An intelligent psalter. Explanations of church and home prayers. Interpretation on Six Psalms

The division of the text into psalms (and, therefore, their numbering) is different in the Hebrew (so-called Masoretic) text of the Bible and in the ancient Greek “translation of 70 interpreters” ( Septuagint).

• Orthodox Church   uses translations based on the Septuagint, and, accordingly, the Greek numbering of psalms.
• Roman catholic church   traditionally uses a Latin translation (referred to as Vulgate ), where the numbering also coincides with the Greek; the same numbering in the modern Latin edition Liturgy hours   . However, in the new Latin translation of the Bible (New Vulgate), as well as in many translations into national languages, the Masoretic numbering is used.
• Protestants   Masoretic numbering is commonly used.

The Septuagint (and, accordingly, the Orthodox Psalter) also contains Psalm 151   which, however, is not included in any of kafizm   (see below) and during the divine service can not be read.

Most Russian editions of the Bible, including the Protestant, usually use Greek numbering (which must always be remembered when translating and comparing texts), sometimes double. In this article, in accordance with the established tradition, Greek numbering is also used.

Two introductory psalms set the tone for the whole book, all psalms are composed according to the rules of Jewish poetry and often reach amazing beauty and strength. The poetic form and metric organization of the Psalter is based on the syntactic parallelism   . It combines either synonymous variations of one and the same thought, or a general thought and its concretization, or two opposing thoughts, or, finally, two statements regarding the upward gradation.

In terms of content, genre variations are distinguished among the Psalter texts: along with the glorification of God, there are prayers (6, 50), heartfelt complaints (43, 101) and curses (57, 108), historical reviews (105) and even a marriage song (44, cf. " Song of songs "). Some psalms differ philosophically meditative in nature, for example the 8th, containing theological reflections on the greatness of man. However, the Psalter as a holistic book is inherent in the unity of life-perception, community of religious themes and motives: the orientation of a person (or people) to God as a personal force, an unrelenting observer and listener who tests the depths of the human heart. Psalms as a literary genre are in line with the general development of the Middle Eastern lyrics (Psalm 103 is close to the Egyptian hymns of the Sun of the era Akhenaton), but stand out for their sharply personal character. The genre of psalms was developed in Jewish literature and later (the so-called Solomon Psalms , I century BC. e.).

In the Tanakh, the book Tegilim is divided into five books. The first are the psalms 1-40, the second - 41-71, the third - 72-88, the fourth - 89-105, the fifth - 106-150.

Psalm Inscriptions

A page from the Leiden Psalter of St. Louis (13th century)

Most of the psalms have inscriptions that present a significant difficulty in determining their origin and meaning. These inscriptions indicate the names of the psalmists — compilers and performers of the psalms; historical events about which a psalm was written; instructions for performers, etc. For many words, the value is not precisely determined, because of this, there are various translation options. Some inscriptions differ in the Masoretic text and in the Septuagint; Some inscriptions were added in the Church Slavonic text, so in the 1st and 2nd Psalms the headings “Psalm of David” appeared, which were also translated into the Russian text of the Bible.

Indications of genre affiliation

• מִזְמוֹר ( Mizmore) - this inscription is present in more than a third of all psalms. The exact meaning of the word has not been established, it is raised to the zmr root - “tremble” and, possibly, due to the fact that the piece should have been sung to the accompaniment of a string instrument. It is believed that the word "mizor" denotes psalms intended to be performed during the divine service in Jerusalem temple   . In Russian translated word "psalm" ( greek Ψαλμὸς ), in accordance with the Septuagint.
• שִׁגָּיוֹן ( Shigayon) - This inscription has only the 7th psalm. The meaning of the term is completely incomprehensible; it can mean both the kind of a melody and a musical instrument. In the Septuagint and the Slavic Bible, it is referred to as a “psalm”, in synodal translation   translated as "Song of Sorrow".
• מִכְתָּם ( Miktam) - the inscription of the Psalms 15, 55-59. Root - ktm, "gold" - does not explain the meaning of the word. In the Septuagint translated as Στηλογραφα - inscription on stonein the Slavic Bible - tracing paper   from Greek: writing. In the synodal translation, we simply have the “Scripture”, and for the 15th psalm, for some reason, the “Song.”
• תְּפִלָּה ( Tfila) - "Prayer." This inscription has five psalms 16, 85, 89, 101, 141.
• מַשְׂכִּיל ( Maskil) - the inscription of 13 psalms (31, 41, 43, 44, 51-54, 73, 77, 87, 88, 141), comes from the word meaning "mind", "understanding". This is exactly what is translated in the Septuagint - συνέσεως or εἰς σύνεσιν (in the Slavic Bible - tracing from the Greek - "Reason" or "Into the Mind"). The word “Maskil” can mean an intelligent, educated person, and in the annex to a literary work - “teaching” (in accordance with this, in the synodal translation we have “Teaching”) or even “popular”, “hit”.
• שִׁיר ( Shire), usually in combination " Mizor shir"-" Song. This inscription of the Psalms 18, 29, 44, 45, 47, 64-67, 74, 75, 82, 86, 87, 91, 107, as well as 119-133, having a special name " Song of the ascent ».
• תְּהִלָּה ( Tegila) - "Praise." This inscription has only one psalm, the 144th, yet under this title the whole book in the Hebrew Bible is called Tegilim, "Praise."

Attribution of authorship

Mentioning names in psalm inscriptions, for example, לְדָוִד ( le-david) can mean not only an indication of the author (that the psalm was written by David), but also the fact that the psalm is dedicated to David or that which refers to David; and in some cases these semantic meanings are difficult to distinguish. Some inscriptions of this kind are absent in the Masoretic text, but are contained in the Septuagint, reflecting the Alexandrian tradition. A special place is occupied by the inscription לַמְנַצֵּחַ ( La menazcia). This word comes from the root "eternity" and is transmitted in the Slavic Bible as "To the end" ( greek Εἰς τὸ τέλος ). In the established opinion, however, the word מְנַצֵּח here means the head of the choir ( conductor , regent). In accordance with this, in the synodal translation we have the "Chief of the choir." It is assumed that the psalms with this inscription were intended to transfer to the head of the choir the Levites at the temple   for learning; Some of them contain additional instructions on the order of execution.

Instructions on the order of execution

These inscriptions may indicate that the psalm should be performed with the accompaniment of certain musical instruments or a certain traditional motif. We now know neither these melodies, nor the character and sound of ancient instruments; therefore, the translation here can only be approximate, and the understanding of these words in the Septuagint is at odds with the modern.

• בִּנְגִינוֹת ( Bi-Neginot) and עַל נְגִינַת ( Al Neginat) - translated “On stringed [instruments]” or “on stringed”, in the Septuagint ἐν ψαλμοῖς or ἐν ὕμνοις, in the Slavic Bible - in both cases the same: “In song”.
• אֶל הַנְּחִילוֹת ( El-һa-nehilot) - translated “On wind instruments [instruments]”, in the Slavic Bible - “On the Inheritance”, the same in the Septuagint (ὑπὲρ τῆς κληρονομούσης).
• עַל הַשְּׁמִינִית ( Al-һa-sheminit) - translated "On the eight-stringed", in the Slavic Bible - "On Osmey", which means the same thing.
• בִּנְגִינוֹת עַל הַשְּׁמִינִית ( Bi-Neginot al-a-sheminit) - also translated “On the Eight-String”, in the Slavic Bible - “In the Song of the Osmosis,” according to the Septuagint - ἐν ὕμνοις, ὑπὲρ τῆς ὀγδόης.
• עַל הַגִּתִּית ( Al-гитa-gitit). The word גת ( Gat) means "sharpened", and is also the name philistine   cities Gath   . The Septuagint (ὑπὲρ τῶν ληνῶν) adheres to the first meaning, in the Slavic Bible - “On Tochilles” (with this understanding, this means that the psalm sang the songs that traditionally sang squeezing grape juice), the second meaning is the synodal translation: “On the Gathite [instrument]”.
• עַל שֹׁשַׁנִּים ( Al Shoshanim), as well as עַל שׁוּשַׁן עֵדוּת ( Al-Shushan-edut). The word ששנ ( shoshan) means "lily". The meaning of the inscription is dark, in the synodal translation it is transmitted simply by transcription (“to Shoshan”, “to Shoshannim” and “to Shushan-Eduf”). In the Septuagint it is translated in a figurative sense - ὑπ ρ τῶν ἀλλοιωθησομένων, "About the Variable" and τοῖς ἀλλοοωωθησομένοις τι, "About the changing of those who want."
• עַל עֲלָמוֹת ( Al-alamot). According to one of the assumptions, the inscription indicates that the psalm is intended for performance in a high voice. In the synodal translation is transmitted by transcription ("on alamof"). In the septuagint translated πὲρ τῶν κρυφίων, "about the secret."
• עַל מָחֲלַת ( Al mahalat). This inscription, on the contrary, is transmitted by transcription in the Septuagint (ὑπὲρ μαελέθ) and in the Slavic Bible ("On Maatelef"). In the synodal translation, we have “on Mahalaf” or “on the wind [instrument],” but the root of the word here is not the same as in the word הַנְּחִילוֹת, which means “Dance”.

Authorship

Traditionally, the author of the Psalter is considered the king David   , although traces of a later origin are evident in many psalms: babylonian captivity   and more later. In the text of the book for some psalms other authors are directly indicated: the main psalmist David Asaf (see 1Par.   ), the temple gatekeepers are the sons of Korah (Korach) ( 1Par. ), Moses   and others. In Talmud   (Bava Batra, 14b) among the authors, besides David, are mentioned Adam , Melchizedek , Abraham   , Moses, Asaph, Eman, Idifun, and the sons of Korah. Classic Jewish commentator Rashi at the beginning of his commentary on the Psalms has ten authors.

Most likely, the Psalter grew gradually, like any product of collective creativity, and canon   Jewish holy books entered relatively late, after rigorous processing and editing.

Liturgical use

In modern Judaism, psalms are an important part of both individual prayer and synagogue service. Particularly important is the threefold reading of the prayer “Ashrey” during the day ( heb. אשרי ‎ - Are happy), which consists of psalm 144, to which two verses from psalms 83 and 143 are added at the beginning, and at the end - the final verse from psalm 113 (the numbering hereafter is given according to the Greek variant; when comparing texts, it should be remembered that in Judaism Masoretic numbering). Psalms 145-150 and some others are read daily. In festive divine services a special place is occupied Galel   - psalms 112-117. A certain psalm corresponds to every day of the week: psalm 23 is read on Sunday, 47 on Monday, 81 on Tuesday, 93 on Wednesday, 80 on Thursday, 92 on Friday, 91 on Saturday. Mishne   These psalms were also sung by the Levites in the Temple at the time of the offering of the daily sacrifice.

In some communities it is customary to read the entire book of Tegilim for a week or a month, with a certain breakdown by days. So y hasidim Chabad   the book is read every morning and is read for a month; besides, on the morning of the last Saturday of the month, the book of Tegilim is read in its entirety.

