Слово 25. По поводу перевода Толковой Псалтири, имеющее следующее надписание в Славянском тексте: «Благовернейшему и высшему царю и Богохранимому Государю и Великому Князю Василию Иоанновичу всея Русии, иже во иноцех наименьший Максим Святогорский метание, еже о Господе смиренне творю»

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17), the inspired Scripture clearly teaches. It cannot be otherwise. Even Plato, the first external philosopher, whether he was taught from the divine Scripture, or was enlightened by the light of natural reason, first implanted in human nature, attributes the beginning and cause of all good to God, saying: “Indeed, God is good, and He, therefore, is recognized as the author of all good, and He has not caused any evil.” After the first true good, which is God Himself, there are countless benefits flowing to us from Him, of which the two greatest are: the priesthood and the kingdom, as stated by the Great King Justinian, who speaks of it like this: “The priesthood and the kingdom are the two greatest gifts of God to the human race, given by His greatest love for mankind; of these, the priesthood serves to organize divine affairs, and the kingdom manages human affairs, providing for them; Moreover, both of them, coming from the same beginning, decorate human life.” Proof of the truth of these divine words are many priests and kings who were in the Old Testament, and of them the most remarkable are: the prophet Moses and the priest Aaron - God’s chosen combination; also: Joshua and the priest Eleazar; the prophet Samuel and King David, and other righteous people, who simultaneously and with one mind ruled the priesthood and the kingdom. There were many such examples in the New Testament, such as: Pope Sylvester and Tsar Constantine the Great; Gregory the Theologian and Tsar Theodosius the Great; John Chrysostom and King Arkady, and the rest of the ever-memorable and blessed men - the bishops and kings of the new Israel. In our race, the example and proof of the truth of the above words is, without a doubt, your God-protected and divinely crowned power, most glorious in piety and virtue, which, having collected the most perfect virtues of the wisest men who reigned before, shows them in itself, as if in some purest mirror, emitting everywhere the brilliance of pure piety and truth. Being adorned with wisdom, combined with pious meekness, you are the representative and wisest decoration of these celebrations in divine national and individual celebrations. In councils on matters of state administration, regarding the improvement of the situation of subjects, as well as on the organization of the military situation, which of the current and former kings will be the most capable of this, Vasily Ioannovich, the glorious Grand Duke of All Russia? So, it was well said by us above that your wonderful and glorious power is the personification of the above words of Justinian, since you have with you, who holds the episcopal throne, the glorious among the bishops, Mr. Varlaam, the Most Reverend Metropolitan of All Russia, the spiritual father of your power and an ever-present intercessor to God. With your mutually agreed management, piety, united with righteousness and goodness, shines purely, so that in your presence what was spoken by the divine David is clearly fulfilled: Truth came from the earth, and righteousness came from heaven; therefore the Lord will give grace, and your land will yield its fruit, and your righteousness will go before you, and will set your steps in the way that leads to things above (Ps. 85:12-14). So, the royal anointing, emanating from the first and only true Good One, as stated above, has reached your power, along with other countless benefits, with which your royal mind is endlessly enriched. This very thing has now prompted your power to translate the interpretations of the psalms, which for many years were imprisoned in book depositories, without bringing any benefit to people. But your kingdom, enlightened into reason by the grace living in you, as I said above, and filled in the spirit of divine zeal, immediately communicates advice about the Lord to its father, Mr. Varlaam, His Eminence, Metropolitan of All Russia, and, having received prayer and blessing from him, soon not with empty letters, but full, like ears of love, of humanity, bearing abundant fruit, turns to the elder - Father - and to the monks living on the Holy Mountain, inviting from the venerable monastery of Vatopedi a certain Savva, one of the revered priests located there. And since he, due to old age, refused to go to the reigning all-Russian most glorious city of Moscow, then in his place the writer of this, Maxim, the least monk, a pilgrim of your power, was sent, who, having arrived here and received from your power the book handed to him by it, with the blessing of the Holy Varlaam, with the help of God, was honored within one year and five months to complete the translation of interpretations from Greek into Russian. At the same time, I find it necessary to preface this book with a few words to explain its dignity and significance and would like to say about the church teachers who compiled it - who they were, how many there were, and what was the order of their interpretation - so