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Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 30-44

Sermons XXXVI–XXXVII

SERMO XXXVI. De Gedeon.

Sermon 36. On Gideon.

1. Praedestinationis adumbratio. Hodierna die audivimus, fratres, quod cum sub arbore quercu, Gedeon filius Joas tritici messem virga caederet, Angelo promittente audire meruerit, ut a potestate, inimicorum in libertatem Dei populum vindicaret. Nec mirum, si est electus ad gratiam; cum sub umbra jam tunc sanctae crucis et venerabilis sapientiae praedestinato Incarnationis futurae mysterio constitutus, feracis segetis sensibilia de latibulis frumenta produceret, electionemque sanctorum a purgamentis inanis paleae sequestraret: qui tanquam virga veritatis exercitati, superflua veteris hominis cum ejus actibus deponentes, quasi in torculari, ita in Ecclesia congregantur. Ecclesia enim torcular est fontis aeterni, in qua coelestis vitis fructus exundat.

1. A foreshadowing of predestination. Today we have heard, brothers, that when Gideon the son of Joash was beating out the harvest of wheat with a rod beneath an oak tree, he was found worthy to hear the Angel promising that he would deliver the people of God from the power of the enemies into liberty. Nor is it surprising if he was chosen for grace; since, placed even then beneath the shadow of the holy cross and of venerable wisdom by the predestined mystery of the future Incarnation, he was bringing forth from their hiding-places the perceptible grains of a fruitful crop, and was separating the elect of the saints from the refuse of empty chaff: these, exercised as it were by the rod of truth, putting off the superfluities of the old man together with his deeds, are gathered into the Church as into a winepress. For the Church is the winepress of the eternal fountain, in which the fruit of the heavenly vine overflows.

2. Redemptionis nos⟨t⟩rae figura. Christus petra relate ad carnem. Gedeon vero cum audisset, quod per eum Dominus plebem suam a multitudine hostium liberaret, obtulit in sacrificium haedum caprarum, cujus carnem, secundum praecepta angeli, et azyma supra petram posuit, et ea jure perfudit. Quae simul ut virgae cacumine, quam gerebat, angelus Dei contigit, de petra ignis erupit; atque ita sacrificium quod offerebatur, absumptum est. Quo indicio declaratum videtur, quod petra illa typum habuerit corporis Christi: quia scriptum est, Bibebant autem de spirituali consequenti eos petra; petra autem erat Christus (I Cor. X, 4). Quod utique non ad divinitatem ejus, sed ad carnem relatum est, quae sitientium corda populorum perenni rivo sui sanguinis inundavit. Jam tunc igitur in mysterio declaratum est, quia Dominus Jesus in carne sua totius mundi peccata crucifixus aboleret; nec solum delicta factorum, sed etiam cupiditates animorum. Caro enim haedi ad culpam facti refertur, jus ad illecebras cupiditatum; sicut scriptum est, Quia concupivit populus cupiditatem pessimam: et dixerunt, Quis nobis dabit carnes (Num. XI, 4)? Quod igitur extendit angelus virgam, et tetigit petram, de qua exivit ignis, ostendit quod caro Domini Spiritu repleta divino peccata omnia humanae conditionis exureret. Unde et Dominus ait, Ignem veni mittere in terram (Luc. XII, 49).

2. A figure of our redemption. Christ the rock, with reference to the flesh. Now Gideon, when he had heard that through him the Lord would deliver His people from the multitude of the enemies, offered in sacrifice a kid of the goats, whose flesh, according to the instructions of the angel, he placed together with unleavened bread upon a rock, and poured broth over them. As soon as the angel of God touched these with the tip of the rod which he was carrying, fire burst forth from the rock; and so the sacrifice which was being offered was consumed. By this sign it appears to be declared that that rock bore the type of the body of Christ: for it is written, But they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). This is certainly referred not to His divinity but to His flesh, which flooded the thirsting hearts of the peoples with the perennial stream of His blood. Even then, therefore, it was declared in a mystery that the Lord Jesus, crucified in His flesh, would abolish the sins of the whole world; not only the offences of deeds, but also the desires of minds. For the flesh of the kid refers to the guilt of the deed, the broth to the allurements of desires; as it is written, For the people desired a most wicked desire, and they said, Who will give us flesh? (Num. 11:4). That the angel stretched out the rod, therefore, and touched the rock, from which fire came forth, showed that the flesh of the Lord, filled with the divine Spirit, would burn up all the sins of the human condition. Hence also the Lord says, I have come to send fire upon the earth (Luke 12:49).

