Bellarmine on Psalm 128: Verses 1 & 2

Verse 1

Often have they fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say.

Saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea, dicat nunc Israel;

Although they find themselves in trouble, God’s people are consoled because they are now used to such anxieties and they have in the past always been delivered from them through God’s assistance. These words apply to the Jewish people who, while they are rebuilding the city and the temple, are attacked by neighbouring peoples; the words also apply to the Christ's Church, which has scarcely ever been able to draw breath amidst the attacks of pagans, heretics and false Christians. He therefore says: “Often have they fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say,” that is, God’s people, called Israel,[1] should not be surprised if they are attacked by enemies, for they are suffering nothing new but something that calls to mind past troubles, and the Prophet goes on: “Often have my enemies fought against me” right from my earliest age; for the Church being scarcely born, Abel suffered from Cain’s persecution, and from that time onwards the Church has very frequently suffered similar things. Concerning the choice of words, one thing alone is to be noted, the wording expugnaverunt / they have fought is used instead of oppugnaverunt / they have attacked; the Greek word means bellaverunt / they have waged war, and from the next verse it may be gathered that the enemy did not prevail; hence they fought but did not win, they waged war but did  not conquer.

[1] From the Hebrew name יִשְׂרָאֵל (Yisra'el) meaning "God contends", from the roots שָׂרָה (sarah) meaning "to contend, to fight" and אֵל ('el) meaning "God". In the Old Testament, Israel (who was formerly named Jacob; see Genesis 32:28) wrestles with an angel. 

Verse 2

Often have they fought against me from my youth: but they could not prevail over me.

saepe expugnaverunt me a juventute mea; etenim non potuerunt mihi.

He gives a reason why their enemies frequently launched attacks and battles; and he says the cause was the fact that they could never prevail : for if they had once prevailed and had completely destroyed God’s people, there would have been no need for so many wars so many times renewed. What is here asserted is most true, and the history of the Church is testimony of it. The phrase they could not prevail over me, is either written instead of they could not in me (prevail), or they could not to me do harm, or prevail over me.  

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 128 : Title & theme

Title and subject matter

Titulum et argumentum

A canticle of the steps

Canticum graduum  

In the Gradual Psalms, as we showed at the beginning, the Prophet alternately now laments the tribulations of exile and now praises the blessings of the heavenly homeland, and both the former and the latter serve as an exhortation to the exiles to hasten on their journey upwards. As he said many things in the previous Psalm about the blessings of Jerusalem : now he reverts to the evils of Babylon, in which we are strangers and exiles.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 127 : Verses 5-7 (conclusion)

Verses 5, 6 & 7

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayest thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. And mayest thou see thy children's children, peace upon Israel.

Ecce sic benedicetur homo qui timet Dominum. Benedicat tibi Dominus ex Sion, et videas bona Jerusalem omnibus diebus vitae tuae; et videas filios filiorum tuorum, pacem super Israel.

This is the fourth blessing, namely, that the man who walks in the fear of God should have joy not only in his own blessings but also in those of the commonalty. He therefore adds that such a man will be so blessed by the Lord who dwells in Sion that he will see his city Jerusalem abounding in all good things throughout the whole of his life; and he will see in that city his children’s children equally blessed and happy; and finally he will see peace established over the people of Israel, a peace which preserves and keeps safe all good things. In a higher sense, however, more in keeping with the intent of the Holy Spirit, a happiness is here described that is so far greater than the three blessings already mentioned as the distance that separates heaven from earth and God from creatures; and so the Prophet sets it before us not as a narration but by preaching. “Behold,” he says, apart from all the things which have been said, “thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord,” for to him will assuredly be said: “May the Lord bless thee out of Sion,” that is, not only will God bless thee on earth, gifting you with earthly blessings, but He will also bless you from His holy mountain, from His highest dwelling, and grant thee that “thou mayest see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life,” that is, that thou mayest see God, in which are found all the good things of Jerusalem, “all the days of thy life,” that is, for evermore in eternity : for not only is the soul immortal but the body too which will, after a short sleep in a temporary death, rise again unto life everlasting; assuredly, the good things we see here we do not see all the days of our life, but for a tiny fraction of those days, so that we can truly say with Jacob: 

