Homily 11, on Psalm 77
Latin source: Germanus Morin (ed.), Sancti Hieronymi Presbyteri Tractatus sive Homiliae in Psalmos , Anecdota Maredsolana III (Maredsoli, 1897) — public domain. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint/Vulgate (Morin).
Divine Scripture commands that, when we have been invited to a rich man's banquet, we should with understanding put forth our hand to the dishes. And so for us too the banquet of Scriptures has been set out as a rich man's feast. We have come into a meadow; it has very many flowers: here the rose is red, there the lilies gleam white, there are flowers of every kind. Our soul is drawn this way and that, to gather from wherever it may the more beautiful flowers. If we pick the rose, we leave the lily behind; if we take the lily, the violets are still left for us. So too in the seventy-seventh psalm, which is mystical and wrapped up in very many sacred mysteries, whatever letter you look at, they are flowers, flowers of every kind, and we cannot choose them all. But let us choose all that we can: from a few we can also contemplate the remaining excellence of the flowers.
"The understanding of Asaph." It is headed with this title. The very title summons us to understanding. Asaph was one of the choir-masters, just as also were the sons of Korah, and Idithun, and the rest. Therefore this man too is one of the prophets from among the choir-masters. Since, then, the understanding is straightforward, and in the psalm a history is narrated, we are compelled of necessity to understand everything that is written according to that understanding. It is written: "In the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis: he split the sea and led them out; he set the waters as if in a wineskin, and led them out in a cloud by day, and all night in the illumination of fire," and so on. We see that a straightforward history is narrated. If, then, we understand it just as it is written, the title "The understanding of Asaph" has been prefixed for no reason. But if we understand it as the title indicates, we are compelled of necessity to have one thing in the letter and to find another in the spirit.
"Attend, my people, to my law; incline your ear to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter propositions from the beginning." You see that it is well written above, "The understanding of Asaph." Indeed, the very prophecy begins thus: "Attend, my people, to my law" — not Moses' law, but "my law." "Incline your ear to the words of my mouth." This is what he says in the Gospel: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." "I will open my mouth in parables": to you I will open what is closed to the Jews; to you I will open my mouth in parables. "And without a parable," it says, "he did not speak to them"; but to his own disciples he unfolded the parables in private. "I will open my mouth in parables": what I speak to those others outwardly in parables, to you I will open up inwardly. "I will utter propositions from the beginning." In place of "propositions" the Hebrew has "riddles (enigmas)." Therefore everything that is said is a riddle.
The riddle is not that which is said, but something else which is signified by the riddle. Let someone say to me: You do violence to Scripture; for since the title has "The understanding of Asaph," you interpret this saying for me from the person of Christ. If we are Christians (and we are Christians, we who have received the baptism of Christ, and not only confess but also profess it) — because we are Christians, we ought to believe the evangelists. It is written in the Gospel according to Matthew: "When," it says, "our Lord and Savior had spoken in parables, and those men did not understand," and the rest of what is written in the Gospel. And afterward what did the evangelist add? "All these things," he says, "were done, that there might be fulfilled that which is written: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter propositions from the beginning." You see, therefore, that the evangelist Matthew understands this from the person of Christ. For when he had introduced the Lord speaking in parables, and those men did not understand: "This," he says, "was done, that there might be fulfilled that which is written, I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter propositions from the beginning."
It seems to us that no question has remained, but attend carefully: for it is my concern not to declaim in the manner of a rhetorician, but to grasp the sense of the Scriptures. Indeed, what did the Lord and Savior himself say? "Search the Scriptures, and there you will find how it is written concerning me." And he said another thing to the Jews: "You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." See what he says. "You err." Why? "Not knowing the Scriptures." But since you do not know the Scriptures, therefore you do not know Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God. It is said, then, in Matthew: "These things," it says, "were done, that there might be fulfilled that which is written in Asaph the prophet." Thus it is found in all the old codices, but ignorant men removed it.
