Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He continues to give precepts about the manner of praying and worshipping God, and assigns three: first, that no one should rashly blurt out anything before God; second, that no one should rashly make a vow, but prudently, and should fulfill it; third, that God's providence is to be venerated, even when He permits the poor to be oppressed and violence to be done to justice. Hence he inserts certain remarks about the vanity of dreams. Then, at verse 9, he passes to the vanity of avarice; especially that it never allows the miser to be satisfied, and that he often heaps up wealth to his own harm and destruction. Whence, at verse 17, he concludes that happiness does not consist in riches, but in a frugal and honest use of wealth.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiastes 5:1-19
1. Do not rashly speak anything, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and you are upon the earth: therefore let your words be few. 2. Many cares are followed by dreams, and in many words folly will be found. 3. If you have vowed anything to God, do not delay in paying it: for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases Him; but whatever you have vowed, pay it. 4. And it is much better not to vow, than after a vow not to fulfill what was promised. 5. Do not give your mouth to cause your flesh to sin: nor say before the angel: There is no providence; lest perhaps God, angered at your words, destroy all the works of your hands. 6. Where there are many dreams, there are very many vanities, and words without number: but do you fear God. 7. If you see the oppressions of the poor, and violent judgments, and justice overthrown in the province, do not wonder at this matter: for one higher than the high is watching, and there are others still more eminent above these, 8. and moreover the king of the whole earth commands the one who serves. 9. The miser will not be filled with money: and he who loves riches will reap no fruit from them: and this therefore is vanity. 10. Where there are many riches, many also are those who consume them. And what does it profit the owner, except that he beholds his riches with his eyes? 11. Sweet is the sleep of the laborer, whether he eats little or much: but the fullness of the rich man does not allow him to sleep. 12. There is also another grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun: riches kept for the harm of their owner. 13. For they perish in a most grievous affliction: he has begotten a son, who will be in utter destitution. 14. As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return, and shall take nothing with him from his labor. 15. A thoroughly wretched infirmity: as he came, so shall he return. What then does it profit him that he labored for the wind? 16. All the days of his life he eats in darkness and in many cares, and in misery and sorrow. 17. This therefore has seemed good to me, that one should eat and drink, and enjoy gladness from his labor, in which he has labored under the sun, for the number of the days of his life, which God has given him: and this is his portion. 18. And to every man to whom God has given riches and substance, and has granted him power to eat of them, and to enjoy his portion, and to rejoice in his labor: this is the gift of God. 19. For he will not much remember the days of his life, because God occupies his heart with delights.
Verse 1: Do not Rashly Speak Anything, nor Let your Heart be Hasty to Utter a Word before God. for God is in...
1. DO NOT RASHLY SPEAK ANYTHING, NOR LET YOUR HEART BE HASTY TO UTTER A WORD BEFORE GOD. FOR GOD IS IN HEAVEN, AND YOU ARE UPON THE EARTH: THEREFORE LET YOUR WORDS BE FEW. — In Hebrew, אל תבהל al tebahel, that is, do not hasten out of anxiety and mental agitation, do not be precipitate, do not be tumultuous, do not be rash, as the bold, powerful, and impudent hasten and rush their words, so that with them, as with hailstones, they might strike, overwhelm the listener, and compel him to do what they demand. For in a similar manner certain faithful but unlearned people in prayer multiply and rush their words, as if they wished by them to compel God to give what they ask; and as stammerers and lispers do, who because they have swift movements of the imagination, cannot keep up with them in words, and cannot express them, because the swiftness of the imagination outstrips and outflies the slowness of the tongue, hence they stammer. For they strive and are anxious to match the speed of thinking with the speed of speaking, and therefore they rush, confuse, and stammer their words, and the more so the faster they try to speak, as Aristotle teaches, sect. 3, Problem. in 30.
Therefore the haste of the mouth is noted and censured here, arising from a heart burning and seething with desires and passions. Hence the Septuagint translates, do not hasten in your mouth; the Syriac and Arabic, do not be swift in your mouth, and let not your heart hasten to utter a word; our Translator, do not rashly speak anything; Symmachus, do not be proomeros, that is, headlong, rash, prone and falling, bold, unrestrained, immodest, inconsiderate in speaking. The Tigurina, do not speak anything precipitately; Costus and the Chaldean translate, do not burst forth in an ill-considered speech into a clamor of words, nor let your headlong mind be carried away to pour out force and the stings of speech, when you come to pray to God.
Moreover, Georgius Cedrenus in his Compendium of History, chapter 9, censuring Origen for not so much composing as rashly pouring forth very many books, reads it differently: "From his composition and multitude of books he was called syntacticus, that is, a composer. It appears he did not obey Solomon's precept thus commanding: My son, take care not to make many books, nor hasten to speak, nor let your mind hurry to utter words before God." But this reading disagrees with the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and other texts.
Therefore a rash and hasty speech before God is headlong talkativeness, and this is fourfold: first, that which occurs about any matter in the presence of God; second, that which occurs about God Himself; third, that which is made to God through a vow; fourth, that which is made before God through prayer: hence a fourfold meaning arises.
For first, Thaumaturgus, Olympiodorus, Bonaventura, and Hugo Cardinal believe that here silence and moderation of the tongue are commanded in any speech, because we act and speak whatever we do and say before God, that is, in the presence of God. Hear Thaumaturgus: "It would also be most beautiful to use the tongue sparingly, but the heart firmly. For although the mind may be assailed by certain absurd impulses, it would nevertheless be a disgrace to blurt them out immediately, and to be of less composed behavior. For although we are far distant from heaven (which must be carefully noted), we nevertheless speak to God who is present and listening. Therefore to speak gravely is most useful."
For, as Aristotle teaches, book IV of the Ethics, chapter 3, magnanimous men have a slow movement, a deep voice, and slow and steady speech. "For neither is he who concerns himself with few things hasty, he says, nor he who considers nothing great, eager and vehement. But a high-pitched voice and swiftness result from those" who are faint-hearted.
Second, more precisely St. Jerome explains "before God" as referring to God Himself. "He commands, he says, that whether speaking or thinking, we should not suppose more about God than we are able, but should know our weakness, that as far as heaven is distant from earth, so far is our opinion separated from His nature." So also Hugo of St. Victor, Lyranus, Titelmannus, Dionysius, and others. Excellently Hugo Aetherianus, book II On Heresy: "Just as, he says, one who has tasted the Egyptian palm, his mind is stupefied: so the tongue is slowed when one must speak about God." Lactantius, in his book On the Wrath of God, celebrates that saying of Plato in the Timaeus: "The majesty of God is so great that it can neither be comprehended by the mind nor expressed by the tongue;" and that saying of Socrates: "The form of God ought not to be sought out." Similar to this is that saying of Trismegistus to Tatius: "It is difficult to find God; when you have found Him, or conceived Him in your mind, it is unlawful to make it known to the common people; to narrate it in words is impossible, on account of His exceeding and inestimable power." Wherefore Cicero in his speech for the Manilian law: "We must, he says, speak timidly and sparingly about the power of the gods."
Third, others more narrowly, as found in St. Jerome, think that the subject here is vows, and that we are forbidden to rashly vow anything before God, that is, to God Himself. But vows will be treated at verse 3.
Fourth, therefore, and genuinely, the subject here is prayer: for this is done before God; hence Campensis translates, do not be hasty in your tongue when about to pray to God. He therefore commands that in prayer we should not be hasty, wordy, and long-winded, so that whatever comes to mind, whatever the heart or desire suggests, we pour forth before God.
Again, lest in prayer we be frivolous, unpremeditated, and imprudent; but rather let us first meditate on what it is fitting to pray and ask for, lest we ask for something unworthy of God, or harmful to ourselves. Under prayer, understand any invocation of God, whether it be made by oath, or by vow, or by exorcism, or by any other manner and mode, as if to say: Do not rashly swear anything by God, so as to invoke Him and make Him a witness to a vain or false thing; nor hastily vow anything to God, but first consider whether what you vow is pleasing to God, and useful and easy for you, so that you do not doubt the execution; do not rashly conjure the devil, or created things by the name of God, etc. For all irreverence is forbidden here, which is done to God through the hasty invocation of His most holy name. Hence, explaining this general precept in particular regarding the vow, he adds: "If you have vowed anything to God, do not delay in paying it, etc." So the Chaldean: "You will not hasten, he says, regarding your word, so as to confound the utterances of your mouth; and your heart will not hasten to utter speech at the time when you pray before the Lord: for the Lord commands over the whole world, and sits upon the throne of glory in the highest heavens, and you sit upon the earth, therefore the words of your mouth shall be few."
He censures the pagans, who thought God could be swayed by fine speeches and orations, by which Cicero and the orators used to sway judges to mercy or vengeance, against whom Christ says in Matthew chapter 6, verse 7: "And when you pray, He says, do not speak much, as the pagans do; for they think that they will be heard in their much speaking."
Again, the pagans thought that Jupiter and the gods were asleep, or had departed elsewhere, or were drinking at an inn, or were busy with other affairs, being distracted — as though He ever departs or withdraws from heaven, and consequently not from earth either: therefore there is no reason to hasten and rush prayers: for God always stands present and unmoved to hear them.
Therefore, in order to rouse Him and make Him attentive, they used to pray with many and great cries, as Elijah reproaches the priests of Baal, 3 Kings 18:27: "Cry out, he says, with a louder voice: for he is a god, and perhaps he is talking, or is at an inn, or on a journey, or surely he is sleeping, so that he may be awakened."
Truly Seneca, book II On Benefits, chapter 1: "Men, he says, would make their vows more sparingly, if they had to make them publicly." And again: "So live with men, as though God sees; so speak with God, as though men hear."
Excellently Nyssenus on the Lord's Prayer: "He who at the time of prayer, he says, is not intent on those things which are conducive to the soul, but asks God to comply with the vicious and disturbed movements of his mind, is truly a trifler and a babbler; since he prays that God would become the helper and minister of his follies and vanities."
Therefore Solomon here forbids that from a vicious desire of the mind, lust, petulance, haste, or thoughtlessness we should pray or babble anything before God, but rather that we should first prudently weigh, according to the dictate of right reason, what and of what kind, and how much we ought to ask of God, lest we incur the charge of irreverence, and therefore speak soberly and sparingly before God. For God is a cardiognostes, that is, a searcher of hearts, and therefore attends more to the heart and mind than to the tongue of the one praying. But especially the haste in talkativeness and prayer is noted and censured here. The same he censured in Proverbs 29:20: "Have you seen, he says, a man swift to speak? Folly is more to be expected than his correction." And St. James, chapter 1, verse 19: "Let every man be swift to hear, but slow to speak." "Haste indicates the judgment which the speaker has of his own wisdom, as though it should be preferred to others', and he should not have to wait long in delivering his opinion, lest another anticipate him. That confusion of words is born from excessive haste in speaking," says our Lorinus rightly.
FOR GOD IS IN HEAVEN, AND YOU ARE UPON THE EARTH. — The Septuagint, because God is in heaven above, and you upon the earth: some add, below; Campensis, God from heaven sees all your things, you who dwell on earth; Olympiodorus, For God who has His seat in the loftiest watchtower of the heavens, beholds all things that are below. The meaning therefore is:
First, as if to say: Do not multiply and rush words in prayer, as though you were going to rouse God to hear and grant what you ask, because God from heaven beholds the earth close at hand, and all things that happen on earth. Therefore He closely observes and hears all that you ask: "For heaven is My throne, and earth is the footstool of My feet," He Himself says in Isaiah 66:1. Therefore just as the seat is near the footstool, so heaven is near to earth; but God, sitting in heaven, hears you from nearby on earth, as though praying at the footstool of His seat. So Thaumaturgus. Cajetan adds: Heaven is always present to earth, nor is earth removed from heaven, as if to say: God never departs or withdraws from heaven, and consequently neither from earth: therefore there is no reason to hasten and rush prayers: for God always stands present and unmoved to hear them.
Second, and more forcefully, as if to say: God sits gloriously on the loftiest throne of heaven, but you on the lowly and vile earth, prostrating yourself humbly on the ground to pray. Therefore it befits you to address God reverently with fear and trembling, and humbly and with few words, and to say with Abraham: "I will speak to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes," Genesis 18:27. Since therefore you are lowly and most insignificant, it is fitting that you address the supreme majesty of God reigning in heaven with the utmost submission and veneration. Hence Costus and the Chaldean translate, for God holds sovereignty over the whole world, and sits in the highest heaven, as on a throne of glory: but you, since you lie prostrate on the ground, use moderation in speaking. Moreover, Vatablus interprets it, God is truthful, but you are deceitful, ignorant, and foolish. Therefore speak few things, and those premeditated, before God, lest by them He convict you of falsehood, ignorance, and folly.
Third, just as heaven embraces, cherishes, rules, illuminates, and makes fruitful the earth, so also God does for men who invoke Him: therefore many words in prayer to Him are not needed, but a pious affection, resignation, and trust, by which we believe and hope from Him all things that we ask, if they are salutary for us: in His holy providence, therefore, let us lie down in silence and hope, and rest secure.
THEREFORE LET YOUR WORDS BE FEW (weighed with diligent examination, says Olympiodorus). — Both for the reasons already stated, and because God from heaven sees through and perceives the whole earth, and all things that happen on it, as a small transparent globe, just as St. Benedict, rapt into God, perceived the whole of it, as St. Gregory testifies, book IV of the Dialogues, chapter 36; therefore since God perceives your prayers, afflictions, and desires, there is no need to explain them at length to Him, as they are already known to Him. Second, because just as before a prince one must speak briefly, out of reverence, so much more before God. Third, because God from heaven sees through the affection of the heart, and demands that, not the sound and abundance of words. Hence to Moses, who was silent but supremely desirous, He said: "Why do you cry out to Me?" for the cry in God's ears is a vehement affection and desire, Exodus 14:15. Hence St. Francis, praying the whole night and raised from the earth into heaven, said nothing else but: "Who are You, Lord? Who am I? My God and all things;" but with these words he poured out the whole affection of his heart into God. So Martha and Mary, when Lazarus was sick, announced nothing else to Christ but: "Behold, he whom You love is sick," John 11; for one whom You love, You do not abandon: for one who loves, it is enough to have indicated the need and the will of the beloved. And David, Psalm 141:3: "My tribulation, he says, I declare before Him," that is, I state it in a word; the Arabic, I cast my will into his hands, I brought it before him.
Fourth, because God, who from on high perceives all things in a single glance of the mind, and says and utters all things by a single word of His mind, sees and laughs at our talkativeness in prayer, our rash petitions and foolish judgments: because "as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are My ways exalted above your ways, and My thoughts above your thoughts," He Himself says in Isaiah, chapter 55, verse 9.
Here applies the symbol of Pythagoras: "Never point your finger at a star," that is, do not speak rashly about heavenly beings and great men. And this one of his: "Do not carry the image of God on a ring," that is, speak sparingly about divine things. And this saying of the Syrians: "Do not set your mouth and face against the sun," that is, do not struggle against God or princes; do not contradict or curse them.
Verse 2: Many Cares are Followed by Dreams, and in Many Words Folly will be Found
2. MANY CARES ARE FOLLOWED BY DREAMS, AND IN MANY WORDS FOLLY WILL BE FOUND. — "And," that is, thus: for he compares cares to many words, and dreams to folly, because just as dreams follow from cares, so folly follows from many words; in Hebrew, the voice of the inconstant, that is, of the fool; the Tigurina, for in much occupation a dream occurs, and in many words the voice of the fool breaks forth; Campensis, just as daytime cares produce dreams, so many words make prayer foolish; the Chaldean, because just as a dream comes from the thoughts of the heart in many affairs, similarly is the voice of fools in many idle words; or, as Costus translates, so also the voice of fools is carried to the variety of empty words.
This verse depends on the preceding one, and gives the reason why words before God ought to be few; hence according to the fourfold talkativeness before God, assigned at the beginning of the verse, a fourfold meaning arises here.
For first, absolutely and generally, many words can signify any kind of talkativeness, and any kind of garrulity, which occurs before God, that is, with God watching and hearing, as if to say: I have forbidden all talkativeness, because folly commonly accompanies it, just as dreams accompany many cares. For this is the adequate reason why He forbade talkativeness and haste in speaking, namely because in all talkativeness folly is found: for this is partly its cause, partly its effect. Its cause, because he who chatters much blurts out many impertinent, futile, vain, and foolish, indeed false things, which make him more foolish. Its effect, because garrulity proceeds from a wandering, erring, inconstant, and delirious mind. So Lyranus, Cajetan, Titelmannus, Vatablus, and others. Olympiodorus agrees, who explains it thus: just as those who are agitated by many temptations and cares during the day are sometimes disturbed by dreams during rest: so also the fool, sinning in talkativeness, is convicted by his own voice.
Second, talkativeness before God can be understood as garrulity about God and divine things, which St. Jerome explains thus: "He commands, he says, that whether speaking or thinking, we should not suppose more about God than we are able, but should know our weakness, that as far as heaven is distant from earth, so far our opinion is separated from His nature, and therefore our words ought to be moderate. For just as he who is in many thoughts dreams frequently about the things he thinks about: so he who wishes to discourse more about the divinity falls into folly. Or certainly thus: Our words ought to be few for this reason, that even those things which we think we know, we see through a mirror and in an enigma, and we comprehend as a dream that which we think we grasp. And when we have said many things (as it may seem to us), the end of our disputation is folly. For from much speaking we do not escape sin."
The Author of the Greek Catena agrees, who also adds the reason: "For it cannot be, he says, that a man who consists of a sensible nature, and borrows all his thought from the senses, should rightly and without error dispute about God," Proverbs 10, as being spiritual and incorporeal.
Third, talkativeness before God can be understood as haste in making vows. For the companion of this is folly, when one either vows foolish or contradictory things, or foolishly does not wish, indeed cannot, fulfill so many and such great vows. Finally, these vows proceed from an inconstant, foolish, and stupid mind.