3. Sacrificiorum veterum abolitio revelata. Christus haedus, ovis, vitulus. Crucis mysterium. Advertit igitur vir doctus et praesagus futurorum superna mysteria; et ideo secundum oracula occidit vitulum a patre suo idolis deputatum, et septennem alium immolavit Deo. Quo facto manifestissime revelavit post adventum Domini omnia abelenda esse Gentilitatis sacrificia, solumque sacrificium Deo Dominicae passionis pro religione populi deferendum. Etenim vitulus ille typum Christi praeferebat. Septem autem annorum erat, quia in Christo septem spiritualium plenitudo virtutum, ut Isaias dixit, habitabat (Isai. XI, 2). Hunc vitulum et Abraham obtulit, quando diem Domini vidit, et gavisus est (Joan. VIII, 56). Hic est qui nunc in haedi typo, nunc in ovis, nunc in vituli offerebatur: haedi, quod sacrificium pro delictis sit; ovis, quod voluntaria hostia; vituli, quod immaculata sit victima. Praevidit ergo mysterium sanctas Gedeon. Denique trecentos elegit ad praelium; ut ostenderet non in numero multitudinis, sed in sacramento crucis mundum ab incursu gravium

3. The abolition of the old sacrifices revealed. Christ the kid, the sheep, the calf. The mystery of the cross. The man, then, learned and foreseeing things to come, perceived the heavenly mysteries; and therefore, according to the oracles, he slew the calf assigned by his father to idols, and sacrificed another, seven years old, to God. By this deed he revealed most manifestly that after the coming of the Lord all the sacrifices of the Gentiles were to be abolished, and that the sacrifice of the Lord's passion alone was to be offered to God for the religion of the people. For that calf bore the type of Christ. And it was seven years old because in Christ, as Isaiah said, dwelt the fullness of the seven spiritual virtues (Isa. 11:2). This calf Abraham too offered, when he saw the day of the Lord and was glad (John 8:56). He it is Who was offered now in the type of a kid, now of a sheep, now of a calf: of a kid, because He is a sacrifice for offences; of a sheep, because He is a voluntary offering; of a calf, because He is an immaculate victim. Holy Gideon therefore foresaw the mystery. Finally he chose three hundred for battle, to show that not in the number of a multitude, but in the sacrament of the cross, the world from the onslaught of grievous

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Ful. Ms., hesterna die, etc. Ambrosius vero sic incipit: Hierobaal, sicut legimus, cum sub arbore quercu.

The Feuillants' manuscript [reads] "yesterday", etc. Ambrose, however, begins thus: "Jerubbaal, as we read, when under an oak tree."

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Ambrosius: Commotus oraculo Gedeon, cum audisset quod deficientibus licet populorum millibus, in uno viro Dominus plebem suam ab hostibus liberare, obtulit, etc.

Ambrose: "Gideon, moved by the oracle, when he had heard that even though the thousands of the people failed, the Lord would free his people from their enemies through one man, offered," etc.

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Ful. Ms. cum Ambrosio, assumptum est.

The Feuillants' manuscript, with Ambrose, [reads] "assumptum est" (was taken up).

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Ambrosius, pro redemptione.

Ambrose [reads] "for the redemption".

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Alias, de Tempore 108.

Elsewhere [numbered] On the Season 108.

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In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Excepta recapitulatione in quam sermo desinit, nihil eo continetur aliud, nisi quae apud Ambrosium libro 1 de Spiritu sancto prooemii vice praefixa est, enarratio de Gedeone; non tamen tota.

Placed in the Appendix now for the first time. Apart from the recapitulation with which the sermon ends, it contains nothing other than the account of Gideon prefixed in Ambrose's book 1 On the Holy Spirit by way of a preface; not, however, the whole of it.

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hostium esse liberandum (Judic. VII, 7) Trecenti enim in graeca T, tau, similitudinem crucis ostendunt.

enemies was to be delivered (Judg. 7:7). For three hundred in Greek, T, tau, shows the likeness of the cross.

4. Ros in vellere, tum in area; fides primum in Judaea, exinde apud Gentes. Et tamen licet fortis esset et fidens, pleniora adhuc de Domino futurae victoriae documenta quaerebat, dicens: Si salvas in manu mea Israel, quemadmodum locutus es, Domine, ecce ego pono lanae vellus in area, et si ros factus fuerit super vellus, et super omnem terram siccitas, cognoscam quia in manu mea secundum promissa tua populum liberabis. Et ita factum est. Sed adjecit postea, ut rursus ros proflueret super totam terram, et siccitas esset in vellere (Judic. VI, et VII). Ros enim in vellere fides erat in Judaea: quia sicut ros verba Dei descendunt. Unde et Moyses ait: Exspectetur sicut pluvia eloquium meum, et sicut ros verba mea (Deut. XXXII, 2). Ergo quando totus orbis infructuoso aestu Gentilis superstitionis arebat, tunc erat ros ille coelestis visitationis in vellere, id est, in Judaea. Postea vero quam oves quae perierant domus Israel: unde puto figuram judaici velleris adumbratam: oves, inquam, illae fontem aquae vivae negaverunt, ros fidei exaruit in pectoribus Judaeorum, meatusque suos fons ille divinus in corda Gentium derivavit. Inde est quod nunc fidei rore totus orbis humescit. At vero Judaei Prophetas suos et consiliarios perdiderunt. Nec mirum, si perfidiae subeunt siccitatem, quos Dominus Deus prophetici imbris ubertate privavit, dicens: Mandabo nubibus ne pluant super vineam istam (Isai. V, 6). Est enim propheticae nubis pluvia salutaris, sicut et David dixit: Descendet sicut pluvia in vellus, et sicut stillicidia stillantia super terram (Psal LXXI, 6). Hanc nobis Scripturae divinae totius mundi pluviam pollicebantur, quae Spiritus rore divini rigaret orbem sub Domini Salvatoris adventu. Venit ergo jam ros, venit et pluvia, venit Dominus stillicidia secum coelestia deferens: et ideo jam nos bibimus, qui ante sitiebamus, et divinum illum Spiritum haustu interiore potamus. Hoc ergo praevidit sanctus Gedeon: quia verum et spiritualem rorem etiam Gentes nationesque erant fidei perceptione bibiturae.

