Bonaventure

In his own words on Wisdom of Solomon

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:1

  General Division. Since, as has been said, princes and prelates, and consequently all people, are urged in this book to the study and love of wisdom; but because wisdom cannot be had without the observance of justice: for into a malevolent soul wisdom will not enter, etc., below in chapter one; likewise Ecclesiasticus chapter one: Son, desiring wisdom, keep justice: therefore according to the Gloss, he first exhorts to justice, namely up to the sixth chapter; second, to wisdom, namely from the sixth chapter to the end. Part I. Exhortation to Justice. In the first part he does three things according to the three parts of general justice. For first he treats of the justice of man with respect to God, in chapter one; second, of justice with respect to neighbor, in chapters two and three; third, of the justice of man with respect to himself, in chapters four and five. First, on the threefold justice of man with respect to God. In the first, he first stirs to justice of the heart; second, of the mouth: He is benign; third, of work: Do not be zealous. The justice of the heart is treated in three ways. In the first, he first sets forth an exhortation to the good of justice; second, the advantage of acquiescing: For it is found; third, the detriment of those who despise: For perverse thoughts, etc. In the first, first as to right affection, saying: Love justice; second, as to right estimation: Think of the Lord; third, as to right intention: And in simplicity.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Prooemium

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:1

  He says therefore: Love etc. The Gloss: "Not only do." For the work of justice is not meritorious unless it is done out of love of justice. Gregory: "The branch of good work has no greenness unless it remains in the root of charity." Justice, namely uncreated, which is the rectitude of the divine will; and created, which is the rectitude of the human will, according to Anselm. Love, I say, justice, that you may be conformed to God, because "the Lord is just and has loved justice"; likewise, that with spiritual gladness you may be filled, according to that verse of the Psalm: "You have loved justice, etc.; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions"; likewise, that you may be made blessed, according to that verse of Matthew five: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice." You who judge the earth: specifically indeed you, prelates, who judge the earth by public judgment: the earth, of the subject people. The Gloss: "To whom the power of judging has been given"; subject, I say, by the merit of sin. For Gregory says: "Where we do not transgress, there we are equals." And therefore he rightly says: the earth, that is, those who love earthly things; not the heavenly, because there is no need: "For the spiritual man judges all things," namely in hope, "and is judged by no one," that is, ought not to be judged, First Corinthians two; but the bestial, according to the Gloss on that verse of Genesis one: "Let him rule over the beasts" of the earth, that is, those living bestially. Likewise, all of you generally, who judge, by private judgment, the earth, of your own body. The Gloss: that is, who "discreetly restrain the body," so that "your service may be rational," Romans twelve. It should be noted, moreover, that there is found to be a fourfold earth, namely the upper earth, the earth, I say, of the living, of which in the Psalm: "I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living." The lower earth, namely of the dead: Ezekiel thirty-one: "Behold, you have been brought down with the trees of pleasure to the uttermost earth." The outer earth, namely of the dying, namely the present world: Revelation eight: "Woe, woe, woe to those dwelling upon the earth"! that is, in the world. The inner earth, namely of death, that is, the mortal and earthly body: Ecclesiasticus ten: "Why are you proud, O earth and ashes"? The first earth is not subject to our judgment, because it is not in our power; and therefore it was rightly said to Peter, Matthew sixteen: "Whatever you shall bind upon earth," not upon heaven. The second has already been judged and cannot repent: John three: "He who does not believe has already been judged." The third is to be judged by the judgment of justice, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Judge rightly, O sons of men." The fourth is to be judged by the judgment of discerning discipline, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 33: "Fodder and a rod and a burden for the donkey: bread and discipline and work for the servant," that is, for the body, which must be compelled to serve the spirit, by the example of blessed Martin, who "compelled his limbs, though weakening with fever, to serve the spirit"; likewise by the example of Paul, who says: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection," into which subjection, namely, it was in the state of innocence; I bring it back, through the power and works of penance. To the aforesaid servant is owed the sustenance of bread, lest it fail; the rod of discipline, lest it grow wanton; and the occupation of holy work, lest it grow sluggish. Think, that is, rightly esteem, of the Lord in goodness, that is, well, not badly, as heretics do. Moreover, he admonishes us to think well both by the exterior sense, by piously reading the divine Scriptures, and by the interior sense, by piously understanding them. Whence the Gloss: "Read and understand Scripture piously," piously, namely, by devoutly approving and carrying out what you understand, and not by criticizing and despising what you do not understand. And in simplicity of heart seek him, namely, by directing the whole intention of the heart toward him. Whence the Gloss: "Submit yourselves to his will"; which hypocrites do not do, and therefore they are inconstant, according to that passage of James 1: "A double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways"; and on account of this it is said to them in Ecclesiasticus 2: "Woe to the double heart"! The heart is double when its parts are drawn principally toward diverse things, which is the occasion of spiritual death, according to that passage of Hosea 10: "Their heart is divided, now they shall perish." But the heart is simple when all its parts are drawn toward the one most simple being, namely toward God, according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus 30: "Gather your heart in holiness." In simplicity of heart, that is, in the simple unity of the heart. This unity is produced by faith in the rational power, according to that passage of Ephesians 4: "One Lord, one faith," etc.; by charity in the concupiscible power: 1 Corinthians 6: "He who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit"; by peace in the irascible power: Ephesians 4: "Be careful to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." The first unity prohibits the division of errors in the intellect; the second, of desires in the affections; the third, of schisms in action.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:2

  And well did I say: In simplicity, etc. For he is found, through grace in the present life, according to that passage of Song of Songs 3: "I found him whom my soul loves"; by those who do not tempt him, by displaying one thing outwardly while intending another inwardly, as the Scribes and Pharisees tempting Christ; and this he says against hypocrisy and duplicity: Matthew 22: "Why do you tempt me, you hypocrites?" But He appears, namely in the future through glory: First John 3: "When He shall appear, we shall be like Him"; and Colossians 3: "But when Christ shall appear, your life, then you also shall appear with Him in glory." To those who have faith in Him: he says this against heresy and unbelief. And note that he says: In Him, because it does not suffice to believe Him or to believe that He is, but to believe in Him, which is the act of formed faith, according to Augustine. Or: He is found, on account of the devotion of the affections; He appears, through the contemplation of the intellect: Psalm: "Taste," by affection; "see," by intellect. It should be noted, however, that according to Gregory, "to tempt is the same as to craftily test": and accordingly it happens that God is tempted in four ways, namely either by unduly wishing to test His power, as those who, tempting Christ, sought a sign from heaven, Matthew 16; or His wisdom, as the Sadducees, proposing to Him a question about the resurrection that was, according to their judgment, insoluble for those who posit the resurrection, Matthew 22; or His justice, as the Pharisees, by asking about the payment of tribute: "We know that You are truthful," etc.; or His mercy, as the Jews, by questioning about the judgment of the woman caught in adultery, John 8. And because every such tempting comes from distrust, and God is in no way to be distrusted, therefore every such tempting is prohibited; whence Deuteronomy 6: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God"; likewise Ecclesiasticus 18: "Do not be like a man who tempts God."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:3

  For perverse thoughts etc. Here he touches upon the manifold detriment of those who despise the exhortation to the good of justice, of which the first is exclusion from the fellowship of God: For perverse thoughts: the second, exclusion from the fellowship of wisdom: Because into a malevolent soul: the third, exclusion from the fellowship of the Holy Spirit: For the Holy Spirit. The first pertains to the Father, the second to the Son, the third to the Holy Spirit, whose presence is obtained through the love of justice; whence John 14: "If anyone loves Me, etc., and We will come to him and make Our abode with him"; but their absence or deprivation, through hatred of justice. For perverse thoughts etc. I rightly said that He appears to those who have faith in Him, and not to others; for perverse thoughts, namely by perversity of faith or of morals, separate from God, with respect to the punishment of loss: Second Corinthians 6: "What fellowship has light with darkness?" Proverbs 17: "He who is perverse of heart shall not find good"; likewise Isaiah 59: "Your iniquities have divided," etc. But proven etc., as if to say: nor does this suffice for punishment; but stands for "however." Proven virtue, that is "true virtue," according to the Gloss, namely divine virtue: corrects, by punishing: Psalm: "O Lord, do not correct me in your anger." The foolish: the Gloss says "that is, all foolishness"; this he says with regard to the punishment of the senses.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:4

  The first pillar of the house of wisdom is chastity in the flesh. Why is this the first? Because this is where one must begin: for it is written in the book of Wisdom: "Into a malevolent soul wisdom shall not enter, nor shall she dwell in a body subject to sins." An unchaste body is subject to sins; therefore wisdom cannot dwell in it.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:4

  For into a malevolent soul etc. I rightly said that they separate etc., for into a malevolent soul, with respect to spiritual sins, wisdom will not enter, by infusing itself into it: wisdom, I say, "which is from above, which is first indeed pure" etc.; although that wisdom may enter which is from below, "namely earthly, animal, diabolical," James 3. Nor will it dwell, by remaining, in a body subject to sins: this he says with regard to carnal sins, which, although they are of lesser guilt, are nevertheless of greater infamy, as Gregory says. It is objected that all things desire the good: therefore no soul is malevolent, that is, willing evil. It must be said that no one wills evil per se, but per accidens, because namely he wills that which is evil, namely an evil action, not insofar as it is evil, but insofar as it is delightful and an apparent good. Again it is doubted: the body cannot be a dwelling place of wisdom nor the subject of sin or foolishness or grace: therefore it supposes something false when it says: Nor will it dwell etc. To this it must be said that body there does not refer to the bodily part of man only, but by synecdoche, according to which a part is customarily put for the whole, body is taken here for the whole man, insofar as he follows the passions of the body. Hence the Gloss: "He who is subject to sins is body, not spirit." In such a one wisdom does not dwell: hence the Gloss: "In vain do heretics, Pharisees, and false Christians flatter themselves; for only those pure in heart can receive the wisdom of God."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:5

