Chapter 10
Chapter X.
She protected him etc. In the preceding chapters he admonished rulers specifically to acquire wisdom, and this by reasons taken from the peril of the office of those whom he admonishes, namely in chapter six; secondly, by reasons taken from the example of him who admonishes, in chapters seven, eight, and nine. Here thirdly he exhorts them to the same by reasons taken from the many effects and benefits of wisdom, to which he urges them. Now wisdom is beneficent by advancing the wise, namely her friends, and by punishing the foolish, the adversaries of the wise. Therefore he treats first of the benefits pertaining to the advancement of the friends of God, namely in this chapter; secondly, of those pertaining principally to the punishment of adversaries, namely in chapter eleven and thereafter.
Thirdly he exhorts to acquiring wisdom by reasons taken from its effects, and first from the benefits pertaining to the advancement of the friends of God. In the first part he first sets forth the benefits conferred upon individual persons; secondly, the benefits bestowed upon one people: She protected the just people.
First, concerning the benefits conferred upon six individual persons.
In the first part he shows the benefits of wisdom in six individual persons among the ancient Patriarchs: first, in the person of Adam, when he says: She protected him, who was first etc.; secondly, in the person of Noah, there: From her when he departed; thirdly, in the person of Abraham: She also, in the conspiracy of pride; fourthly, in the person of Lot: She delivered the just man from those perishing; fifthly, in the person of Jacob: She moreover the fugitive etc.; sixthly, in the person of Joseph: She the just man who was sold.
In the first, concerning Adam, he shows the benefit first of grace, secondly of nature: And she brought him out etc.
(Verse 1.). She protected him. I have rightly said that through wisdom all were healed, which is evident through examples. She indeed, namely wisdom, him, namely Adam, who first, of all men, was formed by God, namely immediately; Job 10: "Your hands have made me" etc. The father of the world, that is, who was to be the father of the whole human race; Malachi 2: "Is there not one father of us all"? When he had been created alone, namely before the formation of the woman; Genesis 2: "It is not good for man to be alone." It should be noted that formed is said with respect to the body; hence Genesis 2: "God therefore formed man from the slime of the earth"; and created, with respect to the soul; Genesis 1: "God created man in his image and likeness" etc. When alone, I say, he had been created, she protected him, namely from sin in the earthly paradise in the state of innocence. "For he placed him in paradise, to work and to guard it," Genesis 2.
(Vers. 2.). And she led him out, namely, the woman having already been made, him who had become a transgressor, Genesis 3, from his transgression, namely through the infusion of penitence and the remission of fault. And it should be noted that here the penitence of Adam is expressed more explicitly than elsewhere.
And she led him out of the slime of the earth, namely on the part of the body: Ecclesiasticus 17: "God created man from the earth." And gave him power, that is, authority, to contain all things, by ruling all things and having dominion over all, and this on the part of the soul, namely through reason, according to that passage in Genesis 1: "Have dominion over the fish of the sea," etc.; likewise in the Psalm: "You have subjected all things under his feet."
From this, etc. Here he shows the benefit of wisdom specially bestowed upon Noah and upon those who were with him in the ark, when it delivered him from the flood and destroyed the wicked. And first he touches upon the first cause of the destruction of the wicked; second, the first cause of the deliverance of the good, at the passage: On account of which, etc.
(Vers. 3.). He says therefore: From this, namely wisdom, when he departed: Proverbs 1: "Fools despise wisdom and doctrine"; for by this, that one departs from wisdom, one departs from God: above, chapter 1: "Perverse thoughts separate from God": the unjust one, namely Cain, who is called unjust antonomastically, because he was the head and exemplar of the unjust: in his wrath, by which he was wrathful against his brother Abel: Genesis 4: "Why are you wrathful," etc. Through the wrath of murder, that is, which wrath was spiritual murder, according to that passage in 1 John 3: "He who hates his brother is a murderer"; or transitively, so that the sense would be: Through the wrath of murder, that is, which was the cause of corporeal murder: whence Genesis 4: "Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him." Brotherhood perished, that is, the fellowship of brotherhood, Abel having died corporally and Cain spiritually.
