Cautions with regard to women, and dangerous conversations.
Great prudence is required in conuersation betwen men and wemen. 14. Esteme old freindes. 16. Emulate not sinners. 18. Auoide the companie of malicious. 21. Consult with the prudent, hauing God euer before thyne eyes.
1Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, lest she shew in thy regard the malice of a wicked lesson.Non esser geloso della donna unita teco in matrimonio, affinchè ella non adopri in tuo danno la malizia de' pravi insegnamenti.BE not ielous ouer the wife of thy bosome, lest she shew vpon thee the malice of wicked doctrine. Geue not to a womanNon zeles mulierem sinus tui, / ne ostendat super te malitiam doctrinæ nequam. 2Give not the power of thy soul to a woman, lest she enter upon thy strength, and thou be confounded.Non far che la tua moglie abbia dominio sopra il tuo spirito, affinchè ella non ti soverchi, e tu ne resti con vergogna.the power of thy soule, lest she goe in thy strength, and thou be confounded.Non des mulieri potestatem animæ tuæ, / ne ingrediatur in virtutem tuam, et confundaris. 3Look not upon a woman that hath a mind for many: lest thou fall into her snares.Non gettar gli occhi sopra la donna, che ama molti, per non cader ne' suoi lacci.Looke not vpon a woman that is desirous of manie: lest perhaps thou fal into her snares.Ne respicias mulierem multivolam, / ne forte incidas in laqueos illius. 4Use not much the company of her that is a dancer, and hearken not to her, lest thou perish by the force of her charms.Non frequentare la ballerina, e non istare a sentirla, se non vuoi perire per le arti di lei.With her that is a dauncer be not daily conuersant, nor heare her, lest perhaps thou perish in her efficacie.Cum saltatrice ne assiduus sis, / nec audias illam, ne forte pereas in efficacia illius. 5Gaze not upon a maiden, lest her beauty be a stumblingblock to thee.Non mirare la vergine, affinchè la sua avvenenza non sia a te occasion di caduta.Behold not a virgin, lest perhaps thou be scandalized in her beautie.Virginem ne conspicias, / ne forte scandalizeris in decore illius. 6Give not thy soul to harlots in any point: lest thou destroy thyself and thy inheritance.Non soggettare in verun modo l'anima tua alle meretrici per non mandare in perdizione te stesso, e la un eredità.Geue not thy soule to harlottes in any poynt: lest thou destroy thyself, and thine inheritance.Ne des fornicariis animam tuam in ullo, / ne perdas te et hæreditatem tuam. 7Look not round about thee in the ways of the city, nor wander up and down in the streets thereof.Non menar gli occhi attorno pelle contrade della città, e non andar vagando per le piazze.Looke not round about in the waves of the citie, nor wander vp and downe in the streates therof.Noli circumspicere in vicis civitatis, / nec oberraveris in plateis illius.
8Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up, and gaze not about upon another’s beauty.Rivolgi lo sguardo dalla donna pomposamente abbigliata, e non mirare studiosamente una straniera beltà:Turne away thy face from a trimmed woman, and gaze not about vpon an others beautie.Averte faciem tuam a muliere compta, / et ne circumspicias speciem alienam. 9For many have perished by the beauty of a woman, and hereby lust is enkindled as a fire.La beltà della donna fu la perdizione di molti; e per essa la concupiscenza qual fuoco si accende.By the beautie of a woman manie haue perished: and hereby concupiscence is inflamed as a fire.Propter speciem mulieris multi perierunt: / et ex hoc concupiscentia quasi ignis exardescit. 10Every woman that is a harlot, shall be trodden upon as dung in the way.Qualunque donna impudica è calpestata da tutti, come il sudiciume delle strade.Euerie woman, that is an harlot, shal be troden vpon as dung in the way.Omnis mulier quæ est fornicaria, / quasi stercus in via conculcabitur. 11Many by admiring the beauty of another man’s wife, have become reprobate, for her conversation burneth as fire.Molti invischiati dalla bellezza di donna straniera di vent'anni reprobi; perocché il cicalio di lei abbrugia come il fuoco.Manie hauing admired the beautie of an other mans wife, haue become reprobate. for her communication burneth as fire.Speciem mulieris alienæ multi admirati, reprobi facti sunt: / colloquium enim illius quasi ignis exardescit. 12Sit not at all with another man’s wife, nor repose upon the bed with her:Non sedere giammai colla donna altrui, e non istare con lei a tavola appoggiato sul gomito:Sit not at al with an other mans wife, nor repose vpon the bed with her:Cum aliena muliere ne sedeas omnino, / nec accumbas cum ea super cubitum: 13And strive not with her over wine, lest thy heart decline towards her and by thy blood thou fall into destruction.E non disputar con lei a chi più beve, affinchè non si pieghi il tuo cuore verso di lei, e a spese del tuo sangue tu non cada nella perdizione.and striue not with her at the wine, lest perhapes thy hart decline toward her, & with thy bloud thou fal into perdition.et non alterceris cum illa in vino, / ne forte declinet cor tuum in illam, / et sanguine tuo labaris in perditionem. 14Forsake not an old friend, for the new will not be like to him.Non abbandonare il vecchio amico; perocché il nuovo non sarà come quello.Forsake not an old frend: for the new wil not be like to him.Ne derelinquas amicum antiquum: / novus enim non erit similis illi. 15A new friend is as new wine: it shall grow old, and thou shalt drink it with pleasure.L'amico nuovo è un vino nuovo: invecchierà, e tu lo berai soave.A new frend, is as new wine: it shal waxe old, and thou shalt drinke it with sweetnes.Vinum novum amicus novus: / veterascet, et cum suavitate bibes illud.
