We must not presume of our wealth or strength: nor of the mercy of God, to go on in sin: we must be steadfast in virtue and truth.
Let not riches, youth, nor streingth hold thee in sinne: 5. but do penance for sinnes remitted, and adde not sinne vpon sinne. 6. Neither presume to sinne, because God is merciful. 10. Be not couetous, nor vnconstant. 13. Be meeke in lerning, and careful in teaching. 16. not a bat•maker, nor duble tongued.
1Set not thy heart upon unjust possessions, and say not: I have enough to live on: for it shall be of no service in the time of vengeance and darkness.Non confidare nelle inique ricchezze, e non dire; io ho abbastanza da vivere; perocché ciò non gioverà nulla nel tempo della vendetta, e della oscurità.ATTEND not to vniust possessions, and say not: I haue sufficient liuelihood: for it shal nothing profite in the time of vengeance & affliction.Noli attendere ad possessiones iniquas, / et ne dixeris: Est mihi sufficiens vita: / nihil enim proderit in tempore vindictæ et obductionis. 2Follow not in thy strength the desires of thy heart:Perché tu sii forte, non seguire i pravi desiderj del tuo cuore:Folow not in thy strength the concupiscence of thy hart:Ne sequaris in fortitudine tua concupiscentiam cordis tui, 3And say not: How mighty am I? and who shall bring me under for my deeds? for God will surely take revenge.E non dire: Gran possanza è la mia! ovvero: chi mi farà render conto delle opere mie? Perocché Dio ne farà atroce vendetta.and say not: How mightie am I? and who shal bring me vnder for my factes? for God reuenging wil reuenge.et ne dixeris: Quomodo potui ? / aut, Quis me subjiciet propter facta mea ? / Deus enim vindicans vindicabit. 4Say not: I have sinned, and what harm hath befallen me? for the most High is a patient rewarder.Non dire: Ho peccato, e che me n'è venuto di male? perocché l'Altissimo è pagatore benché paziente.Say not: I haue sinned, and what sorowful thing hath chanced to me? For the Highest is a patient rewarder.Ne dixeris: Peccavi: et quid mihi accidit triste ? / Altissimus enim est patiens redditor. 5Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin:Del peccato rimesso non esserne senza timore: e non aggiungere peccato a peccato.Of sinne forgeuen be not without feare, neither adde thou sinne vpon sinne.De propitiatio peccato noli esse sine metu, / neque adjicias peccatum super peccatum. 6And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins.E non dire: La bontà del Signore è grande: egli avrà misericordia de' molti peccati miei.And say not: The mercie of our Lord is great, he wil haue mercie on the multitude of my sinnes.Et ne dicas: Miseratio Domini magna est, / multitudinis peccatorum meorum miserebitur: 7For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his wrath looketh upon sinners.Imperocché la misericordia, e l'ira da lui si partono speditamente: e l'ira di lui tien l'occhio fisso sul peccatore.For mercie and wrath quickly approch from God, and his wrath looketh vpon sinners.misericordia enim et ira ab illo cito proximant, / et in peccatores respicit ira illius. 8Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day.Non tardare a convertirti al Signore, e non differire di un dì all'altro.Slacke not to be conuerted to our Lord, and differre not from day to day.Non tardes converti ad Dominum, / et ne differas de die in diem:
9For his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee.Perocché repentinamente scoppia l'ira di lui, ed egli nel tempo della vendetta ti sperderà.For his wrath shal come sodainly, and in the time of vengeance he wil destroy thee.subito enim veniet ira illius, / et in tempore vindictæ disperdet te. 10Be not anxious for goods unjustly gotten: for they shall not profit thee in the day of calamity and revenge.Non essere ansioso di ingiusto ricchezze; perocché non gioveranno a te nel tempo della oscurità, e della vendetta.Be not careful in vniust riches: for they shal not profite thee in the day of obduction and vengeance.Noli anxius esse in divitiis injustis: / non enim proderunt tibi in die obductionis et vindictæ. 11Winnow not with every wind, and go not into every way: for so is every sinner proved by a double tongue.Non ti volgere ad ogni vento, e non camminare per ogni strada; perocché di ciò si convince reo ogni peccatore, che ha due lingue.Tosse not thy self into euerie winde, and goe not into euerie way: for so euerie sinner is proued by a duble tongue.Non ventiles te in omnem ventum, / et non eas in omnem viam: / sic enim omnis peccator probatur in duplici lingua. 12Be steadfast in the way of the Lord, and in the truth of thy judgment, and in knowledge, and let the word of peace and justice keep with thee.Sta tu costante nella via del Signore, e nella verità de' tuoi sentimenti, e nella tua scienza: e teco venga la parola di pace, e di giustizia.Be stedfast in the way of our Lord, & in the truth of thy vndestanding and in knowlege, and let the word of peace and iustice accompanie thee.Esto firmus in via Domini, / et in veritate sensus tui et scientia: / et prosequatur te verbum pacis et justitiæ. 13Be meek to hear the word, that thou mayst understand: and return a true answer with wisdom.Ascolta con mansuetudine la parola affin di capirla, e per dare con saggezza una risposta verace.Be milde to heare the word, thou maist vnderstand: and with wisdom vtter thou a true answer.Esto mansuetus ad audiendum verbum, ut intelligas, / et cum sapientia proferas responsum verum. 14If thou have understanding, answer thy neighbour: but if not, let thy hand be upon thy mouth, lest thou be surprised in an unskilful word, and be confounded.Se tu hai intelligenza rispondi al tuo prossimo, se no, mettiti il dito alla bocca, affin di non restar preso per qualche parola imprudente, ed averne vergogna.If thou haue vnderstanding, answer thy neighbour: but if not, let thine hand be vpon thy mouth, lest thou be taken in an vnskilful word, and be confounded.Si est tibi intellectus, responde proximo: / sin autem, sit manus tua super os tuum, / ne capiaris in verbo indisciplinato, et confundaris.
15Honour and glory is in the word of the wise, but the tongue of the fool is his ruin.L'onore, e la gloria (seguono) il discorso dell'uom sensato; ma la lingua dell'imprudente è sua rovina.Honour and glorie in the word of the wise, but the tongue of the vnwise is his subuersion.Honor et gloria in sermone sensati: / lingua vero imprudentis subversio est ipsius. 16Be not called a whisperer, and be not taken in thy tongue, and confounded.Guardati dal nome di detrattore, e che la tua lingua non sia tuo laccio, e tua vergogna.Be not called a whisperer and be not taken in thy tongue, & confoundedNon appelleris susurro, / et lingua tua ne capiaris et confundaris: 17For confusion and repentance is upon a thief, and an evil mark of disgrace upon the double tongued, but to the whisperer hatred, and enmity, and reproach.Perocché la confusione, e il pentimento sta sopra il ladro; e infamia grandissima sopra l'uom di due lingue: al detrattore poi è serbato l'odio, la nimicizia, e l'obbrobrio.For vpon a theefe is confusion & repentance, and a verie euil condemnation vpon the duble tongued, but to the whisperer hatred, and emnitie, and contumelie.super furem enim est confusio et pœnitentia, / et denotatio pessima super bilinguem: / susurratori autem odium, et inimicitia, et contumelia. 18Justify alike the small and the great.Rendi giustizia egualmente al piccolo, e al grande.Iustifie thou the litle one, and the great alike.Justifica pusillum / et magnum similiter.
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Worthington
Heart. If no man can oppose thee, remember God's judgments. (Worthington)
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How mighty am I? is not in Greek, though read by St. Cyprian and St. Augustine, Spec.
Calmet
Sennacherib's vain boasting was soon punished, Isaias 37:36. (Calmet)
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Rewarder. Greek, "is long-suffering, he will not let thee escape."
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Haydock
And add. Greek, "to add." Take not occasion from God's goodness to offend him. (Haydock)
Jansenius
He will punish at last. (Jansenius)
Calmet
Though you may have taken pains to repent, are you assured of being forgiven? (Ecclesiastes 9:1.) A relapse calls for greater severity, though the graces of God are without repentance, Romans 11:29. He does not recall his favours, but he hates the ungrateful, ver. 6. (Bellarmine, Just. 3:4.) (Calmet)
Worthington
Satisfaction must be made even after the sin has been remitted. (Worthington)
Menochius
This may be feared. (Menochius)
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Haydock
Looketh. Greek, "shall rest" in hell, to punish the abuse of mercy. (Haydock)
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Drusius
Day. A rabbin being asked when one must repent? answered, the day before death. But we know not when that will take place! Then, replied he, we must repent to-day. (Drusius)
St. Augustine
"God has promised thee pardon, if thou repent, but he has not promised thee to-morrow." (St. Augustine, Psalm cxiv.)
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The way. Greek, "thy knowledge or sentiment, and let thy speech be one," (Haydock) that men may depend upon thee.
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St. Augustine
Word. Complutensian adds, "of God." But the Roman edition has, "be quick to hear, and answer slowly," James 1:19. "It is safer to hear than to preach." (St. Augustine, lix. in John)
Worthington
Constancy in virtue will obtain the promised peace. (Worthington)
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Haydock
Lest. Greek, "honour and infamy is in speech; and the tongue of man proves his ruin." (Haydock)
Calmet
Nothing can be productive of better or of worse consequences, Proverbs 18:21. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Be. Greek, "ensnare not by thy tongue, (17.) for evil confusion is upon the thief, and great condemnation on the double-tongued. (18.) Be not ignorant in any thing, great or small." (Haydock)
The detractor is more dangerous than the thief. He pierces without being seen, Ecclesiastes 10:11., Proverbs 26:20., and Romans 1:29.
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Calmet
Great. Only examine the justice of the cause; or, according to the Greek, commit no fault of ignorance, nor say, "I did not think." (Calmet)
Haydock
Acknowledge thy friend in his poverty, as well as in his greatness. (Haydock)
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Though thou be so potent, that no man can hinder thy euil de signment; yet do it not because God wil punish it.
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After that sinne is forgeuen there remaineth of•e• times punishment for satisfaction.
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Couering, or death.
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Concordance Prou 10. v. 4.
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Constancie in good purpose, meriteth
the promised peace, and iust reward.
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.36
In Solomon, in Ecclesiasticus: “Say not, I have sinned, and what sorrow hath happened to me? For the Highest is a patient repayer.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 23.3
… but all will have a place in the barn. Yesterday I said all this, to-day I am addressing the tares; but the sheep themselves are the tares. O evil Christians, O ye, who in filling only press the Church by your evil lives; amend yourselves before the harvest come. “Say not, I have sinned, and what hath befallen me?”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount 2.14
… not, he will hate. For almost no one’s conscience can hate God; but he despises, i.e. he does not fear Him, as if feeling himself secure in consideration of His goodness. From this carelessness and ruinous security the Holy Spirit recalls us, when He says by the prophet, “My son, do not add sin upon sin, and say, The mercy of God is great ;”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 4
… foolish, I say, not because He is not good, but in that we keep thinking that His goodness will be available to us for these purposes, though I have again and again used ten thousand arguments on this subject. Listen to the Scripture, which saith, “Say not, His mercy is great, He will be pacified for the multitude of my sins.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 28
… for mercy and wrath come from Him, and His indignation resteth upon sinners” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 20
… ii. 18 . ) But if ye repent not, ye shall “fall into the hands of” God: that is fearful: it is nothing, to “fall into the hands of men.” When, he means, we see any man punished here, let us not be terrified at the things present, but shudder at the things to come. “For according to His mercy, so is His wrath.”
