V. 1. 2. A psalm of David, to be sung. O Lord, the king rejoices in thy strength, and how glad he is at thy help!
This psalm is almost in all things the same as the preceding one, so that even here I am not entirely sure whether it is to be understood of Christ alone, or of any king, and it is to be wondered at that in such clear and blunt words there is such a dark meaning. But it seems to be a thanksgiving at all for the granting of what was asked for in the preceding psalm, so that it is a kind of victory song of Christ rising from the dead. And as we have explained the preceding psalm first from an exemplary (figurali) king, so we want to explain this one first from the exemplary (figurato) Christ, since in fact David and every king in his wars and victories exemplified Christ's suffering and resurrection, and it is easy to understand the exemplary and the exemplified thing, one from the other. Perhaps this psalm also speaks in a general sense of both kings at the same time, as it also seemed to be with the previous one [Ps. 20, § 49].
2. the King Christ, after death is conquered, will rejoice in your power, by which you raised up and made victorious the one who died in the weakness of the flesh and was subject to everything, or as the apostle says 2 Cor. 13:4: "And though he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives in the power of God."
3) It is the same thing that the other part says: "And how very glad is he in thy salutare!" that is, since he has been saved from death. Our Latin interpreter likes to translate salutare instead of salute [help]; I don't know why. But "strength" and "help" are almost everywhere taken for the same thing, namely, that by which God saves us and makes us strong, so that they are words that designate more the gifts of God than the author, as I have often said of the "wisdom of God," of the "justice of God," and the like.
But there are many other names, not only in the Hebrew language, but also in the Greek and Latin and German, perhaps in all others, by which power or strength is indicated. The difference of these we shall perhaps examine in another place; we have dealt with the words "rejoice" and "be glad" in the 5th Psalm, v. 12, and in the 9th Psalm, v. 3.
V. 3. You give him his heart's desire, and do not refuse what his mouth asks. Sela.
4. a twofold description of prayer, the first of which refers to the prayer of the heart, the other to the prayer of the mouth. For the prophet uses oratorical words here. What is the prayer of the mind other than "the desire of the heart"? what is the prayer of the mouth other than "what his mouth asks" (voluntas labiorum)? However, others have instead of voluntate labiorum: the speech (eloquium) of the lips or prolationem labiorum; but they designate the meaning "prayer" too weakly, because this speech of the lips, by which it is indicated that one asks for something, is called prayer. Therefore our Latin interpreter said voluntatem or the desire of the lips, so that the lips correspond to the heart and the desire of the lips to the "desire of the heart", in order to express that the oral prayer could not even be called a prayer if it were not also desired and produced from the desire and the attitude of the heart. For the will of the lips is a living and fervent prayer; for what is there that is more living than the will or desire? I do not know if this way of using David's eloquium can be found anywhere in Scripture.
(5) It is indeed a good order that the prayer of the heart should be put first, without which the prayer of the lips is a useless murmur; and as oral prayer should not be neglected, so care should be taken that it is accompanied by the prayer of the heart.
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of the heart. The apostle says: "I will sing psalms in the spirit, and will also sing psalms with the mind" [1 Cor. 14:15].
6 Non fraudasti [you did not deceive him^ must be understood in this way: You did not deprive him, you did not refuse him, that is, you took care that he did not pray in vain, nor did you turn away from his prayer, so that you did not hear him; in that the prophet, by the negative expression, makes the prayer one which is in the highest degree Yes and Amen (affirmativam). But what did his heart desire? What did his lips ask for? It follows:
V. 4. for you shower him with good blessings; you place a golden crown on his head. 1)
7 Our Latin interpreter translates again and again the word XX by: precious stones instead of: the ophiric and best gold, as we have also seen Ps. 19, 11. Yea, Psalm 119, 127. he [Vulg.] says, "More than gold and topaz," where the same expression pas (XX) by its similar sound (allusione sui) has made him think of "topaz," whereas he should have said, "Above gold and above fine gold," for the very same words are there with which Ps. 19, 11. is said, "More precious than gold and fine gold." And in this place Jerome translates, A crown of fine gold, which the opinion of all and the general custom require. For the crowns of kings are not of precious stones, but of gold. But it is evident that he is speaking of a royal crown; we therefore translate word for word thus: For thou wilt precede him with blessings of goodness; thou wilt set upon his head a crown of ophiric, that is, the most precious gold.
8 I do not fully understand what the word praevenisti means. As much as one can guess from the Hebrew, it is spoken comparatively, that is, Christ was blessed in such a way that he was the most distinguished (princeps) of all those who are blessed and that his blessings were of the kind that are not bestowed on anyone else, as Ps. 45:8.
1) Vulgata'. Huouiaru praevenisti eum in deneäietionibus äuleedinis, posnisti in eupits ssns eoronarn äs iapiäs xrstioso.
means: "Your God has anointed you more than your companions. And Paul says, Rom. 8, 29.: "That he might be the firstborn among many brethren." And again, 1 Cor. 15:20: "Christ is risen, and become the firstborn among them that sleep." And Ps. 89, 7. "Who may be like unto the Lord among the children of the gods?" This "foreknowledge" (praeventio) definitely refers to the person, although this can also be said in a very beautiful and quite true sense, that Christ rose first of all, so that this passage would also be one of those prophesied about the resurrection of Christ, thus referring not only to the dignity of the person, but also to the foreknowledge of time. For Paul also calls him the "firstborn among them that sleep" and "the firstborn" not only with regard to the personal dignity but also to the time.
