Bellarmine on Psalm 37: Verses 9-11

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 9

Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee.

Domine, ante te omne desiderium meum, et gemitus meus a te non est absconditus.

Because he said the groaning in his heart aroused a roaring, he explains now to whom he is groaning in his heart, and says he is groaning to Him who “searcheth hearts”[1] and “knows what the Spirit desireth.”[2] “Lord,” he says, all my desire is before thee,” that is, Thou, Lord, seeth my every desire, which is no other than finally to be delivered from my evil concupiscence so that I may arrive at the sabbath of perfect rest. On this, he ads, “my groaning is not hidden from thee.” This is like what the Apostle says in Rom. Viii: “ Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body.”[3]

[1] See, e.g., 1 Paralipomenon (1 Chronicles) xxviii:9; Romans viii:27; and Apocalypse (Revelation) ii:23.

[2] And he that searcheth the hearts, knoweth what the Spirit desireth; because he asketh for the saints according to God. Qui autem scrutatur corda, scit quid desideret Spiritus : quia secundum Deum postulat pro sanctis.  [Romans viii:27]

[3] And not only it, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of our body. Non solum autem illa, sed et nos ipsi primitias spiritus habentes : et ipsi intra nos gemimus adoptionem filiorum Dei exspectantes, redemptionem corporis nostri. [ Romans viii:27]

Verse 10

My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me.

Cor meum conturbatum est, dereliquit me virtus mea, et lumen oculorum meorum, et ipsum non est mecum.

He continues to describe the corruption of human nature and says, “My heart is troubled,” which refers to the war within him between the lower and higher parts; and he adds, “my strength hath left me,” so that, whether he wants it or not, he suffers from evil desires and says with the Apostle: “ To will, is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, I find not.”[1] He adds at the end: “and the light of my eyes itself is not with me,” because not only weakness in his will but also ignorance in his mind have arisen from this same rebellion. For we often judge things not as they are but as they seem to us when we are badly impaired, as in the case of those who are suffering from a fever judge to be bitter that which is really sweet and sweet that which is bitter. And so he does not say: “The light of my eyes is extinguished,” but “is not with me,” for the light of intelligence and prayer is assuredly in the rational soul; but because a corrupted body damages the soul, which is frequently impaired by carnal passions, we cannot make use of it, and so he says: “ and the light of my eyes itself,” I say, “the light of my eyes,” which is to say the interior

light, “is not with me” in practice, even though it is really in me. Therefore while it is with me as regards to essence, it is  not with me as regards to use.

[1] For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good. For to will, is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, I find not. Scio enim quia non habitat in me, hoc est in carne mea, bonum. Nam velle, adjacet mihi : perficere autem bonum, non invenio. [Rom. vii. 18]

Verse 11

My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me. 

Amici mei et proximi mei adversum me appropinquaverunt, et steterunt;

Having described the interior war which is continually waged within a man, he now describes the exterior war, the persecutions and maulings which are all the punishments of sins. First of all, he complains that his friends and neighbours have become his enemies, which happened chiefly in the rebellion of his son Absalom, with whom many of his friends and neighbours conspired against him. But modern exegetes of the Hebrew text have explained this differently to the received version in the Vulgate; the Hebrew text has, my friends and my neighbours (as) from a region of leprosy stood against me. In a like manner, St Jerome, whose example many follow, translates this text as meaning only that David’s friends and neighbours were not made into his enemies but did not dare to come near to help him or console him; and so they stood afar from his vicinity. Since the Septuagint has ήγγισαν and the Latin translator rendered this as appropinquaverunt / they came near, it certainly was not hard to say not  appropinquaverunt / they came near but longe steterunt / they stood afar off; nor does the Hebrew prevent this reading, for the Hebrew which denotes my leprosy (pl for sing) or my wounds, is read by the Septuagint translators, whose codices were more correct, as appropinquaverunt / they came near. They are the same letters, except for the last, which may easily be changed into another, because they are not different except that one is bigger than the other. iod, if extended a little, becomes vau, and so an error in the books could easily occur, and one be put instead of the other. And they say in the following verse: “ de longe steterunt / they stood afar off.” This is true, but this utterance is not about those persons, as now we shall explain.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Bellarmine on Psalm 37: Verses 6-8

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 6

I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: I walked sorrowful all the day long.

Miser factus sum et curvatus sum usque in finem; tota die contristatus ingrediebar.

