Psalm 108 [MT 109]

The Psalm, then, begins thus: "O God, be not silent as to my praise; for the mouth of the ungodly, yea, the mouth of the deceitful is opened upon me" [Psalm 109:1]. Whence it appears, both that the blame, which the ungodly and the deceitful is not silent of, is false, and that the praise, which God is not silent of, is true. "For God is true, but every man a liar;" [Romans 3:4] for no man is true, except him in whom God speaks. But the highest praise is that of the only-begotten Son of God, in which He is proclaimed even that which He is, the only-begotten Son of God. But this did not appear, but, when His weakness appeared, lay hid, when the mouth of the ungodly and deceitful was opened upon Him; and for this reason his mouth was opened, because His virtue was concealed: and he says, "the mouth of the deceitful was opened," because the hatred which was covered by deceit burst out into language.

To the end, a psalm of David. When it says "to the end," let us understand that it is spoken not of the present, but of the future. And if it is spoken of the future, then the prophecy is about Christ.

O God, do not keep silent about my praise. That is: Judas betrayed me, the Jews persecuted me and crucified me, and they thought that they would destroy me utterly, to the end. But you, O God, do not keep silent about my praise. All the churches, day by day, praise the Lord, and the prayer of the Lord has been fulfilled, when he said: O God, do not keep silent about my praise. See of what dignity the priests are. The priests speak: and in the priests God does not keep silent about the praise of his Son.

"They have spoken against me with false tongues" (ver. 2): then chiefly when they praised him as a "good Master" with insidious adulation. Whence it is elsewhere said: "and they that praised me, are sworn together against me." Next, because they burst into cries, "Crucify Him, crucify Him;" he hath added, "They compassed me about also with words of hatred." They who with a treacherous tongue spoke words seemingly of love, and not of hatred, "against me," since they did this insidiously; afterwards "compassed me about with words" not of false and deceitful love, but of open "hatred, and fought against me without a cause." For as the pious love Christ for nought, so do the wicked hate Him for nought; for as truth is earnestly sought by the best men on its own account, without any advantage, external to itself, in view, so is wickedness sought by the worst men. Whence among secular authors it is said of a very bad man, "he was wicked and cruel for no object."

For the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful man has been opened against me. Let us see how the mouth of Judas the betrayer was opened against the Lord. He comes to the Lord in order to betray him, and he says: Rabbi — that is, master. Behold, the mouth of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful man. I in my clemency wish to save him, and I offer him a kiss, and I wish to overcome his malice; yet he persists in doing evil, so as to betray me. In a particular sense it is understood of Judas; but in a general sense of the Jews. In that time in which they were saying, "Crucify, crucify such a man," the mouth of the sinner was opened against the Lord. And that you may see that he speaks of all the Jews, you will recognize it from what follows. For what does he say? They have spoken against me with a deceitful tongue. I was being crucified for them, and they were mocking me. My wounds were their medicine, and I seemed to them a thing of derision.

"In place," saith he, "of loving me, they detracted from me" (ver. 3). There are six different acts of this class, which may, when mentioned, very easily be borne in mind; (1) to return good for evil, (2) not to return evil for evil; (3) to return good for good, (4) to return evil for evil; (5) not to return good for good, (6) to return evil for good. The two first of these belong to the good, and the first of these two is the better; the two last belong to the wicked, and the latter of the two is the worse; the two middle to a sort of middle class of persons, but the first of these borders upon the good, the latter on the bad. We should remark these things in the holy Scriptures. Our Lord Himself returneth good for evil, who "justifieth the ungodly;" and who, when hanging upon the Cross, said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." ...

And they have surrounded me with words of hatred. Not that they might believe, but that they might war against me. And they have warred against me without cause. "Without cause" is understood in two ways. That is, without reason: for I had not sinned, and I did not deserve that they should make war upon me. And what worthy cause was there that they should war against me? Because I had healed their sick? because I had raised their dead? because I had done other signs? See therefore that they warred against him without cause. And it is understood in another way as well: They wished to extinguish and blot out my name, and yet they were not able. When someone persecutes another, and gains nothing, and does not fulfill his desire, he persecutes without cause.

He addeth, "Thus have they rewarded me evil for good" (ver. 4). And as if we asked, what evil? for what good? "And hatred," he saith, "for my good will." This is the sum total of their great guilt. For how could the persecutors injure Him who died of His own free-will, and not by compulsion? But this very hatred is the greatest crime of the persecutor, although it be the willing atonement of the sufferer. And he hath sufficiently explained the sense of the above words, "In place of loving me," since they owed love not as a general duty only, but in return for His love: in that he hath here added, "for my good will." This love He mentioneth in the Gospel, when He saith, "How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not!"

Instead of loving me, they disparaged me: but I kept praying. In return for the benefits which I had conferred upon them, they were doing me insults. But what was I doing? I kept praying. These are the weapons of the Lord: and these are our weapons too, prayer. So then, whenever anyone persecutes us, and hates us, let us say: Instead of loving me, they disparaged me. But what was I doing? I kept praying. That I might overcome them? Far from it: for whom did the Lord pray that he might overcome? But what did he say — but I kept praying? What was I saying? "Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do."

