Psalm 127 - verse 7 - The peace for which we strive

Utrecht Psalter, folio 30
Source: wikiwand

This final verse of None is a fitting reminder of why we embark on the spiritual ascent afresh each day.  As Cassiodorus puts it:

declares the summit and sweetness of that blessedness, that peace, in other words, the Lord Saviour, should rest upon that blessed Jerusalem, and make all things blessed which He embraces with the power of His majesty. This echoes the earlier words: Mayst thou see the good things in Jerusalem; for this is the peace which every committed person desires, groans for, sighs for; the peace for which he gladly sheds life itself.

7	V/JH	Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.
	NV	et videas filios filiorum tuorum. Pax super Israel!
		καὶ ἴδοις υἱοὺς τῶν υἱῶν σου εἰρήνη ἐπὶ τὸν Ισραηλ

Et (and) vídeas (you may see) fílios (the sons/children) filiórum (of the sons) tuórum (of yours): pacem (peace) super (on) Israël.

pax, pacis,  peace, blessings, prosperity, etc.

super, prep, with ace. And abl  on, upon, over

DR	And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Brenton	And mayest thou see thy children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.
MD	And mayest though see thy children’s children!  Peace upon Israel.
RSV	May you see your children's children! Peace be upon Israel!
Cover	yea, that thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.
Knox	Mayest thou live to see thy children’s children, and peace resting upon Israel.
Grail	May you see your children's children On Israel, peace!

Psalm 127 ends with that most Benedictine sentiment of all, the blessing of peace.  What does peace mean in this context?  St Augustine interprets peace here to mean the heavenly Jerusalem, since the word Jerusalem literally means peace:

What sort of peace then is this? One from Jerusalem, for Jerusalem is interpreted, A vision of Peace.

He points out that in this life, we can never quite achieve this aim:

For, if in this life only, says the Apostle, we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  For what reason were the Martyrs condemned to beasts? What is that good? Can it be declared? By what means, or what tongue can tell it? Or what ears can hear it? That indeed, Neither ear has heard, nor has it entered into man's heart: only let us love, only let us grow in grace: ye see, then, that battles are not wanting, and that we fight with our lusts. We fight outwardly with unbelieving and disobedient men; we fight inwardly with carnal suggestions and perturbations: we everywhere as yet fight....

 In that happy place we will see our children, and grandchildren and more:

Thus then may thou see the good things that are of Jerusalem, and that, all your life long— and may thou see, not only your children, but, your children's children. 

Children, though, he points out, once again, should not be taken too literally, but rather means the fruits of our good works:

What means, Your children? Your works which thou here dost. Who are your children's children? The fruits of your works. Thou givest alms: these are your children: for the sake of your alms you receive everlasting life, these are your children's children. May you see your children's children; and there shall be peace upon Israel, the last words of the Psalm....

 Cassiodorus picks up this idea, and particularly stresses the fruits of those who teach the faith:

As we have already said, children are those begotten from spiritual teaching. But it would have been less joyous to have obtained spiritual sons if those instructed had not begotten in turn other children. Children's children denotes grandchildren; they can accrue to blessed individuals accustomed to instruct people by sacred preaching. Observe that he states that this is to be regarded as one of the greatest joys, for it is inevitable that winning over a faithful person brings great joy to the one who wins him, for we know that as a result he will be invested with a great reward. It is to such people that reference is made in the story of the talent which the father of the household found to his joy had been doubled." 

Psalm 127

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Psalm 127 - Verse 6: Peace and prosperity

Bellini, Christ Blessing
Source: Wiki art

St Alphonsus Liguori supplies a nice summary of the last two verses of Psalm 127:

In these last two verses...the Holy Ghost promises the just man supreme blessing, the only true and perfect happiness, which consists in seeing and possessing the sovereign Good in the heavenly Jerusalem during all eternity.