From this corruption David has become miserable and bowed down and he laments. This can be understood in two ways: firstly as regards the sin and secondly as regards the punishment. For he who commits grave sins, especially the sin of licentiousness, by this in itself he becomes wretched, because having abandoned God, in whom is our happiness, he is bowed down to the earth and is made like beasts of burden; and, through this, he is miserable, greatly miserable; and this is what is evidently meant by even to the end, I am so miserable and bowed down that I could not be made more miserable and bowed down, because from the delight of 

angels I have stooped to the base pleasures of beasts. This is seen in the Hebrew text where it has I am miserable and bowed down to the limit. For that reason, in finem / to the end does not mean  to the end of life or to the end of time or in eternity but rather to the limit of being bowed down, so that I cannot be bowed down any further. In the eighth verse we read: “I am ... humbled exceedingly,” using the same Hebrew word which the Septuagint uses sometimes to mean even to the end, sometimes to mean greatly or exceedingly. It may also be understood of punishment, for he who who commits a sin of licentiousness is made miserable and exceedingly bowed down on account of remorse of conscience, fear of the divine wrath and a humiliating and perplexing sense of shame, so that such a man dare not raise his eyes up to heaven. But each of these ways of understanding can be joined together so that the meaning might be: I am become miserable by the misery of sin and of its punishment, and I am become exceedingly bowed down, firstly, because the face of my soul, which I should have fixed upon God, I turned to carnal and utterly base desires; secondly, because, through a sense of shame, I am unable to look up to heaven but, with head lowered and cast down, I feel forced to look upon the ground; and for all these reasons, “I walked sorrowful all the day long,” that is, with a conscience continually gnawing and accusing me, sorrowful and grieving I proceed; for what joy could there be to a miserable man if he acknowledges his own misery?

Verses 7 & 8

For my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in my flesh.

Quoniam lumbi mei impleti sunt illusionibus, et non est sanitas in carne mea.

I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: I roared with the groaning of my heart.

Afflictus sum, et humiliatus sum nimis; rugiebam a gemitu cordis mei.

The Prophet moves from his particular sin to the general corruption which he experienced from the sin of our first parents, from which his own particular sin issued forth as from a fountain-head. And, from this corruption, he says he is afflicted and humiliated, and that he continually groans and roars. “For my loins,” he says, that is, that part which is animal and lust-driven, the restraints of original justice being shaken off, give birth continually to shameful and base desires; and so he is filled with illusions of evil spirits; “and there is no health in my flesh,”because goodness does not dwell therein but rather the evil of various passions, which render his flesh ill.  And so “I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly,” because it shames me that I, a man endowed with reason, cannot be free from animal baseness; and so “I roared” because of sorrow, “with the groaning of my heart,” moved to outward roaring and shouting. I know the Rabbis and some of their followers made up I know not what stinking, bodily disease from which David suffered in his private parts; but our holy fathers Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine and Gregory in their commentaries on this text refer these verses to concupiscence of the flesh, so that it might be similar to that of which the Apostle writes in Romans vii: “ I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin …Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me?” etc.[1] St Ambrose and St

Augustine write: “My soul is filled with illusions,” where we read “My loins are filled with illusions;” But the Greek words for loins and souls differ in only one letter. And so it was easy to corrupt the Greek text because of the similarity of the letters, but nothing of this is found in the Hebrew. And so the the reading is that one which harmonises the Greek and the Latin text. Illusions, the word we have, seems to mean shame in Hebrew, and so Jerome translates it, not changing the sense; for he who is filled with shame is exposed to derision. St Jerome has evigilavi/I have woken up, for afflictus sum/I am afflicted, but I know not what follows fromthis. For the word we have means to be weakened in Hebrew; to be weakened and to be afflicted can in fact be taken as having the same meaning.

[1] But I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members. video autem aliam legem in membris meis, repugnantem legi mentis meae, et captivantem me in lege peccati, quae est in membris meis. Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? [Rom. Vii. 23-4]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Bellarmine on Psalm 37: Verses 3-5

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 3

There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins.

Non est sanitas in carne mea, a facie irae tuae; non est pax ossibus meis, a facie peccatorum meorum :

He describes the effect of the Lord’s arrows and says that he is thoroughly distressed, he cannot rest, for so long as he thinks upon God’s wrath and his own sins which have earned him this wrath. “There is no health, “ he says, “in my flesh, because of thy wrath: that is, the sight of thy wrath, which is ever-present to my mind’s eye, makes me to weep and

waste away. For sorrow in the soul also afflicts and weakens the flesh, making it grow pale and weak. “There is no peace for my bones, because of my sins,” that is, the sight of the deformity and seriousness of my sin so distresses me that there is rest for me and even my very bones do tremble.

