Psalm 90 v12 - Tripping over stones

Mosaic in basilica di San Marco, c12th
Source: Wiki Commons

In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.

In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.

This verse, along with the one that precedes it, remind us to pray to and honour the angels in general, and our guardian angel in particular.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary for this verse is:

in+abl with, in, on among, by means of

manus, us,  hand

porto, avi, atum, are, to bear, carry.

forte, perhaps, perchance.

offendo, fendi, fensum, ere 3, to hit, strike, knock, or dash against.

ad+acc to, toward

lapis, idis, m. a stone

pes, pedis, m, the foot.

Word by word:

In (in) manibus (the hands) portábunt (they will carry/bear) te (you): ne (not/lest) forte (perhaps) offéndas (you may hit/trip over) ad (at, towards) lápidem (the stone) pedem (foot) tuum (your).

The ministry of the angels to Christ and us

This verse, like the previous one, was used by the devil in his temptation of Christ in the desert; though he rejects the temptation in question, the Gospel account does go onto to attest to the ministry of the angels to Christ following his forty day fast. 

St Augustine pointed out that this was not out of necessity, for Christ had no need of their aid in his divinity.

Instead, the purpose is to show to us their role, and to attest to his kingship:

…in this Psalm we may understand it of the service of the Angels: it does not pertain to any infirmity in our Lord, but to the honour they pay, and to their service....

What then, is the aid our guardian angels can offer to us?

Theodoret of Cyr suggests that the answer is that:

they will guide, lead, offer all kinds of assistance.

Allegorical

Most of the Fathers and Theologians give considerable weight to an allegorical interpretation of this verse.

St Alphonsus Liguori summarized these as follows:

The hands of the angels are their intelligence and will; the stones are the difficulties to be met with in the course of life, as scandals, temptations, persecutions, etc; the feet are, with St. Augustine and St. Bernard, human affections, especially love and fear.

Psalm 90: Qui habitat 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Laus cantici David.	The praise of a canticle for David
Qui hábitat in adjutório Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.	He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
2  Dicet Dómino : Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.	He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
3 Quóniam ipse liberávit me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.	For he has delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word.
4  Scápulis suis obumbrábit tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.	He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and under his wings you shall trust.
5  Scuto circúmdabit te véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.	His truth shall compass you with a shield: you shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
6  A sagítta volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio meridiáno.	Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
7  Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non appropinquábit.	A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
8  Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.	But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.
9  Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.	Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made the most High your refuge.
10  Non accédet ad te malum: * et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.	There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the scourge come near your dwelling.
11  Quóniam Angelis suis mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.	For he has given his angels charge over you; to keep you in all your ways.
12  In mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.	In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you dash your foot against a stone.
13  Super áspidem et basilíscum ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.	You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
14  Quóniam in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.	Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he has known my name.
15  Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne : erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.	He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him.
16  Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: * et osténdam illi salutáre meum.	I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my salvation.

And for the next part in this series, continue on here.