An address to princes to seek after wisdom: she is easily found by those that seek her.
Kinges and al Magistrates are againe admonished to exercise iustice: 7. otherwise they shal be more greuously punished. 13. wisdom may easely be found, 18. by those that sincerely desire it. 22. And is very profitable (25. excepting the enuious, or il disposed) 26. both to prince and people.
1Wisdom is better than strength: and a wise man is better than a strong man.Val più in sapienza, che la robustezza, e l'uomo prudente val più, che il valoroso.VVISEDOM is better then strength: and a wiseman then a strong.Melior est sapientia quam vires, / et vir prudens quam fortis. 2Hear, therefore, ye kings, and understand, learn ye that are judges of the ends of the earth.Udite pertanto voi, o re, e ponete mente: imparate voi, che giudicate tutta la terra.Heare therfore ye kinges, & vnderstand, lerne ye iudges of the endes of the earth.Audite ergo, reges, et intelligite; / discite, judices finium terræ. 3Give ear, you that rule the people, and that please yourselves in multitudes of nations:Porgete le orecchie voi, che avete il governo de' popoli, e vi gloriate di aver soggette le molte nazioni:Geue eare ye, that rule multitudes, and that please yourselues in multitudes of nations:Præbete aures, vos qui continetis multitudines, / et placetis vobis in turbis nationum. 4For power is given you by the Lord, and strength by the most High, who will examine your works: and search out your thoughts:La potestà è stata data a voi dal Signore, e la dominazione dall'Altissimo; il quale disaminerà le opere vostre, e sarà scrutator de' pensieri.because the powre is geuen you of our Lord, and strength by the Highest, who wil examine your workes, and search your cogitations:Quoniam data est a Domino potestas vobis, / et virtus ab Altissimo: / qui interrogabit opera vestra, et cogitationes scrutabitur. 5Because being ministers of his kingdom, you have not judged rightly, nor kept the law of justice, nor walked according to the will of God.Perchè essendo voi ministri del suo Regno non avete giudicato con rettitudine, e non avete osservata la legge di giustizia, e non avete camminato secondo la volontà di Dio.because when you were the ministers of his kingdom, you iudged not rightly, nor kept the law of iustice, nor haue walked according to the wil of God.Quoniam cum essetis ministri regni illius, / non recte judicastis, nec custodistis legem justitiæ, / neque secundum voluntatem Dei ambulastis. 6Horribly and speedily will he appear to you: for a most severe judgment shall be for them that bear rule.Con orrore vi avvedrete ben presto, come giudizio rigorosissimo si farà di quei, che sovrastano.Horribly and quickly wil he appeare to you: because most seuere iudgement shal be done on them, that beare rule.Horrende et cito apparebit vobis, / quoniam judicium durissimum his qui præsunt fiet. 7For to him that is little, mercy is granted: but the mighty shall be mightily tormented.Imperocché co' piccoli si userà compassione; ma i grandi soffriranno grandi tormenti.For to the litle one mercie is granted: but the mightie shal mightely suffer torments.Exiguo enim conceditur misericordia; / potentes autem potenter tormenta patientur.
8For God will not except any man’s person, neither will he stand in awe of any man’s greatness: for he made the little and the great, and he hath equally care of all.Perocché non darà esenzione a chicchessia Iddio dominatore di tutti gli uomini, e non avrà riguardo alla grandezza di alcuno; perché egli è, che fece il piccolo, e il grande, ed egli ha egual cura di tutti.For God wil not except any mans person, neither wil feare the greatnes of any man: because he made the litle and the great, & he hath equally care of al.Non enim subtrahet personam cujusquam Deus, / nec verebitur magnitudinem ejus cujusquam, / quoniam pusillum et magnum ipse fecit, / et æqualiter cura est illi de omnibus. 9But a greater punishment is ready for the more mighty.Ma ai maggiori maggior supplizio sovrasta.But to the stronger more strong torment is imminent.Fortioribus autem fortior instat cruciatio. 10To you, therefore, O kings, are these my words, that you may learn wisdom, and not fall from it.A voi dunque, o regi, sono in diritte le mie parole, affinchè appariate saggezza, e non venghiate a cadere.To you therfore ô kings are these my wordes, that you may lerne wisdom, and not fal.Ad vos ergo, reges, sunt hi sermones mei: / ut discatis sapientiam, et non excidatis. 11For they that have kept just things justly, shall be justified: and they that have learned these things, shall find what to answer.Imperocché quelli, che avran fatte giustamente le opere giuste, saranno giustificati; e quelli, che avranno apprese queste cose, troveranno come difendersi.For they that haue kept iust thinges iustly, shal be iustified: and they that haue lerned these thinges, shal find what they may answer.Qui enim custodierint justa juste, justificabuntur; / et qui didicerint ista, invenient quid respondeant. 12Covet ye, therefore, my words, and love them, and you shall have instruction.Bramate pertanto li miei insegnamenti; teneteli cari, e sarete istruiti.Couet ye therfore my wordes, and loue them, and you shal haue discipline.Concupiscite ergo sermones meos; / diligite illos, et habebitis disciplinam. 13Wisdom is glorious, and never fadeth away, and is easily seen by them that love her, and is found by them that seek her.Luminosa, ed immarcessibile ell'è la saggezza, ed è facilmente veduta da quei, che l'amano, ed è trovata da quei, che la cercano.Wisdom is cleere, and such as neuer fadeth, and is easely sene of them that loue her, and is found of them that seeke her.Clara est, et quæ numquam marcescit, sapientia: / et facile videtur ab his qui diligunt eam, / et invenitur ab his qui quærunt illam. 14She preventeth them that covet her, so that she first sheweth herself unto them.Ella previene color, che la bramano, ed ella la prima ad essi si fa vedere.She preuenteth them that couete her, that she first may shew herself vnto them.Præoccupat qui se concupiscunt, / ut illis se prior ostendat.
15He that awaketh early to seek her, shall not labour: for he shall find her sitting at his door.Chi di gran mattino anderà in cerca di lei, non avrà da stancarsi; perocché la troverà assisa alla sua porta.He that awaketh early to her, shal not labour: for he shal find her sitting at her doores.Qui de luce vigilaverit ad illam non laborabit; / assidentem enim illam foribus suis inveniet. 16To think, therefore, upon her, is perfect understanding: and he that watcheth for her, shall quickly be secure.L'averla poi presente al pensiero è perfetta prudenza, e chi per amor di lei veglierà, ben presto sarà tranquillo;To thinke therfore of her, is perfect vnderstanding: and he that watcheth for her, shal quickly be secure.Cogitare ergo de illa sensus est consummatus, / et qui vigilaverit propter illam cito securus erit. 17For she goeth about seeking such as are worthy of her, and she sheweth herself to them cheerfully in the ways, and meeteth them with all providence.Perocché ella va attorno cercando chi è degno di lei, e pelle strade ad essi dolcemente si mostra, e con ogni sollecitudine va incontro ad essi.Because she goeth about seeking them that be worthie of her, and in the wayes she wil shew her self to them cheerefully, and in al prouidence she wil meete them.Quoniam dignos se ipsa circuit quærens, / et in viis ostendit se hilariter, / et in omni providentia occurrit illis. 18For the beginning of her is the most true desire of discipline.Perocché il principio di lei egli è un sincerissimo amore della disciplina.For the beginning of her is the most true desire of discipline.Initium enim illius verissima est disciplinæ concupiscentia. 19And the care of discipline is love: and love is the keeping of her laws: and the keeping of her laws is the firm foundation of incorruption:La brama adunque della disciplina è dilezione; e la dilezione è la osservanza delle sue leggi: è l'osservanza delle sue leggi è la purezza perfetta:The care therfore of discipline, is loue: and loue, is the keeping of her lawes: and the keeping of the lawes, is the consummation of incorruption:Cura ergo disciplinæ dilectio est, / et dilectio custodia legum illius est; / custoditio autem legum consummatio incorruptionis est; 20And incorruption bringeth near to God.E la purezza fa, che uno a Dio si avvicina.and incorruption maketh to be next to God.incorruptio autem facit esse proximum Deo. 21Therefore the desire of wisdom bringeth to the everlasting kingdom.Così l'amore della sapienza al regno eterno conduce.Therfore the desire of wisdom leadeth to the euerlasting kingdom.Concupiscentia itaque sapientiæ deducit ad regnum perpetuum.
22If then your delight be in thrones, and sceptres, O ye kings of the people, love wisdom, that you may reign for ever.Se adunque vi compiacete de' troni, e degli scettri, o regi delle nazioni, amate la sapienza, affin di regnare per sempre.If therfore you be delighted with thrones, and with scepters ô ye kinges of the people, loue wisdom, that you may reigne for euer.Si ergo delectamini sedibus et sceptris, o reges populi, / diligite sapientiam, ut in perpetuum regnetis: 23Love the light of wisdom, all ye that bear rule over peoples.Amate la luce della sapienza tutti voi, che siete al governo de' popoli:Loue the light of wisdom al ye that beare rule ouer peoples.diligite lumen sapientiæ, omnes qui præestis populis. 24Now what wisdom is, and what was her origin, I will declare: and I will not hide from you the mysteries of God, but will seek her out from the beginning of her birth, and bring the knowledge of her to light, and will not pass over the truth:Or io vi dirò quel, che sia la sapienza, e come ella sia nata, e a voi non celerò i misterj di Dio; ma anderò investigando la sua prima origine, e di lei darò chiara notizia senza occultare la verità:But what wisdom is, and how she was made, I wil declare: and I wil not hide from you the mysteries of God, but from the beginning of her natiuitie I wil search out, and sette the knowlege of her into light, and wil not let passe the truth:Quid est autem sapientia, et quemadmodum facta sit, referam, / et non abscondam a vobis sacramenta Dei: / sed ab initio nativitatis investigabo, / et ponam in lucem scientiam illius, / et non præteribo veritatem. 25Neither will I go with consuming envy: for such a man shall not be partaker of wisdom.Nè io mi farò compagno di chi si strugge, d'invidia, perché un tal uomo non sarà a parte della sapienza.neither wil I goe with pyning enuie: because such a man shal not be partaker of wisdom.Neque cum invidia tabescente iter habebo, / quoniam talis homo non erit particeps sapientiæ. 26Now the multitude of the wise is the welfare of the whole world: and a wise king is the upholding of the people.Or la moltitudine de' sapienti salute del mondo, e il saggio re è fermo sostegno del popolo.But the multitude of the wise is the health of the round world: and a wise king is the stabilitie of the people.Multitudo autem sapientium sanitas est orbis terrarum, / et rex sapiens stabilimentum populi est. 27Receive, therefore, instruction by my words, and it shall be profitable to you.Apparate adunque dalle mie parole la disciplina, ed ella sarà utile a voi.Therfore take ye discipline by my wordes, and it shal profite you.Ergo accipite disciplinam per sermones meos, / et proderit vobis.
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Calmet
Wisdom, etc. This is not in Greek, and seems out of its place, being taken from Proverbs 16:32., or Ecclesiastes 9:16. (Calmet)
Haydock
The connection with the preceding is observable in the next verse. (Haydock)
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Haydock
Kings. The author puts these words in the mouth of Solomon to give them greater weight, (Calmet) or rather (Haydock) as the inspiration of God is the most unexceptionable authority, and it would be of no service to introduce a false personage speaking; these nine first chapters were written by Solomon, though the original has since disappeared. This has been the case with respect to the original text of Tobias and Judith, (Houbigant) as well as to that of the many canticles and parables which Solomon wrote. (Haydock)
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Power. All power is from God, and to be respected, even though the magistrate should sometimes abuse his authority. (Worthington) (Romans 13:1.)
They must render an account to the common master, 2 Paralipomenon 19:6.
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Little, and ignorant. Those in power ought to know, and to perform their duty.
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Equally. In proportion to their exigencies, or he punishes all as they deserve. It is not clear that he speaks of grace, as the Pelagians would assert, (Calmet) abusing this passage. See St. Augustine, ep. cvi., or clxxxvii.
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Calmet
Mighty. This cannot be too often inculcated, (ver. 6.) lest the great should forget God and themselves. (Calmet)
Worthington
Each must render an account of his charge, and be punished accordingly if he offend. (St. Gregory, hom. ix. Evang.) (Worthington)
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Kings. Septuagint, "tyrants." But this title was not formerly odious.
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Just. Septuagint, "holy." The Jewish judges were generally priests.
Answer. The sovereign judge, to whom Job and David confidently appeal.
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Calmet
Seek her. With the assistance of divine grace, Deuteronomy 30:11., and Romans 10:6. The advantages of wisdom invite us to seek her. (Calmet)
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Door. Ready to introduce herself. (Haydock) (Proverbs 1:20., and 8:34., and 9:1.)
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Calmet
Think. With eager desire to be guided by her maxims. (Calmet)
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Menochius
Providence. To facilitate our just designs, Proverbs ix. (Menochius)
Haydock
She is on the watch to save us. (Haydock)
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Haydock
Discipline. We must begin with a sincere desire of instruction, and submit to correction, (Calmet) if we would come near to God, ver. 20. (Haydock)
Worthington
Wisdom is attained by this gradation. (Worthington)
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Haydock
Everlasting is not in Greek. Wisdom conducts to the throne, (ver. 22.; Calmet) which shall last for ever. (Haydock)
The sense of the Vulgate is very just, Wisdom 5:17.
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Now. The pagans attributed the invention of wisdom to Socrates, or to Pythagoras. But she proceeds from the bosom of God, and was practised long before their times.
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Calmet
Envy. I will not imitate such, Wisdom 7:13. Wisdom ought to be diffused. (Calmet)
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Philo
World. The wicked is ransomed and healed by the wise. (Philo.)
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Concordance Eccle. 9. v. 18.
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Al powre is from God: & therfore to be respected, though the magistrates sometimes abuse their auctoritie.
Concordance Rom. 1•. v. 1.
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As euerie ones charge is more or lesse, so his account is easier or har der, and the punishment (if he offend) smaller or greater. S. Gre. ho. 9. in Euang.
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VVisdom is attained by this gradation and so from first to last, a resolute desire ioyneth faithful soules to God. v. 21.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 15.5
… eternal. Let us follow the same course with the four that come next, viz . living, wise, powerful, beautiful. And since life of some sort belongs also to the beast, which has not wisdom; while the next two, viz . wisdom and might, are so compared to one another in the case of man, as that Scripture says, “Better is he that is wise than he that is strong;”
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.113
In Solomon: “The hardest judgment shall be made on those who govern. For to a mean man mercy is granted; but the powerful shall suffer torments mightily.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom 26
What is it then which I add? The man’s virtue; which makes the fault also greater. For all things are not judged alike in all men. “For mighty” men (it is said) “shall be mightily tormented:”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 14.9
… My brother, sit down in the lower room, that when one less honorable comes you may be bidden to go up higher. Upon whom does the Lord rest but upon him that is lowly and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at His word? To whom God has committed much, of him He will ask the more. “Mighty men shall be mightily tormented.”
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St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.10
… And, to say no more about the Apostles, do you think Annas and Caiaphas, and Judas the traitor guilty of no greater crime than Pilate who was compelled against his will to give sentence against our Lord? The guilt of Judas is proportioned to his former merit, and the greater the guilt, the greater the penalty too.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Morals of the Catholic Church 17
… For the very true beginning of her is the desire of discipline; and the care of discipline is love; and love is the keeping of her laws; and the giving heed unto her laws is the assurance of incorruption; and incorruption maketh us near unto God. Therefore the desire of wisdom bringeth to a kingdom."
