HOMILY 11
HOMILY 11
ON PSALM 77 (78)
GO OLY WRIT WARNS US to partake of the feast prudently when we have been invited to dine at the table of a rich man.1 I might say that a rich man's table of Scripture has been laid before us. We enter a meadow filled with flowers; here the rose blushes; there the lilies glisten white; everywhere flowers abound in all varieties.2 Our soul is drawn hither and thither to pluck the most beautiful. If we gather the rose, we leave the lily behind; if we pluck the lily, the violets remain. Likewise, in the seventy-seventh psalm, mystically fruitful in divine secrets, wherever you look the words are flowers of different kinds, and it is not possible to gather them all. We shall pick, however, as many as we can; from the few, we may contemplate the grandeur of the many.
'Understanding for Asaph.'3 This title identifies the psalm and is a challenge to our understanding. Asaph was one of the choirmasters, like the sons of Chore, and Idithun, and the others. Consequently, this choirmaster is also a prophet.
Because the theme is simple enough in its narration of history, necessity compels us to expound what is written in its historical character. 'In the land of Egypt, in the plain of Tanis, he cleft the sea and brought them through, and he made the waters stand as in a vessel. He led them with a cloud by day, and all night with a glow of fire,'4 and so on. Obviously, this is plain historical fact. If, however, we accept a literal explana1 Cf. Provo 23.I.
2 Cf. Commentary on Zacharia 14.20, PL 25.1540 (936).
3 Cf. Ps. 77 (78).1.
4 Cf. Ps. 77 (78).12-14.
SAINT JEROME
tion, there is no reason for the title, 'Understanding for Asaph:
If, on the other hand, we direct our attention as the title demands, we have to look for one meaning in the letter and another in the spirit.
'Hearken, my people, to my law; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter mysteries from of 01d:5 Now you see how appropriate is the title, 'Understanding for Asaph'! In the next place, the prophecy itself begins with the words: Hearken My people to My law: not to the Law of Moses, but to My law. 'Incline your ears to the words of my mouth: This same thought recurs in the Gospel verse: 'He who has ears to hear, let him hearl'6
'I will open my mouth in a parable': I will open to you that which was closed to the Jews; I will speak to you in parables.
'And without parables he did not speak to them:7 but to His disciples, however, He explained the parables in private. 'I will open my mouth in a parable': what I speak to them openly in parables, I shall make known to you in private.
'I will utter mysteries from of old: For the word 'mysteries: the Hebrew text has 'enigmas: Everything is said enigmatically; the riddle, however, does not lie in the words themselves but in their import.8
Somebody may say to me: You are forcing Holy Writ, for whenever the title of a psalm is 'Understanding for Asaph: you interpret that phrase in reference to the person of Christ.
If we are Christians (we, who have received the baptism of Christ are, indeed, Christians and not only confess but profess that we are), because we are Christians, we must believe the evangelists. Now where it is written in the Gospel according to Matthew: 9 'when our Lord and Savior had spoken in parables and the crowd did not understand him: and so on with the rest of the Gospel, what is the evangelist's conclu5 Cf. Ps. 77 (78).1, 2.
6 Luke 8.8; cf. Letter 58.9, PL 22.585 (325).
7 Matt. 13.35; Mark 4.34.
8 Cf. Commentary on Ezechiel 17.1-7, PL 25.161 (190).
9 Cf. Matt. 13.
HOMILY 11
sion? 'All these things,' he says, 'were brought to pass that the Scripture might be fulfilled: "I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter mysteries from of old." '10 You see, therefore, that the evangelist Matthew accepts that verse in the name of Christ. When he had introduced the Lord as speaking in parables beyond the comprehension of the people, he says:
This happened in fulfillment of the Scripture: 'I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter mysteries from of old:
It seems that our question has been answered and that there is no room for doubt, but pay close attention, for it is not my desire to declaim rhetoric, but to penetrate the meaning of Holy Writ. Besides, what has the Lord and Savior Himself said? 'You search the Scriptures, and you will discover how they bear witness to me.'ll And to the Jews He said: 'You err because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.'12 Notice just what He says: 'You err.' In what way? By not knowing the Scriptures. Moreover, because you do not know the Scriptures, you do not know Christ who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.13 Consequently, Matthew says: 'All these things were done in fulfillment of what was spoken through the prophet Asaph.'14 This is the reading found in all the ancient scrolls, but men in their ignorance changed it. As a result, to this day many versions of the Gospel read: 'In fulfillment of what was spoken through the prophet
Isaia, "I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter mysteries from of old." , This is not the utterance of Isaia, but of Asaph.
