LIBER PROVERBIORUM

(Vide inter ejus Opera, tom. I , III et VIII .)

• 1079C

VERS. 1.-- The parables of Solomon. It is to be noted that the Vulgate edition calls them parables, which in Hebrew is misle , in Greek παροιμιας paraemias, that is, it calls them proverbs; but it agrees well enough. For the things which are named parables (because they are hidden) are also by right called proverbs: because they are such as ought often to be current in the mouth of those conversing and to be retained in the memory. Proverbs too are for the most part so obscure that they may well be called parables; whence: These things I have spoken to you in proverbs (Joan. VI), etc. The book of Proverbs does not, as the simple suppose, have open precepts, but as gold is sought in the earth, the kernel in the nut, the hidden fruit in the shaggy husks of chestnuts: so in them the divine sense is to be sought out more deeply. The Parables 1079Dof Solomon, translated according to the Hebrew verity by Eusebius, Hieronymus the priest, at the asking of Chromatius and Heliodorus the bishops; παράβολη in Greek, in Latin similitudes; which word Solomon therefore imposed upon this work, that we should not understand according to the letter the things he says: in which he signifies that the Lord would speak to the crowds in parables, as also by his own name and by his peaceable kingdom the kingdom of Christ and of the Church; of which: His empire shall be multiplied, 1080Cand of his kingdom there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom shall he sit (Luc. I). [Vulg. Isa. 9:7 pacis non erit finis, "of peace there shall be no end"; regni ejus non erit finis is Luc. 1:33] As by the construction and dedication of the temple, [he signifies] the building of the Church in the time of the resurrection. Christ himself also is the son of David, and the king of the spiritual Israel, according to the testimony of the crowd which met him with palm branches and with praises (Matth. XXI). But what profit they have is shown in the title, when it is said: To know wisdom and discipline; that is, how one ought rightly to believe and to live, and whither each ought to direct the intention of his heart.

VERS. 2.-- To understand the words of prudence. That is, let them not only embrace the wisdom which they have received, and serve the discipline of the virtues, but let them also hearken to the words of prudence, by which they may profit, 1080Dand shrewdly understand them.

VERS. 5.-- A wise man hearing shall be wiser. Beautifully does he begin from wisdom, because, when the choice was given him, he asked for wisdom and received it.

A wise man hearing shall be wiser. He shows that no one is so wise in this life that he cannot be wiser even by the sayings of lesser men. The queen of Saba heard Solomon, the lesser the greater, and returned wiser. Moses heard 1081Ahis father-in-law, much his inferior, and was made wiser.

And he that understandeth. (RAB. in Prov., tom V.) Let no man boast himself of his own knowledge, etc., as far as to know wisdom and discipline, etc.

VERS. 7.-- The fear of the Lord. (ID.) There are two fears of the Lord, etc., as far as Both shall cease hereafter, charity shall never fall away.

VERS. 8.-- Hear, my son, the discipline. (ID.) Thus far proverbially, etc., as far as for among the Hebrews the spirit, which bestows grace, is spoken of in the feminine gender.

VERS. 9.-- That grace may be added. To those who kept the law of the Lord, etc., as far as for the grace of right working.

And a chain to thy neck, etc. The splendour of perfect working, which may confirm the preaching (which proceeds through the neck,) by an unfailing linking of virtues.

VERS. 10.-- My son. With a father's affection he addresses the son, coaxing him, that he may not consent to sinners.

VERS. 11.-- Let us lie in wait. (RAB.) Either generally of robbers, who prepare ambushes for the innocent. Or specially of those who delivered the author of life over to death. (STRAB.) Since this pertains generally to all who lie in wait for blood, etc., as far as and by presuming they rather destroy themselves.

The innocent without cause. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.

VERS. 12.-- Let us swallow him up, as hell doth, alive. Let us extinguish the memory of his virtues and of his doctrine, 1081Cso that it may not even be remembered that he lived among us.

VERS. 13.-- We shall find all precious substance. Men, namely, whom they saw cleaving to Christ, whom they thought to sever from his love and company if they should kill him, and to fill their own houses with the spoils of such men, that is, their own conventicles with their souls.

VERS. 14.-- Cast in thy lot with us. Of robbers it is plain generally, because they promise a portion of the booty to the companions whom they seek out; but Christ's persecutors also joined to themselves whomsoever they could, and those whom they saw following him they put outside the synagogue, that is, they deprived them of their own communion.

VERS. 16.-- They run to evil. Not only what they are 1081Dabout to do, but what they are about to suffer for their deeds. For by how much they hasten to fulfil the crime, by so much do they draw near to the punishment to be borne for the crime.

VERS. 17.-- In vain. (RAB.) The rest specially concerning those who lay ambush for Christ, etc., as far as for in the poor he has nothing of a case.

VERS. 20.-- Wisdom. Thus far the persecutions which the Jews brought upon Christ; from here, those things which he speaks through the apostles to those same persecutors after the passion. Wisdom, that is Christ, speaks abroad, that is, openly in the light, that, infancy being left behind, they may be little ones in malice.

1082A(RAB.) For Christ is indeed the Wisdom of God, etc., as far as they should say to anyone.

Abroad. (ID.) Openly, after the resurrection, etc., as far as: in the street his voice.

In the streets she uttereth her voice, etc. The things which he had taught before few he plainly repeated, whence: The things which I say to you in the darkness, speak ye into the light. [Vulg. Matt. 10:27 Quod dico vobis in tenebris, dicite in lumine, "speak ye in the light"]

VERS. 21.-- At the head of the crowds she crieth out, etc. (ID.) Because even to the princes, who seemed to have prevailed against him so that he should be crucified, he openly recalled to memory the guilt of the murder which they had perpetrated, and called them to the remedy of penance.

In the doors of the gates of the city. (ID.) The city of the Lord, the Church gathered into one out of both peoples, etc., as far as he called back his own grace; so that, as Luke says: A great multitude of the priests should obey the faith (Act. VI).

VERS. 22.-- How long. Now you have seen Christ in the flesh working miracles, whom you have despised: now at least love him raised up from death, and he will forgive what you have sinned.

Little ones. (RAB.) Those slower in understanding are called little ones, etc., as far as which the Son himself, coming, conferred upon those perfect in understanding?

VERS. 23.-- Be ye converted. Wisdom exhorts them to be converted to God, and puts forth the spirit.

To correction. [Vulg. Pr. 1:23 ad correptionem meam, "to my reproof"] Through the apostles he rebukes the Jews, and admonishes them to be converted at least after the ascension and the resurrection.

VERS. 26.-- I also. (ID.) Likewise in the psalm, etc., as far as as though they despised nothing.

1082CVERS. 27.-- When sudden calamity shall rush in. He speaks of the sudden siege of Jerusalem and the storming of the whole province wrought by the Romans. Of which, Seeing the city, he wept over it (Luc. XIX).

When it shall come upon you. (RAB.) This whole correction of wisdom can, etc., as far as for that which follows,

VERS. 28.-- They shall rise early and shall not find me, signifies the time of judgment, in which some shall rise again unto life, others unto everlasting reproach.

They shall call upon me. The Jews are not read to have called upon the Lord in the siege; and even if some did call upon him, because they did not truly repent, they were not heard.

VERS. 29.-- They have held it hateful. The just man on the contrary, The unjust, he says, have I hated, and thy law have I loved.

1082DVERS. 31.-- They shall eat therefore. (ID.) Because they would not walk in my ways, etc., as far as and it shall be well with thee.

And they shall be filled with their own devices. By which they were saying, etc., as far as it can be taken.

VERS. 32.-- Turning away. Turning away and prosperity destroys, when the mind turned away from the fear of its Maker seems, by the anger of that same Maker, to suffer nothing adverse in those things wherein it sins. But as Job says: They spend their days in good things, and in a moment they go down to hell.

Of little ones. In understanding, whence above, etc., as far as but because they turn away, they kill themselves.

VERS. 33.-- But he that shall hear me, without terror 1083Ashall rest, etc. It can be understood in this life, and in the life to come, etc., as far as of the resurrection he shall rest.

VERS. 1.-- My son. He notes two things here, that wisdom is of heavenly matters, prudence of secular.

He hides the commandments of God with himself, etc., as far as as though the birds should take away the seed cast by the wayside.

VERS. 2.-- That thy ear may hear wisdom. He hears not with the ear, etc., as far as for this is that which follows:

Incline thy heart. Incline, humble, cleanse, etc., as far as and thou hast revealed them to the humble.

For if thou shalt call upon wisdom. To call upon, etc., as far as nor ought free will to be absent.

VERS. 4.-- And as treasures. He who digs out treasures, 1083Betc., as far as nor let him rest until he find.

VERS. 5.-- Then shalt thou understand. A friendly fear, etc., as far as but thou shalt find also the knowledge of the Godhead itself (which makes blessed for ever).

VERS. 6.-- Because the Lord giveth. This little verse looks back from that which he had said above: For if thou shalt call upon wisdom, etc.

For therefore wisdom, etc., as far as but is given by the Lord.

Out of his mouth. By the eternal nativity of the Son, of which elsewhere: I came out of the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before all creatures (Isai. LVIII). Or, the mouth of the Lord is in the saints, whence: The mouth of the Lord hath spoken. And out of his mouth knowledge is born and prudence, while the Lord sanctifies the human mouth, and makes it his own, that it may speak knowingly and prudently.

1083CVERS. 7.-- He will keep. That in whatsoever degree of the virtues he may help the upright and the simple. Job [was] simple and upright (Job. I); simple, through the innocence of meekness, and upright, through the caution of discretion: simple, injuring none, nay rather profiting all, upright, corrupted by none.

VERS. 12.-- From the evil way. To which they call, who say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, he speaketh perverse things, who is the author of this persuasion.

VERS. 13.-- Who leave the way. Beautifully, etc., as far as his end is in the exterior darkness.

VERS. 14.-- Who rejoice. Because they walk through dark ways, etc., as far as and they should chastise their hurtful gladness with wholesome weeping.

VERS. 16.-- That thou mayest be delivered from the woman. This verse hangs, 1083Detc., as far as: and they themselves are darts.

VERS. 17.-- And she leaveth the guide. It is plain also of the heretical mind, etc., as far as which she had promised on the day of baptism that she would keep.

VERS. 18.-- Of the covenant of her God, etc. Which she covenanted with her husband at the time of the nuptials, the Lord being witness, that they should keep faith, namely of chastity, to one another, or in baptism.

For she is inclined. All the converse of the adulteress leads to destruction, etc., as far as that is, it tends to the torments of the malignant spirits.

VERS. 19.-- They shall not return to her. Death, namely, not the woman, etc., as far as let him not attribute it to himself, but to the grace of God.

1084AVERS. 21.-- For they that. Here he joins the simple to the upright, etc., as far as they come to that which reigns with Christ in the heavens.

VERS. 22.-- The wicked. It is said specially of those, etc., as far as concerning the end of the good, but he that shall hear me shall rest without terror.

My son, forget not my law. He teaches that one must persist in works of mercy, etc., as far as he adorns with good acts him whom he instructs.

VERS. 2.-- Peace, that is, the state of blessedness, etc., as far as he would live a long time in the quiet of peace.

VERS. 3.-- Mercy and truth. Let the truth that is to be spoken never be absent from thy mouth, never from thy work 1084Bthe mercy that is to be bestowed upon thy neighbour: for so it comes to pass that the mercy of God, which blots out sins, always attends thee; and truth also, which fulfils what was promised.

Bind them about thy throat. In the throat is the organ of the voice, etc., as far as nor let the life contradict the voice.

VERS. 4.-- And thou shalt find grace. Before the Lord, etc., as far as and may afford to his neighbours an example of living.

VERS. 5.-- Have confidence in the Lord. Fear not on account of thy weakness, etc., as far as and he will grant that thou mayest be able to fulfil what he has commanded.

Be not wise. He seems to have said the same thing, etc., as far as but what the true wisdom of man is he thus shows:

VERS. 7.-- Fear God and depart from evil. Such as is that saying in Job, etc., as far as the memory of the divine fear 1084Crestrains.

VERS. 8.-- For it shall be health. In the bones are the solid works of the virtues, etc., as far as they shall receive that whereby they may be more fully strengthened.

VERS. 9.-- Honour the Lord with thy substance. That is to say, that men, who are his palm, who were made to his image, may be restored.

And of the firstfruits of all. Not only of the substance of money, etc., as far as he attributes it not to himself, but to him.

VERS. 10.-- Thy barns shall be filled with abundance. Lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven. If the saints have treasures in heaven, etc., as far as it is repaid, with a heavenly reward.

The presses shall run over. Because the inward sweetness of eternal things kindles the hearts of all the faithful in the praise of their 1084DMaker. For here he says: That you may eat, etc.