Indeed, many gospels to this day have it thus: "That there might be fulfilled that which is written through Isaiah the prophet: I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter propositions from the beginning." This is not spoken by Isaiah, but by Asaph. Indeed, that impious Porphyry too puts forward this very thing against us, and says: "Your evangelist Matthew was so unskilled that he said, that which is written in Isaiah the prophet, I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter propositions from the beginning." Therefore let us say it simply: just as, in the Gospel, it is written — it is written in Matthew and John that our Lord was crucified at the sixth hour, while again it is written in Mark that he was crucified at the third hour. This seems to be a discrepancy, but it is not a discrepancy. It was an error of the copyists: in Mark too "the sixth hour" had been written, but many, in place of the Greek episēmon (the numeral sign), thought it was a gamma. For just as there it was an error of the copyists, so here too it was an error of the copyists, that in place of Asaph they wrote Isaiah. For not knowing (since the early church was gathered from unskilled Gentiles) — therefore, when they read in the Gospel "That there might be fulfilled that which is written in Asaph the prophet," the one who first was copying the Gospel began to say: Who is this Asaph the prophet? He was not known among the people. And what did he do? So that while he corrected the error, he made an error. Let us say something similar, and in another place in the Gospel according to Matthew — when Judas brought back the thirty pieces of silver, and the priests were unwilling to accept it or to put it into the corban, since it was the price of blood; and from it they bought the potter's field for the burial of strangers. The price of Christ is our burial; and that field is called Akeldama, which is "the field of blood." It is the field of blood of the Jews, but it is our burial. For we were strangers and sojourners, we had nowhere to rest. He was crucified and died, and we were buried together with him. "That there might be fulfilled," it says, "that which is written in Jeremiah the prophet. He brought back," it says, "the thirty pieces of silver, the price that was written," and so on. "As it is written," it says, "in Jeremiah the prophet." This is written in Matthew. We searched in Jeremiah, we could not find this at all; but we found it in Zechariah. You see, therefore, that here too there was an error, just as there.
"How great the things we have heard and known." These little verses, from "Attend, my people, to my law" up to this verse, "I will utter propositions from the beginning," are spoken from the person of Christ; the Savior himself speaks. Now the remaining verses, up to the end of the psalm, we must take as from the person of the apostles. When, then, the Lord says, "Incline your ear to the words of my mouth" — O apostles, what you have heard in secret, he says, proclaim upon the rooftops — what do the apostles say? "How great the things we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us." These things, O Lord, which you speak to us, our fathers the patriarchs and the prophets have also spoken to us. "And our fathers have told us." "They were not hidden from their children unto another generation." Therefore they spoke, so that we, their children, might know. "And he established a law in Israel. How great the things he commanded our fathers." He spoke these things carnally, but we understand them spiritually. "That they might make them known to their sons": this is, to us. Therefore he spoke to them, so that they might pass them on to us.
"The sons who shall be born and shall rise up, and shall tell them to their sons." "In place of your fathers, sons have been born to you." We are their sons. They told us, and we have told our sons: we are their sons. "That they might place their hope in God." That they might now no longer believe in idols, but believe in God. "And not forget the works of God." That they might see the order of creation, and from the creation understand the Creator. "And seek out his commandments." Let them not despise them like the Jews, but seek them out like Christians.
"That they might not become like their fathers." That they might not murmur, as certain ones murmured in the desert and perished; that they might not murmur thus like the Jews, and perish in the desert. "A generation crooked and provoking." It is not I who say this: your own prophet says this about you. "A generation crooked and provoking." "An adulterous and most wicked generation seeks a sign, and a sign shall not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah." Why did he say "crooked"? "Because they were turned into a crooked bow." For a bow is never drawn against the one who shoots it, but against the adversaries. But this generation, though it had been created upright by God, and was held in the hand of God like a bow, so that he might shoot arrows through it, was turned like a crooked bow, blaspheming against their Creator.