16Envy not the glory and riches of a sinner: for thou knowest not what his ruin shall be.Non invidiare al peccatore la sua gloria, e le sue ricchezze; perocché tu non sai qual sia per essere la sua catastrofe.Doe not zelousely desire the glorie, and the riches of a sinner: for thou knowest not what his subuersion shal be.Non zeles gloriam et opes peccatoris: / non enim scis quæ futura sit illius subversio. 17Be not pleased with the wrong done by the unjust, knowing that even to hell the wicked shall not please.Non piacciano a te le violenze commesse dagli uomini ingiusti: tu sai, che non piacerà (a te) l'empio quando sia disceso nel sepolcro.Let not the iniurie of the vniust please thee, knowing that euen to hel the impious shal not please.Non placeat tibi injuria injustorum, / sciens quoniam usque ad inferos non placebit impius. 18Keep thee far from the man that hath power to kill, so thou shalt not suspect the fear of death.Sta lungi da colui, che ha il potere di uccidere, e non avrai ansietà per timor della morte:Be far from the man that hath power to kil, and thou shalt not suspect the feare of death.Longe abesto ab homine potestatem habente occidendi, / et non suspicaberis timorem mortis. 19And if thou come to him, commit no fault, lest he take away thy life.E se mai ti avvicini a lui, bada di non far cosa, per cui egli ti tolga la vita.And if thou come to him, committe nothing, lest perhaps he take away thy life.Et si accesseris ad illum, noli aliquid committere, / ne forte auferat vitam tuam. 20Know it to be a communication with death: for thou art going in the midst of snares, and walking upon the arms of them that are grieved.Sappi, che tu conversi colla morte; perocché tu cammini in mezzo ai lacci, e passeggi tralle armi di gente sdegnosa.Know it to be communication with death; because thou shalt goe in the middes of snarres, and shalt walke vpon the weapons of the sorowful.Communionem mortis scito, / quoniam in medio laqueorum ingredieris, / et super dolentium arma ambulabis. 21According to thy power beware of thy neighbour, and treat with the wise and prudent.Per quanto tu puoi cammina con cautela riguardo al tuo prossimo, e tratta co' saggi, e prudenti.According to thy powre beware thee of thy neighbour; and treate with the wise and prudent.Secundum virtutem tuam cave te a proximo tuo, / et cum sapientibus et prudentibus tracta. 22Let just men be thy guests, and let thy glory be in the fear of God.Siano uomini giusti i tuoi convitati, e il tuo vanto sia di temer Dio.Let iust men be thy ghests, and let thy gloriation be in the feare of God,Viri justi sint tibi convivæ, / et in timore Dei sit tibi gloriatio: 23And let the thought of God be in thy mind, and all thy discourse on the commandments of the Highest.Il pensiero di Dio sia fisso nell'animo tuo, e tutti i tuoi ragionamenti siano de' comandamenti dell'Altissimo.and let the cogitation of God be in thy vnderstanding, & al thine enarration in the precepts of the Highest.et in sensu sit tibi cogitatus Dei, / et omnis enarratio tua in præceptis Altissimi.
24Works shall be praised for the hand of the artificers, and the prince of the people for the wisdom of his speech, but the word of the ancients for the sense.Le opere dell'artefice han lode dalla industria loro, e il principe del popolo dalla saggezza del suo discorso, e il discorso dei vecchj dalla prudenza.Workes shal be praysed in the handes of artificers, and the prince of the people in the wisdom of his speach, but the word of the ancients in the sense.In manu artificum opera laudabuntur, / et princeps populi in sapientia sermonis sui, / in sensu vero seniorum verbum. 25A man full of tongue is terrible in his city, and he that is rash in his word shall be hateful.L'uom linguacciuto nella sua città è terribile, e chi è temerario a parlare, merita di esser odiato.A man ful of tongue is terrible in his citie, and he that is rash in his word shal be odious.Terribilis est in civitate sua homo linguosus: / et temerarius in verbo suo odibilis erit.
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Tibul
Lest. "A husband should teach his wife to be chaste by his own example." (Lact. Relig. vi.) Ipse miser docui quo posset ludere pacto Custodes eheu! nunc premor arte mea. (Tibul.)
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Haydock
Dancer. Greek, "musician, lest," etc. (Haydock)
The same person is often given to both music and dancing, (Menochius) and these arts are very dangerous. ([Ovid?] Met. 14:6.)
The dances in the East were more licentious than ours.
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Calmet
Gaze. It is not always possible to avoid seeing them; but the greatest caution is requisite, Job 32:1., and Matthew 5:28. (Calmet)
Worthington
Jealousy and all dangerous occasions must be avoided. (Worthington)
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Calmet
Streets. Greek, "retired parts," where bad women dwell. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Up. Greek, "of a fine appearance." Grabe substitutes, "who has found favour." (Haydock)
The Fathers condemn too much dressing as a mark of levity and incontinence.