Orthodox

In the Orthodox Church (in the Byzantine rite), many psalms are assigned to individual divine services of the daily circle and, thus, are read daily (at least, should   read according to statute). Thus, at each vespers, psalms are read or sung, 141, 129, 116 (the so-called “Lord, I have cried”), vespers must end with the indispensable 33rd psalm. At the beginning of matins is read Shestopsalmie   - psalms 3,, 62, 87, 102, 142, on matins before reading canon   should be read psalm 50 , polyel   is the singing of the 134th and 135th psalms, at the end of the Matins - psalms 148-150 ( praises   or praise psalms), etc. The funeral services consist of the “Immaculate” - Psalm 118, although in practice this huge psalm is read completely only parastasis   on the eve of parenting Saturdays. In some cases (for example, Psalm 50 or psalms on the clock) only the psalm itself is read, in others (such as cries , or praise) verses of the psalm alternate with the chants of church authors - stickeys.

In addition, according to the ancient monastic tradition, the entire Psalter is read in succession for one week. For these purposes, the psalter was divided into 20 sections ( kafizm   or, in Church Slavonic, kafim), each of which, in turn, is divided into three parts ( staty   or fame, so named after the praise that is read in this place). The number of psalms included in Kathisma is very different, on average from 6 to 9. Usually, one kathisma is read on Vespers, and two on Matins. In some periods of the year, a stricter rule applies: the same kathisma (18th) is read at vespers, and three kathisms at matins. AT Great post   Kathismas are also read on the clock, so the Psalter is read twice during the week (however, in practice this is only observed in monasteries and other temples that strictly adhere to the charter, as well as old Believers).

The same Psalter, divided into kathismas, is also used for private (cell) prayer. For this, special prayers are read in the Psalter, read before and after each kathisma; also common practice on fame   to remember the living and the departed.

Catholics

Psalm 21, St. Albans Psalter (12th century)

In the Western liturgical tradition, psalms are also an important part of daily worship, and, unlike eastern churchwhere the main semantic load is carried poems , tropari   other hymnographic   in Western tradition, psalms are the basis of worship, which are associated with the memories of the current day or holiday through antiphons   - short verses that are sung before and after the psalm. In traditional Catholic worship, the texts of which were eventually collected into a book called Breviary   , the main part of the psalms was read almost in a row: during each week, the first 108 psalms were read in the morning, and in the vespers - the psalms from 109 to 147. The exception was the psalms, which were assigned fixed places: for example, at the end of the second part of the matins ( Laudes matutinae, letters morning praises) were read, as in the Byzantine rite, psalms 148-150. However, it was only theoretically possible to talk about the reading of the entire Psalter for the week, since any celebration at the rank of double ( duplex; those in the year has become over two hundred) canceled the current psalmody   by replacing it with your own. In 1911, the father of St.. Pius X In an effort to restore the practice of reading the entire Psalter for the week, he carried out a reform of the Breviary, in particular, redistributed the Psalms, made the services somewhat shorter, and removed a number of “fixed” psalms.

The Breviary underwent the most drastic changes after II Vatican Council   where it was decided to significantly reduce the duration of services of the Breviary, while increasing the duration of the cycle for which the Psalter is read. The current Breviary (many still call it that, although it is officially called “ Liturgy hours   ") Establishes a 4-week cycle for reading the entire Psalter. However, in a number of monastic orders other practices are used: for example, benedictines   use a two-week reading cycle of the Psalter, and some orders even retained the weekly cycle.

In addition, a psalm or a significant part of a psalm is now sung or read at each mass   after the first reading of Scripture (before the reform, only two verses from the psalm were performed, referred to, in different cases, graduated   or tract). The psalm is usually chosen in such a way as to correspond to the content of the read reading or the meaning of the holiday.

In the home prayer, psalms are also usually chosen according to the content of the prayer. For example, there is a follow-up of the “seven penitential psalms” (6, 31, 37, 50, 101, 129, and 142), read in Great post   and in other appropriate cases. As for the reading of the Psalter just in a row, there are no stable practices of this kind (like Orthodox kathisma) in catholic church   it did not work out - primarily because the text of the Psalter (as well as other books of the Bible) for a long time was available in the West only in Latin, incomprehensible to the common people.

Psalms in Islam

And We wrote already in the Psalter after the reminder that My righteous slaves inherit the earth.

Psalms as a separate book

In Christianity, the Psalter is one of the most popular, and according to some opinions, the most important book of the Old Testament, and is often published separately or together with New covenant.

Psalms from the Slavs

As part of each, even the shortest rite of worship, the Psalter was translated into slavic language   according to the chronicles, yet sv. Cyril and Methodius   . The oldest surviving Slavic manuscripts of the Psalter date from the eleventh century (the oldest verb « Sinai Psalter   ", As well as several Cyrillic manuscripts). For the first time the Slavic Psalter was printed in 1495   at Montenegro   (see article " Serbulya "); frequent mention of krakow   edition 1491 years   (first printer Schweipolt Fiol) actually refer not to the Psalms, but to The Book of Hours   , although non-standard on the current concepts of the composition.

Psalms in Russia

In Russia, the Psalter was usually the last “highest” book for literacy (after primer   and The Book of Hours) not only among clerics, but also for seculars. She had a tremendous influence on the ancient writing: the chronicles, the writings of Theodosius of Pechersk, Met. Hilarion, Cyril of Turov, Serapion of Vladimir, Vladimir Monomakh are full of references to psalms and different places and sayings from the Psalter; many phrases from the Psalter entered into proverbs and sayings.

Intelligent Psalter

In some editions of the Psalter books, brief interpretations of the psalms have been placed, and such a Psalter is called sensible. From the ancient interpretations of the Psalter are known: John Chrysostom , Ambrose , Augustine   ; from new - Tolyuka, Ewalda; at russian literature   - bishop Theophanes   , Archpriest Vishnyakov and others. When interpreting attached critical introductions.

Psalms following

The Psalter was the primary source of most of the evening and morning prayers   with which, as well as with The horoscope   , known by the name "Psalms of the Psalter" or "Psalms with the Vest". The Psalter first followed was printed in Slavonic in Serbia in 1545   (see article “ Serbulya   "), And in this form was one of the most frequently published Slavic books, and it gradually included other additions with the aim of concentrating all the necessary services in one place. The Psalm following was often used for literacy training, extracts from it are in letters of the Novgorod boy Onfima.

Arrangements of the Psalter

The poetic transcriptions of psalms were very common. In Russian poetry XVIII -XIX   centuries the psalms passed over and imitated them by the greatest writers: M. V. Lomonosov , A.P. Sumarokov , G. R. Derzhavin , F.N. Glinka , N.M. Languages , A. S. Khomyakov   and etc.

see also

Notes, links

Literature

• Nemirovsky, E. L., History of the Slavic Cyrillic typography of the XV - beginning of the XVII century. Volume II, Part 2: Beginning of printing in southern Slavs. M .: Science, 2005. ISBN 5-02-032678-X   (entire series), ISBN 5-02-033223-2   (specifically volume II, part 2).
• Nikolsky, N. M., King David and the Psalms. Spb., 1908.
• Complete Orthodox Theological Encyclopedic Dictionary, V. 2. St. Petersburg: P. P. Soikin, 1913.
• Rozov, N., Old Russian Miniaturist Reading the Psaltery // Trudy otd. Old Rus. literature. T. 22. M. - L., 1966.
• The use of the book Psalter in the ancient way of life of the Russian people // Orthodox interlocutor. Prince 4. Kazan, 1857.
• Ouspensky, N. D., Old Russian Singing Art (2nd ed.). M., 1971.
• Ellis, P., The Old Testament. N. Y., 1963.
• Lods, A., Histoire de la littérature hébraique et juive depuis les origins jusquà la ruine de l état juif. Paris, 1950.

Links

• Psalms   - article from Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
• Psalms with interpretation on the site of the Complete Orthodox Prayer Book
• Books of interpretations of the Psalter The most comprehensive collection of interpretations. website of the Caratuz temple

In the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin Bibles in the name of David this psalm is not inscribed. The psalm does not contain instructions on which one could recognize both the psalm writer and the time and circumstances of his origin.

In many ancient Greek manuscripts, when the book. Acts gives the place from the present second psalm: “Son of Thou art Thou, Az, who bore Ty” (Psalm 2: 7; Acts 13:33), then says that it is in the first psalm (ἔν τῷ πρότῳ ψαλμῷ). The latter indicates that the once real first and second psalms constituted one, the first psalm, why the last writer was the same person as the writer of this second psalm, and it was written on the same occasion as the last, that is, during David, David, about his wars with the Syro-Ammonites (see Ps. 2

He who does not wickedly, but always follows the law of God, is blessed as a tree planted with water (1-3). The wicked will be rejected by God (4-6).

Ps. 1: 1. Blessed is the man who does not go to the council of the wicked, and does not stand in the way of sinners, and does not sit in the meeting of corrupters,

“Blessed” is synonymous with the expression “happy.” By the latter, one must understand both the external earthly well-being (sl. 3 v.) And the reward in the judgment of God, that is, spiritual bliss, heavenly. “Husband”, the part instead of the whole (metonymy) is generally human. “Unholy” - internally disunited with God, having spiritually living moods that disagree with the exalted commandments of the law: “sinful” - reinforcing his evil inner mood in corresponding external actions, “corrupter” (Heb. Letsim, grech. Λοιμνῶ - mocker) not only acting personally wrong, but also mocking at the righteous way of life. "Does not walk, ... do not stand, ... does not sit" - three degrees of evasion to evil, whether in the form of an internal, though dominant, but not constant attraction to it ("does not walk"), or in consolidation in itself evil by external actions ("not worth it"), or in full evasion of him, reaching to the external struggle with the divine doctrine and to the propaganda of his views.

Ps. 1: 2. but in the law of the Lord is his will, and on his law he meditates day and night!

Characteristic of the righteous from the positive side. - "In the law of the Lord is his will." - “Will” is the mood, the inclination of the righteous to the “law of the Lord,” not only to that expressed in the ten words of Moses, but to all Divine revelation. “Meditate ... day and night” - always align your behavior with this revelation, which requires constant remembrance of him (see Deut 6: 6-7).

Ps. 1: 3. And he will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which bears its fruit in its time, and whose leaf does not wither; and in all that he does, will have time.

The result of the righteous internal assimilation of the law and life on it will be its external well-being and success in business. As a tree growing with water constantly has moisture for its development, and therefore it is fruitful, so the righteous person “has time in everything that he does,” since God protects him.

Ps. 1: 4. Not so - ungodly, [not so]: but they are as dust, swept up by the wind [from the face of the earth].

Ps. 1: 5. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, and sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

Ps. 1: 6. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly will perish.

This is not the position of the wicked. They are like "dust." Dust, chaff, easily carried away by the wind; their external position is unstable and fragile. Since the wicked are imbued and do not live according to the commandments of God, they cannot "stand in judgment" before Him and cannot be where the righteous are gathered ("in the congregation"), since the Lord "knows" He loves), and therefore rewards behavior (“the way” - activity, its direction) to the righteous, and destroys the wicked. In these verses there is no exact indication as to what the judgment of God is - whether on earth, during the life of a person or after his death. But in either case, the same meaning remains - the Lord will reward only the righteous.