"Set thou an ungodly man to be ruler over him; and let Satan stand at his right hand" [Psalm 109:5]. Though the complaint had been before concerning many, the Psalm is now speaking of one....Since therefore he is here speaking of the traitor Judas, who, according to the Scripture in the Acts of the Apostles, was to be punished with the penalty due to him, [Acts 1:20] what means, "set thou an ungodly man over him," save him whom in the next verse he mentions by name, when he says, "and let Satan stand at his right hand"? He therefore who refused to be subject unto Christ, deserved this, that he should have the devil set over him, that is, that he should be subject unto the devil....For this reason also it is said of those who, preferring the pleasures of this world to God, styled the people blessed who have such and such things, "their right hand is a right hand of iniquity.". ..

And they set against me evils in return for goods. And set upon the cross, I kept praying for those who were crucifying me, while they were saying: "Aha, you who destroy the temple, and in three days build it up. Let him save himself. Let the Father who loves you come now and set you free." I rose again from the dead for their sakes, and they say: "His disciples came by night, and stole him away." And hatred in return for my love. Consider, O Christian, consider, O monk: if the Lord received his persecutor and betrayer with a kiss, and prays for those who were crucifying him, what ought we to do for our brothers?

"When sentence is given upon him, let him be condemned, and let his prayer be turned into sin" (ver. 6). For prayer is not righteous except through Christ, whom he sold in his atrocious sin: but the prayer which is not made through Christ, not only cannot blot out sin, but is itself turned into sin. But it may be inquired on what occasion Judas could have so prayed, that his prayer was turned into sin. I suppose that before he betrayed the Lord, while he was thinking of betraying Him; for he could no longer pray through Christ. For after he betrayed Him, and repented of it, if he prayed through Christ, he would ask for pardon; if he asked for pardon, he would have hope; if he had hope, he would hope for mercy; if he hoped for mercy, he would not have hanged himself in despair. ...

In some of the Psalms the spirit of hatred which strikes us in the face is like the heat from a furnace mouth. In others the same spirit ceases to be frightful only by becoming (to a modern mind) almost comic in its naïvety. Examples of the first can be found all over the Psalter, but perhaps the worst is in 109. The poet prays that an ungodly man may rule over his enemy and that "Satan" may stand at his right hand (6). This probably does not mean what a Christian reader naturally supposes. The "Satan" is an accuser, perhaps an informer.

Set a sinner over him. Since I prayed for them upon the cross, and they saw my wounds — I gave them room for repentance and they do not repent, and they refuse to have me as king — let them have the devil as king. They will not have Jesus as king: let them have Barabbas as king, Barabbas, which is interpreted "son of the father," that is, of the devil. This Barabbas, who was he? A seditious man and a robber. And truly they have Barabbas as king even to the present day, a seditious man and a robber, who slays the Jews themselves. Barabbas the robber, who delights in blood, before the Lord was crucified, before the Jews crucified him, was shut up in prison. They denied the Lord, and Barabbas was released. For from that time Barabbas began to have power over them; and that demon, who had been cast out of the man, and out of that generation, and was walking about in the desert, and could find no place, brought with him seven other demons worse than himself, and entered into the synagogue, and the last state of that man became worse than the first. In short, the synagogue of the Jews, before it crucified the Lord, was indeed a sinner, but it had only one demon. It crucified the Lord, and eight demons entered into it at once. So then was fulfilled what he said: Set a sinner over him.

And let the devil stand at his right hand. Because he stood at their right hand, therefore the synagogue had a withered right hand, as it is written in the Gospel. But let us pray that the Lord may stand at our right hand, and the devil at our left. It is written in Zechariah: "And he showed me Jesus the great priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan stood at his right hand, to fight with him." If, then, the devil stands at the right hand of the Lord, how does he now say of Judas, And let the devil stand at his right hand? But see what he says. The devil stood at the right hand of Jesus to oppose him: that is, he wished to be an adversary to his right hand. But here he does not say that he wishes to fight, but that he had already conquered Judas. There the devil desires to fight against the right hand; but here he has gained mastery over the right hand of Judas. But this too must be considered. At that time he stood at the Lord's right hand to oppose him, when Jesus had filthy garments. For so it is written there as well: "And Jesus had filthy garments." As long as the Lord Jesus has filthy garments, so long does the devil stand at his right hand: as long as he bears our sins, in our sins the devil opposes him. But when it is said in Zechariah, "Take away his filthy garments and clothe him with the changes of raiment," immediately Jesus says to the devil, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan, may he rebuke you who has chosen Jerusalem." All this we have said for this reason, because it is written, And let the devil stand at his right hand.

"Let his days be few" [Psalm 109:7]. By "his days," he meant the days of his apostleship, which were few; since before the Passion of our Lord, they were ended by his crime and death. And as if it were asked, What then shall become of that most sacred number twelve, within which our Lord willed, not without a meaning, to limit His twelve first Apostles? He at once adds, "and let another take his office." As much as to say, let both himself be punished according to his desert, and let his number be filled up.

When the enemy is tried, let him be convicted and sentenced, "and let his prayer be turned into sin" (7). This again means, I think, not his prayers to God, but his supplications to a human judge, which are to make things all the hotter for him (double the sentence because he begged for it to be halved).

But still, what is more serious, another asks for the death of an enemy, and the one whom he cannot pursue with a sword, he pursues with prayer. And the one who is cursed still lives, yet the one who curses is already held guilty of his death. But God commands that an enemy be loved, and yet God is asked to kill an enemy. Whoever therefore prays in this way fights against the Creator in his very prayers. Hence it is said under the figure of Judas: "Let his prayer become sin." For it is prayer becoming sin to ask for those things which the very one who is petitioned forbids.

