Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He continues the argument of the preceding chapter, namely how one should prudently conduct oneself with one's neighbors, but concerning other kinds of people. Again, the preceding chapter taught what ought to be rendered to each neighbor; but here and in the following chapter, what ought not to be rendered. First, therefore, he teaches that one should not quarrel with the powerful, the wealthy, the sharp-tongued, or the uneducated. Second, at verse 6, he teaches that penitent sinners, the elderly, and dead enemies should not be despised. Third, at verse 13, he teaches that obstinate sinners, the insolent, those stronger than oneself, judges, the wrathful, and the bold should not be reproved. Fourth, at verse 20, he teaches that counsel should not be taken with fools and strangers. In sum, nearly the whole chapter counsels peace and tranquility of life, and points out and dissuades from its obstacles and impediments.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiasticus 8:1-22
1. Do not quarrel with a powerful man, lest you fall into his hands. 2. Do not contend with a wealthy man, lest he bring a suit against you. 3. For gold and silver have ruined many, and have reached and turned even the hearts of kings. 4. Do not quarrel with a sharp-tongued man, and do not heap wood upon his fire. 5. Do not associate with an uneducated man, lest he speak ill of your family. 6. Do not despise a man who turns away from sin, nor reproach him: remember that we are all under correction. 7. Do not scorn a man in his old age, for some of us also grow old. 8. Do not rejoice over a dead enemy, knowing that we all die, and we do not wish to become an object of joy. 9. Do not despise the discourse of wise elders, and converse with their proverbs: 10. for from them you will learn wisdom, and the doctrine of understanding, and how to serve the great without complaint. 11. Do not let the discourse of elders pass you by, for they learned from their fathers. 12. Because from them you will learn understanding, and how to give an answer in time of need. 13. Do not kindle the coals of sinners by rebuking them, lest you be set on fire by the flame of fire of their sins. 14. Do not stand against the face of an insolent man, lest he sit as a spy upon your mouth. 15. Do not lend to a man stronger than yourself, and if you do lend, consider it as lost. 16. Do not pledge beyond your means, and if you do pledge, plan as if you must repay it. 17. Do not judge against a judge, because he judges according to what is just. 18. Do not go on a journey with a bold man, lest he burden you with his evils; for he goes according to his own will, and you will perish together with his folly. 19. Do not quarrel with an angry man, and do not go into the desert with a bold man; because blood is as nothing before him, and where there is no help, he will strike you down. 20. Do not take counsel with fools, for they cannot love anything except what pleases them. 21. Do not take counsel before a stranger, for you know not what he will bring forth. 22. Do not reveal your heart to every man, lest he repay you with false favor and revile you.
First Part of the Chapter: With Whom One Should Not Quarrel
Verse 1: Do Not Quarrel with a Powerful Man, Lest You Fall into His Hands
For "quarrel," the Greek has diamachou, which means to contend, both with words and with blows, that is, both to litigate and to fight. For he is foolish who contends with one more powerful than himself, whether in a legal suit, or with fists or arms, because the danger is certain that he will be overcome, and will fall into his snares, and will be conquered and crushed by him. Hence the Tigurine version, that is Vatablus, translates: do not contend with a powerful man; the Syriac: do not associate with a man who is harsher than you, lest you fall into his hands. Here the Latin proverb applies: "A fawn provokes a lion"; indeed, if he is wise and wishes his own good, let him not provoke to a quarrel or duel.
Parallel to Sirach are the sayings of other nations and sages. Famous is that of Alcibiades: "When you can flee, do not seek a quarrel." And that of St. Gregory Nazianzen in his Distichs: "As a skilled helmsman avoids storms as much as possible, so does the wise man's mind avoid all weighty and dangerous things." Now every lawsuit is weighty and dangerous, but especially one undertaken against a prince or a powerful person. For, as Seneca says in his Proverbs: "The indignation of a king is a great tempest." It is an Arab adage, Century 1, number 2: "Do not cast arrows at an iron idol," that is, do not cast your words at one who is stronger than you; "nor stand as an adversary against one who overpowers you." For arrows cast at an iron idol do not pierce it, but rebounding rather injure the one who cast them: so the powerful are not harmed by the efforts of the weak, but rather turn them back upon them. Cato in his Distichs:
When struck, yield to fortune; yield to the powerful:
He who was able to harm, may one day be able to help.
