Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He teaches that one should not trust in riches nor become proud, up to verse 4, where he treats of conversion to repentance, up to verse 11. From there to the end of the chapter he treats of constant sincerity in words and deeds.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiasticus 5
1. Do not set your heart on unjust possessions, and do not say: I have enough to live on; for it will profit nothing in the time of vengeance and darkness. 2. Do not follow the desire of your heart in your strength; 3. and do not say: How powerful I have become! or, Who will subject me because of my deeds? For God will surely take vengeance. 4. Do not say: I have sinned, and what sad thing has happened to me? For the Most High is a patient rewarder. 5. Concerning a sin that has been forgiven, do not be without fear, and do not add sin upon sin. 6. And do not say: The mercy of the Lord is great; He will have mercy on the multitude of my sins. 7. For mercy and wrath come quickly from Him, and His wrath rests upon sinners. 8. Do not delay to turn to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day. 9. For His wrath will come suddenly, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy you. 10. Do not be anxious about unjust riches: for they will not profit you in the day of darkness and vengeance. 11. Do not winnow yourself with every wind, and do not walk in every path: for so is every sinner proved who has a double tongue. 12. Be steadfast in the way of the Lord, and in the truth of your understanding and knowledge, and let the word of peace and justice attend you. 13. Be gentle in hearing a word, that you may understand; and with wisdom give a true answer. 14. If you have understanding, answer your neighbor: but if not, let your hand be upon your mouth, lest you be caught in an undisciplined word and be put to shame. 15. Honor and glory are in the speech of the wise: but the tongue of the foolish is his own ruin. 16. Do not be called a whisperer, and do not be caught by your tongue and put to shame. 17. For upon the thief there is confusion and repentance, and a most evil mark upon the double-tongued; but upon the whisperer, hatred and enmity and reproach. 18. Do justice to the small and the great alike.
First Part of the Chapter
1. DO NOT SET YOUR HEART ON UNJUST POSSESSIONS.
The word "unjust" is no longer found in the Greek, Syriac, or Arabic; for thus the Greek and Syriac read: Do not trust in your riches, and the Arabic: Do not trust in your herds. For the Hebrew word מקנה (miqneh) signifies both possessions and cattle, or herds; for the wealth of the ancients, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,
For these things, once beheld, entice, and like a magnet attract even an iron bar. Likewise, I know not whether the tawny color of gold has an even more powerful effect: therefore do not gaze upon it. That golden splendor which you gaze upon is a basilisk: except that the basilisk kills the body, while this kills the soul. Therefore, just as one who finds a viper in his garment does not linger to look at it, but shakes it off and flees as quickly as possible: so one who has unjust gold in his chest should cast it out and flee as quickly as he can.
AND DO NOT SAY: I HAVE ENOUGH TO LIVE ON. — "Life," that is, sustenance and the supports of life. In Greek: I have enough for life, as if to say: I am sufficient for myself with my own wealth, I need no one else, I require nothing from anyone; for I am sufficient for myself with my own means, indeed abundant; for this is called in Greek autarkes (self-sufficient). So we see the rich esteem themselves to be self-sufficient. The Syriac reads: do not say: I have enough; the Arabic: do not say: My substance is great; the Tigurine version: do not say: I am abundantly provided for my life, as if to say: I have wealth to lead a sumptuous, splendid, and long life, as that rich man of the Gospel said to his soul, Luke 12:19: "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry." And therefore immediately "God said to him: Fool, this night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God." In Greek ploutōn, that is, growing rich; namely, that through alms and other good works one may grow rich before God, and that through love and hope in God, so as to please Him and enjoy Him, one may strive toward Him, and store up many merits and resources before God as if storing up riches, and possess them there stored up. Wherefore the Royal Psalmist rightly warns: "If riches increase, do not set your heart upon them," Psalm 61:11.
FOR IT WILL PROFIT NOTHING IN THE TIME OF VENGEANCE AND DARKNESS. — The Tigurine version renders it: of attack, that is, of punishment and calamity, as I said on chapter 2, verse 2, especially of death, in which all things are covered over and closed up for the greedy and unjust man, and sharp vengeance will be taken by God for his avarice, deceit, and plundering. Therefore you believe falsely, O miser, that unjust riches suffice for your life, since they provoke God to take away your life. For because you believe you have in them sufficient life, by this very fact you provoke God to take away your life, so that you may understand that it does not
Job, etc., consisted in possessions and wealth. Others render it: do not lean on your money; for this is the meaning of the Greek mē epeche, in Hebrew al tiscan. Others instead of epeche read epichaere, and translate: do not rejoice in your riches. Our translator, therefore, as having the more ancient and complete Greek exemplar, had the word "unjust" in it, as will be evident from verse 11. For Sirach warns us not to gape after riches, especially through unjust gains, says Rabanus. Hence in verse 3, the Complutensian Greek reads: For God will avenge your injury, by which you have oppressed others, as the Syriac and Arabic have, verse 14. Again, he indicates possessions as unjust, because they are often acquired through iniquity, according to the saying: "Every rich man is either unjust or the heir of an unjust person;" which St. Jerome cites and proves in Epistle 150 to Hedibia, Question 1. Hence Christ, alluding to this, gives mammon the epithet of iniquity, that is, of the unjust, Luke 16:9 and 11, and this in a fourfold sense and for four reasons. First, St. Jerome on chapter 4 of St. Matthew says: "Riches are called mammon because they are gathered from iniquity," as if mammon were derived from min, that is "from," and mona, that is "violence," from the root ianah, that is, "he did violence"; although it is more truly derived from taman, that is, "he hid"; for thence with the addition of mem heemanticum, it is called in Hebrew matmon, and in Chaldean with the letter tet elided for the sake of euphony, mammon and mammona, as if to say: a hidden treasure; for riches and coins are usually hidden. Second, riches are called "of iniquity," or unjust, that is, unfaithful and deceptive, by a Hebraism; because they are vain and false, not true, not faithful and stable; but they immediately desert their possessor and pass to another master. Hence Christ, alluding to this, Luke 16:11, says: "If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will entrust to you what is true?" Where He contrasts unrighteous mammon with the true, namely the true heavenly and eternal riches, which cannot be taken from anyone against his will, since earthly riches are false and deceitful, because they deceive people with the appearance of true wealth; for they do not satisfy the mind, and they quickly perish and are easily snatched away. So say Theophylact, Euthymius, Bede, Irenaeus, Cyprian, Cassian, Gaudentius, and others whom our Maldonatus cites and follows in the same place. Third, "of iniquity"; because riches are the material and enticements of frauds, thefts, and every sin, especially of iniquity and injustice. Fourth, "of iniquity"; because the wicked and impious think that these alone are riches; for they do not know the divine and heavenly ones. So says St. Augustine, Sermon 35 On the Words of the Lord. All these reasons are in view here for Sirach. Hence in the preceding chapter, in the last verse, he forbade the desire and pursuit of them; but here he forbids placing hope and trust in them, as being false and fleeting; and in the next verse he will forbid their abuse leading to arrogance and pride.
Note the metalepsis: for "to set your heart on unjust possessions" means to love them, to desire them, to scrape them together, to hope in them, to trust them, to rejoice in them, to be proud of them; because the things we love, desire, and hope for, we frequently gaze upon, we attend to them and fix our attention on them; for where the love is, there also is the eye. Hence Palacius explains it thus, as if to say: Do not desire unjust riches. And if you have them, do not even deem them worthy of a glance; they are unworthy of being looked at. The Lord commands us not to gaze upon wine in its splendor; nor upon a flattering harlot in her beauty
the word was fulfilled in that very hour," Daniel 4:29. And the blasphemous and swelling Sennacherib said: "Who is there among all the gods of the lands that has delivered his land from my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem from my hand?" Isaiah 36:20. And therefore the angel immediately struck down 185,000 from his forces, and slew him himself through his own sons, Isaiah 37:36. Wherefore Sirach adds:
depend not on riches but on God; and that He may punish your mortal avarice, injustice, and presumption with a well-deserved death, both in this life and for eternity. The Poets gave the same warning. Hence Ovid, Tristia, Book 5, Elegy 15:
The shade of the rich man will bring nothing to his own shades below.
Propertius, Book 3, Elegy 4:
You will carry no riches to the waves of Acheron:
Naked, O fool, you will be ferried to the boats of the underworld.
So also Job 27:19: "When the rich man falls asleep, he will take nothing with him." Psalm 48:17: "Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich and when the glory of his house is multiplied; for when he dies, he will not take everything with him;" that is, he will take nothing.
2. DO NOT FOLLOW THE DESIRE OF YOUR HEART IN YOUR STRENGTH
so as to persuade yourself and say: Through my wealth and strength I am mighty and powerful, and therefore whatever pleases me is permitted to me. For this is the voice of the rich who are proud and presumptuous in their riches. Hence Vatablus translates: neither should you therefore indulge in your soul, or in your power, by following the desires of your heart; the Syriac: do not trust in your strength, to walk in the desires of your heart; the Arabic: do not place your confidence in your power, and do not yield to your desire. Seneca the Tragedian wisely says in the Troades: He to whom the most is permitted, he says, ought to take the least liberty.
3. And do not say: How powerful I have become! (that is, to achieve and obtain whatever I wanted and desired; as if to say: How powerful I have become, how I have grown strong and prevailed over all others; for this is the meaning of the Hebrew יכול (yachol), that is, "I was able"; the Syriac: Who is as powerful as I?) OR WHO WILL SUBJECT ME BECAUSE OF MY DEEDS?
