Of the remembrance of death: of an evil and of a good name: of what things we ought to be ashamed.
An other matter of meditation is death, 8. wherof sinne is the cause. 1•. Care of a good fame is necessarie. 19. Let shamfastnes be a bridle to auoide fornication, 22. iniquitie, 24. theft, and other sinnes.
1O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions!O morte quanto e amara la tua ricordanza per un uomo, che in pace vive tra le sue ricchezze;O DEATH how bitter is thy memorie to a man that hath peace in his riches:O mors, quam amara est memoria tua / homini pacem habenti in substantiis suis: 2To a man that is at rest, and whose ways are prosperous in all things, and that is yet able to take meat!Per un uomo tranquillo, e a cui tutto riesce felicemente, ed il quale può ancora gustare il cibo!to a man that is at rest, and whose wayes are prosperous in al thinges, and that is yet able to take meate!viro quieto, et cujus viæ directæ sunt in omnibus, / et adhuc valenti accipere cibum ! 3O death thy sentence is welcome to the man that is in need, and to him whose strength faileth:O morte, la tua sentenza è dolce all'uomo meschino, e privo di forze,O death, thy iudgement is good to a needy man, and him that is diminished in strength,O mors, bonum est judicium tuum homini indigenti, / et qui minoratur viribus, 4Who is in a decrepit age, and that is in care about all things, and to the distrustful that loseth patience!Spossato dall'età, e pieno di cure, e senza speranza, ed a cui manca la pazienza!and fayleth in age, and that is careful of al thinges, and to the incredulous, that loseth patience!defecto ætate, et cui de omnibus cura est, / et incredibili, qui perdit patientiam ! 5Fear not the sentence of death. Remember what things have been before thee, and what shall come after thee: this sentence is from the Lord upon all flesh.Non temere la sentenza della morte. Ricordati di quello, che fu prima di te, e di quello, che sarà dopo di te: questa è la sentenza data da Dio a tutti gli animali:Feare not the iudgement of death. Remember what thinges haue bene before thee, and what come after thee: this is the iudgement from our Lord to al flesh:Noli metuere judicium mortis: / memento quæ ante te fuerunt, / et quæ superventura sunt tibi: / hoc judicium a Domino omni carni. 6And what shall come upon thee by the good pleasure of the most High? whether ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years.E che ti verrà aggiunto oltre la sentenza dell'Altissimo, siano essi o dieci, o cento, o mille i tuoi anni?and what shal come vpon thee by the good pleasure of the Highest? whether it be ten, or an hundred, or a thousand yeares.Et quid superveniet tibi in beneplacito Altissimi ? / sive decem, sive centum, sive mille anni:
7For among the dead there is no accusing of life.Perocché nell'inferno non si conta quel, che uno ha vissuto.For in hel there is no accusing of life.non est enim in inferno accusatio vitæ. 8The children of sinners become children of abominations, and they that converse near the houses of the ungodly.I figliuoli de' peccatori sono figliuoli di abominazione, e similmente quelli, che bazzicano per le case degli empj.The children of sinners be come children of abominations, and they that conuerse neere the houses of the impious.Filii abominationum fiunt filii peccatorum, / et qui conversantur secus domos impiorum. 9The inheritance of the children of sinners shall perish, and with their posterity shall be a perpetual reproach.L'eredità de' figliuoli de' peccatori va in perdizione, e l'obbrobrio accompagnerà di continuo i loro posteri.The inheritance of the children of sinners shal perish, and with their seede shal be continuance of reproch.Filiorum peccatorum periet hæreditas, / et cum semine illorum assiduitas opprobrii. 10The children will complain of an ungodly father, because for his sake they are in reproach.I figliuoli dell'empio si querelano del loro padre, per colpa del quale vivono nell'ignominia.The children complaine of an impious father, because for him they are in reproch.De patre impio queruntur filii, / quoniam propter illum sunt in opprobrio. 11Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the most high Lord.Guai a voi uomini empj, che avete abbandonata la legge dell'Altissimo.Woe to you ye impious men, which haue forsaken the law of our Lord the Highest.Væ vobis, viri impii, / qui dereliquistis legem Domini Altissimi ! 12And if you be born, you shall be born in malediction: and if you die, in malediction shall be your portion.Quando voi nascerete, nella maledizione nascerete, e quando morrete, la maledizione avrete per vostro retaggio.And if ye be borne, ye shal be borne in malediction: and if ye die, in malediction shal be your portion.Et si nati fueritis, in maledictione nascemini: / et si mortui fueritis, in maledictione erit pars vestra. 13All things that are of the earth, shall return into the earth: so the ungodly shall from malediction to destruction.Tutto quello, che vien dalla terra, tornerà nella terra; così gli empj dalla maledizione anderanno alla perdizione.Al thinges that are of the earth, shal returne into the earth: so the impious from malediction to perdition.Omnia quæ de terra sunt in terram convertentur: / sic impii a maledicto in perditionem.
14The mourning of men is about their body, but the name of the ungodly shall be blotted out.Gli uomini fanno lutto sopra i loro cadaveri; ma il nome degli empj sarà scancellato.The moorning of men is in their bodie, but the name of the impious shal be cleane wyped out.Luctus hominum in corpore ipsorum: / nomen autem impiorum delebitur. 15Take care of a good name: for this shall continue with thee, more than a thousand treasures precious and great.Tien conto del buon nome; perocché questo sarà tuo più stabilmente, che mille tesori preziosi, e grandi.Haue care of a good name: for this shal be more permanent to thee, then a thousand treasures precious and great.Curam habe de bono nomine: / hoc enim magis permanebit tibi / quam mille thesauri pretiosi et magni. 16A good life hath its number of days: but a good name shall continue for ever.I giorni della buona vita si contano, ma il buon nome dura eternamente.There is a number of the daies of a good life: but a good name shal continew for euer.Bonæ vitæ numerus dierum: / bonum autem nomen permanebit in ævum. 17My children, keep discipline in peace: for wisdom that is hid, and a treasure that is not seen, what profit is there in them both?Figliuoli, conservate nella pace i i documenti, perocché la sapienza nascosta, è un tesoro, che non si vede, a che giovano l'uno, e l'altra.Children, keepe ye discipline in peace. For wisdom hid, and treasure not seene, what profite is there in them both?Disciplinam in pace conservate, filii: / sapientia enim abscondita, et thesaurus invisus, / quæ utilitas in utrisque ? 18Better is the man that hideth his folly, than the man that hideth his wisdom.E più stimabile colui, che nasconde la propria stoltezza, che chi nasconde la sua saggezza.Better is the man that hideth his follie, then the man that hideth his wisdom.Melior est homo qui abscondit stultitiam suam, / quam homo qui abscondit sapientiam suam. 19Wherefore have a shame of these things I am now going to speak of.Or voi abbiate rossore delle cose, che io vi dirò:But yet haue reuerence to these thinges, which proceede from my mouth.Verumtamen reveremini in his quæ procedunt de ore meo: 20For it is not good to keep all shamefacedness: and all things do not please all men in opinion.Imperocché non è bene di arrossire per qualunque cosa; e non tutte le cose ben fatte piacciono a tutti.For it is not good to obserue al shamfastnes: & al thinges do not please al men in opinion.non est enim bonum omnem reverentiam observare, / et non omnia omnibus bene placent in fide. 21Be ashamed of fornication before father and mother: and of a lie before a governor and a man in power:Vergognatevi della fornicazione dinanzi al padre, e alla madre; della menzogna dinanzi al governatore, e all'uomo potente:Be ashamed before father & before mother, of fornication: and before the president and before the mightie, of lying:Erubescite a patre et a matre de fornicatione: / et a præsidente et a potente de mendacio:
22Of an offence before a prince, and a judge: of iniquity before a congregation and a people:Della colpa dinanzi al principe, e al giudice; dell'iniquità dinanzi all'adunanza, e dinanzi al popolo:before the prince, and before the iudge, of offence: before the sinagogue and the people, of iniquitie: before companion and freind,a principe et a judice de delicto: / a synagoga et plebe de iniquitate: 23Of injustice before a companion and friend: and in regard to the place where thou dwellest,Dell'ingiustizia dinanzi al compagno, e amico, e del furto dinanzi alla gente del luogo, dove abiti,of iniustice: and before the place where thou dwellest,a socio et amico de injustitia, / et de loco in quo habitas: 24Of theft, and of the truth of God, and the covenant: of leaning with thy elbow over meat, and of deceit in giving and taking:Per riguardo alla verità di Dio, ed alla legge. Vergognati di mettere il gomito sul pane, e di non tener chiaro il libro del dare, e dell'avere:of theft, of the truth of God, and his testament: of leaning on the bread, and of reproofe for the thing geuen and taken:de furto, de veritate Dei, et testamento: / de discubitu in panibus, et ab obfuscatione dati et accepti: 25Of silence before them that salute thee: of looking upon a harlot: and of turning away thy face from thy kinsman.Vergognati di tacere con quelli, che ti salutano: di gettargli occhi sopra una donna impudica; e di non guardar in viso il parente.before them that salute thee, of silence: of beholding a woman that is an harlot: and of turning away thy countenance from thy kinsman.a salutantibus de silentio, / a respectu mulieris fornicariæ, / et ab aversione vultus cognati. 26Turn not away thy face from thy neighbour, and of taking away a portion and not restoring.Non volgere altrove la faccia per non vedere il tuo prossimo. Vergognati di togliere altrui la sua parte, e di non restituire:Turne not away thy face from thy neighbour, & of taking away part and not restoring.Ne avertas faciem a proximo tuo, / et ab auferendo partem et non restituendo. 27Gaze not upon another man’s wife, and be not inquisitive after his handmaid, and approach not her bed.Non guardar in faccia la donna altrui, e non tentare la sua serva, e non accostarti al suo letto.Behold not an other mans wife, and search not his handmayde, neither stand by her bed.Ne respicias mulierem alieni viri, / et ne scruteris ancillam ejus, / neque steteris ad lectum ejus. 28Be ashamed of upbraiding speeches before friends: and after thou hast given, upbraid not.Cogli amici guardati dalle parole ingiuriose: e se hai fatto alcun dono, noi rimproverare.Before freindes of opprobrious wordes: and when thou hast geuen, vpbrayde not.Ab amicis de sermonibus improperii: / et cum dederis, ne improperes.
