Of charity in lending money, and justice in repaying. Of alms, and of being surety.
Lend charitably, 3. and restore faithfully. 10. For the fault of il debters, omitte not to helpe the honest. 12. rather geue almes where nede is. 19. Be thankful for suretiship, 28. Liue frugally. 32. Goe not a ghestning for delicate chere.
1He that sheweth mercy, lendeth to his neighbour: and he that is stronger in hand, keepeth the commandments.Chi è misericordioso, da in prestito al suo prossimo, e chi è generoso di mano, osserva i comandamenti.HE that lendeth to his neighbour, doth mercie: and he that preuayleth with hand, keepeth the commandments.Qui facit misericordiam fœneratur proximo suo: / et qui prævalet manu mandata servat. 2Lend to thy neighbour in the time of his need, and pay thou thy neighbour again in due time.Da ad imprestito al tuo prossimo nel tempo, del suo bisogno, e tu vicendevolmente restituisci al prossimo al tempo determinato.Lend to thy neighbour in the time of his necessitie, and againe repay thy neighbour in his time.Fœnerare proximo tuo in tempore necessitatis illius: / et iterum redde proximo in tempore suo. 3Keep thy word, and deal faithfully with him: and thou shalt always find that which is necessary for thee.Mantien la parola, e portati fedelmente con lui, e troverai in ogni tempo quello, che ti abbisogna.Confirme thy word, and doe faithfully with him: & thou shalt finde at al time, that which is necessarie for thee.Confirma verbum, et fideliter age cum illo: / et in omni tempore invenies quod tibi necessarium est. 4Many have looked upon a thing lent as a thing found, and have given trouble to them that helped them.Molti il denaro imprestato tennero per denaro trovato, e diedero delle molestie a chi li avea ajutati.Manie haue esteemed a thing lent as a thing found, and haue geuen molestation to them that did helpe them.Multi quasi inventionem æstimaverunt fœnus, / et præstiterunt molestiam his qui se adjuverunt. 5Till they receive, they kiss the hands of the lender, and in promises they humble their voice:Fino che abbian ricevuto, bacian le mani al datore, e fanno delle promesse con umili parole.Til they receiue, they kisse the handes of the lender, and in promises they humble their voice:Donec accipiant, osculantur manus dantis, / et in promissionibus humiliant vocem suam: 6But when they should repay, they will ask time, and will return tedious and murmuring words, and will complain of the time:Ma quando è tempo di restituire, chieggon tempo, e dicon cose nojose, o mormorano, e danno la colpa al tempo.and in the time of repaying they wil aske a time, and wil speake wordes of tediousnes and murmurings, and wil make the time an excuse:et in tempore redditionis postulabit tempus, / et loquetur verba tædii et murmurationum, / et tempus causabitur. 7And if he be able to pay, he will stand off, he will scarce pay one half, and will count it as if he had found it:E se è in istato di pagare, fa delle difficoltà, o renderà la metà del debito, e il creditore dovrà far conto, che è tanto di trovato,and if he be able to pay, he wil resist, he wil pay scarse halfe of the whole, and wil account it as a thing found:Si autem potuerit reddere, adversabitur: / solidi vix reddet dimidium, / et computabit illud quasi inventionem:
8But if not, he will defraud him of his money, and he shall get him for an enemy without cause.Altrimenti quegli lo priva del suo, e se lo tiene per suo nemico senza ragione.but if not, he wil defraude him of his money, and possesse him an enemie without cause:sin autem, fraudabit illum pecunia sua, / et possidebit illum inimicum gratis: 9And he will pay him with reproaches and curses, and instead of honour and good turn will repay him injuries.E lo paga di ingiurie, e di male parole, e per un onore, e un benefizi gli rende strapazzo.and wil repay him reproches and curses, and for honour and benefite wil repay him contumelie.et convitia et maledicta reddet illi, / et pro honore et beneficio reddet illi contumeliam. 10Many have refused to lend, not out of wickedness, but they were afraid to be defrauded without cause.Sono molti, che non danno in prestito non per cattivo cuore, ma temono di essere ingiustamente gabbati.Manie haue not lent, not because of wickednes, but they were afraid to be defrauded without cause.Multi non causa nequitiæ non fœnerati sunt, / sed fraudari gratis timuerunt. 11But yet towards the poor be thou more hearty, and delay not to shew him mercy.Contuttociò sii tu d'animo generoso verso il meschino, e non fare a lui allungare il collo in aspettando la carità.But yet vpon the humble be stronger of minde, & for almes differre him not.Verumtamen super humilem animo fortior esto, / et pro eleemosyna non trahas illum. 12Help the poor because of the commandment: and send him not away empty handed because of his poverty.A riflesso del comandamento assisti il povero, e noi rimandar colle mani vuote nel suo bisogno.Because of the commandment receiue the poore: and because of his pouertie, send him not away emptie.Propter mandatum assume pauperem, / et propter inopiam ejus ne dimittas eum vacuum. 13Lose thy money for thy brother and thy friend: and hide it not under a stone to be lost.Perdi il denaro per amor del fratello, e dell'amico, e noi seppellire sotto una pietra a perdersi.Lose money for thy brother and thy freind: and hide it not vnder a stone vnto perdition.Perde pecuniam propter fratrem et amicum tuum, / et non abscondas illam sub lapide in perditionem. 14Place thy treasure in the commandments of the most High, and it shall bring thee more profit than gold.Impiega il tuo tesoro nell'adempiere i precetti dell'Altissimo, e ciò ti frutterà più, che l'oro.Put thy treasure in the precepts of the Highest, & it shal profite thee more then gold.Pone thesaurum tuum in præceptis Altissimi, / et proderit tibi magis quam aurum.
15Shut up alms in the heart of the poor, and it shall obtain help for thee against all evil.Chiudi la limosina nel seno del povero, e questa pregherà per te contro) ogni sorta di mali.Shut vp almes in the hart of the poore, and the same shal obteyne for thee against al euil.Conclude eleemosynam in corde pauperis, / et hæc pro te exorabit ab omni malo. 16Better than the shield of the mighty, and better than the spear:Ella combatterà contro il tuo nemico assai meglio, che lo scudo, e la lancia di un campione.Aboue the shilde of the mightie, & aboue the speare,Super scutum potentis 17It shall fight for thee against thy enemy.it shal fight against tnyne enemie.et super lanceam 18A good man is surety for his neighbour: and he that hath lost shame, will leave him to himself.A good man becometh suretie for his neighbour: and he that hath lost shame, wil leaue him to himself.adversus inimicum tuum pugnabit. 19Forget not the kindness of thy surety: for he hath given his life for thee.L'uomo dabbene entra mallevadore al suo prossimo, ma colui, che ha perduto il rossore, abbandona il prossimo a se stesso.Forget not the kindnes of a suertie: for he hath geuen his life for thee.Vir bonus fidem facit pro proximo suo: / et qui perdiderit confusionem derelinquet sibi. 20The sinner and the unclean fleeth from his surety.Non ti scordare del benefizio fatto a te dal tuo mallevadore; perocché egli ha esposta per te la sua vita.The sinner and vncleane person fleeth from his suretie.Gratiam fidejussoris ne obliviscaris: / dedit enim pro te animam suam. 21A sinner attributeth to himself the goods of his surety: and he that is of an unthankful mind will leave him that delivered him.Il peccatore, e l'immondo fugge il suo mallevadore.A sinner counteth the goodes of his suretie to himself: and vnthankful in minde wil forsake him that deliuered him.Repromissorem fugit peccator et immundus. 22A man is surety for his neighbour: and when he hath lost all shame, he shall forsake him.Il peccatore fa conto, che sian suoi propri i beni del suo mallevadore, e ingrato di cuore abbandona chi lo ha liberato.A man is suretie for his neighbour: and when he hath lost shame, he shal be forsaken of him.Bona repromissoris sibi ascribit peccator: / et ingratus sensu derelinquet liberantem se. 23Evil suretyship hath undone many of good estate, and hath tossed them as a wave of the sea.Un uomo' promette pel suo prossimo, e questi perduto ogni pudore lo abbandona.Naughtie suretieshippe hath vndone manie, that were In good case, and hath tossed them as a waue of the sea.Vir repromittit de proximo suo: / et cum perdiderit reverentiam, derelinquetur ab eo.
24It hath made powerful men to go from place to place round about, and they have wandered in strange countries.Le mallevadorie spropositate hanno rovinati molti, che si regolavano bene, e li hanno messi sossopra come una tempesta di mare.Whurling round about, it hath made mightie men to remoue, and they haue wandred in strange nations.Repromissio nequissima multos perdidit dirigentes, / et commovit illos quasi fluctus maris. 25A sinner that transgresseth the commandment of the Lord, shall fall into an evil suretyship: and he that undertaketh many things, shall fall into judgment.Questa ha sconvolti uomini facoltosi, e li ha fatti fuggire, e andar vagabondi tra genti straniere.A sinner that trangresseth the commandment of our Lord, shal fal into naughtie suretieshippe: and he that endeuoureth to doe manie thinges, shal fal into iudgement.Viros potentes gyrans migrare fecit, / et vagati sunt in gentibus alienis. 26Recover thy neighbour according to thy power, and take heed to thyself that thou fall not.Il peccatore, che trasgredisce i comandamenti del Signore si impegnerà in mallevadorie rovinose, e chi vuoi far molte cose si imbroglia in liti.Recouer thy neighbour according to thy power, and take heed to thy self that thou fal not.Peccator transgrediens mandatum Domini incidet in promissionem nequam: / et qui conatur multa agere incidet in judicium. 27The chief thing for man’s life is water and bread, and clothing, and a house to cover shame.Solleva il prossimo secondo il tuo potere, e veglia sopra te stesso affine di non precipitarti.The beginning of mans life water & bread, and garment, and house couering his turpitude.Recupera proximum secundum virtutem tuam, / et attende tibi ne incidas. 28Better is the poor man’s fare under a roof of boards, than sumptuous cheer abroad in another man’s house.La somma della vita umana è l'acqua, e il pane, e il vestito, e la casa per tener coperto ciò, che non dee farsi vedere.Better is the poore mans fayre vnder a roofe of bordes, then sumptuous cheere in a strange place without a house.Initium vitæ hominis, aqua et panis, / et vestimentum, et domus protegens turpitudinem. 29Be contented with little instead of much, and thou shalt not hear the reproach of going abroad.Val più il vitto del povero sotto un coperto di tavole, che li splendidi banchetti in casa straniera, dove uno non ha domicilio.Let the least thing please thee in steede of a great, and thou shalt not heare the reproach of peregrination.Melior est victus pauperis sub tegmine asserum / quam epulæ splendidæ in peregre sine domicilio. 30It is a miserable life to go as a guest from house to house: for where a man is a stranger, he shall not deal confidently, nor open his mouth.Contentati del poco come del molto, e non avrai a sentire i rimprocci, che si fanno a' forestieri.It is a naughtie life to change lodging from house to house: and where he shal lodge, he shal not deale boldely, nor open his mouth.Minimum pro magno placeat tibi, / et improperium peregrinationis non audies.
31He shall entertain and feed, and give drink to the unthankful, and moreover he shall hear bitter words.Ell'è una cattiva vita quella di andar in ospizio da una casa all'altra, e dove uno è ospite non agirà con libertà, e non aprirà bocca.He shal lodge, and feede, and make the vnthanckful drinke, and beside these thinges he shal heare bitter wordes.Vita nequam hospitandi de domo in domum: / et ubi hospitabitur non fiducialiter aget, nec aperiet os. 32Go, stranger, and furnish the table, and give others to eat what thou hast in thy hand.Uno alberga, e da da mangiare, e da bere a gente ingrata, e oltre a ciò, udirà delle male parole.Passe thou stranger, & furnish the table, & with the thinges thou hast in thy hand, feede the rest.Hospitabitur, et pascet, et potabit ingratos, / et ad hæc amara audiet: 33Give place to the honourable presence of my friends: for I want my house, my brother being to be lodged with me.Su via, o ospite, ammannisci la tavola, e con quello, che hai teco, da da mangiare agli altri.Depart from the presence of the honour of my freindes: for the necessitie of my house my brother is to be lodged with me.transi, hospes, et orna mensam, / et quæ in manu habes ciba ceteros. 34These things are grievous to a man of understanding: the upbraiding of houseroom, and the reproaching of the lender.Cedi il luogo ai miei amici onorati, ho bisogno della mia casa: ricevo ospite un mio fratello.These thinges be greuous to a man that hath vnderstanding: rebuke for the house, and the reproch of the lender.Exi a facie honoris amicorum meorum: / necessitudine domus meæ hospitio mihi factus est frater. 35Queste cose sono pesanti ad un uomo sensato: i rimproveri del padron di casa, e gli improperj di chi gli ha fatto imprestito.Gravia hæc homini habenti sensum: / correptio domus, et improperium fœneratoris.
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Challoner
Hand. That is, he that is hearty and bountiful in lending to his neighbour in his necessity. (Challoner)
Rondet
Foenus, in this book means simply "lending." (Rondet.)
Worthington
This is a work of mercy, and a sort of alms. Justice requires that the thing should be restored, and if any refuse on purpose, he is as bad as a thief. (Worthington)
In hand. Rich.
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Calmet
Time. The neglect of this causes many to be unwilling to lend. (Calmet)
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Hands. Like slaves. (Macrobius 1.)
Others kissed the face, neck, etc., Acts 20:37.
