The Psalms are reproduced below in numerical order, with Bellarmine's commentaries in Latin and my translation.
8,
18,
23,
44,
45, 53, 62, 84, 86, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 109, 112, 116, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123,
124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 147, & 148.
Use the hyperlinked numbers to find each Psalm. [ ] Footnotes are not hyperlinked but may be found immediately after the relevant verse or verses.
Title and subject matter
Titulum et argumentum
Unto the end, for the presses: a psalm of David.
In finem, pro torcularibus. Psalmus David.
The word torcularibus[1] is in Hebrew haggihttith, which seems to signify nothing and so modern translators who read it thus say that it is a type of musical instrument unknown to us. But the Septuagint translators and St. Jerome read torcularibus as hagattoth which means wine (or olive) presses and we cannot doubt that this is the true reading. But what the words for the presses may mean is difficult to guess. Those who understand it to be a reference to the Church or to martyrdom or to the Cross of Christ, explain it in a figurative way. It is to be noted that these words for the presses are found in three psalms which chiefly pertain to the love of God, namely:
• this Psalm viii, which opens with such a great impulse of love: “O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens;”
• and in Psalm lxxx: which likewise urges spiritual exultation: “ Rejoice to God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob; take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel:[2] the pleasant psaltery[3] with the harp.”
• and finally in Psalm lxxxiii, which is filled with feeling of the most ardent divine love: “ How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.”
And so, based on the material of these Psalms, I believe it may be said they are for the presses because they are most suited to expressing[4] the wine of divine love from the hearts of men; or because they sing with gladness and joy in the heart, just like those who are wont to sing and rejoice at the time of the grape harvest when they express a huge quantity of wine from the presses. I confess however that I do not follow the understanding of this title like so many others; the theme of this Psalm is therefore praise of the power, the wisdom and the goodness of God, and chiefly in His dealings with the human race.
[1] torcŭlar, āris, n. torqueo. IA press used in making wine or oil, Vitr. 6, 9; Plin. 18, 26, 62, § 230.— IIA cellar for storing up oil, an oil-cellar.
[2] A musical instrument of percussion; a tambourine or the like that could be held up in the hand. Chiefly used (to render Hebrew tōph).
[3] After post-classical Latin psaltērium in the Vulgate, usually rendering Hebrew nēḇel , neḇel. An ancient or medieval stringed instrument with a sounding board or box, similar to the dulcimer but played by plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum.
[4] express: includes the sense of transitive verb: To press, squeeze, or wring out; to press (juice, air, etc.) from, out of (anything). spec. to press or squeeze out (milk or other secretion) from the breast.
Verse 1
O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth!
Domine, Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra!
From considering the greatness of God, the prophet is carried away in admiration that so great a God could do so much for man, who is of dust and ashes, that he deigned to visit him and shower him with so many great gifts.
Domine / O Lord in Hebrew means proper to God, being written with four letters and deriving from
esse / to be, as in “ I am who am,” and this is expressed by the moderns as
Iehova; but the Septuagint translators and St. Jerome, and even Christ and the Apostles, were not wont to utter this word, but said in its stead,
Domine / O Lord. Dominus noster / our Lord is given by a different expression in Hebrew,
Adonai, which properly means
Dominum / Lord. And so the sense is: God, who art the fountainhead of being, whence all things are derived that have being, and
our Lord, that is, Thou art the Lord of all things, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! That is, Thy glory, or the good fame of Thy name, is diffused across the whole of the earth, to the immense admiration of all people who take the time to consider it, as Isaias says in different words: “All the earth is full of his glory.”
[1] He says the name of God is admirable even though few are they who wonder at it because few are they who consider the works of God. But His name is most worthy of admiration because all created things constantly give praise to the Creator, as all beautiful works are said to give praise to the skill (of their creator). In this manner, the whole earth is full of the glory of God because whatever is on earth, even if if it seems to be the very least thing, shows forth the infinite power and wisdom of the Creator.
Verse 2
He gives a reason why God’s name is so admirable in the whole earth, because God’s magnificence is higher than the heavens, it is not contained by the heavens; it is so great that the whole world cannot contain it. “ His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise.”, says Habacuc in his Canticle.1 The extent of the magnificence of great princes is measured by their great expenditure, or the enormous palaces or cities that they build, or by the great size of their retinues, or by the complete armies they raise, or by the superabundant gifts they make to others. God, however, has built for His palace the whole earth and its roof is the sky. He has raised for His followers all the inhabitants thereof, who are without numberl; and finally, He has given to the holy Angels, who are countless, and He will give to the righteous among men His boundless kingdom, not a temporal but an eternal one. Truly therefore is His
magnificence of the greatest.Verse 3
Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger.
Ex ore infantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem propter inimicos tuos, ut destruas inimicum et ultorem.
He replies to a possible objection: if God’s glory fills the whole earth and His magnificence is above the heavens, why does everyone not know Him and praise Him? He replies that this may be because God does not deign to be known and praised by the proud, who presume upon their own strength; but by the humble and little ones, as it says in Matthew: “ I confess to thee, O Father, ... because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones.”
[1] From this, God’s glory and magnificence are greatly increased since He is not known save by those whom he chooses to know Him. But this verse may be understood in two ways. Firstly, by infants and sucklings are to be understood men, who in comparison with Angels really are like infants and sucklings, especially in their understanding of things divine
: therefore, he says, out of the mouths of mortal men Thou hast perfected praise, revealing to them Thy glory, “because of thy enemies,” that is, unto the confounding of the prideful Angels; “that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger,” that is, that Thou mayst confound the wisdom of Thy primary enemy, the devil, and of his defending or avenging army, the host of reprobate Angels who followed him. Secondly, by infants and sucklings may be understood men who are humble and little in their own eyes, unlearned in the worldly sciences, such as were many of the Prophets and the Apostles, and a great number of monks and holy virgins, and not a small number of children who in their tender years knew perfectly the glory of God and His admirable name, to the extent that they did not hesitate to go to their deaths for Him. The Lord cites this Psalm Himself in the Gospel: “Have you never read: Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise?”
[2] The word enemies refer to those wise men of this world, and their defenders, who though they know God do not glorify Him as God, so foolish have they become, so that the Apostle says in Rom. I.
[3] What is written as ut destruas / that thou mayst destroy, is written in Hebrew as ut quiescere facias / that thou mayst render quiet: but the sense is the same. For the Psalm does not spek of the destruction of a person but of wisdom, as in the words of Isaias, chapter xxix, cited by D. Paulus: “ I will confound the wisdom of the wise;”
[4] see too the Apostle’s words: “Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?”
[5]
[1] At that time Jesus answered and said: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to the little ones. In illo tempore respondens Jesus dixit : Confiteor tibi, Pater, Domine caeli et terrae, quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus, et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis. [Matt. xi. 25]
[2] And said to him: Hearest thou what these say? And Jesus said to them: Yea, have you never read: Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise? et dixerunt ei : Audis quid isti dicunt? Jesus autem dixit eis : Utique. Numquam legistis : Quia ex ore infantium et lactentium perfecisti laudem?[Matt. xxi. 16]
[3] Vide, e.g., Because that, when they knew God, they have not glorified him as God, or given thanks; but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. Quia cum cognovissent Deum, non sicut Deum glorificaverunt, aut gratias egerunt : sed evanuerunt in cogitationibus suis, et obscuratum est insipiens cor eorum : For professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. dicentes enim se esse sapientes, stulti facti sunt. [Rom. I. 21,22]
[4] Vide, e.g., Therefore behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. ideo ecce ego addam ut admirationem faciam populo huic miraculo grandi et stupendo; peribit enim sapientia a sapientibus ejus, et intellectus prudentium ejus abscondetur. [Isai. Xxix. 14]glory. Et clamabant alter ad alterum, et dicebant : Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus Dominus, Deus exercituum; plena est omnis terra gloria ejus. [Isai. vi.3]
[5] Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Ubi sapiens? ubi scriba? ubi conquisitor hujus saeculi? Nonne stultam fecit Deus sapientiam hujus mundi? [I Cor. i. 20]
Verse 4
For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded.
Quoniam videbo caelos tuos, opera digitorum tuorum, lunam et stellas quae tu fundasti.
Holy David places himself in the number of infants and sucklings, as though he might say: Truly out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings have I perfected praise. Being one of these for I was a shepherd, I shall sing now Thy praises. “For I will behold thy heavens,” that is, I shall consider attentively that admirable work of Thy hands and then I shall praise Thee as the Creator of such a great work. Now that word
tuos / thy is not in the Greek but it is in the Hebrew,
schameca, and so it is translated correctly in our version. Why would he say
tuos / thy, as he declares in saying
the works of thy fingers; he does not say the works of thy
arms but of thy
fingers, so that he may show the heavens were constructed by God with the greatest of ease; for it is with the fingers that subtle and precious works are fashioned, which need intelligence rather than labour. He is not thinking here of the sun but only of the moon and the stars, for David was wont to contemplate during the night time because that time is more suited to quiet contemplation. “ I rose,” he says, “at midnight to give praise to thee;”
[1] And elsewhere in Ps. Lxii: “ I will meditate on thee in the morning.”
[2] See also Isaias lxii: “My soul hath desired thee in the night.”
[3] For by night the heavens seem to be ornamented with the moon and the
stars. Finally, the word
fundasti / thou hast founded refers to the heavens, the moon and the stars created
ex nihilo / from nothing, as though the Prophet might say: Which Thou didst make from the foundation, when nothing of them existed previously.
[1] rose at midnight to give praise to thee; for the judgments of thy justification. Media nocte surgebam, ad confitendum tibi super judicia justificationis tuae. [Ps. Cxviii. 62]
[2] If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning: Si memor fui tui super stratum meum, in matutinis meditabor in te. [Ps. Lxii. 7]
[3] My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to thee. When thou shalt do thy judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice. Anima mea desideravit te in nocte, sed et spiritu meo in praecordiis meis de mane vigilabo ad te. Cum feceris judicia tua in terra, justitiam discent habitatores orbis. [Isai. Xxvi. 9]
Verse 5
What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him?
Quid est homo, quod memor es ejus? aut filius hominis, quoniam visitas eum?
From the greatness of God as already set forth, he now proceeds to extolling God’s greatness towards men. ! “What is man,” he says, that you the Creator of heaven and earth deign to be mindful of him? As though he might say: This is the very greatest act of goodness, that the most high God should deign to be mindful of man, who is dust and ash. For what is recalled by God is not just a memory but an act of recalling so as to confer good things he adds in explanation: “or the son of man that thou visitest him?” Man and son of man mean here the same thing, unless perhaps this distinction is made to signify that God’s benefits were not bestowed only on the first man, who was a man, but not the son of a man; but also on all his posterity who are thus men and the sons of men. Visitation however refers to the special providence which God has towards men, but it refers especially to that providence which God showed when He cam into this world, assumed a human nature, was seen on earth and conversed with men. This is properly that visitation of which Zachary speaks in his Canticle: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people.”
[1] And see further on: “ the Orient from on high hath visited us.”
[2] Reasonably, this visitation greatly merits that admiration: “What is man..,” etc.
[1] Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people: Benedictus Dominus Deus Israel, quia visitavit, et fecit redemptionem plebis suae : [Luc. 1. 68]
[2] Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us: per viscera misericordiae Dei nostri, in quibus visitavit nos, oriens ex alto : [Luc. 1. 78]
Verse 6
Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour:
And hast set him over the works of thy hands.
Minuisti eum paulo minus ab angelis; gloria et honore coronasti eum;
et constituisti eum super opera manuum tuarum.
This verse has a twofold sense, literal and allegorical. According to the literal sense, three of God’s gifts to human nature are recalled:
firstly, man was created by God with a noble nature only a little lower than the Angels;
secondly, he was adorned with glory and honour, setting him over all the other lower creatures, because he was made in the image and likeness of God, being gifted with reason and free will; and
finally, because he would receive power and dominion in all the works of God, especially over the animals: and so he goes on to add (in the next verse).
Verses 7-8
Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen: moreover the beasts also of the fields. The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea.
Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus, oves et boves universas, insuper et pecora campi, volucres caeli, et pisces maris qui perambulant semitas maris.
By sheep and oxen are to be understood all domesticated animals; the beasts of the field are the wild animals who roam freely through the fields; the birds of the air and the fishes of the sea need no explanation. It may be noted that in Hebrew after
pisces maris / fishes of the sea is added in the singular
perambulans semitas maris / passing through the paths of the sea, and in Greek there is a change in gender, for after
pisces maris / fishes of the sea it has the neuter form,
perambulantia semitas maris / passing through the paths of the sea.
The sense refers therefore not only to fishes properly speaking but to every creature passing through the sea, whether all things passing through the paths of the sea, that is whatever moves in the sea, whether fishes or monsters, or anything else. Now truly, according to an allegorical but certain sense, and witnessed by the Apostle as intended by God: (see
Hebr. ii and I
Cor. xv.) it signifies man in Christ after that signal visitation of God, that is, the incarnation of the Word, somewhat diminished compared with the Angels on account of His Passion: for Christ was seen to be a little lower than the Angels because an Angel from heaven appeared, comforting Him and because Angels are impassible and immortal; Christ however in that time suffered and died. In an absolute sense Christ was superior to the Angels and superior in every way. This was made apparent when He was crowned with glory and honour, that is, by His resurrection, clothed all around with a glorious and immortal body, and constituted by His admirable ascension above all the works of God, and exalted tot the right hand of the Father Himself. All things are also subject to Him,
without exception, “He is excepted, who put all things under him.”
[1] The things chiefly subject to Him are firstly men, such as the faithful, signified by sheep and oxen, subjects and Prelates, major and minor, or the infidels, signified by the wild animals; then, higher than men, the Angels, signified by the birds of the air which are borne aloft and constantly sing the prises of God; finally, lower than men are the demons, signified by the fishes of the sea, who dwell in the lowest and deepest places and are silent about the praises of God and take pleasure in mud and base liquids. St. Augustine teaches on this text may that all these may be explained in various allegorical ways., and he includes another explanation which may be read in his work. One final thing is to be added on this text, recalled above in verse 6: when the Psalmist says: “Thou hast made him a little less than the angels,” in Hebrew it does not say
Angels which the Hebrews call
malachim, but
Elohim, which is normally translated as
God or
Gods; but because the name of God in the Scriptures is often attributed to Angels and even to men who are in charge of others, the Septuagint translators, correctly respecting the sense of the Prophet, wrote ab Angelis / than the Angels and the Apostle approved this interpretation in Hebrews ii.
[2][1] All things are put under him; undoubtedly, he is excepted, who put all things under him. Omnia subjecta sunt ei, sine dubio praeter eum qui subjecit ei omnia. [I Cor. xv. 27]
[2] Thou hast subjected all things under his feet. For in that he hath subjected all things to him, he left nothing not subject to him. But now we see not as yet all things subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour: that, through the grace of God, he might taste death for all. Omnia subjecisti sub pedibus ejus. In eo enim quod omnia ei subjecit, nihil dimisit non subjectum ei. Nunc autem necdum videmus omnia subjecta ei. Eum autem, qui modico quam angeli minoratus est, videmus Jesum propter passionem mortis, gloria et honore coronatum : ut, gratia Dei, pro omnibus gustaret mortem.[Hebr. ii. 8-9]
Verse 9
O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in all the earth!
Domine, Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra!
He repeats the first line of the Psalm, so that he may show it as the conclusion of what he intended to declare and approve in the whole of the Psalm, as though he might say: “O Lord our Lord, how admirable is thy name in all the earth!”
Title and subject matter
Titulum et argumentum
Unto the end. A psalm for David.
In finem. Psalmus David.
