Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
At the end of the preceding chapter he showed with how much zeal the student of wisdom pursues wisdom, so as to draw near to it; now in turn he shows with what great benevolence wisdom meets him, and how many gifts and graces it bestows upon him. Then, from verse 7, he declares that wisdom flees from the foolish, the proud, the deceitful, and liars; but courts the sensible, the humble, the sincere, and the truthful. Finally, from verse 11, he teaches that wisdom and God are not the authors of sin, inasmuch as He abominates it, but that He has given to each person free will, to choose good or evil, life or death. Therefore here is a notable description of free will, in whose power it lies to choose wisdom or folly, that is, virtue or sin.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiasticus 15:1-22
1. He who fears God will do good works: and he who holds fast to justice will lay hold of her, 2. and she will meet him as an honored mother, and will receive him as a wife wedded from her virginity. 3. She will feed him with the bread of life and understanding, and will give him the water of saving wisdom to drink: and he will be strengthened in her, and will not be bent; 4. and she will hold him fast, and he will not be confounded: and she will exalt him among his neighbors, 5. and in the midst of the Church she will open his mouth, and will fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and will clothe him with a robe of glory. 6. She will heap upon him joy and gladness, and will give him an everlasting name as his inheritance. 7. Foolish men will not lay hold of her, and sensible men will meet her; foolish men will not see her: for she is far from pride and deceit. 8. Lying men will not be mindful of her: and truthful men will be found in her, and will have success even to the sight of God. 9. Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner: 10. for wisdom has come forth from God. For praise will stand firm for the wisdom of God, and it will abound in a faithful mouth, and the sovereign Lord will give it to him. 11. Do not say: It is through God that she is not with me; for do not do what He hates. 12. Do not say: He led me astray; for He has no need of wicked men. 13. The Lord hates every abomination of error, and it will not be loved by those who fear Him. 14. God in the beginning created man, and left him in the hand of his own counsel. 15. He added His commandments and precepts: 16. if you are willing to keep the commandments, they will preserve you, and to keep faith pleasing to Him forever. 17. He has set before you water and fire: stretch out your hand to whichever you will. 18. Before man are life and death, good and evil: whichever pleases him will be given to him; 19. for the wisdom of God is great, and He is mighty in power, seeing all things without ceasing. 20. The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him, and He knows every work of man. 21. He has commanded no one to act wickedly, and He has given no one permission to sin: 22. for He does not desire a multitude of faithless and worthless children.
First Part of the Chapter
Verse 1: He who fears God will do good works
1. HE WHO FEARS GOD WILL DO GOOD WORKS -- that is, he will do the good and holy works already mentioned, so as to please God by them, as stated in the preceding chapter, verses 11, 17, 21, 23 and following, and to merit His grace; namely, he will meditate on justice, he will ponder the watchfulness of God -- that is, works of beneficence, justice, and the pursuit of wisdom; but especially those mentioned in verse 22, where the Complutensian edition reads: blessed is he who meditates on good things in wisdom, and who discourses on holy things in his understanding. For he alludes to this: for these are the good works that he who fears God will do, as if to say: He who fears God will look through the windows of wisdom, will fix a stake in the wall of the house of wisdom, etc. Therefore, instead of "good works," the Greek has auta (our Translator read agatha), "these very things," namely what I have just said. For this verse is a kind of recapitulation and summary repetition of the entire preceding chapter. Whence some Latin versions read "he will do that," namely what has just been said.
AND HE WHO HOLDS FAST (that is, is master of) JUSTICE WILL LAY HOLD OF HER -- namely wisdom, about which the entire preceding chapter spoke. He shows what are the traces by which he said wisdom is to be tracked, and teaches that these are the fear of God and the works of justice; and therefore those who fear God and practice justice lay hold of wisdom with all its gifts already mentioned, so that, protected by it, they may live a life that is peaceful, cheerful, holy, and abounding in all good things. The Greek has: he who fears the Lord will do these things; and he who is master of the knowledge of the law will comprehend her; the Zurich version: he who reveres the Lord will do these things; and having obtained knowledge of the law, will lay hold of it; the Syriac: he who fears God will do thus; and he who teaches the law will walk in it. For "continens" the Greek is egkrates, that is, one who is master of, or one who holds fast to justice. In one ancient codex it reads: ho eilephos gnosin nomou heuresei auten, that is, he who has received the knowledge of the law will find her, namely wisdom. The sense is, as if to say: He who fears God and fulfills His law (which is to do justice, or what is right and just as prescribed by the law), this man will lay hold of wisdom. For not by speculation and knowledge alone, but by the practice and performance of the law once known, is this true and practical wisdom acquired. He repeats and emphasizes what he said in chapter 1, verse 33: "If you desire wisdom, keep justice, and God will bestow it upon you." Sirach is echoed by Ananias in the Pirke Avoth, that is, in the Sayings of the Fathers, chapter III: "Every man," he says, "who has more works than wisdom, his wisdom endures; but he who on the contrary has more wisdom than works, his wisdom cannot be lasting and stable." In the same place, Rabbi Eleazar says: "He who abounds in wisdom more than in good works, to what is he like? Surely to a tree luxuriant with many leaves but with few roots fixed in the earth. A wind comes, and with a sudden blast it is shaken, and finally uprooted entirely, as Jeremiah says, chapter 17, verse 6: He shall be like a tamarisk in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land. But he who abounds in good works above wisdom, to what is he like? Surely to a tree laden with few branches but sending many roots into the earth. For even if a great force of winds shakes it, it will by no means be moved from its place, according to the words of Jeremiah in the same place: He shall be like a tree planted by the waters, that sends out its roots toward the moisture; and it shall not fear when heat comes, and in the time of drought it shall not be anxious, nor shall it ever cease to bear fruit."
