“The mountains are already illuminated.” Psalm 120:1 as interpreted by Augustine and his predecessors

The subject of this article will be very specific: we will consider here the peculiarities of Augustine’s interpretation of one verse of Psalm 120 in connection with the interpretations of his predecessors. But this particular study should help us get closer to solving a more general question: what is the general role of tradition in exegesis, for what reasons, to what extent and in what ways does the interpreter (in this case Augustine) complement or develop the exegetical findings of his predecessors, even if he adopts them. “I lift up my eyes to the mountains: where will my help come from?” - this is how Psalm begins. 120. Attempts to explain the direct, “historical” meaning of this verse in modern times have led to opinions as varied as the guesses when interpreting the darkest and most difficult passages of the Psalter. When it is necessary to give a direct answer to simple questions: who is the hero of the psalm, what mountains and why does he look up and why the search for help from above and reflections on its reliability begin with this movement - modern commentators seem to have nothing to rely on except their imagination. Interpreters argue, first of all, about who, in fact, looks up to the mountains in this psalm, which is part of the collection of “Songs of Ascent.” They resolve this issue differently depending on which interpretation of the writing of the Songs of Ascension they consider to be correct. Supporters of the now most widespread hypothesis, according to which the “Songs of Ascent” are a collection of pilgrim songs, believe that the hero of the psalm is a pilgrim on the way to Jerusalem. Those who continue to believe (in accordance with ancient tradition) that the collection of “Songs of Ascent” reflect the situation of the return of Jews from captivity believe that the first person of the psalm is one of such people returning to their homeland. At the same time, adherents of both interpretations can localize the mountains of the first verse in different ways (at the beginning, middle or end of the path to Jerusalem) and see in them either a source of danger, or an image of protection and refuge 1 . And if so, it means that we do not have in our hands a completely reliable reference point that would allow us to judge the degree of compliance of this or that patristic interpretation with the “historical” meaning of the first verse of this psalm 2. Perhaps it was the uncertainty of the literal meaning that opened the way for different allegorical interpretations of the first verse of Ps. 120. It is to the category of allegorical interpretations that the understanding of “mountains” that we encounter in Augustine’s interpretation of Ps. 120. Here, as we will see, it is said that the mountains are the Holy Scriptures, or rather, evangelists (prophets and apostles), who through the Scriptures open the way for people to the good news. Augustine did not come up with this interpretation himself and was not the first to apply such an explanation to Ps. 120: his interpretation appears to us as the result of the development of an interpretative idea that appeared in the writings of earlier interpreters. And the first in this row is the one with whom the systematic interpretation of the psalms in the Christian tradition begins - Origen. There are no sufficient grounds to assume Augustine's direct acquaintance with Origen's interpretations of the psalms. But is it possible to trace the thread of continuity or at least establish the possibility of this continuity, based on the evidence of the understanding of Ps. 120 from Origen that have come down to us? We have at our disposal several scattered fragments about Ps. 120, preserved in the catenas under the name of Origen, authentic and doubtful (and if these fragments are taken from Origen’s different commentaries on the psalms, it is impossible to determine exactly which ones 3), as well as a number of passages from the better preserved works of Origen, where Ps. 120 is quoted in such a context that one can judge the peculiarities of its understanding. A rather large fragment from Codex Vindobonensis theologicus Graecus 8, relating to Ps. 120:1 and recognized as authentic, does not specifically indicate what the interpreter sees in the “mountains,” but indicates that he builds a certain hierarchy between the signified mountains, the signified sky and the Most High: the prayer turns to the first, second and third, depending on his spiritual readiness 4 . Obviously, the property of mountains on which the symbolic understanding of mountains is based in this case is height, which is correlated with the degree of spiritual success. In the case of mountains, this height is not the greatest, because it is less than the height of the sky. We will also find some distant analogy of such hierarchization in Augustine. However, this is the extent of the information we can glean from this fragment. However, other, indirect evidence allows us to be sure that the height of the mountains mentioned in Ps. 121:1 could indeed be interpreted by Origen as a symbolic correlate of spiritual qualities. Thus, in the fifth homily on the Book of Genesis, preserved in a Latin translation, Origen quotes Ps. 121:1, explaining why Lot could not dwell with Abraham in high places: “Let