Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He continues with the antithesis of the faithful Hebrews and the unfaithful Egyptians; hence he recounts the many punishments inflicted on the Egyptians, and especially their submersion in the Red Sea, and sets against these the various benefits bestowed on the Hebrews, both in Egypt and in the desert. From this he concludes that all the elements serve God, both for punishing the wicked and for rewarding the pious, and that they obey Him at a nod; and finally, giving thanks for all things, he concludes the book.
Vulgate Text: Wisdom 19:1-21
1. But upon the wicked, wrath came upon them without mercy to the very end. For He foreknew their future deeds as well: 2. that although they themselves had permitted them to depart, and had sent them away with great concern, they would pursue them, driven by repentance. 3. For while they still had mourning in their hands, and were lamenting at the tombs of the dead, they took upon themselves another foolish resolve: and those whom they had cast out with entreaties, they now pursued as fugitives: 4. for a fitting necessity drew them to this end: and they lost the memory of the things that had happened, so that the punishment might fill up what was lacking to their torments: 5. and so Your people would pass through wonderfully, while those others would find a strange death. 6. For every creature was refashioned from the beginning according to its kind, serving Your commands, so that Your children might be kept unharmed. 7. For a cloud overshadowed their camp, and where water had been before, dry land appeared, and in the Red Sea a way without hindrance, and a sprouting field from the great deep: 8. through which the whole nation passed, protected by Your hand, beholding Your wonders and marvels. 9. For like horses they grazed on food, and like lambs they leaped for joy, magnifying You, O Lord, who had delivered them. 10. For they still remembered what had been done during their sojourn, how instead of the offspring of animals the earth brought forth gnats, and instead of fish the river vomited up a multitude of frogs. 11. But at the very last they saw a new creation of birds, when driven by desire they asked for foods of feasting. 12. For to console their longing, quail rose up for them from the sea: and punishments came upon the sinners, not without the evidence of what had been done before, through the violence of thunderbolts: for they suffered justly according to their own wickedness. 13. For they practiced a more detestable inhospitality: some indeed did not receive unknown strangers, but others enslaved good guests. 14. And not only this, but there was also another regard concerning them: because they received foreigners unwillingly. 15. But those who had received with joy the ones who had shared the same rights, they afflicted with the most cruel pains. 16. And they were struck with blindness: just as those at the door of the just man, when they were covered with sudden darkness, each one sought the passage of his own door. 17. For when the elements are transposed among themselves, as when in a musical instrument the quality of the sound is changed, yet all things keep their own tone: which can be estimated with certainty from the very sight of things. 18. For land animals were changed into water creatures: and whatever had been swimming passed onto land. 19. Fire had power in water beyond its own nature, and water forgot its quenching nature. 20. Flames on the contrary did not waste the flesh of perishable animals walking among them, nor did they dissolve that which was easily dissolved like ice,
good food. For in all things You magnified Your people, O Lord, and honored them, and did not despise them, at all times and in every place standing by them.
2. 2. But upon the wicked, wrath came upon them without mercy to the very end. For He foreknew their future deeds as well.
In Greek: but upon the wicked an unmerciful indignation pressed down: for He foresaw their future deeds as well. These words depend on the end of the preceding chapter: for he continues with the antithesis of the Hebrews and the Egyptians, as if to say: The Hebrews murmuring in the sedition of Korah were punished by God with fire, but they quickly came to their senses: therefore, by the slaughter of a few, the rest became more cautious, for the trial alone, that is, the experience of wrath, was sufficient for their correction: therefore the plague of fire did not rage against them to the extreme, but only moderately for their testing and amendment; but upon the wicked Egyptians the vengeance of God came to the point of destruction, without any mercy: for God saw their obstinacy, namely that they were incorrigible, and would change their ways by no threats or punishments; therefore He drowned them all to the last man in the Red Sea.
2. 2. For although they themselves had permitted them to depart, and had sent them away with great concern, they pursued them, driven by repentance.
In Greek diokonta, that is, they will pursue them, driven by repentance. Incorrectly the Complutensians read "driven by repentance" [as a genitive], although the sense comes to the same thing: for the act of repentance was the Egyptians' pursuit, that they might recall the Hebrews to themselves; in Greek: inasmuch as they themselves had permitted them to depart, and with zeal had sent them away, they would be driven by repentance to pursue them. The sentence depends on "He foresaw" which preceded, as if to say: God foresaw that the Egyptians, although stricken by the slaughter of the firstborn they would permit, indeed compel, the Hebrews to leave Egypt, lest they suffer even heavier plagues from God, yet soon afterward, driven by regret, they would pursue them to bring them back to Egypt, as in fact they did pursue them all the way to the Red Sea, in which God therefore drowned them all: read Exodus 14:25.
3. 3. For while they still had mourning in their hands, and were lamenting at the tombs of the dead, they took upon themselves another foolish resolve: and those whom they had cast out with entreaties, they now pursued as fugitives.
As if to say: The Egyptians pursued the Hebrews, whom shortly before they had sent away like masters with entreaties, now changing their plan they pursued them like fugitive slaves: thus frequently elsewhere "to cast out" means "to send away." For "of foolishness" the Greek has anoias, that is, of stupidity, of madness: for they pursued them foolishly, because by pursuing they were drowned in the Red Sea; therefore this was a thought of foolishness, that is, a foolish, stupid, and insane plan of the Egyptians.
4. 4. For a fitting necessity drew them to this end: and they lost the memory of the things that had happened, so that the punishment might fill up what was lacking to their torments.
In Greek: a fitting necessity drew them, and cast upon them forgetfulness of what had happened, so that they might complete the punishment that was still lacking to their torments. "Commemoration" means memory. For "led," the Greek has eilke, that is, drew, as if to say: A necessity of divine ordination, that is, of the punishment decreed against them by God, drew the Egyptians to this outcome and destruction, namely to their drowning in the sea; for God had decreed to blind them, so that while they pursued the Hebrews through the Red Sea divided by God, having entered its channel, they would be overwhelmed by the waters rushing back upon them: and because the memory of the previous plagues sent upon the Egyptians through Moses could have called them back from pursuing the Hebrews, God cast forgetfulness of those plagues upon them, so that they might fill up the measure of their tyranny and their crimes, and when that measure was full, He in turn would fill up, that is, complete the sum of punishment, by drowning them all in the sea, and then in the fire of Gehenna: see the commentary on Exodus 14:25.