However, even the interpretation of the Holy Fathers can not and should not replace their own reflections on the sacred text of Scripture.

We wish the Psalms book to become for you a treasury of good teachings, healing the soul and giving peace; an instrument against night fears, a repose from the labors of the day (St. Basil the Great); a mirror in which you see the movements of your own soul and, conscious of them, you will pronounce the words themselves (St. Athanasius the Great); A book that in all the churches in the universe enlightens the souls of the faithful (b. Feodorit Kiry) and among the images of various spiritual states of man gives clear prophetic instructions about the Savior (St. John Chrysostom).

To read

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Russian Orthodox Church

Moscow Patriarchate

Holy Synod

Department of Youth

V.S. Strelove

and they testify of me.

Examine the Scriptures

for by them you think to have eternal life;

and they testify of me.

(2 Tim. 3: 15-17)

Besides, from childhood you know the scriptures

who can wise you in salvation by faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is inspired and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

god be perfect, prepared for every good work.

(2 Tim. 3: 15-17)

Foreword

This work is written to help Orthodox believers to more closely explore the Holy Scriptures.

I tried to include here only what helps it, and deliberately ignored controversial theories, which sometimes do not clarify, but only obscure the light of Truth.

I would like to warn the reader of judgments about the Word of God based on his reviews or retellings; therefore, I advise, after reading and performing small practical exercises, to proceed directly to reading the Bible, using the additionally accessible patristic comments. It is recommended to read the works on biblical theology and historical-critical studies later, after reading the entire Bible and acquiring the skill of its interpretation in the patristic spirit.

However, even the interpretation of the holy fathers can not and should not replace their own reflections on the sacred text of Scripture.

Psalms in the life of the Church

The Psalter is a book of prayers of the Church, an image of what our prayer can be. Psalms were written by famous righteous men. Old Testament, were used by many generations of pious people and by our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and later served as the basis of worship. Initially, only those who knew the whole Psalter by heart were tonsured to monasticism.

And today, those who would like to know what the real church prayer, can not ignore the Psalter.

If the teaching, historical and prophetic books of the Bible give us an "external" view of the essence of things, then in psalms we clearly see the inner world of a person and comprehend the secret of his personal relationship with God. In this depth of Revelation, of all the Old Testament books, the Psalter comes closest to the gospel.

About the ways of reading the Psalms

There are several ways to read the Psalter:

1. Read the daily range. The psalms form the basis of the daily cycle of worship, and for each period of the day the Church is assigned to read certain psalms. These psalms are either related to time (for example, morning), or reflect the history of the creation, fall and salvation of our world (the Psalms of Vespers), or they are prophetic about the events of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ (read on the clock). During divine services, excerpts of psalms are used (for example, prokimny). For an interested reader, we suggest that you look at a separate study of NP Borisov. follow the Six Psalms (available on the Internet) and try to independently analyze the following of one of the hours or the rite of singing 12 Psalms.

2. The verse kafizm. Church Slavonic Psalter is divided into 20 sections, or Kathisma. In this case, several psalms are read in succession, “Glories” are inserted between them (ie, additional prayers to the Most Holy Trinity). Each day of the week has its own kathismas, so that the entire Psalter is read during the week. Despite the fact that today the Psalter is read in Church Slavonic, which is not always clear, this reading brings its own benefit - we can reflect on specific topics that can be easily distinguished. This cyclic reading allows you to learn more about the Psalter, to remember for yourself some passages that come to mind in the appropriate situation. We advise you to visit the monastery with an established liturgical life and to take part in the service when the monks read the Psalter.

3. The study of individual psalms. After reading with study and interpretation, many psalms become more understandable and familiar. It is very important not to forget that psalms are a prayer, so we suggest starting and ending such reading with special prayers, and follow the advice that is usually given for reading the Holy Scriptures in prayer. Some verses of the psalms can be taken to memorize, use them as themes for your own prayers. In difficult times, such psalms will emerge in memory, strengthen, and in joy - direct the spirit to the praise of the Lord. And yet let us not forget that such a reading cannot substitute for temple worship, in which we perceive the psalms not as an isolated text, but in the context of the entire liturgical life of the Christian Church.

4. Reading the Scriptures by life, knowing it by experience. This is the most effective way of reading: often people who have not received a theological education, but who lead a righteous life, interpret scripture better than professors of theology. But this does not mean that one does not follow the study of Scripture and the ways of its interpretation: for a righteous person, this will only enrich his spiritual life and will be more successful in righteous works.

Prayers before reading the Psalter

So often our soul is not peaceful, and simply cannot perceive the Word that God offers us for edification. Therefore, we always advise you to read the predestine prayers in order to come to a state in which we can hear Him.

We offer here traditional prayers before reading the Psalter translated into Russian.

If the priest says:

Blessed is our God, always, now and ever, and forever and ever.

If not, speak with emotion:

Through the prayers of our holy fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen. Heavenly King: Trisagion. And according to our Father:

The following troparians:

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us, for without knowing ourselves no justification, we, the sinners, offer You this prayer: Lord, have mercy on us.

Glory:

Honest thy prophet, Lord, triumph, Heaven Church of the show, with men rejoicing Angels. By his prayers, Christ God, establish our life in the world, let us sing to Thee: Alleluia.

And now:

There are many my sins, O Mother of God! Therefore, I have come to You, Pure, with a plea for salvation. United blessed be, look Yours at my ailing the soul and pray of your Son and our God, give me forgiveness in everything that I have done wrong.

Lord, have mercy (40).

And bow as much as you can.

Also the prayer of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity:

The All-Holy Trinity, God and the Creator of the whole world, help and direct   my heart is meaningful to begin and complete with good works the reading of these inspired books, which the Holy Spirit spoke through the mouth of David. I, the unworthy, desire to read them, realizing my ignorance; but, crouching, I pray to you and ask from you for help: Lord, direct my mind and strengthen my heart not to read my mouth, but to rejoice in the understanding of what is being read, and get ready to perform good deeds that I study and read about. Having enlightened with good deeds, may I be put to the right of You at the Judgment and be related to Your elect. So, Vladyka, bless, with a hearty sigh, so sing to you with your tongue:

Come, let us worship our King, God. Come, we will worship and we will fall down to Christ, our King, to God. Come, we will worship and we will fall down to the Christ, the King and our God.

Then wait a bit until all your feelings come to silence. And start reading is not fast, without laziness, with emotion and contrite heart. Read quietly and intelligently, with attention, slowly, so that the mind can understand what is read.

Psalms and translations

The Psalms were written originally in Hebrew, and the text for the Synodal Translation (SP) was translated from Hebrew. The first Slavic translations were made from the translation of the Psalter into Greek (the so-called translation of the seventy, the Septuagint). The translation of the LXX was made before the birth of Christ and does not contain the edits made by the Jewish scribes in the Hebrew Bible afterwards. We advise you to use prof. P.A. Yungerov, as continuing the tradition of the Church Slavonic Bible. The synodal translation of the Bible is also good (it sometimes conveys the poetics of the language better than in the translation of Yungerov, especially in the Brussels Bible), but in some places deviates from the Septuagint.

Mention other options. Translation of Six Psalms and Selected Psalms Averintseva sustained in the tradition of high style translation of classical authors. Translation ed. Mn Kulakova - on the contrary, is simple, intelligible, but often interprets the original freely. From the English translations, we can recommend the New Jerusalem Bible, in which a rather free attempt was made to convey the style of the original, comparing it with the more conservative English Standard Version (New Revised Standard Version).

Of course, one who wants to fully experience the beauty and depth of the Psalms cannot do without studying ancient languages, it is worth it.

The importance of knowledge of history for understanding the text

For a better understanding of the psalms, it is useful to know the general context of the life of that time, the customs of the peoples with whom the psalmist deals.

The collection of psalms includes works of different times and different authors. Some psalms were compiled in the Exodus Epoch (15th century BC). Others (the majority) were composed by the king and prophet David (10th century BC) and his court singers. Separate psalms date back to the time of the Babylonian captivity (6th century BC.). There are later psalms written 3–4 centuries before Christ (such a late compilation is indicated by the language — not Hebrew, but Aramaic).

Acquaintance with other books of the Bible can help in studying the historical situation; it is especially important to read 1-2 books of Kings. If you read the Bible itself seems difficult, you can use the common work on. Alexandra Me "Magizm and monotheism" and "Messengers of the Kingdom of God" (books are sometimes controversial in the aspect of their theology, but interesting in terms of the breadth of the material and historical details).

For a correct understanding of the text it is important to find out the reason for the psalm - the information about this is sometimes obvious from the text itself, sometimes mentioned in the subtitle, sometimes it becomes clear from parallel places. Some data can be gleaned from the comments, but we do not advise you to go too deeply into this, since all comments in this case rely on hypotheses, and not on a firmly established tradition.

Look at Psalm 3. How would his writing help you to understand the meaning of a psalm? (the name Absalom shall bring you to 2 Kings 13-18).

Psalms as poetry

Psalms are not just prayers, but prayers composed in the language of poetry.

Touches the soul, crying, rejoices when he hears the tunes that have come down to us from hoary antiquity. How much we will lose if we do not hear in the psalms of this poetic component, because everything in the Word of God is beautiful - both the meaning and the form.

In addition, some knowledge of the features of the poetic language will help to more accurately understand the content of the psalms.

We offer the reader to delve somewhat into the system of biblical poetry. A few hours spent to deal with the system of biblical poetry, will be rewarded a hundredfold.

The Byzantine, European and Russian poetry that we are used to is built on a certain rhythm, the endings rhyme.

Praise God, God's servants,

All kneel before Him!

Mraz, heat, wind, quiet and star circles,

He leads everything with His finger.

Raise your hands with love

And all the longing, all the hearts of flour,

Oh, brothers! you are at his feet

With a plea, with a hearty low moan -

And He, who owns Zion,

Send blessings to you.

F.N. Glinka

Servant-circles, Neem-Own, hands-agony, footsteps-you, groan-Zion - these are pairs of rhymed endings that, together with a certain order of alternation of stressed and unstressed syllables (size), form a poetic form.

Otherwise in the Psalms. Semitic poetry is also based on paired (parallel) members, but they are formed not by rhyme, but by meaning. This parallelism of members is the main poetic device (regular size is rare and plays a much smaller role than in European poetry). There are various classifications of parallelism, we present the classical scheme of the Anglican Bishop Robert Lowth (his study was published in 1753).

1. Synonymous parallelism -   Both stanzas speak approximately of one thing, but in the second stanza there may be a clarification of thought, and, as a rule, an increase in expressiveness.

Depending on the order of the members, synonymous parallelism can be direct or inverse.

These verses clarify that God not only remembers, but also visits man, that an understanding of God's purpose must include a willingness to learn; and it can be seen that in the second couplet the emotional expression increases (unfortunately, in Russian translations this is practically not reflected).

There are extended synonymous constructions that include several lines:

In synonymous parallelism, sometimes one verse should be understood literally, and the second - figuratively:

As the father ravages the sons,

so the Lord has weakened those who fear Him.