Furthermore, the more we grow in justice, the more we lay hold of wisdom, and the more we become partakers of its goods. The word "apprehendet" (will lay hold of) therefore signifies an act not merely begun, but one that is growing and being perfected: for the more anyone fears and reverences God, and strives to please Him through good works of justice, the more he lays hold of wisdom and becomes wiser. Every person must strive most earnestly to follow Christ as his leader, of whom St. Luke writes in chapter 2, verse 52: "Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and grace before God and men." So Rabanus says: "The more diligent anyone is in keeping the commandments of God, and the more zealous in righteous conduct, the more abundantly he rejoices in the attainment of wisdom." The cause of all these things is the fear of God: "For he," says our Alvarez in his treatise On Fear, "who has been rooted in the fear of the Lord will be prompted by that very fear not to remain idle and sluggish, but to devote himself constantly to holy actions. And he who through the practice of good works has laid hold of justice and virtue, will also lay hold of wisdom and a savory knowledge of God. Therefore fear extends its dominion over all good things that pertain to action and contemplation." Whence St. Bernard, in his sermon On the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, chapter 1, says: "The first grace is the fear of the Lord. He who has this grace hates all iniquity, according to the Psalmist: I have hated iniquity and abhorred it; and in another place: I have hated every way of iniquity. For it is written: The fear of the Lord hates evil. And again: Fear God and depart from evil. And of Job it is said: A man fearing God and departing from evil. Without this grace, the first of graces, which is the beginning of all religion, no good thing can sprout forth or flow. For just as security or sloth is the cause and mother of all offenses, so the fear of the Lord is the root and guardian of all good things." And St. Ephrem, On the Fear of God, volume I, says: "He who possesses the fear of God does not let his mind wander here and there, but waits for his Lord, lest He suddenly come and find him numb with negligence and unprepared, and cast him off. He who fears God is not free from care and solicitude; for he is always watchful and sober. He who fears the Lord is not given to excessive sleep; for he watches and awaits the coming of his Lord. He in whom the fear of God dwells shows himself negligent in nothing, lest he offend his Lord. He in whom the fear of God dwells does not surrender himself to inertia and sloth; for he always attends diligently to his affairs, lest he be condemned by the Lord. He in whom the fear of God dwells always tests and embraces and accomplishes what pleases his Lord; so that when his Lord comes, he may be praised by Him in many things: for the fear of God is the cause of very many good things for those who possess it."
Verse 2: She will meet him as an honored mother
2. AND SHE WILL MEET HIM AS AN HONORED MOTHER, AND AS A WIFE WEDDED FROM HER VIRGINITY WILL RECEIVE HIM -- that is, one who was led to marriage not from widowhood, but from virginity, that is, as a virgin, and was made a wife, that is, a spouse. Whence in Greek it reads hos gune parthenias, that is, "as a wife of virginity," who, namely, in her virginity, that is as a virgin, was betrothed to him and made his wife; and therefore conforms herself to her husband's ways and easily conforms herself, and for this reason is tenderly loved. The Greek does not have the word "honored"; but only this: as a mother she will meet him, and as a wife of virginity she will receive him; the Zurich version: and she will receive him as a wife led to marriage while still a virgin, as if to say: With whatever honor, love, sweetness, and joy a virgin bride receives her bridegroom, to whom she has been recently betrothed, with equal measure will wisdom receive her devoted student, who courts her embraces and marriage. The Syriac reads: like a wife of youth, who is married in her youth, she will draw near to him.
He signifies the meeting of wisdom, namely, that wisdom meets those who seek her with wonderful promptness and benevolence, through two similes: that of an honorable mother, and that of a virgin wife; and this, First, because no loves in the world are as intense as those of a mother toward her son, and of a virgin bride toward her bridegroom. These, indeed much greater ones, divine wisdom will show to its host: greater, I say, by as much as the spirit is greater than the flesh, God than man, heaven than earth. These loves were felt by him who said: "My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God" (Psalm 83, verse 7); and: "My soul has thirsted for the strong living God" (Psalm 41, verse 3).
Second, because in both cases honor is mingled with love, so that love does not diminish reverence, nor reverence love. For an honored mother, for example a queen, meeting her children, lovingly embraces them as a mother, and honorably as a queen. Similarly, a virgin bride meets her bridegroom with chaste love as a spouse, but also reverently and modestly as a virgin. Wisdom does the same for its disciples.
Third, because both loves contain the delights of love, which fill the mind with consolation and almost saturate it with pleasure: for a mother, meeting her children as her very flesh and blood with maternal love, pours out all her affection and, as it were, her whole self upon them; a virgin bride does the same toward her bridegroom. God, and the wisdom and grace of God, does the same, according to that passage (to which Sirach alludes) in Isaiah 66, verse 13: "As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you; you shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;" and verse 11: "That you may suck and be filled from the breast of her consolation; that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory, etc.; you shall be carried at her breast, and upon her knees they shall caress you." Moreover, so great is the love of God and of His wisdom and grace toward mankind, that He not only meets those who seek Him, but also pursues those who do not seek Him, indeed those who flee and turn away, and draws and invites them to Himself, indeed compels them. How ungrateful, therefore, how inhumane, foolish, and barbarous are those who neglect God, who loves them so greatly -- indeed who scorn and despise Him, and even fight against Him!
