HOMILY 3
HOMILY 3
ON PSALM 7
(B AMES ARE GIVEN to individual things that we may be able to identify them, and psalms have titles for the same reason. The fifth psalm bears the title, 'Unto the end, for her that obtains the inheritance';l the sixth, 'Unto the end, in verses, a psalm of David, for the octave:2 In the fifth are the words, 'for her that obtains the inheritance'; in the sixth, 'for the octave: Last Sunday, we read the sixth psalm, but because of my illness, we could not interpret it; today, however, we have read the seventh, which, likewise, is sung after the Alleluia.3 In contrast, this psalm has for its superscription: 'A plaintive song of David which he sang to the Lord because of Chusi the son of ]emini:4 How fraught with mystery are these words! Is there no reason for their place here? In the fifth psalm: 'For her that obtains the inheritance'; in the sixth: 'for the octave'; in the seventh: 'because of Chusi the son of ]emini: How much mystery has been interwoven in the text!
'For her that obtains the inheritance: We interpreted the fifth psalm as having been sung in the person of the Church which had won the inheritance of Christ. The sixth refers most
1 Cf. Ps. 5.1.
2 Cf. Ps. 6.1.
3 Cf. Gregory the Great, Letter 12 to John of Syracuse: 'our custom here of saying the Alleluia follows, it is said, the Church of Jerusalem from the tradition of the blessed Jerome in the time of Pope Damasus of happy memory.' Cf. Against Vigilantius I, PL 23.355 (387); Commentarioli in ps. 104.1 Cf. Homily 32 on Ps. 105, p. 234; 58 on Ps. 148, p. 416; 56 on Ps. 146, p. 400.
4 Cf. Ps. 7.1.
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appropriately to the Lord's Resurrection, which is the eighth day. But, we have both a first and an eighth day; we receive the kingdom of heaven on the eighth; the eighth day after the sabbath is again the first day from the beginning. It would take a long time if we delayed to expand upon the number eight: how in Matthew there are eight beatitudes; how the separate divisions of Psalm 118, designated by the letters of the alphabet, consist each of eight verses; how fifteen psalms are songs of ascent;5 how they divide into seven and eight; how Ecclesiastes says: 'Make seven or eight portions';6 how the east gate in Ezechiel has seven steps and eight steps.7 There is no time either to digress on how DavidS who received the kingdom was the eighth son of Isai. And here in the sixth psalm, it says: 'for the octave,' for on the eighth day we receive the kingdom of heaven, whence the words: '0 Lord, reprove me not in your anger, nor chastise me in your wrath.'9
Since, however, we cannot divide our time equally between Psalms 6 and 7, let us be content with this comment on the title of the sixth.
Now let us return to the exordium of Psalm 7 which begins:
'A plaintive song of David which he sang to the Lord because of Chusi the son of ]emini.' I know many, and certainly very learned, men who have interpreted this title as referring to the time when Absalom rose in revolt againt his father David.
Listen very attentively, for we want to interpret Holy Writ, not merely exercise our oratory.
At the time that Absalom rose up against David, one of David's friends, Chusi by name, wanted to go with David, but David sent him back to Absalom to counteract the counsel of Achitophel. Achitophel had advised Absalom to pursue
5 Cf. Psalms 119-133; Letter 53.8, PL 22.548 (280); Against Jovinian
2.34, PL 23.346 (378).
6 Eccles. 11.2.
7 Cf. Ezech. 40.22, 31; d. Dialogue Against the Luciferians 1.22, PL 23.185 (195).
8 Cf. 1 Kings 17.12-14.
9 Ps. 6.2.
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David at once, take him by surprise and kill him. Chusi advised him, successfully, to the contrary and, further, sent a messenger to David with word, Absalom is preparing this and this. David, therefore, immediately began to prepare himself for flight. It was when Chusi sent word to David that David sang this song to the Lord because the counsel of Achitophel had been defeated.1° This, then, is the interpretation they give and surely it sounds reasonable. But let us read the Scripture carefully, for there it is written that this
Chusi is the son of Arachi. In the second place, the Chusi in the Book of Kingsll is spelled with a different letter. There, it is written with the letter SAMECH; here, with the letter
SIN. Furthermore, that Chusi was the son of Arachi. It is because they do not know this fact that many of the Greeks read:
'Chusi, David's friend: 12 That is not the way it appears in the Hebrew text, for in the Hebrew, it is written thus: 'Chusi, son of Arachi, friend of David: So you see now that the Greeks have made an error in their reading.