41:1
Calmet
Death is terrible to all, but most to those who live comfortably. (Calmet)
Seneca
O vita misero longa, felici brevis. (Seneca)
41:3
Calmet
Sentence, pronounced on Adam and all his posterity. (Calmet)
41:5
Seneca
Flesh. "It is a great consolation to share the fate of all." (Seneca, Provid. v.)
41:6
Haydock
What. Greek, "why wouldst thou refuse to submit to the?" etc. (Haydock)
41:7
Calmet
Life. Thou wilt not be asked how long, but how well thou hast lived. No one will then envy thy long life. (Calmet)
Worthington
It will be in vain to plead that the length or shortness of life has occasioned thy sins; for God does all with justice and for the best, if men would use rightly his benefits. (Worthington)
Menochius
Thou wilt not repine at having lived too short a time. (Menochius)
41:8
Horace
Ungodly. They adopt the wicked manners of their parents (Calmet) and companions, and thus become still more criminal. (Haydock) oetas parentum pejor avis tulit Nos nequiores, mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem. (Horace, 2:ode 6.)
41:10
Haydock
Father. He is rather their executioner, (Calmet) and would have been less cruel, if he had murdered them while they were innocent, Wisdom 12:10. (Haydock)
41:12
Calmet
Portion. It would have been better for them never to have existed, Matthew 26:24. This [is] the case of heresiarchs. (Calmet)
41:13
Haydock
From. Greek, "go to destruction." (Haydock)
Haydock
It is their destination (chap. 40:11.; Calmet) and choice. (Haydock)
41:14
41:15
Great. The concern which all have for a good name, is one of the strongest proofs of the souls' immortality, Proverbs 22:11.
41:17
Calmet
Peace, with docility, (Matthew 11:25.) or in the midst of prosperity, be on your guard, Ecclesiasticus 20:32. (Calmet)
41:19
Challoner
Have a shame, etc. That is to say, be ashamed of doing any of these things, which I am now going to mention: for though sometimes shamefacedness is not to be indulged, yet it is often good and necessary; as in the following cases. (Challoner)
Worthington
Disciples ought to esteem what their masters teach, though they do not perceive the reasonableness of what they assert. (Worthington)
41:20
Opinion. Grotius corrects the Greek, "It is not laudable to be incredulous in all."
41:21
Mother. Thy misconduct seems to redound to their dishonour, as if they had not given thee a proper education.
41:22
Calmet
People. They will stone thee. Remember the fate of Roboam, 3 Kings xii. (Calmet)
41:24
Haydock
And of. Literally, "out of respect for the," etc. De veritate Dei et testamento. (Haydock)
The same words occur [in] Ecclesiasticus 42:2.; whence Jansenius thinks they have been transferred hither. Most refer them to what goes before. Blush for lying, which is contrary to the truth of God; and for the other sins which injure his covenant.
Meat. This posture betrays idleness or pride.
41:25
Harlot. The eyes must be chaste, Jeremias 9:21., and Matthew 5:28.
Calmet
Kinsman, when he is poor, and refusing to assist him. (Calmet)
41:26
Haydock
Turn. Greek, "of taking away a portion and gift," made already to God or men; (27.) "of considering attentively another's wife; of being too busy about his," etc. (Haydock)
41:19
Have a shame, etc.... That is to say, be ashamed of doing any of these things, which I am now going to mention; for though sometimes shamefacedness is not to be indulged: yet it is often good and necessary: as in the following cases.
41:7
It is to no purpose after death to accuse the shortnes, or length of life, pretending the same to haue bene cause of sinne. For God doth al iustly, yea and for the best, if men would so vse his benefites.
41:19
It behoueth children, and scholars to esteme that which their elders teach:
41:20
though the same doth not seme reasonable in their owne opinion.
41:27
Concordance Mat 5. v. 28.
41:3
Secondly, to him "who is diminished, that is, deprived of strength" by disease; who namely languishes continually, grows weak, suffers pain in the head, stomach or other members. From these and all other inconveniences of life and storms of wretched fortune, death liberates him. Thirdly, "when age fails," in Greek ἐσχατογέρω, that is, as the Complutensian edition has it: "constituted in extreme old age"; the Zurich edition, "decrepit." For, as the Psalmist says, Psalm LXXXIX, 10: "The days of our years are threescore and ten years; but if in the strong they be fourscore years, and their labour and their sorrow." Wherefore "old age itself is a disease," and not a single one, but manifold, as the book of Ecclesiastes graphically describes it, chapter XII. By an old man therefore understand one who is decrepit, burdened with as many miseries as years, for whom there is no hope of deliverance except in death. For otherwise common old men, to whom there is some pleasantness in life, shrink from death, and the more so the nearer it approaches. Indeed I have seen many old men, even Religious and Saints, who bore most grievously any mention made to them of death and departure from this life. This is among other vices of old age, that old men desire life when they cease to live. Aesop represents this very thing festively in a fable of death and an old man: "An old man," he says, "carrying wood which he had cut, went a long way, and on account of much labour, having set down his burden in a certain place, he called upon death; but death, when he came and asked the reason why he called upon him, the old man, terrified, said: That you might lift the burden with me. The fable signifies that every man is desirous of life, although he be unfortunate and a beggar." There is an antithesis of the preceding verse, as if to say: Just as for the rich who abound in wealth, delights, health, peace, and to whom all things succeed prosperously, death is bitter; so the same is pleasant to the poor, wretched and desperate, because it liberates them from these hardships, according to that in chapter XXX: "Better is death than a bitter life." He calls judgment both the decree and sentence of God, by which He condemned all the posterity of Adam to death, Genesis III, and also the custom, habit, necessity of dying common to all and unavoidable, and as it were fate; for the Hebrew משפט mispat, that is, judgment, signifies this. Whence the Zurich edition translates: How pleasant is it, O death, your fate to a needy man, and one failing in strength, decrepit, pressed on all sides, despairing, and destitute of patience! The Syriac: How blessed are you to a man who is broken, and failing in spirit, to an old man who dies every moment, and lacks sustenance, and has no strength to work! Moreover, judgment given to death signifies death, although the unfortunate are in this respect nevertheless happier than the former, namely the rich and fortunate, in that these shrink from death, those await it, indeed often desire it. But, just as in these the horror of death is often excessive, so in those the appetite for it is excessive; whence that he might lead man to moderation and teach him in what manner and measure he ought to receive death, he adds: "Fear not the judgment of death." Tropologically therefore Palacius: You, reader, he says, lift up your eyes on high, and say: O how good is death to a man rich in spiritual things, whether he be young or old, whether he have care or be without care; whether he believe his evils will have an end or believe not! O how blessed Solomon would have been, if when he was writing the Canticles, he had departed from life! How blessed Judas, if before he had received the money, he had lost his life! Therefore death is good to the good; but evil to the evil; for as "the death of sinners is most evil," so "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints," Psalm CXV.
41:5
He proves that death is not to be feared, nor to be rejected, by six arguments: The first is, because it itself is "judgment," that is, just, not unjust; for on account of sins it is inflicted upon you by just judgment; for by the fault both of Adam and of your own you have deserved the penalty of death. The second is, "Remember what has been before you," namely that in the ages which have been before you, all have died, and no one has been excepted from the law of death: remember also "what shall come upon you," namely that after you through all ages to come all living things shall die, so that by right you cannot be excepted from this universal law of death, nor ought you to wish to be. Whence the Greeks have it thus: Μνήσθητι προτέρων σου καὶ ἐσχάτων, which taking in the masculine sense you may thus clearly translate: Remember those who were before you, and the last ones, namely those who shall come last; for as all the former have died, so all the last shall die to a man. Third, remember that this "judgment" of death is common "to all flesh," that is to every man, nay to every living thing, as if to say: This is the custom, this is the lot, this is the nature of all flesh, that, since it is in itself fragile, corruptible and mortal, it shall at some time be corrupted and die. Whence when anyone dies, he is said to enter the way of all flesh: "Where a house is appointed for all the living," Job XXX, 23; and this has been confirmed and sanctioned by the Lord of all, who has power over the life and death of each, as a punishment for sin; whose sentence no prudent man, nay even no Gentile, could or would wish to decline. Thus Anaxagoras, hearing of his son's death, checked his grief, saying: "I knew that I had begotten a mortal." The same man, being condemned to death in his absence, when this was reported to him, said: "Long ago, he said, nature passed this sentence equally upon those and upon me." Thus Laertius, lib. I, cap. III. And Seneca: "It is foolish, he says, to fear what you cannot avoid. It is foolish to grieve that you are in that condition in which no one is not. It is great consolation to be swept away together with all." Thus he himself, On Providence, cap. V. Thales used to say "there is no difference between life and death; for both are according to nature." To someone objecting: "Why then do you not die?" he answered: "For this very reason, because it makes no difference. Rather is that preferred which is sought." Thus Laertius, lib. I, cap. 1. Socrates, condemned to death, refused to flee, saying: "My children will be the care of God, who gave them to me; departing hence I shall find you better friends, nor shall I long be deprived of your company; for you shall shortly migrate to the same place." Aristotle used to say "it is best to depart from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunk." Epictetus used to say "it is better to care for the soul than the body;" since it is better to die than to live badly, as Antonius relates, in the Melissa, part. I, serm. 58. Aeschines used to say that to die gloriously was the highest happiness, since death is equally fatal to all, as Stobaeus testifies, serm. 115, where he also cites Gorgias, who when asked if he would willingly die, said: "Most willingly; for as from a rotten and crumbling house I depart not unwillingly." Agis, king of the Lacedaemonians, when asked "in what way can one protect his freedom? If, he said, he despises death." Thus Plutarch, in the Laconic Sayings, where he also cites Agesilaus, who when asked "what is the way to extraordinary glory? If, he said, you despise death." For this contempt of death makes a man intrepid in undertaking heroic deeds in war and in every matter. And Callicratidas saying: "In war either to conquer or to die is most honorable;" this is of nature, that of virtue. And Daminda exclaiming: "O half-men, what bitter thing can happen to us who despise death?" Isocrates to Demonicus: "To die, he says, fate has decreed for all; but to die well nature has attributed as proper to the good. You should think of immortal things by existing magnanimously; but of mortal things by enjoying moderately the present." Lucian: "What are men? Mortal gods. What are gods? Immortal men." Tropologically, Hugo: "Remember what has been before you," that is, he says, of what you were made, namely of slime and of nothing; "and what shall come upon you;" that is remember to what you shall come, as if to say: Remember that you are dust, etc., or thus: "Remember what has been before you," that is, before you, in the present, that is remember what your present life is like; "and what shall come upon you," that is what your future life shall be like, as if to say: Consider your entrance, how unclean it was; your progress, how laborious; your exit, how perilous. For the birth of man is unclean, life is laborious, death is perilous. Hence birth is full of shame, life of sorrow, death of fear. Whence St. Bernard: "Recall, O man, whence you come, and blush; where you are, and groan; where you go, and tremble."
