Of good and bad women.
The praises of a good woman. 5. The betraying of a citie, mutenie of people, and false accusation are terrible, but a ielous woman is more greuous. 10. Diuers il qualities of a bad woman. 16. More commendations of a good woman. 25. A doleful thing to see a valiant warier wanting liuelihood, a wiseman not regarded, and greatest griefe to see a iust man become wicked. 28. A man ful of busines hardly careth for his soule: and a•• Inns keper often sinneth in wordes.
1Happy is the husband of a good wife: for the number of his years is double.Beato il marito della donna dabbene, perocché sarà doppio il numero de' suoi giorni.THE husband of a good wife is happie: for the number of his yeares is duble.Mulieris bonæ beatus vir: / numerus enim annorum illius duplex. 2A virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband, and shall fulfil the years of his life in peace.La donna forte è la consolazione del marito, e gli fa passare in pace gli anni di sua vita.A strong woman delighteth her husband, and shal accomplish the yeares of his life in peace.Mulier fortis oblectat virum suum, / et annos vitæ illius in pace implebit. 3A good wife is a good portion, she shall be given in the portion of them that fear God, to a man for his good deeds.Una donna buona è una buona sorte, ella toccherà a chi teme Dio, e sarà data all'uomo per le sue buone opere:A good woman is a good portion, in the good portion of them that feare God shal she be geuen to a man for good deedes:Pars bona mulier bona, / in parte timentium Deum dabitur viro pro factis bonis: 4Rich or poor, if his heart is good, his countenance shall be cheerful at all times.Sia egli ricco, o sia povero, avrà il cuore contento, e la faccia lieta in ogni tempo.And the hart of rich and poore is good, at al time their countenance is merie.divitis autem et pauperis cor bonum, / in omni tempore vultus illorum hilaris. 5Of three things my heart hath been afraid, and at the fourth my face hath trembled:Di tre cose ha paura il mio cuore, e la quarta fa impallidire il mio volto:Of three thinges my hart hath bene afraid, and at the fourth my face hath trembled:A tribus timuit cor meum, / et in quarto facies mea metuit: 6The accusation of a city, and the gathering together of the people:La persecuzione di una città; le raunate del popolo;The betraying of a citie, and a gethering together of the people:delaturam civitatis, et collectionem populi: 7And a false calumny, all are more grievous than death.E la calunnia falsa: tutte cose più dolorose della morte.false calumnie, al more greuous then death.columniam mendacem super mortem omnia gravia: 8A jealous woman is the grief and mourning of the heart.Ma la donna gelosa è dolore, ed affanno di cuore.A ielous woman, is the sorow and moorning of the hart.dolor cordis et luctus, mulier zelotypa. 9With a jealous woman is a scourge of the tongue which communicateth with all.La donna gelosa ha la sferza nella lingua, e la fa sentire a tutti.In a ielous woman is a scourge of the tongue, communicating with al.In muliere zelotypa flagellum linguæ, / omnibus communicans.
10As a yoke of oxen that is moved to and fro, so also is a wicked woman: he that hath hold of her, is as he that taketh hold of a scorpion.La donna cattiva è come il giogo de' bovi, che ondeggia: chi la prende è come chi prende uno scorpione.As a yoke of oxen, that is moued, so also a wicked woman: he that holdeth her, is as he that taketh hold of a scorpion.Sicut boum jugum quod movetur, ita et mulier nequam: / qui tenet illam quasi qui apprehendit scorpionem. 11A drunken woman is a great wrath: and her reproach and shame shall not be hid.La donna, che si imbriaca è gran flagello, e le sue ignominie, e turpitudini non saranno nascoste.A woman geuen to drunkennes is great anger: & her contumelie and turpitude shal not be hid.Mulier ebriosa ira magna, et contumelia: / et turpitudo illius non tegetur. 12The fornication of a woman shall be known by the haughtiness of her eyes and by her eyelids.La impudicizia della donna si conosce alla sfrontatezza dello sguardo, ed agli occhi di essa.The fornication of a woman shal be knowen in the lifting vp of her eies, and in her eieliddes.Fornicatio mulieris in extollentia oculorum, / et in palpebris illius agnoscetur. 13On a daughter that turneth not away herself, set a strict watch: lest finding an opportunity she abuse herself.Veglia attentamente sopra la figliuola, la quale non affrena i suoi occhi, affinché, trovata l'opportunità, ella non isfoghi i suoi capricci.On thy daughter that turneth not away her self, set sure watche: lest occasion found she abuse herself.In filia non avertente se, firma custodiam, / ne inventa occasione utatur se. 14Take heed of the impudence of her eyes, and wonder not if she slight thee.Sia a te sospetta ogni immodestia de' suoi occhi, e non maravigliarti, se ella non fa conto di te:Take heede of the impudencie of her eies, and meruel not if she contemne thee.Ab omni irreverentia oculorum ejus cave, / et ne mireris si te neglexerit. 15She will open her mouth as a thirsty traveller to the fountain, and will drink of every water near her, and will sit down by every hedge, and open her quiver against every arrow, until she fail.Ella come un viandante assetato aprirà la bocca alla fontana, e berà dell'acqua più vicina qualunque ella sia, e si metterà a sedere presso ogni angolo, e aprirà il turcasso ad ogni saetta sino a venir meno.As a wayfaring man that thirsteth, wil she open her mouth to the fountaine, and wil drinke of euerie water that is next, and wil sit against euerie hedge, and open her quiuer against euerie arrow, vntil she faile.Sicut viator sitiens ad fontem os aperiet, / et ab omni aqua proxima bibet, / et contra omnem palum sedebit, / et contra omnem sagittam aperiet pharetram donec deficiat.
16The grace of a diligent woman shall delight her husband, and shall fat his bones.La garbatezza della moglie diligente rallegra il marito, e fa vegete le sue ossa.The grace of a diligent woman shal delight her husband, and shal farte his bones.Gratia mulieris sedulæ delectabit virum suum, / et ossa illius impinguabit. 17Her discipline is the gift of God.La morigeratezza di lei è dono di Dio.Her discipline is the gift of God.Disciplina illius datum Dei est. 18Such is a wise and silent woman, and there is nothing so much worth as a well instructed soul.La donna giudiziosa, e amante del silenzio, col suo animo ben composto è cosa senza paraggio.A wise and stil woman, there is no exchange for a soule instructed.Mulier sensata et tacita, / non est immutatio eruditæ animæ. 19A holy and shamefaced woman is grace upon grace.Grazia sopra grazia ell'è una donna santa, e vereconda.A holie and shamefast woman, is grace vpon grace.Gratia super gratiam / mulier sancta et pudorata. 20And no price is worthy of a continent soul.Né v'ha cosa di tanto valore, che possa agguagliarsi a questa anima casta:And al weight is not worthie a continent soule.Omnis autem ponderatio non est digna / continentis animæ. 21As the sun when it riseth to the world in the high places of God, so is the beauty of a good wife for the ornament of her house.Quello, che il sole nascente dall'altissima abitazione di Dio è pel mondo, lo è l'avvenenza della donna virtuosa pell'ornamento di sua casa.As the sunne rysing to the world in the highest places of God, so is the beautie of a good woman for an ornament of her house.Sicut sol oriens mundo in altissimis Dei, / sic mulieris bonæ species in ornamentum domus ejus. 22As the lamp shining upon the holy candlestick, so is the beauty of the face in a ripe age,Lucerna, che splende sul candelabro santo ell'è l'avvenenza del volto in ferma età.A lampe shyning vpon the holie candlesticke, & the beautie of the face vpon stayed age.Lucerna splendens super candelabrum sanctum, / et species faciei super ætatem stabilem. 23As golden pillars upon bases of silver, so are the firm feet upon the soles of a steady woman.Colonne d'oro sopra basi d'argento, sono i piedi, che posano sulle piante di donna grave.Pillars of gold vpon feete of siluer, and stable feete vpon the soules of a stayed woman.Columnæ aureæ super bases argenteas, / et pedes firmi super plantas stabilis mulieris. 24As everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, so the commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman.Come eterni sono i fondamenti gettati sopra salda pietra; così i comandamenti di Dio sul cuore di donna santa.Eternal fundations vpon a sound rocke, and the commandments of God in the hart of a holie woman.Fundamenta æterna supra petram solidam, / et mandata Dei in corde mulieris sanctæ.
25At two things my heart is grieved, and the third bringeth anger upon me.Due cose contristano il mio cuore, e la terza mi muove ad ira:At two thinges my hart is greeued, and at the third anger is come vpon me:In duobus contristatum est cor meum, / et in tertio iracundia mihi advenit: 26A man of war fainting through poverty, and a man of sense despised:Un uom guerriero, che languisce di inopia, e il saggio messo in non cale:A man of warre decaying by pouertie: and a wise man contemned:vir bellator deficiens per inopiam; / et vir sensatus contemptus; 27And he that passeth over from justice to sin, God hath prepared such an one for the sword.E l'uomo, il quale dalla giustizia fa passaggio al peccato: Iddio serba costui alla spada.and he that transgresseth from iustice to sinne, God hath prepared him to the sword.et qui transgreditur a justitia ad peccatum: / Deus paravit eum ad rhomphæam. 28Two sorts of callings have appeared to me hard and dangerous: a merchant is hardly free from negligence: and a huckster shall not be justified from the sins of the lips.Due professioni ho conosciute per difficili, e pericolose: il negoziante difficilmente fuggirà le omissioni; e l'ostiere non sarà esente da' peccati della lingua.Two sortes haue appeared vnto me hard and dangerous, a merchant is hardly rid of negligence: and a viteler shal not be iustified from the sinnes of the lippes.Duæ species difficiles et periculosæ mihi apparuerunt: / difficile exuitur negotians a negligentia, / et non justificabitur caupo a peccatis labiorum.
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Worthington
Double. Uneasiness deprives a person of much comfort. (Worthington)
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Haydock
To a, etc., is not in Greek. (Haydock)
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Fourth. A jealous wife, ver. 8.
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Calmet
City. When all are charged with a crime, or when all rise up against a man. (Calmet)
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Woman. Greek adds, "against another woman."
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Haydock
With. Greek, "and the scourge of the tongue, which," etc. (Haydock)
Grotius
Back-biting occasions the four evils aforesaid. (Grotius)
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Worthington
Woman. When oxen move, the yoke moves also: Thus heresy will suffer none to rest. (Worthington)
The yoke ought to fit the neck, and not be fastened to the horns. (Colum. 2:2.)
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Calmet
Hid. She will be given to debauchery. (St. Chrysostom) (Calmet)
Romulus ordered wives to be slain, like adulteresses, who had drunk wine at home. (V. Max. 6:3.)
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Calmet
Herself. From gazing at men. (Calmet)
Propert
Love manifests itself by the eyes. (Propert.)
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Calmet
Hedge. Or "stake," palum, (Haydock) on which tents were fixed, Genesis 38:14. (Calmet)
Haydock
Fail. Incontinence will at last ruin her health. (Haydock)
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Worthington
Bones. The Catholic faith is the ground of all virtues. (Worthington)
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Menochius
Worth. Literally, "exchange;" (Greek; Haydock) such a wife is above all price. (Menochius)
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Calmet
Continent. Adhering to virtue. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Holy. Made of gold, and placed in the sanctuary. (Menochius)
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Haydock
Soles. Greek, "heels." Complutensian, "solid pavement." A long addition follows in this edition, which is inserted by Grabe, (Haydock; but is not in the best copies. Calmet) instead of the following verse. (Haydock)
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Calmet
Poverty. The Romans provided for veteran soldiers, as Louis XIV did with great magnificence. (Calmet)
Haydock
Greenwich hospital is for the same purpose. (Haydock)
Despised. Solomon makes the same complaint, Ecclesiastes 9:15.
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Calmet
To sin. He is less excusable, as he knows what he abandons, Jeremias 2:12. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Two. Greek, "scarcely is a merchant exempt from negligence, and the seller of wine, and eatables, (Grotius) or retailer (Voss. kapelos) shall not be justified from sin." (Haydock)
Negligence. That is, from the neglect of the service of God: because the eager pursuit of the mammon of this world, is apt to make men of that calling forget the great duties of loving God above all things, and their neighbours as themselves.
