Verse 3 of Psalm 4 can be interpreted in two ways: firstly as a personal call to repentance for our sins of the day just past, and secondly as general reproach to those who reject the way of Christ.
Understanding the Latin
The Vulgate of the third verse of Psalm 4 reads:
A word by word translation is:
You can get a better sense of the literal meaning of the verse though, from the selection of English translations below:
You can find the next post in this series here.
Understanding the Latin
The Vulgate of the third verse of Psalm 4 reads:
Fílii hóminum, úsquequo gravi corde? ut quid dilígitis vanitátem et quæritis mendácium?
Key vocabulary:
gravis, e, heavy; said of the heart, dull, hard.
ut quid, adv., why? wherefore? for what reason
diligo, lexi, lectum, ere 3 to love
vanitas, atis, emptiness, nothingness, vanity, unreality, falsehood
quaero, sivi, sltum, ere 3, to seek, seek after; to will, desire, think upon. Of seeking God
mendacium, ii, n. a lie, lying, falsehood
A word by word translation is:
Fílii (sons) hóminum (of men), úsquequo (how long) gravi (hard) corde (with heart)? * ut quid (why) dilígitis (you do love) vanitátem (vanity) et (and) quæritis (you do seek/desire) mendácium (falsehood)?
You can get a better sense of the literal meaning of the verse though, from the selection of English translations below:
|
Douay-Rheims |
O you sons of men, how long will you
be dull of heart? Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying? |
|
Monastic Diurnal |
Ye sons of men, how long will you be
hard of heart? Why love vanities and have recourse to lying? |
|
RSV |
O men, how long shall my honor
suffer shame? How long will you love vain words, and seek after lies? |
|
Brenton |
O ye sons on men, how long will ye
be slow of heart? Wherefore do ye love vanity, and seek falsehood? |
|
Coverdale |
O ye sons of men, how long will ye
blaspheme mine honour, and have such pleasure in vanity, and seek after leasing? |
|
Knox |
Great ones of the world, will your
hearts always be hardened. Will you never cease setting your heart on
shadows, following a lie? |
|
Grail |
O men, how long will your hearts be
closed, will you love what is futile and seek what is false? |
A call to reflect on our sins of the day and repent of them
Each day, St Augustine reminds us, we invariably fall many times; the test of a true Christian is whether, having fallen, we repent and resolve once again to take the correct path. This verse, particularly in the context of Compline, can be interpreted as a reminder of that reality, and a call to repentance.
St Gregory Nazianzen suggested that it is first and foremost a call to examine our consciences:
The verse though can equally be seen as a reproach to all those who neglect to put Christ first.
St John Chrysostom, for example contrasts the phrase sons of men, referring to those who reject God or lack the gift of grace, with sons of God:
Each day, St Augustine reminds us, we invariably fall many times; the test of a true Christian is whether, having fallen, we repent and resolve once again to take the correct path. This verse, particularly in the context of Compline, can be interpreted as a reminder of that reality, and a call to repentance.
St Gregory Nazianzen suggested that it is first and foremost a call to examine our consciences:
But now, laying aside lamentation, I will look at myself, and examine my feelings, that I may not unconsciously have in myself anything to be lamented. O ye sons of men, for the words apply to you, how long will ye be hard-hearted and gross in mind? Why do ye love vanity and seek after leasing, supposing life here to be a great thing and these few days many, and shrinking from this separation, welcome and pleasant as it is, as if it were really grievous and awful? Are we not to know ourselves? Are we not to cast away visible things? Are we not to look to the things unseen? Oration 7Similarly, St Robert Bellarmine interprets the verse as asking us to reflect on why we have not yet amended our ways and rejected the lure of earthly riches and pleasures:
That is to say, how long will you have a heart of stone, a hard one, inclined to the earth, thinking of nothing but the goods of this world? For, according to the Lord, "The hearts are weighed down by excess, drunkenness, and the cares of this world;" and because hardened hearts are not susceptible of celestial thoughts, but only of terrestrial and transitory, they only love what is terrestrial and transitory; and as we take trouble only in seeking for the things we ardently love, the Prophet adds, "Why do you love vanity, and seek after lying?" The goods of this world are called vain and fallacious, because they are neither stable nor solid, though they may seem to be so; and are therefore, with justice, designated as false and fallacious, especially when compared to those of eternity.A prayer for the conversion of the world
The verse though can equally be seen as a reproach to all those who neglect to put Christ first.
St John Chrysostom, for example contrasts the phrase sons of men, referring to those who reject God or lack the gift of grace, with sons of God:
Whom does he call "children of men?" Those living in sin, those inclined to evil. Why on earth? I mean, are not we children of men? While we are children of men by nature, yet no longer so by grace - rather, children of God. At least, if we maintain his image in virtue, the gift in our possession will be unsullied; those, after all, who have become children of God through grace must manifest this image also in their way of life. Commentary on the Psalms.
And St Cassiodorus views it as a prayer for the conversion of sinners:
Whereas in the previous verse she prayed for us, here she vehemently bids the human race not to continue with the most grievous sin of worshipping demons, so that the prayer which she has poured out for us may be heard.St Thomas Aquinas similarly adopted this interpretation saying:
Here Psalm 4 addresses itself to an exhortation towards others. So, around this idea two points are made. First, there is the accusation of sinners that is replied to. Second, this Psalm 4 exhorts to reform....
Psalm 4: Cum invocarem
Vulgate
|
Douay-Rheims
|
In finem, in carminibus. Psalmus David.
|
Unto the end, in verses. A psalm for David.
|
1 Cum invocárem exaudívit me deus justítiæ meæ: * in
tribulatióne dilatásti mihi.
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When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me:
when I was in distress, you have enlarged me.
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2 Miserére mei, * et exáudi oratiónem meam.
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Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer.
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3 Filii
hóminum, úsquequo gravi corde? * ut quid dilígitis vanitátem et
quæritis mendácium?
|
O you sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? Why
do you love vanity, and seek after lying?
|
4 Et scitóte quóniam mirificávit dóminus sanctum suum: *
dóminus exáudiet me cum clamávero ad eum.
|
Know also that the Lord has made his holy one wonderful:
the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him.
|
5 Irascímini, et nolíte peccáre: * quæ dícitis in córdibus
vestris, in cubílibus vestris compungímini.
|
Be angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts,
be sorry for them upon your beds.
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6 Sacrificáte sacrifícium justítiæ, et speráte in dómino,
* multi dicunt quis osténdit nobis bona?
|
Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord:
many say, Who shows us good things?
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7 Signátum est super nos lumen vultus tui, dómine: * dedísti
lætítiam in corde meo.
|
The light of your countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us:
you have given gladness in my heart.
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8 A fructu fruménti, vini et ólei sui * multiplicáti sunt.
|
By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they rest
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9 In pace in idípsum * dórmiam et requiéscam;
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In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest
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10 Quóniam tu,
dómine, singuláriter in spe * constituísti me.
|
For you, O Lord, singularly have settled me in hope.
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