
410 AD to 430 AD, Psalm 68: The Kaaba.
This generation is that of the 410s and 420s
This generation begins with the symbolic fall of Rome. Alaric will finally be defeated and Honorius will return to Rome in 420 thanks to Constantius who will be named Co-Emperor and whose son Valentinian III will succeed Honorius.
The preaching of John Chrysostom can then find a real audience and thus win a posthumous victory over the power that fought him. Jean Chrysostome only initializes a new relationship of Christianity to Judaism, he is quickly relayed in particular by Augustine (354-430), the Bishop of Hippo, one of the major fathers of the Church.
- In 414 [1], the bishop of Alexandria Cyril, on the pretext of reprisals against a Jewish attack, organized a pogrom in miniature and had the Jews expelled from their old learned capital. It was the first expulsion of Jews out of the city, recorded in history.
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, verses 1 to 3 )
- For the conductor, a psalm, a song of David.
- May God rise; His enemies scatter, and those who hate Him flee from before Him.
- As smoke is driven away, You will drive [them] away; as wax melts before fire, the wicked will perish from before God.
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, verses 4 to 7 )
- And the righteous will rejoice, yea, they will exult before God and they will delight with joy.
- « Sing to God, sing praises to His name, praise Him Who rides in Aravoth by His name Yah, and rejoice before Him.
- O Father of orphans and Judge of widows, O God in His holy dwelling place. »
- God settles the solitary in a house; He takes the prisoners out at the most opportune time, but the rebellious dwell in an arid land.
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, verses 8 to 11 )
- O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, forever.
- The earth quaked, even the heavens dripped; this is Sinai, because of God, the God of Israel.
- Generous rain You poured down, O God; Your heritage, which was weary, You established.
- Your congregation dwelt therein; You prepare with Your goodness for the poor, O God.
- Then [2] the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
- « Son of man, direct your face toward Mount Seir and prophesy over it.
- And you shall say to it: So said the Lord God: Behold I am against you, O Mount Seir, and I shall stretch forth My hand upon you and make you desolate and waste.
- I shall lay your cities waste, and you will be desolate, and you will know that I am the Lord.
- Because you had everlasting hatred, and you hurled the children of Israel by the sword, on the day of their misfortune at the time of the end of their iniquity.
- Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, for I shall make you into blood, and blood will pursue you; for surely you hated blood, and blood will pursue you.
- And I shall make Mount Seir into desolation and waste, and I shall cut off from you anyone passing through or returning.
- And I shall fill his mountains with his slain, your hills and your dales and all your streams-those slain by the sword will fall in them.
- I shall make you everlasting desolations, and your cities will not return, and you will know that I am the Lord.
- Because you said, « The two nations and the two lands will be mine, and we shall inherit it, » and the Lord was there,
- Therefore, as I live, says the Lord God, I shall commit [acts] like your wrath and like your [acts of] anger that you did out of your hatred for them, and I shall be known among them when I judge you.
- And you will know that I am the Lord. I heard all your blasphemies that you said concerning the mountains of Israel, saying, « They have become desolate; they were given to us to devour. »
- You have magnified yourselves against Me with your mouth, and you have multiplied your words against Me; I have heard.
- So said the Lord God: When the whole earth rejoices, I shall make you desolate.
- As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it became desolate, so will I do to you; Mount Seir and all Edom will be desolate, even all of it, and they will know that I am the Lord.
- (end of chapter 15, beginning of chapter 16)
- Now you, son of man, prophesy concerning the mountains of Israel, and say; O mountains of Israel, hearken to the word of the Lord.
- So said the Lord God: Since the enemy said about you, « Aha! » and « the high places of the world have become our inheritance, »
- Therefore, prophesy and say; So said the Lord God: Because, yea because those around you were appalled and longed for you to be an inheritance for the remnant of the nations, and you were brought up on the lips of every language and the gossip of every people.
- Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hearken to the word of the Lord God. So said the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the deserted cities, which became a scorn and a mockery to the remnant of the nations that are around.
- (….)
- And I shall no longer let you hear the disgrace of the nations; the taunt of the peoples you shall no longer bear, neither shall you bereave your nations any longer, » says the Lord God.
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, verses 12 to 16 end first part of verse 17 )
- The Lord will give out a word; they will announce it to a great multitude.
- Kings of hosts will wander, yea they will wander, and she who dwells in the house will divide the spoils.
- If you lie between the borders-the feathers of a dove covered with silver, and its pinions with brilliant gold.
- When the Almighty spreads out for kings therein, it will become as white as snow in darkness.
- The mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; the mountain of peaks is the mountain of Bashan.
- Why do you lurk, you lofty mountains, for the mountain that God desired for His dwelling?
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, second part of verse 17 and verse 18 to 21 )
- Even the Lord will dwell [there] forever.
- God’s chariot is twice ten thousand times thousands of angels. The Lord was among them at Sinai in His holiness.
- You ascended on high, you took captives; you took gifts to be among men, and also rebellious ones for Yah God to dwell.
- Blessed is the Lord; every day God lavishes upon us our salvation forever.
- God is to us the God of salvations, but God the Lord has the ways to death.