Note that the drawing and pulling of this necessity, by which the Egyptians were drawn by God to their own destruction, was not natural, antecedent, and absolute, for that would be opposed to freedom and free will; but it was moral and consequent, resting upon God's certain foreknowledge, by which God foreknew that if He placed the Hebrews in a strait, namely in the narrows of the rock and the Red Sea, so that they could not escape naturally, the Egyptians would freely pursue them to capture them, even through the Red Sea: and once that happened, they themselves would necessarily there, by the force of His decree by which He willed to punish and drown them, actually be drowned and suffocated. Again, "fitting necessity" can be taken as a merited fate, a certain condition conjoined with their character and nature, so that it seemed like a kind of fatal necessity, says Pineda, Book VI of De Rebus Salomonis, chapter 15, number 10: this necessity is on the part of the matter, whose guilt demands a just punishment, just as the former was on the part of God and His decree and vindicative justice, which, as it were, necessarily demands a just vindication of guilt, so that justice may be satisfied; the former therefore is correlative to the latter, and corresponds to it in antistrophe: for guilt demands punishment from justice, and conversely justice inflicts a just punishment on the guilt and the guilty, so that the disgrace of guilt does not remain without the dignity of punishment and just vindication: for the latter equals the former, and as it were, obliterates it.
5 and 6. 5 and 6. And indeed Your people would pass through wonderfully, while those others would find a strange death. For every creature was refashioned from the beginning according to its kind, serving Your commands, so that Your children might be kept unharmed.
In Greek, paradoxon edyporian perase, that is, would pass through a paradoxical, unexpected, wondrous journey, or perfection; Vatablus and others read peraze, that is, would attempt: see the commentary on chapter 10, verse 17. While those others (namely the Egyptians) would find a strange (in Greek, xenon, that is, foreign, new, unusual, wondrous) death (of drowning in the Red Sea). For every creature was refashioned according to its kind (that is, according to or alongside its own kind, that is, as the Greek has it, in its own kind) from the beginning, serving Your commands, so that Your children might be kept unharmed.
As if to say: First, all the creatures that You employed to punish the Egyptians and to save the Hebrews put on a new form and figure, so that what had previously existed as of one condition now began to be of another, and received, as it were, a new existence from the beginning. He explains this with examples of the column, the cloud, the sea, the manna, and the other things he sets forth below: for all these things seemed to change their character and nature in favor of the Hebrews, so as to become beneficial for the Hebrews but harmful for the Egyptians. Hence Vatablus translates: inasmuch as all created things, serving the care committed to them according to their kind, put on an entirely new form, so that Your children might be preserved unharmed. Second, St. Bonaventure explains "from the beginning" as follows, as if to say: The creatures recovered the condition they had in the state of innocence, namely to be harmless, and not to harm innocent Adam, for example, water by drowning, fire by burning, thorns by pricking, clouds by darkening, etc.: for instead of "from the beginning," the Greek has palin anothen, that is, again from above, or from on high; or again afresh, or from the beginning; or again from the origin, from the ancient source, as it was once at its beginning and creation: for anothen signifies these three things. St. Bonaventure follows this third meaning; and our commentator a Castro says: The creature was recalled to the beginning of creation, as if it were created anew and reformed for the benefit of the Israelites: for it seemed again reformed by God, by whom it had been made in the beginning. "Serving Your commands," in Greek, "its own mandates," that is, performing certain proper functions, which God assigned to it for the benefit of the Hebrews. For "was refashioned," the Greek has anetyputo, that is, it was recalled to its own type or form, it was reformed according to its primeval idea, it was applied anew to its own type, so that it might receive a new form and figure: for the type or form of created things is the idea that exists in the divine mind and will: for according to this God creates and recreates, forms and reforms all things.
7. 7. For a cloud overshadowed their camp, and where water had been before, dry land appeared, and in the Red Sea a way without hindrance, and a sprouting field from the great deep.
In Greek: a cloud overshadowed the camp: and where water had been before, dry land was seen emerging: from the Red Sea an unimpeded way, and a field bearing green grass from a violent whirlpool. He demonstrates with examples what he said, namely that God had transformed and changed all manner of creatures in favor of the Hebrews: the first example is the pillar going before the camp, for it changed its form daily, shining at night like fire to illuminate the entire camp of the Hebrews, but during the day becoming opaque like a cloud to overshadow the camp and protect it from the heat of the sun. The second example is that where water had been before, dry land appeared, and in the Red Sea a way without hindrance; in Greek: from the previously existing water, a dry emergence of land was seen, or dry land appeared emerging, and from the Red Sea a clear path, namely when God, through Moses striking the Red Sea with his rod, divided it and brought in a strong wind that thoroughly dried its channel and, cutting away whatever woods, reeds, rocks, etc. were there, leveled it, so that the Hebrews, even children and women, might cross it dry-footed, easily, gently, and with exultation; hence Isaiah, chapter 63, verse 13: "He who led them through the depths," he says, "like a horse in the desert that does not stumble," as if to say: Just as a horse in a hippodrome, where everything is leveled and smoothed for the course, runs easily and nowhere stumbles: so the Hebrews passed gently through the channel of the Red Sea leveled by God. Isaiah continues: "Like an animal descending into a plain: the Spirit of the Lord was his guide: thus You led Your people, to make for Yourself a glorious name." And the Psalmist, Psalm 106:9: "And He rebuked the Red Sea, and it was dried up, and He led them through the depths as through a desert." Here is relevant what Philo says, in the book On the Life of Moses, that the bottom of the Red Sea, previously muddy and slimy, hardened: "With its particles," he says, "it hardened like a pavement constructed of stone;" understand, sufficiently to make their steps firm and solid upon it: for otherwise it was like a sprouting field, as follows. This was a great prodigy and benefit, by which Moses with his rod, or his staff, cut and stayed the waters of the Red Sea for the benefit of the Hebrews.
St. Sabinus, Bishop of Piacenza, did something similar: he drove back the overflowing Po River into its channel by means of a letter written to it; concerning whom hear St. Gregory, Dialogues III, chapter 10: "They assert that Sabinus was a bishop of wondrous virtue, to whom when his deacon reported one day that the Po had burst its banks and occupied the fields of the Church, and the waters of that river held all those places that would have been useful for feeding people, the venerable Bishop Sabinus replied, saying: 'Go and tell it: The bishop commands you to restrain yourself and return to your proper channel.' When his deacon heard this, he scoffed and laughed. Then the man of God, summoning a notary, dictated, saying: 'Sabinus, servant of our Lord Jesus Christ, a warning to the Po: I command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you no longer leave your channel in these places, nor presume to damage the lands of the Church.' And he added, saying to the same notary: 'Go, write this, and throw it into the water of that river.' When this was done, the river water, accepting the holy man's command, immediately withdrew from the lands of the Church, and having returned to its proper channel, did not presume to overflow into those same places any further. In this matter, Peter, what else is confounded but the stubbornness of disobedient men? when by the power of Jesus, even an irrational element obeyed the commands of a holy man."
