Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He teaches how base, contemptible, shameful, incorrigible, and insupportable are the foolish and senseless, up to verse 24. From there to the end he reviews certain things that violate friendship, and warns that they must be avoided.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiasticus 22:1-33
1. The sluggard is pelted with a dirty stone; and all will speak of his disgrace. 2. The sluggard is pelted with the dung of oxen: and everyone who touches him will shake off his hands. 3. A father's shame comes from an undisciplined son: and a daughter will be to his loss. 4. A prudent daughter is an inheritance to her husband, but she who brings shame becomes a disgrace to her father. 5. A bold daughter shames both father and husband, and she will not be lessened by the ungodly: but by both she will be dishonored. 6. Music in time of mourning is an ill-timed tale: but stripes and correction are wisdom at all times. 7. He who teaches a fool is like one who glues together a potsherd. 8. He who tells something to one who does not listen is like one who wakes a sleeper from a deep sleep. 9. He who explains wisdom to a fool speaks with a sleeper: and at the end of the discourse he says: Who is this? 10. Weep over the dead, for his light has failed: and weep over the fool, for his sense has failed. 11. Weep but a little over the dead, for he has found rest. 12. For the wicked life of a fool is worse than death. 13. The mourning for the dead lasts seven days: but for the fool and the ungodly, all the days of their life. 14. Do not talk much with a fool, and do not go with the senseless. 15. Guard yourself from him, lest you have trouble, and you will not be defiled by his sin. 16. Turn aside from him, and you will find rest, and you will not be wearied by his folly. 17. What is heavier than lead? And what other name does he have than fool? 18. Sand, and salt, and a mass of iron are easier to bear than a man without understanding, and foolish, and ungodly. 19. A wooden beam fastened in the foundation of a building will not be loosened: so also a purpose confirmed in deliberate counsel. 20. The thought of the sensible man will at no time be distorted by fear. 21. As stakes set on high places, and mortar laid without cost against the face of the wind, will not stand: 22. so also a timid heart in the thought of a fool will not resist the force of fear. 23. As a fearful heart in the thought of a fool will not fear at all times, so also he who abides in the commandments of God always. 24. He who pricks the eye brings forth tears: and he who pricks the heart brings forth understanding. 25. He who casts a stone at birds will drive them away: so he who reproaches a friend dissolves friendship. 26. Even if you have drawn a sword against a friend, do not despair: for there is a way back. 27. If you have opened a sad mouth against a friend, do not fear: for there can be reconciliation, except in the case of reproach, and insult, and pride, and the revealing of a secret, and a treacherous wound: in all these cases a friend will flee. 28. Keep faith with a friend in his poverty, so that you may also rejoice in his prosperity. 29. In the time of his tribulation remain faithful to him, so that you may also be a co-heir in his inheritance. 30. Before fire come the vapors of a furnace, and smoke rises before the fire: so also before bloodshed come curses, insults, and threats. 31. I will not be ashamed to greet a friend, and I will not hide myself from his face: and if evil befall me through him, I will bear it. 32. Everyone who hears of it will beware of him. 33. Who will set a guard over my mouth, and upon my lips a sure seal, that I may not fall through them, and that my tongue may not destroy me?
First Part of the Chapter
Verses 1 and 2: The sluggard is stoned with a dirty stone
1 and 2. THE SLUGGARD IS STONED WITH A DIRTY STONE, AND ALL WILL SPEAK OF HIS DISGRACE. THE SLUGGARD IS STONED WITH THE DUNG OF OXEN; AND EVERYONE WHO TOUCHES HIM WILL SHAKE OFF HIS HANDS. — By "dirty stone" he means not a brick formed from mud, but a stone smeared and filthy with mud. "He is stoned" — that is, he is accustomed to be stoned: the sluggard is so vile, contemptible, and hateful that men consider him worthy of being pelted with dirty stones and the dung of oxen. All despise him as sluggish and filthy, so that they do not wish to touch him or associate with him; rather all flee from him and turn away, just as one who touches a dirty stone or dung immediately shakes it from his hands. He pursues one particular species of fools and folly, namely sloth and laziness; for this makes a man not only idle and useless to himself and others, but also harmful and stained with many vices: for idleness and laziness are the cause of all evil.
Isidore in book X of the Etymologies says: "The lazy man (piger) is so called as if he were sick in his feet (pedibus aeger)." Fittingly, he assigns as the sluggard's punishment the dung of oxen rather than of horses or other animals, because the ox, being heavy, is slow and sluggish — a symbol and figure of the lazy man. Add that the ox, though slow, is nevertheless industrious; therefore it signifies that the sluggard ought to overcome his slowness and laziness by labor, in imitation of the ox. Hence on coins the figure of an ox was formerly stamped, because labor produces money and wealth, while laziness produces want and hunger.
