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Greek · Homilies ·

Homilia in Psalmum CXXII

Basilius Caesariensis · khazarzar

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machine-draft · no human review 2 passages · 494 words

Work dossier · summary and historical context

Summary

This homily on Psalm 122 (LXX numbering) is traditionally attributed to Basil of Caesarea (c. 330–379) and likely dates to his episcopal period (370–379). It survives in Greek and was included in the Lenten liturgical cycle, reflecting its pastoral and moral emphasis on exile and return. The text is based on Migne's Patrologia Graeca (PG 29) via the khazarzar digital edition, which lacks a critical apparatus. While attribution to Basil is generally accepted, no modern critical edition exists. The homily adapts Psalm 132:1 LXX as a refrain, uses the image of ointment on Aaron's beard to symbolize grace, and interprets 'brothers' as fellow Christians in a monastic or liturgical community, reflecting 4th-century Cappadocian ascetic ideals.

This homily exemplifies Basil's exegetical method, blending literal and allegorical interpretation to address communal and ascetic themes. It provides insight into 4th-century Cappadocian Christianity, particularly the ideal of brotherly unity in monastic and liturgical settings. The homily's use of Psalm 122 (LXX) and its adaptation of other psalm verses illustrate early Christian psalm exegesis and liturgical practice.

Historical context

The homily belongs to Basil of Caesarea's episcopal period (370–379) in Cappadocia, a region in Asia Minor. Basil was a key figure in the development of early Christian monasticism and Nicene orthodoxy. The homily was likely delivered to a mixed audience of monks and laity, reflecting the fraternal ideal of early Christian ascetic communities. The text survives in Greek manuscripts, with a complex transmission history; some Psalm homilies attributed to Basil are of disputed authenticity, but Homily 122 is generally accepted as genuine. The khazarzar edition is a digital transcription of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (PG 29), which itself relies on earlier printed editions. No modern critical edition exists, and variant readings, especially in biblical quotations, cannot be verified. The homily was incorporated into the Greek liturgical tradition for weekday readings during Great Lent, indicating its enduring pastoral use.

Apparatus · what the pipeline recorded

Annotation and terms

12 commentary units 4 scripture2 background2 structure2 term2 reception 0 derived notes 4 open questions 2 narrative
What the kinds mean

Pipeline notes

  • coverageNo English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed.
  • limitThe English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve.
  • registerRegister: homily in ancient Greek; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them.
  • structurePassages: 2 narrative.
  • sourceSource edition: khazarzar — Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer

Term index

CopticRenderingCountFirst
no glossary terms recorded
khazarzar-basilius-caesariensis-homilia-in-psalmum-cxxii:1 · narrativehigh
Source
ΕΙΣ ΤΟΝ ΡΛΒ ΨΑΛΜΟΝ. Ἄκουε τοῦ μακαρίου Δαβὶδ λέγοντος διὰ τοῦ ψαλ μοῦ· Ἰδοὺ δὴ, τί καλὸν, ἢ τί τερπνὸν, κατοι κεῖν ἀδελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό; Οὐ μόνον γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς οἰκείοις κατορθώμασιν ἔχαιρεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπευφραίνετο εὐνομίᾳ· ὥς που αὐτὸς, τὴν σπουδὴν τῶν ἐπὶ τὴν λατρείαν σπευδόντων θεασάμενος, διὰ τοῦ Ψαλμῳδοῦ ἔλεγεν· Εὐφράνθην ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρη κόσι μοι· Εἰς οἶκον Κυρίου πορευσόμεθα. Ἑστῶ τες ἦσαν οἱ πόδες ἡμῶν ἐν ταῖς αὐλαῖς σου, Ἱερουσαλήμ. Πάντως οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τὴν παρουσίαν ἰδὼν, καὶ τῇ ἀδελφικῇ διαθέσει τερφθεὶς, ἐβόα, λέγων· Ἰδοὺ δὴ, τί καλὸν, ἢ τί τερπνὸν, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ κατ οικεῖν ἀδελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό; Ἡ μὲν ὑπόθεσις τῶν ἀδελφῶν συγκροτήσεως ἐκ θείου προστάγματος ἀνυπέρβλητον εἶχε τὸ καλόν· τούτου δὲ τοῦ καλοῦ οὐδὲ τὸ τερπνὸν κεχώρισται. Ἕκαστοι γὰρ τῶν παρ όντων ἀπολαύοντες τῆς ἐκ τοῦ πλησίον ἀγάπης ἐν πολλῇ καθεστήκειμεν τῇ θυμηδίᾳ. Ὥστε καὶ ἀκολούθως ἔλεγεν· Τί καλὸν, ἢ τί τερπνὸν, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ κατοικεῖν ἀδελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό; Ὡς μύρον ἐπὶ κεφαλῆς τὸ καταβαῖνον ἐπὶ πώγωνα, τὸν πώγωνα τὸν Ἀαρών. Τῆς χάριτος ἄνωθεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ παρὰ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπὶ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἐκχεομένης, εἰκό τως μεταλαμβάνουσι τῆς ἀσωμάτου καὶ πνευματικῆς χωρηγίας αἱ τῶν ἁγίων ψυχαί.
English
On the One Hundred and Twenty-Second Psalm. Hear the blessed David speaking through the psalm: "Behold, what is good, or what is pleasant, but for brothers to dwell together?" For he rejoiced not only in his own successes, but also took delight in the good order of others; as somewhere, having observed the zeal of those hastening to worship, he said through the Psalmist: "I rejoiced at those who said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.' Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem." So, seeing the gathering together, and being delighted by the fraternal disposition, he cried out, saying: "Behold, what is good, or what is pleasant, but for brothers to dwell together?" The occasion of the brothers' assembly, by divine command, possessed an unsurpassable good; and from this good the pleasant is not separated. For each of us present, enjoying the love of neighbor, stood in great cheerfulness. So accordingly he said: "What is good, or what is pleasant, but for brothers to dwell together?" As ointment upon the head flowing down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron. With grace poured from above, from heaven, by the Savior upon the Church, the souls of the saints fittingly partake of the incorporeal and spiritual provision.
khazarzar-basilius-caesariensis-homilia-in-psalmum-cxxii:2 · narrativehigh
Source
Ὡς δρόσος ἡ Ἀερμὼν, ἡ καταβαίνουσα ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη Σιών. Ὥσπερ γὰρ ἡ δρόσος ἡ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀερμὼν κατιοῦσα ὄρος, πολλὴν αὐτὸ ποιεῖται τὴν λαμπρότητα· οὕτως καὶ ἡ νοητὴ δρόσος, ἀοράτως κατιοῦσα ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη Σιὼν, ἔνθα ἡ συνέλευσις τῶν πανταχόθεν ἀδελφῶν ἐγίγνετο, τὴν ἀνάλογον ταῖς ψυχαῖς αὐτῶν περιεποίει ὠφέλειαν. Περὶ ταύτης οἶμαι τῆς θείας δρόσου, τῆς ἀπεικασμένης ταῖς ἐνεργείαις τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, ὁ Ἡσαΐας διαλεγόμενος φάσκει· Ἡ γὰρ δρόσος ἡ παρὰ σοῦ, ἴαμα αὐτοῖς ἐστιν. Ἡ δρόσος οὖν Ἀερμὼν, ἡ καταβαίνουσα ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη Σιών· ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐνετείλατο Κύριος τὴν εὐλογίαν, ζωήν. Πολ λαχοῦ ἐπηγγείλατο ὁ Θεὸς, ὡς εἶπε Μωϋσῆς· Καὶ διαφυλάξει Κύριος τὴν διαθήκην καὶ τὸ ἔλεος, ὡς ὤμωσε τοῖς πατράσι σου, καὶ ἀγαπήσει σε, καὶ εὐλογήσει σε, καὶ πληθυνεῖ τὰ ἔκγονα τῆς κοιλίας σου, καὶ τὸν καρπὸν τῆς γῆς σου. Καὶ ἐπήνεγκε λέγων· Ζωὴν ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος. Ἰδοὺ δὴ, τί καλὸν, ἢ τί τερπνὸν, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ κατοικεῖν ἀδελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό; καθὼς καὶ ἐκλήθητε. Εἷς Κύριος, μία πίστις, ἓν βάπτισμα· εἷς Θεὸς καὶ Πατὴρ, ὁ ἐπὶ πάντων καὶ διὰ πάντων καὶ ἐν πᾶσιν. Ἰδοὺ δὴ, τί καλὸν, ἢ τί τερπνὸν, ἀλλ' ἢ τὸ κατοικεῖν ἀδελφοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό; οὐκ ἐν οἴκῳ μόνον σωματικῷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τῷ ἁγίῳ καὶ πνευματικῷ. Ὁ γὰρ οἶκός μου, φησὶν, οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται. Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμεῖς τοῦ αὐτοῦ μύρου κατηξιώθημεν οἱ φωτισθέντες. Ἐμύρισε γὰρ πάντας ἡμᾶς τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ αὐτοῦ Χριστὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἡμῶν· δι' οὗ καὶ μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ καὶ τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δόξα καὶ μεγαλοπρέπεια εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.
English
As dew of Aermon, descending upon the mountains of Sion. For just as the dew descending upon the mountain Aermon makes it very bright, so also the intelligible dew, descending invisibly upon the mountains of Sion, where the gathering of brothers from everywhere took place, produced the corresponding benefit for their souls. Concerning this divine dew, I think, which is likened to the energies of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah speaking says: "For the dew from you is a healing for them." The dew of Aermon, then, descending upon the mountains of Sion, because there the Lord commanded the blessing, life. In many places God promised, as Moses said: "And the Lord will preserve the covenant and the mercy, as he swore to your fathers, and he will love you, and he will bless you, and he will multiply the offspring of your womb, and the fruit of your land." And he added, saying: "Life forever." Behold, what is good, or what is pleasant, but for brothers to dwell together? as you also were called. One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father, who is over all and through all and in all. Behold, what is good, or what is pleasant, but for brothers to dwell together? not only in a bodily house, but also in this holy and spiritual one. For my house, he says, shall be called a house of prayer. But we also, who have been enlightened, have been deemed worthy of the same ointment. For Christ our Savior has anointed us all with his righteousness; through whom and with whom glory and magnificence to the Father and to the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.
Citation. Tergwame, “Homilia in Psalmum CXXII”, khazarzar-basilius-caesariensis-homilia-in-psalmum-cxxii:1, machine-draft, 2026. https://naxiai.com/christian/works/khazarzar-basilius-caesariensis-homilia-in-psalmum-cxxii#s1
Colophon. Source: khazarzar · licence: Migne PG text (public domain); khazarzar host and the digitising project state no licence for this layer · model: deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor · provider: Relace · cost: $0.0019 · generated 2026-11-15.