Bellarmine on Psalm XLIV: Verse 15

Verse 15

All the glory of the king's daughter is within, in golden borders, clothed round about with varieties.

Omnis gloria ejus filiae regis ab intus, in fimbriis aureis, circumamicta varietatibus.

Because David has spoken often of the Bride’s beauty and adornments, lest anyone perhaps might think these were physical and that this text might lead to carnal thoughts, he says: “All the glory,” rather than (meaning) her good looks or her sumptuous apparel, “of the Queen is within,” and if she is said to be adorned in “golden borders,” and “clothed round about,” with different robes, all these are spiritual and interior, and to be looked for in the heart. From this, St. Peter, in I Pet. iii., warns Christian women to be like the Bride and cultivate adornment which is interior. “Whose adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel: But the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptibility of a quiet and a meek spirit.”[1]   This is not however a reason to reprehend the exterior worship of churches in the celebration of the sacraments, in the ornamentation of altars and in sacred solemnities: for here it is not a question of a physical church but of men who are the people of God and Christ’s members, of whom the chief beauty and ornament consists in virtues, as we said above; from these virtues should be born exterior good works, “that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is 

in heaven,” as the Saviour teaches in Matthew v.[2]  Furthermore, it seems that nothing may be understood more appositely by the words “golden borders” than charity itself, which is compared to gold, because it is the most precious and pre-eminent among all the virtues; and it (charity) may be said to be similar to borders or fringes, because just as garments finish in borders, and are strengthened by these borders, so the end of all commandments and virtues is charity, and on charity all the commandments depend, and are formed by her, and all the virtues are perfected in her. Now we have spoken above about what the variegated robes may be. The Apostle seems to be speaking about  the variegated robes when he says: “Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience.”[3] As far as the pronoun eius is concerned, it is not in the Hebrew or Greek text; but it is read in St. Jerome's epistle ad Principiam, and in the Commentary on the Psalms, as also in the Septuagint version and in St. Augustine; and the Hebrew word, if read with a point on the last letter, means gloria eius / his glory. It is however true that the eius should be referred to the Hebrew expression and is redundant in the Latin. That the Bride is called the king’s daughter should not be a cause of wonder; for the bride of the king’s son is commonly called the daughter of the father, the king, because bridegroom and bride are two in one flesh. I am not unaware that the Hebrew interpunction[4] differs from the Greek and Latin, but too much store should not be set on the interpunction added by the Rabbis and the Septuagint translators are more to be believed than the later Rabbis.

[1] Whose adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel: But the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptibility of a quiet and a meek spirit, which is rich in the sight of God. Quarum non sit extrinsecus capillatura, aut circumdatio auri, aut indumenti vestimentorum cultus : sed qui absconditus est cordis homo, in incorruptibilitate quieti, et modesti spiritus, qui est in conspectu Dei locuples. [I Pet. Iii. 3-4]

[2] So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus : ut videant opera vestra bona, et glorificent Patrem vestrum, qui in caelis est. [Matt. v. 16]

[3] Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: Induite vos ergo, sicut electi Dei, sancti, et dilecti, viscera misericordiae, benignitatem, humilitatem, modestiam, patientiam : [Coloss. iii. 12]

[4] The insertion of points between words, clauses, or sentences; punctuation.OED online.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.