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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.
[18] For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium, dedissem utique; holocaustis non delectaberis.
[19] A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus; cor contritum et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies.
“ For if thou hadst desired sacrifice.” Here he excuses himself: first he shows sacrifice had not been accepted by God; second, he shows that sacrifice might be accepted by God, where he says: “ A sacrifice to God.”
Quoniam si voluisses sacrificium. Hic excusat se: et primo ostendit sacrificium non esse Deo acceptum; secundo ostendit quod sacrificium sit Deo acceptum, ibi, Sacrificium Deo.
Therefore he says: I promise aain instruction and praise: ffor this sacrifice will give honour to you; but a carnal sacrifice is not accepted by you, And so he says: If thou hadst desired sacrifice, that is to say carnal, I would indeed have given it: but truly with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted.
Dicit ergo: Ego repromitto doctrinam, et laudem: hoc enim sacrificium honorificabit te, sed carnale sacrificium non est tibi acceptum. Et ideo dicit: Si voluisses sacrificium, scilicet carnale, utique dedissem; sed utique holocaustis non delectaberis.
But does He not desire carnal sacrifices? If God did not approve those sacrifices, why then did He order them to be done in the Old Law?
Sed numquid non vult sacrificia carnalia? Si illa sacrificia non approbat Deus, quare ergo mandavit fieri in veteri lege?
It must be said that He commanded them to be done not for Himself but because they were figures of the true, interior sacrifice in which Christ offered Himself; and they were signs of an interior sacrifice, inasmuch as man offers his soul (life) to God; and they were instituted for uncultured people who did not know God; and it was therefore fitting that they should honour Him in (physical) things and that they should come to know Him, lest they might offer sacrifices to idols, to which they were very prone. But because David knew from the Holy Spirit that the sacrifice of the heart was accepted by God, he did not make corporeal sacrifices.
Dicendum, quod mandavit ea fieri non propter se, sed quia erant figura interioris veri sacrificii quo Christus se obtulit; et sunt signa interioris sacrificii, inquantum homo animam suam offert Deo, et iterum fuerunt instituta propter rudes, qui Deum non noverant; et ideo oportebat quod in rebus honorarent, et cognoscerent Deum, ne sacrificia idolis imolarent, ad quod erant multum proni. Sed quia David ex Spiritu sancto sciebat cordis sacrificium Deo acceptum, non dedit hic sacrificia corporalia.
Now among all the sacrifices, holocausts were more accepted by God; and yet these were not accepted by God for their own sake; thus He says: With burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted: for if they would have been accepted by you without qualification, I would have offered them. And if it be objected that they were an aroma most pleasant to the Lord, it should be said that this was on account of a figurative sacrifice and as a sign of an interior sacrifice, which is pleasing to God. Whence he adds: A sacrifice to God, that is, accepted (by God), is an afflicted spirit. See Book 10 of St Augustine’s City of God: “Every sacrifice which he offers outwardly is a sign of an interior sacrifice, in which he offers his soul to God.”
Inter omnia autem sacrificia, holocausta erant magis Deo accepta. Et tamen illa propter se non erant accepta Deo; ideo dicit: Holocaustis non delectaberis: quia et si ipsa fuissent tibi accepta simpliciter, obtulissem ea. Et si obiiciatur quod odor suavissimus erant Domino; dicendum, quod erat hoc propter figuratum sacrificium, et in signum interioris sacrificii, quod Deo placet. Unde subdit: Sacrificium Deo, scilicet acceptum, spiritus contribulatus. Aug. 10. de Civi. Dei: "Omne sacrificium, quod offert exterius, signum est interioris sacrificii, in quo animam suam offert Deo."
But it should be known that the soul of man is led into sin first through empty joy. See Ecclesiastes ii: “ Laughter I counted error: and to mirth I said: Why art thou vainly deceived?”[1] that is, You are led into sin. See Ecclesisticus iii: “ A hard heart shall fear evil at the last.”[2] See Romans ii: “According to thy hardness and impenitent heart.”[3] Thirdly, for it is sufficient unto itself in corporeal things, does not attned to spiritual things and is then proud; for “it is the beginning of all sin.”[4] It is fitting, therefore, that a penitent who offers his heart to God as a sacrifice to God, should do the opposite of these things.
Sed sciendum, quod anima hominis deducitur in peccatum primo per inane gaudium. Eccle. 2. "Risum reputavi errorem, et gaudio dixi: Quid frustra deciperis?" idest deduceris in peccatum. Secundo induratur ad spiritualia ex peccato. Eccli. 3. "Cor durum male habebit in novissimo." Rom. 2. "Secundum duritiam tuam, et cor impoenitens." Tertio quia sufficit sibi in rebus corporalibus, et non curat de spiritualibus, tunc superbit; quod "est initium omnis peccati:" Eccli. 10. Oportet ergo quod poenitens qui cor suum offert sacrificium Deo, contraria omnibus his faciat.
