LIBER SAPIENTIAE

• 1167B

The book of Wisdom is nowhere to be found among the Hebrews. Whence its very style savours rather of Greek eloquence. The Jews affirm this book to be Philo's. It is accordingly named of Wisdom, because in it the coming of Christ, who is the wisdom of the Father, and his passion, are plainly set forth.

VERS. 1.-- Love justice, etc. (RAB. in lib. Sap., tom. III.) Jerome asserts that this book is not by Solomon, etc., as far as Love justice, etc. The earth. The flesh, that is: you restrain it with discernment, lest it grow proud against the spirit. As if to say: Seek ye first the kingdom of God (Matth. VI), etc. In simplicity. That is, subject yourselves to his will, and keep his commandments; 1167Cas if he should say: You who do not understand, do not find fault, because the secrets of God cannot be comprehended by human reason, because his judgments are incomprehensible, and his ways unsearchable (Rom. XI).

VERS. 4.-- For into a malicious soul, etc. That is, into the sensual man, according to that saying: The sensual man perceiveth not (I Cor. II), etc. And therefore he did not say "spirit," that is, a spiritual soul. (RAB.) In vain do philosophers, and heretics, and false Christians flatter themselves. For only the clean of heart can receive cipere the wisdom of God.

VERS. 6.-- Kind. He inveighs against those who say that thoughts both good and evil are sent in by God; whereas God will have all men to be saved, and to come to 1167Dthe knowledge of the truth. For he himself tempts no man in order to deceive, but in order to prove, whence: God tempted Abraham (Gen. XXII); and, Prove me and try me (Psal. XXV), etc. But every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, and by the just judgment of God he is permitted to fall who has refused to obey the spirit of truth.

VERS. 7.-- And that which containeth all things. That is, the Spirit, who governs and rules all things. Or, he who reacheth from end to end, hath knowledge of the voice, that is, he affords men the understanding of the Scriptures. Or, that which containeth all things, that is, man, who has something in agreement with every creature. Hath knowledge of the voice, that is, of divers tongues, by the Holy Spirit, who gave the apostles to speak the wonderful works of God in divers tongues. Or that which containeth all things, that is, the Holy Spirit, 1168Bwho fills all things with his essence, hath knowledge of the voice, that of the Word of God, that is, he is of the same knowledge with the Word. Or, this which containeth all things, that is, the Church, in which to another is given the word of knowledge, etc. (RAB.) Who in the beginning was borne over the waters, and with his majesty fills and contains every creature.

VERS. 8.-- For this cause. (RAB.) As the elect receive the gift of knowledge and of piety through the Spirit: so the reprobate, puffed up with their own pride, shamelessly put forth their error; since they cannot hide it from the Spirit of God, nor do they escape a just punishment: because as the eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears unto their prayers, so is the countenance of the Lord upon them that do evil things.

VERS. 11.-- Keep yourselves therefore. (RAB.) Murmurings and detractions are pernicious, whence: For whisperers 1168Cand detractors are hateful to God (Rom. I) [Vulg. Rom. 1:29–30 has these as items in a list of vices, susurrones, detractores, Deo odibiles, not as a proposition]; whence: He that detracteth from any thing bindeth himself for the time to come (Prov. XIII). The mouth that lieth. (ID.) There is a lie of lighter fault, etc., as far as and rewards the good itself.

VERS. 12.-- Be not zealous for death. (ID.) He has enumerated the things that are hurtful to man, etc., as far as but rather out of vice.

VERS. 16.-- And covenants. We have struck a league with death, and with hell we have made a pact.

VERS. 1.-- For they have said. (RAB.) The voice of the lost, etc., as far as and we shall be brought to nothing.

VERS. 2.-- For smoke. Truly we shall be nothing, 1168Dbecause smoke and breath is in our nostrils. [Vulg. Sap. 2:2 fumus flatus est, "breath is smoke," with no and] that is, in our body, that is, our body is compared to smoke and to breath, which rise together and fail together. And speech a spark. That is, the soul is comparable to a spark, which straightway becomes nothing, speech, I say, that is, the soul. To move our heart. That is, it quickens the body. And that it is so to be expounded he proves by what he adds. Because ashes being quenched, [Vulg. Sap. 2:3 qua extincta, cinis erit corpus nostrum, "which being quenched, our body shall be ashes"] and afterwards, the spirit shall be poured abroad

VERS. 10.-- Let us oppress. (RAB.) These things pertain generally to those, etc., as far as nor do they themselves obey the head, but blaspheme and find fault.

VERS. 17.-- Let us see. (RAB.) The like is said in the Gospel, where the chief priests and the Pharisees took counsel how they might deliver Jesus to death: and when he was set upon the cross they mocked him, saying: He saved others, himself 1169Ahowever, etc. If he be the king of Israel, let him now come down from the cross (Matth. XXVII), etc.

VERS. 20.-- By a most shameful death. By the cross, that is, which until the passion of Christ was the punishment of the guilty, and is now the trophy of victory.

VERS. 23.-- For God. That is, God is not the author of evils; for he created man unto immortality, who, consenting to the devil's suggestion, was made subject to the sentence of death.

VERS. 1.-- But the souls of the just. (RAB.) In the former chapter the sentence of the wicked was set forth, etc., as far as whence: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints (Psal. CXV).

1169BVERS. 7.-- Sparks. A spark does two things, namely, it swiftly changes a reed-bed, and it avenges.

VERS. 8.-- And the Lord shall reign. With whom his members also shall reign. Whence in Daniel: The kingdom and the power, and the greatness of the kingdom, which is above heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High (Dan. VII) [Vulg. Dan. 7:27 quae est subter omne caelum, detur, "which is under the whole heaven, let it be given"].

VERS. 11.-- Wisdom. (RAB.) Heretics may be noted in this sentence, etc., as far as but he shows that the working of the reprobate is worthy of everlasting malediction.

VERS. 13.-- For happy. (ID.) In the barren woman and in the eunuch the order of virgins may be understood, etc., as far as in the will of the mind, not in the weakness of the body.

