A further exhortation to seek after wisdom.
The wiseman exhorteth others by his owne example to seeke wisdom, 14. to decline from the wicked, and to imitate the iust, 23. to guide wel the hart, mouth, and feete.
1Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend, that you may know prudence.Figliuoli, ascoltate i documenti del padre, e state attenti ad apparar la prudenza.CHILDREN heare ye the fathers discipline, and attend that you may knowe prudence.Audite, filii, disciplinam patris, / et attendite ut sciatis prudentiam. 2I will give you a good gift, forsake not my law.Un buon dono farò io a voi: guardatevi dall'abbandonare i miei precetti.I wil geue you a good gift, forsake not my law.Donum bonum tribuam vobis: / legem meam ne derelinquatis. 3For I also was my father’s son, tender, and as an only son in the sight of my mother:Perocché io pure era tenero figlio del padre mio, e unigenito nel cospetto della mia madre:For I also was the sonne of my father, tender and as onlie begotten in my mothers sight:Nam et ego filius fui patris mei, / tenellus et unigenitus coram matre mea. 4And he taught me, and said: Let thy heart receive my words, keep my commandments, and thou shalt live.E quegli mi istruiva, e diceva: Da nel tuo cuore ricetto alle mie parole, e osserva i miei precetti, ed avrai vita.and he taught me, & sayd: Let thy hart receiue my wordes, kepe my preceptes, and thou shalt liue.Et docebat me, atque dicebat: / Suscipiat verba mea cor tuum; / custodi præcepta mea, et vives. 5Get wisdom, get prudence: forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth.Fa acquisto della sapienza, fa acquisto della prudenza: non ti scordare delle parole della mia bocca, e non dilungarti da esse.Possesse wisedom, possesse prudence: forget not, neither decline from the wordes of my mouth.Posside sapientiam, posside prudentiam: / ne obliviscaris, neque declines a verbis oris mei. 6Forsake her not, and she shall keep thee: love her, and she shall preserve thee.Non la abbandonare, ed ella sarà tua protettrice, amala, ed ella ti salverà.Leaue her not, and she wil keepe thee: loue her, and she wil preserue thee.Ne dimittas eam, et custodiet te: / dilige eam, et conservabit te. 7The beginning of wisdom, get wisdom, and with all thy possession purchase prudence.Principio di sapienza egli è lo stadio di possedere la sapienza, e a spese di tutto il tuo comperar la prudenza:The beginning of wisdom, possesse wisdom, and in al thy possession purchase prudence:Principium sapientiæ: posside sapientiam, / et in omni possessione tua acquire prudentiam. 8Take hold on her, and she shall exalt thee: thou shalt be glorified by her, when thou shalt embrace her.Fa ogni sforzo per averla, ed ella ti ingrandirà: ella ti farà glorioso quando tra le braccia la stringerai:take quickly, and she wil exalt thee: thou shalt be glorified of her, when thou shalt embrace her.Arripe illam, et exaltabit te; / glorificaberis ab ea cum eam fueris amplexatus.
9She shall give to thy head increase of graces, and protect thee with a noble crown.Ella aggiungerà ornamento di grazie al tuo capo, e ti cingerà le tempie di illustre corona.She wil geue to thy head increase of graces, and with a noble crowne she wil protect thee.Dabit capiti tuo augmenta gratiarum, / et corona inclyta proteget te. 10Hear, O my son, and receive my words, that years of life may be multiplied to thee.Figliuol mio, ascolta, e fa con serva di mie parole, affinchè si moltiplichino gli anni della tua vita.Heare my sonne, and receiue my wordes, that yeares of life may be multiplied to thee.Audi, fili mi, et suscipe verba mea, / ut multiplicentur tibi anni vitæ. 11I will shew thee the way of wisdom, I will lead thee by the paths of equity:Ti indirizzerò per la via della sapienza, ti condurrò ne' sentieri della giustizia:The way of wisdom I wil shew to thee, I wil leade thee by the pathes of equitie.Viam sapientiæ monstrabo tibi; / ducam te per semitas æquitatis: 12Which when thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be straitened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not meet a stumblingblock.E quando in essi sarai entralo non troverai angustia a' tuoi passi, ne inciampo al tuo corso.Which when thou shalt haue entered, thy steppes shal not be straytened, and running thou shalt not haue a stumbling blocke.quas cum ingressus fueris, non arctabuntur gressus tui, / et currens non habebis offendiculum. 13Take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy life.Tieni costante la disciplina, non la abbandonare: serbala intatta, perché ella è la tua vita.Hold discipline, leaue it not: kepe it, because the same is thy life.Tene disciplinam, ne dimittas eam; / custodi illam, quia ipsa est vita tua. 14Be not delighted in the paths of the wicked, neither let the way of evil men please thee.Non prendere inclinazione ai sentieri degli empj, e non invidiare la loro via ai malvaggj:Be not delighted in the pathes of the impious, neither let the way of the euil please thee.Ne delecteris in semitis impiorum, / nec tibi placeat malorum via. 15Flee from it, pass not by it: go aside, and forsake it.Fuggita, non vi mettere il piede, tirati a parte, abbandonala:Flee from it, neither passe thou by it: goe aside, and forsake it.Fuge ab ea, nec transeas per illam; / declina, et desere eam. 16For they sleep not, except they have done evil: and their sleep is taken away unless they have made some to fall.Perocché non dormono se prima non han fatto del male, ed è tolto il sonno a costoro se non han procurato qualche rovina:For they sleepe not vnlesse they haue done il: and they take no sleepe vnlesse they supplant.Non enim dormiunt nisi malefecerint, / et rapitur somnus ab eis nisi supplantaverint.
17They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of iniquity.Mangiano il pane dell'empietà, e il vino bevono della ingiustizia:They eate the bread of impietie, and drinke the wine of iniquirie.Comedunt panem impietatis, / et vinum iniquitatis bibunt. 18But the path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards, and increaseth even to perfect day.Ma la via de' giusti, simile alla luce (che comincia a risplendere), la quale s'avanza, e cresce fino al giorno perfetto.But the path of the iust, as shyning light proceedeth euen to perfect day.Justorum autem semita quasi lux splendens procedit, / et crescit usque ad perfectam diem. 19The way of the wicked is darksome: they know not where they fall.Tenebrosa è la via degli empj: non sanno dove sia il (lor) precipizio.The way of the impious is darkesom: they know not where they fal.Via impiorum tenebrosa; / nesciunt ubi corruant. 20My son, hearken to my words, and incline thy ear to my sayings.Figliuol mio, ascolta le mie parole, e ai miei parlari porgi le tue orecchie.My sonne, heare my wordes, and incline thyne eare to my sayinges.Fili mi, ausculta sermones meos, / et ad eloquia mea inclina aurem tuam. 21Let them not depart from thy eyes, keep them in the midst of thy heart:Non li perdere di vista giammai: serbagli in mezzo al tuo cuore:Let them not depart from thyne eies, kepe them in the middes of thy hart.Ne recedant ab oculis tuis: / custodi ea in medio cordis tui: 22For they are life to those that find them, and health to all flesh.Imperocché sono vita per quei, che giungono a discoprirli; e per tutto l'uomo son sanità.For they are life to those that finde them, and health to al flesh.vita enim sunt invenientibus ea, / et universæ carni sanitas. 23With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it.Con ogni vigilanza custodisci il cuor tuo, perché da questo viene la vita.With al garde keepe thy hart, because life proceedeth from it.Omni custodia serva cor tuum, / quia ex ipso vita procedit. 24Remove from thee a froward mouth, and let detracting lips be far from thee.Scaccia da te la malvagità della lingua, e lungi dalle tue labbra la detrazione.Remoue from thee a froward mouth, and let detracting lippes be far from thee.Remove a te os pravum, / et detrahentia labia sint procul a te. 25Let thy eyes look straight on, and let thy eyelids go before thy steps.Veggan diritto gli occhi tuoi, e te tue pupille facciano scorta ai tuoi passi.Let thyne eies see right thinges, & let thine eieliddes goe before thy steppes.Oculi tui recta videant, / et palpebræ tuæ præcedant gressus tuos. 26Make straight the path for thy feet, and all thy ways shall be established.Fa diritta carreggiata ai tuoi piedi: e in tutto il tuo procedere avrai stabiliti.Direct the path to thy feete, and al thy wayes shal be established.Dirige semitam pedibus tuis, / et omnes viæ tuæ stabilientur.
27Decline not to the right hand, nor to the left: turn away thy foot from evil. For the Lord knoweth the ways that are on the right hand: but those are perverse which are on the left hand. But he will make thy courses straight, he will bring forward thy ways in peace.Non torcere né a destra, né a sinistra: ritira il tuo piede dal male: perocché le vie, che sono alla destra il Signore le ama, ma quelle della sinistra sono storte. Or egli farà che diritto sia il tuo corso, e che tu felicemente ti avanzi nel tuo viaggio.Decline not to the right hand, nor to the left: turne away thy foote from euil. For our Lord knoweth the wayes that are on the right hand: but those are peruers, which are on the left hand. But he wil make thy courses right, and thy wayes he wil bring forward in peace.Ne declines ad dexteram neque ad sinistram; / averte pedem tuum a malo: / vias enim quæ a dextris sunt novit Dominus: / perversæ vero sunt quæ a sinistris sunt. / Ipse autem rectos faciet cursus tuos, / itinera autem tua in pace producet.
4:1
Calmet
Father. He shews the greatest respect for his parents, ver. 3. (Calmet)
4:3
Haydock
As. This is not expressed. (Haydock)
But Solomon was not the only son of Bethsabee, as St. Luke 3:23. specifies Nathan, his brother. See 2 Kings 12:24. Septuagint have "beloved in," etc.
4:4
Calmet
He. Hebrew is masculine. (Calmet)
Worthington
As David instructed his son, so the latter teaches all how they may learn wisdom. (Worthington)
4:7
Worthington
Beginning. The first part of wisdom is to desire it. For nothing hindereth from being just, but that justice is not desired. (St. Augustine, in Psalm 118:20.) (Worthington)
Haydock
"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get," etc. (Protestants) (Haydock)
Calmet
It is the one thing necessary. (Calmet)
Menochius
The pearl, to acquire which we must part with every thing else, if required, Matthew 13:46. (Menochius)
4:17
Wickedness. Acquired thereby, or they make sin their food, Proverbs 26:6.
4:18
Menochius
Day. They are children of light, (John 12:35.) and give edification, always advancing in virtue. (Menochius)
4:19
Calmet
Fall. They are unconcerned about sin, and neither avoid it, nor strive to repent. (Calmet)
4:22
Haydock
Flesh. All may derive benefit from their consideration. (Haydock)
4:23
Worthington
From it. As the heart is the principal part of the body, so the will is the chief power of the soul, from which good or evil proceeds. (Worthington)
A clean heart gives life, a corrupt one, death, Matthew 15:11, 19.