There is nothing to be learned from the title. The theme of the Psalm is praise of the divine law. The Prophet compares the divine law to a heavenly body, compared to which, nothing in the physical world seems to be more beautiful, more useful and more powerful. The Psalm may be also be explained in terms of Christ and the Apostles, as St. Augustine does.
Verse 1
The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands.
Caeli enarrant gloriam Dei, et opera manuum ejus annuntiat firmamentum.
Being about to compare the law (of God) with the heavens, he says that the majesty of the heavens is so great that there shines forth therefrom the glory of God, who made the heavens. “The heavens shew forth the glory of God,” that is, coming before the other works of God, all of which offer praise to the artificer, the heavens by their magnitude and beauty do make manifest the glory of God. “And the firmament declareth the work of his hands:” this repeats the same idea in other words. For in this text the heavens and the firmament signify the same thing, namely, the whole of the heavens in which are located the stars and the very sun and moon. For in chapter I. Of Genesis, it says: “ God called the firmament, Heaven,”
[1] and in it He placed the sun, the moon and the stars. It carries of no import whether we say
heaven or
heavens; for with the Hebrews the noun was a noun of multitude and takes a verb in the plural. But translators write
heaven in the singular or
heavens as a noun of multitude. The firmament, in which according to the manner of speaking in the holy Scriptures, are all the celestial lights, “declareth,” and declareth to men “the works of God’s hands,” that is, the primary and noblest of God’s works, from which may be seen the immense glory of the Creator.
[1] And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day. Vocavitque Deus firmamentum, Caelum : et factum est vespere et mane, dies secundus. [Gen. I.8]
Verse 2
Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge.
Dies diei eructat verbum, et nox nocti indicat scientiam.
The message is wholly admirable, that the heavens shew forth the glory of God. This is shown in a threefold manner. Firstly, the heavens announce it without ceasing; secondly, because they announce it in the words of all languages; thirdly, because they announce it to the whole earth. In this verse, it is declared that the announcement is unceasing; and because the heavens announce by day and by night, and from day to day may be seen the sun’s beauty and by night the beauty of the stars; and because the days and nights do not endure but work to replace each other, the Prophet introduces a poetic device: when a day, has accomplished its course and its announcement,
it hands over the work of announcement to the next day; and when a night has accomplished its course, singing its hymn (to the glory of God),it hands over the office of singing to the next night. “Day to day,” he says, “uttereth speech,” that is, when a day ends it hands over to another day the words of divine praise. “And night to night sheweth knowledge,” that is, when a night similarly draws to its end, it “sheweth” or announces to the succeeding night its knowledge unto the praising of God; and so continually, and without any intermission, the days and nights lead the dancing chorus in celebrating God with praises.
Verse 3
There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard.
Non sunt loquelae, neque sermones, quorum non audiantur voces eorum.
The Prophet now shows here that the announcement of the heavens is made in all languages, that is, it is understood by all nations, as if the heavens spoke in the languages of all the nations, because everyone sees the beauty and excellence of the heavens, and fromthis they are able to arrive at the knowledge of the beauty and excellence of the Creator. “There are no speeches nor languages,” that is, there are no languages in which “their voices,” (ie, the voices of the heavens), are not heard; that is, there are no languages in which the voices of the heavens do not find expression.
Verse 4
Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world.
In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum, et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum.
He explains the third aspect of the heavenly eloquence, which is not only continuous and in every language but across the whole earth the heavens are heard shewing forth the glory of God. By
sound is not meant a sort of physical harmony which certain philosophers have proposed concerning the heavens; it is rather the announcement of that glory which arises from the beauty of the heavens considered by men. It’s the same with the phrases
into all the earth and
unto the ends of the world; it is extremely common for prophets to repeat an idea. In Hebrew they have for
their sound the word
kavam, which means
line, or
their rod. But it seems the Septuagint translators have read not
kavam but
kolam, adding one letter, which means
their sound. For if they had read
kavam, they never would have translated it
as their sound, unless they were totally lacking in expertise. Furthermore, St. Jerome translates it from the Hebrew as
their sound. And thus does he cite the Apostle in
Romans x; and
their sound fits in with what follows,
their words, where he repeats the same thing in other words. Whence we conclude that the Hebrew text has been corrupted y a scribe’s error, after the time of S. Jerome. Indeed, St. Paul cites this text to prove that Christ’s teaching reached all nations. From this we understand that by
heavens we ought to understand the Apostles, at least in the allegorical sense. And truly the holy Apostles, as well as other holy preachers, are most properly compared to the heavens. For by contemplation they are raised above the earth, generous in their charity, splendid through their wisdom, always serene through tranquility of the soul, most swiftly moved by intelligence through obedience, watering like the rain in their teaching, thundering in their reproofs, performing miracles in flashes, showing through their largesse many gifts, and through true liberality seeking nothing from them, kept most pure of all that is sordid by holiness of life, and finally the dwelling place of the all high king through their perfect righteousness. For the soul of the just is the seat of wisdom.
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Verse 5
He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he, as a bridegroom coming out of his bride chamber
In sole posuit tabernaculum suum; et ipse tamquam sponsus procedens de thalamo suo.
Although the whole of the heavens shew forth the glory of God, yet this is chiefly done by the noblest part of the heavens, which is the sun. For that reason, it is in the sun, being the most excellent part of the whole world, that God “hath set his tabernacle.” Now he rightly uses the word tabernacle and not home, because God stays in the sun for the time of our (earthly) pilgrimage, whence we see him through the glass of creatures.
[1] Among physical creations, as we have said, the sun occupies pride of place. But when we shall come to the Father’s heavenly home, we shall not see God in a tabernacle but in His own house, which is to say in His eternity.
[Bellarmine now digresses on the possible readings in Hebrew, Greek and Latin arising from the inflections and interplay of the words for sun, heavens and tabernacle.]
The Prophet proves that God set His tabernacle in the sun as in the most excellent of created things, using three reasons: the first is drawn from its beauty, the second from its strength and the third from its beneficence. “And he, as a bridegroom coming out of his bride chamber,” he says. This is the reason drawn from
beauty: He rises handsome, bright, splendidly robed, as though he were a bridegroom emerging from his nuptial chamber; and truly nothing among all physical objects is more beautiful and brighter than the sun.
[1] Cf. We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate : tunc autem facie ad faciem. Nunc cognosco ex parte : tunc autem cognoscam sicut et cognitus sum. [I Cor. Xiii. 12]
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Verses 6 & 7
(He) hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way: His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his heat.
Exsultavit ut gigas ad currendam viam; a summo caelo egressio ejus. Et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus; nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus.
He draws another reason from the strength and power with which the sun tirelessly performs an almost immeasurable journey at huge speed. “He hath rejoiced as a giant,” or as
a mighty and sturdy one, (as the Hebrew is read), “to run the way.” Rejoicing suggests alacrity, which they have who do something effortlessly and with great desire. It means here that the mighty sun accomplishes its high-speed trajectory across the space of the heavens without the slightest fatigue. “His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to the end thereof.” By
summum cœlum / the end of heaven is meant the East. In this text
summum does not mean the height but the
extremity, as the Hebrew
kets and the Greek show. called The word
extremum / extremity means where a thing begins, and where it ends. But the heavens begin in the East because it is from thence that their movement begins, and it is there where the movement finishes. The sense is therefore that the sun rises in the East and, having coursed its way across to the West, it returns to the East. It matters little that in Hebrew and Greek the verb is in the future,
exultabit / He will rejoice, where we have
exultavit / He hath rejoiced. For the future tense is often put for the praeterite. And so St. Jerome translates it as
exultavit / He hath rejoiced; and it is also read this way in St. Augustine’s Commentary. “And there is no one that can hide himself from his heat.” This is the last reason put forward, based upon the benefits which all those receive who are beneath the sun; for the sun indeed warms all by his life-giving heat, so that he may be said to be the common father of all things born or hatched on earth or in the sea. And here is the reason why the sun so assiduously and carefully orbits the earth, visiting all — so that not a single thing may be hidden, that is, excluded from partaking of such signal favour.
Verse 8
The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones.
Lex Domini immaculata, convertens animas; testimonium Domini fidele, sapientiam praestans parvulis.
The Prophet now introduces a comparison, as though he might say: The heavens are beautiful, the sun is extremely beautiful, but the law of the Lord is more beautiful still; the heavens are bright, the sun is extremely bright, but the law of the Lord is much more bright; the heavens are useful to men, the sun us extremely useful, but the law of the Lord is more useful still. He now presents a series of six encomiums of the divine law. The first is: “The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls,” that is, the law of the Lord is perfectly beautiful; as one would expect, it is without
any stain or filth whatsoever, would expect, it is without any stain or filth whatsoever, because unlike human laws it permits no sin; and so when the law of the Lord is studied and well understood, it “converts souls,” that is, it converts them away from self-love and in consequence leads them to God, the author of law so beautiful. To the words converting souls there is understood the word is, and so we have explained it as meaning converted. A second encomium is found in the following words: “The testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones,” where by testimony is understood that same law (of the Lord). Indeed, in the Scriptures, and especially in the Psalms, the law of the Lord is not only referred to as precept, commandment, statute and so on, which in other writers mean law; but it is also referred to as testimony, justice, or justification, and judgement. This is evident, especially in
Psalm cxviii. The law of the Lord is called testimony, because it bears witness to men as to what is God’s will, what the Lord requires of us, what punishments He has prepared for those breaking the law, and what rewards for those who keep the law. And so he says, “ The testimony of the Lord is faithful,” that is, the law of the Lord, which will assuredly render rewards to the good and punishments to the wicked. “Giving wisdom to little ones,” that is, it is that which gives, or it gives, wisdom to the little ones, that is, to men with a poor understanding it gives the light of prudence, so that they may know how to do good works and to avoid sins; the Prophet in this text applies the words little ones to those men who are not strong in spiritual judgement, such as are all those who are friends of this world. By wisdom he understands spiritual prudence. which reforms habits and forms them in accordance with what is ordered by the divine law.
Verse 9
The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes.
Justitiae Domini rectae, laetificantes corda; praeceptum Domini lucidum, illuminans oculos.
The
third encomium of the divine Law is that, after coming to be loved (as in the first encomium) and to be observed (as in the second), it floods man with wonderful joy: for there is nothing more joyful than a good conscience. “The justice of the Lord,” he says, that is, the law of the Lord, or the commandments of the Law, which are called justices, because they are most just, and because they render just the observer (of the law); these commandments, I say, because they are just, are a cause of joy, that is, “they rejoice hearts;” for upright hearts fit very well with right commandments, and therefore they rejoice and are glad when an opportunity arrives of observing the commandments. The
fourth encomium is: “The commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes,” that is, the law of the Lord, bright with the light of divine Wisdom, enlightens the eyes of the mind, because it makes for an understanding of the will of God, and seeing which things are really good and which are really bad. It also informs the rites of God, full of divine mysteries. Now the law of the Lord enlightens in the measure of a man’s disposition, for wisdom will not enter into a malevolent soul, because nothing is a greater impediment to the knowledge of God, in which true wisdom is found, than impurity of heart. “Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.”
[1]
[1] Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God. Beati mundo corde : quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt. [Matt. v. 8]
Verse 10
The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves.
Timor Domini sanctus, permanens in saeculum saeculi; judicia Domini vera, justificata in semetipsa.
The
fifth encomium is that the law of the Lord makes the good things referred to above eternal and not just temporal. For “The fear of the Lord is holy.” that is, by which a person fears to offend God, which by another name is called piety, remaineth “for ever and ever,” with regard to its reward; the good things, which observation of the law produces, or a sincere fear making someone observe the law, do not end with death, but remain in eternity. This same idea is repeated elsewhere in Psalm ix: “ The patience of the poor shall not perish for ever.”
[1] In Hebrew it has fear of the Lord (is) tehorah, that is, pure, and in the Greek it is similar. And this means a filial fear, which is not mixed with servile fear, about which another Psalm says: “ Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments.”
[2] For he who fears with a servile fear keeps the commandments not willingly but unwillingly; but he who fears with a filial fear, “he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments,” that is, he strongly desires and wants to keep them. The
last encomium is that the law of the Lord is true and is just in itself, not needing to be justified from another source. “the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves,” that is, the commandments of the Lord, here called judgements because through them God judges men, and which are norms or rules for discerning virtues from vices, and good from evil works: these, I say, most truly commandments are justified in themselves, that is, they do not need to be justified by anything else as just: for by this are they proved to be just, that they are God’s commandments. And, moreover, the ten commandments, about which David speaks chiefly, because they are the first principles of natural law, contain in themselves such justice, that in every time and place, and in a particular case, they are just, and do not allow of exceptions; but other laws, in order to be just, frequently depend on circumstances of place, of time or of the persons involved.
[The last two sentences in the Commentary consider Hebrew text before affirming the translation in the Vulgate]
[1] For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever. Quoniam non in finem oblivio erit pauperis; patientia pauperum non peribit in finem. [Psalm ix. 19]
[2] Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments. Alleluja, reversionis Aggaei et Zachariae. Beatus vir qui timet Dominum, in mandatis ejus volet nimis. [Ps. Cxi. 1]
Verse 11
More to be desired than gold and many precious stones: and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
Desiderabilia super aurum et lapidem pretiosum multum; et dulciora super mel et favum.
This is the conclusion of what is written above (in the previous verses), as though the Prophet were to say: Because the commandments of the Lord are so good, they are to be put before all the riches and pleasures of this world: for (they are) “more to be desired than gold and many precious stones,” that is, they are to be had in the greatest quantity; and they are “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb,” that is, not only sweeter than honey but sweeter than the full comb, overflowing with the purest honey. The words
and the honeycomb are used to signify abundance, so that they
correspond to what was said before,
many precious stones. In Hebrew, it has
than gold and many topaz, and (sweeter) than honey and the overflowing of honeycombs; but the translators changed the sense. Topaz is an example of precious stone, but the Prophet has taken the example for the kind (precious stones). How far remote is this truth from the ideas and feelings of carnal men! How many are those carnal men who, for a tiny advantage or a trifling pleasure, do not defy all the divine precepts! And yet it is true beyond doubt that observation of God’s law brings more benefits and joy that any treasure and any carnal pleasure.
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Verse 12
For thy servant keepeth them, and in keeping them there is a great reward.
Etenim servus tuus custodit ea; in custodiendis illis retributio multa.
He proves by his own experience that what he has said is true. For, he says, “thy servant keepeth them,” the commandments, “and in keeping them there is a great reward,” for it happened to him, that is, thy servant has proved by his own experience to have obtained many good things whilst he keeps the commandments. St.Jerome translated the Hebrew as
Thy servant will teach them. Pagninus however translates this as
Thy servant is made an example in them. For the Hebrew word
nizhar can in other conjugations mean
to teach, or it may signify
to shine; but in the passive voice, as in this context, it means
to guard oneself or,
to be careful, or
to keep oneself careful. And so the words may be translated as
Thy servant guards himself in them, that is, he abstains from sinning, observing Thy commandments, which is the same as saying
Thy servant keepeth them, that is, the commandments.
Verse 13
Who can understand sins? from my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord: And from those of others spare thy servant.
Delicta quis intelligit? ab occultis meis munda me; et ab alienis parce servo tuo.
