Bellarmine on Psalm 129: Verses 5-6

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 5

My soul hath relied on his word: My soul hath hoped in the Lord.

Sustinuit anima mea in verbo ejus; speravit anima mea in Domino.

Here he begins an exhortation to others whom he urges by his example to place their hope in God. I, he says, was in the depths of misery; but I did not lose hope in God’s mercy, for my soul, suffering from the wounds of sin “hath relied ”, that is, looked for a remedy; “on his word,” that is, on His promise. For God frequently through Moses in Deuteronomy promised forgiveness to the penitent. “And when thou shalt seek there the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him: yet so, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the affliction of thy soul.”[1] David himself said in Ps. Cxviii: “ Be thou mindful of thy word to thy servant, in which thou hast given me hope.”[2] What he had said somewhat obscurely he now repeats using the clearest words: “My soul hath hoped in the Lord,” without doubting that he will receive the forgiveness he asked for. David’s example ought to be of great value to us all: he was himself in the depths of misery, whether you consider his guilt or his punishment; his guilt was most grave, for he committed adultery when he had an abundance of wives; he killed an innocent soldier who served him most faithfully; he offended God, from whom he had received his kingdom and the gift of prophecy, together with strength, good looks, wisdom, riches etc. But he was also in the depths of misery, when king Saul was persecuting him, so that he was often in danger of death; and yet, because he did not despair but rather did not give up hope, he was delivered.

[1] And when thou shalt seek there the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him: yet so, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the affliction of thy soul. Cumque quaesieris ibi Dominum Deum tuum, invenies eum : si tamen toto corde quaesieris, et tota tribulatione animae tuae. [Deut. iv. 29]
[2] Be thou mindful of thy word to thy servant, in which thou hast given me hope. Memor esto verbi tui servo tuo, in quo mihi spem dedisti. [Ps. Cxviii. 49]

Verse 6

From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord.

A custodia matutina usque ad noctem, speret Israel in Domino;

What I do, he says, let all Israel, that is, the whole of God’s people, let them do the same; namely, may they[1] hope in the Lord, whatsoever the depths they may have fallen into; whether they are oppressed by their sins or by pains of sins, may they trust in God’s help. “From the morning watch even

until night,” that is, for the whole day, from the break of day in the morning until nightfall, so that at no time may they cease to hope in the Lord. He says morning watch, or morning vigil, referring to the hour of dawn; for the ancients divided the night into four parts, each one of which lasted three hours; and they were called watches or vigils, because guards or watchmen of the city or camp were on duty for three hours keeping watch over the city or camp, then others would take over the watching and guarding. The morning watch is therefore the time between the ninth hour of the night and sunrise. In the Greek and Hebrew codices, morning watch is repeated, and the Hebrew does not have even until night. From which it seems that the Latin in the Vulgate is partly altered and partly redundant since it does not have From the morning watch twice, as the Hebrew does; and it has even until night, which the Hebrew does not have.

But he who considers all things diligently will see that the reading in the Latin Vulgate is plainly consonant with the Hebrew. For St. Jerome renders the Hebrew thus: From morning watch even until morning watch, and the translator of the Latin for the Vulgate indicated this when he said: “From the morning watch even until night,” for he did not say:  From the morning watch even until eventide, as though saying we ought to hope in God only during the day and not through the night; he said rather even until night, namely the whole night which ends with the morning watch, or dawn, which in the Gospels is called the fourth watch of the night. It is the same as if he were to have said: from daybreak at morning to the end of the night, or, from the beginning of the day until the end of the night; and in this sense did Chrysostom and Euthymius understand this sentence, who wrote on this text for the admonishment of the faithful , that they should hope in the

Lord throughout the day and through the whole night. The reason for hoping for the whole of day and night is twofold: firstly, because we are always liable to encounter dangers, there is no moment in which do not need God’s assistance. Secondly, because it is always fitting to hope in the Lord, and conversion of heart and penitence is always accepted, whether in the morning, that is in a man’s youth, or at midday, that is in the fullness of manhood, or in the evening, that is, in old age; and whether by day, that is in time of prosperity, or by night, that is, in time of adversity. I know the Hebrew text is slightly different from the Greek or Latin; but since this comes about from points recently added by the Rabbis, it is not difficult, these points being removed, to find the  same 

distinction in all the codices. The Greek codices have: From the morning watch even until night, from the morning watch let Israel hope in the Lord.  I admit that they certainly do not accord with the Hebrew codex and the Latin Vulgate; but it is possible that there is something redundant in the Greek codex which is perhaps left over from the addition of some other version to the Septuagint. Perhaps there were also different readings in the Greek edition, for Chrysostom seems to have read the Greek codex as we read in the Latin. 

[1] The singular verbs here seem to refer to the populus in line 2; I have translated them in the plural as they, referring to the people.

[1] The 12 hours of the night began at 18h 00. The ninth hour after this time would therefore be 03h 00.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.