Bellarmine on Psalm 109 : Verse 6

Verse 6

The Lord at thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of his wrath.

Dominus a dextris tuis; confregit in die irae suae reges.

St. John Chrysostom, whom the Greeks follow, understands the word Lord in this context as referring to the Father; St. Augustine refers it to the Son, St. Jerome says that in this text the Father is named the Lord; but he adds immediately that He who “hath broken kings... shall judge among nations … shall fill ruins …  shall drink of the torrent,” is the Son. It seems to us however that St. Augustine’s opinion is simpler and more fitting; for he does not have to find a reason explaining how the Father should be at the right hand of the Son when only a little earlier the Son was said to be seated at the right hand of the Father, nor how the Father shall drink of the torrent, and shall lift up the head. Finally, the context of the prophet’s words is developed better if we follow St. Augustine’s interpretation. Accordingly, after saying that the Son was called by the Father a priest forever, he turns his words to the Father, and he says Christ will really be a priest forever, since even though many kings of the earth will conspire against Him, in order to overturn His priesthood and His religion: He, however, seated at the right hand of the Father, will crush the kings opposed to Him, and He will perpetuate His priesthood and sacrifices in spite of them all. “The Lord at thy right hand,” that is, Christ seated at Thy right hand, as Thou didst say to Him: Sit Thou at my right hand, “hath broken kings in the day of his wrath,” that is, on the day in which He will be angry with his enemies, the kings of the earth, persecuting His Church, He will crush them and He has already crushed them in my foreknowledge; for I already foresee, through the spirit of prophecy, Herod struck by the Angel, a destitute Nero laying violent hands on himself, Domitian, Maximinus, Decius and others, put to death; Valerianus captured by the Barbarians; Diocletian and Maximian giving up their rule in desperation; Julian, Valens, Honoricus, and finally (I foresee) all the kings who were His enemies dying wretchedly, and, being cast into hell and given the punishments they deserved.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 109 : Verse 5

Verse 5

The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.

Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum : Tu es sacerdos in æternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech

He passes now from royal to priestly dignity, and he shows Christ is the eternal priest, not as a successor to Aaron, but ordained immediately by God, and for whom Melchisedech’s priesthood was a type. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: God’s sworn oath is a guarantee of the promise which he announces when he adds: “and he will not repent,” that is, He has decreed it most firmly, never to be altered: David signifies by these words that that Aaron’s priesthood would be changed, but that Christ’s priesthood would never be changed. God’s repentance is expressed by metaphor, when He does what men do when they repent for things done; for what makes them repent changes, as God says in Gen. vi : “I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, ... for it repenteth me that I have made them;”[1] etc.And in I Kings xv: “It repenteth me that I have made Saul king.”[2]  Thou art a priest for ever: these words are spoken by God, not by David: for the Apostle in Hebrews v says repeats these are 

the words of the Father to the Son; Christ is said to be a priest forever firstly, because the effect of the one sacrifice by which he offered His body on the cross, continues forever, as the Apostle says in Hebrews x: “For by one oblation he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified;”[3] secondly, because He, living forever, offers sacrifice daily through the hands of ministers succeeding one another in the Church, which the Apostle confirms in Hebrews vii, saying: “And the others indeed were made many priests, because by reason of death they were not suffered to continue: But this, for that he continueth for ever, hath an everlasting priesthood.”[4] According to the order of Melchisedech: by order is understood rite, law, tradition, custom: this is what the Hebrew word signifies; the order of Melchisedech is however to be distinguished from the order of Aaron in 

many ways: firstly, it is not written that Melchisedech succeeded anyone nor was he succeeded by any other; for it is said “Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life,”as Hebr. Vii says.[5] In Aaron’s priesthood, however, each priest by dying handed on the priesthood to his sons.  Secondly, Melchisedech was a priest and a king; Aaron was simply a priest. Thirdly, Melchisedech offered bread and wine; Aaron sheep and oxen. Fourthly, Melchisedech was a universal priest, not a priest for only one nation; Aaron was a priest for the Hebrews alone. Fifthly, Melchisedech needed neither tabernacle nor temple for sacrifice; Aaron did, and hence the sacrifice has ceased among the Hebrews to this day, because the temple has been cast down. Christ is therefore a priest according to the order of Melchisedech, because in truth He succeeded no-one and no-one succeeded Him in the supreme dignity of the eternal priesthood; and He in truth properly speaking has no father insofar as He is man and no mother insofar as He is God; the same Christ is king and priest, and He offered bread and wine at the last supper, that is, His body under the appearance of bread and His blood under the appearance of wine, and He is not a priest for the Hebrews alone but for the Hebrews and the gentiles; nor is His priesthood confined to one temple or one tabernacle, but, as Malachias foretold in chapter I: “For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, ... and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation.”[6]From these texts the heresy is openly refuted of the Lutherans who deny that the true sacrifice may properly be said to be clearly seen in the Church of God; let the Lutherans, if they can, show how the prophecy might be fulfilled of a priesthood according to the order of Melchisedech instituted with nothing changing.