Fourth, and more precisely and properly, by talkativeness before God is signified haste and talkativeness of prayers, which proceeds from a mind agitated by various desires, and seething and disturbed by lusts and anxieties: for this is what the Hebrew תבהל tebahel in the preceding verse signifies. For such a prayer proceeds from a desirous, disturbed, and foolish soul: and therefore it babbles and prays many similar things. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: Just as a multitude of cares, especially empty and futile ones, proceeds from an empty and futile mind, seething with various desires, and produces empty, futile, and disturbed dreams: so likewise a multitude of words and prayers proceeds from a wandering, unstable mind, tossed by various lusts and passions, and therefore inconstant and foolish, and consequently babbles and asks for many contradictory, disturbed, and foolish things, which make the foolish person more foolish: for what he now asks, he soon refuses; what now pleases, soon displeases; what he now affirms, he soon denies. Therefore talkativeness in praying reveals and increases the folly of the one praying, that is, the inconstancy of a mind agitated and driven by various and mutually conflicting desires. For this is what the Hebrew kesil signifies. For thus the Hebrew literally reads: because a dream comes in a multitude of occupation, and the voice of the inconstant, or fool, in a multitude of words.
Moreover, he aptly compares many cares to many words, because many cares produce many words: for what the mind desires and cares about, this it speaks; and a dream is aptly compared to folly. First, because dreams are certain mockeries and delusions of the imagination, and conversely follies and delusions are, as it were, dreams of a disturbed and wandering mind. Just as therefore dreams are the delusions of those who sleep: so follies are the delusions as well as dreams of those who are awake.
Second, just as dreams proceed from a mind agitated by cares, so folly proceeds from a soul seething with various desires, which it reveals through talkativeness. Truly Seneca in the Octavia gives this cause of dreams: "Whatever, he says, the hostile vigor of the mind thinks, the sacred and secret sense reports in sleep, and swiftly." And Claudian, On the Rape of Proserpina:
All wishes that are turned over in daytime feeling, Friendly rest returns in the nighttime.
Third, just as in the dreams of a disturbed mind, on account of the images and phantasms of various and many things rushing together, says Pineda, and with some order of things and understanding preserved, but impressed on the mind in a tumultuous and confused way, and committed to memory, there must necessarily be many delusions, and a great disturbance and confusion of forms and images, such as are the nightmares of drunkards and raving men, which Hippocrates once called "foreign opinions, which terrify the mind": so indeed many words cannot but produce much folly, inconstancy, and delirium in narrating, promising, vowing, or treating anything else in words and speech.
Fourth, because frequent follies and foolish talk produce foolish dreams. So Olympiodorus. "Do not, he says, be talkative and frivolous, nor put forth the folly implanted in you through your speech; because many temptations come upon the frivolous, which not only disturb them during the day when they are awake, but also terrify them when sleeping during rest."
Moreover the Septuagint varies here. For the Vatican and Royal texts translate the Greek παράσμου, because a dream comes in a multitude of anxiety, and the voice of the fool in a multiplication of words. So also the Syriac; but the Complutensian, because a nightmare comes in a multitude of temptation, and the voice of the fool in a multitude of words; and the Arabic, for a dream brings a multitude of temptations, and the voice of the fool brings a multitude of words; following which Blessed Antiochus, homily 85, takes this passage about impure and obscene dreams. Hear him: Do not give credence to dreams; for they are nothing other than the images of a deluded and wandering mind, imaginations, and the deceptive tricks of reprobate demons, who deceive us and entangle those thus miserably seduced, so that they may entice them with these allurements and delight them, so that afterward with no difficulty they may drag a person to seize the enticements of alluring pleasure, according to the word of the Apostle Jude, brother of James, speaking of certain such persons: "Likewise also these, following their own dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme majesty." Ecclesiastes likewise commands, saying: A dream comes in a multitude of temptation, and the voice of the fool in a multitude of words," he introduces: "Do not give your mouth to cause your flesh to go astray, lest God be angry at your voice, and destroy the labors of your hands; because in a multitude of dreams and vanities, and of many words." Olympiodorus agrees: "He who is agitated by many temptations during the day is subsequently disturbed during rest by many dreams, tempting him either to avarice or to lust, but nevertheless useless and immediately fleeting: so the talkative and frivolous person, babbling many things, seems to say many things, but nevertheless all useless and trivial."
But the Author of the Greek Catena: "About God, he says, let your words be few, that is, true and circumspect. For upon those who despise this instruction, dreams come with a long train of temptations. For by the name of nightmare he calls the demon, who with his long retinue of temptations oppresses and disturbs souls given to sleep. Concerning whom Job, speaking with God, says thus: You terrify me in dreams, and confound me with visions. David also, desiring to avoid this enemy, thus calls the Lord to himself: Enlighten my eyes, lest I ever sleep in death. And what follows. Another: "Just as those who are tempted during the day are also terrified by nightmares when they sleep; in the same manner, his own talkativeness convicts the fool, and envelops him in various temptations." Finally Symmachus translates, a dream will come on account of the multitude of iniquity, which vehement temptation produces; for what we desire during the day, we dream about at night. Hence quarrelsome people dream about their quarrels and killings, gluttons about their debauchery, fornicators about their harlots, misers about their usury, etc.
Verse 3: If You have Vowed Anything to God, do not Delay in Paying it: for An Unfaithful and Foolish Promise...
3. IF YOU HAVE VOWED ANYTHING TO GOD, DO NOT DELAY IN PAYING IT: FOR AN UNFAITHFUL AND FOOLISH PROMISE DISPLEASES HIM: BUT WHATEVER YOU HAVE VOWED, PAY IT. — The Septuagint, as you have vowed a vow to God, do not delay in paying it. For a vow must be paid in its entirety, at that place, time, manner, and other circumstances in which it was conceived and declared. Hence the translator Olympiodorus renders, as you have vowed, etc., do not be slow to pay.
Excellently Salvianus, book II: "The profession, he says, of religion does not remove the debt, but increases it: because the assumption of a religious name is a pledge of devotion, and through this one owes all the more in deed, the more he has promised by his promise, according to the saying: It is better not to vow, than after a vow not to fulfill what was promised." For a vow declared to God is a thing wonderfully pleasing to God, so much so that He Himself not only rejoices in the promise of a good and holy thing made to Him, but also demands that thing consecrated to Him by vow without any delay and swiftly, and bears it ill if it is deferred, or a delay is imposed on it. Hence St. Ambrose, book I On Cain and Abel, chapter 8: "The first, he says, grace of a vow is the swiftness of its payment." Hence to defer the payment is sometimes the same as to withhold it, which it seems to me the Wise Man intimates in this passage; for he exhorts to the swift payment of vows.
"If you have vowed anything to God, he says, do not delay in paying it." And immediately giving the reason for this swiftness: "It is much better, he says, not to vow, than after a vow not to fulfill what was promised," that is, to delay what was promised after a vow: for he had forewarned that these delays must be removed; and yet he says "not to fulfill what was promised," because to delay what was promised is the same as to refuse, as St. Ambrose rightly observes, in the cited book, chapter 7: "For when, he says, you delay, you do not pay." For what more did it profit Cain to offer late, than not to offer at all?
This maxim is aptly connected with and drawn from the preceding. For those who are thoughtless and hasty in speaking, praying, and vowing, after a vow, when they consider its difficulty, are slow in paying; therefore just as they sinned by haste in vowing, so they sin far more gravely by slowness in fulfilling.
Moreover, a vow is a promise made to God, which to be valid requires five things. First, that it be deliberate; second, that it be free; hence he says: "If you have vowed anything;" third, that the one vowing intend to bind himself; fourth, that it be about a thing pleasing to God; fifth, that the one vowing be able to bind himself. Hence a vow is an act of religion and worship; for by a vow God is worshipped, as St. Thomas teaches, II II, Question 88, article 5. Hence a vow is here joined to prayer, especially because those who pray often, in order to obtain what they ask, declare vows to God, according to that saying of Isaiah 19: "They will worship Him with sacrifices and offerings: and they will vow vows to the Lord, and pay them." Hence the Greeks call a vow εὐχή, that is, a prayer. See our Lessius, treatise On the Vow.
Wherefore in baptism, in which the faithful profess that they will keep the law of Christ, and renounce Satan, there is not properly a vow, because this is not a promise, but merely a resolution and profession of faith and of the Christian life. Yet the same is often called a vow by the Fathers, taking the name of vow broadly, for a resolution and profession. Hence by them the same is now called a pledge, now a promise, now a guarantee, now an oath, now a renunciation, now a profession, now a solemn declaration, now a vow, as can be seen in St. Basil, On the Holy Spirit, chapter 27; Tertullian, On the Military Crown, chapter 3; Gregory, homily 29 on the Gospels; Augustine, on Psalm 75; St. Jerome, Apology 1 against Rufinus, and others.
DO NOT DELAY IN PAYING. — Campensis, pay it without delay. A vow must be fulfilled at the time which the mind of the one vowing intends; if he has determined no certain time, he is bound to fulfill it as soon as he conveniently can, according to Deuteronomy 23:21: "When you have vowed a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay in paying it, because the Lord your God will require it; and if you delay, it will be reckoned to you as sin. If you are unwilling to promise, you will be without sin. But what has once gone forth from your lips, you shall observe, and you shall do as you promised to the Lord your God, and have spoken of your own will and with your own mouth." Wherefore "it is ruin to devour holy things, and after vows to reconsider," Proverbs 20:25. See what was said there. The reason is that by a vow the one vowing binds himself to perform the thing he has vowed; a vow therefore is a debt, and the one vowing makes himself a debtor to God, and liable for the vow; therefore he sins if he delays in paying this debt to God. For after the vow, the thing is not so much his as God's: for it has passed into the right of God, to whom it was consecrated by the vow; therefore he does an injury to Him, if he retains for himself what belongs to Him, that is, what is owed and bound to Him. Rightly therefore he says: "Do not delay in paying," as if to say: Swiftly, eagerly, and cheerfully, pay God what you have vowed. "For God loves a cheerful giver," 2 Corinthians 9. For "he gives twice, who gives swiftly." See St. Bernard, sermon 74 on the Song of Songs. Another reason why a vow must be quickly fulfilled is given by Olympiodorus: "Because, he says, as soon as you become liable for a vow, a multitude of temptations will surround you; which will hinder you from fulfilling the promise, so that not even when sleeping will you be free from trouble." Such a person Solomon describes in the guarantor, Proverbs 6.
2. Hence for "to pay," the Hebrew is שלם schallem, which properly means to make peace, to reconcile peace; for he who pays a debt restores and strengthens peace with the creditor: so those who pay their vows enter into and ratify peace with God. Wherefore David: "My vows I will pay, he says, in the sight of all who fear Him," Psalm 21:26. Hear St. Ambrose, book I On Cain and Abel, chapter 7: "If you have vowed a vow, do not delay in paying it. For when you delay, you do not pay. A vow, moreover, is a request of good things from God with a promise of paying a gift. And therefore when you have obtained what you asked, it is ungrateful to delay what was promised. But sometimes, forgetfulness of what was obtained creeps in upon the negligent, or upon the proud and haughty, to claim the outcomes for themselves, and to attribute the good that one does, or that one obtains from God, to their own virtues, and not to acknowledge the grace of the Author, but to consider oneself the author of one's own good things — this is the mark of a dull and proud heart."
Hence the Apostle says about widows who wish to marry after a vow of chastity: "Having condemnation, because they have made void their first pledge (the promise and vow of chastity)," 1 Timothy 5:12. Ananias and Sapphira likewise were punished with death by St. Peter, because they delayed in fulfilling their vow of poverty. Hence Pope Urban I, as found in Decretals 12, Question 1, chapter Scimus, teaches that all things were common to the clergy, because at that time they had vowed this: "Whoever among you, he says, has undertaken the common life, and has vowed to have nothing of his own, let him see that he does not make void his promise, but let him faithfully keep what he has promised to the Lord, that he may acquire not condemnation, but a reward; since it is better not to vow, than not to fulfill a vow, as one is able. For those who made a vow, or received the faith, and did not fulfill the vow, or ended their lives in evil, are punished more gravely than those without a vow, who have died with the title, and yet performed good works: for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases God.
Another reason why a vow must be quickly paid is that God, since He is most faithful, requires most faithful worshippers. For if faithfulness must be kept with a man, much more so with God; otherwise you would seem to mock and make sport of God, and to expose His honor to disgrace and ignominy; therefore God usually punishes and avenges the violators of vows severely, as unfaithful, vow-breakers, and sacrilegious persons, as I have already shown by examples. They are also foolish; for it is foolish to voluntarily bind oneself by a vow to a thing which one does not wish, or cannot, perform; it is foolish to promise anything beyond one's strength. "For he is unwise who is ignorant of his own measure," says Ptolemy in the Preface to the Almagest, namely what the shoulders can bear, and what they refuse to carry. Moreover, the promise of a vow is foolish when it is made inconsiderately, hastily, or when one vows something impossible, indifferent, evil, or less good, which namely impedes a greater good. So foolish was the vow of Jephthah, by which he vowed to sacrifice to God whatever first came out of his house to meet him returning after victory; but his daughter came to meet him, so he sacrificed her. "For in vowing he was foolish, because he had no discretion, and in paying he was impious," says St. Jerome, and following him St. Thomas, II II, Question 88, article 2.
Here one must beware of the error of Angelus in the Summa, under the word "vow," who judges that the folly of indeliberation, or insufficiency, is gathered from the fact that someone immediately repents of a vow after making it. For many have vowed deliberately and therefore are bound by their vow, whom nevertheless a short time later the vow causes to repent, as is evident in apostates from religious life: therefore theologians teach that for a vow that deliberation is absolutely sufficient which suffices for sinning mortally.
In Hebrew it is, because there is no will (of God) בכסילים backesilim, that is, in the inconstant, that is, the foolish, who namely promise and do not fulfill their promises, or revoke them from inconstant desire of the mind, according to that saying of the Arabs: "The foundation of faith is abstinence, the undermining of faith is desire."
For the cause why many do not fulfill their vows is the inconstancy of the mind, which makes them repent of the vow, according to Proverbs 25:14: "Clouds, and wind, and rains that do not follow, a boastful man, and one who does not fulfill his promises." The Chaldean here translates, because therefore there is no good pleasure in the foolish, since they defer their vows; Symmachus, however, οδ παρεστι σπονδη, that is, there is no use for the foolish, namely with God; or, there is no usefulness of the foolish, who vow so lightly that they soon retract, according to the saying: "An apostate man, a useless man," Proverbs 6:12; the Arabic, the will of God is not in the rich, whom riches often make arrogant, inconstant, and foolish; the Tigurina, for God does not delight in fools; Campensis, lest by promising much in the manner of fools, you seriously offend Him. There is a fable on this subject in Aesop: "A poor man, he says, being sick, vowed to the gods that if he recovered, he would offer a hundred oxen in sacrifice; but the gods, wanting to test him, freed him from the disease. But he, rising up, since he had no oxen, made a hundred oxen of dough, placed them on the altar, and sacrificed them. The gods, intending to punish him, appeared in his dreams saying: Go to the shore, to that place: for there you will find a thousand Attic drachmas. But he, awakened, cheerful and eager, went to the place shown, searching for gold; but there he fell among pirates, and was seized by them. Captured therefore, to be released he begged the pirates, promising to give them a thousand talents of gold; but since he was not believed, he was driven away and sold by them for a thousand drachmas. The moral: The fable signifies that God is hostile to the lies of men."
Verse 4: And it is much Better not to Vow, than after a Vow not to Fulfill what was Promised
4. AND IT IS MUCH BETTER NOT TO VOW, THAN AFTER A VOW NOT TO FULFILL WHAT WAS PROMISED. — He says "not to vow" only, because a vow not to make vows is illicit. For he who vows that he will not make a vow, vows that he will not do a greater good, which is illicit, and therefore his vow is void, as our Franciscus Suarez teaches, volume II On Religion, book II On the Vow, chapter 11. "How heavy are the bonds, says St. Ambrose, book IX on Luke, at chapter 20, of promising God and not paying! It is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay; greater is the contract of fidelity than of money. Pay what was promised, while you are in this body, before the exactor comes and sends you to prison."
Moreover, the heretics of our age are deluded when from this passage they condemn vows of chastity, of religion, and of fasting, and absolve those guilty of breaking vows. For Ecclesiastes does not say: It is good not to vow, or it is evil to vow; but: "It is better not to vow, than after a vow not to fulfill what was promised," as if to say: It is better not to vow than to make a vow and violate it. Therefore the best thing is to make a vow and fulfill it. For this is a double act of religion and worship of God: first, in that you vow and consecrate a thing to God; second, in that you present to Him what was consecrated. For therefore an unfaithful and foolish promise displeases God, because one faithfully and prudently undertaken pleases Him: and for this reason it is better not to vow than after a vow not to fulfill what was promised, because it is good to promise, and to perform what you have promised; although "not to promise" is said to be better not absolutely, but relatively, namely when what is promised is not going to be fulfilled.
Therefore a work done from a vow is better than one without a vow. The reason is threefold: First, because a vow is an act of religion and worship, as I said, which among the moral virtues is the first and most noble, just as charity is among the theological virtues. Therefore an act, for example of fasting, is in itself a simple virtue, namely an act of temperance; but if a vow is added, it becomes twofold, and of double value and merit: for the dignity of religion and of the vow is added, which is far more noble than temperance. Wherefore, just as religion is better than irreligion, says
Parvianus, book II To the Catholic Church, so a vowed fast is better than an unvowed one. So St. Thomas, II II, Question 88, article 6.
Second, because he who does the work gives only the act to God; but he who adds a vow, together with the act gives the force and the power, namely the will and liberty. For through the vow he hands these over to God, so that it is not permitted to will the contrary of what he vowed. He does, therefore, like one who gives a prince not only the fruits, but the whole tree with its fruits, says St. Anselm, book On Similitudes. Hence the Psalmist, Psalm 75: "Vow, he says, and pay to our Lord." Where St. Augustine: "Let each one, he says, vow what he can and pay it; do not be sluggish in vowing: for you will not fulfill it by your own strength." For He who gives the devotion to vow will give the strength to fulfill.