Verse 4

For my iniquities are gone over my head: and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me.

quoniam iniquitates meae supergressae sunt caput meum, et sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super me.

He gives the reason for being so greatly distressed when he looks back on his sins and he says the reason is that his sins are many and great. As for their number, he says: “For my iniquities are gone over my head:” that is, they have piled up in such a great mass that they almost bury me: like someone who is drowning when he goes into the waters of a deep river and his head is covered over by the waters. As for the magnitude of his sins, he says: “And as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me,” that is, my sins, like an insupportable burden, weigh down on the shoulders of my soul, because it is beyond my powers to make satisfaction for sin so grave. This is clearer in the Hebrew text, where super me / upon me properly means super vires meas / upon my powers, i.e., more heavily than I can bear. David’s sin was adultery coupled with murder, but, truly penitent, he reflects upon the many, aggravating aspects of his sin. For David sinned against his faithful servant, Urias, by taking his wife and also his life; he sinned against Bethsabee whom he led into committing sin and spiritual death; he sinned against his own wives by not keeping faith with them; he sinned not only against all the people (in his kingdom) but even against the infidels, through his  bad example, whence Nathan said:

“ Thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme,”[1] and, finally, he offended God whose laws he openly violated. And so, if the number of offences and crimes are counted up, together with the number of people against whom David sinned, then it is not without cause that David says: “ My iniquities are gone over my head.” Next, a sin’s gravity can be understood from its circumstances; for David killed Urias who was firstly innocent, secondly a most faithful servant, thirdly a man under arms for David, fourthly, because he dishonoured Urias’ wife in adultery, as if he wished to injure still further someone he had already injured; fifthly, because he wanted to make Urias the minister of his own death; sixthly, because when he wrote to Joab ordering him to bring about the death of Urias, he wanted it to be believed that Urias was guilty of some great crime, and in this way he injured Urias’ good name. But it was David’s ingratitude to God that was the chief cause of the gravity of David’s sin. For God had conferred a superabundance of temporal and spiritual gifts upon David alone. 

For He made him a great king, an outstanding prophet and a most mighty general; He gave him in prudence, strength, beauty, riches and all good things everything that could have been wished for by men. Without doubt, all these things aggravated the seriousness of his sin, because when he weighed these in the balance of a most diligent examination (of his conscience), he justly said: “ my iniquities ... as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me.” And this is the reason why few feel a sense of sorrow like unto David’s, because few weigh the magnitude of their sin in the balance of a serious scrutiny. 

[1] Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing, the child that is born to thee, shall surely die. Verumtamen, quoniam blasphemare fecisti inimicos Domini, propter verbum hoc, filius, qui natus est tibi, morte morietur. [II Reg. xii. 14]

Verse 5

My sores are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness.

Putruerunt et corruptae sunt cicatrices meae, a facie insipientiae meae.

This concerns that time which passed between the sin of adultery and the Prophet Nathan’s admonishment, which was more than nine months later. At any rate, Nathan reproached David the boy conceived from the adultery after he had been born, according to II Kings xii. For the whole of that time, David put off healing the wounds of his sin by penitence. In this time, it (the wound of sin) was covered from his view, as if by a scab causing him to forget it and this did not allow him to acknowledge the wound. But the truth was that those sores were rotting and the wounds became more serious and more difficult to heal; and this is what he now laments, saying: “My sores,” not from the physician’s want of care, but covered over from neglect and forgetfulness,” are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness;” that is, my foolishness, which was the reason that I did not notice my wounds, and the reason that those rotten wounds spread the stench of scandal far and wide. By cicatrices/sores,scabs, in this context are to be understood not those marks which remain after the healing of a wound but rather an unhealed wound, closed up like a scar; and because corrupt blood does not seep out from it, “ it is not fomented with oil nor bound up;” [1] it therefore festers and rots. This is taken from the original text, which has the word chaburoth, which does not properly speaking mean cicatrices /scars, but a bruise, a swollen wound. For this reason, in the Latin edition cicatrices are taken to be wounds, whereas as we have said, these are scars which form while the wound remains unhealed but is closed up on itself and the wound is neglected and festers.

