Bellarmine on Psalm XXIII: Verses 8-10

Verse 8

Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.

Quis est iste rex gloriae? Dominus fortis et potens, Dominus potens in praelio.

He introduces the princes of the heavenly Jerusalem, asking: “Who is this King of Glory?” not because the angels on the day of the Lord’s Ascension would not know that Christ was the King of glory, but so as to express admiration for the novelty brought with it, that a truly corporeal man should be seen to ascend above the heavens, not as a guest, but as the Lord of the glorious and sempiternal city. The Prophet replies that the King of glory is Christ the Lord, most valiant and powerful, who shows forth His might in the battle against the Prince of darkness, whom He has vanquished, despoiled and bound. 

Verse 9-10

Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.

Attollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini, portae aeternales, et introibit rex gloriae.  Quis est iste rex gloriae? Dominus virtutum ipse est rex gloriae.

The Prophet imagines the Angels who are in Heaven hesitate in opening the gates, and he again calls out: “Lift up your gates,” etc., which signifies nothing other than the immense novelty of the thing – that an earthly body should ascend above a celestial body, that human flesh should ascend above angelic spirits, with the incredible admiration of the whole of nature, almost (reeling) in astonishment.  Again, he shows the angels asking: “Who is this King of Glory?” and he himself answers them: “The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.” having heard the name so known to them, “the Lord of hosts,” they immediately open the gates and joyfully admit the King of glory. In Hebrew, the Lord of hosts is Dominus tsebaoth, which St. Jerome translates as the Lord of armies, and this name is most frequently accorded in the Prophets to God Himself, and it is not shared by gods through association but belongs to God properly speaking, firstly, because it contains the four letters proper to the name of the true God;  secondly, he alone is the Lord of armies who is at the head of the angelic armies, who are almost without number and who are most mighty; and finally, all created things perform military service for the true God alone. For, as we see in Psalm cxlviii: “ Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds which fulfill his word,” [1] that is, fight under His orders. A certain Pharaoh experienced how God was the Lord of armies when He fought against the Pharaoh not only through angels, but also through the smallest of creatures, such as flies and gnats, and not only through creatures but also inanimate things, such as hail, fire, darkness, disease and so on. The Septuagint translation, Dominus virtutum / Lord of hosts, comes to the same thing. For by virtutes / hosts are not to be understood moral virtues, which are called aretai, but forces and powers, which are called dunameis. And so Dominus virtutum is the Lord of forces and powers, which are chiefly an

army in battle array. In vernacular speech, an array of armed men is said to be les forces / forces. From these remarks, we see Christ the lord is properly God and not a creature, as the Arians and numerous other heretics would have it. For in this Psalm it says Dominus virtutum / Lord of hosts or exercituum / armies, and this name is accorded only to God; it also says Rex gloriae /

the King of glory, that is, the King of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is a region of light at the highest point of eternal brightness; without doubt only God Himself can dwell therein. In Hebrew, the word selah is added, meaning always, so that it means Christ is the King of glory not for a time only but for all eternity.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.