VERS. 18.-- In the day of acknowledgment. That is, of judgment, when the elect, acknowledged by their judge, shall be 1169Cinvited to possess the kingdom; but the wicked shall be comforted by no hope of restoration, but, to be tormented for ever, shall be driven out from the sight of the sovereign king.

VERS. 1.-- O how beautiful is, etc. (RAB.) Having found fault with heretics and schismatics, he praises catholics, etc., as far as and therefore he says: With glory, etc.

VERS. 2.-- A reward surpassing. A reward given for a passing contest, which is greater than those contests and persecutions.

VERS. 3.-- But the multiplied brood of the wicked. He speaks by turns of catholics and of heretics, that he may show the praiseworthy wisdom of the one and the blameworthy craft of the other. Plantings. Since μόσχος in Greek is called vitulus in Latin: certain men 1169Ddid not understand that μοσκεύματα are plantings, and rendered them vitulamina: which error has taken possession of so many manuscripts that it is scarcely to be found written otherwise.

VERS. 7.-- The just man, etc. (RAB.) When he had spoken of the destruction of the wicked, etc., as far as they from life unto everlasting death.

VERS. 10.-- Pleasing God. (RAB.) God does not take him away for this cause, etc., as far as whence Peter, God knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, but to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be tormented (I Petr. I) [Vulg. 2 Petr. 2:9 Novit Dominus, "the Lord knoweth"].

VERS. 12.-- Bewitching. (ID.) By this sentence there is noted, etc., as far as for God separated them from the fellowship of the wicked, that he might hide them in the hiding of his face from the disturbance of men (Psal. XXX).

1170AVERS. 19.-- He shall burst them puffed up and speechless, because they shall be inexcusable: because when they had known God, they have not glorified him as God, or given thanks, but became vain in their depraved thoughts (Rom. I) [Vulg. Rom. 1:21 in cogitationibus suis, without pravis, "depraved"].

VERS. 1-7.-- Then, etc. We wearied ourselves, etc. (RAB.) The philosophers wearied themselves, etc., as far as whence they say, grieving, What hath pride profited us?

VERS. 9-12.-- As a shadow. (RAB.) By a shadow, the forgetfulness of the mind, etc., as far as which go before the setting of a corruptible life. (ID.) By a bird, excellence, etc., as far as groaning, they shall be relieved by no voice of consolation.

VERS. 14.-- Such things they said in hell, they that. 1170BHe introduces yet four other kinds, by which he shows the foolish hope of the wicked, whereby they reckon present things only by measure, or that they escape unpunished.

VERS. 15.-- It is down, which is taken away by the wind. Which, springing from the withered flower of the grasses, expresses the frailty of the flesh, which shall quickly be taken away by the wind of sickness, or by the trouble of the body, because all flesh is grass. And as a thin froth. Froth, brought forth out of the waters, swims upon the water. This is the appetite for human favour and for common boasting, which is dissolved by the storm of temptation or by the sifting of judgment, or is scattered abroad, that is, it is proved how vain it was.

VERS. 16.-- But the just shall live for evermore. (RAB.) After the punishments of sinners, etc., as far as of God they shall enjoy, in whom they have placed their whole hope.

1170CVERS. 18.-- He shall take armour. (RAB.) The Creator of all things, etc., as far as since they are not able to resist.

VERS. 22.-- And to a certain place. Wheresoever it is necessary: for that cannot be confused which has been ordered by the divine wisdom.

VERS. 23.-- And the rivers, that is, the commotions of persecutions, for very often the scourge of gathering breaks the hearts of the depraved which preaching does not soften.

Wisdom is better, etc. (RAB.) He admonishes the rulers of the Church, etc., as far as he will judge not only works, but knowledges and wills.

VERS. 7.-- For to the little one mercy is granted. To those, that is, who have sinned through ignorance, or frailty, or necessity, and by humble penance have 1170Dblotted it out. But the mighty mightily, etc., that is, they who, by despising the commandments of God, have committed grievous sins, and have not repented. For as they were the mightier in impiety, so shall they endure the stronger torments of hell. (ANAST.) For what cause, etc., as far as but to whom much, of him also much shall be required.

VERS. 8.-- For he will not except any man's person. Whence: God is not a respecter of persons, he judgeth every man according to his own ways (Act. X) [Vulg. Act. 10:34 ends at non est personarum acceptor Deus; the following clause stands nowhere in Acts, and is nearest Jer. 17:10].

VERS. 10.-- To you therefore, O kings, etc. His discourse to the mighty being ended, and their hardness rebuked with hard words; he turns his exhortation to the rulers of the Church, and extols wisdom with wonderful praises.

VERS. 12.-- Love them, etc., and you shall have discipline. He that loves wisdom keeps discipline in his manners. For he does not love wisdom who does not keep discipline. Whence: If you love me, keep my commandments (Joan. XIV).

VERS. 14.-- She preventeth them that covet her. Offering herself freely. For he himself is the way, the truth, and the life (Joan. XIV): through him one goes, unto him one strives, to him one attains.

VERS. 15.-- Her sitting by, etc. Ever ready, that is, to help, whence: Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man shall open to me, I will go in to him and will sup with him, and he with me (Apoc. III) [Vulg. Apoc. 3:20 si quis audierit vocem meam, et aperuerit mihi januam, intrabo ad illum, "if any man shall hear my voice and open to me the door, I will come in to him"]. In the present life wisdom must be studied, and life led according to the rule of her discipline.

1171BVERS. 22.-- If then you be delighted. (RAB.) He admonishes kings, etc., as far as he shall obtain the crown of the heavenly kingdom.

VERS. 25.-- Neither will I go with pining envy. Envy does not have fellowship with wisdom, because through the envy of the devil death entered into the world, and through wisdom the human race is delivered from it.

VERS. 27.-- Receive therefore. (RAB.) Wisdom, about to show, etc., as far as they are said to be the more perfect and both healing and life-giving.