4. Dew on the fleece, then on the threshing-floor; faith first in Judaea, thereafter among the Gentiles. And yet, although he was brave and trusting, he still sought fuller proofs from the Lord of the victory to come, saying: If Thou savest Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken, O Lord, behold, I put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor, and if dew comes upon the fleece, and dryness upon all the ground, I shall know that by my hand Thou wilt deliver the people according to Thy promises. And so it was done. But afterwards he added that the dew should in turn flow over the whole ground, and that there should be dryness on the fleece (Judg. 6 and 7). For the dew on the fleece was faith in Judaea: because the words of God come down like dew. Whence Moses also says: Let my speech be awaited like rain, and my words like dew (Deut. 32:2). So when the whole world was parched by the fruitless heat of Gentile superstition, then that dew of heavenly visitation was on the fleece, that is, in Judaea. But after the sheep which had perished of the house of Israel (whence I think the figure of the Jewish fleece was foreshadowed), those sheep, I say, denied the fountain of living water, the dew of faith dried up in the breasts of the Jews, and that divine fountain diverted its channels into the hearts of the Gentiles. Hence it is that now the whole world is moist with the dew of faith. But the Jews have lost their Prophets and counsellors. Nor is it surprising if they undergo the dryness of unbelief, whom the Lord God deprived of the abundance of the prophetic shower, saying: I will command the clouds not to rain upon this vineyard (Isa. 5:6). For the rain of the prophetic cloud is saving, as David also said: He shall come down like rain upon the fleece, and like drops dripping upon the earth (Ps. 71:6). This rain for the whole world the divine Scriptures promised us, which would water the world with the dew of the divine Spirit at the coming of the Lord Saviour. So now the dew has come, the rain has come too, the Lord has come bringing heavenly drops with Him: and therefore we now drink, who before were thirsting, and we drink in that divine Spirit with an inward draught. This, then, holy Gedeon foresaw: that the Gentiles and nations too were to drink the true and spiritual dew by receiving the faith.

5. Ad quid vellus in area. Non tamen otiose Gedeon vellus nec in campo posuit, nec in prato; sed in area, ubi messis est tritici (messis enim multa, operarii autem pauci [Matth. IX, 37]): eo quod per fidem Domini in Ecclesia futura esset messis fecunda virtutum. Nec illud otiosum est, quod exsiccavit vellus Judaicum, et rorem ejus misit in pelvim, ut repleretur aqua, non tamen ipse ex eo rore pedes lavit. Alii debebatur tanti praerogativa mysterii. Exspectabatur Christus, qui sordes omnium solus posset abluere. Non erat tantus Gedeon, qui hoc sibi mysterium vindicaret. Non enim Gedeon, sed Filius hominis venit non ministrari, sed ministrare (Id. XX, 28).

5. Why the fleece on the threshing-floor. Yet not idly did Gedeon put the fleece neither in a field nor in a meadow, but on the threshing-floor, where the harvest of wheat is (for the harvest is great, but the labourers are few [Matt. 9:37]): because through faith in the Lord there was to be in the Church a fruitful harvest of virtues. Nor is it idle that he dried the Jewish fleece and put its dew into a basin, so that it was filled with water, yet he himself did not wash his feet with that dew. The privilege of so great a mystery was owed to another. Christ was awaited, Who alone could wash away the filth of all. Gedeon was not so great as to claim this mystery for himself. For not Gedeon, but the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve (Matt. 20:28).

6. Recapitulatio. Rogo vos, fratres, ut non moleste accipiatis, quod propter tardiores quosque et simplices aliquoties ea quae dicuntur, breviter replicamus, Qui enim litterati et docti sunt, Deo propitio sine labore intelligunt quae dicuntur: reliquis vero, id est, idiotis atque simplicibus, nisi brevis recapitulatio facta fuerit, timeo ne ex his quae dicuntur parum capere possint. Gedeon, fratres charissimi, typum gessit Domini Salvatoris. Et quia trecenti secundum graecum computum crucem faciunt, ita tunc Gedeon in trecentis viris Judaeorum populum de crudelissimis gentibus eripuit; quomodo postea Christus per mysterium crucis totum genus humanum de potestate diaboli liberavit. Torcular enim ubi messem terebat, propter assiduas tribulationes, Ecclesiae typum gessit. Messis quae caedebatur, Christianum populum significavit, quem adveniens Christus virga disciplinae vel baculo crucis suae a paleis, id est, a peccatis omnibus separavit.