Palacius says: "If the sluggard is despised by temporal masters, if he is shaken off and repelled by them, how much more will he be despised and repelled by God! For because you are lukewarm, I will begin to vomit you out of My mouth; and because you do the work of God lazily, you will be cursed. O how great a thing it is to be cursed and repelled by God — namely, into eternal fire!" (Apocalypse 3:16; Jeremiah 48:10; Matthew 25:41).
Verse 3: The shame of a father is an undisciplined son
3. THE SHAME OF A FATHER IS AN UNDISCIPLINED SON; BUT A DAUGHTER WILL BE TO HIS LOSS. — As the Syriac has: the shame of a father and mother is a foolish son, and a foolish daughter is born to loss. He now descends from the sluggard in general to the sluggard in particular — namely, to the undisciplined son and foolish daughter, who are the shame and loss of their parents. An undisciplined son who is slothful, wanton, and dissolute brings shame upon his father, because men judge the father by the son.
Verse 4: A prudent daughter is an inheritance to her husband
4. A PRUDENT DAUGHTER IS AN INHERITANCE TO HER HUSBAND; FOR SHE WHO BRINGS SHAME BECOMES A DISGRACE TO HER FATHER. — A prudent daughter, even if she has no dowry, is a rich inheritance to her husband; for her prudence is worth more than any dowry. But she who is shameless and immodest becomes a disgrace not only to herself but to her father who begot and raised her.
Mystically and tropologically, Rabanus says: "A prudent daughter, that is, the soul that prudently and faithfully serves God, is an inheritance to her husband, that is, to Christ, who has betrothed her to Himself."
Verse 5: A bold woman shames father and husband
5. A BOLD WOMAN SHAMES FATHER AND HUSBAND, AND SHE WILL NOT BE LESSENED BY THE UNGODLY: BUT BY BOTH SHE WILL BE DISHONORED. — A bold and brazen woman or daughter shames both father and husband, because her shamelessness reflects upon both. "She will not be lessened by the ungodly" — that is, even the ungodly will not consider her less disgraceful; or, she is no less wicked than the ungodly men themselves. The cause of boldness is desire and greed; for since a greedy woman is full of lusts, in order to satisfy them she becomes bold and shameless.
Verse 6: Music in mourning is an untimely discourse
6. MUSIC IN MOURNING IS AN UNTIMELY DISCOURSE; BUT STRIPES AND CORRECTION ARE WISDOM AT ALL TIMES. — Just as music in mourning is an untimely discourse — because the time for music is a time of joy, not of mourning — so also the wisdom and learning bestowed upon a fool are untimely and useless; for to teach a fool is to play music at a funeral. But stripes and correction, these are wisdom at all times — for chastisement is always opportune and useful, both in prosperity and in adversity. For the wise accept correction joyfully, and fools are compelled by blows to learn what they refuse to learn from words.
The Syriac indicates this sense when it translates: as music amid mourning is an untimely discourse, so stripes and instruction are at all times wisdom.
Verse 7: He who teaches a fool is like one who glues together a potsherd
7. HE WHO TEACHES A FOOL IS LIKE ONE WHO GLUES TOGETHER A POTSHERD. — He who teaches a fool labors uselessly and in vain, and attempts a difficult or impossible task, just as one who tries to glue together a broken potsherd. For the brain and head of the fool is like a broken potsherd: his imagination and common sense are as if shattered; the powers of his mind are scattered and torn apart; his conceptions, thoughts, and desires are disparate, indeed often contrary. Just as a broken potsherd cannot hold liquid, so neither can the head of a fool hold wisdom.
Two maxims of Pythagoras are relevant here. The first: "Do not sing a poem before a quadruped" — that is, do not teach wisdom to a brute. The second: "Do not nourish those with crooked claws" — that is, do not teach the wicked and ungrateful, who will turn your teaching into a weapon against you.
Verses 8 and 9: He who tells a word to one not listening
8 and 9. HE WHO TELLS A WORD TO ONE NOT LISTENING IS LIKE ONE WHO WAKES A SLEEPER FROM A DEEP SLEEP. HE WHO EXPLAINS WISDOM TO A FOOL SPEAKS WITH A SLEEPER: AND AT THE END OF THE DISCOURSE HE SAYS: WHO IS THIS? — He compares the fool to one sleeping in a deep sleep, who hears nothing and understands nothing. The fool at the end of the discourse says "Who is this?" — either asking who the speaker is, as if he had just noticed him, or asking what the subject was, since he heard nothing. The Syriac adds another comparison: "Just as one who rouses a man from deep sleep, and just as one who eats bread when he is not hungry — so is he who teaches a fool; and when your words are finished, he says: 'What did you say?'"