VERS. 5.-- For none of the kings. (RAB.) He shows that every man, etc., as far as as he is perfect God, so also is Jesus Christ perfect man.

VERS. 9.-- Neither did I compare, etc. Whence: Having found 1171Cone precious pearl, he sells all things and buys it. For he who truly finds heavenly wisdom, that is, the word of God, despises all the profits of the present life, philosophy, eloquence, and strives to be at leisure for the divine contemplation.

VERS. 11.-- There came, etc. (RAB.) Solomon, having proved this, etc., as far as whence also the sun is so named, because it alone among the stars shines in the day.

VERS. 15.-- The guide of wisdom itself. [Vulg. Sap. 7:15 ipse sapientiae dux est, "he himself is the guide of wisdom"] (RAB.) God the Father of the incarnate Son, to whom he gave all power in heaven and on earth.

VERS. 17.-- For he. (RAB.) Of Solomon the Scripture says, God gave, etc., as far as for he enlightens every man that cometh into this world, whom he that followeth walketh not in darkness 1171D(Joan. I)

VERS. 22-24.-- For in her is the spirit of understanding, holy, etc. (RAB.) As Isaias shows, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit exist in the humanity of the Saviour, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge hidden, and the fulness of the Godhead, to whom the spirit is not given by measure. (ID.) The Spirit who fills all things is said to be at once movable and stable. For man runs about everywhere, everywhere comes to meet one, and suddenly, where he is not thought to be, is found. Therefore the almighty Spirit, that he may be marked as everywhere present, is said to be at once stable and movable. (ID.) Whence: The brightness of glory and the figure of his substance (Heb. I), ruling all things by his word, etc., as far as in time the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

• 1172A

VERS. 1.-- She reacheth from end. That is, from the beginning of the world unto the coming of Christ she mightily asserts wondrous works and sincere testimonies through the Old Testament, and from the incarnation of the Word unto the end of the world she sets forth the sweetness of the Gospel. From end therefore unto end she reacheth mightily, because she works perfectly everywhere: for "end" signifies perfection.

VERS. 3.-- She glorifieth the fellowship, that is, she represents the nobility of him, namely of the Father, who is coeternal and co-omnipotent with her, or it may be read partly of the temporal nativity, partly of the eternal. She has the fellowship of God. That is, the humanity in which God dwells, who is the wisdom of the Father. Or she glorifieth the nobility of him, that is, of God the Father, that is, she is of the same essence 1172Bwith the Father, begotten of him from eternity, born in time of a mother.

VERS. 4.-- For she is the teacher of discipline. Of his fulness we all have received: through whom grace and truth was made, that is, revealed. No man hath ever seen God, but the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him (Joan. I) [Vulg. Joan. 1:18 unigenitus Filius, "the only-begotten Son"].

VERS. 7.-- And her labours. For there is nothing slothful in her works. Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever modest, whatsoever just, she does, and commits to her own to be done. For sobriety and wisdom. [Vulg. Sap. 8:7 sobrietatem enim et prudentiam docet, "for she teacheth sobriety and prudence"] (RAB.) He who is temperate, etc., as far as and he gave her to Jacob his servant.

VERS. 11.-- Admirable. The Virgin's offspring was to all men 1172Cone to be wondered at, because he came forth unto the resurrection and the ruin of many, who stands for a sign of the peoples, over whom kings shall shut their mouth, whom the nations shall beseech.

VERS. 16.-- Entering into the house. (RAB.) After preaching, after the labour of work, by which the saints afford comfort to their hearers, returning to themselves they are at leisure for divine contemplation, where they find the rest of the sweetness above. (ID. ex Greg. ) Bodily delights, etc., as far as whence David: Taste and see that he is sweet (Psal. XXXIII), etc. (ORIG.) He who opens the mouth of the dumb, etc., as far as but justice, in that he is the distributor and the judge of merits.

VERS. 19.-- And I was a child, etc. (RAB.) Solomon in his boyhood had asked wisdom of God, and that he might rightly 1172Djudge the people, and discern between good and evil: he was made therefore most wise, and seems to have obtained a good soul, who had a wise and understanding heart. But how does that agree with him which is said:

VERS. 20.-- I came to a body undefiled, etc., since he loved a woman of a strange nation, and built idols? It seems therefore to agree rather with the people of the saints, which has been regenerated in baptism, and, steeped in the faith of the Saviour, has received the boyhood of its good disposition and of a simple innocence, and with all its endeavours has striven to come to the summit of the virtues: whence there follows: And when I was yet more good, etc. The Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son. They that imitate him are made his members.

• 1173A

VERS. 7.-- But thou hast chosen, etc. (RAB.) David, because a man, etc., as far as the power and the wisdom of God, and the image of the invisible God.

VERS. 13.-- For what man. He wonders at the excellence of God. As if: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! (Rom. XI.) And, Who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counsellor? (Isa. XL.)

VERS. 17.-- But the sense. No man knows the things that are done in the heart of a man but the spirit of a man, and no man knows the things that are of God but the Spirit of God. But the Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God, who enlightens the hearts of the saints.

1173BVERS. 1.-- She kept him who was first formed. (RAB.) The first man, created by the goodness of God, set in paradise, preferred before all living things: he was cast down through the transgression of the commandment into the miseries of this world; and that he was restored through the wisdom of God, that is, through Christ, is a great token of the divine mercy.

VERS. 3.-- The unjust man in his wrath. As Cain, who slew his brother unjustly, the vengeance for which crime was discharged in the flood, and the generation of Cain blotted out: but the wisdom of God preserved Noe, of the stock of Seth, with his sons in the ark, for the restoring of the world.

VERS. 5.-- She also, in the consent of pride, etc. [Vulg. Sap. 10:5 in consensu nequitiae, "in the consent of wickedness"] (RAB.) The devil through pride, etc., as far as the humility of Christ has united.

