1As the divisions of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will, he shall turn it.Il cuore del re è nella mano del Signore, come un'acqua, che si scompartisce: egli lo volgerà dovunque a lui piace.AS diuisions of waters, so the hart of the king is in the hand of our Lord: whither soeuer he wil, he shal incline it.Sicut divisiones aquarum, ita cor regis in manu Domini: / quocumque voluerit, inclinabit illud. 2Every way of a man seemeth right to himself: but the Lord weigheth the hearts.All'uomo sembrano diritte tutte le sue vie; ma il Signore pesa i cuori.Euerie way of a man semeth to himself right: but our Lord weigheth the hartes.Omnis via viri recta sibi videtur: / appendit autem corda Dominus. 3To do mercy and judgment, pleaseth the Lord more than victims.L'esercitare la misericordia, e la giustizia, è più gradito al Signore, che le vittime.To doe mercie and iudgement, doth more please our Lord, then victimes.Facere misericordiam et judicium / magis placet Domino quam victimæ. 4Haughtiness of the eyes is the enlarging of the heart: the lamp of the wicked is sin.La gonfiezza del cuore fa altiero lo sguardo: la felicità degli empj egli è il peccato.Exaltation of the eies is the dilatation of the hart: the lampe of the impious sinne.Exaltatio oculorum est dilatatio cordis; / lucerna impiorum peccatum. 5The thoughts of the industrious always bring forth abundance: but every sluggard is always in want.I pensieri dell'uomo forte conducono sempre all'abbondanza: i pigri poi sono tutti sempre in miseria.The cogitations of the strong are alwayes in abundance: but euerie sluggard is alwayes in pouertie.Cogitationes robusti semper in abundantia; / omnis autem piger semper in egestate est. 6He that gathereth treasures by a lying tongue, is vain and foolish, and shall stumble upon the snares of death.Chi ammassa ricchezze colle bugie della sua lingua, è stolto, e privo di mente, e caderà nei lacci di morte.He that gathereth treasures with a lying tongue, is vaine and witles, and shal stumble at the snares of death.Qui congregat thesauros lingua mendacii vanus et excors est, / et impingetur ad laqueos mortis. 7The robberies of the wicked shall be their downfall, because they would not do judgment.Le rapine degli empj li tireranno a basso, perché non hanno voluto fare quello, che è giusto.The robberies of the impious, shal draw them downe, because they would not doe iudgement.Rapinæ impiorum detrahent eos, / quia noluerunt facere judicium. 8The perverse way of a man is strange: but as for him that is pure, his work is right.La via dell'uomo perverso è disordinata: ma se l'uomo è puro, le opere di lui sono rette.The peruerse way of a man is strange: but he that is cleane, his worke is right.Perversa via viri aliena est; / qui autem mundus est, rectum opus ejus.
9It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman, and in a common house.E meglio il sedere in un angolo del solaio, che in una medesima casa con una moglie, che contende.It is better to sitte in a corner of the house toppe, then with a brawling woman, and in a common house.Melius est sedere in angulo domatis, / quam cum muliere litigiosa, et in domo communi. 10The soul of the wicked desireth evil, he will not have pity on his neighbour.L'anima dell'empio desidera il male; egli non avrà compassione del suo prossimo.The soule of the impious desireth euil, he wil not haue pitie on his neighbour.Anima impii desiderat malum: / non miserebitur proximo suo. 11When a pestilent man is punished, the little one will be wiser: and if he follow the wise, he will receive knowledge.Punito che sia l'uomo di mal esempio, il semplice si farà più saggio, e se frequenterà l'uomo sapiente, farà acquisto di scienza.The pestilent man being punished, the litle one wil be wiser: and if he folow the wiseman, he wil take knowlege.Mulctato pestilente, sapientior erit parvulus, / et si sectetur sapientem, sumet scientiam. 12The just considereth seriously the house of the wicked, that he may withdraw the wicked from evil.Il giusto si prende pensiero della casa dell'empio, per ritrarre gli empj dal male.The iust deuiseth concerning the house of the impious, that he may draw the impious from euil.Excogitat justus de domo impii, / ut detrahat impios a malo. 13He that stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself, and shall not be heard.Chi chiude le sue orecchie alle strida del povero, striderà anch'egli senz'essere esaudito.He that stoppeth his eare at the crie of the poore, himself also shal crie, and shal not be heard.Qui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, / et ipse clamabit, et non exaudietur. 14A secret present quencheth anger: and a gift in the bosom, the greatest wrath.Un regalo segreto ammorza l'ire, e un dono messo in seno, calma lo sdegno più grande.A gift hid quencketh angers: and a gift in the bosome the greatest indignation.Munus absconditum extinguit iras, / et donum in sinu indignationem maximam. 15It is joy to the just to do judgment: and dread to them that work iniquity.Il gaudio del giusto sta nel praticare la giustizia: quelli che operano l'iniquità, stanno in paura.It is a ioy to the iust to doe iudgement: and dread to them that worke iniquitie.Gaudium justo est facere judicium, / et pavor operantibus iniquitatem. 16A man that shall wander out of the way of doctrine, shall abide in the company of the giants.L'uomo che va lungi dalla via della dottrina anderà a stare co' giganti.A man, that shal erre from the way of doctrine, shal abyde in the assemblie of giantes.Vir qui erraverit a via doctrinæ / in cœtu gigantum commorabitur.
17He that loveth good cheer, shall be in want: he that loveth wine, and fat things, shall not be rich.Chi ama di banchettare, diventerà mendico, e chi ama il vino, e i buoni, bocconi, non arricchirà.He that loueth good cheere, shal be in pouertie: he that loueth wine, and fatte thinges, shal not be rich.Qui diligit epulas in egestate erit; / qui amat vinum et pinguia non ditabitur. 18The wicked is delivered up for the just: and the unjust for the righteous.L'empio è dato (in espiazione) pel giusto, e l'iniquo per gli uomini dabbene.The impious shal be geuen for the iust: and the vniust for the righteous.Pro justo datur impius, / et pro rectis iniquus. 19It is better to dwell in a wilderness, than with a quarrelsome and passionate woman.E meglio l'abitare in una terra deserta, che con una donna inquieta, e iraconda.It is better to dwel in a desert land, then with a brawling and angrie woman.Melius est habitare in terra deserta / quam cum muliere rixosa et iracunda. 20There is a treasure to be desired, and oil in the dwelling of the just: and the foolish man shall spend it.Un tesoro desiderabile, e copioso è nella casa del giusto: ma un uomo senza prudenza lo dissiperà.Treasure to be desired, and oyle in the habitation of the iust: and the vnwise man shal dissipate it.Thesaurus desiderabilis, et oleum in habitaculo justi: / et imprudens homo dissipabit illud. 21He that followeth justice and mercy, shall find life, justice, and glory.Chi esercita la giustizia, e la misericordia, troverà vita, giustizia, e gloria.He that foloweth iustice and mercie, shal finde life, iustice, and glorie.Qui sequitur justitiam et misericordiam / inveniet vitam, justitiam, et gloriam. 22The wise man hath scaled the city of the strong, and hath cast down the strength of the confidence thereof.Un saggio ha espugnata la città piena di guerrieri, ed ha distrutte le forse, nelle quali ella aveva fidanza,The wise hath scaled the citie of the strong, and hath destroyed the confidence therof.Civitatem fortium ascendit sapiens, / et destruxit robur fiduciæ ejus. 23He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from distress.Chi custodisce la sua bocca, e la sua lingua, custodisce l'anima sua dagli affanni.He that kepeth his mouth, and his tongue, kepeth his soule from distresses.Qui custodit os suum et linguam suam / custodit ab angustiis animam suam. 24The proud and the arrogant is called ignorant, who in anger worketh pride.Il superbo, e l'arrogante sarà chiamato stolto, mentre per ira opera con superbia.The proude and arrogant is called vnlerned, which in anger worketh pride.Superbus et arrogans vocatur indoctus, / qui in ira operatur superbiam.
25Desires kill the slothful: for his hands have refused to work at all.I desiderj uccidono il pigro: perchè le mani di lui non han voluto far nulla:Desires kil the slothful: for his handes would not worke any thing:Desideria occidunt pigrum: / noluerunt enim quidquam manus ejus operari. 26He longeth and desireth all the day: but he that is just, will give, and will not cease.Egli tutto il giorno non fa altro, che desiderare, e appetire: ma il giusto dona, né mai si sta.al the day he longeth and desireth: but he that is iust, wil geue, and wil not cease.Tota die concupiscit et desiderat; / qui autem justus est, tribuet, et non cessabit. 27The sacrifices of the wicked are abominable, because they are offered of wickedness.Sono in abbominazione le vittime degli empj, perché sono frutto di iniquità.The hostes of the impious abominable, because they are offered of wickednes.Hostiæ impiorum abominabiles, / quia offeruntur ex scelere. 28A lying witness shall perish: an obedient man shall speak of victory.Il testimone bugiardo perirà: l'uomo ubbidiente canterà la vittoria.A lying witnes shal perish: an obedient man shal speake victorie.Testis mendax peribit; / vir obediens loquetur victoriam. 29The wicked man impudently hardeneth his face: but he that is righteous, correcteth his way.L'empio senza pudore fa faccia tosta: ma l'uomo dabbene corregge i suoi andamenti.The impious man malepertly hardeneth his countenauce: but he that is righteous, correcteth his way.Vir impius procaciter obfirmat vultum suum; / qui autem rectus est corrigit viam suam. 30There is no wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel against the Lord.Non è sapienza, non è prudenza, non è consiglio che vaglia contro il Signore.There is no wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel against our Lord.Non est sapientia, non est prudentia, / non est consilium contra Dominum. 31The horse is prepared for the day of battle: but the Lord giveth safety.Si mettono in punto i cavalli pel giorno della battaglia; ma il Signore è quegli, che da salute.The horse is prepared to the day of battel: but our Lord geueth saluation.Equus paratur ad diem belli; / Dominus autem salutem tribuit.
21:1
Calmet
It. Though it be free, and may resist grace or embrace virtue, Isaias 45:22., Jeremias 3:14., and 7:3., and Josue 24:23. (Calmet)
Menochius
Yet God knows how to turn the heart even of a king, so as to preserve his liberty, with the same ease as a gardener brings the streams of water to his plants. (Menochius)
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Menochius
Mercy. Septuagint, "justice and truth." (Haydock) See Osee 6:6. (Menochius)
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Calmet
Heart. Or when it is proud, it causes the eyes to appear so too. (Calmet)
Haydock
Lamp. Protestants, "ploughing of the wicked is sin." When it is done with a bad motive, out of pride. Hebrew, "the haughtiness of the eyes, and the enlarging of the heart, are the labour ("tillage," Montanus; "thought," Pagnin) of the wicked; yea, sin." (Haydock)
Calmet
Those things are their employment, and their sin. (Calmet)
Haydock
Septuagint and Vulgate may also mean, "sin is the lamp and exultation of the wicked." (Haydock)
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Sluggard. Hebrew, "hasty man," as the slothful is ironically styled. He would see his desires accomplished without labouring; and will never stick to work. This levity is most injurious to his advancement.
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Death. Their injustice shall be punished.
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Calmet
Strange. Unknown, impure way, Leviticus 10:1., and Deuteronomy 17:15. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Any inconvenience had better be endured, than to live with the quarrelsome. (Menochius)
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Haydock
Neighbour. Symmachus, "he has no idea of friendship." Septuagint, "he shall not be treated with mercy by any man." (Haydock)
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Knowledge. These are the effects of chastisements and good company.
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Evil. He tries every expedient to save him.
That. Septuagint, "he despises." Symmachus, "throws down."
21:14
Calmet
Bosom. In private. (Calmet)
Haydock
They put all valuable things in the bosom. (Haydock)
21:15
To do judgment. Or to see it done, while the wicked depend only on the corruption of their judges.
21:16
Giants, in hell, chap 15:11., Job 26:5., and Ezechiel 22:21.
21:17
Calmet
Rich. Economy is constantly recommended. (Calmet)
Those who squandered away their goods, were fined by the Areopagites. (Athen. 4:19.)
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21:20
Treasure of provisions. Temporal blessings were promised as a figure of more lasting ones, which are set before Christians.
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Calmet
Thereof. Nothing can resist, Matthew 12:29., and Ecclesiastes 9:16. (Calmet)
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Lyranus
Mouth, from eating too much. (Lyranus)
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Haydock
Ignorant. Hebrew, "a scoffer." Septuagint, "pestilent." (Haydock)
Such a one is always actuated by pride, when he attempts to turn good advice and religion to ridicule.
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At all. Hence his desires of riches and wisdom prove fruitless, Proverbs 13:4.
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Haydock
Wickedness. Hebrew, "with an evil thought." (Montanus) Ecclesiasticus 34:24. (Haydock)
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Obedient. Attentive, faithful witness, shall speak with triumph, or he who obeys the law, shall gain the victory over the devil, etc. (Philippians 2:8.)
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Face. Never blushing, or yielding to good advice.
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Calmet
Battle. It was kept for no other purpose by the eastern nations, who used oxen to till the land; asses and camels to carry burdens, Job 39:18., and Psalm 19:8., and 32:17. (Calmet)
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Gods prouidence.
21:2
ch 14. v. 12. & 16 v. 2.
21:3
Mercie and iudgement.
21:4
Humilitie.
21:5
Fortitude.
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Truth.
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Equitie.
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Right in hart.
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Domestical peace.
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Commiseration.
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Chastisment of sinne.
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Charitie.
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Almes dedes.
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Almes in secrete.
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Iust punishment.
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Obseruation of orders.
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Temperance & pa•cimonie.
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Pietie.
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Domestical peace. Frugalitie.
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Iustice, and mercie.
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Fortitude.
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Guard of the tongue.
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Modestie.
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Diligent trauel. Liberalitie.
21:27
Sinceritie in religion.
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True testimonie, and found doctrine.
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Amendment of faultes.
21:30
Conformitie to Gods wil.
21:31
Gods grace necessarie.
21:1
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 5.24.1
1. As therefore the devil lied at the beginning, so did he also in the end, when he said, “All these are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give them.” For it is not he who has appointed the kingdoms of this world, but God; for “the heart of the king is in the hand of God.”
Tertullian † AD 220 On Prayer 5
“Thy kingdom come” has also reference to that whereto “Thy will be done” refers— in us , that is. For when does God not reign, in whose hand is the heart of all kings?
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.81
… “And God stirred up Satan against Solomon himself.” Also in Job, first of all God permitted, and then it was allowed to the devil; and in the Gospel, the Lord first permitted, by saying to Judas, “What thou doest, do quickly.” Also in Solomon, in the Proverbs: “The heart of the king is in God’s hand.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 56.1
1. A desire to learn and a yearning for heavenly things is suitable to a religious Emperor; for thus you will truly have ‘your heart’ also ‘in the hand of God
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 18.10
… a Christian Emperor has learnt to honour the altar of Christ alone. Why do they exact of pious hands and faithful lips the ministry to their sacrilege? Let the voice of our Emperor utter the Name of Christ alone, and speak of Him only, Whom he is conscious of, for, “the King’s heart is in the hand of the Lord.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin 1.24
… use of this” (that is, rightly uses his freedom of will), “does so entirely surrender himself to God, and does so completely mortify his own will, that he is able to say with the apostle, ‘Nevertheless it is already not I that live, but Christ liveth in me;’ and ‘He placeth his heart in the hand of God, so that He turneth it whithersoever He willeth.’”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on Grace and Free Will 42
… and she bowed herself upon the head of her delicate maiden which went before her. But God turned the king, and transformed his indignation into gentleness.” The Scripture says in the Proverbs of Solomon, “Even as the rush of water, so is the heart of a king in God’s hand; He will turn it in whatever way He shall choose.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 104.7
… that is, they went back from pressing on the mountains. Now the mountains themselves stand forth, Peter and Paul: how do they tower! They who before were pressed down by persecutors, now are venerated by emperors. For the waters are fled from the rebuke of God; because “the heart of kings is in the hand of God, He hath bent it whither He would;”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints 1.42
… and ye shall observe my judgments, and do them.” Let them hear, “Man’s goings are directed by the Lord, and how can a man understand His ways?” Let them hear, “Every man seemeth right to himself, but the Lord directeth the hearts.”
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St Jerome † AD 420 Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus 3.43
… The man of evil counsel shall suffer much loss. Better is a poor man who is just than a rich man that speaketh lies. It is a glory to a man to turn away from evil words; but he that is foolish bindeth himself therewith. Love not detraction, lest thou be rooted out. The bread of lying is sweet to a man, but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.
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St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 41
Wherefore we must cast out all wickedness from our souls, and never more contrive any deceit; for, saith one, “To the perverse God sendeth crooked paths” (
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.28
… “It is better,” he says, “to dwell in a desert land, than with a contentious and passionate woman in a wide house.” How seldom we find a wife without these faults, he knows who is married. Hence that sublime orator, Varius Geminus says well “The man who does not quarrel is a bachelor.”
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Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Letters 109
… for “evil conversations corrupt good manners ,” and “the wise man will be sharper than the pestilent person who is chastised
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On Works and Alms 5
… And in Solomon we read, “Shut up alms in the heart of the poor, and these shall intercede for thee from all evil.” And again: “Whoso stoppeth his ears that he may not hear the weak, he also shall call upon God, and there will be none to hear him.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.2
… “Say not, Go away, and return, to-morrow I will give; when you can do good immediately. For thou knowest not what may happen on the coming day.” Also in the same place: “He who stoppeth his ears that he may not hear the weak, shall himself call upon God, and there shall be none to hear him.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 11
[7.] Such were the offerings of Cornelius. For (it is said) “thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.” ( Acts x. 4 .) Thou seest a most excellent union. Then are we heard, when we ourselves also hear the poor who come to us. “He” (it is said) “that stoppeth his ears that he may not hear the poor” (
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 10
… For “almsgiving wipes out sin ,” kills death, and extinguishes the punishment of perpetual fire. But he who has not been fruitful therein, shall have no indulgence from the great Recompenser, as Solomon says, “He that closeth his ears lest he should hear the weak, shall himself call upon the Lord , and there shall be none to hear him
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.28
… They of course who follow the first Adam, who is of the earth, and not the second, who is from heaven. And again in another place: “Like a worm in wood, so a wicked woman destroyeth her husband.” But if you assert that this was spoken of bad wives, I shall briefly answer: What necessity rests upon me to run the risk of the wife I marry proving good or bad?
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 6.3
… only his celibacy appeared to me a painful thing. But what hope he cherished, what struggles he had against the temptations that beset his very excellences, what solace in adversities, and what savoury joys Thy bread possessed for the hidden mouth of his heart when ruminating
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 6.7
… And the prohibition of the flesh of these animals is a warning against this fault. Another passage of Scripture speaks of the precious treasure of wisdom, and describes ruminating as clean, and not ruminating as unclean: "A precious treasure resteth in the mouth of a wise man; but a foolish man swallows it up."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 104.46
… Let each, as he can recall to mind what he hath heard, by mutual conversation stir up the food ye have received, ruminate on what ye have heard, let it not descend in you into the bowels of forgetfulness. Let the treasure to be desired
21:26
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 20
… but being inflamed with wickedness, they are wholly set on fire by pleasures, as saith the Proverb, ‘All day long he desires evil desires.’ But the Prophet cries against them, saying, ‘Wo unto those who rise up early, and follow strong drink; who continue until the evening, for wine inflameth them
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.15
… and, while not braced with the vigour of lofty aims, suffers the pangs of the hunger of low concupiscence, and, in that it neglects to bind itself up by discipline, it scatters itself the more abroad hungry in its craving after pleasures. Hence it is written again by the same Solomon, The idle man is wholly in desires (
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.21
For, having first mentioned bounty bestowed upon the poor, he would not call this mercy, but rather justice: for it is surely just that whosoever receive what is given by a common Lord should use it in common. Hence also Solomon says, Whoso is just will give and will not spare (
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 9.106
… That we should not, then, try to get anything with sin under pretence of almsgiving we are plainly warned by Holy Scripture, which says, The sacrifices of the impious are abominable which are offered of wickedness (
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.21
… For hence it is that the Lord through the prophet rejects even sacrifices themselves, saying, I the Lord love judgment, and I hate robbery in a whole burnt offering ( Isai. lxi. 8 ). Hence again He has said, The sacrifices of the ungodly are abominable, which are offered of wickedness (
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Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 5.21
… whereas my aforesaid brother and fellow-priest is acting against evangelical principles and also against the blessed Apostle Peter, and against all the churches, and against the ordinances of the Canons. But the Lord , in whose hands are all things, is almighty; of Him it is written, There is no wisdom nor prudence nor counsel against the Lord (
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 1.6
… For they, by an instinctive affection, were anxious to give me what Thou hadst abundantly supplied. It was, in truth, good for them that my good should come from them, though, indeed, it was not from them, but by them; for from Thee, O God, are all good things, and from my God is all my safety.