Challoner
A huckster. Or a retailer of wine. Men of that profession are both greatly exposed to danger of sin themselves, and are too often accessary to the sins of others. (Challoner)
Worthington
Lips. Innkeepers talk much to please, and thus fall into danger, Proverbs 10:19. (Worthington)
Calmet
They are also exposed to lying, (Menochius) and to adulterate their merchandise. (Calmet)
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From negligence.... That is, from the neglect of the service of God: because the eager pursuit of the mammon of this world, is apt to make men of that calling forget the great duties of loving God above all things, and their neighbours as themselves.—Ibid. A huckster.... Or, a retailer of wine. Men of that profession are both greatly exposed to danger of sin themselves, and are too often accessary to the sins of others.
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An vnquiet life depriueth a man of much comforth: and therfore continual peace •• as a duble life.
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As when o••n more. the yoke o• their necke• doth moue withal: so a wicked woman (to witte heresie) can not rest, nor let others rest, quiet.
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The Catholique faith is the ground al al vertues.
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Those that kepe innes or ailehouses are alwayes talking, as willing to please al, but in much talke wanteth not sinne. Prou. 10. v. 19.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Titus 6
Something of this kind even now will be experienced, if we will manfully resist the trials that encompass us. If we have hope in God, we shall be in security, and have ample room, and those who bring us into these straits shall perish. For it is written, “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein.” (
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall 1
… He who is dipped in water because of contact with a dead body, and then touches it again, what has he gained by his washing?” Even so if a man fasts because of his sins, and goes his way again, and doeth the same things, who will hearken to his prayer? And again we read “if a man goes back from righteousness to sin the Lord will prepare him for the sword,”
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1. BLESSED IS THE MAN OF A GOOD WOMAN: FOR THE NUMBER OF HER YEARS IS DOUBLE. — Her, namely of the man. Thus the Greek, Roman and Syriac versions. Some read, their, namely of the man and woman or wife. Thus Palacius. For the years of a man with a good wife are double, both because he will live longer, and twice as much on account of the goodness of his wife, so that namely he may live seventy or eighty years, who otherwise would have lived only thirty or forty; for a wicked woman brings so many troubles and sorrows to her husband, that he is quickly consumed and wasted by them; and also because he will live more happily and pleasantly; for a sad life is rather death than life, and thus it is half death, and half life. For the sad and sorrowful man lives a natural life through respiration, sensation and motion; but he dies a moral life through hardships, pains, anguishes and sorrows. For as Martial says: "To live is not merely to breathe, but to be strong and vigorous in life." Thus the Zurich version, blessed, it says, is the man of a worthy woman; for the number of her days shall be doubled; the Syriac, a good woman (that is, "of a good woman," is a Syriac and Hebrew idiom), is blessed the man of her; because her days are doubled. These double years of the man who has a good wife are to be understood in respect to the man who has a wicked wife; for his years are simple, because they are halved and few. Palacius however understands double in respect to nature and natural constitution. For the years which nature prescribed to each, just as art, so much more God can increase and double. For just as "men of blood shall not halve their days," Psalm LIV, God diminishing the number of years which nature had fixed for the bloodthirsty: so the years of good spouses are double, God doubling those years which nature had decreed as halved: for as He halves them, because He abhors them; so He doubles these, because He rejoices in them. This is indeed true from time to time, but rare. It happened more frequently to the good and pious in the Old Testament, to whom earthly happiness was promised by God; in the New Testament however it is compensated by greater spiritual and heavenly happiness. Tropologically, a good wife grants a double life to her husband; because she is the cause for him, both by word and example, and by her harmony and piety, that he may live here the life of grace, and in the future the life of glory; but a wicked one, giving a bad example to her husband, and provoking him to impatience, quarrels, desperation and other crimes, is the cause for him that his soul may die here the death of sin, and in the future the death of hell and eternal death. Thus St. Cecilia made her husband Valerian holy and a martyr, and Clotilda made Clovis so, and St. Elizabeth her Landgrave. Whence Hugo understands by a good woman the Blessed Virgin, who was the best, because supremely pious, chaste, kind and modest. Pious in deed, kind in heart, modest in speech, chaste in body and in mind, strong in the endurance of labors and tribulations. Of whom Proverbs XI: "A gracious woman shall find glory." She without doubt both beatified and gladdened her husband Joseph. Proverbs XII: "A wise woman is the crown of her husband." Again, he says, a good and strong woman is your parish, or your religion. Proverbs V: "Rejoice, young man, with the woman of thy youth." But Solomon says against those who change Churches, or desert them for richer benefices: "He that putteth away a good woman, putteth away a good thing," Proverbs XVIII, 22. Mystically Rabanus: "A good woman," he says, "is either specially the soul of a just and good man, or generally the whole Church of the elect, whose husband is described as blessed; because Christ (who is her husband) is proclaimed as blessedness and exaltation throughout the whole world; for the number of their years is double, because here the Church lives under the custody of the commandments of God with the honor of virtues, and in the future shall truly rejoice in the perception of heavenly rewards."
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2. A STRONG WOMAN DELIGHTS HER HUSBAND, AND SHE WILL FILL THE YEARS OF HIS LIFE IN PEACE. — "A strong woman," in Greek escheth chail, that is a woman of virtue, or a virago, is called a vigorous woman, industrious, diligent, who excels in judgment and counsel, and like a bee is continually solicitous, so that by her industry and labor she may administer her household properly, educate her children rightly, provide for servants and handmaids in food, clothing and all things, increase the family property; finally, she procures for her husband, children and herself wealth, honor and glory; such as Solomon describes throughout the entire chapter XXXI of Proverbs. This woman indeed by her industry, labor and wealth delights her husband, and therefore fills the years of his life not in sorrow and labor, but in peace and joy; for she brings it about that he attains to a full and long life with quiet and gladness, and dies like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in a good old age. Again, "in peace," that is in the abundance of all things, which her vigor produces; for this is what schalom signifies to the Hebrews, that is peace. Whence the Zurich translation renders it, a vigorous woman cheers her husband, and brings it about that he spends the years of his life in tranquility; Vatablus, she fills the years of his life with tranquility; the Syriac, a strong woman will delight her husband, and will fill the years of her life in gladness, namely the husband himself, or the married man. Therefore a good wife is different from a strong one; for a good wife is kind, easy-tempered, obedient, loving her husband and children, and likewise pious toward God; but a strong one is prudent, manly, industrious, vigorous. She who possesses both is perfect and heroic. For women are partly by reason of phlegmatic temperament, partly by custom and idleness, lazy, sluggish and slothful. Whence Hippocrates, in the book On Nature, or on the diseases of virgins, writes that the female nature is more sluggish, and for this reason more women than men fall into those panic and imaginary terrors, which so violently frighten men that they lose their senses, and seem to themselves to see phantoms and demons, by which many, harassed, hang themselves or kill themselves. And Galen, in book II of Temperaments, writes that women are fatter than men, because they lead a more idle life; and, since slowness is the companion of sloth, hence we see women to be slow and dilatory. Whence Plautus, in the Soldier: A woman, he says, is born from delay itself; For any other thing, which is equally a delay, seems a lesser delay than that which is on account of a woman. And that passage: While they are preparing, while they are adorning themselves, a year passes. Those women therefore who overcome this idleness by vigor are viragos.
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3. A GOOD PORTION, A GOOD WOMAN, SHALL BE GIVEN IN THE PORTION OF THOSE THAT FEAR GOD TO A MAN FOR HIS GOOD DEEDS. — "Portion" is the same as lot, as if to say, A good lot is a good woman: wherefore God, who as it were the emperor of the world, is accustomed to allot and bestow upon each his own lot according to His good pleasure and the merit of men, shall give a good woman to a good man as the reward of his good works. She therefore shall be given to the upright "in the portion," that is as a portion and lot due and proper to those that fear God. For in Hebrew beth, that is "in," is often taken for caph of similitude, or rather of measure, that is "as," "like," "as the measure of reward suited to merit." Whence the Greek texts concisely have it thus: A good woman is a good portion, in the portion of those that fear the Lord is she given; the Zurich version: A good wife is a good allotment, as a reward she shall obtain those who revere the Lord; the Syriac: A good woman shall be given to a man who fears the Lord on account of his good works. It alludes to Prov. XIX, 14: "House and riches are given by parents; but a prudent wife is properly from the Lord." Where note the word "properly," as if to say, Although house and riches are given by God; yet these are often left to sons by parents as an inheritance, and come to them by hereditary right; but a good wife, however, is a proper, that is a peculiar and singular gift of God; for although such a one ought to be sought out diligently and carefully by one wishing to enter into marriage; yet she is procured not so much by human diligence as by divine providence from God Himself in a special manner, and therefore ought to be sought from Him by prayers. This is evident in Rebecca, Rachel, and Sara, whom God properly procured as wives for Isaac, Jacob, and Tobias. For God, although by His providence He cares for all things, yet cares for and procures the greater and more necessary things more: and such is a prudent wife, with becoming manners and suited to the character of her husband; because upon her depends the peace, tranquility, holiness, salvation and predestination of the husband, of the children, and of the whole family. It is similar in a vocation to religion, in which this religion rather than that, suits this man, and is prepared by God, if he wishes to consult, hear, and follow God calling. The sense therefore is, as if to say, He who is called by God to matrimony, in choosing a wife ought not to rely and trust so much on his own or his parents' judgment, or fancy, or industry, as on God, and ought to beseech Him continually that He direct to him a suitable wife. In a similar sense, the custody and direction of the tongue is attributed to God rather than to man, Prov. cap. XVI, 1: "It is man's part," he says, "to prepare the soul, and the Lord's to govern the tongue." And the distribution of lots in the same place, vers. 33: "Lots," he says, "are cast into the bosom, but they are tempered by the Lord." Whence Palacius thinks that a good wife is a sign of the predestination of the husband and children, and therefore is given by God to the predestined; but other goods are given both to the reprobate and to the predestined. Otherwise, Jansenius somewhat differently: "A good woman," he says, "is a good portion and a good lot, which shall be given to a man in the lot and portion of those that fear God; because in that lot which God promised, and is accustomed to give to those that fear Him, a good wife is also included." I shall say more about this maxim in the Salomonid, which, God willing, shall be the next work, Prov. cap. XVI, 14; for from it Sirach borrowed it.
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4. BUT OF THE RICH AND OF THE POOR, A GOOD HEART, AT ALL TIMES THEIR COUNTENANCE IS CHEERFUL. — That is to say, When the heart of a man, whether rich or poor, is "good," that is, tranquil, serene, joyful, happy, on account namely of a good and industrious wife, then likewise at all times their countenance will be cheerful, serene and happy; because the cheerfulness of the heart displays itself in the cheerfulness of the mouth and countenance. This sentence pertains to verse 2. Whence the Syriac, transposing the second verse into the third, connects it with this fourth in this manner immediately: A strong woman will delight her husband, and will complete the years of her life in gladness (the husband), whether he be rich or poor, his heart is good always, and his face cheerful; the Zurich edition, a good wife, etc.; both the heart of the rich toward the Lord (for it reads indeed πρὸς Κύριον, for which Our text and others read, ἐν παντὶ καιρῷ, that is, at all times), and of the poor makes joyful, so that at all times they may be cheerful. The sense is, that is to say, Neither riches, nor honors, nor feasts, nor anything else makes the husband happy, just as neither poverty, ignobility, hunger, thirst, makes him unhappy; but the gladness or sadness of heart and countenance, which a good or bad wife brings about; for a good wife makes serene and cheers the heart and countenance of her husband, but a bad one confuses, saddens and causes him to waste away. Thus "good" is taken for happy and pleasant, Psalm CXXXII, 1: "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity!" On the other hand, Matthew VI, Christ says: "Sufficient for the day is the evil thereof (that is, sadness and affliction) thereof."