4:24
From thee. Neither detract, nor give any countenance to detractors.
4:25
Steps. Be attentive to thy own affairs, Proverbs 17:24.
4:26
Straight. Hebrew, "ponder." Examine what thou takest in hand, and walk not at random, Hebrews 12:13.
4:27
4:3
As Salomon was instructed by his father king Dauid so he teacheth others, the right order hovve to lerne vvisdom.
4:7
The first part of wisdom is to desire it. For nothing hinde rest from being •ust but that iustice is not desired S. Aug in Psal. 118. v. 20.
4:23
As the hart is the principal part of the bodie, so the vvil is the chiefest powre of the soule: from vvhich good or euil procedeth.
4:1
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 2
… for I give you a good gift, forsake ye not my word: for I was an obedient son to my father, and beloved in the sight of my mother
4:2
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Proverbs 1
It must be noted, that he names the law a good gift, on account of the man who takes gifts into his bosom unrighteously. And he forsakes the law who transgresses it; the law, namely, of which he speaks, or which he has kept.
4:5
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 52.3
… love her and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her and she shall promote thee. She shall bring thee to honor when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.”
4:6
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Virginity 20
… Strength and health he will not try to gain by bodily training and feeding, but by all that is the contrary of this, perfecting the spirit’s strength in the body’s weakness. I could tell also of the suitor’s gifts to the bride in such a wedding
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 On Virginity 23
… but the man who acts as well as teaches, as the Gospel tells us, he is the man who is truly living, and has the bloom of beauty, and is efficient and stirring. It is to him that we must go, if we mean, according to the saying
4:7
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 39.5
… let us look at and reason upon God and things divine in a manner corresponding to this Grace given us. But let us begin our discussion of them from the most fitting point. And the most fitting is, as Solomon laid down for us; us; The beginning of wisdom, he says, is to get wisdom.
4:8
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Proverbs 1
… and the man who observes these, honours wisdom; and the reward is, to be exalted to be with her, and to be embraced by her in the chamber of heaven.
4:14
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Proverbs 1
The heterodox are the “wicked,” and the transgressors of the law are “evil men,” whose “ways”—that is to say, their deeds—he bids us not enter.
4:18
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 13
… For He saith, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” ( Matt. v. 16 .) Now nothing is more full of light than a most excellent conversation. As one of the wise men has said, “The paths of the just shine like the light” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 12.9
9. “The ungodly walk in a circle round about” ( ver. 8 ): that is, in the desire of things temporal, which revolves as a wheel in a repeated circle of seven days; and therefore they do not arrive at the eighth, that is, at eternity, for which this Psalm is entitled.
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 Register of the Epistles of St. Gregory the Great 9.120
… For this reason, addressing you with the greeting that is due to you, I hope that you are being exercised in these things which you have begun, so that that true sentence of Solomon may be fulfilled in you— The path of the just is as a shining light, and groweth unto the perfect day (
Pseudo-Clement The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle 2
… bind them on thy neck, and thou shalt find favour for thyself; and devise thou good things before God and before men.” “The paths,” therefore, “of the righteous shine as the light, and the light of them advances until the day is perfect.”
4:23
Origen † AD 254 Origen De Principiis 3.2.4
… For Scripture testifies that the “devil had already put it into his heart to betray Him.” And therefore Solomon rightly commanded, saying, “Keep thy heart with all diligence.”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 4.95
… “For there is no enchantment in Jacob, nor is there divination in Israel. In due time will it be declared to Jacob and Israel what the Lord will do.” And now, we who knew these and similar sayings wish to observe this precept with the mystical meaning, viz., “Keep thy heart with all diligence,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 11.15
… The spring and source, then, of every sin are evil thoughts; for, unless these gained the mastery, neither murders nor adulteries nor any other such thing would exist. Therefore, each man must keep his own heart with all watchfulness;
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) 16
21. ‘And let us strive that wrath rule us not nor lust overcome us, for it is written, “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. And lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin, and the sin when it is full grown bringeth forth death .” Thus living, let us keep guard carefully, and as it is written, “keep our hearts with all watchfulness
St Ephrem the Syrian † AD 373 Ephraim Syrus: Three Homilies 2.10
… and so agree thou with thy yokefellow. Rejoice not in men’s dishonour, that thou become not a Satan thyself. If evil should happen to him that hates thee, see thou rejoice not, lest thou sin. If thine adversary should fall, be thou in pain and mourning. Keep thy heart with all diligence,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.3
10. Let us then guard our hearts, let us guard our mouths. Both have been written about. In this place we are bidden to take heed to our mouth; in another place thou art told: “Keep thy heart with all diligence.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 22.25
… “If thou know not thyself, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock and feed thy goats beside the shepherd’s tents.” You may be fair, and of all faces yours may be the dearest to the Bridegroom; yet, unless you know yourself, and keep your heart with all diligence,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 79.8
… For such pride, however carefully concealed, is sure to break out in a contempt for fellow-servants as servants. I make these seemingly superfluous remarks that you may keep your heart with all diligence
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 125.7
… Yet even he was hindered by carnal desire and had to do what he would not. As one suffering violence he cries: “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Is it likely then that you can pass without fall or wound, unless you keep your heart with all diligence,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 130.8
But let us turn back to the passage first quoted, “If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place,” a sentence which is followed by these words: “for yielding pacifieth great offences.” The meaning is, that if the serpent finds his way into your thoughts you must “keep your heart with all diligence”
Sulpicius Severus † AD 420 The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus 2.11
… For she is holy, alike in body and in spirit, who sins neither in mind nor heart, knowing that God is one who examines also the heart; and, therefore, she takes every pains to possess a mind as well as a body free from sin. Such a person is aware that it is written, “Keep thy
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.10
For Holy Scripture supports the freedom of the will where it says: “Keep thy heart with all diligence,”
4:24
St Jerome † AD 420 Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus 3.43
“Foolish men, while they desire injuries, become impious and hate wisdom. Devise not evil against thy friend. Be not angry with a man without a cause. The impious exalt contumely.
4:25
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Proverbs 1
… But wisdom embraces the soul also; for, says he, “love her, that she may embrace thee.” And the soul, by her embrace being made one with wisdom, is filled with holiness and purity. Yea more, the fragrant ointments of Christ are laid hold of by the soul’s sense of smell.
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 2.2
2. But some one will say, What can sin be? Is it a living thing? Is it an angel? Is it a demon? What is this which works within us? It is not an enemy, O man, that assails thee from without, but an evil shoot growing up out of thyself. Look right on with thine eyes
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 40
XXXVIII. Let us cleanse every member, Brethren, let us purify every sense; let nothing in us be imperfect or of our first birth; let us leave nothing unilluminated. Let us enlighten our eyes,
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 3.15
… To such, under the guise of a learner, it is well said in Solomon, My son, do nothing without counsel, and after it is done thou shalt not repent ( Ecclus. xxxii. 24 ). And again, Let thine eyelids go before thy steps (
4:26
Sulpicius Severus † AD 420 The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus 2.10
… In fine, cleanse thy feet, that they follow not the broad and ample way which leads to grand and costly worldly banquets, but that they tread rather the difficult and narrow path, which guides to heaven, for it is written, “Make a
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Two Letters Written by Augustin to Valentinus and the Monks of Adrumetum 2.5
… “Make straight paths for thy feet, and order thy ways aright. Turn not aside to the right hand nor to the left, but turn away thy foot from the evil way; for the Lord knoweth the ways on the right hand, but those on the left are perverse. He will make thy ways straight, and will direct thy steps in peace.”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 13.9
… not of works, that no man may boast?” What is this too which is said: “Draw near to the Lord, and He will draw near to you,” and what He says elsewhere: “No man cometh unto Me except the Father who sent Me draw Him?” What is it that we find: “Make straight paths for your feet and direct your ways,”
4:27
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Proverbs 1
… And this has the name “right,” because an angel is called by a right (propitious) name. Do thou, says he, turn aside from evil, and God will take care of thine end; for He will go before thee, scattering thine enemies, that thou mayest go in peace.
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 6.11
… and then in the way of conduct, after the sound contemplation of what ought to be done, when action is produced which harmonizes with sound theory of conduct. And that we may the more clearly understand the text, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” it will be well to compare with it what is said in the Proverbs,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 2.34
… so in the case of one of us, if he leans to either side, whether from vice or ignorance, no slight danger of a fall into sin is incurred, both for himself and those who are led by him. But we must really walk in the King’s highway, and take care not to turn aside from it either to the right hand or to the left,
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Thessalonians 9
… Seest thou not how those who travel on such roads guard not only their feet, but their eyes also? For if he should choose to gaze on one side, though his foot stand firm, his eye becoming dizzy from the depth, plunges the whole body down. But he must take heed to himself and to his steps; wherefore he says, “neither to the right hand, nor to the left.” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 2.57
Let us hold fast, then, the confession of this faith, without faltering or failure. One alone is there who was born without sin, in the likeness of sinful flesh, who lived without sin amid the sins of others, and who died without sin on account of our sins. “Let us turn neither to the right hand nor to the left.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 78.11
… He that “led them home in the cloud of the day, and in the whole of the night in the illumination of fire” ( ver. 14 ), is able also spiritually to direct goings if faith crieth to Him, “Direct Thou my goings after Thy word.” Of Whom in another place
John Cassian † AD 435 The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults 11.4
… And so we are warned by Solomon, the wisest of men: “Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left;”
4:1
1. HEAR, MY SON, THE DISCIPLINE OF THY FATHER (Vatablus: paternal correction), AND ATTEND (receive these teachings of mine with attentive and intent mind), THAT THOU MAYEST KNOW PRUDENCE. — In Hebrew, that thou mayest know understanding; the Septuagint, that thou mayest know thought; Aquila, understanding: namely, that thou mayest apply the dictates of prudence concerning virtue and good morals to practice and actually carry them out. "Discipline," in Hebrew musar, that is, chastisement, instruction, discipline, by which the levity of children is corrected and restrained. Whence the Septuagint translates, Hear, children, childish instruction. Wherefore because this discipline is burdensome and disagreeable to children and to those who follow their desires in childish fashion ("for it matters little whether thou art a child in age or in morals," says the Philosopher), therefore he repeatedly exhorts them to embrace it, setting before them its fruits and advantages. "Of thy father," that is, of me myself, who here conduct myself as a father instructing his sons severely, but truly and properly. It is clear that Solomon speaks here from the fact that he adds: "For I also was a son of my father." Therefore Hugo, Bede and others judge less correctly that these are the words of God. The sense is, as if to say, O sons, O disciples, hear my discipline concerning the correction of morals and the forming of them according to the norm of virtue, which indeed comes hard and ungrateful to the flesh, but is useful and necessary to the spirit; and therefore it is delivered to you by me as your father with paternal affection and love, that I may make you not so much my sons as sons of wisdom, so that you may practice prudence: for prudence consists not so much in hearing as in doing and putting into practice what is heard: "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified," Romans II, 13. Hear me therefore, who, at God's command, proclaim these things and as it were speak forth God's commands as the mouth of God.