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Calmet
Injuries. Thus one loses both money and friends. Must we then never lend? If the person be poor, we must be ready to give. (Calmet)
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Haydock
And delay. Or literally, "and for an alms, drag him not along." (Haydock)
Calmet
Let not the fraud of many deter thee from assisting the poor, for the sake of God and justice. (Calmet)
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Commandment. Deuteronomy 15:7. Else where is your merit?
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Friend. He is entitled to partake of all thy goods. If he be only thy fellow-creature, assist him; and God will reward thee, Matthew 6:19.
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Calmet
Heart. Greek, "thy store-houses," the poor. (Calmet)
St. Jerome
I never read that one who was liberal to the poor came to an evil death, as he has so many to intercede for him, whose prayers must be heard. (St. Jerome, ad Nepot.)
Worthington
Works of mercy produce the best fruits. (Worthington)
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Himself. Yet he will not engage his word for more than he can pay, (ver. 27., and Ecclesiasticus 8:16.) nor encourage the negligence of debtors, Proverbs 6:1.
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Life. Or his subsistence, (chap. 19:28.) though some answered for the person of another, 3 Kings 20:39.
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Haydock
And. Greek, "will turn away the goods of his surety, (21.) and the ungrateful in mind will abandon his redeemer." (Haydock)
Xenophon
"All hate the ungrateful," (Cicero, off. ii.) and the Persians punished such with death. (Xenophon, Cyr. i.)
Haydock
Him. Greek subjoins ver. 23. (Haydock)
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Menochius
Estate, (dirigentes) whose affairs were prosperous. (Menochius)
Hence Solomon dissuades any rash engagements.
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Calmet
Things. Tax-gatherers may deserve to fall into this misery. (Calmet)
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Worthington
Not. Prudence requires that we should not ruin ourselves to help others. (Worthington)
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Grotius
Shame. Clothing is like a portable house. (Grotius)
Man stands in need of little, and those who are content will not need to borrow, ver. 29.
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Calmet
Shall. Or "has formerly entertained" those, who now reproach him, make him serve in the meanest offices, and at last cast him forth. It may also signify that people who receive ungrateful vagabonds, will be required to serve them, and had better keep them out, ver. 33. (Calmet)
Haydock
Greek, "thou shalt entertain and give drink to the most disagreeable things." (Haydock)
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Menochius
Others. Greek, "me." (Menochius)
Calmet
Travellers carried their provisions with them. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Give. Greek, "depart, stranger, from the face of glory; for," etc. (Haydock)
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Menochius
Lender. Who demands his money, and upbraids his debtor. (Menochius)
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And he that is stronger in hand.... That is, he that is hearty and bountiful in lending to his neighbour in his necessity.
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Lending is a worke of mercie, & a kinde of almes. To repay that is borowed is a worke of iustice, wittingly not to restore is as bad as theft.
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Concordance Exo. 22.
Concordance Deut. 14.
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T•b. 4.
Great fruite of workes of mercie.
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Prudence requireth that by helping an other, thou doest not ouerthrovv thyself.
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 2.7
… What is so likely to win favour as gratitude? What more natural than to love one who loves us? What so implanted and so impressed on men’s feelings as the wish to let another, by whom we want to be loved, know that we love him? Well does the wise man say: “Lose thy money for thy brother and thy friend.”
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On Works and Alms 5
5. The remedies for propitiating God are given in the words of God Himself; the divine instructions have taught what sinners ought to do, that by works of righteousness God is satisfied, that with the deserts of mercy sins are cleansed. And in Solomon we read, “Shut up alms in the heart of the poor, and these shall intercede for thee from all evil.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.2
… “He who has his conversation without reproach in righteousness, leaves blessed children.” In the same in Ecclesiasticus: “My son, if thou hast, do good by thyself, and present worthy offerings to God; remember that death delayeth not.” Also in the same place: “Shut up alms in the heart of the poor, and this will entreat for thee from all evil.”
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John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 9.34
… “For, verily, I say unto you that if not because of his friendship, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as much as he needs.” You have it in the fruits of almsgiving: “Shut up alms in the heart of the poor and it shall pray for thee in the time of tribulation.”
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 4.31
… Would indeed that we were worthy to pray for you: but that I am not worthy I have no doubt. Still, however, there are here many worthy folk, who are being redeemed from the enemy by your offering, and serve our Creator faithfully, with regard to whom you have done what is written; Lay up alms in the bosom of the poor, and it shall pray for thee (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 7.28
… whence I understood the reason. It was that you would not speak by letters to a man, having by a good deed made your address to Almighty God . For this same deed of yours has a voice of its own, which calls to the secret ears of God , as it is written, Hide thy alms in the bosom of the poor, and it shall entreat for thee (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 11.44
As to the alms which you have bestowed on the monastery of the blessed Apostle Andrew, there is no need for me to say anything, since it is written, Hide thine alms in the bosom of a poor man, and it shall pray for thee (
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Aphrahat † AD 346 Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations 22.7
… He leads away and separates unto himself all the beautiful youths who supposed that even unto old age they would not see death. He leads away and gathers unto himself the loved infants of days, with whom their parents were not satiated. He leads away to himself the wealthy, the sons of luxury; And they leave their possessions as the waves of the sea .
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 55.2
… A friend has come to thee “out of the way,” out, that is, of the life of this world, in which all men are passing along as strangers, and no one abides here as possessor; but to every man it is said, “Thou hast been refreshed, pass on, go on thy way, give place to the next comer.”
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2. TO LEND TO THY NEIGHBOR IN THE TIME OF HIS NECESSITY, AND AGAIN REPAY THY NEIGHBOR IN HIS TIME. — It is as it were a dialogue: for Sirach in the first part addresses those who give a loan; in the latter part he turns himself to those who ask for and receive it. "To lend therefore," that is, as the Syrian translator renders it, to give a loan to thy neighbor placed in necessity, while namely he is pressed or oppressed by creditors, thou who art able and hast what thou mayest lend; but thou who askest for and receivest a loan, faithfully repay it to the lender at the agreed time, and at that which hath been fixed for thee by him. For this is required by fidelity, justice, equity and gratitude. Whence the Zurich Bible renders it: Give a loan to thy neighbor in the time of his necessity, and again in his time repay thy neighbor. For as it is a mortal sin not to give alms in necessity, so also it is mortal to refuse a loan in necessity, saith Palacius. He calls a loan interest not only with respect to God, who will repay the lender with interest, but also with respect to the receiver or borrower; for he is bound and obligated to the lender by the title of gratitude, that he repay to him a like or greater benefit; this is interest not exacted, but owed; by right not of justice, but of gratitude. Whence Solomon, Proverbs cap. xxii, 7: "The rich ruleth over the poor: and he that borroweth is servant to him that lendeth," that is to the lender. Hence the lender and creditor in Hebrew is called נושא nose, from the root נשא nasa, that is, he lifted up, he exalted; because he who asks a loan from him and receives it, is forced by the benefit accepted to humble himself to him as to one exalted, to become a suppliant, to venerate and honor him. The same in Chaldean is called רשיא raschia, from the root רשא rascha, that is, he was able; for the lender and creditor hath right, power, and as it were dominion over him to whom he gave the loan, and he is wholly subject to him, and as it were existeth as his servant. Hence that widow said to Eliseus: "Behold the creditor cometh to take away my two sons to serve him," IV Kings iv, 1. For this was once lawful for the creditor to do. For this reason St. John the Almsgiver was most ready not only to give, but also to lend; which readiness God therefore repaid with a hundredfold recompense, as Leontius in his Life, cap. xxix, narrates was revealed through a vision to a certain Duke. In the Lives of the Fathers, lib. V, booklet vi, num. 7, John the Persian Abbot is praised, who gave a loan to anyone asking for it, saying: "Go, take thyself what thou needest." And when he reported that he had received it as a loan, he said to him: Put it back again where thou tookest it; but if he did not return it, the old man said nothing to him. Of the same John Abbot is celebrated in the Spiritual Meadow of John Moschus, cap. clxxxiv. For when asked for a loan, since he had not, he asked from another, and when he who had received it was not able to pay, he himself in a wonderful manner paid it. And in the following cap. he narrates an example of a faithful mother, who, when her unbelieving husband wished to give money to a moneylender for the profit of usury, dissuaded him, and said: "If it please thee to lend, let us give it under the interest of the God of Christians." She therefore distributed fifty coins among the poor, and shortly after by the wonderful providence of God she received them sixfold, namely for 50 God restored to her three hundred.
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3. CONFIRM THY WORD, AND DEAL FAITHFULLY WITH HIM: AND AT ALL TIMES THOU SHALT FIND WHAT IS NECESSARY FOR THEE. — As if to say, Make thy words firm by deeds, and stand faithfully by thy promises, so that namely at the agreed time thou repay the loan to the lender. For thus it shall come to pass, that he himself and others at any other time, when thou shalt be in need, shall willingly give thee a loan, and shall help thee with every aid and service. Whence the Zurich Bible renders it: Make thy words firm, and show thyself faithful to him, that at all times thou mayest find necessaries for thyself; others: Keep thy word firm, and deal faithfully with him, and at all times thou shalt find those things which thou needest; for this is what the Greek τὴν χρείαν σου signifies, that is, thy necessity or thy want, namely those things which are necessary for thee, and which thou needest for sustenance and life. The Syrian translator renders it: Confirm thy word, and thy neighbor shall be confirmed with thee, and at all times thou shalt find his good will toward thee, as if to say, He shall do whatever thou wishest, because he is subject to thee and bound by the loan.
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4. MANY ESTEEM A LOAN AS A FOUND THING, AND HAVE CAUSED TROUBLE TO THOSE WHO HELPED THEM. — He calls a found thing an invention; a loan, he calls a loan, as if to say: Many esteem a loan not as a loan, which must be returned at the appointed time, but as a found thing, which the rude and avaricious common people think falls into the right of the finder, nor is the owner who lost it required to be sought out, that it be restored to him (indeed Dom. Soto, lib. V On Justice, Question iii, art. 3, ad 2, thinks that found things, if after diligent inquiry the owner is not discovered, can be lawfully retained by the finder as ownerless. But the common opinion of the learned is that they ought to be spent on the poor or other pious works. See P. Lessius, lib. II On Justice, cap. xiv, dub. 7). Wherefore they cause trouble to those who lend, who in their need have helped them by lending, while they bring themselves to pay it back slowly, reluctantly, and only when forced by a judge, as he explains more fully in what follows. Whence the Zurich version: Many held what they had received as a loan as a found thing (others, as a found gain), and caused troubles to their helpers. This is a great indignity and ingratitude. For if the lender, says Palacius, helped you, why do you retain the loan as if it were not his but yours? The lender was a god to you in your distress; why are you troublesome to this god of yours, nay, more barbarous and wilder than a wild beast? Wisely Symmachus, lib. III, epist. 64: "Seeking favors from another," he says, "he promises his own." From such unfaithful and ungrateful persons, therefore, Sirach tacitly warns us to beware, just as Ben-Sira, alphab. 1, letter Ain: "You will reap," he says, "if you have things in common with someone, from a good man you will seek in vain a hundred times, from a bad man a thousand times." And letter Sade: "If it is necessary that you contract by receiving and giving, let your lot be with a good man," as if to say: Contract and lend to an honest man, who will faithfully perform what he promised, and will return the loan. This is what the Psalmist says, Ps. xxxvi, 21: "The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again: but the just sheweth mercy, and giveth." An anonymous writer cited by Suidas said that the most wretched men are those who have teeth now red, now pale. He was noting those who borrow from others, who when the loan is demanded, blush; but when they see the creditor, they grow pale, lest they be forced to pay. 5 and 6. UNTIL THEY RECEIVE, THEY KISS THE HANDS OF THE GIVER, AND IN PROMISES THEY HUMBLE THEIR VOICE: AND AT THE TIME OF REPAYMENT HE SHALL ASK FOR TIME, AND SHALL SPEAK WORDS OF WEARINESS AND MURMURING, AND SHALL BLAME THE TIME. — Some translate: There is one who while he receives kisses his own hand (for αὐτοῦ, that is of the giver, they read with rough breathing αὑτοῦ, that is his own), that is: there is one who adores him from whom he receives a loan; for the kissing of the hand was properly of old a sign of adoration, as is clear from Job, cap. xxxi, 27, concerning which rite I have said more in Ezech. cap. viii, 17. But the Vulgate version is to be retained: for the Greek codices of Complutum, Rome and others read αὐτοῦ, not αὑτοῦ. Whence they have thus: Until he receives, he shall kiss his hand, and in the money of his neighbor he shall humble his voice, and at the time of repayment he shall delay the time, and shall return words of sloth (or laziness), and shall blame the time. Clearly the Zurich version: There are those who while they receive kiss the hand of someone, and on account of another's money use a suppliant voice; who again at the time of restitution delay the matter, and give contemptuous words (others, return sad words) and blame the time; the Syriac: At the time when he receives a loan, he kisses the hand of the lender, and over the wealth of his neighbor he lifts up his voice (praising those things), and at the time when he returns (ought to return) the loan, he shall prolong himself, and he defers it for a long time.
