We continue with St Robert Bellarmine's commentary on Psalm 37, the third in the series of seven Penitential Psalms.
The Latin is reproduced courtesy of the Digital Collection site - UANL and is accompanied by my fairly literal translation. The Scripture excerpts (Douay Rheims/Vulgate) are taken from the DRBO site but the verse numbering follows that of Bellarmine’s Latin text.
Where footnotes are included, the text follows each verse.
Verse 12
And they that were near me stood afar off: And they that sought my soul used violence.
et qui juxta me erant, de longe steterunt, et vim faciebant qui quaerebant animam meam.
He said that friends and neighbours, such as Absalom and his allies, were turned enemies and they approached and stood against him so that they might do him harm. Now he says that others who were wont to be by his side, such as soldiers or servants, withdrew afar off and did not want to be present with him in his time of persecutions. Meanwhile, his enemies tried with great force to take his life, see I Kings ii: not only did David face them “that sought his soul,” that is, them that sought to kill him, such as Absalom’s soldiers, but he also faced them that would strip him of his honour and reputation, such as Semei, “who cursed him with a grievous curse,”
[1] and others, who gave cunning counsel against him, such as Achitophel and others; and so he continues below.
[1] II Reg. ii. 8.
Verses 13-15
And they that sought my soul used violence. And they that sought evils to me spoke vain things, and studied deceits all the day long.
Et qui inquirebant mala mihi, locuti sunt vanitates, et dolos tota die meditabantur.
But I, as a deaf man, heard not: and as a dumb man not opening his mouth.
Ego autem, tamquam surdus, non audiebam; et sicut mutus non aperiens os suum.
And I became as a man that heareth not: and that hath no reproofs in his mouth.
Et factus sum sicut homo non audiens, et non habens in ore suo redargutiones.
All these things are so true and clear, and may be understood chiefly from (the account in) II
Kings, chapter xvi, where Semei cursed David and called him a man of Belial and a usurper of the kingdom; David bore this with incredible patience and did not allow anyone to harm or even to reprove him; thus he was “as a deaf man that heareth not and as a dumb man that hath no reproofs in his mouth.”
Verse 16
For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped: thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God.
Quoniam in te, Domine, speravi; tu exaudies me, Domine Deus meus.
He puts forward three reasons to explain why he remained deaf and mute: the first is that he judged it more useful to himself to hope in the Lord rather than in his own defence. And so he says: I remained mute, “For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped;” I paid no attention to all the false and empty things they hurled against me, since I knew that all things were heard and understood by Thee, in Whom I have always trusted and Who art a just judge, rendering unto every man according to his works; and because “in thee … have I hoped: thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God,” and Thou wilt deliver me from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue.
[1]
[1] O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue. Domine, libera animam meam a labiis iniquis et a lingua dolosa. [Ps cxix]
Verse 17
For I said: Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me: and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me.
Quia dixi : Nequando supergaudeant mihi inimici mei; et dum commoventur pedes mei, super me magna locuti sunt.
Here is another reason why he decided to remain deaf and mute: “For I said,” (regarding me): “Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me:” that is, it is good for me to have patience and to hope in the Lord’s assistance, lest I grow so impatient that I return curse for curse and lest God abandon me and my enemies rejoice over me; that is, lest they rejoice over my ruin. “And whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me,” that is, I fear not without cause lest my enemies rejoice in my downfall; for “whilst my feet are moved,” that is, while my feet begin to move, and I totter towards a fall (which happened when he was in danger of losing his kingdom), “My enemies speak great things against me,” threatening me and predicting my final downfall. It is to be noted on this text that the conjunction
et / and is often put in place of
quia / because, as in
Isaias lxiii: “ For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us:”
[1] that is, Thou alone, O Lord, art our father; for Abraham and Jacob, who seem to be our fathers, do not acknowledge us as their sons. Thus too in chapter lxiv, 5: “Thou art angry, and we have sinned.”
[2] And so it may be said of this text: “and whilst my feet are moved,” where
et/and is put in place of
quia/because, so that the meaning
is: lest at some time my enemies rejoice over me. “And whilst my feet are moved,” that is, because whilst my feet are moved, etc. dum comoventur/ whilst...are moved is put instead of dum comoverentur/ whilst...were moved. In fact, in Hebrew and Greek they have an infinitive, in my feet being moved, which cam be trandlated as while...are moved and while...were moved, and hence while...were moved (subj.). Therefore it ought to be explained in accordance with the requirement of the following word to ensure coherence.
[1] For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name. Tu enim pater noster; et Abraham nescivit nos, et Israel ignoravit nos; tu, Domine, pater noster, redemptor noster, a saeculo nomen tuum. [Isai. Lxiii. 16]
[2] Thou hast met him that rejoiceth, and doth justice: in thy ways they shall remember thee: behold thou art angry, and we have sinned: in them we have been always, and we shall be saved. Occurristi laetanti, et facienti justitiam; in viis tuis recordabuntur tui. Ecce tu iratus es, et peccavimus; in ipsis fuimus semper, et salvabimur.[Isai. Lxiv. 5]
Verse 18
For I am ready for scourges: and my sorrow is continually before me.
Quoniam ego in flagella paratus sum, et dolor meus in conspectu meo semper.
He adds a third reason why he wanted to remain deaf and mute before his enemies: “ For,” he says, I, On account of my sins, “am ready to be scourged,” not only with the scourges of words and reproaches but also with the scourges of whips and wounds. For
the pain which I have deserved is continually before my mind’s eye; for my pain, that is, my sin, which is the cause of my continual pain, never recedes from the eyes of my heart. The Hebrew word here is translated by some as
lameness; others think it ought to be read as
leprosy; we have
scourge, from the Greek; but there is no difficulty here; for the Hebrew word can commonly mean
side or
rib; but it can easily be translated as
lameness because the lame, when they walk, lean to one side and do not walk upright. It may even be translated as
wound or
bruise, and in this way a (stroke of the)
whip, because wounds are had from scourges. And so St Jerome translates it as
I am ready for wounds and the Septuagint translators have
I am ready for scourges.
Verse 19
For I will declare my iniquity: and I will think for my sin.
Quoniam iniquitatem meam annuntiabo, et cogitabo pro peccato meo.
He provides a reason why he has said he is ready for the scourge: “For,” he says, “I will declare my iniquity,” that is, I acknowledge and confess that I have sinned, and have [incurred] the scourge; “and I will think for my sin,” by expiation, it seems. More significantly, St Jerome translates from the Hebrew as :
And I will be solicitous for my sin, that is, I will think diligently and anxiously in what way I may be able to offer satisfaction to God and to obtain full pardon. This is a beneficial example for penitents, that they should be solicitous to offer expiation for sin and willing to accept opportunities granted by God for exercising patience.
Totus tuus ego sum
Et omnia mea tua sunt;
Tecum semper tutus sum:
Ad Jesum per Mariam.
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