VERS. 11.-- Discipline. There are those who serve the Lord in prosperity, etc., as far as he may lose the piety which he seemed to have in tranquillity.

VERS. 12.-- For whom the Lord loveth he chastiseth. By so much the less therefore, etc., as far as whence he himself says: Whom I love, I rebuke and chastise.

VERS. 13.-- Blessed is the man, etc. Because those placed under discipline, etc., as far as and in the world to come to enjoy the vision of him.

And he that aboundeth in prudence. Well, when he was saying, etc., as far as to enlarge their hearts for the perceiving of its greatness.

VERS. 14.-- It is better. Let him not fear the correction 1085Aof want, whosoever has acquired the riches of wisdom, for the heavenly gift excels all treasures.

Of the first and purest. Because the root of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, these are the first and purest fruits, etc., as far as it is more perfectly promised by the Lord.

VERS. 16.-- Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left. By the vision of his divinity, etc., as far as and in the world to come life everlasting.

VERS. 17.-- Her ways. Actions and doctrines, etc., as far as they pertain to examples of peace and of love.

VERS. 18.-- A tree of life. As in the midst of paradise the tree of life, etc., as far as he shall be made blessed by the present sight.

VERS. 19.-- The Lord by wisdom. Typically, through the Son he settled the Church in the solidity of faith, he established the heavens 1085Bby prudence, when through him he enlightened the hearts of the sublime preachers.

VERS. 20.-- By his wisdom the depths have broken out. In the days of Noe, etc., as far as and they examine whatsoever things they may show to lesser men for an example.

VERS. 21.-- My son, let them not flow away. Take heed lest, wearied by temporal discipline, thou lose the grace of wisdom, which is so great.

VERS. 22.-- And there shall be life to thy soul. Thy soul has life with God, if thou shalt keep his decrees: although the flesh be pressed by the discipline of correction or even of death.

And grace to thy throat. The sense of the mind therefore has its own throat, etc., as far as: blessed is the man that hopeth in him.

VERS. 23.-- Then shalt thou walk confidently. In our way 1085Cwe go forward confidently, etc., as far as for this is that which follows:

And thy foot shall not stumble. Since to them that love God all things work together unto good (Rom. VIII).

VERS. 24.-- If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear, thou shalt rest, and thy sleep shall be sweet. It is plain according to the letter, etc., as far as because he has God everywhere as protector and keeper.

VERS. 27.-- Do not forbid him that is able to do good. Because above he diligently admonished that the law of the Lord and his counsel be kept, and promised eternal rest to those who keep them: now he repeats in manifold ways the things that are to be kept. And first, returning to that which he had passed over, he teaches that mercy is to be shown to the neighbour, and that one must live justly with him. Then he forewarns that an enemy also is to be guarded against. Do not, therefore, he says, forbid. 1085DLest thou hear from the Lord with the Pharisees: You yourselves went not in, and those that were going in you have hindered (Luc. XI).

VERS. 28.-- Say not to thy friend: Go, and come again, to-morrow I will give. Not only of alms, but of all the commandments of Christ, who says: You are my friends, if you do (Joan. XV), etc.

VERS. 30.-- Strive not against a man. [Vulg. Pr. 3:30 Ne contendas adversus hominem frustra, "strive not against a man without cause"; the gloss turns on the frustra the lemma omits] He does not forbid striving against him who does evil, that he may be corrected, because that which a sure necessity compels is not done in vain. Nay rather, he who says: If thy brother shall offend against thee, rebuke him (Matth. XVIII), himself wills that thou shouldst bring back the wanderer, as much as thou canst, to the way of truth.

VERS. 32.-- Because every 1086Amocker is an abomination to the Lord. Every mocker, he says; because he is a mocker who either despises to fulfil the words of God which he knows, or corrupts those same words by understanding and teaching them perversely. He also is a mocker who despises his promises as though they were depraved, and the anger of his strictness, as though tolerable; he spurns. And likewise he who, being shameless, insults the simplicity of his neighbours. And therefore the divine justice deservedly abominates every mocker of this kind. But well is it added:

And his conversation is with the simple, because the proud, while they mock the simple, judge themselves more prudent than those whom they deride. But the prudence of these, as James says: is earthly, sensual, devilish (Jacob. III). But the conversation of the Lord is with the simple, because he enlightens with the secrets of wisdom those 1086Bwhom he considers to have nothing of earthly pride and of duplicity. Whence he says: Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones (Luc. X).

VERS. 33.-- In the house of the wicked. As of the rich man clothed in purple, who in this life lacked spiritual things, and afterwards came to such want that he did not receive even the drop of water which he sought, whence: Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ, who at the recompense shall hear: Come, ye blessed, (Matth. XV), etc. But according to the letter it often happens that those who plunder what belongs to others are at the last consumed with want; but those who give freely of their own abound even in earthly goods.

VERS. 34.-- Mockers. These verses James and Peter set down according to the ancient translation: Because 1086CGod resisteth the proud, but to the humble he giveth grace (Jacob. IV).

VERS. 1.-- Hear, ye children. Being about from here to exhort to philosophy, he explains in what manner he himself was taught wisdom by his father.

VERS. 3.-- For I also. Nothing more raises up minds to the hope of attaining wisdom than when we call to mind that those whom we now marvel to shine in wisdom were once little and unlearned.

The only begotten before the mother. But why does Solomon name himself the only begotten before the mother, whom Scripture testifies that a brother of the same womb preceded, unless because that one, soon after he was born, without a name, as though he had never been, 1086Ddeparted from life?

VERS. 4.-- Let it receive, etc. Admonitions of this kind were given to Solomon by his father David: he who reads over the Words of the Days finds them.

VERS. 5.-- Possess. In all things which thou possessest, etc., as far as he procured youth, all things being sold.

VERS. 9.-- It shall give to thy head. It is plain concerning Solomon, etc., as far as and a crown of life besides shall be given in the world to come.

VERS. 10.-- Hear, my son. These things which he had received from his father being set forth, he returns to teaching the hearer the wisdom which he had begun.

VERS. 11.-- By the paths of equity. Paths, that 1087Ais, the actions of equity, etc., as far as they shall be directed into the way of peace.

VERS. 12.-- And running. By how much the more fully and the more eagerly thou shalt have run to fulfil the commandments of God, by so much the less shalt thou fear the adverse things that may hinder thee. For whosoever sweat in a depraved action find a stumbling-block in mid course, because on the instant, while they do not foresee, they are snatched away to punishment.

VERS. 17.-- They eat the bread of wickedness. In the doing of crimes, etc., as far as the Scripture testifies.

VERS. 18.-- But the path of the just. The works of the just are accomplished in the light of knowledge, and lead to that eternal life which is the perfect day.

VERS. 19.-- The way of the wicked. He speaks of those, etc., 1087Bas far as because he that runs shall not have a stumbling-block.

VERS. 20.-- My son, hearken to my words. He admonishes that his words are to be hearkened to, and that depraved thoughts are to be departed from.

VERS. 23.-- With all watchfulness keep thy heart. There are those who seem to men to live rightly, etc., as far as the measure of life is reckoned.

VERS. 24.-- Remove from thee. It is to be known in two ways, that thy mouth may not speak anything depraved: that thou keep thy lips, lest they grow accustomed to detractions; and that thou flee also the others whom thou knowest to be subject to this vice, lest they corrupt thee.

VERS. 25.-- And thy eyelids. The journey of justice, etc., as far as to foresee by meditating.

VERS. 26.-- They shall be established. Be not moved from thy good 1087Cpurpose by lightness of mind, whence the Apostle: Be ye steadfast and unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (I Cor. XV).

VERS. 27.-- Turn not aside. The right hand is the good way, etc., as far as which is understood in the same manner also of the other virtues and vices.

Turn away thy foot. That is, that thou stray not hither or thither from what is right, because the virtues require discretion, and every excess of them is in vice. If thou shalt turn away thy foot from evil. If thou shalt be zealous, with the Lord helping, to do the good things which I have taught, he himself will be present, favourable to thy endeavours, that thou mayest be able both now to walk rightly, and then to attain to eternal peace.

1087DMy son, attend. Thus far he had chastised the hearer generally, from here, under the figure of a harlot, he keeps him from the wickedness of the heretics.

Incline thy ear. He admonishes that the ear is to be inclined to wisdom, and that one must flee from the harlot, and chiefly from the fornicatress.

VERS. 2.-- Thy lips. The lips, etc., as far as or he defiles them by doing base things.

VERS. 3.-- For a honeycomb. When in the heretical mouth, etc., as far as it is reckoned truth by the foolish.

The lips of a harlot. It is plain concerning the harlot, because she seeks both the sweetness of speech and the comeliness of the body for the capturing of wretched men.

Than oil her throat. By the oil of the Holy Spirit the catholic faith 1088Ais consecrated: whereby he shows his throat the more glistening, who sets his own opinions before the faith of the fathers.

VERS. 4.-- But her latter end. The draught of wormwood grows bitter within, etc., as far as but why that same sword is called two-edged, the Lord opens when he says: But fear ye him that can destroy both soul and body into hell (Luc. XII).

VERS. 6.-- Wandering, etc. The steps of the heretics are wandering, etc., as far as because it is one and the same, acknowledged by all the faithful throughout the whole world.

VERS. 8.-- Remove far. The Apostle says, etc., as far as it profits weak hearers.

VERS. 9.-- Give not, etc. Do not subject to the wills of unclean spirits the honour whereby thou wast created to the image of God, nor spend the spaces of living thou hast received 1088Bat the pleasure of a cruel adversary.

VERS. 10.-- Lest perhaps strangers be filled. Lest thou assist the deeds of demons, etc., as far as would that it lay hidden.

And thou mourn, etc. Therefore keep thyself chaste, etc., as far as they may say the things which follow.

VERS. 12.-- Why have I detested. It is plain specially concerning heretics, because they could be called back from error neither by the sayings and examples of the ancient fathers nor by those of the new.

VERS. 14.-- In the midst of the church: it is the same in Greek, etc., as far as he did not fear to lead a life estranged from them.

VERS. 15.-- Drink water. He teaches that heretics are to be guarded against, and that heed is to be given to the keeping and the reading of the Scriptures: the knowledge, he says, which thou preachest to others, keep thou thyself, 1088Cand be watered by the irrigation of thine own discourse.

VERS. 16.-- Let them be derived. When thou thyself shalt have kept them, then preach also to others, and in the great breadth of hearers dispense the divine sayings according to the quality of each one.

VERS. 17.-- Have thou, etc. We divide the waters in the streets, and yet we have them alone, when we both pour forth our preachings widely abroad, and yet through them do not court human praises.

Nor let strangers be partakers of thine. --Unclean spirits become partakers of the teacher, if they corrupt his mind, either by elation while he preaches, or by any vice whatsoever. But alone he possesseth the waters, when, faithfully joined to the members of the Church, he keeps himself from strangers.

VERS. 18.-- Let thy vein be. Let thy doctrine, and whatsoever things 1088Dare born of it, be in the blessing of the Church; and rejoice with her to whom from adolescence, that is, from the time thou didst believe, thou art joined.

VERS. 19.-- A most dear hind. Or most pleasing, as indeed some codices have it, is the holy Church, etc., as far as, we are instructed against the frauds of the heretics.

In love, etc. He does not teach to persist in wifely love; but that thou take not another while the first is living, nor ever consort with a harlot.

VERS. 21.-- The Lord beholdeth. Let not adulterers think themselves, in the darkness of night, etc., as far as: and the night shall be light as the day.

VERS. 22.-- Iniquities, etc. The sinner, etc., as far as which they do, whereby they bind themselves the more tightly.

1089AVERS. 23.-- He shall die. Because concerning adulterers, etc., as far as because they have detested the discipline of life.

VERS. 1.-- My son. It is plain literally, etc., as far as it is necessary that thou thyself first keep the things thou shalt have said.

VERS. 3.-- Rouse up. Remember to be watchful not only thyself by living well, but rouse up by thy preaching him over whom thou art set, from the torpor of sin.

VERS. 4.-- Give not sleep to the eyes, etc., as far as but he does not correct these things with a fitting invective, on account of the weariness of his mind.

VERS. 5.-- Deliver thyself. As if he should say: Like a little doe from the hand of one that catches her, etc., as far as and thou mayest deserve to enter the pastures of the heavenly life.

1089BVERS. 6.-- Go to the ant. From here he exhorts the idle man, etc., as far as to bring forth from the granary of his former action that which he has stored up.

VERS. 9.-- How long, O sluggard, wilt thou sleep, when. How long, O sluggard, wilt thou sleep in vices, etc., as far as for this is that which follows, and there shall come upon thee as a traveller.

VERS. 11.-- Want, and poverty. It is plain according to the letter, etc., as far as because it is unforeseen and sudden.