VERS. 6.-- She delivered the just man, etc. Hence Peter says: 1173CThe city of the Sodomites and of the Gomorrhites, reducing it into ashes, he condemned with overthrow; setting them for an example of those that should act impiously, and delivered just Lot, oppressed by the injuries of the wicked, and by their riotous manner of life (II Petr. II), etc. Lot's wife, looking back, was turned into a statue of salt, that we who through the grace of God have been called unto life should not look back upon the old man, remaining in the middle of the way. Turned into a statue of salt she salts others, whence: Remember Lot's wife (Luc. XVII), that is, that we should not be negligent like fools, but should beware prudently.

VERS. 8.-- For wisdom, etc. But she, etc. Jacob, fleeing from Esau his brother, came to Laban his uncle, and on the way saw in a dream a ladder set up, and the angels of God ascending and 1173Ddescending, and the Lord himself leaning upon the ladder and saying to him: I am the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land wherein thou sleepest I will give to thee and to thy seed (Gen. XXVIII). And coming into Mesopotamia he took Lia and Rachel, for whom he long fed the sheep of Laban. And Laban wished fraudulently to cheat him of his wages. But by the wisdom of God Laban was stripped, and Jacob enriched, and returned with much wealth. But mystically these things pertain to the martyrs, whom the mercy of Christ delivered from their persecutors, strengthening them with the grace of the Holy Spirit and with the hope of the reward to come; and at last, their enemies overcome, it led them through to the kingdom of heaven, to the praise and glory of his own name.

VERS. 13.-- She forsook not the just man that was sold, etc. (RAB.) 1174AMystically the Wisdom of God rescued the martyrs out of persecutions, and exalted them in the heavenly kingdom. Whence they shall come with Christ as judges of their enemies.

VERS. 15.-- She delivered the just people. (RAB.) Mystically. God delivers his elect from their persecutors, etc., as far as to the rewards of the kingdom, where they perpetually sing praises to their deliverer.

VERS. 21.-- Because wisdom, etc. Without the wisdom of God neither can the human mind worthily think anything, nor the mouth utter it: from him therefore both wisdom and eloquence must be sought.

VERS. 1.-- She hath spoken the works, etc. [Vulg. Sap. 11:1 Direxit opera eorum, "she directed their works"] (RAB.) The Christian people follows prophecy 1174Bthrough the desert of this world, that it may come to the fatherland of the heavenly kingdom; whence Peter: We have the prophetic word, whereunto you do well to attend, as to a light shining in a dark place (II Petr. I) [Vulg. 2 Petr. 1:19 firmiorem propheticum sermonem, "the more sure word of prophecy," and no loco], etc.

VERS. 4.-- Out of the highest rock, etc. And the rock was Christ, who, struck by the rod of the cross, which was in their hands, that is, in the writings of the prophets, poured forth living water.

VERS. 5.-- For by what things they suffered punishments, etc. (RAB.) The benefits being recalled, etc., as far as whether therefore they suffer, or not, it is glory to them.

VERS. 10.-- For when they were tried. (RAB.) God chastised the sinning Israelites with worthy plagues, and comforted them when they repented, the Egyptians and the Chanaanites, as unworthy of mercy, he destroyed. Torments, etc. 1174CFrom Pharao, that is, wheresoever they were. Or, not so much were these punished whom the Israelites destroyed with a recent slaughter through the several cities; but all the Chanaanites also who heard of the victory of the people of God; whence Rahab says: Your terror is fallen upon us (Jos. II), etc. But mystically, the Jews, who despised the incarnation of the Son of God and his preaching, wandering over the whole earth and as fugitives pro fugi, are afflicted with divers slaughters. But the Gentiles, converted to the faith and receiving a father's correction, do not depart from the mercy of God: so that they who had been at the head are at the tail, and the contrary.

VERS. 13.-- A double, etc. The remembrance of past evils is not lessened, and the tempest of present ones is increased. Whence neither have they hope of a remedy, because, feigning penance, they are not zealous for amendment; 1174Dwhence: When he slew them, they sought him, and they loved him (Psal. LXXVII) [Vulg. Ps. 77:34 quaerebant eum et revertebantur, et diluculo veniebant ad eum, "they sought him and returned, and came to him early in the morning"], etc.

VERS. 15.-- Not in like manner as the just, etc. Because they do not sin in like manner. For the just man falls seven times, and rises again: but the wicked, when he has come into the depth of evils, contemneth.

VERS. 16.-- For that some, going astray, etc. (RAB.) It was fitting, etc., as far as for their whole intention is to persecute the human race, and to torment it in all ways.

VERS. 21.-- But all things in measure, etc. (RAB.) Because all things according to truth, etc., as far as when the hidden things of darkness shall be enlightened, and the counsels of hearts shall be revealed.

1175AVERS. 23.-- The weight of a balance, etc. Isaias says the like: Behold the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are reckoned repulatae as the weight of a balance (Isa. XL); for he would have it understood that the mind, and the reason, and the sense of the Lord, through whom all things were made and without whom nothing was made, is he of whom it is said: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established (Psal. XXXII), etc. All the nations which have not known their creator, in comparison of God are as a drop of a bucket, and as the weight of a balance which is lightly turned down, and as a drop of the morning dew (Sap. XI), which is dried up at the first sight of the sun aspectusolis. Or, as the drop of a bucket, if it flows away it is despised or neglected by him that carries it: so the multitude of the nations, compared with the heavenly splendour, with the mysteries above, and with the multitude of angels, is reckoned as nothing.

1175BVERS. 25.-- For thou lovest, etc. A good workman both loves and rules his own work: and if a man sometimes sins, he bears with him in much patience, and through penance turns him to better things. Whence: He maketh his sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and raineth upon the just and the unjust (Matth. V); but the impenitent are condemned by a just judgment: For the Lord is just, and hath loved justice (Psal. X).

O how good and sweet, etc. Through those whom thou fillest, or through others whom thou shalt will; whence: He shall convince the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment (Joan. XVI).

VERS. 3.-- For those ancient inhabitants. (RAB.) He speaks historically, etc., as far as the virtues, with 1175Cthe Holy Spirit helping, shall bring forth useful fruits.