He had said he kept God’s commandments and he corrects himself by excepting his sins of ignorance, which can scarcely be guarded against. As if he were to say: Thy servant guards against sins by keeping Thy law, not perfectly, but as much as human weakness allows. In Hebrew, the words read very well with,
who can understand sins committed through ignorance? Here he opposes ignorance in the intellect, wishing to demonstrate that it is supremely difficult to guard against sins which are committed through ignorance; and yet, because they really are sins, and could be guarded against, he adds the words: “From my secret ones cleanse me.” What follows, “And from those of others spare thy servant,”
does not mean that God pardons us for the sins of others, as this text is popularly cited as meaning, but that God guards us against close association with sinful men. For men of good will, such as St. David was, ought chiefly to guard against ignorance of their own sins and from seduction by wicked acquaintances. For the word
alienis / others, the Hebrew has
zedim, which means
superbos / the proud. St. Jerome translates this phrase as
From the proud, deliver Thy servant. But the Septuagint version reads
zedim as
zarim: and this means
alienos / others. The sense is almost the same, because according to the Hebrew as it now has it, the meaning is deliverance from one kind of wickedness, that is from the proud; but according to the Greek and the true Hebrew meaning, it means a general deliverance from all wicked friends. Our reading may be explained thus: from others, that is, from those who are other (foreign) in their ways, spare Thy servant, that is, sparing us, remove them from the friendship of Thy servant.
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Verse 14-16
[14]If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot: and I shall be cleansed from the greatest sin. [15] And the words of my mouth shall be such as may please: and the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. [16] O Lord, my helper, and my redeemer.
Si mei non fuerint dominati, tunc immaculatus ero, et emundabor a delicto maximo. [15] Et erunt ut complaceant eloquia oris mei, et meditatio cordis mei in conspectu tuo semper. [16] Domine, adjutor meus, et redemptor meus.
He gives the reason why he fears so greatly familiarity with the wicked : for if the aforementioned men of different morals “shall have no dominion over me,” that is, if through having no great familiarity with them, they would not subject me to themselves, and would not make me subject to their will, “then shall I be without spot: and I shall be cleansed,” that is I shall be clean, “from the greatest sin,” that is, from grave and mortal sin; for every mortal sin may be called the “greatest sin” because it turns man away from God, the greatest good, and plainly leads to the greatest punishment in Hell. St. Augustine;s reading is a
delicto magno / from the great sin, as the Greek has it, but this is of little import.
Not only shall I be without spot, but “the words of my mouth shall be such as may please,” that is, so that the speech of my mouth may please, “and the meditation of my heart (shall be) always in thy sight,” that is, the hymns which I sing in my mouth and in my heart to praise Thee, will always be pleasing unto Thee because they come from a clean heart and a mouth without guile.
My canticles, I say, shall be pleasing unto Thee, because of Thy grace and not my own merits: because I have it from Thy gift that I may be without spot, cleansed of the greatest sin, and that my words may be pleasing unto Thee, who art “my helper, and my redeemer,” one who helps me obtain good things and who redeems me from wicked things.
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Title and subject matter
Titulum et argumentum
On the first day of the week, a psalm for David.
Prima sabbati. Psalmus David.
In this title, the words prima Sabbati / on the first day of the week are not found in the Hebrew but have been added in the Greek; this is perhaps because at the beginning of the Psalm it mentions the creation of the earth which was accomplished on the first day of the week, that is, on the Lord’s day; or perhaps it was the custom to recite this Psalm on the Lord’s day. There are some who believe the words on the first day of the week were added because it was on that day the Lord rose from the dead, but this does not seem probable to me because this Psalm clearly foretells the ascension rather than the resurrection; and the ascension is known to have taken place not on the first but on the fifth day of the week. That this Psalm properly pertains to the ascension is witnessed by Cyprianus in his serm. De Ascens.; Jerome in his epist. 142 ad Damasum; Ruffinus in Exposit. Symboli; Gregorius Nyssenus, Joannes Chrysostomus, Augustinus, Leo, and others in serm De Ascensione.
Verse 1
The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein.
Domini est terra, et plenitudo ejus; orbis terrarum, et universi qui habitant in eo.
David’s intention is to show that, out of the multitude of men without number, only Christ and a few others, a few, I say, compared to the multitude of others, will enter into the blessed, heavenly home of the Lord; lest perhaps certain men are believed not to belong to God but to have been created by some other causative principle, which is what the Marcionists and Manicheans later thought, the prophet places first these two sentences by which he shows that God is the Creator and Lord of the whole earth and of all the things that are in it. “The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof,” that is, all the things that are in it and that fill it. This is explained by the second part of the verse: “the world, and all they that dwell therein.” When he says, “The earth is the Lord's,” he makes clear that he chiefly means the habitable parts of the earth, which in Hebrew and Greek are properly represented by words which mean
orbis terrae habitabilis / the habitable orb of the earth; and when he says
omnis plenitudo eius / all the fulness thereof, he is saying that he chiefly means the men who inhabit the earth, not the other things which are in it.
Verse 2
For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers.
Quia ipse super maria fundavit eum, et super flumina praeparavit eum.
He proves that God is the Lord of the earth and of all who dwell there, since He made it Himself, and He made it rise above the waters so that it might be habitable. For if the the earth were lacking in waters or were covered everywhere by waters, it would not be habitable. “For he hath founded it upon the seas,” he says, that is, from their foundations he built up the earth and made it from nothing; he made it “upon the seas,” so that the surface of the earth might be higher than the level of the sea; similarly, He “hath prepared it upon the rivers,” that is, He prepared the earth for the habitation of men, and so He made it higher and
above the rivers: for otherwise the waters of the sea and rivers would flood over it and be higher. From this, then, because God made the earth habitable for men, it follows that He is the Lord of all men, since not only were men made from the earth and return to the earth; but they inhabit the earth not as masters but as settlers established there by God to cultivate it.
Verse 3
Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place?
Quis ascendet in montem Domini? aut quis stabit in loco sancto ejus?
Since all men are settlers and servants of God and all alike inhabit the earth, which is God’s possession: “Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?” that is, will there be anyone from so great a number, and who will it be, who may be worthy to ascend to the place where God Himself dwells? The mountain of the Lord (as we have said elsewhere) is the heavenly home which is truly sublime and holy, which is mentioned in another Psalm: “The heaven of heaven is the Lord's: but the earth he has given to the children of men.”
[1] They who explain this is Mount Sion which was in Jerusalem in Judea, seem to have no solid foundation for their argument because that mount was full of men of every nation so that it would clearly be ridiculous to say of it: “Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?”
[1] The heaven of heaven is the Lord's: but the earth he has given to the children of men. Caelum caeli Domino; terram autem dedit filiis hominum. [Ps. Cxiii. 24]
Verse 4
The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour.
Innocens manibus et mundo corde, qui non accepit in vano animam suam, nec juravit in dolo proximo suo.
He replies that four conditions will need to be satisfied for someone to "ascend into the mountain of the Lord." The
first is that he must be innocent in hands, that is, he must have committed nothing evil; the
second, that he should be clean of heart, that he should have thought no evil, nor desired it;
thirdly, that he must be someone who hath not taken his soul in vain, that is, not only must he have done or thought no evil, but he must also have done all those things required by God to achieve the end constituted for him;
fourthly, that he should not have sworn deceitfully. The words
qui non accepit in vano animam suam / who hath not taken his soul in vain, are twisted by some to refer to the swearing mentioned in the following phrase, by way of explanation. They want to read it as
qui non accepit in vano animam eius,/ who hath not taken his soul in vain, where
eius/his means God’s; according to the marks as read by the Rabbis, the words are
qui non accepit in vano animam meam / who hath not taken my soul in vain, understood to be referring to God. Truly, this reading does not seem probable, because not only do the Rabbis without good reason read
my soul when the Hebrew word has a pronoun in the third person, not the first; St. Jerome translates it in the third person; and not only because that reading,
my soul, is novel and unheard of, since the Latins and the Greeks hitherto understood a reflexive pronoun (or adjective),
animam suam / his soul; but also, and finally, in the sacred Scriptures, swearing falsely by God is taking the name of God in vain; but consider that taking
one’s own soul or God’s soul in vain as being equivalent to swearing falsely is nowhere read. Others view taking one’s soul in vain as nothing other than pointless, that is, thinking about and desiring temporal and perishable things.; but this was already understood in the words
clean of heart, and it seems to be difficult and forced. The Prophet does indeed add that fourth condition, about falsely swearing, so that in that sin, which is one of the greatest as it is equally against God and against neighbour, he might include all the other sins which are committed through the instrument of the tongue. Accordingly, the one who is worthy of ascending into God’s mountain must be perfect in every respect, so that he has committed no sin in heart, in word or in deed but, and, on the contrary, has done all good works pertaining to his office. In truth, these conditions are found satisfied only in Christ. For He is one “ Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.”
[1] For the rest, “There is none that doth good, no not one.”
[2] , as David says in
Psalm xiii; and “All we like sheep have gone astray;”
[3] and the Apostle Paul says: “ For all have sinned, and do need the glory of God.”
[4] Hence, the Lord Himself says: “And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven.”
[5] The rest are earth-dwellers from the earth, He alone is celestial and from the heavens, holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and higher than the heavens after His ascension.
[6] But it was not only Christ in His person who ascended into the mountain of the Lord but Himself with His body, which is the Church, which he washed with His blood so that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle.” This is continued (in the next verse).
[1] Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. qui peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus : [I Pet. ii. 22]
[2] Unto the end, a psalm for David. The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God, They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one. In finem. Psalmus David. Dixit insipiens in corde suo : Non est Deus. Corrupti sunt, et abominabiles facti sunt in studiis suis; non est qui faciat bonum, non est usque ad unum. [Ps. Xiii. 1]
[3] All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Omnes nos quasi oves erravimus, unusquisque in viam suam declinavit; et posuit Dominus in eo iniquitatem omnium nostrum. [Isai. Liii. 6]
[4] For all have sinned, and do need the glory of God. omnes enim peccaverunt, et egent gloria Dei. [Rom. Iii. 23]
[5] And no man hath ascended into heaven, but he that descended from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven. Et nemo ascendit in caelum, nisi qui descendit de caelo, Filius hominis, qui est in caelo. [Ioan. Iii. 13]
[6] That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish. ut exhiberet ipse sibi gloriosam Ecclesiam, non habentem maculam, aut rugam, aut aliquid hujusmodi, sed ut sit sancta et immaculata. [Eph. v. 27]
Verse 5
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour.
Hic accipiet benedictionem a Domino, et misericordiam a Deo salutari suo.
“He,” namely Christ, “shall receive a blessing from the Lord,” that is, superabundant good things for Himself, and “mercy from God his Saviour” for His body, which is the Church, which is called “God his Saviour.” Indeed, life
eternal in the kingdom of heaven through Christ’s justice is mercy for His faithful; for even if the just deserve life everlasting by their merit, their merits themselves are the fruit of God’s mercy and are truly called gifts of God. Whence it says in Psalm cii: “ Who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion;”[1] and in Romans vi: “ For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting.”[2] In Greek it has: justice from God his Saviour, and this is how St. Jerome translates it; according to this reading, the whole of this verse properly pertains to Christ. But the Septuagint translates this as mercy, and the translators seem to have considered justice in the Scriptures as once received through goodness, but explicitly through mercy, as in Psalm cxi: “He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor: his justice remaineth for ever and ever.”[3] Whence also it says in Martthew vi: “Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them.”[4] And soon after, it says: “ But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth.”[5] Ans the Septuagint in this verse respect not so much the word but the thing signified.
[1] Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion. qui redimit de interitu vitam tuam, qui coronat te in misericordia et miserationibus; [Ps. Cii. 4]
[2] For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Stipendia enim peccati, mors. Gratia autem Dei, vita aeterna, in Christo Jesu Domino nostro. [Rom. vi. 23]
[3] He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor: his justice remaineth for ever and ever: his horn shall be exalted in glory. Dispersit, dedit pauperibus; justitia ejus manet in saeculum saeculi; cornu ejus exaltabitur in gloria. [Ps. Cxi. 9]
[4] Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven. Attendite ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus, ut videamini ab eis : alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum qui in caelis est. [Matt. vi. 1]
[5] But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth. Te autem faciente eleemosynam, nesciat sinistra tua quid faciat dextera tua : [Matt. vi. 3]
Verse 6
This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob.
Haec est generatio quaerentium eum, quaerentium faciem Dei Jacob.
The Prophet now shows here the One who is innocent in hands and pure in heart, who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord; and He will receive blessing and mercy from God, not being the head alone but the head with the body, that is, Christ with the Church. “This,” he says, “is the generation of them that seek him,” that is, the one who ascends into Heaven is a certain generation of men regenerated in Christ; their main zeal is to seek God, panting for a sight of the face of God, and finally striving for the holy mountain with all their might. Indeed, one, if not perhaps the principal, mark of God’s elect is to sigh for their Father’s heavenly home. The generation of the sons of this world seeks everything other than God and fears nothing more than death; and if given the choice, they would prefer to live always in this world rather than to be dissolved and to be with Christ. In the Greek text it has:
This is the generation of them that seek the Lord; and this is the reading of Jerome, Augustine, Euthymius and others: but the Hebrew has
that seek him, as has our Latin version. The sense is entirely the same; for
him refers to the Lord, of whom it was said (in verse 5)
He shall receive a blessing from the Lord. And it seems the Septuagint translators explained in this way the pronoun
him which is in the Hebrew.
What follows,
of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob, in Hebrew reads
as of them that seek thy face, O Jacob! Of this text, the Septuagint translators have explained the obscure wording of the Hebrew text, in which the word
God is to be understood, so that the sense is: of them that seek thy face, God of Jacob: lest by
Jacob in the Hebrew text is understood the company of the blessed or heavenly Jerusalem, and then it renders the same - seeking the face of God and seeking the face of Jacob, because no-one sees the face of Jacob, that is, of the Father’s heavenly home, who does not see the face of the God of Jacob, since the whole concern, and the whole happiness of that most blessed Jacob, is to contemplate the face of God. In Hebrew is added the word
selah, that is,
always, for this generation not only seeks God but always seeks God, that is, it does not tire of seeking God, neither does it allow itself to be distracted from seeking God so as to seek something beneath God.
Verse 7
Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in.
Attollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini, portae aeternales, et introibit rex gloriae.
Because the holy Prophet had foreseen that the one who would be found worthy to ascend into the mountain of God is Christ, he predicts that He will now ascend into the very same, and that the eternal gates of heaven will be opened for Him. But as a poetic device, he employs prosopopœia,1 and he addresses firstly the princes of heaven, that is the angels, and then the gates themselves; he orders the angels to open them and he orders the gates to allow themselves to be opened, but they open up of their own accord for the approaching King of glory. Euthymius notes that the gates are not opened but are taken down, because it is a custom to raise a city’s gates for an approaching king and for them to be laid aside as a mark of submission.
David does not say Take down the gates, but lift up; and he does not say
Leave from the middle (of the gateway), but
be ye lifted up. Therefore he says
lift up and
be ye lifted up, because the gates of heaven are not hung as in a wall so that they have to bemoved sideways, but hang as if from the roof or ceiling, so that they have to be opened upwards. Whence may be rejected the opinion of those who had the prophet speaking of a particular building on the earthly mount Sion, into which the Ark was placed. In Hebrew, according to St.Jerome, the Prophet is addressing the gates alone, and says: Lift up ye gates your heads; be ye lifted up ye sempiternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in. Gates are said to lift their heads when they are raised up because then are lifted up their extremities which are in them then like heads.
[Bellarmine concludes with an analysis of the Hebrew and Greek elements of vocabulary and syntax as it pertains to these lines about the gates.]
Title and subject matter
Titulum et argumentum
Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved.
In finem, pro iis qui commutabuntur. Filiis Core, ad intellectum. Canticum pro dilecto.