It is quite clear from the Scriptures that Chusi is the son of Arachi, but this Chusi is called the son of Jemini. Since we have said that that Chusi was the son of Arachi, who is this son of Jemini? By combining spiri,tual with spiritual,13 we ought to find the principle of the name. Where in Scripture do we find the name Jemini? Now, everyone knows that one of the twelve tribes was by name the tribe of Benjamin. Benjamin, moreover, is translated, son of the right hand. At the time when Rachel died in Ephratha (we see her tomb from here with our own eyes; we are not looking for representa- , tions of it), at the time that Rachel was dying, she gave birth, it says, to a child, and the midwife-or else she while she was dying-called him Benoni, that is, son of my affliction. But Jacob, his father, turns the grief of the mother into joy and does
10 Cf. 2 Kings 15, 16, 17.
11 Cf, Commentarioli in ps. 7.8.
12 2 Kings 15.32, 37; 16.16 (cf. 16, LXX); 17.5.
, 13 Cf. 1 Cor. 2.13.
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not call him Benoni, the son of my affliction, but Benjamin, the son of the right" hand, the son of my strength.14 The name
Benjamin is a combination, then, of two words, son and right hand: BEN means son and JAMIN means right hand.
Let us remember once and for all that the tribe of Benjamin was called Jemini. We read in the Book of Kings, where it speaks of Saul, the words: 'Now there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Saul, the son of Cis, the son of Abiel, son of Jethra, son of Jether, son of Gera, son of Jemini,'15 and immediately following, it says, a man of Jemini, that is, from the tribe of Jemini, or Benjamin. To give further testimony-lest any doubt remain, Semei was the man on Mount Olivet where
David fled from his son Absalom. Of him Scripture says: 'Behold Semei, a man of the kindred of the house of Saul from the tribe of Benjamin. And he threw stones at David and cried: Come out, come ont, thou man of blood.'16 When one of David's leaders named Abisai says: 'I will go and kill him,'17 what does David answer? 'What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? Behold, my son who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life: how,much more now a son of Jemini-that is, from the tribe of Benjamin, from the tribe of Saul who was my enemy?'18 Now why have I said all this? To show that the tribe of Jemini was the tribe of Benjamin.
We have identified Benjamin, we have mentioned the name of his father; let us consider who Chusi, the son of J emini, is.
Chus in Hebrew means Ethiopian, that is, black and dark, one who has a soul as black as his body, of whom Jeremia
, says: 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin? the leopard his spotS?'19 In the psalm, then, Chusi signifies Saul as David's black and dark enemy. This, then, is what David is saying:
14 Cf. Gen. 35.17-20; d. Hebrew Questions on Genesis 35.18, PL 23.l042- (361); Letter 108.10, PL 22,884 (698).
15 Cf. I Kings 9.1, 2; 2 Kings 19.16; 3 Kings 2.8; 2.5, 32; Commentarioli in ps. 7.
16 Cf. 2 Kings 16.5-7.
17 Cf. 2 Kings 16.9.
18 Cf. 2 Kings 16.10, 11.
19 Jer. 13.23.
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Just as the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, Saul cannot change his character. Twice he has come into my hands;20
I could have killed him; I could have spilled his blood; I wanted to conquer him with kindness, but his ill-will remains unconquered. Just as the Ethiopian cannot change his skin,
Saul cannot change his malice. Finally, what does David say?
'0 Lord, my God, if I am at fault in this,' that is, if I have done Saul any evil; '1£ there is guilt on my hands, if I have repaid my friend with evil.'21 Notice what he says, I have repaid good for evil, Saul has rendered evil for good. It is evident, therefore, that this psalm is against Saul, and David thanks God and implores His help lest he fall into the hands of Saul.
'0 Lord, my God, in you I take refuge: I have not put my trust in my sword, nor have I put my trust in my strength; but in Your help I have taken refuge. 'Lest I become like the lion's prey: These words befit Saul; they do not become
Absalom. How could David call Absalom a lion, of whom he says: 'Save me the boy Absalom'?22 1£ in that passage of Scripture he calls him a boy and, as it were, a little boy without knowledge, how here in the psalm, does he proclaim him a lion? This interpretation, by the way, accords with history.