So now the meaning is: Praevenisti eum, that is, you have made him first in those best blessings, which is confirmed by the following part, which says that he was crowned king, declaring, as it were, this "advance".
(9) For we have said that in this verse the prophet begins to tell what these things are which the heart of this king desired and the desire of his lips demanded, namely, salvation from death and strength from weakness, that is, the best blessings. For one must get used to this Hebrew way of speaking, according to which what is called "blessings of good" (bonitatis) is called in Latin "good blessings" or rather the very best blessings. For our Latin interpreter not infrequently translates the Hebrew which actually means "good" by dulce [sweetl and in this verse by dulcedo [sweetness). A Latin speaker can hardly understand what this is supposed to be, since in Latin we would call benedictionem dulcedinis the blessing that sweetness gives or contains, as we call the righteousness of God that which God gives.
(10) "Blessings" (benedictiones), however, is called, likewise according to Hebrew idiom, that which we call benefactions, as Jacob
Gen. 49, 25. says of the "blessing on breasts and bellies" etc. 1 Sam. 25, 27: "Here is the blessing that your handmaid has brought", because everything comes from God's blessing, as Gen. 1, 22. 28. ff. is written. So the prophet distinguishes this blessing of Christ from all other blessings, because he calls it, that is, good and sweet, while nowhere else is the blessing praised with this epithet, by which he indicates without doubt that he is speaking of future goods, in which there is no tribulation and no bitterness. For what we possess in the time of this life, however good it may be, we do not possess without something evil being in it (sine malitia), "for it is evil time" [Eph. 5:16], and "it is enough that every day has its own plague (malitia)," says Christ [Matt. 6:34], since he also foretold his elect that they would be afraid in the world and would not possess even the exceedingly lovely grace of God without toil. By this word he anticipates that no one may presume to understand by the golden crown of Christ a temporal crown, making him by the flowery words a king equal to others, but only in good things, that is, in future and spiritual things.
(11) But that we must assume here a vague speech (allegoriam), the meaning of the circumstances, the context 1) and the sense forces us to it, so that we can understand by the setting out of the golden crown nothing else than a paraphrase for the fact that he is appointed king in holy, spiritual and exceedingly good things. This paraphrase is not rare in the Scriptures. Judges. 5:10: "You who ride on beautiful donkeys," that is, you who are most noble and most high; likewise, "You who sit in judgment," that is, you who are judges; and "You who walk in the way," that is, you who are lowly, common and rabble-rousing. Gen. 49:23 [Vulg.], "They that have projectiles attack him," that is, the slingers. Thus here: "You will put a golden crown on his head," that is, you will make him king over all kings and Lord over all lords.
1) In the Wittenberg and the Jena: oironmstLntiLO 6QN86HN6litiL instead of: eireninstantlae, eonseansntins.
(12) For what glory of God would this be, whose description began in such a sublime speech, that it portrayed this king as one who rejoiced greatly not in man's, but in God's power and help, then, who was showered with the best benefits, and endowed with long life, and set for constant blessing: and now, in the midst of this divine splendor, fell into such dung that it should also extol the honor of this perishable gold? For such crowns are possessed everywhere, by their own power and presumption, by the most godless and wicked people, who are not worthy that God should gladden them with his countenance in his power and help, but that he should devour them in his wrath and give them to be devoured by fire, as this Psalm will say afterwards. Therefore, the majesty of both the crowning and the crowned, and the other circumstances, must remind us that this golden crown also belongs to an unusual majesty and is not attached to any of the other kings.
V. 5. He asks you for life, so you give him long life forever and ever.
(13) I believe that the prophet here goes into detail (partiri), so that he goes through the aforementioned "good blessing" in order, and explains what he wanted to say with the golden crown. For he enumerates: life, honor, the kingdom, the priesthood, blessedness, and all these as eternal goods; then victory and eternal vengeance on his enemies; for after this is set forth, it will be clear what the king's heart desired and what the desire of his lips was, namely these very best blessings. Now the first blessing he asked for was that he might save him from death. And this he did. For he not only raised him up, but also gave him long life, for all time and beyond, that is, eternal life. And therefore we know that this psalm speaks of Christ, because it is written that he asked for life, and that eternal life was given to him. For one who is to die has such a movement of the heart that he asks for life.
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asks. The apostle writes to the Hebrews [Cap. 5, 7.] that Christ did this and "was heard, because he honored God. For the one who has life is not given it, just as he does not ask for it.
But the prophet interprets himself by saying that life was asked for and long life was given, which should have no end but "forever and ever".
14 These two expressions "and" are translated in various ways. They seem to me to designate eternity according to the manner of speaking peculiar to the Hebrews, as we say in German: "immer und ewiglich". Although I said above [Ps. 5, § 263] that it means an uncertain time, we understand eternity by this meaning, just as by Melchizedek, who has no beginning and no end, Paul understands the eternal priest Christ. Whoever wanted to, could refer the one expression to the kingdom of Christ in the contending church, the other to the triumphant church.