[1] He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them. Delebo, inquit, hominem, quem creavi, a facie terrae, ab homine usque ad animantia, a reptili usque ad volucres caeli : poenitet enim me fecisse eos. [Gen. vi. 7]

[2] It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my commandments. And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night. Poenitet me quod constituerim Saul regem : quia dereliquit me et verba mea opere non implevit. Contristatusque est Samuel, et clamavit ad Dominum tota nocte. [ Kings xv. 11]

[3] For by one oblation he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified. Una enim oblatione, consummavit in sempiternum sanctificatos. [Hebr. x. 14]

[4] And the others indeed were made many priests, because by reason of death they were not suffered to continue: But this, for that he continueth for ever, hath an everlasting priesthood, Et alii quidem plures facti sunt sacerdotes, idcirco quod morte prohiberentur permanere : hic autem eo quod maneat in aeternum, sempiternum habet sacerdotium. [Hebr. vii. 23-24]

[5] Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but likened unto the Son of God, continueth a priest for ever. sine patre, sine matre, sine genealogia, neque initium dierum, neque finem vitae habens, assimilatus autem Filio Dei, manet sacerdos in perpetuum. [Hebr. vii. 3]

[6] For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation: for my name is great among the Gentiles, saith the Lord of hosts. Ab ortu enim solis usque ad occasum, magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, et in omni loco sacrificatur : et offertur nomini meo oblatio munda, quia magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, dicit Dominus exercituum. [Malach. i. 11]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 109 : Verse 4

Verse 4

With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength: in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot thee.

Tecum principium in die virtutis tuae in splendoribus sanctorum; ex utero, ante luciferum, genui te.

He said: “Rule thou in the midst of thy enemies,” which refers to that time when the kingdom of Christ is under attack from His enemies: he now announces what it will be like at the last day, when all His enemies will have been subdued and made His footstool. “With thee,” he says, “is the principality in the day of thy strength,” that is, Thy pre-eminence will be made manifest, Thy kingdom will be made apparent to all, and true authority will be with Thee alone. “In the day of thy strength,” namely in the last day, when Thy power shall move the heavens, obscure the sun, shake the earth, awaken the dead and lead all men before Thy tribunal. “In the brightness of the saints,” that is, when Thou wilt be surrounded by Thy saints, who will shine bright as the sun. “From the womb before the day star I begot thee,” that is, Thy pre-eminence will be so great because I, God the Father almighty, “begot thee,” not from nothing like all other created things, but “from the womb,” my womb, as my true son, natural and consubstantial; “ before the day star,” that is, before I created the stars, before every created thing, before all ages. This explanation is common to the Fathers, Jerome, Chrysostom, Augustine, Theodoret and Euthymius. But let’s focus on each word in turn. Tecum / with thee: St. Jerome translates the Hebrew as populus tuus / thy people.  Now the Hebrew can be read as

hhammecha, meaning  populus tuus / thy people; but also as hhimmecha, meaning tecum / with thee, and this is the Septuagint reading, and they rightly translate it thus. Principium / principality[1] is translated from a Hebrew word which properly means principes / princes, rulers; but the Septuagint seems to have read it as principatus / pre-eminence, and this is the explanation of St, Chrysostom in this context of the Greek word ἀρχἠ, which can mean both principium / beginning and principatum / pre-eminence, principality. If it is decided not to read principium for principatu, but simply for principio, we can explain the meaning as follows: Tecum principium / with thee is the principality, that is, the first beginning of all things, because Thou art in the 

Father and the Father is in Thee. But the first explanation seems preferable, as agreeing more with the Hebrew. In the day of thy strength: there is no disagreement in the codices about these words, except that in Hebrew virtutem properly refers to power and might. In the brightness of the saints: in Hebrew, this reads as in the mountains of holiness. But the Septuagint translators read the Hebrew characters as referring not to mountains but to splendour(s), brightness. It amounts to the same, in the brightness of holiness, in the brightness of saints, holy men may be said to be the splendours or brightness of holiness, because holiness shines resplendent in them.  From the womb: from these words, the 