"A generation which did not direct its heart." To this day Israel is crooked. "And its spirit was not directed with God." Since it did not receive the Son, therefore it did not receive the Holy Spirit. Indeed, the Holy Spirit, when it descended in the likeness of a dove, did not descend upon the crowds of the Jews, but upon the one Jesus. If, then, you wish, O Jew, to receive the Spirit, believe in Jesus: since the Holy Spirit rests upon Jesus.
"The sons of Ephraim, bending and shooting the bow." O how great the mysteries, O how many the flowers! I say not a day, but a whole month cannot suffice for the understanding of this psalm. In individual words there are meanings. We have also a treasure in these earthen vessels. Many interpret this of the body and the Holy Spirit: that is, "we have a treasure in earthen vessels." That understanding indeed exists too. But this one is much better, since we have a most precious treasure in earthen vessels, that is, in the rustic words of the Scriptures. "The sons of Ephraim, bending and shooting the bow, were turned back in the day of battle. They did not keep the covenant of God, and in his law they were unwilling to walk. And they forgot his benefits, and his wonders which he showed them." We read in the books of Kingdoms that under Rehoboam the son of Solomon, Jeroboam the son of Nabat tore the people away from the rest of the people, and led ten tribes into Samaria. But the tribe of Judah and Benjamin remained under the rule of Rehoboam; and many of the tribe of Levi, who dwelt in Jerusalem as priests and Levites, as is written in Chronicles, returned to the temple of God, that is, in Jerusalem. There were, then, three tribes, that is, in Judea: Judah itself the royal tribe, and Benjamin, and afterward the Levites, where they had come from various tribes to the temple. Those, then, who were in Samaria had a king from the tribe of Ephraim. For just as those who reigned in Judea had a king from the tribe of Judah and from the lineage of David, so also those who reigned in Samaria had a king from the tribe of Ephraim, and their kings were called Ephraim. Let us read Hosea the prophet, and we find his whole prophecy against Ephraim; and it is said there: "Ephraim," it says, "has become like a foolish dove." See what he says: "a foolish dove." It has abandoned the temple, and dwells in the woods. For the dove always dwells in houses. But Ephraim, my dove, has abandoned the temple, has abandoned the house, and dwells in the woods, dwells in the deserts.
This much for now according to the letter; for we ought also to set forth the history. But now, after the letter, we ought as if by certain steps to ascend to greater things. Let us say, then, that the sons of Ephraim are all the heretics. For these too have departed from the house of God, and these too have forsaken David and the kingdom of David, and they dwell in the deserts. And they are indeed called doves, because they too read the Scriptures, but they understand them foolishly. There are many things that might be said. "The sons of Ephraim, bending and shooting the bow." Look at all the heretics: who have forsaken Jerusalem, who have forsaken the temple of God, who dwell in Samaria — where did they make the golden calves? In Bethel and in Dan. And see what he says: they made golden calves in Bethel, in the house of God. In the house of God they became idolaters. And they made that thing in Dan, that is, unto their own judgment and unto their condemnation. They forsook the house of the Lord, and they think of nothing else but gold. Let someone say: Why did they make golden calves? Our treasure is stored up in earthen vessels. For the men of the church are rustic and simple, but all the heretics are Aristotelians and Platonists. Indeed, that you may know that all worldly eloquence is called gold — that is, since their tongue, as if for its splendor, is called gold: "Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord." See what he says: "Babylon," of confusion. Therefore this world is a golden cup. From this golden cup all the nations are given drink.
"The sons of Ephraim, bending and shooting the bow." Whomever of the heretics you see, they all have superstitions. "They were turned back in the day of battle." They do not know him who said, "My peace I give to you, my peace I leave to you," but they are prepared for words. They have words; but let them hear that which is written: "Scatter the nations that desire wars." Let someone say that it is our own opinion. Let us look at what follows.