All the Latin, Greek and Hebrew exegetes are in complete agreement and teach that this is a Psalm of praise for the Messiah and His Church, so that it is like a spiritual epithalamium;[1] and the title is well suited to this theme : for by them that shall be changed, the Prophet understands the faithful people who make up the Church; and it is said that they shall be changed because in this world they were to be changed through justification and in the next through resurrection; for those who were worshipping idols were to adore the true God; and they who were leading a wretched and mortal life on earth were to lead a happy, everlasting life in Heaven. They all understand the word dilecto / beloved to refer to Christ, of whom the heavenly Father says more than once: “This is my beloved Son,”[2] whom no-one knows who does not love Him most ardently, because he is all beauty and sweetness, indeed He is “the unspotted mirror” and “the brightness of eternal light.”[3] The sense of this title will therefore be: A canticle given to the sons of Core,[4] to be sung unto the end, with understanding and wisdom, and its material is for them that shall be changed and for the Beloved, that is for the Church and for Christ, for the Bride and for the Groom. Where we have for them that shall be changed, the Hebrew has for the lilies; but the Hebrew can mean either, that is, lilies or who shall be changed, as St. Jerome allows in his epistle ad Principiam virginem, in which he carefully explains the whole of this Psalm: and rightfully enough they who are to be changed can be called lilies, as speaking of the Church, which is a multitude of people who are to be changed, says the Groom in Cant., chapter ii: “As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.”[5]
[1] A nuptial song or poem in praise of the bride and bridegroom, and praying for their prosperity. Latin epithalamium, from Greek ἐπιθαλάμιον, neuter of ἐπιθαλάμιος, < ἐπί upon + θάλαμος bride chamber.
[2] And behold a voice from heaven, saying: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Et ecce vox de caelis dicens : Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi complacui. [Matt. iii. 17] Et vide [Matt. xii. 18 & xvii. 5]
[3] For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of his goodness. candor est enim lucis aeternae, et speculum sine macula Dei majestatis, et imago bonitatis illius. [Sap. Vii. 26]
[4] Core was one of the leaders of a revolt against Moses and Aaron (Numbers xvi) concerning priestly and minsisterial prerogatives.. The sons of Core did not perish, however (Numbers 26:10, 11), and later we find their descendants among the singers (1 Chronicles 6:37; 2 Chronicles 20:19; Psalms 41, 43, 48, 83, 84, 86, 87), or among the door-keepers of the temple (1 Chronicles 9:19; 26:1, 19). Moses ordered the censers of Core and his companions to be beaten into plates and fastened to the altar as a warning to those who would usurp the priesthood.
[5] As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. SPONSUS. Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias. [Cant. ii. 2]
Verses 1 and 2
My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king; My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly.
Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum; dico ego opera mea regi. Lingua mea calamus scribae velociter scribentis.
These two lines serve as a preface for the entire Psalm and in this preface the Prophet declares that this Psalm is pure and unalloyed prophecy from the Holy Spirit, containing nothing elaborated from his own intellect: for although all divine Scripture is of God and inspired by the Holy Spirit, yet there is a big difference between prophecies and histories or epistles : for in uttering prophecies, the sacred writers did not work through their reasoning, reflection or recollection from memory, but they simply uttered or wrote what God showed to them : which is what Baruch testifies about
Jeremias. Saying: “(With his mouth) he pronounced all these words as if he were reading in a book (to me).”
[1] But when the sacred writers wrote histories or epistles, God inspired them with the will to write and directed them so that they wrote everything correctly and free from error; they used their own memory and intellect to record
events and to think about the explanations and order of writing : this is what the author of the second Book of Machabees testifies. David, therefore, when in the Psalms he sang histories of the good things God had given, or of his own calamities, or those of the whole people, employed his memory and his intellect and he did not compose these Psalms without his own effort, although he was always stimulated and guided by God. When, however, he sang or wrote Psalms of pure prophecy, as in this Psalm, he recognised nothing particular to himself apart from his unaided tongue or his hand serving to write. This is what he says in this preface, which he explains more clearly in II
Kings, chapter xxiii, where he says: “The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue.”
[2] He says therefore: “My heart hath uttered a good word,” that is, My mind, from the fullness and abundance of divine illumination has put forth unto the hearing of men this Psalm, which contains a good word, namely a message which is pleasing and salvific for all men. But there are some other points to be noted regarding this general explanation.
Firstly, the prophet uses the word
eructavit[3] to show that he he is not speaking by virtue of his own will or the discoveries of his intelligence : for belching is an involuntary and not a chosen act, and the stomach belches forth from its fulness irrespective of whether a man wants to or not.
Secondly, the Prophet wanted to show that he did not express all the things he came to know through God’s illumination; but only a certain amount from that fullness : for belching is a sign of being full, but only a small amount is belched forth from that fullness. For the Prophets see many things which it is permitted to reveal to men. For this reason, Isaias said: “My secret to myself;”
[4] and those who receive revelations from God confess for the most part that they do not have the words with which they can explain the things they have themselves seen. Perhaps for this reason the Prophet said his “heart hath uttered a good word,” not “good words” in the plural number.
Thirdly, this Psalm calls the word good because it does not contain a prophecy of evil things such as the destruction of a city or the captivity of a people, and so on, which are often foretold by Prophets, but a foretelling of favourable and pleasant things which are to bring great joy and happiness.
Fourthly, God has described in these words the emanation of this (good) word from the heart of David so that He may allude to the production of the eternal Word, and He wants almost to lead us by the hand to an understanding of the eternal generation of the divine Word : for truly the eternal Father did not need the help of a spouse to produce His
Son, nor did He produce him by election, nor did He produce more sons; but from the fullness of His heart and from His most perfect intelligence, He produced, conformably with His nature, the Word of His mind, the only (begotten) Word and the highest good; properly he could say: “My heart hath uttered a good word.” There follows : “I speak my works to the king,” and there are not absent those who explain these words thus: “I speak my works to the king,” that is, I confess my sins to God; or, I speak these verses about the king; or, I consecrate my work to the king; in this Psalm, I address the king : I do not pass judgement on these explanations but I judge our explanation fits better with the words which precede and which follow; for our opinion is that this second part of the first verse gives the reason why David said: “My heart hath uttered a good word;” for it is as of said: I simply refer all my works to my king, who is God, and I do not attribute to myself what is not mine; and so I have not said : I wrote this Psalm, but “My heart hath uttered a good word,” that is, it did not proceed from my choice but from the fullness of Thy illumination. This is most clearly explained in the following line when it is said: “My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly,” that is, my tongue put forth this Psalm, but it did do not as my tongue, which moves according to the command of my will, but as the Holy Spirit’s pen, like a scrivener that writeth swiftly. He says that his tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly, and he does not say that his tongue is the tongue of the Holy Spirit that speaketh swiftly, because he wants to show that his tongue in uttering the prophecies is a separate instrument so that it is truly (like) a pen; and it is not an instrument conjoined to the body like other body members; and he wanted to show that this prophecy would not disappear into the air like words pronounced by mouth, but would remain for ever like words written by a pen. The words
that writeth swiftly show that the Holy Spirit does not need time to consider what and how to write; for they write slowly who, when writing, think about what sentence or what words to use.
[1] And Baruch said to them: With his mouth he pronounced all these words as if he were reading to me: and I wrote in a volume with ink. Dixit autem eis Baruch : Ex ore suo loquebatur quasi legens ad me omnes sermones istos, et ego scribebam in volumine atramento. Jeremias xxxvi. 18]
[2] The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue. Spiritus Domini locutus est per me, et sermo ejus per linguam meam. [II Reg. xxiii. 2]
[3] ēructō, āvī, ātus, 1, n. and a.: to belch out; to vomit, throw forth or out.
[4] Isaias xxiv. 16.
Verse 3
Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever.
Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum, diffusa est gratia in labiis tuis; propterea benedixit te Deus in aeternum.
He begins by praising Christ and firstly he praises His beauty, then His eloquence, His strength and His vigour; thirdly the qualities of His mind and heart, and finally, His divine and royal dignity and power, to which he adds external things, namely the nobility of His robes and palaces. He starts with beauty, either because he is describing a bridegroom and in a bridegroom beauty is desired above all else; or because he is progressing from the least to the greatest and beauty yields to eloquence, eloquence to vigour, vigour to virtues, and virtues to divinity. And so he says: “Thou art beautiful above the sons of men.” The sentence seems to be abrupt and obscure, since he has not added who is beautiful; but, as we have noted above: “My heart hath uttered a good word,”
[1] that is, from the fullness of the contemplation (revelation), some part is passed on, but not everything. The sense therefore is: “It is no wonder, O Christ, that Thou art called the Beloved,
[2] for “Thou art
beautiful above the sons of men;” he says “above the sons of men,” and does not add above the angelic spirits, because God the Word was made man, not an angel, and so he says: Thou, O Beloved, art man, but beautiful above men. And Christ truly is beautiful above men : for if you consider His divinity, you will see he was foretold to be of infinite beauty; if you consider the spiritual beauty of His soul, Christ is beautiful above all created spirits; if you consider the splendour of His glorified body, it is more beautiful than the sun, and the sun and moon admire His beauty. Next follow the words: “grace is poured abroad in thy lips,” with which words he praises the same Christ for the grace of His speech, which he commends as a miracle of beauty in itself. He says “ grace ...poured abroad in ... lips,” to show that the grace of speech in Christ is permanent and natural, not acquired through study or practice. In the Gospels, we read in
Luke iv: “They wondered at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth.”
[3] And in
John vii: “ Never did man speak like this man.”
[4] Sts. Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Philip, but especially St. Matthew, experienced the force of His words and the power within His speech; they were suddenly and irresistibly drawn and persuaded by a simple call (vocation) and, leaving everything, they followed Him. But more wonderful still was that the wind, the sea, fevers and, finally, the dead obeyed (His commands): but this ought not to seem (so) surprising, if the divine and substantial Word should utter the sweetest and most powerful words of grace through the flesh He (had) assumed. It continues: “Therefore hath God blessed thee for ever.” These words may have a twofold meaning, each one being correct :
(Firstly), it is possible to take the word
propterea / therefore as meaning
because, or,
propterea quod / because of which, so that the sense is: “Thou art beautiful above the sons of men, and grace is poured abroad in thy lips,”
because of which “God hath blessed thee for ever,” so that the blessing of God is the eternal cause of such great beauty and grace. Blessing in this context means the grace of the hypostatic union, which is to endure in eternity; for thence, as from a fountain head, will flow forth all the gifts which are fused together in Christ’s humanity.
(Secondly), it is however
possible, following Chrysostom and others, to take
propterea / therefore as being a particle
[5] signifying an effect, sothat the sense is: “Because Thou art beautiful above the sons of men and grace is poured abroad in thy lips, therefore hath God blessed thee for ever,” that is, because Thou art lovable and graceful above all men, therefore God loves Thee above all men and hath blessed Thee eternally. From these words it is not to be concluded that Christ was not loved and blessed by His Father before the appearance of His beauty and the grace of His speech; but this was merited as a further mark of love: as Christ Himself says in
John x: “Therefore doth the Father love me: because I lay down my life, that I may take it again.”
[6] See also the Apostle in
Philipp. ii: “ He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names:”
[7] It seems however that the first interpretation should be preferred.
[1] In Verse 1.
[2] See Title and Theme.
[3] And all gave testimony to him: and they wondered at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth, and they said: Is not this the son of Joseph? Et omnes testimonium illi dabant : et mirabantur in verbis gratiae, quae procedebant de ore ipsius, et dicebant : Nonne hic est filius Joseph? [Luc. iv. 22]
[4] The ministers answered: Never did man speak like this man. Responderunt ministri : Numquam sic locutus est homo, sicut hic homo. [John vii. 46]
[5] Any of a set of words (sometimes treated as a minor part of speech and sometimes including affixes) that are typically short and indeclinable; a function word; e.g., 1924 O. Jespersen Philos. Gram. 87 I therefore propose to revert to the old terminology by which these four classes [sc. adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections] are treated as one called ‘particles’.
[6] Therefore doth the Father love me: because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. Propterea me diligit Pater : quia ego pono animam meam, ut iterum sumam eam. [Ioan. x. 17]
[7] He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. Humiliavit semetipsum factus obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. [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 :[Philipp. ii. 8-9].
Verse 4
Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty.
Accingere gladio tuo super femur tuum, potentissime.
He passes from the praise of His beauty and eloquence to the praise of His military courage; and in a poetic vein he does not simply narrate but utters a prayer or invitation: “Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty,” that is, O beloved God, who art not only the most beautiful and gracious, but also the most mighty and powerful, gird on Thy weapons and come, deliver Thy people. What these weapons may be is explained in the next verse.
Verse 5
With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign.
Specie tua et pulchritudine tua intende, prospere procede, et regna.
These words: “With thy comeliness and thy beauty,” can be linked to the preceding line so that the sense is: “Gird thy sword ..., O thou most mighty, With thy comeliness and thy beauty.” They can also be linked to the following words, so that the sense is: “With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign;” but either way, the meaning is that the arms of Christ are His own comeliness and beauty. To understand this, it should be noted that the true and highest beauty, as St. Augustine says, is spiritual beauty, which never fades and which is pleasing to the eyes not only of men but of angels, and also in the sight of God Himself, who cannot be deceived. But spiritual beauty may also be known from physical beauty. For just as the beauty of bodies consists in the proportion of the parts of the body and the pleasing nature of the colours, so spiritual beauty consists in justice, which is a certain proportion, and wisdom, which shines like a light, or rather, as it says in Wisdom, chapter vii: “ being compared with the light, she is found before it.”[1] That soul, therefore, is the most beautiful which has justice in her will and wisdom in her intellect. These two, then, render the soul beautiful and which through this is lovable in God’s sight, and they are like the most mighty weapons with which God vanquishes the devil : for Christ has fought against the devil not with his omnipotent might, as he could, but by His wisdom and justice; wisdom defeating cunning and justice overcoming malice. For the devil by his cunning
incited the first man through disobedience to anger God; and that first man took away from God the honour due to Him and from himself and the whole human race he took away the life of blessedness; because this cunning was linked to malice, or envy; the devil did this all twisted with envy, because man seemed to be ascending into the heaven, from which he himself had fallen; but Christ’s wisdom vanquished (the devil’s)cunning, since through His obedience shown to God in human nature, He rendered much more honour to God than Adam through his disobedience had taken away. At the same time, He exalted the human race to a glory much more sublime than that was to be from which he had fallen : besides, Christ through His charity, which is true, and His perfect justice, overcame the envy and malice of the devil: since he loved His enemies, and from the very Cross he prayed for His persecutors, and He willed to suffer and to die so that His enemies might be reconciled unto God and so that from enemies He might make them friends and brothers, and His co-heirs. This is therefore what the Prophet now says: “With thy comeliness and thy beauty,” that is, by Thy splendour, which abides in the comeliness of Thy wisdom and the beauty of Thy justice, as if girded and equipped with a sword and a bow, “set out, proceed prosperously, and reign,” that is, set Thy course for a battle against the devil, triumph in the battle against the devil, and having defeated and vanquished the Prince of this world, take possession of Thy kingdom, so that henceforth Thou mayst reign in the hearts of men through faith and charity. By the word intende / set out, St. John Chrysostom understands intende sagittas / aim[2] (Thy) arrows, which is the probable meaning, because a little later it says, “Thy arrows are sharp.” This is clear from the original text, intende cannot be explained correctly as attende / attend to, or considera / consider; but only intende sagittas / aim Thy arrows, or intende / aim, or dirige iter / direct the path (of). St. Jerome renders the line as : in Thy glory and in Thy beauty prosperously ascend. But the Septuagint translators take it differently, or read the same Hebrew letters in a different way. For where the Hebrew repeats with Thy beauty, because they read the characters as vahadareca, the Septuagint reads vahadrec, which means intende /set out, or dirige / direct, from the word darac. And the word tselach, which St. Jerome takes for an adverb and translates as prosperously, the Septuagint takes as a verb in the imperative mood and translates as prosperously proceed, or to prosper. Indeed, the word can be taken in either sense. Finally, the word recab, correctly translated by St. Jerome as ascend, the Septuagint translates as reign/royal power, because this better respects the sense: for by ascent is understood reign/royal power. The same Hebrew word can mean more than this, e.g., be mounted in a chariot or on a horse, which can refer to a reign/royal power, for when kings are inaugurated, they mount and ride on the royal horse or the royal mule, as may be gathered from the first chapter of the third book of Kings; and to be seated in a triumphal procession is proper to a king who has vanquished his enemies in battle.
