Psalms 67:18
The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of them that rejoice: the Lord is among them in Sina, in the holy place.
The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Currus Dei decem millibus multiplex, millia lætantium ; Dominus in eis in Sina, in sancto.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- τὸ ἅρμα τοῦ θεοῦ μυριοπλάσιον, χιλιάδες εὐθηνούντων· ὁ κύριος ἐν αὐτοῖς ἐν Σινά, ἐν τῷ ἁγίῳ.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 68:18
- רֶ֤כֶב אֱלֹהִ֗ים רִבֹּתַ֣יִם אַלְפֵ֣י שִׁנְאָ֑ן אֲדֹנָ֥י בָ֝֗ם סִינַ֥י בַּקֹּֽדֶשׁ
Haydock's commentary
The chariot of God, descending to give his law on Mount Sinai; as also of Jesus Christ, his Son, ascending into heaven, to send from thence the Holy Ghost, to publish his new law, is attended with ten thousands, that is, with an innumerable multitude of joyful angels. (Challoner)
Literally, "with forty thousand." (Berthier)
Innumerable hosts of Cherubim, (Haydock) seem to be the chariot of the most high, Daniel vii. (Worthington)
But here the Israelites, who came to conquer Chanaan, are meant, Deuteronomy xxxiii. 2., Zacharias xiv. 5., and Habacuc iii. 6. (Calmet)
The promulgation of the old and new law is contrasted. God is the author of the beauty of his Church. (Menochius)
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
The Apostolic Constitutions Book V, Sec. III. On Feast Days and Fast Days
XV . He therefore charged us Himself to fast these six days on account of the impiety and transgression of the Jews, commanding us withal to bewail over them, and lament for their perdition. For even He Himself “wept over them, because they knew not the time of their visitation.” But He commanded us to fast on the fourth and sixth days of the week; the former on account of His being betrayed, and the latter on account of His passion. But He appointed us to break our fast on the seventh day at the cock-crowing, but to fast on the Sabbath-day. Not that the Sabbath-day is a day of fasting, being the rest from the creation, but because we ought to fast on this one Sabbath only, while on this day the Creator was under the earth. …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm LXVIII
21. Thus cometh to pass that also which followeth: “The Chariot of God is of ten thousands manifold:” or “of tens of thousands manifold:” or, “ten times thousand times manifold” ( ver. 17 ). For one Greek word, which hath there been used, μυριοπλ€σιον , each Latin interpreter hath rendered as best he could, but in Latin it could not be adequately expressed: for a thousand with the Greeks is called χίλια , but μυρι€δες are a number of tens of thousands: for one μυριὰς are ten thousands. Thus a vast number of saints and believers, who by bearing God become in a manner the chariot of God, he hath signified under this name. By abiding in and guiding this, He conducteth it, as though it were His Chariot, unto the end, as if unto some appointed place. …
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).