Si vere utique. David reproveth the wicked, and foretelleth their punishment.
Holie Dauid inueigheth against dissembling wicked men. 7. describeth their manifold punishment, 11. wherin the iust shal be comforted.
1Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title.Non mandare in perdizione: a Davidde: iscrizione da mettersi sopra una colonna.Vnto the end, destroy not, to Dauid in, the inscription of the title.In finem, ne disperdas. David in tituli inscriptionem. 2If in very deed ye speak justice: judge right things, ye sons of men.Se veramente voi parlate per la giustizia, siano retti i vostri giudizi, o figliuoli degli uomini.IF in very dede you speake iustice: iudge right thinges ye sonnes of men.Si vere utique justitiam loquimini, / recta judicate, filii hominum. 3For in your heart you work iniquity: your hands forge injustice in the earth.Ma voi nel cuore operate l'iniquità: le vostre mani lavorano ingiustizie sopra la terra.For in the hart you worke iniquities: in the earth your handes forge iniustice.Etenim in corde iniquitates operamini; / in terra injustitias manus vestræ concinnant. 4The wicked are alienated from the womb; they have gone astray from the womb: they have spoken false things.Si sono alienati da Dio i peccatori fino dal loro nascere, fin dal seno della madre han deviato; han parlato con falsità.Sinners are alienated from the matrice, they haue erred from the wombe: they haue spoken false thinges.Alienati sunt peccatores a vulva; / erraverunt ab utero: / locuti sunt falsa. 5Their madness is according to the likeness of a serpent: like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ears:Il loro furore è simile a quello di un serpente, simile a quello di un'aspide sorda, che si chiude le orecchie;They haue furie according to the similitude of a serpent: as of the aspe that is deafe, and stoppeth his eares.Furor illis secundum similitudinem serpentis, / sicut aspidis surdæ et obturantis aures suas, 6Which will not hear the voice of the charmers; nor of the wizard that charmeth wisely.La quale non udirà la voce dell'incantatore, e del mago perito degli incantesimi.Which wil not heare the voice of the inchanters, and of the sorcerer inchanting wisely.quæ non exaudiet vocem incantantium, / et venefici incantantis sapienter. 7God shall break in pieces their teeth in their mouth: the Lord shall break the grinders of the lions.Dio stritolerà i loro denti nella lor bocca, il Signore spezzerà la mascelle de' lioni.God shal breake their teeth in their mouth, the checke tooth of the lions, our Lord wil breake in peeces.Deus conteret dentes eorum in ore ipsorum; / molas leonum confringet Dominus. 8They shall come to nothing, like water running down; he hath bent his bow till they be weakened.Si ridurran nel niente, com' acqua, che scorre; egli tien teso il suo arco, per sino a tanto che siano abbattuti.They shal come to nothing as water running downe: he hath bent his bow til they be weakened.Ad nihilum devenient tamquam aqua decurrens; / intendit arcum suum donec infirmentur.
9Like wax that melteth they shall be taken away: fire hath fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun.Saranno strutti, come cera che si fonde: cadde il fuoco sopra di essi, e non vider più il sole.As waxe that melteth, shal they be taken away: fyre hath falne on them, and they haue not seene the sunne.Sicut cera quæ fluit auferentur; / supercecidit ignis, et non viderunt solem. 10Before your thorns could know the brier; he swalloweth them up, as alive, in his wrath.Prima che queste vostre spine si sentano fatte un roveto, così ei lì divorerà nel suo sdegno, quasi ancor vivi.Before your thornes did vnderstand the old bryar: as liuing so in wrath he swalloweth them.Priusquam intelligerent spinæ vestræ rhamnum, / sicut viventes sic in ira absorbet eos. 11The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge: he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.Si allegrerà il giusto nel veder la vendetta: laverà le mani sue nel sangue del peccatore.The iust shal reioice when he shal see reuenge: he shal wash his handes in the bloud of a sinner.Lætabitur justus cum viderit vindictam; / manus suas lavabit in sanguine peccatoris. 12And man shall say: If indeed there be fruit to the just: there is indeed a God that judgeth them on the earth.E uomo dirà: Certamente se v'ha frutto pel giusto, v'ha certamente un Dio, che giudica costoro sopra la terra.And man shal say: If certes there be fruite to the iust: there is a God certes iudging them on the earth.Et dicet homo: Si utique est fructus justo, / utique est Deus judicans eos in terra.
57:1
St. Jerome
Title. This psalm is a sequel to the former, (Worthington) and refers to the malevolent speeches of Saul's courtiers, (1 Kings 24:10., and 26:7.; Calmet) and to the proceedings of the Jews against Christ. (St. Jerome)
Berthier
It is an invective against hypocrites, (Calmet) and detractors. (Berthier)
57:2
Calmet
Men. If you be consulted by Saul, and act as judges, do what is right. Condemn not a man unheard. (Calmet)
Worthington
Few refuse to speak well. (Worthington)
Hebrew also, "O assembly," act not hypocritically.
57:3
Haydock
Heart. Hence proceed evil thoughts, etc. (Haydock)
St. Augustine
Quicquid vis et non potes, factum Deus computat. (St. Augustine)
Calmet
Forge, as you endeavour to preserve the appearance of rectitude. Hebrew, "weigh" in scales. (Calmet)
Worthington
This double-dealing aggravates the fault. (Worthington)
57:4
Haydock
Womb. Born in sin. (Haydock)
Calmet
They have followed the same course through life, being always bent on wickedness. (Calmet)
57:5
Menochius
Madness; or "poison," chamath. (Menochius)
Worthington
Deaf asp. This is the most dangerous species. The ancients attempted to charm serpents. But these courtiers were deaf to every proof of David's innocence, (Calmet, Diss.) and would receive no admonition, stopping their ears, like asps. (Worthington)
Menochius
The prophet speaks conformably to the received opinion, (Berthier) without determining it to be true. (Menochius)
57:6
Calmet
Wisely. "Cunningly." Many read, qui incantatur a sapiente. (Calmet)
Menochius
He does not approve of the magical art. (Menochius)
57:9
Haydock
Wax. Hebrew shabbelul, occurs no where else, and this signification is surely preferable to that of the Rabbins, "a snail." (Protestants) (Haydock)
Houbigant after St. Jerome
Fire. Hebrew, "like the untimely birth of a woman, which has not seen the sun." (Houbigant after St. Jerome)
Haydock
Septuagint may not have read th at the end of esh, "fire." But both version imply, that the wicked shall perish, without resource (Berthier) or struggle. This in enforced by a multiplicity of examples. (Haydock)
57:10
Challoner
Before your thorns, etc. That is, before your thorns grow up, so as to become strong briers, they shall be overtaken and consumed by divine justice, swallowing them up, as it were, alive in his wrath. (Challoner)
Haydock
You shall be cut off when you least think of it. (Menochius) (Psalm 54:24.) (Haydock)
Berthier
David probably alludes to the proposal mentioned, (Judges 9:14.) where the brier (rhammus) invites all the trees to come under its shade. Before you, my followers, shall fall under the oppression of our cruel persecutors, they shall be suddenly destroyed. (Berthier)
"Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away, as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath." (Protestants)
Haydock
This version of Pagnin is rejected by Montanus, who nearly follows the Vulgate. Sirothecem means, "your thorns, or pots," Ecclesiastes 7:7. (Haydock)
57:11
Challoner
Shall wash his hands, etc. Shall applaud the justice of God, and take occasion, from the consideration of the punishment of the wicked, to wash and cleanse his hands from sin. (Challoner)
Theodoret
Hands. Hebrew, "feet," (though this is not certain. Psalm 73:4.; Berthier) and all his body; the carnage shall be so great. The just approve of God's judgments, (Calmet) in or "over," epi, to testify that he has no connexion with the wicked. (Theodoret)
Berthier
The just will purify himself still more at the sight of vengeance. This interpretation is good, but no so literal. (Berthier)
57:12
Calmet
A God. Hebrew Elohim shophetim. Both are in the plural, which has induced many to suppose that angels, etc., are meant; yet the plural is sometimes used, when speaking of the true God, Genesis 20:13., and Josue 24:19. (Calmet)
Berthier
Houbigant translates, "gods," which he explains of the pastors of the Church, or "judges." The reward of virtue, and punishment of vice, are very important truths. Let us wait till the time of harvest, and all will be in its proper place. (Berthier)
57:10
Before your thorns, etc.... That is, before your thorns grow up, so as to become strong briers, they shall be overtaken and consumed by divine justice, swallowing them up, as it were, alive in his wrath.
57:11
Shall wash his hands, etc.... Shall applaud the justice of God, and take occasion from the consideration of the punishment of the wicked to wash and cleanse his hands from sin.
57:1
This Psalme was made vpon the same occasion, and to the same purpose as the former,
to exhorte the iust and innocent to patience,
by Dauids memorable example.
57:2
Few are so wicked, but they speake and pretend iust thinges:
57:3
but neither thincke wel,
nor do wel, but both contrarie, which feaned sanctitie is duble iniquitie.
57:4
g These wicked sinners that flatter and incite king Saul, seme to haue spent al their life from their infancie in malice.
57:5
Their furie is vnquiet, til they may wound the innocent with their poisonful sting,
i neither wil they harken to good admonitions, but stoppe their eares like an aspe, that layeth one eare close to the ground, and stoppeth the other with his taile.
57:7
But God wil breake their cruel force,
though it semeth most strong, and in superable.
57:8
Gods iust determination of punishing the wicked stil remaineth bent and readie, though execution be some while differred.
57:9
That force and powre which is now inuincible, hard and strong like a lions strongest teeth, shal then be as impotent and soft as waxe:
Gods wrath, like fire, the most forcible element, shal fil vpon them, and they shal be cast into vtter darkenes, depriued of the sunne and al comfortable light.
57:10
Before their malice can bring to effect, the great mischieffes which they plotte and purpose, God suddainly cutteth them of before they fully vnderstand of, either sicknes or death, casteth them as it were aliue into hel.
57:11
The iust reioyce in the punishment of the wicked for three causes, first in zele of iustice, conforming his wil and mind to Gods iudgement; secondly, for that himselfe through Gods mercie hath escaped that terrible damnation; thirdly, for that he is now deliuered from molestation, and continual tribulation.
57:12
The iust seing, or by faith knowing what punishment remaineth for the wicked, is therby assured that the good shal reape fruict for his wel doing, and that in the meane time God ruleth and iudgeth on the earth, though as yet it appeareth not so euidently.
57:1
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Baptism, Against the Donatists 2.7
… For how does the apostle himself come to say so much about the sins of schisms and heresies? Or how comes that verse in the Psalms, "If of a truth ye love justice, judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.1
1. The words which we have sung must be rather hearkened to by us, than proclaimed. For to all men as it were in an assemblage of mankind, the Truth crieth, “If truly indeed justice ye speak, judge right things, ye sons of men” (
57:2
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.3
3. But now ye do what? Why these things to you do I speak? “Because in heart iniquities ye work on earth” (
57:3
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.10.1
… As also David says, “The alienated are sinners from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born.”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.41.3
… so in the same way is it with God,—those who do not obey Him being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons. Wherefore they cannot receive His inheritance: as David says, “Sinners are alienated from the womb; their anger is after the likeness of a serpent.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 7.50
… They say, “I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me;” also, “They are estranged from the womb;” which is followed by the singular expression, “They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus 3.43
… and I thought it better to exorcise the madness of one who was raving, and to pour in the antidote of a single book into his poisoned breast. But I fear I shall have no success, and that I shall be compelled to sing the song of David, and to take his words for my only consolation:
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
… Paul says ( Rom. v. 14 ), they sin “after the similitude of Adam”; or, “when Christ, as the firstborn, opened the virgin’s womb” ( Exod. xiii. 2 ). The heretics refused to acknowledge the mystery, which was prefigured by the Eastern door of the Temple ( Ezek. xliv. 2 ), which closed again when once the High Priest had gone through it.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.4
4. “Alienated are sinners from the womb, they have gone astray from the belly, they have spoken false things” (
57:4
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 18.25
… except when he had been prepared and armed and set in hostile array against that which was advancing to injure him. So that this sweet disposition of his would not, as the saying goes, have been stirred by tens of thousands. For the wrath which he had was not like that of the serpent,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
… If you were deaf and dumb, let the Word sound in your ears, or rather keep there Him Who hath sounded. Do not shut your ears to the Instruction of the Lord, and to His Counsel, like the adder to charms.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 4.11
… for some have a sense of hearing like that of beasts, which is not to be charmed or moved to pity; and reproaching such the Psalmist says, “They are like the deaf adder, that stoppeth her ears.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 2
Let us therefore take heed that it be not said of us, that our ears are those of a deaf adder. (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 139
The best course you can take is to leave everything and to come to the East, before all to the holy places; for everything is now quiet here. The heretics have not, it is true, purged the venom from their breasts, but they do not venture to open their impious mouths. They are “like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.6
6. “Indignation to them after the similitude of a serpent” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 67.10
10. How should we will that to us He come? By living well, by doing well. Let not things past please us; things present not hold us; let us not “close the ear” as it were with tail,
57:5
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.20
… Or else we allege excuses in our sins, by devising pleas in defence of our falls, or tightly closing our ears, like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ears, we are obstinate in refusing to hear the voice of the charmer, and be treated with the medicines of wisdom,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 14.4
… “With their tongues they have dealt craftily.” Flattery is the companion of the greedy and of all bad men. “The poison of asps is under their lips.” By “poison,” he means deceit; and “of asps,” because they will not hear the precepts of the law, as asps “will not hear the voice of the charmer;”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.6
… there followeth, “As if of a deaf asp.” Whence deaf? “And closing its ears.” Therefore deaf, because it closeth its ears. “And closing its ears.” “Which will not hearken to the voice of men charming, and of the medicine medicated by the wise man” (
57:6
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 10.4.28
28. For when the Great Shepherd had driven away the wild animals and wolves and every cruel and savage beast, and, as the divine oracles say, ‘had broken the jaws of the lions,’
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.8
8. “God hath broken utterly the teeth of them in their own mouth” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.10
10. “The jaw-bones of lions the Lord hath broken utterly.”
57:7
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.11
11. “They shall be despised like water running down” (
57:8
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.12
12. “Like wax melted they shall be taken away” (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 9.6
… that so the will not to resist may be elicited from them, and not that they should be brought in against their will: for it is written, I will sacrifice to thee willingly (
57:9
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.14
14. “Before that the bramble bringeth forth your thorns: as though living, as though in anger, it shall drink them up” (
57:10
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Infants' Early Deaths 1
… Somewhere in his utterances the great David declares that some portion of the blessedness of the virtuous will consist in this; in contemplating side by side with their own felicity the perdition of the reprobate. He says, “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance; he shall wash his hands in the blood of the ungodly
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philemon 3
… For if they were destined to meet with the same things, they would all be bad. But now this also does not a little console the good. For hear the Prophet, saying, “The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance upon the ungodly, he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 57.15
15. Therefore there hath risen psaltery and harp in the dawn, and he confesseth to the Lord; and saith what? “I will confess to Thee among the peoples, O Lord, and will play to Thee among the nations: for magnified even unto the Heavens hath been Thy mercy, and even unto the clouds Thy truth” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.15
Therefore saith the Scripture, “The just man shall rejoice when he shall have seen vengeance” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 58.16
16. “And a man shall say, If therefore there is fruit to a just man” (
57:11
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 57.15
… Giving therefore to Him thanks, let us say with the same Psalm the last verses, which sometime since too I have said, “Be Thou exalted above the Heavens, O God, and above all the earth Thy glory” (
57:5
… Thus, for example, the illustrators of the Psalter represent the wicked in the image of the asp that stops its ear (Ps. 57:5-6), to which is linked the christological prophecy "super aspidem et basiliscum ambulabis, conculcabis leonem et draconem," already depicted in the early Christian era; but in order …
57:8
… Thus Ps. 53 repeats Ps. 14; Ps. 70 repeats Ps. 40, 14-18; Ps. 108 consists of Ps. 57, 8-12 plus 60, 7-14.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.