Beautifully Nazianzen says in his Tetrastichs:
Do not strive to obtain all things, nor always.
Love to be well conquered more than to conquer wickedly.
For the athlete who lies on the ground is not conquered;
But he who often throws his opponent casts him down.
There is an elegant fable on this subject about the lion and the fox, in Gabrias and other mythologists: "At a certain time, a lion, a donkey, and a fox joined friendship among themselves, and so went out hunting together. When abundant prey was obtained, the lion orders the donkey to divide it; the donkey, distributing it into three equal parts, thought that lots should decide what each should take. At this the lion, moved to anger, rushed upon the donkey, tore it to pieces, and devoured the wretched animal. Then he orders the fox to divide. But she, heaping all into one pile, took for herself a tiny little portion; and she said that this was a just division, namely that to the lion, under whose auspices and also by whose labors all had been obtained, the greatest part should fall beyond the lot. The lion said to her: Who, excellent little fox, taught you to divide so skillfully? The fate of the ass, replied the fox, O my strongest lion -- the fate of the ass, our companion."
Similar is the fable of Phaedrus, Book I of the Fables, chapter 5: "A cow, a she-goat, a sheep, and a lion captured a stag in the hunt, and when it had been divided into four parts, the lion said: I take the first, because I am called lion; the second, because I am strong, you will give to me; then, because I am worth more, let the third follow me; harm will befall whoever touches the fourth. Thus shamelessness alone carried off the whole prey. The moral: an alliance with the powerful is never faithful."
From this fable comes the expression "a leonine partnership," when all the advantage returns to one party, the rest being cheated by force, as tends to be the case for common people with the overpowerful. It is found in the Pandects, where from Ulpian, Aristo reports that Cassius had replied that such a partnership cannot be formed, in which one party receives only profit and the other only loss, and that he was accustomed to call this a "leonine partnership." Sirach will assign a similar fable of the pot and the kettle in chapter 13:3. In addition, just as camels (and elephants) when about to drink first stir up the water with their feet, lest in the clear water they see their own hump and deformity -- "Camels drink," says Pliny, Book 8, chapter 18, "only after the water has been muddied by trampling" -- so the powerful, by their authority, retainers, clamoring, and threats, stir up the narrative and the truth, lest their injustice, tyranny, and arrogance be apparent. Therefore you litigate in vain with those who muddy and obscure the water of truth and justice with the mire of clamoring and falsehoods, so that what is fair and just cannot be discerned.
Therefore to quarrel with a powerful man is the same as waging war with fire, since you cannot harm fire, but you are certainly to be harmed and burned by it: it is the same as if a little boy were to challenge Hercules, a dog a lion, a hare a wolf to a duel, in which, obviously, he himself would be struck down, torn apart, and devoured. What could be more foolish?
For this reason Favorinus wisely yielded to the Emperor Hadrian, to whom nevertheless he was most hostile. Asked the reason, he said: "Why should I not yield to one who holds twenty legions?" So Aelian in his Varia Historia. And Artaxerxes said to the sharp-tongued Aclidas: "It is permitted to you to say whatever you please against a king; but to me it is permitted not only to speak, but also to act." Augustus had written ribald verses against Pollio in mockery. Then Pollio said: "But I keep silent; for it is not easy to write against one who can proscribe" -- as indeed he proscribed Ovid, and gave up Cicero to Antony to be killed. Demosthenes had said many things against Alexander; so someone rebuked him with this verse of Homer's Odyssey:
Why do you choose to provoke a fierce man, you wretched one?
Symbolically, the powerful man is reason and law; this is powerful because it holds all men subject to itself through obligation, and powerfully punishes transgressors. Therefore, lest you fall into its hands and vengeance, do not quarrel with it, but consent to it and obey it, according to the counsel of Christ in Matthew 5:25: "Come to terms quickly with your adversary while you are on the way with him; lest your adversary hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Truly I say to you: you will not get out of there until you have paid the last penny." For mystically, the "adversary," in Greek antidikos, that is, the accuser or plaintiff against the defendant, is the law of God, says St. Augustine in Book I of the Sermon on the Mount, along with Anselm and Bede on Matthew 5. The way is the present life, the judge is Christ, the officer is the devil, the prison is hell or Purgatory, and the penny is the least fault.
