Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Read Chapter 37
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
"I passed by, and, lo, he was not! I sought him, and his place could nowhere be found!" (ver. 36). Why was he "no more, and his place nowhere to be found"? Because thou hast "passed by." But if thou art yet carnally-minded, and that earthly prosperity appears to thee to be true happiness, thou hast not yet "passed by" him; thou art either his fellow, or thou art below him; go on, and pass him; and when thou hast made progress, and hast passed by him, thou observest him by the eye of faith; thou seest his end, thou sayest to thyself, "Lo! he who so swelled before, is not!" just as if it were some smoke that thou wert passing near to. For this too was said above in this very Psalm, "They shall consume and fade away as the smoke." ...
I passed. This is better than the Hebrew, "it has passed "transivit, as a tree changes not its place, and all the ancient interpreters agree with us. (Berthier)
His place, is not expressed in Hebrew. But it implies that every vestige of the proud is soon lost. This might serve to curb the violence of those who disturb mankind! (Haydock)
The wicked may here refer to Nabuchodonosor, the devil, Judas (Calmet)
We may behold the riches of sinners with our bodily eyes: but if we consider them with the eyes of faith, they presently vanish. (St. Ambrose; St. Augustine)