6. Recapitulation. I ask you, brethren, not to take it amiss that, for the sake of all the slower and simpler ones, we sometimes briefly repeat what is said. For those who are lettered and learned understand, by God's favour, without effort what is said; but as for the rest, that is, the unlearned and simple, unless a brief recapitulation is made, I fear they may grasp little of what is said. Gedeon, dearest brethren, bore the type of the Lord Saviour. And since three hundred according to Greek reckoning makes a cross, so then Gedeon with three hundred men rescued the people of the Jews from most cruel nations, just as afterwards Christ through the mystery of the cross delivered the whole human race from the power of the devil. For the winepress where he was threshing the harvest, on account of constant tribulations, bore the type of the Church. The harvest which was being beaten signified the Christian people, whom Christ at His coming, with the rod of discipline or the staff of His cross, separated from the chaff, that is, from all sins.

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Hoc loco apud Ambrosium quaestio isthaec paucis enodatur. Utrum non quasi incredulus esse videatur, qui frequentibus informatus indiciis adhuc plura poscebat.

At this place in Ambrose this question is resolved in a few words: whether he who, though instructed by frequent signs, still asked for more, does not seem to be as it were unbelieving.

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Huc usque Ambrosius.

Up to here, Ambrose.

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Nam et angelus ille qui venit ad eum, et ipse in typum Domini Salvatoris accipitur. Arborem sub qua stetit, et virgam quam tenuit, crucem significasse manifestum est. Petra illa, super quam Gedeon obtulit holocaustum, Christus erat: sic enim ait Apostolus, Petra autem erat Christus. Haedus ille qui oblatus est, humanum genus peccatis obnoxium designavit. Quod angelus virga sua tetigit petram, et exiit ignis, et consumpsit haedum illum: crux tetigit Christum, et de petra, quae erat Christas, ignis exiit charitatis, qui humani generis peccata consumpsit. De se ipso enim verus Gedeon Christus in Evangelio ait, Ignem veni mittere in terram; et quid volo nisi ut accendatur? Taurus vero quem occidit, et ipse Dominum figurabat, qui pro redemptione generis humani oblatus est. Quod autem septem annorum erat, septemplicem gratiam Spiritus sancti, qui in Christum venit, significasse videtur. Vellus quod in area posuit, et rogavit Dominum, ut in solo vellere esset ros; et in omni terra siccitas, et factum est ita; et iterum rogavit, ut vellus remaneret siccum, et in tota area esset ros: vellus significavit populum Judaeorum, area autem in toto mundo populum omnium Gentium. Et quia primo tempore ros verbi Dei in sola Judaea fuit, et totus mundus in siccitate remanserat; ideo primum ros in vellus venit, et area sicca fuit; postea vero quando Judaei Christum Dominum occiderunt; per passionis injuriam expressum est vellus, et remansit Judaeorum populus aridus et siccus, et in totam aream, id est, in universum mundum, ad omnes gentes, non solum ros, sed etiam pluvia verbi Dei et Apostolorum flumina pervenerunt. Denique in universa terra quasi area, rore gratiae spiritualis irrigatur Ecclesia; et infelix Synagoga ab omni humore vel pluvia divini verbi sicca remansit et arida. Ut haec ergo spiritualis pluvia, et ros divinae gratiae perseveret in nobis, omnia quae praedicantur, salubriter cogitemus, et nobis invicem in colloquendo velut munda animalia ruminemus: ut utilem succum, unde anima nostra in aeternum vivere possit, habere possimus, et talibus deliciis saturati cum propheta dicere mereamur: Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua, Domine (Psal. CXVIII, 103)! Sed tunc in nobis dulcedo verbi Dei poterit permanere, si hoc etiam aliis plena et perfecta charitate frequentius referendo voluerimus ingerere; ut non solum de nostra, sed etiam de aliorum salute lucra nobis spiritualia possimus providere: auxiliante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, cui est honor et imperium cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