Verse 2: Do Not Contend with a Wealthy Man, Lest He Bring a Suit Against You
In Greek: lest he set against you a weight, that is, a lawsuit, which may weigh upon and crush you like a weight, either because he will corrupt witnesses and judges with money so that they judge against you, or because he will sow lawsuit after lawsuit, so that you cannot keep up with the expenses and troubles. Secondly, Jansen explains this weight thus: lest he overwhelm you in court with his riches, and even if he does not prevail by right, yet his money may bring it about that he has the better case. The simile is taken from a balance, in which one side, set opposite and weighed, wins by its gravity and outweighs the other; for so in a lawsuit the more powerful party, because it has more power, often defeats the other, not by right but by money.
Palacius gives an apt example: Just as a wolf, which when fasting is unequal in a fight with a bull, devours sand before the duel and loads itself with its weight, and once ballasted, weighs down and overthrows the bull -- so the cause of a rich man, though lighter in justice, becomes heavier in money. Therefore, if the cause approaches the judge fasting, it is defeated; if ballasted with gold, it draws the judge to itself and overthrows him. Hence it follows:
Verse 3: For Gold and Silver Have Ruined Many, and Have Reached and Turned Even the Hearts of Kings
That is to say: gold by its appearance and glitter bends and perverts even the hearts of kings, who do not need it, so that on account of gold they favor the rich over the poor, and pronounce sentence for the rich, even if unjust. How much more will gold bend and pervert the hearts of lesser witnesses and judges, so that against equity they take the case from the poor and award it to the rich! For many on account of gold lose their conscience, and often their reputation and life. For all things obey money. And: "Gifts blind the eyes of the wise and change the words of the just" (Deuteronomy 16:19).
Famous is the riddle: "Mutnegra cum murva faciunt rectissima curva" (Mutnegra with murva make the straightest things crooked). Namely, mutnegra, if you gather the letters in reverse order, is argentum (silver); murva is aurum (gold). "For when gold speaks, all speech falls silent." And: "One fights more powerfully with golden spears than with bronze or iron ones."
The poets fable that Hercules threw a drugged morsel into the mouth of Cerberus, and thus closed it so that it would not bark. So those who throw a morsel of gold into the mouth of judges close it, so that they fall silent and dare not judge in favor of the poor and justice. For, as Horace sings, Book III, Ode 16:
Gold loves to pass through the midst of bodyguards,
And to break through rocks, more powerfully
Than a thunderbolt.
For just as a thunderbolt strikes down all hard things, so gold, like a thunderbolt, strikes down even the hearts of the just and the strong, so that they award the case to the one who gives it, even against right and equity.
Make an exception here for the one case, namely when the rich and powerful are themselves so moderate and just that they not only do not take it badly, but even desire that a lawsuit be brought against them by the poor who complain of being oppressed. In this matter the kings of Spain excel, who, to provide for justice and their own conscience, have erected a supreme tribunal of justice and have subjected themselves to it as well, and give to any commoner the right of summoning the king and the royal officials to court, wherever violence or injustice has been done to them. Therefore in that case one may freely litigate against the powerful; indeed the king himself is glad to be condemned, so that justice may be done and satisfaction given to the commoner who has suffered injustice.
For this reason the Babylonians, that is, all worldly people over whom the confusion of riches and greed holds sway, worship the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3); only the three Hebrew youths, because they feared God more than the king, refused to worship it, and therefore, cast into the burning furnace, they remained unharmed in it. On which matter St. Chrysostom says admirably, Homily 5 on Matthew: "A golden image is set forth -- money, in which a certain tyrannical likeness of mammon is formed, and it solicits the hearts of the greedy to serve it; but by no means do the sound of trumpets, or the harmony of the lyre, or the other enticements of riches move us to worship the image of avarice, but even if we are forced to enter a burning furnace -- I mean poverty -- yet even when placed among the fires, let us love it. For then in the midst of the flames a gentle sprinkling of dew will surround us. Therefore let us not shudder at the furnace of poverty."