us see what the angels say to their host in response to the hospitality shown to them. Save,” he says, “your soul on the mountain, so that they do not seize you (Gen. 19:17). Lot, of course, was hospitable: Scripture itself testifies that he was even protected from death by accepting angels under his roof (Heb. 13:2). But he was not so perfect that immediately after leaving Sodom he could ascend the mountain. For only the perfect can say: I lift my eyes to the mountains, from where help will come to me. So, Lot did not deserve to perish with the inhabitants of Sodom, but he was not so great as to live with Abraham in higher places" 5 . Be that as it may, it must be admitted that these indications are very uncertain. But there is another fragment preserved under the name of Origen, which contains a more remarkable interpretation of the meaning of "mountains." This is a fragment of dubious authorship from Cordier's catena, which is reproduced in the Greek Patrology 6. According to this fragment, the mountains are the angels to whom the first person of the psalm turns in anticipation of help (but receives this help, of course, not from them, but from God). It is true that there is no indication in this passage as to why the mountains are interpreted in this way; moreover, it is unclear whether it actually belongs to Origen. However, if we look at another tiny passage from Origen, we get an idea of ​​the kind of arguments he might have used. Among the fragments attributed to Origen there is literally one line related to the explanation of the words “Jerusalem is the mountains around it” (Ps. 125:2). It says here: “the mountains around Jerusalem, I believe, are divine powers” (ὄρη ϰύϰλῳ ‘Ιερουσαλὴμ δυνάμεις, οἶμαι, θεῖαί εἰσι – PG 12, col. 1637, D10–11). In the immediately following part of the catena (the authorship of which is again doubtful), this explanation is even supported by the proposed parallel - the verse of Ps. 33:8: “The angel of the Lord will become a guard around those who fear Him.” Even if this rationale, preserved in the catena, does not belong to Origen, it agrees well with the relationship “mountains - divine powers” ​​proposed in the Origen fragment. All of the above evidence is insufficient for definite conclusions, but allows us to assume that the allegorical interpretation of the mountains of the 120th Psalm (possibly based on the symbolic meaning of height) already developed in some form in Origen. The first attempt we know of to explain the mountains in this psalm not as a symbol, but as mountains in the proper sense, belongs to Eusebius of Caesarea. In relation to the “Songs of Ascension”, the reputation of an interpreter-historian that Eusebius has 7 is fully justified. Known for his desire, first of all, to understand the historical meaning of the biblical text being interpreted, Eusebius, when interpreting the “Songs of Ascent,” gave an example of how one can build a literal understanding of the psalms included in this collection, including Ps. 120. In the preamble to the interpretation of the “Songs of Ascension,” he consistently examines all these psalms from the point of view of an idea that was very stable subsequently and was accepted by many until the beginning of the 20th century: the idea that the “Songs of Ascension” reflects the return of the Jews from “Babylonian captivity.” Both the text of the preamble, published by Mercati 8, and the commentary on Ps. 129:1, included in the catenas 9, convey to us generally the same understanding of the situation reflected in Ps. 120, and places in it mountains. According to Eusebius, the first person of the psalm is on the road from Babylon to Jerusalem, among the mountains located along this path, and, turning his gaze everywhere in search of a helper, directs it also to the mountains. But help does not come from them: a person finds it, flowing with his mind to the Creator of them and the rest of the world. In this understanding, mountains are more or less concrete and material. It is curious that this "historical" interpretation survives from a later time than Origen's allegorical explanation. Although some echoes of the understanding of the situation of the “Song of Ascension” that Eusebius uses (the return from captivity) can be seen in Augustine’s interpretations (in the interpretation of Ps. 125), it must be recognized that when exegesizing the first verse of Ps. 120 Augustine does not resort to the “historical” explanation of the view of mountains that Eusebius offers. In the two authors considered - Origen and Eusebius - we see in the most general form the beginnings of those two possibilities for interpreting the “mountains” from Ps. 121:1, which will be used in the future by Greek interpreters. Origen's interpretation shows the possibility of an allegorical interpretation of this image, based on the figurative meaning that height can have. Eusebius's explanation serves as an example of how mountains may well be regarded as mountains themselves; looking at them in a certain situation can be an expression of concern and search for a protector. One of these two approaches is implemented by each of the later interpreters. We will find a second, literal-historical approach in John Chrysostom (in the latter, however, the words of the psalm do not belong to a traveler returning from captivity, but to a people still in captivity - see his