Fittingly he compares the fool to one sleeping. First, because just as the sleeper sleeps in slumber, so the fool sleeps sweetly in sin. Second, just as in a sleeping man the mind and reason are bound, so in the fool reason and prudence are bound by the cords of desire. Third, just as a sleeping man lives an animal life, not a rational one, so also does the sinner. Finally, just as children deeply asleep must be roused by blows, so too fools must be torn from the torpor of sins by stripes. Here is relevant the proverb of Ben-Sira: "The wise man with a nod, the fool with a cudgel." So Pharaoh did not yield to God and release the Hebrews until compelled by ten plagues.
Verse 10: Weep over the dead, for his light has failed
10. WEEP OVER THE DEAD, FOR HIS LIGHT HAS FAILED: AND WEEP OVER THE FOOL, FOR HIS SENSE HAS FAILED. — He compared the fool to a broken potsherd, then to a sleeper; now he further compares him to a dead man. Weep over the dead, because his light — that is, the light of life and of this world — has failed. And weep over the fool, because his sense — that is, his understanding, reason, and wisdom — has failed. Moreover, those most to be wept for are fools who die in sin; for these undergo both temporal and eternal death.
Verses 11 and 12: Weep a little over the dead, because he has found rest
11 and 12. WEEP A LITTLE OVER THE DEAD, BECAUSE HE HAS FOUND REST. FOR THE WICKED LIFE OF A FOOL IS WORSE THAN DEATH. — Weep more gently for the dead, because he has found rest from the labors, sorrows, and trials of this life. But the life of the fool is worse than death, because the fool lives in sin, that is, in enmity with God, and therefore continually increases for himself the eternal fires of gehenna.
Wherefore St. Blanche gave this golden teaching to her son St. Louis IX, King of France: "Son, above all things flee sin. For I would rather see you dead, my son, than committing a mortal sin." Life in sin is precisely and formally worse than the death which the damned undergo in hell. For sin is worse than gehenna, because sin is guilt and gehenna is punishment; but guilt is of a higher order and far graver than any punishment. So St. Anselm used to say: "If on one side I saw the heat of hell, and on the other the horror of sin, and I had to choose one of the two, I would rather leap into hell than commit a sin."
Verse 13: The mourning for the dead is seven days
13. THE MOURNING FOR THE DEAD IS SEVEN DAYS: BUT FOR THE FOOL AND THE UNGODLY, ALL THE DAYS OF THEIR LIFE. — He does not deny that the dead may be mourned for more than seven days; for the Hebrews mourned Moses and Aaron for thirty days. But the formal and solemn funeral lamentation lasted seven days. However, for the fool and the ungodly, the mourning lasts all the days of their life, because as long as they live in sin, they are to be wept over as spiritually dead.
They would add an adhesive substance that lasted for an entire year. In this funeral mourning among the Romans there was a justitium (suspension of public business); the consuls sat on ordinary seats in the curia; the fasces were carried inverted; they avoided all joyful things; they abstained from public life; they shunned banquets; they did not light the hearth fire; wives who were now widows after their husband's death were not permitted to enter another marriage, both so that they might mourn their husband with propriety, and so that they might appease his shades (which was a superstition of the Gentiles); and also, as Ulpian says in book VIII on the Edict, "on account of the confusion of blood," lest, if perchance the wife had been left pregnant by her deceased husband and she married another within the legitimate period, there might be doubt as to whose offspring it was. Thus Romulus circumscribed the mourning period to a span of ten months (for he defined the year as having that many months, as Macrobius testifies in book XI, chapter XII, to which Julius Caesar later added two, making twelve months in a year), so that the passing of a man might be mourned for as long a time as his birth takes. For a human being is formed in the mother's womb for nine or ten months. Whence Ovid, in book I of the Fasti:
What suffices while the infant emerges from the mother's womb,
This he decreed was time enough for a year.
For as many months from the funeral of her spouse, the wife
Bears the sad signs of mourning in her widowed home.
Cicero teaches the same, in his oration for Cluentius. And Seneca, in epistle 63: "Our ancestors established a year for women to mourn, not that they should mourn so long, but that they should not mourn longer: for men there is no legitimate period, because none is honorable." Thus concerning Junius Brutus the Roman consul, Livy says in book II: "The matrons mourned him for a year as a parent, because he had been so stern an avenger of violated chastity." Likewise Gratian, Valentinian, and the Emperor Theodosius prescribed a year for mourning a husband, as is evident from book II of the Theodosian Code.