When he is judged, let him come forth condemned. Let him come not into judgment, but into condemnation. For where there is judgment, there is doubt: but where there is condemnation, the sentence is already plain. And let his prayer be turned into sin. The repentance of Judas was made a worse sin. How was the repentance of Judas made a worse sin? He went and perished by hanging; and he who became the betrayer of the Lord, this same man came to be his own slayer. In view of the clemency of the Lord I say this, that by this he offended the Lord more, because he hanged himself, than because he betrayed the Lord. His prayer ought to have turned into repentance, and it was turned into sin. You see a heretic praying, you see a Jew, you see a Manichaean: though they fast, though they pray, yet their prayer is turned into sin.

This is doubtless what David too says in the Psalms: "let his prayer become sin", when not only nothing of merit, but even much of guilt is sought from the sacrifices. For you hear the lawgiver decree that, if anyone eats of that "which has remained over to the third day, he shall bear the sin". Whence it is to be recognized how great a stain of sins threatens the human condition, since sin arises even from that place where the victim of propitiation is offered.

And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. [Psalms 109:8] Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

"Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow" [Psalm 109:8]. After his death, both his children were fatherless, and his wife a widow.

Petilianus said, "We must consider, I say, and declare how far the treacherous traditor is to be accounted dead while yet in life. Judas was an apostle when he betrayed Christ; and the same man was already dead, having spiritually lost the office of an apostle, being destined afterwards to die by hanging himself, as it is written: 'I have sinned,' says he, 'in that I have betrayed the innocent blood; and he departed, and went and hanged himself.' The traitor perished by the rope: he left the rope for others like himself, of whom the Lord Christ cried aloud to the Father, 'Father, those that Thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the Scripture might be fulfilled.' For David of old had passed this sentence on him who was to betray Christ to the unbelievers: 'Let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.' See how mighty is the spirit of the prophets, that it was able to see all future things as though they were present, so that a traitor who was to be born hereafter should be condemned many centuries before. Finally, that the said sentence should be completed, the holy Matthias received the bishopric of that lost apostle. Let no one be so dull, no one so faithless, as to dispute this: Matthias won for himself a victory, not a wrong, in that he carried off the spoils of the traitor from the victory of the Lord Christ."

May his days be few, may his job be given to someone else (8).

Let his days be few. His days were made few, but his nights increased: for he was cut off in the middle of his days. The sun withdrew from him, and behold, darkness was multiplied for him. And let another receive his episcopate. This too is interpreted more plainly in the Acts of the Apostles. But it was not only spoken of Judas in that time, it is spoken even to this day. If Judas lost his apostleship, let priests and bishops guard themselves, lest they too lose their own priesthood. If an apostle fell, a monk can fall more easily. The power does not perish, though the man falls and perishes. Nevertheless the Lord gives out his denarii at interest: if that man does not double them, his money is taken away and given to him who has. The Lord's money cannot be idle.

And if we must make a statement regarding Judas that may overwhelm our opponents with shame, we would say that, in the book of Psalms, the whole of Psalm 108 [LXX] contains a prophecy about Judas, the beginning of which is this: "O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent; for the mouths of the sinner and the mouth of the deceitful man are opened against me." And it is predicted in this psalm both that Judas separated himself from the number of the apostles on account of his sins and that another was selected in his place; and this is shown by the words "and let another man take his position." But now suppose that he had been betrayed by one of his disciples, who was possessed by a worse spirit than Judas and who had completely poured out, as it were, all the words that he had heard from Jesus, what would this contribute to an accusation against Jesus or the Christian religion? And how will this demonstrate its doctrine to be false? We have replied in the preceding chapter to the statements that follow this, showing that Jesus was not taken prisoner when attempting to flee but that he gave himself up voluntarily for the sake of us all. Therefore it follows, that even if he were bound, he was bound agreeably to his own will, thus teaching us the lesson that we should undertake similar things for the sake of religion in a spirit of willingness.

"Let his children be vagabonds, and be carried away, and beg their bread" [Psalm 109:9]. By "vagabonds" he means, uncertain whither to go, destitute of all help. "Let them be driven from their habitations." He here explains what he had said above, "Let them be carried away." How all this happened to his wife and children, the following verses explain.

Let his children become orphans, and his wife a widow. See that the things which are spoken are mysteries. Whom do you suppose to be the children of Judas? The Jews. And they are called Jews, not from that holy Judah, but from this betrayer. From that holy one, we are the spiritual Jews; but from this betrayer, those are the carnal Jews. In short, there are two apostles who are called by the name of Judas. There is the eleventh apostle, who is called Judas of James. And there is the twelfth and the last, who is called Judas Iscariot. From that Judas of James, then, we are called Jews; but from this Iscariot, those are called Jews. That Judas our father is called "of James," that is, Judah the son of the supplanter: for we have supplanted the people of the Jews, and have received their birthright. But those are called "Iscariot," which is uncertain whether it signifies his father or his village. But however you interpret it, it is interpreted "wages" and "price." Therefore this Judas, who was going to betray the Lord and to receive a price, received his name from the price. Though he returned the price to the priests of the Jews, yet they condemn him, since they refuse to receive the price of blood. See the disagreement of the Pharisees and the misfortune of Judas. If you bought the blood of Jesus rightly, why did you not take back your money? But if you refuse to take it because it is the price of blood, you show that you yourselves have shed the blood unjustly and wickedly. But see what they do. That very money, he says, they do not put into the corban, but they buy a field with it, and they call it Aceldama, which is interpreted "the price of blood." Why do they buy it? For the burial of strangers. Blessed are we, for whom a field is bought from the price of the Lord's blood.