For that angel too who came to him is himself taken as a type of the Lord Saviour. The tree under which he stood, and the rod which he held, plainly signified the cross. That rock, upon which Gideon offered the holocaust, was Christ: for so says the Apostle, But the rock was Christ. That kid which was offered signified the human race, liable to sins. As for the angel touching the rock with his rod, and fire coming out and consuming that kid: the cross touched Christ, and from the rock, which was Christ, there came out the fire of charity, which consumed the sins of the human race. For concerning Himself the true Gideon, Christ, says in the Gospel, I came to send fire upon the earth; and what do I will, but that it be kindled? The bull, moreover, which he slew also prefigured the Lord, Who was offered for the redemption of the human race. That it was seven years old seems to have signified the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, Who came upon Christ. The fleece which he laid on the threshing-floor, when he asked the Lord that there might be dew on the fleece alone and dryness on all the ground, and it was done so; and again asked that the fleece might remain dry and there be dew on the whole floor: the fleece signified the people of the Jews, but the floor the people of all the Gentiles in the whole world. And because at the first time the dew of the word of God was in Judaea alone, and the whole world had remained in dryness, therefore the dew came first upon the fleece, and the floor was dry; but afterwards, when the Jews killed Christ the Lord, the fleece was wrung out through the outrage of the passion, and the people of the Jews remained arid and dry, and upon the whole floor, that is, upon the entire world, to all the nations, there came not only dew but also the rain of the word of God and the rivers of the Apostles. Thus throughout the whole earth, as on a threshing-floor, the Church is watered with the dew of spiritual grace; and the unhappy Synagogue has remained dry and arid, without any moisture or rain of the divine word. So then, that this spiritual rain and the dew of divine grace may abide in us, let us think over wholesomely all the things that are preached, and in conversing with one another let us ruminate them like clean animals: so that we may have the useful juice by which our soul may live for ever, and, filled with such delights, may be worthy to say with the prophet: How sweet are Thy words to my palate, O Lord (Ps. 118:103)! But the sweetness of the word of God will be able to remain in us then, if we are willing to pass it on to others as well, by relating it more often with full and perfect charity; so that we may provide spiritual gains for ourselves not only from our own salvation but also from that of others: with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom is honour and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO XXXVII. De David et Isai patre suo, et de Golia.

Sermon 37. On David and Jesse his father, and on Goliath.

1. Idem potest esse figura diversorum. Isai typus Dei Patris. In Scripturis divinis, fratres charissimi, una eademque persona, prout tempus est et locus, diversam significationem habere potest. Nam beatus Isaac (quod optime novit Sanctitas vestra), quando a patre oblatus est, Christum Dominum figuravit; cum vero filio suo Jacob benedixit, et ad accipiendam uxorem in Mesopotamiam misit, Jacob typum habuit Christi, et Isaac Dei Patris imaginem gessit. Iterum beatus Jacob typum Christi habuit, quando uxorem accepit; Dei Patris figuram gessit, quando beatum Joseph plus omnibus filiis diligebat, et tunicam ei polymitam fecit, quae incarnationem Domini Salvatoris significaret. Quomodo ergo tunc factum est,

1. The same [person] can be a figure of different things. Jesse a type of God the Father. In the divine Scriptures, dearest brethren, one and the same person can have a different signification according to the time and place. For blessed Isaac (as Your Holiness knows very well), when he was offered by his father, prefigured Christ the Lord; but when he blessed his son Jacob and sent him into Mesopotamia to take a wife, Jacob bore the type of Christ, and Isaac bore the image of God the Father. Again, blessed Jacob bore the type of Christ when he took a wife; he bore the figure of God the Father when he loved blessed Joseph more than all his sons, and made him a many-coloured tunic, which was to signify the incarnation of the Lord Saviour. Just as, then, it came about at that time,

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In Ms. ful.: Crux tetigit petram quae erat Christus, et ignis, etc.

In the Feuillants' manuscript: "The cross touched the rock, which was Christ, and fire," etc.

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Alias, de Tempore 197.

Elsewhere [numbered] On the Season 197.

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In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Per Lovanienses relictus inter Augustinianos, tanquam dubius carebat Augustini nomine. Postea per Verlinum et Vindingum ipsius non esse certo probatum fuit. Caesarium Arelatensem facilius refert quam Augustinum, tametsi hujus nomine in Breviariis multis legatur Dominica post Pentecosten quarta. A Parisiensi non ita pridem expunctus est.

Placed in the Appendix now for the first time. Left among Augustine's works by the Louvain editors, it lacked Augustine's name as doubtful. Later Verlinus and Vindingus proved for certain that it is not his. It recalls Caesarius of Arles more readily than Augustine, although it is read under the latter's name in many Breviaries on the fourth Sunday after Pentecost. Not long ago it was struck out of the Paris [Breviary].

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fratres charissimi, in beatis Patriarchis, Isaac videlicet et Jacob; ita et in Isai patre David figuratum esse cognoscimus. Quando enim David filium mittebat, ut requireret fratres suos, typum Dei Patris habuisse videtur. Isai misit David, ut requireret fratres suos; et Deus Pater misit Unigenitum suum, ex cujus persona scriptum est, Narrabo nomen tuum fratribus meis (Psal. XXI, 23). Ad requirendos enim fratres suos venerat Christus, quando dicebat, Non sum missus nisi ad oves perditas domus Israel (Matth. XV, 24).

dearest brothers, in the blessed Patriarchs, namely Isaac and Jacob; so too we recognize that it was prefigured in Jesse, the father of David. For when he was sending his son David to seek out his brothers, he seems to have borne the type of God the Father. Jesse sent David to seek out his brothers; and God the Father sent His Only-begotten, in Whose person it is written, I will declare Thy name to my brothers (Ps. 21:23). For Christ had come to seek out His brothers, when He said, I am not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matt. 15:24).