Verses 14-18: Do not speak much with a fool
14. DO NOT SPEAK MUCH WITH A FOOL, AND DO NOT GO WITH A SENSELESS PERSON. — This is the conclusion of what has been said, meaning: Since fools, that is, the impious, being fixed in their sins, are incorrigible, so that they refuse to be admonished, indeed they do not even hear admonitions as though sleeping and dead; therefore I infer and urge that you guard yourself from their company, and that you neither speak much with them, nor walk or associate with them; partly lest you be forced to hear and endure their tasteless and wicked speech and manners; partly lest they themselves breathe their foolishness and wickedness upon you: for he who associates with a proud person, even if he is humble, gradually puts on that person's pride; he who associates with a miser, his avarice; he who with a glutton, his gluttony; he who with a lustful person, from his obscene words and actions which he daily observes, absorbs obscenity even unknowingly and unwillingly. Whence Solomon in Proverbs 13:20: "He who walks with the wise will be wise: the friend of fools will become like them." Partly lest fools and the impious rub their bad reputation and infamy upon you: for those who associate with the wicked are considered wicked and of bad repute; and finally, because with them, since the case is hopeless, you waste your oil and effort. Whence the Greek of the Complutensian adds: not perceiving (not hearing, not willing to attend and heed your admonitions) for he will despise all your words. The Zurich Bible translates: do not speak many words with a foolish person, nor approach a senseless one. The Syriac says: do not take pleasure in conversations with a fool, and do not walk along the road with a swine (that is, an impious and carnal person, who speaks and lives sordidly, like a sow and pig). This is what Solomon says in Proverbs 23:9: "Do not speak in the ears of fools, for they will despise the teaching of your eloquence." And chapter 9:8: "Do not rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you."
15. KEEP YOURSELF FROM HIM, SO THAT YOU MAY NOT HAVE TROUBLE, AND YOU WILL NOT BE DEFILED BY HIS SIN. — For the impious are accustomed to drag their associates and friends into the danger of lawsuits, quarrels, imprisonment, loss of goods, infamy, death, sin, and hell through their crimes. Just as when a beggar shakes out his ragged cloak, he fills his neighbors with filth and vermin. Whence our translator aptly renders, "and you will not be defiled by his sin." The proverb of the Hebrews applies here: "Woe to the wicked, and woe to his neighbor." And: "He who dwells with the wicked is beaten along with him." And: "On account of the leaf, the stalk is beaten," that is, on account of the impious, the pious who are their associates are reproached.
Morally, learn here how harmful the company of fools is — that is, of the perverse, who are driven not by reason, but by foolishness, that is, by lust and imprudence. For their counsels, conversations, laughter, actions, etc., are pestilential, and like a plague they breathe their contagion and poison upon others. "For neither," says Gregory of Nazianzus in oration 21, "does a cloth so easily take on a dye, nor does he who has placed himself close to a foul or sweet odor so easily become a partaker of it, nor does a certain morbid and noxious vapor so easily diffuse itself into the air — which we rightly call a plague — as subjects are most quickly imbued and filled with the vice of their superiors, and indeed much more easily than with virtue." Furthermore, the company of the wicked is far more harmful than the company of the good is salutary, both because we are more inclined to evil than to good, and because good is difficult and arduous, while evil is easy and ready at hand. Hear St. Augustine, in his book Against Fulgentius the Donatist, chapter XVI: "More easily will a saint who has been joined to this most wicked people become corrupted, than will that people be changed for the better; because one runs more readily to the imitation of the wicked than the soul is stirred to the virtues of the good. Just as a small amount of wormwood thrown into a large quantity of honey quickly draws out bitterness: but even if double the amount of honey be poured in, its sweetness cannot be obtained." The symbol of this among the Jews was that unclean and polluted flesh by its contact polluted everything it touched; but holy flesh offered to God did not sanctify those who touched or ate it, as Haggai teaches in chapter II, 12.
16. TURN AWAY FROM HIM, AND YOU WILL FIND REST, AND YOU WILL NOT BE WEARIED BY HIS FOLLY. — Wisely does Publilius Syrus the Mime say in his Sentences: "The foundation of friendship is wisdom."
17. WHAT SHALL BE HEAVIER THAN LEAD? AND WHAT OTHER NAME SHALL HE HAVE BUT FOOL? — The heaviest among all metals and things is lead; but heavier, more burdensome, and more troublesome than lead is the fool, that is, the impious person, especially because he casts, depresses, and plunges himself and his associates into grave calamities, and even into the danger of hell. He alludes to Proverbs 27: "Heavy is a stone, and burdensome is sand: but the anger of a fool is heavier than both." Truly St. Bernard says in his treatise On the Solitary Life: "A wicked man never dwells safely with himself, because he dwells with a wicked man; and no one is more troublesome to him than he himself;" if to himself, then also to others.