VERS. 12.-- For who shall say, etc. (RAB.) He shows by manifest reason that the Creator is not to be contradicted, if he disposes his own creature according to his own will: because all things are placed in his will, and there is none who can resist him. He is just in all his ways (Psal. CXLIV) [Vulg. Ps. 144:17 Justus Dominus in omnibus viis suis, "the Lord is just in all his ways"]; whence there follows, Since therefore thou art just (Rom. IX), etc.

VERS. 16.-- For thy power, etc. Because the judgment of God, whether in the correction of the elect or in the damnation of the wicked, is the perfection of the highest equity: and therefore through his goodness, by long deferring, he suspends judgment, that he may have the more to whom he may render a benefit. For when a creature raises itself against the Creator it is punished with a just vengeance, that it may know itself the lower. 1175DThese things may be referred to the passion of Christ, whom the Father delivered unto death for us, and made him, who had not known sin, to be sin for us: who, unless he had undergone an undeserved death, would not have freed us from the death we deserved. The Father therefore, being just, in punishing the just one disposes all things justly. Almighty God judges all things with the highest tranquillity: yet human affections and members are ascribed to him by a figurative manner of speech, that the divine utterances may be conformed to our capacity. For there are read in the Scriptures: the eyes of the Lord, ears, hands, mouth, feet, anger, fury, and the like, whereas a simple nature never admits variety, nor true unity division. But one and the same works manifold and diverse things: Whence: Thou shalt change them, and 1176Athey shall be changed: but thou art the selfsame, and thy years (Psal. CI), etc. And elsewhere: I am God, and I change not (Mal. III) [Vulg. Mal. 3:6 Ego enim Dominus, et non mutor, "for I am the Lord, and I change not"]. And elsewhere: With whom there is no change (Jac. I), etc. And thou hast taught thy people: through the wondrous works of God the faithful are instructed, that they be not entangled with the wicked; but that they may study to keep themselves undefiled by confessing, and by hoping in the Lord, and may not neglect the time of penance.

VERS. 15.-- Since therefore, etc. Whence: Many are the scourges of the sinner, but mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord (Psal. XXXI). There is a great distance between the judgment of the elect and that of the reprobate. Those the Lord chastises, that he may amend them; these pay the penalties of pride and of perfidy, that they may know that they cannot fight back against the ruler of all. Happy the judge who always looks upon the mercy and the goodness 1176Bof his own judge. For judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy. (Jac. II).

VERS. 23.-- Senselessly, etc., that they who would not acknowledge and honour the Creator, being worthily delivered up to a reprobate sense, should do those things which are not fitting, dishonouring their own bodies in themselves: Because they changed the truth of God into a lie, and served the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. I).

VERS. 26.-- But they that by mockeries, etc. That is, they who, being scourged by God, were not corrected, have experienced a condemnation fully deserved: to this end God chastises, that he may amend. But he who, ungrateful and impatient, murmurs, is led from temporal torment to eternal.

VERS. 27.-- For in these things, etc. (RAB.) The Gentile world, 1176Cwhile it served idols, etc., as far as he inflicts eternal punishment upon the uncorrected.

VERS. 1.-- Knowledge. Fear, that is, and reverence. Whence: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. For he departs from evil who departs from the worship of idols: he fears God who keeps his commandments: because The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding to all that do it (Psal. CX). From these works, that is, of man, they were able to know the good workman, who properly is, because he is unchangeable and always the same, always abiding in himself, and rules all things. Most vain therefore is the vanity of men, who venerate creatures instead of the Creator. Nor 1176Dby the works. Some worshipped fire, which they called Vulcan; others the ether or the air, which they called Jupiter and Juno; others the excess of water, that is, Neptune; others the circle of the stars, men who distributed the positions and the course of the stars among the various figures of animals; others the sun, which they called Phoebus; others the moon, that is, Diana. (RAB.) They sin in two ways, etc., as far as in which the covetousness of man is condemned.

VERS. 6.-- But yet, etc. Hence Paul says: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all the impiety of those who detain the truth of God in injustice; because that which is known nolum of God is manifest in them (Rom. I) [Vulg. Rom. 1:18 super omnem impietatem, et injustitiam hominum eorum, "against all the impiety and injustice of those men"], etc. The knowledge of God is perceived from the fabric of the world. For that the invisible God might be known from invisible things [invisibilibus; read visibilibus, "from visible things"], 1177Aa work was made by him which should manifest the workman, that he should be understood to be the God of all who made this thing, which others cannot make. But when they had known him, they glorified him not as God, but became vain in their thoughts (RAB.)

VERS. 10.-- Unhappy, etc. They, that is, who honour gods that they may drink in gold with their eyes, and the sheen of polished marble or of ivory, or garments notable with gems and with colours: and the more adorned the temples are, and the fairer the images, the more of majesty they have, or are said to have. Religion therefore is, or is believed to be, that which human covetousness admires.

VERS. 11.-- Or if any artificer. (RAB.) Wisdom insults over these, etc., as far as Whose God is their belly, and their glory is in their confusion (Philip. III).

• 1177B

VERS. 1.-- Again, another purposing to sail, etc. These things also are said against idolatry. For it is the greatest madness that a man brought forth to the image of God, having from him a reasonable mind, by which he devised how he might cross the waves, building a ship according to the skill of his art, should not honour him who gave him this knowledge, and should call upon an idol which he has formed by a like art and with a greater vanity. For since he who has made is greater than that which is made, to adore one's own handiwork is to be mad. From God the course of sailing must be sought, from whom is the equipping of the ship. But heretics, who feign the vain images of their errors, perish in the waves of the world for this cause, that they have forsaken the ship of the Church, 1177Cand God the pilot.

VERS. 3.-- For thou hast given. The power of God led the Israelites through the Red Sea dry-shod, and divided the waters of the Jordan, that it might strike terror into the nations that were to be destroyed, for the faithful also, amid the waves and the persecutions of the world, it prepares a path of faith and of constancy, that they may pass over unhurt, nor is there need of human solace where God shows the wondrous effects of his power.