Verse 4: Do Not Quarrel with a Sharp-Tongued Man, and Do Not Heap Wood upon His Fire
St. Augustine in the Speculum reads linguoso, "garrulous." That is to say: if you quarrel with a sharp-tongued man, you do the same as if you were adding fuel to a fire; for you kindle his ardor for speaking and avenging himself. Therefore do not contend with him, because by contending you will not overcome him, but will rather provoke his talkativeness. For a sharp-tongued man is one who, set ablaze by the flame of bile, belches forth cartloads of insults, and is like a dog that, once provoked, does not cease to bark.
For a sharp-tongued man makes noise and crackles with words and shouts like green laurel placed on a fire. Hence that saying of Diogenes: "He makes more noise than a green laurel set ablaze." The adage "The mad laurel" was customarily said of the author of quarrels, who stirs up disputes wherever he turns. It originated from what Pliny writes, Book 16, chapter 45: "His (King Bebryx's) tomb from the day of his death is covered with laurel, which they call the mad laurel; because if anything plucked from it is brought on board ships, quarrels arise until it is thrown away."
Similar is that saying of Cato: "Do not contend with words against the wordy." And that of the Arabs, Century 1, number 28: "Do not scratch fire with a sword," that is, do not provoke a talkative and angry man by contending: for just as coals, as long as they are left alone, are quiet, and cover their heat with their own ashes; but as soon as they are handled and poked, they display flames, spew forth sparks, and finally burst into open flame -- so talkative and wrathful men, as long as they live alone and untouched, restrain and conceal their malice; but as soon as they are touched, their eyes flash sparks, their nostrils emit smoke, their mouths shoot forth flames. And Century 1, number 25: "He who does not give wood to the fire prevents it from blazing up." According to Proverbs 26:20: "When wood fails, the fire goes out, and when the whisperer is removed, quarrels cease. As coals are to embers and wood to fire, so an angry man stirs up strife." See St. Basil, Homily 21, and St. Chrysostom, Homily 29 to the People, where he says: "One should rather dwell with a wild beast than with an angry man; for the beast, once tamed, keeps its docility; but the angry man, no matter how often you soothe him, becomes savage again."
Verse 5: Do Not Associate with an Uneducated Man, Lest He Speak Ill of Your Family
In Greek: do not sport with, that is, do not associate with, do not be familiar in jesting and playing with an apaideutos, that is, an undisciplined person who was not under the rod of virtue, namely under the discipline and correction of teachers and morals, and in those things did not learn virtue, and is therefore practically uneducated. Lest, if your family has some hidden blemish, he bring it to light; for such people tend to be forward and arrogant, and therefore to extol and praise their own things and to belittle and criticize what belongs to others. Therefore this unbridled fellow, while sporting together, will blurt out whatever he has in his heart, and will find fault with you and your parents, whether on account of the lowliness of your lineage, or poverty, or rusticity, or some other vice or crime, and thus will despise and defame you, and stir up quarrels and disputes.
The type of this matter is salt, which is a symbol of wisdom: for just as salt does not combine with fire, but cast into it crackles and pops, because it contains within itself salt water contrary to tasteless fire, so likewise the wise man does not agree with the tasteless and foolish man, because the wisdom of the former clashes with and opposes the foolishness of the latter.
Second Part of the Chapter: Do Not Despise Sinners, the Elderly, or Dead Enemies
Verse 6: Do Not Despise a Man Who Turns Away from Sin, Nor Reproach Him; Remember That We Are All Under Correction
"Under correction," that is, in sin; for on account of sin we are worthy of correction and rebuke. It is a metonymy; for the effect is put for the cause. The meaning is: do not despise the penitent sinner, nor cast his past sins in his face, because you too are a sinner, and indeed we are all sinners and worthy of rebuke. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory," that is, the grace "of God" (Romans 3:23). Therefore, just as Christ graciously received St. Mary Magdalene, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Matthew, Zacchaeus, and the other tax collectors and sinners, so much more ought we, who are equally or more sinners, to graciously receive, console, cherish, and help them to the best of our ability, according to that saying of Paul in Galatians 6:1: "If a man is overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ."
