Commentary on Psalms

Epiphanius of Salamis (310–403)

And if we must also comment on the statement, "I said in my ecstasy, Everyone is a liar," its meaning again is different. It is not at all like that of a person who is out of his senses and mentally deranged (God forbid), but of one who is greatly astonished and who thinks with the powers of reason customary to those who see and act in the proper way. For since the prophet was astonished, he also speaks here because of his astonishment. Now the prophets have experienced ecstasy, but not an ecstasy of their powers of reasoning. Peter, for example, experienced ecstasy, not that he did not understand rationally but that he saw phenomena different from the everyday order among people. "For he saw a large piece of cloth being lowered, bound at its four corners, and in it all the four-footed beasts and creeping things and birds of heaven." And notice that the holy Peter understands and was not out of his wits. For when he hears, "Rise, kill, and eat," he did not obey as one not having a sound mind, but he says in the Lord, "By no means, Lord; for never has anything common or unclean entered my mouth."And the holy David, too, said, "[I said] Everyone is a liar." But when he said, "I…

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• More works by Epiphanius of Salamis

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