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 16.19
… A mighty ally and protector, therefore, have we from God; a great Teacher of the Church, a mighty Champion on our behalf. Let us not be afraid of the demons, nor of the devil; for mightier is He who fighteth for us. Only let us open to Him our doors; for He goeth about seeking such as are worthy
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 88.4
… And He added, “Because they know not Him that sent me.” This is to be understood as spoken of that knowledge of which it is also elsewhere recorded, “But to know Thee is perfect intelligence.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 101.3
3. Forasmuch, however, as the powers belonging to numbers in all kinds of movements are most easily studied as they are presented in sounds, and this study furnishes a way of rising to the higher secrets of truth, by paths gradually ascending, so to speak, in which Wisdom pleasantly reveals herself, and in every step of providence meets those who love her,
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 On the Incarnation of the Word 3
… in other words, that they should be disintegrated and abide in death and corruption. 6. For man is by nature mortal, inasmuch as he is made out of what is not; but by reason of his likeness to Him that is (and if he still preserved this likeness by keeping Him in his knowledge) he would stay his natural corruption, and remain incorrupt; as Wisdom
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 14.7
… Now these motions are evil if the love is evil; good if the love is good. What we assert let us prove from Scripture. The apostle “desires to depart, and to be with Christ.” And, “My soul desired to long for Thy judgments;” or if it is more appropriate to say, “My soul longed to desire Thy judgments.” And, “The desire of wisdom bringeth to a kingdom.”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.23
… and at last he mentions the word concupiscence. But he does not add the usual phrase, “of the flesh,” because this is the very thing which causes the shame. Whereas, on account of concupiscence there is sometimes a call for boasting, inasmuch as there is a concupiscence of the spirit against the flesh, and a concupiscence of wisdom.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.52
“Do you,” he asks, “repeat your affirmation, ‘There would be no concupiscence if man had not first sinned; marriage, however, would have existed, even if no one had sinned’?” I never said, “There would be no concupiscence,” because there is a concupiscence of the spirit, which craves wisdom.
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 19.31
31. I am disposed, after careful examination, to doubt whether the expression so often used by the Lord, "the kingdom of heaven," can be found in these books. It is said, indeed, "Love wisdom, that ye may reign for ever."
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 1.5
… Since, then, men weary us with asking such questions, let us unfold to them, as we are able, whatever wisdom God’s gift has bestowed upon our weakness on this subject; neither “let us go on our way with consuming envy.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.54
… In this habit of retirement, where the fire of meditation burns bright, there is a want of sympathy with human weakness, and with the need men have of our help in their calamities. This life also burns with the desire for children (for it wishes to teach what it knows, and not to go with the corruption of envy
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St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.22
79. But if this too fails to persuade them, let them tell us themselves, whether there is any wisdom in the creatures or not ? If not how is it that the Apostle complains, ‘For after that in the Wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God ?’ or how is it if there is no wisdom, that a ‘multitude of wise men
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On Christian Doctrine 4.5
… For eloquent speakers are heard with pleasure; wise speakers with profit. And, therefore, Scripture does not say that the multitude of the eloquent, but “the multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Enchiridion 1
… not one of those of whom it is said, “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” but one of those of whom it is said, “The multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world,”
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St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Holy Trinity 14.1.1
… but the worship of God is the wisdom of man, of which we now speak. For “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” It is in respect to this wisdom, therefore, which is the worship of God, that Holy Scripture says, “The multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world.”
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This maxim is already lacking in the Greek, but it is placed at the beginning of the chapter as if a theme and argument, which is treated throughout the whole chapter: because indeed kings place their strength and splendor in the forces and fortitude of their soldiers, cities and riches, as the first king and tyrant of the world Nimrod did, but imprudently and in vain, hence he refutes this, and teaches that the firmament of a kingdom is more wisdom than strength, and therefore he incites them to the study of wisdom. Similar to this maxim is that one, Proverbs XVI, 32: "Better is he that is patient than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city;" and that one, Ecclesiastes IX, 16: "And I said that wisdom is better than strength." Whence some think this maxim is taken from those: see the remarks there. This is therefore a conclusion drawn from the principles assigned in the preceding chapter: for there he described the groaning of the impious on the day of judgment, because in life they devoted themselves to the vanity of riches, pleasures and honors, neglecting the truth of wisdom: wherefore they brought upon themselves the wrath and vengeance of God and of all creatures. From which he here concludes: Therefore, O kings and princes, if you are wise, if you wish to avoid the keen vengeance of God, devote yourselves to truth, not to vanity; apply yourselves to wisdom, not to cupidity: for this is the aim of the whole book. Hence he adds:
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Hear my exhortation to the study of wisdom: he alludes to that passage, Psalm II: "And now, O ye kings, understand; receive instruction, you that judge the earth." For kings and princes, who govern the commonwealth, are the leaders and teachers of the whole people: for they teach them to live civilly, that is, justly, rightly and harmoniously; whence the king in Hebrew and more in Chaldean is called מלך melech, that is, counselor. For the root מלך malach, that is, to reign, signifies to administer the kingdom by counsel, prudence, laws, and to govern legitimately; see the sayings, Daniel IV, 24. In Latin also a magistrate is called, as it were, master of the people, as Varro says in book IV of De Lingua Latina: for just as a master teaches and directs boys, so a prince the people. Again, just as the soul is the charioteer of the body, so the prince of the people; for he himself is in it what mind, sense, reason is in the body, and what the sun is in the orb: like the sun indeed he illuminates and enlightens all his subjects, and with swift motion and influence diffused upon each one, he imparts to all his light, that is, his wisdom, providence, vigilance and beneficence, wherefore it is necessary that he be endowed with great wisdom: "Learn therefore it, O judges," that is, princes, "of the ends of the earth:" for formerly the chief duty of kings and princes was to judge, and to decide the disputes of the people; hence this word by extension is extended to any office of the king, so that to judge is the same as to rule justly and govern, as I said cap. I, vers. 1, namely to command, forbid, permit, punish and reward, for these are the five acts or offices of dominion and jurisdiction. Furthermore, because no one is born wise, hence wisdom must be learned with great study even by kings, for no one teaches rightly unless he has first learned rightly. Again, because wisdom is vast and as it were immense, hence it must always be learned, even by the aged, as Cato used to say that he learned daily, even in old age, until death, and in growing old to learn and in learning to grow old. Therefore "learn" signifies that kings ought to be teachable, so that they willingly hear those more learned and experienced in things, and learn from them those things which they do not know: for many, puffed up with the dignity which they have, are unwilling to be taught by anyone, but wish to teach all, even those things which they do not know, which is a great pride, equally as imprudence. Wherefore Solomon, III Kings III, 9, asking wisdom from God, asks at the same time a teachable heart, in Hebrew a hearing heart; the Septuagint a wise heart: for, as Plato says, "the wise man is teachable;" and St. Paul, II Timothy II, 24, wishes the servant of God to be teachable, so that he may hear sound counsels of the prudent and obey them: for many princes do not dare to admonish and teach, because they experience that they receive admonitions ill, and turn away from those who admonish well: wherefore Demetrius Phalereus advised Ptolemy the king to read books of ethics and politics, for these are written for the reason that no one dares to teach princes the truth: thus Plutarch in Apophtegms. Others advised kings to have secret and faithful syndics, who might report to them what they hear said by the people about themselves and their government: for this is the misery of princes, that they often are ignorant of those things, equally as of the public necessities and calamities of the people, because courtiers, in order to flatter the prince, conceal or diminish them. For this reason Francis Valesius, king of France, accustomed to change his dress and go about inns in the evening, and to hear what was said of him there, in which matter he asserted that he gathered great skill in the art of ruling.
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You hold, namely by your authority and governance, as by a bridle: for in Greek it is, κρατοῦντες ὄχλων, that is, you who command and rule over the multitude, and seize it as if with hand laid upon it, hold it, occupy it, conquer it, tame it, and bind it with your laws, edicts, commands, as if with bonds, and by your command and nod, as if with a fist constrain it, so that you turn it in every direction, and do with it whatever pleases and delights you, and that not rarely imperiously and tyrannically; to whom St. Peter thunders in I Epistle V, 2: "Not dominating over the clergy." Whence it follows: AND YOU PLEASE YOURSELVES (in Greek, γιγαυριωμένοι, that is, being proud, growing insolent, glorying, exulting, like a horse proudly prancing, or a lion raging fiercely) IN THE MULTITUDES OF NATIONS,—namely that you command many, and that often at your pleasure and out of arrogance. Whom therefore Ecclesiasticus wisely admonishes, cap. XXXII, vers. 1: "They have made thee ruler? be not lifted up: be among them as one of them." Where I have treated this matter at length. Most excellently St. Bernard speaking in the person of God: "O man, he says, if thou shouldst see thyself, thou wouldst displease thyself, and thou wouldst please me; but because thou seest not thyself, thou pleasest thyself, and thou displeasest me;" whence he adds the fitting punishment: "There will come a time when thou shalt please neither me nor thyself: me, because thou hast sinned; thyself, because thou shalt burn forever." St. Gregory treats this argument most excellently, part II Pastor. cap. VI, where among many things he gives these teachings or maxims concerning it: "He becomes like an apostate angel, when a man disdains to be like other men. Often therefore, while the mind is puffed up by the abundance of subjects, it is corrupted into the luxury of pride, the very pinnacle of power acting as a procurer, etc. Yet he dispenses that power rightly, who carefully knows both to assume from it what helps, and to overcome what tempts, and to regard himself as equal with it to others, and yet to prefer himself to sinners with the zeal of vengeance." And after some things: "When superiors correct delinquent subjects, it remains and is necessary that they carefully attend, so that by the discipline owed they may indeed strike faults by right of authority, but by the custody of humility may acknowledge themselves equal to the very brothers who are corrected: although it is often also fitting that we should prefer those same ones whom we correct in our silent thought." To this pertains an ancient emblem: for the Lacedaemonians depicted Apollo, the presider over wisdom, endowed with four ears and as many hands, by which they signified that wisdom is acquired by the hearing of many things, and by the operation of many virtues: for, as Horace says: To accomplish deeds, and to show captive enemies to citizens, Touches the throne of Jupiter. Thus Pierius, XXXIII Hierogl. cap. XXV.
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for, as the Apostle says Rom. XIII, 4: "There is no power but from God," for in God is the most eminent and supreme right and dominion over all things both rational and irrational, as his creatures (which have received from him all their being through creation, and receive the same at each moment through the influx of conservation) so that he can command all and each whatever he wishes, and dispose of them according to his will. He therefore is the supreme legislator, from whom all just law descends; he is the most powerful judge and avenger of all angels and men; he is the supreme lord of all, from whom all dominion, all power, all jurisdiction over angels and men, even kings and pontiffs is derived: for he is "King of kings, and Lord of lords," I Timoth. VI, 15; whence Esther, cap. XIII, vers. 9, prays and professes: "Lord almighty king, all things are placed in thy dominion, and there is none that can resist thy will, if thou shalt decree to save Israel. Thou hast made heaven and earth, and whatsoever is contained within the compass of heaven, thou art Lord of all."
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"To justitiae" is not in the Greek, but is understood: the sense is, as if to say, You thought, O proud kings, that you were the highest and absolute princes, subject to no one, when nevertheless you were vicars and ministers of God, who is King of kings, indeed merely instruments; hence "you did not judge rightly," that is, you brought forth unjust sentences in judging, and unjust laws in commanding. "Nor did you keep the law of justice," but from avarice and cupidity you perverted justice, and imposed unjust tributes and burdens upon your subjects. "Nor according to the will of God," but according to your ambition, "did you walk," forgetful of that admonition of King Josaphat, II Paralipomenon XIX, 6: "See what you do: for you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord: and whatsoever you judge, shall be returned upon you. Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with diligence: there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor desire of gifts." Let judges and princes think upon these things: for here indeed is a sharp spur to them toward all justice and modesty, namely that they shall stand before the tribunal of Christ as defendants, so that they themselves render an exact account to Him demanding it of their judgment or rule. Therefore in these three parts of the sentence three vices of judges and princes seem to be noted, namely corrupt judgment, unjust rule, and neglect of religion or the worship of God: if however anyone should contend that all things are to be referred to one and the same thing, namely to corrupt judgment, I shall not draw the rope of contention with him. Whence St. Bonaventure from these three sentences: "You did not judge rightly, nor did you keep the law of justice, nor according to the will of God did you walk," says the first is when there is no just cause underlying; the second, when order is not observed; the third, when something is done by a judge with depraved intention. But Cantacuzenus says: The first, he says, is signified from the corruption of gifts accepted, a sentence deviating from the rule and prescription of reason; the second, respect of persons, when not all equally observe the law through the judge's negligence or indulgence, whether from hope or fear; the third, when religion and the worship of God are offended: which opinion seems very apt and genuine. Less aptly Cervantes refers the first to duty owed to neighbors; the second to duty owed to himself; the third to duty owed to God. Furthermore, such avaricious and unjust princes must necessarily be hateful to men equally as to God, and therefore most wretched: hear Plato, book IX of the Republic: "The tyrannical soul," he says, "must necessarily be always beggarly and insatiable"; and soon after: "I say this one is by far the most wretched of all"; and after some intervening remarks: "But in truth, although it may not appear to someone, he is truly a tyrant, truly a slave bound to the most extreme servitude, who never satisfies his appetites, but always needs many things, and appears truly poor if someone should examine the inner recesses of his soul." Wherefore the Emperor Basil, in his Exhortation to his son Leo, chapter XXVII, impresses upon him contempt for money, and just moderation of revenues: "You will administer the commonwealth best," he says, "if you take care of public money, and strive to collect it by just means, not from the oppression or tears of your subjects: for money if justly collected brings much profit to the possessor, and adds strength to the empire; but that which has been scraped together from the tears of your subjects and from injustice, will even dissipate what was justly collected: for it will draw God, who established the laws of justice, to avenge the injury, and fire does not consume chaff so quickly as ill-gotten and unjustly amassed riches, even if justly acquired, bring destruction with them."
