1A good name is better than great riches: and good favour is above silver and gold.Una buona riputazione vai più, che le molte ricchezze, e più dell'argento, e dell'oro vale l'essere amato.BEtter is a good name, then much riches: aboue siluer and gold, good grace.Melius est nomen bonum quam divitiæ multæ; / super argentum et aurum gratia bona. 2The rich and poor have met one another: the Lord is the maker of them both.Il ricco, e il povero si vanno incontro: tutti due furono fatti dal Signore.The rich and poore haue mette one an other: our Lord is the maker of both.Dives et pauper obviaverunt sibi: / utriusque operator est Dominus. 3The prudent man saw the evil, and hid himself: the simple passed on, and suffered loss.L'uomo prudente vide venire il male, e si nascose: l'imprudente tirò innanzi, e v'ebbe il danno.The subtel saw euil, and hyd himself: the innocent passed by, and was afflicted with damage.Callidus vidit malum, et abscondit se; / innocens pertransiit, et afflictus est damno. 4The fruit of humility is the fear of the Lord, riches and glory and life.Frutto dell'umiltà egli è il timor del Signore, le ricchezze, e la gloria, e la vita.The end of modestie the feare of our Lord, riches and glorie and life.Finis modestiæ timor Domini, / divitiæ, et gloria, et vita. 5Arms and swords are in the way of the perverse: but he that keepeth his own soul, departeth far from them.Armi, e spade nella strada dell'uom perverso: chi ha cura dell'anima propria va lungi da tali cose.Armour and swordes in the way of the peruerse: but the keper of his owne soule departeth far from them.Arma et gladii in via perversi; / custos autem animæ suæ longe recedit ab eis. 6It is a proverb: A young man according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it.Egli è proverbio: Il giovinetto presa che ha sua strada non se ne allontanerà nemmen quando sarà invecchiato.It is a prouerbe: A yongman according to his way, when he is old, wil not depart from it.Proverbium est: adolescens juxta viam suam; / etiam cum senuerit, non recedet ab ea. 7The rich ruleth over the poor: and the borrower is servant to him that lendeth.Il ricco comanda al povero: e chi prende a cambio, è servo dell'usuraio.The richman ruleth ouer the poore: and he that boroweth is the seruant of him that lendeth.Dives pauperibus imperat, / et qui accipit mutuum servus est fœnerantis. 8He that soweth iniquity, shall reap evils, and with the rod of his anger he shall be consumed.Chi semina ingiustizie, mieterà sciagure, e sarà consunto dalla verga del suo furore.He that soweth iniquitie, shal reape euils, and with the rod of his wrath, he shal be consumed.Qui seminat iniquitatem metet mala, / et virga iræ suæ consummabitur.
9He that is inclined to mercy, shall be blessed: for of his bread he hath given to the poor. He that maketh presents, shall purchase victory and honour: but he carrieth away the souls of the receivers.Chi è inchinevole a compassione sarà benedetto; perché del suo pane fa parte a' poveri. Chi usa liberalità acquista vittorie, e onori, e rapisce il cuore di chi riceve.He that is prone to mercie, shal be blessed: for of his breades he hath geuen to the poore. He that geueth giftes shal purchase victorie and honour: but he that receiueth taketh away the soule of the geuer.Qui pronus est ad misericordiam benedicetur: / de panibus enim suis dedit pauperi. / Victoriam et honorem acquiret qui dat munera; / animam autem aufert accipientium. 10Cast out the scoffer, and contention shall go out with him, and quarrels and reproaches shall cease.Manda via il derisore, e con lui se v'andranno le risse; e averan fine le liti, e le contumelie.Cast out the scorner, and brawling shal goe forth with him, and cause shal cease and contumelies.Ejice derisorem, et exibit cum eo jurgium, / cessabuntque causæ et contumeliæ. 11He that loveth cleanness of heart, for the grace of his lips shall have the king for his friend.Chi ama la schiettezza del cuore, pel suo grazioso parlare, avrà l'amicizia del re.He that loueth cleanes of hart, for the grace of his lippes, shal haue the king his frend.Qui diligit cordis munditiam, / propter gratiam labiorum suorum habebit amicum regem. 12The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge: and the words of the unjust are overthrown.Gli occhi del Signore custodiscono i sapienti, ed egli rende vane le parole dell'iniquo.The eies of our Lord keepe knowlege: and the wordes of the iust are supplanted.Oculi Domini custodiunt scientiam, / et supplantantur verba iniqui. 13The slothful man saith: There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the midst of the streets.Il pigro dice: Fuori vi è un lione: sarò ucciso in mezzo alla piazza.The slothful sayth: A lyon is without, in the middes of the streates I am to be slayne.Dicit piger: Leo est foris; / in medio platearum occidendus sum. 14The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit: he whom the Lord is angry with, shall fall into it.Fossa profonda o la bocca dell'adultera: vi caderà chi è in ira al Signore.A deepe pitte the mouth of a strange woman: he with whom our Lord is angrie, shal fal into it.Fovea profunda os alienæ: / cui iratus est Dominus, incidet in eam.
15Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction shall drive it away.La stoltezza sta legata al cuore del fanciullo: la verga della disciplina ne la scaccerà.Follie is tyed together in the hart of a childe, and the rod of discipline shal driue it away.Stultitia colligata est in corde pueri, / et virga disciplinæ fugabit eam. 16He that oppresseth the poor, to increase his own riches, shall himself give to one that is richer, and shall be in need.Chi opprime il povero per aver più ricchezze, le cederà egli a uno più, ricco, e resterà miserabile.He that doth calumniate the poore, to increase his riches, himself shal geue to a richer, and shal be in neede.Qui calumniatur pauperem ut augeat divitias suas, / dabit ipse ditiori, et egebit. 17Incline thy ear, and hear the words of the wise: and apply thy heart to my doctrine:Porgi le tue orecchie, e ascolta le parole de' saggi: e pon mente a' miei insegnamenti,Incline thine eare, and heare the wordes of wisemen: and set thy hart to my doctrine:Inclina aurem tuam, et audi verba sapientium: / appone autem cor ad doctrinam meam, 18Which shall be beautiful for thee, if thou keep it in thy bowels, and it shall flow in thy lips:I quali saranno amabili per te, quando li custodirai in cuor tuo, e scaturiranno per le tue labbra:which shal be beautiful for thee, when thou shalt kepe it in thy bellie, and it shal flow in thy lippes.quæ pulchra erit tibi cum servaveris eam in ventre tuo, / et redundabit in labiis tuis: 19That thy trust may be in the Lord, wherefore I have also shewn it to thee this day.Onde nel Signore sia la tua fiducia: e per questo io oggi te gli ho esposti.That thy confidence may be in our Lord, wherfore I haue shewed also it to thee this day.ut sit in Domino fiducia tua, / unde et ostendi eam tibi hodie. 20Behold I have described it to thee three manner of ways, in thoughts and knowledge:Ecco, che io in tre modi ti ho rappresentata la mia dottrina, con molta riflessione, e studio,Behold I haue described it to thee three maner of wayes, in cogitations and knowledge:Ecce descripsi eam tibi tripliciter, / in cogitationibus et scientia: 21That I might shew thee the certainty, and the words of truth, to answer out of these to them that sent thee.Per farti conoscere la fermezza delle parole di verità, onde tu possi rispondere a quelli, che ti hanno mandato,that I might shew thee the stabilitie, and the wordes of truth, out of these to answer them, that sent thee.ut ostenderem tibi firmitatem et eloquia veritatis, / respondere ex his illis qui miserunt te.
22Do no violence to the poor, because he is poor: and do not oppress the needy in the gate:Non usar prepotenza col povero, perché egli è povero, e non calpestare il miserabile alla porta:Doe not violence to the poore, because he is poore: neither oppresse the needie in the gate:Non facias violentiam pauperi quia pauper est, / neque conteras egenum in porta: 23Because the Lord will judge his cause: and will afflict them that have afflicted his soul.Perché il Signore patrocinerà la causa di lui, e trafiggerà quelli, che a lui han trafitta l'anima.because our Lord wil iudge his cause, and wil pearse them, that haue pearsed his soule.quia judicabit Dominus causam ejus, / et configet eos qui confixerunt animam ejus. 24Be not a friend to an angry man, and do not walk with a furious man:Non fare amicizia con uomo iracondo, e non conversare con uomo furioso:Be not frend to an angrie man, nor walke with a furious man:Noli esse amicus homini iracundo, / neque ambules cum viro furioso: 25Lest perhaps thou learn his ways, and take scandal to thy soul.Per paura di non imparare a fare come egli fa, e di non prendere occasione di inciampo per l'anima tua.lest perhaps thou lerne his pathes, and take scandal to thy soule.ne forte discas semitas ejus, / et sumas scandalum animæ tuæ. 26Be not with them that fasten down their hands, and that offer themselves sureties for debts:Non associarti con quelli, che impegnano la loro mano, e si offeriscono mallevadori per chi ha dei debiti:Be not with them, that sticke downe their handes, and that offer themselues sureties for debts:Noli esse cum his qui defigunt manus suas, / et qui vades se offerunt pro debitis: 27For if thou have not wherewith to restore, what cause is there that he should take the covering from thy bed?Perocché se tu non hai il modo di soddisfare, perché vorrai tu, che ti sia tolta di sul tuo letto la coperta?for if thou haue not wherewith to restore, what cause is there, that he should take the couering from thy bed?si enim non habes unde restituas, / quid causæ est ut tollat operimentum de cubili tuo ? 28Pass not beyond the ancient bounds which thy fathers have set.Non oltrepassare i termini antichi posti da' padri tuoi.Trangresse not the ancient boundes, which thy fathers haue put.Ne transgrediaris terminos antiquos, / quos posuerunt patres tui. 29Hast thou seen a man swift in his work? he shall stand before kings, and shall not be before those that are obscure.Hai tu veduto un uomo spedito nel suo lavoro? Egli starà dinanzi ai re, e non tratterà con gente di bassa lega.Hast thou sene a man quicke in his worke? he shal stand before kinges, neither shal be before the vnnoble.Vidisti virum velocem in opere suo ? / coram regibus stabit, nec erit ante ignobiles.
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Haydock
Good. Hebrew, "a name," or reputation. (Haydock)
Calmet
It is preferable to riches, but not to be compared with virtue, which is the only solid good; and even to be placed above riches, it must be well grounded. (Calmet)
Haydock
Favour with all. (Haydock)
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St. Chrysostom
Another. They stand in need of one another. (St. Chrysostom, hom. xxxiv. in 1 Corinthians.)
Calmet
They are equal in God's sight, who only values real virtue. He disposes of riches, so that the poor may one day become rich. (Calmet)
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Fruit. Literally, "the end of modesty, (Haydock) or moderation, which must accompany every virtue.
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Perverse. They are always in danger and in trouble.
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It is a proverb, is added by St. Jerome, to make the sentence more striking.
Horace
It. He is like a tender plant, (Calmet) or wax, or a new vessel. Quo semel est imbuta recens servabit odorem Testa diu. (Horace, ep. 1:ad Lol.)
St. Jerome
"Shall wool regain its whiteness after it has been dyed purple?" (St. Jerome, ad Laetam.)
Hebrew, "initiate a young," etc. Proportion your lessons to his capacity, and make him relish them.
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Consumed. Or beaten with the flail of God's anger.
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Is. Hebrew, "has a good eye," in opposition to the evil, or malicious one, Matthew 20:15.
He, etc., is not in Hebrew, or in the Latin edition of Comp. and St. Jerome.
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Haydock
He. Septuagint, "the Lord loveth pious hearts. All the irreproachable are acceptable to him. The king feeds with lips," by his just ordinances. (Haydock)
Kings hate duplicity; but require that the truth should be disclosed to them in a suitable manner.
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Streets. Vain excuses of sloth!
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Calmet
It. Debauchery resembles hell, Proverbs 23:23. (Calmet)
Virgil
Facilis descensus Averni, etc. (Virgil, Aeneid vi.)
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Folly. Ignorance and innate corruption are corrected by a good education.
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Calmet
Incline. Thus Solomon concludes his discourse, (chap. 24:23.) in the same manner as he began it, to Proverbs 10. Some commence the third book of Proverbs in this place; others, Proverbs 25. (Calmet)
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Haydock
Lips. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. (Haydock)
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Calmet
Protestants, "have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge?" "Shalishim," perfect, (Pagnin) or "three things," (Montanus) means also (Haydock) such as might suit princes and great officers. (Calmet)
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Calmet
Sent. Septuagint, "are sent to thee." Thou mayst become a teacher, (Haydock) or give satisfaction to thy parents, who have sent thee to my school. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Gate. Where judges passed sentence. (Menochius)
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Soul. By imitating him, or by falling a victim to his rage.
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Hands. Engaging to stand bond. (Haydock) (Chap. 6:1.)
Such a one might be required to pay the debt, Proverbs 20:16.
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Ovid
Set. The pagans made a god of Terminus, to prevent disputes. (Ovid, Fast. ii.)
Calmet
If it be unlawful to disturb land-marks, how much more so is it to give way to novelty in religion? (Deuteronomy 19:14.) (Calmet)
Haydock
Solomon is addressing those who follow the true faith. Else the conduct of infidel ancestors should not deter any from embracing the truth. (Haydock)
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Haydock
Obscure. By industry he shall raise himself to notice. (Haydock)
Calmet
Kings employ those who are most active. (Calmet)
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Honest fame.
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Contentment with out state.
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Prudence.
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Pouertie of spirite.
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Care of the soules health.
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Good custome in vertues.
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Diligent trauel.
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Equitie.
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Almes dedes.
Better to geue then to take.
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Expel the incorrigible. Cleanes of hart.
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The godlie prosper.
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Fortitude.
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Care of chastitie.
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Chatisment.
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Compassion.
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Rules of wisdom are necessarie, profitable, and vpon practise found pleasant: rightly directing al our thougtes wordes and dedes.
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Care of the poore, because they are deare to God. Flee from euil companie which may corrupt thee. Auoide suretishipe, le•t thou fal into distresse. Kepe ancient traditions. Diligent trauel.
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St Gregory Thaumaturgus † AD 270 A Metaphrase of the Book of Ecclesiastes 7
… Moreover, a good name is more pleasant to the mind
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans 3
… For St. Paul calls this also defrauding, saying thus, “That no man go beyond or defraud his brother in the matter.” ( 1 Thess. iv. 6 .) Others again injure not the wife or property, but the reputation of their neighbor, and this too is unrighteousness. For “a good name is better than great riches.” (
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Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 40
… All this he gave forth at the same time with perfect confidence, and without any hesitation or fear; so that I verily believe he has that serpent as his helper, who is ever our adversary. Well, he declared that there in the law God said, “I make the rich man and the poor man;”
Archelaus † fl. AD 278 The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes 42
… But is this, then, to be called iniquity? Far from it! Surely it is the absti nence of goodness, indeed, when one makes but a moderate use of what is really necessary, and gives up all that goes beyond that. Let us look, again, at the fact that in the Old Testament we find the words, “I make the rich man and the poor man,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 35.7
… Be ye all of one mind in obeying the word of God. God made both the rich and poor. Scripture says, “The rich and the poor meet together, the Lord is the Maker of them both.”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.25.1
1. God does, however, exercise a providence over all things, and therefore He also gives counsel; and when giving counsel, He is present with those who attend to moral discipline.
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John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 24.24
… For “there are thorns and thistles in wrong ways, but he that feareth the Lord shall keep himself from them.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 6.6
… for was it so in truth? For I ought not to prefer myself to him because I happened to be more learned than he, seeing that I took no delight therein, but sought rather to please men by it; and that not to instruct, but only to please. Wherefore also didst Thou break my bones with the rod of Thy correction.
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St Vincent of Lérins † AD 445 The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, For the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of All Heresies 1
[1.] I, Peregrinus , who am the least of all the servants of God, remembering the admonition of Scripture, “Ask thy fathers and they will tell thee, thine elders and they will declare unto thee,” and again, “Bow down thine ear to the words of the wise,”
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Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis iv.1.11
… In the Proverbs of Solomon we find some such rule as the following laid down, respecting the consideration of holy Scripture: “And do thou,” he says, “describe these things to thyself in a threefold manner, in counsel and knowledge, and that thou mayest answer the words of truth to those who have proposed them to thee.”
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.96
96. Who is the man, whose heart has never been made to burn, as the Scriptures have been opened to him, with the pure words of God which have been tried in a furnace; who has not, by a triple
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John Cassian † AD 435 The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius 2.3
… there is no possibility of getting out of it. There is nothing for it but that you should at length be obliged to confess the mistake which you would not understand. But not content with these passages which are indeed enough let us inquire what the Holy Ghost said through another prophet. “Shall a man,” says he, “pierce his God, for you are piercing me?”
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Origen † AD 254 A Letter from Origen to Africanus 1
5. In all these cases consider whether it would not be well to remember the words, “Thou shalt not remove the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 De Decretis. (Defence of the Nicene Definition.) 6
… none but he is your father in this apostasy, who both in the beginning sowed you with the seed of this irreligion, and now persuades you to slander the Ecumenical Council , for committing to writing, not your doctrines, but that which from the beginning those who were eye-witnesses and ministers of the Word have handed down to us
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Synodal Letter to the Bishops of Africa. (Ad Afros Epistola Synodica.) 1
… For what else do they wish for who reject the synod held against it, namely the Nicene, if not that the cause of Arius should prevail? What then do such men deserve, but to be called Arians, and to share the punishment of the Arians? For they were not afraid of God, who says, ‘Remove not the eternal boundaries which thy fathers placed
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Hexæmeron 7.4
4. It is not thus with us. Why? Because we incessantly move the ancient landmarks which our fathers have set.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 3.3
20. Why, the very law of the Lord teaches us that this rule must be observed, so that we may never deprive another of anything for the sake of our own advantage. For it says: “Remove not the bounds which thy fathers have set.”
St Vincent of Lérins † AD 445 The Commonitory of Vincent of Lérins, For the Antiquity and Universality of the Catholic Faith Against the Profane Novelties of All Heresies 21
… whereas the divine Oracles cry aloud, “Remove not the landmarks, which thy fathers have set,”
St John of Damascus † AD 749 An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith 1.1
… As knowing all things, therefore, and providing for what is profitable for each, He revealed that which it was to our profit to know; but what we were unable to bear He kept secret. With these things let us be satisfied, and let us abide by them, not removing everlasting boundaries, nor overpassing the divine tradition
Early Popes (Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals) The Epistles of Pope Callistus 2.3
… because such judgment or ordination, or excommunication or condemnation, shall neither be ratified nor have any virtue; since no one shall be bound by the decision of another judge than his own, neither shall he be condemned by such. Whence also the Lord speaks to this effect: “Pass not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set.”
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St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Ephesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 6
… It is manifest, therefore, that we should look upon the bishop even as we would look upon the Lord Himself, standing, as he does, before the Lord. For “it behoves the man who looks carefully about him, and is active in his business, to stand before kings, and not to stand before slothful men.”
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In Hebrew, a name worthy of choice on account of wealth, on account of gold and silver grace is good, or good; the Chaldean, Aquila and Theodotion, chosen, or rather, a good name to be chosen before riches. Thus also the Chaldean. By name understand fame, by grace graciousness, favor, benevolence, friendship. The good do not so much refer to grace, as if it were its epithet, as to the above. For it denotes a degree of comparison, by which it compares and prefers grace to gold and silver, as if to say, Grace is good above silver and gold, that is, it surpasses gold and silver. Whence Vatablus translates, fame is to be preferred to great wealth, and grace is better than gold and silver; from Pagninus, a good name is more eligible than riches, and grace is more eligible than gold and silver, that is, the benevolence of neighbors and citizens. The sense therefore is, as if to say, Fame is a greater good than wealth; fame surpasses wealth: similarly grace and benevolence surpass gold and silver. This latter part gives the reason for the former, as if to say, It is better to have a good name than great riches, because a good name procures the grace and favor of men, which surpasses gold and silver. For this grace is in itself a great good, and more excellent than wealth, and from it the necessities of life and riches are easily obtained, as Joseph obtained in prison, Genesis xxxix, 29; Ruth in poverty, cap. ii, 13; Esther in the condemnation of the Jews, cap. iii, 9, and cap. vii, 3. And so nothing is more frequent in Scripture than that the Saints desire to find grace in the eyes of God and men. For, as Antony says in the Melissa, part II, cap. xlix: "Grace is as it were a copious paradise." Hence the Blessed Virgin before all other titles is greeted by the Archangel with this one, that she is "full of grace," in Greek κεχαριτωμένη, that is, made gracious, filled with grace. Again, this grace wards off envy, which is a great evil, and the mother of great harms; and it produces love and charity, which is the source and origin of all goods. Wherefore the Wise Man tacitly admonishes here that riches are either to be despised, lest envy and the name of a miser afflict you: or, if you have them, they are to be distributed to the needy, so that you may procure the grace of men. For nothing procures it so much as almsgiving and liberality. Whence the Syrian translates, before gold and silver mercy is good. For the Hebrew chen signifies both mercy and grace: indeed the Latin gratia is often taken for mercy. Hence the Author of the Greek Catena understands by good grace an honest action, such as almsgiving. Whoever therefore seeks the grace of men, and indeed of God, and from this name and fame, let him strive for virtue, especially mercy and liberality: for these are the root and basis both of benevolence and grace, and of name and fame. Thirdly, this grace and fame endure, while riches flow away, and when life ends. For fame grows and endures after death: especially because when a man has finished his life, his fame can no longer be stained or disgraced by any crime. For these three reasons therefore grace and fame surpass riches, and before them are a good of a higher order. For the lowest good is riches, the middle fame, the highest life, especially of the soul through grace and glory: for riches are merely an external and indifferent good, inasmuch as we can use them both badly and well; but fame is more intrinsic to man, because it rests upon and is founded in his virtue, especially liberality and charity. Hence Cato: If you lose all things, remember to preserve your fame. And Plautus in the Mostellaria: "If I shall have preserved a good fame, I shall be rich enough." Whence R. Levi: "It is agreed among all," he says, "that fame is procured for a man by the probity of morals and right deeds; which is more excellent than if he were furnished with the most abundant resources. Also the benevolence which one procures for himself from others is to be preferred to gold and silver: for the integrity of morals, excellent deeds and charity are of greater protection and strength in calamities; than if one were fortified with gold and silver, as the trite proverb goes around, it is more excellent to have a friend in the forum than gold hidden in a chest." Which others say more elegantly: "Favor in the court is more useful than gold in the chest." Thus St. Cyril, lib. XI in John, cap. xviii: "It is better," he says, "to have a good name than great riches, that is, the esteem of name and glory is better than the splendor of riches; for name is taken for glory, as in John xv: I have manifested thy name (that is, thy glory) to men; and in Isaiah lvi: God promises eunuchs of their own will a name, better than sons: name, that is, glory." Wherefore Solomon, followed in the usual manner by Sirach, Eccles. cap. xli, 15: "Take care," says he, "of a good name; for this shall remain with thee more than a thousand precious and great treasures." See the remarks there. And Eccles. cap. vii, 2: "A good name is better than precious ointments." Hence concerning Josias it is said Eccles. xlix, 1-5: "The memory of Josias is made into a composition of ointment by the work of the perfumer. In every mouth his memory shall be made sweet as honey." Following these, Isocrates, to Nicocles: "Consider it more desirable," says he, "to leave to thy children an honest reputation than great riches; for these are mortal, that is immortal; money can be acquired, but fame cannot be bought with money; riches even fall to the wicked, but glory they cannot procure unless they are most excellent in virtue." For, as Cicero says, II Tusculanae and II De Inventione: "Glory is the harmonious praise of good men, the uncorrupted voice of those who judge well concerning excellent virtue." Anagogically, a good name of the just, the religious, the holy, the son of God, is better than all abundance of things: for this is corporeal, that is spiritual: this is perishable, that is stable: this is temporal, that is eternal. Again, it is better to obtain the grace of God than to gather all gold and silver: for the grace of God brings forth happiness and eternal glory. Thus Bede: "A good name," says he, "is the name of Religion, which is rightly preferred to worldly riches. For even if one were to gain the whole world, one would rightly despise it, provided only that his name were written in heaven, and his memory were fixed eternal among the Angels and among holy men. Grace is better than silver and gold: grace signifies this, when one is praised by the good for a good work, indeed for the gifts bestowed upon him, the Father who is in heaven is glorified by his merits." The reason a priori is first, because grace is a supernatural good, and therefore transcends riches and all goods and gifts. Second, because grace brings with it virtues and charity, which is the highest good of this life. Third, because grace is the seed of glory: hence as from seed is born the harvest and fruit, so from grace is born glory. Fourth, because grace makes us holy, friends, sons and heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. Fifth, because grace is the supreme participation of God and divinity, according to that of St. Peter, epist. II, cap. i, vers. 4: "By whom we have received the greatest and most precious gifts, that by these you may be made partakers of the divine nature." And that of Psalm. lxxxi, 6: "I have said: You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High."