  "The holy spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful and will withdraw from thoughts that are without understanding." God wills that we do all things reasonably. Prudential understanding teaches what is to be carried out, namely every good, according to the way of interior thought and exterior action.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 8

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:5

  It is necessary to ordain our thoughts so that the Holy Spirit be able to enter in the form of wisdom, "for the holy spirit of discipline flees deceit and withdraws from senseless counsel." Hence, there is need for us to use clearly defined materials with which we can be properly concerned.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:5

  And I rightly said that he will not dwell etc. For the Holy Spirit of discipline: Gloss: "Who teaches all discipline," according to that passage of John 16: "He will teach you all truth," namely rational, natural, and moral: Psalm: "Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge." He is called Spirit, insofar as he breathes life: John 6: "It is the Spirit who gives life"; holy, insofar as he purges and renews, according to that passage of the Psalm: "You will send forth your spirit, and they shall be created: and you will renew the face of the earth"; of discipline, insofar as he removes ignorance and bestows wisdom, according to that passage of Isaiah 11: "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom" etc. He will flee, that is, in the present he will flee far from, the deceitful, that is, the sinner, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Salvation is far from sinners," and especially the hypocrite, who is properly called deceitful: Job 13: "No hypocrite shall come into his sight." And he will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding, that is, from false and erroneous thoughts: for understanding pertains only to true things. He will withdraw himself etc.; behold, the punishment of loss: and he will be reproved etc.: behold, the punishment of sense. Likewise, it should be noted that he is said to withdraw himself because naturally the commission of fault precedes the withdrawal of grace: for God is first in approaching and last in departing. And although he withdraws himself from them, they will not nevertheless remain unpunished: whence he adds: And he will be reproved etc.: correction is done with words, reproof is done with scourges. He will be reproved, I say, namely the deceitful one in the future, that is, he will be punished, by the supervening iniquity, that is, on account of the supervening iniquity: whence the Gloss: "The deceitful one, when the day of retribution comes, will be punished for his iniquity." Supervening, that is, "oppressing," on account of which it is called supervening, just as one who oppresses comes upon another. — Or: He will be reproved, that is, he will be seized together in soul and body unto punishment.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:6

  "The spirit of wisdom is benign, and will not free the evil-speaker from his lips." Good persuadability causes one to esteem and love good things and to consent to them: and the wiser a person is, the more persuadable he is to good things. The malicious person is persuadable to evil, but there is no one who is persuadable to good unless he is benign: and this also accords with wisdom.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 9

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:6

  Concerning the justice of speech, the matter is treated in three ways. For he is kind etc. Here he admonishes toward justice of speech, by drawing back from evil words. And first he removes from evil speech itself the confidence of impunity: second, he foretells their punishment: Therefore he who speaks etc.; third, he admonishes to caution against depraved speech: Guard etc. In the first part, he first removes the confidence of impunity which might arise from the mercy of the judge: Kind: second, from his ignorance: For of the reins etc.; third, from his powerlessness: For the spirit of the Lord. He says therefore: For the spirit of wisdom is benign etc. I have rightly said that the dissembler will be reproved etc.: for the spirit of wisdom is benign, namely of uncreated wisdom, namely of the Son, from whom the Holy Spirit is given: or of created wisdom, which he himself gives; below in chapter twelve: "O how good and how sweet is your spirit, O Lord, in all things"! Psalm: "Your good spirit" etc. And yet he will not free the accursed etc., although he is benign: because, as Gregory says, "discipline and mercy are greatly undermined if one is held without the other." Or thus: and because he is benign, he will not free the accursed etc., because benignity is contrary to malice: as the Gloss says: "He will not free, I say, the accursed, that is, the one who curses," who is accursed because he acts against God's commandment, which forbids cursing; Psalm: "Cursed are those who turn aside from your commandments"; behold, a curse in the present. Likewise, Matthew twenty-five: "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire" etc.: behold, a curse in the future. From his lips, that is, from the sin of his lips, or from the punishment which he merited by the sin of his lips: Matthew twelve: "By your words you shall be condemned"; likewise in the Psalm: "The labor of their lips shall cover them." And it should be noted that the consequent is placed for the antecedent, when he says the accursed for the one who curses. For of the reins etc., as if to say: he will truly be punished for his sins, even hidden ones: for of his reins, that is, of the affections or "carnal pleasures, whose seat is in the reins," God is a witness, that is, a certain knower, as a witness concerning the matter about which he bears testimony; Jeremiah twenty-nine: "I am the witness and the judge, says the Lord." And of his heart, that is, of the thoughts proceeding from the heart, Matthew fifteen: he is a true searcher, that is, an infallible examiner: whence First Corinthians two: "The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God"; likewise Jeremiah seventeen: "I the Lord search the hearts and try the reins"; Psalm: "God, who searches hearts and reins." And of his tongue, that is, of the utterances which are formed by the tongue, a hearer, that is, an immediate knower without the report of another: Psalm: "He who planted the ear, shall he not hear"? as if to say: yes. And it should be noted that he places the instruments for the operations proceeding from them, because, just as the instruments relate more immediately to the soul than their operations do, so God more immediately than anyone else knows all the acts of a person, both interior and exterior.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:7

  For the Spirit of the Lord etc., as if he were inferring: rightly have I said that the Spirit can do this: for the Spirit of the Lord, intransitively, that is, who is the Lord, according to that saying of Athanasius: "The Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord"; or transitively, that is, the Spirit who is from the Lord, according to that saying of Isaiah sixty-one: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me" etc.; likewise, John: "The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father." Has filled the whole world, by assisting all things with his presence and containing them: Jeremiah twenty-three: "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" because, according to Gregory, "God is everywhere, within all things yet not enclosed, outside all things yet not excluded, above all things yet not elevated, below all things yet not cast down." And that which contains all things, namely the Holy Spirit containing all things by preserving them through his power. For as Boethius proves in the book On the Consolation, "the world from such diverse and contrary parts would not have come together into one form, and the joined discordant diversity would have torn apart, unless there were one who joined them together and held together what he had woven." Has knowledge of the voice, that is, of all utterances and languages, by knowing all things. From this it is clear that he can know and punish all things, both deeds on account of his universal presence and words on account of his universal knowledge. Another exposition, or according to the Gloss: That which contains all things, that is, the Holy Spirit, who contains all things, that is, the Church, outside of which whatever exists is nothing, just as outside the ark of Noah. Has knowledge of the voice, causally speaking, "that is, he grants understanding of Scripture to men"; or formally: Has knowledge of the voice, that is, he has the same knowledge as the voice, that is, as the Word, that is, the Son, of whom John one says: "In the beginning was the Word" etc. Allegorically, according to the Gloss, it can be expounded concerning the temporal coming of the Holy Spirit. And first is touched upon the person sent, when it says: Spirit; second, his eternal origin: of the Lord; third, the temporal mission: Has filled; fourth, the manifestation of the mission: And that which contains all things. He says therefore: The Spirit of the Lord has filled: the Gloss says: "with gifts"; the whole world, "that is, the Church spread throughout all lands," as the Gloss says. And that which contains all things: "that is, man, who has a correspondence with every creature," on account of which in Mark at the end he is called every creature, according to Gregory. Has knowledge of the voice: the Gloss says: "Of diverse languages from the Holy Spirit," as is clear from Acts two. To the orb indeed of the earth the primitive Church is compared, first on account of its expansion, according to that word of the Psalm: "Their sound has gone forth into all the earth." Second, on account of its perfection, which is understood through the roundness of the orb: Song of Songs 6: "One is my dove, my perfect one." Third, on account of its stability: Ecclesiastes 1: "For the earth stands forever." Fourth, on account of its compression and wearing down: 1 Corinthians 4: "I think that God has set forth us the Apostles last, as men destined to death," etc.; just as the earth is the lowest of bodies, whence it is worn down and trampled upon by all. Fifth, on account of the sustaining and vivifying of the human race, because it lives from the earth and is sustained by the earth, just as by the primitive Church: Job 9: "Under whom they stoop who bear up the world," namely the Apostles and their followers; nor yet are they broken, because in the Psalm: "I have established its pillars." Sixth, on account of the adornment and production of all virtues, according to that word of Genesis 1: "Let the earth bring forth green herb," etc. Seventh, on account of the origin of waters, that is, of the wisdom of saving doctrine, according to that word of Genesis 2: "A spring rose up from the earth, watering the whole surface of the earth."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:8-9

  On this account, he who speaks, etc. The foolish confidence of impunity having been removed, here he foretells the punishment of evil speech: and first, because it will be brought into judgment; second, because it will be examined by the Judge: "In the thoughts of the ungodly"; third, because it will be made known to all: "For the ear of jealousy." He says therefore: On this account, because namely the Holy Spirit has knowledge of the voice, that is, of every utterance: he who speaks iniquitous things, like those of whom it is said in the Psalm: "The mouth of those who speak iniquitous things has been stopped"; cannot be hidden, namely from the Holy Spirit in the present; whence Hebrews 4: "All things are naked and open to his eyes"; likewise Proverbs 16: "All the ways of men lie open to his eyes." Nor shall it pass by, namely by dissembling, him, namely the one speaking iniquitous things, correcting, that is, punishing; or correcting, that is, seizing together his body and soul, or all his evil works and words and thoughts; judgment, namely the future judgment: "for all things that are done, God will bring into judgment," as is found in the last chapter of Ecclesiastes. For in the thoughts of the wicked, that is, concerning the thoughts of the wicked, in which there is less sin than in wicked words, there will be an interrogation, that is, a searching inquiry by the judge and an examination, according to that passage of the Psalm: "The Lord interrogates the just and the wicked"; Job, last chapter: "I know that no thought is hidden from you." And if there will be a searching inquiry concerning thoughts, how much more so concerning words; on account of this he adds: But of his words, etc.; as if to say: not only concerning thoughts. But, used for "however": the hearing of his words, that is, the examination, to God, as to the examiner and judge, will come, and for correction, that is, punishment; of his iniquities, which he committed by speaking wickedly: Genesis eighteen: "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied," etc.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:10