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 3.15
… for “a horse is prepared for the day of battle: but help cometh from the Lord,”
21:1
First, Lyra, Hugo, Dionysius and others, by divisions of waters understand that primordial separation of waters, by which God in the beginning of the world divided the waters above from those below, interposing the firmament in the middle. Gen. I, 8, as if to say. Just as God first divided the waters above from those below, so He divides the heart of the king, now elevating it, so that he may think and undertake great and sublime things; now depressing it, so that he may think and deal with exiles and humble matters: indeed He now raises up the king himself, so that he may be powerful; now depresses him, so that he may be abject and common, as He depressed the proud Nebuchadnezzar by changing him into a beast, Daniel cap. iv, 30. Moreover some understand by waters above the clouds, which surpass the sky, that is the air of the lowest region, as if to say: Just as God, having sent wind, drives the clouds so that they rain down upon that place of the earth which He Himself has chosen: so likewise by His spirit He drives the mind of the king, so that it may be borne in that direction, and may execute that which has been pleasing and fixed to God. Second, others refer these things to the divisions of the Red Sea, which God made through Moses, so that the Hebrews might pass through, and soon when the sea returned it drowned the pursuing Egyptians in it. For there God inclined the heart of Pharaoh the king (by that reason and manner which I recounted in Exodus vii, 3) to follow the Hebrews, so that He might submerge him with his own in the sea. In a similar way God turns the hearts and counsels of impious kings and tyrants back upon themselves, so that they may be caught and overwhelmed by the same things which they had wickedly constructed against others. Again others understand by divisions of waters the various divisions of the sea, tracts and bays, which have their own divided movements and tides: for in some there is a tide once per day, as the sea now grows, now decreases; in others twice or three times, and in others four times, as if to say: Just as the sea and its bays and tides are in the hand of God, so that He may divide and moderate them at His pleasure: so likewise the heart of the king, which like the sea surges with various thoughts, counsels, meditations, is in the hand of God, so that He may divide and direct them at His pleasure. Some confirm this sense from the Hebrew word pelagim, as if from this pelagus, that is the sea, were derived; but this is backwards: for pelagim in Hebrew signifies divisions, not the sea. Moreover Bede understands by divisions of waters the rivers, which flow forth from the sea. Whence our Salazar thus forms this interpretation, as if to say: Just as rivers indeed flow from the sea by God as author, and again by the same as it were regulator traverse the longest stretches of the earth, wash and pour forth, and finally flow back into the sea: so also the decrees, commands and just laws of the king are derived from the sea of divine will and command, and pass into subjects as certain rivers thence: so much so that the good will of the prince ought to be called a certain insinuation and derivation of divine will, to which it is impious to resist. This is what that passage wishes: "Whithersoever He will, He shall turn it," that is, in that direction the will of the king is borne, in which the will of God inclines: so that the just decrees of the prince are certain derivations and outflows of divine will, which when they have washed over great regions far and wide, return themselves to the sea of that same divine will. And so Solomon, according to this exposition, persuades obedience and submission toward kings to subjects: because God rules their hearts and endeavors, and through them announces His will to subjects. This is what Wisdom itself, namely God, proclaims of Himself, cap. viii, 14: "Mine is counsel and equity, mine is prudence, mine is fortitude. By me kings reign, and the makers of laws decree just things. By me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice." Third and genuinely, by divisions of waters you may understand those by which rivers are derived and flow into various parts of the earth, or by which collections of waters are led into gardens and fields, so that they may irrigate and make them fertile, as the Nile is led through all Egypt, and thus covers it with mud and makes it fertile. For these channels the Hebrew פלגי palge signifies. Whence the Chaldean, Syrian, Cajetan, Vatable, Pagninus and others translate, as the channels of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord. Moreover, these streams are made either by God and nature, or by a farmer, or by a water-gatherer who collects and gathers water, and conducts it through aqueducts wherever he wishes, as we see done at Rome through pipes and channels. Hence the Author of the Greek Catena translates thus from the Septuagint: as the force of water is in the hand of God, so is the heart of the king; for by His will alone, wherever He wishes, He bends it, as if to say: Just as God diverts rivers, such as the Nile, through streams into certain parts of the earth, so that they may moisten and make them fertile: so likewise the same God diverts and conducts the heart and thoughts of the king, so that they may be directed toward this nation or person, and may be beneficial to it, not to another: namely because when the Lord favors someone, He inspires sound counsels in princes, and impels them to carry them out; but when He is angry with someone, He allows them to go into a reprobate mind, and inclines them toward those things which bring evil and vengeance upon the subjects. This was evident in Saul, first chosen and afterwards reprobate; likewise in David, who although he was according to the heart of the Lord, yet when the wrath of the Lord was kindled to be angry against Israel, He moved David to a numbering of the people pernicious to Israel, as appears in II Kings, last chapter. Whence that passage in Job xxx, 34: "Who maketh a man that is a hypocrite to reign for the sins of the people." But if the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, which seems to be most free; how much more the remaining powers, camps, armies, and the rest of the apparatus of war; how much more other private men? So that this maxim relates to that in chapter xx, 27: "The lamp of the Lord is the spirit of man, which (the Septuagint, who, namely the Lord) searcheth all the secrets of the belly." Again, these streams are conducted by a farmer or water-gatherer, and then the sense will be, as if to say: Just as the divisions of waters, that is, the streams of a spring, or torrent or river, are divided and flow in the direction in which the farmer or water-gatherer conducts them: so the heart of the king is conducted in the direction in which God has inclined and conducted it. Since these maxims are concise, they therefore include many things which are left for the reader to add and for the interpreter to supply. Therefore the divisions include both the source from which the waters are conducted, and the streams which are conducted, and the place and parts of the earth into which they are conducted. In turn, the heart of the king includes counsels, undertakings, decrees, benefits or harms, which flow from it as from a source into the subjects and the commonwealth. Properly therefore the heart of the king is compared to a source; counsels and benefits, etc., to streams; the place and parts of the earth, to peoples and persons to whom they are directed, as if to say: Just as a source is in the hand of a farmer or water-gatherer, so that at his pleasure he may conduct it through ditches and channels into these garden or house plots, so that he may water, irrigate, and make them fertile: so the heart of the king is in the hand of God, so that at His pleasure He may conduct it into those thoughts, counsels and affections, which may be useful and advantageous to this people or person, or useless and harmful, in no other way. God does this by suggesting to the king counsels so attractive that the mind is seized to undertake them, and by imparting an affection for them to the king, so that he may love and desire them, but reject and spurn the contrary. Thus God dissipated the counsel of Ahithophel, good for Absalom, but harmful to David, II Kings xvii: "By acting in the heart of Absalom so that he would reject such counsel, and choose another which was not expedient for him," says St. Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, chapter xx. But God knows a thousand modes and reasons by which He does this and holds them in His mind and hand, as being omniscient and omnipotent, and the king and lord of minds: for He alone enters into that mind, and softens it, hardens it, bends it, turns it, and moves it wherever it pleases Him, and He does this certainly and strongly, but gently and easily, leaving the mind free will and free choice: for just as water, given a way, namely a channel or sloping ditch, flows into it of its own accord, so the heart of the king is borne of its own accord toward those things which God gently and suitably suggests to him, by proposing to him inwardly those things which He knows are suited to his nature, as St. Thomas explains this passage, I part. Question LXXXIII, art. 1, ad 3. He moves therefore not by compelling, but by soothing, softening, cajoling, persuading, etc. This maxim signifies, therefore, first, that the heart of the king, who appears subject to none but dominates all, is subject to God and in His hand, like clay in the hand of a potter, so that He may shape and form it as He wills. For although the hearts of all men are in the hand of God, this is said properly of the heart of the king, because God has a special providence over it: both because the king is the vicar of God on earth and governs the commonwealth in God's stead; and because God has a special care for the commonwealth and kingdom, whose government and prosperity or misery depends upon the king. Wherefore when God is angry with the commonwealth on account of its sins, He infatuates the king or prince so that he destroys the commonwealth; but when He is well disposed toward it, He suggests sound counsels to the king and a sound disposition, so that he may prudently procure the good of the commonwealth with all his strength. Moreover, if the heart of the king is in the hand of God like clay in the hand of a potter, nay rather more so; therefore God dominates it more than the potter dominates clay, namely by full right and divine power. Hence from this maxim of Solomon, Francis Suarez infers, in tome I, On Grace, prolegomenon 1, chapter v, number 9, that God can immediately by Himself necessitate the will on the part of its power itself, with no change made on the part of judgment or object, nor in other conditions physically or morally required for willing freely, and St. Thomas likewise sufficiently indicates this, Question XXII, On Truth, article 8. But then the will would not act freely, as being driven by necessity. Wherefore God does not in fact use this absolute power of His, but leaves the will to its liberty. Second, it signifies that the king, if he wishes to rule rightly, ought to allow himself to be ruled by God, and therefore ought to seek out His will and intention through prayers and diligently execute what he has learned. Third, it signifies that if anyone wishes to obtain something from the king, he ought first to approach God and ask Him to direct the king's heart and incline it to granting what he asks, as Esther did, who prayed to God that He would incline the heart of Ahasuerus, her husband the king, to love the Jews and grant them life and liberty, which had already been taken from them by the deceit of Haman through a decree. She prayed and obtained her request. Hear her praying, chapter xiv, verse 13: "Give me eloquent speech in my mouth, and turn his heart to the hatred of our enemy, so that both he himself may perish, and the others who consent to him." Whoever therefore seeks the favor of the king ought first to seek and secure for himself the favor of God. Whence St. Augustine, in the book On Grace and Free Will, chapter xxi, speaking of Ahasuerus and Esther: "He looked upon her, he says, like a bull in the impulse of his indignation, and the queen feared, and her color changed through faintness, and she leaned upon the head of her attendant who went before her, and God turned, and transferred his indignation into gentleness. It is written in the Proverbs of Solomon: As the impetus of water, so is the heart of the king in the hand of God: whithersoever He will, He shall turn it. And in the psalm it is read what God did to the Egyptians: And He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal deceitfully with His servants." Fourth, when we experience that the counsels and affections of princes are harmful to the commonwealth, let us know that this proceeds from God being angry at its sins, and therefore we appease His wrath by repenting: but when they are salutary, let us give thanks not so much to the king as to God, who rules the king's heart. "Therefore, says Louis Molina, I, part, Question XIV, article 13, disputation 21, the heart of the king (which on earth in the state of punishment has no other from whom it can be coerced by fear or hope of reward, and for this reason is more difficult to be inclined in one direction or another by anyone else than the heart of any other) is said to be in the hand of God, who whithersoever He will shall turn it, namely by drawing it sweetly in one direction or another through gifts and aids, as God Himself wills, while the full right of innate human liberty is preserved. The heart of the king is also in the hand of the Lord, because He can impose upon it the necessity of willing what it pleases God that it should will, as we showed in I II, Question VI: but God is not accustomed to use this power of His, but usually leaves men in the hand of their own counsel." Finally the Septuagint translates: as the impetus of water, so the heart of the king is in the hand of God, that is to say, the heart of the king, burning with anger or some other desire, is like the impetus of a river or torrent, against which no one can resist, no obstacle can be placed: but God by a light turn can divert them, turn them about, and bend them in the opposite direction. Again, just as God gives impetus to water or a torrent, so that it rushes headlong into some part of the earth: so the same God sends impulses and ardors into the heart of the king to undertake that which He himself wishes to accomplish through them, according to that passage in Psalm 45, 5: "The impetus of the river maketh the city of God joyful." The Arabic version: as the rising of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of God, whithersoever He shall nod, He inclines it thither; the Syriac: as a stream of waters the heart of the king is in the hands of God; whithersoever He shall will, He shall cause it to incline. Moreover the Author of the Catena of the Greeks thus explains the Septuagint, that is to say: "As the impetus of waters carries straws or leaves cast into it in every direction and turns them about: so God impels the heart of the king to whatsoever He shall will. And He stirs the heart of the king, turned away from justice, to repentance and the fruit of a reformed life, and He inclines it not by using force or power, but by instructing and training it, and drawing it sweetly, so that it turns of its own accord whither God invites it, and refers all things to the praise and glory of God." Moreover St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nazianzus hold that the heart of the king is in the hand of God, because God protects and preserves the hearts and lives of kings and rulers against enemies and snares unharmed. For the heart is the principle of life, and therefore its symbol. Hear them in Anthony's Melissa, part II, chapter 1: "If the heart of the king," says St. Basil, "is in the hand of God, it is not preserved by the strength of arms, but by divine aid and guidance. And it is in God's hand, not just any heart, but that of one worthy of the name of king." St. Gregory of Nazianzus indeed says: "Fear," he says, "the purple of the king; for reason itself is both legislator and to legislators. Know what has been entrusted to you, and what mystery is in your affairs: the whole world is held under your hand by a small diadem and a small cloth. The things above are God's alone, but the things below are also yours. Be gods to your subjects, if I may say something even bolder. That the heart of the king is in the hand of God has been both said and believed: let your strength be there, not in gold and phalanxes." Tropologically, Bede understands by the heart of the king the heart of the just man, who rules and moderates his affections: "Why," he says, "does it say the heart of the king, and not rather of all men, is in the hand of God, when it is written: For in His hand are all the ends of the earth, unless perhaps it calls king every holy man, who conquers the battles of vices within himself, and fills the militia of virtues with new recruits? For just as the Lord by manifold divisions of waters fills and covers the ends of the earth and the air, and covers the upper regions of the heavens with waters: so will He incline the heart of the king whithersoever He shall will; because just as He distributes the divisions of graces according to His will to both Angels and men: so also He renders the hearts of the saints worthy of whatsoever gifts He shall will. Nor does the Pelagianist have any place whereby anyone can be saved without the grace of God." The heart therefore of the just man is a kingdom in which God reigns. Whence St. Ambrose in Psalm 118, octon. 14, to that passage: My soul is in Thy hands: "The Prophet knows," he says, "knows where to place the protection of his soul, whence to hope for aid; he wishes to place his soul in the hands of God, because the heart of the king is in the hand of God. Whoever has subdued his own body, and has not allowed his soul to be troubled by its passions, as a ruler with fitting vigor, he is said to be a king in a certain royal manner, because he knows how to rule himself, is master of his own right, so that he is not dragged captive into guilt, nor hurried headlong into vice: his soul does not perish eternally, nor does anyone snatch it from the hand of the Almighty Father, or of the Son. For the hand of God, which solidified the heavens, does not lose those whom it holds." Again St. Ambrose (or whoever is the author; for it has been shown in the preface to the Apocalypse that this is not the work of St. Ambrose of Milan) in the Apocalypse, chapter 8, at the beginning: "The Angel," he says, "is said to have held a golden censer in his hand, because the hearts of the Apostles were in the hand of God, as Solomon says: The heart of the king is in the hand of God, whithersoever He shall will He shall incline it. Was the heart of Solomon himself in the hand of God, when he adored idols? Was the heart of Antiochus or Herod in the hand of God? Were the hearts of kings persecuting the saints of God in the hand of God? No, but they were in the hand of the devil; because he inclined them to whatsoever crimes he willed. But the hearts of spiritual kings, that is of the saints, are in the hand of God, and therefore He shall incline them whithersoever He shall will." Wherefore Synesius, in hymn 4, thus celebrates and invokes God: "Thou art the Mind of mind, the Soul of souls, the Nature of natures."
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The Syriac version: the ways of man are right in the eyes of his soul; and the Lord fits, arranges, and establishes the heart. The Arabic: every man appears just to himself, and the Lord pierces (penetrates) hearts. You will ask, how can every way of a man appear right to him, when many wicked men, such as murderers, robbers, adulterers, blasphemers, know that they act perversely and wickedly? First, Lyra responds and gives the reason: because, he says, "as St. Dionysius says, no one looking toward evil acts, but always looks toward true or apparent good. But the Lord weighs hearts in the balance of his justice, so that according to merit or demerit he may give them rewards or punishments." Thus also Jansenius, Cajetan and others. Yet the sinner looks to useful or pleasurable good, not to what is right, that is, honest and consonant with law: whence to the wicked their way and life does not appear right, but twisted and wicked. But it can also be answered that even the wicked have a worldly and shadowy honesty, by which they cloak their vices with the name of virtues, while they call anger generosity; luxury, magnificence; prodigality, liberality; rashness, courage, etc.; and thus they glory in their crimes as if in outstanding deeds. First, some explain it thus, that is to say: No way, that is no action, however depraved and distorted, is such that it does not appear right and honest to someone depraved and distorted. Hence God established in man a balance of right reason and judgment, so that all actions and intentions of the heart may be weighed in it, and from its equilibrium it may be seen precisely what is fair and right. "To you," says St. Basil in Psalm 61, "your own balance is given, which suffices to show the distinction of good and evil." Second, others, that is to say: Every way, that is action and life of an upright man flowing from uprightness, is right and upright as it appears to him, and so it is, not from himself, but from God, who weighs hearts, that is balances and smooths them, so that they may see, enter upon and pursue the plain path of virtue. Whence the Chaldean and Septuagint translate, directs (Symmachus and Theodotion ἐτοιμάζει, that is, prepares, strengthens; Cajetan, adapts) the hearts the Lord; Vatable, harmonizes, that is to say, "He who infuses good will is the Lord." Thus also R. Levi, R. Solomon and Aben-Ezra, who therefore connects this verse with the following: "To do mercy and judgment is more pleasing to the Lord than victims." Behold thus the Lord weighs hearts. Wherefore Nazianzen in his Apology: "It is most excellent," he says, "that all our prayer and action begin from God, and end in God. Let Christ be your beginning, let all things end in you." Thus St. Prosper explains this maxim, book I On the Calling of the Gentiles, chapter ix; and from it against the Pelagians he proves that God is the author of all virtue and all good. Third, our Salazar adds two other interpretations. The former is, that is to say: To man indeed the way which tends to the execution of evil appears plain and easy, because namely it is pleasurable, often also expedient and difficult with no impediments: but God does not examine this external way, but that internal one, by which one goes to consent, with his balance, and in it he finds insurmountable slopes of evil conscience. The latter, which he himself prefers, is: man indeed, pleasing himself in the balance of his own estimation, is usually carried away by the lightness of vain exaltation; but nevertheless God is accustomed to weigh down such lightness of heart by an imposed weight, and (if one may so speak) to set down to the ground the lofty scale which his estimation has raised up. Which he can accomplish in two ways, namely by humility, or even by humiliation, by an imposed burden: for both depress the exaltation of the mind, and cast down pride. Fourth, Pagninus translates, but the Lord numbers hearts, that is to say: God numbers whether there be in man two hearts, one external and simulated, the other internal and true, such as hypocrites have. These God numbers and curses, who gave us one heart, which he wished us both to bear inwardly and to show outwardly. Again God numbers hearts, that is the thoughts and intentions of hearts, and from these he measures and estimates the weight and value of the action. Secondly and more properly, a man is here and elsewhere called a virtuous man, an honest man, one zealous for virtue and reputation: for virtue is derived from man, as it were the work of a man; whence the Septuagint translates, Every man seems to himself just; but the Lord directs hearts. Thus man is taken for a virtuous and prudent man in Job, cap. i, 1: "There was a man in the land of Hus named Job;" where see St. Gregory. Such a man Jeremiah is commanded to seek in the streets of Jerusalem, cap. v, vers. 1. And Prov. x, 23: "But wisdom is prudence to a man." And cap. xx, vers. 24: "The steps of a man are directed by the Lord." And cap. xii, 8: "A man shall be known by his doctrine." And cap. xviii, 4: "Deep waters are the words from the mouth of a man." And vers. 14: "The spirit of a man sustains his infirmity." Similar passages are cap. xix, 11 and 21, cap. xx, 5. To this belongs that saying of Herodotus in the Polyhymnia: "Men are very many, true men are very few." Whence Diogenes, having lit a lamp in the middle of the forum at midday, when asked what he was seeking, said: "I seek a man, I seek a true man." The sense therefore is, as if to say, Every life, that is the action of a virtuous man, seems to him who diligently considers and examines it to be approved and right: but God penetrates and weighs the hearts of individuals, and often sees lurking in it some vicious affection, which is the cause of the action, and vitiates and corrupts it, or certainly makes it less approved and holy, according to that cap. xvi, 2: "The Lord is a weigher of spirits." By heart understand the spirit, the affection and intention of the heart: for God weighs, that is balances, examines, appraises, estimates, judges these. See what is said there. For many are deceived by cupidity, or self-love, or error under the appearance of good, and think they are acting well when they act badly: because they do not perceive the depths of their own heart, and the hidden affections of vengeance, avarice, pride, etc., lurking in it, which impel them to action: but God perceives and weighs these, and from them estimates and judges whether the action is good or bad. Wherefore men ought not to flatter themselves about the goodness of their actions, nor trust and believe in it, but submit themselves to God's judgment with fear, and await and say with St. Paul: "I am not conscious to myself of anything; but I am not hereby justified; but he that judges me is the Lord," I Corinth. iv. God alone therefore is the true weigher of hearts, the balancer of minds, and the weigher of spirits, who with the most exact scale of his judgment weighs and measures the hearts and works of individuals, and discerns and judges with perfect accuracy what, of what kind, and how much it is, and of what value and merit, which the just man, although virtuous and diligent in examining his actions, cannot accomplish. I shall add here other versions and expositions of others, lest the reader be forced to wander through books, but may find them all gathered together here in one place, and may use them as the matter requires.
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For mercy in Hebrew is justice, and thus many Latin codices read before the Roman correction, as also the Septuagint, the Chaldean, Vatablus, Pagninus and others. The Hebrew texts therefore have it thus: to do justice and judgment is chosen by the Lord before sacrifice; which the Septuagint thus explain: to do what is just, and to be truthful is pleasing to God more than the blood of victims; and the Chaldean: he who does justice and judgment is pleasing to himself in his God more than in sacrifice. The author of the Greek Catena from the Septuagint thus translates it: Otherwise: a just work and true prayer are more pleasing to God than bloody victims. Great is this praise of justice and truth, that they please God before victims: for He Himself is the first and supreme Truth, from which all truth flows; just as on the contrary: "The devil is a liar, and the father of it," namely of lying, John viii, 44. To this pertains the Arabic proverb: "Be to each one a balance," that is be just, and do not turn aside from what is right, and do injury to no one so as to depress the balance of justice. And: "There is no justice with avarice," that is to say it is difficult to be just and avaricious at the same time. And: "Justice is not haste of justice," namely so that a judge might hasten his sentence with the matter not sufficiently examined. But Our Lord understood mercy by justice: for the excellent work of the just, and the index of his justice and holiness is mercy. Whence in turn "justice" is put for mercy, as in Daniel iv, 24: "Redeem thy sins by alms" (the Chaldean, justice). Psalm cxi, 9: "He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his justice remaineth for ever and ever." Justice, that is the alms which he gave to the poor, as the Apostle explains II Corinthians ix, 9. Add that in this place justice properly so called is understood through the judgment which follows: for Scripture is wont to embrace every office of virtue by these two, mercy and justice; for everything is either a debt, and is signified by justice: or not a debt and liberal, and is signified by mercy. The sense is, that is to say to strive for virtue and holiness, namely by works either due from justice, or gratuitous from mercy, is more pleasing to God than victims; because these are dead and the carcasses of beasts, but those are vital and living actions of men, by which on account of God and God's laws concupiscence is mortified through mercy and justice, which we exhibit to our neighbour, who is the image of God, for His sake and love. Again through mercy we give as it were life to our neighbour dying from hunger or other evil, and in our neighbour we give life as it were to God Himself, who esteems what is given to our neighbour as given to Himself. For it is more glorious to God that He be the author and lord of life than that He be the author and lord of death: but He is the author of life through mercy, of death through victimation. Whence alluding to this Micah (whom Christ follows, Matthew ix, 13), cap. vi, 6, asking from the person of others: "What worthy thing shall I offer to the Lord? shall I give my firstborn for my sin? or can the Lord be appeased with thousands of rams?" answers: "I will show thee, O man, what is good, and what the Lord requireth of thee: surely to do judgment, and to love mercy." See the sayings there; for there I have reviewed the causes why works of mercy and justice are more pleasing to God than victims. Wherefore I shall not repeat them here, so that I may proceed to other matters.
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The Hebrews have and, and thus the Complutensians read it: but the Romans and others read is; because the Hebrew vau, that is the copulative conjunction, sometimes signifies is: for just as and, so also is couples the predicate with the subject. In Hebrew it is lifting up of the eyes, pride, and broadness of heart, vain confidence in oneself, which both are a lamp, light, boasting of the impious (in which they rejoice and please themselves), is sin, which provokes the wrath of God. You will ask what is the exaltation of the eyes and dilation of the heart? Some take these in a good sense for virtue: hence first, some by exaltation of the eyes understand magnanimity: for the magnanimous man, as he has a lofty mind, so also with lofty eyes he beholds great things and meditates on great things, as if to say, Magnanimity, as it exalts the eyes, so also dilates the heart, and makes it magnificent, so that he undertakes and desires great things. The Septuagint favours this, who translate μεγαλόφρων, that is magnanimous, or one who thinks and meditates on great things, bold in injury: but the lamp of the impious is sin. And thus the antithesis of the first hemistich with the latter is clear, as if to say, Magnanimity exalts the eyes so that it may behold great things, and dilates the heart so that it may love great things, determine and undertake them: hence the magnanimous man is courageous and bold in bearing and despising any injuries, even atrocious ones; on the contrary the sins of the impious, as a lamp always before their eyes, depress their mind, constrict it, and make it base and pusillanimous. For it is established that birds of prey, such as kites, when a lamp is placed before their eyes, are dulled and lose their ferocity: so also the impious, while they recall and contemplate their perpetrated sins hovering in memory, contract their mind, and become timid and pusillanimous. Again, just as flies flying to a lamp singe their wings, burn themselves and perish: so the impious flying to the flame of sin burn themselves, kill themselves and hurl themselves into the flames of hell. This is supported by that saying of the Nazianzen in his Iambics: It is noble to be envied, base to envy; Walk on high leaving the envious on the ground. Secondly, Hugo and Dionysius: Dilation of the heart, he says, is charity (or as others say, hope) dilating the heart to all and everything, so that it may do good to them; this is exaltation of the eyes, because it lifts up the eyes, so that it may behold heavenly and celestial things, and so that in hope of eternal goods it may meditate and undertake great things, just as on the contrary cupidity contracts the heart, and depresses it to earthly things, according to that of the Psalmist: "They have set their eyes to bow down to the earth." Thirdly, R. Levi: Exaltation of the eyes, he says, is knowledge; for this lifts up the eyes to see sublime things, this likewise dilates the heart, that is affects it with tumidity and pride, according to that of the Apostle: "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth." But others generally take these in an evil sense, so as to signify vice. Hence first, some by exaltation of the eyes understand avarice, according to that in chapter xxiii, 5: "Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have." But avarice is "dilation of the heart," because it dilates it to many things, even those of others, to be coveted and seized. For what is said of waters: "The more they are drunk, the more waters are thirsted for," the same you may say of riches. This is the lamp of the impious, which while they follow, they fall into many sins: "For the root of all evils is covetousness, in Greek φιλαργυρία, that is love of money," 1 Tim. vi, 10; hence Psalm. c, 5, where we read from the Septuagint: "With a proud eye and an insatiable heart," the Hebrew has the same words which Solomon uses here, which St. Jerome thus translates there, proud in eyes and broad in heart. R. Abraham: "Broad in heart, he says, is he who dilates his heart to bear adversities, and does not even fear God;" such are the avaricious, who are wholly intent on riches; hence this cupidity so dilates the heart, that is the conscience, that they think all iniquity to be just, and put forward a thousand pretexts for their usuries and frauds: in finding these they are most acute and sharp-eyed. Secondly, others better by exaltation of the eyes from the phrase of Scripture understand pride, according to that in chapter vi, 17: "Haughty eyes, a lying tongue." And chapter xxx, 13: "A generation whose eyes are lofty, and whose eyelids are lifted up on high." And Eccli. xxiii, 5: "Give me not haughtiness of eyes." And elsewhere often. But by "dilation of the heart" Jansenius and others understand avarice, as if here two capital vices are noted, which as a lamp bear the torch to the impious for all sins; these two are pride and avarice. Third and genuinely, the exaltation of the eyes denotes the freedom and pride of the soul, by which the arrogant lift up their eyes, look around at all things arrogantly, and despise all things and all persons before themselves. The dilation of the heart denotes the swelling of the will, haughtiness, freedom and concupiscence, by which the proud and impious, unbridled and licentious, extend their desire to all things, think that all things are permitted to them, esteem that all things are owed to them, so that they do whatever pleases and delights them. The exaltation of the eyes therefore regards the imagination and intellect; the dilation of the heart regards the affection and will; and this is the cause of that; for this reason indeed the proud have a lofty and wandering imagination, because they have a broad and swollen heart and will. It alludes to the proportion of the dimension and dilation of bodies; for bodies of men, as much as they grow and are raised up in height, are proportionally dilated and swell in breadth. In a similar manner indeed the arrogant and concupiscent, as much as they dilate their will and concupiscence, so much do they also dilate their imagination, so that they presume all things, fear nothing, allow themselves to be constrained by no laws: for with the fear of God excluded, which brought the soul to straits, it dilates it to daring anything. He explains what he said in the preceding verse: "Every way of a man seemeth right to himself," that is to say, Each one, even the proud and impious, thinks that he acts rightly, even while he acts perversely, because the dilation of the heart, that is, his arrogance and concupiscence, is the exaltation of the eyes, that is, it exalts and dilates the eyes and the keenness of the mind, so that he thinks all things are permitted to him, all things are approved and right for him: for indeed a lofty eyebrow of the eyes is the effect and sign of the swelling and arrogance by which the heart and will swell. Wherefore "the lamp of the wicked is sin." The lamp, that is, the glory, excellence and happiness of the wicked and proud, by which they become insolent, glory and boast of themselves, is sin, namely of arrogance and concupiscence already mentioned, signified by the exaltation of the eyes and the dilation of the heart. The latter hemistich explains the former. It alludes to the lamp of which he said, cap. xiii, 9: "The light of the just rejoiceth, but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out." And cap. xx, verse 27: "The lamp of the Lord is the spirit of man," that is to say, God has given to man a lamp of reason, so that following it he might take the straight path of virtue; but the impious, having cast this aside, set up for themselves a lamp "the exaltation of the eyes and the dilation of the heart," that is, arrogance and concupiscence; and therefore they choose, not the way of justice, nor of judgment, nor of divine worship, but of sin, namely of concupiscence and arrogance, which seems right to them, and makes it so that all things which they do seem to them to be done rightly. That this is the sense is clear from the Septuagint, which translate: "μεγαλόφρων, that is, great-minded, that is, magnanimous, arrogant and glorious, is bold in injury; but the lamp of the wicked is sin:" which thus explains it, that is to say, "The recklessly bold are accustomed to glory in those things of which they ought to be affected with shame by right. For the impious are so constituted that they even count their sins as an honour to themselves. More significant are the Greek words of the Septuagint: μεγαλόφρων ἐφ᾽ ὕθρει θρασυκάρδιος, that is, arrogant in injury is thraso, or bold and thrasonic of heart. For as St. Gregory says: "The mind of the proud is always strong for inflicting insults, weak for bearing them." Wherefore these three things they judge to pertain to the same thing, Aben-Ezra, Jansenius and others; whence thus from the Hebrew they translate, the exaltation of the eyes, and the dilation of the heart, which are the lamp of the wicked, are sin; namely great and notable; the Syriac, the light of the eyes and the dilation (the Chaldean, the swelling) of the heart and the lamp of the wicked is sin, that is to say, Pride and swelling furnish to the wicked a torch and light for all crimes. Again, that is to say, The proud display their haughtiness, and by it as by a lamp think themselves to be made splendid and glorious. Excellently Philo in Damascenus, lib. III Paralip. cap. xxxv: "An impudent countenance," he says, "and a drooping neck, and a continual agitation of the eyebrows, and a proud gait, and being affected with shame by nothing, are the foulest indications of the soul, inscribing the dark forms of its disgraces upon the conspicuous body." For lamp in Hebrew is נר nir, which Aben-Ezra aptly translates as ploughing, furrow; Baynus, fallow land; whence Vatablus translates, the fallow land of the impious germinates sin, namely pride and insatiable greed, as if to say: Fallow land, or new field which the impious and proud plough, is sin. The impious frequently ploughs, that is, devises and contrives sin; as many furrows as the ploughman draws by ploughing, so many sins does the impious and proud man plough and construct. Ploughing therefore signifies first, the habit of sinning, secondly, facility; thirdly, contempt: for just as the ploughman treads upon the furrows produced by his ploughing, so the sinner treads upon and makes light of the sins committed by himself. Pagninus translates nir as thought, as if to say: The thought of the impious and proud is wholly directed toward sin. R. Solomon translates nir as cultivation, and thus explains it: When someone wishes to satisfy the desires of his mind, he embraces the cultivation of the impious, who indeed devote their minds to nothing else and strive for nothing but crimes and impieties. This therefore is the way in which the impious walk, or rather which they plough, and which accordingly seems right to them, according to that passage in Hosea x, 13: "You have ploughed impiety, you have reaped iniquity, you have eaten the fruit of lies, because you trusted in your ways." See the remarks there. Hence for sin in Hebrew is חטאת chattat, that is, error, deviation, as if to say: The impious, while they follow their lusts and sins or their lamp, and think that they are entering upon the straight path of happiness, are deceived and go completely astray: for they follow chattat, that is, a devious path, which will lead them into errors, heresies and hell. For pride leads the proud thither, according to that saying of St. Augustine: "The proud are teachers of error, because they refused to be disciples of truth." Finally, our Martin de Roa, in book II of his Singularities, chapter xviii, teaches that light and lamp are symbols of dominion, kingdom, triumph, adornment and glory; whence he reads this saying of Solomon thus, and thus expounds it anew: Exaltation of the eyes, that is, the lofty, great and vain hopes of riches and honours, which the impious set before the eyes of their mind and promise themselves; and dilation of the heart, that is, the feasts, delights, joys, banquets, triumphs of the impious; and the lamp of the impious, that is, their modest splendour and glory, which is like the modest light of a lamp enclosed, and like modest air and thin breeze, is sin, that is, vanity, emptiness, and as it were a shadow, and it vanishes more quickly and is reduced to nothing; for thus the pleasure of pride, gluttony, and every sin passes away suddenly, to which on the other hand corresponds that passage in Psalm xvii, 28: "For you will save the humble people, and will bring down the eyes of the proud, that is, you will suppress their pride, break their spirit, cut off all their hopes, and obscure their glory; for you illuminate my lamp, O Lord. That is, you pour into me the oil of gladness, you who gladden my face with oil, you are the author of my happiness and glory; but to the impious you render lamps empty and void, and finally extinguish them, when you leave the rich empty, and do not permit them to have any taste of true pleasure and happiness. To illuminate, moreover, and illumination have the same force in Holy Scripture as to gladden and gladness. To this also the same Wise Man alluded in Proverbs xxiv, when he said: Do not emulate the impious, for they have no hope of future things. And in Proverbs xiii, it is said: The light of the just rejoices, but the lamp of the impious shall be put out; which is read in almost the same words in Job xviii and xxi. And since many manuscripts read: Exaltation of the eyes is dilation of the heart, etc., I add also that this is said significantly, for the eyes, as St. Gregory Nazianzen says, are wont to follow the heart wickedly, so that Jeremiah the Prophet truly said, Lamentations chapter iii: My eye has plundered my soul. Therefore blessed Job made a covenant with his eyes, not that he would not see, but that he would not even think about a virgin. For where the eyes have seen strange women (Proverbs xxiii) the heart will speak perverse things; namely, there is great force, great dominion of the eyes over the heart, great in turn servitude of the hearts against the eyes, and that present and sudden. Thus far Martin de Roa.
