“And the Lord said to Elijah, "Get up, go down to meet King Ahab of Israel," and so on. Now, when Jezebel invited Ahab to come and take hold of the vineyard whose owners had been stoned, Elijah went out to meet him, precisely when he did not expect him, and approached him in order to reveal the shameful action which they thought no one else knew about. He reproached the king openly for stealing the vineyard and killing the righteous Naboth. But one may say: Is not Jezebel the one who prepared the death of Naboth? Ahab simply did not accept that his request was rejected by Naboth; he did not want to treat him badly or take his vineyard by force. However, if he claims the vineyard, since the inheritance is due to the king after the heirs are dead, as the law prescribes, we maintain that if Ahab had not sinned at all, it would have been impossible that the justice that absolves those who are oppressed might have wronged him. Nor would the prophet, who reproved him according to the command of the just Judge and had already condemned him twice, [have wronged him].And Elijah said to him, "Thus says the Lord: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam." To Jezebel too, the Lord said, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the boundaries of Jezreel." Such are the judgments that Elijah pronounced against the king and the queen: he gives them to the dogs, and the house of Ahab to destruction.”

“And the Lord said to Elijah, "Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me?" and so on. If the repentance of Ahab had not been sincere, it would not have been praised by the Lord nor would the sentence pronounced against him have been diminished. It is true that Ahab did not receive his punishment in its entirety: the dogs, in fact, did not rip up his corpse or the birds devour it. Therefore what was said by Elijah as the word of the Lord must be interpreted in the sense of the word addressed to Moses: "I will blot out that nation," but he did not blot it out. But consider three [different] meanings here.The first is that Ahab repents and prays, and God immediately receives his prayer and reconciles with him, and he reveals to Ahab the pardon of his fault through the mediation of the prophet. The benevolence of the Lord toward this impious man is truly admirable, and the friend of humankind also shows his mercifulness toward sinners on many occasions. God forgives the faults of David in the same way, and after he has confessed his sin, he hears from the prophet, "Now the Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die." And [the same happens] to Manasseh, whom he enables to leave his captivity after only a short time and to come back to his kingdom from Babylon. Second, consider that even though the repentance of Ahab was short, the pardon that he asked for was nonetheless granted immediately. His Lord did not act in this manner with Abraham, to whom he conceded an heir only after a prayer lasting one hundred years. See also how a great fault was forgiven Ahab, while Miriam became a leper for a small error. Recognize, then, that the grace of God, which is incomprehensible, does not allow sinners to waste away in their iniquity, and [God] makes the righteous man thrive by not giving him what he wants immediately and by correcting him without delay. See again how Abraham prayed without receiving anything. He does not make his servants rich, so that they might not grow too proud. In the third place, even though God has freed Ahab, who had been condemned by Elijah, from his sentence, he nonetheless says, "But in his sons' days I will bring the disaster on his house." This means that the merciful judge tried to influence the king to live under his good will, for Ahab was an impulsive man who changed his mind quickly and turned from goodness to evil. In addition, [he said these words] so that [Ahab] might invoke mercy for his children and turn from them the sentence pronounced against them.”

“Divine justice is moved by this and condemns the greedy with worthy severity, saying: 'You have killed and taken possession of the inheritance? For this reason, in the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, they will lick up your blood; and the prostitutes will wash themselves in your blood.' How just, how severe is this sentence, that the bitterness of death that he inflicted on another should be dissolved by the horror of his own death! God looks upon the unburied poor and therefore decrees that the rich should lie unburied; and so that the dead may suffer the torment of their own wickedness, he who did not think to spare the dead. Thus, the body soaked in the blood of his own wound revealed the cruelty of his life. When the poor endured these things, the rich were accused; when the rich received them, the poor were justified. But what does it mean that the prostitutes washed themselves in his blood? Unless, perhaps, it is to reveal that there was a kind of prostitution in that ferociousness of the king's treachery, or a bloody luxury, who was so indulgent that he desired a vegetable dish; so bloodthirsty that he would kill a man over a vegetable dish? Worthy punishment consumes the greedy, worthy punishment consumes greed.”

“Finally, even Jezebel herself was eaten by dogs and the birds of the air, in order to show that the spiritual wickedness becomes the prey of the rich burial. Therefore, flee, rich man, from such an end. But you will flee from such an end if you flee from such a disgrace. Do not be like Ahab, desiring a neighboring possession. Do not let that fatal greed of Jezebel dwell in you, which persuades you with bloodshed. It does not recall your desires, but impels them; it makes you even sadder when you possess what you desired; it makes you naked when you have riches.”

“The rich become angry and slander in order to harm, if they do not obtain what they desire. However, when they have harmed through slander, they pretend to be sorry: yet they go forth sad and mournful, not in their hearts but in their appearance, and they seize the place of the property they have seized by their unfairness.”