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Calmet
Nor, etc., is also admitted in many copies, though found in the Complutensian and Aldus edition. (Calmet)
Grabe replaces it on the authority of Clement (Paed. 2:7.) as he does many other passages, which are erroneously left out in several editions. (Prolog. t. 4. C. 3.) It would therefore be injurious to the word of God, if we were always to reject the additions in the Vulgate, which are not in the Vatican Greek copy; and they must not all at least be considered as interpolations.
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Calmet
Envy not. If thou hast faith and wisdom, thou wilt rather dread his punishment, Psalm 36:1., and Proverbs 3:31. (Calmet)
Worthington
He is like a summer flower, that is quickly cut down. (Worthington)
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Haydock
Wrong. Greek, "applauses of the unjust. Remember that they will not be justified even to hell." (Haydock)
Calmet
The world itself will finally approve only of virtue. (Calmet)
Haydock
The wicked will be condemned both by God and man. (Haydock)
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Haydock
It. Greek, "Know what thou art....walking on the pinnacles of the city." (Haydock)
Menochius
The same sense is given in the Vulgate, as people walking among armed men in a rage, are exposed to imminent danger. (Menochius)
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Beware. Greek, "aim at." Examine the person to whom thou intrusteth a secret.
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Artificers. All strive to excel in their profession.
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Calmet
Hateful. Satirists are dangerous. (Calmet)
Horace
-----Dummodo risum Excutiat sibi, non cuiquam parcet amico. (Horace, 1:sat. 4.)
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Seing ielosie betwen man & wife is dangerous, much more vnnecessarie conuersation betwen other men and wemen, especially probable occasions of sinne must be auoided.
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Prou. •.
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Constancie in good thinges namely in freindshippe is very necessarie.
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A sinner that prospereth is like to a somer floure in the filde, that is quickly cut downe, and withereth,
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
ix. 2, 3 . There is one event to all. The heart…is full of evil.
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Pseudo-Clement The Second Epistle of the Same Clement 13
… “Thou shalt not long after the beauty a woman, lest she take thee captive with her eyelids;” and, “Thou shalt not look upon a maiden, lest thou perish through desire of her;” and, “With a woman that sings beautifully thou shalt not constantly be;”
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St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Concerning Virgins 3.3
… What of Rachel, how she, when Jacob’s kiss had been taken, wept and groaned, and would not have ceased weeping had she not known him to be a kinsman? So she both observed what was due to modesty, and omitted not kindly affection. But if it is said to a man: “Gaze not on a maid, lest she cause thee to fall,”
Pseudo-Clement The Second Epistle of the Same Clement 13
… So whosoever goeth in to another man’s wife is not pure from evil, and whosoever comes near to her shall not escape.” And again it says: “Thou shalt not long after the beauty a woman, lest she take thee captive with her eyelids;” and, “Thou shalt not look upon a maiden, lest thou perish through desire of her;”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 17
… but, “Whosoever shall look to lust;” that is to say, he who gathers in lust unto himself; he who, when nothing compels him, brings in the wild beast upon his thoughts when they are calm. For this comes no longer of nature, but of self-indulgence. This even the ancient Scripture corrects from the first, saying, “Contemplate not beauty which is another’s.”
Pseudo-Clement The Second Epistle of the Same Clement 13
… Does it not, therefore, behove us to tremble and be afraid, forasmuch as these old men, judges and elders of the people of God, fell from their dignity because of a woman? For they did not keep in mind that which is said: “Look thou not on the beauty which is another’s;” and, “The beauty of woman has destroyed many;”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 29
… iv. 4 ); and, “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce.” ( Gen. xlix. 7 .) And in histories, as when thou hearest of Pharaoh filled with much wrath, and the Assyrian. Again, is any one taken captive by love of money? let him hear, that “There is not a more wicked thing than a covetous man: for this man setteth even his own soul for sale” (
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Pseudo-Clement The Second Epistle of the Same Clement 13
… Does it not, therefore, behove us to tremble and be afraid, forasmuch as these old men, judges and elders of the people of God, fell from their dignity because of a woman? For they did not keep in mind that which is said: “Look thou not on the beauty which is another’s;” and, “The beauty of woman has destroyed many;” and “With a married woman do not sit;”
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.96
In Solomon, in the Proverbs: “Bring not the impious man into the habitation of the righteous.” Also in the same, in Ecclesiasticus: “Let righteous men be thy guests.” And again: “The faithful friend is a medicine of life and of immortality.” Also in the same place: “Be thou far from the man who has the power to slay, and thou shalt not suspect fear.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 15.0
Again on the calamity of the city of Antioch. That fear is every way profitable. That sorrow is more useful than laughter. And upon the saying, “Remember that thou walkest in the midst of snares.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 15.4
… Fear is nothing less than a wall, and a defence, and an impregnable tower. For indeed we stand in need of much defence, seeing that there are many ambushments on every side. Even as this same Solomon again says admonishingly, “Perceive that thou goest in the midst of snares, and that thou walkest on the battlements of cities.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Thessalonians 3
… Insolence, wantonness; and fullness of bread. But often even poverty has this effect. On this account a certain wise man said, “Give me neither poverty nor riches.” ( Prov. xxx. 8 .) However it is neither poverty nor riches, but the will that cannot use either of them. “Acknowledge,” he says, “that thou passest through the midst of snares.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 92.1
… but let us fear snares by the way side. The enemy does not dare to lay his snares in the way; because Christ is the Way; but most certainly by the way side he ceases not to do so. Whence too it is said in the Psalm, “They have laid stumblingblocks for me by the way side.” And another Scripture saith, “Remember that thou walkest in the midst of snares.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 51
… For it is possible even with words to do alms. “For a word is a better thing than a gift,” and “answer the poor man peaceably with meekness.” And all the rest of thy time too adorn it with the rehearsing of the laws of God; “Yea, let all thy communication be in the law of the Most High.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 15
… viii. 13 .) and is unsavory and foul; which is the nature of sin. For He neither simply finds fault with the old, nor simply praises the new, but with reference to the subject matter. And thus elsewhere He saith, (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Philippians 10
… Preserve them for His use, not for the devil, not putting them out for robbery and rapine, but for His commandments and for good deeds, for earnest prayers, for holding out help to the fallen. Hath He made thine ears? Give these to Him, and not to effeminate strains nor to disgraceful tales; but “let all thy communication be in the law of the Most High.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 8
… xv. 4 .) And again, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable.” ( 2 Tim. iii. 16 .) And “let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.” ( Col. iii. 16 .) And the prophet, “he shall meditate in His Law day and night” ( Ps. i. 2 ), and again in another place, “Let all thy communication be in the law of the Most High.” (
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.96
In Solomon, in the Proverbs: “Bring not the impious man into the habitation of the righteous.” Also in the same, in Ecclesiasticus: “Let righteous men be thy guests.”