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In Greek, ἐπιφορα, that is, it shall come upon, shall press upon, shall hang over you, namely the supreme judge God, as a judge presses upon the accused, an exactor upon the tributary, a creditor upon the debtor, instituting against you a rigid examination, a more rigid judgment, and a most rigid punishment; whence explaining this he adds:
BECAUSE JUDGMENT MOST SEVERE SHALL BE UPON THOSE WHO PRESIDE. Vatablus: because most rigorous judgment shall be exercised upon the magistrates: for "most severe" in Greek is ἀπότομος, that is hard, but by antonomasia and by way of excellence, that is most severe. The reason is that the sins of judges and princes are graver than those of subjects and private persons, first, because they are of exalted persons, whose status and eminence demands greater virtue and perfection, whence it is said in Psalm LXXXI, 1: "God hath stood in the congregation of gods (that is, of judges), but in the midst he judgeth gods." Second, because they give scandal to the whole people, and are an enticement to sin, for At the king's example the whole world is fashioned. Third, because their unjust judgments, equally as laws and edicts, bring grave damages, both to property, and to body, and to soul, not to one subject, but to many, indeed to the whole commonwealth. Wherefore God commanded Moses that the princes of the tribes of Israel who fornicated with the daughters of Moab and worshipped their idols should be hanged against the sun upon gibbets, Num. XXV, 4. Origen adds in the same place, homily 20, that they were hanged because they had not taught the people, had not warned them, had not earnestly reproved them; whence he concludes: "If men would think of these things, they would not seek after rule." Hence wicked kings and tyrants fear all things horribly, are full of dread, and fear all things as safe. Xenophon depicts graphically this their horror and dread in the Hiero: "For now, he says, to fear the crowd, to fear solitude, to fear the absence of guards, to fear even the guards themselves, and to wish neither to have them unarmed near oneself, nor to see them armed willingly, is this not a wretched thing? Finally, to be compelled to this, that you wish to have slaves as free men, and from slaves you are forced to make free men, does this not seem to you evidence of a mind struck and overwhelmed by terrors? Moreover, not only the fear itself, when it has settled in the mind, is a troublesome thing, but while it is nowhere absent and is carried about, it becomes the corruption of all pleasant things." Examples are in Pharaoh, Exod. I and seq., in Athaliah, IV Kings XI, in Herod the infanticide, Matt. II. For these reasons holy men fled from rule, both ecclesiastical and civil: thus St. Clement, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Chrysostom, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Gregory the Great, St. Ephrem, St. Augustine, St. Ambrose, St. Fulgentius, and many others fled the episcopate, who nevertheless were most worthy of the episcopate, and governed it most gloriously. Whence the Emperor Leo, in the year of the Lord 469, cap. XXXI D. Episc. et Cler.: "Truly, he says, he is not worthy of the priesthood unless he be ordained unwillingly:" for the unwilling perceive the danger of the episcopal burden more than the honor, and therefore in its office they are careful and diligent. Certainly that Canon of St. Victor, whom Thomas of Cantimpré mentions, lib. I Exempl. cap. XX, appeared after death to a friend, and said to him: "If I had been of the number of bishops, I would have fallen into the danger of damnation, and would not have been of the number of the elect." Similar things were said by many others. St. Thomas Aquinas had three things in his vows: first, to know what had befallen the soul of his brother Landulf, slain in battle, whether salvation or punishment; second, the pristine purity of mind; third, to be promoted to no honors or prelacies, whence he refused the archbishopric of Naples offered to him by Clement IV, and at his death was grateful to himself, and gave thanks to God that he had been made partaker of these three vows. Finally, hear St. Gregory, epistle 6, lib. VI, and lib. VII, epistle 110: "Just as, he says, he who when invited refuses, when sought flees, should be admitted to the sacred altars: so he who eagerly seeks, or impudently thrusts himself forward, is doubtless to be repelled: for he who thus strives to climb to higher things, what does he do but that in growing he decreases, and in ascending he descends?" But they renounced the kingdom and civil principality, and devoted themselves to a quiet, holy and religious life: St. Josaphat the king converted by St. Barlaam, as St. John of Damascus testifies in his History; St. Carloman, uncle of Charlemagne; Pepin, the firstborn son of Charlemagne; Lotharius, grandson of the Emperor Charlemagne through his father Louis, from whom Lotharingia received its name, whereas it was previously called Austrasia; Rachisius, king of Italy, in the year of the Lord 741; Bamba, king of Spain, in the year of the Lord 674; Veremundus, king of Castile, in the year of the Lord 786; Ramirus, king of Aragon, in the year of the Lord 1150; Sigebertus, king of Northumbria in England, in the year of the Lord 640; Ethelradus, king of the Mercians in that place, in the year of the Lord 704; and his brother Coenredus, his successor in the kingdom; likewise Offa, king of the East Saxons, as also Inus, in the year 740; Trebellius, king of the Bulgarians, in the year 862; John Breno, emperor of Constantinople; Henry, king of Cyprus; John, king of Armenia; St. Louis, son of Charles II, king of Sicily, in the year of the Lord 1297; and in this our age Charles V, emperor. Our Jerome Platus recounts more, in book II, On the Good of the Religious State, chapter XXVI and following. Namely, "from private life, blessed life." How foolish therefore are those who seek principalities and prelacies! For since they can scarcely render an account to God even of their own souls, they burden themselves moreover with the obligation of saving so many souls as they undertake to care for, which is truly a stupendous madness, as St. Bernard shows at length, epistle 42 to Henry, archbishop of Sens.
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In Syriac, the mighty shall be mightily questioned; in Arabic, concerning the mighty there shall be investigation with mighty scrutiny: in Greek, the least συγγνωστός, that is, pardonable or excusable, worthy of pardon and mercy; but the strong shall be examined strongly; likewise, they shall be judged and punished: for in Greek it is ἐτάσθαι, which is future tense from ἐτάζω, whose verb meanings I reviewed at verse 4. To the small, that is to the poor, the common, the private person: for necessity often drives this one to sin, or certainly he harms others less by his sin, and therefore seems worthy of pardon; hence he opposes to the small the mighty, that is kings and princes, who abuse their power unto pride, so as to oppress others. Hence Vatablus translates, for a common man is worthy of pardon, but concerning the mighty there shall be strict inquiry, that is severe and rigid account shall be demanded of them, how they have used or abused the power committed to them: for "to whom much is given, much shall be required of him." I reviewed the causes at the preceding verse. Thus St. Cyprian, book III of Testimonies to Quirinus, no. 112: "It is taught," he says, "that it is more serious to be judged for those who had more power in the world, by Solomon, Wisdom VI, 7: For to the small mercy is granted: but the mighty shall suffer torments mightily; and in Psalm II, 1: And now O kings, understand, be amended (for thus he himself reads it, for which we read, be instructed), you who judge the earth." Theodoret, Question XLIII on Deuteronomy, set forth Moses as an example; for he asks why Moses on account of a slight sin of doubt was excluded by God from the Holy Land, yet the people sinning more gravely was led into it? and he answers: "By these things the Lord teaches us that He demands supreme virtue from the perfect, and, although He is long-suffering toward other men sinning gravely, yet He does not grant this pardon to the holy; which indeed someone wise said, Wisdom VI, 7: The least is worthy of pardon and mercy, but the mighty shall be tormented mightily; and the Lord in the Gospel, Matthew XIII, 11: To whom little is given, little shall be required of him." The same word for word has, and from Theodoret transcribed Anastasius of Nicaea, Question XXXV in Scripture. A more horrible example is in Pharaoh, whom God, as he resisted and was unwilling to let the Hebrews go from Egypt, afflicted with ten atrocious plagues, and finally drowned him with all his forces in the Red Sea, Exodus VII and following; and in Nebuchadnezzar, whom God on account of pride transformed into a beast, Daniel IV; and in Antiochus, whom He consumed with worms and dire torments, II Maccabees IX. A more recent example is provided by the Emperor Maurice, concerning whom Baronius thus writes from Cedrenus, vol. VIII, year of Christ 602, page 158, at the end. Indeed it happened according to that of Wisdom: "Hear, O kings, and understand; horribly and quickly it shall appear to you, that judgment most harsh shall be made for those who preside." Thus indeed the horrible judgment of God was made manifest against the Emperor Maurice, when he paid the penalty (as was fitting) of retaliation for the crime perpetrated not long before: for since he had suffered so many thousands of innocent Christians to be most savagely slaughtered by a dire barbarian, whom he could have redeemed with the smallest price, being guilty of innocent blood shed, he himself was most cruelly slain by a tyrant together with innocent sons, with no one helping, no one rescuing. But he himself, sensing this to be the hand of the Lord stretched out to avenge, gave proof of a most approved Christian, making for himself from the chalice of God's wrath a cup of medicine, which would serve for the purification of his sins and the attainment of perfect salvation of soul. But come now let us review all things in the same order as they occurred. Thus Baronius, who proceeds to narrate how Maurice was deprived by Phoca the usurper of empire, sons, kingdom and life, saying: "Just art Thou, O Lord, and Thy judgment is right." St. Isidore applies this name appropriately to priests, lib. II Offic. cap. V: "Wherefore, he says, because the law removes sinners from service, let each one consider himself, knowing that the powerful shall suffer torment powerfully: let him withdraw himself from this not so much as an honor as a burden, and let him not seek to occupy the place of others, who are worthy. For he who shall preside over peoples in instructing and establishing them in virtue, it is necessary that he be holy in all things, and be held reprehensible in nothing: for he who reproves another of sins, he himself ought to be alien from sin: for with what face will he be able to reprove subjects, when they can immediately, being corrected, cast it back at him: first teach yourself what is right, wherefore he who neglects to do what is right, let him neglect to teach what is right." And St. Jerome in Epist. to Titus, cap. 1, whose words are cited VIII, Quaest. I, can. XIX: "This must be brought against those who swell with pride over the episcopate, and think that they have obtained not a dispensation of Christ, but a dominion, because not immediately are all those better who have not been ordained bishops; and from the fact that bishops are chosen, they esteem themselves more approved; but let them understand that for this reason some are removed from the priesthood, because the vices of their children have hindered them; but if the sins of children prohibit a just man from the episcopate; how much more does each one, considering himself, and knowing that the powerful shall suffer torment powerfully, withdraw himself from this, not so much as an honor, as a burden, and not seek to occupy the place of others, who are more worthy?" Finally, the Gloss on that passage, Malach. I, 14: "Cursed is the deceitful one, who has a male in his flock, and making a vow offers a weak one to the Lord:" "Sometimes, it says, a man well created by God has an intellect apt for sacred disciplines, but he gives himself to luxury and idleness; having a male he offers a weak one, that is, a prayer corrupted by some disturbance of mind: he will feel in himself the fulfillment of what is written: 'The powerful shall suffer torment powerfully.'"
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Thus the Greek texts and many Latin manuscripts have it. But τὸ who is the ruler of all, the Romans delete, St. Augustine in the Mirror, and Lucifer for St. Athanasius. For He will not withdraw, namely by His judgment and vengeance. From the Greek some translate with Jansenius, He will not fear the face of anyone, He will not withdraw or contract Himself from fear of him, so as to yield to him, or not dare to judge and condemn him freely: for this is ὑποστελεῖται; hence the Romans in the Additions to the edition of the Septuagint translate, He will not withdraw His face (as if from shame or fear of the powerful) the Lord of all, that is to say, God is not led by favor or fear, for He will not fear, revere, or dissemble the sin of anyone, because He has an august, magnificent, royal countenance: for He Himself is the Lord of all, wherefore He will have no regard for face or person, so as to exempt anyone from His rigid judgment; but He will judge equally justly and rigidly of king and commoner, because "His care is equally for all." Thus Plato said that God in judgment would have regard neither for Achilles nor for Thersites, neither for the highest nor for the lowest. Note here that τὸ of anyone is not in the Greek, but only He will not withdraw person or face, either that of another, as our Interpreter understood; or also His own, namely that God Himself from fear or shame with the powerful might change His person and contract and lower His face (as sailors contract their sails when a storm comes on), as timid judges do, who with the poor assume the person of lions, with the rich and powerful the person of mice, so that they dare not open their mouths: for this is properly ὑποστελεῖται. God therefore will judge the powerful with the same person and the same just and constant face by which He judges commoners. HIS CARE IS EQUALLY FOR ALL. — In Greek, ὁμοίως, that is, similarly, equally, προνοεῖται, that is, He provides, He has care for all; St. Augustine in the Mirror reads for all: the sense is, that is to say, God has equal care of all, namely both of the common people and of the powerful: for He does not so care for the powerful and princes as to neglect the poor and commoners, but of both these and those, and indeed of all things, He has a common and equal providence, yet so that He provides for each according to each one's state, condition and need. Hence He does not say, equal, but His care is equally for all: thus a king equally cares for the whole kingdom and one city of the kingdom, but with unequal and disparate care: for he would rather lose one city than the whole kingdom; hence the Arabic omits the equally, and thus translates, therefore He provides for all, and governs all things; so also the Syriac. Moreover the Wise One speaks especially of equal providence in judgment, and just retribution of punishments and rewards, as is evident from the preceding, where he opposes this care of God to the acceptance of persons, which has place only when some impertinent quality is regarded, and on account of it one is preferred to another in office, benefit, reward, judgment: but he does not oppose it to the liberal predestination of God, and to the free love and election to goods, both natural and supernatural: for according to this God loves and cares for some more than others, as the just more than the unjust, the elect more than the reprobate, the Blessed Virgin more than a common saint, as is evident from Rom. IX and following; Deut. IV, 8; Wisdom IV, 11; Matt. XIII, 11; Acts XIV, 13. Thus St. Augustine, throughout the whole book On the Predestination of the Saints, and the whole Council of Orange. The Wise One therefore does not speak of the benefit of grace, but of the retribution of benefits and punishments: for that precedes, "dreadfully and quickly will He appear to you, because judgment most harsh will be made for those who preside": "therefore the meaning of this passage is, that in the final judgment God will not accept the persons of kings and princes, but from the equality of justice will render sentence," says Bellarmine, lib. II On Grace and Free Will, cap. III. Furthermore St. Cyprian, lib. V, epistle 8 to Fidus, teaches that God has equal care for infants and adults: wherefore infants are immediately to be admitted to the grace of baptism, nor should one wait for the eighth day, as the Jews waited to circumcise them: because "the Holy Spirit, he says, is not given according to measure (of age and stature), but according to paternal piety and indulgence equally to all: for as God does not accept the person, so neither does He accept age, when He presents Himself to all with the equality of a father for obtaining heavenly grace:" balanced, that is, weighed, considered and measured according to each one's state, need and condition. The true sense of this sentence, therefore, is that He has equal care for all, that is to say, God does not love more, nor care more for the great than for the small, for the rich than for the poor, for the noble than for the ignoble, as men do; but He has equal (proportionally, however, according to each one's degree, office and merit. Whence in Greek it is ὁμοίως, that is, similarly: this equality, therefore, is situated in similarity) providence for both these and those, so that He provides for all in all things necessary: for nothing is withdrawn from the providence of God, because that providence governs all things without exception, however lowly and vile. Whence some expound aequaliter commonly; hence also Antonius in the Mellifluus, part. II, cap. II, reads that He looks to and consults equally the advantage of all; Clement of Alexandria, VI Strom., provides similarly for all, and has care of all, just as the sun similarly, so far as it is in itself, illuminates all things. Therefore Averroes errs, first, in XII Metaph. comm. 51 and 52, teaching that God cares only for incorruptible things, which are above the moon, not corruptible things, which are below the moon: St. Ambrose thinks that Aristotle held the same view, I Offic. cap. XIII, Gregory of Nazianzus, orat. 4 De Theolog., Clement of Alexandria, V Strom., Eusebius, Epiphanius, Theodoret, and from these our Gabriel Vasquez, I part. Quaest. XXII, disp. 87, cap. 1; but others, such as Suarez in Metaph. disp. 59, sect. XV, free Aristotle from this error. Certainly this error was held by many of old, as Job, XXII, 14, indicates, saying from their sense: "Clouds are His covert, neither doth He consider our things, and He walketh round about the poles of heaven." Secondly, Cicero errs, lib. II De Divin., teaching that God does not know future contingencies, for example the free actions which we are about to perform; otherwise, he says, those would already be determined and necessary, not contingent and free: for, as St. Dionysius says, De Divin. nomin. cap. VII, if there is anything in things not known by God, it is necessary that it be empty of divine providence. Whence St. Augustine, lib. V De Civit. cap. IX: "Cicero," he says, "while he wishes to make men free, makes them sacrilegious," indeed atheists: for he who denies in God divinity, or providence of future things, denies deity and God: for these two things are so connected that he who asserts or denies one is compelled to assert or deny the other as well. For neither does the foreknowledge of God induce necessity on future things, because it presupposes those things themselves to be future freely, for these are its object: therefore God foreknows them to be future freely, because they are to be future freely from man; but they are not to be future for this reason, that God foresaw them to be future. Thirdly, R. Moses errs, lib. III Doctoris dubiorum, cap. XVIII, thinking that God has care only of individual men, but of other things has care as to species, not as to individual things, and therefore does not care for individual gnats, flies, fleas, etc. St. Jerome seems to say the same thing in Habac. cap. 1, but I have purged him from this error in that place. St. Ambrose wisely, lib. I Offic. cap. XIII: "Who," he says, "would neglect the care of his own work? who would abandon and leave destitute what he himself thought should be made? If it is an injury to rule, is it not a greater injury to have made? since making nothing is no injustice, not to care for what you have made is the greatest cruelty." Fourthly, the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians err, such as Cassian and Faustus, bishop of Riez, who from this saying conclude that it is equally in the will of all men to have the grace of God, so that anyone who wishes to be holy may be holy: because God, they say, bears Himself equally toward all, and offers His grace to all, if by free will they wish to seek and receive it. But St. Augustine refutes these, epist. 106 and 107, and elsewhere often, and Hilary and Prosper in his letter to St. Augustine. Finally St. Thomas, I part. Quaest. XX, art. 3, teaches that God loves all things equally, because He loves all things by one and simple act of will, and always bearing Himself in the same way, although on the part of the object willed He wishes greater good for one than for another; or because with equal wisdom and goodness He administers all things, although with this equal care of His, He distributes unequal goods in various ways: for by one simple act He distributes greater things to these, lesser to those. The same is taught I II, Quaest. CXII, art. 4, ad 1, and by St. Augustine, tract. 110 in Joan.: "God," he says, "loves all things which He made, and among them He loves rational creatures more, and among those more those which are members of His Only-begotten, and much more His Only-begotten Himself." Morally, learn here from divine Wisdom not to despise the least and the smallest things, but to care for them equally as for great and great things; for God in creating all things did not say: Let us pass over the gnat, because it is vile and small; but He created it equally as the elephant, and governs what He created: do likewise also you.