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The Syriac version says both were made (the Arabic, created) by the Lord; the Hebrew says, the Lord makes all of them: all of them, that is, both. It is a Hebraism, similar to that in Ecclesiastes iii, 20: "All go to one place;" all, that is, both, or to both, namely man and beasts, as preceded. The Hebrews therefore apply the word all also to a pair, whereas the Latins and Greeks apply it to a triad. Whence that saying of Aristotle: "All things are three," namely the first things, to which the word all is given. First, Aben-Ezra refers this saying to the preceding one, as if to confirm and prove it, as if to say: "Both grace and an honorable name are to be preferred to riches; for the rich and the poor have met one another. And you should understand this thus: when the causes of things come down from heaven to earth, men who are affected by these things have them meet them, as if to this one riches, to another poverty come down from heaven, which indeed those words indicate: The maker of both is the Lord, since from God both riches and poverty are distributed, and the rich and the needy are made; but an honorable reputation is not met with by chance: for mortals acquire this for themselves by noble deeds, and also the grace which they will obtain from those who have contemplated these glorious deeds; wherefore these things are to be preferred to a multitude of riches." R. Levi also refers this saying to the preceding one, but in a somewhat different manner and interpretation: In order, he says, to make clear that riches are not so much to be chosen, it happens that the rich man meets the poor man, that is, the rich man falls somewhat from his resources, while the poor man is promoted and gradually increased by them, so that these become equal in resources, God delivering this one to poverty and raising the other to riches. R. Solomon adds: "When the poor man, he says, begs the aid of the rich man, that he might supply him with food, and the rich man uses harsh words toward him, then all things are changed by God, so that this one is reduced to want, the other is heaped with riches." Second, the same R. Levi explains thus: "The poor man and the rich man meet one another, he says, because the one cannot live without the work of the other, and to give examples: If all were endowed with resources, there would be no one who would labor in any art or work, and common society would perish. But if all were laboring under poverty, the one could not be raised up by the other: wherefore it is established that some are made rich by God, others poor, so that created things might be preserved. This also: The rich and the poor have met one another, will have the same meaning as that: Mercy and truth have met one another; justice and peace have kissed each other, Psalm LXXXIV. The Author of the Catena of the Greeks adds: "The rich man, he says, atones for his guilt through almsgiving and abolishes the punishment he has deserved, through this namely having obtained charity; the poor man, however, is chastened and instructed through humility and want. Let all therefore acknowledge and praise God, who wills to chastise and press down this one, and to distribute and dispense to that one." Third, Bede: "Do not despise the rich man because of his riches and honors, nor the poor man because of his poverty; but venerate this in both on account of merit, because they are a divine work, and were made to the image of God." And St. Augustine, in Questions on the Old and New Testament, Question XLII, takes the rich man and the poor man materially, not formally, that is to say, God gave human nature to the poor man just as to the rich man; God made both of them men possessed of reason and capable of happiness. Indeed, meeting the objection, he speaks thus: "When we read in Solomon: The rich and poor have met one another; but the Lord is the maker of them both; how therefore is there acceptance of persons with God? Far be such an assertion of impiety from the minds of the faithful. For Scripture, lest it should teach that the poor man is to be despised and the rich man to be honored, showed that God is the maker of both, not assuredly in poverty and riches, but in that which they are. For if they differ from one another in resources, nevertheless not in the substance of nature. Nor indeed, because certain occasions of gain make some prosperous in riches or unfortunate in poverty in the world; are they therefore to be despised, whom God has not illuminated, or to be regarded with suspicion, to whom Truth has not given testimony; but those who are corruptors of morals and sacrilegious in the law of God are plainly to be despised: but those who love God and are cultivators of discipline are to be honored. For these are held to be rich with God, who are of good conversation; and the more contemptible they are in the world, the more honorable they are in heaven." He adds the cause from the very foundations and the reason a priori: "They themselves minister to them, so that perceiving the will of God not only in the world but also in heaven they may be rich, lest the riches of a brief time exclude the eternal; but those whom they think are to be despised on account of poverty, if they contemplate the future judgment of God, there they will always be rich, where the rich of the world became poor, repenting that they had not been poor." Fourth, our Pineda, book VI On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter xi, at the end, presses the meaning of obviaverunt; that is, they met; they went to meet; as if by this it were signified that by his reasoning one ought to come to the aid of the poor and needy to relieve his want, not only by not fleeing but by going willingly, contrary to what those did who "stood afar off" at the cry of the poor; Psalm xxxvii, 12; for the needy is not to be permitted to complete the whole journey, until he can arrive to beseech you; but part of the way is also to be undertaken by you, so that you may seek him and run to him, as it is written Proverbs chapter xxii, 2: "The rich and poor have met one another; the Lord is the maker of them both." In a not dissimilar manner assuredly the best prince and cultivator of piety; or any other worthy manager of a household, ought to go willingly to meet the needy; not asked; not called; but impelled by his own piety and duty alone, either to pursue the spontaneous services of his subjects with the due reward, or to relieve hardships, or even to check impending losses with timely remedy. Which by Solomon, a most excellent prince and lover of piety, was performed both by the name of his office and by the name of his father, holily and piously. Thus Pineda. Whence David; III Kings ii, 7; dying thus commanded Solomon: "But thou shalt shew kindness to the sons of Berzellai the Galaadite, and they shall eat at thy table; for they came to me when I fled from the face of Absalom thy brother." Fifth, others by the rich man understand a creditor, so that the same thing is said here as in chapter xxix, 13: "The poor and the creditor (Hebrew, a man of usuries; Septuagint, a money-lender) have met one another; the illuminator (favorer, keeper, most beneficent provider) is the Lord;" for the rich are accustomed to lend at interest to the poor, and to bind them to themselves by their usuries and make them debtors, concerning which more in chapter xxix, 13. Sixth, Baynus presses the meaning of "they met" in another sense, that is to say, it can happen and often does happen that, with the wheel of fortune turning, the rich man descends from wealth to poverty, and the poor man ascends from poverty to wealth: in which turning of the wheel and change of fortune they seem to meet one another; while one ascends, the other descends, and yet "the Lord is the maker of them both," that is to say, No one is to be esteemed from riches, nor from poverty; but let neither fame of name nor grace with God or men depend upon these things; but those things which are most to be desired are obtained through obedience to the Creator and Maker. "The Lord is the operator of them both," that is to say, While the rich and poor meet one another, in outward appearance a great difference is seen between them, and one is valued far more than the other among men, and yet each was made in the image of God: which if the poor man shall have preserved whole through purity of life, with God the Maker he will not be inferior either in fame of name or in grace than the rich man, however otherwise splendid he may be, clothed in fine linen and purple, while the other is squalid and full of sores, according to the Gospel parable, Luke xvi. "The Lord therefore is the operator of them both," that is, God assigns to each his own lot, so that the rich man may not despise the poor man, and so that the poor man may not envy the rich man, but each may live content with his own lot and station, since he knows that it has come to him not by chance, but by the wise counsel and destined will of God, which therefore all ought to revere and venerate. Seventh, others take "they met" in a contrary sense: for from a metaphor taken from those fighting, meeting with hostile or contrary intent, they understand here to be signified the contrariety which exists between the rich and the poor; whence they translate, the rich and poor are contrary, namely in habit and condition, and frequently also in mind, since the one becomes insolent in mind, the other is humbled and conducts himself in a lowly manner; but "the Lord is the operator (in Hebrew עשה ose, that is, the former, maker and painter) of them both," that is to say, That this one is poor, that one rich, is not a condition of unlike nature, but of like nature unlike quality; or diverse painting: for just as a painter paints and fashions one image naked, but clothes and adorns another; and just as in a naked painting the art of the painter appears more, and the beauty of the painting which in clothing is governed and obscured: so in the poor man the art of God appears more, and the parity of nature than in the rich man, whom riches surround and veil. Therefore the poor man is a man painted, but naked; the rich man painted, clothed: take away the painting, there remains the same and equal human nature, which in both alike is to be venerated as the image of God. Thus St. Chrysostom, homily 4 On Lazarus; and in Psalm xlviii, to those words, Together in one the rich and poor: "For," he says, "our nature is common, I call all in common; our mother is common; I call in common; our city is common, the whole world. But if from poverty and riches you have introduced some difference and inequality, that too I cast out again, not calling the rich indeed, but expelling the poor, but both these and those, and not only these and those (for example): these, that is the rich, first; those indeed, that is the poor, last; but together in one, so that there may be a common assembly, common prayer, common also hearing. Although you are rich, you were born from the same clay, you had the same entrance with the poor man, and the same origin, and you are a son of man, and so is he;" "Since therefore those things which are principal and more fitting, and equal in honor, you have equally; why do you swell up on account of shadows and dreams from those things which are nothing, distinguishing what is common, what is common in nature, what is common in origin and generation, what is common in affinity and relationship? why do you bring forward an outward garment, so as to make a distinction in it? I do not bear it, I do not allow it, and therefore I call you together with the poor man; together, I say, in one the rich and poor." Eighth and most excellent point: that is to say, In the same city and commonwealth, some are rich and others poor, because God has so ordained and brought it about that one should be helped by the assistance of another, and thus the commonwealth should coalesce into one civil and political body, and should abound in every art and supply; for the rich nourish the poor with their wealth, so that some are tailors, others shoemakers, others bakers, others smiths, others practice some other mechanical art: for poverty has invented all these, and has made it so that nothing is lacking to the commonwealth; for if all were rich, no one would wish to labor, and thus all mechanical arts would cease to the great harm of men; wherefore the rich ought to support the poor, and the poor ought to serve the rich and labor for him: in which matter the wisdom and disposition of God was wonderful, when He united two things so unlike and as it were contrary, and as it were made them equal, bringing it about that neither the rich could live without the poor, nor the poor without the rich. Admiring which, Aristotle, book IV of the Politics, chapter 1, says: "It is necessary, he says, that there be two cities in one city, and these indeed contrary to each other, namely one of the poor, another of the rich;" but God has bound and united both with such harmony between them that they produce a wonderful concord and harmony. Whence St. Augustine, sermon 25 On the Words of the Lord: "The rich, he says, and the poor 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 was made for the sake of the poor, and the poor was made for the sake of the rich. It is the poor man's part to pray, and the rich man's part to give." Note on "they met each other," namely not so much by chance as by design, that is, they went to meet each other mutually seeking one another, that is to say, the rich and the poor go to meet each other by a fixed purpose, because one needs the help of the other, and seeks and demands it. For the rich demands work from the poor, so that he may sew, spin, build, plow, sow, etc. for him; the poor in turn demands money and sustenance from the rich. The rich therefore seeks the poor and goes to meet him, so that he may hire his labor; the poor in turn goes to meet the rich, so that he may obtain food and profit from him: and thus God sustains and enriches the rich through the poor, and the poor through the rich. Solomon therefore signifies by this maxim, first, that by the most wise counsel of God it has come about that in this world corrupted by sin some are poor and others rich; so that the rich may help the poor, and the poor may labor for the rich, and thus they may be mutually united, and love, help, and support each other. Hear St. Augustine, homily 13 among the 50: "Christ wished the poor to be in need, but for our sake. All the poor whom you see, Christ could have fed them, as He fed Elijah through the raven; yet when He also took away the raven from Elijah, so that he might be fed by the widow, He did not benefit Elijah, but the widow. When therefore God makes the poor, because He Himself does not wish them to have wealth; when, I say, He makes the poor, He proves the rich; for thus it is written: The poor and the rich have met each other. Where did they meet each other? in this life that one was born, and this one was born; they found each other, they met each other. And who made them both? The Lord made the rich indeed, whence he might help the poor; the poor, whence he might prove the rich. Let each one do according to his strength." St. Basil, in the homily On the Rich Avaricious: "Who, he says, is a thief? he who transfers to himself alone those things which belong to individuals, etc. The bread which you retain belongs to the hungry; the clothing which you keep in a chest belongs to the naked; the shoe which rots with you belongs to the barefoot; the money which you possess buried in the earth belongs to the needy: why are you unjust to so many men, as many as you could have helped." Hermas, a disciple of St. Paul, declares the same thing by a beautiful similitude of the vine and the elm in the book which is called the Shepherd. For just as the vine lying on the ground is unfruitful; but if it be lifted up and supported by the elm, it produces most pleasant fruit both for itself and for the elm, namely grapes: so the poor man and poverty left to itself is useless and miserable; but if it be raised up and supported by the rich man, it is profitable and fruitful both for itself and for the rich man. Hear Hermas: "The vine is fruitful, but the elm is a tree without fruit; yet the vine, unless it be applied to the elm, cannot produce much fruit: for lying on the ground it produces bad fruit; but if it be suspended upon the elm, it produces fruit both for itself and for the elm. The elm therefore produces no less fruit than the vine, but rather more. This similitude therefore is set forth for the servants of God, for the poor man and the rich man. For the rich man has riches, but from the Lord the poor man is poor. For he is distracted about his riches, and has very little prayer to the Lord, and what he has is sluggish and without power. When therefore the rich man supplies to the poor man what he needs, the poor man prays to the Lord for the rich man, and God supplies to the rich man all good things, because the poor man is rich in prayer, and has great power in his good works." St. Chrysostom brings forth another similitude, homily 35 on the First Epistle to the Corinthians: "Just as a root, he says, planted in rich soil, which brings forth timely fruit to us each year: so money planted in the hands of the poor brings forth to us spiritual fruit not only in each year, but also in each day, namely confidence in God, the departure of sins, a good conscience, spiritual joy, pleasant hope, and other good things which God has prepared for those who love Him." Secondly, by this maxim Solomon signifies that both are the work of God, both as to substance, namely human nature, and as to the condition of poverty or wealth; for God makes this man poor, that man rich for most just reasons. Let each one therefore acknowledge, venerate and praise this work of God. He says therefore: "The rich and the poor have met one another," that is, they meet each other everywhere unequal in riches, but equal in creation, and therefore neither should the rich man be proud, nor the poor man be sad: both because by nature, as I have said, they are equal; and because thus the Lord willed it, that this life should be held together by mutual aids and offices, not all being rich: for then no one would labor; nor all being poor: for then they could not sustain themselves; and finally because both poverty and riches are a gift of God. For just as God gives riches to the rich for the sake of charity and almsgiving, so He gives poverty to the poor as matter and merit for labor and patience, with grace proportioned to each. And the Wise Man seems to intend all these things here. Thirdly, that each one ought to be content with his own lot, and to rest in the good pleasure of God thus distributing them, especially because God often makes the poor rich in sense and wisdom, as appeared in the Apostles and the first faithful, as St. James testifies in his epistle, chapter ii, 5: "Has not God, he says, chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to those who love Him?" Indeed God Himself coming in the flesh lived a poor life. Whence St. Chrysostom in the work of Maximus, sermon 12: "O what, he says, is the dignity of poverty! God becomes a person (or God sustains the person), God is hidden in poverty. And the poor man is he who stretches out his hand, but God is he who receives." And Plutarch in the same place: "In war, he says, iron is more useful for defending oneself than gold; but in life reason surpasses riches. Long robes hinder bodies, excessive riches hinder minds." And Aristotle: "Poverty needs many things: insatiable greed needs all things." Democrates, being asked by what means "one could become rich," answered: "If he be poor in desires; if you do not covet many things, even few things will seem many: for small appetite makes poverty equal to wealth. As far as nature is concerned, we are all rich; but as far as we are concerned, we are all poor. The poor have escaped great evils, snares, envy, hatred, in which the rich daily engage." Aristides, surnamed the Just, to someone reproaching him with poverty: "To me, he said, poverty has presented nothing evil to be seen; but to you riches have brought not a few troubles." Musonius: "The treasures of Croesus and Cyrus, he says, we shall condemn as subject to extreme poverty; but we believe only one man to be truly rich, namely the wise man, as one who can find everywhere as much as need demands." Xenophon: "Poverty is philosophy; for what this one persuades by word, that one accomplishes by deed." Fourth, Solomon admonishes the rich not to despise the poor, but to embrace them as brothers and children of the same God the Father, to nourish and cherish them; for God gave them wealth for this purpose. Whence Philo in the work of Maximus, sermon 12: "The beauty of riches," he says, "is not in the purse, but in the relief of the needy." And Moschion: "Just as the adornment of horses and the nest of birds, in order that they may be exalted and may prance, do not accomplish this, but in the former the swiftness of feet, in the latter wings: so in man not adornment, not luxuries, but goodness and beneficence bring forth glory." Menander: "Blessed is he who has both wealth and wisdom. For he uses them honorably where it is fitting. It befits the soul to have riches; but these monies are nothing other than ostentation and the external adornment of life." Dion: "Those are to be derided," he says, "who pursue riches of this kind, which fortune bestows, liberality preserves, and benignity takes away." Finally, this maxim tacitly admonishes the poor to strive through labor and patience, the rich through continence and liberality, toward the future life, which abounds in solid and eternal riches; for to this God created, called and destined both. Whence Isocrates: "Be content," he says, "with present things, and seek better things." And Philistion: "Even if you were lord of ten thousand cubits of earth, yet when dead you will occupy only three or four."
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"Crafty," in Hebrew עָרוּם arum, that is, astute, is taken in two ways: first, in a bad sense for cunning, deceitful and fraudulent; second, in a good sense for prudent, cautious and circumspect. Innocent also, opposed to crafty, in Hebrew pethi, that is, simple, is taken in two ways: first, in a good sense for sincere, candid, upright, free from evil and deceit; second, in a bad sense for inexperienced, rude, imprudent, unwise, of which it is said in chapter xiv, 15: "The innocent believeth every word." First, Bede and Hugh according to the former acceptation of crafty and innocent explain thus: "Crafty," that is, hypocrite, cunning and feigned, who is faithful and upright with the faithful and upright, but when he sees persecution threatening them on account of faith and uprightness, he withdraws and hides himself; but "innocent," that is, sincere and upright, proceeds with firm step, and boldly exposes himself to loss and death for faith and virtue. Whence Bede by example thus explains: "Many of the rulers believed in the Lord, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess, lest they should be cast out of the Synagogue. For they were crafty; they saw the evil of persecution that was threatening, and they hid the faith of piety which they had conceived for a short time. But the innocent Apostles went forward in the straight path of profession by which they had begun, and were afflicted with stripes, chains, imprisonment, and even punished with death itself. Both examples even now in the struggle of faith, and in common many follow in their deeds." Thus he. To this pertains the parable of the shepherd and the hireling proposed by Christ, John x. For the hireling, as a hypocrite and crafty one, when the wolf comes, in order to avoid danger to his life, flees: but the good shepherd, as innocent, that is, sincere and upright, opposes the wolf, indeed "layeth down," that is, giveth, "his life for the sheep," as Christ did. Second, better others everywhere according to the second acceptation of crafty and innocent thus explain, as if to say: "Crafty," that is, a prudent and cautious man; he foresees the future from afar; whence foreseeing some evil to be imminent, he skillfully avoids it, and prudently hides himself, and thus escapes the evil; but "innocent," that is, inexperienced, imprudent, unwise, who does not foresee the future, goes securely on his way; whence he often incurs no slight losses, so that here almost the same thing is said as in chapter xiv, 15: "The wise man feareth and declineth from evil; the fool passeth on and confideth." For the Hebrew pethi properly signifies rude, inexperienced, incautious, rash, foolish, as the Septuagint, the Chaldean, the Syriac and others translate it, who like a stupid sheep of his own accord throws himself into danger and incurs it, while he willingly meets the wolf or the slaughterer, and by him allows himself to be led peacefully to the slaughter. This is a general and broad maxim; whence it can be adapted to various cases, such as penal laws, exactions, fines, snares, dangers, incursions of enemies, etc.; in these things indeed the cautious and prudent withdraw themselves and hide, as St. Athanasius did in the persecution of the Arians, indeed Christ in the persecution of the Pharisees; but the foolish, recklessly transgressing them, or boldly passing through with blind eyes, are punished and afflicted with losses. Wherefore the Septuagint, restricting this maxim to penal laws, to which it properly pertains, thus translate: the crafty, seeing the wicked punished, is himself greatly instructed; but the imprudent passing by were afflicted with loss; or, as the Author of the Catena of the Greeks translates more forcefully and paraphrastically: When the prudent see wicked men punished for their deserts, they take from thence a powerful example of instruction; but the foolish, who pass by this with closed eyes, will incur detriment. The Septuagint is followed by the Syriac: The astute, he says, saw the wicked man scourged, and was greatly corrected; but the foolish passed over him, and were afflicted with loss. The Chaldean: The unwise passed by, and were punished. R. Solomon: The prudent, he says, observes the punishment imposed on the wicked and hides himself, that is, lest he incur the same punishment appointed for him, he restrains himself most carefully: the imprudent and rash one boldly breaks forth, and of his own accord throws himself into danger and loss. Solomon therefore by this sentiment, says Jansenius, indicates the fruits of wisdom and folly, so that thus he may invite to wisdom and call away from stupidity: but as in temporal matters, what the Wise man says here, we see come to pass in practice, so much more must that be observed in spiritual matters. For he who is truly prudent according to God, through faith and knowledge of the Scriptures sees certain evils that will befall sinners, therefore he hides himself from sinners, among whom he refuses to dwell; he hides himself by withdrawing from those things through which he could fall into those evils; he hides himself by lurking under the shadow of the wings of God; but the foolish and imprudent man passes by confidently, proceeding in his desires and worldly enticements. Hence he will be afflicted at some time, either here or in the future, by the evil which he was unwilling to foresee and guard against; in which matter the wise man imitates the cunning of the serpent, which, Genesis iii, 1, is said to be ערום arum, that is, crafty. For the serpent in winter, so that it may guard against the damage of cold, hides itself in caves and hiding places, where the air is warmer; and thus it preserves warmth and life, until spring and summer arrive. Again, when men pursue it, it hides itself in forests under grass and leaves, and thus it escapes death. The prudent man does the same. Nature has taught this cunning of fleeing and hiding oneself when danger approaches to beasts and animals, especially the weak and feeble, for whom all safety lies in flight and in hiding places, so that men may learn the same from them. Thus shells hide themselves against octopuses and similar hunters by their shell; whence "octopuses lie in wait for open shells, and placing a stone upon it, thus safely prowl about and extract the flesh," says Pliny, lib. IX, cap. xxx. The octopus likewise in turn, when it fears an enemy, "sits hidden under rocks, and changes itself to their color, so that it appears to be a rock:" thus it flees larger fish; but deceives smaller ones; for these "swimming toward it as toward a rock, unaware, it captures with its arms as with nets," says Aelian, lib. I Var. Hist. Aristotle teaches the same, lib. IX Hist. animal. cap. xxxvii, Pliny, lib. IX, cap. xxix, Oppian and others. The oyster or shell, when it senses its enemy the crab, closes its shell and hides itself in it: whence the crab lying in wait for it "explores, says St. Ambrose, lib. V Hexam. cap. viii, whether at any time the oyster in remote places away from all wind, against the rays of the sun, opens its two-part shell and unlocks the barriers of its shells, so that it may take some pleasure in the free air with its viscera; and then secretly inserting a pebble prevents closure, and thus finding the barriers open, safely inserts its claws and feeds upon the internal viscera." Crabs likewise while they change their shell, as serpents their skin, lie in sand and hide, bearing the likeness and appearance of the dead, until the shell grows back, by which protected and armed, having lost their fear, they come forth confidently, says Aelian, lib. IX De Animal. cap. xlv. Tortoises hide themselves in their portable shell as in a shell; the same do snails. Again Aelian, lib. X, cap. v, writes that partridges and herons recognize their enemies from snails and guard themselves by flight. And from the genus of snails there are called arions, which by a certain natural cunning deceive and elude the aforesaid birds; for they feed outside their shells without fear; but the birds fly in vain to the empty shells, and when they see them empty, as useless they cast them aside and betake themselves elsewhere; then they return, and the snails return to their own home, already sated with food and unharmed by their trick. The hedgehog or porcupine, the garden pig, steals apples from the garden; and when it sees a hunter, it draws itself inward, and covers and hides itself entirely with its spines as with lances. Let the cautious and prudent man do the same, and especially when he has no other hiding places, let him flee to the secret place of the mind, and there call upon God for help, and hide himself in Him, as St. Catherine of Siena did: thus like a hedgehog whatever snares he may foresee will be shut out by his spines, and he will gather himself into his own weapons, so that whoever thinks to touch him will be wounded, says St. Ambrose, lib. VI Hexam. cap. iv, and St. Basil, hom. 9 Hexam. Crocodiles of the Nile foresee the increases; whence before them, they transfer their eggs to places inaccessible to the Nile with wonderful foresight. Hence those who encounter them easily gather how great the future increase of the Nile will be, and how great the fertility of the land. The kite, as the natural philosophers teach, and indeed Jeremiah, cap. viii, 7, hides itself in the winter months, and knows when it should come forth, namely with milder air; which the same you would say of the dove, of the swallow, of the cuckoo, of the cranes, of the stork, for whom it is customary to understand that they must depart from us at the time of winter, and withdraw to sunny places. Moreover the dove provides for its nest, lest the wolf attack its young, by placing squill leaves over it. Bees foresee rains and cold, and when they perceive by conjecture that one of these or both are impending, they do not fly far from the hive but hovering around it as if sitting at doors. Finally cranes foresee storms: whence they fly from the sea to the Mediterranean: thus also oxen, horses, sheep and other animals foresee them and flee to stables or safe places. Hence learn Providence, O man, and by reason foresee the dangers of body and soul, and guard against them by fleeing: foresee, I say, the fires of Sodom, that is, of the world seething with lusts and every crime, and with Lot flee to the mountain, to seclusion, I say, to a safer and more perfect state. "For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?" says eternal Truth. See St. Ambrose, tract. De Fuga sæculi. Well known is the voice of the Angel to St. Arsenius, master of the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius: "Arsenius, flee, be silent, rest, thus you will be saved."
22:4
The reward in Hebrew is עקב ekeb, which first signifies the heel and the sole of the foot: whence Jacob was named, that is, the supplanter, because being born he held the sole of his brother Esau, and afterwards supplanted him by taking away from him the right of the firstborn; secondly, the end, because the heel is the ultimate and the end of the human body; thirdly, reward and fruit: for reward is the end of work. Now first, Lyra by modesty understands the moderation of actions and passions, namely continence; for this begets the fear of the Lord, riches, glory, long and eternal life. For modesty is said to be from mode, as Cicero says in the Offices, and Isidore, book X of the Etymologies, letter M: "Modest," he says, "is said from mode and temperance, doing neither more nor less." And Nonius Marcellus: "Modesty," he says, "is moderation, mode, a moderate amount, the moderate, is the basis of virtue, from which is born moderation, which tempers and directs the modes in deeds and words." Others: "Modesty is said as it were the mode of honesty; but honesty is the beauty of virtue." Secondly, Bede understands by modesty constancy: "Modesty," he says, "he calls the constancy of good works, but the fear of the Lord that which remains forever and ever; because truly the perfection of virtues is to ascend to this state of mind, whereby we fear to offend the grace of the Creator even in the least, preferring nothing whatsoever to his memory, which elsewhere is called perfect charity, casting out fear, namely servile and foolish fear, whereby anyone fears lest perhaps by sinning he may deserve to be subjected to punishments. But in that he adds: Riches, and glory, and life, he signifies in the future. The end therefore of modesty is the fear of the Lord, riches and glory and life; because truly the perfection of virtues is in this life, that we fear the Lord with holy fear, that is, we worship him with sincere love; the end of virtues in the future, that with the riches of the inheritance of the promised heavenly kingdom we may perceive glory and life without end from the Lord. Whence Peter: Therefore with joy unspeakable and glorified, you shall rejoice, obtaining the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls, I Peter i. Thirdly and genuinely, modesty is humility and meekness, whereby one conducts himself modestly, that is humbly and meekly; for this in Hebrew is called ענוה anava. Whence ענו anav is called mild and meek. For humility is the foundation, root and parent of the fear of the Lord and of all virtues; for it itself lays the humble subject to God and to men, so that he may revere, fear, worship, love God, keep his laws, and obey him in all things. It therefore begets the fear of the Lord and its increase, and through it the grace of God, through which he merits and obtains from God riches, glory, length of days and finally eternal life, according to that in chapter iii: "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory." Where "length of days," and long life is proposed as the first and principal good; whence it is also attributed to the right hand. "Riches and glory" follow, and are attributed to the left hand, as goods accessory to life. And in chapter x, length of days is attributed to the fear of God: "The fear," he says, "of the Lord will add days." And in chapter xix: The fear of the Lord is said "to be unto life"; but these three things, humility and the fear of the Lord, bring to man often also in this life, but always more abundantly and perfectly in the future life. So that our text may have this sense, it is to be understood thus, that modesty is signified to lead man to fear God firmly and holily, and through this fear to bring also to man riches, glory and life. Thus Jansenius. The Sirachus has altogether similar things, Ecclesiasticus i, 11 and following. See the things said there. Hence the Chaldean translates, the reward of meekness (the Syrian, of extreme humility) is the fear of the Lord, riches, glory and life; R. Solomon, on account of modesty, he says, divine fear is instilled. Others, understanding the conjunction and thus translating from the Hebrew, the rewards of modesty and the fear of the Lord are riches, glory and life, because modesty is conjoined to the fear of the Lord, and as it begets that, so in turn it is begotten and increased by it, and so as much as one grows, so much does the other also grow. The Septuagint translates modesty for wisdom, because modesty and humility is true wisdom, just as pride is foolishness. Hence the humble man is practically wise, but the proud man is foolish. They translate therefore, generation, or progeny, of wisdom the fear of the Lord, and riches, and glory, and life, that is, as the Author of the Greek Catena translates and explains it: "The fear of the Lord begets wisdom, and glory, and spiritual riches. Moreover, through the origin of wisdom he indicates all virtues connected with one another, so that all have wisdom as their mother. Or conversely, he signifies that the fear of the Lord is the parent of wisdom, or he insinuates that the generation of wisdom itself includes the fear of the Lord; for indeed the fear of the Lord is to those who possess it riches, and glory, and life." This therefore is the progeny and lineage of wisdom: wisdom or prudence begets the fear of the Lord, this begets riches, these glory, glory long life and eternal life. Others, transposing the words through hypallage, or through metathesis, translate thus: the progeny of the fear of the Lord is modesty, or meekness, riches, glory and life, according to that passage in Isaiah xxvi, according to the Septuagint: For fear of thee, O Lord, we have conceived in the womb, and have been in labour, and have brought forth the spirit of salvation, which we have wrought upon the earth. Secondly, Cajetan translates the Hebrew עקב ekeb, that is, end, as heel; whence he thus transfers it through the metathesis already mentioned: The heel of the fear of the Lord is meekness, riches, honor and life, which Cajetan explains thus: The power of meekness, what and how great it is, is described relatively to God, faculties, honors and life: for the sense is, that true meekness treads upon all things, relatively indeed to God, by fearing the supreme God; relatively to faculties, by meriting the richest; relatively to honors, by rendering them due to itself; and finally relatively to the life of the soul, by preserving it: although it can also be extended to the life of the body, in that the meek man treads chiefly upon his own and others' angers, and thereby avoids harms to bodily life. Moreover, the power of meekness is described from the heel, both to designate the perfect virtue of meekness even to the extreme part, signified by the heel: and to signify the act of meekness, which is to tread: for it is the office of the meek to overcome and tread upon all things with quietness of mind; but unless this treading itself be done with filial fear of God, it is not virtue, but the appearance of virtue; but when it is done with fear of God, it merits all good things of faculties, honors and life, and frequently brings them forth in a well-ordered commonwealth; for willingly such men are chosen and promoted by others. This is Cajetan's view. Therefore by this version is signified first, the magnanimity and loftiness of the wise man, humble and meek, namely that, with his mind fixed in heaven and in God, he treads with his feet and heels upon all the riches, honors and pomps of the earth, equally as upon all pride of mind, lust, and covetousness, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus xxv, 14: "The fear of the Lord hath surpassed all things." To this pertains what Pliny writes, lib. XXIX, cap. xx, that the heel of a wolf is of such energy, that if a horse treads upon its tracks, as if stupefied it stops, and fixes its foot. Physicists give the physical reason, that the horse, having scented the wolf its enemy from the track, is struck with fear, and therefore as if terrified it shudders, breaks and tames its spirited and angry nature; in a similar manner the fear of the Lord, striking the mind, breaks and tames all its pride and covetousness. It is related of a fierce and untamed horse, that by this means it was tamed and made docile. A lion was sent against it, the fierce horse placing its head in a corner turned its heels toward the lion, and striking its head with them slew the enemy; but putting aside its ferocity from the fear conceived in this combat, it became docile, and suffered bridle and rider: thus likewise the fear of the Lord tames fierce, haughty, and covetous spirits of the mind, and subdues and makes them docile through meekness. To this we add that the heel signifies meekness, trampling upon riches and honors, ruling over them, and approaching their dominion and possession as it were with a gentle foot and heel imposed. For the possession of things is captured by the imposition of feet and heel. Hence grammarians derive possession from the sitting of feet. Meekness therefore is as it were a heel, by which is captured both the possession of the body and passions, and of riches and honors, according to that promised by Christ, Matt. v: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land." Rightly indeed, says Salazar, is the heel given to meekness, because by the heel footsteps are pressed down, and the way is worn; but to no men do their own footsteps cling more tenaciously to a virtue, and thus they offer the way worn and opened by themselves for others to take, than to the meek. Hence comes that Psalm xxiv, 9: "He will guide the meek in judgment, he will teach the meek his ways," so that namely others may tread in their footsteps, and may pursue the way which they themselves have worn. Finally R. Solomon translates: the heel of modesty is the fear of the Lord: "Because," he says, "modesty is the principal part of the matter, and as it were the foundation; but fear is that which is given less consideration, when it follows: for fear treads at the feet of modesty," both because modesty, derived from measure, so disposes the mind, and places it in the middle of virtue: whence it commands fear and other passions and affections of the soul, which it makes obey itself, and as it were to walk at its feet; and because this is a fitting reward of modesty and humility, and therefore due to it, and attributed by God, so that as much as it subjects itself to all, so much does it excel and rule over all, and thus is itself as the foundation and basis of all virtues, so also the summit and apex; which contains the other virtues, nay begets and rules them, so that like daughters they walk at its feet.