homily on Ps. 120). As for the first approach, which builds an allegory on the symbolic understanding of heights associated with mountains and interprets mountains as angels, it is implemented in the next generation of interpreters after Eusebius by Apollinaris of Laodicea and Didymus the Blind. Apollinaris's fragment reproduces the interpretation of mountains as “invisible and heavenly powers” ​​10. In the first fragment of Didymus' interpretation of Ps. 120 in a few elegant words, the interpreter connects the higher level of ascension of the one singing the second song (compared to the one singing the first) with the fact that the one singing the second song has renounced the earthly and rushed to the heights, symbolized by the mountains 11. All these fragments of interpretative tradition provide too little to compare with Augustine's interpretation; representatives of the allegorizing direction only show us the rudimentary possibility of constructing an allegorical interpretation. Moreover, the question of whether Augustine in 406 was familiar with the corresponding works of Origen or Didymus can hardly be answered positively. Moreover, none of the Greek interpretations mentioned directly expresses the exegetical idea that is most memorable from Augustine's interpretation of Ps. 121:1 - that mountains can signify great people who convey the divine message to others, prophets and apostles, and, in particular, the authors of the Scriptures. This idea is found in explicit expression in the Latin commentators Hilary of Pictavia and Jerome. In Hilary of Pictavia and Jerome, who are considered to be the successors of Origen's line in the West, one can indeed see the predecessors of Augustine with more confidence. Modern research is highly confident that Augustine knew Hilary’s interpretations of the psalms. Certain similarities between interpretations of the psalms of Augustine and Hilary have been noted for a long time; Bastiansen showed the significance of Hilary's influence on Augustine in general 12, M. Dulay convincingly showed traces of Hilarian exegesis in the first series of Augustine's interpretations of the psalms (dictated interpretations on Ps. 1–32) 13. As for Jerome, despite the undoubted significance of his exegetical activity for Augustine, a comparison of the understanding of Ps. 120:1 by both writers can only be the most general, because interpretations of the entire Ps. 120 did not come from Jerome (or did not exist). So, we must focus specifically on the interpretation of Hilary of Pictavia as the only interpretation of Ps. 120, with which Augustine could probably be familiar and which could have influenced him. Hilary's interpretation of Ps. 120:1 (see Hilar. in ps. 120, 4-5) is close to what, as far as can be judged, was intended by the Greek allegorical interpretations, perhaps because Hilary, as is known, drew from the same source - Origen. Here there is, in particular, a mention of the possibility that the mountains mean servants of God, angelic powers, and an indication of “height” as the basis of an allegorical interpretation. And in contrast to the fragmentary data of the Greek tradition, we see both the context of this exegesis of the first verse (i.e., the general understanding of the psalm by the interpreter) and the arguments given in support of it. Hilary's understanding of the psalm as a whole is such that it does not imply the need to draw a historical background against which the mountains would look like a geographical feature. The entire psalm, according to Hilary, speaks only about the general laws of the inner life of man. Within the framework of this moral and figurative understanding, mountains are only a sign of some reality related to internal growth. It is not surprising that it is in the interpretation of Hilary that we encounter the first negative motivation for the interpretation of “mountains” from Ps. 121:1, i.e. an indication of the reason why the “mountains” of this verse should not be taken literally: mountains as such cannot in any way answer the desire of a person seeking help. After all, the eyes that he raises to the mountains are not external, bodily eyes, but an internal gaze, to describe the power of which Hilary has such expressive words (§ 2-3). The signified mountains for Hilary are “prophetic books ascending from the earth into heights, which represent to us the ascent to the highest and the steps to the eternal” or “angelic ministries, powers and powers of heaven, whose service gives us ascent to the lofty” (§ 5). Moreover, although “prophetic books” and “angelic ministries” are presented at first as alternatives, they are combined at the beginning of the next paragraph. Their unification is based on the fact that both play a role in the ascent of man: prophetic books show the way, angelic forces protect and assist in this path. Here are the words in which Hilary denies the applicability of the literal meaning of “mountains” to the interpretation: “The Prophet raised the eyes of his mind to the mountains. But which mountains? After all, not these same mountains, desecrated by (pagan) altars and wicked assemblies, and not those with frightening forests, with bare rocks, impassable due to cliffs, frozen with snow - for what wonder is there in them and what hope is there for them? In the fifth paragraph of Hilary’s interpretation, in addition to the