Holy Fathers prove most efficaciously the divinity of Christ: for if Christ were a creature, He could not be said to have been born from the womb: for nobody says a house is born from the womb, nor a bench, nor anything manufactured: nor does God ever say the heavens or the earth were born of the womb. By womb is to be understood the secret and intimate essence of God; and although the womb pertains properly to a mother and not a father, God the Father is correctly said to have given birth from the womb, so that the Son is shown more clearly to be consubstantial with the Father (who begot Him): for a son is more clearly from the substance of the mother than of the father; but God had no need of a wife in order to beget and give birth to a son. He Himself begot, and He gave birth, hence Isaiah says: “Shall not I 

that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth?”[2]  Before the day star: here is signified the eternity of the Son, who was begotten before the creation of the day star, and for this reason, before all created things. But he uses the expression the day star since the Son of God is Himself the increate light-bearer.  For He is the true light, which enlighteneth every man and every angel.[3] St. Jerome translates the Hebrew word here as from the dawn. But it can also be translated as before the dawn. The Septuagint translators opted for the reading luciferum / day star instead of dawn, whether because the day star rises with the dawn, or because dawn itself is the lucifer, the bringer of light; St. Jerome translates Job xi 12 as orieris ut lucifer /thou shalt rise as the day star, where the Hebrew says in the morning; and so luciferum can be read as meaning the morning or dawn. I begot thee: in Hebrew this is now read as to thee the dew of thy nativity. But the Septuagint translators did not have the two words tibi ros / to thee the dew, and they read the words of thy nativity as meaning I begot thee, because the Hebrew word can be read both ways by changing the points, either as of thy nativity or as I begot thee. It is also possible that the Septuagint translators read to thee the dew of thy nativity but that they wanted to clarify these obscure words and so they said, I begot thee. For those words are obscure: from the womb before the day star to thee the dew of thy nativity, that is, from the womb before the day star thy nativity was from me, as the dew is from heaven. St. Augustine adds another explanation, namely David is referring to Christ according to the flesh: I begot thee from the womb of the Virgin Mary, my daughter, before the day star rose, that is, in the middle of the night. Tertullian also speaks of the Virgin giving birth in book V of in Marcionem, but he attributes to God the words I begot thee, as follows: I, God the Father, begot thee from the womb of the Virgin, in the time of night, before the day star arose.

[1] From the complete OED: The position, rank, or dignity of a prince or chief ruler; royal dominion or sovereignty; supreme authority. Obsolete.The quality, condition, or fact of being principal; chief place or rank; pre-eminence, superiority. Now rare.

[2] Shall not I that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth, saith the Lord? shall I, that give generation to others, be barren, saith the Lord thy God? Numquid ego qui alios parere facio, ipse non pariam? dicit Dominus. Si ego, qui generationem ceteris tribuo, sterilis ero? ait Dominus Deus tuus. [Isaia. Lxvi 9]

[3] That was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh into this world. Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. [John i. 9]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 109 : Verse 3

 Verse 3

The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thy enemies.

Virgam virtutis tuae emittet Dominus ex Sion : dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum.

The prophet David, since he has heard in spirit the Father talking to the Son, and saying: “Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool,” he now turns his attention to the Son, and he shows, through revelation in the same spirit, how the spreading of Christ’s kingdom on earth would be commenced. “ The Lord,” he says, “will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion,” that is, the Lord Father, so as to make thy enemies thy footstool, will begin to extend the sceptre of thy royal power out of the city of Jerusalem and to spread it from Mount Sion itself to the corners of the earth. The word of the Lord in Luke xxiv agrees with this: “It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, the third day: And that penance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem;”[1] and in Acts I: “you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth.”[2] Virga / rod here means sceptre, and by sceptre is understood royal power: by power is signified strength and might, as is more clearly evident in the original script. And so the rod of strength is the sceptre of power; this rod is said to be sent out from Sion, as though growing out of that mountain, since Christ’s spiritual reign began in Jerusalem; for there were the first believers, and there began the propagation of the faith through the Apostles. “Rule thou in the midst of thy enemies,” is like a happy acclamation and exhortation to spread His rule over all peoples, as though he were to say: Therefore go forth happily, bear the banner of Thy cross into the midst of the pagans and the Jews, where Thy enemies are most densely packed, and rule there in their midst, that is, set up Thy kingdom among the unwilling and those who are opposed to Thee. This indeed we see accomplished in a short time: for within a few years, despite the reluctance of the Jews and pagans, Christ’s churches were established throughout the whole world. The Apostle writes to the Colossians: “The gospel is in the whole world, and bringeth forth fruit and groweth;”[3] and St. Irenæus writing close to the times of the Apostles, says in Book I chapter ii: The Church has been spread all over the world to its remotest corners; and in chapter iii he recalls the Churches of Germany, Spain, Libya, Egypt, France, the East and those in the middle of the world, by which he understands the Churches of Greece and Italy. The Psalm rightly says, “in the midst of thy enemies,” because however much the Church is spread and grows, she will always be in the midst of enemies, that is, pagans, heretics and false Christians, for so long as she journeys on earth. But at the end of the world, there will be a separation of the good from the wicked, and Christ’s kingdom will be in the midst of His enemies  no more, but will rise above and be exalted over all His enemies.

