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| Book of Kells |
Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: et
osténdam illi salutáre meum.
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I will fill him with length of days;
and I will show him my salvation.
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The final verse of Psalm 90
provides the two final promises of God to those who trust in them.
As I find I have quite a
lot to say about this verse, I will split my comments between between two
posts.
Understanding the Latin
The key vocabulary is:
longitudo,inis, f lit.,length,
dies,ei, m. and fem. a day, the natural day
repleo, plevi, pletum, ere 2, to fill, sate, satisfy
ostendo, tendi, terttum, ere 3 to show, display; to
expose, lay open; to show
salutaris, e a Savior, Helper, used of God; help, saving
help,rescue, salvation,
Word by word:
Longitúdine (with length) diérum (of days) replébo (I will fill/satisfy/satiate) eum (him): et (and) osténdam (I will show) illi (to him) salutáre (with salvation) meum (my).
The Douay Rheims translates
it as ‘I will fill him with length of days; and I will show him my
salvation’. The Coverdale and the RSV translations change length of days
to ‘long life’, but this rather pre-empts a key question of interpretation: is
he promising a long temporal life, or rather eternal life in heaven?
Douay Rheims
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I will fill him with length of days;
and I will show him my salvation.
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Monastic Diurnal
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With length of days I will satisfy
him,
and show him My salvation.
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Brenton
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I will satisfy him with length of
days,
and shew him my salvation.
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RSV
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With long life I will satisfy him,
and show him my salvation.
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Coverdale
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With long life will I satisfy him,
and show him my salvation.
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Knox
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Length of days he shall have to
content him,
and find in me deliverance.
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Grail
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With length of days I will content
him;
I shall let you see my saving power.
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Length of days – the
Christological interpretation
St Jerome argued that the
verse should be interpreted as relating to Christ, and it can be read as
literally meaning he will live for all eternity, and the reference to salvation
refers to his eternal kingship.
His interpretation is
supported by the use of the phrase (or variants of it) in a number of other key
psalms with clear Christological meanings, most notably Psalm 20:4, the first
(variable) psalm each week in the Benedictine Office, said at Sunday Matins,
which reads:
Vitam pétiit a te: et tribuísti ei longitúdinem diérum in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi. He asked life of you: and you have given him length of days for ever and ever.
St
Irenaeus, for example, commented on that verse that:
In this way, the Psalmist proclaims his Resurrection from the dead and his immortality after rising from the dead. In fact, he entered life in order to rise again, and through the space of time in eternity, so as to be incorruptible.
The phrase also closes
Psalm 92, said in the festal versions of Lauds and Matins on Fridays, with a
similar connotation:
Testimónia tua credibília facta sunt nimis: domum tuam decet sanctitúdo, Dómine, in longitúdinem diérum. Your testimonies have become exceedingly credible: holiness becomes your house, O Lord, unto length of days.
Applied
to us – the promise of eternal life
But the
verse can also be applied to us, offering the promise of eternal life and
happiness in heaven, since as St Augustine asserted in his commentary in the
verse, how can anything less than eternal life be said to satisfy us:
That length is one that has no end, eternal life, that is promised us in long days. And truly, since this suffices, with reason he says, will I satisfy him. What is long in time, if it has an end, satisfies us not: for that reason it should not be even called long. And if we are covetous, we ought to be covetous of eternal life: long for such a life, as has no end.
There is, however, another possible interpretation of this verse, namely that it relates to our current, temporal life, and I will discuss that view in the next post.
Vulgate
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Douay-Rheims
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Laus cantici David.
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The praise of a canticle for David
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Qui hábitat in adjutório
Altíssimi, * in protectióne Dei cæli commorábitur.
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He that dwells in the aid of the most High, shall
abide under the protection of the God of Jacob.
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2 Dicet Dómino:
Suscéptor meus es tu, et refúgium meum: * Deus meus sperábo in eum.
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He shall say to the Lord: You are my protector,
and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust.
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3 Quóniam ipse liberávit
me de láqueo venántium, * et a verbo áspero.
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For he has delivered me from the snare of the
hunters: and from the sharp word.
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4 Scápulis suis obumbrábit
tibi: * et sub pennis ejus sperábis.
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He will overshadow you with his shoulders: and
under his wings you shall trust.
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5 Scuto circúmdabit te
véritas ejus: * non timébis a timóre noctúrno.
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His truth shall compass you with a shield: you
shall not be afraid of the terror of the night.
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6 A sagítta
volánte in die, a negótio perambulánte in ténebris: * ab incúrsu et dæmónio
meridiáno.
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Of the arrow that flies in the day, of the
business that walks about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil.
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7 Cadent
a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: * ad te autem non
appropinquábit.
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A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten
thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you.
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8
Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: * et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.
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But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall
see the reward of the wicked.
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9
Quóniam tu es, Dómine, spes mea: * Altíssimum posuísti refúgium tuum.
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Because you, O Lord, are my hope: you have made
the most High your refuge.
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10 Non accédet ad te malum: *
et flagéllum non appropinquábit tabernáculo tuo.
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There shall no evil come to you: nor shall the
scourge come near your dwelling.
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11 Quóniam Angelis suis
mandávit de te: * ut custódiant te in ómnibus viis tuis.
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For he has given his angels charge over you; to
keep you in all your ways.
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12 In
mánibus portábunt te: * ne forte offéndas ad lápidem pedem tuum.
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In their hands they shall bear you up: lest you
dash your foot against a stone.
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13 Super áspidem et basilíscum
ambulábis: * et conculcábis leónem et dracónem.
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You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and
you shall trample under foot the lion and the dragon.
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14 Quóniam
in me sperávit, liberábo eum: * prótegam eum quóniam cognóvit nomen meum.
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Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will
protect him because he has known my name.
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15
Clamábit ad me, et ego exáudiam eum : * cum ipso sum in tribulatióne :
erípiam eum et glorificábo eum.
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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.
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16 Longitúdine diérum replébo eum: *
et osténdam illi salutáre meum.
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I will fill him with length of days; and I will
show him my salvation.
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And you can find the final part of this series on Psalm 90 here.
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