Chapter 9
Chapter IX.
(Verse 1). There are just and wise ones etc. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the uncertainty of discernment. For a man does not know of himself whether he is a good man or an evil one, even the good man himself. Therefore he says: There are just and wise ones, and thus good; and their works are in the hand of God, that is, in the power of knowing, accepting, and rewarding. In his hand are merits and rewards. There are merits of good thoughts: Proverbs 21: "As the divisions of waters, so is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord." There are merits of good affections: Psalm: "In his hand are all the ends of the earth." There are also merits of good speeches: Wisdom 7: "In his hand are both we and our words." There are also merits of good works, as in the passage at hand. There are also rewards in his hand: Wisdom 3: "The souls of the just are in the hand of God"; and since they are in the hand of God, they ought to be known. And yet man does not know whether he is worthy of love or of hatred, and thus he does not know how to discern; 1 Corinthians 4: "I am conscious of nothing against myself, but I am not justified in this" etc.
(Verse 2). But all things are reserved for the future. Here the third point is noted, namely the reason for uncertainty,
which arises from this, that in the present, recompense is not made according to merits, but is reserved for the future. And therefore he says thus: Man does not know... But all things are reserved uncertain for the future, so that they may be made certain; 1 Corinthians 4: "Do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both illuminate the hidden things of darkness and make manifest the counsels of hearts"; which indeed he does not do now, but reserves, according to that passage in Job 14: "You have sealed up my transgressions as in a bag"; and thus in the present all things are in hiddenness. And it is added: Because all things equally befall the just and the impious etc.: all things, good and evil, equally befall the just and the sinner, whom he describes under six differences. The just and the impious, with regard to the belief of faith, which justifies the impious: Habakkuk 2: "The just man lives by his faith." The good and the evil, with regard to the purity of love, because holy love makes one good: Matthew 7: "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit." The clean and the unclean, with regard to the uprightness of conduct: for that is observed in outward things, Tobit 4. The one offering sacrifices and victims, and the one despising sacrifices, with regard to
COMMENT. IN ECCLESIASTEN C. LX.
the devotion of religion,— Exodus twelve: "This is the religion of the Passover; no foreigner shall eat of it." As the good, so also the sinner, with respect to the observance of the commandments, the observance of which makes the good, and the transgression makes sinners; Daniel nine: "We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, and we have departed and turned aside from your commandments and judgments." As the perjurer, so also he who truly swears, with respect to the speaking of truth: deterat, where de- intensifies, not diminishes; deterat, that is, he truly swears, according to which signification it is taken in First Kings twenty: "And Jonathan continued to swear to David, because he loved him." Equal things befall all these both with respect to the condition of nature, according to Wisdom seven: "Therefore there is one entrance for all into life, and a like departure"; and with respect to the condition of fault: Romans three: "All have sinned and lack the glory of God"; and with respect to the condition of punishment: Ecclesiasticus eight: "Remember that we are all in corruption."
(Verse 3.). This is the worst etc. Here the fourth is touched upon, namely the origin of vain security, because great security arises from this lack of distinction, which is the occasion of many sins. Therefore he says: And this is the worst among all things that are done under the sun, because the same things befall all. Therefore the worst, because the occasion of many sins; for God does not seem to care about us. Whence arises that saying of Job twenty-two: "The clouds are his hiding place, and he does not consider our affairs." And he shows that evils arise from this, because security arises, through which man falls into malice and contempt. Therefore he says: Whence also the hearts of the children of men, that is, of the wicked and the carnal, are filled with malice and contempt. In the filling, a multitude of vices is designated, so that malice is in the concupiscible, and contempt in the irascible, which are the two roots of sins; Genesis six: "The earth was corrupted before God and filled with iniquity"; and this in their life, that is, as long as they have a place for meriting: First Thessalonians two: "That they may fill up their sins always." And because such are cast headlong into punishment, therefore he adds: And after these things they shall be led down to hell: the Psalm: "But you, O God, shall lead them down into the pit of destruction"; and Job twenty-one: "They spend their days in prosperity, and in a moment they descend to hell."