Fourth, Rabanus says: "Rightly is wisdom called a mother on account of the grace of nourishment, and a virgin on account of the beauty of her comeliness and the holiness of her chastity, since there is nothing impure or defiled in her. For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of the majesty of God, and the image of His goodness; and through her all who pleased God from the beginning were healed." This is what the Wise Man says in chapter 6, verse 13: "Wisdom is bright and never fades; she is easily seen by those who love her, and found by those who seek her. She anticipates those who desire her, showing herself to them first. He who watches for her at dawn will not be disappointed: for he will find her sitting at his doors."
The reason is that the wisdom of God is His goodness; and it is the nature of goodness to communicate itself freely: for good is self-diffusive; and infinite goodness infinitely desires to communicate and spread itself. Such is the goodness of God and of uncreated Wisdom. Let the children of wisdom, namely the wise and learned, follow wisdom as a mother, so that they may readily share their wisdom, gifts, and graces with others: for they received these things from God for this purpose, and by doing so they will increase them all the more -- both because he who teaches others teaches himself; and because the more eagerly and diligently one teaches others, the more he is taught by God; and because God does not allow Himself to be surpassed in generosity, but gives more generously to the generous, so that they may continue being more generous to others.
Allegorically, the Blessed Virgin, the mother of the eternal Wisdom, namely of Christ the Lord, meets those who invoke her as an honored mother, as St. Ildefonsus calls her in Sermon 1 On the Assumption, and St. Bonaventure in the Psalter of the Virgin. And rightly so: for first, she is the Mother of God, or Theotokos, which after God is the highest title of honor; second, because God the Son honored her when on earth He subjected Himself to her as to a mother; again, in heaven He honored her by placing her at His right hand. The type of this was in Solomon, who in a similar way honored his mother Bathsheba, in 3 Kings, chapter 2, verse 19: "The king rose to meet her," it says, "and bowed before her, and sat upon his throne: and a throne was placed for the king's mother, and she sat at his right hand." For, as Methodius says in his oration On the Purification: "He who said: Honor your father and mother, in order to observe the decree He Himself had promulgated, bestowed upon His mother every grace and honor;" third, because she is the mother of all the faithful and saints. Whence she is called by the Fathers "the mother of the living," just as Eve is called "the mother of the dying;" because, as St. Epiphanius says in Heresy 78, "from Mary this life was born to the world, so that she would give birth to the Living One, and Mary would become the mother of the living."
A striking and rare example is found in the Life of Blessed Herman Joseph of the Premonstratensian Order. For he, from boyhood supremely devoted to the Blessed Virgin, experienced her throughout his entire life as an honored mother, who accordingly constantly procured money for his food and clothing, healed his illnesses, put his temptations to flight, was present in all things, and provided for all things conducive to his salvation, as a loving and generous mother; indeed, she accepted him as a bridegroom and gave him the name of her own spouse, namely Joseph. Read his Life, and you will marvel at such condescension and devotion of so great a mother toward her clients. His Life is found in Surius under the seventh of April, in the last (which was greatly enlarged by Mosander) Cologne edition.
Verse 3: She will feed him with the bread of life
3. SHE WILL FEED HIM WITH THE BREAD OF LIFE AND UNDERSTANDING, AND WILL GIVE HIM THE WATER OF SAVING WISDOM TO DRINK. -- The words "of life" and "saving" are absent in the Greek; for it reads thus: she will feed him with the bread of sunesis (that is, understanding), and will give him the water of wisdom to drink. In the preceding verse he said that wisdom meets her devoted students most lovingly, as a mother and as a bride; now he indicates the effects and fruits of this meeting: the first is that she will feed and give him drink as a mother feeds her children, especially infants and little ones, and as a bride prepares a meal and sets the table for the bridegroom.
Furthermore, understanding, or intelligence, and wisdom are the same thing, although they differ in etymology and connotation. For in spiritual matters, as in the mind, food and drink are the same; just as hearing, sight, and taste are the same. For one and the same mind, or intellect, eminently contains all the senses within itself, and performs the functions and acts of all of them. The sense therefore is, as if to say: Wisdom feeds and gives drink to the minds of her followers, that is, she nourishes them with spiritual bread and drink, namely with understanding and wisdom, that is, with herself and her teachings, instructions, and precepts, which confer salvation and the life of grace and glory.
Allegorically, Christ, who is the wisdom of the Father and our wisdom, really feeds us with Himself as with divine bread in the Eucharist, and thereby gives us life, and will make us rise to immortal life, according to John 6, verse 33: "The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." And verse 35: "I am the bread of life: he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." And verse 51: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give is My flesh for the life of the world." Again, the water of saving wisdom is the Holy Spirit, and His gifts and graces, of whom Christ says in John 4, verse 13: "He who drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life."
Indeed, St. Catherine of Siena drew such great strength of mind and body from holy Communion that she was disturbed or moved by nothing in the world, and even lived strong and vigorous without bodily food. Likewise, the Martyrs obtained invincible strength amid every kind of torment from the Holy Eucharist, which they accordingly brought home and consumed in times of persecution, as is clear from Tertullian, St. Cyprian, and others. A figure of this was the manna, which nourished and strengthened the Hebrews for all the labors of the journey and of wars for forty years in the desert. And the hearth-cake given by an angel to Elijah, by the strength of which Elijah walked for forty days and nights to the mountain of God, Horeb, and courageously opposed the impiety of Jezebel and Ahab, whom he had previously fled in fear, 3 Kings 19, verse 8 and following.