21:5
For 'robust' in Hebrew is חרוץ charuts, that is, cut off, vigorous, diligent, industrious, laborious; for he is truly robust both in body and in mind, who with a robust and sedulous heart undertakes labors and overcomes all difficulties that occur. The Hebrew seems to be at variance with the Vulgate: for in place of 'sluggish' they have אץ ats, that is, hasty, swift, precipitate; whence thus they have, the thoughts of the vigorous truly in abundance, and every hasty one truly to deficiency. From the Hebrew therefore first, the Chaldean translated, thoughts collected to abundance, and the hasty foot tends to want; Giggaeus, for 'collected' translated 'chosen'. The sense is, as if to say, The thoughts of a man, which do not scatter themselves in various things, but gather themselves in few, and therefore choose secure and better things, gradually increase their affairs, and produce abundance; but truly those which are hasty and precipitate, while they scatter themselves in various things, and seize suddenly to gather together much, produce want. The reason is, that these embrace all things even doubtful and dangerous, where there is small hope of gain, and there is danger of losing one's fortune; whence suddenly in a moment they lose all: but those do not embrace except secure things, which lack danger, and better things which give more gain and fruit; wherefore gradually by collecting their resources they greatly increase their wealth. This is evident in merchants; for whoever among them are prudent, they do not expend their money except in safe and better exchanges and goods, and thus they become wonderfully rich; the imprudent however, while they expend their money in whatever comes to hand, often buy goods of little worth, or corrupted or dangerous, of which they then make loss, and thus they become impoverished. Secondly, the Syrian translated, thoughts of the chosen, faithful; of the wicked, to want, as if to say, The thoughts of a just and upright man are faithful, that is, stable and effective, and faithfully lead him to the desired end, namely to the abundance of things which he seeks; but the thoughts of the wicked, who namely through crime, by fair means and foul wishes to increase his affairs, lead him to want. The reason is, that ill-gotten gains are ill-spent; but those which are justly acquired remain faithfully. Thus also Rabbi Solomon: Charuts, he says, that is, robust, sedulous, is a man of integrity, who adheres to the ways of truth, and cultivates equity; his thoughts tend only to happiness and honest gain: but the precipitate one and impatient of delay, who wishes to push time, is in want. And Aben-Ezra: He who, he says, rushes precipitately to act wickedly, for this reason effects it, that he is despoiled of the abundance of his affairs. Thirdly, Pagninus translated, the thoughts of a solicitous man truly tend to superabundance, and everyone who is inconsiderate truly tends to deficiency; for those who are precipitate do not consider the inconveniences and dangers attached to the matter, into which therefore while they fall, they incur not light losses. Thus also Vatablus, the thoughts of the sedulous, he says, assuredly tend to abundance, and every busybody or precipitate one assuredly tends to poverty. Fourthly, The Septuagint codices here vary. For in the Roman indeed this maxim is lacking; but in the Complutensian and Regius thus it has: The thoughts of the strong in satisfaction, but every hasty one only in the lesser; but in the Vatican thus: The thoughts of συντέμνοντος, that is, of one cutting off, cutting down, collecting (others read συντέμνοντες, that is, cutting off, namely from superfluous things, that is, cut off, cut down, chosen) only to abundance; but every hasty one only to want. For the Hebrew charuts signifies a man cut off and cutting off, who namely cuts off his counsels, accounts, expenses, and cuts away the superfluous, and makes only cut off and precisely necessary things; for by this cutting off of his he becomes wealthy. Again charuts signifies a man diligent and cutting off, who namely rejects and cuts away useless and illicit things, and thinks and does only what is advantageous and useful. Thus Rabbi Levi, hear him: "The thoughts, he says, of a solicitous and acute man are circumscribed by limits, and as if decided by judgment from the very beginning of the undertaking, when namely he undertakes his actions; hence they look to emolument and increase of resources: for in his affairs he enters upon an apt plan, and therefore he obtains the desired end of things. The sluggard, in Hebrew אץ ats, that is, hasty, precipitate truly in acting, using no caution, or attentive meditation, whether it be fitting to act thus or not, and what plan is to be entered upon. He, I say, will bring back nothing other than want of things, not however an accumulation of goods and increase." Fifth, Our translator rendered אץ ats, that is, hasty, precipitous, in the contrary sense, namely sluggish. Whence this? Some think that by antiphrasis the sluggard is called ats, that is, hasty, because he does not hasten at all, but is slow and sluggish like a tortoise. But there is nothing here that suggests this antiphrasis. Wherefore it seems that Our translator read אץ ats as עצל atsel, that is, sluggish; or certainly for ats he read לא אץ lo ats, that is, not hasty, slow, sluggish. For indeed certain codices of the Septuagint, as is evident from the Catena of the Greeks, have μὴ ἐπισπουδάζων, that is, not hastening. For this directly opposes to charuts, that is, diligent, careful, vigorous, hasty: it seems that כ, because it immediately preceded in כל col, that is, all, and ץ, because it follows in אץ ats, as if they were being repeated superfluously, fell out from the Hebrew text, and thus the negation אל lo, that is, not, fell out. Finally, by this reasoning this verse plainly agrees with verse 4, chapter x: "Poverty is wrought by the hand of the sluggard, but the hand of the strong prepareth riches." For the strong are called diligent, industrious, laborious, active, vigorous, who by their diligence and vigor easily attain to great riches both corporal and spiritual, namely to great grace and great virtues; whereas the sluggish and slothful by their sluggishness fall into extreme want. I have spoken at length on this matter at chapter x, verse 4; wherefore I shall not repeat it here, and I shall explain the present saying briefly. It can be understood in two ways: First, as if to say, The thoughts of the strong and vigorous man think and devise strong and vigorous things, so that by these he may procure for himself abundance of things; but the sluggard thinks of nothing but idleness and inertia, and consequently of want, which he feels afflicts him. The vigorous man therefore is nourished, rejoices, is strengthened and expanded by his generous thoughts; the sluggard truly is afflicted, confined and tormented by his sluggish thoughts. Second, as if to say, The thoughts of the strong tend and lead him to abundance: for the end and fruit of the thoughts of the strong and vigorous man is plenty of things; but the end and fruit of the thoughts of the sluggard is want, as if to say, Diligence begets riches, negligence begets want; labor and vigor beget plenty of things, inertia and sluggishness beget scarcity. An example is in the strong woman, whose riches and glory Solomon describes throughout chapter xxxi. Morally, learn from this that future plenty or want depends on first thoughts: wherefore those who think great things in youth and set their mind to it become great; those who think small and sluggish things become small, sluggish and poor. Thus the whole subsequent life in Religion depends on the novitiate: for such as one is as a novice, such he becomes as a Religious; if he was fervent and vigorous in cutting off vices, in exercising virtues in the novitiate, he becomes a vigorous and virtuous Religious; but if in the novitiate he was lukewarm and torpid, lukewarm and torpid he remains throughout his whole life as a Religious. Thus we ordinarily see it happen: few are they who by singular grace of God, aroused by fear or by a vehement occasion, change this lukewarmness into fervor.
21:6
Our translation, with the Septuagint, reads מוקשי mokesche, that is, snares of death; now they read מבקשי mebakesche, that is, those seeking death. Again, for "vain and senseless is he, and shall be caught in the snares of death," in Hebrew it is, vanity expelled, or driven into snares of death; Theodotion, it is vapor agitated; others, smoke expelled; the Chaldean, they shall be scattered and uprooted. The Hebrew therefore thus has it word for word: The work, or operation of treasures in the tongue of lying is vanity expelled, or driven into snares of death. Whence our translator rightly rendered the sense, changing the abstract work into the concrete, he who works; for if indeed the very operation and heaping up of treasures through lies is vanity expelled into snares of death; therefore also the very worker and heaper up of treasures through lies is vain and senseless, who namely through avarice from the heart, that is from wisdom and prudence, nay even from life itself, expels and drives himself into snares of death. That "expelled," which is in the Hebrew, our translator rendered through two words, namely through "senseless" and "shall be caught"; for avarice expels man from right reason, and drives him into blindness, so that he entangles himself in snares and dangers of death. Hence the Septuagint translates, he who works treasures with a deceitful tongue pursues vain things in the net of death; or, as others read it, and comes, or shall come, into the net of death. Now for mokesche, that is snares, those reading mebakesche, that is those seeking, or, as Symmachus reads it, seeking death, translate variously, but with the same sense; the Chaldean, the works of treasurers (the Interpreter did not express the word דסימת desimata, that is treasures, sufficiently clearly) in the tongue of lying shall be scattered, and those who seek death shall be uprooted; the Syrian, those who gather treasures with a deceitful tongue shall be destroyed unto perdition, seeking death, as if to say, He who seeks treasures through lies seeks not riches, but vanity and death; for this he acquires. Pagninus: The gathering of treasures with a lying tongue is like chaff driven away: those who gather them seek death; Vatablus clearly: The gathering of treasures with deceitful speech is vanity, and a thing which is wont to be driven away, tending toward death: A thing, he says, which is wont to be driven away by the wind, that is of no benefit; Cajetan: Vanity driven away seekers of death, as if to say, Commonly seekers of money are those who scrape together coins: but these are seekers of death, who through riches procure death for themselves and theirs. The work of treasures, the work of treasures is put for collection. For poal the Alexandrians read poet, which the Vulgate rendered, to the part with a deceitful tongue, through fraud and deceit, are a breath dispersed, like a breath they vanish, seeking death, bringing ruin to those who prepare them. Furthermore, they gather treasures through a deceitful tongue, first judges who, corrupted by gold, render a deceitful sentence; second, false witnesses, who sell false testimony for gold; third, advocates, who defend an unjust cause for profit; fourth, merchants, who by lying that goods are of such goodness, such substance, such value and price, or such as they are not, sell them at a price higher than just; fifth, those who by lying flattery drain the purses of the rich and princes; sixth, those who by lying promise mountains of gold, so that the making of gold from bronze, silver, etc., through alchemy, and thus scrape together heaps of money from various sources and flee, as recently in Italy a certain Greek did, who for this reason was sent to the gallows by the Duke of Bavaria; finally, those who in any way whatever gather coins through frauds and deceits. To these men riches obtained through fraud become snares and traps of death, while fraud discovered deprives them of present life by the judge, or by the injured party, and of eternal life by God. This accumulation of treasures through frauds and lies is called vanity, both because it is sewn together and compacted from something vain and empty, namely from a lie which is immediately dispersed and vanishes when truth is discovered, like vapor and smoke. Thus Aben-Ezra; and also because, quickly vanishing, it leaves man vain, naked and miserable. But what is most wretched, and especially torments the rich liar, is that through riches so vain and mendacious he brings upon himself death and hell. For these riches, obtained by a deceitful throat and tongue, return upon his own neck, and strangle it like fierce executioners and torturers with a noose, they strangle, they suffocate, just as birds, for example partridges, secretly and as if through fraud and deceit plucking another's harvest, are caught in a snare and strangled; and as wild beasts, such as hares, bears, wolves, secretly and deceitfully invading others' fields, are ensnared in nets prepared for this purpose, are caught and killed. How great, do you think, is the torment and affliction of the soul of a perjurer, a false witness, a counterfeiter, a fraudulent merchant, in hell, when on account of riches so frivolous, which he acquired through lying, he sees himself in the fires of a burning conflagration perpetuating itself eternally! how he accuses his own madness, and beats and lacerates himself, because he himself, through desire for something so vain and fleeting, became the cause and parent of torture and torments! Surely he roars and cries out that word of Isaiah, cap. xxxiii, 14: "Who among you shall dwell with devouring fire? who among you shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" To this pertains the fable of the crow and the serpent in Aesop. The crow, he says, being in need of food, when he saw a serpent sleeping in the sun, flew down and seized it. When this one turned around and bit him, the dying crow said: "Wretched me, who found such a gain by which I also perish!" The crow is the robber, the serpent is the stolen riches, which bite and destroy the robber himself. Similar is in the same author the fable of the magpie, which caught in a snare wept saying: "Woe to me, wretched and unhappy bird! I did not steal anyone's gold, not silver, not anything else precious; but a small grain of wheat became the cause of death to me." Thus robbers on account of vile earthly riches incur present and eternal death, and then they mourn and say something similar to what the magpie said. Now these nets and snares, by which those who gather riches through frauds and lies are bound, tormented and suffocated, are various and manifold. The first is the anguish of conscience, which always gnaws at them, because they have gathered riches wrongly and unjustly through frauds. The second is cupidity and affection for riches unjustly obtained: for this so binds and ensnares them, that even when impelled by God to repentance they feel it, indeed even when they repent and confess, they remain in habitual affection for retaining badly obtained riches, and are unwilling to restore them as they are obliged: or, if they wish to do so, and promise this to the confessor, soon after confession they slip back into their former affection for retaining them; wherefore all their repentance is vain, and their confession null, and often sacrilegious, because they do not have true purpose of amending themselves and restoring what they have taken away. Hence we see that out of a hundred scarcely three are found who restore what they have taken. The third snare is the horror of death, which so afflicts them, that they cannot bear to hear its name; but when death comes, they are tormented by the thought of it alone, and therefore die more quickly and are exhausted. After death, however, they carry this snare to the tribunal of Christ, and ensnared by it they are condemned by Christ, and hurled into the depths, where they are bound with the eternal chains of hell. Whence some here, for "he is impelled into the snares of death," read, "he comes into the depths of hell," as if to say: This crime of counterfeiters is most grave; wherefore not to the highest, nor to the middle, but to the lowest hell, so that with Judas the traitor and counterfeiter they may sit, are they hurled down. The fourth is fear of infamy and human punishment, lest namely they be condemned by a judge as thieves and counterfeiters, and thus lose riches, reputation, liberty, and in turn life. The fifth snare is that of sons and grandsons, to whom they leave riches badly obtained: for these are indeed ensnared by all the snares already mentioned by their parents, when they succeed to them in inheritance obtained through frauds, nor do they think of its restitution. Wherefore St. Augustine wisely admonishes, serm. 25: "The fetters of your patrimony, by which you are bound, loose in this life, cast from yourself the burdens of riches, cast away voluntary chains." And St. Chrysostom, homil. in Psalm. xlix: "A torturer," he says, "conquers the body, but riches bind the soul. For you see one bound, and you do not pity him: I wonder at him for this reason, that he is bound not by necessity, but deliberately, and because he himself drew the chains upon himself."
21:7
BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT DO JUDGMENT, — that is, do what is just, namely not to seize what belongs to others, and to render to each his right and due. For rapine in Hebrew is שוד sod, that is, vastness, devastation, rapine, perdition, ruin. For they detract in Hebrew is יגורם iegorem, which can be derived, first, from גור gur, that is, to sojourn, to dwell, to fear, to contract; second, from גרה gara, that is, to draw, to detract, to saw; third, from גרם garam, that is, to strip of bones: whence you may translate, devastation, or rapine will strip the impious to the bones. Hence first, R. Solomon translates, the rapine of the impious shall dwell with them, as if to say, The impious by plundering have brought rapine into their house; hence rapine itself dwelling among them will strip them (for it is the office and work of rapine to seize). Thus as they have stripped others, so they themselves shall be stripped. It is a prosopopoeia: for rapine is feigned as a person and executioner stripping the impious robbers. Whence the Syrian translates, the breaking of the impious shall come upon them, that is, the devastation by which they broke others shall return upon their head; and the Zurich Bible, the damage which the impious give shall return to them, who would not do what is fair and just; Pagninus, the Lord shall bring the rapine of the impious upon them. Second, Our translator genuinely renders, the rapines of the impious shall drag them down, as if to say, Rapines and seized wealth, which have lifted the impious to the high pinnacle of opulence, power and dignity, these very things shortly after, like a weight of lead and most heavy, shall drag them down from this height, when on account of rapine, either by a judge or by God, they shall be despoiled not only of seized wealth, but also of legitimately acquired property, and moreover shall be deprived of liberty, reputation, life and salvation. Hence Zechariah, chapter 5, verse 7, saw impiety sitting in an amphora closed with a talent of lead. See the remarks there. Whence Symmachus translates, the rapines of the impious shall destroy them; the Chaldean, shall take them away; Vatablus, the plunder of the impious shall destroy them. The violence of the wicked snatches them away, their violence snatches away the wicked, destroys them, etc. Third, Aben-Ezra translates, the rapine of the impious shall saw them, as if to say, Rapine is like a saw sawing and cutting the conscience, mind and soul of robbers. For rapine bites the conscience more than other crimes, and as a wound inflicted by a saw is difficult to heal, as surgeons relate, because the flesh bitten and worn away by the unequal teeth of the saw does not coalesce: so likewise a wound inflicted on the mind by the consciousness of theft scarcely heals and is cured, even after repentance and restitution of the thing taken by theft: for the memory of past rapine perpetually scourges the conscience, and cries out to it: Why did you seize what belonged to others? why have you branded yourself with this dishonor and stain? so that you shall hear forever, O robber, and all who know shall point you out and say: Behold that robber, behold that thief. Fourth, others translate, rapine or devastation shall strip the impious to the bones, that is, shall consume them even to the bones, shall break their bones, destroy, devour them, according to that of Zephaniah III, 3: "Her princes in the midst of her are roaring lions; her judges are wolves in the evening, they left nothing in the morning" (in Hebrew גרמו goremu, that is, they stripped to the bones, indeed they left the bones) in the morning. Fifth, the Septuagint translates, ὄλεθρος, that is, perdition, or ruin, shall be hospitable to the impious, or shall be received as a guest; for they are unwilling to do what is just, or, as the Author of the Greek Catena translates and explains: "Plague or destruction shall dwell with the impious," so that those who are unwilling to do what is just. This is correct; for neither can calamities and miseries be separated from impiety, nor can punishments and afflictions in turn be separated from those who refuse to do what is just. Therefore, just as the house of death is in hell (for there it dwells as in its own house): so the seat of ruin and disaster is the soul and house of the impious, but the seat of salvation and happiness is the soul and house of the just. Our Salazar, however, expounds it thus, that is to say: Plunder shall be received by the impious as a guest, that is, riches obtained by fraud do not remain long with the wicked, but like a guest or traveler staying in an inn depart quickly, and turn aside to others, wandering thus through inns and lodgings until they find a seat and region proper to themselves, until namely they come to someone who acquires them justly and without fraud: there indeed they remain longer, and dwell as inhabitants in their own country. Hence for "shall be received as a guest," others translate "shall wander as a stranger," that is to say: Riches badly acquired are among the impious as if foreign and exiled; whence they long that they might return to the just as to their homeland. Hence St. Chrysostom is accustomed to compare riches to fugitive slaves, who flee from a foreign master to their own. Hear him, homily on that passage: "The queen stood on thy right hand," etc. "See," he says, "riches which I have always called a fugitive slave; nor would I call them merely fugitive, but even murderous: for they do not merely abandon those who possess them, but even slay them; for when anyone has cultivated them with more diligent study, then especially do they plot betrayal against their cultivator." Cyril represents this very thing with an elegant and charming fable of the bee and the spider, with festive antitheses, in book III of his Moral Apologies, chapter xiii, which has the title: Against those who cease from labor and study to live by plunder: "The spider," he says, "weaving her net by the art of her fraud, when the bee passed before her going to the study of her labor, said to her: Whither, impatient of rest, do you run and circle about all day? To which she, sweetened by the gentleness of virtue, patiently replied: I run through the flowers, earning food for my honey by my labors. Then the spider said: It is foolish to circle about so much for a drop of honeyed dew. To this the bee added: Rather it is foolish what you judge without feeling; but it is most stupid to vomit up life for food, to pour out the dearest marrow for the vilest thing, to expend the certain for the uncertain, to lose the great for the small, and to disembowel yourself for the foulest fly. I certainly, losing nothing of my own, always labor in a sure matter. But you all day long lie in wait disemboweled, and for the uncertain you give and lose your inward parts, that you might seize what is foreign and another's." Then he shows this by another argument: "Moreover, when nothing has fallen into your hidden net, what else do you have except what you have lost of your own? for every thief loses his own before another's. Indeed he gives for the garment of faith glory, for gold justice, for food life, for the accidental substance, and for feeding iniquity, like a foolish merchant, he loses the most brilliant fame of virtue. Therefore labor made fruitful by justice is better than the most tempestuous rest of rapacious avarice. Having heard these things, the spider hid herself."
21:8
Zurich, the way of a perverse man is alien, but the work of the upright is straight. For the perverse is opposed to the upright, in that the way and work of the perverse is alien, but that of the upright is straight. For the way and life of a perverse man are likewise perverse and alien. By perverse understand generally any impious and wicked man; but properly, the crafty, deceitful, feigned, malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, impostor: for this is opposed to the upright, in Hebrew זך zach, that is, pure, transparent, limpid, glassy, sincere and open, whose namely heart and works are bright, open and simple to all, and shine forth like glass. You will ask, from what is the way of the perverse man alien, or perverse? I answer, from the straight; for he opposes the alien way of the perverse to the straight work of the upright, as if to say: The way and work of the perverse is alien from the straight and straightness, because it is oblique, crooked, distorted; but that of the upright and pure conforms to the straight. Therefore first, the work of the perverse is alien from the straight, that is, from that which right reason dictates to be straight, upright, honest: hence consequently secondly, it is alien from the dignity of man, which consists in reason and rational nature, namely that he should follow the guidance and dictate of right reason, and act and live not as a brute animal, but as a rational man: whence malice is nothing other than dissonance of work, or operation dissonant from rational nature, and befitting a brute animal; for this follows not reason, but phantasy and concupiscence. Thus Bede, Jansenius and others. Hence thirdly, the way of the perverse is perverse and alien from God, as some Codices read: for God instituted in man the tribunal of judgment and right reason, and ordained that man should follow it as it were a level and plumb-line of straightness in all things. Fourthly, the way of the perverse is alien from the society and intercourse of men: for this is based on reason of straightness, equity and justice, as if to say: The impious and deceitful man departs from the beaten way and common manner of acting of men; wherefore he walks through untrodden paths, and devises new and perverse and distorted modes of speaking and acting: hence, as it were alien, he is hateful to all. Fifthly, the same is alien from himself. Whence Pagninus translates, reversed (inverted) is the way of the impious and alien man; and the Syriac, he who perverts his way is an alien man; and Aben-Ezra, the perverse way is the way of an alien man, who namely, says R. Solomon, becomes alien from the divine precepts. Therefore the impious and deceitful man alienates himself from himself, because since nothing is so conjoined and one as man to himself, through deceit and fallacy he departs from humanity and the purity and brightness of human nature innate in him, which he had otherwise displayed, so that he now appears not the same as before, but plainly another, and different from himself. Hence the ancients, says Nazianzen, oration 22, represented the deceitful man through Proteus who transformed himself into all the forms he wished, and from a man now made himself a fox, now a lion, now a wolf, now any other animal whatsoever. In like manner the deceitful man now assumes and puts on the cunning of a fox, now the threats of a lion, now the savagery of a wolf, etc.; indeed through deceit he transforms himself as it were into a fox, through gluttony into a pig, through anger and quarreling into a dog, through sloth into an ass, through pride into a lion, through rapine into a wolf. Whence the Gloss: "Justly," it says, "to live before God is proper to the human condition, according to that in Ecclesiastes xii: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man. He who lives perversely walks an alien way from human nature; perverse therefore is the action and alien; but he who is upright in work rightly executes that which he originally received through nature." Moreover the Chaldean translates, he who perverts the way of another is alien, as if to say: He who depraves another, and leads him into crime, is like a Gentile and publican. He alludes to the Jews, who abhorred foreigners, namely Gentiles, as idolaters, as Gentiles and atheists or polytheists, as if to say: He who entices another to wickedness and perverts him, is to be fled and avoided as a Gentile, because just as a Gentile, being alien from the true God, alienates others from the same; so likewise he who seduces others to crime, being alien from God, strives to alienate others from the same: wherefore his conversation, as alien and Gentile, is to be fled by every upright man with all zeal. On the other hand, the conversation of the upright and virtuous man, whose works are straight, is to be sought and procured. For he leads all with him to his God. Finally the Septuagint translates, to the perverse God sends perverse ways: for pure and upright are His works, that is to say, God causes the perverse to fall into perverse things, that is sorrowful and adverse things, and especially causes the deceitful to fall into frauds and deceits the same as or similar to those which they have laid for others, because pure, upright, sincere and bright are the works of God, inasmuch as He by His essence is Himself the uncreated and immense purity, cleanness, brightness and holiness. Wherefore He Himself hates the perverse and deceitful, strikes them and punishes them, so that they may be caught in their own deceits and perish. This is what the Psalmist says to God, Psalm xvii, 27: "With the elect thou wilt be elect, and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted," that is, thou wilt not act kindly, but malignly and perversely, because he himself acts perversely toward his God. The Author of the Greek Catena interprets "perverse ways," which God sends to the perverse, as the ways of hell, that is to say, God banishes the perverse to the punishments of eternal fire, so that they may reap the fruit of their ways there, and be satisfied with their own desires. The way therefore of the impious is perverse, and entangled with a thousand difficulties, from which they cannot extricate and free themselves. Upon them therefore is applicable the proverb of the Hebrews: Ass-camel. They lead a camel by a rope, they drive an ass by grooms before them. Whoever does the contrary, they call him an Ass-camel; and it is in the proverb, where someone can neither go backward nor forward. The Author of the Talmudic Lexicon: "It is the custom of an ass, he says, to be led, and the custom of a camel to be drawn. But whoever has an ass and a camel, if he places the ass behind him to draw it, and the camel before him to lead it, since neither will the one allow itself to be drawn, nor the other to be led, the man remains between those beasts in the middle, so that he cannot go forward. Therefore they made from this a kind of saying about one who cannot go, just as an ass-camel."