Questions.
I. Here arises a question concerning what he said: I understood that man can find no reason for the works of God.
Therefore, if we ought to know the reason of what we understand, and we can find the reason of nothing, then we understand nothing.
2. Likewise, rational nature exists for understanding and seeing the reason of things: therefore, if we cannot find the reason, we possess rational power in vain.
I respond: it must be said that "words are to be understood according to the subject matter"; he however does not speak of the works of God generally, but of the divine judgments, which are works of God, according to that verse of the Psalm: Great are the works of the Lord, etc. "These judgments, as Gregory says, are not to be scrutinized, but to be venerated with fearful silence"; because, even if they have a reason, they nevertheless have a hidden reason, and one which we cannot investigate by ourselves, because it is above us; and if we do understand, this is through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, who searches the deep things of God, not through human discovery. Of other works, such as creatures, many reasons are found, and many sciences are possessed; but he does not speak of those works here.
II. Likewise, there is a doubt about what he says: Man does not know whether he is worthy of love or of hatred.
This seems false: 1. Because Romans 8: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? I am certain, etc.: therefore there is an objection against it there.
You will say that he knew by revelation; it is objected that man can know by himself, because the worthiness of divine love places in us sanctifying grace; but Augustine says that those things which are essentially in the soul are better known than those which are known according to species: therefore if we are certain of those things which we know according to species, as when something sweet is placed upon the tongue, much more so of grace.
2. Likewise, Augustine says that he who has faith is certain that he has faith. Therefore he who has love or charity is certain that he has it: therefore he who has grace is certain: therefore he is certain whether he is pleasing to God.
3. Likewise, concerning hatred one can be certain: indeed, he who has sinned and wills to sin is certain that he is worthy of hatred.
On the contrary: I. First Corinthians 4: I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified in this, etc.
2. Likewise, Job 9: If he comes to me, I shall not see him; and if he departs, I shall not perceive it; and in the same place: If I am simple, my very soul shall be ignorant of this.
3. Likewise, Ecclesiasticus 5: Concerning the forgiven sin, do not be without fear: therefore no one is certain.
To this some respond that the passage is understood concerning the hatred of predestination and reprobation, of which no one is certain; and thus there is no objection, because predestination does not place in us any effect through which it could be known. It must be answered otherwise, because this response does not satisfy the text: for the text says: He does not know whether he is worthy of love; but no one is worthy of or merits being predestined: therefore it is understood according to present justice.
On account of this, others respond that knowledge is twofold, namely necessary and infallible: and this we cannot have, because no one can know with certitude whether he has grace, except through revelation, as the Apostle did. There is another kind that is probable and through signs: and this indeed can be had and is had, because many know through probable signs that they are in grace.
i. 2. To the objection, then, that [the soul] sees essentially: I say that habits in the soul are not known except through the fact that the soul sees itself disposed toward some act; and because the acts of unformed and formed faith and of gratuitous and natural love are so similar that a man can scarcely or never discern between them: therefore, even if he knows the habit, he nevertheless does not know whether it is gratuitous.
3. To the objection concerning hatred, I say that he speaks of the just, because they do not know whether they are worthy of love or hatred; not of the openly wicked.
Yet whatever the case may be concerning charity and faith—whether a man knows that he has them or not—he nevertheless does not know whether he is worthy of the love or hatred of God: for we can believe, but how do we know that the Lord hates the wicked and loves the good, when He bestows so many and such great goods upon the wicked as upon the good? Hence Ecclesiastes did not say that they do not know themselves to be just, but that they do not know themselves to be beloved by God.
III. One may also raise a doubt about what he says: This is the worst thing under the sun, that the same things happen to all.
ON THE CONTRARY: 1. It is worse when good things happen to the wicked and bad things to the good than when the same things happen to both, because, as was said above, that is undue and unworthy.
2. Likewise, it was said above: This I judge most vain, concerning the fact that the wicked are secure and evils befall the just; but "what is said by way of superabundance belongs to one alone": therefore, etc.
