Psalm 138/2 verses 1-2

The opening verses of the second half of Psalm 138 focus on the image of night and day, perhaps echoing the reminder of God's creation of it in Psalm 73 at Matins today, and the darkness of hades depicted in Psalm 87 at Lauds.

	V	Et dixi: fórsitan ténebræ conculcábunt me: * et nox illuminátio mea in delíciis meis.
	NV	Si dixero: “ Forsitan tenebrae compriment me, et nox illuminatio erit circa me ”,
	JH	Si dixero, Forte tenebrae operient me ; nox quoque lux erit circa me ;
	Sept	καὶ εἶπα ἄρα σκότος καταπατήσει με καὶ νὺξ φωτισμὸς ἐν τῇ τρυφῇ μου

[Key: V=Vulgate; NV=Neo-vulgate; JH=St Jerome from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint]

Et (and) dixi (I said): Forsitan (perhaps/surely) tenebræ (the darkness) conculcabunt (they will trample on/conceal/hide) me; et (and) nox (night) illuminatio (the light) mea (my) [it will be] in deliciis (in the pleasures) meis (my). 

The meaning of this verse is obscure and disputed. In the first phrase, conculcabunt is used to translate a Hebrew verb that appears only in Genesis 3:15 and Job 9:17, to mean crush or bruise.  But in this context it is often suggested that it is a text corruption.  St Jerome translated the Hebrew as operient, or they cover/conceal, but the neo-Vulgate goes with compriment, they check or restrain.  In the second phrase, the Neo-Vulgate changes this verse to say 'the light of the night will be around me' reflecting the Hebrew.

forsitan, adv. (fors sit an, it may happen that), (1) perhaps, perchance, peradventure. (2) surely

tenebrae, arum, f.  darkness; ignorance; Sheol; misfortune. danger; horror, shuddering.

conculco, avi, atum, are to trample upon, tread under foot; fig., to despise, treat with contempt; to cover, conceal.

nox, noctis, f.  night

illuminatio onis f light

deliciae arum f delight, pleasure

DR	And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
Brenton	When I said, Surely the darkness will cover me; even the night was light in my luxury.
RSV	If I say, "Let only darkness cover me, and the light about me be night,"
Cover	If I say, Peradventure the darkness shall cover me, then shall my night be turned to day.
Knox	Or perhaps I would think to bury myself in darkness; night should surround me, friendlier than day;
Grail	If I say: "Let the darkness hide me and the light around me be night,"

[Key: DR=Douay-Rheims Challoner; RSV= Revised Standard Version; Cover=Coverdale]

Cassiodorus provides the explanation of this verse read as from the mouth of Christ: 

The first part of this verse is to be spoken ironically.  We often make certain statements ambivalently, though we can be in no doubt about them.  Take for example the words of another psalm, Perhaps they had swallowed us alive. and the rest.  How could darkness oppress Him, when it had no dominion over such great glory?  As He himself says: I am the light of the world.  Rather, He oppressed the darkness when by the light of His mercy He overcame the first man's blindness which was passed on to his descendents.  So in this sentence...those who had the temerity to suspect dark clouds of fear around him are being mocked; an explanation of this meaning follows when he says...How could He be oppressed by darkness when night was His light in His pleasures?  Night denotes the prison of hell, which He indeed illuminated when he shattered the devil's power and freed by His pity mankind whom he deigned to form to His image and likeness.  In my pleasures refers to Paradise, from which sins expelled the first man; but by the Lord's gift the souls of the saints through the resource of confession have returned to its pleasant haunts.  The thief who believed was told: Amen I say to you, this day thou wilt be with me in paradise.  Paradise means a most lovely place, and the eternal tranquility of the most blessed sweetness.

