Christ the perfect man; Our Lady as the model for believers: Introduction to Psalm 118/2

Yesterday I provided some extracts from Pope Benedict XVI’s General Audience on Psalm 118 by way of introduction to the psalm.  Today I'd like to continue this series on Psalm 118 (119) with some further material from that Catechesis.

Christ the perfect man and Our Lady, model for believers

Pope Benedict’s comments on the psalm today focus first on the idea of meditation on God’s word, pondering it in our hearts, following the model of Mary.

The opening verses of Psalm 118 really just recapitulates the ideas of verses 1-2 of Psalm 1.

Psalm 1 says:

Beátus vir, qui non ábiit in consílio impiórum, et in via peccatórum non stetit,et in cáthedra pestiléntiæ non sedit. Sed in lege Dómini volúntas ejus, et in lege ejus meditábitur die ac nocte.

“Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence: But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night”

Psalm 118 says:

Beati immaculati in via, qui ambulant in lege Domini. Beati qui scrutantur testimonia ejus; in toto corde exquirunt eum.

“Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that search his testimonies: that seek him with their whole heart.”

The main difference between the two is that Psalm 1 talks of one man, which many of the Fathers interpret as Christ, whereas Psalm 118 talks about the happiness of the blessed in the plural, perhaps expanding out the field to believers more generally, implicitly opened up to us through the psalms read thus far! In the Benedictine Office, St Benedict stresses the importance of these two sets of verses by having them open Sunday and Monday Prime respectively.

Pondering the law in our hearts

Pope Benedict XVI places Our Lady before us as the model for lectio divina:

“The Psalmist’s faithfulness stems from listening to the word, from pondering on it in his inmost self, meditating on it and cherishing it, just as did Mary, who “kept all these things, pondering them in her heart”, the words that had been addressed to her and the marvellous events in which God revealed himself, asking her for the assent of her faith (cf. Lk 2:19, 51).

And if the first verses of our Psalm begin by proclaiming “blessed” those “who walk in the law of the Lord” (v. 1b), and “who keep his testimonies” (v. 2a). It is once again the Virgin Mary who brings to completion the perfect figure of the believer, described by the Psalmist. It is she, in fact, who is the true “blessed”, proclaimed such by Elizabeth because “she... believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her from the Lord” (Lk 1:45). Moreover it was to her and to her faith that Jesus himself bore witness when he answered the woman who had cried: “Blessed is the womb that bore you”, with “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk 11:27-28). Of course, Mary is blessed because she carried the Saviour in her womb, but especially because she accepted God’s announcement and because she was an attentive and loving custodian of his Word.

Psalm 119 is thus woven around this Word of life and blessedness. If its central theme is the “word” and “Law” of the Lord, next to these terms in almost all the verses such synonyms recur as “precepts”, “statutes”, “commandments”, “ordinances”, “promises”, “judgement”; and then so many verbs relating to them such as observe, keep, understand, learn, love, meditate and live.”

Vocab preparation

Yesterday I highlighted five words used in the text used for the law (lex, testimonium, via, eloquium and judicium). Let me add five more to the list:

mandatum, i, n. law, precept, command, commandment (of God); commandments, precepts, decrees; the Law as a command—as enjoined upon man prescribing his duties towards God, and his obligations towards his fellow men.

justificatio, onis, f, precepts, decrees, statutes, ordinances

sermo, onis, m. words; a command, edict; the expression of God's will. (1) word, speech, saying, discourse.. (2) scheme, plan, proposal

semita, ae, f., a path, way; used almost entirely in a fig. sense ; the "way" is the path which God's commandments prescribe. (2) course of life, action, conduct, or procedure.

justitia, ae, f the Law as an expression of God's justice. (1) justice, righteousness, innocence, piety, moral integrity (2) It is found in phrases: (a) In an adjectival sense (b) In an adverbial sense

And please do continue on to the next part in this series.

The reviving power of God's law: Introduction to Psalm 118/1

As I foreshadowed in my last post,, I want to start today a new series on Psalm 118.  In fact this is a return to the original concept of the series for this blog, of looking at those psalms covered by Pope Benedict XVI in his series of General Audiences on praying with the psalms.

The first four posts in this series will be an introduction to Psalm 118 drawing mainly on the Pope's catechesis; I'll then provides more detailed notes on each stanza and verse.

Today's Latin notes include some key vocabulary to learn in preparation for Psalm 118, namely some of the terms it uses to speak about the Law.