[1] From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil. A planta pedis usque ad verticem, non est in eo sanitas; vulnus, et livor, et plaga tumens, non est circumligata, nec curata medicamine, neque fota oleo. [Isai. i. 6]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Bellarmine on Psalm 37: Title, theme and verses 1-2

 

Today we begin St Robert Bellarmine's commentaries 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.

Psalm XXXVII

Title and subject matter

A psalm for David, for a remembrance of the sabbath.

Psalmus David, in rememorationem de sabbato.

The title of this Psalm in the Hebrew codex makes no mention of the sabbath, but has only rememorationis / of(in) remembrance; it suited the Septuagint translators, however, (who were) most serious men, to add thereto the word Sabbati / of the Sabbath.[1] The explanation of St Augustine seems sufficient and was followed by St Gregory, that this Psalm, one of those which pertains to penitence, was composed by a penitent David, in remembrance of the Sabbath, that is, for those at rest in a state of lost innocence or of the promise of resurrection of the just. It is also possible to understand by Sabbath a good conscience, which the grace of God brings; and which he who sins loses; and by whose groaning is recalled one who begins to offer true penance. The subject matter of this Psalm is a prayer from a penitent, similar to the one in Psalm vi, which has exactly the same beginning and was most probably composed at the time when David fled from Jerusalem because of Absalom’s persecution.[2]

[1] Sabbatum: Jewish sabbath; b (w. ref. to word play on Hebrew sheba ‘seven’ and shabbat ‘cessation’, ‘rest’); c (w. ref. to practice of counting days of week from the sabbath); d (fig.). e period of rest of soul after death.

[2] Absalom: "father of peace", the third son of David by Maacha, daughter of Tholmai, King of Gessur.

Verse 1

Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath.

Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me, neque in ira tua corripias me;

A penitent David prays that God will not punish him in his indignation and wrath, like a judge does with convicted criminals, but with mercy, like a physician with his patients. See what we said on the beginning of Psalm vi where we showed that there was no difference in that text between indignation and wrath, or between rebuke and chastise (see page 6 above). If, however, a distinction may be admitted, then with St Augustine and St Gregory you will say that those rebuked in indignation are those condemned to hell; whereas those chastised in wrath are those tormented after death in the fires of purgatory; and that the Prophet prays that God may punish him here for sins he has confessed and not in purgatory or hell. St Augustine warns against underestimating the fire of purgatory because that fire is more terrible than anything a man may suffer in this life. It should also be added that although in this verse, (and also in Psalm ii, verse 5 and Psalm vi, verse 1), God’s wrath should be endured on account of condemnation in justice, elsewhere it is to be borne because of a father’s zeal, who is angry with his sons, not so as to lose them but so that He may keep them safe.

Verse 2

For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me.

quoniam sagittae tuae infixae sunt mihi, et confirmasti super me manum tuam.

Because the Prophet knew that nothing is more useful for obtaining forgiveness of sins than fully acknowledging the misery of sin, and weeping over it to the Lord, he laments in this verse (and some of the following) his unhappiness which he has brought on himself through mortal sin. Accordingly, he says: “Rebuke me not in thy wrath,” for it is most severe, as I have learned from experience. For certain, “thy arrows are fastened in me,” that is, with Thee punishing my sin, many tribulations have befallen me;

 “and thy hand hath been strong upon me,” that is, Thy arrows are fastened in me, and have they touched me not just lightly, because Thou hast made heavy Thy hand upon me, so that the arrows might penetrate more deeply. It seems by these tribulations and torments we are to understand the death of his son by Bethsabee, the dishonouring of his daughter carried out by her own brother, the murder of his son Ammon, the fornication and adultery with his wives committed by David's own son, being expelled from his own kingdom and other things of this sort, which, because of his sin, he endured from (the hand of) an avenging God. Perhaps he even calls arrows those reproving and threatening words from Nathan, God’s messenger: “Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee from the hand of Saul, And gave thee thy master's house and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and Juda: ...Why therefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in my sight? Thou hast killed Urias the Hethite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife ...Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house,” etc. Assuredly, this reproach about the good things he had received and the threat of punishment without doubt mortified David’s soul and affected him with shame, fear and a most intense sorrow.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Bellarmine on Psalm 31: Verses 13-14 (conclusion)

Today we conclude St Robert Bellarmine's commentaries on Psalm 31, the second 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 13

Many are the scourges of the sinner, but mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord.

Multa flagella peccatoris; sperantem autem in Domino misericordia circumdabit.