I respond: it must be said that increase and decrease in vanity or wickedness can be taken properly: and thus it is said intensively, in the way that one says: a pearl is whiter than a horse; and thus intensively the vanity is greater when the wicked are exalted and the good are cast down. Furthermore, more and less can be taken extensively, because it is the cause or occasion in more cases or for more people: and in this way the indistinction of the good from the wicked is a greater vanity, because it is the origin of more evils. For if bad things happened to the good and good things to the wicked, the good could be discerned from the wicked; but when the same things happen to both, they cannot be discerned.
Secondly, it is shown how pleasure arises from this.
No one lives forever. He has now shown how the vanity of false security arises from indistinction; here secondly he shows how pleasure arises from security: and indeed he does this in the following order. First is noted the certainty of death; second, the worsening of one's state through death; third, the commendation of pleasure; fourth, the confirmation of the commendation.
(Vers. 4.). First, therefore, the certainty of death is noted by the fact that no one escapes its judgment. Therefore he says: There is no one who lives forever: therefore in the Psalm: "What man is there who shall live and not see death?" And into this condemnation Adam fell with his posterity, when it was said to him in Genesis 3: "Dust you are, and to dust you shall return." And who has confidence in this matter, supply: no one; in this matter, namely the hope of living forever: Job 7: "My days have passed more swiftly than a web is cut by the weaver, and they are consumed without any hope, for my life is wind, and it shall not return," etc.
A living dog is better, etc. Here secondly it is shown that through death there is a deterioration of condition: and he proposes this under a metaphor: A living dog is better than a dead lion. Although a lion surpasses a dog, nevertheless death renders it inferior, because a living dog can do something, a dead lion can do nothing, and yet when living it is more powerful than a dog: Proverbs 30: "The lion, the mightiest of animals, shall tremble at the approach of none." Thus metaphorically he means to say that any living person, however lowly, is better than a dead person, however good.
(Vers. 5. 6.). And he proves this first with regard to the act of cognition. For the living know that they are to die: at least of this they are certain: 2 Kings 14: "We all die, and like waters that flow down into the earth, which do not return." Or: to die, that is, given over to the necessity of death; Romans 8: "The body is dead because of sin." For the dead know nothing further, because cognition presupposes life; and thus the living surpass the dead in the act of cognition: for they have neither motion nor sensation. With regard to the act of recollection he says: Nor do they have any further reward, namely of fame in the memory of others: because their memory has been handed over to oblivion: above in chapter 2: "There shall be no remembrance of the wise man, just as neither of the fool, forever and in times to come," etc. Or: because their memory does not have the act of recollection: Job 7: "He who descends to the netherworld shall not ascend, nor shall he return again to his house, nor shall his place know him anymore."
With regard to the act of affection he says: Love also and hatred and envy have likewise perished, because they are not affected as before in life. With regard to the act of exterior operation he says: Nor do they have a part in this world, and he explains with respect to what: and in the work that is done under the sun, because they cannot work, according to that saying in John 9: "The night comes, when no one can work."
(Vers. 7. 8. 9.). Go therefore and eat etc. Here the third point is touched upon, namely the commendation of present delight, to the embracing of which he exhorts first according to taste; whence he says: Go therefore and eat your bread with joy: by bread is understood everything that pertains to food. And drink your wine with gladness: by wine, everything that pertains to drink. Because God is pleased with your works: as if to say: you are not certain whether they displease; therefore presume that they please, and so eat and drink without care, according to that passage of Isaiah twenty-two: "Behold, joy and gladness, to eat flesh and to drink wine: let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die."
Then according to sight he says: At all times let your garments be white, so that you may appear comely in clothing; and let not oil be lacking from your head, so that you may appear comely in appearance. In this manner those adorn themselves who wish to be pleasing in the sight of men. The example is of Judith, who, when she wished to please the eyes of Holofernes, adorned herself, according to what is said in Judith ten; but she did this for a good purpose, because otherwise it is reprehensible: Ecclesiasticus eleven: "Never glory in your clothing."