[1] For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it. Est enim haec speciosior sole, et super omnem dispositionem stellarum : luci comparata, invenitur prior. [Sap. Vii. 29]
[2] intendō, ī, tentus or tēnsus, 3, a.: to stretch to or towards; strain; stretch strings or chords; strain, aim, shoot.
Verse 6
Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.
propter veritatem, et mansuetudinem, et justitiam; et deducet te mirabiliter dextera tua.
He explains the reason why Christ deservedly should reign, because He has kingly virtues: as though he were to say: “Proceed prosperously, and reign on account of Thy truth, gentleness and justice,” that is, because the kingly virtues in Him are not lacking. The Hebrew codex explains this text more clearly, serving almost as a commentary: thus, it
has, because of (Thy) word of truth and the gentleness of Thy justice. Form these words, we learn that two things are necessary to a king, that he should be truthful,, that is, faithful in his words, and just in his works. This is what is said of God the high king in Psalm xxliv: “Faithful in all his words: and holy in all his works.”
[1] But because the judgement of a judge often has a sharp side to it, which is like a blemish in justice, to Christ’s justice, which is utterly perfect, is added meekness. For Christ is gentle in His justice, that is, He judges most justly but without sour temper, without harshness and without arrogance; He does not frighten away but conciliates those who come before Him. This then is how the words in our edition are to be explained: “reign on account of (Thy) truth,” which Thou keepest always in Thy words and promises, “and (on account of Thy) gentleness and justice.” that is, on account of the gentleness which Thou interminglest with justice. “and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully,” that is, and reigning with these virtues, Thou wilt see wondrous advances in Thy kingdom. And Thou wilt have no need of others’ help; but Thy very right hand itself, Thy strength and Thy might, will suffice Thee, to conduct Thee wonderfully, and make Thee to increase Thy kingdom, until Thou makest all Thine enemies Thy footstool.
[2] In Hebrew the wording is a little different but the sense is the same; for St. Jerome translates it thus: And Thy right hand will teach Thee things inspiring dread, that is, Thy right hand, conquering and overthrowing enemies, will teach Thee, that is, will show Thee, and make Thee discern terrible events, namely the slaughter of Thine enemies.
[1] Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words: and holy in all his works. Regnum tuum regnum omnium saeculorum; et dominatio tua in omni generatione et generationem. Fidelis Dominus in omnibus verbis suis, et sanctus in omnibus operibus suis. [Ps. Cxliv. 13]
[2] Cf. Ps. Cix. 1. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool. Psalmus David. Dixit Dominus Domino meo : Sede a dextris meis, donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum.
Verse 7
Thy arrows are sharp: under thee shall people fall, into the hearts of the king's enemies,
Sagittae tuae acutae, populi sub te cadent, in corda inimicorum regis.
He explains how the right hand of Christ the king will conduct him so wonderfully in extending his kingdom, saying: He will do this because the arrows, which thy right hand shall loose, are most sharp, and will therefore pierce thine enemies’ hearts, and people, the enemies themselves, shall fall under thee and be subjected to thy power. Arrows are to be understood asmeaning the words of God, or rather the preaching of god’s word; for this is the method generally used by Christ to propagate His kingdom; He Himself says this in Psalm ii: “But I am appointed king by him over Sion his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.”
[1] The word of God is however also called a sword, an arrow, a hammer, and similar terms, because it has a similarity to all these weapons. It is called a sharply pointed arrow because it is extremely effective at piercing hearts, much more so than the human eloquence of a great orator. “For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two edged sword.”
[2] The words, under thee shall people fall, are to be read in parenthesis;
[3] and the people are said to fall under this King, wounded by arrows, because they are not wounded so
as to be killed but so as to die to sin and live for justice, and in this way they emerge subjects of Christ the king, serving Him, for whom serving is reigning. Finally, into the hearts of the king's enemies, in the Hebrew and Greek codices and in many Latin manuscripts, is read as into the heart and not as into the hearts. For it is true that the arrows of God’s word penetrate sinners’ hearts and it is also true that those arrows stay fixed in the heart; and love’s wound nourishes and preserves the heart, and in this way makes enemies and sinners into friends and saints.In the Greek codices, it has, Thy arrows are sharp, O mighty one: but this word, O mighty one, is not in the Hebrew. From which we know that the author of the Latin Vulgate had the Greek version’s amendment which they published; or certainly was aware that wording was not placed in the text by the Septuagint translators but was inserted from another source.
[1] 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. [Psalm ii. 6]
[2] For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two edged sword; and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Vivus est enim sermo Dei, et efficax et penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti : et pertingens usque ad divisionem animae ac spiritus : compagum quoque ac medullarum, et discretor cogitationum et intentionum cordis. [Hebr. iv. 12]
[3] After Hellenistic Greek παρεντιθέναι to put in beside.
Verse 8
Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness.
Sedes tua, Deus, in saeculum saeculi; virga directionis virga regni tui.
He now comes to the supreme dignity of the Messiah and openly calls Him God and says that the seat of His kingdom is eternal; and St. Paul in
Hebrews i. cites this text to prove Christ is so superior to angels as a master is to his servants and God is to created things. He therefore says : “Thy throne,” O Christ “God,” will not be transient, as was that of David and Solomon, but will endure “for ever and ever. And the sceptre of thy kingdom,” that is, Thy sceptre, will always be most upright and most just : the Hebrew phrase is a
sceptre of uprightness instead of
a most upright sceptre; like having
God of all knowledge[1] instead of
all-knowing God.
[1] Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words: and holy in all his works. Regnum tuum regnum omnium saeculorum; et dominatio tua in omni generatione et generationem. Fidelis Dominus in omnibus verbis suis, et sanctus in omnibus operibus suis. [Ps. Cxliv. 13]
Verse 9
Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Dilexisti justitiam, et odisti iniquitatem; propterea unxit te Deus, Deus tuus, oleo laetitiae, prae consortibus tuis.
This text can be understood in a twofold sense, like the words in verse three (of this Psalm),
therefore hath God blessed thee for ever. For the word
propterea can mean
effect, so that the sense is, because “Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity,” being obedient unto death and death on the Cross, “therefore God, … hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness,” that is, He hath glorified Thee and “hath exalted Thee (on His right hand), and hath given Thee a name which is above all names: that in Thy name every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.”
[1] This glory is rightly called “the oil of gladness” because through it all pain comes to an end. It also rightly says “above thy fellows,” since even though angels are also glorified and men are to be glorified, no-one is or will be exalted at the right hand of the father, and no-one has been given or will be given a name above all names, Christ only excepted,
who is at the head of men and angels, and is at once God and man. But the word
propterea can also mean cause, and can be translated as
because, or
because of which, so that the sense is: “Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity,” because of which God hath anointed thee with the oil of spiritual grace above thy fellows, because He hath anointed thee with the grace of hypostatic unction, and from this it has come to pass that the spirit is poured forth in Thee without measure, and all others have received thy measure in abundance; this explanation follows St. Augustine and seems to follow St. Basil who, commenting on this text, says that it is in Christ’s nature to have a love of justice and a hatred of iniquity, since He had this from His birth, or rather from His conception and from an interior principle: but others acquire virtues through practice and hard work. St. Augustine, countering the Hebrews and the heretics who deny Christ’s divinity, notes that in the repetition,
Deus, Deus tuus / God, thy God, the first case is in the vocative and the second in the nominative, which is how St. Jerome explains the text in his epistle
ad Principiam. And so the sense is: God the father hath anointed Thee, O Christ God, with the oil of gladness; and Augustine affirms that the same thing appears more clearly in the Greek text, which may be judged to be in the (other) Greek texts we now have, by the negligence of the libraries an omega changed into an omicron. When it says God hath anointed God, we do not understand God anointed in reason of His divinity but in reason of His humanity; for God the Father hath anointed God the Son, because God the Son was made man, and in reason of His humanity H10]e accepted the grace of unction, because that man who was anointed, the Son of God, is also God.
[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 : That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: ut in nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur caelestium, terrestrium et infernorum, [Philipp. ii. 9-10]
Verse 10
Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses: out of which The daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory.
Myrrha, et gutta, et casia a vestimentis tuis, a domibus eburneis; ex quibus delectaverunt te filiae regum in honore tuo.
This verse is extremely obscure: let us therefore explain first the vocabulary and then the sentences. Myrrh resin is well-known as bitter and aromatic; gutta / drop, is a general word but in Greek it has στἁχτη / stacte, which in Basil’s commentary on this text is (a gum) distilled from myrrh, and is like honey extracted from myrrh, that is, the subtlest distillation of myrrh. But it does not seem likely that the Prophet wanted to say “Myrrh and gutta,” the subtlest essence of myrrh; the Hebrew has ahaloth, which we call aloe in Latin. Now aloe resin is also bitter and aromatic, but it is a species distinct from myrrh; and we read in the Gospel that Nicodemus took to Christ’s tomb “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.”[1] We ought therefore to understand what our Interpreter has said, “gutta,” as meaning aloes, as St. Jerome writes in his Epistle ad Principiam; or distillation of myrrh, as St. Basil teaches in his Commentary. Finally, casia / cassia is a bush from which the fragrant bark is taken and it is numbered amongst the spices inthe same way as cinnamon. By domibus eburneis / ivory houses are understood palaces or sumptuous temples, with roof panels of ivory; for in the Hebrew, the word is not baith which properly means house, but hechal, which means palace, basilica and temple. The Greek words used, βαρέων έλεφαντἱνων, mean a great palace, as St. Basil says. And so it is unlikely, as some would have it, that these are store-rooms for spices, and even less likely, as others would maintain, that they are chests or coffers in which clothes or spices are stored. But, they say, chests are made of ivory, not palaces. This is true, but they do not in this text call them ivory houses because they are made entirely of ivory, but because the roofs are so made. In the same way, Nero’s house was called domus aurea, the house of gold, and the gates of Constantinople were called the golden gates, because they were gilded, or covered with a laminate of gold, not because they were made of solid gold. In this way do we understand III Kings xxii: “the house of gold, that Achab built.”[2] See also Amos iii: “ And the houses ofivory shall perish.”[3] St. Gregory in book xxxv of Moralium, in chapter xiii, writes a gradibus eburneis / from the ivory steps; but this came from ambiguous vocabulary he drew from St. Jerome’s epistle ad Principiam. For he wrote that the Greek word βαρέων is ambiguous and can mean steps, palaces or houses, whence, deceived by this ambiguity, others among the Latins translated this, from the ivory steps; but as this signifies nothing it is credible that it was changed to write from the ivory steps. By the daughters of kings may be understood numerous different kingdoms. For the Scriptures at various places speak of the daughters of Jerusalem, of Babylon, of the Assyrians and of Tyre, representing the multitude of the people of those cities, or peoples. The words may also be understood, as the words are pronounced, the daughters of princes, by which the souls of the elect are figuratively signified, as St. Basil says; for this entire speech is figurative. Having explained these things, we may now come to the meaning: by aromatic spices, we understand the virtues, or rather the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which give off a spiritual fragrance; and because shortly before, the Prophet said to Christ: “ God, thy God, hath anointed thee,” [verse 9] he rightly now adds: “Myrrh and stacte and cassia,” referring to the aromatic fragrances, which are given off from that anointing: of this fragrance, the Blessed Paul speaks when he says in II Cor, ii.: “ For we are the good odour of Christ.”[4] And since in His passion Christ chiefly exuded the greatest fragrance of the virtues, chiefly of resolute patience, humble obedience and ardent charity, thus the Prophet calls myrrh bitter but fragrant, which befits patience aloe is also bitter yet fragrant, which befits humility and obedience, of which Blessed Paul says: “He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death;”[5] finally, cassia is hot and fragrant, which befits charity ablaze with ardour, with which He prayed for those who were crucifying Him.[6] These aromatic spices spread from the garments and the ivory houses of Christ. “Myrrh,” he says, “and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses,” they pour forth and they flow, or they flowed. By garments is understood Christ’s humanity which covered His divinity like a robe or veil; by ivory houses is understood His humanity, which was like a temple or palace, dazzling because of its purity, in which the divinity was dwelling. It is not to be wondered at that the same thing should be called garments and a house: for the Apostle, in II Corinth. v., joins these two when he says: “For we know, if our earthly house of this habitation be dissolved, that we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in heaven. For in this also we groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our habitation that is from heaven. Yet so that we be found clothed, not naked. For we also, who are in this tabernacle, do groan, being burthened; because we would not be unclothed, but clothed upon, that that which is mortal may be swallowed up by glory (life.)"[7] Here you see the mortal body being called a house and tabernacle and at the same time a garment, of which we do not wish to be unclothed, but clothed upon; and in a like manner the heavenly home is called a garment and a habitation. And so Christ’s humanity, from which spread outwards the sweetest fragrances of His virtues, may be called a garment, and a house of ivory, unless it were wished to refer the garment to His soul and the ivory house to His body, which Christ Himself called a temple when He said in John ii: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”[8] It is not unusual for the prophet to speak in a number of multitude (ie in the plural), “from the ivory houses,” for a great house is one and many on account of the great number of rooms and chambers; for this reason we speak in the plural of a house as ædes nostrae.[9] It continues: “Out of which The daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory,” that is, from these fragrances, which spread outwards like breath from the garments and ivory houses of Thy humanity, “the daughters of kings,” whether royal and exalted souls or the multitudes of peoples from various kingdoms, “ have delighted thee,” while they run after the odour of Thy fragrant ointments. For Christ is really delighted when He sees multitudes of Saints roused and drawn to run after His fragrance; and truly, he who begins to experience with a spiritual sense that most sweet fragrance which is exhaled from the patience, humanity and charity of Christ, cannot but run after Him and would rather suffer torments than suffer himself to be separated from Him; for he says along with the Apostle in Rom viii: “Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ?”[10] But in this way the daughters of kings are most pleasing to Christ, running after the fragrance of His ointments, because they do this in His honour, that is, from a pure intention of glorifying God. The martyrs in their suffering, running after Christ, greatly glorified God; of which John says in his chapter xxi concerning the suffering of St. Peter foretold to him by Christ: “Signifying,” he said, “by what death he should glorify God.”[11][1] And Nicodemus also came, (he who at the first came to Jesus by night,) bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. Venit autem et Nicodemus, qui venerat ad Jesum nocte primum, ferens mixturam myrrhae et aloes, quasi libras centum. [Ioan. Xix. 39]
[2] III Reg. xxii. 19.
[3] Amos iii. 15.