4:2
2. A GOOD GIFT I WILL GIVE YOU, FORSAKE NOT MY LAW. — So also the Septuagint. But Vatablus and Pagninus translate, For I propose good doctrine to you, do not abandon my law; Galatinus, book II On the Mysteries of Faith, chapter v: "I have given you good instruction," that is, the law, he says, for there is no good except the law; R. Levi: "I have given you a good possession." For in Hebrew lecach, from the root lacach, that is, he received, properly means a thing received or to be received, namely a gift that is received; and because among gifts the law and doctrine hold the first place, hence it is commonly used for them. A good gift therefore is the doctrine of the divine law already delivered and hereafter to be delivered, which as an excellent gift and good is by no means to be abandoned. Wherefore "an equal return cannot be made to gods, parents and teachers," says Aristotle, because namely parents conferred nature, others conferred doctrine. For "I will give" the Hebrew is nattati, that is, I gave, delivered; but the Hebrews frequently use the past tense for any tense. Nattati therefore is the same as I gave, I give and I will give, as if to say, If you receive my laws and precepts, ponder them and carry them out in deed, you will feel how much they are a gift, how much wisdom they contain, how many fruits they produce.
4:3
3 AND 4. FOR I TOO WAS A SON OF MY FATHER, TENDER, AND ONLY BEGOTTEN BEFORE MY MOTHER: AND HE TAUGHT ME, AND SAID. — In Hebrew, tender and only before the face of my mother; the Septuagint, beloved in the face of my mother. The Hebrew at liphne, that is before the face or toward the face, in the margin they have libne, that is among the sons, and thus Galatinus wishes it to be read, lib. II, cap. v, that is to say, I was only among the sons, or among the sons of my mother. "And he taught me," not the mother, for in Hebrew the verb is masculine ioreni, that is he taught me, a man, namely my father; but understand the mother also under the father by syllepsis. Whence the Septuagint translates, who (father and mother) led and taught me; Aquila, illuminated me; the Chaldean, and they taught me; and the Lord said to me. Morally, St. Ambrose, in cap. 1 of St. Luke, teaches that it is proper to those born of noble lineage to draw piety together with their blood, so that there may appear in them "the transmitted inheritance of immaculate purity. Thus Isaac received from his parents the nobility of piety, which he left to his descendants." In virtues and vices there is a certain inheritance, says Chrysostom, serm. III: "The vice of the parent is the punishment of the children. Is not the whole tree in the seed? Therefore the vice of the seed is the vice of the whole tree." On the contrary, St. Paul argues: "If the firstfruits are holy, and the mass; and if the root is holy, and the branches," that is, as Theophylactus explains, it is a certain thing that the mass becomes like the leaven, the branches like the root, the children like the parents, Rom. cap. XI. It is asked here first in what sense and for what reason Solomon is called rach, that is tender or tenderly? I answer first, because he was of tender and young age, as if to say, My father David, a wise and holy king, instructed me Solomon from tender years, and taught me wisdom, namely to fear and worship God. Therefore you also, O parents, instruct your sons from childhood, and teach them the fear of God; and you, O sons, imbibe the same from childhood and learn to be wise. Thus Lyra, Cajetan and others. Cajetan adds and some others that Solomon was a boy when his father David died, as if to say, I heard and touched my father David only when tender and younger: for he died before I grew up, and yet the precepts which he instilled into me as a boy, I retain in old age. For this is of great virtue: for often boys, after the death of their father, by whose discipline they were restrained, cast off wisdom and give themselves to their desires. St. Jerome favors this, epist. to Vitalis, where he asserts that Solomon begot Rehoboam in the eleventh year of his age, and began to reign in the twelfth. Therefore David his father was already dead by then. And St. Ignatius, epist. 8 to the Magnesians, where he says Solomon perished in the judgment of harlots while still a boy. But the contrary is far more true, namely that Solomon began to reign about the twentieth year of his age, and therefore lived with his father for nearly twenty years, and was instructed by him, as is shown from Abulensis, Pineda, Salian, indeed from Holy Scripture itself, Eccli. XLVII, at the beginning. Moreover, that David gave Solomon sharp admonitions of wisdom and salvation not only in life but also in death, is clear from III Reg. II, 1. Second, others think Solomon is called tender, that is, reared in delights. Whence the Chaldean translates, I was the son of my father delicate, as if to say, Although I was educated in royal delights, yet I devoted myself to wisdom and virtue. For there is great strife between virtue and pleasure, as much as between chastity and beauty, according to that saying: There is great strife between chastity and beauty. Third, others explain "tender" as rude, inexperienced, untaught. "For nothing," says Bede, "raises the minds of men more to the hope of attaining wisdom, than when we remember that those whom we admire as already shining in wisdom were sometimes small and untaught." In this sense David says, II Reg. III. 39: "I am yet delicate and anointed king," that is tender, unaccustomed to the labor of longer governance. And Rehoboam is called "rude and fearful of heart;" in Hebrew, a boy and tender of heart, II Paral. XIII, 7. Fourth, Pineda understands by this tenderness a tender education, full of care and solicitude. Thus he himself lib. III De Rebus Salomon. cap. IV. Add a tender and delicate bodily constitution. For Solomon had a delicate and excellent bodily temperament, and from this was docile and capable of wisdom. For, as Aristotle says, lib. II De Anima, textu 49: "Those hard in flesh are according to intellect inept; the tender ones, however," that is, the soft, "are well apt." Fifth, you rightly interpret "tender" as soft, flexible, ductile, docile, like soft wax, which can quickly be shaped, as Hugo says. For Solomon was such, both on account of the good disposition and natural bent, which he says he received from God (Wisdom VIII, 19), and on account of the formation by David, and on account of the exercise and study of wisdom, and therefore he quickly reached its summit. For on the other hand there are certain children of such hard, stubborn, dull, and unteachable nature, that they neither wish nor are able to learn anything, so that parents and teachers seem to lose their oil and labor in teaching them. Whence the Septuagint translates: "For I was a son obedient to my father." This is supported by that saying of the Poet: "While the child is tender, instruct him in noble manners." Hence also Blessed Antiochus, in his homily On Obedience, reads: "I was a son obedient to my father, and (therefore) beloved in the sight of my mother;" for mothers love obedient sons. Hence St. Basil in his Rules more fully explained, question 15, wisely teaches that parents and teachers ought to teach and form children from their tender years, when like soft wax they are soft, and receive and retain the form impressed upon them most easily. Wherefore we read that very many eminent Saints began from childhood to apply themselves to holiness: I have reviewed many of their examples in II Timothy III, 14. The Gentiles held the same view, such as Plato, book VI of the Laws, Aristotle in Laertius, book V, chapter 1, where he asserts that learned children differ from unlearned ones, as the living differ from the dead. Again, he says that sight receives light from the surrounding air, but the mind from disciplines. Cleanthes in Laertius, book VI, chapter VI, says that children and uneducated men differ from beasts only in form. Demades in Antonius in the Melissa, part 1, sermon 50, asserts that the learned differ from the unlearned as much as gods differ from men. Seneca most excellently, epistle 69: "As the immortal gods, he says, learned no virtue, since they were born with all things, and it is part of their nature to be good, so certain youths of excellent natural bent attain to those things which are usually taught without long instruction, and embrace what is honorable as soon as they hear it." St. Bernard most excellently, tract. On the Order of Life, or on the Doctrine of Children, after the middle: "Children, he says, are called from purity, and it is fitting that simplicity, innocence, and purity reign in them, that is, virginity, and that they grow in these and persevere in these, so that they may merit to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth." The same, sermon 3 On the Epiphany: "Children, he says, have natural simplicity, and a modesty akin to that of virgins." It is asked secondly, in what sense and for what reason Solomon is called "only-begotten?" For Scripture seems to say the contrary. For in I Paralipomenon chapter III, verse 5, besides Solomon it numbers three other sons of David from Bethsabee, namely Shammua, Shobab and Nathan. It must be said briefly, says our Salianus, tome III Annals, year of the world 2989, number 3, that it seems probable that Shammua and Shobab and Nathan were sons of Bethsabee from Uriah, her former husband. Thus think Abulensis, in chapter III, verse 1 Paralipomenon, Lyran and Vatablus, Torniellus in the place cited, Cardinal Hugo in chapter v of II Kings, nor does it displease Salmeroni, tract. 28, in tome III. But it is proved, first because, if David had received many children from Bethsabee, since the first of them, omitting the small unnamed child who was born from adultery, was Solomon, both by the order of nature, as is clear from II Kings XII, verse 14, and by the dignity of royal succession, he would certainly have been named first among the sons of Bethsabee, not last. For the order of birth is observed by Scripture from both places II Kings III, 2 and I Paralipomenon III, 1, in which the sons of David are numbered: for in both places Amnon is reckoned as the firstborn first, then Daniel or Cheleab, third Absalom, and so forth. Since therefore those three are named first in the former place, they were born first: not from David, who first received from Bethsabee that unnamed infant, then Solomon: therefore from Uriah, whose sons David therefore made his own by adoption, because thus he repaired the injury done to the father. For when he had sought to beget a son with his wife, corrupted without his knowledge, he himself, knowing and prudent, attributed her sons to himself by adoption; and he repaired also the injury done to the sons, to whom he had taken away their father, by giving them in place of a private man a king as parent. Finally, thus he greatly gratified the beloved Bethsabee, of whom Solomon is called "only-begotten." Nevertheless, the more probable opinion is that those three, and moreover Solomon, were begotten by David and Bathsheba. For the reason affirming this from Scripture is most clear, in 1 Paralipomenon III, 3: "Moreover in Jerusalem, he says, were born to him, namely to David, sons, Shimma, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four of Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel." How were four born to David, if three of them were born of Uriah? Truly a great abuse of words would be admitted, if four were said to be born to him in place of one who was truly born to David. Therefore, retaining the simple signification of the words, and not obscured by violent interpretation, all the sons must be said to be natural sons of David, and begotten by him. Then if Nathan was not a true son of David, but adoptive, a true son indeed of Uriah, it would not be correct that St. Luke through Nathan himself would lead the generation of Christ to David, since he would not have been of David, but of Uriah. This opinion is approved by all those who wish Nathan to have been a natural brother of Solomon, of whom Pineda counts very many, lib. I, cap. VIII, numer. 3, and lib. VII, cap. XXVI. For the reasoning is the same concerning the other two, and those who wish Solomon to have been born four years after the adultery of David. Followers of this same opinion are Theodoret and Procopius in 1 Paralipomenon, and that same Pineda, Salazar, Baynus, Arboreus, Jansenius, Cajetan at this place, and Clichtovaeus in Damascenum, lib. IV, cap. XV, Salmeron, tract. 