The Arabic: Who can tolerate me? For the pride, greed, plundering, ambition, and domination of the rich is often intolerable. Vatablus: Who will subdue me on account of my crimes? Others: Who will hold power over me? or, Who will be my master? For this is the meaning of the Greek tis me dynasteusei. Others: Whose power will investigate my deeds? For the rich, powerful, and proud gradually ascend to such arrogance that they think themselves to be a sort of earthly gods; and that there is no Divine Power that can strip them of their wealth, cast them down, and subjugate them. Hence they say: "Who is our Lord?" Psalm 11:6. So Nebuchadnezzar boasted insolently, saying: "Is not this great Babylon, which I have built as a royal residence, by the might of my power?" And therefore he heard God thundering this sentence against him at that very moment: "Your kingdom shall pass from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with beasts and wild animals. You shall eat grass like an ox, and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomever He wills. The same
FOR GOD WILL SURELY TAKE VENGEANCE — that is, He will absolutely and sharply avenge your injury and insolence, as the Complutensian Greek adds, by which, namely, you have cast down and oppressed others. Hence the Arabic translates: For the Lord is the avenger of all the oppressed and those forced under constraint; and the Syriac: For the Lord is the avenger of all the oppressed; but above all He will avenge the injury by which you sought to throw off God's yoke and make yourself equal to God: for God often delays punishing other sins of men, even grave ones, and overlooks them; but when they rise up so as to invade the divinity, contend with God, and as it were seek to enter into a duel with Him, immediately God, zealous for His own honor, not tolerating such arrogance, is accustomed to strike and blast such persons from heaven, as is clear from what has already been said about Nebuchadnezzar and Sennacherib. To whom add Tyre and its king, of whom Ezekiel 28:2 says: "Because your heart has been lifted up and you have said: I am God, and I sit in the seat of God in the heart of the seas, though you are a man and not God; and you have made your heart like the heart of God, etc., therefore they will slay and bring you down. You will die the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners." And Pharaoh, proud in the riches of Egypt, of whom Ezekiel 29:3 says: "Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, you great dragon who lies in the midst of your rivers and says: My river is mine, and I made myself. And I will put a hook in your jaws. Behold, I will bring the sword upon you, and I will kill both man and beast from you." So God drowned the proud God-fighting giants in the flood, Genesis 6; and punished the arrogant Nimrod and his followers who were building the tower of Babel, which would reach heaven, with the confusion of languages, and scattered them as wanderers throughout the whole earth, Genesis 11.
Second Part of the Chapter: On Repentance
4. DO NOT SAY: I HAVE SINNED, AND WHAT SAD THING HAS HAPPENED TO ME? (The
word "sad" is not found in the Syriac or in some Greek manuscripts; however, St. Augustine reads it in his Speculum, and St. Cyprian in Book 3 of the Testimonies, and the Complutensian edition has lypēron, that is, sad, heavy, troublesome, bitter, anxious, hostile, wretched; to which is opposed to terpnon, that is, joyful, cheerful, pleasant, delightful, favorable; for thus the rich
examines and rewards or punishes each thing on the scale of justice. But the same God) IS A PATIENT REWARDER — that is, God delays and defers repaying evil to the evil, because He Himself is sufficiently "patient"; in Greek, makrothymos, that is, long-suffering, both because He long-sufferingly waits for the wicked to repent; and because He compensates the slowness of punishment with its severity, according to the saying: "The gods have feet of wool," by which they proceed slowly to vengeance; "but hands of iron," with which they inflict powerful blows and stripes. Hence the Complutensian Greek adds: ou mē se anē, that is, He will not let you go unpunished; but the more slowly He comes, the more sharply He will punish. The word "rewarder" is no longer found in the Greek, Syriac, or Arabic. The Arabic reads: Do not say: I have offended, and I have not been tormented. For God most high is long in patience and benevolence; the Tigurine version: Do not say: Since I sinned, what sad thing has happened to me? For the Lord is indeed patient, but He will not let you go unpunished; for because He is most high and most powerful, He likewise has the highest patience, and in it He shows His power, indeed His omnipotence, namely, that though most unworthily provoked by so many injuries and crimes of men, He knows not how to be angry; but He masters wrath, indignation, and vengeance, and remains serene, tranquil, patient, unperturbed, kind, and merciful; but being most high equally, He has the highest and supreme justice and vengeance, so that He allows nothing, however small, to go unpunished. Hence He punishes a single mortal sin, for instance, a single theft and robbery, with the eternal fires of hell.
Reverence therefore, O mortals, O powerful ones, the more powerful eyes of God, and His countenance that sees all things: shudder at the power of God; fear the providence of God; love and embrace the patience of God; avoid and flee the justice and vengeance of God. Therefore all these attributes of God are indicated by these three epithets of God: "The Most High is a patient rewarder"; or, as Jansenius reads, "He is patient as a rewarder." For the word "patient" denotes the long-suffering of God in the delay of vengeance; while "rewarder" denotes His justice in inflicting a just and proportionate punishment.
Hear St. Gregory, Homily 13 on the Gospels: "The goodness of God, he says, has shut off our hardness of heart. There is no longer any excuse that man can find. God is despised, and He waits; He sees Himself scorned, and He calls back; He receives injury from the contempt shown Him; and yet He still promises rewards to those who eventually return. But let no one neglect this long-suffering of His, for the longer the patience He has shown before the judgment, the stricter will be the justice He exacts at the judgment. Hence Paul says: Do you not know that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But according to your hardness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God. Hence the Psalmist says: God is a just judge, strong and long-suffering. About to call Him long-suffering, he first called Him just; so that knowing Him to bear the sins of the wicked patiently for a long time, you may also know that He will one day judge strictly.
Hence it is said through a certain wise man: For the Most High is a patient rewarder. For He is called a patient rewarder because He both endures and repays the sins of men. For those whom He has tolerated for a long time so that they might convert, if they do not convert, He condemns more severely."
Hear also St. Paulinus, Epistle 18, to Delphinus who was afflicted with illness: "He who prospers, he says, in his life, and trusting in the strength of his health says without fear of punishment: I have sinned, and what sad thing has happened to me? — let him not dare to flatter himself on account of his bodily good fortune, but constrained by fear of the divine power let him be corrected toward justice, while he rightly fears the avenging hand of the heavenly Lord against impious deeds, which he sees is severe even toward the just; for if you barely escape without the blows of chastisement, where shall we, the wicked and sinners, appear?"
Furthermore, St. Augustine, in the book On Patience, says: "The patience of God, he says, is praised not because He suffers some evil; but because He waits for the wicked to convert." And if they refuse to convert, just as He was patient, so He will be a sharp rewarder and avenger.
St. Chrysostom notes, Homily 2 on the Epistle to the Colossians, that God is everywhere in Scripture called makrothymos, that is, long-suffering; but nowhere is He absolutely called hypomenounta, that is, patient, because "long-suffering" is said of one who can take vengeance, even though he takes it slowly; whereas "patient" is said of one who endures and cannot avenge or punish those who wrong him. See Plutarch's book On the Delay of Divine Vengeance. Finally, the Arabic proverb is relevant here, found in Century 2, number 15: "A man without repentance is like a river without water; and a woman without modesty is like a lamp without light"; and number 17: "O you who have done evil in the past, be a doer of good in what remains. He who does not anticipate repentance before death is wretched."
Truly foolish are sinners, who by sinning incur eternal damnation, lose the grace of God, forfeit charity, squander the virtues, and waste away a happiness that would have lasted forever; and yet cheerfully and merrily say: "I have sinned, and what sad thing has happened to me?" As if it were not the most wretched thing to have subjected themselves to such great evils and to have squandered such great goods; as if the Most High were not a patient rewarder, as if it were not true that mercy and wrath come quickly from Him, and His wrath rests upon sinners. Truly foolish, whom the demons have blinded; just as the Philistines blinded the illustrious leader Samson, and just as the Chaldeans blinded King Zedekiah, so that they neither see the ignominious occupation of turning the mill of such useless labors, nor notice their entrance into the confusion of Babylon.
the wicked, for whom everything succeeds according to their wishes, because God defers vengeance, promise themselves impunity, as if God either does not see, or cannot punish, or does not wish to, or does not care about their frauds and crimes: to whom he responds that God is the Most High, and therefore from on high sees all their crimes and both can and will punish.) FOR THE MOST HIGH (has the highest power and providence, so that
so as to add sins upon sins. But the Vulgate reading, "concerning a sin that has been forgiven," must be retained, in accordance with the decree of the Council of Trent, Session 4; for it skillfully explains the Greek reading, as I shall presently show.
Now the Greek reading admits a double sense; for it can be taken of past propitiation, and also of future propitiation. Jansenius takes it of the future, and deduces this from what follows: and you add sins upon sins, so that the sense would be: Do not promise yourself with certainty that God will forgive your sins and that you will obtain pardon for them from Him, so that presuming upon the mercy of God and the pardon to be obtained from Him, you may sin more freely and heap sins upon sins. And so, after the preceding maxim cut off the liberty of sinning based on the presumption of impunity due to the delay of vengeance, now this maxim cuts off the same liberty based on the presumption of easy divine mercy: because most people trust that they will easily obtain it at once, they freely add sins upon sins; for these two things are what make men sin freely: namely, the delay of divine vengeance, and the presumption of easily obtaining God's mercy. Therefore from this passage no sufficiently firm argument is drawn against the heresy of this time, which teaches that the faithful ought to believe with certainty that their sins have been forgiven them and that they are just, indeed predestined and certainly to be saved. So says Jansenius.