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5. FROM THREE THINGS MY HEART FEARED, AND AT THE FOURTH MY FACE WAS AFRAID. — The Interpreter reads with the Complutensians, equilibrio, that is, was afraid, for which the Roman editions read, ἐδεήθην; whence they translate: And at the fourth my face I besought, or I entreated; so that he might show how great an evil, and how disturbing to man, changing his heart and his face, is a wicked woman; and he compares and prefers her to three very harmful things, which wonderfully afflict man, and therefore are studiously avoided by all. The sense therefore is, as if to say, Three things as it were very bitter my heart feared (in Greek κολαθήλη, that is, revered): but at the fourth, that is, the fourth (for it is Hebrew beth of contact), so greatly did I fear in my heart, that my face also was terrified and grew pale. It is a Hebraism, such as is found in Amos chapter I, verses 3, 9 and 11: "Upon three wickednesses of Damascus, and upon the fourth I will not convert him," as if to say, The Damascenes committed three wickednesses; but the fourth is so enormous that it extorts vengeance from me. See the things said there. Whence the Zurich Bible translates, three things my heart abhors, and the fourth my face abhors; the Syriac, from three things my heart was moved, and from four (that is, from the fourth; for the cardinal number is put for the ordinal) I greatly feared. Moreover he enumerates these four, saying:
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6 and 7. THE SLANDER OF THE CITY, AND THE GATHERING OF THE PEOPLE, FALSE CALUMNY, ABOVE ALL THINGS GRAVE. — That is to say, Three things which my heart feared are, first, "slander," that is betrayal, "of the city," as the Zurich version translates it, that is to say, To be in a city which is betrayed to the enemy, and exposed to its plundering, shaking, slaughter and furies, is a grave evil. Thus Lyra. But Palacius for slander translates it, opposition, by which the whole city becomes adverse and contrary to someone. Yet in Greek it is διαβολή, that is calumny, accusation, by which namely the city, that is most of the citizens from sinister rumor accuse someone, and impute some crime to him. For this is a grave evil, both because through this the accused incurs public infamy, equally as the hatred of all citizens; and because through this he must fear and beware not of one, but of all citizens, lest he be condemned to death, exile and imprisonment. Whence the Syriac version translates it, the contradiction of the congregation in the multitude of the people; for διαβολή is calumny, suspicion, envy, detraction, indignation, ignominy, infamy, crime, betrayal: whence διάβολος is a calumniator, betrayer, devil. For the root διαβάλλω signifies to accuse, to bring infamy, to condemn, to injure, to render suspect, and to accuse, to defame, to calumniate, to deceive, to traduce, to detract, to bring a charge. This is what Ecclesiastes says, chapter VII, 8: "Calumny troubles the wise man, and will destroy the strength of his heart:" where I shall say more about this matter. Second is, the gathering of the people, in Greek ἐκκλησία ὄχλου, that is the congregation of a crowd, namely of a disturbed and tumultuous people, that is sedition, as the Zurich version translates it, by which the people rises up against someone, and demands him for death; such as St. Paul suffered at Ephesus, stirred up by Demetrius and the silversmiths of Diana, Acts XIX. Third is false calumny, by which namely someone is falsely accused by an accuser and witnesses, and is tried as guilty of death, or a like evil. Among these three there is a gradation: for first it is an evil to labor under sinister fame in the city, and to be suspect to the citizens; second, it is worse, when this fame and suspicion so grows, that the people gathers against him, and seeks his head; third, it is worst, when from the gathering of the raging people a judicial process is set up, by which through calumny and false witnesses he is judicially and certainly condemned to death, as happened to Susanna, Daniel XIII, and Naboth, III Kings chapter XXI. Wherefore the Psalmist earnestly beseeches to be freed from it, Psalm CXVIII: "I have done," he says, "judgment and justice, deliver me not to them that calumniate me. Take up my cause, O Lord, for good, let not the proud calumniate me." To this pertains the symbol of Pythagoras: "The weasel offended from the side retreat, that is flee from men who are betrayers;" for they affirm that the weasel gives birth through the mouth. Furthermore, he says these three things are grave above death, that is more grave and bitter than death, both because violent death, inflicted by a judge unjustly, on account of the calumny of accusers and false witnesses, is more grave and bitter than natural death; and because they torture more and longer through many years, and sometimes through the whole of life, than death itself, which is felt only in a moment, and quickly passes, and frees man from all pain and torture. Whence that saying: "Death is better than a bitter life." Note: These three things are very grave and troublesome even to upright men; who however, being very patient, and advanced and perfect in virtue, easily overcome them, just as they also overcome death itself; especially if they suffer these things for God, justice, holiness, chastity or some other virtue, indeed in these they exult and triumph; just as St. Paul exults in his persecutions, calumnies, seditions, imprisonments, stripes and beatings, II Corinthians XI. Because God is accustomed to send great illuminations, strength, courage and spiritual consolations to those who patiently endure calumnies and injuries, so that on account of them they may wonderfully rejoice in calumnies, and not wish to be without them. John Climacus relates in the fourth degree concerning Obedience that an Abbot in a monastery was accustomed to be received daily by the brethren with harsh words and blows, and he bore all things humbly and steadfastly even unto death, persuading himself that these things were done to him not out of hatred, but for the sake of testing and increasing virtue; wherefore dying he said exultingly: "I give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ and to you, because on account of that by which you tested me unto salvation, behold for seventeen years I remained free from the temptation of the demon." In the same place he relates that Macedonius a deacon, without fault, was by his Superior cast down from his Order for the sake of testing and subjected to penance, and he bore all things without sadness, as though it were not himself but another who had been rebuked; nay, when he was restored to his Order by his Superior, he begged the same Superior to relegate him to his former degradation and ignominy, and the Superior, knowing his virtue, granted this to him: who then to Climacus himself marveling at his humility and penance among the novices, and seeking the reason, confessed and said: "Never as now have I perceived the emptying of all warfare, and the sweetness of divine light in myself." Hence St. Francis used to say: "Perfect joy is when one willingly for the love of Christ endures injuries and reproaches." For such a one speaks with St. Paul: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." And our St. Ignatius, founder of the Society of Jesus, having suffered a thousand calumnies on account of the ministries of piety, and often cast into prison, rejoiced and exulted in spirit, saying repeatedly that this is the supreme good and joy of the faithful in this life, and that this alone and in a compendious way is the cross the path to the summit of virtue and perfection. This is what St. James says, chapter 1: "Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations." Where I have said more concerning this matter.
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8 and 9. SORROW OF HEART AND GRIEF, A JEALOUS WOMAN. IN A JEALOUS WOMAN A SCOURGE OF THE TONGUE, COMMUNICATING WITH ALL. — This is the fourth evil, most wicked, far surpassing the three already mentioned, namely a jealous woman, who namely suspects her husband of loving another woman before her and preferring her to herself, and therefore distrusts him. Whence Rabanus reads, an unfaithful woman, that is, distrustful; in Greek ἀντίζηλος γυναικί, that is, a rival of a woman, a rival emulating a rival, a jealous woman emulating a jealous woman, such as was Anna of Phenenna, I Kings 1; Sarah with Hagar, Gen. XVI; Rachel with Leah, Gen. XXX, 1 and 15. For formerly polygamy, that is, a plurality of wives, was permitted to the Jews; in which jealousy easily arose, so that one would suspect, grieve and complain that she was loved less by her husband, and another was preferred to her, clothed better, treated, honored, etc.; for that weaker sex is suspicious, of lesser spirit and judgment. And for this reason polygamy was abolished by Christ among other things. The sense therefore is, as if to say, A jealous woman and rival emulating her rival brings to her husband and household not consolation and joy as was hoped, but sorrow of heart and grief. He adds the reason: "In a jealous woman a scourge of the tongue," as if to say, Because a jealous woman with her tongue continually scourges her husband with her complaints, sighs, indignations, expostulations, quarrels, brawls, wranglings, insults, curses. Moreover, this "scourge of the tongue" is not domestic only, that is, private, secret and confined within the walls of the house; but "communicating with all," because a jealous woman cannot hide her jealousy, indignation, bitterness, but communicates and exposes it to all relatives, friends, neighbors, indeed to any who meet her, complaining of her husband, that he loves another more, is unfaithful to her, treats her unworthily, etc. Whence the Greek texts thus have, sorrow of heart and grief a jealous woman in a jealous woman, and a scourge of the tongue communicating; the Zurich edition, sorrow of mind and grief is a woman emulating a woman, and a scourge of the tongue communicating with anyone; others, which is common to all; the Syriac, and a blow of the tongue all at once. Otherwise Palacius: Communicating with all, he says, because from every matter she takes occasion for complaining of her husband, lamenting and expostulating, indeed she seeks and catches it. Wherefore rightly St. Chrysostom, homily 53 on Genesis: "Jealousy," he says, "is a grave evil, and ends in folly." Moreover, women labor most under jealousy, the reason and origin of which is that they labor under φιλαυτίᾳ, they are more lovers of themselves, and please themselves too much. Thus Philo in Eusebius, book VIII of the Preparation, chapter IV: "A woman," he says, "loves herself excessively, etc., and is bitten most by jealousy." And Plutarch, in the book On Tranquility, places jealousy among the passions peculiar to women. Hence also the Poet: Jealousy inflames every woman's home. Hear a wonderful and miserable example. A woman had borne a son from her husband; her husband having died, she married another, from whom she likewise bore a son. This second husband together with this son of his secretly killed the former son, namely the stepson, whom she had borne from her first husband, so that they alone would be her heirs. The woman, indeed the mother, knowing this, driven into jealousy, indeed fury, killed both her husband and her son. Guilty of murder of a husband and murder of a son, on account of the novelty of the tangled case, she was brought before the Areopagites. They, seeing on one side the guilt of the crime, on the other the just sorrow which had driven the guilty woman to retaliation of vengeance, pronounced this sentence with the case undecided: "Let the guilty woman and the injured parties appear before our tribunal after a hundred years." Hear another wonderful, but memorable and imitable example. Aesop, the prince of mythologists, gave these precepts of life to his son Euno: "Son, above all fear God. Honor the King. Show yourself terrible to your enemies, lest they despise you; easy and communicable to your friends, so that they may be far more benevolent toward you. Always cleave well to your wife, lest she wish to make trial of another man's danger: for the race of women is light; and when flattered, thinks less evil. Be continent of tongue. Do not envy those who do well, but congratulate them; for the envious man offends himself more. Take care of your household servants, so that they fear you not only as a master, but also venerate you as a benefactor. Be not ashamed to learn always better things. Never trust secrets to a woman: for she is always armed with how to dominate you. Greet easily those who meet you, knowing that even a dog's tail procures bread. Do not repent of doing good. Do not grieve at what happens. Never consult wicked things, nor imitate the ways of the wicked." Thus Planudes in the Life of Aesop.
