Psalms 135:5
Who made the heavens in understanding: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Open Psalms 135:5 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Qui fecit cælos in intellectu, quoniam in æternum misericordia ejus.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- τῷ ποιήσαντι τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἐν συνέσει, ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ·
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 136:5
- לְעֹשֵׂ֣ה הַ֭שָּׁמַיִם בִּתְבוּנָ֑ה כִּ֖י לְעוֹלָ֣ם חַסְדּֽוֹ
Haydock's commentary
Understanding. Or Son, who is the uncreated Wisdom, (St. Augustine) or to lead us to the knowledge of him. All has been made by the divine power and wisdom. Cajetan, &c., would assert the heavens to be intelligent, or governed by angels, Genesis i. 14. (Orig.[Origen?] Prin. 1., &c.)
But this opinion is generally rejected.
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 CXXXVI
4. Let us therefore “give thanks to the God of gods, and the Lord of lords, for His mercy,” etc. “Who alone did wonderful things” ( ver. 4 ). As at the last part of every verse, it is written, “For His mercy endureth for ever,” so we must understand at the beginning of each, though it be not written, “Give thanks.” Which indeed in the Greek is very plain. It would be so in Latin, if our translators had been able to make use of that expression. Which indeed they could have done in this verse, if they had said, “To Him who doeth wonderful things.” For where we have, “who did wonderful things,” the Greek has τῷ ποιήσαντι , where we must necessarily understand, “give thanks.” And I would they had added the pronoun, and said to Him, “who did,” or to Him “who doeth,” or to Him “who made sure;” because then one might easily understand, “let us give thanks.” For now it is so obscurely rendered, …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm CXXXVI
5. But what meaneth, “who alone doeth great wonders”? Is it because many wonderful things He hath done by means of angels and men? Some wonderful things there are which God doeth alone, and these he enumerates, saying, “who by His wisdom made the heavens” ( ver. 5 ), “who stretched out the earth above the waters” ( ver. 6 ), “who alone made great lights” ( ver. 7 ). For this reason did he add “alone” in this verse also, because the other wonders which he is about to tell of, God did by means of man. For having said, “who alone made great lights,” he goes on to explain what these are, “the sun to rule the day” ( ver. 8 ), “the moon and stars to govern the night” ( ver. 9 ); then he begins to tell the wonders which He did by means of angels and men: “who smote Egypt with their first-born” ( ver. 10 ), and the rest. …