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.98
In Solomon, in Ecclesiasticus: “Delay not to be converted to God, and do not put off from day to day; for His anger cometh suddenly.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 65
Why could this have been? Because the devil is at hand fierce, desiring to find some secret approach; and though it be but a little hindrance or delay he takes hold of, he works a great remissness. Therefore one adviseth, “Put not off from day to day.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 22
… For, for this reason, that we may not make traffic of our death, it is left in uncertainty. Wherefore also a certain wise man adviseth, saying, “Make no tarrying to turn unto the Lord, and put not off from day to day: for thou knowest not what to-morrow shall bring forth.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 37.11
… Therefore for the sake of these again whose hope is wrong, doth the Householder go forth. As He went forth to those who had despaired wrongly, and were lost in their despair, and called them back to hope; so doth He go forth to these also who would perish through an evil hope; and by another book He saith to them, “Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 145.7
… “Whensoever I turn, God will forgive me all; I will do whatsoever I will.” Say not then, “To-morrow I will turn, to-morrow I will please God; and all to-day’s and yesterday’s deeds shall be forgiven me.” Thou sayest true: God hath promised pardon to thy conversion; He hath not promised a to-morrow to thy delay.
Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistles of Pope Pontianus 2
… the tongue of the unwise is his fall. Be not called a whisperer, and be not caught in thy tongue, and confounded. For confusion and penitence are upon the thief, and the worst condemnation upon the double-tongued. Moreover, for the whisperer there is hatred, and enmity, and shame. Justify the small and the great alike.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall 2.4
… For I recollect hearing you often say, when many were exhorting you to frequent the schools; “But what if I bring my life to a bad end in a short space of time, how shall I depart to Him who has said ‘Delay not to turn to the Lord, nor put off day after day?’”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Three Homilies Concerning the Power of Demons 2.5
… Dost thou not see men taken away prematurely day after day? On this account a certain one admonishes “make no tarrying to turn to the Lord and put not off from day to day,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 220.5
… and I believe that it is to afford you an opportunity of doing this in the way in which it ought to be done, that the Lord is now sparing you and delivering you from all dangers. But if you will listen to the counsel of Scripture, I pray you, “make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, and put not off from day to day.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 33.8
… To those who are in danger from hope, He says, “Be not slow to be converted to the Lord, neither put it off from day to day; for suddenly His anger will come, and in the time of vengeance, will utterly destroy thee.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 20.5
… So, a heretic, if he happen to hear these words, immediately rises and says to us, “Lo, the Son is less than the Father; hear the words of the Son, who says, ‘The Son cannot do anything of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing.’” Wait; as it is written, “Be meek to hear the word, that thou mayest understand.”
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Pseudo-Clement The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle 11
… “Let not many be teachers among you, my brethren, and be not all of you prophets.” For “he who does not transgress in word is a perfect man, able to keep down and subjugate his whole body.” And, “If a man speak, let him speak in the words of God.” And, “If there is in thee understanding, give an answer to thy brother but if not, put thy hand on thy mouth.”
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1. DO NOT ATTEND TO UNJUST POSSESSIONS. — "To unjust" is not in the Greek, Syriac and Arabic; for thus the Greek and Syriac have it: Do not trust in thy riches, the Arabic: Do not trust in thy herds. For the Hebrew word מקנה micne signifies both possessions and cattle, or herds; for in these consisted the property of the ancients, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, theirs. For these things, when seen, entice, and like a magnet draw even iron with force. The same, I know not whether more powerfully, that golden color of gold effects: therefore do not attend to it. It is a basilisk, that which thou attendest to, a golden splendor: except that that kills the body, this kills the soul. Therefore, just as he who finds a viper in his garment does not delay to look at it; but as quickly as he can, he shakes it off and flees: so he who has unjust gold in his chest, as quickly as he can, let him destroy the gold and flee. AND SAY NOT: I HAVE SUFFICIENT LIVELIHOOD. — "Livelihood," that is, sustenance, and the necessities of life. In Greek: I have sufficient for life, that is to say, I myself am sufficient to myself by my riches, I need another, I have need of no one; for I am sufficient to myself by mine own, nay, abounding; for thus in Greek he is called αὐτάρκης. Thus we see the rich esteem themselves to be sufficient to themselves. The Syriac, say not: I have enough; the Arabic, say not: My substance is great; the Zurich, say not: I am abundantly furnished for my life, that is to say, I have riches, so that I may live a luxurious, splendid, long life, as that rich man said in the Gospel to his soul, Luke chapter XII, 19: "Soul, thou hast much laid up for many years; take thy rest, eat, drink, and make good cheer." And therefore immediately "God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee; and the things that thou hast provided, whose shall they be? So is it with him that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." In Greek πλουτών, that is, becoming rich; so that, namely, through almsdeeds and other good works he may become rich before God, and so that through love and hope in God, so as to please Him and enjoy Him, he may strive, and lay up many merits and protections before God as it were riches, and there possess them laid up. Wherefore rightly the Royal Psalmist admonishes: "If riches abound, set not your heart upon them," Psalm LXI, 11. FOR NOTHING SHALL PROFIT IN THE TIME OF VENGEANCE AND CALAMITY. — The Zurich, of aggression, that is, of punishment and calamity, as I said chapter II, verse 2, especially of death, in which for the avaricious and unjust all things are covered over and shut up, and for his avarice, deceits and robberies sharp vengeance shall be taken by God. Falsely therefore, O avaricious man, dost thou believe unjust riches sufficient to thee for life, inasmuch as they provoke God to take away thy life from thee. Because thou believest in them that thou hast sufficient life, hence by this very thing thou stirrest up God to take away thy life from thee, so that thou mayest understand that it is not Job, etc., possession and riches. Others, do not lean upon thy riches; for this is what the Greek μη ἐπέχε signifies, in Hebrew אל השען al tiscan. Others for ἐπέχε read ἐπίχαιρε, and translate it, do not rejoice in thy riches. Our author therefore, as having the older, so also the fuller Greek exemplar, in which was contained the unjust, as will appear verse 11. For Sirach admonishes us not to covet riches, especially through unjust gains, as Rabanus says. Whence verse 3, the Greek Complutensian edition has, For God will avenge thy injury, by which thou hast oppressed others, as the Syriac and Arabic have, verse 14. Again he indicates unjust possessions, because they are often acquired through iniquity, according to that: "Every rich man is either unjust, or the heir of the unjust;" which St. Jerome also cites and approves in epistle 150 to Hedybia, Question I. Whence alluding to this, Christ gives to mammon the epithet of iniquity, that is, unjust, Luke XVI, verses 9 and 11, and that for a fourfold sense and reason. First, St. Jerome in chapter IV of St. Matthew: "Riches, he says, are called mammon, because they are gathered from iniquity," as if mammon were derived from מן min, that is, from, and כוונה mona, that is, violence, from the root ינה iana, that is, he inflicted force; although it is more truly derived from מכון taman, that is, he hid; for from this, with the addition of the mem heemanticum, it is called in Hebrew מכומון matmon, and in Chaldaic with the letter tet elided, for the sake of euphony, mammon and mammona, as if to say, Hidden Treasure; for riches and money are wont to be hidden. Second, riches are called riches of iniquity, or unjust, that is, unfaithful and deceitful, by a Hebraism; because they are vain and false, not true, not faithful and stable; but immediately they abandon their possessor and pass to another master. Whence alluding to this, Christ, Luke chapter XVI, verse 11, says: "If therefore you have not been faithful in the unjust mammon, who will believe you in that which is true?" Where he opposes unjust mammon to the true, namely to true riches heavenly and eternal, which cannot be taken from anyone unwilling, since earthly ones are false and deceitful, because they deceive men by the appearance of true riches; for they do not satisfy the mind, and quickly perish, and are easily taken away. Thus Theophylactus, Euthymius, Bede, Irenaeus, Cyprian, Cassian, Gaudentius, and others whom our Maldonatus cites and follows there. Third, "of iniquity;" because riches are the matter and enticements of frauds, thefts and every sin, especially of iniquity and injustice. Fourth, "of iniquity;" because the unjust and impious think them alone to be riches; for they do not know divine and heavenly ones. Thus St. Augustine, sermon 35 On the Words of the Lord. All these causes Sirach regards here. Whence in the preceding chapter, in the last verse, he forbade their desire and pursuit; here however he forbids placing hope and confidence in them, as being false and fleeting; but in the next verse he will forbid their abuse toward arrogance and pride. Note a metalepsis: for to "attend to unjust possessions" is to love them, to covet them, to scrape them together, to hope in them, to trust in them, to rejoice in them, to be proud of them; because those things which we love, covet and hope for, we frequently behold, we attend to and apply ourselves to them; where there is love, there also is the eye. Whence Palacius thus explains it, as if to say, Do not covet unjust riches. And if thou hast them, neither gaze upon them with sight; they are unworthy to be seen. The Lord commands us not to look upon wine in its splendor; nor upon a harlot beguiling in beauty the discourse is completed," Daniel chapter IV, 29. And the blasphemous and swollen Sennacherib: "Who, he says, is among all the gods of the lands, who hath delivered his land out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?" Isaiah chapter XXXVI, 20. And therefore soon the angel struck down 185,000 from his armies, and slew him himself through his sons, Isaiah XXXVII, verse 36. Wherefore Sirach subjoins: from riches, but to depend upon God; and that thy mortal avarice, injustice and presumption may be punished by death, present and eternal. The same thing the Poets admonished. Whence Ovid, book V of the Tristia, elegy 15: The shade of the rich man will bring nothing to his manes. Propertius, book III, Elegy 4: Thou shalt carry no riches to the waves of Acheron: Naked, foolish one, thou shalt be borne to the infernal boats. So also Job XXVII, 19: "The rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take nothing with him." Psalm XLVIII, 17: "Be not afraid, when a man shall be made rich, and when the glory of his house shall be multiplied; for when he dieth, he shall take nothing away;" that is, he shall take nothing.
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2. DO NOT FOLLOW IN THY STRENGTH THE DESIRE OF THY HEART, — so that thou shouldest persuade thyself and say, By my riches and strength I am strong and powerful, and therefore whatever I wish is lawful for me. For this is the voice of the rich glorying in their riches and presuming upon them. Whence Vatablus translates, neither therefore indulge the desires of thy heart by following thy mind or power; the Syriac, do not trust in thy strength, so as to walk in the desires of thy heart; the Arabic, do not have confidence in thy virtue, and do not obey thy desire. Prudently Seneca the Tragedian in the Troades: He ought, he says, to be least free, to whom most is permitted.
