Verse 1
The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains: The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob.
Fundamenta ejus in montibus sanctis; diligit Dominus portas Sion super omnia tabernacula Jacob.
The Prophet begins by praising the city of Jerusalem from her foundations, which are the holy mountains; but before we continue, a question needs to be answered that can immediately occur to anyone : what does the pronoun
eius / thereof mean? For it does not seem to refer to Jerusalem or Sion, firstly because the city was not previously called Jerusalem or Sion,; and secondly, because the Greek and Hebrew words for
eius are masculine in gender, whereas Jerusalem and Sion are feminine. I answer that the pronoun eius must be referred to the noun which is understood (implied), namely
civitatis / of the city; for, although the noun
civitas / city is usually feminine, it has a masculine style ending; for it is
said as
hir, and in the plural,
hirim, and there are not wanting learned men who would have this as a masculine noun. Besides, there are many nouns found that are conjugated (declined) with words of different genders, as we show in the
Institutionibus linguae hebraicæ, p. iv, chapter iv; and so it may be that a masculine pronoun, unusually, may refer to a feminine noun; for this is not so rare in the Hebrew language as in Greek and Latin. And so the sense is: “The foundations thereof,” of the city, which I see in my mind’s eye, and whose praises I begin to sing, are “ in the holy mountains.” But the Prophet has omitted the name of the city and has said : “The foundations thereof,” so that he may show he is extending his interior admiration into exterior words : for,
contemplating and admiring the greatness and the beauty of the new city, descending from heaven, he bursts out with those words: “The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains.” Some relate this word
eius to Christ; but this is not convincing because, although Christ might be said to depend upon foundations, yet all foundations do themselves depend upon Him, who is, as St. Augustine rightly teaches : the foundation of foundations, just as He is Shepherd of shepherds, and the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. See
Ephes. ii., “ In whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord.”
[1] Much less convincing is what the Rabbis say, that the
eius refers to the Psalm, and should be joined to the first part of this verse with the title, as follows: “A canticle of the Psalm. The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains;” but this distinction and this interpunctuation are much later, and for this reason less confidence can be placed in them. Indeed, by the word foundations, according to various considerations, we should accept various things. If we think about those men who first came
to the Church, and first started to spread the Church, the foundations are the twelve Apostles, as it says in the Apocalypse : “ And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
[2] If we were to consider doctrine, on which the faith of the Church is founded, the foundations are the Apostles and the Prophets, who were the immediate ministers of the word of God, and the Apostle speaks of these in
Ephesians ii. : “Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.”
[3] Finally, if we consider ecclesiastical authority and power, according to which the foundation is to the house as the head is to the body, the foundations are Christ and Peter : Christ is the primary foundation and Peter the secondary. The Apostle says of Christ in I
Cor. iii. “For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus.”
[4] Christ says of Peter in
Matth. xvi. : “Thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church.”
[5] These are therefore the holy mountains, on which is founded the city of God : they are called mountains on account of their height and their pre-eminence;
they are holy not because of being high through the elevation of pride, but through being elevated in sanctity, wisdom and authority. Nor is it to be objected that Christ is called the cornerstone surmounting the building, see
Psalm cxvii. : “The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner;”
[6] and in
Ephesians ii. : “Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone : ”
[7] for the corner stone has two positions, one in the foundations and the other high up, both connecting two walls; but although in a physical building the corner stone in the foundation cannot be the one supported by the whole building : yet in the spiritual fabric, one and the same stone, that is, one and the same Prelate, supports and bears by his authority the whole structure, and he at the same time presides over and is supported through obedience by the whole building, that is, by all the living stones : these two offices are found principally in Christ, who is supremely the head and Prince of the whole Church ; but they also apply to the supreme Pontiff, as Christ’s Vicar general; and in many ways to all other prelates, in respect of
those over whom they preside : for all Prelates should bear and be borne, they should bear with the infirmities of those in their charge and be borne by them, while they command or reprove. Another praise of the city of God is drawn from its gates : “The Lord,” says the Prophet, “loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob.” He had said that the city of God was founded on holy mountains, and for this reason could not fall, as often happens with buildings built on sand : he now adds that, not only can it never fall, but it cannot be captured by enemies, because it is equipped with strongly fortified gates, of which it is said in
Psalm cxlvii: “Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates.”