6	V/NV/JH	Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex sion: et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.
		εὐλογήσαι σε κύριος ἐκ Σιων καὶ ἴδοις τὰ ἀγαθὰ Ιερουσαλημ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς ζωῆς σου

Benedícat (He may bless) tibi (to you) Dóminus (the Lord) ex (from) Sion: et (and) vídeas (may you see) bona (good) Jerúsalem omnibus (all) diébus (the days) vitæ (of the life) tuæ (your)

video, vidi, vlsum, ere 2,  to see, behold; consider; experience, undergo, suffer, realize; keep watch, look for, meditate on

bonus, a, um, good;  the good; Of things that which is good as opposed to what is evi; good things, possessions, prosperity

DR	May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
Brenton	May the Lord bless thee out of Sion; and mayest thou see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
MD	Now the Lord bless thee from Sion, and mayest thou see Jerusalem prosper all the days of thy life
RSV	The LORD bless you from Zion! May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life!
Cover	The Lord from out of Sion shall so bless thee, that thou shalt see Jerusalem in prosperity all thy life long
Knox	May the Lord who dwells in Sion bless thee; mayest thou see Jerusalem in prosperity all thy life long.
Grail	May the Lord bless you from Zion in a happy Jerusalem all the days of your life!

St Augustine points out that some of the blessings already described, such as having children, while a blessing, is not always all that great a one, something more is needed, namely the good: 

Even to the birds was it said, Be fruitful and multiply. Do you wish to hold as a great blessing what was given unto birds? Who can be ignorant, that it was given indeed by the voice of God? But use these goods, if you receive them; and rather think how you may nourish those who have been born, than that others may be born. For it is not happiness to have children, but to have good ones.

Most of the modern translations use prosperity' for 'bona', but it really has a very broad meaning, as St John Chrysostom explains:

A different translator says, "And see the goods of Jerusalem." As good things he means the city, wealth, appearance, victories, honors, prosperity, good seasons, security, peace. All the days of your life.

Cassiodorus also develops this theme, saying:

By Jerusalem is meant "vision of peace," peace here being the invisible quality which will be visible when its Author the Lord Christ is beheld with blessed mind. So he prays that he may see in Jerusalem all the things that are good; for there the Lord Himself is beheld, and He makes those who gaze on Him eternal, revealing Himself in unbroken continuity. So in the spirit of prophecy he prays on the saints' behalf for what he knows can accrue to them...

It is important to note, too, that the phrase 'All the days of thy life' has an eschatological connotation, as St Robert Bellarmne explains:  

that you may see God, in whom are all the good things of Jerusalem, "all the days of thy life," forever, unto ages of ages; for as the soul is immortal, as is the body, too, after the short sleep of death, when it will rise immortal, unquestionably the good things we see here are not seen all the days of our life...the good things of the Jerusalem above are possessed by seeing them, as perfect happiness consists purely of the beatific vision as St. John, in his first Epistle says, "We shall be like to him," most blessed and happy, and almost gods, "because we shall see him as he is.

Psalm 127

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

And you can find the final part in this series here.

Psalm 127 verse 5 - Thus shall the man be blessed, that fears the Lord

Blessing of the faithful
 Les Très Riches Heures du duc de Berry,
musée Condé, ms.65, f.56r. 

Verse 5 of Psalm 127 takes us back to the first of the steps on the ladder of humility, fear of God.

5	V/NV	Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.
	JH	Ecce sic benedicetur uiro qui timet Dominum.
		ἰδοὺ οὕτως εὐλογηθήσεται ἄνθρωπος ὁ φοβούμενος τὸν κύριον

  

Ecce (behold) sic (as) benedicétur (he shall be blessed) homo (the man) qui (who ) timet (he fears) Dóminum (the Lord)

benedico, dixi, dictum, ere 3  to bless, with dat. or ace; to praise, bless, give thanks to (God);  to be well pleased with, to take pleasure in

homo, inis, m (1) man, a human being. (2) mortal man as compared with God. (3) man, person, individual

DR	Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
Brenton	Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
MD	Behold, so shall the man be blessed, who feareth the Lord.
RSV	Lo, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD.
Cover	Lo, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.
Knox	Let a man serve the Lord, such is the blessing that awaits him.
Grail	Indeed thus shall be blessed the man who fears the Lord.