41:6
This is the fourth reason why death is not to be rejected, namely because it is inflicted upon each one in the manner and time decreed and determined by the good pleasure of God, to which every creature ought to submit itself, indeed ought to conform itself; for the will and good pleasure of God is most holy, most wise, most powerful, best and most merciful. The sense of our Latin Vulgate is similar, as if to say, What could come upon thee or befall thee, or what couldst thou devise or think of by which thou mightest change, or decline, or turn aside the judgment and sentence of God concerning death and its appointed time pronounced upon thee? whether He hath fixed ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years of thy life: thou oughtest to be content with that; for thou canst neither add nor diminish an hour or a moment to this time fixed by God, according to that: "Thou hast set his bounds which cannot be passed," Job xiv. And that: "My lots are in thy hands;" the Septuagint: "my times," Psalm xxx, 16. Secondly, others expound it, as if to say, What could come upon thee, that is, happen and be added to ten or a hundred, or a thousand years, which the judgment of God hath appointed and fixed for thee? as if to say, Nothing. For no one can add even a jot to that which He Himself decrees. Thirdly, Lyra thus reads and expounds: "And what shall come upon thee from the good pleasure of the Most High, whether ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years," supply and repeat from the preceding verse: "this judgment is from the Lord for thee;" in which thou oughtest therefore to rest. Thus also Dionysius: "What shall come upon thee in the good pleasure of the Most High," that is, he says, the times of life which remain to thee according to the predordination of the divine will, "whether ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years," as if to say, Let these suffice thee, and receive them willingly, and spend them fruitfully, and subject thy will in this to the divine will. He who does this, and thereby overcomes the desire for a longer life and the fear of death, is not effeminate; but a man and master, not base, but wise, not a child, but of mature virtue, and therefore shines forth splendidly in this fortitude and strength of spirit; just as Socrates shone forth splendidly, receiving with a brave spirit the death prepared for him; as Epictetus shone forth, who, deprived of the gifts of fortune, led a tranquil life; as Anaxarchus shone forth, who, being crushed in a mortar, cried out: "Crush as much as thou wilt, thou shalt never crush Anaxarchus." There are three things which are wont to be most desired: by the sailor, a port; by the pilgrim, his native land; by the slave, freedom. Man through death, which is the greatest of bodily evils, tends from the sea and waves of the world to a port, from doubtful pilgrimage to his native land, from prison to freedom. Finally, nothing is found which renders us worthy of greater honor, glory and fame more than this saving victory. How pleasant it is, and sweet and agreeable to a noble mind, so far is it from being able to be expressed in words, that it can scarcely be conceived in the mind; for nothing more pleasant can befall a rightly formed soul than to have overcome fortune by its own prudence; the other things seem to be pleasures only, but are not truly so. To this tend the sayings of Diogenes, Diadochus, St. Chrysostom and St. Basil which Antonius cites in the Melissa, part I, chapter lviii; for Diogenes, seeing someone mourning because he was about to die in a foreign land, said: "Why dost thou mourn, O fool! from everywhere the same way leads to the underworld;"; Diadochus: "He who labors in fear at the time of departure will not pass freely the princes of the underworld. For the timidity of the soul is, as it were, a patroness and helper to their malice. But the soul which exults in the love of God at the time of departure is lifted above all dark orders and is borne with the Angels of peace;"; St. Chrysostom: "One ought to rejoice at death; whether as a young man, because he is immediately freed from the evils of this life; or as an old man, because, having enjoyed to satiety those things which seem desirable in life, he departs;"; St. Basil: "Just as those shut up in prison, some indeed remain longer in the affliction of bonds; others are freed more quickly: so also souls, some are detained long in this life, others more briefly, our Creator providing for each of us with wise and profound counsel, which cannot be fathomed by the human mind, according to the measure befitting each one's dignity. Dost thou not hear David saying: Bring my soul out of prison? Hast thou not heard of the saint, that her soul was loosed? But Simeon, embracing our Lord in his arms, did he not utter these words: Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord? For the conversation of the body hastening to the higher life is heavier than any affliction and prison." receive it so much, and spend it fruitfully, and subject your will in this to the divine will. Whoever does this, and thereby overcomes the desire for a longer life and the fear of death — the sense is, as it were, that each one ought to be content with ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years of life fixed and granted to him by God; because in hell no one is reproved for having lived ten, or a hundred, that is, few or many years; but for having idly spent those given to him by God, whether few or many, and having lived wickedly. Again, there is no one in hell who can accuse the brevity or length of life, and complain that he lived too little or too long, or that more years were owed to his youth and constitution by nature, so that he might allege to God condemning and excuse the brevity of life, saying: If I had lived long, I would have done many good things, says Lyra, and would have expiated my sins by penance. To this pertains that passage of Seneca, in the book On the Brevity of Life, chapter 1: "We do not have a small amount of time, but we lose much. Life is long enough, and has been given generously for the accomplishment of the greatest things, if it were all well spent. But where it flows away through luxury and negligence, where it is not devoted to any good thing; finally, when necessity compels, we perceive that we have not understood how to go, that it has passed. Thus it is, we have not received a short life, but we have made it so; nor are we poor in it, but prodigal: just as ample and royal riches, when they come to a bad master, are dissipated in a moment; but however modest, if entrusted to a good steward, they grow in use: so our age, to one who disposes it well, opens up much. For, as the Comic poet says: Virtue extends the narrow space of age. Hence Alexander the Great, in Curtius, book IX: "I," he says, "measure myself not by the space of age, but by glory." Secondly, as it were, God in hell will not reprove or punish you for having lived much or little; but for having lived wickedly. Therefore, not the brevity of life, but wickedness is to be feared. Thirdly, others, as it were, In hell there is no appeal to Pluto, Dis, Rhadamanthus, or other gods or judges, whom the Gentiles placed; so that someone, alleging before them that he lived too little, might obtain a return to life and more years of life; or accusing life so swift and fleeting, might compel it to return; or the soul of the dead might wish to and strive to return to it, according to that passage of Virgil, VI Aeneid, from Plato and Pythagoras: Again and begin to wish to return into bodies. Mystically, Dionysius: "There is no accusation of life in hell," that is, he says, there is no salutary reproof of one's own life in hell, since there is neither state nor time for repenting or meriting there, according to that passage Psalm VI: "But in hell, who shall confess to thee?" nevertheless there is in hell late repentance, according to that passage Wisdom V: "Such things did those who sinned speak in hell." See the preceding and following miserable, but unfruitful things. Wherefore he who is wise should, before death, apply himself to salutary repentance and the exercise of good works. Thus Dionysius. So also Lyra and Delrio, adage 197; place 38: To the damned, they say, there remains no time for accusing or confessing the sins of past life; indeed, there is not even any flexible will for doing this. And they add that this sense is literal; but it seems rather to be mystical, as is evident from the causal conjunction, and from the Greeks, which connect these things with a hundred and a thousand years, of which the preceding verse speaks.
