Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The author, in the person of Solomon, teaches what he promised at the end of the preceding chapter, namely the origin of wisdom and the manner of attaining it through his own example, who, although he was a king, was nevertheless in nature, life, and death entirely similar to other men, so that accordingly, just as he himself attained wisdom, so any man may attain it. Therefore first, he relates that, brought forth into the light, he obtained a fragile, wretched, abject life, subject to death, and therefore earnestly sought and obtained from God the summit of wisdom, so that through it he might remedy the miseries of life. Then secondly, at verse 11, he asserts that through it he obtained all good things, and even knowledge of the elements, heavens, stars, winds, plants, and all natural things that are in the world. Next thirdly, at verse 22, he enumerates the manifold gifts of Wisdom and assigns its origin. Finally fourthly, at verse 28, he teaches that no one is loved by God unless endowed with wisdom, inasmuch as it is more beautiful than the sun. From all these things he leaves to be gathered what man is by origin and nature, and what he is by wisdom and grace.
Vulgate Text: Wisdom 7:1-30
1. For I myself also am a mortal man, like all others, and of the race of him who was first formed from the earth, and in my mother's womb I was fashioned as flesh: 2. In the time of ten months I was compacted in blood, from the seed of man, and the delight of sleep accompanying. 3. And when I was born, I received the common air, and fell upon the earth that is made alike, and the first voice I uttered was crying, like all others. 4. I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and with great cares. 5. For no king had any other beginning of birth. 6. Therefore there is one entrance into life for all, and a like departure. 7. For this reason I wished, and understanding was given to me: and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me: 8. and I preferred it before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches as nothing in comparison with it. 9. Neither did I compare to it any precious stone: because all gold in comparison with it is as a little sand, and silver shall be counted as clay before it. 10. I loved it above health and beauty, and chose to have it instead of light: because its light is unquenchable. 11. Now all good things came to me together with it, and innumerable riches through its hands, 12. and I rejoiced in all things: because this wisdom went before me, and I was ignorant that it is the mother of all these things. 13. Which I learned without guile, and communicate without envy, and do not hide its riches. 14. For it is an infinite treasure to men: and those who have used it have become partakers of the friendship of God, being commended by the gifts of discipline. 15. And God gave me to speak according to my judgment, and to conceive thoughts worthy of those things that are given to me: because He is the guide of wisdom, and the corrector of the wise: 16. for in His hand are both we, and our words, and all wisdom, and the knowledge and skill of works. 17. For He gave me the true knowledge of the things that are: to know the disposition of the whole world, and the virtues of the elements, 18. the beginning, and ending, and middle of times, the changes of seasons, and the vicissitudes of times, 19. the courses of the year, and the dispositions of the stars, 20. the natures of living creatures, and the rage of wild beasts, the force of winds, and the reasonings of men, the diversities of plants, and the virtues of roots. 21. And all such things as are hidden and not foreseen, I learned: for the artificer of all things taught me, namely wisdom. 22. For in it is the spirit of understanding, holy,
holy, one, manifold, subtle, eloquent, active, undefiled, sure, sweet, loving what is good, keen, which nothing hinders, beneficent, 23. kind, steadfast, assured, secure, having all power, overseeing all things, and which comprehends all spirits: intelligible, pure, subtle. 24. For wisdom is more active than all active things: and reaches everywhere by reason of its purity. 25. For it is a vapor of the power of God, and a certain pure emanation of the glory of the almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing comes into it. 26. For it is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of His goodness. 27. And being but one, it can do all things: and remaining in itself, it renews all things, and through nations conveys itself into holy souls, making them friends of God and prophets. 28. For God loves none but him who dwells with wisdom. 29. For it is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars: being compared with the light, it is found to be before it. 30. For after this comes night, but evil does not overcome wisdom.
1. FOR I MYSELF ALSO AM A MORTAL MAN, LIKE ALL OTHERS, AND OF THE RACE OF THAT EARTHLY ONE (man) WHO WAS FIRST MADE, AND IN MY MOTHER'S WOMB I WAS FASHIONED AS FLESH.
The Arabic reads: I am a son born from the earthly man, the first created; the Syriac: I am the son of the firstborn of the earth. Under the term "flesh," as the chief part of man, understand blood, bones, and the whole man. It is a synecdoche: "flesh" reminds man of his weakness — for what is weaker, viler, or more foul than man's flesh? Do you wish to know yourself, O man? Consider the countless and unceasing miseries, filth, labors, and pains of your flesh, and you will know who and what you are. Hence St. John, chapter 1, verse 14, in order to show the supreme condescension and self-abasement in the Incarnation of the Word, did not say "The Word became man," but "The Word was made flesh," that is, fleshly man. The sense is, as if to say: I, Solomon, although I am a king, am nevertheless mortal and like — in Greek isos, that is, equal to — other men: for I am a son of Adam and Eve, sinners condemned to death with their entire posterity, and therefore I too was conceived in original sin, condemned to death before I was born; and just as Adam, I am adam formed from adamah, that is, man from the soil, earthly from the earth. Finally, in my mother's womb I was fashioned — in Greek, eglyphen, that is, I was sculpted — as flesh, as if to say: My mother could neither accomplish nor understand the manner of forming me in the womb, but God, as an artificer and sculptor, from formless and base seed fashioned, indeed sculpted me as flesh, that is, as a fleshly man, adorned and equipped with its members, bones, sinews, muscles, veins, and arteries. For God shaped the beginnings of the fetus with wondrous art, and painted, fashioned, and carved it like an image of Himself. Whence Psalm 118 [119], verse 14: "And my substance was in the lower parts of the earth;" the Hebrew is רקמתי ruckamti (whence the Italian ricamato), that is, I was embroidered in my mother's womb: רקם rokem means an embroiderer, who variously embroiders with needle in the art and work of embroidery. For "who was first made," the Greek has protoplastou, that is, who was first formed from clay: for platto means to form and shape clay vessels like a potter. It seems therefore that God first shaped from clay a statue of man, distinguished into all of man's members, then converted it into human flesh, and finally infused a soul into it, and thus made man into a living soul, so that he would be a living creature, as I discussed at Genesis 2:7. Whence in 4 Esdras, book 3, chapter 5, it says: "You gave Adam a dead body: but it was the work of Your hands, and You breathed into him the breath of life, and he was made living before You."
Here Solomon teaches kings and all men not to exalt themselves on account of royal dignity, wealth, knowledge, talent, arts, or other gifts, and not to wish to appear as gods, as Alexander the Great, Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus, and others desired. Rather, mindful of their origin and nature condemned to miseries and death, let them lower their crests, and like the peacock, not swell with pride contemplating their eye-spotted tail, but let them look at their ugly feet and set aside arrogance, acknowledging themselves as similar to other mortals, and humbly submit themselves to God their Maker, worshiping and calling upon Him. For this is true wisdom, namely to know oneself and to know God, and to say with St. Francis: "Who are You, Lord? Who am I? You are the abyss of wisdom, power, virtue, and every good; I am the abyss of nothingness, ignorance, weakness, sin, and every evil."
This same admonition, as St. Athanasius testifies, St. Anthony gave to Constantine the Great and his sons Constans and Constantius, who had asked for his letters: "The kings of the world," he said, "have sent letters to us; what wonder should this be to Christians? For although the dignity is different, nevertheless the condition of birth and death is the same. Therefore these things are to be honored with all veneration and held with complete devotion of soul: that God wrote a law for men, that through His Son He enriched the Churches with His own words." And after some further remarks: "First he praised them for worshiping Christ, then he urged salutary counsels, that they should not think royal power great, lest swelling with the dominion of the present flesh, they not know themselves to be men and forget that they would be judged by Christ. Finally he admonished them concerning clemency toward their subjects and justice, and care for the poor, and that the one eternal King of all ages is Jesus Christ,
he testified in his letters. When the princes received these, they rejoiced most greatly." Blessed Peter Damian wrote the same to the Empress Agnes, book 2, letter 5, and citing this entire passage of Solomon, he concludes from it: "Let the haughty brows of the heart therefore blush, and let him who considers himself bound between birth and death by the common law of nature shared with all others, cease to boast of a superior singularity of glory." Then praising Agnes, because having perceived this wretched condition of kings, having left the pomps of empire after the death of her husband Emperor Henry II, and having been sought by princes for a second marriage, she had refused them and from an Empress became a nun, he exhorts her to persevere in her holy institute and to fix the foot of perseverance immovably: "For you who recently were the wife of an earthly emperor, now through the dowry of holy profession have been made the bride of the Redeemer: therefore in this way prostrate yourself before Him in true humility of heart; in this way unite yourself to Him with the glue of fervent charity, so that with that mystical bride you may be able to sing with a fitting voice, Song of Songs 3:4: 'I found him whom my soul loves: I held him and will not let him go.'" Indeed even Alexander the Great, who wished to be believed the son of Jupiter Ammon and a god, when wounded, recognized from his wound that he was mortal: "All swear," he said, "that I am the son of Jupiter, but this wound proclaims that I am a man." So Plutarch in the Apophthegms.
2. IN THE TIME OF TEN MONTHS I WAS COMPACTED IN BLOOD (maternal blood, for the female seed is red, and appears to be blood rather than seed, as is evident from its residual menstrual blood) FROM THE SEED OF MAN (in Greek andros, that is, of a male) AND THE DELIGHT OF SLEEP ACCOMPANYING. — The phrase "in the time of ten months" pertains more to "I was fashioned as flesh" than to "I was compacted": for this compacting happens in a shorter time; but the fashioning and full organization takes ten months. Under "blood," understand not only the female's blood-like seed, which together with the male's seed has rather the function of an agent than of matter to be worked; but also true blood drawn from both seeds and to be worked into offspring. Maternal blood therefore supplies the matter for forming and then nourishing the body of the child: so Galen, book 2, On Natural Faculties, chapter 3. The same author, book 1, On Seed, chapter 9, reviews four stages of fetal formation: "The first, when the seed is nothing other than generative fluid; the second, when it has become substance, appearing now fleshy and no longer seminal, which Hippocrates calls a fetus; the third, when the distinction and formation of the three principal organs — heart, brain, and liver — can be more clearly observed, though the outline of the remaining members is still rather obscure; the fourth, when the arms and legs are seen distinctly completed, and Hippocrates no longer calls it a fetus but an infant, since he says it palpitates and moves as a now perfected animal." See more in Galen and Hippocrates, in the book On the Formation of the Fetus.
The common opinion is that the fetus is carried in the mother's womb for only nine months, and this is indicated in 2 Maccabees 7:27. Yet the Wise Man here assigns ten months; many classical authors do the same, such as Virgil in the Eclogue on Pollio:
"Ten months brought long sufferings to the mother."
And that line of Plautus in the Amphitryon: "In the tenth month a boy is born;" with which Ovid agrees, in book 1 of the Fasti, where speaking of Romulus, who completed the year in only ten months, he gives the reason that led him:
"What suffices for the infant while it comes forth from the mother's womb, This much time he determined was sufficient for the year."
Civil law supports this: for in title 6, section 29, On Posthumous Heirs, posthumous sons born in the tenth month from the father's death are considered legitimate heirs. Tertullian, in the book On the Soul, chapter 37: "The legitimate birth," he says, "is generally the beginning of the tenth month;" and he adds a moral reason: "So that the ten months," he says, "may inaugurate man more by the Decalogue, so that we are born in as great a number of time as the number of discipline in which we are reborn." St. Ambrose agrees in sermon 15 on Psalm 118, where speaking of natural love toward parents: "I cannot," he says, "without violating the right of piety, hate my father, to whom I owe my existence, nor my mother, who bore the burdens of her pious offspring through the long weariness of ten months." St. Augustine holds the same view, book 3 of On the Trinity, chapter 5, and letter 3 to Volusian. Finally, Blessed Peter Damian, book 2, letter 21, and in order 42, reports that "most doctors of the Church hold the opinion that man grows in the maternal womb for ten months, and do not admit that he comes forth within the space of nine months," which however he himself interprets as ten months of only thirty days each, and those not completed but only begun. For thus also Christ the Lord, who was conceived on March 25 and born on December 25, appeared to have completed only nine months, yet must be said to have extended into the tenth, since of those nine months five have thirty-one days, and therefore five days beyond nine months, which begin the tenth month, remain. If therefore the ten-month period is the space during which the womb carries, or the fetus matures, rightly in 1 Samuel 1:20 at the birth of Samuel it is called a "circle of days": for the number ten is called by mathematicians a spherical or circular number, as George of Venice testifies in On the Harmony of the World, canticle 1, volume 8, and chapter 3. So our Alphonsus Mendoza on 1 Samuel 1:20.
Add from Aristotle, book 7, History of Animals, chapter 4, that for other animals there is a fixed and determined time of conception and birth, but for man it is uncertain and variable: for in the seventh month, he says, and the eighth, and the ninth, a mother can give birth, and what most commonly happens, in the tenth; some even reach the eleventh; some even the thir-
teenth, says Pliny, book 7, chapter 5; indeed even occasionally the fourteenth, says Avicenna, in the book On the Soul. But these births are monstrous, and therefore the laws do not admit them. The best and most perfect limits of birth therefore are terminated at nine or ten months. Rabanus adds, as Holcot cites, that those born in the tenth month are more perfect and more vigorous, as if born at the most perfect time. So also Hippocrates, in the book On Seventh-Month Birth and the book On the Nature of the Fetus, prefers above others those born in the tenth month, not completed but begun. Whence Theocritus, in Idyll 24, asserts that Hercules, the strongest of men, was born in the tenth month. Pineda teaches the same about the other heroes, book 1, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 7. Hence also St. Augustine, in 83 Questions, question 36, and book 4, On the Trinity, chapter 5, says that Christ was born 276 days after conception, that is, after nine complete months and the tenth begun by six days, if you assign 30 days to each month. St. Chrysostom asserts the same in the sermon On St. John the Baptist, although he does not count the days precisely. If however you divide all the days of the year equally into twelve months, each month will receive 30 days and ten and a half hours; on this basis, the tenth month of Christ in His mother's womb would be begun by only one day and about an hour and a half. Indeed our Pineda, at the place already cited, number 20, proves that the most natural and perfect birth requires ten full months from conception, from the birth of Christ the Lord, which was most perfect; for He at the very first instant of His conception was perfectly formed, organized, and animated by the Holy Spirit, which in other women happens only on the fortieth day from conception. If you add these 40 days to the nine months during which Christ was in the womb, you will indeed find ten full months, which the most perfect birth seems to require. Peter Bondus adds in the Mystery of Numbers, chapter 45, that firstborn are carried in the womb for at least ten months begun. Therefore when Solomon attributes ten months to himself, he signifies that what happened to him was the same as happens to the firstborn: that he was carried five days beyond nine months, and thus, that in his very gestation he already foreshadowed that by the right of the firstborn he would succeed to his father's kingdom, although he was by no means the firstborn.
Francis Valesius in his Sacred Philosophy, chapter 83, reconciles these differently, where he asserts that the most natural and common period of birth is nine months from conception. Therefore the Wise Man, when he assigns ten months here, should be understood not as solar months but as lunar months, which the Hebrews used, and those not complete, but nine complete and the tenth current. Nine common or solar months, which the author of 2 Maccabees 7:27 assigns, make nine lunar months and about as many days, which begin the tenth month. Therefore he prescribes in substance the same time of birth here as in 2 Maccabees 7:27: so he says. Now these things
All these things signify the wretched birth and life of man. For is it not wretched to have lain hidden for ten months in the dark and foul womb of a mother, as in a prison or a tomb? Hear Blessed Peter Damian, book 7, letter 5 to the Empress Agnes: "In the time of ten months I was compacted in blood and the seed of man, and the delight of sleep accompanying; if one does not shrink from carefully considering, what mind hearing these things can swell with the pride of arrogance, and who is not immediately compelled to recognize himself as corruption when he considers so obscene a foulness of his origin, saying within himself: Why are you proud, earth and ashes?" Hear St. Bernard in Meditation 2: "What am I? A man from liquid humor: for in the moment of conception I was conceived from human seed, then that foam, coagulated, by growing a little became flesh."
Moreover, the seeds of trees and plants are preferred to this human matter in many respects. First, because these are clean and are placed in the bosom without any horror, they are seen by the eyes and handled by the hands; but that matter is so impure and fetid that it can neither be touched by hand nor looked upon by the eyes without shame. Second, the seeds of trees proceed from a most pure emanation; but this matter emanates not without the itch of the flesh, the heat of lust, and the stench of licentiousness. Therefore the conception of man loves darkness, and as an obscene thing, which brings shame to the begetter, it flees the light and shrinks from the sight even of the most intimate acquaintances. Third, the seeds of trees and even of animals are infected with no sin and no iniquity; but this matter and its emission is very often stained by some sin, at least venial, which parents are accustomed to contract from excessive delight. Fourth, those seeds are more durable, and are preserved uncorrupted for many days, months, and years: for we have seen some germinate after three or more years; but this seed is, as it were, momentary, and after a short time undergoes corruption and passes into decay. Fifth, finally, the seeds of trees once putrefied and turned into a small tree or plant grow in the purest moisture of the earth; but the seed of man, coagulated into a human body, is nourished by the most foul food. But consider, says Innocent, book 1, On the Contempt of the World, chapter 4, with what food the conceived is nourished in the womb. Certainly with menstrual blood, which ceases in the woman after conception so that the conceived may be nourished from it in the woman — blood which is reported to be so detestable and unclean that from its contact crops do not germinate, shrubs wither, herbs die, trees lose their fruit, and if dogs eat from it, they go mad. Behold, O man, your parents, in whose dignity you glory — these two seeds of man and woman lustfully mingled, in naming which we already transgress the bounds of modesty and chastity. So our Alvarez de Paz, book 4, On Knowledge of Self, part 2, chapter 5.
AND THE DELIGHT OF SLEEP (in Greek, hypnou, that is,
of sleep) ACCOMPANYING. — So the Roman and Greek texts read; less correctly therefore St. Ambrose, sermon 8 on Psalm 118, and St. Bonaventure here read "of sleep (others: of a dream) accompanying." The Greek is hedones hypno synelthouses, that is, from the pleasure or delight that comes with sleep, or that coincides with the time of sleep, that is, which is performed at night. By an honorable periphrasis he describes the act of generation. St. Bonaventure and the Carthusian add that this act is called sleep because it binds reason and immediately passes, just like the delight of sleep. But the Greek synelthouses hypno properly signifies only "accompanying sleep," that is, coming with sleep, attending sleep: for sleep after conception helps and promotes it, as philosophers and physicians teach. Whence Job 3:4: "Let the day perish," he says, "in which I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man is conceived." Therefore Lyranus, Clarius, and Holcot wrongly take this as referring to the sweet sleep of infants, by which, continually absorbed, they pass ten months in the mother's womb. Nor does Jansenius more genuinely explain the delight accompanying sleep as that which befits sleep and suits the night because of the foulness and shame of the act: for the genitive, he says, is put for the dative, namely somni for somno: so he says. Now because our Translator rendered somni in the genitive, which should refer to "delight," not to "accompanying" (that is, coming together), as is clear from the syntax, hence Solomon says he was compacted from the blood of a woman and the seed of a man and "the delight" — and this signifies, that is (it is an apposition), as if to say: Which is the delight of sleep, that is, of night, accompanying, that is, coming together as one and concurring to generate and form offspring. Therefore "accompanying" signifies the flowing together and concurrence of male and female seed, which happens through the union of man and woman to generate offspring. So it is said in Matthew 1:18: "When His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together;" for thus the coming together of spouses is honorably described. By an honorable periphrasis, therefore, he describes the delight of the marital act, by which the seed of both male and female delightfully concurs to form the embryo, and he calls it "of sleep," both because it happens at night, when men are accustomed to take sleep, and because sleep greatly aids conception: for sleep preceding conception in both parents concocts, elaborates, and matures the seed; and subsequent sleep in the woman aids the retention, digestion, and perfection of the conceived seed, as Galen and the physicians teach. So in chapter 4, verse 6, he says: "For the children who are born from unlawful sleep."
Solomon adds to the foulness of the matter — namely of the blood and seed from which he was formed — the foulness of the act by which he was conceived, in order to show the vileness and foulness of his origin. For this act is so foul that it flees the light and seeks sleep and night, that is, darkness and hiding places in which to conceal itself. For it robs man of the use of reason (whence the philosopher defined it as a brief epilepsy), and virtually transforms him into a brute and a beast: for no act is more brutish and bestial than the sexual act. Hence Alexander the Great used to say that by two things above all, though he was proclaimed a god by many, he perceived that he was mortal: by sleep and by intercourse, because these especially revealed the weakness of the human body — in all other things he was unconquered. For sleep is the image of death, and intercourse is a species of the falling sickness: so Plutarch in his Life of Alexander. Moreover, almost every single word of this verse and the preceding one has emphasis and contains new and particular miseries of a man being born, as is clear to one who weighs them individually.
3. AND WHEN I WAS BORN I RECEIVED (in Greek, dospasas, I drew in; St. Ambrose, sermon 8 on Psalm 118: I drank in) THE COMMON (not only with other men, but also with all beasts) AIR, AND FELL UPON THE EARTH THAT IS MADE ALIKE, AND UTTERED THE FIRST VOICE LIKE ALL OTHERS, CRYING.
The Syriac: as any man I began to cry; the Arabic: and I came crying. Solomon here recounts three miseries of his birth. The first, that he drew in air common to all, even to brutes, as if his life depended on the thinnest air, and he was forced by breathing to sustain and preserve his fleeting soul. See therefore how fragile and perishable is the life that depends on a thing as thin and fleeting as air: it hangs therefore on air and breath, as if on a thread, and if it fails, the soul must necessarily be breathed out. For as Galen says, book On the Usefulness of Respiration, chapter 1: "Since we cannot endure even a moment of time without respiration, it is manifest that it pertains not to any particular action, but to life itself." The second, that he fell upon earth like that of all others, as a son of the earth to be nourished by it, and to return to it as to a mother after death. The third, that his first voice was weeping, by which he lamented the miseries of life that by natural instinct he foreboded to be threatening him.
Again, by these three things he hints that he is composed of the four elements: for he draws in air because he is constituted of it, for a thing is nourished by the same things of which it is constituted, as Aristotle says. Again, under air understand fire, for man draws in cold air to cool the fire, that is, the heat of the heart and blood. Earth is understood in the fact that, being earthly, he fell by his own weight onto the earth; water in the weeping and the shower of tears. From which he leaves to be gathered that man has a body not heavenly, luminous, simple, and incorruptible, but elemental, opaque, mixed, and corruptible, which sucks and draws from the elements all the defects and vices that are in them. Hence it happens that man derives from fire: levity, bile, and pride; from air: inconstancy and ostentation; from water: flux and decline; from earth: coarseness and dullness. Moreover, the infant in the mother's womb, after the lung is formed, breathes and draws in internal air,
draws in, says Galen following Hippocrates, in the book Whether What Is in the Womb Is an Animal, chapter 3. But Aristotle denies this in the book On Spirit, chapter 3, where he teaches that the fetus in the womb, as soon as the heart is formed, has a pulse, and then is nourished and fed, and lastly breathes: "for it first breathes," he says, "when the offspring has been brought into the light." Others teach the same, and here Solomon supports them. Again, Aristotle, book 2, On the Generation of Animals, chapter 4, and his followers teach that the child in the womb draws nourishment through the umbilical cord and is nourished thereby, and therefore as soon as it is born, places its mouth on the mother's breast to suck milk: so Galen at the place cited, and Fortunius Lycetus, book On the Origin of the Human Soul, chapter 44. Solomon thus passes over the discomforts of the woman in childbirth, the pains of labor, the dangers, weakness, and filth of the infant, concerning which Plutarch says in the book On the Love of Offspring: "Nothing," he says, "is so imperfect, helpless, naked, shapeless, and foul as a man immediately after birth, to whom alone nature has granted almost not even a clean exit into the light, but stained with blood and filled with gore, and more like one slain than one born, he can be touched, lifted, kissed, and cherished in an embrace by no one, unless they bear a love implanted by nature."
AND UPON THE EARTH THAT IS MADE ALIKE (in Greek, homoiopathe, that is, having suffered or experiencing similar things, as Pagninus, Arias, and Lorinus translate), that is, subject to similar passions, qualities, inconveniences, miseries, and hardships, such as heat, cold, summer heat, dryness, hunger, thirst, diseases, etc.) I FELL UPON THE EARTH. — Vatablus translates: and I fell upon earth of the same nature, as if to say: Although I was born the son of King David, nevertheless in being born I was poured out upon the earth — not softer or better earth, but the same as all others, in the manner of other men and animals. For just as the sky is one for all, so one earth receives all, according to that verse of Prudentius:
"All walk upon the same ground,"
and equally live by the drawing of one air. Hence on the earth I felt and suffered heat, cold, dryness, humidity, and all other qualities, changes, and disturbances, equally with other men and animals. Moreover, lest the infant be injured by striking the earth when being born, it is received by midwives. Hence St. Ambrose, letter 64, which is to Syagrius: "They are called midwives (obstetrices) because they stand in the way (obstant) lest the fetus, when the genital parts of the womb are relaxed, flow down to the earth." And Claudian, book 10:
"Him, falling first from my mother, I caught in my lap."
And Job 3:12: "Why was I received upon the knees?"
Our Pineda, book 1, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 12, number 4, considers that here reference is made to the custom of the ancient Romans, who placed newly born boys on the earth and invoked the goddess Ops to give them help, as Festus attests. And this first, says Varro, book 2, On the Life of the Roman People, so that the infant might take auspices that he was viable and upright. Second, so that as a son of the earth and pious mother he might implore help and nourishment, says Macrobius, book 1, On the Dream of Scipio, and St. Augustine, book 4, City of God, chapter 11, whom hear: "Let him (Jupiter or God) bring help to those being born, receiving them in the bosom of the earth, and let him be called Ops. Let him open their mouths in wailing, and let him be called the god Vagitanus. Let him lift them from the earth, and let him be called the goddess Levana. Let him guard their cradles, and let him be called the goddess Cunina. Let there not be another, but let it be he himself in those goddesses who sing the fates of the newborn, and are called Carmentes. Let him preside over fortuitous events, and be called Fortuna. In the goddess Rumina let him give the breast to the little one, because the ancients called the breast 'ruma.' In the goddess Potina let him supply drink. In the goddess Edutica let him furnish food. Because of the fear of infants let him be named Paventia." Third, so that he might profess the earth to be the mother of all mortals, concerning which see Philo, book On the Creation of the World. Fourth, so that he might foreshadow that he would return to the earth, according to that verse of Lucretius, book 5, On the Nature of Things:
"The universal parent, the same common sepulcher of all things."
This was the Roman custom; but whether the same was the custom of the Hebrews, especially in the time of Solomon, is difficult to believe and more difficult to prove.
Moreover, a man being born first puts forth his head, last his feet. Hear Pliny, book 7, chapter 8: "To come forth feet first," he says, "is contrary to nature, for which reason they called such persons agrippae, as born with difficulty, as they say M. Agrippa was born — almost the only example of good fortune among all those born in this manner." And below: "Agrippina his mother writes that Nero also, shortly before he became emperor, and throughout his entire reign the enemy of the human race, was born feet first: it is the custom of nature that a man is born head first and carried out feet first." Hear also Aristotle, book 7, History of Animals, chapter 8: "The position in the womb of all quadrupeds is extended; of footless animals, oblique, as of fish; of bipeds, bent and contracted, as of birds. Man also, rolled up in himself, is carried so that his nose is between his knees and his ears outside his knees. In all animals equally the head is first uppermost; but when they have grown and now desire to come forth, it is drawn downward, so it happens that for all, birth according to nature is head first, contrary to nature feet first, or with the body bent and turned around." And chapter 10: "Other animals also are born according to nature turned head first, but children also have their hands stretched out and extended along their sides; when they have come forth, they immediately utter a cry and bring their hands to their mouths. They also pass excrement, some immediately, others shortly, but all within a day; which excrement is more than proportionate to the infant's size. Women call this 'papaverculum,' and it is blood-colored and very black and pitch-like; soon it becomes milky and whitish. The newborn infant also sucks immediately. It never utters a cry before it comes forth, even when it comes forth with difficulty and the head protrudes while the entire body is still inside."