But notice that the prophet wanted to clearly indicate that God gives us greater things than we ask of Him, by saying in simple words that he asked for life, and soon after in much more exalted words that he was given long life for time and eternity. Thus our request is always less than the gifts we are to receive, as the apostle teaches Eph. 3:20.
V. 6. He has great honor in your help; you place praise and adornment on him.
15 There is a wonderful variety and inconsistency in the [Latin] translation. These Hebrew expressions XXXX XXX it has Ps. 8, 6. rendered by: Gloria et honore, 1) here: Gloriam et magnum decorem; Ps. 45, 5th: Specie tua et pulchritudine tua, and Ps. 96, 2) 6th: Specie tua et pulchritudine tua, and Ps. 104, 1st: Confessionem et decorem induisti, and Ps. 110, 3rd: In splendoribus sanctorum. Meanwhile we say: "Praise
1) This citation from the eighth Psalm is missing in the Basel, Wittenberg and Jena editions.
2) In the issues: 97.
and adornment." For adornment (splendorem) we call the royal endowment and abundance of all things, as in the Evangelio Lucä [Cap. 16, 19.] the rich man lived all days gloriously and in joy, and the poet 3) says: Et domus interior regali splendida luxu [and the richly adorned interior of the house is endowed with royal splendor]. This we can also call megaloprepiam [great splendor] and magnidecentiam [great adornment], which is what our Latin interpreter wanted, since he expressed the One Hebrew expression by two, magnum decorem. But it is the "ornament" and great adornment of Christ that He has in His kingdom great, many, and very noble princes and peoples, gloriously adorned with all wisdom, truth, and other spiritual gifts (but He Himself is most adorned and adorned of all), who have the richest abundance of the most delicious things, yet with discipline and reverence, as the apostle called the Corinthians [1. Ep. 1, 5.] praises, since he says that they are richly made in all things. But his "praise" is that he is honored by them all, all praise him and thank him that they have all this through his gift.
16 The meaning is: The king Christ, who in his death was the most despised and least man, abandoned by all, receives through your help or by saving him from death the highest honor for this disgrace, abandonment and contempt, because you put praise and adornment on him. Isa. 53, 12. "Therefore I will give him great multitude for a prey, and he shall have the strong for a prey." Prov. 14, 28.: "Where a king has many people, that is his glory," where the same expression XXX is translated by dignitas, as in the same place Cap. 20, 29.: "The strength of young men is their prize, and gray hair is the ornament of old men." I would say in German for XXX: "Pracht und Herrlichkeit," great adornment, awe-inspiring splendor, adornment. Because actually means
xxxαν and gloriam [glory], XXX but χαύχημα,
the prize, the active praise (gloriationem), as above [Sprüchw. 20, 29.] exultatio juvenum stands instead of gloriatio juvenum fortitudo
3) Vii-AÜii ^611618, lid. I, V. 637.
Enm. Ps. 89, 18.: "For you are the glory of their strength", that is, in you and in your strength they boast. In short, he has put praise and adornment upon him, that is, he has made him famous and a prince and king of honors, which cannot well be understood of David, who was continually afflicted with so much adversity; therefore let us understand it of Christ glorified and preached and believed and worshipped.
V. 7. for you make him a blessing forever; you make him glad with the joy of your countenance.
17 We have heard about the King of honors, now we will hear about the Priest who brings salvation and is eternal. Some believe that Christ is given for blessing, because he is blessed by all for eternity. In this way of speaking, it is often said in the prophets about the people of Israel, that they are put to a fable, a proverb, a mockery, a parable, and Gen. 12, 2. God says to Abraham: "And you shall be a blessing" (for this is the Hebrew text), for which our Latin interpreter says: And you will be blessed. Isa. 19:24. f. [Vulg.ft "Israel shall be blessed in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord has blessed." Isa. 65:8: "As when must is found in a cluster, and saith, Spoil it not, for there is a blessing in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I spoil it not all." In these passages and in many others, "blessing" is taken passively.
But the Hebrew text says here: Quoniam dabis eum benedictiones in aeternum in the plural [instead of: In benedictionem in the Vulgate]. Although this may be taken passively, because this king is blessed by very many and showered with many blessings by God, yet I hold that it must be taken active, according to the words Gen. 22:18.: "And by thy seed shall all nations be blessed." For the blessings with which he is blessed in his person by God, he has sung sufficiently above [v. 4.] in the verse where he says: "For thou dost shower him with good blessings."
Therefore, I understand here the eternal and heavenly blessings with which Christ, as the eternal Priest, blesses His own, as
they received the Spirit, as the apostle Eph. 1, 1) 3. says: "Praise be to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly things through Christ. For I hold that it is the same thing that we are blessed with spiritual blessings in heavenly goods through Christ, and that Christ is set apart to bless forever. But it belongs to a priest to bless with this kind of blessing, by which goods are imparted. Moreover, blessing is found in common life, by which we praise those who have goods and wish happiness to all, even to the lowly, and in general this [blessing] stands with the high and this with the lowly.
19. and this is our glory and praise, that we have a bishop, by whom the curse with which we were punished in Adam is changed and swallowed up, so completely that no temporal curse can harm us, whether it be the curse of sin or of men who curse us, but rather must benefit us through the rich and eternal blessing in Christ. It is surely an exceedingly sweet word for all who believe in Christ, that we have our own high priest, and one who blesses us in all things.
