Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He teaches who is blessed, namely he who takes care not to stumble in word or deed, and who is beneficent toward himself and others. Hence he pursues at length the sordidness of avarice. Secondly, from verse 12, he spurs to this justice and beneficence by the memory of imminent death. Therefore thirdly, in verse 22, he defines and circumscribes the blessed man thus: Blessed is the man who shall abide in wisdom, and who shall meditate on his justice, and in his understanding shall think upon the circumspection of God.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiasticus 14:1-27
1. Blessed is the man who has not slipped by a word from his mouth, and is not stung by the sorrow of sin. 2. Happy is he who has not had sadness of soul, and has not fallen from his hope. 3. For the covetous and tenacious man, substance is without reason, and for the envious man, of what use is gold? 4. He who heaps up unjustly from his own soul gathers for others, and another will revel in his goods. 5. He who is wicked to himself, to whom else will he be good? And he will not take pleasure in his own goods. 6. He who envies himself, nothing is more wicked than he, and this is the recompense of his malice: 7. and if he does good, he does it unknowingly and unwillingly: and in the end he manifests his malice. 8. Wicked is the eye of the envious: turning away his face and despising his own soul. 9. The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in his portion of iniquity: he will not be satisfied until he consumes and withers his own soul. 10. An evil eye is turned toward evil: and he will not be satisfied with bread, but will be needy and in sorrow at his own table. 11. My son, if you have means, do good to yourself, and offer worthy oblations to God. 12. Remember that death does not delay, and the covenant of the netherworld, for it has been shown to you: for the covenant of this world shall die by death. 13. Before death do good to your friend, and according to your ability reach out and give to the poor. 14. Do not defraud yourself of a good day, and let not a portion of a good gift pass you by. 15. Will you not leave your labors and toils to others in the division of lots? 16. Give, and receive, and justify your soul. 17. Before your death work justice: for there is no finding of food in the netherworld. 18. All flesh shall grow old as grass, and as the leaf that bears fruit on a green tree. 19. Some are generated and others are cast down: so is the generation of flesh and blood, one ends and another is born. 20. Every corruptible work shall fail in the end: and he who works it shall go with it. 21. And every chosen work shall be justified: and he who works it shall be honored in it. 22. Blessed is the man who shall abide in wisdom, and who shall meditate on his justice, and in his understanding shall think upon the circumspection of God. 23. He who considers His ways in his heart, and in the hidden things of His secrets shall have understanding, going after her as one who traces, and will stay in her ways. 24. He who looks in at her windows, and hearkens at her doors. 25. He who lodges near her house, and in her walls shall fix a peg; he shall set up his tent near her hands. 26. He shall set his children under her shelter, and shall abide under her branches. 27. He shall be protected under her covering from the heat, and shall rest in her glory.
First Part of the Chapter: On Guarding Speech and the Sordidness of Avarice
Verses 1-2: Blessed Is the Man Who Has Not Slipped by a Word from His Mouth, and Is Not Stung by the Sorrow of Sin
Having spoken in the preceding chapter about the dissimilar fortunes and characters of the rich and the poor, and about how the heart changes the countenance, he now turns to describe the truly blessed man. 1. "Blessed is the man who has not slipped by a word from his mouth." He begins with the tongue, because, as St. James says (James 3:2): "If anyone does not offend in word, he is a perfect man." For the tongue is the most slippery of all the members, and the one most prone to sin. "And is not stung by the sorrow of sin" -- that is, who does not have the thorn of a bad conscience pricking him. For sin brings with it a sting of guilt and remorse that torments the soul.
2. "Happy is he who has not had sadness of soul, and has not fallen from his hope." That is: Blessed is the man whose conscience is clear, and who has not despaired of salvation. For sadness of soul arises from a bad conscience, and to fall from hope is to fall into despair -- the worst of all spiritual evils.
Verses 3-4: For the Covetous Man, Substance Is without Reason; and for the Envious Man, of What Use Is Gold?