AND THE FIRST VOICE LIKE ALL OTHERS I UTTERED (he reads with the Complutensian and St. Ambrose isa, that is, I uttered; now the Vatican and others read ison, that is, equally) CRYING;
in Greek, klaion, that is, wailing (as if klazon, that is, breaking, says Eustathius on Odyssey 4, because wailing happens through a kind of violent breaking or compression of the limbs); and, as Tertullian says, On the Soul, chapter 7: "Greeting life with a wail." For infants in the first forty days from birth do not see while awake, nor do they shed tears, but they wail; after forty days they shed tears, as Aristotle teaches, History of Animals 7, chapter 10. The same author, Politics 6, chapter 16, whom Avicenna follows, assigns the physical cause that this wailing and crying serves for the exercise of the voice and for strengthening the body. But the proper moral cause is original sin, in which they are born, of which this wailing is both the sign and the punishment: for other animals do not wail at birth — indeed, they utter no cry at all. Whence Lyranus, Holcot, Lorinus, Pineda, and the other commentators note that males, when they are born, begin their wailing cry with the letter A, which is the first letter of the name of Adam the first-formed; females with E, which is the first letter of the name of Eve, as if they were lamenting their fall. Hence Christ also, that He might be likened to us in all things and might expiate and atone for our guilt, was born with a wail, according to that verse of Fortunatus:
"The infant wails, laid in the narrow manger."
The physical cause is that infants at birth feel a great change, for they pass naked from a soft and warm womb to hard earth and cold air; again, from darkness and sleep to unaccustomed light and wakefulness, etc., by all of which they are struck and wail in pain. So Alexander in the Problems. The symbolic cause is that the infant senses, foresees, and as it were "unknowingly prophesies," says St. Augustine, City of God 21, chapter 14, the thousand miseries of life that he must undergo, which he laments. Whence Lucretius, book 6, says:
"And fills the place with mournful wailing, as is fitting; For whom so many evils remain to pass through in life."
For this reason the Thracians, Gaditanians, Trausi, and Caucasians accompanied births with tears and deaths with joy and laughter, as Alexander ab Alexandro testifies, Genial Days 2, chapter 25.
If God were to reveal to any man all the afflictions of body and soul that he must undergo for the rest of his life, he would shudder, weep, and nearly despair — why then should not the infant, sensing all these beforehand, wail?
Hear St. Augustine, City of God 21, chapter 14: "Who would not shrink in horror and choose death, if he were given the choice of either enduring death or going through infancy again? Which indeed begins this light not with laughter but with weeping, prophesying in a certain way, though unknowing, what evils it has entered upon." Whence Pliny, ignorant of the true cause of wailing — namely original sin and the corruption of nature through it — accusing nature itself as a stepmother, complains in the preface to book 7: "Man alone," he says, "she casts out naked and on the naked ground on his birthday, to wailing and weeping immediately, and no other of so many animals to tears, and these right from the beginning of life, etc. — a weeping animal destined to rule over all." And he adds: "Not to speak, not to walk, not to eat, and in short, man knows nothing without instruction; nature spontaneously gives him nothing but weeping."
To the ancient Latins, infants by wailing seemed to sound 'va,' whence by onomatopoeia they were said to vagire (wail), and the god Vagitanus (who by a slight change of name was called Vaticanus) was invoked to come to their aid, says Varro. Hear Gellius, book 16, chapter 17: "The god Vaticanus was named as the one who presided over the beginnings of the human voice, because children, as soon as they are born, utter that first cry whose first syllable is 'va' in Vaticana; hence 'to wail' (vagire) is said, the word expressing the sound of the infant voice. At Rome this god was worshiped on the hill which from this is still called the Vatican, which now is occupied by the body, tomb, and basilica of St. Peter, who nourished and fed all Christians, like newborn infants, with the milk of his teaching — the true Vagitanus of them all. One exception is Zoroaster, who at his birth did not wail but laughed, as Solinus reports, book 1, On the Marvels of the World, chapter 3, and this was a portent and an evil omen: for afterwards he was the inventor of the magical art. Cardanus, in the book On the Variety of Things, when treating of human nature, relates that a child does not laugh until after some days, and that the first laugh it produces occurs only in sleep, by which he says is signified that there is no true and certain joy until this life's course is completed. For, as St. Augustine says, the time of this life is nothing other than a race toward death. Whence Seneca, book 4, letter 24, compares life to a water-clock, from which water or sand gradually and swiftly all flows out and runs dry: for in a similar way the days of life flow away, and death succeeds them.
Finally, newborn infants are placed on the earth as on a mother, so that they may greet it as their soon-to-be tomb, and amid their infant wails may chant funeral monodies and dirges, according to that saying of St. Bernard, sermon On St. Martin: "On the earth," he says, "we are born, on the earth we die," as if to say: The first seat of living is the last of dying; nor are birth and death separated from each other by a greater distance than between the two words orimur (we are born) and morimur (we die), which are distinguished by only one letter.
4. I WAS NURSED IN SWADDLING CLOTHES, AND WITH GREAT CARES. — In Greek, en sparganois, that is, in swaddling bands and infant wrappings; whence also Christ, who is the true Solomon, that He might be like us, the Virgin Mother of God espargonose, that is, wrapped in cloths, that is, swaddled, Luke 2:7. And this first, because while other animals are born clothed in hair, man alone is born entirely naked, and therefore must be wrapped in swaddling bands as in garments. Hear Pliny complaining about nature as if it were a stepmother of man, in the preface to book 7: "Before all things, it clothes one alone of all living creatures in what belongs to others; to the rest it variously assigns coverings: shells, bark, hides, spines, shaggy hair, bristles, fur, down, feathers, scales, fleeces; even tree trunks and trees it has protected from cold and heat with bark, sometimes double; but man alone, naked, it casts out on his birthday on the naked ground," etc.
and Plutarch, in the book On the Love of Offspring: "Nothing," he says, "is so imperfect, helpless, naked, shapeless, and foul as man seen immediately after birth, stained with blood and filled with gore, more like one slain than one born." Clothed in this purple alone, both prince and commoner come forth into the light: each is seen dressed from the same cloth. Second, the infant needs swaddling bands so that its soft limbs may be bound, strengthened, and solidified, lest from crying and the awkward movements of the child they be dislocated, weakened, or twisted. Swaddling bands are therefore troublesome to the infant, like fetters and chains by which it is constrained, but necessary for its health. Whence Galen, book 1, On the Preservation of Health, chapter 7, and book 2, On the Movement of Muscles, chapter 7, and On the Causes of Disease, chapter 7, teaches that "it is most conducive to infant health that the child be bound with swaddling bands, but with salt moderately sprinkled first over the whole body, so that the limbs may be better consolidated and strengthened; and unless infants are properly swaddled — whose bodies are soft and almost fluid — the shape of each limb is easily distorted and corrupted." For this reason Cato the Censor was so careful, according to Plutarch, "that he would not allow his children to be swaddled unless he was watching." Third, swaddling bands help so that the infant, who is born almost as a quadruped and crawls on hands and feet like a frog, may, with limbs and feet quickly consolidated, be able to walk upright on two feet as a human. How wretched this is, Pliny describes at the place already cited: "From this first glimpse of light," he says, "bonds receive him, such as would not bind even wild beasts born among us, and the binding of all his limbs, and so, born fortunate, he lies with hands and feet bound: a weeping creature destined to rule over all others, and he begins life with punishment, for one fault alone — because he was born. Alas the madness of those who think, from such beginnings, that they were born for pride!" So he says.
Hence these swaddling bands represent the strips of linen, bandages, shrouds, and cloths in which the child must be wrapped after death to be placed in the tomb. A child therefore, swaddled in a cradle, has the appearance of a corpse lying in a sarcophagus, because he is born to die, begotten to be buried. Under swaddling bands understand cradles and other similar things. There are also added various pains which the child suffers from excessive or clumsy swaddling and from many other discomforts, which it cannot express but reveals by wailing and crying. To soothe these, nature has suggested three remedies. Hear Galen, book 1, On the Preservation of Health, chapter 7: "Let us consider these three remedies for infant pain, discovered by nurses taught by experience itself: namely, the nurse's nipple placed in the mouth, moderate rocking, and the modulation of the voice. And again, the threefold manner of moving infants that has been devised: in cradles, in hanging cots, and in the arms of the nurses themselves."
AND WITH GREAT CARES. — The word "great" (magnis) is not in the Greek. P. Nannius wrongly reads "cradles" (cunis) instead of "cares" (curis); perhaps in some manuscript, instead of phrontisi (cares), he read phortisi (cargo boats), which resemble the shape of cradles; or phormosi, for phormos means a rush-basket, vessel, or wicker container, to which cradles are similar. Moreover, in cradles, with great cares and anxieties of parents, midwives, nurses, and tutors, the infant is nourished and raised; whence it undergoes various diseases and not infrequently death. For this reason the pagans appointed the goddess Cunina to protect it, says Varro, and after him St. Augustine, City of God 4, chapter 11. Moreover, the pagans placed the newborn sons of heroes on a shield, to train them for war; hence Hercules was placed on a shield in Theocritus, likewise Iphiclus by their mother Alcmena:
"When she had washed them both and filled them with milk, She placed them on the bronze shield which from Pterelaus Amphitryon had taken as fair armor, having slain him."
Indeed, Spartan women even gave birth on a shield, according to Nonnus, Dionysiaca 41. Finally, love stimulates these cares, especially the mother's love for her offspring, for because she loves it intensely, she cares for it intensely: for the measure of care is love. Whence Anacharsis, asked "why he abstained from marriage," replied: "Because I would love too much the offspring born from it."
5. FOR NO KING HAD ANY OTHER BEGINNING OF BIRTH (in Greek, geneseos, that is, of origin).
Under "origin" understand conception, birth, and upbringing; all of which are subject to a thousand dangers and discomforts, and therefore to a thousand cares and anxieties in man, but not in other animals, compared with which man is therefore far more unhappy and wretched. Solomon says this not so much to liken himself to other kings, as to make himself equal and similar to the rest of men, the common people.
6. THEREFORE THERE IS ONE ENTRANCE INTO LIFE FOR ALL, AND A LIKE (in Greek, isos, that is, equal) EXIT.
The beginning of man is therefore the same, and the end the same; they differ only in the middle journeys of life. Let him who is wise, then, travel them nobly. In the Greek, instead of "therefore" (ergo) the word is de, that is, "but"; however de is sometimes inferential and is equivalent to "therefore," as I noted above. For "entrance" the Greek is eisodos, a word that is, first, theatrical, applied to actors entering the theater to play a role in a comedy — this one a king, that one a slave, another a soldier. Hence exodion was the name for the song that was sung at the end of the comedy, as Pollux attests, book 4. Similarly there "is an entrance into life"; for through it we enter the theater of this world to play a comic role — this one a priest's, that one a prince's, another a commoner's. Hence Augustus Caesar, as Suetonius reports, when dying said to his friends: "Have I played my part well enough?" When they replied that he had, drawing and closing the curtains of this world: "Then farewell," he said, "and applaud," as actors say when the comedy is now over. Man therefore in this life is a mime and actor in a tragedy that is performed before God, angels, and men, according to that verse of Paul, 1 Corinthians 4:9: "We are made a spectacle (in Greek theatron, that is, a theater) to the world, and to angels, and to men." Let each one therefore see that he plays his role becomingly, so that he may render an exact account to God, who will demand a reckoning of how well it was played.
Second, eisodos (entrance) is fitting for voyagers who board a ship to sail to a port they intend to reach: so entering into life, we enter a sea subject to a thousand storms and pirate dangers, so that through it, with God as our guide and the Holy Spirit filling our sails, we may sail to the port of salvation. Third, eisodos is fitting for those entering a market and forum to buy or sell goods: so our life is a market and fair, says St. Gregory Nazianzen, into which we enter by being born, so that in it we may acquire the goods of virtues, merits, and good works, by which we may earn salvation and eternal life. Fourth, eisodos and exodos, that is, entrance and exit, apply to the sun rising and setting, as well as to the moon and stars: for in the morning the rising sun enters our hemisphere, in the evening the setting sun departs. So man most swiftly passes through life and the world, so that at birth he seems to rise like the morning, and at death to set like the evening. Just as the sun most swiftly passes on the same day from rising to setting, so man runs most swiftly from life to death, and thus his life is nothing other than a continuous passage from rising to setting and death.
Fifth, eisodos is fitting for athletes, runners, and charioteers entering the stadium for a prize and running most swiftly toward the goal: for so our life is a stadium in which we strive and run toward the heavenly goal and palm. Therefore death, for the wise and the saints, is not so much the end of life as the end of death, and the beginning of true life, and the gate of eternity, as the Holy Fathers everywhere teach, and indeed also the philosophers.
Hear a few out of many. Maximus of Tyre the Platonist, sermon 25: "This," he says, "which men call death, is itself the beginning of immortality and the generation of future life." The Indian Brahmins, according to Strabo, book 15, affirm that "death is birth into that true and happy life." Palladius, book 1, Florilegium: "The soul flees from the body as from the prison of death to the immortal God." Apollonius of Tyana, according to Philo, book 7: "We men," he says, "are in a prison the whole time that we call life, and those who first built houses seem not to have noticed that they surrounded themselves with another prison." Cicero in Cato the Elder: "While we are enclosed in these joints of the body, we perform a kind of duty imposed by necessity and a heavy task: for the soul is heavenly, pressed down from its loftiest dwelling and, as it were, sunk into the earth, a place contrary to its divine nature and eternity." The same, in the Dream of Scipio, speaking of the Roman heroes: "Who," he says, "flew forth from the body as from a prison." Themistius, in Stobaeus, sermon 121: "The very word thanatou (of death)," he says, "seems not to bring the man departing from life to some place underground, but to raise him ano eis theion, that is, upward to the divine seat. For thus it is probable that the soul, freed as it were from the bond of the body that has expired, then at last truly breathing and refreshing itself, is joined to God and depends upon Him." The same Themistius, ibid.: "To undergo the effect of death," he says, "is like initiation into certain great sacred mysteries; hence as the very words, so also the things are similar to each other: for teleutain means to die; teletai, sacred rites; teleisthai, to be initiated. For after death a certain wondrous light appears, or pure places or pleasant meadows receive the dead, in which voices, dances, and venerable narrations of sacred things resound: there the man now perfectly initiated, having become his own master, is free, walking about crowned, he celebrates the sacred rites, and associates with holy and pure men, looking down upon the profane and impure crowd on earth, which in deep mire and darkness tramples and drives itself."
From all of which St. Maximus, Bishop of Turin, rightly concludes in Century 5, chapter 76: "I do not think it right to call the end of this life 'death,' but a departure from death, a separation from corruption, a removal of darkness — in sum, as I might say, the consummation of all evils."
7. FOR THIS REASON I WISHED, AND UNDERSTANDING WAS GIVEN TO ME: AND I CALLED UPON GOD, AND THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM CAME UPON ME.
The connection is somewhat difficult at this point, for it is not sufficiently clear what "for this reason" refers to. First, our author a Castro replies and explains as follows, as if to say: "For this reason," that is, on account of my miseries already recounted — because, namely, I saw that I was born in the utmost misery and could not acquire wisdom by my own powers and industry — in this I wished to be preferred to others: that I took refuge in the author and bestower of wisdom. Having recognized therefore my own weakness, I desired God's supreme power and generosity. Second, more genuinely, our Lorinus says: The consideration of human weakness impelled him to desire and ask wisdom from God, and the outcome answered his vow and prayers, and he obtained the perfection suited to the soul, which he knew to be immortal: for philosophy is born from the meditation on mortality. Third, Jansenius: Because the beginning of birth is common to all, and because I saw myself born in ignorance like other men, therefore I desired understanding and wisdom, which would direct — indeed, expel — this ignorance.
Fourth, our Pineda, book 1, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 12: "For this reason," he says — namely, because he saw himself no better than others by nature's origins — "I wished (I conceived the desire by which I might make myself more excellent), and understanding was given to me" — intelligence, knowledge, prudence. For the distinctions that create any difference among men are not of nature, but either of fortune, as free men and slaves, kings and subjects, rich and poor; or of virtue, labor, and industry, as honest or dishonest, wise or foolish, worthy or unworthy of praise.
"To live is common, but to earn merit is not common,"
says Prudentius disputing against Symmachus; and Felix Minucius: "Are you noble? You praise your parents: for we are all born with an equal lot; we are distinguished by virtue." The same Pineda, book 6, chapter 9: Hence, he says, that ardor and incitement of Solomon's soul toward the praise and glory that comes from true virtue — truly worthy of a royal and lofty spirit. For since the beginnings of life were the same for all, and the progressions and exits similar: "For this reason (that he might excel others) he wished, and understanding was given to him; he called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon him, and he preferred it to kingdoms and thrones," Wisdom 7:7. And this is that immortality of fame and name which he set before himself and sought. Wisdom 8:13: "I shall have immortality, and shall leave an eternal memory to those who come after me."
All these interpretations are true and fitting and appropriate to this passage. For Solomon, because he sustained a double role, here requests a double wisdom: one that would instruct him as a private person, and another that would direct him as a public person. The sense therefore is, as if to say: Because I saw myself born in such great misery and ignorance, I desired and requested understanding and prudence, which would teach me to live rightly and wisely in a life so wretched and blind, and either prudently to remedy the miseries of life or bravely to endure them, and generously to restrain and bridle its disordered and harmful desires; and finally to call the mind away from the pleasure of this life, being short and perishable, and to redirect it toward the future life in heaven, blessed and eternal, to be sought and pursued with all one's strength. Again, because I am a king (for this prayer seems to be the one by which at the beginning of his reign he asked God for wisdom to govern, 3 Kings 3), I asked for a wisdom not common to the ordinary people, but royal, superior and more excellent than all, by which I might surpass my subjects and wisely govern and direct them toward peace and happiness both present and eternal. For a king ought to emulate the wisdom and holiness of God, for as Polybius says in Stobaeus, sermon 6: "What is noble belongs to the gods, or to those who are considered closest to the gods." And Iamblichus, letter to Agrippa: "It is necessary," he says, "that one placed over the laws be supremely purified, according to the supreme rectitude of the laws, and be neither deceived by seduction nor defrauded through ignorance, nor use force against inferiors, nor be attracted by any unjust occasion: for the guardian and keeper of the laws must be as incorrupt as is supremely possible in human nature."
I WISHED — in Greek euxamen, that is, I wished, I prayed, I supplicated, I conceived a vow: for to wish leads one to pray and petition. Indeed, to make one's desire known to a superior, especially to God, is to pray, according to that verse, Psalm 10:17: "The Lord has heard the desire of the poor, Your ear has heard the preparation of their heart." Hence our translator skillfully rendered "I wished" rather than "I prayed," to indicate the source of prayer, namely the wish and vehement desire for wisdom; especially since he immediately expresses the prayer when he adds: "And I called upon God." Morally, this teaches that the beginning of wisdom and holiness is an intense wish and desire for it, according to that word of Christ, John 7:37: "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." Hence Christ is called by the patriarch Jacob, Genesis 49:26, the desire of the eternal hills; and the apostles at Pentecost, desiring and calling upon Him for ten days, received the Holy Spirit. Do the same yourself, and with the Church, with ardent affection and great confidence of obtaining, sigh and supplicate: "Come, Creator Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful." Thus St. Thomas Aquinas professed that he had obtained his wisdom more by prayer than by study: for "all wisdom is from the Lord God," Sirach 1:1.
AND UNDERSTANDING WAS GIVEN TO ME — in Greek phronesis, that is, prudence, knowledge, intelligence; our translator usually renders it as "understanding," that is, so that I might conduct myself in all things sensibly, wisely, and honorably.
8. AND I PREFERRED IT BEFORE KINGDOMS AND THRONES (in Greek, scepters and thrones, which are the insignia of king and kingdom), AND I ESTEEMED RICHES AS NOTHING IN COMPARISON WITH IT
in Greek, en synkrisei, that is, in judgment of it, if they be judged alongside wisdom and contend in judgment as to which surpasses the other. Wisdom herself gives the a priori reason, saying in Proverbs 8:14: "Counsel is Mine, and equity: prudence is Mine, and strength is Mine: by Me kings reign, and lawmakers decree justice;" and verse 18: "With Me are riches and glory, proud wealth and justice. For My fruit is better than gold and precious stones, and My produce than choice silver." See the discussion there. Hence many of the faithful, and even philosophers such as Crates, Democritus, and Anaxagoras, cast away wealth and abdicated kingdoms to devote themselves to wisdom and holiness, some of whom I reviewed above: for wealth and kingdoms are often taken away from the unwilling, but wisdom and holiness cannot be taken from one who is unwilling. So the apostles said to Christ, who is the guide of wisdom: "Behold, we have left all things, and have followed You," Matthew 19:27.
9. NEITHER DID I COMPARE TO IT ANY PRECIOUS STONE: BECAUSE ALL GOLD IN COMPARISON WITH IT IS AS A LITTLE SAND: AND SILVER SHALL BE ESTEEMED AS CLAY BEFORE IT.
As if to say: Wisdom is far more excellent than all gold and gems; at the sight of wisdom, the splendor of gold is dimmed, the brightness of silver is darkened, the luster of pearls grows dull, and whatever is illustrious and precious becomes base and cheap — including Plutus himself (for in Greek it is ploutos), whom the pagans worship as the god of wealth. For what is silver and gold but white and red earth? says St. Bernard, sermon 4, On Advent. For "in comparison" the Greek has en opsei, that is, in sight, in view. Hence Plato, in book 3 of the Republic, says that the wise and those endowed with outstanding virtue are forged from gold and silver, but heavenly gold and silver, which surpasses the earthly; others from bronze and iron. Hear him: "God, the maker of men, mixed heavenly gold into the hearts of the rulers of the republic who took precedence over the rest, that is, divine virtues, so that they might have a certain lofty and exalted mind. But to those who assisted them in governing the republic, He placed heavenly silver in their hearts, that is, the illustrious ornament of virtues, even though they stood below the dignity of the former. And He mixed iron and bronze into farmers and other craftsmen who serve the republic." He adds however: "Those into whose hearts the Lord mixed heavenly gold and silver ought to despise earthly gold and silver, and should have no money-bags, nor pursue wealth." He alludes to Job 28:15: "Fine gold shall not be given for it, nor shall silver be weighed in exchange for it" — nor sapphire, nor topaz, nor the colors of India and the rest that he adds. Therefore the saying in Horace, book 1, letter 1, is the voice of fools:
"O citizens, citizens, money must be sought first, Virtue after coins."
For "precious," the Greek is timion; some read timeion, that is, honorable; there are those who read atimon, that is, cheap, dishonorable, despised, by which he would signify that any precious stone is without honor and without value if compared with wisdom. Hence they read: "I did not compare to it a stone, considered as despised in comparison with wisdom." But the common reading has timion, that is, precious. Two parables of Christ apply here: the first, of the treasure hidden in a field, Matthew 13:44, "which when a man found, he hid it, and for joy thereof went and sold all that he had, and bought that field;" and of the precious pearl found there, verse 46, which, to acquire it, the diligent merchant "went and sold all that he had, and bought it." For wisdom is the treasure and the unique pearl. And if "in Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge of God," Colossians 2:3, most rightly the Apostle says, Philippians 3:8: "I count all things to be but loss, for the excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but as dung, that I may gain Christ."
10. ABOVE HEALTH AND BEAUTY (in Greek, above health and form, or comeliness) I LOVED IT, AND I CHOSE TO HAVE IT INSTEAD OF LIGHT: BECAUSE ITS LIGHT IS UNQUENCHABLE.
"I chose to have it instead of light" — others translate "above light," as if to say: I preferred it to light. Hence in Greek it is proeilamen, that is, I chose. Whence Vatablus: and I preferred its use to light, or chose it above, as something whose splendor cannot be suppressed. Our translator more aptly renders: "I chose instead of light." For the Greek anti photos can be rendered, first, "instead of light, in place of light, like light"; second, "above light, before light." For Solomon signifies two things: first, that he preferred wisdom to light; second, that instead of light he would use no other illumination than wisdom itself. For wisdom is the most brilliant light, which illumines the mind to know all things and to carry out all things rightly. By "light" here understand both the external light of the sun and the internal light, namely the light of the eyes, as if to say: I held wisdom dearer not only than the light of the sun, but also than my own eyes and the light and sight of my eyes. In the affairs to be done, I determined to use no other sight, no other eyes, than those of wisdom itself, for it shows the way through all the darkness of things and leads safely to the goal of eternal life. Up to this point he has preferred wisdom to external goods, or goods of fortune, such as gold and silver; now he prefers the same to internal goods, such as health or vigor, beauty or comeliness, sight and the perception of light. Wisdom surpasses these as much as the soul surpasses the body, being itself the health, beauty, and sight of the soul.
ABOVE HEALTH AND BEAUTY I LOVED IT. — This is to be taken, first, plainly, as if he were saying: I loved and desired wisdom more than bodily health, strength, and beauty, because wisdom, being spiritual and the noblest gift, surpasses every corporeal thing and quality. He hints that the wise often have less bodily strength, and the very strong have less wisdom: for God is accustomed to distribute and apportion His gifts in this way. Add that the body requires certain dispositions for strength, and sometimes contrary ones are required for wisdom; hence the saying:
"He excels in talent whom nature denied strength."
Second, Peter of Blois, letter 81, considers that here lovers of wisdom are invited to labor and study of wisdom, even at the cost of health and beauty, because it is fitting that so great a thing as wisdom be purchased at any loss to the body. Hence we see scholars suffer from stomach ailments, headaches, and phlegm, and become lean, sickly, and pale, and therefore of short life. For by studying they exhaust their best spirits and divert heat from the stomach to the brain, whence arise indigestion, rawness of the stomach, flatulence, phlegm, dizziness, migraine, etc. So Aristotle suffered from a natural weakness of the stomach, which he used to relieve by placing a bag of warm oil on his belly, says Ammianus, book 16, so that it is remarkable that he reached the age of 63 years and sustained continual pains for so long with such great strength of soul. "For he was indefatigable in
diligent study," says Laertius in his life, "who, when he retired to bed, would take a bronze ball in his hand, so that he would be awakened by the sound of the ball falling into a basin." "They say that Aristotle," says Censorinus in On the Birthday, "long sustained a natural weakness of the stomach and frequent attacks of a diseased body by the strength of his soul, so that it is more remarkable that he bore life to sixty-three years than that he did not extend it further." Pineda follows Blesensis, book 3, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 3, number 8: Wisdom, he says, is the antidote to death and mortality, Wisdom 8:17. Therefore, although the body's strength may be worn down by the study and vigils of wisdom, and the wise man may hasten toward death at a swift pace, yet from another perspective, the immortality of name that is owed to the wise man amply compensates for the loss of a shorter life. For this reason he added: "Above health and beauty I loved it," Wisdom 7:10. The same author, book 3, chapter 10, number 5: Solomon, he says, exercised with labor, attention, and mental concentration the knowledge received without labor; sometimes even with a certain weariness of bodily strength, languor of the stomach, and some fatigue of the head. The vigils and late-night studies of the wise sometimes carry them beyond measure, so that with Solomon himself they are compelled to say: "Above health and beauty I loved wisdom," and lest they be lacking in wisdom, they are lacking in caring for their health, they are lacking to themselves, and lacking in the necessities of life. But in truth moderation must be applied to study, which wisdom itself prescribes, lest the body's strength be harmed and thus the use and exercise of wisdom be cut off, according to that saying:
"In all things, moderation is the most beautiful virtue."
And that:
"All excess is bad, but of studies the worst."
Third, the same Pineda, book 3, chapter 3, number 5, considers that here reference is made to the prayer of Solomon, in which he did not ask God for health, nor beauty, nor beautiful wives, but wisdom, 3 Kings chapter 3, verse 11.
An illustrious example here is that of Hermann, whose surname was "Contractus" from his contracted limbs, who, though the son of a count, having professed the monastic life in the Order of St. Benedict, earnestly asked the Blessed Virgin, to whom he was most devoted, to restore his health. She, appearing to him in a vision, gave this reply: "Dearest son, moved by your assiduous prayers, I have obtained for you the choice of two things: choose which you will. You will remain crippled and will receive the knowledge of all the Scriptures, both divine and human; or, receiving bodily health, you will remain an ignorant man and will ascend to an ecclesiastical chair. Now choose one of these two, whichever you wish, for you cannot have both." Hermann, considering what the Queen of heaven particularly urged, chose to remain crippled and to receive the knowledge of the Scriptures, rather than to possess bodily health without learning. For even then, though uneducated and unlettered, he was nevertheless devout and aflame with love of the Scriptures. From that time, advancing in all learning beyond all his contemporaries, he became a man of the highest reputation. He became so skilled in three languages — Latin, Greek, and Arabic — as if he had been born in them. He flourished in the year of our Lord 1060, and was the author of the hymn Salve Regina and many others. Moreover, his illness was the material and stimulus for his patience and holiness: so Trithemius, On the Illustrious Men of the Order of St. Benedict, book 2, chapter 84.