22:5
For arms in Hebrew is צנעם tsinnim, which signifies something sharp; hence first, it signifies thorns, stakes and thistles, because they are sharp; secondly, spears, shields and sharp weapons; thirdly, cold, as appears in Proverbs xxv, 13, because cold like a sharp thorn penetrates and pierces the flesh. Again for sword in Hebrew is פחים pachim, that is, snares; likewise plates, which like snares are extended and spread out, as appears in Exodus xxxix, 3; Numbers xvii, 3. Likewise swords; for these are extended plates, and by the Belgians and other peoples plates are called. Hence First, R. Levi translates, cold and snares in the way of the perverse; some read proud, that is to say, The way by which the perverse and proud proceed to their crimes is troublesome and horrible, as if rigid and congealed by cold, and beset with snares, namely it is laborious, difficult, dangerous, and full of troubles, cares, anguish, and pains. Consider the way and life of robbers in forests, who suffer cold and all the injuries of the sky, likewise constant fears and terrors, and daily dangers, and think that the life of any perverse persons is similar. Again, just as by cold heaps of ice and snow are formed and raised on high, so also pride continually raises the proud to the heights. "For just as ice raises up heaps, so pride raises up fools," says St. Augustine in Psalm cxlvii. Finally, just as cold hardens ice and solidifies it into crystal, so malice hardens the hearts of the perverse. Secondly, better others everywhere translate, thorns and snares. Thus the Septuagint: Thistles, it says, and snares occur in crooked ways; but he who is a keeper of his own soul shall abstain from them; the Syriac, nets and snares in the perverse way; the Chaldean, snares and snares, that is to say, The perverse pay a twofold penalty for their perversity: the first, that it like thorns pricks and torments them; the second, that the same like a snare ensnares and binds them, so that they cannot free and extricate themselves from it. Thus the glutton by his gluttony and excess, the lustful by his lust like a thorn is pricked and tormented, while through it he incurs the French disease, other diseases, anguish and dangers, and is held by it like a snare, so that he cannot extricate himself from it and abstain from lust, as St. Augustine confesses of himself in the Confessions. Thus the avaricious, coveting gain and riches, are pricked by them like thorns, and ensnared by them like snares, while on account of them they commit frauds and usuries, by which they ensnare and suffocate their soul. Hence Cajetan and Baynus by thorns and snares in this place understand riches, just as Christ called them thorns, Matthew xiii, 22: "For thorns they are," says St. Gregory, "because by the pricking of their thoughts they lacerate the mind, and when they draw toward sins, they wound as if by an inflicted wound. Thirdly, and more forcefully, for thorns and thistles Our author translates, arms and swords; and these both actively, which namely strike others, and passively, by which namely they are struck and themselves, or which the impious both to others and to themselves unknowingly prepare. Hence Bede: "It must be understood in two ways," he says, "because the perverse are always armed to harm their neighbors by word or wicked deed, and punishment from the divine judgment always awaits them. But he who strives to save his soul eternally flees far from such arms and swords, because he restrains both his mind and hand from the injury of his neighbors, and with intent mind he takes precaution lest he be struck by the severity of the strict judge." And more clearly Jansenius: This maxim, he says, can be understood in two ways; for "in the way of the perverse," that is in his manner of living, there are "arms and swords, thorns and snares," either because the perverse strives to harm others by word and deed, and as it were to attack with arms and swords, and as it were to prick with thorns, and to involve in snares of fraud and deceit; or because he himself by his perverse life brings evils upon himself, and as it were is pierced through with swords, and is pricked by thorns of remorse of conscience, and is entangled in snares of the devil, by whom he is held captive to his will. This agrees with it: "Contention and unhappiness are in their ways." Thus also in two ways can be understood what follows: "But he that is a keeper of his own soul shall go far from them." For he who strives carefully to preserve his soul restrains his mind and hand from all injury to his neighbor, and lest his conscience be wounded here as it were by certain swords and thorns, or lest he be struck at some time by the sword of divine vengeance, he takes precaution with all the intention of his mind. Hence Irenaeus, book III, chapter iii, relates concerning St. John, that when going to Ephesus he saw Cerinthus inside going to bathe, he leaped out of the bath unwashed, saying that he feared lest the bath should collapse, because Cerinthus the enemy of truth was in it. Finally, custos (keeper) signifies a wise man who takes care of the soul, as it were keeping watch in a station, and from there looking far off to perceive the snares of enemies, their weapons, machinations and frauds, so that he may fortify himself against them, or escape by fleeing, according to that saying: "The life of mortals is a vigil." Hence Rabbi Solomon, translating the Hebrew tsinnim, that is, weapons, as robbers: "Robbers," he says, "and snares are hidden in the way of the wretched," that is, calamities and punishments threaten that person; but the keeper of his own soul, namely he who looks to his own affairs and rightly orders his own actions, will escape such perils. He alludes to that in Psalm x: "It shall rain snares upon sinners, fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup." Mystically, Hugo says: Weapons and swords are the power and worldly wealth by which the wicked abound and press down the just, and often oppress them; but he who is vigilant and a keeper of his own soul, by his vigilance and diligence avoids and escapes them.
22:6
Some think that this proverb is not found in the Hebrew, Chaldean, Greek and Syriac; but is to be understood implicitly. For Solomon cites this saying here as a proverb worn smooth by use, which circulated commonly in the mouths of the people. But they are mistaken, as will soon be evident. The Hebrew texts have it thus: Dedicate, or initiate the child to the mouth of his way; and even when he grows old, he shall not depart from it. The Greek of the Complutensian and Royal editions (for this verse is lacking in the Roman edition), ἐγκαίνισον, that is, dedicate, or renew the child according to his way; and although he shall have grown old, he shall not depart from it; some read: The dedication of a youth according to his way; the Chaldean, instruct the adolescent; the Syriac, he who corrects the child according to his ways, although he grows old, shall not depart from them; Pagninus, imbue the child; Cajetan, accustom the child. For the Hebrew חנך chanoch signifies to initiate, to dedicate, to imbue, to instruct, to accustom. Just as therefore chanuchchath habbaith is called the dedication of a house, so chanuchchath hannaar is called the dedication, that is, the first instruction of a child. The Greeks call it παιδεύων. Whence there exists among the Hebrews: Sepher chinnuch concerning the first instruction of children, as if to say, a Catechism, or the doctrine of children. Our translator rendered it, it is a proverb; but for what reason, in what respect? I answer, because חנך chanoch he took not as an imperative, as the others already cited, but as an infinitive, which often takes the place of a noun: chanoch therefore is the same as to dedicate and to vernacularize, as if to say, It is a dedication, or it is vernacular, that is, spread among the vernacular and domestic people, and as it were dedicated by the solemn use of all, "it is a proverb." לנער lannaar, that is, of the child, or concerning the child. The sense therefore is clear, as if to say: A proverb commonly received, and confirmed and sanctioned by common use and continuous experience, and therefore most true, that the child will retain the way, that is, the manner of living, which he shall have been taught from tender years, shall have drawn in, shall have imbibed, so that he shall have become accustomed to it, even unto old age, nay unto the end of life. Understand that this commonly happens thus, but not always: for some degenerate from the habits of childhood in the age of manhood, and through the occasions of companions, or of honors and dignities, or a like occasion, change their habits entirely, nay their disposition and nature. Others, touched by God's efficacious grace, and strenuously cooperating with it in the age of manhood or old age, correct the vices of adolescence. But these are very few, and this is the force of grace, not of natural habit. You will ask first, what is "according to his way," or, as it is in Hebrew, "according to the mouth of his way"? First, Pagninus interprets the mouth of the way as manner. "Imbue," he says, "the child according to his manner," as if to say, Instruct the child according to his capacity, so that namely you instill easy things first into his tender mind, then difficult things gradually. For the mind of a child is like a vessel having a narrow mouth, into which liquid must be instilled gradually: otherwise if you pour it all in at once, it will flow out at the sides and be lost. In a similar manner, gradually and as it were drop by drop, good sense and habits must be poured into the child's mind: which if done, the child, as his judgment grows, will grow in eagerness for learning, so that even in old age he will desire and rejoice to learn and to make progress. Second, Vatable interprets the mouth of the way as a crossroads: Initiate, he says, the child according to the crossroads of his way, that is, establish and instruct the child from the cradle, as if to say, If you rightly establish the youth, he will persevere in his original rectitude even unto old age: for the child is at a crossroads of virtue and vice, whence if he enters the way of virtue, he will persevere unto old age; but if he takes the way of vice, he will not abandon it in old age. And the mouth is rightly called a crossroads, because just as the mouth is bifid (for it divides into two lips), so a crossroads is bifid: for it divides and is cut into two ways, as here the crossroads of adolescence is divided into the way of virtue and the way of vice. Third, R. Levi understands by the mouth of the way a propensity, as if to say, Establish the child according to his propensity: see in what way, that is, whither his propensity tends, and according to that instruct him. For some are inclined toward studies, some toward agriculture, some toward mechanical arts, etc. Observe therefore to what the child tends, and direct and instruct him in that, so that he may rightly and prudently establish his life according to that. For if you wish to force him against his propensity to something else, from which he shrinks, you will lose your labor, according to that saying: You will accomplish nothing against the will of Minerva. Fourth, Cajetan understands by the mouth of the way the opening, or beginning, of reason and judgment: for just as through the mouth is the entrance and passage into the human body, and into any vessel whatsoever: so likewise through the opening of reason is the entrance and passage into the mind of the child. Whence mouth among the Hebrews metaphorically signifies beginning and entrance, as if to say: When first in the child judgment opens and the use of reason begins, imbue him with discipline and good morals: because the mind of the child is like a blank tablet, which readily receives what is first impressed upon it, and tenaciously retains it, just as wool first imbibes the color with which it is dyed, and stubbornly retains it. Indeed, even before the use of reason, accustom the child to good morals. Solomon admonishes, says Cajetan, that the instruction of the child should not be deferred; but in the mouth (he says) of his way (that is, in the very beginning of the child's way) when the entrance into the child's mind begins to open, accustom him: for although he is not capable of doctrine, he is nevertheless capable of habit; that is, take care that he begins to become accustomed to good acts, words and morals. And he adds the reason: because what we first imbibe, we retain even in old age. And he speaks truly according to the common principles of human progress: for nothing is taken away by this statement from the efficacy of divine grace, or even from some rare effort to change the morals of a man of any age. Nor does the word of the Apostle stand in the way of this saying of Solomon: "When I was a child, I understood as a child, I spoke as a child; but when I became a man, I put away the things of a child," because the Apostle speaks of the conditions consequent upon ages, whereas Solomon speaks of morals and habits which are joined to the child and adolescent age through our use. Hence symbolically, just as the mouth in itself is narrow, and then the narrowness of the mouth is dilated in the vessel, and ends in the great capacity of the vessel: so likewise the narrow discipline of the child ends in the great amplitude of happiness and joy; for this is produced by exercise and habituation. Fifth and plainly, Our author turns to the mouth of the way, according to the way: for על פי al phi or לפי lephi, that is, to the mouth, among the Hebrews is the same as according to, along, as the Hebrews know, and can be proved by a thousand examples of Holy Scripture. The sense is therefore, as if to say: The child according to his way, that is, according to the manner of acting and method of living, which he draws and imbibes in childhood, and to which he becomes accustomed, will proceed thereafter in the same, so that neither in old age will he depart from it. Whence Our author for child renders adolescent, which word, as Jansenius notes, here is rather a participle from the verb adolesco, than a noun, as if to say: The child in a certain manner of living, whether he be good and upright, or depraved and wicked, adolescing and growing thus imbibes it, that not even in old age does he allow himself to be moved from it. Such was Joseph, to whom therefore his father Jacob, blessing as he died: "His son, he says, increasing Joseph, his son increasing and comely in appearance," Gen. xlix, 22, where the Septuagint has: his son increased Joseph, his son increased desirable, my younger son, return to me. Wherefore he who gives the child free rein, hoping to restrain him when he is older, is deceived: for when more advanced he will do what he did when he was a child, nor will he change his manner of living, and he will be like an unbroken horse. For the child is like an animal, for instance a horse, an ox, a lion, a hare, which, whatever way it took at first, it thereafter always retains. Our author took לנער lannaar, that is, the child in the accusative, for הנער hannaar, that is, child or adolescent in the nominative. For thus the articles Li among the Hebrews are sometimes interchanged. Or rather, as I said a little before, lannaar is the genitive case, or ablative, as if to say: The proverb is of the child or concerning the child, namely that the child or adolescent will not abandon in old age the way which he trod in childhood. Note: The Hebrew חנך chanoch can first be translated as to dedicate a child, or the dedication of a child; for just as an altar or temple is dedicated to God, so a child and childhood, being pure and untouched, ought immediately to be dedicated to God, so that through it all the remaining age may be dedicated to God, as to its author and lord. See St. Chrysostom, homily On Anna and Samuel: for Anna dedicated the child Samuel to God; where among other things he says: "Is it not absurd that we shore up a house threatening ruin, spending money, summoning builders, in short doing everything; but the house of God (for the soul of a young man ought to be the house of God) we do not deign to care for even with ordinary care." And further down: "If you are a mother, consecrate your son to God following the example of Anna, and bring him into the temple, or rather prepare him himself as a royal temple for God. Your members, says the Apostle, are the body of Christ, and a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you;" therefore they ought to be consecrated and dedicated to God as soon as possible. St. Ambrose adds in On Virgins, book II; for what he writes there concerning girls can likewise be written and said in the same way concerning boys: "A virgin," he says, "is the house of God, the gift of parents, the priesthood of chastity; a virgin is the victim of her mother, by whose daily sacrifice divine power is appeased," etc. Wherefore St. Thomas, III, Question lxxxix, article 6, in the body of the text, teaches that a child, when he begins to use reason, is bound to turn to God through an act of faith, love and religion, offering himself to Him and dedicating his whole life, under penalty of mortal sin. Second, chanoch can be translated as to train a child, as it were a recruit for war to be waged throughout his whole life against the flesh, the world and the devil: for חניך chanich is a recruit, who learns to handle weapons, and is prepared to become a soldier, and is instructed in all things pertaining to soldiery, as is evident from Genesis xiv, 14. The instruction of children therefore ought to be similar to the training of a soldier, who becomes accustomed to weapons, cold, hunger, toil, combat, etc. Hear King Theodoric instructing his Goths in military discipline in Cassiodorus, book I, epistle 24: "Bring forth," he says, "your young men to the discipline of Mars; for what is not learned in youth is not known in mature age." Vegetius also, book I, chapter iv: "That one must compel those beginning puberty to selection," he says, "no one is ignorant; for not only more quickly, but also more perfectly are those things imbibed which are learned by children." Diodorus also writes thus concerning the Balearics and their skill in stone-throwing: "They propel stones so correctly that the place aimed at rarely escapes the blow. This practice gives them this from continuous childhood, forced to this contest by their mothers: for they place bread as a mark upon an upright piece of wood, which they aim to strike, nor do they take food before they have knocked down the bread with a stone to take as food," etc. In a similar manner let parents, teachers, and tutors instruct children as recruits, so that they may contend against concupiscences, and obtain the palm of virtue. Thirdly, chanoch can be translated, train up a child, namely so that the beginning of reason, age and life may be rightly formed toward all honesty and probity, just as the Septuagint translates it ἐγκαίνισον; whence encænia are called, as if you were to say renewals: for from the oldness of the old Adam, namely from concupiscence, the mind of the child must be renewed, so that it may be restored to that newness in which it was created by God in Adam: for old age and the aged cannot be renewed; whence Diogenes used to say, "to heal the dead and to teach the old is the same thing." Wherefore that foolish old man among Theogenes did not suffer himself to be taught by another, saying: "Do not teach me, age makes me unteachable." To which Seneca assents, book III, epistle 25: "Greater age, he says, is hard and intractable, and cannot be reformed; tender things are shaped." From the proper store of Philosophy Mantuan drew forth that hexameter of his, X Aeneid: The best days of all flee first from wretched mortals in their life. Where he called the first day of age, that is the first youth, the best. Seneca sets forth the reason, book VI, epistle 109, because youth alone is capable of discipline, not old age: "Why, he says, the best? because we can learn when young: this time is suitable for exercising minds through studies: what remains is slower and more languid." As if that were the best part of life in which we learn; the worst, in which we languish from learning and are idle, such as the unlearned old age which the Philosopher here testifies to be. Whence that proverb: "An old parrot neglects the rod." For, as Apuleius, book II of the Floridian Works, and Pliny, book X of Natural History, chapter xlii, have handed down to memory, a parrot in the first two years of its life easily learns whatever is suggested to it, but in old age becomes so stupefied that, however much it is beaten, it is never taught. The same difficulty is acknowledged by St. Jerome, Preface to the Gospels: "It is a dangerous presumption, he says, for an old man to change his language, and to draw back the graying world to the beginnings of little children." Thus Mendoza on 1 Kings iii, 13. Fourthly, chanoch can be translated, imbue a child, so that allusion is made to cloths which in dyeing are imbued with their colors, according to that of St. Jerome, epistle 7 to Læta, concerning the education of a daughter: "What is drunk in by tender years is with difficulty eradicated; who can restore wool dyed in purple to its former whiteness? A new vessel long retains both the flavor and the odor with which it was first imbued." He alludes to that of Horace, epistle to Lollius: A vessel, once imbued when fresh, will long retain the odor. And to that of Quintilian, I Institutes: "Nature, he says, we are most tenacious of those things which we perceive in tender years, as the flavor with which you imbue new things endures; nor can the colors of wool, by which that simple whiteness has been changed, be washed out." Akin to this is that saying of Philo, book That Every Good Man is Free: "Just as vessels, he says, will retain the odor with which they were first imbued; so the minds of youths never allow the forms which they have first conceived in imagination to be abolished." And that of the Poet: What a new vessel drinks, when old it tastes. Therefore what anyone learns as a youth, he unlearns with difficulty when he becomes a man or old. Fifthly, chanoch can be translated, renew a child, so that allusion is made to new fields, that is fields newly broken up, which are ploughed, harrowed, and sown, so that they may produce an abundant harvest. In a similar manner the mind of the child must be ploughed, harrowed, and sown with good precepts and morals, so that it may produce a harvest of all virtues. Hence Religious at their entrance into Religion and novitiate are formed for all the duties of Religion, so that they may become good Religious. Wherefore Sophar the friend of Job, chapter xx, 11: "His bones, he says, shall be filled with the vices of his youth and with him shall sleep in the dust." Why, I ask, did he not say his flesh, but his bones? Plainly, because just as things that sit upon bones harden and endure with them, so absolutely the vices of youth, as St. Gregory notes there, book XV Morals, chapter v, become daily harder, and so grow in so much that even in old age they are solidified, and, what is worse, not diminished, but often multiplied, as the same St. Gregory cited observes. Whence Clement of Alexandria, book II Pedagogue, chapter x: "Very often, he says, men educated in evil habits of life have turned out more effeminate than women," as if to say: Those very ones who are born men, very often on account of bad education do not grow into men, but grow old into women, nature degenerating through bad education. And would that the vices of youth would stop in old age! but alas! when with the sinner "they shall sleep in the dust," that is, shall be placed in the sepulchre: for since all other things, as Titelmannus well observes at that place, are left behind after death, only works from the cradle even to the sepulchre will follow the dead. Thus our Mendoza on I Kings, chapter 1, verse 28. Sixth, chanoch can be translated as accustom the boy, according to that passage in Lamentations 3: "It is good for a man that he hath borne the yoke from his youth;" for, as Aristotle says in the second book of the Ethics, chapter 1: "It matters not a little, nay rather, that which contains the thing and its cause, that men be trained from childhood, that is, accustomed." Plato agrees, in book II of the Laws, where he thus determines concerning boys: "Discipline, he says, I call that virtue which is able to contain the minds of boys; for pleasure and pain, love and hatred, as correctly as possible, before they are moved by reason, flow into their minds, so that more easily when they have come to reasoning, they may perform all things in accordance with reason." What therefore someone learns in youth, he as a man or old man unlearns with difficulty. Wherefore St. Jerome and from him Bede: "Greek history, he says, relates that Alexander, the most powerful king and master of the world, could not be free in his manners and in his gait from the vices with which he had been infected while still a small boy." Thus Susanna retained the chastity and constancy which she had imbibed from tender years, even unto death, Daniel 13:3. Plato gives the physical reason a priori, in book VII of the Laws: "At first light, he says, boys should go forth to the school of letters. Since indeed neither cattle, nor any other animal ought to live without a keeper, nor boys either without pedagogues, nor slaves without masters; but a boy is more intractable than all beasts: for since he does not yet have the fountain of wisdom absolutely composed, he is the most treacherous, the most fierce, the most wanton of all brute animals. For this reason a boy must be constrained as it were by many bridles, and as soon as he is separated from his mothers and nurses, he must be immediately handed over to pedagogues, who may govern and tame his wantonness: then he must be commended to teachers to learn those disciplines which befit a free man." Again Clement of Alexandria, book I of the Pedagogue, chapter 5: "There is, he says, in us a breast of youth itself," that is to say, Just as milk is drawn from the maternal breast, by which all the members of an infant are nourished: so from youth are drawn the manners, by which the remaining ages are formed. Therefore a wise man prudently: "For four reasons, he says, the demon hunts young men especially. First, because he knows that pious young men are especially loved and sought by God, therefore he delights to snatch this flower of age from God." As a sign of this thing, God, Leviticus 12:8, commanded not doves, but young doves to be offered to him; because, as Theodoret says there, he detested in adult doves wantonness, in small young doves he embraced innocence. Second, "because thus he paves the way to the sins of the following life." Third, "because young men are easily deceived, with difficulty can they extricate themselves from the bonds of the devil." Fourth, "because while they sin, they sin without restraint." Whence St. Augustine, sermon 246 On the Seasons: "O young men, he says, flower of age, danger of the mind." For this reason, "four things are profitable to young men for their whole life: First, to esteem God above all things, and to know that the soul is more precious than all things after God. Second, to love the Blessed Virgin Mary with the whole heart, as the mother of the Son of God, and to commend themselves to her daily, and to do something in her honor." Third, "never to sustain mortal sin in conscience, but on each day to grieve over sins, and to confess them as soon as possible." Fourth, "to think frequently that they are about to die shortly, and that after death either they will burn eternally in hell with the devil, or will enjoy eternal happiness with God and the Angels in heaven." For, as St. Ambrose says, book I of the Interpolation of Job, chapter 7: "Youth alone is weak in strength, infirm in counsels, hot with vice, fastidious toward admonishers, allured by delights." Whence the Poet: Wax to be bent to vice, harsh to admonishers. Concerning which matter see more in St. Augustine, sermon 246 On the Seasons. See also what I have annotated on Ecclesiasticus 30:1 and following.