21:9
Domatis is a Greek word signifying a roof: for this is what the Hebrew גג gag means; whence the Chaldean translator renders it, in the corner of the roof; the Syriac, upon the horn of the roof. The Hebrew texts word for word have, upon the pinnacle of the roof; for pinnacle in Hebrew signifies both a corner and a pinnacle. Take roof properly; yet by synecdoche the roof signifies a house, as also the Greek δῶμα does. For in Palestine the roofs are flat, not peaked, as St. Jerome says, like balconies and terraces, upon which accordingly they are accustomed to walk, to dine, indeed throughout the whole summer to sleep at night in the open air, on account of the heat of the region to catch the breeze. The Septuagint translates it ἐπαίθρου, that is, in the open air, where you dwell not under a roof, but in the open. For in a common house the Hebrew is בית חבר beheth cheber, that is, in a house of society, where namely you are not alone, but live with many in society. The Septuagint translates it, κοινῆ, that is, common, for which St. Jerome in Sophonias reads καινῆ, that is, new. The Hebrew texts word for word thus have: It is good to dwell upon the corner, or pinnacle of the roof, rather than with a woman of contentions and a house of society. Whence the Zurich Bible translates: It is better to dwell upon the pinnacle of the roof, than with a quarrelsome woman, who has part of the buildings; and clearly Vatable: It is better to dwell in the corner of the roof, than with a contentious woman, and in a house of society, as if to say: It is better to dwell alone, under the open air in a lofty place, in which you are not safe from the injury of winds, than with a quarrelsome woman. The sense therefore is, as if to say: It is better to live solitary upon the roof, and in the open air, exposed to winds, rains and other injuries of the air, than in a common house, and to dwell frequently with domestics with a contentious woman, where the fear of God, invocation, faith, charity are absent from the marriage, and consequently the favor and blessing of God: there remains on both sides fire and fire, namely here the fire of Purgatory, and there the eternal fire of hell. This fire is produced by the fire of angers, quarrels and contentions. Is it not therefore better to dwell in the corner of the roof, than with a quarrelsome woman? This maxim therefore signifies how great an evil a bad woman is, and therefore a wife ought to be chosen carefully, nor should a bad one be taken, even if one were to dwell with her in beautiful buildings and broad estates. Hence secondly, some thus expound it, as if to say: It is better to dwell in the corner of a house, that is, in some secret and remote place in the house of parents, that is, it is better to live unmarried secretly in the house of parents, than to take a wife, who from feminine nature is often clamorous and litigious, and to dwell with her in a large and common house. Others explain it, as if to say: It is better to withdraw with servants into a corner of the house, than to be in the middle of the house amid marital quarrels. "How rare," says St. Jerome, in book I Against Jovinian, "it is to find a woman without these vices, he knows who has taken a wife;" whence beautifully Varius Geminus, a sublime orator: "He who does not quarrel," he says, "is unmarried; for it is better to dwell in the corner of the roof, than with a scolding wife in a common house. If the common house of husband and wife raises the wife to pride, and brings insult to the husband; how much more if the wife be richer, and the husband remain in her house? For she begins not to be a wife, but a mistress, and the husband, if he offend, must depart." To this applies a witty epigram of Ausonius concerning a certain Grammarian's quarrelsome marriage: Teaching arms and the man, and skilled in arms and the man, I took not a wife, but rather arms, a home. For all the days and all the nights in order He assails me with quarrels, and me and my household. And as if endowed with perpetual duels by Mars, She raises arms against me, nor is any rest given. And now, as I resist, I yield myself, so that finally conquered He reproaches me for this alone, that I flee the quarrels. Similar to this is likewise Palladas concerning a Grammarian: A wife was taken by me, a Grammarian, with pestilent anger, And unhappy anger to me was the omen of the art. Alas, wretched! alas, I am now pressed by twofold anger from the fates, Of the art of grammar and of a woman in the home. Thirdly, some understand by a litigious woman a harlot; for her house is common to many paramours, and harlots are especially litigious, and stir up quarrels and contentions among paramours, and therefore are often the cause of fights and beatings, as if to say: It is better to pass the night in any corner, than in the large and spacious house of a harlot. Whence Symmachus and Theodotion translate: It is better to sit in the corner of a roof, than to dwell with a woman in the house of etairicou, that is, of a society or harlotry. Allegorically, it is better to sit in a corner of a house, that is of the Church, which is the house of God, than with a contentious woman, that is with the synagogue of the Jews, which contends and disputes with God and Christ. Whence Rabbi Solomon: "The Midrash Agadah says this is a prophecy, by which is insinuated that the presence of the divine majesty will at length be taken away from the Israelites, when they shall be as a contentious woman; but the house of the common people or society is called such, because in it have been added to the all-powerful God as associates, as it were a simulacrum placed by Manasseh in the temple." Similarly a contentious woman, says Jansenius, is the Church of the malignant and heretics, which makes neither measure nor end of contentions and quarrels, with which to dwell in the same dwellings, and in the same cities and regions how hard and troublesome it is for a Catholic man, the calamity of the present time teaches by experience. Certainly we are taught here to flee their company according to the admonition of Paul, and to choose, that like the Prophet we may become a solitary sparrow upon the roof. Tropologically Bede understands by the corner of a house the Religious life, heavenly and contemplative, which is preferable to a contentious wife, that is the active life, busy, filled with a thousand cares, and disturbed in the world. Otherwise: "What by the corner of a house, he says, is it not the Religious life removed from all earthly action, and quiet from the disturbances of the present life? What by a contentious woman is it not the action of a disturbed world designated, which ceaselessly moves temptations for its lovers, sows quarrels and scandals, brings in lawsuits, stirs up wars, divides unity, violates peace, scatters friendships, and while it inflames them with various desires, neither allows them to rest in themselves, nor permits them to be joined in fraternal charity?" To this pertains that saying of Thomas à Kempis, author of the golden little book On the Imitation of Christ: "In all things I have sought rest, and found it not except in a corner with a little book," that is in a corner with a book. Thus St. Alexius preferred to sit, or rather like a dog to lie, in a corner of his father's house, than to dwell with a wife in a spacious house, and to be entangled in the pomps of the world. The same did Blessed John Calybita, whose corner for this reason converted into a church is religiously visited in Rome. St. Ignatius, the founder of our Society, was accustomed to withdraw from cares and tumults into a solarium, and there contemplating the stars and heaven he would dissolve into tears, and yearning for the company of the Saints would exclaim: "How the earth is vile to me, when I behold heaven!" Finally the Codices of the Septuagint here vary among themselves, and differ somewhat from the Hebrew, Syriac and Vulgate; for the Romans thus have it: It is better to dwell upon a corner in the open air, than in the heat of strife with iniquity, and in a common house; the Complutensian and Royal editions: "It is better to dwell in a corner in the open air, that is without a roof, than in painted houses with injustice, and in a common house." Which mystically thus explains the Author of the Catena of the Greeks: "The open-air corner is the secret action of a studious man illuminated by the sun of justice; but the painted house is malice veiled with the color of virtue, or the appearance of virtues." Excellently St. Basil among Anthony in the Melissa, part II, cap. LXXVI: "Quietness is a purification of the soul, when neither the tongue speaks through human things, nor the eyes look upon the colors of bodies and the apt compactness of limbs, nor do the ears of the soul dissolve its intention by listening to songs modulated to pleasure, or by scurrilous and ridiculous words, by which the attention of the soul is accustomed to languish most; for when the mind is not dissipated toward external things, nor diffused into the world through the parts in which the senses are situated, it returns to itself, and through itself ascends to the knowledge of God, and when it is surrounded and illuminated by that beauty, it forgets even its own nature, with no care of food or clothing troubling the soul; but freed from earthly cares it transfers all its study to acquiring eternal goods; by which certainly it may have and exercise temperance and fortitude, justice and prudence and the remaining virtues." In the same place St. Gregory of Nazianzus, the colleague of St. Basil: "We ought, he says, to be quiet, so that we may not converse turbulently with God, and may somewhat recall the mind from those things which seduce and involve in error." And St. Gregory of Nyssa, the brother of St. Basil: "Idle quietness is to be esteemed more than the illustrious handling of business." In the same place and the following chapter, Blessed Nilus: "The wise man, he says, pursues leisure and quietness so that he may opportunely possess divine things; the wise man departs from a confused and disturbed life to a blessed life and one befitting peace. It is the mark of a perfect soul to be free from cares, but the impious are worn down by cares." And Blessed Cyril: "In a mind full of tumult and anguish, there is neither thought of honest things, nor the grace of God." The corner therefore of a house, or roof, denotes first, a lofty place; second, a remote and solitary one; third, a dangerous one; fourth, a narrow one: there is added fifth, on the pinnacle a sharp point pricking one sitting upon it; whence it is opposed to a common house, namely to many, that is social, as the Hebrew has it, and spacious, as Pagninus translated it. Hence Varro gives this etymology of corner, that it is the narrowest place. Pomponius Laetus however: "Corner, he says, is called from the Greek angkunos, or from that which is enggus, that is near, because it is hooked, which things forced together in different directions make the form of corners." It is therefore better to undergo these narrownesses and the four other inconveniences already mentioned than to dwell in a spacious, social and comfortable house, but litigious through a morose and quarrelsome wife: for this pricks and torments more. To this pertains the wit of a certain Rabbi received from the Cabala: ischa and isch are words of marriage, and they contain the name of God the helper of marriage ia: but when ia is not present in marriage, and the letter iod is taken away from the middle of isch, and the final letter he from ischa, which joined together constitute ia, which is the name of God, namely the abbreviated Jehova, when namely the fear of God, invocation, faith, love are absent from marriage, and consequently God's favor and blessing, such a contentious wife is to be feared, for her quarrels correspond to all the injuries of heaven and outweigh them: for she, our Salazar says, while she cries out, thunders; when she hurls reproaches and curses, she lightens; when she contends and quarrels, she stirs up clouds and storms; she burns when she is querulous, and when she shows herself rigid and not at all loving, she pours forth ice. Finally if there are any other more serious injuries of heaven, these certainly yield entirely to the injuries of a morose wife. And indeed Socrates gave thunders to his wife, whom when after many cries his wife Xantippe had drenched with water sent from a window: "I easily thought, he said, that after thunder I would feel rain;" just as therefore thunders, so also the remaining inclemencies of heaven may be aptly applied to a wife. Moreover he names the corner, in Hebrew the pinnacle, or the pinnacle of the roof, so as to signify that the danger from the quarrels of a woman is greater than from standing on the pinnacle of the roof, whether flat, or more steeply pitched, or pointed, such as they are now, and also were not lacking in Judaea of old: for he who stands on a pinnacle undergoes the danger of falling to the ground and striking himself, if he bends and inclines his body to the other side, which happens easily; but he who continually hears the quarrels of a woman is in greater danger not only of striking his body, as the former; but also his soul through anger, impatience, vengeance, lest namely quarrels beget quarrels, reproaches reproaches, blows blows, blood blood, or even he kill his litigious wife with poison or sword, so as to free himself from such great and so continuous a trouble: for it is easier for a man to stand straight and cautiously on the corner and pinnacle of the roof, so as not to bend to the other side and thence fall, than amid continual quarrels to preserve a mind straight and serene, so as not to fall into anger and vengeance.
21:10
In Hebrew: Mercy and grace he shall not find in the eyes of his friend, or his neighbor; the Chaldean: And he shall not obtain mercy in the eyes of his companion; Vatablus: The wicked man pleases no one else; whatever he may do, he will not be made grateful by any services. For wicked in Hebrew is rascha, that is, wicked, restless, a disturber, harmful, malicious. The nature and character of this man is therefore described here, as if to say: The wicked man desires evil, the wicked man by his wickedness desires wicked things; his wickedness does not allow him to rest, but instigates him to desire evils, namely so that he may vex others, disturb them, afflict them with evils, just as if he were carrying a demon in his belly (for wickedness is similar to this), which would drive him to every crime; wherefore "he shall not have mercy on his neighbor," but attacks him without cause, afflicts him with reproaches, beats him, punishes him severely. It is a meiosis: "he shall not have mercy," that is, he is unmerciful, savage and cruel to his neighbors, according to that in chapter XII, 10: "The just man knoweth the souls of his beasts; but the bowels of the wicked are cruel." There is signified therefore the nature of wickedness, that it is malignant, harmful, savage and cruel, born for the destruction of others, so that it seems to continually desire and plot it, nor does it rest until it accomplishes it, and when it has accomplished it, it begins another and another; on the contrary, the nature of uprightness and holiness is to do harm to no one, but to do good to all as much as it can, as Christ did, of whom St. Peter says, Acts X, 38: "Who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him." To this pertains that saying of St. Cyril in the Melissa of Antonius, part II, chapter LXXXVIII: "The beginning and root, and as it were the fountain and source of our disturbances is an appetite inclined to evil, inviting the mind itself to it, and first deceiving it with illusions, then applying force and shaking it. For just as smoke, or even as certain vapors, the appetite for implanted pleasures is born in us; but he who is temperate and strong rebukes the motion, and does not allow it to progress further, easily overcomes the still weak motions of disturbance. But the idle and negligent man admits the beginnings of pleasures, as if mere thoughts; when he has allowed it to spread widely, it will be most difficult to resist; for he who has been captured before, and is now occupied, is not master of his own counsels, but rather will be subjected to the victorious disturbance as if to some barbarian." For beenav, that is, in the eyes of him, the Septuagint reading beene, that is, in the eyes, vary: the soul of the wicked man, which is carried by desire to evils, shall not obtain mercy from any man. For this is the law of retaliation, that he who is unmerciful and savage to others, experiences all others and himself unmerciful and savage toward him; for all hate and persecute the unmerciful and cruel man. On the contrary, Christ says in Matthew V: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." To this is added the Syrian, who translates: The wicked man does not appear in the sight of his companions. Note: The will cannot desire anything except good, as St. Thomas teaches, I-II, Question VIII, article 1; for good is the object of the will. The wicked, therefore, when they desire evils, consider in them something good, not honest, but useful or pleasant, and they desire and crave it: for evil in itself cannot be desired.
21:11
In Hebrew, when the scoffer is punished the little one will become wise, and by understanding the wise man will acquire knowledge. Which first, the Syriac translator thus renders: by the punishment of the foolish scoffer a wise man will become; and wisdom he takes in counsel or meditation as knowledge, that is to say, The foolish man is corrected and becomes wise through the chastisement of the impious and scoffers; but truly the wise man by taking counsel and meditating becomes wiser, more cautious and more learned. There is added R. Solomon: "Chastisements, he says, and blows inflicted on scoffers, instill into foolish men a wiser mind so that they may repent," so that they may beware of crimes, if not from love of justice, certainly from fear of punishment. Secondly, the Septuagint translates: when the intemperate man is punished the simple one becomes more prudent and more astute; indeed the wise man also, if he has judgment, will take knowledge of caution from this. The sense is, says the Author of the Catena of the Greeks, that is to say, "While wicked and depraved men are punished on account of their crimes, children and the untaught become more cautious and prudent. In this same way also the just man washes his hands in the blood of the sinner, and by the punishment of that man expiated his actions. Thus also harlots are written to have washed themselves in the blood of Ahab and Jezebel. The wise man, he says, admonished by this, and in a certain way reproved, will take care lest he himself also fall into the same misfortunes." Thirdly, R. Levi and Vatablus translate: while judges punish the scoffer, the wise man becomes simple; and since all things prosper for the wise man, he acquires knowledge; for the Hebrew haskel, that is to understand, or to act prudently, sometimes by metonymy signifies to prosper: for happiness is accustomed to be the companion and fruit of prudence, and prosperous success of a matter. The sense is, that is to say, The simple man, when he sees scoffers punished, that is, the impious, who laugh at all things, learns to be wise, so that he may avoid their crimes, lest he fall into a similar punishment to theirs; but when he sees that all things prosper for the wise man, that is, the prudent and just man, he becomes knowing and prudent, so that he may imitate the wisdom of the wise man and his holy works, and thus may bring upon himself his prosperity in like manner. Fourthly, Our translator most excellently renders: when the pestilent man is punished the little one will become wiser; and if he follows the wise man, he will take knowledge; namely practical knowledge, for instance human and divine Ethics, which teaches how to institute life knowingly and prudently, so that through it we may attain to true happiness; for this is the true knowledge of the saints, in which therefore knowledge is followed by actions, as body by shadow, says Clement of Alexandria; whereas on the contrary "neither in fish is voice to be sought, nor in the untaught virtue," says Plutarch in the Morals. All these things pertain to the little one, in Hebrew pethi, that is the simple, inexperienced, persuadable, flexible, docile one, who easily allows himself to be taught, bent and persuaded. "For simplicity forms the simple in morals," says St. Basil. To this one therefore he assigns two modes of teaching. The first is through the chastisement of the wicked; the second is through hearing and following the wise man, that is to say, The little one, that is the simple and easy one, is so docile that he does not need to be chastised in himself, but it suffices for him that he sees others who are wicked being chastised; from this indeed he learns to beware of wickedness, on account of which he sees them punished. He therefore goes to the wise man, and hearing him learns the full knowledge of acting rightly and living well. For as divinely St. Gregory of Nazianzus says near Antony in the Melissa, part I, chapter L: "Nothing is more unconquerable than philosophy, nothing more tranquil. All things will yield before the philosopher. Two things are unconquered, God and Angel; and a third philosophy; for the philosopher is not material in matter, in body uncircumscribed, on earth heavenly, in affections undisturbed, everywhere inferior to others, except in greatness of soul, and by yielding conquering those who think they conquer themselves. One wisdom alone I know, to fear God. For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord." And elsewhere: "Hear the sum of the discourse: Fear God, and keep his commandments." The prior part of this verse is repeated in chapter XIX, 25, where I have explained it; the latter part is evident from what was said in chapter I, 4: wherefore I will not add the whole here. An example is in Pharaoh, by whose plagues the Hebrews and other nations became wise, Romans IX, 17. Whence St. Augustine: "The plagues of the Egyptians, he says, are the instruction of the children of Israel;" for, as is commonly said: The dog is beaten, so that the lion may fear.
21:12
The Hebrew text word for word has it thus: the intelligent just man toward the house of the impious, turning aside the impious toward evil; which various ones translate and explain variously. For "turning aside" the Hebrew is mesalleph, that is, twisting, drawing away, deflecting, perverting, subverting. For "excogitates" the Hebrew is maskil, that is, intelligent, intelligently scrutinizing, investigating, excogitating. First, R. Solomon understands by the just man God, who is the most just judge and avenger of the good and the bad, as if to say: God excogitates the modes by which he abolishes the house of the impious, so as to draw it toward ruin and destruction, as he did with the Amalekites. Aben-Ezra refers the first hemistich to a just man, but the latter to God, as if to say: The just man excogitates, in Hebrew maskil, that is, understands how badly the house of the impious conducts itself, and therefore how little it is removed from destruction; whence he compares prudence, and becomes wiser from the house of the impious, so that he may beware of its impiety and the annexed destruction; because it perverts the impious toward evil, supply God, as if to say: Destruction impends over the house of the impious, because God will devote it to dire ruin and will exterminate it. Pagninus agrees, who translates: the just man considers the end of the house of the impious, and sees that the Lord perverts the impious toward their evil; and Vatablus: the just man becomes wise on account of the house of the impious; he perverts (supply God) the impious toward evil. The wise man, he says, becomes just on account of the house and family of the impious, which he sees perishing, because the Lord perverts the impious, so that they perish badly. Second, R. Levi, as if to say: The just man prepares prosperous fortune for the house of the impious, when namely he dwells in his house; for then God, in favor of the just man, heaps blessings upon the wicked, as he blessed Laban on account of Jacob. Third, the Chaldean translates: the just man contemplates the house of the impious, and transfers the impious toward evil; Symmachus: and subverts the impious toward evil, as if to say: The just man, a prince or judge, by persecuting the impious exterminates them, and punishes the wicked with death, so that he may free the Republic from their crimes and impiety. David testifies that he did thus in Psalm C: "The man declining from me I knew not, him that secretly detracted from his neighbor, him I persecuted. In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land, that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord." Fourth, the Zurich Bible translates: although the just man may instruct the impious house, yet the impious turn aside toward crime, as if to say: The impious are more inclined toward evil than the pious are powerful in instructing and converting, because their impiety and malice prevail over the piety and zeal of the pious. Fifth, the Septuagint understands the house of the impious as internal, namely the heart and conscience; whence they translate: the just man contemplates the hearts of the impious, and despises the impious toward evil; and the Syriac: the just man understands the heart of the wicked, thrusts the wicked toward evil, as if to say: The just man considers how the impious are tormented in their hearts by scruples, are tortured by cares, are afflicted by fears and dangers; wherefore, despising their external pomp, riches and happiness as "toward evil," that is, not among goods, but among evils he enumerates and recounts them. But the author of the Catena of the Greeks thus translates and explains the Septuagint: "The just man understands the hearts of the impious, and does not insult them while they are engaged in evils. The sense is: The just man does not accuse the deeds of the impious, nor persecute them, nor despise them, as the impious are wont to do with the works of the just. For he often directs false accusations against the just, and strives to involve him in evils, though innocent, which the just man does none of; rather he strives to draw them away from evils." Sixth, our man most excellently, taking lara, that is, evil (for this is customary among the Hebrews) for mera, that is, from evil, translates: the just man excogitates concerning the house of the impious, so as to draw the impious away from evil, as if to say: So great is the charity, so great is the zeal of the just man, that he cares not only for his own affairs and his own house, but also for those of others, even of the impious; wherefore with all diligence and study he excogitates the modes and reasons of converting the house, that is, the family of the impious, so that the impious dwelling in it, namely the master, the mistress, the sons, the daughters, the servants, the handmaids, he may draw away from evil, namely from evil life and crimes, in which he sees them implicated. The just man does this, first, from love of the impious, because he is zealous for their good and salvation; second, from love of neighborhood, city and Republic, because namely the house of the impious breathes forth its crimes, and their human and divine vengeance like a plague upon the neighbors, and upon the whole city and Republic: wherefore, so that he may avert evil from it, he strives to heal the vitiated root, namely the house of the impious; third, from love of God, whom he sees so offended in the house of the impious: for the offense of God most touches and torments the heart of the just; whence, so that he may avert it, he excogitates all the means of removing it; wherefore he excogitates all the modes of converting to fruitfulness the house and family of the impious. This is what St. James says in chapter V, 20: "He who causeth a sinner to be converted from the error of his way, shall save his soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins." See the remarks there. Thus the ingenious and immense charity of Christ devised ways unthought of by Angels and men, by which He would draw the impious away from sins, namely, the Word was made flesh, and emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, made in the likeness of men, and found in appearance as a man, that He might teach men by word and example to beware of sins, and to live chastely and holily: for this reason He went even unto death through villages and towns, preaching the kingdom of God, healing the sick, freeing those possessed by Satan, raising the dead. Finally, for this reason He underwent reproaches, most atrocious torments, and at last the most bitter death of the cross, that man, seeing himself so dear to Christ, and so loved by Christ, might repay love with love, and renouncing the world and the flesh, might live for God alone and for justice. For there is no fitting and worthy price of love, except reciprocal love. Learn this on the cross, which most atrocious cross Christ willingly underwent for His enemies even unto death. For Calvary is the academy of love. Nor did the inflamed and immense love of Christ stop here, but He devised an admirable way, that after His departure into heaven, being visibly absent, He might be invisibly present to the faithful daily in the Eucharist, and through it might communicate Himself wholly and His entire divinity and humanity with all His gifts to us, so that in it He might unite Himself to each one, and each one to all, and all to each one, in Himself really and substantially incorporate them. What more wonderful, what more ingenious, what more lovable, what more divine could be devised by our love? Wherefore nothing so afflicted Christ in this mortal life, and even now immortal in heaven so troubles Him, as when He sees men ungrateful not to esteem and to make light of this love of His. Whence He Himself appearing to St. Bridget as if recently crucified, when she asked: "Who, O Lord, hath crucified thee thus?" answered: "Those who despise My charity." Thus it is in the Life of St. Bridget. Hence also Blessed Jacopone wept continually: being asked the reason, he said: "Because love is not loved." The same lamented St. Francis and other Saints, and even now they lament. The Apostles and apostolic men followed Christ. Whence St. Paul devised a thousand ways of converting souls, as is evident from the account of his life, which I prefixed to the Acts of the Apostles. Wherefore he so stirs up the Corinthians in his second epistle, chapter V, 20: "We are ambassadors for Christ, God as it were exhorting by us. We beseech you for Christ, be reconciled to God." Thus, to omit countless others, St. Ignatius, founder of our Society, devised wonderful ways of drawing men away from vices, so that, when he immersed himself in ice-cold water, to draw away a lustful youth from obscene loves, and to quench them as if by injected cold. Hence he went through cities and provinces in extreme poverty, catechizing, admonishing, teaching, preaching, with this end and fruit, that sin might be removed from the world. For this reason he wrote the Spiritual Exercises, which have been the salvation of many, founded schools of all the liberal arts everywhere on earth, to imbue youth from tender years with good morals and letters, instituted missions to the Indies to illuminate them with the light of the Gospel; established colleges, houses of professed members, residences everywhere among the nations, to confirm them in Christian life. Finally, he was wholly occupied in devising ways and means by which he might lead all peoples, every age, condition and sex to salvation. His follower was St. Francis Xavier, who by great journeys, labors, dangers, converted innumerable thousands of Indians to faith and holiness, and devised wonderful things for their salvation, as may be seen in his Life. Where among other things two most efficacious weapons for converting sinners may be seen, namely, the holiness of life and charity; for he, excelling in both, brought barbarians and the greatest sinners to Christ; whence he used to go to them of his own accord, indeed to dine and take meals with them, and with wonderful courtesy and grace now to draw away from them one, now another concubine, until at last he tore away all of them; for no one could resist his holiness and the charity which he poured out upon each one. Fittingly Christ, about to constitute Peter His Vicar and Pastor of the whole Church, first tested his love, saying: "Peter, lovest thou me more than these?" and when he answered: "Lord, thou knowest that I love thee;" asking him again a second and third time and hearing the same, He added: "Feed my sheep," to signify that he who wishes to be their pastor and sanctifier ought to be endowed with supreme love.