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confessing the sins of past life there is no remaining time; indeed neither is there any flexible will for doing this. And they add that this sense is literal; but rather it seems to be mystical, as is evident from the causal particle, and from the Greek texts, which connect these things with the hundred and thousand years, of which in the preceding verse. Moreover the Greek texts combine this sentence with the preceding one, and thus read: Whether ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years, there is in hell no accusation or reproof of life; the Zurich version: Whether you have ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years, life has no defense against the underworld. Lest the dying descend to it, whether quickly or slowly according to the years predetermined to each by God; see here again that the Zurich version is more free. This is the fifth reason why death is not to be avoided; namely because in vain does anyone avoid it, since in hell there is no appeal, no return to life. Siracides mentions only hell after death, not heaven; because in his age all, even the just, descended to hell until Christ, who by his blood opened heaven. And from this the sixth and most powerful reason for not fearing death is derived, namely that through it we pass over to a better life in the heavens. For death to the Saints is the gate of blessed and eternal life. The pious therefore do not fear death, but love and desire it. Thus Damascenus, in the History of Barlaam and Josaphat, chapter IV, relates that two monks, to whom King Abner threatened death, answered intrepidly: "You have spoken rightly, O king! Those who fear death care about how they might escape it. But who are these, except those who waste away over fleeting things, and marvel at them even to stupor? These indeed, since they despair of obtaining anything good in the other life, cannot be torn away from present things, and for that reason fear death. But we, who have long ago hated the world and the things that are in the world, and walk the narrow and strait way for Christ's sake, are affected neither by fear of death nor by desire for present things: but we are held only by longing for future things. Since therefore death, which you inflict upon us, effects a passage to eternal and more excellent life, for that reason it is an object of desire rather than terror to us." The other ascetics did the same. Whence in the Lives of the Fathers, book VII, chapter XXIV, where the daily meditations of twelve Anchorites, as it were spurs to virtue, are recounted; the second has these words: "I said, from the time I renounced the earth, today you are born anew, today you have begun to serve God, today you have begun to dwell here; be thus daily a pilgrim, and tomorrow to be set free, this I counseled myself daily;"; the fifth these: "I behold Angels ascending and descending at the calling of souls, and I always await my end, saying: My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready;"; the sixth these: "I think daily that the Lord says to me: Labor for me, and I will give you rest. Yet a little while more struggle, and you shall see my salvation and my glory. If you love me, if you are my sons, return asking to the Father." Alphonsus, King of Aragon, as witness Panormitanus and Aeneas Silvius in his Life, consoling a youth who dreaded death: "There is no reason," he said, "why you should so fear death, since for those who die well and purely this is life, and the beginning of that life which is subject neither to pains, nor to fear, nor to envy, nor to other troubles." Wherefore aptly and piously Palacius: Christian, he says, a higher Theology is yours; for it is not your part to fear death, but to desire it: to wish to be dissolved and to be with Christ; to die is much better for you; yours is to have life in patience, death in longing; your conversation is not on earth, but in the heavens; yours is to say: "Draw me after you, we will run in the odor of your ointments." For the more ardently the love of God burns your inmost parts, the more impatiently is the longing for death. See St. Cyprian, in the treatise On Mortality, and St. Ambrose, in the book On the Good of Death.
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The meaning therefore is, as if to say, Sons of sinners, who namely either physically are born from sinners and are raised by them, or morally are formed by them in life and morals, as disciples by teachers, subjects by a prelate, citizens by magistrates, etc.; these, I say, become "sons of abominations," that is, utterly abominable: because they imitate their fathers both of their own accord and instigated by those very fathers; for fathers instill their morals and sentiments into their sons. The same I say of those "who dwell beside the houses of the impious," that is, who live with the impious at home and familiarly: for these imbibe the impious words and deeds of the impious; for which reason they become abominable among men, and therefore infamous. Wherefore Ben-Sira, in the alphabetical arrangement, letter Phe: "Turn," he says, "thy face away from evil companions; have no dealings with them in the way (do not go in the way with them): Restrain thy foot from them, lest thou be caught in their snare." See Proverbs 1, 15. He passes from death to morals and reputation, so as to suggest that the death of the upright is happy, who leave behind them sons well instructed and well-mannered, in whom they themselves live after death as it were, and preserve and propagate their fame and name to posterity; on the other hand, the death of sinners is unhappy, who leave behind them impious sons, through whom their memory and name become abominable and infamous; for to life succeeds posthumous fame; to good life, good fame, to evil life, evil fame. Wherefore the greatest care must be had by the living, that they live honorably and gloriously in it; and therefore they ought to instruct their sons honorably, so that they themselves may thereby procure for them a good reputation. Note: These and similar sentences signify what often happens, not what always happens. For sometimes wicked and infamous parents leave behind good and glorious sons; as Ahaz left Hezekiah, Amon Josiah, Saul Jonathan; and conversely good parents leave behind perverse sons; as David left Absalom and Adonijah, Josiah Joakim, Hezekiah Manasseh.
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Moreover, if sons accuse parents in this life, much more will they accuse them on the day of judgment, when on account of their wicked education they will see themselves damned with them to hell, where they will perpetually blame them, nay curse them saying: Cursed be thou, father, who didst educate me to hell. Deservedly therefore says Dionysius from St. Gregory: "Each one presiding is worthy of as many deaths, as many eternal damnations, as he has furnished examples of perdition to his subjects." Hence it is written in Wisdom 4: "From wicked thoughts children who are born are witnesses of wickedness against their parents." But truly sons ought to accuse themselves more than their fathers, since by their own fault imitating them, they have merited hell; especially because sons often surpass their parents in impiety: "But he who accuses ought to be better than he who is accused," says Aristotle, II Politics.
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Now as to the sense, first, the Origenists, followers of Plato and of the Pythagorean μετεμψυχώσεως, that is the transmigration of souls, from this place and similar ones taught that souls existed before bodies, and on account of sins then committed were sent into bodies as into a prison, so that in it they might pay the penalties of their sins, and therefore are born in malediction. But this error has long since been condemned. Again, Calvin from this place and similar ones thinks that God before all foreknowledge of works at his pleasure chose some and assigned them to heaven, others he cursed, that is reprobated, and assigned to hell. But this is his blasphemous fate, which all of sound mind execrate. For from this Beza, following his Calvin, writing in 1 John cap. 1, infers and teaches that there are no venial sins for the reprobate, nor any mortal sins for the elect; and therefore the reprobate are not to be prayed for, which things are all insane and impious. Moreover, the Semipelagians from this contended that the reprobate are born in God's malediction, because God on account of their foreseen sins reprobated them, and destined them to accursed birth. But this involves a contradiction; for it is prior to be born than, once born, to sin; wherefore God predestined first that the reprobate should be born, than he foresaw their sins, and on account of them reprobated them. If you say that sins were foreseen by God not absolutely, but conditionally, namely if he should create them and cause them to be born, this likewise is absurd: for God punishes no one with absolute punishment on account of a sin of his that is conditionally future; for absolute punishment requires actual and absolute guilt. See St. Augustine refuting this opinion in the book On the Predestination of the Saints, cap. XIII and XIV. Secondly, others refer these things to original sin: on account of that indeed we are all born children of wrath and of God's malediction, Ephesians cap. II. But this sin is common to all, both the elect and the reprobate. Here, however, the matter concerns the sin of the impious, which they themselves commit in act, and therefore are cursed and damned. Thirdly, Palacius takes these things not of the first birth, but the second and repeated, by which some already born and dead were by Elijah, Elisha and others recalled to life, and as it were born again, meaning: If a sinner already dead should be raised up, and born again as it were, he is born in malediction; because he died in malediction; for after death fruitful and salutary repentance cannot be performed. But these raised ones were very few; and not sinners, but innocent little ones. Fourthly, Jansenius thinks that here the matter concerns the abandonment of the reprobate in the mass of original sin and damnation; and it is signified that God before the foreknowledge of works, on account of Adam's sin, seeing all his posterity infected by it, decreed to snatch some from it and save them; to leave others in it, curse and damn them, according to that in Romans IX, 11: "When they were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of him that calleth, etc.: Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." The sense therefore is, says Jansenius, meaning: God cursed the reprobate both in birth and in death. For he decreed to leave them in original sin, in which they are born, and to damn them in death. But this interpretation is harsh and incongruous to this place: harsh, because God wills all the posterity of Adam to be saved; and therefore sent Christ, that he might save all: wherefore he reprobates no one before the foreknowledge of final sin, in which one departs and dies, as I showed in Hosea, cap. XI, 9. Incongruous, because here the matter does not concern the malediction of original sin, but actual, as is evident from what precedes and follows; and from the phrase "who have forsaken the law of the Lord Most High;" certainly by their own act. Add that properly here the matter concerns not all the reprobate, but the impious children of sinners; for the discourse has proceeded concerning these. Whence: Fifthly, the same Jansenius thinks that by the name of malediction here is not signified God's eternal reprobation, but some misery and calamity to be divinely brought upon them in this world, whether on account of parents' or of their own sins. According to which understanding it is also rightly said that the impious, when they were born, on account of their foreseen future evil works, were born to sustain God's malediction, that is God's vengeance in this life: just as, when they die, on account of their completed evil works, they are forced to sustain God's malediction, that is the vengeance of damnation. Whence the Syriac version renders it: Woe to unjust men, because misfortune will accompany them even to the day of their death! I say therefore: For in a curse, in Greek it is εἰς κατάραν, that is, unto a curse, which namely by your crimes, which you will commit, you will bring upon yourselves. It is a prosopopoeia. For it abstracts from the birth of the impious, and speaks to the impious as if not yet born, whom namely God foresaw would act wickedly and would be impious, as if to say: Woe to you, impious ones, who have forsaken the law of the Lord! Miserable is your lot and condition: for if you are born (as indeed you will be born), you are born unto a curse; because you will be educated by your parents in sins, and will live wickedly, on account of which God will curse you: but if you die, unto eternal curse, namely unto hell, you will be sent; so that your part and lot may be with the damned, cursed by God throughout all eternity. Thus Lyra: "Woe," he says, "is a threat