[1] And he said to them: Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, the third day: And that penance and remission of sins should be preached in his name, unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. et dixit eis : Quoniam sic scriptum est, et sic oportebat Christum pati, et resurgere a mortuis tertia die : et praedicari in nomine ejus poenitentiam, et remissionem peccatorum in omnes gentes, incipientibus ab Jerosolyma. [Luke xxiv 46-47]

[2] But you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part of the earth. sed accipietis virtutem supervenientis Spiritus Sancti in vos, et eritis mihi testes in Jerusalem, et in omni Judaea, et Samaria, et usque ad ultimum terrae. [Acts I 8]

[3] For the hope that is laid up for you in heaven, which you have heard in the word of the truth of the gospel, Which is come unto you, as also it is in the whole world, and bringeth forth fruit and groweth, even as it doth in you, since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. propter spem, quae reposita est vobis in caelis : quam audistis in verbo veritatis Evangelii : quod pervenit ad vos, sicut et in universo mundo est, et fructificat, et crescit sicut in vobis, ex ea die, qua audistis, et cognovistis gratiam Dei in veritate. [Coloos. I 5-6]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 109 : Verse 2

Verse 2

Until I make thy enemies thy footstool.

donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum. 

These words form part of the first verse, according to the Hebrews, following the divisions of the Rabbis; but the Septuagint translators, who preceded all the Rabbis, concluded this ought to be the beginning of a new verse. The prophet signifies by these words that Christ’s kingdom is never to end, nor is there any danger that it will be overturned by its enemies, since God has decided to subject them gradually to Himself, so that Christ may reign peacefully thereafter for ever. The word until does not mean that Christ’s enthronement will not extend any further once all His enemies have been subdued, but it signifies that Christ’s kingdom will be spread more and more, until not a single enemy will remain who does not bend the knee before Him, as though He were to say: Continue ruling with me and do not cease to spread the kingdom until all enemies are subdued. Indeed, this extension is being fulfilled daily, while some are converted to the faith and obedience, and willingly subject themselves beneath Christ’s feet, so that He may rest on them as though on a footstool and, their exile over, they may hasten on to the heavenly home where they will rest happily in God; others are either perverted or persist in perverseness, and finally through death they are taken to judgement and damned, they are thrust down into hell, where they are trampled in eternity under Christ’s feet. At the last day, the extension (of the kingdom) will be completed, and then every knee shall bow before Christ, in heaven, on earth and in hell. So why is it the Father who says: “Until I make”? Does not the Son also make His enemies His footstool?  Everything done by the Father is also done by the Son, as He Himself asserts; but this action is attributed to the Father because through it the obedience of the Son is rewarded, as we heard in the Apostle’s words a little earlier: “For which cause God also hath exalted him.”[1] Now every action which pertains to power is wont to be attributed to the Father, even though it is held in common with the Son, since it is communicated by the Father to the Son, not by the Son to the Father, and to the Son, as he is God, it is communicated by generation; to the same Son, insofar as He is man, it is communicated through the grace of the hypostatic union.  The way the Son co-operates with the father in this action of subduing their common enemies is set out in the next verse.

[1] For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: Propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum, et donavit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen : [Philip. ii. 9] 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 109 : Verse 1

Verse 1

The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: 

Dixit Dominus Domino meo : Sede a dextris meis, 

David saw the Messiah in spirit, after His death and resurrection, ascending into heaven, and he repeats for us the words of God the Father to His Son, by which he invites Him to sit beside Him and reign with Him. “He said,” the Hebrew has neum, which properly means dictum / word, and read with the following noun, so that it can be translated: the word of the Lord to my Lord. But the sense is the same, and with the grace of clarity the Septuagint translation is, “The Lord said.” Now although dixit / he said is in the perfect tense, and this had not come to pass in David’s day, David properly employs the perfect tense because he saw a future event in the past. Dominus / the Lord is in Hebrew a word of four letters which properly belongs to God alone; that which is pronounced by moderns as Iehova was not wont to be pronounced by the ancients; but in its place was pronounced another name, which means Dominus / the Lord. And so the Septuagint translators, whenever they came across this proper name proper to God translated it as Κὑρος, that is, Lord, of which we wrote in connection with the grammar of the first verse of Ps. XXXIII. “To my Lord,” in Hebrew is ladoni, which properly signifies to my Lord; now the Rabbis understand by Lord in this context a reference to Abraham, as St. Jerome notes in his commentary on Matthew Ch. xxii; or