Verses 3-4: He will be strengthened in her
3 and 4. AND HE WILL BE STRENGTHENED IN HER, AND WILL NOT BE BENT: AND SHE WILL HOLD HIM FAST, AND HE WILL NOT BE CONFOUNDED. -- This is the second effect and fruit of wisdom meeting her disciple, namely, that she does not feed him in a passing way, but establishes herself in him and remains; and she confirms him in the true and the good, and does not allow him to be bent toward the false and the evil. Therefore she holds him in virtue, lest he fall into vice and thereby be confounded and put to shame. Wisdom therefore supports and strengthens the mind, just as an antidote strengthens the body so that it cannot be infected or harmed by a raging plague. And just as balsam strengthens dead bodies so that they do not decay and waste away, because by its own power and vigor it permeates all their veins, parts, and passages, and thereby makes them like itself and incorruptible: in like manner wisdom, by her own power penetrating every recess of the soul, preserves them whole and uncorrupted in goodness.
The reason a priori is: First, that wisdom suggests to the mind and through the mind to the will, wise arguments and motives for constancy and fortitude: for instance, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that it is noble to suffer for virtue and for God, that God strengthens, rewards, and crowns those who suffer for Him. Second, that wisdom is itself prudence and virtue; and virtue is derived from "vir" (man), meaning "manliness," says Cicero in Tusculan Disputations II, and it properly signifies fortitude, because fortitude is proper to a man. Third, that wisdom suggests the means of obtaining grace, which strengthens the mind through the Sacraments, especially the Eucharistic bread.
Verse 4: She will exalt him among his neighbors
SHE WILL EXALT HIM AMONG HIS NEIGHBORS. -- In Greek, para tous plesion autou, which others translate "above his neighbors." For wisdom causes the wise man to stand out among the unlearned and foolish, as the sun among the planets that share in its light, as the eye among the members of the body that it illuminates, as a king among the people, as a teacher among his students. Thus wisdom exalted St. Peter, so that he was revered by the faithful as God's interpreter; and St. Paul, so that he was worshiped by the Lycaonians as a god and called Mercury, Acts 14, verse 11; and likewise the other Apostles and apostolic men -- to such an extent that kings and princes venerated them as heavenly beings, according to the words: "Kings shall be your foster fathers, and queens your nursing mothers: with their faces bowed to the ground they shall worship you, and they shall lick the dust of your feet" (Isaiah 49, verse 23).
Verse 5: In the midst of the Church she will open his mouth
5. AND IN THE MIDST OF THE CHURCH SHE WILL OPEN HIS MOUTH. -- This is the third endowment and fruit of wisdom, namely, that she makes her devoted followers not only wise, but also teachers of others. Hear Rabanus: "He has elegantly expressed the pattern of the Apostles and preachers of the holy Gospel, whom divine Wisdom -- that is, Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God -- set over the entire Church, and placed in the citadel of dignity above all the rest of the faithful. This distinguished company of Doctors, divine power illuminated inwardly by the grace of His Spirit, and outwardly supplied with an abundance of eloquence, so that the good which they understood in their minds, they might set forth to others in fluent speech."
Wherefore the Church reads these words of Sirach in the divine office of St. John the Apostle, and in the Introit of the Mass of Doctors. For St. John, reclining on the breast of Christ, drew from it an extraordinary wisdom, by which he surpassed not only the rest of the faithful, but even the Apostles; whence he illuminated all the churches of Asia like a sun, especially when he thundered forth that thrice-sacred mystery of the Divinity and the Trinity at the beginning of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Hence also he wrote the Apocalypse, "which has as many mysteries as words," says St. Jerome. For which reason he alone above the rest deservedly earned the title of "the Theologian."
AND SHE WILL FILL HIM WITH THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING, AND WILL CLOTHE HIM WITH A ROBE OF GLORY. -- This verse is now missing in the Greek and the Syriac. He explains how wisdom opens the mouth of her disciple in the Church, namely by pouring into his heart the fullness of wisdom, which he may pour forth with his mouth. For sophists who boast of wisdom display with their mouths what they do not have in their hearts: but the truly wise have more wisdom in their hearts than they express with their mouths. Sophists therefore are like channels that retain no water but pour out all that they receive: but the wise are like basins that first fill themselves, and then send elsewhere whatever water is left over. Hear St. Bernard, sermon 18 on the Song of Songs: "If you are wise," he says, "you will show yourself a basin and not a channel. For a channel almost simultaneously receives and pours out again; but a basin waits until it is filled, and thus shares what overflows without any loss to itself, knowing that cursed is he who makes his own portion worse, etc. But today we have many channels in the Church, and very few basins. Those through whom heavenly streams flow to us are of such charity that they want to pour out before being filled, ready to speak rather than to hear, eager to teach what they have not learned, and itching to preside over others when they do not know how to govern themselves."
This is therefore the fourth endowment and fruit of wisdom.
Verse 6: She will store up joy and exultation upon him
6. SHE WILL STORE UP JOY AND EXULTATION UPON HIM, AND WILL CAUSE HIM TO INHERIT AN ETERNAL NAME. -- That is to say: She will heap up abundant joy upon him like a treasure, and will cause an eternal name -- that is, everlasting fame and renown -- to come to him as an inheritance, both on earth and in heaven; for indeed "virtue is the pillar of fortune." For the wise person rejoices in his wisdom, as in a most precious treasure; he rejoices also in his teaching, by which he instructs disciples and makes them wise and holy. For "the just shall be in everlasting remembrance," Psalm 111, 7. He alludes to Isaiah 56, verse 5: "I will give them in My house, and within My walls, a place and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, which shall not perish."
This is the fifth endowment and fruit of wisdom: that it gladdens the wise person and makes his name eternal, according to Wisdom 8, 13: "Through her I shall have immortality, and everlasting remembrance."
