offer the appointed sacrifices to you, since the law prescribes sacrificing in that city alone. But if we should obtain our return, and rebuild the temple, then we will offer to you the sacrifices according to the law. And it is very fitting for them, "And you will open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise." For theirs is the voice: "How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?" But the end of this psalm also has another prophecy. For since he set forth above the gifts of the all-holy Spirit, then descending he showed that the God of all is not pleased with sacrifices according to the law, he beseeches that the new Zion appear, and the heavenly Jerusalem be established on earth, and that the new commonwealth be granted as quickly as possible, which offers not irrational victims, but the offering and sacrifice of righteousness, and the rational and living whole burnt offerings, about which the blessed Paul says, 80.1253 "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." For the most divine David, knowing, since he had learned the unseen and hidden things of the wisdom of God, that the new covenant holds the perfect remission of sins, desiring a most swift and perfect release from sins, and himself yearning to obtain a summary and bountiful purification, says these things.

INTERPRETATION OF THE 51ST PSALM. 1, 2. "For the end. Of understanding for David. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said to him: David has come to the house of Abimelech." And from this it is clear that Abimelech had two names. For Doeg, as the history of the first of Kings teaches, reported Ahimelech to Saul, and drove him to the slaughter of the priests. And he calls him Abimelech both here and in the thirty-third psalm. The divine David, having learned of the slander that had occurred against the priests, composed this psalm, anointing the wronged for endurance and perseverance, and teaching the justice of the divine decree. For this very reason he inscribed the psalm "For the end," and "of understanding," so that, using understanding, we might await the end of things. And it also has a prediction, in the same way, of the madness of Rabshakeh, who, though originating from the Hebrews, then became a captive of the spear, learned the impiety of the Assyrians who had enslaved him, and used blasphemous words against God, and tried to deceive the multitude of the Jews with deceitful speeches. 80.1256 [And the inscription of the first psalm after the fiftieth has suggested this interpretation to us. But this Prophet himself stated it more clearly, beginning from here thus:] 3. "Why do you boast in evil, O mighty one, in lawlessness all the day long?" He calls Doeg mighty, as one associated with Saul; and Rabshakeh, as one entrusted with command. And he forms the saying as a question, exhorting not to be proud in evil, nor to spend all one's time in wickedness. For "all the day long," Symmachus has said "every day." 4. "Your tongue has devised injustice; like a sharpened razor, you have wrought deceit." "With false words," he says, "you defile your tongue"; for he has put "devised" instead of "uttered"; and like a sharpened razor, you deliver your speech, contriving destruction for those who are persuaded. 5. "You have loved evil more than goodness, injustice more than to speak righteousness." "You have chosen," he says, "the worse things over the better; and of words you have preferred the false to the true; and you embrace the unjust over the just." 6. "You have loved all words of engulfing,

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οἴκτου τινὸς ἀξιωθῆναι τὴν πόλιν, καὶ τὴν προτέραν εὐκληρίαν ἀπολαβεῖν, τῶν περιβόλων ἀνορθουμένων, καὶ τῆς κατὰ νόμον τελουμένης λατρείας. Νῦν μὲν γὰρ, φησὶ, τὴν ἀλλοτρίαν οἰκοῦντας τὰς ὡρισμένας σοι θυσίας προσφέρειν οὐκ ἔνεστιν, ἐν ἐκείνῃ μόνῃ τῇ πόλει θύειν τοῦ νόμου διαγορεύοντος. Εἰ δὲ τῆς ἐπανόδου τύχοιμεν, καὶ τὸν νεὼν ἀνορθώσαιμεν, τηνικαῦτά σοι τὰς ἐννόμους θυσίας προσοίσομεν. Ἁρμόττει δὲ λίαν αὐτοῖς, "Καὶ τὰ χείλη μου ἀνοίξεις, Κύριε, καὶ τὸ στόμα μου ἀναγγελεῖ τὴν αἴνεσίν σου." Αὐτῶν γάρ ἐστι φωνή· "Πῶς ᾄσο μεν τὴν ᾠδὴν Κυρίου ἐπὶ γῆς ἀλλοτρίας;" Ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἑτέραν προφητείαν τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τοῦδε τὸ τέ λος. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῦ παναγίου Πνεύματος ἄνω τὰ δῶρα προτέθεικεν, εἶτα κατιὼν ἔδειξε τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεὸν ταῖς κατὰ νόμον θυσίαις οὐκ ἀρεσκόμενον, ἱκετεύει τὴν νέαν ἀναφανῆναι Σιὼν, καὶ τὴν ἐπου ράνιον Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἐπὶ γῆς πολισθῆναι, καὶ ὅτι τάχιστα παρασχεθῆναι τὴν καινὴν πολιτείαν, τὴν οὐκ ἄλογα προσφέρουσαν θύματα, ἀλλὰ τὴν τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀναφορὰν καὶ θυσίαν, καὶ τὰ λογικὰ καὶ ζῶντα ὁλοκαυτώματα, περὶ ὧν μακάριος λέγει 80.1253 Παῦλος, "Παρακαλῶ ὑμᾶς, ἀδελφοὶ, διὰ τῶν οἰ κτιρμῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ παραστῆσαι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν θυσίαν ζῶσαν, ἁγίαν, εὐάρεστον τῷ Θεῷ τὴν λο γικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν." Εἰδὼς γὰρ ὁ θειότατος ∆αβὶδ, ἅτε τὰ ἄδηλα καὶ τὰ κρύφια τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ σοφίας μεμαθηκὼς, ὡς ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη τελείαν ἔχει τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων τὴν ἄφεσιν, ταχίστης καὶ τελείας τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ἀπαλλαγῆς ἐφιέμενος, καὶ τῆς συντόμου καὶ φιλοτίμου καθάρσεως τυχεῖν καὶ αὐτὸς ὀρεγόμενος, ταῦτά φησι.