2. Antithetical parallelism - the second line expresses the same idea as the first, but in negative or contrasting form:

3. Synthetic (progressive or incremental) parallelism - the next line does not repeat, but develops the previous thought:

Dodge evil and do good

seek peace and rush to it.

Begin the Lord to glorify,

sing our God a harp

  Clouds the sky,

  preparing for the earth the rain,

  mountain grower

  and the grass for the people

  Giving to the cattle their food

  and the raven chicks that call upon him.

An interesting analysis can be obtained by analyzing 148 Psalms in this way.

1 Praise the Lord from heaven,

praise Him in the highest.

  2 Praise him, all his angels,

  Praise him, all his armies.

  3 Praise him, the sun and the moon,

  Praise Him, all the stars of light.

  4 Praise him heaven heaven

  and waters that are above the heavens.

5 Let them praise the name of the Lord.

For he commanded, and they were made;

6 He set them for ever and ever;

gave a charter that will not pass away.

7 Praise the Lord of the earth.

great fishes and all abysses

  8 fire and hail,

  snow and fog

  a stormy wind, fulfilling his word,

  9 mountains and all hills

  the trees are fruitful and all the cedars

  10 beasts and all cattle,

  reptiles and winged birds,

  11 kings of the earth and all nations

  princes and all judges of the earth,

  12 young men and women

  elders and youths

13 Let them praise the name of the Lord.

For the name of his one is exalted,

his glory on earth and in heaven.

14 He hath exalted the horn of his people,

the glory of all his saints, the children of Israel,

people close to Him.

Alleluia.

1-4: glorification of heavenly forces (synthetic parallelism):

2 angel forces,

3 heavenly bodies,

4 all matter of heaven

5.6 - the result: the cause of glorification in the whole world,

7-12 - glorification of the earth (synthetic parallelism)

7,8 - elements

9,10 - plants and animals,

11.12 - rulers and people.

13-14 result: the reason for praise in the people of Israel.

Poems that fall out of a poetic size, introduce a new topic or sum up, call an butcruz.

Take a look   Ps. 36: 2; 36:21; 148: 5b, 6; Is. 6:10, Matt. 7: 6. Make their schemes. What types of biblical parallelism are these verses? Try to independently find examples of each of the forms of biblical parallelism.

Parallelisms can be combined into a complex structure, called chiasma. Prot. John Brek defines chiasm as "balanced utterances, built symmetrically around the central idea in direct, reverse, or antithetical parallelism".

We see an example of chiasm in the first psalm. We give the text of the psalm, printed in such a way (in the form of a funnel), so that the parallels and the center of the chiasm are visible.

1 Blessed is the man who did not go to the assembly of the wicked, and did not stand in the way of sinners, and did not sit in the company of the destroyers,

  2 But his will is in the law of the Lord, and he will learn his law day and night.

3 And he will be like a tree planted at the headwaters, which will give its fruit in its time, and its leaf will not fall away.

And all that he does will be prosperous.

  4 Not so ungodly, not so: but as dust, which sweeps away the wind from the face of the earth!

  5 Therefore the wicked will not rise to the court (they will not stand - SP)

and sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly will perish.

The parallels here are:

1-5b meeting - meeting

2-5a legal instruction - defeat in court

3-4 rooted tree - leaf that sweeps away the wind

The success of the righteous in all matters is the center of the chiasm.

In ancient times, the alphabet was taught from the beginning to the end, then from the end to the beginning, then from the ends to the middle: alpha omega, beta xy, mu niu ... The text was read in the same way (from center to edges, from edges to center), in order to find the chastical structures laid there. Let us try and we read this psalm from the edges to the center, in a spiral, as if we are moving deep into the funnel.

1-5b. A righteous person does not participate in meetings of sinners → sinners will not participate in a meeting of righteous people.

2-5a The righteous one learns in the law of the Lord (and the sinner does not), → the sinners will not stand in the judgment,

3a-4 The righteous will be forever alive and fruitful → sinners will be swept away.

3b The righteous will be successful in all his deeds. This verse is the center of the chiasm, which reveals the main position of the entire passage.

Verse 6 is anakrusu:

(the righteous will succeed because) God knows the ways of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly will perish.

Similarly, Ps.3 can be disassembled.

1 Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.

  2 Lord! How my persecutors multiplied! Many rebel against me.

  3 Many say to my soul: "There is no salvation to him in his God."

  4 But thou, O Lord, my intercessor, my glory, and you exalt my head.

  5 By my voice, I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me from his holy mountain.

  6 I fell asleep, slept and rebelled, for the Lord will protect me.

  7 I will not be afraid of the multitude of people who are attacking me.

8 Arise, Lord! Save me my god For you have struck all who in vain are warring against me, have crushed the teeth of sinners.

9 Salvation is from the LORD, and thy blessing be on thy people.

2-8 - Lord, the persecutors multiplied. → Arise, Lord, thou didst destroy all those who in vain war.

3-7 Many scare me → I'm not afraid of the set.

4-6 You, my Lord, are my intercessor → You will protect me.

5. I appealed to the Lord, and He heard me.

Anacrus: 9 Salvation is from the Lord, and Thy blessing is upon thy people.

We offer the reader to independently isolate the center of chiasm in Psalm 8, Gen. 24:32, and read the principle of the spiral 1 Jn. 3: 9.

Additional means of artistic expression

Researchers also pay attention to the imagery inherent in poetic speech: for example, a sinner can be compared with a lion, with a robber, he digs a hole (builds intrigues); God can "look with his eyes," deliver with "his muscle." Of course, all such turns of speech should not be taken literally.

For expressiveness of speech, saving of words is used (some service parts of speech are omitted, due to which speech becomes short and expressive), some psalms are written with an acrostic, a certain rhythm (praise, elegy or march) is found in some psalms, but you can only feel it when reading psalms in Hebrew.

Hymns of the Old and New Testament

We invite you to see other poetic parts of the Bible.   (links are given under the edition: Psautier. Version oecumenique texte liturgique, les editions du Cerf, 1977)

Ex. 15: 1-18; Deut 32: 1-12; 1 Sam. 2: 1-10; 3 Pr. 29: 10-13; Tov. 13: 1-8; Tov. 13: 9-18; Judith 16: 1-2, 13-15; Parables 9: 1-6, 10-12; Prem 3: 1-7, 3: 7-9, 9: 1-12; Sire 32: 8-11, 37: 1-17, 40: 13-16; Is.2: 2-5, 9: 1-6; 12: 1-6; 26: 1-4.7-9.12; 33: 2-10; 33: 13-16; 38: 10-20; 40: 1-8; 40: 9-17; 42: 10-16; 45: 15-25; 49: 7-13; 61: 1-9; 61: 10-11, 62: 1-7; 63: 1-5; 66: 10-14; Jer. 7: 2-7; 14: 17-21; 17: 7-8; 31: 10-14; Weeping 5: 1-7, 13, 16-21; Ezek. 36: 24-28; Dan. 3: 26-41; 3: 52-57; 3: 57-88.56; Os 6: 1-6; Ave. 3: 2-4, 13-19; Soph. 3: 8-13; Lk 1: 47-55; 1: 68-79; 2: 29-31; 1 Peter 2: 21-24; Eph. 1: 3-10; Filp 2: 6-10; Count 1: 12-20; 1 Tim 3: 16 Rev. 4:11, 5: 9,10,12; 11: 17-18,12: 10b-12b; 15: 3-4; 19: 1-2, 5-7.

Psalms music

The psalms were originally sung, and accompanied by playing musical instruments - strings (harp, harp), winds (horn, trumpet, pipe, bagpipes), and even drums (cymbal - analogue cymbals, timpan - tambourine). Often this happened with songs and a dance, so natural to a people praising God, or weeping and lamenting, if the psalm is penitent. Musical instruments were often used to arouse the prophetic spirit. In Orthodox Christian worship, the instruments were replaced by tunes (remnants of the use of musical instruments can now be seen only in the Church of Ethiopia). The complication of the melodies led to the fact that over time, “professionals” began to be engaged in glorifying God in songs on the choir, often people of little church life, busy with making money. It was not so in antiquity. It was the beauty of general singing that St. Augustine was amazed when he came to the service of his future mentor, svt. Ambrose of Milan.

And although among the melodies used in the Church, there are patterns that may never be surpassed (Gregorian chorales, ancient Russian znamenny chant), in the spirit of Christianity - to look for new forms that could attract people to the Church, to prayer. For example, the famous Father of the Church re. Ephraim Sirin believed prayers and psalms on melodies, popular among the heretic followers of Vardesan who are contemporary to him.

Outside worship some saints, for example, St. Filaret of Moscow, used musical instruments (harp) for singing psalms, was in Russia and the tradition of spiritual poetry. It is unlikely that these traditions can be revived in full, and even more so to make mass. And, nevertheless, today such a performance of psalms is required, which can cause a response from listeners (especially young people), and inspire them to live in accordance with the commandments.

We offer you to familiarize yourself with the traditions of singing psalms in the Gregorian, Byzantine and Old Russian traditions, in the processing of Russian composers of the XIX century, for example S.V. Rachmaninov; listen to the transcriptions of psalms for musical instruments (I. Yazykova and Y. Pasternak, Teze community, etc.).

Having the gift of playing musical instruments is good not to bury one’s talent, not to justify one’s own unworthiness, but to learn the musical performance of psalms or songs on the subject of psalms, using ready-made notes or putting psalms to music on one’s own - with a guitar, flute, etc. Whatever may be said, Russian rock cannot replace songs that clearly speak of God, and no book analysis of the psalm can be compared with what will give the heart its good musical performance.

Types of Psalms

Each introduction to the Psalms makes its own attempt to compile a psalm rubric. As a rule, it is rather boring to read such lists, but for someone who would like to pray according to the Psalter, such lists will tell you which psalm will be consonant with our spirit in a given situation of life.

We suggest the reader not to use a ready-made list, but in the process of reading psalms make up your own.

Interpretation of the Psalms

Fathers of the Church and church interpreters may give different comments on the same verses of the psalm. Take for example Ps. 1: 1:

Blessed is the man who did not go to the assembly of the wicked, and did not stand in the way of the sinners, and did not sit in the company of the destroyers.

Svt. Athanasius the Great comments as follows:

“David begins the prophecy of Christ. Who had been born of him. Therefore, first of all he pleases those who trust in him. He calls those who did not go to the council of the wicked, did not stand in the way of sinners, and did not sit on the seat of the destroyers, blessed. For the Jews had three kinds of people rebelled against the Savior: the scribes, the Pharisees, and the lawyers, and they are justly called unholy, sinful, and destroyers. And the way is called life, because being born leads to an end. ”

Evfimy Zigaben comments like this:

“By council is meant desire. An atheist or a pagan is called wicked, and a sinner, although a believer, but leading a wicked and depraved life; the destroyer is the one who not only sins himself, but also corrupts others and seduces them with his illness. It can be otherwise: under the council we mean their assembly, by the way of sinners the devil, because he who does not stand in the devil comes to God, Who said: “I am the way” (John 14: 6), which people follow to virtue. Under the seat - the teachings of the wicked. "

This psalm is sung at vespers, constantly reminding us of the bliss awaiting the righteous.