of eternal curse. Although you are born, that is, your birth has been made unto the curse of guilt, and your death unto the curse of hell, not from the author of nature, but from the defect of parental discipline." Add that by birth metonymically can be understood the life to which we are born, as if to say: O impious ones, both in life and in death you will be cursed: because you will live in the curse of guilt, you will die in the curse of hell. Whence the Zurich Bible, reading γεννηθᾶτε, that is, you will be, you will live, instead of γεννηθῆτε, that is, you will be born, translates: Woe to you, impious men, deserters of the law of the most high God! If you live, you will be execrable: if you die, likewise detestable. Moreover the generation of impious parents, and the birth of impious children, is often vitiated and cursed: because impious parents through corrupted blood and seed transmit their debauchery, lust, anger, and other vices, and depraved inclinations to their children; wherefore their children are born in a curse, because they are prone to all evil. Add that God, cursing the generation of the impious, often curses the children on account of the cursed parents, according to that of Noah cursing Canaan the son on account of his father Ham: "Cursed be Canaan," namely because he will follow the impiety of his father Ham, Genesis IX, 23. Hence God commanded the Canaanites to be utterly destroyed by the Hebrews; because their seed and race was utterly vitiated and incorrigible, as the Wise Man teaches, chapter XII, 10: "Not ignorant," he says, "that their nation is wicked, and their natural malice, and that their thought could not be changed forever; for their seed was cursed from the beginning." Finally this sentence can be understood in a formal sense, in which the impious are said to be born when they sin and act impiously: for then they seem as if born from impiety. For "impious" in Scripture are called not all sinners, who fall into some sin from weakness; but only the notable and exceptional ones, namely those who have brought upon themselves a habit and callousness of sinning, and are hardened in it, so that they sin from a certain and determined malice: such are the unfaithful and atheists, who impiously deny all divinity. For by prosopopoeia Scripture attributes to both impiety and sin, as well as to virtue and holiness, their own generation, posterity and lineage. Whence just as they are called children of obedience, justice, charity, mercy, who wholly devote themselves to obedience, justice, charity, mercy, so that they seem to be born from it; as the Gentiles said of Cato: "Cato and continence seem to be born from the same womb;" so conversely they are called children of pride, disobedience, lust, impiety, those who are plainly proud, disobedient, lustful, impious, so that they seem to be begotten from the womb of pride, lust, impiety. It alludes to what he said, chapter III, 1: "The children of wisdom are the Church of the just, and their nation is obedience and love." See the things said there. Thus the sense will be, as if to say: Woe to you, impious ones, who have forsaken the law of the Lord! whether you are born in your impiety, you are born in a curse: for God curses impiety and the impious; whether you die in impiety, you will die in a curse; because just as you have lived in guilt, so you will die in punishment and hell. To this sense is very well suited what follows:
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Now first, Lyra gives this sense: The mourning of men, namely of those living humanly and rationally, in their own body, that is to say, If the good are afflicted, this is in the present life only, as long as they are in this mortal body: But the name of the impious will be blotted out, namely from the book of life, and thus they will be tormented by the death of hell. Thus Lyra, to whom Dionysius agrees: The mourning of men in their own body, that is, he says, good and rational men in this mortal flesh bewail themselves and theirs, and the sins of their neighbors, concerning which Truth asserts: "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted," Matt. V. Indeed also Rabanus: "Here," he says, "he sets men for the wise who use reason well of the soul, and obeying the divine commandments are subject to them. These have mourning in the present life only, but afterwards they will rejoice in perpetual joy. Whence it is written: Blessed are they that mourn now, for they shall be comforted. But the name of the impious will be blotted out, because sunk into hell they will be delivered to eternal oblivion. For the judge will say to them: Depart from me, all you that work iniquity; amen I say to you, that I never knew you." Secondly therefore, Jansenius plainly explains it according to the letter thus, that is to say, Men are mourned, when their body dies and is committed to burial; and by such mourning the memory and name of the dead is celebrated; but this will not profit for the preservation of his memory: because the name of the impious, which is often celebrated in this life, after death will immediately be blotted out, and at the same time with the body, or shortly after will be buried. And thus men are mourned on account of their body, when it dies and is buried: but the impious ought rather to be mourned, because at the same time with their body their name also and celebrated memory are blotted out. Whence the Zurich version translates: That men may follow their bodies with mourning; but the name of the wicked shall perish. For the force of the antithesis, which is wont to be in the Proverbs of Solomon and Sirach, in this place consists in this, that the life of men perishes, and therefore they are mourned; but of the impious not only the life, but also together with life the name and fame will perish, and therefore they ought rather to be mourned. For in that age when faith in the resurrection, blessedness and heavenly glory was obscure, all both faithful and unfaithful desired and longed for fame and glory, that they might survive in it, and as it were live as survivors; hence they procured for themselves magnificent tombs, columns, statues, titles, etc., with which Rome and Italy are filled; wherefore they grieved wonderfully, if they thought their name and fame would soon perish. Whence the Wise man threatens this to them as a great punishment, Prov. X: "The name of the wicked shall rot," and the Psalmist, Psalm IX: "Their memory hath perished with a noise." And: "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the just." And again: "Thou hast blotted out their name for ever, and for ever and ever." To this Palacius adds: The mourning of corpses, he says, is wont to last as long as they are present; for from the time they are committed to burial, tears are wont to cease. But the name and fame of the impious, although they be kings and princes, is blotted out sometimes even before they are committed to burial; for as soon as the people hear that they are dead, it recounts their impieties: therefore their fame ceases, infamy begins. Moreover the ancient Hebrews, Greeks and Romans so detested the names of the wicked, and buried them in oblivion, that they did not dare to name them, nor to give them to any of their own, nor to use them in any way whatsoever. Hence among the Hebrews no one dared to be called Cain, Cham, Chanaan, Nemrod, Pharao; and among Christians no one dares to be called Judas, lest he darken himself and his line with the name of Judas the traitor. Among the Greeks, as Strabo testifies, lib. XIV, the Ephesians took care that the name of him who had burned the temple of Diana should not be pronounced: nor would it have been heard, unless Theopompus had made it public, which was Erostratus or Eratosthenes. The Romans took care that the names of patricians who had deserved ill of the Republic, and on that account were condemned, should not be given to any patrician of the same family: the family of the Manlii among them took care that none of their own should have the praenomen of Marcus, after M. Manlius Capitolinus, on suspicion of seeking kingship, was hurled down from the Tarpeian rock. Thus Pliny, On Illustrious Men, or Suetonius. The cognomen Antonini, which Heliogabalus made so celebrated and used by other Emperors, he infamed by the baseness of his life; no one after him bore it; and by a decree of the senate it was deleted from all public works, and rejected as dire and detestable. Thus Sabellius, lib. VI, Ennead. VII. The praenomen Lucius the family of Claudia rejected, when of two gentlemen endowed with it one was convicted of robbery, the other of murder. Thus Suetonius, in Tiberius. The senate decreed, after M. Antonius was defeated, that no one from the family of the Antonii should be named Marcus, as Plutarch testifies, in Antonius. Thus our Lorinus, in the epistle of St. Jude, vers. 1.
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Moreover, the soul, because it is immortal, just as it always lives in itself, so likewise it always desires to live through good reputation in the mind and memory of men. Wherefore this appetite for fame is a certain indication of the immortality of the soul. For if the soul were to die and perish, what would name and fame among men profit it? For it would have no sense or taste of it; indeed, the damned who are in the second death, for example Alexander, Cyrus, Julius Caesar, philosophers—their name and fame, which they possess among men, does not recreate them, but rather torments them; both because it seems to them unseemly and ignominious that men so famous and celebrated are thus tormented and despised in hell; and because the appetite for fame and glory was to them the cause of tyranny, rapine and crimes, on account of which they are damned. In Greek it is: Have care for your name; for this shall remain with you rather than treasures of a thousand gold. Thus Vatablus. It alludes to Proverbs XXII, 1: "A good name is better than great riches." For name and fame is a good of a higher order than wealth. Just as therefore all silver cannot be equalled to the least gold in dignity, even if in price by the estimation of men it be equalled: so all wealth cannot be equalled to the least fame in dignity and excellence, although satisfaction for injured fame among base persons is sometimes made through gold and silver. Moreover, care for fame is incumbent indeed upon all, but especially upon Pastors, Prelates, and likewise upon those who labour for the gain of souls, and upon Religious: for the fame of a Religious is the fame of Religion, so that the whole Religion sometimes comes into ill repute on account of the infamy of some Religious. Whence the Apostle: "Providing, he says, good things not only before God, but also before men," Rom. XII, 17. And: "We are made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men," I Corinth. IV. Such a one therefore, if he neglect his fame, is unjust and cruel. Following Solomon and Sirach, philosophers have left the same thing in writing: Seneca, On the Remedies of Fortune: "Good, he says, opinion of men is safer than money;" Isocrates, in Stobaeus, discourse 46: "Let it be more your care to leave an honest reputation than vast riches to your children; for these are mortal, that is immortal;" Plautus, in the Pot of Gold: "I, if I have preserved a good reputation for myself, shall be rich enough." Whence that punishment threatened to the impious: "Thou hast blotted out their name for ever, and for ever and ever," Psalm IX, 6. And Proverbs X, 7: "The memory of the just is with praises (Septuagint, with eulogies), the name of the wicked shall rot." Finally, elegantly R. Simeon, in Pirke Avoth, that is in the Sayings of the Fathers, cap. IV: "There are, he says, three crowns, namely the crown of the law, of the priesthood and of the empire; but the crown of good fame is far more illustrious and precious than all these."
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The meaning therefore is, as if to say, measured out with a hand's breadth, that is, the smallest measure, and you have defined and determined the days of my life; you have decreed my days to be very few and as it were momentary. Hence the Hebrews call "men of number" men who are few, and "days of number" days that are few, as it were of small number, and easily counted. Sirach therefore says: A good life has few days, and they are quickly numbered; but a good name, which is obtained through it, remains forever. Thus the Zurich Bible: The days, he says, of a good life are few: but a good name remains forever; others: A good life is finished in a number of days; but a good name remains forever. This is here a sharp stimulus to a good life and virtue; namely, that through a small and brief labor of it we prepare for ourselves an eternal name, and that always before God, Angels and the Blessed in heaven: before men however not always, but frequently. For the Saints here conceal their virtues, and desire to be known to God and Angels alone: whose glory therefore will be greater in heaven. For it is small, and therefore the fame of this life is to be made of small account.