3. For the covetous and tenacious man, riches are without reason -- that is, without use or profit -- because he does not use them, either for himself or for others, but only hoards them. His wealth brings him no joy, no comfort, no merit before God. And for the envious man, of what use is gold? For he grudges spending it on himself as much as on others.
4. "He who heaps up unjustly from his own soul gathers for others, and another will revel in his goods." The miser starves his own soul -- depriving it of the good things it needs both temporally and spiritually -- and all his heaped-up wealth passes to others who will squander it in luxury. As Ecclesiastes admirably depicts, chapter 6, verses 3-4: "If someone has lived many years, and his soul does not use the goods of his substance, and he lacks burial -- of this man I declare that an abortive child is better than he."
Verses 5-7: He Who Is Wicked to Himself, to Whom Else Will He Be Good?
5. "He who is wicked to himself, to whom else will he be good? And he will not take pleasure in his own goods." The miser is the cruelest person of all, because he is cruel above all to himself: he denies himself food, clothing, and comfort, and lives in perpetual anxiety. If he will not do good to himself, certainly he will do good to no one else.
6. "He who envies himself, nothing is more wicked than he, and this is the recompense of his malice." Horace truly said: "The tyrants of Sicily never invented a greater torment than envy." This is most true of the envy of avarice, by which the miser torments, tortures, and consumes himself. Such men are like Timon, who so hated mankind that he rejoiced at their death. They are also like Midas, king of Phrygia, who, having asked Bacchus that whatever he touched be turned to gold, could not eat, since even his food turned to gold, and he wasted away from hunger.
7. "And if he does good, he does it unknowingly and unwillingly: and in the end he manifests his malice." Against the objection that misers sometimes do good: they do this either unknowingly or unwillingly, out of shame and fear, doing it with envy and a sordid spirit. Hence they eventually reveal this sordidness, either with malicious words, or a wrinkled brow, or some other sign betraying their avarice.
Verses 8-10: Wicked Is the Eye of the Envious
8. "Wicked is the eye of the envious: turning away his face and despising his own soul." He speaks of the bodily eye, but under it he means the eye of the mind: for both are wicked and malicious in the envious person. For "invidus" (envious) is said as if "non videns" (not seeing), or "invite videns" (seeing unwillingly), namely, the one whom he envies. The same in Hebrew is called ra enaim, that is, "evil of eyes." Ovid graphically depicts the envious man: "Pallor sits upon his face, leanness in his whole body, nowhere a straight gaze... Nor does he enjoy sleep, roused by wakeful cares: but he sees the unwelcome successes of men, and wastes away at seeing them. He gnaws and is gnawed at the same time, and is his own punishment."
The Egyptians represented envy by the basilisk: for the basilisk, a thoroughly deadly serpent, infects the air by its mere look, scorches plants, kills animals, and dissolves even stones. But if it looks at itself in a mirror, struck by its own reflected breath, it is slain by its own weapons. It is therefore a symbol of the envious person, who, when he hurls curses at a pure soul, is himself destroyed by his own arrows.
9. "The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in his portion of iniquity: he will not be satisfied until he consumes and withers his own soul." 10. "An evil eye is turned toward evil: and he will not be satisfied with bread, but will be needy and in sorrow at his own table."
Verse 11: My Son, If You Have Means, Do Good to Yourself, and Offer Worthy Oblations to God
Here Sirach assigns the proper use of riches: first, do good to yourself -- provide for your own needs moderately and reasonably; second, offer worthy oblations to God -- give to the temple, to divine worship, to the clergy, and to the poor. These are the two primary uses of wealth. A third will follow in verse 13: do good to your friends and to the poor.