Notwithstanding the Knox translation, 'Ecce sic benedicetur'  is arguably best interpreted as part of a blessing formula rather than an admonition  to serve the Lord; it is a statement about the consequences of our orientation towards the Lord.

Cassiodorus notes that this verse of the psalm opens a new section:

He passes to the second section, in which with the most holy devotion he asks for a benediction on those fired to every good exertion by fear of the Lord. This is to make us realise how profitable is this fear over which the holy blessing is redoubled.

He suggests that this verse points to:

...the perfect end of the blessed man who fears the Lord. The words: Thus shall every man be blessed, as was clearly explained earlier, means "Thus shall every man deserve to be blessed who fears his Maker, who ceases to tremble at empty threats, who is filled with chaste fear of the Lord." Observe the order of words. He begins with: Behold, thus shall every man be blessed, and so that wanton fools should not appropriate this blessing, he added: That feareth the Lord.

Psalm 127

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

And for the next part, continue on here.

Psalm 127 verse 4 - The bread of heaven and the oil of mercy

The Bride Church, from Sacro Speco

4	V/NV	Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.
	JH	filii tui sicut germina oliuarum in circuitu mensae tuae.
		σου οἱ υἱοί σου ὡς νεόφυτα ἐλαιῶν κύκλῳ τῆς τραπέζης σου

Fílii (the sons/children) tui (of you) sicut (like) novéllæ (new) olivárum (of the olives trees): * in circúitu (around) mensæ (of the table) tuæ (your)

filius, ii, m. a son, child

novellus, a, m. young, new  

oliva, ae,  the olive tree.

circuitus, us,  Used chiefly in the phrase "in circuitu," round about.

mensa, ae, a table.

DR	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
Brenton	Thy children as young olive-plants round about thy table.
MD	Thy children like young olive trees, round thy board.
RSV	Your children will be like olive shoots around your table.
Cover	Thy children like the olive branches round about thy table.
Knox	The children round thy table sturdy as olive-branches.
Grail	Your children like shoots of the olive, around your table.

It should be noted that the translations all use the term children, though strictly speaking filii means sons.  This follows a long line of interpretation though: Cassiodorus, for example, notes that the word sons should be viewed as inclusive, covering daughters as well:

When the psalmist says elsewhere: Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, it is not just the man that fears the Lord that is blessed; the woman too who fears the Lord is blessed. 

More generally though, while this verse could be seen as simply pointing to a happy family life, the fathers also see it as extending the metaphors relating to the image of the Church.  St Augustine, for example, cites St Matthew to demonstrate that the Church is both spouse and child of Christ.

In the words of the Lord, we find the Church to be both His brethren, and His sisters, and His mother.. ..For Mary was among the sides of His House, and His relatives coming of the kindred of the Virgin Mary, who believed on Him, were among the sides of His House; not in respect of their carnal consanguinity, but inasmuch as they heard the Word of God, and obeyed it....He added; For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.  Brother, perhaps, on account of the male sex whom the Church has: sister, on account of the women whom Christ has here in His members. How mother, save that Christ Himself is in those Christians, whom the Church daily brings forth Christians through baptism? In those therefore in whom you understand the wife, in them you understand the mother, in them the children...

The image of young olive trees, St Cassiodorus explains, reflects the traditional importance of this plant:

it is because they are greener, more vigorous, and extremely strong in every way, and they bear fruit more abundantly. This fruit provides stores of food, and kindles light, and relieves tired bodies.

He adds that the images of these two verses are closely related:

Do not imagine that the combination of olive and vine in these comparisons is accidental. We read that the man wounded by robbers in the gospel was healed by the application of wine and oil, for these two provide sacramental protection of our life. Wine contains the severity of justice, oil the gentleness of mercy; the first can match the Old Testament, the second the New. 