Third, because the vow strengthens and confirms the will, which is of itself flexible and inconstant, in the act of virtue which it vows, with the result that the act which proceeds from a vow is firmer, more robust, and more constant, and therefore better and more perfect, according to that saying of St. Bernard, On Precept and Dispensation: "Happy the necessity which compels to better things." Hear St. Augustine, On Virginity, chapter 8: "For virginity itself, he says, is not honored because it is virginity, but because it is dedicated to God; which although preserved in the flesh, is nevertheless preserved by the religion and devotion of the spirit, and through this the virginity of the body is also spiritual, which the continence of piety vows and preserves." And the same a little below: "That continence is to be counted more honorable among the goods of the soul, by which the integrity of the flesh is vowed, consecrated, and preserved to the Creator Himself of both soul and flesh."
Verse 5: DO NOT GIVE YOUR MOUTH TO CAUSE YOUR FLESH (the Arabic, your humanity) TO SIN: NOR SAY BEFORE THE...
5. DO NOT GIVE YOUR MOUTH TO CAUSE YOUR FLESH (the Arabic, your humanity) TO SIN: NOR SAY BEFORE THE ANGEL: THERE IS NO PROVIDENCE: LEST PERHAPS GOD, ANGERED AT YOUR WORDS, DESTROY ALL THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS. — First, many take this as referring to a vow rashly made and its violation: for the discourse has just treated of the vow. Hence the Tigurina translates, do not allow your mouth to give your flesh an occasion of sinning; Vatablus, do not give free rein to your mouth, so that it sins; Isidorus Clarius, do not involve yourself entirely in sin; clearly the Chaldean, do not violate the word of your mouth, nor be a cause of Gehenna for your flesh, and on the day of the great judgment you will not be able to say before the cruel Angel, who will accuse you, that it was ignorance; lest the fury of God be angry over all your words, which were spoken in disgrace, and destroy the works of your hands.
The meaning therefore is, as if to say: Do not give your mouth to rashly vowing anything which you will scarcely be able to perform, so as to cause your flesh to sin, when it will transgress the vow of a difficult religious life, fasting, chastity, or penance through gluttony, lust, etc.; or your flesh, that is, yourself, when through the weakness of your flesh you will violate the vow. Nor say before the Angel, who is always present to you as a guardian, and whom you must reverence everywhere: "There is no providence," that is, God does not know, or does not care about human affairs, and therefore not about my vows either. The Hebrew has, do not say: it is an error, that is, the world is governed by chance and accidental error, not by a certain providence of the deity: there is one accidental error of all things, and therefore of my vow too; therefore in vowing I erred: so I will correct this error now recognized by me, and troublesome and difficult to me, and will annul the erroneous vow. Aquila translates, ακούσιον, that is, it is involuntary, as if to say: I did not vow spontaneously, but the vow fell from me through error and imprudence: therefore I am not bound by it. This is a common error and a grave crime, indeed a sacrilege, of which the witnesses, accusers, and avengers will be the angels, the heavens, the sun, the stars, the earth, and the elements, in whose sight you declared the vow, and afterwards violated it.
Solomon therefore counsels that whoever desires to vow should first prudently consider his strength, inclinations, and circumstances, whether he can easily fulfill the vow, so that he may confidently trust that through God's grace he will fulfill it; lest, if he rashly makes a vow, he later repent, and violate the vow, and excuse himself, saying: I vowed imprudently, I erred in vowing, I did not think the vow would be so difficult for me. For this is a cold and frivolous excuse. The wise man foresees the future, and so cuts off the "I did not think" and "I did not suppose."
For there are some who are more ardent, and therefore of lighter and more inconstant character, who, while they pray fervently, or feel the impulses of divine motion and the fervor of heavenly consolation, immediately desire to vow great austerities of life, great alms, the state of a strict religious order, such as the Carthusian, or an anchoretic life. But when this fervor and heat has passed, they find themselves weak and feeble, and not having as great strength of nature and grace as the vow requires; therefore they grieve too late, repent of the vow, and finally violate it, and rush into every license of the flesh. These Solomon here warns not to vow too hastily in that fervor of devotion, but to let it cool down, and then prudently and carefully consider whether, what, how much, and how long it is fitting to vow; indeed they should not make a vow except with the prior counsel and consent of a confessor or a prudent man.
This exposition clearly adheres to the letter, and connects it most excellently with the preceding material on the vow: therefore it seems entirely genuine and authentic, and it is followed by the Interlinear Gloss, Titelmannus, Pineda, Lorinus, and the Hebrew Doctor of St. Jerome, whom hear: "The Hebrew understood it thus: what you cannot do, do not promise. For words do not pass into the wind, but are immediately carried to the Lord by the Angel present, who accompanies each person as a companion; and you, who think God is ignorant of what you have promised, provoke Him to anger, so that all your works may be destroyed."
Hear now also other probable expositions of others.
Second, Olympiodorus, Thaumaturgus, and Salonius explain it, as if to say: Do not give your mouth to gluttony, or to incautious or lustful words, especially with women, by which your flesh may be excited to lust. So also Hugo Cardinal, Lyranus, and Titelmannus explain this as about avoiding gluttony and lust.
Third, St. Jerome, Salonius, Alcuinus, and the Gloss explain it, as if to say: Do not seek bald excuses by which you give occasion to your flesh to sin, that is, do not say: It was not I who sinned, it was not I who got drunk, it was not I who committed fornication, but my weak nature, corrupted by concupiscence, drove me unwillingly to that; for thus you cast your sin back upon God, the author of nature, and make Him the author of sin, as well as of so fragile a nature, which is a horrible blasphemy, and therefore seriously offends God and provokes Him to vengeance. Hear St. Jerome: He reproves those "who complain about the vice of the flesh, and say that they were compelled by the necessity of the body to do what they did not want, according to the saying of the Apostle, Romans 7, and seek vain excuses and say: It is not I who sin, but the sin that dwells in my flesh."
Fourth, St. Bonaventure refers it to the denial of divine Providence, as if to say: Do not give your mouth to say before the Angel: There is no Providence, there is no Deity who avenges pleasures and crimes; and so rush securely into all the vices of the flesh. For the denial of the Deity drives a man to every gluttony and lust.
Fifth, Dionysius the Carthusian and following him Cajetan: because there is a threefold use of the mouth, namely eating, kissing, and speaking, he wishes to include the three sins in these, gluttony, impure kisses, and words; and according to the said Hebrew edition, it is added: lest anyone excuse these as done through error and involuntarily, and let him beware of saying this seriously, since the Angel who is present knows with what intention he speaks thus, and how it tends to insult God.
Sixth, Moringus takes this maxim more generally, as spoken not only against gluttony and lust, but also against all the vices of the flesh, which the Apostle lists, Galatians 5:19: lest anyone excuse them through the fragility of his flesh and a certain violence, or a necessary concupiscence of the flesh.
Seventh, some think it is here commanded that no one should call a vow an error, or say that those who vow err, as though either it is not lawful, or the vow ought not to be paid. But the first sense, as I said, is the genuine one.
DO NOT SAY BEFORE THE ANGEL, — the cruel one, says the Chaldean, that is, before the devil. But better, others take Angel in the good sense, such as the guardian assigned to each person by God. For this one is the minister of Providence: therefore he who denies it is injurious both to the Angel and to God. Hence some from this passage prove the guardianship of angels over men. Again from this passage St. Thomas concludes, I part, Question 57, article 2, that angels have knowledge of and providence over created things. He therefore names the Angel, because this one is the executor of divine Providence, as well as its protector and avenger; just as if someone should say: Do not say before the magistrate: In this city there is no justice, because the magistrate who is the protector and avenger of justice will repel this insult from himself, and will justly arrest and punish you for it.
Finally some, like Pineda, take this as referring to a particular Angel, to whom by God (hence St. Jerome: "For words, he says, do not pass into the wind, but from the Angel present, who accompanies each person as a companion, they are immediately carried to the Lord") has been entrusted the care of prayers and vows to be offered to God, such as John saw, Apocalypse 8:3: "And another Angel, he says, came, and stood before the golden altar: and there was given to him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of the Saints upon the golden altar, which is before the throne of God. And the smoke of the incense from the prayers of the Saints ascended from the hand of the Angel before God." For it was the ancient opinion of Origen and others that certain devils preside over certain vices, and instigate men to them. Hence in Scripture and in the Lives of the Fathers there is frequently named a spirit or angel of blasphemy, of lust, of pride, of gluttony, of avarice, of sloth, etc., and on the other hand, certain Angels preside over certain virtues, and promote men to them, so that one Angel is of prayer, another of humility, another of temperance, another of chastity, etc., on which matter I have spoken elsewhere.
In the Life of St. Onuphrius, who lived angelically for 70 years in the desert, written by the eyewitness Abbot Paphnutius, we read that God through angels provides for all men; especially for religious persons bound by vow, solitaries, and hermits: "Almighty God, he says, does not forsake those who hope in Him: He surrounds them with the arms of His power, so that the assault of Satan cannot overthrow those whom the height of divine mercy protects. Therefore the angels of God are continually sent to them, and through their hands whatever is necessary is more frequently administered to them." And shortly after: "Know most certainly, O son, that the angels of God daily serve holy and just men, and by heavenly power their bodies and souls are continually enlightened."
A little later Blessed Onuphrius recounts that he was led into the desert by an Angel having the appearance of a most handsome man, who said: "Do not be frightened; for I am an Angel of God, appointed by divine Providence to guard you from your birth, so that, at God's command, I might remain with you, and lead you into this desert. Be perfect, walk humbly before the Lord, labor with joy, keep your heart in all custody, live without complaint, persevere in good work. And I will not forsake you, until I present your soul in the presence of the supreme majesty." And after some things: "The holy Angel daily offered me bread, and administered water by measure so that my body might be strengthened, lest it fail, and might persevere continually in the praise of God, etc. Every Sunday or Sabbath I find an angel of the Lord prepared, carrying with him the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whose hands most precious gifts are bestowed on me, and the perpetual salvation of my life. Indeed also all who lead a spiritual life in the desert as monks share in such joy. But those holy hermits who inhabit this solitude, if perchance they sometimes desire to see a man, are immediately carried into heaven by an Angel: there the souls of the just shining like the sun in the kingdom of their Father are seen, there they contemplate the multitude of Angels, and their own souls mingled with the assemblies of the blessed. Therefore all who strive in the contest, with all their mind, all their heart, all their strength are fervent in good work, so that they may deserve to possess the glory of the heavenly homeland with Christ and with the saints."
Paphnutius adds about the death of St. Onuphrius: "After this he rose, and weeping prayed to the Lord, bent his knees and suddenly said: Into Your hands, O God, I commend my spirit. And when he had said this, a splendid light overshadowed his body, and in the brightness of that light the holy soul was released from the flesh. And suddenly I heard the voice of many angels praising God, and at the departure of the most holy soul of St. Onuphrius, the heavens resounding with angelic songs, they brought ineffable joy to the stars, through which the heavenly armies carried the soul of the renowned soldier into heaven."
Finally, how the angels from the beginning of the world have been the ministers and executors of divine Providence, especially among the faithful people, having collected all the examples from the whole of Sacred Scripture, I showed at Exodus 23:20 and following. This is what the Apostle says: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent for service on behalf of those who will inherit salvation?" Hebrews chapter 1, verse 14.
Mystically, Dionysius takes the Angel as the priest, of whom Malachi says, chapter 2, verse 7: "The lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts." It is therefore the priest's duty to teach the people of God about the law and Providence, that is, about the Deity who avenges all good and evil. For faith in this Providence restrains a man from every crime, and spurs him to every honor of virtue.
There is no providence. — In God there is no deity, there is no God who has providence over all things; for providence is so natural to God that if you remove it with Epicurus, Democritus, and the atheists, you remove God as well. For a God who is ignorant and improvident is not God, but a stone or wooden idol. Aquila translates ακούσιον, which if you attribute to God, the meaning is, as if to say: God does not act freely, but under compulsion, or by fatal necessity, and therefore without providence; if you assign it to man, the meaning is, as if to say: I did not vow willingly, but under compulsion: therefore I am not bound by the vow.
In Hebrew it is כי שגגה ki seggaga, that is, because it is error or thoughtlessness, improvidence, inconsideration, whether of the Deity, as if to say: There is no providence of the Deity, but all things happen by error and random chance in the world, just as Democritus believed the world was made from a random collision of atoms: thus the planets are said to wander in the sky, and sheep and cattle on the mountains; or of man, as if to say: I vowed improvidently and inconsiderately. The Septuagint, because it is ignorance, as if to say: I did it and vowed in ignorance; the Chaldean, I did it imprudently: therefore I am not bound by the vow; the Arabic, and do not say that before God there is corruption of knowledge, so that He does not know our vows and deeds; Campensis, nor think that the Angel, who observes your things, will esteem the matter so lightly, since you, amid the multitude of words, scarcely knew what you were promising. For, as Olympiodorus says, those who wallow in the very dregs of wickedness so deny and spurn the providence of God, that they say God disdains to care about and know what crimes are committed here by men. Elegantly Arias translates:
What you have vowed, do not call it an error, nor Excuse yourself, in the presence of him, the Angel who with faithful Stylus notes all the words of men on tablets...
The angels therefore have care and providence over our vows; and just as they rejoice at their conception and fulfillment, so they grieve and are indignant at their violation; and they record both in the tablets of memory, to report to God, who will decree for each person rewards or punishments according to their merits; hence David sang: "In the sight of the angels I will sing praise to You: I will worship toward Your holy temple, and I will confess Your name," Psalm 137:1.
Moreover, two extremes opposed to each other are contrary to Providence, namely fate and fortune. For Providence is free, fate is necessary: therefore whoever subjects God to fate removes God and providence altogether: Far be it therefore from a faithful person that saying of the Tragedian:
We are driven by the fates, yield to the fates.
Therefore St. Augustine, tract 37 on John, and book V of the City of God, chapter 9, considers those who assert fate to be fools. Again, chance and fortune are opposed to Providence: for although with respect to secondary causes, which come together quasi-fortuitously beyond mutual intention, there is chance and fortune, which causes contingent and fortuitous effects, yet with respect to God there is no chance. For, as the Wise Man says, chapter 4, verse 3: "But Your providence, Father, governs all things." Wherefore nothing is fortuitous to God, because everything is foreseen and provided for. "In the kingdom of Providence nothing is permitted to recklessness," says Seneca, because nothing happens rashly, but all things by design and from a certain providence. "Where the intellect is greatest, there fortune is least," says Boethius, because the intelligent and wise person does all things with deliberation and counsel; hence for God nothing is fortuitous, no chance, no fortune, but for men, to whom many unforeseen and unexpected things happen. For God foresees, orders, and combines all secondary causes, even contingent ones.
LEST PERHAPS GOD, ANGERED AT YOUR WORDS, DESTROY ALL THE WORKS OF YOUR HANDS. — For "destroy" the Hebrew is חבל chibbel, that is, as the Septuagint, may He scatter; the Chaldean, Arabic, and Syriac, may He corrupt; Vatablus, may He curse; the Tigurina, may He destroy; Marinus, may He devastate. Properly chibbel means may He tear apart with great force and pain. How anger exists in God, namely not as a passion but as an appetite for just vengeance, Lactantius teaches against Epicurus, in his book On the Wrath of God, chapter 4. Truly St. Augustine, book I of the Confessions, chapter 9, addressing God: "You repent, he says, and do not grieve; You are angry, and are tranquil; You change Your works, and do not change Your counsel."
Now the meaning is first, as if to say: Lest God, on account of this crime of vow-breaking and denial of Providence, abolish and destroy all the good works and their merits which you previously did when you were wise. So Olympiodorus: "Lest, he says, you also lose the fruit of your works. For God when angry blots out from the book of life whatever it seems we have done piously and laudably." And Clarius: "What you think so trivial so offends God, that He will curse not only your prayer, but on account of it your other works as well."
Second, as St. Jerome says: "Lest God hand over one who thinks such things to a reprobate mind, so that he does those things which are not fitting."
Third, Olympiodorus adds that God usually punishes vow-breakers and those who deny the Deity with poverty, misfortunes, and death, and thus corrupts their fortunes and works. Finally the Arabic translates, lest God be angry at your foolishness, and the crafts of your hands be corrupted, that is, the exquisite works which you have devised and wrought with intense study, skill, and ingenuity, as though content with your own providence you utterly failed to acknowledge the divine, and said with pride: My exalted hand, and not the Lord, has done all these things. It can also be understood as all things which one has acquired for himself, whether goods of the body or of the soul, including virtues and merits, of which he deservedly loses the merit who denies God's providence, says our Lorinus.
Thus we see that Religious who, while they lived in religion observing their vows, and excelled in a wonderful grace of teaching and speaking among men, when they depart from it and become apostates, lose all this grace, and become the hatred and disgrace of God, as well as of men. We have witnessed and continue to witness frequent examples. Hence some translate, God will make your works rot. For thus at Isaiah 10:26, our Translator renders the Hebrew חבל chibbel as will cause to rot. For apostasy is rottenness, that is, corruption and infamy, which makes apostates vile, infamous, and rotten, and causes their works to rot, that is, defiles, disgraces, and corrupts them, not only their present works, but also their past ones, which they had performed in their heroic religious life.
The Hebrew chibbel has contrary meanings; for it signifies both to bind and to loose, and to tear apart with vehemence and pain, as happens in those giving birth, from whom the offspring is, as it were, torn apart while being born. Hence chibbel often means to give birth, and to have the pains of childbirth. Both meanings fit this passage: for vow-breakers and those who deny the deity seem to have their tongue, mind, and hand bound, so that those who were previously eloquent, wise, and powerful in every work, through this crime become speechless, foolish, helpless, and powerless for every good. Again, their works are torn apart with great confusion and pain, such as that of women in childbirth.
Morally learn here how much the denial of the deity and providence offends God, and how severely He punishes and avenges those who deny it. God threatens the impious who say: "The Lord will not see us, the Lord has forsaken his land": "Therefore I also will act in the future: My eye will not spare, nor will I have mercy," Ezekiel 8:18, and chapter 10; David, Psalm 9:13-14: "Why, he says, has the impious one provoked God? For he has said in his heart: He will not require it. You see, because You consider labor and sorrow: to deliver them into Your hands."