This is the explanation of the bit and the bridle, as though the Prophet were to say: the impenitent sinner, and he who takes pleasure in sin, will suffer many scourges, both in this life and the life to come. For although sinners sometimes seem to thrive, their sin is itself a most grave punishment, which gives rise to other punishments without number, worries, anxieties, fears, dangers, remorse of conscience and the like. Not content with these, God, a just judge, adds many other scourges thereto; and unless the sinner comes to his senses, and prays to God in a seasonable time, he will arrive without doubt at everlasting punishment. The just man, on the other hand, who hopes in the Lord, and does not put his trust in the vanity of mortals, will in the end be encompassed by the divine mercy itself, so that the scourge of punishment will not come nigh to him from any side. Furthermore, the divine mercy is the fountainhead of all good things; so when he says: “Mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord,” it refers to the treasure-house of all good things which bears fruit super-abundantly for those who stay close to the one God. And so, quite correctly, the Psalm concludes with the following words:

Verse 14

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just, and glory, all ye right of heart.

Laetamini in Domino, et exsultate, justi; et gloriamini, omnes recti corde.

Just as at the beginning he said the just are blessed, so now at the end he urges them to joy, which is like an indirect exhortation unto perseverance in justice, so that they may persevere in joy. “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice,” that is, great is your cause, O ye just, for rejoicing and exulting, but (let this be) “in the Lord” who is for you the cause of so many good things, in which your abundance is great. This is why you should not be saddened by temporary setbacks for which you will be compensated in eternity, in good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over;[1] here, in the meantime, spiritual consolation will not be lacking. “And glory, all ye right of heart,” repeats the same thing with other words. Now, “to glory,” in this context, is not to puff oneself up with praises, as it sounds in Latin, but to rejoice, as connoted by the Hebrew word veharninu, that is, to praise God with joy; this is not the

only time in Scripture that gloriari / to glory is taken to mean to rejoice and to be glad, as when the Apostle says in Romans v: “But we glory also in tribulations,”[2] The word which signifies correctly in Hebrew “to glory” is at the beginning of Ps LI: “ Why dost thou glory in malice?”[3] It is not the same word in this text but another, which means to rejoice. By right of heart we understand the just; for from righteousness of heart arises righteousness of words and deeds; the just are they whose hearts, words and deeds are most conformable to the most righteous rules which make up the divine law; from which righteousness it comes to be that God is pleasing to man and man to God; and whatever happens to man, through the will or permission of God, is accepted with equanimity; so that there may be in a man’s heart not only justice but also “ peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,”as the Apostle says in Romans xiv.[4] Whence most correctly does David say: “Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just,” etc., because only the just are blessed and enjoy true and unshakeable happiness.

[1] Give, and it shall be given to you: good measure and pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again. Date, et dabitur vobis : mensuram bonam, et confertam, et coagitatam, et supereffluentem dabunt in sinum vestrum. Eadem quippe mensura, qua mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis. [Luc. vi. 38]

[2] And not only so; but we glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; Non solum autem, sed et gloriamur in tribulationibus : scientes quod tribulatio patientiam operatur : [Rom. v. 3]

[3] Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity? Quid gloriaris in malitia, qui potens es in iniquitate? [Ps li. 3]

[4] For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but justice, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Non est enim regnum Dei esca et potus : sed justitia, et pax, et gaudium in Spiritu Sancto : [Rom. Xiv. 17]

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Bellarmine on Psalm 31: Verses 10 & 11

Today we continue St Robert Bellarmine's commentaries on Psalm 31, the second in the series of 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 10

I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee in this way, in which thou shalt go: I will fix my eyes upon thee.

Intellectum tibi dabo, et instruam te in via hac qua gradieris; firmabo super te oculos meos.

The Lord responds to the prayer of His servant and promises him the help he seeks. He promises three things: firstly, interior prudence, so that he may guard against the snares of his enemies and distinguish his friends from his foes, when He says: “I will give thee understanding,” that is, I will make thee intelligent and prudent. Secondly, the external assistance of the singular providence of God, without which even the most prudent of men may fall into many dangers; and this is what is meant by:  I will instruct thee in this way, in which thou shalt go: for in Hebrew it says, I will show thee the way thou art to walk; and indeed in Greek it says: I will accompany thee on the way, or I will walk together with thee. From all this we understand that I will instruct thee in the way signifies direction and guidance in all actions.  For God is said to show us the way and to accompany us so that, as leader on the journey,  He confers the help of His grace lest we go astray from good habits and fall into the dangers and snares set by the enemy, who are chiefly invisible. Thirdly, perseverance in grace, which is the greatest gift and peculiar to God’s elect. “ I will fix,” He says, “my eyes upon thee,” I will not turn my eyes from thee but, with a benevolent eye, I will look upon thee steadily and perseveringly; so that the assistance of internal prudence and of external providence may be with thee. In Hebrew it has, I will ponder over thee