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It is a mimesis: for it graphically imitates and depicts the character of the unfaithful and slow in repaying; but in the latter verse, by enallage customary in Holy Scripture, he changes the plural number into the singular, saying: "He shall ask, he shall speak, he shall complain," so as to signify that each one of them does the same thing. Whence in the Greeks the same is the singular number both in the first and in the second verse. The sense is, as if to say: Many, when they ask for a loan from their neighbor, humble themselves exceedingly to him and become suppliants and with extraordinary veneration seize his hand and kiss it; and in order that they may obtain and receive money from him as a loan, they most humbly promise that they will repay the loan at the time agreed upon by the lender, and that they will be mindful and grateful to him for their whole life. But when the time of repayment and payment arrives, they spin out delays and ask for an extension of time; and in place of the humble words which they spoke before, they return words of weariness and murmurings, complaining with bitter discourse, sad and sorrowful, to the lender demanding his loan back, as if he were too strict and rigid an exactor of his debt, and casting the blame upon the times, namely that it was barren, rainy, hindered by wars and other misfortunes, and therefore they are not able to pay. This explanation needs no further proof, because we see it happening every day. Whence Sirach proceeds thus: 7. BUT IF HE BE ABLE TO REPAY, HE SHALL RESIST (Jansenius and others read wrongly, he shall resist), HE SHALL HARDLY REPAY THE WHOLE, AND SHALL RECKON IT AS IF HE HAD FOUND IT: — 8. BUT IF NOT, HE HATH DEFRAUDED HIM OF HIS MONEY, AND HE HATH GOTTEN AN ENEMY GRATUITOUSLY: — 9. AND HE SHALL RETURN CURSES AND REPROACHES TO HIM, AND FOR HONOUR AND BENEFITS HE SHALL REPAY HIM WITH CONTUMELY. — The word "whole" is not in the Greek, but is understood. For "whole" here by synecdoche signifies the entire price and the whole debt, which the Romans called an as. Therefore Palacius read wrongly, "he shall resist the whole," and explains it thus, as if to say: He shall resist complete and entire repayment, saying that he cannot pay the whole, but only half. Whence he will rejoice that the other half remains for him, just as if he had found it. Again, "gratuitously," that is without cause, without fault, undeservedly, as the Zurich version translates it; because contrary to the merit of the lender he repays him this fraud, nay even curses, as follows. Whence some codices read contrarily, "not gratuitously"; because namely he repays the benefit with a misdeed. Whence Vatable translates: "That even if they are able to pay, they put off deliberately (or show themselves most difficult), they bring scarcely half, and count the debt as a find (others, and he counts it as a gain a find); but if not, him whom they have defrauded with their money, with him they take up enmities, and in return (or undeservedly) they repay curses, and complaints, and in place of honor and benefit they return contumely. The sense is easy, as if to say: If he be able to pay, first "he shall resist," that is he will deny the same thing and put it off; then when he sees himself overcome, "the whole," that is the entire loan and the whole debt, he will pay only half, and this he will reckon to the creditor not as a debt, but as a thing found, and a fortuitous gift, as if the creditor had found it by chance, saying, or so conducting himself, says Jansenius, as if the creditor ought to reckon himself happy, or be grateful to his debtor, that he has obtained even half from him; but if he be not able to pay, as often happens through the negligence and prodigality of men, first indeed he will defraud him of the money which he owes him, and thus "gratuitously," that is beyond the merit and fault of his creditor, he will make and possess him as an enemy, whom he had before found to be a friend. Then truly, breaking forth into more shameful things, and returning evil for good, he will return curses and reproaches to him, so that these may be in place of restitution and thanksgiving. But what evil follows from this in the character of men, he opens up when he adds: "Many have not lent for no reason of wickedness," etc. Thus St. Ambrose explains this passage, in the book On Tobit, chapter xxi, and adds: "How shameful it is, that for a benefit to him who helped you, you repay trouble! when you have defrauded him to whom you owe, afterwards in the time of your necessity you will not find a creditor." Whence finally he concludes, and gives this counsel: "Therefore while you are free, recall yourself from bonds, from the yoke and burden of servitude. Are you rich? do not take a loan. Are you poor? do not take a loan. Are you rich? you suffer no necessity of asking. Are you poor? consider the difficulty of paying. Wealth is diminished by usury, poverty is not relieved by usury. For never is evil corrected by evil, nor is a wound healed by a wound, but is made worse."
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10. MANY DID NOT LEND, NOT ON ACCOUNT OF WICKEDNESS, BUT FEARED TO BE DEFRAUDED FREELY. — Some delete the first not; others, the second. Whence Rabanus reads: Many on account of wickedness did lend: and gives the sense, as if to say: Many were unwilling to give a loan on account of avarice. But it should be read with the Romans both nots; for the sense is, as if to say: Many did not lend, that is were unwilling to give a loan, not on account of wickedness, that is avarice, hatred, or other malice; but because at some time by those receiving the loan "freely," i.e. undeservedly, deceived and defrauded, they feared again to be deceived similarly and "defrauded." Whence the Greek texts have: Many therefore on account of wickedness turned away from the man (who was evasive and fraudulent in the loan) fearing to be defrauded without cause: fearing, namely, that they would not recover the loan, and would receive insults in return for a favor. But for "on account of that," that is therefore; it should be read with Our text "on account of that," that is not. Whence the Zurich version translates: Many do not on account of malice turn away from the man, but fear to be defrauded undeservedly (that is beyond their desert); St. Ambrose, in the book On Tobias, chapter iii, reads: "Many do not lend for fear of loss while they fear fraud." See him citing this entire passage, and rebuking the avaricious, who are unwilling to lend except with usury and profit. The Syriac translates: Many are those who are not at all hindered by malice from giving a loan, but because they fear a vain lawsuit, namely lest they be forced to recover the loan through a lawsuit. To this pertains the deed of Perseus, who when he gave money to a certain acquaintance, made a security in the forum with a banker. When his friend marveled at this diligence, saying: "Are you so legal-minded, Perseus?" "Indeed," he said, "so that I may receive it as a friend, and not demand it back legally." There is wit in the Greek νομικώς and φιλικώς. Let those imitate this who wish to protect themselves, lest they fall into lawsuits, and lose money given as a loan along with the lawsuit.
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11. NEVERTHELESS TOWARD THE HUMBLE BE STRONGER IN SPIRIT, AND FOR ALMSGIVING DO NOT DRAW HIM AWAY. — This is a correction, as if to say: These things concerning the fraud and infidelity of those who ask for and receive loans, I have said not in order that I should wish to deter all from lending; but rather I advise that they have mercy on the humble, that is, on the poor and suppliant. Wherefore toward such persons "be stronger in spirit," that is, act strongly and liberally (for liberality indeed requires fortitude, as I said in verse 1), in Greek μακροθύμησον, that is, be long-suffering, as the Syriac translator rendered it, that is, be magnanimous, namely magnificent and munificent: "And for," that is, for the sake of performing almsgiving either through lending or through donation, "do not draw away," in Greek μὴ παρελκύσῃς, that is, do not protract, as Rabanus reads it, do not delay from day to day, do not delay, do not mock him. Whence the Complutensian editors translate and read: Nevertheless in humility be of great spirit, and in almsgiving do not draw him away; the Zurich edition: Nevertheless toward the suppliant show clemency, nor draw him away by expectation of kindness. Where Jansenius rightly notes: From the Greek texts, he says, it is clear that the word "spirit" is to be joined, not with "humble," but with "stronger." For they have ἐπὶ ταπεινῷ μακροθύμησον, that is, toward the humble be long-suffering. He warns therefore that toward him who is truly poor, or who speaks humbly and submissively from the heart, if he cannot return what he has borrowed at the prescribed time, the creditor should not conduct himself impatiently, rebuking him and rigidly demanding the debt; but he should command and overcome his own spirit, either by forgiving him the debt, or by granting time for repayment. Likewise, that on account of the injuries and frauds of many, who render themselves unworthy of benefit, one should not with impatient spirit deny aid to the truly poor humbly asking for help, whether through lending or through donation. For this is signified by the word μακροθυμεῖν, namely to show the greatest patience and humanity toward the needy unworthy of benefit, in the midst of the greatest perfidy and injury of men. Thus indeed in Matthew, chapter xviii, 26, the servant, who could not render an account to his lord, nor was able to pay, prayed, using this word: Lord, have patience with me. For this affection, which is called by the Greeks μακροθυμία, that is, patience or gentleness of spirit, is opposed to harshness, which most men are accustomed to use either in exacting or in denying benefit. Note: Sirach here gives various incentives for lending, even with the risk of not receiving the loan back, but losing it. The first is in this verse, that it is required by the virtue of mercy and magnanimity, which ought to be valued more than riches and money; for the magnanimity of the faithful ought to be so great that they despise gold in comparison with the virtue of mercy. 12. FOR THE SAKE OF THE COMMANDMENT TAKE UP (that is, help, and receive him into your care and aid, and embrace him with your beneficence) THE POOR MAN: AND FOR THE SAKE OF HIS NEED DO NOT SEND HIM AWAY EMPTY. — In Greek, for the sake of, or in favor of the commandment, lift up the needy, and in his need do not send him away empty; the Zurich edition, for the sake of the precept help the poor man, nor because he is needy, send him away empty from you; the Syriac, as if to observe the commandment help the needy; and if there be need, do not oppose your heart, as if to say: Do not care whether there be public famine or lack of money, so that for this reason you are unwilling to lend, but give the loan liberally. The second is this incentive for lending, as if to say: It is commanded by natural and divine law that you help the poor man in necessity through lending; therefore you must absolutely lend. If therefore you are unwilling to lend to the poor man because he is poor, lend to him at least because the law commands it, lend in favor of the divine law, do this favor to the law and to God, if you are unwilling to do it for man. Furthermore, Christ expressed this commandment, saying in Luke vi, 30: "Give to every one that asketh thee." And Matthew, chapter v, 42: "He that asketh of thee, give to him; and he that would borrow of thee, turn not away." And Moses, Deuteronomy xv, 18, and Exodus xxii, 14. The third incentive is the need of the poor man: for it demands that you do not send him away empty: for the misery of your neighbor calls out for your mercy: have mercy on him therefore, that God and men may also have mercy on you.
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13. LOSE MONEY FOR YOUR BROTHER AND YOUR FRIEND: AND DO NOT HIDE IT UNDER A STONE TO ITS DESTRUCTION. — The Syrian: do not place it under a rock or wall. Thus also the Complutensian editors read: μὴ κατακρύπτε, that is, do not hide it, and St. Ambrose, book On Tobias, chapter iii. But the Greeks corrected at Rome and others read, as μὴ ἰωθῇ, that is, let it not contract rust. Whence they translate, lose silver for your brother and friend, and let it not be covered under stone with rust to destruction. For, as St. Augustine says, book On Friendship, chapter xxv: "Since you ought to have one heart and one soul with your friend, it is unjust if you do not also have one purse." Lose gold therefore for your friend, because by losing you will gain. For here has place the paradox of St. Aegidius, companion of St. Francis: "To gain, lose." For, as Hugh says, you will lose temporally, so that you may find eternally, according to that in Ecclesiastes xi: "Cast your bread upon the passing waters, for after many days you shall find it again." Therefore lose money, just as the farmer loses the seed which he sows, so that he may receive it a hundredfold. Concerning which loss Christ says: "He that loves his life, shall lose it," etc., John xii. Wherefore that saying of Seneca is scarcely just: "When a friend asks me for money as a loan, if I give it, I lose both friend and money." This Sirach corrects here, saying: "Lose money for your brother and friend." For a true friend will repay the money, if he can: if he cannot, this must be given to friendship. For it is better to lose money than charity and friendship. Fourth is here a stimulus to lending, as if to say: Your brother and friend is he who asks for a loan: therefore grant it to him. For why would you deny a friend and brother? For this kinship is so great and so close that on account of it not only should you lend, but also give and lose gold. Brother, I say, both as to common nature, because he is a son of Adam and Eve equally as you; both as to common religion and faith, because he is a son of God and of the Church equally as you; both as to proximity, duty and other respects of union. Therefore, even if your brother will not repay the loan, still lend to him, and if he cannot repay, give and forgive: thus you will bestow a twofold benefit. When therefore you lend, consider yourself as having given to your brother, if he does not repay. Thus St. Ambrose, book On Tobias, chapter ii: "Give," he says, "money, if you have it: let it benefit another, which is idle for you; give as if you were not to receive it back, so that it may turn to profit if it is repaid. He who does not repay money will repay gratitude; if you are defrauded of money, you will acquire justice. For he is just who has mercy and lends," Psalm cxi: "If money is lost, mercy is gained." For it is written: "He that shows mercy lends to his neighbor." See the same, book II On Duties, chapter xviii: "Benevolence," he says, "helps greatly, which strives to embrace all with benefits, bind them with duties, pledge them with gratitude." Fifth stimulus is, because it is better to give that to friendship and brotherhood than to rust and corrosion, indeed by hiding it under a stone to corrupt and lose it, both because under a stone it contracts rust, and because what is hidden there is consigned to oblivion, and when he who hid it dies, often there is no one who knows what is hidden there; and finally because there is no use of it there. Whence it is the same as if it were lost, indeed annihilated. St. Ambrose adds, book On Naboth, chapter v and following, that riches destroy the souls of the avaricious, who hide them and allow them to corrupt, nor distribute them to the poor. Wherefore note: In Greek it is εἰς ἀπώλειαν, which Our Lord first, properly, translates as "into perdition," that is to say, Money hidden under a stone perishes and is lost there without fruit; secondly, the Zurich Bible and others translate it as into ruin; thirdly, others translate it as into death, that is to say, Riches hidden bring spiritual death of the soul and eternal ruin in hell to the miser who hides them, because he does not spend them for the use of others, for which they were given and ordained by God. But the first sense is more genuine. Whence some, as I have said, for "do not hide," read in the Greek, "do not allow to be covered with rust." So that Christ seems to have alluded to this, saying Matt. vi, 19: "Lay not up to yourselves treasures in earth, where the rust and moth consume." And St. James, cap. v, 2: "Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten: your gold and silver is cankered: and the rust of them shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh like fire," that is to say, Riches hidden consume and destroy both themselves and those who hide them. See the things said there. Therefore hidden money perishes: first, in itself, because rust consumes it: secondly, to neighbors, whose necessities (although it was destined by God to relieve them) it does not succor; thirdly, to its master, both because he himself gains no profit from it; and both because he himself on account of their avaricious keeping and mercilessness toward the poor, to whom he did not distribute it, will be damned to eternal death. Note to "do not hide under a stone": for in these words it is insinuated that the Jews of old were accustomed to bury their treasures under certain stones, lest they be exposed to the snares of thieves and robbers, and so that those who buried them would not forget the place of burial, but from a certain stone designated by themselves would know that they had buried them under it, and would seek them there when they wished. Thus Palacius. So in a later age Tiberius the emperor, who succeeded Justin II in the year of the Lord 578, walking about in the palace saw in the pavement a marble stone, on which a cross was carved; which, being indignant that it be trodden upon by the feet of those walking, ordered it to be removed from there and placed in an honorable location. When it was removed, he found beneath it a great treasure buried, which he spent after his custom on the poor. Thus Paul the Deacon reports it, Hist. of the Lombards, lib. III, cap. vi, and Gregory of Tours, lib. V Hist. of the Franks, cap. xix. Cyril illustrates this precept with a festive apologue of earth and air, lib. III Apolog. moral. cap. xix, which has the title: That the liberal man gives freely: "When after the pouring of rain, which he had given to the dry and thirsty, the heated air drew from the same vaporous humidities; soon the earth spoke to him, saying: Why do you so quickly withdraw the moisture, which you gave to me thirsty a little before? But he answered: Since you are so ancient, do you not know this? unless I should resume this, I would by no means have given it. For this reason therefore I give the water as a gift, so that I may take the vapor. Then the earth said: Truly the poison of cupidity is more deadly, which is covered with the appearance of liberality. For the vice is so much more harmful, the more it deceives itself with the cloak of virtues. I say therefore, do not be troubled, that you are not a liberal giver, but a greedy merchant; not a giver, but a seller not at all liberal. For he is liberal who, liberally scattering his own goods, does not communicate, but gives. But to give is to bestow virtue freely. Whence the reason of liberal giving is the goodness of virtue possessed." Then he confirms the same thing by the example of heaven, sun and nature: "Attend, I pray, to the most virtuous donations of nature, how liberally they are poured forth. For what does heaven receive from inferior things, to which it provides the continual vivifying benefit of all its own? What does Titan by the emission of light, or what does earth receive from man, by dripping to him the sweetest juice of the vine? or what does the bee receive by making the sweetest honeycomb? Certainly nothing. Liberal nature, by loving, bestows the good of virtue, when it gives a gift. For there is no truer or greater reward of giving than the giving virtue itself, which is a very great thing. Having heard these things, he was ashamed of his illiberal gain."