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10. AS THE YOKE OF OXEN WHICH IS SHAKEN (σαλευόμενον, that is, moved, agitated, shaken), SO ALSO IS A WICKED WOMAN; HE THAT HOLDS HER IS AS ONE THAT TAKES A SCORPION. — He represents the wickedness of a woman through two similitudes: one of a shaken yoke; the other of a scorpion. The former is well suited to this place: for marriage is said to be derived from a yoke; for spouses are as it were two yoked oxen, who, joined together in the same yoke, draw a cart, or furrow the earth with a plow. Just as therefore a yoke, if it be shaken, whether because it is too loose, or because one ox impatient of the yoke shakes it, so as to cast it off; or because a driver or someone else shakes it and exerts force upon it: if, I say, the yoke be shaken, it hinders the oxen, so that they can scarcely draw the cart or plow; and moreover it injures and harms the oxen themselves: so likewise a wicked woman with her quarrels and wickedness shakes the whole marriage, and injures and harms both the husband and the household. Whence the Zurich Bible: A wicked woman is like a yoke of oxen with troublesome looseness; he who takes her to himself does the same as one who seizes a scorpion. For, as Palacius explains, just as one restless ox in a yoke disturbs the other, however peaceful; so in the yoke of matrimony a jealous wife renders even the most peaceful husband restless; and just as he who holds a scorpion for a long time will not escape being stung by it: so he who holds a wicked wife, especially a jealous one, will be mortally stung by her; for such men are wont either to kill the wife, or to fall into despair, or certainly, having cast aside care of their household, even to abandon their country. Here the old saying is true: He who has taken on the yoke repents too late. First inquire into the character of a wife before you marry her: for once you have married her, her yoke and her character must be borne by you, nor will you be able to cast them off. Note: A wicked woman is compared to a scorpion; first, because "the scorpion alone among insects is armed with a long sting, and has five arms with forked teeth like pincers," as Aristotle says in Book IV of the History of Animals, chapter VII. Thus a wicked woman is armed with the sting of a venomous tongue, and has arms with teeth, by which she seizes her husband, provokes him, and vexes him. Second, the scorpion is most pestilent and deadly; for, as Pliny says in Book XI, chapter XXV: "The scorpion is a troublesome plague of serpent venom, except that with a more severe punishment it kills with a slow death over three days." Thus a wicked woman continually torments her husband, and kills him with slow wasting. Third, the scorpion with its curved tail strikes deceitfully him whom it holds with its horns; because, as Pliny says, "the tail is always ready to strike, and it does not cease to plan for a single moment, lest it should lack an opportunity. It strikes both with an oblique and with a curved blow." Thus a wicked woman, even if she flatters, brings forth her sting in the tail, that is, in the end, deceitfully, and applies herself and watches for every opportunity by which she might harm. Fourth, the venom of scorpions, as Pliny says, is most active from midday, when they have been heated by the sun's burning rays; likewise when they thirst, they are insatiable with drink. Thus also a wicked woman, when heated by wine and passion, ejects her poisons; she is likewise a drunkard and insatiable with wine. Fifth, scorpions do not harm those who have no blood, as Pliny says: thus a wicked woman does not harm men who are mortified, in whom there is no desire (for blood is the seat and symbol of this); but rather she becomes for them a matter of virtue and victory. Again, a wicked and quarrelsome woman, just as the devil, does not lie in wait for wasted sinners, but for the good and upright, who have the vigor and blood of virtues; thus also a slanderer attacks the same. For, as Martial says of the same in the Xenia: What will it profit to gnaw tooth with tooth? Flesh is needed, if you wish to be satisfied. Sixth: "Some," says Pliny, "think that scorpions are devoured by theft; only one remains, the most clever, and by placing itself upon the loins of its own mother, it becomes safe both from the tail and from the bite in that place. This one is the avenger of the rest, which finally destroys the parents from above. And they are born eleven in number." Thus a wicked woman not rarely destroys her own offspring with her troublesomeness, or kills them with her wickedness; hence she is also removed from their midst in turn. Seventh, the remedy for the bite of a scorpion is: "Its own ashes drunk in wine," as Pliny says; thus the remedy for a wicked woman is her own death, by which she is turned to ashes. For when that husband thinks that he will soon be freed by death, he consoles himself and those who suffer pains and hardships from her. But especially the scorpion, gripping with its horns but stinging with its tail, marks the wickedness and deceit of women, especially that by which they harm, while they simulate love. Hence Antonius in the Melissa, Book II, chapter XXXIV, from Socrates, says: "When a woman says that she loves you and desires you, you should fear her more than when she curses you." Hence Euripides calls women "painted evil." Whence the same in the Hippolytus: I hate women, and you especially; Who when you have done wrong, speak sweetly. And Publilius Syrus in the Mime: "When," he says, "a woman is openly wicked, then at last she is good;" for, as he speaking of the same says, "A known evil thing is the best." Hence Josephus, in Book V of the Antiquities, chapter XVII, writes that Samson, when he learned that his riddle about the lion and the bee had been betrayed to the Philistines by his Delilah, exclaimed: Nothing is more painful than a woman. And the Poet: The heavens do not have so many stars, nor the rivers so many fish As a wicked woman carries deceits in her mind. And another: But a cruel race, and woman is not a faithful name. Finally, physicists relate that a scorpion is born from a crab. Hear Pliny, Book IX, chapter XXXI: "When the sun passes through the sign of Cancer, and the bodies of crabs themselves, when they have died, are said to be transformed into scorpions in a dry place." Ovid, however, designating no particular time, asserts the same absolutely: If you remove, he says, the hollow arms from a crab on the shore, And place the rest under the earth, from the buried part A scorpion will come forth, and threaten with its curved tail. Thus a woman, who walks like a crab backwards, always adverse to her husband, resisting him, struggling against him, detracting from him, finally turns into a scorpion, and prepares certain poison and death for her husband; for just as the venom of serpents gradually increases, so also the malice of women. Hence, just as serpents finally grow into dragons, formidable and deadly to all animals; so also women, growing in wickedness, finally become infernal furies. Mystically, a wicked wife is one's own will, and when the carnal man is joined to it as to a bad spouse, he is weighed down, agitated and tormented continually by the innumerable burden of sins and imperfections. For one's own will disturbs the entire inner house, resists men and God, and contaminates those who embrace it as if with poison. This, which at first sight savors of liberty and seems to make a man master of himself, if examined more deeply, presses him down with an unbearable yoke, which whoever does not wish to perish must cast off. St. Bernard said most excellently in his tract On Loving God, near the end: "Then I would say that each one has made his own law for himself, when he has preferred his own will to the common and eternal law, perversely indeed wishing to imitate his Creator; so that, just as He is law unto Himself and master of His own right, so also he might govern himself and make his own will his law: a grave and unbearable yoke upon all the sons of Adam; alas! bending and bowing our necks, so that our life drew near to hell." Thus he speaks. And he adds that St. Job spoke of this yoke when he said: "And I am become grievous to myself." For he burdens himself who does not care to cast off and remove the yoke of his own will. See Cassian, book IV On the Institutes of Renunciation, chapter VIII, where he teaches that it is impossible to mortify the pleasures and desires of concupiscence unless one has first learned to mortify one's own will; and chapter XXIV, where he teaches that one's own will must be crucified and affixed to the cross of Christ.
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11. A DRUNKEN WOMAN IS A GREAT PROVOCATION; AND HER REPROACH AND SHAME SHALL NOT BE HIDDEN. — That is to say, a drunken woman is quarrelsome and abusive; for when heated with wine, she quarrels and vomits forth whole cartloads of insults upon her husband and other members of the household; wherefore she brings great provocation and reproach to her husband. For the husband becomes angry on account of her drunkenness and drunken behavior, which are a disgrace and dishonor to him. Although she may sometimes wish to hide and conceal her own shame, namely her drunkenness and drunken behavior; yet they themselves and she reveal themselves, according to that saying: "Wine, money and love cannot be hidden." Whence the Greek texts have: And she shall not hide her shame, that is to say, She herself will reveal her drunkenness, and from it her talkativeness, wantonness, shamelessness and lust by words and gestures. And the Zurich edition: A drunken and uncontrolled woman is a great evil (for some Greek texts add καὶ ῥεμβασμός), and that she does not hide her shame. For men, since they have a stronger brain and are endowed with greater reason and judgment, are able to hide their drunkenness and the secrets of their mind. Whence drunkenness is not so disgraceful in them; but women, since they are weak in brain, reason and judgment, cannot do this: whence when drunk they reveal their inward concupiscence and vices; wherefore drunkenness is dishonorable in them, especially because drunkenness loosens the reins of shame, which is the guardian of chastity, and from this they become shameless and unchaste. The Syriac: A drunken woman is a great fury (for she rages and raves like a raging fury against all) and mad, because she will not hide her ignominy. Note: The Complutensian, Zurich and other editions add καὶ ῥεμβασμός, which the Complutensian renders as "of alienated mind" (whence the French rêver and rêverie); the Roman edition, "wandering"; the Zurich, "uncontrolled"; others, "inconstant." For βεμβασμὸς ἐπιθυμίας is called the inconstancy of concupiscence, Wisdom IV; for ῥέμβω means to turn about, to roll about, to irritate: ῥέμβομαι means to go about, to wander, to fluctuate, as a drunken woman does. Not without reason did St. Paul, in I Timothy III, command that women be sober; and in Titus chapter II, that old women not be enslaved to much wine. Interpreting this passage, St. Chrysostom says: "The same vice belongs to women and to old age; for because they grow cold with age, they devote themselves to drinking with great zeal. Wherefore he admonishes them especially on this account, that they cut off the vice of drunkenness in all respects, wishing them to be as far removed as possible from this disease, and to escape the mockery that arises from it; knowing indeed that they are addicted to this vice." To this pertains the fact that at the festival of Bacchus a woman rather than a man supplied libations to the people; because the bands of women, whom they called Maenads, followed Bacchus himself, as if more wine-loving than men, and especially old women. From this Ovid, in book III of the Fasti, says: Why woman excels, is not a matter of hidden reason; He stirs up the feminine bands with the thyrsus. Why does an old woman do this, you ask? That age was more wine-loving, And fond of the heavy gifts of the vine. But Juvenal, in Satire 6, writes thus concerning the wine-drinking of women: As if a long serpent had fallen into deep vats, she drinks and vomits. For indeed Pliny, in book X, chapter LXXII, and again in book XXII, chapter XXIII, relates that serpents especially desire wine, as if indeed serpents begrudge this to women, their perpetual enemies appointed by God Almighty, Genesis chapter III, lest they be overcome by women in this matter; thus Tiraquellus, law 9 On Marriage, number 203. Wherefore St. Chrysostom, homily 71 to the People, gravely pronounced that nothing is more shameful than a drunken woman. And in the Acts of the Apostles, homily 28: "Nothing," he says, "is more foul than a drunken woman; her sight is darkened, the serenity and purity of her eyes is disturbed, as if by some cloud succeeding to the rays of the sun, a work illiberal and servile, and full of all baseness. How unpleasant is a woman breathing wine," etc. And a little later: "Give a beautiful girl, turbulent, talkative, abusive, drunken and extravagant, is she not more foul and shameful than any other thing?" And St. Jerome, or whoever is the author in the Rule of Nuns to Eustochium, chapter XXXVI, asserts that drunkenness in a woman is sacrilege. Finally Clement of Alexandria, book II of the Paedagogus, chapter II, citing this passage from Sirach, shows from it that drunkenness in a woman is most shameful. For this reason the ancients forbade wine to women. There exists a law of Romulus: "If a wife shall have drunk wine at home, let her be punished as an adulteress." For from drunkenness there is an easy fall into adultery. Pliny, book XIV, chapter XIII, writes that the wife of Mecennius, because she had drunk wine, was killed by her husband, and he was absolved of the murder by Romulus. The same is testified by Valerius Maximus, book VI, chapter III, where he calls Mecennius Metellus. For the same reason Arnobius, book V Against the Gentiles, relates that Fatua, the wife of Faun king of Latium, was beaten by her husband with rods unto death. See Tiraquellus above, number 206 and following. Finally St. Chrysostom, or rather the Author of the Imperfect Commentary on Matthew, chapter 1: "Every," he says, "woman who is drunken and a reveler is also a harlot." And St. Ambrose, in the book On Elijah and Fasting, chapter XVIII: "Wine," he says, "has brought us the loss of such great souls. For if wine and women cause separation from God, in that drunkenness or lust are the enticements of transgression; if these things do it separately and individually, what will they do when united? Whence not without reason the Wise Man says: A drunken woman is great wrath; her shame will not be hid."
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12. THE FORNICATION OF A WOMAN IS SEEN IN THE HAUGHTINESS OF HER EYES, AND IS RECOGNIZED IN HER EYELIDS. — That is to say, the unchastity of the heart of a fornicating woman betrays itself in her eyes, eyelids and face, if she raises them and looks about with them impudently and wanders with them; both because raised eyes are a sign of a raised, and therefore unchaste heart: for pride is the mother of unchastity, as humility is of chastity; and because wandering eyes signify wandering loves and desires of the mind; and because the nods and winking of the eyes are messengers of internal lust, according to that saying of St. Augustine: "An unchaste eye is the messenger of an unchaste heart." Whence the Zurich version: the unchastity of a woman shines forth in her raised eyes, and is recognized from her eyelids (nodding and winking, by which they nod to the men whom they love, and as it were like lynxes draw them to themselves); the Syriac: the fornication of a woman in the haughtiness of her eyes, and is recognized from her eyebrows; that is, says Palacius: A fornicating woman is indicated by eyes impudently raised, and eyelids lifted up. For an honest woman carries her eyes cast down and modest, which do not easily wander. For she who has fixed her love on her husband has also fixed her eyes, so that she does not see strangers: but she who has withdrawn her love from her husband seeks a stranger through her eyes. Following Sirach, R. Alziba in the Pirke Avoth, that is in the Sayings of the Fathers: "Laughter," he says, "and tossing of the head accustom a man to adultery." Moreover, how the affections of the soul can be known from the physiognomy of the eyes, and what physiognomic signs in the eyes there are of pride, anger, shamelessness, lust, etc., Aristotle teaches in the Physiognomy, cap. X: "The irascible," he says, "redden in the eyes; those to whom the eyes are very black are timid: for black color seems to signify timidity very much; those to whom they are wine-colored are stupid; they are referred to goats, to which they are fiery; the shameless are referred to dogs; those who have eyes discolored and troubled are timid: whoever has shining eyes are lustful, they are referred to roosters and ravens." And cap. V: "The signs of shamelessness," he says, "are an open and bright eye, sanguine and thick eyelids; shoulders raised upward; figure not upright, but somewhat bent forward; in movements precipitous, ruddy in body; sanguine color, round face, chest drawn upward." And cap. VI: "The lustful man is he who is of white color and hairy; with straight and thick and black hair; hairy legs; a fat and wanton eye." For "in the haughtiness of the eyes," in Greek it is ἐν μετεωρισμοῖς, that is in sublimities, summits, flights, tossings of the eyes; for μέτεωρος is sublime, raised, swollen, suspended, erect in mind, that is not yet fixed; but from the outcome consulting, hanging: μετεωρίζομαι is I fly, I am borne aloft, I raise myself, I toss, I am suspended. Hear St. Basil on that passage of Isaiah III, 16: "The daughters of Sion are lifted up, and have walked with stretched out necks, and wanton eyes, and went clapping their hands. She who has set in her mind to captivate many, and to hunt with the snare of her elegant form, walks with her neck stretched out in a lofty manner; and in the nods also of her eyes the proof is given of the fornicating and impudent woman, panting toward her deeds with bewitching and harmful aspect. By the very gaze itself, she displays the obscene impurity of her soul. For while she smiles sweetly and with blandishing eyes, she casts forth to the fulfillment of lust: by the tossing of her eyes, she shoots forth a truly deadly arrow, of which kind indeed the report about the nature of the basilisk obtains, which they say corrupts its beholders by sight alone."