21:13
In Hebrew: and it shall not be answered to him; in the Septuagint: he that stoppeth his ears that he may not hear the poor, he also shall cry, and there shall be none to hear him. To stop one's ear, says Jansenius, is set metaphorically for being unwilling to hear, and conducting oneself as if one does not hear another's cry, indeed declaring to oneself that another's cry is troublesome. And well does he not say: To prayer, but "to a cry," so that he may designate the harshness of some, who are not only unmoved by the prayers of the needy, but are not even overcome by cries to listen. Therefore justly a twofold evil is subjoined to such persons: first, because even such a one shall cry, by which it is signified that he himself shall fall into some grave calamity, which shall compel him to cry out because of anguish; second, because even when he shall cry, and shall strive with the utmost prayers to obtain deliverance and aid, he shall not be heard, according to that of the Psalm: "They cried, and there was none to save; they cried to the Lord, and he heard them not." The reason for this sentence is the law of retaliation, sanctioned by God and by Christ, Luke VI: "For with the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be measured to you again," both by men, and more especially by God, who as he is merciful to the merciful, so is he hard to the hard, especially because he himself is the father of the poor, and arrogates to himself mercy or hardness toward them; whence he hears those crying to him against the rich and avaricious. Again, he who is hard, and does not hear God in the poor, and crying from the poor to him, is surely worthy that in turn, crying to God, he should not be heard by him. Whence the Chaldean renders: he also shall call upon God, and shall not be heard; and St. Cyprian, On Works and Almsgiving: "And he himself shall call upon God, and there shall be none to hear him;" and the Syriac: "He shall call upon God, and he shall not answer." An example is in the rich man Dives, who, not hearing Lazarus crying, in Gehenna crying to Abraham for refreshment, was not heard by him. Justly did he ask for a drop of water and not obtain it, he who denied a crumb of bread to Lazarus. He desires a drop, who had denied a crumb. "O rich man, with what face do you ask for a drop, you who were unwilling to offer a crumb?" says St. Augustine, sermon 237 On the Seasons. Whence the same St. Augustine, homily 23 On the Words of the Lord according to Luke, speaking of the rich man and Lazarus: "They are weighed out," he says, "punishments for riches, refreshment for poverty, flame for purple, refection for nakedness, so that the equity of the balance may be preserved; and the measure of that balance does not lie: In what measure, he says, you shall mete, so shall it be measured to you. Therefore mercy is denied in punishments to the rich man, because he himself, while he lived, was unwilling to have mercy; therefore the rich man asking is not heard in torments, because he did not hear the poor man asking on earth. The rich man and the poor man are two things contrary to each other; but again they are two things necessary to each other. No one would be in need, if they supported each other mutually, and no one would labor, if both helped each other. The rich man was made for the sake of the poor man, and the poor man for the sake of the rich man. It is the poor man's part to pray, and the rich man's part to give: It is God's part to weigh great things for small things, from his mercy small things, great abundance is born. The field of the poor is fruitful, it quickly returns fruit to those who rule it. The poor man is the way to heaven, by which one comes to the Father. Begin therefore to give, if you do not wish to go astray: from your patrimony, by which you are bound, loose the shackle in this life, so that you may freely go to heaven." Finally, similar to this maxim is that of Philo in Maximus, sermon 7: "Show yourself to servants and the wretched such as you would wish God to be in you; for as we have heard, so shall we be heard by God; and as we look upon others, so shall God look upon us; let us therefore offer mercy for mercy, so that we may obtain like for like." And that of Sextus the Pythagorean, maxim 206: "God does not hear the prayer of a man who does not hear the needy." There exist in volume V of the Library of the Holy Fathers these maxims of Sextus, wise and almost Christian. And that of St. Gregory of Nazianzus in Verse: The poor man came, and went away having obtained nothing. I fear, O Christ, lest I also fall from your hand: For what one has not given, he should not even hope to receive. Knowing this, Tobias, about to die, thus commands his son, chapter IV, 7: "Make alms of your substance, and turn not away your face from any poor man; for so it shall come to pass that the face of the Lord shall not be turned away from you."
21:14
Zurich: A hidden gift extinguishes wrath. Some interpret it through a gift received in the bosom—a gift placed in the bosom not of a poor man, but hidden in the bosom of a miser, so that there is an antithesis between the liberal man and the miser. Whence the Septuagint translates: a hidden gift turns away wrath; but he who spares gifts stirs up strong fury; and the Syriac, following the custom of the Septuagint: and he who refuses to give stirs up wrath, that is to say, The liberal man, who secretly gives gifts to an angry prince or powerful man, by those gifts turns away and placates his wrath; on the contrary, the miser, who spares gifts, stirs up the wrath of God and men: because through avarice he offends many, and in order to gather wealth, he often violates laws, and thus he stirs up against himself the wrath of God and men, which he increases all the more while he stingily and unjustly keeps what he has gathered, and does not distribute it to the poor, as charity demands, so as to appease or mitigate offenses. But truly others widely hold that there is no antithesis here, but that both parts of the verse pertain to the same person, namely to the liberal man giving gifts. It is therefore the same thing to say "a hidden gift" as "a gift in the bosom," namely hidden and placed secretly in the bosom of another. The sense therefore is, that is to say, A hidden gift, that is, given secretly and covertly to a judge or prince, calms his wrath; but a conspicuous gift (for this is what sochad signifies) secretly thrust into his bosom as if he were unaware or pretending not to notice, extinguishes his indignation however great. The force lies in: hidden and in the bosom. For judges and princes do not wish to receive gifts publicly and openly, lest they appear to seek them, or to be corrupted by them into pronouncing unjust sentences, and thus be held vile and infamous; wherefore gifts must be given to them secretly, and in the bosom as if to those unaware or resisting, which soften their souls, attract them and win them over, so that they turn wrath and hatred into love and benevolence, as I said in chapter XVIII, verse 16. Again, gifts must be given secretly to the courtiers and ministers of princes, lest the princes learn of it and be offended by it: receiving gifts secretly therefore, they will be mediators with the prince, and will reconcile the giver to him. Thus Rabbi Levi, Aben-Ezra and others widely. Solomon signifies therefore, says Baynus and Jansenius, by this maxim, how much liberality avails if prudently displayed, in that by gifts given secretly, even the greatest wraths are often calmed, and those which cannot be extinguished by many words and the authority of persons. Likewise it signifies the avarice of some by which they often allow themselves to be corrupted by gifts given secretly, so that they do not inflict the punishment which they ought to inflict. According to the mystical understanding, the virtue of almsgiving is commended by this sentence, which, if it be done according to the precept of the Gospel, namely "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doth," that is, if it be done in secret, not for display, not for vain glory, but before God who sees in secret, will extinguish the wrath of the judge, and will calm and change that sentence full of wrath and fury into that most merciful one: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the constitution of the world." And it is altogether probable that this sense is properly intended, and that under the similitude of simple understanding, so that from those things which are done among men, we may understand what liberality avails with God, and thus mercy toward the poor is commended, as also in the verse above, as also Rabbi Solomon. Whence some refer the former part of the verse to God, the latter to the judge, so that the former is confirmed by the latter, that is to say, A gift given secretly to the poor will calm the wrath of God, just as a gift secretly placed in the bosom of a judge is wont to extinguish his fury and severity of laws, however great and vehement. An example is in Abigail, who by her gifts extinguished the wrath of David hastening to the destruction of Nabal, I Kings XXV, 18. Truly the Poet compares a gift to the torpedo fish, which touching the hand of the fisherman stupefies it: Do thy hands grow numb when thou secretly receivest gifts? Dost thou not feel? Surely mind and soul are stupefied. Indeed "gifts placate the Gods, much less men themselves. Nothing now cannot be accomplished by the suffrage of a gift." Aptly Pliny, Panegyric to Trajan, chapter XLII, calls gifts "hooks baited with food, snares covered with prey." St. Jerome relates in the Life of St. Hilarion, that Hilarion refused ten pounds of gold offered to him by a demoniac whom he had healed, and offering him barley bread said to him: "Those who are nourished by such food count gold as dirt." But how few are such! Moreover our Pineda in Ecclesiastes cap. VII, 40, places a gift in the bosom in opposition and preference to indignation in the bosom, which is the greatest: for anger which is hidden away in the bosom of the soul, is covered and as it were rooted, is most intimate, most profound, long-lasting and most grave. Whence concerning it Ecclesiastes cap. VII, 10 says: "Anger resteth in the bosom of a fool." And Aristotle, IV Ethics cap. V, teaches "that the irascible, although they become angry quickly, and at things at which they ought not, and more than they ought, and are manifest on account of their quickness; yet they have this advantage, that they also cease quickly: but those are bitter who are appeased with difficulty, and are under anger for a long time; for they retain it, and unless they of their own accord put a limit to their anger, a long time is needed for the anger to work itself out in them: for indeed because they are not manifest, no one persuades them." Therefore the bitter have anger hidden away in the bosom: wherefore in order that this may be torn out from them through beneficence, it is necessary also that the gift which tears it out be sent into the bosom, so that into the hidden sanctuary of indignation there may penetrate likewise its present antidote, which may either blunt its acrimony, or overcome it, just as scammony penetrates into the innermost veins of the body, and thence draws forth noxious humours, and thus restores man to health. For which reason a gift in the bosom again signifies a gift pleasing to the bosom, that is pleasant and agreeable to the soul, which the bosom of love itself eagerly embraces: for unless it be such, it will not exclude anger and hatred from the bosom; wherefore in order that you may exclude that, seek and offer to the angry man a gift which you know will be pleasing to his bosom, that is most earnestly desired and agreeable to him, so that from it he may drive out and erase his anger. Therefore just as hunters send vipers into the sinuses and caverns of the earth, in order to drive out hares from there, and thus coming forth into the light may capture them: so likewise a gift must be thrust into the bosom of the angry man, so that from it he may wring out malevolence.
21:15
Fear in Hebrew is mechitta, that is, consternation, crushing; the Syriac, breaking. This is rightly opposed by antithesis to the joy of the just, because it itself is the inseparable companion of sorrow and sadness: for where there is sorrow, there is fear and consternation; but where there is joy, there likewise is confidence, security, courage. Judgment, that is, justice; now because justice is taken in three ways, hence a threefold sense arises here. First, justice here can be taken properly and strictly, which namely renders to each his own right, and especially, which attributes rewards to good merits, punishments to bad merits, whether this be done by God or by a human judge. Rabbi Solomon understood it of God, as if to say: God takes great pleasure in exercising judgment upon the just, so that they may obtain a life heaped with all good things, abounding in the merits of the future age. The just one, that is, God, is likewise filled with joy, when he sends scourges and hardships upon the just, so that in the future age they may be made pure. "Fear upon those working iniquity," as if to say: When they do not apply their mind to return to a better course, nor perceive any fruit from these calamities, nor profit from being vexed by hardships, hence they are confounded. Rabbi Levi understood it of a human judge: When justice, he says, is exercised among mortals, this will bring joy to the just: for then he will be confident that he will not be entangled in the affairs of the kingdom, when he carefully abstains from acting wickedly. This same calamity and consternation is to those acting unjustly: for they fear exceedingly lest they pay the penalties of their crimes. Hence thieves, says Lyra, are commonly timid and fearful: for, as St. Paul teaches, Romans XIII, the ministers of justice are for good to the good, for evil, namely for fear and vengeance, to the evil. To this our Salazar adds: "Joy is to the just to do judgment," as if to say: The just one, when he sees the Superior and Prince acting justly, and keeping his subjects in duty, rejoices indeed and exults: which on the other hand is accustomed to strike great fear and dread into the wicked. He rejoices, because he is free from guilt; they fear and dread, because bound by the same crimes, since they fear that the same punishment which is justly inflicted on others will also be imposed on them by the just and severe judge. Note that the Hebrew mechitta, that is, anguish, or the pain of one in travail, is for those who work iniquity. For Origen, homily 2 on Joshua, cleverly compared the law to a midwife: because namely it helps the resisting wills of subjects to bring forth life and morals according to reason, so to speak, in the manner of a midwife. Think therefore that in every man, even the wicked, the will is pregnant with right counsels and good thoughts suggesting good morals, and is never not stimulated to bring forth a good and honest life. Therefore when there is present some Superior and Prince acting justly, and urging his subjects by his severity, immediately all the wicked are seized by a certain pain and anguish similar to that of one in travail, namely forcing them to bring forth good morals even with pain and trouble, the severity of the Superior acting as midwife through precepts and laws. This exposition is fitting and apt, and the Author of the Catena of the Greeks follows it. Second, some understood by justice almsgiving, which is not rarely called justice in Scripture for reasons reviewed before, as if to say: The just beneficent one does almsgiving with joy, both because it is pleasant to do good, and because he knows and experiences that his wealth does not decrease through almsgiving, but increases, and finally because he knows that the kingdom of heaven is promised by Christ to the almsgivers, Matthew XXV. But truly the miser acting unjustly, denying almsgiving, and not redeeming his iniquities by almsgiving, grieves and fears, both because avarice in itself is sordid, contracted and sad; and because he feels through it his wealth diminished and exhausted, and himself impoverished; and because he fears the hell threatened by Christ to the avaricious and illiberal, Matthew XXV. Thus Baynes. Third, others take justice broadly and generally for any virtue, or for that which is just, equitable and honest; as if to say, The just man performs works of virtue with joy, and the wicked work iniquity with sorrow, fear and anguish, both because virtue in itself is pleasant, cheerful and delightful, while vice is foul, sad and abominable; and because God has appointed ample rewards for virtue, especially in heaven, but ample punishments for vices in hell; and finally because God sends heavenly consolations to the souls of those working well, especially where the work is arduous, but sends desolations, anguishes and fears to the minds of those working badly, as a just reward or punishment. Hence St. Agatha, St. Cecilia, St. Agnes, St. Lawrence, etc., went to torments and martyrdoms rejoicing, as if to feasts and delights. Thus Bede: "The just man rejoices," he says, "when he labors with good works, because he hopes to be rewarded with eternal goods on account of these; but the reprobate, while they do evil things which they know the Lord has forbidden, although they are carnally delighted by the perpetration of their luxury, nevertheless cannot lack the internal fear of mind, because they do not doubt that they will suffer eternal evils for those things which they have done badly in time." Again, more closely and deeply with Jansenius, you may refer both to the same thing, so that one and the same thing is signified, namely that there is joy for the just, and fear for those working iniquity, that is, doing judgment; for to do judgment is joy for the just, but fear or contrition for the wicked (for thus also the Hebrew words can be translated), because both the just rejoice when they undertake what is equitable and good, and the wicked, when such a thing falls to them, undertake it with fear and a languishing spirit, and they fear for themselves from doing well, as from something difficult and unusual to them. This maxim is similar to that in chapter X, 29: "Strength is the way of the simple in the Lord, and fear to those who work evil." To this pertains the version of the Septuagint: "The joy of the just is to do judgment: but the holy man among the impure and bound by crimes is held as unclean," both because the impure judge the just to be impure and like themselves; and because, just as the just condemn the actions of the unjust and rejoice when they see them punished, so in like manner the unjust condemn the actions and virtues of the just, and accuse them as if impure and vicious. Thus the Author of the Catena of the Greeks. Morally, learn here that justice alone, that is, works of virtue, produce joy: first, because the just man acts from the habit of justice. For it is delightful to each to act according to habit, says Lyra; second, because works of virtue produce a good conscience, which wonderfully calms and exhilarates the soul; for they are works and fruits of the Holy Spirit, who is the fountain of all joy, according to that passage in Galatians V, 22: "The fruit of the Spirit," he says, "is charity, joy, peace," etc. Hear Blessed Caesar of Arles, homily 12: "True joy is not possessed unless peace and justice are held; justice is first, and as it were the root, peace is second, joy is third: from justice is born peace, from peace joy is generated. Justice and peace seem to be good works; but joy is understood to be the fruit of good works." And St. Bernard in the book On Consideration: "What is richer, what is sweeter in the heart, what is quieter and more secure on earth than a good conscience? It does not fear the loss of things, nor the insults of words, nor the tortures of the body, which indeed it rises above rather than is depressed by, more than by death itself." The pagan writers agree with our teachings. Cicero, in his letter to Torquatus: "A right conscience of the will is the greatest consolation in the face of misfortunes." And Seneca, to Lucilius: "I do not wish joy ever to be absent, I wish it to be born for you at home. It is born, if only it be within yourself. Other forms of cheerfulness do not fill the breast, but only relax the brow, they are light, unless perhaps you judge that one rejoices who laughs. Believe me, true joy is a serious matter." And a little later: "The desire for true good is safe; what is that, you ask, or whence does it arise? I will tell you: From a good conscience, from honest counsels, from right actions, from contempt of fortune, from a peaceful life and a continuous course pressing one path." Secondly, because good works reconcile God to themselves, and in Him as it were in their end and center they find rest, and from Him they expect all present and eternal joy. This is what Ecclesiasticus, chapter 1, verse 41 says: "The fear of the Lord is glory, and glorying, and joy, and a crown of exultation. The fear of the Lord shall delight the heart, and shall give joy and gladness, and length of days." And Malachi, chapter 4, verse 2: "And there shall arise unto you that fear my name the Sun of justice, and health in his wings, and you shall go forth, and shall leap like calves of the herd." Whence Chrysostom, homily 18 to the People: "There is no need of many words; but if we only think upon the word of the Apostle, we shall find life; for he did not simply say: Rejoice always; but he added the cause of continuous pleasure, when he said: Rejoice in the Lord always. In the Lord always rejoicing, from no accident can this pleasure fall away. For all other things in which we rejoice are changeable and easily pass away; but he who truly fears God as he ought, and trusts in Him, has gained the root of pleasure, and has every fountain of joy." Finally, St. Bernard, epistle 114 to a certain nun: "It is great joy to me that I have found you willing to strive toward true and perfect joy; which is not of the earth, but of heaven, that is, not of this valley of tears, but of that which the impetus of the river makes glad, the city of God. And truly that alone is true joy, which is conceived not from a creature, but from the Creator, and which, when you shall possess it, no one shall take from you; compared to which all other pleasantness from elsewhere is sorrow, all other sweetness is pain, all sweetness is bitter, all beauty is foul, and finally all whatever else can delight is troublesome."
21:16
Behold, here is fear and contrition destined for those who work iniquity, as the preceding verse said. For giants in Hebrew is rephaim, which Our translator renders elsewhere as the dead; elsewhere as demons: for since giants fighting against God were punished by Him with death, and cast down into Tartarus to demons, whose pride and crimes they imitated, hence by rephaim, that is giants, are signified the dead and demons, namely the state of the damned in Gehenna. See what is said in Genesis VI. In Hebrew they are called rephaim from striking down, because by their monstrous height, deformity, strength and cruelty they would strike down men, dissolve them with fear, and as it were render them lifeless: for rippa means to dissolve. In Greek they are called giants as if gegeneis, that is earth-born, children of the earth, as the Chaldean and Syrian translate it: for gegeneis is said from gignomai, that is to be born, and gaia or ge which in the Doric language makes ga, and signifies earth. See what is said in chapter IX, 18. Whence Philo, in the book On Giants: "The Legislator," he says, "wishes to teach you that some are men of the earth, others of heaven, others of God. Of the earth, those who hunt after bodily pleasures, and their usufruct, seeking from every quarter the material of each; of heaven, those who hold to arts and sciences: for what is heavenly in us is the mind; but men of God are truly priests and Prophets." For the way of doctrine in Hebrew is the way of understanding, that is the way of prudence, by which namely one proceeds prudently to virtue, to salvation and happiness, which is the way of justice, as the Septuagint translates it. This way is the very law of God; for whoever walking in it conducts himself takes the straight path of salvation. Hence the Chaldean translates: the son of man who errs from the way of understanding shall dwell with the children of the earth; the Syrian: shall rest with the children of the earth; Symmachus: in the assembly of those who fight against God, namely of giants; the Septuagint: a man erring from the way of justice shall rest in the assembly of giants; Aben-Ezra: shall rest in the assembly of the dead, so that he will err no more; R. Levi: when he comes to mature age, he will die quickly and suddenly, and shall pass to the assembly of the dead; R. Solomon: shall be in the assembly of Gehenna. Now this sentence can be taken broadly, so as to apply to any sinner, as if to say: The sinner who, abandoning the straight way of virtue and prudence, which leads to happiness, pursues the crooked way of pleasure, flesh and the world, which once the giants pursued, and before them the demons under the leadership of Lucifer; he assuredly shall be led to the goal and end of those whose way he has followed, namely to Gehenna, and shall be joined to their assembly. Thus it is signified, says Jansenius, that those who, deserting the way that leads to life, here preferred to follow the impulses and counsels of demons, who like proud giants opposed themselves to God, and wished to equal Him, shall be companions of their damnation, and it shall be said to them: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." Or those who here refused to obey God shall have their portion with those giants, on account of whose crimes the world in the beginning perished by the flood. But the elegance of this verse consists in the opposition of error and rest, namely because he who has erred from the straight way, after long wanderings shall at last rest, but unhappily, and, as he deserved, in the assembly of the dead and giants. Thus St. Gregory, in book XVII of the Morals, XII, at those words of Job XXVI: "Behold, the giants groan under the waters," understood by giants sinners, who are puffed up with sin: "For they," he says, "do not live, because by sinning they have lost the life of justice. These also after death cannot rise again, because after their fault inflated by pride, they do not have recourse to the remedies of penance. Hence again it is written: The man who shall err from the way of doctrine shall dwell in the assembly of giants; because whoever abandons the path of rectitude, with what number does he join himself except with the proud spirits?" Again, properly and precisely you may apply this saying to heretics, false teachers, and similar errants; for these properly err from the way of doctrine, namely from the true faith, and therefore shall be thrust down to the assembly of giants. Heretics are aptly compared to giants: first, because they imitate their pride and arrogance, by which equally as giants they wage the most arrogant war against God and His Church, so that they dare to accuse God the author of faith of falsehood, and as it were to challenge Him to a duel of treachery. Heretics therefore equally as giants are theomachoi, as Symmachus translates it, and therefore if they persist in heresy, they finally rush into atheism, and like atheists utterly deny God and all divinity, as daily experience teaches. Secondly, just as God brought the flood upon the giants and by it submerged and destroyed their vast bodies: so too upon heresy God sends upon those provinces infected with it the most grievous calamities of wars, seditions, tumults, etc., by which He absorbs and destroys heretics, as we have seen happen in this age in France, Germany, Belgium, England, Scotland, etc. The poets fable that the Titans were struck by Jupiter's thunderbolt: thus heretics are blasted by God and hurled down into Tartarus. Thirdly, the parent of the giants was the devil, persuading the sons of God, that is the sons of Seth, to couple with the most ardent lust with the daughters of men, that is the daughters of Cain, on account of their beauty: thus likewise heresy and the parent of heretics is the devil, the mother is lust. Hear St. Gregory of Nazianzus, oration 48 On the Assembly of Heretics: "That choir of the devil was a stronghold, there he had built an army for himself, and placed in it his defenders and satellites. This lying army, defenders of fraud, an expedition of demons, legions of unclean spirits. And, if it is also permitted to use something of external names, there the wicked army of furies raged against the Church. For thus, that I may call them women, I am led, who beyond nature showed themselves manly toward evil." The same, oration 4, asserts that heretics surpass the devil in malice and perfidy. Hence many heresiarchs had a demon as their assessor, that is as an associate and familiar, as I have shown with many examples in I Tim. cap. IV, vers. 1. Fourthly, because the place of heretics, as being most harmful, is in the deep of hell beneath other damned ones, where likewise dwell giants and demons with their Lucifer. Fifthly, the poets have fabled wonderful things about giants, which Salazar reviews at length, and aptly adapts to heretics. Irenaeus, lib. II Against Heresies, cap. LIII, Origen, homil. 7 in Numbers; Jerome in cap. XXIV of Isaiah, assert that all heretics bear the figure of the most impious and most proud giants, and those who rebel against God and offer contempt to the Church. See Gregory in the place cited, and Cassian, Collat. VIII, cap. XXI; and when Theodoret reports this method of interpreting, Questions 48 in Genesis: "Some, he says, say that giants are haters of God, and adversaries of God among men." Finally hear the Author of the Catena of the Greeks on this passage: "He errs, he says, from the way of justice, who deviates from orthodox faith, or from life and conduct worthy of a Christian man. For in these are placed the ways of justice. But giants or demons he calls, or heretics, or any others whatsoever alien from God; and he designates them by this name, because they are mighty for perpetrating evils." Another there: "Scripture, he says, is accustomed to call giants men full of pride and rebellious to God, and notably wicked. The sense therefore is: He shall be numbered among giants, that is among devils, or heretics opposing God. Moreover this name giant signifies three things: first indeed it denotes a man opposing God by institution, as: 'No one shall receive spoils from giants,' which Symmachus rendered: 'from theomachon, those rebelling against God.' Next indeed a man endowed with vast bodily mass, as: 'We saw there the sons of the giants, and we were in their sight as locusts.' Finally indeed a strong or mighty one, as: 'He exulted as a giant to run his way.' Thus he."
21:17
In Hebrew: a man of poverty (will be) loving joy; and loving wine and oil will not be enriched, that is, he who loves the feasts and joys of continual banqueting will be reduced to poverty. Whence, explaining this joy, he adds: "He who loves wine and fat things will not be enriched;" for the Hebrew word shemen, that is oil, signifies whatever is fat, both in meats and feasts, and in aromatics: whence it signifies ointment, with which those feasting were formerly accustomed to anoint themselves for the sake of delights, both on account of softness and on account of the fragrance of odor. It signifies therefore that a rich man, if he indulges in sumptuous tables and the joys of banquets, and pours out his time and wealth in these things, will be reduced to poverty when these are exhausted; but a poor man who strives to become rich, even if he labors much, will not become rich if he squanders and consumes his labors in wine and drinking parties. In general it signifies that luxurious feasts and refined living produce want; but sober and sparing living mixed with labor brings abundance of things. Whence the Chaldean, Syrian and Vatablus render this maxim under one period. The Chaldean thus: A man who is poor and loves joy and loves wine and ointment will not be enriched; the Syrian: A man in need, and loving joys and wine and pleasure, will not be enriched; Vatablus briefly and clearly: A thin man, who indulges in pleasures, wine and ointments, will never be enriched. Note that Solomon does not absolutely attack those drinking wine and eating fat things, but those who love these things, so as to fix their heart and mind upon them: for these, pursuing them intemperately, consume and lose both present and eternal riches. That saying is famous: Belly, feathers, Venus are to be fled by those seeking praise to follow. Namely, there are three capital enemies of true praise and all honesty, three deadly plagues: gluttony, idleness, lust. These indeed are those alluring Sirens, whose ears Ulysses, the portrayer of wisdom, had stopped up: these are true Gorgons, bringing torpor to the mind and industry: these are most rapacious Harpies, plunderers of the food of souls, which seize the goods of the fatherland, that is of the mind, strip it of reason, and blind the light of the mind. Furthermore the Septuagint translates contrarily: a poor man loves joy; loving wine and oil unto riches. But they are to be reconciled, as if to say: He who loves festive and joyful drinking parties will always be poor, because he loves wine and oil and holds these as the greatest delights: wherefore he spends and consumes his riches in these, so that he may soothe and lull his sorrows and griefs, which poverty suggests and brings to him: for wine gladdens the grieving spirit, oil soothes and softens the body. But the author of the Catena of the Greeks gives a mystical sense: "By a poor man, he says, he seems to designate a sober and continent mind. For this rejoices with the just, and has friendly cleanliness, and counts almsgiving, signified by the name of oil, among the principal riches." But, as the same author adds, it is probable that the Septuagint codices here, as elsewhere, are corrupted, and in them the negation is lacking, so that for "unto riches" you read "not unto riches," that is, will not be enriched. For thus the Hebrew, Chaldean, Syrian, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, Vulgate and all other interpreters without exception have it. The truth of this opinion Cyril adorns with an elegant parable of water and oil, and demonstrates it to the eye, in book IV of his Moral Apology, chapter VI, which has the title, Against lovers of fat: "In a glass lamp," he says, "when oil poured over water had first descended to the depths, and then moved upward, water spoke to it saying: Why, my brother, did I nourish you in the roots of the olive, and with such force of ingratitude did you spurn reverence and ascend on high? To which the oil replied: Indeed, following the impulse of nature and the course of reason, I do this; to which it is not permitted to be rebellious. Did not you also, dearest, impelled by the same nature, when you were grateful above, drawn down from the heights, descend to the depths? To this the water quietly added: As I see you know, teach me how nature makes you float above. To which the oil said: The cause is at hand, because fiery fatness lifts me up. When the water had carefully noted this, the lamp immediately lit began to nourish itself with oil. And when the oil saw itself decreasing drop by drop, but the flame increasing, gradually indignant it is said to have spoken thus: O flame, you have adhered so sweetly, that you consume your companion fraudulently: when will your burning be satisfied? To which it replied: Surely when your oiliness dries up; for unless fatness is first removed from you, the reason for burning will never cease." He proves the same thing by the example of asbestos, of body and lust. "Do you not know that I am never separated from asbestos, because with oily moisture invisibly adhering I perpetually live my vigor? Thus in the beginning of life the seed in the marrows of the body burns so long as in them the fatness of food is regenerated. Does not the burning of lust extend as far as life is fattened in luxury? Having said these things, after a short time the oil being consumed, the flame came to the water: to which immediately against the heat it opposed its cold, and against the voracity of burning armed itself with substantial leanness; and the water began to cry out and said: What is this that you do, miser? why do you wish to extinguish my life by consuming me, as you destroyed the oil a little before? I know your malice, I am your medicine. Having said this, the flame was extinguished." Morally, learn here that banquets and symposia produce poverty, both bodily and spiritual; but frugality produces abundance. Wisely Dionysius, in the Melissa near Antonius, part I, chapter XL: "Apply yourself," he says, "so that you never rashly consume money, whence you will gain no glory for yourself; for great riches are gathered not so much by receiving much as by not spending much." How true this is, merchants and wealthy fathers of families know, because they are frugal. Behold the Dutch. That saying is well-worn: "Great revenue is frugality." Wherefore from this frugality St. Ambrose praises his brother Satyrus in his Funeral Oration: "Never," he says, "was he delighted with more elaborate feasts or heaped-up dishes, except when he invited friends to a meal; seeking what was sufficient for nature, not what was excessive for pleasure, and certainly he was not poor in riches, but nevertheless poor in spirit." The same in Psalm CXVIII, octon. 9: "Many things," he says, "seem in this age to be pleasant which are not: luxury seems to be pleasant, but becomes bitter when the patrimony is exhausted. Sweet feasts when taken, but foul when they are belched forth." The history of the prodigal son is well-known, who by giving himself to feasts and luxury squandered his patrimony, and was reduced to such a state that he was forced to act as a swineherd and feed pigs, Luke XV, 15. Much more do delicacies and feasts produce spiritual poverty of delights, grace, virtues and divine consolations: because just as "when the spirit is tasted all flesh becomes insipid," as St. Bernard says, so conversely, "to whom flesh is pleasing, to him the spirit becomes insipid." Whence St. Gregory, homily 40 in the Gospel: "Evil," he says, "the fire of want purged from Lazarus, and good the happiness of present life rewarded the rich man. Poverty afflicted and wiped him, abundance rewarded and repelled this one; whoever therefore in this life have it well, when you recall that you have done good things, fear greatly in them, lest the prosperity granted to you be the recompense of those good things; and when you see any poor people perpetrating some reprehensible things, do not despise, do not despair: because perhaps what the superfluity of the slightest depravity stains, the furnace of poverty purges." See Amos, chapter VI, 4; St. James chapter V, 5, who sharply attack feasters and threaten them with want and woe of eternal curse, where I have dealt with this matter at greater length.