to  Ezechias, as Justin notes in Dialogue against Trypho, and Tertullian in book v of On Marcion: but it is quite certain that in this context the Lord refers to no-one unless to the Messiah, who was a son of David according to the flesh, and David’s Lord according to His divinity: the whole Psalm announces this, since neither Abraham nor Ezechias would be seated at the right hand of God, nor were been begotten before the day star, nor were priests according to the order of Melchisedech. When the Jews, asked by Christ in Matth xxii, how David in spirit could call the Messiah his Lord, they did not dare to deny the Psalm should be understood as being about the Messiah. The fact that the name proper to God is not repeated in this text is not a reason for saying the Son is not true God, as the Arian heretics claimed, but means that here it is not simply the Son of God who is being spoken of, but the incarnate Son of God. The incarnate Son of God is in the Scriptures always called the Lord, and God His Father, when they are both named; the reason for this is that the name the Lord is fitting for the Son according to either of His natures, but the title of God is not fitting except by reason of His divine nature. And so if in this context the same name were used for the Father and the Son, we might think that these things were being said of the Son only in so far as He is God. Now the 

incarnate Son of God, who is also called Christ, is in the Scriptures always called the Lord and His Father is God, which is clear from I Cor. Vii: “ One God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ;”[1] and in II Cor. i: “Grace unto you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ;”[2] and in the Gospels themselves, and in the Acts of the Apostles, and in the Epistles of the Apostles, whenever Christ is said to be the Lord, He is hardly ever in one or other of these contexts said to be God, because, as we have said, the name God befits Christ only in His divine nature, but the name of the Lord, is appropriate in respect of either of His natures. Hence, in the Creed we say: “I believe in God, the Father almighty, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, Our Lord.” “Sit thou at my 

right hand.” The condition of being seated chiefly denotes a royal peace and authority; Christ’s being seated is ineffable peace, and supreme royal power. The words at my right hand signify an equality and partnership in the reign of God over all creatures. The Son of God always had this equality by reason of His divine nature, but He was raised up to it in His human nature after His humiliation unto death, even to death of the cross.[1]  For the Apostle speaks thus in Philip. ii: “For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”[4] For it is the same thing to be at the right hand of God and in the glory of God, that is, in the majesty of God; this is glory, that He has a name above all other names, and that in it every knee should bow; and the Apostle says the same in I Cor. xv: “ For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet,”[5] where the Apostle explains the words, Sit thou at my right hand, as being the same as reign with me, until I put, etc. The same also in Hebr. I: “ But to which of the angels said he at any time: Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister?”[6] Here, to sit at the right hand of God signifies a difference between Christ and the angels, for the latter are ministering spirits and servants, and so they are not seated but are sent to minister: whereas Christ, as King and Lord, sits with the Father, superior to all creatures. Finally, St. Peter says in Acts ii : "Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this which you see and hear. For David ascended not into heaven; but he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy enemies thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified.”[7] Here, St. Peter teaches, to sit at the right hand of God is to have ascended into heaven, to be Lord and to reign everywhere God is Lord and reigns.

[1] Yet to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. nobis tamen unus est Deus, Pater, ex quo omnia, et nos in illum : et unus Dominus Jesus Christus, per quem omnia, et nos per ipsum. [I Cor. viii. 6]

[2] Grace unto you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Gratia vobis, et pax a Deo Patre nostro, et Domino Jesu Christo. [ II Cor. i. 2]

[3] Philipp. ii.8

[4] For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. Propter quod et Deus exaltavit illum, et donavit illi nomen, quod est super omne nomen : ut in nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur caelestium, terrestrium et infernorum, et omnis lingua confiteatur, quia Dominus Jesus Christus in gloria est Dei Patris. [Philipp. ii. 9-11]

[5] For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet. Oportet autem illum regnare donec ponat omnes inimicos sub pedibus ejus. [I Cor. xv. 25]

[6] But to which of the angels said he at any time: Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?  Ad quem autem angelorum dixit aliquando : Sede a dextris meis, quoadusque ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum?  Nonne omnes sunt administratorii spiritus, in ministerium missi propter eos, qui haereditatem capient salutis?  [Hebr. I. 13]

[7] Being exalted therefore by the right hand of God, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath poured forth this which you see and hear.For David ascended not into heaven; but he himself said: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy enemies thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know most certainly, that God hath made both Lord and Christ, this same Jesus, whom you have crucified. 33] Dextera igitur Dei exaltatus, et promissione Spiritus Sancti accepta a Patre, effudit hunc, quem vos videtis, et auditis. [34] Non enim David ascendit in caelum : dixit autem ipse : Dixit Dominus Domino meo : Sede a dextris meis [35] donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum. [36] Certissime sciat ergo omnis domus Israel, quia et Dominum eum, et Christum fecit Deus, hunc Jesum, quem vos crucifixistis. [Acts. ii. 33-36]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 109 : Title and theme

Title and subject matter

Titulus et argumentum

A Psalm of David

Psalmus David.