  

2/ 11	V	Quia ténebræ non obscurabúntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminábitur: * sicut ténebræ ejus, ita et lumen ejus.
	NV	etiam tenebrae non obscurabuntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminabitur sicut tenebrae eius ita et lumen eius -.
	JH	nec tenebrae habent tenebras apud te, et nox quasi dies lucet : similes sunt tenebrae et lux.
		ὅτι σκότος οὐ σκοτισθήσεται ἀπὸ σοῦ καὶ νὺξ ὡς ἡμέρα φωτισθήσεται ὡς τὸ σκότος αὐτῆς οὕτως καὶ τὸ φῶς αὐτῆς

 Quia (but) tenebræ (darkness) non obscurabuntur (it will not be darkened) a te (with you), et (and) nox (night) sicut (like) dies (day) illuminabitur (it will shine forth) : sicut (like/as/alike) tenebræ (the darkness) ejus (of him/it), ita  (so/thus) et (and) lumen (the light) ejus (of him/it).

quia, conj. for, because, that. truly, surely, indeed;  nisi quia, unless, if not

tenebrae, arum, f.  darkness; ignorance; Sheol; misfortune. danger; horror, shuddering.

obscuro are avi atum to make dark, darken, obscure

nox, noctis, f.  night.

dies, ei, m. and f fem.   a day, the natural day

illumino, avi, atum, are , to make or cause to shine, to enlighten, illuminate. to shine forth, to shine.

ita – so, thus, even, in this manner

DR	But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light as day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee.
Cover	Yea, the darkness is no darkness with thee, but the night is as clear as the day; the darkness and light to thee are both alike.
Knox	but no, darkness is no hiding-place from thee, with thee the night shines clear as day itself; light and dark are one.
Grail	even darkness is not dark for you and the night is as clear as the day.

This verse has attracted a wide range of interpretations.  Cassiodorus gives this verse a mystical interpretation, on the nature of infused knowledge:

Darkness denotes the mystical and deep content of the divine Scriptures; as we read in Proverbs: He understands also a parable and a dark saying, and in another psalm: Dark waters in the clouds of the air.  So this darkness shall not be darkened, but rather illuminated by the Lord, for the prophets' proclamation was fulfilled at His coming.  It is his custom to ascribe His own action to the Father, so that the joint work of the holy Trinity can be grasped.  Next comes: And night shall be light as the day.  The statements which had been like a dark night in their mystical complexity became bright as day when the words of the prophets were made clear...for the truth is in both, whether in apparent obscurities or in bright clarity.

St John Chrysostom's take is on the same lines, but focused less on the mystical, and more on the hidden, and often contradictory seeming nature of God's workings in his history, most especially the Cross:

Here darkness implies tribulation.  Now what he means is this: I was hemmed in with troubles, and I said to myself, Troubles will prevail over me...but all of a sudden trouble was turned into good - or, rather, it was not that trouble was turned into good, but that though trouble persisted I enjoyed great well-being.  He did not say, note, Night vanished, but Night was shining - that is while night remained night, it was obvious the troubles and disasters (he refers to these by the term night you see) did not succeed in trampling me underfoot; instead, light shone in the night, that is, support enveloping me.  Things turn into their opposites and appear so, after all, when God wishes..."Most of his works, in fact, are veiled in secrecy."  Did you not note that though it was day the Egyptians groped about as if in darkness, and though darkness covered everything the Israelites could see, and in the beginning when likewise it was dark the light shone in the midst?  The creator, you see, is lord of the nature of things everywhere, not for producing non-existent things but for causing existing things to give evidence of behaviour different from the natural...

St Augustine draws from this a moral for our own reaction to both prosperity and adversity:

Day to us is worldly prosperity, night adversity in this world: but, if we learn that it is by the desert of our sins that we suffer adversities, and our Father's scourges are sweet to us, that the Judge's sentence may not be bitter to us, so shall we find the darkness of this night to be, as it were, the light of this night....But when Christ our Lord has come, and has dwelt in the soul by faith, and promised other light, and inspired and given patience, and warned a man not to delight in prosperity or to be crushed by adversity, the man, being faithful, begins to treat this world with indifference; not to be lifted up when prosperity befalls him, nor crushed when adversity, but in all things to praise God, not only when he abounds, but also when he loses; not only when he is in health, but also when he is sick.. ..As is His darkness, so is also His light. His darkness overwhelms me not, because His light lifts me not up.