22:7
That is, of one who gives a loan. For the Hebrew מלוח malve signifies one who gives a loan either with usury or without usury. Whence in Scripture one who lends at interest is sometimes the same as one who lends. For this reason Pagninus translates clearly, the rich shall rule over the poor, and the servant shall be he who receives a loan to the man who lends; Vatablus, and the debtor serves the lender. First, Baynus thus explains it, as if Solomon here censures a perverse custom of the world, by which dominion over the poor is assigned to the rich on account of their wealth, when to rule and to have dominion belongs not to wealth, but to prudence and judgment, which the poor often possess greater and more sincere than the rich, inasmuch as they are more alien from their cupidity and ambition. Second, Lyra and Cajetan hold that here the arrogance and pride of the rich are accused, by which they arrogate to themselves dominion over the poor, and enslave them to themselves as it were as slaves. Hear St. Basil in his oration On Riches and Poverty: "Dogs," he says, "when they have received something, suddenly become tame; but the lender becomes more and more irritated; for he does not cease to bark: even if you bind yourself by oath, he has no faith, he searches into your inner dealings, he inquires curiously into your affairs, in the presence of your wife he affects shame before friends with insults, in the forum he casts threats, and finally he makes your life intolerable." Third, more fully and simply R. Levi, Aben-Ezra, Jansenius and others: This maxim, they say, declares the advantage of riches and the disadvantage of poverty, namely that riches bring with them strength, power, dominion; poverty however brings hardships, weakness, obedience and servitude: whence it tacitly admonishes each one to prepare for himself at least moderate means by labor, so that he may enjoy their advantages and avoid the inconveniences of poverty. "The rich therefore rules over the poor," both because he binds and obligates them to himself by gifts, contracts, loans, etc.; and because the rich man easily procures for himself by his wealth servants, followers and soldiers, by whom he may prevail over others and command them; and because wealth makes men spirited and confident, poverty however makes them faint-hearted and distrustful; and finally because the poor expect sustenance and many benefits from the rich; the rich however expects nothing from the poor. For this reason the rich are wont to be chosen in the state for magistracies, as more honorable and powerful, so that they may rule over others as it were inferior and subject. Mystically, Bede explains it, as if to say, "The rich by virtues have precedence in the judgment of the hidden inspector over them, nay they will be their judges in the future judgment, they who lacked the riches of virtues. And he who receives the word of saving doctrine from a teacher, is a servant of that same teacher, that is a debtor to fulfill all things which that teacher of heavenly magistracy prescribes to him by right." Thus also the Author of the Greek Catena, R. Solomon, Hugh and others. And He Who Receives a Loan, Is a Servant to the Lender In Hebrew, and the servant receiving a loan to the man giving a loan. For among the Hebrews למלוה lemalve, like any participle or noun of almost any kind, is a case; whence it can be turned into the dative, to one giving a loan; and into the ablative, by one giving a loan; and into the accusative, the man giving a loan, supply he will worship and venerate. The Septuagint therefore translates, the rich shall rule over the poor, and servants shall lend to their own masters, as if to say, The rich are wont to rule over the poor, but let them rule over them modestly, mindful that the wheel of fortune is often turned and converted, so that it comes to pass that the rich become poor, and the poor become rich, namely so that servants may give a loan to masters reduced to want, and thus subject them to themselves, and bind them as it were as debtors; thus we often see it happen that a poor man becomes rich, a debtor becomes a creditor, a servant becomes a master, a slave becomes a lord, a subject becomes a King and Emperor. To this sense some attempt to bend the Vulgate version: "And he who receives a loan, is a servant to the lender;" but they do violence to it, and distort it from itself to another meaning. The Syriac, following the Septuagint, asserts something far more contrary to the Hebrew; for it reads thus: the poor shall rule over the rich, and the servant shall lend to the usurer. Following the Septuagint and the Syriac, St. Ambrose in De Nabuthe, chapter xiv: "Do you not know, O man, how to build up riches? If you wish to be rich, be poor to the world, that you may be rich to God. Be rich in faith, be rich to God. He who is rich in mercy, he is rich to God. Rich in simplicity, he is rich to God. Rich in wisdom and knowledge, he is rich to God. There are those who abound in poverty, and those who are in want amid riches. The poor abound, whose deep poverty has abounded in the riches of their simplicity: but the rich have been in want and have hungered." He proves this from the present maxim of Solomon, when he adds: "For neither is it written idly: The poor shall be set over the rich, and servants shall lend to their own masters; because the rich and lords sow things superfluous and evil, from which they gather no fruit, but reap thorns. Therefore the poor shall be subject to the rich, and servants shall lend spiritual things to their masters, just as the rich man begged that the poor Lazarus would lend him a drop of water. You also, O rich man, can fulfill this saying, if you give to the poor. For he who gives to the poor lends to the Lord." The same St. Ambrose, expounding this maxim mystically, in book II of De Jacob et Vita beata, chapter iii, and applying it to Esau who served Jacob, and to the Jews who serve Christians: "He is the servant of many, he says, who is subject to vices, who has bound himself to many masters. For he who acts all things prudently, and lives as he wishes, he alone is free: not the condition of fortune makes one a slave, but shameful folly. Finally, a prudent servant shall rule foolish masters, and servants shall lend to their own masters. What shall they lend? certainly not money, but wisdom, just as the law also says: Thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow, Deut. xv. The Jew shall lend to the proselyte the oracles of the divine law, but because he himself could not see the mysteries of the law, and knew not the oracles which he had, he who lent the letter to the Gentiles, now borrows from them the grace of spiritual doctrine, and is rightly subject to servitude, because he who borrows is a slave, as it were bound to the creditor's usury; but he who imparts the interest of pious doctrine, he is a prince, just as the law says: Thou shalt be the prince of many nations; but a prince from among them shall not be thine, ibid. For a prince is he who rules, who also has the principality of wisdom, which the people of the Jews had. But because he could not keep what he taught, he ought to learn what he knew not how to teach." The same in Psalm civ: "Finally, to a wise servant, he says, many (as it is written) free men serve, and there is a servant of understanding, who rules foolish masters. Whom therefore do you consider more free? wisdom alone is free, which sets the poor over the rich, and which makes servants lend to their own masters, to lend not money, but understanding." And after some intervening remarks, he adds: "But he is more free, who is free within himself, who is free from the laws of nature, knowing the law of nature to be prescribed to morals, not to conditions, and the measure of duties to be consonant not with the will of man, but with the disciplines of nature: is this man therefore free to you alone, or does he seem to you a certain censor and prefect of morals? Whence truly Scripture says: Because the poor shall be set over the rich, and certainly as administrators of private affairs. For the wise man is always free, always honored, always he who presides over laws." But this reading of the Syriac and St. Ambrose seems less genuine and less true: for it is contrary to the Hebrew, the Vulgate, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Chaldean, and the others, who all agree with the Vulgate. The Vulgate version therefore is true and genuine; and its plain sense is, as it were: He who accepts a loan becomes as it were a servant of the lender; and he who accepts at interest or usury becomes a servant of the lender or usurer: because by the debt of the loan or usury he is obligated to them, and becomes as it were a debtor to them as creditors, and pledges himself and his goods: wherefore the usurer and creditor is called in Hebrew נושה nose, from elevating and exalting; because he who accepts a loan from him is compelled by the benefit received to supplicate him, to venerate and honor him. In Chaldaic, however, it is called רשיא raschia, from the root רשא rascha, that is, he was able: for the creditor as it were has power and right over him to whom he gave the loan. Hence that widow said to Elisha in IV Kings iv, 1: "Behold the creditor cometh, to take away my two sons to serve him." For this was permitted to the creditor by ancient laws, as Budaeus notes in his Forensics, indeed Christ, in Matthew xviii, concerning the wicked servant, to whom ten thousand talents had been forgiven: "When, he says, he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made." Furthermore, by ancient laws creditors claimed debtors for themselves as chattels, and thus it was once in use and law that debtors were handed over to creditors as slaves and captives and bound, is clear from the monuments of the ancients. Certainly among the Hebrews the testimonies of this matter are not obscure, in Isaiah lviii, verse 6: "Loose the bands of wickedness," that is, loose those obligations and bonds which impious and wicked creditors impose upon debtors contracted from pledges and usury. Concerning the Greeks, Plutarch testifies the same in his Commentary On Avoiding Debt, where he speaks of creditors and exactors with an elegant comparison thus: "Just as Darius sent to Athens Datis and Artaphernes, carrying chains and bonds in their hands to bind captives, so these, carrying vessels full of contracts and documents as it were of fetters throughout Greece, walk about the cities." Concerning the Romans, Livy teaches, in book II and VIII: "Those who had been bound before were handed over to creditors, and others were bound;" for among the Romans nexus or nexum was a kind of obligation, "when the body of the debtor could be seized as a pledge by the right and condition of obligation," as Budaeus explains: for the debtor pledged was handed over to the creditor bound. Concerning this and the inhumanity of usurers, see Livy in the place cited; Varro, book VI On the Latin Language; Cicero, in the Topics discussing alienation, mancipium and nexus; Budaeus in the Pandects, in the title On Daily Adjudication; Quintilian, book VII, chapter IV and chapter VII; Gellius, book XX, chapter 1; Macrobius, book I, chapter XVI; Aelian, book XII, chapter XX and XXI. But Solon, as Diodorus, Plutarch and Laërtius write, abrogated that law at Athens. "Payment, says Diodorus (speaking of the laws of the Egyptians), was made only from the goods of the debtor, the body could not be adjudged to the creditor." Christ adds, in Matthew XVIII, that the creditor had right over the body of the debtor, so that he might torture it: "Being angry, he says, his lord delivered him to the torturers, until he should pay all the debt." Which indeed seems to smack of that most inhuman cruelty of creditors, by which at the creditors' pleasure after chains and bonds the limbs of debtors were torn, which Aulus Gellius relates, book XX, chapter 1, from the law of the Twelve Tables, whose words are of this tenor: "For acknowledged debt and matters judged by right, thirty days shall be allowed, afterwards let there be seizure of the person, let him be brought to court, let him be led along, let him be bound, either with a rope or with shackles of fifteen pounds, or, if he wishes, with a greater bond." Then indeed he teaches, if there were several creditors, they had the right to cut up the body of the debtor. "On the third market day, he says, let them divide the parts, if they cut more or less, let it be without fraud." Gellius then adds from his own: "Nothing truly more inhuman, nothing more cruel, unless (as indeed appears) for this reason such inhumanity of punishment was announced, lest it should ever come to that." And Plutarch, in the Commentary already cited: "We, while we are ashamed to be content with our own things, by giving pledges and undertaking contracts give ourselves into servitude." Concerning that butchery and slaughter, a little below: "These have made for wretched debtors from the forum a place destined for the punishments of the infamous, devouring and tearing them like vultures, and striking their entrails deeper with inserted beak. Thus our Pineda in Job. XXII, 6." Wherefore the Persians, as Herodotus testifies, used to say that there are two shameful sins among men, of which the first is to be a debtor (for this arises almost either from idleness, or from gluttony and luxury), the second to lie, which follows from the former. An anonymous author cited in Suidas says that most wretched are those men who have teeth now red, now pale, by which saying he noted those who have borrowed mutually from others: for these men, while the loan is being demanded back, blush; but when they have seen the creditor, they grow pale lest they be forced to pay. More excellently St. Basil, in Anthony's Melissa, part II, cap. XXVIII: "Whoever, he says, subjects himself to usuries, whose possession he does not hold, voluntarily and perpetually serves servitude. I have beheld a wretched thing, free men whose patrimonies were burdened with debt, who were dragged that they might come; neither do nights bring rest to the debtor, neither is day pleasant, nor is the sun delightful, but throughout all his life he is turned toward sadness: he hates the days which hasten to the prescribed time; he fears the months, as if they were the generators of usuries; if he has slept, in dreams he sees the usurer hanging over his head, an ill-omened dream; but if he has been awake, thought and anxiety about usuries occupy him." If these things are true in debt and the debtor of money, much more true are they in the debt of the soul, namely in sin and the sinner, who always fearful dreads death, judgment, demons, hell, which awaits him, that he may pay the last farthing, Matt. cap. V, 26.
22:8
For iniquity in Hebrew is עולה aula, which word is general, signifying every wickedness that is committed against laws or equity and honesty. Properly, however, it denotes the injustice and injury inflicted upon another. That injury is being treated here is evident from the fact that he adds: "And the rod of his wrath shall be consumed"; for he whom the unjust man strikes, the struck man strikes back. For "shall reap evils" in Hebrew is shall reap און aven, that is, iniquity, or sorrow: for aven signifies evil both of guilt and of the punishment following guilt. Whence Vatablus translates it, calamity; the Septuagint, he who sows evils, shall reap evils; Theodotion, he who sows injustice, shall reap iniquity; Aquila, loss; Symmachus, he who sows iniquity, shall reap injustice. Some attach this saying to the preceding one, and according to the version of the Septuagint it can be attached, but not according to the Vulgate: according to it, indeed, these two sentences appear plainly disparate. According to it, therefore, the sense is, as if to say, He who sows guilt, shall reap punishment, indeed not rarely a new guilt with new punishment. There is force and energy in "he sows." First, indeed, just as a seed has the power of producing grain like itself, so guilt has the power of producing both punishment and guilt like itself. Thus injury begets injury, quarrel sows quarrel, slaughter provokes slaughter, insult elicits insult, so that he who is unjust and injurious to another, in turn receives from him a like injury, namely a blow or harsh word, as if a offspring produced by himself. Second, just as one grain sown, so likewise one guilt begets manifold guilt and punishment: for evil seeds are more fertile than good ones. If, therefore, the seed of virtue of one produces many virtues and rewards of glory, much more shall the seed of sin produce many crimes and punishments. Third, each seed produces its own grain, as wheat produces wheat, barley produces barley; so each guilt produces its own guilts and punishments: for pride begets anger, envy, quarrel, slaughter, etc.; gluttony, however, begets feasting, drunkenness, excess, debauchery, lust, quarrels, etc., and moreover the punishment of disgust, vomiting, sleeplessness, catarrh, fever, dysentery, dizziness, and a thousand diseases which are wont to follow gluttony. Similarly, avarice begets other punishments, sloth begets others, envy begets others, etc. Fourth, just as the same earth which receives seed, receives it for harvest; and just as the farmer who sows, also reaps: so likewise the sinner, who sows iniquity, also reaps iniquity and its manifold punishment; for the harm follows the head, just as the executioner follows the guilty man, to torture and punish him. This is what Job says, cap. IV, 8: "They that sow sorrows, shall also reap them." And Paul, Gal. VI, 8: "For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap." And Christ, Matt. VII, 2: "For with what measure you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again." AND THE ROD OF HIS WRATH SHALL BE CONSUMED. — Others read, shall be consummated, that is, shall be consumed. "The rod of wrath" first, is wrath itself, by which the angry man, as it were with a rod, rages and strikes others either with harsh words, or even with inflicted blows and stripes: for on account of this, by the just judgment of God, he is punished with the like wrath and savagery of others, by which he has vexed and oppressed others; for wrath is compared to a rod, says Aben Ezra, according to that of Isaiah X, 5: "The rod of my fury." The sense, therefore, is, as if to say, His wrath, savagery and injustice shall be turned for him into a rod, by which he may be punished and destroyed. Second, "the rod of wrath" is power (for the sign of this is the rod and scepter, as the Hebrews have it) to which is joined pride and wrath: for these press heavily, indeed oppress, according to that saying of Seneca in the Proverbs: "It is a thunderbolt, where anger dwells together with power." But such men shall experience and feel the like power of others sharpened by wrath, either in the present life, or in the future. Third, appropriately to the seed and harvest, of which the discourse preceded, the rod here can be understood as the rod of threshing, namely the flail by which grains are beaten out from the sheaf, as if to say, The unjust man who has beaten and threshed others and the sheaf and goods of others, he himself likewise and his sheaf and goods shall be beaten and threshed by others, so that in that in which he sinned, in the same he may be punished, according to the law of retaliation. Thus, therefore, the rod or flail, by which his fruits were to be beaten out, not fruits which are none, but his very self and his tares and thorns, that is, his crimes and offenses, shall beat and beat out; the rod, I say, and flail by which he shall be beaten, either by God, or by a judge, or by another in any way whatsoever. For consumetur, Vatablus and Pagninus translate deficiet, that is to say, God according to works will render to each one, and will deprive those doing iniquity of all authority, which they use with cruelty toward their subjects; thus R. Levi and Aben-Ezra. Others translate consumet, namely him, that is to say, The very rod of wrath will consume the wrathful one, or the one striking in wrath. Whence the Septuagint translates, and the plague of their works he shall consume, or the poison and wound of their works he shall feel to the end, as the Author of the Catena of the Greeks translates it. For just as a plague discharges virulent pus, so wrath and cruelty begets pain and harm to its author. Mystically Bede: "He who sows," he says, "iniquity, shall reap evils," that is, "he who by word or example spreads his iniquity into others, shall receive vengeance in place of harvest." Moreover, what follows: "And the rod of his wrath shall be consumed," you may rightly apply to Doctors and Superiors, who rigidly chastise their sinning subjects, when they themselves commit graver sins; or to those who teach what is equal and good, when they themselves are wicked and depraved. For these by their words condemn themselves: for the censure by which they strike others, they bear upon themselves; wherefore by the chastisement by which they chastise others, they themselves ought to be chastised, according to that of the Apostle, Rom. II, 21: "Thou therefore that teachest another, teachest not thyself? thou that preachest that men should not steal, stealest? thou that sayest men should not commit adultery, committest adultery," etc.
22:9
For he who is inclined to mercy, in Hebrew is טוב עין tob ain, that is, a good eye, or rather good of eye; the Chaldean, he who has a good eye. "A good eye," says Vatablus, "is a liberal, kind and candid man. "Good of eye" is he who regards the poor with a placid and kind eye, because he is inclined to mercy, both by the inclination of nature and by the inclination of virtue, namely inclined both from natural compassion, and more especially from the habit of charity," says Lyran. "He shall be blessed," that is, shall be made fortunate by God, and shall be heaped with every blessing temporal and heavenly, human and divine, present and eternal. For, as St. Chrysostom says, homily 12 on the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Almsgiving and mercy is as it were a certain golden and living dove, having a placid aspect and a mild eye: nothing is better than that eye; and so the eyes of mercy have become dove-like, placid, benevolent, and by their very mildness in a certain way more mild." Moreover, "he shall be blessed" could also be taken for "he shall be praised," as if to say, Men shall praise and bless him, nay God and Angels; for thus it seems to explain this passage, alluding to it, in Ecclesiasticus, chapter 31, verse 28, when it says: "They shall bless the lips of the splendid in bread." The sense therefore is, as if to say, He who has a kind heart, and from this a kind eye, who regards the needy kindly, even if he himself be poor, so that he cannot do them great favors: nevertheless he shall be blessed by God, because with a liberal heart he gave to the poor even from his necessary bread, nay he divided his bread in half, giving half to the poor, keeping the other half for himself: for God regards more the promptness of the giver and his kind mind and eye, than the magnitude of the gift, according to that saying of Christ, Luke 21, 3: "Verily I say to you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than all: for all these out of their abundance have cast in unto the offerings of God: but she out of her want hath cast in all the living that she had." Hence the Septuagint translates, God blesses or loves the cheerful giver. The reason a priori is, that a gift is esteemed more from the affection of the giver than from the excellence of the gift: for he who gives a small thing with great affection of soul and benevolence, is more pleasing, and is considered to give more, than he who gives a great thing with small affection of soul. Now the affection of the soul, especially love and benevolence as much as hatred and indignation, shines forth and gleams most in the eyes, as in the windows of the heart. Hence the envious and malicious, like those who cast the evil eye, carry fascination and poison in their eyes, and vibrate it upon those standing by, especially children, so that children loathe food and are consumed by wasting: on the other hand the kind and beneficent, with a kind heart, eye and hand regarding the needy, and doing them good according to their ability, though small, confer upon them life and health. Following Solomon, Ben-Sira, in the alphabet, letter Teth: "Withdraw not," says he, "thy hand from doing good." You will ask how much, to whom, how often and in what manner should one do good? I answer, one should give as much as one's strength permits, so that one should rather give beyond one's strength than below it. But first of all regard must be had for those to whom we give: for if they need little, let little be given; if much, much. Now indeed one should give as often as the poor are in need. Whence Aquila, the teacher of Aquila of Pontus, used to say, that the poor man who had experienced our beneficence in the morning, if he returned in the evening, should not be sent away empty. But how, you will say, shall we give? Here the Hebrews teach that three things are to be observed: first, that alms be given secretly and in secret, not openly and in public; second, that it be given with a cheerful countenance: for God loves a cheerful giver, according to the saying of the Apostle; third, that when we give, we address them with kind words: for prayer conciliates grace to the gift, which often avails and can do more than the gift itself. To this pertains the maxim of the Arabs, Century I, number 80: "The liberal man is near to God, near to man, near to paradise, far from the fire of hell," as if to say, The beneficent and liberal man is happy in this life and the future, on earth and in heaven. Most excellently Nazianzen, in the Oration on Care for the Poor: "Be thou," says he, "to the afflicted a God, imitating the mercy of God; for nothing more divine falls upon man than beneficence. And again: "Most beautifully and kindly God does this, in that He esteems the gift not from the price of the thing given, but from the ability and mind of the giver. Do not delay to be kind, but be so now; nor because the sum of the price has deprived thee, abandon all liberality, but render part in deed, part in readiness of mind, or in purpose for the future (for the Greek προθυμία signifies both). A great remedy for the afflicted is mercy bestowed from the heart, and genuine compassion makes the calamity much lighter." This fable of the bear, the lamb, and the dove, armed with vigorous similitudes, which Cyril recounts, serves this purpose—Cyril, *Apology of Moral Matters*, book I, chapter XXII, whose title is: "Always hold rather to the part of mercy": "A dove, observing a bear's cub raging over a captured lamb, said: Why do you rage against the wretched? To which he replied: If you would attend to my generation, my temperament, and my nature, you would answer yourself: Surely I am the son of a bear, my physiognomy shows that I shall be a bear, and therefore now I imitate the bear's nature. Then she added: Abandon your corrupted generation, overcome your savage temperament, put off your bestial nature; for God the merciful created you, nature the compassionate nourishes you, the level earth sustains you. You live by sweet blood, you subsist by the friendly joining of your members, and you are solidified by the covenant of peace of your humors. Truly, the whole order of nature draws you toward compassion. For all things celestial and terrestrial bestow upon you so much goodness that you may live. Indeed, you do not purchase the vivifying motion of your body, nor the light of heaven, nor the breath of air, nor the grain of earth, nor the flowing of abundant water, by which you live. Whence, I ask, do all these things come to you, except from nature's clemency alone? Therefore abandon your fury, mitigate your rage, cease to rage, and turn yourself to imitating the common compassion. To these things he replied, somewhat softened: Truly, I would do what you wisely exhort, if I did not have reason itself dominating all evils. Presently she said: Well, you have spoken truly. Since all cruel harshness arises from the ferocity of a bestial mind. For the sea when exasperated is covered with darkness, and gold when polished and smoothed gleams more brightly. Thus the light of wisdom is the companion of benignity, and always the friend of compassion, but in a disturbed mind turbid anger is aroused, obscure lack of wisdom, harsh cruelty." Whence he draws this practical conclusion, and assigns it as it were an epimythium: "The wise man, therefore, conquering all evils by reason, having suffered offense, spurns anger by the power of magnanimity, remits injury and cruelty by the beneficence of liberality, and remembers nothing further than the beneficence of his own heart. Thus he breaks inflicted evils by constancy, conquers them by patience, and shows himself a triumpher of mercy from his whole heart. For he knows that the guilty one is already subject to anger, and therefore the victor, having conquered, has compassion, and through the antidote of his own compassion he heals the evil of another's infirmity. Thus therefore the wise man's invincible peace is, and his vengeance is clemency. In good things indeed is his supreme victory; and in evil things, his virtue inviolate. But he who is quickly kindled by the flames of anger reeks like sulphur. But when the prudent man grows angry opportunely, he shines like polished gold. The angry man therefore is foul sulphur, and the wise man who is angry is refined gold. Having said these things, he departed." Moreover, this sentiment is illustrious: for this reason the Seventy expand and explain it as it were paraphrastically in a threefold manner; the first is: "God loves the cheerful and generous giver"; or, as others read: "God loves; he has consumed the vanity of his works." The Apostle cites the former part, II Corinthians IX, 7: "Each one, he says, as he has determined in his heart, not from sadness or from necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." And Romans XII, 8: "He who shows mercy in cheerfulness," where I have noted more on the same matter. Most excellently St. Augustine in Psalm XLII, toward the end: "If you break, he says, your bread for the hungry soul, because it often happens that sad and murmuring people do this, so that they may be free from the tedium of the one asking, not so that they may refresh the bowels of the needy. But God loves a cheerful giver: if you have given bread sadly, you have lost both the bread and the merit." Weigh this: "not so that they may refresh the bowels of the needy," as if to say: He who gives alms sadly or indignantly refreshes the body of the poor man, but by his sadness or indignation he torments and wounds his soul and bowels; but he who imparts it cheerfully feeds and refreshes both the soul and bowels, and the mouth and body of the needy. "Therefore do it from your heart, so that he who sees within, even while you are still speaking, may say: Behold I am here." And presently: "Do you wish your prayer to fly to God? Give it two wings, fasting and almsgiving." Moreover, what the Septuagint adds, "he hath consumed the vanity of his works," is an antithesis to what was said in the preceding verse concerning the wicked man: "He that soweth evil shall reap evil also; but the plague of his works he hath consumed," that is to say, He that soweth evil shall reap the full and complete plague and punishment of the evils which he hath sown; but he that soweth good, and especially distributeth alms to the poor cheerfully, shall by his own cheerfulness supply, perfect and consume whatever is vain, that is, empty and void in his works and conduct. For almsgiving filleth up those things which are wanting or deficient in other actions, and especially a cheerful and ready mind for giving supplieth those things which are wanting in the gift on account of poverty or some other cause. For God esteemeth not so much the gift as the affection of the giver; just as therefore if thou pourest water from a vessel, air succeedeth into the empty vessel and filleth its emptiness: so if thou givest a small alms, thou seest the purse and mind become empty, and makest the thing empty, that is, meagre and of no account, but that emptiness is supplied and filled by cheerfulness and readiness to give more, if ability were sufficient. Wherefore Solomon being followed by Sirach, Ecclesiasticus XXXV, 11: "In every gift, saith he, make thy face cheerful," in Greek λάρωσον, that is, make cheerful, "thy countenance." The second is: "He that hath mercy on the poor shall himself be nourished in turn, as he that giveth to the needy of his own bread." For he that hath mercy merits mercy; and he that feedeth others merits to be fed, according to that saying of Christ, Matthew V: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." And the Apostle, II Corinthians IX: "He that soweth in blessings shall also reap blessings." See the following passages and what I have noted there. Mystically the Author of the Catena of the Greeks: "Doctors, saith he, who feed the poor in spirit by their doctrine, nourish themselves most of all, according to that: In the days of their famine they themselves shall be filled with bread (that is, their own doctrine, by which they themselves are also sustained)." Examples of this saying and blessing of almsgiving are found in the Life of St. John the Almsgiver, who the more he gave to the poor, the more he received, as I have related more fully elsewhere; in the Life of St. Lydwina, who by her liberality merited to obtain the purse of Christ, from which however much she distributed, there was always more to distribute further; in the Life of St. Catherine of Siena, and of many others. It is memorable what we read concerning St. Liberalis, a noble man and protector of Altinum and Treviso, that he was wonderfully liberal towards the sick and poor, and therefore healed many from various diseases, and on one day imparted health to 120 persons by divine power. But when in winter time he was going to the cathedral church, meeting a poor man naked and trembling with cold, he gave him the garment he had taken off, who appearing to him the following night said he was Christ, and restored the garment, which he putting on was more than once preserved from dangers. For when the Arians prevailed, St. Heliodorus with his disciples, in order to find a solitary place in which to serve God, had embarked in a ship, and a fierce storm had arisen, Liberalis immediately calmed it by letting down the end of that garment into the sea: thus from the monuments of the Church of Treviso does Philip Ferrarius relate it in the Catalogue of Saints of Italy, on the 27th of April. The third is: "He that giveth gifts acquireth victory and honour, and taketh away the soul of the possessors, or of those accepting;" or, as the Vulgate readeth, of those receiving. This maxim is not in the Hebrew, but transcribed from the Septuagint. For "taketh away" in Greek is ἀφαιρεῖται, which the Author of the Catena of the Greeks rendereth, overturneth, and understandeth it of gifts given to a prince or judge to overturn justice. But others refer it to almsgiving and mercy, concerning which the whole discourse of this verse is, so that the sense is, that is to say, The beneficent and liberal man, who giveth alms or gifts, overcometh and bindeth to himself and subjecteth the minds of those receiving: wherefore he obtaineth from them all that he wisheth, and is honoured by them as munificent, nay as a curator and father, as Joseph was honoured by the Egyptians, giving them grain and food, and therefore called "Saviour of the world," Genesis XLI, 45. Truly the Comic poet: "Gold is the magnet of the soul, a gift is the magnet of the soul." Mystically the Author of the Catena of the Greeks: Gifts, saith he, are virtues by which a man snatcheth his soul from demons, who possessed it, nay he conciliateth to himself the mind of God, of Angels and of men, and thus as it were taketh away and stealeth, but by a pious and strong theft of benevolence. Secondly, this maxim could be understood as an argument from similitude, namely from a judge and prince, to whom gifts are given; as if to say: Just as he who gives gifts to a judge obtains victory in a lawsuit, and he who gives them to a prince is raised by him to honors, because the giver binds the recipient's mind to himself through these gifts; so likewise victory and honor and every good thing, indeed even eternal glory, will be obtained from God by him who gives gifts to the poor out of love of God; for by these he wins over God's mind, that is, His grace and benevolence, and secures it for himself. Morally, note here how great is the power of almsgiving and beneficence, inasmuch as it overcomes all difficulties and carries off victory in all things. First indeed it conquers those to whom it does good, even if they are enemies and hostile; for it softens their heart, attracts it, and turns it toward the benefactor; for who does not love one who loves him? who does harm to his benefactor? This is a powerful and noble kind of victory, concerning which the Apostle says in Romans XII, 20: "If thy enemy hunger, saith he, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head; be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Secondly, almsgiving conquers avarice and covetousness and other vices; for, as the Apostle says in I Timothy VI, 10: "The root of all evils is covetousness." The reason is that contraries are overcome by contraries: just as fire is extinguished by water, so covetousness is extinguished by almsgiving and liberality. Thirdly, almsgiving conquers and blots out sin, not only present and future, but also past, according to that saying of Daniel, cap. IV, to Nebuchadnezzar: "Redeem thy sins with alms." And Ecclesiasticus III, 33: "Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sins, and God is a beholder of him who giveth." The reason is that almsgiving done out of love of God and neighbor is an act of charity; and charity abolishes all sin. Fourthly, almsgiving assails heaven, which is closed to the avaricious; for on account of almsgiving given, Christ the judge will adjudge the almsgiver to heaven, the unmerciful to hell. Fifthly, the almsgiver conquers gold and all the riches of the world, which dominate mortals: he himself therefore, as it were the master of gold and the world, rules it, dispenses it, distributes it. Sixthly, beneficence conquers demons and puts them to flight and expels them. The reason is that demons, on account of the anger and envy with which they burn toward God and men, are utterly malicious and harmful; but harm is overcome by benefit, and the harmful by the beneficent; just as therefore love conquers hatred, and the lover the hater: so the almsgiver conquers demons; for he is like an Angel, who is wholly beneficent; and Angels conquer and put to flight demons. To this pertains that saying in Psalm XLI, 2: "Blessed is the man that hath understanding concerning the needy and the poor; the Lord will deliver him in the evil day. The Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies," that is, demons," as St. Chrysostom says there: "For just as oil causes athletes to slip from the hands of their adversaries, so also almsgiving causes those who practice it to decline and flee from demons." The same St. Chrysostom, in cap. VI to the Ephesians: "Our wrestling is not, saith he, against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the world of this darkness and the powers of darkness; therefore Paul commands us to take up the arms of light against darkness: Let us cast off the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light. This light therefore, lest it fail, let the continual pouring in of oil nourish it; let us show mercy; for this equips us against the most powerful enemies with every kind of weapon." Seventhly, almsgiving conquers God; whence appearing to St. John the Almsgiver in the form of a queen, she asserted that she was most intimate with God and could obtain all things from Him at will. Wherefore the Poet: Gifts, believe me, please both men and gods. Solomon assigned a similar victory and a manifold one to obedience and the obedient, cap. XXI, 28. If beneficence overcomes God, it overcomes also nature (whose author and ruler is God), and all the comforts and discomforts of nature, such as poverty, hunger, thirst, wealth, delights, gluttony, etc. Whence St. Chrysostom, homily 19 on II Corinthians, in the moral sense, celebrating the widow who gave to Elias a small amount of flour necessary for the life of herself and her sons, asserts that she overcame first, nature, because she did not spare her sons; secondly, hunger, because she deprived herself of food in order to give it to Elias; thirdly, death, because she exposed herself to its danger through fasting; fourthly, Abraham, because she gave him what was necessary to herself: "For what, he says, was she stronger than that woman? Did she not generously stand against the tyranny of nature, and against the violence of hunger, and against the threats of death, and was she not the strongest of all? But hear how Christ praises her: For there were many widows in the days of Elias, and to none of them was the Prophet sent except to her. I will say something great and admirable. This woman spent more on hospitality than our father Abraham; for she did not run to the herd as he did; but with that small amount of flour she surpassed all who are celebrated in hospitality: for he indeed was victorious in that he offered himself for this; but she did not even spare her sons on account of the guest, even while awaiting what was to come." Hence our Martin of Roa, book I of Singularities, chapter IX, thus expounds: "He who is inclined to mercy shall be blessed," that is, good, indeed best, that is divine, indeed a certain earthly God, shall be called. For it is the greatest property of goodness (and God is goodness itself) to do good. Cicero saw nothing better, book II of On the Nature of the Gods: "But Jupiter himself, he says, that is the Helping Father, etc., is called by our ancestors the best and greatest; and indeed best before greatest, because it is greater and certainly more pleasing to benefit all than to have great riches." Hence by Varro a rich man was called divine, as it were a god, because just as God abounds with the greatest abundance, and wishes to relieve another's want and misery, suffering no inconvenience himself meanwhile, so much as he is able. Now the name of God is a name of liberality and magnificence; Jupiter is said from helping, God from giving. Hence formerly the Maecenases, by giving, found for themselves a divine name through paternal and princely liberality toward their clients and their own.
