Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He continues in praise of the great works of God, and celebrates His power and mercy toward wretched man, and proposes it to us for imitation up to verse 19. From there to the end he brings forth various ethical teachings, which almost all tend toward the remembrance of the day of judgment, so that we may always have it before our eyes, and prepare ourselves for it through the flight from lusts and the pursuit of virtues.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiasticus 18:1-33
1. He who lives forever created all things together. God alone will be justified, and remains an unconquered King forever. 2. Who is sufficient to declare His works? 3. For who will search out His great deeds? 4. And who will declare the power of His greatness? or who will undertake to narrate His mercy? 5. It is not possible to diminish, nor to add, nor is it possible to find out the great deeds of God. 6. When a man has finished, then he will begin: and when he has rested, he will be at a loss. 7. What is man, and what is his grace? and what is his good, or what is his evil? 8. The number of the days of men at most is a hundred years: they are reckoned as a drop of water from the sea: and like a grain of sand, so are a few years in the day of eternity. 9. For this reason God is patient with them, and pours out His mercy upon them. 10. He saw the presumption of their heart, that it was evil, and He knew their overthrow, that it was wicked. 11. Therefore He fulfilled His propitiation in them, and showed them the way of equity. 12. The compassion of man is toward his neighbor: but the mercy of God is upon all flesh. 13. He who has mercy teaches, and instructs like a shepherd his flock. 14. He has mercy on him who receives the teaching of compassion, and on him who hastens to his judgments. 15. My son, do not add a complaint to your good deeds, and in every gift do not give the sadness of an evil word. 16. Shall not the dew cool the heat? so also a word is better than a gift. 17. Behold, is not a word above a good gift? but both are with a justified man. 18. A fool will bitterly reproach: and the gift of the undisciplined makes the eyes waste away. 19. Before judgment prepare justice for yourself, and before you speak, learn. 20. Before sickness apply the medicine, and before judgment examine yourself, and in the sight of God you will find propitiation. 21. Before sickness humble yourself, and in the time of infirmity show your way of life. 22. Let nothing hinder you from praying always, and do not be afraid to be justified even unto death: for the reward of God remains forever. 23. Before prayer prepare your soul: and do not be like a man who tempts God. 24. Remember the wrath in the day of consummation, and the time of retribution in the turning of the face. 25. Remember poverty in the time of abundance, and the needs of poverty in the day of riches. 26. From morning until evening the time will change, and all these things are swift in the eyes of God. 27. A wise man will fear in all things, and in the days of sins will be attentive against sloth. 28. Every shrewd man acknowledges wisdom, and to the one who finds it he will give praise. 29. Those who are wise in words have themselves also acted wisely: and they have understood truth and justice, and have fulfilled proverbs and judgments. 30. Do not go after your lusts, and turn away from your own will. 31. If you grant your soul its lusts, it will make you a joy to your enemies. 32. Do not delight in crowds nor in small things: for their commission is continual. 33. Do not be impoverished by contention over usury, when you have nothing in your purse: for you will be envious of your own life.
First Part of the Chapter
Verse 1: He who lives forever created all things together
1. HE WHO LIVES FOREVER CREATED ALL THINGS TOGETHER. — You will ask: how together? For from Genesis 1 it is clear that they were created successively by God over the first six days of the world. St. Augustine, and Cajetan following him, argues from this passage that literally all things were created by God together on one and the same day; and that those six days named in Genesis 1 either signify the order of creatures among themselves — namely which was first, which second, which third — or are to be taken mystically, and merely signify the various thoughts and considerations of the angels about created things, one of which by its nature required being made before another. So he says in Book IV of On Genesis According to the Letter, chapters 33 and 34; and Book V, chapter 24; and Book VI, chapter 3; and the author of On the Wonders of Holy Scripture, Book I, chapter 1, which is found in volume III of St. Augustine. The six days in Genesis, he says, are to be understood according to the diverse understanding of the Angels. But that those six days are to be taken literally as they sound, so that through them things were created successively, is clear from the simple narrative of Moses, Genesis 1. See what was said there.
First, therefore, others answer better that all things were created together by creation properly so called. For creation is and is called such, when a thing is produced from nothing, without any pre-existing matter. But such creation took place only on the first day, indeed at the first instant of the world: for in that instant God created heaven, earth, and the abyss from nothing; from these then all other things in the following five days He did not so much create as form and distinguish. Therefore everything that He properly created from nothing, all this He created on the first day: for on the first day He created all the matter of the world, from which on the remaining days He fashioned everything into its species and forms, just as a potter fashions various shapes of vessels from clay. So says Francisco Suarez, Book I of On the Work of the Six Days, chapter 10, number 22.