Pope Benedict XVI on Psalm 118

"In today’s Catechesis I would like to reflect on Psalm 119, according to the Hebrew tradition, Psalm 118 according to the Greco-Latin one.

It is a very special Psalm, unique of its kind. This is first of all because of its length. Indeed, it is composed of 176 verses divided into 22 stanzas of eight verses each. Moreover, its special feature is that it is an “acrostic in alphabetical order”, in other words it is structured in accordance with the Hebrew alphabet that consists of 22 letters. Each stanza begins with a letter of this alphabet and the first letter of the first word of each of the eight verses in the stanza begins with this letter. This is both original and indeed a demanding literary genre in which the author of the Psalm must have had to summon up all his skill.

However, what is most important for us is this Psalm’s central theme. In fact, it is an impressive, solemn canticle on the Torah of the Lord, that is, on his Law, a term which in its broadest and most comprehensive meaning should be understood as a teaching, an instruction, a rule of life. The Torah is a revelation, it is a word of God that challenges the human being and elicits his response of trusting obedience and generous love.

This Psalm is steeped in love for the word of God whose beauty, saving power and capacity for giving joy and life it celebrates; because the divine Law is not the heavy yoke of slavery but a liberating gift of grace that brings happiness. “I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word”, the Psalmist declares (v. 16), and then: “Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it” (v. 35). And further: “Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (v. 97).

The Law of the Lord, his word, is the centre of the praying person’s life; he finds comfort in it, he makes it the subject of meditation, he treasures it in his heart: “I have laid up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (v. 11), and this is the secret of the Psalmist’s happiness; and then, again, “the godless besmear me with lies, but with my whole heart I keep your precepts” (v. 69)."

Learning the Latin of Psalm 118

Psalm 118 has 176 verses, and they mostly go to very similar themes, so you would think that the vocabulary demands of the psalm would not be great.  But that is far from being the case! 

To help you get in front of the learning curve then, over the next few days I'll provide some short vocab lists of key words worth learning in advance.  Today, five of the fifteen terms the Vulgate translation uses as synonyms for the law.  The definitions come mainly from Britt's Dictionary of the Psalter.

lex, legis, f a law; the Law of God. the will of God as manifested in His commandments or ordinances; authoritative teaching, the instruction of the Mosaic code.

via, ae, f the Law of God indicates to man the way he must walk to attain his final goal. A man's way is his moral conduct; God's way is the moral order He has established. (1) a way, road, path, street. God's way, God's policy or attitude towards men, or dealings with them, God's truths and precepts according to which He requires men to live. (3) Man's way of life in a moral sense; his regular course or habitual method of life, action, or conduct; how he walks before God. (4) viam facere. (5) case, cares (7) the way of life, i.e., the way of salvation, the way to eternal life.

testimonium, ii, n. testimonies, commands, decrees; the perceptive part of the Law, esp. the Decalogue. witness, testimony; in the psalms, precepts, commandments, ordinances, statutes, judgments, testimonies. The word, strictly, expresses the declarations of the divine will, to which man must conform.

eloquium, ii, n. , a word, oracle, speech, utterance, promise. It has special reference to divine revelation; but it frequently implies a promise.

judicium, i, n. the Law which makes manifest the will of God and inflicts punishment on those who disobey it. (1) judgment, decrees. (2) law, commandment. (3) the power, or faculty of judging wisely (4) justice. Judicium is here the law of God, or God's wisdom shown in particular cases—God's verdict as it were (B). (5) cause.  

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

Coming soon: a psalm for Lent, Psalm 118 (119)

For Lent I'm going to put aside my current series on the Sunday Vespers psalms, and turn instead to Psalm 118 (119 in Protestant and modern catholic Bibles), and invite you to join me in praying and meditating on some verses of it each day for Lent.

Why Psalm 118?

I've explained why I think it is a particularly appropriate Lenten penance over at my Australia Incognita blog. 

In short, it is a psalm above all about the path to happiness, about the Law of God in its broadest meaning.  In both Scripture and the Benedictine Office, it is placed so as to provide a preparation for the spiritual ascent into the Temple represented by the Gradual psalms, so fits neatly with the idea of preparing for the joy of Easter.

This psalm used to be said daily in the Roman Office at the minor hours.  In the Roman 1962 Office it is said on Sundays, and in the Benedictine Office, is spread over Sunday and Monday.

Looking at Psalm 118

At 176 verses, Psalm 118 (119) is the longest psalm in the psalter (and in fact the longest chapter in the Bible).   

