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Homilies on the Psalms

St Basil the Great, tr. Way, 1963

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THE EXEGETIC WRITINGS usually attributed to St. Basil include the nine homilies on the Hexaemeron, seventeen on the Psalms, and the Commentary on Isaia in sixteen chapters. These are all found in the ‘Opera Sancti Basilii’ of the Patrologia Graeca, Vols. 29-32. Four of the homilies on the psalms, the first, On Psalm 14, a second one On Psalm 28, one On Psalm 37, and that On Psalm 115, as well as the Commentary on Isaia, are placed by the Benedictine editors in the Appendix of Volume 1 of St. Basil’s works, Patrologia Graeca, Vol. 30, as doubtful or clearly spurious works of St. Basil. Two other exegetic homilies, On the Form of Man, are included by the Benedictine editors among St. Basil’s doubtful works and are also found in the works of St. Gregory of Nyssa,¹ who says that at the request of his brother, Peter, he had finished the Hexaemeron of St. Basil. Since these two homilies are contained also in St. Gregory’s works and since we do not find the works which St. Basil had promised at the end of homily nine on the Hexaemeron on ‘Man as the Image of God,’ it is quite possible that St. Gregory added these two homilies to his brother’s commentary in place of the two which St. Basil had promised. They are usually attributed to St. Gregory. In my translation I am including only those exegetic homilies generally acknowledged to be genuine.

The high esteem with which the ancients regarded the homilies of St. Basil, especially those on the Hexaemeron, is well known. St. Gregory of Nazianzus says: ‘When I take his Hexaemeron in my hand and read it aloud, I am with my Creator, I understand the reasons for creation, and I admire my Creator more than I formerly did when I used sight alone as my teacher. . . . When I read his other explanations of Scripture, which he unfolds for those who understand but little, writing in a threefold manner on the solid tablets of my heart, I am prevailed upon not to stop at the letter, nor to view only the higher things, but to pass beyond and to advance from depth to depth, calling upon abyss through abyss, finding light through light, until I reach the loftiest heights.² St. Gregory of Nyssa, an ardent admirer of his brother, St. Basil, says: ‘All who have read that divinely inspired exposition of our Father on the same subject [the creation of the world as handed down by Moses] admire it no less than the writings of Moses, and, in my opinion, they do well and reasonably.’³

The high esteem in which St. Ambrose held this work is evident from the fact that he not only imitated and borrowed from the Hexaemeron of St. Basil, but even inserted passages directly translated from the Greek of St. Basil in his own treatise on the Hexaemeron. Not so well known is the fact that he did the same in his expositions of several psalms.⁴ St. Jerome and Socrates also praise in their writings the Hexaemeron of St. Basil.⁵ Eustathius Afer translated the Hexaemeron of St. Basil into Latin about the year 440.⁶ This translation is preserved among the works of St. Basil in the Patrologia Graeca, vol. 30. Rufinus of Aquileia, a few years after St. Basil’s death, translated seven of his homilies, among which are the homilies On Psalm 1 and On Psalm 49, one letter,⁷ and extracts from the two monastic Rules.⁸ According to his testimony, St. Basil spoke these homilies extemporaneously, as was his custom to speak.⁹ This declaration of Rufinus seems to be confirmed by St. Basil’s own statement in the homily On Psalm 114. St. Basil says: ‘That we may not distress you by detaining you longer, after lecturing briefly on the psalm which we found you singing on our arrival and providing your souls, as far as we are able, with the word of consolation, we shall dismiss all of you for the care of your bodies.’ Again, in homily eight on the Hexaemeron, St. Basil suddenly interrupts his thought to say: ‘Perhaps, many wonder why, when my sermon was hurrying along without a break, I was silent for a long time. It is not, however, the more studious of my audience who are ignorant of the cause of my speechlessness. Why should they be, who by their glances and nods to each other had turned my attention toward them and had led me on to the thought of things omitted? For, I had forgotten an entire class of creatures, and this by no means the least; moreover, my discourse was nearly finished, leaving that class almost entirely uninvestigated.’