[4] For we are the good odour of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish. quia Christi bonus odor sumus Deo in iis qui salvi fiunt, et in his qui pereunt : [II Cor, ii. 15]
[5] He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. Humiliavit semetipsum factus obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. [Philipp. ii. 8]
[6] And Jesus said: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. But they, dividing his garments, cast lots. Jesus autem dicebat : Pater, dimitte illis : non enim sciunt quid faciunt. Dividentes vero vestimenta ejus, miserunt sortes. [Luc. Xxiii. 34]
[7] Scimus enim quoniam si terrestris domus nostra hujus habitationis dissolvatur, quod aedificationem ex Deo habemus, domum non manufactam, aeternam in caelis. Nam et in hoc ingemiscimus, habitationem nostram, quae de caelo est, superindui cupientes : si tamen vestiti, non nudi inveniamur. Nam et qui sumus in hoc tabernaculo, ingemiscimus gravati : eo quod nolumus expoliari, sed supervestiri, ut absorbeatur quod mortale est, a vita. [II Cor. v. 1-4]
[8] Jesus answered, and said to them: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Respondit Jesus, et dixit eis : Solvite templum hoc, et in tribus diebus excitabo illud. [Ioan. ii. 19]
[9] Sing., a dwelling of the gods, a sanctuary, a temple. A dwelling for men, a house, habitation, abode; syn. domus; usu. only in the plur., as a collection of several apartments;
[10] Who then shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword? Quis ergo nos separabit a caritate Christi? tribulatio? an angustia? an fames? an nuditas? an periculum? an persecutio? an gladius? [Rom. Viii. 35]
[11] Amen, amen I say to thee, when thou wast younger, thou didst gird thyself, and didst walk where thou wouldst. But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and lead thee whither thou wouldst not. Amen, amen dico tibi : cum esses junior, cingebas te, et ambulabas ubi volebas : cum autem senueris, extendes manus tuas, et alius te cinget, et ducet quo tu non vis. [19] And this he said, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had said this, he saith to him: Follow me. Hoc autem dixit significans qua morte clarificaturus esset Deum. Et cum hoc dixisset, dicit ei : Sequere me. [Ioan. Xxi. 18-19]
Verse 11
The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.
Astitit regina a dextris tuis in vestitu deaurato, circumdata varietate.
Up to this point, David has prophesied about the bridegroom; now he begins to prophesy concerning the bride; the bride is understood by all the commentators to mean the Church, as the Apostle in Ephesians chapter v explicitly teaches that the Church is the bride of Christ. This, then, is the primary sense, that by bride is understood the Church; but these things that may be said of a bride may also be applied to anyone with a perfect soul, most especially to the Blessed Virgin Mary who, whilst mother of Christ according to the flesh, is also a bride according to the spirit, and occupies the first place among the members of the Church. Accordingly, not without reason is this Psalm sung on Feasts of the Blessed Virgin and also of other (Holy) virgins; for not without reason is it said of each: “Come, bride of Christ.” David addresses Christ, saying: “The queen stood on thy right hand,” that is, Thy bride, who is also the Queen, since she is Thy bride and Thou art king, stands “on thy right hand,” that is, near to Thee, and in the place of highest honour, beneath the royal throne: she stands “in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety,” that is, in rich robes befitting a Queen. Now each word bears consideration. Astitit / stood is written instead of assistet / stands, after the manner of Prophets who see the future as if it had already happened. Moreover, Chrysostom notes that it does not say was seated but stood, because sitting befits one equal. And so the Son sits at the right hand of the Father, as an equal; the Church, however, as inferior, stood with the heavenly powers, who are said to stand before God. The Hebrew word nitsbah properly signifies stood, and it denotes firmness, as though the Prophet were saying: Thy Bride cleaves firmly to Thee, and her firm stance is such that there is no danger of her being separated from Thee. Queen in Hebrew is shegal, which signifies a bride or a concubine,[1] from which arise various interpretations; for some have translated the words as the wife stood, others as the concubine stood; but the Septuagint translators, so as to explain this word should be understood as meaning a true wife and not a concubine, preferred to translate it as queen; but only legitimate wives were called queens, not the concubines of kings. “On thy right hand:” these words do not mean that the bride is on the right hand of the bridegroom and that the groom is to be understood as being on the left, but rather that the groom is in the middle and (seated) higher up on a throne, with the Queen on His right and other princes on His left. Perhaps the Holy Spirit wanted through these words to reveal the incredible dignity of the Church who is not only admitted into the kingdom of heaven so as to stand with the angels before the throne of God, but who is given precedence over the angels, so that the Church, composed of men, may be on the right hand, and the hosts of angels on the left. For even if holy men were to be mingled with holy angels, so as to make up one city: yet many holy men would take precedence over many of the angels in the kingdom of heaven;
[1] A woman who cohabits with a man without being his wife; a kept mistress. In reference to polygamous peoples, as the ancient Hebrews and the Muslims: A ‘secondary wife’ whose position is recognized by law, but is inferior to that of a wife. Latin concubīnus, concubīna, < con- together + cubāre to lie.
Verse 11 continued
The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety.
Astitit regina a dextris tuis in vestitu deaurato, circumdata varietate.
the
Blessed Virgin precedes all the angels; and the head of men and angels is Christ, who is not an angel but a man. From this St. John Chrysostom rightly warns men to think when they sin how ungrateful they are for such great benevolence from God; for God has raised the human race, and especially the Church, having been lifted up from a heathen and idolatrous state, from the depths of sin, and truly from the mire and dregs, to the highest dignity so that they stand with the angels in the kingdom of heaven, and receive the name of bride of Christ. All this, thanks to the love of the heavenly bridegroom, who “loved her (the church), and delivered Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her and cleanse her and that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle,” as the Apostle writes in
Ephes. vi.
[1] “In gilded clothing; surrounded with variety;” all these words are represented by only two in the Hebrew, which translate as in
auro de ophir / in gold of Ophir, and St. Jerome translates these words as,
in diademate aureo / with a golden diadem, and others have other translations. But the Septuagint translators wanted to explain what should be included in the general sense of the Hebrew expression, and they rightly said it referred to precious robes, and all the other bridal ornaments for each of the various parts of her body, such as a diadem, a necklace, a girdle, footwear, and the like; this explanation seems to be drawn from the words spoken further on: “in golden borders, clothed round about with varieties.”
[2] What these words mean spiritually is explained by the fathers in different ways; St. Augustine understands gold as meaning wisdom, clothing as doctrine, variety as the various languages in which this same ecclesiastical doctrine is taught. St. Basil understands gilded clothing as meaning ecclesiastical doctrine, but he understands variety as meaning dogmas, such as moral, natural, speculative, practical and so on. St. Jerome and St. Chrysostom understand gilded clothing as meaning the grace of justification, through a variety of different virtues, faith, hope, love, humility and so on. This interpretation can be confirmed from chapter xix of the Apocalypse, where it is said: “ The bride adorned with fine linen, glittering and white;”
[3] and St John says in commentary: “For the fine linen are the justifications of saints.” It might also be added that not only does the variety of adornments of the bride consist of various virtues, which are necessary for everyone, but also of various gifts, which the Church possesses for her different members: for some are gifts for the Apostles, some for the Martyrs, others for the Virgins, others for the Doctors, others for the Confessors, and others for others.
[1] Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it: Viri, diligite uxores vestras, sicut et Christus dilexit Ecclesiam, et seipsum tradidit pro ea, That he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life: ut illam sanctificaret, mundans lavacro aquae in verbo vitae, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy, and without blemish. ut exhiberet ipse sibi gloriosam Ecclesiam, non habentem maculam, aut rugam, aut aliquid hujusmodi, sed ut sit sancta et immaculata. [Eph. v. 25-27]
[2] Psalm xliv. 14-15.
[3] And it is granted to her that she should clothe herself with fine linen, glittering and white. For the fine linen are the justifications of saints. Et datum est illi ut cooperiat se byssino splendenti et candido. Byssinum enim justificationes sunt sanctorum. [Apoc. Xix. 8]
Verse 12
Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father's house.
Audi, filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam; et obliviscere populum tuum, et domum patris tui.
He now addresses the Church herself, and he teaches faithfully and piously. He calls her daughter, either because he is speaking in the person of God the Father, as St. Jerome says, or because he is speaking as one of the Church fathers, as St. Augustine says. But when by bride is understood the Blessed Virgin Mary, then it is altogether fitting for David to call her daughter because she is his descendant according to the flesh. “Hearken, O daughter,” he says, that is, hear the voice of thy spouse, “and see,” that is, consider carefully what thou hearest, “and incline thy ear,” that is, humbly obey His commands, “ and forget thy people, and thy father's house,” that is, in order to serve thy spouse more easily, forget the world and the things that are in the world: for the Church was chosen from the world and has left the world; and although the Church is still in the world, yet it ought not to be of the world, just as her spouse is not of the world: the world is rightly said to be those people who love worldly things, and this same world is the dwelling of our ancient father Adam, who was cast out of paradise into this world; unless it is it is better by father to understand the devil, who is the father of all the wicked, as it says in John viii: “You are of your father the devil.”[1] And assuredly, those who think on what we said above concerning the ineffable love of the bridegroom, who delivered Himself so that He might rescue us out of the depths of a snare and bear us aloft to the highest heaven, there to make us His glorious bride, those who think on these things will have no difficulty in removing their love from this world so as to transfer it entirely to their Spouse. That word forget is to be much emphasised: for it means a radical removal of love for the world, so that it recedes not only from the mind and the heart but also from the memory entirely, so that it is as if it never was.[1] Ioann. Viii. 44.
Verse 13
And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is the Lord thy God, and him they shall adore.
Et concupiscet rex decorem tuum, quoniam ipse est Dominus Deus tuus, et adorabunt eum.
He offers a reason why the Bride should forget her people and her father’s house, so that she may be totally focused on love and obedience for her Spouse: because the king desires to see her beauty and to have her at His side. The true beauty of a bride is interior, as is explained more clearly further on in the Psalm, where it says: “ All the beauty (glory) of the king's daughter is within,”
[1] and it consists mainly in obedience to His commandments, but in charity, on which all the commandments depend; and that reason, he adds, “for he is the Lord thy God,” that is, He loves thy beauty which has been put in obedience to Him, “for he is the Lord thy God.” For there is nothing a master requires more from his servants, or God from His creatures, than obedience; and, so that we may understand this Spouse is the absolute Lord and true God, he adds: “and Him they shall adore,” that is, thy spouse is not such that thou mayst claim equality with Him; He is indeed thy spouse, but through grace, and thy Lord and the Lord of all creatures, by nature, and adoration of Him is owed by all of these. In the Hebrew, it does not have the word
Deus / God, but only
Dominus / Lord, where we have “for he is the Lord thy God.” But not only the Septuagint, but also St. Jerome, translate as the Lord thy God; and from the adoration owed to Him is gathered that He is not only Lord but God, that is, not just any
lord but the supreme Lord. In this same line, in the Hebrew and in the Greek, it has
and Him thou wilt adore; but there is no divergence in the meaning: for all creatures must adore God and hence the bride herself must also adore Him; and this reading,
Him they shall adore, is not recent; for it is found in St. Augustine, St. Basil, St. Chrysostom and others; on the contrary, St. Jerome in his epistle
ad Principiam says that the Septuagint translated it as
Him they shall adore. The Greek reading, which now has
Him thou wilt adore, is either not from the Septuagint translators or has been corrupted. And because, as we have often said, the Septuagint translators had the best Hebrew codices, it is probable that the Hebrew reading was altered by an error of the scribes at that time, which would be easily done as the Hebrew words for
they will adore and
thou wilt adore are not different, save for the last letters, namely
iod and
vau, which could easily be changed because of their similarity.
Verse 14
And the daughters of Tyre with gifts, yea, all the rich among the people, shall entreat thy countenance.
Et filiae Tyri in muneribus vultum tuum deprecabuntur; omnes divites plebis.
Because he said (in verse 13): “and him they shall adore,”namely, the Bridegroom, he also adds the Bride, so as to honour the Queen with gifts and prayers. “And the daughters of Tyre,” he says, “with gifts . . . shall entreat thy countenance,” that is, the daughters of the gentiles, formerly the enemies of thy Spouse, will be subjected to His dominion, and they will come to thee, to entreat thy countenance, not only with spoken prayers but with gifts and offerings. “All the rich among the people,” that is, as he spoke of the daughters of Tyre, meaning the chief amongst the more powerful, who are accustomed to be the wealthiest. In this text, words need to be explained one by one. "And the daughters” is in Hebrew ubath, and the daughter, and this is the reading of Sts. Basil and Clement, and the Greek codex now has this. But St. Jerome and St. Augustine have; And the daughters. If we read: And the daughters of Tyre as meaning the city or people of Tyre, in the same way we say the daughters of Babylon or the daughters of Jerusalem; if we read And the daughters as meaning the women of the city of Tyre; this recalls the women rather than the men because he is addressing the Bride: for women are wont to have access in a more familiar manner to a queen than men have to a king. But if by bride we understand in this text not an actual woman but the Church, which includes men and women, then by daughters of Tyre may be understood all gentiles, male or female. The Hebrew word for Tyre is tsor and it is ambiguous: for it can signify tough or powerful as well as being the name of the city of Tyre. But the Septuagint translators chose Tyre as the meaning, and this interpretation was followed by the Latin interpreter; and all the Greek and Latin Fathers follow this, except forSt. Jerome in his epistle ad Principiam, where he prefers to read and explain the text as most valiant daughter. Furthermore, Tyre was a great and celebrated city of the gentiles, on the edges of the promised land and so the Prophet used this neighbouring city to represent all gentiles. “With gifts:” he uses the word gifts for the offerings which gentiles, converted to the faith, made for buildings and church decorations, in almsgiving for the poor, and similar good works. “Shall entreat thy countenance:” St. basil and certain others understand by the countenance of the Bride the head of the Church, that is, Christ; but a simpler interpretation is that the countenance of the Bride means the Church herself: for it is a Hebrew expression, to pray to the face or countenance of someone, meaning to pray for that person, as in I Kings xiii.: “I have not appeased the face of the Lord;”[1] and Psalm cxviii: “I entreated thy face.”[2] We are said to pray to a (person’s) face because when we pray to someone, we look at his face, and from the face we can read sorrow or happiness, and whether the person to whom we pray will be well-disposed or angry. “All the rich among the people:” this is by way of qualification, as though he were to say: The daughters of Tyre with gifts, shall entreat thy countenance; not all will have gifts, but only the rich (among them).[1] I said: Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Galgal, and I have not appeased the face of the Lord. Forced by necessity, I offered the holocaust. dixi : Nunc descendent Philisthiim ad me in Galgala, et faciem Domini non placavi. Necessitate compulsus, obtuli holocaustum. [I Reg. xiii.12]
[2] I entreated thy face with all my heart: have mercy on me according to thy word. Deprecatus sum faciem tuam in toto corde meo; miserere mei secundum eloquium tuum. [Ps. Cxviii. 58]
Verse 15
All the glory of the king's daughter is within, in golden borders, clothed round about with varieties.
Omnis gloria ejus filiae regis ab intus, in fimbriis aureis, circumamicta varietatibus.