28, tom. III, Barradius, tom. I, lib. V, cap. IX: they add also Philo the biblical commentator of Annius, and if any others. It is said, however, that he is only-begotten. First, because uniquely beloved. Therefore Solomon is called only-begotten, in Hebrew unique, that is, uniquely beloved by his mother. Whence in Hebrew, Latin and Greek it is not unique of the mother or to my mother, but unique before his mother, that is, as the Septuagint translates, beloved in the face of his mother, that is, because unique through singular love, care, solicitude, just as if he were alone and only-begotten. It is signified therefore that Solomon was of the most peaceful and quiet disposition, who like Jacob remained at home with his mother, who instilled in him love and the precepts of wisdom, not however like Esau hunted in the fields. Again, he was most loving to his mother, and in turn to his mother. Only-begotten therefore before his mother, that is, as if only-begotten far most beloved, nourished not with another's, but with his mother's own milk, always in the arms, in the lap, in the eyes of his mother. Whence his mother says to him, cap. XXXI, vers. 2: "What, my beloved? what, beloved of my womb? what, beloved of my vows?" Thus in Psalm LXXXV, 11, it is said: "Let my heart rejoice, that it may fear thy name." For which Jerome and the Chaldean properly read, unite my heart, that it may fear thy name. Which others refer to the effect of praying and beseeching: "Grant this one thing to my heart, that it may fear thee;"; others to the magnitude and perfection of fear, "let my heart fear thee uniquely;"; others to the intimate conjunction of the heart with divine fear, "unite my heart with thy fear." But better unite, that is, gather all the powers of my heart, that I may love thee with my whole heart, with my whole soul, with all my strength, that I may watch over thy fear and love uniquely, let nothing be to me outside thee in heaven, and without thee let me wish nothing upon earth, let this one thing be my care and solicitude. Thus in Psalm XXI, 21, it is said: "From the hand of the dog my only one," as if to say, The love and solicitude of one life pierces me, this alone remains to me, namely life: do thou also, with other things taken away, protect and preserve this. Thus Solomon says he is unique before his mother, in whom alone the mother fixed her eyes and mind, whom alone she loved and cared for; thus Pineda, lib. I De Rebus Salomon. cap. VIII. Thus in Canticles VI, it is said: "One is the mother's (that is, beloved, and) chosen of her that bore her." Second, the same Pineda: "Unique," he says, "when it is said of the son of a king, seems to regard the succession of the kingdom, so that he who before many brothers is unique in succession and inheritance of the kingdom. Thus in Genesis XXII, 2, 'take thy only-begotten son;' the Septuagint judged it the same as if he said: 'Take thy beloved son;' St. Ambrose, take the beloved; Symmachus, thy unique one. But since he had moreover Ishmael, it does not understand 'one' begotten, but in succession and destination to race and principality. Just as David himself seems to explain it, saying in 1 Paralipomenon XXIX, 1: 'Solomon my son, one (Septuagint, unique) God hath chosen, yet a boy and tender,' as if to say: As far as the succession of the kingdom is concerned, I have no other who ought to be a sharer in ruling." Third, our Salazar and Francis Suarez, III part. tom. II, Quaest. XXVII, disp. 2, sect. 3, interpret unigenitus as firstborn, as if to say: Although the sons of firstborn men are accustomed to abuse and act presumptuously with the love and indulgence of their parents, I nevertheless so subjected myself to discipline that I stood as a child "before my mother," and allowed myself to be taught, ruled, bent and formed by her, subjecting myself to her in all things and depending upon her will. For although there was an earlier son of Solomon, an infant conceived from the adultery of David with Bethsabee, yet he immediately expired when he saw the light, and therefore, as if not born, he does not come into the reckoning, as St. Thomas says from the Gloss, III part. Quaest. XXVII, art. 2, ad 3. If you object that Solomon does not appear to be the firstborn of David from Bethsabee, because three sons are named before him, and he himself is the fourth and last, I Paral. III, 5; I reply that often in Scripture, in enumerating sons, the order of time and generation is not observed. Thus Gen. XI, 27, it is said: "Thare begot Abram, Nachor and Aran," and yet Aran was older than Abram; for Abram took the daughter of Aran as his wife. Some add that Solomon was a son of penance, namely begotten by David and Bethsabee from adultery while penitent, and therefore beloved above others, as if he were a pledge of divine reconciliation and fruit of grace accepted from God. Hear our Lorinus on cap. 1 Eccles. vers. 1. Perhaps also Solomon, who after the death of the infant born from adultery was received through legitimate matrimony, and repentance followed in both parents, was therefore especially beloved, and was either nourished by his mother herself, or in her presence, while others were outside the house and with nurses; and therefore David loved him exceedingly, as one born of him with grace now recovered, successor to the kingdom, and concerning whom God had promised so many things at length, and in turn Solomon gloried in this name, that he was and was called the son of David. Mystically, or allegorically, Solomon here represents Christ, who was tender and the only-begotten of the eternal Father, and of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, and uniquely beloved and subject, Luke II, 51. Thus Galatinus, lib. II De Arcan. fid. cap. v, and lib. III, cap. XXII, Allegorically concerning Christ. Second, because firstborn. Third, because firstborn. Solomon beloved, because a son of penance. whoever thinks this to be the literal sense, but from what has been said it is clear to be mystical. Moreover, Christ was properly unique to the heavenly Father, because begotten of him alone, as God and Word; and unique to his mother, because as man conceived of her alone without the work of man from the Holy Spirit: whence as in the heavens he is without a mother: so on earth he is without a father. And this was the cause of unique and singular reciprocal love, both of the Virgin toward Christ, and of Christ toward the Virgin his mother; for the love of sons is accustomed to be divided between father and mother, and therefore diminished in each: but in Christ was undivided and collected filial love; for it was entirely and wholly directed toward the mother alone, as if she herself were to him both father and mother: it was therefore great and burning. In turn the Virgin Mother of God did not divide her love toward her son with a husband, inasmuch as he contributed nothing to her, but she alone possessed it entirely. It was therefore also great and singular, because with maternal and paternal love, as it were mother and father, she loved him, him, I say, whom she knew to be God equally as man, and therefore to be loved with immense love. Christ therefore was tender in body because he had a soft and excellent temperament of body, and from this a tender and flexible soul, and therefore well capable of discipline, says Galatinus, and most capable of all wisdom. Again Christ is called tender, because in him was the ineffable tenderness of piety, and thus the insertion of most clement divinity into the trunk of humanity, and fruitful planting. He himself finally gave the law to the Jews through Moses, to Christians through himself, and concerning it said: "Do this, and thou shalt live," Luke X.
4:4
4. LET THY HEART RECEIVE MY WORDS, KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, AND THOU SHALT LIVE. — Pagninus translates the Hebrew word for word as, let thy heart sustain or support my words: which Baynus explains by hypallage thus, as if to say, My words shall sustain thy tender and wavering heart; the Septuagint, let our word be established in thy heart; the Chaldee, let thy heart grasp my words; Symmachus, let it hold my words; the Syrian, let my words remain in thy heart. These are the words not of God, as the Chaldee and Bede wish, as if alluding to the conversation of God with Solomon, III Kings III, 5; but of David to Solomon, as is evident from what has been said, as if to say, O my son, receive my admonitions not only with the ears of thy body, but also of thy mind, and not only receive them, but also establish them, so that they may never escape thee, nor be driven out by any temptation. For the imaginations and minds of boys are wont to be wandering and fluid, and therefore what they hear they easily allow to flow away and escape. "The mind of youths is restless and mobile, and the spirit always wavers," says Aristotle, II Politics. He therefore commands to establish it by the anchor of constancy, and of constant love and fear of God, so that it may steadfastly retain these teachings of his father and of wisdom, and may defend them against flatterers and seducers, that is, may protect and uphold them, lest it suffer itself to be seduced by them and led away into vices. KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, AND THOU SHALT LIVE, as if to say, If thou shalt keep my commandments, thou shalt be long-lived both in the life of nature, and in the life of grace, and in the life of glory forever. Whence the Syrian translates, Keep my commandments and life and law, as the pupil of thine eye, as if to say, As much as thou lovest thy life, so much love the keeping of my commandments: as much as thou lovest thy soul, so much love my discipline: as much as thou lovest and keepest the pupil of thine eye, so much love and keep my law, because this is thy life, thy soul, and the pupil of thine eye.
4:5
5. POSSESS WISDOM, POSSESS PRUDENCE: FORGET NOT, NEITHER DECLINE FROM THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH. — The Hebrew kene, first, signifies buy, acquire, obtain; secondly, possess, because by buying possession of a thing is acquired, and what we buy we possess. Whence Vatablus translates, acquire wisdom, acquire understanding; Pagninus, buy wisdom, buy understanding. The sense therefore is: Acquire for thyself practical wisdom, or prudence and virtue, at the price of all riches and at the cost of all things; for it itself far surpasses all price and all loss. But when thou shalt have acquired it, retain it firmly and possess it, so that thou mayest not suffer it to be taken from thee by any blandishments, promises, threats, or terrors, according to that in chapter XXIII, verse 23: "Buy the truth, and sell it not; sell not wisdom;" for all these things pertain to perseverance and constancy in wisdom and virtue, and therefore Our translation most excellently renders it, possess; for possess by metonymy, first, is the same as buy, acquire, according to that said of Eve, Genesis chapter IV, verse 1: "I have possessed, that is, acquired, a man (Cain my son) through God." Secondly, possess properly is the same as by buying to occupy, hold, possess, as if to say, With all diligence take care that thou acquirest and possessest wisdom as a thing of supreme value, just as a merchant strives to buy and possess precious goods. Morally, learn here that parents ought to provide for their children more with wisdom and virtue than with riches and estates. Worldly men do the contrary, and therefore err, and consult very ill for their children. For what profit are riches to a man who knows not how to use them well, nay, to whom they are instruments of pride, gluttony, and lust? What is this other than to give a sword to a fool and a madman, by which he may use it to the destruction of others and of himself? Whence St. Basil, Prosper, and others inveigh gravely against this perverse care of parents.
4:6
6. FORSAKE HER NOT, AND SHE SHALL KEEP THEE: LOVE HER, AND SHE SHALL PRESERVE THEE. — The Septuagint, and she shall cleave to thee; the Chaldee, and she shall protect thee; the Syrian, that she may deliver thee; St. Jerome, epistle 2 to Nepotian, and she shall seize thee; the same in chapter XVIII of Ezekiel thus reads: "Love her, and she shall embrace thee; love her, and she shall keep thee;" the Arabic, desire her, and she shall guard thee. David, as a solicitous father, repeats the same thing again and again, and inculcates it in various and various words to his son, as if it were a matter of supreme importance, in which his happiness and all his good consist, as if to say, O my son, join wisdom to thyself as a bride by the indissoluble bond of matrimony, and give her no bill of divorce that thou mayest forsake her: thus in turn she shall be faithful to thee and shall cleave to thee firmly, nay, shall protect thee from all evils both of guilt and of punishment, and shall preserve thee in all good. Otherwise do the brides of men, who often forsake their bridegrooms and go over to adulterers; or if they persevere in fidelity, they do not nourish nor keep their bridegrooms, but are nourished and kept by them.