Then according to touch he says: Enjoy life with the wife whom you love. This enjoyment is described in Proverbs seven: "Come, let us be inebriated with breasts and enjoy the desired embraces, until the day dawns." And this not only once, but all the days of the life of your instability, which are given to you under the sun. Truly our life is unstable, according to that passage of Job fourteen: "He never remains in the same state." And for greater expression he says: All the time of your vanity. Our life is a time of vanity; whence in the Psalm: "Man is made like unto vanity; his days pass away like a shadow."
(Vers. 9. 10.). For this is the portion etc. Here the fourth point is touched upon, namely the confirmation of the commendation, and the confirmation consists in this: that man expects no other reward nor has any other fruit, and therefore he ought to take what he can. Thus he says: For this is your portion in life and in the labor with which you toil under the sun, namely, to delight in the present. Wisdom 2: "Let us everywhere leave signs of our joy, for this is our portion, and this is our lot."—And because no other reward is to be expected, man ought to take from this as much as he can. Thus he says: Whatever your hand is able to do, work at it earnestly, that is, while you have time, do not wait for the future. And therefore it is added: For neither work, in things to be done; nor reason, in things to be deliberated; nor knowledge, in things to be known; nor wisdom, in things to be loved, shall be in the netherworld, to which you hasten: these things are not there, because, as is said in Job 10, "that land is dark and covered with the shadow of death, where no order exists, but everlasting horror dwells." Thither sinners hasten, and all before the coming of Christ with respect to limbo. Job 17: "All my things shall descend into the deepest hell." Thither sinners hasten, drawing nearer day by day. Deuteronomy 32: "The day of destruction is near."
Moreover, this can be expounded spiritually, so that first it exhorts to the delight of contemplation; and second, to the urgency of action. For contemplative men, three things are necessary: meditation on Sacred Scripture, purity of conscience, and the embrace of interior devotion.
With regard to meditation on Sacred Scripture he says: Eat bread and drink wine: bread with respect to difficult matters, and wine with respect to easy matters. Proverbs 9, Wisdom says: "Come, eat my bread and drink the wine that I have mixed for you." With regard to purity of conscience he says: At all times let your garments be white, that is, a clean conscience. Apocalypse 3: "They have not defiled their garments; they shall walk with me in white." On the contrary, it is said in Isaiah 9: "A garment mixed with blood shall be for burning and fuel for fire." And because interior joy follows upon cleanness of conscience, therefore he says: And let oil not be lacking from your head: whence in the Psalm: "That he may make the face cheerful with oil"; Matthew 6: "But you, when you fast, anoint your head" etc.—With regard to the embrace of interior devotion he says: Enjoy life with the wife whom you love. This wife is the religious life, in which one must devote oneself to contemplation. Proverbs 5: "Rejoice with the wife of your youth, a most dear hind" etc. This beloved wife was prefigured by Rachel, for whom "Jacob served seven years," Genesis 29.
Then as regards the active, he says: Whatever your hand is able to do, do it earnestly. To work earnestly is to work swiftly, against negligence: Ecclesiasticus thirty-one: "In all your works be swift, and no infirmity shall befall you"; fervently, Proverbs eighteen: "He who is soft and slack in his work is the brother of him who destroys his own works"; continuously, so that one does not grow lukewarm: Ecclesiasticus twenty-seven: "If you do not hold yourself earnestly in the fear of the Lord, your house will quickly be overthrown"; perseveringly: Second Timothy two: "He who strives in the contest will not be crowned unless he has strived lawfully," that is, perseveringly. And the reason is added why one must earnestly do good works in the present: because the time of merit is brief; whence: In the underworld there is no work, for exercising oneself in piety: John nine: "I must work while it is day." And therefore it is said in the last chapter of Galatians: "Let us do good while we have time, to all, but especially to the household of the faith." There is no reason, for inquiring and discerning what is good, what is evil: Job twelve: "They shall grope as in darkness and not in light, and he shall make them stagger like drunkards"; Isaiah nineteen: "And the Lord has mingled in their midst a spirit of dizziness." There is no wisdom and knowledge: knowledge, namely for contemplating God in his works, nor wisdom, for contemplating him in himself: concerning these, Isaiah thirty-three: "The riches of salvation are wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure."