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch 15.4
… yet, nevertheless, we are not made discreet; but when we have scarcely cured one wound, we again fall into the same mischief, and are caught by the same means; and for the sake of the brief pleasure of a glance, we sustain a kind of lengthened and continual torment. But if we learn con stantly to repeat to ourselves this saying,
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That is, do not be jealous of your wife, who rests in your bosom, and do not suspect her wickedly, namely that she loves another man more than you, or that some rival of yours loves her and pursues her. The Zurich Bible: Do not pursue with jealousy the wife whom you embrace. Jealousy is a great disease and evil of marriage. "Jealousy," says Cicero, Tusculan Disputations IV, "is a sickness arising from the fact that another also possesses what one has desired for oneself;" or, as Chrysippus says, "it is a sickness of mind conceived from the fear lest another possess the same thing which one wished to have alone." This is the cause of suspicions, quarrels, beatings and all evils among spouses, as Tiraquellus teaches. Indeed, St. Jerome, book I Against Jovinian: "What," he says, "does careful guarding avail, when an unchaste wife cannot be kept, and a chaste one ought not to be? For necessity is an unfaithful guardian of chastity; and she is truly to be called chaste to whom it was permitted to sin, if she wished." Furthermore, a "woman of the bosom" is called one who lies and rests in the bosom of her husband, not only when she sleeps, whether by day or by night in the marriage chamber; but also when she dines and takes supper. Formerly they reclined at table, that is, they lay on couches or dining couches, two or three on each: so that the brother or friend reclined at the head, the husband or father in the middle, the wife and children at the foot, who accordingly reclined in the bosom of the husband or father. Do not let her show forth over you the malice of wicked doctrine — namely, lest she deceive you, kill you with poison, or harm you in some other way, or at least hate you, and love you less, and transfer her affection to other men. For wicked or perverse doctrine is that by which perverse old women, or even sorceresses, teach young wives wicked arts by which they deceive or kill a jealous husband. Do not love and be jealous of your wife too much, do not guard and watch her too much, do not teach her to commit adultery — namely, lest she do against you what you see or suspect is being done: both because continual suspicion of adultery brings continual imagination of it, and from that desire; and because a woman too much guarded breaks out impatiently, so as to vindicate her freedom; and because the nature of women is curious and stubborn, and what they see is vehemently forbidden, they most wish to see and experience, according to that saying: We always strive for the forbidden, and desire what is denied. Truly Seneca: "Some," he says, "have taught deception while fearing to be deceived, and by suspecting that sin they provided the occasion for it." And Ovid, book III of the Art of Love: Cease, believe me, to provoke vices by forbidding: You will conquer more aptly by compliance yourself. I recently saw a horse stubborn against his own reins, Going with struggling mouth in the manner of lightning: He stopped, as soon as he felt the reins given slack, And the bridle lay loose upon his flowing mane. Aristotle gives a wise remedy for jealousy in book I of the Economics, chapter IV: "First," he says, "let there be laws for the husband toward the wife, so that injury may cease: thus neither will he himself suffer injury;" and in book II, chapter II: "The greatest honor," he says, "is for a sober woman, if she sees her husband observing chastity toward her, and thinking of no other woman more, but preferring her to all, as his own, and faithful to him." And Lactantius, book VI of True Religion: "The wife is to be taught continence by example, so that she may conduct herself chastely. For it is unjust to demand what you yourself cannot provide." Furthermore, learn how damaging and destructive jealousy is from examples: Clytemnestra was jealous of her husband King Agamemnon, suspecting him of loving Chryseis, and therefore killed him. Arsinoe killed Demetrius, thinking he was loved by Berenice. Cleopatra killed Nicator from jealousy of Rhodogyne. Apollonius Rhodius writes that the women of Lemnos, inflamed with zeal because their husbands loved captives, slaughtered all their husbands while sleeping, indeed the entire male sex. Medea, suspecting her husband of loving others, in order to avenge herself on him, killed her own sons, whom she had borne from him.