But it is neatly divided into stanzas of eight verses, and so I plan to arrange it so as work through it stanza by stanza over the course of Lent up to Holy Week, with a few extra posts at the beginning by way of introduction, and lingering over a few verses here and there!

What to expect...

My plan is to post something relatively short each day over at my Australia Incognita blog, and provide a more extended set of notes, including looking at the Latin of the psalm, over here.

For this week, I'll start by providing an overview and introduction to the psalm, but also provide a couple of verses each day that you could use for prayer purposes that relate to the more general comments.

You can find the first part in the series on Psalm 118 here.

Psalm 109/9: Prophesying Christ’s humility and the Ascension

Garofalo, 1510-20

Today’s verse is somewhat enigmatic, and needs some help to interpret properly, as Pope Benedict XVI points out:

“The evocative image that concludes our Psalm fits in here; it is also an enigmatic word: “He will drink from the brook by the way; therefore he will lift up his head”. The king’s figure stands out in the middle of the description of the battle. At a moment of respite and rest, he quenches his thirst at a stream, finding in it refreshment and fresh strength to continue on his triumphant way, holding his head high as a sign of definitive victory. It is clear that these deeply enigmatic words were a challenge for the Fathers of the Church because of the different interpretations they could be given…”

The final verse of Psalm 109 is:

De torrénte in via bibet: * proptérea exaltábit caput
ἐκ χειμάρρου ἐν ὁδῷ πίεται διὰ τοῦτο ὑψώσει κεφαλήν
He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head.

Looking at the Latin

De (de, from govern s ablative case) torrénte (abl of torrens, torrentis, a stream, brook or torrent)

in via (in +ablative governing via, way, road, path) bibet (3rd person indicative future of bibo, to drink) = on the way he will drink

The Diurnal translates in via as ‘on the march’, to give the flavour that this is a stop on a journey.

Still, the phrase is open to several different interpretations in the context of this psalm, on which see below.

De torrénte in via bibet = he will drink from a stream on the way

proptérea (therefore) exaltábit (3rd person indicative future of exalto, to exalt, dignify, elevate) caput (nom of caput, head)

To lift one's head up is a sign of triumph or success, and in this context, is often seen as a reference to Christ's Ascension.

proptérea exaltábit caput = therefore he will lift the head

Translations

The Monastic Diurnal gives this verse as “On his march He drinketh at the brook: therefore he lifteth high his head”. Coverdale make it ‘He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall he lift up his head’.

Vocab

torrens, entis, m. a brook, stream, torrent
bibo, bibi, bibitum, ere 3, to drink.
propterea, adv., therefore, on that account, for that cause; but now
exalto, avi, atum, are to exalt, i.e., to elevate in rank, power, dignity, or the like; to dignify

Drinking from the stream: three possible interpretations

Pope Benedict’s comments on this psalm, that I quoted above, suggest that this verse can be given several different translations.

Let’s consider first that offered by St John Chrysostom, who sees it as a reference to Christ’s humility in his time on earth:

“Here he shows the lowliness of his lifestyle, the meanness of his existence, no swagger about him, no bodyguards in attendance, no visible display when he performs this; instead, his way of life was simple to the extent of his drinking from a torrent. His drink matched his food in this: his food was barley loaves, his drink water from the torrent. He came, you see, to teach this reasonable way of life, to keep the appetite in check, trample on pomp and circumstance, shun conceit. Then, to show the advantage of this lifestyle, he added, Hence I shall lift up his head: this is the fruit of his humility and difficult life. These words refer not to divinity, however, but to humanity - drinking from a torrent, being raised up. You see, far from this insignificance doing him any harm, it even lifted him to an ineffable height.”

The moral, then according to St John, is that we too should “scorn a flashy and meretricious lifestyle, and aim instead for one that is lowly and unpretentious”.

St Augustine too sees the verse as a reference to Christ’s humble obedience, an obedience even unto death that results in God also exalting him. St Augustine though, interprets the stream as the sea of human life which Christ joins by his Incarnation:

“…what is the brook? The onward flow of human mortality: for as a brook is gathered together by the rain, overflows, roars, runs, and by running runs down, that is, finishes its course; so is all this course of mortality. Men are born, they live, they die, and when some die others are born, and when they die others are born, they succeed, they flock together, they depart and will not remain. What is held fast here? What does not run? What is not on its way to the abyss as if it was gathered together from rain? For as a river suddenly drawn together from rain from the drops of showers runs into the sea, and is seen no more, nor was it seen before it was collected from the rain; so this hidden rain is collected together from hidden sources, and flows on; at death again it travels where it is hidden: this intermediate state sounds and passes away.”