In a similar manner, St. Attala, Abbot of Bobbio, when the Bobius river was undermining the monastery's mill by its flooding, said to Sinuald the deacon:
"Take the staff by which I support myself, go to the river Bobius, and making the sign of the cross, tell it to stop undermining these banks:" when he had done this, the Bobius obediently withdrew and turned its course toward the opposite bank of the mill: so Surius in his Life, and Philippus Ferrarius in the Catalogue of the Saints of Italy, under March 10. Finally, St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, whom St. Basil compares to Moses, dried up a swamp that was a cause of discord between brothers, and restrained the Lycus river, which was destructively flooding the fields, at the bank, with the staff by which he was supported, which immediately grew into a green tree, so that thereafter it did not overflow beyond that boundary, as St. Gregory of Nyssa reports in his Life. From what has been said it is clear that the Hebrews did not walk upon the sea, but on the dry bottom of the sea. Therefore Tertullian sings in Book II Against Marcion, chapter 3: "He trampled the waves, He drowned the enemies in the waters." This is said poetically: "He trampled," that is, He overcame the waves of the sea now divided, just as if He had trampled them underfoot.
And a sprouting field from the great deep.
In Greek: and a field bearing green grass from a violent whirlpool, or from a violent storm; Vatablus: and a grassy field from a violent wave, whence the poet: "A grassy field springs forth from the violent whirlpool." The Syriac: and the way in the Red Sea was trampled down, and a plain full of every herb met them; the Arabic: and from the deep whirlpool a field diversified with varieties of herbs; Nannius: and a herb-bearing field was produced from the stormy waves. First, St. Bonaventure, Lyranus, Holcot, and Jansenius think these words are said figuratively by hyperbole, and only signify that the way through the Red Sea was for the Hebrews in place of a sprouting field, because they passed through it with the utmost eagerness and joy. With a similar figure, Baruch, depicting the joy of the Hebrews returning from the Babylonian captivity, says in chapter 5: "The forests and every tree of sweetness have given shade to Israel by the command of God. For God will lead Israel with joy in the light of His majesty, with the mercy and justice that come from Him": see the commentary there. Second, more properly and genuinely, the Syriac, Arabic, and others think that the channel of the Red Sea, dried by the wind, appeared grassy and flowering, like a sprouting and verdant field, so that for the Hebrews crossing it at Passover, when it is spring, when everything is green, blooming, and flourishing, it would bring wonderful pleasantness, sweetness of scent, and delight: for on the bottom of the sea, especially the Red Sea, algae, grass, and flowers grow, and even laurels, trees, and forests, as Pliny teaches in Book XIII, chapter 25. "Shrubs grow also in the sea," he says, "and smaller trees in ours. For the Red Sea, and the whole Ocean of the East, is full of forests;"
and after some intervening remarks: "Along the same coast, the tide covers the forests of islands, although they are taller than poplars of the greatest height. Their leaves are those of laurel, the flower of the violet in both scent and color. The berries are like olives, themselves growing in autumn with a pleasant scent, with leaves that never fall: the sea covers the smaller ones entirely; the tops of the largest protrude, to which ships are moored; and when the tide recedes, their roots also appear. We also learn from the same sources that other trees were seen in the deep of the same sea, always retaining their leaves, with fruit similar to lupines." To these accounts are added more recent explorers of the New World, who report that the Red Sea is so entwined with flowering herbs, as if crowned and chained together, that it cannot be navigated, and these are so long that from root to top sixty palms are counted, and in whatever direction the waves turn, the herbs and flowers turn with them in the same way, so that the waves seem to be of herbs and flowers rather than of water and sea. So Oviedo, Book II, chapter 5, and Simon Majolus, Colloquy 10, and from them Pineda on Job chapter 26, verse 5.
Moreover, God led the Hebrews through the Red Sea at that part and place where the plain was greatest, and where the greenness of the herbs was most luxuriant, the pleasantness of the flowers the richest, and the abundance of trees and forests the least: for these would have impeded and delayed the journey of so great a multitude, and much more so the horsemen and chariots of Pharaoh pursuing them. Moses is silent about this, Exodus 14:22; but the Sage here supplies many things that are passed over there. Finally, the Sage here signifies that God worked wonderful prodigies in favor of the Hebrews, and transformed all creatures so that they might be beneficial to them and bring them delight: therefore it is quite plausible that He made their passage through the channel of so wide a sea, which otherwise would have been difficult, being sandy, muddy, and smooth, to be pleasant, cheerful, and delightful for them with sprouting herbs and flowers, lest they grow weary of so long and tedious a journey, as would otherwise have been the case. This is the gentle, kind, and munificent providence and provident care of our God toward His own: so say our commentators, a Castro, Lorinus, and Pineda, Book IV of De Rebus Salomonis, chapter 13, number 5; nor was a miracle necessary for this, for the natural condition of the Red Sea channel was sufficient, as I said from Pliny.
8 and 9. 8 and 9. Through which the whole nation passed, protected by Your hand, beholding Your wonders and marvels.
In Greek: through which the whole people passed, who were protected by Your hand, beholding wonderful portents, namely of the Red Sea divided and cut asunder, of the pillar of cloud going before, of the angel placing himself in the midst between the Hebrews and the Egyptians, and hurling thunderbolts against the latter, by which he overthrew chariots, horses, and horsemen, and drowned them in the Red Sea, Exodus 14:23.
For like horses they grazed on food, and like lambs they leaped for joy, magnifying You, O Lord, who had delivered them.