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It is a metaphor from soldiers who scale walls, and thus assault a city or fortress. The sense is: do not permit your wife to exercise dominion, so that she rules and commands your will and you yourself; do not let her usurp your marital right, authority and power, and subject you to herself, to whom she herself ought by natural, divine and human law to be subject; for this will be a shame to you, when you are called effeminate, and likewise servitude and loss; for a woman, because she is driven by passions, and is of intemperate mind, will rule you intemperately. Cato the Elder, rebuking the great license and power of wives at Rome: "All men," he says, "rule over wives: we rule over all men, but wives rule over us;" in this way concluding that wives are mistresses of all things. Again Cato, in Livy book XXXIV, warns husbands not to allow wives to become their equals: "For immediately, as soon as they begin to be equal, they will be superior." Thus Solomon, allowing himself to be ruled by women, was drawn by them to worship idols. Thus Adam, subjecting himself to Eve, destroyed himself and all his posterity.
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A woman of many lovers, that is a harlot, who desires many lovers. In Greek it is called hetairozoumen, which, namely, loves many hetairoi, that is companions, suitors and lovers. Solomon depicts this woman and her snares graphically in Proverbs VII, 10: "There met him a woman dressed as a harlot, prepared to catch souls, talkative and wandering, unable to rest, nor able to stay in her house with her feet, now outside, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the corners, and she embraced the young man she had caught, and with a bold face she flattered him." Tropologically, a woman of many lovers is concupiscence: for this, like a woman, has womanly desires, and desires and covets many things, and thus is insatiable, and always says: "Bring, bring" (Prov. XXX, 15).
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For women skilled in dancing move the minds of men wonderfully to the rhythm, and by their dancing entice them to love, as the daughter of Herodias captivated Herod and all his guests, so much so that he offered her half his kingdom as a reward, indeed the head of St. John the Baptist. Moreover these dances are performed to the rhythm and song of the lyre, the harp, the harpsichord, etc., to which the delights of musical voices and singing are added; and the dancers themselves are accustomed to sing alluringly while dancing, so that by both singing and dancing, like Sirens, they bewitch and capture the minds of youths, according to that passage of Virgil in the sixth book of the Aeneid: Some clap their feet and sing the dance. St. Cyprian most excellently, in his work On Individual Clergy: "A woman," he says, "now uncovers her limbs, now exhausted is tossed about, or sometimes dissolves into laughter, now exhibits flattery, and what is most poisonous of all, playing music or singing delights. It is more tolerable to hear a basilisk hissing than her singing. Against which Solomon makes us cautious in this way: Be not continually with a dancer, nor hear her, lest thou perish by the force of her."
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For a virgin has manifold beauty: first, the bloom of youth; second, the feminine sex; third, virginity; fourth, the elegance of garments and adornment. For this reason Job wisely says in chapter XXXI, 1: "I have made," he says, "a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin." And Alexander the Great was unwilling to see the daughters of Darius already captured by his men, saying: "I will not allow myself to be conquered by women, having conquered men." Nazianzen most excellently in his Precepts to Virgins: Be a virgin in eyes, be one in mouth and ears themselves. And: Christ burns with love for thee: let not the form of man oppress thee, and fix its seat in the midst of thy breast. Moreover, nothing so kindles lust as beauty and form. "Beauty," says Leucippus, "wounds more acutely, or, if you prefer, more swiftly than an arrow, and flows through the eyes into the mind." And Socrates calls beauty "a brief tyranny." Therefore: just as fire burns wood, so the sight burns hearts. The sun looks upon a polished mirror, and immediately a flame arises; a man looks upon a beautiful woman, and immediately in the man a flame of love arises. St. Basil, in his book On Virginity, teaches that a virgin must guard her eyes most carefully, lest the appearance of any man or woman be fixed in her mind. Singular in this matter was St. Hugh, Bishop of Grenoble, for 52 years, who, although he often heard the confessions of illustrious women, so turned his eyes away from them that he recognized none of them by face.
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To give one's soul is to apply one's mind, to devote oneself, and as it were to give oneself entirely: for wherever the soul and will apply themselves, there the whole man applies himself. He says in any way, because he who applies his mind to a harlot in one thing, for instance in looking, soon also applies his voice and tongue and mind, and his whole soul: just as a spark, if it seizes upon one stalk, soon creeps further, and consumes all the rest. A harlot is the Charybdis and abyss of goods, which absorbs riches, however great, as is evident in the prodigal son, who consumed his wealth with harlots. St. Basil most excellently, in his second sermon Against Avaricious Rich Men: "No treasure," he says, "is sufficient for the lust of women: not if thou shouldst flow with rivers." Daily we see harlots to be the whirlpools of inheritances, the Scyllas of riches, the Charybdises of fortune, and by harlots the richest are drained, and become the poorest, and are reduced to beggary.