22:10
The Septuagint: "Cast out the pestilent one from the assembly, and contention shall go out with him; for when he shall have sat in the assembly, he dishonors all." Greek: ἀτιμάζει, that is, he dishonors, brings shame upon, treats with ignominy, esteems nothing, despises. The Syriac: "Contention and reproach shall cease, lest, if he sit in the assembly, he afflict all with reproaches." The Chaldean: "Cast out the mocker, and expel the contentious one, and contention and shame shall cease." For "mocker" in Hebrew it is לץ lets, which word signifies a harmful and pestilent man, who mocks others, scoffs at them, harasses them, disturbs the peace, stirs up quarrels and fights, such as is a whisperer, detractor, reviler, scoffer, turbulent and seditious person; for such a one is the cause and constant fuel of quarrels and brawls: he assails others with reproaches and jeers, and sows discord and strife. He says therefore: "Cast out the mocker," that is, the whisperer and troublemaker, "and contention shall go out with him, and causes shall cease," that is, quarrels and insults. He says "mocker" in the singular, not "mockers" in the plural, because one restless and turbulent person suffices to disturb, vex and afflict the whole assembly, the whole city and commonwealth, just as a little leaven infects and leavens the whole mass of dough. By this similitude the Apostle proves, in I Corinthians, chapter V, verse 6, that the incestuous and scandalous man ought to be cast out from the Church. Cast out therefore the mocker either from life, lest while living he disturb others, as some say; or more simply, cast him out from the assembly, from the city and commonwealth, so that with him, as with the instigator and kindling fire, quarrels, strife and insults may likewise depart. For just as in the cithara, lyre, harp, organ, harmony consists in the consonant and fitting tempering of the individual strings or pipes with one another, so that if one be out of tune, it disturbs and destroys the whole harmony; wherefore the citharist, lyricist or organist, who has keen ears, immediately noticing which string or pipe is out of tune (even if the others, being unskilled in the art, do not notice where the fault is, but attribute it to the whole cithara or choir), tempers that one with the others, or, if it cannot be tempered, casts it out and substitutes another in its place that is consonant with them, and thus the former consonant melody returns: so likewise the common life and peace is formed and consists of the peace and concord of individual citizens; but if someone restless refuses to be tempered to it, it is the duty of the magistrate or prince to mark him and cast him out; for with him cast out, common peace and concord shall return, and with it salvation. Whence the Second Council of Toledo, and it is found in the Fifth Question, Fourth Chapter, at the end, decrees that clamorous and contentious men be cast out from the council and assembly of Bishops: "Lest," it says, "contentious men with their voices disturb the senses of those hearing, or with tumult disturb the vigor of judgment. Whoever therefore in the assembly of the council shall have disturbed the council with tumult, or with insults, or with mockery, according to the edict of divine law by which it is commanded: Cast out the mocker, and contention shall go out with him; with all disgrace withdrawn from communion, let him separate himself from the common assembly, and bear the sentence of three days' excommunication." Such above all others are heretics, who mock all human and divine things and turn them into jest, and therefore disturb the faithful Catholics. Whence Bede thus explains it: "Cast out the heretic, whom you cannot correct, from the Church, and when you have taken away from him the freedom of preaching, you shall provide help to Catholic peace." For this reason the Church excommunicates heretics, as troublemakers, seditious and seducers, and casts them out from the Church, that it may protect the peace of the faithful, the integrity of the faith and their salvation. This maxim therefore admonishes fathers of families to cast out turbulent and pestilent men from their homes; bishops, from the Church; princes, from the city and commonwealth. For these disturb the peace, vex all, sow strife, infect citizens; wherefore, as contagious plagues, they ought to be carefully sought out by the father, bishop, or prince, and rigorously eliminated and cast out, that he may provide for the quiet and safety of the rest. And the Author of the Catena of the Greeks, partly literally, partly tropologically: Cast out, he says, from the chair of doctrine the man imbued with depraved opinions and depraved actions. Cast out likewise from the kingdom of your soul the pestilent devil, and not only expel him from there, but also pursue him with hatred: for if he shall have taken his seat in it, he will disturb and defile all its good thoughts through his innate malice and uncleanness; for the Apostle openly shows that the soul obtains through these very things a certain similitude of an assembly, through which thoughts excusing and accusing one another are brought in, Romans II, 15. Fourth, Rabbi Levi understands by purity of heart sincere love and charity, that is to say: When someone acts with a sincere heart and pursues others with sincere love, such benevolence and charity, which he manifests toward his companions and friends in his words, obtains dominion and power over them, so that he appears to be their king. This is he who inverts the words by hypallage, that is to say: He will be a friend of the king, that is, he will be a king of friends. Fifth, and most fully, by purity of heart you should understand all the things already mentioned, namely purity from all simulation, duplicity, falsehood, deceit, lust, and every other wickedness and evil desire: for this is the full and perfect purity of heart. The sense therefore is, that is to say: He who has a heart pure from every vice and wicked desires, and at the same time has the grace of speech by which he conciliates the benevolence of his hearers to himself, will make friends of kings and princes. Two things therefore are required for this friendship, namely first, purity of heart; second, grace of lips, by which we are made lovable and pleasing to our hearers, according to that in Psalm XLIV, 3: "Grace is poured forth in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever." And Canticles I, 2: "Thy name is as oil poured out, therefore young maidens have loved thee." Thus the Jews "wondered at the words of grace that proceeded from his mouth" (of Christ), Luke IV, 22. And Isaiah, chapter L, 4: "The Lord, he says, hath given me a learned tongue." Furthermore, one without the other is not sufficient, but both purity of heart and grace of lips must be present. Whence from the Hebrew with the Zurich Bible you would translate, a king is a friend of him who loves purity of heart and grace of lips. Our translator, however, renders it, on account of the grace of lips, because the Hebrews often leave understood "on account of," so as to signify that purity of heart produces grace of lips; for this purity of heart begets purity and honesty of words, which wins over the hearers and draws them into love of itself; for the mouth is the image of the heart, and in pure words as in a mirror the purity of heart shines forth, which is most dear to all, but especially to kings. Just as therefore the purity, pureness and probity of gold refined from dross is recognized by its ring: so the purity of heart is revealed and seen in the ring and sound of pure words. The king therefore loves such friends for himself, both because he dares to entrust himself and his affairs to such men, and because he can take them as associates in the governance: for their purity and integrity redounds upon the whole people; for such as the ruler is, such the people also is wont to be: and also because their purity is an ornament and decoration to the king. From this the common people gather that the king has a pure heart free from every vice, inasmuch as he takes to himself as friends and associates only the pure and pure-hearted. For if the impure creep into the friendship of the king, they disgrace and defame him, as if he himself were like them and impure; just as if someone were to mark a counterfeit coin with the king's image, he would disgrace the king: for the image of the king is added to coins minted by him, so as to signify that the coins are legitimate; whoever therefore adds the same image to counterfeit coins, lies that they were minted and approved by the king, as legitimate, which is a great injury and infamy to the king. Just as therefore the image of the king testifies that the coin is true and pure: so likewise the grace and friendship of the king commends the purity and excellence of a man by his testimony. Such was Hushai, zealous for purity, and therefore a friend of King David, who accordingly faithfully turned away from David the rebellion of Absalom, II Kings XV and XVI. And Zabud, son of Nathan, friend of Solomon, III Kings IV, 5. This maxim signifies therefore, says Jansenius, that he who loves integrity of soul and is free from deceit and impiety, if there also be added grace of speech, will please the king and the great. Or it is signified that such a one cannot but have grace of lips before kings, that is, that the words and discourse of such men are usually pleasing, because they are spoken with a sincere mind, whereas the flattering eloquence of the impious and deceitful, even if elegant and polished, is displeasing and hateful to the wise, inasmuch as by it they devise evil. Whence it is written of Darius that, when he held an evil Punic fruit in his hand, he said that he would not desire any greater treasure than to have as many Zopyros as there were grains of that fruit: signifying that nothing ought to be more pleasing to kings than faithful friends. Moreover, he who is pure of heart and gracious in his lips is not only a friend of an earthly king, but also of the heavenly King, namely God, according to that saying of Christ, Matt. V: "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God." Thus King Solomon: He who, says he, excels in the purity of heart and lips, has a king as his friend, that is God, who will both love him and will take care that he be loved by others. Wherefore for "who loves," in Hebrew it is אהב oheb, that is, loving, which many refer to God. Thus the Chaldean: God loves, says he, the pure of heart, and in the grace of his lips he shall be a companion of the king; the Syriac, and loves the lips of the companions of the king; Vatablus, loves (supply the Lord) him who is pure of heart; on account of the grace of his lips he is his (companion as) a king, that is, he pursues his friend with such love as a king would, whom he would not wish to offend even by a word; the Septuagint, God loves holy hearts (Aquila and Theodotion, pure; Symmachus, chaste or pure), and all the immaculate are acceptable to him in their ways, or those who are such that they cannot be reproved. Then what follows concerning the king is referred to the following verse in this manner: The king feeds with his lips (they read רעה raah, that is feeds, for רע rea, that is friend); but the eyes of the Lord keep watch over sense, as if to say, The strength of the kingdom consists more in the prudence of the king than in power or the multitude of the people. Thus the Author of the Greek Catena. Finally, Bede explains it partly literally, partly mystically thus: "He who preaches rightly with a pure heart will be numbered among those of whom the same king and creator of ages the Prophet said to him: But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable. For if anyone shows forth the grace of lips by right preaching, but neglects to guard the purity of heart, such a one is not to be thought able to enjoy the friendship of the eternal king." The reason a priori is that God, as in essence he is the purest and most simple spirit, lacking all composition, even that which is only from act and potency, from genus and difference, from essence and existence, such as is in the Angels: so likewise he is most pure in intellect and will, and therefore most remote from all error, duplicity, simulation, cupidity, passion, impurity; wherefore he loves Angels, as being pure spirits, and approaching to his purity before other creatures. Likewise chaste and pure souls, because in these, as in a polished and clear mirror, the image of divine purity and splendor shines forth. These therefore are most like to God; but likeness causes love and friendship, for the like loves the like. Hence chaste and pure souls are the temple of God, according to that II Cor. VI, 16: "For you are the temple of God, as God saith: For I will dwell in them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people," Levit. XXVI, 12. Whence from the Chaldean and Vatablus at this place thus you may translate, and reverse the version already reviewed (for Chaldean and Hebrew names, since they are indeclinable, can be translated in any case): "God loves the pure of heart," etc. Such a one therefore with Harminus says: "I would rather die than be defiled; purity is dearer to me than life." But the highest and uncreated purity is God himself. To this pertain the maxims of the wise. Antonius in the Melissa, part II, cap. LXXXVIII and LXXXIX, cites that saying of Basil: "First it is most blessed that in our heart is pure, because the counsel of the heart is the root of all the actions of the body." And that of Nazianzen: "Piety is not in the lowering of the countenance, but in the purity of thought." And that of Clement: "Not abstinence from deeds justifies the faithful, but chastity of thoughts and pure sincerity. Chaste prayer and life contaminated by no stain is the throne and true temple of God." And that of Philo: "The house of God is the thought of the wise man, and he properly is called God who is of all things, because God walks in it as in a royal palace." And that of St. Lucy, Virgin and Martyr, to Paschasius the prefect: "Those living chastely and piously are the temple of the Holy Spirit." Now St. Cyril suggests the manner of cleansing the heart in the same place: "Concupiscence, he says, stirs up all impure thoughts and disturbances (just as fire excites smoke), inviting the mind itself to them, and first deceiving it with illusions, then applying force and shaking it: for in the manner of smoke, or even as certain vapors, the appetite for inborn pleasures is born in us; but he who is temperate and strong rebukes such motions, and does not allow them to progress further, and easily overcomes the still weak motions of disturbance; but the idle and negligent one admits the beginnings of pleasures as mere naked thoughts; and when he has permitted them 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 is subjected to the victorious disturbance as if to some barbarian. Wherefore St. Basil wisely, in his homily on the beginning of Proverbs, and from him Damascene, in book III of the Parallels, chapter XXVII: "The mind, he says, ought not otherwise than as a certain helmsman, sitting above vicious affections, and mounting the flesh as a ship, and turning reason like a rudder skillfully hither and thither, to crush the waves with a generous and strong spirit; and thus to conduct itself, that remaining sublime, and impervious to disturbances, their bitterness, just as the saltiness of the sea, should not fill it at all." Damascene cites there that saying of Didymus: "By long study and meditation, the force and fierceness of the stirred motions of the mind is weakened. Nor are the disturbances calm immediately after he has once subdued them; for always, as long as man dwells in this life, this war lasts."
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You will ask, what is called here purity of heart, and what is grace of lips? First, Baius, Cajetan and Jansenius understand by purity of heart the brightness and sincerity of heart, by grace of lips truthfulness: for kings and princes love both, both because they are vicars of God, who is the first truth, purity and sincerity; and because they ought to administer justice truly and sincerely, to rule the people, and to perform all the duties of the commonwealth; wherefore they most greatly hate hypocrites, deceitful men, liars, fraudulent men, who strive to obscure, take away or pervert this truth so becoming to them and so necessary for good government. The sense therefore is, as if to say: He who loves "purity of heart," that is brightness and sincerity, and the grace of lips similar to it, that is truthfulness conformable to sincerity, alien from deceit, pretense and fraud, he will please kings and princes, so that they desire to have him as a friend and intimate. Understand by kings the good and wise: for the wicked and foolish love those like themselves, especially those who flatter them, even if they lie, pretend, deceive and mock, as Nero loved Simon the magus and impostor. Second, our Salazar understands by purity of heart a heart pure from hatred, malignity and malice, peaceful, pacific, zealous for quiet and concord; by grace of lips, grace of speaking, and conciliating love, peace, concord, so that this verse is connected and opposed to the preceding one about casting out the mocker, as if to say: "He who loves purity of heart," etc., that is, if anyone is a man of sincere spirit, truthful, zealous for peace and concord, him certainly the king ought to choose as a friend, preferring him to others; for he is in all respects fit to undertake the functions of that office. And so just as in the verse above he had said that the other mocker ought to be kept at the greatest distance, so here Solomon teaches that this truthful and peaceful man ought to be joined and united to him as closely as possible. I cite the words of the authors forthwith, because no one is a better interpreter of his own mind than himself: from which those often go astray who interpret it in their own words. Third, Bede, Hugh, Dionysius and others understand by purity of heart chastity of heart; by grace of lips, chastity of words, on account of which St. John was beloved by Christ, the King of kings, before the other Apostles, and both are loved by kings and princes in their familiars, both lest the court, or even the royal bed, be stained by their crime and infamy; and because where there is chastity from lust, there is also chastity and purity from all crime, indeed fidelity, sincerity, integrity; for the love of the flesh or lust is so powerful in man, that he who has conquered it easily conquers the other vices, indeed it cannot be conquered without the other virtues, and especially without great love. Whence St. Augustine, in the book On Holy Virginity, teaches that charity purges and burns away all the dregs of lust like fire, and therefore makes virginity purer and more splendid. But this chastity of heart begets chastity of mouth, so that it speaks nothing but what is honest, modest, chaste, grave, just, holy; which is a remarkable grace, by which all, but especially kings and princes, are won over to him. That saying is well-worn: A chaste mouth in words, a palm white from theft, Can see all the regions of the earth. "In ancient times, says Lyra, kings did not permit anyone to stand before them unless he were clean and honest."
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For 'they keep' in Hebrew is נצרו natseru, that is, they observe. For it is the proper function of the eyes to observe a thing seen; likewise they keep, preserve, conserve. Again, for 'they are supplanted,' in Hebrew it is יסלף iesalleph in the active voice, that is, he supplants, treads down, crushes, overthrows, namely the Lord God. You will ask, what is this knowledge, and how is it opposed to the words of the wicked? First, Aben-Ezra understands by knowledge men endowed with knowledge: thus indeed the antithesis stands between the wise and the wicked, as if to say, The eyes, that is, the intellect or will and good pleasure, namely the providence of the Lord, keep men imbued with knowledge from all calamities; but the words of the wicked, devising perverse things in those skilled in knowledge, he will overturn and render void. Understand knowledge as practical, namely the pursuit of virtue, which is the knowledge of the Saints. The knowing, or wise, therefore, are the same as those who are just and holy. And R. Levi says: The eyes, or the providence of God, preserve the mind of the wise, so that their thoughts and counsels come to pass in reality. The same God demolishes the words of the wicked, when he casts them down from those things which they deliberately resolved upon. And Vatablus says: God, he says, approves those things which are done by wise men; but he disapproves the words (that is, the things), works and deeds of transgressors. Second, Bede understands by knowledge truth, especially of religion and faith, as if to say, The heavenly vision always preserves in the Church the knowledge of the truth which it taught; but the words of heretics, indeed every discourse contrary to piety and justice, which is not kept by the Lord the King, is overthrown with its author. The words of the wicked are therefore supplanted, when the dogmas of heretics are extinguished, and as it were trampled under foot like a plant and suffocated, lest they spread themselves and creep forth to infect neighbors or posterity. Third, Jansenius understands by knowledge truth uttered by the mouth, especially when a witness testifies to a truth known by him. Knowledge, he says, can be taken simply for the cognition of a thing, concerning which some speak and testify: so that it may be signified that the providence of the Lord preserves and protects the testimony of truth, namely that by which men speak and testify to what they know; but on the other hand he subverts the words of the wicked, which they have devised for the ruin of others against the truth, saying one thing while knowing another to be true. The Chaldean version favors this, which for 'the words of the wicked are supplanted,' translates, 'he thrust forth the words of robbers'; and the Syrians, 'the words of falsehood are routed.' The Chaldean and Hebrew טלטל tiltel is the same as thrust forth, rout, cast out, uproot, transport; or cover, cover over, obscure, overshadow. Fourth, others understand by knowledge prudence and wisdom. This indeed the eyes, that is, the providence of the Lord in the world, and especially in his Church, protect and keep, and the 'words,' that is, the sayings and deeds of the foolish, that is, of the wicked, contrary to prudence and wisdom, he subverts. Fifth, truly and genuinely, our Salazar holds that these things are said against lying mockers, concerning whom verse 10, as if to say, God indeed sees all things; for there is nothing that escapes his most penetrating sight, and thus he himself is the eye-witness of all things; they wish those words to mean this: 'The eyes of the Lord keep knowledge,' that is, the most certain and intuitive knowledge of any thing whatsoever he preserves with himself; 'and the words of the wicked are supplanted.' In Hebrew this phrase is active, in this manner: And he supplants, or perverts the words of the wicked. Namely God himself, who is the eye-witness of the thing, convicts the words, that is, the lies and deceits of the wicked impostor, and plainly proves his falsehood. And Solomon signifies that even when someone lies most confidently, because he thinks the matter is altogether hidden, it is not safe, because he has God as a spectator, who, retaining the knowledge and cognition of the thing with himself, will then, when he wishes, be able to open it with his falsehood convicted, and spread it abroad to the public. Which indeed is a most elegant and worthy of God sentiment. Finally, in general, knowledge here can be understood for any cognition and truth whatsoever, whether of faith or of morals, which God preserves and keeps in the world and in his Church through teachers and the wise, and the falsehood contrary to it, which the wicked strive to introduce, he supplants and crushes; for to God, who is the first truth, belongs the care and protection of every truth, so that even if it be for a time oppressed by the wicked, yet under God as protector and avenger it will at length raise its head, shine forth, conquer and triumph, as appeared in Christ, the Apostles, St. Athanasius, St. Chrysostom, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and the other teachers, defenders and champions of faith, truth, prudence and wisdom. The Septuagint translates: 'The king feeds with his lips; but the eyes of the Lord preserve understanding; but the wicked man despises words,' that is to say, the king nourishes his subjects like sheep with his wise edicts, responses, and words, that is, he rules them and sustains them in civil life; but the wicked despise his words and laws, and by perversely interpreting them in another sense that favors their own desires, they distort them; but the eyes of the Lord preserve their true sense, according to which in due time, and especially on the day of judgment, He will judge, condemn and punish the wicked, or, as it is in Hebrew, בוגד boged, that is, the transgressor of the law. Therefore by this maxim Solomon strikes the impious with fear of divine judgment, those who pervert and violate the laws of kings, so that by fear of Him He might bring them back to sound mind and to obedience to the king and his laws.
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The Septuagint offers an excuse and says: The sluggard says: A lion is in the ways, and murderers in the streets; the Syriac: The sluggard says when he is sent: A lion in the way, behold a murderer in the street; the Chaldean: The sluggard says in his sluggishness: Behold a lion without, and a murderer in the streets. R. Levi: The sluggard, he says, does not go forth from his house to his work because of the remarkable sloth by which he is torpid, and he says that a lion is without by which he would be torn to pieces if he should go forth from his house, and robbers occupy the forum by which he would be slain if he should betake himself to it. This maxim graphically represents the sluggishness of the lazy; for lest they be compelled to labor and to procure their sustenance by labor, they fabricate for themselves a thousand empty fears and dangers, and they magnify small difficulties, and esteem them as the greatest, just as children fear shadows and phantoms; and, as is commonly said: "They make a lion out of an ant;" they fabricate, I say, for themselves a myrmicolean, that is an ant-lion, when they apprehend and dread a light matter and an easy occupation as if it were a terrible and insurmountable thing. Whence Olympiodorus in that passage of Job cap. IV, 11, according to the Septuagint: "The myrmicolean perished, because it had no prey:" The myrmicolean, he says, that is the ant-lion, is the devil, who is contemptible to the strenuous and noble like an ant; but to the timid and sluggish he is terrible like a lion. Whence the devil is a type: "The crocodile, an animal that flees from the bold, most bold toward the timid," says Seneca, lib. IV of Natural Questions, cap. II. On the other hand, concerning Modestus, the prefect of the Emperor Valentis, who in vain attempted to draw St. Basil to Arianism, Theodore of Cyrrhus sings: Modestus, you yield to Basil the Great: You are an ant, though you roar like a lion. Therefore the sluggard says: "A lion is without," that is, a lion roams without the city in the fields, who will tear me to pieces and devour me if I go forth from the city. "I am to be slain in the midst of the streets," that is, in the very city and its streets there roam quarrels and murderers, who will slay me if I go forth from my house; everywhere therefore he alleges lethal and insurmountable dangers, lest he be compelled to go forth to work, as if to say: I cannot go forth safely either from the city or from my house. For if I go forth from the city, I shall fall upon a lion who will tear me to pieces; if I go forth from my house, I shall fall upon quarrelers and murderers, who will pierce me. It is necessary therefore, if I wish to preserve my life, that I remain at home quiet and idle. It sometimes happens by chance that those going forth from the city fall upon lions and are torn to pieces by them, as happened to that Prophet sent by God into Samaria, because he had eaten food in it against the command of the Lord, III Kings cap. XIII, 24; and this is frequent in Africa in some places, as Pliny testifies, lib. VIII, cap. XVI. But the sluggard transfers the danger of another place to his own, where there is none, and what happened once to one person he makes universal, and appropriates it to himself. For this is what fear does, which is born of idleness. In Hebrew it is, the sluggard says עצל atsel, that is sluggish and slow like a donkey: A lion is without. For the donkey indeed wonderfully fears the lion, as if an enemy lying in wait for his own life, so that it might feed upon his flesh. Hence that passage Ecclesiasticus XIII, 23: "The hunting of the lion is the wild ass in the desert." He alludes to the nature and roar of lions. For this is so terrible that it strikes down and stupefies all animals, and thus it stops, captures, tears to pieces and devours them, as I taught above from Pliny; in a similar manner terrifying phantasms and the apprehension of difficulties, which idleness suggests to the sluggard, so strike him down that they stupify him, stop him, consume him, waste him away and kill him. For the noble are as it were lions, who fear nothing, but are a terror to all, especially to asses, that is to the sluggish, who fear all things even those that are safe and not to be feared; whence they make themselves slaves of fear, food and mockery. The cause is that idleness and inertia suggest to a man a thousand apprehensions and imaginings, which all represent to the life, exaggerate and aggravate the difficulties of labor and of the thing to be done, even the smallest ones, by which the mind is struck with fear and shrinks from labor. Whence St. Basil, in the Melissa of Antonius, part. II, cap. XLVI: "Idleness," he says, "is the beginning of wickedness. It is proper to this sickness of the idle and sluggish mind, that while the body is awake it sees dreams." In the same place St. Chrysostom: "There is nothing," he says, "so easy, which great sluggishness does not make very grave and hateful, nor is there anything so laborious and difficult, which zeal and alacrity do not make most easy." And Clement: "Those who are weak and feeble, to them even what is moderate appears beyond their strength." And Philo: "Countless numbers, neglecting exercise, have weakened even their natural strength. Idleness, confirmed by habit and rest, is insidious." This opinion is true in temporal matters, truer in spiritual matters. For the slow and lazy imagine for themselves dangers and burdens which do not exist, and tremble with fear where there is no fear. To fast, to pray, to resist desires, etc., carnal and lazy people think to be intolerable and impossible for themselves. Whence Bede: "A lion, he says, is abroad, in the midst of the streets, to be slain, which is plainly to say: Both the words and works of virtues, when they have begun to be shown abroad, are immediately accompanied by persecution either of men or of envious spirits, nor am I able to resist in temptations, but in them I am overcome in my good purposes and undertakings." Thus also the Author of the Greek Catena: "He who, he says, is slothful toward virtue, is wont to say: A lion is in the way, that is, it is better to live vulgarly and carelessly than to undergo any danger for the sake of piety. By the lion, however, the devil is designated: for he it is who besieges the ways of virtues; moreover demons are not unfittingly shadowed forth also by the name of murderers;" and a little later: "Otherwise, the lazy man says: A lion is in the way, that is, demons and wicked thoughts are an impediment to me, so that I make no progress in God's precepts." Again, adapt this saying to tepid and lazy Clerics, Priests and Religious, who wish to be idle and do nothing, neither to be free for contemplation, nor for action. Such a one therefore in reality says: I do not wish to withdraw outside the frequented city, into a secret place, that I may be free for contemplation, because there a lion rages, that is the devil, who prepares a thousand temptations and snares for anchorites and contemplatives; I do not likewise wish to be free for action, I do not wish to preach, to catechize, to hear confessions, because in these there are dangers lest I lose myself, and make myself guilty of the sins of others, and transcribe them into myself; but let these consider that in idleness and sloth there impends upon them a far graver danger from the leopard and panther, who lies in wait in ambushes, that he may leap upon them, and tear them and devour them, namely from Asmodeus and the spirit of fornication, who stirs up in the idle a thousand desires of all lusts, and concupiscences which oppress and suffocate them, as Asmodeus suffocated seven husbands of Sarah on account of inertia and lust, Tobias cap. III, vers. 8. Most excellently St. Augustine, serm. 65 De Temp., speaking of the diligence of hospitality, with which Abraham received Angels, Genesis XVIII: "See, he says, brethren, with what fervent spirit you ought to receive guests. Behold Abraham himself runs, his wife hastens, the boy accelerates; there is no lazy person in the house of the wise man." The same, serm. 245: "Do not, he says, be lazy in the work whose reward you desire, etc.; labor passes, rest comes." Labor therefore in time, that you may rest and exult in eternity: "For the sufferings (likewise and actions and labors) of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, which shall be revealed in us," Rom. cap. VIII, 18. Live therefore, labor, suffer, sweat for eternity. It is a moment that torments, it is eternity that delights and makes blessed.
