372

the soul of David has suffered violence not by one power, but by many, he teaches, saying: *And an assembly of the mighty*; or as Akylas, *And an assembly of those who strengthen themselves*; or as Symmachus, *And an assembly of the irresistible sought my soul*. But the assembly of enemies sought my soul, not setting God before their eyes, but you, Lord, he says, what they did not expect, you granted and bestowed, delivering my soul from the lowest hades; and this you did, as compassionate and merciful and long-suffering and of great mercy, and being true in all these things. *Look upon me and have mercy on me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your handmaid.* Seeing me, he says, have mercy on me. But David shows his own humility and the affliction of his soul, which he also presented when beginning the prayer in what he said: *I am poor and needy*. But instead of, *Give your strength to your servant*, Symmachus has interpreted it more clearly, saying, *Give strength from yourself to your slave*. For lest I, having become weak, should slip, along with the other things you have provided, I ask to be strengthened, so as not to be overcome again by the assembly of the mighty. Thus, having made me strong, you will save me, as one who has become your slave, but the son of your handmaid, that is, of your Church, or also of the mother who nurtured him in the instruction according to God. *Show me a sign for good, and let those who hate me see it, and be ashamed, because you, Lord, have helped me, and have comforted me.* Just as God set a sign on Cain indicative of his wickedness, a sign which those who saw were prevented from killing him, because God judged that he should groan and tremble upon the earth; so also to his perfect ones he gives a sign for good, which seeing, his friends 23.1040 rejoice, but his enemies and those who hate are ashamed, having received an indication through the sign that he has been helped and comforted in what has happened. And perhaps in the case of Cain, the hostile powers, seeing the sign placed upon him by God, rejoiced over him, being malicious; but the angels of God groaned for him, recognizing through the sign the wrath from God that was hanging over him. But in the case of the God-loving soul, the opposite is true: the hostile powers are put to shame seeing the good sign placed upon it; but the divine and good angels rejoice and are glad with it. This our Savior also taught, saying that there is joy in the heavens over one sinner who repents. FOR THE SONS OF KORE, A PSALM OF A SONG. 86. *His foundations are in the holy mountains; the Lord loves the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things have been spoken of you, O city of God. I will make mention of Raab and Babylon to those who know me.* Instead of, *To the sons of Kore*, Akylas and Symmachus have rendered, *Of the sons of Kore*, as if the psalm were composed by them, or spoken and said through them, not only with a psaltery, but also with a song. And seeking within myself, for what reason all those inscribed *Of the sons of Kore* were not joined together in one, but thus the first ones from the 41st are separate; and again two are separately set apart, the 83rd, the 4th and 80th; and again another two, the one at hand and the one after it; and in the middle of these is inserted the 85th, inscribed *A prayer of David*; the things that occurred to me regarding the contemplation of the latter ones have already been declared through what was said before. But one might also say otherwise, that all the words found in the book of Psalms, spoken by different men in a prophetic Spirit, were distinct, as they were neither spoken at one time, nor prophesied by the same men. For example, one is inscribed of Moses, and others of Asaph, and again others of David, and the