Drinking at the brook then, means becoming human:

“Of this brook He drinks, He has not disdained to drink of this brook; for to drink of this brook was to Him to be born and to die. What this brook has, is birth and death; Christ assumed this, He was born, He died.”

But Cassiodorus offers a third possible interpretation of the idea of drinking from the torrent, namely Our Lord’s persecution:

“This torrent was disordered persecution by the Jews, of which the Lord Christ drank on the way, that is, in this life, when He endured it in the flesh. The phrase, in the way, indicates the onset of violence and the great speed of the journey made by travellers as they drive to another lodging.”

Our Lord's humility: the Incarnation and Ascension

St Robert Bellarmine provides a commentary on this verse that I think synthesizes these competing ideas neatly, and has the psalm concluding with a reference to Christ’s Ascension. The purpose of the verse, he says, is to explain why the psalm has talked about his power to judge nations:

“He now assigns a reason for Christ being endowed with such power as to be able to break kings, to judge nations, to fill ruins, and to crush heads, and says, "He shall drink of the torrent in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head;" as if he said with the apostle, "He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore God also hath exalted him, and given him a name, which is above every name."

The stream or torrent, he argues, is the transitory noise of humanity:

“The torrent means the course of human affairs; for, as a torrent flows with great noise and force, full of mud and confusion, and soon after subsides without leaving even a trace of itself, so it is with the affairs of this mortal life—they all pass away, having, generally speaking, been much troubled and confused. Great battles and revolutions, such as those in the time of Caesar and Alexander, and others, have been heard of, but they and their posterity have passed away without leaving a trace of their power.”

Through his Incarnation, Our Lord joins this torrent:

“The Son of God, through his Incarnation, came down this torrent, and "in the way," that is, during his mortal transitory life, drank the muddy water of this torrent in undergoing the calamities consequent on his mortality; nay, even he descended into the very depth of the torrent through his passion, the waters of which, instead of contributing to his ease and refreshment, only increased his pains and sufferings, as he complains in Psalm 68. "The waters are come in even unto my soul. I stick fast in the mire of the deep, and there is no sure standing. I am come into the depth of the sea, and a tempest hath overwhelmed me."

But the conclusion of the story lies in his Ascension, Resurrection and Second Coming:

"In consideration, then, of such humiliation, freely undertaken for the glory of the Father and the salvation of mankind, he afterwards "lifted up his head," ascended into heaven, and, sitting at the right hand of the Father, was made Judge of the living and the dead.”

And that brings us to the end of this mini-series on Psalm 109.  If you have found it useful, or have any comments, questions or suggestions, please do leave a  comment.

For an introduction to the next psalm of Sunday Vespers, Psalm 110, follow the link here.



And you can find notes on the second psalm of Sunday Vespers, Psalm 110, starting here.

Will Christ come again with a bang or a whimper? Psalm 109/8

Georgios Klontzas, c16th

Some today suggest that the Second Coming of Christ will be like the first, something that happens quietly, almost without most people even realising it is happening. Today’s verse of Psalm 109 seems to suggest otherwise.  But is that first impression misleading?

Here is the verse itself, in a variety of translations:

Vulgate: Judicábit in natiónibus, implébit ruínas: * conquassábit cápita in terra multórum.
Neo-Vulgate: Iudicabit in nationibus: cumulantur cadavera, conquassabit capita in terra spatiosa.
Septuagint: κρινεῖ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν πληρώσει πτώματα συνθλάσει κεφαλὰς ἐπὶ γῆς πολλῶν
Douay-Rheims: He shall judge among nations, he shall fill ruins: he shall crush the heads in the land of many

Looking at the Latin

Judicábit (3rd person future of judico, to judge, punish, rule) in (in +abl) natiónibus (nations, governed by in)

Judicábit in natiónibus = he will judge among the nations

implébit (3rd person future of impleo, I fill, fill up) ruínas (accusative pl of ruina, ruin, destruction)

implébit ruínas = he will fill up ruins/destruction

The Greek here is πληρώσει πτώματα, which Brenton translates as “he shall fill up the number of corpses”. The neo-Vulgate is closer to the Greek than the Vulgate here, making it cumulantur cadavera, corpses are piled up. The RSV translates the phrase as ‘filling up with corpses’.

conquassábit (3rd person indic fut of conquasso, I break or crush) capita (acc pl of caput, head)

conquassábit cápita = he will crush/break the heads

in terra (in +abl) multórum (gen pl of multus, many)

The Greek here (ἐπὶ γῆς πολλῶν) has both earth and many in the genitive: earth is governed by the preposition ἐπὶ meaning on. Accordingly, Brenton, correctly in my view, translates the half verse as

‘he shall crush the heads of many on the earth’. The Douay-Rheims, however, instead of referring back to the Greek, simply follows the Latin word order literally making it ‘in the land of many’, which makes rather less sense to me at least!