that, firstly, your God-protected state, and then the entire multitude of Orthodox Christians, could know: with whom they are talking, how, and about what. If, in order to know objects or matters that are subject to the sense of sight, we need to have them explained by experienced people and listen with pleasure to their stories about this, it is all the more fitting for us to do the same in relation to divine objects, comprehended by the mind - and this is as much more necessary as divine objects are higher than human ones, and rational ones are higher than sensory ones. In making the above-mentioned explanation, I had in mind to follow the example of those who, having completed some further unusual voyage or journey, usually, upon returning to their place, tell those who ask them about everything that they heard especially remarkable. Imitating such swimmers and travelers, I also report what I saw on this voyage. And if I turn out to be eloquent, let no one be surprised by this, for whoever talks about one thing can say a lot with a few words. And whoever speaks about many and varied subjects is not only inconvenient for him to do this, but if he did so, then his story would be very unsuitable for the listeners, for by doing so he would cause them deprivation no less than if someone attempted to explain in one word some countless royal treasure. So, I begin to explain. This sacred book was compiled by ancient men, adorned with all wisdom and depth of understanding. It is so filled everywhere with divinely inspired wisdom and the highest understanding that it not only exceeds my abilities, but if it had been entrusted for translation to someone else who is much higher than me, then he, not without special effort and great labor, could have accomplished this. I say this not in relation to the numerous works contained in it - no! for it is not quantity alone that makes a certain enterprise convenient or inconvenient, but often quality is the essence of the matter. Adamant is one of the smallest stones, and compared to large stones it is like a mosquito before an elephant; but, however, it is stronger than any anvil and any hammer, and when struck by another stone, this latter easily breaks against it and crumbles to dust. Likewise, I recognize that explaining the depth of wisdom and meaning of various interpreters is not very easy, even for those who boast of much learning, and not just for me, a little-learned person. These sacred men, once and for all immersed in the depths of this prophecy, were among the most learned and highest in wisdom and intelligence. Having risen above the writings and having laboriously experienced, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the mysterious mind hidden in the writings, some of them explained their allegorical meaning, others - the constructive and highest, and some simply explained the literal meaning of the scripture, so that, in general, the reader of this book can enjoy the spiritual sweetness of the literal meaning of the scripture, and the explanation of its allegorical meaning, and the moralizing teaching to be guided by the best customs, and with a luminous, elevating mind to carefully ascend to the most heavenly and premium speculations and receive enlightenment of the mind from there. Therefore, it would not be wrong for anyone to call this book a spiritual repository, filled with manifold grace, or a mental paradise, abounding with immortal gardens and spiritual flowers, for in it we will find not only an abundance of every ordinary useful teaching, but also theological reason, and an inexhaustible abyss of dogmas - not only what theologians have explained about the Highest The Most Blessed Trinity, but also what all visible and invisible creatures, brought by Her through love for mankind, teach from non-existence into being. We will also find teaching about the twofold dispensation expected in the future for people who will receive either incorruptibility and eternal glory for a pious and virtuous life, or shame and unbearable torment due to many atrocities. We will also find, if we diligently read this book, that in many places it abounds in explanations of the natural laws of nature, and shows not only the different and incomprehensible order of our birth, growth and upbringing, but also the greatest creations of heaven and earth, and what structure and order they have, and how each of these creations exists in itself, and how they relate to one another. This book can also provide those who read it with a strong enough weapon against the inventors of heresies, so that they will be able to uproot their satanic tares and plunge them into eternal fire. And why talk a lot and burden your royal ears! It is instructive for those who theologize, and enlightening for those engaged in the natural sciences, for those who argue - a weapon, for those who remain silent - protection, for those who practice contemplation - help, for those who grieve - consolation, for those who are mentally ill - healing - and in short: in it all true good is found for those who wish, it is a helipad, abounding in all kinds of fruits, and is a vessel filled with spiritual honey and all kinds of sweets that delight those who eat from it. It was not immediately compiled in this form, but later it