QUESTIONS.
I. It can be asked concerning what he says: The dead know nothing more.
This seems to be false, because the soul separated from the body is freer; but a substance, the freer it is from the body, the more suited it is for cognition; therefore the dead are more apt for knowing; therefore either the soul perishes, or it knows.
II. Likewise there is a doubt concerning this, that they have no further reward. This is manifestly heretical, because this removes divine justice.
III. Likewise concerning what he says, that love and hatred have perished together. On the contrary: An evil will always remains; therefore if evil will exists through love and hatred, therefore etc.
IV. Likewise concerning that exhortation: Go therefore and eat your bread and drink your wine, etc.
If we wish to respond to these by saying that it is spoken in the person of Epicurus, then the response is clear; but if we wish to maintain that it is in his own person, it must be said that when he says that the dead do not know, it is understood with respect to those things which are in this world: because they do not know these worldly things, nor are they in the memory of the worldly, nor do they have affection for worldly things. And this is clear from the text, because he says: Nor do they have a part in this age.
As to what is objected concerning that exhortation, I say that that exhortation is not stated absolutely, but is a conclusion drawn from the aforementioned vanity. Hence he says: Go therefore, that is to say: if a man cannot discern whether in the present he ought to please God and in the future be rewarded — if this, I say, he cannot know, nor can he live forever — therefore he can rejoice without care. But that does not hold unless this is supposed: that the Lord does not reward differently in the future than in the present — which is the aforementioned vanity, which he will destroy below in chapter eleven.
Second, carelessness arises from the appearance of a defect in the governance of providence; which appearance is shown in two ways.
I turned to another thing etc. As was said above, carelessness is found among the wicked: first, because the retribution of justice seems to be lacking; second, because the governance of providence seems to be lacking. The defect that appears to exist in the retribution of justice has been treated; here secondly is treated the defect that appears to exist concerning the governance
of providence, for these things do not seem to be governed in an orderly fashion, but by chance. And this part has two sections, because first the defect of order is shown generally, and second specifically, at: This wisdom also I have seen etc., concerning the disorder of authority.
First the defect of order is shown in general.
Concerning the first he proceeds thus. First he shows the disorder and chance that seems to exist with respect to the conduct of life; second, that which seems to exist with respect to the termination of death, at: Man does not know his own end.
(Verse 11) Therefore, with respect to the conduct of life he shows the disorder, because things are not suited to those ends for which they have fitness. For which reason he says: I turned to another thing, because above he considered retribution, here he turns to considering order. And I saw under the sun, and he enumerates five gratuitously given gifts that are defrauded of their proper acts: the race is not to the swift, though they are fitted for running: Amos 2: "Flight shall perish from the swift." Nor the battle to the strong, though they are fitted for fighting: 2 Kings 1: "The mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war have perished." Nor bread to the wise, though they are fitted for distributing provisions; Isaiah 3: "I am not a physician, and in my house there is no bread." Nor riches to the learned, though they are fitted for possessing all gifts; below in the same chapter: "There was found in it a poor man." Nor favor to the skilled, though they are fitted for doing pleasing works: Isaiah 20: "All who worked well were confounded." But time and chance in all things, as though all things come by chance and temporal things are subject to change: above in chapter 3: "All things have their season and pass away in their appointed times." And the aforementioned gifts are distinguished, because the first two regard the body: agility, for attaining what is desired, and strength for resisting evil inflicted; the three following regard the soul, namely wisdom in the heart, learning in speech, and skill in work.