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3. And say not: How was I able (to do and obtain what I wished and desired? that is to say, How powerful did I become, how strong, and how I prevailed over all others; for this is what the Hebrew word יכול yachol, that is, I was able, signifies; the Syriac: Who is powerful as I?) OR WHO SHALL SUBJECT ME BECAUSE OF MY DEEDS? — The Arabic: Who will tolerate me? For the arrogance of the rich, their cupidity, rapine, ambition and domination is often intolerable. Vatablus: Who will utterly subdue me because of my crimes? Others: Who will obtain dominion over me? or, Who will rule over me? For this is what the Greek word τίς με δυναστεύσει signifies. Others: Whose power will inquire into my deeds? For the rich and proud, ascending gradually in their arrogance, think themselves to be as it were certain earthly gods; nor do they believe there is a Divine Power that can strip them of their riches, depress them and subject them. Whence they say: "Who is our Lord?" Psalm XI, verse 6. Thus Nebuchadnezzar boasted insolently, saying: "Is not this Babylon, which I have built for the house of the kingdom, in the might of my strength?" And therefore he heard God striking him with this sentence at that very moment: "Thy kingdom shall depart from thee, and they shall cast thee out from among men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts and wild animals. Thou shalt eat grass as an ox, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou knowest that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same FOR GOD INDEED AVENGING SHALL AVENGE, — that is, completely and sharply shall avenge, σού τὴν ὕβριν, that is, thy injury and insolence, as the Greek Complutensian texts add, by which, namely, thou didst oppress and afflict others. Whence the Arabic translates, The Lord is indeed the avenger of all the oppressed and afflicted; and the Syriac, The Lord is indeed the avenger of all the oppressed; but he will especially avenge the injury by which thou didst wish to cast off the yoke of God and make thyself equal to God: for God often defers and dissimulates the punishment of other sins of men, however grave; but when they rise up so that they wish to invade divinity and contend with God, and as it were wish to enter into single combat, immediately God, as a zealot for his honor, not bearing such arrogance, is wont to strike such men from heaven and blast them. As is evident from what has already been said concerning Nebuchadnezzar and Sennacherib. To these add Tyre and its king, concerning whom Ezekiel, chapter XXVIII, verse 2: "Because thy heart is lifted up, and thou hast said: I am God, and I sit in the seat of God in the heart of the sea, whereas thou art a man, and not God; and thou hast set thy heart as the heart of God, etc., therefore they shall slay and strip thee. Thou shalt die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers." And Pharaoh, proud in the riches of Egypt, concerning whom Ezekiel, chapter XXIX, verse 3: "Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, Pharao king of Egypt, great dragon, that liest in the midst of thy rivers, and sayest: The river is mine, and I made myself. And I will put a hook in thy jaws. And I will bring upon thee the sword, and will kill man and beast in thee." Thus God drowned the proud giants who fought against God in the flood, Genesis VI; and the arrogant Nemrod with his men building the tower of Babel, which would reach to heaven, he punished with the division of tongues and scattered them wandering throughout the whole world, Genesis XI.
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4. SAY NOT: I HAVE SINNED, AND WHAT EVIL HATH BEFALLEN ME? (The word "evil" is not in the Syriac and some Greek texts; nevertheless St. Augustine read it in the Mirror, and St. Cyprian in book III of the Testimonies, and the Complutensian edition has λυπηρόν, that is, evil, grave, troublesome, bitter, anxious, harmful, miserable; to which is opposed τὸ τερπνόν, that is, joyful, cheerful, pleasant, delightful, fortunate; thus indeed the rich each thing by the scale of justice examine and reward, or punish. But the same) IS A PATIENT REWARDER,—that is to say, God delays and defers to render and repay evils to the evil, because He Himself is patient; in Greek, μακρόθυμος, that is, long-suffering, both because He long-sufferingly awaits the wicked unto repentance; and because He compensates the slowness of punishment by its severity, according to that saying: "The gods have leaden feet," by which they proceed slowly to vengeance; "but iron hands," by which they inflict strong blows and stripes. Whence the Greek Complutensian adds: οὐ μή σε ἀνῇ, that is, He will not leave thee unpunished; but will punish thee the more sharply, the more slowly. The word "rewarder" is not in the Greek, Syriac and Arabic. The Arabic has it thus, say not: I have sinned, and I am not tormented. For God is most high, long in patience and benevolence; the Zurich version: say not: After I have sinned, what evil hath befallen me? For the Lord is indeed patient, but will not leave thee unpunished; for because He is most high and most powerful, hence He likewise has the highest patience, and thus in it shows His power, nay His omnipotence, namely that, being most unjustly provoked by so many injuries and crimes of men, He knows not how to be angry; but over anger, indignation, vengeance He rules, and remains serene, tranquil, patient, unperturbed, benign and merciful; but being most high likewise, He has the highest and supreme justice and vengeance, so that He permits nothing, however small, to go unpunished. Whence one mortal sin, for instance, one theft and robbery, He punishes with the eternal fires of hell. Reverence therefore, O mortals, O mighty ones, the eyes of God more mighty, and His countenance which sees all things: dread the power of God; fear the providence of God; love and embrace the patience of God; shun and flee the justice and vengeance of God. All these attributes of God therefore are noted in these three epithets of God: "He is most high, a patient rewarder;" or, as Jansenius reads it, "He is a patient rewarder." For the word "patient" denotes God's long-suffering in the delay of vengeance; but the word "rewarder" denotes His justice in inflicting just and adequate punishment. Hear St. Gregory, homily 13 on the Gospel: "God's mercy," he says, "has closed our hardness. There is now nothing by which man may find excuse. God is despised, and He waits; He sees Himself contemned, and He calls back; He receives injury from contempt of Himself; and yet sometimes even to those returning He promises rewards. But let no one neglect this His long-suffering, because He will exact so much stricter justice in judgment, as He has granted longer patience before judgment. Hence Paul says: Knowest thou not that the benignity of God leadeth thee to penance? But thou, according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God. Hence the Psalmist says: God is a just judge, strong and long-suffering. For being about to say long-suffering, he first said just; so that whom thou seest patiently bearing the sins of the delinquent for a long time, thou mayest know that he will also at some time judge strictly. Hence by a certain wise man it is said: For the most high is a patient rewarder. For He is called a patient rewarder, because He both bears with and repays the sins of men. For those whom He long tolerates, that they may be converted, if not converted, He condemns more severely." Hear also St. Paulinus, epistle 18 to Delphinus afflicted with disease: "He who prospers," he says, "in his life, and trusting in the strength of his health, says unpunished: I have sinned, and what evil hath befallen me? let him not dare to flatter himself with bodily felicity, but, bound by fear of divine power to justice, let him be corrected, while he justly dreads the avenging hand of the Lord on high for impious deeds, which he sees is severe even to the just; for if you scarcely escape without the stripes of chastisement, where shall we wicked and sinners appear?" Furthermore St. Augustine, in the book On Patience: "The patience," he says, "of God is preached, not in this, that He suffers some evil; but in this, that He waits for the wicked, that they may be converted." But if they will not be converted, as He was patient, so will He be sharp as a rewarder and avenger. St. Chrysostom notes in homily 2 on the Epistle to the Colossians that God is everywhere in Scripture called μακρόθυμον, that is, long-suffering; but nowhere is He absolutely called ὑπομένοντα, that is, patient, because he is called long-suffering who is able to avenge, even if he avenges slowly; but patient, who tolerates and is not able to avenge himself against those who wrong him and to punish them. See Plutarch, book On the Slow Vengeance of God. Finally, to this point pertains an Arabic proverb, which is found in Centuria 2, no. 15: "A man without repentance is like a river without water; and a woman without shame, like a lamp without light;" and no. 17: "O you, who have acted badly in what has passed, act well in what remains. He who does not anticipate repentance before death is wretched." Truly foolish sinners, who by sinning incur eternal damnation, lose the grace of God, forfeit charity, squander virtues, waste perpetual happiness; and yet they say joyfully and cheerfully: "I have sinned, and what sad thing has happened to me?" As if it were not most wretched to have subjected themselves to such evils and to have wasted such goods; as if the Most High were not a patient avenger, as if it were not true that mercy and wrath from Him draw near quickly, and His wrath looks upon sinners. Truly foolish, whom demons blind; just as the Philistines blinded their renowned leader Samson, and just as the Chaldeans blinded King Zedekiah, so that they might neither see the ignominious occupation of turning the mill of such useless labors, nor notice the entrance into the confusion of Babylon. the wicked, to whom all things succeed according to their wish, from the fact that God defers vengeance, promise themselves impunity, as if God either did not see, or could not punish, or did not wish, or did not care about their frauds and crimes: to whom the response is that God is the Most High, and therefore from on high sees all their crimes, is able and willing to punish them.) The Most High INDEED (has supreme power and providence, so that to add sins to sins. But the Vulgate reading must be retained, concerning sin that has been propitiated, according to the decree of the Council of Trent, session IV; for that reading carefully explains the Greek reading, as I shall show presently. Moreover, the Greek reading admits of a twofold sense; for it can be understood of propitiation past, and it can also be understood of propitiation future. Jansenius understands it of the future, and he gathers this from what follows: and add sins to sins, so that the sense is: Do not assure yourself with certainty that God will propitiate your sins, and that you will obtain forgiveness of them from Him, so that, relying on God's mercy and forgiveness to be obtained from Him, you sin more freely and accumulate sins upon sins. Thus, after the previous opinion cut off the freedom of sinning from the presumption of impunity on account of the delay of vengeance; now by this opinion he cuts off the same freedom from the presumption of easy divine mercy: which because most people trust they will easily obtain immediately, hence they freely add sins to sins; for these two things are what make men sin freely: namely, the delay of divine vengeance, and the presumption of easily obtaining God's mercy. Wherefore from this passage a sufficiently firm argument is not collected against the heresy of this time, which teaches that the faithful ought to believe with certainty that their sins have been forgiven them, and that they are just, indeed predestined, and certainly to be saved. Thus Jansenius. But others more commonly understand this passage well concerning propitiation past, and from this argue powerfully against the heresy already mentioned: for the sense is, as if to say, Be confident in penance and sacrifices for sin, prescribed in Leviticus IV, and in the Sacraments to be prescribed by Christ in the new law, that your sin has been propitiated and forgiven; yet do not be secure about it and without fear, lest perhaps your confidence, penance and disposition be false, and therefore your sin be not forgiven you; because "man knows not whether he be worthy of love or hatred," Ecclesiastes IX, 1. Again, do not be without fear: because even if the guilt be remitted, there remains nevertheless punishment for you to pay, either here or in Purgatory; and you know not whether you have made satisfaction for this punishment equally. The sense of the Greek reading is the same, as our Interpreter carefully noted, who therefore rightly and clearly translated, instead of "concerning the propitiation of sin," "concerning sin that has been propitiated." For the sense in Greek is, as if to say, Do not be without fear concerning the propitiation and placation of sin, as though you were certain that it has been propitiated and remitted to you, so that by this persuasion you might become more confident and bolder in repeating sin, and in adding sins to sins; because, namely, you persuade yourself, with equal certainty and facility, that those also, when you have groaned to God, are to be forgiven to you. Thus Bellarmine, lib. III On Justification, cap. IV; Gabriel Vasquez I II, tom. II, disp. CXII, cap. IV, at the end, Gregory of Valencia I II, treatise On Grace, disp. VIII, Question IV, point 4; Suarez, treatise On Grace, part III, lib. IX, cap. IX, and others. That this is the sense is proved first, because the Vulgate version requires it, "concerning sin that has been propitiated;" which the Council of Trent ordained should be retained and defended. Second, because concerning the future propitiation and remission of sins the Wise man immediately adds: "And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, He will have mercy on the multitude of my sins." Therefore what he says here: "Concerning sin that has been propitiated, be not without fear," is to be understood of propitiation past, not future: otherwise indeed he would