The Patrologia Latina · Volume XV
The Gospel and the Psalm
Volume 15 carries Ambrose of Milan’s two greatest expositions: the ten-book commentary on the Gospel of Luke and the twenty-two acrostic sermons on Psalm 118 — one sermon for each Hebrew letter — together with the History of the Destruction of Jerusalem, the Latin retelling of Josephus that the manuscripts handed down under Ambrose’s name. We are translating every one into English.
About this volume
Preaching through Scripture, letter by letter
The Exposition of the Gospel according to Luke is Ambrose’s major New Testament work: ten books compiled from his Milan preaching, moving through the Gospel from Zechariah in the temple to the risen Christ, in the allegorical manner he had learned from Origen and brought into Latin. Augustine heard this preaching; the young church of the West read Luke through it for a thousand years. Beside it stands the Exposition of Psalm 118: the great acrostic psalm taken letter by letter, aleph to tau, in twenty-two sermons on the love of God’s law.
The volume closes with the History of the Destruction of Jerusalem — five books retelling Josephus’ Jewish War in Latin, with its summary. The manuscripts hand it down among Ambrose’s works; scholars know it as the work of an unnamed adapter of the 370s AD. Whoever wrote it, it was the Latin West’s Josephus for centuries: the fall of the Temple in 70 AD as medieval Europe read it.
As across the whole project, we translate the original works only, in fresh English, and give them away free to read.
Where to start
Three to begin with
The commentary
Exposition of the Gospel According to Luke
Expositio Evangelii secundum Lucam
Ten books on Luke from the bishop who taught Augustine how to read Scripture.
Read →The alphabet
Exposition of Psalm 118
Expositio in Psalmum CXVIII
Twenty-two sermons, one for each Hebrew letter of the longest psalm — Ambrose’s longest sustained work.
Read →The history
The Destruction of Jerusalem
De Excidio Urbis Hierosolymitanae
Josephus’ Jewish War as the Latin Middle Ages knew it — the fall of the Temple, handed down under Ambrose’s name.
Read →The contents
4 works
Each is a fresh English translation from the Latin, free to read online, in the order Migne printed them.
- 01
Exposition of Psalm 118 Expositio in Psalmum CXVIII
Ambrose's twenty-two-sermon meditation on Psalm 118, unfolding each Hebrew letter into moral instruction and mystical vision of Christ and the Church.
709 ch. Read free → - 02
Exposition of the Gospel of Luke Expositio Evangelii Secundum Lucam
Ambrose's ten-book verse-by-verse commentary on Luke's Gospel, moving from the priest Zacharias to Christ's resurrection appearances.
826 ch. Read free → - 03
The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem De Excidio Urbis Hierosolymitanae
A vivid Latin retelling of Josephus's account of the fall of Jerusalem, traditionally printed among Ambrose's works.
175 ch. Read free → - 04
The Summary of the Destruction of Jerusalem Anacephalaeosis de Excidio Hierosolymitano
A fiery rhetorical lament recasting the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD as divine judgment for the crucifixion of Christ.
23 ch. Read free →
Every translation here is free to read, funded by reader donations.
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