Moreover the Fathers demonstrate that Providence exists from the harmonious discord of elements, heavens, animals, and all things, from their order, motion, and constancy. Hear Lactantius, book III, chapter 10: "For who would not perceive that this world, perfected with such wonderful design, is governed by some providence? since nothing can stand without any ruler. Thus a house abandoned by its inhabitant falls into ruin. A ship without a helmsman sinks. And a body abandoned by the soul wastes away. Much less should we think that so great a mass could either be constructed without a craftsman, or stand so long without a ruler."
Hear Damascene in the History of Barlaam, chapter 17: "If a ship without a helmsman cannot stand, but is soon submerged, and a modest house without a caretaker: how does the world endure for so long a time, a creation so great, so good and wonderful, without some glorious and magnificent and wonderful governance, and most wise providence? For behold, how long the heavens have existed, and have not been darkened; the power of the earth has not been exhausted in so long a time; the springs have not ceased to flow since they were made; the sea, receiving so many and so great rivers, does not exceed its measure; the course of the sun and moon does not change; the orders of day and night are not reversed."
Hear Philo, in his book On Dreams: "We must believe that just as the charioteer in a chariot, or the helmsman in a ship: so in all things He who is presides over bodies, souls, living beings, minds, angels, all things contained by earth, air, or heaven, natures both visible and invisible; for He governs the whole world that depends on Him."
And in minute detail St. Athanasius, in his book Against the Idols, graphically depicts the duties of Providence from the duties of individuals in a choir, and of members in a body, and of servants in a court: "As in a choir, which consists of diverse people, men, girls, women, old, young, under one director and moderator, each one sings as much as he can according to his nature, that one indeed as a man, this one as a boy; one as an old man, another as a young man, yet all complete one harmony; or as our soul at the same time exercises our senses for the duty of each one, and is moved simultaneously toward one object presented, so that the eye sees, the ear hears, the hand touches, the sense of smell receives odors, the taste samples, and often meanwhile the other parts of the body are not idle either, so that amid all this the feet also walk about; or as in the presence of a king who commands and at the same time turns his eyes to all things, all are in obedience: there is one who tills the fields, one who hurries to the aqueducts, another sets out to forage, another goes to the court, another enters the assembly, and others likewise attend, and all these things are done and arranged in the presence of one moderator, and under his discipline: so also all things in the universal nature of things are conducted."
St. Maximus, sermon 48, cites that saying of Plato: "God governs all things, and according to God, fortune and human occasion govern the universe." And that saying of Socrates:
If care can accomplish anything, take care: but if God Himself by His command Cares for you, why should you be anxious for yourself?
More beautifully Aristotle, or whoever is the author of On the World: "What, he says, the general is in an army, the head of the household in a home, the precentor in a choir, the captain in a ship, the eye in the body, the charioteer in a chariot, this is what God is in the world." See more in St. Chrysostom, Theodoret, Salvian, Synesius, and our Lessius, book On the Deity and Providence.
Verse 6: Where There are Many Dreams, There are Very Many Vanities, and Words Without Number: but do You...
6. WHERE THERE ARE MANY DREAMS, THERE ARE VERY MANY VANITIES, AND WORDS WITHOUT NUMBER: BUT DO YOU FEAR GOD. — He passes from Providence to dreams, or from religion to superstition. For just as worshippers of providence are worshippers of the true deity and true religion: so those who deny Providence are irreligious and atheists, to whom the superstitious are akin and near, such as those who observe dreams. From the former therefore he fittingly transfers the discourse to the latter, because in ancient times many attributed great importance to dreams, and considered what they had dreamed as divine and sent from God: hence according to their dreams they directed the plans and actions of their life. Against them he teaches here that dreams are dreams, that is, mere vanities, trifles, empty specters and phantasms. Therefore he asserts that dreams are not to be observed or feared, but God and God's providence, which watches everywhere, to reward the good and punish the evil.
Hence the Syriac translates, because in a multitude of dreams and vanities and words, there are many errors. About the vanity of dreams I said much at Ecclesiasticus 34:1 and following. Memorable and terrible is what Blessed Antiochus writes, homily 34, about a certain distinguished anchorite deceived by the devil through a dream: for when in his sleep he had seen Christ and the Christians in darkness, but Moses and the Jews in light, he apostatized from the faith, and having become a Jew circumcised himself, and gave himself to a carnal life: therefore punished by God, and consumed by worms, he delivered his body to the Jews and his soul to the devil.
Add that from vain dreams there not rarely arises the vanity and levity of vowing, as well as of violating vows (about which the preceding discourse dealt), and of excusing oneself from their obligation. For many are moved to vow something from the fact that they dreamed about it at night, which is frequent among women. Others excuse themselves from the fulfillment of vows, because they dreamed that they need not be fulfilled: all these dreams are vanities, errors, and madness. Hence the Septuagint translates, because in a multitude of dreams and vanities, and of very many words, understand: many vows are made, or excused; and St. Jerome from the Hebrews thus explains it, as if to say: "Do not do the above things, about which it has already been said: Do not easily believe dreams. For when you have seen diverse things during the rest of the night, and the soul has been agitated by various terrors, or excited by promises, despise those things which belong to dreams, and fear God alone. For he who has believed in dreams will give himself over to vanities and follies. Otherwise: Because I have said and commanded: Do not give your mouth to cause your flesh to sin, and seek various excuses; this I now infer: Since in the dream of this life, and in the image of the shadow of a cloud in which we live, we can find many things which seem plausible to us, and excuse our sins, therefore I admonish that you only take care not to think God absent, but fear Him, and know that He is present to all your works, and that you, created with free will, are not compelled, but will what you do."
Others agree here, who think the reason is given here why one should not rashly vow or speak, namely because, as dreams are mostly vain, so also most words are vain. Hence Thaumaturgus translates, one will perceive that just as of dreams, so of words the greater part is vain.
And Olympiodorus: God is angry, he says, at dreamers, that is, at those who labor in vain and at the talkative, as if they think they are admonished by dreams to conceive and utter vows.
Others, like Moringus, refer this to those who deny Providence, as if to say: To deny Providence is nothing other than to dream and babble, that is, to assert nothing true and solid, but to fabricate what is utterly false and erroneous, like a dream.
Tropologically, the Chaldean by dreams understands false oracles and erroneous doctrines, as if here false prophets are opposed to true prophets, and false teachers to truthful ones. For thus he translates: But so many dreams of false prophets, and the vain responses of diviners, and the endless speeches of the impious, do not give credence; but cultivate the wise and just, seek instruction from them, and fear God. So St. Jerome, Olympiodorus, Alcuinus, Salonius, Bonaventure, Hugo, Lyranus, Lorinus, and others.
And words without number, — while dreams are recounted to various people, and variously explained by various persons through conjecture. Moreover, all things furnish material for reviewing many suspicions, stories, fables, and conjectures.
But do you fear God. — For the fear of God as judge, as avenger, avails to restrain the vain divination of dreams, teaches God's providence, compels the payment of vows, chastises the concupiscence of the flesh, and restrains an unbridled tongue. Wherefore the fear of God is the beginning, advancement, and perfection of wisdom and of every virtue, as I showed at length at Ecclesiastes 1:11 and following, and frequently in the Proverbs.
Verses 7-8: IF YOU SEE THE OPPRESSIONS OF THE POOR (the Arabic, folly against the poor) AND VIOLENT JUDGMENTS,...
7 and 8. IF YOU SEE THE OPPRESSIONS OF THE POOR (the Arabic, folly against the poor) AND VIOLENT JUDGMENTS, AND JUSTICE OVERTURNED (the Septuagint, the plundering of judgment and justice; the Complutensian, robbery of judgment; St. Jerome, the ruin of judgment; Thaumaturgus, judges circumventing the laws by cunning tricks) IN THE PROVINCE, DO NOT WONDER AT THIS MATTER, FOR ONE HIGHER THAN THE HIGH IS ANOTHER, AND ABOVE THESE ALSO THERE ARE OTHERS MORE EMINENT.
DO NOT WONDER AT THIS MATTER. — The Hebrew, do not be astonished at the will, that is, at the thing willed, either positively by the oppressor, or permissively by God. Hence Pagninus takes it as the will of God: do not wonder, he says, at the divine will permitting so many acts of violence; the Tigurina, do not wonder at the divine will; Vatablus, do not wonder at this thing which happens by divine command; the Chaldean, do not wonder, he says, in your heart, how the will of the Lord is over all these things. That the innocent are oppressed by the wicked, Jeremiah wondered at, chapter 12; Habakkuk, chapter 1; David, Psalm 72. But Solomon, taught by his father and more so by God, and having frequently experienced it, does not wonder at it, and teaches that it should not be wondered at, says St. Athanasius, Apology for His Flight, because nothing is wonderful unless it is new: but for the poor to be oppressed by the more powerful is not new or unusual, but commonplace, frequent, and confirmed by the universal practice of all ages. Add that this is permitted by the most wise will of God for the greater virtue and glory of the just, and for the ignominy and punishment of the impious.
Olympiodorus translates and explains, as if to say: Do not be indignant, or suspect that the world drifts without any providence.
FOR ONE HIGHER THAN THE HIGH IS ANOTHER, AND ABOVE THESE ALSO THERE ARE OTHERS MORE EMINENT. — In Hebrew and Greek, because a high one above a high one is watching, and high ones are above them; Campensis, for that oppressor has a superior who carefully observes what he does, and above both of them there are other superiors. St. Jerome in the old edition, because the high one above the high one (Vatablus, watches), and a higher one is above them, namely God, says St. Jerome; others say an Angel, as if to say: Even if judges and princes allow justice and the just to be oppressed, nevertheless angels of cities have been placed over them by God, as governors and guardians of provinces, who from time to time admonish, chastise, and depose them, as they deposed Nebuchadnezzar, according to the saying: "Behold, a watcher and a holy one descended from heaven, cried out mightily, and thus he said: Cut down the tree," Daniel chapter 4, verses 10 and 14. "By the decree of the watchers," that is, of the angels presiding over Babylon, "it is decreed." Or certainly the same angels, at God's command, will defer the punishment of the unjust and the reward of the just until the day of judgment. So also Albinus, the Gloss, Cajetan, Vatablus.
Hence the Arabic translates, because the Most High will preserve you above the exalted thing, and above those who exalt themselves there is something more excellent. Hear St. Jerome: "Do not wonder, for the Most High above the high regards these things — God, who has placed His angels over the judges and kings of the earth, who can certainly prevent injustice, and have more power on earth than any human authorities; but because He reserves judgment for the end, therefore He now waits and defers the sentence." Let impiety therefore rage now if it will, and impious judges go unpunished, but they will not depart unpunished: for they will finally pay the penalty to the Judge now watching, and to His ministers who are now witnesses of such great iniquity. This interpretation surely removes the wonder why divine Providence permits violent judgments and the oppression of the poor, or does not immediately punish them. Thus far St. Jerome, and following him Pineda.
More plainly you may understand all this with Lyranus, Dionysius, and Hugo Cardinal, not of angels, but of men, namely of subordinate princes, of whom the lesser is subject to the greater step by step up to the highest, who is the king or emperor, as if to say: If a lower judge permits injustice in judgment, there is an appeal and recourse to one superior after another step by step, of whom each one can and ought to correct and punish the injustice of the inferior subordinate to him. Hence the Chaldean translates, because God, powerful above the highest heavens, observes the works of the children of men, both good and evil, and from His presence magnificent and strong men are sent, to exercise authority over the wicked, and to be the magistrates placed over them.
Second, you may refer these things to the punishment of retaliation and the character of the more powerful, as if to say: If a lower judge oppresses the innocent, by the just judgment of God he will be punished in kind, so that he is likewise oppressed by his own superior, just as we see tyrants, like smaller fish, devoured by greater tyrants, according to Jeremiah 30:16: "All who devour you shall be devoured, and all your enemies shall be led into captivity, and those who lay you waste shall be laid waste, and all your plunderers I will give to plunder." Which St. Jerome understands as fulfilled in that passage when the Babylonians devastated the Assyrians, and the Medes and Persians the Babylonians and Chaldeans. So Isaiah 33:1 threatens the Assyrian: "Woe to you who plunder! Shall you not also be plundered?" And generally Proverbs chapter 22, verse 16: "He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth, will give to a richer man and be in want." For the more powerful often abuse their power, and unjustly oppress their inferiors. For such is the corrupted condition of men, and therefore it is not to be wondered at, but to be pitied and lamented. This exposition is also fitting, and the Hebrew גבוה gabouh favors it, that is, exalted, proud, swollen, who despises, presses, and depresses his inferiors, according to James 2:6: "Do not the rich oppress you by their power, and do they not drag you to court?" Who then would wonder at this, which is common and, as it were, naturally implanted in the rich and powerful? For the worm of power and riches is pride, says St. Augustine, haughtiness and tyranny.
Third, others explain, as if to say: Do not wonder that among judges some are found to be wicked, because a king cannot judge all things alone, but appoints viceroys, and these appoint governors of cities, and these appoint judges who are sometimes not sufficiently known or who are unjust, because they offer money. Therefore in so great and so manifold a subordination and crowd of judges, it is not surprising that some wicked ones creep in, who corrupt justice for bribes. It would be more surprising that more judges and more things are not corrupted; for all aspire to greater things, and above these also ambition has no limit. Hear Seneca to Lucilius, epistle 86: "Abandon ambition: it is an insatiable, swollen thing, vain, windy, having no limit." And elsewhere: "No one gives thanks for the tribuneship, but complains that he has not been advanced to the prefecture; and if the consulship is lacking, not even this suffices: for desire looks not whence it came, but where it tends." The same, book II On Benefits: "Never, he says, is enough given to wicked hope; it thinks it has deserved everything, and does not think it has been valued at a sufficient price. For we desire greater things the greater the things that have come, and the striving is more intense: for ambition or desire, like the infinite force of flame, is fiercer the greater the fire from which it has broken forth."
Verse 8: And Moreover the King of the Whole Earth Commands the One who Serves
8. AND MOREOVER THE KING OF THE WHOLE EARTH COMMANDS THE ONE WHO SERVES. — For "moreover" the Hebrew is יתרון iitron, which Olympiodorus translates, the surplus of the earth; the Complutensian, the abundance of the earth; the Vatican Septuagint, and the excellence of the earth in all is the king of the cultivated field; the Syriac, the inheritance of the earth in all is the king who cultivates the field; Symmachus, and the greater part of the earth in all is the king of the cultivated region. King here can be taken properly, as if to say: If all judges and princes are unjust and violent, the state has recourse to the king, so that he may bring them into order.
But better you may take king as God; for He alone commands the whole earth, as if to say: All judges, princes, and kings are subject to and serve God, who since He is most just, will judge all judges and kings, and indeed justice itself, most equitably, and will render to the wronged their right, and to the wrongdoers just punishments. Therefore if you are wronged, appeal to God's tribunal, and patiently await His sentence.
Beautifully and wisely Horace, book III, Ode 1, admonishes saying:
Over their own flocks kings are to be feared, Over the kings themselves is the rule of Jupiter, Famous for his triumph over the giants, Moving all things with a nod of his brow.
Hence the poor, wronged by judges and princes, cry out to heaven, and are heard by God, according to Proverbs 22:22: "Do not do violence to the poor, because he is poor; nor crush the needy at the gate, because the Lord will judge his cause, and will pierce those who have pierced his soul." So St. Jerome, Alcuinus, Bonaventure, Hugo, Lyranus, and generally others.
For "commands" the Translator reads לשרה lisro, that is, to command, that is, he commands; שרה sara means to rule, to command. It is an enallage of mood: for the infinitive is used for the indicative.
Now substituting for שרה the neighboring שדה, for lisro, that is he commands, they read לשדה lesade, that is field. For thus they read: היתרון ארץ בכול הוא מלך לשדה נעבד veittron erets baccol hu melech lesade nebad, and so the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Arabic read, which various authors translate and explain variously.
First, the Tigurina, and after all the things of the earth God must always be expected as like Himself, as the king of the field that is cultivated, so that He may inspect this world as His own field, judge and punish, or reward: handing over the weeds, that is, the unjust, to the fires of Gehenna; but gathering the wheat, namely the just, into the barn of heaven.
Second, Vatablus, moreover the excellence of the earth is above all, the king serves the field, as if to say: Agriculture is the most important of all conditions of living; for even the king himself cultivates or has the field cultivated, and this necessarily. And Isidorus Clarius, the residue that is collected from the earth in every matter is the king on account of the cultivated field, in this sense: No one cannot live abundantly from the cultivation of the earth, even if he is a king, since all sustenance that human nature needs is gathered from the earth, as if to say: What need of so many riches? Why so many lawsuits, when we could be content with little and live royally, that is, abundantly enough and at leisure, without the troubles of the courts? Surely the highest praise of agriculture.
So also Arias and many others think that the study of agriculture is here recommended; for through this, lawsuits are avoided, in which not infrequently the innocent and just person loses his case. Hence Campensis translates, the greatest thing that the earth can provide to a man is some small field, which can suffice for the one who cultivates it, so that he may live from it, and he to whom it falls, and is content with it, is truly a king; as were Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Job, and the first kings of the world. Here applies the old oracle:
A field serves you alone, why do you seek so much?
Third, Titelmannus translates, moreover there is a king in every land for cultivating the field, as if to say: The king commands in his land and region, and protects it from injuries, so that the fields can be cultivated, from whose harvest the subjects may live.
Fourth, Cajetan, translating the Hebrew יתרון iitron as surplus, thus renders and explains: Just as a field produces superfluous plants, which are not pulled up before the harvest, lest the wheat be pulled up as well: so God from certain knowledge and providence permits the oppressions and crimes of the violent, for the testing and advancement of the just, so that He may vindicate and crown them on the day of judgment. Let princes therefore know that the world has been entrusted to them by God as a field, so that they may be its farmers, and cultivate it with justice and every virtue, and thus pay the fruits of justice to God, the Lord of the world, as a tax. But just as a farmer allows weeds for a time, so right governance requires that some crimes be permitted until there is an opportunity to root them out. So also St. Jerome, who in the old edition translates, and the greater part of the earth in all things is the king in a cultivated field. And Olympiodorus who translates, above all, the king is the lord of the cultivated field; and he explains it in two ways, both of God and of man: "God, he says, like a garden cultivated and adorned this world for Himself, and in it He rules, as the lord, whose constant providence he exercises. Therefore it is not fitting to suppose that the world lacks the governance of its ruler, on account of the injustices that occur among men; rather we must call to mind that since this world is called a field, according to the evangelical parable, God has constituted man as king and lord of this world, as it is written: You have subjected all things under his feet. Therefore Ecclesiastes admonishes us in this passage of our dignity, so that offering due veneration to God, who has honored us with a royal crown, we may live piously and dutifully. Otherwise: Since God is the Lord and possessor of this entire world, as of a certain field cultivated with the greatest diligence, therefore let us carefully beware lest we demolish the vineyard of the Lord of hosts, either by unjust actions, or impious dogmas, or pernicious doctrines. For the Lord and possessor of the cultivated field presides over all and surveys all things." Olympiodorus adds: "Unjust judges and princes, he says, should be considered nothing other than the surplus of the earth, that is, a useless lump and mass, a clod and ashes, which God will overturn on the day of judgment, and thrust into Gehenna, according to the saying: 'Why are you proud, earth and ashes?' Ecclesiasticus 10:9.