say the same thing, and it would be battology, and a superfluous and vain repetition of the same thing. Third, because that past sin is being dealt with here is evident from what immediately preceded: "Say not: I have sinned, and what evil hath befallen me?" Just as therefore there he deals with past impunity, or remission of punishment; so here he deals with past remission of guilt. Fourth, because concerning past remission it is appropriately said modestly: "Concerning sin that has been propitiated, be not without fear," not concerning future sin. For concerning future sin it would have to be said more harshly and rigorously: Be altogether afraid, flee and abhor future sin, because you are plainly uncertain and doubtful whether you will obtain pardon for it, both because you do not know whether you will survive after committing it; for perhaps God will punish you in the very act of transgression, or shortly after by sudden death; and because you do not know whether God will give you efficacious grace, so that you repent with that sorrow and serious purpose which is required for remission. Fifth, because the Syriac and Arabic versions translate, do not trust in remission, as if persuading yourself that sins have already been remitted: do not add sins to sins. And the Zurich version, which heretics admit, indeed arrogate to themselves: Upon pardon given, be not secure, so that you accumulate sins upon sins further. Sixth, because in a similar manner Ecclesiastes says, cap. XXI, vers. 1: "My son, thou hast sinned, add not to it again; but also for thy former sins make supplication, that they may be forgiven thee." Where he requires a twofold solicitude, one for future sins, another for past sins; whence he says: "And for thy former sins make supplication, that they may be forgiven thee." By which words he signifies that he who has sinned ought always to be solicitous for obtaining remission; because namely, he can never be certain that he has obtained it. Thus therefore here also he first admonishes: Be not secure concerning remission already granted, as though you certainly believed you have received it from God: but still be contrite, and pray earnestly, that sins be forgiven you; then, so that you may be cautious in the future, and not add sin to sin in hope of easy indulgence. Finally, even if we were to grant to heretics that future propitiation is being dealt with here, nevertheless from this we would rightly conclude the same concerning past propitiation. For why should you fear concerning future propitiation? Surely, because you do not know whether you will perform true and serious penance. Therefore, just as you are not secure concerning future propitiation; so neither concerning past propitiation. You will say: That future propitiation, not past, is being dealt with here is argued by what follows: "He will have mercy on the multitude of my sins." I answer, those words do not pertain to the former part of this verse: "Concerning sin that has been propitiated, be not without fear," because this has already been propitiated and is past; but to the latter: "Neither add thou sin upon sin." For Ecclesiasticus here sets forth two kinds of presumption: the first, presumption concerning remission of past sins; the second, concerning future sins. You say secondly: Ambrosius Catharinus, in his work *On the Certainty of Grace*, where he teaches that the just can be certain with a certainty not of faith but theological, of their remission and grace, admits indeed that here we are speaking of past propitiation: nevertheless he refers the fear not to that, but to a future relapse into sin, as if to say, Even if you are certain that your sin has been propitiated to you; nevertheless do not be altogether secure and without fear, lest namely through overconfidence you fall back again into the same or another sin and slip; as if it had been said: Because of the propitiation which you have received, do not be without fear. But it is one thing to say "because of propitiation," another to say "concerning propitiation do not be without fear." Catharinus's reasoning is: All fear is of the future, not of the past; for concerning past evil we grieve; but we fear only what is future. I reply that fear can also be of the past, when the past has reference to the future, for example, a defendant fears lest his advocate has not conducted his case with sufficient efficacy, so that he might therefore be condemned by the judge. Thus here the just man fears lest his sin has not been forgiven him, so that he might therefore be punished by God and enslaved to hell. Moreover, this fear concerning a propitiated sin is not that by which one fears lest God revoke the sin that has been propitiated and impute it again to him who committed it; just as men sometimes revoke and punish debts and offenses that have been remitted. For what God has once forgiven, He has forgiven always and eternally: "For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance," Rom. XI, 29. Finally, *in abundantia*, that is, much, which the Greek has, can be referred both to what precedes, as if to say, Concerning the propitiated sin do not be secure much; and to what follows, as if to say, In abundantia, that is, abundantly, do not add sin to sins, do not accumulate a multitude of them. A certain Novator recently translated and expounded it thus: "Concerning expiation do not be secure in abundance," as if to say, "Do not trust that by your riches you will be able to redeem your sins." Morally, the Holy Spirit here instills a holy fear in all the just. For He does not wish them to be certain of pardon and justice, but fearful and timid, so that by this fear they may always remain humble, and equally cautious and fervent in the study of penance and other virtues. Indeed, the very magnitude of such a matter, as great as eternal salvation, ought to effect this in all men, that they never think they have taken sufficient precaution for themselves; and hatred of sins, namely, of so foul a thing, if it is true hatred, this also requires that even when they have been forgiven, we ourselves voluntarily avenge them, and as it were punish enemies, which have harmed us so greatly, with voluntary penances. For in this matter it is very much to be considered what St. Gregory says in book IV of the *Morals*, chapter XVII: "The Lord leaves no sin unpunished in its remission; either we pursue it with weeping, or He reserves it by judging." And the same, in book IX of the *Morals*, chapter XVII, confirms this also by that testimony of Sacred Scripture, where blessed Job speaks to the Lord: "Knowing," he says, "that Thou wouldst not spare the offender. The Lord does not spare the offender, because He does not leave a fault without vengeance. Either the man himself punishes it in himself by repenting, or God punishes it with the man by avenging." Therefore sin is by no means spared, because it is in no way released without vengeance. To this also pertains that saying of St. Augustine, which is deservedly praised by Possidius, who wrote his Life, who used to admonish that "even any priests who are praised should never allow themselves to depart from this life without just and fitting penance." Thus St. Peter, although his sin of denying Christ was forgiven him, wept for it his whole life, and daily at the cock-crow, remembering it, wept abundantly, so much so that from constant weeping he had eyes that were ruddy and as if sprinkled with blood, as Nicephorus testifies in book II, chapter XXXVII, and Baronius, in the year of Christ 69, chapter XXIX. Thus St. Mary Magdalene, although she had heard from Christ: "Thy sins are forgiven thee," nevertheless wept for them until death, and withdrew from the conversation of all men into Baume, and there, repenting, made herself a living example of penance for all ages. The same did St. Pelagia the penitent, St. Mary of Egypt, St. William Duke of Aquitaine, converted by St. Bernard, and many others, in order to obtain pardon of sin, grace, and the salvation of their souls, and to place them in safety. For terrible is the sentence of St. Ambrose, lib. II On Penance, cap. X: "I have found more easily, he says, those who have preserved innocence than those who have done fitting penance. Does anyone think that penance is genuine where there is ambition for acquiring dignity, where there is the pouring out of wine, where there is the use of conjugal union itself? One must renounce the world, one must indulge sleep less than nature demands, one must be interrupted by groans, broken by sighs, separated by prayers, one must live so that we die to this vital use: man must deny himself, and be wholly transformed." He adds an example: "As the fables tell of a certain young man, who on account of mercenary loves went abroad, and after the love was abolished returned and met again his former beloved: who, when not interrupted, marveled that she was not recognized, and meeting again said: I am, he answered: But I am not. Whence the Lord well says: Whoever wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For indeed those who are dead and buried with Christ ought not again as if living to decide about this world. Touch not, he says, nor be defiled by those things which are all unto corruption
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5. CONCERNING SIN THAT IS ATONED FOR, BE NOT WITHOUT FEAR. — Thus the Roman and most Latin Bibles; yet manuscripts read, concerning the atonement of sins; and thus it should be read, not only according to Kemnitius and heretics, but also according to the Gloss, Jansenius, and indeed St. Augustine in the Mirror. They prove it, because thus the Greek has it: περὶ ἐξιλασμοῦ μὴ ἄφοβος γίνου ἐν πλεονασμῷ προσθεῖναι ἁμαρτίας ἐφ᾽ ἁμαρτίαις, that is, concerning atonement or propitiation, be not without fear, so as to add sins to sins. by use itself, because the use of this life itself is corrupted from integrity." Finally, hear what St. Gregory writes in response to Gregoriae, who was attendant to the Empress, asking that she receive a revelation and certainty of the remission of her sins, lib. VI, epistle 22: "You have asked, he says, for something difficult and useless: difficult indeed, because I am unworthy to whom a revelation should be given; useless truly, because you ought not to be secure concerning your sins, except when already on the last day of your life you are no longer able to bewail those same sins: which day, until it comes, you ought always to suspect, always to fear your faults with trepidation, and to wash them away with daily tears. Certainly Paul the Apostle had already ascended to the third heaven, had been led even into paradise, had heard secret words which it is not lawful for man to speak; and yet still trembling he said: I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps while preaching to others, I myself should become reprobate. He still fears, who is already led to heaven; and does he not wish to fear, who still dwells on earth?" Furthermore, the end and fruit of this sentence is, that from it we may deeply humble ourselves before God, and be struck with his sacred fear, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling, thinking that we are certain we have offended God, uncertain whether he has forgiven us the offense. And this is signified by the words of St. Gregory already recited; for this keen fear is a stimulus to true penance and all virtue; wherefore it quasi assures us of pardon and salvation: it is itself a gift of God, which the Holy Spirit is accustomed to send to the elect, so that through it as through a royal way he may lead them to his happiness and glory: whoever therefore feels it in himself, let him know that he has a pledge of his salvation. Whence St. Bernard, serm. on that passage of Proverbs III, 13: Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom. "You have found, he says, plainly wisdom, if you bewail the sins of your former life, if you despise the desirable things of this world, if you desire eternal beatitude with all your longing." The same, serm. 15 on psalm XC He that dwelleth: "This fear itself, he says, is a most firm and efficacious matter of hope. For this fear is a very great gift of God, and from the perception of present things is a firm expectation of future things. Finally, the good pleasure of the Lord is upon them that fear him (Psalm CXLVI, 11), and assuredly life is in his will, and in his good pleasure is eternal salvation." The same, serm. 54 in Cant.: In truth I have learned that nothing is equally efficacious for obtaining, retaining, and recovering grace, as if at all times you are found before God not thinking highly, but fearing. Blessed is the man that is always fearful," Proverbs XXVIII, 14. This is aided by that passage of Isaiah XXVI, 8, according to the Septuagint: "From thy fear, O Lord, we have conceived, and brought forth the spirit of salvation." NOR ADD SIN TO SIN. — This is the other, as I have said, species of presumption, by which someone, presuming on God's mercy, accumulates sins upon sins. Whence explaining this he adds:
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6. AND SAY NOT: THE MERCY OF THE LORD IS GREAT, HE WILL HAVE PITY ON THE MULTITUDE OF MY SINS, — that He will immediately forgive me when I shall have repented and implored His mercy. Whence the Syrian translator, transposing this verse and placing it before the preceding one, as also the Arabic translator, thus renders it: Say not, The Lord is merciful, and He will forgive me the multitude of my debts. For this is presumption, a sin against the Holy Ghost: because it abuses the mercy and goodness of God unto wickedness, and perverts it to the repeating of sins. The mercy of the Lord, says Palacius, is great, not that thou shouldest add sins, but that thou shouldest believe them to be remitted, if thou decidest no longer to commit them. It is a monstrous crime to make the mercy of God a bawd of the devil; and that through mercy, by which thou oughtest to have been joined to God, thou joinest thyself to the devil. Therefore mercy, which God had set forth as a refuge for sinners (in the temple of the holy God, where God was to be appeased), thou hast made as it were a brothel of the devil, where festivals are celebrated to the devil. Therefore trust not in mercy unto sin; for mercy and wrath from Him come swiftly near.