Second Part of the Chapter, Which Teaches That Wisdom Does Not Meet the Foolish, the Proud, the Deceitful, and Liars, but the Prudent, the Humble, the Sincere, and the Truthful
Verse 7: Foolish men will not apprehend her
7. FOOLISH MEN WILL NOT APPREHEND HER, AND PRUDENT MEN WILL MEET HER; FOOLISH MEN WILL NOT SEE HER: FOR SHE IS FAR FROM PRIDE AND DECEIT. -- He calls the foolish, in a practical sense, sinners, who foolishly follow their own concupiscence and worldly honors, riches, and pleasures: these do not apprehend true practical wisdom, because it consists in contempt of the world and in mortification of concupiscence: for it teaches us to love spiritual and heavenly things, and to spurn carnal and earthly things. Wherefore the prudent, that is, those who understand and appreciate this very thing, will meet her; but the foolish and senseless, that is, the imprudent, are so far from her that they do not even see her: for she flees pride and deceit, which are the vices of the foolish followers of this world.
Therefore he calls the foolish sinners, especially the proud and the deceitful, for he adds: "For she is far from pride and deceit." Do you then desire wisdom? Be humble and sincere: for while you strive for humility, you strive for wisdom. This is what Solomon says, Wisdom 1, 4: "Wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful." And Proverbs 8, 13: "I detest arrogance, and pride, and the double tongue." And Christ says of the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of wisdom and truth: "Whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him, nor knows Him: but you (O prudent Apostles) will know Him, for He will abide with you, and will be in you," John 14, 17. And: "I confess to You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent (according to the flesh and the world), and have revealed them to little ones," Matthew 11, 25.
Verse 8: Lying men will not be mindful of her
8. LYING MEN WILL NOT BE MINDFUL OF HER (wisdom): AND TRUTHFUL MEN WILL BE FOUND IN HER, AND WILL HAVE SUCCESS UNTIL THE VISITATION OF GOD. -- He explains what he said in the preceding verse, that wisdom is far from pride and deceit: for he calls the proud and the deceitful liars; for both tell many lies: the proud indeed about their own excellence, in order to exalt themselves; the deceitful about their schemes, in order to deceive others. He says therefore that liars are not mindful of wisdom, who do not seek her, and indeed flee her dictates, as being contrary to their lies and deceits: but the truthful, such as are the humble and sincere, will be found in her, because these devote themselves to wisdom, which is nothing other than practical truth, teaching namely what they ought to do and what they ought to say according to God's law. Hence God will give them success, and will prosper their deeds and words until the judgment, both particular and universal, in which He will examine, judge, and reward all their actions with the vision of God and eternal glory, so that they may behold God face to face and be made blessed thereby, according to Psalm 16, 15: "I shall be satisfied when Your glory appears."
Verses 9-10: Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner
9. PRAISE IS NOT SEEMLY IN THE MOUTH OF A SINNER. -- For, as St. Chrysostom says, in the homily When He Was Designated Presbyter: "Just as in garlands it is not enough for the flowers to be pure unless the hand weaving them is also pure: so also in sacred hymns it is necessary that not only the words be devout, but also the soul that sings the hymns." He then adds that David in Psalm 148 invites all creatures to praise God, except the sinner alone: "Scorpions, serpents, and dragons are invited to praise Him by whom they were created; the sinner alone is removed from this sacred chorus, and rightly so. For just as a musician cuts a discordant string from a well-tuned lyre, lest the harmony of the remaining notes be spoiled: so also the Prophet (David) cuts off the sinner like a discordant string, like a sick member, from the universal body of creation."
St. Bernard, in his sermon on the Vigil of St. Andrew: "If not even the just man, without modesty and a certain reverence, presumes to approach the praises of the Saints, how much more must the sinner, in whose mouth praise is not seemly, always fear that voice: Why do you declare My ordinances?" The same, Sermon 45 among the lesser sermons: "Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner. Even what is in the mouth of the penitent sinner does not seem seemly, because he still suffers confusion from the remembrance and memory of sin, and is frequently stung by compunction from it. But nonetheless in that state, confession is useful and fruitful, even if praise is not seemly and beautiful. But after he progresses in gratitude for God's benefits and clings to divine praise, and continually delights and advances in it, so that nothing else pleases him, then in his mouth the praise of God is seemly: like a farmer who, while he manures his field, is covered in mud and dung -- his labor is not beautiful, even if it is fruitful: but when he gathers the sheaves of grain, then his labor is beautiful and sweet."
Verse 10: Wisdom has proceeded from God
10. BECAUSE WISDOM HAS PROCEEDED FROM GOD: FOR PRAISE WILL ATTEND THE WISDOM OF GOD, AND WILL ABOUND IN THE FAITHFUL MOUTH, AND THE RULER WILL GIVE IT TO HIM. -- This is the reasoning of Sirach: He proves that praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner, by this syllogism. Only that praise is seemly which proceeds from God: but the praise of the sinner does not proceed from God; therefore the praise of the sinner is not seemly. The meaning therefore is, as if to say: To wisdom alone belongs true praise, that is, the office of praising her teachings or dictates of wisdom; for it is the task of the wise to preach and celebrate them both by word and by example. Therefore this praise and preaching will abound in the mouth of the faithful and truthful, not of the liar. And, that is, because, the Ruler, namely God, who is the fountain of all wisdom and praise, will give it to him.