But if thou be diligent. Earthly fruits, etc., as far as because he shall receive an unfailing reward of his labours.

VERS. 12.-- An apostate man. He had spoken of heresy and of the other kinds of vices, etc., as far as because it subsists by no root within.

VERS. 16.-- There are six things. Concerning the same matter he intimates how hateful he is to God who sows discord.

1089CHis soul detesteth. He speaks according to the custom of men, that he may signify that he greatly hates such men, whence in Isaias: My soul hateth your solemnities (Isa. I).

VERS. 17.-- The eyes, etc. He enumerates six capital crimes, etc., as far as who have rent the concord of fraternal unity.

VERS. 20.-- Keep, O son. Now, under the figure of an adulterous woman, he forbids the hearing of heresy.

VERS. 21.-- Bind them in the heart, that is, hold the precepts of God fixed in thy thought.

VERS. 22.-- When thou walkest. Let the meditation of the divine law be so great, etc., as far as: let the commandments of God walk with thee, that they may instruct thee.

When thou sleepest: in death let them keep thy 1089Dsoul, lest the enemy snatch it away. When thou shalt have awaked in the resurrection, speak with them, awaiting the rewards which had been promised to thee, if thou hadst kept them.

VERS. 25.-- Let not thy heart covet her beauty. It is plain concerning the adulteress, but if heretics seem to live well and to bear themselves fitly, see that thou be not seduced by their doctrines.

VERS. 28.-- For the price of a harlot. The pleasure of fornication is brief, etc., as far as but after a little while it returns more burning.

VERS. 29.-- Can a man hide fire. It is granted to him alone to read the books of the heretics who is so far made solid in the catholic faith that he cannot be separated from it by the sweetness or the craft of words.

VERS. 30.-- The fault is not great. Theft not 1090Aof itself, etc., as far as but because Jerusalem has committed more.

VERS. 34.-- Because the jealousy and rage of the man will not spare, etc. It is to be understood also of the Lord, etc., as far as or he presumes to corrupt any faithful soul.

VERS. 1.-- My son. This section sets forth more fully the same things as the one above.

VERS. 2.-- And my law. Keep so shrewdly the things which I teach, as though thou seest nothing right without them.

VERS. 4.-- Say to wisdom, sister. Join to thyself the wisdom of ecclesiastical doctrine with a sisterly love, that she may keep thee from that heretical pollution which is proved a stranger to the true chastity of the Church.

1090BVERS. 6.-- From the window. It is plain according to the letter, etc., as far as because he has forsaken the narrow way which leads to life.

VERS. 8.-- By the corner, because he turns aside from rectitude; and he goeth near the way of her house: because he has declined from the way of truth, he deservedly draws near to the way of the house of the harlot or of the heretic.

VERS. 9.-- In the dark, when it groweth toward evening. Because such a one now, through the blindness of his heart, hastens to the darkness of sin and of damnation.

VERS. 10.-- And behold a woman meeteth him in harlot's attire. All these things are plain, etc., as far as she destroys with spiritual death.

VERS. 11.-- Nor able in the house. There is no heresy which is content with its first disciples (for these 1090Care its house), but it always seeks new ones whom it may deceive.

VERS. 13.-- And catching the young man she kisseth him, that is, she tempts the unstable man with the blandishments of false words.

And with an impudent face she flattereth, saying: It is plain according to the letter, etc., as far as for the Lord also to his disciples: But the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you, etc. (Joan. XVI).

VERS. 16.-- I have woven my bed with cords. Beds are wont, etc., as far as whereby the heretical mind glories that it has woven for itself the sense of a pestilent doctrine, as a harlot the couch of her crime.

VERS. 17.-- I have sprinkled my bed. Such men promise that they have the odour of heavenly virtues, whereby 1090Dtheir own hearts and the hearts of their followers are consecrated, as comely beds by cords, as if, we are the good odour of Christ unto God.

VERS. 18.-- Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts. The heretics boast that they are to be satisfied one by another with the cups of holy doctrine, and to be joined together by the grace of the virtues, until the eternal light follow their deeds.

VERS. 20.-- He took with him a bag of money. The glory of the resurrection, the honour of immortality, wherewith he might gladden and enrich the citizens of that country.

VERS. 26.-- And all the strongest have been slain by her. As Solomon himself, most wise, etc., as far as he who shall deny it errs.

VERS. 27.-- Her house is the way to hell, reaching in. 1091ABut concerning the Church the Lord says: The gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matth. XVI).

The inner chambers of death. The darker and narrower torments of Gehenna, in which it is certain that heretics and fornicators are to be plunged.

VERS. 1.-- Doth not wisdom, etc. The Lord has spoken openly to the world: and in secret he has spoken nothing. Why then, his Gospel being neglected, do wretched men flow together to heresy and to wantonness?

VERS. 2.-- In the highest places, etc. On the mountain he taught the disciples and the crowds together, etc, as far as who speak against him in secret?

VERS. 4.-- O ye men, to you. He cries out to men, that is, to strenuous hearers of the word: for in either sex the 1091Bwomen, that is, the loose minds, cannot receive the words of wisdom.

VERS. 5.-- Understand, ye little ones, etc. It is manifest concerning the Lord, etc., as far as he seeks those whom he may be able to seduce.

VERS. 7.-- My lips. The two testaments, etc., as far as opened for the preaching of salvation throughout the whole world.

VERS. 13.-- Arrogancy. Arrogancy and pride in them, etc., as far as but they change their words according to the pleasure of their hearers.

VERS. 14.-- Counsel is mine. Let not human presumption exalt itself: the wisdom of God alone possesses the fulness of the virtues, from her human infirmity 1091Creceives whatsoever of virtue it has.

VERS. 15.-- By me kings. He calls the apostles kings, etc., as far as for he says: Without me you can do nothing (Joan. XV).

VERS. 17.-- I love them that love me, etc. He that loveth me shall be loved by the Father: and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (Joan. XIV). Early indeed unto wisdom they watch, who, with a renewed zeal of mind, strive to attain to the vision of Christ.

VERS. 18.-- With me are riches. He calls them proud riches, lofty riches, etc., as far as and we await his promises, in which is justice.

VERS. 22.-- The Lord possessed me. Thus far he has spoken in parables concerning the Son, but now, because he had made mention of wisdom, and had not said what 1091Dshe was, and of how great dignity, as though incidentally he shows and commends her according to either nature, namely the divine and the human, he says The Lord, etc. The ways of the Lord are his works, etc., as far as for his flesh is on account of the works, his divinity before the works.

VERS. 31.-- Playing in the world. Because, when the times and the creatures of the world of earth had begun, he himself remained in the Father the Son which he was: this therefore, lest anyone should forbid him to be with the creatures and the times.

VERS. 34.-- At the doors. The Scriptures, or the teachers; the same also are the posts, without which we are not able to enter unto the life which he promises.

VERS. 1.-- Wisdom hath built herself a house. Because he had spoken sufficiently of the eternity 1092Aof the divinity of Christ, etc., as far as because he raised up men severed from the love of the world to bear the fabric of the Church.

Seven pillars. Namely the Churches throughout the world, etc., as far as as though by supporting they held it together.

VERS. 5.-- Come, eat my bread. The divinity and the humanity joined into one person of Christ, or, in the bread his body, in the wine his blood, wherewith we are filled at the altar.

VERS. 6.-- Forsake childishness. After the banquet set forth he adds also the counsels of life, that those whom he refreshes with the mysteries of his incarnation received, he may equally instruct with the words of doctrine.

VERS. 7.-- He that instructeth, etc. As though thou shouldst ask, etc., as far as and believing him the greater.

VERS. 8.-- Rebuke not a scorner. It is not to be feared, etc., 1092Bas far as but for the sake of love toward him it must be given over.

VERS. 12.-- If thou be wise. I admonish thee unto wisdom, which nevertheless profits thee, not me. For if thou be wise, etc.

VERS. 13.-- A foolish woman. Above he commended wisdom by the divinity and the humanity, now by the contrary he shows that same wisdom more commendable, where a foolish woman, etc., who is contrary to her, sitteth, etc. A woman, etc. The woman here is heresy, etc., as far as she is lifted up in the arrogance of the mind.

VERS. 16.-- He that is a little one. Wisdom the little ones and the unwise, etc., as far as and to turn aside to her.

VERS. 17.-- Stolen waters. Wisdom set forth her table openly to all, etc., as far as she affirms that forbidden and unlawful wedlock is the sweeter.

1092CVERS. 18.-- And she knew not that there are giants there. The adulterous woman knows not, etc., as far as and in the heights of the heavens the guests of the faithful.

The parables of Solomon. He sets a new title, because he begins a new kind of speech, namely, that he should not, as before, dispute at greater length concerning the several parts of good men or of evil men; but should describe the acts of both in alternating verses.

VERS. 1.-- A wise son. He who keeps well the mysteries of the faith received gladdens God the Father; but he who defiles these by evil action or by heresy saddens his mother the Church.

VERS. 2.-- The treasures of wickedness shall profit nothing. Both from a transitory death, etc., as far as because they were given for life, they profit.

1092DVERS. 3.-- The Lord will not afflict with famine. And if at any time, etc., as far as he turns it back by justly avenging.

VERS. 4.-- The slack hand hath wrought want. He who lives negligently in this world shall be in want of good things in the world to come; but they who valiantly war for the Lord are repaid with the riches of everlasting blessedness.

VERS. 5.-- He that gathereth. He who gathers to Christ the souls of the faithful is a wise son. And indeed this harvest is great, but the labourers few (Matth. IX). But he who in this acceptable time grows sluggish about the care of his own salvation shall be confounded in the day of tribulation.

VERS. 6.-- But the mouth of the wicked. That which served rioting, drunkenness and evil converse shall be condemned for the iniquity which it heaped together. In fine, 1093Athe mouth of that man iniquity hath covered who, set in torments, sought refreshment for himself in his tongue, wherein he was the more punished for his many crimes.

VERS. 7.-- The memory of the just. In this life the good the good, etc., as far as and their fire shall not be quenched.

VERS. 8.-- The fool is beaten with lips, either with his own, whereby he deserved to be condemned, because death and life are in the hands of the tongue (Isa. LXVI) [Vulg. Prov. 18:21 Mors et vita in manu linguae, "in the hand of the tongue," singular; and the words are Proverbs, not Isaias], or with those of the men from whom, because he could not be corrected, he received the sentence of condemnation; whence: Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips (Psal. CXIX).

VERS. 9.-- He that walketh, who knows how to live in simplicity, etc., as far as and receives things worthy of his deeds, for there is nothing hidden that shall not be revealed (Matth. X) [Vulg. Matth. 10:26 Nihil enim est opertum, quod non revelabitur, "for nothing is covered that shall not be revealed"].

VERS. 13.-- A rod on his back. Vengeance in the following 1093Blife, etc., as far as it is rightly subjoined: The wise hide, etc.

VERS. 15.-- The substance of a rich man. Spiritually: he who is rich toward God through good works trusts in him, as one who is in a city that cannot be stormed, which can be overcome by no enemy; but they who are straitened by poverty of the virtues therefore lack the heavenly riches, because with hurtful dread they fear to bear hard labours for the Lord.

VERS. 18.-- They hide knowledge, etc. [Vulg. Prov. 10:18 Abscondunt odium labia mendacia, "lying lips hide hatred"; abscondunt scientiam is the wording of Prov. 10:14] If therefore thou desirest to be truthful and wise, thou shalt neither cover hatred in the hiding-place of the heart, nor bring it forth through the reviling of the mouth; but let thy heart be filled with love and thy mouth with truth.

VERS. 23.-- As it were in sport a fool worketh wickedness. Prudence has taken its name from providing. A fool 1093Ctherefore is he who rejoices in wickedness. But it belongs to a wise man, and to him who is worthy of the name of man, to foresee that laughter shall be mingled with grief, and that the punishment of vengeance shall follow the joys of sinning.

VERS. 24.-- That which the wicked feareth shall come upon him. He speaks of that wicked man, etc., as far as that which they hold in their heart shall come.

VERS. 25.-- As a tempest. He speaks of the persecutors of the Church, who seek to overthrow the house of faith. But that house being set upon the true foundation, that is, upon Christ, they themselves perish forthwith.

VERS. 26.-- As vinegar to the teeth. As the treachery of heretics, etc., as far as and they assail them even with words, whence: They went out from us, but they were not of us (I Joan. II) [Vulg. I Joan. 2:19 Ex nobis prodierunt, sed non erant ex nobis, "they went forth from us"].

1093DVERS. 28.-- But the hope of the wicked. Not against that which is said above, etc., as far as Of those who knowingly transgress, he subjoins.

VERS. 29.-- The strength of the simple is his way, and terror. [Vulg. Prov. 10:29 Fortitudo simplicis via Domini, et pavor his qui operantur malum, "the way of the Lord, and terror to them that work evil"] If the obscure things of the Scriptures, etc., as far as they disdain to work.

