Psalm 53 v 5 - Censored!

Domenico Pagliarolo, c15th
http://www.themorgan.org/collection/medieval-and-renaissance/manuscript/113118?id=409
Source: Wiki Commons

Today’s verse of Psalm 53 is one of those deemed to ‘difficult’, or un-PC in its sentiments, for modern minds to cope with, and so was excised altogether from the Liturgy of the Hours.  We should not, however, shy away from the lessons Scripture places before us for our instruction.

Avérte mala inimícis meis: et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.

Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary for the verse is:

averto, verti, versum, ere 3, to turn away, avert; to bring back.

malum, i, n., evil, sin; woe, harm, misfortune.

inimicus, i, m., a foe, enemy

veritas, atis,  truth. grace, kindness ,goodness, fidelity to promises, faithfulness

disperdo, didi, ditum, ere 3, to destroy, destroy utterly.

Word for word then:

Avérte (turn back, imp) mala (the evils) inimícis (to the enemies, dat/abl pl) meis (to me): * et (and) in veritáte (the truth) tua (your) dispérde (destroy) illos (them).

Given the modern difficulties with this verse, it is not surprising to find that the neo-Vulgate version in particular attempts to often its tone:

Vulgate	Avérte mala inimícis meis: et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.
Pian	Retorque malum in adversarios meos, Et pro fidelitate tua destrue illos.
Neo-Vulgate	Converte mala super inimicos meos et in veritate tua disperde illos.
Jerome from the Hebrew	Redde malum insidiatoribus meis in veritate tua disperde eos.
Septuagint	ἀποστρέψει τὰ κακὰ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς μου ἐν τῇ ἀληθείᾳ σου ἐξολέθρευσον αὐτούς

The English translations, however, make clear that the literal meaning of the verse is that evil will rebound on those who seek to harm others:

DR	Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
Brenton	He shall return evil to mine enemies; utterly destroy them in thy truth.
RSV	He will requite my enemies with evil; in thy faithfulness put an end to them.
Cover	He shall reward evil unto mine enemies; destroy thou them in thy truth.
Knox	Let the blow recoil on my persecutors; ever faithful to thy word, do thou overthrow them.
Collegeville	Turn back the evil, against my foes, and in Your truth destroy them.
Grail	Let the evil recoil upon my foes; you who are faithful, destroy them.

How to read imprecatory verses

Given modern struggles with this verse, it is worth first taking the advice of the Fathers and Theologians on how to read this and other similar verses. 

Noting that it seems at first blush to contradict Christ’s instruction to pray for our enemies, St Thomas Aquinas suggested that the verse is first and foremost a prediction more than a request.

St Thomas saw it also though, as a prayer for the world to be conformed to divine justice.

The first phrase of the verse can certainly be read as a plea for karma, as it were, to prevail: for the harm intended to the psalmist to rebound on the one seeking to do him harm.  

In this light, St Augustine portrayed the verse as a warning to us not to be diverted from the right path by the lures of the ephemeral:

Because to wit they flourish now, because to wit they spring up like grass: do not thou be a man unwise and foolish, so that by giving thought to these things thou perish for ever and ever. For, Turn Thou away evil things unto mine enemies…These men flourish in the felicity of the world, perish in the virtue of God.

Confronting sinners with the truth: a prayer for conversion

Aquinas, though, interpreted the verse as a prayer for the conversion of sinners.

In particular, the first phrase of the verse can also be interpreted as a call for the evil intention to be removed from the person seeking to the speaker harm, as St Cassiodorus suggested:

Since the prophet knew that he had been freed by the Lord's pity from the persecution of his enemies, he is seen to offer this sacrifice of good-will. He strives on behalf of his enemies by every means to offer the prayer which the divine love is wont gladly to accept. So he prays that ill-will be removed from his enemies, for he knew that they would be weighed down by it.

This interpretation of the verse particularly flows from the second phrase though, for it presents the key to the conversion of sinners as being confrontation with the truth:

When evil men approach the truth, they abandon their earlier intention; if a man does not forsake his wicked plan, he will not take part in goodly actions. So the psalmist prays that the men of Ziph may fail to betray his hidden person, and that Saul may fail to persecute him in his innocence.

I am the way, the truth and the life

The key application of the verse, is of course, to the Resurrection of Christ, as St Hilary of Poitiers explained:

Truth confounds falsehood, and lying is destroyed by truth. We have shown that the whole of the foregoing prayer is the utterance of that human nature in which the Son of God was born; so here it is the voice of human nature calling upon God the Father to destroy His enemies in His truth. What this truth is, stands beyond doubt; it is of course He Who said: I am the Life, the Way, the Truth. And the enemies were destroyed by the truth when, for all their attempts to win Christ's condemnation by false witness, they heard that He was risen from the dead and had to admit that He had resumed His glory in all the reality of Godhead.

And, he explained, that while many converted after the Resurrection and lived, there was indeed a price to pay for those who did not heed the message:

Ere long they found, in ruin and destruction by famine and war, their reward for crucifying God; for they condemned the Lord of Life to death, and paid no heed to God's truth displayed in Him through His glorious works. And thus the Truth of God destroyed them when He rose again to resume the majesty of His Father's Glory, and gave proof of the truth of that perfect Divinity which He possessed.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Intellectus David, 2 cum venissent Ziphæi, et dixissent ad Saul : Nonne David absconditus est apud nos?	Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. 2 When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us?
1 Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac: * et in virtúte tua júdica me.	3 Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength.
2  Deus, exáudi oratiónem meam: * áuribus pércipe verba oris mei.	4 O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.
3  Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: * et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum.	5 For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
4 Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: * et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.	6 For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
5  Avérte mala inimícis meis: * et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.	7 Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
6  Voluntárie sacrificábo tibi, * et confitébor nómini tuo, Dómine: quóniam bonum est :	8 I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God, to your name: because it is good:
7  Quóniam ex omni tribulatióne eripuísti me: * et super inimícos meos despéxit óculus meus.	9 For you have delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye has looked down upon my enemies.

And for the next part in this series, go here.

Psalm 53 v4 - The God who protects and sustains us

Verse 4 of Psalm 53 is a strong assertion of trust in God's help and protection.

Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.

For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary for verse 4 of Psalm 53 is:

adjuvo, juvi, jutum, are, to help, assist, support, give aid, animate

susceptor, oris, m.  a protector, helper, defender, guardian; a stay, support.

The most difficult of these words to translate is susceptor, since the word means not only protector, but also upholder and sustainer.  The verb related to it (suscipio) is a key part of the Benedictine profession ceremony.

A word by word crib for the verse runs:

Ecce (behold) enim (for) Deus (God) ádjuvat (helps) me: * et (and) Dóminus (the Lord) suscéptor (protector/sustainer) est (he is) ánimæ (of the soul) meæ (of me).

Confidence in God's help

At this point in the psalm, the tone suddenly changes, from that of humble petition, to a bold statement of confidence in God's protection, perfectly appropriate if the psalm is read as the voice of Christ.

In fact St Robert Bellarmine suggested that the change in tone goes back to the story of David’s escape from the betrayal of the Ziphites:

And, in fact, God’s interference was most sudden and unexpected; for, when Saul had so surrounded David with his army, that his escape seemed impossible, a messenger suddenly came to Saul, bringing news of the Philistines having come in a great body to ravage his kingdom; on hearing which he was obliged to give up the pursuit of David; who, in spirit, foresaw all this, and was, possibly, at the very moment pronouncing the words, “For behold, God is my helper; and the Lord is the protector of my soul.”

Similarly the Gospels set out numerous occasions when Christ eluded his persecutors, until that time when he chose to give himself up in order to fulfill his mission.

St Hilary of Poitier suggested it teaches us that we can be sure that God will indeed help us, even in the face of death:

Let pure religion, therefore, have this confidence, and doubt not that amid the persecutions at the hand of man and the dangers to the soul, it still has God for its helper, knowing that, if at length it comes to a violent and unjust death, the soul on leaving the tabernacle of the body finds rest with God its upholder.

The concept of God as our protector and upholder

The concept of God as not just our creator, but also our sustainer, both physically and spiritually is a key one, particularly for Benedictines, whose profession ceremony includes a plea for God to accept and uphold them.

The verse also has strong echoes, as St Thomas Aquinas pointed out, of a verse of Psalm 3, said daily at Matins in the Benedictine (but not Roman Office), namely ‘Tu autem, Dómine, suscéptor meus es, glória mea, et exáltans caput meum’ (But thou, O Lord art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head).

For this reason it is perhaps a little surprising that St Benedict excluded this psalm from Prime and tempting perhaps to think that it was not part of the hour then, but rather added later by St Gregory the Great by way of a summary of St Benedict’s version of the hour…).

In what does God’s help consist?

Either way, what does this protection include?

St Benedict’s sixth century contemporary pointed to forgiveness of sins, and hence the preservation of our souls, as the key help:

When the Lord supports a person, He does not merely help him in his coils, but also pities and frees him from all sins. Note that he says: Of my soul, so that even if his body is exposed to hazards, the safety of his soul is preserved unharmed. He realised that the Lord protects it in a special way among His saints, for it is through the soul that at the Judgment He is believed to crown a person with abundant love.

St Augustine’s take on the verse, though, which emphasizes the spiritual joys we can enjoy in this life, seems to me more appealing, and a strong reason for inclusion in the Office each day:

For all holy men are helped by God, but within, where no one sees. For in like manner as the conscience of ungodly men is a great punishment, so a great joy is the very conscience of godly men. For our glory this is, says the Apostle, the testimony of our conscience. In this within, not in the flower of the Ziphites without, does glory that man that now says, For behold God helps me. Surely though afar off are to be those things which He promises, this day have I a sweet and present help; today in my heart's joy I find that without cause certain say, Who does show to us good things? For there is signed upon us the light of Your countenance, O Lord, You have put pleasantness into my heart. Not into my vineyard, not into my flock, not into my cask, not into my table, but into my heart. For behold God helps me. How does He help you? And the Lord is the lifter up of my soul.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Intellectus David, 2 cum venissent Ziphæi, et dixissent ad Saul : Nonne David absconditus est apud nos?	Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. 2 When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us?
1 Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac: * et in virtúte tua júdica me.	3 Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength.
2  Deus, exáudi oratiónem meam: * áuribus pércipe verba oris mei.	4 O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.
3  Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: * et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum.	5 For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
4 Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: * et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.	6 For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
5  Avérte mala inimícis meis: * et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.	7 Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
6  Voluntárie sacrificábo tibi, * et confitébor nómini tuo, Dómine: quóniam bonum est :	8 I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God, to your name: because it is good:
7  Quóniam ex omni tribulatióne eripuísti me: * et super inimícos meos despéxit óculus meus.	9 For you have delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye has looked down upon my enemies.

The next part in this series can be found here.

Psalm 53 v 3 - On being strangers to the world, the flesh and the devil

Verse 3 of Psalm 53 states the central problem of the psalm: people the psalmist doesn’t know are seeking to harm him, ignoring all thought of God. Theodoret of Cyr paraphrased it as follows:

I need your assistance and support, 0 Lord, he is saying, harassed as I am by impious men trusting in their great power, human though it is and dependent on this belief in many gods, and longing to dispatch me to death. They presume to make this attempt against me, however, since they are ignorant of your providence, or rather they even despise it.

Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum

For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.

Looking at the Latin

The key vocabulary for this verse is:

alienus i m strange, not one's own; a stranger in a hostile, unfriendly sense

insurgo, surrexi, surrectum, ere 3 to rise up against, revolt against;

adversus or adversum, prep, with ace against; in the presence of, over against, before.

fortis, e, strong, mighty, patient, long-suffering

quaero, sivi, situm, ere 3,  to seek, seek after; to will, desire, think upon.

propono posui positum ere 3 to set or place before; to prefer, give preference to

ante, +acc, before,

conspectus, us, m. sight, presence;

Accordingly, a word by word rendering of the verse is:

Quóniam (for/because) aliéni (strangers) insurrexérunt (they have risen up) advérsum (against) me, et (and) fortes (the strong) quæsiérunt (they seek) ánimam (the soul) meam (mine): * et (and) non (not) proposuérunt (they have set/placed) Deum (God) ante (before) conspéctum (the sight/presence) suum (their).

A selection of English translations of the verse are set out below:

DR	For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
Brenton	For strangers have risen up against me, and mighty men have sought my life: they have not set God before them.
RSV	For insolent men have risen against me, ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before them.
Coverdale	For strangers are risen up against me; and tyrants, which have not God before their eyes, seek after my soul.
Knox	Scornful foes take arms against me, fierce foes that grudge me life itself, with no thought of God to check them.
Collegeville	For strangers have risen up against me, and the mighty have sought my soul; they set not God before their sight.
Grail	For proud men have risen against me, ruthless men seek my life. They have no regard for God.

Strangers or the proud and arrogant?

One of the key differences between the translations given above reflects the debate around the word alieni.

In the Scriptural story alluded to in the title of the verse, the strangers in question, the Ziphites, were Jews not gentiles, so the verse would seem not to be talking about foreigners.  

Some have argued, though, that in fact the Septuagint is a misreading of the original Hebrew, which should have been read as zedim (violent or arrogant ones), rather than zarim (strangers), and both the Pian and neo-Vulgate translations take this position.  

However, Jerome’s translation from the Hebrew, the Masoretic Text (which uses zuwr, Strong's H2114) and the Syriac all agree with the Septuagint in this case.

Vulgate	Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: * et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum.
Pian	Nam superbi insurrexerunt contra me, Et violenti quaesierunt vitam meam; Non proposuerunt Deum ante oculos suos.
Neo-Vulgate	Quoniam superbi insurrexerunt adversum me, et fortes quaesierunt animam meam et non proposuerunt Deum ante conspectum suum.
Jerome from the HebrewH	Quia alieni insurrexerunt adversum me, et fortes quaesierunt animam meam, et non posuerunt Deum in conspectu suo.
Septuagint	ὅτι ἀλλότριοι ἐπανέστησαν ἐ{P'} ἐμέ καὶ κραταιοὶ ἐζήτησαν τὴν ψυχήν μου οὐ προέθεντο τὸν θεὸν ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν διάψαλμα

Who are strangers to us?

In what sense then, are the Ziphites strangers to David (and Christ's betrayers to him)?

The first and most obvious meaning of stranger in this verse is simply people we don’t personally know.

David’s persecution by Saul was unjust, but he did at least know him, as St Robert Bellarmine notes:

Saul’s persecution was entirely grounded on his fears that David would, at one time come to the throne; and, therefore, sought to have his life at any risk; for though he knew him to be innocent, yet, so blinded was he by the desire of keeping the sovereignty in his own family, that he looked upon as fair and honorable, what, in reality, was the height of injustice..

What though is the motivation of the Ziphites?  St Thomas Aquinas suggests three: their inherent dispositions and desires, or what St Cassiodorus describes as the malevolence of their deranged minds; a desire for and trust in secular power wealth; and a contempt for God.

But the verse is applicable to Judas too, the Fathers argued, because we become strangers to God when we reject him through our action: strangers, St Cassiodorus argues, means ‘those who have become foreign to the Lord through their works’.

The problem of practical atheism

Although the title to the psalm talks specifically about individuals who betrayed David (and hence Christ), the Fathers also interpreted strangers to refer to the temptations that also assail us all, such as a desire for wealth, pleasure and power.

St Augustine, for example, warned that the mighty men who seek our souls can take the form of the world, the flesh and devil, and that by succumbing to these sources of temptation, we can become strangers to Christ.

Interestingly, the psalm’s reference to those who act as if God doesn’t exist is also a key theme that runs through the Benedictine version of Prime.

Many of the psalms St Benedict sets for Prime (Ps 1-2, 6-19) mirror the opening verses of Psalms 53’s plea for God to hear our prayer and vindicate the speaker; many are pleas for help in the face of persecution by enemies.  

And the proud, and arrogant who act as if God does not exist are the key target of the psalmists woes in this group of psalms.

On Monday for example, St Benedict sets Psalm 2, which deals with the kings of the earth – usually interpreted as Herod and the Jewish leaders – conspiring against Christ; on Wednesday, the section of Psalm 9 set for the hour uses almost the same words as Psalm 53 (Non est Deus in conspectus eius) to complain of the sinner who oppresses the poor seemingly without fear of consequences; and on Thursday Psalm 13 opens with the verse, The fool says in his heart, there is no God’.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
In finem, in carminibus. Intellectus David, 2 cum venissent Ziphæi, et dixissent ad Saul : Nonne David absconditus est apud nos?	Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. 2 When the men of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us?
1 Deus, in nómine tuo salvum me fac: * et in virtúte tua júdica me.	3 Save me, O God, by your name, and judge me in your strength.
2  Deus, exáudi oratiónem meam: * áuribus pércipe verba oris mei.	4 O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth.
3  Quóniam aliéni insurrexérunt advérsum me, et fortes quæsiérunt ánimam meam: * et non proposuérunt Deum ante conspéctum suum.	5 For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes.
4 Ecce enim Deus ádjuvat me: * et Dóminus suscéptor est ánimæ meæ.	6 For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul.
5  Avérte mala inimícis meis: * et in veritáte tua dispérde illos.	7 Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in your truth.
6  Voluntárie sacrificábo tibi, * et confitébor nómini tuo, Dómine: quóniam bonum est :	8 I will freely sacrifice to you, and will give praise, O God, to your name: because it is good:
7  Quóniam ex omni tribulatióne eripuísti me: * et super inimícos meos despéxit óculus meus.	9 For you have delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye has looked down upon my enemies.

And you can find the next post in this series on Psalm 53 here.