Note the phrase "will abound in the faithful mouth": faithful, that is, first, truthful; second, having true faith in and knowledge of God; third, one who faithfully worships God and serves and obeys Him: for in such a person's mouth the praise of God is abundant and overflows. Hence the Psalmist, 134, 1: "Praise the name of the Lord; praise the Lord, you servants." Where St. Augustine says: "This Psalm urges us to praise the name of the Lord, and gives the reason why it is just to praise Him, when it says: Praise the Lord, you servants: what is more just, more worthy, more pleasing? For if servants do not praise the Lord, they will be proud, ungrateful, and irreligious."
The same Augustine, Book I of the Confessions, chapter 1: "Great are You, O Lord, and greatly to be praised; great is Your power, and of Your wisdom there is no measure; and man, a small portion of Your creation, wants to praise You." And a little later: "For You stir us up so that praising You delights us, because You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You."
Third Part of the Chapter, Which Teaches That the Author of Folly, That Is, of Sin, Is Not God, but Free Will, to Which God Has Set Forth Good and Evil, That It May Choose Either
Verse 11: Do not say: It is through God that it is absent
11. DO NOT SAY: IT IS THROUGH GOD THAT IT IS ABSENT: FOR WHAT HE HATES, DO NOT DO. -- This is another anticipation of an objection. For the foolish foolishly ascribe the cause of their folly to God, in order to excuse themselves. He rebukes them, as if to say: Do not say: It is God's doing that wisdom -- that is, virtue and holiness -- is absent from me, because it was already said that all wisdom proceeds from God. Therefore I lack it because He Himself did not grant it to me. This, I say, do not say. He adds the reason: "For what He hates, do not do," as if to say: God hates folly, that is, vice and impiety; therefore He cannot be its author or cause, but you are the cause of it for yourself, you who love and commit what God hates, and therefore cannot do. For if you hated it as God hates it, you certainly would not commit it, just as God does not. Moreover, if you did not do those things that God hates, God and wisdom would certainly come to you, for she desires to communicate herself to all.
Learn here didactically that it is not God's doing that anyone fails to be upright and just, fails to live well, or fails to be saved; but the wicked must attribute all these things to themselves and their own fault. For God on His part wills all men to be saved, and therefore sent Christ the Savior for all, and through Him instituted sacraments fitting for the salvation of all, and offers His grace to all; but the wicked exclude that grace, when they resist it or refuse to cooperate; just as the sun, being most luminous, is not the cause of darkness in a house, but rather the occupant who shuts the windows against the sun. This is what Hosea 13, 9 says: "Your destruction, O Israel: only in Me is your help."
Verse 12: Do not say: He led me astray
12. DO NOT SAY: HE (God) LED ME ASTRAY. -- Moreover, this is a dreadful blasphemy, which makes God the author of error and sin, as Calvin and Melanchthon do, saying that the betrayal of Judas is as much the work of God as the calling of Paul. Therefore the Council of Trent, Session VI, canon 6, condemns this with an anathema. Less blasphemous, yet still blasphemous, was Manes (the father of the Manichaeans), who, lest he ascribe sin to God, invented another certain evil God (as if the devil), who would be the cause of all evil. For God is the first and supreme truth, to which all error and falsehood is diametrically opposed: God is uncreated and immense light itself, to which all darkness is infinitely opposed, just as mist is opposed to the sun: God is eternal wisdom, to which all foolishness is supremely opposed: God is purity, sincerity, integrity, and holiness by His very essence, to which all impurity, hypocrisy, falsehood, and iniquity is essentially opposed: God hates, indeed He is the very hatred and abomination of sin; how then could He love or cause it?
Therefore the will alone is the cause of its own sin, not God; for every sin is so essentially voluntary that, if it is not voluntary, it is not a sin, says St. Augustine, in the book On True Religion, chapter XIV. This is what St. James says, chapter 1, verse 13: "Let no one, when he is tempted, say that he is tempted by God: for God is not a tempter of evils." In a similar way, Gregory Nazianzen in his Quatrains teaches that the guilt of sin must be ascribed to us, not to the devil. For he sings thus: Why do we always shift the blame onto the enemy, / When our own crimes provide him his strength? / Blame yourself entirely, or at least more so: / For the fire is yours, but the flame is the devil's.
FOR IMPIOUS MEN ARE NOT NECESSARY TO HIM. -- In Greek: for He has no need of a sinful man. The meaning is, as if to say: The work of God, namely the universe, was entirely created good by the good God. But for a good work there is no need of evil, namely of sin, since this destroys the good. Therefore God, in creating a universe entirely good, created no evil, nor can He create any. For evil is neither necessary nor useful for good, but entirely useless and harmful. God, says St. Augustine in the book On the Literal Interpretation of Genesis, Unfinished, chapter V: "is not the author of our vices, but their orderer, when He places sinners in their proper station and compels them to suffer what they deserve." Rabanus says truly: "The cause of our error and wicked action must not be attributed to God, because our ruin is not necessary to Him, but rather He Himself lifts up all who fall, and raises up all who are cast down."
Verse 13: The Lord hates every abomination of error
13. THE LORD HATES EVERY ABOMINATION OF ERROR, AND IT WILL NOT BE LOVABLE TO THOSE WHO FEAR HIM. -- That is, an abominable error, which in practice is sin. "For those who work evil go astray" (Proverbs 14, 22), meaning: Since God hates sin as an abominable thing, how would He produce it? Again, since God abhors it, it is fitting that all who fear and worship Him should likewise abhor it. Note the meiosis: "Not lovable" means hateful, abominable. For the just, in order to imitate God their Father, supremely abhor sin, because God abhors it -- just as the young of eagles pursue the dragon because the eagle pursues it, as Pliny attests in Book X, chapter IV.