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in Greek, to the strong (or powerful) there remains a vigorous investigation, or inquiry, or examination; Vatable, but to the powerful there remains a vehement inquisition; Our translator renders it torment, both because judicial inquiry of the accused is conducted through tortures and torments, which are therefore called questions; and because its end is torment, which is decreed and inflicted upon the accused by the judge as punishment. It is metonymy and metalepsis, for the cause is put for the effect, and the antecedent for the consequents: for from judicial examination follows the confession of the accused, from confession the knowledge of crimes, from knowledge the sentence is pronounced, from the sentence punishment and torment are inflicted. Our translator renders it to the stronger and stronger, for to the strong and strong, because under the positive is understood the comparative and superlative: for if upon the strong strong torment presses, then by just proportion, upon the stronger presses stronger, and upon the strongest strongest; he says the same thing in other words by exaggeration, together with what he said a little before: "The powerful shall suffer torments powerfully," that is to say, Kings and princes, who have oppressed others by their power, shall likewise be oppressed and tormented powerfully by God. 10. TO YOU THEREFORE, O KINGS, ARE THESE MY WORDS, THAT YOU MAY LEARN WISDOM, AND NOT FALL,—that is, lest you fall into sin, and thence into the wrath and vengeance of God, lest you transgress, lest you offend, lest you fall from the state of justice, and thence from kingdom and life: for this is the Greek, μὴ παραπέσητε, whence παράπτωμα is transgression, offense, sin. Again he addresses kings, that he may more sharply incite them to undertake these precepts of wisdom concerning modesty and justice: for they have few monitors in this matter, and on account of their power they have great allurements and impulses to pride and injury. Whence for kings, in Greek it is τύραννοι, that is tyrants; Lucifer for St. Athanasius reads, O evil tyrants! St. Augustine in the Mirror of evil kings: for tyrant was formerly called king, prince, lord, having all power over subjects; whence that passage: To the son-in-law of Ceres (to Pluto) without slaughter and blood few Kings descend, and with dry death tyrants. For many kings were slain. Thus Aristophanes calls Jupiter the tyrant of the gods, that is king; for he is widely tyrant, that is widely reigning and ruling. Kings therefore were called tyrants on account of strength. "For strong kings were called tyrants: for τύρος is strong," says Isidore, book IX of the Etymologies, chapter IX. Hence Athenaeus, book XIII: "O love," he says, "tyrant (that is king and emperor) of gods and men;" for nothing is stronger than love. Stephen, however, in his book On Cities, in the entry Τυρρηνία, thinks tyrant was derived from Tyrrhenia, which was formerly a city and province near the Adriatic, whose citizens were called Tyrrhenians, whence tyrants. Moreover, Tyrrhenia is now called Etruria, and the Tyrrhenians are Etruscans or Tuscans, whose capital is Florence, as Philip Cluverius demonstrates at length in his Description of Italy, book II, chapter 1. For Hadria, a city near Venice, was a colony of the Etruscans, from which the neighboring sea is called the Adriatic. For formerly the Tuscans were powerful, and extended the boundaries of their dominion from the Lower or Etruscan Sea, as far as the Upper or Adriatic Sea, as Livy testifies, book V. Others more plausibly think the word tyrant is derived from the Hebrews and Palestinians: for the Hebrews call princes שרים sarim, but the Philistines סרנים seranim. Whence the five satraps of the Philistines, namely the satraps of Gaza, Azotus, Ascalon, Gath and Accaron, are throughout in Hebrew called seranim; seranim therefore is a Phoenician word, or rather Philistine: for which the Chaldeans, who after the manner of the Hebrews and Syrians change samech into tet or tau, say טורנים turanim, as is evident from Joshua XIII, 3; whence tyrants. Again seranim in Hebrew and Syriac signifies axes in wheels, by which wheels are supported and turned, as is evident from III Kings VII, 30; hence princes are called seranim, because they are as it were axes in wheels, that is supports of the people, and hinges of affairs to be done, just as in Greek βασιλεύς is said as if βάσις λαοῦ, that is basis of the people; and in Hebrew אדון adon, that is lord, as if אדן eden, that is fulcrum, support, because the lord is the pillar and sustainer of the family or commonwealth over which he presides. But as pride increased, when proud kings began to abuse their power, the name of tyrant was restricted to those alone who abused the strength of their dominion through insolence, and neglecting reason and the moderation of equity, ruled by force and a certain lust of the mind: therefore lust and cruelty caused the name of tyrant to be ill-regarded. Wherefore the Wise Man here seriously admonishes kings, lest they degenerate into tyrants; but let them rule their subjects wisely, that is modestly and justly, and administer the commonwealth: for thus they shall reign most widely, most peacefully and most durably, as the Romans did, of whom the Poet sang: The space of the Roman city and the world are the same. Mystically, kings are those who rule their own affections, and trample upon the vanities of the world, such as religious. These therefore by their institution and profession are wholly devoted to wisdom, that is to contemplation, virtue and perfection: for all other things are trifles and vanity of vanities. THAT YOU MAY LEARN WISDOM. — Wisdom here embraces prudence and all ethical and political virtue, especially, that is to say, the science of ruling rightly: for this is proper and necessary to a king and prince. Maecenas counseled the same to Augustus Caesar, whose wise oration Dio recites, lib. LII, where among other things he says: "You will live as it were in a certain theatre of the whole world, nor will it be possible that even the smallest sin of yours escape notice: for you will do nothing without witnesses, but always in the midst of a great multitude of men, and men are accustomed most willingly to scrutinize the deeds of princes, who if once they have discovered that you command one thing to some and another to others, and do another thing yourself, will no longer fear your threats, but will imitate your deeds." Whence after inserting several things he concludes: "Therefore prepare for yourself splendor by glorious deeds; cause statues to be made for yourself, neither golden nor silver ones ever, for not only do these consist of great expense, but they are also open to treachery, and are of little duration; but by doing good make for yourself other statues in the very souls of men, subject to no destruction. Neither let any temple be opened to be built for you, since in such matters much money is spent in vain, which it is better to expend on necessary things. For great riches are gathered, not so much by receiving much, as by not making many expenses; and things of this kind bring no glory." The cause and a priori reason he adds: "For virtue indeed makes many equal to the gods, but no one of mortals was ever made a god by the votes of men. Therefore if you are good and rule rightly, the whole earth will be a temple for you, all cities in place of shrines, all men in place of statues, in whose souls you will always dwell with glory: but those who govern the supreme power badly, those ornaments, although placed in all cities, are so far from adorning them, that they even expose them to the reproaches of men, as if they were certain trophies of their malice and monuments of their injustice; and the longer they endure, the longer does the infamy of those men remain. Therefore if you truly desire to become immortal, you must act thus, as I have said." Finally, concluding all things summarily in a single admonition of wisdom: "One thing, he says, I will say which is the head and sum of all those things which have either been said or remain to be said. If you willingly do all these things which you would wish another having power over you to do, you will sin in nothing, you will accomplish all things prosperously, and you will lead from thence a life both most pleasant and most safe. And will not all men both receive you and love you in the place of a father and savior, when they see you modest, of an upright life, excellent in war and in peace?" To this pertains the discussion of the seven sages of Greece concerning the glory of a prince, in what it consists: for most of them asserted that it consists in humility and modesty. Hear Plutarch reciting their opinions in the Banquet of the Seven Sages: "But Solon paused a little: To me, he says, it seems that in this way especially a king or tyrant has achieved glory, if he converts the rule of one into a popular state of the republic for the citizens. Bias added: If he first obeys the laws of his country. After these Thales pronounced that he seemed to him a blessed prince who dies an old man in the order of nature. The fourth Anacharsis: If he alone is prudent. The fifth Cleobulus: If he trusts none of his household. The sixth Pittacus: If a prince so trains his subjects that they fear not him, but fear for his sake. The last Chilo: A prince ought to meditate on nothing mortal, but on all things immortal." FOR THEY THAT HAVE KEPT JUST THINGS JUSTLY (St. Augustine in the Mirror, reads justice) SHALL BE JUSTIFIED (thus the Roman and Greek texts: therefore some read badly, shall be judged), AND THEY THAT HAVE LEARNED THESE THINGS (thus the Roman and Greek texts, therefore some read badly for these things, just things; although the sense is the same) SHALL FIND WHAT TO ANSWER, — that is to say, You, O kings and princes, hear these my counsels concerning wisdom, that is concerning justice, namely concerning virtue and holiness, because whoever shall have kept these things justly and holily, he in the tribunal of Christ, where, as was said before, the harshest judgment shall be made upon those who preside, and upon the stronger a stronger and more rigorous examination and torment shall be inflicted, shall be justified, that is shall be pronounced just and holy by Christ, and shall be rewarded with eternal glory, "and they that have learned these things," already mentioned, "shall find what" to answer to the judge, who examines them concerning the life and government of the commonwealth, — in Greek, shall find an apology, by which they may defend and protect themselves against all objections, that is against the accusations of men and demons: for "to find" is of counsel, "to discover" is of fortune, says Valla. Whence in Greek it is, οἱ γὰρ φυλάξαντες ὁσίως τὰ ὅσια ὁσιωθήσονται, that is, they who keep holy things holily shall be sanctified, that is through the exercise of holy works they shall become holy, and holier, and on the day of judgment shall be declared holy by Christ before the whole world, shall be praised and crowned; whence Vatablus translates, they who shall have cultivated sanctities holily shall be reckoned holy. Note that it is not sufficient for sanctity that someone perform a just and holy work, but it is further required that it be done justly and holily, for example: It is not enough to give alms, but it is necessary that they be given from one's own, not from what is stolen or another's; likewise that it be done with right intention, not a perverse one, such as when you give them so as to draw the poor person to heresy or lust, for thus alms are defiled, and become an act commanded by heresy or lust. For, as St. Dionysius says, good consists of an entire cause, but evil from individual defects. Whence if some required condition be lacking to a good work, it is no longer good, but defective and imperfect, as St. Thomas and the scholastics teach, indeed Aristotle in the Ethics: "The just thing, he says, ought to be done justly." St. Cyprian (or whoever is the author, certainly he is ancient and weighty) in On Individual Clerics: "That which is done in a holy manner, he says, is not holy unless it be performed holily, just as Solomon asserts saying (Wisdom VI, 11): For they that have kept just things justly shall be justified. Therefore sincerity itself must be kept sincerely, and everything that is vowed must be signed also in the act, lest vows commend one thing, and the act insinuate another." He proves this from that passage of Paul, II Timothy II, 5: "He that striveth in the games is not crowned, except he strive lawfully." The same thing is signified in Canticles V, 14: "His hands (of the bridegroom, namely Christ) are turned gold, full of hyacinths." On which words commenting William, surnamed the Small, but great in sense and wisdom, who flourished in the year of the Lord 1200: "The hands, he says, of the bridegroom are those who apply themselves to pious actions. But in the hands of the bridegroom three things are noted: first, they ought to be turned, that is rightly and well fashioned without crookedness, roughness or angles, that is not only acting piously, but justly and purely: thus they labor around the necessities of the needy to be revealed, lest, while they provide for them, they harm others through force or deceit: if they defraud others so that others may be helped; if they lend at interest or steal, which they expend for the uses of the poor, the hands are crooked and angular. For this reason, secondly, they ought to be golden, that is, before the Lord in all actions shining forth with the gold of charity. Thirdly, they ought to be full of hyacinths, that is adorned with a becoming and as it were gem-like species of action, even outwardly colored: for there are two things which especially commend an action, the mind of the agent, and the external appearance of the action. Good intention commends the work before God, honest appearance of the work commends it before men: when nothing alien from the piety of charity is in the root of intention, and nothing unbecoming in the surface of the action, then the hand is, not only golden, but full of hyacinths," etc. SHALL FIND WHAT TO ANSWER. — "I will stand, says Habakkuk, cap. II, vers. 1, that I may see what will be said to me, and what I may answer to him that reproveth me." Whoever therefore is wise, let him do each work so holily and perfectly that he may be able to render an account of them to Christ on the day of judgment, lest Christ himself be able to find fault with them: "Because, what cannot be said without groaning, in that strictness of the final rebuke all argument of excuse ceases; for he rebukes from without, who as a witness of conscience accuses the soul within," says St. Gregory, homily 38 in the Gospel. Whence then the impious, being silent, shall have no excuse by which to defend themselves, and to extenuate their crimes.
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In Greek, παιδευθήσεσθε, that is, you will be instructed, you will become learned, you will acquire παιδείαν, that is, discipline, that is, the correction and ordering of morals, just as children learn through rebukes, blows and scourges to order their morals toward honesty, both internal and external: for our flesh and concupiscence is blind and desirous, like a child; whence it must be chastised with scourges and conformed to virtue. Hence the scourge and scourging is called discipline, concerning which Peter of Blois (who flourished as a contemporary of St. Bernard in the year of the Lord 1160, according to Trithemius) wisely said in sermon 6: "There are two things which wonderfully preserve a man from sin, frequent confession and more frequent discipline;" and he inculcates the same thing frequently elsewhere, as in epistles 16, 27, 46, 57, etc.: for just as flesh without salt putrefies, so the body without mortification is corrupted and flows into vices, as I have shown elsewhere at greater length. St. Chrysostom wisely said, homily 34 to the People: "The greatest remedy of penance, he says, is the cure of our wounds; thus healing and abolishing the ulcers of souls, so that neither scar nor wart shall appear, which is not possible in bodily wounds." Furthermore, discipline, both externally to the body and internally to the mind for chastising its disordered affections, must be applied constantly. Whence Richard of St. Victor in the Song of Songs, chapter II: "He, he says, is perfectly virtuous who by the power of the spirit powerfully restrains both the pleasures of the flesh and the will of the heart: for, as the same author says in the book On Preparation for Contemplation, chapter XXXII: "Discipline of the body without discipline of the heart is useless." See Cassian, book V On the Institutes of Renunciation, chapters XXI and XXII. Just as therefore study is the way and method to knowledge, so discipline and the correction and reformation of morals and affections according to the law of God is the way and method to divine wisdom. St. Bernard gives the reason, sermon 58 in the Song of Songs: "For who, he says, has so precisely cut away from himself all that is superfluous, that he thinks he has nothing worthy of pruning? Believe me, and pruned things sprout again, and things that have fled return, and things extinguished are rekindled, and things put to sleep are aroused again. It is therefore not enough to have pruned once; one must prune often, indeed (if it be possible) always, because you always find, if you do not dissemble, something that ought to be pruned. However much you may have made progress while remaining in this body, you err if you think vices are dead, and not rather suppressed. Whether you will it or not, the Jebusite dwells within your borders: he can be subdued, but not exterminated." And below: "Let us examine, he says, according to the Prophet our ways and our pursuits, and let each one judge himself in this to have made progress, not when he has found nothing to reprove, but when he reproves what he has found. Then you have not searched in vain, if you notice again that searching is necessary." Hence St. Cyprian, sermon On Fasting: "As many, he says, men of virtue as we have seen, we have not read that they ascended without fasting; nor did they accomplish anything great unless abstinence had first preceded. Whenever they attempted to obtain something from God, they applied themselves to fastings and tears, and spending nights in prayers, with hairclothes clinging to the flesh, they humbly begged for benefits." Pinufius the abbot, in Cassian, book IV On the Institutes of Renunciation, chapters XXXIV and XXXV, proposes this perfect idea of a Christian, indeed of a religious: "To have mortified and crucified with Christ all concupiscences and carnal affections whatsoever. Just as therefore one who is crucified no longer has the power to move his limbs at the motion of his mind, so also we ought to apply our wills and desires not according to what is pleasant and delightful to us at present, but according to the law of the Lord, which constrains us to them." Those who live in constant delights, freedom and dominion have greater need of mortification, such as kings, princes, prelates, the rich and the wealthy. Theodoretus in the Philotheos, chapter XXVIII, relates that Thalilaeos enclosed himself in a wheel for ten years, so that he could not raise himself up, but always sat bent over with his face fixed to his knees. And when Theodoretus asked him why he afflicted himself so greatly, he answered: "Mortification of the flesh is flight from the punishment of hell." Frequent therefore meditation on impending death and fear of hell teach true mortification and discipline, which was the common saying of the holy anchorites.