was put into this order by some pious and hardworking man, who collected in one place the interpretations of the godly men who worked on it, and added their understandings very decently to the prophecy. But enough has been said about the book, and it’s time to show the names of the godly wise men who compiled it and explain the properties of their interpretations. The most important interpreters leading to high divine contemplation were: Origen, Didymus, Apollinaris and Asterius, as well as Eusebius. The first of them is Origen, who, due to his incessant works and writings, readings and interpretations, is called “Adamant” and as much as he previously enjoyed great fame because of his wisdom and the correctness of dogmas, so later he became vile and hated for his rejection of right dogmas. But let us not be embarrassed for this reason and will not consider his interpretations detrimental to our souls, for this was written by him before his deviation for the worse, when he was still abundantly saturated with the highest inspirations of the Comforter, and together with us Orthodox valiantly took up arms, cutting, like a double-edged sword, heretical regiments, destroying them like gossamer fabric. The great theologist Gregory was so surprised by the wisdom and power of his words that he called him a touchstone for all the wise men who were in his time, saying: “Origen is a touchstone for all of us” (touchstone). Therefore, having read, together with Basil the Great, all his books, he made from them a selection of dogmas that he wrote especially highly, and compiled a book from them, which he called “Philocalia,” which is still preserved. He is followed by Didymus and Eusebius, learned and speculative men, and famous, after Origen, lovers of constructive interpretation. But where Didymus was from, what rank he was and when he flourished, I cannot say for certain, except that he was distinguished by all kinds of Orthodoxy and high wisdom, and everywhere he denounced evil heretics. His speech is short, but distinguished by such depth of wisdom that it requires a listener who is always sober and attentive to himself. Eusebius stands below him, both in everything else and in the constructional interpretation. He was the bishop of Caesarea in Palestine under Constantine the Great, and for his special friendship and friendship with the martyr Pamphilus he received the nickname Pamphilov. Many people think differently about this Eusebius: some say that he condemned the Arian wickedness, which he had previously been infected with, and presented an exposition of the Orthodox confession at the Council of Nicaea; others deny it. Whether he presented such a renunciation or not, it turns out that in his interpretations he did not introduce anything harmful anywhere, but on the contrary, everywhere he defends the truth, fights for it, and what the prophet said is unclear about the incarnation of the Lord, and what actually relates to the Divinity of the Only Begotten or to His humanity, and what befits both natures together, then he, in some wonderful way and in the clearest expressions, decently explained in relation to the Savior and eliminated the ambiguity of speech. Directly following them are Apollinaris and Asterius - men filled with all wisdom and piety. Of these, Apollinaris was a bishop in Laodicea of ​​Syria, a contemporary of Basil the Great and Gregory the Theologian and their accomplice and supporter in the truth of the gospel, as is clear from the history of Philostorgius the Arian, which says: “Apollinaris flourished at that time in Laodicea of ​​Syria, Basil in Caesarea Cappadocia and Gregory in Nazianza; These three men then fought for those who are of the same essence, overcoming those who are not, and greatly surpassed everyone who defended heresy before me and then under me; Athanasius, in comparison with them, is considered like a youth.” This is what Philostorgius the Arian writes about Apollinaria. Consequently, this Apollinaris is not a heretic, but an Orthodox, a contemporary of Basil and Gregory and a defender of the truth. Asterius is also known as one of those who achieved the highest wisdom at that time. According to Blessed Photius, Patriarch of Constantinople, there were two Asterii at the same time: one was a champion of Arian wickedness, and the other was brought up in the dogmas of piety, who came to the great Julian as a young man, experienced the monastic ascetic life and was subsequently the rector of a monastic monastery. This one, in his writings, everywhere affirms the dogmas of Orthodoxy, proving the ever-bearing Words of God and His eternal presence with the Father. So, regarding the interpretation that leads to the highest reason, the named men are superior to others. In explaining the allegorical meaning of the prophecies and regarding Orthodoxy, which direction of interpretation brings the greatest benefit to the listeners, since this teaching passes into their morals, in this the advantage over all others belongs to Basil the Great and Chrysostom, whose fame regarding wisdom and holiness, their style of speech, the wisest and most beautiful of their interpretations, are so well known to everyone that in this word I do not see the need to talk about this to those who already know. For the