(Vers. 4.). On account of which etc., namely sin: for that sin was the first cause of the corruption of Cain's posterity, from which corruption spread even to a great part of Seth's posterity: and that was fulfilled in Genesis 6, where it says: "All flesh had corrupted its way." When the water destroyed the earth, destroying, namely, earthly man from the surface of the earth: Genesis 6: "I will destroy man, whom I created, from the face of the earth." For all perished who were written in the earth, namely the wicked, of whom Jeremiah 17: "Those who depart from you shall be written in the earth"; destroying also all flesh living on the earth according to Genesis 7: "All flesh was consumed that moved upon the earth." Wisdom healed again, namely the world, just as she had previously healed Adam: she healed, I say, the world, namely by purging it of wicked men: through a contemptible wood "that is, through the ark," contemptible in its material and despised by those who believed it was being built in vain the just one, "namely Noah," of whom Genesis 6: "Noah was a just man" etc.: governing, namely delivering him from drowning amid the floods of waters: 2 Peter 2: "He preserved Noah, the eighth, a preacher of justice, bringing a flood upon the world." Now that wood signified the cross, because it is contemptible to unbelievers, although to the faithful it is venerable; whence 1 Corinthians 1: "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" etc.: likewise in the same place: "We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block" etc.
She also in the agreement etc. Here he touches upon the benefit of wisdom conferred in the person of Abraham, first with respect to himself: second, in his posterity: And in his children etc.
(Verse 5). He says therefore: This one, namely wisdom, and, also, when the nations, that is, the people of that time persisting in the vice of their birth, had exalted themselves, that is, had carried themselves beyond their measure by elation of heart and striving of work, against which it is said in the Psalm: "Lord, my heart is not exalted," etc. In the consent of pride, that is, coming from pride, by which consent, or which pride, they wished to build a tower reaching up to heaven and to make their name famous: both of which were pride, Genesis eleven. When, I say, the nations had exalted themselves etc.; she knew, namely wisdom, by approving and choosing and separating from the wicked: Second Timothy two: "The Lord knows who are his"; on the contrary, to the wicked it is said, Matthew seven: "I never knew you": the just one, namely Abraham, who is called the just one par excellence. And she preserved him without blame before God, "in the midst of a depraved and perverse nation," which was difficult: Luke one: "They were both without blame." And in his children, that is, his descendants, she kept strong mercy, namely by multiplying them out of his mercy and strongly defending them from adversaries and finally conferring upon them the land of promise, as he had promised, Genesis thirteen and fifteen and seventeen.
This one the just from the perishing etc. Here he shows the benefit of wisdom conferred in the person of Lot, who was freed from the destruction of Sodom, and first he touches on the liberation of Lot: second, the punishment of the others: When there descended etc.; third, the equity of the punishment: For wisdom.
(Verse 6). This one, namely wisdom, the just one, "namely Lot," as the Gloss says; likewise Second Peter two says of him: "In sight and hearing he was just": from the perishing impious, namely from the company of the perishing impious, that is, of the Sodomites: she freed him as he fled, both from the fellowship of guilt, according to that passage in the same place: "He rescued the just Lot, oppressed by the injury and wanton conduct of the wicked": and from the fellowship of punishment: concerning both liberations, it is found in Genesis nineteen. When fire descended, from heaven, not sent from the earth; in the same place: "The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire" etc.; upon the Pentapolis: the Gloss: "That is, upon the region of the five cities," namely Sodom, Gomorrah, Segor, Seboim, and Adamah.