VERS. 1.-- A deceitful balance. Either of money or of judgment, etc., as far as and it agrees with the action.

VERS. 2.-- Where pride shall be. The proud either bear themselves insolently through contempt or through ignorance of discipline, or they heap reviling upon their neighbours, or he that exalteth himself shall be humbled.

VERS. 7.-- When the wicked man is dead. This Origen 1094Aknew not, etc., as far as and to them perhaps belongs that which follows.

The expectation of the solicitous. The solicitude of good men is to fulfil the precepts of God; but that of evil men who knowingly sin is that they shall be hurried away to everlasting punishment. And therefore the expectation of the former shall be crowned; that of the latter shall be condemned, even before the judgment, their own conscience condemning them.

VERS. 9.-- The dissembler. The heretic, feigning catholic doctrine, deceives his hearer. They who follow the truth of the Gospel shall be set free by catholic wisdom, lest they be taken by the heretical snare.

VERS. 12.-- He that despiseth, etc. He is not to be despised who loves us in simplicity, even if he does something unfittingly: for he who does this lacks wisdom. But the prudent man 1094Bkeeps silence in public, chastises in secret, which is better opened in what follows.

VERS. 14.-- Where there is no governor, the people shall fall, but safety where there are many counsels. For lest thou shouldst think, etc., as far as that he may be corrected by many.

VERS. 15.-- He shall be afflicted with evil. It is plain according to the letter, etc., as far as he shall render himself worthy of vengeance before the eyes of the strict judge.

But he that is aware of snares shall be secure. He shall be secure in the world to come who now, being rightly fearful, both heals his own sins through penance and keeps himself untouched by the fellowship of the impenitent.

VERS. 21.-- Hand in hand. He that joins hand in hand, etc., as far as whence it was set down before: A perverse heart is abominable to the Lord.

1094CVERS. 22.-- A golden ring in the nostrils, etc. If thou shouldst fix a ring of gold in a swine's nostrils, etc., as far as because he is given over to carnal things.

VERS. 27.-- He that seeketh good things riseth well at daybreak, etc., that is, he rises to life in the time of the resurrection, because he now does good things in the time of working. But he who searches out the evil things which he may speak or do is held back from higher things by their weight.

VERS. 28.-- But the just as, etc. As it were, they who by hope of future rewards do good things in the present rightly receive what they hope for. For the green leaf on the tree signifies that the fruits which it does not yet show will come: and the just spring up as a green leaf, who, being saved by hope, cease not to advance in the grace of faith and of the virtues.

1094DVERS. 29.-- He that is a fool. The wicked man lives for the godly; the former is condemned, the latter receives the prize for which he strove.

VERS. 30.-- He that receiveth souls. He who takes up the care of souls for the Lord, etc., as far as he provides that he may reign more loftily with the Lord.

VERS. 31.-- If the just man receive on earth. If the martyrs suffer so much unjustly, etc., as far as for even if we are not wicked, certainly if we deny that we are sinners, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

VERS. 1.-- He that is good, etc. The connexion of these little verses is this; he who is good does not trust in his own thoughts; but seeks the grace of the Lord, 1095Aand through it lives godly. But he who trusts in his own thoughts cannot be good: for he who cares not to seek the grace of God persists in depraved action.

VERS. 4.-- A woman. According to the letter, a good and chaste woman, etc., as far as the rottenness of depraved teaching corrupts.

VERS. 5.-- Thoughts. The just their own deeds, etc., as far as having forgotten the fear of the Lord.

VERS. 7.-- Turn the wicked. Much impiety among the gods of the nations, etc., as far as but whatsoever members pass from hence to that place find the joys which they were hoping for.

VERS. 10.-- He knoweth, that is, he has compassion on the dulness and the frailty of the neighbours committed to him.

But the bowels of the wicked are cruel, who do not have compassion on those subject to them; but as the Lord says: They strike 1095Bthe boys and the maidservants, saying: My Lord delayeth his coming. [Vulg. Luc. 12:45 Moram facit dominus meus venire: et coeperit percutere servos, et ancillas, "shall begin to strike the menservants and the maidservants" — and in Luke the delay is spoken first]

VERS. 12.-- The desire. The wicked man desires, etc., as far as on the contrary he speaks of the good.

But the root of the just shall prosper, faith, hope, charity, whereby they are rooted in Christ, do not deceive them; but they shall receive in the world to come more than they hope for.

VERS. 16.-- The fool, etc. He who desires to be avenged in the present is a fool; but he who for the Lord's sake despises it is wise.

But he that dissembleth: he does not so wish it to be hidden that it should last, but that it should be utterly blotted out; for it is the nature of anger that, being uttered, it burns the more; being hidden, it languishes.

VERS. 18.-- But the tongue of the wise is health, etc., because both, by themselves fulfilling the good things which they promise, 1095Cthey come to life; and they show to others the things which they are to follow

VERS. 19.-- The lip of truth, etc. The catholic faith shall abide for ever; but he who suddenly brings in new teachings is a minister of falsehood.

VERS. 23.-- A crafty man. [Vulg. Prov. 12:23 Homo versatus celat scientiam, "a practised man hideth knowledge"] Wise and prudent: who sometimes hides knowledge, either not being able to speak to them as to spiritual men, but as to carnal; or not willing to give what is holy to dogs, or to cast pearls before swine, or to send them.

The heart of the unwise provoketh. Either when they desire to be wise more than it behoves to be wise, and, vanishing away in their thoughts, they have and hold folly instead of wisdom; or, forcing upon others the things which they cannot grasp, as it were the light of the sun upon weak eyes, that is, of wisdom, 1095Dthey take away that which they seemed to have.

VERS. 24.-- The hand of the valiant. The perfect not only overcome the wars of the vices, but rule also over their chosen brethren with a greater grace of the virtues.

But that which is slack. They who are loose in mind, etc., as far as for such men are not to be despaired of, when he adds, the sorrow of the just, etc.

VERS. 25.-- Sorrow in the heart, etc., because it is necessary that first the sorrow of penance should healthfully humble the sinner, and afterwards that the word of the reconciliation granted through the judgment of the priest should gladden or refresh him.

He that neglecteth a loss, etc. If this is taken according to the letter, etc., as far as or delivers his very flesh to death?

1096AVERS. 27.-- He shall not find, etc. For money got by fraud, etc., as far as wherewith the brightness of eternal life, more precious than gold, is bought.

VERS. 1.-- A wise son. So great is the distance between the wise man and the fool, that the one sometimes by the advance of learning comes to the teaching of him who had taught him: the other, that he may not hear when he is reproved.

VERS. 4.-- The sluggard willeth and willeth not. He wills to reign with the Lord, etc., as far as and Jesus the son of Sirach: Woe to the sinner that goeth upon the earth two ways.

But the soul of them that work the Lord's commands shall be made fat, because it shall be refreshed with the perfect sweetness of the things above; whence: As with fat (Psal. XXVI), etc.; or, they who 1096Bsweat at godly labours for the Lord shall be endowed with an unfading crown.

VERS. 7.-- There is as it were a rich man, not truly so, as he who was clothed in purple and fine linen (Luc. XVI); but because he had not God, etc., as far as what true poverty does is subjoined.

VERS. 11.-- Substance, etc. They who wish to become rich fall into temptation, etc., as far as he shall receive the manifold gifts of heavenly blessedness, of whom:

VERS. 12.-- The hope that is deferred, etc. Because doubtless, etc., as far as for he himself is the tree of life to them that embrace him. [Vulg. Prov. 3:18 Lignum vitae est his qui apprehenderint eam, "a tree of life to them that lay hold on her"; Prov. 13:12 reads lignum vitae desiderium veniens]

VERS. 13.-- He that detracteth. Otherwise, etc., as far as whence: If a man be overtaken in any fault, etc.

1096CVERS. 14.-- The law of the wise man. From the time that a man begins to be wise, he uses this law, that he may shun death and gain life.

VERS. 16.-- With counsel, chiefly with divine counsel, which is in the Scriptures. For he is a fool who lives outside this counsel, however naturally prudent he may seem.

VERS. 20.-- He that walketh with the wise. Any simple or rustic man who cannot comprehend the hidden things of wisdom, if nevertheless he follows the examples of the wise in his living, shall rightly be numbered among the wise.

The friend of fools. He who loves fools, not because they are men, but for their folly's sake, because they are mimes, or players, or the like, not that he may correct them by instructing them, but that by favouring them he may make them worse: 1096Dthough he seem wise, he shall be held in the condemnation of fools.

VERS. 22.-- A good man, etc., often good men die without children, etc., as far as the kingdom of God is given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof.

VERS. 23.-- Much food. Another translator, etc., as far as but that which he subjoins agrees with either sense.

VERS. 24.-- He that spareth the rod hateth his son, etc. For both a good father his son, and a catholic master his disciple, carefully instructs, lest he turn aside to iniquity.

VERS. 1.-- A wise woman, etc. She shall destroy by living ill, 1097Aand sometimes by reigning openly, etc., as far as concerning whom he openly subjoins:

VERS. 3.-- In the mouth of a fool. Because fools by vain speech afflict the humble whom they despise; but these fortify themselves by the doctrine of the wise, lest they be deceived.

VERS. 4.-- Where there are no oxen, etc. These things cleave to the things above, etc., as far as who feeds the widow of Sarepta by whom he himself also is fed.

VERS. 6.-- The scorner seeketh wisdom, etc. As Caiphas, etc., as far as because they seek perversely, they never find at all.

VERS. 7.-- Go against, etc. Therefore the scorner does not find the wisdom which he seeks, etc., as far as and they busy themselves to give heed to the meditation of it.

1097BVERS. 10.-- A stranger. That is, a reprobate, etc., as far as whence it is subjoined: The Lord of the wicked, etc.

The wise man feareth and turneth aside. As it belongs to a fool to trust in his own briskness, etc., as far as or that after death he may bravely bear the punishments.

VERS. 17.-- The impatient man, etc. The impatient man is indeed blameworthy, etc., as far as he is reckoned among the reprobate.

VERS. 19.-- The evil shall lie before the good. Seeing their torments, etc., as far as for the beholding of their punishments.

VERS. 24.-- The folly of fools. Imprudence is so called, as it were improvidence.

VERS. 25.-- A faithful witness delivereth souls. He is declared a catholic who faithfully 1097Cpreaches and brings forth the testimonies of the Scriptures; the heretic, lies.

He bringeth forth lies. Another translation: But the deceitful deceiver sets souls on fire with a lie.

The turncoat, that is, the devil, who lies that the evils which he suggests are good: and while he promises eternal goods, he leads to torments.

VERS. 26.-- In the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord affords the confidence of strength, etc., as far as they have hoped in the Lord.

VERS. 27.-- The fear of the Lord. This is their hope, etc., as far as whence, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psal. IX).

VERS. 30.-- The life of the flesh. By the flesh, weak things, by the bones, firm things. If the innocence of the mind is kept, even if 1097Dsome things without are weak, they are at some time strengthened; whence he subjoins:

Envy is the rottenness of the bones, because through the vice of spite those things perish before the eyes of God which seem strong to human eyes. For that the bones should rot through envy is that whatsoever is robust should perish.

VERS. 1.-- A mild answer breaketh wrath. He who humbly receives the words of one rebuking him, the guilt which he has borne already draws near to pardon. He who kicks back at one reproving him provokes against himself the wrath of the judge.

VERS. 2.-- Belcheth out folly. By perverting the Scripture, by setting his own opinions before authority; like the foolish philosophers, as Porphyry and Julian, who against 1098Athe teachers of the Church poured forth the streams of their folly.

VERS. 5.-- The fool laugheth at the discipline of his father. Every sinner is a fool who, given over to earthly acts, foresees nothing to come: he laughs at discipline while he disparages the divine correction.

VERS. 7.-- The heart of fools is unlike. Either unlike to itself, by divers thoughts, and it never remains the same. Against which it is said of Anna: And her countenance was no more changed into divers looks.

VERS. 10.-- Evil doctrine. He that shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, is the least in the kingdom of heaven. [Vulg. Matth. 5:19 Qui ergo solverit unum de mandatis istis minimis, et docuerit sic homines, minimus vocabitur in regno caelorum, "he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven"] Yet to such men, if they have been corrected, the way back to pardon lies open: but if they receive not reproofs, they shall utterly die.

1098BVERS. 15.-- All the days. All the time of the people of God, etc., as far as they are delighted as with a continual banquet.

VERS. 17.-- It is better to be called to herbs. For it is far more profitable to keep the innocence of a simple life with charity, etc., as far as, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity.