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He says therefore: "Keep discipline in peace, my sons." First, plainly and simply, by "peace" understand the tranquility and quietness of mind: for this is as it were a disposition required in a disciple, that he may receive, grasp and retain the doctrine of his teacher. For those who are of an uneasy or disturbed mind are incapable of discipline. Whence Aristotle, in the Ethics, requires a disciple who has his passions calmed and composed. But especially by peace he means the humility and gentleness of mind, which humbly and peacefully receives the words of the master. For the proud and contentious, who wish to examine and judge the words of the master, and to dispute and argue against them, are unfit to draw in the doctrine of the master. Such are bold, unbridled and insolent youths, who, when they hear from their elders that they ought to be ashamed of such free, bold and unrestrained manners, answer that there is nothing in these of which they ought to be ashamed, but that the old men are imperious, tedious, scrupulous, timid; and therefore things appear to them to be feared and shameful, which in truth are not to be feared and shameful. The sense therefore is, as if to say: O my sons, O disciples, if you wish to receive my discipline, bring a quiet, humble, peaceful mind: for by that you will grasp, understand and retain my words. For I speak and write them for your sake and for your benefit: I do not wish to keep them for myself, nor to hide them in my mind; but to unfold and communicate them to you as a treasure of wisdom. For as a treasure, if hidden, is of use to no one: so also wisdom, if concealed by the wise man, benefits no one: since it was given to him by God for this purpose, that through it he should teach not only himself, but also others and direct them to virtue and salvation: and therefore a fool who hides his folly is better than a wise man who conceals his wisdom. See what I have said concerning both these opinions, cap. XX, 32 and 33. For both are found there, and are repeated here. Christ exacted the same condition of humility and peace from his faithful followers; whence he says: "I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. Yea, Father, for so it hath pleased thee," Matt. cap. XI, 25. Nay, Pythagoras even exacted from his disciples not only peace, but also a five-year silence. Whence that saying, αὐτὸς ἔφα, "he himself," namely Pythagoras, "said this:": therefore without any further inquiry it must be believed and done. Thus Lyra, Dionysius, Jansenius and others. Secondly, more sublimely: "keep discipline in peace," that is, of peace, or concerning peace (for the Hebrews by ב, that is in, signify the government of the genitive) "my sons," as if to say: The things which follow, which I shall teach you concerning avoiding shameful and blameworthy things, pertain to peace: namely, that you cultivate peace, grace and honesty with all. Receive therefore this discipline, since it is of peace and concerning peace, which is desirable to all, with diligence. Thirdly, "peace" signifies to the Hebrews prosperity and abundance and plenty of things, as if to say: Keep this discipline of mine, not only in adverse and sad circumstances, but also in prosperous and joyful ones; while you abound in riches, delights and all felicity: for these are wont to loosen and dissolve the mind tenacious of discipline, so that it flows away and dissipates to those so greatly desired things. Whence St. Bernard, serm. 2 in Ramis palmarum: "Although," he says, "adversity breaks many, yet prosperity exalts many more, as it is written: A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand," in which prosperity is designated. The same, lib. II De Consider. cap. XII: "It is indeed, if you attend carefully, how rare it has always been, that one has not relaxed his mind somewhat in prosperity from his own keeping and discipline. When this was not to the incautious as fire to wax, as the ray of the sun to snow or ice. Wise David, wise Solomon was: but with things too much flattering him in prosperity, the one in part, the other wholly became foolish. Great is he who, falling into adversity, did not fall away or fell little from wisdom, nor less great is he to whom present felicity, if it smiled, did not mock. Although you will more easily find those who retained wisdom when fortune was contrary to them, than those who did not lose it when it was propitious. That one is to be preferred, and great is he, to whom among prosperous things at least an unseemly laugh, or an insolent word, or an immoderate care of clothing or of the body did not creep in." Doctors inquire why Job, struck by grave and manifold temptation, escaped as victor; whereas Adam, enticed by one light allurement of Eve, succumbed, and destroyed himself and all his posterity. St. Augustine assigns the cause, in Psalm XLVII: "A man (Job) conquered," he says, "in dung; a man (Adam) was conquered in paradise," that is to say, the sorrows and adversities did not break Job, but delights and prosperity subjugated Adam. Wherefore the demon tempts men more through prosperity than through adversity, and then he is often assured of victory; namely, when he leads the delights of the world and the blandishments of the flesh, in a certain sweet but dangerous battle, into the field against man who is earthen and carnal, then he frequently conquers and triumphs: for the flesh is captured by prosperous and carnal things; but in adversities, as it were by antiperistasis, the mind raises up and strengthens the flesh. The Zurich version expressed this sense: "Children," it says, "preserve discipline in prosperous things. When wisdom lies hidden, and treasure is concealed, what is the utility in either? A man concealing his foolishness is preferable to a man concealing his wisdom." Fourth, Palacius explains it, that is to say, O children, while you live in peace, keep this discipline which I hand down to you. Mystically Rabanus: "Preserve discipline in peace, children," he says. "Therefore he preserves discipline in peace, who strives to live according to the two precepts of charity, in holiness and justice. Concerning which Paul, writing to the Hebrews, says: Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no one shall see God. And because it is not sufficient for anyone to live well by himself, if he has not striven to benefit his neighbors in sound doctrine as much as he can, immediately it is subjoined: For wisdom is hidden, and treasure is concealed; what is the utility in either?" And further below: "Whence also it is well said through Solomon, Proverbs XI: He that hideth up corn shall be cursed among the people. For to hide corn is to retain within oneself the words of holy preaching. But such a one shall be cursed among the people, because through the fault of his silence he is condemned to the punishment of many whom he could have corrected. And: The soul that blesseth shall be made fat; and he that inebriateth shall himself also be inebriated: for he who by outward preaching hath blessed, receiveth the fatness of inward increase; and while he ceaseth not to inebriate the minds of his hearers with the wine of eloquence, he groweth drunk with the drink of multiplied reward. Whence Isaiah, chapter VI: Woe is me, he says, because I held my peace! And Paul, Acts XX, 26: I take you to witness this day, that I am clean from the blood of all men; for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Thus Rabanus in scattered passages."
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Note here that the Latin interpreter often uses "reverence" for shame and bashfulness, and "to revere" for to be ashamed and to blush; as in Psalm XXXIV, 26: "Let them be ashamed and revere together, who rejoice at my evils; let them be clothed with confusion and reverence, who speak great things against me." Psalm LXVIII, 20: "Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my reverence." I Corinthians chapter XV, 34: "To reverence (that is, to shame, that you may be ashamed) I speak to you." Again, "in faith" signifies faithfully, wholly, and rightly done. Thus God is said to have made "all works in faith," that is, wholly and perfectly, Psalm XXXII, 4. Moreover, "faith" could also be taken for constancy, as if to say: Not all things which are done in faith, that is, constantly and generously, please everyone: for many change their manners and speech politically, so as to accommodate themselves to all; because they are ashamed of the constancy of virtue. If the Hebrews call באמונה beemuna, that is, "in faith," that which is done with firmness and constancy, or that which is done firmly, constantly and solidly. Thus Tobias says chapter II, 18: "We are the sons of saints, and we expect that life which God will give to those who never change their faith from him." And Apocalypse XIII, 10: "Here is the patience and faith (constancy) of the saints." This meaning the Zurich version follows: but it deflects the sense otherwise. For thus it translates: For it is not beautiful to be held by any bashfulness; nor are all things to be approved solidly in all. Otherwise the Apostle uses "in faith," or "from faith," Romans XIV, 23, namely for that which is done according to credulity and the dictate of conscience, by which someone believes this or that is lawful for him to do without scruple of sin. Furthermore, Lyra, reading "irreverence" for reverence, thus explains: It is not good, he says, for a disciple to have some irreverence toward the teacher, by despising or neglecting his doctrine. And not all the teacher's sayings "please well in faith" to all disciples, that is, although they are in accord with faith, yet they do not please them, because they are imbued with another opinion, as if to say: On account of such displeasure, however, they ought not to show some irreverence; for each one abounds in his own sense. Thus Lyra and Dionysius. But Palacius: It is not good, he says, to have all shamelessness and impudence; it is not good altogether to lack bashfulness, for neither are things done impudently pleasing to all, as if they were done faithfully. Let one be ashamed therefore to do before all what will not please all, indeed will displease many; because they are ashamed of the constancy of virtue. Mystically Rabanus: "And not all things please all in faith. For not the same exhortation suits all, because nor does the same quality of manners bind all. For often things which profit some harm others; because also very often herbs which nourish these animals kill others; and a gentle hiss soothes horses, incites puppies; and a medicine which diminishes this disease adds strength to another; and bread which strengthens the life of the strong, kills the little ones. According to the quality therefore of the hearers, the discourse of Teachers ought to be formed; so that it may suit each in his own way, and yet never depart from the art of common edification."