And his wife a widow. The synagogue, who first was made the wife of God, of whom he said, "And I gave her a writing of divorce, and again I took her back, and I said to her, Turn to me": that synagogue, then, received her divorce from the Savior, and was made the wife of Judas the betrayer. In short, what did she do? She received no dowry, but gave a dowry to her husband. And again that most wretched Judas, who betrayed the Lord, will not receive an evil dowry; but he returns to the harlot, his wife, the evil dowry which he received from her. And what does he say? You displeased your former husband, he repudiated you and cast you out, and gave you a writing of divorce: I refuse to have you as wife. You gave me a price, and you deceived me: and you who killed your Lord, you have killed me too. For I cannot find in Scripture that Judas had either a wife or children.

"Let the extortioner search out all his substance, and let the strangers spoil his labour" [Psalm 109:10].

The Psalm: Let his children be carried about vagabonds and beg: but nothing that the Psalmist, speaking in the Spirit of God, imprecates as a punishment pertains to evangelical perfection or perfect justice; begging is of this kind: therefore, etc.

To that which is objected, that begging is an evil which the Psalmist imprecates, speaking in the Spirit of God: it must be said that there is voluntary begging and compelled begging, which is accompanied by murmuring and impatience. The first is meritorious, the second is demeritorious and afflictive; and the Psalm is understood of the second, not of the first. And that this is true appears from the text, because it says: Let them be carried about wandering and be cast out, and all these things seem to connote compulsion and violence.

Let his children be carried away wandering, and let them beg. Consider carefully: for indeed the things that follow are difficult. From that time in which the Lord was crucified, from then on the Jews are ever moved about, they do not stand in their own place. In short, it is said of Cain also: "And Cain, he says, went out from the face of God, and dwelt in the land of Nod." Now Nod is interpreted "commotion." Because Cain had gone out from the face of God, rightly he did not stand still, but dwelt in the land of Nod, that is, in commotion. So then these too, since they crucified their God and Lord, are carried away wandering. For they are not in their own places, but are scattered throughout the whole world. Here he speaks of a begging for spiritual riches. For they do not have prophets, they do not have the law, they do not have priesthood, they do not have sacrifice, but they have truly been made beggars.

"Let there be no man to help him" [Psalm 109:11]: that is, to guard his posterity; wherefore followeth, "nor to have compassion on his fatherless children."

Let the moneylender search out all his substance. You gave him money, O Lord, you gave to him as also to the others. But what did he do? He did not bind it up in a napkin, nor bury it in the earth, nor was he negligent: but when he had the Lord's talent and money, he took a price from the enemies of the Lord, and sold his own Lord. Therefore I say to you, O Lord, exact from him the interest of your money. And let strangers plunder his labors. The Lord manifestly proved to be a moneylender, and what happened? Let strangers plunder his labors. Whether we understand it generally of all the Jews, because they were laid waste by the Romans: or truly in a particular sense, that Judas was plundered by the demons, and the people itself.

But as even orphans may, without one to help them, and without a guardian, nevertheless increase amid trouble and want, and preserve their race by descent; he next says, "Let his posterity be destroyed; and in the next generation let his name be clean put out" [Psalm 109:12]: that is, let what has been generated by him generate no more, and quickly pass away.

Let there be no helper for him, nor let there be any who will pity his orphans. In that time the people of the Jews had no helper. Answer me, O Jews. You were in Babylon: there you had prophets, Daniel, Ezekiel: and indeed you were idolaters. For seventy years you were in captivity, and afterward you came back into your own land. Behold, now it is four hundred years: why has no prophet been sent to you? In that time you worshiped idols, and God had pity on you. But now you do not worship idols: why has the Lord forsaken you? Behold, it is four hundred years. But then you forsook the Lord, and worshiped idols: whereas now you have crucified and slain the Lord. And therefore there will be no helper for them.

But what is it that he next addeth? "Let the wickedness of his fathers be had in remembrance in the sight of the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be done away" [Psalm 109:13]. Is it to be understood, that even the sins of his fathers shall be visited upon him? For upon him they are not visited, who hath been changed in Christ, and hath ceased to be the child of the wicked, by not having imitated their conduct. ...And to these words, "I will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children," is added, "who hate Me;" that is, hate Me as their fathers hated Me: so that as the effect of imitating the good is that even their own sins are blotted out, so the imitation of the wicked causeth men to suffer not their own deservings only, but those also of those whom they have imitated. ...

In one generation let his name be blotted out. O prophecy, O mystery of prophecy! In one generation let his name be blotted out. After the passion of the Lord, forty-two years passed, and that people was blotted out. Indeed the full age comes in the fortieth year. So then, after the passion of the Lord, in the forty-second year Jerusalem was blotted out. See therefore that in one generation his name was blotted out. But in this too is the clemency of the Lord. They crucified him, and he gave them forty-two years for repentance. I say it plainly: he slew them after forty-two years for this reason, because of those who crucified the Lord, none of them remained. Judas is cursed, so that in Judas the Jews may be cursed.

"Let them always be against the Lord" [Psalm 109:14]. "Against the Lord," means in the Lord's sight: for other translators have rendered this line, "let them be always in the sight of the Lord;" while others have rendered it, "let them be before the Lord always;" as it is elsewhere said, "You have set our misdeeds in Your sight." By "alway," he means that this great crime should be without pardon, both here, and in a future life. "Let the memorial of them perish from off the earth:" that is, of his father and of his mother. By memorial of them, he means, that which is preserved by successive generations: this he prophesied should perish from the earth, because both Judas himself, and his sons, who were the memorial of his father and mother, without any succeeding offspring, as it is said above, were consumed in the short space of one generation.. ..

