Various Catholic Feeds

Verses 4-6 of Psalm 121:

4	V	Illuc enim ascendérunt tribus, tribus Dómini: * testimónium Israël ad confiténdum nómini Dómini.
	NV	Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini, testimonium Israel, ad confitendum nomini Domini.
	JH	quia ibi ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini, testimonium Israhel, ad confitendum nomini Domini.
	Sept.	ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἀνέβησαν αἱ φυλαί φυλαὶ κυρίου μαρτύριον τῷ Ισραηλ τοῦ ἐξομολογήσασθαι τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου

DR	For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.
MD	Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord; it is a law for Israel; there to praise the name of the Lord.
Brenton	For thither the tribes went up, the tribes of the Lord, as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
Cover	For thither the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord, to testify unto Israel, to give thanks unto the Name of the Lord.
Grail	It is there that the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord. For Israel's law it is, there to praise the Lord's name.

5	V	Quia illic sedérunt sedes in judício, * sedes super domum david.
	NV	Quia illic sederunt sedes ad iudicium, sedes domus David.
	JH	Quia ibi sederunt sedes in iudicio, sedes domui Dauid.
	Septuagint	ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἐκάθισαν θρόνοι εἰς κρίσιν θρόνοι ἐπὶ οἶκον Δαυιδ

DR	Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David
MD	For there stand the seats of judgment, the seats of the house of David.
Brenton	For there are set thrones for judgment, even thrones for the house of David.
Cover	For there is the seat of judgment, even the seat of the house of David.
Grail	There were set the thrones of judgment of the house of David.

St Augustine interprets this verse allegorically, as a reference to wisdom:

"...If therefore heaven be the seat of God, and the Apostles are heaven; they themselves have become the seat of God, the throne of God. It is said in another passage: The soul of the righteous is the throne of wisdom. A great truth, a great truth, is declared; the throne of wisdom is the soul of the righteous; that is, wisdom sits in the soul of the righteous as it were in her chair, in her throne, and thence judges whatsoever she judges... And who are the seats? They of whom it is said, The soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom. Who are the seats? The heavens. Who are the heavens? Heaven. What is heaven? That of which the Lord says, Heaven is My seat. Isaiah 66:1 The righteous then themselves are the seats; and have seats; and seats shall be seated in that Jerusalem. For what purpose? For judgment."

6	V	Rogáte quæ ad pacem sunt Jerúsalem: * et abundántia diligéntibus te:
	NV	Rogate, quae ad pacem sunt Ierusalem: “ Securi sint diligentes te!
	JH	Rogate pacem Hierusalem: sit bene his qui diligunt te.
	Sept.	ἐρωτήσατε δὴ τὰ εἰς εἰρήνην τὴν Ιερουσαλημ καὶ εὐθηνία τοῖς ἀγαπῶσίν σε

DR	Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love you.
MD	Pray now for peace upon Jerusalem: May they that love thee prosper
Brenton	Pray now for the peace of Jerusalem: and let there be prosperity to them that love thee.
Cover	O pray for the peace of Jerusalem; they shall prosper that love thee.
Grail	For the peace of Jerusalem pray: "Peace be to your homes!

What does it mean to be the city of peace?  Pope Benedict XVI commented:

We now come to the final invocation (cf. v. 6-9). It is marked throughout by the Jewish word shalom, "peace", traditionally considered to be the etymological root of Jerushalajim, the Holy Cityitself, interpreted as "city of peace". It is well known thatshalom alludes to the messianic peace that in itself brings joy, prosperity, goodness and abundance.

Vulgate	Douay-Rheims
Canticum graduum.
1  Lætátus sum in his, quæ dicta sunt mihi: *  In domum Dómini íbimus.	I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord.
2  Stantes erant pedes nostri, * in átriis tuis, Jerúsalem.	2 Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem.
3  Jerúsalem, quæ ædificátur ut cívitas: * cujus participátio ejus in idípsum.	3 Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together.
4  Illuc enim ascendérunt tribus, tribus Dómini: * testimónium Israël ad confiténdum nómini Dómini.	4 For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord.
5  Quia illic sedérunt sedes in judício, * sedes super domum David.	5 Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David.
6  Rogáte quæ ad pacem sunt Jerúsalem: * et abundántia diligéntibus te:	6 Pray for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love you.
7  Fiat pax in virtúte tua: * et abundántia in túrribus tuis.	7 Let peace be in your strength: and abundance in your towers
8  Propter fratres meos, et próximos meos, * loquébar pacem de te:	8 For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of you.
9  Propter domum Dómini, Dei nostri, * quæsívi bona tibi.	9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for you.

I just wanted to thank the kind people who sent me a book from my wish list, a Middle English commentary on the penitential psalms translated by Dame Eleanor Hull.

It was so kind of the sender to acknowledge the work on the blogs, and I'm very grateful for your prayers.  And  I was absolutely thrilled to receive this particular book as the subject (the psalms) and the period are of particular interest to me (I wrote my honours thesis many years ago on another middle english devotional work based on an old french version as this is) - one of the many books that my very limited budget just hadn't stretched to yet!

Thanks you again, and I hope the blog continues to be of use.

And please do all keep me in your prayers, as illness, other demands on my time, and a few other factors have made it rather hard to do much work on this of late so you are seeing the fruits of banked up work that will sooner or later run out if I don't get moving again!  But hopefully that will happen soon (not least prompted by this act of kindness)...