Bellarmine on Psalm 129: Verse 4

We continue with St Robert Bellarmine's commentary on Psalm 129, the sixth of the 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 section.

Verse 4

For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. 

Quia apud te propitiatio est; et propter legem tuam sustinui te, Domine. 

True penitence, which the prophet teaches in this penitential Psalm, chiefly requires recognition of two things: our own miserable state, and God’s mercy; for he who is unaware of his own wretched state does not look for medicine or do penance; he who does not know God’s mercy despairs of forgiveness performs penance which is useless. In the three previous verses the prophet shows plainly he is aware of his wretched state, since he cries out from the depths and says that his sins are such that, if God were to act on the basis of judgement alone, no-one could survive. Now he shows he has an idea of God’s great mercy and, notwithstanding the magnitude and number of his sins, he has a hope of forgiveness and salvation. He speaks thus: “For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord;” that is, even though no-one could survive if Thou wert to mark our iniquities, I have come to know that Thou art by nature merciful and I know merciful forgiveness will be

found in Thee, and because Thou hast placed a law upon Thyself that Thou wouldst deal most severely with those who are impenitent but mercifully and graciously with those who are penitent, accordingly “by reason of this part of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord,” in the hope and expectation of forgiveness for sins. Note the word quia / for (with thee there is merciful forgiveness), not to render an account of what is above but of what follows, as when he says: “I have waited for thee, O Lord.” Note too the words “with thee there is merciful forgiveness,” may be referred, according to Augustine, to the price of the Redeemer’s blood, truly a propitiation for the sins of the whole world; however, in this context the understanding seems to be more simply: for Thou wilt readily be propitiated by penitents; for he treats of the price of redemption at the end of the Psalm, as we shall see shortly. The words by reason of thy law do not signify the law which He gave us (for according to this He would condemn and not forgive us), but His law which He is wont to follow, as it is written: “ All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth;”[1] and also: “ Mercy and judgment I will sing to thee.”[2] And so God, according to His law, that is, which he prescribed for Himself, firstly offers mercy to sinners so that they may perform penance; next, He offers justice, if they perdure in their impenitence. St. Augustine correctly says that here it is a question of the law of charity, not of the law of justice. The variety of expressions

in the codices is to be wondered at: for in Hebrew, it has ut timearis / so that Thou mayest be feared, or, as St. Jerome has it, cum terribilis sis / because Thou art terrible; in Greek, by reason of Thy name; in Latin, by reason of Thy law. This variety of translations may easily be borne if the Hebrew word thivvare is read with different points, thorah, and doubtless the Septuagint translators read it as thorah, that is, law. This is notwithstanding the fact that thorah has the letter he at the end and thivvare has the letter aleph; for these are interchangeable letters and frequently one is put for the other. The Greek examples also vary as Chrysostom noted, and they have by reason of Thy name; but others have  by reason of Thy law; which is the best reading and Sts Hilary, Jerome, Augustine have this, as does St. Gregory in his Commentaries. But is not difficult in the Greek text to put name for law, since in idiomatic Greek name and law are written with nearly the same letters. And so the Latin reading of the Vulgate is best to follow since it does not depart from the authentic Greek and Hebrew text, and it features in the commentaries of the Holy Fathers, as well as making the best sense. The verb sustinui / I have waited for is conveyed more clearly in Greek and Hebrew: for it signifies to attend upon or to hope, which is how it appears in the following verses of this Psalm.

[1] All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to them that seek after his covenant and his testimonies. Universae viae Domini, misericordia et veritas, requirentibus testamentum ejus et testimonia ejus. [Ps. Xlii. 10]
[2] A psalm for David himself. Mercy and judgment I will sing to thee, O Lord: I will sing. Psalmus ipsi David. Misericordiam et judicium cantabo tibi, Domine; psallam, [Ps. c. 1]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.