VERS. 19.-- Of the slothful, whom it irks to work justice, etc., as far as but because this does not hinder good men, he adds:

The way of the just is without stumbling-block. For the just, whatever adversity they have found in their manner of life, do not stumble, because by the leap of eternal hope and of inward contemplation they leap over adversities.

VERS. 23.-- A man rejoiceth. It is human to rejoice in 1098Ca sentence as though prudently uttered. But the truly wise man diligently inquires not only what he speaks, but also the fitness of the place, and of the time, and of the person to whom he speaks.

VERS. 24.-- From the lowest hell, etc. The first hell is the blindness of the sinning soul, and of the soul lacking the knowledge of the true light, of which: They go down alive into hell (Psal. LIV) [Vulg. Psal. 54:16 descendant in infernum viventes, "let them go down alive into hell," a wish, not a statement].

VERS. 25.-- Of the widow the Church, namely of his own spouse, for whose life he vouchsafed to die.

VERS. 26.-- Shall be established: in the judgment, when he shall render worthy rewards not only to deeds, but also to all words.

VERS. 30.-- The light of the eyes rejoiceth the soul. It rightly delights the human mind, etc., as far as for so 1098Dthe work glows the more.

The light of the eyes. Another translation: The eye seeing good things delighteth good hearts, namely the good things of the Lord in the land of the living, which, because it beholds them in the eye of the mind, it is deservedly delighted in heart, although it be afflicted outwardly.

VERS. 1.-- It is of man to prepare the mind. [Vulg. Prov. 16:1 Hominis est animam praeparare, et Domini gubernare linguam, "to prepare the soul, and of the Lord to govern the tongue"] How then is it of man to prepare the mind, and of God to govern the tongue? but he signifies the time of persecution, of which it is said, Take no thought how, or what you shall speak: for it is given in that hour, what you shall speak (Matth. X) [Vulg. Matth. 10:19 aut quid loquamini: dabitur enim vobis in illa hora, quid loquamini, "or what you shall speak: for it shall be given you in that hour"].

VERS. 2.-- All the ways. So the actions of all good men, 1099Anamely, and what evil men think in secret, he discerns with a sure balance, whence he subjoins.

VERS. 3.-- Reveal to the Lord. We reveal our works when, in all the things that we do, we call back into memory him whom we know that nothing escapes, and beg his help: and then he directs not only our works, but our thoughts.

VERS. 4.-- All things for his own sake, etc. There was no cause of working for the Lord save his will alone, namely that he might show his goodness to the rational creature, which he would make blessed for ever: but him who of his own accord forsook the good of his condition, that is, the devil, with his followers, he condemned with just severity.

VERS. 5.-- It is an abomination. Whosoever attributes to himself 1099Bthe good which he does, even if he seems to work no evil with his hands, loses the innocence of the heart, wherein he has set himself before the giver of good things: and therefore the Lord abominates such a man, whom he sees to be ungrateful to him in his benefits.

VERS. 7.-- When they shall have pleased the Lord. So great is the holiness of the divine religion, etc., as far as but they were even converted to the truth of the faith.

VERS. 8.-- Better is a little with justice, etc. It is better in a simple manner of life to serve God devoutly than to abound in many virtues and to despise the deeds of one's neighbours.

VERS. 10.-- Divination is in the lips of the king. What other king does not err in judgment, etc., as far as who should fill the mouths of his prophets.

1099CWeight and balance. The stones of the just are strong, etc., as far as he distributes the measure of faith and of the graces.

VERS. 13.-- The will of kings, etc., that is, of the just. Many kings and prophets have desired to see the things which you have seen, and have not seen them. [Vulg. Luc. 10:24 multi prophetae et reges voluerunt videre quae vos videtis, et non viderunt, "many prophets and kings … the things that you see"] For these both resist vices and are thronged about with the service of the virtues, as with attendants. For the kings of the earth often detest just lips, as Herod did John.

VERS. 14.-- The messengers of death. The angels of Satan, heretics, etc., as far as whom it has befallen to have given offence by speaking foolishly.

He shall pacify. (HIER., de morte Fabiolae. ) David purged homicide and adultery by a hunger of seven days.

VERS. 15.-- In the cheerfulness of the king's countenance is life. Whosoever deserve to see the cheerful countenance of Christ, to them 1099Dit shall be given to live with him for ever. Otherwise also all flesh shall see the salvation of God: but then the just shall see him appeased, the reprobate angered.

And his clemency is as the latter rain. The latter rain in Judea has been wont even to this day to come when the harvests are already ripe, etc., as far as but the watering of the Lord above does it.

VERS. 22.-- A fountain of life. Because that preacher truly opens to his hearers the ways of life, etc., as far as they despise with a foolish heart the good things which they say.

VERS. 24.-- Well-ordered words are a honeycomb, etc. Many through eloquence, etc., as far as which proceed from the inward sweetness of the soul.

VERS. 26.-- The soul of him that laboureth laboureth for himself, etc. 1100AIt is plain according to the letter, etc., as far as because he must needs do the good things which he says.

VERS. 27.-- The unwise man diggeth evil. [Vulg. Prov. 16:27 Vir impius fodit malum, "the wicked man diggeth evil"] This can be understood especially of the heretic, etc., as far as whence James: The tongue inflameth the wheel of our nativity, being set on fire by hell (Jacob. III).

VERS. 29.-- An unjust man allureth his friend, etc. This can be taken of the heretic and of every favourer of evil men: for the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and the unjust man is blessed.

VERS. 30.-- He that with astonished eyes deviseth, etc. It is more grievous to accomplish evil than to do it, etc., as far as that he may not see what retribution of his evils follows.

VERS. 32.-- The patient man is better than the valiant, etc. It is a lesser 1100Bvictory to storm cities, etc., as far as and lays it low by the humility of patience.

VERS. 33.-- Lots are cast into the lap. As lots are cast into the lap, etc., as far as as it were out of the lap of the divine examination.

VERS. 1.-- Better is a morsel. It is better to do small good things with charity, without the knowledge of preaching (for this is to be a dry morsel) than to shine the more with virtues, with an admixture of discord.

VERS. 6.-- The crown of old men, etc. The old men, the patriarchs, the prophets, who are celebrated with divine praise by the sons of their sons, that is, by the successors of the apostles: 1100Cand it is the glory of the preachers of the New Testament, who have deserved to be the sons of the ancient fathers.

VERS. 8.-- A most acceptable gem. He who faithfully awaits the rewards to come, etc., as far as prudently understanding, That to them that love God all things work together unto good (Rom. VIII).

VERS. 12.-- It is better to meet a bear, etc. It was easier for the holy teachers to meet the fury of heathendom, etc., as far as, and this is often more easily done than to call a heretic back to the right faith, or to bring back to good work a catholic acting perversely.

VERS. 13.-- He that letteth out water. To let out water, etc., as far as whence on the contrary: He that imposeth silence on a fool appeaseth wrath.

VERS. 16.-- What doth it profit. What does it profit the unbelieving people 1100Dof the Jews, etc., as far as since he has neglected to have the wisdom of godly action?

VERS. 17.-- At all times. He who truly loves God keeps his love at all times; nor in the straitness of suffering does he forsake him whom he confessed in the tranquillity of peace.

VERS. 18.-- A foolish man will clap his hands. He is a fool who, when he takes up his brother's soul to be ruled, glories in his own acts, and does not rather bestow upon him with humble compassion whatever help of salvation he can.

A joyful mind. He who rejoices in the inward consolation of the Holy Spirit, etc., as far as has lost the glory of love.

1101AVERS. 24.-- In the face of the prudent. In the face of Christ shone the wisdom of the Godhead, etc., as far as they search it out with their whole intent.

VERS. 26.-- It is not good to do harm to the just. And it can be taken both of the judge and prince of the ages himself, who for our salvation willed to be struck, and of all the rulers of the Church, who have either been stripped of their goods by the wicked, or been consumed by death itself.

VERS. 1.-- The wicked man, when he is come into the depth, etc. He who, wrapped in the long darkness of sins, once despairs of the light, out of despair loosens for himself the reins of sinning; but by no reasoning does he escape the reproach of the condemnation to come, whom no remembrance of the divine fear 1101Bhas restrained.

VERS. 4.-- Deep water. Because the Lord and the apostles openly unlocked to the world the mysteries of both Testaments, concerning which he subjoins: And the fountain of wisdom is an overflowing torrent. Deep water, that is, the words of the wise wash minds and water them, lest they remain misshapen with the filth of sins or fail through dryness.

VERS. 9.-- He that is soft and dissolute. For he who does not strictly carry through the good things he has begun imitates, by the looseness of negligence, the hand of him that destroys.

VERS. 11.-- The substance of a rich man is the city of his strength. Earthly substance, etc., as far as as with an unassailable wall he keeps off all the ambushes of the enemy.

1101CVERS. 13.-- He that answereth before he heareth. He who desires to be a master before he has learned does not avoid the harm of folly. He who hastens inordinately to judge the deeds of his neighbours before he has fully known the cause of both parties shows himself worthy of confusion.

VERS. 14.-- The spirit of a man upholdeth his infirmity. But the man himself, etc., as far as he upholds by the fortitude of his mind.

But a spirit that is easily angered. For the angry man often says the things which, when appeased, he would repent of having said, and for the most part does not know whether he said them: whose madness nevertheless is most easily borne and lulled to sleep by the moderation of the wise.

The gift of a man. The gift of charity, etc., as far as 1101Dand would make them gladly obey him.

VERS. 17.-- The just is first. Everyone who is truly just, etc., as far as he repays his humility with a worthy reward.

VERS. 19.-- A brother that is helped. When the people of the Jews and of the Gentiles, etc., as far as they defend from the inroad of unbelievers.

VERS. 23.-- The poor will speak with supplications. The humble in spirit humbly adore the Lord, as the Publican: the proud boast of their own merits, as the Pharisee.

VERS. 24.-- An amiable man. The converted Gentile is more loved by the Lord than the unbelieving Jew who persists, of whom he was born according to the flesh. It can also be understood of the apostles, born in Judea; because they would more 1102Alove the believers of the Gentiles than the unbelievers of their own nation.

VERS. 1.-- Better is the poor man. Better is a simple hearer of the word of God, if he advances by working the things which he understands in the Scriptures, than a learned man, if in the things which he has carefully understood he twists his lips to the preaching of heresy.

VERS. 2.-- Where there is no knowledge of the soul, etc. The knowledge of the heavenly life is necessary to the human soul, etc., as far as they fell from the state of blessedness into the punishment of misery and mortality.

VERS. 3.-- The folly, etc. Fools, when they forsake the way of truth, etc., as far as it blames the Lord himself with a mad mind, as though he had laid on 1102Bunbearable burdens.

VERS. 4.-- Riches add friends. The riches of the kingdom of heaven, which are preached by the holy teachers as to be bestowed on the faithful, win many friends both for those same preachers and for God the giver of them. But from the prophets, because they promise nothing of certain blessedness, even those whom they have are separated, being converted to the most certain promise of the faith of the Lord.

VERS. 5.-- A false witness. He had refuted him who followed after words only, now he refutes him who corrupts the words of the Lord's authority by interpreting them ill. That many things are the more often repeated is a confirmation, as Joseph says, in that it is the word of God, and is the more swiftly fulfilled.

VERS. 10.-- Delicacies are not seemly for a fool. The delicacies of the Scriptures are not seemly for a heretic, 1102Cbecause he does not know how to use them well, nor is it seemly that he who is still the servant of sin should be set before the just in the government of the Church.

VERS. 11.-- The doctrine of a man. Ecclesiastical doctrine, etc., as far as but it is rightly subjoined:

And his glory is to pass over the unjust things. For it belongs to a perfect teacher so to bear patiently the wickedness of others that he may know how to keep himself patiently from the unjust. For neither does his own cleanness suffice without endurance, nor endurance without cleanness.

VERS. 13.-- The grief of a father. God, in his nature always incapable of suffering, is nevertheless said after our manner to grieve, when he beholds men, whom he created to believe in him and to praise him, serving the devil. Whence it repented him that he had made man upon the earth, and being touched 1102Dinwardly with sorrow of heart: I will destroy, saith he, man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth (Gen. VI).

A roof continually. As roofs that drop through receive indeed the rain, etc., as far as and gives it back to his hearers mingled with filth.

VERS. 15.-- Slothfulness casteth in a deep sleep. He is called slothful who watches by knowing rightly, but grows torpid by doing nothing; but slothfulness casteth in a deep sleep, because in a little while the vigilance of right feeling is lost, while the work is left off. And it is rightly subjoined:

And the dissolute soul shall suffer hunger. For because it does not direct itself by straining toward the things above, it spreads itself out neglected below through desires, and while it is not bound tight by the vigour of subtle studies, it is wounded by the hunger of lowest 1103Acovetousness, so that, in so far as it feigns not to be bound by discipline, so far, being hungry, it scatters itself through the desires of pleasures.

