Symbolism of the Birds in "Enarrationes in Psalmos" of Saint Augustine

Marek Cieśluk




Abstract

The article discusses the symbolism of birds and shows how Augustine in his work "Enarrationes in Psalmos" uses in his pastoral work the appearing in the text references to such the birds: eagle, hen, pelican, tawny owl, sparrow and turtle dove. In explaining the texts of the Psalms, Augustine tries to relate their symbolic meanings, if possible, to Christ. In all the analyzed passages, we can see Bishop Hippo as a pastor who not only tries to explain the difficult texts of the Old Testament based on his knowledge, but also makes efforts that they best influence the Christians.

Keywords:

Augustine, Enarrationes in Psalmos, bird, simbolical meaning, eagle, pelican, tawny owl, sparrow, turtle dove

Augustinus, De Genesi liber imperfectus, PL 34
Augustinus, De utilitate credendi, PL 42
Augustinus, De vera religione, PL 34
Augustinus, Enarrationes in Ps., NBA 27
Eckmann A., Znaczenie Petra (Mt 16,18) w interpretacji świętego Augustyna, VoxP 49 (2006) 167-178
Fizjolog, tłum. K. Jażdżewska, Warszawa 2003
Forstner D., Świat symboliki chrześcijańskiej, tłum. W. Zakrzewska - P. Pachciarek - R. Turzyński, Warszawa 1990
Szczepanowicz B. - Mrozek A., Atlas zwierząt biblijnych, Kraków 2007

Published
2008-06-15


Cieśluk, M. (2008). Symbolika ptaków w "Enarrationes in Psalmos" świętego Augustyna. Vox Patrum, 52(1), 87–98. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.6359

Marek Cieśluk  marek.ciesluk@tnkul.pl



License

Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.