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13. IN A DAUGHTER NOT TURNING AWAY, ESTABLISH A FIRM GUARD: LEST FINDING AN OCCASION SHE ABUSE HERSELF. — that is, as the Complutensian edition has it, abuse herself; for thus use is sometimes taken for abuse, and use for misuse, as if the simple for the compound, by catachresis. The sense is, as if to say: If you have a daughter not turning away from the gaze and conversation of youths, but freely beholding all, impudently looking about at all things, shamelessly examining all things; observe and guard her; lest given an occasion she use herself, that is abuse her freedom, wantonness, incontinence, and permit and give herself to her lust. Wrongly, for "not turning away," that is not modest (for thus διατρέπομαι is often taken), the Complutensian edition reads "turning away"; the Greek Complutensian edition reads ἀδιατρέπτῳ, that is invertible, which cannot be checked and turned away from her curiosity, freedom, wantonness. In some books it is ἀδιατρέπτως, so that it is joined with στερέωσον, as if to say: Without intermission, never turning away her eyes, establish a firm guard over your daughter. The Zurich edition: establish a guard over an immodest daughter, lest, having obtained license, she permit herself to her lust; the Syriac: over the immodest one multiply guards; because there is no rest for her unless she act furtively. "Not turning away" therefore, that is immodest, St. Augustine in the Mirror reads "not attending," that is she who does not attend to herself, who does not heed the dangers to her modesty, who is unguarded in eyes, tongue, ears; such are the immodest. For a woman is accustomed, when a man is seen, to withdraw herself from the window or door; if she does not withdraw nor turn away, she is impudent: and therefore she must be guarded more diligently, lest she find an occasion for fornication. For as nature gave to hares and deer fear, by which they provide for their own life through flight; so she gave to women flight and shame, by which they may provide for their own integrity,
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which is manifestly exposed to danger, if the guard of modesty be lacking. Thus Palacius. 14. BEWARE OF ALL IRREVERENCE OF HER EYES, AND BE NOT SURPRISED IF SHE HAS NEGLECTED THEE. — That is to say, restrain and curb the immodest glances of your daughter, and if she be immodest in them, be not surprised if she despises your admonitions, correction and discipline. Or, as Palacius says, that is to say, whatever immodesty you find in your daughter, apply discipline to her; and be not surprised if she has neglected your corrections: your more indulgent education toward her deserving this, and her burning lust impelling her to it. For as one who is thirsty drinks even turbid water, so she will love anyone, even a vile person. Whence the Zurich translation renders it, guard the impudent eye, or, be not surprised if she has offended against you; the Syriac, pursue the shameless in eyes, and do not hesitate, lest perhaps she lie to you. For the levity and frailty of woman is so great that she easily rushes into wickedness. Whence woman in Latin is called from softness, as if softer, says Varro, and from this Lactantius and St. Augustine, sermon 243 On the Seasons, since man is called from strength and virtue. In Hebrew truly women are called נשים nascim, because they are fragile and prone to all vices, says R. David in the root אנש anasch, that is, he was weak, he was weakened: for from this man is called אנוש enosch, that is, weak, frail and destined to death. Whence a Hebrew riddle: I saw five men riding, one fell, and all the others became women; אנשים anschim indeed signifies five men by letters, take away the first aleph, there remains נשים nascim, that is, women. Wherefore Plato, who is the Athenian Moses to the Greeks, seems to doubt whether women ought to be reckoned among rational beings or among irrational and brute animals, says Tiraquellus, book I On Marriage, number 69. Whence also the Poet: As the body, so the mind infirm in tender maidens. The reason for this admonition is, because women, especially immodest and forward daughters, are lustful and prone to lust, as Sirach adds below. Whence Propertius, book III: Here is the faithless race of brides, here is no maiden, Neither faithful Evadne, nor pious Penelope. And Ovid, book I Elegies: She is chaste whom no one has asked. And Martial, book IV to Sophronius: Is then no woman chaste? a thousand are chaste: what then Does chastity do? she does not give, yet she does not refuse. Aeschines dared to call all Ionian women adulterers. To which opinion Diodorus refers, book II, and before him Herodotus, book II, that when Pheron, son of Sesostris, king of the Egyptians, had been deprived of sight, and therefore fleeing to the aid of the gods, after performing many and various sacred rites, he had received the response that, having appeased the god who was worshipped in Heliopolis, he should look upon the face of a woman who had known no man but her own husband; beginning with his own wife, he tried many, yet found none uncorrupted, except a certain gardener's daughter, whom, his sight restored, he took as wife, and burned all the others alive. Josephus, in the Jewish War book II, chapter VII, writes that the Essenes (others call them Essenes), philosophers of the Jews, do not take wives: not because they despise marriage, but because they think the intemperance of women is to be guarded against; believing that none of them keep faith with one man. Although he himself gives another reason for this matter, book XVIII of the Antiquities of the Jews chapter II. Hippocrates in a certain letter to Dionysius writes that a woman always needs the eye of another to keep herself in continence and chastity. For by her own nature she has lustful desires implanted, which unless someone restrains daily, like trees they overflow into abundance of matter. Wherefore Plutarch in the Precepts on Marriage: A lamp, he says, removed, every woman is the same, that is to say, all are unchaste, provided opportunity be given to sin without witnesses. Hence also among all animals, the female alone and the mare after conception seek and endure lust, as Aristotle writes, book VII History of Animals chapter IV, and Lactantius, book On True Worship, chapter XXIII, where he also gives two moral reasons for this matter. Clearly St. Chrysostom: It is proper, he says, to woman's passion to be lust. See the same, homily 40 in Matthew, where explaining that passage: The publicans and harlots shall go into the kingdom of God before you: From the person, he says, of all sinning women harlots are set forth; because although there are many sins in women, yet in them especially fornication abounds. The reason for which he gives, namely because this vice easily arises from idleness. For he whose mind is occupied with cares does not easily give himself to fornication, because the definition of love is this: The passion of a mind vacant of care. Whence Diogenes of Sinope, in Laertius, says that love of the idle, that is, of the leisured, is an occupation. And the Poet: If you take away leisure, the arrows of Cupid perish. Here is a faithless kind of married women, here is no girl, The cause is at hand, he was idle. Others give reasons, Hippocrates, Galen and the physicians, namely that women abound in moisture, that they are weak in reason, that they are wandering, fickle, greedy for pleasures, that they are driven by affections, that they are imperfect in sex, and therefore desire a man, as matter desires form, that it may be perfected, etc. Whence Eleazar in Aristeas, book LXXII On Interpretation: "It is," he says, "a kind of women followers of their own affections, and prone to falling, on account of shamelessness and its weak nature." Finally Solomon, Prov. XXX, among four insatiable things numbers the mouth of the vulva; and Sirach, cap. XXXVI: "Every," he says, "male will a woman receive." See more in Tiraquellus, law 9 On Marriage, num. 79 and seq. Hence learn that lovers and mistresses are shameless: for love drives out shame. There exists on this matter a notable fable of Aesop: "Jupiter," he says, "having formed men, gave them all affections, only he forgot to give them shame. Wherefore, having no way to introduce it, he ordered it to enter through the crowd. But this one at first objected, because it found it unworthy. But when he pressed more vehemently, it said: But I indeed enter these on these terms, if love does not enter. If it enters, I myself will exit as soon as possible. From this indeed it happened that all harlots are shameless. The moral: The fable signifies that those captured by love are shameless."
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15. AS A TRAVELER THIRSTING WILL OPEN HIS MOUTH AT A FOUNTAIN, AND WILL DRINK FROM EVERY NEARBY WATER, AND WILL SIT AGAINST EVERY POST, AND WILL OPEN HER QUIVER AGAINST EVERY ARROW UNTIL SHE FAILS. — By three similitudes he decently and modestly represents the salacity of the shameless and immodest daughter, and circumscribes her by three as it were periphrases obscurely, as if to say: As a traveler thirsting pants for a fountain, and from the first water which he finds, even if it be turbid and muddy, quenches his thirst: so also the shameless daughter will quench the thirst of lust from any obvious thing, however vile and foul. She will prostitute herself to every post and corner, so as to allure lovers, and will receive them eagerly, as a quiver receives arrows; until she fails and is utterly exhausted, according to that in Ezech. XVI: "Thou hast divided thy feet to every one that passed by, and hast multiplied thy fornications." Whence the Zurich version translates, as a thirsty traveler having found a fountain will open his mouth, and will drink from any nearby water: he will desire every post, and will open his quiver to any obvious missile (until he fails); the Syrian, as one thirsting who enters from the way, and his mouth is open to cold waters, and drinks from every water, and reclines upon whatever wood, and his quiver is open before every arrow: so also the adulterous woman, whose vulva is open to everyone; the Arabic, as one burning with thirst coming from the way, and desiring a cold drink: for he will drink from every, and with pleasure, and his lips are opened to the reception of all harm: so the harlot woman changes her lap to every one demanding from her. So also Lyran, Palacius, Jansen and others. A little before I said more on this matter: I will add no more on a matter so foul, lest I offend chaste ears. Hence the opinion of philosophers and physicians is agreed, that women are more petulant and salacious than men, and this both on account of the levity of nature, both on account of the abundance of moisture, both on account of the softness of flesh, both on account of the curiosity by which they polish and adorn themselves so as to be seen and to see, both on account of gluttony, leisure and idleness, which are the fuel of luxury. Thus teaches Aristotle, lib. II On the Parts of Animals, cap. 11; Galen, lib. XI On the Utility of Parts; Albert the Great, lib. III On Animals, cap. 1. Hence Solomon, Prov. cap. XXX, 16, says that the mouth of the vulva is insatiable.