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7. FOR MERCY AND WRATH ARE QUICKLY NEAR UNTO HIM (in Greek ταχυνεῖ, that is, He will hasten, it will come quickly). AND HIS WRATH LOOKETH UPON SINNERS (in Greek ἀναπαύσει, that is, it will rest) — as if to say, Just as the mercy of God is quickly at hand and comes to the aid of the penitent, as to Mary Magdalene, to the thief on the cross, to Saul, etc., so also the wrath of God will quickly fall upon impenitent sinners, and will seize them suddenly and unexpectedly when they look for nothing of the sort, as it seized Lucifer, Cain, Saul, and all men in the flood, and the Sodomites in the conflagration of the Pentapolis. He calls sinners those who have the habit of sinning, and harden and confirm themselves in it; to these pertain not mercy, but the wrath and vengeance of God; nay, His wrath will rest upon them continually and eternally, namely, in the eternal torments of hell. Whence the Syrian translator renders it, Because mercy and wrath are with Him, and His fury will remain upon the wicked; Vatablus, Then indeed wrath hastens from Him more than mercy, and His fury will press upon the wicked. Furthermore, Palacius explains this quickly near in three ways. First, as if to say, When wrath comes upon sinners, although it comes most slowly, it seems to have come quickly. For they are so immersed in their delights that what is long seems brief. Thus when we are greatly delighted in seeing, hearing, or tasting something, every delay seems short. Second, our life is brief. In so short a span nothing is slow. Therefore the wretched say: "We were born and straightway ceased to be." Read what the pious and what the wicked say concerning the brevity of our life, Wisdom, chapter V. Third, every sin by its nature requires swift punishment, if that punishment does not come swiftly, that is, if God's mercy does not intervene. But sometimes God permits punishment to rage by right; then it comes swiftly. Again, weigh looketh, as if to say, As a hungry lion looks upon a carcass thrown before it, desiring to leap upon it: so the wrath of God has its eyes fixed upon our crimes, eager to leap upon them; and it does leap in act, when the faculty is not denied to it by God's mercy. A question: some explain it thus, as if to say, Divine wrath indeed hastens to punish sinners obstinate in their evils; but in that haste it does not proceed alone, but accompanied by mercy; which then shines forth most brightly, when sinners are quickly struck, lest, if they were permitted to indulge longer in their crimes, they be reserved for greater punishments. Thus St. Chrysostom, homily 25 on Genesis, teaches that God's vengeance hastens when men slumber in sins; and this not only from justice, that He may punish them, but also from mercy, that He may not punish more severely those whom He foresees, if they should live longer, will sin more gravely, and therefore must be punished more harshly. Tropologically, Rabanus here teaches that every just man ought always to set before his eyes both the justice and wrath, and also the mercy of God, that from the former he may conceive and foster fear, from the latter hope. "For the good pleasure of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, and upon them that hope in His mercy. Hence in the law it is commanded, Deuteronomy XXIV, 6: Thou shalt not take the nether and the upper millstone to pledge. For the upper millstone is hope, the lower is fear; for hope lifts up to high things, but fear presses down the heart. These two millstones, that is, two millstones, ought to be joined: That one without the other may not be held uselessly. In the breast of a sinner, hope and dread ought continually to be joined; because he hopes in vain for mercy if he does not also fear justice; he fears justice in vain if he does not also trust in mercy." Thus Rabanus.
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8 and 9. Do not delay to be converted to the Lord, and do not DEFER FROM DAY TO DAY (as if you would say, tomorrow, tomorrow I will be converted, and I will change my life for the better. He adds the reason): FOR HIS WRATH SHALL COME SUDDENLY, AND IN THE TIME OF VENGEANCE HE SHALL DESTROY THEE. — The Interpreter reads with the Romans, ἐξολοθρεύσει σε, that is, he shall destroy thee; thus also St. Augustine in the Mirror. But truly the Complutensian reads, ἀπολῇ, that is, thou shalt be destroyed; others ἀφελεῖ, that is, he shall take thee away. Moreover the Complutensian some copies insert and add, thus they have it: for suddenly the wrath of the Lord shall go forth; and when thou hast been negligent, thou shalt be worn away, and in the time of vengeance thou shalt be destroyed; the Syriac, do not delay to repent before God, and do not suffer hindrance (that is, break off and overcome every delay of repentance) from day to day; because suddenly the fury shall go forth, and in the time of retribution destruction; Vatablus, do not delay to be converted to the Lord, nor draw out day from day; for the wrath of the Lord shall suddenly break forth, and being careless of things, thou shalt be overwhelmed, and in the time of avenging thou shalt perish. For who would hold a deadly viper in his hand and not immediately shake it off? Who would nourish a plague in his body? Who would carry a mortal enemy within his walls? Who would tolerate a corpse horrible with worms in his home? Who would carry a demon in his mind? Mortal sin is a viper, is a plague, is an enemy, is desirous to leap upon: thus the wrath of God has its eyes fixed upon us cast into our sins, eager to leap upon them; and it leaps in act, when through the mercy of God the faculty is not denied to it. Hear St. Basil in his Admonitions to his spiritual son, wisely warning him concerning swift repentance: "When," he says, "thou shalt have felt thyself bound by sins, do not be ashamed to turn quickly to repentance; for he who shall have repented here, shall not repent in the last day. For the Lord receives mercifully those who flee to repentance. And lest, trusting in the mercy of God, thou addest sin to sin, do not wish to say: While my youth flourishes, I will exercise the concupiscence of the flesh, and finally in old age I will do penance for my evils; for the Lord is pious and very merciful, and will remember my crimes no more. Do not think thus, my son; because it is the height of folly to conceive this in thy mind before the Lord, since it is also impious for anyone to expect such license from God." He adds the reason: "Do not, I say, think thus, since thou knowest not on what day thou shalt die; for who knows the day of man's departure? Not all are deprived of this light in old age; but they depart from this world at various ages; and in whatever deeds a man shall be called, in those he must necessarily render an account; for no one shall confess to the Lord in hell. But neither do thou delay to be converted to repentance. Let the last day always be before thy eyes: for when thou hast risen at dawn, thou art uncertain whether thou shalt reach evening; and when thou hast laid thy limbs in bed to rest, do not be anxious about the coming of light, so that thou mayest more easily restrain thyself from all vices. Let thy heart always meditate on heavenly promises, so that they themselves may provoke thee to the way of virtue." Hear also St. Ambrose (or rather Victor, bishop of Cartenna, as is evident from the end of the book, and from Gennadius and Trithemius On Ecclesiastical Writers), in the book On Penance, chapter XXVIII: "Do not delay to be converted to the Lord, and do not defer from day to day; for his wrath comes suddenly, and in the time of vengeance he shall destroy thee. And again: Son, thou hast sinned, do not add again; but also pray concerning thy former sins, that they may be forgiven thee; and do not add sin upon sin, and say: The mercy of God is great. For mercy and wrath are from him. Nor let us suffer ourselves to become slaves even unto death, nor give our bodies to the dominion of crimes; but let us obey the Apostle saying: Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so as to obey it; so that because sins cannot be absent, certainly let them not reign; that is, lest without regard to escaping there be made a precipitous license of sinning." And soon after: "Whence, since the final exit is unforeseen to us, and the courses of our life are doubtful from the ignorance of death, how does anyone think that time remains for him to confess, who is ignorant of the time of his time, when certainly he hears Scripture saying: Being alive and well thou shalt confess and praise God, and go into the portion of the holy age with the living and those giving confession. For delay of time creates confession, and" This evil is the offense of God, the wrath and vengeance by which God pursues sinners, as guilty of injury to His divine majesty, even unto hell, and this by every right and merit; because sin is the supreme contempt of God the best and greatest, and an injury, and a dishonoring, and a disobedience, and an ingratitude; for all these malices exist in any mortal sin formally distinct, and by each one of them God is offended; wherefore the sinner merits to grieve and repent of each one individually. Furthermore, there are two acts, or offices of the penitent and of penance. The prior and primary is to grieve over sin, because it is an offense of God, with a serious purpose thereafter to avoid it, which is an act of charity: for it is of charity, just as to rejoice in God's goods, so also to grieve over God's offenses, and, so to speak, evils. The posterior is to avenge in oneself the sin committed, which is an act of virtue pertaining to justice, and as it were a potential part of it, as St. Thomas teaches in III part., Quest. LXXXV, art. 3. For by this the penitent, as his own judge, in the name of God punishes himself as guilty, and strives to make reparation for the injury done to God. Whence it comes about that the virtue by which the sinner repents is not one, but two, namely, charity and a certain vindicative justice, which, because it has no other proper name, can be called penance. These things are clear from the definition of penance, which various authors assign variously; but all come down to the same thing. First, indeed, from the nature of the genus St. Gregory thus defines it, homil. 