Psalm commentaries: a guide (Pt 1)

I realised that is a long time since I have updated my set of notes on the various psalm commentaries by the Fathers, Doctors and Saints that are available, and thought that it might be an opportune time to do this over a few parts.

Where to start

I should, though, set out a few of my own views, so you know where I'm coming from.

First, I have to say that there is no one psalm commentary that I would recommend as your one and only source - they all have strengths and weaknesses, and you can get a lot out of many of them.

Secondly, in general, I'll stick to pre-twentieth century commentaries (though if I have time I'll mention a few more recent ones in a later part).  

I haven't found any satisfactory modern commentaries from a traditionalist point of view - the early twentieth century ones generally reflect an attitude to the Septuagint that has now been thoroughly discredited, while the more recent ones either mostly still reflect literary-historical approaches to Scripture that I  dislike, or have some dodgy theology embedded in them.

Thirdly, while there are a number of interesting and worthwhile medieval commentaries on the psalms now available in translation, such as those by St Thomas Aquinas, St Bruno, and Denis the Carthusian, personally, I don't think that these are good starting points from the point of view of understanding the use of the psalms in the Office.

Instead, I'd generally suggest focusing on the great patristic commentaries such as those of St Augustine, Ambrose, Basil, Jerome, Chrysostom and others.

That said, there are two more modern commentaries of note, namely that of St Robert Bellarmine and St Alphonsus Liguori that can be very useful early on in your voyage!

You have to start somewhere, so in this post I'll highlight a few of what I consider the best commentaries, and related resources, and then in subsequent posts I'll do a more systematic listing of Patristic, medieval, later commentaries plus a few collections of extracts.

1. St Ambrose: Commentary on Psalm 118

Editions: 

English: Ide Ni Rian trans, Halcyon Press, Dublin, 1998.

Latin and Italian: Commento al Salmo CXVIII, Luigi Franco Pizzolato (Introduction, translation, notes, Opera Omnia di Sant' Ambrogio commento al salmo 118, 2 vols, Biblioteca Amborisana citta' Nuova Editrice, 1987.

Latin only: Expositio de psalmo CXVIII

Why you should read it

I've included this book in the list because if ever see a copy, grab it. 

Even though it only covers one psalm (albeit by far the longest), if there is one patristic book on the psalms I would recommend reading above all others, this is it - it is an absolutely wonderful book with profound insights to offer on the virtue of humility (which the psalm centres on), the spiritual life, and much much more.  

St Ambrose's starting point was Origen's (now lost) commentary on the psalm, which was also independently translated by St Hilary of Poitier around the same time.  St Ambrose's version, though, is four times longer than St Hilary's, as it also incorporates a commentary on the Song of Songs, a guide to lectio divina and how to interpret Scripture more generally, and much more.

Unfortunately the English translation has long been out of print, rarely comes onto the market and is extremely expensive when it does.  I really really hope someone can negotiate the copyright to this (and ideally St Ambrose's other commentary on twelve psalms) and do a reprint...

2. St Robert Bellarmine, A Commentary on the Book of Psalms.

Editions:

Ven John O'Sullivan (trans), Loreto Publications, 2003.

Online: St Robert Bellarmine

Why you should read it

I love this commentary because St Robert gets straight to the spiritual juice of the text, providing a lively commentary that draws heavily on the tradition, but also offers some new insights and focuses, spurred not doubt by the Reformation, but which remain particularly pertinent to our time.

If you can only buy one psalm commentary, or need a good starting point, this is the one I'd recommend.

The only downside to it is that it generally takes a fairly literal approach to the text, often ignoring many of the allegorical meanings that the Fathers emphasized, and that are, I think, important to understanding why certain psalms were said at particular hours and on particular days.  But it is a great foundational text all the same.

I've written more on it here and here.

3.  St Cassiodorus Explanation of the Psalms

Editions: 

English: P G Walsh (translated and annotated), Cassiodorus: Explanation of the Psalms, Ancient Christian Writers, 3 vols, Paulist Press, 1990. Online: Internet archive

Latin: Adriaen, Marc (ed), Magni Aurelii Cassiodori expositio psalmorum, Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, 97, 98, Turnhout: Brepols, 1958.

Why you should read it

This is a commentary that has grown on me over the years -  I initially found it a bit hard going, but I've come to appreciate it a lot more over time, and if you want a good starting point on Patristic interpretations of the psalms, reflecting the milieu that St Benedict would have been influenced by, then this is probably it.

Cassiodorus' commentary was written in the mid-sixth century, so is more or less contemporaneous to St Benedict, and was probably the single most read commentary (albeit under other names!) by monks up until the reformation.  There is, though, a certain irony in this, for St Benedict famously fled the teaching of classical grammar that Cassiodorus championed, and St Gregory the Great was none to convinced of the merits of Cassiodorus' attempts to wed classical methods to Scriptural interpretation. 

Nonetheless, it has proved immensely influential, and was written to instruct novices at his monastery of the Vivarium, so includes notes on grammatical structures employed in the psalms, as well as a lot of instruction on how to interpret Scripture generally, a commentary on the meaning of numbers in Scripture and much more. 

Cassiodorus claims to provide a distillation of St Augustine's (extremely long) commentary, but in reality it isn't that much shorter!  And while it is certainly heavily influenced by St Augustine, it draws on other sources as well, and is a genuinely original composition.

The format is also nice - each psalm has a brief introduction that says what it is about and provides notes on the psalm title, then verse by verse notes, and a conclusion on the lessons to be drawn from it.

You can read more on it here.

4.  St Augustine, Enarrations on the Psalms

Editions: 

English: Multiple (but be careful, some of them have been made very politically correct).

Online: New Advent (extracts only)

Why you should read it

St Augustine's is probably the greatest of all psalm commentaries.  And his work can be reread many times getting more out of it each time.

The 'enarrations' also includes extensive discourses on other books of Scripture, especially the Pauline epistles, since most of these were originally sermons preached either at Mass or the Office, and sparked off the texts used on that particular day.

The extracts on the New Advent site are a good way into this work, as the downside to it is that it is very long, with several different commentaries on some psalms - as a result it amounts to six volumes or more in translation, depending on which version you buy.

You can read more on it here and here.

5. St Alphonsus Liguori: The Divine Office Exposition of the Psalms and Canticles

Editions:

English: PDF

Why you should read it

Arranged around the Roman Office cursus, the book provides a very short summary of the meaning of each psalm, and then notes on key words or selected verses as aids to understanding.

The notes on each psalm are very brief, but the summaries and translation notes are often a useful starting point all the same.