“In this place the question comes up: how do we interpret what the Lord said to Elijah: "Have you seen how Ahab has been moved at my presence? I will not bring evils in his days, but in his sons' days will I bring evils"—or how do we say that repentance avails before God? "Behold, the king was moved before the face of the Lord and went away weeping, and he tore his garments, and covered himself with haircloth and put on sackcloth from that day on which he killed Naboth the Jezrehite," so that mercy moved God, and he changed his decree. Therefore either repentance did not avail and did not turn God to mercy or the prophecy is false, for Ahab was vanquished and killed. But consider that he had a wife, Jezebel, by whose will he was inflamed and who turned his heart and made him execrable by reason of his excessive sacrileges. Accordingly, she checked even this desire of repentance on his part. But the Lord cannot be considered changeable if he did not think that he ought to keep for the one unmindful of his confession what, at his confessing, he had promised him.But hear another and truer explanation. Even for him in his unworthiness did the Lord keep the tenor of his decree, but Ahab himself did not hold fast to the divine favors conferred on him. The king of Syria made war. He was defeated and kept for pardon. Although a captive, he was even given his liberty and sent back to his kingdom. It was in keeping with the divine decree that Ahab not only escaped harm but even triumphed; it was due to his own stupid want of firmness that he armed against himself the enemy by whom he was to be conquered. And surely he was warned by the prophet, who said, "Know, and see what you do." He was warned, I say, because the help of divine favor was due against the servants of the king of Syria, since he had said, "The God of the mountains is the God of Israel and not the god Baal. Therefore," he says, "they have conquered us. And therefore," he says, "if we shall not completely overcome them, put satraps in the stead of the king of Syria," so that he might take from them their valor and the power of the king. Hence in the first battle Ahab was victorious, so that he put his enemy to flight; in the second he was also victorious, in which instance he restored the captured king to his power. For this reason there leaped forth a clear prophecy of Ahab's defeat, one of the sons of the prophets saying to his neighbor, "Strike me. But he would not strike him. And he said, Because you would not obey the word of the Lord, behold, you depart from me, and a lion shall kill you. And he departed from him, and a lion found him and killed him." And after this another prophet stood before the king of Israel and said to him, "Thus said the Lord: Because you have let go out of your hand a man of destruction, behold, your life shall be for his life and your people for his people." It is clear, therefore, from these prophecies that the Lord keeps his promises even to the unworthy but the impious are either destroyed by their own folly or are condemned for a second transgression, though they have escaped the snares of the first. But we should so conduct ourselves that, being worthy through good works, we may deserve to receive the promises of the omnipotent God.”

“A teacher, if he dismisses a child and does not exact obedience from him, hates him; if, on the other hand, he disciplines him and the remedy cures him, his apparent severity turns out to be clemency. Ahab, too, was censured by the Lord when he killed Naboth and took his vineyard and spilled just blood. Elijah, the prophet, was sent to him to say, "You have killed. Moreover, also you have taken possession." Immediately his conscience struck and tormented him; he bowed his head and walked with eyes downcast; and this is an impious king robed in purple. Afterwards, Scripture says, Ahab went about wearing haircloth under his royal attire, and God, seeing him, said, "Because Ahab has humbled himself for my sake, I will not bring evil against him." Just realize the power of haircloth and of fasting, and how much blood is washed away by humble tears! This, then, is the proper way to wear haircloth and the proper way to fast, that no one may observe it.”

“The second flow from the light of faith is the zeal of truth, so that a man be aroused with indignation against anything evil or false and be immediately attracted to anything good. Let him despise every wickedness, like Elias, who foretold about Achab and Jezabel that hounds would devour them. Achab said: "Hast thou found me thy enemy?" And Elias replied: "I have found thee because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord," as if he were saying, "Anyone who is against God is against me."”

“Celsus has not explained how error accompanies the "becoming," or product of generation; nor has he expressed himself with sufficient clearness to enable us to compare his ideas with ours, and to pass judgment on them. But the prophets, who have given some wise suggestions on the subject of things produced by generation, tell us that a sacrifice for sin was offered even for new-born infants, as not being free from sin. They say, "I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me;" also, "They are estranged from the womb;" which is followed by the singular expression, "They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies."”

“As the holy old man Pachomius was journeying to his own monastery and had come near the desert called Amnon, legions of demons rose both on his right hand and on his left, some following him and others running in front of him, saying, "Behold the blessed man of God." They were doing this, wishing to sow vainglory in him. But he knew their cunning, and the more they shouted, the more he cried out to God, confessing his sins. And undoing the demons' cunning, he spoke out to them, saying, "O wicked ones! You cannot carry me away with you into vainglory, for I know my failures, for which I ought to weep constantly over eternal punishment. I have therefore no need of your false speech and guileful deceit, for your work is the destruction of the soul. And I am not carried away by your praises, for I know the cunning of your unholy minds." And although holy Pachomius said these things to them, they did not stop their shamelessness; they followed alongside the blessed man until he drew near his monastery.”

“"I [the prodigal son] have sinned," he says, "against heaven and before you." He confesses what is clearly a sin to death, that you may not think that any one doing penance is rightly shut out from pardon. For one who has sinned against heaven has sinned either against the kingdom of heaven or against his own soul, which is a sin to death, and against God, to whom alone is said: "Against you only have I sinned and done evil before you."”

“But we, according to the epistle of James, "all stumble in many things," and "no one is pure from sin, no not if his life is but a day long." For who will boast "that he has a clean heart? or who will be sure that he is pure from sin?" And we are held guilty after the likeness of Adam's transgression. Hence David says, "Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." And the blessed Job, "Even if I were righteous, my mouth will speak wickedness; even if I were perfect, I will be found guilty. If I wash myself with soap and make my hands ever so clean, yet you will plunge me in the ditch, and even my own clothes will abhor me."”

“I need not go through the lives of the saints or call attention to the moles and blemishes that mark the fairest skins. Many of our writers, it is true, unwisely take this course; however, a few sentences of Scripture will dispose alike of the heretics and the philosophers. What does Paul say? "For God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all"; and in another place, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." The preacher also who is the mouthpiece of the divine Wisdom freely protests and says, "There is not a just person on earth, that does good and sins not," and again, "When your people sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin," and "who can say, I have made my heart clean?" and "none is clean from stain, not even if his life on earth has been but for one day." David insists on the same thing when he says, "Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me"; and in another psalm, "in your sight shall no man living be justified." This last passage they try to explain away from motives of reverence, arguing that the meaning is that no human being is perfect in comparison with God. Yet the Scripture does not say, "in comparison with you no one living shall be justified" but "in your sight no one living shall be justified." And when it says "in your sight" it means that those who seem holy to people are by no means holy to God in his fuller knowledge. For "man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." But if in the sight of God who sees all things and to whom the secrets of the heart lie open no one is just; then these heretics, instead of adding to human dignity, clearly take away from God's power. I might bring together many other passages of Scripture of the same import; but were I to do so, I should exceed the limits not of a letter but of a volume.”

