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| David singing. J-J Tissot. Jewish Museum (NYC) |
I am including the original Latin, together with my translation and notes.
The footnotes follow each section.
[16] Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice.
Libera me de sanguinibus, Deus, Deus salutis meae, et exsultabit lingua mea justitiam tuam.
“Deliver me from blood.” Here he promises a sacrifice of praise; and there are two obstacles to this sacrifice. One is the guilt of sin; the other is an inner failing. So firstly he asks for the removal of the first obstacle; second, he asks for the removal of the second, where (he says): “O Lord, thou wilt open my lips.” he seeks therefore the removal of the obstacle and promisses a sacrifice of praise. The obstacle to divine praise is, as was said, the guilt of sin: “ Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner.”[1]
Libera me de sanguinibus. Hic promittit sacrificium laudis; et sunt duo impedimenta huius sacrificii. Unum est reatus peccati; aliud est interior defectus. Primo ergo petit remotionem primi impedimenti; secundo petit remotionem secundi, ibi, Domine, labia mea aperies. Petit ergo remotionem impedimenti, et promittit sacrificium laudis. Impedimentum laudis divinae, sicut dictum est, est reatus culpae. Eccl. 15. "Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris."
[1] Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner: Non est speciosa laus in ore peccatoris. [Eccli. xv. 9]
Now David was guilty of a serious sin; and so he asks to be freed from it and accordingly says: “Deliver me from blood.” According to the Gloss, the noun sanguis is not declined in the plural number but the translator wanted to se it as an expression for sin; and this refers to the concupiscence of the flesh which is flesh and blood: “ Flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven.”[2] As though he might say: Deliver me from sins committed from flesh and blood.
David autem erat gravi culpa reus; et ideo petit liberari ab ea et ideo dicit: Libera me de sanguinibus. Secundum Glo. hoc nomen sanguis non declinatur in plurali numero; tamen translator voluit uti ad expressionem peccati; et refertur hoc ad concupiscentiam carnis quae est caro et sanguis. Matt. 16. "Caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi; sed Pater meus qui est in caelis." Quasi dicat: Libera me de peccatis commissis de carne et sanguine.
[2] And Jesus answering, said to him: Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. Respondens autem Jesus, dixit ei : Beatus es Simon Bar Jona : quia caro et sanguis non revelavit tibi, sed Pater meus, qui in caelis est. [Matt. xvi. 17]
Or it must be said that David had committed the crime of adultery and murder; and in both there s blood; because in murder blood is spilt: “ The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor.”[3] Now adultery proceeds from a fervour of the blood; and so he says “ (Deliver me) from blood: “Blood hath touched blood;”[4] and see Isa. Xliii. : “ I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins.”[5] And because you are the God of my salvation, that is the one who can save me. See also Isa. Xxx: “ You shall have a song as in the night of the sanctified solemnity;”[6] and again in: “ And shall come into Sion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;”[7] and see Ps. Xli: “ With the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting.”[8]
Vel dicendum, quod David commiserat culpam adulterii, et homicidii; et in utroque est sanguis: quia in homicidio sanguis effunditur. Ps. 5. Virum sanguinum, et dolosum abominabitur Dominus. Adulterium autem procedit ex fervore sanguinis; et ideo dicit. De sanguinibus. Oseae 4. "Sanguis sanguinem tetigit." O Deus, libera ergo me de sanguinibus, quia solus potes. Isa. 43. "Ego sum qui deleo iniquitates tuas propter me, et peccatorum tuorum non recordabor:" et quia tu es Deus salutis mei, idest qui potes me salvare. Et exultabit lingua mea; idest, cum delectatione, et cum interiori gaudio cordis, narrabo iustitiam tuam. Isa. 30. "Canticum erit vobis, sicut vox sanctificatae solemnitatis." Item ibidem (cap. 35.) "Venient in Sion laudantes, et laetitia sempiterna super capita eorum." Psalm. 41. "In voce exultationis, et confessionis sonus epulantis."
[3] Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity: Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie. The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor. Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem; perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium. Virum sanguinum et dolosum abominabitur Dominus. [Ps. v. 7]
[4] Cursing, and lying, and killing, and theft, and adultery have overflowed, and blood hath touched blood. Maledictum, et mendacium, et homicidium, et furtum, et adulterium inundaverunt, et sanguis sanguinem tetigit. [Oseae iv. 2]
[5] I am, I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins. Ego sum, ego sum ipse qui deleo iniquitates tuas propter me, et peccatorum tuorum non recordabor. [Isa. Xliii. 25]
[6] You shall have a song as in the night of the sanctified solemnity, and joy of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe, to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. Canticum erit vobis sicut nox sanctificatae solemnitatis, et laetitia cordis sicut qui pergit cum tibia, ut intret in montem Domini ad Fortem Israel. [Isa. Xxx. 29]
[7] And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come into Sion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Et redempti a Domino convertentur, et venient in Sion cum laude, et laetitia sempiterna super caput eorum : gaudium et laetitiam obtinebunt, et fugiet dolor et gemitus. [Isa. Xxxv. 10]
[8] These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me: for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God: With the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting. Haec recordatus sum, et effudi in me animam meam, quoniam transibo in locum tabernaculi admirabilis, usque ad donum Dei, in voce exsultationis et confessionis, sonus epulantis. [Ps. Xli. 5]
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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