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Chalkal and Darda; five in all. The Hebrew said that these prophesied in Egypt, having been before Moses, and that the psalms inscribed with their names were theirs; such as the one at hand, and the one after it, also inscribed, Ethan the Ezrahite; but also that it was said of them in the third book of Kings: And Solomon was wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalkal, and Darda. Let these things, then, be said for the sake of history. But if the interpretations of these names contribute anything to the contemplation of the psalm, you yourself will know. But this present psalm, being the last of those inscribed 'Of the Sons of Korah,' has encompassed the descent of our Savior into Hades, as if the Word had intentionally reserved the mystery of death to be delivered at the very end. And these four of the Sons of Korah seem to me to have a certain sequence with one another: I mean the eighty-third, and the eighty-fourth, and the eighty- and the eighty-seventh. For the eighty-third clearly contained by name the presence of God among men and the prophecy of Christ; the one next to it prayed that the things ordained might come to pass with speed; the one before the one at hand was already hinting at his incarnate birth; and following all these, the present one proclaims in advance the death which he undertook for the sake of men. O Lord, the God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you, incline your ear to my supplication. In the twenty-first psalm, which also refers to Christ and clearly prophesies his passion, which the word presents through its beginning, saying: O God, my God, attend to me, why have you forsaken me? which our Savior is testified to have said, word for word, at the time of his passion, after the beginning it is said next: My God, I will cry by day, and you will not hear, and by night, and it will not be folly for me. And the present psalm also says: I have cried by day, and by night before you. And the saying seems to me to describe the life of our Savior's incarnation, being dedicated to God through every day and also every night. And it is also in the Gospels how he was constantly devoted to prayers. In the present psalm, he beseeches the Father and asks him to incline his ear to his supplication; that is, to assent to his requests. And he prays this, as one about to offer himself as a sacrifice to the Father on behalf of all the nations. And being about to go through many things concerning his own death, and seeing the salvation that would succeed him after death, he reasonably anticipates and dedicates the beginning of the psalm to his salvation; wherefore he says, O Lord, the God of my salvation. For my soul is full of evils, and my life has drawn near to Hades. I was counted with those who go down into the pit. Through these things he clearly presents his descent into Hades, and the evils with which he said his soul was filled. 23.1056 And by 'evils' he means either the circumstances, the name of evils being understood more commonly, or also the wickedness of men, with which he said his soul was filled; but also our sins, which he took upon himself, for which he also became a curse for us according to the Apostle, who said: The Lord died for us, having become a curse for us; for it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Wherefore also according to the psalm, his soul was filled with evils, and his life drew near to Hades; which very thing also clearly indicates his descent into death. Therefore Aquila rendered it, saying, And my life has arrived at Hades; but Symmachus, And my life has touched Hades. And just as it is said elsewhere, He was numbered with the transgressors; so also here, I was counted, he says, with those who go down into the pit; instead of which Symmachus rendered, I was numbered with those who are led down into the pit. For all men are dragged down and