negative, we can also find a positive motivation for the symbolic connection established by the interpreter between mountains, on the one hand, and prophetic books and angelic ministries, on the other: “For if, according to Daniel, the Lord is a great mountain for us (cf. Dan. 2:34 ff.), then there is no doubt that those who present His commandments to us and tell us can be called mountains bliss." If we compare the interpretation of “mountains” in Hilary and Augustine, one immediately gets the impression that the second is a continuity from the first, but there is also some difference. It relates, in part, to the signified: Augustine sees in “mountains” not quite the same meaning as Hilary. But the main difference lies in the motivation of this sign connection, in what serves as the basis for comparing the “mountains” with the signified. In the way Augustine proposes to understand the first verse of Ps. 120, not only the height of the mountains is important, but also the light that falls on them. We do not find this element of the development of the image of mountains in previous interpreters. It is the interaction of the sign of illumination with the sign of height that attracts attention in the Augustinian interpretation; We will try to describe and analyze this interaction further. To do this, it will be necessary not only to see how the motif of light arises in the interpretation of Ps. 120, but also to go beyond this interpretation by drawing on passages from other writings of Augustine, where he quotes Ps. 121:1 with a similar, but more detailed explanation. Augustine's interpretation of Ps. 120 does not begin with an analysis of the psalm itself. Before starting the psalm, the preacher finds it appropriate to remind listeners of the “terrible words” from the Gospel reading of the day - the conception from the Gospel of Matthew, which says that “that day will come like a thief in the night.” Since the time of the coming of this day is unknown, in order not to be taken by surprise by this night arrival, one must always be awake and, moreover, not be “in the night”, like the children of “darkness,” but be “children of light” - Augustine interweaves this figurative call of the Apostle Paul with a Gospel comparison. The children of darkness are the wicked, the lawless. But they too must awaken from sleep, because this day is close, “the mountains are already illuminated,” - this is how the image of the mountains is introduced, and from this place the actual interpretation begins: “Let them, as it is said in this psalm, awaken from sleep. The mountains are already illuminated, why are they still sleeping? The sun of righteousness has already risen, the Gospel has already been preached by the apostles, the Scriptures have been preached, the Scriptures have been opened, the veil has been torn (Matthew 27:51), the inner sanctuary of the church has been opened: let them finally lift up their eyes to the mountains, from where help will come to them. For this is what this psalm tells them, the second of those that have the inscription “Song of Steps.” But, again, let them not rely on the mountains, these mountains do not shine by themselves, but they shine with light reflected from Him about whom it is said: “There was the true light, which enlightens every man who comes into the world” (John 1:9). By mountains we can mean great people, glorious people. And who is greater than John the Baptist? What kind of mountain was this, about which the Lord himself said: among those born there is no one greater than John the Baptist (Matthew 11:11). You see how this great mountain shines, listen to how it confesses. What does he profess? “We,” he says, “have received everything from its fullness” (John 1:16). So, from whose fullness the mountains received, from him is your help, and not from the mountains. But if you had not raised your eyes to them, you would not have received instructions to be enlightened from him” 14. The fact that with this interpretation of “mountains” it is their height that matters is beyond doubt. However, this is seen even more clearly in another sermon, namely, in the first “Discourse on the Gospel of John,” which Augustine presented to the audience shortly after his interpretation of Ps. 120, breaking for the first time the chain of explanations of the “Songs of Ascension” 15. In this sermon, developing what was derived in En. ps. 120, 4 image, he says: montes excelsae animae sunt - the basis for likening souls to mountains is height: material for mountains, metaphorical for souls. But also in En. ps. 120, 4, the sign of height can be distinguished quite well: it appears behind the signs of large size (magni - a more general sign that includes height) and visibility, clarity, good illumination (clari - this sign in this case is determined by height). The sign of height is given here in connection with the specific image of the mountains: the mountains are materially really high, moreover, the entire allegorical picture, resulting from the combination of individual symbolic images and motifs, is completely holistic and realistically imaginable; it could be presented in the form of a homogeneous series of drawings or in the form of a cinematic sketch. If so, we must look in terms of the signified for such a sign in the signified mountains, which corresponds to the sign of the height of the mountains. How