[1] Laughter I counted error: and to mirth I said: Why art thou vainly deceived? Risum reputavi errorem, et gaudio dixi: Quid frustra deciperis? [Eccle. ii. 2]
[2] A hard heart shall fear evil at the last: and he that loveth danger shall perish in it. Cor durum habebit male in novissimo, et qui amat periculum in illo peribit. [Eccli. Iii. 27]
[3] But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath, against the day of wrath, and revelation of the just judgment of God. Secundum autem duritiam tuam, et impoenitens cor, thesaurizas tibi iram in die irae, et revelationis justi judicii Dei. [Rom. ii. 5]
[4] Because his heart is departed from him that made him: for pride is the beginning of all sin: he that holdeth it, shall be filled with maledictions, and it shall ruin him in the end. quoniam ab eo qui fecit illum recessit cor ejus, quoniam initium omnis peccati est superbia. Qui tenuerit illam adimplebitur maledictis, et subvertet eum in finem.[Eccli. x. 15]
And first, against empty mirth it is fitting that it shoulfd assume penitence; and so he adds thereunder: “A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: that is, that he should grieve for all his sins and not only for one: “ The sorrow that is according to God worketh penance, steadfast unto salvation;”[5] and see Baruch: “ the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil she hath done, and goeth bowed down, and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul giveth glory and justice to thee the Lord.”[6]
Et primo contra inane gaudium oportet quod assumat tristitiam poenitentiae; et ideo subdit: Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus; idest, de omnibus peccatis simul tristatur, non de uno tantum. II Cor. 7. "Quae secundum Deum est tristitia, poenitentiam in salutem stabilem operatur." Baruch.2. "Anima quae est tristis super magnitudinem mali, et incidit curva: et infra dat tibi gloriam, et tristitiam Domino."
[5] For the sorrow that is according to God worketh penance, steadfast unto salvation; but the sorrow of the world worketh death. Quae enim secundum Deum tristitia est, poenitentiam in salutem stabilem operatur : saeculi autem tristitia mortem operatur. [II Cor. Vii. 10]
[6] But the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil she hath done, and goeth bowed down, and feeble, and the eyes that fail, and the hungry soul giveth glory and justice to thee the Lord. sed anima quae tristis est super magnitudine mali, et incedit curva et infirma, et oculi deficientes, et anima esuriens, dat tibi gloriam et justitiam Domino. [Baruch ii. 18]
Against the second is opposed contrition: whence he says, “ a contrite . . . heart;” and note the difference between “confracta” and “contrita;” “confracta” means those things which are broken into big pieces and “contrita” means those things which are broken into very small pieces; accordingly, for as long as someone has a hard heart, thenhe has his heart as if entirely in an evil state; but when he abandons sin completely, offering himself to spiritual things, then he is said to be contrite: “ I that was formerly so wealthy” (namely, in temporal goods), “am all on a sudden broken to pieces:”[7]
Contra secundum opponitur contritio: unde dicit, Cor contritum. Et nota differentiam inter confracta et contrita: quia confracta sunt quae dividuntur in magnas partes; contrita sunt quae in parvissimas partes dividuntur. Quamdiu ergo quis habet cor durum, tunc quasi integrum habet cor in malitia; sed quando totaliter deserit peccatum praebens se spiritualibus, dicitur tunc contritus. Iob 16. "Ego ille quondam opulentus (scilicet in temporalibus) repente contritus sum."
[7] I that was formerly so wealthy, am all on a sudden broken to pieces: he hath taken me by my neck, he hath broken me, and hath set me up to be his mark. Ego ille quondam opulentus, repente contritus sum : tenuit cervicem meam, confregit me, et posuit me sibi quasi in signum. [Iob. Xvi. 13]
Against the third is opposed humility; and so he says: “a (contrite and) humbled (heart) O God, thou wilt not despise;” “ God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble;” 1 and it is to be known that he mentions both the heart and the spirit: and the spirit relates to impetuosity and thus it relates to the irascible: “ For the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating against a wall.” 2The heart relates to the concupiscible and so it is given through this to be understood that whatever is in the appetitive power should be offered to God in sacrifice.
Contra tertium opponitur humilitas; et ideo dicit: Et humiliatum, Deus, non despicies: quia "superbis Deus resistit; humilibus autem dat gratiam:" Iac.4. Et est sciendum, quod facit mentionem de corde, et spiritu: et spiritus pertinet ad animositatem, et sic pertinet ad irascibilem. Isa. 25. "Spiritus robustorum quasi turbo impellens parietem." Cor pertinet ad concupiscibilem; et sic datur per hoc intelligi quod quicquid est in vi appetitiva, debet Deo offerri in sacrificium.
[8] But he giveth greater grace. Wherefore he saith: God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. majorem autem dat gratiam. Propter quod dicit : Deus superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam. [Iac. iv. 6]
[9] Because thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress: a refuge from the whirlwind, a shadow from the heat. For the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating against a wall. quia factus es fortitudo pauperi, fortitudo egeno in tribulatione sua, spes a turbine, umbraculum ab aestu; spiritus enim robustorum quasi turbo impellens parietem. [Isa. Xxv. 4]
A short note on concupiscible and irascible
There are two passions, the concupiscible passion and the irascible passion.
There is a passion through which the soul is simply inclined to seek what is suitable according to the senses, and to fly from what is hurtful, and this is called the concupiscible: and another whereby an animal resists the attacks of any agents that hinder what is suitable and inflict harm; and this is called the irascible, whence we say that its object is something arduous, because its tendency is to overcome and rise above obstacles. Now these two are not to be reduced to one principle: for sometimes the soul busies itself with unpleasant things against the inclination of the concupiscible appetite in order that, following the impulse of the irascible appetite, it may fight against obstacles… This is clear also from the fact that the irascible is, as it were, the champion and defender of the concupiscible, when it rises up against what hinders the acquisition of the suitable things which the concupiscible desires, or against what inflicts harm, from which the concupiscible flies. And for this reason, all the passions of the irascible appetite rise from the passions of the concupiscible appetite and terminate in them; for instance, anger rises from sadness, and having wrought vengeance, terminates in joy. For this reason also the quarrels of animals are about things concupiscible– namely, food and sex, as the Philosopher says (De animalibus VIII).
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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