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In Hebrew, a deep pit is the mouth of strange women: whom the Lord is angry with, shall fall into it. Thus also among Symmachus and Theodotion, the mouth of strange women, namely of women, that is of adulteresses and harlots. The Septuagint, however, takes the mouth of strange women, namely of things, for the mouth of the impious, which eructates things alien from the law and God; whence they translate: a deep pit is the mouth of the iniquitous; but he who is hated by God shall fall into it. Thus also Rabbi Levi, who explains it thus: When anyone speaks things alien and contrary, which indeed are contrary to truth and the foundations and principles of art, this appears altogether similar to a deep pit, into which whoever falls has no support by which to come out of it. "To whom He is angry" God: And God is angry with him who has fallen into this pit: for forthwith he shall recede from the right path and the summit of virtues, so that he shall always harden himself more firmly in this pernicious practice. But others everywhere understand by strange women harlots. Whence Vatablus, the mouth of a harlot is a deep chasm, into which shall fall he to whom the Lord is angry. By mouth, understand kisses, nods and words, and other harlotrous blandishments of mouth and face, by which harlots like lynxes snatch men to themselves and drive them mad. The sense is, as if to say, The mouth of a harlot, which by kisses and words and amorous songs, like a siren, allures youths and men to itself, is a deep abyss, absorbing youths and men, like Hecla, Vesuvius and Aetna. For just as these mountains, seething with fires, eject fiery globes, by which they inflame and burn all things round about: so the mouth of a harlot, seething with the fire of lust, ejects flames and torches of love, by which it snatches and inflames all into desire for itself. Again, just as Vesuvius, when Pliny the Younger drew near to its mouth, in the time of the Emperor Vespasian, in order to investigate the causes of so great a conflagration, snatched and absorbed him: so the mouth of a harlot snatches and devours youths drawing near to it, as sirens devoured the companions of Ulysses, whom they had allured and driven mad with sweet songs. A deep pit by catachresis signifies here ruin and extreme destruction, namely poverty, diseases, infamy, death, and finally the abyss of hell, into which those fall who go to harlots. This pit therefore is so deep that it lacks a bottom, and is boundless and eternal. And so a harlot is a gulf of patrimonies, an abyss of all goods, the abyss of hell, according to that in chapter VII, 27: "The ways of hell is her house, going down to the innermost parts of death." Furthermore, just as Aetna does not always vomit fires, but first collects and heaps them within itself, so that at a fixed time it may at once hurl forth vast masses of flames and as it were mountains: so the mouth of a harlot at times suppresses her loves by design, so that having collected them she may eject them with greater force at her time upon those approaching, so that in resisting them they are not able. The mouth therefore of a harlot is as it were the mouth of an abyss, nay as it were the vestibule of hell, so that, if you fall into the mouth of a harlot, you shall fall into the loves and tricks of harlotry, from which you shall never extricate yourself, and finally into the abyss of hell, from which throughout all eternity you shall not be able to emerge. Thus Bede: "A deep pit," he says, "is the mouth of a strange woman, etc.; for whoever willingly embraces the words or kisses of a harlot, as it were already knocks at the gate of the hellish abyss, and quickly sinks, if he does not cautiously draw back his foot, if he does not restrain his remaining limbs from the vicinity of the penal pit, into which no one at all except a son of wrath shall slip." To Whom the Lord Is Angry, Shall Fall Into It In Hebrew it is עברה ebrah, which word denotes great anger, heat and fury, as if to say, To whom God is vehemently angry, or who is the object of divine indignation, and into whom anger ferments, and God vibrates His fury, shall fall into this pit of the harlot. Some take these words by hypallage, as if to say, "To whom the Lord is angry, shall fall into it," that is, whoever shall have fallen into it, shall draw down the wrath of God upon his head: but the chief part of his ruin shall be that from that ruin and pit he shall never emerge. But others take these more simply as they sound, as if to say, To fall into a harlot is the punishment of preceding sin: for God is not accustomed to permit so great a fall and so pernicious, except to him to whom on account of preceding sins He is vehemently angry. Solomon therefore signifies that, just as it is a singular grace of God to be preserved from this harlotrous pit, which befalls few beloved of God, so it is a peculiar vengeance of the same to fall into it. Hence Theologians teach that a later sin is the punishment of an earlier one, and that God punishes a lesser preceding sin by a greater subsequent one, as the Master of the Sentences teaches in II, dist. XXXV; St. Augustine, in Psalm. LVII; St. Gregory, lib. XXVI Moral., cap. XII, and others everywhere; which the Hebrews say: Transgression draws transgression. Moreover, the sins on account of which God permits men to fall into inextricable mercenary loves are chiefly two: the first is heresy and infidelity, on account of which God permitted the Philosophers to fall into perverse lusts, as Paul teaches, Rom. I. Thus in this age we hear and see with our eyes that the heresy of Calvin, Luther, and the Anabaptists is punished with vague and horrible lusts, which are followed by unheard-of diseases and the French pox, and other horrible punishments and miseries. The second is pride: for the fitting punishment of pride is lust, so that those who through pride exalt themselves to the highest things, through lust are cast down to the lowest. Whence St. Gregory, lib. XXVI of the Morals, cap. XIII, teaches that the custody of chastity is humility, but the punishment of pride is lust: "Thus the proud were justly to be struck with retribution; so that, because through pride they prefer themselves to men, through lust they sink down even to the likeness of beasts. For man, when he was in honor, understood not: he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them." And after several intervening passages: "Hence indeed through Hosea, cap. V, it is said against the Israelites: The spirit of fornications is in the midst of them, and they have not known the Lord; who, to show that the cause of lust burst forth from the fault of pride, immediately added, saying: And the arrogance of Israel shall answer in the face of him. As if to say: The fault, which through the elevation of the mind lay hidden in secret, through the lust of the flesh answered openly." Whence he wisely concludes, saying: "Therefore through the custody of humility the purity of chastity is to be preserved; for if the spirit is piously pressed down under God, the flesh does not illicitly rise up over the spirit. For the spirit has committed to itself dominion over the flesh, if indeed it recognizes under God the rights of legitimate servitude. For if it contemns its Author through pride, it justly sustains battle from the subject flesh. Whence also that first disobedient one, as soon as he sinned through pride, covered shameful things. Because he brought contumely upon the spirit toward God, he soon found contumely of the flesh. And because he was unwilling to be subject to his Author, he lost the right of the flesh subject to him, which he ruled: so that in himself the confusion of his disobedience might rebound, and being overcome he might learn what the exalted one had lost." Tropologically, the deep pit is the mouth of the harlot, that is, the mouth of heresy and the heretic: for this falls from one error into another, from one crime into another, and drags others with it, and thus entangles them so that they cannot extricate themselves, but always fall more deeply, until they fall into the abyss of hell; for from heresy there is rarely a return to orthodox faith: for few acknowledge their error, repent and come to their senses. "He to whom the Lord is angry shall fall into it," because heresy is never the first sin, but the punishment of preceding pride, injustice, or lust. For it is the greatest wrath of God when He permits one to fall into heresy: wherefore grave crimes must precede, which provoke such wrath of God that He permits him to fall into the chasm of heresy. Whence the Septuagint Vatican here fittingly wove in another reading, which does not exist in the Hebrew, Chaldean and Vulgate, namely this: "There are evil ways before a man, and he does not love to return from them; but one ought to turn away from the perverse and evil way." Scholia attach to this and another fitting one: "There are ways by which a man ought not to walk; but the impious loves the ways of death and perdition."
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Vatablus: and the rod of correction shall drive it far from him; Septuagint Vatican: folly hangs from the heart of a youth, but the rod and discipline is far from him; Complutensian and Royal: foolishness is suspended in the heart of a youth, etc.; Syriac: foolishness makes the heart of a boy fly away, and the rod of discipline is far from him; namely for ירחיקנה iarchikenna in the hiphil, that is, shall drive it away or put it to flight, the Septuagint and Syriac read with different pointing יארחקנה iarchecna, that is, the rod and discipline shall remove themselves from him; the Author of the Greek Catena reads: discipline is far from it, namely from the foolishness of the boy, as if to say: Foolishness is bound in the heart of a boy, as long as it remains uncorrected: for by correction it is loosed and taken away; "bound," that is, it adheres, is attached, is joined, just as if it were bound with a rope. It is a catachresis. This foolishness is childish levity, petulance, rudeness, thoughtlessness, imprudence, inexperience, inconstancy, concupiscence: for these are bound, nay innate in a boy: for a boy is as it were a brute animal, which is moved not by reason but by sense, and desires all things that he sees. "In boys and beasts," says Aristotle, VI Ethics, cap. XIII, "natural habits are inborn, but without intellect and mind, they appear to be harmful." Wherefore just as an ass, horse, mule are kept from their desires by a rod or stick, and are driven straight and directed whither the rider or driver wishes: so likewise a boy is kept from his foolish desires, and is driven into the right way, that he may live according to the dictate of law and right reason, by the rod of discipline, by which he is corrected by his father, teacher or tutor: for foolish boys and servants, because they have a weak reason and mind, hence fear rods more than swords and spears: hence foolishness is properly restrained by beating, as is evident in the foolish. "To ergo bound" signifies first, that foolishness and concupiscence cling strongly, knotted and stubbornly in a boy; but so that it is not insoluble and incorrigible, but rather by the rod of discipline it can and ought to be loosed and taken away. Secondly, that the nature of a boy is not in itself foolish and depraved, but sound and good; but foolishness comes to him from without, just as a bond comes from without to a bound thing, namely from the sin of Adam: for through this all boys draw foolishness, that is, concupiscence and original sin. Thirdly, that boys cannot free themselves from foolishness, because they are bound to it, and have their mind bound through infancy; wherefore this foolishness must be driven away by the rod. For boys, like animals, do not understand reason, but feel the blows of the rod, and thus they put away foolishness. Fourthly, from "foolishness," that is, concupiscence, here an anthropopathy is introduced as a person, for example as a playful spirit, or a little demon bound to the boy, besieging him, occupying him and stirring him to playful actions, which must be driven away by correction. Fifthly, by this word is signified that concupiscence binds the sons of Adam like a strong rope throughout their whole life. For, as Isaiah says, cap. V, 18: "Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope!" And Solomon, Proverbs V, 22: "His own iniquities shall catch the wicked, and he shall be bound with the cords of his own sins." See the sayings in both places. Hugo thinks that foolishness is bound in a boy, just as grains or chaff are bound in a sack; or rather just as chaff is bound to grain, which is beaten out and winnowed by a rod, and thus the grain remains pure and whole. Cajetan, however, thinks the metaphor is taken from drunkenness, which binds the mind of the drunk, but is shaken off and dispersed by blows and stripes. For a boy, like a drunk man, has his mind and reason bound as it were by drunkenness through his concupiscence; but the rod of discipline shakes it off, so that the mind is free, and reason awakens. Others think the trope is taken from horses and asses, which are tied with a rope to the manger and fodder: so boys are tied with the rope of foolishness and concupiscence to their playful things and desires. Furthermore, the Septuagint, which translates, foolishness is suspended from the heart of a boy, seem to allude to the bullae, which the ancients hung from the neck of noble boys over the heart, as if to say: Foolishness, like a bulla, adheres to the heart of a noble or freedman boy, whom namely parents do not correct, but allow to do as he pleases. Whence they add: but the rod and discipline is far from him, as if to say: The cause of the foolishness of the freedman boy is the absence of the rod, namely that parents, being too indulgent to him, spare the rod, and thus allow him to remain in foolishness, and day by day to become more foolish, and freely to indulge in his childish affections. Moreover, it is great folly of men, who not only fall into this pit and abyss of evils, but also willingly cast themselves into it and leap into it. The philosopher Empedocles, a disciple of Pythagoras and inventor of Rhetoric, was mad, who, in order to be held as an immortal god, leapt into Ætna; but his iron sandals, rejected from the furnace through the flame, revealed the matter. Whence Horace, in the Art of Poetry: While he desires to be held an immortal god, Empedocles, burning fiercely, leapt into the blazing Ætna. The same, book I, epistle 12: Empedocles, or whether Stertinius delires with keen wit. Those imitate the delirium of Empedocles, who willingly precipitate themselves into harlotrous loves. In a similar manner, folly, that is, concupiscence, is bound in the heart of every man who is a boy, that is, a son of Adam, and therefore full of ignorance and concupiscence: wherefore this must be taken from him by the rod, both of self-denial and mortification, and of chastisement and direction from another, which namely a Superior, or companion and friend, provides for him. For concupiscence is similar to a boy, and makes men into boys on account of the analogies which I reviewed from Thomas on Ecclesiasticus XXX, 8. Moreover, the Syrian translator rendered it, folly makes the heart of the boy fly away. For the mind of a boy is volatile, and now flies hither, now thither, while now he desires this, now that; while restless it settles nowhere, but now thinks and wills this, now that; now is borne hither, now elsewhere and elsewhere, like a little bird which now flies hither, now thither: for thus the young of birds, when they fly from the nest, rest nowhere, but constantly fly from one branch to another and another; for they learn to fly, and are eager to fly. Similarly the mind and imagination of a boy flies, until it is checked and bridled by the rod of discipline, and bound and constrained by a book and school or similar thing. Finally, it is to be noted, says Jansenius, that he says the rod of discipline, signifying moderate chastisement to be applied to boys, not the rod of wrath and cruelty, that is, they are to be chastised not so much to punish as to correct. The rod of wrath is owed to the impious, who sin knowingly; the rod of discipline to boys, who sin from ignorance and lack of knowledge. This rod does not drive folly from the impious, when they have descended into the depths of sins: it drives it from boys who are to be formed to virtues by fear of punishment. Indeed, how much human care avails for the change and correction of corrupted nature is shown by St. Basil, homily 5 of the Hexameron, from the care of farmers, by which wild and uncultivated fruits are softened, and are transformed to human usefulness. Following Solomon in the usual manner, Sirach, Ecclesiasticus XXX, 1: "He that loveth his son, he says, maketh him feel the rod frequently, that he may rejoice in him afterwards." And verse 8: "A horse not broken becometh stubborn, and a child left to himself will become headstrong. Caress thy son, and he will make thee afraid," etc. See the sayings there. The other wise men agree with Solomon and Sirach. Antonius in the Melissa, part II, chapter XX, cites St. Basil saying: "It is a natural vice of youth, that on account of the lightness of counsel they think they already possess what they have desired in hope, and therefore they are puffed up: because in their folly they think they will enjoy the hoped-for things as if they were present. Youth is light, and inclined to wickedness: unbridled desire, the anger of beasts, rashness, injury, pride, inflations, and great-spiritedness are congenital and united with the evil of youth: envy against excellent things, suspicions about familiars, finally the examination of all evils is connected and joined to youth. Youth is most mobile; for it is agitated by diverse waves of disturbances. It therefore needs a guide, who may lead it straight to port;" and St. Gregory of Nazianzus saying: "Youth is the heat of the season;" and St. Chrysostom: "Young men are more easily led and overcome by anger and desires; wherefore they require greater custody and a harder bridle;" and Philo: "A young man having obtained supreme power and using unbridled desires, is an unconquerable evil." Among the Spartans, if a boy, chastised by a teacher or by another for a fault, had brought a complaint to his father, it was shameful for the father, if upon hearing this he had not again chastised his son. Indeed, from the institution of their ancestors they had this care of their sons, and equally this mutual confidence in themselves, so that they believed there was no one who would command anything dishonorable to the children of anyone, whom each held as his own. Thus Plutarch in the Lacedaemonian Sayings. See Aristotle, book VIII of the Politics, chapter I and following, especially chapter V, where he teaches that boys are to be taught music, so that through it as a discipline they may harmoniously compose their morals: "When it happens, he says, that music is among pleasant things, and virtue is about rejoicing rightly, and to love and hate, it is necessary for the perfect one to learn and become accustomed to no thing so much as to judge rightly, and to rejoice in gentle morals and praiseworthy works." Which musical harmony effects, which snatches the ears and mind of the boy from earthly pleasures to itself, and by modulating it as it were tempers and composes it, just as David by striking and modulating the harp tempered and calmed the disturbances of Saul, I Kings XVI, 23.
22:16
"He defraudeth," that is, he despoils, plunders, defrauds by deceptions; for the Hebrew עשק asak signifies to defraud, to oppress, to defraud the goods of another through sophistical arts and lawsuits, which the Greeks call συκοφαντεῖν, whether this be done by denying a promised reward, or by unjustly retaining or seizing another's property, or by deceiving in any way whatsoever, and despoiling him of his right, or depriving him of what is owed. Whoever does any of these things is called a Sycophant: concerning the force and etymology of which word I shall say more in chapter XXVIII, verse 16. Whence Pagninus translates: he who takes away by force from the poor to increase his own; Vatablus: he who by injury and violence oppresses the poor, that he himself may become rich. The Hebrew words therefore, taken word for word, are thus: he who defrauds the poor to multiply, giving to the rich certainly to deficiency; which words, being general, unbound and unlimited, can be variously connected, bound, limited, and drawn to various particular senses. Whence first, the Chaldean translates: he who defrauds the poor, multiplies evil to himself; and he who gives to the rich, want shall be to him, so that the sentence is bipartite and signifies two things: first, that he who despoils the poor accumulates evils to himself, that is, losses of things and of his fortunes; secondly, that he who gives his own to the rich in hope of recompense, shall be reduced to want, as the rich, proud, avaricious and ungrateful, often reabsorb everything. Secondly, the Septuagint here varies; for the Complutensian and Royal editions have: He who defrauds the poor multiplies his own evils; but he gives to the rich to less. Which the Author of the Catena of the Greeks thus transfers and elucidates in one sentence: "He who defrauds the poor, but gives to the rich in a matter of lesser moment more than is fitting, renders his evils more accumulated. But the Vatican Codex deletes the evils, as the Hebrew and Latin delete them. Whence it has thus: He who defrauds the poor, makes many his own; but he gives to the rich to less. And this seems to be the true and genuine reading of the Septuagint. Now the to less various ones explain variously. The Author of the Catena of the Greeks: To less, that is, says he, in a matter of lesser moment; the Scholiast on the contrary, gives greater occasion for wrongdoing, as if to say: He who despoils the poor, that he may enrich himself, gives to the poor occasion, that for the relief of his want he may in like manner despoil and plunder another lesser one. Others, to less, as if to say: This is a lesser punishment, that namely he is forced to give his own to the richer: for another greater punishment awaits him in the future age. But the 70 to less is the same as what the Hebrew have, to deficiency, as if to say: to less, that is, to deficiency and want shall he be reduced. Whence Symmachus translates, he shall give to the rich, utterly want. The sense therefore is, as if to say: He who despoils the poor, that he may become rich, shall likewise give his own to the rich; and thus to less, that is, shall be brought to want. Thus the Septuagint agrees with the Vulgate. Thirdly, R. Levi translates: he who presses the poor shall multiply riches to himself; but he who gives to the rich shall tend to want; and by the poor and the rich he understands appetite and concupiscence, which the good repress and restrain, that it may become poor and thin; but the wicked loosen, that it may become rich and ample. He who restrains, says he, the appetitive faculty by which he is inflamed with bodily desires, when namely he does not indulge this propensity, this shall be the greatest gain: for the more assiduously one labors in restraining these, the less care and desire shall he labor under, and therefore the greatest abundance shall always flow to satiety. But he who gives to the rich, who namely shall obey his desires, shall thence labor under want: for the more assiduously he shall hunger, the more he shall desire, according to that common saying: "To man his limbs are small, which he who satisfies shall hunger; he who torments with hunger shall be satisfied." This is R. Levi. But these are mystical, and are not aptly built upon the letter. Fourthly, Baynus explains, as if to say: He who defrauds the poor, that is, he who violently seizes the goods of the poor, or he who defrauds the needy of the debt of alms, that he may become rich; likewise he who gives to the rich, that is, he who by flattering the rich gives them small things, that he may receive greater ones ("who, as Isocrates says, sell them more skillfully than those who are merchants by profession"), each shall come to deficiency and want: for the true art of becoming rich is to give to the poor, not to take away, according to that in chapter xix, 17: "He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay him his reward." Nor do gifts given to the rich profit, but rather are lost, because the rich, always intent on increasing their own, are forgetful and ungrateful for gifts given, expecting new ones to be given. Fifth, a certain Rabbi takes to multiply, or, as it is in Hebrew, to multiplying, from multiplication both passive and active, both of punishment and of guilt, as if to say: He who despoils the poor man of his goods gains this profit, that his own property may be multiplied; but just as he multiplies riches, so also does he multiply the dispersion of riches, so that, just as he himself seized many riches of many and gathered them into himself alone, so in turn those riches shall be divided from that one into many parts and distributed to many, and thus he himself shall be reduced from wealth to poverty. Just as therefore he multiplied riches for himself, so shall he also multiply punishment; he defrauded many, he shall be defrauded by many; he seized much, much shall be seized from him. Sixth, Our translator renders it most excellently: he who calumniates the poor man to increase his riches, shall himself give to the richer and shall want, as if to say: He who defrauds and despoils the poor man to enrich himself, he likewise shall be despoiled by the richer, by which it shall come to pass that he falls into poverty. For this is the fitting punishment of retaliation, which Divine providence inflicts upon them, as experience proves. Thus we see those who prey upon others become the prey of the more powerful: just as the fish which preys upon the smaller becomes the prey and food of the larger, and thus all finally become the prey of the whale or the great fish. "The larger fish, says Aristotle, in book IX of the History of Animals, chapter II, wage war against the smaller; for each larger and stronger one devours the smaller and inferior one." The same doctrine is taught by St. Basil, homily 7 of the Hexaemeron, whose words I cited on Habacuc 1, 14, to those words: "And thou shalt make men like the fishes of the sea." Again, those who violently oppress the poor are forced to give much to magistrates, so that defended by their patronage they may more freely seize and oppress the weak, who can defend themselves neither by strength nor by riches; or conversely the richer, more powerful than these, justly or unjustly seize from them what was badly obtained, just as we see princes despoil usurers and robbers. This teaching fortifies us, so that, when we see certain men grow rich by wicked arts, we are not immediately scandalized, but await the outcome, and persuade ourselves with certainty that riches shall not be stable for them, but that what was wickedly taken shall be taken away at some time, and they shall be punished by the same means by which they sinned, as is stated in the book of Wisdom, chapter xi. Mystically Basil, whether the Great or of Seleucia, in the Greek Catena: "See," he says, "how the devil deals with us wickedly and calumniously. He takes from us the virtues which we ourselves had given to him; he renders in return the vices which we had not sought. We receive from him, as from one who is poor in virtues. We give to him in turn our virtues, as to one who is rich in malice and vices, and this with open detriment to ourselves: for the more one gives to him, the more one wounds one's own soul." The Syriac version adds: He who oppresses the poor multiplies evil; he who gives to the richer, it is ruin to himself. Tiberius the Emperor, says Suetonius, was accustomed to promote the most rapacious men to the helm of the Republic, so that he might soon condemn them when enriched. Whence it was commonly said that he had his officials as sponges, whom he would drench like sponges when dry, and wring out when wet. Cato said, "Thieves of private property spend their lives in chains, but thieves of public property walk about conspicuous in gold and purple." Whence Diogenes the Cynic, seeing a thief being led by a magistrate to prison, said: "Great thieves are leading a small one." Many complain in various provinces that they are pressed by princes, magistrates, prefects with heavy tributes and drained by immense exactions; but they do not look to the cause and to God's just judgment: for the cause is what Solomon here suggests, namely, that many acquire their wealth through usuries, frauds and oppressions of the poor; wherefore God permits that wealth, as unjustly acquired, to be seized by the treasury, the judge, the prince. Why do you complain, O robber, that your wealth is seized by the prince, you who have plundered the wealth of others? Whatever the prince justly takes or unjustly seizes is not yours, but another's: let another therefore complain about you and your robbery, not you about the prince. This is what Isaiah thunders forth in chapter xxxiii, 1: "Woe to thee that spoilest, shalt not thou thyself be spoiled?" and Jeremiah chapter xxx, 16: "They that waste thee shall be wasted; and all that prey upon thee I will give to be a prey;" for the greater robber seeks and seizes the lesser. The Hebrew texts have more force: "He that oppresseth, etc., certainly unto want," as if to say, He that despoileth the poor, from this spoil hopes to enrich himself: but he is deceived, because this spoil tends to nothing other than to want, so that it may lead the despoiler like a thief to poverty, or to the gallows. This maxim can be adapted to almsgiving, as if to say, He that oppresseth the poor by objecting to him that he is rich, false, an impostor, able-bodied, who could provide himself with food by labour, and therefore defrauds him as unworthy of the alms owed, he likewise shall fall into the calumnies of the rich, and shall be deprived of his goods. Moreover Cajetan understands by the richer one God, as if to say, He that spoileth the poor, etc., "shall give to the richer," that is, shall give the wealth unjustly acquired to God, who as he is the richest, so also is he the most just, and therefore takes away unjustly acquired wealth from unjust possessors. But this is more symbolic and mystical than literal and genuine. Most excellently St. Augustine, in Psalm cxxiii: "Therefore," he says, "the greater robber seeks you, because he found you a lesser robber; therefore the greater eagle seeks you, because you first seized the hare: you were prey to the lesser, you shall be prey to the greater." The same, homily 48 among 50: "Our ancestors," he says, "abounded in all riches because they gave tithes to God and paid tribute to Caesar; but now because devotion to God has departed, the exaction of the treasury has come. We are unwilling to share tithes with God, but now all is taken away. The treasury takes this, which Christ does not receive." Thus pirates captured by Alexander the Great, when asked who and what they were, answered: "We are such as you, we plunder one ship, you the whole fleet;" but lesser robbers become prey to the greater. Indeed Vespasian Mystically Bede: He, he says, who oppresses the poor in spirit, his brother, by detracting from his virtues, so that through this vituperation he himself might increase the riches which he desires, that is, the glory of human praise, as if receiving it greater, being holier; such a calumniator deservedly shall lose whatever good action he seemed to have, and shall remain empty of the fruit of virtues at the end. Baynus however: Violence, he says, takes from the poor and gives to the rich, who makes his mind and reason naked and thin in virtues, in the goods of the soul, daily more thin through luxury and pleasures; but to the brute and irrational part he denies nothing, as if redeeming peace, and thinking himself safe if he indulges his genius; he shall come to great want and defect, and with the rich man Dives shall be forced by Lazarus to beg, and to ask that Lazarus come and dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool his tongue burning with the flame of pleasure.