ΕΡΜΗΝ. ΤΟΥ ΝΑʹ ΨΑΛΜΟΥ. αʹ, βʹ. "Εἰς τὸ τέλος. Συνέσεως τῷ ∆αβίδ. Ἐν τῷ εἰσελθεῖν ∆ωὴκ τὸν

Ἰδουμαῖον, καὶ ἀπαγγεῖ λαι τῷ Σαοὺλ, καὶ εἰπεῖν αὐτῷ· Ἦλθε ∆αβὶδ εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ἀβιμέλεχ." Καὶ ἐντεῦθεν δῆλον, ὡς διώνυμος ὁ Ἀβιμέλεχ. Ὁ γὰρ ∆οὴκ, ὡς ἡ πρώτη τῶν Βασιλειῶν ἱστορία διδάσκει, τὸν Ἀχιμέλεχ εἰσήγγειλε παρὰ τῷ Σαοὺλ, καὶ εἰς μιαιφονίαν τῶν ἱερέων ἐξέμῃνε. Τοῦτον δὲ καὶ ἐνταῦθα, καὶ ἐν τῷ τριακοστῷ τρίτῳ ψαλμῷ Ἀβιμέλεχ ὀνο μάζει. Τὴν γεγενημένην κατὰ τῶν ἱερέων συκοφαντίαν μεμαθηκὼς ὁ θεῖος ∆αβὶδ, τοῦτον συν έγραψε τὸν ψαλμὸν, εἰς ὑπομονὴν καὶ καρτερίαν τοὺς ἀδικουμένους ἀλείφων, καὶ τῆς θείας ψήφου διδάσκων τὸ δίκαιον. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο καὶ "Εἰς τὸ τέλος" ἐπέγραψε τὸν ψαλμὸν, "καὶ συνέσεως," ἵνα συνέσει χρώμενοι, τῶν πραγμάτων τὸ τέλος προσμέ νωμεν. Ἔχει δὲ καὶ πρόῤῥησιν κατὰ ταὐτὸν τῆς Ῥαψάκου μανίας, ὃς ἐξ Ἑβραίων ὁρμώμενος, εἶτα γενόμενος δορυάλωτος, τῶν ἐξανδραποδισάντων Ἀσσυρίων μεμάθηκε τὴν ἀσέβειαν, καὶ βλασφή μοις ἐχρήσατο κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγοις, καὶ ἀπατηλοῖς ἐπειράθη φενακίσαι ῥήμασι τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὸ πλῆθος. 80.1256 [Καὶ ἡ μὲν ἐπιγραφὴ τοῦ πρώτου μετὰ τὸν πεντηκοστὸν ψαλμὸν ταύτην ἡμῖν ὑπέθετο τὴν ὑφ ήγησιν. Αὐτὸς δὲ οὗτος ὁ Προφήτης σαφέστερον αὐτὸ ἔφησεν ἀπαρχόμενος ἐντεῦθεν οὕτως·] γʹ. "Τί ἐγκαυχᾷ ἐν κακίᾳ, ὁ δυνατὸς, ἀνομίαν ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν;" ∆υνατὸν μὲν καλεῖ τὸν ∆ωὴκ, ὡς τῷ Σαοὺλ προσοικειωμένον· τὸν δὲ Ῥαψάκην, ὡς τὸ στρατηγεῖν πεπιστευμένον. Εἰς ἐρώτησιν δὲ σχηματίζει τὸν λόγον, μὴ μέγα φρονεῖν ἐπὶ κακίᾳ παρεγγυῶν, μηδὲ πάντα καιρὸν ἀναλίσκειν εἰς πο νηρίαν. Τὸ γὰρ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν, καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ὁ Σύμμαχος εἴρηκεν δʹ. "Ἀδικίαν ἐλογίσατο ἡ γλῶσσά σου, ὡσεὶ ξυρὸν ἠκονημένον, ἐποίησας δόλον." Ψευδέσι, φησὶ, λόγοις μολύνεις τὴν γλῶτταν· τὸ γὰρ ἐλογίσατο, ἀντὶ τοῦ ἐφθέγξατο τέθεικεν· καὶ ξυροῦ δίκην ἠκο νημένου, προσφέρεις τὸν λόγον, τοῖς πειθομένοις ὄλεθρον μηχανώμενος. εʹ. "Ἠγάπησας κακίαν ὑπὲρ ἀγαθωσύνην, ἀδικίαν ὑπὲρ τὸ λαλῆσαι δικαιοσύνην." Προ είλου, φησὶ, τῶν κρειττόνων τὰ χείρω· καὶ τῶν ἀληθῶν τὰ ψευδῆ προτετίμηκας τῶν ῥημάτων· ὑπὲρ δὲ τὸ δίκαιον ἀσπάζῃ τὸ ἄδικον. ʹ. "Ἠγάπησας πάντα τὰ ῥήματα καταποντι σμοῦ,