Pope Benedict XVI builds on this to remind us of the importance of God's presence to us:

The gaze and the manifestation of the Lord of being and time even penetrates the darkness, in which it is difficult to move about and see. His hand is always ready to grasp ours, to lead us on our earthly journey (cf. v. 10). This is not, therefore, a judgmental closeness that inspires terror, but a closeness of support and liberation. And so we can understand what the ultimate, essential content of this Psalm is:  it is a song of trust. God is always with us. Even in the darkest nights of our lives, he does not abandon us. Even in the most difficult moments, he remains present. And even in the last night, in the last loneliness in which no one can accompany us, the night of death, the Lord does not abandon us. He is with us even in this final solitude of the night of death. And we Christians can therefore be confident: we are never left on our own. God's goodness is always with us. 

Psalm 138/2 (139) – Et dixi: forsitan 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
1  Et dixi: Fórsitan ténebræ conculcábunt me: * et nox illuminátio mea in delíciis meis.	11 And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
2  Quia ténebræ non obscurabúntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminábitur: * sicut ténebræ ejus, ita et lumen ejus.	12 But darkness shall not be dark to you, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to you.
3  Quia tu possedísti renes meos: * suscepísti me de útero matris meæ.	13 For you have possessed my reins: you have protected me from my mother's womb.
4  Confitébor tibi quia terribíliter magnificátus es: * mirabília ópera tua, et ánima mea cognóscit nimis.	14 I will praise you, for you are fearfully magnified: wonderful are your works, and my soul knows right well.
5  Non est occultátum os meum a te, quod fecísti in occúlto: * et substántia mea in inferióribus terræ.	15 My bone is not hidden from you, which you have made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
6  Imperféctum meum vidérunt óculi tui, et in libro tuo omnes scribéntur: * dies formabúntur, et nemo in eis.	16 Your eyes did see my imperfect being, and in your book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.
7  Mihi autem nimis honorificáti sunt amíci tui, Deus: * nimis confortátus est principátus eórum.	17 But to me your friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
8  Dinumerábo eos, et super arénam multiplicabúntur: * exsurréxi, et adhuc sum tecum.	18 I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with you.
9  Si occíderis, Deus, peccatóres: * viri sánguinum, declináte a me.	19 If you will kill the wicked, O God: you men of blood, depart from me:
10  Quia dícitis in cogitatióne: * Accípient in vanitáte civitátes tuas.	20 Because you say in thought: They shall receive your cities in vain.
11  Nonne qui odérunt te, Dómine, óderam? * et super inimícos tuos tabescébam?	21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated you: and pined away because of your enemies?
12  Perfécto ódio óderam illos: * et inimíci facti sunt mihi.	22 I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they have become enemies to me.
13  Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum: * intérroga me, et cognósce sémitas meas.	23 Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.
14  Et vide, si via iniquitátis in me est: * et deduc me in via æterna.	24 And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way

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

Introduction to Psalm 138 Pt 2

I noted in a previous post that St Benedict divides Psalm 138 into two in his Office, and so here is a brief introduction to the second half of the psalm.

Whereas the first half of the psalm focuses primarily on God's omniscience, this section takes up the theme of God's presence everywhere and in all things, as Benedict XVI pointed out in his commentary on it:

On the other hand, the second part of our Psalm (cf. vv. 7-12) is dedicated to the divine omnipresence. The illusory desire of human beings to flee from that presence is vividly described in it. The whole of space is steeped in it:  there is first of all the vertical axis "heaven-hell" (cf. v. 8), which gives way to the horizontal dimension which extends from dawn, that is, from the East, and reaches as far as the Mediterranean "sea's furthest end", that is, the West (cf. v. 9). Every sphere of space, even the most secret, contains God's active presence. 