  And rightly did I say that it will come, etc.; for the ear of jealousy, of jealousy, I say, of God who is jealous for souls as for brides, hears all things, that is, knows all things, as one who hears all things, namely words both evil and good and indifferent, just as a jealous man carefully hears and notes the words of his spouse and of those speaking with her: Exodus twenty: "I am a mighty God, jealous," etc. And the tumult of murmurings, by which men murmur against God: Ecclesiasticus thirty-three: "The heart of a fool is like a cart wheel." And it is called a tumult, because a man who murmurs makes a tumult, as it were, within his teeth, and does not speak clearly. Shall not be hidden, but shall be made manifest to the whole world; Luke twelve: "Nothing is covered that shall not be revealed, nor hidden that shall not be known"; Exodus sixteen: "I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:11

  Guard etc. Here he admonishes to caution against wicked speech, and first he sets forth his exhortation; second, the necessity of the exhortation: For a word, etc. Now the construction or continuation is as follows: since the tumult shall not be hidden, etc., guard yourselves therefore from murmuring, namely against God, which profits nothing, indeed it greatly harms; whence First Corinthians ten: "Some of them murmured and perished by the destroyer." And from detraction, namely against one's neighbor: Job six: "Why have you detracted from the words of truth?" Spare the tongue; he does not say: spare your neighbor, but the tongue, namely your own, because one who detracts from another first injures himself. Whence detraction is worse than the venom of a serpent: Seneca: "That venom which serpents produce for the destruction of others, they contain without harm to themselves; but detraction itself drinks a portion of its own poison." The Gloss: "Pernicious are murmurings and detractions"; Romans one: "Detractors hateful to God." Detractors, he says in the plural, because detraction occurs in many ways, namely either when a hidden good is denied, or when a manifest good is diminished, or when a hidden evil is made public, or when a manifest evil is further spread abroad. And I rightly said: Spare your tongue, for obscure speech: The Gloss: "Hidden," as is the word of murmuring: shall not go into the void, that is, it shall not remain without punishment, because not even an idle word: Matthew twelve: "Of every idle word" etc.; therefore much more so of a malicious word. "An idle word, as the Gloss says there, is one that is spoken without benefit to the speaker or the hearer"; Jerome: "Everything that does not edify the hearers turns to the peril of the speakers." But the mouth that lies, namely by slandering, slays the soul: The Gloss: "By the sword of sin, the soul of the liar"; the Psalm: "You will destroy all who speak falsehood." And it should be noted that he speaks here of pernicious lying, which is mortal, not of jocose or officious lying: whence the Gloss: "There is a lie of lighter fault, when someone lies in bestowing a benefit." But it seems that some lie is good and meritorious, because the midwives who lied merited a reward from the just judge, namely God, who cannot be deceived, as is clear from Exodus one. But it must be said according to the Gloss that "not the lie was rewarded, but the benevolence of their piety." But was one and the same deed a sin, and yet possessed the merit of benevolence? And it seems so, for the Gloss says: "God pardons the evil of one and the same deed on account of the good, and rewards the good itself." It must be said that it was one by connection, not by indivisibility: because the intention to deliver was one thing, and the will to lie was another, although they were conjoined.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:12

  Concerning the justice of works, the treatment is twofold. Do not be zealous for etc. Here he exhorts to the justice of works, and first by reasons taken from the side of creation; second, from the side of retribution, at: For justice etc. From the side of creation, first by a reason taken from the goodness of the Creator: For God; second by a reason taken from the side of the end of creation: He created; third by a reason taken from the side of the condition of the creature: There is not in them. Do not be zealous for etc., as if to say: because lying kills, do not be zealous for, that is, do not love or desire with affection, death, namely of the soul, which one incurs through fault, according to that saying of Augustine: "True death is that which men do not fear: namely the separation of the soul from God, who is the blessed life of souls, just as bodily death is the separation of the body from the soul." Death, I say, causally established in the error of your lives, according to that passage of Proverbs fourteen: "They err who work evil"; for every wicked person is in error, according to the Philosopher. Nor acquire, in effect, perdition, of eternal punishment, which is in our power, according to that passage of Hosea thirteen: "Your destruction, O Israel; only your help is from me." By the works of your hands, causally, that is, by the merit of your works. But it is objected that, according to Augustine, all desire life and beatitude: therefore no one desires death or perdition. It must be said that this is true per se: but per accidens and consequently those are said to desire it who desire the act that is the cause of death and perdition. Whence he posits the consequent for the antecedent, adding: I rightly said that error is the cause of death, and evil works the cause of perdition.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:13

  For God, who is the author of all things, according to that saying in John 1: "All things were made through him"; did not make death, namely present death. But against this: Ecclesiasticus 11: "Life and death, poverty and honor are from God." It must be said that here he speaks of the death of fault: or if of the death of nature, he speaks with respect to privation, not with respect to the sense of pain. Concerning the death of hell also, with respect to the punishment of loss, what is said here is true: God did not make death. But against this: Every punishment is just, and everything just is good, and everything good is from God. It must be said that when it is said: every punishment is just, this is understood per se, namely insofar as it is punishment, not according to what it is: whence it cannot be concluded that it is simply from God, but insofar as it is punishment. Nor does he rejoice in the perdition of the living, namely their future perdition. Against this: Proverbs 1: "I also will laugh at your destruction," etc. It must be said that he does not delight in punishment insofar as it is the perdition of nature, but insofar as it is the effect of justice: whence Isaiah 1: "Ah! I will be consoled over my enemies, and I will be avenged upon my foes." And I rightly said that he does not delight or rejoice in perdition, which is the way to non-being.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:14

  For he created, Genesis 1, all things that they might exist: The Gloss: "Not that they might perish": whence he also implanted in all things a natural appetite for existing, that is, gave it inwardly. And because "it is a common conception of the mind, according to Boethius, that everything which exists tends toward the good," and all things tend toward being: he proves that the being of all things is good. And healable, that is, created in spiritual health through innocence and reducible to health through penance, lest they perish: for he does not "will the death of the sinner," etc. Healable, I say, he made the nations of the world, that is, all who are born in the world. Their incurability therefore is from themselves, not from God: Jeremiah 30: "Your fracture is incurable, your wound is grievous." For there is not in them: The Gloss: "In the nature of those," namely of the nations, a medicine of destruction, "that is, the cup of sin," according to the Gloss, which is the cause of destruction in present death: Baruch 3: "They were destroyed and descended to the underworld." Destruction is called sin, because it places one outside the boundaries of grace: likewise, temporal death, because it places one outside the boundary of natural life: likewise, the death of hell, because it places one outside the boundaries of glory: and he speaks by antiphrasis, as if poison were called a medicine, and as a fishpond is the name for water lacking fish. But an objection is raised against what he says: There is not in them etc., because Ephesians 2: "We were by nature children of wrath." But it must be said that here he speaks of actual sin, or of nature as established, that is, before the fall, not deprived through sin, of which the Apostle speaks. Nor the kingdom of the underworld, that is, eternal perdition, on earth, that is, in man made from the earth: Genesis 2: "God formed man from the slime of the earth." He intends therefore to show that the death of sin and the perdition of eternal punishment are not from nature, but from a perverse will. Concerning the death of sin, this is clear from the Gloss, which says: "We do not sin by necessity, but by a perverse will"; concerning the perdition of punishment, this is clear from another Gloss, which says: "The devil would have harmed man in nothing, had man not consented."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:15

  For justice is perpetual etc. Here he admonishes toward justice of work from the consideration of retribution: and first he touches upon the reward of justice: second, the punishment of injustice: But injustice etc.; third, the equity of the punishment or penalty inflicted: But the ungodly etc. For justice is perpetual etc.; as if to say: I rightly said that death is not from God nor from nature, but from the injustice of a perverse will. For justice is perpetual, by bestowing eternal life, according to that passage in Proverbs 12: "In the paths of justice is life." And immortal, by liberating from perpetual death; whence below in chapter 3: "The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them." But injustice is the acquisition of death, namely both of temporal and eternal death: whence Romans 6: "The wages of sin is death"; likewise Proverbs 12: "The wayward path leads to death."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 1:16

  But the ungodly etc. Here he shows the equity of retribution, because namely the ungodly merited this, first, by doing injustice, on account of which he says: But the ungodly with hands etc.: second, by loving it familiarly, there: And esteeming etc.: third, by inseparably adhering to it: And covenants etc.: fourth, by strongly defending it: Because they are worthy of death etc. But the ungodly etc. I have rightly said that death is not from God, nor from nature: but, for however: the ungodly, against God and neighbor: with hands and words, Gloss: "By deeds and sayings"; they summoned it, as if to say: it did not impose itself, but they themselves called it forth, namely ungodliness and death, as is evident in the first parents, Genesis 3. And esteeming it a friend, that is, useful and not harmful: Gloss: "Because they think they sin with impunity"; they melted away, that is, they flowed downward, Gloss: "into eternal death"; but first, into the death of guilt, second, into the death of temporal punishment, third, into the death of eternal punishment; Hebrews 2: "We ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest perhaps we drift away." And they made a covenant with it, that is, an inseparable pact as of betrothal through the impenitence of obstinacy; Gloss: "Lest they be separated"; Isaiah 28: "We have struck a covenant with death, and with hell we have made a pact." And rightly they melted away into death, for they are worthy of death who are of its party, namely of injustice, by holding and defending it, just as a man defends the party to which he belongs: Romans 1: "Those who do such things are worthy of death." Moreover, here can be noted the progression in sins, concerning which Ecclesiasticus 20: "There is a progression in evil for the undisciplined man"; for first there is ungodliness in the heart through consent to iniquity; then in the hand through the consummation of the deed; then the word of defense or boasting; then friendship and hope of impunity; afterward the melting away through the repetition of depraved habit; next the covenant through the hardening of the mind; lastly the death of final impenitence.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 1