22:17
Septuagint, apply thy ear to the words of the wise, and hear my discourse, and strengthen thy heart, that thou mayest know that they are good. Solomon in the first nine chapters of this book has set forth many things concerning the study and dignity of wisdom, so that he might prepare and inflame the hearer or reader for the wisdom which he was about to expound. Thence from chapter ten until here he has unfolded and explained wisdom after the manner of the ancients through brief and weighty maxims. Now, because his discourse has been long, and will be longer in the rest to be unfolded hereafter, lest the reader, wearied or affected with tedium, should yawn or fall asleep at hearing or reading these things, he stirs him up by addressing him, and sharpens his attention by proposing new excellence of wisdom, that he may awake and give new attention to what is being said. For thus teachers stir up their disciples, and orators their hearers after a long peroration, wearied and yawning, by proposing something new, so that they may shake off tedium and sleep, and as if awakened anew may attend with vigilance and effort to what is being said. Sirach does the same thing, Ecclesiasticus chapter fifteen, verse twenty-four, and often elsewhere after maxims he inserts a paraenesis, that is, as it were a new spur to the study of wisdom, and thereby pricks and stimulates the reader to attention. He says therefore: "Incline thy ear," that is, sharpen thy ears and apply them more closely, that thou mayest hear better and attend more to those things which I am about to say and teach. "And hear the words of the wise," that is, my words, which as it were collected from all the wise are the marrow and compendium of wisdom; whence explaining this he adds: "But apply thy heart to my doctrine." Our Salazar suspects, not improbably, that Solomon here notes two wise men, guests and interlocutors at this his banquet of wisdom, namely Agur and Lemuel, concerning whom chapter thirty speaks. For their words and doctrines appear to be inserted among chapters twenty-four and twenty-five, where the Septuagint inserted them, although in our Vulgate, as also in the Hebrew, they were transferred by the collectors of Proverbs into chapter thirty. Solomon therefore says: You, O guests, have heard hitherto my wisdom; now I make room for my associates Agur and Lemuel, so that they themselves, as it were in dialogue after the ancient manner of a banquet, may speak in turn, and thus may refresh and feed the guests with their alternate sayings: wherefore attend to the words of these wise men; meanwhile the few things which I shall add in chapters twenty-three and twenty-four, that I may complete my mind, wisdom and doctrine, receive with attentive and calm ear, not only, but also with mind and heart. For, as he says: "Wisdom is situated in the heart, not in the mouth, nor in the ear." The Septuagint adds, and strengthen thy heart, that thou mayest know that they are good, that is to say, the wandering lightness, mobility and inconstancy of thy heart, strengthen and make stable with these my words; thus indeed thou wilt experience their goodness, that is, their use and fruit. For as a ship, lest it be tossed by the waves and surges of the sea, is stabilized and made firm by ballast being placed upon it: so the heart, lest it be swept away by the surges of thoughts and appetites in the sea of this life, must be stabilized by the words of the wise. For, as St. Chrysostom says, homily three on the first epistle to the Thessalonians: "A ship without ballast, and a mind without precept, both are unstable and mobile." 18. HOW BEAUTIFUL SHALL IT BE TO THEE, WHEN THOU SHALT HAVE KEPT IT IN THY BELLY, AND IT SHALL FLOW IN THY LIPS. — For beautiful in Hebrew is נעים naim, that is, beautiful, pleasant, delightful; the Chaldean, sweet; Pagninus, delectable; Baynus, lovely. Hence that passage in Ruth 1, 20: "This is that Noemi;" and soon after: "Call me not Noemi, that is, beautiful." For shall flow in Hebrew is vicconu, that is, shall be prepared, shall be arranged, shall be directed, shall be made firm, shall be established. The Septuagint, if thou shalt have put (the words) in thy heart, they shall build thee up together in thy lips; Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, shall be prepared in thy lips; the Chaldean, shall be directed together in thy lips; the Syrian, make them firm as one upon thy lips; the Author of the Greek Catena, with pleasantness shall flow forth in thy lips, as if to say: "Son, apply thyself to reading not superficially or perfunctorily, but seriously and accurately, with great judgment of mind and inquiry; through this and for the sake of this thy heart shall rejoice, and thy lips shall be refreshed, and thou shalt say with the Psalmist: How sweet are thy words to my palate, O Lord! thy sayings above honey to my mouth." Solomon commends his doctrine, namely these parables, from their beauty; and this beauty consists both in the elegance of words, composition and refinement; but rather in the gravity of things, acuteness, pleasantness, connection, similitude, antithesis, proportion, and especially in the eloquence whereby he who holds it in his mind is able to speak it forth with his lips, and to speak wisely, and to teach others, and to instruct and form them in honest and holy life; for this is a remarkable beauty, grace and doctrinal dignity, which creates wise Doctors, indeed Prophets and Apostles. By belly some understand memory; by lips, rumination, as if to say: If thou shalt have stored these my doctrines in the belly of memory, thou wilt be able to recall them often to thy mouth and ruminate upon them in thy mind, and then thou shalt feel their beauty and sweetness. Just as clean animals cast whole food into the stomach, and afterwards recall it to the mouth, ruminate, digest it; thus they digest it, and send it digested to each member, that they may be nourished. Hear St. Augustine, On True Innocence, chapter 110: "The hearer," he says, "ought to be like those animals which are said to be clean from the fact that they ruminate, so that it may not trouble him to think upon what he conceives in the belly of his heart; and when he hears, let him be like one eating; when he recalls what he has heard into memory, let him be like one ruminating." And the Author of the Imperfect Work, in St. Chrysostom, homily 41 on Matthew: "Among the Jews those animals are clean which bring back food and ruminate; therefore that animal is clean which chews, and delivers to the belly, and brings back from the belly and ruminates; and that man also is spiritual and holy, who hearing the word considers it, and when he has understood it, delivers it to memory as if to a womb, and again from memory as if from a womb brings it back to the mouth, ruminates and reconsiders it." Better understand by belly the mind: for this is in the soul what the belly is in the body, because the soul is innermost, and presides over all the powers, and imparts and distributes food, namely sound and holy doctrine, as the belly does to all. The sense is, as if to say: If thou shalt keep these my doctrines in thy mind, thou shalt imbue it with such wisdom that it shall flow forth in thy lips, namely that thou shalt eruct it with thy lips, and breathe it forth to others; just as precious food, imbuing the belly and stomach, flows forth into the mouth, so that it eructates sweet breath and breathes it forth to others. Thus often in Proverbs and elsewhere belly is taken for mind. St. Gregory and Rabanus assign causes drawn from the analogy of each, whose words I cited in chapter 20, 27. Note on shall flow, as if to say: Just as a vein of water, or a copious spring, in the bowels of the earth abounds so much that through an opening on the surface of the earth it remains, flows forth and overflows, and makes a perennial fountain and stream, indeed sometimes a river: so likewise this doctrine of mine, like a vein perpetually springing forth, shall suggest to thee so many conceptions, so many doctrines, so many sentences, that thou shalt be able perpetually to speak them forth, teach and eruct them; wherefore it shall make thee from a disciple a fluent and fruitful Doctor, who shalt continually pour forth the words of wisdom to others. For the Doctor and "preacher ought to imitate fountains, which always flow forth waters, even if there be no one to draw them. For thus it behooves him who preaches, although no one may listen, yet always to pour forth his doctrine," says St. Chrysostom, homily 1 On Lazarus. Truly the Comic poet: "As the sun is to the eyes, so is light to the heart wisdom; the wise man is the clearest mirror of God, wisdom does not stand in words, but in virtues." In Hebrew it is, because it is pleasant if thou shalt have kept those words in thy breast, and when they shall be made firm together upon thy lips; or, if all things shall have been prepared in thy lips. The Septuagint wished the same thing: If thou shalt put them into thy heart, they say, they shall build thee (some read, they shall be built; the Complutensians read less correctly, they shall gladden thee) in thy lips, that is to say, These words of mine shall establish thee in true wisdom, so that it will come to pass that thou speakest nothing but what is right, certain, solid and founded in wisdom. Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion wished the same thing, when they translate, they shall be prepared in thy lips, that is to say, Thou shalt become so eloquent from these maxims that, when it shall be fitting to cite them, they shall immediately recur to thy memory, and of their own accord come to thy lips, so that thou mayest seem to have them in readiness, and as it were prepared and stored up in thy lips. The Chaldean wishes the same thing, when he translates, they shall be directed together in thy lips, that is to say, Thou speakest frequently and opportunely of these maxims and commandments. Thus Vatablus: for words are directed in the lips, when, given an occasion, they occur and are uttered as if by a straight path, and are ordained for the salvation of others. Note here how useful it is to hold these and similar sentences of Holy Scripture, to turn them over, and to commit them to memory; for thus we can use them most easily for the benefit of others on any occasion. Thus we see religious men, confessors, preachers, who are skilled in these sentences, using them at will in familiar conversation, in confession, in preaching, etc., according to what the matter requires, and striking and inflaming the consciences and minds of their hearers with them as if with fiery darts of the Holy Spirit. In this matter most distinguished and most reverend Lord Matthias Hovius, Archbishop of Mechlin, was remarkable, of whom I have said more in the Proem to St. Paul. St. Willibald excelled in this matter, son of St. Richard king of England, the first Bishop of Eichstätt consecrated by Boniface; for he, reading the Wisdom Books and the Proverbs of Solomon before the Prophets and other books of the Old Testament, as his Life written by Philip the third Bishop of Eichstätt, which our learned Jacob Greiser edited and illustrated with notes, has it, became wonderful in healing the wounds of souls, removing anger from one, lust from another, pride from a third, sadness from a fourth, envy from a fifth, and forming all to every virtue and perfection, furnishing to each his appropriate remedies from these maxims, so that he even persuaded his father St. Richard to renounce the kingdom of England, and to follow Christ poor and naked; who therefore exchanging purple for sackcloth, the scepter for a staff, journeying to Rome, rested in Lucca (which is a city of Italy) with a holy end, and after his death appearing to a certain Count, and healing him of paralysis: "I am," he said, "St. Richard, once king of the English, formerly Duke of Swabia, exile from my country, despiser of the world, contemner of myself, who left the tributes of kingdoms, and sought the shrines of the Saints, and at the same time with my sons I journeyed abroad to many regions, and after long exiles, after many struggles in this present city, which is called Lucca, my struggle was ended, and snatched from this wicked world, the Lord assumed me to his glory." Thus it is in the Life of St. Willibald, cap. xii. Furthermore, cap. lvi, the gifts of eloquence and life of St. Willibald are thus recounted: "He was generous in almsgiving, diligent in vigils, devout in prayer, perfect in charity, profuse in humanity, distinguished in learning, ready in speech, most holy in conversation; he showed the sincerity of his mind by the serenity of his countenance, and displayed the piety of his most merciful heart in the gentleness of his speech; whatever could pertain to eternal salvation, the most blessed one fulfilled no less in deed than he taught in the preaching of his word." And with some things interjected: "He was also a neglector of his own rest, a fugitive from his own will, a seeker of labor; patient of abjection, impatient of honor; poor in money, rich in conscience; humble to his merits, proud against vices. Finally, no care was more inclined to him than to speak of God in reading and speech, or with God in prayer;" wherefore, laden with great fruit of merits, and equally with a harvest of souls, he flew to heaven in the year of the Lord 781.
22:19
To and unde indicate that this verse depends on the preceding one, as if to say: I have commended to thee my doctrine, and have commanded that it be diligently kept in the womb of thy mind, to this end and fruit, namely that thou mayest be able to trust in God, and deal with him confidently, and expectantly await from him in this life his grace and aid in any matter, and in the future eternal rewards: for all these things shall befall thee, if thou transferest thy hope from created things to God, following my doctrine: for my doctrine and law is the doctrine and law of God; if therefore thou keepest it, thou shalt gain for thyself the grace and friendship of God, so that thou mayest securely place all thy hope and confidence in him. Whence the Author of the Chain of the Greeks thus connects this verse with the preceding: "If thou lettest it sink into thy heart, it shall not without joy overflow upon thy lips, and it shall make thy hope in the Lord to be fixed, and he shall make his ways known to thee." This hope he explains by adding: "When thou, he says, shalt diligently unfold the words of the Lord, thy hope in him shall be raised up, that is, thou shalt have all thy sense and all thy mind fixed and raised up in him; and therefore deservedly shalt thou hope from him for grace, salvation and all good; that he may lead thee by right paths, as a shepherd a sheep, in the manner of Joseph, and bring thee to eternal happiness. Therefore Solomon stirs up the attention of the hearer by the hope of fruit, which is confidence in the Lord. In the Hebrew this verse is connected with itself and stands alone: "That thy hope, he says, may be in the Lord, I have shown it to thee this day, thou also," as if to say: I have shown thee the law and the will of God, that embracing it, thou mayest be able to securely fix all thy hope in him, and hope from him for all good. To and also thou various ones variously explain. Pagninus and Vatablus, as if to say: Thou also cooperate with God; Jansenius, thou also knowest or rememberest; or, thou also show it to others, as I have shown it to thee. But I say it is a Hebraism, namely a Hebrew pleonasm with emphasis, as if to say: To thee, to thee, I say, have I shown these things: for the to, that is, to thee, is repeated, that he may inculcate these things with greater force upon the hearer. Thus among the Latins the pronouns to me, to thee, often abound through pleonasm. Whence Our Author, the Septuagint and the Chaldean omitted to and also thou. A similar Hebraism plainly is in the following chapter, verse 15, and elsewhere often. The Chaldean rendered it, that thy confidence may be in the Lord, and I shall show, or make known to thee this day; where to this day has emphasis, as if to say: That thou mayest be able to securely fix thy hope in God, I shall show thee his will and laws; and lest thou complain that they will be long and prolix, this day, that is, in this one day I shall deliver to thee and complete the rest of the precepts; there is no need for thee to frequent my school for a long time: for if thou shalt attentively hear me speaking this day, thou shalt also become learned this day. The Septuagint depart somewhat otherwise: That thy hope, they say, may be upon the Lord, and he may make known to thee thy way; or, as the Complutensian edition reads, his, that is, his own, as if to say: If by obeying my doctrine thou placest thy hopes in God, he himself shall direct thy ways, that is, thy actions, that thou mayest institute them prudently, and order them to his end, namely to eternal happiness; he in turn shall make known to thee his ways, that is, his laws, by which he has determined to lead thee to his glory; wherefore thou shalt have not so much me as God as thy teacher and guide, who can neither deceive nor go astray from the mark. Finally Aquila and Symmachus render it, I have made known to thee the way, that is, the manner of rightly and holily instituting life, which if thou shalt follow, thou shalt attain to a happy and eternal life.
22:20
For "tripliciter" in Hebrew is שלשים schalischim, which signifies three or threefold, whence triarii and tristates and triumvirs, who presided over three tens, that is thirty soldiers, or three governed the commonwealth; just as after Julius Caesar was slain, the triumvirs governed Rome, namely Antonius, Lepidus and Augustus; and the third from the king among the Hebrews was called schalis. Whence R. Levi: Just as, he says, the king rules and moderates the whole people, and the same is done by him who is second from the king, but leaders rule some part of the whole people: thus by equal reason leaders are called precepts, by which one is directed as to individual matters, in each kind of prudence and knowledge. Again, these sentences can be called triarii, on account of their constant truth, strength, and efficacy; for triarii were the strongest soldiers and the strength of the army. Hence the wonderful variety of versions here. Vatablus: Behold I have described to thee triarii or princes, namely Agur and Lamuel, whom I shall introduce speaking after me, cap. xxx. R. Abraham: Behold I have described to thee principal or ducal words; others, princes and leaders; R. Levi, glorious words; Pagninus, perfect; Aben-Ezra, in three days; others: Behold I have described to thee tripled or triplicate things; our Vulgate, tripliciter, following namely the Septuagint, which in the edition corrected at Rome thus have: And thou indeed describe them to thee tripliciter in counsel and in knowledge, upon the breadth of thy heart; but the Complutensian and Royal translation struck out the last words: "Thou however, he says, write to thee tripliciter in counsel and in thought;"; the Chaldean: Behold I have described them to thee in three times, in counsels and in knowledge. Now Vatablus, R. Solomon and Lyran think here Solomon speaks in the person of God, as if to say: I God have described my doctrine and law in three volumes of Holy Scripture, namely in the Law, the Prophets and the Hagiographa. Hence the Rabbis in the Midras hand down that from three triplicates all the work of the law consists, there are three orders of the commonwealth and Church, Priests, Levites and Israelites; in the third month, and on the third day of the month the law was given by God; the whole law consists in three letters, which are אמת emet, that is truth: for the law was given by God to Moses in truth, written in truth, received by the Israelites in truth. They add more ternary mysteries and symbols, which are more cabalistic than genuine and solid according to the letter. But Hugo and Dionysius think Solomon speaks of himself, as if to say: I Solomon have written my wisdom in three books, namely in Proverbs, by which I instruct beginners; in Ecclesiastes, by which I instruct those making progress; in the Canticles, by which I inform and instruct the perfect. But truly others more properly and closely, and therefore more genuinely think Solomon speaks of this one book of Proverbs; for he wrote Ecclesiastes and the Canticles later. Therefore R. Levi, Vatablus and Aben-Ezra translate, behold I have described principal or ducal or glorious words, as if to say: Not light, not humble, not vulgar from the crossroads, but distinguished, principal, select, learned and acute sentences, and axioms have I written, which therefore in Hebrew are called משלי misle, that is predominant and excellent sentences, as I said in the Proem. But our translator most excellently translated: Behold I have described it to thee tripliciter; thus indeed translate the Septuagint, Origen, St. Jerome, Cassian and others to be cited presently; but how tripliciter? First, St. Ambrose in Psal. cviii, octon. 16, to those words: My eyes have failed for thy salvation. "Thou hast, he says, written in Proverbs: And thou describe these to thee tripliciter, in counsel and in knowledge. He promised a threefold writing, and he subjoined two, counsel and knowledge; but knowledge is twofold: one of spiritual things, the other of corporeal things," as if to say: Write these tripliciter, first, in counsel; second, in knowledge of angels and souls; third, in knowledge of corporeal things. Second, Cajetan: I have written, he says, them tripliciter, that is I have divided this book into three sections: the first section is from cap. I to cap. x; the second, from cap. x to cap. xxv; the third, from cap. xxv to the end of the book. But Baynus begins the third section from here. Third, Origen in book IV of the Periarcha, St. Jerome in chapter sixteen of Ezekiel, and Cassian in Collation XIV, chapter eight: "I have written it," they say, "in three ways, that is, in a threefold sense, as if to say: These teachings of mine do not contain one sense only, but three, namely the literal, the tropological, and the allegorical. The literal sense is that which the sentence itself signifies first and immediately according to the letter; the tropological sense is when the literal sense is accommodated to the forming of morals; the allegorical sense is when it is adapted to Christ and the Church; the anagogical sense is when it rises up to heavenly things and the Church of the Blessed in heaven reigning with Christ." Solomon says this in order to sharpen the attention and zeal of the reader, as if to say: These teachings of mine are not simple, nor plain and obvious; but threefold, deep and mysterious: for they contain a threefold sense, and that a deep one, which it is necessary to investigate with great study and inquiry, just as the Essenes of old investigated the mystical senses of Holy Scripture, as testified by Eusebius, Josephus and Philo. Thus Jerusalem according to the letter signifies the city of Jerusalem; tropologically, a holy soul, quiet and peaceful, which is the city and temple of God: for Jerusalem in Hebrew means the same as vision of peace. Allegorically, it signifies the earthly Church; anagogically, the heavenly Church. Thus also the Author of the Greek Catena, whom hear: "Just as man," he says, "consists of body, soul and spirit: so Holy Scripture is constituted of the letter as of a body, of tropology as of a soul, and of anagogy as of a spirit. For example, in the ass which was tied to the castle that was positioned opposite, and which had Christ the Savior as its rider, first observe this fact, that is the history, or the thing itself simply done; then however consider according to tropology how, as soon as God the Word had ascended upon it as upon a beast of burden, it immediately began to move and proceed according to the prescription of reason. Finally however according to anagogy or spiritual contemplation consider the human nature of Christ, assumed in place of the paradise positioned opposite, so that bearing the image of him who had been cast out of paradise, it might carry us back again into paradise and restore us." Thus he. Fourth, our Salazar: "In three ways," he says, "that is, variously, separately and disconnectedly. For Plutarch in the Symposium prescribes that those problems which are thrown out by the wise among banquets should be solved and separated from one another, lest the mind of the listeners at the banquet labor. Solomon therefore, in order to present himself as a docile disciple, thus says: 'Behold I have described it to thee in three ways,' that is, in multiple and manifold ways; for it was not my intention to construct or weave together one discourse from parts coherent with one another; but as is the custom in convivial conversations, I wished to attempt multiple, various, loose and incoherent sentences, which on account of their variety would delight, and on account of their incoherence would not require excessive mental effort." Fifth and genuinely: "Behold I have described it (my doctrine and ethical wisdom) to thee in three ways," that is, in multiple, various, full and perfect ways, so that beyond it thou requirest nothing; but let it, as if complete in all respects, fully instruct thee concerning all things to be done, which lead to salvation; for the number three is a symbol of multitude, perfection and universality. Whence Aristotle says: "All things are three." And that saying: "O thrice and four times (that is, fully and supremely) blessed!" And Hermes or Mercury was called τρισμέγιστος, that is, thrice greatest, because he was both the greatest philosopher, and priest, and finally the greatest king; and St. Jerome acutely jesting says Tertullian to be thrice Tullius, because he perfectly imitated Cicero. See more concerning the number three and its symbolism in Peter Bungus, book On Numbers. Solomon excites the attention of the reader, saying that these dogmas of his are most full and most absolute, and that "in thoughts and in knowledge," that is to say, I have written these things not in passing, not unpremeditated, as they came to my lips, but with premeditated and exact thought, and with much experience and knowledge of things. In Hebrew it is, in counsels and in knowledge, that is to say, I have not written these things rashly, but with much deliberation, premeditation, counsel and from much knowledge and science of things. Orators are accustomed in the exordium of an oration to render the hearer attentive, benevolent and docile: he rendered him attentive and benevolent in verses 18 and 19; now in this verse 20 he renders him docile in the same way, showing the manner in which he wrote these things, so that their doctrine might be more easily grasped from their method. He says therefore: "I have described it threefold," that is to say in manifold and various ways, phrases, similitudes, antitheses and figures, which one may see scattered throughout these Proverbs; namely not once or twice, but frequently and repeatedly, iterating and inculcating the same things. More minutely others say, that is to say, I have written it threefold: first, by sharply correcting vices; second, by gently alluring to virtue; third, by suggesting certain most perfect things. Mystically, St. Ambrose in Psalm 118, octon. 18, on that passage: Thy word is burning: "Describe to thyself threefold, he says, the burning word of God, either that which cleanses, or that which inflames, or that which illuminates the hearers," that is to say, I have written these things with a threefold end and fruit: first, to cleanse the readers from vices; second, to inflame them with the love of God; third, to illuminate them in the way of virtue and perfection. Tropologically Bede and Salonius: "I have described it threefold;" because, they say, I have determined to instruct and inform thy three actions, namely thoughts, utterances and operations, so that thou mayest prefer virtue in heart, mouth and deed. And Hugh: "Behold I have described it threefold, that is, he says, it is to be held in three ways, namely in thought, utterance, operation; thus Solomon explains himself, adding: In thoughts, that is to say for thinking inwardly in the heart; and knowledge, that is to say for teaching outwardly in mouth and deed. Behold wisdom is described threefold for thinking, for speaking and for acting. Thus every teacher ought to have it, and thus every hearer ought to receive it, namely that he may know, speak and do." Again threefold, that is to say for rightly forming the three powers of the soul, namely for illuminating the intellect, for stimulating the will, for confirming the memory. Furthermore the Septuagint varies here. For the author of the Catena of the Greeks reads thus: "But thou describe that same doctrine threefold, namely in counsel, in knowledge, and in the breadth of thy heart." Behold here is a ternary of subjects or powers, that is to say, Write it in the intellect, where counsel is vigorous; in the memory, where the knowledge of things is preserved; and in the heart, that is to say in the breadth of thy will, so that it may be abundantly and widely imprinted upon all those, nay rather poured around them. Cassian in the place cited reads, but thou describe it to thyself threefold upon the height of thy heart; the Complutensian editors, but thou describe it to thyself threefold in counsel and thought; the Vatican Codex, and thou indeed describe it to thyself threefold in counsel and knowledge upon the breadth of thy heart, that is to say, Thus engrave and carve it into the mind and its counsels and knowledge, so that it may always cling most deeply to the soul. Whence the Chaldean renders it, I have described it three times, that is to say I have inculcated it many times and repeatedly, so that it may be plainly fixed in thy mind.
22:21
In Hebrew, to know the certainty of the words of truth, to report the words of truth to those who send you. The Septuagint: I teach you therefore true discourse and knowledge that can be heard, so that you may answer the words of truth to those who propose them to you; the Syriac: that I may make known to you counsel and knowledge; the Chaldean: truth and right words, so that you may report the words of truth to those who sent you. The words are clear; only the question is asked what is meant by "those who send you." Some restrict this to an ambassador or messenger, that is to say: When you are sent as an ambassador or messenger by someone, this teaching of mine will teach you what you ought to do, and what you ought to report and answer to the prince or to another who sent you. But this sense, as it is more restricted, so it seems impertinent. Secondly, others explain it better, that is to say: "To answer those who send you," namely to consult or ask, that is to say: This teaching will make you learned, indeed a teacher, so that you may be able to answer all who send their servants or household members to you, so that they may consult you or ask you about their doubts. Whence Vatablus translates: to report the words of truth to those who send to you; the Septuagint, who propose to you. For thus difficult questions are sent from everywhere to the wise and learned, so that they may be resolved by them, as Hiram sent to Solomon, as Josephus testifies, VIII Antiquities 11; indeed "the queen of Sheba, having heard of the wisdom of Solomon, came to try him with hard questions; and Solomon taught her all the words which she had proposed," III Kings x, 1. Thus to St. Jerome, as to an oracle, St. Damasus, St. Augustine and others sent questions from Holy Scripture to be resolved; and to St. Augustine questions were sent concerning faith and the heresies of the Pelagians, Donatists, Arians, etc. This sense is plain and genuine. Thirdly, a learned man expounds it thus: From these opinions of mine you will be able to answer those who send you an invitation to a banquet, that is to say: When some send servants to invite you, and in the banquet after the ancient custom propose difficult questions to you, from this instruction of mine you will be able to answer them and resolve them. For formerly the wise used to propose questions to one another in banquets, as is evident from Athenaeus in the Banquets of the Wise, Plutarch in the Symposium and others. Finally, plainly, as it sounds, this sending could be understood of a son or boy, whom parents, relatives or friends send to schools, so that he may learn this wisdom of Solomon, that is to say: In this school of wisdom, O son, you will be so instructed that, returning home to your parents or friends, you may be able to answer concerning all things which are proposed to you by them and others. Tropologically Bede and Salonius: "I have described it threefold;" because, they say, I have determined to instruct and form your three actions, namely thoughts, utterances and works, so that you may show virtue in heart, mouth and deed. And Hugh: "Behold I have described it threefold, that is," he says, "to be held in three ways, namely in thought, utterance, work; thus Solomon explains himself, adding: In thoughts, that is for thinking inwardly in the heart; and knowledge, that is for teaching outwardly in mouth and work. Behold wisdom is described threefold for thinking, for speaking and for working. Thus every teacher ought to have it, and thus every hearer ought to receive it, namely that he may know, say, do." Again threefold, that is to form rightly the three powers of the soul, namely to illuminate the intellect, to stimulate the will, to strengthen the memory. Wherefore, the exposition of Aben-Ezra is remote and impertinent: "Those who sent you, that is," he says, "I will report to the Lord by whom I was sent to instruct you; for the faculty of understanding is called the messenger of God." Yet it can be admitted mystically. For the doctor ought to refer all things to God; for he is sent by God, and it is necessary that he render an account of his teaching to Him, as much as to the Princes and Prelates of the Church: for they send him in the place of God.
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In Hebrew: Do not rob the poor because he is poor, nor crush the afflicted at the gate; the Septuagint: nor dishonor the weak at the gates; the Chaldean: do not be caught oppressing the poor; Vatablus: the poor you shall neither oppress by force, nor by the appearance of law, namely so that through a friendly judge you condemn him at the gate, that is in the tribunal. This meaning can first be referred to judges and princes. For these once sat at the gate of the city, as in an open and free place, to which farmers and foreigners could easily and safely come. At the gate therefore they sat, as at a tribunal to hear disputes, and to render justice to each. Thus the sense will be, as if to say: Do not do violence and injury to the poor because he is poor, who cannot defend and avenge himself, nor oppress the needy at the gate, that is in judgment, so that you condemn him though innocent, and adjudge his case to the rich or powerful man, who brings an unjust case and suit against the needy, corrupted by his gifts, or fearing his power; because God the highest judge will take up the cause of the poor, and will condemn both the judge who unjustly condemned the poor, and the rich man who brought an unjust suit against him, and was the cause of his condemnation. For it is the greatest injustice to abuse the gate, that is the place and power of judgment, to crush the poor, when the poor and innocent ought to be defended at that place from injury and oppression, and which God instituted as it were a sacred asylum for their protection. Secondly, this maxim can be understood more generally of any rich or powerful man; for such men not rarely depress the poor, indeed oppress them: so that the sense is, as if to say: Do not, O powerful man, press down the poor, rob, afflict him, nor bring an unjust suit against him, so that you take care that he be condemned, and crush him at the gate, that is in judgment through favors or gifts which you give to the judge; because God will take up his cause in himself, and will judge, condemning and punishing your judgment, and declaring and rewarding his innocence; for God has singular care of the poor, as those abandoned by others and left to him alone, according to that: "To thee is the poor left; thou wilt be a helper to the orphan," Psalm ix, verse 14. Or because he is poor, you may refer it to violence, as if to say: Proud men are wont to do violence to the poor, because the poor, that is the wretched and powerless, are those who cannot defend themselves from the force of the powerful; but you do not abuse their poverty, nor insult them; or rather to you do not do, as if to say: Do not inflict violence and injury on the poor, when he already suffers much evil in his poverty; do not therefore add sorrow to the sorrowful, affliction to the afflicted. Thus Aben-Ezra. AND HE SHALL PIERCE THOSE WHO HAVE PIERCED HIS SOUL.—As if to say: Just as the rich man by injury, violence and fraud oppressing the poor, as if with a driven nail or dagger of pain and anguish, pierces and transfixes his inmost soul: so likewise God will render like for like, and will pierce and transfix the inmost bowels of the rich man with similar stings of pain and anguish, and this often in this life, always in the future. Our Martin of Roa, book I of Singularities, chapter iv, interprets he shall pierce as "he shall lay hands," as a creditor upon a debtor; for when, he says, the Wise Man had exhorted us not to summon the poor to judgment for debts, nor oppress them at will, he adds the reason: "Because the Lord will judge his cause, and he shall pierce those who have pierced his soul." That is, the Lord will force them to undergo the same fortune, and will reduce them to poverty, so that they are bound by debt, so that creditors lay hands upon them and bind them, just as they themselves raged against those bound, that is obligated to them, the poor. For he shall pierce, in Hebrew it is קבע kaba, which is repeated only here, and in Malachi iii, 8: "If a man afflicts God, because you pierce me." Where St. Jerome asserts that kaba from the language of the Syrians and Chaldeans means to pierce; wherefore he who defrauds the Levites and poor of their things, and pierces them with sorrow and hardship as if with a sting and as it were crucifies them, he thus pierces and crucifies God and Christ (who lives in the poor, hungers, thirsts, suffers, is afflicted, Matthew xxv, 35), as if with driven nails. Aben-Ezra translates kaba in three ways: he will corrupt, or kill, or seize those who corrupt, or destroy, or rob his soul; the Chaldean: he will avenge the avenging of their souls; the Syrian: and he will repay the oppression of their soul; Vatablus: he will despoil the despoilers of their life; Symmachus: he will torment those who tormented his soul; others more genuinely: he will supplant, trample, tread down, destroy those who supplanted, trampled, trod down, destroyed his soul. I have said more about this word in Malachi iii, 8. Moreover the Septuagint translates differently, and thou shalt deliver thy soul ἄσυλον, that is innocent, holy, safe and inviolable like an asylum, as if to say: If thou shalt not do violence to the poor, but shalt keep thyself from all injury innocent, whole and pure, thou shalt make thy soul safe and free from all evil, so that it may appear to be like a most sacred and inviolable asylum. For there is no such asylum as innocence, justice and holiness. For men are called ἄσυλοι safe from violence, as are those most sacred, whom it is not permitted to touch without danger, such as among the Romans were the tribunes of the people and heralds, whom to harm or violate was an inexpiable crime. And statues of the Emperors gave the right of asylum, that is immunity and impunity, to those fleeing to them; of which kind of statue Philostratus writes that one of Tiberius was. Much more does innocence, integrity and purity from all crime afford a safe and inviolable asylum before God and men. Perhaps the Septuagint translates kaba as ῥύσῃ, that is thou shalt deliver, looking to קובע koba, that is helmet, as if to say: Innocence will be to thee as a helmet, it will protect thy head as a helmet, for it itself will deliver thee from all evil, and will make thee unharmed and safe from all hostile blow in all things, so that thou mayest appear inviolable. Some think these things are said of the poor: for the discourse is deflected to him by the rich man here, as if to say: That rich man losing his soul by unjust gain; but thou on the other hand losing thy fortune savest thy soul, and so his condition is far worse: nor only dost thou save thy soul from destruction, but thou also placest it "in an asylum and in perpetual security;" for poverty is to a man as an asylum. Hear St. Chrysostom in the homily On receiving Severianus: "Poverty," he says, "is a safe asylum, a tranquil harbor, perpetual security, delights free from dangers, sincere pleasure, a life ignorant of disturbances, a way ignorant of waves." But the former exposition is more connected, and therefore more fitting and genuine. Examples of this sentence are in Haman, who destroyed the Jews, and therefore on the same wood on which he had intended to hang Mordecai, he himself was hanged, Esther vii and seq.; in the Sodomites who, afflicting Lot and his guests, were struck down by heavenly fire and burned up, Genesis xix; in Pharaoh and the Egyptians who, oppressing the Hebrews and persecuting them, were fixed and submerged in the Red Sea, Exodus xiv; in Christ and the Christians, whom the Jews afflicted and crucified, and therefore they themselves were afflicted and crucified by Titus and Vespasian; but their remnants scattered throughout the world, exiles and wretched, wander even now, so that they do not even possess a palm's breadth of land. Whence Bede: "Better," he says, "is this place understood of him who, when he was rich, became poor for us; and not only poor, that he might enrich us, but also that he might redeem us, he deigned to be crucified. Therefore wisdom forbids her hearers to bring violence and death to the Lord preaching in the flesh, because assuredly certain destruction remains for those who did not fear to lay hands on the author of life." Thus he.
