Exposition of Psalm 118 (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798196428814)

Saint Ambrose of Milan (c. 339-397) - bishop, statesman, hymnographer, and the man who baptized Augustine - preached the Exposition of Psalm 118 in the closing years of his life. Twenty-two sermons trace, letter by Hebrew letter, the longest psalm in Scripture, the great alphabetic meditation on the law, the word, and the soul's pilgrimage toward God. It is Ambrose's most sustained piece of biblical preaching, and the work in which his pastoral voice, his Neoplatonist learning, and his Latin rhetoric reach their fullest synthesis.

Despite its stature - Augustine quoted it, the medieval West memorized it, and Ambrose himself ranked it among his most important works - the Exposition has never appeared in a complete English translation. This edition closes that gap.

The translation is made directly from Michael Petschenig's critical Latin text (CSEL 62, Vienna 1913), with reference to Michaela Zelzer's 1999 revision. The English aims to be literal rather than paraphrastic: where Ambrose preaches in long Ciceronian periods, the English preserves the cadence; where he turns abruptly into prayer, the English turns with him.

This volume includes:

• All twenty-two sermons in fresh English translation
• A scripture index covering 58 biblical books and over 3,000 citations, with page references
• Continuous pagination and running heads designed for study and devotional reading

For students of patristics, preachers working through the Psalms, scholars of Latin Christian literature, and any reader who wants to hear one of the great voices of the Western church think aloud about Scripture for nearly five hundred pages - this is the edition that has been missing.

Translated by Wilson Pruitt.