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:1

  Second, concerning the justice of man toward his neighbor, the treatment is twofold. For they said etc. Above he treated of the justice of man toward God: here principally of the justice of man toward his neighbor: and first, by drawing back from the likeness of the unjust, namely in this chapter: second, by urging toward the likeness of the just, namely in the third chapter. First he draws back from the likeness of the unjust by noting three things. In the first part, first on the side of the unjust he sets forth the motivating cause of living unjustly: second he describes the unjust life, at: Come therefore etc.; third he shows that it is not to be imitated, at: These things they thought etc. In the first part a threefold motivating cause is touched upon: the first on the part of condition; the second on the part of nature: Because we are born of nothing: the third on the part of name or reputation: And our name shall receive oblivion etc. On the part of condition it is threefold: first, as regards the condition of the world, at: It is short and tedious etc.; second, as regards the condition of paradise: There is no refreshment etc.: third, as regards the condition of hell: And no one is known to have returned from the netherworld. (Verse 1). For the ungodly said, thinking within themselves not rightly, etc. I have rightly said that "the ungodly by hands and words summoned" injustice and death. For the ungodly said, that is, those lacking piety toward God and neighbor: the Gloss: "It is the voice of the lost, who like brute animals love the things that are present and despise future things, nor do they hope for eternal rest after this life." Within themselves, because "they do not dare openly," according to that passage of the Psalm: "The fool has said in his heart: There is no God"; for if they were to speak openly, they would fear incurring punishment. Thinking not rightly, indeed wickedly. It is short, etc., on account of its brevity, according to that passage of Job chapter fourteen: "The days of man are short." And with weariness, on account of its painfulness: Job chapter fourteen: "Man born of woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries." The time of our life: the Gloss: "Of the present," by which, namely, they live for themselves, not for God; therefore he adds: our, against which Second Corinthians chapter five says: "That they who live may no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again." And there is no refreshment at the end of man; the Gloss: "That is, rest after death." This, however, is false, because it is said in the Psalm in the person of the Saints: "We have passed through fire and water, and you have brought us out into refreshment"; likewise Jeremiah chapter six: "Ask about the ancient paths, which is the good way, and walk in it; and you shall find refreshment for your souls"; likewise Apocalypse chapter fourteen: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, etc., that they may rest from their labors." And there is no one who is known to have returned from the netherworld. By this they intend to exclude the existence of the netherworld; but by the same reasoning they could say that death does not exist, because no dead person returns to life. Hence their reasoning does not hold, because from privation to possession there is no return according to nature; and therefore from the lower netherworld no one returns according to the common law; hence Job chapter seven: "He who descends to the netherworld shall not ascend." Some, however, are recorded to have returned by a privilege of grace, such as the youth whom John the Evangelist raised, and Trajan, whom Gregory raised. From the upper netherworld, however, Christ returned, and many others raised through him or through his disciples.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:2

  Because we are born from nothing, etc. Here is set forth the motivating cause on the part of nature: and first, from the consideration of human origin; second, from the consideration of composition, at: Because smoke: third, from the consideration of dissolution: Which being extinguished. (Verse 2). I have rightly said that there will be neither refreshment nor punishment, because there is no subject capable of receiving such things; because we are born from nothing, by immediate origin as regards the soul and by mediate origin as regards the body; hence Second Maccabees chapter seven: "Understand that God made these things from nothing, and the race of men." And after this, that is, after this life, we shall be as though we had never been, as if to say: we shall return to nothing, according to that saying of Damascene: "Everything that began from change is subject to change"; likewise Augustine: "It is natural that what is from nothing can be dissolved into nothing"; which is to be understood of the possibility of primary aptitude, not of necessity: because they are held by the hand of the Creator, lest they fall into nothing, as Gregory says. For smoke, namely with respect to the intrinsic corporeal vital spirit: smoke indeed is a fiery vapor, and the vital spirit is a subtle fiery body; and breath, that is, wind, with respect to the exterior corporeal spirit, which is breathed: James 4: "What is your life? It is a vapor appearing for a little while"; Job 7: "My life is a wind"; Psalm: "My days have vanished like smoke". In our nostrils, he says this specifically, giving the whole body to be understood from a part, on account of the easy departure, as if it were in the nostrils: likewise, on account of manifestation, because there, by breathing in and breathing out, it is more manifested. And the speech of a spark for moving our heart, "that is, the soul comparable to a spark," as the Gloss says; whence 2 Kings 14: "They seek to extinguish my spark." But the soul is called a word according to the reckoning of the unbelievers, because according to them it is nothing in reality, but only according to name or word: but it is compared to a spark, because according to some philosophers the soul was said to be of a fiery nature. Or better: the soul can be called a word from its effect, because namely it has the power of speaking: but it is compared to a spark on account of the subtlety of its nature and on account of the agility of its motion: whence below in chapter three: "And they shall run about like sparks among the reeds"; likewise, on account of the brevity of its duration, according to the unbelievers: whence the Gloss: "Comparable to a spark, which immediately becomes nothing." For moving our heart, "that is, for enlivening or animating," according to the Gloss: breathing is in our nostrils, that is, in our bodies, so ready to depart from the body, as breath from the nostril.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:3

  There follows: Because extinguished etc. I rightly said that the soul is compared to a spark, because it is quickly extinguished, because our body will be extinguished ash, namely after the extinguishing of the soul, which according to the unbelievers is extinguished in death. But the truer reading is: Which having been extinguished etc. Here he touches upon the motivating cause from the consideration of dissolution, and first, from the consideration of dissolution with respect to the body: second, with respect to the spirit, there: And the spirit shall be dispersed: third, with respect to life: And our life shall pass away etc. (Vers. 3.). He says therefore: Which, namely the soul, being extinguished, according to them, our body will be ashes: Ecclesiasticus seventeen: "All men are earth and ashes"; likewise Genesis eighteen: "I will speak to my Lord, since I am dust and ashes." For through the consumption of the natural moisture by heat, the body is consumed and turned into ashes; and the spirit, the bodily vital spirit, will be dispersed, namely by returning to its component principles, like soft air, that is, easily and invisibly; air is called soft because it does not resist touch. Or: the spirit, the incorporeal spirit, that is the soul, will be dispersed, that is, it will vanish and be dissolved, according to them, according to that verse of the Psalm: "The spirit shall pass through in him and shall not subsist," etc. And our life will pass away, that is, through the annihilation of its principles it will totally cease. And like the trace of a cloud, which does not appear after the dissolution of the cloud: Job thirty: "Like a cloud my well-being has passed away," namely temporal well-being; likewise chapter seven: "As a cloud is consumed and passes away, so he who descends to the netherworld shall not ascend." And it will be dissolved like a mist, which namely is the remnant of a cloud; for a cloud consists of a grosser and lower vapor, but mist of a thinner one. Which, namely the mist, was put to flight by the rays of the sun, the heat of the surrounding air uniting and driving away the parts of the cold vapor, and weighed down by its heat, the same heat driving the cold of the cloud to the interior parts and thus condensing per accidens the parts of that matter and thus weighing them down and afterward dissolving them into water: Job thirty-seven: "Suddenly the air will be gathered into clouds, and the passing wind will drive them away."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:4

  And our name, etc. Here is shown the motive cause on the part of fame or name: first the abolition of fame is touched upon; second, the reason for the abolition, at: For the passing of a shadow. (Vers. 4.). He says therefore: And our name, as if to say: not only will our essence or substance pass into nothing, but also our name, that is, fame as regards the person, will receive oblivion through time, that is, through the length of time: Proverbs ten: "The name of the wicked shall rot." And no one will have memory of our works, as regards life: Job eighteen: "Let his memory perish from the earth"; likewise in the Psalm: "Their memory has perished with a noise"; and on the contrary: "The just shall be in everlasting memory." But it is objected that the works of many reprobates, namely Cain, Pharaoh, Nero, etc., are still remembered. It must be said that this statement is the statement of the reprobates, and therefore it is not unfitting to say that it is false. Or it must be said that they are not remembered with a praiseworthy memory or one useful to them; and it is of this kind that he speaks here. But it is objected that the celebrated and praiseworthy deeds of many reprobates are remembered. To this it must be said that these were not theirs but God's in them, according to that text of Isaiah twenty-six: "All our works you have wrought in us, O Lord."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:5

  (Verse 5). For remembering, however, two things are required, namely a strong impression and frequent repetition, and he excludes both when he adds: For shadows etc.; the passing of a shadow, on account of the swiftness of passing, 1 Chronicles twenty-nine: "Our days are like a shadow upon the earth, and there is no delay"; a shadow, I say, of passing is our time, that is, what we spend on doing our own will, not God's; but the Lord will at some time take that very time for himself: Psalm: "When I shall receive the time, I will judge justices." And there is no return of our end, on account of the impossibility of returning: Job ten: "Before I go and do not return" etc. Because it is sealed, namely our return, that is, closed under a seal: the Gloss: "Sealed, as if not appearing, because it does not exist." And no one returns to life, namely according to the common law; Psalm: "Their graves are their homes forever," namely according to their opinion, but according to truth all will at some time rise again through divine power: whence 1 Corinthians fifteen: "Indeed we shall all rise again" etc. It should be noted, however, that the life and condition of the impious is said to be smoke on account of the blinding of the rational faculty, below in the same chapter: "Their malice has blinded them"; likewise Romans one: "Their foolish heart was darkened." It is likened to a breath on account of the restless disturbance of the irascible faculty, Isaiah fifty-seven: "The impious are like a raging sea"; to a spark, on account of the inflammation of the concupiscible faculty, Ecclesiasticus twenty-three: "A heated soul like a burning fire will not be quenched"; to air, on account of the emptiness of intention; to ashes, on account of the fruitlessness of works, below in chapter three: "Their works are useless"; to a thick cloud, on account of opposition to grace; to a light mist, on account of the elevation or elation of the mind; to a shadow, on account of outward dissimulation.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:6

