Bellarmine on Psalm 120 : Title, theme and Verse 1

Title and subject matter

Titulus et argumentum

A canticle of the steps

Canticum graduum 

The second Psalm of the Steps consoles the travellers going up to Jerusalem, promising God’s perpetual safekeeping; the Prophet speaks firstly in the person of a traveller, then in his own person and he consoles the traveller.

Verse 1

I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me.

Canticum graduum. Levavi oculos meos in montes, unde veniet auxilium mihi.

Travellers look towards nothing more frequently than the place to which they are journeying, if it can be seen; if not, (they look) towards some other place nearby: for they obtain a great consolation from this, and this consolation provides strength and help to them as they walk; the earthly Jerusalem was in the mountains, and the heavenly Jerusalem is above all the heavens, and so the traveller, whether real or imaginary, says: “I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains,” which is the seat of the holy city, “from whence help shall come to me,” (that) of consolation. In Hebrew, the verb is in the future tense, levabo / I shall lift up, but the tenses often vary in Hebrew; and besides, as far as the sense is concerned, it does not matter a great deal whether the traveller says: I have lifted up my eyes, or I shall lift up my eyes. St. Augustine, in accord with his mystical way of interpreting texts, interprets mountains as referring to the holy Apostles; for just as mountains are the first to receive the light of the rising sun, so it is that, with the coming of Christ, the sun of justice, the Apostles were the first to receive the light.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 119 : Verse 6 (conclusion)

Verse 6

With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause.

Cum his qui oderunt pacem eram pacificus; cum loquebar illis, impugnabant me gratis.

He concludes by giving the reason why it is an evil to journey in exile for such a long time, and explaining the metaphor of the words the tents of Cedar; for what he said metaphorically and obscurely: “I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar,” he now clarifies, saying: “I have dwelt with them that hated peace,” I, who love nothing more than peace, I have dwelt with those who were very different to me, with the perverse and unjust, who were wont to wage war against their friends as well as their enemies; and if perchance I would begin to speak to them of peace, they would without any reason fight against me. In the Hebrew text, the interpunction[1] is different, and this is followed by St. Jerome: thus, there it reads: My soul hath been long a sojourner with them that hated peace. I spoke of peace, and they of war. But the interpunction followed by the Septuagint is older and better; in the Hebrew it does not simply say: I spoke of peace; but, word for word, it says: I peace, and when I spoke. From which we understand the Septuagint is correct in placing a point after pacem, and what we have said can be rendered from the Hebrew as ego pacem can also be rendered as I peace, so that the sense is: With them that hated peace, I was peace, that is, I was peaceful, so that I might be said to be peace itself; and afterwards follows the line: and when I spoke, they to war, evidently they provoked war, which fits with the sentence as translated in the Septuagint, and we read in our Latin version: “When I spoke to them they fought against me.” The word 

gratis / without cause is added by the Septuagint for the sake of explanation. This Psalm is applicable to all of the elect, but chiefly to Christ, the head of the elect, insofar as He was a wayfarer (here on earth), according to His having a mortal body. For truly He cried out to the Lord His Father when He passed the night in prayer to God, and later in the garden, and finally on the cross; and He was most certainly heard, when God exalted Him and gave to Him “a name above all names.”[2] He truly suffered from wicked lips and deceitful tongues even to the moment of His death, as appears from all the Gospel accounts. He could truly say: “My sojourning is prolonged,” since he said in the Gospel: “ O adulterous and incredulous generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?”[3] He truly “dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar,” that is, He did not dwell in darkness but in light, but He was seen “with the inhabitants of Cedar,” and conversed with them. Finally, “with them that hated peace” He truly was peaceable, because “when he was reviled, he did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not;”[4] and when He spoke to them of peace, of charity, and of the kingdom of God Himself, they fought against Him without any reason or cause, which John notes in chapter xv, when he says: “ But that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law: They hated me without cause."[5]

[1] The insertion of points between words, clauses, or sentences; punctuation. OED. 

[2] 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. 9]

[3] Who answering them, said: O incredulous generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me. Qui respondens eis, dixit : O generatio incredula, quamdiu apud vos ero? quamdiu vos patiar? afferte illum ad me. [Mark

[4] Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not: but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly. qui cum malediceretur, non maledicebat : cum pateretur, non comminabatur : tradebat autem judicanti se injuste : [I Pet. ii. 23]

[5] But that the word may be fulfilled which is written in their law: They hated me without cause. Sed ut adimpleatur sermo, qui in lege eorum scriptus est : Quia odio habuerunt me gratis. [John xv, 25]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 119 : Verse 5

Verse 5

Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar: My soul hath been long a sojourner.