Finally, one of the fathers of the desert, Parmuphius, explained this place with his life. Being illiterate, he undertook to teach the psalter, and when he heard this verse, he went into the wilderness for many years, built all his life on these words and brightened him with holiness.

It would seem that if there are such wonderful comments and examples, why try to interpret the sacred texts yourself? Indeed, the interpretation of the Fathers of the Church will forever remain for us the models on which to learn. But God did not give us reason in vain, and our task is not only to repeat their comments, but also to understand what a particular psalm means personally for my life. And here, the interpretation of the Fathers can only help us, but not a substitute for our own thinking, by the way, the Psalter commanded at the very beginning:

In the law of the Lord is his will,

and he will learn his law day and night

(speaks of the righteous in Ps. 1: 2, cf. Ps. 76:13, 118: 16, 117, Deut. 11: 18-21)

While reading the Psalms, we can identify in general several levels of their understanding.

In the first, literal (or historical) approach, the psalms are considered as fragments from the life of the Old Testament righteous. We can learn from them the biblical vision of the world, but also notice the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament Revelation. It is more correct to begin the study of a psalm precisely with an understanding of its literal meaning, and only after that proceed to other types of interpretation.

Take for example the tenth psalm.

1 To the end. Psalm of David.

I trust in the Lord

how do you say to my soul: "fly away to the mountains like a bird?"

  2 For behold, the sinners pulled a bow, prepared arrows into the quiver,

  to shoot in the darkness in the right heart,

  3 And what You did, they destroyed,

  and what did the righteous do? (When the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do? -   SP)

  4 The Lord is in his holy temple:

  The Lord is His throne in heaven

  His eyes look upon the poor.

  His sons test the sons of men.

  5 The Lord tests the righteous and the ungodly

  and the one who loves untruth hates his soul.

  6 He will bring down upon the sinners of the net:

  the fire, and the sulfur, and the tempestuous spirit — their share (of) the cup.

7 For the Lord is righteous and he loved righteousness.

rightness sees his face (his face sees the righteous -   SP).

The mention of the mountains in the first verse makes it possible to relate this psalm to the events described in 1 Sam. 23:14 (by reference to the Brussels Bible). Then the situation described in the psalm looks approximately like this: David, being anointed for the kingdom and occupying a prominent place at court, serving God and the king faithfully, fell out of favor with Saul, who was looking for how to destroy him with cunning. David has to run to the mountains in order not to be hit in the desert.

This psalm can be analyzed sequentially, then the first half of the psalm is a questioning: “Lord, what to do?”, And the second is the answer of God, why it happens and how it will end. However, if you notice a chiasm here, then the entire psalm can be read from the center to the edges, and it will appear to us as follows:

4 God tests every person and cares for everyone (His presence is felt in the temple; but His dominion is greater, over all the earth, He is attentive to those who are not concerned. He tests a person. How will a person behave?)

3-5 The wicked, destroying the work of God, prepares his own doom (Sinners have already ruined the grounds for what to do now the Anointed One? But those who love untruth hate their soul — they are preparing their doom because the Lord is watching)

2-6 The wicked, whatever intrigues they build, will disappear (Sinners are ready to destroy David, taking advantage of surprise, but just like Sodom and Gomorrah it will also be bad for the wicked)

1-7 Though it sometimes seems that it is better to disappear, the righteous hope will come true, and he will stand before the Lord (Neighbors advise David to fly away like a sparrow, hide in the mountains. David hopes for help from the Lord. For the Lord is righteous and loves the truth, the righteous will not perish , but will stand before the face of God).

Details also should not escape our attention. The “darkness” mentioned in the second verse is an image of what: an unexpected ambush, an adverse time, or the darkened consciousness of sinners? And is it possible to get into a person if you aim at him in the dark? “Foundations” is the law of God that sinners trampled upon, the foundation of David’s authority (his anointing of the kingdom), or, in principle, the work of God in which the righteous participates? If the latter, then it is interesting that, although it may be completely destroyed, it is not said anywhere that he himself will suffer harm; on the contrary, he will see the Lord.

Having caught the literal meaning, one can proceed to the second level of understanding of the text of the psalm, i.e. ask yourself what this psalm means to us. After all, the Lord also experiences us in this way, and we have cases that, it seems, are pleasing to God, but just start doing them, and obstacles appear, people “put a stick in the wheel.” And when everything collapses, I just want to run away. Here you can pay attention to verse 3: When the foundations are destroyed, what will the righteous do?   (SP) In other words, will we become despondent, will we blame others for our troubles, will we become embittered, or will we hope and try to correct the situation?

Here you can moderately use what fathers call "spiritual meaning." For example, the following allegorical interpretation was close to one girl. At the beginning, we are all righteous: this is the foundation given to us by God, by the piety of our parents. A shattered foundation is a life without God, into which it has evaded due to the fact that it fell under the influence of sinners (demons and people acting upon their instigation). She herself bears the consequences of this: fire and brimstone - these are tears and bitterness of despondency, the spirit is stormy - the shaky nervous system. But this psalm became a herald of hope for her: realizing herself poor, she turns to God for enlightenment and hopes to see Him again. To some, such a reading seems somewhat artificial, but for this girl the psalm seemed like a prophetic response from God to her problems.

The next level of reading is opened when we see the inner connection in the text with the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. Any text of the Bible indirectly speaks of Him, but in the Psalms this is most obvious (for example, verse 21 of psalm sounds like a bright prophecy).

Indications of the Lord in the psalm we are analyzing can be seen in the following places:

Art. 2 - the greatest evil, the giving of Christ to death, was also carried out at night (Luke 22:53),

Art. 3 - no guilt was found in Christ (Luke 23:22)

Art. 4 - He was exposed in a beggarly manner, but God did not leave Him (Isa. 53 ch., Phil. 2: 7)

Art. 6 - He was to drink the cup of wrath for the sins of the people (John 18:11, Mark 14:36).

Of course, not necessarily and not immediately our interpretation will be so slim. Often, reading Scripture in a group of gospel conversations, we do not follow such a sequence of interpretation, preferring to it a lively discussion of what has been directly revealed.

After the psalm is read and disassembled on three levels - literally historical, personal, and as a prophecy, you can refer to the individual topics of this psalm, and see how they are revealed in the Holy Scripture (by searching the Bible or in the dictionary) , in the works of the Holy Fathers, worship and the biographies of the saints. Here such topics can be:

 The righteous and the sinners (the wicked)

 The test (temptation) and the care of God for man,

 The truth (justice) of God and the judgment of God,

 Chalice (anger),

 Hope in God,

 The Temple (Tabernacle, Sanctuary) and Throne,

 The vision of God (now and at the end of time).

In the appendix, we present the remarkable commentary of St. John Chrysostom on the tenth psalm. As you can see, the saint makes extensive use of the translations available to him, quotes from parallel passages in the Bible, tries first to find out the literal meaning of the psalm, and only after it moves to moral preaching.

Interpretation of St. John Chrysostom on the Psalm 10.

The great strength of trust in God and the powerlessness of enemy intrigues and attacks. - Why do many of the wrongdoers overcome others? - What are the weapons of the righteous against the wicked? - "The one who loves untruth hates his soul." - What does it mean: "their share (of) the bowl"? - The dangers to which the rich are exposed and the calm of the righteous.

1. "I trust in the Lord, as you say to my soul: "Fly to the mountains like a bird?""(v.1). Other (Aquila): climb the mountains like a bird moved. "For behold, the sinners pulled a bow, prepared arrows in the quiver, in the darkness to shoot at the right heart"(v.2). Other (Symmachus): as in darkness.

"And what You have done, they destroyed, and what did the righteous do? Lord in his holy temple"(v.3). Other (Symmachus): because laws are violated. Third (unknown, see Orig. Ex.): because the teachings will be reduced. Great is the power of hope in God. It is an impregnable fence, an invincible wall, invincible help, a quiet marina, an impregnable fortress, an irresistible weapon, an irresistible force that makes its way among the places of impassable. She unarmed defeated the armed, wives - husbands, the children were very easily stronger than experienced in the art of war. And is it surprising that they defeated their enemies when they triumphed over the world itself? Before them, the elements forgot their nature and turned in their favor, the animals were no longer beasts, and the furnace was a furnace, because hope in God transforms everything. Sharp teeth, close dungeon, natural ferocity, painful hunger, jaws near the body of the prophet, nothing (was for them) an obstacle, but the hope of God, restraining the jaws more than any bridle, turned them back. Presenting this, the Psalmist spoke to those who advised him to leave and flee and seek refuge in safe places: " i trust in the Lord, as you say to my soul. "? What are you saying? I have the master of the universe as my assistant; committing everything easily and always I have my leader and protector; and you send me to a desert place and advise you to look for security in the desert? Is the help of the desert more than One Who can do everything with great ease? Why do you force me, heavily armed, to flee, as if naked and unarmed, and want to make an exile? You would not advise having army and fenced walls and weapons to flee into the desert, and if you would advise, it would seem ridiculous: why is it that you, whom the Lord of the Universe himself, expels, makes you wander and run away from the attack of sinners? Other than that, I have another reason not to run. If God helps, and the attackers are sinners, isn’t someone who advises to imitate timid birds? Do you not know that the army prepared against me is weaker than the cobweb? If the enemy of the king of the earth, wherever he goes, everywhere is in danger, fears and trembles, then all the more is the enemy of God of all: wherever he goes, all his enemies and even nature itself, because as friends of God they are afraid of the elements and animals, and respects all creatures, so the inanimate creatures also arm and attack the enemy and the enemy of God. That is why some of them, before they touched the earth, were torn to pieces by beasts, others were destroyed by fire. Enemies have arrows and a quiver, and everything is ready for them - already " have prepared"them, says," in the quiver", - but they have no power, and we are not afraid of anything like this; even if I saw someone lowering an arrow, and then I would not fear. Indeed, what is the use of a weapon if there is no power? So does they are not hers because there is no good will of God for them. They build intrigues and attack not directly, but therefore I especially laugh at them, because they throw their arrows in the darkness. Nothing can be more powerless than a person who builds intrigues. hit him; he falls by his own hand and perishes from his own cunning. What could be more powerless the one who is defeated by his own weapon? In addition, it must be said that they attack us not only as sinners on those who are strengthened by God, and, moreover, with cunning, but also attack innocent people who have not done them any evil. as those who go against the horn (Acts 9: 5) do not do him any harm, but damage their own legs, so are they. However, there is also a reason that destroys the force of their attack. Which one? " what", He speaks, " You committed, then they destroyed"The meaning of his words is as follows: they attack and wage war with you, violating your law and your commands. Truly, they are intensified to destroy your commandments, and they are perfect. Or the prophet says this, or that they are criminals of the law. Not a little the proof of their weakness is that they go to war without keeping your commandments, therefore they are fighting against the right and plotting that they do not obey your commands.