9:7
Because this curiosity of wandering and looking about is a sign of a wandering heart, and an incentive to lust; for necessarily it encounters the forms of women, which hold his eyes and capture his mind. For as an unchaste eye, says St. Augustine, is the messenger of an unchaste heart, so an unguarded eye is the messenger of an unguarded heart. Therefore Sirach admonishes that thou shouldst walk not with wandering, but with straight eyes, and proceed by the straight way to where thou tendest. Thus Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, was violated by Sichem, because she wandered too curiously through the streets of the city and looked about (Gen. XXXIV, 1).
9:8
In Greek, eumorphou, that is, beautiful, on account of beauty both natural and acquired through the adornment of hair and clothing. St. Gregory of Nazianzus, in his oration Against Women Who Adorn Themselves Too Ambitiously, teaches that those women who delight in cosmetics are for the most part immodest. "They say," he writes, "that the proud peacock, with curved neck and jeweled feathers making a circle, invites females to love with its voice. Similarly indeed I would marvel if you painted your face for any other reason than to turn incautious and fickle-minded men to love of you."
9:9
For the object of love is beauty. Just as therefore the good seizes the will, and the true seizes the intellect: so beauty seizes love and affection. Ben Sira sings in the Alphabet of Sirach 2: "On account of the beauty of a fair woman many have been destroyed, and all the strong have been slain by her." And: "Remove your flesh from a comely woman, as from the flesh of burning coals." And: "Hide your eyes from a comely woman, lest you be caught in her snare." For the eyes are the procurers of sin: just as a procurer is a mediator between buyer and seller for making a contract, so the eyes are mediators between the heart and a beautiful woman, and they reconcile and join them together. Moreover, desire and lust are rightly compared to burning fire, both because through it the blood is physically heated, and the vital and animal spirits which serve generation; and because through it the mind burns with love of a venereal thing. The same teach the Philosophers and Poets. Virgil, concerning Dido loving Aeneas, in Book IV of the Aeneid: "The wretched Dido burns, and wanders through the whole city raging." And Tibullus, Book II, elegy 4: "I burn! Come, remove the cruel torches, girl." Thus Cupid, the god of lust, is depicted with a torch, by which he inflames the minds of men.
9:10
This verse and the following are already lacking in the Greek and Syriac. Whence Jansenius thinks they were added by the Interpreter or by someone else, for the explanation of the preceding verses. Yet this is scarcely probable: for then they would not have the canonical authority of Holy Scripture; and who would have been so bold as to insert his own opinions into Holy Scripture, which is the epistle of the Holy Spirit, as St. Gregory says? It must therefore be said that the ancient Latin Interpreter had a fuller and more copious Greek exemplar than that which now exists. Moreover, a fornicatress, or harlot, is rightly compared to dung: first, on account of the stench, both of body and of soul; second, on account of the equal foulness of both; third, on account of the baseness; fourth, on account of the abomination. For a harlot prostitutes herself indiscriminately to all, and allows herself to be trampled like dung: whence by all honest people she is despised, abominated and execrated. Finally a harlot is a sewer of filth and excrement. Whence Ezekiel XVI, 25: "You have made your beauty abominable, and have divided your feet to every one that passed by." 11. "For her conversation burns like fire" — in the perfect act, so that she not only burns in herself, but also sets those who hear her on fire with love of her, and makes them burn. This is what Solomon says in Proverbs V, 3: "For the lips of a harlot are a honeycomb dripping: but her end is bitter as wormwood." Aptly Hugh of St. Victor, in his book On Avoiding Carnal Conjugal Relations, says: "In a honeycomb there are two things, namely, honey and wax: in the face of a harlot there are two things, namely, beauty and grace, that is, the beauty of the face and the sweetness of speech. Wax kindles fire, honey provides sweetness. So the beauty of a harlot inflames the flesh with the fire of lust, and with the blandishment of seductive speech subverts the mind. Honey drips from wax, when the harlot softens her words and makes them sweet."
9:12
12. He taught that the company of a virgin, a widow, a harlot should be avoided; now he also teaches that the company of a married woman should be avoided, because there is a similar enticement in her, and danger of a greater sin, namely adultery. For in former times those about to dine or sup did not sit at table on chairs, but reclined lying on couches or dining couches, with two or three on each, so that leaning on their elbows they reclined prone in the bosom of another. He warns therefore that no one should recline next to another's wife, especially at table on the same couch with her in her bosom, or vice versa, because this contact with another's wife is unseemly and enticing; for the body of a woman is like fire burning the soul of a man. Indeed the very touch of a woman, says St. Jerome in book I Against Jovinian, is so contagious and poisonous and to be fled by a man, not otherwise than the bite of a mad dog. Most excellently St. Cyprian in the book On the Singularity of Clerics: "Never," he says, "is a thief held secure shut up with treasure, nor is a lamb safe dwelling in one cage with a wolf. He himself wished to be overcome, who brought his own enemy within his gates." For a man cohabiting with a woman is to each other a thief, a wolf, a viper, a sword and a plague. St. Cyprian adds: "He who trusts himself to converse with scandal, without cause says: I wish to be at peace with the devil," against the Apostle saying: "Give not place to the devil" (Ephesians IV, 27). 13. And do not contend with her in wine. The Roman edition translates: "nor have feasts with her in wine." The sense is: do not compete with her in drinking, so that with your cups full you respond to her draughts in proportion; or compete with her in witticisms, jests, touches and laughter, which are all the bellows of lust. Lest perhaps thy heart decline toward her—because both sitting together and drinking together, namely wine, stirs up lust: and thou laborest in thy blood unto destruction. The sense is, as if to say: Do not converse with another's wife, lest you provoke her husband to quarreling and fighting, in which thy blood or his blood or both may be shed, and thus thou laborest unto the destruction of thy life or another's, and unto the eternal destruction of hell. Truly Apollonius teaches that from desire and love of an immodest woman all evils arise, while he sings thus: "Cruel punishment to men and penalty is desire, From thee are quarrels, contests, wars, complaints."