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Χαλχὰλ καὶ ∆αρδά· πάντες πέντε. Τούτους ἔλεγεν ὁ Ἑβραῖος ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ προφητεῦσαι, πρὸ Μωϋσέως γενομένους, αὐτῶν τε εἶναι τοὺς ψαλμοὺς τοὺς εἰς ὄνομα αὐτῶν προγεγραμμένους· οἷον τὸν μετὰ χεῖρας, καὶ τὸν ἑξῆς αὐτῷ, καὶ αὐτὸν ἐπιγεγραμμένον, Αἰθὰμ τῷ Ἐσδραΐτῃ· ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν λελέχθαι ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ τῶν Βασιλειῶν· Καὶ ἐσοφίσατο Σολομὼν ὑπὲρ Αἰθὰν τὸν Ἐσδραΐτην, καὶ Αἰμὰν, καὶ τὸν Χαλχὰλ καὶ τὸν ∆αρδάν. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν εἰς τὴν ἱστορίαν εἰρήσθω. Εἰ δέ τι συμβάλλονται τῇ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ θεωρίᾳ αἱ τούτων τῶν ὀνομάτων ἑρμηνεῖαι, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπιστήσεις. Ὕστατος δὲ ὢν ὁ παρὼν τῶν ἐπιγεγραμμένων Υἱῶν Κορὲ, τὴν κάθοδον τὴν εἰς τὸν ᾅδην τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν περιείληφεν, ὥσπερ ἐξεπίτηδες ταμιευσαμένου τοῦ λόγου τὸ μυστήριον τοῦ θανάτου ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ παντὸς παραδοῦναι. Καί μοι δοκοῦσιν οἱ δʹ οὗτοι Τῶν υἱῶν Κορὲ, λέγω δὲ ὁ τρίτος καὶ πʹ, καὶ ὁ δʹ καὶ πʹ, ὅ τε πʹ καὶ ὁ πζʹ ἔχειν τινὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἀκολουθίαν. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πγʹ σαφῶς Θεοῦ παρουσίαν εἰς ἀνθρώπους καὶ Χριστοῦ προφητείαν ὀνομαστὶ περιεῖχεν· ὁ δὲ ἑξῆς αὐτῷ ᾗ τάχος ἐπιστῆναι τὰ τεθεσπισμένα ηὔχετο· ὁ δὲ πρὸ τοῦ μετὰ χεῖρας ἤδη τὴν ἔνσαρκον αὐτοῦ γένεσιν ᾐνίττετο· τούτοις δὲ πᾶσιν ἀκολούθως ὁ προκείμενος τὸν θάνατον, ὃν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπων ἀνεδέξατο, προαναφωνεῖ. Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς τῆς σωτηρίας μου, ἡμέρας ἐκέκραξα, καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ ἐναντίον σου. Εἰσελθέτω ἐναντίον σου ἡ προσευχή μου, κλῖνον τὸ οὖς σου εἰς τὴν δέησίν μου. Ἐν τῷ καʹ ψαλμῷ καὶ αὐτῷ εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν ἀναφερομένῳ, καὶ τὸ πάθος αὐτοῦ σαφῶς προφητεύοντι, ὅπερ διὰ τῆς ἀρχῆς παρίστησιν ὁ λόγος φάσκων· Ὁ Θεὸς, ὁ Θεός μου, πρόσχες μοι, ἵνα τί ἐγκατέλιπές με; ὃ καὶ μεμαρτύρηται κατὰ λέξιν ἐπὶ τοῦ πάθους ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν εἰρηκὼς, μετὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἑξῆς ἐπιλέγεται· Ὁ Θεός μου, κεκράξομαι ἡμέρας, καὶ οὐκ εἰσακούσῃ, καὶ νυκτὸς, καὶ οὐκ εἰς ἄνοιαν ἐμοί. Καὶ ὁ παρὼν δὲ ψαλμός φησιν· Ἡμέρας ἐκέκραξα, καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ ἐναντίον σου. Καί μοι δοκεῖ τὸ λόγιον τὸν βίον τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ὑπογράφειν διὰ πάσης οὐ μόνον ἡμέρας ἀλλὰ καὶ νυκτὸς ἀνακειμένου τῷ Θεῷ. Ἔχει δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις ὅπως ταῖς εὐχαῖς διὰ παντὸς ἐσχόλαζεν. Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ παρόντος δέεται τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ ἀξιοῖ κλῖναι τὸ οὖς πρὸς τὴν δέησιν αὐτοῦ· τουτέστιν ἐπινεῦσαι τοῖς αἰτήμασιν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ τοῦτ' εὔχεται, ὡς ἂν μέλλων ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν, αὐτὸς ἑαυτὸν τῷ Πατρὶ προσφέρειν θυσίαν. Πολλὰ δὲ περὶ τοῦ ἰδίου θανάτου μέλλων ἑξῆς διεξιέναι, ὁρῶν τε τὴν μετὰ θάνατον διαδεξομένην αὐτὸν σωτηρίαν, εἰκότως τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τῇ αὐτοῦ σωτηρίᾳ προλαβὼν ἀνατίθησι· διό φησι, Κύριε ὁ Θεὸς τῆς σωτηρίας μου. Ὅτι ἐπλήσθη κακῶν ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ ἡ ζωή μου τῷ ᾅδῃ ἤγγισε, προσελογίσθην μετὰ τῶν καταβαινόντων εἰς λάκκον. Σαφῶς διὰ τούτων τὴν εἰς τὸν ᾅδην κάθοδον αὐτοῦ παρίστησι, καὶ τὰ κακὰ ὧν πεπληρῶσθαι ἑαυτοῦ ἔφασκε τὴν ψυχήν. 23.1056 Κακὰ δὲ ἤτοι τὰς περιστάσεις ὀνομάζει, κοινότερον ἐξακουομένου τοῦ τῶν κακῶν ὀνόματος, ἢ καὶ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων κακίαν, ἧς πεπληρῶσθαι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἔλεγεν· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τὰς ἡμετέρας, ἃς εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀνείληφε, δι' ἃς καὶ γέγονεν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα κατὰ τὸν Ἀπόστολον, ὃς ἔφη· Κύριος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀπέθανε, γενόμενος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν κατάρα· ὅτι γέγραπται· Ἐπικατάρατος πᾶς ὁ κρεμάμενος ἐπὶ ξύλου. ∆ιὸ καὶ κατὰ τὸν ψαλμὸν, ἐπλήσθη κακῶν ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ τῷ ᾅδῃ ἤγγισεν· ὃ δὴ καὶ αὐτὸ σαφῶς τὴν εἰς τὸν θάνατον κάθοδον αὐτοῦ δηλοῖ. ∆ιόπερ ὁ μὲν Ἀκύλας ἐξέδωκεν εἰπὼν, Καὶ ἡ ζωή μου εἰς ᾅδην κατήντηκεν· ὁ δὲ Σύμμαχος, Καὶ ἡ ζωή μου ᾅδῃ ἥψατο. Ὥσπερ δὲ εἴρηται ἀλλαχοῦ τὸ, Μετὰ ἀνόμων ἐλογίσθη· Οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα, Προσελογίσθην, φησὶ, μετὰ τῶν καταβαινόντων εἰς λάκκον· ἀνθ' οὗ ἐξέδωκεν ὁ Σύμμαχος, Ἐλογίσθην μετὰ τῶν καταγομένων εἰς λάκκον. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ πάντες ἄνθρωποι καθέλκονται καὶ