2. Revealing the enemies' weakness, and showing it not in what others show, (since he did not say that they have neither money, nor fortresses, nor allies, nor cities, nor art in war, but leaving and defying all this, meaning nothing, said that they were wrongdoers, that they attacked people who did not do them any evil, that they violated the commandments of God), the prophet then talks about arming the righteous, revealing the ease of their victory over enemies from here. In the same way, we must distinguish between the strong and the weak, and not particularly afraid of what people who are mocked are afraid of. In fact, what they say? Such and such is cruel, cunning, has a lot of money and great power. But that’s why I’m especially laughing at him: these are all sorts of weaknesses. But he, you say, is able to build machinations? In this you open to me a new kind of weakness.

Why do so many of these people win? Because you do not know how to fight well with them, because you yourself are harassing the same thing that makes them weak - glory and power. Avoid this cause of hostility, strike your opponents in another way: proud - with humility, self-interested - without compassion, unconstrained - with restraint, envious - with friendliness, and you will easily defeat them. Having revealed, as I said above, the weakness of opponents, see how he portrays the arming of the righteous. " Righteous man", He speaks, " what did you do"? Ie when the enemies are so prepared, you ask: how did the righteous arm himself? Listen." The Lord is His throne in heaven, His eyes gaze upon a poor man, His sons are testing the sons of men"(v. 4).

Do you see how briefly he expressed his protection? You ask: what did he do? Resort to God living in heaven that exists everywhere. He did not pull the bow, did not prepare the quiver, as his enemies, did not settle in the darkness, but leaving all this, he protected himself against all with hope in God and opposed to Him Who does not need anything like that, either in time or in place , neither in arms, nor in money, but in one wave does everything. Do you see his defense, invincible, quick and easy? “His eyes look upon the poor, his pupils test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the ungodly, and he who loves a lie hates his soul” (v. 4-5). Another translator (Aquila) says: his eyes are exploring. Third (unknown translator, see Orig. Ex.): Lord, the righteous tester.

Fourth (Aquila): he tests the righteous and the wicked, and he who loves a lie that hate. "The one who loves lies hates his soul"You see the ready Helper, the trustworthy Protector, Who is present everywhere, sees everything, watches everything, Who is especially peculiar to hunter and cave out - at least no one asked Him - to discourage those who offend, to help those who are being offended, to pay one reward for virtues, but others to impose punishment for sins? He knows everything; his eyes see the whole universe; and not only knows, but wants to correct everything. Therefore, in another place, expressing the same thing, the prophet calls Him " righteous"(v. 7). But if He is righteous, He will not only look at such things. He turns away the wicked, approves of the righteous. Then, revealing here too, what he spoke in the previous psalm, i.e. a flaw in itself can sufficiently punish sinners, adds: " the one who loves untruth hates his soul"The vice is disgusting to the soul, hostile and fatal, so vicious before punishment is already experiencing punishment. You see how enemies turn out to be easily perceptible if the righteous have such an Assistant, and they are defeated by the very weapon they defend by causing Do you see the ease of this help? You do not need to go anywhere, run or waste property, because God is present everywhere and sees everything. "He will reduce the net to sinners: fire, sulfur, and spirit stormy - their share (from) the cup (sorrows). For the Lord is righteous and has loved righteousness, righteousness sees His face "(v. 6, 7).

Another translator says (unknown translator, see Orig. Ex.): rain on lawless coalsThird, an unknown translator (see Orig. Ex.): rightness will see their facei.e. the righteous, or His - God. Having spoken of the punishment that comes from the vice itself, and knowing that many do not look at it, the prophet finally shakes the soul of the wicked with punishment sent from above, using heightened expressions and terrible names; says that fire, sulfur, stormy wind and hot embers will rain on them from above, wanting to present with these portable expressions the inevitability of revenge, the highest degree of torment, speed and destructive power of punishment.

3. What does it mean: " their share (of) bowl"This is their lot, says, this is their property, this will comprehend them in life, they will die from this. Then the reason is given: because the All-Seeing will not allow this to pass with impunity. As the other prophet says:" your eyes cannot cleanly look at evil, and look at oppression. You cannot"(Hab. 1:13), so he expresses also in the words:" the Lord is righteous and love the truthl. "It is especially peculiar to God to accept truth, justice, and He will never allow the opposite to her.

That is why the prophet said at the beginning of the psalm: " i trust in the Lord, as you say to my soul: "Fly to the mountains like a bird?"Those who hope for the blessings of everyday life are no better than birds, which, hoping for a desert, are made easily perceptible to all. Such is hope for wealth. Like birds are caught by children, by nets, by snares, and by countless other means, the rich man is caught by both friends and enemies, he lives even in greater danger than the bird, having many people who catch him, and above all - his vicious wishes, he is an exile, always dependent on the circumstances of the time, he is afraid of the ferocity of the executioners, and the wrath of the king, and deceit from flatterer in, and deception from friends; when enemies revolt on him, he trembles more than anyone, and when peace happens, he fears intrigues, because he has no wealth that is durable and inalienable. Therefore he constantly wanders and moves from one place to another, passing the desert and the mountains, dwelling in darkness, finding deep darkness and building wiles in the middle of the afternoon. The righteous is not like that. " The path of the righteous is like a radiant light that more and more brightens until the full day"(Prov.4: 18). They do not dare either to plot wiles, or to do injustices, and have a calm soul. And the wicked, constantly building schemes, are always in darkness and fear, like thieves, robbers and adulteresses; they are during the day they see darkness, because their soul is obsessed with fear. How can this darkness be dispelled? If you leave behind all this, you will establish yourself in the hope of God, even if you were the greatest sinner. " Take a look", says the All-Wise," look at the ancient genera and see: who believed the Lord - and was ashamed?"(Sir. 2:10)? Did not say: righteous, but:" who"At least, he says, it was a sinner. It is surprising that sinners, holding on to this anchor, are made invincible for everyone; this is a special feature of devotion to God, and you will find encouragement in His humanity because of sins," damned man who hopes for man"so blissful," who trusts in the Lord"(Jer. 17: 5,7). So, leaving everything else, hold on to this anchor. God sees everything and judges righteously, and not only judges, but also executes his judgment. Therefore, the prophet, speaking of His righteousness, depicts and punishment by fire and a stormy spirit. He does this because he cares about sinners and wants punishment to induce them to be corrected. Let us, for all these reasons, resort to Him and constantly look to Him. Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom glory be forever and ever. Amen.

Task for independent work

We propose to reflect on 1 psalm.

Start with a prayer.

Read the text. Try yourself, without looking at the previous pages, isolate the chiasm, designate its center and anakrus. What is the basic meaning of a psalm? Check yourself, and then go on to a detailed interpretation using various translations: find out the literal meaning of the psalm, try to keep a single word incomprehensible.

Did you notice the following? Art. 1. Some translations instead of "destroyers" put "mockers", "cynics". Art. 2. What law are we talking about? What are the positive characteristics of a blissful husband, how does his path in the Old Testament differ from the New Testament? Art. 3. Consider how the geographical and climatic characteristics of Palestine influenced the formation of this image. Find out by searching which types of fruit are mentioned in Scripture. Why is a clarification "in due time" put? What could be a tree with non-falling leaves? For an interpretation of the image of the sources of water in the prophetic key, see Ying. 4:14. Art. 6. Where else does the Bible speak of two ways? (cf. Deut. 30: 15-20, Matt. 7: 13-14).

Read this psalm again, trying to answer the question: “What does all this mean to me personally?”

How have my ideas about the world changed after reading this psalm? What will I try to do now or not? Does this psalm hope, and in what way, does it help to see the purpose of life more clearly?

Find the patristic comments on this psalm and compare with them what happened. Consider how the selected verses of this psalm might accompany you in everyday life, try to remember these verses. We advise you to come back to this psalm during the day, in the middle of the week, meditate on it, try to read it together in a group — much more can be revealed.

Now go to prayer. Psalms often begin with complaints and petitions, then comes the recollection of Divine help and enlightenment, and ends with gratitude and confession of hope in God. Why don't you try to build your prayer like that?

The app for leading Scripture study groups

Below is a plan for the study of Psalm 13. This reading is educational, it differs from the prayer one in that it is aimed at developing the skills of working with text, attentive reading. Scripture.

The moderator puts the question, everyone thinks, some answers appear, the moderator comments on them, gives possible answers from the comment below. And so verse by verse, in order, without looking ahead. The study of the psalm is quite directive, unnecessary discussions are not welcome.

The first reading says nothing about Christ, all that in italics is skipped.   If someone starts to delve into it, you can be tactfully asked to wait: "It is very important that you say, but do not run ahead." The task of the first reading is to find out what the psalmist directly meant.

After everyone understood this, verse by verse was dismantled, the question was asked: “But the Psalms are a book of the New Testament. How do we read this Psalm so that we can see Christ here? ”Options: see the prayer of Christ here, His point of view, or see the prophecy about Him here (or maybe both). And here it is already said that italics (again, after all the participants express themselves). Here can be a conversation about the Eucharist (bread), about the church (meeting of the righteous), about the Holy Spirit (who dwells in this meeting).

Finally, it is appropriate to raise the question of what this psalm says to me, where we are. Naturally, I want to identify myself with the suffering righteous, but this is not the only solution. The Apostle Paul writes himself down into sinful humanity. How to solve this issue? This is, in fact, a question of checking one’s conscience; the leader cannot decide it.

By the end of the reading, it should become clear that this is not just a wise teaching, but prayer. How options to continue can be offered:

 to memorize a psalm by heart (in ancient times, the entire text of Scripture was memorized, and in the process of memorization it was thoughtful in the most careful way - if something drops out during the repetition process, it means that this has not been understood yet)

 pray about the same things that the Psalmist prayed for,

 thank you for seeing

 to start changing something in life (from one verse “How nice and pleasant it is for brothers to live together” the monasteries arose - Bl. Augustine).

It is better if the prayer is free, it can be offered and shut up for a while - up to three minutes. If no one starts, and the leader has enough courage, you can try either to say something yourself in prayer to God that this text responds, or go to the intercessory prayer by agreement.

Psalm 13: 1-7

What is this psalm about? Teaching about atheism. What is this atheism? it is not intellectual, but practical, which is so common now among the “Orthodox”: God exists, but this does not change anything in life.

A psalm is a prayer. But how to pray this psalm? (better answer the answer at the end of the reading and go to prayer)

Who speaks in this psalm? Madman, God, Prophet. Where is whose words? (the opinions of commentators differ, however, you can try to outline the boundaries).

1 To the head of the choir. Psalm of David.

The madman in his heart said, "There is no God."

  They have become corrupt, have done vile deeds; there is no one who does good.

Who is this madman? Just stupid? It is unlikely, how can he succeed? Who is the opposite to him? In this verse, the opposite of the insane is “the one who does good.” In Scripture, "the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord" (Prov.), I.e. Wise is not an intellectual, but he who fears God and acts according to His commandments.

The idea of ​​development in this verse: thought- corrupted (will) - made vileness. Allusion to Genesis: The Earth was corrupted (Gen. 6:12)

Out of the heart ... (Mark 7:21)

2 The Lord from heaven gazed upon the sons of men. (var .: for the sons of Adam),

  to see if there is a thereser who seeks God.