4:7
7. THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM: POSSESS (Baynus: to possess, and thus it can be translated from the Hebrew) WISDOM; AND IN ALL THY POSSESSION, ACQUIRE PRUDENCE. — These words appear on the surface to be contrary and to contain an antithesis: for the possession of wisdom is not the beginning, but the end and completion of wisdom. Wherefore the Zurich version from the Hebrew thus translates, before all knowledge acquire wisdom; Vatable, the beginning of wisdom, acquire wisdom; the Syrian and Chaldean, at the beginning of wisdom, acquire wisdom; the Hebrew texts word for word have, the beginning of wisdom buy, or possess understanding. Therefore first, to possess can be taken in an inchoate or intended act, that is to say, the beginning of wisdom is to possess, that is to acquire wisdom, namely to buy it, to study it, to hear it, to meditate upon it, so that thus you may acquire and possess it, according to that in Wisdom VI, 18: "The beginning thereof (of wisdom) most truly is the desire of discipline," that is to say, then you will begin to be wise, when you have begun to love it and pursue it, and to be free for it and to study it. For thus he explains himself by adding: "And in all thy possession, acquire (in Hebrew it is the same word kene, which our author translated a little before, possess) prudence, that is to say, the beginning, way and manner of acquiring wisdom and truth is, if with all study, all effort, all price, even if you ought to expend all your resources, you strive to acquire it for yourself. Thus Seneca says: "A great part of goodness is to wish to become good." Thus Dionysius, Jansenius, Hugo, Cajetan and others. The sense therefore is, that is to say, the beginning of wisdom is not dry speculation and contemplation of wisdom, but a savory will and studious effort toward wisdom, so that namely moved by the fear of the Lord, which is also the beginning of wisdom, we may strive in every way and manner to acquire wisdom. Second, others, that is to say, David to Solomon: The beginning of wisdom is to conceive it in the mind, to comprehend and possess it; for from this it will come to pass that in its own time he may exercise it in deed. You therefore, O son, now from tender years impress it upon your mind, so that when grown and made king you may be able to carry it out, and according to it to live and to govern. Or, as Baynus: The sense, he says, of the proverb is: Have first care for wisdom; and not, as that one says: "Money must be sought first, virtue after money." "And in all thy possession acquire prudence," so that you may wish to possess nothing, or to learn nothing that shall be alien from prudence. Or, as the same, that is to say, at the beginning of wisdom possess and learn wisdom from others, according to that in James 1: "But let every man be swift to hearing." And afterwards you will be more fit, so that you may handle all things with intelligence and prudently and by your own wit you will increase understanding. Third, our Salazar thus expounds, "possess" or buy "wisdom," that is, join wisdom to yourself by marriage. For formerly marriages were made by purchase, by which the bridegroom bought the bride from her parents at a certain price, as Hosea bought Gomer, cap. III, vers. 2: "I bought," he says, "her for myself for fifteen pieces of silver." Now join by marriage, that is, bind wisdom and virtue most tightly to yourself, so that you do not allow yourself to be separated from it. Whence St. Augustine considers this spiritual marriage represented in the union of Adam with Eve lib. II On Genesis against the Manichees cap. XIII; for of it was said Gen. II: "This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. Bone of my bones, he says, perhaps on account of strength, and flesh of my flesh on account of temperance. For these two virtues are taught to pertain to the lower part of the soul, which rational prudence governs." Fourth, for beginning in Hebrew it is reschit, in Greek arche, which signifies both the sum, head, principality, and beginning, that is to say, the principality of wisdom is situated in the possession of wisdom: you will hold the first place in wisdom, if you take care that you possess it; the highest perfection and completion of wisdom consists in its possession. Fifth, that is to say, Wisdom and virtue are situated not in its reading, hearing, speculation, but in its occupation and possession; if therefore you begin to possess it, you have the beginning of wisdom: if you have made progress in its possession and have enlarged it, as much as you progress in possession, so much also will you progress in wisdom: if you possess it fully, you will likewise have full and perfect wisdom; moreover, this possession is situated in the use and practice of wisdom, or virtue. For he has and possesses virtue who exercises it and uses it: for virtue is situated in its use, practice and exercise. In sum, the sense is, that is to say, Virtue does not consist in its knowledge or speculation, but in its exercise and practice: for as much as you exercise it, so much of it will you possess. By a similar phrase one might say: The beginning of wealth is to possess riches. The beginning of honor is to possess honors. Thus therefore this sentence agrees with and is the same thing as that in chapter I, verse 7: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," because the fear of God urges that you acquire and possess wisdom, that is virtue. Wherefore the beginning of fear is the progress of wisdom and virtue; the progress of fear is the beginning of wisdom and virtue; the completion of fear is the completion of wisdom and virtue. See the remarks on chapter I, verse 7. Finally the Hebrew texts word for word thus have it, the beginning of wisdom, chochma, that is of wisdom, acquire, or possess bina, that is intelligence or prudence; and thus some manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate edition read it, which you may expound thus: If you wish to attain true wisdom, not speculative but practical, acquire for yourself prudence in matters to be done; for this is true, indeed the very wisdom itself, which I here commend. This sense equally with the first, fourth and fifth seem to be more than the others the literal and genuine senses. Tropologically Baynus, that is to say, Before you devote yourself to the study of wisdom and contemplation, take care that you acquire that wisdom which consists in morals and integrity of life: for Martha leads to Mary, active life to contemplative. For those who wish immediately to enter upon the contemplative life, before the passions are calmed through the labors of active life, do just as those do who wish to learn Rhetoric without first having learned Grammar; whence St. Sabas: "Just as," he says, "the flower precedes the fruit, so the cenobitic life precedes the anchoritic." Thus Cyril reports in the Life of St. John the Silent. Anagogically Lyra: The beginning, he says, of wisdom to be possessed in the heavenly homeland is the possession of wisdom on the way, namely in this life. Symbolically some, that is to say, The beginning of wisdom is to possess or acquire wisdom, that is a teacher of wisdom and master, who may instruct and teach you, without whom you will never become skilled in wisdom or virtue and perfection: for this sublime and divine art is not learned without a teacher.
4:8
8. SEIZE HER, AND SHE SHALL EXALT THEE: THOU SHALT BE GLORIFIED BY HER, WHEN THOU SHALT EMBRACE HER. — that is, when thou shalt hold her within thine arms and bosom in a closer embrace, says St. Jerome in Ecclesiasticus cap. III. For "seize her," in Hebrew it is salseleha, which properly signifies: Make a way for her, raise up a way for her by heaping up earth or a mound of earth, elevate and level a way for her, elevate and exalt her; for from this solela is called a mound, rampart, earth heaped up in a pile. Whence Psalm LXVII, 3: sollu larocheb baarabot; which our translator renders, Make a way for him that ascendeth over the sunset. Also Abraham, Marinus and others translate it, elevate or make a way for him that rideth in the heavens. The Septuagint in this place translates it, pericharaxoson auten, that is, surround her with mounds or fortify her with ramparts, that is, retain and guard her most firmly. Hence Maximus, Cent. V, cap. (Oecon. cap. LXXXIII), reads: "Besiege her, and she shall exalt thee." For just as soldiers, by besieging a city, capture it and are enriched by its spoils: so likewise those who besiege wisdom are enriched by her riches and exalted. Symmachus, carry her; Aquila, avalate, that is, receive, seize, or retain her; the Chaldean, love her; Pagninus, exalt her, and she shall exalt thee; others, heap up and pile up for her; the Zurich Bible, carry her aloft, and she shall carry thee aloft; R. Abraham, praise her; others, tread upon her, that is, continually tread, press and turn her over: for dan sala indeed signifies to tread; and from sala, salal (whence sollu) sometimes borrows its tenses. Hence also R. Levi thus expounds: If thou makest a way for wisdom, and walkest continually in the law, she shall procure honor for thee. And R. Solomon: Search her out, he says, and dwell in her with long study, so that thou weighest the very smallest things, just as when someone, seeking the remnants of the vintage, runs hither and thither to carry away the bunches that were passed over. Among the Talmudists salsel signifies to examine and distinguish hairs. But Baynus explains these words as if they were David's to Solomon, as if to say: Make a way for wisdom, and make for her an expedite and sublime path, so that she may easily wander through thy kingdom, and she herself shall exalt thee; for the Hebrew salseleha signifies that the way of wisdom and virtue is steep and lofty, and therefore must be made level for her with labor, elevation and exertion of body and mind. He speaks of wisdom as of a noble spouse, nay rather a queen, for whom therefore a way must be made level and smoothed, so that she may be carried through it in a chariot and led into the house of the bridegroom, namely of him who loves her and seeks her. Our translator renders it not word for word, but according to sense, seize; so that first, it may signify that wisdom is to be pursued with great desire and study, so that it is not so much asked for as seized. Second, so that it may signify that she is to be closely joined to the mind: for to seize is to snatch to oneself. Third, so that it may signify that she is to be firmly held and guarded; for what we seize, we hold firmly, lest some rival or enemy snatch it from us. Thus to seize wisdom in reality is the same as what preceded, "possess wisdom;" but it suggests the manner of possessing, namely by seizure, just as the Romans seized the Sabine maidens as wives. Whence fourth, to seize signifies to use force to obtain wisdom and virtue on account of our concupiscences, which resist it, according to that saying of Christ: "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away," Matthew XI, 12. Whence Hugh: Seize her, he says, that is, snatch her to thyself like a rapacious bird, namely a hawk, which flies with all its strength at the noblest prey and seizes it to capture it; or like a robber with violent hand capturing her. Fifth, to seize signifies swiftness, as if to say: Hasten to her, run to her, fly to her. Thus Lyra. So much does wisdom wish to be loved and sought after. Furthermore, the Septuagint version is thus explained by the author of the Catena of the Greeks: "Surround her with mounds, he says, that is, confirm her by the constant use and meditation of divine Scriptures; for it is not enough to love wisdom or to taste her in passing, but great care and vigilance are moreover necessary, lest what thou hast acquired thou lose again. But the mound or rampart, he calls the moral virtues in this place: for these are what elevate the mind to the knowledge of God, and defend it from all adversity." Whence from this place St. Isidore, lib. III Sentent. cap. IX, teaches that the student of wisdom needs constant reading of Holy Scripture: "No one, he says, can know the sense of Holy Scripture except through familiarity with reading;" and he demonstrates this throughout the whole chapter by various reasons and similitudes. AND HE SHALL EXALT THEE,—both in the present life, as he exalted Solomon, and in the future. Whence a certain Gloss of the Hebrews explains it paraphrastically thus: "And he shall lead thee riding in the heavens." THOU SHALT BE GLORIFIED BY HER, WHEN THOU HAST EMBRACED HER.—The Septuagint, honour her, that she may embrace thee; the Chaldee, embrace her, that she may glorify thee; the Syriac, that she may honour thee with honour. For there is a mutual embrace of wisdom and the studious, equally as glorification; for the bridegroom communicates his goods to the bride in the marriage, and the bride in turn communicates hers to the bridegroom. Wherefore if thou shalt embrace wisdom, she in turn shall embrace thee; if thou shalt glorify her, she in turn shall glorify thee. "When thou shalt have embraced her with the two arms of action and contemplation," says Hugh. St. Jerome himself desires the same thing in the preface to the second book of his Commentary on Amos to Pammachius: "Pammachius," he says, "I sing now with thee; obtain for me from the Lord that I may deserve to have wisdom as my companion, of which it is written: Love her, and she shall keep thee; honour her, and she shall embrace thee, that with her aiding and accompanying me I may complete the work begun on Amos." We too desire and pray for the same thing.
