Psalms 46:3
For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth.
Open Psalms 46:3 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- quoniam Dominus excelsus, terribilis, rex magnus super omnem terram.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ὅτι Κύριος Ὕψιστος φοβερός, βασιλεὺς μέγας ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 47:3
- כִּֽי יְהוָ֣ה עֶלְי֣וֹן נוֹרָ֑א מֶ֥לֶךְ גָּ֝דוֹל עַל כָּל הָאָֽרֶץ
The Fathers on this verse
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm XLVII
3. “For the Lord Most High is terrible” ( ver. 2 ). The Most High in descending made like one ludicrous, by ascending into Heaven is made terrible. “A great King over all the earth.” Not only over the Jews; for over them also He is King. For of them also the Apostles believed and of them many thousands of men sold their goods, and laid the price at the Apostles’ feet, and in them was fulfilled what in the title of the Cross was written, “The King of the Jews.” For He is King also of the Jews. But “of the Jews” is little. “O clap your hands, all ye nations: for God is the King of all the earth.” For it sufficeth not Him to have under Him one nation: therefore such great price gave He out of His side, as to buy the whole world.
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).