So far from being despised, the penitent sinner deserves to be shown singular favor and honor, both on account of the remarkable grace of God, and on account of the heroic virtue and fortitude of soul by which he bridled his spirit and turned back from his begun course. Thus we honor and venerate St. Mary Magdalene, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Pelagia, and other penitent Saints. For, as St. Gregory says: "Often a fervent life after sin is more pleasing to God than an innocence grown torpid in complacency."
Verse 7: Do Not Scorn a Man in His Old Age; For Some of Us Also Grow Old
He does not say: we grow old, or we shall grow old, because this is often false: for of children and young men scarcely a tenth reach old age, since most die prematurely before reaching it. He says therefore: "From among us they grow old," that is, no one grows old except from among us, and we can all grow old; but we do not all grow old, only some of us -- and which ones will, is uncertain. See, then, O young man who laughs at the old, that the same can happen to you, and perhaps will indeed happen, that you grow old, and then be laughed at yourself.
For old age creeps up imperceptibly on the heedless, and we grow old through silent years. Pliny illustrates this with the example of storks, Book 10, chapter 23: "As with storks, no one perceives them arriving, but having arrived; no one perceives them departing, but having departed, because they do both at night and secretly: so no one perceives youth departing, but having departed; and we do not feel old age arriving, but having arrived."
St. Cyprian says admirably in his book On Mortality: "This sentence has been given to the world, this is the law of God, that all things that have risen must fall, and all things grow old, and the strong grow weak, and the great diminish."
To this maxim pertains the Lacedaemonian trichoria, or song of the triple chorus -- of old men, boys, and young men. The song of the old men was: "We were once vigorous young men." That of the boys: "We shall one day be even more excellent." That of the young men: "But we are now -- put us to the test if you wish."
Verse 8: Do Not Rejoice Over Your Dead Enemy, Knowing That We All Die
Instead of "we wish" (volumus), the corrected reading is "we do not wish" (nolumus): for thus read the Roman manuscripts, Rabanus, the Gloss, and Lyra. The sense is: we do not wish that, when we have died, our enemies should rejoice over our death. Therefore we too, by the same right, should not rejoice over the death of an enemy. For what you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to another -- says the first and universal law of charity and justice. For God is accustomed to render retaliation to sinners, so that what someone has unjustly done to others, the same he himself justly suffers in turn.
He alludes to that saying of Solomon in Proverbs 24:17: "When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, and in his ruin let not your heart exult, lest perhaps the Lord see it and it displease Him."
Wisely Virgil, in Book 10 of the Aeneid, after narrating that Turnus had insulted Pallas whom he had killed, warns:
The mind of men, unknowing of fate and future lot,
And of keeping measure when uplifted by success!
The time will come for Turnus when he will wish he had paid a great price
For Pallas left untouched, and when he will hate those spoils
And that day.
St. Gregory says admirably on the passage of St. Job, Book 22 of the Morals, chapter 6: "It should be known that love of an enemy is then truly maintained when we are neither gladdened by his advancement nor rejoice at his ruin. For often the mind is deceived in the semblance of love toward an enemy, and considers that it loves him if it does not oppose his life; but the force of love is secretly and truly tested either by the enemy's advancement or his downfall."
Verse 9: Do Not Despise the Narrative of Wise Elders, and Converse in Their Proverbs
This is a meiosis: less is said, and more is meant: "do not despise" means studiously hear, absorb, and follow the narrative of the elders, both of histories and examples of past ages, which they themselves either saw or heard from their fathers; and of admonitions, counsels, instructions, and similar things that will teach you prudence; "and converse in their proverbs," by mentally pondering, ruminating, and meditating on them.
Verse 10: From Them You Will Learn Wisdom and the Doctrine of Understanding, and How to Serve the Great Without Complaint
He calls "wisdom" the knowledge of many and great things; he calls "doctrine of understanding" Ethics, or prudence, by which one deals intelligently, that is prudently, with all persons and carries out one's duties. For great prudence and dexterity are needed so that one may properly conduct oneself in the courts of princes, or handle public affairs with fidelity and at the same time with the favor of all.
Prudent courtiers therefore know and practice that saying of Tacitus: "The more prompt each person is in obedience, the more quickly he is raised to honors and wealth." And one who was asked how, contrary to the custom of others, he had grown old in the court, replied: "By submitting myself to everyone, and giving thanks when I received an injury."