9:14
14. A new friend will not be like an old one—both because an old friend is better known and proven than a new one; and because you have grown accustomed to an old friend, and have accommodated yourself and your affairs to him, whereas with a new friend many things will need to be changed and accommodated; and because an old friend has proven his fidelity and constancy by long experience. For there are some who are desirous of novelty, who, as in other things, so often change and exchange friends. Others are fastidious, who, wounded by a slight offense from a friend, immediately abandon him and seek a new one. But in such matters there is no stable or prudent friendship, because in a new friend they will find similar, indeed more and graver faults. These therefore perpetually change friends; nor do they notice that the fault is not so much in the friend as in themselves. Truly St. Jerome in Micah chapter VII: "A friend is sought for a long time, scarcely found, with difficulty kept." Cicero, in the book On Friendship, asking whether new friends should be preferred to old ones, as we prefer larger horses to younger ones, answers: "A doubt unworthy of a man. For there ought not to be satieties of friendships, as of other things: the very oldest, like those wines which bear age well, ought to be the most pleasant." Mystically, the old friend is God, who by loving us came before us, and loved us from eternity, and will love us eternally. Whence St. Augustine in the Confessions: "Late have I loved thee, ancient beauty, beauty ever new." 15. Just as new wine, namely must, with age becomes clear, exerts its strength, grows warm, and becomes pleasant to drink: so plainly also a new friend; a new friend therefore should not be rejected because an old one is preferred to him, but should be borne with, love and fidelity shown to him, until he becomes old; for then thou wilt feel from his friendship sweetness, and no small usefulness. Wherefore Christ in Luke V, 39: "No one," he says, "drinking old wine, immediately wishes for new; for he says: The old is better."
9:16
Zeal signifies many things: for to be zealous means, first, to envy; second, to grieve and be indignant; third, to love vehemently; fourth, to emulate and imitate. First therefore, the sense can be: Do not envy the wicked their riches and glory, because they will soon perish, and be overthrown with them. Second: Do not be indignant that sinners are rich and glorious. Thus David, Psalm LXXII, 3: "I was zealous at the wicked, seeing the peace of sinners." Third: Do not love and covet the riches and glory of the wicked. Fourth, do not emulate the deeds and arts of sinners for acquiring riches and glory, according to that Psalm XXXVI, 1: "Be not emulous of the evildoers, neither do thou desire those that work iniquity." He adds the reason: For thou knowest not what shall be his overthrow. In Greek catastrophe, that is, end, outcome, overthrow, devastation, destruction, death. Thou knowest not, or dost not think, nor consider, that this happiness of sinners is soon to be overthrown, and to be changed into great unhappiness, poverty and ignominy, just as the joyful beginning of a tragedy ends in a sad catastrophe. For this often happens in this life, and always in the other life.
9:17
The wicked especially rejoice in prosperity, riches and glory, when all things flow according to their wish, and they esteem these as the highest good, and therefore to acquire these they often do injury to others, through robberies, calumnies and other injustices: but thou, who art wise, do not emulate them, do not have such a mind, do not greatly esteem their praises, nor covet their prosperity. Knowing that even unto hell the wicked shall not please. So much does the wicked displease God, that He soon casts him down to hell, according to that Psalm XLVIII, 15: "Like sheep they are laid in hell: death shall feed upon them." By litotes, they shall not be justified is the same as they shall be condemned. The sense therefore is: Let not the injury of the wicked please thee, because the vengeance of the wicked and the flame of hell shall not please thee, which is prepared and destined for them by God from eternity; let not their guilt please thee, lest thou be forced to be pleased with their punishment; let not the wicked please thee, lest hell also please thee.
9:18
Thou shalt not be anxious with fear of death, thou shalt not suspiciously fear death. For those who hold death in suspicion torment themselves perpetually with this suspicion and fear; whence at the slightest rumours and noises they tremble, like hares they look about all things fearfully, they hold all things suspect. These suspicions and continual fear of death are far worse than death itself, nay worse than many deaths, according to that saying: "Worse than war is the fear of wars." Understand more fully him that hath power to kill generally as any prince, who hath the right of life and death, especially an infidel. For he who offends such a one incurs danger to his life, and often on account of a mere trifling offence. For princes, with their sublime power, not rarely use, nay abuse their power at their pleasure. Thus did Nero, of whom it is said, according to Suetonius: "No prince before me knew what and how much was permitted to him." Caligula, when his grandmother Antonia warned him to act otherwise, replied: "Remember that all things are permitted to me and against all." Wherefore the philosopher was wont to say wisely, that a king should be approached as fire — neither too near, lest thou be burned by him; nor too far, lest thou be not warmed by him.