whole earth and sea and all the islands are filled with their holiness and God-given wisdom and intelligence, and there is no one who has not heard these god-voiced trumpets. Therefore, I decided to honor these equal-angelic men with silence. The closest after them are the Alexandrian high priests - Athanasius the Great and Cyril, also Hesychius. Of these, Athanasius seems to love the most brevity in words, but the reason for this brevity in words, it seems to me, should not be attributed to such a lamp, which is accustomed to pouring everywhere the preaching of the divine Scripture and the streams of teaching of the believers. But this paucity of his words must be attributed to the most collected book of interpretations. The divine Cyril everywhere explains more extensively than Athanasius, decorating his interpretation everywhere with theology and moral teachings, but he is not found in all psalms like the divine Athanasius. Hesychius, like a bee, throughout the prophecy abundantly offers the readers honeycombs of sweet honey, understanding and explaining the prophecies in a moralizing and allegorical way, relating them to the Person of Christ and to His Church. Where he came from and when he flourished, I cannot say for certain, except that he is completely Orthodox in wisdom and teaching, belongs to the number of monastics, and he explained openly what was said in secret about our Savior. Theodoret, a most learned and virtuous man, two Theodores and Diodorus, of whom Theodoret was the bishop of the city of Cyrus, which is one of the dioceses subordinate to the Archbishop of Antioch, adhere to the historical and literal meaning. He was contemporary with Cyril the Great, with whom for some time he was at enmity due to the eruption of the evil-wise Nestorius, whom Cyril and those with him ejected at the third ecumenical Council, without waiting for the arrival of John, Archbishop of Antioch, and this Theodoret himself. For this reason, he, as a man, was overcome by anger and wrote an objection to the twelve chapters compiled by Blessed Cyril against Nestorius to establish the Orthodox faith. But Theodoret did not remain hostile to the apostolic teaching and to Blessed Cyril, for he soon came to his senses and again reconciled with Cyril and at the council was numbered among the Orthodox. In his interpretations, he makes great efforts to explain the allegorical meaning of Scripture, as well as to benefit the reader with decent moral teaching. His speech is purely Hellenic, distinguished by clarity and filled with the grace of wisdom. This is Theodoret. Of Theodorov, one is written by the Bishop of Antioch, and the other - I cannot say where he was from. The Bishop of Antioch (Theodore), adhering to the literal meaning, never forgot the incarnation of Christ, and the prophecies related to this agree and reveal clearly. The other, I don’t know for what reason, adheres to a purely literal meaning and attributes everything to the Jews, analyzing the prophetic sayings according to grammar; his interpretations only reach up to Psalm 80. He is followed by Diodorus, who also interprets literally, referring everything to the Jews, and nowhere is it found that he explains any prophecies allegorically and relates them to the Savior. His speech is purer than Theodorit’s. In places there are also brief interpretations of Severian of Antioch, a pious and Orthodox man, also of Gregory the Theologian - very brief, and of his namesake and faithful friend - Gregory of Nyssa, which are found in the entire book no more than four or five times. It is also known that there are interpretations in the book of another Cyril, whom I consider to be the former Patriarch of Jerusalem, and this is proven by the fact that there are other wonderful interpretations of his on the Apocalypse of the Evangelist John, where the style of speech is the same, and his speech, in general, is lower than the speech of Cyril of Alexandria, distinguished by its sublimity and positivity and the fact that it is in many places decorated with lofty teachings. Beautiful interpretations of the divine father John Chrysostom are found in abundance in other psalms, emitting a spiritual fragrance; in particular, he interpreted the power psalms (starting with Ps. 119), until the end of the book, about which all other interpreters were silent; he explains their historical meaning in essence, and, as is his custom, applies soul-helping teachings everywhere. What the prophet said in a historical sense to the Jews or about the Jews, he very wisely offers in an edifying sense, everywhere instructing the listener to take advantage of what once happened to them (disasters) or their good deeds, advising them to evade vices, for which, according to God, punishments are imposed, and sometimes encouraging them by example to virtue and to compete with them. There are here and there in the book brief, but pious and beautiful interpretations of another John, the Patriarch of Alexandria. It must also be said that in the Greek book, in the interpretation of the sedate psalms to the end, the name of John Chrysostom is not indicated, and this is because the one who rewrote the book left these interpretations without inscribing the name of the interpreter. We, with the help of God, having reliably