It is worth noting, however, that the neo-Vulgate avoids the ambiguity by providing a third variant, changing the phrase to ‘in terra spatiosa’, which the Monastic Diurnal makes ‘throughout the land’. However I suspect that the neo-Vulgate is just confusing the issue here by following the Hebrew Masoretic Text (rab erets), which could be best translated as Coverdale does ‘over divers countries’.

in terra multórum = of many on the earth

Translations

A literal reading of the Vulgate would be to slightly correct the Douay-Rheims as follows: He shall judge among nations, he shall fill ruins: he shall crush the heads of many in the land.

The Monastic Diurnal makes this verse: He judgeth among the nations, maketh ruin complete, He crusheth heads throughout the land.

But looking to the Greek Septuagint as authoritative, I think the better version is Brenton’s: He shall judge among the nations, he shall fill up the number of corpses, he shall crush the heads of many on the earth.

Protestant versions of this verse, based entirely on the Masoretic Text, have different take again on this verse. The King James Bible, for example, makes it “He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill [the places] with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries”.

Vocab

natio, onis, f nation, people; in pi., the gentiles; a generation.
judico, avi, atum, are to judge, rule, punish, do justice to, to relieve from wrong.
impleo, plevi, pletum, ere 2 to fill, fill up, fill full; to fill, to cover; to fill, satisfy.
ruina, ae, f. a falling down, fall, ruin, destruction; evil, destruction, i.e., a plague
conquasso, avi, atum, are to break, crush, or dash to pieces
caput, itis, n. the head,
terra, ae, .f, earth, land
multus, a, um, much; many, numerous; much, great

Christ’s judgment of the world

This verse, Pope Benedict XVI points out, paints the final victory of Christ in vivid colours:

“Supported by the Lord, having received both power and glory from him (cf. v. 2), he opposes his foes, crushing his adversaries and judging the nations. The scene is painted in strong colours to signify the drama of the battle and the totality of the royal victory. The sovereign, protected by the Lord, demolishes every obstacle and moves ahead safely to victory. He tells us: “yes, there is widespread evil in the world, there is an ongoing battle between good and evil and it seems as though evil were the stronger. No, the Lord is stronger, Christ, our true King and Priest, for he fights with all God’s power and in spite of all the things that make us doubt the positive outcome of history, Christ wins and good wins, love wins rather than hatred.”

Nonetheless, the verse can be interpreted at the spiritual level in somewhat softer tones, as St John Chrysostom points out:

“If you prefer to take this in a spiritual sense, you would say that he is doing away with folly…”

Similarly, St Augustine portrays the verse as talking about the humbling of the proud that leads to their conversion:

“Whoever you are who art obstinate against Christ, you have raised on high a tower that must fall. It is good that you should cast yourself down, become humble, throw yourself at the feet of Him who sits on the right hand of the Father, that in you a ruin may be made to be built up…He makes them humble instead of proud; and I dare to say, my brethren, that it is more profitable to walk here humbly with the head wounded, than with the head erect to fall into the judgment of eternal death. He will smite many heads when he causes them to fall, but He will fill them up and build them up again.”

Nonetheless, St John, St Augustine and the rest of the Fathers also accorded this a decidedly material interpretation, prophesying the fall of demons, the fate of the Jews and heathen, and indeed any who reject Christ, as St Alphonse Liguori tells us:

“Jesus Christ shall judge the rebellious nations, and will carry into effect the chastisements with which they have been threatened; he shall shiver in pieces on the earth the proud heads that rose up against him. This verse well applies to the end of the world and to the Last Judgment. Hence the proud will be confounded, and the humble after having been made to drink with their divine Master of the water of the torrent, shall be glorified with him.”

Make sure then that we learn from those things that humble us, lest our corpses join the pile consigned to eternal death….

And you can find the last part of the series on this psalm here.

The Magisterium of 'me' and Psalm 109 (Ps 109/7)

The St.Omer Psalter, c1330
Yates Thompson MS 14; f.120r
The British Library, London

Today’s verse of Psalm 109 is:

Dóminus a dextris tuis, * confrégit in die iræ suæ reges.
κύριος ἐκ δεξιῶν σου συνέθλασεν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλεῖς
The Lord at your right hand has broken kings in the day of his wrath.