Let the iniquity of his fathers come into remembrance in the sight of the Lord. They sinned in the desert, he forgave them: now he reckons against them what they sinned then, since they have crucified the Lord. Or let us interpret it otherwise. He reckons against them the cruelty of their murders, and forgives them nothing. And let the sin of his mother not be blotted out. Who is the mother of Judas? Jerusalem, who rejoices in blood, who slew the prophets and her own Lord himself.

"And that, because he remembered not to act mercifully" [Psalm 109:15]; either Judas, or the people itself. But "remembered not" is better understood of the people: for if they slew Christ, they might well remember the deed in penitence, and act mercifully towards His members, whom they most perseveringly persecuted. For this reason he saith, "but persecuted the poor man and the beggar" [Psalm 109:16]. It may indeed be understood of Judas; for the Lord did not disdain to become poor, when He was rich, that we might be enriched by His poverty. But how shall I understand the word "beggar," save perhaps because He said to the Samaritan woman, "Give me to drink," and on the Cross He said, "I thirst." But as to what followeth, I do not see how it can be understood of our Head Himself, that is, the Saviour of His own body, whom Judas persecuted. For after saying, "He persecuted the poor man and the beggar:" he addeth, "and to slay," that is, "that he might slay Him," for some have so rendered it, "Him that was pricked at the heart." This expression is not commonly used except of the stings of past sins in the sorrows of penitence; as it is said of those who, when they had heard the Apostles after our Lord's ascension, were "pricked in heart," even they who had slain the Lord. ...

Likewise, Psalm: He persecuted the needy and begging man: Gloss: "namely Christ. To persecute the poor is sheer cruelty. Others indeed sometimes suffer such things on account of riches and honors." Either, therefore, Christ is called a beggar because He begged from the Father, or because He begged from man. If because He begged from the Father: then all men are beggars, the rich as well as the poor: therefore to persecute Christ in this way would not have been the height of cruelty; if because He begged from men, we have what was proposed: therefore etc.

Because he did not remember to show mercy. See how great the clemency of the Lord is. He sees him coming with the officers, he sees him coming with clubs, and he offers him a kiss. That man comes to betray, and the Lord gives a kiss; so that he who did not fear his master might at least be overcome by clemency.

And he persecuted a man needy and a beggar. "Who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor." The Lord calls himself needy and a beggar: and who glories in his riches? You have consolation, O poor: for the Lord is poor with you. And to put to death one pricked at heart. What is it that he said, "one pricked at heart, to put to death"? What he also said in the Gospel: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." And again when he said: "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me." Otherwise: this grieved me, and I was made sorrowful for those persecuting me, because they refused to repent. I was hanging on the cross, and washing away their filth with my blood: and they themselves refused to repent. These were my tears, this my compunction, that those who persecuted me I could not save.

The Psalm then continueth: "His delight was in cursing, and it shall happen to him" [Psalm 109:17]. Although Judas loved cursing, both in stealing from the money bag, and selling and betraying the Lord: nevertheless, that people more openly loved cursing, when they said, "His blood be on us, and on our children." "He loved not blessing, therefore it shall be far from him." Such was Judas indeed, since he loved not Christ, in whom is everlasting blessing; but the Jewish people still more decidedly refused blessing, unto whom he who had been enlightened by the Lord said, "Will ye also be His disciples?" "He clothed himself with cursing, like as with a raiment:" either Judas, or that people. "And it came into his bowels like water." Both without, then, and within; without, like a garment; within, like water: since he hath come before the judgment-seat of Him "who hath power to destroy both body and soul in hell;" the body without, the soul within. "And like oil into his bones." He showeth that he worketh evil with delight, and storeth up cursing for himself, that is, everlasting punishment; for blessing is eternal life. For at present evil deeds are his delight, flowing like water into his bowels, like oil into his bones; but it is styled cursing, because God hath appointed torments for such men.

As for the passage from the psalm, "He loved cursing, and it shall come upon him; and he willed not blessing, so it shall be far removed from him," which he quoted in the same book of Chapters, as if to prove that "all men are ruled by their own will," who can be ignorant that this is a fault not of nature as God created it, but of human will which departed from God? The fact indeed is, that even if he had not loved cursing, and had willed blessing, he would in this very case, too, deny that his will had received any assistance from God; in his ingratitude and impiety, moreover, he would submit himself to be ruled by himself, until he found out by his penalties that, sunk as he was into ruin, without God to govern him he was utterly unable to direct his own self.

Behold, He sets before us curse and blessing; let us leave to Judas the traitor the curse and the snares, of whom it is said that he "did not will blessing, and it shall be far from him"; and let us with blessed Matthias receive the blessing.

"Let it be unto him as the cloak which covers him" [Psalm 109:18]. Since he has before spoken of the cloak, why does he repeat it? When he said, "He clothed himself with cursing as with a raiment;" does the raiment with which he is "covered" differ from that with which he is "clothed"? For every man is clothed with his tunic, covered with his cloak; and what is this, save boasting in iniquity, even in the sight of men? "and as the girdle," he says, "that he is always girded withal." Men are girded chiefly that they may be better fit for toil, that they may not be hindered by the folds of their dress. He therefore girds himself with curses, who designs an evil which he has carefully contrived, not on a sudden impulse, and who learns in such a manner to do evil, that he is always ready to commit it.