 The phrase around your table, Cassiodorus argues, alludes to the sacrament of the Eucharist:

So they surround the spiritual table which is the Lord's altar, for they are filled with the bread of heaven.

Psalm 127

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

And for the next part in this series on Psalm 127, continue on here.

Psalm 127 verse 3 - The Church, the spouse of Christ, clinging to the walls of faith

Santa Maria in Trastevere: Christ and Maria Ecclesia enthroned

The third verse of Psalm 127 can of course be interpreted literally, as about the Christian family.  But in the context of the monastic Office in particular, the interpretation the Fathers give to it, as referring to Christ and his Church, is surely the interpretative key we should focus on.

3	V	Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.
	NV	Uxor tua sicut vitis fructifera in lateribus domus tuae;
	JH	Uxor tua sicut uitis fructifera in penetrabilibus domus tuae :
		ἡ γυνή σου ὡς ἄμπελος εὐθηνοῦσα ἐν τοῖς κλίτεσι τῆς οἰκίας

  

Uxor (the wife) tua (your) sicut (like) vitis (the grapevine) abúndans (abundant): * in latéribus (on the side) domus (the house) tuæ (your)

  

uxor, oris, a wife.

vitis, is, a vine, grapevine

abundans, overflowing, full, abounding, overflowing, abundant, more than enough

latus, eris, n.,  the side or flank of men or animals; The side or lateral surface of a thing.

domus, us,  a house, structure, abode, dwelling place. the inmates of a house, a family, household.

DR	Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
Brenton	Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine on the sides of thy house:
MD	Thy wife is like a fruitful vine on the walls of thy house.
RSV	Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
Cover	Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine upon the walls of thine house
Knox	Thy wife shall be fruitful as a vine, in the heart of thy home,
Grail	The wife like a fruitful vine in the heart of your house;

The translations

The Vulgate (and neo-Vulgate), following the Septuagint, compare a good wife to a fruitful vine adorning the side of the house.  

A number of the early twentieth century commentaries, however, latched on to this verse as a kind of anti-feminist proof-text, and suggested that the Vulgate misrepresents the Hebrew word  יְרֵכָה (yĕrekah), which should be interpreted as ‘within the house’, since the ideal good fertile wife keeps seclusion, citing Proverbs 9:13-14 in support of the claim.  Both the RSV, Grail and Knox translations reflect this approach.

According to Ladouceur's notes on the verse, however, yerekah can mean side, rearside, and access at the rear as well as innermost part.  Moreover the other Scriptural uses of the word refer to the staves placed on the outside of the Ark (Exodus 25:14, 37:5) and someone addressing a person clearly outside the house (Amos 6:10).

The idea of the wife visibly adorning the house, in other words, is perfectly fine.

And this is one of those cases where changing the translation renders some of the Patristic translations incomprehensible.

The wife is the Church

This issue becomes all the more important when one considers that the traditional interpretation of the psalm proposed by the Fathers in fact interprets the wife in question not just as that of a normal family, but also as the Church, as the spouse of Christ.  St Augustine for example says:

Let us now come to the words, Your wife: it is said unto Christ. His wife, therefore, is the Church, His Church, His wife, we ourselves are.

Another possible interpretation, proposed by Cassiodorus is that wife here should be interpreted as a reference to holy wisdom:

Wife is used in the sense of sister; so we must interpret wife here as the wisdom of the blessed man. As Solomon says: He who has desired to take wisdom as his spouse, and elsewhere: Love her, and she will embrace thee.' So she is the wife of the just who grasps her husband in chaste embrace.

 Either way, the Fathers and Theologians were conscious of the dangers of an overly literal interpretation of this verse.  Cassiodorus says:

We must likewise avoid the literal interpretation here too, for you observe that numerous holy men do not have wives and children, and again that wicked men possess all these things. So how can you associate things often withdrawn from good men and assigned instead to the wicked with this aspect of blessedness which has been described?