21:18
In Hebrew, copher, that is, expiation of the just by the impious; the Chaldean and Syriac: in exchange for the just the impious shall be delivered, and for the upright plunderers; Vatablus: redemption is for the just by the impious, etc., that is, the just is withdrawn from danger, and the impious undergoes danger in his place; Zurich: the impious expiates for the just and the transgressor for the upright; Pagninus: for the redemption of the just the impious shall be given, and for the upright the transgressor. Furthermore, the Septuagint, joining this word to the preceding one, translate copher as perikatharma, that is, purification, or word for word, a circumpurification; but the unrighteous is the purification of the just; Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion: but the propitiation of the just is the unrighteous. The author of the Catena of the Greeks expounds the Septuagint, as if to say, "The unrighteous, as it were refuse and belly-filth, is contemptible before the just." But this exposition is cold: wherefore the same author adds another more genuine one, of which presently. First therefore Bede, reading datur as damnatur, it seems, explains it thus: "The just and the upright seem to be the same: but there is a difference between the impious and the unrighteous, in that the unrighteous are all the reprobate, but the impious are those who, entangled in greater crimes, either never received the holy mysteries of the faith, or after receiving them turned to apostasy. Whence the impious in this place can be understood as every persecutor of the faithful. Moreover, by the word unrighteous all the wicked seem to be signified generally. And for the just the impious is given, when for the martyr the persecutor, who delivered him to death, is punished; for the upright the unrighteous, who, seeing their justice, were unwilling to imitate it. Herod is condemned not only for the innocents, whom he impiously delivered to death, but also receives an increase of condemnation, because he was unwilling to follow the faith of the Magi in seeking the Lord, although he was a Jew and knew the sayings of the Prophets. Hence the Lord says: The queen of the south shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it, etc.: not that she shall condemn by her own virtue and power, but because in comparison with her those shall be condemned who, knowing her devotion, could much more easily have had care for wisdom, which they dissembled. But this exposition does not sufficiently exhaust the force of the sentence, nor does it sufficiently explain the pro and the Hebrew copher, that is, expiation, redemption, price." Secondly, more aptly Baynus: "For the just the impious is given," that is, he says, when some evil impends upon the just, it frequently happens that the just escapes it, and the impious suffers it in his place. But neither does this sufficiently exhaust the Hebrew copher and the Greek perikatharma. Wherefore thirdly, more profoundly and forcefully, copher, that is, "the expiation of the just is the impious," that is, the impious are as it were a propitiation, a price and as it were a victim for the sin of the just, as if to say, When God sends calamity upon a city or commonwealth in punishment of sins, which calamity would also befall the just on account of some light sins of theirs, for which they have merited a portion of punishment; God, loving them and pitying them, brings it about that the whole calamity of punishment falls upon the impious, so that they themselves, who gave the principal cause of the calamity, may wholly absorb it, and therefore in suffering it for the just may satisfy God: wherefore then the just are as it were redeemed and expiated by the punishment of the impious, because the impious are the price and redemption of the calamity sent, which God accepts, so that when they are punished His wrath may cease, and He may recall His vengeance, and sheathe His drawn sword in its scabbard. The impious therefore are perikatharma, that is, a propitiation of the world and of the just, as the Septuagint translates. A clear example is II Kings, chapter XXI, where a famine was brought upon Israel by God on account of the Gabaonites slain by Saul, against the faith given to them by Joshua, chapter IX, 16, and is expiated by the death of seven descendants of Saul, as being the posterity of Saul the guilty and criminal one. Thus Lyra, R. Solomon, Aben-Ezra, Jansenius and others. The reason a priori is: That the impious are supremely harmful and guilty, they therefore deserve to be a common propitiation both of their own crimes and of the offences of the just: for one propitiation is usually chosen for all from all, the head most guilty and harmful, nor can the impious complain that they are paying the penalty for another's sin, namely that of the just, because by their own crimes alone they deserve far greater: wherefore they ought rather to give thanks to God, that He mitigates the punishment due to them, and punishes short of what is deserved. For here we are dealing with a common calamity of the commonwealth, of which the impious are the propitiation: for individually each one, even the just, shall receive from God either in this life or in the future a particular punishment and penance for individual offences. Moreover, this general sense can be applied to many: first, apply it to accusers, who falsely accuse others of crime: for when the falsehood is discovered, by the law of retaliation they are forced to undergo the punishment which they wickedly sought to bring upon another. For this is a just vindication of unjust accusation, and as it were a propitiation and satisfaction of justice. Thus the wicked elders, falsely accusing Susanna of adultery, underwent the stoning decreed for adulterers, Daniel cap. XIII; and Haman underwent the punishment of treason intended for Mordecai and the Jews, Esther cap. VII, vers. 9. Secondly, to those who plot unjust death or similar harm to the innocent through violence or fraud: for by the just judgment of God such violence and fraud is wont to be turned back upon the heads of those who plot it. St. Gregory recounts a fitting example, III Dial. cap. XV, concerning St. Sabinus, Bishop of Canusium, to whom his Archdeacon, ambitious of his bishopric, sent poison through a boy; but St. Sabinus, foreseeing the fraud by the Spirit of God, said: "Give it to me, I will drink it; but tell him who gave it to you very carefully: I indeed drink poison, but you shall not be bishop. Having therefore made the sign of the cross, the Bishop drank the poison securely, and at that very hour in another place where his Archdeacon was, he died, as if through the mouth of the Bishop those poisons had passed into the Archdeacon's bowels. Yet to bring about his death, bodily poison indeed failed him, but in the sight of the eternal Judge, the poison of his own malice killed him." Thirdly, and most fittingly, in the common calamities of the commonwealth, which God sends upon it on account of the sins of its citizens, although He sometimes involves the good with the wicked, yet often He preserves the good either in part or wholly unharmed, and destines the impious as victims, as being most guilty and harmful. These therefore are the scapegoat, that is, a propitiation, or a propitiatory victim, which may expiate all the wrongs of the commonwealth, and exempt the just from harm. Thus when the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus was imminent, Christians with their Bishop St. Simeon, at the warning of God, departed from the city, and withdrew to the city of Pella, and thus remained safe from the calamity, as Baronius teaches from St. Epiphanius, heresies 29 and 30, in the year of Christ 68, cap. XLVII and L. Fourthly, in particular cases, harm often impending upon the just is by God diverted to the wicked, so that he may fall into destruction in his stead: for the eye of God's providence is just and watchful, keeping vigil over harm and vengeance, and seeks out the guilty and harmful head. When perhaps, says R. Levi, according to the order of common providence, something harmful ought to befall the just, God substitutes the wicked in his place, so that the wicked may be involved in the calamities in his stead; which indeed happens when, on account of a special providence by which they are dear to God, the good are withdrawn from these afflictions. But when the wicked reap this fruit from their crimes, so that they may be abolished by them (that is, so that they may cease from sinning and repent), for this reason the wretched are driven to such calamities. Pious kings and princes imitate God, who turn the burdens of the commonwealth away from the faithful and good toward the unfaithful and wicked, especially heretics: hence they impose heavier taxes upon them than upon others, so that thus they may compel them to faith and probity. Thus in this year of the Lord 1629, Ferdinand II, the most pious and unconquered Emperor, through his military commander, by burdening the heretics with garrison soldiers as unfaithful and rebels, while relieving the Catholics, converted Silesia to the orthodox faith: for the Silesian heretics, in order to be freed from the soldiers, abjured their heresy. A figure of this matter was the twofold goat, on the feast of expiation, namely one scapegoat, which was released free by the priest; and the other for sin, which was slain and sacrificed in place of the scapegoat. For the scapegoat represents the just, the other for sin the wicked, Levit. XVI, 8 and seq. See the things said there. Understand that these things sometimes or not rarely happen, yet not always. For sometimes God does the contrary, and permits the just to suffer for the wicked, indeed to be afflicted by the wicked in this life, but in the future life assuredly and most certainly the unjust will be punished for the just in hell. Thus Christ the just suffered for all the wicked, that He might free them from sin, the devil, death, and hell, which was indeed an immense mercy and charity of His, according to that of Isaiah LIII, 4: "Surely He hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows; and we thought Him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our iniquities, He was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His bruises we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all." Thus the Apostle, I Corinth. IV: "As the refuse, he says (in Greek katharmata, that is, propitiations, by whose death the world is purged and expiated), of this world we are made, the offscouring of all even until now." See the things said there.
21:19
The Septuagint adds: and talkative; for this is the cause of wrath and strife. The reason a priori is: First, that it is better to dwell alone in the desert in peace, than in a house and crowd with wrath and strife, especially with a talkative and contentious woman. Second, that in the desert life is lived with wild beasts, namely with lions and dragons; yet a quarrelsome and wicked woman is more savage and fierce than these, as Ecclesiasticus says, chapter XXV, verse 23. Third, that in the desert life is lived without the stain of sin, which in the conversation of men, and especially of a sharp-tongued and quarrelsome woman, is easily and frequently contracted, according to that saying of St. Leo: "It is necessary that even religious hearts be soiled by earthly dust." In the desert it is permitted and pleasing to contemplate heaven and heavenly things, and to converse with God and Angels, and to live a heavenly and angelic life, such as St. John the Baptist, St. Anthony, St. Paul, St. Hilarion, St. Jerome, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and innumerable thousands of Anchorites lived in it. See what I have said concerning the advantages of the desert and solitude in Hosea II, verse 14, at those words: "I will lead her into the wilderness, and I will speak to her heart." The remaining matters which pertain to this saying, I have explained at verse 9. Mystically, the Author of the Greek Catena says: A quarrelsome and talkative woman, he says, is vice and malice; for this woman makes him with whom she dwells quarrelsome, talkative and wrathful. The desert land is virtue, which does not have its former inhabitants, nor men depraved according to the desires of error; but new and whole ones, and so the enemy man, the devil, does not find rest in it, according to that: "He walketh through dry and waterless places, seeking rest, and findeth none;" for he is the king of all those who dwell in moist and watery places; whence also concerning wisdom, that it may oppose him in these same places, it is written: "The ways of his houses are watery," Job XL, 16, according to the Septuagint. Again, "desert land" is the contemplative life, which indeed surpasses the quarrelsome woman, that is the active and busy life, which is mixed with and subject to many cares, quarrels, and tumults.
21:20
In Hebrew: in the dwelling of the wise man, and a foolish man shall devour it; in the Septuagint: a desirable treasure shall rest upon the mouth of the wise man; but imprudent men shall devour it; in Syriac: the wisdom and prudence of the sons of men shall swallow it. Similar to this maxim is that of Plutarch in the Moralia: "Prudence, for the most part, bestows good fortune; but fortune does not make prudence: you will indeed care for all affairs, but especially you will exercise prudence; for the greatest thing is enclosed in the smallest, a good mind is in the human body." And that of Solon: "Prudence excels other virtues as much as sight excels the other senses." And that of Gregory of Nazianzus in the Distichs: "I prefer a drop of mind to the sea of fortune." A certain Rabbi interprets it, as if to say, Studious and wise men hold oil dearer than wine and other delicacies, because they use oil in nocturnal study and in studies before dawn. Whence when asked why he surpassed his companions in wisdom, he answered: "Because I have gained more from my oil than my neighbors from wine." Thus Demosthenes the orator, when asked whence he had obtained such eloquence, answered: "Because I consumed more oil than wine." Germanius Aben-Ezra says: otsar, that is, treasure, is a generic name, comprehending all kinds of superior foods which a man lays up; but mention is made only of oil, because it holds the first place among the rest, since we offer worship to God with it; moreover, mortals have assigned to the olive the principality among other trees, on account of its excellent fatness, as that well-known saying testifies, that it is the part of the wise to store up oil and not to consume it; but the imprudent man, in Hebrew kesil, that is, the fool, as soon as he has obtained oil and foods, immediately devours and squanders them. Oil therefore by synecdoche signifies an abundance of provisions and delicacies, because the opulence of the Holy Land is commended in Scripture by the fertility of oil; for oil has great use: first, in foods; second, in lights; third, in medicines; fourth, in ointments for strength, as well as for the pleasant and delightful recreation and refreshment of the body. The sense therefore is, as if to say, The wise man by his wisdom, prudence and foresight procures for himself treasures of wealth, clothing and all things necessary for his household, desirable, that is, precious, great and excellent, and therefore to be sought after, and especially oil, that is, provisions of all kinds for feeding himself and his household abundantly; but the imprudent and foolish man shall suddenly consume all these things, gathered prudently by his ancestors, through feasts, banquets, largesses, games, etc., and shall squander them on harlots, parasites, buffoons. One could also refer semen, that is, oil, to the treasure, as if to say, A treasure oiled, that is, fat and fertile, is in the house of the just. Whence Vatablus translates: a desirable treasure, and copious or fat, is in the house of the just. Again by this maxim Solomon signifies that treasures, that is, precious things, are gathered and carefully preserved by the wise man, but squandered and dissipated by the foolish man. Thus some wise men furnish themselves with precious books and libraries, as Ptolemy Philadelphus did; others gather and store up rare garments, others paintings, others gems, others wines, others precious aromatics, etc., so that they may serve for their own and their household's use when need arises; but foolish and improvident men immediately squander all things, and therefore, when they are in need of them, they are forced to beg for them. Mystically, oil, first, is a symbol of grace and charity; whence Bede thus explains it, as if to say, "The brightness of good works is always pleasing to God, and the fatness of love shines forth in the Church of the saints. But the reprobate not only fail to attain virtues in reality, but also persecute them, and hasten to overwhelm the good as much as they are able. This verse can indeed be understood of any Martyr, in whose dwelling, that is, in whose body, a holy soul, namely God's treasure, is preserved; and the unction of spiritual grace abounds: but the imprudent persecutor can break such a dwelling; yet the treasure which was held in the dwelling, and the oil, he can by no means touch. Whence the Lord teaches: Fear not them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do," Matt. cap. X. Second, oil is a symbol of mercy and almsgiving, as if to say, These two you shall see in the house of the just, a great treasure, that is, ample riches, and oil, that is, poured out mercy; for both are connected with each other; for the more abundant the almsgiving, the more it increases riches. "An imprudent man shall dissipate it," because namely, hoarding it avariciously and sparing in pious largesses, he immediately consumes and loses both. Thirdly, oil is a symbol of spiritual consolations, which God infuses into the just, so that He may soothe and soften the labors and sorrows of virtue, and invite and strengthen them to greater things, according to that passage of Isaiah X, 27: "The yoke shall be worn away from before the oil." Where I have said more about this matter. This oil is experienced by novices upon entering Religion, and by it they are suddenly transformed into different men. A delicate youth, says our Alvarez de Paz, and one nourished among delights and pleasures, who ate sumptuously and richly, and wore the softest garments, now sustains himself on insipid and poorly prepared foods, indeed even on meager fare and hunger, and clothed in the vilest sackcloth or the roughest hairshirt walks about cheerful and joyful. One voluptuous and addicted to the allurements of his flesh now loves chastity, tames his flesh with scourges, vigils and sparing of food, and abhors every sensation of pleasure; one ambitious and desirous of honors, fame and dignities, now desires to be trampled and trodden underfoot, embraces ignominy, and loves vile services.
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therefore applies himself seriously and constantly to both, he shall "find life," namely prosperous and long-lived, and "justice," so that others may render to him his due, just as he himself renders the same to others, and so that God may repay him the reward of his justice and mercy as justly owed; and "glory," both present among men, and eternal among the Angels in heaven. And so by these three things is signified what we commonly say, that he shall live well and happily. Whence the Septuagint translates: in the way of justice and mercy he shall find life and glory. This is what Sirach, following Solomon, says, Eccles. I, 11: The fear of the Lord (for this begets justice and mercy) is glory and glorying, and joy and a crown of exultation. The fear of the Lord shall delight the heart, and shall give joy and gladness and length of days, etc. See the things said there. Thus the Author of the Greek Catena. Concerning that glory here spoken of, he says, of which it is written: "The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us." For God indeed far exceeds in the recompense which He bestows on men working rightly and diligently, by many degrees.
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Septuagint, and he destroyed the fortification in which the wicked trusted; the Syriac version says, he subdued (the Chaldean, he pulls down) the strongholds of his strength. He ascends, that is, by ascending he occupies and takes by storm; for when soldiers invade a city, many of them climb the walls, and having obtained them, they obtain the city: this is a metalepsis. Whence Vatablus translates it, the wise man takes by storm the city of the strong, and casts down the strength in which they trust, as if to say, Wisdom conquers bodily strength; for in war and the taking of cities, the counsels, arts, machines and stratagems of the wise are worth more than the strength of soldiers, as Vegetius, the Emperor Leo and others who have written on Military Science teach. Thus that wise woman, by persuading the citizens to deliver up the head of Sheba the rebel to David and Joab, subjected the city of Abel to him, II Kings, cap. xx, vers. 22. Secondly, St. Jerome in cap. III of Ezekiel interprets the wise man as the just man; for thus he reads: The just man ascends the strong cities, as if to say, The just man by his piety, sanctity and trust in God subdues and conquers cities that are unconquerable by arms. Thus Moses by his piety and prayer took the cities of Sehon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan, as Lyra says. Thus Joshua, relying on God, conquered the cities of the Canaanites. Thus the Maccabees, fighting with their virtue and zeal for God and His law, obtained by His aid glorious and miraculous victories over Antiochus, just as the Spanish and Portuguese in the preceding century fighting against the Moors and Indians and other infidels, so that they are masters of almost all of the Western Indies; indeed the Romans themselves made the same profession about themselves. Hear Cicero in the first oration against Rullus: "However much we wish, he says, Conscript Fathers, that we ourselves love ourselves; nevertheless we have surpassed not the Spanish in number, nor the Gauls in strength, nor the Carthaginians in cunning, nor the Greeks in arts, nor finally the Italians and Latins themselves in the domestic and native sense of this people and land, but by piety and religion, and by this one wisdom alone (because we have perceived that all things are ruled and governed by the will of the immortal gods) all peoples and nations." Thirdly, our Salazar interprets the wise man as a legate, or an eloquent and fluent orator, as if to say, It often happens that a city which the most densely packed phalanxes of soldiers could not conquer, some single legate or learned orator, coming to it himself, compels it to surrender by his persuasions, so that the strongest men, who once easily broke and repelled the force of war and arms, are disarmed by the speech of one man and lay down their arms. Thus Pyrrhus king of Epirus subdued peoples not by arms, but by the eloquence of his legate Cineas. Hence that saying of Cicero against Sallust: Let arms yield to the toga, let the laurel yield to the tongue. "You who in a toga have overcome the armed, and in peace have oppressed war, do you dare to object eloquence to me as a vice." And lib. I of the Art of Rhetoric: "By eloquence many cities have been established, and very many wars extinguished." Thus Menenius Agrippa by his eloquence reconciled the plebs to the senate. Mystically the Author of the Greek Catena says: By the fortified city, he says, understand doctrine alien from orthodox faith and truth, or certainly the wicked attempts and thoughts of sinful men. And Bede: "The city of the strong, he says, that is, the world, Christ subdued, but also daily the wise man ascends the city of the strong, and destroys the strength of its confidence, when some faithful doctor refutes by the sprinkling of ecclesiastical faith and the discipline of correction the arguments of philosophers or heretics, or even the contradictions of stubborn carnal brethren, by which they strive to defend and alleviate their crimes, and eviscerating annuls them." Salonius has nearly the same thing word for word.
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Lyra, Aben-Ezra and the Author of the Greek Catena understand these things concerning gluttony and excess; for he who guards his mouth from it, guards himself from pains and torments afflicting the soul, that is the stomach, breathing, conscience, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus XXXI, 23: "Wakefulness, choler and torture to a man without discipline." Others more rightly understand these things everywhere concerning speech, as if to say: He who guards his mouth lest he betray a secret, lest he slander anyone, lest he defame, lest he lie, lest he bear false witness, lest he swear falsely, lest he blaspheme, etc., he guards his soul from anguishes. These anguishes are, first, the continual remorse of conscience; second, sorrow and repentance for a mouth imprudently loosened; third, enmities, quarrels, brawls and murders consequent upon talkativeness; fourth, dangers of imprisonment, infamy, spoliation, death, etc.; fifth, the obligation of restoring the reputation taken from one's neighbor; sixth, damages inflicted upon one's neighbor or the commonwealth through injurious or imprudent words; seventh, liability to the wrath of God; eighth, anguish on the day of judgment, and fear of damnation and hell. For these are as it were so many stings tightening, torturing and afflicting the soul of one with an incontinent, loquacious and cursing tongue. Again and again Solomon and Sirach following him inculcate the harms and damages of the tongue, so that they may warn how strictly it must be bridled and guarded. See the sayings in Ecclesiasticus XXVIII, 29, and James III, 6. It was an axiom of the ancient Anchorites in the Lives of the Fathers: "In every place if you shall be silent, you will have rest." Whence those three precepts of St. Arsenius: "Flee, be silent, be at peace." Indeed, Seneca also, in epistle 107: "Nothing," he says, "profits so much as to be at rest, and to speak least with others, most with oneself." For, as Horace says, epistle 19, book I: And once sent forth, the word flies back irrevocable. And St. Jerome, in the epistle On the Service of Virgins: "The word uttered is a stone sent forth." To this pertains the Arabian proverb, Century 1, number 37: "Place a bridle upon your door, and you will not fear your enemies; that is, bridle your mouth, and impose upon it the bridle of silence, and you will not be afraid of adversaries."
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For 'indoctus' in Hebrew is לץ lets, that is, a mocker, a deceiver, and consequently pestilent, wicked. Hence first, from the Hebrew thus you should translate, proud arrogant (Vatablus, petulant proud), whose name is mocker, through anger works pride, that is, designates a bold and proud deed, which R. Solomon expounds, as if to say, He who is of a swollen and arrogant mind will at length become a deceiver, refusing to lend his ears to one who argues. But Aben-Ezra, as if to say, The proud arrogant will obtain the appellation of mocker, because in anger he will exceed the bounds of modesty, charity and justice, and will break forth into words and deeds of contumely, and injury to others. For anger in Hebrew is called עברה ebra, a passing over, an excess, in that it passes beyond, exceeds and violates the bounds of benevolence, reason and equity. Second, the Chaldean, inverting the words, thus translates, a tumid mocker, proud is his name, making anger through his pride, as if to say, A mocker, that is, wicked and criminal, is a man proud and swollen with arrogance, because through his pride and arrogance into wrathful words and blows, by which he mocks others, despises, vexes, crushes them, he breaks forth. Third, the Syrian translates, bold, whose name is mighty, he works iniquity in his fury, as if to say, The proud man who dares all things, and therefore obtains the name of one mighty and prepotent, he in boldness and fury recklessly does all things, is injurious and harmful to all, strives to preside over all and to rule imperiously. Fourth, the Septuagint translates, bold and arrogant and boastful, is called pestilent, but he who is mindful of injuries, unjust; others, he who works in anger, proud; Lucifer of Cagliari, Apology for St. Athanasius, reads, rash and proud will be called a pestilence; the Author of the Greek Catena reads: "The rash and arrogant, and proud, is designated by the appellation of plague; but he who is mindful of injuries, is called unjust." And he explains it simply as the words sound. Our more precise Salazar: A bold man, he says, who rashly and on the spur of the moment throws himself into avenging himself (which is proper to pride and arrogance), is called pestilent or a pestilence; pestilent indeed he exists, or is himself a plague. Because just as a plague quickly kills those whom it has breathed upon or struck, so also he pours forth upon others the fury conceived in him as quickly as possible. He adds: "And he who is mindful of injuries, unjust," supply, "is called," that is, exists, namely he who does not immediately avenge injuries, but retaining them in memory awaits the opportunity of taking vengeance, he is surely unjust, in Greek παράνομος, that is, lawless, and very far removed from all equity and justice. Solomon prefers the malice of this one, because that other, sudden and improvident avenger, is not so unjust: for if he gives, he also in turn receives and returns the damage. But this one mindful of injuries is therefore more unjust and iniquitous, because seeking the opportunity of avenging, he certainly inflicts damage on others in such a way that he himself suffers no damage, which certainly happens commonly: he is therefore unjust, because he does not equally, but unequally divide the damage with his enemy, nay he craftily casts it all upon him. Add that he plots much unequally against him: for unjust denotes malice, malignity, and a continuous zeal for harming either by force or by deceit. Fifth, Our author translates לץ (lets), that is, a mocker, wicked, pestilent, as indoctus, that is, unwise, foolish, fatuous, that is, impious, wicked, nefarious. For just as the learning, that is, the wisdom and integrity of a man is known through patience, as he said in chapter XIX, verse 11, so likewise ignorance, that is, unwisdom and depravity of a man is known through pride, anger and impatience. The sense therefore is, as if to say: He who is proud and arrogant is called and in reality is indoctus, that is, unwise, foolish, dull, depraved and wicked, because such a one prone to anger through it displays proud and wrathful works, by which he unjustly deprives others either of reputation, or of goods, or of peace, or even of life itself through force or deceit; for the proud at a slight word or deed, by which they imagine themselves touched or diminished, immediately like dogs are stirred up to bile, and through it burst forth into insults, quarrels, brawls, robberies, slaughter, etc. Therefore the proud man is called indoctus and imprudent, because although he esteems himself more learned and prudent than others, yet his works indicate the contrary, in that he operates many things proudly through anger; for pride and anger following upon pride cause a man to act many things imprudently and foolishly. By which it is signified, says Jansenius, that he who is proud, although he seeks honor and fame especially, nevertheless shall not attain fame and celebrity of name, but rather shall be called by ignominious designations, and worthy especially to be called a mocker, as one who despises others before himself and mocks them, and rejects the salutary admonitions of others with mockery, acting proudly against all from the anger of a haughty mind. For pride is followed not only by mockery and contempt of others, but also by anger and rage against those who do not satisfy the desires, or who oppose the will of the proud, by which impulse they burst forth into the harm, beating and slaughter of others. Such a one therefore is called and truly is lets, that is, a mocker, pestilent, wicked, depraved. Truly Evagrius, in the Melissa of Antony, part II, chapter LXXIV: "The proud mind," he says, "is the haunt of various robbers." And Sirach, chapter X, verse 7: "Pride is hateful before God and men." See the things said there.