34 in Evangel.: "Penance," he says, "is to bewail sins committed, and not to commit those which are to be bewailed." And from St. Gregory the Master of the Sentences in IV, dist. 14: "Penance is a virtue, or grace, by which we bewail and hate evils with a purpose of amendment, and we are unwilling to commit further those which are to be bewailed." Second, from the nature of the specific difference thus the author of the book On True and False Penance, in St. Augustine, cap. VIII, defines it: "Penance is a certain vengeance of one grieving, always punishing in itself what it grieves to have committed." Always, that is, whenever it has committed something evil. And cap. XIX: "To repent is to hold punishment, so that it always punishes in itself by avenging what it committed by sinning." Third, from the end thus the author of the Hypognost. in St. Augustine, lib. III, defines it: "Penance is the best thing," that is, an excellent virtue, which recalls all defects to perfection," that is, it corrects the whole life of man. Fourth, with respect to the subject thus St. Ambrose defines it: "Penance is sorrow of heart, and bitterness of soul for the evils which anyone has committed." And the Gloss in Matt. IV: "It is a reformation of an evil mind." Fifth, with respect to the terms from which and to which, thus Damascene defines it: "Penance is a return from those things which are contrary to nature, to those things which are according to nature." Finally, penance is primarily of mortal sins, but secondarily also of venial sins. From what has been said it is clear that the root of penance, and as it were the a priori reason why the sinner must repent, and must repent quickly, is the immense evil of sin, the harm and danger which sin creates for the soul. it should not generate despair: because damnation is aggravated in delay, when one thinks of divine patience with stubborn defiance. This is taught by the effect in the times of the holy Noah, when through a hundred years of protracted patience, He poured forth an implacable cataclysm throughout the ambition of the world, with inundating judgment." St. Augustine wrote concerning this sentiment of Ecclesiastes, homil. 13 among 50, tome X, where among other things, giving the reason for it, he says: "For God promised you that on the day you are converted, He forgets your past evils; but He never promised you the life of tomorrow. Did He perhaps not promise it to you, and did the Mathematician promise it to you, so as to condemn you and him, etc. It is the mercy of God that man does not know when he will die. The last day is hidden, so that all days may be observed." The same, serm. 202 De Temp.: "O man, why do you delay from day to day, perhaps about to have your last day today?" Finally, St. Chrysostom pathetically exaggerates this sentiment in homily 22 on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians: "Do not delay," he says, "turn to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day. You do not know what the coming day will bring forth; for there is danger and fear in delaying, but salvation is certain and secure if there is no postponement. Do not say: There will be a time when I will be permitted to turn. For these words greatly exasperate God. Why, when He Himself has promised you infinite ages, do you not wish to labor in the present life, which is small and momentary; but do you act so sluggish and dissolute, as if you were seeking some other life shorter than this? Do not those daily feasts, do not harlots, do not theaters, do not riches testify to this?" And soon he concludes thus: "You are drunk, you have indulged your belly? You have plundered? Stop now, turn yourself in another direction, confess to God the grace that He did not take you away in the midst of your sins; do not seek another privilege to do evil. Many, when they fraudulently caused loss to others, suddenly perished and went to manifest judgment. Fear lest you too suffer this inexcusably. But to many, you say, God gave the privilege to confess in extreme old age. What then, will He also give it to you? Perhaps He will give it? you say. Why do you say, Perhaps? Does it happen sometimes? Consider that you are deliberating about your soul; therefore also think of the contrary, and say: What if He does not give it? What if He does give it? you say. Let Him indeed give it: nevertheless this is more certain and more useful than that." Finally, to this point pertains an Arabic proverb, which is found in Centuria 1, no. 23: "Born in water before evening," that is to say, Just as swimming undertaken too late and dangerously under the evening is instituted, so also is penance dangerously postponed to the extreme of life. And no. 44: "Light your lamp before darkness," that is to say, Illuminate yourself with penance, grace and good works, before death comes upon you. Whence St. Augustine, in epistle 108 to Seleuciana: "There is," he says, "also penance of good and humble faithful, a daily punishment, in which we beat our breasts saying: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. For we do not wish those to be forgiven us which we do not doubt were forgiven in baptism; but certainly those which, although small, yet frequently creep upon human frailty." Where note that penance is not only a new life, as heretics wish; but also a chastisement of the old life: for penance is said from punishment, as it were a holding of punishment; and to repent is said as it were to hold punishment. Whence Ausonius: I am a goddess who exact punishments for deeds and misdeeds: That you may repent, thus I am called Metanoia. From what has been said it follows that it is foolish to postpone penance; but wise to hasten it. Wherefore St. Augustine mourns his slowness in conversion in book VI of the Confessions, chapter XI, and in book VIII, chapters V and VII. The same, in sermon 17 On the Words of the Lord, calls the raven's voice, tomorrow, tomorrow I will turn. "This very thing," he says, "kills many, when they say: Tomorrow, tomorrow; and suddenly the door is shut: he remained outside with the raven's voice, because he did not have the dove's moan. The same in Psalm CXIV: "God," he says, "promised forgiveness to your penance; but to this delay of yours He did not promise tomorrow." Thus also St. Gregory, homily 12 in the Gospel: "He who promised pardon to the penitent," he says, "did not promise tomorrow to the sinner." Wherefore the Psalmist in Psalm XCIV, 8: "Today," he says, "if you hear His voice, harden not your hearts." And indeed Seneca, in the book On the Brevity of Life: "Are you not ashamed," he says, "to reserve the remnants of life for yourself; and to reserve for a good mind only that time which cannot be applied to any purpose? How late it is then to begin to live, when one must cease!"
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He returns to verse 1; whence in the Greek the same sense is found as in verse 1, μή έπεχε έπί χρήμασιν αδίκοις, which Our translator, in verse 1, renders: "Be not attentive to unjust possessions." From which it is clear that unjust, in verse 1, is to be added, as Our translator adds it, although it is lacking in the Greek: because that very thing this verse has, as much in Greek as in Latin. Moreover χρήματα signifies both possessions and monies, and thus also property, resources and all goods of fortune. Again έπέχειν signifies to attend, to intend, to apply oneself studiously and anxiously to a thing loved and coveted. The sense therefore is, as it were, Do not apply your mind, do not anxiously attend and intend to riches unjustly acquired through frauds, deceits and plunderings: do not anxiously seek and scrape together wealth by fair means and foul. FOR THEY SHALL NOT PROFIT THEE IN THE DAY OF CALAMITY (namely, in the day of distress) AND VENGEANCE, — as I said in verse 1. The Syriac: lest you trust in the riches of iniquity, because they will not help you in the day of distress. He alludes to Proverbs X, 2: "The treasures of impiety shall profit nothing; but justice shall deliver from death."
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11. Do not toss yourself about in every wind. — Do not toss yourself about, shake yourself, and accommodate yourself to every wind of men, temptations and desires, that is, impulse; "but be firm in the way of the Lord," as follows. Do not, as is commonly said, turn your cloak or hood to every breeze and wind; which is the way of flatterers and politicians, who use the forum and serve the times. This is what Paul says, Ephesians IV, 14: "That henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine." The pronoun "you" is not in the Greek, nor in the Syriac: for the Greek has, do not toss about in any wind; the Syriac, do not be tossing in every wind. But it should rather be translated passively, do not be tossed about, that is, be shaken and carried away by any wind: for ventilo is active. Our translator therefore rendered it more Latinly and clearly, "do not toss yourself," that is, do not move and bend yourself to every wind; Vatablus, do not permit yourself to be tossed about by any wind, or expose yourself. Thus Juvenal says of Crispinus, Satire 1: He tosses about the summer gold with sweating fingers. Thus a blast tosses about burning torches; thus a rustic tosses about grain with a winnowing fan; thus a breeze tosses about the manes of a horse; thus bulls once provoked tossed about straw piles with their horns, and threw them to the stars, not otherwise than chaff is scattered by winnowing fans. Whence Zechariah I, 19 and 21, it is said: "These are the horns that tossed about Judah." Moreover, to toss about is to throw into the wind, divide, scatter, according to that in Jeremiah cap. XLIX, 36: I will toss them about in all these winds; and there shall be no nation to which the fugitives of Elam shall not come." Thus the Hebrew פרש paras signifies to divide, scatter, toss about. AND DO NOT GO IN EVERY WAY. — This is another proverb, signifying the same as "do not toss yourself about in every wind." See what is said about it cap. II, vers. 14. The Syriac: do not be curious about every path. FOR THUS EVERY SINNER IS PROVED BY A DOUBLE TONGUE, — so that for the variety of persons and places he now says, now denies; now praises, now blames. The Greek, the Gloss and Lyra delete "every": for not every sinner is proved by a double tongue, but only the flatterer and the faithless one. Whence the Greek texts have, thus is the flatterer double-tongued, and according to this the Vulgate Interpreter is to be explained, as if he said: "For thus every sinner by a double tongue," that is, the double-tongued sinner (for he sins by a double tongue) "is proved" and convicted, supply, to go in every way, and to toss himself about in every wind, as preceded: for this looks back to and refers to the "thus," which is a particle of connection, example, likeness and indication, indicating what preceded. Similar to this adage are these: "More changeable than a chameleon, more versatile than a cothurnus, more inconstant than Proteus, he has the mind of a polyp, more various than the Euripus, he sits on two stools, he is of twelve arts, Punic faith, maritime customs, works of Daedalus, more various than a hydra, arts of Sisyphus, a bat, like a hoop, he knows the ways by which Eucrates escaped," who, while he was a miller and accused, always found some crack through which he could slip away. A windy field, as is usually said of a man unstable, light and inconstant, who changes his senses and customs to any wind: for in a field and plain winds wander more freely hither and thither, constrained by no obstacle: finally we call unstable men windy. Whence Horace: At Rome I love Tibur, windy; at Tibur, Rome. The same: I do not hunt the favor of the windy people.