Verse 14: God from the beginning established man
14. GOD FROM THE BEGINNING ESTABLISHED MAN, AND LEFT HIM IN THE HAND OF HIS OWN COUNSEL. -- Meaning: God from the beginning made man possessing free will. Here he clearly demonstrates what is the origin of evil -- namely, the will of man, which God created free so that it could choose good or evil, and this for the purpose that man might be capable of merit and reward. For "hand" in Scripture signifies judgment, freedom, dominion, power, authority; because those things that we have in hand or under our hand, we can freely use at our discretion, and over them we exercise dominion and authority.
From this passage, therefore, it is clearly evident that man possesses free will. The meaning is, as if to say: God from the beginning created man of an intelligent and free nature, so that freedom of the will belongs to his very nature and essence, and cannot be taken away by sin or by any other accident. Indeed, if you take away free will from man, you equally take away the nature of man and make a brute out of a man.
St. Augustine explains it thus in On Grace and Free Will, chapter II. For after citing this entire passage from Ecclesiasticus, he adds: "Behold, we see most clearly expressed the free will of the human will. What about the fact that in so many places God commands that all His commandments be kept and observed? How does He command, if there is no free will?"
Verse 15: He added His commandments and precepts
15. HE ADDED HIS COMMANDMENTS AND PRECEPTS. -- The meaning is: God made man free and left him in the hand of his counsel; but not in such a way that He would exempt and release him from Himself and His providence, and like a wild donkey free from every law, permit him to go wherever he pleased; but as the supreme governor, lawgiver, king, lord, judge, and avenger of all, He set forth His laws for him. God therefore established these three things in this order: first, He implanted free will in man; second, He added precepts; third, He appended rewards.
Verse 16: If you are willing to keep the commandments
16. IF YOU ARE WILLING TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS, THEY WILL PRESERVE YOU, AND TO PRACTICE FOREVER THE FAITH THAT PLEASES GOD. -- Meaning: It is in your power and free will, which God has given you, to keep the commandments, and thus to practice faith, that is, to render fidelity pleasing and acceptable to God. If you keep the commandments, they in turn will keep you -- both in the present life and in eternity, both in the grace and glory of God -- first, because God preserves the one who keeps His commandments; second, because the very exercise of the commandments increases the virtues in the soul, which, once increased, give man strength to resist temptation and the devil; third, because the keeping of the commandments diminishes concupiscence, which is the poison of charity; for as virtue increases, the vice opposed to it necessarily decreases.
Furthermore, free will does not exclude the grace of God, as Pelagius wished, just as a secondary cause does not exclude the concurrence of the first cause. St. Augustine gathers this point in his book On Grace and Free Will, chapter XV: "For this is the import of what is written: 'If you will, you will keep the commandments' -- so that the man who has willed but has not been able may recognize that he does not yet fully will, and may pray that he may have so great a will as suffices for fulfilling the commandments. For thus he is helped to do what is commanded; for then it is useful to will, when we are able; and then it is useful to be able, when we will."
Verse 17: He has set before you fire and water
17. HE HAS SET BEFORE YOU FIRE AND WATER: STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND TO WHICHEVER YOU CHOOSE. -- By water and fire, which are opposite elements, understand proverbially any contraries, and especially those that follow in the next verse, namely good and evil, life and death. By water which refreshes, understand the refreshment of glory; by fire, the punishment and flame of hell. Meaning: God has set before you good and its reward, namely eternal glory; He has also set before you evil and its punishment, namely eternal fire -- glory and damnation, heaven and hell, happiness and misery, life and death: choose whichever you wish. So Rabanus says: "In fire, tribulation is expressed; in water, refreshment. Therefore tribulation and prosperity have been set before us; if we are willing to practice the commandments of God in deed, we shall have the consolation of eternal life; but if we are despisers of His commandments, the punishment of hell will follow us in fury."
From what has been said, it is clear that free will is like a balance, whose balance-holder is man, whose scales are fire and water, good and evil, reward and punishment, and the inclination toward either, or the choice of either. Hence Tertullian, Book II Against Marcion, chapter VI, speaking of man endowed with freedom: "The freedom and power of free will is, as it were, the balance-holder of the good emancipated from God."
Verse 18: Before man is life and death
18. BEFORE MAN IS LIFE AND DEATH, GOOD AND EVIL: WHICHEVER PLEASES HIM WILL BE GIVEN TO HIM. -- He alludes to Deuteronomy 30, 15: "Consider that today I have set before you life and good, and on the contrary death and evil." And verse 19: "I call heaven and earth to witness today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose therefore life, that both you and your descendants may live, and that you may love the Lord your God and obey His voice and cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days."
Morally, see here how great a gift and dignity free will is, with which man has been endowed by God, because through it: first, he is similar to God and the Angels; second, he surpasses all other creatures; third, he is master of himself and of his own actions; fourth, he is capable of virtue; fifth, he is capable of merit; sixth, he merits life and eternal glory. Hence St. Bernard, in the treatise On Loving God: "The dignity in man I call free will, by which he has been given not only to excel all other living beings, but also to preside over them." The same author, in Sermon 81 on the Song of Songs: "Freedom of the will is plainly a certain divine splendor shining in the soul, like a gem in gold. For from it there resides in the soul the knowledge of judgment and the power of choice between good and evil, as well as between life and death, and likewise between light and darkness." Therefore man must strive with the utmost effort to use this freedom of the will well, for the good for which it was given to him by God -- namely, that by doing good works he may merit eternal happiness.