VERS. 5.-- But that they might not be void, etc. The Creator gave knowledge to his creature, whereby it might take counsel for itself in the present, that it might serve his will. Whence he commanded Noe to make an ark, in which he himself and his offspring should be saved, and the rest of the living creatures reserved for the restoring of the world, when the human race for its iniquity 1177Dshould be blotted out by the flood; whence Peter: Wherein a few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water: which also we now, of like form, baptism hath saved (Petr. III) [Vulg. 1 Petr. 3:21 Quod et vos nunc, "which also you now"], etc. The ark, built of planed timbers, signifies the Church, which is made of the gathering of the faithful, by the craftsmanship of the preachers. A few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water while the world perished: because in comparison with the reprobate the number of the elect is small. For they are few who find the way of life. The water of the flood slew those placed outside, because, though a heretic have the sacrament of baptism, those very waters drown him to hell which lifted the ark to heaven. The number eight also signifies the Church, in that in the sacrament of the Lord's resurrection it receives the laver 1178Aof baptism. That, as he himself rose from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also, washed with the water of regeneration, may walk in newness of life. Hence Jeremias: Every man is become a fool by his own knowledge, the maker is confounded in the graven thing: because his founder is a liar, and there is no spirit in them. For their works are vain, and worthy of laughter, and in the time of visitation they shall perish (Jerem. X) [Vulg. Jer. 10:14 confusus est artifex omnis in sculptili, quoniam falsum est quod conflavit, "every artificer is confounded in the graven thing, for what he hath cast is false"].

VERS. 8.-- And he that made it. The image and the worship of false gods. For the devil shall be punished on this account, that he usurps to himself divine honour; and man too, who honours the creature instead of the Creator. And wood often signifies man. Blessed therefore is the man who speaks and does the truth. But the heretic, who worships his own fictions, is accursed, and given over to perdition, and so is his work, that is, his doctrine.

1178BVERS. 11.-- For this cause. There is no pardon to be given to idols, or to those that dwell in them, that is, to demons, because they draw back retrabunt from him men made to the image of God, and overthrow them in the snare of error. Heretics also, who seduce men, shall not escape a strict judgment.

VERS. 12.-- The beginning. For it is the worst kind of fornication, by which the soul departs from God and commits fornication with idols, or forsakes the truth of the divine teaching and follows the falsehood of heretical depravity, or of opinion. Hence Paul calls covetousness the service of idols. Whence it is plain that every evil concupiscence is called fornication, by which the soul, having left the higher law, is corrupted by the pleasure of lower things, being laid low or prostituted for the base wage, as it were, of natures.

1178CVERS. 13.-- For not, etc. [Vulg. Sap 14:13 neque enim] May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips, and all that speak lies (Psal. XI) [Vulg. Ps. 11:4 et linguam magniloquam, "and the tongue that speaketh proud things"; the second clause here is Ps. 5:7, perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium]. Hence Jeremias: Let the gods that have not made heaven and earth perish from the earth (Jer. XI), etc.; (LACT. t. I). Because of the folly of men, etc., as far as they bestowed divine honours upon their parents, and commanded them to be bestowed.

VERS. 21.-- The incommunicable name. The incommunicable name, that is, of almighty God; who alone is incomprehensible, they ascribed to senseless and frail matter, or to an image.

VERS. 23.-- For either they sacrifice their own sons. As in the rites of Saturn, to whom, because of his hatred of Jupiter, without regard of piety 1178Dthey immolated their own little ones, and to Bellona the priests themselves sacrificed with their own blood. Whence Quintilian: That, says he, if God compels it, he is angry: and if he is angry, he does not accept your sacrifices. Or dark sacrifices. As they did in the rites of Isis of Egypt, and of Ceres of Eleusis. For as there Osiris is sought with the wailing of his mother, so here Proserpine, carried off, is sought for the incestuous marriage of her uncle Pluto. And because Ceres is said to have sought her in Sicily with torches kindled from Aetna, therefore her rites were celebrated with the tossing of burning brands. In like manner they rave in the rites of father Liber, and of the great mother, where after the example of the gods (who, being sated in the festivity, spent the whole night in debaucheries) they play. Because by lust and by uncleanness they thought to please their own gods.

1179AVERS. 25.-- All things mingled together. For all things were confused: there was no reason there, no true religion. The more wicked a man was, the more he thought he pleased his own god.

VERS. 27.-- For of the unspeakable. There is no greater madness than to forsake the living God and to serve the dead. For when the mind turns itself away from its creator, it is entangled in all crimes. For the beginning of all sin is pride (Eccli. X). The end. The consummation and the fulness. For as to those who worship an idol instead of God, all things in them are reputed unto sin.

VERS. 28.-- For either they are mad while they rejoice. Because, while they swear, they defile the name of God, who says: Thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain, and by the name of strange gods you shall not swear (Exod. XX) [Vulg. Exod. 20:7 nomen Domini Dei tui, "the name of the Lord thy God"; the second clause is Exod. 23:13, per nomen externorum deorum non jurabitis]; but when they think that they mock 1179BGod, they cast themselves headlong into everlasting death. But heretics, worshipping the images of their own errors, become the cause of their own perdition, whose doctrine also is false, their life unjust, their joy insane, their death unspeakable: because, when they swear unjustly by an idol, and do not hope in their own God, therefore they shall receive the vengeance of their own deserts. Whence there follows: For the power is not of them that swear. [Vulg. Sap. 14:31 Non enim juratorum virtus, "for it is not the power of the things sworn by"]

VERS. 1.-- But thou, etc. (RAB.) For those condemned by a just judgment, repenting too late, acknowledge what before they were unwilling to believe; whence: The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgments, the sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands (Psal. IX); whence John: He that hath hope in him sanctifieth, even as he also is holy: 1179Cand every one that abideth in him sinneth not (I Joan. III) [Vulg. 1 Joan. 3:3 sanctificat se, "sanctifieth himself"].