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14. PUT THY TREASURE IN THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE MOST HIGH, AND IT SHALL PROFIT THEE MORE THAN GOLD. — First, the sense can be, as if to say, Let thy treasure not be in the air, but in the ether; not in the air, but in the law of God: for the love and observance of God's law will enrich thee and help thee more than all gold. Whence the Syrian translates, put for thyself a treasure in justice and charity, and that will be better for thee than all that thou hast. To this tends that saying of the Nazianzen in the Distichs: "Lay up treasure for eternal ages. For the treasures of this life for the most part desert us even before death. Have care for perpetual eternal glory: for this present life daily deceives man." Second and more genuinely, as if to say, Do not avariciously hide thy riches under a stone, but rather spend them according to the law of God in the aid of the Church and the poor. For this will profit thee more than gold: for it will gain for thee the grace of God, and the favor and love of men, which will profit thee more than all price. Again, thou committest money to a chest that it may be safe: commend it to the commandments of the Most High, and it will be safer and more profitable for thee. Thus Palacius. Whence the Greek texts have, place thy treasure according to the commandments of the Most High, and it shall profit thee more than gold. Whence also, explaining the same thing, it adds: "Shut up alms in the heart of the poor man, and he shall pray for thee." This is what Christ says, Matt. vi, 19: "Lay not up to yourselves treasures in earth, where the rust and moth consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither the rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also." Sixth is this incentive to lending, namely that what is given according to the law and will of God cannot perish, but is preserved in it as in a most safe chest, so that it may return to the lender with great interest, and profit him more than all the gold which he gave in loan. Whence St. Ambrose, in the book On Tobias, cap. xvi: "Moreover the Lord, he says, in the Gospel esteems it more fitting to lend to those from whom repayment is not hoped for. For thus he says: And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thanks are to you? For sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much. But love your enemies, and do good to them, and lend, hoping for nothing thereby, and your reward shall be much in heaven, and you shall be the sons of the Most High, because he himself is kind over the ungrateful and evil. Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Lend to those from whom you do not hope to receive what you have given. There is no loss here, but gain. You give the least, you shall receive much: you give on earth, and it shall be paid to you in heaven. You lose the interest, you shall have great reward. You cease to be lenders, you shall be sons of the Most High. You shall be merciful, who prove yourselves heirs of the eternal Father." And further down: "I will teach you how you can be good lenders, how you can seek good usury. Solomon says: He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord: and he will repay him. Behold good usury has been made from evil. Behold an irreproachable lender, behold praiseworthy usury. Do not therefore now think me envious of your advantages. Do you think that I take away from you a man as a debtor? I provide for God, I substitute Christ, I show him who cannot defraud you. Lend therefore to the Lord your money in the hand of the poor. He is bound and held: he writes down whatever the needy man receives. His Gospel is a security: he promises for all the indigent: he pledges his faith, why do you hesitate to give? If some rich man of this world should offer himself to you, who should promise his property on faith for some debtor, immediately you would count out the money. Is the poor man for you the Lord of heaven, and the maker of this world? and do you still deliberate, seeking a richer surety?"
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15. CONCLUDE THY ALMS IN THE HEART OF THE POOR, AND THESE SHALL PRAY FOR THEE FROM ALL EVIL. — Optatus of Milevis, book III Against the Donatists, reads: "Hide bread in the heart of the poor, and he himself shall pray for thee." Here he explained how the treasure is placed and stored "in the precepts," or, as it is in Greek, according to the precepts of the Most High, namely by concluding it "in the heart of the poor." "In the heart," that is, first, in the bosom, as Jansenius and many others read it: for the bosom outwardly corresponds to the heart, which is inwardly. Second, "in the heart," that is in the belly and stomach: for "heart" often signifies this by catachresis: for the ancients, both Greeks and Latins, called the mouth of the stomach the heart, and therefore they said that what is pleasing to the stomach is pleasing to the heart, as many still say. The sense therefore is, as if to say: Do you wish to hide your treasure safely? Do not hide it under a stone, but conclude it in the belly of the poor: for there it will remain securely hidden for you. For even if the poor man cannot or will not repay you, the alms themselves given by you by their own power and merit will pray for you before God, that you may be freed from all evil, and be granted all good. Whence the Greeks for "in the heart of the poor" have ἐν τοῖς ταμείοις σοῦ, that is in thy storerooms, in thy inner chambers. Our translator for σοῦ, that is thine, seems to have read πένητος, that is of the poor: for, as St. Basil says: "The storehouses of the rich are the bellies of the poor; and the bellies and hands of the poor are the treasury of Christ." Wherefore the Syriac version translates: Include alms, and place them in thy treasure, and they themselves shall free thee from all that is evil; and the Zurich version: Conclude kindness in thy storerooms, for it shall free thee from all affliction; others: Conclude alms in thy storerooms and distribute them, and they themselves shall snatch thee from all vexation. Whence some thus expound it, as if to say: What thou storest in thy storerooms, thou shouldest store for this reason, that they may be applied to the giving of alms. Third, "in the heart," or in the bosom, signifies that alms ought to be given not openly, for vain ostentation before men, but secretly, that it may please and serve God alone, as Christ commands, Matthew vi, 3, according to that in Proverbs xxi, 14: "A gift that is hidden extinguisheth angers, and a gift in the bosom (that is, secretly placed in the bosom) the greatest wrath." Whence our Delrio, in adage 125, thus expounds it: "In the heart," he says, "of the poor is to be joined not with heart, but with alms, as if to say: The alms of the poor, that is, which thou conferrest upon the poor, conclude that in thy heart, that is, confer it so secretly that no one from thee may learn of it, let it remain secret in the innermost part of thy heart. This is clear from the Greek: Conclude alms ἐν τοῖς ταμείοις σοῦ, that is in hidden places, or in thy inner chambers." Thus he. But this exposition seems somewhat obscure and cold. Fourth, "in the heart" signifies that alms ought to be made so as to be pleasing to the heart of the poor, so that his heart, that is his inmost desire, hunger and necessity may be satisfied, and so that it may completely refresh and console him who is afflicted and desolate. Thus Lyra. For those things which we hold most desired, most beloved, most intimate and most precious, we hide in our bosom or heart. Fifth, "in the heart" signifies how dear and precious the poor are to alms, inasmuch as their bellies are as it were the heart of alms; so that, just as man supremely loves his heart, so also alms supremely love to be concluded in the belly of the poor, as it were in a place and chamber most desired and proper to themselves. Just as therefore food, if it could speak, would wish and say that it desires to be placed in the stomach of the hungry, inasmuch as it would be received most eagerly by it and best concluded, digested, and distributed throughout the whole body: so also alms, if asked, would say that they wish to be concluded nowhere but in the belly of the poor: for there is their heart, soul and life. Just as therefore an emerald wishes to be concluded in the bezel of a golden ring, so alms wish to be concluded in the belly of the poor. It is a prosopopoeia signifying that those who practice alms ought to love, help and cherish the poor intensely as their own heart and their own bowels. Whence St. Paul, commending to Philemon Onesimus, a fugitive and poor servant, verse 12: "But thou," he says, "receive him as my bowels." And verse 20: "Refresh my bowels in the Lord." The seventh stimulus to mutual charity and almsgiving is this: that almsgiving itself is preserved in the house and belly of the poor, as it were in a golden ark, most firmly and securely, and there both through the mouths of the poor and through itself, it prays and entreats God on behalf of the almsgiver. Where note: For "will entreat" our author reads in the Greek ἐξιλάσεται; now they read ἐξελεῖται, that is, will deliver, will snatch you away: but the sense comes to the same thing, as if to say: Almsgiving hidden and shut up in the belly of the poor "will entreat" God, that he may free you "from all evil" of body and soul, temporal and spiritual, present and eternal. It is a prosopopoeia signifying the efficacy of almsgiving, namely that it itself, as it were most pleasing and most familiar to God at court, stands before God (as it itself revealed to St. John the Almsgiver appearing through a dream); and when it sees him who gave it pressed by some evil, it immediately runs and, as if thrown down on its knees before God, prays that he may snatch him from that evil. It prays, I say, and entreats, asks and obtains, says Palacius. Where note the nature and affection of our God toward almsgiving most inclined, and the power and value of almsgiving against all evil most potent: there is therefore no evil, whether of guilt or of punishment, to the removal of which almsgiving is not able to avail. See Tobias chapter 4, verse 7 and following. Almsgiving itself, therefore, even with the poor man who received it remaining silent, indeed murmuring and ungrateful, speaks mutely but with real voice to God, and entreats the giver from the bestower of all goods an equal, indeed much more abundant grace, and all the more so the more forgetful, powerless, or ungrateful the poor man has been. For then the whole burden of repaying seems to be poured back upon God, who has made himself a surety for the poor man, as Christ teaches in Luke 14, 13: "When thou makest, he says, a dinner or a supper, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind: and thou shalt be blessed, because they have not wherewith to make thee recompense; for recompense shall be made thee at the resurrection of the just." And that passage from Psalm 40: "Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the evil day." Hence St. Gaudentius, tract. 13, which is found in vol. VII of the Library of the Holy Fathers, thus explains: "Shut up almsgiving in the bosom of the poor, and it itself will entreat for you, as if to say: Sell your patrimony, and buy patronage, by whose intervention assured of obtained pardon, you may deserve to behold the coming judge free." Wherefore St. Augustine, homily 29 among 50: "The sacrifice of a Christian, he says, is almsgiving to the poor; hence God becomes propitious to sins. For unless God becomes propitious to sins, who will remain except guilty?" The bosom of the poor is therefore as it were an altar, in which almsgiving as a victim for sin is offered. And just as the souls of Martyrs under the altar pray for vengeance, Apocalypse chapter 6, 10: so almsgiving in the heart of the poor, as if hidden under an altar, prays for pardon and mercy for the giver. For this reason St. Chrysostom, homily 7 On Penance: "Almsgiving, he says, is winged and light, having golden wings, delighting him exceedingly; it persists at his royal throne when we are judged, impending, and snatches us from torments, embracing and protecting us with its wings." The same, homily 9 On Penance: "Your trade and business, he says, is heaven; give bread and receive paradise; give little, and receive great; give mortal things, and receive immortal things." And Chrysologus, sermon 8 On Fasting and Almsgiving: "The hand of the poor, he says, is the bosom of Abraham; wherever the poor man receives anything, he immediately puts it away. The treasure of heaven is the hand of the poor, what it receives, lest it perish on earth, it puts away in heaven. Give therefore, O man, to the poor the earth, that you may receive heaven; give a coin, that you may receive a kingdom; give a crumb, that you may receive the whole." And St. Jerome to Nepotian: "Never, he says, do I remember reading that one who willingly exhibited works of charity died a bad death; for he has many intercessors, and it is impossible that the prayers of many should not be heard." Mystically, Rabanus by almsgiving receives in his heart spiritual almsgiving, such as teaching the ignorant, consoling the sorrowful, advising the doubtful, etc.: for by this the heart is taught, and receives counsel and consolation; wherefore this, being a better and more noble almsgiving than bodily almsgiving, is likewise more powerful, and more liberates from all evil. Finally, St. Cyprian, in the book On Works and Almsgiving, teaches from this passage that "by just works God is satisfied, by the merits of mercy sins are purged." For we read in Solomon, he says: "Shut up almsgiving in the heart of the poor, and this shall pray for thee from all evil. And again, Prov. xxi: He that stoppeth his ears that he may not hear the weak, he also shall cry, and there shall be none to hear him. For neither shall he be able to merit the mercy of the Lord, who hath not himself been merciful, nor shall he obtain anything from divine piety in prayers, who hath not been kind to the prayer of the poor." And further below: "While thanksgiving to God for our alms and works is directed through the prayer of the poor, the account of the worker is heaped up by God's retribution." THE ALMSGIVING OF A MAN SHALL BE AS A PURSE WITH HIM, AND SHALL PRESERVE THE GRACE OF A MAN AS THE APPLE OF THE EYE. AND AFTERWARDS IT SHALL RISE UP, AND SHALL RENDER TO THEM THEIR REWARD, TO EVERY ONE UPON HIS HEAD. — These two verses many codices read here, but all the Latin, Roman, and Greek texts delete them, as also St. Augustine in the Mirror. For they have been transferred here from chapter xvii, verse 18, where I have explained them. For they interrupt the sense and connection of the following verse with what preceded: "This shall pray for thee from all evil." 16 and 17. UPON THE SHIELD OF THE MIGHTY, AND UPON THE SPEAR, AGAINST THY ENEMY HE SHALL FIGHT. — The Zurich version: More than a strong shield and stout spear (others, lance) against the enemy (both visible and invisible, such as a demon) shall fight for thee: The Complutensian: Upon the shield of strength, and upon the spear of ἰσχύος, that is of power or strength (some read βάρους, that is of weight, of forces) against the enemy shall fight for thee. Thus the Greek codices corrected at Rome have it. The Syriac: Shield of strength and spear and wall for battle, and against many it itself shall give thee rest. It explains how almsgiving liberates from all evil, namely, because it is as it were a shield receiving and repelling all the darts of evils, and it is also as it were a spear prostrating the enemy, as if to say: Almsgiving avails and conquers in battle both defensive and offensive: in the defensive it is an impenetrable shield, in the offensive it is a most mighty spear wounding and striking down the enemy: for it fights for the giver before God, and almost forces the Almighty, and as it were compels him to fight for the almsgiver. For in the poor it feeds God, it feeds Christ: "Wherefore in almsgiving thou hast God as thy debtor," says St. Chrysostom, homily 36 to the People; and St. Gregory of Nyssa, tract. On Beatitude: "Blessed are the merciful: if the appellation of merciful," he says, "befits God, to what else doth the word of Christ exhort thee, except that thou become God, as it were marked with the proper mark of divinity?" Thus we read of some who were liberal toward the souls of the dead, that they might free them from the pains of Purgatory, when they were assailed on all sides by enemies, by the souls whom they had freed appearing visibly and armed, as if by an army, that they departed surrounded and defended, unharmed.