Fifth, Pagninus translates, and the usefulness, the cultivation of the earth is in all things, and the king on account of the usefulness of the fields is a servant. Others, the king serves the field, or becomes a servant; Clarius, even the king is obligated to the field, because from it he both nourishes himself and his own, and collects ample taxes. The Chaldean, and more praiseworthy is the cultivation of the earth above all, since at the time when the sons of the kingdom, and the king dwells in the country before them; if that king does not have grain to eat, he becomes a servant subject to a single farmer. Others translate, the king was made for the sake of the field, as if to say: Agriculture is so useful, and was so practiced by the ancients, that from the field they were promoted to the throne and scepter, and from farmers they became kings, of which I have reviewed many examples at chapter 4, verse 14.
Sixth, thus you may translate and explain, as if to say: Because lawsuits and oppressions of the poor mostly arise on account of the goods of the earth, namely on account of the riches and produce which agriculture gives, hence one supreme king is placed over the region, so that he himself may impede, correct, and amend the unjust judgments of lower judges.
But the Vulgate version, as it is plainer, so it is truer and more genuine according to the sense which I assigned at the beginning, to which nevertheless it is easy to adapt the other six interpretations already assigned, except the fifth.
Mystically Richard of St. Victor, book On the Interior State, homily chapter 6: "Who, he says, is this king who commands all? It is, he says, the free will of man, because all the members of the body serve it at a nod, and if the appetites sometimes rebel, it can restrain them from action, and strike those restrained with severe punishment; and break and soften their audacity with strong chastisement. Let us therefore investigate by what means this king of our interior commonwealth should be subjected to God, and called away from everything that is unfitting."
Tropologically, Solomon here teaches that the true king is one who is governed not by anger, not by lust, not by avarice, but by reason, continence, and justice. For he imitates God, who governs justice, indeed judges and vindicates it. He masters anger, passions, and his own mind, as a conqueror of himself, and therefore is King of the earth and Lord of the world. He is superior to kings, indeed to all created things, and therefore is King of kings. Hear St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, octave 14, on the words: My soul is always in my hands: "Whoever has subdued his own body, and has not permitted his soul to be disturbed by anger and other passions, being the ruler of himself with fitting strength, he is rightly called a king, restraining himself with a certain royal power, because he knows how to govern himself, and is the arbiter of his own right, and is not dragged captive into guilt."
Read St. Chrysostom, book V On the Comparison of King and Monk, where he compares monks as masters of their passions to kings, indeed ranks them above kings. Hear also Cicero in praise of Caesar, saying these things in congratulation, or flattery, in his speech for Marcellus: "You have subdued nations savage in their cruelty, innumerable in their multitude, infinite in their lands, abounding in every kind of resource; but yet you conquered those things which had the nature and condition to be conquered. For there is no force so great, no abundance, which cannot be weakened and broken by the sword and by strength; but to conquer the mind, to restrain anger, etc.: he who does these things, I do not compare him with the greatest men, but judge him most like God."
Hear finally Seneca in the Thyestes:
Riches do not make a king, Nor the color of Tyrian garments, Nor the mark of a royal brow, Nor beams gleaming with gold: A king is he who has put away fears, And the evils of a savage breast; Who, placed in a safe position, Sees all things beneath him, And willingly meets his own Fate, nor complains of dying. A king is he who fears nothing: This kingdom each man gives to himself.
Verse 9: The Miser will not be Filled with Money: and he who Loves Riches will Reap no Fruit from them: and...
9. THE MISER WILL NOT BE FILLED WITH MONEY: AND HE WHO LOVES RICHES WILL REAP NO FRUIT FROM THEM: AND THIS THEREFORE IS VANITY.
Conveniently from the oppressions of the poor and the corruption of judgments he passes to avarice, as from the effect to the cause: for because avaricious judges allow themselves to be corrupted by bribes, they therefore pervert judgments: wherefore calumny is the handmaid of the avarice of magistrates, says Cicero, book I, epistle to his brother Quintus. Again, rich misers, to enrich themselves, plunder and oppress the poor. Therefore he here shows the vanity of avarice, as well as its iniquity. Thaumaturgus adds: "Just as, he says, possessions acquired through robbery and gained through violence are most pernicious and most criminal: so also for a man burning with the desire for money, satisfaction will never come, nor the goodwill of his neighbors, however great a quantity of silver he may acquire;" because it is written: "He who gives gifts will acquire victory and honor, but he takes away the soul of those who receive them," that is, he seizes their hearts, so that they are compelled to love in return the one who gives generously.
THE MISER WILL NOT BE FILLED WITH MONEY. — The Hebrew, one who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver. So the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Arabic.
The a priori reason is that the mind of man is immense, and the desire of the miser is greater and more capacious than the whole world, so that it cannot be filled with all the gold in the world. Hence avarice is insatiable and incapable of being filled; for the more it acquires, the more it grows, and desires more. Hence the miser (avarus) is said to be, as it were, greedy for gold (auri avidus), says St. Isidore. Avarice therefore is the accursed hunger for gold, which is therefore similar to the dropsical man, who the more he drinks, the more he thirsts, because the liquid putrefying in his body, on account of the heat which the putrefaction generates, having become briny, continually purges the mouth of the stomach, and thus by its saltiness always sharpens his thirst. Aristotle adds, book I of the Politics, chapter 6, another cause, namely that the miser loves riches not for luxury, or anything else, but for their own sake; therefore since there is no end to his loving them, neither is there an end to avarice. Hence St. Augustine, sermon 40 On the Saints, distinguishes the true riches of virtue from the false riches of gold and silver, because the former satisfy their own hunger, while the latter increase it: "Those, he says, are called true riches, because whoever has them will not be in want, since according to the Apostle, having food and clothing, he is content with these. But it is unjust to consider these earthly riches as true riches, which do not remove want. For the more someone will burn with the want of avarice, the more, loving them, he has had greater riches. How then are they riches by which poverty increases, which, however great they may be, do not bring satisfaction to their lovers, but inflame the rich man with desire? You think you would need less if you had more. Hence someone well said: The love of money grows as much as money itself grows. For with the increase of money the madness of desire increases. For all misers, or desirous men, seem to be sick with the disease of dropsy. For just as the dropsical man, the more he drinks, the more he thirsts, so the miser or desirous man is not satisfied by acquiring."
Wherefore Galen, in his book On Recognizing Diseases of the Soul, chapter 9, teaches that insatiability is the cause of poverty and want, likewise of sorrow and sadness. Hence the proverb of the Syrians and Arabs: "There is no poor man in the whole world who is so wretched as the rich man who is not satisfied with his money."
Hence avarice is called by the Apostle "the service of idols," and the miser an idolater, because he adores and worships gold as his idol, Ephesians 5:5. Indeed even Ovid calls gold the greatest of the gods, indeed the only one. For thus he sings in Elegy 12:
But now the shrines cease in the deserted groves; All worship gold, piety now conquered.
Hugo Cardinal lists eight causes why the miser there is no reward of income for him to eat. For, as St. Gregory says, Part III of the Pastoral Rule, admonition 21: "Fruit would have been gathered from those riches, if he had been willing to scatter them well without loving them; he who truly keeps them by loving them will certainly leave them behind without fruit." He who loves his seed too much does not entrust it to the earth, and therefore neither does he reap. For money, like seed, bears fruit for the one who sows it for God—the redemption of sins, the purchase of the kingdom of heaven, the promise of life both present and future; he who loves his soul loses it, and likewise he who pours out his money, who entrusts it like seed to the earth. Therefore sow a generous sum, so that you may reap a generous harvest; sow your wealth among the poor, so that you may receive far greater riches in heaven. See what I have said about avarice at Sirach 10:9 and following.
AND THIS THEREFORE IS VANITY. — Campensis renders: whoever is such a person is notably vain. See what was said at chapter 1, verse 2.
Therefore truly, says St. Jerome, "Horace said: The miser always lacks." Hear St. Bernard wisely and piously treating this passage, in his treatise On Loving God, past the middle: "He who loves money will not be satisfied with money; but those who hunger and thirst for justice, they shall be satisfied. Justice indeed, by the reasoning of the spirit that uses it, is vital and natural food; but money does not so fill, or diminish the hunger of the soul, any more than wind fills the body's stomach. Indeed if you were to see a starving man with open jaws, puffed cheeks drawing in air as if to relieve his hunger, would you not believe him insane? It is no less insanity if you think the rational spirit can be any more inflated than satisfied by any bodily things whatsoever. For what have bodies to do with spirits? Neither can those be refreshed by spiritual things, nor these in turn by bodily things. Bless the Lord, O my soul, who fills your desire with good things. He fills with good things, He arouses to good, He holds in good, He anticipates, He sustains, He fills."
AND HE WHO LOVES RICHES (in Hebrew it is המון hamon, that is, abundance, tumult, a multitude both of men and of wealth, such as is Mammon), WILL NOT GATHER FRUIT FROM THEM — because he does not dare to use them for his own good, or that of others, but greedily hides them away in a chest, and there buries and entombs them, as it were, so that they may not see the light. Hence St. Jerome translates: he will not enjoy them; the Arabic: he who loves wealth will not be satisfied by its abundance. He who loves mammon will not possess it, but rather will be possessed by it. For the miser is not the master of his wealth, but its servant and slave. See St. Ambrose, On Naboth, chapter 4. It is a litotes; for less is said and more is meant. "Will not gather fruit," that is, he will receive many and great losses. "For the root of all evils is cupidity," in Greek φιλαργυρία, that is, the desire for silver, 1 Timothy 6.
Moreover the Chaldean here translates: he who has loved to heap up more abundant riches, there is no praise for him in the world to come, unless he has given alms from them, and therefore he is not satisfied with riches, and the reasons are these: because cupidity is infinite; because it exhausts the affection of the miser; because the more it grows, the more chests, storerooms, stables, etc., grow; because the more it grows, the flame of cupidity grows; because with its increase comes new need — of guards, chests, locks, keys, the fear of losing, grief over loss, etc.; because it has no proportion with our mind and heart, just as neither does wisdom or grace have proportion with a purse, because it cannot be in two places, in the purse and in the mind; because money in the purse does not satisfy the hunger of the heart, like bread remaining in a basket for a dog. Finally St. Gaudentius, Bishop of Brescia, sermon 14 to the Neophytes, volume II of the Library of the Holy Fathers: "He who loves money, he says, will not be satisfied with it. For the rapacity of the plunderer does not restrain avarice, but provokes it."
For, as Plutarch acutely says in his Moralia: "Desires are joined with pleasure; but avarice, while it arouses concupiscence, takes away pleasure, and like a troublesome and difficult mistress compels one to acquire, but forbids one to enjoy."
From this passage gather the truth, that true virtue and happiness do not consist in riches, but in contempt of riches, which poverty of spirit brings, as St. Ambrose beautifully teaches, Book III, epistle 10. The same truth was known in shadow by the philosophers. Socrates said he did not admire a proud and arrogant rich man, unless he found that man had distributed his riches and poured them out upon others. Hence Seneca, epistle 10: "He who gets along well with poverty is rich. Not he who has little, but he who desires more, is poor." Hence Plutarch: "As those who beat garments do not touch the body, so those who reproach poverty do not touch the man, but calumniate only externals." Hence Epictetus: "As those born among the Persians do not desire to dwell in Greece, so also the poor, to whom the nature of riches is known, do not strive to grow rich." These men seem to have read that saying of Solomon: "The miser will not be filled with money, and he who loves riches will not gather fruit from them."
The a priori reason is twofold, namely the immense cupidity of man, and the paltriness and cheapness of gold and riches, which is far unequal and inferior to such great cupidity, so that it cannot fill it, according to that saying: "The rich have been in want and have suffered hunger; but those who seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good thing," Psalm 33:11.
Verse 10: Where There are Great Riches, Many are They who Eat them. and what Does it Profit the Possessor......
10. WHERE THERE ARE GREAT RICHES, MANY ARE THEY WHO EAT THEM. AND WHAT DOES IT PROFIT THE POSSESSOR... EXCEPT THAT HE SEES HIS RICHES WITH HIS EYES? — The Hebrew: in the abundance of good (when goods are multiplied), many are those eating it; the Septuagint: in the abundance of goodness, those who eat it are multiplied. For they flock to something good and tasty, just as flies flock to honey. The Arabic: in the abundance of bread, those who eat it are multiplied.
This maxim is taken by the interpreters in two ways, and indeed in contrary senses: first, as signifying the praise of liberality; second, as signifying the vanity of riches and avarice.
First then, Olympiodorus explains it regarding liberality as follows: "For those whose wealth and riches grow by the legitimate right of honesty, those who use them and share with the poor are also multiplied. For what does the shameful profit of the impudent miser and the tight-fisted avail, which permits the use of money by sight alone? For by sight alone he holds dominion over his money. What is better (says the Orator) and what more excellent than goodness and beneficence?" The Syriac supports this, which for what follows: "And what does it profit the possessor?" etc., translates: what justice except, etc.? Cajetan: what uprightness? The Syriac: it has become fortunate for those who possess it, because from my own head I have seen with my own eyes. So also Lyranus, Hugo the Cardinal, the Gloss, Dionysius. The Thaumaturgus points to this when he translates: but probity (beneficence) delights his household members in the greatest manner, and makes them strong, providing the faculty of perceiving each thing.
Secondly and genuinely, it signifies the vanity of riches and of wealthy misers, as if to say: Why, O miser, do you heap up riches with such great cares, when from them you will fill nothing but your own belly? And for this a small amount suffices; the rest that you heap up, you heap up not for yourself but for others; because just as wherever there is a carcass, there vultures and eagles flock, Matthew 24:28, so where there are riches, there the needy and parasites flock to devour them. "Wolves follow carcasses, flies follow honey, this crowd follows booty, not a man," says Seneca. Therefore you, rich miser, are not so much the master and lord of your riches as their steward and manager, says the same author, epistle 4; and epistle 89: "Unhappy ones, he says, that you do not understand you have a greater hunger than your stomach;" and epistle 114: "It is madness that no one of us forces himself to be one person. Do you think the stomach is one, for which food is procured with such great tumult? For which the wines of so many regions are stored? If each person would count and measure his body, he would know that it takes in much, but cannot do so for long."
Again it torments the miser that he sees his riches, acquired with such great labor and therefore so dearly loved, being consumed so lavishly by so many and such great consumers, while he himself derives no other pleasure from them than that he gazes upon them and feeds his eyes, not his stomach. For just as where there are many loaves of bread, there are many mice that gnaw them, so where there are great riches, there are many stewards, servants, relatives, guests, friends, flatterers, cooks, camp followers—add also thieves—who consume them. So say St. Jerome, Olympiodorus, Alcuin, Hugo, and others.
The Gloss supports this and explains it as follows, as if to say: He who has gathered great riches cannot use them for glory and magnificence if he is alone; but for this it is necessary to summon very many people, so that through them his scattered wealth may shine more broadly—namely servants, maidservants, clients, nobles, soldiers, as happens in the courts of kings and princes.
Solomon himself experienced this very thing, for he had such great riches, but equally so many who devoured them, that every day they consumed thirty cors of fine flour, sixty cors of meal, ten fattened oxen, twenty pasture-fed oxen, and a hundred rams, besides the hunting of deer, gazelles, wild oxen, and fattened fowl, 1 Kings 4:23. For to say nothing of others, he fed daily 70,000 carriers of burdens and 80,000 stonecutters, ibid. chapter 5:15. So also today we see wealthy kings having so many courtiers, officials, soldiers, etc., that the royal riches scarcely suffice to feed them all; therefore those kings, though they be kings, are poorer than a merchant who has small wealth, but wealth that is free and exempt from all debt and burden.
Alexander the Great, when he had subjugated the world, hearing that there were several other worlds, groaned: "And when," he said, "shall I subdue those?" So great is ambition and avarice. Therefore the Satirist Juvenal truly jested about him, Satire 10: One world is not enough for the young man from Pella: He will be content with a sarcophagus.
Finally hear St. Bernard treating this passage, On Conversion, to the Clergy, chapter 12: "Hence, he says, the insatiable love of riches torments the soul with desire far more than it refreshes with its use, since their acquisition is indeed found to be full of labor, their possession full of fear, and their loss full of grief. Lastly, where there are great riches, many also are those who eat them, and indeed the use of riches belongs to others, while to the rich only the name and the anxiety are left.
And in all these things, in exchange for such trifling goods — or rather not trifling at all, but worthless — to despise that glory which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him, seems to be a matter not so much of foolishness as of faithlessness."
In terms of household management, this maxim advises the rich to be frugal managers of their wealth, as merchants are; because where there are great riches, household members and servants use them more freely, and thus quickly exhaust them, enticed by their abundance toward extravagance, but eventually they will feel that saying: "Thrift at the bottom comes too late." Therefore princes who have frugal and provident managers, though they may have modest revenues, will grow rich; but those who have prodigal or improvident ones, though they have immense riches, are impoverished. Therefore the method of growing rich consists in prudent and frugal management. Indeed for this reason the Dutch reached such great riches as we see, because they are attentive to business and take care of the smallest things; therefore they accomplish as much with one gold coin as others do with three or four. "Riches," says the saying, "should be measured not by quantity, but by use and frugality."
the more it is necessary to feed servants, workers, ministers, for acquiring, guarding, or administering riches.
