Cassiodorus: Explanation of the Psalms
Reviewed by Erin Doom
Feast of SS Herakleides and Myron, Bishops of Cyprus
Anno Domini 2020, September 17
Explanation of the Psalms by Cassiodorus, 3 volumes
Translated and annotated by P. G. Walsh
Prior to authoring the Institutions of Divine and Secular Learning , which presents a theory of education (a syllabus of sacred reading and a course of study on the seven liberal arts), Cassiodorus composed a study in which he applied his educational theory to the Psalter ( Expositio Psalmarum ). His repeated references to the trivium and quadrivium illustrate his theory that the Psalter should be a tool for teaching the seven liberal arts as an education in eloquence. However, his primary purpose, according to Walsh, was to “offer his readers theological instruction, and to encourage them through study of the psalms to prayer and more committed devotion to Christ.” Indeed, his distinctive four-fold structure of study—an explication of the psalm-heading, a discussion of the division of the psalm in which he identifies the speaker(s) (David, Christ, the Church, et al), a verse-by verse explanation, and a concluding application for the Christian life—continues to offer a refreshing taste of what Cassiodorus called “the book that truly shines, the word that brightly gleams, the cure for the wounded heart, the honeycomb for the inner man. . . . the honey of the heavenly psalter.”
Volume 1: 624 pp. cloth $36.95
Volume 2: 528 pp. cloth $34.95
Volume 3: 540 pp. cloth $34.95
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