VERS. 18.-- Instruct thy son. If thou seest one subject to thee to err, chastise him diligently; but if he refuses to be chastised, so deal warily toward him that he may not find anything in thy words or works whereby he may sin the more. With this agrees that which follows:

VERS. 19.-- He that is impatient shall suffer damage, and when he hath snatched away. For if for the hardness of a gainsaying brother thou shouldst slip into the vice of impatience, etc., as far as for when the violent man has taken away money, for it he shall unwillingly give his soul.

VERS. 22.-- Better is the poor man. Than he who, calling himself worthy of the name of man through the excellence of virtues, is unwittingly deceived, while by growing proud he lost the good things 1103Bwhich he had done.

VERS. 24.-- The slothful hideth his hand. No man is so slothful, etc., as far as for to stretch the hand to the mouth is to make the work agree with the voice.

VERS. 28.-- Devoureth iniquity. As a starving man food, so he ardently searches out how to accomplish iniquity.

VERS. 2.-- Wine is a luxurious thing. It follows.

VERS. 4.-- In summer. The kingdom of God is compared to summer, because then the clouds of our sorrow shall pass away, and the days of life shall shine with the brightness of the eternal sun.

VERS. 7.-- He shall leave blessed children after him. Not according to the letter, but those who follow his examples. Whence all the elect are the sons of Abraham, to whom not the present but the future 1103Cblessedness is promised, whence, The king who hath sat.

VERS. 8.-- The king who hath sat on the throne of judgment. [Vulg. Prov. 20:8 Rex qui sedet in solio judicii, "the king that sitteth on the throne of judgment"] Even if in this life the elect suffer the evils of the reprobate, etc., as far as he receives things worthy of his deeds.

VERS. 9.-- He that can say. He does not say, who has, etc., as far as they despise the things of their neighbours as though worthless, he subjoins:

Weight and weight. A different weight, etc., as far as by what tokens we ought to direct our judgment.

VERS. 11.-- He is known by his pursuits. For whomsoever with the virtues and with the moderation of continence, etc., as far as as on the contrary: The friend of fools is made like to them.

VERS. 12.-- The Lord hath made both. Let no man fit for preaching despise a simple brother, 1103Detc., as far as giving to each one according to the measure of his giving.

VERS. 14.-- It is bad. He who desires to prepare eternal rewards in the heavens, it is bad which he must bear in the present, that when he has departed from the world he may glory, seeing openly that the sufferings of this time are not worthy, etc.

VERS. 15.-- There is gold and a multitude. This is the boasting of the wise buyer, etc., as far as and that they are to be likened to precious vessels.

VERS. 17.-- The bread of lying is sweet to a man, etc. In whatsoever member a man shall have sinned the more, etc., as far as which had run to waste in superfluous words in feasting.

1104AVERS. 21.-- An inheritance. They who through the wickedness of avarice desire to be multiplied in this life, etc., as far as it is an abomination with God.

VERS. 23.-- Weight and weight, a deceitful balance, is an abomination with God, etc. [Vulg. Prov. 20:23 Abominatio est apud Dominum pondus et pondus; statera dolosa non est bona, "an abomination with the Lord … a deceitful balance is not good"] He has a double weight and a deceitful balance in his heart, etc., as far as or his own soul consecrated to God in baptism.

VERS. 25.-- It is ruin to a man to devour holy ones, and after vows to retract. If it is a sin to hurt anyone, etc., as far as and eternal damnation awaits those who, that they may fulfil their own vows, persecute the saints. Therefore he subjoins:

VERS. 26.-- A wise king scattereth the wicked, and boweth the arch over them. It was the custom of the ancients, etc., as far as to which wheel is contrary the crown of life which 1104BGod promiseth to them that love him.

VERS. 30.-- The blueness of a wound. For when we are struck without, etc., as far as because as the belly food, so the mind by turning them over digests cares.

VERS. 1.-- As the divisions. The heart of all men, not only of the king, is in the hand of the Lord, because in his hand are all the ends of the earth. But by the king he calls every holy man, who knows how to conquer in himself the wars of the vices and to root out the shoots of malice. For as the Lord fills with the divisions of the waters the bounds of the lands and of the air together, and covers also with waters the higher parts of the heavens, So the heart of the king whithersoever he will he inclines, because as he bestows the divisions of graces according to his own will, 1104Cboth on angels and on men; so he renders the hearts of the saints worthy of whatsoever gifts he will. And let the Pelagian be silent, because without the grace of God there is no place for salvation.

VERS. 8.-- The perverse way. Justly before the Lord, etc., as far as he rightly carries out what he took from his origin by nature.

VERS. 13.-- He that stoppeth his ear. Generally, etc., as far as nor worthy of the hearing of the divine mercy.

VERS. 15.-- Terror to them that work iniquity. Because they know that it is forbidden by God; although they are carnally delighted by the perpetrating of their own wantonness, yet they do not lack the inward terror of the mind, because they do not doubt that they shall suffer for ever for the things which they did ill in time.

1104DVERS. 16.-- In the assembly of giants. Of demons, etc., as far as the judge himself bearing witness, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matth. XXV).

VERS. 18.-- The wicked is given for the just. The just man and the upright are the same, etc., as far as when they might much more easily have done so, they had no care of wisdom.

VERS. 20.-- A desirable treasure. The reprobate not only do not attain the virtues, etc., as far as whence, Fear ye not them that kill the body, etc. (Matth. X.)

VERS. 22.-- The city of the strong. Namely the world, etc., as far as ecclesiastical discipline refutes.

1105AVERS. 28.-- A lying witness. He who testifies that he serves God, etc., as far as through the justice of the judge he receives the palm after the victory.

VERS. 29.-- The wicked man. Judas, etc., as far as which by denying he transgressed.

VERS. 1.-- It is better. For if a man should gain the whole world, he would deservedly despise it all, that his name might be written in the heavens, and his memory be fixed eternal among the saints and the angels.

A good name. Which is praised by the testimony of the faithful, not of the unskilled crowd, whence: If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ!

Good favour. Because a man is praised by the good for good works: nay rather, for the gifts of merits conferred upon him is glorified 1105Bthe Father who is in the heavens.

VERS. 2.-- The rich and the poor. Neither honour the rich man for his riches, nor despise the poor man for his want: because they are a divine work, and made to the image and to the work of God.

VERS. 3.-- The prudent man saw the evil. Many of the princes believed, etc., as far as and they obtain them in acts held in common.

VERS. 4.-- The end of modesty. Because doubtless the perfection of the virtues is, etc., as far as lest perchance he deserve to be subdued with punishments.

Riches and glory. The end of modesty is the fear of the Lord, glory and life, because the perfection of the virtues in this life is that we should chastely fear God; the end of the virtues in the world to come is that we should receive the riches of the promised inheritance, the glory of the heavenly kingdom, 1105Cand life everlasting.

VERS. 6.-- It is a proverb. The jar will long keep the smell wherewith, when new, it was once steeped. And Greek history relates that Alexander the Great could not be free either of the manners and gait of Leonides his tutor, or of the vices wherewith he had been infected as a little boy.

VERS. 8.-- He that soweth iniquity. It is plain, because he who teaches iniquity either by word or by example shall suffer vengeance. But because there follows:

And the rod of his wrath. He seems to speak of that iniquity, etc., as far as whence: For all that take the sword shall perish by the sword (Matth. XXVI).

VERS. 13.-- The slothful will say, unto good works, etc., as far as or, as it did other just men, may consume him with torments.

1105DVERS. 16.-- He that oppresseth by calumny. It is plain, because the rapacious lose both what they take away from the poor and what they seemed to possess justly, when in the judgment they receive punishments for the things which they have done.

My son. Thus far the title of the parables of Solomon which was set above, etc., as far as and he charges him to apply his heart to the understanding of the things which the wise speak.

VERS. 24.-- Be not a friend. But generally, etc., as far as they begin to imitate.

To an angry man, neither walk thou with a man. To anyone, chiefly to a Jew, who raged with a mad mind against Christ and his disciples, from whose friendship they are kept back who take care to be saved: lest by their 1106Aneighbourhood they also should perish, which it has been proved could happen by the case of Judas.

VERS. 26.-- Be not with them that fasten hands. Be not with them, etc., as far as wherewith thou didst seem to be clothed?

VERS. 28.-- Pass not over. Do not thou pass over the bounds of the catholic faith, which the teachers established from the beginning.

VERS. 29.-- Hast thou seen a man swift in his work? before. Whomsoever thou shalt have seen swift in his work, etc., as far as he took heed that their error was to be set down.

VERS. 1.-- When thou shalt sit. It is to be read allegorically, etc., as far as whence he well subjoins:

VERS. 3.-- Desire not, that is, desire not 1106Bto listen to the words of him who deceives his hearers by the sweetness of a lie.

VERS. 4.-- Set a measure. Of which above: Pass not over the ancient bounds which the fathers have set, namely the bounds of the faith and of the truth given by the fathers.

VERS. 6.-- Eat not, that is, speak not of the Scriptures with a heretic, who envies the salvation of men, choosing rather to deceive than to be corrected; for as the soothsayer and the guesser of dreams judges of the things which he does not know; so the heretic interprets as he pleases the things which he does not understand in the Scriptures?

Eat, etc. Learn, says he, secure, the things which I say, and do the things which I teach; whereas in the things which he teaches he himself has no 1106Csure faith, knowing that he has invented what he teaches.

VERS. 8.-- The meats which thou hadst eaten. The perverse meanings which thou hadst learned from heretics must needs be either forsaken by thee, who art to be corrected by penance, or else thou must bear punishments for them after death, and lose the words of confession wherewith thou hadst thought that they, as they preached, were humbly to be favoured.

VERS. 9.-- In the ears. Give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast thou pearls before swine. [Vulg. Matth. 7:6 Nolite dare sanctum canibus: neque mittatis margaritas vestras ante porcos, "neither cast ye your pearls" — plural, and vestras] As he admonished thee not to listen to the doctrines of heretics: so now, that thou shouldst not, seduced by the love of vain glory, thrust the secrets of truth everywhere upon unclean men.

VERS. 10.-- Touch not, etc. He calls the Lord the kinsman of little ones and of orphans, etc., as far as he who by disquieting them has hurt their good manner of life 1106Ddoes not escape the judgment of the Lord.

VERS. 17.-- Let not thy heart envy sinners. If all the day, etc., as far as whence in the Apocalypse: Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life (Apoc. II).

VERS. 20.-- Be not in the feasts of sinners. [Vulg. Prov. 23:20 Noli esse in conviviis potatorum, "in the feasts of great drinkers"] To bring flesh together for eating is, in the converse of disparagement, to speak by turns the vices of one's neighbours: of whose punishment it is presently subjoined: Because they give themselves to drinking, etc.

They that give their shares shall be consumed. A share, a contribution, etc., as far as the languor of their own detraction has seized.

VERS. 29.-- Who hath woe, whose. He asks by disputing, etc., as far as whereof he says to the Jews: You are of your father the devil (Joan. VIII).

1107AWho hath quarrels? who hath ditches? Quarrels, because he keeps not concord, etc., as far as and very often he falls into the ditch, of which: For a harlot is a deep ditch, etc.

Who hath wounds without cause? because many, having drunk too much, have received wounds through swelling, which they suffered from no cause of the sword.

Who hath the undermining of the eyes? [Vulg. Prov. 23:29 cui suffusio oculorum?, "who hath redness of eyes?"] because the immoderate draught of wine brings in the blindness both of the outward and of the inward sight.

VERS. 30.-- Is it not to them. He does not forbid the drinking of wine for necessity, but the tarrying over wine beyond the time and the profit, and the striving at cups to be drained, whence Isaias: Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and stout men at mingling drunkenness (Isa. V).

VERS. 33.-- Thy eyes shall behold. It is almost a natural 1107Bvice, after wine, to covet a woman in the heart, foulness of words also going with it.

VERS. 34.-- And thou shalt be as one sleeping. In the midst of the sea they sleep, etc., as far as he loses the zeal of carefulness.

VERS. 35.-- They have beaten me. It is the voice of one struck and sleeping, etc., as far as that he may always be made drunk with pleasures.

VERS. 1.-- Emulate not evil men. Desire not to imitate those whom thou seest entangled in the vices aforesaid; but take care to bestow thy labour upon wisdom, whence he subjoins: By wisdom shall a house be built.

VERS. 4.-- A wise man. Not every strong man is wise, 1107Cbut the contrary: because although he be weak in body, if wisdom be present, he is altogether strong, and overcomes the contests of the adversary, that is, of the devil.

VERS. 7.-- Wisdom is too high for a fool. The fool cannot ascend unto wisdom, because he lies in the lowest places of the vices; because although in the present he thinks that he knows somewhat, in the gate, that is, in the going forth of this life, he shall find that he was nothing.