recognized the teacher from his style of speech and method of teaching, and also having known about this for a long time, placed his name in his interpretations. In the interpretations of the songs, in addition to those named, there are four other interpreters: Victor and Nicholas the presbyters and no one Eudokius, called the philosopher, are sacred and praiseworthy men, but where they came from and when they were, I cannot say. There are also some brief expositions of Maximus the Confessor. But about the blessed men who interpreted the prophetic psalms, about whom I judged it necessary to inform your power, enough has been said. Having said one more thing, I’ll finish my speech. It would behoove this book, full of great merits, to have a translator, more experienced in the art of words, who could not only adequately convey the profound sayings of godly men, but also fill in and completely correct what was damaged over time or spoiled by the ignorance of the scribes and what they proposed with omissions. Although we ourselves are Greeks by origin and by dialect, and studied with famous teachers, we are still somewhere below, at the foot of Mount Tabor, with nine disciples, as we are still unable, due to the weakness of our minds, to accommodate the magnificent visions of the Enlightener Jesus, which are awarded only to those who have shone with the height of virtues, as the sacred hymn says (Kontakion of the Transfiguration). I say this because the Greek language, due to its abundance in the meaning of words and in the different methods of expression invented by the famous ancient rhetoricians, presents quite a number of difficulties in translation, and to fully understand them still requires us a lot of time and work. However, as much as God helped from above with His grace, and as much as we ourselves could understand, we did not omit anything by our own strength, so that what was said well and correctly received a correct and understandable explanation, and what was damaged by copyists or spoiled over time, where it was possible for us, with the help of corrected books, or through our own understanding, we tried with all our might, with the help of God, to fill in what was omitted and to properly correct what was damaged. And where they could not find any help from books, and could not come up with anything on their own, they left it there as it was before. I will also inform your power that for the corrections we have made for the benefit and to please God, they will want to reproach us as having done it out of impudence. To eliminate such an unfair reproach, I consider it necessary to point out two or three corrections, so that from these examples one can judge the rest. In the preface to Psalm 12, Blessed Athanasius says: the prophet sings this psalm, being in repentance for what he has encountered; but it should have been written: about sin. For what can repentance have in common with meeting? After all, one should repent not of what one encounters with someone, but of what one sins before God and people. Blessed David, after committing a grave sin against Uriah, was moved and uttered this psalm. That's true. Again in the thirty-sixth psalm, someone, explaining the words: let their sword enter into their hearts (Ps. 36:14), says: “with David this was fulfilled physically.” But for David to be killed with his own sword, which was drawn on David, this is not only false, but also unknown and inconsistent; We know from divine Scripture that it was not David, but Saul, who constantly persecuted David, who himself attacked his sword, which he drew against David, and died. Many similar irregularities are found in different places throughout the book, which there is no need to list now, but it should only be said that many such places have received, by the grace of Christ, a decent correction. Therefore, it should be clear to everyone that it was not out of impudence and not because of pride, but out of zeal for the better, that we took up the work of correction with all zeal and with love for the truth, for the glory of God and for the benefit of those who read the book, and partly in the hope of ourselves receiving some reward from the lover of God and the Master of all, who rewards even a cup of cold water. Having been strengthened by His grace, I was also vouchsafed to complete this difficult task, beyond all expectations. And I will not hide the truth that this is not my business, but the gift of God, and belongs to His all-wise grace and power, and not to my thinness and weakness. Therefore, I ask those who will diligently read our work to be condescending to our shortcomings, if anything has been overlooked or forgotten by us, or due to inexperience has not been corrected, since forgetting is common to everyone. So, considering human weakness, let them introduce a possible correction on their own, if they are among the strong in the knowledge of the profound Greek language, if they are sufficiently armed with grammatical science and the power of rhetoric, and acquired this not on their own, but from experienced teachers; if they know the different meanings of Greek words, spelling and other related sciences, as well as the difference between diverse and difficult to understand expressions and various meaningful