In Greek: for like horses they neighed; and like lambs they leaped for joy, praising You, O Lord, who had delivered them; the Arabic: because they fed like horses, and exulted like bulls, glorifying You, O Lord, who delivered them; our Vulgate reads with the Complutensians, the Royal, and the Vatican manuscripts, enemuthesan, that is, they fed, instead of
which others read echremetisan, that is, they neighed. The meaning is, as if to say: The Hebrews crossing the Red Sea, sprouting and verdant with herbs and flowers, seeing the Egyptians drowned in it, rejoiced wonderfully and exulted like leaping lambs and neighing horses, especially since soon after their crossing, in the arid desert, they saw that God had continually prepared for them the most delightful food, namely manna and quail, which they consumed most eagerly and joyfully. For the Sage here gathers together the benefits and miracles bestowed by God on Israel, and therefore leaps from one to another, even though they occurred at different places and times; namely, from the crossing of the Red Sea he leaps to the quail: hence he names them immediately in verse 11; and to the manna: for he celebrates this in verse 20. He alludes to horses grazing on grass in a field, and lambs frolicking in it with leaps: for in verse 7, he compared the channel of the Red Sea to a grassy field, as if to say: The Hebrews crossed the channel of the Red Sea as joyfully and festively rejoicing and feasting as horses cross through fields and meadows flowering with herbs, which they eagerly graze upon, and as lambs rejoice and exult in the same; for in a similar manner the Hebrews in the crossing of the Red Sea, furnished with herbs, flowers, and all things prepared for their pleasure and taste, were, as it were, fed and refreshed as with food. For perhaps they actually fed on fish, oysters, fruits, and other foods found in the Red Sea and prepared by God: for just as God prepared a table for the Hebrews in the desert, Psalm 78:19, so too He could have prepared one in the Red Sea.
Finally, by catachresis they were fed, that is, like those who were well-fed and fattened they exulted, and, as some read, echremetisan, that is, they neighed, that is, rejoicing and jubilant they sang hymns to God, and especially the canticle of Moses, which exists on this subject, Exodus 15:1; but above all he notes the manna and the quail, as I said. For just as grass in a field, cropped and grazed by horses and lambs -- being gentle and woolly animals, and therefore of kindly tooth -- soon sprouts up again and is reborn; but grass grazed by wild beasts, being of venomous tooth, does not re-sprout, but withers, and as if killed by the virulent tooth, dries up at the root: so likewise the manna collected in the field and, as it were, consumed by faithful and pious Israel, grew again and was reborn daily, while for the wicked and venomous Egyptians all things wasted away, dried up, and perished, according to Proverbs 21:20: "A desirable treasure and oil are in the dwelling of the just: but the foolish (wicked) man will dissipate (in Hebrew, will graze upon) it." The meaning therefore is, as if to say: The Hebrews in the vast wilderness, fed on heavenly food, namely manna, and most sumptuously nourished, exulted like horses and lambs that graze on the most delicious clover in the richest and most pleasant pastures. Moreover, what Holcot says is tasteless: "They grazed," meaning they conducted themselves boldly and without fear. Equally incorrect are Lyranus and Dionysius: "They grazed," they say, meaning they plundered the arms and spoils of the Egyptians drowned in the Red Sea: for arms were not food.
Finally, the Psalmist celebrates this portent of the divided Red Sea and the crossing of Israel, singing thus in Psalm 114:4: "The mountains leaped like rams, and the hills like lambs of the flock," which St. Basil explains thus: By hyperbole he introduces mountains dancing and rejoicing, to signify the magnitude of the joy of the Hebrews: so also Euthymius and many others. The Rabbis, however, take it literally as it stands: for they hold that Mount Sinai, shaken by an earthquake, turned itself and bent over the Hebrews like a vault, and applauded them, says Rabbi Isaac in Genebrardus on Psalm 114; and Genebrardus says: On account of the stupendous drying up of the sea and the Jordan, the neighboring mountains, as it were, danced for joy, partly marveling at the prodigy, partly congratulating the people. Indeed Theodoret also says: The mountains, that is, Mount Sinai with its hills and ridges, partly leaped for joy at the divine presence, as St. Augustine and the Roman text read; partly trembled and jumped with fear and reverence, when God upon it gave the law to Israel shortly after the crossing of the Red Sea, as is clear from Exodus 19:18: "The whole mountain," he says, "was terrible;" the Chaldean: "the whole mountain trembled;" Pagninus: "and the mountain was greatly shaken;" Vatablus: "and the whole mountain trembled vehemently," and so the Hebrews; hence there follows in Psalm 114: "The earth was moved;" Aquila: "it was in travail;" St. Jerome: "it trembles," namely like a woman in labor, for in Hebrew it is chuli, that is, it trembled like a woman in labor. Tropologically, St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and Cassiodorus on Psalm 114 say: When we were converted from vanity to truth, from creatures to the Creator, the sea fled, that is, all the hindrances of the world gave way; the earth, that is, the earthly heart of man, pierced and moved by repentance, was stirred; the mountains and hills leaped for joy, that is, the apostles and preachers exulted at the conversion of the nations, in hope of heavenly glory, and in reverence for God.
10. 10. For they still remembered what had been done during their sojourn, how instead of the offspring of animals the earth brought forth gnats, and instead of fish the river vomited up a multitude of frogs.
As if to say: The Hebrews exulted, both because they were magnificently treated and fed by God, and because they remembered how great were the portents God had wrought for them against the Egyptians during their sojourn, namely while they still dwelt in Egypt, when instead of the offspring of animals, in Greek geneseos, that is, the brood, offspring, or generation of cattle, the earth produced gnats, and the Nile river, instead of fish, in Greek instead of aquatic creatures, yielded an abundance of frogs, which filled and fouled all the houses, tables, and beds of the Egyptians: see the commentary on Exodus 8:1 and following. For "in their sojourn," the Greek has en paroikia, that is, in their pilgrimage or sojourning, namely in Egypt, in which the Hebrews were strangers and pilgrims, according to the oracle given by God to Abraham in Genesis 15:13.
11 and 12. 11 and 12. But at the very last they saw a new creation of birds, when driven by desire they asked for foods of feasting. For to console their longing, quail rose up for them from the sea: and punishments came upon the sinners, not without the evidence of what had been done before, through the violence of thunderbolts: for they suffered justly according to their own wickedness.
In Greek: but at the last they saw also a new generation of birds, when driven by desire they had asked for foods of delicacies: for to console them, quail rose up from the sea, and punishments came upon the sinners, not without signs wrought by the force of thunderbolts; for they suffered justly by their own wickedness. For "at the very last," the Greek has en hystero, that is, then, afterward: for the Hebrew achar means following, subsequent, which our Vulgate usually translates as "the last": he explains the food on which the Hebrews fed, namely that it was savory and delicate quail. "A new creation" -- so he calls the quail newly produced by God and brought into the desert, which were of a new and exquisite flavor, as well as of great size and fatness: so St. Bonaventure; hence he calls them "foods of feasting," in Greek, "foods of delicacies," that is, delicate foods, which are usually served at more sumptuous banquets for dining delicately and pleasurably. "In the address" -- in Greek, eis paramythian, that is, for consolation: for the address to one journeying and laboring is the solace of the journey and the labor. Ortygometra -- so is called the leader of the quail, and hence the flock, as I said at chapter 16, verse 2. "Punishments," timoria, that is, penalties inflicted to vindicate timon, that is, honor, says Gellius, Book VI, chapter 14, namely of God in this place, whom the Egyptians had offended by rebelling against God and Moses.