VERS. 8.-- He that deviseth to do evil. He discloses whom he calls a fool: not one slow of wit, but him who sins even by thinking.

VERS. 10.-- If thou despair in the day of distress. Nothing is more execrable than despair: and he that has had it loses constancy both in the common labours of this life and, what is worse, in the contest of the faith.

1107DVERS. 11.-- Deliver them that are led to death. Deliver them that are deceived by heretics, etc., as far as if those about to perish of cold, refresh thou with food, with raiment.

VERS. 13.-- Eat, my son. He compares the doctrine of wisdom to honey and to the honeycomb, etc., as far as and it is perceived with delay.

VERS. 15.-- Lie not in wait. Seek not occasion, etc., as far as whence he subjoins:

VERS. 16.-- For the just shall fall seven times. The just man is said also to fall, etc., as far as they so consent to sin that they repent not.

VERS. 17.-- When thy enemy shall fall. Above he forbade snares against the just man, etc., as far as lest, when thou art fallen into sin, he, coming to himself again, be healed.

1108AVERS. 21.-- Fear the Lord, my son. By the Lord and the king the Father and the Son can be understood, who are to be worshipped with the same honour of divinity: For he that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father, who sent him, etc. (Joan. III).

With backbiters. With those, namely, etc., as far as and of the hearers that listen to them.

VERS. 23.-- These things also to the wise. When some reprobate is snatched from the world by a sudden destruction, etc., as far as or that through fear there be never a departing from the way of truth.

VERS. 26.-- He shall kiss the lips. A kiss is a sign of peace and of love, etc., as far as converted unto better things.

VERS. 27.-- Prepare thy work without. When the work is prepared, to till the field 1108Bdiligently, etc., as far as within, the whole fabric of the virtues be destroyed, the hunger of good increasing.

VERS. 30.-- I passed by the field of the slothful man, etc. To pass through the field and the vineyard of the slothful and foolish man, etc., as far as or every negligent man loses it by the persuasion of the devil.

VERS. 1.-- These also are parables. From here he begins to speak in a new order, etc., as far as namely such as seem apt for figures.

VERS. 2.-- The glory of God. The glory of the Lord, etc., as far as whence he calls himself rather the son of man than the Son of God.

To search out. The speech, etc., as far as for straightway he heard: Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, because flesh, etc.

1108CVERS. 3.-- The heaven above and the earth beneath. As the height of heaven and the depth of the earth cannot be known by men, so the knowledge of the apostles and of the prophets, who knew the secret things of the Divinity by the revealing of the Spirit, transcends our frailty.

VERS. 5.-- Take away impiety. Take away impiety, etc., as far as lest, being rigid through arrogance, they incur the hatred of the people.

VERS. 6.-- Appear not glorious. As was set forth above, etc., as far as whence: Be you humbled under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the time of visitation (I Petr. III).

VERS. 11.-- Golden apples. The sacred words, etc., as far as he lays open, the veil of the letter being removed.

VERS. 12.-- A golden earring shining with pearls. [Vulg. Prov. 25:12 Inauris aurea, et margaritum fulgens, "a golden earring, and a shining pearl" — two ornaments, where Migne's genitive makes one] 1108DRightly the humble hearer, etc., as far as and he annexes the more pleasing brightness of a burning gem.

VERS. 13.-- As the cold of snow in the day of harvest. It seems unseasonable to snow in the time of harvest, etc., as far as he takes his rest by acting prudently.

VERS. 14.-- A boastful man. The same seems to be, Neither flatter any man with thy lips. But that is the same which the Apostle says: Having an appearance of godliness, but denying the truth thereof (II Tim. III). [Vulg. 2 Tim. 3:5 habentes speciem quidem pietatis, virtutem autem ejus abnegantes, "the power thereof"]

VERS. 16.-- Thou hast found honey, eat what is enough for thee. It can also be understood thus, etc., as far as or thou come to him so often that he be wearied.

VERS. 19.-- A rotten God and a foot. [Vulg. Prov. 25:19 Dens putridus, et pes lassus, "a rotten tooth, and a weary foot"] Jeremias, etc., as far as in the day of judgment he shall lie open naked.

1109AVERS. 20.-- Vinegar upon nitre, he that singeth. Nitre is so called from the province of Nitria, etc., as far as but renders the water fit for washing.

VERS. 22.-- For thou shalt heap coals, that is, the ardour of charity. For wisdom would not teach that thou shouldst do good things to an enemy for the sake of evil. For it often comes to pass that an enemy, overcome by frequent benefits, lays aside the rigour of hatred, and applies the warmth of charity to his mind.

The north wind. If with a cheerful countenance thou hearest one that backbites, thou givest him fuel for backbiting. But if with a sad one, as a certain man says, he learns not gladly to say that which he has learned not gladly to hear.

VERS. 24.-- It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop, than with a contentious woman. Doma is a high and secret place. For in the Acts of the Apostles (Act. X), where Peter to the upper places 1109Bascendeth to pray, for the upper places doma is written in the Greek.

VERS. 25.-- Cold water. Cold water therefore, etc., as far as or, the contest being finished, they lead them in to the palm of recompense.

VERS. 26.-- A troubled fountain. It often happens that they who shone endowed with greater knowledge, at the last, wishing to know more than is granted to human frailty, fall into the pit of unwisdom, whence he adds:

VERS. 27.-- As he that eateth much honey. For the sweetness of honey, etc., as far as whence there follows:

VERS. 28.-- As a city that lieth open, etc. For if it has not the wall of silence, etc., as far as it fights against itself by much speaking.

• 1109C

VERS. 1.-- As snow in summer. Snow in summer and rains in harvest, etc., as far as which the calamity of the Arian tempest proved.

VERS. 2.-- For as a bird. He compares words to birds, etc., as far as of which: Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound also in heaven (Matth. XVI).

VERS. 4.-- Answer not . . . Answer a fool according to his folly. They are not contrary; for each of them agrees according to the time and the diversity of persons; while the fool both despises, because he receives not wisdom: and foolish pride is cast down by its own folly, whence: I am become unwise, you have compelled me (II Cor. XII).

VERS. 6.-- Lame of feet. A wise man can send a fool unknowingly, nor yet the glory of his own wisdom does he 1109Dlose: because concerning one unknown he believes the good which he had heard. But he also who knowingly sends a heretic to preach is lame of feet: And drinking iniquity; because he has both lost the going forth of good work without, and makes drunk the inward parts of his sense with a draught of folly.

VERS. 9.-- As if a thorn should grow. A thorn grows in the hand of a drunken man, etc., as far as or he seeks the reproaching of others.

VERS. 11.-- As a dog. A dog, vomiting, casts off the food by which his breast was oppressed, etc., as far as which after confession, while they desire it, they take up again.

VERS. 12.-- Thou hast seen a man. For judgment therefore came I into this world (Joan. IX), that they who see not may see, and they who see may become blind (Eccl. X).

1110AVERS. 13.-- The slothful man saith. Many, when they hear the words of exhortation, etc., as far as they cease not to lie in their own depravities.

VERS. 16.-- The slothful man seemeth to himself wiser, etc. Seven men speaking sentences, etc., as far as and they showed that they had perfected many.

VERS. 17.-- As he that taketh a dog by the ears. Strive not with words, it is profitable to nothing but to the subverting of the hearers. Whosoever is simple in understanding, and, when two are wrangling between themselves, his ear being caught by a biting speech, quickly begins to bark like a dog and to beget contentions, but the wise man altogether avoids it.

VERS. 1. Glory not. Be not at any time secure concerning the future; because although to-day thou servest the Lord, what thou mayest be in 1110Btime to come, how thou mayest finish thy way, thou art utterly unable to see. Blessed is the man that is always fearful.

VERS. 3.-- A stone is heavy. It is heavy, etc., as far as so they examine and chastise the motions of the mind also.

The anger of a fool is heavier than both, etc. Of which above, etc., as far as and gives the reins to fury.

VERS. 5.-- Open correction is better. [Vulg. Prov. 27:5 Melior est manifesta correptio, "open rebuke"] Love hidden, unlawful, etc., as far as than secretly to love with the zeal of sinning in like manner.

VERS. 7.-- A soul that is full shall tread upon the honeycomb, etc. The soul of the rich, etc., as far as holds it sweet to suffer death itself for the Lord.

VERS. 8.-- As a bird that removeth from her nest. As a bird her eggs, etc., as far as lest thou desist from the good which thou wast doing.

1110CVERS. 10.-- Better is a neighbour. Better for thee is, etc., as far as, into Jericho, and fell, etc

VERS. 14.-- He that blesseth his neighbour, that is, he who extols him with the favour of superfluous praise, either by favouring evil things, or by praising good things more than is fair. But this man is made like to one that curses; because either in an evil work he bestows confidence by praising, or in a good work he lessens the simplicity of a pure heart, so that what he had begun for the cause of heavenly love, he finishes by human favour.

VERS. 17.-- Iron by iron. The counsel of the wise is a good consolation: who, while by consoling they instruct one another, iron is sharpened by iron.

VERS. 20.-- Hell. The torments of hell are not filled, etc., as far as if they had a nature of living without 1110Dend.

VERS. 23.-- Diligently. It is said to the pastor of the Church, etc., as far as if in thy time thou hast fed them well.

VERS. 25.-- The meadows are open. The pastures of the heavenly sacraments are now open, etc., as far as given for spiritual support.

VERS. 26.-- The lambs are for thy clothing. Thou shalt be clothed with the fleeces of the lambs, while thou thyself as pastor hast profited by the good manners of obedient disciples, and, beholding their praiseworthy deeds, hast thyself stood forth glorious both in the adornment of the virtues and in the warmth of love. Thou purchasest a field with the kids, while, by calling sinners to penance, thou acquirest for thyself a more sublime place in the land of the living.

1111AVERS. 27.-- Let the milk of the goats suffice thee. With such instancy feed the flock committed to thee, etc., as far as the kids shall be delivered to the fires for the price of the saints whom they had harmed.

VERS. 1.-- The wicked man fleeth. He that is not strong, even if none pursue him, deserts the faith of his own accord: while by robberies, or by perjuries, and by others of this kind, he renders himself like to an unbeliever.

But the just, as a lion. At the onset of beasts he trembles not, etc., as far as which no man loses unwillingly.

VERS. 5.-- But they that seek. The elect observe all things, that is, both the future decision of the universal judgment; and by what works rest; and by what works eternal punishment is repaid.

1111BVERS. 10.-- He that deceiveth the just in my way, etc. [Vulg. Prov. 28:10 Qui decipit justos in via mala, "in an evil way"] He who by heretical doctrine deceives the lovers of justice, etc., as far as they take an example also from his fall.

VERS. 12.-- In the exultation, etc. Not concerning present things, etc., as far as which can be understood both of pagans, and of heretics, and of evil Catholics.

VERS. 14.-- Blessed is the man, etc. The anger of the judgment shall be borne the more strictly, by how much the less it is now feared.

VERS. 22.-- A man that maketh haste to be rich, etc. He that aspires to increase his riches neglects sin, and, caught after the manner of birds, while greedily he looks upon the earthly bait, does not recognize by what snare of sin he is being strangled: while he desires whatever goods of the world, he is ignorant what losses he suffers concerning the time to come.

1111CVERS. 28.-- When the wicked shall rise up. The same men, whom he calls just, because the just keep the order of creation: Whence in Job, of the penitent: He shall look upon men, and shall say, I have sinned (Job. XXXIII). Which is, He shall look upon those who keep the nature of human creation, and acknowledge that by sinning they have been made like to beasts.

VERS. 1.-- The man that with flattering, etc. He who praises his neighbour with feigned words prepares snares for him, into which, being the more secure, he may fall unto the peril of word or of deed. But let us see who is taken, for whom it is done, or who does it. There follows:

VERS. 6.-- A sinning man. Not for the just man therefore is the snare of sinners, etc., as far as for he that diggeth a pit 1111Dfor his neighbour shall fall into it.

VERS. 9.-- A wise man. A faithful and wise teacher, etc., as far as he is not heard by the fool.

VERS. 11.-- His whole spirit. When impatience drives, the whole spirit bursts forth without, etc., as far as but the wise man little by little weakens and expels it by the maturity of counsel.

VERS. 13.-- The poor man and the creditor have met. The poor man, etc., as far as whence, without me you can do nothing.

VERS. 18.-- When prophecy. When the erudition of the priest shall have ceased, the discipline of the divine law will straightway be dissolved: by which the people ought to have attained unto the rewards of beatitude.

1112AVERS. 20.-- Thou hast seen a man. The vice of folly is indeed grievous, but that of wordiness not lighter: for it often happens that some unlearned man receives the words of rebuke more quickly than he who boasts more of his own things (which he knows, or thinks he knows) than he hears the admonitions of others.