Verse 11: Do Not Let the Narrative of Elders Pass You By; For They Learned from Their Fathers
The teaching of the elders is calm and solid, because it is received by tradition from their fathers, and confirmed by long use and experience: follow it therefore, not the inventions and ideas of the young, which, though they are fervent and acute, are likewise often unstable, deceptive, and entangle and ensnare themselves and others in difficulties and errors that they did not foresee and that are afterwards discovered.
Verse 12: From Them You Will Learn Understanding, and to Give a Response in Time of Need
So that you may respond fittingly and suitably to the place, time, and persons, when, being questioned about a grave, doubtful, or uncertain matter, it will be necessary for you to answer aptly and prudently, lest you offend anyone and incur danger. It is a mark of great wisdom and prudence to be able to respond properly to all who question you. Here applies that saying of Euripides in the Bellerophon: "Time produces much and varied learning." And that saying in Apuleius, Book 5 of the Golden Ass: "I am a rustic and a shepherd; but by the benefit of a long old age I am furnished with many experiences." Finally, Job 12:12: "In the aged is wisdom, and in length of time prudence."
Third Part of the Chapter: Do Not Rebuke the Obstinate, the Insolent, the Stronger, Judges, the Wrathful, or the Bold
Verse 13: Do Not Kindle the Coals of Sinners by Rebuking Them, Lest You Be Set on Fire by the Flame of Their Sins
Do not rebuke a sinner who is attached to his lusts and incorrigible: otherwise you will be set ablaze by his bile, as by kindled coals, with the flame of his crimes. That is, do not provoke the bile of the wicked, lest you be burned by his flame, lest you be injured by him when angry and inflamed, or lest you be provoked by him to similar anger, quarrels, brawls, and crimes. For when there is no hope of amendment, and nothing else is expected from reproof than the indignation of the one reproved, or even of the reprover, it is applied foolishly and with danger.
It is a beautiful metaphor from coals: just as extinguished coals do not burn; but if they are fanned or kindled with a bellows, they not only burn but also scorch the one who kindles them: so he who stirs up the dormant anger and malice of a sinner is often seized and destroyed by it.
For this reason King Hezekiah forbade the people to answer Rabshakeh the Assyrian when he blasphemed, lest, provoked by a response, he should become more insolent and blaspheme further (Isaiah 36:21). As St. Basil says in his Homily On Anger: "Just as a barking dog provokes the uproar of another dog, so also the voice of that man rouses your tranquil spirit, and you have become barking dogs to one another."
There is the precept of Pythagoras: "Do not stir fire with a sword, that is, do not provoke one who is raging." Similar is that saying of Euripides:
When two are speaking and one is angry,
He who does not resist with words is the wiser.
Verse 14: Do Not Stand Against the Face of an Insolent Man, Lest He Sit as a Spy upon Your Mouth
Do not quarrel and brawl with an insolent person; because he will cunningly observe all your words, so as to use them to calumniate you, betray you, defame you, and crush you. Here the Arabian proverb concurs, Century 1, number 12: "Be a wild donkey, upon whom travelers come," that is, when quarrels and quarrelsome people come upon you, avoid them, flee, and do not stand your ground. St. Gregory of Nazianzus says excellently, in Epistle 62 to the slanderous Eustathius: "I have learned that when I was bald, I should not engage head-on with a ram, nor provoke and irritate a hornet, that is, a tongue more ready for cursing."
Verse 15: Do Not Lend to One Stronger Than Yourself; and If You Do Lend, Consider It as Lost
Now faenerari means to lend. The Hebrew nasa, just like the Greek daneizo, applies both to lending and to usury, and signifies both to lend and to lend at interest. Do not lend to one stronger than yourself, because he, relying on his strength and power, will not repay, and indeed in his arrogance will consider the loan to be his own and owed to him; nor will you dare to ask for it back: and if you dare, you will not be able to compel him; indeed there is a danger that you will be punished worse by him.
He alludes to Proverbs 6:1, where Solomon vividly depicts the strict obligation and danger of suretyship: "My son, if you have pledged for your friend, you have bound your hand to a stranger, you are ensnared by the words of your mouth. Do therefore what I say, my son, and free yourself. Run about, make haste, rouse your soul: do not give sleep to your eyes. Rescue yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the creditor, and like a bird from the hand of the fowler."