Indeed, Porphyry, that unbeliever, exploits this very point in his attack upon us and says: 'Your evangelist, Matthew, was so ignorant that he said: "What is written in Isaia the prophet:
I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter mysteries from of old.'" Let us answer frankly: there is a similar problem
10 Cf. Matt. 13.34, 35.
11 Cf. John 5.39, 40.
12 Matt. 22.29.
13 I Cor. 1.24; cf. Prolog. Commentary on Isaia, PL 24.17 (1.2).
14 Cf. Matt. 13.35; Commentary on Matthew 13.35, PL 26.95 (94·95).
SAINT JEROME
in Matthew15 and in John16 where it is written that our Lord was crucified at the sixth hour, whereas in Mark17 it is written that He was crucified the third hour. There seems to be a discrepancy here, but really there is none. The error was on the part of the scribes, for originally in Mark the sixth hour, likewise, was written, but many thought there was a gamma instead of an the Greek number sign. Now, just as this was the scribes' error, it was, likewise, their error to write
Isaia instead of Asaph. Hence, when the inexperienced (because the early Church was a congregation of ignorant peoples) were reading in the Gospel: 'In fulfillment of what was written in Asaph the prophet,' the one who first transcribed the Gospel began to ask: Who is this Asaph the prophet? He was not known to the people. And what did the scribe do? While amending an error, he made an error.
Let us take another example from Matthew'slB Gospel.
When Judas brought back the thirty pieces of silver and the chief priests would neither accept the money nor put it into the treasury because it was the price of blood, they bought with the money a potter's field as the burial place for strangers.
The price of Christ is our burial place and the field is called Haceldama, that is, the Field of Blood-the field of the blood of the Jews, but our burial place, for we were strangers and foreigners,19 and had no place to rest. He was crucified and died, and we were buried together with Him. Now Matthew says that this was done in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremia,2Q namely, that Judas brought back the thirty pieces of silver, the price that is written, and so on. Just as it is written, Matthew says, in Jeremia the prophet. That is what is written in Matthew and we have searched through Jeremia again and again and cannot find this reference at all. We
15 Matt. 27.45.
16 John 19.14.
17 Mark 15.25.
18 Matt. 27.6-11.
19 Cf. Commentary on Zacharia 11.12, 13, PL 25.1506 (891-92).
20 Matt. 27.9; cf. Letter 57.7, PL 22.572-3 (310); Zach. 11.12, 13.
HOMILY 11
have, however, located it in Zacharia.21 You see, therefore, that this was an error similar to the one described above.
'What we have heard and know.' The verses, 'Hearken my people, to my law' as far as 'I will utter mysteries from of old,' are said in the person of Christ-the Savior Himself is speaking, but the remaining verses to the end of the psalm are to be understood in the name of the apostles. Hence, when the Lord says: 'Incline your ears to the words of my mouth,'
He is saying: a Apostles, what you hear whispered, preach it on the housetops.22 How do the apostles answer? 'What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us'; the things, Lord, that you are telling us, our fathers, patriarchs and prophets, have declared to us. 'What our fathers have declared to us, we will not hide from their sons; we will declare to the generations to come.' Their whole purpose in speaking was that we, their sons, might know. 'He established it as a law in Israel, that what he commanded our fathers they should make known to their sons,' that is, to us.
(He spoke according to the flesh, but we understand according to the spirit); He spoke to them that they might hand down
His word to us.
'Their sons yet to be born, that they too may rise and declare to their sons.' 'The place of your fathers your sons shall have.'23
We are their sons. They have taught His message to us-we are their sons-and we have taught it to our own sons.
'That they should put their hope in God': that they may no longer believe in idols, but believe in God. 'And not forget the deeds of God': that they might recognize the order of creation and from the creature come to know the Creator. 'But keep his commands': not despise them as the Jews did, but diligently seek to obey them as Christians.
'And not be like their fathers': nor murmur, as some of them did in the desert and perished.24 They should not murmur
21 Cf. Commentary on Matthew 27.9, PL 26.213 (228).
22 Matt. 10.27.
23 Ps. 44.17.
24 Cf. 1 Cor. 10.10.
SAINT JEROME
as the Jews did and perish in the desert. 'A generation wayward and rebellious.' I am not the one saying this; it is your prophet who is saying this about you. 'A generation wayward and rebellious'; 'an evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, and no sign shall be given it but the sign of Jonas.'25 Why did the prophet say 'wayward'? Because that generation became a bow with a false aim, for a bow is never aimed against the one who shoots the arrow, but against foes. Although this generation had been created straight by God and He held it in His hand as a bow to shoot His arrows, nevertheless, it
'recoiled like a treacherous bow,'26 and blasphemed against its Creator.
'A generation that kept not its heart steadfast.' To this very day Israel is perverse. 'Nor its spirit faithful toward God.'