“"For mine iniquity I acknowledge, and my delinquency is before me ever" (ver. 3). I have not put behind my back what I have done, I look not at others, forgetful of myself, I pretend not to pull out a straw from my brother's eye, when there is a beam in my eye; my sin is before me, not behind me. For it was behind me when to me was sent the Prophet, and set before me the parable of the poor man's sheep. For saith Nathan the Prophet to David, "There was a certain rich man having very many sheep; but a poor man his neighbour had one little ewe sheep, which in his bosom and of his own food he was feeding: there came a stranger to the rich man, nothing from his flock he took, for the lithe ewe sheep of the poor man his neighbour he lusted; her he slew for the stranger: what doth he deserve?" But the other being angry doth pronounce sentence: then the king, evidently knowing not wherein he had been taken, declared the rich man deserving of death, and that the sheep be restored fourfold. Most sternly and most justly. But his sin was not yet before him, behind his back was what he had done: his own iniquity he did not yet acknowledge, and therefore another's he did not pardon. But the Prophet, being for this purpose sent, took from his back the sin, and before his eyes placed it, so that he might see that sentence so stern to have been pronounced against himself. For cutting and healing his heart's wound, he made a lancet of his tongue. ...”

“Singing to the Lord, we have asked Him to turn away His face from our sins, and to blot out all our crimes. But you can notice, Brothers, that in the same psalm we have heard: For I acknowledge my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me. However, it is said to God elsewhere: Do not turn away your face from me, to whom we have said: Turn your face away from my sins. While therefore man and sinner are one person, man says: Do not turn away your face from me, the sinner says: Turn your face away from my sins. This is thus said: Do not turn away your face from the one whom you have made, turn your face away from what I have done. Your eye, he says, distinguishes both, lest the nature perish because of the vice. You have made something, and I have made something. What you have made is called nature; what I have done is called vice. Let the vice be healed, so that nature may be preserved.”

“"Against You alone have I sinned, and before You an evil thing have I done" [Psalm 51:4]. What is this? For before men was not another's wife debauched and husband slain? Did not all men know what David had done? [2 Samuel 11:4, 15] What is, "Against You alone have I sinned, and before You an evil thing have I done." Because You alone are without sin. He is a just punisher that has nothing in Him to be punished; He is a just reprover that has nothing in Him to be reproved. "That you may be justified in Your sayings, and conquer when You are judged." To whom he speaks, brethren, to whom he speaks, is difficult to understand. To God surely he speaks, and it is evident that God the Father is not judged. What is, "And conquer when You are judged"? He sees the future Judge to be judged, one just by sinners to be judged, and therein conquering, because in Him was nothing to be judged. For alone among men could truly say the God-Man, "If you have found in Me sin, say." [John 8:46] But perchance there was what escaped men, and they found not what was really there, but was not manifest. In another place [John 14:30] He says, "Behold there comes the Prince of the world," being an acute observer of all sins; "Behold," He says, "there comes the Prince of this world," with death afflicting sinners, presiding over death: for, "By the malice of the devil death came into the world." [Wisdom 2:24] "Behold," He says, "there comes the Prince of the world:"— He said these words close upon His Passion:— "and in Me he shall find nothing," nothing of sin, nothing worthy of death, nothing worthy of condemnation. And as if it were said to Him, Why then do You die? He continues and says, "But that all men may know that I do the will of My Father; arise, let us go hence." I suffer, He says, undeserving, for men deserving, in order that them I may make deserving of My Life, for whom I undeservedly suffer their death. To Him then, having no sin, says on the present occasion the Prophet David, "Against You only have I sinned, and before You an evil thing have I done, that You may be justified in Your sayings, and conquer when You are judged." For Thou overcomest all men, all judges; and he that deems himself just, before You is unjust: Thou alone justly judgest, having been unjustly judged, That hast power to lay down Your life, and hast power again to take it. [John 10:18] Thou conquerest, then, when You are judged. All men Thou overcomest, because You are more than men, and by You were men made.”