"This is the work of them that slander me before the Lord" [Psalm 109:19]. He said not, "their reward," but, "their work:" for it is clear that by the clothing, covering, water, oil, and girdle, he was describing the very works by which eternal curses are procured. It is not then one Judas, but many, of whom it is said, "This is the work of them that slander me before the Lord." Although indeed the plural number might have been put for the singular; even as, when Herod died, it was said by the Angel, "They are dead which sought the young Child's life." But who slander Christ more before the Lord, than they who slander the very words of the Lord, by declaring that it is not He whom the Law of the Lord and His Prophets announced beforehand? "And of those that speak evil against my soul:" by denying that He, when He had willed, could have arisen: though He saith, "I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again."

"But work Thou with me, O Lord God" (ver. 20). Some have thought "mercifully" should be understood, some have actually added it; but the best copies have the words thus: "But work Thou with me, O Lord God, for Thy Name's sake." Whence a higher sense should not be passed over, supposing the Son to have thus addressed the Father, "Deal Thou with Me," since the works of the Father and of the Son are the same. Where although we understand mercy,-for these words follow, "for sweet is Thy mercy,"-because he said not, "In me," or, "over me;" or anything of this sort: but, "work Thou with Me;" we rightly understand that the Father and Son together work mercifully towards the vessels of mercy. "Work with me," may also be understood to mean, help me. We use this expression in our daily language, when we are speaking of anything which is in our favour; "It works with us." For the Father aideth the Son, as far as the Deity aideth Man, on account of His having assumed the "form of a servant," to which Man, God, and to which "Form of a servant," the Lord too is Father. For in the "form of God," the Son needeth not aid, for He is equally all-powerful with the Father, on which account He also is the helper of men. ...And because when he had said, "Work Thou with me," he added, "for Thy Name's sake," he hath commended grace. For without previous deserving works, human nature was raised to such a height, that the whole in one, the Word and Flesh, that is, God and Man, was styled the Only-begotten Son of God. And this was done that that which had been lost might be sought by Him who had created it, through that which had not been lost; whence the following words, "For Thy mercy is sweet."

"O deliver me, for I am needy and poor" (ver. 21). Need and poverty is that weakness, through which He was crucified. "And my heart is disturbed within me." This alludeth to those words which He spoke when His Passion was drawing near, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death."

"I go hence like a shadow that declines" [Psalm 109:22]. By this he signified death itself. For as night comes of the shadow's declining, so death comes of mortal flesh. "And am driven away as the locusts." This I think would be more suitably understood of His members, that is, of His faithful disciples. That he might make it much plainer, he preferred writing "locusts" in the plural number: although many may be understood where the singular number is used, as in that passage, "He spoke, and the locust came;" but it would have been more obscure. His disciples, then, were driven away, that is, were put to flight by persecutors, either the multitude of whom He wished to be signified by the word locusts, or their passing from one place to another.

"I am poor and needy," and I am better only when in sorrow of heart I detest myself and seek your mercy, until what is faulty in me is repaired and made whole and finally I come to that state of peace that the eye of the proud cannot see. Yet in what others say about us and in what they know of our deeds there is grave danger of temptation. For our love of praise leads us to court the good opinion of others and hoard it for our personal glorification. And even when I reproach myself for it, the love of praise tempts me. There is temptation in the very process of self-reproach, for often, by priding himself in his contempt for vainglory, a person is guilty of even emptier pride; and for this reason his contempt of vainglory is an empty boast, because he cannot really hold it in contempt as long as he prides himself on doing so.

Deliver me, for I am needy and poor. The Lord calls himself poor, that he might console the poor. With men he was made poor, that no one of the poor might despair of salvation. And my heart is troubled within me. See what he says: And my heart is troubled within me. This is the same thing which he says elsewhere: "I was troubled, and did not speak." That I am troubled, belongs to a man: but to overcome the trouble and the anger, this belongs to great virtue. Therefore the apostle also says: "Be angry, and do not sin." Are you angry? You are a man. Does the anger not remain in you? You are a Christian.

"My knees are weak through fasting" (ver. 23). We read, that our Lord Christ underwent a fast of forty days: but had fasting so great power over Him, that His knees were weakened? Or is this more suitably understood of His members, that is, of His saints? "And my flesh is changed because of the oil;" because of spiritual grace, Whence Christ was so called from the Greek word, chrisma, which signifies unction. But the flesh was changed through the oil, not for the worse, but for the better, that is, rising from the dishonour of death to the glory of immortality. ...His flesh was not yet changed. But whether the Holy Spirit be represented by water through the notion of ablution or irrigation, or by oil through that of exultation and the inflaming of charity; It doth not differ from Itself, because Its types are different. For there is a great difference between the lion and the lamb, and yet Christ is represented by both. ...

I am shaken off like locusts. I indeed had come to protect my people, and I said: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you, how often did I wish to gather your children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings." I had come like a hen to protect them: but they received me with a most hostile mind. I had come as a mother: and they slew me as if I were their murderer. I am shaken off. What is this? They persecuted me, they cast me out. They persecuted me from Nazareth, I came to Capernaum: they persecuted me from Capernaum, I came to Bethsaida, and from there they persecuted me. I came to Jerusalem, I was unwilling to withdraw from my people; and from there they persecuted me, and so they treated me like locusts. And what did I do? Was I angry, did I defend myself, did I curse them, and abandon them? Not one of these things did I do. But what did I do? I prayed for them.