20. "Thou gladdenest him with the joy of thy countenance." This cannot be understood otherwise than of the blessedness which the revealed glory of majesty has. For "the joy of the face of God" is the joy that the face of God is revealed. Our Latin interpreter, however, should have cheaply omitted the preposition cum [before vultu tuo].
V. 8 For the king hopes in the Lord and will stand firm through the goodness of the Most High.
(21) All this that is said will happen to him because he hoped [in God] and did not waver. And here is given a beautiful and proper paraphrase, or rather description, of hope, which alone is capable of refuting all the ungodly opinions that have been handed down about hope. For "to hope in the Lord" is
1) In the editions: 2 Cor. I.
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the same as "remaining firm through the goodness of the Most High," not wavering, but standing and waiting. Of course, it is easy to rejoice and delight in the present goodness, but when it is not there, and there is misfortune on all sides, which troubles, presses, moves, not to let oneself be moved to despair, not to give way, but to expect the opposite, that is, first to hope in truth; but this is a very difficult thing, about which more has been said in the 5th Psalm 174 ff.
(22) Therefore, let those be on their guard who teach that hope comes from merit. For hope, as we are taught here, surely looks to the goodness of God, as fear looks to wrath and judgment. For he who hopes in the goodness of God is not moved, but he who fears the wrath of God has no rest. If then it is written that Christ, who was completely innocent, hoped in the Lord and held fast to the goodness of God, who are we to presume to overcome the judgment of God by our strength and efforts and not rather by the goodness of God alone? This is written for our learning. Therefore, those who fear the judgment of God too much must turn the eyes of their minds away from the judgment and wrath of God and toward goodness; in turn, the eyes of the insensitive 1) and hard of heart should turn from goodness to judgment, so that they may be humbled.
V. 9. your hand will find all your enemies, your right hand will find those who hate you. 2)
He continues to speak of the victory of this king over the subjugated enemies. Our Latin interpreter, as he likes to change, has made the same verb, which is active in both places, inveniat, [in the first place] a passive one, inveniatur. [This should not have been done,] for it is a repetition of the same thing (tau-
1) Here we have followed the old translator, since we cannot prove the word inxkr^nitis lexically.
2) Vulgate: Inveniatnr rnanns Ina omnibus inimiais tuis, ctextera tus inveniaL omnss, yui ts rnnt.
tologia), as Ps. 2, 4: "But He who dwells in heaven laughs at them, and the Lord mocks them." But he rather calls them enemies and haters of God, as of Christ, for the reason, as I have often said, that we should know that God takes vengeance for us and fights, as he says [Rom. 12, 19.]: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay." And Ps. 110, 1: "Until I lay your enemies at the footstool of your feet." Of the "hand of God" we have Ps. 17, 14.
[§ 81] abundantly acted in the verse, "Of the people of thy hand," for it signifies the power and work of God's vengeance. Therefore, he speaks of the Jews who killed Christ, who gathered against the Lord and His anointed, and still persist in the same ungodliness.
24. But what is this? Has the hand of God lost them, that it should be necessary for them to be found by the hand of God? [No, but by this expression the presumption and certainty of God's enemies is shown, who act as surely and confidently as if they were not in the power of God, yes, in their foolish zeal promise themselves not only impunity, but also a reward, thinking that they are doing God a service, so that they now fear nothing less than the hand of God, but think that they have built their nest in the bosom of God. They will be like the wicked, who are suddenly found, because they are not aware of it. Thus it is said in 2 Cor. 12:20: "I fear, when I come, that I shall not find you as I will, and ye shall not find me as ye will."
V. 10. You will make them like a furnace of fire when you look into it; the Lord will devour them in his wrath, fire will devour them.
(25) The prophet beautifully illustrates the matter. For this is how it happens when the wicked are suddenly found, visited and seized in their troubles, that they would like to escape the sight of the wrath or the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, but cannot escape, and speak the word, Hos. 10:8: "You mountains, cover us, and you hills, fall upon us." But in vain
They are forced to endure this day and the eternal revelation. Then begins the fear, the fleeing and the unbearable horror, which makes them burn from this inward, unspeakable fire. For the outward fire is nothing in comparison with this inward fire, so that the prophet quite actually pictures them [the wicked] with the "furnace of fire" (clibanum ignis), or as we say in Latin: per clibanum ardentem, who exercises his rage, not by fire, which is put around it, but inwardly scorched and burning. Thus Abraham, Gen 19:28, saw Sodom and Gomorrah as smoke from the furnace.
This most noble and unbearable punishment God will execute with His face alone, that is, with the revelation of His wrath, as He says here: "When you look into it, you will make them like a furnace of fire," and 2 Thess. 1, 9: "Who will suffer torment, eternal destruction from the face of the Lord, and from His glorious power." And Ps. 34:17: "But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil." Yes, this is the punishment that no one understands but the damned who feel it, so that it is terrible to even think of the words of this verse: so actually do they depict it, and I do not remember any other passage in the Old Testament that so clearly indicates the misfortune of damnation. The fener furnace is lit by the unbearable sight of God and lasts forever. For the day of judgment will last but a moment, but will endure forever, and never cease thereafter. On and on they will be judged, and on and on they will suffer torment, and on and on they will be a furnace of fire, that is, they will be tormented inwardly by the highest anguish and affliction.