Hence second, "together," because on the first day of the world all things were created together in potency: for the principal parts of the world were made at the same time, namely the heavens and the elements, in which all other things were contained in potency and, as it were, in seed, and from these afterward all other things were made: for the stars were made from the heavens, but living things from the waters and the earth. So St. Gregory, Book XXXII of the Morals, chapters 9 and 10; St. Thomas, First Part, Question 74, article 2, reply 2; Rabanus, Hugo, Dionysius, Lyranus, and others here.
Third, "all things" generically, that is, both corporeal and spiritual, namely both heaven and the elements, and the angels, God created together at the first instant. So the Lateran Council, chapter Firmiter, on the supreme Trinity and the Catholic Faith says of God: "Who by His almighty power at once from the beginning of time created out of nothing both kinds of creature, the spiritual and the corporeal, namely the angelic and the mundane, and then the human." Where, since after the word "together" he adds "then the human," he clearly indicates that "together" excludes succession and is opposed to "afterward" or "then," as if to say: At the beginning of time and of the world, Angels and bodies were created, and then human beings.
Fourth, "together," because within the same period, with a brief interval of time, all things were created, namely at the beginning of time through the first six days of the world, says Luis de Molina in On the Work of the Six Days.
Fifth, "together," in Greek koine, that is, equally, with nothing excepted, as if to say: All things equally were created by God; there is nothing that was not created by Him. So Jansenius and others.
Sixth, "He created all things together," not in their own proper natures, but in His wisdom and idea: for He conceived the idea of all things at once in His mind, so as then to produce each at its own time. So Rupert, Book II on Genesis, chapter 18.
Eighth, Palacius says: The word "together" does not signify a single instant, but a continuation of things, as if to say: God did not interrupt His operation in creating the universe, but continuously through six days He created all things that are in it, and on the Sabbath He rested.
GOD ALONE SHALL BE JUSTIFIED, AND HE REMAINS AN UNCONQUERED KING FOREVER. — This verse depends on the preceding one: for what was begun there is completed here. Hence the Tigurine edition translates: He who dwells in eternity created all things together, the Lord, who alone is just, nor is there any other besides Him, and He remains an unconquered king forever, as if to say: He who lives forever and created all things together is the Lord of all, who alone shall be justified and remains an unconquered king forever. For He contrasts God with the sun, man, and creatures, because all these fail, sin, change, and die; but God perpetually remains like Himself without defect — just, perfect, immortal, unchangeable, and ruling over all forever.
Palacius explains it differently, namely that "shall be justified" is taken here in the sense in which it is used by David in Psalm 50, saying: "Blot out my iniquity, that You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged," that is, unless You show mercy to the penitent, You will appear unjust, and You will be overcome by those who dare to judge You as such. But when You show mercy to all, You alone are justified, and You remain unconquered by those who do not hesitate to judge You.
Verses 2 and 3: Who is sufficient to declare His works?
2 and 3. WHO IS SUFFICIENT TO RECOUNT HIS WORKS? FOR WHO SHALL INVESTIGATE HIS GREAT DEEDS? — In Greek exichniase, that is, "he has searched out, investigated," in the past tense, as if to say: No one has fully investigated to the depths, or could or can investigate, the great deeds of God; therefore no one is able fully and completely to recount them. The Tigurine edition translates: To whom has He given the ability to explain His deeds, or who shall investigate His excellent exploits? In a similar manner the Apostle, amazed and in wonder, exclaims: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and unsearchable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?" Romans 11:33.
Therefore St. Isidore, in his book On the Nature of Things, chapter 44, says: "Who shall investigate His great deeds? Therefore, what is hidden from mortal nature must be left to divine power." Let heretics take note of this, who wish to scrutinize the mystery of the Eucharist; and because they cannot grasp it, they deny it, ignorantly limiting God's omnipotence to the powers of their own nature and intellect.