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, verse 22 to 29 )
- Indeed God will wound His enemies’ head, the hairy pate of him who goes with his guilt.
- The Lord said, « I shall restore from Bashan; I shall restore from the depths of the sea.
- In order that your foot may wade through blood; the tongue of your dogs will have its portion from the enemies. »
- They saw Your ways, O God, the ways of my God, my King in sanctity.
- Singers went first, minstrels afterwards, in the midst of maidens playing timbrels.
- In congregations bless God the Lord, from the womb of Israel.
- There Benjamin the youngest rules over them; the princes of Judah pelt them with stones, as do the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naftali.
- Your God has commanded your strength; show this strength, O God, which You have wrought for us.
- There [3] was in Yemen a Himyarite king, named As’ad […] He came out of Yemen, at the head of his large army and went to the Hijaz (Arabia region where are located Mecca and Medina). He was addicted to idolatry, as was all Arabia, the Hijaz, Mecca and Medina. Only in the neighborhood of Mecca and Medina, there were Jews, whose ancestors had come to settle in the Hejaz, during their flight from Nebuchadnezzar. They had founded some villages, such as Khaibar, Fadak, Qoraizha, Wâdî’l-Qora, Nazhir and Yambou, all of which were in the possession of the Jews, who followed the religion of Moses. […] Then (after suffering some failures in trying to destroy Medina, As’ad doubts about his enterprise) two men from among the Jewish doctors come to the Tobba (nickname of As’ad) and tell him: O king, you can not destroy this city. He asked: Why? They answered, « Because a prophet named Muhammad will come from the Quraish on the territory of Mecca, the Qoraysh will drive him out of the city, he will come to Medina, and there will be his house and his family. « . It is in his honor that God keeps the city; we thus found it in the Pentateuch. The king said: What is the Pentateuch? And they said, This is the book of God which Moses hath received from heaven. Then they exposed to the Tobba the religion of Moses. This religion pleased him, and he adopted Judaism, by ceasing to adore idols. He urged all his troops to embrace Judaism; what they did. Then he said to these two Jews: You must come with me to the land of Yemen, to convert the whole country to this religion. They agreed to accompany him, and he showered them with marks of benevolence and gifts. He said to them, Why do you not call the people of Medina to this religion? They answered: These men will believe by Muhammad.
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(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, verse 30 )
- From Your Temple, which is over Jerusalem, kings will bring You tribute.
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, verse 31 )
- Rebuke the beast among the reeds, the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations. Humbled, may the beast bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations who delight in war.
- The king of Egypt [5] began the battle (against Nebuchadnezzar, who threatened him); he was defeated and killed. Nebuchadnezzar plundered all Egypt, killed the inhabitants or made them prisoners, and all those of the Israelites whom he met, he took them captive. But some of them fled from Syria and Egypt to the Hejaz, and since that time the Jews have remained in the land of Yathrib, where Medina is. There they built cities, such as Khaibar, Fadak, Qoraitah, and Wadi-l-Qora. They have stayed there to this day.
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, first part of verse 32 )
- Let Egyptian Koush [4] traders bring blue cloth
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, second part of verse 32 )
- and Cush [4] come running to God, her hands outstretched.
(extract of the psalm 68 associated to this generation, verse 33 to 36 )
- Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God, sing praises to the Lord forever.
- This generation gives the ferment of the veneration of God both in the East and in the West.
- To Him Who rides on the heaven of heavens of old; behold, He gives forth with His voice a voice of strength.
- Attribute strength to God; over Israel is His pride, and His strength is in the skies.
- You are feared, O God, from Your Sanctuary; the God of Israel-He gives strength and power to the people; blessed be God.
- David can only praise God once again that in this generation shows the supremacy of his guidance over the nations.
[1] SW Baron: « History of Israel – II, The Early Centuries of the Christian Era » / Chapter: « The Beginning of the Medieval System » (French: « Histoire d’Israël – II, Les premiers siècles de l’ère chrétienne »/Chapitre : « Début u système médiéval » (p.846) )
[2] Yechezkel – Ezekiel – chapter 35 then chapter 36, verses 1 to 4 and verse 15.
[3] Tabari: « History of the Prophets and Kings: From Solomon to the Fall of the Sassanids » / Chapter: « The Tobba makes a pilgrimage to the Ka’ba and has it covered ». (French: Tabari/Histoire des prophètes et des rois : De Salomon à la chute des Sassanides/Chapitre : « Le Tobba fait un pèlerinage à la Ka’ba et la fait couvrir (p. 251-253) )
[4] This original translation is intended to be close to the original writings produced by Eugene H. Peterson in his version of the Bible « The Message » is in line with the French translation produced by A. Chouraqui which respects a similar translation approach.
[5] Tabari: « History of the Prophets and Kings: From Solomon to the Fall of the Sassanids » / Chapter: « History of Lohrasp (French: Tabari/Histoire des prophètes et des rois : De Salomon à la chute des Sassanides/Chapitre : « Histoire de Lohrasp (p. 58-59-) ).
[6] Bereishit – Genesis – Chapter 2, verse 13