VERS. 3.-- For to know thee, etc. It is the receiving of incorruption, and in the world to come of contemplation; whence: For this is life everlasting, that they may know thee the true God (Joan. XVII) [Vulg. Joan. 17:3 ut cognoscant te, solum Deum verum, "that they may know thee, the only true God"], etc.

VERS. 4.-- For not into error. He speaks in the person of the faithful, who, fortified by the grace of God, did not mingle themselves with the iniquity or the idolatry of the Gentiles: because that labour is without the fruit of justice, and deserves everlasting death.

VERS. 6.-- Lovers of evil things, etc. Let them that make them become like unto them, and all such as trust in them (Psal. CXXXIV). The inventors also of false doctrines, and their worshippers, are worthy of death. For God shall destroy the man that shall have done these things, that is, the master and 1179Dhis disciple. Above he reproved idols of wood, of stone, or of brass, now he condemns also those of clay. For it was justly requited to them; that they who were made of earth, because they were unwilling to follow the better part of themselves, that is, the soul, created to the image of God for the marking of the living God; should, by imitating the baser part of themselves, that is, the earthly body, adore a god of mud, and, without the fruit of good work, should be rendered senseless and useless to the insensible earth out of which they were taken. But mystically, heretics and schismatics, who detain the truth of God in injustice, and worship a lie for the truth in the images of their own teaching, although they cloak it with eloquence or with a feigned virtue, yet the things they feign are frail and of clay.

1180AVERS. 10.-- Their heart is ashes, [Vulg. Sap. 15:10 Cinis est enim cor ejus, "for his heart is ashes," in the singular] and their thought is foul, and their life viler than mire; because they know not their maker, and become vain in their own thoughts. But they despise the understanding of the holy fathers, and feign new errors, like vain games, for human favour and earthly gain; erring, that is, and sending others into error, that they may be inexcusable: when God shall judge the hidden things of hearts, and shall render to every one according to his works.

VERS. 13.-- For he knoweth, etc. Heretics have no excuse; because they sin knowingly, while they will not follow the sound faith and right doctrine: following rather the earthly and frail understanding than the spiritual.

VERS. 17.-- He is better. Because man is better 1180Bthan idols by the reckoning of creation; because he lives and understands, but they never do. But because he follows the vanity of error rather than the knowledge of truth, when he is in honour he understandeth not: and is compared to senseless beasts (Psal. XLVIII) [Vulg. Ps. 48:21 cum in honore esset, non intellexit. Comparatus est jumentis insipientibus, in the past tense].

VERS. 18.-- Senseless. As if: neither had they discernment. For in truth living things are better than dead, things that feel than things that feel not, rational than irrational. But it was fitting that they who were ignorant of the Creator should not know the distinction among creatures. For he who neglects to have the praise and blessing of God in himself shows that he himself errs in the discernment of animals.

1180CVERS. 2.-- Instead of which, etc. (RAB.) The people of Israel in the desert lusted after flesh, etc., as far as therefore they were justly delivered over to them to be tormented.

VERS. 6.-- But not for ever. (RAB.) For not the brazen serpent, etc., as far as because, dead through his humanity, he is as it were brazen through his Divinity.

VERS. 9.-- For them, etc. The elect are proved through affliction, and are warned to beware of sins and to do good things. The reprobate are scattered, because they are not corrected. Therefore little creatures kill idolaters. But serpents cannot destroy the Israelites, the worshippers of God; because the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation: but to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be tormented.

VERS. 12.-- But thy word, O Lord. That is, 1180Dthe Son, through whom are all things, whose power is everywhere, who has done all things whatsoever he willed; he heals bodies, he saves souls from spiritual beasts.

VERS. 14.-- But man killeth. (CHRYS.) Man through malice, etc., as far as he is free from every crime.

VERS. 16.-- For denying to know, etc. [Vulg. Sap. 16:16 Negantes enim te nosse impii, "for the wicked, denying to know thee"] (RAB.) The Egyptians were afflicted with divers plagues, etc., as far as because all things consent to the will of the Creator.

VERS. 18.-- For at one time. (RAB.) As is read in Genesis: The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha fire and brimstone, that he might destroy the impious: and in Exodus, hail together with fire. In the book of Numbers: He sent fiery serpents against 1181Athe murmurers, that the impious might know that every creature is ready to avenge the injury of the Creator.

VERS. 20.-- Instead of which, etc. (RAB.) In the desert manna was given to the children of Israel, etc., as far as Many are the scourges of the sinner, but mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord (Psal. XXXI).

VERS. 24.-- For the creature, etc. (RAB.) Let sinners be confounded here: who, whereas the other creatures serve their maker, themselves fight against him. Whence they are scourged by the concord of all creatures: and if they shall not have repented, they shall be tormented perpetually; but for the good, true good things are prepared.

VERS. 25.-- For this cause, etc. (RAB.) God rained manna from heaven, etc., as far as as a transgressor of the law he shall perish for ever.

1181BVERS. 28.-- That it might be known to all, etc. (RAB.) That food fed them historically, etc., as far as but at the rising of the sun, that is, of Christ, let us say: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

VERS. 1.-- For great. (RAB.) Mystically. All the persecutors of the Church of Christ suffer the darkness of their own crimes, nor can they ever be secure, whom the rulers of these darknesses harass, even unto the exterior darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; whence: Every one that doth evil hateth the light (Joan. III), etc. Hence Paul: You were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord (Ephes. V), etc.

VERS. 4.-- For neither. For horror always 1181Caccompanies darkness: and the less a man discerns the things that are about him, the more he fears, trembling at adversities on every side. So the Egyptians for three days suffered the greatest darkness, which neither sun nor stars were able to lighten, and wherever unicunque they lay they trembled with excessive terror; but as to what he says. That sad apparitions terrified them, it could be that demons obtruded certain phantasms, who would terrify them for the increase of their punishments. The persecutors also of the faith and of the truth vertitatis the darkness of sins encompasses, because they know not the sun of justice, nor do preachers enlighten them with the brightness of doctrine. These also a sound coming down, that is, a heavenly threatening, disturbs, and sad apparitions, that is, demons, who shall one day torture them, terrify; nor yet do they perform penance fruitfully: but despairing they treasure up 1181Dto themselves wrath in the day of judgment.