18. IT IS EASIER TO BEAR SAND, AND SALT, AND A MASS OF IRON, THAN A MAN WHO IS IMPRUDENT, AND FOOLISH, AND IMPIOUS — that is, than an impious man, who is imprudent and foolish, because he imprudently and foolishly prefers earth to heaven, time to eternity, hell to glory, the funeral pyre to the kingdom, lust to God. For the same person "is imprudent in knowledge, foolish in doctrine, impious in life," says Rabanus. Those things weigh down only the body, but this weighs down the soul; those are easily shaken off, this with difficulty and rarely; those can be lightened by art — they can be carried by cart, horse, or mule; but the weight of this cannot be removed by any natural means (but only by God's illumination and grace), not even diminished: especially because the fool thinks himself wise, indeed wiser than all the wise: wherefore he allows himself to be taught or moved by no one, but he himself wants to teach and correct everyone, and thinks nothing right except what he himself has said or done. "Therefore the heaviest things," says Palacius, "in the world are lead, sand, salt, and iron. But heavier than these is the fool. For if to be carried downward is a sign of heaviness: the fool descends into hell, where lead and other very heavy things cannot descend. And indeed God bears all things, because all the ends of the earth are in His hand, and He bears all things by the word of His power: yet He does not bear the fool. For He says: I have labored bearing them, Isaiah I, 14, and at last He will shake off the weight into hell."
Wherefore Boethius, in book IV of the Consolation of Philosophy, teaches that fools, that is, the impious, are not so much human beings as beasts. "It happens, therefore, that when you see someone transformed by vices, you cannot consider him a human being. Does he burn with avarice as a violent seizer of others' goods? You would call him like a wolf. Does he, fierce and restless, exercise his tongue in quarrels? You will compare him to a dog. Does a lurking plotter rejoice in stealing by hidden frauds? Let him be equated with little foxes. Does he roar with intemperate anger? Let him be believed to bear the spirit of a lion. Does he, timid and fleeing, fear things not to be feared? Let him be considered like a deer. Does he, sluggish and stupid, lie torpid? He lives like a donkey. Does he, fickle and inconstant, change his pursuits? He differs nothing from birds. Is he immersed in foul and unclean lusts? He is held by the pleasure of a filthy pig. Thus it happens that he who, having abandoned uprightness, has ceased to be a human being, since he cannot pass into a divine condition, is turned into a beast."
Verses 19 and 20: A beam fastened in the foundation will not be loosened
19 and 20. A WOODEN BINDING FASTENED IN THE FOUNDATION OF A BUILDING WILL NOT BE LOOSENED: SO TOO A HEART STRENGTHENED IN CAREFUL THOUGHT. THE THOUGHT OF A SENSIBLE MAN AT ALL TIMES WILL NOT BE DEFORMED BY FEAR. — "Loramentum" (binding) properly is a strap, by which dogs, oxen, and other draft animals are restrained and held as by a rein. Hence by catachresis, loramentum signifies any bond and binding. Here it signifies a wooden bond, or the proper joining and framework of timbers with one another, which is done by wooden pegs.
The sense is: Just as the binding or joining of the beams of a building, which are bound together most firmly by timbers and wooden pegs as by straps, is not easily loosened, nor shaken by the force of winds: so neither is the prudent and firm counsel of a wise man easily loosened, or broken or shaken by the force of temptations, adversities, and persecutions: for it is joined and compacted by strong reasons as by pegs. Therefore the thought of a sensible and prudent man is not bent by fear of the powerful and any difficulties, nor shaken so that his resolution might be overturned or corrupted.
The reason is that the prudent man prudently foresees, examines, arranges, and connects all things, and fortifies and arms himself against all temptations and difficulties. For he imitates God, whose providence and provident disposition persists certain and unshaken, reaching from end to end mightily, and disposing all things sweetly. This unshaken and inviolable wisdom God breathes by grace into the just, as into His friends and children: whence it happens that their counsels, as if divine, stand unshaken against all the forces and frauds of demons and men. Thus the Romans said of Fabricius: "It is easier to turn the sun from its course than Fabricius from his purpose." Such was St. Athanasius, who by no persecutions of emperors, bishops, and the whole world for 46 years could be led away from his purpose of defending the homoousios against the Arians. Such were St. Basil, St. Chrysostom, St. Gregory of Nazianzus, and the other heroes of the Church.
Morally, learn here to strengthen your heart by God's grace and counsel in the resolution of serving God, so that you firmly resolve that by no fear, price, or reward will you fall away from the worship of God. Upon good and firm resolutions frequently repeated and confirmed depends the constancy of virtue, of good works, of holiness, and of salvation.
Mystically, Rabanus says: "A wooden binding fastened to the foundation of a building is not loosened, because the ends of Christ's passion in the hearts of believers, joined with the teaching of the Apostles, make the building of the Church indissoluble, and firmly connected by the glue of true charity, it never permits itself to be destroyed either by the threats and scourges of persecutors, or by the wiles of heretics."