Not without the evidence of what had been done before, through the violence of thunderbolts.
So the Roman and Greek texts read; therefore some incorrectly read "of rivers": he passes, or rather returns, to the last plague of the Egyptians, by which they were drowned in the Red Sea with Pharaoh, as if to say: This last plague was inflicted on them after the preceding proofs of God's wrath, because before God drowned them, He hurled upon them thunders and thunderbolts, by which He overturned their chariots, horses, and horsemen, as I said at Exodus 14:25. Hear Josephus, Book II of Antiquities, chapter 7: "Behold, when the entire army had now entered, the sea poured back again, and engulfed the Egyptians in its waves, the winds also driving them in the same direction: and rains came from heaven, and harsh thunders with lightnings flashing simultaneously, and thunderbolts also were hurled down, and nothing at all was lacking of those things which an angry God is accustomed to send upon men for their destruction." Some think these words refer to the Sodomites: for God hurled thunderbolts from heaven against them and struck them with heavenly fire; but this leap is too harsh and sudden, to jump suddenly from the Egyptians to the Sodomites: nevertheless he alludes to them. He therefore tacitly compares the Egyptians with the Sodomites, as if to say: Just as the Lord once rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding region, Genesis 19:24: so likewise He hurled thunderbolts and heavenly fires upon the Egyptians, by which He overthrew their camp in the Red Sea, and this because of their similar wickedness, especially their inhospitality, by which they were barbarous and savage toward their guests, as follows.
13. 13. For they practiced a more detestable inhospitality: some indeed did not receive unknown strangers: but others enslaved good guests.
Understand "inhospitality" not in the negative sense, but in the positive: for in Greek it is misoxenian, that is, hatred of hospitality and of guests. For "practiced," the Greek has epitedeusan, that is, they exercised. For "unknown," the Greek has agnountas, that is, those not knowing, who namely did not know them, nor were known by them, as if to say: who had no commerce with them, and hence had not been beneficent toward them. Hence our Vulgate aptly translates "unknown"; Vatablus translates: for some did not receive those who wandered among them, or the unknown; Osorius: for they did not even receive men ignorant of their great savagery. For "strangers," our Vulgate reads pariontas, but others now read parontas, that is, those present. For "good," the Greek has euergutas, that is, benefactors.
The comparative "more detestable" signifies that a comparison is here drawn between the inhospitality of the Egyptians and that of the Sodomites, to whom he alluded in the preceding verse, as I said. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: The Sodomites were sumptuous for themselves but cruel to others, and especially harsh and savage toward guests; hence Ezekiel, chapter 16, verse 49: "Behold," he says, "this was the iniquity of Sodom your sister: pride, fullness of bread, and abundance, and idleness of herself and her daughters, and they did not extend a hand to the poor and needy." But nevertheless the Egyptians were more inhospitable: for the Sodomites had not received the angel guests sent to Lot, Genesis 19:3, with hospitality, as being unknown, because they did not know them to be angels, and had had no commerce with them, nor knew that they had received any benefit from them. But the Egyptians enslaved their good (in Greek, benefactor) guests, namely the Hebrews, from whom they had received many benefits, and especially from Joseph, who fed and enriched all of Egypt during the famine, Genesis 41:47 and following, and tyrannically used them as slaves for tilling fields, clearing the channels and ditches of the Nile, building pyramids, etc. Therefore the inhospitable Egyptians were punished more severely by God than the Sodomites: for the latter were struck only by fire, while the former were struck by both fire and water, when, smitten by thunderbolts, they were drowned in the Red Sea. This comparison is clearly expressed by the Greek, which reads thus: for they practiced a graver inhospitality: for those did not receive the unknown who were present: but these reduced their well-deserving guests to slavery: where "those" is contrasted with "these": "those," namely the Sodomites; "these," namely the Egyptians. Moreover, how savage the Egyptians were toward guests is evident from Busiris the Pharaoh, who sacrificed Thasius to avert a famine in Egypt: he did the same to other guests, as Eusebius testifies in his Chronicle, and St. Augustine, Book XVIII of The City of God.
chapter 12: "At that time," he says, "(when Danaus ruled the Argives, Minos Athens, Erichtonius Attica, Dionysus or Liber Pater Greece, and Moses and Joshua the Hebrews) either the king, or rather the tyrant Busiris, was sacrificing his guests to his gods, whom they say was the son of Neptune;" for which reason he was killed by Hercules. Hence Virgil too, Georgics III: "Who," he says, "does not know either the harsh Eurystheus, or the altars of the unsung (that is, infamous) Busiris?" The same is evident from the cruelty that the Egyptians exercised against Moses and the Hebrew guests, Exodus 1 and following, and from what Arnobius relates about the Egyptians in Book VIII Against the Gentiles, Minucius in the Octavius, Diodorus Siculus, Book II, chapter 4, and others.
He struck Pharaoh with thunderbolts along with his entire camp, and drowned them in the Red Sea. On the other hand, the mercy and hospitality of Abraham so pleased God that he merited to receive angels as guests, who promised him and the barren Sarah a son, Isaac, Genesis 18. Likewise St. Gregory, on account of his almsgiving and hospitality, received an angel as a guest, who told him that God had chosen him for the pontificate because of these deeds, as his Life relates: the same St. Gregory, Dialogues III, chapter 11, narrates that Carbonius, Bishop of Populonium, because he had received soldiers as guests and hidden them, was thrown to the bears by Totila, king of the Goths, but the bears, bending their necks and humbly lowering their heads, began to lick his feet, and that Totila and the Goths, moved by this portent, turned their hatred into love and their contempt into honor, and held him in great veneration as a saint. Therefore St. Paul exhorts the Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 2, saying: "Do not forget hospitality: for through it some, having received angels as guests, have hidden (others read: pleased) them," where I have annotated more on this subject: St. Basil urges all to the same in Homily 8 on the Hexaemeron, using the example of crows, which accompany storks flying away to other regions in winter, and escort them safely to their lodging: "The crows of our land," he says, "accompany and escort them like lictors and attendants: indeed, as it seems to me, they also offer themselves as companions and helpers against birds hostile and antagonistic to them. The evidence for this is as follows: first, that in our provinces at that time no crow at all is to be seen; then, returning with wounds, they bring us clear signs of the protection they have rendered. Who prescribed the laws of hospitality among them? Let those men hear this, who offer no hospitality to anyone, and shut their doors, and neither in winter nor at night receive pilgrims and strangers under any roof."