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18 and 19. A GOOD MAN DEALETH FAITHFULLY FOR HIS NEIGHBOUR. — After mutual lending and almsgiving, he passes to a third kind of mercy and beneficence, which is to become surety or pledge for one's neighbour and his debt, which therefore is equivalent to, nay often surpasses, lending, whether thou consider the utility and necessity of the neighbour for whom one becomes surety, or the danger to which the surety exposes himself, lest, the debtor failing, he himself as it were his sponsor be compelled to pay the debt. He says therefore: "A good man dealeth faithfully;" in Greek ἐγγυλεῖται, that is, shall become surety, shall pledge, "for his neighbour," as if to say: It is the office of a good man, and pertains to him, to become surety for his neighbour. Thus St. John the Almsgiver pledged all his possessions for the aid of the poor to the Emperor Maurice, who, when dying, left little behind, and Maurice accepted his wooden bed and a poor garment in place of the debt, and preferred them to all things; so much so that on fasting days he would sleep in the same bed, saying that he obtained from it a certain divine grace. Thus Nicephorus, lib. XVIII, cap. xxxiv. Wherefore to become surety for the debts of others is the mark of a liberal, lofty, and God-trusting soul. Moreover, the formula of suretyship of the ancients was this, which Ulpian delivers in leg. Ubi autem, On the Obligation of Words:
On Suretyship, Its Dangers and Precautions dangers which Sirach expounds in what follows. Hence great prudence and caution are necessary in this matter; namely first, that no one pledge himself except according to the measure of his own means. For he is imprudent who, in order to free another from necessity, casts himself into the same or greater necessity, so that he cannot honestly support himself, that other, and his family. Secondly, that he pledge himself only for one sincere and faithful, whom he knows to be both able and willing to free him from the pledge, and to render him safe and unharmed. Thirdly, that when doubt or danger of loss is present, he exact a pledge or mortgage, from which he may compensate the burden which he undertakes by pledging; otherwise let him consider that what he pledges he will pay from his own means, and let him give or remit it to his neighbor in the manner of almsgiving. For this is an excellent almsgiving. "How much money I have lent to Titius, do you pledge your faith for?" that is, do you pledge yourself for Titius, and do you undertake all the danger upon yourself? The surety would answer: "I pledge my faith." The same in the law Quæro, in the Digest, on letting: "In how much he ought to be condemned according to good faith, do you pledge your faith for?" Where note: Just as there is a twofold debt, namely of money and of person, which is tried by imprisonment or death: so also there is a twofold surety, namely the præs and the vas. The præs is called he who pledges his faith for a debt of money and presents himself as surety; the vas is he who pledges himself in court for some defendant, as if going to the tribunal for the defendant. Thus Varro, book V On the Latin Language. And Ausonius: Who undergoes punishment in a capital trial? The vas. Who, when the law concerns money, who will be given? The præs. 20. FORGET NOT THE GRACE (in Greek χάριτας, that is, thanks, for he exhibits many) OF THY SURETY: FOR HE HATH GIVEN HIS SOUL FOR THEE. — The Zurich Bible: For he hath deposited his soul for thee. St. Ambrose from the following verse adds good, which word is there in the Greek. Whence in his book On Tobias, chapter XXIII, he reads thus: "Forget not the grace of the surety: for he hath given his good soul for thee," that is to say, Be mindful of the benefit which the surety hath shown thee by pledging himself for thee, so that thou mayest free him from his pledge, and be grateful to him. For he hath exposed his own resources and fortunes to danger for thee, which is the same as if he had exposed his life; indeed he often exposes his very life, so that when he pledges himself for a captive or one condemned to death, and becomes a hostage: then he undertakes the burden and danger of captivity or death upon himself, so that if the captive or the condemned person flees, he himself is punished with imprisonment or death for him, according to that in III Kings XX, 39: "Keep this man, who, if he slip away, thy soul shall be for his soul." And that of Reuben pledging himself for Benjamin, Genesis XLIII, 9: "I take the boy upon me, require him of my hand. Unless I bring him back, and restore him to thee, I will be guilty of sin against thee for ever." This is most true in Pastors and Prelates, who undergo the danger of damnation, while by undertaking the pastoral office they bind themselves to care manfully for the salvation of their subjects, according to that of St. Paul: "Obey your prelates, and be subject to them; for they watch as being to render an account of your souls," Hebrews XIII, 17. Where St. Chrysostom, homily 34: "I wonder," he says, "if any of the Rectors are saved." The leader of these was Christ the Lord, who, as Paul says, Hebrews VII, 22, as the surety of the New Testament, pledged himself to the Father for all the debts of our sins; and since we were unable to pay, he transferred all the debt upon himself, and paid and discharged it, not in money, but in his flesh, undergoing the atrocious and infamous death of the cross. Therefore forget not this grace of Christ thy surety, O Christian; but just as he laid down his soul for thee, so do thou also lay down and spend thy soul and whole life for him and his sheep. Thus Rabanus, and our Francis Suarez, III part, Question I, article 2, disputation 4, section II: Forget not, he says, the grace of the surety for ever, especially the grace of Christ, who for us as a surety bound himself to God the Father even unto death; and because he became a surety, hence he ought to have satisfied by justice unto equality. A memorable example is related by Strabo, book V, and from him by our Causinus, book VII of Parabolical History, chapter LXXV: They say, he writes, that a man, by name celebrated because he willingly pledged himself as surety, and therefore subject to the mockery of men, fell in with hunters who had a wolf in their snares; and when they said in jest that they would release the wolf if he himself would pledge himself as surety to pay for its damages, the man took this upon himself; the wolf thus released drove off a herd of mares bearing no brand, a sufficiently large one, and brought it to the stable of this surety; the surety, having received the mares as payment for the benefit, marked them with the wolf's brand, and called them wolf-bearing. Thus gratitude is sometimes returned by those from whom it was least expected. Now if the wolf proved so grateful to his surety, how grateful ought the same to be to man! Thus St. Francis pledged himself as surety for the wolf to the people of Gubbio, that it would not harm them if they would feed it; which being done, the wolf fulfilled the pledge of the Saint, as his Acts have it, in the Annals of Wadding, in the year of the Lord 1222, no. 18. And in the year of the Lord 1217, no. 13, he relates in a similar manner that St. Francis pledged himself as surety for the wolves to the people of Greccio, if they themselves would appease God by penance; which being done, the wolves fully fulfilled the faith given by the Saint. Such is the faith of the Saints even among wolves, and will the faith of Christ be of less account among the faithful, for whom he pledged himself as surety, that they might not release him from his pledge? 21 and 22. THE SINNER AND THE UNCLEAN FLEES FROM THE SURETY. THE SINNER ASCRIBES TO HIMSELF THE GOODS OF THE SURETY; AND THE UNGRATEFUL ONE WILL IN EFFECT ABANDON HIM WHO FREED HIM. — Jansenius reads surety instead of surety, and thus explains it: He censures, he says, two marks of a depraved and dishonest mind; one of a mind altogether illiberal, namely of one who by the interposition of his faith and pledge wishes to help no one, even when it is necessary and reason demands it; the other of an ungrateful mind, namely of one who, aided by another's pledge, frustrates his surety, and conducts himself as if those goods were his own. He says therefore first that the sinful and unclean man, that is profane, who is moved by no piety, flees from every pledge by which he binds himself for another. Then moreover he adds that the sinner labors also under another vice, namely that he ascribes to himself the goods of the surety, that is of him who pledged himself as surety for him; who, while he is not solicitous to free him from his obligation, conducts himself as if he reckoned those goods his own; and such a one, being ungrateful in mind and spirit, will abandon him who was bound, he who had freed him by his pledge. The Complutensian editors favor this exposition, who read a good pledge, that is the sinner flees; and the Zurich edition: The wicked,
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and almost all others; likewise Rabanus, Lyra and others read not a promise, but a promiser. Therefore one only, namely the latter, which Jansenius touched upon, here Sirach blames, namely the wickedness of the unfaithful and ungrateful sinner, who abandons his surety, indeed deceives and defrauds him. For this vice he attacks equally in the preceding verse as in the following. The sense therefore is, as if to say, The sinner and unclean, that is profane, ungrateful and unfaithful, when he sees his surety, that is his guarantor, coming, flees from his sight, and turns aside elsewhere, lest he be compelled by him to free him by his suretyship, and to pay the debt for which he stood surety. He exaggerates the unworthiness of this matter and flight, adding: 22. THE SINNER ASCRIBES TO HIMSELF THE GOODS OF THE SURETY,—as if to say, The sinner usurps to himself the goods of his guarantor, when he compels him by his unfaithfulness to pay his debt, for which he stood surety: wherefore in fact he ascribes his goods to himself, while from them he pays his debts; hence the Greek texts have, the goods of the guarantor ἀνατρέψει, that is, the sinner will overturn; the Zurich version, the sinner wickedly compensates the benefit to the guarantor; the Syriac, the wicked man will abandon the gratitude of the guarantor; and he who abandons his Creator will abandon his liberator, as if to say, The ungrateful man is injurious both to God and to man; and just as he spurns man, so also does he spurn God. AND UNGRATEFUL IN SENSE (in Greek διανοίᾳ, that is in mind, in spirit) WILL ABANDON (the guarantor) HIM WHO LIBERATES HIM,—as if, when you were in prison, I stood surety for you, but you, now free, abandon me. He reads ἀχάριστος, that is, ungrateful. Thus also the Greek codices corrected at Rome read; and the Zurich version: And ungrateful in spirit, it says, abandons his liberator; others: And with ungrateful mind abandons him who liberates him. The Complutensian edition reads ἄχρηστος, that is, useless; whence they translate: Useless in thought or mind, that is, one who is not thrifty, but useless, indeed harmful to others as much as to himself) will abandon him who liberated him. Tropologically Rabanus: "The wicked man flees," he says, "from his surety, that is from his teacher, who promises him eternal life from the Lord for good works, not by changing place, but by spurning and abandoning the precept; and therefore he does not obtain the heavenly reward, which is promised only to those who do good and keep God's commandments." Allegorically the same: "The sinner ascribes to himself the goods of the surety, and ungrateful in sense abandons him who liberates him. By this testimony," he says, "Pelagius is struck down, who prefers free will to grace, whereas by the grace of Christ alone all the elect are liberated from every scandal (offense, sin and ruin)." Hence the Apostle says: "By grace you are saved," Ephesians II.