The time at which these homilies on the Hexaemeron were delivered is not definitely known. Maran¹⁰ believes that the nine homilies on the Hexaemeron were delivered before the episcopate. Fialon¹¹ thinks that they date from the very time of his episcopate. Both agree that the homilies on the psalms should be assigned to the time of his priesthood. Fialon bases the reason for his decision on St. Gregory of Nazianzus’ statement of St. Basil’s threefold method of presenting his explanations. He sees in the homilies on the psalms a moral and allegorical presentation with some sacrifice of the literal meaning, while in the homilies on the Hexaemeron, he notes that St. Basil, without neglecting the moral and allegorical meaning, gives an exact literal explanation. Origen, who had sacrificed the literal meaning entirely for the mystic, and Eusebius, who had accepted the literal meaning equally with the historic, were St. Basil’s masters and models. St. Basil, following them in his earlier years, used the allegorical method of interpretation, but found under it a strong moral meaning and, at the same time, did not sacrifice completely the literal sense. In the homilies on the Hexaemeron, St. Basil became more independent, and held scrupulously to an exact literal interpretation, while still showing the allegorical meaning in which, however, with the maturity of age and of talent he tended to avoid the earlier exaggerations.¹²

St. Basil’s audience was composed not only of the elite of Caesarea, but also of the artisans, the workers ‘who with difficulty provide a livelihood for themselves from their daily toil.’¹³ In homily eight on the Hexaemeron, he mentions among those present the silk spinners. It was to such as these that he explained the theories of science as it was understood in his day and that he spoke the language of the schools; and these men and women of the people, for whose sake he abridged his lecture ‘lest they be drawn away too long from their work,’¹⁴ understood and applauded his words.

St. Basil had received the best education of the time in Caesarea, Constantinople, and Athens, and his works reflect the knowledge of the period in the various branches of learning. In one respect, namely, in geography, he may not have given the true picture of his time. The geography of Europe, perhaps because he did not feel that Europe merited much attention in comparison with Asia Minor, was presented almost entirely from Aristotle’s point of view, although certainly in that period more exact knowledge of the countries, rivers, and mountains was available.

St. Basil describes most vividly and with the greatest exactness of detail all the different aspects of nature. Nothing is too immense, nothing too insignificant to merit his attention. Yet, he is not a mere lover of nature. He is the Christian teacher who uses every creature of God to raise the minds and hearts of his hearers to an understanding and love of the God who created them. He knew thoroughly the works of the learned men of Greece and he used the discoveries of their great minds to impress the truths of the power of God on his hearers. For his exposition of the universe and its plant and animal life, he drew upon the teachings of Plato, Plotinus, Aratus, Theophrastus, Herodotus, Aristotle, and others. In his accounts of animals, insects, birds, and fish, drawn especially from Herodotus and Aristotle, he made fables, in which he described the habits, tendencies, and dispositions of the various creatures, then he drew a moral lesson which he applied to his hearers. It was in this way that he attacked the vices of the people or showed the beauty of virtue.

No class of persons and almost no vice was left without its fable, and the people listened and understood, for he was speaking of things with which they were familiar in their daily life. ‘The majority of fish,’ he says, ‘eat one another, and the smaller among them are food for the larger. If it ever happens that the victor over a smaller becomes the prey of another, they are both carried into the one stomach of the last. Now, what else do we men do in the oppression of our inferiors? How does he differ from that last fish, who with a greedy love of riches swallows up the weak in the folds of his insatiable avarice? That man held the possessions of the poor man; you, seizing him, made him a part of your abundance. You have clearly shown yourself more unjust than the unjust man and more grasping than the greedy man. Beware, lest the same end as that of the fish awaits you—somewhere a fishhook, or a snare, or a net. Surely, if we have committed many unjust deeds, we shall not escape the final retribution.’¹⁵ Again he says: ‘If at some time a camel has been struck, he saves up his wrath for a long time, but, when he finds a suitable opportunity, he repays the evil. Hear, you sullen men who pursue vengeance as though it were a virtue, who it is that you resemble when you harbor for so long a time your resentment against your neighbor like a spark hidden in ashes, until, finding material, you kindle your wrath like a flame.’¹⁶ In his comments on the actions of the bees, St. Basil says: ‘Some of the irrational creatures are like members of a state, if, indeed, it is characteristic of citizenship that the activities of the individuals tend to one common end. This may be seen in the case of bees. Their dwelling is common, their flight is shared by all, and the activity of all is the same; but, the most significant point is that they engage in their work subject to a king and to a sort of commander, not taking it upon themselves to go to the meadows until they see that the king is leading the flight. In their case the king is not elected; in fact, the lack of judgment on the part of the people has frequently placed the worst man in office. Their king does not hold a power acquired by lot; the chances of lot, which frequently confer the power on the basest of all, are absurd. Nor is he placed on the throne through hereditary succession; for the most part, even such men through softness and flattery become rude and ignorant of all virtue. But, he holds the first place among all by nature, differing in size and appearance and in the gentleness of his disposition. The king has a sting, but he does not use it for vengeance. There is this positive unwritten law of nature, that they who are placed in the highest positions of power should be lenient in punishing. Those bees, however, which do not follow the example of the king, quickly repent of the indiscretion, because they die after giving a prick with their sting. Let the Christians heed, who have received the command to “render to no man evil for evil,” but to “overcome evil with good.” ’¹⁷ Again, he says: ‘They say that the turtledove, when once separated from her mate, no longer accepts union with another, but, in memory of her former spouse remains widowed, refusing marriage with another. Let the women hear how the chastity of widowhood, even among irrational creatures, is preferred to the unseemly multiplicity of marriages.’¹⁸