Because David has spoken often of the Bride’s beauty and adornments, lest anyone perhaps might think these were physical and that this text might lead to carnal thoughts, he says: “All the glory,” rather than (meaning) her good looks or her sumptuous apparel, “of the Queen is within,” and if she is said to be adorned in “golden borders,” and “clothed round about,” with different robes, all these are spiritual and interior, and to be looked for in the heart. From this, St. Peter, in I Pet. iii., warns Christian women to be like the Bride and cultivate adornment which is interior. “Whose adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel: But the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptibility of a quiet and a meek spirit.”[1] This is not however a reason to reprehend the exterior worship of churches in the celebration of the sacraments, in the ornamentation of altars and in sacred solemnities: for here it is not a question of a physical church but of men who are the people of God and Christ’s members, of whom the chief beauty and ornament consists in virtues, as we said above; from these virtues should be born exterior good works, “that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven,” as the Saviour teaches in Matthew v.[2] Furthermore, it seems that nothing may be understood more appositely by the words “golden borders” than charity itself, which is compared to gold, because it is the most precious and pre-eminent among all the virtues; and it (charity) may be said to be similar to borders or fringes, because just as garments finish in borders, and are strengthened by these borders, so the end of all commandments and virtues is charity, and on charity all the commandments depend, and are formed by her, and all the virtues are perfected in her. Now we have spoken above about what the variegated robes may be. The Apostle seems to be speaking about the variegated robes when he says: “Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience.”[3] As far as the pronoun eius is concerned, it is not in the Hebrew or Greek text; but it is read in St. Jerome's epistle ad Principiam, and in the Commentary on the Psalms, as also in the Septuagint version and in St. Augustine; and the Hebrew word, if read with a point on the last letter, means gloria eius / his glory. It is however true that the eius should be referred to the Hebrew expression and is redundant in the Latin. That the Bride is called the king’s daughter should not be a cause of wonder; for the bride of the king’s son is commonly called the daughter of the father, the king, because bridegroom and bride are two in one flesh. I am not unaware that the Hebrew interpunction[4] differs from the Greek and Latin, but too much store should not be set on the interpunction added by the Rabbis and the Septuagint translators are more to be believed than the later Rabbis.[1] Whose adorning let it not be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel: But the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptibility of a quiet and a meek spirit, which is rich in the sight of God. Quarum non sit extrinsecus capillatura, aut circumdatio auri, aut indumenti vestimentorum cultus : sed qui absconditus est cordis homo, in incorruptibilitate quieti, et modesti spiritus, qui est in conspectu Dei locuples. [I Pet. Iii. 3-4]
[2] So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus : ut videant opera vestra bona, et glorificent Patrem vestrum, qui in caelis est. [Matt. v. 16]
[3] Put ye on therefore, as the elect of God, holy, and beloved, the bowels of mercy, benignity, humility, modesty, patience: Induite vos ergo, sicut electi Dei, sancti, et dilecti, viscera misericordiae, benignitatem, humilitatem, modestiam, patientiam : [Coloss. iii. 12]
[4] The insertion of points between words, clauses, or sentences; punctuation.OED online.
Verse 16
After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee.
Adducentur regi virgines post eam, proximae ejus afferentur tibi.
Although the bride of Christ is unique, and she is uniquely beloved, that is, the universal Church, there are after her other brides of Christ, with special prerogatives above the rest of the faithful, those souls who have solemnly dedicated to God their virginity according to the flesh, and who have taken pains to please Him alone. Of these, the Apostle says in I Corinth. Vii: “ He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband.”[1] Of these things, the Prophet now speaks and in these two lines commends virginity, which is wondrously pleasing to the virginal Christ, who feedeth among the lilies.[2] “After her,” he says, “shall virgins be brought to the king,” that is, after His principal bride, the Church, there shall also be brought to the nuptial chamber of the heavenly bridegroom those souls who have dedicated their virginity to God. “Her neighbours shall be brought to thee,” that is, 
[1] Volo autem vos sine sollicitudine esse. Qui sine uxore est, sollicitus est quae Domini sunt, quomodo placeat Deo. Qui autem cum uxore est, sollicitus est quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori, et divisus est. Et mulier innupta, et virgo, cogitat quae Domini sunt, ut sit sancta corpore, et spiritu. Quae autem nupta est, cogitat quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat viro. But I would have you to be without solicitude. He that is without a wife, is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God. But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the world, how he may please his wife: and he is divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit. But she that is married thinketh on the things of the world, how she may please her husband. [I Cor. Vii. 32-34]
[2] My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies, Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi, qui pascitur inter lilia, [Cant. of Cant. ii. 16]
Verse 17
They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: they shall be brought into the temple of the king.
Afferentur in laetitia et exsultatione; adducentur in templum regis.
He explains the joy of such a number of nuptial celebrations. “They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing,” that is, the virgins shall be brought tot the nuptial feast with great joy and applause throughout the whole of heavenly Jerusalem. Perhaps he is referring in this text to that canticle which only the choir of virgins were permitted to sing in the heavenly kingdom, and of which we red in
Apocalypse chapter xiv: “And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the ancients; and no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand, who were purchased from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.”
[1] Happy souls who follow the Lamb advancing on His virginal way, and with joy and exultation they chant the new canticle, unknown to the ancient Fathers, and which no other can sing; and with this jubilation they will be led into the King’s temple, that is, into the heavenly tabernacle, which may be called a palace on account of its magnificence and a temple on account of its holiness.
[1] And they sung as it were a new canticle, before the throne, and before the four living creatures, and the ancients; and no man could say the canticle, but those hundred forty-four thousand, who were purchased from the earth. These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were purchased from among men, the first fruits to God and to the Lamb:Et cantabant quasi canticum novum ante sedem, et ante quatuor animalia, et seniores : et nemo poterat dicere canticum, nisi illa centum quadraginta quatuor millia, qui empti sunt de terra. Hi sunt, qui cum mulieribus non sunt coinquinati : virgines enim sunt. Hi sequuntur Agnum quocumque ierit. Hi empti sunt ex hominibus primitiae Deo, et Agno :[Apoc. Xiv. 3-4]
Verse 18
Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.
Pro patribus tuis nati sunt tibi filii; constitues eos principes super omnem terram.
Hitherto, the Prophet has explained the dignity and adornments of the Bridegroom and the Bride: now he mentions the issue of the nuptials, saying that the most blessed fruit of this marriage will rule the entire world. It is uncertain whether the Prophet is here addressing the Bridegroom or the Bride: certain recent commentators have said the Bridegroom, led by the following reasoning, that the pronouns tuis / thy and tibi / to thee are of the masculine gender; (on the other hand,) according to the teaching of the Holy fathers Basil, Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine and, with them, Euthymius in his Commentaries, these words are addressed to the bride. St. Jerome in his epistle ad Principiam states that either interpretation is possible, which is true; and the Hebrew text of the sentence is not incompatible with this reading if points are removed or altered, as specialists readily understand. Now, since the Prophet warned the Bride that she should forget her people and her father’s house,[1] that is, her elders; he now consoles her by promising her an abundance of children in place of the elders, whom she is leaving behind, and whom she is instructed to forget; at the same time, as we have said, he foretells that the fruit of the nuptials of the heavenly Bridegroom and the Church, His Bride, will be most happy. “Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee,” that is, instead of the fathers you had and who are now dead, namely instead of the Patriarchs and the Prophets and the fathers whom you left behind in heathenesse[2] and whom you have been ordered to forget, “sons are born to thee,” that is, the Apostles and Disciples of Christ, who will be of such excellence as to issue laws for the whole world; and so “thou shalt make them princes over all the earth.” For truly, the Apostles, the first sons of the Church, gave laws for all the lands on earth, which no temporal monarch is able to do. For, as St. John Chrysostom notes, the monarchs of Rome could not give laws to the Persians, nor the Persians to the Romans; but the Apostles gave laws to the Romans, the Persians and all the other nations. And so, in the first age of the Church, she had Apostles for sons instead of the Patriarchs, their fathers; and then in the next age she had bishops for sons in place of the Apostolic fathers, who, not as individuals, but all together are princes of the whole earth; and so in this way, through successors to the bishops the Church always has sons in the place of fathers, whom she places in dignity on the thrones of the fathers.[1] Vide Verse 12 supra.
[2] The quality or condition of being heathen; the belief and practice of the heathen; heathenism. OED online.
Verse 19
They shall remember thy name throughout all generations.
Memores erunt nominis tui in omni generatione et generationem.
He concludes the Psalm by saying that those spiritual nuptials of which he has chanted in the Psalm, and the fruit of the nuptials, that is, the most noble offspring that will be born of this holy marriage, will have no other end than the perpetual praise of God. For, he says, these sons who take the place of fathers and themselves become fathers of sons, “They shall remember thy name,” that is, they will sing of Thy power and grace “throughout all generations.” In the Hebrew and Greek codices, the first line is in the singular: memor ero nominis tui / I shall remember thy name, and this is how the Greek Fathers read it and it is also found in several Latin manuscript codices. But although Sts. Jerome and Augustine in their Commentaries read it as They shall remember thy name, and the Church on her Ecclesiastical office sings these words in the same way, the aim was not to make a correction, as in the recognised books of the time of Sixtus V and Clement VIII this text was changed, especially since there is no divergence in the sense. He who reads the words as memor ero nominis tui / I shall remember thy name, would maintain this is said by the Prophet, who is promising God that he will sing for all time the praises of God for the immense benefits granted to the human race, which are set forth in this Psalm. Others take a different interpretation because David would die and could not personally sing in praise of God through all generations, and they say that he wanted to sing through others, who, each succeeding each other, would sing these Psalms even to the consummation of the world; but this interpretation does not diverge from the other one; for it is to say: I shall remember thy name, and I will sing Thy praises through the memory and tongue of others, who shall succeed each other; and: Thy sons, who shall succeed each other, shall remember thy name, and they shall forever sing Thy praises written by me. St. John Chrysostom remarks that David the Prophet, as well as many other things which he foresaw and foretold, foresaw and foretold this of his songs in eternity, that there would not be a time in which their celebration would be interrupted; and we see this prophecy has been fulfilled and is fulfilled every day.Verse 20
Therefore shall people praise thee for ever; yea, for ever and ever.
Propterea populi confitebuntur tibi in aeternum, et in saeculum saeculi.
From the fact that the Apostles, and their successors the bishops, will always remember the
Lord’s name, and sing and proclaim His praises, the Prophet rightly gathers that it will also come to pass that the faithful taught by the bishops, will make known to the Lord their praises of Him “for ever; yea, for ever and ever,” in this life and in the life to come; for although entreaties and tears will cease in the Father’s heavenly home, giving praise and glory (to God) will not cease.
Title and theme
Unto the end, for the sons of Core, for the hidden.
In finem, filiis Core, pro arcanis. Psalmus.
A fair number of more recent interpreters would have this Psalm to have been written in thanksgiving for David’s victories gained over his enemies by God’s help; but the wonder is that this view was held by none of the ancient Fathers. For St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom, Theodoretus and Euthymius in an overwhelming consensus teach that this Psalm is about the deliverance of the Christian Church from the persecutions of infidels. This interpretation can be confirmed from the Psalm’s title; For the words pro arcanis / for the hidden show plainly enough that the Prophet is not speaking about the past but about the future, and that the time would be hidden to David and he would not know about it unless God revealed it to him. This Psalm is therefore rightly placed after the previous one: in the former is foretold the Church’s exaltation resulting from the spiritual marriage with Christ her Lord and King; in this Psalm are foretold persecution and deliverance from persecution; this deliverance will most especially come to pass, as St. Basil judges, at the consummation of the world.
Verse 1
Our God is our refuge and strength: a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly.
Deus noster refugium et virtus; adjutor in tribulationibus quae invenerunt nos nimis.
The soldiers of Christ overcome temptations not less by fleeing them than by enduring them. When it is a question of fleeing, God is the refuge most secure for them; and when it is a question of enduring, God is their (source of) strength and valour: in either time he is “a helper in troubles:” for He helps both by proffering a refuge and by being at hand to win victory. The phrase which have found us exceedingly, indicates that the tribulations suffered by the Church in the beginning were most serious, and they erupted suddenly and unexpectedly: For, as may be read in the Acts of the Apostles, chapters ii. and iii., after the ascension of the Lord and the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Church was being built up and was growing in Jerusalem in great peace and tranquillity. “And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they took their meat with gladness and simplicity of heart; Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord increased daily together such as should be saved.”[1] But shortly afterwards, there began a most violent persecution, the Apostles were scourged, Stephen was stoned and all the disciples were scattered, with the exception of the Apostles. In Hebrew, the text reads adjutor in tribulationibus inventus es nimis / a helper in troubles thou art found exceedingly, that is, God is found in tribulations to be a very powerful help. Either sense is very beneficial, but the one that touches the truth of the reading sticks to the Septuagint translators who without doubt read that Hebrew word nimsah slightly differently; and they would never have translated what they wrote as invenerunt /have found in any other way, unless they were inexpert. St. Basil notes that many have the words of this verse on their lips: “Our God is our refuge and strength,” but very few utter them with a true intention which may be gathered from the passion they show for running to seek human help, or even the diabolical arts, as if they hold God’s help for nothing. Contrary to such as these, St. David says: “Our God is our refuge and strength,” because he placed little trust in the strength of men, or in their arms or their plans and application.[1] And continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they took their meat with gladness and simplicity of heart; Quotidie quoque perdurantes unanimiter in templo, et frangentes circa domos panem, sumebant cibum cum exsultatione, et simplicitate cordis, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord increased daily together such as should be saved. collaudantes Deum et habentes gratiam ad omnem plebem. Dominus autem augebat qui salvi fierent quotidie in idipsum. [Act. ii. 46-7]
Verses 2 & 3
Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled; and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea. Their waters roared and were troubled: the mountains were troubled with his strength.
Propterea non timebimus dum turbabitur terra, et transferentur montes in cor maris. Sonuerunt, et turbatae sunt aquae eorum; conturbati sunt montes in fortitudine ejus.
These two verses are very obscure, but we are following the holy Fathers Basil and Chrysostom. From what the people of God said: “Our God is our refuge and strength,” he concludes that he will be fearless, even if the earth and the sea were to be turned upside down, and were to change positions with a dreadful sound. “Therefore,” say God’s people, “we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled,” that is, when the earth shall be greatly troubled, or even if the earth shall be massively troubled, “and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea,” that is, even if the mountains themselves, which seem to have been founded and rooted by God so that they might be thought to be immovable, even if they are agitated and shake and are cast into the depths of the sea, that is, even if it is thus and these things come to pass, “we will not fear,” because almighty God is our refuge and our strength. “Their waters roared and were troubled,” that is, we will not fear, even if the collapse of the mountains into the depths of the sea cause the waters of the sea to roar and be troubled. He says eorum / their, that is, of the seas, because where we have in cor maris / into the heart of the sea, the text in Hebrew and Greek reads, in corda marium, / into the hearts of the seas; our translators however changed the plural into a singular and wrote maris / of the sea, but left the pronoun in the plural, whence arose this difficulty. “And the mountains were troubled.” that is, even if the mountains themselves were cast into the sea, their stability undone, by the might, power and strength of God. For it is God alone who is able to cause the earth to be troubled, to cast the mountains into the heart of the sea, and to make tremble the sea itself and the mountains, as it says in Psalm lxxvi: “ The waters saw thee, O God, and[1] they were afraid, and the depths were troubled.” See also Psalm ciii: “He looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble;”[2] and Isai. Li: “But I am the Lord thy God, who trouble the sea, and the waves thereof swell.”[3] And so in these lines is announced the supreme confidence of God’s people, who will not fear, even if the world collapses; at the same time, the supreme power of God is made known, who can disturb and move all the elements: as He will in fact do at the end of the world, when “there will be great earthquakes in divers places … by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves ... men withering away for fear;”[4] and then the people of God will not only not fear but will look up and “will raise their heads,” as it says in the Gospel, “for their redemption is at hand. Matth. ”[5] All these things can be understood figuratively, so that by earth are signified earthly men, by mountains those who are not only earthly but the might and the proud, such as were the great kings, the enemies of the Church; by sea, however, is signified the bitterness of tribulations and pains buy which will swallow up all the wicked. The earth will be troubled when “ the wicked will be terrified with a terrible fear”[6] “And the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea,” when the great kings who once persecuted the Church, shall be cast down into the depths of the abyss; and then the waters of the seas will roar and be troubled, when the final tribulation to come will trouble the wicked and their kings in a dreadful manner, since then it will become apparenthow great is the power of God’s anger towards (unrepentant) sinners.[1] The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee: and they were afraid, and the depths were troubled. Viderunt te aquae, Deus; viderunt te aquae, et timuerunt; et turbatae sunt abyssi. [Psalm lxxvi. 17]
[2] He looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble: he toucheth the mountains, and they smoke. Qui respicit terram, et facit eam tremere; qui tangit montes, et fumigant. [Psalm ciii. 32]
[3] But I am the Lord thy God, who trouble the sea, and the waves thereof swell: the Lord of hosts is my name. Ego autem sum Dominus Deus tuus, qui conturbo mare, et intumescunt fluctus ejus; Dominus exercituum nomen meum. [Isai. li. 15]
[4] Luc. Xxi. 25-6.