“"For, behold, in iniquities I was conceived" [Psalm 51:5]. As though he were saying, They are conquered that have done what thou, David, hast done: for this is not a little evil and little sin, to wit, adultery and man-slaying. What of them that from the day that they were born of their mother's womb, have done no such thing? Even to them do you ascribe some sins, in order that He may conquer all men when He begins to be judged. David has taken upon him the person of mankind, and has heeded the bonds of all men, has considered the offspring of death, has adverted to the origin of iniquity, and he says, "For, behold, in iniquities I was conceived." Was David born of adultery; being born of Jesse, [1 Samuel 16:18] a righteous man, and his own wife? What is it that he says himself to have been in iniquity conceived, except that iniquity is drawn from Adam? Even the very bond of death, with iniquity itself is engrained? No man is born without bringing punishment, bringing desert of punishment. A Prophet says also in another place, "No one is clean in Your sight, not even an infant, whose life is of one day upon earth." For we know both by the Baptism of Christ that sins are loosed, and that the Baptism of Christ avails the remission of sins. If infants are every way innocent, why do mothers run with them when sick to the Church? What by that Baptism, what by that remission is put away? An innocent one I see that rather weeps than is angry. What does Baptism wash off? What does that Grace loose? There is loosed the offspring of sin. For if that infant could speak to you, it would say, and if it had the understanding which David had, it would answer you, Why do you heed me, an infant? Thou dost not indeed see my actions: but I in iniquity have been conceived, "And in sins has my mother nourished me in the womb." Apart from this bond of mortal concupiscence was Christ born without a male, of a virgin conceiving by the Holy Ghost. He cannot be said to have been conceived in iniquity, it cannot be said, In sins His mother nourished Him in the womb, to whom was said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the Virtue of the Highest shall overshadow you." [Luke 1:35] It is not therefore because it is sin to have to do with wives that men are conceived in iniquity, and in sins nourished in the womb by their mother; but because that which is made is surely made of flesh deserving punishment. For the punishment of the flesh is death, and surely there is in it liability to death itself. Whence the Apostle spoke not of the body as if to die, but as if dead: "The body indeed is dead," he says, "because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness." [Romans 8:10] How then without bond of sin is born that which is conceived and sown of a body dead because of sin? This chaste operation in a married person has not sin, but the origin of sin draws with it condign punishment. For there is no husband that, because he is an husband, is not subject to death, or that is subject to death for any other reason but because of sin. For even the Lord was subject to death, but not on account of sin: He took upon Him our punishment, and so looses our guilt. With reason then, "In Adam all die, but in Christ shall all be made alive." [1 Corinthians 15:22] For, "Through one man," says the Apostle, "sin has entered into this world, and through sin death, and so has passed unto all men, in that all have sinned." [Romans 5:12] Definite is the sentence: "In Adam," he says, "all have sinned." Alone then could such an infant be innocent, as has not been born of the work of Adam.”

“So it is because of this quite unique innocence that the psalm says, "Against you alone have I sinned and done what is evil in your presence, that you may be justified in your words and may overcome when you are judged," because he could find not a hint of evil in you [Jesus Christ]. Why could he find it in you, though, O human race? Because it goes on to say, "For I myself was conceived in iniquity, and in sins did my mother conceive me." It is David saying this. Inquire how David was born; you will discover that it was of a lawful wife, not of adultery. So in terms of what sort of propagation does he say "I was conceived in iniquity"? It can only be that there is here a kind of propagation or transmission of death, which every person contracts who is born of the union of man and woman.”

“"For, behold, truth You have loved: uncertain and hidden things of Your wisdom, You have manifested to me" [Psalm 51:6]. That is, You have not left unpunished even the sins of those whom Thou dost pardon. "Truth You have loved:" so mercy You have granted first, as that You should also preserve truth. Thou pardonest one confessing, pardonest, but only if he punishes himself: so there are preserved mercy and truth: mercy because man is set free; truth, because sin is punished. "Uncertain and hidden things of Your wisdom You have manifested to me." What "hidden things"? What "uncertain things"? Because God pardons even such. Nothing is so hidden, nothing so uncertain. For this uncertainty the Ninevites repented, for they said, though after the threatenings of the Prophet, though after that cry, "Three days and Nineve shall be overthrown:" [Jonah 3:4] they said to themselves, Mercy must be implored; they said in this sort reasoning among themselves, "Who knows whether God may turn for the better His sentence, and have pity?" [Jonah 3:9] It was "uncertain," when it is said, "Who knows?" on an uncertainty they did repent, certain mercy they earned: they prostrated them in tears, in fastings, in sackcloth and ashes they prostrated them, groaned, wept, God spared. Nineve stood: was Nineve overthrown? One way indeed it seems to men, and another way it seemed to God. But I think that it was fulfilled that the Prophet had foretold. Regard what Nineve was, and see how it was overthrown; overthrown in evil, built in good; just as Saul the persecutor was overthrown, Paul the preacher built. [Acts 9:4] Who would not say that this city, in which we now are, was happily overthrown, if all those madmen, leaving their triflings, were to run together to the Church with contrite heart, and were to call upon God's mercy for their past doings? Should we not say, Where is that Carthage? Because there is not what there was, it is overthrown: but if there is what there was not, it is built. So is said to Jeremiah, "Behold, I will give to you to root up, to dig under, to overthrow, to destroy," and again, "to build, and to plant." [Jeremiah 1:10] Thence is that voice of the Lord, "I will smite and I will heal." [Deuteronomy 32:39] He smites the rottenness of the deed, He heals the pain of the wound. Physicians do thus when they cut; they smite and heal; they arm themselves in order to strike, they carry steel, and come to cure. But because great were the sins of the Ninevites, they said, "Who knows?" This uncertainty had God disclosed to His servant David. For when he had said, before the Prophet standing and convicting him, "I have sinned:" straightway he heard from the Prophet, that is, from the Spirit of God which was in the Prophet, "Your sin is put away from you." [2 Samuel 12:13] "Uncertain and hidden things" of His wisdom He manifested to him.”

“"Cast me not forth from Thy face" (ver. 11). Turn away Thy face from my sins: and "cast me not forth from Thy face." Whose face he feareth, upon the face of the Same he calleth. "And Thy Holy Spirit take not away from me." For in one confessing there is the Holy Spirit. Even now, to the gift of the Holy Spirit it belongeth, that what thou hast done displeaseth thee. The unclean spirit sins do please; the Holy One they displease. Though then thou still implore pardon, yet thou art joined to God on the other part, because the evil thing that thou hast committed displeaseth thee: for the same thing displeaseth both thee and Him. Now, to assail thy fever, ye are two, thou and the Physician. For the reason that there cannot be confession of sin and punishment of sin in a man of himself: when one is angry with himself, and is displeasing to himself, then it is not without the gift of the Holy Spirit, nor doth he say, Thy Holy Spirit give to me, but, "Take not away from me."”