Because Israel did not accept this Son, Israel did not receive the Holy Spirit.
When the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, moreover, He did not descend upon the crowds of Jews, but only upon Jesus. If, 0 Jew, you wish to receive the Holy
Spirit, believe in Jesus, for the Holy Spirit abides upon Jesus.27
'The sons of Ephraim, ordered ranks of bowmen.' 0 how many mysteries, how many flowers! I do not say a day, but a whole month would not suffice for the understanding of this psalm. Every word is packed with meaning. We have a treasure in such vessels of day.28 There are many who construe this last expression in reference to the body and to the Holy Spirit, meaning, of course, that we possess a treasure in earthen vessels. There is certainly that interpretation, but I think the better treasury-concept is that we have a most precious treasure in vessels of clay symbolizing the homely words of the Scriptures.
'The sons of Ephraim, ordered ranks of bowmen, retreated in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant with God;
25 Matt. 16.4.
26 Ps. 77 (78).57; C£. Letter 125.19, PL 22.1083 (946).
27 Cf. Luke 3.21; John 1.32-34.
28 2 Cor. 4.7.
HOMILY 11
according to his law they would not walk; and they forgot his deeds, the wonders he had shown them.' We have learned in the books of Kings29 that under Roboam, the son of Solomon, Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, made a division among the people, and led ten tribes into Samaria. The tribes of J uda and Benjamin, however, remained under the rule of Roboam; and many likewise from the tribe of Levi who were dwelling in Jerusalem as priests and Levites-as it is written in ParalipomenonSO-returned to the temple of God, that is, to Jerusalem. Thus, there were three tribes in Judea: Juda itself the royal tribe, and Benjamin, and later the Levites from the various tribes, when they had come to the temple.
They who were in Samaria had a king from the tribe of Ephraim. Just as they who held sway in Judea had a king from the tribe of Juda and from the family of David, so they who prevailed in Samaria had a king from the tribe of Ephraim, and their kings were called Ephraim. Let us study the prophet Osee and we shall discover that his whole prophecy is against Ephraim. He says in it: 'Ephraim is like a dove, silly and senseless.'Sl Notice that he compares him to a foolish dove.
He left the temple and went to dwell in the woods. Now, doves always live in dovecots. Ephraim, in truth my dove, has abandoned the temple; he has deserted the house and lives in the woods; he dwells in the wilderness.
All this, incidentally, has been a literal interpretation, for it is necessary to take history into account. After this strict interpretation, however, we ought to mount by degrees, as it were by steps, to a higher plane. Then, we may say that the sons of Ephraim are all the heretics. They are the ones who have withdrawn from the house of God; they have deserted
David and the kingdom of David and are living in the wilderness. They are called doves to be sure, because, although they read the Scriptures, nevertheless, their reading is folly.
29 Cf. 3 Kings 12; 2 Par. 10·13.
30 Cf. 2 Par. 11-13. 16.
31 Osee 7.11.
SAINT JEROME
There is much to be said about this. 'The sons of Ephraim, ordered ranks of bowmen: Recognize all the heretics, for who deserted Jerusalem? Who deserted the temple? Who live in Samaria where they made the golden calves? 'One in Bethel and the other in Dan:32 And see what it says: they made golden calves in Bethel, in the house of God. In the house of God they became idol worshipers. They did it also in Dan-untc their own judgment and condemnation. They have abandoned completely the house of the Lord and think of nothing bUI gold. Somebody may ask: Why did they make calves of goldi
Our treasure has been preserved in vessels of clay.33 Church men are truly rustic and simple men, but all the heretio are Aristotelian and Platonic. Briefly, that you may know thai gold is the usual simile for worldly eloquence, that th( heretic's tongue, for example, is as brilliant as gold, hear th( words of the prophet: 'Babylon was a golden cup in the hane of the Lord.'34 Note how he describes the Babylon of confusion
This world, therefore, is that golden cup. All nations drin} from that cup of gold.
'The sons of Ephraim, ordered ranks of bowmen: No mat ter who the heretics are, they all have their superstitions
They 'retreated in the day of battle: They do not know Hirr who said: 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you,'a, but they do know how to speak with eloquence. They arc facile with words, but let them heed these words: 'Scatte: the peoples who delight in war:36 Somebody may object tha this is our way of thinking. Let us examine the words tha follow.
'They kept not the covenant with God; according to hi law they would not walk; and they forgot his deeds: They rost up against Him who regenerated them in baptism. 'Tht wonders he had shown them; before their fathers he di<
32 3 Kings 12.29.
33 2 Cor. 4.7.
34 Jer. 51.7; cf. Commentary on lona 3.6·10, PL 25.1143 (420).
35 John 14.27.
36 Ps. 67.31.
HOMILY 11
wondrous things.' Take note that just as the meaning of Scripture in respect to the sons of Ephraim rested upon history that is past and gone, the verse: 'I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter mysteries from of old' reveals that the story is a parable.
