1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
Presents commentary in a tabular format for ease of reading.Click to learn more.
| Psalms 104:1 | Alleluia. Give *glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: declare his deeds among the Gentiles. 1 Paralipomenon 16:8.; Isaias 12:4. | Alleluia. This word occurs at the end of the preceding psalm in Hebrew, and means, "Praise ye the Lord," though it is also used as an exclamation of joy; for which reason it is left untranslated. See Apocalypse xx. (St. Augustine, ep. ad Casulan.) (Calmet) --- It implies that we must praise God with all our power; and Catholic writers retain this (Worthington) and similar words in the original. (Haydock) --- The first 15 verses of this psalm nearly agree with that which was composed by David, when the ark was to be removed from the house of Obededon, 1 Paralipomenon 16:8, 22. (Haydock) --- But the last part seems to have been added by him, or by another afterwards, with some small alterations. (Berthier) --- It was perhaps adapted to the dedication of the second temple, with the two following psalms. (Calmet) --- Gentiles. Their conversion is thus insinuated. (Calmet) --- The apostles preached to all. (Eusebius) --- How much more ought we not to celebrate the mysteries of Christ? (Worthington) |
| Psalms 104:2 | Sing to him, yea sing praises to him: relate all his wondrous works. | |
| Psalms 104:3 | Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. | Glory. 2 Corinthians 10:17. (Eusebius) --- Literally, "be praised," (Haydock) knowing to what an honor you have been raised, (Deuteronomy 30:7., and Jeremias 9:23.) and live accordingly. |
| Psalms 104:4 | Seek ye the Lord, and be strengthened: seek his face evermore. | Evermore. Be assiduous to obtain his favour, and present yourselves in his holy temple as often as you are able. (Calmet) |
| Psalms 104:5 | Remember his marvellous works, which he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. | |
| Psalms 104:6 | O ye seed of Abraham, his servant; ye sons of Jacob, his chosen. | His servant. Or "servants." (Septuagint) Vulgate is ambiguous. Hebrew declared for servant here; but, his chosen, is certainly plural, and refers to all the people, and [in] 1 Paralipomenon 16:13., we read, seed of Israel, his servants. (Haydock) |
| Psalms 104:7 | He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth. | |
| Psalms 104:8 | He hath remembered his covenant for ever: the word which he commanded to a thousand generations: | Generations. Or from the call of Abraham. But this was to be understood if the Israelites continued faithful, (Deuteronomy xxviii.) or the promise regards the spiritual children of Abraham, who are blessed for ever, (Berthier) and continue to the end of the world. (Haydock) |
| Psalms 104:9 | *Which he made to Abraham; and his oath to Isaac: Genesis 22:16. | |
| Psalms 104:10 | And he appointed the same to Jacob for a law: and to Israel, for an everlasting testament: | |
| Psalms 104:11 | Saying: To thee will I give the land of Chanaan, the lot of your inheritance. | Lot. Literally, "line," with which land was measured. (Calmet) -- The descendants of the patriarchs would never have lost this inheritance if they had observed the law. The promise was therefore conditional; though it was absolute, in as much as all were to be blessed in their seed: as they had begun to be, when Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus. |
| Psalms 104:12 | When they were but a small number: yea very few, and sojourners therein: | Very few. Hebrew, "as it were reduced to nothing," to avoid a tautology. (Berthier) --- But this version is not necessary. (Haydock) --- Jacob at this time was not married, (Berthier) and his parents had no part of the land. This manifests the power of God, and the faith of the patriarchs, (Calmet) who doubted not but that he would realize what he had promises. (Haydock) |
| Psalms 104:13 | And they passed from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people. | People. This seems to be a fresh obstacle to their possession of Chanaan. (Calmet) |
| Psalms 104:14 | He suffered no man to hurt them: and he reproved kings for their sakes. | |
| Psalms 104:15 | *Touch ye not my anointed: and do no evil to my prophets. 2 Kings 1:14.; 1 Paralipomenon 16:22. | Prophets. The word anointed is thus explained, as the patriarchs were not kings over any but their own families, though they were equal in riches to many kings. They foresaw future events, and offered sacrifice to God, as priests, in which sense also they may be styled anointed. No visible unction, but the divine appointment, might be requisite. God protected them in a wonderful manner, and selected them for his peculiar people. (Calmet) (Hebrews 11:8.) |