Second Part of the Chapter: The Memory of Death as a Spur to Justice and Generosity
Verse 12: Remember That Death Does Not Delay, and the Covenant of the Netherworld
"Remember that death does not delay, and the covenant of the netherworld, for it has been shown to you: for the covenant of this world shall die by death." Note that death is called the testament of the world in a threefold sense: first, because it was established and decreed by God from eternity; second, because it pertains to all ages and embraces all people of all times; third, because it binds not one nation or region, but the entire world.
St. Ephrem the Syrian, in his treatise On Beatitude: "Blessed is he who continually revolves in his mind the day of departure from this life, and diligently strives to be found prepared and unafraid at that hour." The same, in his treatise On Death: "This life is nothing other than a perpetual road to death."
Morally, learn here to be mindful of death daily, and to die daily, so that you may dispose and prepare yourself for it. "Believe that each day has dawned as your last." St. John the Almsgiver dug a sepulcher for himself, and wanted to be reminded daily by his servant about the sepulcher, so that through the memory of death he might sharpen his desires for a better life. Even of Philip, king of the Macedonians, it is reported that he appointed a monitor who would cry out to him every morning that he was a man, in order to suppress his swelling pride.
Every day, therefore, when you go to bed, consider whether you are prepared to die: for the bed rightly reminds us of the sepulcher, just as sleep is said to be the image of death. St. Ambrose, Epistle 29, to Florianus: "With your whole soul, hate and condemn what the world loves. As one dead, separate yourself from its stain and attachment; as one buried, have no care for the world; as one deceased, renounce every earthly business."
Verse 13: Before Death, Do Good to Your Friend, and according to Your Ability Reach Out and Give to the Poor
This is the third use of riches: for in verse 11 he assigned two -- first, do good to yourself; second, offer oblations to God; here he assigns the third, namely, that we should also do good to other friends, especially to the poor. With this agrees the Arabic proverb: "Light your lamp before the darkness, that is, illuminate yourself with good works before death overtakes you."
Note the words "before death": he does not forbid that at death, bequests be left by testament for pious uses and the sustenance of the poor. But he prefers that we give with our own hands during our lifetime, because such giving has more merit, more certainty, and more joy.
Verses 14-17: Do Not Defraud Yourself of a Good Day
14. "Do not defraud yourself of a good day, and let not a portion of a good gift pass you by." He does not mean that we should give ourselves over to pleasures and banquets, but rather that we should use the good things God gives us wisely and moderately, neither hoarding them in miserly fashion nor squandering them. A "good day" is a day spent in doing good to ourselves and to others, in the service of God.
15. "Will you not leave your labors and toils to others in the division of lots?" That is: After your death, others will divide your goods by lot; why then do you toil and hoard, when you cannot take any of it with you? 16. "Give, and receive, and justify your soul." Give alms, receive in return the blessing and merit before God, and so justify your soul. 17. "Before your death work justice: for there is no finding of food in the netherworld." After death, there is no opportunity to merit or to do good; all must be done in this life.
Verses 18-21: All Flesh Shall Grow Old as Grass, and as the Leaf That Bears Fruit on a Green Tree
18-19. "All flesh shall grow old as grass, and as the leaf that bears fruit on a green tree. Some are generated and others are cast down: so is the generation of flesh and blood, one ends and another is born." Men are like the leaves of trees, of which some are born and others are cast off; for the new ones that are born push out and cast off the old ones. Homer says fittingly: "As is the generation of leaves, so also is that of men. Some leaves the wind scatters on the ground, but the forest, sprouting, produces others when the season of spring comes: so one generation of men is born, and another dies."
Men are aptly compared to leaves: first, because just as a leaf is slight and thin, so too is man and man's life; second, just as a leaf falls from any gust, so too man from any temptation; third, just as leaves are green in spring and summer, and wither in autumn and winter, so too men are green in youth, wither and fade in old age, and die; fourth, just as the petals of flowers delight and captivate the eyes with their color and fragrance, but when they wither they are swept out onto the dung heap, so exactly does it happen with the youth of man; fifth, just as a tree very full of leaves bears little fruit, so too men who look only to external beauty and display produce little fruit of grace and good works.