“The days of our life,” in which we sojourn as exiles on earth, “are few, and full of evil,”[1] but we shall truly see the blessings of the heavenly Jerusalem all  the days of our life, without number; just as the wicked shall see the evils of Babylon all the days of their eternal death. Nor is it surprising that the Prophet did not say : mayest thou possess the good things of Jerusalem, but used instead the words “mayest thou see,” for the truly good things of Jerusalem are possessed by seeing, and perfect beatitude consists in the vision of God.   “We shall be like to him,” that is, most blessed and happy, and almost as gods, “because we shall see him as he is.”[2] Added to the joy of the blessed is that they will see their “children’s children” in that heavenly home, that is, not only those whom they themselves produced for God but also those who through their spiritual children, and through their “children's children,” were led to God, unto the end of the world; and they will rejoice about all of these as greatly as about their own. Finally, as a crown added to their happiness, they shall see “peace upon Israel,” a solid and lasting peace which will bring perfect peace for evermore for all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; they will see all their enemies totally prostrate as a footstool beneath the feet of Christ, that is, cast down into the depths of hell-fire, bound in chains for eternity: “for the earth is a footstool for God’s feet;”[3]  and the wicked shall lie locked up under the earth through ages everlasting.

[1] Vide Genesis xlvii 9.

[2] Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know, that, when he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is. Carissimi, nunc filii Dei sumus : et nondum apparuit quid erimus. Scimus quoniam cum apparuerit, similes ei erimus : quoniam videbimus eum sicuti est [I John iii 2]

[3] Vide Isai. LXVI 1 & Acts VII 49.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 127 : Verse 4

Verse 4

Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table. 

Filii tui sicut novellae olivarum in circuitu mensae tuae.

The third blessing is now described, namely bringing up children. For men who fear God and who walk “in his ways,” will have not only numerous children but they will be good and moral children, because the parents will teach them from infancy to fear God and to walk “in his ways.” And so he says: “Thy children as olive plants,” that is, they will be like the best shrubs, such as olive plants, which are evergreen and produce the most sweet fruit; they will not be like brambles, or thorny shrubs, or barren plants; they will be “round about thy table,” so that seeing them all at the same time, and eating with them and living together, you will obtain the greater delight from them. All this applies also to spiritual children; when the father feeds them with the Word of God and sees them make progress, he is wonderfully delighted . And He says along with the Apostle: “My joy and my crown; so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved.”[1]

[1] Therefore, my dearly beloved brethren, and most desired, my joy and my crown; so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. Itaque fratres mei carissimi, et desideratissimi, gaudium meum, et corona mea : sic state in Domino, carissimi. [Philipp. iv. 1]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 127 : Verse 3

Verse 3

Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house.

Uxor tua sicut vitis abundans, in lateribus domus tuae;

This is the second blessing[1] for the man who fears God and who walks “in the ways of the Lord,” that should he perchance wish to take a wife, he should take only one, and he should take her not to satisfy his lust but for the begetting of children, as the Angel instructed Tobias, saying : “Thou shalt take the virgin with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for love of children than for lust.”[2] and in fact Tobias himself said : “Lord, thou knowest, that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity.”[3] The Prophet therefore says : “Thy wife,” (not wives and not thy concubines), “as a fruitful vine,” that is, bearing many children, as a fruitful vine bears many clusters, “on the sides of thy house,” that is, remaining indoors, modest and chaste, she reflects on taking care of affairs inside the house, while the man takes care of things outside. St. Jerome translates this as in the innermost parts of the house, since here it is a question of the internal side of the house. Now although this is certainly a blessing,

yet in order that we may know it is not a (uniquely) great blessing, God did not actually give it to a number of His great friends, including the married, such as Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebecca, Zacharias and Elizabeth; and the many others He inspired with a desire for and intention of maintaining holy virginity, as is believed to have been the case with the holy Prophets Elias and Jeremias, and is known to have been the case with the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptist, St. Joseph and others almost without number; God would certainly not have deprived these of the blessing of carnal union and fruitfulness if virginity were not far and away a more excellent gift. 

Moreover, the holy men who were not married, or whose lot it was to have no children, were not actually deprived of (the gift of) fruitfulness but enjoyed it in a different and incomparably superior way. Christ is the foremost example of this for, as the head of all the saints, He did not have a wife in the flesh, nor children in the flesh, but He had the Church as His spouse and spiritual offspring without number. In the same way, Abraham had only one son by Sara, but through faith he was made the father of many nations; for all the faithful are said by the Apostle to be the children of Abraham;[4] and what is remarkable is that these holy men are not only the fathers but also the mothers of those they convert to faith or to penance : for they are fathers by reason of preaching by word and example, and mothers by praying and sighing for them. The same Apostle calls himself father in I Cor. iv, when he says : “I write not these things to confound you; but I admonish you as my dearest children. For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many (are) fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you.”[5] Elsewhere, he calls himself mother, when he says in Gal. iv : “My little children, of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you.”[6] Now, if it is possible to assign a father and a mother to children in a spiritual sense, although the children are begotten and born to the same man, we may say that the father is love of God and neighbour, and the mother is wisdom; for it is truly love that begets children; but it begets them through wisdom when, speaking wisely and explaining the Scriptures, through its power of persuasion it brings its listeners to faith or to repentance. For it is written thus of wisdom: “Her have I loved, and have sought her out from my youth, and have desired to take her for my spouse, and I became a lover of her beauty.”[7]

[1] See Commentary on verse 2 for first blessing.