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In Greek, λαμπρὰ καὶ ἀμάραντός ἐστιν ἡ σοφία, that is, wisdom is splendid and unfading, namely prudence itself, virtue and holiness, both because it is in itself the most noble quality, and like the amaranth flower incorruptible and eternal; and because it ennobles those who study it, makes them illustrious and eternal. He compares wisdom to the amaranth flower or ear of grain, concerning which Pliny writes thus, book XXI, chapter VIII: "We are surpassed without doubt by the amaranth; it is however a purple ear more truly than any flower, and itself without odor, and it is wonderful that it rejoices to be plucked, and springs up more joyfully. It comes forth in the month of August: it lasts into autumn. The Alexandrian palm, which when plucked is preserved. And it is wonderful that after all flowers have failed, when moistened with water it revives, and makes winter crowns. The whole of its nature is expressed in its name, because it does not wither." Wisdom is precisely such, which never withers, but always revives, and is purple, that is, fiery: for purple both in color and in name is πῦρ πῦρ, that is, fire fire. Related to this is that passage in Psalm XI, 7: "The words of the Lord are pure words, silver tried in the fire, proved upon the earth; purified sevenfold:" for wisdom is the very law, or the words and sayings of God, which virtue itself receives, loves and carries out in deed. And Psalm XVIII, 8: "The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord (that is, the law itself, which testifies what God wishes to be done by us) is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones. The judgments of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever." Hence wisdom "is easily seen by those who love it:" for it itself, like a torch in a lighthouse, illuminates all those sailing in this world, and shines forth to them the way to the harbor of salvation; whoever therefore loves it, let him open the eyes of his mind to that light, and behold it; for, as St. Augustine says, in the book On the Morals of the Church, chapter 1: "The knowledge of truth neither can all those from whom it is sought teach it; nor are all those who seek it worthy to learn it. Therefore both diligence and piety must be employed: by the one it comes about that we find knowledge; by the other, that we deserve to know." Philosophy therefore is the way to wisdom, that is, love of wisdom is the way to wisdom: for love sharpens the powers of the mind, and overcomes all difficulties. He commends wisdom from three things: first, from necessity; second, from beauty, splendor and excellence, as well as from facility and graciousness; third, from utility. From necessity he commended it from the beginning of the chapter up to this point, because without wisdom kings will undergo the terrible judgment of God and torments; from beauty he commends it here, as well as from the facility of obtaining it; from utility he will commend it in verse 19 and following. Here therefore he praises it from its appearance and singular benignity, by which it offers itself first to those who desire it, and draws them to itself and to the study of it and invites them: the contrary of which beautiful women do, who are proud of their form and wish to be sought, not to seek, according to that saying: Pride dwells in the beautiful, and haughtiness follows form. So too worldly knowledge puffs up.
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Vatablus readily offers himself to be known by those who desire; Pagninus anticipates those who desire, so that he may be foreknown; Clement of Alexandria, in the ninth book of the Stromata, goes before those who wish to foreknow: thus concerning Wisdom he speaks in Ecclesiasticus, chapter XV, verses 1 and following, that to those seeking justice "she shall meet them as a mother honored, and as a wife married from her virginity shall receive him:" see the remarks there. This maxim can be understood in two ways. First, so that the "so that" may be referred to "anticipates," and "those who desire" may be understood materially, that is to say, Wisdom, namely God and God's grace, goes before those who desire themselves, so that she shows herself to them first, and in them stirs up her own desire and longing: for in this consists the prevention of grace and God's anticipation, that he himself goes before all our desire, indeed stirs it up, as the Council of Trent teaches, session VI; likewise the Council of Orange and the Council of Milevis, and St. Augustine throughout against the Pelagians: for the error of the Pelagians was that the beginning of virtue and salvation was not from God, but from us; that man by free will disposes himself to grace, and asks it from God, and thus obtains it: which is plainly false and erroneous. For God and Christ are as it were the sun, which by his light and grace goes before all, and cannot be anticipated by anyone. Second, so that "those who desire" may be understood in the formal sense, and the "so that" may be referred to "those who desire themselves," that is to say, Wisdom anticipates those who desire her, and ask that she anticipate them, and show herself to them first: anticipates, I say, so that they may know the same wisdom, already confusedly known, particularly and distinctly: for there is no desire for the unknown, wherefore it is first necessary for man to know and desire wisdom confusedly, before he is anticipated by it particularly and taught: but that very thing, to know and desire wisdom confusedly, flows from another prior anticipation of wisdom, namely the first and general. For first God stirs up in the soul a general and confused knowledge and desire of wisdom, virtue and salvation, so that the soul may ask it from God. When therefore the soul asks it, God infuses it to her particularly, but gradually and by degrees: first indeed he illuminates her by faith; second, he imparts hope of salvation; third, he sends sorrow for sins; fourth, he stirs up an act of love and contrition: which is the last and proximate disposition to grace and justice, as the Council of Trent teaches, session VI. Thus the Church, and every faithful and just person, prays constantly that he may be anticipated by new grace of God to perform new and heroic works of wisdom, that is, of virtues; but this prayer of his flows from another prior preventing grace, which stirred him up to pray: for this is the prayer of the Church on the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost: "Thy grace, we beseech thee, O Lord, both always go before us and follow us, and make us to be always intent upon good works." Both senses are true, both are fitting, both demonstrate the remarkable humanity, benevolence, liberality, solicitude and philanthropy of our God, because he himself by his love, calling and grace goes before us unworthy, indeed sinners and his enemies, so that he may make us his friends, indeed his sons and heirs. In both ways therefore God anticipates us; in both ways wisdom, that is, God's illumination and grace, goes before us; in both ways he occupies and anticipates the first place in the study of wisdom: for both first he offers himself to be known confusedly to the soul, and stirs up a general desire of himself; then from it confusedly known and desired, he stirs up in it a special, and more ardent desire of himself, and this more and more each day, so that by his gift the desire arising in the mind may grow, until she becomes most desirous of him, and is wholly inflamed with love of him. Hence Christ in John IV, 14, thus speaks of wisdom to the Samaritan woman under the name of water: "The water that I will give him, shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into life everlasting;" and John VII, 38, crying out in the temple: "If any man thirst, he says, let him come to me: and he that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water;" and Apocalypse III, 20: "Behold, I stand at the gate and knock: if any man shall hear my voice, and open to me the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." And St. Augustine, book XI of the Confessions, chapter II: "Through Christ, he says, thou didst seek us, not seeking thee; but thou didst seek that we might seek thee." Mystically, the Blessed Virgin, as the mother of eternal Wisdom, is said to anticipate those who desire her and to meet those who seek her: because no one runs with such speed to implore the Virgin as the Virgin herself runs more swiftly to hear her supplicant; whence, Cant. IV, 3, she is compared to hinds, because, as Richard of St. Victor interprets it, these are swift in running, so the Blessed Virgin is swift in coming to aid. Indeed, she is even called by St. Epiphanius, in his sermon On her praises, a chariot of cherubim, because as this one flies with tenfold multiplied swiftness, so also she, lifted up on innumerable wings of mercy, hastens to intercede: nor is it a wonder, since she performs the office of a mother, not of a judge. For which reason the Virgin mother sometimes appears swifter in bringing aid than her son Christ the Lord, as St. Anselm asserts, in his book On the Excellence of the Virgin, chapter VII: "Swifter is, he says, sometimes salvation at the mention of her name (that is, of Mary), than at the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus;" and he gives the reason, "because to Christ, as to a judge, it pertains also to punish: to the Virgin, as to a patroness, only to have mercy." Morally, learn here, Christian, to imitate eternal Wisdom, namely Christ and his mother, so that you may anticipate both enemies and friends with love and honor, according to that saying of the Apostle, Rom. XII, 10: "Preventing one another with honor:" for this is what perfect charity and beneficence demand. If therefore you wish to be loved, love; for love is the magnet of love; hence Christ first anticipated men, becoming man, so that he might compel them to love him in return. This is relevant to that saying of Lucian: Grace which is slow is ungrateful grace: for when it hastens to come, grace is more grateful. Hear Seneca, book II On Benefits, chapter 1: "Most grateful are benefits prepared, easy and offered, where there was no delay, except in the recipient's modesty. It is best to anticipate the desire of each; next to follow it; that is better, to occupy the place before we are asked: because when an honest man's mouth comes together to ask (others read more aptly, falls), and blushes suffuse him; he who removes this torment multiplies his gift. He did not receive it freely, who, when he asked, received. Since indeed, as it seemed to our ancestors, most grave men, no thing costs more dearly than that which is bought with prayers;" and further down: "Therefore the will of each must be divined, and when it is understood, he must be freed from the gravest necessity of asking. Know that benefit to be pleasant and lasting in the mind which comes to meet you. If it does not happen to anticipate, let us cut short the many words of the one asking, lest we seem to be asked; but once assured, let us promise immediately, and by our very haste let us approve that we would have done it even before we were entreated." 15. HE THAT SHALL WATCH FOR HER FROM THE BREAK OF DAY SHALL NOT LABOR: FOR HE SHALL FIND HER SITTING AT HIS DOORS. That is, he who shall have watched early, who in the early morning at dawn shall have sought her by prayer, invocation, meditation, study, shall not labor to find her, because she herself in the morning sits with him who watches and attends to her. He notes that the morning time, as the first and most fitting, should be given to wisdom, that is to prayer, study and divine things, according to that saying Psalm. LXII, 2: "O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day;" and Prov. VIII, 34: "Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors:" see the things said there. But the vigilance of wisdom surpasses and anticipates all the most vigilant: thus St. Mary Magdalen went to the sepulchre of Christ before dawn, that she might seek him, and therefore she merited to see him rising before the apostles and first. For "sitting" the Greek is παρέδριν, by which name philosophers called their gods and familiar genii: as Socrates had a genius as a paredros, that is an assessor, so heresiarchs had demons as paredri. Such also magicians have in rings; but the paredros of the just is God, and God's wisdom and grace, concerning which it will be said again in chapter IX, verse 4. Suetonius relates in Galba, chapters XIV and XVIII, that this omen was given to him both of obtaining and of losing the empire: "He dreamed, he says, that Fortune said she was standing before the doors exhausted, and unless she were received more quickly, she would become the prey of whoever met her. Waking and opening the atrium, he found a bronze statue of the goddess, larger than a cubit, near the threshold, and he honored it placed in the household shrine. Long after, a most precious necklace destined for Fortune, he placed on Venus Capitoline. The next night he dreamed of the form of Fortune, complaining that she was defrauded of the gift destined for her, threatening that she would take away even herself, who had given it;" and shortly after he was deprived of empire and life. True wisdom, and fortune that brings fortune, is God, from whom all our salvation and beatitude proceeds: him therefore offering himself to us let us eagerly receive, having received him let us hold him steadfastly and honor him, so that he may preserve his goods and gifts in us, increase and perpetuate them forever.
