Psalms 20:5
He asked life of thee: and thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever.
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- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Vitam petiit a te, et tribuisti ei longitudinem dierum, in sæculum, et in sæculum sæculi.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ζωὴν ᾐτήσατό σε, καὶ ἔδωκας αὐτῷ, μακρότητα ἡμερῶν εἰς αἰῶνα αἰῶνος.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 21:5
- חַיִּ֤ים שָׁאַ֣ל מִ֭מְּךָ נָתַ֣תָּה לּ֑וֹ אֹ֥רֶךְ יָ֝מִ֗ים עוֹלָ֥ם וָעֶֽד
Haydock's commentary
And ever. David was much favoured, and reigned a long time, as well as his posterity, 2 Kings vii. 12, 29. But this was literally verified only in the Messias, (Calmet) who was his son; (Haydock) and founded his Church on a rock, to endure unto the end. (Calmet)
What do we ask for on earth? All will be lost if we have not life; and this we cannot obtain for ever, without rising again. Therefore Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life, John xi. 25.
We must live in him by faith, (Berthier) and suffer before we can expect a crown.
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 Irenaeus Against Heresies: Book II, Chapter XXXIV. Souls can be
3. For as the heaven which is above us, the firmament, the sun, the moon, the rest of the stars, and all their grandeur, although they had no previous existence, were called into being, and continue throughout a long course of time according to the will of God, so also any one who thinks thus respecting souls and spirits, and, in fact, respecting all created things, will not by any means go far astray, inasmuch as all things that have been made had a beginning when they were formed, but endure as long as God wills that they should have an existence and continuance. …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm XXI
5. “He asked life; and Thou gavest Him:” He asked a resurrection, saying, “Father, glorify Thy Son;” and Thou gavest it Him, “Length of days for ever and ever” ( ver. 4 ). The prolonged ages of this world which the Church was to have, and after them an eternity, world without end.