“Against You alone have I sinned Therefore, it is in Your power to forgive [me]. Even in my sin against Uriah, I sinned against You, for You warned against the matter. in order that You be justified in Your conduct like במנהגך, in Your conduct. I had the strength to overpower my evil inclination, but, so that they should not say, “The servant overpowered his master,”for I said to You (Ps. 26: 2), “Test me, O Lord, and try me,” and You tested me and I was not found perfect, in order that You should be justified and not I (Sanh. 107a). Another explanation: in order that You be justified in Your conduct If You forgive me, You will be justified in Your judgment against all the wicked who do not repent, so that they will not be able to say, “If we had repented, it would not have availed us.””

“"Because." Here he confesses his guilt. And first, he confesses the guilt. Second, he shows this confession to be acceptable to God. First, therefore, he confesses the guilt. Second, he aggravates the guilt, at "against you alone have I sinned." Third, he demonstrates its origin, at "behold indeed." He therefore recognizes his guilt, saying, "because my iniquity." Some do not recognize their sins for three reasons: because reason is weighed down by the gravity of sin. Prov. 18: "When the wicked man comes to the depth of sins, he scorns." Ps. 39: "My iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see." Also, because they do not remember. Eccl. 5: "He has forgotten his delights." Also, because of the flattery of men. Ps. 9: "The sinner is praised in the desires of his soul." And therefore, because others praise him for his sins, he himself does not recognize them. But happy is he who recognizes his sin, as David did. Prov. 14: "The heart knows the bitterness of its soul; in its joy no stranger shall intermeddle." As to the second, he says, "and my sin is always before me." Some are those who, even if they recognize their sin, nevertheless do not detest it; but this man always has his sin before him as something contrary, harmful, and detestable. And he says "always." Some are those who detest sin for a time. Jas. 1: "He beheld himself and went away," etc. Is. 38: "I will recount to you all my years," etc. "My iniquity I know." Another text: "before me"; and thus it designates that he recognizes his guilt and that he continually meditates upon it. And this was established before God through Nathan the prophet, under the likeness.”

“"Against you alone have I sinned." Above, the Psalmist set forth the recognition of his own guilt; here he aggravates his guilt; and regarding this he does two things. First, he aggravates it. Second, he sets forth what follows from the aggravation, at "that you may be justified." He aggravates this guilt by comparison to God; and in two ways, as is said in Jer. 29: "I will be judge and witness." For he seems to despise God as judge who does not fear to sin because of his judgment. And similarly he despises God as witness who sins in his sight; and therefore he says, "against you alone have I sinned." But did he not sin against Uriah, whom he killed? Yes. But he says, "against you alone," that is, against God, because he is not answerable to his servant, but to the sentence of God. For when a lord who is over his servant sins, he does not sin against the servant but against God. Wis. 6: "Power has been given to you by the Lord, and strength by the Most High, who will examine your works and search your thoughts." Or, "against you alone," that is, in comparison to you alone have I sinned. And this can be referred either to God or to Christ. He is said to sin against God in comparison with the just; and so, "against you alone have I sinned," because you alone are without sin. And similarly, Christ was altogether without sin. "Against you, therefore, alone have I sinned," by contemning your judgment. Also, I despised you as witness, because "I have done evil before you," in your sight and presence. Prov. 15: "Hell and perdition are before the Lord; how much more the hearts of the children of men." Sir. 23: "The eyes of the Lord are far brighter than the sun." "That you may be justified." Here is set forth what follows from this aggravation; and this can be read in many ways. But first I will say what seems most fitting. For the word "that" is sometimes used causally, sometimes merely consecutively; and then the sense is: "I have done evil before you," so "that you may be justified," not because anyone is justified on account of sin, but this follows from sin, because from the very fact that a person sins, the justice of God is made more manifest; for from his sins it became apparent that God punished him. This punishment consists in two things. First, he threatens. Second, he inflicts punishment; and in both he is just. As to the first, he says, "in your words," by which you threaten punishment. Prov. 8: "My words are just." As to the second, he says, "and you may prevail when you are judged," that is, when you are compared with others in judgment. Often God, to show his justice and ours as well, wishes to be judged with us. Is. 5: "Judge between me and my vineyard." And in this God is found more just. Job 9: "If he wished to contend with God, he could not answer him one in a thousand." And that this is the intention of the Psalm is clear from the Apostle, Rom. 3: "But God is true, and every man a liar, as it is written." But in the Gloss, he speaks so that what is said, "that you may be justified in your words," etc., is not connected with "I have done evil before you," etc., but with what he says, "against you alone," that is, in comparison with you, who alone are just, and so much so that all your words are just. And thus "that" is placed causally; as if to say: you are so just "that you are justified." Or if it is referred to Christ, the sense is: "against you alone," namely Christ, "have I sinned," because you are just, "and you prevail" over all men "when you are judged," even though you are judged by Pilate. Or otherwise: "that you may be justified" -- in this I further ask that you wash me, for this purpose, "that you may be justified," that is, that your promises may be perfectly true, namely concerning Christ who was to be born, to whom it was promised, Ps. 131: "Of the fruit of your womb," etc., and that sin would be remitted. 2 Sam. 12: "The Lord has taken away your sin," etc. "You prevail when you are judged" by men who say that you ought not to fulfill your promises and ought not to blot out my sins.”