[2] And when the third night is past, thou shalt take the virgin with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for love of children than for lust, that in the seed of Abraham thou mayst obtain a blessing in children. Transacta autem tertia nocte, accipies virginem cum timore Domini, amore filiorum magis quam libidine ductus, ut in semine Abrahae benedictionem in filiis consequaris. [Tobias vi 22]

[3] And now, Lord, thou knowest, that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity, in which thy name may be blessed for ever and ever. Et nunc Domine, tu scis quia non luxuriae causa accipio sororem meam conjugem, sed sola posteritatis dilectione, in qua benedicatur nomen tuum in saecula saeculorum. [Tobias viii 9] 

[4] Romans iv 16.

[5] I write not these things to confound you; but I admonish you as my dearest children. For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you. Non ut confundam vos, haec scribo, sed ut filios meos carissimos moneo.  Nam si decem millia paedagogorum habeatis in Christo, sed non multos patres. Nam in Christo Jesu per Evangelium ego vos genui.

[6] My little children, of whom I am in labour again, until Christ be formed in you. Filioli mei, quos iterum parturio, donec formetur Christus in vobis : [Gal. iv. 19] 

[7] Her have I loved, and have sought her out from my youth, and have desired to take her for my spouse, and I became a lover of her beauty. Hanc amavi, et exquisivi a juventute mea, et quaesivi sponsam mihi eam assumere, et amator factus sum formae illius. [Wisdom viii 2]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 127 : Verse 2

Verse 2

For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee.

Labores manuum tuarum quia manducabis, beatus es, et bene tibi erit.

He begins to enumerate the blessings of the man who fears God, and he addresses his words to him in particular, saying : Your first blessing will be that “thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands,” that is, you will enjoy all those good things which you have acquired by the work of your hands or of your labours. Here we should consider carefullly how the Prophet does not place the happiness of good people in having great quantities of riches, but in those good things which they acquire through their own labour, which are normally quite moderate. For great riches are for the most part had either through inheritance from parents, or through rapine[1] and usury, and other wicked practices. In his epistle ad Hedibiam, St. Jerome praises that popular saying: “A rich man is either a criminal or the son of a criminal.” The prophet says the same 

thing in Psalm XXXVI : “Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the wicked;”[2] and in Psalm LXXII : “Behold these are sinners; and yet abounding in the world they have obtained riches.”[3] and in Psalm CXLIII : “Their storehouses full, flowing out of this into that. Their sheep fruitful in young, abounding in their goings forth: Their oxen fat. There is no breach of wall, nor passage, nor crying out in their streets. They have called the people happy, that hath these things: but happy is that people whose God is the Lord.”[4] Now holy David is preaching not only to the Hebrews but also to Christians, when he does not make their happiness consist in great riches; but that they 

should live only on what they obtain from their just labours : here, he condemns two extreme vices : one is that of those who “eat the labours” of others; the other is that of those who do not eat the labours of their own hands but avariciously hoard them so that they may increase their riches. They alone are happy who  eat the labours of their hands. If perchance some of those who fear God and walk in His ways, are unable to enjoy their own goods, but are forced to be hungry and thirsty because their goods have been taken away from them, the promise made in this text will not for this reason be rendered false : for if God permits some of His 

friends to desire to be filled  with the crumbs that fall from the tables of the rich, as we read of the beggar Lazarus in Luke XVI, and no-one gives them anything, most assuredly God will give them something far better, namely, “joy in tribulation,”  as the Apostle says in Hebrews X, “took with joy the being stripped of your own goods;”[5] and the Apostle says of himself in II Corinth. VII : “I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation;”[6]  and then the sense of this verse will be : “For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee,” that is, now thou shat eat (the fruits of) thy labour, that is, thou shalt be restored by the joy of thy labour and of thy tribulation; and afterwards thou shalt truly be fattened by very the fruit of the labour, that is, by the reward of thy good works; and now, therefore, “blessed art thou” in hope, and afterwards “it shall be well with thee,” in actuality. This properly pertains to spiritual exiles, who rejoice in the tribulation of want and difficulties, knowing that “...tribulation worketh patience; and patience trial; and trial hope; and hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts...”[7] Concerning the words used, in Hebrew it has the same words we have : the labours of thy hands; but in Greek it seems to have the labours of thy fruits, and many read and translate it like this from the Greek. But the Greek καρπῶν, means both fruits and volas manuum / the palms or hollows of the hands. Hence the Septuagint most properly has translated the Hebrew word which signifies volas manuum / the palms or hollows of the hands. Accordingly, our Vulgate edition clearly agrees with the original Hebrew and with the Septuagint.