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For 'to think' in Greek is enthymēthēnai in the aorist, that is, to have thought, to have turned over and revolved in the mind, to have understood and impressed upon the mind, so that namely those things are continually before the mind, and you think about them constantly, whence Our [translator] aptly rendered it as 'to think' in the present. Add that the past tense is often taken for the present, especially among the Hebrews, who lack the present. For 'sense consummated,' in Greek it is phronēseōs teleiōtēs, that is, the perfection of wisdom, or the consummation of prudence and understanding, or it is perfect prudence, wherefore Holcot wrongly takes 'sense' here as bodily sense, as if to say: Wisdom corrects and perfects the vices and defects of the bodily senses, namely sight, hearing, taste, etc. Sense therefore can first be, as if to say: He who constantly turns over in his mind sense, that is, wisdom and prudence, and its doctrines and dictates, so that he always has them before his eyes and directs and institutes his actions according to them, this man is perfectly wise and prudent; "and he who shall have watched for her," so as to know wisdom and its precepts and impress them upon his mind, this man "shall quickly be secure," in Greek amepimnos estai, that is, without care (for secure is the same as removed from care), shall be without solicitude, and from this cheerful and joyful. For "a secure mind is like a continual feast:" because such a man will institute his life wisely, according to the dictate of wisdom; whence he shall be secure, both from sin and falling, and from dangers which difficult actions are wont to accompany and follow: for wisdom foresees and provides for these things; whence it either flees them, or drives them away and repels them, or tolerates and manfully overcomes them. Therefore wisdom bestows security and tranquility upon the mind, whereas foolishness and imprudence bring a thousand cares, anguishes, dangers, unhappy outcomes of actions and losses, says Cantacuzenus. It could, secondly, be explained more plainly, as if to say: He is perfectly prudent who thinks not about the vain, fleeting, curious and futile things of the world, but about true wisdom, which may lead him to virtue and happiness, and is solicitous how namely he may obtain it. Moreover he shall be secure that he will obtain it, who shall have watched for it in the morning, that is, who shall have sought and investigated it studiously; for he will find it running to meet him of its own accord and assisting him, nay even anticipating him, as he said a little before: thus from Castro. Whence Vatablus renders it: namely to think about it pertains to the perfection of wisdom, and he who shall have watched for her shall quickly be secure. Hence Cicero, as St. Augustine testifies, in book I Against the Academics, chapter III, asserts that he is blessed who strives to investigate truth, even if he does not attain it. Much more is he to be called blessed in hope, who in this life begins to strive to know wisdom and truth, which is God, so that in heaven he may deserve to see it perfectly, and may become blessed in reality. Thirdly, Cantacuzenus thus expounds it, as if to say: Perfect prudence and understanding is to think about true wisdom to be learned and acquired: for just as the end of a house is a roof, that is, that it be covered against the injuries of heaven and men; the end of a city is the safety of its citizens; the end of medicine is health: so the end of all science and understanding is true wisdom, which teaches man to live rightly and leads him by the right path to happiness. Fourthly, our Lorinus: After the facility of acquiring wisdom, he says, he pursues happiness in its acquisition; but this is twofold, the perfection of the intellect and the security of the mind; or both the exclusion of error and of evil, so that it may uproot false opinions, inflaming the mind with the knowledge of truth, and may remove and expel empty solicitudes and cares. Of these four senses, the second appears clearer and more suitable, and the illative particle ergo (although in Greek it is gar, that is, for, but gar sometimes signifies certainly; assuredly, namely, therefore) demands it, which connects this clause with the preceding one, and draws and collects from it, as if to say: Wisdom is so ready and inclined to communicate itself that it anticipates those desirous of it, and shows itself to them first. Therefore, to think about it is a consummated sense, that is, perfect prudence and wisdom: for wisdom from its readiness will of its own accord and immediately occur to one thinking of it, and will teach him full and perfect wisdom: wherefore he who shall have watched for it will quickly become secure concerning the acquisition of wisdom, and concerning every other care, and will accomplish every matter happily. That this is the sense is clear from the reason which the Wise man adds: "For she herself goes about seeking the worthy, etc., and meets them in every providence." It is a metonymy, for the thought and study of wisdom is called the perfection of wisdom, not consummated, but inchoatively, because it is the way to it, and gradually leads the diligent student to it: for the words and names of the Hebrews often signify an act not perfect, but inchoate, as I have already often noted. Moreover, the thought of wisdom induces wisdom, because he who often thinks about something loves it: but wisdom, when loved, occurs of its own accord to the lover, and communicates itself to him. Mystically, the consummation of wisdom and the security of mind is to think diligently about divine things, to meditate upon them, to desire them, to love them; but no one has this wisdom, begotten from the Holy Spirit, this security flowing from a good conscience, unless he abounds in charity toward God and neighbor. It could secondly be referred to in every thing, not to wisdom, but to the student of wisdom; for to him in every thing, that is, in every thought and deliberation, wisdom occurs, and thus shows itself, as if to say: Whenever a prudent mind thinks and meditates prudently and providently about something, there immediately wisdom occurs, and God himself: wherefore it is most salutary to think and speak about wisdom, and about God and divine things, for there God immediately inserts himself, just as Christ inserted himself to the disciples going to Emmaus, when they were speaking about him. Thus Cantacuzenus and Jansenius. This sense also appears apt, and sufficiently answers the Greek: to gar in every providence, or, as some read, prudence, occurs, answers to τῷ in ways shows: for it is the office of human prudence and providence that to a man wishing to institute his actions prudently, that is, his natural actions, and consulting himself, it should suggest in all things the reasons and suitable means by which he may accomplish this. But divine prudence and wisdom accomplish this much more in supernatural and divine actions. All these metaphors signify that God most willingly communicates his wisdom (namely, his precepts and counsels, his divine lights) to those who desire it, indeed is eager to do so, so that with spontaneous will and most benign liberality he may pour forth his benefits upon the desirous: wherefore it is fitting that men should respond with like desire and meet God, so that they may ardently seek and inquire it from him, as the bride sought the bridegroom, saying, Cant. III, 2: "I will rise and go about the city, through the streets and broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth:" thus Magdalen sought Christ, and therefore found him to her great good and happiness. Each sense now given is congruous and connected: for the same prudence and providence which is sought and consulted by man, and which occurs to man seeking and consulting, and suggests the reasons for prudently acting in all things, especially in graver and more difficult matters.
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He gives the reason why to think about wisdom is the consummation of sense, and why the one who is vigilant toward it will be secure in the future, namely because wisdom itself, that is, those thinking of themselves and diligently seeking themselves, goes about and seeks out the worthy, so that it may willingly show itself and all its things to them "in the ways," that is in all the actions of life, institutions, duties, both private and public, and especially in governing the republic, cheerfully and communicate with them; indeed it meets them "in all providence," in Greek epinoia, that is in counsel, ingenuity, diligence, consideration, devising, discovery, prudence, as if to say: First, wisdom devises and discovers a thousand modes and reasons by which it meets and assists those desirous of it with the greatest care and providence. God (who is wisdom itself), says Nazianzenus, loves to be loved, seeks to be sought, thirsts to be thirsted for; hence he devises a thousand modes by which he draws souls to himself and converts them. Whence Vatablus translates it, meets them with the highest zeal; Our translator renders it, providence, because the better part of wisdom and prudence is to foresee the future, and if it be good, to secure it; if evil, to turn it away. In a similar manner, but to a contrary end, the harlot of lust and pleasure meets the unwary youth, and ensnares him with her delights, maddens, destroys and kills him, as is described in Proverbs VII, 13 and following. Let wise men imitate wisdom as their mother, so that, putting on her zeal, they may go about seeking the worthy and disposed, to whom they may communicate their wisdom, and show it to them, not slowly, morosely, churlishly, but quickly, cheerfully, pleasantly ("for God loves a cheerful giver," II Corinthians IX, 7): and let them meet and assist them in all providence, as Christ the Lord did, and St. Peter, St. Paul, and the other apostles and apostolic and religious men, who strive to lead souls to the knowledge and love of God. Symbolically, St. Gregory, XXVI Morals, chapter VIII; by ways he understands creatures, by which we ascend to the Creator. "In the ways," he says, "he shows himself to them cheerfully, and meets them in all providence: for truly the ways to the Creator are the considered works of the Creator, which when we see made, we marvel at the power of the maker. In these ways all providence is afforded to us by wisdom, because the power of the maker is proposed to us to be inquired into in all that appears to be made wonderfully; and wherever the soul turns itself, if it attends vigilantly, in these very things it finds God, through which he left, and from their consideration again knows his power, for the love of which it abandoned them; and through which it fell perverted, through these converted it is recalled." This exposition is favored by the Greek phantazetai, which Our translator renders as shows, namely as if by sight and phantasm: for through the phantasms of created things the mind rises up to contemplate purely their Creator, and there finds rest, cheerfulness and all good, so that one may say with St. Francis: "My God and my all." For, as St. Augustine wisely says, book IV of the Confessions, X: "Wherever the soul of man turns itself, it is fixed on sorrows elsewhere than in you."
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In Greek, archē gar autēs hē alēthestatē paideias epithymia, where alēthestatē can be referred both to archē, that is, beginning, and to this the article hē inclines, as to epithymia, that is, concupiscence. Cantacuzenus, Jansenius and Osorius refer it to archē, whence they translate: the beginning indeed of it is a most true desire of discipline, as if to say: Various beginnings of wisdom are wont to be assigned, but the most true beginning of it is the concupiscence of discipline, or, as Osorius says, the most true foundation of wisdom is contained in that desire and inflamed longing for it. Our translator, however, Vatable and others refer alēthestatē to epithymia, whence they translate: the beginning indeed of it is a most true concupiscence of discipline: for he proves what he said, that wisdom comes to meet, nay, anticipates those who desire it, from the fact that concupiscence of discipline is the beginning of wisdom: for discipline is the companion and sister of wisdom. The sense therefore is, as if to say: I said that wisdom comes to meet not all, but those who desire it, because concupiscence, or desire of discipline (which begets wisdom) not of any sort, but most true, that is, most pure, and wholly removed from all pretence, artifice and cupidity; likewise most true, that is, whole, which applies itself entirely to wisdom, nor distracts itself to desire other things (for it demands the whole man) is the true and proper beginning of practical, salutary and divine wisdom. For many desire discipline, so that through it they may be promoted to honours, riches and status; these do not have a true and sincere concupiscence of it, and therefore do not have the beginning of wisdom. Moreover, discipline, as I said in verse 12, is the correction of depraved affections and cupidities: through this indeed is given the beginning of wisdom and virtue, if namely discipline be desired most truly, that is, not ambitiously, not curiously, not sluggishly, not mercenarily, not partially; but humbly, candidly, fervently, piously and purely, totally and integrally. For just as the desire of health, knowledge, art is the beginning of health, knowledge and art; so philosophy is the beginning of—or rather of virtue, it is a great principle of wisdom and virtue, according to that saying: He who has begun well has half done: both because he who vehemently desires something applies himself wholly to it, unfolds all his powers, undergoes and overcomes all difficulties, and because virtue consists in the will, whose act is desire: for what is humility but love and desire of humbling oneself? what is patience but love of suffering? what is charity but desire of loving? Wherefore, as great and as ardent and efficacious is the desire of virtue in the will, so great implicitly in it, and so ardent and efficacious is virtue itself; whoever therefore strives to grow in any virtue, let him frequently stir up in himself desires burning and efficacious in it: thus will he wonderfully make progress in it. So great therefore are you in virtue as you efficaciously will to be in it: St. Augustine had this desire of wisdom, in book XI of the Confessions, chapter II: "Let," he says, "the chaste delights of your Scripture be mine, nor let me be deceived in them, nor deceive in them." Hence also the beginning of justification, and the disposition to it is, that the sinner, prevented by the grace of God, desire justice, and ask it from God, and begin to love Christ as the fountain of justice, as the Council of Trent says, session VI. You will object: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord," Psalm 110, 10; how therefore is it said here that the beginning of wisdom is concupiscence of discipline? It is answered: The fear of the Lord is concupiscence of discipline, because this fear is love of God, which brings with it concupiscence and love of discipline. See what is said on Ecclesiasticus I, 16. Morally, learn here the beginning and way to wisdom, that is, to virtue and perfection, to be a great desire of it: hear our Alvarez de Paz, On Perfection, in the Preface: Just as the supreme perversity of the human heart takes its beginning from the desire of evil, by which desire the mind being stirred and overcome commits evil once, and from one sin rushes into another, until it comes to habit, and from habit into hardness of heart, and into extreme misery: so the supreme perfection of that same heart must necessarily begin from the desire of good, which desire, accumulating forces, and often soliciting the mind of man, passes into action, and from the repetition of good works begets the habit of virtue, and from good habit ascends into love of good for its own sake and thus into perfection itself. This desire is the gate, through which the human mind enters into the sanctuary, or into sanctity itself: it is the wind by which the ship of the heart, impelled, departs from itself and from earthly things, and sails with happy course into purity: it is the first step by which one departs from evil, and progressing gradually and little by little, is at length placed in the possession of perfect virtue.
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19. CARE OF DISCIPLINE, THEREFORE, IS LOVE: AND LOVE IS THE KEEPING OF HIS LAWS: AND THE KEEPING OF LAWS IS THE CONSUMMATION OF INCORRUPTION. From the fact that he said wisdom meets those who desire it, he commends the desire for wisdom, and breaks forth into its praises, and through gradation and sorites, that is, a heap-like syllogism, he enumerates its excellent gifts and fruits. For therefore in Greek is of, that is, but, truly, so that the gradation may begin from the preceding verse, as if to say: The beginning of wisdom is the desire for discipline; but the desire for discipline produces care and solicitude of the same; care produces love, love produces the keeping of laws, this produces incorruption, which makes one near to God through the eternal kingdom which the desire for discipline, or wisdom, brings. Or, as our Castro says, as if to say: The truest beginning of wisdom is the desire for it; desire increases care, care increases love, love inflames the soul to the observance of the law; moreover the observance of divine law makes man certain of future incorruption; and incorruption leads to the enjoyment of God: therefore the desire for wisdom leads to the kingdom of God. But, because the Wise man does not say: "The desire for discipline is care of discipline," as he says: "Care of discipline is love, and love is the keeping of his laws," etc., hence Our author more aptly judged that the gradation should begin here, and that the desire for discipline is the same as care of discipline: for whoever desires something, cares for it and is solicitous to obtain it. Whence for of, that is, truly, he translated therefore, which is often not an illative particle, but an inceptive one of discourse, and is equivalent to thus. The Greek de and the Latin vero are equivalent in the same way, so that it is not an adversative particle, but an expletive or ornative one; whence Terence in the Eunuch says: That truly, he says, which I think is a palm to me, I have found: where Donatus says: Unless, he says, vero were ornative, it would signify nothing. The sense therefore is, as if to say: The beginning of wisdom, and consequently of all happiness and all good, is the desire or care for discipline. He then shows this by parts, climbing gradually up to the eternal kingdom, and says: Care therefore of discipline, etc., as if to say: Thus the desire or care for discipline is love, that is, it brings forth love, or charity: for as much as cupidity is restrained and diminished through discipline and chastisement, so much is charity dilated and increased, and so complete charity is no cupidity, as St. Augustine says. But love is the keeping of his laws, that is, charity impels, persuades and effects the keeping of laws: for he who loves God certainly keeps his commandments, just as he who loves a king executes his orders; and he who loves a friend fulfills his will. The keeping (in Greek, prosochē, that is, attention, diligent hearing, and careful diligence in keeping and observing the laws of God which we have heard and known) MOREOVER OF LAWS IS THE CONSUMMATION (in Greek, bebaiōsis, that is, confirmation) OF INCORRUPTION. - St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation of the Word, attention and observance of laws is the stability of immortality; Vatablus, the observance of laws is the constitution of integrity, or immortality, that is, the foundation, basis and firmament. This incorruption or integrity can be taken both generally for virtue and purity, as if to say: The keeping of laws makes man integral and perfect according to all virtues, and according to the laws and precepts of all virtues, thus Hugo; and properly for chastity, as if to say: The keeping of laws brings chastity (for this is one of the laws sanctioned by God, and the ornament and completion of the other laws), which makes man integral and incorrupt, both in mind and body. Whence Climacus, in step 15, and Basil, in the book On Virginity, teach that chastity is the virtue which makes men angels, and that it is both the seed and the type of future incorruption in heavenly glory, indeed it gives man the likeness of God, integral and incorruptible, as far as is permitted to a mortal, to be assimilated to God equally in mind and body; whence it follows: "And incorruption makes one near to God." Hence also the bodies of many virgins and many virgin women remained incorrupt after death, and still remain so. Hence again from the Greek you may translate, the keeping of laws is the firmament of immortality, because just as the violation of the law of not eating the forbidden apple committed by Adam was the cause of corruption and death, both of his and of all his posterity: so the keeping of laws is the cause of incorruption and immortality, because it merits to obtain it in the future resurrection: thus Lyra and Dionysius. Note, all these gradations and maxims are to be explained in the sense, not formally, but causally: for the keeping of laws is not the consummation of incorruption and immortality formally, as is evident; but causally, because namely it will cause it, and will bring full and consummated immortality to the blessed in heaven; hence Clement of Alexandria, in book VI of the Stromata, paraphrastically thus translates, or rather explains, therefore love of knowledge makes one alien from destruction, and exalts him who is royal near to God, for which Our author translates:
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In Greek, incorruption indeed makes one to be near God, that is, nearest to God, for often the positive is used for the superlative; the Syriac version: truth, which is not corrupted, and a work which is without corruption, draw near to God; the Arabic: and the privation of temptation places man near to God; the Arabs call temptation every evil, every corruption. He continues in a gradation, as if to say: Integrity of mind, which the keeping of the laws brings forth, makes man to be like God through grace and holiness, and the same will make man to be like God in heaven through immortality and glory, according to that passage, I John III, 2: "When he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is," for the vision of God will make us blessed and will make us like to him. Whence St. Irenaeus, book IV Against the Heresies, chapter LXXV: "The vision of God," he says, "is efficacious for incorruptibility; and incorruptibility truly makes one to be near to God;" who also a little before: "Subjection to God," he says, "is incorruptibility persevering; and incorruptibility is the glory of the unfashioned," as if to say: Incorruption is a dowry and glory proper to God, who was not made, but by himself always existed; which the same the just and blessed share, those truly subject and united to him: for although the damned are to be immortal even in the future, nevertheless they will be in perpetual torments; whence they will be corruptibly incorruptible, and mortally immortal. St. Bonaventure understands by incorruption virginity, for this makes men whole in mind and body, and near to God, indeed it makes chaste souls the brides of God; whence virgins will follow the Lamb most closely whithersoever he goeth, Apoc. XIV, 4. But this is a partial incorruption; the total incorruption however is the keeping of the laws, which is fitting for all the just. To this pertains that saying of Pliny in the Panegyric of Trajan: Nothing is more excellent or more beautiful in the gods than a chaste and holy prince, and one most like to the gods; and that which Plutarch writes, in the book That One Must Philosophize with a Prince, that Minos was a disciple of Jupiter: "For not," he says, "did they wish private men, or idle men to be disciples of the gods, but kings, who having attained wisdom and virtues of the soul, would turn these to the advantage of all." To this also pertains that saying of Aristotle, X Ethics, chapter VIII: "He who works with the mind, and cultivates it, is disposed most excellently, and he seems to be most friendly to the immortal gods: for if the gods have some care of human affairs, as is believed, it will surely be consonant with reason that they rejoice in that which is best, and most akin to themselves; but this is the mind itself; and upon those who love and honor this most greatly, to confer benefits in turn, as having care of those things which are dear to them, and applying diligence, and acting rightly and well. But it is established that all these things exist most in the wise man; therefore the wise man himself is most friendly to the immortal gods: and it is fitting that he be also most blessed: wherefore the wise man will also be most happy in this way."