“"Behold indeed." Here he sets forth the root of the guilt. The root of all actual guilt is original sin, which is contracted from parents infected with that sin; this infection was in the father of David and in his mother. As to the father, he says, "in iniquities I was conceived" -- not actual iniquities, because he was not born of adultery, but of marriage and from holy Jesse, as is said in the last chapter of Ruth -- but in original sin; for in this sin all are born. Rom. 5: "Through one man sin entered into this world." But since original sin is one, why does he say "in iniquities," etc.? It must be said that original sin is one in essence, so to speak, but many in power, because it provides the occasion for all other sins. Rom. 7: "Sin which is in my flesh works." And this diminishes the guilt; as if to say: it is not surprising that I sin, because I was conceived in these things. As to the mother, he says, "and in sins did my mother conceive me." But were not the parents of David cleansed from original sin through circumcision? It must be said that Baptism and circumcision cleanse the soul from the guilt of original sin, but the tinder of sin still remains, and circumcision was performed on the flesh, and a person begets carnal children according to the flesh; and therefore it was necessary that the son born be circumcised again. So now one born of baptized parents is baptized. Another text has, "my mother nourished me." And this is referred to actual sins, because even in children disordered movements are found, as Augustine says in Confessions 6. Another text has, "she bore me," etc. And so, because some are sanctified in the womb, but all except Christ are conceived in original sin, he says that he was not sanctified in the womb but born in original sin.”

“"Behold, you have loved truth." He who wishes to make satisfaction must love the things that God loves. But God loves the truth of faith. Jn. 18: "Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Also, justice. Ps. 88: "Mercy and truth shall go before your face." And this is necessary in the penitent, that he punish in himself what he has done wrong. Also, confession is necessary, that he confess his sins.”

“"The uncertain things." Here he asks for total restoration. And first, he sets forth the hope he has. Second, his petition. And first, he sets forth the benefit received, through which he is raised to hope. Second, he sets forth his confidence, at "you shall sprinkle me." He commemorated the benefit of power when he said, "the uncertain and hidden things," because as king he had the benefit of prophecy. 2 Sam. 23: "The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me, and his word through my tongue." And he sets forth three things: namely, the matter of prophecy, its mode, and its cause. He shows the matter of prophecy when he says, "the uncertain and hidden things." Prophecy concerns these things, namely, uncertain and hidden things, which are comprehended by your wisdom. In us, something is unknown in two ways, yet known to God: either because of a defect, or because of an excess. Something future and contingent is unknown to us because of a defect, because it does not yet have a determined truth. Something is unknown to us because of an excess, namely the divine substance and things that exceed our capacity. Both were revealed to David through the spirit of prophecy. Amos 3: "The Lord God will not do a thing unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets." "The uncertain things, therefore, you have manifested to me," that is, those things which by their very nature have variability; and these were revealed to him, as is clear in the Psalm. "Hidden things" are called those which exceed the eye of our mind. Job 28: "Wisdom is drawn from hidden things." Sir. 24: "I am in the highest places," etc.; and these are the things of the wisdom of God; as if to say: although they are hidden to us, nevertheless they are comprehended by your wisdom. And among the hidden things he commemorates the mystery of the Incarnation, which you also manifested to me. Also, the mercy of God is numbered among these, because it remits sins. But it is better to take it universally. The mode of revelation is set forth when he says, "you have manifested to me." There is a threefold mode of prophecy. One, in which a supernatural and intelligible truth is revealed under corporeal likenesses and images; and so Is. 6 says: "I saw the Lord sitting," etc. Another is that in which the revelation of a supernatural and intelligible truth is made without the cloud of imaginative fantasy; indeed, it is not yet revealed; and so the revelation was made to Moses, Num. 12: "Plainly and not through enigmas and figures he saw God." And such also was the revelation to David. 2 Sam. 23: "The God of Israel spoke to me." And below: "As the light of the dawn remains when the sun rises without clouds, it shines."”

“"Do not cast me from your face, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me." Here he asks for the restoration of grace. And first, he asks for grace itself. Second, he asks for the effect of grace, at "restore." A person is said to have the grace of God in two ways: for someone is said to have the grace of God and of man; and as to something, similarly, namely when he is pleasing to both, namely to God and to man. And this is called sanctifying grace. Eph. 1: "In which he has made us acceptable in his beloved Son." And accordingly, grace is called the benevolence of God, by which God loves a person unto eternal life. And as to something, it is dissimilar: for the grace of man does not make him good, but from his own goodness he becomes pleasing to man; but with God it is the reverse, because from the benevolence of God it follows that a person becomes good. There are therefore two things in the grace of God: namely, the benevolence itself and its effect in the soul; and he asks for both when he says, "Do not cast me away," etc. And this can be understood in two ways. He who is in the face of someone is seen by him and can see him. This person is said to be in the face of God, according to 1 Kgs. 17: "As the Lord lives, in whose holy sight I stand." Gen. 48: "The God in whose sight my fathers walked." And this, because they themselves are upright for seeing God. Ps. 26: "One thing I have asked of the Lord," etc. Through sin, both are lost, because sinners desert God, are deserted by God, and lose the confidence of trusting in God. Is. 59: "Your sins and iniquities have divided between you and your God," etc., as to the first; "and your sins have hidden his face from you," as to the second. This person, therefore, is cast from the face of God through sin; and therefore he asks that he not be finally cast away in either way. Also note that in a person there are two things: namely, guilt, from which he is worthy of punishment, and nature, from which he has a fitness for grace; and therefore he asks that God not look upon the guilt but upon the nature; and therefore he says, "Do not cast me away." Also, the gift of grace is given through charity; and such a gift is given through the Holy Spirit; and therefore he says, "and do not take your Holy Spirit from me," whose temple I had been, but I lost it because of sin. Wis. 1: "The Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful." Therefore, "do not take away," namely finally.”

