Psalm 90 v8 - Justice will prevail

The Last Judgment by Hieronymus Bosch
Source: Wikicommons

Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.

But you shall consider with your eyes: and shall see the reward of the wicked.

Verse 8 of Psalm 90 builds on the previous verse's promise of victory to those who persevere: it is a reminder that God sees all and will judge all.

Looking at the Latin

The Vulgate (and neo-Vulgate of the verse) is:

Verúmtamen óculis tuis considerábis: et retributiónem peccatórum vidébis.

The key vocabulary:

verumtamen,  surely, indeed, verily, in truth.

oculus, i,  the eye

considero, avi, atum, are,  look at closely, to observe with the eyes or mind, to regard, contemplate; to lie in wait

retributio, onis, f,  reward, recompense, requital, either as a reward or punishment

peccator, oris, m. a sinner, transgressor; the wicked, the godless.

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

Word by word: 

Verúmtamen (but surely/ in truth) óculis (with the eyes) tuis (your) considerábis (you will see/contemplate) et (and) retributiónem (the punishment/recompense) peccatórum (of sinners) vidébis (you will see).

The most poetic of the English translations, I think, is Coverdale’s ‘Yea, with thine eyes shalt thou behold, and see the reward of the ungodly’.  

The literal sense is, just as earlier the just are promised the reward of living in heaven, so also will they see their enemies punished.

The vengeance of God 

The commentaries of the Fathers and Doctors on this verse may at first blush strike the modern reader as somewhat un-PC  in that they focus on the punishment of sinners; they even depict seeing the punishment of those who have persecuted us as one of the rewards God will grant the just.

St Robert Bellarmine for example suggests that:

A fresh source of joy to the just man, who not only has been promised a victory, but that he will, furthermore, have great pleasure in seeing his enemies laid low, and punished according to their deserts, a promise that is sometimes fulfilled even in this world. Thus, the children of Israel saw the Egyptians cast dead on the shores of the Red Sea; Moses and Aaron saw Dathan and Abiron swallowed up alive; Ezechias saw the prostrate corpses of Sennacherib's army; and Judith, with God's people, saw the head of Holofernes cut off, and his whole army scattered and routed; but this promise will be completely fulfilled on the day of judgment, when we shall see all our enemies prostrate on the ground, naked and unarmed, without any strength whatever, and consigned to eternal punishment...you will then see plainly the reward the wicked get for all their labor.

To understand this perspective we need to remember firstly, I would suggest, that while we are required to forgive those who sin against us, that doesn't mean that we forget what they have done.

More fundamentally, the verse reminds us that the current state of affairs, where evil often seems to flourish, and the just suffer, is not the natural order of things, at the last, justice will prevail.  Bellarmine's commentary continues:

Hence will arise a beautiful order of things, that now seem in general disorder and confusion. For, while punishment should follow sin, and virtue should be rewarded, it often happens that the just are afflicted, and bad men honored; and thus sorrow comes from virtue, joy from sin; but, on the last day, all things will be righted and put in their proper place; guilt will meet its punishment, and that in proportion to its enormity; while, on the contrary, justice shall be rewarded in proportion to its merits, too; and then will be accomplished what is prophesied in Psalm 57, "The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge;" that is, when he shall see the sinner duly punished; not that he will rejoice in their misfortunes, but for the vindication of the divine justice and wisdom, that will appear so conspicuous in the punishment of the wicked.

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.

You can find the next part of this series here.

Psalm 90 v7 - Victory in the battle

Illustration from a Speculum Virginum ("Mirror of Virgins") from ca 1200.
Source: Wikicommons

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.

Verse 7 of Psalm 90 has a particular poignancy in the context of the Office as it echoes and responds to the other psalm of the spiritual warfare said each day in the Office, the first psalm of the day at Matins, Psalm 3. 

Looking at the Latin

The Vulgate of verse 7 is:

Cadent a látere tuo mille, et decem míllia a dextris tuis: ad te autem non appropinquábit

Key vocab

cado, cecidi, casum, ere 3 to fall, esp. in battle; to bow down, fall down, prostrate one's self; to happen, fall

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

mille, num. adj., a thousand; pi. subst.,

millia, mm, n., thousands; used generally in the sense of an indefinitely large number,a host, multitude.

dexter, tera, terum; the right hand.

appropinquo, avi, atum, are to draw near, approach.

Word by word then:

Cadent (they fall) a (from/on) látere (the side/flank of) tuo (you) mille (a thousand), et (and) decem (ten) míllia (million) a (from) dextris (the right hand) tuis (your): ad (to) te (you) autem (but) non (not) appropinquábit (he will draw near).

The Douay-Rheims translates the verse as ‘A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand: but it shall not come near you’.  The Collegeville translation that appears in the Monastic Diurnal interpolates the word evil here, saying, ‘yet no evil shall come nigh to thee’, which in this case helps give the sense of the verse.

The spiritual warfare

There is a key link between this psalm and Psalm 3 at the start of each day in verse 7 of the psalms, in the allusion to thousands of enemies surrounding the psalmist, who is nonetheless protected by God:

Ps 3: 7  Non timébo míllia pópuli circumdántis me: * exsúrge, Dómine, salvum me fac, Deus meus.

I will not fear thousands of the people, surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God.

Ps 90:7  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.

The verse represents a powerful promise indeed.

But the Fathers and Theologians point out however that though the person who trusts in God is promised protection, it is also made clear that many will fall: few indeed will make it through safely.

The side of Christ

St Augustine's commentary on the verse starts by suggesting that this part of the psalm refers primarily to Christ and religious, who will sit in judgment of the world at the end:

To whom, brethren, but to Christ Jesus, is this said?...For the members, the body, and the head, are not separate from one another: the body and the head are the Church and her Saviour...to some He promised that they should judge with Him, namely, to the Apostles, who left all things, and followed Him....Those judges then are the heads of the Church, the perfect. To such He said, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor. 

Those who stand at the right hand, St Cassiodorus suggests, are those who offer counsel to the king:

The side of the Lord Saviour is the circle of just persons who as He promised the apostles will pass judgment with him at the resurrection. Even today when as judges we make a request of the emperor or the king, we say to him: "Set us at your right hand"; the phrase suggests: "We offer you counsel with the most faithful devotion." Lotus (side) is so named because it lurks (lateat) beneath the arm. 

Who then falls?

St Augustine's commentary on the psalm goes on to argue that those who fall are those who did not persevere in the face of trials.  St Cassiodorus adds to this the particular risk of those who thing they deserve more than their deeds merit - religious who assume that because they have made vows that is enough, without seeking to attain true holiness for example, and those who delude themselves.

A salutary reminder.

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.

You can find the next part of this series here.