Similarly St Robert Bellarmine, while noting the virtues and blessing of a large family goes on to comment that:

This, to be sure, is a blessing to a certain extent; but, to give us to understand that it is not so very great a blessing, God was pleased to withhold it from many of his most faithful and devoted friends in the married state, such as Abraham and Sara, Isaac and Rebecca, Zachary and Elizabeth; and he also inspired many with a resolution of observing holy virginity, such as it is credibly believed of the holy prophets Elias and Jeremias, and is well known of the Blessed Virgin, St John Baptist, St. Joseph, and hosts besides, who certainly would not have been deprived of the happiness had not virginity been a much superior gift.

With that, those saints who never mar­ried, or had no offspring, if they had no family in one sense they had in another, far and away beyond it. Christ, for instance, who is the head of all the saints, was never married, had no children in the flesh, yet he had the Church for his spouse, and children in the spirit, nearly innumerable. So with Abraham, who had only one child by Sara, and yet, by faith, was made the father of many nations; for all the faithful are called "children of Abraham" by the apostle.

And what is more wonderful, these holy men are not only the fathers, but they are even the mothers of those whom they have brought to the faith, or to penance; for they are their fathers by reason of their preaching to them by word and example, and they are their mothers by reason of their praying and sighing for them. The same apostle calls himself father when he says, "I write not these things to shame you, but I admonish you as my dearest children; for, if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel;" and he calls himself their mother in another place, where he says, "My little children, of whom I am in labor again."

The fruitful vine 

If we interpret the wife as the Church though, how do we reconcile the verse with the often very tarnished public image of the Church?  St Augustine tackles this issue head on, arguing that even when the vine withers in places, it is fruitful in others:

But in whom is the vineyard fruitful? For we see many barren ones entering those walls; we see that many intemperate, usurious persons, slave dealers, enter these walls, and such as resort to fortune-tellers, go to enchanters and enchantresses when they have a headache. Is this the fruitfulness of the vine? Is this the fecundity of the wife? It is not. These are thorns, but the vineyard is not everywhere thorny. It has a certain fruitfulness, and is a fruitful vine; but in whom?

Nonetheless, even when all too many in the Church are thorns rather than fruitful, when even the highest in it are given over to scandalous behaviour, she remains the source of grace through the sacraments.  Accordingly, Cassiodorus argues:

The vine is the begetter of grapes, pouring forth sweet wine and reviving our hearts; in the same way this wife, which is wisdom, contributes glad fruits and brings joy to us with sweet delight.

The house we cling to is Christ

The Fathers made considerable play on the either that the walls of the Church hold us up, hold the vine and train it to  go where it should.  Cassiodorus for example suggests that:

The walls of this house are the two Testa­ments, affording the pious mind the strength and solidity of outside walls.

St Augustine reminds us of the fundamental point though:

Not all are called the sides of the house. For I ask what are the sides. What shall I say? Are they walls, strong stones, as it were? If he were speaking of this bodily tenement, we should perhaps understand this by sides. We mean by the sides of the house, those who cling unto Christ....

  
Psalm 127

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1 Beáti omnes, qui timent Dóminum,* qui ámbulant in viis ejus.	Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways.
2  Labóres mánuum tuárum quia manducábis: * beátus es, et bene tibi erit.	2 For you shall eat the labours of your hands: blessed are you, and it shall be well with you.
3  Uxor tua sicut vitis abúndans: * in latéribus domus tuæ.	3 Your wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of your house.
4  Fílii tui sicut novéllæ olivárum: * in circúitu mensæ tuæ.	Your children as olive plants, round about your table.
5  Ecce sic benedicétur homo, * qui timet Dóminum.	4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that fears the Lord.
6  Benedícat tibi Dóminus ex Sion: *  et vídeas bona Jerúsalem ómnibus diébus vitæ tuæ.	5 May the Lord bless you out of Sion: and may you see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
7  Et vídeas fílios filiórum tuórum: * pacem super Israël.	6 And may you see your children's children, peace upon Israel.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto.	Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost
Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.	As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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