4:9
9. HE SHALL GIVE TO THY HEAD INCREASES OF GRACES, AND A GLORIOUS CROWN SHALL PROTECT THEE.—like a shield, or rather a helmet. In Hebrew, he shall give thee a bond of grace (Cajetan, a fellowship of grace), and shall gird thee with a diadem of colour; the Septuagint, that he may give to thy head a crown of graces, and a crown of delights (Aquila, of glorification; Symmachus, of glory; Theodotion, of beauty) shall protect thee; the Chaldee, he shall place upon thy head the beauty of grace, a crown of beauty shall be upon thee; the Syriac, he shall place upon thy head the beauty of charity, and in a crown of praise shall satisfy thee; St. Jerome, in chapter XLIV of Ezekiel, reads: "Thy head shall receive a crown of graces;" and by this he understands the priestly tiara; the Zurich Bible, he shall give to thy head an addition (Pagninus, a joining together) of grace; Vatablus, an elegant garland, and shall fortify thee magnificently with a crown; the Arabs following Solomon: "Knowledge," they say, "is a diadem to a boy, and understanding a golden torque." By "crown of graces," says the author of the Greek Catena, understand a chain of virtues and a heap of divine charisms; by the diadem of pleasure, however, the ornament of divine knowledge: although others take these two for the same thing, so that it signifies that which is about to be mentioned. The sense is, as if to say: If thou shalt have embraced wisdom, she shall give thee heaps of graces, and shall ornament thee with them as with a crown, and equally shall protect thee against all temptations and insults of men, for she shall procure for thee grace not only of men, but also of God, and shall obtain from him all grace and virtue, by which thou, adorned as with a most beautiful crown, shalt be gracious and beautiful, equally as strong and glorious in the sight of God, Angels and men, both through grace in this age, and through glory in the future. Therefore liviat chen, that is, a bond of grace (which our author translates, increases of graces), can be understood so as to be the same as a diadem of beauty, or a glorious crown; because just as in a crown ring is joined to ring, flower to flower, gold to gold and interwoven, so also in wisdom and virtue one law is joined to another, one virtue to another, one honest action to another in continuous series and interwoven, so that they make a crown and a chain, nay a coronet of all virtues. Again, wisdom shall cause thee to increase and grow daily in virtues, and thus thou shalt increase this crown of thine, polish it, perfect it, and complete its circle. Furthermore, this crown shall be manifold; first, it shall be given to thee as to a teacher of wisdom, a doctoral laurel; secondly, as to one eminent in every virtue, there shall be given to thee a laurel of virtue; thirdly, as to a victor over thy passions, there shall be given to thee a triumphal crown; fourthly, as to a bridegroom, who hast betrothed wisdom to thyself as a bride, there shall be given to thee a nuptial crown. For of old bridegrooms and brides were crowned (as is still done), according to that of Isaiah LXI, 10: "As a bridegroom adorned with a crown." And Canticles III, 11: "Go forth and see, ye daughters of Sion, king Solomon in the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart;" fifthly, there shall be given to thee a crown of kingdom, so that as a king through wisdom thou mayest administer not only thyself, but also thy whole kingdom piously and wisely. Solomon obtained all these crowns through wisdom, and obtains them whoever is zealous for wisdom and virtue. For he becomes a king, even if he be a private person and poor, both because he rules the kingdom of his own soul, and because he knows how to direct others, and because he shall obtain an eternal kingdom through it. Thus that wise beggar with Tauler, when asked who he was, answered: "I am a king;" where is thy kingdom: "In my soul. For I know how to rule my external and internal senses so that all the powers of my soul are subject to me. Which kingdom assuredly no one doubts to be more excellent than all the kingdoms of this world." I have explained this conversation of his at length in Romans XII, 2, at the end. I have said more about this crown in chapter I, 9, and Ecclesiasticus I, 22, and chapter VI, 32. Morally, learn here how great is the excellence of wisdom and virtue, which promises to its students honor more than royal and imperial. For, as our Alvarez de Paz says, On the Dignity of Perfection, book IV, page 3, chapter XXXII: Worldly nobility exalts a man for a time, holiness exalts him forever. Nobility makes one a friend of kings, perfection makes one a friend of God and equal to the Angels. Those who embrace it burden themselves with cares and laborious business; this, because it makes great men without burden, glorifies those who embrace it. That nobility is wont to add to the head, that is the mind, of the noble an increase of vices by occasion; for from nobility they become proud, and fall into all those vices of which pride is the beginning; this adds daily to the minds of the perfect an increase of gifts and spiritual graces, because from perfection they humble themselves, and attain those virtues which always adhere to humility. Nobility finally surrounds the head with a crown lying in wait, because many envy the noble, many plot against their prosperity and riches; but perfection girds the heads of the perfect with a protecting crown: for all serve the perfect man, and supply what is necessary; and so far is it from harming him, that they flee to him as to a refuge, and profess themselves his helpers. St. Basil teaches this same thing excellently in the preface to the Ascetical Works.
4:10
10. HEAR, MY SON, AND RECEIVE (The Chaldee: receive from me, who am a king and most wise teacher) MY WORDS, THAT THY YEARS OF LIFE MAY BE MULTIPLIED. — Hitherto these were the words of David to Solomon; now Solomon confirms and impresses the same words upon the student of wisdom with his own words. "Years of life" understand both those promised in the present to the Jews, and those eternal ones prepared for the faithful wise, that is, the Saints. See the sayings at chapter III, 16. St. Augustine excellently, sermon 90 On the Seasons, assigns three ways to life and heaven, namely "to think good, to speak good, and to do good;" three likewise to death and hell, namely "to think evil, to speak evil, and to do evil." And St. Ambrose, sermon 74 On the Nativity of Martyrs: "The Lord, he says, has made known to me the ways of life, when he taught me faith, mercy, justice, chastity; for by these paths one arrives at salvation." Whence the Septuagint here adds, that many ways of life may be made for you, that is many honest actions, which lead to true knowledge of God and to immortal life, says the author of the Greek Catena, who also adds: Life, he says, signifies three things, namely the time of life, the institution of life, the sustenance of life.
4:11
11. I WILL SHOW THEE THE WAY OF WISDOM (Septuagint: I teach you; Aquila: I led you; Zurich: I will direct you; Vatable: I will teach you to walk in the way of justice), I WILL LEAD THEE BY THE PATHS OF EQUITY. — In Hebrew, I will cause you to walk in the tracks of righteousness; Septuagint, straight; Aquila, in the paths of righteousness. "Ways or paths and tracks are approaches to virtue, whose beginning is made by the acquisition of wisdom," says Nyssen, oration 2 Against Eunomius. The Chaldee and Symmachus, in the straight path; Pagninus, I have made you tread straight paths. The path of equity therefore are paths that are level, smooth, straight, without rocks and stones, so that you may never stumble anywhere. Such are the paths of wisdom and virtue. See the sayings of Isaiah XXVI, 7. Furthermore the author of the Greek Catena: The orbits of wisdom, he says, are ways which lead from one good and honest work to another; for one work paves the way and invites to another, one virtue to another, as if to say: I will show you how in the way of virtue you ought never to stop, but to make continuous progress.
4:12
12. WHICH WHEN THOU SHALT ENTER INTO, THY STEPS SHALL NOT BE STRAITENED (Syriac: they shall not waver; Symmachus: they shall not be troubled; others: they shall not be straitened), AND RUNNING THOU SHALT NOT HAVE A STUMBLING-BLOCK. — The Septuagint, thy steps shall not be shut in; but if thou shalt run, thou shalt not labour, or thou shalt not be wearied; Aquila, thou shalt not be scandalized; Syriac, thou shalt not stumble; others, thou shalt not dash against, thou shalt not fall. He explains the paths of wisdom or virtue, namely of righteousness, that is, level and even, as if to say: So level and expanded is the plainness of virtue, that in it thy feet and steps cannot be straitened, or dash against rocks, but through it as through a level expanse thou canst run with all thy strength, without any fear or danger of stumbling; for he who cannot extend his steps because of a narrow or rocky way is not far from falling, says R. Solomon. Although indeed to the beginner the way of salvation and virtue is narrow, as Christ says, Matt. VII, 14, if namely thou regard the liberty of the flesh and concupiscence: for virtue straitens and narrows this; yet if thou advance in it and persevere constantly, thou shalt feel it become level and expanded, nor shall thy steps be straitened in it, so that by being straitened they collide, dash against or are hurt; but to the greatest advantages, and to true liberty of conscience and glory thou shalt run joyfully and eagerly straight and swiftly, enlarged and strengthened both by the continual exercise of virtue, and by the good habit of acting well, which is turned as it were into nature; and by the sweetness of grace, and the breathings of consolations, which the Holy Spirit shall breathe upon thee. See the sayings at cap. II, vers. 9; wherefore with the Psalmist thou shalt sing: "I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart," Psalm CXVIII, 32. Therefore the exercise of virtue continually adds greater strength to the spirit, namely habit and grace, and thence greater facility, by which it comes to pass that he is not wearied, but gains new and greater strength for running in the way of the Lord; it is otherwise in bodily running, by which the nerves and arteries, by which motion and running are effected, are dislocated, weakened and wearied, and therefore less strength remains for running. The same happens in the course of vices, of which the wicked say Wisdom cap. V: "We are wearied in the way of iniquity and perdition, we have walked difficult ways, and have not known the way of the Lord;" whereas on the contrary concerning those who study virtue, to whom fervour adds strength, as torpor diminishes it, Isaiah clearly pronounces, cap. XL, vers. 31: "But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." See what I have noted there. In virtue therefore this paradox is true: "Labour does not weary, but strengthens; rest does not strengthen, but wearies; labour increases strength, idleness diminishes it. Labour begets labour, rest begets rest; sleep increases sleep, languor languor, torpor torpor, but vigils beget vigils, virtue virtue," as St. Dominic Loricatus used to say. Add that virtue properly consists in the act of the will, which in acting and willing is not wearied, but is intensified and strengthened. "Thou walkest," says St. Augustine (or whoever is the author) On the New Song cap. III, if thou lovest. For we run to God not by steps, but by affections. This way therefore seeks those who walk in it; there are three kinds of men which it hates, the one remaining, the one turning back, the one wandering." For virtue requires a continual course of the mind, because it has no end or limit, but like a flame grows infinitely. Wherefore Barlaam to Josaphat in Damascene, in History chapter XIX: "The way to heaven," he says, "is easy and accessible; and although on account of the affliction of the body it is said to be narrow and strait, yet on account of the hope of future things it is straight and clear to those who do not walk foolishly, but understand exactly the will of God, and arm themselves to fight against the cunning of the devil, and in prayer and supplication with patience and hope watch unto this very thing." For, as that Abbot says in the Lives of the Fathers lib. V, booklet 7 On Patience, num. 22: "From the patient man God takes away the battle of temptation." Whence there, num. 25, that Ascetic: "All the labour," he says, "which I endure here, cannot be compared with one day of the torments which are prepared for sinners in the future age." And num. 47, to another grievously tempted, and thinking of departure, there appeared to him in the night the grace of God in the form of a virgin, saying: "Go nowhere, but sit here with me, for nothing evil shall come from those things which thou hast heard. He, believing her words, sat there, and immediately his heart was healed." To this belongs the apophthegm of R. Nechoniah son of Akana in Pirke Avoth, that is in the Sayings of the Fathers, cap. III: "Whosoever submits his neck to the yoke of the law, he frees himself from another, but a harder, yoke of human dominion; and he who shakes off the yoke of the law from his neck, prepares it for the yoke of the world and dominion, namely a harder one."