20. "Every corruptible work shall fail in the end: and he who works it shall go with it." 21. "And every chosen work shall be justified: and he who works it shall be honored in it." Corruptible works -- that is, works of the flesh, of avarice, of worldly ambition -- will perish, and those who devoted themselves to them will perish with them. But chosen works -- that is, works of virtue, charity, and wisdom -- will endure forever, and those who performed them will be honored for eternity.
Third Part of the Chapter: The Blessedness of the Wise Man
Verses 22-27: Blessed Is the Man Who Shall Abide in Wisdom
22. "Blessed is the man who shall abide in wisdom, and who shall meditate on his justice, and in his understanding shall think upon the circumspection of God." Sirach here turns to a new theme, which he pursues to the end of chapter 15, in which he teaches that liberty has been given to men by God, so that of their own accord and by free will they may choose either good or evil. He begins from the fear of God, and says that he who fears God will do good and will lay hold of wisdom.
St. Augustine defines wisdom in various ways: "Wisdom is the straight way that leads to truth"; and: "Wisdom is the knowledge of divine and human things"; and: "Wisdom is nothing other than a measure of the mind, by which the mind balances itself so that it neither runs to excess nor is compressed below its full capacity." And in his Enchiridion: "Man's wisdom is piety," according to Job 28: "Behold, piety itself is wisdom."
Most beautifully does St. Augustine define it in book 1 of his Sermon on the Lord on the Mount: "Wisdom is the contemplation of truth, pacifying the whole man (not only the senses or the intellect), and assuming the likeness of God." For it causes the wise man, like God, to be exalted, composed, heavenly, and undisturbed in adversity as in prosperity, and thus to walk upon the earth as a kind of god.
23-24. "He who considers His ways in his heart, and in the hidden things of His secrets shall have understanding, going after her as one who traces, and will stay in her ways. He who looks in at her windows, and hearkens at her doors." The student of wisdom pursues her as a tracker follows his quarry: with patience, persistence, and keen attention. He looks into her windows -- that is, he searches the Scriptures, the teachings of the Fathers, the works of creation -- to glimpse her beauty. He hearkens at her doors -- that is, he listens in prayer, in meditation, in the quiet of his heart, for her voice.
25. "He who lodges near her house, and in her walls shall fix a peg; he shall set up his tent near her hands." The lover of God drives in a peg, that is, sets up a tent beside the house of wisdom, so that he may dwell near her and be constantly occupied with her. He alludes to the poor who build huts and hovels next to palaces or temples. The student of wisdom and lover of God sets up his tent next to the temple of wisdom, so that he may be constantly breathed upon by its doctrine, religion, and holiness. He names a peg, not a house, to signify that we are here not citizens but pilgrims, and therefore do not have a house but dwell in tents, like the Hebrews journeying through the desert to the promised land.
26-27. "He shall set his children under her shelter, and shall abide under her branches. He shall be protected under her covering from the heat, and shall rest in her glory." He continues to explain the goods that come to the wise man from wisdom through the metaphor of a tree, which with its branches provides shade and shelter. Wisdom protects the wise man and his household, so that under its covering he may be safe from every assault of temptations and enemies; and in its guardianship may rest secure, confident, courageous, and glorious. For wisdom brings tranquility of mind, joy, constancy, and sublimity, so that, fixed on heaven and God, he may see from on high and laugh at all the world's prosperity and adversity, and despise and trample them.
Mystically, the wise man, that is the saint, "shall set" his "children" -- that is his works -- through the most upright intention of pleasing God alone, "under the covering" of God Himself, lest they ever perish. Thus did the bride in Song of Songs 2:3: "I sat down under His shadow, whom I had desired, and His fruit was sweet to my palate." St. Gregory says: "The shadow of Christ is the protection of the Holy Spirit; for the Holy Spirit overshadows the mind that He fills, because He tempers the heat of all temptations."