The Eastern Cross/Bible/Psalms/Psalm 11
The Book of Psalms · the Psalter
Psalm 12 in the KJV and most English Bibles
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Save me, O Lord; for the godly man has failed; For truth is diminished from among the children of men.
Σῶσον με Κύριε, ὅτι ἐκλέλοιπεν ὅσιος, ὅτι ὠλιγώθησαν αἱ ἀλήθειαι ἀπὸ τῶν υἱῶν τῶν ἀνθρώπων.
"Save me, O Lord, for the holy has failed;" that is, is not found: as we speak when we say, Corn fails, or, Money fails. "For the truths have been minished from among the sons of men". The truth is one, whereby holy souls are enlightened: but forasmuch as there are many souls, there may be said in them to be many…
Every one has spoken vanity to his neighbor: Their lips are deceitful, they have spoken with a double heart.
Μάταια ἐλάλησεν ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ, χείλη δόλια, ἐν καρδίᾳ καὶ ἐν καρδίᾳ ἐλάλησαν.
"He has talked vanity each man to his neighbour". By neighbour we must understand every man: for that there is no one with whom we should work evil; "and the love of our neighbour works no evil." [Romans 13:10] "Deceitful lips, with a heart and a heart they have spoken evil things." The repetition, "with a heart and a…
Let the Lord destroy all the deceitful lips, And the tongue that speaks great words:
Ἐξολοθρεύσαι Κύριος πάντα τὰ χείλη τὰ δόλια, καὶ γλῶσσαν μεγαλοῤῥήμονα·
"May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips". He says "all," that no one may suppose himself excepted: as the Apostle says, "Upon every soul of man that does evil, of the Jew first, and of the Greek." [Romans 2:9] "The tongue speaking great things:" the proud tongue.
Who have said, We will magnify our tongue; Our lips are our own: who is Lord of us?
Τοὺς εἰπόντας, τὴν γλῶσσαν ἡμῶν μεγαλυνοῦμεν, τὰ χείλη ἡμῶν παρʼ ἡμῶν ἐστι· τίς ἡμῶν Κύριός ἐστιν;
"Who have said, We will magnify our tongue, our lips are our own, who is Lord over us?". Proud hypocrites are meant, putting confidence in their speech to deceive men, and not submitting themselves to God.
Because of the misery of the poor, And because of the sighing of the needy, Now will I arise, saith the Lord, I will set them in safety; I will speak to them thereof openly.
Ἀπὸ τῆς ταλαιπωρίας τῶν πτωχῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ στεναγμοῦ τῶν πενήτων, νῦν ἀναστήσομαι, λέγει Κύριος· θήσομαι ἐν σωτηρίῳ, παῤῥησιάσομαι ἐν αὐτῷ.
"Because of the wretchedness of the needy and the sighing of the poor, now I will arise, saith the Lord". For so the Lord Himself in the Gospel pitied His people, because they had no ruler, when they could well obey. Whence too it is said in the Gospel, "The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few." [Matthew…
The oracles of the Lord are pure oracles; As silver tried in the fire, proved in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.
Τὰ λόγια Κυρίου, λόγια ἁγνά· ἀργύριον πεπυρωμένον, δοκίμιον τῇ γῇ, κεκαθαρισμένον ἑπταπλασίως.
"The words of the Lord" are "pure words". This is in the person of the Prophet himself, "The words of the Lord" are "pure words." He says "pure," without the alloy of pretence. For many preach the truth impurely; [Philippians 1:16] for they sell it for the bribe of the advantages of this life. Of such the Apostle…
"You, O Lord, shall preserve us, and keep us from this generation to eternity": here as needy and poor, there as wealthy and rich.
"The ungodly walk in a circle round about": that is, in the desire of things temporal, which revolves as a wheel in a repeated circle of seven days; and therefore they do not arrive at the eighth, that is, at eternity, for which this Psalm is entitled. So too it is said by Solomon, "For the wise king is the winnower…
Every note is a real passage, quoted word for word from a published English translation, with its source. Nothing here is summarised or written by us. Some verses have many notes and some have none, because the Fathers wrote more on some passages than others.
All of these translations are in the public domain. The passages were matched to their verses by the Historical Christian Commentaries project, which also hosts the full texts we link to. The Fathers are a treasury of the Church's mind, and they are best read alongside the life of the Church: if a passage raises a question, bring it to your priest.