The infinite wisdom and goodness of God are impressed upon the people with remarkable clarity in his descriptions and observations on the various animals. He urges them to observe carefully and to see that in the almost infinite variety of plants and animals God has made nothing superfluous and yet has omitted nothing that is necessary. ‘Carnivorous animals,’ he says, ‘He has fitted with sharp teeth; there was need of such for the nature of their food. Those which are only half equipped with teeth, He provided with many varied receptacles for the food. Because the food is not ground sufficiently the first time, He has given them the power to chew again what has already been swallowed. . . . The camel’s neck is long in order that it may be brought down to the level of his feet and he may reach the grass on which he lives. The bear’s neck and also that of the lion, tiger, and the other animals of this family, is short and is buried in the shoulders, because their food does not come from the grass and they do not have to bend down to the ground. They are carnivorous and secure their food by preying upon animals. . . . Not only among the large animals is it possible to see His inscrutable wisdom, but even among the smallest it is possible to find no less marvels. . . . I do not admire the huge elephant more than the mouse, which is formidable to the elephant, or than the very fine sting of the scorpion, which the Craftsman hollowed out like a tube so that through it the poison is injected into those stung.’¹⁹

From nature, too, St. Basil draws examples to show the mighty power of God. He quotes the words of Jeremia, ‘Will you not then fear me, saith the Lord? I have set the sand a bound for the sea.’ Then he adds: ‘With the weakest of all things, sand, the sea irresistible in its violence is bridled. And yet, what would have hindered the Red Sea from invading the whole of Egypt, which was lower than it, and joining with the other sea adjacent to Egypt, had it not been fettered by the command of the Creator?’²⁰ Elsewhere he says: ‘“Let the earth bring forth.” This brief command became immediately mighty nature and an elaborate system which brought to perfection more swiftly than our thought the countless properties of plants. That command, which even yet is inherent in the earth, impels it in the course of each year to exert all the power it has for the generation of herbs, seeds, and trees. For, just as tops, from the first impulse given to them, produce successive whirls when they are spun, so also the order of nature, having received its beginning from that first command, continues to all time thereafter, until it shall reach the common consummation of all things.’²¹

Not only in these commentaries did St. Basil manifest his intense devotion to the Holy Scriptures but throughout his writings, in all of which he supported his statements by quotations from the Bible. That he attempted to awaken in his people a similar reverence for it may be seen from his declaration in homily six on the Hexaemeron, ‘I have mentioned these things as a demonstration of the great size of the luminaries and as a proof that none of the divinely inspired words, even as much as a syllable, is an idle word.’

The present translation was based on the Garnier and Maran edition of the Opera Omnia Basilii, Paris, 1839. There is an earlier English translation of the Hexaemeron, that of B. Jackson in Volume 8 of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1895, but no previous translation of the homilies on the psalms. The Scriptural quotations are taken from the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine editions of the Book of Genesis and the New Testament, and from the Douay-Rheims edition of the Old Testament. In numerous places the wording of the English text had to be changed somewhat to a more literal translation of the Greek so as to agree with St. Basil’s interpretations. Often, too, his quotations, being directly from the Septuagint, varied slightly from the Vulgate and English translations.

I wish to take this opportunity to express my indebtedness for many valuable suggestions to Mother Mary Angelique, through whom this work was made possible for me and who graciously read the manuscript, and to Sister James Aloysius of the Department of French and Sister Mary Clare of the Department of Biology, who also read the manuscript.

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