Heu mihi, quia incolatus meus prolongatus est! habitavi cum habitantibus Cedar; multum incola fuit anima mea.

As a result of so great and so frequent an evil in this our earthly peregrination, he sighs for his home country, and thus he truly sings from the heart this canticle of ascent. “Woe is me!” he says, “because my sojourning”, or, as St. Jerome translates from the Hebrew, my peregrination, is prolonged. For the true pilgrim, along with the Apostle, would prefer to be kept away from his own body rather than from the Lord, and so he judges the present life as too long to sojourn, away from his Lord. “I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar.” It is no wonder that I should complain of too long a habitation here: for “I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar,” that is, with wild and barbaric people, who dwell not in cities but in tents, a black and swarthy people like the Arabs. In the Hebrew and Greek text it has: I have dwelt in the tents of Cedar; but the sense is the same; for what is to dwell in the tents of Cedar other than to dwell with the inhabitants in tents. The word Cedar in Hebrew signifies black and shadows; hence, Cantic. Chapter i contrasts the tents of Cedar with the curtains of Solomon [1], that is, black and rustic tents as against splendid and precious curtains. Indeed, the cities and palaces of kings in this world are  nothing more than rustic tents compared with the mansions of the heavenly Jerusalem. And so God’s pilgrim again mourns, saying: “My soul hath been long a sojourner,” that is, my sojourn in a foreign land has already been much too long. From the Hebrew, the word sibi is added; but, as we said above, it has been added redundantly from the Hebrew wording, and it is moreover often omitted by translators; habitavit sibi and habitavit are the same in meaning, he hath dwelt. From this it may be gathered that few are found these days who sing from their heart the canticle of the steps, because most love their peregrination (on earth), along with the tents of Cedar, so that they are never more sad than when hearing a sermon about departing this life.

[1] I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Cedar, as the curtains of Solomon. SPONSA. Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiae Jerusalem, sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pelles Salomonis. [Cantic. i 4]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 119 : Verse 4

Verse 4

The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste.

Sagittae potentis acutae, cum carbonibus desolatoriis.

By an elegant metaphor, he makes clear how great is the evil of a deceitful tongue: and he says these words are like arrows which in their nature are loosed from a distance, and with great speed, so that they can scarcely be guarded against; and he adds an admirable amplification (of this idea), saying that they are not like ordinary arrows but they are “of the mighty,” that is, they are loosed with force from a powerful hand; besides which, they are well polished and sharpened by the maker; and, finally, they are flaming arrows, so that anything can be laid waste and devastated by them; such are the celestial bolts of lightning which are hurled down by the hand of the Almighty, which are indeed on fire and perfectly sharp. Such, then, are deceitful words especially when they are instruments of the devil for ruining souls, called by the Apostle in Ephes. vi: “The fiery darts of the most wicked one.”[1] St. Augustine interprets these two verses very differently, for he prefers to read this as a dialogue wherein the first man, finding himself in tribulation, prays: “O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue;” to which the Lord replies: “What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added to thee, to a deceitful tongue?” - that is, what remedy can be given thee, or added against a deceitful tongue? The only remedy for thee will be this: “The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste,” that is, the words of God as examples of charity burning with fire: “For the word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two edged sword,”[2] and for the man who draws near to it, an example proceeding from true charity, as like a burning coal, he will in no wise be able to resist it. Either explanation provides edification, but the first seems more literal. Concerning vocabulary, the Hebrew word for desolatoriis is correctly translated by St. Jerome as of junipers. But the Septuagint explains the metaphor, for the coals of juniper trees were very solid, and thus suited for burning and laying waste.

[1] In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. in omnibus sumentes scutum fidei, in quo possitis omnia tela nequissimi ignea extinguere : [Ephes. vi. 16]

[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]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 119 : Verse 3

Verse 3

What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added to thee, to a deceitful tongue?

Quid detur tibi, aut quid apponatur tibi ad linguam dolosam?