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23. A MAN PROMISETH FOR HIS NEIGHBOUR, AND WHEN HE SHALL HAVE LOST HIS SHAME, HE SHALL BE FORSAKEN BY HIM. — He repeats and inculcates the same thing, as if to say: A good man becomes surety for his neighbour; but the neighbour, when he has lost shame, ungratefully will abandon him obligated for himself, so that he may pay his debts, for which he has pledged himself. This verse is now lacking in the Greek. Whence Jansenius censures that it has crept in from verse 19 in the Latin. Which is not probable; for the Roman codices and others constantly read it. AND HE THAT HATH LOST CONFUSION, SHALL LEAVE SHAME TO HIMSELF. — First, Rabanus from the following verse adjoins τὸ grace, and gives this sense: He who shall have lost rustic shame, so that it does not shame him to serve the infirm in their ways, he shall leave grace to himself, and shall receive a worthy reward for his labour. Second, Dionysius, repeating from the preceding verse τὸ faith, thus divides and explains it: He who shall have lost faith, shall leave confusion to himself. Third, Palacius refers these things to the neighbour for whom the good man has pledged himself, as if to say: A good man pledges for his neighbour; but it often happens that that neighbour, because he is shameless, and it does not shame him to deceive the faith given to his surety, abandons him to himself, namely not freeing him, but allowing him to pay the debt for which he has pledged himself. This sense is favoured by the following admonition: "Forget not the kindness of thy surety;" and the Syriac, when it translates: That good man, who becomes surety for his neighbour, and he who loses shame, flees from his surety. This exposition is very probable. Fourth, plainly and genuinely, this latter part is opposed to the former by antithesis, as if to say: A good man, because he is ashamed to abandon his neighbour placed in necessity, therefore becomes surety for him; but a bold and shameless man, who has lost shame, does not help the needy neighbour by becoming surety, but abandons him to himself and his own necessity. Whence the Greek texts have: A good man pledges for his neighbour, and he who has lost shame, shall abandon him, namely, as the Zurich version has it, shall desert his friend. For plainly, when I am asked to become surety for a friend, if I am unwilling, I lose shame before my friend. That I may keep my goods for myself, I strip off shame, I put on shamelessness. Furthermore, in what cases one is obliged to pledge for another, especially a friend, must be judged by the rules of almsgiving (for surety is a part and species of this) and friendship. Therefore, just as I am obliged to give alms to my neighbour not only in extreme, but also in grave necessity (as the more common opinion of theologians holds), so also am I obliged to pledge for him; much more, if he be my friend. But because many cases intervene in surety and
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24. A WICKED PROMISE DESTROYETH THE PROSPEROUS, AND HATH MOVED THEM AS A WAVE OF THE SEA. — The word "wicked" is not in the Greek, and signifies not guilt, namely wickedness and crime, but punishment, namely trouble and affliction. "Wicked" therefore, that is, imprudent and most troublesome, which brings a thousand complications, a thousand troubles and afflictions. Such indeed is that by which one becomes surety for someone wicked, that is, dishonest and unfaithful, a defrauder, says Palacius. For "prosperous" some everywhere read "diligent," that is, loving, and friends becoming surety for their friends, whom they loved; others read "delinquent." But both read wrongly; for the Romans read "prosperous." So also Rabanus. For the Greek κατευθύνοντας signifies "prosperous," that is, walking rightly, acting prosperously and happily, as if to say: A "wicked" promise, that is, imprudent and rash, made to an unfaithful person. And therefore entangled and harmful, "destroyeth the prosperous," that is, those who were prospering in their affairs, and who were directing their wages, crafts, workshops, houses, contracts prosperously. "And hath moved them as a wave of the sea," because it forced them to yield the forum, to go into exile, and to migrate to foreign lands, and to be vagabonds and fugitives, lest namely, while they were unable to pay, they should be cast into prison, and there lead an unhappy life. Whence the Zurich version translates: Surety hath destroyed many who were acting happily, and hath tossed them about like a wave of the sea; the Syriac: Surety hath destroyed many, and let them abandon (so that they abandon and lose) their riches like a wave of the sea, which, dashing against each other, turn into foam and vanish. Thus "to direct" is taken for "to prosper" in Genesis XXIV, 40, 42, 56: "The Lord directed," that is, prospered, "my way." Ibid. cap. XXXIX, vers. 3 and 23; Joshua I, 8; II Paralipomenon XXVI, 3; Tobias IV, 20; Psalm LXXXIX, 16 and 17: "Direct the work of our hands;" Wisdom XI, 1; Isaiah XLV, 13, and often elsewhere.
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25. MIGHTY MEN TURNING ABOUT MADE TO DEPART, AND WANDERED AMONG STRANGE NATIONS. — He repeats and inculcates the same thing, as if to say: Just as waves of the sea turn straws and shells about in a circle, until they swallow them or scatter them; so also incautious surety turns sureties about with so many lawsuits and troubles, that it forces them to depart and wander throughout the world. The Zurich version: Mighty men, turning about, he drove from home, and made them vagabonds among foreign nations; the Syriac: He also exhausted the rich, and they went to a foreign people.
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26. A SINNER TRANSGRESSING THE COMMANDMENT OF THE LORD SHALL FALL INTO AN EVIL PROMISE; AND HE THAT ENDEAVOURETH TO DO MANY THINGS SHALL FALL INTO JUDGMENT. — In Greek εἰς ἀγωγάς, that is into judgments, namely forensic and lawsuits. He shows that the origin and cause of rash pledging, which entangles a man in a thousand evils, is sins, on account of which God justly permits the sinner to fall into an entangled pledge, that He may chastise and avenge it, just as on account of the same sins by His just judgment He causes the sinner to fall into calumny, as he said in the preceding chapter, verse 27, and into a perverse wife, as Ecclesiastes says, chapter VII, verse 27. For the sinner, while he too eagerly pursues his own cupidity and avarice, seeks after all the allurements and occasions of gain; wherefore he incautiously falls into some contract and pledge, because it becomes to him the cause of lawsuits and all evils: just as fish and birds, while they gape after food, put themselves into the hook and snare and are caught. Furthermore the Zurich version translates: A wicked violator of the Lord's precepts falls back into pledges (Vatable, and shall come, so that he has need of a surety), and he who pursues the business of others to be performed shall be entangled in lawsuits. Where note: For "he that endeavoureth to do many things," in Greek it is διώκων ἐργολαβίας; which the Complutensian editors translate, "he who pursues wages, shall fall into judgments"; the Roman, "pursuing redemptions" (by contracting, namely, and undertaking upon himself works to be done, taxes, etc., as redemptioners and publicans do) "shall fall into judgments." Others more properly: "he who pursues many works shall fall into lawsuits"; for ἐργολαβία is the same as "I contract to do a work, I undertake labor in place of, as redemptioners are wont to do" (whom Cicero calls "sequestres"), "I receive to construct, I make gain"; ἐργολαβία is wages from labor, manual operation, redemption of work and contracting; ἐργολάβος is a workman, a contractor, a conductor of works, a sequester, a redemptioner. Our translator aptly renders: "He that endeavoureth to do many things." For he notes the avaricious and rash πολυπράγμονας, who entangle themselves in all business, contracts, pledges, tolls, etc., and thus entangle themselves in lawsuits so that they cannot extricate themselves. I have known some who redeemed all thorny and desperate causes and forensic lawsuits, and bought them for themselves at a cheap price, that they might grow rich from them, troublesome to others, more troublesome to themselves; whence they threw themselves into such straits that they were forced to avoid the danger to their lives by shameful flight. Finally the Syriac translates: A sinner transgressing the precepts of God shall fall into a pledge, and he who pursues undertaking upon himself sins shall fall into his judgments. Many sins does pledging bring on.
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27. RECOVER THY NEIGHBOUR ACCORDING TO THY STRENGTH, AND TAKE HEED TO THYSELF THAT THOU FALL NOT. — This is the conclusion, by which from the things said concerning the dangers of suretyship, he concludes that this office of charity ought to be undertaken moderately and cautiously; as if to say: Recover, that is, restore, help, lift up thy neighbour who is falling; but not by burdening thyself beyond thy strength, but according to thy strength, in Greek δύναμιν, that is, power, strength, resources and faculties of thine own; and at the same time take heed and beware lest, while thou strivest to snatch the poor man from the pit, thou thyself fall into it, namely into lawsuits, losses, imprisonment, etc. Whence the Syrian version renders it: Stand surety for thy neighbour as much as thou canst, and free thy soul; the Zurich version: Help thy neighbour to the best of thy ability; yet beware thou, lest thou be ensnared in any way; others: Lift up thy neighbour according to thy strength, and take heed to thyself lest thou fall. St. Ambrose, in the book On Tobias, chapter XXIII: "Recover thy neighbour according to thy strength, and take heed lest thou fall: that is," he says, "lest thou bind thyself to a greater sum of money than thy resources and faculties are able to bear and pay. For if thou givest what thou hast, thou hast lost thy wealth, thou hast not lost thy faith. Thou dost not feel the loss of thy reputation; thou hast redeemed thy friend without fraud to thyself." And a little earlier: "So intervene that, if the debtor shall not be able to pay, thou knowest it must be paid from thy own. Come prepared for this. For thou hast read in Ecclesiasticus VIII, 16: Do not promise beyond thy strength; for if thou hast promised, think as if thou wert paying back." Solomon likewise often admonishes and inculcates this in Proverbs, as in chapter VI, 1: "My son, if thou hast been surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged thy hand to a stranger. Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught by thy own words. Do therefore, my son, what I say, and deliver thyself: because thou hast fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run about, make haste, rouse up thy friend: give not sleep to thy eyes, nor let thy eyelids slumber. Deliver thyself as a gazelle from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler." Which words St. Gregory excellently explains concerning Pastors and Prelates, who, when they undertake the pastoral office or prelacy, promise on behalf of their subjects, namely that they will undertake the care of their souls, in part III of the Pastoral, chapter V. And chapter XXII, 26: "Be not with them that engage their hands, and that offer themselves sureties for debts. For if thou hast not wherewith to restore, why should he take the covering from thy bed?" And chapter XI, verse 15: "He shall be afflicted with evil (in Hebrew, shall be broken with breaking), who maketh himself surety for a stranger; but he that hateth suretyship is secure." Wherefore Diogenes Laertius places as the third among three oracles of Apollo this one: "Promise, harm is near," or is at hand. But Pliny, attributing these three things to Chilon, records them in book VII, chapter XXXII: "Again," he says, "mortals gave to Chilon the Lacedaemonian the fellowship of oracles, consecrating three precepts of his at Delphi in golden letters, which are these: Know thyself; and: Desire nothing in excess: Companion of borrowed money and litigation is misery." Pliny explained what it is to stand surety — namely, as if to say: To stand surety is to bring upon oneself debt and litigation, that is, misery. Finally, a surety, so long as he has his faith pledged, is like a slave. For just as slaves claim nothing as their own, but all their goods go to their masters: so also a surety does not appear to be the master of his goods, because he has bound them to the creditor.