Tropologically, Cassian, Conference 12, chapter 12, beautifully teaches that the Saints marvel in themselves at the work of God, by which from lustful they were made chaste, from gluttonous sober, from fierce gentle. "Who indeed," he says, "would not marvel at the works of God, and proclaim with all his heart: Because I have known that the Lord is great; when he has observed either himself or another changed from the most rapacious to generous, from prodigal to continent, from proud to humble. These are indeed the wondrous works of God." He then adds a greater work of God in the creation of the Apostles: "For what greater wonder can there be than that in the briefest moment the most rapacious tax collectors became Apostles, that the most savage persecutors were made the most patient preachers of the Gospel, so that the faith they had persecuted they would propagate even by the shedding of their blood?"
Verse 4: Who shall declare the power of His greatness?
4. AND WHO SHALL DECLARE THE POWER OF HIS GREATNESS? OR WHO SHALL UNDERTAKE TO RECOUNT HIS MERCY? In Greek kratos, that is, might, strength; hence the Complutensian edition reads: Who shall enumerate the strength of His magnificence? And who shall add or apply, namely their mind, to recounting His mercies or benefits? The Tigurine edition reads: Who can survey the might of His magnificence? Or who shall attempt to recount His compassions? The Syriac version passes over all these things in silence up to verse 6.
Verse 5: It is not possible to diminish or to add
5. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DIMINISH, NOR TO ADD, NOR IS IT POSSIBLE TO FIND OUT THE GREAT DEEDS OF GOD. — As if to say: No creature can diminish or add anything to the works and great deeds of God; neither can any creature comprehend them. For they are infinite like God Himself, and therefore incomprehensible to every finite mind.
Verse 6: When a man has finished, then he shall begin
6. WHEN A MAN SHALL HAVE FINISHED, THEN HE SHALL BEGIN; AND WHEN HE SHALL REST, HE SHALL BE AT A LOSS. — Jansenius explains thus: "He means that he who has attempted to trace out and recount the greatness of God and His works, even though he brings all his effort to bear on it, will nevertheless accomplish nothing. When someone thinks he has completed the investigation and description of God, then at last he will find so much remaining that he must as it were begin anew; and when after long labor he thinks he should rest, as though his undertaking were well completed, then he will see that he must still labor and work to accomplish what he was attempting."
For the more you penetrate, says Palacius, the more remains to be penetrated; otherwise God would not be God if He could be comprehended by you. Rightly, therefore, was that saying spoken: "Your knowledge has become wonderful beyond me; it is mighty, and I cannot attain to it." So Plato says: "To find God is not easy; to understand Him is impossible." King Hiero asked the philosopher Simonides what God was. He asked for two days to answer; then four, and so always doubling. When Hiero marveled at this, Simonides replied: "The more I think about God, the more obscure the matter seems to me." Certainly when he seemed to be finishing, he was then beginning.
St. Augustine, letter 3 to Volusian, rightly applies this saying to the study and understanding of Holy Scripture, because this is one of the chief inscrutable works of God. "So great," he says, "is the depth of the Christian Scriptures, that I would make progress in them daily, even if I tried to learn them alone from earliest childhood to decrepit old age, with the greatest leisure, the highest zeal, and the best natural talent; but when one has held fast to the faith there, so many things remain to be understood by those making progress, and so great a depth of wisdom lies hidden, that to the most aged, the most acute, and those burning most ardently with desire to learn, this happens, which the same Scripture says in a certain place: When a man shall have finished, then he shall begin."
Tropologically, many apply this saying to progress in virtue, holiness, and perfection. For this is the work of the grace of God, which has no end and no bottom, as if to say: When a man has completed keeping the commandments of God, when he has been perfected in humility, charity, and every virtue, then he shall begin and say with the Psalmist: "I said, now I have begun." Thus St. Anthony, in St. Athanasius, gives this as his first instruction for the spiritual life to his followers: "Think of yourselves as beginning each day to serve God." Hence Blessed Francis toward the end of his life used to say to his brothers: "Brothers, let us begin to serve the Lord; for up to now we have made little progress." And this is the admonition of the Savior in Luke 17: "When you shall have done all things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants."
Verse 7: What is man, and what is his worth?
7. WHAT IS MAN, AND WHAT IS HIS WORTH? AND WHAT IS HIS GOOD, OR WHAT IS HIS EVIL? — As if to say: How abject and lowly is man before the majesty of God! What usefulness can lowly man bring to God, who needs nothing and is Shaddai, that is, most abundant? What can man bring to God of good or evil? For neither can our virtues add anything good to God, such as praise, joy, or glory; nor can our sins inflict any pain, disgrace, or other evil upon Him, according to that saying of Job 22:3: "What does it profit God if you are just; or what do you confer on Him if your way is spotless?"