Moreover, how little health and beauty should be valued compared with wisdom, St. Augustine teaches in sermon 42, On the Words of the Lord: "For the health that was restored to that man's body — for how long a time was it? For what is your life, says Scripture, Job [James] 4:15: A vapor appearing for a little while, and afterwards to be destroyed. Therefore the health restored to that man's body was merely some extended duration given to a vapor. Therefore it should not be considered great; vain is the health of man. And recall, brethren, that prophetic and evangelical word, Isaiah 40:6: All flesh is grass, and all the glory of flesh is like the flower of grass; the grass has withered, the flower has fallen: but the word of the Lord endures forever." And shortly after: "For this entire life, to those who understand, is tribulation: for there are two torturers of the soul, not tormenting simultaneously, but alternating their torments. The names of these two torturers are fear and pain: when things go well for you, you fear; when badly, you grieve. Whom does the prosperity of this world not deceive, whom does adversity not break?" Wisdom teaches and provides against both: thus the pagans preferred Pallas, goddess of wisdom, to Venus, goddess of beauty, and to Hygia, or Valentia, goddess of health.
AND I CHOSE (in Greek, proeilamen, that is, I judged, I determined) TO HAVE IT INSTEAD OF LIGHT. — I have already given the sense of this passage and said that wisdom is here preferred to light, both of the sun and of the eyes. What is dearer and more luminous than the eyes? What than the sun, which is the heart, mind, and eye of the world? Nothing, except wisdom, whose golden radiance surpasses the solar. Therefore I preferred it and set it above all things that shine and gleam before mortal eyes. Pineda adds, book 3, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 4, number 12, and from him Cervantius, that by "light" are understood wisdom's own most beautiful eyes: Solomon, they say, seeks wisdom as his bride, saying: "I became a lover of her beauty," but was especially captivated by her eyes. For he chose to have it instead of light, because its light is unquenchable. Her eyes shine wonderfully; indeed, she herself entirely "is the brightness (ray) of eternal light," Wisdom 7:26 — indeed the most delightful and useful light: for she is more beautiful than the sun and above every arrangement of the stars, which the poets call the eyes of heaven and of Jupiter, and compared with light she is found to be before it, for night succeeds it, but evil does not overcome wisdom. As a symbol of this we read in Genesis 29:17,
that Jacob was captivated not only by the beautiful face, but by the attractive appearance of Rachel, whom not only her outstanding beauty commended, but the lights of her eyes, which contribute most greatly to the illustration of beauty, by contrast, as it were, with the shadow of Leah's bleary eyes. Their power is greatest, Song of Songs 6:4: "Turn away your eyes from me," he says, "for they have made me fly away (in Hebrew, to be exalted, to swell with pride)." Wisdom therefore is the light-bearer and lamp, in the course of this life the illuminator, the life-giver, and the conqueror.
Symbolically, the same Pineda, ibid., chapter 3, number 8, understands "light" as the kingdom; for the symbol of the kingdom is a lamp and a light, because in ancient times a bright fire was carried before kings, as I showed at Jeremiah 1:13, as if to say: I chose to have it instead of light, that is, instead of the kingdom; "because the light is unquenchable," that is, "the light," that is, the kingdom and royal splendor "of it" is perpetual.
BECAUSE ITS LIGHT IS UNQUENCHABLE. — In Greek, hoti akoimeton to ek tautes phengos, that is, because sleepless, ever-wakeful, and restless is the radiance or splendor that proceeds and flows from it. Cervantius renders: immortal is the light that comes from it. Vatablus: its splendor cannot be suppressed. Others: its brilliance undergoes no vicissitude of darkness.
The sense is, as if to say: I chose to have wisdom instead of light, because every other light — of the sun, moon, and day — pours forth light, but light that is extinguished in the evening, fails, and as it were sleeps through the night until morning, when the sun and day rise again. But the light of wisdom pours forth a light that never is extinguished, never fails or sleeps, but always endures, watchful and luminous. Whereas the light of the eyes is likewise lulled to sleep with the man at night and sleeps, and the light of the sun also sets in the evening and, as the common people say, goes to bed and falls asleep — for the setting of the sun seems to ordinary folk to be its lying down, rest, and sleep, according to that verse of Virgil, Aeneid 4:
"Aurora leaving the saffron bed of Tithonus."
So a Castro says: To this light flowing from the sun, the succession of nights brings rest and night, as the last verse of this chapter says, in which night man rests from labor and takes sleep. But the light of wisdom is interrupted by no sleep, never rests, is always in vigilance, and leads to continual labor. For day and night, through sleep and through waking, it so shines upon a man that it rouses and kindles him to labor in the cultivation of his soul. And for this reason the light of wisdom is called unquenchable, because wherever it is, it never fails to illuminate — just as St. Gregory said of love, homily 30 on the Gospels, that it is never idle, but works great things if it exists, because it always urges to action. The a priori cause is that wisdom is a ray of divine light, and arises and remains from God, "with whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration," James 1:17 — see the discussion there. Therefore the light of wisdom is unquenchable: first, because in itself it is never extinguished, it never fails
or changes, but always perseveres the same, equal to itself and like itself. Second, because it always illumines and inflames man, and urges him to good works, so that even at night he may ruminate on the law of God and the words of Sacred Scripture, meditate, think about God, and worship and call upon Him, according to that saying of St. Jerome to Eustochium: "Be a cicada of the night" — and that of the Psalmist, Psalm 1:2: "On His law he shall meditate day and night" — and that of Moses, Deuteronomy 6:7: "You shall meditate on them sitting in your house, and walking on the way, sleeping and rising" — see the discussion there; and that of Proverbs 31:18, concerning the wise and strong woman: "Her lamp shall not be extinguished in the night."
Such were the Essenes under St. Mark, of whom Philo says in the book On the Therapeutae: "Scarcely any other images," he says, "presented themselves to them during sleep except those of heavenly things, whose words, slipping out in dreams, the younger members, most attentively wakeful, received in writing as most precious." Such also were the Acoemetae, that is, religious who did not sleep, but continually chanted psalms and meditated; such were the Studites, whose leader was that great Theodore the Studite, so named from their continual meditation and study, of whom I have spoken elsewhere.
Among the Greeks there was a race in which whoever kept the flame of a lamp lit while running won; whoever extinguished it was defeated. Hear Pausanias in the Attics: "There is an altar, at which men bearing lit lamps run into the city. The contest is to keep the lamps lit during the race: for he whose torch is extinguished must leave the prize in the midst." In the same way, a Christian must nourish the lamp of faith and charity with the oil of good works, and keep it burning until the last day of life. For the wise virgins, who had oil and kept their lamps burning, were admitted to the heavenly wedding; but those who lacked it and had their lamps extinguished were excluded from it, Matthew 25:7.
11. NOW ALL GOOD THINGS CAME TO ME TOGETHER WITH IT, AND INNUMERABLE RICHES THROUGH ITS HANDS.
"All good things" are wealth, fame, glory, kingdom, victory, etc.; "innumerable," that is, very many — it is a hyperbole, for all of Solomon's wealth, though very great, could nonetheless be absolutely counted, being finite. Lest anyone accuse Solomon of rashness for preferring wisdom to all other goods and choosing it as his bride, he shows that it did not come to him without a dowry, but brought all good things as its dowry. That this actually happened is clear from 3 Kings 3:11, where God says to Solomon: "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, nor riches, nor the lives of your enemies, but have asked for yourself wisdom to discern judgment: behold, I have done for you according to your words, and have given you a wise and understanding heart, so much so that there was none like you before you, nor shall any arise after you. But also these things
which you did not ask, I have given you: namely riches and glory, so that no one among all the kings in former days was like you." Hence Christ, in Matthew 6, having adduced the example of the glory of Solomon, concluded in verse 33: "Seek therefore first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added to you." He said "shall be added," not without emphasis, because exterior goods are bestowed even on those who do not ask, and even on His enemies, as supplementary, indeed as things cast aside. So with uncreated Wisdom — that is, with His Son — God gave us all things, Romans 8:32; and with created wisdom — that is, with grace and charity — the other virtues come to us, flowing as properties from the essence and nature of grace; also external goods, insofar as they are useful for grace and salvation.
Hence Solomon, after wisdom was bestowed upon him, wonderfully began to grow rich: for through it he sent ships to Ophir, which brought him an abundance of gold, and he skillfully devised many other things, by which he acquired immense wealth and glory for himself, as Pineda shows, book 4, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 4.
Hence Pausanias, books 1 and 6, which is the Eliac, says: "On the citadel of Minerva there is a temple and a statue fabricated of gold and ivory. They say it was the work of Phidias; on the helmet of the Goddess stands a rooster, which I suppose is because this is the most pugnacious of all birds, or perhaps because the bird is sacred to Minerva under the surname of Ergane." The pugnacious and watchful rooster stands on the head of Minerva to indicate that wisdom and wealth are acquired not by leisure but by constant vigilance, labor, and effort. To Minerva therefore, or Pallas, armed, the goods of heaven and earth are subject, just as soldiers are subject to a general. Here applies that verse of Horace, book 1, letter 1:
"In sum, the wise man is second only to Jupiter — rich, Free, honored, handsome, in short, a king of kings."
12. AND I REJOICED IN ALL THINGS: BECAUSE THIS WISDOM WENT BEFORE ME
as a guide leading me to all the good things already mentioned. Hence the Greek is hegeitai, that is, wisdom is a guide, as if to say: Because wisdom is the guide, author, head, source, and mother of all good things — because God, namely, the author and lover of wisdom, lavishly bestows all these things on lovers of wisdom. Therefore Holcot's interpretation does not fit this passage well, as if to say: Wisdom went before me as a guide in every business through wise and provident counsel, so that I might act and conduct all things prudently — for that is not what is being discussed here. The sense therefore is what I have given, for he explains himself in the following half-verse, saying: "And I was ignorant that it is the mother of all these things." Wrongly the Complutensians read bonorum (goods) instead of horum (these), and others honorum (honors). For "mother" the Greek is genesis, that is, generatrix; others read genesis, that is, generation, that is, producer. So Philo, in the book On Fugitives, asserts that wisdom is the daughter of God, but can rightly be called father (symbolically and emblematically, that is), and although it has a feminine name, it has masculine virtue, indeed the strength and actions of the most perfect men. So Wisdom says of itself, Sirach 24:24: "I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope." See the discussion there. Moreover, when he says "I was ignorant," understand: before I had fully perceived it and its gifts, and had come to know them by experience; but when I perceived them and learned by experience, I fully recognized that wisdom is the mother of all good things.
"Riches" (honestas) — that is, virtue, which regards what is honorable, and especially modesty, say St. Bonaventure and Dionysius. But in Greek it is ploutos, that is, wealth, riches: for these are called honestas (honor/riches) in Scripture because they make the possessor honorable and respected so that he is esteemed by all. Thus "to honor" or "to make honorable" means to enrich, as in 1 Timothy 5:17: "Let the elders who rule well be esteemed worthy of double honor," that is, stipend; and verse 3: "Honor (support) widows who are truly widows." Thus honestas is used for wealth, and honestare for making rich, in this chapter verse 13, and chapter 8, verse 18, and chapter 10:10, and Sirach 11:14 and 23. It is therefore a metalepsis: for from riches follow honor, food, clothing, and household. Hence also the ancient Latins used honestus to mean wealthy, as Asconius teaches in the Third Verrine, and Ulpian, book 52, On Thefts, opposes "Titius the honorable" to "Titius the needy": "When," he says, "I wished to lend money to Titius the honorable, you substituted for me another Titius who was needy, as if he were wealthy."
THROUGH ITS HANDS — in Greek, in its hands, that is, first, in its discretion and power, as flowing from it and depending on it. Second, as if to say: It was liberally dispensed through its hands. For hands are a symbol, first, of power and dominion. Second, of liberality and beneficence — whence a gift in Greek is called doron, a word that signifies a palm, or a hand opened and extended, with which we dispense gifts. Hence Pliny, book 35, chapter 14: "The ancient Greeks," he says, "called doron the palm, and therefore dora gifts, because they were given by hand." Third, of labor and work — hence by the hands of wisdom he hints that wisdom is not idle but industrious, and bestows its wealth not on the idle but on the industrious. Fourth, moreover, of struggle and combat, to indicate that wisdom must undergo a great struggle with foolishness and concupiscence, and frequently come to blows with them, in order to subdue them and render them obedient. Hence Plutus, that is, the god who presides over riches, was depicted with the sign of Fortune and of Minerva (who was the goddess of wisdom) Ergane, that is, the worker, as Plutarch, Hesiod, Aristophanes, and others say.
13. WHICH I LEARNED WITHOUT GUILE (in Greek, adolos, that is, without deceit), AND COMMUNICATE WITHOUT ENVY (in Greek, aphthonos, which by homoioteleuton beautifully corresponds to adolos), AND DO NOT HIDE ITS RICHES.
This pretense or guile consists, first, in the fact that someone seeks and learns wisdom not sincerely for its own sake, that is, from love of wisdom, but seeks and learns something else through it — namely, that through it he may advance in honors and status. So Simon Magus falsely and deceitfully wished to buy the Holy Spirit, who is the author of wisdom, not to be sanctified by Him, but to receive through Him the power of working miracles, and thereby to acquire the name of Magician among men, Acts 8:19. The sense therefore is, as if to say: I, Solomon, sought and learned wisdom, both from my mother and father, and from the prophet Nathan, and especially from God, who infused it into me. I sought it, I say, not falsely, but sincerely and with pure intention and right purpose, which wisdom itself demands, namely that through it I might live rightly and holily, and that I might teach it to others. Hence without envy I freely and liberally communicate it to all, both by voice and by these writings of mine; and its riches (in Greek plouton, that is, its wealth, discovered by me through experience and reviewed by me shortly before) I do not hide, but everywhere proclaim and make known. For, as chapter 1, verse 5, said: "The Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful" — see the discussion there.
Second, some not unsuitably take adolos, that is, without pretense, without deceit and fraud, in a passive sense, as if to say: I was not deceived in the opinion I had formed of wisdom, that it would actually deliver all the good things it promised me. Hence Vatablus translates: I learned this without frustration. Finally, from this passage our Pineda demonstrates, book 3, On Solomon, chapter 27, that Solomon was a public professor of wisdom.
Morally, learn from this that the truly wise man is not envious or narrow, but liberally shares and expends himself and his goods for the benefit and salvation of others, just as God lavishly imparts His goods to all, and as the sun sends the rays of its light upon all. So the apostles, says St. Irenaeus, book 3, chapter 14, envying no one, freely communicated to all what they themselves had learned from the Lord. Wisely St. Basil, oration 6, On Instruction and Admonition: "One must learn," he says, "without any shame, and teach without envy; and if we have drawn anything from another, it must not be concealed, as wicked women are accustomed to do when they substitute illegitimate offspring, but the author of the saying must be acknowledged and made known with a grateful mind." Rabanus Maurus and Alcuin Flaccus, the teacher of Charlemagne, disciples of Bede, when they opened schools in Paris, taught everyone free of charge, and thus gave the beginning to the most noble and ancient university, as their biography records. Our Society does the same, which freely and without charge teaches all people everything that pertains to the liberal arts and theology. Galen, book 1 of the Method, chapter 1, declares that he would say and write everything even for the sake of a single student. Plato, content with the one disciple Aristotle, taught eagerly, and when he was present, even if the others were absent, he would say: "There is an audience," according to Laertius, Plutarch, and others. Pliny, book 25, chapters 1 and 2, praises the ancients — such as M. Cato, the master of all good arts, Orpheus, Musaeus, Hesiod, etc. — who published in writing what they knew about the powers of herbs: "Nothing, therefore," he says, "was left untried or untested by them, and nothing was then concealed that they did not wish to benefit posterity. But we desire to hide and suppress what they labored to produce, and to defraud life even of others' goods. So indeed those who have learned a few things conceal them, envying others, and to teach no one is considered a mark of authority in knowledge."
The a priori reason is given by St. Thomas on 1 Corinthians chapter 3: "When there is jealousy and contention among you, are you not carnal?" "Jealousy," he says, "and contention have no place except in carnal men, because they are attached to corporeal goods, which cannot be possessed in their entirety by several persons at once. And therefore because one person possesses some bodily good, another is impeded from full possession of it; and from this follows envy, and consequently contention. But spiritual goods, to which spiritual persons are attached, can be possessed by several simultaneously, and therefore the good of one is not an impediment to another, and for this reason in such things neither envy nor contention has any place. Hence the Wise Man, chapter 7, says: 'I communicate without envy.'" And God, to those who willingly teach others, lavishly communicates and increases doctrine, according to that word of Christ, Matthew 13:12: "For to him who has (who uses what has been given and held for the benefit of others), it shall be given, and he shall abound: but from him who has not (does not use it), even what he has shall be taken away." See the parable of the talents, and the rewards of those who dispensed them, ibid., chapter 25, verse 21. Hence wisely Rabbi Ishmael in Pirke Avoth, that is, the Sayings of the Fathers, chapter 4: "He who learns," he says, "with the purpose of later teaching others, God gives him the grace both of learning and of teaching; and he who learns with the intention of improving his own character, God gives him the means to learn and teach, and to put into practice what he has taught others."
An illustrious example is in St. Augustine, who, offering his teaching services to Florentina, letter 132: "It remains," he says, "for you to speak up if you think there is anything to ask of me. For either I know what you ask, and I will not refuse; or I do not know, in such a way that my ignorance causes no detriment to faith and salvation, and I will make you secure about this too, if I can, by giving a reason; or if I do not know and it ought to be known, I will obtain it from the Lord so as not to fail you, for often the duty of imparting is the merit of receiving; or I will so answer you that you may know, regarding this very matter which we equally do not know, whom we should knock upon." And after some further remarks: "Indeed, even regarding those things which I know in some manner, I desire you to be knowledgeable rather than in need of our knowledge. For we ought not to wish for the ignorance of others so that we may teach what we know. For it is much better that we all be teachable by God, which indeed will be accomplished in that heavenly homeland, when what has been promised is fulfilled in us, so that no man shall say to his neighbor: Know the Lord. For all shall know Him, as it is written, from the least to the greatest of them."
Outstanding in this regard was Cosmas the Scholar, of whom John Moschus, an eyewitness, thus writes in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter 172: "This man," he says, "was humble, merciful, abstinent, a virgin, peaceful, without anger, sociable, hospitable to strangers, a lover of the poor. This wonderful man therefore conferred the greatest benefit upon us, not only by his appearance but also by his teaching, and because he had a greater abundance of books than anyone else in Alexandria, and would readily and willingly lend them to those who wished." He then adds his manner of life and virtues: "He also possessed nothing: for in his entire house you would have seen nothing else but books, stools, a bed, and a table. All were permitted to enter, to ask questions pertaining to their benefit, and to read. Every day I myself would go to him, and in truth I never entered his home without finding him either reading or writing against the Jews, for he burned with a great zeal for converting that people to the truth." And he adds that he constantly led such a life for 33 years. Blessed Philip Neri used to say that a servant of God, zealous for the salvation of his neighbors, ought to be a man of all hours, so that at any time he might make himself available to anyone. He himself practiced this, and for that reason would hand his room key to those who came, so that they could enter without knocking, for the purpose of seeking help or counsel, whenever and as often as they wished. Finally, Pineda shows, book 3, On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 27, that the first teachers of wisdom, who diligently transmitted it to posterity and propagated it through many centuries, were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David.
14. FOR IT IS AN INEXHAUSTIBLE (in Greek, anekleiptos, that is, unfailing, inexhaustible) TREASURE TO MEN.
He gives the reason why he freely communicates wisdom without envy: namely that its treasure is unfailing, like a perennial spring or well. Hence the more water is drawn out or flows forth, the more succeeds it and flows in again. Therefore do not be afraid, O teacher, to teach others, fearing that your doctrine may fail or prove insufficient for yourself, because by teaching your doctrine will grow, both from the very use and exercise of it, and from God's reward and gift. Just as the light of a candle, if it lights one after another, is not diminished but increased; and just as the oil of Elijah, the more vessels it was poured into, the more it was likewise multiplied, 3 Kings 17:12.
AND THOSE WHO HAVE USED IT HAVE BECOME PARTAKERS OF THE FRIENDSHIP OF GOD
in Greek, pros ton theon philian diethento, that is, they contracted or bound a friendship with God, or toward God — a close and tight friendship. Vatablus: they joined friendship with God. Pagninus: they set aside friendship toward God. This is another reason why he willingly communicates his treasure of wisdom to others: namely, those who use it for the good of others by teaching, counseling, etc., on account of this outstanding charity, enter into a close friendship with God. For God is the first teacher of wisdom, who seeks other teachers as His associates to spread it to all. Therefore He associates them into His own fellowship and friendship, indeed into His own office and rank of teaching. "For the most divine of divine works is to cooperate with God in the salvation of souls," says St. Dionysius; and it is the function of angels to illuminate, purify, and perfect others. Hence it is clear that a true friendship exists between God and the just, which consists in charity. For first, through this we become "sharers of the divine nature," 2 Peter 1:4, and therefore in a certain way equal to God. Second, through this there is mutual love and mutual communication of goods between God and the just. Third, through this the just person singularly loves God and is loved by God, and therefore purely for God's sake, not for one's own utility. Fourth, through this the soul is intimately united to God, according to 1 Corinthians 6:17: "But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit." For true friendship requires and is sufficient with these four things: equality, mutual benevolence, singularity, and union. So St. Thomas, II-II, Question 23, article 1, and there more fully Francisco Suarez, Gregory of Valencia, and others.
COMMENDED BY THE GIFTS OF DISCIPLINE (to be handed on and taught) — in Greek, dia tas ek paideias doreas systathentes, that is, established, composed, or commended on account of the gifts that flow from discipline. For through teaching and discipline, the ignorance of hearers is dispelled, errors are driven away, the mind is imbued with truth, vices are corrected, virtues are implanted, and grace and eternal salvation are procured — all of which wonderfully commend teachers to God, angels, and men. Hence wise men have been friends, indeed counselors and teachers of kings and emperors: as Seneca of Nero, Apollonius of Augustus, Aristotle of Alexander the Great, Aristeas of Ptolemy Philadelphus, Lactantius of Constantine, and Alcuin of Charlemagne. Others take "the gifts of discipline" as meaning all the good things which he shortly before asserted accompany and flow from wisdom; for these commend the wise man in the eyes of all and make him equally lovable and admirable. Properly, systathentes, which our translator renders as "commended," means, says Cervantius, the same as standing with God, their greatest friend — standing firm, raised up, erected from the dust of the earth, placed, established according to God, stabilized, strengthened — otherwise about to fall of themselves into the abyss of errors. So Plato in the Timaeus, and Polybius, book 2. Furthermore, diligently received, cultivated, admitted into the assembly, gathering, conversation, and fellowship of God Himself, to whom they are bound by the bond of love — which services we render to those whom we hold commended to us. Finally, systathentes are those who cohere, conspire, agree, and harmonize — certainly together with God and God's grace, and His gift, which raises them to such a summit of dignity, making them sharers of the divine nature and most sweet in the most beautiful harmony of goods. For among musicians, a systema is a constitution and full body of modulation, from consonances consisting in conjunction, such as the diapason, diapente, etc., according to Boethius, Book IV *On Music*, chapter XIV.
he says, and to have nothing of yourself, so that you may be neither proud nor ungrateful; say to your God: I am holy, because You have sanctified me, because I have received, not because I had: because You gave, not because I merited."
TO SPEAK ACCORDING TO JUDGMENT. — In Greek, *to speak according to gnome*: now *gnome* signifies many things. First, a maxim, for gnomes are called weighty sentences, parables, and proverbs: following this, Vatablus translates, *God gave me to speak sententiously*. Second, it signifies the will, by which someone establishes and decrees something in his mind, whence Budaeus, and from him Jansenius: *according to gnome*, he says, means to speak of one's own accord, freely and willingly: following this, St. Bonaventure explains it as meaning: So that I may pronounce firmly and certainly about things, not hesitating, not wavering, but as one having authority. Third, it signifies talent, judgment, counsel; whence some explain it as meaning: God gave me the grace of speaking ingeniously, subtly, and learnedly, but at the same time with useful and prudent judgment and counsel, which I suggest to my hearers everywhere: so that everywhere I bring forth those things which are fitting to the talent, counsel, and judgment of prudence; whence Clarius translates, *By God's gift I am able to speak learnedly what I perceive*. Fourth, it signifies opinion and estimation, meaning: God gave me to speak so wisely as befits the opinion which men have formed of me. Fifth, some think *gnome* sometimes signifies a gnomon, an indicator and rule, such as is the stylus on a sundial, which by its shadow marks and indicates each hour, meaning: I in all my words follow the light and guidance of reason and of God, like the shadow and stylus on a sundial; but this seems too far-fetched. Sixth and genuinely, *gnome* signifies sense; whence Petrus Nannius translates, *God gave me to speak according to my mind, and to be able to express the judgment of my soul*, so that what I have wisely conceived in mind, I may wisely express by mouth, not only as to the matter, but also as to the method and manner in which I have depicted them in my mind and thought; whence wise men and excellent orators, when about to speak before princes or the people, preconceive in mind not only the points to be made, but also the order and manner in which they will say each thing, so that one thing depends on another, like links in a chain, and one flows from another, like streams from a fountain. Moreover, to speak wisely requires three things: first, that one meditate on these things beforehand, as I have already said; second, that one deliver them tastefully, pleasantly, cheerfully, gracefully; third, that one present them with weight, forcefully, effectively, and fittingly to persuade: for the entire force and fruit of the orator and the oration consists in persuading, says Cicero.
Moreover, how foolish eloquence is without wisdom is demonstrated by the fable of the frog and the eel, charming with its apt epithets, found in Cyril, Book IV of the *Moral Apologues*, chapter XVI, whose title is: *Against those arrogant in eloquence*: "A little frog born in a spring," he says, "without a voice but with a tail, as the day progressed and it grew, and its form changed, and having lost its little tail, it had acquired the most restless bubbles of loquacity; swim-
Morally, learn here the dignity of teachers of wisdom, namely that above other just and learned men they are friends of God, because they make very many learned, that is, upright, holy, and friends of God: for these teach without pretense what they have learned from God, because they teach for no other end than what God and wisdom itself requires, namely for spreading the knowledge and worship of God, and for saving souls; for he who teaches for another end, for example, for ambition or his own profit, uses wisdom deceptively and fraudulently, indeed abuses it. Hence again the true teacher of wisdom shares his wisdom without envy, because nothing is so foreign to wisdom as envy: for the spirit of wisdom "is gentle, loving the good, beneficent, humane, kind," etc., as we shall hear at verse 22; whence Ecclesiasticus, chapter 20, verse 32: "Hidden wisdom," he says, "and unseen treasure, what use is there in either? Better is he who conceals his foolishness than a man who hides his wisdom;" and the Apostle, Ephesians 4:11: "And He Himself gave some indeed as apostles, and some as prophets, and others as evangelists, and others as pastors and teachers (not for themselves, that they alone might be wise, but that they might teach others, namely) for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ;" whence he himself, 1 Corinthians 9:16: "Woe to me," he says, "if I do not preach the gospel!"