(Verse 12). Man does not know his end, etc. Here the second is touched upon, namely the deficiency of governance with respect to the termination of death, because it is determined for no one, neither when nor how he must die. And it seems that such or such a death happens by chance. And therefore he says: Man does not know his end, that is, the day of death: Matthew twenty-four: "Watch therefore, for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come." And he gives an example of how there is disorder and a game of uncertainty, saying: But as fish are caught by the hook, namely unknowingly, and as birds are caught in the snare, namely by deceit; Ecclesiasticus eleven: "As a partridge is lured into a cage, and as a roe deer into a snare, so also is the heart of the proud." So are men caught in an evil time: First Thessalonians five: "When they shall say: Peace and security, sudden destruction shall come upon them." When it shall come upon them suddenly, that is, unexpectedly: Isaiah thirty: "Suddenly, when it is not expected, its destruction shall come, and it shall be shattered like a potter's vessel."
Spiritually, here is intimated the heavenly election of the good, and afterwards the hidden damnation of the wicked. Therefore, in order to attribute the entire operation of the good to God, he says first: The race is not to the swift, because it is not from themselves that they run, but from God: Romans nine: "It is not of him who wills nor of him who runs, but of God who has mercy." Nor the battle to the strong, because in the Psalm: "The king is not saved by great strength." Nor bread to the wise, from themselves, but from God: John six: "My Father gives you the true bread from heaven." Nor riches to the learned, namely of wisdom and knowledge, from themselves, but from God: First Corinthians one: "In all things you have been made rich in him," namely in Christ. Nor favor to the skillful, from themselves, but from God: Psalm: "God loves mercy and truth; the Lord will give grace and glory."
But as to the hidden damnation of the wicked, he says: Man does not know his end, because "the way of the wicked is dark," etc. As fish by the hook, that is, the pleasure-seekers, who are caught by the hook of pleasure: Habakkuk one: "They lift up everything with the hook." And as birds by the snare, that is, the ambitious by the snare of honor: First Timothy three: "Not a neophyte, lest, puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil." So are men caught, that is, the avaricious, in an evil time: Job twenty-seven: "The rich man, when he shall sleep, shall take nothing with him."
QUESTIONS.
I. A doubt can be raised about what he says, that he saw time and chance in all things.
Therefore according to this it seems that all things happen by chance.
But to the contrary. It seems that not all things happen by chance:
Because those things which happen according to purpose do not happen by chance; but many things are done from purpose; therefore not all things happen by chance.
2. Furthermore, it seems that in nothing is there chance, because as Plato says, "there is nothing apart from the first cause whose origin a legitimate cause has not preceded": therefore according to this nothing happens by chance, but all things proceed from a determinate cause.
3. Likewise, in every operation God is the principal agent; but whatever God does principally, He does both knowingly and by design, and nothing of such a kind happens by chance: therefore nothing at all happens by chance.
I respond: it must be said that chance and fortune are causes per accidens, not because they are other causes than causes per se, but because when nature and intellect do something to which they are directly ordered, they do this per se, and there is no chance there; but when from their operation something occurs to which they are not directly ordered, on account of the concurrence of another cause, there is chance: as is clear in the case of the creditor found in the marketplace and the stone falling upon one's head. I say therefore that if the outcomes of things are compared to the first cause, which is God: since God foresees all things, nothing is by chance according to the ordering of divine foreknowledge. But if we speak by comparison to created causes, either concerning immutable ones, as is the case with the motion of the higher bodies, or concerning mutable ones, as are the lower causes which are under the sun: in the disposition of these mutable causes, it is hardly possible that some unintended effect does not concur, indeed beyond intention: and therefore chance is found in all things, not because all things happen by chance, but because concerning every mutable creature something happens by chance.
3. As for what is objected concerning divine foreknowledge, the answer is already clear. For chance is not spoken of in comparison to divine foreknowledge.
2. As for what is objected secondly, that all things have a cause: it must be said that it is true that all things have a legitimate cause, namely nature or intellect, but nevertheless by this it is not excluded that they can do or do something beyond the intended order, God excepted.
II. It is asked concerning what he says: As fishes are caught with a hook: whether the catching of fish is by chance or not. That it is, seems as follows:
1. Because that this fish comes rather than another, this is not by nature nor by reason: therefore it is by chance.
2. Likewise, that one man catches and another does not: this is not by reason of nature or of art: therefore it is by chance.
