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Fragments on the Psalms, Prologue

1 In the New Testament, testimonies from words taken from the book of Psalms are cited as having been spoken by the Holy Spirit. Paul in the epistle to the Hebrews, taking a passage from the ninety-fourth psalm, writes that it was declared by the Holy Spirit, saying: As the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear his voice, and so on. To this also Peter, the chief of the apostles, in the Acts of the apostles says similarly, where it was necessary for the scripture to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus, and so on, to which, after saying a few things, he added: For it is written in the book of Psalms: Let his dwelling become desolate, and let there be no one to live in it, and: Let another take his office. It is nothing strange if the apostles write these things, since the Savior himself especially confirms these things. For when mention was made in the Gospel of the beginning of the one hundred and ninth psalm, which goes thus: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet, he asked the Pharisees, if David in the Holy Spirit called the Christ Lord, how is he his son? If, therefore, the psalms contain spiritual meanings, one must not approach their text in a random way.

2 Ps 1,1 It is possible to call the devil the way of sinners, in which let the one who has come to be not remain, following the teaching that says: Resist the devil and he will flee from you. He who has not stood in this way will come to the Lord who said: I am the way, in which, having come to be, running toward the goal, he will obtain the prize.

3Ps 1,3 ab For how was it not necessary for the one testified by what has been said to be wise to be likened to wisdom? For one is likened to that which grants such a quality, or is not the just man like justice and the holy man like holiness? If this is so, then the wise man is like wisdom. Having approached and drawn his being from it, the wise man is likened to it, according to what was said by the Savior: It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. But he who is likened to the tree of life comes to be in paradise, so that he may be planted with it; thus one must understand what is written in Isaiah from the person of God: As the days of the tree of life, so shall be the days of my people. This being true, since the tree of life is eternal, he lives and becomes immortal with it; this likeness makes us engrafted in the tree, so as to be called its branches and shoots, in order to bear divine fruit. For the tree of life, being the true vine, says to those who become its imitators through goodness: I am the true vine; You are the branches; My Father is the vinedresser; Every branch that abides in me, he prunes it, so that it may bear more fruit.

4 Ps 1,3 cd But also of the tree planted by the channels of waters (and this is the wisdom of God), the fruit is the mystical and spiritual meaning of the scriptures, and the leaves covering the said fruit are the literal words, which, in addition to doing their own work in protecting the fruits, also become food for the more simple people who on account of their simplicity are called beasts, according to: You will save men and beasts, Lord.

5Ps 1,4 Indeed, because of the worthlessness they had from being ungodly, wanting to be chaff and to bear the image of the earthly, they are cast out from the face of the earth like the most worthless chaff, a wicked wind fanning them and scattering them here and there. and you will understand wind

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Fragmenta in Psalmos Prologus

1 ̓Εν τῇ καινῇ διαθήκῃ λέξεων ἀπὸ τῆς βίβλου τῶν ψαλμῶν παραληφθεισῶν

μαρτυρίαι κεῖνται ὡς ὑπὸ ἁγίου πνεύματος εἰρημέναι. Παῦλος ἐν τῇ πρὸς ̔Εβραίους ἐπιστολῇ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐνενηκοστοῦ τετάρτου ψαλμοῦ κεφάλαιον λαβὼν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἀπηγγέλθαι αὐτὸ γράφει φήσας Καθὼς λέγει τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ αγιον· σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. πρὸς τούτῳ καὶ ὁ τῶν ἀποστόλων πρόκριτος Πέτρος ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν ἀποστόλων σύμφωνα λέγει οπου μὲν Εδει πληρωθῆναι τὴν γραφήν, ην προεῖπεν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ αγιον διὰ στόματος ∆αυὶδ περὶ ̓Ιούδα τοῦ γενομένου ὁδηγοῦ τοῖς συλλαβοῦσιν ̓Ιησοῦν, καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς, οις ὀλίγα ἐπειπὼν ἐπήγαγεν Γέγραπται γὰρ ἐν βίβλῳ ψαλμῶν· γενηθήτω ἡ επαυλις αὐτοῦ ερημος καὶ μὴ εστω ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν αὐτῇ, καί· τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν αὐτοῦ λαβέτω ετερος. Οὐδὲν δὲ ξένον εἰ οἱ ἀπόστολοι ταῦτα γράφουσιν, αὐτοῦ μάλιστα τοῦ σωτῆρος ταῦτα ἐπισφραγιζομένου. μνήμης γὰρ γενομένης ἐν τῷ Εὐαγγελίῳ τῆς ἀρχῆς τοῦ ἑκατοστοῦ ἐννάτου ψαλμοῦ ωδε ἐχούσης· Ειπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου· κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, εως αν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου, ἐπύθετο τῶν Φαρισαίων, εἰ ∆αυὶδ ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ τὸν Χριστὸν κύριον ειπεν, πῶς υἱὸς αὐτοῦ ἐστιν. Εἰ τοίνυν πνευματικὰ νοήματα περιέχουσιν οἱ ψαλμοί, οὐχ ὡς ετυχεν ἐντευκτέον τῇ γραφῇ αὐτῶν.

