Bellarmine on Psalm 2 : Verse 6

 Verse 6

But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.

Ego autem constitutus sum rex ab eo super Sion, montem sanctum ejus, praedicans praeceptum ejus.

At this point, something must be said about the words used, before we come tot the sense. In Hebrew, it has: But I ordained my King over Sion, my holy mountain. Although it matters little from the point of view of meaning, whether he says God the Father says He ordained Christ as King or Son says that He was ordained by the Father, yet it is very probable that the Septuagint translators read this slightly differently than how we now read it. [Bellarmine analyses the Hebrew vocabulary and then continues:] 

…….

Let us now come to the meaning. The prophet had said theat Christ’s enemies would be in an uproar, and he uttered the following words: “Let us break their bonds asunder” etc. Now he introduces Christ himself speaking and responding to them, as though to say: the nations and peoples, indeed the kings and the princes say: “Let us break their bonds asunder; truly, God shall laugh at them and Christ Himself shall respond to them : I am ordained King not by men but by God, and therefore I do not fear the threats of men; I am ordained King over Sion, His holy mountain, that is, over the Church, which is a city built on a mountain, of which Jerusalem was a type, the chief part of which, and the most beloved and sanctified of God, was Sion, as Psalm LXXXVI says: The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

 

Bellarmine on Psalm 2 : Verse 5

Verse 5

Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage.

Tunc loquetur ad eos in ira sua, et in furore suo conturbabit eos.

He now explains the way in which Christ’s persecutors will be ridiculed, for He spoke to them not with words but with scourges, admonishing them with most grievous punishments, as when Herod was struck by the Angel,1] when Maximinus was eaten by worms and other cases. It is not strictly speaking (a case of of) anger or fury in God, because he always judges in tranquillity : but He is said to be angry and furious by way of metaphor, when He punishes severely, especially when the punishment does not advance them to eternal salvation; for thus are those wont to do who are angry and furious  and do not, like physicians, inflict pain in order to heal but who hurt for the sake of it. And so David says: “Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath.”[1] He asks to be rebuked and chastised as a father would, not an enemy; for his salvation and not for his destruction.

[1] And upon a day appointed, Herod being arrayed in kingly apparel, sat in the judgment seat, and made an oration to them. And the people made acclamation, saying: It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And forthwith an angel of the Lord struck him, because he had not given the honour to God: and being eaten up by worms, he gave up the ghost. Statuto autem die Herodes vestitus veste regia, sedit pro tribunali, et concionabatur ad eos. Populus autem acclamabat : Dei voces, et non hominis. Confestim autem percussit eum angelus Domini, eo quod non dedisset honorem Deo : et consumptus a vermibus, expiravit. [Acts xii 21-23]

[2]  Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath. Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me; [Ps xxxii 2]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 2 : Verse 4

Verse 4

He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them.

Qui habitat in caelis irridebit eos, et Dominus subsannabit eos.

Here the prophet demonstrates that the Princes and peoples worked in vain hen attacking the Religion of Christ, which he said at the beginning[of the Psalm]. For the religion of Christ is from God and no-one can resist God. Rightly he says: “He that dwelleth in heaven,” so that he may show God is above all and comprehends all things, meaning that He can without any trouble dissolve all their counsels and take down all their plans. When the prophet says that the Lord shall laugh at them and deride them, he means that by signs and miracles, through the suffering of the Martyrs, through the conversion of nations and peoples, and through other means known to God alone, they will be so confounded that will be for all an object of laughter and derision. This we see fulfilled. For the priesthood of the Jews and the idol-worshippers is ridiculed by all. For the Jews and Gentiles have neither temples nor sacrifices; and the kings of the Gentiles who persecuted the Church have all perished miserably.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.