  Come therefore etc. Here he describes the unjust life, and first is touched upon the concord of the unjust and their mutual exhortation to the dissolution of their own life; second, the oppression of the just, at: Let us oppress etc. First, therefore, they exhort one another to devote themselves to dissolution: first, swiftly; second, abundantly, at: With costly wine etc.; third, openly, at: Let us crown; fourth, in common or universally, at: Let none of us; fifth, merrily, at: Let us leave everywhere. (Vers. 6.). Come therefore, as if they were saying: since the present life passes away, and we do not hope for a future one; come therefore etc. Come, they say, because as Seneca says, "the possession of no thing is pleasant without a companion"; and therefore they exhort one another. For this is the invitatory at the matins of the devil. For it should be noted that just as the Church of the just has different invitatories and Venite according to different feasts, so too does the synagogue of sinners. One is of vanity: Genesis 11: "Come, and let us make for ourselves a city and a tower." Another, of iniquity: Genesis 37: "Come, and let us kill him and cast him into an old cistern." The third, of avarice and cupidity: Proverbs 1: "Come with us" etc. The fourth, of pleasure, which is treated here, namely: Come, and let us enjoy the good things that are etc. To these corresponds that saying of Matthew 25: "Depart from me, you cursed, into the fire" etc. Let us enjoy, I say, with loving affection, desiring nothing beyond; "for to enjoy is to cling with love to something for its own sake"; the good things that are, that is, present goods, and let us use, taking delight in the effect: Augustine: "To use is to take something into the power of the will"; Augustine: "The whole evil of man is to enjoy things that should be used and to use things that should be enjoyed." Let us use, I say, the creature, namely with contempt for the Creator: for otherwise it would not be a sin to use the creature. As in youth, that is, as long as we are young: because the senses of the young perceive pleasure more than those of the old: whence 2 Kings 19: "I am eighty years old today; are my senses still vigorous?" etc.; therefore Ecclesiastes 11: "Rejoice, O young man, in your youth." Swiftly: The Gloss: "Lest we and those things pass away before we enjoy them," according to that saying of Isaiah 22: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:7

  With costly wine, inwardly as regards taste, arousing warmth from within; and with ointments, outwardly as regards touch, arousing warmth from without: let us fill ourselves, through superfluous and immoderate use; Amos 6: "Drinking wine in bowls and anointed with the finest ointment" etc. And let not the flower of time pass us by, that is, pleasantness as regards sight: Jeremiah 48: "Give a flower to Moab" etc. Such people care nothing for the fruit of the heavenly autumn, but only for the flower of the present spring.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:8

  Let us crown ourselves with roses before they wither: Isaiah 40: "The flower has fallen"; and chapter 28: "Woe to the falling flower"! Let us crown ourselves with roses, for delight as regards smell: but "woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim"; Isaiah 28.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:9

  Let no meadow be that our wantonness does not pass through, that is, no pleasant place: this is said as regards the universality of place: Jeremiah 2: "On every high hill and under every leafy tree you lay down, O harlot." Let none of us, this is said as regards the universality of persons. Such was Sodom, in which not even ten just men could be found, as is clear from Genesis 18. Let none, I say, of us be without a share in our wantonness, that is, without a lot, that is, lacking a part or exempt from it. Everywhere let us leave signs of our merriment: this is said as regards universality in deed: Ezekiel 16: "At every head of the way you built a sign of your prostitution." For this, namely such a dissolute life, is our portion, namely on the part of the soul: and of clay is the lot ours, namely on the part of the body. Or: portion and lot are the same in reality, but they differ in concept, because portion is named from the side of the one receiving, lot from the side of the one giving: Isaiah 57: "In the parts of the torrent is your portion, this is your lot." On the contrary, the just man says: "The Lord is the portion of my inheritance"; likewise: "God of my heart, and God is my portion forever."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:10

  Let us oppress the just poor man etc. Here he describes the unjust life as regards the oppression of the good, first, because they oppress without reverence for the person: second, because without fear of justice, at the words: But let our strength etc. (Vers. 10. 11.). Let us oppress: The Gloss: "It is the voice of the lost"; the just poor man, that is, anyone whatsoever: Job 24: "They have equally oppressed the meek of the earth." And let us not spare the widow: Psalm: "They slew the widow and the stranger" etc.; nor let us reverence the grey hairs of the aged of many years, that is, any old man whatsoever; Baruch 4: "They have not reverenced the old man." Allegorically this is expounded concerning heretics, who do not spare the just poor man, that is, the Christian people; nor the widow, that is, the Church; nor the aged, that is, the Apostles and Prophets.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:11

  But let our strength be the law of injustice, that is, let us consider everything lawful, whatever we are able to do: Habakkuk 1: "Judgment has arisen and contention is more powerful." Or: of justice: whence the interlinear gloss: "As if we should have strength in place of justice," that is, what we cannot do through justice, let us do through violence. For what is weak etc., as if to say: let us not oppress only the poor and weak, such as widows and the elderly, but whomever we can; for what is weak, namely in itself, such as the widow, the poor, and the elderly: is found useless, namely to others: whence for such persons little or nothing is to be cared about. Not so did the Lord think, who "chose the weak things of the world to confound the strong, and the ignoble things of the world and the contemptible" etc. Not so Paul, who said that "power is made perfect in weakness," 2 Corinthians 12.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:12

  Specifically, the persecution of Christ is described, first with regard to the threefold cause. Let us therefore beset the just man etc. Here he specifically describes the persecution of Christ, and first he touches upon the cause; second, the end, at: Let us see therefore, if his words etc.; third, the manner, at: With insult and torment etc. The cause, on account of which the Jews persecuted Christ, he touches upon in three ways: first, on the part of their works; second, on the part of their thoughts, at: He has become to us; third, on the part of their words, at: As triflers. In the first part, on the part of works, he touches upon a threefold cause, of which the first is the detestation of the works of the Jews; the second, the reproaching and defaming of those transgressions, at: And he reproaches us etc.; the third, the commendation of Christ, at: He promises etc. (Vers. 12.). Let us therefore ensnare etc. Because I said: Let our strength be the law of injustice, and we cannot do this unless we ensnare the just one: let us therefore ensnare the just one etc., so that, namely, we may freely exercise the law of our strength. Let us ensnare, I say, through deceit, the just one, that is, Christ, who by antonomasia is called the just one: Jeremiah twenty-three: "This is the name by which they shall call him: The Lord our just one"; "because he committed no" actual "sin," First Peter two; nor did he contract original sin in his conception: whence Jeremiah twenty-three: "I will raise up for David a just branch," that is, Christ in the branch, that is, in his conception: Isaiah forty-five: "Let justice spring up together" etc. Or: Let us ensnare etc., can be the voice of any wicked persons against any just person, against which the Apostle warns in First Thessalonians four: "Let no one defraud his brother in business"; just as he himself had not done so; whence Second Corinthians seven: We "have injured no one," namely by deed; "have corrupted no one," namely by evil example; "have defrauded no one," namely by word. Because he is useless to us: The Gloss: "Although they saw his usefulness in all things," according to that passage in Acts ten: "Who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil." But they considered him useless to themselves in temporal matters: whence John eleven: "The Romans will come and take away our place and our nation." And he is contrary to our works, namely as good is contrary to evil, according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus thirty-three: "Against evil stands good, and against the just man stands the sinner." And he reproaches us with sins against the Law, that is, because we sin by transgressing the Law: whence John seven: "Did not Moses give you the Law, and none of you keeps the Law"? And he spreads abroad against us, that is, against us, or turning back upon us, the sins of our training, that is, by saying that we sin by teaching our traditions, or by holding them, or by making others hold them; whence Matthew fifteen: "Why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your traditions"?

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:13

  (Vers. 13.). He professes to have the knowledge of God: The Gloss: "That is, to know all things as God," and this with respect to essence. And he calls himself the Son of God, "that is, consubstantial and coeternal with God," with respect to person: John five: "He called God his Father, making himself equal to God." Thus any just person has the knowledge of God in the intellect, and is a son of God by grace in the affections; whence in the Psalm: "I said: You are gods," namely knowing good and evil, "and all of you sons of the Most High."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:14

  He has become for us an exposer. Here is set forth the moving cause on the part of thoughts, and first is touched upon the manifestation of the thoughts of the Jews through Christ; second, the effect of the manifestation, caused not on the part of Christ, but on the part of the Jews, namely their envy, at: He is grievous etc. (Verse 14.). He has become for us an exposer, that is, a revealer, of our thoughts: The Gloss: "He brings our thoughts into the light," that is, he leads them out into knowledge; whence Matthew 9: "Why do you think evil in your hearts?" So traducere is understood in Matthew 1, namely as to expose, where it says: "He was not willing to expose her."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:15

  (Verse 15.). He is grievous for us even to behold, namely on account of the manifestation of their sins; Augustine: "To sick eyes the light is hateful"; John 3: "He who does evil hates the light." But this, that they could not bear to see him, was a sign of envy; whence 1 Kings 18: "Saul did not look upon David with favorable eyes," namely because he envied him. Because his life is unlike that of others, namely his entire outward life or conduct. On the contrary: Hebrews 2: "He ought to be made like his brethren in all things." It must be said that the Apostle speaks of likeness in passible nature; here, of likeness in fault. It should be noted, moreover, that his life or conduct was unlike others both with respect to its beginning, because he was conceived and born without sin: Isaiah 6: "The holy seed shall be that which has stood in her," that is, in Mary; Matthew 1: "That which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit." And with respect to its middle, because he lived without sin: 1 Peter 2: "He committed no sin, nor was deceit found" etc. And with respect to its end, because he died without any debt of death: the Psalm: "What I did not seize, I was then paying back." And his ways are changed: The Gloss: "They have been made unlike," namely his deeds and his teaching: Isaiah 55: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways, says the Lord."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:16