“"For if you had desired sacrifice." Here he excuses himself. And first, he shows that sacrifice is not acceptable to God; second, he shows what sacrifice is acceptable to God, at "A sacrifice to God." He says therefore: I promise teaching and praise, for this sacrifice will honor you; but carnal sacrifice is not acceptable to you; and therefore he says, "If you had desired sacrifice," namely carnal sacrifice, "I would indeed have given it; but you will not be delighted with burnt offerings." But does he not want carnal sacrifices? If God does not approve those sacrifices, why then did he command them to be made in the Old Law? It must be said that he commanded them to be made not for their own sake, but because they were a figure of the interior true sacrifice by which Christ offered himself; and they are signs of the interior sacrifice insofar as a person offers his soul to God. And again, they were instituted for the uneducated, who did not know God; and therefore it was necessary that they honor and know God through material things, lest they immolate sacrifices to idols, to which they were very much inclined. But because David, through the Holy Spirit, knew that the sacrifice of the heart is acceptable to God, he did not offer bodily sacrifices here. Among all sacrifices, burnt offerings were the most acceptable to God. And yet they were not acceptable to God for their own sake; therefore he says, "You will not be delighted with burnt offerings," because even if they had been acceptable to you, I would simply have offered them. And if it is objected that they were "a most sweet odor to the Lord," it must be said that this was because of the sacrifice they prefigured, and as a sign of the interior sacrifice, which is pleasing to God.”

“Note through what steps we have now ascended hither, and how He has set us on the very pinnacle of virtue. The first step is, not to begin to do wrong to any; the second, that in avenging a wrong done to us we be content with retaliating equal; the third, to return nothing of what we have suffered; the fourth, to offer one’s self to the endurance of evil; the fifth, to be ready to suffer even more evil than the oppressor desires to inflict; the sixth, not to hate him of whom we suffer such things; the seventh, to love him; the eighth, to do him good; the ninth, to pray for him. And because the command is great, the reward proposed is also great, namely, to be made like unto God, Ye shall be the sons of your Father which is in heaven.”

“Many measuring the commandments of God by their own weakness, not by the strength of the saints, hold these commands for impossible, and say that it is virtue enough not to hate our enemies; but to love them is a command beyond human nature to obey. But it must be understood that Christ enjoins not impossibilities but perfection. Such was the temper of David towards Saul and Absalom; the Martyr Stephen also prayed for his enemies while they stoned him, and Paul wished himself anathema for the sake of his persecutors. (Rom. 9:3.) Jesus both taught and did the same, saying, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. (Luke 23:34.)”

“(de Doctr. Christ. i. 30.) That by the command, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, all mankind were intended, the Lord shewed in the parable of the man who was left half dead, which teaches us that our neighbour is every one who may happen at any time to stand in need of our offices of mercy; and this who does not see must be denied to none, when the Lord says, Do good to them that hate you.”

“(Serm. in Mont. i. 21.) That there were degrees in the righteousness of the Pharisees which was under the old Law is seen herein, that many hated even those by whom they were loved. He therefore who loves his neighbour, has ascended one degree, though as yet he hate his enemy; which is expressed in that, and shalt hate his enemy; which is not to be understood as a command to the justified, but a concession to the weak.”

“(cont. Faust. xix. 24.) I ask the Manichæans why they would have this peculiar to the Mosaic Law, that was said by them of old time, thou shall hate thy enemy? Has not Paul said of certain men that they were hateful to God? We must enquire then how we may understand that, after the example of God, to whom the Apostle here affirms some men to be hateful, our enemies are to be hated; and again after the same pattern of Him who maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, our enemies are to be loved. Here then is the rule by which we may at once hate our enemy for the evil’s sake that is in him, that is, his iniquity, and love him for the good’s sake that is in him, that is, his rational part. This then, thus uttered by them of old, being heard, but not understood, hurried men on to the hatred of man, when they should have hated nothing but vice. Such the Lord corrects as He proceeds, saying, I say unto you, Love your enemies. Lie who had just declared that He came not to subvert the Law, bat to fulfil it, by bidding us love our enemies, brought us to the understanding of how we may at once hate the same man for his sins whom we love for his human nature.”

“(Enchir. 73.) These indeed are examples of the perfect sons of God; yet to this should every believer aim, and seek by prayer to God, and struggles with himself to raise his human spirit to this temper. Yet this so great blessing is not given to all those multitudes which we believe are heard when they pray, Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

“(Serm. in Mont. i. 21.) Here arises a question, that this commandment of the Lord, by which He bids us pray for our enemies, seems opposed by many other parts of Scripture. In the Prophets are found many imprecations upon enemies; such as that in the 108th Psalm, Let his children be orphans. (Ps. 109:9.) But it should be known, that the Prophets are wont to foretel things to come in the form of a prayer or wish. This has more weight as a difficulty that John says, There is a sin unto death, I sag not that he shall pray for it; (1 John 5:16.) plainly shewing, that there are some brethren for whom he docs not bid us pray; for what went before was, If any know his brother sin a sin, &c. Yet the Lord bids us pray for our persecutors. This question can only be resolved, if we admit that there are some sins in brethren more grievous than the sin of persecution in our enemies. For thus Stephen prays for those that stoned him, because they had not yet believed on Christ; but the Apostle Paul (2 Tim. 4:14.) does not pray for Alexander though he was a brother, but had sinned by attacking the brotherhood through jealousy. But for whom you pray not, you do not therein pray against him. What must we say then of those against whom we know that the saints have prayed, and that not that they should be corrected, (for that would be rather to have prayed for them), but for their eternal damnation; not as that prayer of the Prophet against the Lord’s betrayer, for that is a prophecy of the future, not an imprecation of punishment; but as when we read in the Apocalypse the Martyrs’ prayer that they may be avenged. (Rev. 6:10.) But we ought not to let this affect us. For who may dare to affirm that they prayed against those persons themselves, and not against the kingdom of sin? For that would be both a just and a merciful avenging of the Martyrs, to overthrow that kingdom of sin, under the continuance of which they endured all those evils. And it is overthrown by correction of some, and damnation of such as abide in sin. Does not Paul seem to you to have avenged Stephen on his own body, as he speaks, (1 Cor. 9:27.) I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection.”