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"It is good indeed to establish the heart with grace," Hebrews XIII, 9. The Greek here, as is customary, is concise, and by a brief two-part sentence comprehends the whole matter clearly. For it says: Be steadfast in your sure understanding, and let your word be one. Others translate, in your understanding, for in your judgment; others, in your sense; others, in your intelligence; others, in your prudence; others, in your doctrine be steadfast: for σύνεσις is νόησις, that is, prudence, diligence, intelligence, skill, discernment, conscience, judgment, discernment. The Syriac: be supported upon your taste (that is, in your sense), and your word is one. It is an antithesis to the preceding verse: for to wavering in every wind, that is, to levity and inconstancy, it opposes firmness and constancy, both of mind and of speech, so that what once you have rightly judged according to God and right reason to be believed or done, that same thing you preserve constantly and willingly, and proclaim with your mouth. For the "way" of the "Lord" is right faith and action: "truth of judgment" is true sentiment of mind, true judgment of prudence: "knowledge" is certainty of judgment and discernment: for this is what the Greek ἀσφαλεί signifies, which word indicates that it is not enough to believe or act with prudent and right judgment, but that judgment must be certain: in faith indeed entirely physically and speculatively; in action however morally and practically certain, so that, namely, before you do anything, you be morally certain that what you do is lawful, honorable, pleasing to God. For "all that is not of faith" (that is, of credulity and the dictate of conscience), "is sin," Romans XIV, 23. Furthermore, from constancy of mind and judgment follows constancy of mouth and speech, concerning which he adds: "And let the word of peace and justice pursue you," namely, a word one and uniform, that is, true, and therefore peaceful and just, which he opposes to the double-tongued in verse 12; for double-tongued speech is twofold, deformed, that is, false, and therefore turbulent and unjust, which stirs up quarrels, discords, seditions and wars. For the double-tongued man, from fear of the powerful, or to court their favor, turns from truth to falsehood: but the simple and uniform man clings tenaciously to truth, and does not allow himself to be drawn from it by threats or promises; but what he has judged in his mind, he retains constantly, and does not fear to speak the same thing with his mouth. He wisely joined justice to peace, because that peace is evil which is not just; and therefore it is to be fled, which is joined with injustice: for justice is the parent of true and solid peace. O golden mind, and tongue of truth and justice, which, relying on God, cares not for the favor and hatred of men, and therefore creates solid peace for families and the world! If therefore you ask: How shall I be firm in the way of God? I answer, if you be firm in truth, and in the true and just judgment of your mind, and proclaim and defend it with uniform speech. Philo speaks excellently, in the book That Every Good Man is Free: "An invincible mind," he says, "confirmed by the precepts of right reason, yields to no one." And he cites the saying of Zeno, the father of the Stoics: "It is easier to sink an inflated wineskin than to force a good man unwilling to do anything." Plutarch celebrates the constancy of Fabricius, who, rejecting the gifts of King Pyrrhus, when suddenly from behind his elephant trumpeting appeared, sent by Pyrrhus to terrify him, said: "Neither gold yesterday nor a beast today has made me astonished." Wherefore he was gloriously heard: "It is easier to turn the sun from its course than Fabricius from his purpose." This is relevant to that saying of Socrates in Stobaeus, discourse 1 On Prudence: "As a statue rests on its base, so a good man resting on an honorable institution should in no way be moved." Note: Here and elsewhere peace is joined to justice: because it is its effect and inseparable companion, according to that Psalm LXXXIV, 12: "Justice and peace have kissed each other." Psalm LXXI, 7: "In his days shall justice spring up and abundance of peace." Isaiah XXXII, 17: "And the work of justice shall be peace." Wherefore Augustine on Psalm LXXXIV: "Do justice," he says, "and you will have peace, so that justice and peace may kiss each other: for if you have not loved justice, you will not have peace: for these two, justice and peace, love each other and kiss each other: so that he who has done justice finds peace kissing justice. They are two friends: you perhaps wish for one, and do not make the other. For no one does not wish for peace: but not all wish to work justice. If therefore you wish for peace, love justice: because they are two friends, justice and peace. Therefore another psalm says to you: Depart from evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it. For now you will not seek it long, because it itself will come to meet you, so that it may kiss justice. Hence the symbol of peace was once the caduceus, that is, a rod (which is a symbol of rectitude and justice), which serpents encircling one another kissed mutually: because even the perverse kiss justice. Mercury held it in his hand, who was the god of wisdom, which is the parent of justice and peace. Finally, adapt this teaching to those doing penance and beginning a new life, so that they may be firm and constant in it, and not slip back into their former desires, to which St. Ambrose rightly sang in book III, epistle 9 to Irenaeus, using the example of Lot: "If anyone, he says, shall have begun to be a sojourner of the city above, a sojourner, namely, in conversation and morals, let him not depart from it, let him not go out, let him not look back upon his footsteps, let him not return backward; backward is luxury, backward is impurity. Finally, ascending to the mountain, Lot left behind the abominations of Sodom: but she who looked back could not escape to the heights." St. Jerome brought the same similitude of Lot to prove the same point, in epistle 28 to Lucinus: "You have left Sodom hastening to the mountains; do not look back behind you: lest you ever let go the plow handle, or the hem of the Savior, or his locks wet with the dew of night, which once you began to hold: lest you descend from the roof of virtue seeking your former garments; lest you return from the field to your house; lest with Lot you love the plains and the pleasant gardens, which are not watered from heaven, like the holy land, but from the turbid river Jordan, after it has changed its sweet waters by mixture with the waters of the Dead Sea." Anagogically, Rabanus says: "He is firm in the way of God, who rightly keeping the rule of the Catholic faith by believing, and rightly following the doctrine of the Gospel by living well and doing good works. The word of peace and justice will pursue him, when in the retribution of merits the reward of eternal glory shall be conferred upon him, the Lord saying: Well done, good and faithful servant: because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
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Many read, the word of God, as if to say, Meekly hear the word of God: thus God will speak it in your mind and will so that you understand and comprehend it, according to that Psalm XXIV, 9: "He will teach the meek his ways." But the following words require another sense. Wherefore the word of God, with the Romans, Rabanus and the Greeks, is to be deleted. For the Greek text has it thus: γίνου ταχύς (Our text reads πρᾶος, that is, meek) εν ακρούσει σου αγαθή, καί εν μακροθυμίᾳ φθέγγου απόκρισιν ορθήν, that is, be swift in your good hearing, and in longsuffering bring forth a right answer; the Syriac, be swift to hear and with slowness to answer. Whence it appears that St. James took from this that passage in chapter I, 19: "Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak." See the remarks there. St. Augustine gives the reason in tract. 59 on John: "For truth is heard more safely, he says, than it is preached, because when it is heard, humility is preserved: but when it is preached, scarcely does there not creep in to any man, however small, some boasting, in which indeed the feet are soiled." The sense therefore is, as if to say, When you hear something and are asked about God and good and honest things, attend, and do not be impatient in hearing, and hasty in answering, so as to interrupt the question, anticipate it or pervert it, and answer rashly, before you have fully understood the question; as some choleric and rash men do, who therefore often, when asked about beans, answer about other things: but patiently hear the whole question, and having heard it, think well with yourself what you ought to answer; and having determined that, answer gently, meekly and prudently. Thus Maximus, sermon 13, relates that Xenocrates, when asked about obscene matters, was silent, and when urged to answer, said: "It is fitting for you, a vain man, to ask about such things; but for me to answer is in no way fitting." Demonax, asked what he thought of a dispute between two men, one of whom proposed absurdly, the other answered absurdly, said: "One is milking a goat, the other is holding a sieve." Thus Plutarch in the Apophthegms. The Complutensian and Zurich editions insert certain things; for they have it thus: be ready to listen: let your life be whole, or sincere, or truthful (namely, without simulation and deceit: for in Greek it is, in truth), and with gentleness of mind give your answer. But those things which are inserted seem impertinent, and they interrupt the connection of the discourse, and therefore appear to be spurious. Whence the Greek codices and the Roman ones delete them.
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wisdom, skill, learning), ANSWER THY NEIGHBOR (thee consulting and asking; Vatablus, if thou art wise, answer thy neighbor); BUT IF NOT, LET THY HAND BE UPON THY MOUTH (that is, close thy mouth, and be silent): LEST THOU BE TAKEN IN AN UNDISCIPLINED WORD (that is, unskilled, unlearned, imprudent, unwise), AND BE CONFOUNDED. Tigurina, lest by an inept word thou incur reproof, and be blamed. These words, "lest thou be taken," etc., are now wanting in the Greek. Most excellently Nazianzenus in oration 1: "It is very much the part of fools, he says, or of the rash, to attempt to teach others, before we ourselves are sufficiently taught, and, as is commonly said, to learn in a cask, that is, to practice and exercise piety in the souls of others." Which Elias explaining: Those, he says, who attempt to instill piety into the minds of others, when they themselves have not yet learned it exactly, do just as those do who learn the potter's art in a cask. For potters do not teach the potter's art immediately in a cask, but in small vessels, such as pots or cups, in which, namely, if the work should fail of success, the loss is small. He notes therefore those who attempt to learn greater things before lesser, namely, what those do who, before they have learned, profess themselves teachers and masters of others. Note the proverb: "Let thy hand be upon thy mouth," that is, impose silence upon thyself, and be silent, according to that of Juvenal: Repress thy lips with thy finger. The same was signified to the ancients by the statue of Sigaleontis or Harpocrates, sealing his mouth with a finger, concerning which Varro in book IV On the Latin Language, chapter X, and Ausonius epistle 12 to Paulinus: Or let thy Egyptian Sigaleon seal thy lips. For Sigaleon was a god presiding over silence: for from σιγή silence is derived. The same was called Harpocrates, and there was a statue in the sacred rites of Isis and Serapis, which by pressing a finger to the lips admonished that they should be silent. But Harpocrates was in truth a Greek Philosopher, whose doctrine and precept tended to this, that he should enjoin silence, and prefer it to all things. Thus Job, chapter XXI, 5: "Put, he says, a finger to your mouth," that is, hear me in silence. And chapter XXIX, 9: "The princes ceased to speak, and put a finger to their mouth." To this also pertains the Arabic proverb, Century 1, number 98 and following: "Taciturnity gains love for its own. Taciturnity above silence is better than repentance above speech. Taciturnity is wisdom, but rare is he who practices it." The reason for this sentiment Sirach subjoins saying:
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For τιμή, that is, honor, glory, the Greek now has contrarily ατιμία. Again, the wise, and the foolish, is not in the Greek: for thus it has, glory and infamy in speech: and the tongue of a man, is his fall. It alludes to that: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," Proverbs XVIII, 21. The Syriac, honor and shame in the hand of him who speaks, and the tongue of men casts them down; Tigurina, speech is as capable of glory as of shame; nor is it rare that the tongue precipitates a man. To this pertains the Arabic proverb, Century 1, number 75: "Beware lest thy tongue strike thy neck." For many are punished with death on account of the incontinence of the tongue.
