Psalms 88:5
Thy seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation.
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- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Usque in æternum præparabo semen tuum, et ædificabo in generationem et generationem sedem tuam.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος ἑτοιμάσω τὸ σπέρμα σου, καὶ οἰκοδομήσω εἰς γενεὰν καὶ γενεὰν τὸν θρόνον σου. διάψαλμα.
- Hebrew (WLC) shown from Psalms 89:5
- עַד ע֭וֹלָם אָכִ֣ין זַרְעֶ֑ךָ וּבָנִ֨יתִי לְדֹר וָד֖וֹר כִּסְאֲךָ֣ סֶֽלָה
Haydock's commentary
Generation. David's posterity occupied the throne for a long time, (Haydock) and subsisted till the coming of Christ; so that if any conqueror of that family had then appeared, the Jews would not have hesitated to admit, that this prediction was fulfilled. It is there misfortune to understand the text in this sense, whereas God spoke of the spiritual kingdom of his Son, which is to be perpetual. They can never answer the argument which the Fathers urged in the 4th century, and which has attained fresh strength from the longer duration of misery under which the royal family of David has been depressed. It is plain, that it has enjoyed no power from many ages, and as God's word is invariable, He could not have promised an everlasting earthly dominion. (Berthier)
The temporal kingdom of David decayed at the captivity, and is now wholly destroyed. But Christ was of this family, and established the Church, his spiritual kingdom, which shall continue unto the end. (Worthington)
His ministers exercise a power, which is founded on truth and justice. See 2 Kings vii. 9. (Calmet)
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 City of God, How Like the Prophecy About Christ in the 89th Psalm is to the Things Promised in Nathan’s Prophecy in the Books of Samuel
Wherefore also in the 89th Psalm, of which the title is, “An instruction for himself by Ethan the Israelite,” mention is made of the promises God made to king David, and some things are there added similar to those found in the Book of Samuel, such as this, “I have sworn to David my servant that I will prepare his seed for ever.” And again, “Then thou spakest in vision to thy sons, and saidst, I have laid help upon the mighty One, and have exalted the chosen One out of my people. I have found David my servant, and with my holy oil I have anointed him. For mine hand shall help him, and mine arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not prevail against him, and the son of iniquity shall harm him no more. And I will beat down his foes from before his face, and those that hate him will I put to flight. And my truth and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. …
St Augustine Expositions on the Book of Psalms, Psalm LXXXIX
5. Let us see then what God hath sworn. “I have sworn,” He saith, “to David My servant; thy seed will I establish for ever” ( ver. 4 ). But what is the seed of David, but that of Abraham. And what is the seed of Abraham? “And to thy seed,” He saith, “which is Christ.” But perhaps that Christ, the Head of the Church, the Saviour of the body, is the seed of Abraham, and therefore of David; but we are not Abraham’s seed? We are assuredly; as the Apostle saith, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” In this sense, then, let us take the words, brethren, “Thy seed will I stablish for ever,” not only of that Flesh of Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, but also of all of us who believe in Christ, for we are limbs of that Head. …
Theodoret Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus, The Immutable
Through all this the prophet teaches that the promise was made by God on account of lovingkindness, and that the promise is faithful. Then he goes on to say what He promised, and to whom, introducing God Himself as the speaker. (“I have made a covenant with my chosen.”) It is the Patriarchs that He called chosen; then He goes on “I have sworn unto David my servant,” and He states concerning what He swore, “Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.”
Theodoret Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus, The Immutable
Orth. Jews connect prophecies of this kind with Solomon and Zerubbabel, in order to exhibit the groundlessness of the Christian position; but the mere words are quite enough to convict them of their iniquity, for it is written “I will establish my throne for ever.” Now not only Solomon and Zerubbabel, to whom such prophecies are applied by the Jews, have lived out their appointed time, and reached the end of life, but the whole race of David has become extinct; for who ever heard of any one at the present day descended from the root of David?
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).