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COMMENTARY ON PSALM 72
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COMMENTARY ON PSALM 72 For Solomon. he fact that [1429] the present psalm in no way applies to Solomon I believe even Jews would admit if they were willing to tell the truth, surely, however, the children of the faith. First of all, you see, Solomon’s rule did not reach to the ends of the earth, nor did he receive tribute from west or east. Next, being human and living for a span in keeping with nature, he had an end to his life, and not an edifying one, either. The psalm, on the contrary, shows the person spoken of by the inspired author to be more ancient than sun and moon. Now, interpretation of the verses brings this out more clearly. The title, too, which is not inappropriate,1 really relates to the Savior. Solomon is presented as a man of peace, and this the Chronicles clearly teach us: God says to David through Nathan, “Solomon will be his name, and I shall give peace in his days.”2 Now, this name Christ the Lord also has. Paul, the great herald of the truth, cries aloud, “He is our peace, making the two into one, and breaking down the dividing wall”;3 and the Lord himself says to the sacred apostles, “My peace I give you, my peace I leave with you.”4 Consequently, his kingship, the peace achieved by him, and the salvation of the nations is what this psalm foretells . And since he is both God and human being, being the one eternally and assuming the other for our sakes, the inspired 413 1. Theodoret, like modern commentators, is skeptical of the attribution or at least application of the psalm to Solomon (not merely by the LXX, pace Weiser), recognizing the hyperbolic character of some of its sentiments (as does Dahood, who unlike Theodoret can further acknowledge the antiquity of the language of the original). In this key psalm in the Epiphany liturgy he sees a messianic meaning, looking for Scriptural support for it. 2. 1 Chron 22.9. 3. Eph 2.14. 4. Cf. John 14.27. composition teaches both: it says that as God he has authority over all, whereas also as human being he receives it from his own Father.5 (2) O God, give your judgment to the king, and your righteousness to the king’s son (v. 1). Christ the Lord is king and a king’s son; hence the inspired composition calls him both king and king’s son. Likewise the patriarch Jacob names him both lion and a lion’s cub: “Judah is a lion’s cub,” he says; “you have sprung from my seed, my son; lying down you rested like a lion and like a cub—who will rouse him?”6 For he is not only king, but also a king’s son. As God he was born of God the universal king, and as human being he has King David for forebear. The inspired word exhorts that righteousness to be given by God to him as human being. Then it teaches the reason: [1432] To judge your people in righteousness, and your poor in judgment (v. 2): those in the grip of the poverty of sin he will free from the slavery of the wicked tyrant, justly condemning him and those in his grip. May the mountains restore peace to the people, and the hills righteousness (v. 3). This is a literary fiction to bring out the transformation of all things. He spoke in this fashion in recounting the exodus of the people, “The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like lambs of flocks.”7 We see the change in both the mountains and the hills: in place of the impiety that once held sway over them, those who have embraced the angelic life reap the benefit of the evangelical justice in them; acting as ambassadors for human beings, they make divine reconciliation their business.8 (3) He will judge the poor of the people, save the sons of the needy, and humble a calumniator (v. 4). Rightly is the devil called calumniator : he both directed calumny against God, claiming it was out of envy that God had prevented the taking from the tree, and also against Job he employed the same lies, saying, “Surely 414 THEODORET OF CYRUS 5. Theodoret’s comments here and below show again his carefully balanced Christology. 6. Cf. Gen 49.9. 7. Ps 114.4. A due reminder to...