Psalms 71:5
And he shall continue with the sun, and before the moon, throughout all generations.
Open Psalms 71:5 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Et permanebit cum sole, et ante lunam, in generatione et generationem.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- καὶ συνπαραμενεῖ τῷ ἡλίῳ, καὶ πρὸ τῆς σελήνης γενεὰς γενεῶν.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 72:5
- יִֽירָא֥וּךָ עִם שָׁ֑מֶשׁ וְלִפְנֵ֥י יָ֝רֵ֗חַ דּ֣וֹר דּוֹרִֽים
Haydock's commentary
Before. Or, in the presence of the moon, as the Hebrew indicates, (Berthier) though St. Jerome translates, ultra, "beyond, or after." (Haydock)
Yea, Christ existed before all the creation, (Psalm cix. 3.; Calmet) and these comparisons do not insinuate that he will ever cease to be. (Theodoret)
The kingdom of David and Solomon is described in the same poetic language, (Psalm lxxxviii. 28., and 37.; Calmet) as it will remain for ever in the hands of the Messias. (Haydock)
Hebrew makes a sudden address to the king, "they shall fear thee with the sun," which Houbigant dislikes. Some letters may have been changed, though the sense is not bad. (Berthier)
"They shall fear thee at the rising of the sun, and shall pray to they by the light of the moon," Chaldean, both day and night. (Calmet)
Solomon, as a figure of Christ, was good for some time; but no king, except our Saviour, will reign for ever. (Worthington)
The mind of the prophet is now raised to behold him. (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
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm LXXII
8. “And He shall endure to the sun,” or, “shall endure with the sun” ( ver. 5 ). For thus some of our writers have thought would be more exactly translated that which in the Greek is συμπαραμενεῖ . But if in Latin it could have been expressed in one word, it must have been expressed by compermanebit: however, because in Latin the word cannot be expressed, in order that the sense at least might be translated, it hath been expressed by, “He shall endure with the sun.” For He shall co-endure to the sun is nothing else but, “He shall endure with the sun.” But what great matter is it for Him to endure with the sun, through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made, save that this prophecy hath been sent before for the sake of those who think that the religion of the Christian name up to a particular time in this world will live, and afterwards will be no more? “He shall end …
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 The Father
2. For thus shall we raise our thoughts higher than the Jews, who admit indeed by their doctrines that there is One God, (for what if they often denied even this by their idolatries?); but that He is also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, they admit not; being of a contrary mind to their own Prophets, who in the Divine Scriptures affirm, The Lord said unto me, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten thee . And to this day they rage and gather themselves together against the Lord, and against His Anointed , thinking that it is possible to be made friends of the Father apart from devotion towards the Son, being ignorant that no man cometh unto the Father but by the Son, who saith, I am the Door, and I am the Way . …
St Cyril of Jerusalem On the words Incarnate, and Made Man
10. But who is this that cometh down? He says in what follows, And with the sun He endureth, and before the moon generations of generations . And again another of the Prophets saith, Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion, shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold! thy King cometh unto thee, just and having salvation . Kings are many; of which speakest thou, O Prophet? Give us a sign which other Kings have not. If thou say, A king clad in purple, the dignity of the apparel has been anticipated. If thou say, Guarded by spear-men, and sitting in a golden chariot, this also has been anticipated by others. Give us a sign peculiar to the King whose coming thou announcest. And the Prophet maketh answer and saith, Behold! thy King cometh unto thee, just, and having salvation: He is meek, and riding upon an ass and a young foal , not on a chariot. Thou hast a unique sign of the King who came. …
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).