The great St. Pachomius, while he was still a pagan and a soldier, seeing such lavish hospitality of Christians toward soldiers passing through, was converted to the Christian faith and became so great that he merited to receive a monastic rule from an angel, as his Life relates. The hospitality of the early Christians was immense, especially that of the Roman pontiffs and citizens, as is evident from the Annals of Baronius; and indeed even now the same hospitality flourishes in Rome, as can be seen in the many and abundant hospices, and in the lodgings of bishops, priests, religious, and other pilgrims, with which, besides very many other similar establishments, the entire city is filled.
14 and 15. 14 and 15. And not only this, but there was also another regard concerning them: because they received foreigners unwillingly. But those who had received with joy the ones who had shared the same rights, they afflicted with the most cruel pains.
In Greek: and not only this, but a certain visitation will be upon them, because they received foreigners hatefully; but others, whom they had received with festivities, once they had become sharers of the same rights, they afflicted with heavy labors. For "regard," the Greek has episkope, that is, visitation, inspection, consideration, regard, as if to say: The Egyptians not only reduced their guests to slavery, but in them another guilt and inhospitality is to be considered and noted, namely that they received foreigners unwillingly (in Greek apechthos, that is, hatefully, hostilely, unwillingly, sourly), when guests ought to be received with a cheerful face and countenance: "visitation" can also be taken for a manner of acting, a customary way of living. Some take these words as referring to the Sodomites, as if this were a second antithesis, that the Sodomites received guests unwillingly; but the Egyptians cruelly afflicted those they had received with festivity, as follows: but neither in the Greek nor in the Latin is any antithesis suggested here; therefore he continues to speak about the Egyptians.
But those who had received with joy the ones who had shared the same rights, they afflicted with the most cruel pains.
In Greek, met' heortasmon, that is, with festivities; Jansenius: with festive and solemn joys; Vatablus: with the celebration of rejoicing; Osorius: with a cheerful countenance amid the sacred solemnities on feast days. The reading should be "rights," not "customs," although the meaning amounts to the same: for in Greek it is dikaion, that is, just things in the neuter, meaning rights, as if to say: The Egyptians afflicted the Hebrews -- whom they had at first received in honor of Joseph with festive rejoicing, games, and feasts, and whom they had admitted into their commonwealth and made sharers of their own rights, and as it were endowed them with citizenship -- these, after the death of Joseph, contrary to all law and right, they afflicted with the most cruel pains and labors, which are recounted at the beginning of Exodus. Was this not the height of inhospitality, and the height of barbarity, deserving to be struck by thunderbolts and suffocated by the waters of the Red Sea?
Morally, learn here how displeasing to God are mercilessness and inhospitality, on account of which, among other crimes, He burned Sodom and all the Pentapolis with heavenly fire, Ezekiel 16:49; and
16. 16. And they were struck with blindness: just as those at the door of the just man, when they were covered with sudden darkness, each one sought the passage of his own door.
Some, such as St. Bonaventure, Lyranus, Hugo, and Ribera on Zephaniah 1, number 81, take all these words as referring to the Sodomites, who when they attacked the door of Lot, to seize his guests, namely the angels, for their lust, were struck with blindness by the angels, so that they could not find the door of Lot: Ribera adds that from this passage of the Sage it is clear that the Sodomites could not even find the doors of their own houses. But others more correctly take these words generally as referring to the Egyptians, about whom the discourse has been: for he compares them to the Sodomites, in that just as the latter, struck with blindness, could not find the door of Lot, Genesis 19:10, so too the Egyptians, enveloped in three days of darkness (which he treated in chapter 17, verse 2 and following), could not see the doors of their own houses through which they were accustomed to pass: for the words clearly signify this, especially the phrase "just as those." For "blindness," the Greek has aorasia, that is, non-seeing, blindness. This was different in the Sodomites and the Egyptians: for in the Sodomites it was internal, by which their eyes were held and darkened, so that seeing the door of Lot they did not see it, that is, they did not recognize it to be Lot's door, but thought it was a common wall or something else; but in the Egyptians it was external fog and darkness, which impeded ordinary sight. Justly and fittingly were the inhospitable, who could not bear to see their guests, deprived of the use and sight of their eyes (which they were abusing).
17. 17. For when the elements are transposed among themselves, as when in a musical instrument the quality of the sound is changed, yet all things keep their own tone: which can be estimated with certainty from the very sight of things.
As if to say: Just as in a psaltery, cithara, lyre, or other musical instrument, the sound of one string, by the variation of the modulation and sound of the other strings, takes on one harmony after another, as well as a different name, although the strings remain the same and the sound of each one remains the same in itself: so God, as it were playing, singing, and strumming on the elements of Egypt, the same element, retaining its own nature, property, and order, when joined to another element, seemed to pass into its nature and use: "for land animals were changed into water creatures," as he explains below. What he said in verse 6, that God had changed the natural force and condition of the elements in favor of the Hebrews, he here declares with an apt similitude of a musical instrument: for just as in the instrument, while it is being played, the sound of each string and voice remaining the same, the harmony and concert is changed by the concurrence of the sound and voice of the other strings: so likewise in the elements, the nature of each remaining the same, while God operates and, as it were, strikes each one, their operation and action are changed, and the harmony and concert of the work, by which all things agreed and conspired together for the salvation of the pious Hebrews and for the destruction of the wicked Egyptians. For "instrument," the Greek has "psaltery": for organum is a general word signifying any musical instrument, so called as if organon, that is, a working-tool, namely an instrument that laboriously works its product, for example, produces and brings about sound and harmony. "Which can be estimated with certainty from the very sight of things" -- that is, as the Greek has it, that from the very sight, or inspection, of the things done, one can perfectly conjecture: this is clear from what follows.
18. 18. For land animals were changed into water creatures: and whatever had been swimming passed onto land.
That is, as the Greek has it, for terrestrial things were changed into aquatic, and swimming things passed onto land: namely the Hebrews and their terrestrial beasts of burden, which were accustomed to live in fields, to plow and to graze, crossing the Red Sea dry-footed, seemed to have put on the nature and condition of swimming fish: conversely, the frogs, which are accustomed to swim in water, invading the houses, tables, and beds of the Egyptians, seemed to have changed their nature and place, and from aquatic and swimming creatures to have become terrestrial. Wisely St. Isidore, Book I of the Sentences, chapter 9, teaches that when man is struck by the provocations of creatures and the adversities of the elements, the punishment of sin demands this, so that man, who is proud against God, may suffer adversity from those things that are beneath him, according to Wisdom 5:21: "The whole world will fight with Him against the foolish."