But others generally and better take this passage of past propitiation, and from it validly argue against the heresy just mentioned: for the sense is, as if to say: Granted that you trust that through repentance and the sacrifices for sin prescribed in Leviticus 4, and the Sacraments to be prescribed by Christ in the new law, your sin has been forgiven and pardoned; nevertheless do not be secure and without fear about it, lest perhaps your confidence, repentance, and disposition be false, and therefore the sin has not been pardoned you; because "man does not know whether he is worthy of love or hatred," Ecclesiastes 9:1. Again, do not be without fear: because even granting that the guilt has been remitted, there still remains a penalty for you to pay, either here or in Purgatory; and you do not know whether you have satisfied adequately for this penalty.
The sense of the Greek reading is the same, as our translator skillfully noted, and therefore instead of "concerning the propitiation of sin," he rightly and clearly translated, "concerning a forgiven sin." For the sense in Greek is, as if to say: Do not be without fear about the propitiation and appeasement of sin, as if you were certain that it has been forgiven and remitted to you, so that by this persuasion you become more confident and bolder in repeating the sin and in adding sins upon sins; because, namely, you persuade yourself that with equal certainty and ease, those sins too, when you groan to God, will be pardoned you. So say Bellarmine, Book 3 On Justification, chapter 4; Gabriel Vasquez, I-II, tome 2, disputation 112, chapter 4, at the end; Gregory of Valencia, I-II, treatise On Grace, disputation 8, Question 4, point 4; Suarez, treatise On Grace, part 3, book 9, chapter 9, and others.
That this is the sense is proved first, because the Vulgate version requires it, "concerning a forgiven sin"; which the Council of Trent decreed must be retained and defended.
Second, because the Wise Man immediately adds, regarding the future propitiation and remission of sins: "And do not say: The mercy of the Lord is great, He will have mercy on the multitude of my sins." Therefore what he says here: "Concerning the propitiation of sin, do not be without fear," must be taken of past propitiation, not future: otherwise he would be saying the same thing, and it would be a tautology, a superfluous and vain repetition of the same thing.
Third, because it is clear that past sin is being discussed here, from what immediately preceded: "Do not say: I have sinned, and what sad thing has happened to me?" Just as there he treats of past impunity, or remission of punishment; so here he treats of past remission of guilt.
Fourth, because concerning past remission it is fittingly said with moderation: "Concerning the propitiation of sin, do not be without fear," not concerning the future. For concerning the future, it should be stated more harshly and strictly: By all means fear, flee, and abhor future sin, because you are plainly uncertain and doubtful whether you will obtain pardon for it, both because you do not know whether you will survive after committing it — for perhaps God will punish you with sudden death in the very act or shortly after; and because you do not know whether God will give you efficacious grace to repent with that sorrow and serious purpose which is required for remission.
Fifth, because the Syriac and Arabic translate: do not trust in the remission, as if persuading yourself that your sins have already been remitted: lest you add sins upon sins. And the Tigurine version, which the heretics accept, indeed claim for themselves: Over the pardon granted, do not be secure, so as to heap more sins upon sins.
Sixth, because in a similar way Ecclesiasticus 21:1 says: "My son, have you sinned? Do not add to it again; but also pray concerning your former sins, that they may be forgiven you." Where he requires a twofold solicitude, one for future sins, another for past ones; hence he says: "And pray concerning your former sins, that they may be forgiven you." By which words he signifies that one who has sinned ought always to be solicitous about obtaining remission; because, indeed, he can never be certain that he has obtained it. So therefore here too he warns first: Do not be secure about the prescribed remission, as if you certainly think you have received it from God: but still be contrite, and pray earnestly that your sins may be forgiven; then, that you may be cautious for the future and not add sin to sin in hope of easy indulgence.
Finally, even if we granted to the heretics that future propitiation is being discussed here, we would still rightly conclude the same about past propitiation. For why should you be fearful about future propitiation? Surely, because you do not know whether you will perform true and serious repentance. Therefore, just as you are not secure about future propitiation, so neither are you secure about past propitiation.
You will object: That future, not past, propitiation is being discussed here is indicated by what follows: "He will have mercy on the multitude of my sins." I respond: those words do not pertain to the first part of this verse: "Concerning a forgiven sin, do not be without fear," because this sin has already been forgiven and is past; but rather to the latter part: "And do not add sin upon sin." For Ecclesiasticus here sets forth two species of presumption: the first, the presumption of the remission of past sins; the second, of future sins.
You will object a second time: Ambrosius Catharinus, in his little work On the Certainty of Grace, where he teaches that the just can be certain with a certainty not of faith but theological, concerning their remission and grace, admits indeed that past propitiation is being discussed here: however, he refers the fear not to it but to a future relapse into sin, as if to say: Granted that you are certain that your sin has been forgiven; nevertheless do not be entirely secure and without fear, lest, namely, through overconfidence you again fall back and slip into the same or another sin; as if it were said: On account of the propitiation you have received, do not be without fear. But it is one thing to say "on account of propitiation," and another "concerning propitiation, do not be without fear." Catharinus's reasoning is: All fear is of the future, not of the past; for we grieve over a past evil, but we fear only a future one. I respond that fear can also be about the past, when the past has a reference to the future; for example, a defendant fears that his advocate did not plead his case effectively enough, and that therefore he will be condemned by the judge. So here the just man fears that his sin has not been pardoned, and that therefore he will be punished by God and consigned to hell.
Moreover, this fear concerning a forgiven sin is not the fear that God might revoke a sin already forgiven and impute it again to the one who committed it; as men sometimes revoke and punish debts and offenses that were remitted. For what God has once pardoned, He has pardoned forever and for eternity: "For the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance," Romans 11:29.
Finally, the phrase "in abundance," that is, "greatly," which the Greek has, can be referred either to what precedes, as if to say: Do not be very secure about a forgiven sin; or to what follows, as if to say: In abundance, that is abundantly, do not add sins upon sins, do not heap up a mass of them. A certain modern innovator renders and explains it thus: "Concerning expiation, do not be secure in your abundance," as if to say: "Do not trust that your riches will enable you to redeem your sins."
Morally, the Holy Spirit here strikes a holy fear into all the just. For He does not want them to be certain of pardon and justice, but timid and fearful, so that by this fear they may always remain humble, as well as cautious and fervent in the pursuit of repentance and all the other virtues. Indeed, the very magnitude of so great a matter as eternal salvation ought to produce this effect in all men, that they should never think they have been cautious enough; and the hatred of sins — that is, of so base a thing, if the hatred is genuine — also requires this: that even when they have been pardoned, we never-
He will have mercy on the multitude of my sins." I respond: those words do not pertain to the first part of this verse: "Concerning a forgiven sin, do not be without fear," because this sin has already been forgiven and is past; but to the latter part: "And do not add sin upon sin." For Ecclesiasticus here sets forth two species of presumption: the first, the presumption of the remission of past sins; the second, of future sins.
theless voluntarily avenge them, and punish them as if they were enemies who have done us great harm, with voluntary penances. For in this matter it is very much worth considering what St. Gregory says, Moralia Book 4, chapter 17: "The Lord lets no sin go unavenged; for either we pursue it with our tears, or He Himself reserves it for judgment." And the same author, Moralia Book 9, chapter 17, confirms this also with that testimony of Sacred Scripture where blessed Job says to the Lord: "Knowing, he says, that You would not spare the guilty. The Lord does not spare the guilty, because He does not leave the offense without punishment. For either the man himself punishes it in himself through repentance, or God punishes it by taking vengeance upon the man." In no way, therefore, is sin spared, because it is in no way released without punishment.
To this also pertains that saying of St. Augustine, which is rightly praised by Possidius, who wrote his Life, and who used to give this warning: "that even any praised priests ought never to allow themselves to depart this life without a just and fitting penance." So St. Peter wept his whole life over the sin of denying Christ, even though it had been forgiven him, and every day at cockcrow, remembering it, he shed abundant tears, to such an extent that from constant weeping his eyes were reddened and as if sprinkled with blood, as Nicephorus testifies, Book 2, chapter 37, and Baronius, year of Christ 69, chapter 29. So St. Mary Magdalene, although she had heard from Christ: "Your sins are forgiven," nevertheless wept over them until death, and withdrew from the company of all people into Baume, and there as a penitent she established herself as a living example of repentance for all ages.