He gives the reason why he seeks to be delivered “from a deceitful tongue,” to wit, that it is such an evil that nothing can be added to it, as though he might say: What evil is there that could be given or added to a deceitful tongue? But there is a difficulty in the wording, firstly because in Hebrew it is read in the active: What shall he give or what shall he add; secondly, because the pronoun in to thee seems to require that this sentence does not refer to God, and hence does not continue on from the previous words. Concerning the first difficulty, the Hebrew word can be read in the passive if the points are changed, especially in itthem, which can then be read as iutthan; and it is clear it should be read in the passive because not only the Septuagint but also St. Jerome translates it in the passive: What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added to thee, to a deceitful tongue? The wording to thee may be superfluous, from the Hebrew, as in Cant. I: “ Go forth;” and in chapter ii: “Come, arise, the rain is over;” and in this very Psalm: multum incola fuit anima mea sibi / “ My soul hath been long a sojourner,” where the translators omit the redundant word sibi, and then the sentence continues in this way: “O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue;” what evil is there that could be given or added “to a deceitful tongue?” that is, over and above a deceitful tongue? But if it is felt that the word sibi is not redundant here, it may be explained as meaning that the Prophet, after his prayer to God turns to himself or to an unknown person, saying: “O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue;” O my soul, or whoever art present, what evil could be given or added “to a deceitful tongue?” that is, over and above the evil of a deceitful tongue?

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 119 : Verse 2

Verse 2

O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue.

Domine, libera animam meam a labiis iniquis et a lingua dolosa.

He makes clear what he prayed for when he called out (to the Lord): It was, he says: “O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue,” which is one of the most numerous and frequent evils on this our earthly sojourn. “Wicked lips” produce detractions, insults, false testimony and similar expressions against the law of justice; a “deceitful tongue” produces lying words, flattery, dissemblances and frauds; “wicked lips” may be found without a “deceitful tongue,” as when someone openly reviles or calumniates another; but when a deceitful tongue is added to wicked lips, the evil is most serious, so that almost nothing can be added to it, as it says in the next verse. Regarding the vocabulary, the words my soul stand for me, as though he were to say deliver me; souls is used, perhaps because this is the nobler part (of a man), or perhaps because the deceitful tongue can actually harm little other than the soul, by inducing the soul to sin. The words from wicked lips are read by St. Jerome from the Hebrew as from lying lips. But the Hebrew word can mean lying or prevarication: hence the Septuagint translates this correctly, a labiis ἀδίκων, that is from wicked lips, and the expression is fuller and more serious, as it also says in Psalm XLII: “Deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man.”[1]

[1]  A psalm for David. Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. Psalmus David. Judica me, Deus, et discerne causam meam de gente non sancta, ab homine iniquo et doloso erue me. [Ps. xlii. 1]]   

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 119 : Title, theme & Verse 1

Title and subject matter

Titulus et argumentum

A canticle of the steps

Canticum graduum  

The fifteen Psalms which follow one another starting from Psalm CXVIII all have in their title the words: A Canticle of the Steps; and although step could refer either to an ascending or a descending, in this text it pertains only to ascending: for the Hebrew word implies ascending; and similarly the Greek ἀναζαθμὧν. These fifteen Psalms are therefore canticles of ascending, the canticles of those who ascend steps upwards, and the Greek writers Theodoret and Euthymius teach that these canticles are to be understood literally as being about the going up of the Jews from Babylon to Jerusalem, with the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of David, foretelling the calamity of the Babylonian captivity and the joy of deliverance therefrom. Others prefer the view that these fifteen Psalms were composed to be sung whilst going up the fifteen steps of the temple of Solomon: for this was the number of the steps of the temple, not only according to the writings of Nicolas Lyranus and other more recent commentators, but also of St. Augustine at the end of his tract On the Psalms: “The number,” he says, “of the psalms that are called of the steps is the same as the number of steps in the in the temple.” But whatever may be the case with these opinions, one thing is certain, this going up, whether from Babylon to Jerusalem, or ascending the steps in the temple of Solomon,  prefigured the ascent of the elect who ascend from this valley of tears to the heavenly Jerusalem by the steps of the virtues, the chief of which being charity; and of this ascent the Holy Spirit sings most powerfully.

Verse 1

In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me.

Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi, et exaudivit me.

In the various calamities of this exile, one is especially to be deplored, namely, a deceitful tongue in those amidst whom we are obliged to dwell; the prophet sings that he has sought and obtained deliverance from this, so that by his example he may instruct other travellers (in this exile). “In my trouble,” he says, I did not look for the help of men but “I cried out” in prayer to the Lord, and He through His goodness “heard me.” The words are clear in the Hebrew, Greek and Latin codices.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.