Verses 21-23: Stakes set on high places will not stand
21 and 22. AS STAKES ON HIGH, AND MORTAR PLACED WITHOUT EXPENSE AGAINST THE FACE OF THE WIND WILL NOT REMAIN: SO THE TIMID HEART IN THE THOUGHT OF A FOOL WILL NOT RESIST AGAINST THE ASSAULT OF FEAR. — Against the firm heart of the wise man, which is shaken by no fear, because in all things he directs himself by sound counsel and prudence, he contrasts the "timid heart" of the fool, which, because it is destitute of counsel and prudence, is agitated by the fear of approaching difficulties, just as reeds and stakes set on high are agitated by the wind, and just as mortar placed carelessly on a wall is easily shaken off by the wind or washed away by rain. For in the same way the heart of the fool, which is not well aware of itself and is not established in good, nor has solid reasons for its actions, soon, when some storm of evils has burst upon it, does not persist; but is cast down and disturbed, lacking spirit and counsel, follows nothing firm, but wavers and slips away.
Fear therefore distinguishes the wise heart from the foolish; for it conquers the heart of the fool, but is conquered by the heart of the wise. Christ attests to Sirach in Matthew 7:24: "Everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does them, will be likened to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock: and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and they beat upon that house, and it did not fall: for it was founded upon the rock."
23. AS THE TREMBLING HEART IN THE THOUGHT OF A FOOL WILL NOT FEAR AT ALL TIMES, SO ALSO HE WHO REMAINS IN THE PRECEPTS OF GOD ALWAYS. — Following the Roman edition and punctuation, the meaning is: The fool "does not fear at all times," but only at some times, namely at the time of fear, when the fear of poverty, infamy, adversity, or calamity has invaded him. But the truly wise man, who remains in the precepts of God, will never fear, will always be free from dread and fear. The fool will not fear at all times, but at some times; but the wise man will always not fear, that is, will never fear; namely, he will not fear poverty, nor persecution, nor death, nor demons, nor hell: because "perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Hence the just man is confident as a lion, indeed he mocks death, as St. Andrew, St. Ignatius, St. Polycarp, St. Lawrence, St. Vincent, etc. did. Fear of despoilment, infamy, imprisonment, death, is the touchstone by which fools are distinguished from the wise and the stout-hearted.
St. Gregory of Nazianzus says brilliantly in his Distichs: "As the greatest anvil does not fear blows: so the wise mind repels all harm. As the rustling of leaves frightens hares, so the shadows of things frighten timid and cowardly men." Hence St. Pancratius the martyr said to Diocletian: "Do not, Emperor, be vainly deceived because you see me a boy. For the Lord Jesus Christ has infused such a mind into me, that I fear no terrors of princes or judges." And St. Acathius the centurion and martyr said: "Behold, a body most ready for scourges, use it as you please; but neither the Emperor, nor all the malice of demons will be able to overturn the resolution of my soul."
Second Part of the Chapter: On Avoiding Insults and Injuries in Friendship, and on Keeping Faith with a Friend in Adversity and in Secrets
Verses 24-27: He who pricks the eye brings forth tears
24. HE WHO PIERCES THE EYE DRAWS FORTH TEARS, AND HE WHO PIERCES THE HEART BRINGS FORTH FEELING. — Just as the eye when it is pricked shows that it feels and is pained by this puncture, and testifies to this sensation through tears: so likewise, "he who pricks the heart," that is the mind, by threatening, praising, terrifying, questioning, agitating, vexing, proposing objects of love or hatred, etc., "brings forth feeling," that is, he provokes and makes manifest the emotions of anger, joy, fear.
He aptly compares the heart to the eye. First, because each is the most excellent member of the human body, as well as the most tender. Second, each is highly sensitive. Third, because there is a sympathy between the heart and the eye; for the heart shows its affections of love, hatred, anger, joy, sadness, fear, and anxiety most of all through the eyes. Fourth, because what the eye is in the head, the heart is in the breast. Fifth, just as the eye, because it is tender, immediately signifies its pain in a puncture through tears: so the heart manifests its sensation in a puncture through internal and external affections.
Properly, however, Sirach refers to the pricking by which a friend and friendship are injured, meaning: Just as he who pricks another's eye afflicts him with pain, and causes him to indicate his pain through tears: so he who pricks a friend's heart with biting and stinging words, or with injurious deeds, afflicts the heart with pain. Thus the Syriac says: a blow of the eye causes tears to fall, and a blow to the heart takes away friendship. Silently therefore he admonishes us to guard against all injury and bitterness, lest by it we offend a friend and overturn friendship.
25. HE WHO THROWS A STONE AT BIRDS WILL DRIVE THEM AWAY: SO ALSO HE WHO INSULTS A FRIEND DISSOLVES THE FRIENDSHIP. — Just as one who throws a stone at birds drives them from the tree in which they are sitting, and makes them fly away: so "he who insults a friend" drives him away and repels him, and alienates and "dissolves" his "friendship." He warns that in friendship one must be supremely careful to avoid insult, since it is, as it were, a weapon hurled at a friend, putting him to flight and offending him. Here the maxim of Publilius Syrus applies: "It is not permitted to injure a friend even in jest." And: "To lose a friend is the greatest of losses. A man without a friend is worth as much as a body without a spirit."