St. Pelagia the penitent did the same, as did St. Mary of Egypt, St. William Duke of Aquitaine who was converted by St. Bernard, and many others, in order to secure the pardon of sin, grace, and the salvation of their souls, and place them in safety. For the saying of St. Ambrose is fearful, in Book 2 On Repentance, chapter 10: "More easily, he says, have I found those who preserved their innocence than those who fittingly performed penance. Does anyone think that is penance where there is ambition for acquiring dignity, where there is the pouring of wine, where there is even the use of the conjugal bond? One must renounce the world, one must indulge in sleep less than nature demands, one must be interrupted with groans, broken by sighs, set apart for prayers, one must live in such a way that we die to this vital use of life: let a man deny himself and be entirely changed." He adds an example: "As the stories tell of a certain youth who had gone abroad on account of a harlot's love, and having destroyed the love, returned and afterward encountered his old beloved: who, when not addressed, was surprised to think she was not recognized; meeting him again she said: It is I, and he replied: But I am not I. Hence the Lord rightly says: Whoever wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For those who have died and been buried with Christ ought not again to make decrees about this world as though they were living. Touch not (He says), nor handle, those things which are all destined for corruption
5. CONCERNING A FORGIVEN SIN, DO NOT BE WITHOUT FEAR.
So read the Roman and most Latin Bibles; however, the manuscripts read: concerning the propitiation of sins; and not only Kemnitius and the heretics, but also the Gloss, Jansenius, and even St. Augustine in his Speculum, think it should be read this way. They prove it because the Greek reads: peri exilasmou mē aphobos ginou en pleonasmō prostheinai hamartias eph' hamartiais, that is, concerning propitiation, do not be without fear, so as to add sins upon sins.
by the very use of them, because this use of life itself has become the corruption of integrity." Finally, hear what St. Gregory writes back, Book 6, Epistle 22, to Gregoria, who was a chambermaid to the Empress, when she demanded to receive a revelation and certainty of the remission of sins: "You have asked, he says, a difficult and useless thing: difficult indeed, because I am unworthy to be given a revelation; useless, however, because you ought not to become secure about your sins until that last day of your life when you will no longer be able to weep over those very sins: and until that day comes, you ought always to be anxious, always trembling, fearing your faults, and washing them with daily tears. Certainly the Apostle Paul had already ascended to the third heaven, had been led into paradise as well, and had heard secret words which it is not permitted for a man to speak; and yet, still trembling, he said: I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps while preaching to others, I myself should become a castaway. He who is already being led to heaven still fears; and does one who still dwells on earth refuse to fear?"
Now the end and fruit of this maxim is that from it we may profoundly humble ourselves before God, and be struck with His sacred fear, and work out our salvation with fear and trembling, considering that we are certain we have offended God, but uncertain whether He has pardoned the offense. And this is signified by the words of St. Gregory just cited; for this sharp fear is a spur to true repentance and every virtue; wherefore it virtually assures us of pardon and salvation: for it is a gift of God, which the Holy Spirit is accustomed to send into His elect, so that through it, as by a royal road, He may lead them to His happiness and glory: whoever therefore feels it in himself, let him know that he has a pledge of his salvation. Hence St. Bernard, in his sermon on Proverbs 3:13: Blessed is the man who finds wisdom: "You have plainly found wisdom, he says, if you weep over the sins of your former life, if you count the desirable things of this world as of little value, if you desire eternal blessedness with your whole desire." The same author, Sermon 15 on Psalm 90, Qui habitat: "This very fear, he says, is a most firm and efficacious matter of hope. For this fear is a very great gift of God, and from the perception of present things comes a firm expectation of future things. Finally, the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him (Psalm 146:11), and surely life is in His will, and in His good pleasure is eternal salvation." The same author, Sermon 54 on the Song of Songs: "In truth I have learned that nothing is equally efficacious for obtaining, retaining, and recovering grace, as if at all times you are found before God not thinking highly of yourself, but fearing. Blessed is the man who is always fearful," Proverbs 28:14. Relevant here is Isaiah 26:8, according to the Septuagint: "From Your fear, O Lord, we have conceived, and we have brought forth the spirit of salvation."
AND DO NOT ADD SIN UPON SIN. — This is the other species of presumption, as I said, by which one, presuming on God's mercy, heaps sins
upon sins. Hence, explaining it, he adds:
6. AND DO NOT SAY: THE MERCY OF THE LORD IS GREAT, HE WILL HAVE MERCY ON THE MULTITUDE OF MY SINS
and He will immediately pardon them for me when I have repented and implored His mercy. Hence the Syriac, transposing this verse and placing it before the preceding one, as does also the Arabic, translates thus: Do not say: The Lord is merciful, and He will forgive the multitude of my debts. For this presumption is a sin against the Holy Spirit: because it abuses His mercy and goodness for wickedness, and twists it to repeating sins. The mercy of the Lord, says Palacius, is great, not so that you may add sins, but so that you may believe they will be forgiven if you resolve to commit them no more. It is a monstrous crime to make the mercy of God a procuress for the devil; and to use that mercy, by which you should have been joined to God, to wed yourself to the devil. Therefore the mercy which God had set forth as a refuge for sinners (as the temple of the holy God, where God was to be propitiated), you have turned into a brothel of the devil, where festivals are celebrated for the devil. Therefore do not trust in mercy so as to sin; for mercy and wrath come quickly from Him.
7. FOR MERCY AND WRATH COME QUICKLY FROM HIM (in Greek tachynei, that is, it will hasten, it will come quickly). AND HIS WRATH RESTS UPON (in Greek anapausei, that is, it will rest upon) SINNERS
as if to say: Just as the mercy of God is quickly at hand and comes to the aid of the penitent, as with Mary Magdalene, the thief on the cross, Saul, etc., so also the wrath of God will quickly descend upon impenitent sinners, and will suddenly and unexpectedly, when they anticipate nothing of the sort, seize them, as it seized Lucifer, Cain, Saul, and all mankind in the flood, and the Sodomites in the conflagration of Pentapolis. He calls "sinners" those who have a habit of sinning, and who harden and obstinate themselves in it; for to these pertains not mercy, but the wrath and vengeance of God; indeed upon them His wrath will rest continually and for eternity, namely, in the eternal torments of hell. Hence the Syriac translates: for mercy and wrath are with Him, and upon the impious His fury will abide; Vatablus: for wrath as well as mercy hastens from Him, and upon the wicked His fury will press down.
Palacius explains the phrase "come quickly" in three ways. First, as if to say: When wrath comes upon sinners, even though it comes very slowly, it seems to have come quickly. For they are so sunk in their pleasures that what is long seems short. For thus when we are too delighted by seeing, hearing, or tasting something, every delay seems brief. Second, our life is short. In so brief a span, nothing is slow. Therefore the wretched say: "We were born and immediately ceased to exist." Read what pious men and what the wicked say about the brevity of our life in Wisdom, chapter 5. Third, every sin by its very nature requires swift punishment; if punishment does not come quickly, that is the mercy of God. But sometimes God allows punishment to rage justly; then it comes quickly.
Again, weigh the word "rests upon," as if to say: As a hungry lion looks upon a carcass set before it, desiring to leap upon it: so the wrath of God has its eyes fixed upon our crimes, eager to spring upon them; and it actually springs when the opportunity is not denied to it by the mercy of God.
Some explain it thus, as if to say: Divine wrath indeed hastens to punish sinners who are obstinate in their sins; but in that haste it does not proceed alone, but with mercy as its companion; which shines forth most of all when sinners are struck quickly, lest, if they are allowed to indulge in their crimes longer, they be reserved for greater punishments. So St. Chrysostom, Homily 25 on Genesis, teaches that God's punishment hastens when men fall asleep in their sins; and this not only from justice, to punish them, but also from mercy, lest He punish more severely those whom He foresees, if they survive longer, will sin more gravely, and therefore would need to be punished more bitterly.
Tropologically, Rabanus here teaches that every just person should always keep before his eyes both the justice and wrath, and the mercy of God, so as to conceive and nurture from the former fear, and from the latter hope. "For the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, and in those who hope in His mercy. Hence in the law it is commanded, Deuteronomy 24:6: Do not take the upper and lower millstone as a pledge. For the upper millstone is hope, the lower is fear; for hope lifts up to the heights, while fear presses the heart downward." Therefore these two millstones, that is, the two grinding stones, must be joined together: "So that one without the other is not uselessly possessed. For in the breast of the sinner, hope and dread must be ceaselessly joined; because one hopes in vain for mercy if he does not also fear justice; and one fears justice in vain if he does not also trust in mercy." So says Rabanus.
8 and 9. DO NOT DELAY TO TURN TO THE LORD, AND DO NOT PUT IT OFF FROM DAY TO DAY (so as to adopt the crow's "tomorrow, tomorrow"
tomorrow I will convert and change my life for the better. He gives the reason): FOR HIS WRATH WILL COME SUDDENLY, AND IN THE TIME OF VENGEANCE HE WILL DESTROY YOU. — Our translator reads with the Roman edition exolothreusei se, that is, He will destroy you; and so does St. Augustine in his Speculum. But the Complutensian reads apolē, that is, you will perish; others aphelei, that is, He will take you away. Furthermore the Complutensian edition inserts and adds certain words, for it reads thus: for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go forth; and when you are negligent, you will be worn away, and in the time of vengeance you will be destroyed; the Syriac: do not delay to repent before God, and do not suffer any hindrance (as if to say: Break through and shatter every delay of repentance) from day to day; for suddenly fury will go forth, and in the time of retribution, destruction; Vatablus: do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor drag out day after day; for the wrath of the Lord will suddenly burst forth, and while you are secure in your affairs, you will be overthrown, and in the time of punishment you will perish. For who would hold a deadly viper in his hand and not immediately shake it off? Who would nourish a plague in his body? Who would tolerate a mortal enemy within his walls? Who would endure a carcass swarming with worms in his house? Who would carry a demon in his mind? A mortal sin is a viper, a plague, an enemy, a
desiring to leap upon it: so the wrath of God has its eyes fixed upon our crimes, eager to spring upon them; and it actually springs when the opportunity is not denied to it by the mercy of God.