St. Augustine says movingly, Confessions Book I, chapter 5: "What am I to You, that You command me to love You, and unless I do, You are angry with me and threaten me with great miseries?" Dionysius the Carthusian and Hugo say truly: "My evils are pure evils and are mine; but my goods are neither pure nor mine."
Fourth, as if to say: How tiny, how slight are the goods and evils, advantages and disadvantages, prosperity and adversity, joys and sorrows of man in this life! Especially because all these things are not only slight in themselves, but also last only a short time, as follows; therefore nothing is great, nothing good, nothing evil, unless it is eternal. If, then, you seek true good, seek what is eternal; if you fear and flee true evil, flee and dread what is eternal.
Verse 8: The number of the days of men
8. THE NUMBER OF THE DAYS OF MEN AT MOST IS A HUNDRED YEARS: THEY ARE RECKONED AS A DROP OF WATER FROM THE SEA: AND LIKE A GRAIN OF SAND, SO ARE A FEW YEARS IN THE DAY OF ETERNITY. — Of the hundred years of time compared to eternity, as finite to infinite, there is no proportion. See therefore how little, indeed how nothing, your lifespan is in comparison with eternity.
Hence is derived that common image of the sea and the sand for representing and in some manner conceiving eternity; namely, to conceive it, think of this: if a little bird every thousand years were to drink one drop from the sea, and remove one grain of sand from the entire heap of sand that lies on the seashore and throughout the whole world, when at last, after how many thousands, indeed millions of years, would it have drunk up the whole sea and removed the entire mass of sand? It would remove it at some point, but after very many millions of years innumerable to man. Judas and the damned would rejoice if this condition were offered them by God, that throughout all that time they would undergo the torments of hell, provided that once it was completed those torments would end. But in truth they would not yet end even then, because then eternity would not end, but would begin again, so that a new sea would have to be drunk up, and a new mass of sand removed, and after this another and another without end, because immense and boundless it will endure forever and ever.
Morally, Hugo says: "A drop of sea water" denotes three things, namely the brevity, inconstancy, and bitterness of life: the brevity is denoted by the word "drop"; the instability by "water"; the bitterness by "of the sea."
This is what the Psalmist sings in Psalm 89, verse 4: "A thousand years before Your eyes are as yesterday which has passed." And St. Peter, 2nd epistle, chapter 3, verse 8: "One day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."
Verse 9: God is patient with them
9. FOR THIS REASON GOD IS PATIENT WITH THEM, AND POURS OUT HIS MERCY UPON THEM — as if to say: Because so great is man's misery, therefore the immense mercy of God sustains and relieves it; for great misery is an enticement that provokes great mercy. The brevity of our life, therefore, just as it stirs us to humility, so it stirs God to patience, lest, if He inflicts punishments immediately, He both shorten our life further and lose forever those whom He loves by casting them away from Himself. Hence the Tigurine edition translates: therefore God uses patience toward men, and pours out His mercy upon them, as if to say: God is patient in tolerating so many crimes of men, lest He immediately thunder the lightning bolt of vengeance upon them; He is likewise long-suffering in waiting for them to come to their senses; and merciful, as He anticipates them with His grace and urges them to repentance, and receives the penitent back into their former friendship.
Verse 10: He saw the presumption of their heart
10. HE SAW THE PRESUMPTION OF THEIR HEART, THAT IT IS EVIL, AND HE KNEW THEIR OVERTHROW, THAT IT IS WRETCHED — as if to say: God saw that men, from their corrupted nature and the inborn vice of pride, are prone to presumption, so that they assume and presume many things for themselves, and dare to transgress and violate God's law and will. "He knew" likewise their "overthrow," in Greek katastrophen, that is, destruction, ruin, perdition, the mournful end of their life as of their tragedy (for he alludes to tragedies, which have happy beginnings but end in slaughter and death; hence their sad ending is called a catastrophe), "that it is wretched," that is, very miserable, painful, and mournful.
Note: The word "nequam" (wretched/evil) is often used by Ecclesiasticus not for "impious" or "criminal," but for "troublesome, painful, afflictive." Thus Pliny, Book XIV, chapter 20, calls the harshness of vinegar its "nequitia" (sharpness and biting quality).