45. BUT GOD GAVE ME TO SPEAK ACCORDING TO JUDGMENT, AND TO CONCEIVE THOUGHTS WORTHY OF THOSE THINGS THAT ARE GIVEN ME: BECAUSE HE HIMSELF IS THE GUIDE OF WISDOM AND THE CORRECTOR OF THE WISE. — Instead of *gave*, St. Gregory and Cantacuzenus read *may He give*, which is the expression of one wishing, whereas the other is of one asserting. He declares how he learned wisdom without pretense and shares it without envy, namely that God gave him the faculty and gift of speaking according to judgment, so that he might be able to express his soul's perceptions and whatever he has conceived in mind, freely, easily, methodically, clearly, gracefully, and forcefully, so that hearers may easily understand, grasp, retain, and carry out these things: for many are men learned in themselves, but they cannot express their perceptions, and so they are unfit for teaching; the learned therefore, to become suitable teachers, need the grace and facility of explaining themselves and influencing the minds of their hearers, so as to show them these things clearly and persuade them effectively: thus today we see some teachers who are mute and tongue-tied; but others who are eloquent and fluent, as Solomon was. Solomon continues here to recount what and how much he learned through wisdom, so that then at verse 22 he may pour himself out in its praises and eulogies. Moreover, he does this not out of pride, but out of gratitude, for he refers everything to God, as the source of wisdom and of every good: for, as St. Augustine says on Psalm 85, verse 2, when the Psalmist there says, "Guard my soul, for I am holy, this is not the pride of one exalted, but the confession of one not ungrateful; indeed, know that you have,
ming there it saw a tailed eel without sound, and soon swelling with the wind of eloquence, before that creature of nature it began to give thanks for its own arrogance, saying: I give you thanks, because you have not only removed from me the tail, that reproach of bestiality, but have also granted me the eloquence of rational glory. But when the eel had heard this, and had noted the swelling of her pride from her bombastic chatter, in order to confound the proud one, it replied on the contrary: I indeed, sister, offer thanks to nature, because it has removed from me the most piercing sound of boasting, and has given me a longer tail of cunning for a saving escape. Why, dearest, are you puffed up with the pestilent wind of loquacity? Do you not notice that the puffed-up tongue, while belching forth eloquence, boils over with foolishness? Because, poisoned by the blast of pride, it soon puts wisdom to flight from the mind. But what is eloquence without wisdom, if not an unrefined tongue, a furious power, a mouth without a forehead, equine madness, a disordered art, and sweetness not a little poisonous?" From which he concludes, and draws this moral: "I would rather without the artifice of voice rejoice with the ant in prudence, than with the thunder of voice rage with the donkey, or, captive, warble with jubilation like the nightingale. I would certainly rather never speak for all eternity, than by speech be raised into everlasting captivity to pride. Having said these things, she hid herself under the mud."
Solomon therefore excelled in eloquence as much as in wisdom: and both the one and the other are a notable ornament of kings and princes, as he himself here intimates; whence concerning Calliope, who was the goddess of eloquence, Hesiod thus sings in the Theogony:
She duly accompanies even kings who are to be revered.
Eloquent were Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, and the Emperor Claudius, as Tacitus attests, Book XIII of the Annals, near the beginning; likewise Diomedes, Ulysses, Nestor, Pericles, and Alexander the Great, whom Dio, Book II *On Kingship*, introduces as speaking thus to his father Philip: "Indeed a king needs rhetoric: for you are frequently compelled to write in reply and to contradict Demosthenes, a very vehement rhetorician and impostor, and also others who administer the republic at Athens." This is that image of the Gallic Hercules in Lucian: "Drawing with little golden chains a most densely packed multitude of men, all bound by their ears, and indeed neither thinking of flight, nor altogether resisting, or pushing back with their feet in the other direction, but voluntarily hastening, though joined by chains bored through the tip of the god's tongue, and,
However hard the hearts may be, He who excels in eloquence draws them to his wishes."
Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, used to say that he had subjected more cities by the eloquence of his orator Cineas than by arms, as Valerius Maximus attests.
Mystically, St. Gregory, Book XXIII of the Moralia, chapter 10: "It happens very often," he says, "that they speak strongly, but yet do not know how to live according to the things they say; whence well
AND TO CONCEIVE. — In Greek, *enthymethenai*, that is, to think and to conceive in the mind those things that are worthy of the gifts that have been given to me by God and are given daily, or as befits my gifts. To conceive (*praesumere*) therefore is to preconceive, or to comprehend and embrace beforehand in the mind those things that are to be spoken according to the dignity of the matter: for he who wishes to speak rightly must first premeditate what and how it should be said. Otherwise Hugo says: to think worthily about what has been given is to give thanks for gifts received: for nothing is so worthy of a gift as thanksgiving. Others say: to think worthily about what has been given is to think how we may suitably dispense to others' benefit those things that have been given to us. Better is our a Castro: to conceive, he says, is to preconceive things worthy of the gifts: this pertains to the weight of the thoughts, to which that faculty of speech corresponds: for there are, as Cicero says in *On the Orator*, those who think rightly, yet cannot say what they think elegantly and distinctly. Solomon therefore congratulates himself on two things given by God: both fluency in speaking, and the ability to select — which the Vulgate expressed as *to conceive* — from his thoughts those things he was about to say, weighty and worthy of such great gifts, that is, such things as befit gifts given by God and their giver God, not light and trivial and useless things, but weighty, serious, and of great usefulness, as having proceeded from wisdom. Cantacuzenus reads for *didomenon*, that is *which are given*, *legomenon*, that is *which are said*, for in order that a speech be fitting, it must be worthy of the things that are spoken of.
a certain wise man said, Wisdom 17:15: *But may God grant me to say these things according to judgment*. For *sententia* (judgment) is named from *sensus* (sense). And he who seeks to speak rightly what he understands, not from knowledge alone but from judgment, desires not merely to speak by knowing, but to experience by feeling what he says.
BECAUSE HE HIMSELF IS THE GUIDE OF WISDOM. — In Greek *hodegos*, that is, guide of the way or journey, by which we strive from earth to heaven and to the heavenly life: just as the pillar of fire by night and of cloud by day going before the camp of the Hebrews was their *hodegos*, that is, guide of the way through the desert into the promised land, Exodus 13:21. God therefore is our *hodegos*, that is, guide of the way to heaven, pointer of the way, says Cervantes, teacher, leader, prince, patron sweetly enticing and mightily impelling with power, appraiser weighing all things at their proper moment with an equal balance, and greatly esteeming those whom He has to instruct and govern, moderator, ruler, charioteer, and helmsman, instructor and shaper of those whom He has undertaken to imbue with wisdom; just as one is called a master of rhetoric, philosophy, theology, indeed a leader and prince — for example, Galen of medicine, Aristotle of philosophy, St. Augustine and St. Thomas of theology — who as a leader excels the rest whom he leads and goes before them on the way, as a master before a boy, a general before a soldier, a strategist before an army, a star before the Magi, shining forth in teaching and example: for rightly is wisdom called a guide, who leads columns of disciples like battle lines of soldiers, likewise a commander and centurion, in gymnastic the gymna-
sium exercise, as if in military training. For the pagans, Mercury was the president and guide of the way, as well as of wisdom and speech — in Greek *Hermes*, that is, interpreter and messenger, so called as if *medicurrius* (running in the middle), says Arnobius, and from him Giraldus, Syntagma 9, that is, running in the middle, because speech is in the middle among men: and therefore he was also called a messenger, because through speech all things are announced, says St. Augustine, Book VII of *The City of God*, chapter 14. Whence Julian the Apostate, as Ammianus attests, always rising at midnight, secretly prayed to Mercury, whom the pagans transmitted to be the swifter sense in the world, arousing the movements of minds. But the true Mercury of the faithful is none other than God and Christ.
And the corrector of the wise. — In Greek *diorthotes*, that is, moderator, director, raiser-up, corrector, rectifier, good disposer — who, namely, moderates and directs one who is hesitant and uncertain about what to do and say, raises up the one who is falling, corrects the one who errs, straightens the crooked: for *diorthoo* means the same as: I moderate, dispose, direct, raise up, correct, repair, make straight: just as a tutor corrects a boy who is speaking, writing, or walking improperly — that is, corrects, raises up, and directs him. For God grants men both the wisdom of the heart, by which they may think and choose what they are to say, and eloquence or moderation of speech: for He corrects, disposes, and moderates what is to be said: whence he adds that in His hand are both we and our words. Again, *diorthoo* means I move, as the wind moves ships so that they head straight for the harbor, as Athenaeus attests, Book XIII: likewise, I prosper, I restore to a better state, and I cause one to enjoy favorable success; whence Diana is called Orthosia (whom Pindar mentions in the Olympians, Lycophron and Phavorinus, as Giraldus attests, Syntagma 12, *On the Gods of the Nations*) because she raises up, establishes, directs, and prospers the life of man, and for women in labor, not only lifts up the newborn, makes them free from pains, directs the uplifted, and makes them happy; and Jupiter is called Orthosios from the same effects, namely raising up and arousing those who are faltering. God therefore is called *diorthotes sophon*, that is, first, "the establisher of the wise," and then of newly born infants, says Cervantius, who establishes, preserves, and forms those who stand upright. Second, their raiser, who, if they stumble on the way, totter, falter, or fall, raises and lifts them up and restores them to their place. Third, He who, by His Spirit, directs like a ship into the harbor of salvation those who are prone to or desire to turn aside from the path and way of wisdom by adverse blasts. Fourth, He who corrects and amends those who have been apprehended and reproved, and thus restores them to their former state, integrity, and soundness, like a physician and surgeon, and instructs and confirms those who have been restored and purged of all stain, so that all things may turn out prosperously and in accordance with their wishes; and thus God makes a prosperous journey for them of their own salvation, Psalm 67:20. Thus God corrected, or through Aaron directed, the speech defect of Moses, whom He was sending as ambassador to Pharaoh for the liberation of the Hebrews, Exodus 4. Thus Christ
corrected the ignorance of Nicodemus, John 3, and of the Samaritan woman, John 4, of the scribes and Pharisees, of St. Peter, St. John, and James, and of the other apostles and disciples, as is evident throughout the Gospels. Finally, God is the corrector of the wise when He rebukes, chastises, and humbles those who presume upon their wisdom or their good works and glory vainly: so Lyranus, Hugo, and Dionysius.
Truly ethical is the saying: "If anyone is wise beyond measure, he is doubly foolish. No one is less wise than he who is too wise. Whoever is wise within measure, is truly wise." This is what the Church and every faithful person, imploring the help of the Holy Spirit, who is the true and supreme teacher of wisdom, beseeches:
Come, Creator Spirit, Kindle a light in our senses, Pour love into our hearts, Strengthening the weakness of our body With perpetual power.
And:
Bend what is rigid, Warm what is cold, Guide what has gone astray.
46. FOR IN HIS HAND ARE BOTH WE AND OUR WORDS, — that is: In God's judgment, power, and providence (for the hand is the symbol of these) it belongs to rule and moderate both us and our words. For *words*, the Greek has *logoi*, which signifies both words and reasons, thoughts, reasonings, and discourses: for God directs all of these; but our translator better renders it here as *words* (*sermones*), because the discussion concerns eloquence. Hence St. Augustine, Book IV of *On Christian Doctrine*, chapter 6, advises the preacher "to be first a speaker to God before a speaker to men: because that we say what we ought and as we ought, is accomplished only by Him in whose hand we are, both we and our words," etc.; and St. Bernard, Epistle 87 to Ogerius: "If perchance you have heard something from me that could benefit you, give thanks to God, in whose hand are both we and our words:" for in God's hand is our life and breath, Daniel 5:23; and He Himself works all things in us, both natural and especially supernatural, Isaiah 26:12: for all our sufficiency is from God, 2 Corinthians 3:5. Finally, "it is for man to prepare the soul, and for the Lord to govern the tongue," Proverbs 16:1: therefore at the beginning of any discourse one should pray with David, Psalm 50:17: "Lord, You will open my lips, and my mouth shall declare Your praise."
AND ALL WISDOM (in Greek, *phronesis*, that is, intelligence, prudence, knowledge; it therefore signifies speculative knowledge, or rather prudence infused in him by God); AND KNOWLEDGE OF WORKS, AND DISCIPLINE. — So reads the Roman edition; in Greek there is only *ergasion episteme*, that is, knowledge of crafts; Prosper, Book I *On the Calling of the Nations*, chapter 9, reads, *and knowledge of works and discipline*; the Complutensians read, *and knowledge of works, discipline*. All these amount to the same thing and signify the same, namely knowledge of crafts, as the Greek has, that is, expertise in the mechanical arts
and of agriculture; discipline therefore means the same as knowledge, namely cognition or expertise. Solomon signifies that together with speculative wisdom, practical or productive knowledge was implanted in him by God, namely of the mechanical arts such as architecture, applied mathematics, smithcraft, agriculture, navigation, etc. For he exercised these in the building of the temple, in the cultivation of fields, and in sending ships to Ophir. So Cato, the general of the Roman army, was an expert in agriculture and wrote books about it, and indeed no art, whether for private or public affairs, was lacking in him, says Livy, Book XLIII, chapter 34; hence Vitruvius dedicates to the Emperor Augustus his writings *On Architecture*: "So that the majesty of the empire," he says, "might have its own well-known works of public buildings and outstanding authorities."
Tropologically, knowledge of works is that which teaches wisdom and virtue not so much by word as by deed and example, and is therefore most effective. Of this St. Jerome says, Epistle 2 to Nepotian: "Let not your works put your speech to shame, lest when you speak in Church someone silently respond: Why then do you not do the things you say? He is a dainty master who disputes about fasting on a full stomach;" and St. Ambrose, Sermon 79 *On the Holy Martyrs*: "To do good is the first teaching: for when words cease, the excellent work that is seen teaches man by itself; which even if it does not arouse the ears by voice, yet pierces hearts by virtue: for who seeing a good deed does not rejoice, marvel, imitate, and, as if using a silent master, is taught by his example? Therefore deeds precede words; indeed without deeds, words avail nothing." More is said there on the same topic; St. Augustine, Sermon 3 *On the Words of the Lord*: "In a teacher it is a troublesome thing to speak and not to do;" St. Gregory, *Pastoral Rule*, Part II, chapter 3: "That voice more willingly penetrates the hearts of hearers which the life of the speaker commends;" Tertullian, at the beginning of the book *On Patience*: "Words blush when deeds are lacking;" Pope St. Leo, Sermon on the Birthday of St. Lawrence: "Examples are stronger than words, and it is more complete to teach by deed than by voice;" and St. Bernard, Sermon 76 on the Song of Songs: "If a pastor be indeed learned, but not good, there is reason to fear that his fertile teaching will not nourish as much as his barren life harms;" Blessed Peter Damian, Sermon *On the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul*: "A good and perfect teacher (Paul) who gives credibility to his words by a better work;" Guaricus, Abbot of Igny, Sermon 2 *On Pentecost*: "This consolation is suspect to me, if I speak and do not act; if the aids of the tongue are at hand, while the merits of life are absent;" Ennodius to Bishop Maximus in the oration to be delivered to him: "You instruct the people more by acting than by speaking. Those admonitions educate the consciences of disciples which are offered by example."
17. FOR HE HIMSELF GAVE ME TRUE KNOWLEDGE OF THE THINGS THAT ARE (in Greek, *ton onton*, that is, of beings or existing things); — in Greek *apseude*, that is, not false, not deceitful, but true and genuine; hence first, some teach that the knowledge of all beings was implanted in Solomon by God, that is, metaphysics, which has being as its object and considers the breadth of being. Second, others say the knowledge of real beings, even those which do not actually exist but are only possible: so St. Bonaventure. Third, others say the knowledge of all beings that exist in the nature of things, namely physics: so Jansenius, for he explains himself about these in what follows; whence Solomon is called the supreme natural philosopher by Eusebius, Book XI of the *Preparation*, chapter 6. Fourth, the knowledge of all beings, both natural and supernatural, namely theology, which therefore Melchior Canus teaches flourished in the time of Solomon, from this passage, Book XII of *On Theological Places*, chapter 2. More truly, the knowledge implanted in Solomon was of all beings, not possible ones but existing ones, and this as to species, not as to individuals: for not even Adam himself had knowledge of all individuals, so as to know how many pebbles lie in a river, how many flies, bees, or gnats are born in an individual case, how many flights, circles, and buzzings they produce, etc., as St. Thomas teaches, Part I, Question 94, article 3. The same about Christ is the opinion of Francisco Suarez, Part I, Question 12, near the end: because, he says, this seems necessary neither for the perfection of knowledge nor for natural prudence: the same teach Scotus, Gabriel, Almain, and others.
THAT I MIGHT KNOW THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE GLOBE OF THE EARTH. — In Greek *systasin kosmou*, that is, as Anastasius of Nicaea, Question 39, and Jansenius render it, the constitution of the world; others, its construction — so that I might know by what plan the world was constructed and established, of what parts it consists, and in what order and connection they are arranged. St. Ambrose, in the book *On the Faith of the Resurrection*, reads *composition*; Origen, Homily 21 on Luke, reads *the plan of the world*; our Lorinus reads *the constitution from its parts, and according to the varied arrangement of the things that are in the world, and their joining together*, especially as regards the primary and principal parts of the world: for Solomon fully knew these from the first principles and causes by which things were established, for this is what the word *systasis* implies. Again St. Ambrose, in the book *On Solomon*, volume II, chapter 1: "Solomon knew," he says, "the entrance to the worldly arrangement, how this entire heaven that we see was suspended at a lofty height; how the surrounding atmosphere came into being, and poured forth in an equal balance, was poised in the middle; by what means the earth, having sunk to the lowest point by its sluggish weight, subsisted; by what principle the restless surge of the liquid element tossed within the fixed boundaries of its shores," etc.; so he himself, expounding the passage of Wisdom we are treating in paraphrase, alluding, as it appears, to that passage of the Poet, Metamorphoses I: The fiery force of the vaulted weightless heaven Flashed forth and chose its place at the highest summit; Nearest to it is the air in lightness and position; Denser than these, the earth drew the heavy elements, And was pressed down by its own weight: the encompassing water Occupied the last place and confined the solid globe.
From this it is clear that Solomon was not only a cosmographer but also a geographer, such as Lipsius teaches a prince ought to be, *Examples of Politics*, chapter 8; and Arias in the *Apparatus* teaches that Adam and Noah were such; finally, Abulensis, on the book of 3 Kings, question 41, teaches that Solomon's knowledge was indelible, because it was not acquired through acts and species of objects, but was infused by God, and that in a perfect degree, and therefore could not be erased by contrary acts or by deception.
AND THE POWERS (in Greek, *energeias*, that is, the energy, force, efficacy) OF THE ELEMENTS, — namely what force each element has in acting. Supply to all these: *that I might know*. "Solomon was the first to hand down the doctrine of hot and cold, dry and moist things," says Anastasius of Nicaea.
18. THE BEGINNING AND THE END (Anastasius of Nicaea, Question 39, reads *the end*), AND THE MIDDLE OF TIMES. — Origen, Homily 21 on Luke, reads *ages* instead of *times*: for ages are formed from times; St. Ambrose, Book II *On Abraham*, chapter 7, reads, *the beginning and the end and the middle of all things, and the divisions of times*: "What," he says, "is the end of all things, what are their middles?" The meaning is, that is: God gave me to know the entire course of time from beginning to end, and of all things that naturally occur in time, so that I might know how each day, month, year, and age begins, progresses, and ends: for it belongs to the philosopher to perceive the beginnings, progressions, and outcomes of things. Do not therefore infer from this that Solomon knew on what day the world will end, or on what day the judgment will take place: for Christ denies this, Mark 13:32.
THE CHANGES OF ALTERNATIONS, AND THE MUTATIONS OF TIMES: — so read the Greek and the Roman editions; therefore some incorrectly read *the consumptions of times* (others, *of all things*), and add *the changes of customs and the divisions of times*: which two it is likely were taken from another version, or from some interpretation first written in the margin and later brought into the text; St. Ambrose, Book II *On Abraham*, chapter 7, reads for all these only *the divisions of times*; but in the book *On Solomon*, chapter 1, he reads *the divisions and mutations of times*; Origen, Homily 21 on Luke, reads *the curiosities of times and the transfers of months*. For *alternations*, the Greek has *tropon*, that is, of turnings; some incorrectly translate it as *of customs*, for in that case it should be written with an acute accent *tropon*: for *tropoi* are customs, which do not pertain here: but now it is written *tropon* with a circumflex accent, from *tropai*, that is, turnings, also solstices, because in them the sun changes and turns its course: for at the summer solstice it turns its course from the tropic of Cancer to the tropic of Capricorn; at the winter solstice, from the tropic of Capricorn it leaps to the tropic of Cancer; for the sun does not proceed beyond these two tropics. Whence Vatablus translates, *the alternations of solstices*: so Cantacuzenus, Clarius, Lorinus, a Castro. Hence also the *aparchiai* are called
solstitial winds. Gaza explains them as *tropical blasts*, that is, those we call alternating or reciprocal. By *mutations of times* understand the other alternations of times, such as those of days and nights, says St. Bonaventure, of summer and winter, of spring and autumn (which likewise Cicero, Tusculans I, calls *the fourfold mutations of times* suited for the ripening of crops and the tempering of bodies), likewise the successions of months, lunations, and the waxings and wanings of the moon.
19. THE COURSES OF YEARS, AND THE POSITIONS OF THE STARS. — For *courses*, the Greek has *kyklous*, that is, circuits or circles, for the years go and return in an orbit: whence in Hebrew the year is called *shanah* from revolution; in Greek *eniautos*, because it returns upon itself; in Latin *annus*, as if *anus*, that is, a ring, because it revolves back upon itself; whence that verse: And the year revolves upon itself through its own footsteps. For *positions*, the Greek has *theseis*, that is, theses, positions and situations of the stars or constellations, and their motions, risings, settings, conjunctions, eclipses, etc., which can naturally be known with certainty from astronomy; Solomon was therefore an astronomer, but not a judicial astrologer, so as to divine from the stars and horoscope about future contingent events and free actions: for this is reckless, foolish, and impossible.
20. THE NATURES OF ANIMALS (both tame and domestic, as well as wild and rural) AND THE RAGES OF BEASTS, THE FORCE OF WINDS, AND THE THOUGHTS OF MEN, THE DIFFERENCES OF SHRUBS, AND THE VIRTUES OF ROOTS. — *Rages*, in Greek *thymous*, that is, spirits, angers, furies — namely, what the rage of each wild beast is like and by what things it is provoked, as elephants are provoked by the sight of blood, and buffaloes by the sight of the color red and purple; whence recently a buffalo at Rome, in a fury, charged at a Cardinal, and would have killed him had not a certain courtier thrown himself in between and redeemed the Cardinal's death with his own. Less correctly Vatablus, with Cantacuzenus, translates *affections*, and explains it of the taming of wild beasts; granted that Solomon, from his full knowledge of the nature of the rage of wild beasts, could also have known the manner of pacifying and taming them, as Pliny writes, Book VIII, chapter 7, that the bile of elephants is subdued by drinking barley juice: for barley cools; whence physicians prescribe barley water for those with fever. Hence Seneca draws this moral doctrine, Epistle 83: "The wise man is an artist at subduing evils; pain, want, igno-
miny, prison, exile, and other terrible things, when they have reached this man, are tamed." Finally, by *thymous*, that is, the natures of animals, understand the natural differences of each, their properties, qualities, dispositions, instincts, usefulness for human purposes, and other things of this kind: for, as St. Basil says, Homily 9 on the Hexaemeron, "individual animals are distinguished from one another not insignificantly by diverse and various properties; for the ox is steady and vigorous, but the donkey is lazy; the horse burns with lust and impetuously seeks the female; the wolf cannot be tamed; the fox is treacherous and shrewd in contriving deceptions by nature; the deer is timid, the ant is industrious, the dog is affable and tenacious and mindful of a friendship once formed: for each animal was created together with its own peculiar nature: together with the lion, spirit and a propensity to blazing anger were assigned to it, a solitary life, lacking companionship with those of the same kind."
THE FORCE OF WINDS. — In Greek *pneumaton bias*, that is, the violences of spirits, and violent assaults, which can be understood both of winds and of demons: for the force and assault of demons is greater than that of winds; and therefore unless God restrained them, no man could resist their temptation and impulse; whence Solomon is said to have written exorcisms for repressing and expelling demons; much more did Solomon know the force and nature of the winds, namely the origin, motion, and violence of their rising and setting, their cold, heat, moisture, dryness, healthfulness, or sickly quality, which natural philosophers investigate with such great effort, and offer only probable conclusions. Moreover, how great the force of winds is, is clear from the storms they cause at sea, and the earthquakes they stir up in the world; whence the Poet:
Where a gate is given they rush, and blow through the lands with a whirlwind.
Hence by the ancient sages the hidden majesty of God was represented by this hieroglyphic: there was depicted on a tablet a man resting on his knees, with eyes raised to heaven, or prostrate on his face, trembling at the noise of the blowing winds, with this little verse:
*Worship the sound of the blowing winds*,
that is, adore the sound of the blowing winds. Iamblichus interprets it thus: Since you cannot see God at all, you must certainly venerate Him as spread through created things, and breathing in them with a certain silent awe.
Moreover, St. Dionysius, *Celestial Hierarchy*, chapter 15, shows that God is fittingly designated by the name of wind, on account of the natural force of moving and animating, and the swift, insuperable departure, and the unknown and invisible hiding places of nobler principles and ends: so our Causinus, Book I of *Historical Parables*, chapter 24: see the comments on Amos, chapter 4, verse 13.
THE THOUGHTS OF MEN. — God alone knows with certainty and sees through the secret thoughts and volitions of the heart; angels therefore and wise men only conjecture them from physiognomic signs and similar conjectures, according to Proverbs 27:19: "As faces are reflected in waters, so the hearts of men are manifest to the prudent;" and Ecclesiasticus 19:26: "A man is known from his appearance, and a sensible man is known from the meeting of his face:" see the comments on both passages, and Aristotle in the *Physiognomics*. Thus when the harlots disputed about the child, Solomon shrewdly conjectured from maternal love who was the true mother of the child, 3 Kings 3:16; and from the request of Adonijah seeking to be given as wife Abishag, who had warmed the aged David, he conjectured that Adonijah was aspiring to David's kingdom, 3 Kings, chapter 2, verse 22. Our a Castro understands by *thoughts*, in Greek *dialogismous*, not the individual mental thoughts of each man, but universally the common dialogisms, discourses, or reasonings of men.
THE DIFFERENCES OF PLANTS (in Greek *phyton*, that is, of plants; St. Ambrose, Book II *On Abraham*, chapter 7, reads *of herbs*; but in the book *On Solomon*, chapter 1, he reads *of trees*) AND THE VIRTUES OF ROOTS. — For Solomon "discoursed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows out of the wall, and he discussed beasts, and birds, and reptiles, and fish," 3 Kings 4:33. See Pineda, Book III *On the Affairs of Solomon*, chapter 23, where he teaches that Solomon was most expert in medicine and natural magic, that is, he had the most exact knowledge of the natures, powers, properties, sympathies, and antipathies of things, and furthermore was able to divine and to produce certain wonderful things which, to those ignorant of the causes of things, would seem either illusory or close to miraculous; which is the proper nature of natural magic itself, and which we can rightly interpret under the name of hidden and unforeseen things: see on these matters Eusebius, Book IV of *The Preparation*, chapter 1.
21. AND WHATEVER THINGS ARE HIDDEN AND UNFORESEEN, I HAVE LEARNED: FOR WISDOM, THE ARTIFICER OF ALL THINGS, TAUGHT ME. — Our translator seems to have read *adela*, that is, obscure, unforeseen; but on the contrary others read *emphane*, that is, manifest and clear, as Cantacuzenus, Vatablus, and Jansenius translate; or rather *emphane* are called those things that occur suddenly or unexpectedly and appear unforeseen, so that they could not be foreseen or provided for, and therefore have hidden causes, so as to be contrasted with *hidden things*, which are concealed and hidden both as to substance and as to cause. Such *emphane* are lightning instantly appearing and disappearing, sun-dogs, chasms, and the other atmospheric phenomena; likewise earthquakes, inundations of the sea, storms, tempests, whirlwinds, etc. Here belongs the force of the magnet (although William Gilbert, the English physician, denies this, Book I *On the Magnet*, chapter 1, and vainly claims its knowledge for himself as first discoverer), the virtues of gems, stones, herbs, amber, succinum, etc., which there is no doubt were known to Solomon: so Lyranus, Cervantius, and others. But Abulensis, on Book III of Kings, chapter 3, Question 9, understands by *unforeseen things* dreams, from which a physician and natural philosopher can conjecture what the complexion and temperament of the humors in the body is like.
From what has been said, our a Castro rightly concludes that God, the bestower of good things, gives more abundantly and copiously than is asked, since to Solomon, who asked for wisdom to govern, He added the knowledge of all natural things so abundantly that in this respect he was surpassed by the first parent alone
inferior: for in the first place He bestowed supreme eloquence, knowledge of morals, all the arts, natural philosophy, astrology, chronology, natural history, logic, and finally whatever else can be known. Hear St. Ambrose, in the book *On Solomon*, chapter 1, near the beginning: "Solomon, such a wealthy possessor of wisdom, when he had come to know all things that were held hidden in the secrets of concealed arrangements, claimed these things were impossible for him, inasmuch as he had obtained wisdom from God, who knew the entrance to the worldly arrangement, how this entire heaven that we see was suspended at a lofty height," and the rest about the elements, which I quoted above; and he adds: "What is the beginning of things, what is the end, and what are their middles. From whom again the divisions and mutations of times were not hidden, who had understood how the mutual alternation of years succeeded one another as the cycle returned; what cause drove the varied courses of the stars, sometimes preceding, or suddenly following themselves; whence was their rising or setting; and many other things, which he came to know with wisdom teaching him."