Hear St. Basil in his Admonition to a Spiritual Son, wisely warning him about swift repentance: "When, he says, you feel yourself liable to sins, do not be ashamed to turn quickly to repentance; for he who repents here will not repent at the last. For the Lord mercifully receives those who flee to repentance. And do not, relying on the mercy of God, add sins upon sins; do not wish to say: While my age still flourishes, I will indulge the desire of the flesh, and at last in old age I will do penance for my evils; for the Lord is kind and very merciful, nor will He remember my crimes any longer. Do not think this way, my son; for it is the height of folly to conceive this in your mind before the Lord, since it is also impious for anyone to expect such license from God." He adds the reason: "Do not, I say, think thus, since you do not know on what day you will die; for who among men knows the day of his departure? For not all will be deprived of this light in old age; but at various ages they will depart from this world; and in whatever actions a man is called, in those same actions he must render an account; for no one in hell will confess the Lord. But do not you yourself delay to turn to repentance. Let the last day always be before your eyes: for when you rise at dawn, be uncertain whether you will reach the evening; and when you have laid your limbs in bed to rest, do not count on the coming of daylight, so that you may more easily restrain yourself from all vices. Let your heart always meditate on the heavenly promises, so that they may spur you on to the path of virtue."
Hear also St. Ambrose (or rather Victor, Bishop of Cartenna, as is evident from the end of the book, and from Gennadius and Trithemius in On Ecclesiastical Writers), book On Repentance, chapter 28: "Do not delay to turn to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day; for His wrath comes suddenly, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy you. And again: My son, have you sinned? Do not add to it again; but also pray concerning your former sins, that they may be forgiven you; and do not add sin upon sin, and say: The mercy of God is great. For mercy and wrath are from Him. Let us not allow ourselves to become slaves until death, nor give our bodies over to the dominion of crimes; but let us obey the Apostle who says: Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey it; so that because sins cannot be absent, at least let them not reign; that is, let there be no reckless license to sin without any prospect of escape." And shortly after: "Hence, since the final departure is unexpected for us, and the course of our life is uncertain due to our ignorance of death, how can anyone think he has time remaining for confession, when he does not know the time of his own time, when he certainly hears Scripture saying: While living and healthy you shall confess and praise God, and go to the portion of the holy age with the living and those giving confession. For the delay of time creates confession, and
This evil is the offense against God, the wrath and vengeance by which He pursues sinners as guilty of divine lese-majesty, even to hell, and this with all right and merit; because sin is the supreme contempt, injury, dishonor, disobedience, and ingratitude toward God, the best and greatest; for all these malices exist in every mortal sin as formally distinct, and God is offended by each one individually; wherefore the sinner rightly grieves and repents for each.
Moreover, there are two acts, or offices, of the penitent and of penance. The first and primary is to grieve over sin because it is an offense against God, with a serious purpose of avoiding it henceforth, which is an act of charity: for it belongs to charity both to rejoice in the good things of God and to grieve over offenses against God, and, so to speak, His evils. The second is to punish in oneself the sin committed, which is an act of the virtue pertaining to justice, and is, as it were, its potential part, as St. Thomas teaches (III part., Quest. LXXXV, art. 3). For by this the penitent, as if judge of himself, punishes himself in God's name as guilty, and strives to repair the injury done to God. Whence it follows that the virtue by which the sinner repents is not one but two, namely, charity and a certain vindictive justice, which, because it has no other proper name, may be called penance. These things are clear from the definition of penance, which various authors assign in various ways; but all return to the same point.
First, from the notion of genus, St. Gregory defines it thus in Homily 34 on the Gospel: "Penance," he says, "is to bewail the sins committed, and not to commit what is to be bewailed." And from St. Gregory, the Master of the Sentences in IV, dist. 14: "Penance is the virtue, or grace, by which we bewail and hate evils with a purpose of amendment, and refuse to commit further what is to be bewailed."
Second, from the specific notion, the author of the book On True and False Penance defines it thus (in St. Augustine, ch. VIII): "Penance is a certain vengeance of the grieving person, always punishing in himself what he grieves to have committed." Always, that is, as often as he has committed some evil. And in ch. XIX: "To repent is to hold the punishment, so as always to punish in oneself by avenging what one committed by sinning."
Third, from the end, the author of the Hypognosticon defines it thus (in St. Augustine, book III): "Penance is the best thing," that is, an excellent virtue, "which recalls all defects to perfection," that is, it corrects the whole life of man.
Fourth, with respect to the subject, St. Ambrose defines it thus: "Penance is sorrow of heart, and bitterness of soul for the evils which each one has committed." And the Gloss on Matthew IV: "It is the reformation of an evil mind."
Fifth, with respect to the terms from which and to which, Damascene defines it thus: "Penance is a return from those things which are contrary to nature, to those things which are according to nature." Finally, penance is primarily of mortal sins, but secondarily also of venial sins.
From what has been said, it is clear that the root of penance, and as it were the a priori reason why the sinner must repent, and must repent quickly, is the enormous evil of sin, the harm and danger which sin creates for the soul.
lest it produce despair: because damnation is intensified for the one who, in delaying, contemplates divine patience with obstinate boldness. This is shown to have been the case in the times of holy Noah, when patience drawn out for a hundred years poured forth an implacable deluge throughout the whole world, as judgment overflowed."
St. Augustine wrote about this saying of Ecclesiasticus in Homily 13 among the 50, tome X, where among other things, giving its reason, he says: "For God has promised you that on whatever day you are converted, He will forget your past evils; but He has never promised you the life of tomorrow. Perhaps God did not promise it to you, and the astrologer promised it to you, so that He may condemn both you and him, etc. It is the mercy of God, because man does not know when he will die. The last day is hidden, so that all days may be observed." The same, Sermon 202 On Time: "O man, why do you defer from day to day, when perhaps today you will have your last day?"
Finally, St. Chrysostom pathetically exaggerates this saying in Homily 22 on the Second Epistle to the Corinthians: "Do not delay," he says, "to be converted to the Lord, and do not defer from day to day. You do not know what the coming day will bring forth; for there is danger and fear in delaying, but salvation is certain and secure if there is no delay. Do not say: There will be some time when I may be converted. For these words greatly exasperate God. Why, when He Himself has promised you infinite ages, do you not wish to labor in the present life, which is small and momentary; but you act so sluggishly and dissolutely, as if you were seeking some other life shorter than this? Do not those daily feasts, do not the prostitutes, do not the theaters, do not the riches testify to this?" And soon he concludes thus: "You have become drunk, you have indulged your belly? You have plundered? Now halt your step, turn yourself in the other direction, give thanks to God that He did not take you away in the midst of your sins; do not seek another privilege to do evil. Many, while fraudulently causing harm to others, suddenly perished and went to manifest judgment. Fear lest you too suffer this inexcusably. But, you say, God gave many the privilege of confessing in their last old age. What then, will He give it to you too? Perhaps He will give it? you say. Why do you say, Perhaps? Does it happen sometimes? Consider that you are deliberating about your soul; therefore consider also the contrary, and say: But what if He does not give it? But what if He does give it? you say. Let Him indeed give it: but nevertheless this is more certain and more useful than that."
Finally, the Arabic proverb applies here, which is found in Century 1, no. 23: "Swimming in the water before evening," meaning: Just as swimming begun too late toward evening is dangerous, so also penance deferred to the very end of life is perilous. And no. 44: "Light your lamp before darkness," meaning: Illuminate yourself with penance, grace, and good works, before death overtakes you.
Whence St. Augustine, Epistle 108 to Seleuciana: "There is," he says, "also the penance of good and humble believers, a daily punishment, in which we beat our breasts saying: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. For we do not wish those sins to be forgiven us which we do not doubt were forgiven in baptism; but certainly those which, although small, yet frequently creep upon human frailty." Note here that penance is not merely a new life, as the heretics would have it, but also the chastisement of the old life: for from punishment (poena) penance (poenitentia) is named, as if the holding of punishment (poenae tentio); and to repent (paenitere) is said as if to hold the punishment (poenam tenere). Whence Ausonius:
I am the goddess who exacts punishments for things done and not done:
So that you may repent, I am called Metanoea.
From what has been said, it follows that it is foolish to procrastinate penance; but wise to hasten it. Wherefore St. Augustine laments his own tardiness of conversion in Confessions, book VI, ch. XI, and book VIII, ch. V and VII. The same, Sermon 17 On the Words of the Lord, calls it the crow's voice: tomorrow, tomorrow I will be converted. "This is the very thing," he says, "which has killed many, when they say: Tomorrow, tomorrow; and suddenly the door is closed: he remained outside with the crow's voice, because he did not have the dove's groan." The same on Psalm CXIV: "God," he says, "promised indulgence for your penance; but for this delay of yours He did not promise tomorrow." So also St. Gregory, Homily 12 on the Gospel: "He who promised pardon to the penitent," he says, "did not promise tomorrow to the sinner." Wherefore the Psalmist, Psalm XCIV, 8: "Today," he says, "if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." Indeed even Seneca, in the book On the Shortness of Life: "Are you not ashamed," he says, "to reserve for yourself the remnants of life; and to reserve for a good mind only that time which cannot be applied to anything? How late it is to begin to live, when one must cease!"