does Augustine reveal the meaning of mountains and what significance does their height play? The key phrase we quoted: Montes possunt intelligi homines magni, homines clari, does not provide a sufficient answer to this question. As an example of a mountain he names John the Baptist: Et quid maius Ioanne Baptista? And from the previous statements we understand that not all great and glorious people are understood here as mountains, but evangelists and in general those who communicate divine revelation are understood as prophets and apostles. Their greatness (magni) and glory, visibility (clari) require clarification. These signs are literally, i.e. material signs of material mountains serve Augustine as the basis for revealing other meanings of the “mountain” symbol in many sermons and writings 16 . But what grounds for comparing the mountains and the prophets and apostles will we find in En. ps. 120, 4 and texts close to it in the direction of interpretation of the symbol? The first, more general basis is the height of the mountains: Montes possunt intelligi homines magni. As we have already noted, from the above passage Aug. En. ps. 120, 4 it is not entirely obvious that what is meant is the height of the mountains, and not their size in general, but we can be fully convinced if we turn to the first “Discourse on the Gospel of John” - a sermon in which Augustine, some time after delivering an interpretation on Ps. 120 applies the same figurative-sign system. The mountain in the treatise is called John the Theologian himself, the author of the fourth Gospel. The first paragraphs of the first Discourse are dedicated to him, in his greatness as an evangelist. Some expressions from here will shed light on the issues that interest us. As an argument for the possibility of calling John Mount, Augustine cites verse 3 of Psalm 71: Suscipiant montes pacem populo tuo, et colles iustitiam. This expression brings to mind the comparison of mountains and hills based on height: Montes excelsae animae sunt, says Augustine, colles paruulae animae sunt. So, mountains, i.e. evangelists perceive the world (pax is a frequent name for Christ in Augustine), perfect “high” theology, so that the hills, i.e. other believers could acquire righteousness (iustitia), which implies first of all faith in Christ: quia iustus ex fide vivet, explains Augustine by quoting Romans 1:17. “The height of the mountains” is the perfection of knowledge, the contemplation of the divine and eternal; the relatively smaller “height of the hills” is faith, and we know that from believers Augustine demands, first of all, faith in the temporal life of the incarnate Word (see interpretations on Ps. 119, § 2; Ps. 130, § 9). A little lower, in § 5 of the first “Discourse”, the height of Mount John is again spoken of. How high this mountain had to be, Augustine argues, in order to be able to “perceive the world,” i.e. contemplate the divinity of the Word? (Susceperat pacem mons iste, comtemplabatur diuinitatem Verbi. Qualis iste mons erat? quam excelsus?) To answer this question, Augustine lists what John had to surpass in understanding (and the mountain, therefore, exceed) in order to reach the contemplation of the divine. The gradation of the listed objects, as happens in other works of Augustine 17, is syncretic in nature in relation to the materiality/immateriality of the attribute called height: “He surpassed all the peaks of the earth, surpassed all the air spaces, surpassed all the heights of the luminaries, surpassed all the choirs and legions of Angels. For if he had not surpassed all this created thing, he would not have come to the one through whom everything was created... to the one about whom he said: “In the beginning was the Word...” 18. The sequence of the listed surpassed things is as follows: first material created things, then immaterial created things; above them is the goal of knowledge, the Creator. Obviously, this is a sequence of levels of existential dignity 19. But it is also very interesting that within the lower level of this scale (material created) objects are arranged in increasing order of their material, physical height: mountain tops, air spaces, heights of stars. This creates the impression of an increase in height in the future, but already on the scale of existential dignity: the height, increasing first in the literal, physical sense, outlines the order of listing intangible things according to their metaphorical height. Thus, the material sign-substrate of the metaphor helps to structure the intangible reality according to the metaphorical sign, derived under the guise of height. In addition, it is important to take into account that after the level of air space (campi aeris), the image of a mountain begins to lose its real-figurative, sensory consistency and its allegorical essence is revealed: a physical mountain cannot be higher than the stars - which means that what is meant is not a physical mountain, but a certain signified, namely the evangelist, whose understanding can surpass everything material in general, including the material sky. We see that the sign of height in the image of mountains is connected by a symbolic connection with the ability to perceive revelation, theological contemplation of “high” levels of existence. This, obviously, is again an epistemological correspondence to a high level of existential dignity (in this case, the divine dignity of the Word). This level is comparable to the level of sapientia in the third diagram of Madec 20 and the state of the Apostle Paul described in En. ps. 119, 3 (siue mente excessimus Deo). However, what is even more interesting is what we have already briefly mentioned above: the height of the mountains in the interpretation of Psalm 120, § 4 does not appear on its own, but in combination with another property of mountains arising from the height - with their predominant illumination: Montes possunt intelligi homines... clari - in the adjective clari one can assume not only the meaning of “glorious” or “clearly visible”, but also “bright, well illuminated”. Let us remember that the interpretation of the verse actually begins with a notification that the mountains are already illuminated and it is time to get up from sleep. The allegory of the illumination of the mountains (as a sign of the divine enlightenment of the authors of Scripture, the prophets and the apostles) fits well into the system of light symbols adopted by Augustine, in which God is consistently associated with light 21 . But the good and primary illumination of a mountain in the material world is a direct consequence of its height, therefore the symbolism of height receives excellent “reinforcement” and organic development here in the systematicity of signs of the chosen image of the signifier. It is now possible to show in detail all the elements of the signifier and signified plans in a table. To summarize the consideration of the meaning of the height of mountains in the interpretation of Ps. 120:1, we can say that it means, or more precisely, is perceived by the interpreter as a sign of the excellent ability of evangelists (prophets and apostles) to perceive knowledge, to comprehend those levels of being that are called high on the scale of existential dignity, i.e. gain knowledge of the divine. This value of height is carried out mainly through the property of mountains, arising from physical height, to be the first to perceive sunlight. Thus, the symbolism of height correlates with the symbolism of light as a sign of the divine. In this case, the literal Augustine does not start from the image of material mountains, but relies on it. And we can rely on it because the picture that Augustine receives by expanding and developing the plane of the signifier, i.e. The situation described in the verse of the psalm is extremely complete and realistic, moreover, all its elements correspond so harmoniously to the elements of the signified that the interpreter does not require any violation of its realistic visual organicity for the sake of a more adequate expression of all the elements of the plan of the signified and their interrelation. This realism is still violated, but later, outside the framework of interpretation on Ps. 120, in the first treatise on the Gospel of John, when Augustine says that the “mountain” surpasses the entire sensory world, including the luminaries, and thereby reveals the symbolic essence of the image of the mountain and “transcendence”. But in the interpretation of Ps. 120 Augustine builds an allegoresis on a completely complete and visually consistent picture of a look at the illuminated mountains, and he does not have to explain that the look should be understood as a sign of mental attention, because this becomes clear from the entire structure of the allegoresis’s corresponding plans. Thus, the addition of the old exegetical idea of ​​the meaning of mountains with the symbolism of the light that illuminates the mountains first because of their height is an exegetical invention of Augustine, not only decorating the plane of the signifier, but also giving volume to the plane of the signified. There is one more aspect in which one must evaluate the importance of introducing the motif of mountain lighting in En. ps. 120, 4: it imparts to the whole passage great explanatory power, arising, as we can assume, from the correlation of the picture being explained with the everyday sensory experience of the listeners. The mountains illuminated by dawn, one might think, are often visible to everyone living in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe former Hippo (in modern Algeria), to the northwest of which a large mountain range begins. It is especially easy to imagine this when we look at a photograph of the excavations of the Great Basilica of Hippo (where Augustine served and preached and, quite likely, expounded on Ps. 120). The photograph is given in the book by E. Marek “Hippo Regius. Christian monuments of Hippo" 22. We see that the apse of the basilica, oriented to the west-northwest, looks at a group of fairly high mountains (up to 800 m and above), of which the central peak especially stands out. It is this eastern-southeastern end of the massif, visible from Hippon, that we believe is illuminated from the east by the rays of the rising sun, which, as is clear from the photograph, should be clearly visible from the “Christian quarter” of Hippon. This is how we understand the meaning of the mountain in the analyzed passage of interpretation on Ps. 120, and the exegetical power of that specific Augustinian development of this figurative complex, which is associated with the appeal of the figurative picture to the everyday experience of the listeners: what is the basis of