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More significantly in Hebrew: The desire of the sluggard kills him, because his hands refused to work. The Septuagint: For his hands do not choose to do anything. Symmachus and Theodotion: The desire of the sluggard will kill him; others, it casts him down. The word "kills" can be explained in three ways: First, indirectly and concomitantly, namely because desires accompany the sluggard even unto death, and he himself dies in his desires without obtaining what he desired, so that desires are said to kill him, because they lead him or accompany him unto death. As we see this happen in those who are sluggish in body, so likewise in those who are sluggish in spirit, who, although they desire salvation and yet shrink from undertaking the labors of good works, by desiring and doing nothing else, fall into the death of the soul, and finally also into eternal death. Second, directly and dispositively, that is to say: Desires continually torment the sluggard, and thus afflict him, so that they seem to kill him, indeed by gradually consuming and wasting him they dispose and lead him to death. The first reason is that sluggishness, being idle and occupying itself with nothing else, flows entirely into thoughts and desires, and these various and manifold: for the idle person slips from one desire into another and another, and thus into many and almost infinite desires, which his idle mind, like a turning mill, indeed like one always working and turning, continually suggests to him, and by suggesting wears him away and consumes him; wherefore just as occupation and labor dull and extinguish desires, so idleness sharpens and inflames them: and since they are satisfied in no way, they grow, and like a flame blaze up and increase. Whence our author rightly, explaining תאות taavoth, that is desire, through the plural taavoth, translates it, desires kill the sluggard. The second reason is want and hunger: for since he is unwilling to labor, he lacks bread and food; therefore his desire and hunger continually torment him, consume him, and gradually kill him. By a similar phrase Dalila, wearying Samson with her desires so that he would reveal to her the secret in which his strength lay, is said to have almost killed him; for thus it is said of him in Judges XVI, 16: "And when she pressed upon him, and urged him with her words all the days, and gave him no rest, his soul was grieved even unto death; then opening the truth," etc. Third, effectively and fully: "Desires," that is, the lack of the thing desired, namely the lack of bread and food which the hungry sluggard desires, kills him; because sluggards not rarely die and are killed by hunger: for the desire for food is nothing other than want and hunger. Moreover the desires of the covetous are so burning that they drive him into quarrels, brawls and fights, by which he loses both his wealth, his reputation, and his life. That saying of the Hebrews is well-known: "The camel, desiring horns, also lost his ears." And that of St. Cyprian: "He who wants everything loses everything." And that of Hesiod: "The foolish do not know how much more the half is than the whole." For it often happens that he who desires unjust things loses just things; and he who covets what belongs to another is stripped of his own. "The eye of the covetous is insatiable in the portion of iniquity; it shall not be satisfied until it consume and dry up the soul," says Ecclesiasticus, chapter XIV, 9. Again his desires are sometimes so vehement and uncontrolled that they wear him out, indeed sometimes they drive him to his own destruction, so that he throws himself into a river, or takes his life by noose or poison; for sluggishness, or sloth, is the mother of sorrow, weariness, faint-heartedness, despair. Thus Rachel so uncontrollably desired children that she said to her husband Jacob, Genesis XXX, 1: "Give me children, otherwise I shall die," that is, "I shall bring death upon myself," as Isidore of Pelusium says, book II, letter 274. Thus the holy desire of seeing Christ and enjoying Him, increasing daily, finally wore out and consumed the Blessed Virgin, so that she is believed to have died of that alone without sickness, as Suarez and many theologians teach, according to that passage in the Song of Songs II: "Strengthen me with flowers, surround me with apples, for I languish with love;" such is the power of burning and ardent desire. Mystically, Rabbi Levi says: The idle man, he says, is continually inflamed by desire for obtaining the crown of virtues, yet he is held back by sloth, so that he has no leisure to acquire it: from which he will meet death, and nothing will remain to him except desires, since his hands refused to labor at anything by which his wishes might succeed. To this are added the sayings of the wise: "Idleness is the cesspool of all temptations and evil and useless thoughts. The supreme malice of the mind is idle sloth," says St. Bernard to the Brethren of Mount God. Cassian: "Acedia hates the present, desires the absent; the laboring man is attacked by one demon, the idle man by infinite demons." Ennius in the Iphigenia: "In idleness the idle mind knows not what it wants. We go hither, thence, thither: when we have come there, we wish to go hence; it wanders uncertainly, lives life by the way, so to speak." Diogenes in Laertius, book VI, says, "the business of the idle is love and desire," which affection especially occupies those given to idleness; thus it happens that while they are vacant in idleness, they fall into a most busy matter. Wherefore as many sparks as a burning furnace ejects, so many desires does a mind seething in idleness stir up: whoever therefore wishes to escape evil thoughts and concupiscences, let him flee idleness, let him give himself to labor. Again, a certain learned and pious man thus expounds it: "Desires kill the sluggard, that is, the sluggard, who through inertia does not carry out the inspirations of God and the holy desires of virtue and a more perfect life sent to him by God, is by just judgment of God abandoned from grace, and is permitted to fall into grave evils, both of punishment and of guilt, indeed sometimes into mortal sin, which kills the soul. For this his negligence, ingratitude and neglect of grace deserve. See the sayings in Proverbs I, 24."
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HE SHALL GIVE, AND SHALL NOT CEASE — to give as well as to labor, so that by laboring he may acquire more things which he may give and distribute, both to feed his family abundantly, and to relieve the want of the poor. In Hebrew, all day he desireth desire, that is, he desires eagerly and ardently, so that his soul is full of desires and longings to have. Vatablus, all day he burns with cupidity; but the just man gives, and does not spare. He continues to explain the desires and concupiscence of the sluggard, who, unwilling to labor, unjustly covets the goods of others, whom he therefore opposes to the just man, who by laboring justly and distributing, liberally communicates his own to others. Aben-Ezra, the upright, says, to the sluggard he shall give; R. Levi: "The sluggard seethes from time to time with desire, but it makes no impression on him; but the just man applies suitable action and a share of his effort to each thing, and does not wish his work to be lacking in acquiring arts or wisdom." There is an antithesis between the sluggard and the just man, that is, the diligent, and therefore the liberal and beneficent; for often in Scripture beneficence is called justice. This antithesis is that the sluggard is wholly in desire, and therefore in want and perpetual torture; but the just man, that is, the diligent and liberal, is wholly in action, and therefore in abundance of things and joy, so much so that not only does he himself live abundantly, but also gives his surplus to others, and does not cease to give, or to labor, that he may give more. For this is the character of the liberal and diligent man, this is his nature and condition, that he does not covet the goods of others as the sluggard does, but rather gives his own to others liberally, and that all day, that is, assiduously and continually; for the phrase all day from the antithesis in the latter hemistich is to be repeated. The just man therefore all day gives and distributes his own, and so much so that on the day he gives nothing to anyone, he says mournfully with the Emperor Titus: "Friends, I have lost a day." The Septuagint seems to disjoin this saying from the preceding one, and to take it not of the sluggard, but of any impious man, especially the avaricious; whence they thus translate, the impious man all day desires evil desires; but the just man has mercy and has mercy not sparingly. He calls the desires evil because they afflict and torment the mind. Again, properly evil, because the impious man desires to seize the goods of others, to enrich himself by fair means and foul, and to perpetrate other crimes. Whence the Author of the Catena of the Greeks translates, the impious man all day is tossed about and agitated by wicked desires, but the just man gives and has mercy generously and without intermission. Mystically, the same Author: "In this place," he says, "the devil is called impious, as he who all day assails men, and desires to precipitate them into sins. But the just man is Christ; for he is the one who, having had mercy on our race, delivered himself to death for us. It is the property of angels never to desire evil, but always good: but it is the property of demons to seethe all day and all their life always with evil desires; but of men, sometimes to conceive good and just, sometimes evil and unjust desires."
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For 'because' in Hebrew is אף כי aph ki, which Pagninus, Vatablus and others translate as 'how much more'; but Our author received it disjunctively, as if to say 'certainly because': thus also Aquila, the Septuagint and others. Again, for 'from wickedness' in Hebrew is בזמה bezimma, that is, in evil thought, machination, wickedness; the Syriac [version renders it] 'in iniquity'. Whence there arises here a threefold translation, marking a threefold defect and vice of the sacrifices of the impious, namely first, that they are sacrifices of the impious, that is of enemies and foes of God, who, destitute of God's grace and established in sin and wickedness, offer it to God, by whom they are hated; second, that they are offered from wickedness, indeed that the impious offer wickedness, namely a victim obtained by theft or other wickedness and stained; third, that they offer the victim with evil intention. When these three things concur, it is said that the wicked offer the wicked thing wickedly. When on the other hand, in order that a victim be pleasing to God, three things are required: the first is the dignity of the offerer, namely that he be just and pleasing to God; the second, that he offer a victim that is approved and holy; the third, that he offer it with a good mind, good end, good intention. I understand by sacrifices here properly so called, namely sacrifices and victims: for these the Hebrew zebach signifies; although it can also be extended to those improperly so called, such as almsdeeds, vows, gifts, etc. First, therefore, Vatablus translates: 'The immolation of the impious is to be abhorred, how much more if they have offered it in wickedness?' as if to say: God abhors the sacrifice of the impious, which ought to have been supremely pleasing to him, because it is offered by the unworthy, namely by the impious; therefore much more does he abhor the impious deeds and wickedness of the impious themselves. For the impious, says Rabbi Levi, offer victims in order to expiate their impiety by them, and meanwhile wish to remain in their impiety and not repent of it: wherefore they do the same as those who wash unclean hands and do not wash away the stains, that is, they wash the hands of an Ethiopian; or just as those who wash their hands with water and at the same time soil them with dung. And so this maxim applies to them, says Jansenius, who, although they are guilty of some wickedness, by which they are not moved to penitence, nevertheless think that God's wrath can be appeased by other works of piety; conceiving this impious and wicked thought of God, as if he would grant license to do evil on account of certain gifts of his, just as earthly judges sometimes do. This agrees with that passage of Isaiah, chapter 1, verse 13: 'Incense is an abomination to me,' etc. And it avails against those who, while they persist in sins, think they can appease God with almsdeeds, against whom St. Augustine wrote a book 'On Faith and Works'. Second, Aquila translates: 'The sacrifices of the impious are an abomination, because evil thought will bring it'; and Pagninus: 'The sacrifice of the impious is an abomination, how much more if he has brought it with evil intention'. For זמה zimma signifies evil thought, intention, machination and plotting of wickedness. The offering of a good victim is vitiated by evil intention, if namely it is offered in order to obtain from God something unjust or impious; as when thieves, robbers, adulterers offer victims to God for the purpose that he give them rich plunder and beautiful women. Thus also it can be understood what Our author translates, 'because they are offered from wickedness', as if to say 'from the intention of wickedness'. Thus God detested the victims of Balaam and Balac king of Moab, which were offered for no other purpose than the cursing of the Israelite nation, Numbers 23, 1 and following. Third, Our author properly, with the Chaldean [Targum], translates 'from wickedness'; and the Septuagint, 'The sacrifices of the impious are an abomination to the Lord'; for they offer them unjustly, as if to say: God abhors the victims which the impious offer to him from theft, robbery or other wickedness. The reason is, because these victims are wicked, indeed wickedness itself; for a thing taken away by theft or seized by robbery is called and truly is theft or robbery, because it is the object and matter of theft or robbery, and therefore stained and wicked. Again, victims are offered to God, as it were to the first author of all things. Wherefore a thief or robber offering a victim from what he has stolen tacitly protests and signifies that God is the author of his theft and robbery, and offers to God as if to the first author this part of his robbery in the form of thanksgiving. But this is a great blasphemy, because the impious man refers his wickedness to God as if to its first cause, and makes him wicked, indeed the first perpetrator of wickedness, than which nothing more horrible can be said or thought. Following Solomon, Sirach in Ecclesiasticus 34, 23 and following, attacks with many words the sacrifices and gifts of the impious. See the sayings there.
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In Hebrew: "A false witness shall perish; but a man that heareth shall speak victory," or "shall speak unto victory"; Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, "shall go unto victory." For the Hebrew נצח netsach signifies both an end and a victory, which is the end of strife and war. For the root נצח natsach signifies to prevail, to conquer, and to bring to an end. Hence first, Cajetan translates: "A false witness shall perish; but a man that heareth shall speak always or strongly," as if to say: A false witness who testifies to things which he neither saw nor heard, but which he himself fabricated, shall fail, and shall destroy himself by his lies, because he shall not be consistent in his statements, but shall vary, and shall contradict himself; but he who testifies only to those things which he heard shall speak strongly and constantly, because he shall always be consistent with himself, nor can he be refuted in anything that contradicts him, but shall always say the same thing and testify perpetually in the same manner. Whence the Chaldean translates: "and a man that heareth shall speak rightly"; and expressing this sense clearly, Pagninus translates: "A false witness shall perish; and a man who testifies what he heard, always testifies the same," as if to say: A man who testifies what he heard and knows for certain, and does not fabricate from his own mind as a false witness does, shall always speak, silence shall not be imposed upon him as upon a false witness, nor shall he be affected with shame, nor death, nor any other punishment, as a false witness is, against whom also by profane law the law of retaliation is enacted. For he is worthy to perish by his own testimony, who wished to destroy others by it; but by divine law a false witness shall incur eternal death and perdition. According to this sense the opposition of the members of this sentence is beautiful. Thus also R. Levi, except that he who heard restricts it to him who heard the lie of the false witness, as if to say: A false witness is not consistent in his statements, but often contradicts himself: but a witness who testifies that he heard a lie from a false witness testifies truly, and therefore is consistent with himself. Secondly, R. Solomon: "A witness," he says, "speaking false testimony shall perish, either by the judge or by God; but a witness who hears and obeys the law saying: 'Thou shalt not speak false testimony,' shall speak continually, that is shall live, and a long life shall be given him by God." Thus to speak is taken for to live in Hebrews XI, 4, where of Abel it is said: "Being dead, he yet speaketh," that is he yet liveth; and Genesis cap. II, vers. 7: "Man became a living soul"; the Chaldean translates, "Man became a soul speaking." Thirdly, Aben-Ezra, as if to say: A false and perjured witness shall perish; but he who shall hear of him perishing, shall proclaim this throughout all the days of his life to others, namely that the memory of the false witness has perished on account of his lies. Fourthly, the Septuagint translates: "A false witness shall perish; but a man obedient shall be guarded and shall speak," that is, as the Author of the Greek Catena translates clearly, "a man obedient to the law shall speak cautiously, namely taking care studiously lest he speak a lie or false testimony, by which he might perish and be destroyed." Mystically the same Author: "A false witness," he says, "is called the devil (for in Greek science is the same as calumniator, who namely criminates the good works of the just before God and accuses them falsely). For he always acts perversely and suggests to us things which are both adverse to God and alien from truth. But a man obedient is Christ. For, as the Apostle teaches, he became obedient to the Father even unto death, but the death of the cross." Fifthly, Our translator profoundly and forcefully with Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion translates: "A false witness shall perish; a man obedient shall speak victory": to the perishing false witness is opposed a man hearing the truth and obeying it: for he lives and conquers; for truth conquers falsehood and triumphs over it. According to the letter it signifies first, says Jansenius, a false witness, and everyone who lies to the destruction of another, because he acts against the law, shall perish miserably, so that either here or elsewhere he shall pay due penalties; but everyone who obeys the divine law, and on that account avoids lies, as also all other vices, shall speak confidently, how he has overcome all punishments, and has overcome all his enemies, and has obtained a beautiful victory over all; while the false witness shall be forced to be silent, affected with shame, and justly punished. Secondly, more strictly, and more aptly and contrapositively, it signifies that he who brings false testimony against someone shall perish; but he who lives innocently, obeying the divine law, shall be freed from the evil which was being prepared for him by false testimony, and shall triumph gloriously over it. Thirdly, and most perfectly, our Salazar understands by a false witness one who speaks false testimony against someone, and extorts from a Superior and judge an unjust sentence against him. Solomon therefore says: Such a false witness, although he may seem to prevail for a time and triumph over his adversary, will nevertheless at length perish and pay the penalties of his falsehood; but a man who is obedient will speak of victories, that is, he who bears an unjust sentence pronounced by a Superior with an equable mind and humbly obeys it: although he may seem to be overcome and cast out by his adversary, yet it will be permitted to him at last to recount and proclaim his victories, either because the fraud being detected he will recover his lost glory, and the penalty will fall back upon the false witness; or certainly because he who obeys and acquiesces in an unjust sentence obtains a noble victory over his unjust adversary, a more noble one over the wicked judge, and the most noble of all over himself. To this pertains that saying of St. Augustine in Psalm LXX: "Obedience alone holds the palm, disobedience alone finds punishment." And that of Quintus Curtius, book VIII, On the Life of Alexander the Great: "Empires are softened by compliance, and the savagery of princes is turned to gentleness by the obedience of citizens." Thus Christ, obedient to the Father, nay to Pilate, to Annas, to Caiaphas and to his torturers even unto the death of the cross, triumphed over all things, and over death itself, sin, hell, and demons. Whence Philo of Carpathus in the Canticles, chapter III, number 3, reads at those words, "The watchmen found me," thus: "Patience alone sings of victories." The cross of Christ therefore was as it were a triumph and triumphal chariot of obedient patience and patient obedience. Symbolically, this sentence can be accommodated to false and true teachers: for false ones, such as heretics, quickly perish with their falsehood; but true ones conquer and triumph. For virtue and truth conquer all things, which, with falsehood and heresies melting away like wax, always endure and triumph. Mystically, Bede says: "A false witness will perish," etc., that is, he says, "he who testifies that he serves God, yet does not carry out his words in deeds, will perish; but he who faithfully obeys the divine commands as he promises, his speech will attain to victory, because while through his obedience he strives to overcome desires, through justice he afterwards receives the palm of victory from the judge." Tropologically, learn here how powerful and victorious obedience is, which obtains victory over all adversaries and triumphs over all things. First indeed the obedient man shall speak, that is, he shall be able to speak of victory, and to sing a triumph over the conquered devil and all his followers the demons. For, as St. Gregory says, book IV on I Kings chapter v: "The services of the obedient are sacrifices: because while we subject ourselves to men for God's sake, we overcome the proud spirits, we assail demons indeed with the other virtues, through obedience we conquer: therefore they are victors who obey, because while they perfectly subject their own will to others, they themselves rule over the fallen angels through disobedience." Now one of the principal reasons why through obedience we conquer the devil is this, that by obeying we expose his deceits and stratagems. How often does he draw us under the appearance of good toward evil? How often does he impel us toward indiscreet fervor or toward ridiculous lukewarmness? The virtue of obedience eludes these assaults: for while we run to our spiritual Father, while we reveal to him the thoughts sent upon us, while instructed by him we obey simply, and we clearly know what each thing is, whether good or evil, and how far we ought to proceed, and what as beyond our strength we ought to flee, and what on the other hand as according to our vocation we ought to embrace, we are in no way ignorant. For this reason St. Antony said (as is narrated in the Lives of the Fathers): "If it be possible, let a monk declare to the elders how many steps he walks, or how many cups of water he drinks in his cell, so that he may not deviate from the right path." Blessed Dorotheus, Doctrine 5, relates that a certain monk was beloved by a demon, and was preferred by him to others because he was unwilling to be governed by his Superior, and immediately he adds: "Such does he love, and in these especially does he delight, who are without a guide; not in those who submit themselves to him who after God is able to provide help, and to give a hand. For neither did that devil have power to approach all the brothers, when the holy Father found him carrying about so many little powers, so many ointments, so many alabaster vessels, he did not give drink to all. For whoever of his present snares runs to meet them immediately, and opened whatever hidden thoughts to the Father, and thus found help in time of temptation; and for this reason the wicked deceiver could not prevail against them. That one unhappy man he found, who ruled and instructed himself, who had no helper, whom as he wished, he had in sport, and departing he gave thanks to him alone, detesting all the others." Wherefore St. Bernard, sermon 3 on the psalm Who dwelleth: "I beseech you," he says, "you new plantings of God, you who do not yet have exercised senses for the discernment of good and evil, do not follow the judgment of your heart, do not abound in your own sense, lest that cunning hunter deceive you as still rude: for to those wild and altogether bestial beasts (I speak of worldly men) he spreads out snares openly enough, as those whom he does not doubt are easy to be caught; but to you who as more prudent deer kill serpents, and desire to go to the living fountain, he hides more subtle snares, and seeks out more crafty arguments of his fraud. Wherefore, I beseech you, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God your shepherd, and acquiesce in the counsels of those who better know the cunning of that hunter, taught by long exercise of a long time, and by frequent experiences, both in themselves and in many." Second, obedience conquers the world, because the world's principal desire instilled in its followers is to rule over all others; obedience on the other hand plainly rejects and tramples this desire, because it subjects and obeys itself not only to Superiors, but also to equals, indeed to inferiors. Again, there is nothing else to conquer the world than to contradict by our conversation the will of the worst men, and to embrace the will of God: but he alone does this, who faithfully obeys his commandments. St. John indeed ascribes the victory of the world to faith, but if it be rightly understood, insofar as it joins itself to obedience. "All," he says, "that is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith," I John V, 4. Third, the obedient man conquers his third enemy, and the most dangerous one, because it is internal and constantly lying in wait within him, namely the flesh and its appetites and concupiscences, especially those of gluttony and lust. Whence our Thomas, taught by God, in Book III of the Imitation of Christ, chapter XIV: "He who does not willingly and of his own accord submit himself to his Superior," he says, "is a sign that his flesh has not yet perfectly obeyed him, but often kicks back and murmurs," as if to say: He who does not strive to obey his Prelate submits himself to his flesh; and while he willingly submits to the Prelate, he is in a wonderful way freed from the dominion of the flesh. Thus also St. Bernard, in a sermon on the Feast of All Saints, understood that beatitude: Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land. "This land," he says, "I understand to be our body. And if the soul wishes to possess it, if she desires to reign over her members, it is necessary that she herself be meek and subject to her Superior: for she will find her inferior to be such as she shows herself to her Superior; for the creature is armed to avenge the injury done to its Creator. And therefore the soul will suffer harm, which finds her flesh rebellious against her, if she herself is not as subject as she ought to be to the higher powers. Let her become gentle and humble herself under the mighty hand of God most high: let her be subject to God, and likewise to those to whom she must obey in His stead, the Prelates; and immediately she will find her body obedient and subject to her." Thus he. The first man through disobedience revolted from God, and immediately felt his flesh rebelling against his mind, to which disobedience itself added strength against the spirit. "And the eyes of them both were opened," says Scripture, so that they might perceive the assault of their flesh rising up against the spirit, and might know that they had lost peace through sin. For, as St. Augustine teaches, in Book XIV of the City of God, chapter XVII, to reprove man's disobedience, his flesh in a certain way bore witness through its own disobedience, and grace being removed, so that he might be punished by a reciprocal disobedience as a penalty, there arose in the motion of the body a certain shameless novelty and made men attentive and rendered them confused. Hence likewise the other animals, which had been subject to the first parent by God shortly before, denied him the obedience owed to him. Hear St. Gregory, Book XXXV of the Morals, chapter XIII: "Adam, because he was unwilling to be subject to his Creator, lost the right over his flesh, which he governed, so that in himself the confusion of his disobedience might rebound, and being overcome he might learn what he had lost through his pride." This rebellion of his own body not only Adam, but also his descendants disobedient to God experience, as St. Bernard notes, sermon 1 on the Feast of All Saints. Elegantly indeed St. Augustine, in Psalm CXLIII, argues to this effect: "Recognize," he says, "the order: you to God, your flesh to you (namely, let it obey): what is more just? what more beautiful? You to the greater, the lesser to you. Serve Him who made you, so that what was made for you may serve you; but if you disdain to serve God, you will never bring it about that your flesh serves you: he who does not obey the Lord is tormented by a slave." Moreover, obedience conquers and surpasses the other virtues. Hence when four men excelling in as many virtues were offered to Abbot Pambo, the first excelling in fasting, the second in poverty, the third in charity, the fourth in obedience; Pambo preferred the fourth, the obedient one, to the other three: for although charity is in itself the greatest of the virtues, and therefore greater than obedience, nevertheless the perpetually obedient man has the bond, firmness and stability of virtue, which charity exercised at will does not have: for the obedient man has made himself the servant of another's will. Wherefore such men are Confessors, if they persevere thus to the end of life. This is from Abbot Pambo in the Lives of the Fathers, Book V, booklet XIV, number 7. Fourth, the obedient man conquers himself, namely his own will and private judgment, which, as they are most difficult and dangerous after the fall, so likewise is the victory over them most noble and glorious. Whence St. Gregory, XXXV Moral. cap. X: "A man, he says, obedient shall speak of victories; because while we humbly submit ourselves to another's voice, we overcome ourselves in our heart." Our Alvarez de Paz adds, tract. De Obedientia: "And truly this is the principal victory of obedience: because a man conquering himself, who has conquered all other things, shows himself stronger, and obtains greater glory from this deed than from others. Man conquers himself through obedience: for he puts fetters upon his judgment, and binds his will with chains, and withdraws his body and all its motion from harmful liberty, and calls it to the service of God. He conquers himself, because he uses force against his own desires, and willingly subjects himself to another's will for love of the Lord." The obedient man therefore shall speak of victories which he has obtained triumphing over the demon, the world, the flesh, and himself, and shall receive ample rewards for them from Christ, according to that in the Apocalypse cap. II, vers. 7, 11, 17, 26: "To him that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life. He that overcometh shall not be hurt by the second death. To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna, and a white stone. He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." And cap. III, vers. 5, 12 and 21: "He that overcometh, he says, shall thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. He that overcometh, I will give him to sit with me in my throne." Hence our Alvarez de Paz, lib. V, pag. 3, cap. XIV De Obedientia. Fifth, the obedient man conquers enemies in battle, Pagans, heretics, and any men whatsoever, however wicked and impious. Enemies in battle: because when in warfare soldiers promptly obey their captain, and captains obey the commander, they become invincible, and they lay low their enemies. Thus Abraham with three hundred trained servants, obedient to his nod, routed and overthrew four kings. So Religious communities in which subjects promptly obey the Superior are invincible, and overcome all adversaries. He conquered Pagans, namely the Indians, and subdued them to Christ and to himself, St. Francis Xavier through obedience, by which, being suddenly sent by St. Ignatius to the Indies, he immediately obeyed, and departed the next day from Rome going to the same place. In India also he obeyed the instructions of St. Ignatius most promptly in all things. He conquered heretics, namely the Lutherans, our Peter Canisius through obedience. For in the year of our Lord 1557, when he was about to dispute at Worms with Melanchthon, Illyricus, Brentius, Bullinger, and the other giants of the Lutherans before the Emperor Ferdinand, while those proud sons of the earth, superior in number and tumult, presumed, indeed attempted violent victory, Canisius wrote intrepidly to Father James Laynez, Vicar of the Society of Jesus and General, under whose obedience he had undertaken the contest, thus: "The Lord God speaks in me: through his servant and my superior I shall hear him; and my heart shall not be troubled, even if armies stand against me, because in obedience is my hope and my strength, nor shall I choose to be anything in the house of God but a beast beside you all the days of my life." Nor did his hope deceive him. For God sent upon those giants a spirit of dissension and confusion, by which it came to pass that their prince Melanchthon was wonderfully torn apart by his own pupils, the others fighting among themselves mutually lacerated and destroyed each other. Thus our Sacchinus in the Life of Canisius, lib. II, pag. 121 and 131. Similarly we experience daily in the Religious life. For to send men Religious for the victories of the world, they well know that one must begin from their own victory, and therefore causing no difficulty in the precept, they show themselves prompt and ready for the work. Wherefore prompt obedience made Xavier not only an Apostle of the Indies, but also a wonder-worker, so that he raised many from death to life: for to this we are called, that we heal the wounded, bind up the broken, and recall the erring. For many are members of the devil, who shall become disciples of Christ, says St. Francis of Assisi. Sixth, obedience is victorious over the sea, fire, earth and animals, heaven and hell, and thus scarcely anything is attempted through obedience which is not easily overcome by the power of God on account of whom obedience is rendered: over the sea, as when Peter at the command of Christ walked upon the sea, Matt. XIV, 29; when Moses at the command of God divided the Red Sea, so that the Hebrews crossed through the dry bed, and having done so he brought the divided waters together again and drowned Pharaoh and his army in it, Exodus cap. XIV; when Josue, cap. III, at the command of God divided the Jordan, and led the Hebrew camp across on dry ground. Fire, when three Hebrew boys faithful and obedient to God, cast by the command of Nebuchadnezzar into a burning furnace, remained unharmed in it, Daniel III. Thus in the Lives of the Fathers, lib. V, cap. IV, num. 18, at the command of an Abbot a father cast his son into a burning furnace. And immediately the furnace became like dew, by which he acquired glory like Abraham the patriarch offering his son. A similar example is that of a Religious who, commanded by his Superior to enter a burning furnace, remained unharmed in it. Severus Sulpitius relates the same thing graphically from the Lives of the Fathers in the Life of St. Martin, dialog. 