There is much that could be said, and the entire psalm, as a matter of fact, can be interpreted historically with reference to Saul. Be that as it may, because it is our concern to interpret
Scripture, not according to history, but with spiritual understanding, we are interpreting Chusi, this Ethiopian, to be no other than the devil. The question now is, how is this Chusi the son of Jemini; how is this Ethiopian devil the son of the right hand? He is Ethiopian by reason of his vice; he is the son of the right hand because he was created by God. Rightly does it say of the devil: 'Lest I become like the lion's prey:
20 1 Kings 24; 26.
21 Ps. 7.4.
22 2 Kings 18.12.
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'Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking someone to devour.'23
'0 Lord, my God, if I am at fault in this': 'For the prince of the world is coming, and in me he has nothing.'24 'If there is guilt on my hands': 'Who did no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.'25 'If I have repaid my friend with evil': they say: 'Crucify, crucify a man like that';26 I say: 'Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'27
'Let the enemy pursue and overtake me': 'And the last enemy to be destroyed will be death.'28 'Let him trample my life to the ground': life cannot be trampled down to the ground.
'And lay my glory in the dust.' If, it says, I render evil to my enemies for evil, I shall not rise again. 'Rise up, 0 Lord, in your anger'; since they did not recognize You in Your kindness, let them experience You through Your wrath.29 'And be exalted in the borders of my enemies' :30 the psalmist pleads for his enemies, that God be glorified in the land of his enemies. When they will have ceased to be enemies, then You, o Lord, will be exalted among them.
'Wake, 0 Lord my God, to the judgment you have decreed.
Let the assembly of the peoples surround you.' We say this; we, the faithful, are uttering these words, for the psalms are constantly changing person.S! If we cared to, there is much we could say on the frequency of this change in person. 'Wake, o Lord my God, to the judgment you have decreed.' Actually, this is what we are saying: You suffered for us; You were crucified for us; arise and save us. We seem to be doing violence to the Scripture, but the following words free us from 23 Cf. 1 Peter 5.8.
24 John 14.30.
25 1 Peter 2.22.
26 Cf. John 19.6; Commentarioli in ps. 68; Against John of Jerusalem 34,
PL 23.403 (443).
27 Luke 23.34.
28 1 Cor. 15.26.
29 Cf. Commentary on Ezechiel 7.27, PL 25.76(80).
30 Cf. Ps. 7.7.
31 Cf. Commentary on lsaia 3.14, PL 24.67 (58); 21.3-5, PL 24.191 (214); on Jeremia 8.15, PL 24.739 (902).
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such suspicion. What words follow? 'Let the assembly of the peoples surround you: Arise, in order that a vast multitude may believe in You, for after You have risen, what else would we pray for? Return to the Father. 'Above them on high be enthroned: For whose sake? For the assembly of the peoples.
In that You suffered, You suffered for us; in that You rose again, You rose for us; in that You ascended to the Father, ascend for us. 'Above them on high be enthroned: 'And no one has ascended into heaven except him who has descended from heaven: the Son of Man who is in heaven:32
'Do me justice, 0 Lord, because I am just, and because of the innocence that is mine: David could not say this; these words properly belong to the Savior who has not sinned. 'Let the malice of the wicked come to an end, but sustain the just:
My justice cannot be sustained unless their iniquity has been satisfied-the iniquity, of course, of the Jews.
'Unless you be converted, he will brandish his sword:33
This verse admits of two interpretations. Many think that it refers to God and is intended as a warning to sinners. And what does it mean? 'Unless you be converted, he will brandish his sword: That means unless you repent and do penance, the Lord will brandish His sword against you, but let us consider if the following words really apply to the person of the Lord. 'He will bend and aim his bow: That can be said of God. He will 'prepare his deadly weapons against him:34
This, however, is difficult, for the Lord does not have the weapons of death, but the instruments of life. These words, nevertheless, are not completely devoid of meaning with reference to the person of the Savior. The next verses, on the other hand, in no way can apply to God. 'He who conceived iniquity and was pregnant with mischief, brings forth failure,
He has opened a hole, he has dug it deep: The very context, therefore, compels us to reject any reference to God in words
32 John 3.l3.
33 Cf. Ps. 7.13.
M Cf. Ps. 7.14.
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so impertinent and expressive of pride as: 'Unless you be converted, he will brandish his sword.'