  As triflers etc. Here is touched upon the moving cause on the part of speech, and first is set forth their reprobation; second, the approbation of others, at: And he prefers the last things etc.; third, his self-commendation, at: And he boasts that he has God for a father. (Vers. 16.). As therefore we were regarded as triflers by him, that is, doing and saying vain things: Zephaniah 3: "I will gather the triflers, who had departed from the law." And he abstains from our ways: The Gloss: "That is, from our actions and traditions"; as from unclean things, and indeed justly, because they were truly unclean: whence Ezekiel 36: "Their way was made before me like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman." And he prefers the last things of the just, that is, the end, and indeed deservedly, because "the death of sinners is the worst," but the death of the just is precious, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints"; therefore in Numbers 23 Balaam said: "Let my soul die the death of the just, and let my last end be like theirs." Or according to the Gloss: He prefers the last things of the just, "that is, eternal life to pleasure." And he boasts that he has God for his Father: John 8: "It is my Father who glorifies me."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:17

  Second, the persecution of Christ is described with regard to its purpose. Let us see therefore, if the words etc. Here in the person of the Jews he first touches upon the purpose of the persecution of Christ, which was that they wanted to know the truth about Christ; second, it is added how they could know this, at the words: For if he is the true Son of God, etc. (Vers. 17. 18.). Let us see, etc., as if they were saying: since he so boasts, let us see, as it were from afar, by deliberating about his death: John 11: "The chief priests and Pharisees gathered a council" against Jesus. Let us see, I say, if his words are true, namely, that he is truly the Son of God. This the centurion saw and recognized, who, seeing him expire with a cry and the earthquake and other signs, said in Matthew 27: "Truly this was the Son of God." And let us test him, from close at hand, namely by crucifying him and exposing him to death: what will come upon him, namely whether he will be able to free himself: Matthew 27: "He saved others, he cannot save himself." And we shall know, or: so that we may know, what his last end will be, namely whether he will rise again. And this we shall know by guarding his tomb: whence Matthew 27: "Lord, we have remembered that that deceiver said while he was still living: After three days I will rise again."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:18

  For if he is the true Son of God, as he foretold, not through the grace of adoption, as we are, but through the natural property of eternal generation: he will receive him, namely in glory: Isaiah forty-two: "Behold, my servant, I will receive him." And he will deliver him, namely from punishment: and this is what follows: From the hands of adversaries, that is, of those who crucified him, who were his adversaries. God did both for him: for he delivered him from punishment, according to that word of the Psalm: "My deliverer from my wrathful enemies," namely on the very day of the passion, after he endured temporal death: and he raised him up, but not immediately, but on the third day, according to that word of Zephaniah three: "Wait for me on the day of my resurrection"; and he received him with glory on the day of the ascension: whence in the Psalm: "With glory you have received me."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:19

  Third, the persecution of Christ is described with respect to the special mode of oppression. Let us examine him with insult and torment, etc. Here he touches upon the special mode of oppression, and first, with respect to those things disposing toward death: second, with respect to death itself: By a most shameful death, etc. (Vers. 19. 20.). He says therefore: With insult, namely of words: and with torment, namely of blows: Hebrews eleven: "The saints experienced mockeries and beatings"; let us examine him, that is, let us test him. So it was done, as is clear from Matthew twenty-seven and John nineteen, because he was mocked with insulting words and struck with scourges and at last fastened with nails to the gibbet of the cross. That we may know his reverence, that is, the humility with which he reverences God: Hebrews five: "He was heard because of his reverence." And let us test his patience, namely through torments: that is, whether he is truly humble and patient. And truly so, because "when he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten," First Peter two. Gregory: "What sort of person each one is within himself, an insult inflicted reveals."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:20

  By a most shameful death: The Gloss: "That is, by the death of the cross, which up to the passion of Christ was the punishment of the guilty, but now is the trophy of victory and the glory of the Church"; Augustine: "The cross passed from the punishments of robbers to the foreheads of emperors." And because the death of the cross was most shameful, therefore to show the usefulness of Christ's death the Apostle says in Philippians two: "He humbled himself, etc., even the death of the cross." Now the death of Christ was most shameful by reason of place, because it was outside the city at the place of Calvary, that is, the place where the heads of the beheaded were cast out, Matthew twenty-seven. By reason of time, because it was on a solemn day and at the greater hour, namely "the sixth hour," John nineteen. By reason of instrument, because it was on the wood of the cross: 1 Peter two: "He bore our sins in his body upon the wood." By reason of company, because it was among thieves, Luke twenty-three. By reason of reproach, because many reproaches were inflicted upon him as he hung, as is evident in Matthew twenty-seven. Let us condemn him. It should be noted that Pilate condemned him by authority; the Jews, by persuasion. For there shall be regard for him from his words, that is, knowledge of the truth of his words: the Gloss: "We shall see whether after death he is able to raise up his flesh; for he said: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rebuild it,'" John two.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:21

  These things they thought, and they erred. Here he shows that the life of such men is to be shunned as erroneous; and first he touches upon the meritorious cause of their error; second, the matter of their error: And they knew not, etc.; third, the author of their error: But by the envy of the devil, etc. (Vers. 21.). These things, namely the aforesaid, they thought, namely the impious, and they carried them out; and they erred: whence below in chapter five: "Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice has not shone upon us"; likewise Proverbs fourteen: "They err who work evil." For it blinded them, namely their interior eye, their malice: whence in the prayer of Jeremiah: "Woe to us, for we have sinned; therefore our eyes are darkened"; likewise 2 Corinthians four: "The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:22

  And they knew not the mysteries of God, that is, the sacred and secret counsels and dispositions concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ; Ephesians three: "The mystery was made known to me, which in other generations was not known." Nor did they hope for the reward of justice; the Gloss: "That is, of the death of Christ," namely his exaltation through death, concerning which, Philippians two: "Wherefore God also exalted him." Nor did they judge: the Gloss: "That is, understand," the honor of holy souls, that is, the salvation of holy souls to be obtained through the death and resurrection of Christ: whence the Gloss: "They did not understand that the death of Christ is the honor and salvation of souls"; the Psalm: "They are exceedingly honored," etc.; likewise 1 Peter two: "To you therefore who believe, honor," etc.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:23

  And rightly I said: Honor, because God created man imperishable, that is, having the power not to die, on the part of the body: and to the image, namely on the part of the soul; Genesis 1: "Let us make man to our image and likeness"; to the image, namely in natural endowments: of his likeness, namely in gratuitous gifts: or: to the image, in the cognitive power: to the likeness in the affective power: for image is the principle of knowing, likeness the ground of loving; for "every animal loves its like," Ecclesiasticus 13. He made him.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 2:24

  But by the envy of the devil, who envied the happiness of the first parents, death entered into the world. Against this: Romans 5: "By one man sin entered, and by sin death." It must be said that death entered through the devil suggesting and through man consenting. But they imitate him, namely the devil, by envying the just, who are of his party, namely the impious, who are of the party of the devil. "For he himself is the head of all the wicked," as Gregory says.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 2

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:1

  In the first part, on the side of the retribution of the just, there is touched upon first their liberation from evil: second, their reward in good: The just shall shine, etc. In the first, there is touched upon first their liberation from the evil of eternal damnation: second, from the evil of temporal death, at: They seemed in the eyes, etc.; third, from the evil of present vexation or tribulation: And if before men they suffered torments. (Verse 1). But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, etc. Rabanus continues thus: "In the preceding chapter the sentence of the wicked was expressed, which they brought forth against Christ: now they are condemned for foolishness, because they think the Saints perish, whom they slaughter for his confession." But it can be continued in this way: I rightly said that those "who are on his side" "imitate" the devil. But, standing for "however"; the souls of the just, etc., "that is, of the Martyrs," according to the Gloss: which is also true of other just persons, but Martyrs are called especially just, because "just is he who disregards loss for the sake of a friend," as is found in Proverbs 12: and this the Martyrs do especially, because for Christ they disregard the loss of possessions and of carnal friends and even of their own bodies, as is clear from Hebrews 11. The souls, I say, of the just: he does not say bodies, because "the earth," that is, the body made from earth, "is given into the hands of the wicked," Job 9. He does not say temporal goods: Job 1: "Behold, all that he has is in your hand," etc. But the souls are in the hand of God, that is, in his protection, and therefore they are secure; Psalm: "He who dwells in the aid of the Most High," etc.; John 10: "No one shall snatch them from my hand." And the torment of death shall not touch them, namely "eternal" death, as the Gloss says: whence Job 5: "In six tribulations he will deliver you, and in the seventh no evil shall touch you," that is, the torment of Gehenna. This torment is described in Job 24: "From the waters of snow he shall pass to excessive heat"; likewise in a Psalm: "He shall rain snares upon sinners, fire," etc. By the name of death, taken in its general sense, is understood here eternal death, because that is true death: but temporal death is as it were the shadow of death: for it is a certain passage to life, according to that saying in John 5: "He does not come into judgment," namely of condemnation, "but has passed from death to life."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:2

  (Vers. 2.). They seemed to the eyes etc. It should be noted that the wicked and unbelieving regard the death of the Saints as death in the separation of the conjunction of soul to body, affliction in the pain of the conjoined, destruction in the perdition of the soul, which they regard as perishing with the body; the way of destruction with regard to the subsequent incineration of the body. According to this it is read thus: They seemed, that is the just, in the eyes of the foolish to die, namely by eternal death, when nevertheless they pass over to a better life. Whence Augustine: "God bestowed so great a grace upon the Christian faith that death, which is known to be contrary to life, became an instrument through which one might pass over to life." In the eyes, he says, of the foolish, who "set their eyes to decline toward the earth," that is, who consider only present things and not future things: and therefore to such people they seem utterly to die, but in the eyes of the wise they seem to be born, on account of which the death of the Saints is called a birthday, according to that passage in Job 11: "When you think yourself consumed, you shall rise as the morning star." And it was accounted, namely by the impious, as affliction, namely alone without any benefit, their departure, from the body, when nevertheless it is for them a consolation, according to that passage in Philippians 1: "Having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ." Bernard: "The Saints hold death in desire, life in patience." But for the reprobate, there is affliction of departure in their death, and this because, as the same Bernard says, "for them there is pain in departure, horror in passage, shame in the sight of God."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:3