10. Do not be anxious about unjust riches.
He returns to verse 1; whence in the Greek the same saying occurs as in verse 1, me epekhe epi khremasin adikois, which our translator renders in verse 1: "Do not attend to unjust possessions." From which it is clear that the word unjust in verse 1 must be added, as our translator adds it, although it is absent from the Greek: because that same word is present in this verse in both Greek and Latin. Moreover, khremata signifies both possessions and money, and therefore income, resources, and all goods of fortune. Again, epekhein signifies to attend, to apply oneself, to devote oneself studiously and anxiously to a thing loved and desired. The sense therefore is, as if he said: Do not set your mind upon, do not anxiously attend to and apply yourself to riches acquired unjustly through fraud, deceit, and plunder: do not anxiously seek and scrape together wealth by fair means or foul.
FOR THEY WILL NOT PROFIT YOU IN THE DAY OF CALAMITY (that is, in the day of affliction) AND OF VENGEANCE — as I said on verse 1. The Syriac: do not trust in the riches of iniquity, for they will not help you in the day of distress. He alludes to Proverbs X, 2: "The treasures of wickedness will profit nothing; but justice will deliver from death."
Third Part of the Chapter: On Constant Sincerity in Words and Deeds
11. Do not winnow yourself in every wind.
Do not fan, agitate, and accommodate yourself to every wind of men, temptations, and desires, that is, to every impulse; "but be firm in the way of the Lord," as follows. Do not, as the saying goes, turn your cloak or hat to every breeze and wind; which is the way of flatterers and politicians, who make use of the forum and serve the times. This is what Paul says, Ephesians IV, 14: "That we may no longer be children, tossed about and carried about by every wind of doctrine." The pronoun "yourself" is not in the Greek or the Syriac: for the Greek has, do not winnow with any wind; the Syriac, do not be winnowing in every wind. But thus it ought rather to be rendered passively: do not be winnowed, that is, agitated and swept away by any wind: for ventilo is active. More elegantly and clearly, therefore, our translator renders it, "do not winnow yourself," that is, do not drive, move, and bend yourself to every wind; Vatablus: do not permit or expose yourself to be tossed by any wind. So Juvenal says of Crispinus, Satire 1: He fans his summer gold with sweating fingers.
So a blast fans lighted torches; so the farmer with a winnowing-fan winnows grain; so the breeze fans the mane of a horse; so bulls once provoked used to toss straw balls on their horns and hurl them to the stars, just as chaff is scattered by winnowing-fans. Whence in Zechariah I, 19 and 21, it is said: "These are the horns which winnowed Judah." Moreover, to winnow is to toss into the wind, to divide, to scatter, according to that of Jeremiah ch. XLIX, 36: "I will scatter them to all these winds; and there will be no nation to which the fugitives of Elam will not come." So the Hebrew paras means to divide, scatter, winnow.
AND DO NOT GO IN EVERY WAY. — This is another proverb, meaning the same as, "do not winnow yourself in every wind." See what was said on ch. II, verse 14. The Syriac: do not be curious about every path.
FOR SO EVERY SINNER IS PROVEN IN A DOUBLE TONGUE — so that according to the variety of persons and places he now affirms, now denies; now praises, now blames. The word every is deleted by the Greek, the Gloss, and Lyranus: for not every sinner is proven in a double tongue, but only the flatterer and the treacherous. Whence the Greek has, so is the double-tongued flatterer, and according to this the Vulgate translator is to be explained, as if he said: "For so every sinner in a double tongue," that is, the double-tongued sinner (for he sins by a double tongue) "is proven" and convicted, supply, to go in every way and to winnow himself in every wind, as preceded: for the word so looks back to and refers to this, which is a connecting word of example, likeness, and indication, indicating what preceded.
Similar to this proverb are these: "More changeable than a chameleon, more versatile than a buskin, more inconstant than Proteus, he bears the mind of an octopus, more variable than the Euripus, he sits on two chairs, he is a man of twelve trades, Punic faith, maritime manners, works of Daedalus, more variable than a hydra, the arts of Sisyphus, a bat, in the manner of a spinning-top, he knows the ways by which Eucrates escaped" — who, being a miller and being accused, always found some crack through which to slip away. A field of winds, which is said of an unstable, fickle, and inconstant man who changes his opinions and manners with every wind: for in a field and plain the winds roam more freely here and there, restrained by no obstacle; finally, we call the unstable "windy." Whence Horace:
At Rome I love Tibur, windy; at Tibur, Rome.
The same:
I do not hunt the votes of the windy populace.
12. BE FIRM IN THE WAY OF THE LORD, AND IN THE TRUTH OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND KNOWLEDGE, AND LET THE WORD OF PEACE AND JUSTICE FOLLOW YOU.
"For it is excellent that the heart be established by grace," Hebrews XIII, 9. The Greek here is concise as usual, and through a compact two-membered sentence clearly comprehends the whole matter. For it says: isthi esterigmenos en synesei sou asphalei, kai eis eso ho logos sou, that is, be constant in your certain judgment, and let your speech be one. Others, instead of in your judgment, translate in your sense; others, in your understanding; others, in your prudence; others, be stable in your doctrine: for synesis is noesis, that is, prudence, industry, intelligence, skill, perspicacity, conscience, opinion, judgment. The Syriac: be supported upon your taste (that is, in your sense), and your word is one.
This is the antithesis of the preceding verse: for against winnowing in every wind, that is, against fickleness and inconstancy, he opposes firmness and constancy, both of mind and of speech, so that what you have once rightly judged according to God and right reason as to be believed or done, you may steadfastly preserve in will and declare with your mouth. For the "way of the Lord" is right faith and action: the "truth of understanding" is the true opinion of the mind, the true judgment of prudence: "knowledge" is the certainty of opinion and judgment: for this is what the Greek asphalei signifies, which word indicates that for rightly believing or acting, a prudent and right judgment is not sufficient, but it must be certain: in faith indeed altogether physically and speculatively; but in action morally and practically certain, so that, before you do anything, you are morally certain that what you do is lawful, honorable, and pleasing to God. For "everything that is not from faith" (that is, from the belief and dictate of conscience) "is sin," Romans XIV, 23.
Moreover, from the constancy of mind and judgment follows the constancy of mouth and speech, of which he adds: "And let the word of peace and justice follow you," namely, a word that is one and uniform, that is, true, and therefore peaceful and just, which he opposes to the double-tongued in verse 12; for the double-tongued word is twofold, irregular, that is, false, and therefore turbulent and unjust, which stirs up quarrels, discords, seditions, and wars. For the double-tongued person, from fear of the powerful or to curry their favor, bends from truth to falsehood: but the simple and uniform person tenaciously clings to truth, and does not allow himself to be led away from it by threats or promises; but what he has judged in his mind, he steadfastly retains, and does not fear to speak the same with his mouth. He wisely joined justice to peace, because peace is evil that is not just; and therefore that peace must be avoided which is joined with injustice: for the parent of true and solid peace is justice. O golden mind and tongue of truth and justice, which, relying on God, cares not for the favors and hatreds of men, and therefore creates solid peace for families and the world! If therefore you ask: How shall I be firm in the way of God? I answer: if you are firm in truth, and in the true and just judgment of your mind, and declare and defend it with a consistent mouth.
Philo says admirably in the book That Every Good Man Is Free: "An unconquered mind," he says, "confirmed in the decrees of right reason, yields to no one." And he cites the saying of Zeno, the father of the Stoics: "It is easier to sink an inflated wineskin than to compel an honest man against his will to do something." Plutarch celebrates the constancy of Fabricius, who, rejecting the gifts of King Pyrrhus, when suddenly behind him an elephant appeared trumpeting, sent by Pyrrhus to terrify him: "Neither gold yesterday," he said, "nor the beast today has made me astonished." Wherefore he gloriously heard: "It is easier to turn the sun from its course than Fabricius from his purpose." Here applies that saying of Socrates in Stobaeus, Sermon 1 On Prudence: "As a statue upon its base, so a good man resting upon an honorable principle ought by no means to be moved."
Note: Here and elsewhere peace is joined to justice: because it is its effect and inseparable companion, according to Psalm LXXXIV, 12: "Justice and peace have kissed." Psalm LXXI, 7: "In his days shall arise justice and abundance of peace." Isaiah XXXII, 17: "And the work of justice shall be peace." Wherefore Augustine on Psalm LXXXIV: "Do justice," he says, "and you will have peace, so that justice and peace may kiss each other: for if you have not loved justice, you will not have peace: for these two, justice and peace, love each other and kiss each other: so that whoever does justice will find peace kissing justice. They are two friends: you perhaps want one and do not practice the other. For there is no one who does not want peace: but not all wish to practice justice. If therefore you want peace, love justice: because they are two friends, justice and peace. Therefore another psalm says to you: Turn from evil and do good: seek peace and pursue it. For now you will not seek it long, because it will come to meet you, to kiss justice." Hence the symbol of peace was formerly the caduceus, that is, a staff
(which is a symbol of rectitude and justice), around which entwining serpents kissed each other: because even the perverse embrace justice. Mercury held it in his hand, who was the god of wisdom, which is the parent of justice and peace.