This Psalm is very famous, both for the greatness of its mysteries and for the obscurity of its wording. But although the unseeing and confused Jews have invented much gossip about it, yet among the Christians there is no doubt that this Psalm is to be understood as being about Christ’s reign and priesthood, as the Holy Spirit makes clear in many places of Scripture: Matth. xxii, Acts ii, I Corinth, xv, Hebrews i, v, vii & x.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 99 : Verses 4-5 (conclusion)

Verse 4

We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Go ye into his gates with praise, into his courts with hymns: and give glory to him.

Populus ejus, et oves pascuae ejus. Introite portas ejus in confessione, atria ejus in hymnis; confitemini illi. 

The Prophet recalls another gift from God, on account of which it is right that we should render unto Him our acknowledgement with praise: for He not only made us but He also rules us and feeds us. “We are his people,” that is, a people whom God rules with His special providence; “and the sheep of his pasture,” that is, we are like sheep  endowed with reason whom He refreshes in His pastures with the nourishment of His teaching, and whom He also feeds with food for the body;  “Go ye into the gates” of His house, or His tabernacle, “with praise,” and “into his courts with hymns,” and “and give glory to him,” you owe everything to Him : and you have received all good things from His hand.

Verse 5

Praise ye his name: For the Lord is sweet, his mercy endureth for ever, and his truth to generation and generation.

Laudate nomen ejus, quoniam suavis est Dominus; in aeternum misericordia ejus, et usque in generationem et generationem veritas ejus. 

The Prophet adds three qualities of God as reasons why He is worthy to be praised by all men, because he is sweet, because He is merciful and because he is truthful; and these three are connected in such a way that each one emerges from the others. “The Lord is sweet,” and because He is sweet, he readily shows mercy: because He is merciful, He promises deliverance (from sin and its consequences); because he is truthful, He fulfils His promises. “Praise ye his name,” he says, that is, praise God; for a noun is often used in Scripture to represent the thing named. “Praise ye his name,” note, “for the Lord is sweet.” A wonderful quality of the almighty and tremendous majesty that dwells in light inaccessible, and is terrible above all gods, and takes away the spirit of princes, and of whom the Apostle says in Hebrews x: “ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God;”[1] and yet it is said, most truthfully, “For the Lord is sweet,” and this is not the only place in the Psalms or in divine Scripture where this is said. Psalm XXXIV: “O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet:”[2] Ps. LXXXIII: “For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy.”[3] I Peter ii: “If so be you have tasted that the Lord is sweet.”[4] II Cor. i: “the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort.”[5] But these two qualities, which seem contrary to each other, are easily reconciled: for God is sweet to the upright in heart who fear Him; but He is rough and terrible to the crooked in heart who despise Him. “How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart!” says David in Ps. LXXII.[6] For what is smooth and level seems rough to the crooked in heart, because they cannot be joined together. Now they are crooked or wicked of heart who do not wish to be conformed to the most upright divine will; for they are despisers, and this it is said Ps. CII : “As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him:...But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him;”[7] in her canticle, the Virgin Mother of God says this: “And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him.”[8] And so if anyone will begin to direct his heart and conform it to pleasing God’s will, and to fear nothing more than offending God, he will soon begin to taste how sweet the Lord is: and in him will be fulfilled what follows: “his mercy endureth for ever, and his truth to generation and generation.”

[1] It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Horrendum est incidere in manus Dei viventis. [Hebr. x. 31]

[2] O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him. Gustate, et videte quoniam suavis est Dominus; beatus vir qui sperat in eo. [Ps. XXXIII 9]

[3] For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee. Quoniam tu, Domine, suavis et mitis, et multae misericordiae omnibus invocantibus te.[Ps. LXXXV 5]

[4] If so be you have tasted that the Lord is sweet. si tamen gustastis quoniam dulcis est Dominus. [I Petr ii. 3]

[5] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort. Benedictus Deus et Pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Pater misericordiarum, et Deus totius consolationis, [II Cor. i 3]

[6] A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart! Psalmus Asaph. Quam bonus Israel Deus, his qui recto sunt corde! [Ps. LXXII 1]

[7] As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him: Quomodo miseretur pater filiorum, misertus est Dominus timentibus se. [17] But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him: And his justice unto children's children, Misericordia autem Domini ab aeterno, et usque in aeternum super timentes eum. Et justitia illius in filios filiorum,  [Ps. CII 13 & 17]

[8] And his mercy is from generation unto generations, to them that fear him. et misericordia ejus a progenie in progenies timentibus eum. [Luke I. 50] 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 99 : Verse 3

Verse 3

Know ye that the Lord he is God: he made us, and not we ourselves.