But to the contrary: If someone intending to find gold were digging, it would not be chance: therefore since one who fishes intends to catch, there is no chance there.
I respond: it must be said that one can speak of the catching by comparison to those who catch, and thus it is not by chance: one can also speak by comparison to the fish, which go to the hook: and because they go on account of food, and something else occurs, with respect to them there is chance.
Second, the defect of order in the governance of providence is shown in particular, and this in three ways.
This wisdom also I have seen under the sun. He determined above the deficiency of the governance of providence in general: here he intends to show in particular, namely concerning prelacy, because the wise are despised and fools are promoted. There are therefore in this part three parts. In the first he shows the abasement of the wise man: in the second he subjoins the commendation of the abased, there: And I said that better etc. ,- in the third he introduces the promotion of the fool, there: If the spirit of him who has power etc.
The abasement of the wise man is therefore described in this order. First is set forth the praise of wisdom: second is expressed the case in which there is a deficiency of power: third is noted the succor of wisdom: fourth, the contempt of the wise man.
(Verse 13.). There is therefore set forth the praise of wisdom, when he says: This wisdom I have seen under the sun, that is, in worldly things I have known it by its effect: and I judged it very great, that is, I approved and praised it as exceedingly great. For great is wisdom in conquering a lesser enemy: greater, in conquering an equal: greatest, in conquering the most powerful: whence it is said in Job twenty-six concerning the supremely wise One: "His prudence struck the proud one."
(Verse 14.). A small city etc. Here is noted second the deficiency of power, and this with respect to resisting the assailant: therefore he says: A small city, and few in it
men, and this verb must be supplied: 'was,' or construed with the following verb. The siege was completed. And because it was small and had few men, therefore it was weak for defending itself: whence Jehoshaphat said in 2 Chronicles twenty: "In us there is not so great strength that we can resist this great multitude," because, namely, they were few. Especially then they cannot resist, when the assailant is strong: on account of which he says: There came against it a great king, namely through power: and surrounded it, through great malice: and he built fortifications all around, for battle: and the siege was completed, through the inability to resist. An example of this is found in Judith seven concerning Bethulia, which was besieged by Holofernes. This also the Lord foretold to Jerusalem in Luke nineteen: "Your enemies will surround you with a rampart and press you in on every side."
(Verse 15.). And there was found in it etc. Here is noted the third, namely the succor of wisdom, where there was a deficiency of power: Therefore he says: And there was found in it a poor man, and thus powerless: and wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. An example of this, how a wise person delivered, is found concerning Judith in her book, how she delivered Bethulia from Holofernes by her wisdom, though she was weak. Another example is found in 2 Kings twenty, where it is said that a wise person in Abel delivered the city from the assault of Joab. On the contrary, it is said in Baruch three: "And because they did not have wisdom, they perished on account of their foolishness"; this is said concerning the mighty.
And no one afterwards etc. Here the fourth point is touched upon, namely the contempt of the wise deliverer, the sign of which is forgetfulness. Therefore he says: No one afterwards remembered that poor man. Behold, contempt and ingratitude: against which it is said in Ecclesiasticus twenty-nine: "Do not forget the kindness of your surety, for he gave his life for you " etc.
Spiritually, four things are to be considered here: what the city is, who the great king is, who the poor wise man is, how no one remembers him.
The city is the Church: the Psalm: Glorious things are said of you, O city of God. This city is small through humility, because in these the Lord alone dwells: the last chapter of Isaiah: "To whom shall I look, if not to the poor little one, contrite in spirit and trembling at my words"? Few men in it, in comparison with the wicked: Matthew twenty: "Many are called, but few are chosen." The great king is the devil, of whom it is said in the penultimate chapter of Job: "He is king over all the children of pride"; he is also great, according to what is said in the same place: "There is no power on earth that can be compared to him." This king comes against the city through temptations: he surrounds it, by offering manifold pleasures: he built fortifications, by procuring occasions of sin: and he perfectly besieges it, when he entangles them in transgressions of the commandments. Concerning these things, Luke nineteen: "Your enemies will surround you with a rampart and hem you in and dash you to the ground, and they will not leave a stone upon a stone."
