Psalms 150:1
Praise ye the Lord in his holy places: praise ye him in the firmament of his power.
Open Psalms 150:1 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Alleluja. Laudate Dominum in sanctis ejus ; laudate eum in firmamento virtutis ejus.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Ἁλληλουιά. Αἰνεῖτε τὸν θεὸν ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις αὐτοῦ, αἰνεῖτε αὐτὸν ἐν στερεώματι δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ·
- Hebrew (WLC)
- הַ֥לְלוּ יָ֨הּ הַֽלְלוּ אֵ֥ל בְּקָדְשׁ֑וֹ הַֽ֝לְל֗וּהוּ בִּרְקִ֥יעַ עֻזּֽוֹ
Haydock's commentary
Alleluia. This invitation is addressed to the sacred ministers, as the people and all creatures had been already exhorted to praise God. (Calmet)
This psalm was sung when the first-fruits were brought to the temple. (Selden, Syn. 3.)
The Lord. Hebrew el, "God." (Haydock)
Places. Hebrew, "his sanctuary," (Haydock) or heaven. (Calmet)
All both in heaven and earth sound forth his praises.
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 CL
4. “Praise the Lord in His saints,” that is, in those whom He hath glorified: “praise Him in the firmament of His power” ( ver. 1 ). “Praise Him in His deeds of strength;” or, as others have explained it, “in His deeds of power: praise Him according to the multitude of His greatness” ( ver. 2 ). All these His saints are; as the Apostle saith, “But we may be the righteousness of God in Him.” If then they be the righteousness of God, which He hath wrought in them, why are they not also the strength of Christ which He hath wrought in them, that they should rise again from the dead? For in Christ’s resurrection, “strength” is especially set forth to us, for in His Passion was weakness, as the Apostle saith. …
St Basil The Hexæmeron, On the Firmament
Now we must say something about the nature of the firmament, and why it received the order to hold the middle place between the waters. Scripture constantly makes use of the word firmament to express extraordinary strength. “The Lord my firmament and refuge.” “I have strengthened the pillars of it.” “Praise him in the firmament of his power.” The heathen writers thus call a strong body one which is compact and full, to distinguish it from the mathematical body. A mathematical body is a body which exists only in the three dimensions, breadth, depth, and height. A firm body, on the contrary, adds resistance to the dimensions. It is the custom of Scripture to call firmament all that is strong and unyielding. It even uses the word to denote the condensation of the air: He, it says, who strengthens the thunder. …