Letter 182: Whether in prosperity or adversity, in public life or in private — the standard of conduct does not change.
When the Melodist sang, the inscription read "A psalm-ode of David." When he himself sang but another composed the melody, or the melody was sung by others about him, or referred to Christ who would come from him according to the flesh, it was inscribed "A Psalm of David." For not all the melodists sang, and not all who sang composed. The inscriptions of the Psalms, then, contain theological wisdom compressed into brevity.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
ΡΠΒ΄. – ΙΣΙΔΩΡΟ ΔΙΑΚΟΝΩ.
Τοῦ ψαλτηρίου. Περὶ τῆς τῶν Ψαλμῶν ἐπιγρα
φῆς.
Ὅτε μὲν ὁ Μελοποιὸς ἐμελῴδει, ἐπεγράφετο ψαλ-
μός· ᾠδὴ τῷ Δαβίδ (80). Ὅτε δὲ αὐτὸς μὲν ἔμελ-
ῴδει, ἄλλος δὲ ἐμελοποίει, ἢ εἰς αὐτὸν τὸ μέλος
παρ᾿ ἄλλων ᾔδετο, ἢ εἰς τὸν ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὸ κατὰ σάρκα
Χριστὸν ἀνήγετο, Ψαλμὸς τῷ Δαβίδ. Οὐ γὰρ πάν-
τες οἱ μελογράφοι ᾔδον, οὐδὲ πάντες οἱ ἄδοντες
ἐμελογράφουν· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν τοῦτο, οἱ δὲ ἐκεῖνο· οἱ
δὲ καὶ ἀμφότερα διεπράττοντο, τοῦ θείου Πνεύματος
ἑκάστῳ τὸ πρόσφορον ἀπονέμοντος.
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VARIAE, BOOK 1, LETTER 42