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28. THE BEGINNING OF THE LIFE OF MAN IS WATER, AND BREAD, AND CLOTHING, AND A HOUSE COVERING SHAME. — Thus also the Syriac has it. First, Rabanus, taking "beginning" properly, explains it thus, as if to say, "In the beginning of the world there was not in men such luxury of food and drink as there is now, nor such ambition in the adornment of garments and in the construction of towers and palaces; but to each it sufficed what the earth ministered in simple fruit, and what the nature of the place provided in dwellings. Whence it is read that the ancients fed on the fruits of trees and the sproutings of vegetables; and that on account of the sin of Adam the Lord made for him and his wife tunics of skins, and clothed them. But now, the greater the zeal in providing a variety of foods and drinks, and in the cultivation of garments and houses, the less is the diligence in the observance of good disciplines, and the greater the iniquity in the transgression of divine commandments, according to that in Ezekiel XVI: Behold, this was the iniquity of Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance, and idleness." Thus Rabanus. Sirach therefore admonishes men to be frugal after the example of the first fathers, who partly from the instinct of nature, partly from the guidance of humility and penance, on account of lost innocence, lived on bread and water. For, as St. Chrysostom says, On Compunction of Heart: "Just as it is impossible for fire to be inflamed by water, so it is impossible for compunction of the heart to flourish in delights. For these are contrary to each other and mutually destructive. For that is the mother of tears, this is the mother of laughter: that constrains the heart, this dissolves it." Second, more aptly and genuinely, "beginning," in Greek ἀρχή, that is the principal, the head, the sum, as if to say, The head and sum of things required for life is, namely, that nature is content with few of these, two for sustenance, namely bread and water, as many for clothing and covering, namely garment and house, and these not luxurious and elegant, but simple and frugal. Whence the Zurich version translates: The sum of human life is water, food (for in Hebrew לחם, that is bread, signifies any food; just as water signifies any drink), and clothing, and a house as a covering of shame. Hence "bread" from the Greek πᾶν, that is all, or rather, as Nonius says, from feeding is called. Whence Varro, On the Life of the Roman People, book I: "Pastilles and breads—these words from feeding, which they called being, to feed." Hence also food, being most easy and obvious, so also most healthful and connatural, some consider to be bread boiled in water, commonly called panatella, and Sirach signifies this by these words, our Lessius judges, in the book On Diet. Hence also the ancient Romans lived on pottage; pottage moreover is flour cooked in water. The same live in many places, vigorous and strong farmers, for the labors of agriculture. These therefore are pottage-eaters and bread-eaters. That saying celebrated in Scripture is: "And bread strengthens the heart of man." Wherefore Galen, book I On Simple Medicines, chapter IV, at the beginning: "Water," he says, "is most suitable for all men, both the healthy and the sick, and most necessary for life." And in the book On the Affections of Things: "That," he says, "is one of the simple and uncompounded medicines, from all of which the whole constitution of our body is formed." Lucian also in his Macrobii asserts "that life is produced through water, and therefore the Syrians lived three hundred years." The Brahmans likewise live very long, since they drink nothing except water, Suidas testifies in the word Brahmans. Water moreover makes the senses lively, the mind serene, the intellect clear. For which reason Eubulus judged that only the abstemious are fit for studies and the discovery of things, and Athenaeus wrote that our wisdom is dulled by wine, book II of the Deipnosophists, chapter II. Hence also Pliny, book XXIII, chapter 1, recounts heroes and distinguished men who drank nothing but water. We read that Demosthenes was accustomed to jest about something he would compose in these words: "others speak in water, but Demosthenes writes in water, and he consumes more oil than wine." Philostratus narrates that Apollonius of Tyana drank nothing but water, and used to say that those who drink water never suffer from the disease of vertigo, and their sleep is very light. Finally, Vitruvius, book VIII, chapter IV: "Nothing," he says, "among all things appears to have such great necessity for the use of necessary things as water; and therefore the nature of all animals, if deprived of the fruit of grain, or of trees, or of flesh, or by fishing, or even by using any other kind of food, will be able to sustain life; but without water neither the body of animals, nor any virtue of food can be born, nor sustained, nor prepared." For this reason Pindar, in Olympian ode 1, and from him Aristotle, book III of the Rhetoric: "Water is best," he says, that is, water is optimal, because it excels for all both plants and animals and men, Ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ, that is, it is beneficial and does good, as the same author says in Olympian ode 3. Indeed, even that the air and all the heavens were formed from water is the opinion of many grave Fathers and Doctors, as I showed at the beginning of Genesis. For this reason Thales asserted that water is the principle of things. These and more things M. Antonius Marsilius, in the Hydragiology, section I, chapter III. Therefore "the beginning of human life is water." The reason is that water, being supremely moist, simple, clear, subtle, most easily pervades the whole body through the veins, moistens it, tempers the heat, quenches thirst, and by diluting food carries it to each member, and is the vehicle of food. For just as by food we restore whatever of drier substance flows out from the body: so by the potion of water we repair whatever of moister substance is lost, as Galen testifies, book I On Preserving Health. And this is the principal utility of the potion of water, namely the removal of dryness, and the restoration of the moist substance in us that perishes and collapses, as a kind of renewal which— Mystically Hugo says: The beginning of spiritual life is the water of Baptism, and the bread of the Eucharist, and the garment of virtue, and the house protecting shame in holy conversation. By shame understand not only the conjugal act, as Lyra wishes, but any kind whatsoever. For the body of man corrupted by sin is full of filth, worms and all shame, to cover which, as also to defend itself from heat, cold and other injuries of the air, it needs a house; just as to cover its nakedness and ward off cold, it needs a garment. Wherefore, as a garment is a covering of nakedness, so a house is a covering of shame; both, however, are a mark and stigma of sin, inasmuch as from it shame of nakedness and all shame proceeded. Therefore ridiculous are men who procure for themselves golden garments and magnificent palaces, and take pride in them; for they take pride in the stigma of sin. Just as it would be ridiculous for a thief to wish to be hanged with a linen rope, not a woolen one; and for a noble criminal to wish to be bound with a golden chain, not an iron one. See the words at Genesis III, 21. He teaches, therefore, as Jansenius rightly notes, by this sentence frugality and αὐτάρκειαν, that is, self-sufficiency, by which each one content with his own acquiesces in his present fortune, even if mediocre or meager, because human life is easily content with very few and obtainable things, according to that word of Paul: "Having food and raiment, let us be content with these," I Timothy VI. But he rightly infers this doctrine from the preceding, both because a little before he reproves ἐργολαβίαν, and the zeal of doing many things for profit; and to signify in what way it can come about that we do not need much the assistance of others through loan or surety, if namely we are content with those few things which suffice for sustaining nature; and to pave the way for those things which he is about to say about the misery of wandering, as if to say: Since each one finds at home bread and water, which suffice for sustenance, let him keep himself quietly at home, nor wander abroad seeking foreign merchandise and riches with such great expense of his life. Third, "beginning," in Greek ἀρχή, can be translated as "principality," "holding first place," according to that passage in chapter XI, verse 3: "Beginning," that is "first place," "has the sweetness of its fruit," namely honey of bees, as if to say: In sustaining human life, water, bread, clothing and house hold the principality and take first place. For the drinking of water, equally as the eating of bread, is most convenient, healthful and wholesome to man, as physicians teach, and Cælius Rhodiginus, book III of Antiquarian Readings, chapter XXIV. Whence Adam, Seth, Enos and the other fathers up to Noah, who discovered wine, Genesis IX, 20, drank nothing but water, and lived nine hundred years healthy and strong. Indeed, all other animals drink water only, and therefore are not subject to catarrhs, inflammations, fevers and other diseases to which man is liable, but live sound and vigorous. Although, however, the affliction of hunger is grave, yet thirst afflicts and torments more gravely; for it itself dries up and burns the body as if with fire and scorches it: wherefore it must be repressed by the moist and cold nature of water. Hence we see animals laboring under thirst urged more vehemently and importunately, burning, panting, and hastening to quench it. Which is the point of that passage of David, Psalm XLI, verse 2: "As the hart panteth after the fountains of water: so my soul panteth after thee, O God." Second, it is drunk so that foods may be more easily mixed together, digested, strained, and conveyed from the belly into the whole body: this water accomplishes most excellently, on account of the reasons already stated: where physicians advise that drink is most fitting around the end of a meal, both because then on account of the heat and dryness of the food a true thirst most urgently presses us; and because then the drink washes through the whole food, dilutes it and carries it to individual parts. Therefore physicians teach that water is drunk for three uses: to quench thirst, to extinguish heat, to strain and distribute nourishment. Whence Athenæus asserts that water aids digestion more than wine. The same renders bodies soft. Water most suitable for drinking is simple and devoid of all quality, neither sweet, nor salty, nor sour, nor acrid. Of this there are five species: the lightest is rainwater, then spring water, then well water, then river water, finally marsh water. Moreover, although Galen, book III On the Rationale of Diet, commentary 39, and elsewhere, denies that water nourishes, if namely it be altogether pure and simple, yet others teach the contrary throughout, especially since it is mixed, as it almost always is. Thus Aristotle teaches, Problems XIII, section I. Athenæus proves this, first, from the fact that certain animals are nourished by water alone, such as cicadas and fish; which Rondeletius also testifies he has experienced. Second, that in the famished, if they drink, we experience that by the drink not only thirst but also hunger is relieved. Third, that animals if they drink water perish from hunger later than if they drink nothing at all. Fourth, that we see herbs, trees, and all plants irrigated by rains and other waters grow, leaf out, flower, and bear fruit; but when these are lacking, they decrease, shrivel, wilt, dry up and die. Wherefore Cardanus, in the book On Water: "It is remarkable," he says, "that Galen conceded that air nourishes, and denies this of water, which is far more corporeal. Solid members therefore appear to be nourished from earthy things, and liquid ones from drinks, wine and water; the spirit from air." Moreover, that the ancients drank hot water at banquets, as the Chinese still do, Athenæus teaches, book III, and Seneca, book III of Natural Questions, chapter XXIV. Whence Varro, book IV: "Chalice," he says, "from hot, because hot pottage was placed in it, and they drank hot from it." Finally, there are very many other utilities of water for healing, washing, purifying, cooking, extinguishing fires, irrigating fields and gardens, navigating, etc., so that Pindar with good reason thus begins: "Water indeed is best." See the encomium of waters in Pliny, book XXXI, chapter 1, where concluding he says, "all the powers of the earth are the benefit of waters."
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29. BETTER IS THE SUSTENANCE OF A POOR MAN UNDER THE SHELTER OF BOARDS, THAN SPLENDID FEASTS (in) ABROAD (among strangers) WITHOUT A HOME. — In Greek: The life of a poor man under a roof of beams is preferable to splendid feasts in others' houses, namely; the Zurich version, the sustenance of a poor man under a ceiling of boards is better than the provision of foods in others' houses; the Syriac, better is the life of a poor man under the shadow of his own beams, than great riches in wandering, that is to say, it is more profitable to live humbly at home than splendidly abroad. The first reason is: because at home a man is free and master of himself, he eats, drinks, does what he pleases; but he loses this freedom when he dines and lodges with others. Now freedom surpasses all delights and riches; for which reason St. Chrysostom would go to no banquets, however much invited. St. Augustine did the same and advised it. Second: that a man at home is master, abroad he is forced to be as a servant subject to others and to accommodate himself; if you eat in your own house, you are obliged to yourself; if in mine, to me. If you feast in my house, you serve my palate; if in yours, yours. Third: my house is my own, but others' are others'; therefore as much as one's own surpasses another's, so much does remaining at home surpass being abroad: whence comes that common saying of the Belgians: Doet West t'hups Best. Fourth: at home you have a cell in which, separated from the talk and customs of men, you may devote yourself to wisdom and have leisure for yourself and God. Wherefore a cell seemed to St. Bernard to be heaven, and such it seems to all dwellers in cells, indeed to dwellers in heaven. Fifth: abroad at banquets one easily exceeds in delicate foods, talkativeness, detraction, anger, envy, sadness, etc.; all which things are avoided by one who remains at home. Sixth: travelers abroad must suffer much and endure many insults and reproaches (which he explains in what follows), from which the keeper of his own house is immune. Indeed Seneca in the Proverbs did not hesitate to say: "He who has no home nowhere is dead without a tomb." And: "He suffers exile who denies himself to his country." Hence it was an old saying of one of the seventy interpreters, no. 42, as Aristeas reports in their history: "The cultivator of his country will flee wandering." For this brings much fatigue in journeys, shame and fear in lodgings, anxiety and anguish in dangers. Moreover Diogenes the Cynic, when invited by Craterus, the prefect of Alexander the Great, said: "I would rather lick salt at Athens than enjoy a sumptuous table with Craterus." Plutarch, in the Laconian account, relates that the Lacedaemonians were not permitted to travel abroad, lest they contract the contagion of the customs and composed life of travelers. Indeed they even expelled foreigners from the city, lest gradually overflowing, they become teachers of some evil to the citizens. But any citizen who does not ought to be considered fortunate. At home he has; at home he is born. At home he makes conjecture. At home judgment. At home he inspects. At home lions; abroad deer or little foxes. At home noble. At home to fight like a rooster. The sky does not change the mind of those who run across the sea. Home friendly, home best. One must remain at home to whom the fates are prosperous." For nowhere more conveniently, nowhere more freely, nowhere more securely, nowhere more happily does it befall a man to live than at home; just as a tortoise when drawn in within its own shell is safe from all blows; but when it has extended some parts, whatever it has exposed is weak and liable to injury. Wherefore Gaius the jurist, Digest, book IV, title On summoning to court: "Many," he says, "have thought that no one can be summoned from his own house to court; because a house is the safest refuge and shelter for each; and he who would summon from there seems to use force." Whoever therefore is sufficient for himself, let him remain at home; but whoever is in need, let him seek his fortune by traveling and try the throw of fortune: as we see many needy people traveling to Rome, but scarcely one out of a hundred who makes his fortune; of the rest we see that common saying fulfilled daily: "A Master of Arts in the Roman curia becomes a cook, and by special grace will die in a hospital." Wherefore Seneca, in the Medea, act. 1, from his person, imprecates this as it were the greatest of evils: Let him live, let him wander through unknown cities, needy, an exile, fearful, hated, of uncertain home. And Ovid in the Ibis: Exiled, poor you shall wander, and traverse alien thresholds. And Euripides in the Phoenissae: And what? To lack one's country is a great evil? Or the greatest; and in reality it is more serious than it is said to be. Whence this was the punishment inflicted by God on the wicked Cain, Genesis IV, 12: "A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth;" and on the Christ-killing Jews, Psalm CVIII, 10: "Let his children be wanderers, and beg: and let them be cast out of their dwellings." Hence a guest, says St. Isidore, book X of the Origins, is called as it were wearing out his feet at doors, namely at alien ones, as it were needy and a pilgrim. Significantly and forcefully Menander: One ought, he says, to remain at home, and to remain free; Or let him not live any longer, he who is truly blessed. And Sophocles in the Tereus: "The man shall remain at home who is truly blessed." More divinely Solomon, Proverbs XXVII, 8: "As a bird," he says, "that wandereth from her nest, so is the man that leaveth his place." Where again I shall speak of this matter. That saying is well-worn: If you sit in any seat, let this seat be comfortable for you: Sit in that seat, and do not depart from that seat. Understand this of those who, on account of poverty or some other misery or necessity, are forced to change lodgings, and to lodge from house to house. For those who do this willingly by choice of poverty, or
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30. LET THE LEAST PLEASE THEE FOR THE GREATEST; AND THOU SHALT NOT HEAR THE REPROACH OF THY PILGRIMAGE. — Thus the Roman edition. Wherefore less correctly do Jansenius and others read: Upon the least and greatest let it please thee. For this reading is more obscure, although it comes to the same thing; for the sense is, as if to say: Whether thou hast small or great things at home; whether the house be small or great, be content with it, delight in it. The Complutensian: Upon small and great things (that is, upon small things equally as upon great) have complacency, and thou shalt not hear the reproach of thy house; the Zurich: Be content with small things equally as with great, so that thy dwelling may not be reproached to thee; namely, that thou seekest an alien one, abandoning thy own; so that the master of the house may reproach thee, that he is doing thee a favor, in that he receives thee in his house, roof and table. To this pertains that saying: He shall serve eternally, who knows not how to use the little. The same thing signifies our Latin Vulgate, as if to say: "Let the least please thee for the greatest," that is, be content with the least of thy home before the greatest, which thou wouldst have abroad as a pilgrim, but with reproach. For natives often reproach guests, because they are pilgrims, barbarians, uncultured, uncivil, rude, banished, poor, beggars, etc. Whence explaining this very thing, it adds: A wicked life of lodging, etc. Otherwise the Syriac: With much, and with little, no one knows (no one knows whether the lodger has much or little in the house); and what he does within his own house, no one sees.