27. not as if the wicked see god or his face, as the godly will see, but they will feel the presence of his power, which they will not be able to suffer, and yet will have to suffer, as can be seen even now in the judgments of this time. The righteous has a confidence like a lion, and also expects with joy that the truth will come to light. But the unrighteous is terrified of this. So that one
Day will be lovely to the saints, but terrifying to the wicked.
28. "The Lord will devour them in his wrath." This has the same opinion as the preceding, and is as it were a declaration of the furnace of fire, because his wrath will be revealed. By this beholding [in wrath] he kindles them (as I have said) with the fire of the furnace. The Hebrew would say, The Lord will consume (absorbebit) them in his wrath, because he seizes them, so that they cannot escape in any way. For he will not merely bite them, but devour all that they are, so that they cannot escape after any of their parts. Also this word certainly has a great emphasis and vehemence in it: "to be devoured by the wrath of God"; and this all goes to the inward punishment. Now follows the other part of this verse:
29. "Fire will devour them" (devorabit). In Hebrew: And the fire shall consume them (comedet). This is understood by the external fire into which they will be thrown with the devil and his angels, Matth. 25, 41: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels," in that they will burn in body and soul, inwardly and outwardly. Who told this prophet everything so clearly? For no other passage has described hell so clearly. But he knows the first part from experience, the other part by revelation. For those who have sat down in this life as in a garden of refreshment and rest, they will be there a fiery furnace and food of fire.
V. 11. You will destroy their fruit from the face of the earth, and their seed from the children of men.
(30) This verse also forces this Psalm to be understood by Christ and his enemies, and we see that it is fulfilled everywhere in a tangible way. "Their fruit" may be understood either of their offspring, or of all that they have possessed in this life (which is called the fruit of the hands), yea, even of the good that they may have done, as they were in the law.
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of the Lord. For all things were laid waste by the Romans, and they were scattered from their homeland over the face of the whole earth. And not only that, but also their seed and offspring will not only be destroyed from that land, but will also be cut off from men everywhere, so that the word of Hos. 9:17 will be fulfilled: "My God will reject them, because they will not listen to Him; and they will go astray among the nations. And Micah 7:17: "They shall lick dust like serpents, and tremble in their holes like the worms of the earth." For wherever there are people, the Jews, if there are any, must sit on the swings, and though they do not wander about without ceasing according to the body, yet they cannot be without the constant fear that they must wander about and wander.
V. 12: For they thought to do thee evil, and made designs which they could not perform. 1)
In Hebrew it is said: Quoniam declinaverunt super te malum, cogitaverunt cogitationem, non potuerunt. In order to avoid a Hebrew idiosyncrasy (idiotismo), the pronoun quae2 ) is added, and the infinitive stabilire is added for easier understanding. But the verbum in Hebrew is more emphatically set without closer relation (absolute): Non potuerunt, that is, they could do nothing, or they have become powerless, as it is also said in the 141. 3) Psalm, v. 6. Audient verba mea, quoniam potuerunt, that is, because they have become strong and powerful. But "evil" and "plots" are what the chief priests devised to destroy Christ, who "spake in vain," as Ps. 2:1 is said, saying [Luc. 20:14], "Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours." So it is also said in Jer. 11, 19: "They have reasoned with me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with its fruit (mittamus lignum
1) Vulgate: tzuorÜLm doolinavorunt in t" wala, oositaverurit Consilia, yuao non potuorunt statüliro.
2) So the Wittenbergers correctly, with reference to the text of the Vulgate. Baseler, Jenaer, Weimarsche and Erlanger: yuain.
3) In the Basel: ?s. 104; in the other editions: I "s. 140.
in panem ejus), and cut him off from the land of the living."
32. but he suitably says declinaverunt (they intended] to indicate more the plot than the accomplishment of the wicked, which he explains by the other word, "They could not carry it out." For thus he set the sea its bounds, that on the shore its proud waves should break, as it is said in Job [Cap. 38, 10.]. In like manner also to the wicked, that they may will evil, and yet not be able to perform it, as it is said in Isaiah, Cap. 41, 23: "Defiance, do good or harm, let us talk of it, and look with one another."
V. 13. for you will make her a shoulder; with your sinew you will aim at her face. 4)
Jerome has: Quoniam pones eos humerum, funes tuos firmabis contra facies eorum. This is extraordinarily significant and appropriate. If you ask: What will happen to the unbelieving Jews after this? He answers: They will only live to carry burdens, that they labor in vain with many, futile and heavy works of the law, being inferior to righteousness, and do not attain righteousness [Rom. 9, 31.]; in one word he describes their laborious and useless work in the law and the works of the law in the shortest way. The Hebrew text can be translated in two ways: For thou shalt make her shoulder in what thou hast left (in reliquiis tuis), thou shalt aim against her face; or thus: for thou shalt make her shoulder, with thy sinews thou shalt aim against her face. For what our Latin translator says: Praeparabis vultum eorum, I do not like, because he has omitted the preposition "against" (ad), and the verbum which stands in this place more often means to aim or to strain. That is why Jerome translated it this way: For thou shalt make them shoulder, and thy cords thou shalt stretch against their faces. But "cords" he calls the sinews that are stretched on a bow for shooting the arrows, as Ps. 11:2: "They stretch the bow and
4) Vulgate: Huorüam pouos eos dorsum, in roliHuiis tuis xracxaradis vulNim corum.
lay their arrows on the sinews." What will be the meaning now? Whichever translation one may follow, one will find difficulty.