Verses 11 and 12: He fulfilled His propitiation in them
11. THEREFORE HE FULFILLED HIS PROPITIATION IN THEM, AND SHOWED THEM THE WAY OF EQUITY. — Because God saw the presumption of men and their wretched overthrow, He was moved to mercy, and fulfilled His propitiation in them, that is, He showed them complete mercy and forgiveness, and demonstrated to them the way of equity, justice, and salvation.
12. THE COMPASSION OF MAN IS TOWARD HIS NEIGHBOR: BUT THE MERCY OF GOD IS UPON ALL FLESH. — He compares the mercy of man with the mercy of God. The mercy of man extends only to his relatives, friends, and neighbors; but the mercy of God extends to all flesh, that is, to all men universally, indeed to all living creatures.
Verse 13: He who has mercy teaches and instructs
13. HE WHO HAS MERCY TEACHES AND INSTRUCTS, AS A SHEPHERD, HIS FLOCK. — "He who," namely not man (as Lyranus would have it), but God, has mercy; and He teaches and instructs His own, just as a shepherd tends, instructs, and feeds his flock. This is clear from the Greek, from which the Tigurine version translates: The mercy of man extends to his neighbor; but the mercy of the Lord chastises, instructs, teaches, and brings back all mortals as a shepherd his flock. This is what David, exulting, acknowledges in Psalm 22:1: "The Lord is my shepherd; and therefore I shall want nothing, in a place of pasture there He has placed me." And Psalm 94:7: "For He is the Lord our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand."
Verse 14: He has mercy on those who receive the teaching of compassion
14. HE HAS MERCY ON HIM WHO RECEIVES THE TEACHING OF COMPASSION, AND ON HIM WHO HASTENS TO HIS JUDGMENTS. — He establishes precepts; namely of him who hastens to walk in His judgments, that is, in His precepts and commandments. Hence learn this teaching, that you may draw upon the mercy of God for yourself, obey the law and will of God, and turn from sin to God, and especially have mercy on your neighbors; "for blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy," Matthew 5. Hence the merciful on the day of judgment shall hear from Christ: "Come, blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat," Matthew 25:34.
Note secondly the phrase "he hastens in His judgments," because God does not pour out His grace upon the sluggish and the slow, but upon the eager and the swift, namely those who are fervent in the pursuit of virtues and in the race toward perfection. Hence the bride hears the bridegroom inviting her: "Arise, make haste, my love," Song of Songs 2:10. Hasten therefore to correct your faults, hasten to humble yourself, and to endure whatever adversities come, hasten to exercise works of charity; thus you will draw forth the abundant grace of God. "For God is more present to the diligent, and absent from the negligent," says St. Ambrose.
Second Part of the Chapter: On Preparation for Judgment
Verses 15-18: My son, do not add complaint to your good deeds
15. MY SON, DO NOT ADD A COMPLAINT TO YOUR GOOD DEEDS, AND IN EVERY GIFT DO NOT GIVE THE SADNESS OF AN EVIL WORD. 16. SHALL NOT THE DEW COOL THE HEAT? SO ALSO A WORD IS BETTER THAN A GIFT. 17. BEHOLD, IS NOT A WORD ABOVE A GOOD GIFT? BUT BOTH ARE WITH A JUSTIFIED MAN. 18. A FOOL WILL BITTERLY REPROACH: AND THE GIFT OF THE UNDISCIPLINED MAKES THE EYES WASTE AWAY. — As if to say: When you give alms or do good to someone, do not spoil it with complaints, reproaches, or harsh words. For just as dew refreshes parched fields, so a kind word refreshes a sad heart. Indeed a gentle and consoling word is sometimes better than a material gift, because it cheers the spirit; but best of all is when both word and gift come together from a just man. A fool, however, reproaches bitterly when he gives, and the gift of the undisciplined — given with insults and derision — makes the eyes of the recipient waste away with shame and sorrow.
Verse 19: Before judgment, prepare justice for yourself
19. BEFORE JUDGMENT PREPARE JUSTICE FOR YOURSELF, AND BEFORE YOU SPEAK, LEARN. — As if to say: Before the day of judgment comes, prepare yourself by practicing justice and good works; and before you presume to teach others, first learn the things you intend to teach, lest you speak rashly and ignorantly. This is the beginning of a series of precepts about preparation — for judgment, for sickness, for prayer, for death — all flowing from the remembrance of the last things.