  (Vers. 3.). And from the just path, that is from the way of justice, they went away into destruction: the Gloss: "That is, in the estimation of the wicked," because "they regard the palm of martyrdom as affliction and destruction," that is, a retreat into nothingness as regards the soul, which they think is reduced to nothing: and repeat: the just went away, in the estimation of the impious, into the way of destruction, that is incineration, as regards the body; which destruction or way of destruction is from us, that is from our first parents: Romans 5: "Through one man death entered the world." Or: destruction he calls temporal death, because it excludes from the present life: way however of destruction he calls eternal death, because it excludes from eternal life: Baruch 3: "They were destroyed and descended to the netherworld." And with this, there one passes or goes from deadly punishment to deadly punishment, according to that passage in Job 24: "From the waters of snow he shall pass to excessive heat." Such people err in thinking thus: whence below in chapter 5: "We fools accounted their life madness and their end without honor." But they are in peace; the Gloss: "Of perpetual rest, now in hope, at last in reality"; Apocalypse 14: "From henceforth now, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors." For the end of the just is peace: whence Isaiah 32: "The work of justice shall be peace."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:4-5

  And if before men etc. Here is touched upon the deliverance from the evil of present vexation, and first the deliverance in hope: second in reality, at: Afflicted in few things etc.; third the cause of both, at: For God tested them etc. (Verses 4, 5). It is said therefore: And if, that is, although, before men: the Gloss: "Because before God is the crown of glory"; they suffered torments, namely various and grievous ones, as is evident in the Martyrs, concerning whom Hebrews eleven says: "They were stoned, they were cut asunder" etc. Their hope, namely of the just, according to that saying of Proverbs fourteen: "The just man hopes in his death": is full of immortality, an immortality, I say, not such as was the immortality of the first parents, namely with the possibility of dying; not such as that of the damned in hell, namely with the perpetual desire of dying: Revelation nine: "They shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them"; not such as that of little children in limbo, namely with the lack of the glorious life, but such as that of the Blessed in heaven: Romans five: "We glory in the hope of the glory of the children of God". And rightly they hope, because, afflicted in few things, the Gloss: "Bodily"; in many things they shall be well disposed: Matthew twenty-five: "Because you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things"; Luke twenty-two: "I dispose to you a kingdom" etc. But what those many things are, is said in Isaiah sixty-four: "Eye has not seen, O God, apart from you, what you have prepared for those who wait for you". But there is a doubt about what it says: Afflicted in few things etc., because it is said in Hebrews eleven: "They were stoned, they were cut asunder" etc. It must be said that their torments were many in themselves, but few by comparison: first, by comparison with their own estimation, according to that saying of Genesis twenty-nine: "The days seemed to him," namely to Jacob, "few because of the greatness of his love." Second, by comparison with the Passion of Christ: Lamentations one: "O all you who pass by the way"; likewise in the Psalm: "They were swallowed up, joined to the rock," namely to Christ, "their judges," that is, the Apostles themselves and other Martyrs. Third, by comparison with the future reward: Romans eight: "The sufferings are not worthy" etc.; likewise, Second Corinthians four: "That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation works for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." Fourth, by comparison with eternal affliction: Job six: "He who fears the frost, upon him shall the snow rush." Fifth, by comparison with the debt and the obligation, that is, the punishment owed on account of things omitted and the obligation on account of things committed: the Psalm: "What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that he has rendered to me"? For God tested them etc. Here the cause of the aforesaid is touched upon, and first, their chastisement: second, their purification, there: As gold in the furnace etc.; third, the future recompense, there: And in the time there will be etc. I rightly said that they will be well disposed in many things, for God tested them: Gloss: "That is, He chastised them with various tribulations"; 2 Corinthians 6: "As chastised and not put to death." But to the contrary: "God tempts no one," as is found in James 1. It must be said that He does not test in order to learn, as a man does: Daniel 1: "Test us, I beseech you" etc.; nor in order to deceive, as the devil does; Matthew 4: "The tempter, approaching, said to Him" etc.; likewise 1 Corinthians 7: "Lest Satan tempt you"; but in order to instruct, as a master instructs a disciple; Psalm: "Prove me, O Lord, and test me" etc. And He found them worthy of Himself, namely "of the participation of His blessedness," which is acquired through tribulations: whence Acts 14: "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven"; likewise Tobit 3: "If he shall have been in trial, he shall be crowned."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:6

  (Verse 6.) As gold in the furnace He tested them, namely on the part of the soul, purifying them through the fire of tribulations but not consuming them: Gloss: "Just as gold in the furnace is not burned up but is tested, so the Martyrs do not fail but are prepared for glory"; Sirach 2: "Gold and silver are tested in fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation," which, namely, comes through present tribulations: Job 23: "He tested me as gold that passes through fire." And as a victim of holocaust, which is entirely consumed in the sacrifice of the Lord's body: He received them, namely on the part of the body, by approving or accepting their devotion: Romans 12: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God." And in the time, namely of retribution: Gloss: "The death of the Saints is not perpetual, but in the day of judgment there is abundant recompense"; there will be regard for them, that is, they will be regarded by God, namely with the eye of mercy, which the Psalmist sought, saying: "Look upon me and have mercy on me." Regard, I say, for them, that is, of the just, who now seem to be abandoned by God, according to that verse of the Psalm: "God, my God, look upon me, why have You forsaken me?"; likewise, to be despised, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Why do You turn Your face away?"

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:7

  The just shall shine etc. After he has treated of deliverance from evil, here he adds concerning reward in good, first, as regards the stole of the body: second, as regards the honor of judicial power, there: They shall judge the nations etc.; third, as regards the glory of divine fruition, there: Those who trust in Him etc. (Vers. 7.). I said well that there will be in time a regard for them, because the just shall shine, namely by the endowment of clarity in the judgment as regards the substance of the body, according to that passage of Matthew thirteen: "Then the just shall shine as the sun"; but the sun shall shine sevenfold more than it does now: whence Isaiah thirty: "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold." And they shall run about like sparks, that is, they shall be apt for running about through the endowment of agility, and this as regards the operation or motion of the body, according to that passage of Isaiah forty: "They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles"; Augustine: "Where the spirit wills, there immediately shall the body also be." Like sparks, I say, in a bed of reeds, which they set ablaze and consume. A bed of reeds here signifies the assembly of the reprobate, because it is outwardly splendid through pretense, inwardly void of truth, laden with no fruit of good works, continually watered by the swamp of carnal concupiscence, agitated by the wind of pride, fit for eternal burning. In this bed of reeds the Saints are said to run about, trampling them underfoot; Malachi, last chapter: "You shall tread down the wicked." In the spark, moreover, the four endowments of the body can be noted, namely on account of its fiery clarity, subtlety, agility, and active power, through which impassibility can be understood.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:8

  (Vers. 8.). They shall judge nations. This is said specially of the perfect Saints, who shall judge and shall not be judged. For there shall be four orders in the judgment, as the Gloss says on that verse of the Psalm: "The wicked shall not rise in the judgment." But how shall the Saints judge, since it is written in John five: "The Father has given all judgment to the Son"? It must be said that there is a judgment of authority, by which the whole Trinity shall judge: of judicial examination, by which Christ alone as man shall judge: of assessorial dignity, by which only the more perfect Saints shall judge: of approbation, by which all the good shall judge: of comparison, by which the good, that is, the less wicked, shall judge: Matthew twelve: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it." And they shall have dominion over peoples, namely after the judgment: Revelation five: "We shall reign upon the earth," that is, over the earthly. Or: they shall have dominion over peoples, after death: Matthew fifteen: "The little dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters," that is, we of the benefits of the Blessed. And He shall reign, with them, or in them, their Lord, namely Christ: Revelation nineteen: "King of kings," etc.: forever: Luke one: "Of His kingdom there shall be no end"; Psalm: "Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:9

  Who trust in him. Here he touches upon the glory of fruition: and he touches upon this in three respects, namely in the knowledge of truth, in the adherence to goodness, there: And the faithful in love: in the perfection of comprehension, there: For gift and peace is etc. (Vers. 9.). He says therefore: Who trust etc., as if to say, not only will they judge, but also those who trust in him, namely God, in the present, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion"; shall understand the truth, by open vision: First John 3: "We shall see him as he is": Gloss: "According to true confidence, the understanding of truth is given." And the faithful in love, that is, those loving him faithfully and inseparably, as the Apostle, who said: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ" etc., Romans 8: Ecclesiasticus 6: "To a faithful friend there is no comparison"; shall rest in him: Gloss: "Because in the future they will not be able to be torn from his fellowship, whom here they already held by faith and hope." Therefore rest in God through love will succeed the understanding of faith. For gift: Gloss: "Of eternal satisfaction"; Psalm: "I shall be satisfied when your glory shall appear"; likewise: "They shall be inebriated with the abundance of your house." And peace, "eternal," according to the Gloss: Isaiah 32: "My people shall sit in the beauty of peace": likewise Philippians 4: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding": is for his elect, the Saints, whom God chose from this world: John 15: "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you from the world." - This can also be expounded concerning present merit, which consists in the knowledge of truth through faith, in the conformity of human and divine will through love, so that gift is referred to the knowledge of faith, and peace to the tranquility of love.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:10

