Psalms 74:6
Lift not up your horn on high: speak not iniquity against God.
Open Psalms 74:6 in the Motif Searcher, word by word across all five texts →Show on the spiral →The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- nolite extollere in altum cornu vestrum ; nolite loqui adversus Deum iniquitatem.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- μὴ ἐπαίρετε εἰς ὕψος τὸ κέρας ὑμῶν, μὴ λαλεῖτε κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀδικίαν·
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 75:6
- אַל תָּרִ֣ימוּ לַמָּר֣וֹם קַרְנְכֶ֑ם תְּדַבְּר֖וּ בְצַוָּ֣אר עָתָֽק
Haydock's commentary
God. Hebrew tsavvar means, "neck." But the Septuagint have not seen the a, and translate against God. Literally, "the rock," which is one of his titles; (Berthier) and this seems preferable to "speak not with a stiff neck;" (Calmet) or "with the old neck:" (St. Jerome) though this sense is not contemptible, as the sinner's wonted pride rises against God. (Haydock)
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 LXXV
8. “Be not therefore lifted up: speak not iniquity against God” ( ver. 5 ).…What saith He in another Psalm? “These things thou hast done,” having enumerated certain sins. “These things thou hast done,” He saith, “and was silent.” What is, “I was silent”? He is never silent with commandment, but meanwhile He is silent with punishment: He is keeping still from vengeance, He doth not pronounce sentence against the condemned. But this man saith thus, I have done such and such things, and God hath not taken vengeance; behold I am whole, nought of ill hath befallen me. “These things thou hast done, and I was silent: thou hast suspected iniquity, that I shall be like unto thee.” What is, “that I shall be like unto thee”? Because thou art unjust, even Me thou hast deemed unjust; as though an approver of thy misdeeds, and no adversary, no avenger thereof. …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm LXXV
12. “But I,” for all drink, but separately I, that is, Christ with His Body, “for ever will rejoice, I will Psalm to the God of Jacob” ( ver. 9 ): in that promise to be at the end, whereof is said, “corrupt not.” “And all the horns of sinners I will break, and there shall be exalted the horns of the Just” ( ver. 10 ). This is, the one He humbleth, the other He exalteth. Sinners would not have their horns to be broken, which without doubt will be broken at the end. Thou wilt not have Him then break them, do thou to-day break them. …
St Basil The Letters, To the notables of Neocæsarea
5. They have already inserted these expressions in their own writings. They sent them first to the man of God, Meletius, bishop, and after receiving from him a suitable reply, like mothers of monsters, ashamed of their natural deformities, these men themselves brought forth and bring up their disgusting offspring in appropriate darkness. They made an attempt too by letter on my dear friend Anthimus, bishop of Tyana, on the ground that Gregory had said in his exposition of the faith that Father and Son are in thought two, but in hypostasis one. The men who congratulate themselves on the subtilty of their intelligence could not perceive that this is said not in reference to dogmatic opinion, but in controversy with Ælian. And in this dispute there are not a few copyists’ blunders, as, please God, I shall shew in the case of the actual expressions used. …