Commentary on Psalm 92 · §3 · Eustathius of Antioch

The man, not the indwelling God, suffered dishonor and death

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Eustathius has just quoted Isaiah 53:3 about a man in affliction and is now explaining that this man, not the God dwelling in him, is the one who suffered dishonor and then regained splendor.

Immediately he brings in another quotation, adding: “A man in affliction, knowing how to bear weakness” (Isaiah 53:3). So this is the one who was seen without appearance and without form after his insults, and then again put on splendor from change. For the God dwelling in him was not led to death like a lamb or slaughtered in the manner of a sheep, since he is invisible by nature.

Greek

παραυτίκα πάλιν ἐπάγει προσθείς· Ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν. 37 Αὖθις ἄρ' οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ μετὰ τὰς ὕβρεις ἀειδὴς, ἄμορφος ὁραθεὶς, εἶτα πάλιν ἐκ μεταβολῆς εὐπρέπειαν ἐνδυσάμενος. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν αὐτῷ Θεὸς ἀμνοῦ δίκην εἰς θάνατον ἤγετο καὶ προβάτου τρόπον ἀπεσφάττετο, φυσικῶς ἀόρατος ὤν.

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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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