5:16
He gives a striking example of an imprudent and double-tongued language: for the whisperer is double-tongued, because he praises to one's face and disparages and bites behind one's back: for the whisperer is one who secretly by evil-speaking strives to bring hatred upon someone or dissension, such as a detractor, thus named from the word whisper, that is, a secret and subdued murmur, which is said of men whispering in the ear, or of the leaves of trees agitated by the wind: whence the verb to whisper, that is, to speak furtively and in a subdued voice. Hence are called secret, humble, thin, doubtful whispers, concerning which Ovid, book XII of the Metamorphoses: And sedition fresh, and whispers of doubtful author: that is, secret rumors rather than accusations. In Greek, ψίθυρος, that is, a whisperer, a secret informer, a clandestine disparager, a detractor. From this ψιθυρίζειν, that is, to whisper, which the interpreter of Theocritus derives from ψίειν ἐν ταῖς θύραις, that is, in the ears, that is, to move thinly in the doors of hearing. But Pollux says this is peculiar to swallows in book V. Others call this trilling: for thus says the Author of the Song of Philomela: The peacock spreads, the wandering swallow trills. It is onomatopoeia: for both the Greek word ψίθυρος and the Latin susurro seem to be formed from the sound which chattering and whispering people make, sus, sur. Thus Isidore of Seville. "The whisperer," he says, "is named from the sound of speech; because he speaks not to someone's face, but in the ear about another to disparage him." Hence it was a symbol and teaching of Pythagoras: "Do not keep a swallow under the same roof," which St. Jerome following Aristotle interprets to mean that one must abstain from commerce with chatterers and whisperers. Others think that Pythagoras by the symbol of the swallow marked an ungrateful table-companion, one little firm and unfaithful, to be sent away from the house. Thus Plutarch in the Symposiac, decade 8. Whence also Cicero (or whoever is the author) in the Rhetoric to Herennius says the swallow is a symbol of faithless friendship: for swallows fly in at the beginning of spring, they fly away when winter approaches. Hence the Syriac version translates, do not be called one walking in two, that is, double-tongued and double-hearted. This vice is hateful to God and men: whence Sirach adds concerning it: "And let not thy tongue be taken;" the Syriac, and let not thy tongue offend, or strike. For when thy whispering, duplicity, falsity and deceit is discovered, as ordinarily happens, thou wilt be hissed at, confounded, and not rarely thou wilt come into danger of stripes and death. The Greek has: and let not thy tongue lay snares, because in thy snares and harms, which by whispering thou stretchest for thy neighbor, thou thyself wilt fall and be taken. He alludes to Proverbs XXVI, 20, where Solomon graphically depicts the ruin of the whisperer saying: "When the wood faileth, the fire shall go out; and when the whisperer is taken away, contentions shall cease." St. Augustine relates an apt example of the handmaids of his mother Monica, traducing her before her mother-in-law by whispers, but being rebuked by the mother-in-law, in book IX of the Confessions, chapter IX. Solomon adds, verse 22: "The words of a whisperer are as it were simple, and they reach to the innermost parts of the belly." The double-tongued therefore are like forked serpents: because they speak one thing with the mouth, another they keep shut in the heart, according to that in Ecclesiasticus X, 11: "If a serpent bite in silence, he is not less to be blamed that uttereth secrets." Wherefore Rabanus here: "The whisperer," he says, "he calls a detractor, whose confusion is true, because his damnation is certain." Furthermore, whispering is the worse and more pestilential, the greater is the friendship and the number of friends. Such are those who by their whispers, detractors and calumnies on both sides separate families, congregations, Religious communities, cities, provinces, kingdoms, and princes and kings who are friends, and stir up quarrels and wars among them, so that their friendship and power may not be a terror or harm to themselves, but so that amid the worn-down parties they themselves may be secure; namely, they wish great heads to be brought down by mutual collision, so that among the brought-down they alone may stand out. Crafty indeed, they wish to stir up tumult among others, and wish the dangers of others to be their own gains; little concerned whether friends perish, provided they themselves are saved by their ruin; whose friendship therefore is insidious, made of reeds, and more fragile than thread; their promises golden, their deeds of glass; they promise a gem, they deliver crystal. These truly are pests, and hateful to God and men; nay, they are even enemies to themselves: for all this mischief, which they have hammered out for others, by God's vengeance finally falls back upon their own head: because evil counsel is the worst to the counselor, and harm follows the head. The fable of the fox is well known, who fearing the lion and the bear, set them against each other; but when her deceit was discovered by them, she was badly punished, slain and torn to pieces by both.
5:17
(for when a thief is caught and punished, he repents of theft, but too late), AND DENUNCIATION (thus it should be read with the Romans and Greeks, not devotation, that is, an imprecation of evil, a curse, as if to say, Everyone curses the bilingual man, and devotes him to dire punishment. Whence Rabanus: "Denunciation," he says, "is the worst, eternal confusion;" and not devotation, as some read it: denunciation therefore, that is, a mark, ignominy, confusion) WORST UPON THE BILINGUAL MAN: BUT TO THE WHISPERER HATRED, AND ENMITY, AND REPROACH. — He compares the whisperer to the thief and the bilingual man, and asserts that the latter is worse, as if to say, The reproach and disgrace of the bilingual man is greater than that of the thief: because, although each harms secretly, yet the thief takes away only wealth, but the bilingual man, as far as in him lies, removes truth and faith from human society, and when this is taken away, the commonwealth must necessarily fall. Again, the thief and the bilingual man are neighbors and kinsmen, and from one to the other the fall is easy: whence it is commonly said: "Show me a liar, I will show you a thief." But worse than either is the whisperer, who besides truth and faith, also steals from his neighbor his reputation, and often his friendship. Moreover, as it is said in Proverbs XXII, 1: "A good name is better than great riches." Wherefore the whisperer is deservedly accompanied and followed by what is due to him, the hatred of all, enmity, and notable reproach, or perpetual disgrace and opprobrium; because he inflicts grave damage, and often without any advantage to himself, indeed with great disadvantage. The Greek, after its custom, is concise and bipartite: for thus the Complutensian has it: upon the thief indeed is confusion, and worst condemnation upon the bilingual man; the Roman, for condemnation, has denunciation; the Zurich, a grave ignominy follows the deceiver, and worst reproach the bilingual man; the Syriac, because upon the thief confusion is created, and great ignominy upon him who walks in two, that is upon the double and bilingual man: for the Greek κατάγνωσις signifies both reprehension or reproach, and condemnation. Both are signified by "denunciation," as if to say, The bilingual man, when he is recognized, is immediately reproached by all, marked with ignominy, pointed at with the finger, reproved and condemned. Thus in chapter XIX, 5, it is said: "He that rejoiceth in iniquity, shall be denounced," that is, shall be reproached, marked with ignominy, and condemned by all. Thus Cicero in the Pro lege Manilia: "Because he," he says, "who in one day throughout all Asia, in so many cities, by one messenger and one written notification, denounced Roman citizens to be slain and slaughtered." Thus Pliny, book XXXV, chapter XVII, says, "the feet of slaves for sale are denounced with chalk." Again Cicero in the Pro domo sua: "Most notorious," he says, "in all crimes and lusts with stains." The same, in the Pro Cluentio: "Men, whom they saw infamous in other vices and in all disgrace, they wished to mark with this subscription as well." Appropriately Rabanus: "Rightly," he says, "enmity, and hatred and reproach are joined to whisperers: because their fraud and wickedness makes them detestable to God and men." Whence through Paul it is said in Romans I: "Whisperers and detractors are hateful to God." And the Psalmist in Psalm C: "Him that detracts against his neighbor in secret, I persecuted," he says. And in Proverbs XXIV: "A detractor is an abomination to men." And chapter XIV: "In the mouth of the fool is the rod of contumely." But Hugo: "To the whisperer," he says, "hatred in the heart, enmity in deed, reproach in speech." Robert Holcot: "To the whisperer," he says, "the hatred of God is incumbent, the enmity of the neighbor, the reproach of the devil."
5:18
Thus also St. Augustine reads in the Mirror. Now the Greeks have: ἐν μεγάλῳ καί ἐν μικρῷ μή ἀγνόει, that is, in great and small do not be ignorant. The Complutensian adds, μηδέ ἐν, that is, not even one. Perhaps our author reads, μή αδίκει, that is, do not act unjustly, but justly, namely "justify" the small, equally as the great, as if to say: Do not say that by whispering you have detracted from the reputation of someone small and vile, not great and powerful; and therefore you have committed little or no sin: because the small has as much right to his reputation as the great has to his: therefore, if you are equitable and just, render to each his right, and justify both small and great, so that you give to the small the reputation and honor which he deserves, as much as to the great: therefore speak well of the small, equally as of the great. The reputation of another, whoever he may be, let it be to you as if sacred and inviolable; let your tongue pronounce no one unjust. To this sense the Greek reading can be adapted, as if to say: Do not be ignorant that as much right and reputation is to be given to the small as to the great. He alludes to Deuteronomy I, 17: "There shall be no respect of persons: you shall hear the small as well as the great; nor shall you accept any man's person." Add: perhaps this saying from the collector of the sayings of Ecclesiastes is not placed in its proper place; but transposed, and to be placed at chapter VII, after verse 6: "Seek not to be made a judge, unless thou have strength enough to extirpate iniquities." For to that you rightly subjoin: "Justify the small and the great equally," as if to say: In judgment justify, and adjudge the just cause both to the small and to the great, both to the poor and to the rich; and do not on account of fear of the powerful condemn the just poor man, so that you unjustly adjudge the unjust cause to the powerful, and justify him. For thus in the Proverbs of Solomon certain sayings have been transposed by their collector, as is evident in Proverbs XXV, 1, and there our Salazar teaches. Secondly, the Greeks more suggest this sense, as if to say: In the law of God nothing is to be ignored, or neglected; but both its small precepts and great are to be done and practiced. He adds this, lest anyone say what the common people say: A word is a word, in a beating: a word does not strike a man, but the air, and passes through: therefore it is a small sin, if I whisper or detract from my neighbor by word, provided I do not inflict another real injury to his body or goods. To this responds: nothing in the law of God is to be ignored, nor omitted: again, both the small and great precepts of the law are to be known, and esteemed greatly, even if the common people know them little, and esteem them little: because often what appears small to men is great with God, and in the judgment of God, who is the just estimator of all things, especially of vices and virtues, is reckoned grave. Such is whispering and detraction, which men esteem small, but God great: for the detractor's word strikes the neighbor's reputation; and therefore often harms him more than a bodily blow. To this sense the text of the Greeks can be adapted by the Latin version, if you take the small and great in the neuter gender, not masculine, as if to say: Let it not suffice you to think and judge justly about great matters; but strive and endeavor that also concerning those things which appear small, or are truly small, you think justly, and render a just judgment. Thus Jansenius. But this sense is more obscure, and more alien from the Latin Vulgate. Thirdly, the Syriac translates, much or little do not harm; Vatablus, whether great or small, do not commit anything rashly, as if to say: Do not act rashly, imprudently, unjustly in anything, whether it be small or great: do not allow yourself to be taken by ignorance of things and imprudence, whether those be small or great. Palacius, justify your works, whether small or great. Nothing, neither great nor small, have you done unjustly or wrongfully. Certainly in this consists the perfection of man and virtue, if he measures all his works, even the smallest, by the just norm of reason, law and propriety, if he adapts them to the rule of God's most equitable will, if he examines them by the standard of the life of Christ and the Saints. For that is called just which is measured by its rule, its law, its exemplar, and as far as possible, is made equal to it. But he is just who measures and arranges all his works, as far as human weakness can, by the norm of justice and virtue. Wherefore the just man does not neglect small things, but carefully takes care that they be just, knowing that this is an honor to him, and that from small things a step is made to great; indeed small things, if repeated and multiplied, become great: concerning which matter I have said more at Zechariah chapter IV, 10, and shall say below at chapter XIX, 1. The Bride understood this, and therefore the Bridegroom, admiring her beauty, says in the Canticle VII, verse 1: "How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O daughter of the prince!" And deservedly. For if the bride of a mortal bridegroom, to please him, arranges her face at the mirror, her garments and her whole appearance for many hours, so that no blemish appears in her, nothing even the least unseemly or disordered: what will not the bride of God, the bride of Christ, do? What will she not arrange?
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
5:12
Perseverance is all the more worthy of praise the more long-lasting the endurance of difficulties is. Sacred Scripture exhorts to perseverance, joining it to patience as a condition for attaining the reward (cf. Eccli. 5, 12; Mt. 10, 22; 24, 13; Lk. 21, 19; Heb. 3, 6; 10, 36; Jas. 5, 11; Rev. 2, 10), and condemns those who, having begun a good work, turn back (Lk. 9, 62). But as a supernatural virtue, …
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.