The following is from a book entitled: "The Psalms of David equipped with various calendars and commentaries that most fully reveal the genuine meaning and Hebrew idioms, by Gilbert Genebrard, Doctor of Theology at Paris and Archbishop of Aix; lastly, selections translated from his works on the Symbol of St Athanasius, taken from the third book On the Holy Trinity, enriched in many places with Latin explanations of Hebrew words and expressions. To these, finally, a new index has been added to the old one, in addition to the Hebrew terms that had previously been noted.” For more information on Fr. Gilbert see here. Text in red are my additons.
Ps 24:1. The first Sabbath, that is, the Lord’s Day, on which Christ rose again. This [Psalm] is referred to that day not only because it was sung on it, but also because it contained a mystery concerning Christ rising again, and thence, after forty days, ascending into heaven with triumph. The Masoretic text simply reads "A psalm of David," while the Greek text (LXX), reflected here, reads: "A Psalm of David for the first Day of the Week." This was the day on which are Blessed Lord rose, and it became the Christian "Sabbath."
“The earth is the Lord’s.” He places two verses before the question that is posed, in order to teach that not only Israelites are called to heaven or to the Church, but the whole world as well. Thus there is a tacit prophecy concerning the conversion of the nations and peoples of the world. “The whole earth,” says Euthymius, “which previously was held under the power of demons, has become universal through Christ’s resurrection.” This is a metonymy for the earth and its inhabitants. Paul uses this more broadly when he confirms from this passage that no kind of food is unclean, because “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,” against the Manicheans, who taught that its lord was an evil god. “Fullness” (plenitudo): thus the Hebrews call whatever is contained within something.
Ps 24:2. “He founded it upon the seas.” He established the earth, towering above the seas and rivers. For although water by nature ought to have covered the earth, yet for the preservation and use of animals it has been driven into channels and cavities of the earth, so that, contrary to the order of nature, the earth now rises above the waters. Otherwise, there would be no place for humans to dwell, unless they themselves were to swim in the water like fish. Hence shores are higher near the sea. Thus Ibn Ezra and almost all the Rabbis. This especially commends the omnipotence of God, for the position of the waters is least natural to them but wholly divine, since on the third day of creation God overturned their natural order by His will and placed the earth higher in position and place.
Rabbi Ben Silham prefers that “upon” here mean “beside” (iuxta), since the earth is not far from seas and rivers. Many Greeks explain this literally, perhaps deceived by Thales of Miletus, who asserted that the earth floats upon water like a raft or a framework of timbers, as reported by Aristotle, or by Plato, who dreamed that there was a certain fountain of the lands in which the earth itself was immersed. They say—for Chrysostom follows this—that the earth lies wholly upon water as upon a foundation, which by its own nature is fluid and unstable, but by the power of God is firm and fixed.
But far more correctly, following Basil’s Hexaemeron, the earth has for its foundation the will and command of God. Hence Job sings that it is founded upon nothing: He prepared it, directed it, established it, strengthened it. All these things are contained here. Therefore, among the Septuagint, the verb “to prepare” is taken in this sense in other places as well.
Ps 24:3. “Who shall ascend into the mountain?” The Hebrews understand this of Mount Moriah and the Temple, the place of the Ark, when the Ark was brought in and set in the Temple or Tabernacle after David had offered the holocaust. You understand it of heaven or the Church. This question is asked in wonder, because by nature this cannot be done—either because our body by nature is heavy and tends downward, or because we would be worn out by so great a journey. For according to geometers and astronomers, even if we were to traverse daily ten German miles, or sixty Italian miles, or twenty Gallic leagues, we would not reach it in four thousand years, or, according to Isaac, even in five hundred years. These considerations no longer apply when God has restored our body with glorious qualities, or when the soul, stripped of the body, is no longer subject to such animal and sluggish motions, but remains stable.
Some restrict this too narrowly, explaining it of ministering to God in the Temple. For priests and those who serve at the altar are said to “stand,” as in Elijah’s words: “The Lord lives, before whom I stand.”
Ps 24:4. “Innocent in hands,” that is, in deeds performed—a metonymy, since hands are the instruments of works and actions. “Pure in heart,” that is, in thoughts. “Who has not lifted up his soul in vain,” that is, perversely, frivolously, rashly—so that he does not occupy himself with things for which he was not created. He who uses his soul for evil or vanity, says Augustine, applies it to empty and non-enduring things. Concerning sins of omission. The remaining parts of this verse refer to the three sins of commission: deeds, thoughts, and words.
“His soul” (נַפְשׁוֹ naphshō) is translated as it is written today in all copies. This reading the Chaldean follows: “who does not swear falsely to the condemnation of his soul.” Some correct the scribes and read נַפְשִׁי (naphshī, “my soul”), but too boldly; therefore more recent interpreters who translate it thus—“who has not taken my soul in vain,” that is, has not sworn by me—are rightly rejected. They say that “soul” is attributed to God, either in a human manner of speaking (as hands and feet are said of Him), or according to the Hebrew idiom by which God is sometimes introduced as swearing by His soul, that is, by Himself. But they wrongly attribute this to a correction of the scribes (tiqqun sopherim). Elias explicitly says, following Kimhi on the root נפש (naphash), that they err who think it is written נַפְשׁוֹ (naphshō) or נַפְשִׁי (naphshī), since there is only a small waw there, exactly as Scripture requires. “In deceit,” that is, deceitfully, maliciously, or falsely. “To his neighbor” is added for explanation, as is evident from the source.