St Augustine poses the key question, of who is it talking about when the verse refers to kings:

“What kings, do you ask? Have you forgotten? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers took counsel together against the Lord, and against His Anointed. These kings He wounded by His glory, and by the weight of His Name made kings weak, so that they had not power to effect what they wished. For they strove again to blot out the Christian name from the earth, and could not; for Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken.”

Is this purely a historical reference, though, a prophesy entirely fulfilled? The Fathers thought not. Indeed, St John Chrysostom comments:

“You would not be wide of the mark to say this refers to the current rebels against the church and about those accountable in the future for their sins and impieties.”

I’ll come back to this point, but first a look at the verse phrase by phrase.

Looking at the Latin

The Incarnation

Dominus (nom s) a (prep +abl) dextis (abl) tuis (agreeing with dextris
Dóminus a dextris tuis = the Lord at your right hand

The first phrase of this section of the psalm takes us back to the first verse, with a reminder of the Incarnation, as St John Chrysostom points out:

“Then, having dwelt on that for as long as he wished, he touches again on the incarnation, adopting a more lowly form of language in the words, The Lord is at your right hand. Admittedly, he mentioned above that he is seated at the right hand of the Father. Do you see how the need to stay close to the expressions is not without purpose? What is the force of The Lord is at your right hand? Since he touched on the incarnation, he directs his attention to the flesh in receipt of assistance: it is seen to be struggling and sweating - and sweating to such a degree that blood flowed - and given strength. The nature of flesh is like that, you see.”

He will destroy kings

If we look at the Latin here phrase by phrase, it will quickly become evident that English requires us to change the word order in order to make sense of the verse:

confrégit = (third person indicative perfect of confringo) he has broken/destroyed/dashed in pieces

The neo-Vulgate makes this ‘conquassabit’ instead.

in (prep +abl) die (abl of dies) irae (ira, anger, gen) sueae (agreeing with ira)

in die iræ suæ =in the day of his anger/wrath

reges = kings (acc pl)

Translations

The MD makes this: The Lord at Thy right hand smiteth kings in the day of His wrath. Other versions say ‘he has broken kings’ (DR), ‘has dashed in pieces kings’ (Brenton), ‘shall wound even kings’ (Coverdale).

Key vocab

confringo, fregi, fractum, ere 3 to break in pieces, shatter; to destroy, bring to naught
dies, ei, m. and /.; fem. a day, the natural day
ira, ae, /., anger, wrath
rex, regis, m. a king, ruler, lawgiver

Who are the ‘kings’ now?

St Augustine, in the extract from his commentary on the psalm quoted above, links the reference to kings being crushed to Psalm 2. Cassiodorus repeats this sentiment in his commentary on the psalm:

“He hath broken kings denotes those of whom Psalm 2 says: The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together against the Lord and against his Christ. He broke them when He laid low their pride with the power of His omnipotence, for if they had not been broken they would have stuck fast in the harmful rigidity of their malice.”

But, St Augustine goes on, while Christ’s victory was obvious in the Resurrection, now it is hidden, to be made manifest again in the Second Coming, when all shall be judged.

St Robert Bellarmine sees it as literally referring to the various kings and emperors who have persecuted the Church:

“Having asserted that the Son was called a priest forever by the Father, the Prophet now addresses the Father, and says that Christ will be really a priest forever; for though many kings of the earth will conspire against him in order to upset his religion and his priesthood, he, however, seated at the right hand of his Father, will break his adversaries down, and, in spite of them all, will perpetuate his priesthood and his sacrifice. "The Lord at thy right hand;" Christ, as you spoke to him sitting there, when you said, "Sit thou at my right hand." "Hath broken kings in the day of his wrath;" when he shall be angry with his enemies, the kings of the earth, for persecuting his Church, he will break them, and, as far as I can foresee, has already broken them; for in the spirit of prophecy, I already see Herod stricken by the angel. Nero, in his misery, laying violent hands on him¬self; Domitian, Maximinus and Decius put to death; Valerian taken captive by the barbarians; Diocletian and Maximinus throwing up the reins of government in despair; Julian, Valens, and Honoricus, and nearly all the kings hostile to Christ meeting a miserable end here, and well-merited punishment in hell afterwards for all eternity.”