2. David figura Christi. Dixit ergo Isai ad David filium suum: Accipe ephi polentae, et decem formellas casei, et vade, require fratres tuos. Ephi, fratres mei, trium modiorum mensura est: et in tribus mensuris, mysterium intelligitur Trinitatis. Bene noverat hoc mysterium etiam et beatus Abraham. Denique quando sub ilice Mambre in tribus personis sacramentum Trinitatis videre promeruit, tria sata similae misceri praecepit. Tria sata, tres mensurae sunt. Hanc ergo mensuram et Isai dedit filio suo. In decem formellis casei, intelligitur decalogus veteris Testamenti. Venit ergo David cum tribus mensuris et decem formellis casei, ut fratres suos in praelio positos visitaret: quia venturus erat Christus cum decalogo Legis et mysterio Trinitatis, ut genus humanum de potestate diaboli liberaret.

2. David a figure of Christ. So Jesse said to his son David: Take an ephah of parched grain, and ten little cheeses, and go, seek out your brothers. An ephah, my brothers, is a measure of three modii: and in the three measures the mystery of the Trinity is understood. The blessed Abraham too knew this mystery well. Indeed, when beneath the holm-oak of Mamre he was found worthy to see the sacrament of the Trinity in three persons, he ordered three sata of fine flour to be mixed. Three sata are three measures. This measure, then, Jesse also gave to his son. In the ten little cheeses the decalogue of the Old Testament is understood. David therefore came with three measures and ten little cheeses, to visit his brothers placed in battle: because Christ was to come with the decalogue of the Law and the mystery of the Trinity, to free the human race from the power of the devil.

3. Frater increpans David, Judaei vel diabolus Christi adventum invidentes. Veniente autem David, unus e fratribus suis increpavit eum, dicens: Quare dimisisti pauculas oves illas, et venisti ad praelium (I Reg. XVII)? Frater iste senior, qui David typum Domini gerentem per malitiam increpavit, significavit populum Judaeorum, qui per invidiam Christo Domino, qui pro salute generis humani venerat, detraxerunt, et multis frequenter injuriis affecerunt. Quare, inquit, dimisisti oves illas, et venisti ad praelium? Quasi non tibi videtur per os ejus saluti hominum invidens diabolus loqui: tanquam si diceret Christo, Qaare dimisisti nonaginta et novem oves quae non erraverunt; et venisti ut unam requireres quae perierat (Matth. XVIII, 12), et eam de manu spiritualis Goliae, id est, de potestate diaboli, per crucis baculum liberatam, ad ovile proprium revocares? Quare, inquit, dimisisti pauculas oves illas? Malo quidem et superbo animo, sed tamen verum dicebat: quia Jesus, sicut jam dictum est, dimissurus erat nonaginta et novem oves, ut quaereret unam, et ad ovile proprium, id est, ad Angelorum consortium revocaret.

3. The brother rebuking David: the Jews or the devil begrudging the coming of Christ. Now when David came, one of his brothers rebuked him, saying: Why have you left those few sheep, and come to the battle (1 Sam. 17)? That elder brother, who out of malice rebuked David as he bore the type of the Lord, signified the people of the Jews, who out of envy disparaged Christ the Lord, Who had come for the salvation of the human race, and often inflicted many injuries upon Him. Why, he says, have you left those sheep, and come to the battle? Does it not seem to you as if the devil, begrudging the salvation of men, were speaking through his mouth: as though he were saying to Christ, Why have You left the ninety-nine sheep that did not stray; and come to seek the one that had perished (Matt. 18:12), and to call it back to its own fold, freed by the staff of the cross from the hand of the spiritual Goliath, that is, from the power of the devil? Why, he says, have you left those few sheep? With an evil and proud spirit indeed, but nevertheless he was speaking the truth: because Jesus, as has already been said, was going to leave the ninety-nine sheep in order to seek the one, and to call it back to its own fold, that is, to the fellowship of the Angels.

4. Leo et ursus a David occisi, diabolus a Christo spoliatus. Priusquam veniret David, cum jam unctus esset a beato Samuele, sicut et ipse Saüli regi dixerat, et leonem et ursum sine armis occidit. Sed et leo et ursus typum diaboli praeferunt: qui pro eo quod de ovibus David aliquid invadere ausi sunt, ipsius David virtute sunt suffocati. Hoc totum, fratres charissimi, quod tunc in David legimus figuratum, in Domino nostro Jesu Christo cognoscimus esse completum. Tunc etenim leonem et ursum strangulavit, quando ad inferna descendens, omnes de eorum faucibus liberavit. Denique audi prophetam ex persona Domini supplicantem: Erue a framea animam meam, et de manu canis unicam meam: libera me ex ore leonis (Psal. XXI, 21, 22). Et quia ursus in manu fortitudinem habet, et leo in ore: in istis duabus bestiis idem diabolus figuratus est. Hoc ergo ex persona Christi dictum est, ut unica ejus Ecclesia de manu, id est, de potestate diaboli tolleretur.