'Before their fathers he did wondrous things, in the land of Egypt, in the plain of Tanis. He cleft the sea and brought them through; and he made the waters stand as in a vessel.
And he led them with a cloud by day.'37 Somebody may say:
You are forcing Holy Writ for clearly it speaks about the hraelites and their departure from Egypt. It is history. Besides, we have read how the ten tribes abandoned God and became idolatrous and adored calves of gold. Let us look into the times of Asaph the prophet. He certainly lived at the time of David, but under David the ten tribes had not yet separated. David reigned forty years and Solomon another forty years. Eighty years after, under Roboam, the ten tribes were divided. Obviously, what is said, therefore, does not aim at the ten tribes, but rather is prophetical of the heretics.
'Before their fathers he did wondrous things.' The heretics have forgotten their Father and His wonderful deeds in the land of Egypt; in the darkness of this world, have forgotten how by His deliverance they were reborn in the Church. And after they have been reborn, the Church does not satisfy them.
'In the land of Egypt, in the plain of Tanis': where there was idolatry, where the king of Egypt was, where Egyptian horsemen were, where Jamnes and Mambres resisted Moses,38 where the worship of idols flourished. We were all in Egypt and we have all been delivered by the Lord.
'He cleft the sea and brought them through.' The Lord walked on the sea, calmed the waves, and led us through. 'He cleft the sea and brought them through.' To this very day, o faithful monk, when you are being led forth from Egypt, the sea is cleft, and that is how you are brought through. 'And 37 Cf. Ps. 77 (78).12-14.
38 Cf. 2 Tim. 3.8.
SAINT JEROME
he made the waters stand as in a vessel: (Instead of 'vessel,' the Hebrew text has 'mound.') 'He led them with a cloud by day.' 'See, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud on his way to Egypt.'39 We must think of that swift cloud as befitting either the body of the Savior, because His body was light, not weighted down by any sin; or certainly holy Mary who was heavy with child by no human seed. Behold the Lord has entered the Egypt of this world on a swift cloud, the Virgin.
'He led them with a cloud by day.' Beautifully said, by day, for the cloud was never in darkness, but always in light. 'And all night with a glow of fire.' 'For you darkness itself is not dark, and night shines as the day.'40 'And all night with a glow of fire.' 'The Lord, our God, is a consuming fire.'41 A consuming fire. The psalmist did not say what the fire is consuming; he left that to our intelligence. They who have built wood, hay, straw, on the foundation of Christ,42 for them the Lord is a consuming fire. Fire has a two-fold nature: it gives light and it burns. If we are sinners, it burns; if we are just, it gives us light.
'He cleft the rocks in the desert.' The rock was struck for us in the desert. The rock was struck and from it water gushed forth, that Rock which says: 'If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink';43 and from within Him there flowed rivers.
'And gave them water in copious floods.' In the desert where there was no water, water has been made to flow in abundance for us.
There are so many things that could be said, and the psalm is endless, and time is prohibitive. Let us pray our Lord, however, that He cleave the sea for us, that for us the rock flow water in abundance, lest our bodies, likewise, perish and lie
39 Isa. 19.1; cf. Commentary on Isaia 19.1, PL 24.250 (290).
40 Ps. 138.12.
41 Cf. Deut 4.24; Reb. 12.29.
42 Cf. I Cor. 3.12; cf. Against Jovinian 2.22, PL 23.331 (360); Letter 48.2,
PL 22.494-95 (213).
43 John 7.87, 38.
HOMILY II
buried with the people in the desert. You know, of course, that the bodies of our fathers to this very day are lying in the wilderness. Believe me, whenever I see a synagogue, the thought of the Apostle44 always comes to me: that we should not boast against the olive whose branches have been broken off, but rather fear; for if the natural branches have been cut off, how much more we who have been grafted on the wild olive should fear lest we become as our fathers, 'a generation wayward and rebellious, a generation that kept not its heart steadfast nor its spirit faithful toward God.' Because they do not possess the Spirit of God, they are dead and their bodies lie in the wilderness. I think of their synagogues as nothing but sepulchres in the desert. Read the ancient books for yourself. Let us pray the Lord that even these graves may rise again. If the sons of Abraham have become stones, it is possible for the dead sons of Adam to rise again if Jesus so wills. Even if they are dead and lie in graves, even if they have been there for four days, even if they are decaying, Jesus has the power to say: 'Lazarus, come forthl'45
44 Cf. Rom. 11.17, 18.
45 John 11.43; cf. Letter 4, PL 22.336 (14); 7.3, PL 22.340 (19).