4:13
13. HOLD FAST DISCIPLINE, DO NOT LET IT GO: KEEP IT, BECAUSE IT ITSELF IS YOUR LIFE. — both formally, because the act of virtue is life, that is a vital or natural act, or supernatural; and causally, because virtue is the cause of long life, as he said in chapter III, 16. It is the same cause of holy life through grace, and of blessed life through glory, which it confers. Whence the Hebrew texts have, seize upon instruction, do not languish: keep it, because it itself is your life, that is it will confer many lives upon you; the Septuagint, keep it for yourself unto your life; the Syriac, persevere constantly in discipline; others, be strong in discipline, or strengthen yourself, and grow mighty in discipline by retaining it, performing it, guarding it and spreading it, just as a boxer in the stadium, and a soldier in battle strengthens himself, and gathers all his strength, so that he may overcome the enemy and come forth victorious. Cyril demonstrates the truth of this sentence with an elegant and instructive fable of a sheep and a deer, adorned with splendid examples, in book II of his Moral Apologies, chapter IX, whose title is: Against the appetite for proud liberty. "A sheep, he says, eager for its own liberty, having abandoned the social flock, fled the dominion of its shepherd. And when a deer, wandering through solitude, found the sheep wandering and fugitive, it began piously to seek the occasion of its solitude and error. To which she soon replied: Certainly, having long suffered a most harsh servile yoke, now I wish to enjoy, as you do, liberty most pleasing to all, and to flee a harsher master, who not only milked me even to blood, but also stripped me each year of my timely fleece. Then the deer, taking pity on her: Enough, dearest, I grieve over your wandering journey, but much more over your erroneous counsel. Truly liberty is sweet, and an incomparable treasure, but it is not commonly granted to all." Soon the same one makes it plain by the example of a people, a body, a ship, an ant: "For there are many things to which peace, life and security of salvation come from due subjection, and for this reason liberty is nothing else to them than a saving loss of liberty. For the liberty of a people, which kingdoms do not restrain, perishes by liberty. So also a body subject to the soul lives, and as soon as it is freed from it, it is extinguished. A ship subject to sailors is preserved from waves, from which if it were free, it would immediately be dissolved in shipwreck. An ant also, balanced on wings, when it is raised up from the pit, is captured in final misery. To these therefore liberty is a certain captivity of perdition. In this way, my dearest, believe that the matter stands thus with you also. For observe how and in what manner you now proceed without a guide, ignorant of the pastoral journey, without a guardian armed with no strength of your own, wandering alone among enemies, and destitute in miseries that surround you. Truly the way to you is error, a precipice is your guide, hunger is your pasture, ruin is your companion, and your cruel death at last is your end. I certainly, armed with horn, hoof, size and agility, am scarcely secure from the wild beasts of this solitude." Then he overcomes it with this very dilemma, and shows it more clearly than the sun: "But since liberty naturally delights you, tell me, I pray, is it for doing well or doing ill? For if you intend to do well, this alone is what your shepherd demands of you, why therefore do you flee from him? If you wish to act without reason, that itself will be to you liberty, the captivity of destructive servitude. For to an evil will liberty of sinning is the cause, by which indeed its iniquity is consummated, but soon captivity follows. So an evil will, the freer it is, the more servile; the more powerful, the more weak; and the more exalted, the more humble. Hear therefore my counsel, and return as quickly as possible to your master, lest you perish freely, and deliver yourself to be devoured by wolves. For if your master milks you or shears you, you receive from him these very things which you attribute to yourself, because he guards and feeds you; it is surely more eligible to give milk and fleece, than to lose life with all things. Having heard these things, the sheep gladly returned to the shepherd."
4:14
14. BE NOT DELIGHTED IN THE PATHS OF THE WICKED, NOR LET THE WAY OF EVIL MEN PLEASE THEE. — For "be delighted" our text reads tobe, that is, thou wishest, acquiescest, as he translated in chapter I, 10, thou desirest, art delighted. Now others in different punctuation read tabo, that is, thou enterest. Whence the Septuagint, enter not into the ways of the wicked; the Chaldee, walk not in the way of the wicked. Now the sense is, says Dionysius, as if to say, Be not delighted in the vicious acts of the wicked, likewise in spectacles, tournaments, jousts, dances and similar vanities, which are vain, and often joined with sin, or occasions of sins. Again for "please" in Hebrew it is teascer, which properly signifies, let not thee be blessed or beatified, that is, let not thee account thyself blessed in the way of the wicked. Thus Aquila, Theodotion and Vatablus. Pagninus truly, let not thee beatify the wicked in their way. Abusively however the same verb signifies to go, to direct, to lead, so that ascar is the same as iascar; for the letters aleph and ain are interchanged with each other. Whence Pagninus translated, go not in the way of the wicked; the Septuagint, emulate not the ways of the unjust; others, plant not thy foot or step firmly in the way of the wicked, namely go not firmly in their way, and think not thyself to stand in a firm place among them, because soon some tempest will lay them low and cast them down. Wittily Hugo: "Let not the way of evil men please thee," because, he says, it is muddy in the luxurious, dark in the wrathful, thorny in the avaricious, rocky in the detractors, cavernous in the dissemblers, mountainous in the proud. More beautifully and more piously St. Bernard in the Sentences: "The ways," he says, "which lead to death, are divided in threefold manner. One is toilsome, another laborious, another delightful. Toilsome is in the haughty poor, laborious in the covetous and avaricious, delightful in the wealthy and luxurious. The way also, which leads to life, is distinguished in like manner. For it is one sanguine, another purple, another milky. Sanguine in the Martyrs, who washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb in their own blood, and through the path of martyrdom attained the throne of triumphal height. Purple is in the Confessors, who in their flesh expressed the footsteps of the Lord's passion through abstinence, and bore in their bodies the stigmata of Christ's wounds. Milky in the Virgins, who in themselves consecrated the whiteness of angelic purity and the virtues of sanctity, and through the way of chastity flew happily with the wings of virtues to the embraces and chambers of the true spouse."
4:15
15. FLEE FROM IT, AND PASS NOT BY IT: TURN AWAY, AND FORSAKE IT. — For "flee from it" in Hebrew it is peraehu, which various men translate variously. Pagninus, to remove or cease from it; Vatablus, forsake it; the Chaldee, withdraw lest thou pass with them; Baynus, to abominate or execrate it; the Septuagint, in whatsoever place they shall have pitched their camp, come not upon them; R. Solomon, turn away, and make light of it; R. Levi, abolish and make it void, as if to say, If thy strength suffice, oppose their counsels, and scatter them, lest the wickedness which they have attempted, they complete. For "pass not by it," the Syrian translates, pass not through the place which they inhabit; the Chaldee, pass not with them. For "turn away and forsake it," in Hebrew it is, withdraw from it and pass on; the Chaldee, turn away and pass from them; the Septuagint, turn away from them and depart; Lucifer in the Apology, avoid them; Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion, pass on. Solomon joins all these things almost as synonyms, to show how much the fellowship with the wicked is to be shunned, so that we should not even sustain to have a common way with them, much less speech: "Let not the foot draw contagion," says St. Augustine in Psalm LXXVI, namely lest from a common way we be drawn to fellowship, from fellowship to conversation, from conversation to the sharing of vice. Yet Hugo distributes and separates each thus: "Flee from it, namely in deed, and pass not by it in the delight of thought, turn away from occasions, forsake the place;" of which the two former are mystical, the two latter literal. Thus also Cajetan thinks it is here commanded to flee the way of the wicked on account of occasion and danger of sin. Pliny writes, book XXVIII, chapter X, that the footprints of a wolf stupefy horses: "So great," he says, "is the power of the animal (the wolf), that its footprints trodden upon by horses bring them torpor." Greater torpor and harm do the footprints and fellowship of the wicked bring. An example fearful to the letter exists in III Kings XIII, where a Prophet commanded by God to go into Bethel, and to reprove the worshippers of the golden calf, was likewise commanded neither to take food with idolaters, nor to return by the common way of the wicked, but by another; and because deceived by another Prophet he took food in Bethel, therefore returning he was slain by a lion. Mystically, by the ways of the wicked and impiety understand wicked and impure thoughts and suggestions; for through these as through ways impiety enters into the soul, and destroys and kills it; wherefore it is necessary to flee and drive them out entirely: for they themselves are the fiery darts of the devil, by which he kindles the passions of the soul to evil. Thus the author of the Chain of the Greeks.