For wisdom, the artificer of all things, taught me. — For by the art, idea, and industry of divine wisdom all things were created, as well as preserved and governed, according to Proverbs 8:30: "When He laid the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging all things, and I delighted day by day, playing before Him at all times: playing in the world of the earth: and my delights were to be with the children of men." Moreover, this wisdom can be understood both as created and infused in Solomon, and as uncreated, which is in God, whether it be essential and common to the three persons of the Holy Trinity, or notional and proper to the Word alone, that is, the Son, which was the understanding of St. Augustine, Book IV *On the Trinity*, chapter 20, and St. Ambrose, in the book *On the Incarnation of the Lord's Mystery*, at the end, Gregory of Baetica, in the book *On the Faith against the Arians*, Origen, Book I of *First Principles*, chapter 2, and other ancient writers, who from this text prove that the Son is not a creature but the Creator, and therefore God; indeed, the Council of Sardica thus explains it in its Epistle to all bishops, saying: "None of us denies that the Son was begotten before all things, the maker of the archangels, and of the world and of the human race; since He says, Wisdom 7:21: *Wisdom, the artificer of all things, taught me*," according to John 1: "All things were made through Him." For since the Son is begotten and proceeds from the Father through the intellect, as the word of the mind, hence are appropriated to Him art, idea, knowledge, wisdom, and that He Himself is the artificer and principle of creatures, as St. Thomas teaches, Part I, Question 45, article 8.
Therefore wisdom is here taken in the most general sense, abstracted and common to both created and uncreated wisdom: and so these things can be applied both to uncreated wisdom, whether essential or notional, and to created or participated wisdom: whence from time to time the Sage passes from uncreated to created wisdom, and does this especially at the beginning of chapter 9, where he begs that it be communicated and infused in him by God: for this cannot be other than a created gift.
Hence again wisdom is here taken in the broadest sense for any cognition of things, both heavenly and divine, as well as of things to be done according to virtue and the prescription of prudence, and of things to be made through art: for wisdom is here introduced as the idea, art, and artificer of all natural, artificial, and moral things, and therefore embraces not only all knowledge, all ethics, but also every art; whence at verse 24 he says: "For wisdom is more mobile than all mobile things: and reaches everywhere because of her purity;" so too wisdom is taken at Proverbs 8:22 and following, where the heavens, elements, and all other things are said to have been created through wisdom, and to be governed by the same. Finally, this wisdom, at verse 23, is said to have all power, that is, force and might, namely that it can do all things and is omnipotent, likewise that it comprehends all spirits and foresees and reaches all things everywhere — which properly belong to uncreated wisdom; yet by participation they are attributed to created wisdom, for this can be called omnipotent, because God applies, implants, and communicates it to creation and all creatures: for He made all things in wisdom, and there is nothing in whose creation, order, and disposition of wisdom the wonderful wisdom of God does not shine forth. But truly and properly Solomon here speaks of uncreated and essential wisdom, which is a common attribute of the divinity, that is, of God, and therefore common to the three persons of the Holy Trinity; for to this properly belong the qualities already listed, concerning which St. Augustine writes, Book VII *On the Trinity*, chapters 2 and 3: for through this wisdom God both created the world, and preserves it, and provides and looks after all things, while it attends upon the divine throne. In this wisdom there is a spirit of understanding, that is, this divine wisdom sends down a spirit from heaven upon those who love it, which arouses their mind to understanding, dedicates it with holiness, and bestows and provides the other things that conduce to the salvation of men and the glory of God. But since God bestows all these things on man, and not only the Son or the Holy Spirit, and since they are more aptly explained of the divine attribute of wisdom, which is the artificer of all things and the attendant of the divine throne — which do not aptly suit the Son and the Holy Spirit — rightly these things are to be explained of it, from which Solomon asked that all ornaments and charisms be granted to him, and by his example teaches us to ask: so a Castro, indeed St. Augustine, Book IV of *Genesis Literally*, chapter 12, and Book I *On the Incarnation of the Word*, chapter 13. A beautiful and devout contemplation on wisdom, the artificer of all things, is found in our Alvarez de Paz, volume III, Book III, Part III, Decade III, Contemplation 22.
22. FOR IN HER IS A SPIRIT OF UNDERSTANDING, HOLY, UNIQUE, MANIFOLD, SUBTLE, ELOQUENT, MOBILE, UNDEFILED, SURE, SWEET, LOVING THE GOOD, KEEN, WHOM NOTHING HINDERS, BENEFICENT. —
Here the Sage pours himself out in praises of wisdom through 26 epithets and eulogies, so as to arouse in all men desire and zeal for it, and to show that it deservedly is the artificer of all things, and that he deservedly could be taught all things by it. Many understand these things of the Holy Spirit, who is the third person in the Holy Trinity, and hold that here the properties and attributes of the Holy Spirit are enumerated: for He is in uncreated and unbegotten Wisdom, namely in the Word and the Son, as in His origin, for He proceeds and is spirated from the Son, and bountifully bestows wisdom on His friends, 1 Corinthians 12:11; John 14:26, and 16:13: for the ancients understood by wisdom here the Son, as I said, and rightly: so St. Ambrose, Book III *On the Holy Spirit*, chapters 19 and 23; St. Gregory, Homily 3 on Ezekiel; St. Augustine, Epistle 102; St. Bernard, Sermon 3 *On Pentecost*, who from this text prove the divinity and divine gifts of the Holy Spirit. St. Bonaventure, Cantacuzenus, Lyranus, Hugo, Holcot, Dionysius, and many others — indeed, Cantacuzenus asserts that the author spoke about the Holy Spirit far more clearly than all other prophets who either preceded or followed him: Lyranus also and Holcot add that the manner is explained in which the author was directed in supernatural contemplation, namely through the Holy Spirit communicated by wisdom. For the Holy Spirit imparts to His own a spirit, that is, an impulse, to love the true and supreme good, which is God Himself, and this through manifold offices and various virtues, which are designated by the following epithets.
Finally, first, Nazianzen, Oration 44, gives similar, indeed the same, epithets to the Holy Spirit: "He was therefore," he says, "always perceptible, not a participant; perfecting, not perfected by another; filling, not filled; sanctifying, not sanctified; deifying, not deified; Himself always both with Himself and with those to whom He is joined, the same and equal: invisible, exempt from time, enclosed in no place, unchangeable in quality, lacking quantity, form, and touch, moving Himself and having everlasting motion, powerful of His own will by Himself, omnipotent (although to the first cause are referred, as all things that belong to the Only-Begotten, so also those that belong to the Holy Spirit), life and life-giver, light and bestower of light, goodness itself and the font of goodness, the righteous Spirit, the principal Lord, sending, separating, building a temple for Himself, showing the way beforehand, working at His own discretion and distributing graces, the spirit of adoption, of truth, of wisdom, of prudence, of knowledge, of piety, of counsel, of fortitude, of fear."
Second, if you understand created wisdom here (as I said shortly before it can be understood), these epithets likewise suit its created spirit: for in created wisdom there is a spirit of understanding, that is, created understanding — that is, breathed upon or inspired by God: for this is what *spiritus* (spirit) signifies when we say *spirit of understanding*, *spirit of wisdom*, *spirit of counsel*, *spirit of piety*, *spirit of the fear of the Lord*: namely, that these gifts and virtues were breathed by God upon Christ and the saints, which like a spirit and wind impel them to fear, counsel, understanding, and through these to God Himself (for wisdom impels to God, and every force and spirit of wisdom), as is evident from Isaiah 11, and Exodus 28:3, and 31:3: see the comments there. Third, plainly, properly and genuinely, just as wisdom here is understood as the uncreated essential wisdom proper to God and common to the three persons of the Holy Trinity, so too the spirit: for wisdom itself is a spirit, that is, a spiritual endowment and attribute of God, and as a spirit it impels man to its own, that is, to God's, knowledge and love: so St. Augustine, Book IV of *Genesis Literally*, chapter 12, and the book *On the Nature of the Good*, chapter 28, and Book I *On the Incarnation of the Word*, chapter 13.
FOR IN HER IS A SPIRIT OF UNDERSTANDING. — First, in Greek it is *pneuma noeron*, that is, a spirit that understands; whence by St. Dionysius the Areopagite and by St. Gregory Nazianzen the angels are called *noerai ousiai*, that is, intellectual natures, which are evidently intelligences separated from matter, incorporeal, pure minds and understanding spirits; and thus some hold that wisdom, which is an attribute of God, as well as the Holy Spirit, is here called the spirit of understanding because it is immaterial, incorporeal, spiritual, and understanding. Second, better, St. Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 5 *On Theology*, interprets the intellectual spirit, as he calls it, as the wisest spirit; whence Vatablus translates, *for in her is a sagacious spirit*; St. Ambrose, in the *Symbol*, chapter 7, *the understanding spirit of the Lord*; St. Gregory, Homily 5 on Ezekiel, *the spirit of understanding*. Third and most fully, the wisdom of God is called the spirit of understanding, or the understanding spirit, both because it understands all things and is endowed with a great force of understanding and penetrating all things to their depths; and because it grants to angels and men the power of under-
standing, according to Job 32:8: "The inspiration of the Almighty gives understanding;" so St. Augustine in the passages already cited: for, as Pliny says, Book II, chapter 7: "God is all eye, all sight, all hearing." Therefore by the spirit of understanding, which the uncreated and most understanding wisdom of God — indeed, understanding itself in the abstract — breathes into us, understand the impulse and love of understanding and knowing the things that pertain to salvation, namely the things that are pleasing to God and necessary or useful for spiritual progress: for to love and to be solicitous to understand the things of God and of virtue is the beginning of salvation, and he who lacks this is incapable of grace and glory: this is what Sirach, following Solomon, says in Ecclesiasticus 4:12: "Wisdom inspires," or breathes into, "her children life:" similar is that passage of Virgil, Aeneid VI:
To whom the Delian seer inspires A great mind and soul.
Symbolically, St. Bonaventure: "The spirit of understanding," he says, "is in wisdom," that is, in Christ, according to His humanity by dwelling in Him, according to His divinity by emanating from Him. Tropologically,
all these attributes of wisdom our Alvarez de Paz accommodates to charity and the perfection of virtues (which is the supreme wisdom), Book IV *On the Dignity of Perfection*, Part I, chapters 1 and 4.
He illuminates divine things, and from this he was called the Seraphic Doctor. These two were as it were the eyes, indeed the suns, of their age. Truly Picus of Mirandola, in the *Apology*, after the beginning: There is, he says, in John Scotus a lively and keen intellect, in St. Thomas a solid and equal one, and therefore moderate, well-composed, and disposed to all honesty, virtue, and holiness.
A SPIRIT OF UNDERSTANDING, HOLY. — Hence many, as I said, understand these things of the Holy Spirit, who in Himself through His essence and origin, that is, through the force of His procession (for He proceeds as the love of the Father and the Son, which is most pure and most holy) is holy, and sanctifies angels as well as men; but since the other accumulated epithets are properly understood of wisdom itself, which is proper to God and common to the three persons of the Holy Trinity, this epithet of *holy* also must be attributed to God and to divine wisdom, meaning: Divine wisdom, and God Himself, is a spirit supremely understanding and perspicacious, but such that He is at the same time holy: for vain is wisdom and understanding that is destitute of holiness, since the end of understanding is holiness, so that you may love the good of virtue that you understand in a holy manner, and embrace it with a pious will, and carry it out in works. Moreover, "holiness," says St. Dionysius, *On the Divine Names*, chapter 12, "is purity free from all wickedness, entirely perfect, and immaculate in every part;" holiness therefore is the love of God: for God is supreme purity, for He Himself is the eternal law of things to be done, which is the object and rule of holiness, and this not through some superadded quality, but through His very essence and substance; whence the seraphim continually cry out to Him, Isaiah 6: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory;" and the Psalmist, Psalm 144: "The Lord is just," he says, "in all His ways, and holy in all His works." Hence it follows that if a creature wishes to become holy, it must be joined to God through love, and the more it is joined to Him, the more it is sanctified, for thus it more fully departs and separates from earthly things and affections that defile it, according to Leviticus 11:44: "Be holy, because I am holy." Therefore whoever desires holiness, let him withdraw from creatures and retreat into the depth of the soul, where God dwells as in His temple, so that there, far from the noise of external things, he may converse in silence with his God, love Him, worship Him, and adore Him.
In a similar way, created wisdom and doctrine, if it be true and an imitator of the divine, must refer all its speculation and understanding to its own holiness, as well as to that of others, as to its goal and end; for this reason it makes the learned holy: wherefore God communicated this spirit of wisdom — understanding and holy — to the Holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church, such as St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Nazianzen, St. Chrysostom, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, St. Bernard, and then to St. Thomas Aquinas, who was as holy as he was learned and understanding, and hence was called the Angelic Doctor; and to St. Bonaventure, who joined the ardor of charity to wisdom, and kindles the reader as much with the love of God as with knowledge of
UNIQUE, — *monogenes*, that is, only-begotten, as St. Jerome translates in Ezekiel, chapter 16, which properly belongs to the Word alone, that is, the Son, who is Wisdom begotten by God the Father; or *of one kind* (*unigenus*), that is, of a single genus, as divine wisdom is common to the entire Holy Trinity, meaning: The uncreated wisdom of God is of one kind, both because in itself it is unique and most simple, being the same as the divinity, so Lyranus; and because in its acts and operations it maintains one and the same tenor, norm, and common rule, namely the eternal law, and regards one and the same end, namely the honor and glory of God. Yet the same is manifold because of the immensity of its perfection, which though in itself one and simple, yet virtually contains all the perfections of all creatures, even possible ones, which are infinite in number, and therefore extends itself to many, indeed innumerable, species, acts, and works, and as it were divides the very genus of wisdom: for all the species and effects of wisdom agree in one genus and common nature of wisdom, and converge in the universal dictate and common laws of wisdom, according to 1 Corinthians 12:4: "There are diversities of graces, but the same Spirit. And there are diversities of ministries, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all:" see the comments there. If there were a single gem, most pure and most beautiful, which were at once a diamond, a carbuncle, an emerald, a sapphire, a topaz, and all the rest that are counted among riches, how precious and admirable it would be! O therefore, most simple substance, who are all things, how worthy You are of our love, and how far above all things You are to be esteemed! You are wisdom, You are goodness, You are justice, You are every other true perfection.
Created, infused, and participated wisdom imitates the same: for, as our a Castro says, just as divine wisdom, though one, works and refers all such diverse virtues and operations in the world to the one glory of God, so this spirit proceeding from it makes all the duties and all the functions of man of one kind, while it establishes one end for all, directing all these things to serve the divine will and to follow it as a rule, and so that all things be bound by one bond of love and adorned as with precious gold; and from this side the spirit of wisdom has the quality of being peaceful: for thus St. James, Epistle, chapter 3, verse 17, called the wisdom that is from above *peaceful*; and St. Paul, Ephesians 4:3, writes: "Careful to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. One
body, and one spirit, as you were called in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all of us." So also St. Bonaventure, the Gloss, Lyranus, and Hugo.
Tropologically, Richard of St. Victor, on the Song of Songs, chapter 33: The Spirit of God, he says, is unique and manifold, because though He is one, He visits and affects minds in diverse ways; now He prepares the soul with fears and desires, now He does not cease to advance with His gifts the soul already prepared. He does not always touch the soul with one feeling, but with diverse ones, according to its state and disposition as is necessary; whence now He kindles it to salutary compunction, now to love, now to thanksgiving, now to the desires and exercise of some virtue; sometimes He touches the heart, sometimes He hides Himself, and again He comes to complete the work. If we do not open, He waits at the door, and sometimes indeed He knocks more forcefully, but sometimes by a just judgment He desists because of our fault.
MANIFOLD. — In Greek, *polymeres*, that is, many-membered, of many parts, consisting of many parts, as Aristotle calls the world. Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 5 *On Theology*, referring this passage to the Holy Spirit, explains *manifold* as varied and multiple in the faculty of acting, or because, though He is one, He diffuses and multiplies Himself through the individual parts of the world as if through branches, and works various modes of wisdom in effecting and preserving them; or rather on account of the various graces and diverse gifts, and the multiple offices, which, though He is one, He exercises, whether in the universal Church or in individual persons. For this reason the Holy Spirit, descending upon the apostles at Pentecost, appeared above them in the form of parted tongues, or a divided flame, to represent the multiplicity of gifts that He was conferring upon them.
"He is called manifold (says St. Ambrose in the *Symbol*, chapter 7) because He has many things in Himself, and through all of them He is one, nor is He Himself changed into any of those things He works, just as an image from a ring which passes into wax and does not leave the ring." Hear also St. Augustine, Epistle 102 to Evodius: "It is indeed read, Wisdom 7:22, that the spirit of wisdom is manifold, but it is also rightly said to be simple: manifold because the things it has are many; but simple because it is not other than what it has. Just as the Son was said to have life in Himself, and He Himself is that same life; but man was added to the Word, not the Word convertibly added to man; and so the Son of God is spoken of together with the man assumed: whence the same Son of God is unchangeable and coeternal with the Father, but in the Word alone: and the Son of God was buried, but in the flesh alone." That is, Christ, as God, is simple and unchangeable; as man, He is multiple, changeable, and passible.
Hear also St. Bernard, Sermon 5 *On Pentecost*, adapting these things to the Holy Spirit: "Truly manifold is the Spirit, who is breathed into the sons of men in so many ways that there is none who can hide from His warmth; for He is granted to them for use, for miracle, for salvation, for help, for comfort, for fervor: for the use of life indeed, bestowing common goods most abundantly on the good and the bad, on the worthy and the unworthy alike, so that He seems not to maintain the limit of discretion here: ungrateful is he who does not recognize even in these things a benefit of the Spirit. For miracle, in signs and wonders, in various powers which He works through the hands of any: He Himself is the one raising up ancient miracles, so that by present ones He may establish faith in past ones. But since He bestows this grace too on some without their own benefit, thirdly He is poured out for salvation when we return to the Lord our God with our whole heart. Moreover, He is given for help when in every struggle He assists our weakness: for when He bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God, that inspiration is for consolation. He is also given for fervor, when breathing more vehemently in the hearts of the perfect, He kindles a strong fire of charity, so that they glory not only in the hope of being children of God, but also in tribulations, counting insult as glory, reproach as joy, contempt as exaltation."
Finally, St. Peter Damian, in the book *The Lord Be with You*, chapter 6: "One is the Spirit," he says, "in the essence of majesty, manifold through the diverse gifts of charisms which He gives to the holy Church, which He fills, so that in its universality it may be one, and in its parts it may be whole;" whence he concludes that, although the Church is diverse in the multiplicity of persons (add also, of certain rites), yet it has been fused into one by the fire of the Holy Spirit, and therefore, even if it seems to be divided into parts by bodily location, the sacrament of its intimate unity can in no way be corrupted from its integrity.
SUBTLE, — in Greek *leptos*, that is, thin, slender, lean, rarefied, and attenuated, because it pervades and penetrates all things (whence St. Ambrose, Book III *On the Holy Spirit*, chapter 7, reads *penetrating*), even the depths of God, 1 Corinthians 2:10: this is what the Apostle says, Hebrews 4:12: "The word of God is living and effective, and more penetrating than any two-edged sword: reaching even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints too and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Aptly after *holy* he adds *subtle*, because just as pure air, as well as light and subtle food generates a subtle mind, as physicians teach, so likewise holiness, that is, separation from earthly things, makes a man subtle, spiritual, and divine: for, as is commonly said: "A fat belly does not beget a keen sense." Well-known is that saying of Horace, Book II of the Satires, Satire 2:
A body burdened With yesterday's vices weighs down the mind itself as well, And fixes to the ground a particle of the divine breath.
So Gellius, Book IV *From Medicine*, chapter 19, teaches that boys who use food and sleep more lavishly become dull and obtuse.
This spirit of subtlety in speculative matters wisdom communicated above all to John Scotus of the Order of St. Francis, who honors and follows him as his master in theology and philosophy; whence he is commonly called the Subtle Doctor; by Scaliger, Exercise 324, he is called the file of truth; by others, the whetstone of minds, the phoenix of philosophers, and a kind of god among philosophers; by others, the miracle of subtlety, the Apollo of hidden things, the pillar of the Seraphic order, the glory of the Sorbonne. Cardanus, Book XVI *On Subtlety*, asks who is more subtle: Aristotle, Euclid, or Scotus? Moreover, this subtlety was partly natural to him from the subtlety of his intellect, in which he excelled; partly supernatural, and the work of grace and the Holy Spirit, of whom he, as a religious, was the instrument and organ; whence John Major, on the Sentences, Book IV, distinction 38, Question 10, calls him most humble, apostolic, most poor, indeed worthy of the supreme pontificate; and Bernard de Soria, in a report printed at Paris in the year 1517, thus sings of him:
Scotus is here, the lamp of faith, the Sibyl of Christ, Interpreter of God, the unconquerable fortress of truth; Scribe of Jupiter, eye of the world, guest of the Thunderer, With the bright keenness of his mind he penetrated all things.
Moreover, this subtlety, intent on things, rejected the elegance of words; whence Pico della Mirandola, in his letter to Ermolao, comparing Scotus with Lucretius: In this one (Scotus), he says, the mouth is tasteless, in that one (Lucretius) the mind is senseless; the former, most inarticulate in speech, perceives things that cannot be sufficiently praised by speech: the latter, most eloquent in speech, says unspeakable things." When he was accused by someone of the desire to contradict, because he everywhere opposed St. Thomas the holy Doctor, he subtly replied: If he is a Doctor, let him dispute with me; if he is a saint, let him pray for me: for I dispute with him out of zeal for truth, not contradiction: for just as fire leaps from the collision of stones, so truth is drawn out and flashes forth from the friction of minds through subtle disputations. Therefore the argumentation of a contradicting mind is the whetstone of subtle intellect.
Holier is the subtlety in practical matters, which subtly devises and discovers a thousand modes and practices of virtues, by which one may daily more please God and heap up great accumulations of merits: such as can be seen in the lives of the saints; so that whoever reads them may easily learn and adopt the same. This consists chiefly in the subtle intention of each work, namely that each work be done with the best end, that is, for the love and honor of God: and if to this you add the intentions and ends of other virtues — for example, if you eat, study, labor, walk, or pray in order to honor and love God, and moreover to exercise abstinence, patience, and penance, and to be able to benefit your neighbor, and for similar ends — subtly and most easily you will wonderfully increase virtues and their merits. The supreme subtlety
of holiness is to do and suffer many and great things for the love of God.
Here many insert another epithet of the Spirit of wisdom, namely *modest*: so St. Bonaventure, Hugo, the Gloss, and Holcot; but this is not found in the Greek, nor the Roman edition, nor the other more correct Latin editions.
ELOQUENT, — in Greek, *tranon*, that is, first, clear, plain, perspicuous, and eloquent; Vatablus renders it *illustrious*; the a priori reason is that one who understands and comprehends things well can easily and copiously express them in speech, and so is eloquent: for wisdom begets eloquence; whence wisdom "makes the tongues of infants eloquent," that is, fluent, as is said at chapter 10, verse 21, according to Psalm 44:3: "Grace has been poured out upon your lips;" and Psalm 8: "From the mouth of infants and sucklings You have perfected praise," as He did in the mouth of St. Agnes, St. Prisca, St. Vitus, St. Celsus, and other boys and girls, who resisted tyrants for chastity and faith even unto death and martyrdom; and so wisely and eloquently did they answer them as to make them fall silent. This is what Christ promised His own, saying, Matthew 10:19: "But when they deliver you up, do not think about how or what you shall speak. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." Thus Nazianzen, Oration 2, alluding to this, calls the Holy Spirit *tranon*, that is, perspicuous and eloquent, indeed *tranotikon panton*, that is, illuminating all things: because whatever light is in us, we have from the illumination of the Holy Spirit; and because He explains and illuminates all things for us, so that we may be able to teach others clearly and persuade them effectively, according to what Isaiah, chapter 35, verse 6, predicted, that "the tongue of the mute will be opened," as of the apostles, who, in Acts 2:4, instructed by the Holy Spirit, "began to speak in various tongues the great things of God, as the Holy Spirit gave them to speak;" and at Acts 6:10, the Jews disputing with Stephen could not resist the wisdom and the Spirit who spoke. Second, *tranon* can be translated as *whole*, *solid*, *mature*, *true*: so the Complutensians, and Cantacuzenus, who explains it thus, meaning: The Holy Spirit is indissolubly great, whole, perfect, and the effector of all greatness, amplitude, integrity, and perfection, having the power to hold together the entire joining of those same things, and the cause of the most efficacious great things. Therefore the Holy Spirit is whole, solid, mature, that is, vivid, vigorous, energetic, and efficacious in working.
MOBILE, — in Greek, *eukineton* (which word in the Greek is placed before *tranon*, that is, eloquent), that is, easily movable, as St. Ambrose translates, Book III *On the Holy Spirit*, chapter 19 (although some manuscripts of St. Ambrose have *good and movable*, but incorrectly); Vatablus translates, *vigorous*. Now first, our Lorinus thinks that wisdom and the Holy Spirit are called mobile because He can easily be moved by us, that is, bent and persuaded by prayers.
Second, others refer *mobile* to *eloquent*, which preceded, meaning: Wisdom and the Holy Spirit make those who possess them eloquent, so that they have a tongue that is mobile and fluent for speaking and discoursing eloquently; but not so that by hurrying they precipitate their words, as do certain popular preachers, in order to excite admiration for themselves, against whom Seneca sharply inveighs, Epistle 40: "This popular speech," he says, "has nothing true about it; it wants to move the crowd and to seize inattentive ears by its rush: it does not offer itself to be handled; it is carried away. But how can that govern which cannot be governed? What? This speech, which is applied to heal minds, ought to descend into us? Remedies cannot work unless they linger. Moreover, it has much emptiness and vanity; it sounds more than it is worth. The things that frighten me must be soothed, those that irritate me must be calmed, those that deceive me must be examined; luxury must be restrained, avarice must be rebuked. Which of these can be done in haste? What physician cures the sick in passing? What? Does such a din of words rushing without selection not even have any pleasure? But as with most things you would not believe possible, it is enough to have known them; so with these people who have exercised their words, it is more than enough to have heard them once."
Third and genuinely, meaning: Wisdom and the Holy Spirit is mobile, that is, agile, motivating, and efficacious, both in Himself, because He easily reaches all places and is at hand so that things may be rightly managed: for wisdom quickly suggests sound counsels, especially when danger or a difficult task presses, according to that verse of Boethius about God, Book III *On the Consolation*, meter 9:
And remaining stable, He gives all things movement;
and because He makes those who possess Him agile, eager, and ready for every good, according to Ezekiel 1:20: "Wherever the spirit went, there the spirit going, the wheels too were lifted up together, following it: for the spirit of life was in the wheels;" and Paul, Romans 8:14: "Whoever are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Hence the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles in the form of a spirit, that is, a mighty wind, to signify that He was impelling them to heroic works, and to the vehemence and efficacy of preaching, which no one could resist. "The grace of the Holy Spirit knows no slow endeavors," says St. Ambrose, on Luke, chapter 1: "Mary went into the hill country with haste."
Finally, St. Gregory, Homily 5 on Ezekiel, reconciles the stable with the mobile: "Therefore the Spirit of the Almighty," he says, "in order that His presence everywhere might be indicated, is called both mobile and stable at the same time; because everywhere, even to those who do not know it, He is present. Holding all things therefore, He is stable; showing Himself present to all, He is called mobile." Again, He is stable in His promises, so that it is impossible for Him to lie, mobile in fulfilling them; stable in establishing us against evils, mobile in communicating good things; stable in contemplation, mobile in action; mobile on the way, stable in the homeland.