Those who refer verse 8 to the praise of agriculture find the same commendation from a comparison with money in verses 9, 10, etc.
AND WHAT DOES IT PROFIT THE POSSESSOR? — In Hebrew it is כשרון kisron, that is, what fitness, rectitude, industry, convenience, use is there for the master? The Septuagint: what virtue or strength is there for the possessor of goods? Because the beginning, or rather the sovereignty (for this is what ἀρχή means) is to see with his eyes; Olympiodorus: the sovereignty belongs to him to see with his eyes, as if to say: What use is there from goods acquired with such great virtue and effort, when the miser exercises sovereignty by sight alone, and has no other use of dominion than to gaze upon what is set before him? The Arabic: what justice, etc.? The Syriac: and it has become fortunate for those possessing it; Symmachus: what advantage is there for the one having those goods, except only to look upon them with his eyes? Campensis: what more does the one whose riches they are have, than that he sees others consuming them? Others: except the sight of his eyes, as if to say: The rich man feeds only his eyes from so many riches, not his mind, nor his stomach. Therefore his riches are nothing to him but an empty sight and a vain vision, according to that saying of Horace, Book I of the Satires, Satire 1: I applaud myself At home, as soon as I gaze upon the coins in my chest. And then: With sacks heaped up on all sides You sleep upon them gaping, and are compelled to spare them as if they were sacred, Or to take delight in them as if they were painted tablets.
Hear St. Chrysostom, homily 2 to the People: "The miser, he says, is a guardian, not a master; a servant of his money, not its possessor. For he would more easily share from his own flesh than from his buried gold. For as if someone were commanding and ordering him to touch nothing of what is stored up, so with all diligence he guards and keeps it, abstaining from his own things as if they were another's — and indeed they are another's: for he who would never allow them to be distributed to others, nor spent on necessities even if he were to endure infinite punishments, how could he think these were his own? How indeed does he have possession of things of which he has neither the use nor the enjoyment with freedom?"
Moreover the miser so gazes upon his riches that he is blinded by them, lest he see the true riches of wisdom and liberality. Therefore his symbol is the mole, concerning which there is a beautiful fable in Cyril, Book III of the Moral Apologies, II, whose title is: Those desirous of earthly things are blind. The moles, he says, were accusing nature of having denied them the use and power of sight, as if it had given it to the basilisk and the hyena. To which nature replied that it had done this justly and wisely: For you dwell in dark hiding places, she said, and you have loved earthly things entirely, and moreover through love of earthly things you have lost heavenly things, and by loving hateful darkness you have lacked light. But you do not know that monstrous avarice, because it loved earthly things too much, has lost heavenly things, and has eyes and does not see. For as blind avarice abandoned true goods for false, stable for transient, heavenly for earthly: so also it has exchanged infinite and greatest goods for the smallest, glorious for wretched, secure for doubtful, holy for worst, and joyful for afflictive. Foolish avarice gathers externals, but is inwardly impoverished; it occupies itself with fleeting trifles, possesses the earth and is possessed by dread hell. Indeed it devours to vomit, loves what will destroy it, acquires what it will lose, cares for what will cause pain, and burdens itself to descend more swiftly into the abyss. If you have heard (Genesis 3), man, blinded by avarice, soon lost the paradise of delights. For when the mind, turned away from God, conceived a desire only for appearances, it immediately lost the inner light of the mind, and with the mole-like eyes of the exterior opened, it sees only the poverty of its own nakedness. Indeed also (1 Samuel 15:9), Saul, deprived of the discernment of reason, while he coveted the flocks, lost his royal glory. And with the ill-possessed beasts, he lost his equals along with himself."
He confirms the same with a new fable of the chameleon: "How well indeed the chameleon answered the crow, which was harassing it from desire for its flesh: O if, with the fog of vice cast between, cupidity had not taken away from you the sight of prudence, you would certainly notice that if you possess me, you will destroy yourself. You have therefore, O mole, the reason why you were made thus, since the principle of your constitution is an image of avarice. When these words were heard, the complaint ceased together with the words."
Here Ecclesiastes shows the vanity of riches and avarice with nine arguments. The first is that the miser is not filled with money; the second, that he gathers no fruit from it; the third, that where there are great riches, there are also many who consume them; the fourth, that he derives no pleasure from them except that he sees them; the fifth, that the satiety of the rich man does not allow him to sleep; the sixth, that riches are kept to the harm of their master; the seventh, that the rich man often leaves his son and heir poor; the eighth, that he will return naked to the grave; the ninth, that he spends his whole life in cares, toil, misery, and sorrow. From this he leaves it to be concluded that peace of mind and happiness are sought or placed in riches in vain, as St. Thomas beautifully teaches from this passage, Question II, article 1, reply to 3. Here also belong the ten vanities of misers which I reviewed at Sirach chapter 14, verse 3.
Verse 11: Sweet is the Sleep of a Laboring Man, Whether he Eats Little or much: but the Satiety of the Rich...
11. SWEET IS THE SLEEP OF A LABORING MAN, WHETHER HE EATS LITTLE OR MUCH: BUT THE SATIETY OF THE RICH MAN DOES NOT ALLOW HIM TO SLEEP. — The Septuagint and the Arabic: sweet is the sleep of a servant, who works and labors all day, especially in cultivating the field. For the Hebrew עבד obed alludes to the field נעבד nebad, that is, a field worked and cultivated, verse 8. Campensis: sweet is the sleep of him who exercises himself by laboring. Vatablus: he who provides his livelihood by the labor of his hands.
This is the fifth vanity of riches, that riches produce idleness, laziness, gluttony and excess, likewise cares and anxieties, and from these sleeplessness, or wakefulness, so that the rich man, because of a stomach burdened with food, indigestion and crudity, as well as cares and anxieties, cannot sleep at night, but is tormented in mind by anxious cares, in stomach by gas, in head by dizziness and pains; while on the contrary poverty compels one to work and labor, and to frugal food, by which it happens that the poor man, wearied by the labor of the day, free from cares, rests peacefully and sweetly by sleeping at night. For, as Galen says, Book I On the Causes of Symptoms, chapter 8: "Nature demands that those who have exercised themselves more vigorously should be pressed by a deeper sleep, since many energies have flowed away from them at the beginning when they labored." Therefore nothing so induces sleep as exercise, labor, and weariness, to such a degree that it takes the place of food. For a tired man sleeps, "whether he eats little or much." Hear St. Chrysostom, On Virginity, chapter 70: "Sweet is his sleep not because of a soft bed, for he lies on the ground or upon straw; not because of freedom, for not even a moment of time is free for him; not because of leisure, for he is continually worn out by labors and hardships; but these very labors, and the fact that he was previously compelled by necessity to give himself to sleep, are the reason why he sleeps so sweetly." The same author, homily 2 to the People: "Why, he asks, did he add, whether he eats little? Both of these, he says, tend to induce wakefulness — want and excess: the former by drying out and making the eyelids horny, not allowing them to close; the latter by constricting and crushing the breath, and bringing many pains; but such is the medicine of labors, that if both are present, the servant can still sleep."
WHETHER HE EATS LITTLE OR MUCH. — Not that if there is a notable excess in eating, he cannot also suffer difficulty in sleeping, but because on account of his fatigue and stronger stomach, even if he eats a little more liberally, he falls asleep easily; nor because the food is too scanty does he struggle to fall asleep, since he is exhausted by his labors, for "slumber bathes the weary limbs." For intense labor stirs up heat, moisture is liquefied by heat; the heat seeking the brain is there cooled, and being condensed induces sleep; likewise excessive labor, since it consumes the vital spirits, causes the cooled body to be overcome by sleep.
So says our Lorinus, from Aristotle, Galen, Tertullian, Plato, Plutarch, Pliny, and others.
BUT THE SATIETY OF THE RICH MAN DOES NOT ALLOW HIM TO SLEEP. — "Satiety" here can be taken as both the abundance of food and pleasures, and the abundance of riches: for this generates for the rich miser a thousand cares and anxieties that do not allow him to sleep. For care, troubling the mind, agitates the vital spirits in the brain, and thus produces wakefulness; according to that saying of Virgil, in the Georgics: Care breaks off healthful sleep. Hence the Septuagint translates: and for him who is filled with growing rich (the Complutensian: and for the one filled to grow rich; Olympiodorus: and for the one full of riches to sleep), and the Arabic: greed for riches does not permit him to sleep. For, as St. Augustine says in his epistle on St. John: "You have filled your house, thieves are feared: you have acquired gold, you have lost sleep;" and the Thaumaturgus: "Behold the poor man, he says, though he be old, and though he has nothing with which to fill his belly, yet he is refreshed by peaceful sleep, while meanwhile for the miser, sleeplessness and anguish of mind shut out rest."
St. Jerome, and after him Alcuin and Olympiodorus, take both kinds of satiety, or abundance both of food and of cares, as if to say: The rich man, distended with feasting from overflowing excess, with undigested food belching in the confines of his stomach, and moreover pierced by stinging thoughts and cares, is unable to sleep. For just as undigested food in the stomach, so also cares and anxious worries in the mind stir up troublesome winds and commotions that steal away all rest. Hear St. Ambrose on Psalm 1: "How can he sleep who exercises anxious guardianship over gold? Who fears losses? Who calculates profits? Who computes interest? Who counts mortgages?" The same author, On Naboth, chapter 6: "He does not know, he says, the duties of nature itself, nor does he know the turns of sleep: cupidity arouses him, the ever-wakeful care of seizing what belongs to others agitates him, envy torments him, delay vexes him, the barrenness of unfruitful returns disturbs him, abundance troubles him. Not even God Himself permits him to sleep; He interrupts him when he is thinking, He rouses him when he is sleeping. But neither does the man himself allow himself to be at rest, who in the abundance of his harvest is troubled and utters the voice of the needy. What shall I do, he says? Is this not the voice of a poor man, who has no means of living?"
Moreover the Chaldean mystically takes sleep to mean death, and the laborer to mean one who worships God: "Sweet, he says, is the sleep of the man who worships the Lord of the world, and there is rest in the house of his tomb, whether he has lived few years or many; after he has served the Lord of the world in this age, he will inherit the reward of the works of his hands in the age to come, and the wisdom of the Lord's law will belong to the man rich in wisdom. Behold, just as he studied it in this age, and was diligent in its teaching, so it will rest upon him in the house of his tomb; and it will not leave him alone, just as a wife does not allow her husband to sleep alone."
Therefore cares are like a swarm of bees or wasps, which with its buzzing and humming, and much more with its stinging blows, continually stings, plucks, and all but kills the miser. Again, just as gnats, though tiny, flying in swarms and swooping upon a man, are armed with their own trumpet and lance — a trumpet with which they sound, a lance with which they strike — so much more, armed with both, the most numerous squadrons of anxious cares swoop upon the miser at night, like the gnats of Egypt, Exodus 8:17. Hence cares are called by the poets biting and devouring. Hear St. Bernard, sermon 39 on the Song of Songs, graphically depicting the tumultuous chariot of avarice: "Avarice itself is carried on four wheels of vices, which are faint-heartedness, inhumanity, contempt of God, and forgetfulness of death. Moreover the beasts that draw it are tenacity and rapacity, and over these two one charioteer presides: the passion for possessing. For avarice alone, since it does not suffer the hiring of many, is content with one servant. He indeed, a most eager and tireless executor of the work enjoined, uses the sharpest whips to drive the drawing beasts — the lust of acquiring and the fear of losing." Hence it is therefore that misers and rich men, though they have feasted splendidly, burn all night long sleepless; while the poor, wearied by the day's labor, and content with a morsel of bread, enjoy peaceful slumbers through the winter nights.
Morally, learn here how useful and pleasant frugality is, as well as labor: hence the laborious life of farmers makes them robust, cheerful, honest, healthy, holy; therefore they sleep more sweetly and better. For great is the usefulness and sweetness of sleep: for sleep restores and nourishes the strength, just as food does. For this reason "sleep shares half of life with us," says Philo. Hence St. Basil, in Antonius's Melissa, Part I, chapter 42: "Give thanks, he says, to Him who wonderfully refreshes us through sleep from continual labors, and by the benefit of brief rest restores us again to vigor of strength." Hence the Sicyonians depicted sleep taming lions. Pausanias in his Corinthiaca: "No pain, he says, is so savage that it is not soothed by sleep," and he gives the reason that then the senses which feel the pains are lulled to sleep; the same senses are strengthened by sleep, so that they may more easily bear pains and labors in wakefulness.
"Sleep, says Cicero, Book I On Divination, is the refuge of all labors" and "the tamer of hunger," says Menander. "It is the leisure of the soul, as of one setting down a burden and refreshing itself, and withdrawing into seclusion," says Themistius. "It is the harbor of life," says Seneca in Hercules Furens. "It is the gift of the gods and the forgetting of labors," says Plutarch, On Superstition. "It is the sweet veil of eyes and mind," says the Poet. "It is a younger and boyish god," says Euclides in Stobaeus, sermon 6. This good of sleep, avarice shakes from the miser and excess from the rich man. "For the satiety of the rich man does not allow him to sleep. For cupidity arouses him, the ever-wakeful care of seizing what belongs to others arouses him, envy torments him, delay vexes him, the barren unfruitfulness of returns disturbs him, abundance troubles him," says St. Ambrose, On Naboth, chapter 6. In this therefore is fulfilled that saying of Jeremiah 16:13: "You will serve foreign gods (mammon and the belly) day and night, who will not give you rest." The same applies to the proud, the envious, the quarrelsome, the gluttonous, and every sinner.
This is what Sirach says, chapter 31:23: "Sleeplessness and bile and griping to an intemperate man; sleep of satiety in a temperate man: he will sleep until morning, and his soul will delight with him." See what was said there. Therefore St. Jerome or whoever is the author of the Exhortation to Virgins, chapter 35: "Let there be, he says, such sobriety in taking food, such and so great frugality, that the stomach should rather complain than rejoice. Let the stomach not need medicine for digestion; let emptying rather than excessive filling induce belching."
Hence St. Augustine, Book X of the Confessions, chapter 31, says: "This You have taught me (O Lord), that I should approach food as I would medicine;" so that just as medicines are not taken to satiety but for the health of the body, so food should be taken not to satiety but for the sustenance of the same body. And this practice was observed by St. Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, for whom (as is read in his Life) it was never a concern to feed the body, but to sustain it. And he who for the Lord's sake gave his flesh scanty bread and little water, deserved to be refreshed with the bread of life and of understanding, since he was distinguished for wisdom and was the outstanding teacher of his time.
Hence the Fathers teach that during bodily refreshment the better part should be given to the refreshment of the mind, through pious reading or meditation. Hear St. Bernard, to the Brothers of Mont-Dieu: "When you eat, by no means eat with your whole self, but while your body procures its refreshment, let the mind not neglect its own, but let it ruminate and digest within itself some memory of the sweetness of the Lord, or something from the Scriptures, that may feed it by meditating, or at least by remembering." And St. Basil: "During a feast it is fitting to take care that we do not present the appearance of gluttons, but that we maintain steadfastness and gentleness everywhere, and an even continence in receiving pleasures; we ought to be so at leisure in our minds that we may be free for the contemplation of divine things — since we may take the nourishment of food and the function of feeding the body as an occasion for beginning divine praises, especially when it comes to our mind how the various kinds of food, suited to the quality of our bodies, were devised by Him who governs and rules all things." So says St. Basil, epistle 1.
Mystically, sleep is the quiet of conscience, which the one who works the works of virtue possesses, and which the rich man who yearns for earthly goods lacks. Hear Cassian, Conference 24, chapter 5: "And truly, if you were willing to compare the sweet-smelling flower of virginity and the most tender purity of chastity with the foul and fetid wallowing places of lust, the rest and security of monks with the perils and hardships in which the men of this world are entangled, the repose of our poverty with the consuming sorrows and ever-wakeful cares of the rich, by which they are worn out day and night not without the greatest danger to their life, you will easily recognize the most sweet yoke of Christ and His most light burden."
Hence the Septuagint here translates: sweet is the sleep of the servant, that is, of the obedient one, such as is a religious who has freed himself from every care; indeed, following the counsel of the Psalmist, he has cast his care upon the Lord, Psalm 54:23; and therefore he sleeps most peacefully on both ears.
From this St. Chrysostom gathers certain beautiful theorems or axioms. The first is that true pleasure, such as the sweetness of sleep, is purchased not with gold, not with delicacies, not with leisure, but with exercise and labor; for it is their reward. The second is that the poor lead a more honest as well as more pleasant life in poverty and labor than the rich in leisure and luxury: because during the day, cheap food tastes better to the hungry poor man than all delicacies taste to the sated and nauseated rich man; and at night the poor man sleeps sweetly, while the rich man lies awake and is tormented by excess and a thousand cares. The third is that the poor are healthier and more robust than the rich, who consequently are forced to live medically, that is, wretchedly: "For upon the rich, he says, in their pleasure many illnesses rush; but the poor are exempt from the hands of physicians. And if sometimes they do fall into weakness, they quickly restore themselves, being free from all softness and having robust bodies. Poverty is a great possession for those who bear it wisely. A treasure that cannot be taken away, a most firm staff, a blameless possession, a lodging safe from ambush." See Titelmann here graphically describing the sleepless nights of the rich and the torments of body and mind.
Hear St. Ambrose, on Psalm 1: "The languor of avarice, the languor of insatiable cupidity. Such are riches, as Ecclesiastes says: There is an evil sickness which I have seen under the sun — riches kept to the harm of their possessor. Tell me, O Ecclesiastes, for what reason is this sickness evil? He will answer: Because greedy hope devours many. The voracity of cupidity is insatiable; he who desires silver knows not how to be satisfied with silver. Riches stretch, they do not fill, and if anyone has been sated with riches, there is none, he says, who allows him to sleep. And indeed all his days are in darkness and mourning, and great wrath, and languor, and anger." Hence he concludes: "Therefore it is an evil languor that takes away the good rest of the mind." Accordingly, by "the harm of the master" can also be understood the care, anxiety, and affliction which riches bring to their owner, since, as St. Ambrose says, Book I On Cain and Abel, the miser "shakes the elements, furrows the sea, and digs the earth, wearies heaven with his prayers, ungrateful for clear skies and for cloudy, condemns the annual harvests, and in his anger accuses the lands."
