Psalms 36:8
Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil.
Open Psalms 36:8 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Desine ab ira, et derelinque furorem ; noli æmulari ut maligneris.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- παῦσαι ἀπὸ ὀργῆς καὶ ἐνκατάλιπε θυμόν, μὴ παραζήλου ὥστε πονηρεύεσθαι.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 37:8
- הֶ֣רֶף מֵ֭אַף וַעֲזֹ֣ב חֵמָ֑ה אַל תִּ֝תְחַ֗ר אַךְ לְהָרֵֽעַ
Haydock's commentary
Evil. Repining (Menochius) at the ways of Providence, &c. (Calmet) (ver. 1.)
Reflect on God's will. (Haydock)
Laboras; sed in viâ Dei. (St. Augustine)
Hebrew, "be not angry nevertheless (ac, a word which Houbigant deems useless) to do evil;" (Montanus) or "against the wicked," (Prin. dis.) as lehareah may be perhaps signified; though it is more usually taken for a verb, as the points decide. (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, Part 1
“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath” ( ver. 8 ). Wherefore art thou wroth? Wherefore is it that, through that passion and indignation, thou dost blaspheme, or almost blaspheme? Against “the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass, cease from anger, and forsake wrath.” Knowest thou not whither that wrath tempts thee on? Thou art on the point of saying unto God, that He is unjust. It tends to that. “Look! why is that man prosperous, and this man in adversity?” Consider what thought it begets: stifle the wicked notion. “Cease from anger, and forsake wrath:” so that now returning to thy senses, thou mayest say, “Mine eye is disturbed because of wrath.” What eye is that, but the eye of faith? To the eye of thy faith I appeal. …