372

βίαν πέπονθεν ἡ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ ψυχὴ οὐχ ὑπὸ μιᾶς δυνάμεως, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ πλειόνων, διδάσκει λέγων· Καὶ συναγωγὴ κραταιῶν· ἢ ὡς ὁ Ἀκύλας, Καὶ συναγωγὴ κατισχυρευομένων· ἢ ὡς Σύμμαχος, Καὶ συναγωγὴ ἀνυποστάτων ἐζήτησε τὴν ψυχήν μου. Ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν τῶν ἐχθρῶν συναγωγὴ ἐζήτησε τὴν ψυχήν μου, μὴ θεμένων πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τὸν Θεὸν, σὺ δὲ, Κύριε, φησὶν, ἅπερ ἐκεῖνοι μὴ προσεδόκησαν, συνεχώρησας καὶ ἐδωρήσω, ῥυσάμενός μου τὴν ψυχὴν ἐξ ᾅδου κατωτάτου· καὶ τοῦτ' ἔπραξας, ὡς οἰκτίρμων καὶ ἐλεήμων καὶ μακρόθυμος καὶ πολυέλεος, καὶ ἐν πᾶσι τούτοις ἀληθινὸς ὑπάρχων. Ἐπίβλεψον ἐπ' ἐμὲ καὶ ἐλέησόν με· δὸς τὸ κράτος τῷ παιδί σου, καὶ σῶσον τὸν υἱὸν τῆς παιδίσκης σου. Ὁρῶν με, φησὶν, ἐλέησόν με. ∆είκνυσι δὲ ἑαυτοῦ ὁ ∆αυῒδ τὴν ταπείνωσιν καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς τὴν κάκωσιν, ἣν παρίστη καὶ ἀρχόμενος τῆς προσευχῆς ἐν οἷς ἔλεγε· Πτωχὸς καὶ πένης ἐγώ εἰμι. Ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ, ∆ὸς τὸ κράτος τῷ παιδί σου, σαφέστερον ὁ Σύμμαχος ἡρμήνευσεν εἰπὼν, ∆ὸς ἰσχὺν παρὰ σοῦ τῷ δούλῳ σου. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ ἐξασθενήσας ὀλισθήσω, μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ὧν παρέσχου, δυναμωθῆναι ἀξιῶ, πρὸς τὸ μὴ αὖθις καταπαλαισθῆναι ὑπὸ τῆς συναγωγῆς τῶν κραταιῶν. Οὕτω δέ με ἰσχυροποιήσας σώσεις, ὡς ἄν σου δοῦλον γενόμενον, υἱὸν δὲ τῆς παιδίσκης σου, ἤτοι τῆς Ἐκκλησίας σου, ἢ καὶ τῆς ἐν τῇ κατὰ Θεὸν παιδείᾳ θρεψαμένης αὐτὸν μητρός. Ποίησον μετ' ἐμοῦ σημεῖον εἰς ἀγαθὸν, καὶ ἰδέτωσαν οἱ μισοῦντές με, καὶ αἰσχυνθήτωσαν, ὅτι σὺ, Κύριε, ἐβοήθησάς μοι, καὶ παρεκάλεσάς με. Ὥσπερ τῷ Κάϊν σημεῖον ἔθετο ὁ Θεὸς τῆς πονηρίας αὐτοῦ δηλωτικὸν, ὅπερ σημεῖον οἱ θεωροῦντες εἴργοντο τοῦ ἀνελεῖν αὐτὸν, διὰ τὸ κρῖναι τὸν Θεὸν στένειν καὶ τρέμειν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ γῆς· οὕτω καὶ τοῖς τελείοις αὐτοῦ σημεῖον εἰς ἀγαθὸν δίδωσιν, ὅπερ ὁρῶντες, οἱ μὲν 23.1040 φίλοι χαίρουσιν, οἱ δὲ ἐχθροὶ καὶ οἱ μισοῦντες αἰσχύνονται, γνώρισμα λαβόντες διὰ τοῦ σημείου, ὅτι βεβοήθηται καὶ παρακέκληται ἐπὶ τῷ συμβεβηκότι. Καὶ τάχα ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ Κάϊν αἱ ἐχθραὶ δυνάμεις, ὁρῶσαι τὸ ἐπιτεθὲν αὐτῷ σημεῖον ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐπέχαιρον αὐτῷ, ἅτε ἐπιχαιρησίκακοι οὖσαι· οἱ δὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄγγελοι ἐπέστενον αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ σημείου τὴν ἐπηρτημένην αὐτῷ ἐκ Θεοῦ ὀργὴν ἐπιγινώσκοντες. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς θεοφιλοῦς ψυχῆς τοὐναντίον, αἱ μὲν ἐχθραὶ δυνάμεις καταισχύνονται τὸ ἀγαθὸν σημεῖον ἐπικείμενον ὁρῶσαι αὐτῇ· οἱ δὲ θεῖοι καὶ ἀγαθοὶ ἄγγελοι χαίρουσι καὶ συνευφραίνονται αὐτῇ. Τοῦτο καὶ ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν ἐδίδαξεν εἰπὼν, χαρὰν γίγνεσθαι ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἐπὶ ἑνὶ ἁμαρτωλῷ μετανοοῦντι. ΤΟΙΣ ΥΙΟΙΣ ΚΟΡΕ, ΨΑΛΜΟΣ Ω∆ΗΣ. Πςʹ. Οἱ θεμέλιοι αὐτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι τοῖς ἁγίοις· ἀγαπᾷ Κύριος τὰς πύλας Σιὼν ὑπὲρ πάντα τὰ σκηνώματα Ἰακώβ. ∆εδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ, ἡ πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ. Μνησθήσομαι Ῥαὰβ καὶ Βαβυλῶνος τοῖς γινώσκουσί με. Ἀντὶ τοῦ, Τοῖς υἱοῖς Κορέ, ὁ Ἀκύλας καὶ Σύμμαχος, Τῶν υἱῶν Κορὲ, ἐκδεδώκασιν, ὡς ὑπ' αὐτῶν πεποιημένου, ἢ διὰ τούτων εἰρημένου τοῦ ψαλμοῦ καὶ λεχθέντος, οὐ μόνον διὰ ψαλτηρίου, ἀλλὰ καὶ μετ' ᾠδῆς. Ζητῶν δὲ παρ' ἐμαυτῷ, τίνι λόγῳ μὴ πάντες ἦσαν ἐφ' ἑνὶ συνημμένοι οἱ ἐπιγεγραμμένοι Τῶν υἱῶν Κορὲ, ἀλλ' οὕτω μὲν ἰδίως πρῶτοι οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ μαʹ· καὶ πάλιν ἰδίως ἀφωρισμένοι δύο ὁ πγʹ, ὁ δʹ καὶ πʹ· καὶ πάλιν ἕτεροι δύο, ὁ μετὰ χεῖρας καὶ ὁ ἑξῆς αὐτῷ· μέσος δὲ παρεμβέβληται τούτων ὁ πεʹ ἐπιγεγραμμένος Προσευχὴ τοῦ ∆αυΐδ· τὰ μὲν ἐμοὶ παραστάντα εἰς τὴν τῶν τελευταίων θεωρίαν διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ἤδη πρότερον δεδήλωται. Εἴποι δ' ἄν τις καὶ ἄλλως, ὅτι πάντες οἱ ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῶν Ψαλμῶν φερόμενοι λόγοι, ὑπὸ διαφόρων ἀνδρῶν προφητικῷ Πνεύματι λελαλημένοι, ἰδιάζοντες ἦσαν, ὡς ἂν μήτε ὑφ' ἕνα καιρὸν λεχθέντες, μήτε ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν προφητευθέντες. Αὐτίκα γοῦν ἐπιγέγραπταί τις Μωϋσέως, καὶ ἕτεροι τοῦ Ἀσὰφ, καὶ τοῦ ∆αυῒδ πάλιν ἕτεροι, καὶ ὁ