Much has been written on patristic exegesis, and even more on St. Augustine. After St. Paul, Augustine “has remained the most prominent and most widely studied author in western Christianity,” argues patristic scholar Hubertus Drobner.¹ Thinkers such as St. Anselm, St. Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Rene Descartes have been profoundly influenced by Augustine’s thought, and the late historian of Christian doctrine Jaroslav Pelikan has gone so far as to say that Alfred North Whitehead’s oft-quoted statement, that all of Western philosophy can be read as a “series of footnotes to Plato,” could just as easily be modified...

The Psalms proved to be a choice text for patristic exposition—more so, it appears, than any other book of the Bible including the Gospels.¹ The following highlights several underlying features of patristic Psalm commentaries, beginning with an exploration of the early Church’s relationship with the Psalms of David. The second section discusses the overwhelming popularity of the Psalter in the fourth century and what has become known as the psalmodic movement. This popularity, in both monastic and lay contexts, is reflected in our third topic, the attraction of patristic exegetes to the Psalms. Patristic exegetical assumptions regarding the mysterious...

Two hundred years separate the time from when our North African wordsmith began forging his expositions on the Psalter to the moment when we can date the earliest manuscript of theEnarrationes. This seventh-century palimpsest manuscript, with theEnarrationeswritten over an effaced version of Cicero’sDe republica,was copied out across the Mediterranean, likely from the safety of a monastery in Italy.¹ By this time, Augustine’s words were but a faint echo in the continent’s radically altered religious landscape. His voice would continue to reverberate nonetheless, and not just in monasteries, but for successive generations in the churches of...

Having surveyed the mechanics of composition and delivery, we now turn our attention to the context in which Augustine preached theEnarrationes. Much like the Psalms themselves, the popularity of theEnarrationes,which endured well beyond their time of composition, is a strong indicator that they are not inextricably bound to a specific societal and cultural context, but speak to the perduring trials, hopes, and longings of a covenantal people.¹ Our cursory glance at theSitz in Lebenin which theEnarrationes,and theESAin particular, were preached does not negate their lasting appeal or accessibility. Rather, the three...

Having outlined some of Augustine’s hermeneutical presuppositions, the dating and transmission of theESA,as well as the broader cultural and ecclesial context of delivery, we now turn to how Augustine interprets the Psalms of Ascent. The following discussion is undertaken with a specific question in mind:how does Augustine interpret the motif of ascent in the Psalms of Ascent for his audience?It will be argued that a major interpretative strategy within these expositions is to align the text and the audience within a common narrative. That is to say, Augustine seeks to establish a context in which the...

In continuing to probe Augustine’s interpretation of the ascent theme for his audience in the Psalms of Ascent, we turn to six subsequentEnarrationes,beginning withEnarratio120. One does not have to look far in order to sense that a major interpretative concern for Augustine is the alignment between the text and the audience within an overarching narrative of redemption. As evidenced in the prior exposition, establishing a proper interpretative framework is crucial to Augustine’s efforts in situating the North Africans and the Psalmist within inter-illuminating narratives. The opening remarks ofEnarratio120 contain familiar theological, exegetical, and rhetorical...

Sustained analysis of Augustine’s expositions on the Songs of Ascent has yielded a number of insights regarding Augustine’s interaction with the Psalter and how he interprets the ascent motif for his audience. To begin, it can be said that the Psalter, an overwhelmingly popular scriptural book among both lay and monastic audiences in Augustine’s time, proved to be a rich source for introspection and preaching. For most patristic writers, and particularly for Augustine, the Psalter is a witness to the intimate and organic connection between the Old Testament and the person of Christ Jesus. It is also a vehicle for...