This leads naturally to his works as creator, and especially as saviour, Pope Benedict explained:

…After contemplating in the first part (cf. vv. 1-12) the omniscient and omnipotent God, the Lord of being and history, this sapiential hymn of intense beauty and deep feeling now focuses on the loftiest, most marvellous reality of the entire universe:  man, whose being is described as a "wonder" of God (cf. v. 14).  Indeed, this topic is deeply in tune with the Christmas atmosphere we are living in these days in which we celebrate the great mystery of the Son of God who became man, indeed, became a Child, for our salvation.  After pondering on the gaze and presence of the Creator that sweeps across the whole cosmic horizon, in the second part of the Psalm on which we are meditating today God turns his loving gaze upon the human being, whose full and complete beginning is reflected upon. 

In fact, as for the first half of the psalm, St Benedict's contemporary Cassiodorus places the text on the lips of Christ during his prayer in the Garden, viewing it as in effect a meditation on the divine and human natures of Christ, particularly as he gets ready to confront those enemies who would cause his death.

Connections through the day?

It is worth noting, I think, that this psalm contains more than a few resonances with the opening psalm of Thursday at Matins, Psalm 73, setting the scene for many of the recurring ideas in the psalmody of the day.  Psalm 73, for example, says:

17  Tuus est dies, et tua est nox: * tu fabricátus es auróram et solem.

16 Yours is the day, and yours is the night: you have made the morning light and the sun.

Psalm 138 ponders on whether it is possible to hide from God in the darkness, but realises of course that day and night are alike to God:

1  Et dixi: Fórsitan ténebræ conculcábunt me: * et nox illuminátio mea in delíciis meis.	11 And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
2  Quia ténebræ non obscurabúntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminábitur: * sicut ténebræ ejus, ita et lumen ejus.	12 But darkness shall not be dark to you, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to you.

Similarly, Psalm 138 raises the difficult challenges posed by God's enemies for us:

11  Nonne qui odérunt te, Dómine, óderam? * et super inimícos tuos tabescébam?	21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated you: and pined away because of your enemies?
12  Perfécto ódio óderam illos: * et inimíci facti sunt mihi.	22 I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they have become enemies to me.

On the face of it, these verses seem to run counter to the Gospel injunction to love our enemies.  The Fathers provide a number of solutions for this, the most compelling being to interpret it as meaning hate the sin even while loving the sinner.  Psalm 73, though, perhaps helps explains the context for these lines, for it is a lament for the destruction of Jerusalem, and above all, of the desecration of the Temple and attempts to suppress true religion.  Both psalms can be read as referring to those who plotted the death of Christ the true Temple, and remained unrepentant, and so condemned themselves.

Psalm 138, though, ends in a confident affirmation of salvation, and can be read as taking us back to Psalm 73's central verse:

13  Deus autem Rex noster ante sæcula: * operátus est salútem in médio terræ.

12 But God is our king before ages: he has wrought salvation in the midst of the earth.

Psalm 138/2 (139) – Et dixi: forsitan 

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
1  Et dixi: Fórsitan ténebræ conculcábunt me: * et nox illuminátio mea in delíciis meis.	11 And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures.
2  Quia ténebræ non obscurabúntur a te, et nox sicut dies illuminábitur: * sicut ténebræ ejus, ita et lumen ejus.	12 But darkness shall not be dark to you, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to you.
3  Quia tu possedísti renes meos: * suscepísti me de útero matris meæ.	13 For you have possessed my reins: you have protected me from my mother's womb.
4  Confitébor tibi quia terribíliter magnificátus es: * mirabília ópera tua, et ánima mea cognóscit nimis.	14 I will praise you, for you are fearfully magnified: wonderful are your works, and my soul knows right well.
5  Non est occultátum os meum a te, quod fecísti in occúlto: * et substántia mea in inferióribus terræ.	15 My bone is not hidden from you, which you have made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth.
6  Imperféctum meum vidérunt óculi tui, et in libro tuo omnes scribéntur: * dies formabúntur, et nemo in eis.	16 Your eyes did see my imperfect being, and in your book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them.
7  Mihi autem nimis honorificáti sunt amíci tui, Deus: * nimis confortátus est principátus eórum.	17 But to me your friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
8  Dinumerábo eos, et super arénam multiplicabúntur: * exsurréxi, et adhuc sum tecum.	18 I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with you.
9  Si occíderis, Deus, peccatóres: * viri sánguinum, declináte a me.	19 If you will kill the wicked, O God: you men of blood, depart from me:
10  Quia dícitis in cogitatióne: * Accípient in vanitáte civitátes tuas.	20 Because you say in thought: They shall receive your cities in vain.
11  Nonne qui odérunt te, Dómine, óderam? * et super inimícos tuos tabescébam?	21 Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated you: and pined away because of your enemies?
12  Perfécto ódio óderam illos: * et inimíci facti sunt mihi.	22 I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they have become enemies to me.
13  Proba me, Deus, et scito cor meum: * intérroga me, et cognósce sémitas meas.	23 Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths.
14  Et vide, si via iniquitátis in me est: * et deduc me in via æterna.	24 And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way

Liturgical uses of the Psalm

NT references	Rom11:33 (16-17)
RB cursus	Thurs Vespers+AN 2367 (1)
Monastic feasts etc	2 Vespers of Apostles (+John the Baptist, St Benedict, St Joseph) AN 1881 (17)
Roman pre 1911	Friday Vespers
Responsories	7457 (alt verse) Aug Wisdom (10), 7215 (17);
Roman post 1911	1911-62: Friday Vespers  . 1970:
Mass propers (EF)	Vigil of SS Peter and Paul, OF (16); St Thomas GR (17-18)

You can find the first set of verse by verse notes on this part of the psalm here.

Psalm 138 verses 8-9

The concluding verses of the first half of Psalm 138 bring us back to the mystery of Christ's Passion.

 

8	V	Si súmpsero pennas meas dilúculo, * et habitávero in extrémis maris.
	NV	Si sumpsero pennas aurorae et habitavero in extremis maris,
	JH	Si sumpsero pinnas diluculo, habitauero in nouissimo maris ;
	Sept	ἐὰν ἀναλάβοιμι τὰς πτέρυγάς μου κατ' ὄρθρον καὶ κατασκηνώσω εἰς τὰ ἔσχατα τῆς θαλάσσης

 [Key: V=Vulgate; NV=Neo-vulgate; JH=St Jerome from the Hebrew; Sept=Septuagint]

Si (if) sumpsero (I will take up) pennas (wings) meas (my) diluculo (in the early morning) et (and) habitavero (I will live/dwell) in (in) extremis (furthest part/uttermost part/extremes) maris (of the sea)

sumo sumere sumpsi sumptum 3 to take, take up, lay hold of, assume

penna, ae, f feather,  wing.

diluculum, i, n. the dawn, daybreak, the early morning,  morning twilight,.

extremus i n (substantive of extremus a um) the end, that which is outermost

mare, is, n., the sea, the ocean.

DR	If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
Brenton	If I should spread my wings to fly straight forward, and sojourn at the extremity of the sea,
MD	If I should take to wing at dawn, and settle at the farthest sea
Cover	If I take the wings of the morning, and remain in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Knox	If I could wing my way eastwards, or find a dwelling beyond the western sea
Grail	If I take the wings of the dawn and dwell at the sea's furthest end,

[Key: DR=Douay-Rheims Challoner; MD=Monastic Diurnal; Cover=Coverdale]

Cassiodorus sees this verse as continuing the reference to the coming events of the Easter Triduum:

His wings represent the most effective speed of the divine Majesty, which raised His holy body to the realms above by the power of His divinity.  When you hear the word my, you must comprehend the glory of His own power.  So the sense is: when He has taken these wings of His before daylight, that is, at the time of the resurrection, and has dwelt in the furthest part of the sea, that is, beyond the furthest limits of this world, there His Father's hand will guide Him.  

9	V	Etenim illuc manus tua dedúcet me: * et tenébit me déxtera tua.
	NV	etiam illuc manus tua deducet me, et tenebit me dextera tua.
	JH	etiam ibi manus tua deducet me, et tenebit me dextera tua.
		καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ ἡ χείρ σου ὁδηγήσει με καὶ καθέξει με ἡ δεξιά σου

etenim (indeed/even) illuc (there/in that place) manus (the hand) tua (your) deducet (it will lead/guide) me (me) et (and)  tenebit (it will hold) me (me) dextera (the right hand) tua (your)

etenim, conj., a strong et; and, yea, indeed, truly;  as an adversative.

illuc, adv.  thither, to that place; there, in that place.

manus, us, f, the hand

deduco, duxi ductum, ere 3, to lead or bring down;  guide, lead, conduct

teneo, ui, tentum, ere 2, to hold, hold fast, seize.

dexter, tera, terum; the right hand

DR	Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.
Brenton	it would be vain, for even there thy hand would guide me, and thy right hand would hold me.
MD	Even there Thy hand would seize me and Thy right hand take hold of me
Cover	even there also shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
Knox	still would I find thee beckoning to me, thy right hand upholding me.
Grail	even there your hand would lead me, your right hand would hold me fast.

For Cassiodorus, this verse completes the thought on the meaning of Christ's Passion and Resurrection:

Then, to reveal their joint action, there follows..for the Father's right hand is the almighty Word, which will embrace for ages without end the humanity which was taken up and united with it....

Above all though, it can be read as reassurance for us that God is always there to guide and protect us, even at the darkest times in our life, as Chrysostom point out:

"So after mentioning the things of which Your knowledge astonished me, and celebrating his being's foreknowledge, creative power, providence, incomprehensibility, unsearchability, in turn he describes a further faculty of his, likewise full of baffling power if he were to seek it by human reason...that is, it is possible for people who encounter disasters not to be allowed to be ensnared by the disasters through right in the midst of them...Having mentioned the things I enumerated, and along with them not only the fact that he is present everywhere but that he guides and secures and protects..."

Psalm 138/1 – Domine probasti me

Vulgate (Numbering follows psalmody)	Douay-Rheims (numbering follows DR)
In finem, psalmus David.	Unto the end, a psalm of David.
Dómine, probásti me, et cognovísti me: * tu cognovísti sessiónem meam, et resurrectiónem meam.	1 Lord, you have proved me, and known me: 2 You have known my sitting down, and my rising up.
2  Intellexísti cogitatiónes meas de longe: * sémitam meam, et funículum meum investigásti.	You have understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line you have searched out.
3  Et omnes vias meas prævidísti: * quia non est sermo in lingua mea.	4 And you have foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue.
4  Ecce, Dómine, tu cognovísti ómnia novíssima, et antíqua: * tu formásti me, et posuísti super me manum tuam.	5 Behold, O Lord, you have known all things, the last and those of old: you have formed me, and have laid your hand upon me.
5  Mirábilis facta est sciéntia tua ex me: * confortáta est, et non pótero ad eam.	6 Your knowledge has become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it
6  Quo ibo a spíritu tuo? * et quo a fácie tua fúgiam?	7 Whither shall I go from your spirit? Or whither shall I flee from your face?
7  Si ascéndero in cælum, tu illic es: * si descéndero in inférnum, ades.	8 If I ascend into heaven, you are there: if I descend into hell, you are present.
8  Si súmpsero pennas meas dilúculo, * et habitávero in extrémis maris.	9 If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea:
9  Etenim illuc manus tua dedúcet me: * et tenébit me déxtera tua.	10 Even there also shall your hand lead me: and your right hand shall hold me.

And you can find notes on the second half of this psalm starting here.