Commentary on Psalm 92 · §1 · Eustathius of Antioch

The anointed man's dishonor, not the indwelling God's

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Eustathius has just distinguished the one who anoints (God by nature) from the anointed one (the man who receives acquired virtue), and now cites Isaiah's description of the suffering servant's lack of appearance and beauty.

It is clear, then, that if the one who anoints proves God—the one whose throne he called eternal—then the one who anointed is evidently God by nature, begotten from God. The anointed one, however, received acquired virtue, adorned by the exceptional fashioning of a temple through the divinity of the one dwelling in him.

At any rate, the prophet Isaiah, when he goes through the very traces of his sufferings, adds this among other things with a louder cry: “We saw him, and he had neither appearance nor beauty; but his appearance was dishonored and failing in comparison with the sons of men” (Isaiah 53:2-3).

Greek

Commentarius in Psalmum 92 (fragmenta) ΕΡΜΗΝΕΙΑ ΤΟΥ 92 ΨΑΛΜΟΥ 35 Πρόδηλον οὖν εἴπερ ὁ χρίων ἀποδεικνύει Θεὸν οὗ τὸν θρόνον εἶπεν αἰώνιον, δῆλος μέν ἐστι φύσει Θεὸς ἐκ Θεοῦ γεννηθεὶς ὁ χρίσας, ὁ δὲ χρισθεὶς ἐπίκτητον εἴληφεν ἀρετὴν ἐκκρίτῳ ναουργίᾳ κοσμηθεὶς ἐκ τῆς τοῦ κατοικοῦντος ἐν αὐτῷ θεότητος. 36 Πέρας γοῦν ὁ προφήτης Ἡσαΐας αὐτὰ μὲν τὰ τῶν παθῶν αὐτοῦ διεξιὼν ἴχνη πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις ἐπιφέρει καὶ τοῦτο μεγαλοφωνοτέρᾳ βοῇ, τό· καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτὸν καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν οὔτε εἶδος οὔτε κάλλος· ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον καὶ ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων.

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About this text

Commentary on Psalm 92 attributed to Eustathius of Antioch.

Eustathius of Antioch (fl. c. 320–337) wrote this commentary on Psalm 92. He was bishop of Antioch and a leading opponent of Arianism at the Council of Nicaea. The surviving fragments explain how the psalm's language about an anointed king applies to Christ, distinguishing what belongs to his divine nature from what belongs to his assumed human nature.

The commentary addresses the relationship between the one who anoints and the one anointed. Eustathius argues that the one who anoints is God by nature, begotten from God, while the anointed one has received acquired virtue and is adorned by the indwelling divinity. He then turns to Isaiah's description of the suffering servant to show that the dishonor and suffering belong to the man, not to the divine nature.

The indwelling God was not led to death like a lamb or slaughtered like a sheep, since he is invisible by nature. The man described by Isaiah, after his insults, appeared without form or beauty, but then through change was clothed again with splendor. The author quotes Isaiah 53:2-3 according to the Septuagint. Psalm numbering follows the Septuagint, so Psalm 92 corresponds to Psalm 93 in modern Hebrew numbering.

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Translated from PG 18 (Greek)

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