Commentary on the Psalms · §221 · Didymus the Blind

The Sword of the Word and the Beauty of Virtue

Your thigh, powerful one.

Therefore we say: the faithful man, the self-controlled one, the imitator of God, girds the unyielding Word of God, which is being wielded above every sword, around his thigh, so that he may cut away superfluous desires.

For he who has grasped the honorable marriage and keeps the bed undefiled, has the sword of the Word of God cutting them away.

If 'powerful' here refers to the God-Word or the soul joined to Him, 'thigh' refers to the incarnation, the birth from a woman.

Therefore, preserve this sword while your beauty and your loveliness remain.

And beauty and loveliness are sinlessness, when spoken of the soul; for it did not know sin.

But if spoken of the God-Word, this he says: the beauty and the loveliness of God remain to you, having become man; for you did not change from being the Word and God-Word.

And to each of the rest of the temperate it is said: put on beauty and loveliness from the other virtues, take also temperance, the Word that cuts.

But what kind of sword should we take?

The Word concerning temperance, the Word in general, the one that cuts.

Behold, a wise man is subject to reproof.

This one, progressing and beginning, is so.

But the perfect one is imperturbable; he is not subject to reproof, he does not deviate from the mouth, that is, the Word, the God. 'Make it known to the righteous, and he will add to receiving' (Proverbs 9:9); and 'his righteousness is the first argument'.

He entirely possesses what he has argued for himself.

But the truly perfect righteous one is not subject to reproof.

For having watched, he did not seize him, did not strike, did not wound; and thus, at the failure, he grinds the teeth.

And the grinding of teeth often signifies repentance, as also in the Gospel concerning the one bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness 'prepared for the devil and his angels' (Matt 25:41);

'there shall be the weeping and the grinding of teeth' (Matt 8:12).

And the 'there' here again signifies such a condition.

'But the Lord shall laugh at him, for he foresees that his day is coming' (Psalm 37:13; LXX 36:13).

the sinner who shall grind the teeth against the righteous;

for 'he foresees' 'that his day is coming'.

The Lord, foreseeing that his day shall come in which he shall be condemned, shall laugh at the sinner.

But such sayings spoken of God must not be heard in a human-passioned way.

But we take their meaning in a God-befitting way;

for indeed it has been said:

'He who dwells in the heavens shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall sneer at them' (Ps 2:4).

This is not spoken humanly; we do not take it of God in a human-passioned way.

And again in Exodus he says:

'whatsoever I have mocked the Egyptians with' (Ex 10:2).

The mockery here again has such a meaning:

not [...].