Finally, the Chaldean understands by this evil of the miser the punishment of the world to come: "There is, he says, a pernicious evil which I have seen under the sun, for which there is no remedy: a man who heaps up riches and does not devote them to piety, scarcely foreseeing the end of his days. For this wealth is reserved for his destruction in the world to come."
For in the future life misers will be tormented by the utmost poverty, want, hunger, and thirst in the fire of Gehenna, as the rich glutton is tormented; which the poets represented through Tantalus, who, thirsting in the midst of waters reaching up to his mouth, is nevertheless never permitted to draw them with his mouth and quench his thirst.
Hear Salvian, Book I To the Catholic Church: "For the miser, says Holy Scripture, nothing is more wicked, and the worst and most deadly kind of disease is: Riches kept to the harm of their master. This is true; for what is worse, or what more wretched, than if someone converts present goods into future evils, and through those very things which were given by God for the purpose of preparing from them an everlasting blessedness of life, he seeks death and eternal damnation."
Tropologically, Hugo understands by riches the abundance of knowledge and virtues, which are kept to the harm of their master when he abuses them for the vanity of either glory or profit. Our Alvarez de Paz, Book I On the Spiritual Life, Part II, chapter 13, understands by riches the abundance of graces and of all the means to perfection, with which religious abound; but while they through sloth neglect to use them, those things turn to their greater condemnation, Ecclesiastes 5:12: "Riches kept to the harm of their master."
St. Cyril, Book III of the Moral Apologies, chapter 16, represents this maxim with the famous fable of the peacock and the crow, studded with golden maxims like gems: "When a crow, he says, saw a peacock stripped on all sides of its golden feathers, mocking the once pompous and rich bird, it said: Where is your desirable plumage painted with wondrous lights? Where has the glory of your shining wings gone? Where has the marvelous adornment of your jeweled feathers fled? But the peacock, meek and patient, indignant at the mocking words, replied: Although the insatiable abyss of human cupidity has swallowed up the riches of my feathers, yet by nature's kindness the restorative art, truly liberal, will not be lacking. Hence, although I am now deprived of my feathers, I have not yet lost the hope of recovering them; but you are always wretched. To which the crow replied: In adversity, as I see, your calamity is not instructed by calamities."
Then, exaggerating the foolishness of the peacock, he adds: "Already you have been de-tailed, and you did not see whence it happened; you have been impoverished, and you did not perceive whence the loss came. Your misfortune has taught you nothing, and therefore it grows without restraint. Truly your beloved plumage has made you hateful, and your beautiful tail has dishonored you, and so what was your opulence to you but poverty? For because you had it, you lost it, and again you desire that by which you will be stripped with sorrows, wretched one." Hence he gathers this moral, as the aim and fruit of the fable: "Therefore it is better not to have, than to lose a desired thing; I certainly give joyful and worthy thanks to nature, that it gave me poor plumage, and with such a nature I consider myself rich. For in this way I am my own, and beloved by no one as prey. My black feather illuminates me, and my poor little plume enriches me, and my despised little tail protects me. But your riches make you poor, your desirabilities make you hateful, your delicacies make you sorrowful, your glories make you dishonored, your felicities make you wretched, and your outgrowths make you diminished. Cursed therefore are such riches, which impoverish, strip, and revile their possessor. For their possession is turned into nakedness, their sweetness into pain, their glorying into confusion, and their beauty into deformity. Rejoice therefore, if you are wise, that you have lost hostile riches, and do not desire them any longer, but consider yourself wealthy if you lack them. With these teachings the master enriched the impoverished one whom he had instructed."
Verse 13: For They Perish in Grievous Affliction
13. FOR THEY PERISH IN GRIEVOUS AFFLICTION. — The word 'perish' cannot refer to 'their master'; for then it would have had to be said: 'the master perishes'; therefore it must refer to 'riches.' Hence the Hebrew has: that wealth perished in a bad business; and the old edition of St. Jerome has: those riches perished in the worst distress.
The meaning is, as if to say: Riches are often kept to the harm of their master, because they perish for him, that is, they are taken from him by force, or by fraud, or by shipwreck, or by some other accident, and they leave him poor, afflict and torment him, and eventually cause him to perish and destroy him, since on account of them he is stripped of life. Hence that saying of St. Augustine: "What Christ does not take, the tax collector seizes;" and: "The miser, while he collects, is collected; while he wishes to be a plunderer, he becomes the plunder," says the same St. Augustine on Psalm 38. Aptly Plutarch, in his opuscule On the Desire for Riches, calls the cupidity of misers asinine and adulterous: "Because just as a donkey carrying wood to the baths, always filled with smoke and ashes, never partakes of any part of the heat and cleanliness of the bath: so avarice eviscerates a man with labor so that he may grow rich, and yet he is never satisfied with his riches. He further compares them with mice, which devour gold ore in mines, and do not give it back unless they are dead and cut open; likewise with earthenware pipes, which retain nothing within themselves: for so misers heap up many things to leave to their heirs, and these to others, and so on endlessly."
Excellently St. Chrysostom, homily 10 on the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Observe, he says, how many evils happen on account of money, because we are held by a certain affection and passion concerning it: for example, if someone loses his money, he leads a life worse than any death. Why do you grieve, O man? Why do you weep, because God has freed you from the care of guarding superfluous things? Because you no longer sit trembling and fearing? Therefore say, if someone were to bind you to a treasure, commanding you to sit by it always, to spend watchful care on things belonging to others, would you not grieve and bear it with difficulty? You had bound yourself with the worst chains, and because you have been freed from that servitude, you grieve." The same author, homily 33: "For this reason God has taken away your riches from you, to free you from the worst servitude. For even the best father, when he sees his son perishing from love of some harlot, if the son has neglected to hear his admonitions, removes that harlot from the midst and banishes her to distant exile. Such also is the abundance of riches. Therefore our true Father and best Lord, taking care for us and wishing to free us from this injury, takes away from us the money by whose love our mind is corrupted."
For 'grievous affliction' the Hebrew has 'in a bad business,' which some understand as vice and sin, as if to say: Riches often perish for the rich man because they were acquired through wickedness — namely through usury, fraud, robbery, or unjust contracts — according to that saying of St. Jerome, epistle 160 to Hedibia, Question 1: "A rich man is either unjust, or the heir of an unjust man;" and that saying of Plato, Book V On the Laws: "Our saying is correct, that is, true, that extremely rich men are not good;" and Menander: "Never did a just man quickly become rich." Hence the Chaldean translates: because he acquired them by evil arts, they shall not be confirmed in his son, nor shall anything remain for him.
Better, however, our Translator by 'bad business' understands 'grievous affliction'; and the Septuagint: the worst distress; Campensis: riches perish after they have grievously afflicted their masters. For the miser is afflicted by anxiety in preserving and increasing his wealth, and by grief and sorrow in losing it, when he sees it snatched from him by thieves, or princes, or friends, or rivals, or by adverse fortune.
Verse 12: There is Also Another Grievous Infirmity Which I have Seen under the Sun: Riches Kept to the Harm...
12. THERE IS ALSO ANOTHER GRIEVOUS INFIRMITY WHICH I HAVE SEEN UNDER THE SUN: RICHES KEPT TO THE HARM OF THEIR MASTER. — "Infirmity," that is, misery, affliction, distress: St. Jerome: the worst languor; Symmachus: an evil disease; Olympiodorus: a grave and intense disease; St. Ambrose, on Psalm 1: an evil languor; the Syriac: an evil infirmity; the Arabic: it is greed; Vatablus: it is a cruel evil; others: it is an evil sickness; Campensis: I have found another kind of the saddest evil.
KEPT TO THE HARM. — 'Harm' here can be taken both as fault. Hence Aquila translates: to his malice. For riches are to the rich man an occasion of pride, gluttony, luxury, robbery, and all crimes; and more properly as punishment. Hence Olympiodorus translates: to his own destruction; the Tigurina: by their possessors to their own ruin.
This is the sixth vanity of riches and avarice, that they are treacherous and afflict the rich man himself, and eventually strangle and kill him, because they are the cause or occasion of his death: for the rich are often harassed by lawsuits, fined from their wealth, indeed even killed so that they may be stripped of their riches, whether by robbers, or by unjust judges and princes, or by associates, etc., as Naboth was killed by Ahab to possess his vineyard, 1 Kings 21. Plutarch narrates in the Parallels that Brennus, king of the Gauls, asked his soldiers to pour the gold they carried into the bosom of a most avaricious maiden whom he loved, who loved gold more than the king: and so it happened that she was buried alive under the great mass of gold. So the wealthy are suffocated by their own gold.
Therefore the Thaumaturgus translates: to hoard hidden wealth is to guard for oneself the occasions of six hundred evils. Timocreon, the Greek lyric poet, wrote a poem against Plutus, the god of riches, in which he sings thus: "Would that, O blind Plutus, you appeared neither on earth, nor on the sea, nor on the continent; but dwelt in Tartarus and Acheron! For because of you there are all evils among men."
HE HAS BEGOTTEN A SON WHO WILL BE IN THE UTMOST WANT. — In Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, and Arabic: and there is nothing in his hand; the Tigurina: who has had absolutely nothing; Campensis: for neither for them nor for their children was anything left; the Chaldean: and the inheritance left to his children after death will utterly perish. This is a new affliction of the rich miser, that he sees his riches perishing not only for himself but also for his son, so that he leaves him in the utmost want: because, namely, his wealth has perished, either by theft or by some accident befalling the father; or because the son has consumed it lavishly; or because, following his father's example, he sordidly yearns for riches and does not dare to use them, but wastes away with hunger and hardship in order to keep his riches intact. Moreover, generally the poverty and loss of their children afflicts parents more than their own. Hence in England we have seen certain Catholics, who had stood firm under torments, fall away from the faith lest they be stripped of their goods and nobility and be forced to leave their children poor and ignoble. For it is hard for a parent to hear continually from children and grandchildren: On your account we are wretched, needy, exiles, ignoble; you have lost and extinguished the honor of our family. Through you the nobility of our entire lineage has perished; whereas on the contrary, for a man who is alone and without children, it is easy and glorious to lose his fortune, nobility, and life for the love of God, faith, and the orthodox religion. For this is the praise and glory of martyrdom.
This is the seventh vanity of wealth and avarice; the eighth follows.
Verse 14: As he Came Forth Naked from his Mother's Womb, so shall he Return, and shall Take Nothing Away with...
14. AS HE CAME FORTH NAKED FROM HIS MOTHER'S WOMB, SO SHALL HE RETURN, AND SHALL TAKE NOTHING AWAY WITH HIM OF HIS LABOR. — The Arabic: and he finds nothing from his labor that he might carry in his hand; so approximately the Hebrew, Septuagint, and Syriac. Hence St. Jerome: he receives nothing to hold in his hand; Vatablus: so that he departs just as he came; Campensis: so they will return naked to the earth in dying, just as they came forth from it naked in being born, nor will they carry away with them anything of what they gathered with such great labor, according to that saying: "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there," Job 1:21. St. Cyprian, tract On Death, reads: "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, naked I shall return beneath the earth." And: "We brought nothing into this world, and there is no doubt that we can take nothing out," 1 Timothy 6:7; and: The rich man "when he shall die, will take nothing away (not all, that is, nothing — this is a Hebraism): nor shall his glory descend with him," Psalm 48:18. Therefore all riches, all pomp, all the goods of this world are garments to be stripped from everyone at death. The philosophers saw the same: Seneca, On Morals: "The earth, he says, receives all infants naked." Pliny, at the beginning of Book VII, comparing man with other animals, since nature generated him naked and unarmed among all creatures: "Man alone, he says, it casts forth naked, and upon the naked ground, on his birthday, to wailing."
Note: The word 'as' has the force of comparison and inference, as if to say: From the fact that we are born naked, it is clear that garments, riches, and all other goods which this world provides us are not our own, but lent and granted for our use as long as we live here: therefore it is not permitted to us, when we depart and die, to carry them away with us, just as a servant who enters the house of a prince receives a sword, a cloak, and garments worthy of a prince; but when he leaves the house, he puts them back and returns them, as things lent for the time of service, and belonging to another, not his own.
Moreover the Chaldean explains that the rich man departs from life naked, because he departs without the merits of good works, which he neglected through avarice, sloth, gluttony, etc.
Verse 15: A Thoroughly Wretched Infirmity!
15. A THOROUGHLY WRETCHED INFIRMITY! — The Hebrew: an evil, that is, a most grievous infirmity, concerning which see verse 12. Another translates: this evil too is painful; the Tigurina: that disease is evil; Vatablus: this too is a punishment full of toil; Campensis: but this also is a sad evil; the Chaldean: an evil disease for which there is no remedy, or which we cannot heal. It is an exclamation over human misery, which he exaggerates in what follows; for although all mortals experience it, nevertheless the rich and misers feel it most keenly, for whom in death it is a grave torment to leave behind riches so dearly loved and acquired with such great labor, and to be unable to carry anything from them with them, even as provision for the journey.
The Septuagint: and indeed all his days are in darkness, and in mourning, and great wrath, and languor, and madness; the Syriac: and also he eats all his days in darkness, and in great fury, and in anger, and sorrow and infirmity; the Arabic: and therefore all his days are in darkness, and lamentation, and great anger, and infirmity, and bitterness.
AS HE CAME, SO SHALL HE RETURN. — For 'as' the Hebrew is כל עמת col ummath, which Cajetan translates: all against, or opposite; hence he translates: all against, or according as he came, so he goes, as if to say: Every man, in the same way that he came by being born without riches, so he will go by dying; he came meeting nakedness, naked he goes meeting nakedness likewise, which received him naked at birth and will likewise receive him naked at death. It is a personification, for nakedness is imagined as a person and mother, sending all men naked into life when they are born, and receiving them naked when they die. Another translates: in every way, or by all means, as he came, so he goes; the Tigurina: in every respect, without the opposition by which he came, that is, most fully, in absolutely the same way as each one came into the world, so he will depart; Campensis: all men, in the same way they entered the world, will also leave the world; Campensis: there is a vicissitude of all things. For עמת ummat signifies conjunction, consequence, kinship, association, likeness. Hence עמית amith means companion. Therefore the literal and proper translation is: with all congruity and likeness, as he came, so he shall return.
Perhaps also the Masoretes incorrectly wrote col ummat as two words with a division, when it seems it should be written as one word with contraction: כלעמות kilummat, that is, literally, according to congruity, or likeness, that is, as, likewise, as our Translator, the Septuagint, the Chaldean, the Syriac, the Arabic, and all others translate. In sum: kilummat signifies the utmost congruity, agreement, and likeness in the nakedness of being born and dying — that man, just as he was born utterly naked, so he dies and departs from the world utterly naked. Hence the pagans of old used to insert only an obolus into the mouth of the dying, so that he might pay it as fare to Charon, who conveys the souls of the dead across the Styx and Acheron to the underworld, as Lucian reports in the dialogue On Mourning, by which they signified that a person dies and returns to the earth, the common mother of all and likewise the grave — fully naked, alone, abandoned by all, destitute of all things, groaning and weeping, and exposed to the injuries of all, just as he had been born. The Chaldean adds that he returns as he came, lacking merits: Just as, he says, man came into the world deprived of merits, so he passes on to the other world.
WHAT THEN DOES IT PROFIT HIM THAT HE LABORED FOR THE WIND? — For 'profits' the Hebrew is יתרון iitron, which the Septuagint translates: what abundance, by which he labors for the wind? The Syriac: for the spirit; Symmachus: what then more for the one who has labored? The old edition of St. Jerome: what abundance for him who labors for the wind? The Arabic: what excellence for him who labors for the winds? The Tigurina: what reward came to him who spent his labors in vain? Others: what advantage, or what will remain for him? Campensis: what will it profit to have dissipated the mind here with various cares? The Chaldean: what gain can there be for him, in that he labored to chase the wind? Olympiodorus: why do you labor for the wind, when riches are utterly unstable, and most similar to a water bubble when it collapses?
So in Zechariah 6, splendid kingdoms and their riches and glory are compared to wind, because like winds they are fleeting, contrary, and clashing against each other, impetuous, and they immediately pass away into smoke and wind. Titelmann adds: Because the wind scatters what has been gathered, so that there is no use of those things; and the Thaumaturgus: The wind, he says, signifies the impetuosity and ardor with which the miser gathered his riches, which immediately pass away along with the riches and vanish into thin air. Now consider how great is the misery, affliction, and mental anguish of a laborer who, after donkey-like labors of many years, is cast out of his house without pay, without clothing, naked! How great is the anguish of a farmer who, after the constant and greatest labors of winter, is expelled from his field and his harvest, naked, sick, and starving — and know that the condition of the rich miser at death is similar.
Verse 16: All the Days of his Life he Eats in Darkness, and in Many Cares, and in Misery and Sorrow
16. ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE HE EATS IN DARKNESS, AND IN MANY CARES, AND IN MISERY AND SORROW. — The Septuagint: and indeed all his days are in darkness, and in mourning, and great wrath, and languor, and madness.
Lyranus refers this maxim to the rich man who has lost his riches, verses 12 and 13. For from there the argument is drawn in a continuous thread up to this point, as if to say: The rich miser, who has lost his wealth, dwells in darkness and mourning, that is, in continual grief, and wastes away in squalor. Others, however, generally understand it of the miser who greedily yearns for the riches he has collected; as if to say: The miser not only when he dies, or when he loses his riches, but even when he lives and abounds in riches, lives wretchedly and sordidly. But why does he "eat in darkness"?
The Chaldean answers first: he dwells in darkness, so that he may eat his bread alone. The interlinear Gloss adds: secretly and in sorrow, as if to say: He eats alone secretly in darkness, lest in public he be forced to live more splendidly with others. Secondly, because during the day he is so occupied with business, trade, and profits that he does not lunch except in passing, but only dines at night, as I know many merchants do in Belgium. So Cajetan. Thirdly, Hugo gives three reasons: the first, because he delays eating until supper on account of guests; the second, out of shame, because he eats so poorly that he is ashamed to eat during the day and in the light; the third, out of avarice, lest he eat twice a day. Thus the ancients, out of temperance, ate only once, as Plato attests, and that in the evening, so that they might give the whole day to action or to study and contemplation, as the Essenes did, or the first Christians at Alexandria under St. Mark, as Josephus, Eusebius, St. Jerome, and others attest. St. Anthony did the same, as did St. Hilarion and many anchorites, who were ashamed to eat during the day like animals, because they fed their minds on angelic delights; therefore they took food in the evening. Even now some very studious and religious men do the same.
