Psalms 71:17
Let his name be blessed for evermore: his name continueth before the sun. And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed: all nations shall magnify him.
Open Psalms 71:17 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Sit nomen ejus benedictum in sæcula ; ante solem permanet nomen ejus. Et benedicentur in ipso omnes tribus terræ ; omnes gentes magnificabunt eum.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- ἔστω τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ εὐλογημένον εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διαμενεῖ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ· καὶ εὐλογηθήσονται ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς, πάντα τὰ ἔθνη μακαριοῦσιν αὐτόν.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 72:17
- יְהִ֤י שְׁמ֨וֹ לְֽעוֹלָ֗ם לִפְנֵי שֶׁמֶשׁ֮ ינין שְׁ֫מ֥וֹ וְיִתְבָּ֥רְכוּ ב֑וֹ כָּל גּוֹיִ֥ם יְאַשְּׁרֽוּהוּ
Haydock's commentary
Continueth. Protestants marginal note, "shall be as a son, to continue his father's name for ever." The Messias is the eternal son of God. Hebrew yinnin, (Keri.) might be rendered (Haydock) filiabitur, (Montanus) if this word were Latin. The ancient Jews considered this as one of the titles of the Messias. Chaldean, "before the sun was, his name was prepared." (Berthier)
This is the third time that the glory of Christ is pronounced eternal, ver. 5., and 7. (Haydock)
He is for ever blessed: but we cannot think of Solomon, without remembering his almost incredible fall. (Calmet)
Blessed. This was spoken only of the Messias, (Berthier) who is the cause of salvation to all the elect. None are saved who do not continue in Him, (Menochius) by faith and good works.
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 Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXXI. From the fact that the
And as they kept silence, I went on: “[The Scripture], speaking by David about this Christ, my friends, said no longer that ‘in His seed’ the nations should be blessed, but ‘in Him.’ So it is here: ‘His name shall rise up for ever above the sun; and in Him shall all nations be blessed.’ But if all nations are blessed in Christ, and we of all nations believe in Him, then He is indeed the Christ, and we are those blessed by Him. God formerly gave the sun as an object of worship, as it is written, but no one ever was seen to endure death on account of his faith in the sun; but for the name of Jesus you may see men of every nation who have endured and do endure all sufferings, rather than deny Him. For the word of His truth and wisdom is more ardent and more light-giving than the rays of the sun, and sinks down into the depths of heart and mind. …
St Augustine Letter XCIII
20. Save yourself therefore, my brother, while you have this present life, from the wrath which is to come on the obstinate and the proud. The formidable power of the authorities of this world, when it assails the truth, gives glorious opportunity of probation to the strong, but puts dangerous temptation before the weak who are righteous; but when it assists the proclamation of the truth, it is the means of profitable admonition to the wise, and of unprofitable vexation to the foolish among those who have gone astray. “For there is no power but of God: whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God; for rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm LXXII
19. “Be,” therefore, “the name of Him blessed for ever: before the sun endureth the name of Him” ( ver. 17 ). By the sun times are signified. Therefore for everlasting endureth the name of Him. For eternity doth precede times, and is not bounded by time. “And there shall be blessed in Him all the tribes of the earth.” For in Him is fulfilled that which hath been promised to Abraham. “For He saith not, In seeds, as though in many; but as though in one, And to thy Seed, which is Christ.” But to Abraham is said, “In thy Seed shall be blessed all the tribes of the earth.” And not the sons of the flesh but the sons of promise are counted in the Seed. “All nations shall magnify Him.” As if in explanation there is repeated that which above hath been said. …
St Athanasius Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.), Texts Explained; And First, Phil. II. 9, 10. Various texts which are alleged against the Catholic doctrine: e.g. Phil. ii. 9, 10. Whether the words 'Wherefore God hath highly exalted' prove moral probation and advancement. Argued against, first, from the force of the word 'Son;' which is inconsistent with such an interpretation. Next, the passage examined. Ecclesiastical sense of 'highly exalted,' and 'gave,' and 'wherefore;' viz. as being spoken with reference to our Lord's manhood. Secondary sense; viz. as implying the Word's 'exaltation' through the resurrection in the same sense in which Scripture speaks of His descent in the Incarnation; how the phrase does not derogate from the nature of the Word
41. And if, as David says in the 71st Psalm, ‘His Name remaineth before the sun, and before the moon, from one generation to another,’ how did He receive what He had always, even before He now received it? or how is He exalted, being before His exaltation the Most High? or how did He receive the right of being worshipped, who before He now received it, was ever worshipped? It is not a dark saying but a divine mystery. ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God;’ but for our sakes afterwards the ‘Word was made flesh.’ And the term in question, ‘highly exalted,’ does not signify that the essence of the Word was exalted, for He was ever and is ‘equal to God,’ but the exaltation is of the manhood. …
St Cyril of Jerusalem On the words, Crucified and Buried
19. And since we have touched on things connected with Paradise, I am truly astonished at the truth of the types. In Paradise was the Fall, and in a Garden was our Salvation. From the Tree came sin, and until the Tree sin lasted. In the evening, when the Lord walked in the Garden, they hid themselves ; and in the evening the robber is brought by the Lord into Paradise. But some one will say to me, “Thou art inventing subtleties; shew me from some prophet the Wood of the Cross; except thou give me a testimony from a prophet, I will not be persuaded. …