UNDEFILED. — *amolyuntos*, that is, uncontaminated, immaculate, unpolluted, as St. Ambrose reads, lacking all stain and blemish, and all filth and darkness: for God is pure and simple light, and there is no darkness in Him, 1 John 1:5: for, as St. Ambrose says, Book *On the Holy Spirit*, chapter 19, and in the *Symbol*, chapter 7, "just as light does not receive darkness, so also the Holy Spirit by His nature is incapable of all filth;" but He also has, as Cantacuzenus says, "the power to cleanse all filth, and allows nothing to be or remain defiled, and shines upon all things without any envy, and blots out all stains." Hence the symbol of wisdom and the wise man is the bee, which is most pure, loves the pure, flees the impure, and even attacks women engaged in lustful activity and pierces them with its stings, as I said at Proverbs 6:6. Admirably St. Gregory Nazianzen says in his *Poems*: "According to your strength," he says, "purify yourself, renew yourself with a splendid life: for thus you will perceive God comprehended by the understanding of the mind. Nor is it said in vain among the people that God hastens to His temple: since He is pure, only a pure man can be His dwelling place." Hence that passage in Song of Songs 4:11: "Your lips are a dripping honeycomb," because, as Richard of St. Victor explains, "the lips of a devout soul flow with the liquid of spiritual sweetness, and pour it out for the edification of others. They gather this honeycomb from the various flowers of Scripture: it seeks these out, rests upon them, extracts from them the sweetness of spiritual delight, separates and despises inflating knowledge, rather seeks edification, and chooses fragrant maxims, not pompous eloquence."
And Peter of Celle, Book I, Epistle 12: "Run," he says, "through the most pleasant fields of Scripture, read like a bee, and store away in the hive of memory the most fragrant flowers: the lily of chastity, the olive of charity, the rose of patience, the grapes of spiritual charisms:" see what I said about the bee at Proverbs, chapter 6, verse 6.
SURE. — In Greek, *saphes*, that is, manifest, says St. Ambrose, perspicuous, undoubted; Vatablus, evident; our translator, *sure*, so that it neither errs itself, nor leads into error one who holds to it: it therefore differs from *tranon*, in that *saphes* means sure concerning the truth, so as not to err in judging; while *tranon* means conspicuous and eloquent in speaking, so as to instruct others. Hence Philoponus, Book I of the *Posterior Analytics*, near the end, thinks that *sophian*, that is, wisdom, is derived from *saphei*, as if *osaphian*, because the divine things with which it deals are in themselves and by their nature most certain and manifest. Hence St. Louis, king of France, when dying, among other instructions that he left to his son Philip, inserted this: "If you possess anything belonging to another, even if you received it from your ancestors, restore it without hesitation to its rightful owner, when you are certain of this; but if the matter is doubtful, take care that wise men dili-
gently and without delay investigate:" so Gaguinus, Book VII *On the Deeds of the French*.
And St. Thomas Aquinas, in the letter in which he prescribes for someone who asked the method of acquiring knowledge and wisdom: "I command you," he says, "to be slow of speech: embrace purity of conscience: do not cease to devote yourself to prayer: show yourself lovable to all: inquire not at all into the deeds of others, etc.; the things you do and hear, make sure you understand, and certify yourself regarding doubtful matters:" understand this as far as it can be done, for many things in this life are obscure and only probable, in which certainty and evidence cannot be had: therefore often in practical matters we must follow only a probable opinion: but this is certain in practice. For when we cannot have evidence, it is certain that in practice it is permissible to follow only a probable opinion. Cervantius adds: Cuttlefish, he says, was the name given to Aristotle, the prince and leader of philosophers, who, as if pouring out ink, sometimes concealed the truth; concerning whom that saying in Wisdom 1:11 applies, "an obscure speech:" but here the Holy Spirit, and those who are taught by Him, will draw certain doctrine without the clouds of errors or doubts, true doctrine without the darkness of falsehood, sincere doctrine without the deceits of hypocrisy, clear doctrine without the fog of ignorance; thus from participation in this spirit that is becoming, certain, true, sincere, and excellent, they are such; hence by Christ the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth, John 14:17.
Some explain *certain* as firm, faithful, constant in promises, resolutions, words, and deeds.
SWEET. — In Greek, *anempodiston*, that is, unharmed; St. Ambrose, inviolable; others, safe and making others safe; others, prosperous; Vatablus, harmless, who can do no harm and to whom no harm can be done; so also Cantacuzenus: which our translator profoundly renders *sweet*, meaning: So good and kind is the Spirit of wisdom, and the Holy Spirit Himself, that He not only harms no one, but strives to benefit all: for He is so sweet that He eagerly endeavors to keep all safe, to favor, comfort, raise up, and advance them; whence He is called the Paraclete, that is, the Comforter, and such He makes the saints, especially those who devote themselves to the winning of souls. Thus among the pagans their Jupiter was called Apemius (which word alludes to *apemon*, who drives sad injuries from the doors, or who averts damages and calamities: concerning whom Pausanias says in the *Attica*: "On Hymettus is an altar of Jupiter the Rain-giver; on Parnethe, Jupiter in bronze; there is also an altar of Meilichios, at which they perform a divine sacrifice to Jupiter, whom they call now the Rain-giver, now Apemion, that is, harmless," etc. And with the appearance, color, and imitation of this sweetness, those endowed with this Spirit are seen to be clothed: for, says Holcot on this passage: "The servant is the face of the master; the disciple is the mirror of the teacher; the king is the ruler of the kingdom:" thus the members of the household of the Holy Spirit are also sweet, for He Himself is most sweet, and He seasons the talents, manners, and words of His own with an exquisite sweetness, so that they seem to breathe and pour forth nothing but honey and nectar from their countenance and mouth,
according to that of Paul, 2 Corinthians 6:6: "Let us present ourselves as ministers of God, in much patience, etc., in longsuffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Spirit, in sincere charity." And, Galatians 6:1: "If a man be overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ." Hence the Holy Spirit is called the kiss and the embrace of God; and as St. Bernard says, Sermon 1 *On the Holy Spirit*, "the sweetest thing that is in God;" according to Song of Songs 1: "Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth." Hence also Wisdom says of herself: "My spirit is sweeter than honey," Ecclesiasticus 24:27; and Wisdom 12:1: "O how good and sweet, O Lord, is Your spirit in all things!" Namely:
He wins every vote who has mixed the useful with the sweet.
Hence God appeared to Elijah in a gentle spirit, 3 Kings 19:11: "Not," it says, "in the wind was the Lord, not in the earthquake was the Lord, not in the fire was the Lord," but in the whisper of a gentle breeze.
LOVING THE GOOD. — In Greek, *philagathon*; Vatablus, *zealous for the good*, so that it may advance man in virtue and in every good: "for charity (which is the companion of wisdom and of the Holy Spirit) does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices with the truth, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things," 1 Corinthians 13. Moreover, *philos* in Greek, says Cervantius, first means zealous for the good; second, bound by a bond of friendship with the good; third, pleasing, agreeable, familiar, dear; fourth, kissing and caressing; fifth, drawing to itself by the love-potion of love.
KEEN. — *oxy*, which some take for *oky*, that is, swift, which Cantacuzenus, following this reading, explains as meaning: Wisdom and the Holy Spirit are everywhere at hand, swiftly presenting Themselves to those who invoke Them; indeed They anticipate and forestall their prayer, as he said in chapter 6, verse 14. Incorrectly the Gloss, Hugo, and Bonaventure read for *keen* (*acutus*) *actum* (active), and join it to the preceding epithet in this way: "Loving the good that is active," or *of acts*, as others read in the genitive.
The Spirit of wisdom is called keen, not dull or blunt: first, because like a needle (*acus*) it has the sharpness of understanding and penetrating all things, even hidden, secret, and obscure ones, and is most perspicacious. Second, because it sharpens the tip of the intellect and makes one discourse keenly about any matter, and in speaking and discoursing, as well as in acting, is sharp, clever, shrewd, and astute: Cantacuzenus adds that in the smallest things, which cannot be divided because of their smallness, it is wholly, perfectly, and thoroughly present. Third, because like a sharp sword it cuts away evil from good, vice from virtue, pretense from truth, the imperfect from the perfect, self-love from divine love, so as to sharpen and rectify the intention of the mind. Fourth, because it sharpens the edge of the will toward the good that is better and perfect, to be pursued with all one's strength. Fifth, because by its savor
and keen taste it penetrates, stings, and strikes the innermost senses of the soul: just as vinegar by its sharpness whets the taste of foods and stings and strikes the palate; and thus arouses appetite and desire, and as it were sharpens the stomach, according to that of Pliny, Epistle 123: "For if I were making you a dinner, I would mix sharp and pungent dishes with the sweet ones, so that that dulled and forgetful stomach might be aroused by them:" such vinegar wisdom applies to the mind when it chastises it for its errors and defects, either inwardly through inspiration, or outwardly through the sharp and biting reproof of a superior. Such was St. John the Baptist, and Christ the Lord; whence Isaiah sang of Him, chapter 49, verse 2: "He made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of His hand He protected me, and He made me like a chosen arrow: in His quiver He hid me." Sixth, keen means *sharp*, *passionate*, *bitter*, *angry*, *indignant*: for thus anger is called keen, and the saints put on anger when they are zealous for God's honor, in order to avert offenses against Him: for anger is the whetstone of virtue and zeal; thus Acts 17:16 says: "But while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him, seeing the city given over to idolatry;" in Greek, *paroxyneto*, that is, his spirit was exasperated, inflamed, provoked within him, seeing the city existing in idolatry.
WHOM NOTHING HINDERS. — In Greek, *akolyuton*, whose first and best rendering by the Vulgate translator is, *whom nothing hinders*; the second, of the Complutensians, Dionysius, Holcot, and others, is *who hinders nothing or no one*. The Greek *philanthropon* properly means the same as *benefactive*, namely, so that it not only does good itself, but also breathes into all others both the faculty and the will of doing good; and so that we may rightly use its benefits, let us draw them from it, as from a most abundant fountain; and when it exceptionally enriches someone with its goods and gifts, it does this with the intention, says St. Leo, Sermon 40, that he may channel them through the rich man's hand to others: just as when we gather waters into a reservoir or cistern, we do this so that from there through channels we may direct them into the homes of many. Kings, emperors, and pontiffs select one or another through whose hand alms may be given: but God appoints as many to this charge as He distributes His goods to: therefore the ancients, as Eusebius attests, Book I of *The Preparation*, and Pliny, Book II, chapter 7, venerated beneficent persons as living images of God and as statues imbued with the divine spirit; and kings were even called Benefactors (*Evergetae*), that is, the beneficent, as Christ says, Luke 22:25.
The meaning is, that is: So great is the providence and power of divine Wisdom, as well as of the Holy Spirit, that no one can delay, prohibit, restrain, stop, or impede it; but rather it itself impedes, stops, disperses, and scatters all and everything that resists it: this is litotes. Whence St. Ambrose reads, *provident*, *possible*; and Cantacuzenus says: Its power cannot be resisted; it permeates bodies, souls, minds; it is not impeded by anyone's hardness or rejection: "Nor is there anyone who can hide from its heat," Psalm 18:7. There is no malice so great as to overcome the goodness of wisdom, as is said in this chapter, at the last verse. Thus Saul could not resist it, but heard from it: "It is hard for you to kick against the goad," and therefore from Saul he became Paul, Acts 9. No heart, however hard, of the grace of God
BENEFICENT. — In Greek *philanthropon*, that is, kind; Pagninus and Montanus, *inclined*, *swift*, and *eager* to bestow benefits; doing, working, benefiting well, rightly, correctly, easily, happily, fittingly, and excellently; St. Ambrose, *manifest*, who is generous to His own, and likewise makes them generous. "He gives to all abundantly and does not reproach," James 1:5. Thus Christ "went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil," Acts 10:38: for the good is self-diffusive; hence God, because He is supremely good, equally and supremely communicates Himself and His goods even to the impious and ungrateful, as St. Dionysius teaches, *On the Divine Names*, in the chapter on the Good. Therefore the proper work of God and of divinity is to do good; hence that passage of the Third Epistle of John, verse 11: "He who does good is of God;" and that of Paul, indeed of Christ: "It is more blessed to give than to receive," Acts 20:35; and that of Nazianzen, Oration *On the Care of the Poor*: "Be a god to the unfortunate: for by no other quality does man approach God more than by beneficence, as Nazianzen and St. Leo teach in the same place, Sermon 40.
For God is the immense sun of beneficence, diffusing the rays of His goodness upon all and everything. The Greek *philanthropon* properly means the same as *benefactive*, so that He not only does good Himself, but also breathes into all others both the faculty and will of doing good; and so that we may rightly use His benefits, we should draw them from Him as from a most abundant fountain; and when He exceptionally enriches someone with His goods and gifts, He does this with the purpose, says St. Leo, Sermon 40, of channeling them through the rich man's hand to others: just as when we gather waters into a reservoir or cistern, we do so that from there through channels we may direct them into the homes of many. Kings, emperors, and pontiffs select one or another through whose hand alms may be given: but God appoints to this charge as many as He distributes His goods to: therefore the ancients, as Eusebius attests, Book I of *The Preparation*, and Pliny, Book II, chapter 7, venerated beneficent persons as living images of God and as statues imbued with the divine spirit; and kings were even called Benefactors (*Evergetae*), that is, the beneficent, as Christ says, Luke 22:25.
23. HUMANE, KIND, STABLE, SURE, SECURE, HAVING ALL POWER, FORESEEING ALL THINGS, AND COMPREHENDING ALL SPIRITS: INTELLIGIBLE, PURE, SUBTLE.
HUMANE, KIND. — In Greek it is a single word, *philanthropon*, that is, a lover of mankind; whence *philanthropia* is called by Paul, Titus, chapter 3, verse 4, that remarkable love of Christ for men, by which He made Himself a man for their sake, that is, a kinsman and bro-
ther. *Humane* therefore means the same as loving mankind, so as to devote Himself entirely to their salvation. For divine Wisdom created the entire world for man's sake, gave him angels as guardians; and moreover sent the Word into flesh, and the Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the other faithful, and bestowed innumerable gifts on them, and bestows them daily. Hence Philip the Solitary, Book III of the *Dioptra*, chapters 3 and 5, notes that God is never called *philangelon* (lover of angels), as He is called *philanthropos* (lover of mankind): for "He nowhere takes hold of angels, but of the seed of Abraham," says the Apostle, Hebrews 2:16. Therefore St. Chrysostom teaches that God loved men more than angels, Homily 21 on Genesis; indeed He loves them more daily, especially when He offers Himself to men as a banquet in the Eucharist: for there "He pours out upon men the treasures of His divine love for mankind," as the Council of Trent says, Session 13; indeed St. John, chapter 13: "Having loved His own," he says, "who were in the world, He loved them to the end (both of life and of love, that is, with extreme love)."
STABLE. — Both because the spirit of wisdom, as well as the Holy Spirit, is always the same, consistent with Himself, and is immutable; and because He is faithful, and infallibly fulfills what He has promised; and because He makes the souls He inhabits stable, constant, and persevering in their good resolutions and works, so that they may be confirmed in them and may be sanctified and holy.
SURE. — In Greek, *asphales*, that is, firm, fortified, safe from every enemy, adversity, and danger, and therefore secure, as follows. St. Ambrose translates, *whole*; St. Bonaventure, *constant in good*. "Sure" therefore signifies here something different from a little earlier: for there the Greek is *saphes*, that is, manifest, perspicuous, evident; but here it is *asphales*, that is, safe, cautious, free from danger, whole, well fortified and guarded, certain of suffering no harm; likewise not at all faltering with a treacherous step, not dangerous, who does not know how to falter or be deceived, who can neither be frustrated nor frustrate; but is firm and sure in all things, to whom you can unhesitatingly entrust yourself and all that is yours; whereas men, even wise and powerful ones, often falter, waver, slip, and stumble. The pagans gave to Neptune, the god of the sea, the surname Asphalius, that is, of the safe and secure, on account of the safe and trustworthy station of ships in harbors from storms, and they erected a temple to him near the harbor, as Pausanias attests, Books 3 and 7. But this surname of Asphalius belongs to none other than the Wisdom of God and the Holy Spirit.
SECURE. — In Greek, *amerimnon*, that is, without care; St. Ambrose, without anxiety, tranquil, quiet, because He is safe and well fortified, as preceded, and makes His own secure, tranquil, and joyful: for "a secure mind is like a perpetual banquet," Proverbs 15:15. Therefore the saints in any dangers, temptations, and tribulations sleep securely in the providence and care of the Holy Spirit, just as an infant sleeps in its mother's bosom, according to 1 Peter 5:7: "Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you." Hence "the just man," made upright and protected by the Holy Spirit, "confident as a lion" in any terrors, "shall be without fear," Proverbs 28:1: he neither fears, but rejoices to lose the present life, in order to merit the blessed and eternal one, Matthew 10:28: see Isaiah, chapter 4, verse 6, and chapter 32, verse 18, and chapter 48, verse 22.
HAVING ALL POWER. — In Greek, *pantodynamon*, that is, omnipotent, or who can do all things, as St. Ambrose reads; or endowed with omnipotence, as the same St. Ambrose translates, Book III *On the Holy Spirit*, meaning: The Wisdom of God can do all things, and moreover makes His own as if omnipotent, according to that of Paul: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me," Philippians 4:13; because "if God is for us, who is against us?" Romans 8:31. For the Wisdom of God and the Holy Spirit can create all things, as well as govern them, both the things of nature and those of grace; both the things of art and those of virtue; both the things of law, power, and dominion, and those of medicine and health: for to all diseases both of body and soul He provides the most wholesome and most effective remedies. Finally, He can arm the most powerful armies of angels, men, animals, and all creatures against His impious enemies, as He said at the end of chapter 5. Whence He clothed the apostles with power from on high, Luke 24:49, so that they might confront and overcome with courageous spirit all princes, peoples, philosophers, all the delights of the world as well as its terrors, and all the torments and sufferings of martyrdom.
This power of divine wisdom the ancient mythologists and hieroglyphists represented through the spear of Pallas. Hear Pierius, Hieroglyphics 42, chapter 19. That we see Pallas armed everywhere indicates that arms avail little unless they are directed by wisdom: for how many and how great calamities commanders of foolish and rash temperament have brought upon both themselves and the state — to pass over others — those famous defeats at the Trebia, at Lake Trasimene, and at Cannae easily demonstrated. Moreover, the spear in the hand of Pallas shows the force and readiness of intellect; whence in Martianus you may read:
The spear too, vibrating, displays its penetrating keenness.
This is what the Psalmist sings, Psalm 32:6: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and by the breath of His mouth all their power," where by *breath* (*spirit*) St. Basil and Cyril understand the Holy Spirit.
FORESEEING ALL THINGS. — Vatablus, foreseeing all things; in Greek *panepiskipon*, that is, who beholds all things, or is the overseer of all, as St. Ambrose reads in the passages cited; or surveying all things, as St. Gregory reads; or literally, the bishop (that is, inspector) of all things, meaning: The wisdom and providence of God, as well as the Holy Spirit, acts as the bishop of the whole world: for like a bishop, from the most lofty watchtower of His eternity, He inspects and surveys all things, even searches all the secrets of hearts, and visits whether they rightly discharge their duty. Again,
He foresees and provides for all concerning the things that are necessary and useful: so Cantacuzenus. Finally, He inspires in each person a care and foresight for the future, so that each may look after his own salvation and future happiness: for "we survey present things, we foresee future things," as Donatus says. Let therefore a bishop do the same in his diocese, a king in his kingdom, a duke in his duchy, a magistrate in his city, a father of a family in his household, and every faithful person in his own soul: thus each person in his office and station will imitate the wisdom of God. Whence St. Augustine, Tract 31 on John, addressing every faithful person, even a layperson: "When therefore, brothers," he says, "you hear the Lord saying: Where I am, there also shall my minister be, do not think only of good bishops and clerics; you too, according to your capacity, minister to Christ by living well, by giving alms, by preaching His name and doctrine to whomever you can, so that each person, even a father of a family, may recognize by this name that he owes a fatherly affection to his household for Christ's sake; and for eternal life let him admonish, teach, encourage, and correct all his own, let him bestow goodwill and exercise discipline; thus in his own home he will fulfill an ecclesiastical and, in a certain way, an episcopal office, ministering to Christ, so as to be with Him forever."
Alluding to this, the Church on the Saturday after Pentecost thus prays and beseeches: "O Lord, we beseech You, graciously pour forth the Holy Spirit, by whose wisdom we were created, and by whose providence we are governed." For, as St. Chrysostom says, Sermon 1 *On the Holy Spirit*: "He Himself is the spiritual sun of our minds, the light of our inner man, the morning star in the eye of the heart."
AND COMPREHENDING ALL SPIRITS: INTELLIGIBLE, PURE, SUBTLE: — so reads the Roman edition; but the Greek reads all these in the genitive, which in Latin is rendered by the accusative, and refers them to one and the same office of the spirit of wisdom: for thus it reads, "And who comprehends all intelligible spirits (Vatablus, rational), pure, most subtle;" and thus Nazianzen reads, Oration 37, when he says, "penetrating through all spirits, intellectual, pure, most tenuous (that is, through the angelic hosts, as I think) as also through the prophetic and apostolic;" and St. Ambrose: "and penetrating," he says, "through all things of intelligible spirits": thus also some Latin Bibles read, as well as St. Bonaventure, Rabanus, Vatablus, Clarius, Jansenius, and Cantacuzenus, who by the last three epithets of the spirits think the three hierarchies of angels are denoted, over which the Holy Spirit rules, meaning: The Holy Spirit comprehends, that is, perfects (and therefore dwells and resides in them), intelligible spirits, that is, angels endowed with the most perfect intelligence, such as are all those of the first hierarchy, namely, cherubim, seraphim, and thrones; likewise all pure spirits, that is, all the angels of the second hierarchy, namely, dominations, principalities, and powers
who because of the purity of their affections are free from every passion and disturbance of soul, and are therefore fit for ruling and commanding; finally, the Holy Spirit comprehends all the most subtle spirits, that is, all the angels of the third hierarchy, such as the virtues, archangels, and angels, who because they are the most subtle spirits are therefore invisible to us. This reading is supported by the fact that the spirit of wisdom itself was a little earlier called *noeros*, that is, understanding, likewise *undefiled*, that is, pure, and finally *subtle*. Therefore this does not seem to need repeating in this place, but should be read in the plural, *intelligible*, *pure*, *subtle*, and referred to created spirits, such as the angels. But since most Latin manuscripts consistently read in the nominative, *intelligible*, *pure*, *subtle*, and thus reads the Edition corrected by the Romans: for the Sage, concluding, repeats and emphasizes the three chief epithets of divine wisdom and the Holy Spirit, which are the reason why He Himself comprehends all spirits. The slip from epsilon to omega is easy, so that for *noeron* was written *noeron*; for *katharon*, *katharon*; for *leptoton*, *leptoton*, that is, for *intelligible* was written *intelligible* [plural]; for *pure*, *pure* [plural]; for *subtle*, *subtle* [plural].
The meaning therefore is, that is: The spirit of wisdom, as well as the Holy Spirit, comprehends — that is, intimately permeates, penetrates, occupies, contains, and embraces — all spirits, both of men and of angels, because He Himself is supremely understanding, pure, and subtle — indeed, He is uncreated and immense understanding itself, purity, and subtlety — and therefore all the understanding, purity, and subtlety of all created spirits, namely of men and angels, flows and proceeds from Him as from a perennial fountain, as I said a little earlier. All these therefore He comprehends and contains in Himself: first, because He contains all their endowments and perfections, not only eminently but also formally in Himself; but infinitely more fully and perfectly than they are in men and angels, who are His creatures, whom He as Creator infinitely surpasses and transcends. Second, because He searches and sees through all their most secret thoughts, volitions, and intentions. Third, because He purges, illuminates, and perfects them all, enlightening their understanding with His light, and inflaming their will with love; and so He moves and impels those and the other powers of the soul to every good. Finally, He gives to all their essence and properties, indeed whatever they have, whether natural or supernatural. Moreover, He communicates to them the power of penetrating and comprehending any spirits, by implanting in them the gift of the discernment of spirits, through which they may perceive and discern the secret intentions of hearts. Moreover, this Spirit is called *intelligible*, in Greek *noeron*, that is, endowed with supreme understanding, understanding all things, and causing Himself to be understood by us. *Pure*, because He is free from not only all sins and stains, but also from matter, and is a most pure spirit, so St. Bonaventure; likewise because all the filth and vices of men,
Him," yet it seizes individuals and all, that is, wisdom purges and cleanses crimes through grace; the spirit of the wisdom of God, and the Holy Spirit Himself, holds, occupies, and comprehends.
24. FOR WISDOM IS MORE MOBILE THAN ALL MOBILE THINGS: AND SHE REACHES EVERYWHERE BECAUSE OF HER PURITY. — In Greek, "for wisdom is more motive than all motion," that is, wisdom is something more motive than all motion, meaning: Wisdom by the force and speed of its movement surpasses all motion, however swift and violent; wisdom in moving and operating is more efficacious and faster than any motion and action, and than any mover and agent. Hence St. Fulgentius in Response 6 to the Arians reads, "wisdom is more mobile than all mobile things"; and St. Augustine, Book IV On Genesis Literally, chapter XII, says "its (wisdom's) movement is more agile and swifter than all motions, even those of angels and heavens, and indeed than the motion of the first mover." For the causal conjunction gives the reason why the spirit of wisdom permeates and penetrates the spirits of men and angels, however pure and subtle, because indeed it pervades all things most swiftly, nay in an instant, no less than the most subtle and fine spirit (wind or air) penetrates the innermost parts of every house, and the sun with its light enters and illuminates every hidden place: for from wisdom they have the ability to understand and to be wise. Thus St. Gregory Nazianzen explains this passage, Oration 37, which is the 5th On Theology: "Penetrating through all spirits, intelligent, pure, most subtle (that is through angelic, as I think, powers), as also through prophetic and apostolic ones, at the same moment of time, yet not in the same places (for some of them were scattered and dispersed in other places); which indeed clearly shows that it cannot be confined by the limitation of any place."
Note that the Greek reads, "passing through all spirits," which our translator renders first as "who seizes all spirits"; the Syriac as "and holds all spirits"; the Arabic as "passing through chaste spirits"; second, St. Ambrose as "penetrating through all of the spirits"; third, Vatablus as "and penetrating all spirits"; fourth, Pagninus and Montanus as "capable of receiving all spirits"; fifth, Jansenius as "proceeding through all spirits"; sixth, Lorinus as "penetrating through all spirits"; seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth, Cantacuzenus as "pervading all spirits, perfecting and accomplishing, whom it surpasses by infinite degrees"; eleventh, others translate it as "containing all spirits, as a place contains what is placed in it"; twelfth, "comprehending, perceiving, and understanding all spirits," or passively, "comprehended, perceived, understood by all spirits"; thirteenth, "uniting all spirits"; fourteenth, "proceeding through all spirits": for all these meanings are signified by the Greek word. Therefore the spirit of the wisdom of God, and the Holy Spirit, comprehends all spirits, even if they are most wise and most astute, in His astuteness, contains their excellences in Himself, holds them by His hand both by wisdom and by power, penetrating and pervading all their operations, indeed also perfecting and uniting them; and reducing the nine hierarchical orders to the harmony of one heavenly court, keeping them subject; and although they are distributed as into phalanxes and armies of the heavenly militia, Luke II, and each one of them is equivalent to an entire army, according to that of Psalm XXXIII: "The angel of the Lord shall encamp (in Hebrew, Tann chone, that is, shall make camp) around those who fear
Properly, as I said at verses 21 and 22, all these epithets belong to the divine wisdom, which is an attribute of the divinity common to the entire Holy Trinity, and which is for God as it were the idea, art, and artisan of all things to be done, both in natural, moral, and supernatural matters; hence in conclusion it adds: "For wisdom is more mobile than all mobile things." Yet the same are rightly attributed to the Son, who is the begotten Wisdom of the Father, as St. Ambrose, St. Augustine, St. Nazianzen, Chrysostom, Basil, and others teach; and to the Holy Spirit, who does not essentially differ, but is indeed the same as the divine wisdom, say Cantacuzenus and Hugo: for the Holy Spirit is properly "the Spirit of understanding, holy," as was said at verse 22.
Finally, some understand by "spirits" the gifts of the Holy Spirit: for the Holy Spirit contains these, as His own, in Himself, and distributes and communicates them to His chosen and beloved as He wills. Since therefore the divinity, as St. Cyril teaches at the Council of Ephesus, is superior to every place, measure, circumscription, and magnitude, and can be seized and comprehended by nothing, but rather seizes and comprehends all things, this attribute of wisdom implies and confirms its divinity.
Explaining these words, Elias of Crete says thus: "For although the prophets and apostles were dispersed, some in one place and others elsewhere, and did not dwell in the same places, nevertheless at the same moment of time the Holy Spirit was present to all, effecting in some the office of prophecy, in others infinite indications of divine things." I cite Nazianzen here from the version of Billius: do not wonder, reader, that the words of Nazianzen here differ from those which I cited from another version at the beginning of the preceding verse.