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This is the conclusion and the culmination of the gradation, and of the sorites, as if to say: Desire for discipline, and the wisdom connected with it, makes men incorrupt and near, indeed similar to God through grace and glory, and thus bestows upon them the perpetual kingdom of God, and makes them heavenly and eternal kings: for this kingdom is owed to, and prepared and promised for the wise, that is, the just, who keep the law, and through the integrity of their life are near to God; for the Wise man here leaves this to be understood. Who therefore would not desire, who would not seek after wisdom, that is, virtue and sanctity, which so blesses, exalts, and glorifies those who are zealous for it? Our a Castro holds that here the matter concerns an earthly kingdom, not a heavenly one, and he proves this from the following verse. But even if on the surface this maxim could be understood of an earthly kingdom, which wisdom provides as long-lived and propagated through many centuries, as it provided for David, nevertheless it must be understood fully and perfectly of the heavenly kingdom: for this alone is perpetual, and makes men blessed, incorrupt, immortal and near to God: although "perpetual" is not in the Greek, nevertheless it is sufficiently understood from the following verse; whence St. Augustine reads it thus in the Mirror, and Cantacuzenus and others: for that a kingdom, not merely earthly, as a Castro wishes, but also heavenly, was promised to the Jews in the Old Testament is clear from chapter V, verse 17: "Therefore shall they receive the kingdom of glory, and a crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord"; and more clearly Daniel, chapter VII, verse 27: "And the kingdom, and the power, and the greatness of the kingdom, that is under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom," etc. A similar gradation and sorites through similar maxims and rewards, as it were linked and concatenated rings, is to be seen in the Code of the Laws of the Visigoths, book I, title II, chapter VI, which is appended to Cassiodorus: "Just as the modesty of princes," he says, "is the temperance of laws: so the concord of citizens is the victory over enemies. For from the gentleness of princes arises the ordering of laws; from the ordering of laws: the institution of morals; from the institution of morals, the concord of citizens; from the concord of citizens, the triumph over enemies; and thus a good prince, governing internal affairs and acquiring external ones, while he possesses his own peace and breaks off the strife of others, is celebrated both as a ruler among his citizens and as a victor among his enemies; destined to have after the passing of time eternal rest; after yellow gold, the heavenly kingdom; after diadem and purple, the crown of glory. Nay rather, he shall not cease to be king: for while he leaves behind the earthly kingdom and acquires the heavenly one, he will not have lost the glory of kingship, but increased it." For this is to be desired and prayed for by all kings with all their wishes, that with St. Louis they be transferred from this earthly and perishable kingdom to the heavenly and eternal one: for all the glory of an earthly kingdom passes away like a shadow, and like smoke immediately vanishes.
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For "love," in Greek it is timesate, that is, honor, hold in esteem, regard as rare and precious. For "scepters," St. Augustine in the Mirror reads "pedigrees"; St. Bonaventure, "forms," but incorrectly. The sense is, as if to say, O kings, if the kingdom and reigning delight you, love wisdom, so that you may administer the kingdom wisely, that is, equally, justly and uprightly: for thus you will reign forever, as the Greek texts have it, that is, the kingdom will endure long and durably for you on earth, and from it you will be transferred to the eternal kingdom in heaven. For what will it profit you, says Cantacuzenus, if from the throne not to heaven, but to the mire of Gehenna, if from purple to fire, from scepter to chains, from crown to the dungeons of the underworld you are brought? What did such great opulence of kingdom, majesty and glory profit Solomon? nay, what did it not harm, since it knocked wisdom from him, and made him the slave of women and idols, so that his salvation is justly doubted? Let all therefore hear St. Gregory, homily 45 in the Gospel: "If therefore, dearest brethren, you truly wish to be rich, love true riches; if you seek the summit of true honor, strive toward the heavenly kingdom; if you love the glory of dignities, hasten to be enrolled in that supernal court of angels." Again he addresses and exhorts kings and princes to the study of wisdom, that is, prudence and virtue, from the fact that wisdom stabilizes and perpetuates the kingdom: hence it is clear that this book pertains especially to princes, and was written and dedicated to them. He therefore assigns here the true reason and manner of acquiring, administering, preserving and propagating the kingdom, namely wisdom, that is, justice and uprightness; of which he admonishes kings by the throne of judgment and the scepter, which is the type and symbol of justice: for the scepter was originally a staff or straight rod; whence in Hebrew it is called שבט, that is, rod, staff, or the staff of shepherds, so that it may be signified that the king is a shepherd of peoples, as Homer says, and therefore ought to rule the people with the same equity, benignity, care and vigilance with which a shepherd rules sheep. Moreover, this staff was formerly adorned with bronze, then with gold, not for severity, but for firmness and durability, as our Martin of Roa shows, book II of Singularities, chapter V. The same is signified by the pastoral staff, which all bishops use, except the Pontiff, who is the universal shepherd of all. The pastoral staff, says Paul the jurist, is a curved shepherd's staff, so called because by it sheep are caught by the feet. The bishop has a staff, says Bede in the Collectanea, so that he may rule his subjects, sustain the weak. The one consecrating a bishop delivers to him the pastoral staff, and says, as the Roman Order has it: "Receive the staff of pastoral office, the power of binding and loosing, and be persevering in correcting vices, holding judgment without anger, soothing the souls of your hearers in fostering virtues, not abandoning censure in the tranquility of severity"; or, as in the same book: "Receive the staff, the sign of sacred governance, so that you may console the weak, confirm the wavering, correct the perverse, direct the upright in the way of eternal salvation, and have the power of raising up the worthy and correcting the unworthy with our Lord cooperating." Hence a verse concerning the staff, its three parts signifying three offices: The curved part draws those whom the straight part rules, the final part pricks. See John Stephen Durantus, book II On the Rites of the Church, chapter IX, number 38 and following, and Joseph Stephen, book On the Power of the Pontiff, chapter VIII, number 5. This contributes to the emblem of wisdom: for wisdom is depicted as a heroine, holding a book in her right hand and a scepter in her left; the book denotes the study by which wisdom is acquired: the scepter denotes honors and empire, which she herself confers; whence Cicero, book I of On Oratory, and in the Tusculan Disputations exclaims: "O philosophy, guide of life! O investigator of virtue, and expeller of vices, what could not only we, but indeed the whole life of men have been without you? You gave birth to cities, you called scattered men together into the society of life." Aristotle, book I of Rhetoric: "To be wise," he says, "is something apt for commanding." The wish of the Emperor Vespasian, according to the testimony of Philostratus, book V, chapters X and XI, was this: "O Jupiter, grant that I may rule over the wise, and give me wise men! Wherefore I wish the doors to be open to wise men." Seneca, epistle 108, writes concerning Attalo his teacher: "He himself said that he was a king, but it seemed to me that he was more than reigning, to whom it was permitted to exercise censorship over those reigning." Plutarch, in the book On Isis, relates that the Egyptians were accustomed to choose a king from the priests on account of wisdom, or from the soldiers on account of courage; but these labored with the priests so that they might learn wisdom. The famous saying of Plato is: "Cities would flourish and be happy, if either philosophers ruled, or rulers philosophized," as the Emperor Antoninus did, on which account he was surnamed the Philosopher, whose philosophical writings still exist. The Emperor Theodosius gave his sons Arcadius and Honorius to the discipline of Arsenius, celebrated for wisdom and sanctity; indeed Philip the king entrusted his son Alexander the Great to Aristotle to be educated. Finally, wisdom itself openly proclaims: "By me kings reign, and lawmakers decree just things," Proverbs VIII, 15. "Philosophy," says Cicero, "has under itself all things which can befall man, and despises human chances." Whence Diogenes, when asked: "What good had philosophy brought him?" answered: "This, that I am prepared for every fortune." And Dionysius the tyrant, driven from the kingdom of Sicily, when asked: "What good had he drawn from Plato and his philosophy?" said: "That I might bear this change of fortune with an even mind: for it itself teaches to command and rule over the mind and passions;" on which account Zeno said that wise philosophers are not only free, but also kings. When Cyrus designated his son Cambyses as successor to the empire: "You, my Cambyses," he said, "I wish to know, that this golden scepter is not that which will preserve the kingdom for you; but faithful friends are to kings both the truest and safest scepter. This cannot be denied; but much better is the protection from wisdom itself, by which kings reign." Thus Xenophon, book VIII of the Cyropaedia. Furthermore, how much wisdom, that is, probity, piety, and pious education by parents, adorns royal families and illustrious offspring, and increases them equally with honors, riches and kingdoms as with sanctity and merits, and establishes and confirms them in these, is clear from the family of Charlemagne, which produced continuous leaders and kings through many centuries, conspicuous in the glory of their deeds equally in heaven and on earth, and this from the pious institution of St. Modald, archbishop of Trier, and St. Arnulf, bishop of Metz, from whom this line descended: for Itta, sister of St. Modald, excelling in piety, married Blessed Pepin the First, duke of Brabant, who reproved Dagobert, king of the Franks, whose household he presided over, abandoned to luxury, restrained him, and brought him back to a chaste and upright life; whence these praises are given to Pepin in the Life of St. Modald: "Pepin was of most approved life and purest reputation, a dwelling of wisdom, a treasure of counsels, a defender of laws; an end to controversies, a bulwark of the fatherland, an ornament of the court, a guide of leaders, and a discipline of kings." After his death, his wife Blessed Itta received from St. Amand the sacred veil and the habit of holy religion, and in it finished her life holily. Their offspring were two daughters, St. Gertrude, professed in the monastic life equally as her mother at Nivelles in Brabant, where she is still religiously venerated, and Blessed Begga, who married Ansigisus, son of St. Arnulf, bishop of Metz, and by him bore Pepin the Second, who overcame Theodoric, king of the Franks, in battle. 3. Begga, after her husband's death, built the monastery of Andenne, and professed the monastic life in it, and merited to be enrolled in the catalogue of saints; whence her birthday is celebrated in the Martyrology on the 17th of December. The son of Pepin the Second was Charles, surnamed Martel, because he crushed the Saracens like a hammer; whence his praise is celebrated: "I do not wish to reign, but I wish to rule over kings." The sons of Martel were Blessed Carloman, who, leaving the dukedom, embraced the monastic life at Monte Cassino, and shone forth as an example of religious humility; and Pepin the Third, surnamed the Short, who by merit of his prudence and virtue, with dukes and peoples acclaiming, was created and crowned king of the Franks by Pope Stephen, in the year of the Lord 753. This Pepin freed Rome and Italy from the incursions of King Aistulf. The son of this Pepin was Charles, great in the glory of his deeds, to whom therefore Leo III, the Pontiff, placed the crown of empire. Charles was succeeded by his son Louis, surnamed the Pious. Louis was succeeded by his son Lothair (from whom Lotharingia, subject to him, received its name), who, an august emperor and heir of his father's religion, after accomplishing many things both wisely and bravely, divided his kingdom among his sons, and, leaving the world and taking on the habit of holy conversation in the monastery of Prüm, happily completed the course of his life in the same place. All these things are found in the Annals of the Franks and in the Life of St. Modald, written gravely by Stephen, abbot of Liège, a serious man, which is extant in Surius, on the 12th of May. Let the kings and princes of Gaul and all others imitate these as it were ancestors and forefathers, if they wish to perpetuate the kingdom and to see the commonwealth flourish in justice and probity; let the powerful, who judge the earth, be instructed by their example. I have narrated these things at greater length because, as St. Jerome says: "The life of the saints is an interpretation of the Scriptures."
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This saying is not found in the Greek codices, but in all the Latin ones. Hence the ancients used to dedicate a round shield to Pallas, by which they signified that the whole world is ruled by wisdom: for Pallas was the presiding goddess of wisdom; whence Martianus Capella sings of Pallas: Hence wisdom gives you a shield, that it may rule the world. Thus Pierius, Hieroglyphics, book XLII, chapter XLII. It was said of old: "The shield of the Romans was Fabius Maximus, but the sword was Marcellus." Moreover, princes are teachers and leaders of the people; how much light of wisdom therefore ought they to possess, that all may be illuminated by their teaching and holy life; whence by Isaiah, chapter XXIX, verse 10, they are called eyes: "The Lord, he says, hath mingled for you the spirit of deep sleep, and will close your eyes, your prophets and your princes." Wherefore princes ought to devote themselves to prayer, and with Solomon seek wisdom from God, and in doubtful matters have recourse to God: for in prayer Moses, illuminated by the light of God, received horns, that is, rays of light fixed upon his face, Exodus XXXIV, 30. Indeed Augustus Caesar also, as Suetonius says, chapter LXXIX of his Life: "He had eyes clear and bright, in which he also wished it to be thought that there was something of divine vigor; and he was pleased if anyone, gazing at him more intently, as it were at the brightness of the sun, would turn his face away." Tiberius also, the successor of Augustus, as Suetonius says, chapter LXVIII of his Life: "He had very large eyes, and which (which was remarkable) could also see at night and in darkness, and as soon as they opened from sleep." This is the clarity of the eyes of the body, but the brightness of the eyes of the mind surpasses it. Wisely St. Thomas, book III On the Government of Princes, chapter III, comparing the king to the first angel, who is illuminated next to God, and illuminates the others: "Of the irradiation already mentioned, necessary both in the prince and in the subjects for good government, we know the motion to be circular, both straight and oblique. The straight motion is so called because it is made by divine illumination upon the prince for ruling well, and from the prince to the people by the merits of the prince. But it is oblique when by divine illumination he thus rules the subjects, that they themselves live virtuously, and divine praise and thanksgiving arise in them, so that there is as it were a certain arcuate figure from a straight chord and an oblique arc. But the circular motion of divine rays is said to be when divine illumination irradiates the prince, and from the prince the subject, from which indeed he is elevated to contemplate and love God; which therefore is called circular motion, because it is from the same to the same: for from God to the prince, from him to the subjects, from them to God it returns." Finally, how necessary wisdom is to a prince, Plato teaches most excellently, book V On the Republic, Stobaeus, discourse 46, which is on kingship. Lipsius, I Politics, chapter X, Tiraquellus, book On Nobility, chapter V, and our Pineda, book VII On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter IX.