VERS. 21.-- He that liveth delicately from his childhood. [Vulg. Prov. 29:21 Qui delicate a pueritia nutrit servum suum, "he that nourisheth his servant delicately from childhood"] Another translation, beautifully: He that is pampered from his childhood shall be a servant: but at the last he shall be sorrowful. For he repents late of his evils who would not in tender age.

VERS. 22.-- An angry man. Anger is the gate of all the vices: which being shut, rest will be given to the virtues within, being opened, the mind will be armed unto every crime.

VERS. 24.-- He that is partaker with a thief hateth his own soul. Not only from sin, but even from consent 1112Bdoes wisdom teach us to abstain: lest he hear from the strict judge: If thou didst see a thief, thou didst run with him, etc. For not the thief alone, but he also is held guilty who, being privy to the theft, does not disclose it when the owner inquires. And lest he excuse himself by the fear of a more powerful person, he adds: He that feareth the Lord, etc. [Vulg. Prov. 29:25 Qui timet hominem cito corruet, "he that feareth man shall quickly fall"]

VERS. 1.-- The words of the gatherer. Thus far the parables of Solomon, which the men of Ezechias king of Juda copied out. From hence again the words of Solomon, which is discerned from the very name whereby in Greek he is ἐκκλησιαστής, in Latin congregans; for Ecclesia is a convocation.

The vision which. The vision which he spoke, because what he saw with God he laid open, by contemplating the more secret things, 1112Cto men. For whosoever is strengthened by the Spirit of God says with a humble heart the things that follow, I am the most foolish of men, etc.

VERS. 2.-- The most foolish. The children of this world are more prudent than the children of light in their generation (Luc. XVI). And the Apostle: If any man seem to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise (I Cor. III).

I have not learned from man, but, God giving it, that I may know the knowledge of the saints. And the Apostle: We are fools for Christ's sake: again he says, But we speak wisdom among the perfect. Yet wisdom not of men, [Vulg. 1 Cor. 2:6 sapientiam vero non hujus saeculi, "not the wisdom of this world"] namely neither of the princes of this world, who are brought to nought.

VERS. 4.-- Who hath ascended up into heaven. The Son of God after the resurrection, and at the time of our resurrection 1112Dis to descend unto judgment.

Who hath held in. Every spirit, of angels, of men, of living creatures and of storms, lest it fail, is held in by the power of God.

Who hath raised up all. And now God rouses all things which live and grow throughout the world, men, living creatures, seeds, that they may subsist by their own life: and in the day of judgment he will rouse the human race from death from the four winds.

What is his name, and what is the name of his son, he says the name of God the Father and of the Son: whose mystery secular knowledge could not naturally know, although it could understand by the things done that he is God who made all things.

1113AIf thou knowest: thou, namely, who, boasting of thy wisdom, callest the mysteries of our faith foolishness.

VERS. 5.-- Every word. The property of the Greek name, etc., as far as for all are true and fiery.

He is a buckler, that is, the protector of all that hope in him. A buckler against the snares of enemies and all adversities.

VERS. 7.-- Two things I have asked of thee. These things still the man, etc., as far as he fall into forgetfulness of eternal things.

VERS. 11.-- A generation that to its father. Above the purity of life, etc., as far as if he was born, there was a time when he was not a son.

VERS. 14.-- A generation that hath swords for teeth. This is that which strives to send its own perfidy into others; and as bodies with swords, so the hearers' 1113Bsouls it slays with the poison of its address.

VERS. 15.-- The horseleech hath two daughters. The devil, who burns perpetually with the thirst of persuading unto sins; Two daughters, which imitate his ardour, luxury and philargyria. For as to luxury, the more freely the reins are loosed to it, the more harmfully is it delighted; and The love of money grows, as much as the money itself grows.

Three things are insatiable. Hell never overflows; the harlot has the like. The body is not satisfied with delights, and the covetous man says not, It is enough; others say that hell is the devil, who is not satisfied with human seduction.

VERS. 16.-- The mouth of the womb, and the earth which is not filled with water, as above the fire, the burning of Gehenna, which never ceases.

1113CVERS. 17.-- The eye that mocketh. They who reprehend the divine judgments, etc., as far as who humbly confess the blackness of sin.

The young of the eagle: because they are born again through the grace of him who in the flesh flew over unto heaven, who elsewhere are called the children of the bridegroom.

VERS. 18.-- Three things are hard for me. So it is according to the letter, etc., as far as it is hard to know by how many thoughts that young man is driven who serves [deservit; read deserit, "forsakes"] the way of truth.

VERS. 20.-- Such is also the way of an adulterous woman. The adulterous mind also, like those things which he has recounted, is always wandering, and where it shall be able to hide its sins, denies that it has wrought any evil.

VERS. 24.-- Four: namely the just seem 1113Dlesser in the earth than the reprobate, that is, more abject; but nevertheless they are wiser than the wise of the world, because they seek eternal things, and desire to suffer for them.

VERS. 25.-- The ants, a feeble people. And the people of the Church, etc., as far as whereby it may live for ever.

VERS. 26.-- The little hare, others choerogryllus, etc., as far as but here some have the hedgehog for the little hare.

(HIERON.) For the Hebrew books have the word saphan, which they interpret to be a mouse and a choerogyllum and a hare and a hedgehog.

The little hare, etc. This is the common people of the Church, which is feeble, because it seeks not to avenge its own injuries, and because to hope for salvation not by its own strength, but in the help of God, it hath 1114Alearned, which is to have a couch in the rock, whence it says with the Psalmist: Be thou unto me a most strong rock, a house of defence, that thou mayest save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. [Vulg. Ps. 30:3–4 Esto mihi in Deum protectorem, et in domum refugii, ut salvum me facias… quoniam fortitudo mea et refugium meum es tu, "a God, a protector… a house of refuge"]

VERS. 27.-- The locust hath no king. The locust, etc., as far as nevertheless it is wont to serve Christ instantly in its own places, and to consume the buds of carnal pleasures.

VERS. 28.-- The stellio supporteth itself on hands. The stellio has not wings, etc., as far as the virtue of working lifts him unto the walls of the eternal kingdom that are to be obtained.

VERS. 29.-- There are three things which walk. Let it not move us, etc., as far as because in his own deceit Antichrist prospers for a time.

VERS. 31.-- A cock, namely the preachers, announcing the true morning amid the darkness of this world.

1114BAnd a ram. The first order of priests, etc., as far as after he was lifted up on high.

VERS. 33.-- But he that strongly presses the breasts, etc., as far as because that becomes carnal which is perceived by too much discussion.

And he that provoketh wrath, bringeth forth discords. He discloses what the former parable signifies according to the letter, etc., as far as draws forth blood.

VERS. 1.-- The words of Lamuel. Lamuel, in whom is God, etc., as far as he saw how prudently his mother had taught him.

VERS. 3.-- And thy riches. That is, be not willing to corrupt the hearts of men with earthly delights, etc., as far as through the enticements of the world they deserve to be rooted out of the land 1114Cof the living.

VERS. 4.-- Give not wine to kings. These things and the things that follow are plain according to the letter, etc., as far as carnal men search out.

VERS. 6.-- Give strong drink to them that mourn. Wine and strong drink, etc., as far as lest they who are of this sort be swallowed up by a more abundant sadness.

VERS. 8.-- Open thy mouth. For the cause of the poor man, etc., as far as but also to bestow the care of salvation upon all the nations throughout the world.

VERS. 9.-- Open thy mouth, judge. As for the cause of the poor man and for his deliverance he commanded the mouth to be opened, so, where he shall have erred, he admonishes to chastise and to judge justly. And Moses: Thou shalt not pity the poor man in judgment (Exod. XIII). Which both the Prophet says that the Lord does: But he shall judge the poor in justice, and 1114Dshall reprove with inequity for the meek of the earth. [Vulg. Isa. 11:4 sed judicabit in justitia pauperes, et arguet in aequitate pro mansuetis terrae, "in equity" — two words where Migne's line prints one]

VERS. 10.-- A strong woman. Thus far the words of king Lamuel, etc., as far as the virtues and the rewards be described.

Who shall find a strong woman. The strong woman is the holy Church, etc., as far as he granted to preach throughout the world, he added:

VERS. 11.-- The heart of her husband trusteth in her. The husband, the redeemer, etc., as far as when through the preachers he calls back to the truth those whom he had deceived.

And he shall have no need of spoils. Because the Church shall never cease to restore to the faith of Christ the souls deceived by the devil, until, the course of the world being finished, the number of the just be completed. But because whatsoever of good the holy Church 1115Aor the faithful soul does, it receives from above, it is rightly subjoined:

VERS. 12.-- She will render him good and not evil. The soul will render good to Christ, etc., as far as to which is like, let us serve him, etc.

VERS. 13.-- She hath sought. By what works, etc., as far as concerning this recompense it is more openly subjoined:

VERS. 14.-- She is become as a merchant's ship from afar. A sailor is called institor, because he presses on diligently to the acquiring of wares, etc., as far as of whom it is said: Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.

VERS. 15.-- By night. As the whole course of the present world, etc., as far as and to practise such things in secret.

She hath risen. When some faithful man girds himself solicitously to take 1115Bthe care of his neighbours. Which he does in two ways, because he both calls to the faith those who wander without; and those who are in the faith, that they may press on more in works; whence he subjoins:

And she hath given a prey to her household. He gives a prey to his household, when he reconciles those whom the devil snatched away to the fellowship of them that went before in the faith. He gives food to his handmaids, when he refreshes with the remembrance of the reward all the humble, and those keeping the commands through fear, lest they grow weary in godly labour.

VERS. 16.-- She hath considered. To-day and even to the end of the world the strong woman, etc., as far as what is the fulness of beatitude in the kingdom of God.

Of the fruit of her hands. Because from the fruit-bearing deeds of her own faithful ones, etc., as far as and she labours for them what 1115Cshe can.

VERS. 17.-- She hath girded. When she prepares herself for the works of the virtues, etc., as far as that you may shine with good works.

VERS. 18.-- She hath tasted and seen that it is good. Of that field, namely, etc., as far as so but also by night, the lamp being lighted, she works with her hands.

VERS. 19.-- She hath put out her hand. He means strong things, works perfected in charity, etc., as far as of whose strength it is said: The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away (Matth. XI).

And her fingers, he says, have taken hold of the spindle. The distaff 1115Din the left hand, the spindle in the right, etc., as far as but what the strong woman, namely the holy Church or the perfect soul, has wrought by the spindle; he subjoins:

VERS. 20.-- She hath opened her hand to the needy, and her palms. This concerning alms, etc., as far as when far 1116Aand wide she scattered preachers unto the nations that lack eternal salvation.

VERS. 21.-- She shall not fear. The colds of snow, etc., as far as because she believed God saying that the gates of hell shall not prevail against her (Matth. XVI).

For all her household are clothed with double garments, etc. With wisdom, namely, for the unmasking of heresies, and with patience for the bearing of the battles of open enemies, etc., as far as who is deservedly bound in the cold, because he had not the garment of piety.

VERS. 22.-- An embroidered garment. An embroidered garment is that which, with varying texture, is wont to be wrought most firm, etc., as far as for the fine linens are the justifications of the saints.

VERS. 23.-- Her husband is noble in the gates. The husband is the Lord 1116Bwho was seen to be ignoble, etc., as far as he shall appear sublime unto all.

VERS. 24.-- She made fine linen and sold it. In the cloth of fine linen, etc., as far as for the nations passed over from vices to virtues, from the devil to Christ.

VERS. 25.-- Strength. Strength for enduring, etc., as far as be thou strong against backbiters.

VERS. 26.-- Her mouth. For this only, in speaking, she opened her mouth, etc., as far as to each belongs that which he subjoins:

The law of clemency. That she may not punish at once, as the law of Moses, etc., as far as and so he absolved her: Go, and sin no more.

VERS. 27.-- She hath considered. Because she subtly searches out all the thoughts of her own conscience, etc., as far 1116Cas and ceases not to practise the things which she has learned are to be done.

She hath not eaten her bread idle. Because she fulfils in work the sacred word which she receives, etc., as far as not only idle, but wordy and curious.

VERS. 28.-- Her children rose up. Which he knew as a prophet was to come, etc., as far as but in the judgment he will show how great is the glory of his own resurrection.

VERS. 29.-- Many daughters have gathered together riches: thou hast surpassed them all. The Churches of the heretics, etc., as far as which with chaste faith and perfect work follows the footsteps of her Redeemer.

VERS. 30.-- Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain. 1116DThe glory of praise is deceitful, etc., as far as for he shows in what manner he praises her, Give her of the fruit.

VERS. 31.-- Give her of the fruit of her hands. This that husband, of whom it was said above, etc., as far as and with God approving and rewarding, to whom is honour and glory.