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31. A WRETCHED LIFE IS LODGING FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE; AND WHEREVER HE SHALL LODGE, HE SHALL NOT ACT CONFIDENTLY, NOR OPEN HIS MOUTH. — This is a hyperbaton, which arrange and explain thus, as if to say: "A life of lodging" now in this house, now in another, and migrating from house to house, is "wretched," that is miserable and calamitous; because in it a stranger, wherever he lodges, "does not" dare to act and speak freely and "confidently," lest he be mocked by the natives, vexed, despoiled, beaten, imprisoned. Therefore, "if liberty is not sold well for all the gold," neither ought it to be sold for feasts however splendid. These things were especially true among the Jews, who, when they traveled through other provinces for the sake of merchandise or business, often could not lodge with men of their own nation and religion, namely Jews (even if they desired and strove to do so, as appears in Acts X, 6); wherefore they were forced to lodge with Gentiles hostile to Jews, from whom they had to hear and endure many jeers and mockeries; for these called Jews verpos, the circumcised, spellas, etc. Whence the Zurich version translates: A wretched life is migration from one house to another; for where you shall be a lodger, you will not dare to open your mouth; the Syriac: A bad life from house to house, and against great judgments he will not be able to open his mouth. Hence those ancient maxims: "To remain at home according to ancestral customs would have been right, to deprive of the rights of citizens. The Chinese do the same even now. Finally, Heaven does not change the mind of those who run across the sea. apostolate, and evangelical preaching, and the pursuit of perfection, so as to turn the mind away from earth and fix it in heaven, are not wretched, but holy, exalted and blessed. For these, as it were cosmopolitans, say with the Apostle: "Our conversation is in heaven." And: "Brethren, now you are not guests and strangers, but you are fellow citizens of the saints, and of the household of God," Ephesians II, 19. For these are guests of the earth, but citizens of heaven. Thus the Apostles went from house to house, from city to city, from province to province, that they might spread the Gospel throughout the whole world, and the faith and worship of Christ. Thus St. Hilarion migrated from place to place, that he might flee the visits and praises of men, as St. Jerome testifies in his Life. Namely: "Every land is a fatherland to the brave, as the sea to fishes." And: "The whole world is an inn to the faithful." Wherefore when the first Franciscans were driven from their monasteries by Frederick II the emperor, a persecutor of the Church, and complained about this to Blessed Aegidius, one of the first companions of St. Francis, he gently rebuked them, or rather consoled them, saying they complained wrongly about Frederick; for Frederick could not have driven them from their land, since they have no land on earth. "Truly," he said, "brothers Minor made outside the world, care not where they live in the world, nor can they call any place their own; everywhere is a fatherland to the brother Minor, who has none of his own in the world. You have sinned therefore, brothers, against the great sinner Frederick by lying; for he has conferred more upon you than he has taken away; he has added a cause of merit, he has not subtracted a fatherland." Thus it is in his Acts and in the Annals of the Minors, by the author Luke Wadding, in the year of the Lord 1238. See the homily of St. Bernard, On the Pilgrim Dead and Crucified, whoever you are eager for this perfection. The leader and choragus of these was St. Alexius, who for love of God and heaven, leaving his bride, mother, father, home, nobility, riches, wandered as a pilgrim for seventeen years begging; for the same number of years in his father's house as if a pilgrim and poor, known to God alone, he lay hidden, and mocking the world, triumphed over it with a wondrous example of virtue. Symbolically, Hugh applies these things to those who devote themselves to no certain science, but wander through all, tasting something from each. For these are everywhere pilgrims, never at home, because versed in no science, and from individual parts they obtain something, but from the whole nothing; always learning, and never coming to the knowledge of the truth, as the Apostle says: "A wretched life, he says, of lodging from house to house;" that is from faculty to faculty, from book to book; for each faculty is one house: each book of theology is also one house. Whence this author censures many, who learn imperfectly, insufficiently and badly, now running to the house of Aristotle, now to the house of Hippocrates, now to the house of Justinian, now to the house of Gratian, now to the house of Moses, now to the house of Paul and Peter, or Christ, and dwelling in none, the same applies to those who devote themselves to no certain occupation, state, virtue, but wander through all.
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32, 33, 34. HE SHALL BE ENTERTAINED, AND SHALL BE FED, AND SHALL BE GIVEN DRINK BY THE UNGRATEFUL, AND BESIDES THESE THINGS HE SHALL HEAR BITTER WORDS: PASS BY, GUEST, AND ADORN THE TABLE: AND FEED OTHERS WITH WHAT YOU HAVE IN YOUR HAND. DEPART FROM THE FACE OF THE HONOR OF MY FRIENDS: BY THE NECESSITY OF MY HOUSE A BROTHER HAS BEEN MADE TO ME BY HOSPITALITY. — This is mimesis: for it imitates and expresses the manners, feelings and reproaches which a guest and stranger abroad is compelled to hear, endure and swallow from the inhabitant and master of the house, as if to say: A stranger shall be entertained and received in hospitality by the inhabitant and master of the house; but as an antidote he shall be compelled to feed him and his wife as if by obligation; and therefore he shall feel them to be ungrateful, and from them shall hear "bitter," in Greek αὐστηρά, that is, harsh and hard things. For they will say to him as if to a servant: "Pass by, guest," that is, arise, O guest, from the seat or bed in which you rest, wearied from your journey: arise, I say, so that you may not only serve us, but also prepare the table: from those things "which you have in your hand," that is, from those things which you carry with you as provisions in a bag or wallet, "feed others," the inhabitants of my house, so that by hospitality you may repay not gratitude, but a debt, indeed a price. And when he has distributed all the things which he carried as provisions among the household members, and has nothing more to give; the master shall send him away, indeed shall shamefully thrust him out of his house, and shall say to him: "Depart from the face of the honor of my friends," as if to say: Honored friends have come to me as guests, who require ample space for being entertained worthily; therefore, respecting their face and person, yield to them the hospitality, and depart, and move elsewhere. Whence the Zurich version translates: Yield to the present magnificence, "and that from the necessity," that is, from the necessity "of my house," as if to say: The necessity of receiving the friends who have arrived compels me to say to you: Depart, because my house is necessary for such friends for hospitality. For this is what the Greek χρεία τοῦ οἰκίας means, that is, I have need of the house. For "by hospitality a brother has been made to me," as if to say: A brother, whom I ought to receive in a friendly and splendid manner as a brother, has become my guest, and requires the whole of hospitality: for he has brought with him many followers, friends and servants. Whence from the Greek you may thus translate clearly: You shall entertain by hospitality, and shall provide drink εἰς ἀχαρίστα, that is, to no gratitude, or to the ungrateful (Our author translates, to the ungrateful); and besides these things you shall hear harsh words: Be present, stranger, prepare the table, and if you have anything in your hand, feed me: depart, stranger, from the glorious face (for πρόσωπον means face and person): there is need of the house: a guest has become a brother to me. Where note: For the passive "shall be entertained," in Greek it is active ξενίσει, that is, you shall entertain by hospitality. Whence Rabanus reads, he shall entertain; the Zurich version: You shall entertain by hospitality, food and drink the ungrateful. But Our author translates better, "shall be entertained:": for it is a matter of a stranger who is entertained abroad, not one who entertains others by hospitality. Whence also Rabanus, although he reads he shall entertain, nevertheless explains it passively by "shall be entertained." For he says, "he shall entertain, namely in another's house ungraciously received, he eats and drinks, and always fears adversity, often irritated by another's tongue he hears reproach." To this applies the saying of Theopompus: "Let him come who will profit as a guest." And that of Ovid: Though you yourself come attended by the Muses, Homer, If you bring nothing, you will go out, Homer. Moreover the Syrian translates thus: You are a stranger, and you drink reproach, and after these things you shall hear bitter things: You are a stranger, pass by, prepare the table, and eat what is before you; depart from honor: for a traveler has come upon me. Symbolically, here is given a living symbol and image of worldly things and the world: for we are all strangers and sojourners in the world, and the world, as an unfaithful and deceitful master of his own house, namely the earth, receives us first in a friendly manner, then gradually despoils us of all things, and plainly in death robs us, and thrusts us out naked into another region where an eternal house awaits us, either in heaven or in hell. Wherefore the world says to us in life: "Pass by, guest; adorn the table;"; because it consumes all our riches, faculties and strength. But in death it says: "Depart from the face of the honor of my friends;"; because it expels us from the world, and transfers all our things to others who are born after us, doing the same to them in life as in death. All which things are represented by two remarkable parables which the Anachorite Barlaam related to King Josaphat, in Damascenus in Hist. cap. XIII and XIV. Wherefore truly Nazianzenus, in the Monostichs: "Show," he says, "all honor to the guest, since you yourself are a guest." Tropologically, St. Gregory, in book XXXII of the Morals, chapter X, applies this to hypocrites, who simulate sanctity in order to be strengthened by the favor of sanctity: "Pass by, guest, and adorn the table." For by passing by, the guest is said to adorn the table; because if anyone placed at the altar of God seeks his own glory through good works, and the praise of the altar is extended through the ostentation of his sanctity, and yet he himself is not numbered among the citizens before God. His opinion profits others, and yet he himself passes by as a stranger to God. He adorned the table by passing by, because he was unwilling to stand at sacred things, he who throughout everything which he strove to do ran in mind toward human praises." Again tropologically, our Alvarez de Paz, in his Work on Spiritual Life, book V, part III, rightly applies all these things to those who through unnecessary conversation or occupation remove prayer, psalmody, or reading from the hour appointed to them, with its loss and injury. For such persons dismiss or cast out God, as it were from the hospitality of their mind, so that they may admit the world, and not rarely the devil.
29:35
35. THESE THINGS ARE GRIEVOUS TO A MAN THAT HATH SENSE: THE CORRECTION OF THE HOUSE, AND THE REPROACH OF THE LENDER. — That is to say, These reproaches which I have mentioned are grievous and bitter to "a man that hath sense," that is to a sensible and prudent man; namely, first, "the correction of the house" is grievous to him, when namely the guest hears harsh words from the master of the house with whom he is lodging: "Pass by, guest, and adorn the table, etc.: go out from the face of the honor of friends." Second, "the reproach of the lender" is grievous, by which namely the lender, that is he who lends to him to whom he gives a loan, reproaches him for poverty, ingratitude, negligence, etc., on account of the money loaned to him by himself. Lyra interprets the lender here less correctly as the master of the house. For the lender is called master of the house because he sells to guests his goods according to the common practice of innkeepers beyond the just price. For Sirach understood by the lender in the first part of the chapter no other than him who gives his own as a loan. Whence the Zurich version clearly translates: These things are grievous to a man that hath sense, the reproach of the house, and the solicitation of the creditor; the Syriac: These things are grievous to a wise man, rebuke, and usury and the interest of lenders. The Syriac adds a beautiful and pious sentence, which reads thus: Give very abundantly to the poor, and from that which is in thy hand, feed him. If he is naked, clothe him: for thy flesh is a poor man, and thou lendest to God himself, and he will repay thee sevenfold. Hence that great St. Euthymius, when dying, said to his disciples: "This last commandment I add to you: Never let the door be closed to those who come; but let it always be open to any traveler, and most ready to receive them. Nay, let even the very roof be common to you with guests and those passing through, and let those things which you have be set forth as common to the needy. For thus you will obtain abundant provision from on high." This was his swan song; for shortly after, after long struggles, he fell asleep peacefully in the Lord in the year of Christ 472, at the age of 99, in the 16th year of the Emperor Leo, on the 20th day of January. Thus Cyril in his Life, and from him Baronius. I have said more about guests and hospitality in Hebrews, chapter XIII, verse 2 and elsewhere.
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.