Yet others, such as St John Chrysostom and St Alphonse Liguori, suggest a rather broader interpretation of the term kings here – for just as we are all in one sense priests, we are all, in a sense kings, capable of deciding for ourselves to reject the kingship of Christ, and the teaching of his Church. Those who choose to fight actively against the Magisterium, and substitute instead the ‘Magisterium of Me’, aka FrZ's the Magisterium of Nuns, etc, should take heed!

Psalm 109

Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis,

donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum.
Virgam virtutis tuæ emittet Dominus ex Sion : dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum
Tecum principium in die virtutis tuæ in splendoribus sanctorum: ex utero, ante luciferum, genui te. Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum : Tu es sacerdos in æternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech. Dominus a dextris tuis; confregit in die iræ suæ reges.
Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas; conquassabit capita in terra multorum.
De torrente in via bibet; propterea exaltabit caput.

You can find the next part on this psalm here.

Who was Melchisedech? Psalm 109/6

Meeting of Abraham and Melchisedech
Dieric Bouts, c1464

The first half of Psalm 109, the verses that we have looked at so far, essentially focused on our Lord’s kingship:

Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis,
donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum.
Virgam virtutis tuæ emittet Dominus ex Sion : dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum
Tecum principium in die virtutis tuæ in splendoribus sanctorum: ex utero, ante luciferum, genui te.

Now we turn to his status as high priest.

Today’s verse of Psalm 109 alludes to the mysterious figure of Melchisedech:

Jurávit Dóminus, et non pœnitébit eum: * tu es sacérdos in ætérnum secúndum órdinem Melchísedech.
ὤμοσεν κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται σὺ εἶ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδεκ
The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent: You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech.

Who was Melchisedech?

Melchisedech is a mysterious figure, because unlike almost every other figure in Genesis, he is presented without genealogy.

As one of David’s line the Messiah could not of course be a member of the Aaronic priesthood, the Levites. This verse however tells us that he will nonetheless be a priest in the manner of the priest king Melchisdech, who offered God a sacrifice of bread and wine, as described in Genesis 14:14-20:

“When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his goods, and the women and the people. After his return from the defeat of Ched-or-lao'mer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Mel-chiz'edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!"

Melchisedech also appears in some surviving non-canonical works, particularly the Second Book of Enoch.

St John Chrysostom comments on the importance of Melchisidech as a type of Jesus:

“What was the reason for his saying in the line of Mechizedek? With the eucharist in mind, because he too offered bread and wine to Abraham, and because of the independence of this priesthood of the Law and its being without end and without beginning, as Paul too says. You see, what that priest had in shadow was realized in reality in the case of Jesus; and as the names, like "Jesus" and "Christ," had preceded him, so too this Melchizedek seems to have had no beginning to his days nor end to his life, not because he did not have them but because he had no genealogy. Jesus, on the other hand, had no beginning to his days nor end to his life, not in that fashion but because there was absolutely no chronological beginning in his case, nor any end. One case was shadow, you see, the other reality. So when you hear the name "Jesus," do not be deceived into thinking he was really Jesus, but recognize only the type in the name, and look for no further significance. Likewise also, when you hear that Melchizedek had no beginning or end, do not require him to provide the reality in fact; instead, be content with the name alone, and grasp the reality in the case of Christ.”

The Latin

The Lord swore an oath

Jurávit (3rd person indicative pf of juro, I swear, take an oath) Dóminus (nominative)

Jurávit Dóminus = the Lord has sworn

Here is the first point of contrast between the Aaronic priesthood and the Christian: Aaronic priests were priests by virtue purely of their birth; Christ was immediately appointed by God. As Hebrews points out: “Those who formerly became priests took their office without an oath, but this one was addressed with an oath, "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind, `Thou art a priest for ever.'" This makes Jesus the surety of a better covenant.” (7:21-22)

A priest forever

et non pœnitébit (3rd person future indicative of peonitet, he relents, repents) eum (demonstrative pronoun is ea id, acc governed by poenitebit, provides emphasis)

et non pœnitébit eum = and he will not relent

St Paul in Romans 11:29 comments: “For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable.”

tu (you, pronoun nom) es (you are) sacérdos (priest, nom) in ætérnum

tu es sacérdos in ætérnum= you are a priest forever

secúndum (according to, by reason of) órdinem (acc, likeness, order, manner) Melchísedech

secúndum órdinem Melchísedech= according to the order of /after the manner of/in the line of Melchisedech

St Robert Bellarmine comments:

“Now Christ is said to be a priest forever, because the effect of the one sacrifice in which he offered his body on the cross holds forever, as the apostle, in Heb. 10 has it, "For by one oblation he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified;" as also, because he, living forever, daily, through the hands of the priests of his Church, who succeed each other, offers a sacrifice to which the apostle alludes, when he says, "And the others indeed were made many priests, because, by reason of death, they were not suffered to continue; but this, for that he continueth forever, hath an everlasting priesthood."