Verses 20 and 21: Before sickness, apply the remedy
20. BEFORE SICKNESS APPLY THE MEDICINE, AND BEFORE JUDGMENT EXAMINE YOURSELF, AND IN THE SIGHT OF GOD YOU WILL FIND PROPITIATION. 21. BEFORE SICKNESS HUMBLE YOURSELF, AND IN THE TIME OF INFIRMITY SHOW YOUR WAY OF LIFE. — As if to say: Do not wait for sickness or affliction to drive you to repentance; apply the remedy of penance and amendment of life while you are still healthy and able. Examine your conscience before the judgment examines you, and you will find propitiation before God. Humble yourself while you still have strength, and when infirmity comes, let your manner of life show the fruits of your earlier conversion.
Verse 22: Let nothing hinder you from praying always
22. LET NOTHING HINDER YOU FROM PRAYING ALWAYS, AND DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE JUSTIFIED EVEN UNTO DEATH: FOR THE REWARD OF GOD REMAINS FOREVER. — The Greek has drawn from these words of the Wise Man: "Do not hinder yourself from paying a vow in due time, and do not wait or delay until death to become just." Moreover, the Wise Man aptly and fittingly connects all these things, as if he wished the whole life of a Christian to be a kind of perpetual preparation for death and the judgment of God; and therefore to devote oneself constantly to prayer, to progress in justice and holiness, to vigilance over oneself, and to a kind of continual examination of conscience. Thus one will always be prepared for death and judgment, according to that saying of Christ: "Be ready, because at the hour you do not think, the Son of Man will come," Luke 12:40. And: "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He comes, shall find watching."
Verse 23: Before prayer, prepare your soul
23. BEFORE PRAYER PREPARE YOUR SOUL: AND DO NOT BE LIKE A MAN WHO TEMPTS GOD. — Morally, the Author of the Imperfect Work, found in St. Chrysostom, homily 15 on Matthew, says: "He prepares his soul before prayer who, having given alms, comes to prayer. For just as oil lights the flame of a lamp, so good works kindle the faith of the heart, and give the soul confidence before God in praying. Therefore almsgiving is the preparation for prayer. Likewise fasting is the aid of prayer, because prayer without fasting is thin and weak." And further: "Why does almsgiving precede prayer? Because it is the regulator and preparer of the way before the face of prayer, so that the prayer following after almsgiving may find a place of mercy prepared before God."
Finally, the preparation of the Saints for prayer is their very holy and recollected life. For the Saints always dwell in the presence of God, always meditate on divine things, always exercise virtues: and so when they come to formal prayer, they are already prepared, and flow into prayer as if from a running start. Hence St. Augustine, epistle 130 to Proba, chapter 9: "That which at certain intervals of hours and times God is asked even with words, so that through those signs of things our minds may be awakened to that which they signify, lest the desire for this thing, which we intend to foster by praying at these fixed hours, grow sluggish and cold in us. Let us therefore always pray with desire."
Verse 24: Remember wrath in the day of consummation
24. REMEMBER WRATH IN THE DAY OF CONSUMMATION, AND THE TIME OF RETRIBUTION IN THE TURNING OF THE FACE. — The meaning is, as if to say: Frequently renew in yourself the memory of the wrath and vengeance which God will exercise upon the impious on the day of judgment, when the life of men will be consummated and the present course of the world will end, and God will also repay them with the deserved punishments of hell, and therefore will turn His face, which in this life He showed them as benevolent and beneficent, giving them wealth and happiness, into one fierce, threatening, indignant, breathing fires and flames, so that by the terror of it the impious will say to the mountains: "Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of Him who sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of Their wrath has come: and who shall be able to stand?" Apocalypse 6:16.
Repeatedly Sirach inculcates the memory and fear of the last things, especially of judgment and hell, because this fear is an efficacious bridle for restraining man from sins, and in all actions it makes him cautious, provident, modest, and solicitous.
Verses 25 and 26: Remember poverty in the time of abundance
25. REMEMBER POVERTY IN THE TIME OF ABUNDANCE, AND THE NEEDS OF POVERTY IN THE DAY OF RICHES. 26. FROM MORNING UNTIL EVENING THE TIME WILL CHANGE, AND ALL THESE THINGS ARE SWIFT IN THE EYES OF GOD. — As if to say: When you are wealthy and prosperous, remember that poverty and need can come swiftly; and when fortune smiles, recall that from morning to evening the time changes, and all the vicissitudes of fortune are swift in the eyes of God. Therefore do not trust in riches or prosperity, but prepare for the reversal that may come at any hour.
