Psalms 128:8
And they that have passed by have not said: The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we have blessed you in the name of the Lord.
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- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Et non dixerunt qui præteribant : Benedictio Domini super vos. Benediximus vobis in nomine Domini.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ οὐκ εἶπαν οἱ παράγοντες Εὐλογία Κυρίου ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς, εὐλογήσομεν ὑμᾶς ἐν ὀνόματι Κυρίου.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 129:8
- וְלֹ֤א אָֽמְר֨וּ הָעֹבְרִ֗ים בִּרְכַּֽת יְהוָ֥ה אֲלֵיכֶ֑ם בֵּרַ֥כְנוּ אֶ֝תְכֶ֗ם בְּשֵׁ֣ם יְהוָֽה
Haydock's commentary
Upon you. Chaldean adds, "and they did not reply."
We, &c. (Haydock)
The custom of blessing reapers continued in the days of St. Augustine, Ruth ii. 4. (Calmet)
The wicked render themselves incapable of deriving benefit from the good wishes of others. (Berthier)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm CXXIX
10. “So that they who go by say not so much as, The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we have blessed you in the name of the Lord” ( ver. 8 ). For ye know, brethren, when men pass by others at work, it is customary to address them, “The blessing of the Lord be upon you.” And this was especially the custom in the Jewish nation. No one passed by and saw any one doing any work in the field, or in the vineyard, or in harvest, or anything of the sort; it was not lawful to pass by without a blessing.…Who are the passers by? They who have already passed hence to their country through this road, that is, through this life: the Apostles were passers by in this life, the Prophets were passers by. …
St John Cassian The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV, Chapter IX. How valuable to the perfect is the forgetfulness of sin
But with regard to this that you said a little way back; viz., that you of set purpose go over the recollections of past sins, this ought certainly not to be done, nay, if it forcibly surprises you, it must be at once expelled. For it greatly hinders the soul from the contemplation of purity, and especially in the case of one who is living in solitude, as it entangles him in the stains of this world and swamps him in foul sins. For while you are recalling those things which you did through ignorance or wantonness in accordance with the prince of this world, though I grant you that while you are engaged in these thoughts no delight in them steals in, yet at least the mere taint of the ancient filthiness is sure to corrupt your soul with its foul stink, and to shut out the spiritual fragrance of goodness, i.e., the odour of a sweet savour. …
The Fathers are given as they wrote. Where a passage lays the Passion on the Jewish people, the Church teaches that it cannot be charged against all the Jews then living, nor against the Jews of today, and that all sinners were its authors (CCC 597, 598).