1, cap. XII: "Flame," he says, "was bursting forth from the broken furnaces, and within the cavities of that furnace fire reigned with full force. The master therefore commands that stranger to enter it. Nor did he delay in obeying the command, he enters the midst of the flames without hesitation, which were soon overcome by such bold faith, and gave way to him just as they once did to those Hebrew boys. Nature was overcome, the fire fled, and he who was thought to be about to burn, as if sprinkled with cold dew, marveled at himself." Earth and beasts. That Paul is well known, the disciple of the great Anthony, greater in the faculty of miracles than his master himself, when Anthony would send to him those whom he himself could not cure, and for no other reason than that of obedience alone. For thus Anthony himself used to preach, and showed him to all as it were an example of obedience, and the memory of many of his illustrious deeds still remains. John also is well known, who when commanded by his Abbot, and indeed in jest, to seize a lioness, he taking it seriously not only was not frightened by her roaring, but even pursuing her as she fled, repeatedly commanded her to stop in the name of his Abbot, and brought her captured and bound to the monastery. Another John also is well known, who when for three whole years he had watered a dry stick daily, as had been enjoined upon him, and that with water drawn from far away, finally it grew green and bore fruit, which his master brought to the church and showed to the brethren: "Behold," he said, "the fruit of obedience." See the Lives of the Fathers, lib. V, cap. XIV On obedience, and lib. IV, cap. XXVI. In the same work, lib. VIII, num. 143 (I follow the division of our Father Heribert), it is related that when two brother monks lived in a certain monastery, one most zealous in obeying, the other in mortifying the body, the latter commanded the former to descend into a river full of crocodiles to test his sanctity, and he did this readily, so that those huge beasts ran up and as if caressing licked his body; but shortly after when they came upon a human corpse, a prayer being made in common, he was raised from death; and when that abstinent one was arrogantly attributing that praise to himself in silent thoughts, he was rebuked more severely by the Abbot, to whom it had been revealed that it was not by his fastings but by the obedience of the other that this benefit had been given by God. The saying of the elders is celebrated, found in Anthony in the Melissa, part II, cap. XCI: "Obedience joined with continence even subdues beasts." Heaven, as when Josue fighting against five kings of the Amorites, obedient to God, stood still the sun and all the heavens: "The Lord obeying the voice of a man, and fighting for Israel," Josue cap. X, 14. When Ezechias obedient to God merited through Isaias to be healed from a deadly disease, and as a sign of this the shadow of the sun, and the sun itself went backward ten lines, IV Kings XX, 3 and 11. Hell, as when Christ "made obedient unto death" merited "that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth," Philip. II, 8 and 9, and therefore descending to hell he triumphed over it, and from it led all the fathers into heaven in triumph. Seventh, obedience overcomes all temptations whatsoever and sins, death and hell. Hence concerning the obedience of Christ, Paul says in Hebrews X, 7 and 10: "Then said I: Behold I come; in the head of the book it is written of me, that I should do, O God, thy will, etc. In which will we are sanctified by the oblation of the body of Jesus Christ." The same thing Isaiah asserts, cap. LIII, 10 and 11. Whence Paul in I Corinthians cap. XV, 55: "Death, says he, is swallowed up in victory; O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? Now the sting of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law: But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Examples of this victory, especially in the temptation of lust, may be seen in the Lives of the Fathers, lib. V, cap. XIV. Finally, through obedience we overcome all dangers of damnation, which is indeed a victory of the highest importance. Wherefore Climacus, at step 4: "Obedience, says he, is perfect denial of one's own soul and one's own body, voluntary death, life without anxiety, navigation without loss, a voluntary burial of the will, a life of humility, and as if one were making a journey while sleeping." And the same author adds that to live in obedience is nothing other than to place one's burden upon the shoulders of others, to swim upon the necks of others, and to be sustained in the waters lest we be submerged, but without danger to cross this great sea of this life, and indeed with the briefest of voyages. What could be said that is better or greater? That Anchorite in the Lives of the Fathers, lib. V, cap. XIV, num. 19, saw four orders of Saints in heaven: the first, of the infirm giving thanks to God in their infirmity; the second, of those ministering to their neighbors out of love; the third, of those serving God in solitude; the fourth and highest, of the obedient, and these he saw distinguished with a golden torque and crown, adorned with more illustrious glory than the others. The reason is, because the obedient one is like the angels, of whom it is said in Psalm CIII: "Who makest thy angels spirits, and thy ministers a burning fire," which overcomes all things, nay, burns and ignites. For, as St. Bernard says in his sermon On the Virtue of Obedience, "The word of God runs swiftly, and desires to have a swift follower. For you see with what swiftness he runs who says in Psalm CXVIII: I have run the way of thy commandments. The faithful obedient one knows no delays, flees tomorrow, is ignorant of slowness, anticipates the one commanding, prepares his eyes for sight, his ears for hearing, his tongue for speech, his hands for work, his feet for the journey; he gathers himself wholly together, that he may gather the will of the one commanding. Behold the Lord commanding with haste, and man obeying with haste." Eighth, obedience overcomes God himself, so that he cannot deny anything to the obedient one. For thus does he repay like with like, so that, when we obey God, he in turn, as it were with wonderful condescension, obeys us, according to that promise made by himself: "He will do the will of them that fear him," Psalm CXLIV, 19. Hence the author of a sermon to the Brethren in the desert, found in St. Augustine, tome X, sermon 61: "It should be known, says he, brethren, that in whatever measure we ourselves shall be obedient to our Superiors, in that measure God will be obedient to our prayers." For it is fitting that if we do the will of God, he in turn should do ours, and thus obedience in God makes us as it were omnipotent. Hence St. Gregory in the XXXV Moral. cap. X, explaining that passage from I Kings XV: Obedience is better than sacrifice: "Because, says he, through sacrifices another's flesh, but through obedience one's own will is slain. Therefore each one the more quickly placates God, the more before his eyes the pride of his own judgment is repressed, and he immolates himself with the sword of the precept." Hence Jacob by obeying his mother supplanted Esau, and fleeing at his mother's command, and returning to his own at God's command, and wrestling with God, or rather with God's angel, received the name Israel, that is, of one ruling over God, and a blessing, Genesis XXXII, 9 and 28. Something similar is said of Abraham, Genesis XVIII, 18, 24 and seq. Likewise of Moses, Exodus XXXII, 9, 10 and 11. It can also be turned quite plainly from the Hebrew with the more recent scholars: "The obedient shall speak forever," and shall live; shall speak, I say, both to this age through his celebrated memory, and through the example left to posterity, as in Hebrews XI, 4, it is said that Abel being dead yet speaks; and in the future. Shall speak, I say, as a true witness of God's equity, and of obedience victorious, true prudence, security, eternal reward and palm. Thus Bede. And thus the antithesis with the preceding hemistich is evident. Climacus has an illustrious example, at step 4 on obedience, near the end, of a certain remarkable obedient one, named Achatius, who being dead was called forth from his sepulcher by an elder, and when asked whether he was dead, answered that an obedient one cannot die.
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Syriac, he directs his way; Hebrew, the wicked man strengthens his face; and the righteous man himself will prepare his way; Chaldean, the wicked man is shameless in face; but the righteous man himself understands his ways; Theodotion, the wicked man will harden his face. And for those words, he corrects his face, Aquila and Symmachus translate, will prepare, or will clear his way. Note: For יכין iachin, that is, he directs, he corrects, the Septuagint read, יבין iabin, that is, he understands. Whence the Author of the Greek Catena translates, but the righteous man examines and loves his ways, that is, even if admonished by no one, he nevertheless examines himself, and if in any part it seems necessary, he amends it. For his face, in Hebrew it is בפניו bepanav, which R. Solomon takes for באפו beappo, that is, in his anger, as if to say, at the time when the lost man grows angry, he displays his shamelessness and insolence, which he shows in his inflamed nostrils and countenance. But bepanav is one thing, beappo is another. Now first, Pagninus translates, the wicked man strengthened his face against him; but the righteous man himself will arrange his way, so that this verse may be referred to the preceding one, as if to say, a false witness, while he brings false testimony against the innocent, strengthens himself against him, and hardens himself so that he may appear to speak truth, not falsehood. And R. Levi: The wicked and lost man, he says, rubs his forehead, so that his change may not be recognized, and that movement which is accustomed to follow the appearance of the face when someone lies. But a man of integrity will have a very clear understanding of what ought to be embraced regarding the conformation of the mouth and countenance. And Baynus: The wicked man strengthens, he says, supply false words, with his face, namely speaking false testimony with shamelessness, and affirming the false by his very face; or against his face, that is, of him who answers and contradicts. But the just and fair judge will easily understand the ways and character of that man. Otherwise, he who is righteous and brings true testimony will make the judges understand his ways, being content to set forth the matter plainly as simple truth. Thus he. Secondly, the same Baynus better: This maxim, he says, signifies the difference between the wicked and the righteous or just, of whom the former hardens his face, and with great constancy or shamelessness, does evil: the latter, however, directs his ways, so that he neither departs from the right, nor does anything with ostentation; for he does not display his righteousness with face or pride. If it be read intelliget, the sense will be: He who is righteous is content that he understands his ways, without displaying them with an ostentatious face, much less does he display with his face stubbornness or shamelessness; for he knows that both are unbecoming to a wise and upright man. Thirdly and genuinely, this maxim signifies the difference between the righteous and the wicked, while each is admonished or corrected concerning some defect, error or fall, whether outwardly by a man, especially a Superior, or inwardly by God. For the wicked man, because he is proud, and because he has determined to adhere pertinaciously to the vice into which he has fallen, strengthens himself against the one admonishing and the admonition, hardens his mind and face impudently, and defends his vice insolently, and insults the one admonishing; but the righteous man, if admonished, acknowledges and corrects the error and fall, because he is humble and prudent, and a lover of what is right and just. Hence gather these antitheses of the wicked and righteous. First, the wicked man, if admonished, does not know how to blush: the righteous man immediately blushes, and is suffused with shame and redness. Second, the wicked man imprudently and shamelessly excuses or denies the vice; the righteous man acknowledges and confesses it. Third, the wicked man is obstinate in vice and impenitent; the righteous man is flexible, repents and grieves. Fourth, the wicked man persists in his fall; the righteous man corrects and amends the fall. Fifth, the wicked man with brazen forehead resists and recoils from the one admonishing; the righteous man lowers his eyes and forehead, and bends and submits his neck to the one admonishing. Sixth, the wicked man hardens his face, so that namely he may accomplish what he has determined or begun, though wicked by fair means and foul, even if he knows he will suffer loss of reputation, wealth, life and soul; but the righteous man, seeing the danger, prudently avoids and guards against it. Hear St. Gregory, book X of the Morals, chapter III: "Just as the righteous, he says, concerning certain things which have been done by them not rightly, esteem the voice of correction as the ministry of charity, so the perverse think contumely of derision. Those immediately prostrate themselves to obedience, these raise themselves to the madness of their own defense. Those regard the help of correction as the patronage of their life, by which, while the guilt of present vice is corrected, the wrath of future judgment is tempered; these, when they perceive themselves to be struck by reproof, believe it to be the sword of striking; because while through the voice of correction the fault is uncovered, the opinion of present glory is defiled. Hence indeed in praise of the just, truth says through Solomon: Teach the just, and he shall make haste to receive. Hence it despises the contumacy of the wicked, saying: He that rebuketh a scorner, getteth himself shame. Thus Judas, says Bede, because he was wicked in heart, although the Lord himself rebuking him, was unwilling to restrain what he had begun badly. Moreover Peter, because he was upright in heart, that is, a lover of uprightness, when the Lord looked upon him, immediately by repenting corrected what he had offended by denying." Thus Pharao, when God and Moses admonished him to lay down his tyranny and pride, and to let the Hebrews oppressed in Egypt go free, resisted by clamoring, and hardened his heart and his face like that of a fierce and savage bull, Exodus VII, 3. Thus Jeremiah, chapter III, verse 3, says: "Thou hast a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush;" and Ezekiel, chapter III, 7: "The house of Israel is hardened in forehead, and hard of heart." See what I have noted on these passages. Thus heretics, in place of the truth and sincerity which they have taken away, substitute shamelessness, and with hardened and bull-like face they resist faith, and insolently defend their perfidy. Morally, learn here that it is foolish to resist and clamor against one who admonishes rightly; but it is the part of the prudent and upright to admit correction, and to obey the one who corrects, and to correct one's lapses: for thus man is restored to himself, to the law, and to God, indeed he fulfills the law previously violated. For, as St. Bernard says, On Precept and Dispensation, chapter XVI, "the observance of the rule must be divided into precepts and remedies; by precepts life is established against sin, by remedies innocence is restored after sin. Thus therefore our profession embraces both of these, so that whoever has professed, if he should perchance offend in some of the regular commandments, if he should have recourse equally to a regular remedy, although he is convicted as a transgressor of the commandment, he is not nevertheless a violator of the covenant. I would judge only that he has broken a vow, violated a purpose, broken a covenant, who has both despised the commandment and rejected the remedy. For I certainly call him secure, who, even if he sometimes oversteps the limit of obedience, does not reject the counsel of repentance. Regular bounds, although he may have offended often, he does not escape, who does not evade the discipline of the censure which is from the rule. For a part of the rule is regular correction, and in it is found not only the instruction of good life, but also the amendment of the bad: there are found in it both the precepts of obedience, and the remedies of disobedience, so that not even by sinning does one depart from the rule." St. Basil suggests an effective reason for admitting, indeed seeking, correction, in the Rules more fully discussed, rule 52: "Those, he says, for whom medicine is made, ought to be considered as having the duty not to receive the observations of the superior upon themselves as hatred, nor to esteem that curing which one, moved by mercy, applies for the sake of consulting the salvation of their souls, as an impotent domination. For it would be abhorrent from propriety, if, when those who labor under adverse bodily health have such great faith in physicians, that, even if they cut them, even if they burn them, even if they heal them with the bitterest medicines, nevertheless they number them among their benefactors: should not we likewise be animated toward the physicians of our souls, whenever they effect our salvation by imposing something harder upon us, since the Apostle says: And who is he that can make me glad, but he who is made sorrowful by me? II Corinthians II, 2. Moreover, he who wishes to escape the correction of another, let him do what the Arabian proverb advises, Century 1, number 22: "Prune thy vine with thy own hand, not with another's hand, that is, reprove thyself for thy fault, before another reproves thee for the same;" and number 26: "Let not thy head be scratched except by thy nails."
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The Syrian, there is no counsel like the Lord's; in Hebrew, לנגד יהוה leneged Jehova, that is, before or in the presence of the Lord, so that namely it may be compared with him and opposed to him, as if to say: Human wisdom, if it be compared with divine wisdom, is not wisdom or prudence, but rather foolishness and madness. Again, "there is no wisdom, there is no prudence before the Lord," namely not only so as to resist God, but so as not even to be able to stand before him, nay so as to serve the divine will and nod willingly or unwillingly, as appeared in the brothers of Joseph, who by their malice and sale of him exalted him to be prince of Egypt, so that they might fulfill God's counsel. Thus the malice of Haman exalted Mordecai and the Jews. Thus the machinations of the demon exalted Job, and the cruelty of the Jews exalted the crucified Christ. Whence the Septuagint of the Romans have, there is no wisdom, etc., among (the Complutensians translate less correctly, against) the impious, which namely opposes itself to God and resists him, and eludes his counsels or decrees: among the impious, I say, both man and demon, says Cassian, Collation VII, chapter XVIII, although it be more true that in the Septuagint one should read, there is no wisdom, etc., against the Lord, as the Author of the Greek Catena notes. For thus the Hebrew, Chaldean, Syrian, Vulgate, Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion and the other Interpreters constantly read. The meaning is clear and evident and certain from daily use. Whence R. Solomon thus explains: "Any wise and prudent man is in no estimation whatsoever if he be compared with God; and much more if he abuse his wisdom against God, although he be a noble master, he shall be honored with no honor." Aben-Ezra thus: "Let these two be joined to this sense: There is no man to whom prudence, wisdom or counsel profits against the Lord, that is, so that by their aid he may withdraw himself from his hands, although to take to flight, to prepare a horse for the day of battle, yet he cannot withdraw himself, and escape the danger. For it is God's to preserve safe whom he shall will according to his pleasure." R. Levi however thus: "There is no wisdom, etc., wisdom, prudence and counsel are of no use to any in those things which one plots in his mind against God: for although he be endowed with the greatest wisdom and understand the matter perfectly, and enter upon the most fitting counsel; yet he shall not be able to change the divine decree, or attain to it, as is evident from those things which happened to Joseph, and from the various histories which are read throughout in the sacred prophecies. We shall perhaps also affirm that sense of this verse: Namely there is no need of wisdom, prudence and counsel for him who is dear to God and near to his care, who namely has adhered to God, so that he may strive to obtain the fulfillment of his wishes: for the divine power thus institutes the efforts and studies of mortals, so that rightly conceived things may succeed. To both explanations moreover most excellently agrees what is immediately subjoined." The reason for this meaning is, first, because the wisdom of God is uncreated and infinite, which immeasurably surpasses and transcends all wisdom and prudence created and finite of all men, demons and angels; second, because the wisdom of God is omnipotent, to which therefore no one is able to resist: for who can butt against the omniscient and omnipotent? The end, scope and fruit of this meaning is, that from it we may learn that each one, however wise, ought by right to depend upon that one alone, to trust in him, not in himself, nor attempt anything against him which he knows to be contrary to the divine will, which is so far from being hindered by human or demonic prudence, that it is rather promoted and perfected by it, when a man or demon attempts something against it, as is evident in the brothers of Joseph, in Pharaoh, in Herod, and in the redemption of mankind, which the devil strove to hinder in all ways.
21:31
Hebrew, the Lord is salvation; Chaldean, but from the Lord is salvation; Septuagint, but from the Lord is help; Vatablus, but from the Lord salvation is given, and he also adds: This maxim depends on the preceding one, and proves it, as if to say, "Wicked men prepare horses for themselves, in which they trust; whereas salvation depends only on God, not on a horse." By horse understand horsemen: for these are most powerful in war, and they lay low and trample the foot soldiers; likewise chariots, arms, machines and all military apparatus. Salvation is understood not only as deliverance from death and every evil and danger, but also as victory: for this is the complete salvation of the whole army and nation in war. The sense is, as if to say, Leaders and soldiers prepare horses, arms, chariots, etc. for war, and this fittingly and prudently; but nevertheless all these things are in vain unless God helps: for it is God's to give salvation and victory. Wherefore from this let leaders and soldiers learn to prepare for war in such a way that they place their principal hope in God, and therefore by constant prayers, and purity of life and almsdeeds, they may secure His aid for themselves. For whichever of the two contending sides or battle line God favors, even if it be the weaker and less equipped with arms and soldiers, will obtain victory and triumph as the victor. In vain therefore the battle line, in vain the arms, in vain the soldiers, unless God propitious concurs and gives victory. The reason a priori is, first, that the preparation of a thing is easy, but its execution, on account of the various circumstances and conditions of things, while especially various hindrances occur from here and there which impede the matter, is difficult, and therefore although both depend on God, yet the second depends more on Him, which Scripture therefore is accustomed to attribute to God as the first and principal agent. According to that in chapter XVI, 1: "It is the part of man to prepare his soul, and of the Lord to govern the tongue;" and verse 9: "The heart of man disposeth his way: but the Lord must direct his steps." Where I have said more on this matter. Second, that God has a peculiar care of great things, which embrace many matters and are of great moment: such indeed are the armies of princes and many nations, wars, victories. Third, that God especially cares for the government of kings and kingdoms, and from eternity has decreed that kingdoms and empires should succeed one another in turn through the ages, and pass through nations and families as if circling round the world, according to that in Daniel IV, 14: "By the decree of the watchers the sentence is, and by the word of the holy ones the demand: to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth over the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth over it the basest of men;" and Proverbs VIII, 15: "By me kings reign." But this translation and succession of kingdoms is brought about through wars and victories. Wherefore when God wishes to transfer a kingdom from one nation to another, He causes this one to attack that one in war, to conquer it and overcome it. Thus He transferred the monarchy of the Assyrians to the Babylonians, conquering the Assyrians through Nebuchadnezzar; He transferred that of the Babylonians to the Persians, conquering Belshazzar and the Babylonians through Cyrus; that of the Persians to the Greeks, conquering Darius and the Persians through Alexander the Great; that of the Greeks to the Romans, conquering the Greeks through Scipio, Paulus Aemilius, and other Roman commanders. In a similar way in almost every age, or every hundred years, we see God transfer kingdoms from one house and family to another through wars and victories. Hence that oracle of Balaam: "The Lord his God is with him (Israel), and the sound of the king's victory is in him. God brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like that of the rhinoceros," Numbers XXIII, 21; and that of David: "Thine, O Lord, is the magnificence, and the power, and the glory and the victory, etc. Thine, O Lord, is the kingdom, and thou art above all princes," I Paralipomenon XXIX, 11. Wherefore Judas Maccabeus "considering the coming of a great multitude, and the various preparation of arms, and the fierceness of the beasts (of Nicanor), stretching forth his hands to heaven, invoked the Lord who worketh wonders, who giveth victory to the worthy, not according to the power of arms, but as it pleaseth him," II Maccabees XV, 21. Moreover, this maxim has place in battles and victories not only corporeal, but also spiritual, in which against the temptations of the flesh, the world, and the devil we are continually engaged and victorious. For this victory is made through the grace of Christ, according to that of Paul: "But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord," I Cor. XV, 57; and: "But thanks be to God, who always maketh us to triumph in Christ," II Cor. II, 14; and: "This is the victory which overcometh the world, your faith," I John V, 4. Whence mystically Bede thus expounds: "A horse is prepared for battle, but the Lord giveth salvation," as if to say, "It is the part of men devoutly to God to prepare their spirit in time of persecution, to offer their body to danger; but it is the part of divine aid, that to the labour undertaken in the contest victory and salvation should succeed;" and St. Gregory, lib. XXXI Moral. cap. IX, and cap. XIX: "By the name of horse, he says, the preparation of right intention is understood, as it is written: A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but God giveth salvation, because the mind indeed prepares itself against temptation; but unless it be aided from above, it doth not fight wholesomely." See more on this in St. Gregory. Thus also the Author of the Greek Catena: He calls a horse, he says, the mind strenuously fighting against vices; for a horse in battle is keen, spirited, swift, fierce, exulting. See Job XXXIX, 21 et seq. Thus also Hugh understands by a horse the soul and body of man: for both are prepared for battle against temptations by the rider, that is by mind and reason, which restrains, governs, directs, sharpens, and inflames both for combat, that through God's aid and grace it may obtain victory. "This horse is prepared, says Hugh, for battle in time of persecution in three ways. First, in the habituation to labour, pain, hunger, thirst, cold and other such hardships, lest when it shall have come to battle, it be terrified by the mere sound of the trumpet. Secondly, it is prepared by the valour and courage of the rider: for a horse under a valiant rider is more valiant. Thirdly, it is prepared by the equipment of arms, lest it be wounded at each javelin. I call arms here fortitude, patience, boldness, by which death is despised: hence this horse, equipped and prepared, at the sound of the trumpet exulting, says vah, and boldly goes forth to meet the armed." Secondly, horses are the passions and virtues, which reason and the grace of Christ govern so that it may conquer. Thus St. Ambrose, De Isaac et anima, cap. VIII. Again, a horse is the humanity of Christ, upon which riding the divinity conquered sin, death, earth, heaven and hell. Thus St. Ambrose, in Psalm. XL. His words I have cited at Habakkuk III, 8, to those words: "Thou didst ascend upon thy horses, and thy chariots are salvation." Thirdly, a horse is a symbol of an Apostle and preacher; its rider and charioteer is Christ, the victor over the infidels and sinners, according to that of Apoc. VI, 2: "And behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him had a bow, and there was given unto him a crown, and he went forth conquering that he might conquer," namely that Christ through the Apostles might subdue and subject to his faith all nations. Where I have said more on this matter.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
21:1
… He explains the reason with the words of Holy Scripture: « Melius est nomen bonum, quam divitiae multae » (Prov. 21, 1).
… But on the other hand we read: « Sicut divisiones aquarum, ita cor regis in manu Domini: quocunque voluerit inclinabit illud » (Prov. 21, 1); « Faciam ut in praeceptis meis ambulietis » (Ez. 36, 27); « Deus est enim qui operatur in vobis et velle et perficere » (Phil. 2, 13). The obvious meaning of such expressions …
21:16
… The deceased, called (Is. 14:9; 26:14, 19; Ps. 87:11; Prov. 2:18; 9:18; 21:16; Job 26:5) rēphā'im ("weak, flaccid, evanescent," Vulg. gigantes), as among the Canaanites-Phoenicians (Ugarit, inscriptions of Eshmun'azar and Tabnit), lead there, in an amorphous …
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.