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16. THE GRACE OF A DILIGENT WOMAN SHALL DELIGHT HER HUSBAND, AND SHALL NOURISH HIS BONES. — Thus the Roman and Complutensian editions. But Jansenius and others add certain things, and thus read: And his bones shall she nourish by her discipline. Thus also the Greek texts corrected at Rome and the Zurich edition punctuate it, when it translates: The courtesy of a wife delights her husband, and his bones she fattens by her skill, or knowledge, or discipline: for all these things the Greek word ἐπιστήμη signifies. For the Greek texts do not have τὸ sedulae. Whence χάρις, that is grace, signifies her pleasing courtesy and the sweetness of her manners. But because our text reads τὸ sedulae, hence "grace" signifies not only courtesy, but also diligence and carefulness: for the grace of a diligent woman is her pleasing diligence and strenuousness in laboring and governing the household, so that she provides to her husband, children, maidservants and servants all things necessary for food and clothing. This indeed delights her husband, and therefore nourishes his bones, that is, irrigates them with marrow, and makes him strong, cheerful and vigorous; for the joy of the mind overflows into the body, and makes it lively, vivid and strong. For bones are as it were the supports and columns of our body and microcosm. But the health of bones is irrigated, cherished and fattened by the fatness of marrow, and when this fails they wither; whence follows wasting and corruption of man. Thus in Prov. III, 8, it is said: "Fear God, and depart from evil: for it shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones," that is to say, thy whole body, whose principal parts are the navel and bones, shall be healthy and vigorous: for a sound mind makes a sound body. Do you wish the reason a priori? Accept it. Graces are delights, snares, arrows and torches, by which hearts and minds are intimately delighted, struck, fed, wounded and inflamed. Whence Homer numbered them among the bonds by which beauty binds souls. For they are the sweetest snares of food, which bind so suavely that even those bound love and desire them, so that they most eagerly wish to be bound more tightly by them. Hence graces are said to smile cheerfully, and to exhilarate all things. Moreover, grace is chiefly exerted in the eyes and mouth, or in speech and song, which wonderfully binds those who hear, and stirs and composes the passions of the mind. Hence the ancients asserted that Mercury was the god of eloquence, the leader of the Graces. Grace proceeding from the mouth is more powerful, more manly and more divine: proceeding from the eyes, more wanton and effeminate. Proceeding from the mouth, it is more spiritual; from the eyes, more material. Grace is perceived by sight and hearing, which are the chief ministers of reason; by the other senses only in shadow, and from the outcome; but intrinsically it is recognized most exactly by reason. In a woman grace shines forth more material, corporeal and external; in a man more manly, more spiritual and internal. Most excellent is the grace of the soul, which feeds and delights the eyes of God and the Angels, as well as of men, when it shines forth and flashes through gracious external acts of speaking, acting, walking, etc. Wherefore when a gracious woman displays these, she gains the grace of God and men, and especially exhilarates, feeds, fattens and vivifies her husband. For grace is the allurement of benevolence, the lynx of love, the arbiter of wills, the empress of minds, the sweet thief of hearts, the binding and golden chain of minds, the magnet of the discordant, the adamant of the concordant: finally, true and holy heavenly beauty, the parent of all-kinds of comeliness, is the grace, virtue and holiness of God. Sirach passes from a wicked woman to a good and holy one, so that by antithesis he might demonstrate her wickedness and this one's goodness. For contraries placed beside each other shine forth more brightly. Tropologically Rabanus: "Grace," he says, "of good devotion and obedience, which any holy soul has, or generally the whole Church of the elect, gladdens the mind of a good teacher, or rather of Christ our Lord, who is the true spouse of the Church; to whom she who obeys with devoted humility, keeping his precepts, shows that she has the fatness of his charity in the marrow of her heart. Whence also she herself will obtain his love, as Truth itself says in the Gospel: He that loveth my commandments, and keepeth them; he it is that loveth me. And he that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father: and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him." Then he adds: "But because no one loves him before his grace provokes him to love him, the following sentence declares: Her discipline is the gift of God. For all good of the Church is the gift of God: because every best gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration. Willingly hath he begotten us by the word of truth, that we might be some beginning of his creature," James 1.
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17. HER DISCIPLINE IS THE GIFT OF GOD. — Thus the Roman and Complutensian Bibles punctuate and combine it, that is to say, A wife disciplined and wise, and therefore diligent, is a great gift of God. Even "evil is a gift of God," says Menander, "but of the angry." The sense is, that is to say, a husband should ascribe it not to his own industry, nor to his own merits, but to the grace and gift of God, if he has obtained a prudent and diligent wife.
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18. A SENSIBLE AND SILENT WOMAN IS NOT AN EXCHANGE FOR A LEARNED SOUL. — That is to say, a woman of sound mind and prudent, and therefore silent of mouth and sparing of words, is of such great worth that she is not an "exchange," that is a barter or exchange, in Greek ἀντάλλαγμα, that is a price by which you might weigh a learned woman, in Greek πεπαιδευμένην, that is disciplined, composed and wise in her soul, as if to say: she cannot be exchanged for any price, cannot be valued at anything, because she surpasses all price, all valuation. Thus the Zurich Bible: a silent and wise wife, it says, is a gift of God, nor is there a price at which you might exchange a learned soul; for this teaches the mind to be wise, the tongue to be silent; just as on the other hand an unlearned, that is an imprudent, soul makes the mind to be foolish, and thence the tongue to chatter and talk nonsense. The Syriac: a good woman is a gift of God, and there is no price for sobriety. For sensible in Greek is ἔννους, that is of good mind, that is prudent; likewise benevolent, zealous, well-wishing, well-counseling: for ἔννοια is benevolence, favor, friendship. St. Chrysostom gathered much in praise of wise women, in his homily On the Beheading of St. John, and St. Jerome, on Psalm XLIV, to Principia, and in the Preface to Sophonias; and in book I Against Jovinianus. Plutarch also wrote a book with the title: The Virtues of Women; and older than he, Hesiod, in a work on the same subject, in which he celebrates heroic women. A certain Spaniard also wrote a notable work with this title: The Honor of Ladies; and Christina of Pisa, a woman of outstanding learning, composed an elegant apology, or shall I say encomium, of women. Geoffrey Chaucer the Englishman wrote two books: the first is indicated: Praises of Good Women; the second: The Encomium of Women. Most recently John Textor published a treatise on Famous Women. See also Caelius Rhodiginus, book XIII, chapter XXXIII, and book XIV, chapter 1, and Tiraquellus, law 11 On Marriage, number 30, where he compiled a vast catalogue in alphabetical order of wise women who equaled or surpassed men in learning.
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19. GRACE UPON GRACE, A HOLY AND MODEST WOMAN. — For holy in Greek is πιστή, that is, faithful, which indeed keeps faith with God equally as with her husband, that is, chaste and virtuous. Thus the Apostle calls the faithful holy; because faith formed by charity, such as was that of the first faithful, makes them holy, as I said at the beginning of the First Epistle to the Corinthians. The Zurich Bible: grace upon grace is a modest wife (others, chaste, for modesty is the companion and veil of chastity) and faithful. "Grace," that is, a thing most pleasing and acceptable, the supreme gift and benefit. Hence secondly, "grace," that is, happiness, as if to say: He is happy and blessed in this life to whom has fallen a holy woman. Thirdly, "grace," that is, beauty, comeliness, ornament, and as it were a golden and jeweled necklace to a man, is a modest woman. Fourthly, "grace," because the man is enriched with all God's grace, virtue and holiness through a holy wife. The reason a priori is this. Grace is comeliness, charm and elegance, and as it were the spirit and life of beauty. Grace therefore, just as beauty, befits God by origin and cause, the mind by form, the soul by reason, nature by seeds, matter by shadows and participation; so that grace and beauty are as it were rays and splendors of the divine Sun, shining forth in various things in various ways. Whence Plato used to say: "Whoever admires and loves something graceful and beautiful, does not worship that, but God shining forth in it;" as St. Antony, St. Augustine and the like, gazing upon and admiring the beauty of creatures and the world, beheld the beauty of God the Creator. Poets and philosophers said the Graces are the handmaids and attendants of Venus. Others held that grace is something divine, which by the hidden virtue of heaven shines forth in one more than in another: for grace belongs to the living alone, indeed to man alone. More truly others define grace thus: "Grace is a certain external splendor of reason, and fitting dexterity in performing the functions of duties, arising from the right constitution of mind and body, and following upon perfect beauty," for grace shines forth in gestures, movements, gait, actions, and speech. Moreover, τὸ grace upon grace, first means the same as if he said: Grace is twofold, indeed manifold, as if to say: Simple grace, appearance and comeliness, is a beautiful and modest woman. But twofold, indeed manifold is grace and comeliness, a woman who joins to chastity holiness and holy morals. He alludes to Proverbs XVIII, 22: "He that findeth a good woman, findeth a good thing;" the Septuagint, findeth χάριτας, that is, graces and Charites. Which word our Salazar illustrates thus: Plutarch, he says, teaches that those marriages of women are happy from which the Charites do not depart: certainly his meaning is this, that the whole happiness of marriage is placed in the mutual grace and love of the spouses, which is shadowed forth by the Charites. Wherefore, if you should say that three Charites signify the grace of threefold time, past, present and future, as many hand down, who for this reason are said to be fashioned as sisters of the hours: certainly they will denote a certain constant grace and love, which is dissolved at no time. Therefore when Solomon says: "He that findeth a good woman, findeth the Charites," the sense will be: He brings three graces into his marriage, that is, a certain love embracing all differences of time. For many put love before marriages, because they marry, as they say, for love; but scarcely are the marriages joined when love grows cold: only one of the Charites presided over these. Others again not only undertook marriage from love, but also for some time after marriage love flourished in them; afterwards however in the course of time it cooled: two Charites attended these. Those therefore had the favor of three Charites conspiring into one, whose love and conjugal grace was constant before marriage, in marriage, and thereafter throughout the whole time of life. But this happiness is his alone, who has obtained a truly good and indeed lovable wife. Now if all men are blessed to whom has fallen a holy and modest woman, as it were grace upon grace, how blessed was St. Joseph, to whom there fell from God a most holy spouse, indeed the Queen of Virgins and of all Saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was greeted as "full of grace" by the Angel, and who breathed forth this grace of hers upon Joseph by her countenance, voice, life and continual conversation throughout so many years? Whence Hugo says: The Blessed Virgin, he says, is compared to these four things, namely the sun, a lamp, a column, and a foundation: she is compared to the sun; because just as the sun provides light to the whole world, so the Blessed Virgin provides and obtains grace for the whole Church. Take away the sun, the world is miserable; take away the Blessed Virgin, the Church is miserable. Song of Songs VI: "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?" She was as the dawn at her nativity, as the moon at the conception of the Lord, as the sun at the nativity of the Lord, "terrible as an army set in array" at the purification. She is compared to a lamp, because just as a lamp has light in a vessel, so the Blessed Virgin has the true light within her womb; but she does not hide it, but placed it in the open, that it might be seen by all. Luke XI: "No one lighteth a candle and putteth it in a hidden place, nor under a bushel: but upon a candlestick, that they that come in may see the light." She is compared to a golden column on account of her uprightness, on account of her stability, on account of being the foundation of the Church. She is compared to a foundation on account of her humility, on account of her compassion, on account of her love of secrecy or solitude. Note: "A holy woman" generally, that is, pious, religious, one who serves and reveres God in a holy manner, as we commonly call a man holy; but properly "holy," that is, pure, chaste; for there follows "and modest," that is, bashful, one who namely displays shame and bashfulness, which is the companion and index of chastity, in her countenance, eyes, silence, modesty, and her whole bearing; just as on the other hand an unchaste and adulterous woman is shameless and unblushing. Whence also it adds: "But all weight is not worthy of a continent soul." For the holiness of marriage and of a wife, as she is a wife, consists in chastity, by which she keeps holy the faith given to God, to the Church and to her husband. Thus the Apostle says of a virgin: "That she may be holy both in body and in spirit," I Corinthians VII, 34. "Holy" that is, pure, chaste, undefiled. For "holiness," as St. Dionysius says in On the Divine Names, "is free from all defilement, most uncontaminated and most perfect purity." And I Thessalonians IV, 4: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from fornication, that each of you should know how to possess his vessel (that is, his wife) in sanctification and honour, not in the passion of lust." See the sayings there. And the Poet: "And thou most holy spouse: most holy," that is, most chaste. Morally, learn here that modesty and bashfulness are the proper ornament of women and virgins: for this is the index and guardian of chastity. For, as the Poet says: "Shame and love do not come together." Whence it is called virginal shame, according to that: Virginal shame stands before tender cheeks. And: Once the guardian and monitor of virginal shame. Wherefore St. Gregory of Nazianzus praises his sister Gorgonia for this shame, in his Oration on the Praises of Gorgonia: "Although she knew, he says, many and various external ornaments of women, yet she knew none more excellent than her own character and the splendor hidden within. One blush pleased her, which shame produces; one whiteness, which abstinence brings forth." Whence also Tertullian, in the book On the Veiling of Virgins, chapter II: "For virgins, he says, besides the fact that glory is to be sought from God, not from men, even their own good ought to be a matter of shame to them." And further on: "It is the same lust to be seen and to see. It is as much the duty of a holy man to be ashamed if he sees a virgin; as it is of a holy virgin to be ashamed if she is seen by a man." And St. Bernard, sermon 4 in the Song of Songs: "Understand bashfulness, he says, as a color in the face; for this virtue especially brings beauty and increases grace." And sermon 86: "That blush of the cheeks, which perhaps shame may have brought on, how much grace and beauty it is wont to bring to the face suffused!" Finally St. Ambrose, book I of the Duties, chapter XVIII: "Bashfulness, he says, is the companion of chastity, by whose society chastity itself is safer; for shame is a good companion for governing chastity." And chapter XLIII: "Bashfulness, alien from all excess, loves sobriety, fosters honesty." And St. Chrysostom, homily 26 in Matthew: "Shame, he says, is often a bridle of vices." Hence Song of Songs IV, 3, it is said: "Thy cheeks are as a piece of a pomegranate." For, as St. Bernard says, sermon 40 in the Song of Songs: "The seat of shame is in the cheeks." On the other hand, the infamy of women is shamelessness; for this is the mother of unchastity; for the shameless are like shameless and unchaste dogs. Whence St. Jerome in chapter LXVI of Isaiah: "Fittingly, he says, a dog and a harlot are coupled together; because both animals are prone to lust."