[5] Matth. Xxiv. Unable to trace this quotation.
[6] Wisdom v. 2 et seq.
Verses 4-5
The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: the most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle.
God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved: God will help it in the morning early.
Fluminis impetus lætificat civitatem Dei : sanctificavit tabernaculum suum Altissimus.
Deus in medio ejus, non commovebitur; adjuvabit eam Deus mane diluculo.
He now shows how God’s people will not be afraid when the earth is troubled and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea; and he says the reason is that, instead of the abundance of bitterness which will trouble the wicked, the Church will be given an abundance of delight which will cause her to be joyful; and instead of the instability of the mountains that shall be removed into the heart of the sea, the Church will be given perpetual stability, because God will be in her midst. “The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful,” that is, God’s people will not be afraid when the earth is troubled, because the tidal waves of the bitter sea will not flood into the Church; but the sweet and bright waters of the river, in a powerful stream and in great quantity will cause her to rejoice with an abundance of delight. In Hebrew it says nahar pelagan / rivulets of the river, or currents instead of what we have from the Greek, stream of the river; but these are not contradictory: for rivulets of water can flow with force or without force: the Septuagint translators wanted to make clear that those currents would not flow gently or with little force but in great abundance and force, so as to explain the power of the sweetness that flows in the city of God. “ thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure.”[1] The Prophet adds: “the most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle,” as though to say : therefore God makes His city joyful, because He chose it and sanctified it to Himself in His tabernacle, and He wanted it to be His own dwelling, as it says in chapter xxi of the Apocalypse: “Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people.”[2] “God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved,” this is opposed to the instability of the earth and the mountains, as though to say: the people of God will not be afraid of being cast into the heart of the sea: for “God is in the midst thereof,” that is, God does not withdraw from them but is always closely present to them, as one might expect, “in the midst,” intimately, in their hearts, and so this city will not be moved but will be made firm with a stability everlasting. And he concludes by showing whence and when these things shall be, saying: “God will help it in the morning early,” that is, joy and stability will be given to the city of God, since God will help it at the beginning of the day, that is, at the dawning of the day of eternal happiness. For the Scripture compares the time of infidelity to the darkness of night, the time of faith to the dawn, and the vision of God to the brightness of day. In his Epistle to the Romans, Blessed Paul says: “The night is passed, and the day is at hand.”[3] And in II Peter I., it says “And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.”[4] And the Bride says in Cant. ii. : “Till the day break, and the shadows retire.”[5] And the prophet Malachy says in chapter iv. : “But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise .”[6] And with this sentence the ancient reading agrees, which St. Augustine had, and which St. Ambrose remembered, and which the Church embraces in the Ecclesiastical office: “God will help her with His face,” that is, He will help her with His greatest and mightiest assistance when He shows her His face, and that will be when the Sun of justice shows Himself openly to her, He will bring about that day longed for and desired by all the Saints from the beginning of the world; and on this, the Apostle says: “For I know whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him, against that day.”[7][1] They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure. Inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuae, et torrente voluptatis tuae potabis eos; [Ps. Xxxv. 9]
[2] And I heard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them. And they shall be his people; and God himself with them shall be their God. Et audivi vocem magnam de throno dicentem : Ecce tabernaculum Dei cum hominibus, et habitabit cum eis. Et ipsi populus ejus erunt, et ipse Deus cum eis erit eorum Deus : [Apoc. xxi. 3]
[3] The night is passed, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armour of light. Nox praecessit, dies autem appropinquavit. Abjiciamus ergo opera tenebrarum, et induamur arma lucis. [Rom. Xiii. 12]
[4] And we have the more firm prophetical word: whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Et habemus firmiorem propheticum sermonem : cui benefacitis attendentes quasi lucernae lucenti in caliginoso donec dies elucescat, et lucifer oriatur in cordibus vestris : [II Pet. I. 19]
[5] Till the day break, and the shadows retire. Return: be like, my beloved, to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. donec aspiret dies, et inclinentur umbrae. Revertere; similis esto, dilecte mi, capreae, hinnuloque cervorum super montes Bether. [Cant. ii. 17]
[6] But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise, and health in his wings: and you shall go forth, and shall leap like calves of the herd. Et orietur vobis timentibus nomen meum sol justitiae, et sanitas in pennis ejus : et egrediemini, et salietis sicut vituli de armento. [Malach. iv. 2]
[7] For which cause I also suffer these things: but I am not ashamed. For I know whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him, against that day. Ob quam causam etiam haec patior, sed non confundor. Scio enim cui credidi, et certus sum quia potens est depositum meum servare in illum diem. [II Tim. i. 12]
Verse 6
Nations were troubled, and kingdoms were bowed down: he uttered his voice, the earth trembled.
Conturbatae sunt gentes, et inclinata sunt regna : dedit vocem suam, mota est terra.
He foretells in plain words what he had predicted previously in a figurative way, namely the destruction of the Church’s enemies, leading to universal and perpetual peace. What he had previously said of the earth and mountains he now says openly about peoples and kingdoms. “Nations were troubled,” he says, because their demise was approaching; “and kingdoms were bowed down,” that is, because cast down from their heights and prostrate on the ground. “He spoke with His voice,” that is, God thundered from heaven, “and the earth trembled,” that is, it shook greatly, and the earth was dissolved and made desolate: for the Hebrew word mug, means to melt and be dissolved. What is here said of the destruction of earthly kingdoms was foretold more clearly by Daniel in chapter ii. of his book: “ the kingdom of Christ shall consume all these kingdoms;”[1] and it was explained by the Apostle in I Cor. xv. In these terms: “Afterwards the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have brought to nought all principality, and power, and virtue.”[2]Back to top
Verse 7
The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector.
Dominus virtutum nobiscum; susceptor noster Deus Jacob.
In all these ruins of the nations and of kingdoms, God’s people will not be afraid because they will be able to say: “The Lord of armies is with us, our protector.,” that is, He who protects us to keep us safe is the God of Jacob. Now he says the Lord of armies because all the angels, who are most numerous and powerful, obey His orders, as it says in Psalm cii.: “You that are mighty in strength, and execute his word.” [3] Not only are the angels His soldiers, but every single one of the things He created: for “Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds which fulfill his word,” as it says in Ps. Cxlviii,[4] and as it says in Psalm cxviii: “for all things serve thee.”[5] And so two reasons are adduced in this verse as to why God’s people should fear nothing: firstly, because almighty God, for whom all things serve as soldiers, is this people’s helper. Secondly, because this same Lord is not only able to help His people but He wants to do so, because He wanted to be called the God of Jacob, that is, God of this people, that holy patriarch Jacob, close friend of God, from whose descendants the Lord deigned to take flesh.
[1] But in the days of those kingdoms the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, and his kingdom shall not be delivered up to another people, and it shall break in pieces, and shall consume all these kingdoms, and itself shall stand for ever. In diebus autem regnorum illorum suscitabit Deus caeli regnum, quod in aeternum non dissipabitur, et regnum ejus alteri populo non tradetur : comminuet autem, et consumet universa regna haec, et ipsum stabit in aeternum. [Dan. ii. 44]
[2] Afterwards the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have brought to nought all principality, and power, and virtue. Deinde finis : cum tradiderit regnum Deo et Patri, cum evacuaverit omnem principatum, et potestatem, et virtutem. [I Cor. xv. 24]
[3] Bless the Lord, all ye his angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute his word, hearkening to the voice of his orders. Benedicite Domino, omnes angeli ejus, potentes virtute, facientes verbum illius, ad audiendam vocem sermonum ejus. [Ps. Cii. 20]
[4] Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds which fulfill his word: ignis, grando, nix, glacies, spiritus procellarum, quae faciunt verbum ejus; [Ps. Cxlviii. 8]
[5]By thy ordinance the day goeth on: for all things serve thee. Ordinatione tua perseverat dies, quoniam omnia serviunt tibi. [Ps. Cxviii. 91]
Verse 8
Come and behold ye the works of the Lord: what wonders he hath done upon earth, Making wars to cease even to the end of the earth.
Venite, et videte opera Domini, quae posuit prodigia super terram, auferens bella usque ad finem terrae.
He exhorts all the nations to think upon the wonderful works of God, and especially on what will come to pass in the last days when, all His enemies having been removed, or rather, having become the footstool of Christ, there will be an end to all wars and God alone will reign, with none resisting or rebelling against Him. This is the reign we expect and pray for when we say each day in the Lord’s prayer: “Thy kingdom come.” “Come and behold ye,” that is, come through faith, and with the eyes of the mind contemplate and consider “the works of the Lord: what wonders he hath done upon earth,” that is, consider the works which God hath done (here the praeterite is used for the future, in a prophetic manner) upon earth, which are to be so admired and wondered at as to be called wonders. He will perform these wonders “Making wars to cease even to the end of the earth,” and truly it is wondrous that He could remove wars from the furthest ends of the earth, and to remove them in such a way that they could never be renewed. Instead of what we read as what wonders he hath done upon earth, St. Jerome translates the Hebrew as what great devastation he will perform on earth : and the meaning is the same; for, from the devastation of the whole earth and the transfer of the righteous into heaven, and the expulsion of the wicked into hell, there will dawn a cessation of wars throughout the whole of the earth. Now the Hebrew word shammoth means either devastations or wonders and marvels: for shamam means to be wondered at or to be devastated; the Septuagint translators rightly translated this as wonders, because the Hebrew signifies this, although it can also mean devastations.Back to top
Verse 9
He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons: and the shield he shall burn in the fire.
Arcum conteret, et confringet arma, et scuta comburet igni.
He speaks further about what he said regarding Making wars to cease; he says this will come to pass because the Lord will destroy weapons, such as weapons of offence, like the bow and the lance, as well as those used by soldiers for defence, such as shields: without weapons it will not be possible to wage war. In Hebrew, instead of the word arma / weapons, it has chanith, spear, or lance; but the Septuagint translators preferred the word arma / weapons because the Prophet clearly wanted to signify all weapons of offence; and so the sense is, He shall destroy the bow, and break the remaining weapons. For the word scuta / shields, the Hebrew uses currus / chariots, and indeed the sense is the same, because it is prophesied that both shields and military chariots, and other similar instruments of war, will be destroyed by fire; it should be realised that the Hebrew word hagaloth means currus / chariots, because they are round(ed); and this word properly means roundness. Now because shields are also round, and shields are more usually associated with lances and bows rather than chariots, the Septuagint translators wisely chose the translation as shields. Some explain these lines as being about a particular time in history, under Augustus or Constantine; but they are far more suited to the eternal peace which will come to be at the end of the world, when the Church will cease being militant and will begin to be triumphant, all her enemies having been vanquished.
Verse 10
Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.
Vacate, et videte quoniam ego sum Deus; exaltabor in gentibus, et exaltabor in terra.
The prophet had said a little earlier: “Come and behold ye the works of the Lord.”[1] Now, to show how anyone who wants to understand the works of the Lord should come, he says: “Be still and see,” and the better to persuade (his listeners), he introduces God Himself, speaking and exhorting: “Be still and see that I am God.” For the contemplation of things divine requires a mind free from the tumult of worldly cares; for the root of all troubled thoughts is cupidity:[2] for from the desire of riches, pleasures, honours and similar things, arise most troublesome thoughts, which generally leave no peace of mind for a man thus affected. Hence Jeremiah says of the contemplative man: “He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself;”[3] and the Lord commands in Matt. vi: “But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret.”[4] Now what is meant by “having shut the door,” to pray to the Father, He teaches us by His example, for He generally went up on a mountain to pray, and He prayed alone, far from the hurly-burly of (worldly) cares and concerns. But, aswe said, the chief stillness ought to be freedom from inordinate desires or earthly things: for the man who desires nothing of these things which he sees, even if he is much occupied in helping his neighbours, will easily collect his soul when he wants and will be still and will see that He is truly God, He is the beginning and the end, He is the entire hope of the faithful on earth, and their true happiness in heaven. For David was greatly occupied in governing his kingdom, as was St. Gregory (like many other Holy Pontiffs) in the duties of the pontificate; and yet they were lifted up into the highest contemplation, because they held the wings of their mind free from the mire of concupiscence. For the Apostle himself was burdened by solicitude for all the churches, and worked by the labour of his own hands to obtain food; and yet, because he was altogether free from worldly desires, he not only was still and saw, but he was even taken up to the third heaven, and he heard secret words which it is not given to man to utter. On the other hand, many are those men who are idle in respect of the worldly business but who are carnal and wrapped up in worldly desires; they are not still and do not know God. And so he says: “Be still,” that is, seek holy tranquility, and bring to it a pure and peaceful mind, and, while thinking with full attentiveness, “see that I am God,” that is, I alone am God and no created thing, however great and sublime it may appear, is God; I alone am God, He who is; I alone. “For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things;”[5] I alone (am He), without whom you can do nothing, and are nothing. “I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth,” that is, when I shall have done the wonders which are spoken of above, I shall appear exalted among all the nations and before all the earth, so that every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.[6] For certainly at the end of the world there will be no-one who would dare to despise God; but all, whether willingly or not, will acknowledge His supreme dominion, and be subject to Him. St. Basil and a few others interpret this exaltation mystically as the lifting up of Jesus on the cross, so that the sense is: “Be still and see that I,” who seem to be a man like other men, in truth “am God, I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth,” hanging in shame and suffering on the cross, in the eyes of the wicked. But truly by reason of this cross shall I be lifted up before all nations, throughout all the earth, because I will draw all things to myself,[7] and by the yoke of faith and obedience to me, even the highest kings, along with their people, will bend their necks. In Hebrew it says cessate et videte / cease and see, which may be understood as ceasing from worldly business and desires, as we said, and we consider this as being the literal and proper explanation: but this takes nothing away from those who would have it that these words contain an exhortation to the wicked, so that the sense is: When these things shall come to pass, which were explained just previously, cease ye now finally from the sin of infidelity and from persecutions of the good, and see ye with the eyes of faith that I am God, and your idols are not gods; for I alone at the end of the world will be exalted among the nations and in all the earth.[1] Vide supra,Verse 8.
[2] Ardent desire, inordinate longing or lust; covetousness. OED.
[3] Jod. He shall sit solitary, and hold his peace: because he hath taken it up upon himself. JOD. Sedebit solitarius, et tacebit, quia levavit super se. [Thren. Iii. 28]
[4] But thou when thou shalt pray, enter into thy chamber, and having shut the door, pray to thy Father in secret: and thy Father who seeth in secret will repay thee. Tu autem cum oraveris, intra in cubiculum tuum, et clauso ostio, ora Patrem tuum in abscondito : et Pater tuus, qui videt in abscondito, reddet tibi. [Matt. vi. 6]
[5] For of him, and by him, and in him, are all things: to him be glory for ever. Amen. Quoniam ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso sunt omnia : ipsi gloria in saecula. Amen. [Rom. xi. 36]
[6] That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: ut in nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur caelestium, terrestrium et infernorum, [Philipp. ii. 10]
[7] And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to myself. Et ego, si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad meipsum. [Ioann. Xii. 32]
Verse 11
The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector.
Dominus virtutum nobiscum; susceptor noster Deus Jacob.
He concludes the Psalm with a repetition of verse 7, so as to demonstrate that the devotion of the pious, by God’s exhortation, have been again stirred up and renewed.
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