A poor and wise man, who is Christ, who is a man from the strength of virtue: Jeremiah thirty-one: "A woman shall encompass a man." He is also poor: Second Corinthians eight: "Though he was rich in all things, for your sake he became poor"; wise, indeed Wisdom itself: First Corinthians one: "We preach Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." He was found by those who seek: Matthew seven: "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds." He delivered the people, Isaiah nineteen: "They shall cry out to the Lord from the face of the oppressor, and he shall send them a savior and a defender, who shall deliver them"; he delivered them through his wisdom, though he could have done so through power: Job twenty-six: "His prudence struck the proud one." - And no one afterward remembered him, because poverty is despised: Proverbs nineteen: "The brothers of the poor man hated him; moreover, even his friends withdrew far from him." No one remembered him by having compassion, according to what is said in Lamentations three: "Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall"; but on the contrary, Amos six: "They suffered nothing over the affliction of Joseph." By giving thanks: Luke seventeen: "And there was not found anyone who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner." By imitating in deed: Isaiah seventeen: "You shall be desolate, because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered your mighty helper." By confessing with the mouth: Genesis forty: "When prosperity followed, the butler forgot his interpreter."
And I said etc. The contempt and oblivion of the wise man has been shown; here is shown secondly the commendation of the despised one. He commends wisdom, however, by a threefold preeminence: first, by setting it above the strength of power; second, above the defense of armor; third, above the height of worldly glory.
(Vers. 16.17.). He therefore first sets forth wisdom above strength by his own judgment. For this reason he says: And I said that wisdom is better than strength; Wisdom 6: "Wisdom is better than strength, and a prudent man is better than a strong one." And because it is better, therefore it ought not to be despised; and yet nonetheless it is despised. For this reason he says: How then is the wisdom of the poor man despised? as though it ought not to be despised; but on account of poverty it is held in contempt. Whence in Ecclesiasticus 13 it is said of the poor man: (The sensible man spoke, and no place was given to him; the rich man spoke, and all were silent, and they carry his word up to the clouds. And the sign of contempt for wisdom is added: And his words were not heard; and yet they are very much to be heard. Proverbs 8: (Now therefore, children, hear me: Blessed are they who keep my ways." And that the words of the wise man are to be heard, he adds: The words of the wise are heard in silence, that is, they are worthy to be heard in silence. Ecclesiasticus 32: "Listen in silence, and for your reverence good grace shall come to you"; whence it is also added: "And do not presume to speak in the midst of great men." More than the cry of a prince among fools, and his speech is more clamorous, because however much a man may cry out, the fool does not pay attention. Ecclesiasticus 22: "He who tells wisdom to a fool speaks with one who is sleeping, and at the end of the narration he says: 'Who is this?'" That wisdom therefore is despised, this is on account of the foolishness of the hearers; therefore Matthew 7: "Do not give what is holy to dogs." And the reason for this is given by the Apostle in First Corinthians 2: "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God."
(Vers. 18.). Wisdom is better, etc. Here secondly he sets forth wisdom above the defense of armor, saying: Wisdom is better than weapons of war, because weapons of war are for protection; likewise wisdom protects. Proverbs 2: "Counsel shall keep you, and prudence shall preserve you, that you may be delivered from the evil way and from the man who speaks perverse things." And that it protects better is clear, because he who loses wisdom through fault cannot defend himself by armor without losing many goods. Whence he says: And he who shall sin in one thing, by departing from wisdom, according to what was said above in chapter 8: "Do not hasten to depart from his face, nor persist in an evil work." Shall lose many good things; for by sinning in one thing, he loses wisdom, and by losing it, he loses many good things. Wisdom 7: (All good things came to me together with her"; and therefore, when she is lost, many good things are lost. Or: he who shall sin in one thing, against charity, shall lose many good things, according to that saying in James 2: "He who sins in one thing is made guilty of all." — And he makes this manifest through a metaphor, because the awareness of sin is compared to a dying fly, because it renders and produces abomination in the affection and in the conscience.