Verse 16: Do Not Pledge Beyond Your Means; and If You Have Pledged, Think as If You Must Repay
Consider by what means you will be able to restore and pay it. For one who is surety for another's debt is often, when the debtor defaults, compelled to pay his debt. Hence the saying: "Be surety, and ruin is at hand" -- which was the third among the three chief oracles of Apollo, according to Laertius. Solomon says excellently: "Clouds and wind and rains that do not follow -- so is a boastful man who does not fulfill his promises" (Proverbs 25:14).
Tropologically, St. Gregory, in the third part of the Pastoral Care, Admonition 5, rightly applies this to Superiors and Pastors; for they pledge and obligate themselves for the care and salvation of their subjects, and therefore they ought to be constantly concerned and vigilant for it.
Verse 17: Do Not Judge Against a Judge, Because He Judges According to What Is Just
Common people are accustomed, when they have lost their case in litigation, to complain out of grief and indignation against the judge, as if an injustice had been done to them; in which matter they gravely err and sin, because they do not consider the particular circumstances of the case, which often change the appearance of the action. Again, they are ignorant of positive laws, whether divine or human, according to which the judge judged. Sirach therefore admonishes them to abstain from this deceptive and rash judgment.
For just as a philosopher is to be trusted in philosophical matters, a theologian in theological matters, a physician in medical matters: so a judge is to be trusted in a matter he has judged -- "for each person is to be believed in his own art," unless it manifestly appears otherwise. God assists each person in his office, so that he may discharge it properly. He therefore assists the judge so that he may judge rightly, according to the saying: "Divination is on the lips of the king; in judgment his mouth will not err" (Proverbs 16:10). For it is written in Psalm 82:1: "God stood in the assembly of gods; and in their midst He judges the gods." And 2 Chronicles 19:6: "Not for man, but for God you judge, who is with you in the word of judgment."
Verse 18: Do Not Go on a Journey with a Bold Man, Lest He Burden His Evils upon You
For since he does many things out of boldness and recklessness, imprudently and dangerously, you will share in his perils, because you will be considered an accomplice and partner in his plans and actions; indeed he himself will draw you in so that you truly cooperate with him and become a companion in his boldness.
For He Goes According to His Own Will, and You Will Perish Together with His Folly -- for he follows not reason as his guide, but his own recklessness and desire, which will destroy him and you with him. This is what Solomon says in Proverbs 18:2: "A fool does not receive the words of prudence, unless you say what is in his heart." And Proverbs 24: "Do not be a friend of an angry man, nor walk with a furious man; lest perhaps you learn his ways and take a stumbling block to your soul."
Such men therefore must be fled as plagues, which by their contagion infect and kill everyone. For, as St. Basil says, Monastic Constitutions, chapter 34: "It often happens that this contagion, creeping more widely, causes even those who are on the right path to stray." Hence Paul in 2 Thessalonians 3:6: "We command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother walking disorderly."
Verse 19: Do Not Quarrel with an Angry Man, and Do Not Go into the Desert with a Bold Man
Because Blood Is as Nothing Before Him; and Where There Is No Help, He Will Strike You Down -- two things usually deter from crime and murder, namely, the horror of the deed, which the bold man lacks; and men who might prevent it, which a solitary and deserted place lacks: therefore the bold man, lacking both these restraints, will rush unbridled to your destruction. How true this is, the fratricide of Cain taught, who led his brother Abel into the field, and there alone slew him alone.
The reason for this maxim is that anger is like a wild beast, which transforms a man into a brute: for since anger is an inflammation of the blood around the heart, it disturbs judgment, clouds the mind, blinds reason, and makes a man rage. Hence it alters the human form, making the eyes flash, the face fiery, the nostrils smoking, the mouth foaming, the tongue stammering. Therefore the angry man, like a boar, bares his teeth; like a serpent, sharpens his tongue; like a bear, stamps with his hands and feet; like a bull, attacks with his horns. He spares no one, neither kinsman, nor friend, nor superior.
For, as Seneca says, Book 1 On Anger, chapter 1: "Other vices push the mind, anger hurls it headlong." Pythagoras says: "Do not add fire to fire." And: "Do not stir fire with a sword, that is, do not irritate the angry, but yield to them."