9:19
19. The Greeks add parachronema, that is, immediately, forthwith, at once: be cautious, and look around at all things diligently, lest you commit even a slight offense, on account of which he may condemn you and adjudge you to death. 20. Know communion with death. To dwell with a prince having power to kill, especially with a tyrant, is the same as to dwell with death, to have communion with death, because he will easily communicate and inflict death upon you, which he bears in mind and hand. "And behold a pale horse: and he that sat upon him, his name was Death, and Hell followed him" (Apoc. VI, 8). Because thou shalt walk in the midst of snares, and thou shalt walk upon the arms of the sorrowful — if, namely, you are occupied in the court of a prince and tyrant, you will continually walk among snares, that is, ambushes and dangers of death. For just as it is difficult, and almost impossible, for one walking everywhere among snares to walk so cautiously that he avoids them all — for while he avoids one, he can scarcely avoid another; and if he avoids three or four, he falls into a fifth — so if you please a prince in one or another matter, you can scarcely not displease him in another, if you are pious and strive to serve God and satisfy your conscience. Mystically, in this life we walk in the midst of snares, which the world, the flesh, and the devil, most cunning, most powerful and most fierce, set for us. Whence St. Antony, as St. Athanasius testifies, saw this whole world up to the heavens full of snares, and groaning and praying: "Lord, who shall escape these snares?" he heard: "Humility." St. Augustine in Psalm. CXLI: "Do you not know that you walk in the midst of snares, as Scripture says? And here are snares, and there are snares; snares on the right, snares on the left; on the right: the prosperity of the world; on the left: the adversity of the world; on the right: promises; on the left: terrors. Walk through the midst of snares, do not depart from the way, let no promise capture you, let no terror crush you." St. Chrysostom, homil. 4 to the People: "Recognize," he says, "that you pass through the midst of snares, and you walk upon the ramparts of cities. The snare is obscured, because neither does death appear openly, nor is calamity manifest; but from all sides it lies hidden and concealed: for just as children cover the snares which they set for birds with earth, so the devil wraps sins in the pleasures of life. And if gain should present itself, do not see only the gain; but diligently explore, lest perhaps death and sin lie hidden within the gain: and if you see it, flee."
9:21
That is: As much as you are worth and are able, beware of your neighbor, so that, namely, you may carefully examine him and his actions and counsels, lest he plot something evil against you, and do not trust him unless well examined, nor commit yourself and your affairs to him. Whence for beware, in Greek it is stochazai, which signifies to aim and to look most intently, as one does who shoots an arrow at a target. Do not share your counsels and secrets with anyone, nor converse with him, unless you have first examined him well and found him to be faithful, wise and prudent.
9:22
22. That your banquet may be honest and sober, and seasoned with honest and pious conversation; for the unjust so devote themselves to filling their belly, and so loosely let their tongue run into scurrilous and obscene words, detractory and cursing, that their banquets are most full of sins; and therefore Sirach wisely admonishes here that they ought to be held only with the just and those who fear God. Wherefore St. Augustine had inscribed on his table those verses of his, that they might be continually read by his guests: Whoever loves to gnaw at the life of the absent with words, let him know this table is forbidden to him. And Possidius says in the Life of St. Augustine: "He admonished every guest to abstain from superfluous and harmful tales and detraction. For he sometimes rebuked even some of his most intimate Co-bishops, who had forgotten that writing and spoke against it, so sharply that he said either the verses ought to be deleted from the table, or he would rise from the middle of dinner and go to his chamber." And in the fear of God let there be thy glory—that is: Glory in having the just and those who fear God as thy familiars and guests, rather than the noble and the rich, because true glory is the fear of God. Such were the banquets of the early Christians, which were called Agapae from charity and love and the praise of God, concerning which St. Paul thus ordains in Ephesians V, verse 18: "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is luxury; but be filled with the Holy Ghost, speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual canticles, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord." 23. And in thy mind let there be the thought of God, and let all thy discourse be in the commandments of the Most High. Let not thy thought of God be erroneous, discordant, absurd and unworthy of God; but let thy thought and inquiry concerning God be sensible and prudent: so that, namely, concerning God and His attributes thou mayest think as faith, Holy Scripture and the Fathers depict them. Again, as the thought of God in the heart and mind ought to be sensible, so also in thy mouth all thy discourse and speech concerning the law of the Most High ought to be. When thou art not occupied with other matters, think of God and speak of His law, especially at banquets. Thus we read of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Dominic that all their discourse was with God or concerning God.
9:24
As the industry of the hand makes the work of the craftsman praiseworthy, so wise speech makes the prince praiseworthy: for this is the work of the prince, namely, that by his wise speech he persuade the people concerning what is right, useful and just, settle disputes, calm tumults and seditions, establish union, peace and concord: if he accomplish this, he will certainly be a great craftsman; a great ruler and governor of the people. Sirach passes from ethical precepts, which form the life of each one according to the norm of law and virtue, to political precepts, which compose the commonwealth. Henceforth therefore until chapter XI, verse 7, he instructs princes and magistrates, and teaches what they ought to avoid and what to pursue in the administration of affairs.
9:25
There is an antithesis. For to the wise eloquence of the prince, by which he composes the whole city, is opposed the man full of tongue and rash in speaking, who confuses and disturbs the whole city, and therefore ought to be kept far from it and sent away. For he is terrible to all, who assails all with his gibes like a horned bull, stirs up quarrels and brawls, and therefore is hated by all.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Douay 1609-10), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.