That is why many maintain that these words of the psalm refer to the devil; they mean, unless you will have been converted, unless you will have repented, you will be in the power of the devil. 'He will bend and aim his bow.' The devil always has his bow ready and he is ever alert to shoot his arrows and strike us down. 'He will prepare his deadly weapons against him.' These words are certainly applicable to the devil.
'And use darts for arrows for those who burn.'35 Well said, 'for those who burn.' They whose hearts are burning with lust and passion are the very ones whom the devil conquers. 'And use darts for arrows for those who burn.' Excellently said,
'for those who burn.' The psalm did not say for those who are about to burn36-that is, about to burn from his arrows.
The hearts of those he sees already burning, no matter whose they are, are his target. The Apostle also says the devil has fiery darts.37 'He who conceived iniquity and was pregnant with mischief, brings forth failure.' That is the kind of mother the devil is, that is the kind of father; thus does he conceive; thus does he bring forth; thus he nurtures; thus he rears. 'He has opened a hole, he has dug it deep, but he falls into the pit which he has made.' The hole itself-which is also the pit-belongs to the devil. 'He has opened a hole; for since, according to Jeremia, his cistern cannot hold water, it has become a hole. 'He has opened a hole, he has dug it deep.'
All the miserable assemblies of heretics38 are pits of the devil.
'His mischief shall recoil upon his own head; upon the crown of his head violence shall rebound.' Just as anyone who tosses a stone straight up into the air, and is foolish enough not to move out of its way, is struck on the head and wounded by his own stone; in the same way, the devil downs himself by his own arrogance; the pride that exalts him is the same
35 Ibid.
36 Cf. Commentarioli in ps. 7.14.
37 Cf. Eph. 6.16; d. Letter 130.10, PL 22.1116 (987).
38 Cf. Commentary on Ezechiel 32.17, 18, PL 25.315 (391).
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pride that defeats him. 'His mischief shall recoil upon his own head: All the devil wants is to hold his head up high, but he cannot. Why can he not? Because his 'mischief shall recoil upon his own head' and crush him down.
The devil- (understand, spiritual reader, according to the principle of the Scriptures)-we have read in Genesis39 that the devil is a snake, that he is the serpent in the Garden of Eden, the very serpent who spoke to Eve, who has power on earth. He is called a snake because the whole of his body moves on the ground. Other animals may walk on the ground, but their entire bodies do not cleave to it; certainly, their feet touch it, but the rest of their bodies they lift off it. Not so the devil, that is, the serpent and that old snake. According to Isaia,40 every part of him is completely on the ground; his head and the rest of his body are all on the same level. Why am I saying all this? Because the other animals (understand, prudent reader) may rest on the ground but long to rise up from it, but the devil cleaves to it with head, tail, and the middle part of him.
'His mischief shall recoil upon his own head; upon the crown of his head his violence shall rebound: See what it says; both upon his own head and upon his crown. Because violence presses down upon his head and upon the crown of his head, where is the devil's repentance?41 This is the devil's end: 'His mischief shall recoil upon his own head; upon the crown of his head his violence shall rebound.' Excellently has Scripture said, 'shall rebound,' for his punishment shall rebound everlastingly from heaven.
This is the way that the devil will be damned. We in truth are they who believed in Christ, who in the fifth psalm have received the inheritance, who on the eighth day, I mean the day of resurrection, say: '0 Lord, reprove me not in your anger,
Cf. Gen. 3.
40 Cf. Isa. 27.1.
41 Cf. Commentary on lsaia 14.20, PL 24.224 (257); 17.12·14, PL 24.245
(284); 25.9-11, PL 24.292 (343); 27.1, PL 24.507 (361); on Jona 3.6, PL 25.1141-1142 (418).
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nor chastise me in your wrath.'42 Because Chus, that is, our Ethiopian, is himself the lion of whom it is said: Lest 1 become like the lion's prey; who has bent and aimed his bow, and has prepared his deadly weapons to destroy us; because he is pregnant with iniquity, and has brought forth failure; because he has opened a hole and has dug it deep, and has fallen into the pit that he has made, he has been sent into hell, and so 'his mischief shall recoil upon his own head; upon the crown of his head his violence shall rebound: Because the devil has been so punished according to his own desert, let us say:
'1 will give thanks to the Lord for his justice, and sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.' Beautifully said,
Most High, for the Lord has been exalted as far as the devil has been humiliated.
42 Ps.6.2.