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Thus far there has been exhortation to wisdom; now he describes its origin, nature and dignity, and the manner of attaining it, as if to say: Hitherto I have exhorted all to wisdom; now that my exhortation may be more efficacious, I will explain its nature, origin and definition; namely what wisdom is, how it came to be, in Greek, egeneto, that is, arose, both in itself from God, and this especially; then in me, that is how I have obtained it through prayer. The author speaks in the person of Solomon, as is evident from the following chapter, verse 5. AND I WILL NOT HIDE FROM YOU THE SECRETS OF GOD. - In Greek, mysteries, and "of God" is not in the Greek, but is understood: for mysteries are proper to God, especially the origin of wisdom, for this was hidden in God from eternity, and was revealed by him to men in time, according to that passage in Job XXVIII, 20: "Whence therefore cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? It is hid from the eyes of all living, etc. God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof." The philosophers saw the same thing; for Plutarch, in the book On Isis, relates that in the temple of Minerva, who was believed to be the goddess of wisdom (on whose head and helmet a sphinx was seen, as Pausanias testifies in his Attica; and the sphinx was a symbol of intricate and abstruse things), this emblem was inscribed: "I am all that exists, is, and shall be, and no mortal has yet unveiled my veil." And he adds that God was called by the Egyptians Amun, or Amoen, that is, hidden, and by that name was invoked by them, that he might deign to reveal himself. BUT FROM THE BEGINNING OF MY BIRTH (in Greek, gennēseōs, that is, of generation and origin, both of mine, as Hugo and Lorinus wish, then rather of wisdom itself, itself) I WILL SEEK IT OUT; - whence Vatablus, but from the first origin I will seek out knowledge of it; he does this in the following chapter, where he narrates the origin of wisdom, both in itself, namely that it arose from God verse 25; then in Solomon, who there verse 1 and following, laboriously narrates the beginnings of his birth, and from his ignorance, darkness and hardships, he recalls that he ascended to invoke and obtain wisdom. AND I WILL BRING IT TO LIGHT (in Greek, eis to emphanes, that is, into the manifest) THE KNOWLEDGE THEREOF (Vatablus, I will make knowledge of it plain), AND I WILL NOT PASS BY THE TRUTH, - I will not spare the truth, nor will I hide it from envy or other wicked affection, as follows, but will communicate it candidly and liberally to all. Mystically, Phoebadius, bishop in Gaul, understands this of the nativity of Christ, in his book Against the Arians, vol. V of the Library, where, after teaching that the Son is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, and all truth, he added: "For the Spirit of knowledge and truth, through whom Solomon concerning the Lord's nativity, Wisdom VI, 24: What wisdom is, he says, and how it came to be I will relate, but from the beginning of its birth I will seek it out (whence he himself infers): Therefore through the same Spirit we can find what we seek.
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Whence it is clear that "that wasteth" does not refer to envy, but to the envious man, as if to say: Let there be no communication with me, no fellowship with the envious man, who hides wisdom from envy and begrudges it to others: for he cannot be a partaker or capable of wisdom, because the malice of envy blinds and obscures him, so that he cannot perceive wisdom, which is benevolent and communicative of itself; for this reason wisdom itself flees from the envious and malevolent man, according to that passage in chapter I, verse 4: "Into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter;" because this wisdom is itself holiness, goodness and charity, to which envy is directly opposed. Whence Vatablus translates, nor truly shall I grant it to one consumed with envy, who cannot have a sound judgment concerning wisdom, that is, as our Castro says, I will not imitate one touched by envy, lest I communicate wisdom; I will not associate, I will have nothing in common, nor will I deal with him who wastes away with envy; by which word the nature of malice and envy is signified, for: Envy, a poison fatal to the wicked, devours the marrow in untouched bones. For wisdom communicates itself to all, because "wisdom hidden and treasure unseen, what profit is in both?" Ecclesiasticus XX, 32; and the ancients said the doors of the Muses were open, because the gifts of God are to be communicated candidly and liberally. Hence also Plato asserted that envy is far from God and from the divine chorus; and Philo, following him in the usual manner, in the book That Every Good Man is Free: Wisdom, he says, since nothing is more divine than it, and more exposed, never closes its auditorium, but with open doors admits the thirsty. Following this, Solomon, in the following chapter verse 13, says: "Which I learned without fiction, and communicate without envy," like the sun, which imparts its rays of light to all.
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that is, the firm and stable condition of the people consists in the prudence of the king: he gives the reason why he does not wish to have dealings with the envious, nor to imitate those who wish to be wise only for themselves, and take care lest many become like them in wisdom, because namely it is to be desired that many be wise; for the multitude of these is health, that is the salvation of the world, because the wise by their teaching and holy life strive to lead all to virtue and salvation; wherefore a wise king is the stabilishment, that is the foundation and pillar of the people, because he strives to instruct, preserve and promote him in all virtue and good. "Scripture does not say, says St. Augustine, lib. IV On Christian Doctrine, cap. V, a multitude of eloquent men, but of wise men, is the health of the world;" yet St. Augustine adds: "But what is better than wholesome sweetness, or sweet wholesomeness? For the more sweetness is desired there, the more easily does wholesomeness benefit." Wherefore Charlemagne, restoring the study of letters throughout his entire kingdom, exclaimed: "O that I had twelve clerics so learned and instructed in all wisdom, as were Jerome and Augustine!" To which Alcuin Flaccus, the master of Charlemagne, somewhat indignantly replied: "The Creator of heaven and earth did not have more like them, and you wish to have twelve?" Thus the Sangallensis relates it, lib. I On the Deeds of Charlemagne. Furthermore the word health and salvation signifies that the wise man is a physician, who cures the infirmities of others; whence St. Basil, rule 30, when he had inquired at greater length, with what disposition of mind a superior ought to undertake the care of others? he answers: "As one who ministers to many wounded, and wipes away the discharge from each of their wounds, and applies to him remedies suited to the nature of each malady; he is not accustomed to use that office for the exaltation of souls, but rather for their humbling and solicitude and a greater care; likewise, and much more so, he whose province it is to heal the entire society of brothers, just as if he were the servant of all, and about to render an account of each of them, ought to consider with himself, and strive anxiously." Cantacuzenus gives the example of Moses, who stood in the breach, and when God willed to destroy the people on account of the adored calf, he resisted, and obtained pardon and salvation for them, Exod. XXXII, and Zerubbabel, who led the people back from the Babylonian captivity to their homeland and liberty. Hear St. Gregory, IX Moral. cap. X: "Under whom they are bent, who bear the world: for they themselves bear the world, who endure the care of the present age: for each one is compelled to sustain burdens of so great a weight as he rules in this world; whence also the prince of the earth is not incongruously called in Greek speech koiranos: for koiranos is interpreted people: koiranos therefore is called the basis of laou, which in the Latin language namely is called the basis of the people: because namely he himself sustains the people upon himself, who fixed by the weight of his power governs its motion: for in so far as he bears the burdens of his subjects, so far does he carry as a superimposed column the basis." He proves the same thing by the likeness of a bird which is called icterus, because it heals those with jaundice, concerning which Pliny lib. XXX, cap. XI: "The bird icterus, he says, is called from its color, which if it be looked upon, they say that malady is healed, and the bird dies." Alluding to this St. Ambrose says: "For if there is such power in natural things, that an animal seen benefits those with jaundice, so that even the horn of that animal is said to be beneficial, it will have been demonstrated to those who in such a matter—" Again, a most clear example of this opinion is found in the Sodomites, whom God would have spared if He had found ten just men among them, Genesis XVIII, 32. See St. Ambrose, book I On Abraham, chapter V: "On account of the justice of a few, he says, He promises immunity to the whole people. Whence we learn how great a wall a just man is to his country, how we ought not to envy holy men nor rashly detract from them; for their faith preserves us, their justice defends us from destruction; Sodom also, if it had had ten men, could have not perished." The reason a priori is that the just are members of the commonwealth, and those the most noble, which cover the whole commonwealth with their justice as it were, nay, communicate their justice to it, according to that, Psalm CXVIII, 63: "I am a partaker with all them that fear thee:" wherefore God spares the whole commonwealth, because He sees in it many just men standing forth: for as a member partakes of the whole body, so in turn the body partakes of the member's goodness and health. Add what St. Ambrose says in Psalm CXVIII, octon. 10, to those words: They that fear thee shall see me and shall be glad, etc. "To many the sight of the just is an admonition of correction, but to the more perfect it is joy. How beautiful therefore if thou shouldest be seen and be useful? Good therefore is a just man. For this very reason the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem, that he might see the just; and he remained with Peter fifteen days, that from his companionship he might profit in something." Such was Amalaswintha (which word in Gothic and Belgic signifies as it were a son), the Catholic and pious daughter of Theodoric, king of the Arian and impious Goths, succeeding her father in the kingdom of Italy, lacking male offspring, who administered it with wonderful wisdom and probity, and restored the goods of Symmachus and Boethius (whom her father had unjustly slain) to their children, and entrusted her son Athalaric to be instructed by good and learned masters; but the Goths opposed, who boasted that literary culture in their Gothic barbarism would make the mind effeminate, lead it to fear, draw it away from arms and the boldness of war, because a king who had learned to fear the rod of a master would much more dread the swords and weapons of enemies. To which she, though unwilling, yielded, but to the great harm of her son and the Goths, as the outcome declared. Thus Procopius, book I of the Gothic War, and Baronius in the year of the Lord 536, under the Emperor Justinian: for Amalaswintha was contemporary and confederate with him. Louis XI, king of France, wished his son Charles to be ignorant of all arts, lest he be more stubborn in taking counsel, and more tenacious of his own opinion, and indeed this came to pass, for now as king two or three most vile men drove him hither and thither with great indignation and loss to his subjects; he erred therefore, for true philosophy, as Plato testifies, is teachable and obedient to sound counsels, and so acutely discerns between counsels and counselors, that it knows which are approved, which disapproved, which sound, which harmful; which regard private advantage, which the public. suffered passion; can we doubt that the sight of a just man heals? Therefore, does a vile irrational animal possess such great power that it can heal a man in a brief moment, as it appears, while a just man, if he is nevertheless looked upon by one who desires to receive benefit from him with faith, contributes nothing? Do even the rays of the eyes themselves seem to infuse some power into those who desire to see him faithfully? But just as a just man gladdens the heart of the innocent when he is seen, so also the wicked are tormented by the knowledge of the just, because they are either rebuked by the silent morals of the saints. Chastity torments incontinence, liberality torments avarice, faith torments impiety." And with some passages interjected: "The serpent itself is also said to die if it is prevented by the sight of a man. Therefore, if such great power exists either in the eyes of a serpent or in the eyes of a man, so that if one sees the other first, he can kill him, is there not power in the eyes of a just man, who is filled with the power of grace, especially since faith works such great things, that even she who touched the hem of the Lord's garment was healed, and he to whom the Lord Jesus directed his gaze immediately drew the grace of health from his eyes? But he who sees a just man ought to know what he sees; he does not see him in body, not in clothing, not in patrimony, not in countenance, but sees him within. He does not, I say, see him unless he has seen his mind, unless he has attended to his speech, unless he has been able to comprehend his understanding, unless he has been able to assume wisdom from his discourse. Then therefore he will rejoice, when he has perceived these things, when he has known these things. Thus therefore we also, wherever we have heard of a just man, let us hasten to see him, just as that woman who heard in the house of the Pharisee that the Lord Jesus was reclining, and she entered and anointed his feet with ointment. Let us be imitators of her: for who would doubt that the Church has a figure in that woman? Wherever therefore a just man sits, wherever he reclines, let us hasten to see him. It is precious to see a just man, so that you may see him according to the image of God. What is without profits nothing; what is within heals. Indeed, in him who is without, we frequently behold him who is within." Whence finally he concludes: "The Gentiles adore wood, because they think it is the image of God; but the invisible image of God is not in that which is seen, but surely in that which is not seen. Do you see therefore that we walk among many images of Christ? Let us beware lest we seem to detract the crown from the image, which Christ has placed upon each one." Whoever therefore sees a just man, loves him, honors him, imitates him, in him as in an image sees Christ, loves him, honors him, imitates him, and therefore is healed by him in mind, and often in body, from the infirmity by which he is held. Therefore, a multitude of the wise, that is, of the just endowed with virtue, especially of the eminent, who excel in doctrine or counsel, so as to teach others and rule or direct them, is the salvation of the whole world.
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Indeed, many and very great gifts, which he enumerates in the following chapter, it will procure. It is a meiosis. The philosopher Carneades had so wonderfully devoted himself to the works of doctrine that when he had reclined for the sake of taking food, clinging to his thoughts, he forgot to stretch his hand to the table, and Melissa his wife, performing the duty of relieving his fasting, would adapt his right hand to necessary uses. Cato the Younger did not wish to restrain himself even in the senate while it was being convened, so as not to read Greek books; by which industry indeed he showed that time was lacking to some, while others had more than time. It is written of Varro that in the same bed both his breath and the course of his excellent works were extinguished. The study of learning of the philosopher Cleanthes was so persistent that, lest he be absent from the lectures of Chrysippus during the daytime, he spent the night drawing water to sustain himself in his poverty. This industry and diligence of these men in pursuing human disciplines, our supine negligence and idleness regarding divine things and the care of the soul, if it does not now vehemently stir us, will later gravely condemn us.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
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The civil legislator can, first of all, issue laws that bind in conscience; for every authority comes from God and is exercised in the name of God. Classic on this point is the passage of St. Paul (Rom. 13:1-7), preceded by Prov. 8:15 ff. and Wis. 6:2-5, and confirmed by Pt. 2:13 ff., by the doctrine of the Church (cf. Leo XIII, Immortale Dei, 1 Nov. 1885; Libertas, 20 June 1888; Inter gravissimas, 16 Feb. 1892), by the practice …
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In the Old Testament, the expression "K. of G." or the equivalent "thy, his, my kingdom" referring to God is found rarely: in Tob. 13:1; Dan. 3:54, 100; Ps. 144 (145):11, 12, 13; Ps. 102 (103):19; 21 (22):29 ("the kingdom is the Lord's"; a similar expression in Obad. 21), Wis. 6:4 (kings are ministers of God's royal authority; doubtful is ibid. 10:10). The idea, however, that God is king pervades the whole Bible. …
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The inequality of the punishments is affirmed by Scripture (Wis. 6:6-7; Mt. 10:15; 11:22; Rev. 18:7) and by the Fathers, whose thought St. Gregory the Great summarizes: « Quantum exigit culpa, tantum illic sentitur paena » (Dial. 4, 43: PL 77, 401). The …
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… 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 indeed the prudent man does. …
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The hope for the future is expressed clearly in Ps. 16, 11; 49, 16; 73, 23 ff. and often in the book of Wisdom, which speaks of immortality (Sap. 3, 4; 4, 1; 8, 17; 15, 3), of incorruptibility (ibid. 2, 23; 6, 18 ff.) and of the different lot that awaits the just (ibid. 3, 1 ff. 7, 9; 4, 4-17; 5, 15) and the wicked (ibid. 1, 16; 2, 21-25; 5, 6-13), always in messianic or eschatological contexts. …
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… In the Old Testament the term appears with both meanings: religiously it designates "the secrets of God," that is, the designs of his providence unknown to us (Wis. 2:22) or a hidden divine reality such as "Wisdom" (Wis. 6:22). In the New Testament the term is found 28 times, 21 of which in St. Paul. …
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… 2 and 21, 2), who infuses into Adam's body a spiritual soul that must return to him after death (Gen. 2, 7; Eccl. 12, 7); "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth" (Jn. 4, 24; cf. Is. 31, 3; Wis. 1, 6; 6, 24; 9, 17). Nor do the biblical expressions cause difficulty, which present God metaphorically, as a man who walks, speaks, etc. (v. ANTROPOMORFISMO).
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.