Verse 19: For the wisdom of God is great
19. FOR THE WISDOM OF GOD IS GREAT, AND HE IS MIGHTY IN POWER, SEEING ALL WITHOUT CEASING. -- Meaning: God placed man in the hand of his counsel out of His great wisdom, so that man, by freely acting, might choose good or evil, and thus merit reward or punishment, so that in bestowing these He might display His most mighty power. And lest anyone think that in so great a multitude of men he could hide, deceive, or escape, He adds: "And seeing all without ceasing," meaning: The eye of God inspects each individual and even the most hidden things, in order to judge and to reward or to punish.
Boethius says admirably, Book V, prose 6: "The divine intellect anticipates every future event, and turns it back and recalls it to the presence of its own knowledge; nor does it alternate in its turns of knowing, now this, now that, but remaining stable, it anticipates all changes at a single stroke." To which add that God prepares and gives to all (especially if they humbly ask for it) sufficient grace, with which they can, if they will, avoid sins and embrace the good. For this is why it is called sufficient; therefore, if they are willing to cooperate, they will make it efficacious. For on God's part and by His intention, every grace is efficacious in the first act -- that is, it has the power and efficacy to accomplish the work, if the will is willing to cooperate with it -- and this God intends and wills.
Verse 20: The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him
20. THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE UPON THOSE WHO FEAR HIM, AND HE HIMSELF KNOWS EVERY WORK OF MAN. -- He confirms and amplifies what he said: "And seeing all." For in order to encourage the pious to choose and do good things, which worldly people neglect, indeed despise and scorn in this life, he says that the eyes of God continually gaze upon those who fear Him, and that He Himself knows, indeed inspects, every work of man, both external and internal. Among the other rewards of those who fear God is this: that He particularly protects, directs, and hears their prayers, according to Psalm 32, 18: "The eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him, and upon those who hope in His mercy." And Psalm 144, 19: "He will do the will of those who fear Him, and He will hear their prayer, and will save them."
The phrase "the eyes of the Lord are upon those who fear Him" signifies, first, that God with the keenest eye of His mind inspects all the actions, intentions, wishes, and desires of the just; second, that He delights in them; third, that He singularly loves, cares for, protects them, and provides for them in every good; fourth, He separates those who fear Him from those who do not, by giving them grace and glory; fifth, God holds those who fear Him in the highest esteem. Hence He says: "He who touches you touches the pupil of My eye" (Zechariah 2, 8).
Verse 21: He has commanded no one to act wickedly
21. HE HAS COMMANDED NO ONE TO ACT WICKEDLY, AND HAS GIVEN NO ONE PERMISSION TO SIN. -- He taught in verse 11 that God is not the physical cause of sin; here he teaches that He is not the moral cause either -- for such is a command, order, or consent. Meaning: Just as God does not commit sin, so neither does He command it, nor consent to it. For "permission" the Greek has anesis, which others translate as license, liberty, indulgence: "Nor has He given anyone license to sin." God does indeed permit men to sin -- that is, He does not prevent them, because He created them free to freely choose what they wished; but He has never given or gives anyone the power or license to sin, so that one might sin lawfully. For then sin would not be sin, but a lawful thing, as something done with the concession and permission of God -- which is contradictory. On the contrary, when God permits sins, He threatens sinners with hell, in order to show how greatly He abhors them.
Second, anesis signifies impunity: God has not given and will not give impunity to any sin or sinner; He will let no sinner go unpunished, but will punish each one according to his deserts. St. Augustine reports and refutes the error of those who think they may with impunity seize the property of others and do whatever they please, provided they give alms, in the Enchiridion, chapter LXX: "It must certainly be guarded against that anyone should think those unspeakable crimes may be perpetrated daily and redeemed daily by almsgiving. For one's life must be changed for the better, and God must be propitiated through almsgiving for past sins -- not purchased, as it were, so that one may always commit them with impunity. For He has given no one license to sin, although in His mercy He blots out sins already committed, provided that due satisfaction is not neglected."
Third, anesis can be translated as space, delay. For many think it is lawful for them to use the flower of their youth for every desire, proposing to do penance in old age. Many princes think anything is lawful for them, provided they repent at the hour of death. Many think it is lawful to go mad during carnival, provided they do penance in Lent. But they err; for God has granted no one even an hour or a moment for sin; but every sin is equally sin, and equally displeases God -- in youth as in old age, in positions of authority as in private life, in carnival as in Lent.
Verse 22: He does not desire a multitude of unfaithful children
22. FOR HE DOES NOT DESIRE A MULTITUDE OF UNFAITHFUL AND WORTHLESS CHILDREN -- that is, sinners and the wicked. He gives the reason why God does not command or give license to sin: namely, because He does not desire -- indeed, He hates and abhors -- wickedness and the wicked. This is a meiosis: for less is said and more is meant. "He does not desire" means He hates and abominates. "Among men," says Philo in the book On Migration, "the unjust multitude is valued more than one just person; but before God, rare goodness is preferred to countless wicked."
Furthermore, the reason, and as it were the a priori cause, why God cannot command anyone to act wickedly, nor give anyone space for sinning, nor lead anyone astray, is His infinite holiness, goodness, wisdom, and power. For by what reason could God, who is supreme holiness, love wickedness, or even command it? By what reason could supreme wisdom lead someone astray and make him foolish and stupid? By what reason could supreme goodness produce supreme evil? Theodoret teaches this beautifully in Book III Against the Heresies: "Not to be able to do any of these things is a sign of infinite power, not an indication of weakness; whereas to be able to do them would be a sign of impotence, not of power. Because each of these things proclaims the firmness and immutability of God. For that good cannot become evil denotes the supereminence of goodness; and that the just can never become unjust, nor the truthful become a liar -- this demonstrates stability and solidity in truth and justice. This inability to change for the worse, therefore, indicates a superabundance of power."