34 I assume here with Jerome instead of reliquiis [in the Vulgate] "sinews" (nervos), to which the verb "you will aim" or "strain against their faces" moves me. This seems to me to denote a twofold punishment of the Jews, the first of which is to be made a back, that is, put to flight, as Gen. 49:8: "Thy hand shall be upon the neck of thine enemies" (in cervicibus). The other is the coming of a greater calamity, that those who flee and turn their faces to escape, the Lord meets them and tightens his sinews, so that they are punished, whether they go forward or backward. The burden forces them to flee, and the bow held out against them forces them to retreat: thus they are seized in a strait, and are in such a position that, while they flee one danger, they fall into a greater one.
35 It seems to me, therefore, that the prophet, by the juxtaposition of "shoulder" and "face", wants to express nothing else than that wherever they turn to escape, they will be more involved in misfortune. The back is to indicate their escape, the face, which faces the tense sinews, their running into misfortune (incursus). The Egyptians, who were drowned in the Red Sea [Ex. 14, 24. ff.], can serve as an example of this, which the Lord made into a back by looking at them and turning them around. After that, when they fled and turned their backs, the waters met them, and so they fell into the midst of the sea. Similarly, another example is Jos. 8:20 ff. of the men of Ai, who, as they fled to the city, were met by the children of Israel armed in ambush and utterly destroyed them in their midst. The same happened to the children of Benjamin, Judg. 20, 45. ff. And who knows if the prophet did not have these examples before his eyes when he wrote this verse.
36 For we see that this happens to the Jews, that they are never more unhappy to fall than when they undertake something for themselves against us, as Moses also told them.
14, 4l.] when he said, "You will not succeed in anything," thereby indicating that they undertake many things for their salvation and yet only fall more into ruin. Thus they do not omit anything until this day, which can serve for their deliverance, and nevertheless they fall deeper and deeper into ruin and fulfill the whole 26. 1) Chapter of the third book of Moses, where their stubbornness in this running into misfortune is described extensively.
(37) But when this happens in spiritual matters, it is much more terrible, namely, since they anxiously strive to free their consciences from sins, death and hell by righteousness from works and by their wisdom, and to do enough. But here, in truth, they are made quite miserable backs by toiling with many efforts, and [toil and labor, Ps. 14, § 18], in order to thereby become blessed, while they thereby only become martyrs of the devil and fall into twofold ruin. For the sinew and bow of divine judgment will meet them, and they will be eternally cast out, saying sMatthew 7:23], "Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity." This twofold destruction he has expressed above Ps. 14, 3. [Vulg. Cf. Ps. 14, § 89 and § 97] thus: "Their way is vain destruction and harm" etc. Thus they are oppressed by much misfortune, made a back; and yet, unhappy in that which should be for their good, they run into the sinews that are strained and directed against their countenances wherever they turn.
(38) This, in my opinion, is the meaning of this verse, which seems to me to fit the context very well. For after he had said that they should be cut off from among the children of men, and be burdened and afflicted with all calamities, because they deserved it by thinking evil against Christ, which they were not able to perform, it rightly follows that they should be made a back, and that the sinews should be strained against their faces, because they should not cease. to think evil against him, as they have once begun to do; and
1216 L. XVI, 228-231. Works on the first 22 Psalms. Ps. 21, 13. 14. W. IV, I811-1KI3. 1217
The more they are anxious about it, the more they are oppressed, seeking nothing else than that Christ may be destroyed and that they may be preserved. Thus, the judgment of God does not cease to oppose them and to direct its longings against this face and this effort of theirs, so that they always undertake many things, but in vain, indeed, they work themselves into ever greater misfortune.
Hosea 5:12-15 says: "I am a moth to Ephraim, and a maggot to the house of Judah. When Ephraim felt his sickness and Judah his wounds, Ephraim went to Assyria and sent to King Jareb, but he could not help you or heal your wounds. For I am as a lion to Ephraim, and as a young lion to the house of Judah. I, I rend them, and go away, and lead them away, and none can save them. Again I will go to my place, until they know their iniquity, and seek my face." Thus he foretold Ps. 8, 3. that the enemy and the avenger should be destroyed. For what does this hardened people seek to this day but vengeance on Christ? and yet it succeeds in nothing. It feels the burden of its back, it feels the resistance against its face: nevertheless they do not want to become wise even so, because the Lord has made them so.
39 Now let us look at the saying, "With your sinew you will aim." In Hebrew this is expressed by a verbum without closer relation (absolutum), in this way: Thou shalt aim, thou shalt be the steererer, or thou shalt give direction to thy sinew against its face. And that he says rather that the sinew be directed than that the bow be directed, indicates the quickness and the presence of the calamity. So it is also said in Ps. 7:13 ff: "He hath bent his bow, and hath aimed, and hath laid thereon deadly projectile." For he quickly brings disaster upon them, as we see in experience. But how the bow, the string, the arrows signify the divine judgment and sentence, we have seen in the seventh Psalm
82 ff.] abundantly said.