Fourth Part of the Chapter: Do Not Take Counsel with Fools and Strangers
Verse 20: Do Not Take Counsel with Fools; For They Cannot Love Except What Pleases Them
Now they read stexai logon, that is, to hold a word, meaning to keep a secret. In Greek: do not take counsel with a fool, for he will not be able to conceal speech. For a twofold reason the counsel of a fool is to be avoided: first, because it is foolish, just as the fool himself is; second, because he will not keep the secret. For what pleases them is garrulity and folly; add their own desires and advantages. Fools and perverse men love and recommend those things which they covet and which are advantageous to themselves, not what is good for you.
Here the Arabic proverb is relevant, Century 1, number 26: "Do not open your secret to a monkey," that is, do not reveal your secret to mockers and fools. For just as monkeys imitate the actions and gestures of the men they see, so mockers repeat and reproduce the words and deeds of those they mock. Therefore Tobias wisely warned his son, chapter 4: "Always seek counsel from a wise man."
St. Bernard, in his epistle to Henry, Archbishop of Sens: "For councils, only those should be chosen who appear to be both prudent and benevolent. Scarcely among a multitude of men will you find one who is accomplished in both respects."
Verse 21: Do Not Make Counsel Before a Stranger; For You Do Not Know What He Will Bring Forth
You do not know what, from the things seen or heard from you, as from a seed conceived, he will scheme within himself, and finally in his own time will bring forth to your ruin or disgrace. For those who know the secret plans of another can easily misuse them to betray or destroy him, especially strangers, whose mind and loyalty are unknown, and consequently doubtful and suspect.
Morally note that counsel is here called a secret, because the sinew and force, and as it were the soul of counsel, consists in secrecy. This is evident in wars, where, if the plans for attacking the enemy are secret, soldiers attack the unprepared enemy and overcome him; but if they leak out, the enemy fortifies himself and thwarts the plan. The same holds in the procurement of offices, benefices, merchandise, and other things.
Thus Metellus, when asked what he would do after subduing the Macedonians, replied: "I would strip off my tunic -- indeed burn it -- if I thought it privy to my plan." And King Antigonus, when asked by his son when he would move camp, said: "What, do you fear that you alone will not hear the trumpet?" A saying truly worthy of a king: he did not entrust the secret to one to whom after death he would entrust the kingdom.
Verse 22: Do Not Manifest Your Heart to Every Man, Lest He Repay You with False Favor and Revile You
He calls "false favor" a feigned benevolence: do not candidly open your mind to just anyone, lest perhaps the listener not respond to your candor, but return a false favor, by which he pretends to be loyal and benevolent to you, so that he may fish out more secrets of your mind, from which he may perceive your inner troubles and then laugh at you and revile you.
Here the Arabic proverb is relevant, Century 2, number 54: "Your secret is of your blood; often you have opened it, and it is the cause of your death." And Century 1, number 7: "Do not walk naked through the streets," that is, do not open your secret before men, lest they mock you. And that saying of Epicharmus: "Be sober, and remember to distrust." For, as Theognis says:
The thing entrusted perished, the thing distrusted remained safe.
Among many, a faithful spirit is present in few.
This is what we heard in chapter 6:6: "Let your counselor be one out of a thousand."
Indeed St. Ambrose so devoutly kept a secret entrusted to him that he would not share it even with his brother Satyrus, who was most dear to him, saying: "For it was a reliable proof that a secret had not been betrayed to a stranger, if it had not been shared with a brother." And Aristotle, when asked who could keep a known secret, responded: "Whoever can hold a burning coal on his tongue." Thus Delilah, having ferreted out the secret of Samson's strength, betrayed it and destroyed her husband (Judges 16). Gellius records that the Roman senators so celebrated the silence of the boy Papyrius, who had refused to betray the secret of the senate to his mother -- who demanded it not only with words but also with blows -- that they alone among boys granted him access to the senate house, and bestowed upon him the surname Praetextatus as a mark of honor. Finally Plutarch suggests this remedy for testing someone's faithfulness in keeping a secret: "Just as we test a vessel not by pouring in wine but water -- for if it leaks, little is lost -- so something trivial should be entrusted to friends, by which we may test their fidelity to secrecy, so that if they blab, there is no danger."