  But the ungodly, according to what they thought etc. Here he sets forth the reprobation of the opposite state; and first he shows that the error of the ungodly concerning their own impunity is false; second, that their opinion concerning the reward of the continent life is erroneous, there: For blessed is the barren: third, concerning the punishment of incontinence, there: But the children of adulterers etc. In the first part he touches first upon their punishment in themselves: second, the equity of the punishment, there: For wisdom and discipline etc.; third, the overflowing punishment even upon their own, there: Their wives are senseless etc. (Vers. 10.). There follows therefore: But the ungodly etc. I have rightly said that the just shall be so rewarded: but, for "yet": the ungodly, according to what they have thought, that is, by the desert of their evil thoughts, utterances, and works proceeding from their evil thoughts: shall have correction, "that is, punishment," as the Gloss says, whence it says: "When the just shall enter into rest, the ungodly shall go into eternal punishment." Who have neglected the just, in the neuter, "that is, justice"; or in the masculine, the just one, "that is, God himself," according to the Gloss, and this by omitting the good: Jeremiah 48, according to another reading: "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord negligently"; Seneca: "Grave is the loss that comes through negligence." And they departed from the Lord, by openly committing evil; Jeremiah 2: "Know and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken your God"; evil, on account of the punishment of loss: bitter, on account of the punishment of sense; the Gloss says: "They depart from the Lord who cast away discipline and wisdom": and this is very evil.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:11

  (Vers. 11.). For wisdom etc. For, that is, "because": he who casts away, the Gloss says: "By working evil," wisdom, concerning eternal things, discipline, concerning temporal things: or rather: wisdom, of faith, discipline, of morals: is unhappy, namely his person, that is, unworthy of felicity. But on the contrary, "Blessed is the man who finds wisdom," Proverbs 3; and therefore in the same place: "My son, do not cast away the discipline of the Lord"; likewise Hebrews 12: "Do not neglect the discipline of the Lord." And empty is, namely in effect, their hope, the present one: the Gloss says: "By which they thought temporal things would be eternal, and sins would go unpunished": Ecclesiasticus 34: "Vain hope and falsehood to a senseless man." And labors, in enduring, without fruit: the Gloss says: "Of eternal reward"; Ecclesiastes 10: "The labor of fools shall afflict them." On the contrary, to the just one it is said: "You shall eat the labors of your hands; blessed are you, and it shall be well with you." From this it is clear that the life of the ungodly is laborious; whence below in chapter 5: "We have walked difficult ways," but unfruitful; whence Habakkuk 2: "For the peoples shall labor in much fire, and the nations in vain, and they shall fail." And their works are useless, in acting: useless, "because they do not merit the heavenly dwelling," as the Gloss says; Galatians 5: "They who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God." — From the foregoing it is clear that such persons shall incur four evils, which are: unhappiness of person, emptiness of hope, fruitlessness of labor, uselessness of work, or demeritorious work.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:12-13

  (Vers. 12. 13.). Their wives etc., as if to say: not only they themselves, but also their wives, that is, their spouses, are senseless, that is, lacking wisdom; and most wicked are their children, because they are imitators of their father's wickedness—wickedness, I say, against themselves and against their neighbor and against God, and therefore most wicked. — Cursed is their creature, "that is, their handiwork," according to the Gloss; "for the wisdom which God created by blessing does not curse, but shows that the work of the reprobate is worthy of eternal malediction." According to the Gloss, these things can be expounded allegorically of heretics, so that we say: Wives, "that is, carnal pleasures, or perverse interpretations or doctrines"; and children, "that is, wicked works"; and their creature, that is, their disciples. — Or: cursed is the creature, not simply, but theirs, insofar as it comes to their misuse. For blessed is the barren etc. Here he shows the reward of the continent life, which the reprobate thought to be nothing; and first he shows this on the part of the feminine sex; second, on the part of the masculine sex: And the eunuch etc. He says therefore: For etc., as if to say: rightly did I say that their wives and the children begotten from their lust are cursed, because on the contrary blessed is the barren, that is, chaste in body—and he puts the consequent for the antecedent—and undefiled, in mind. Luke twenty-three: "Blessed are the barren and the wombs that have not borne": who has not known, by the knowledge of experience, the bed in transgression, "of adultery," says the Gloss. How great the sin of adultery is, is touched upon in Ecclesiasticus toward the end almost throughout, and in Proverbs six: "It is not a great fault when someone has stolen" etc.; and below: "But he who is an adulterer, through poverty of heart, shall destroy his own soul." The Gloss also expounds this of spiritual adultery, saying: "Blessed is the chaste and continent soul, which is polluted neither by heresy nor by idolatry." She shall have fruit: the Gloss says: "The fruit of eternal beatitude," namely either thirtyfold, which is owed to the married, or sixtyfold, which is owed to widows, or a hundredfold, which is owed to virgins. Concerning this manifold fruit, it is said in the parable of the seed in Luke eight: "And having sprung up, it bore fruit, some a hundredfold" etc. In the visitation of holy souls: the Gloss says: "On the day of judgment, when God shall look upon holy souls by rewarding them, and they themselves shall look upon him by contemplating him."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:14

  And the eunuch etc. Here on the part of the masculine sex, there is touched upon first the merit of continence; second, the reward, at: There shall be given etc.; third, the reason for the reward: For the fruits of good labors etc. (Verse 14.). It follows therefore: And the eunuch, "who namely made himself a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven," Matthew nineteen. Who has not wrought iniquity with his hands, that is, he has not committed the sin of incontinence in deed, but is clean in body. Nor has he thought most wicked things against God, that is, nor has he sinned by consent or will, but is clean in heart: for both kinds of purity are required: whence Augustine: "Where the Lord in judging shall find corruption of mind, He will condemn even the incorruption of body together with it." Such a eunuch, I say, repeat: is blessed, now in hope, but at last in reality. For there shall be given to him, in the present namely, a chosen gift of faith: of faith, I say, which makes blessed in hope, according to that passage in John twenty: "Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed." A chosen gift he calls the gift of faith, because it is given from divine election and makes men elect: Philippians one: "To you it has been given, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him." And a lot, that is, a portion in the future, in the temple of God: Gloss: "In heaven": Psalm: "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord, His seat is in heaven." But on the contrary: Because Apocalypse twenty-one: "I saw no temple in it," namely in the heavenly city. It must be said that there is no material temple there, but a spiritual one. Most acceptable. It should be noted that a lot is acceptable in the goods of nature, more acceptable in the goods of grace, most acceptable in the goods of glory. This is the "best gift," of which James one speaks.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:15

  (Verse 15.). For the fruit of good labors is glorious: Gloss: "That is, eternal joy," First Corinthians three: "Each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." And the root of wisdom that does not fall, intransitively: "for wisdom is the root of this fruit." This root does not fall, because "it brings forth the fruit of perpetual salvation," according to the Gloss; Ecclesiasticus one: "The root of wisdom is to fear the Lord." This root is known to few; Psalm: "The fear of the Lord is not before their eyes"; Ecclesiasticus one: "To whom has the root of wisdom been revealed?"

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:16

  But the children of adulterers etc. Here he determines the punishment of incontinence, which the reprobate thought to be nothing, and first the punishment to be inflicted on them in the future is touched upon; second, that inflicted in this world, at: And if indeed; third, the reason for the punishment, at: Nations etc. (Vers. 16.). He says therefore: Children etc. I have rightly said that the continent shall be rewarded; but, that is, however; the children of adulterers, namely imitators of paternal incontinence, shall come to destruction, "that is, to eternal destruction," according to the Gloss: Exodus twenty: "Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children," namely the imitators of paternal wickedness. And from an unlawful bed, namely of adultery, the seed, supply: brought forth, shall be destroyed: The Gloss: "In the future," when namely they shall be cast beyond the borders of the land of the living: whence Baruch three: "They have been destroyed and have descended to the nether regions." The Gloss, however, expounds otherwise concerning children and seed, that is, concerning the disciples of heretics, to whom he here threatens the punishment of sense and the punishment of loss, because they adulterate the word of God. Concerning such it is said in Second Corinthians two: "We are not as many, adulterating the word of God."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:17

  (Vers. 17.). And if indeed they shall be of long life, namely in this world, they shall be counted as nothing, namely without any value in themselves: Augustine: "Sin is nothing, and men become nothing when they sin." Or: they shall be counted as nothing, according to the Gloss: "That is, their memory shall forever lack blessing." And without honor, namely shown by others, First Kings two: "Those who despise me shall be ignoble." Without honor, I say, shall be the last old age of those, which nevertheless ought to be revered: whence Leviticus nineteen: "Honor the person of the elder"; likewise here below in chapter four: "Old age is venerable, not by length of time nor reckoned by the number of years."

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3

• Wisdom of Solomon 3:18

  (Vers. 18. 19.). And if they have died more quickly, that is, overtaken by death, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days." They shall have no hope, that is, the thing hoped for after death, namely eternal life, because "the hope of the wicked shall perish," Proverbs 10. Nor in the day of recognition, namely the universal one, which will be at the judgment, according to the Gloss. Now the day of judgment is called the day of recognition with respect to the good, because then they will be recognized by God, just as the brothers of Joseph were by him, Genesis 45. Likewise, with respect to the wicked, because their hidden things will be made known; 1 Corinthians 4: "He will illuminate the hidden things of darkness," etc. Likewise, with respect to God himself, because he will be known by the Saints: 1 Corinthians 13: "Then I shall know, even as I am known." Likewise, with respect to Christ as man, because then he will be openly seen by all: Isaiah 40: "All flesh shall see what the mouth of the Lord has spoken"; likewise of the same, 52: "All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God"; likewise Revelation 1: "Every eye shall see him." Likewise, with respect to the world itself, in which then nothing will be hidden or concealed, according to that passage of the Psalm: "The foundations of the world were revealed." Nor in the day, I say, of recognition, repeat: they shall have, an address, that is, a gentle or consolatory one, but a most harsh dismissal: whence Matthew 25: "Depart from me, you cursed," etc.

  Commentary on Wisdom, Chapter 3