Our Latin translation can be harmonized with it in this way, if we do not take reliquias [the rest] as the yeasts or anything very small, which is
to be left after the best of it is taken, as it is commonly used, as the apostle says, that the rest of Israel shall be saved [Rom. 9:27.], that is, the yeast and the most reprobate of this people, as Isaiah calls them, but for that which is superfluous and too much, as we have said in the 17th Psalm, v. 14: "They have left their leftovers for their young." For this is what the Hebrew word actually means in this passage. Then the meaning will be: In reliquiis tuis praeparabis, that is, thou wilt have superfluous judgments and vengeance ready, with which thou wilt repay them to their face, whithersoever they may turn, that they may not undertake so great a thing against thee, that thou mayest not overpower it, and repay them still more, as in the 109th Psalm, v. 15. it is said of them, "The Lord must never let them out of his sight. "etc. But in this view it must be added to our Latin text in or contra, namely: "against (in) their face"; unless one wants to say that he prepares their face for the rest of him, that is, he judges them and everything they do, so that they are plagued continuously with his multiple vengeance, so that as he makes them his back, so he also makes their face the rest of him.
V. 14. Arise, O Lord, in your power, and we will sing and praise your might.
40 He says this in honor of Christ against the Jews, and concludes the psalm with a beautiful final speech, as if he wanted to say: They would that thou shouldest be oppressed in powerlessness, that they themselves might be exalted in their strength; and they would that thy kingdom and thy power should be humbled by all shame and blasphemy; but in vain and ungodly [do they intend this], because this is the brief epitome of all things: thou shalt be exalted in thy strength, and thou shalt be glorified in the power of thy kingdom; this we desire, and this we rejoice in. Those may howl, we will sing, and those may hiss and gnash their teeth, we will sing praises. That which sinners desire will come to nothing; your power and your kingdom will endure, for: "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures forever," Ps. 145:13.
1218 D. xvi, 23I-2N. Interpretations on the Psalms. W. iv, i6i3-i6is. 1219
Among the many words of the Hebrew language that signify power or force, the two used in this verse are remarkable to me: XXX and XXXXX, the former of which actually denotes the faculty or natural force by which any thing is strong in its kind. The Greek interpreter sometimes translates this by but not constant; the Latin translator, who is also unstable, most often uses virtvirtusus, in German "Kraft". In this way we speak of the powers or efficacy of gems, metals, herbs, and other things. Thus Ps. 46:2 says, "God is our confidence and strength." And Paul calls 1 Cor. 1, 24. Christ "the divine power," and Rom. 1, 16.: "The gospel is a power of God, which makes blessed all who believe in it." Again Daniel, Cap. 8, 23, says of the Antichrist: Stabit rex fortis faciebas [There will arise a king mighty of gifts), 1) that is, whose power and (as it is said) all ability (posse) will consist in gifts, not in weapons or in word, but in appearance, ostentation and outward being and superstition, which Jerome translates: A king with an insolent face.
From this it is evident that the power of God in this passage is that power in which He is mighty in His saints through His Spirit, through which the saints are able to do everything that they are always able to do, since they have this power that is as natural and implanted in the word of God as fire has heat, and a stone has heaviness, and the like. Thus it is said of Christ in 2 Cor. 13, 3: "Who among you is not weak, but is mighty among you." Eph. 3:20: "But to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or understand," that is, to him who has the ability and power, or to whom it is proper, to do more than we ask or understand. For he does not praise the manner of the will in God, but the manner of His being, since he says, "To Him who is able." Therefore, in Latin, even the verbum posse does not correspond to this word, since this often refers to
1) Thus Luther translates in the "Answer to the Book of Catharinus". Cf. Walch, St. Louis Edition, Vol. XVIII, 1482, § 89 ff.
to an ohngefähr or arbitrariness, as in Greek: according to its έςουσία2 ) Much weni
t is correct to translate it by fortitudo, as Ps. 24:8: Dominus fortis, dominus potens in proelio. For fortitudo [valor] has, in addition to natural strength, the secondary term of impetuosity and a very excited mind.
But this power means the calm and real (genuinam) ability of things, because they are able and do, as it were, of their own accord, everything that belongs to their nature, so that in this way "the power of God" means that we are able to do everything that we are and are able to do, through his gift. Thus the holy Virgin says [Luc. 1, 49]: "He has done great things for me, who is mighty," that is, who has all the powers of all.