26. IF YOU HAVE DRAWN A SWORD AGAINST A FRIEND, DO NOT DESPAIR: FOR THERE IS A WAY BACK. 27. IF YOU HAVE OPENED A HARSH MOUTH AGAINST A FRIEND, DO NOT FEAR: FOR THERE IS RECONCILIATION; EXCEPT FOR INSULT, AND REPROACH, AND PRIDE, AND REVELATION OF A SECRET, AND A TREACHEROUS WOUND: IN ALL THESE THINGS A FRIEND WILL FLEE. — Even if out of sudden anger and choler you have drawn a sword against a friend, do not despair of the friendship; for it will easily be possible through submission and repentance to return to his favor. Except, however, for a deliberate insult, pride, the revelation of a secret, and a treacherous blow: for in these the heart of friendship is wounded. He teaches that injuries which are committed from a sudden passion, and therefore do not take away a friend's honor and reputation, are reconcilable; but those which are perpetrated with deliberation and premeditation, and therefore are signs not of sudden anger but of lasting hatred, or which take away a friend's honor and reputation, are irreconcilable.
He teaches that such, first, is a reproach — that is, an insult deliberately aimed at a friend's good name. Second, an upbraiding — the reproachful casting up of a benefit conferred. Third, pride, by which one arrogantly exalts himself above a friend. For friendship is a certain parity and equality; "all friendship is free from pride," as the common proverb has it. Fourth, the revelation of a secret which a friend entrusted to a friend. Wherefore he who betrays a secret betrays the heart of a friend. Here the maxim of Publilius Syrus applies: "The sole bond of friendship is fidelity." Fifth, a treacherous blow, when someone from ambush and fraudulently injures a friend. These five things strike at the throat of friendship, and so alienate and offend friends that they shatter the bond without hope of restoration and reconciliation.
This indeed happens often and commonly, if you consider nature and ordinary grace, but not always. For an extraordinary grace of God surpasses all things, and perfect charity absorbs these and more. St. Ambrose, in his book On the Appeal of Job, chapter 2, assigns three degrees in the tolerance of reproaches: to be silent, to laugh, and to bless. In the first he places David, who silently received the insults of Shimei. In the second, a higher degree, he places Job, who laughed amid insults. In the third he places the apostle Paul, who blessed the Jews when they cursed him: "David was silent when Shimei cursed; Job laughed; Paul blessed, as he himself says: 'We are cursed, and we bless'" (1 Cor. 4).
Verse 28: Keep faith with your neighbor in his poverty
28. KEEP FAITH WITH A FRIEND IN HIS POVERTY, SO THAT YOU MAY ALSO REJOICE IN HIS PROSPERITY. — He admonishes that faith and help must be rendered to a friend in want and adversity, and that thereby a true friend is distinguished from a feigned and fair-weather one. Here the maxim of Publilius Syrus applies: "Calamity reveals whether you have a friend or merely the name of one." And that common saying: "Fidelity and truth preserve friendship. A fair-weather friendship boils as long as the pot is hot." A brilliant example is found in Christ and the Apostles, to whom Christ says: "You are they who have continued with Me in My trials. And I dispose to you a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom" (Luke 22:28).
Verse 29: In the time of his tribulation remain faithful
29. IN THE TIME OF HIS TRIBULATION REMAIN FAITHFUL TO HIM, SO THAT YOU MAY ALSO BE A CO-HEIR IN HIS INHERITANCE. — What he said about poverty, he now says about any tribulation whatsoever: faith must be kept with a friend in all things. It was formerly the custom to leave friends some portion of an inheritance by will, as can be seen in Roman histories. For thus Maecenas appointed Augustus Caesar, as his friend, heir to his entire estate.
Hence Palacius draws the moral inference: Therefore, since Christ in His members, namely in the poor and afflicted, suffers poverty and tribulation (for He Himself said to Saul in Acts 9: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?"), let us be faithful to Him, sharing our help and resources with the least of His members, "so that He in turn may share with us His own far more joyful and abundant ones."
Verse 30: Before fire come vapor and smoke
30. BEFORE THE FIRE OF THE FURNACE THERE IS VAPOR, AND SMOKE RISES UP: SO ALSO BEFORE BLOODSHED THERE ARE CURSES, AND INSULTS, AND THREATS. — These words pertain to the reproaches from which he admonished us to abstain in verses 25 and 27. Abstain from reproaches, curses, and quarrels, because just as fire naturally follows from smoke, so from reproaches, curses, and quarrels follows the shedding of blood.