4. The lion and the bear killed by David: the devil despoiled by Christ. Before David came, when he had already been anointed by the blessed Samuel, as he himself also had told King Saul, he killed both a lion and a bear without weapons. Now the lion and the bear also display the type of the devil: because they dared to seize something from David's sheep, they were strangled by the strength of David himself. All this, dearest brothers, which we read as prefigured then in David, we recognize to have been fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ. For He strangled the lion and the bear then, when, descending to the lower regions, He freed all from their jaws. Indeed, hear the prophet making supplication in the person of the Lord: Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog: free me from the mouth of the lion (Ps. 21:21–22). And because the bear has its strength in its paw, and the lion in its mouth, the same devil is prefigured in these two beasts. This, then, was said in the person of Christ, that His only Church might be taken from the hand, that is, from the power of the devil.

5. Ante Christum nec animus, nec vires sunt ad pugnandum. Diabolus post adventum Christi religatus. Venit ergo David, et invenit Judaeorum populum in valle Terebinthi positum, ut contra Allophylos dimicaret; quia venturus erat verus David Christus, ut de convalle peccatorum sive lacrymarum humanum genus erigeret. Stabant autem in valle contra Allophylos. In valle erant: quia eos peccatorum pondus oppresserat. Stabant enim, et pugnare contra adversarios non audebant. Quare non audebant? Quia David,

5. Before Christ there is neither courage nor strength for fighting. The devil bound after the coming of Christ. So David came, and found the people of the Jews stationed in the valley of the Terebinth, to fight against the Philistines; because Christ, the true David, was to come, to raise the human race up from the valley of sins, or of tears. Now they were standing in the valley facing the Philistines. They were in the valley, because the weight of sins had pressed them down. For they were standing, and did not dare to fight against their adversaries. Why did they not dare? Because David,

Editors' notes and page, col. 1819

Footnotes

(Col 1819: none.) (printed under page 172)

Page

running head: 1819 APPENDIX.
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: section numerals 3 and 5 are poorly printed and could be read as 5 and 6; set by sequence. "aiiquid" and "Chiisto" taken as broken type and set aliquid, Christo. "Quando enim David filium mittebat" set as printed (sense wants Isai as subject). Last word Da- (David) broken at column end. Right-hand column (1820), cut off at image edge, not set; no full-width line or editors' prose seen.

PL 39:1820

qui typum Christi gerebat, nondum venerat. Verum est, fratres charissimi. Quis enim contra diabolum pugnare poterat, antequam Christus Dominus genus humanum d⟨e⟩ potestate diaboli liberaret? David enim interpretatur Manu fortis. Quid eo fortius, fratres, qui universum mundum vicit, armatus non ferro, sed ligno? Stabant ergo filii Israel contra adversarios quadraginta dies. Quadraginta dies, propter quatuor tempora et quatuor partes orbis terrae, vitam praesentem significant, in qua contra Goliam et exercitum ejus, id est, contra diabolum et angelos ejus, Christianorum populus pugnare non desinit: nec tamen vincere posset, nisi verus David Christus cum baculo, id est, cum crucis mysterio descendisset. Ante adventum enim Christi solutus erat diabolus; veniens Christus fecit de eo quod in Evangelio dictum est, Nemo potest intrare in domum fortis, et vasa ejus diripere, nisi prius alligaverit fortem (Matth. XII, 29). Venit ergo Christus, et alligavit diabolum.

who bore the type of Christ, had not yet come. It is true, dearest brothers. For who could fight against the devil before Christ the Lord set the human race free from the power of the devil? For David is interpreted "Strong of hand". What is stronger than He, brothers, Who conquered the whole world, armed not with iron but with wood? So the sons of Israel stood against their adversaries for forty days. Forty days, on account of the four seasons and the four parts of the world, signify the present life, in which the Christian people does not cease to fight against Goliath and his army, that is, against the devil and his angels; and yet it could not conquer unless the true David, Christ, had come down with the staff, that is, with the mystery of the cross. For before the coming of Christ the devil was unbound; Christ, when He came, did to him what is said in the Gospel, No one can enter the house of a strong man and plunder his vessels unless he has first bound the strong man (Matt. 12:29). So Christ came, and bound the devil.

6. Mordere non potest nisi volentem. Sed dicit aliquis: Si alligatus est, quare adhuc tantum praevalet? Verum est, fratres, multum praevalet; sed tepidis et negligentibus, et Deum in veritate non timentibus dominatur. Alligatus est enim tanquam innexus canis catenis; et neminem potest mordere, nisi eum qui se ad illum ultro mortifera securitate conjunxerit. Jam videte, fratres, quam stultus homo ille est, quem canis in catena positus mordet. Tu te ad illum per voluntates et cupiditates saeculi noli conjungere; et ille ad te non praesumet accedere. Latrare potest, sollicitare potest; mordere non potest, nisi volentem. Non enim cogendo, sed suadendo nocet: nec extorquet a nobis consensum, sed petit.