"I became also a reproach unto them" [Psalm 109:24]: through the death of the Cross. "For Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." [Galatians 3:13] "They looked upon Me, and shaked their heads." Because they beheld His crucifixion, without beholding His resurrection: they saw when His knees were weakened, they saw not when His flesh was changed.

My knees are weakened from fasting. Take consolation, O monk, in fasting: since the Lord too did this. I say that when a monk fasts, he becomes stronger through fasting; and when his knees are weakened by fasting, then he is most of all strengthened. And my flesh is changed on account of oil. I seem to be saying a difficult thing, and I interpret it according to the letter, that I may edify my hearers: for even the letter edifies me. It is good to fast, it is good to flee from delicacies. Before I come to the spiritual understanding, I linger in the letter. He who says that he does not eat oil, is far from the rest of the delicacies. All this I have said, because he said, And my flesh is changed on account of oil. This I have interpreted otherwise. But what he says is this. Oil is an image of brightness; oil is, as it were, the food of light. So then the Jews too received oil from me, they received life, they received light. Let no one suppose that he says "oil" for mercy: in the Hebrew it signifies intelligible oil. It is changed not into joy, but into sadness; not that I might be found more beautiful, but that I might appear more disfigured. Therefore he says: "We saw him, and he had no beauty." Why? because his flesh was changed on account of oil. He had not the delights of the body, but of the spirit. And we too, then, when we fast, when our faces are pale, when we appear disfigured, let us recognize that we then appear more beautiful to Christ. Such soldiers Christ loves, who give themselves to fasting. Our provision and our food is fasting. Why? because in fasting is victory, and in victory is triumph. In short, the apostle too glories not in fullness, but in weakness. "For when I am weak, then I am stronger."

And thus also thou canst shew that all the righteous men and Prophets, either by their own will, or by God's command unto them, endured always tribulations and labours, even as the blessed David maketh known that from the severity of his fasting the very limbs of his body had become enfeebled, saying, "My knees have become sick through fasting, and my flesh faileth of fatness."

"Help me, O Lord my God: O save me according to Your mercy" [Psalm 109:25]. This may be referred to the whole, both to the Head and to the body: to the Head, owing to His having taken the form of a servant; to the body, on account of the servants themselves. For He might even in them have said unto God, "Help Me:" and, "O save Me:" as in them He said unto Paul, "Why do you persecute Me"? [Acts 9:4] The following words, "according to Your mercy," describe grace given gratuitously, not according to the merit of works.

And I have become a reproach to them. For they called me a Samaritan, and said: "By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he casts out demons." "Is not this the son of Joseph the carpenter? are not his brothers and sisters all with us?" And again: "You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days." And again: "Let us see whether Elijah comes to save him." He was calling out "Eli, Eli," which is "My God, my God"; and they thought it was Elijah. See the untutored Jews. Did the Son of God ask for the help of Elijah? They saw me, and they shook their heads. Why did they shake their heads? because they had already moved their feet as well.

"And let them know how that this is Thy Hand, and that Thou, Lord, hast made it" (ver. 26). He said, "Let them know," of those for whom He even prayed while they were raging; for even those who afterwards believed in Him were among the crowd who shook their heads in mockery of Him. But let those who ascribe unto God the shape of the human body, learn in what sense God hath a hand. Let us therefore understand, that the Hand of God meaneth Christ: whence it is elsewhere said, "Unto whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?" ...

Save me according to your mercy. He says also in the Gospel: "I have power to lay down my soul and to take it up again." And again: "No one takes it from me." And how does he ask for mercy? He himself asks for mercy, and he himself bestows it; he himself as man asks, and as God bestows.

"Though they curse, yet bless Thou" [Psalm 109:27]. Vain therefore and false is the cursing of the sons of men, that have pleasure in vanity, and seek a lie; but when God blesses, He does what He says. "Let them be confounded that rise up against me." For their imagining that they have some power against Me, is the reason that they rise up against Me; but when I shall have been exalted above the heavens, and My glory shall have commenced spreading over the whole earth, they shall be confounded. "But Your servant shall rejoice:" either on the right hand of the Father, or in His members when they rejoice, both in hope among temptations, and after temptations for evermore.

And let them know that this is your hand, and you, O Lord, have made it. What is it that he says, And let them know that this is your hand, and you, O Lord, have made it? Let the Jews understand that they did not prevail against me by their own strength: but my will and your will was done, that I should suffer. And I willed to suffer; therefore I say, according to what I am as man: "My God, I willed to do your will." And your will was also mine, that I should suffer. It was not, then, their treacheries and strength that brought it about: but I and you willed that I should suffer. For you struck your shepherd, and the sheep were scattered. This is written in Zechariah: "I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered." That I should suffer, was my will and yours. What you willed, I too willed. The scandal had to come, but woe to him through whom it comes.

"Let my slanderers be clothed with shame" [Psalm 109:28]: that is, let it shame them to have slandered me. But this may also be understood as a blessing, in that they are amended. "And let them cover themselves with their own confusion, as with a double cloak;" for diplois is a double cloak; that is, let them be confounded both within and without: both before God and before men.

They will curse, and you will bless. To this day this happens: they curse in the synagogue, and the Lord blesses in the church. Those who rise up against me, let them be confounded: but your servant will rejoice. They rise up against me: but I, your servant, will rejoice. But why "your servant"? because "He who, though he was in the form of God, did not count it robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant."