with my eye, or, as St Jerome translates, I will think about thee with my eye, but by the change of a single point  oculo meo / with my eye can be rendered oculis meis / with my eyes, or oculos meos / my eyes, and so in that expression there is no difficulty. I suspect that for the word cogitabo / I will think or deliberabo / I will ponder, the Septuagint has read firmabo / I will fix or roborabo / I will confirm or strengthen. For how could it be that these most learned men should understand deliberare, consilium inire, cogitare to mean to fix and to confirm?  If, however, the Hebrew reading is to be reconciled with the Greek and Latin, it will be necessary to insert the word semper / always, so that the meaning may be: I think upon thee always with the eye of my mind; which as the same as: I will fix my eyes upon thee.

Verses 11 & 12

Do not become like the horse and the mule, who have no understanding. 

Nolite fieri sicut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus.

With bit and bridle bind fast their jaws, who come not near unto thee.

In camo et freno maxillas eorum constringe, qui non approximant ad te. 

Finally, he urges all the faithful, whether bad or good, that they should learn from his example the evils that follow on from sin and the benefits that follow on from penitence and virtue; for he himself had experienced all these things. Turning first to the wicked, he says: “Do not become like the horse and the mule, who have no understanding,” that is, do not be led by your senses alone, for you have been gifted with reason; do not, like the horse and the mule, go whinnying after the wives of your neighbours, as I did; do not, like unbridled and wild horses and mules, attack the poor and humble with biting and trampling hooves, as I did Urias.

He foretells the evils that will befall those who choose to imitate the horses and mules; for they will be forced by tribulations either to be converted to God or they will be prevented from harming others as much as they might have wished. But David expresses this prediction in a prophetic way by means of a prayer: “With bit,” he says, “and bridle bind fast their jaws, who come not near unto thee,” that is, with halter and bridle Thou wilt constrain like horses and mules those who reject Thee so that men gifted with reason may freely come nigh to Thee through obedience. The preposterous Calvin argues that the word should not be read as in camo / with bit but as in lupato / with halter, as if there is much between the two words and as if he is wiser than the Septuagint translators who translated it into the Greek for our in camo / with bit; and St Jerome who translated it from the Hebrew as with bit; and St Augustine, Theodoretus and other ancient writers did the same.  Now camus means a rope or halter, by which horses are restrained. But in this context, bit and bridle are metaphorical words and are put to signify calamities and tribulations which God uses to push men away from sin, which he explains in the next verse. In Hebrew, it has the singular, maxillam eius / their jaw; but not only the Septuagint but also St Jerome translates the word in the plural, maxillas eorum / their jaws. From which we understand that the points have not been placed correctly in our books, for according to addition of other points, the same word means maxillas eorum / their jaws.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam. 

Bellarmine on Psalm 31: Verse 9

 

Today we continue St Robert Bellarmine's commentaries on Psalm 31, the second in the series of 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 9

Thou art my refuge from the trouble which hath encompassed me: my joy, deliver me from them that surround me.

Tu es refugium meum a tribulatione quae circumdedit me; exsultatio mea, erue me a circumdantibus me.

Having received pardon for his sin, he now seeks remission of the punishment, namely, deliverance from the tribulation which has come upon him on account of his sin. He seems to be speaking of the persecution which he was suffering from his son Absalom, about which he spoke in the whole of the previous Psalm. He is perhaps also speaking of the temptations of evil spirits who continually surround us and oppress us. “Thou art my refuge from the trouble which hath encompassed me.” As though he might say: I have no safe refuge except in Thy mercy, for my friends on all sides forsake me and I am encircled by enemies on all sides: and so Thou who art alone “my joy,” that is, the cause of all my joy, take me away from these enemies surrounding me. In Hebrew it has: Thou art my refuge from affliction, or from the enemy, Thou wilt keep me safe: Thou wilt encompass me with joy by delivering me. But evidently it seems that the Rabbis’ signs and other changes in letters have altered this text. 

The last three sentences are omitted from this translation as they deal in some detail with Hebrew vocabulary and syntax.

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.