19. 19. Fire had power in water beyond its own nature, and water forgot its quenching nature.
In Greek: fire had power over water, forgetful of its own faculty, and water was forgetful of its extinguishing nature; the Syriac: fire was inflamed in the waters, and did not burn according to its virtue, and water by its virtue did not extinguish the fire; the Arabic: and the power of fire prevailed in the waters, and water hid its own nature. He speaks of fire mixed with rain and hail, which did not extinguish the fire, nor was the fire extinguished by it, but as if allied with it, it sharpened and intensified the fire by a kind of antiperistasis, and conversely was sharpened and intensified by it: see the commentary on chapter 16, verse 22, and Exodus 9:23. From this passage and similar ones, Francisco Suarez, Part I, Question 13, article 1, disputation 31, sections 5 and 6, proves that in creatures there is an obediential potency, not merely passive for receiving in themselves supernatural qualities, which God works and impresses in them, as Gabriel Vasquez would have it, but also active, for working through them effects that surpass their natural powers, just as He works through the corporeal fire of hell, and makes it act upon the souls and spirits of demons, by elevating its natural activity of burning bodies, so that it supernaturally torments and burns spirits. Nor should you say with some that the fire there does nothing, but that God, at the presence of the fire, by Himself alone does everything and burns the spirits, because Scripture says everywhere that they are tortured, tormented, burned by the fire itself. In like manner, the intellect of the blessed is elevated by God above its nature, so that it may clearly see and love God Himself through His essence with a supernatural vision and love, and thus be made blessed: for this beatific vision of God is not merely a passivity, but also a vital action of the intellect and will.
Again, just as a man uses a pen as an instrument for writing, so much so that without it he could not write, and the better the pen, the better the writing: so likewise the creature cooperates with God as an instrument, for every supernatural will and action of His. So great is the subjection and obedience of the creature to God the Creator, so great in turn is the power of God who operates and His intimate presence and union with every creature, indeed greater than that of form with matter, and of the soul with the body.
The a priori reason, therefore, for this obediential potency is the omnipotence of God, by which He can use His creature for every effect, and according to every mode and manner not involving a contradiction, just as through it He hypostatically united human nature to Himself, and through it He healed the blind, the deaf, the lame, the mute, the paralyzed; so too through the sacraments He works grace in the soul of those who receive them, which operation St. Thomas and his followers hold to be not merely moral, but also physical, although others deny this. This is what the Sage says here: "Fire had power in water beyond its own nature, and water forgot its quenching nature," etc.: thus even now, if God wished, He would make fire cool and water heat, see the commentary on chapter 16, verse 17 and following; hence in the same place, adding the reason, he says: "For the creature, serving You its maker, burns hot for torment against the unjust, and becomes gentler for doing good for those who trust in You. Therefore at that time also, transfigured into all things, it served Your all-nurturing grace."
20. 20. Flames on the contrary did not waste the flesh of perishable animals walking among them, nor did they dissolve that which was easily dissolved like ice, the good food.
In Greek: flames on the contrary did not cause the flesh of easily perishable animals walking among them to waste away, nor did the easily meltable ice-like substance melt the species of ambrosial food. First, St. Bonaventure understands by "flames" the pillar of fire and cloud, which did not burn the Hebrews walking with it, but protected them from the heat of the sun. Second, others understand the fiery serpents sent by God against the murmuring Hebrews, for the bodies of these serpents were not burned by the fire contained in them, says Holcot: likewise these did not bite or burn the Hebrews and their beasts of burden when they looked upon the bronze serpent erected by Moses, say Hugo, Lyranus, and Dionysius. Third, Osorius says: The flames sent against the Egyptians harmed them, but not the other animals, so that it would be clear that they were a punishment for sinners, and were sent against guilty men, not against innocent animals. Fourth and genuinely, as if to say: The animals sent by God against the Egyptians to torment them were not harmed by the fires and thunderbolts hurled against the same Egyptians, but both, as if conspiring together, worked toward the destruction of the Egyptians. Again, when the Egyptians wanted to burn with fire the frogs, gnats, and locusts sent by God against them, heaping them onto pyres, the fire, as if forgetful of its own nature, spared them, since they walked unharmed in the midst of the fire, according to chapter 16, verse 18: "At some times indeed the fire was tamed, so that the animals sent against the wicked might not be burned, but that they themselves, seeing this, might know that they suffer persecution by the judgment of God": so Cantacuzenus, a Castro, Lorinus, and others.
Nor did they dissolve that which was easily dissolved like ice, the good food.
As if to say: It was wonderful, indeed miraculous, that the flames did not melt the manna, which was similar to ice, or to congealed dew: for manna, ground and formed into cakes and loaves, was baked and hardened by fire, just as our breads are baked and hardened; yet the same manna, when the heat of the sun grew warm upon it, would dissolve and melt like ice: see the commentary on chapter 16, verse 20 and Exodus 16:14. The Greek has eustomton (less correctly the Complutensians and others read eutekton, that is, easily meltable, although the former means the same as tekton) krystalloeidous geneseos ambrosiou trophes, that is, nor did the easily meltable species of ambrosial food, similar to crystal, that is, to ice, melt: for crystal is similar to ice, indeed many hold that crystal is nothing other than hardened ice, and hence is called krystallos, as if dia kryous synestekuia hygra, that is, water congealed by cold: hence Dionysius, On the Situation of the World, says that crystal is produced in the Caspian Sea. Manna therefore was similar to crystal, that is, to ice, because it was like dew constricted by cold, which was liquefied by the heat of the sun: again, it was white and gleaming, just like crystal. Mystically, the Eucharist is of this nature, of which the manna was a type, because it contains Christ, who is the snow-white Lamb, brighter and more radiant than crystal, and He makes those who piously eat Him to be such, namely virgins, indeed angels, according to Zechariah 9:17: "For what is His good, and what is His beauty, but the grain of the elect and the wine that makes virgins flourish?" Again, the Eucharist hardens and strengthens carnal men, that is, the weak and, as it were, watery, who easily yield to any waves, that is, temptations, and are dissolved -- it hardens and strengthens them like crystal, so that they cannot be melted or overcome by any temptation.
Good food.