Scitote quoniam Dominus ipse est Deus; ipse fecit nos, et non ipsi nos;

For the rousing up of the devotion which is needed in God’s house, nothing avails more than an attentive consideration of God’s greatness and His gifts. “Know ye,” he says, “that the Lord he is God,” that is, consider and with attentive reflection learn that the Lord, whom you worship, and to whom you come to offer prayer and praise, He is true God, than whom nothing greater or better can be imagined. He is also the one to whom you owe your life and all that you are. “He made us, and not we ourselves,” that is, we have no other efficient principle  than God Himself: for although parents beget children, yet the first cause, without which the parents effect nothing, is God. How many there are who want children and cannot have any? How many who, on the contrary, want to satisfy their lust without having children, to whom, unsought, children are born? The mother of the holy Machabees said to her sons: “I know not how you were formed in my womb: for I neither gave you breath, nor

soul, nor life, neither did I frame the limbs of every one of you. But the Creator of the world, that formed the nativity of man, and that found out the origin of all.”[1] St. Jerome translates the Hebrew as ipse fecit nos, et ipsius / He made us, and we (are) His. But he appears to have corrupted the text; for our codices have lo through aleph which means non / not ;  and the Septuagint translators read it thus, translating the words as: He made us, and not we ourselves. St. Jerome seems to have read the Hebrew through vau, as meaning of Him / His, which is the dative of ipse; and so he translates it as ipse fecit nos, et ipsius / He made us, and we (are) His. A recent author has questioned the Vulgate edition, saying someone learned has joined together in the Latin codex two Hebrew readings,making: And not we ourselves, and thus has confused everything; but he questions without good cause this reading, which is the best, and which is that of St. Augustine and St. Jerome himself in his Commentary on this text, and almost all others. The Latin translator added the word ipsi /ourselves in order to avoid the cacophony produced by Ipse fecit nos et non nos;  and they do not read ipsi in the dative but in the nominative. And so the learned man did not join together two readings, but the Translator expressed one, which he found in the Greek, which was in accord with the more correct Hebrew. But, some say, no-one knows that he was not made by himself, since he was not then (in being), because the Holy Spirit warns us, saying: “He made us, and not we ourselves.” I reply, even if no-one can be unaware that he is not the author of his own life: yet there are many who do not consider by whom they may have been made, and who so act as if they had neither God nor any other author, hence it was most useful that men should be warned to think seriously about the fact that they are not the authors of their own life, but that they owe life and everything to the one God.

[1] She said to them: I know not how you were formed in my womb: for I neither gave you breath, nor soul, nor life, neither did I frame the limbs of every one of you. But the Creator of the world, that formed the nativity of man, and that found out the origin of all, he will restore to you again in his mercy, both breath and life, as now you despise yourselves for the sake of his laws.  dixit ad eos : Nescio qualiter in utero meo apparuistis : neque enim ego spiritum et animam donavi vobis et vitam, et singulorum membra non ego ipsa compegi, [23] sed enim mundi Creator, qui formavit hominis nativitatem, quique omnium invenit originem, et spiritum vobis iterum cum misericordia reddet et vitam, sicut nunc vosmetipsos despicitis propter leges ejus.  [II Machab. vii. 22-23]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 99 : Verse 2

Verse 2

Come in before his presence with exceeding great joy.

Introite in conspectu ejus in exsultatione.

Indeed, we ought to praise God everywhere, but especially when we enter into His house, which is a house of prayer, where we see God Himself in sacred things, and where he, by a special providence, sees and hears us, as is written in II Paral. vii: “My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place.”[1] And for that reason the propher accordingly admonishes them: “Come in before his presence,” into the house of God, where you shall see God in a special way, and God shall see you; but enter in with exceeding great joy of heart, with a sould upright and on fire with love, so that God may see you rejoicing on account of your desire for Him.

[1] My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place. Oculi quoque mei erunt aperti, et aures meae erectae ad orationem ejus, qui in loco isto oraverit. [II Paralip. Vii. 15]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 99 : Title, theme and verse 1

Title and subject matter

Titulus et argumentum

A psalm of praise.

Psalmus in confessione.

