Dante's Vulgate does not make David ask "to BECOME the apple (pupil) of God's
eye."
Psalm 16.8 reads "A resistentibus dexterae tuae custodi me, ut pupillam oculi",
which
may be translated as "From those who rebel against [oppose] your right hand
protect me as
you would the apple of your own eye."
It is of course possible that Dante may have been struck by David's prayer
to such an extent
that he decided to place David as the pupil of the eye of the eagle of justice
in *Paradiso* XX.
37-39, where he is certainly described as the author of the psalms ("the singer
of the Holy
Spirit"). On the other hand, a quick check confirms that no commentator points
to Psalm 16.8
as a possible source.
John Scott
[log in to unmask] wrote:
> In Psalms 17.8, which is captioned "A psalm of David," David asks to become
> the apple (pupil) of God's eye. In the Commedia, Dante has David as the pupil
> of the eye of the eagle of justice, and I'm assuming the psalm verse was the
> source. But it's an unusual iconography. Does anyone know of any related
> examples, where David is portrayed as the pupil of an eye, the pupil of God's
> eye, or anything similar?
>
> I checked Saint Augustine, who isn't helpful on that verse. He does say,
> however, that the speaker in the Psalm is Christ. Is there an iconography,
> then, where Christ is portrayed as (not in) the pupil of God's eye?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.
>
> pat sloane
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