Greek

μηρόν σου, δυνατέ". λέγομεν οὖν· καὶ ὁ πιστὸς ἄνθρωπος, ὁ ἐνκρατής, ὁ θεοῦ 338 μιμητής, τὸν ἀρραγῆ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον τὸν ἠκονημένον ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον ζώννυται περὶ τὸν μηρόν, ἵν' ἐκτέμνῃ τὰς περιττὰς ἐπιθυμίας· ὁ γὰρ τίμιον μεταλαβὼν γάμον μετέρχεσθαι καὶ κοίτην ἀμίαντον φυλάττειν ἔχει τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον ῥομφαίαν περιτέμνοντα. ἐὰν οὖν "3δυνατὸν"3 ἐνταῦθα λέγῃ τὸν θεὸν λόγον ἢ τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν συνεζευγμένην αὐτῷ, μηρὸν λέγει τὴν ἐνανθρώπησιν, τὴν ἐκ γυναικὸς γένεσιν. περίζωσαι οὖν ταύτην τὴν ῥομφαίαν μενούσης τῆς ὡραιότητός σου καὶ τοῦ κάλλους σου. κάλλος δὲ καὶ ὡραιότης ἡ ἀναμαρτησία ἐστίν, ὅταν περὶ τῆς ψυχῆς λέγηται· οὐκ ἔγνω γὰρ ἁμαρτίαν. ἐὰν δὲ περὶ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου, τοῦτο λέγει ὅτι· τὸ κάλλος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἡ ὡραιότης παραμένει σοι ἀνθρώπῳ γεναμένῳ· οὐ γὰρ μετέβαλες ἀπὸ τοῦ εἶναι λόγος καὶ θεοῦ λόγος. καὶ πρὸς ἕκαστον δὲ λοιπὸν τῶν σωφρόνων λέγεται ὅτι· ἐπιθοῦ κάλλος καὶ ὡραιότητα ἐκ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀρετῶν, πρόσλαβε καὶ τὴν σωφροσύνην, τὸν λόγον τὸν τέμνοντα. ἐπερ · ἵνα τὴν ῥομφαίαν ποίαν λάβωμεν; –τὸν λόγον τὸν περὶ σωφροσύνης, τὸν λόγον τὸν καθόλου, τὸν ἐκτέμνοντα. 247 ἰδοὺ σοφὸς ὑποκείμενος ἐλέγχοις. οὗτος προκόπτων καὶ ἀρχόμενός ἐστιν. ὁ δὲ τέλειος ἀτάραχός ἐστιν· οὐκ ἐλέγχοις ὑπόκειται, οὐκ ἐκκλίνει ἐκ στόματος, τουτέστιν τοῦ λόγου, τοῦ θεοῦ. "γνώριζε δικαίῳ, καὶ προσθήσει τοῦ δέχεσθαι"· καί· "δίκαιος αὐτοῦ κατήγορος ἐν πρωτολογίᾳ". ὅλως ἔχει, ὃ κατηγορήσει ἑαυτοῦ. ὁ δὲ ἀληθῶς τέλειος δίκαιος οὐχ ἁμαρτάνει· "πᾶς" γὰρ "ὁ ποιῶν 237 δικαιοσύνην ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται", καὶ "πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἁμαρτίαν οὐ ποιεῖ". ὁ μὴ ποιῶν ἁμαρτίαν τέλειος δίκαιός ἐστιν, περὶ ὧν καὶ ὁ σωτὴρ ἐν εὐαγγελίῳ εἴρηκεν· "πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ βλέπετε καὶ οὐκ εἶδον". τ̣ὸ δ̣ε`̣ βρῦξαι τοὺς ὀδόντας καταγνόντος ἐστὶν ἑαυτοῦ· παρατηρησάμενος γὰρ οὐχ εἷλεν αὐτόν, οὐκ ἔβαλεν, οὐκ ἔτρωσεν, καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ τῇ ἀποτυχίᾳ β̣ρ̣ύχει τοὺς ὀδόντας. μεταμέλειαν δὲ π̣ολλάκις ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων σημαίνει, ὡς καὶ ἐν εὐαγγελίῳ περὶ τοῦ δεθέντος ποσὶν καὶ χερσὶν καὶ βληθέντος εἰς τὸ σκότος τὸ ἐξώτερον "τὸ η῾̣τοιμασμένον τῷ διαβόλῳ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ"· "ἐκεῖ ἔσται ὁ κλαυθμὸς καὶ ὁ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων". τὸ δὲ "3ἐκεῖ"3 πάλιν ὧδε τὴν κατάστασιν τὴν̣ τοιάνδε σημαίνει. 13 ὁ δὲ κύριος ἐνγελάσεται αὐτόν, ὅτι προβλέπει ὅτι ἥξει ἡ ἡμέρα αὐτοῦ. τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν τὸν βρύξοντα τοὺς ὀδόντας κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου· "προβλέπει" γὰρ "ὅτι ἥξει ἡ ἡμέρα αὐτοῦ". προορῶν ὁ κύριος ὅτι ἡ ἡμέρα αὐτοῦ ἐλεύσεται καθ' ἣν καταδικασθήσεται, καταγελάσει τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ. τὰ τοιαῦτα δὲ ῥήματα λεγόμενα ἐπὶ θεοῦ ἀνθρωποπαθῶς μὴ ἀκουέσθωσαν. θεοπρεπῶς δὲ τὸν νοῦν αὐτῶν ἐκλαμβάνομεν· εἴρηται γοῦν· "ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐγγελάσεται αὐτούς, καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐκμυκτηριεῖ αὐτούς". οὐκ ἀνθρωπολογεῖται τοῦτο, οὐκ ἀνθρωποπαθῶς ἐπὶ θεοῦ ἐκλαμβάνομεν. καὶ πάλιν ἐν τῇ Ἐξόδῳ λέγει· "ὅσα ἐνπέπαιχα τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις". ὁ ἐνπαιγμὸς ὧδε πάλιν τοιαύτην ἔχει διάνοιαν· οὐ

Report a mistake in this passage

About this text

Didymus the Blind reads the Psalms as the voice of Christ, explaining God's unchanging nature, the Son's divinity and humanity, and the life of virtue.

Didymus the Blind (c. 313–c. 398) was a Christian teacher in Alexandria. He lost his sight at the age of four, before he learned to read, and he remained a layman all his life. Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, made him head of the Alexandrian school. He taught there for about half a century, followed Origen, and opposed Arianism.

This English is his commentary on the Psalms, the work stored as Commentarii in Psalmos. It is not his separate book of fragments on the Psalms. He explains the biblical text from his teaching in Alexandria.

A reader meets discussions of the power of God and the nature of the Word, the distinction of divinity and humanity, the eternity of Christ's reign, the precious stones of virtue, hope, and the psalm as the voice of the Savior. Terms such as Word, right hand, and face of God carry theological weight in this commentary.

Printed text used

Translated from PG (Greek)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

Report a mistake