Bellarmine on Psalm 2 : Verse 7 (Part 2)

Verse 7 (Part 2)

The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee.

Dominus dixit ad me : Filius meus es tu; ego hodie genui te.

the word genui, as does the Hebrew ialad, which properly speaking means parere / to bring forth. For God has no need of a mother’s co-operation for the eternal generation, but He Himself generated and brought forth His only-begotten Son, as Psalm CIX says: “From the womb before the day star I begot thee.” The next explanation relates to the Lord’s resurrection, which may be gathered from the same Apostle in Acts XIII, where we read : “ And we declare unto you, that the promise which was made to our fathers, This same God hath fulfilled to our children, raising up Jesus, as in the second psalm also is written: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.”[1] And these words fit best with the Lord’s 

resurrection, as we have it in Matth. xix:“In the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit”;1  for the resurrection of Christ was by God alone, and in Coloss I, He Himself is called “the firstborn from the dead”; finally, because in the day of the resurrection, there begins the glorious exaltation of Christ, and the showing forth of that name which is above all names, see Philip. ii : “For which cause God also hath exalted him;” and the Lord Himself says in the last chapter of Matthew: “All power is given to me in heaven and in earth,” and this is the interpretation of Hilary and Chrysostom. The third explanation relates to the Lord’s birthday according to the flesh, which is found in book II, chapter viii of St. Cyprian’s Contra Judæos and may also be inferred from the introit of the night mass for the Nativity. For the Church applies the words of this Psalm to the mystery of the birth according to the flesh, for that generation was a singular work of God, as the angel Gabriel said: “And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”[2] The Holy Fathers interpret Isaiah’s words in chapter liii as referring not only to the divine generation but also to Christ’s human generation : “Who shall declare his generation?”[3] According to those Theologians who teach that in this sentence may be found several literal meanings, we read the sense of these words as: This day, that is, the day of eternity, I God generated Thee God; and this day, that is, in the day of Thy birth according to the flesh, I generated Thee, that is, I made Thee God to be man, without a man’s seed, without a mother’s corruption, without stain of sin; and again, today, that is, in the day of Thy resurrection, I generated Thee, that is, by my divine power, I made Thee return to a life immortal and glorious.

[1] Cf. And Jesus coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. Going therefore, teach ye all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Et accedens Jesus locutus est eis, dicens : Data est mihi omnis potestas in caelo et in terra : euntes ergo docete omnes gentes : baptizantes eos in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti: [Matt. xxviii 18-19]

[2] Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels hath he said at any time, Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee? tanto melior angelis effectus, quanto differentius prae illis nomen haereditavit. [5] Cui enim dixit aliquando angelorum : Filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te? [Hebr. I 4-5]

[3] And we declare unto you, that the promise which was made to our fathers, This same God hath fulfilled to our children, raising up Jesus, as in the second psalm also is written: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Et nos vobis annuntiamus eam, quae ad patres nostros repromissio facta est : quoniam hanc Deus adimplevit filiis nostris resuscitans Jesum, sicut et in Psalmo secundo scriptum est : Filius meus es tu, ego hodie genui te. [Acts xiii 32-33]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.