6. He cannot bite anyone except the willing. But someone says: If he is bound, why does he still prevail so much? It is true, brothers, he prevails greatly; but it is over the lukewarm and the negligent, and those who do not fear God in truth, that he lords it. For he is bound like a dog tied up with chains; and he can bite no one except the man who of his own accord has joined himself to him in deadly complacency. Now see, brothers, how foolish that man is whom a dog set on a chain bites. Do not join yourself to him through the desires and lusts of the world, and he will not presume to approach you. He can bark, he can tempt; he cannot bite, except the willing. For he does harm not by compelling but by persuading: he does not extort consent from us, but asks for it.

7. David cum baculo contra Goliam. Christus cum cruce contra diabolum. Golias proprio gladio, d⟨i⟩abolus propria iniquitate percussus. Membra nostra arma diaboli, vel templa Dei. Venit ergo David, et invenit Judaeorum populum contra diabolum praeliantem; et cum nullus esset qui praesumeret ire ad singulare certamen, ille qui figuram Christi gerebat, processit ad praelium, tulit baculum in manu sua, et exiit contra Goliam. Et in illo quidem tunc figuratum est quod in Domino Jesu Christo completum est. Venit enim verus David Christus, qui contra spiritualem Goliam, id est, contra diabolum pugnaturus crucem suam ipse portavit. Videte, fratres, ubi beatus David Goliam percusserit; in fronte utique, ubi crucis signaculum non habebat. Sicut enim baculus crucis typum habuit; ita etiam et lapis ille de quo percussus est, Christum Dominum figuravit. Ipse est enim lapis vivus, de quo scriptum est, Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli (Psal. CXVII, 22). Quod autem David non habens gladium ascendit super Goliam, et suo eum proprio interfecit gladio; designatum est quod in adventu Christi suo gladio diabolus victus est, qui per nequitiam suam et injustam persecutionem quam exercuit in Christum, omnium in eum credentium perdidit principatum. Quod autem arma Goliae David posuit in tabernaculo suo; arma diaboli nos fuimus. Sic enim dicit Apostolus, Sicut enim exhibuistis membra vestra arma iniquitatis peccato; ita et nunc exhibete membra vestra arma justitiae Deo: et iterum, Nolite, inquit, exhibere membra vestra arma iniquitatis peccato (Rom. VI, 19, 13). Arma enim inimici nostri misit Christus in tabernaculo suo, quando nos qui domus diaboli fueramus, per ipsius gratiam templum Dei esse meruimus. Nam et vicissim nos in Christo, et in nobis Christus habitare cognoscitur. Quod autem Christus in nobis habitet, Apostolus probat, cum in interiori homine dicit habitare Christum per fidem in cordibus nostris (Ephes. III, 17). Quod autem iterum nos habitemus in Christo, idem apostolus designavit, dicens: Quotquot in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis (Galat. III,

7. David with the staff against Goliath. Christ with the cross against the devil. Goliath struck down by his own sword, the devil by his own iniquity. Our members are weapons of the devil, or temples of God. So David came, and found the people of the Jews battling against the devil; and when there was no one who dared to go to single combat, he who bore the figure of Christ went forward to the battle, took a staff in his hand, and went out against Goliath. And in him at that time was prefigured what was fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. For the true David, Christ, came, Who, being about to fight against the spiritual Goliath, that is, against the devil, Himself carried His cross. See, brothers, where blessed David struck Goliath: in the forehead, of course, where he did not have the sign of the cross. For just as the staff bore the type of the cross, so also that stone with which he was struck prefigured Christ the Lord. For He is the living stone, of Whom it is written, The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner (Ps. 117:22). And that David, not having a sword, mounted upon Goliath and killed him with his own sword, signified that at the coming of Christ the devil was conquered by his own sword, who, through his wickedness and the unjust persecution which he carried out against Christ, lost his dominion over all who believe in Him. And that David put Goliath's weapons in his tent: we were the weapons of the devil. For thus says the Apostle, For just as you yielded your members as weapons of iniquity to sin, so now also yield your members as weapons of righteousness to God; and again, Do not, he says, yield your members as weapons of iniquity to sin (Rom. 6:19, 13). For Christ put the weapons of our enemy into His tent when we, who had been the house of the devil, were found worthy through His grace to be the temple of God. For it is known that we in turn dwell in Christ, and Christ dwells in us. That Christ dwells in us the Apostle proves, when he says that in the inner man Christ dwells through faith in our hearts (Eph. 3:17). And that we in turn dwell in Christ the same apostle indicated, saying: As many of you as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ (Gal. 3:

Editors' notes and page, col. 1820

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: sed petit› · call in col 1820

Haec expressa sunt ex epistola Pelagii ad Demetriadem, cap. 25, cujus verba etiam alias Caesarius imitatur.

These words are taken from Pelagius's letter to Demetrias, ch. 25, whose wording Caesarius imitates elsewhere too.

(printed under page 172)