"As for me, I will confess greatly unto the Lord with my mouth" [Psalm 109:29]....Is He said to "praise among the multitude" because He is with His Church here even unto the end of the world; [Matthew 28:20] so that we may understand by "among the multitude," that He is honoured by this very multitude? For he is said to be in the midst, unto whom the chief honour is paid. But if the heart is, as it were, that which is mid-most of a man, no better construction can be put on this passage than this, I will praise Him in the hearts of many. For Christ dwells through faith in our hearts; [Ephesians 3:17] and therefore he says, "with my mouth," that is, with the mouth of my body, which is the Church.

Let those who disparage me be clothed with shame. It profits us greatly to understand what we say. The clemency of God appears in this, in his saying "let them be clothed." He does not say, let them perish; he does not say, let them be blotted out forever: but what does he say? let them be confounded, that is, let them understand their error, and be confounded, and stand in repentance. He who is clothed with shame is near to salvation: for if anyone is truly confounded, he begins to repent. Consider, O monks, if you ever have anything against your brother, you ought always to pray to God for him. The Lord is crucified, and he prays for those crucifying him. But you, if you hear an evil word, do not hold on to anger. "Let not the sun set upon your wrath." And let them be covered with their confusion as with a double cloak (diplois). The diplois is a kind of cloak: indeed, in the Hebrew it is called ME'IL. It is called diplois for this reason, because the cloak is double. Therefore I say to you, O Lord: my enemies are the Jews, they have persecuted me, they have crucified me, they have done me every evil, they have blasphemed me: be gracious to them, since I, who have suffered, pray for them. And what do I ask? Let them blush and be confounded, and so be saved. They are naked, they have lost my tunic. Give them confusion, give them disgrace, and let them have a double cloak: that is, let them not have a single confusion, but a double one, that they may repent the more. He does not speak against the Jews, but he speaks for them. For he is the Creator both of them and of us: he has not rooted them out altogether. Do you wish to know? Peter was of them, Paul was of them, and all the apostles were of them. We have been grafted into their root; we are the branches, they the root. We ought not to curse the roots, but we ought to pray for our roots. We who have been grafted into the root, let us beseech the Lord, that just as the branches are saved, so also the root may be saved. Perhaps someone may say: You pray for the Jews, for blasphemers? I pray to the Lord for them: for if he himself has pity on his persecutors, how much more will he have pity on me?

"For He stood at the right hand of the poor" [Psalm 109:30]. It was said of Judas, "Let Satan stand at his right hand;" since he chose to increase his riches by selling Christ; but here the Lord stood at the right hand of the poor, that the Lord Himself might be the poor man's riches. "He stood at the right hand of the poor," not to multiply the years of a life that one day must end, nor to increase his stores, nor to render him strong in the strength of the body, or secure for a time; "but," he says, "to save my soul from the persecutors." Now the soul is rendered safe from the persecutors, if we do not consent to them unto evil; but there is no such consent to them when the Lord stands at the right hand of the poor, that he may not give way through his very poverty, that is, weakness. This aid was given to the Body of Christ in the case of all the holy Martyrs.

I will confess to the Lord exceedingly with my mouth. This is said after the resurrection, and it is sung of the future church. And in the midst of many I will praise him. For not in Judea alone, but in the whole world, in the church I will praise you.

Because he stood at the right hand of the poor man. The devil stood at the right hand of Judas: but for me the Lord stood at my right hand. That he might save my soul from those who persecute it. My soul, he says, he will save. And elsewhere he says: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death." He who is sorrowful, had a faculty of feeling. For a soul without feeling has no perception, a soul without feeling has neither perception nor pain: for where there is pain and sadness, there is feeling. If then he had sadness, if he had pain, then he had also feeling: for feeling is pain.

If, then, they should wish to say to us: We do not say that he had feeling, for this reason, lest he seem to have sin; let us answer them: Did he have a body like us, or did he not have one? If they say, he had one, let us answer them: Then he had also the sufferings of our body. Everyone understands what I say. But if they deny that he had the passions or lusts of the body, then we say to them, that he did not have a body either. And let us say to them: Just as he had a true body like ours, and yet did not have the sin of the body; so also he had a true soul, and did not have the sin of the soul. Let us therefore confess that he had a true body and a true soul. For if the Lord did not take upon himself all the things that are man's, he did not save man. But if he took a body, and did not take a soul: then he saved the body, but he did not save the soul. Yet we wish rather that our soul be saved than our body. The Lord therefore took upon himself both body and soul, that he might save both, that he might save the whole man, just as he also created him. If, then, they say that the Lord did not take on feeling for this reason, that he might not sin, and they suppose this, that whoever has had human feeling cannot conquer it, let them tell us: Did John the Baptist have feeling, or did he not? In that time, in which he was in the desert, did he sin? Assuredly they say that he did not sin. Indeed, our Lord too says: "Amen I say to you, there has not been among those born of women a greater than John the Baptist." Did Peter have feeling, or did he not, and the rest of the holy apostles? If, then, the apostles conquered human feeling, did the Lord fear to take on feeling, lest he be conquered by it? And while they wish to glorify the Lord, they disparage him. How do they disparage him? by making the Lord seem to fear what the apostles did not fear. Let us therefore give thanks to almighty God, and say: In your feeling you had no sin. And: "The prince of this world came, and found nothing in you." So then grant to us, that just as in your own feeling you conquered the devil, so also in our feeling conquer the devil; that, just as you created us perfect, so also perfect you may save us. For you are the Creator, you are the master, you are the Lord, you are also the one who suffered for us: who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.