| Psalms 104:16 | And he called a famine upon the land: and he broke in pieces all the support of bread. | And. The psalmist continues to mention the favours of God, till the Israelites entered the promised land, which the author of 1 Paralipomenon xvi., passes over. (Haydock) --- Bread. In time of famine, people are not strengthened with their food. (Eusebius) (Ezechiel 4:16., and 5:16.) --- God permitted, (Worthington) or caused the famine to rage. |
| Psalms 104:17 | He sent a man before them: *Joseph, who was sold for a slave. Genesis 37. | He sent. Drawing good from the malice of Joseph's brethren, (Haydock) in which he had no hand. (Berthier) --- Who could have thought that this event would have tended to Joseph's exaltation, and to the safety of his father's house? |
| Psalms 104:18 | *They humbled his feet in fetters: the iron pierced his soul, Genesis 39:20. | Fetters. Hebrew cebel, (Haydock) "a chain, or the stocks." The meaning is not ascertained. (Calmet) --- Soul. Luke 2:35. He was in great distress, (Haydock) and in danger of perishing. (Theodoret) |
| Psalms 104:19 | until his word came. The word of the Lord inflamed him. | His word. By which he foretold his own glory, or what should befall the king's two officers, which brought him into notice, Genesis 37:9., and 40:22. His word, may also refer to God's decree. (Calmet) --- Inflamed him. He received the gift of prophecy, (Haydock) and being inflamed with the love of God, resisted the solicitations of Putiphar's wife. |
| Psalms 104:20 | *The king sent, and he released him: the ruler of the people, and he set him at liberty. Genesis 41:14. | |
| Psalms 104:21 | He made him master of his house, and ruler of all his possession. | |
| Psalms 104:22 | That he might instruct his princes as himself, and teach his ancients wisdom. | Instruct. Hebrew, "bind" by precepts or chains, (Berthier) as he had all power. --- Wisdom. Joseph was considered as the oracle of Egypt, and the prime minister. (Calmet) --- We cannot doubt but he would strive to undeceive the people with regard to many superstitions. (Theodoret) (St. Augustine) |
| Psalms 104:23 | *And Israel went into Egypt: and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Cham. Genesis 46:6. | Cham. Who resided there, and was worshipped under the name of Jupiter Ammon. (Bochart, Phaleg. 4:1.) (Calmet) --- Misraim was his son, and peopled the land, Genesis 10:13. (Worthington) |
| Psalms 104:24 | *And he increased his people exceedingly: and strengthened them over their enemies. Exodus 1:7.; Acts 7:17. | Exceedingly. In 215 years, 600,000 warriors sprung from seventy people, (Calmet) or from seventy-five, as Septuagint and St. Stephen read, comprising eight wives, Jacob, and sixty-six of his descendants. Seventy might naturally produce two million and a half in such a space of time. But the Hebrews had been cruelly oppressed. God's blessing enabled them to increase as they did. (Berthier) |
| Psalms 104:25 | He turned their heart to hate his people: and to deal deceitfully with his servants. | He turned their heart, etc. Not that God (who is never the author of sin) moved the Egyptians to hate and persecute his people; but that the Egyptians took occasion of hating and envying them, from the sight of the benefits which God bestowed upon them. (Challoner) (St. Augustine) --- He permitted the malice of the Egyptians, (Theodoret) and employed them to chastise his people, who had adored idols. (Eusebius) (Acts 7:43.) Felix, Protestants, etc., translate the Hebrew, "their heart was turned." (Berthier) --- The perversity of the Egyptians came from themselves, though it was turned to a good account. (Worthington) |
| Psalms 104:26 | *He sent Moses, his servant: Aaron, the man whom he had chosen. Exodus 3:10.; Exodus 5:29. | |
| Psalms 104:27 | *He gave them power to shew his signs, and his wonders in the land of Cham. Exodus 7:10. | He gave. Hebrew, "they placed in them the words of their signs." (Calmet) (Houbigant) --- But the Chaldean and St. Jerome are conformable to the Septuagint. (Berthier) |