the allegory is not only easily imagined, but also visible in the immediate everyday life of a given flock. The research presented above shows us that the study of exegetical tradition helps to better understand the unique position of a particular interpreter among others. Even when he explicitly adopts one or another exegetical move (as Augustine seems to adopt from Hilary the allegorical interpretation of the mountains in Ps. 120:1), his interpretation can be noticeably original. In the analyzed case, this happens because Augustine more clearly makes clear the basis for the construction of the allegorosis - the symbolic meaning of height, similar to the Neoplatonic symbolism of the “high,” with which he was the first among the interpreters of Ps. 120 also connects the symbolism of light. See, for example, the discussion of different points of view in the study of Stevens, who believes that the psalm reflects the situation of the return from captivity (Stevens D.G., Jr. A Critical Commentary on the Songs of the Return with a Historical Introduction and Indexes // Hebraica. Chicago, 1895. Vol. 11, N 3/4. P. 119-121), and the commentary of Bratsiotis, who adheres to the theory of “pilgrimage songs” ( Μπρατσιώτης Π Αἱ ᾠδαί τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν τοῦ Ψαλτηρίου ’Αθῆναι. Σ.25–27). When familiarizing yourself with modern explanations of Ps. 120, it seems that each of the commentators is quite confident in his explanation, so confident that he provides minimal evidence or even just arguments in support of it or does not provide it at all. And it would be easy, following the author of the commentary, to be inclined to accept one or another explanation if they were not so different. Let us give several examples of descriptions of the situation of Ps. 120 from modern commentaries. Each of these examples, we note, reflects not the personal opinion of the quoted commentators, but the whole tradition of understanding Ps. 120; each of these traditions arose more or less long ago and continues to be supported by dozens of more or less academic interpretations. Here, for example, is Drijvers' famous study of the book of psalms in a historical-critical spirit. The following “psychological reconstruction” is reproduced here: “The psalmist is in great difficulties and therefore wants to undertake a pilgrimage... He looks around the neighboring hills, on which he sees many Canaanite sanctuaries, the so-called “high places.” But maybe it’s better to go to the Temple of Jerusalem?” the researcher tells us the vibrations of the first person of the psalm (Drijvers P. The Psalms, Their Structure and Meaning. Freiburg; L., 1965. P. 154). Thus, the commentator here sees a contrast between the mountain sanctuaries and the Jerusalem Temple as the only place of worship of the true Helper: from this contrast, according to this commentary, further chanting in the psalm of true help from above originates. The mountains, therefore, are presented here not only as the starting point of the pilgrimage, but also as the point of departure from which the pilgrim’s movement—and the movement of the Psalmist’s thought—begins. This is not how the author of the commentary to Psalm 120 (121) in the multi-volume “Translator's Bible” imagines the matter. “It is not difficult to create a mise-en-scène,” he assures us, and they immediately describe this mise-en-scène with the thoroughness and confidence of an eyewitness: “During the long journey to Jerusalem, the pilgrims had to camp in the desert or mountainous regions through which their path lay. At night, guards were sent to the tops of the nearby hills to guard the camp from a sudden attack by bandits who, knowing full well the usual times of pilgrimages, hoped to make money by raiding the pilgrims’ camps. Our psalm,” the “eyewitness” continues, “represents the reflections of one of the pilgrims, who, before entering the tent for the night, glances at the hill and sees next to the guard another guard, the Lord, who neither sleeps nor slumbers” (Interpreter’s Bible. N.Y., 1955. Vol. IV. P. 644. (W.R. Taylor, W.S. McCullogh)). For this interpretation, the mountains are no longer at the beginning, but in the middle of the Path to Jerusalem. As an example of interpretations that place mountains at the end of the pilgrimage route, at its goal, we quote from the already mentioned commentary of Bratsiotis: “By mountains here we mean the sacred mountains of the Promised Land and especially Jerusalem, and mainly Mount Zion (cf. Ps. 56:1, 124:2, 132:3, etc.), where is the earthly abode of God, the source of deliverance (Ps. 2:5, 19:3, 123:3). The poet is represented here as praying, turning his face to Jerusalem, as Daniel did (Dan. 6:10 ff., cf. also 1 Kings 8:44 ff.) and as Muslims do to this day, turning their faces to Mecca” (p. 27 of the cited work of Bratsiotis). We cite all these examples, of course, not to demonstrate the powerlessness of modern exegetes in the face of the riddles of Ps. 120. On the contrary, each of the above explanations is witty and convincing in its own way. But in all cases there are no arguments that would convincingly confirm the correctness of one explanation and the incorrectness of the other. For different interpretations of Origen on the psalms and the problems of studying the material that has come down to us, see: Rondeau M.