From heaven gazed - the transcendence, the unwaryness of God, the superiority of His judgment.

The Son Who Descended from Heaven (John 3:13) is a prophecy about the descent of the Messiah.

On the sons of Adam - a reference to the book of Genesis.

Mindful is prudent, wise.

Looking for God - what is it?

When did he see? He always sees (a look from eternity) my whole life. How does he look at me? Condemnation, interest, love? Do I feel His attention, think about it, or just fulfill the commandments?

3 They all turned aside, they became equally indecent;

  there is no one who does good, not one.

Dodged - turned off the right path. The curvatures will straighten (Luke 3: 5)

Unsuitable - good for nothing. Not righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17)

4 Is it possible that all who work iniquity will not understand?

  Eater of my people, [how] do they eat bread, and not those who call on the Lord?

  (var .: they eat bread and do not call upon God).

They despise the commandments - live at the expense of others - live only materially - forget about God.

Not by bread alone ... Deut. 8: 3 — on the study of the Scriptures and the Eucharist.

Do not call God - call someone else (Baal), just forget about who created everything (agadic legend about the cause of the flood). God calls, and how can we call Him? (come and move in)

5 They fear there (where there is no fear);

  for God is a kind of righteous (var .: God in the assembly of the righteous).

Fear-horror: Isaac's fear (this is one of the Old Testament names of God - Gen. 31:42), fear appears after breaking the commandment (Gen. 3:10). The fear of God and the anxiety of the ungodly (Prov. 15:16).

Meeting of the righteous - Ps. one. About the Church, about the community. What we must be for God to abide with us? (Acts 2: 46-48) Why can this be known? - by relationship (John 13:35) How is it? By His Holy Spirit (prayer)

6 You laughed at the thought of a beggar,

  that the Lord is his hope.

The beggar (anavim) - having no hope for anyone else - poor in spirit

Hope is what is silent. We must see such moments. The psalm becomes a prayer.

7 "Who will give Israel salvation from Zion!"

  When the Lord returns the captivity of His people,

  then Jacob will rejoice and Israel rejoice.

Return captivity - the restoration of the state, freedom. How free are we today, how does the psychology of a slave differ from a free person? (This is a long discussion, better - for later, with examples of the Old Testament). But such a question can be posed.

Why from Zion? (prophecy of the Messiah)

Israel allegorically - the prophets who learned about the Messiah, the new Israel (the Church).

Israel is the soul of man, liberated from enemies (moral interpretation). So this psalm is not moralism, but the promise of living with God, free from fear, in hope.

Genuine freedom is the kingdom of the next century (eschatological prophecy).

Last question: Where are we?

Among the righteous is Ps. one.

Among the unrepentant nations is Rome. 3: 10-18.

Among the repentant and those who desire salvation.

Afterword

We ask you also to remember r.B. Vladimir, his mentors in Christ Andrei Chernyak, Ilya Yakovlevich Grits, prot. Boris Mikhailov and all the participants of the Gospel conversations, thanks to the communication with whom around the Scripture it became possible to write this work.

Thank you for your work in exploring ways of interpreting the Psalms with us, and we wish the Psalms book to become for you a treasury of good teachings that heal the soul and give peace; an instrument against night fears, a repose from the labors of the day (St. Basil the Great); a mirror in which you see the movements of your own soul and, conscious of them, you will pronounce the words themselves (St. Athanasius the Great); a book that in all the churches in the universe enlightens the souls of the faithful (bl. Theodorite of Kirry) and, among the images of various spiritual states of man, gives clear prophetic instructions about the Savior (St. John Chrysostom).

Selected bibliography to help learn Psalms

1. Psalter in Russian translation from the Greek text with an introduction and notes by P.A. Yungerova. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. 1997

2. The Bible. Holy Scripture of the Old and New Testaments. Synodal translation (any edition is possible, but preferably with links and applications from the Brussels publishing house Life with God, or the Explanatory Bible of AP Lopukhin)

3. Psalms in Church Slavonic (preferably in a separate edition, with prayers included before and after Kathisma and Glory)

4. St. Athanasius the Great. The Epistle to Markellin about the interpretation of the Psalms (the most common patristic introduction to the Psalter) and his own. Interpretation of the Psalms. Creations, v.4.

5. St. Basil the Great. Conversations on Psalms (Selected Psalms are Explained) of Creation, v. 1.

6. St. John Chrysostom. Interpretation of the Psalms. Creations, v. 5, Vol. 1.2. (almost all psalms are explained)

7. St. Theodoret of Kirri. Interpretation of the Psalms.

8. Sensible Psalms of Evfimi Zigaben (compilation work, containing excerpts from the above fathers for each verse of the Psalter)

9. P.A. Yungerov. The faith of the Psalter, its features and significance in the general system of biblical dogma. Kiev, 2006 (built according to the classical dogmatic scheme, but on the material of the Psalter)

10. K. Lewis. Thinking about the Psalms. Collection op. in 8 volumes, t. 8. M., 2000 (can serve as a good introduction to the modern reading of the Psalter)

11. Biblical Theological Dictionary priest. V. Mikhailovsky. M., 1996 or: B. Getse Bible Dictionary. Gummersbach, 1997 (using the dictionary, you can perform a thematic search of the Bible)

12. Dictionary of Biblical Theology, ed. C. Leon-Dufour et al. K.-M., 1996 (articles on various topics of biblical theology)

We did not include later comments in Russian in this list, since they are mostly compilations, not independent works.

1. weakened

2. grant success

hierodeacon Luca (Filatov),
inhabitant of the Moscow St. Daniel Monastery,
postgraduate student postgraduate
them. Saints Cyril and Methodius

The report was read in the section "Optina Hermitage in the History of Russia: Experience for the Future" during the work of the Optina Forum 2010

1. Rev. Ambrose's General Instructions on the Reading of Psalms

Nigga Psalms holds a special place in the Sacred Tradition, due to its deep theological content, abundance of messianic prophecies, and beautiful artistic form. The Psalter was the basis of Old Testament worship, later made up a large part of the follow up of worship Christian Church. The great saints of antiquity were engaged in the interpretation of the Psalms: Basil the Great, Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria, John Chrysostom.

Elder Ambrose paid great attention to psalmopenia in the spiritual life of a Christian, both a monk and a lay person. This is evidenced by texts of manuals, traditionally divided into two main groups by addressees.

For monastics who, in their way of life (for example, hermits) or for other circumstances, could not attend a church service daily, the elder established a cell rule, mainly composed of psalms of David. This rule was the custom of the Optina confessors and was adopted from former monks who worked in solitude. It included morning prayers, six psalms, the rank of 12 psalms and the first hour.

2. Interpretation of Rev. Ambrose of Optina on the 126th psalm

Next prep. Ambrose goes on to explain the psalm in a spiritual sense. The content of the psalm in this aspect is interpreted as the creation of the spiritual house of virtues. The elder relies on the text of the Sunday service chants compiled by prep. Theodore Studite.

3. Concerning the Interpretations of Rev. Ambrose of Optina for Other Psalm Texts

4. Conclusion

The proposed article on the interpretation of the Psalms prep. Ambrose of Optina presented only visually. It is written in detail about the old man’s explanation of the 126th ps., As well as about the teaching on the prokimen “Our God is in heaven and on earth, we have created all the great admiration”   (Ps. 113, 11). The interpretations of the elder into other Psalm texts may be the subject of new publications.

The material proposed in the article shows that in its exegesis prep. Ambrose was based on the achievements of the great theologians of antiquity: St. Athanasius the Great, bl. Theodoret of Kirk, prep. Nikita Stifat. It can be assumed that prep. Ambrose also used the book of prep. Euphemia Zigabena, which contains the patristic interpretation of the Psalms.

In the writings of the venerable elder there are various levels of exegesis: historical, educational, spiritual and ascetic. The spiritual-ascetic interpretation of the psalms indicates the most important virtues, reveals their content, shows their interrelation, the order of acquisition, the ways of achievement. In this aspect the elder often follows prep. Nikita Stifatu.

His teachings prep. Ambrose enriches with the thoughts of the Reverend Fathers of the "Philokalia": John of the Ladder, Isaac the Syrian, Peter of Damascus, John of the Carpathians.

The monk, explaining, for example, the 126th, 127th, and 22nd psalms, sets forth primarily the thoughts of the holy fathers. In interpretations to individual verses, such as (9, 33), (24, 8, 10), (118, 66), the elder substantially complements and develops the teachings of god-wise predecessors.

The interpretation of the monk verse (Ps. 113, 11) contains the most important idea of ​​Byzantine theology about the deification of man as the main goal of the Incarnation.

In the teachings on the words of the Holy Scripture, the elder teaches spiritual and moral edification, seeks to direct everyone towards the path of salvation, to encourage the careless to rectify, to console those who repent and grieving.

For instructive explanations prep. Ambrose chooses the psalms often used during worship. Thus, in our opinion, he sought to deliver spiritual benefit to people of different classes and different spiritual levels. The monks, who listen to the church's follow-up daily, can find here food for the mind and heart, discovering new meanings of prophetic verses. Laity such teachings help to clarify the meaning of church services, to arouse interest in reading the Holy Scriptures and especially the Psalter.

E uthymii zigabeni. Comment. In Psalterium. Patrogiae cursus completus. Ser. Graeca / Ed. J. P. Mign. P., 1857-1866. 161 t. Vol. 128. Col. 41-1325.

For example: A Guide to the Knowledge of the Book of Psalms // Readings in the Society of Lovers of Spiritual Education. 1873. Book. 12.

Psalms.

In the Hebrew book of the Psalms, they are all written without adding a number or in a different form; others are united in one, and others are divided. Thus, the first and second psalms in the Hebrew text are combined into one psalm; and vice versa, the ninth, which we have is one psalm, in the Hebrew text is divided into two psalms. The whole book of Psalms is divided into five parts.

It should also be noted that the order of the psalms does not agree with the historical sequence of time, and in many respects deviates from the order of time, as the book of Kingdoms shows. Because the idolatry has increased in the Jewish people, it has led to the oblivion of the paternal writings, so that the book of the Law of Moses remained in obscurity, and their paternal piety has not survived. They also killed the Prophets, who denounced their evil, for which they were first captured by the Assyrians. Later, one of the Prophets, having become jealous about their Synagogue, together with other books collected the book of Psalms, having found them not all suddenly, but at different times, and at the beginning placed those psalms that were found before others. Therefore, we find that not all psalms of David are in order, but psalms of the sons of Korah and Asaph, and Solomon, and Moses, and the Israelite Efam, and Eman, are found in the book, not Psalms of David, not because alright they were written, but because they were found that way. The same will be found in the Prophets in the placement of parts of their books.

About the psalms after the first and twelfth unwritten, or having the inscription, but without designation, whose Jews are, they say that they belong to the one whose name is written in the psalms preceding the unwritten.