2 Ps 1,1 Εστιν ἁμαρτωλῶν ὁδὸν τὸν διάβολον εἰπεῖν, ἐν ῃ ὁ γενόμενος μὴ ἐμμενέτω ἑπόμενος τῇ φασκούσῃ διδασκαλίᾳ ̓Αντίστητε τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ φεύξεται ἀφ' ὑμῶν. ̔Ο μὴ στὰς ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ὁδῷ ἐλεύσεται πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα κύριον ̓Εγώ εἰμι ἡ ὁδός, ἐν ῃ γενόμενος κατὰ σκοπὸν δραμῶν τεύξεται τοῦ βραβείου. 3Ps 1,3 ab Πῶς γὰρ οὐκ εδει τῇ σοφίᾳ ὁμοιοῦσθαι τὸν ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων μαρτυρούμενον ὡς ειη σοφός; ὁμοιοῦται γάρ τις τῷ ποιότητα τοιάνδε χαριζομένῳ, η οὐχ ομοιος δικαιοσύνῃ ὁ δίκαιος καὶ ὁ αγιος ἁγιότητι· εἰ δὴ τοῦτο, καὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ ὁ σοφός. προσελθὼν σπάσας ἀπ' αὐτῆς τὸ ειναι, σοφὸς ὁμοιοῦται αὐτῇ, κατὰ τὸ λεχθὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ σωτῆρος ̓Αρκετὸν τῷ μαθητῇ ινα γένηται ὡς ὁ διδάσκαλος αὐτοῦ καὶ ὁ δοῦλος ὡς ὁ κύριος αὐτοῦ. ̔Ο δὲ ὁμοιούμενος τῷ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλῳ γίνεται μὲν ἐν τῷ παραδείσῳ, ινα σὺν αὐτῷ φυτευθῇ· ουτως ἀκουστέον τοῦ ἐν ̔Ησαΐᾳ γεγραμμένου ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ θεοῦ Κατὰ τὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς εσονται αἱ ἡμέραι τοῦ λαοῦ μου. τούτου ἀληθοῦς οντος, ἐπεὶ ἀΐδιον τὸ τῆς ζωῆς ξύλον, συναιωνίζει καὶ συναπαθανατίζεται αὐτόν· αυτη ἡ ὁμοιότης συμφυεῖς ἡμᾶς ποιεῖ ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ, ωστε κλάδους αὐτοῦ καὶ κλήματα χρηματίσαι ἐπὶ τῷ θεῖον καρπὸν ἀγαγεῖν. αμπελος γὰρ ἀληθινὴ τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς τυγχάνον φησὶ πρὸς τοὺς μιμητὰς διὰ καλοκἀγαθίας γινομένους ̓Εγώ εἰμι ἡ αμπελος ἡ ἀληθινή· ̔Υμεῖς τὰ κλήματα· ̔Ο πατήρ μου ὁ γεωργός· Πᾶν κλῆμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μένον, καθαίρει αὐτό, ινα καρπὸν πλείονα φέρῃ. 4 Ps 1,3 cd ̓Αλλὰ καὶ τοῦ ξύλου τοῦ πεφυτευμένου παρὰ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὑδάτων (τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ σοφία) καρπὸς μέν ἐστιν ἡ μυστικὴ καὶ πνευματικὴ τῶν γραφῶν διάνοια, φύλλα δὲ σκέποντα τὸν εἰρημένον καρπὸν αἱ πρόχειροι λέξεις εἰσὶν αι πρὸς τῷ ποιεῖν τὸ ιδιον εργον ἐν τῷ φυλάττειν τοὺς καρποὺς καὶ τροφὴ γίνονται τῶν ἀκεραιοτέρων ἀνθρώπων τῶν δι' ἁπλότητα κτηνῶν λεγομένων κατὰ τὸ ̓Ανθρώπους καὶ κτήνη σώσεις, κύριε. 5Ps 1,4 ̓Αμέλει γοῦν δι' ην εσχον ἐκ τοῦ ἀσεβεῖν εὐτέλειαν χνοῦς θελήσαντες ειναι καὶ τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοϊκοῦ φέρειν, παραπλησίως εὐτελεστάτῳ χνῷ ἐκριπτοῦνται ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ἀνέμου αὐτοὺς ἀναρριπίσαντος πονηροῦ καὶ τῇδε κἀκεῖσε διαρριπτοῦντος. νοήσεις δὲ ανεμον