Finally, apply this saying to penitents beginning a new life, so that they may be firm and constant in it, and not relapse into their former delicacies, to whom St. Ambrose aptly calls out in book III, Epistle 9 to Irenaeus, using the example of Lot: "If anyone," he says, "has begun to be a citizen of the heavenly city — a citizen, that is, in manner of life and conduct — let him not depart from it, not go out, not turn back his step, not return behind; behind lies luxury, behind lies impurity. Finally Lot ascending to the mountain left behind the Sodomite wickedness: but she who looked back could not reach the heights above." St. Jerome brought the same similitude of Lot to prove the same point, Epistle 28 to Lucinius: "You have left Sodom," he says, "hastening to the mountains; do not look behind you: do not ever let go the plow handle, the fringe of the Savior, the locks of his hair wet with the dew of night, which you have once begun to hold: do not come down from the roof of virtue seeking your former garments; do not return home from the field; do not love the plains with Lot, and the pleasant gardens, which are not irrigated from heaven, like the holy land, but from the turbid river Jordan, after it has changed its sweet waters by mingling with the Dead Sea."
Anagogically, Rabanus says: "He is firm in the way of God who preserves the rule of the Catholic faith by rightly believing, and follows the teaching of the Gospel by rightly living and doing good. The word of peace and justice will follow him, when in the recompense of merits the reward of eternal glory will be conferred upon him, with the Lord saying: Well done, good and faithful servant: because you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things: enter into the joy of your Lord."
13. BE GENTLE IN HEARING A WORD, THAT YOU MAY UNDERSTAND: AND WITH WISDOM BRING FORTH A TRUE RESPONSE.
Many read the word of God, meaning: Hear the word of God gently: thus God will speak it in your mind and will, so that you may understand and comprehend it, according to Psalm XXIV, 9: "He will teach the meek His ways." But what follows requires a different sense. Therefore the word of God, with the Roman codices, Rabanus, and the Greeks, must be deleted. For the Greek reads thus: ginou takhys (our translator read praos, that is, gentle) en akrousei sou agathe, kai en makrothymia phthengou apokrisin orthen, that is, be quick in your good hearing, and in patience bring forth a right answer; the Syriac: be quick to hear and slow to answer. Whence St. James seems to have drawn from this passage his saying in ch. I, 19: "Let every man be quick to hear, but slow to speak." See what was said there. St. Augustine gives the reason in Tractate 59 on John: "For truth is heard more safely than it is preached, since when it is heard, humility is preserved: but when it is preached, there scarcely fails to creep in upon any man some degree of boasting, by which the feet are certainly soiled."
The sense therefore is, as if he said: When you hear something and are asked about God and about good and honorable things, pay attention, and do not be impatient in hearing, nor hasty in answering, so that you interrupt, anticipate, or forestall the question, and answer rashly before you have fully understood the question; as some choleric and rash people do, who therefore often, when asked about beans, answer about other things. But patiently hear the whole question, and having heard it, think well with yourself what you ought to answer; and having ascertained this, answer gently, meekly, and prudently. So Maximus, Sermon 13, reports that Xenocrates, when asked about obscene things, was silent, and when pressed to answer, said: "It is fitting for you, a vain man, to ask about such things; but for me to answer, by no means." Demonax, when asked what he thought of a dispute between two men, one of whom proposed absurdly and the other answered absurdly, said: "One milks a goat, the other holds a sieve underneath." So Plutarch in the Apophthegmata.
The Complutensian and Tigurina editions insert certain words; for they read thus: be ready to listen: make your life whole, or sincere, or truthful (that is, without pretense and disguise: for in Greek it is, in aletheia), and give your answer with gentleness of spirit. But the things that are inserted seem irrelevant and interrupt the thread of the discourse, and therefore appear to be interpolations. Whence the Greek codices and the Roman editions delete them.
14. IF YOU HAVE UNDERSTANDING (synesis, that is, intelligence,
wisdom, skill, learning), ANSWER YOUR NEIGHBOR (who consults and questions you; Vatablus: if you are wise, answer your neighbor); BUT IF NOT, LET YOUR HAND BE OVER YOUR MOUTH (that is, close your mouth and be silent): LEST YOU BE CAUGHT IN AN UNDISCIPLINED WORD (that is, unskilled, unlearned, imprudent, foolish), AND BE CONFOUNDED.
The Tigurina: lest by a foolish word you incur blame and be censured. These words, "lest you be caught," etc., are now missing from the Greek. Gregory of Nazianzus says admirably in Oration 1: "It is the mark of the very foolish," he says, "or the reckless, to undertake to teach others before we ourselves have been sufficiently taught, and, as the saying goes, to learn in a jar, that is, to practice and exercise piety in the souls of others." Explaining this, Elias says: Those who try to implant piety in the souls of others, when they themselves have not yet learned it exactly, act just like those who learn the potter's art on a large jar. For potters do not immediately teach their craft on a jar, but on small vessels, such as pots or cups, in which, of course, if the work disappoints their hope, the loss is small.
He notes therefore that those who try to learn greater things before lesser things — which is what those do who, before they have learned, declare themselves teachers and masters of others. Note the proverb: "Let your hand be over your mouth," that is, impose silence on yourself and be quiet, according to that of Juvenal:
Repress your lip with your finger.
The same thing was anciently indicated by the statue of Sigaleon or Harpocrates, sealing his mouth with his finger, about which see Varro, book IV On the Latin Language, ch. X, and Ausonius, Epistle 12 to Paulinus:
Or let the Egyptian Sigaleon seal your lips.
For Sigaleon was the god presiding over silence: from sige, which is silence. The same was called Harpocrates, and it was an image in the sacred rites of Isis and Serapis, which by pressing a finger to its lips admonished people to be silent. Harpocrates was in fact a Greek philosopher whose teaching and precept aimed at prescribing silence and placing it above all things. So Job, ch. XXI, 5: "Place," he says, "your finger on your mouth," that is, hear me in silence. And ch. XXIX, 9: "The princes ceased speaking, and placed their finger on their mouth." Here also applies the Arabic proverb, Century 1, nos. 98 and following: "Silence wins love for its own. Silence over keeping quiet is better than repentance over speaking. Silence is wisdom, but rare is the one who practices it." Sirach gives the reason for this maxim, saying:
15. HONOR AND GLORY ARE IN THE SPEECH OF THE WISE: BUT THE TONGUE OF THE IMPRUDENT IS HIS OWN OVERTHROW.
Instead of time, that is, honor, glory, the Greek now has on the contrary atimia (dishonor). Again, the words of the wise and of the imprudent are not in the Greek: for it reads thus: glory and infamy are in speech: and a man's tongue is his downfall. He alludes to that saying: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue," Proverbs XVIII, 21. The Syriac: honor and disgrace are in the hand of him who speaks, and the tongue of men brings them down. The Tigurina: speech is as capable of glory as of disgrace; and not rarely does the tongue bring a man to ruin. Here applies the Arabic proverb, Century 1, no. 75: "Beware lest your tongue strike your neck." For many are punished with death on account of the incontinence of their tongue.
16. Do not be called a whisperer.
He gives an illustrious example of the imprudent and double tongue: for a whisperer is double-tongued, because he praises to one's face and criticizes and bites behind one's back. For a whisperer is one who by secretly speaking ill stirs up hatred or dissension against someone, such as a detractor, so called from the noun susurrus, that is, a hidden and subdued murmur, which is said of people whispering in the ear, or of leaves of trees stirred by the wind: whence the verb to whisper, that is, to speak furtively and in a low voice. Hence whispers are called hidden, low, faint, and uncertain, of which Ovid says in Metamorphoses, book XII:
And fresh sedition, and whispers of uncertain authorship:
that is, hidden rumors rather than accusations. In Greek, psithyros, that is, a whisperer, secret informer, clandestine slanderer, detractor. Thence psithyrizein, that is, to whisper, which the interpreter of Theocritus derives from psein en tais thyrais, egoun tais akoais, that is, to move gently at the doors of hearing. Pollux says this is properly characteristic of swallows, in book V.
Others call this trinsare (to chirp): for thus says the author of the poem Philomela:
The peacock calls, the wandering swallow chirps.
It is an onomatopoeia: for both the Greek word psithyros and the Latin susurro seem to be coined from the sound which chatterers and whisperers make, sus, sur. So Isidore of Seville says: "The whisperer is named from the sound of speech; because he speaks not in someone's face, but in the ear, detracting from another." Hence Pythagoras had the symbol and maxim: "Do not keep a swallow under the same roof," which St. Jerome, following Aristotle, interprets as meaning that one must abstain from the company of chatterers and whisperers. Others think that by the symbol of the swallow Pythagoras meant that an ungrateful, unsteady, and unfaithful table-companion should be sent away from the house. So Plutarch in the Symposiacs, Decade 8. Whence also Cicero (or whoever is the author) in the Rhetoric to Herennius says the swallow is a symbol of unfaithful friendship: for swallows fly to us at the beginning of spring, and fly away when winter approaches. Hence the Syriac translates: do not be called one who walks in two ways, that is, double-tongued and double-hearted. This vice is hateful to God and to men: whence Sirach adds concerning it: "And be not caught by your tongue;" the Syriac: and do not offend or stumble by your tongue. For when your whispering, duplicity, falsehood, and deceit are discovered, as ordinarily happens, you will be hissed off the stage, confounded, and not rarely you will face the danger of blows and death. The Greek has: and do not lie in ambush with your tongue, because you yourself will fall into and be caught by the ambushes and harms which by whispering you prepare for your neighbor. He alludes to Proverbs XXVI, 20, where Solomon graphically depicts the ruin of the whisperer, saying: "When the wood fails, the fire goes out; and when the whisperer is removed, quarrels cease." St. Augustine in Confessions, book IX, ch. IX, gives a fitting example of the maids of his mother Monica, who were traducing her to her mother-in-law by whispers, but were chastised by the mother-in-law. Solomon adds, verse 22: "The words of the whisperer are as if simple, and they reach the innermost parts of the belly." The double-tongued therefore are like cleft-footed serpents: because they say one thing with their mouth and keep another closed in their heart, according to Ecclesiasticus X, 11: "If a serpent bites in silence, he has nothing less who secretly detracts." Wherefore Rabanus here says: "He calls the whisperer a detractor, whose confusion is true, because his condemnation is certain."