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20. BUT ALL WEIGHING IS NOT WORTHY OF A CONTINENT SOUL. — For weighing in Greek is στάθμος, that is, weight, as if to say: There is no weight of gold, silver, or any other thing, however great, which would be equivalent to a continent, that is, chaste, modest and holy wife. The Syriac: grace upon grace a modest woman, and there is no weight (that is, worthy price) to silence. For modesty's companion is silence, and modest women are silent, just as immodest women are talkative and garrulous. The Zurich version: nor is there any weight of silver, by which you might repay her own modesty of mind, as if to say: A husband ought to esteem his wife's modesty and continence more highly than many talents of gold, because there is nothing in the riches and treasures of this world which can be compared with a chaste and pure soul; for abundant treasures do not fill the houses of the rich as much as the merits of chastity, which adorn the bodies and souls of the continent and their entire houses; so that they may rightly say that: "All good things came to me together with her," Wisdom VII, 11, since chastity brings to the chaste themselves both purity of mind and cleanliness of body, and confers order upon the senses and measure upon movements according to modesty; and to the husbands themselves and to the whole household it breathes and inspires wonderful beauty, purity, holiness, peace and exultation. Rightly does Plutarch in his Moral Essays compare a wife to a mirror: but we esteem a good mirror not because it is clothed in gold and gems, but because it is pure, polished, transparent, having nothing depressed or prominent: so likewise a wife, not rich in gold, but continent, chaste, modest, obedient, is to be esteemed the best. From this meaning: "All weighing is not worthy of a continent soul," Albert the Great concludes that the Supreme Pontiff cannot dispense from a solemn vow of chastity, namely that a religious woman who has professed chastity might be joined to marriage. But this maxim does not prove this, both because τὸ continent signifies not only a celibate person, such as a religious woman, but also a chaste wife; for here the discourse is concerning a virtuous wife; and because τὸ weighing signifies the price of gold and silver, not however the public good, for example, that an entire kingdom might be converted, or preserved in true faith, piety, and justice. For this good is greater than the chastity of one religious person; hence on account of this the Pontiff can dispense with her so that she might be joined to marriage, as he has dispensed with many. Finally, this maxim is understood as much of private and simple chastity as of public solemn chastity; and yet all confess that the Pontiff can dispense in the simple case. See Bellarmine, Sanchez, Lessius and others, in the treatise On Vows.
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21. AS THE SUN RISING IN THE WORLD IN THE HIGHEST PLACES OF GOD, SO IS THE BEAUTY OF A GOOD WOMAN IN THE ORNAMENT OF HER HOUSE. — "Beauty," that is, comeliness both of body, and more especially of soul, which is the beauty of virtue, namely chastity, modesty, etc.; for he compares both to the sun, as if to say: Just as the sun, when after the darkness of night it rises in the morning in the highest places, namely the heavens and the dwellings of the Lord God, illuminates, gladdens, adorns, nourishes, and vivifies both the heavens and the elements and the whole world with new, pleasing and rosy light: so also the beauty of a good wife, both of body and more of soul, by the splendor of her virtue drives away all the troubles and sorrows of her husband and house, irradiates the whole house, makes it joyful, adorns it, vivifies it, and kindles it to the knowledge, love and worship of God. Whence the Zurich version, that as the sun rising in the highest places of the Lord, so in the ornament of her house is the beauty of a good woman, as if to say: The sun and a worthy wife are equals; for just as the sun illuminates the heaven, so the wife illuminates the house. The Syriac: as the sun which rises in the firmament of heaven, so is the beauty of a good woman in the dwelling of her house. Thus St. Pulcheria in the court of her father Theodosius and her husband the Emperor Marcian shone forth like the sun; and Cunegundis in the court of the Emperor Henry, St. Elizabeth in the court of the Landgrave. In like manner Deborah and Barak in the song of victory, blessing God and those who love Him, pray that they may shine "as the sun in his rising splendeth." And of the bride it is said in Cant. VI, 9: "Chosen as the sun." The same is said of Onias below, cap. L, vers. 7: "Like the sun shining forth, so did he shine in the house of God." Finally, Christ is called "the sun of justice," Malach. IV, 2, and from Him "the just shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father," Matth. XIII, 43. See our Delrio, adage 153. Three such suns of queens, or parhelia, existed about the year of the Lord 600, at which time St. Gregory presided over the Church. The first was Ingundis, who converted her husband St. Hermenegild from Arianism to the orthodox faith, and consequently all of Spain. The second was Clotildis, who brought Clovis, and through him France, to Christ. The third was Theodolinda, the glory of Bavaria, who drew her husband King Agilulf and the other Lombards to the Catholic faith, as Paul the Deacon testifies, lib. IV, cap. II, who also in cap. XV and XXII celebrates her piety at length. Similar suns among pagan queens were: first, Semiramis, whom her husband Menon did nothing without consulting, as Diodorus testifies, lib. III, cap. II and seq.; second, Aspasia, who was to Cyrus like a domestic oracle, of whom Aelian, lib. XII of Miscellaneous History; third was Livia, the guide of Augustus Caesar; fourth, Pompeia Plotina, whose counsels the Emperor Trajan her husband followed, of whom Aurelius Victor in Juliana. These queens therefore by their wisdom and virtue shone forth like suns to kings and kingdoms. Therefore, just as the sun not only clarifies the whole world but also makes it fertile and enriches it with all good things: so also an excellent wife by the splendor of her wisdom and virtue not only illuminates but also makes fertile the whole house both with many and worthy offspring, both with abundance of things, both with the exercise of virtues, indeed sometimes the whole city, province and kingdom. See the gifts of the sun which I enumerated in Isaiah cap. XIV, 1, and apply them to the wife and queen.
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22. A LAMP SHINING UPON A HOLY CANDLESTICK, AND (that is thus, and it is also a note of similitude, because it connects similar things) THE APPEARANCE OF HER FACE UPON A STABLE AGE. — He compared the appearance of the woman to the sun illuminating the world: now by gradation he ascends further, and compares her to a lamp and to the holy candlestick, which was placed in the temple, namely in the Holy Place, so that it might illuminate it, and shine forth and bear a light before God dwelling in the Holy of Holies, as if to say: Just as a lamp placed upon the holy candlestick in the temple illuminates it (as is shown in Exodus XXV, 31): so also the beauty of the face of the woman, of the face, I say, both of soul and of body, placed upon her stable age, in Greek στασίμῳ, that is constant and vigorous, by which she is able to educate children, rule servants, and govern the household; it illuminates the whole house, and as it were shines forth as a holy lamp to all, indeed it makes the whole family holy, and consecrates the whole house as it were as a holy Church and temple to God. Thus the Zurich version: a shining lamp, it says, in a holy candlestick a comely face in a constant age is; the Syriac: as a lamp, which illuminates upon a holy candlestick, the beauty of a woman in the dwelling of her house. To signify this, lamps, or torches, which were called "nuptial" and "bridal," were borne before the bride and groom at weddings, as is evident from Matthew chapter XXV, verse 1. See our Martin de Roa, book II of Singularities, chapter XXI. Note: "Appearance," that is beauty, "of the face," is not to be understood only as bodily (for concerning it, if it alone be present, Solomon says in Proverbs XI: "A golden ring in a swine's snout, a woman fair and foolish;" but also as moral and spiritual, namely the beauty of the soul through the comeliness of virtues; for this makes a woman beautiful, most beautiful, according to that saying: Virtue coming from a fair body is more pleasing. For modesty, shame, gravity, and other virtues adorning the soul, shine forth in the face and in the whole bearing of the body, and color, adorn, and make her more beautiful to God and men than antimony. In a similar way a stable or constant age is understood both of soul and of body, namely the constancy of the mind solidified in virtue, gravity and maturity; for these perfect and adorn the flourishing and vigorous age of the wife. Just as therefore bodily beauty in a flourishing and constant age is as it were a lamp in a holy candlestick: so much more the beauty of the soul in constant virtue is a lamp in the candlestick, illuminating the whole family by its sanctity, sanctifying it by word and example, and constituting in it a holy temple to God. Say the same of any holy person, who illuminates and sanctifies the whole family, college, monastery by the example of sanctity. Thus St. Dominic was a torch and lamp of his Order and of the whole world, just as St. Francis Xavier was a lamp and sanctity of the Society of Jesus. And such should be every religious priest, indeed every Christian, namely the sanctity of his Church, Order or house. Moreover, this sanctity embraces many things, which St. Ambrose thus briefly touches upon in book III, epistle 25 to the Church of Vercelli: "Let there be in you," he says, "the delight of this life in a good conscience, patience of death with hope of immortality, confirmation of resurrection with the grace of Christ, truth with simplicity, faith with confidence, abstinence with sanctity, diligence with sobriety, conversation with modesty, learning without vanity, sobriety of faithful doctrine without the drunkenness of heresy." Let the husband therefore teach the wife these virtues more by example than by word, the teacher the student, the prince the subjects, the pastor the people. That saying of Aristotle is well known, in the Economics: "If a woman knows herself to have a chaste and faithful husband, she herself will also be faithful and chaste." And that of Plutarch, in Lycurgus: "So that the people may be obedient to the word, it learns this from the prince. For he who provides a good leader makes it so that others follow well," according to that common saying: "A good leader makes a good companion." In the prince therefore it is placed, that the city be well-mannered, if only he himself be a good ruler. In the Bishop it is placed, that he make the people pious, if he himself conducts a pious and upright life. An honest and incorrupt magistrate makes honest and upright citizens. A frugal husband draws his wife and family to his own ways. A learned and diligent master makes a learned student. Mystically, just as a man's wicked wife is concupiscence and his own will, so his good wife is a holy will, subject to God, imbued with God's grace and charity, and therefore is herself wisdom, as Rabanus says, grace and charity. For this, like a lamp and sun, illuminates the whole house of the soul and makes it a holy temple to God, and indeed illuminates the whole family, city, province, and then the whole world with the rays of its virtue and wisdom. See the passages of Exodus XXV, 31. Whence this is the work and union of God alone. Hear St. Ambrose, book VIII on chapter XVI of St. Luke: "No one comes to me unless my Father who sent me draws him. For he alone was able to join these nuptials. And therefore mystically Solomon said, Proverbs XIX: A wife is prepared for a man by God. The man is Christ, the wife is the Church. The wife in charity, a virgin in integrity. Therefore whom God has drawn to the Son, let not persecution separate, let not luxury turn away, let not philosophy plunder, let not Manichaeus contaminate, etc. The mind which you have entrusted to God, be a strong woman, such as that one, either soul or Church, of whom Solomon says in Proverbs XXXI: Who shall find a strong woman? but she is more precious than precious stones."