St. Thomas objects, Part I, Question IX, article 1, reply to 2: The first and uncreated Wisdom is God Himself; but God is immutable and immovable; how then is wisdom here said to be "more mobile than all mobile things?" He responds that "wisdom is said to be mobile by way of similitude, inasmuch as it diffuses its likeness even to the furthest things: for nothing can exist that does not proceed from divine wisdom by a certain imitation, as from a first effective and formal principle, just as artifacts proceed from the wisdom of the artisan. Thus therefore insofar as the likeness of divine wisdom proceeds by degrees from the highest things, which participate more in its likeness, down to the lowest things, which participate less, there is said to be a certain procession and motion of divine wisdom into things."
and equally will purge and cleanse diseases, miseries, and death through glory, so Hugo says; finally, pure, because He Himself is the most pure and most splendid light. Subtle, for the reason recounted above.
just as if we were to say that the sun proceeds as far as the earth, inasmuch as the ray of its light reaches as far as the earth; and in this manner Dionysius explains it in Celestial Hierarchy, chapter 1, saying that every procession of divine manifestation comes to us from the Father of lights being moved."
Morally, the wisdom of God and the Holy Spirit make those whom they possess mobile, agile, and swift toward every good, according to that of Psalm 103:4 and Hebrews 1:7: "Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire"; and that of Canticle 2:8: "Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills." Thus the Blessed Virgin, full of the Word and the Holy Spirit, "went into the hill country with haste" (Luke 1:39); thus Magdalene, Peter, and John ran to the tomb (John 20:4); thus Abraham with Sarah and his servant ran to receive the guests (Genesis 18:2): for "no one is lazy in the house of the wise," says St. Ambrose, Book I On Abraham, chapter 5.
AND SHE REACHES EVERYWHERE BECAUSE OF HER PURITY: — The Greek adds "and passes through all things," that is, she penetrates and pervades all things. So Vatablus, because she wisely effects, disposes, preserves, orders, nourishes, cherishes, vivifies, and governs all things: for these are acts of providence, which is part of the wisdom of God; or, as Pagninus and Arias say, she is capable of receiving all things, or she contains all things, as the place and ground of all things: see what was said at the end of verse 23. By "purity," you may understand with St. Bonaventure, first, abstraction from all material dregs; second, with Lyra, Rikelius, Holcot, separation from every defect and admixture unworthy of that pure act; third, purity with Carensis you may take as the light of knowledge; fourth, with Lorinus, as the simplicity of the most pure nature like light, in which there is no darkness (1 John 1:5).
The reason, therefore, why wisdom is more mobile than all mobile things, and reaches and penetrates all things, is its complete purity and cleanness: for this produces the highest subtlety, which penetrates and pervades all things, just as vapor (for this is the example the Wise Man adds) by its subtlety penetrates water, earth, air, and heaven; the wind does the same; and just as the soul, because it is subtle, insinuates itself into all members of the body, and an angel, because spiritual, pervades all bodies. Finally, just as the sun, says a Castro, though it is in heaven, is said to proceed as far as the earth, to the extent that its rays reach it, and with its light permeates all things, even sordid places, without being stained in the slightest: so insofar as the likeness of divine wisdom proceeds by degrees through effects from the highest to the lowest things, it is said to move and pervade all things, and yet is not stained by sordid things in which it also shines, because of its purity. This becomes evident in the permitting of sins, from which how wisely divine wisdom extracts many goods, many benefits for men, and produces much glory for God, is more certain than needs to be explained by me.
For the wisdom of God, which is nothing other than God Himself, has nothing of matter, nothing of dregs, nothing of mixture, nothing of potentiality, as angels have, but is the purest act, and therefore is bounded by no places or limits, but enters all things and expands itself through all things. Hence Damascene, Book I On the Faith, chapter 8, teaches that the essence of God fills, contains, embraces, pre-possesses, and pervades all things without any contagion of defilement or stain; indeed, that it is far more sublime and exalted than every place and substance which it fills, and therefore is removed, hidden, and separated from all things. From this Holcot draws the conclusion that God can be adored in every creature, since He really exists in it, and contains and preserves it, as its soul and spirit; but that because of the danger or suspicion of idolatry this is not expedient, wherefore God should be adored only in those things which are proposed for this purpose either by God or by the Church by institution: see Bellarmine, Books I and II On the Cult of the Saints, and Gabriel Vasquez, Book II On Adoration, disputation 1.
25. FOR SHE IS A VAPOR OF THE POWER OF GOD, AND A CERTAIN PURE EMANATION OF THE GLORY OF ALMIGHTY GOD: AND THEREFORE NOTHING DEFILED (St. Ambrose, Book III On the Holy Spirit, chapter 19, translates it as "spotted") FALLS UPON HER. — For "vapor" the Syriac translates "exhalation"; the Arabic, "face." He proves that wisdom is pure, and penetrates all things through purity, that is, through the most pure subtlety, from the fact that she is as it were a vapor of the power of God, and an emanation of the glory of God, on which occasion he simultaneously demonstrates the origin of wisdom, namely that her origin is God; as well as her nature, dignity, and majesty, namely that she is divine.
He speaks properly, as I have already often noted, about wisdom which is an attribute of God and of the divinity, and therefore common to the three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. This, then, is a vapor, that is, similar to a vapor, after the manner of vapor, of the power — in Greek, dynameos, that is, of the potency — of God, which the power of God, as it were, exhales and breathes out from itself, as its own vigor, says Origen, Book I Periarchon, chapter 2, and from him St. Augustine, or whoever is the author, Book I On the Incarnation of the Word, chapter 13, who accordingly there translates "vapor" as "vigor": for such is the vapor of God, namely vigorous and efficacious, whereas the vapor of a creature is nothing but vanishing smoke; whence Ecclesiastes 1:1, for "vanity of vanities, and all is vanity," Aquila translates "vapor of vapors, and all is vapor." Wisdom therefore is not properly a vapor exhaling from God, since in God there is no vapor, no exhalation, no accident, but all things are one and the same with God and the essence of God; yet it is called vapor anthropopathically, according to our mode of conceiving, by which we conceive divine things from the analogy of things we see in creatures. Hence, just as in man wisdom is a quality and accident that arises from the soul when learning and study are added, so likewise we conceive that in God the divinity is, as it were, the substance, and wisdom is, as it were, a quality and property flowing from the divinity, and as it were evaporated
and exhaled. Now "vapor" signifies, first, that wisdom is of the same substance as God, for a vapor is of the same nature as the thing from which it evaporates, as Aristotle teaches, Section 13 of the Problems, and in On Sense and the Sensible, chapter 2; second, that it arises from God without any mixing of bodies, without dregs or stain, and is altogether pure and clean, for thus a vapor arises from a body; third, that it is mobile, subtle, and sublime: for such is a vapor, which accordingly ascends upward from earth to heaven; fourth, that it is vivid and vigorous, and has in itself whatever is excellent in God: for thus a vapor, especially from fragrant or distilled things (for which reason, Sirach 24:20, wisdom compares herself to the vapor and fragrance of balsam, cinnamon, and frankincense, that is, incense) draws and absorbs their whole essence; whence it is wonderfully fragrant and most sweet-smelling. Hence he says that wisdom is "a vapor of the power of God," meaning: Wisdom draws and absorbs the entire force of divine omnipotence, from which it, as it were, exhales. The sense therefore is: she is a vapor of the power of God, etc., meaning: Wisdom is something subtle and fragrant, which is breathed forth from God, and refreshes man with a certain divine vapor and fragrance, so that he may smell of God, and his life and speech may breathe something divine.
First, therefore, the wisdom of God in itself is, as it were, a vapor. So St. Augustine in the passage already cited, and Origen, Book I Periarchon, chapter 2.
Second, the same is, as it were, a vapor, insofar as from God, and from God's power and powerful operation, it emanates and exhales into creatures. For he proves what he said, that wisdom has all power, and reaches and pervades all things, meaning, as our author a Castro says: Just as from the evaporation of waters, as Cicero says in Book II On the Nature of the Gods, a vapor arises by the heat of the sun, that is, a certain thin exhalation which, flowing back down upon the earth, makes it fruitful: so from the omnipotence of God operating in all things and producing them, there immediately comes forth the most subtle and most pure wisdom, which distinguishes, adorns, and beautifies all things made by God's power, making them knowable to the intelligent, and wonderfully fruitful. Wisdom therefore presupposes the power of God operating all things, as beauty presupposes the thing that is beautiful, and as the arrangement of a speech presupposes the invention, and as the condition of an unseen world presupposes its ornament, arrangement, and distinction; and just as from the proportion of the parts of a body and of the world there comes forth beauty and comeliness, so from the works of God's omnipotence there comes forth the beauty of His wisdom, like a certain vapor. Plato learned this same thing from Solomon, for he held that wisdom was a vapor, or a celestial and divine heat and fire; whence in the Protagoras he imagines that Prometheus, a most prudent man (named from prometheia, that is, from providence), stole fire from heaven, by which he might warm, animate, and vivify men formed and fashioned from clay on earth as shapeless beings, so that now existing, and indeed made sharers of the divine nature, they might lead their life wisely, that is, justly and holily: for this fire is wisdom. He then adds
that Jupiter sent Mercury from heaven to earth to implant shame and justice in men, since these are the ornaments and bonds of cities, and ward off injuries and conciliate friendships. And Plutarch, in his book On Isis, says that men cannot receive a greater gift, nor God give a greater one, than truth: for this is proper to God; the rest, as not being proper and peculiar to Himself, God bestows upon men; moreover, neither silver and gold bring beatitude to God, nor thunder and lightning bring Him power, but both of these He attributes to knowledge and prudence.
Third, the Fathers understand by wisdom the begotten Wisdom, namely the Son, for the analogies of vapor already stated apply to Him. Hence Dionysius says: Just as vapor is raised from water by the power of the sun, so from the Almighty Father the Son proceeds. Hear Eusebius, Book IV of the Demonstration, chapter 3: "Of one Father, therefore, there must be one Son: for if a kind of fragrance proceeds from some underlying thing, it is proper to acknowledge one and the same sweet odor that is diffused into all, not diverse and many. Since, therefore, that first and only good, who is God the ruler of all, produced a divine and vital fragrance, which can be apprehended only by mind and thought, it is right to understand that it is one; to think it is many would be sacrilege. For what can there be that would be different from this, which is in all things like the Father, that would not be inferior and lesser? This is something we should by no means introduce into the theology of the Son. For He is the vapor of the power of God, and the pure effluence of the glory of the Almighty: for from a fragrant body, for example from some ointment, or also from flowers and aromatics that grow from the earth, a certain sweet-smelling breath, beyond that first underlying body, is poured forth into all that surrounds it externally; and as it is more widely poured forth, it fills the air as well. Not, indeed, by any deprivation, diminution, cutting, or division of the first underlying body; but while it remains in its own place, and preserves its own nature, and produces that fragrance, in no way inferior to the former, so too that which is produced, the sweet-smelling and fragrant kind (that is, the generation, or the begotten one and son, according to Acts 17:28: 'For we are His offspring'; since therefore we are the offspring of God, etc.) having its own proper place and nature, imitates, as closely as possible, that which is most similar to the nature of the one producing it."
Hence again you may understand by "vapor" the breath that is breathed from the mouth; whence Nannius translates, "since she is breathed forth by divine power," according to what Wisdom says of herself in Sirach 24: "I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before every creature." For the Son is that good word which the eternal Father uttered from His mouth. Finally, subtly Origen, Book I Periarchon, chapter 2, and from him St. Augustine, or rather a follower or imitator of St. Augustine,
Book I On the Incarnation of the Word, chapter 13, explaining all these things about the begotten Wisdom, that is the Son, discusses them thus: "He says that wisdom is a vapor not of the glory of the Almighty, nor of the eternal light, nor of the operation of the Father, nor of His goodness: for it was not fitting to ascribe the vapor to any of these; but with full propriety he says that wisdom is a vapor of the power of God. Therefore the power of God must be understood as that by which He is strong, by which He either establishes, or contains, or governs all things visible and invisible, because He is sufficient for all things over which He exercises providence, because He is present to all things as if united to them. Of this entire power, then, so great and so immense, the vapor, and, as I would say, the very vigor brought into its own subsistence, although it proceeds from that power as the will proceeds from the mind; yet the will of God nevertheless becomes the power of God. Therefore another power is produced, subsisting in its own property, as the word of Scripture says: the vapor indeed of the first and unbegotten power of God." He then adds that the Son is co-eternal with the Father, just as a vapor is coeval with the thing that naturally evaporates, and concludes: "According to the Apostle saying in 1 Corinthians 1:18 that Christ is the power of God, it must now be called not merely a vapor of the power of God, but power from power."
Mystically and participatively, you may apply these things to the Blessed Virgin, who is a vapor of charity and a brightness of divine purity. Hence St. Ildephonsus, Oration 1 On the Assumption: "Whence, I ask, you children, imitate the seal of your faith, Mary, whom the Holy Spirit entirely melted like fire does iron, made incandescent and set ablaze, so that in her only the flame of the Holy Spirit appears, nor is anything perceived except the fire of the love of God." And St. Bernard, sermon on the text "A great sign": "Far differently, Mary merited not merely to be touched, as it were, in summary fashion, but rather to be covered on every side, and as it were enclosed by the very fire (namely, the fire of God's love: for this is the subject of the discourse); most shining indeed and most ardent is the garment of this woman, whose every part is known to be so excellently radiated that in it I will not say anything dark or less luminous, but not even anything tepid or less than most fervent can be suspected"; the same, in his sermon On the Praises of the Virgin: "Around her, he says, strong ranks of spiritual virtues guarding one another in their own order (for by Your ordinance the day continues), and we by no means doubt that the army of innumerable blessed spirits was also delegated to the ministry of so great a princess; so as to guard the most pleasing bed of Solomon, and to see to it that no foreign guest should invade the dwelling prepared for the eternal King." With St. Bernard sings in harmony St. Anselm in his book On the Excellency of the Virgin, chapter 3: "No one doubts," he says, "that her most chaste body and most holy soul were thoroughly protected from every stain of sin by the constant guardianship of angels, as being the hall which their own and the Creator of all, God, was going to corporally inhabit, and from which He was going to assume a human nature into the unity of His own person by an ineffable operation."
AND A CERTAIN EMANATION OF THE GLORY OF ALMIGHTY GOD IS PURE. — In Greek, aporrhoia tes tou pantokratoros doxes eilikrinēs, that is, a limpid stream of the glory of the Almighty, so Nannius. For aporrhoia means a flow, effluence, runoff, river, stream, which flows, gushes, and runs down from a fountain or spring: for aporrheō means to flow, to flow down, to flow forth. Vatablus renders it: "sincerely she proceeds from the majesty of the Almighty." St. Anselm, tract On the Holy Spirit, reads "emanation of the glory of the Almighty." Our translator renders gloria here and elsewhere as "brightness" (claritatem): for both signify the clear and glorious majesty of God. Hence the Arabic translates, "and the glory containing all things"; the Syriac, "and the stability, or firmness in His glory." He compared wisdom to a vapor exhaling from a vaporous thing; now he compares it to a stream, or a river flowing and running from a fountain. The same is done in Sirach 24:33, where wisdom is compared to the four rivers of paradise, namely the Tigris, Euphrates, Phison, and Geon; and verse 40 says: "I, Wisdom, poured forth rivers: I am like a canal of immense water from a river: I am like a channel of a river, and like an aqueduct I came out of paradise. I said: I will water my garden of plantings, and I will saturate the fruit of my meadow: and behold my canal became abundant, and my river drew near to the sea. For I illuminate doctrine like the morning light for all, and I will declare it even to the distant: I will penetrate all the lower parts of the earth, and I will look upon all who sleep: and I will illuminate all who hope in the Lord."
Furthermore, that wisdom remains and flows forth from God like limpid water from a fountain signifies, first, the identity of wisdom in substance with God: for water flowing from a fountain is of the same substance as the water of the fountain itself; again, second, the purity of wisdom, for what is purer and more limpid than water, which washes away everything impure; third, the phrase "emanation of Almighty God" signifies that wisdom is omnipotent equally as God. Hear from Origen, Book I Periarchon, chapter 2, St. Augustine, On the Incarnation of the Word, chapter 13, who understands the Son by "wisdom": "But since he said it is the glory of the Almighty, whose glory's aporrhea is spoken of, that is, wisdom, it is given to be understood that they also share in the omnipotence of glory through wisdom, through which God is called Almighty. Through wisdom, which is Christ, God holds the sovereignty of all things, not only the authority of one who dominates, but also the willing service of those who are subject"; and after some further words: "God the Father is Almighty, in that He holds the sovereignty of all things, that is, of heaven and earth, the sea and all things that are in them. But He exercises this sovereignty through His Word, because at the name of Jesus every knee bends of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and if every knee bends to Jesus, without doubt Jesus is Almighty, to whom all things are subject. And He it is who exercises sovereignty in all things, and through whom all things are subject to the Father: for through wisdom, that is, by word and reason,
not by force and necessity are they made subject. And therefore in this very thing, that He holds all things, His glory consists; and this is the most pure and most limpid glory of omnipotence, when by reason and wisdom, not by force and necessity, all things are made subject."
"Pure" — eilikrinēs, that is, true, not feigned, sincere, not fictitious, pure, liquid, transparent, open, manifest, and examined, compared, and proven by the rays of the sun (which is what thus means), meaning: Wisdom is an emanation, or effluence, of the glory of the Almighty that is sincere, that is, most pure: for wisdom flows down, or emanates, like a most pure stream from the most pure fountain of the glory or majesty of God. For how could it not come forth pure from so pure a fountain? Therefore nothing polluted falls upon it, because of its purity, as was stated. Origen and Augustine at the passages cited understand this also of the Son of God: for the Son of God is the aporrhea of the most pure and most limpid glory of Almighty God, because He emanates omnipotent from the Omnipotent, and glorious from the Glorious, not with changeable and perishable glory, but with the most pure and most limpid, which comes forth from the immutable Good, and which befits God by His very nature. Hear St. Augustine: "That the glory of wisdom is most pure and most limpid was said fittingly enough in contrast to that glory which is not called pure nor sincere glory: for every nature that is convertible and changeable, even if it is glorified in works of justice or wisdom, by the very fact that it has justice or wisdom as an accident, and what is accidental can also depart, its glory cannot be called sincere and limpid. But the Wisdom of God, who is the only-begotten Son, since He is in all things inconvertible and immutable, and every substantial good is in Him, which indeed can never be changed or converted, therefore His glory is proclaimed pure and sincere."
Finally, Pineda, Book III On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 26, understands by wisdom the theology implanted in Solomon by God together with the natural sciences, and beautifully applies all these things to him: "She is a vapor of the power of God," meaning: Since the very power and greatness of God's potency cannot be communicated and infused into man, from that supreme greatness there is breathed forth something thin, something subtle and fragrant, which is divine and smells of God. When man is suffused with it, that is, when he is imbued with theology, he is refreshed by a certain divine vapor and fragrance. Even if man does not then have the power of God, he nonetheless smells of it, he nonetheless knows it, he is nonetheless considered divine. And likewise, "a certain pure emanation of the glory of Almighty God," meaning: The stream of the Almighty's glory is limpid, which was said both because of what follows: "Nothing defiled falls upon her": which is the same as if he were to say, nothing of defilement slips into it. I would believe this was said with a certain allusion to the Nile, which neither emanates clear and limpid, but bursting forth from a most obscure spring, nor flows white and bright, but dark and turbid. So says Pineda.
26. FOR SHE IS THE BRIGHTNESS OF ETERNAL LIGHT, AND A SPOTLESS MIRROR OF THE MAJESTY OF GOD, AND THE IMAGE OF HIS GOODNESS. — The Syriac: "Wisdom is the splendor of the light, and an incorruptible mirror of the glory for all servants of God, and the form of His grace." The Arabic: "Because she is the splendor of the perpetual light, and a mirror of the work of God, in which there is no blemish," meaning: Wisdom is a ray of the divine majesty, as it were of the uncreated light and sun. Note that for "brightness" (candor) the Greek is apaugasma, that is, splendor, radiance, a shining forth; whence for "candor" many translate "splendor": so St. Ambrose, Book I On the Faith, chapter 4, the Council of Toledo XI; indeed, so the Vulgate translator renders it at Hebrews 1:3.
The sense is, meaning: Wisdom is the brightness, that is, the splendor of God and of the divinity, which is the eternal and uncreated light, that is, the immensely luminous and glorious majesty. Just as, therefore, a ray and splendor flows from the sun, so wisdom flows from God and the divinity, and shines like a divine ray. Again, just as the purest thing that comes forth from the light of the sun is brightness or splendor, which penetrates all things without being stained or obscured by any thing: so from the light of the intelligible sun of God there comes forth the most pure wisdom, illuminating all things, penetrating all things as a splendor, and thus it shines in all things, so that there is nothing that can defile or obscure it. Hear St. Augustine, Book IV On the Trinity, chapter 20: "What is the brightness of eternal light, other than the light of eternal light? For the brightness of light, what is it but light? And therefore it is co-eternal with the light from which it is light. He preferred, however, to say 'brightness of light' rather than 'light of light' (namely, the Latin translator), lest that which flows forth be thought more obscure than that from which it flows. And lest the light which begot be thought less, it was said, 'it is the brightness of light': for a greater does not flow from a lesser." Philo, Book I On the Monarchy: "Just as light is illuminated by nothing, but shows itself by itself, so God, who cannot be illuminated by any works of men, alone illuminates Himself by His divine essence." Thalassius to the priest Paulinus: "What light is to those who see and to things seen, that God is to those who understand and to things understood." Plato in the Alcibiades: "Just as mirrors are more evident than the pupil of the eye, and purer, so also God is something purer and more splendid than the best part of our soul." St. Basil on John, chapter 5, compares God to the sun, whose beauty and splendor all admire; but if anyone should wish to gaze upon it more deeply, he will not only see it less, but will also lose the sharpness of his eyes and be blinded.
He speaks properly about essential wisdom, which is an attribute of God common to the three Persons; yet concomitantly he speaks about notional wisdom, which is the Word or the Son, as the Fathers everywhere teach, and indeed the Apostle at Hebrews 1:3. For the Son proceeds from the Father as splendor or a ray from the sun; whence the splendor, which is of the same substance as the light of the sun, and coeval with it, and inseparable from it, and unfailing, signifies that the Son is consubstantial and co-eternal with the Father, and inseparable from Him, and cannot fail, as St. Chrysostom teaches in his Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 1, verse 3; St. Augustine,
The Wise Man here shows the nobility of wisdom from its origin, which is God Himself, and from its supreme conjunction with God; whence first, he compared it to a vapor exhaling from a warm thing; second, to a stream flowing from a fountain; third, here, to the splendor that the sun emits: for God the Father is, as it were, a light and sun emitting splendor, as St. Dionysius teaches in chapter 4 of On the Divine Names; fourth, to a spotless mirror; fifth, to an image. Alluding to this, our Lyric poet learnedly and elegantly sings thus of divine wisdom:
Goddess presiding over lands and sea, Pure offspring of a cloudless sky, The hidden radiance of the mind, and daughter Of flashing light. A Godhead born, without a mother, equal to the Father — The brightness of truth beheld without a cloud, The offspring of a noble mind, the genial ardor Of a nurturing heart. O sacred charm of the world, O face that fashions Beautiful nature, exemplar of the Paternal Mind, A serene shower of limpid light,
Interpreter of the Father, and like unto His voice, Born from the fruitful mouth of the Begetter, Fountain of virtues, noble mother Of beautiful honor. Begotten by the birth of the unwed Father, To be born by the birth of an unwed mother, The light, and the full abundance of true Truth Once spoken.
tract 20 on John; Damascene, Book I On the Faith, chapter 9; and St. Basil, Book II Against Eunomius, whom hear: "The Son has the whole Father in Himself, as a begotten image, and the splendor of the majesty of God shining from His whole majesty; and it is absurd that the majesty of God should not have a splendor, and that it should not always have been together with God." Hence in the Nicene Creed the Son is called Light from Light, God from God.
This similitude of splendor and wisdom is alike in many respects, but not in all: for splendor is an accident of the sun, but wisdom is the essence of God. Again, splendor is numerically different (indeed, as some hold, it differs also in species and essence) from the light of the sun; but wisdom is numerically the same as the divinity. Moreover, the splendor of the sun is increased, diminished, dulled, and dimmed by clouds and other opaque bodies; but the wisdom of God cannot be increased, diminished, or dimmed, but endures always in the same tenor. Furthermore, the Son is properly the splendor of the Father insofar as He is God, and also participatively insofar as He is man: for in the humanity of Christ the glory of the divinity shines forth, because "in Him (Christ, insofar as He is man) the whole fullness of the divinity dwells bodily," as the Apostle says in Colossians 2:9. Hence Honorius III, in the chapter Sane cum olim, on the Celebration of Masses, commands that the Eucharist be carried with a light going before, because it is the brightness of eternal light; and Julius III, in the bull establishing the Confraternity of the Holy Sepulchre, Constitution 38: "Since," he says, "in the ministry of the altar our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is the brightness of eternal light, is immolated, it is fitting that this not take place in the darkness of night, but in the light, namely at dawn, or already in broad daylight." See what was said at Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3.
Tropologically, "brightness" signifies that wisdom and the wise are candid, sincere, secure, truthful, faithful, not suspicious, pretending, doubtful, or deceitful. For, as Seneca says, Epistle 3: "Many have taught others to deceive, while they feared being deceived; and nothing must be more guarded against than appearing to distrust"; and with some words interspersed: "To trust no one and to trust everyone are one and the same vice."
Hear St. Bernard, sermon 17 on the Canticle: "Wisdom," he says, "does not admit ambiguity and obscurity. The two daughters of that most wicked mother, ignorance, are falsity and doubt: the former is more wretched, the latter more pitiable; the former is more pernicious, the latter more troublesome. When the Spirit speaks, both yield, and there is not only truth, but certain truth: for He is the Spirit of truth (to which falsity is opposed) and of wisdom, which, since it is the brightness of eternal life (St. Bernard has explained the effect of eternal light, namely that it is life participated from the fountain of eternal life, according to John 1:4: 'In Him was life, and the life was the light of men,' etc.), and reaches everywhere because of its purity, does not admit the obscurity of ambiguity." St. Gertrude experienced the same through a vision: for, as her Life records, Book II, chapter 22, she saw God Himself like a solar mirror, sending rays into her soul: "When," she says, "O Lord, You had applied to me in truth Your most longed-for face, bringing with You the abundance of all beatitude, I perceived through my eyes from Your divine eyes a light entering into my inmost being, incomprehensibly sweet, which, penetrating all my interior parts, seemed to work in each of my members a certain power admirable beyond measure. For it seemed to draw out the marrow of my bones, and then to annihilate the very bones with the flesh, so that the whole substance of my soul seemed to be nothing other than that divine splendor, which, wandering through the whole soul and its recesses, brought it an inestimable and most joyful serenity."
A singular example of this brightness as well as of wisdom was St. Bernard himself, who represented his interior brightness by the external brightness of his countenance, garments, speech, gestures, and actions. Hence the author of his Life, Book III, chapter 1, paints him with the bright colors of all virtues: "The first and greatest miracle that he exhibited was himself; serene in countenance, modest in bearing, circumspect in words, God-fearing in work, assiduous in sacred meditation, devout in prayer, and, as he himself used to admonish others, being persuaded by frequent experience, trusting more in prayer than in his own industry or labor for every matter. Magnanimous in faith, long-suffering in hope, lavish in charity, supreme in humility, outstanding in piety. Provident in councils, efficacious in affairs, yet never less than in leisure at leisure. Cheerful amid reproaches, modest amid attentions. Sweet in character, holy in merits, glorious in miracles, abounding in wisdom and virtue, and
in the Gospel the Son is not said to do similar things, but to do the same things in a similar way."
Finally, divine wisdom, exercising divine operations in the Blessed Virgin and the saints, causes them to be mirrors in which the purity, charity, holiness, and majesty of God shine forth. So St. Bonaventure and Holcot, who apply these things to the humanity of Christ: For Christ as man, he says, was a flat mirror by teaching plainly, a concave mirror by dying humbly, a convex mirror by rising powerfully. In a concave mirror, the lowest and highest things appear in reversed order, and fire is usually kindled from rays reflected there. What is more reversed and paradoxical than that God should be born, suffer, be crucified, and die? Hence in this meditation fire is kindled (Psalm 38:4). In Rhodiginus, Book 15, chapter 12, Apuleius writes that "Socrates frequently sent his disciples to mirrors, so that, taught by them, they might take care not to dishonor the beauty of their body by the ugliness of their morals"; and Pythagoras "commanded that one contemplate oneself in a mirror not by lamp-light, but by the bright sun," that is, to measure oneself against the most learned. But wisdom commands the faithful to gaze upon these mirrors of the life of Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and the saints, and to compare their own morals with them and, as far as possible, match them, so that they themselves may exhibit similar mirrors of holiness in themselves to others. Finally, chastity is a mirror in which God Himself shines in the creature.