On the word ‘order’ the Catechism (CCC1537) notes:

“The word order in Roman antiquity designated an established civil body, especially a governing body. Ordinatio means incorporation into an ordo. In the Church there are established bodies which Tradition, not without a basis in Sacred Scripture, has since ancient times called taxeis (Greek) or ordines. And so the liturgy speaks of the ordo episcoporum, the ordo presbyterorum, the ordo diaconorum. Other groups also receive this name of ordo: catechumens, virgins, spouses, widows,. . . .

Translations

The Monastic Diurnal translates this fairly literally as “The Lord hath sworn and will not repent: Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisdedech”. The other main translations offer only minor variants on this.

Key vocab

juro, avi, atum, are, to swear, take an oath
poenitet, ituit with acc, it repents one, one relents,
secundum, according to; by reason of, because of; after the manner of, according to the likeness of, like.
ordo, inis, m. order, manner, likeness
aeternus, a, um eternal. Forever

The Christian priesthood

The main Scriptural expositions of this verse are contained in Hebrews chapter 5-7, which explains the continuity of New and Old when it comes to the priesthood in particular.  There are important distinctions to be made here though, as St Robert Bellarmine points out:

“In the first place, Melchisedech succeeded no priest, nor had he a successor; and, thus, the apostle says of him, "without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life." While in the priesthood of Aaron one succeeded another, the son supplied the father's place. Secondly, Melchisedech was both king and priest; Aaron was simply a priest. Thirdly, Melchisedech's offering consisted of bread and wine, that of Aaron was of sheep and oxen. Fourthly, Melchisedech was the priest of mankind, Aaron's priesthood was confined to the Jews. Fifthly, Melchisedech required neither tent, tabernacle, nor temple for sacrifice, Aaron did; and hence, to the present day, the Jews have no sacrifice, because they have no temple. Christ, then, is a priest according to the order of Melchisedech, by reason of his having succeeded no priest, and by reason of his having had no priest to succeed him in the great dignity of his everlasting priesthood; and he in fact, as to his human nature has really no father, and as to his divine nature has no mother. The same Christ is both King and Priest, and he offered bread and wine at his Last Supper, that is, his body under the appearance of bread, and his blood under the appearance of wine; and he is the priest, not only of the Jews, but of the Gentiles; nor is his priestly office confined to one temple or one tabernacle, but, as Malachy predicted, "From the rising of the sun, even to the going down, in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation."

St Augustine though draws out what I think is the really key point, namely the link between this prophesy of the nature of the priesthood of Christ and the destruction of the Temple:

“But Priest, in what sense? Will there be those victims, victims offered by the Patriarchs, altars of blood, and tabernacle, and those sacred emblems of the Old Covenant? God forbid! These things are already abolished; the temple being destroyed, that priesthood taken away, their victim and their sacrifice having alike disappeared, not even the Jews have these things. They see that the priesthood after the order of Aaron has already perished, and they do not recognise the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedec.”

Pope Benedict XVI comments:

"In the Risen Lord Jesus who had ascended into Heaven where he is seated at the right hand of the Father the prophecy of our Psalm is fulfilled and the priesthood of Melchizedek is brought to completion. This is because, rendered absolute and eternal, it became a reality that never fades (cf. 7:24). And the offering of bread and wine made by Melchizedek in Abraham’s time is fulfilled in the Eucharistic action of Jesus who offers himself in the bread and in the wine and, having conquered death, brings life to all believers. Since he is an eternal priest, “holy, blameless, unstained” (7:26), as the Letter to the Hebrews states further, “he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (7:25)."

Psalm 109

Dixit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis,
donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum.
Virgam virtutis tuæ emittet Dominus ex Sion : dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum
Tecum principium in die virtutis tuæ in splendoribus sanctorum: ex utero, ante luciferum, genui te.
Juravit Dominus, et non pœnitebit eum : Tu es sacerdos in æternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech.
Dominus a dextris tuis; confregit in die iræ suæ reges.
Judicabit in nationibus, implebit ruinas; conquassabit capita in terra multorum.
De torrente in via bibet; propterea exaltabit caput.

You can find the next part in this series here.