"They did not keep the covenant of God, and in his law they were unwilling to walk, and they forgot his benefits." They rose up against him who regenerated them in baptism. "And his wonders which he showed them: before their fathers the wonders which he did." See the sense of the Scriptures, how from the sons of Ephraim it comes to past histories; so that it shows that what is written, "I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter propositions from the beginning," was said parabolically.
"Before their fathers the wonders which he did in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis: he split the sea and led them through; he set the waters as if in a wineskin, and led them down in a cloud by day." Let someone say: You do violence to Scripture: for it is said simply of the people of Israel, when they were led out of the land of Egypt, and therefore it is said according to the history; and we read that the ten tribes forsook God, and became idolaters, and that they followed the golden calves. Let us look at the time in which Asaph the prophet lived. Certainly at that time when David lived. But under David the ten tribes had not yet been separated. David reigned forty years; again Solomon another forty years; after eighty years, later under Rehoboam, the ten tribes were torn away. You see, therefore, that what is said is not said of the ten tribes, but it is prophesied concerning the heretics.
"Before their fathers the wonders which he did." The heretics, then, having forgotten their father, the wonders which he did in the land of Egypt, in the darkness of this world, how he freed them — they were reborn in the church, and afterward, once they were born, the church displeases them. "In the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis": where idolatry was, where the king of Egypt was, where the horsemen of Egypt were, where Jannes and Mambres the adversaries of Moses were, where idolatry was. We were all in Egypt, and we have been freed by the Lord.
"He split the sea and led them through." The Lord walked upon the sea, and calmed the waves of the sea, and led us through. "He split the sea and led them through." To this day, O faithful monk, when you are led out of Egypt, the sea is split, and thus you are led out. "He set the waters as if in a wineskin." In the Hebrew it does not have "wineskin," but "heap."
"And he led them down in a cloud by day." "Behold, the Lord comes into Egypt upon a light cloud." By the light cloud we ought to understand either, properly, the body of the Savior, because it was light and weighed down by no sin; or certainly by the light cloud we ought to understand holy Mary, weighed down by no human seed. Behold, the Lord comes into the Egypt of this world upon a light cloud, the Virgin.
"And he led them down in a cloud by day." Beautifully he said "by day": for that cloud was not in darkness, but always in light. "And all night in the illumination of fire." "And the darkness is not hidden from you: as the light is to you, so also is the night to you." "And all night in the illumination of fire." "Our Lord is a consuming fire." A consuming fire. He did not say what it consumes: he left the understanding to us. Those who have built upon the foundation of Christ wood, hay, stubble — to them the Lord is a consuming fire. Fire has a twofold nature: it both gives light and burns. If we are sinners, it burns; if we are righteous, it gives us light.
"He split the rock in the desert." The rock has been split for us in the wilderness. The rock was struck, and the waters flowed: that rock which says, "Whoever thirsts, let him come and drink"; from whose belly rivers flowed. "And he gave them water to drink as if from a great abyss." In the desert, where there was no water, an abundance of waters was made for us.
There are many things that might be said, and the psalm is boundless, and we are shut out by time. But let us pray the Lord that for us too he may split the sea, that for us too the rock may pour out waters, lest our corpses too perish and lie with the people in the desert. For you know that the corpses of our fathers lie in the desert to this day. Believe me: as often as I see synagogues, I always have in my mind that which is said by the apostle, that we ought not to exult over the olive tree whose branches were broken, but to fear; since if the natural branches were cut off, how much more should we, who are grafted in from the wild olive, fear lest we become like our fathers, "a generation crooked and provoking, a generation which did not direct its heart, and whose spirit was not held faithful with God." Since they do not have the Spirit of God, therefore they are dead, and their corpses lie in the desert. I understand their synagogues to be nothing else but tombs in the desert. Read the old books. But let us pray the Lord that these tombs too may rise again. For if the children of Abraham have been made from stones, the children of Adam, who are dead, can rise again, if Jesus wills it. For although they are dead and lie in tombs, even if they are four days dead, even if they stink, Jesus can say to them: "Lazarus, come forth."