VERS. 6.-- Full of fear. Because on every side they dreaded punishments. For the heavier the pains are, the greater the horrors that are feared.

And of the magic art, etc. (RAB.) When the magicians in Egypt, etc., as far as and the old serpent with his angels, a savage enemy, patiently.

VERS. 9.-- And the air, etc. (RAB.) He marks the excess of fear which they suffer when punishments are imminent and conscience accuses them, but since wickedness is always fearful, it gives a token of its own dread, and is condemned to punishment.

VERS. 11.-- A betraying, etc. Fear, that is, betrays the weakness of the proud man, who with a vain hope of helps 1182Aexalts himself in his thinking, when he hopes that he can do what he cannot, or could not, accomplish: and while his strength is the less, the force of the things which he suffers from without makes him think the power to be greater, this happens frequently in the persecutors of the faithful, who reckon themselves powerful when they torment the saints, overcome by their power, saddened by the straitness of their mind, they acknowledge that they cannot do what they desired, and that the fortitude of God is greater, who thus conquers in his own soldiers.

VERS. 13.-- But they, etc. (RAB.) The Egyptians, that is, encompassed with the horror of the darkness, etc., as far as they dreaded it as dangerous.

VERS. 19.-- For the whole world. As if: the impious were in darkness, but wherever the children of Israel dwelt, there was light.

1182BVERS. 20.-- An image of darkness. Spiritual darkness is heavier than bodily: because it leads men to the exterior darkness, where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, which the Egyptian darkness prefigures. For as bodies there are useful for no good work: so here also souls together with bodies are condemned to an everlasting prison; where there is neither reason, nor place, nor time for working.

VERS. 1.-- But to thy holy ones Santis. (RAB.) The Israelites in Egypt, etc., as far as he protects them in prosperity and in adversity.

VERS. 4.-- Worthy indeed, etc. (RAB.) Deservedly did the Egyptians suffer the punishment of darkness, etc., as far as the reason of which mystery was prefigured in the ancient fathers, and 1182Cwas fulfilled in the coming of Christ.

VERS. 9.-- For they sacrificed secretly. (RAB.) The people of Israel in Egypt celebrated the Pasch at the command of the Lord, etc., as far as but in the hiding of the heart they always sacrifice to the Lord, whence: A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit (Psal. L). And elsewhere: In me, O God, are thy vows (Psal. LV), etc. (ID.) He records that God smote the firstborn of Egypt, where the Egyptians did not dissemble as before, but openly compelled the people of God to go out, saying: We shall all die (Exod. XI).

VERS. 15.-- Thy almighty word. The Son, of whom it is said: In the beginning was the Word (Joan. I), etc., he is here named the arm and the right hand: because of the effective power of the divine strength, he then through an angel's 1182Dministry executed his judgments upon the firstborn of the Egyptians; and he afterwards sanctified to himself the firstborn of the Hebrews. Now also through the water of baptism he saves the multitude of believers, and slays the multitude of spiritual enemies.

VERS. 19.-- Visions. (RAB.) This belongs to the divine goodness, which chastises sinners that they may abstain and do penance. But if they abuse the patience of God, they shall be punished for ever without excuse.

VERS. 20.-- But then it touched the just also. (RAB.) He records, etc., as far as through whom we may be able to escape destruction.

VERS. 24.-- For in the robe reaching to the feet. (RAB.) The Hebrews assign fine linen to the earth, etc., as far as in the pontifical figure, 1183Ait foreknew Christ who was to come, but because it had seen him clothed with flesh, it believed him to be not God but mere man; whence: If they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (I Cor. II).

But upon the wicked, etc. Upon the enemies of the people of God: vengeance came even unto the end, because they corrected neither their life nor their manners, for with feigned arguments they counterfeited penance, and therefore did not deserve indulgence. Whence Pharao, when, afflicted with plagues, he promised that he would let the people of God go, taking breath a little, returned to his domestic cruelty, until he was drowned in the waves of the Red Sea. For the persecutors of the Christian name, if they shall have persisted in their malice, 1183Bshall feel in punishment how much the justice of God avails.

VERS. 8.-- Seeing thy wonderful works. So it behoves us, rejoicing, to give thanks to our deliverer, saying: Bless the Lord, O my soul (Psal. CIII). Whence the Apostle: Pray without ceasing, in all things give thanks (I Thess. V).

VERS. 10.-- The earth brought forth. [Vulg. Sap. 19:10 eduxit terra muscas, "the earth brought out flies"] Note that for the enemies of God the earth brought forth flies, and the river frogs; but for the worshippers of God the earth gave fruit, and the sea 1184Athe nourishment of flesh. For it is fitting that the divine providence should provide nourishment for its faithful through its own works. But that it should inflict a fully deserved torment upon its enemies through the creature that is subject to it.

For they suffered justly. (RAB.) They who the ancient servants of God, etc., as far as he does not acknowledge the way of truth, and does not find the door which is Christ.

VERS. 17.-- In themselves the elements. As in an organ different sounds agree by tempering to the concord of a melody, so the discordant elements, the law of nature being preserved, are bent to the will of the Creator: for he founded a creature not contrary to himself, but agreeable in all things to his own will. Whence it may be reckoned, etc. (RAB.) For men and beasts, etc., as far as that it might appear that the elements of the world served not only their own condition, 1184Bbut the will of the Creator.

VERS. 20.-- For in all things thou hast magnified. The Lord is merciful and compassionate, and is always present to his faithful, whom he always protects and rules: whom sometimes he purges in martyrdom. Whence: The furnace trieth the potter's vessels, and the trial of tribulation just men (Eccl. XXVII). For many are the tribulations of the just, and out of them all the Lord hath delivered them.