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Demades excellently said that shame in a woman is the citadel of beauty. And Demetrius of Phaleron admonished young men "to revere themselves at home before their parents, on the road before those they meet, in solitude before themselves." For shame most excellently deters young men from sinning, which is never absent if one reveres himself. Thus Laertius, book V, chapter v. Socrates asserted "that a hospitable God dwells among men who are partakers of just shame." He taught his disciples likewise "to preserve these three things in all their life: prudence in the mind, modesty in the countenance, silence in speech." Thus Maximus, sermon 41: Echerus said "that Jupiter the thunderer favors the modest and shamefaced." Democritus: "Evil," he says, "even if you alone were to do it, you should neither speak nor do. But learn to revere yourself much more than others." Thus Stobaeus, sermon 29. Wisely Isocrates instructs Demonicus, saying: "Never doing anything base, hope that you will escape notice. For even if you escape the notice of others, you yourself will be conscious of it. Act as if you do everything as though no one escapes your notice; for even if you now escape notice, you will afterwards be seen." The second thing of which we ought to be ashamed: AND BEFORE THE RULER AND THE POWERFUL CONCERNING FALSEHOOD. — Note: The Greek ἀπὸ, which our author translates as "before," is taken for "before" or "in the presence of"; for it denotes the person before whom, or in whose presence, or on account of whom (which the Hebrews call מפני mippene, that is, from the face, in the sight) there is cause for shame; just as מאת, that is, "concerning," denotes the object or matter of shame. Whence the Zurich version translates: "Be ashamed of fornication before father or mother; of falsehood before the ruler and the one holding power"; others: "Be ashamed of fornication on account of father and mother, and of falsehood on account of the ruler and the powerful." For rulers and magistrates, just as they arm themselves with the truthful and truth, as being necessary for judging rightly, deliberating, and governing: so on the other hand they hate liars and falsehood; for they do not wish to be deceived and led into error; especially because their principal gift and praise is wisdom, to which fraud and falsity are contrary; and because falsehood among them greatly harms the commonwealth and the public good; whence we see that rulers, when falsely informed by flatterers concerning the state of the commonwealth and of their subjects, govern most badly and destroy the commonwealth.
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The fourth is: BEFORE THE SYNAGOGUE AND THE PEOPLE CONCERNING INIQUITY. — Zurich version: "Be ashamed of crime before the assembly and the people"; because if before the assembly and people you do something unjust against its privileges, laws (for ἀνομία is that which is against laws and outside the law), customs; you will stir up all against you; so that they will pursue you with hatred and reproaches, and fine you in goods or life, according to that in chapter VII: "Do not sin against the multitude of the city, nor cast yourself into the people." For if you sin against one, you will fear one avenger; but if against the people, you will stir up the whole of it against you: one can be appeased, but how will you appease the whole multitude? Rehoboam experienced this and lost the kingdom of ten tribes, II Kings chapter XII. Wisely therefore Isocrates instructs Demonicus, saying: "Withdraw from common administrations not richer, but more glorious; for praise from the multitude is better than much money. Avoid calumnies, even false ones; because the common people regard not so much truth as reputation. Consider that nothing human is stable. For thus you will be neither excessively joyful in good fortune, nor excessively sad in misfortune."
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The sixth is: CONCERNING THE PLACE IN WHICH YOU DWELL, CONCERNING THEFT. — For "of," in Greek it is the preposition ἀπό, which, as I said a little before, Our author translates as "from," that is, before, with, on account of. Whence the Complutensian and Roman editions translate "from the place"; Our author translates "of the place"; because the place is not a person, as are father, prince, judge, and the others preceding, to which accordingly he prefixed the preposition "from," that is, before. But, because by place he understands the persons inhabiting the place, hence you may more conveniently translate it "from the place." The Zurich edition: "Let theft in the place which you inhabit shame you," that is to say, Be ashamed to steal in the place where you dwell, both because it is shameful to defile your home and neighborhood with theft, so that you hear from your neighbors "thief," and all shun you as infamous and curse you; for who would not fear a thieving neighbor regarding his own possessions? and also because the place, for example the fatherland, has begotten us, educated us, nourished us and sustains us: wherefore it demands the highest fidelity from us. Therefore it is unworthy if we vex it with theft and plunder it. How then can you bear the common infamy by which all your people mark you? how in turn can your fellow citizens tolerate you as a public thief? Furthermore, what he adds: CONCERNING THE TRUTH OF GOD, AND THE TESTAMENT, — Jansenius thinks this clause has crept in from the following chapter verse 2, and should be deleted, because it does not have an attached matter, namely a sin, concerning which one should be ashamed. But the Latin and Greek codices read it consistently; wherefore it should be referred both to theft and to the five preceding offenses, that is to say, Be ashamed of theft, and of the five other crimes already enumerated, of (in Greek ἐπί), that is, before, or on account of "the truth of God, and the testament," that is, the law; because namely the truth of God, that is, equity, justice and that law, forbid them and threaten grave punishments for them; so that he may distinguish these six from the following ones, in which he will enumerate certain things to be ashamed of, not because they are crimes, but because they are dishonorable and unbecoming. The Zurich edition translates: "Let shame come upon you before the truth of God, and the covenant"; others: "On account of the truth of God, and the testament." Secondly, Lyra: "Concerning the truth of God, and the testament," he says, "in transgressing, man ought to be ashamed; because God sees everywhere." And Dionysius: "Everywhere," he says, "and always, and be greatly ashamed of the violation and dishonoring of the truth of the divine law, and of its precepts; because the Most High himself beholds all things." Otherwise Palacius, who refers these to the following "concerning reclining at table with bread." "Be ashamed," he says, "before the truth of God, and his testament; lest you recline at table with bread in the worship of idols." For it is certain that formerly idolaters had the practice of eating idol-offerings in the worship of their gods, according to that: "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play," Exodus chapter XXXII. Indeed, even the faithful ate in the worship of the true God, according to that: "You shall feast before the Lord your God, you and your son," Deuteronomy XVI. Be ashamed therefore to recline at table to eat before false gods, when the truth of God, and the testament, which you made with him, forbids you. There is one true God; therefore you will worship him: again, you made a covenant with the one God: why, the covenant violated, do you worship false gods? Mystically Rabanus thus explains these six shameful things: "In a higher sense," he says, "before mother Church, and Father God, he is ashamed of fornication, who follows the idolatry of the Gentiles, or the folly of heretics; for the soul, which, abandoning the fellowship of God, follows the error of the perverse, spiritually fornicates: whence also it will be condemned. But he is ashamed before the ruler, and before the powerful of lying, who before the eyes of divine majesty is convicted of being a transgressor of his pledge, which he promised in the reception of baptism."
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But that these are either secondary matters or mystical is clear from the Greek, which has, "and from the fixing of the elbow upon breads," that is, as the Complutensian and Roman editions have it, from the fixing of the elbow in breads; others read "upon breads," that is, above breads. The sense is, as if to say, On the table let it shame you to fix your elbow upon bread and to lean upon it, as pagans and rustics do. For this is, first, rustic and uncivil: whence Grobbianus (thus is called the little book On Civility, or rather on the incivility of manners), among other acts of rusticity and incivility assigns and censures this one specifically; second, this is a sign of irreverence toward God; for we ought to reverence Him in foods and His gifts with a modest and grateful mouth and gesture; for He feeds us freely in these things from our youth; third, this is a sign of pride; for he who leans upon bread seems to be the master of the table and the feast, and wishes to dominate all the guests, as if he were feeding them with his bread and could deny it to them if he wished; fourth, this is a sign of gluttony; for thus the gluttonous Hebrews, sighing for the pots of flesh, said to Moses: "Would God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat upon the pots of flesh, and ate bread in fullness!" Exodus XVI, 3. Thus swine lean upon husks, and cattle upon pastures. Symbolically, the rich man reclines upon breads who places the hope of his life in the abundance of his fruits and riches, or in the excellence of his art, as did he who ambitiously said to himself: "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years: take thy rest; eat, drink, and make good cheer." Wherefore God said to him: "Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and the things which thou hast provided, whose shall they be?" Luke XII, 19. This sense is hinted at by the Zurich edition, when it translates: Do not place your elbow in preparing food, as if to say, Do not lean upon and trust in the art of preparing for yourselves food and riches. The eighth is "the obscuring of what is given and received;" obscuring is the darkening of reputation, namely infamy, as if to say, Be ashamed of the infamy which you will incur if you cannot give a just account and reckoning of what is given and received, if you have received more than you have expended, if you cannot make the sum of what you received equal to the sum of what you gave and expended; for this will convict you either of being a thief or a squanderer and prodigal of another's property entrusted to you. For the book of accounts of what is given and received ought to be clear, not obscured. Be ashamed therefore if some darkness has obscured the book of expenditures, so that you cannot render a complete account of your debt, says Palacius. Again be ashamed if you have given or received gifts to pervert justice, or to accomplish something base or another crime. Likewise if you have marred an accepted benefit with an unworthy recompense. Thus Lyra, Dionysius, Jansenius. For "obscuring" in Greek is σκορακισμός, which the Complutensian edition translates as "contempt"; others, "darkening": for κόραξ, that is, raven, is said to be derived from κόρη, that is, black, because it is very black; others, "contemptuous rejection"; the Zurich edition, "vituperation": Do not, it says, either in giving or receiving incur vituperation; for σκορακισμός, says Hesychius, is χλευασμός, ἀπάτη, φαυλισμός, ἀποδοκιμασία, that is, vituperation, darkening, fraud, contumely, imposture: for σκορακίζω is the same as I vituperate, darken, revile, defame, εἰς κόρακας ἀποπέμπω, that is, I send to ravens, I consign to perdition, I cast out, I condemn, I pursue with hatred. Hence the sense could be, as if to say, Do not act like a raven, do not be rapacious, do not darken yourself by rapacity; for ravens steal apples, etc., and carry them into their nest, and never return or restore them. Mystically Rabanus refers these things to the avaricious man: "He who," he says, "through stinginess does not give to his neighbors those things which he received from God to be held in common with all others."