Fourthly, he notes the miser's avarice regarding light. For misers, to save on oil, have at night only a tiny lamp by which they work and eat. Hence Lucian in the Timon graphically depicts those "who would scrimp and save, watching over their usuries by a smoky little lamp with a narrow mouth and a sputtering rush wick." We have known the richest merchants who rebuked their servants with great outcries because they made the wick thicker for a brighter light, complaining that it drew and consumed more oil. And when asked the reason, they answered that by attending to and guarding against such small things they had arrived at such great wealth. Fifthly and genuinely, the darkness denotes the miser's filth and squalor, and his obscure, gloomy, sad, and sorrowful life. Hence, explaining this, he adds: "And in many cares, and in misery and sorrow" — for darkness is the symbol and cause of these, just as conversely light is the symbol and cause of freedom, cheerfulness, and joy. Hence the Septuagint has: all his days in darkness and mourning; the Arabic: in darkness and lamentation; the Thaumaturgus: for such a man, days are darkness and life is mourning; Campensis: he lives sordidly.
Mystically, the miser lives in darkness, that is, in ignorance, says Olympiodorus; in evils of guilt and punishment, says Dionysius. St. Ambrose, On Naboth, chapter 8, notes that St. Luke rightly says to the miser: "Fool, this night they require your soul from you. For the soul of the miser is demanded at night, which begins in darkness and persists in darkness. For the miser it is always night, who changes like the moon; it is day for the just man, to whom it is said: Today you shall be with Me in paradise;" and: "The just shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of the Father."
AND IN MANY CARES. — The Hebrew: in great anger; the Septuagint: in great indignation, for many cares produce this. Hence the word 'care' (cura) is said to come from eating (edere) the heart, or burning (urere) the heart, says Festus; hence care is called devouring and biting. "Care, says Donatus, is in the hope of good things; anxiety is in the fear of evil things." St. Bernard truly says: "Human life, he says, is full of grief for the past, labor in the present, and fear for the future."
AND IN MISERY. — The Hebrew: and in infirmity, or languor, or his grief; the Chaldean: in sicknesses; the Septuagint: in wrath; Olympiodorus: in sad wrath — for the chief sicknesses of the soul are in sorrow and anger; Vatablus: because to be tortured by thought over riches about to perish, and in sorrow, in groaning, in indignation, in quarrels, to acquire them by fruitless labor."
Hence St. Jerome: "It is the worst languor, because from indignation and anger he frequently falls into disease;" Campensis: tormenting himself.
Misery (ærumna) is trouble, wretchedness, persistent affliction. "The word 'ærumnosus' (miserable) comes from 'rumen' (cud), because made wretched by poverty he hungers and thirsts," says Isidore, Book X of the Origins, as if to say: The miserable person is one who has nothing to eat and chew over. Festus, however, says: "Plautus uses 'ærumnulæ' (little burdens) to mean the forked poles on which travelers carried their bound-up packs; because Gaius Marius brought back their use, they were afterwards called 'Marian mules.' Therefore 'ærumnæ' signify burdensome labors, whether they are derived from the Greek word; for αἴρειν in Greek means 'to lift' in Latin." So says Festus. Cicero, Tusculan Disputations IV, 29: "Misery, he says, is a laborious sickness." The same author, Book II On the Ends, 187: "I would demand of you to endure the labors of Hercules (for so our ancestors named labors not to be fled from, yet with the most sorrowful word they called them 'miseries' even in the case of a God)." Plautus, Amphitryon: "That by one labor he might discharge two miseries." So the poets call labors 'miseries.' Plautus in the Persian: "He surpassed the miseries of Hercules with his miseries."
Most numerous are the miseries of the miser: one not the least is the one reported by R. Haccados, namely that he wishes to live in poverty and want of all things, so that he may die in opulence and in the abundance and plenty of things which he is forced to leave behind: therefore "avarice is diminished neither by abundance nor by poverty," says St. Jerome.
AND SORROW. — So also the Syriac; the Arabic: in bitterness; the Hebrew: in indignation, or fury, which is anger boiling, seething, and foaming like a raging sea. Hence the Septuagint translates: in madness; Campensis: they engage in feuds.
Anger and sorrow are kindred and allied passions: for anger begets sorrow, when the angry person cannot drive away the evil at which he is angry. Conversely, sorrow begets anger; for the sorrowful person is angry at the evil that brings him sorrow. Hence Olympiodorus: "The sorrowful person, he says, is goaded by wrath, and at a slight occasion rises to contention, and blazes up, weighed down by a grave sickness of mind." Add that black bile is naturally mixed with yellow bile; therefore where one abounds, the other also breaks forth; and black bile in the body causes melancholy and sorrow in the soul, while yellow bile causes anger and indignation. The miser is tormented by cares, says Hugo the Cardinal, in order to acquire; by hardship, in order to preserve; by sorrow, if he loses; and often from indignation he falls into disease. Or, in many cares, says Bonaventure, because of anxiety, as also solitude in darkness; in hardship, because of the scantiness of expenses; in sorrow, because of the necessity of spending. Vivianus elegantly translates: A life shrouded in darkness Scarcely endured anything sweet, All things full of complaints, all things Full of anguish, and of the wretched Waves of contention.
And St. Jerome: "It is the worst languor, because from indignation and anger he frequently falls into disease;" Campensis: tormenting himself. Misery is trouble, wretchedness, persistent affliction. Hence Lucian in the Dream, or the Cock, exclaims: "O wretch, what kind of life he lives! He is pale and entirely dried up, and wasted with cares: for it has never been heard that he was otherwise unwell. May it happen to enemies to be rich in this way."
Hence riches are called thorns by Christ, Matthew 13:22, because like the sharpest thorns, they inflict and drive sharp stings of pain into the soul as well as the body, with which they continually goad and prick a person, as St. Gregory beautifully teaches, homily 15 on the Gospel. Hear also St. Chrysostom, homily 3 on the epistle 2 to the Thessalonians: "The food of irrational camels is thorns, nourishment and fuel for a fire useful for nothing: such are riches, they are of no use except for kindling the furnace — for the burning of that day which shall burn like an oven; for the nourishment of irrational affections, such as the memory of injuries and anger. Such is also the camel feeding on thorns: it is also reported by those who have seen such things that there is no beast of burden among all that so tenaciously retains an injury received, is so difficult in its anger, so remembers an evil inflicted upon it, as the camel. Such are riches: they feed the irrational affections of the soul, but they prick and wound the rational ones, just as thorns do."
The same author, homily On Avarice, volume 5: "Riches, he says, while they are locked up and buried, roar more fiercely than lions and disturb everything. But if you bring them out of the darkness and scatter them into the bellies of the needy, from wild beasts they become sheep, which had been treacherous guides; instead of rocks, they become harbors; instead of shipwreck, tranquility."
This maxim, which is said literally of misers, you may equally apply to the proud, the gluttonous, the slothful, the envious, the wrathful, and indeed even to vain devotees of knowledge. For these lie awake nights and days to pursue honors, pleasures, leisure, eminence, revenge, and vain knowledge, and thus they waste their whole life fruitlessly, and wretchedly pass it "in darkness and in many cares, and in misery and sorrow," who feeds on his riches in the darkness of cares, and acquires with great desire things about to perish — it is nothing but the greatness of anxieties." And Olympiodorus: "It is fitting, he says, for you, O miser, also to consider that God has given you few and countable days to live."
IN THE NUMBER OF DAYS. — Symmachus: ψήφῳ, that is, by reckoning, as if by the reckoning and decree of God each person's day stands for a long time. And again, because by the reckoning of the divine decree the days of each person's life are numbered and defined, according to that saying: "The days of man are short, the number of his months is with You: You have appointed his bounds which cannot be passed," Job 14:5.
AND THIS IS HIS PORTION. — "Portion," that is, lot, as I said above. Allegorically and anagogically, Olympiodorus: The portion of the liberal man is the inheritance of glory decreed for him in heaven, stable and enduring forever: "This indeed, he says, is to scatter one's riches among the poor, and to derive solid joy from such distribution."
Verse 17: This Therefore Seemed Good to Me, that a Man Should Eat and Drink and Enjoy the Gladness of his...
17. THIS THEREFORE SEEMED GOOD TO ME, THAT A MAN SHOULD EAT AND DRINK AND ENJOY THE GLADNESS OF HIS LABOR, WITH WHICH HE HIMSELF HAS LABORED UNDER THE SUN, DURING THE NUMBER OF DAYS OF HIS LIFE, WHICH GOD HAS GIVEN HIM: AND THIS IS HIS PORTION. — This maxim and the following one were explained in chapters 2 and 3, and therefore I shall treat them briefly. For it is a conclusion repeatedly restated, by which, from the vanity of wealth and avarice, he concludes that he has learned by experience that it is better to use riches acquired by one's own labor moderately and honestly than to hoard them greedily for no use, or for the uncertain use of an uncertain heir. The Hebrew: behold what I have seen is good, that it is fitting to eat and drink and see what is good. St. Jerome: to perceive delight, that is, to enjoy pleasantly and joyfully the things acquired by one's own labor. The Arabic: this is good, which is best — to eat, etc. The Syriac: good will be that which is also seemly; Vatablus: what is good is what is honest; Campensis: in my judgment, therefore, it is sweeter to eat, drink, and enjoy good things among these miseries with which we are afflicted under the sun, in those few days of our life which God has granted us; because man will receive nothing more from all things. The Chaldean, however, by 'seeing good' or 'goodness,' understands both doing good and enjoying good things; hence he translates: behold what has seemed good to me: O sons of men, what is fitting for them is to act in this age so as to eat and drink from their labors, and not stretch out their hand to violence and robbery; and to keep the words of the law, and to have mercy on the poor and pilgrims, so that they may see good in all their labors with which they have labored in this age under the sun, during the number of days of their life, which God has given them under a good star, since this is his portion, and there is none other besides him.
And the Thaumaturgus: By God's kindness it happens to a man that he may fully enjoy his labors with delight of mind, possessing riches received from God and not extorted by force. For he is not affected by sorrows, nor for the most part does he measure his life by evil and ruinous thoughts, enjoying tranquility of mind in all things, and exulting with joy because of God's gift.
Verse 18: AND TO EVERY MAN TO WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN RICHES AND SUBSTANCE, AND HAS GRANTED HIM THE POWER (by...
18. AND TO EVERY MAN TO WHOM GOD HAS GIVEN RICHES AND SUBSTANCE, AND HAS GRANTED HIM THE POWER (by removing avarice from him and giving him a joyful and generous heart, so that he dares to use and enjoy his own things frugally and generously) TO EAT FROM THEM, AND TO ENJOY HIS PORTION, AND TO REJOICE IN HIS LABOR: THIS IS THE GIFT OF GOD. — For 'granted him power,' the Hebrew is השליטו hislito, that is, He made him master over his riches; the Tigurina: and He appoints him master, that he may eat from it; Campensis: has given him the disposition. For a man must first master his own mind, that is, his own cupidity, in order to be master of his riches. It signifies that misers are not masters of their wealth, but servants; while the generous are masters.
For, as Seneca says: "Misers should not so much be said to possess riches as to be possessed by them: riches are in servitude to the wise man, in command over the fool." The Chaldean: also every man to whom God has given riches and substance, and God has given him the power to eat from it in this age, and to give alms from it, and to receive the perfect reward of his Father in the age to come, and to rejoice in his labor with the just: behold, this is the gift that has been given to him under his good star from the face of the Lord.
THIS IS THE GIFT OF GOD. — Campensis: this is a great gift of God, far greater than the riches themselves. Hence St. Prosper proves that the good use of riches is a gift of God; for he says thus, Book I On the Calling of the Nations, 24: "Indeed in the book of Ecclesiastes it is said that it is a gift both to have necessities and to use them well, that this is a gift of God's grace. For there is no good for man, he says, except that he eat and drink and show good to his soul in his labor. And indeed I have seen this, that it is from the hand of God. For who shall eat or feast without Him? Likewise in the same book it is read that the hearts and works of the just are in the hand of God, and they advance in their studies only as much as He has granted. However much a man may labor to seek, he shall not find; and whatever a wise man may say in order to know, he shall not be able to find it: because I have given all this to my heart, and my heart has seen all this, that both the just and the wise and their works are in the hand of God. And in the book of Wisdom, concerning the same work of grace, it is said that He Himself is the guide of wisdom and the corrector of the wise. For in His hand are both we and our words, and all wisdom and the knowledge and discipline of works. Concerning continence also, that it is held as a gift of God, the same Scripture speaks thus: Since I knew that I could not otherwise be continent unless God should grant it: and this very thing was of wisdom, to know whose gift this was."
Now if the good use of riches is a gift of God's grace, then equally the good use of knowledge, honors, offices, states of life, positions of authority, etc., is a gift of God, and a greater one to the extent that knowledge, honor, office, state of life, position of authority, etc., is a greater good than riches — especially because with these same things we can use or abuse them for the greater good or evil of the commonwealth; for they are more suited to either outcome than riches are.
Verse 19: For he will not much Remember the Days of his Life, Because God Occupies his Heart with Delights
19. FOR HE WILL NOT MUCH REMEMBER THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE, BECAUSE GOD OCCUPIES HIS HEART WITH DELIGHTS. — As if to say: Such a man will not greatly afflict himself by remembering the days, that is, the troubles of this life, because God gives him joy so that he may joyfully enjoy his things. The Syriac: because God occupies him in the joy of his heart; the Arabic: because God draws him with the joys of his heart; the Chaldean: nor indeed does anyone advance so far in age that he can make an accounting of his days, how many of them will dawn happy and how many calamitous: for they are not given to men according to their wishes and choice, but the Lord has ordained and prescribed how many days he shall spend in mourning and how many in tranquility of mind; Campensis: he who is such will little remember the troubles of his life, for God exercises his heart with cheerfulness; Vatablus: because God hears him in the joy of his heart; others: because God repays him with the joy of his heart, or answers in the joy of his heart. For the Hebrew ענה ana (whence מענה maane) properly means to answer, to repay, as if to say: The rich man who generously uses his goods for his own and others' benefit labors indeed in gathering and honestly spending his wealth; but God equally answers his labor, and repays him with joy equal to, indeed greater than, his labor. For just as in a musical harmony the treble answers the bass, and as much as the one depresses and deepens the voice, so much does the other raise, exalt, and exult: so likewise the generous God tempers sorrows and joys, and the sadness and happiness of this life, so that the latter equally answers the former, indeed outweighs it; therefore as much as sadness depresses him, so much and more does joy exalt him, so that he exults, and thus from both a harmonious music is made that delights the just and generous man, as well as God and the angels.
Now: First, you may refer this maxim to the brevity of life. Hence Vatablus translates: he who is always joyful cares little about how long he has lived or will live. Secondly, you may refer the same genuinely, with Campensis, to the hardships, toils, and pains of life, which the generous man does not think about, does not consider, and as it were does not feel; because, using his own things conveniently, he is more cheerful, and thus he rejoices, nor does he admit sad thoughts into his mind about the length of pains and labors. Thirdly, you may refer the same partly to past and partly to future days of life, as if to say: The miser grieves over the past, is anxious about the future, for he fears lest his wealth fail; but the generous man spends past days of life pleasantly and hopes for pleasant future ones. Therefore for the miser and the unhappy man, life is long; but for the generous and happy man, it seems short. Fourthly, the Chaldean refers it to the counting and comparison of happy and sad days, as if to say: Misers count more sad days than happy ones, but the generous man counts more happy ones than sad. Fifthly, Olympiodorus, making the sentence twofold, thinks that two reasons are here adduced to persuade the miser of the good use of riches: the first is that this life is short and full of troubles; the second, that the good use of riches is most pleasing to God and wonderfully gladdens the mind of the one using and benefiting, according to that saying: "Happy is the man who shows mercy and lends," Psalm 111:5.
Finally, R. Solomon and after him Cajetan translate: he does not remember the days of his life, because God gives testimony of the happiness of the rich man himself, continually cheering his mind. But the Hebrew maane properly means 'he answers,' not 'he gives testimony.'
Tropologically, Olympiodorus takes this maxim concerning spiritual riches, such as the works of virtue, especially of prayer and contemplation, and the frequent and worthy reception of the Eucharist. For these delight the soul with angelic pleasures and soothe all pains and sorrows. For thus, as St. Jerome attests, the spiritual man, bathed in the delights of the purest contemplation, forgets the days of his life, which, because heavenly consolations make them seem short, he complains not so much of passing as of flying. Hence the great Anthony, praying and experiencing these divine pleasures, when the rising sun began to pour in, used to cry out: "Why do You hinder me, O sun, who rise for this very purpose, to draw me away from the brightness of this true Light?" By these complaints, indeed, accusing the night which he had spent in contemplation of its brevity, and addressing the sun that was drawing him from prayer and calling him to some necessary occupation. Truly a delightful life, which shortens mortal life — not by taking anything away from its span, but by enticing our mind with the highest pleasures: a delightful life, by which we cling to God and are easily immersed in His immense sweetness. For what prevents you, O man, even though you dwell amid the miseries of this world, from saying what Ambrose said: "You can both be here and be present to the Lord."
Vivianus concisely but acutely: I have called him blessed, who with a gleaming hearth Tempers his life With moderate labor and joy.
For, as St. Jerome says and Alcuin after him: Although the pleasure in enjoyment is small, yet if your soul clings to Him, if you walk after Him in your thoughts, if you follow His ways by faith not by sight, if you take refuge in Him. For He is a refuge and a strength, to whom David said: To You I have fled, and I was not deceived." So says St. Ambrose, On Flight from the World, chapter 8.
Anagogically, the Blessed in heaven do not remember the sorrows and labors of the present life in such a way as to feel and grieve over them, because God fills and overflows their hearts with immense joy, which excludes all pain, fear, sorrow, care, etc., according to that saying: "Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, O Lord; they shall praise You for ever and ever."