words. For often the same expression has a different meaning, and can be attributed to both, and if we do not carefully retain the real meaning, we can deviate from the true reason of Scripture and completely spoil it, or introduce some nonsense. Both are great sins. I say this not to praise myself, but wanting to instill caution in those who subsequently want to introduce corrections into our work. But enough of that. You, oh honest and especially dear royal soul, equal in honor to the ancient kings, for today's adornment and luminary, and for future ones - the subject of the most pleasant stories that delight the ear - a pious tsar, worthy to be called the tsar of not only Russia, but of all the sunflowers, the great eminent and most excellent Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich! Accept with joy and joy this divinely inspired and God-given book, which the grace of the Comforter, in his love for mankind, once gave to us through the blessed God-father David, and then, through the divine men who shone forth in all wisdom and virtue, illuminated the mind hidden in it with countless enlightenments of grace, and, as if having carefully dug up with mental hoes the hidden treasure of the mind, brought it out to the light. Now, translated by us unworthy people into your language, the same grace bestows it on your divinely crowned power, as a soul-helping and saving gift. Accept it with good intentions and piously enjoy yourself in the Lord, and offer it to everyone who is Orthodox in your state as a spiritual goodness, so that by many, or better yet by all, the common Creator God and Master of all may be glorified, and so that you may abundantly collect the fruits of the prayers offered by everyone, and not again, as before, such a God-gathered treasure be hidden in chests, but may it shine upon everyone in general by the grace of the Comforter the rays of the mental Sun. May the entire multitude of Orthodox Christians enjoy this, so that subsequent generations may glorify you as their benefactor, and may your name be immortal and honest in the mouths of all. Those who worked with me and the accomplices of this work: the translators - Blasius and Dimitri and the scribes Mikhail Medovartsev and our brother, the monk Silvan, your small servants, may they deign to know your kingdom and remember their labors. For all our labor, deign to grant me and the brothers who are with me the return we requested to the Holy Mountain, and thereby save us from the sorrow of a long separation. Bring us back safely to the honorable Vatopedi monastery, which has long desired us and has been waiting for our return, like chicks fed by it, so that we do not lose our many years of deeds and labors there, which we raised in the hope of ending our lives there in the Lord. Allow us, most pious and merciful Autocrat, to fulfill our monastic vows before God where we pronounced them before Christ and His terrible angels on the day of our tonsure. It is not safe to lie to people; all the more will the unspeakable shame befall the one who deliberately lies to God, “who is terrible and takes away the spirits of princes.” Be an accomplice to Christ in the matter of our salvation - you, who are the warmest intercessor of the Church! Remember also the poverty of the sacred monastery of Vatopedi, for the reason of which we were sent and endured countless deeds and troubles - not for our own sake, for we did not come here on our own (let there be no such devilish evil charm in us), but, being sent from all our brotherhood and begged for the sake of Christ, we undertook this work, as if imputing our masters (the fathers there) for nothing, so that both theirs and yours fulfill the command. This is our concept, and we stick to it. Let us go into the world quickly, for the sake of the generosity of God, the lover of mankind. Christ called us there (to serve Himself) and appointed us to come here for a while, giving us to your power, to which you return us, releasing us again to our fathers, so that Christ himself would be your debtor for this gift of yours, and we could tell the Orthodox who are there about what excellent royal government you have seen. Let the poor Christians who are there learn from us that they also have a king who not only has countless nations and everything else is royally abundant and worthy of admiration, but who has become especially highly glorified in truth and Orthodoxy, so much so that he has become like Constantine and Theodosius the Great, whom your empire will follow. Oh, if only through you we could ever be freed from the enslavement of the wicked and receive our kingdom, for everything is possible and feasible for the common Lord of all, who once, having raised the great king Constantine from the lower Gauls, delivered ancient Rome, greatly oppressed by the wicked Maxentius! So now the new Rome, greatly overwhelmed by the godless Hagarians, may He be pleased to liberate your kingdom through the pious power and may He reveal an heir from your paternal throne, and may He give us the light of freedom to the poor through His mercy and bounty. To Him is due all glory, honor and worship, with His beginningless Father, and with His all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen. You might be interested in: