Psaumes

Introduction au chapitre

PSALM XLVII. (MAGNUS DOMINUS.)

God is greatly to be praised for the establishment of his Church.

Psaumes 47:1

Ver. 1. On the, &c. is not in Heb. nor Euseb. &c. It means Sunday, (S. Amb. W.) or rather Monday, being sung on that day. S. Jer. &c. H. --- The subject of the former canticle is continued, in thanksgiving to God, for some signal victory, or for the peace which God afforded to his people, after the death of Cambyses. C. --- The Fathers explain it of the propagation and peace of the Church. H.

Psaumes 47:2

Ver. 2. City, or temple, which lay to the north of old Jerusalem, on Sion. C. ---

Yet Genebrard,

&c. place this mountain south of Salem. M. --- The concourse of priests and people gave the appearance of a great city. Ezec. xl. 2. Is. xiv. 13. --- The Church is built upon a rock. C. --- The Jews and Christians are under the greatest obligation of praising God. W.

Psaumes 47:3

Ver. 3. With. Heb. "the beautiful situation, the joy of the whole earth, (M.) Sion, sides of," &c.

Chal. "Sion, thou art beautiful as a bride." Christ's Church is thus described.

Apoc. xxi. 2. C. ---

Its figure, (H.) the temple, was the glory of the whole country. Ps. xxv. 8. Lam.

ii. 15. C. --- But the Church alone extends to the sides of the north, or over the world. W.

Psaumes 47:4

Ver. 4. Houses. Heb. "palaces;" Sept. "towers." Baresi, a word which has again been mistaken for gravibus or gradibus, as v. 14. and Ps. xliv. 9. God is the defence of his people, (Prov. xviii.

10.) the Church, Mat. xvi. 18. C. --- All particular houses, or churches, must come to the unity of faith, (W.) and to the seat of Peter. S. Iræn. iii.

Psaumes 47:5

Ver. 5. Earth is superfluous. S. Jer. ad Sun. C. --- Yet it is found in the Vat. Sept.

&c. H. --- The kings of the earth assembled against the Church, (Ps. ii. 2.) as many came to oppose Jerusalem, under Cambyses. Ezec. xxviii. 2. 13. C.

Psaumes 47:6

Ver. 6. Saw. They could not say, like Cæsar, Veni, vidi, vici. For they no sooner came to invade the unsuspecting people, than they began to tremble. Ezec.

xxxviii. 11. &c. Ps. xlv. 7. H.

Psaumes 47:7

Ver. 7. There, denotes the promptitude of vengeance, as well as the following allusion. Is. xiii. 8.

1 Thes. v. 3.

Psaumes 47:8

Ver. 8. Vehement. Heb. "eastern." --- Tharsis, such strong-built ships, as might go to Tarsus, in Cilicia, (Gen. x. 4. C.) or to India. M. --- The merchants of Tharsis, the naval officers, shall say,

&c. There shall be a great commotion, &c. Ezec. xxxviii. 13. 19. --- The same storm proved fatal to the land and sea-forces of Cambyses. His navy is mentioned by Herodotus, (iii. 11. and 44.) and was probably stationed over against Acco, or Ptolemais, as the king perished at the foot of Carmel. C. ---

Nothing maketh a deeper impression than the sentiments of religion. God's grace enableth the soul to sustain all conflicts, and to overcome. W.

Psaumes 47:9

Ver. 9. Seen. All the promises have been fulfilled. How could any one have thought that we should have been permitted to dedicate this temple under the patronage of the king of Persia? (1

Esd. vi. 8.) Who would not have feared, lest the Christian religion should perish, under such violent persecutions? Converts admire its beauty and strength. C. --- The completion of the prophecies is a wonderful confirmation and comfort of Christians, (W.) whose faith is founded indeed for ever. H. ---

The gates of hell shall not prevail. M.

Psaumes 47:10

Ver. 10. Temple. Naou. Sept. S. Amb. &c. though the Vat. and Alex. copies have Laou,

"people," with the Arab. Ethiop. S. Aug. &c. H. --- In the Church we receive many graces, (C.) even Christ himself, (S. Amb.) to which those who refuse to be Catholics, can have no title. W.

Psaumes 47:11

Ver. 11. Earth. all who hear of the wonders of God, must praise him; and who can be ignorant of what He has done, (C.) in the defeat of the enemies of his people, (H.) of Sennacherib, Cambyses,

&c.? Yet all the earth will be instructed only by the propagation of the Gospel.

C. --- Justice, against thy enemies, (H.) though this word may here imply

"mercy," in opposition to the judgments, v. 12. C. --- These perfections are never at variance. W.

Psaumes 47:12

Ver. 12. Juda. Sept. Sym. &c. have "Judea," (C.) which would intimate, that the psalm was composed after the captivity. But the Hebrew reads Yehuda, "Juda,"

with S. Jerom. H.

Psaumes 47:13

Ver. 13. Surround. Heb. "walk round, (H.) tell her towers." S. Jer.

Psaumes 47:14

Ver. 14. Strength. Perhaps the outward wall, (Ezec. xl. 5.) not seen in Solomon's temple. ---

Houses. Heb. "palaces." Sept. "houses built like towers." Bareis. Jerusalem was not rebuilt or fortified, when the second temple was dedicated. 2 Esd. i. 3.

C. --- The fortresses of the Church are the holy Fathers and Doctors, who watch in her defence. Her pillars shall not fail. The particular Churches are all united in the same faith, and these reflections ought to prevail on all to embrace the same. W.

Psaumes 47:15

Ver. 15. Our God. Christ incarnate works all this. He shall rule over the Church, not for three or four hundred years only, but as long as time shall last, and He shall have a Church triumphant in eternity. W. --- Evermore. Heb. hal-moth. The letters being differently arranged, are rendered,

"in death." S. Jer. "even unto death." Prot. (H.) "in youth," (Chal.) or "in the secret" of Providence. It may form a part of the following title, "over the young women," as Ps. ix. and xlv.

C. --- But then it would probably come after lamnatseach. The psalmist inculcates the perpetual duration of the Church under God's conduct, by three terms. In sæculum & ultra...usque ad mortem, "till death," (Pagn.) or

"incessantly." Sym. H. --- This psalm may also express the sentiments of a penitent, (Bert.) or of one who is put in possession of unchangeable felicity. H.