In Greek, genos ambrosiou trophes, that is, a kind of ambrosial food, or ambrosial nourishment, that is, most delicate food, heavenly and divine: for ambrosia is said by the poets to be the most delicate food, the delight of Jupiter and the gods, just as nectar is the drink of the same; hence Martial: "Jupiter is sated with ambrosia, and lives on nectar." The same author, Book VIII, epigram 50, gives ambrosia as a feast to the Emperor Domitian, who wished to be considered a god: "Every knight dines with you," he says, "and the people and the senators, and Rome partakes of ambrosial feasts with its leader."
Ovid, Book I of the Epistles from Pontus, Elegy 4: "Nectar and ambrosia, the drinks and feasts of the gods." And Catullus, Epigram 94, says: "Sweeter than sweet ambrosia." For Ibycus, cited by the Adage-writer on the phrase "it breathes nectar," says that ambrosia surpasses honey ninefold in sweetness. Hence ambrosia is so called from the privative a and brotos, that is, mortal, with u inserted for euphony, because mortals do not eat it, or because those who eat it become immortal: therefore he is said to be nourished on ambrosia who excels above others as though equal to the gods, according to Cicero, Book II of De Oratore; and ambrosius in Greek is the same as immortal, divine, most sweet, and most pleasant. Similarly nectar is so called from ne and kteino, because it is the drink not of those who die, but of the immortal gods, or because it makes neous, that is, the young, vigorous, and flourishing, as Matthiolus says from Pliny and Dioscorides, Book III, chapter 112. Manna therefore is called ambrosia, because first, it was of the most delicate flavor; because second, it was heavenly and divine food prepared by angels, according to chapter 16, verse 20: "You nourished Your people with the food of angels"; and Psalm 78:25: "Man ate the bread of angels"; third, because it fed all the Hebrews in the desert for 40 years, and made them vigorous, strong, and as if immortal throughout the whole time of their pilgrimage: therefore the pagans seem to have borrowed their ambrosia from the tree of life or from the manna of the Hebrews, as well as nepenthes, so called because it takes away all grief as if by force, and moly, which they said restored the elderly to youth: see Pliny, Book XXV, chapter 4.
Allegorically, ambrosia is far more truly the Eucharist, because first, it offers the pious every virtue and sweetness of divine graces and consolations. Second, it is the food of angels and of the blessed (who as men in heaven are nourished and blessed by the humanity of Christ), indeed of God Himself: for on what is the eternal Father nourished and delighted, and equally the Holy Spirit, if not on the contemplation of the Word, that is, the Son, in whom are all the ideas, forms, and delights of things? Third, because the Eucharist is heavenly food prepared by Christ, and it makes the faithful immortal, heavenly, and divine, indeed like certain earthly gods, because it transforms us into Christ, according to John 6:57: "He who eats My flesh, and drinks My blood, abides in Me, and I in him"; and in the same place, verse 59: "He who eats this bread shall live forever." Therefore in these matters the saying of Hesiod and Aristotle, Book III of the Metaphysics, text 15, and of the other ancient philosophers and poets, is true: "Those are mortal who do not feed on nectar and ambrosia; but those who feed on them are immortal": for this Christ explicitly asserts of the Eucharist in the passage just
cited, therefore the Eucharist is the sacrament of sacraments, the sacrifice of sacrifices, the delight of delights, the miracle of miracles, which the priest daily performs in the Mass when consecrating, and does not realize it.
For in all things You magnified Your people, O Lord, and honored them, and did not despise them, at all times and in every place standing by them.
This is the conclusion, in which the Sage confesses the fatherly providence, care, patronage, and exaltation of God toward Israel, and His feeding them through manna and the other benefits which he celebrates, and gives thanks to God for them: Moses does the same in Deuteronomy 4:7. Far greater are the benefits, miracles, and sacraments that God bestows on Christians in the Church militant, and greatest will be those He will bestow in the Church triumphant: to Him be honor, glory, and praise for all eternity. Amen.
Hence it is clear that wisdom, which this entire book has treated, whether of kings and magistrates, or of kingdoms and commonwealths, or of each faithful person, consists in the worship of God, in virtue and piety; and that it brings God's favor, beneficence, happiness, and every good. Hence Moses, about to die, impressing this upon the Israelites, Deuteronomy 4:6, says: "This is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of the peoples, so that hearing all these precepts, they may say: Behold a wise and understanding people, a great nation. Nor is there any other nation so great, that has gods so close to it, as our God is present to all our petitions. For what other nation is so renowned as to have ceremonies and just judgments, and the whole law, which I shall set before your eyes today? Guard therefore yourself, and your soul carefully. Do not forget the words which your eyes have seen, and let them not fall from your heart all the days of your life."
Concupiscence fades and alternates. Wisdom alone makes blessed and eternal.
The pleasure of sin passes away, the ETERNITY of Gehenna remains. The labor of virtue passes away, the ETERNITY of glory remains. Honor passes, gold flees, time flies away, firm ETERNITY stands. O too long, too wide, too high, and too deep ETERNITY!
Your life, O lover of God, is brief, death is certain, its day uncertain, your soul is immortal; after death it is not possible to return to life, in the blink of an eye all things are closed, the door of repentance is shut: a long and immense eternity will receive you; behold, the joys are immense and eternal, the intolerable torments of Gehenna endure forever: one or the other certainly awaits you, both are in your choice and in your hand. Choose, for God determines that you must choose one of the two. If you are wise, O lover of the soul, listen to a friend who sincerely loves you and your eternal salvation: let not the false liberty of innovators deceive you, let not the fleeting allure of pleasures flattering the flesh ensnare you, let not the momentary honor-
smoke, nor the false applause of flatterers delude you; in a moment all these things will depart, and leave you in sorrow: remember that you are eternal, and created and born for eternity. Despise temporal things, embrace eternal things: if you do otherwise, you will regret it for all eternity. Therefore, O lover of God, embrace now that faith, that life; believe now, choose, and do that which in the hour of death, which on the day of judgment, when you will stand before the tribunal of Christ to be judged; which for all eternity you will wish you had believed, chosen, said, and done; so that by Christ the just Judge you may be assigned not to Gehenna, but to heaven, so that it may always go well for your soul, not wretchedly; so that you may be not the most miserable, but the most blessed for all ETERNITY. This is the true wisdom of Solomon, indeed of Christ, this is true and blessed ETERNITY. O eternal God, who have predestined us from eternity, as eternal beings, for Your blessed eternity, and created us in time, grant us to savor these things, to meditate upon them constantly, to direct all our thoughts, words, and deeds to this end, so that no deceitful vanity of the world may drive us mad, but only the truth of Your faith and virtues may nourish us, so that after this fleeting life we may merit to see You forever, to enjoy You, to be blessed in You, because You are the only truth, true charity, dear felicity, blessed ETERNITY. Amen.