About the first and second, constituting one psalm, I think that they are Davidovs, because all the psalms following them in the first part are the Davidovs, and all from the third to the fortieth are written by Davidovs. Therefore, it seems to me, David belongs to the first and second psalms. The opinion is justified by the book of the Apostolic Acts, in which it is said: Vladyko, Thou hast created you heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them: the mouth of our father David your child advertisements like the Holy Spirit: you adore your Vsu shambles, and people will learn in vain(Acts 4, 24, 25)? And this clearly confirms that the second psalm is David. The name Davidovo was silent with him, probably because the psalm contains a clear prophecy about the Lord in what was said: on the Lord and on His Christ(Ps. 2, 2), followed by what is added on behalf of Christ himself: The Lord speak to Me: Thou art my Son(Ps. 2, 7).

All the psalms are one hundred and fifty. Some think that they all belong to the blessed David. But this is not indicated. For although all the psalms are known under the name of David, they also show in the inscriptions to whom a psalm belongs. For David chose four chief singers and two hundred eighty-eight serving them (1 Chron. 25, 7). Therefore, there are psalms of these four chiefs, as can be seen from the inscriptions. And when it was said: a psalm is the son of Korah, Epham, Asaph, and Eman; then it means that they sing a psalm, that is, the sons of Korei, Epham, Asaph, and Eman. When it is said: Psalm Asaph, then it appears that the psalm is spoken by Asaph himself. And when it is said: the psalm of Idifum, then it means that Idifum himself chants him. When it is said: Psalm David, it is shown that David himself spoke. When it is said: Psalm David, then it means that others speak of David. All the psalms are one hundred and fifty. Of these, seventy-two are Davidovs, nine to David, twelve Asaphs, twelve sons of Kore, one Idifumov, one Ephamus, one Emans, one Solomon, two Haggai and Zechariah, unwritten thirty-nine and one Moses. All one hundred and fifty.

Therefore, I must understand the mysterious reason why, when the singers are different and the psalms are not all Davidov, they are all attributed to David. And we will pass on this in silence. The inscription was done because David himself was the cause. He chose singers; and therefore, as the founder, he was likened to the honor that everything that was spoken was attributed to David by other singers.

Of course, David was a prophet, his inner eyes were open, and he knew that evil spirits rejoiced in the fall of men, but on the contrary, they grieve when people overcome them; then, no doubt, mentally arming himself against them, he prayed for the correction of men, applying to the evil spirits what he said about the visible enemies. For if we do not explain the intent of the Prophets to ourselves, then not only from what they said we will not receive any edification for acquiring meekness, but we will even acquire some stern and disgusting disposition of the Gospel when we often pray for crushing enemies and not loving them; because David says a thousand times: let all my enemies be ashamed and confounded, and let me not be ashamed. Let us not think that the Prophets and friends of God spoke this in a different, and not in the above, sense. For such an understanding is decently to a careful researcher, as soon as he finds that the Prophet prays for the death of his enemies; that is, what he said about the enemies of the visible should he apply to the enemies of the mind. Moreover, the ascetic must try to comprehend every utterance.

Psalm.

Contents:    David begins the prophecy of Christ. Who had been born of him. Therefore, first of all he pleases those who trust in him. He calls those who did not go blessed on the advice of the wicked,   did not stand in the way of sinners, and did not sit on the seat of the destroyers.   For the Jews had three kinds of people rebelled against the Savior: the scribes, the Pharisees, and the lawyers, and they are justly called unholy, sinful, and destroyers. And by the way of life is called, because the birth leads to the end.

(1). Blessed is the man, who is not ide to the advice of the wicked. By the board   but the ungodly may be called the assembly and gathering of the wicked. And because it is harmful to enter into relations with gatherings of the wicked, the psalmist satisfies the one who does not agree with them. Such was Joseph of Arimathea, who buried the body of the Lord and God; for it is said about him that don't stick to advice   those who betrayed Jesus (Luke 23, 51). And the seat of the destroyers is not gray.   Under the seat understands the doctrine, as follows: on moses seats   (Matt. 23, 2). Therefore, the seat of the destroyers is the teaching of the wicked.

(2). But his will is in the law of the Lord, and day and night will learn in His law. In the law, of course - angelic. It expresses unabated jealousy; because it is not with carelessness that one should learn the law of the Lord and not in a way to sometimes learn, and sometimes not, but always and constantly must be stuck to the words of God. For it expresses, saying: day and night. Beautiful and the reward for a good deed. For who is learning to study God's law, he gets drunk on his streams. And Christ called his teaching water, saying: if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink   (John 7, 37). He who teaches in the law is likened to a tree by the waters, always blooming and always abundant in modern fruits. For the ascetics of virtue, although the fruits of their labor will bring in the future, however, here too, as if by some leaves, are overshadowed with hope, and the burden of work is covered with spiritual delight. Such all have time. For he will not do anything contrary to God's laws, who conforms his will to the will of the law. And the Psalmist, forbidding first all kinds of vice and showing the perfection of divine laws, then added it; all, elika ashe creates.

(3). And there will be a tree planted in the source of the waters.   Christ in the inspired Scripture is depicted by the tree of history, according to this: the tree of the belly is eaten by all   (Prov. 3, 18). Therefore, the Psalmist says that those who believe in Christ will be His body. For will transform the body of our humility, as it were, according to the body of His glory   (Phil. 3, 21). By the source of the waters, he calls the divine Scriptures, in which the preached Christ can be found everywhere. Christ is the tree of life; Apostles - branches; blood and water from the rib of Christ - the fruit, and the blood in the image of suffering, and the water in the image of baptism; The words are leaves. He will give his fruit in his time.   Under the fruit of the tree understand the right faith, under its leaves - the execution of the commandments. The fruit is saved: the root is baptism; the farmer is the Father. And the sheet will not fall away, and the whole, if he creates, he succeeds,   because the work done by God cannot be useless. Time to give depends on the receiver.

(5). For this sake the dishonest ones will not rise;   because they have no root, but they are like the dust of the earth, swept up by the wind. Under the wind of reason, the terrible God's broadcast: go from mene curse into eternal fire   (Matt. 25, 41). Those who hear this voice will not stand, but will fall, because they are not established in Christ, who is the support and foundation of believers. For it is said: for judgment, and not for interrogation. And the Psalmist adds: to the council of the righteous,   because the righteous ones are excommunicated from sinners.

(6). For the Lord's message is the path of the righteous.   It is said: message, instead of: honors, as God says to Moses: we are much worse than others (Ex. 33, 12), instead of you prefer, and you have found grace in Me.

Psalm to David, the Jews unwritten.

Content:    In the first psalm of the rulers of the Jewish people, proclaiming them as wicked, sinners and destroyers, in this psalm also shows their deeds with such names as they have become worthy. And having finished the first psalm with the mention of the wicked, the second psalm begins again with the same, teaching that the end mentioned above will also be received by the hardened against the Savior.

(1). Vsu shambles the pagans, and the people uchishasya vain?   Reel calls unreasonable pride. The word "vsku" refers to all speech, i.e., for what and people uchishasya vain?   And indeed, was it not in vain to venture them — not to accept the Savior to his kind? What is the reason for such hatred, that the pagans and the people are going together? The one that they were loose, which means: they became so proud that they were outraged and excited with arrogance and with some kind of highness. This resemblance is taken from the unreasonable striving of the horses, which cannot be restrained. This was with the Jews who rebelled against Christ. For what reason have gathered together pagans and people?   Or Israel means by the words: pagans and people; or the word "pagans" used about Herod and Pilate as pagans, and the word "people" about the Jews.

(2). Preceding the king of Zemsthy   i.e., Herod and Pontius Pilate determined themselves. This is how the Holy Apostles in Acts interpreted this (Acts 4: 26–27). And the riches gathered together, -   the scribes, Pharisees, and legalists mentioned above. On the Lord and on His Christ. For the wickedness against Christ is the wickedness against the Father himself. And if the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father, does it not by this mischief that He offends the same?

(3). Dissolve their bonds.   Here the word “speaking” is lacking so that the following meaning comes out: gather for the Lord and for His Christ, saying: break the bonds. For they did not wish to be in the sacred meri, about which it is written: like there is a kingdom of heaven neta   (Matt. 13, 47). And we will reject the yoke of them,   that is, the law of which the Lord spoke: my yoke is good, and My burden is easy to eat   (Mt 11, 30).

(4). Living in heaven laugh at them   as conferred on a meaningless thing. For he nailed and betrayed them to death, Jehovah in heaven and everything inclusive, makes their plans vain and vain. His Father and the Lord of all the Lord will give them their due punishment. And the Lord mocks them, he will reprove them, will hate them, and be hated by them. - “Laugh” said instead: hate and turn away. The one who is above these planners, says the Psalmist, will laugh or make their plans appear ridiculous, as they undertake the unwise. For laughter is breath, released through the nostrils, to the humiliation of the highly wise about themselves. And they say this with special perseverance, to more strongly express the justice of ridicule. And not only will they experience this, but they will also undergo anger.

(5). Then he called to them with his wrath.   What does it mean then? Is it the time when they said: will we break their bonds?   And what is said to them in anger? Do not you? woe to you the scribes and the Pharisee   (Matt. 23, 13); and: the kingdom of God will be taken from you   (Matt. 21, 43); and further: woe to you lawyer   (Luke 11, 52); because the Romans conquered them. Rage and anger are different because rage is anger that burns and is still flaming; and anger is the desire for grief to give grief. Therefore, rage is anger that has not reached its fullness, and anger is the very fullness. And such an explanation of these words teaches the very end of events. For the Roman army, in its invasion, destroyed the city, burned the temple, and most of the Jews put to death, and those who escaped the sword conquered and enslaved. The faithful should know that two faces are mentioned one after another, and first of all the Lord Christ, for it is said: on the Lord and on His Christ;   and then - Living in Heaven and the Lord: He who lives in heaven will laugh at them, and the Lord will scold them.   The same manner of speech was kept by the Psalmist and later.

(6). Alas, I am the king of him set over Zion.   He announces to them that faith which, after the rejection of the people of Israel, will be among the Gentiles. Zion means the Church.

(7). The Lord speak to Me: My Son is ecu You   and so forth, that is, the nature of the Father confirms that I am the Son. It is not by the command that it was produced, but the very essence shows that I am the image of the incarnation of the Father (Heb. 1, 3). By the way, added “ecu” to the meaning of eternal birth; because the Son was always. But also added: this day I give birth to Te, and to show the birth of the flesh; because the word "day" indicates time and is used in the meaning of temporary birth. Consequently, the following words are of course of human birth: give birth to Ta. You see how the Father Himself also gives birth according to the flesh of the only begotten Christ.

(8). And your possession ends of the earth.

(9). I forbid with a rod of iron, that is, the cross; for in it, although the substance of the tree, but the strength of iron. Some under the rod understand Roman rule.

(10). And now understand the king,   that is, contemplate and address repentance. Punish the judging land.   The word "punish" expresses prespection, and the words: note punishment -   perfection.

(12). Take the punishment   that is, the gospel doctrine. And you will perish from the way of the righteous, -{!LANG-a1a6f4cb91b0b74526b38dadb2adf9b5!}