In the previous post I provided an introduction to Psalm 128.
The first two verses set the scene by pointing us to the enemy. Here is the complete text of the psalm again for reference purposes, with the relevant verses bolded.
Vulgate
|
Douay-Rheims
|
Canticum
graduum.
|
A gradual
canticle.
|
1 Sæpe expugnavérunt me
a juventúte mea, * dicat nunc Israël:
|
Often have they fought against me from my youth, let
|
2 Sæpe expugnavérunt me a juventúte mea: * étenim non
potuérunt mihi.
|
2 Often have
they fought against me from my youth: but they could not prevail over me.
|
3 Supra dorsum meum
fabricavérunt peccatóres: * prolongavérunt iniquitátem suam.
|
3 The wicked
have wrought upon my back: they have lengthened their iniquity.
|
4 Dóminus justus concídit cervíces peccatórum: *
confundántur et convertántur retrórsum omnes, qui odérunt Sion.
|
4 The Lord
who is just will cut the necks of sinners: 5 Let
them all be confounded and turned back that hate Sion.
|
5 Fiant sicut fœnum tectórum: * quod priúsquam evellátur
exáruit:
|
6 Let them
be as grass upon the tops of houses: which withers before it be plucked up:
|
6 De quo non implévit manum suam qui metit: * et sinum
suum qui manípulos cólligit.
|
7 Who with
the mower fills not his hand: nor he that gathers sheaves his bosom.
|
7 Et non dixérunt qui
præteríbant: Benedíctio Dómini super vos: * benedíximus vobis in nómine
Dómini.
|
8 And they
that passed by have not said: The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we have blessed
you in the name of the Lord.
|
Notes on the verses
Sæpe
expugnavérunt me a juventúte mea, * dicat nunc Israël Often have they fought
against me from my youth, let Israel now say (DR)
sæpe expugnaverunt me a
juventute mea: etenim
non potuerunt mihi.
Often
have they fought against me from my youth: but they could not prevail over
me.
1a&2a:Sæpe (often) expugnavérunt (they have oppressed/fought
against/afflicted) me (me) a (from) juventúte (youth) mea (my)
saepe, adv., often, oftentimes, frequently.
expugno are avi atum to fight against,
to oppress, afflict
juventus, utis,. youth.
juventus, utis,. youth.
The Douay-Rheims translation (provided above) is fairly literal, and the Coverdale translation is similar; the (Farnborough edition) Monastic Diurnal makes it instead "They have hard pressed me from my youth...' The Knox translation is more poetic: 'Sore have they beset me even from my youth'.
1b: dicat
(let he/she/it say) nunc (now) Israël
This phrase can be interpreted two ways: firstly we can lament at the Church's constant persecution; but secondly, as the Knox ('let this be Israel’s boast') as a badge of honour.
dico, dixi, dictum, ere 3, to say, speak; to sing; in the sense
of to think, plan, desire; to
command; to praise.
nunc, adv. at present, at this moment
2b: étenim (and/yet/truly) non (not) potuérunt (they
have prevailed) mihi (to me/against me)
etenim, conj.,
a strong et; and, yea, indeed, truly; as an adversative.
possum, potui, posse to be
able, can, to have power; +dat= prevail over, prevail against
The inclusion of 'let Israel
say' suggests that these two verses can be viewed as a lament for the
persecution that the people of Israel
- and the Church - has always suffered, from its very beginnings.
Some claim we currently live in a time of emergency for the Church.
That is true in a sense.
Yet the Fathers remind us that this has more often been the case than a state of peace!St Augustine
for example, in his commentary on this verse provides a long list of struggles within the Church, starting with Abel and Cain. Yet despite its torrid history of internal division and external persecution, the Church, founded on the rock, has always prevailed.
The verses can also be taken as a reference to the individual spiritual combat we must all engage in, modelled for us in the temptations Christ faced in the desert.
Notes on the next set of verses can be found here.
Some claim we currently live in a time of emergency for the Church.
That is true in a sense.
Yet the Fathers remind us that this has more often been the case than a state of peace!
The verses can also be taken as a reference to the individual spiritual combat we must all engage in, modelled for us in the temptations Christ faced in the desert.
Notes on the next set of verses can be found here.
No comments:
Post a Comment