He aptly compares a reproach to smoke, and slaughter to flame. First, because just as smoke arises from a hidden fire, so from the anger and wrath of the soul proceed reproaches and quarrels. Second, just as a hidden fire heaps up smoke on high, so anger multiplies reproaches and quarrels. Third, just as smoke clouds the eyes of the body, so anger and quarrels cloud the eyes of the mind, so that the angry can see neither their own anger nor the damages from it. Fourth, just as smoke turns into a very great flame that devastates everything, so quarrels on both sides inflame the spirits of those quarreling, so that they break out into mutual blows and slaughter.
Verses 31 and 32: I will not be ashamed to greet a friend
31 and 32. I WILL NOT BE ASHAMED TO GREET A FRIEND, AND I WILL NOT HIDE MYSELF FROM HIS FACE: AND IF EVILS BEFALL ME THROUGH HIM, I WILL ENDURE. EVERYONE WHO HEARS OF IT WILL BEWARE OF HIM. — The fruits of friendship are so great that even if through him, that is, on account of him, for his sake, evils have befallen me, they must be endured. And everyone who shall hear this — that is, how great are the goods of true friendship — will with all his strength beware of injuring that friend.
St. Ambrose, Book III of On Duties, chapter 7, says: "I will not be ashamed to greet a friend, and I will not hide myself from his face; since Ecclesiasticus, chapter 6, testifies that he is a medicine of life and immortality." And in chapter 16: "Defer to a friend as to an equal, and be not ashamed to anticipate a friend with a service. For friendship knows no pride. Do not abandon a friend in necessity. For what is a friend but a partner in love, to whom you attach and apply your soul, and so mingle it that you wish to become one from two — to whom you entrust yourself as to another self, from whom you fear nothing? Friendship is a virtue, not a profit; because it is sought not by money but by favor, not by a bidding of prices but by a contest of goodwill. What is more precious than friendship, which is common to Angels and men? Hence the Lord Jesus also says: 'Make for yourselves friends from unjust mammon, who may receive you into eternal tabernacles.'"
Verse 33: Who will set a guard over my mouth?
33. WHO WILL SET A GUARD OVER MY MOUTH, AND UPON MY LIPS A SURE SEAL, THAT I MAY NOT FALL THROUGH THEM, AND THAT MY TONGUE MAY NOT DESTROY ME? — After he has shown how great are the damages that follow among friends from reproaches and faults of the tongue, he exclaims: O would that someone give a guard to my mouth! He alludes to Psalm 140: "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth, and a door of circumspection upon my lips." St. Augustine reads: "A door of continence upon my lips." Just as a city is guarded by a military guard, so may God guard my mouth by His grace, lest anything impure or vicious go out through it. St. Augustine shrewdly notes that it says "a door," not "a bolt," because the mouth, like a door, must be opened for the confession of sin and the praise of God, but closed against the work of sin and its excusing.
A "sure seal" is a cautious and prudent seal, which rests upon certain and solid reasons that prudence dictates, and is therefore faithful and secure. This seal and guard of the mouth is a prudent and cautious circumspection and premeditation about what, how much, in what manner, and to whom it is fitting to speak. St. Chrysostom, on Psalm 140, assigns a twofold guard and twofold seal for the mouth: one from God, namely the aid of divine grace; the other ours, namely reason and self-restraint: "Let us therefore guard our mouth perpetually, applying reason to it as a key. Not that it be shut perpetually, but that it be opened at a fitting time. For sometimes silence is more useful than speech, just as speech also is sometimes more useful than silence. And therefore that wisest of men said (Ecclesiastes 3): 'A time to be silent, and a time to speak.' For if mouths needed to be perpetually open, doors would not have been made; but if perpetually shut, there would be no need of a guard."
Anatomists teach that the tongue has two veins, one of which extends to the heart, the other to the brain — by which nature signifies that the tongue ought to utter nothing, even if the heart desires it, unless the brain — that is, the mind and reason — consents and approves it as right. For the heart must be subordinate to the brain, that is, appetite to reason; for reason in man is the ruler and prince, governing the appetite.
Didactically, St. Augustine, in On Grace and Free Will, chapter 16, teaches from this passage against the Pelagians the necessity of God's grace, and specifically that without it we cannot govern the tongue; for, as Solomon says in Proverbs 16:1: "It is for man to prepare his soul, and for the Lord to govern the tongue." Therefore, when you are about to say or discuss something weighty, pray that God may compose the words in your heart and mouth, and so say with the Psalmist: "Lord, You will open my lips, and my mouth shall announce Your praise."
Symbolically, "a shrewd seal" is one that has hidden locks that can be opened only by certain signs — such as those composed of various rings, on each of which a letter is engraved; therefore the rings must be rotated until they produce a certain word. So let our mouth have its locks when vanity, detraction, murmuring, anger, etc., present themselves; but let it be opened only when honorable and holy things are to be said, according to that saying of St. Ambrose: "Let Christ, the Word of God, be the seal of your mouth." Therefore let Christ open our mouth.