44. But the other word, which the Greek translator sometimes, and not badly, renders by ^^αστεΖα, the Latin by potentatus, as in the preceding Psalm, v. 7: In potentatibus salus dexterae ejus. Ps. 150, 1. 2. "Praise him in the firmness of his power," that is, in his strength. "Praise him in his deeds" (virtutibus), that is, in his δυυυαστείαις; this goes back to the
Dominion, in German: [in his) "power". Thus it is said in Gen. 10, 8: "He began a
XXXX to be on earth", that is, "a mighty one", as Jerome translated. And again, v. 9: "This one was a hunter before the Lord," that is, he began to rule over others as a mighty hunter. For the Latin words robustus, fortis, potens are generally too impetuous and wild to be put together with these Hebrew words, as befits that iron regiment and tyrannical people, which, it seems to me, either Isaiah or his interpreter is wont to call "the people of deep (alti) speech," Cap. 33, 19. and Ps. 12, 5. is said: linguam nostram magnificabimus, which Jerome translates: roboremus, but would be more fitting: [Our tongue] we will bring to dominion (dominari faciemus), namely, that it alone may rule and be able to do all things. For it follows: "Who is our Lord?" And Ps. 24, 8: "The Lord mighty
2) In the Jena and in the Erlangen: ex
1220 L. XVI, 233-235. Works on the first 23 Psalms. Ps. 21, 14. W. IV, I6IÜ-I6I9. 1221
in the battle," that is, in whose power is the victory and all success in war. For it is the same for him to help by much or little [1 Sam. 14, 9.], as we have seen in the preceding Psalm [v. 8.
So it is a very beautiful order. First the strength is raised and afterwards the XXXXX is sung, because from the strength it arises; and then the power or XXXXX is easily increased and preserved, as on the other hand there is no XXXXX where there is no XX or virtus. And Ps. 24, 8. he says first, "The strong Lord," afterward, "mighty in battle." Of this power a father of the house is called XXXX, and a mother of the house Gen. 16, 8. "From the face of Sarah, XXXXX that is, my mistress, "I fled." And again [v. 9.], "Return again to thy XXXX," that is, to thy mistress. But Ps. 19, 6.: "She rejoiceth as a XXXX to run the way." And Ps. 33, 16.: "A king is not helped by his great power, and a XXXX is not saved by his great strength", in German: "A mighty Lord". Therefore Gabriel is called God's power (fortitudo Dei), but not even fitting.
(45) Another word [for strength] among the Hebrews is of which we have dealt with Ps. 18:2 [§5]: "Heartily I love thee, O Lord, XXXX, my strength." This seems to me actually to denote the strength of mind, which the Latins call fortitudo, the Greeks άνδρία. Of this, in the moral
Because it is brought about by encouragement and practice in difficult things, this word is almost everywhere translated by "courageous courage" (confortatione). Deut. 31:6, "Be of good courage, fear not." Likewise to Joshua the same is said, s5 Mos. 31, 23.], "Be of good courage and undaunted," and Jos. 1, 7. "Only be of good courage and very joyful." And in Daniel, Cap. 10, 18, 19. it is often used, "Thou hast strengthened me," 1) "I ermanteth me," etc., likewise [Vulg.], "Be of good cheer, and be strong," where the same word is doubled [in the Hebrew), as if to say, "Be of good cheer, be of good cheer." And
1) The text says ooukortasti, but the Vulgate says eoutortavit.
Ps. 27:14 [Vulg.], "Harvest the Lord, be thou manly, and let thine heart be confident." Behold, he translates XXX by: "Be manly." Thus saith the prophet Hanani to Assa king of Judah, 2 Chron. 16:9: "The eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, that he may strengthen them which are in him with all their heart." Hence [from XXX] the prophet Ezekiel has his name: God's strength, or manly bold confidence (audacia) in God; and Hezekiah, king of Judah, bold confidence in the Lord. It is read that he had done enough for this name with a beautiful work, 2 Kings 18:7, since he dared, trusting in his God, to break away from the king of Assyria. From all this it is clear that XXX is the strength against the fear, the faintheartedness and the scrupulousness of the mind.
The fourth word is XXX, which also occurs very often, and is translated by virtus. Of this I venture to say that it is quite actually the power which the apostle operations! [powerful effect), Greek ένέργείαν, since he calls 2 Thess. 2, 7. 11.
says [Vulg.]: "For the mystery of wickedness is effective" and: "God will send them the powerful effect of error." And Gal. 2:8: "He that was powerful with Peter (operatus est), the same was powerful with me." This we would call efficaciam in Latin, or, as it is usually said, vim executivam [the executing power), so that it is the effect of the aforementioned powers that now comes into operation. Thus Hezekiah says 2 Kings 19:3 [Vulg.], "The children are come to birth, but the woman that bare them hath no power"; in the Hebrew it is, "There is no power to bear." Dan. 8, 24.: "The king shall be mighty, but not by his power." Job 30, 2.: "Which fortune I thought to be nothing." This power belongs to the welfare of a mighty and strong man, so that he may put into effect what he has undertaken both according to his strength and according to his courage. For Paul predicted that the operation of the antichristic error would be powerful, and Dan. 8:24 also says: "He will succeed in accomplishing it.
47. the fifth is the general word [XXX] which he uses in this psalm [v. 12.]:
"They could not carry them out." Gen. 45:1: "Then Joseph could no longer abstain." This seems to me to correspond quite actually to what we express in our Latin by facultas or possibilitas, and in Greek by δυνάμεις
in which [the meaning of] right, will, outcome, success, is included, where the force, whether it be in the acting person or not, is nevertheless hindered or assisted in many ways, so that this may happen, or
Let not that which is intended be done. Ps. 129, 2: "They have often pressed me from my youth, but they have not overpowered me" (non potuerunt). There are also other words derived from rock, bones, and hardness, which are found everywhere, and which are translated by firmness, steadfastness, strength. But I will leave them, because they are generally fancy words, so that another may also find a field for his diligence, if he wants to.