Moreover, whispering is worse and more pestilential the greater the friendship and the number of friends. Such is the way of those who by their whispers, detraction, and calumnies on both sides dissociate families, congregations, religious orders, cities, provinces, kingdoms, and friendly princes and kings, and stir up quarrels and wars among them, lest their friendship and power be a source of fear or harm to themselves, but so that they may be safe amid the friction; namely, they desire great heads to be brought down by mutual collision, so that among the fallen they alone may stand out. Crafty men, that is, wish foreigners to be embroiled in turmoil, and they want the dangers of others
to be their own advantages; caring little whether their friends perish, provided they themselves are safe through their friends' destruction; whose friendship therefore is treacherous, reedy, and more fragile than a thread; their promises are golden, the reality is glass; they promise a gem, they deliver crystal. These truly are plagues and objects of hatred to God and men; indeed they are enemies of their very selves: for all this bean which they have minted for others, by God's vengeance, at last falls back on their own head; because evil counsel is worst for the counselor, and the harm follows the head. Well known is the fable of the fox, who, fearing the lion and the bear, set them against each other; but when her deceit was discovered by them, she was badly punished, slaughtered, and torn apart by both.
17. FOR OVER THE THIEF THERE IS SHAME AND REPENTANCE
(for when the thief is caught and punished, he repents of the theft, but too late), AND STIGMA (thus it should be read with the Roman and Greek codices, not devotatio, that is, imprecation of evil, execration, meaning: everyone curses the double-tongued person and devotes him to dire fates.
Whence Rabanus says: "The worst stigma is everlasting confusion;" nor should it be read devoratio, as some read: denotatio therefore, that is, mark, ignominy, confusion) WORST UPON THE DOUBLE-TONGUED: BUT FOR THE WHISPERER THERE IS HATRED, ENMITY, AND REPROACH. — He compares the whisperer to the thief and the double-tongued, and asserts he is worse than they, meaning: Greater is the reproach and disgrace of the double-tongued than of the thief: because, although both harm secretly, yet the thief takes away only possessions, while the double-tongued person, as far as in him lies, takes away truth and good faith from human society, and when these are removed the commonwealth must necessarily collapse.
Again, the thief and the double-tongued are neighbors and relatives, and the slip from one to the other is easy: whence it is commonly said: "Show me a liar, and I will show you a thief." But worse than both is the whisperer, who besides truth and good faith, also takes from his neighbor his reputation, and often his friendship. Moreover, as it is said in Proverbs XXII, 1: "A good name is better than great riches." Wherefore the whisperer deservedly is accompanied and followed by what is owed to him: the hatred, enmity, and notable reproach of all, that is, lasting disgrace and opprobrium; because he inflicts grave harm, and often without any advantage to himself, indeed with great disadvantage. The Greek is concise as usual and two-membered: for the Complutensian reads thus: for over the thief there is confusion, and the worst condemnation upon the double-tongued; the Roman, instead of condemnation, has stigma; the Tigurina: for grave ignominy follows the plotter, and the worst censure the double-tongued; the Syriac: for upon the thief was created confusion, and great ignominy upon him who walks in two ways, that is, upon the double and double-tongued. For the Greek katagnosis signifies both reproof or censure and condemnation. Both are signified by "stigma," meaning: The double-tongued person, once recognized, is immediately censured by all, marked with ignominy, pointed at with the finger, reproved, and condemned.
So in chapter XIX, 5, it is said: "He who rejoices in iniquity will be stigmatized," that is, censured, marked with ignominy, and condemned by all.
So Cicero in For the Manilian Law says: "He who in one day, throughout all of Asia, in so many cities, by one message and one dispatch of letters, designated Roman citizens to be killed and slaughtered." So Pliny, book XXXV, ch. XVII, says that "the feet of slaves for sale are marked with chalk." Again Cicero in For His House says: "Most notorious of all for the stains of crimes and lusts." The same, in For Cluentius: "Men whom they saw to be infamous for other vices and every disgrace, they wished to brand with this prosecution also." Rabanus says aptly: "Rightly are enmity, hatred, and reproach joined to whisperers: because their fraud and wickedness makes them detestable to God and men." Whence Paul says in Romans I: "Whisperers and detractors, hateful to God." And the Psalmist in Psalm C: "Him who secretly detracted from his neighbor, this man I persecuted." And Proverbs XXIV: "A detractor is an abomination to men." And chapter XIV: "In the mouth of a fool is a rod of reproach." Hugo says: "For the whisperer: hatred in the heart, enmity in action, reproach in speech." Robert Holcot says: "Upon the whisperer falls the hatred of God, the enmity of his neighbor, the reproach of the devil."
18. JUSTIFY THE SMALL AND THE GREAT ALIKE.
So also St. Augustine reads in the Speculum. Now the Greek has: en megalo kai en mikro me agnoei, that is, in great and small do not be ignorant. The Complutensian adds, mede hen, that is, not even one thing. Perhaps our translator read me adikei, that is, do not act unjustly, but justly, that is, "justify" the small equally as the great, meaning: Do not say that by whispering you have detracted from the reputation of someone small and lowly, not from someone great and powerful; and therefore that you have committed a small or no sin: because the small person has as much right to his reputation as the great person to his. Therefore, if you are fair and just, render to each his right, and justify the small as well as the great, so that you may give the reputation and honor that each deserves to the small as well as to the great. Therefore speak well of the small, equally as of the great. Let the reputation of any other person be as it were sacred and inviolable to you; let your tongue declare no one unjust. To this sense the Greek reading can be adapted, meaning: Do not be ignorant that the small person's right and reputation must be given to him just as much as the great person's. He alludes to Deuteronomy I, 17: "There shall be no distinction of persons: you shall hear the small as well as the great; nor shall you respect any person." Add: perhaps this maxim was not placed in its proper location by the compiler of the sayings of Ecclesiasticus; but was transposed, and should be placed at chapter VII, after verse 6: "Do not seek to become a judge, unless you are able by virtue to break through iniquities." For to that you would rightly subjoin: "Justify the small and the great alike," meaning: In judgment, justify and award the just cause to the small as well as the great, to the poor as well as the rich; and do not out of fear of the powerful condemn the just poor person, so that to the powerful
you unjustly award the unjust cause and justify him. For so in the Proverbs of Solomon certain sayings have been transposed by their compiler, as is evident from Proverbs XXV, 1, and as our Salazar teaches there.
Second, the Greek rather suggests this sense, meaning: In the law of God nothing is to be ignored or neglected; but both its small precepts and its great ones must be fulfilled and works practiced. He adds this, lest anyone say what the common people say: A word is just a word, a blow: a word does not strike a man, but strikes the air and flies past; therefore it is a small sin if I whisper or detract from my neighbor by word, provided I do no other real injury to his body or goods. To this he responds that nothing in the law of God is to be ignored, nor omitted: again, that both the small and the great precepts of the law must be known and highly esteemed, even if the common people know little of them and think little of them: because often what seems small to men is great before God, and in the judgment of God, who is the just assessor of all things, especially of vices and virtues, they are reckoned serious. Such is whispering and detraction, which men esteem little, but God esteems greatly: for the detractor's word strikes the reputation of his neighbor; and therefore often harms him more than a blow to the body. To this sense of the Greek text the Latin version can be adapted, if you take the small and the great in the neuter gender, not the masculine, meaning: Do not let it suffice you to think and judge justly about great things; but endeavor and strive that even about those things which seem small, or truly are small, you may think justly and render a just judgment. So Jansenius. But this sense is rather obscure and more foreign to the Latin Vulgate.
Third, the Syriac translates: whether much or little, do no harm; Vatablus: whether great or small, commit nothing unskillfully, meaning: Do not do anything unskillfully, imprudently, or unjustly, whether it be small or great; do not allow yourself to be caught by ignorance and imprudence regarding things, whether they be small or great. Palacius: justify your works, whether small or great. Do nothing, neither great nor small, unjustly or unfairly. Truly the perfection of a man and of virtue consists in this: if he measures all his works, even the smallest, by the just norm of reason, law, and honesty; if he conforms them to the rule of God's most equitable will; if he tests them by the standard of the life of Christ and the saints. For that is called just which is measured and, as far as possible, made equal to its rule, its law, its model. The just man is he who measures and arranges all his works, as far as human weakness allows, by the norm of justice and virtue. Therefore the just man does not neglect small things, but diligently takes care that they be just, knowing that this is to his honor, and that from small things a step is made to great ones; indeed that small things, if repeated and multiplied, become great: about which I have said more on Zechariah ch. IV, 10, and will say below at ch. XIX, 1. The Bride understood this, and therefore the Bridegroom, admiring her beauty, says in Song of Songs VII, verse 1: "How beautiful are your steps in sandals, O daughter of the prince!" And rightly so. For if the bride of a mortal bridegroom, to please him, arranges her face, clothes, and entire appearance before the mirror for many hours, so that no blemish, nothing even slightly unbecoming or disordered may appear in her: what will not the bride of God, the bride of Christ, do? What will she not arrange?