Ps 24:5. “And mercy / righteousness.” Righteousness properly—Greek ἐλεημοσύνη (eleēmosynē), mercy or kindness. Thus they translated it against the Pelagians, since this righteousness which is given to the pious by the Lord is a kind of mercy, not sheer justice, in that He mercifully accepts and rewards their good works. The grace of God is eternal life, and, as Augustine says, He crowns His own gifts in us. Thus: “Redeem your sins with almsgiving”—where the Hebrew has “with righteousness.” To this some refer “the Sun of righteousness,” the Sun of kindness, who graciously imparts His light and warmth. Others understand righteousness as the fruit or reward of virtue and justice.
Ps 24:6. “This is the generation.” This age, which attains the mercy of God, consists of those who seek God; for this is the very generation that obtains God’s mercy and blessing—those who seek the face of God. “Your face, O Jacob.” Whether this is an apostrophe to the Church under the name of Jacob, or to Jacob himself, the force of the mystery is not changed in the least. For to seek the face of God and to seek the face of the Church necessarily go together. Although perhaps some translated “of Jacob” as “of him.”
Add that in Hebrew there may be an ellipsis of the preposition: “your face, O God, in Jacob.” “You are my God in Israel, because in you I shall glory”—this wonderfully illuminates the passage against the Judaizers. For the entire section is about Christ, not about Israel as such or the merely Israelite people, but about the Church. A similar ellipsis is received in that place: “my servant” [sc. “in Jacob”].
Ps 24:7. “Lift up your gates.” The Ascension of Christ is explained through a dialogue—by angels, partly those standing in heaven and partly those accompanying Christ in His ascent, or even by the righteous who had risen with Christ—according to Dionysius, Justin, and all the Fathers. “Lift up,” therefore, say the angels who go before Christ ascending into heaven, “O princes, O guardians, lift up your gates, that the King may enter gloriously, followed by this generation.”
To this the Chaldean paraphrase adds: “Lift up, O gates of the house of holiness, your heads, and be raised up, O everlasting gates; raise up the gates of the paradise of Eden your heads, and let the King of glory enter.” In Hebrew: “Lift up, O gates, your heads.” But the Septuagint, by a hypallage, followed the sense and explained the prosopopoeia, so that the apostrophe is directed to the angelic princes, the guardians and, as it were, the doorkeepers, concerning Christ ascending with the company of Patriarchs, Prophets, and other Saints. The Hebrew, "lift up, O gates, your heads," indicates that the lintel or header of the temple gates is being addressed.
The Rabbis, not grasping this, refer it to the building of the Temple, exhorting the pious to observe more fervently the Law, the worship of the Law, and the ceremonies: “O princes, lift up the gates of your Temple,” and so forth. More simply, if it is understood of the Church, it is an exhortation of the Psalmist or of the Apostles to the peoples, that they submit themselves to Christ and His Gospel and give Him place.
Since, therefore, such great things await them, and such are those who are to ascend into heaven, “Lift up, O princes, your gates, to receive the King of glory; and O everlasting gates,” that is, the gates of the Church destined to endure forever—not like those of Moses, which were at some point to be replaced—“grant wide entrance to this King.” Thus below: “Make way for him who ascends above the ocean.”
If this is understood of heaven: “everlasting gates,” that is, gates remaining forever, or the gates of heaven which had been closed from eternity. For before Christ, the way of heaven had not yet been opened to the righteous; rather, they descended into Abraham’s bosom—a place indeed of refreshment, but nevertheless part of the underworld. To these Christ has now opened the way for us. “Open yourselves wide and broad to the victorious Lord who is entering.”
Against the Rabbis he sets the “eternity” of the gates of Solomon’s Temple—that is, their stability and long-lasting fixed state—over against the instability of the Mosaic Tabernacle, which until then had lacked a fixed location at Shiloh, Nob, and elsewhere. Thus also the Ark, before the Temple was built, frequently changed its place.
“The King of glory.” Christ is called the King of glory not only because He is a glorious king and glory and splendor belong to Him by nature, but also because He bestows glory—according to which meaning Christ Himself is called “glory.”
Ps 24:8. “Who is this King of glory?” The angels, guardians of the gates, marvel at the majesty and triumph of Christ as man; and others immediately reply. If you refer this to the Church, the princes and nations marvel at the proclamation of so great a King and ask who this King of glory is, so greatly celebrated. To them it is answered that He is God, strong and mightier than the demons, and so forth—He who in battle with Satan, death, hell, sin, idols, and the like, won a victory worthy of remembrance.
According to the Rabbis, this refers to Pharaoh, the Syrians, Sennacherib, and other enemies of His people, over whom He triumphed; hence the Lord is called “as a mighty man,” and everywhere “the Lord of hosts,” the Lord of battles, and the like.
Ps 24:9. “Lift up your gates.” They judge the eighth verse to be a prosopopoeia concerning the Ark being brought into the Holy of Holies, so that it might be used in a more august, holy, and secure manner, since before Solomon’s Temple human access to it had been too common and profane. But they teach that this tenth verse is now inserted concerning the second coming of the Messiah in glory. Consult Ibn Ezra.
Ps 24:10. “The Lord of hosts.” Christ is the Lord of powers or hosts—that is, of angels and of righteous humans—whom He has as hosts to surround His majesty and to carry out His commands. Or, in other words, this expresses what was said before: “mighty in battle.” Indeed, “hosts” also signifies whatever is contained in heaven and on earth. Thus the Lord is the Lord of hosts, that is, of all created things, which He uses whenever He wills as forces and armies for His dominion.
CONTINUE.
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