From Johannes Bugenhagen, In Librum Psalmorum Interpretatio (Basel, 1524).p. 10, Ps. 2—He cites the interpretation of “Felix,” since he is interpreting from the Hebrew. Felix is the one Bugenhagen especially follows, except perhaps where he himself was not able to find the meaning, due to the difficulty of the passage being discussed.
p. 12, Ps. 2—Another reference to Felix. “I have been established as King by Him; I will proclaim the decree” points to the necessity of being called before presuming to teach, and also the necessity of teaching only what God has commanded.
p. 14, Ps. 2—“Today I have begotten You.” Regarding Augustine’s explanation, that this refers to the eternal begetting of God the Son from God the Father, Bugenhagen agrees with the thought, but finds it exegetically indefensible: “… and it seems more clever than theological, even though the meaning is true.” (Note: In a later edition of this work, the Psalterium Davidis, he changed his mind and saw the eternal generation as the native meaning of this text.) “Today” means the Christian era, according to the Epistle to the Hebrews. Paul in Acts 13 interprets this as referring to Christ’s resurrection. Thus, Bugenhagen understands “Today I have begotten You” not as referring to Christ’s divinity, but to His glorification according to His humanity. What about Heb. 1, where this passage seems to be quoted concerning Christ’s divinity? In Heb. 1–2, the author is proving that Christ is superior to angels not just according to His divinity but also according to His humanity. In Heb. 5 this is cited again, saying “Christ did not glorify Himself,” etc.
p. 16, Ps. 2—"And here you see fear mixed with rejoicing, which is truly faith: fearing with regard to God's Word and rebuke, and on the other hand rejoicing with regard to God's promisses and being secure regarding salvation due to God's Word."
I will wait with great anticipation for Bugenhagen's comments on Psalms 42 and 69, regarding "Your floods rush forth so that a depth surges here and a depth rages there. All your waves and swells flood over Me" (Ps. 42) and "The waters flow over Me all the way to My soul. I am sinking into a deep slime (mud) where there is no bottm. I am in deep water and the flood wants to drown Me" (Ps. 69). Gerhard's translation which he uses to illustrate the wrath of God poured out onto Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. He writes: "It is not as if just a tiny beaker of tribulation had to be drunk, but rahter a huge flood of water" regarding the cup of wrath that Jesus drank. (An Explanation of the Histor of the Suffering and Death of our Lord Jesus Christ, p. 62-63).
ReplyDeleteFelix = Felix Pratensis, Felice de Prato, a sephardic Jew, converted to catholisim. He published a very literal Latin translation of the Psalms from the Hebrew (authorized by Pope LEO X). Also perused by Luther c.s.
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