-J. Les commentaires patristiques du psautier (III e – V e siècles). Roma, 1982. Vol. 1. P. 44 ss. Cadiou R. Commentaires inédits des Psaumes. Étude sur les textes d'Origène contenus dans le manuscrit Vindobonensis 8. P., 1936. P. 119–120. “Quid ergo ad hospitem suum pro hospitalitatis officiis dicant angeli, uideamis. In minte, inquit, saluam fac animam tuam, ne forte comprehendaris. Erat quidem hospitalis Lot, qui etiam, sicut ei Scriptura testimonium tulit, ab interitu latuit angelis hospitio receptis. Sed non erat ita perfectus, ut statis de Sodomis exiens montem posset adscendere; perfectorum namque est dicere: Leuaui oculos meos in montes, unde ueniet auxilium mihi. Iste ergo neque talis erat qui inter Sodomitas perire deberet, neque tantus erat qui cum Abraham in excelsioribus posset habitare.” – Homilia in Genesim 5, 1 (Origène. Homélies sur la Genèse / Texte latin, traduction et notes de L. Doutreleau. (Sources chrétiennes; Vol. 7 bis.). P., 1985. P. 162). Patrologiae cursus completus. Series graeca. T. 12. Col. 1632. B 3–11 (everything from line B7 should be subtracted from it - this half is taken from the homily of John Chrysostom). Simonetti M. Lettera e/o allegoria. Un contributo alla storia dell’esegesi patristica. Roma, 1985. P. 120. Mercati G. L’ultima parte perduita del commentario d’Eusebio ai Salmi // Mercati G. Opere minore. La Città del Vaticano, 1937. Vol. 2. P. 61. Patrologiae cursus completus. Series graeca. T. 24. Col. 12A ss. Mühlenberg E. Psalmenkommentare aus den Katenenüberliferung. B., 1977. Bd. 2.Frg. 252. Mühlenberg E. Op. cit. P. 298. Frg. 1152. Although the “height” of Didymus is also symbolic, we note that he adheres to a different explanation for the inscription “Song of Ascent”. This explanation (also reflected in the Talmudic tradition) connects the fifteen “Songs of Ascension” with the fifteen steps in the Jerusalem Temple. Bastiaensen A. Augustin et ses prédécesseurs latins chrétiens // Augustiniana Trajectina. P., 1987. P. 42. Dulaey M. Recherches sur les sources exégetiques d’Augustin dans les trente-deux première Enarrationes in Psalmos // L’esegesi dei padri latini. Dalle orogini a Gregorio Magno. Roma, 2000. (Studia Ephemeridis “Augustinianum”; 68). P. 264–272. “Sicut iste psalmus habet, euigilent (sc. iniqui). Iam illuminati sunt montes, quid adhuc dormiunt? Leuent oculos suos in montes, unde ueniet auxilium illis. Quid est iam illuminati sunt montes? Iam ortus est sol iustitiae, iam ab apostolis praedicatum est Euangelium, praedicatae sunt scripturae, patuerunt omnia sacramenta, conscissum est uelum (Mt.27:51), patuit secretum templi: iam tandem leuent oculos in montes, unde ueniet auxilium illis. Hoc enim praecipit iste psalmus, secundus de his qui inscribuntur Canticum graduum. Sed non rursum praesumant de montibus; Quia ipsi montes non a se lucent, sed ab illo lucent, de quo dictum est: Erat lumen uerum, quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum (John.1:9). Montes possunt intelligi homines magni, homines clari. Et quid maius Ioanne Baptista? Qualis ille mons erat, de quo Dominus ipse dixit: "In natis nemo exsurrexit maior Ioanne Baptista" (Mt.11:11). Vides certe istum magnum montem lucentem; audi confitentem. Quid confitentem? Nos omnes, inquit, de plenitudine eius accepimus (John.1:16). De cuius ergo plenitudine acceperunt montes, ab illo est tibi auxilium, non a montibus; ad quos tamen nisi leuaueris oculos per scripturas, non admoueberis, ut ab illo ps. 4. Both in this and in other cases, Augustine puts the words of John the Baptist into the mouth. Rondet N. Saint Augustin et les Psaumes des montées // Revue d’ascétique et de mystique. 1965. T. 41. P. 5. In addition to the allegorosis considered here, Augustine can interpret “mountains” in three more senses. A mountain can be a symbol of Christ and the Church (see a detailed analysis of this topic and examples in the article: Lauras A. Deux images de Christ et de l’église dans la predication augustinienne // Augustinus Magister. Congrès international augustinien, Paris, 21–24 September 1954. P., 1954. T. 2. P. 667–671. Stommel E. (Kloeppel M.) Berg // Reallexikon für Antike und Christentum, 1954. Bd. 136–138; Severus E. von. 390–392). In a negative sense, the mountain can be a symbol of outstanding but sinister people - heresiarchs, false teachers, initiators of schisms (for example, in En. ps. 124, 5). Poque S. L’expression de l’anabase plotonienne dans la prédication de saint Augustin et ses sources // Recherches augistiniennes. 1975. Vol. 10. P. 191–204. In Iohannis Euangelium tractatus 1.5: “Transcenderat omnia cacumina terrarum, transcenderat omnes campos aeris, transcenderat omnes altitudines siderum, transcenderat omnes choros et legiones angelorum.” Nisi enim transcenderet ista omnia quae creata sunt, non proueniret ad eum per quem facta sunt omnia... peruenire ad id quod ait: “In principium erat Verbum...”.” Unlike other Augustinian ascensions (for example, Enarratio in psalmum 41), this enumeration does not include the level of the human soul. Madec G. Le diagramme augustinien // Augustinianum. 1925. Vol. 25. P. 79–94. Poque S. L’imaginaire d’un prédicateur chrétien du Ve siècle // Nouvelle revue théologique. 1985. Vol. 107. P. 871. Marec E. Hippo Regius. Monuments chrétiens d'Hippone, ville épiscopale de Saint Augustin. P., 1958. P. 134 ss. For Augustine's texts to identify the basilica, see: Ibid. P. 216 ss.