To this title, which is in the Hebrew codices, the Greeks add the words of David. The subject matter is revealed in the title, for the Prophet is urging the people of God to make a frequent and diligent profession of their praising for God, firstly because God created us, next because He feeds us, next because His recollection is most sweet, and His mercy and faithfulness to us has no end.

Verse 1

Sing joyfully to God, all the earth: serve ye the Lord with gladness.

Jubilate Deo, omnis terra; servite Domino in laetitia.

To sing joyfully, as we have often said, is to sing with a loud and joyful voice; to serve in gladness is to be obedient, not through fear, but through love. “Sing joyfully to God, all the earth,” that is, all ye who truly worship God, wheresoever in the whole world ye may be, praise ye the Lord: there are good and bad men in the whole world, for cockles are mixed in with the wheat, and thorns with the lilies. And just as in the world the wicked blaspheme and murmur against God, when something happens not in accord with their wishes; so it is right that the good in the world should praise and bless the Lord whatever may befall them: “to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints.” according to the witness of Bl Paul in Romans viii.[1]  “Serve ye the Lord with gladness,”  that is, serve by obeying God not under compulsion but willingly, not with bitterness like slaves, but with joy, like free men: for, as St. Augustine says most beautifully: Truth hath set us free, but love hath enslaved us: and he who serves from love, serves with joy. In truth, the principal reason why God is to be served with gladness is this, because the highest of His commandments is love, and nothing is sweeter than love. It happens that servitude to God is beneficial to us but of no benefit to God; so that it may truly be said “To serve God is to rule.” 

[1] He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with his truth.  Judicabit orbem terrae in aequitate, et populos in veritate sua.[Ps. XCV. 13]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 97 : Verse 10 (conclusion)

Verse 10

He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with equity.

Judicabit orbem terrarum in justitia, et populos in aequitate.

This conclusion is the same as the one for Psalm 95,[1] except for the last word. For there it says “in truth,” but here it says “with equity,” and by equity is here understood straightness or rectitude, as the Hebrew word indicates, and it is a repetition or amplification of the word justice. For what he said with the words “in justice,” he repeats and amplifies when he says “with equity,” or rectitude: in the same way as when he said “the world,” he repeats and amplifies it when he says “the people.”  And so the sense is: “He shall judge the world,” that is, all people, “with justice,” that is, with rectitude of judgement, in which nothing will be other than straight and level.

[1] He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with his truth.  Judicabit orbem terrae in aequitate, et populos in veritate sua.[Ps. XCV. 13]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 97 : Verse 9

Verse 9

The rivers shall clap their hands, the mountains shall rejoice together; at the presence of the Lord: because he cometh to judge the earth.

Flumina plaudent manu, simul montes exsultabunt a conspectu Domini, quoniam venit judicare terram.

He has invited the sea and the earth: he now calls on the rivers and mountains, so that they likewise may bring forth expressions of joy, but he says concerning the sea, “ Let the sea be moved,” which translates from the Hebrew as let the sea thunder, that is, with a great roaring like thunder; he says of the rivers: “The rivers shall clap their hands,” because the sound of river waters is much lighter than the roaring of the sea; hence he quite properly compares the one to thunder and the other to clapping hands. Where he says “ the mountains shall rejoice,” the Hebrew has the mountains shall offer up their praise; but all these things are said figuratively, and whether the mountains are said to rejoice or to offer praise, the meaning remains the same, namely the prophet, from his love and yearning for the coming Messiah, wants all created things to rejoice and offer praise as best they can. The clause because he cometh to judge the earth may refer to the first or the second coming, as we explained in the commentary on Psalm XCV. If it refers to the first coming, the sense will be: “Let the earth and the sea, the mountains and the rivers, rejoice and be glad, for the Lord is coming in judgement,” that is, to rule and govern with the best and most just laws the whole world, not only as formerly in the majesty of divinity invisible, but now in a form physical and visible, “being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man,”as it says in Philipp. ii.[1]  If it refers to the second coming, the sense will be: “Let the earth and the sea, the mountains and the rivers, rejoice, for the Lord is coming to judge the world,” and he will drive out all sinners from the earth and he will renew all the elements, “and He will deliver them (created things) from the servitude of corruption, under which they groan and travail in pain,” as the Apostle says in Romans viii.[2]

[1] But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. sed semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens, in similitudinem hominum factus, et habitu inventus ut homo. [Philipp. ii. 7]

[2] Because the creature also itself shall be delivered from the servitude of corruption, into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that every creature groaneth and travaileth in pain, even till now. quia et ipsa creatura liberabitur a servitute corruptionis in libertatem gloriae filiorum Dei. Scimus enim quod omnis creatura ingemiscit, et parturit usque adhuc. [Rom. Viii. 21-22]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.