Fathers

Psalms 48

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Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the north sides, the city of the great King. God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge. For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together. They saw it, then they were amazed. They were dismayed. They hurried away. Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail. With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish. As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of Yahweh of Armies, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. We have thought about your loving kindness, God, in the middle of your temple. As is your name, God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice because of your judgments. Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers. Notice her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation. For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to death.

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What the Fathers say

Psalms 48:7

Western Saints

Augustine of Hippo

"With a strong wind You shall break the ships of Tarshish" [Psalm 48:6]. Briefly understood, this is, You shall overthrow the pride of the nations. But where in this history is mentioned the overthrowing of the pride of the nations? Because of "the ships of Tarshish." Learned men have enquired for Tarshish a city, that is, what city was signified by this name: and to some it has seemed that Cilicia is called Tarshish, because its metropolis is called Tarsus. Of which city was the Apostle Paul, being born in Tarsus of Cilicia. …

Exposition on Psalm 48 ↗

Jerome

[Daniel 10:6] "And his body was like chrysolite." For "chrysolite," one of the twelve gems inserted in the oracular breastplate of the high priest, the Hebrew has trs'ys (tharsis) , a word which Theodotion and Symmachus simply left unchanged in transcription; but the Septuagint called it "the sea," according to the usage in the Psalms: "With a violent gale Thou dashest the ships of Tharsis in pieces," i.e., "the ships of the sea" (Psalm 48:7). …

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TEN ↗