4:16
16. FOR THEY DO NOT SLEEP UNLESS (Syriac: until) THEY HAVE DONE EVIL: AND SLEEP IS TAKEN (the Complutensian edition and Dionysius less correctly read 'is taken') FROM THEM UNLESS THEY HAVE SUPPLANTED. — The Septuagint, for they do not take sleep, unless they have done evil: their sleep has been taken away, and they do not sleep; the Chaldean, their sleep is divided until they place a stumbling-block; the Syriac, until they fulfill their will; the Zurich Bible, sleep flees from them, unless they have caused some ruin; Vatable, unless they have caused to stumble, that is to say, They are so greedy for crimes, so vigilant and intent upon them, that they do not take sleep unless they have perpetrated evils, and therefore often keep watch through much or even the whole night, so that they may complete their wickedness and snares, which they devise, and prepare suppers from their plunder, in which they eat the bread of impiety sumptuously, and drink the wine of iniquity, as follows. These are similar to those serpents, of which Pliny, book VIII, chapter XXIX: "Which are sleepless throughout the whole summer, as long as their venom is active; afterwards, however, deprived of venom by the cold, they sleep the whole winter." Again, that they do not sleep denotes that they devise and execute their frauds, deceits and crimes by night, as children of darkness, who hate the light, according to that of the Poet: Night, and love, and wine counsel nothing moderate: That is void of shame, Liber and love of fear. Thus Rabbi Levi: Nor even at night, he says, can they enjoy the quiet of sleep, unless they perpetrate some crime by supplanting someone. These are similar to hyenas and wolves of evening or nocturnal kind, which prey and prowl by night, of which I have spoken in Habakkuk chapter I, verse VIII. For he opposes these impious night-wanderers to the pious, whose "light shining forth proceeds and grows even to the perfect day." Note: Some codices read for rapitur contrarily, non rapitur; for they think that in the Hebrew the negation, which preceded in the former member "they do not sleep," is to be repeated in the latter "and sleep is taken," just as it is to be repeated in chapter XXX, 3, when he says: "I have not learned wisdom, and I knew (that is, I did not know) the knowledge of the holy ones." But the sense of this (says Francis Lucas in the Notes here): "And sleep is not taken from them," or "from them," is the same as that of the preceding part, "and they do not sleep;"; for with the manner of speaking changed, the same thing is said again. Yet something more is signified by this repetition, namely that when the impious have also cast down or circumvented someone, they do not so much take sleep as seize it. But they seize sleep, because either they sleep by day, having devised destruction for the innocent by night, or they sleep a brief and, as it were, furtive sleep, so that they may return as soon as possible to their business. For they do not think they ought to be free for sleep, to whom those are constant pursuits, which easily make both days and nights desirable: days, that counsels may be taken; nights, that the counsels taken may be carried out. Moreover, when it is read without negation: "And sleep is taken from them;"; it does not so much seem to be signified that they themselves seize sleep (for that perhaps could be signified), as that sleep itself is violently torn from them because of the desire for doing evil with which they burn. Although, however, this reading: "And sleep is not taken from them," could conveniently both be understood and transferred from the Hebrew, it is not therefore to be received into the text of the Vulgate edition, inasmuch as it is not the writing of the Vulgate Interpreter, as the more trustworthy codices speak. Furthermore, if the impiety of the wicked toward evil is so great, how great ought that of the pious to be toward good, so that they do not sleep unless they have done something notable for good; and, if when otherwise it happens, they say with the Emperor Titus and with St. John the Almsgiver: "I have lost a day;"; nay, with that strong woman, Proverbs XXXI, 13, who "rose in the night, and gave a prey to her household, and victuals to her handmaids," if they have not done this, let them say: "I have lost a night." Such were formerly the monks called Acemetae, that is, non-sleepers, or sleepless and vigilant, in that by night as well as by day they persisted in the praises of God and good works. But the Essenes, dedicating the day to prayer, labor and study, took by night a small amount of food and sleep, as testified by Eusebius, Philo and others.
4:17
17. THEY EAT THE BREAD OF IMPIETY, AND DRINK THE WINE OF INIQUITY. — The Chaldean paraphrase: because their food is the food of the impious; Lucifer of Cagliari in his Apology: they are nourished with the foods of impiety. He gives the reason and purpose why the impious do not sleep unless they have done evil, namely because they prepare their suppers from their plunder and misdeeds; but they are unwilling to sleep unless they have dined sumptuously. Thus we see robbers hiding in forests all day and laying ambushes for travelers, and going out at night to remote lodgings known to them, where they dine splendidly and carouse, and then fall drunk into sleep. For they live from plunder. They eat therefore "the bread of impiety," namely bread, that is food, obtained by impiety and crime, and they drink "the wine of iniquity," in Hebrew wine of chamasim, that is of robberies and violence, that is plunder and extorted by force. Whence Vatablus translates: they live indeed on food wickedly acquired, and drink wine extorted by force; others, wine of oppressions; Symmachus and Aquila, of injustices; the Chaldean, they drink wine of plunders. R. Levi: Their foods, he says, and drink consist of crimes and rapine; which happen to them so pleasant and delightful, that they need no other thing by which to be nourished. But for a short time do they enjoy these plunders of theirs. For, as it is said in Job XX, 15: "The riches which he hath devoured, he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly;"; the Septuagint: riches unjustly acquired shall be vomited up. Whence Gregory of Nazianzus, oration 9, and Nicetas there: "Whoever, he says, shall have taken noxious food, vomits up even the good things along with it; thus whoever strives to heap up wealth unjustly, loses not only those, but often loses also what he previously possessed justly." Secondly, Bede, Hugh and Jansenius thus expound by hypallage: They eat impiety eagerly as bread, and iniquity like a cup of wine they drain with full mouth: for thus do they desire and thirst to do evil, that they cannot satisfy this thirst, but by doing evil they sharpen it more; for one impiety excites thirst and desire for another, which being perpetrated they thirst for another and another, just as drunkards, the more they drink, the more they thirst and desire to drink, until they become completely intoxicated. Whence the Septuagint translates: but with wicked wine they shall be intoxicated. See St. Chrysostom beautifully comparing the impious to drunkards, homily 34 on Genesis, and homily 13 on the epistle to the Romans. He alludes to Job XV, 16: "Who drinketh iniquity like water." Mystically, Hugh adapts this to those who communicate unworthily; for these eat the bread of the Eucharist impiously, and drink the most holy wine unjustly; to them therefore the Eucharist is bread of impiety and wine of iniquity, because they themselves abuse it impiously and sacrilegiously, and profane and pollute it, and therefore they eat and drink judgment to themselves, not discerning the body of the Lord, I Cor. XI, 29.
4:18
18. BUT THE PATH OF THE JUST, AS A SHINING LIGHT, PROCEEDETH AND INCREASETH EVEN TO THE PERFECT DAY. — But denotes an antithesis between the way of the pious and the impious, namely that the way of the pious is bright and light, while that of the impious is dark and gloom, as follows. In Hebrew, the path of the just is like a shining light, goes, and shines or illuminates until the formed or strengthened and established day. There is a beautiful paronomasia between orach, that is path, and or, that is light, as if to say: The path of the just is light, the way and law of life of the just is light. Zurich version: but the way of the just shineth, which then becomes more and more illustrious until the perfect day; Vatable: the way of the just advanceth and shineth until the perfection of the day, that is until noon; Septuagint: the ways of the just shine like light in like manner, proceed and illuminate, until the day directeth itself (Lucifer, correcteth); Theodotion: as a shining light, going and illuminating until the stability of the day; Aquila: until the prepared, that is formed and established, day; Symmachus: until the stable day; Arabic: but the ways of the just in this form (or image) shine with light, and shall shine forth until the day be directed, or the day be made perfect; Syriac: the light proceedeth, until the day be established; Author of the Catena of the Greeks: the just proceed and shine, until this day be happily completed. And he explains it thus: The present life, he says, full of errors, dangers and temptations is rather night than life; wherefore in these its darknesses God hath placed the just as lights, that they might illuminate it, until the night of all temptations be wholly completed, to which St. Paul alludeth, Philippians II, 15: "That you may be blameless, and simple children of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation; among whom you shine as lights in the world." The sense is, as if to say: "Path," that is the holy life and conversation of the just, is like the dawn, or the morning star shining and illuminating the world; for as the light of dawn is gradually intensified and groweth until the perfect day, that is until noon, in which all mists and darknesses being dispelled, golden, clear and full light shineth over the whole hemisphere: so likewise the justice and holiness of the just gradually increaseth, until all the mists of ignorance and concupiscence being scattered, it itself shineth forth pure and full, which is done inchoately in this life, but perfectly shall be done in heaven, where it cannot increase further, since in this life it always increaseth. Whence Bede thus explaineth, as if to say: "The justice of the just proceedeth from virtue to virtue, from the dawn of grace to the perfect day of glory; for the sun proceedeth from its rising, etc., and there is none that hideth himself from its heat" (Psalm XVIII, 8). While therefore in the morning we behold the dawn and the rising and growing sun, let us think that we ought to strive and contend by as many steps, as if by swift motion, toward the apex of virtue.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
4:1
Before converting, he wrote in Hebrew good ascetic works on a biblical basis: Séfer léqah jōbh (Book of good doctrine; cf. Prov. 4, 1), a Jewish catechesis between master and disciple (Venice 1595; London 1679, with a Latin translation), very widespread and often reprinted; Mōshia' ḥosim (Salvation of the faithful, …
4:2
… The generic sense of "teaching" also appears in the didactic books: the t. is given by God to his faithful one (Job 22, 22; Ps. 78, 1 Heb.), by the sages (Prov. 3, 1; 4, 2; 6, 23; 7, 2; 13, 14), by the mother (ibid. 1, 8; 6, 20; 31, 26); Yahweh (or his representative) will give it in the messianic kingdom (Is. 2, 3 = Mic. 4, 2; Jer. 31, 33; Is. …
4:5
… Holy Scripture (Prov. 3, 13-14; 4, 5-9; Sap. 6, 9; Eccl. 6, 18-37) exalts the prudent man and identifies p. with wisdom, since it is proper to the wise man to order his whole life in relation to the ultimate end, as …
4:9
The Hebrew word derives from livojāh "tortuous" (hence "crown": Prov. 1:9; 4:9; Hebrew and Arabic root lāh "to twist," Assyrian lamā, -wū "to encircle"), with the nominal ending -ān, understood by the Septuagint as "dragon" (v.) and once as "great sea monster" …
4:10
… (Is. 9, 5; 22, 21). 5) Teacher ('a. is an honorary title, given to priests and prophets even by kings: II Reg. 6, 21; 8, 9; 13, 14; Iudc. 17, 10; 18, 19), as in the title of the treatise Aboth (v.); whence the teacher often calls the disciple "son" (Prov. 4, 10, 20; 5, 1, 20; 6, 1, 3; 7, 1, 24; Ps. 44 [45], 11; Eccli. [Hebr. 3, 8, 12, 17; 4, 1, 20; etc.). 6) Counselor (Gen. 45, 8: Egyptian usage according to H. K. Brugsch), as in Esth. 3, …
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.