“(Serm. in Mont. i. 23.) After that rule we must here understand of which John speaks, He gave them power to be made the sons of God. One is His Son by nature; we are made sons by the power which we have received; that is, so far as we fulfil those things that we are commanded. So He says not, Do these things because ye are sons; but, do these things that ye may become sons. In calling us to this then, He calls us to His likeness, for He saith, He maketh His sun to rise on the righteous and the unrighteous. By the sun we may understand not this visible, but that of which it is said, To you that fear the name of the Lord, the Sun of righteousness shall arise; (Mal. 4:2.) and by the rain, the water of the doctrine of truth; for Christ was seen, and was preached to good as well as bad.”

“(ubi sup.) Or we may take it of this visible sun, and of the rain by which the fruits are nourished, as the wicked mourn in the book of Wisdom, The Sun has not risen for us. (Wisd. 5:6.) And of the rain it is said, I will command the clouds that they rain not on it. (Is. 5:6.) But whether it be this or that, it is of the great goodness of God, which is set forth for our imitation. lie says not, ‘the sun,’ but, His sun, that is, the sun which Himself has made, that hence we may be admonished with how great liberality we ought to supply those things that we have not created, but have received as a boon from Him.”

“(De Civ. Dei, i. 8.) For the good man is not puffed up by worldly goods, nor broken by worldly calamity. But the bad man is punished in temporal losses, because he is corrupted by temporal gains. Or for another reason He would have good and evil common to both sorts of men, that good things might not be sought with vehement desire, when they were enjoyed even by the wicked; nor the evil things shamefully avoided, when even the righteous are afflicted by them.”

“(Mor. xxii. 11.) Love to an enemy is then observed when we are not sorrowful at his success, or rejoice in his fall. We hate him whom we wish not to be bettered, and pursue with ill-wishes the prosperity of the man in whose fall we rejoice. Yet it may often happen that without any sacrifice of charity, the fall of an enemy may gladden us, and again his exaltation make us sorrowful without any suspicion of envy; when, namely, by his fall any deserving man is raised up, or by his success any undeservedly depressed. But herein a strict measure of discernment must be observed, lest in following out our own hates, we hide it from ourselves under the specious pretence of others’ benefit. We should balance how much we owe to the fall of the sinner, how much to the justice of the Judge. For when the Almighty has struck any hardened sinner, we must at once magnify His justice as Judge, and feel with the other’s suffering who perishes.”

“If then sinners be led by nature to shew kindness to those that love them, with how much greater shew of affection ought you not to embrace even those that do not love you? For it follows, Do not even the publicans so? The publicans are those who collect the public imposts; or perhaps those who pursue the public business or the gain of this world.”

“Because the utmost perfection of love cannot go beyond the love of enemies, therefore as soon as the Lord has bid us love our enemies, He proceeds, Be ye then perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. He indeed is perfect, as being omnipotent; man, as being aided by the Omnipotent. For the word ‘as’ is used in Scripture, sometimes for identity, and equality, as in that, As I was with Moses, so will I be with thee; (Josh. 1:5.) sometimes to express likeness only as here.”

“(non occ.) The Lord has taught above that we must not resist one who offers any injury, but must be ready even to suffer more; He now further requires us to shew to them that do us wrong both love and its effects. And as the things that have gone before pertain to the completion of the righteousness of the Law, in like manner this last precept is to be referred to the completion of the law of love, which, according to the Apostle, is the fulfilling of the Law.”

“(ord.) But it should be known, that in the whole body of the Law it is no where written, Thou shalt hate thy enemy. But it is to be referred to the tradition of the Scribes, who thought good to add this to the Law, because the Lord bade the children of Israel pursue their enemies, and destroy Amalek from under heaven.”

“(ord.) They who stand against the Church oppose her in three ways; with hate, with words, and with bodily tortures. The Church on the other hand loves them, as it is here, Love your enemies; does good to them, as it is, Do good to them that hate you; and prays for them, as it is, Pray for them that persecute you and accuse you falsely.”

“As that, Thou shalt not lust, was not spoken to the flesh, but to the spirit, so in this the flesh indeed is not able to love its enemy, but the spirit is able; for the love and hate of the flesh is in the sense, but of the spirit is in the understanding. If then we feel hate to one who has wronged us, and yet will not to act upon that feeling, know that our flesh hates our enemy, but our soul loves him.”

“He was careful to say, On the righteous and the unrighteous, and not ‘on the unrighteous as on the righteous;’ for God gives all good gifts not for men’s sake, but for the saints’ sake, as likewise chastisements for the sake of sinners. In bestowing His good gifts, He does not separate the sinners from the righteous, that they should not despair; so in His inflictions, not the righteous from sinners that they should be made proud; and that the more, since the wicked are not profited by the good things they receive, but turn them to their hurt by their evil lives; nor are the good hurt by the evil things, but rather profit to increase of righteousness.”

“(Hil. Quæst. V. and N. Test. q. 68.) And the souls of them that are slain cry out to be avenged; as the blood of Abel cried out of the ground not with a voice, but in spirit1. As the work is said to laud the workman, when he delights himself in the view thereof; for the saints are not so impatient as to urge on what they know will come to pass at the appointed time.”