Bellarmine on Psalm XLIV: Verse 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 in

the 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 of

ivory 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]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm XLIV: Verses 8-9

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]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm XLIV: Verses 6-7

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.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm XLIV: Verses 4-5

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.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm XLIV: Verse 3

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, so

that 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].

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm XLIV: Title, theme & verses 1-2

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.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.

Bellarmine on Psalm XXIII: Verses 8-10

Verse 8

Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle.

Quis est iste rex gloriae? Dominus fortis et potens, Dominus potens in praelio.

He introduces the princes of the heavenly Jerusalem, asking: “Who is this King of Glory?” not because the angels on the day of the Lord’s Ascension would not know that Christ was the King of glory, but so as to express admiration for the novelty brought with it, that a truly corporeal man should be seen to ascend above the heavens, not as a guest, but as the Lord of the glorious and sempiternal city. The Prophet replies that the King of glory is Christ the Lord, most valiant and powerful, who shows forth His might in the battle against the Prince of darkness, whom He has vanquished, despoiled and bound. 

Verse 9-10

Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.

Attollite portas, principes, vestras, et elevamini, portae aeternales, et introibit rex gloriae.  Quis est iste rex gloriae? Dominus virtutum ipse est rex gloriae.

The Prophet imagines the Angels who are in Heaven hesitate in opening the gates, and he again calls out: “Lift up your gates,” etc., which signifies nothing other than the immense novelty of the thing – that an earthly body should ascend above a celestial body, that human flesh should ascend above angelic spirits, with the incredible admiration of the whole of nature, almost (reeling) in astonishment.  Again, he shows the angels asking: “Who is this King of Glory?” and he himself answers them: “The Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory.” having heard the name so known to them, “the Lord of hosts,” they immediately open the gates and joyfully admit the King of glory. In Hebrew, the Lord of hosts is Dominus tsebaoth, which St. Jerome translates as the Lord of armies, and this name is most frequently accorded in the Prophets to God Himself, and it is not shared by gods through association but belongs to God properly speaking, firstly, because it contains the four letters proper to the name of the true God;  secondly, he alone is the Lord of armies who is at the head of the angelic armies, who are almost without number and who are most mighty; and finally, all created things perform military service for the true God alone. For, as we see in Psalm cxlviii: “ Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds which fulfill his word,” [1] that is, fight under His orders. A certain Pharaoh experienced how God was the Lord of armies when He fought against the Pharaoh not only through angels, but also through the smallest of creatures, such as flies and gnats, and not only through creatures but also inanimate things, such as hail, fire, darkness, disease and so on. The Septuagint translation, Dominus virtutum / Lord of hosts, comes to the same thing. For by virtutes / hosts are not to be understood moral virtues, which are called aretai, but forces and powers, which are called dunameis. And so Dominus virtutum is the Lord of forces and powers, which are chiefly an

army in battle array. In vernacular speech, an array of armed men is said to be les forces / forces. From these remarks, we see Christ the lord is properly God and not a creature, as the Arians and numerous other heretics would have it. For in this Psalm it says Dominus virtutum / Lord of hosts or exercituum / armies, and this name is accorded only to God; it also says Rex gloriae /

the King of glory, that is, the King of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is a region of light at the highest point of eternal brightness; without doubt only God Himself can dwell therein. In Hebrew, the word selah is added, meaning always, so that it means Christ is the King of glory not for a time only but for all eternity.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.