[1] The act or practice of seizing and taking away by force the property of others; plunder, pillage, robbery. OED.

[2] Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the wicked. Melius est modicum justo, super divitias peccatorum multas; [Ps. XXXVI 16]

[3] Behold these are sinners; and yet abounding in the world they have obtained riches. Ecce ipsi peccatores, et abundantes in saeculo, obtinuerunt divitias. [Ps. LXXII 12]

[4] Their storehouses full, flowing out of this into that. Their sheep fruitful in young, abounding in their goings forth: Their oxen fat. There is no breach of wall, nor passage, nor crying out in their streets. They have called the people happy, that hath these things: but happy is that people whose God is the Lord. Promptuaria eorum plena, eructantia ex hoc in illud; oves eorum foetosae, abundantes in egressibus suis; boves eorum crassae. Non est ruina maceriae, neque transitus, neque clamor in plateis eorum. Beatum dixerunt populum cui haec sunt; beatus populus cujus Dominus Deus ejus.  [Psalm CXLIII 13] 

[5] For you both had compassion on them that were in bands, and took with joy the being stripped of your own goods, knowing that you have a better and a lasting substance. Nam et vinctis compassi estis, et rapinam bonorum vestrorum cum gaudio suscepistis, cognoscentes vos habere meliorem et manentem substantiam. [Hebr. X 34]

[6] Great is my confidence for you, great is my glorying for you. I am filled with comfort: I exceedingly abound with joy in all our tribulation. Multa mihi fiducia est apud vos, multa mihi gloriatio pro vobis : repletus sum consolatione; superabundo gaudio in omni tribulatione nostra. [II Corinth. VI 4]

[7] And not only so; but we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience trial; and trial hope; And hope confoundeth not: because the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost, who is given to us. Non solum autem, sed et gloriamur in tribulationibus : scientes quod tribulatio patientiam operatur : patientia autem probationem, probatio vero spem, spes autem non confundit : quia caritas Dei diffusa est in cordibus nostris per Spiritum Sanctum, qui datus est nobis. [Romans V 3-5]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm 127 : Title, theme & Verse 1

Title and subject matter

Titulum et argumentum

A canticle of the steps

Canticum graduum 

This Psalm seems to St. Hilary and St. Augustine, read literally, to treat of temporal goods, the promise of which is particular to the old Testament; so it becomes necessary to find a mystical sense if it is to accommodate the morals of Christians. But it will perhaps not be difficult to explain it in a way that pertains both to the old Testament and the new, to the blessings of the earthly and of the heavenly Jerusalem. The subject matter, therefore of this Psalm, is an exhortation to piety, presented with an immense reward for virtue.

Verse 1

Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.

Beati omnes qui timent Dominum, qui ambulant in viis ejus.

The Prophet teaches the exiles returning from their captivity how they ought to conduct themselves if they do not wish to be returned into captivity once more, but to enjoy the blessings of Jerusalem for ever. This teaching is suitable for all those in an alien country, both for those who are exiled from their earthly home country and want to go back, and for those who are exiled from their heavenly home and are in haste to return. He therefore says: “Blessed are all they that fear the Lord,” that is, all those, men or women, great or small, nobles or commoners, masters or servants, learned or unlearned, finally everyone without exception, for then only will they be truly fortunate, (that is, happy, contented, cheerful, enjoying the best of conditions, which all men desire), if they truly fear God, that is, if they dread to offend God, and strengthened by such fear, they never fall from God’s grace, which is the fount of all blessings. A sign of this holy fear is if they walk “in his ways,” that is, in (keeping) His commandments. For this holy fear proceeds from love, and the Lord says in John xiv: “If you love me, keep my commandments;”[1] and again : “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me;”[2] and again : “ He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words.”[3]

[1] If you love me, keep my commandments. Si diligitis me, mandata mea servate : [John xiv 15]

[2] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father: and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Qui habet mandata mea, et servat ea : ille est qui diligit me. Qui autem diligit me, diligetur a Patre meo : et ego diligam eum, et manifestabo ei meipsum. [John xiv 21]

[3] He that loveth me not, keepeth not my words. And the word which you have heard, is not mine; but the Father's who sent me. qui non diligit me, sermones meos non servat. Et sermonem, quem audistis, non est meus : sed ejus qui misit me, Patris. [John xiv 24]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.