AND A SPOTLESS MIRROR OF THE MAJESTY OF GOD. — For "majesty" the Greek has energeias, that is, energy, efficacy, operation, in which the majesty and magnificence of God shine forth. Hence Origen, and from him St. Augustine, On the Incarnation of the Word, chapter 13, reads "and a spotless mirror of the operation, or power, of God," meaning: Divine wisdom is a spotless mirror, that is, most smooth, most polished, most pure, most limpid, clearly representing the essence and majesty of God, and His force and energy, in which, namely, you clearly behold the operating power, the energy and efficacy of God, because wisdom itself puts forth and makes manifest the efficacious power by which God operates all things in this world, which, if wisdom were not at hand, would not at all come forth into work, and thus the efficacy of the operating power of God would not be displayed.
Again, Origen interprets the same of the Word and the Son, Book I Periarchon, chapter 2, and St. Augustine following him at the passage already cited: for the Son is produced and begotten through the intellect of the Father, as a word of the mind, and therefore is a perfect species, or mirror, in which the thing understood and known shines forth. Hear Origen and Augustine: "Wisdom is also said to be an immaculate mirror of the paternal operation of God. Therefore we must first understand what the operation of the power of God is: which is a certain vigor, so to speak, by which the Father operates either when He creates, or when He provides, or when He judges, or when He disposes and dispenses each thing in its time. For just as in a mirror, by all the movements and all the acts of the one who gazes into the mirror, the one either moves or acts, and by those same acts and movements the image which is formed through the mirror is also moved or acts, deviating in nothing at all; so also wisdom wishes to be understood concerning itself, when it is called the immaculate mirror of the paternal power and operation of God. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Wisdom of God, declares of Himself, saying: 'The works which the Father does, these the Son also does likewise'; and again He says: 'The Son cannot do anything of Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it.' Since therefore the Son deviates and differs from the Father in absolutely no respect in the power of His works, nor is the work of the Son other than the Father's, but one and the same, so to speak, motion is in all things, therefore He called Him an immaculate mirror, and by this no dissimilarity of the Son from the Father is understood, since in
AND THE IMAGE OF HIS GOODNESS. — Meaning: The wisdom of God is so good and beneficent that it is a clear image representing the goodness of God. You may object: the same represents to us the power, providence, and justice of God; why then did he say "goodness" rather than "justice" or "power"? The answer is that to God, as the supreme good, goodness is proper, and goodness is the reason why He communicates Himself and His own to creatures, and pours them out so liberally. Just as, therefore, an image expresses the face of the one whose image it is, so divine wisdom, poured out and diffused into created things, clearly represents the divine goodness, which is the cause and reason why God communicates Himself and diffuses Himself into all created things, giving them both their being and at the same time their goodness and beauty. Again, the Fathers attribute the name "image" to the Son: "For He is the image of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15), "and the figure (in Greek, character) of His substance" (Hebrews 1:3): see what was said there. Therefore He perfectly expresses the goodness of God the Father; indeed, He has the same goodness as the Father, says St. Augustine at the passage already cited; and from immense goodness the Father communicates His whole self to the Son, and therefore the Son is the image of His goodness.
Furthermore, three qualities of the Word are noted here, to be pursued by every prince, namely wisdom, power, and goodness, which like sisters accompany one another. Hence the poets depicted the goddess of wisdom, namely Pallas or Minerva, as glaukōpa, that is, with grey-blue eyes, armed, and the inventor of the olive and oil: for grey-blue eyes, reflecting the cerulean color of the purest sky, signify keen wisdom; arms signify power; the olive signifies goodness and beneficence.
Moreover, the wisdom of God makes men good; indeed, in the same degree in which it makes them wise, it equally makes them good, that is, friends of God and God-like, and imitators of divine goodness; so much so that they seem to be certain earthly gods, expressing in themselves the gifts and virtues of the heavenly God, and certain living images of God on earth. "Hence also in the operation of the Father," says St. Augustine, On the Incarnation, chapter 13, "which bestows being on all things, it is found to be more distinguished and magnificent, when each one, through participation in Christ, according to what He is as wisdom, and what He is as knowledge, and sanctification, advances and comes to higher degrees of progress, and through this, that by the participation of the Holy Spirit someone who has been sanctified has been made purer and more sincere, he more worthily receives wisdom and the grace of knowledge, so that with all the stains of pollution and ignorance driven away and purged, he receives such progress in sincerity and purity that what he received from God in order to exist is such as is worthy of God; because He provided that it should exist purely and so perfectly, that what it is may be as worthy as He is who made it be. For thus also he will receive from God the power to always exist and to remain forever, he who is such as the One who made him willed him to be." So St. Augustine, or whoever the author is, for the style argues that this is not the work of St. Augustine, but of some disciple of his who imitated his style, as the doctors of Louvain rightly observed in their censure of this book. Add that this author transcribed most of the passages I have already cited from him almost word for word from Origen, Book I Periarchon, chapter 2, as anyone who reads and compares both will see. Finally, Pineda, Book III On the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 26, understands by wisdom the theology infused into Solomon by God: "This," he says, "is the brightness and splendor of eternal light, namely of the theology of God and the blessed; and a spotless mirror of the majesty of God. For just as objects fall upon a mirror, so that their image seems to be seen: so indeed in the human mind, especially if it presents itself limpid to God and to wisdom, God presents Himself to be beheld, His majesty, power, virtue, and the remaining attributes of the divine nature; 'and the image of His goodness,' not only because theology discusses the goodness of God, but because it seems to demand that, just as wisdom in God is joined with supreme holiness, so also the same wisdom should be joined with holiness in the human soul, and should reflect divine goodness and holiness. For this reason it is compared to a river, to a stream, and to an emanation, to signify that wisdom goes forth from that immense ocean of wisdom and divinity in such a way that, although it ranges through the human soul and through the very broad fields of things to be known and of all creatures, it must at length return to its source and end in God, the first fountain of wisdom. If this does not happen, if some wise man becomes foolish, if he does not seek God, does not worship Him, it is no less astonishing than when 'the Jordan was turned backward.' For by a similar reasoning it was said of Solomon growing foolish in 3 Kings 11:9: 'The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was turned away (turned backward) from the Lord God of Israel.'"
Mystically, you may apply all these wonderful and magnificent praises of wisdom to the Blessed Virgin: for she, after Christ and through Christ, above all men and angels, is "a vapor of the power of God and a certain pure emanation of the glory of Almighty God"; she is "the brightness of eternal light and a spotless mirror of the majesty of God, and the image of His goodness"; she has every power, foresees all things, and comprehends all intelligible spirits, even the cherubim and seraphim: for she is the sea of wisdom, and the abyss of purity, goodness, and all graces. Indeed, the Fathers say that her grace and consequently her glory are, as it were, infinite; for just as the endowment and dignity of the motherhood of God is, as it were, infinite, so likewise it demands, as it were, infinite grace and glory. For, as St. Thomas says, Part III, Question 7, article 10, in the Mother of God there was grace proportioned to such a dignity. Hear the Fathers. St. Epiphanius, oration On the Praises of the Virgin: "The grace," he says, "of the Holy Virgin is immense." St. Anselm, in his book On the Excellency of the Virgin, chapter 8: "For one desiring to consider the immensity of your grace and glory, O Virgin, the mind fails and the tongue grows weary." Damascene, Oration 2 On the Dormition of the Virgin: "The Virgin," he says, "is the treasury of life, the immense abyss of grace." Most eloquently St. Bonaventure in the Mirror, chapter 5: "Immense," he says, "was the grace with which the Virgin was full: for an immense vessel cannot be full unless what fills it is immense. But the vessel of Mary was most immense, from which she was able to contain Him who was greater than heaven." And after some further words: "You, therefore, most immense, are more capacious than heaven, because He whom the heavens could not contain, etc. You are more capacious than the world: because He whom the whole world does not contain, etc. If therefore Mary was so most capacious in her womb, how much more in her mind! And if the capacity was so immense, it was indeed necessary that the grace which could fill so great a capacity should be immense." Blessed Peter Damian, sermon On the Nativity of the Virgin: "The glory," he says, "which received her passing from this world knows no beginning and no end."
But take all these things with a grain of salt, for just as the motherhood of God is an endowment and dignity that is entitatively and absolutely finite, since it falls upon a pure and mere creature, whose capacity is limited and finite and not capable of an absolutely infinite gift, so likewise absolutely finite is the grace and glory that fittingly corresponds to and is due to this motherhood. It is therefore called by the Fathers immense and infinite, not absolutely, but in a qualified sense, namely objectively and relatively: first, because it regards an infinite object, namely God; for through Him the Blessed Virgin truly is the Mother of God; just as the vision of God, although in itself it is a finite quality, yet in relation to its object, namely God, in
toward which it tends, is called infinite, as St. Thomas teaches, Part I, Question 25, article 6, reply to 4. Second, in relation to our intellect, because the abundance of the Virgin's grace and glory surpasses it, so that we cannot conceive and match it with definite precision in our mind, nor fully comprehend it: for by hyperbole men call infinite what they themselves cannot comprehend and define, or definitively assign. Third, because in relation to men and angels it is infinite: for all men and angels created by God in such eminence of nature and grace, and all those who could be created, in no way approach the dignity and eminence of the motherhood and of the Mother of God, and consequently neither her grace and glory. For God measures out to angels and men that measure of grace which their capacity and the ordinary law of God require: wherefore in that measure He confers grace on them, so that there always remains more grace to be given, of which their nature is still capable.
There is the additional consideration that according to distinguished philosophers and theologians, who hold that the degrees of intensity of grace, and of any habit and power, are not homogeneous but heterogeneous — so that, for example, the second degree of intensity of grace is of a different kind and genus from the first, and the third of a different kind from the second, and so on — it must plainly be said that if to anyone there were given grace and degrees of grace that are heterogeneous, that is, of a different and higher kind than ours, they were given to the Blessed Virgin: because her motherhood is heterogeneous and of a higher order than every other created dignity, and because her acts were most intense and most excellent. If this is true, it follows that even if infinite angels were created by God with their gifts and graces, they would never approach the grace of the Blessed Virgin: for she surpasses by far in the number of degrees of grace each and every angel created or creatable. And since these degrees are posited as heterogeneous, all the lower ones, however many and most numerous, never approach the dignity and excellence of the higher ones, as being of a higher order and of a different nature, just as bronze, however much there is, never approaches the dignity of gold. Let us suppose, for example, that the highest individual angels have grace as 50, but the Blessed Virgin as a thousand; her fifty-first degree of grace, being of a higher order, will surpass in dignity all the degrees of grace of all the angels, since theirs do not exceed 50 and are therefore of a lower order, condition, and nature. Much more will the 52nd degree of grace of the Blessed Virgin surpass them, and still more the 53rd, 54th, and all the rest in succession: because the higher they are, the nobler and more perfect they equally are, and therefore of a higher order, and they surpass the degrees below them more than those surpass others subject to them, just as the angels of the first hierarchy surpass the angels of the second hierarchy more than these surpass the angels of the third: because the more one approaches God, the higher one rises and the more one is perfected and, as it were, expanded. This
is clear in the heavens, which the higher they are, the greater the circumference, capacity, and magnitude they have.
From this you may gather, first, that in the Blessed Virgin there is a fullness of grace in a singular sense and manner, inasmuch as the capacity of the creature was filled in the aforesaid way, according to the ordinary law of God. This is what St. Cyprian intended, in his sermon On the Nativity of Christ, saying: "To the Mother of God the fullness of grace is owed." And Sophronius, sermon On the Assumption: "To others grace is given in parts, but into Mary the whole fullness of grace pours itself." These words are adopted by St. Bernard, Bonaventure, Damian, and others. Second, St. Anselm says of the Virgin: "It was fitting that the Virgin should shine with a purity than which no greater can be conceived under God." Under God, understand Christ. Hence St. Bernard: "Rightly therefore is Mary said to be clothed with the sun, because she penetrated the most profound abyss of God's wisdom, beyond what can be believed, so that, as far as the condition of a creature allows without the personal union, she seems to be immersed in that inaccessible light." And St. Ambrose, whom Dionysius the Carthusian cites: "The Incomprehensible One," he says, "was working incomprehensibly in His mother." The a priori reason is the dignity both of the motherhood and of the mediatrix: for the Mother of God was by her own right constituted by Christ as mediatrix of God and of all men, wherefore she receives not a singular grace for herself alone, but a universal grace, as of a head, to be poured out upon all the faithful. St. Anselm teaches this, in his book On the Excellency of the Virgin, chapter 9: "Who, then," he says, "pondering these things, can estimate with what praise she is worthy, who alone above all had to be made the mediatrix of such great blessings?" And a little earlier: "The pure holiness," he says, "and the most holy purity of her most pious heart, transcending all the purity and holiness of every creature, merited by incomparable purity that she should most worthily become the restorer of the lost world." And St. Laurence Justinian, sermon On the Annunciation: "Great indeed," he says, "was the grace of Mary, overflowing and complete, which gave glory to the heavens, provided joy to the angels, poured peace back upon the world, taught the nations by faith, and put an end to vices. How is Mary not, according to the oracle of Gabriel, full of grace, who was made the ladder of paradise, the gate of heaven, the intercessor of the world, the truest mediatrix of God and men?" And St. Bonaventure in the Mirror: "All rivers," he says, "enter the sea, as all the charisms of the saints enter into Mary: for the river of the grace of angels enters into Mary, the river of the grace of apostles enters into Mary," etc. And finally, where he runs through all the conditions of the saints: "What wonder," he says, "if all grace flowed together into Mary, through whom such great grace flowed down to all? For Blessed Augustine says: 'Full of grace are you, Mary, which you found with God and merited to pour out through the whole world.'" Hear also Sophronius, sermon On the Assumption: "It was fitting," he says, "that the Virgin be endowed with such gifts, that she should be full of grace
who gave glory to the heavens, poured forth God and peace upon the earth, faith to the nations, an end to vices, order to life, and discipline to morals. What wonder if she has joy and glory full and overflowing in the kingdom, who has grace full and overflowing in exile? What wonder indeed if both in heaven and on earth her fullness is above every creature, from whose fullness all nature flourishes?" I have collected more on this matter at Sirach 24, and Proverbs 31:10 and following.
27. AND BEING BUT ONE, SHE CAN DO ALL THINGS; AND REMAINING IN HERSELF, SHE RENEWS ALL THINGS, AND THROUGH NATIONS TRANSFERS HERSELF INTO HOLY SOULS, AND CONSTITUTES THE FRIENDS OF GOD AND PROPHETS. — The wisdom of God in itself is one, but in powers, offices, and arts it is manifold, because it can do, indeed does, all things: for without wisdom nothing is done by God. This is what was said at verse 23: "Having all power." She is therefore pantodynamos, that is, omnipotent, and being one and undivided in herself, she contains in herself the force and perfection of infinite things: wherefore being one she suffices for producing, containing, preserving, and governing all things.
AND REMAINING IN HERSELF (stable, immovable, and immutable) SHE RENEWS ALL THINGS — because she always works new things, always produces new effects, both in nature and in grace. Thus in spring she produces new flowers, in summer new harvests, in autumn new fruits, in winter new snows, rains, and ice. Thus she renews all the ranks and states of men, by replacing old men with new, and by correcting and reforming the old deformed morals through new religious men.
AND THROUGH NATIONS SHE TRANSFERS HERSELF INTO HOLY SOULS. — For "nations" the Greek has geneas, that is, generations, which means first, ages and centuries, as if to say: Wisdom through each century communicated itself to holy souls, chosen and beloved by it. There was no age lacking in wisdom and holiness, but in each there were always some wise and holy men, friends of God and prophets, selected and consecrated by God. Hence Vatablus translates, "and through the successions of ages transferring herself into holy souls." Second, by "generations" you may understand with our translator, the races and nations of men who are born on earth, meaning: There is no nation in which wisdom has not had or does not have some disciples, friends, and prophets of its own — either properly so called, namely those who pronounce future and secret things; or by catachresis, prophets meaning eminently wise and holy men: for such were the prophets of old.
For God is no respecter of ages, persons, or nations, "but in every nation, whoever fears Him and works justice is acceptable to Him" (Acts 10:35). These, therefore, God constitutes — in Greek kataskeuazei — that is, first, He builds and constructs them, as royal basilicas and living temples of God; second, He equips, adorns, and prepares them, as sacred oracles of God; third, He teaches, prepares, and directs them, as teachers of the world, to teach and convert it; fourth, He fortifies and arms them against all the assaults of men and demons; fifth, He proves, confirms, establishes, and stabilizes them with virtues and miracles, as with certain seals of Himself.
28. FOR GOD LOVES NO ONE EXCEPT HIM WHO DWELLS WITH WISDOM — as with a wife and spouse, for in Greek it is synoikōn sophia, that is, joined in marriage to wisdom: for synoikēsis, that is, cohabitation, is called marriage, because in it husband and wife cohabit. Hence in the next chapter, verse 2, he says: "I sought to take her as my spouse"; for which St. Ambrose, in his book On Widows, reads: "I therefore proposed to bring her to me in marriage." By wisdom here and in all these books of Solomon, understand practical wisdom, namely prudence, virtue, holiness, charity: for with this, indeed in this, wisdom and the Holy Spirit dwell. "For God is charity, and whoever abides in charity abides in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16); and "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him" (John 14:23). The word "dwells with" signifies that the wise man, that is, the holy man, lives familiarly and constantly with wisdom, that is, with holiness, charity, and God.
29. For she is more beautiful (so the Roman and Greek texts; therefore some wrongly read "more precious") than the sun, AND ABOVE EVERY ARRANGEMENT OF THE STARS, COMPARED WITH LIGHT SHE IS FOUND TO BE PRIOR. — For "more beautiful" the Greek is euprepestera, that is, more comely, more adorned, more modest, more elegant, more composed, becoming, refined, distinguished, and excellent. He gives the reason why God so loves wisdom, and loves no one except on account of her, namely, no one unless endowed with her. The reason is the value, excellence, beauty, loveliness, and brightness of wisdom, which is so great that it surpasses the splendor of the sun and every arrangement of the stars, which shine like so many gems; and it exceeds and precedes light, both that of the stars and of any thing, indeed even that primordial light created and gathered together by God at the beginning of the world before the sun and stars, from which, divided into parts, the sun and stars were then formed, as I said on Genesis 1. For the sun, stars, and that primordial light were a created, finite, material, corporeal, mutable splendor, subject to setting; but the splendor of wisdom is uncreated, infinite, immaterial, incorporeal, immutable, eternal, divine.
An elegant fable of the sun and the eagle exists for this and the preceding sentence, seasoned with the salt of wisdom, in Cyril, Book I of the Moral Apologues, chapter 2, whose title is: "Man is nothing to himself without wisdom": "An eagle," he says, "ascending to the height of the clearer air, having gazed upon the sun with a fixed look and observed its wonderful beauty, soon posed this question to it, and said: 'What are you, O admirable vessel, so beautiful?' But the sun replied: 'I do not know.' Then the eagle, even more amazed — namely, that in the fountain of light it had found the darkness of such ignorance — added: 'How is it that in your splendors other things are seen, and yet you, unaware of yourself, do not see yourself?' To which
the sun said: 'Indeed, I am not without wisdom: for only those things enjoy knowledge of themselves which are reflexive upon themselves.' To this the eagle, arguing thus, said: 'How then has the glory of so great brightness been lost to you, the dignity of so great preciousness, the causality of so great power, and the perpetuity of so great solidity? For since you do not know yourself, you are nothing to yourself; for prudence is nothing to a fool, brilliance to a blind man, and eloquence to a deaf man.' Then the Sun replied: 'Even if I am nothing to myself, yet I am something to Him whose are all things, and this is a certain greatest vessel of wisdom: for the wise man himself, since by knowing himself alone he is his own, has been constituted lord also of all things that are not his own and lack understanding, through wisdom.' He immediately adds a clear reason, saying: 'For man, by participation in the same wisdom (Genesis 1:28), adorned with the divine image, was from the very beginning set over all visible things of the world: namely for this reason, because all things belong to the wise man, over whom the strength of metals and gems does not prevail; indeed even the power of riches serves as an auxiliary to him. Wherefore (Proverbs 3:15), wisdom is more precious than all riches, and all things that are desired cannot be compared to her.' Having heard these things, the eagle, immediately inflamed with love of wisdom, asked the sun to show by the light of a definition what that wisdom was. Willingly assenting, the sun said: 'Wisdom is that truth of the mind by which the Supreme Being, who is God, is beheld by right faith, and held by chaste love: for whoever is endowed with this is now lord of the world and possessor of himself.' Having carefully noted these things, the eagle returned joyfully to its own place."
he adds. Furthermore, the phrase "and above every arrangement of the stars" depends on and is connected with what follows, "compared with light she is found to be prior," meaning: If beyond the order and light of the stars, you compare wisdom to the primordial light, like the sun illuminating the whole world at the very beginning of the world, wisdom will certainly be found prior to that light, both in time and in dignity, meaning: If you compare wisdom not only to the stars, but also to the light which was first and greatest in the world, she will be found prior and more powerful.
30. FOR NIGHT SUCCEEDS IT, BUT WISDOM IS NOT OVERCOME (in Greek, katischyei, that is, prevails, overcomes, circumvents, contends with, constrains) BY MALICE. — He gives the reason why wisdom is prior, that is, more powerful and more excellent than light, not only of the sun and stars, but also of the primordial light of the world — because that light, moving and revolving like the sun through our hemisphere, would set in the evening and pass over to the other, opposite hemisphere of the world, and so night would succeed it, and the light itself would be turned into darkness. But wisdom is always consistent with itself, nor can it be turned into foolishness or malice, nor be overcome by it. He speaks properly of the uncreated wisdom of God: for this is so powerful and provident that it can be overcome by no malice, but rather it overcomes all the malice of men and demons, and also all the malice of things, that is, their hardness and difficulty, and subjects them to itself. Concomitantly, however, and consequently, he speaks of participated wisdom infused into man: granted that it may withdraw from the man who falls away from wisdom and holiness and passes into foolishness and malice; yet it in itself, that is, in its source, remains unharmed and intact with God. Again, it cannot be snatched from a man who is unwilling and does not consent, and therefore as long as a man wishes to retain it, he cannot be overcome by malice. Hence it is clear that by wisdom is understood prudence, justice, and holiness: for he opposes malice to it, and malice is the practical and supreme foolishness.
For "malice" the Greek is kakia, that is, malice both of fault and of punishment, namely, both iniquity and adversity and calamity, meaning: Neither fault nor punishment nor any affliction overcomes the wisdom of God. The abstract can also be taken for the concrete, meaning: malice, that is, the evil and impious who persecute the pious, cannot overcome their wisdom and virtue, as long as they do not voluntarily abandon it. Hence some read, "malice does not fall upon wisdom."
AND ABOVE EVERY ARRANGEMENT (in Greek thesin, that is, position, placement, location, arrangement, ordering) OF THE STARS. — First, a Castro explains it, meaning: Wisdom is placed above every position of the stars; in loftiness it surpasses the stars and heavens, because it sits with God on the most exalted throne of His divinity. Second, the same author and others explain it better, meaning: Wisdom by its splendor, order, beauty, and arrangement surpasses the splendor, order, beauty, and arrangement of all the stars. Hence Vatablus translates: "and it surpasses every series of stars, and compared with light it is found to be superior." He names the arrangement of the stars because in their position and arrangement there is a wonderful order and wonderful beauty, so much so that the array of the stars is as ordered as that of military camps. Hence it is called the militia of heaven, and the army of God of hosts (Judges 5:20; Isaiah 24:21; Deuteronomy 17:3). Again, the stars are arranged in heaven like lights and eyes in a head: whence by the poets they are called the eyes of heaven or of Jupiter.
COMPARED WITH LIGHT SHE IS FOUND TO BE PRIOR. — Prior both in time, that is, earlier, because wisdom existed from eternity in God and is coeval with Him, whereas light was created at the beginning of the world and of time; and in dignity and excellence, whence Vatablus translates "more powerful." On the beauty of the sun, stars, and light, I have spoken at Genesis 1 and Sirach 43:1 and following. This sense is required by the reason which
He found. A woman is given in return for a woman, a prudent one for a foolish, a humble one for a proud: who, in place of the tree of death, may offer you the taste of life, and in place of that poisonous food of bitterness, may produce the sweetness of eternal fruit. Change, therefore, the word of unjust excuse into a voice of thanksgiving, and say: 'Lord, the woman whom You gave me gave me from the tree of life, and I ate, and it was sweet beyond honey to my mouth, because in it You have given me life.'"
The same, in his sermon On the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: "Wisdom," he says, "overcomes malice, when Satan is crushed by the power of God and the wisdom of God, Christ," etc.; which I will more conveniently quote in the next chapter, verse 1.
The same, sermon 85 on the Canticle, gives the reason: "Virtue," he says, "is the vigor of the soul standing immovably with reason; or virtue is the vigor of the soul, which in itself compels or directs all things toward reason." And after more he adds: "And if anyone defines wisdom as the love of virtue, he will not seem to deviate from the truth. But where there is love, there is no labor, but savor; and perhaps wisdom (sapientia) is named from savor (sapor), because by approaching virtue it renders savory, as it were, by a certain condiment, what by itself seemed somehow tasteless and harsh. Nor would I think it blameworthy if anyone were to define wisdom as the savor of the good. We lost this savor almost from the very beginning of our race: from which time, with the sense of the flesh prevailing, the venom of the ancient serpent infected the palate of the heart, and the soul began not to savor the good, and a noxious flavor began to creep in." He adds the reason: "Because the malice of the serpent circumvented the foolishness of the woman; but from whence malice seemed to have conquered for a time, from thence it grieves that it is conquered for eternity: for behold, wisdom has again filled the heart and body of a woman, so that we who were deformed into foolishness through a woman may be reformed to wisdom through a woman. And now wisdom continually overcomes malice in minds,
into which she has entered, exterminating the savor of evil which that one (i.e. the serpent's malice) brought in, with a better savor. Wisdom, entering in, while she makes foolish the sense of the flesh, purifies the understanding of the heart, heals and restores the palate."
Furthermore, St. Bonaventure in the Mirror, chapter 3: "Some," he says, "read here 'prior,' others 'purer': both befit Mary, our star. For Mary is prior, that is, more powerful, or more worthy; Mary is also purer than the sun and stars and light, because both in dignity and in purity she surpasses the sun and stars and all corporeal light, indeed even spiritual light, that is, the angelic creature, of which it is said, Genesis 1:4: 'God divided the light from the darkness,' that is, the standing angels from the falling ones. In this light at least, Mary is prior and purer than the angels: prior in dignity, and purer in holiness. Hence Anselm exclaims: 'O blessed above women, who surpasses the angels in purity, exceeds the saints in piety.'" So Bonaventure. Accordingly, St. Ephrem, oration On the Mother of God, speaking of her: "O you," he says, "more glorious than all the heavenly hosts, crown of all saints and virgins, inaccessible because of your radiance, prince of all, leader of all, most sacred maiden. Through you we have been reconciled to my God."
Tropologically, light, indeed the sun, suffers its own defects; for at one time it exults like a giant crowned with the brilliant mane of its rays, but at another time it labors like Hercules, surrounded by blind darkness. But wisdom, that is virtue, stands unconquered amid any adversities, and remains like itself. Hear Tertullian, On the Shows, chapter 29: "Do you want boxing and wrestling too? They are at hand, not small but many. Behold impurity conquered by chastity, treachery slain by faith, cruelty crushed by mercy, wantonness overshadowed by modesty; and such are the contests among us in which we ourselves are crowned. Do you want some blood as well? You have the blood of Christ."
St. Bernard gives an example, Homily 2 on Missus est, of Adam and Eve, Christ and Mary: for the former, being foolish, were overcome by the malice of the serpent and of pride; but the latter, being wise, overcame both the foolishness of the former and the malice of the serpent. "What were you saying," he asks, "O Adam, Genesis 3:13: 'The woman whom You gave me gave me of the tree, and I ate'? These are words of malice, by which you increase rather than remove the fault. Nevertheless, wisdom overcame malice, when the occasion of pardon, which God by questioning tried to elicit from you but could not, He found in the treasury of His unfailing mercy.