| Psalms 104:28 | *He sent darkness, and made it obscure: and grieved not his words. Exodus 10:21. | Grieved not his words. That is, he was not wanting to fulfil his words: or he did not grieve Moses and Aaron, the carriers of his words: or he did not grieve his words, that is, his sons, the children of Israel, who enjoyed light whilst the Egyptians were oppressed with darkness. (Challoner) --- He performed what he had threatened without reluctance. (Worthington) --- We may also translate, "he added no threat (Haydock) before this ninth plague was inflicted." Hebrew, "and they did not irritate (or transgress) his word." The envoys of God were obedient to him. The copies of the Septuagint are not uniform; (Calmet) some omit the negation, which would give a very good sense; though it must be allowed to be inaccurate, unless the Hebrew be read with an interrogation, "did they not resist his word?" alluding to the Egyptians. (Berthier) --- Almost all the ancients have the plural exacerbaverunt, except St. Jerome, in his commentary. (Calmet) |
| Psalms 104:29 | *He turned their waters into blood, and destroyed their fish. Exodus 7:20. | Blood. In reality, so that the fishes were killed. (St. Athanasius) |
| Psalms 104:30 | *Their land brought forth frogs, in the inner chambers of their kings. Exodus 8:6. | Land. Including the rivers, Exodus 7:1., and 8:3. --- Kings, or noblemen. (Berthier) |
| Psalms 104:31 | *He spoke, and there came divers sorts of flies and cinifes in all their coasts. Exodus 8:16.; Exodus 8:24. | Flies. This was revealed to David, or known by tradition, as it is not recorded by Moses. (Worthington) --- Some copies of the Septuagint have, "the dog-fly," cinifes (Exodus 8:16.) gnats, (Haydock) which are very common and tormenting in Egypt. The Jews understand lice. (Joseph and the Chaldean) (Calmet) |
| Psalms 104:32 | He gave them hail for rain, a burning fire in the land. | Rain. Which fall in Egypt, though less frequently. (Calmet) (Wisdom 16:17.) |
| Psalms 104:33 | And he destroyed their vineyards and their fig-trees: and he broke in pieces the trees of their coasts. | |
| Psalms 104:34 | *He spoke, and the locust came, and the bruchus, of which there was no number: Exodus 10:12. | Bruchus. An insect of the locust kind, (Challoner) or a worm which spoils corn, etc. (Worthington) |
| Psalms 104:35 | And they devoured all the grass in their land, and consumed all the fruit of their ground. | |
| Psalms 104:36 | *And he slew all the first-born in their land: the first-fruits of all their labour. Exodus 12:29. | Labour. This explains the first part of the verse, Genesis 49:3., and Psalm 77:51. (Haydock) --- The fifth and sixth plagues are not specified. (Worthington) |
| Psalms 104:37 | *And he brought them out with silver and gold: and there was not among their tribes one that was feeble. Exodus 12:35. | Gold. Which the Egyptians gave to get quit of them, (Exodus 11:1.) and that with joy, (ver. 38.) though they might at first only intend to lend. (St. Augustine) (Berthier) --- Feeble. This refutes the notion which the enemies of the Jews had propagated, saying that they were banished on account of the leprosy. They felt none of the inconveniences which fell on the Egyptians, and God removed every obstacle which might retard their flight. (Calmet) --- According to the course of nature, out of two million and a half, 150 people die daily. (Berthier) |
| Psalms 104:38 | Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them lay upon them. | |
| Psalms 104:39 | *He spread a cloud for their protection, and fire to give them light in the night. Exodus 13:21.; Psalm 77:14.; 1 Corinthians 10:1. | |
| Psalms 104:40 | *They asked, and the quail came: and he filled them with the bread of heaven. Exodus 16:13. | Asked. Chaldean and ancient psalters add, "for meat." Hebrew, "he (Moses or all the people) asked, and the quail came," at Sin, Exodus 16:13. |
| Psalms 104:41 | *He opened the rock, and waters flowed: rivers ran down in the dry land. Numbers 20:11. | Rivers. The waters from the rock were so abundant. (Calmet) (Exodus 17:6.) (Berthier) |
| Psalms 104:42 | *Because he remembered his holy word, which he had spoken to his servant, Abraham. Genesis 17:7. | |
| Psalms 104:43 | And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness. | |
| Psalms 104:44 | And he gave them the lands of the Gentiles: and they possessed the labours of the people: | People. Whose crimes have deserved death, Numbers 33:51., and Deuteronomy 7:5. (Calmet) |
| Psalms 104:45 | That they might observe his justifications, and seek after his law. | His justifications. That is, his commandments: which here, and in many other places of the Scripture, are called justifications, because the keeping of them make men just. The Protestants render it by the word statutes, in favour of their doctrine, which does not allow good works to justify. (Challoner) --- The design of God in granting Chanaan to the Israelites, was to encourage them to preserve the true religion. (Calmet) |