22:24
In Hebrew, do not associate with a man or lord of the nose (that is, one prone to anger: for he who abounds in anger, this indeed shows itself in a wrinkled and burning nose), and with a man of outbursts do not walk; the Septuagint, do not be a companion to a furious man, do not dwell with an angry friend; Symmachus, do not contract friendship; the Chaldean, do not mingle with a man of bile. For stumbling-block in Hebrew is מוקש mokes, that is, a snare; Aquila, σκῶλον, that is, an offense. For an angry man in Hebrew is את בעל אף et baal aph, that is, word for word, lord of the nose, or of anger: not one who has that in his power and dominates it; but lord, that is, possessor, who possesses great and much bile, that is, holds and contains it. And it signifies, says Baynus, not only him who frequently grows angry, but also him who breathes his anger upon others and provokes them to anger; and therefore him who is worthy of anger, and deserves that someone be angry with him, and pour anger upon him, as if to say, Do not join society or friendship with a bilious man, who exerts anger, stirs up quarrels, provokes angers, and therefore displeases God and men. Others translate baal aph as husband of anger, who namely has espoused anger as a wife and joined himself to it, so that he neither wishes nor is able to be separated from it. For women are accustomed to be angry and to stir up angers and quarrels in the home. He brings forward two reasons for this warning: The first is, lest perhaps you learn, in Hebrew פן תאלף teelaph, that is, become accustomed to his ways; for the bilious man rubs his bile upon his companion, indeed his anger and quarrel stir up his companion's angers and quarrels, just as a barking dog provokes and returns the barking of another dog; for a companion imbues and takes on the manners of his companion, a friend of his friend. For it is difficult with one who frequently grows angry to maintain constant wisdom and gentleness, and to restrain the anger which he throws forth so that it does not burst out; whoever can do this and does it, he is truly a great and perfect man. And St. Basil teaches that we ought to strive for this, in his homily On Anger: "Do not," he says, "use your adversary as a teacher, nor wish to become as a mirror of the angry man, showing his form in yourself," so namely that you reflect, direct and express his gestures, words and manners, fierce, savage, threatening and furious in yourself as in a mirror. Do not therefore grow angry with the angry man, return insult to the insulting man, return quarrel to the quarreling man, return barking to the barking man; but overcome and calm his anger by gravity and silence, consider the barking of a dog as something you hear, and pass through quietly. From this learn that, just as the angry man breathes anger upon his companion, so the gentle man breathes gentleness upon his companion, just as roses breathe their sweet and rosy fragrance upon those standing near; for each man becomes such as those are with whom he converses. If you wish therefore to become mild, calm, humble, holy, zealous, flee from the harsh, savage, proud, impious, slothful, and converse with the mild, calm, humble, holy, zealous, according to that: "With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with the innocent man thou shalt be innocent; and with the elect thou shalt be elect, and with the perverse thou shalt be perverted," Psalm xvii, 26. Moreover, from this reason subjoined it is clear that the society of the angry is not always to be avoided by all. For generally perfect men ought not to flee from the perverse, but sometimes to converse with them so that they may draw them to rectitude, by whose perversity and vices they are not easily overcome. Whence this precept pertains especially to the weaker, to whom there is more danger from observed examples, as Bede also noted. Thus Jansenius. The posterior reason for avoiding association with an angry man is: "Do not take a snare for your soul," that is, do not place a trap by which your soul, that is your life, may be ensnared and strangled—both your natural life through death, and your supernatural life through the sin of quarreling, fighting and murder, and your eternal life through the punishment of hell, decreed by Christ against the angry and revilers, Matt. v, 22. Whence Vatablus explains it, as if to say: "Lest you finally perish miserably and be killed by others"; for easily from anger one goes to litigation, from litigation to quarreling, from quarreling to fighting, from fighting to blows and slaughter. For, as St. Basil says, in his homily On Anger: "First insults are hurled among the angry, and thus they continue, until insults like arrows run out; then, when all insult is exhausted through the tongue, they come to blows and fighting; for anger stirs up contention, contention stirs up reviling, reviling stirs up blows, these wounds, from which often deaths follow." And after inserting several more points: "After reason has once been overthrown and the disturbance of mind has seized dominion through anger, it makes a man utterly savage, nor does it allow him to be a man, who might have further aid from reason; for what poison is in venomous things, that anger is in the irritated and embittered. For just as torrents, flowing through hollow places, drag along with them whatever they encounter: so the violent impulses of the angry are such that they cannot be restrained, and they rush through everything in like manner." He adds the cause: "For the angry, gray hair is not venerable, nor the sustenance of life, nor kinship of blood, nor past benefits, nor anything of such things is greatly esteemed among such people. The angry do not cease until through a great and incurable evil of anger, as it were their bubble bursts, and the inflammation is dispersed; for neither the edge of a sword, nor fire, nor anything else of those things which are most feared, can restrain an angry mind raging, no more than those who are held by demons, from whom the angry differ in nothing whatsoever, neither in habit nor in disposition of mind." Anger therefore is a snare of the soul and of life. For just as birds are caught in snares, and mice unwittingly in mousetraps: so men, while they indulge in anger, unwittingly and thoughtlessly fall into snares and entanglements, from which they cannot extricate themselves. Moreover, this snare is, first, in the anger and litigation arising against an irascible friend; for frequently the quarrels of the irascible burst forth finally into blows and deaths, especially because anger is sudden, and like a frenzy immediately puts the hand to the sword, before the mind sees what it is doing, and the greater the love of friends, the greater does hatred and anger turn: for a friend thinks that a greater injury is done to him by a friend, if he is harmed by one from whom he expected all goodwill, than if by a stranger, as I have shown elsewhere. Thus Alexander the Great in anger killed Clitus, who was most dear to him, of which he soon greatly repented. Second, this snare is in the anger and litigation arising against others and strangers; for he who converses with an irascible friend takes upon himself his angers, quarrels and brawls, which he frequently fosters with many. Wherefore when in fighting it comes to blows, it is necessary that he help his friend and defend him against outsiders. Now fighting is a snare of slaughter; for in it the combative either kill or are killed in a light moment. Wherefore the Author of the Imperfect Work, hom. 12 in Matt.: "Just as anger," he says, "is the mother of murder, so lust is the mother of adultery." And St. Chrysostom, hom. 16 in Matt.: "The root," he says, "of murder is irascibility. He therefore who cuts off the root will much more easily be able to amputate the branches themselves, indeed he will not even allow them to sprout." Hence wisely Nazianzen: "Restrain anger with a bridle," he says, "lest you lose your mind." For anger is like a most savage beast, which rages cruelly upon all. Again, anger is like the sea agitated by winds and storms, which casts waves into the sky, and dashes and destroys everything, as St. Cyril says. Finally, "anger is a brief madness," as the Poet says. Following Solomon, Sirach, Eccli. viii, 19, has a sentence that is apparently opposite, but in reality appropriate and similar: "With an angry man," he says, "do not contend, and do not go into the desert with a bold man; for blood is as nothing before him, and where there is no help, he will overthrow you." For he who is a friend to an angry man must necessarily often fall into quarrels with him; for the friendship of an angry man is angry and quarrelsome, as I have already shown. See the things said there. From this passage the author of the book On Friendship, chapter xii (found in vol. IV of the Works of St. Augustine), teaches that the bilious are little suited to friendship: "There are certain vices, he says, by which if anyone is entangled, he will not long keep the laws or rights of friendship; for the very irascible, the unstable, the suspicious, the verbose are not suitable for friendship, which four things are to be noted in the choice of a friend. It is difficult that he whom the fury of anger often agitates should not sometimes rise up against a friend. Whence Ecclesiasticus: There is a friend who will uncover hatred and strife and reproaches. Be not a friend to an angry man, neither walk with a furious man, lest thou contract a stain upon thy soul. There are some from natural disposition irascible, who nevertheless are solicitous to so suppress and moderate this passion, that they never break forth into the five things by which, as Scripture testifies, friendship is dissolved and corrupted: although sometimes they offend a friend by speech or deed, or by excessive zeal. Witticisms are to be tolerated, and when we are certain of the affection, if anyone has exceeded in speech or action, this is to be indulged to a friend; or certainly, without some pain, he is to be admonished jocosely in that in which he has exceeded."
22:26
"Who strike hands," that is, who pledge themselves with hand fixed and given, as it were as stipulators and sureties for others. In Hebrew, be not among those who strike the palm, among those who pledge themselves for debts: if thou hast not wherewith to pay, why should he take thy bed from under thee? The Septuagint: be not ashamed of any man's person, or reverence thyself, and offer thyself as a surety; for if thou hast not wherewith to pay the debt, one thing remains, that they take away the bed spread under thy sides as a pledge. Thus the Author of the Greek Catena. The Chaldean: pledge not thy hand in suretyship for thy companion: if thou hast not wherewith to restore, thy bed shall be taken from under thee; the Syriac: give not thyself in suretyship, and if thou shouldst reverence him, thou shalt be confounded by the person, etc. To strike hands is to offer oneself as a pledge to the creditor, and to deliver oneself as it were into his hands, so that he may seize thee from him, present thee to the judge, bind thee and lead thee to prison, if he for whom thou pledgest thyself be not able to pay, or be unwilling to pay. These bonds therefore the surety binds upon himself, as I said in chapter vi, 1. The sense is, as if to say: Join not thyself, thrust not thyself in and insert not thyself among those who rashly pledge themselves for the debts of others, so that thou mayest come into a share of the suretyship and become one of the pledges and sureties, especially if thou hast but little means and goods, so that thou hast not wherewith to be able to pledge for the debt for which thou pledgest thyself: "For what cause is there?" as if to say: Why dost thou of thine own accord cast thyself into the danger of the greatest and extreme necessity, so that the creditor may take thy bed or the coverings of thy bed as a pledge, in which thou liest and sleepest, so that thou canst not lie down comfortably? For a bed cannot be taken away by Caesar's law, if there be other things less necessary, which may be taken by the creditor as a pledge. Whence neither does a bed come into the general mortgage of goods, as is evident from law 1 of the Code: What things can be pledged. Hence also by divine law, Exodus xxii, 21, and Deuteronomy xxiv, 12 and 13, it is commanded that the bed be returned to the debtor before sunset, so that he may sleep in it at night. The Septuagint suggest the cause of the facility of pledging, when they add: Being ashamed of the face, as if to say: While thou art conversing among those who easily pledge themselves for friends, thou shalt be ashamed, unless thou also in like manner pledge thyself: for thou shalt seem either more timid, or more scrupulous, or less human and less a friend to a friend; so that therefore thou mayest avoid this shame and the danger of suretyship, be not with sureties, but withdraw and depart from them. See what I said concerning the danger of suretyship in chapter vi, verse 1. Furthermore, a pledge, and by syncope a vas, is a surety of another in a capital matter, says Festus, thus called from vadendo, because he to whom a pledge has been given, to go away, that is, to depart, is meanwhile permitted. Hence Horace, book I of Satires, satire 1: He who, having given pledges, was drawn from the country into the city. Hence his suretyship was called vadimonium. A vas, says Varro, book V of On the Latin Language, was called he who promised vadimonium for another. And to pledge, says Priscian, was to bind by vadimonium, or to fix a day of judgment by agreement, and to summon to law. Cicero, book III of On Duties, concerning two Pythagoreans, when he who was devoted to death asked for a few days for the sake of commending his affairs, the other became a pledge for presenting him, so that, if he did not return, he himself would have to die. Yet here and elsewhere a pledge is taken for a surety of any debt, so that it is the same as praes, which is thus called because he ought to provide what he promised by pledging, says Festus. Mystically, an anonymous writer in the Catena of the Greeks, as if to say: "Do not rashly pledge vadimonium for the flesh;" and R. Levi: "He exhorts," he says, "that the mind pledge not itself for the faculty of concupiscence." Tropologically, Bede understands these things concerning Pastors and Bishops: "Be not," he says, "with those who, when they were free and had leisure for themselves, strike their hands in the cares of the salvation of the wicked, pledging themselves to render account to the Lord for their souls. For if he for whom thou hast pledged thyself have not good works by which he may set thee free and secure from thy suretyship, what profit is it to thee, that on the day of judgment thou be judged for his soul, and lose the garment of justice in which thou wast seen to be clothed, and be found naked of the ornament of virtues? because what thou hast promised with the Lord as witness, thou wast not able to fulfill? But this was said, not because thou ought not to undertake the care of ruling souls, when it has been regularly imposed upon thee, but lest thou rashly usurp the office of teacher and prelate without any one commanding, and without the authority of thy doctor and superior."
22:28
In Hebrew, do not move back the boundary of the age, which your fathers made; Pagninus, do not transfer; Vatablus, do not move the perennial boundaries from their place; the Chaldean, do not change the boundary which is from of old; the Septuagint, do not transfer the eternal boundaries which your fathers set; Cajetan, do not add boundaries. All come down to the same thing. The Septuagint follows the Syriac in its manner. Grammatically, to the letter, it ordains that no one should transfer and extend beyond what is right the limits of fields, possessions, and his own things, so as to invade and seize the fields of neighbors and the property of others, according to the law sanctioned by God in Deuteronomy xix, 14: "Thou shalt not take and transfer the boundaries of thy neighbor, which the ancients have set in thy possession, which the Lord thy God will give thee in the land which thou shalt receive to possess." Again, it was not lawful for the Jews to hold a purchased field beyond the year of jubilee: for this was the boundary of alienation; when this had elapsed, the purchased field ought to return to the seller, according to the law, Leviticus xxv, 13. Thus Baynus, Cajetan, Lyra, Jansenius and others. The reason is that to transfer boundaries is against the law of nations and of nature: because it violates justice, both commutative, by which the property of another is invaded and seized; and legal and political: for it disturbs the common peace of citizens and neighbors, and confuses possessions and inheritances, and is therefore the cause of grave lawsuits, quarrels and slaughters. For this reason, the ancients took the greatest care of boundaries. Whence Virgil: A boundary set in the field, that it might settle disputes in the fields. For indeed the contention over boundaries often grows into war, as between the Iapyges and the Tarentines in Italy the controversy over boundaries reached such a point that the Iapyges gathered an army of up to twenty thousand men, and having drawn up in battle array against the Tarentines and Rhegians fought. Thus also between the Corinthians and Megarans a private contention over boundaries produced war, and between the Egestans and Selinuntians. These and many more things are narrated by Diodorus Siculus, book II and book XII. Wherefore Numa Pompilius, the second king of the Romans, according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, book II, ordained that each one should circumscribe his own boundaries, and place stones at the boundaries which he consecrated to Jupiter Terminalis, and decreed that sacred rites should be performed over them annually by those dwelling nearby, and called the boundaries themselves termini, and if anyone should have hidden or moved them, he sanctioned by divine law that he should be sacred, so that it would be lawful for anyone willing to kill him, as a sacrilegist. The words of the ancient law concerning not moving the boundary are reported by Crinitus: "Whoever does otherwise, and erases the boundary, let both he and his oxen be sacred." Romulus had previously ordained that whoever usurped the boundaries of neighbors, he to whom he wished could take the whole field of the usurper in place of a fine, and it would justly belong to him. Constantine Caesar retained this law regarding a moved boundary while the controversy over boundaries was pending, and before the matter was settled by judgment: "Whoever," he says, "shall have brought forward a final question, if before anything is settled by judgment, he wishes to usurp property belonging to another, let him lose not only what he wrongly sought, but, defeated in the suit, let him lose as much land as he attempted to seize, so that each one, content with his own, may not seek what belongs to another's right." Today, however, as Dynus writes in the chapter Ex litteris, 13 De Probat., it is left to the discretion of the judge what penalties, whether monetary or corporal, he wishes to impose on those who transfer boundaries, having regard to the circumstances of the deed and of the persons. For this reason the Romans made a god of Terminus, so that by reverence for him they might restrain the greed of men, lest they transfer the boundaries of fields, fearing lest they incur the anger and vengeance of the god Terminus. Hear Ovid, book II of the Fasti: Terminus, whether thou art a stone, or a stake buried in the field, thou also hast divinity from the ancients. Thou settest bounds to peoples, cities and mighty kingdoms; every field would be litigious without thee. Thou hast no ambition, thou art corrupted by no gold; thou keepest the fields entrusted to thee with lawful faith. Terminus, after that thou hast no freedom of lightness: remain in the station in which thou hast been placed. And whether thou shalt be struck by ploughshares or by rakes, cry out: This field is thine, that one is thine. This is supported by that passage of St. Augustine, book IV of the City of God, chapter 23: "When King Tarquinius wished to build the Capitol, and when he perceived that the place which would be more worthy was already occupied by foreign gods, not daring to do anything against their judgment, and believing that they would willingly yield to so great a divinity and to his own authority, he inquired by augury whether they would wish to grant the place to Jupiter? All assented except Mars, Terminus, and Juventas." So immovable and inviolable was Terminus to the Romans, that he would not even yield his place to Jupiter, nor allow his boundaries to be transferred for his sake. St. Augustine continues: "And therefore the Capitol was constructed in such a way that even these three were marked with such obscure signs, that scarcely the most learned men knew it." He adds the reason in chapter 29: "For thus, they say, it was signified that the Martian race, that is the Roman, would give to no one the place which it held; that the Romans also, on account of the god Terminus, would move no one's boundaries; and that the Roman youth also, on account of the goddess Juventas, would yield to no one." For more concerning the god Terminus and his festivals called Terminalia, see Giraldus, On the Gods of the Gentiles, syntagm. 1, page 60. Finally, Plato thus ordains it, book VIII of the Laws: "First therefore are the laws of agriculture, and let this first law be sanctioned in the name of Jupiter Terminalis: Let no one move the boundaries or boundary stones of any man's field, whether of a citizen or of a foreign neighbor, if he has fields in the extreme part of the region, thinking it a sin to move these, and to move immovable things in which that saying applies; and let anyone prefer to move a huge stone rather than a small stone confirmed by oath from the gods, by which friendships and enmities, with the authority of the gods interposed, are terminated: for the one, Jupiter of the tribe is witness; for the other, the god of hospitality, who when most bitter wars are stirred up." Symbolically, under this grammatical sense, and as it were beneath the bark of the letter, Solomon looked to something deeper, namely, as if to say: Do not transgress the boundaries of faith or morals, which the orthodox Doctors or Fathers have fixed, so that you might wish to believe, teach, or act otherwise than has been sanctioned by them. Thus Salonius: "The ancient boundaries," he says, "means the boundaries of truth and faith, which the Catholic doctors established from the beginning; therefore he commands this, that no one receive the truth of Catholic doctrine otherwise than it has been handed down by the Fathers, or he commands this, that no one interpret the words of the holy Scriptures otherwise." In like manner it is not permitted to transgress the boundaries and statutes of Republics, Churches, Religions, Orders, Monasteries, etc., which the founders and Fathers established. Thus also Bede, Hugh, Dionysius and others, indeed even R. Solomon thus explains it, as if to say: "Do not depart from the custom and institutions of your parents, and do not turn yourself backward." Others add: Do not strive to increase excessively the inheritance and income left to you by your parents, so that you might gather immense riches. In this matter a notable example was given by Thomas More, Chancellor of England and Martyr, who, having discharged the most ample honors in the republic for many years, nevertheless did not increase his annual income beyond two hundred gold pieces, as Stapleton relates in his Life. There is added R. Levi: "We are warned," he says, "that the definitions and boundaries which the ancients established should not be changed, since from all these a benefit is evident;" and the Author of the Greek Catena: "The Fathers," he says, "he calls the powers and faculties of the mind. But he properly transfers the boundaries of the fathers, who changes the boundaries and limits of religion into heresy, or superstition, or impiety." Hence Pope Calixtus, as is found in 9, Question II, chapter 1: "Let no one," he says, "usurp another's boundaries, nor presume to judge or ordain another's parishioner: because such judgment, or ordination or excommunication, will be neither valid nor have any force; wherefore the Lord also speaks: Do not transgress the ancient boundaries, which your fathers have set." For this is a general maxim; hence it can be applied to any boundaries whatsoever, whether of jurisdiction, or of possession, Religion, ordination, etc. St. Jerome in Hosea chapter 5, 10: "The princes," he says, "have transferred the boundaries, which their fathers set, when they change truth into falsehood, and preach something other than what they received from the Apostles." Concerning which matter, see Vincent of Lérins reasoning excellently in his golden little book against the profane novelties of heresies. This is what God, blaming the Jews, thunders forth in Hosea 5, 10: "The princes of Judah have become as those that remove the boundary." See the remarks there. Finally, you may turn this reproach against those who wish to add something as if more perfect to the Gospel, to Religion, to the Rules sanctioned by the Fathers, as though they alone see and know more than others—which is a hidden arrogance. Wherefore St. Benedict prudently forbade anything to be added to his Rules. For even if one could devise and do something more perfect than the rule commands, nevertheless it is not expedient to impose it on the whole community, Order or college. Most excellently St. Gregory of Nazianzus: "Do not," he says, "be more legal, nor more equitable than the rule, nor more sublime than the commandment." It is better that you conform yourself to the tradition of the Fathers and to the law, be directed by the rule, and accommodate yourself to the precept, which the Gospel teaches you, and do not devise new rules and laws which may draw you away from the ancient and true ones, under the pretext that you may excel more in them.
22:29
For swift in Hebrew is מהיר mahir, that is, hasty, expeditious, vigorous, swift, industrious. For he shall stand and shall be, in Hebrew is יתיצב iitiatseb, that is, he shall set himself, he shall establish himself, and it is both active and passive, and signifies an action of the agent reflected upon itself: as if you were to say: He shall establish himself and shall establish himself. For ignoble in Hebrew is חשכים chaschukim, that is, dark or gloomy, as Theodotion translated it; but the gloomy are called squalid, vile, poor, sluggish, by catachresis. The Hebrew therefore thus reads: Thou hast seen a man swift in his work, he shall stand before the face of kings, or shall establish himself, he shall not establish himself before the face of the gloomy; the Septuagint: a man of discernment, and in his works shrewd and expeditious ought to assist kings; but to sluggish and lazy men not at all. Thus the Interpreter of the Catena of the Greeks translated it. It is a commendation of industry and swiftness, as if to say: A man industrious, vigorous and swift is magnanimous, and is fitted for great things; wherefore he will insinuate himself to the great and to kings, so that he may obey and serve them in great matters, especially in the governance of the commonwealth: nor will he abase himself to vile persons, so as to handle vile and trivial matters. Wherefore in turn this industry and vigor of his will please kings, so that they may desire and seek to have him assist them, and may move him to great things, and may promote him to great dignities and offices. Thus R. Levi: It signifies, he says, that the diligent man shall be raised to dignities by his security, and shall escape poverty and the scarcity of things, according to that common saying: "Six years famine occupies all things, nor does it reach the door of the craftsman." For to stand before the king, or to assist the king, is the same to the Hebrews as to be in the king's favor, in his delight, to be familiar to the king, and to minister to him in his court, to be raised by the king to ample and royal offices, to rule the kingdom with the king. Those therefore who assist the king are called the king's intimates and counselors. Thus III Kings xii, 6: "King Roboam took counsel with the elders who stood before Solomon his father." Thus there were seven princes, "who by the custom of the king always attended him (King Ahasuerus), and he did all things by their counsel," Esther 1, verse 13. Thus the seven chief angels are said to stand before God, Tobias xii, 15; Zacharias iii, 9, and elsewhere. Again, those are said to stand before the king who are prefects stationed there, who as it were each in his own place stand as viceroys, and govern provinces for the king. Thus Azarias, son of Nathan, is said to have been over those who stood before King Solomon, that is, the chief of the princes, III Kings iv, 5. See our Pinedan, lib. V On the Affairs of Solomon, cap. xiii, num. 8. Morally, Solomon here teaches that kings and princes ought to choose industrious and vigorous men, so that they may place them over public offices: for he who is vigorous in governing private matters, such as a household, will likewise be vigorous in public governance: as Christ teaches, Luke xix, 17: "Well done, he says, good servant, because thou hast been faithful in that which is least, thou shalt have power over ten cities;" and cap. xvi, 10: "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is greater;" and Paul, I Timothy iii, 5, commands that a Bishop be chosen "one that ruleth well his own house." He adds the reason: "For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God?" Nay, Aristotle also, lib. I Polit., cap. 1, teaches that good politicians are made from good economists, and therefore good ones ought to be chosen. Wherefore kings should not allow such men to hide themselves among the ignoble, that is, among private persons, but should move them to noble and public offices of the commonwealth. Thus M. Agrippa was moved to the conduct of affairs by Caesar Augustus, because, as Velleius says: "He was a man unconquered by labor, vigilance, and danger, and in all things free from delays, joining deeds to deliberations." Where note: This swiftness is to be praised not so much in deliberation, as in the execution of deliberation. For, as Aristotle says, VI Ethic. ix: "Things swiftly deliberated upon are to be carried out, but deliberation ought to be slow." That saying of Tacitus is well known, lib. I Hist., "crimes gain strength by impulse, good counsels by delay;" and that of Livy, lib. XXXV: "Cunning and bold counsels are pleasing at first sight, difficult in handling, sad in outcome;" and lib. XXII: "All things are clear and certain to him who does not hurry; hasty action is improvident and blind;" and lib. XXXI: "Nothing is so inimical to counsels of great moment as swiftness." Yet swiftness of mind in discovering counsels, especially in matters and sudden perils, which do not allow delay, is to be praised. Mystically, the Author of the Greek Catena says: "Whoever, he says, has acquired a keen intellect for the comprehension of things that exist, he ought, setting aside the consideration of human and concrete material things, to occupy himself with the oracles of the Prophets and Apostles, then with the mysteries and doctrines of Christ the Saviour;" and Bede: "Whomever, he says, you see swift in his work, or in the good work which he was to do, diligent and solicitous, know that this one in the day of final examination before the Apostles, who sitting with Christ shall judge the world, shall stand, namely because he kept their commands, and is not to be placed among the ignoble teachers, whose error he caused to be avoided, that is to be put on the left of the judge." Tropologically, learn how effective swiftness is for rightly accomplishing great things, if it be directed by mature counsel. Hence David praises Saul and Jonathan deceased, because they were "swifter than eagles, stronger than lions," II Kings cap. 1, 23. Asael was summoned by King David among his thirty runners and strongest heroes, because "he was swiftest as one of the roes," II Kings cap. ii, 18; Isaiah, cap. xviii, 2: "Go, he says, swift angels to a nation convulsed." Ecclesiasticus cap. xxxi, vers. 27: "In all, he says, your works be swift, and all infirmity shall not befall you." For swiftness accomplishes a thing quickly, as much as strongly; for it causes the thing to exist before it is perceived by rivals, and can be hindered. Again, the swift accomplish many and great things; but kings must accomplish many and great things: wherefore they ought to use the swift, not the tardy and slow.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
22:1
… Scripture says that a good name is preferable to riches (Prov. 22:1); hence it exhorts one to take great care of it: " hoc enim magis permanebit tibi quam mille thesauri pretiosi et magni. …
22:6
… «Adolescens iuxta viam suam, etiam cum senuerit, non recedet ab ea» (Prov. 22, 6).
22:9
… The Old Testament contains it expressly, for example, in Deut. 15:11; Tob. 4:7-12; Ps. 40:1-4; it proclaims blessed the one who comes to the aid of the poor (cf., for example, Ps. 111:5-9; Prov. 14:21; 22:9); it affirms that almsgiving obtains all graces, not excluding the remission of sins (cf., for example, Tob. 4:7-9; 12:9; Sir. 3:33; 7:36; Dan. 4:24); it is preferable to fasts and …
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.