[8] “The Lord loveth the gates of Sion,” that is, God loves Sion because of her immensely strong gates, which make her impregnable ; “above all the tabernacles of Jacob,” that is, more than any of Jacob’s tabernacles, for even though they were beautiful, and laid out with a wondrous design, when the Hebrews were journeying from Egypt to the promised land, yet they had neither foundations nor gates, and for this reason they were temporary and liable to change. By these
words are signified the stability and firmness of the Church, against which the gates of hell will not prevail, and especially when it shall arrive in the heavenly home, for which the Patriarchs sighed, and of which the Apostle says in Hebrews xi. : “For they (he) looked for a city that hath foundations; whose builder and maker is God.”
[9] In the
Apocalypse, chapter xxi., it says : “ there are twelve gates in (the walls of) the new city of Jerusalem, and written thereon are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.”
[10] The twelve gates are commonly understood by interpreters of this text, including St. Augustine in his explanation of this Psalm, the twelve Apostles, because by their perfectly sound and true teaching we all enter into the Church of God : it is no objection that Paul calls the twelve Apostles twelve foundation stones of the same city : for the Apostles are both gates and foundation stones, gates through their preaching and foundation stones through the support they give. Nor is it an objection that Christ says in
John x: “I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved.”
[11] For Christ is the gate by reason of merit, indeed it is through his merit that we all enter and are saved. Besides, there is one gate to this city and there are twelve, in the same way that there is one foundation and twelve foundations. For Christ was in the Apostles and spoke through the Apostles, as the Apostle sas in the last chapter of II
Cor. : “Do you seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me?”
[12] And so, when we enter through the Apostles, we enter through Christ, because the Apostles did not preach of themselves, but they preached Christ; and when we are founded upon the Apostles, and are built up on them, we are founded on Christ,
and are built on Him. The fact that the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates signifies that the first to enter into the Church, through the preaching of the Apostles, were children of Israel, from whom the Apostles themselves came; afterwards, the fullness of the gentiles entered in : for, in chapter v of the Apocalypse, where it describes the elect and those to be saved, in the first place are numbered twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel; next is added: “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues.”[13]
[1] In whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into an holy temple in the Lord. in quo omnis aedificatio constructa crescit in templum sanctum in Domino. [Ephes. ii. 21]
[2] And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them, the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Et murus civitatis habens fundamenta duodecim, et in ipsis duodecim nomina duodecim apostolorum Agni. [Apoc. xxi. 14]
[3] Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: superaedificati super fundamentum apostolorum, et prophetarum, ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Jesu : [Ephes. ii. 20]
[4] For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus. Fundamentum enim aliud nemo potest ponere præter id quod positum est, quod est Christus Jesus. [I Cor. iii. 11]
[5] And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Et ego dico tibi, quia tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam. [Matth. xvi. 18]
[6] The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner. Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli. [Ps. cxvii. 22]
[7] Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: superaedificati super fundamentum apostolorum, et prophetarum, ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Jesu : [Ephes. ii. 20]
[8] Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee. Quoniam confortavit seras portarum tuarum, benedixit filiis tuis in te. [Ps. cxlvii. 2]
[9] For he looked for a city that hath foundations; whose builder and maker is God. Exspectabat enim fundamenta habentem civitatem : cujus artifex et conditor Deus. [Hebr. xi. 10]
[10] And it had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and in the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. Et habebat murum magnum, et altum, habentem portas duodecim : et in portis angelos duodecim, et nomina inscripta, quae sunt nomina duodecim tribuum filiorum Israel : [Apoc. xxi. 12]
[11] I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved: and he shall go in, and go out, and shall find pastures. Ego sum ostium. Per me si quis introierit, salvabitur : et ingredietur, et egredietur, et pascua inveniet. [John x. 9]
[12] Do you seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me, who towards you is not weak, but is mighty in you? An experimentum quaeritis ejus, qui in me loquitur Christus, qui in vobis non infirmatur, sed potens est in vobis? [II Cor. Xiii. 3]
[13] After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands: Post haec vidi turbam magnam, quam dinumerare nemo poterat, ex omnibus gentibus, et tribubus, et populis, et linguis : stantes ante thronum, et in conspectu Agni, amicti stolis albis, et palmae in manibus eorum : [Apoc. vii. 9]
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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