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Otherwise our Salazar, in Proverbs cap. XXVII, num. 78: "Be ashamed of greeting in silence;" that is, he says, be ashamed to greet others "amid the silence of night," as if to say: Do not be an early-morning greeter, or a nocturnal and importunate greeter, according to that Prov. XXVII, 14: "He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curseth," as if to say: Whoever greets with loud clamor at an unseasonable hour of the night, on account of the grave annoyance which he brings to those greeted, disturbing their sleep and throwing them into confusion; such a one will be reckoned no different from those who curse and pray evil. Thus therefore "in silence" is the same as "in the night," or in silent night. But this sense appears more obscure and less customary. Add that the Greek περί, that is "concerning," in this place denotes not time, but the matter concerning which one should be ashamed; just as ἀπό, that is "from," denotes persons, as I said at verse 21. To this pertains that saying of Isocrates to Demonicus: "In manners indeed you should be an easy greeter, but in words a good greeter. For it is the part of an easy greeter to address those you meet; but of a good greeter, to receive them humanely with words themselves." Furthermore the Syriac paraphrases this aphorism thus: Whoever is greeted and is silent, he himself is a great defrauder: the greeting which you have imparted to him, he does not return to you; the deposit which you give to him, thus he returns to you. Thus it comes to pass that those who do not return greetings, neither do they return deposits. Excellent is the saying: "Always return a greeting, indeed greet first." Thus the Blessed Virgin greeted Elizabeth first, and filled her and her child with the Holy Spirit. Thus the Apostle in all his epistles greets the faithful dutifully: "Salute," he says, "every saint in Christ Jesus. They that are with me salute you, brethren. All the saints salute you," Philip. IV. Where Ambrosiaster: "The greeting of brethren," he says, "affords mutual consolation: for it exhibits as it were images of those torn away." Finally, honor (such as greeting is) is in the one honoring and greeting, not in the one honored and greeted. Except one case, namely when someone is occupied with higher matters, such as prayers, contemplation, sacrifice; then indeed the whole mind must be given to God, so that one does not return those greeting, indeed does not hear or see them. For which reason Eliseus commanded Giezi, that when about to raise the dead he should gather his whole mind in God imploring his aid, and greet no one on the way, IV Kings IV, 29. The same Christ commanded the seventy-two disciples, when he sent them to preach, Luke X, 4. And St. Charles Borromaeus at Rome, making the customary seven stations of the basilicas, was so occupied with prayers and God that, although greeted by parents and friends, he nevertheless returned no greeting to anyone. The same did our Blessed Aloysius Gonzaga. The same I beheld many doing at Rome in the jubilee year 1625, with great pleasure of spirit. A similar silence was cultivated by the disciples of Pythagoras, and therefore they held fish in honor, because these by their nature are silent and mute. Whence Plutarch, in the Symposiacs, says that the Pythagoreans abstained from eating fish out of reverence, because they recognized these as it were as domestic to their discipline, on account of ἐχεμυθία, that is silence, which among animals is proper to fish; for all others have their own voice. Aristotle gives the reason, lib. IV Hist. anim., cap. IX, that fish have neither lung, nor throat, nor artery, which three are required for voice. Athenaeus adds that the Pythagoreans alone do not taste fish, as if sacred on account of the silence which Pythagoras taught. Therefore just as he who converses with the king, it is not permitted him to return the greeting of one greeting him, or to answer one questioning: so much more ought he who converses with God in prayer to do the same. For this is required by the majesty of the Godhead, honor and reverence, before which all officious courtesy of greeting ought to cease. The tenth is: be ashamed "from respect," in Greek ὁράσεως, that is from sight, inspection, "of a fornicating woman;" the Zurich version: Be ashamed to look upon a harlot woman. For this is a sign of an unchaste and fornicating mind. For the eyes are leaders in love, and where the eye is, there is love, mind and soul. Whence Christ: "But I say unto you, that whosoever shall see a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart," Matt. V, 28. We are ashamed to look upon a foul, stinking and fetid thing, and to fix our eyes upon it; much more should we be ashamed to look upon a harlot, for what is fouler and more putrid than a harlot? It is memorable what is written in the Life of St. Ephrem, which the Author writes concerning him in these words. St. Ephrem entering the city of Edessa asked God that at his entrance he might meet a man who would begin a conversation with him from Holy Scripture. A harlot met him, and looked upon him very intently. To whom the Saint said: "Tell me, girl, why do you gaze upon me so intently with your eyes?" To whom she replied: "I gaze upon you, because I am a woman taken from you a man. But you should not gaze upon me, but upon the earth, from which you a man were taken." When St. Ephrem heard this, he glorified God, because through a harlot he had been so wisely instructed from Holy Scripture. The eleventh is: Be ashamed "from turning away the face of a kinsman," that is "from a kinsman;" in Greek, ἀπὸ ἀποστροφῆς προσώπου συγγενοῦς (the Complutensian edition reads εὐγενοῦς, that is noble), which the Zurich version renders: Be ashamed to turn your face away from a kinsman; others: Be ashamed on account of the turned-away face of a kinsman. For if you turn your face away from him, he in turn will turn his away from you. Otherwise Jansenius: He admonishes, he says, that one should be ashamed of the turning away of the face of a kinsman, that is, of the fact that his face and appearance is despised. For thus it is said "turning away of the face of a kinsman," just as in Psalm CXXXI: "Turn not away the face of thy anointed;" for do not despise, nor reject the face of thy anointed; for turning away of the face is a sign of contempt. Whence the proud, when they rise from humble to high estate, disdain to look upon and greet their kinsmen and relatives, which arrogance Sirach here censures. The twelfth: "Turn not away thy face from thy neighbor." This clause is lacking in the Greek; whence Jansenius suspects that it has crept into the Latin, and has been inserted into the text from some version or commentary; for it seems to be merely an exposition of the preceding clause. Yet the Latin manuscripts consistently have this clause; whence it seems that it once existed in the Greek, especially because it is one thing to turn away the face from a kinsman, another from a neighbor. Therefore, after he has admonished that the face should not be turned away from kinsmen, he admonishes the same thing should not be done to any neighbor whatsoever, however foreign, poor, vile and miserable. For we are all neighbors, that is brothers, created by the same God, descended from the same father Adam and mother Eve, redeemed by the same blood of Christ, reborn in the same baptism, united in the same Church, faith, hope and charity. Wherefore it is shameful and unworthy to turn away from such a one, and to turn one's face from him. The thirteenth: Be ashamed "from taking away a portion, and not restoring it," as if to say: Be ashamed to take away from a kinsman or neighbor a portion due to him by right of inheritance or some other similar right, and to retain it, and not restore it to him; for this is continuous violence and injustice. It properly censures those who, from the fact that something is to be divided among several, take away some portions for themselves, as if they would later restore them, and return them to the common fund; but when they have consumed them, or possess them securely, they do not think of restoring them. The Greek texts have it otherwise, namely ἀπὸ ἀφαιρέσεως μερίδος καὶ δόσεως, that is from the taking away of a portion and a gift; the Zurich version: Be ashamed to defraud someone of his portion or gift; others: Be ashamed on account of a portion taken away and a gift, as if to say: When something has been given to a kinsman or neighbor, or left to him by will, which he is to divide with you; do not you despoil him of his portion and gift, so that you wish to claim and seize everything for yourself. For this is tyranny, a lion's partnership, and public theft. Our translator seems to have read for καὶ δόσεως the words ἄνευ ἀποδόσεως, that is without restitution, that is not restoring.
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Complutensian: Do not stand at her chamber; Zurich: Be ashamed to lie with a woman joined to a man, to attempt the chastity of some maidservant, and to approach her bed; others: Be ashamed on account of contemplation of a married woman, on account of curious solicitation of her maidservant, and do not stand at her bed. The fourteenth thing most shameful is the curious gaze and regard of a married woman; for this is the sign and beginning of adultery, which is so great a reproach among all nations, such an injury to family and commonwealth, that husbands equally with judges almost everywhere avenge it with death. Akin to this is to tempt her maidservant, for the honor of the maidservant is the honor of the mistress, the husband, and the whole house. Palacius somewhat differently, as if to say: Be ashamed, do not covet another's wife, nor from her maidservant inquire what her mistress does, soliciting her to procure her mistress for lewdness; nor stand by night outside wandering about the house where her bed is, namely the mistress's. Thus the Author deters from coveting another's wife, and from soliciting her servant to solicit her mistress; and from going about the place where another's wife has her bed. This sense is very fitting and appropriate, and the phrase do not inquire hints at it, and pimps are accustomed to prepare themselves access to mistresses through maidservants. Mystically, Rabanus: "The maidservant," he says, "is carnal desire, which ought to have been subject to the empire of the spirit, according to that which the Lord said to Cain: His desire shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over him, Genesis IV, 7. But she, turned about the other way, dominates in the conversation of the reprobate. Therefore we are forbidden to inquire into this maidservant, that is, to be subject to her suggestions; and to stand at her bed, namely to recline in her delights. Whence wisdom in Proverbs reproves this woman luxuriating in her chamber and enticing others to her mixture, and forbids us to lean upon her ways, saying: Now therefore, my son, hear me, and attend to the words of my mouth; Proverbs VII: Let not thy mind be drawn away in her paths: neither be thou deceived with her ways; for she hath cast down many wounded, and the strongest have been slain by her. The ways of her house are the ways to hell, going down to the chambers of death."
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The fifteenth is this shameful thing. The sixteenth follows at the beginning of the next chapter, which therefore Palacius, Zurich, and others attach to this chapter. Mystically our Alvarez de Paz explains all these things thus, On the Mortification of the Inner Man, Book II, Part III, Chapter III: These, he says, shall be for thee an occasion of shame, if in the sight of thy parents, namely Christ and the Church, loving a created thing immoderately, thou hast been spiritually fornicated: if thou hast lied before God the judge of all and almighty: if thou hast sinned in anything in the sight of the same judge and maker of thee: if thou hast scandalized the people or congregation in which thou livest by iniquity: if thou hast injured a companion: if in thy house thou hast been noted for theft committed against the law of God: if at a banquet, being proud, thou hast chosen the first seats: if not satisfying thy office, thou hast blackened thy reputation: if those greeting thee thou hast not greeted on account of arrogance: if with intent or immodest or incautious eyes thou hast looked upon a beautiful woman: if, raised to greater dignity, thou hast despised relatives or friends held in humble station. For these and other similar things, which are sins, thou must be ashamed: but for those which thou hast received from nature by the order of divine providence, no shame is to be had.
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.