Verse 27: A wise man will fear in all things
27. A WISE MAN WILL FEAR IN ALL THINGS, AND IN THE DAYS OF SINS WILL BE ATTENTIVE AGAINST SLOTH. — The wise man fears in all things, not with servile terror, but with the holy fear and reverent caution that comes from knowing how swiftly fortune changes and how near the judgment always is. In the days when sins abound — whether his own or others' — he is especially watchful against sloth and negligence, which are the gateway to greater falls.
Verses 28 and 29: Every shrewd man recognizes wisdom
28. EVERY SHREWD MAN RECOGNIZES WISDOM, AND TO THE ONE WHO FINDS IT HE WILL GIVE PRAISE. 29. THOSE WHO ARE WISE IN WORDS HAVE THEMSELVES ALSO ACTED WISELY: AND THEY HAVE UNDERSTOOD TRUTH AND JUSTICE, AND HAVE FULFILLED PROVERBS AND JUDGMENTS. — As if to say: Every prudent man recognizes and acknowledges wisdom, and when he finds it in another, he praises it. But true wisdom consists not merely in wise words, but in wise deeds: those who are wise in speech have also acted wisely, putting their wisdom into practice. They have understood truth and justice, and have fulfilled the proverbs and judgments of the wise.
Verses 30 and 31: Do not go after your lusts
30. DO NOT GO AFTER YOUR LUSTS, AND TURN AWAY FROM YOUR OWN WILL. 31. IF YOU GRANT YOUR SOUL ITS LUSTS, IT WILL MAKE YOU A JOY TO YOUR ENEMIES. — As if to say: Do not follow the desires of your concupiscence, and turn yourself away from your own self-will. For if you indulge your soul in its desires, you will become the laughingstock and delight of your enemies — both human enemies who will exult in your ruin, and the demonic enemies who rejoice whenever a soul falls into sin. Self-indulgence is the road to destruction, while self-denial and the mortification of the passions are the path to life.
Verses 32 and 33: Do not delight in crowds
32. DO NOT DELIGHT IN CROWDS NOR IN SMALL THINGS: FOR THEIR COMMISSION IS CONTINUAL. 33. DO NOT BE IMPOVERISHED BY CONTENTION OVER USURY, WHEN YOU HAVE NOTHING IN YOUR PURSE: FOR YOU WILL BE ENVIOUS OF YOUR OWN LIFE. — Do not mingle with the popular crowd, nor among people of low condition, where there is much buffoonery and foolishness; for in it many sins are committed. Hence Christ often fled from crowds. The Saints did the same, as Moses, St. Basil, St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Anthony, and this for the purpose that on the day of judgment they might present a soul pure and undefiled by the vices of the world to Christ the Judge. For solitude and withdrawal from crowds wonderfully aid this purity. Hence the Church sings of St. John the Baptist: "The caves of the desert in your tender years, fleeing the throngs of citizens, you sought, lest even with a light stain of rumor you might defile your life."
Do not delight in the crowds of feasters and drinkers, because constant is the "conflict," that is, the contribution of guests toward their share and feast. Therefore beware lest from this contention of drinking and banqueting you become poor from usury, which you must take on in order to be equal to the expenses of banquets, when you have nothing in your purse: for thus you will seem hostile to your own life, since being impoverished you will be forced to go hungry, to live miserably, and to feel shame among men.
He alludes to Proverbs XXIII, verses 20 and 21: "Do not be among winebibbers, nor among the feasters who contribute meats to eat." Which therefore, as incentives, indeed as workshops and arsenals of gluttony, luxury, and other crimes, the Council of Laodicea forbids in Canon 55: "It is not fitting that ministers of the altar, or any clerics, or even Christian laity should celebrate banquets from contributions, which the common people call feasting-clubs." The Emperor Lucius Verus, according to Capitolinus, used to say that "seven make a feast, nine make a brawl," meaning that few should be invited to a feast, otherwise it would be tumultuous and unpleasant. Varro, in Gellius, Book XIII, chapter 11, thinks that the number of guests ought to remain between the number of the Graces and the Muses, so that they are neither more than nine nor fewer than three.