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23. GOLDEN PILLARS UPON SILVER BASES, AND (that is thus) FIRM FEET UPON THE SOLES OF A STEADFAST WOMAN. — As if to say: Just as precious and beautiful are golden pillars resting upon silver bases, so also are the firm feet of a steadfast woman upon her firm soles, so that namely both the feet and the soles of her gait are grave, rare and necessary; they are precious and beautiful. For this grave gait is an index of a grave, constant and mature mind; just as on the other hand a wandering, light, hasty, inconstant gait is an index of a wandering, light, hasty, inconstant mind. The Interpreter reads στερεωνάς, that is soles; now the Greek texts have στῆθος, that is breast. Again, for firm they read ὡραῖοι, that is comely; whence thus they have: Golden pillars on a silver base, and comely feet (joined) with a steadfast breast; the Complutensian, and beautiful feet upon firm pavements; the Syriac, just as golden ornaments upon silver columns (thus) befit her soles according to the circuit of her house; the Zurich, like golden pillars upon a silver base, so beautiful legs with a steadfast breast. He compares the feet of a grave wife (who does not run through the streets, but keeps herself at home governing it) to golden pillars, her soles to silver bases, when namely (as the Greek texts express it) they are supported by the breast, that is by a stable, grave and mature mind; so that this may be as it were the base and foundation of the external gait and firmness, which therefore confers upon her not only elegance, but also dignity. Therefore Sirach signifies (as Jansenius rightly observes), that, just as golden pillars set upon silver bases, besides the firmness which they have, also have harmony and value, so also the feet of a woman firm upon stable soles, besides firmness also have value and harmony, and a beautiful congruence, while the external maturity of steps and actions beautifully corresponds to the internal stability of mind and soul, from which it flows forth. This is what the bridegroom, looking upon the bride, celebrates, Canticles VII, verse 1: "How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O daughter of the prince! The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, that are made by the hand of the artificer." Whence he compares her to the choirs of camps: "What shalt thou see, he says, in the Sulamitess, but the choirs of camps?" To this pertains the proverb of the Spanish: "A woman and a hen, going out of doors, lose themselves," says Palacius. Mystically Rabanus: "The golden pillars are holy doctors, distinguished by the light of wisdom, who are placed upon silver bases, when they lean upon the preaching of the utterances of the holy Scriptures. For the Apostles and Apostolic men are deservedly compared to pillars, because they press down earthly vices at the bottom and raise up heavenly virtues to the grace of the heavenly King. Their feet are firm upon the soles of the woman stabilized; because the gait of their preaching, by which they disseminated the word of God throughout the whole world (For their sound went forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world), firmly rests upon the stability of the Catholic faith." Therefore their feet are "golden pillars upon silver bases," which namely borrow from silver a snowy whiteness, from gold the value of virtues, from bases and pillars strength and firmness, to sustain any labors whatsoever for the Church.
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24. ETERNAL FOUNDATIONS UPON A SOLID ROCK, AND (that is thus) THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD IN THE HEART OF A HOLY WOMAN. — Supply: "eternal and perpetual are." This verse is already lacking in the Greek and Syriac; but the Zurich Bible thus expresses it: As eternal is upon a firm rock the foundation, so the commandments of God in the mind of a holy woman. The sense is, as if to say, Just as the foundations of houses, columns, etc., are most firm and as it were eternal (in the manner of human speech, who call long-lasting things "eternal" by hyperbole) which are founded upon solid rock; because the rock firmly sustains them, protects and preserves them, so that by no force of winds or storms can they be shaken or torn away: so likewise the commandments of God, in the heart of a holy woman, are most firm and eternal; because they are firmly held and preserved by Him, so that by no force of temptations, persecutions or adversities does she allow herself to be torn away from them, so long, namely, as the holy woman persists. For if she casts off holiness, she casts off all strength, all support, all her constancy. It signifies therefore that a holy heart and established in holiness is immovable like a rock and a cliff, so that she might say with Paul: "Who shall separate us from the charity of Christ? Tribulation? or distress? or famine? or nakedness, etc.? I am sure that neither death, nor life," etc. To this Christ alluded, Matt. VII, saying: "Every one that heareth these words of mine, and doth them, shall be likened to a wise man that built his house upon a rock, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded on a rock." Most excellently Gregory of Nazianzus, in the Distichs: "As a great anvil," he says, "does not fear blows, so a wise mind thrusts out every loss." The Greek Complutensian, Syriac, Zurich and others here append eleven sentences concerning women, grave and fitting. Behold thus they have it: Son, preserve the flower of thy age sound, and give not thy strength to strangers. When thou seekest the fertile portion of every field, sow thy own seed, trusting in thy nobility. Thus thy offspring, surviving and having confidence in nobility, shall be magnified. A mercenary woman shall be reckoned equal to a pig; but a married woman shall be reckoned a tower of death to those using her. An impious woman shall be given as a portion to an unjust man; but a pious one is given to him that feareth the Lord. A shameful woman shall trample down infamy; but an honest daughter shall even reverence her husband. An immodest woman shall be reckoned like a dog; but she who has shame shall fear the Lord. A woman honoring her own husband shall appear wise to all; but one dishonoring him, impious in pride, shall be known to all. Blessed is the man of a good woman; for the number of her years shall be double. A clamorous and talkative woman shall be considered for the driving away of enemies. But the mind of any man, accustomed to like manners, shall pass life amid the seditions of war. The Zurich Bible expresses the last two verses more clearly thus: a clamorous and talkative woman shall be sought for driving away enemies. But every soul of a man who has all these things shall be cast into tumult of war; the Syriac, a talkative and contentious woman like a horn (a horn trumpet, which they formerly used in battles) stirring up to fighting shall be reckoned. But the soul of every man who has all these things shall be cast into tumult of war (or shall be likened to tumult of war), life shall be passed in tribulation. But truly all these things are not canonical Scripture, because the Latin Vulgate edition omits them, which the Council of Trent, Session IV, defined should be held as authentic Scripture. Indeed the Greek edition corrected by the Romans omits the same. Add, that many of these sentences have been handed down in the preceding chapters either in themselves, or in something similar; wherefore they appear here as foreign additions, as Jansenius rightly observed.
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25, 26 and 27. IN TWO THINGS MY HEART WAS GRIEVED, AND IN THE THIRD ANGER CAME UPON ME. A MAN OF WAR WASTING AWAY THROUGH WANT: AND A MAN OF SENSE DESPISED. AND HE THAT TRANSGRESSETH FROM JUSTICE TO SIN, GOD HATH PREPARED HIM FOR THE SWORD. — In this place Sirach passes from women to other doctrines of wisdom. Wherefore from here a new chapter, namely XXVII, begins the Gloss: The sense is, as if to say, Two things are miserable, but the third is unworthy: which two therefore move me to compassion, but the third moves me to anger and indignation; because namely the greatest of all evils is that which a man brings upon himself willingly, when he forsakes justice and sins. The first is a warrior laboring in want; who namely fought for his country, and exposed his life for the goods of his citizens, and for these endured grave and continuous labors, hardships, dangers, and therefore is worthy to be supported at public expense, as once aged and retired soldiers were supported at Rome by public stipends in a tavern, which from this is called a meritorious house, from which at the time of the nativity of Christ oil flowed forth miraculously; whence afterwards by Pope Callistus I it was converted into a church of the Blessed Virgin Transtiberine. The second is a man of sense and prudence, who namely by his prudence could govern a house, a college, a commonwealth, and therefore deserves to be raised to any grades of honor in it, despised and neglected, because he does not have friends who might commend and advance him. In Greek it is, ἄνδρες συνετοί ἐὰν σκύβαλα ἀτιμασθῶσι, that is, men of prudence, if they are despised; others, if prudent men are held for refuse; the Zurich version, men of understanding enduring unworthy things; the Syriac, concerning famous men who are diminished from their honor; for σκύβαλα are sweepings, rubbish, refuse, dung, excrement, which are cast to dogs, as if κυσίβαλα, as I said, Philippians III, 8. The third is, the just man falling from justice into sin; for this is the height of folly and stupidity, by which a holy man willingly squanders the highest good, namely justice, grace, God and heaven, for a vile pleasure or honor, and hurls himself into the greatest misery, namely into sin, God's wrath, the debt of hell and eternal damnation; wherefore I am not so much moved to compassion for this one as I am angered and indignant, that by his liberty, and by free will and choice, he abandons so great a good, and brings so great an evil upon himself, and willingly as if from heaven rushes headlong into hell. Wherefore "God hath prepared" and destined "him for the sword," that is for the sword, that is for punishment and death present and eternal. Thus the Zurich version, says he, two things grieve my heart, and the third moves indignation in me: a man of war (Vatable, strong) laboring in want, men of understanding enduring unworthy things, and he who transfers himself from justice to sin. The Lord will destine him to be struck; the Syriac, over two things my heart was amazed, and over three (that is over the third) it greatly displeased me: over a free man who became poor and became needy, and over famous men who are diminished from their honor, and over him who turns from the fear of God to the work of iniquity. Deliver him to the day of slaughter. Justly therefore and deservedly Sirach is angry at the just man declining into sin. But St. Augustine is not angry at the sinner, but has compassion, asserting that he is to be wept for with every fountain of tears. But Jeremiah, chapter II, verse 12, commands the heavens to be amazed, because the people, abandoning the fountain of living waters, namely God, seek broken cisterns. God himself, touched by sorrow of heart within, prepares on account of crimes, not one man, but all and the whole world, to be drowned and destroyed by the flood, Genesis VI, 6. Therefore it is to be lamented, that we so easily commit those things which God so severely prepares for the sword, says Palacius. Mystically Rabanus: "A man of war," he says, "fails through want, when he who endured many labors in the struggle of this world for Christ, finally broken by some adversity, loses his labor through inconstancy of mind."
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28. TWO KINDS OF BUSINESS DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS HAVE APPEARED TO ME; WITH DIFFICULTY DOES THE MERCHANT DIVEST HIMSELF OF NEGLIGENCE, AND THE INNKEEPER SHALL NOT BE JUSTIFIED FROM THE SINS OF THE LIPS. — That is to say, Two kinds of occupations, although not evil by their nature, indeed necessary to the commonwealth, are nevertheless difficult to avoid sin in, and therefore appear to me dangerous to the soul. The first is commerce and trade, for ἔμπορος, that is, a merchant and trader, with difficulty divests himself of negligence; because easily for the sake of gain he neglects faith given, justice, piety, the worship of God, for example, the sacred day of the feast, the sermon, confession, communion, etc. For commerce claims the whole man to itself, occupies the whole mind; whence it leaves almost nothing of thought or time for the cultivation of the soul. The second is innkeeping or taverns; for the innkeeper shall not be justified, that is, shall not be just, that is, innocent and free from the sins of the lips; because in order to attract guests to himself, and to gain profit from them, he lies much, for example, that his wine is Cretan or Rhenish, when it is Cypriot or Moselle; that his food is of such a kind, when it is of another; that his beds and linens are washed and clean, when they are unwashed and unclean, etc. One can see in Italy innkeepers coming forth to meet travelers, and wonderfully praising their inns to them; which when they have entered, they not rarely experience that the words given to them are false. Moreover, for the sake of elegance he divides these two occupations, and assigns to each the danger of its own vice. Otherwise, just as the occupation, so also the vice and danger of both are common to both. For the innkeeper is also a merchant, since he sells his wines, foods and meals; and therefore the danger of the vice of negligence is his, equally as that of the sins of the lips is the merchant's. But, as I have said, for the sake of elegance and rhythm he divides these, and attributes to each what is more inclined and familiar to it. He says this in order to teach that commerce and innkeeping are dangerous arts, and therefore not to be undertaken easily, but cautiously and with great firmness of mind in piety, virtue and truth; whence also the Church has prohibited both to Ecclesiastics. Note: The word labiorum is not in the Greek; again, for negligence in Greek it is πλημμέλεια, which Our author in Leviticus translates as "transgression"; for sins, in Greek it is ἁμαρτία, which Our author translates as "sin"; but transgression is a sin of omission; sin truly is of commission, according to St. Augustine, Question XX in Leviticus, and St. Gregory, homily 21 in Ezechiel: "This," he says, "is the difference between sin and transgression, that sin is to do evil; transgression truly is to abandon good, which must be held most carefully." Thus Sirach takes and distinguishes them here (although Moses takes them otherwise, as I have said in Leviticus VII, verse 1), that is to say, Both merchant and innkeeper with difficulty escape sins of commission, and transgressions of omission; because for the sake of gain he commits many frauds, lies, injustices, which he ought to omit; and conversely he omits many divine duties, restitutions, payment of promises and debts, and alms, which he ought to commit and exercise. Whence the Zurich version translates, two kinds difficult to me and dangerous appear, the merchant will scarcely avoid transgression, and the innkeeper shall not be free from fault; the Syriac, with great difficulty is the merchant freed from sins; if not in this, but in this he offends: but the innkeeper is not justified from sins. Furthermore, Palacius explains the negligence of the merchant otherwise: although the merchant, he says, be most diligent, nevertheless with difficulty does he escape some negligence in trading. For sometimes on account of the multitude and variety of goods, he does not remember at what price this or that merchandise cost, and at what price it is to be sold. Sometimes he forgets the weight, sometimes the debtors, sometimes the creditors.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.