(Vers. 7.). To whom, namely those perishing, as a testimony of wickedness, namely of burning and foul lust, smoking, that is, emitting smoke from itself; whence in the Psalm: "Smoke ascended in his wrath": the desolate land stands, namely desolate of plants and trees: Job twenty-eight: "The land from which bread arose in its place was consumed by fire": likewise in the Psalm: "A fruitful land into saltness, from the wickedness of those dwelling in it." And at a certain, namely determined, time, trees bearing fruit, useless, as is said, because it is reported that fruits grow there outwardly beautiful, but inwardly ashy and full of cinders: the Gloss: "They show that without the fruit of penance, damned souls will burn in hell for eternity." And a figure, that is, a statue, of salt, for seasoning all who hear and see with the salt of wisdom against the corruption of carnal concupiscence or foolishness: a figure, I say, standing as a memorial, that is, a remembrance: Luke seventeen: "Remember the wife of Lot"; a memorial,
I say, of an unbelieving soul, that is, of the unbelief of Lot's wife, who looked back, refusing to believe the Angel who forbade it, as is evident in Genesis nineteen.
It should be noted, moreover, that the desolate land testifies to their uselessness for good works; the smoke, their blinding by carnal concupiscence; the useless fruits, their evil manner of life; the statue of salt, their dissolution and corrupting putrefaction through carnal concupiscence.
(Vers. 8.). For wisdom etc., as if to say: and deservedly they were thus punished: for passing over wisdom, that is, the Sodomites casting it aside, and therefore wretched; whence above in chapter three: "He who casts aside wisdom and discipline is wretched": therefore also they perished, according to that passage in Baruch three: "Because they did not have wisdom, they perished on account of their foolishness": nor did they only perish because they passed over wisdom, but they also left a memorial of their foolishness. And this is what he adds: Not only etc. Passing over wisdom, I say, not only did they fall into this, that they should be ignorant, namely with the ignorance of which First Corinthians fourteen says: "If anyone is ignorant, he shall be ignored": of good things, namely those pertaining to their own life and salvation. But also of their foolishness, because "they were compared to foolish beasts and made like unto them": they left a memorial to men, as regards evil fame, namely thus, so that in those things in which they sinned, that is, so that in those sins which they committed, they could not even be hidden, because they did not wish to be hidden, but sinned publicly: Isaiah three: "They proclaimed their sin as Sodom and did not hide it." And therefore the Lord willed that their sins be made known to the whole world through public punishment.
Sin lies hidden by the cunning of sinning: 2 Kings 12: "You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel." By the pretense of holiness: Matthew 23: "You are like whitewashed sepulchres," etc. Of dignity or of prelacy by the authority, according to that saying of Gregory: "No one does more harm in the Church than he who, acting perversely, holds the name or rank of holiness; for no one presumes to rebuke such a one, and the fault spreads powerfully as an example, when the sinner is honored out of reverence for his rank."
(Verse 9.). But Wisdom, as if to say: just as those unjust ones were punished for their contempt of wisdom: but, meaning on the contrary, wisdom those who her, namely wisdom, observe, that is, who diligently keep her in heart, word, and deed: delivered from sorrows, namely of eternal punishments, concerning which Isaiah 50 says: "You shall sleep in sorrows"; likewise in the Psalm: "The sorrows of death surrounded me."
But she [conducted] the fugitive etc. Here he touches upon the manifold benefit of wisdom bestowed upon the person of Jacob, of which the first was his advancement in good: the second, his preservation from evil: Against the fraud of those who encompassed him: the third, assistance in triumph: And a contest.
(Vers. 10.). She, namely wisdom, the fugitive from the wrath of his brother, namely the one fleeing and turning away from the wrath of his brother, or from his angered brother: Genesis twenty-seven: "Behold, Esau your brother threatens to kill you. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, and arise and flee to Laban, my brother." The just one, namely Jacob, according to that passage in Genesis thirty: "My justice shall answer for me tomorrow": she guided through straight paths: The Gloss: "Through Mesopotamia": Deuteronomy thirty-two: "The Lord alone was his guide." Straight, he says, because "the path of the just is straight," as is found in Isaiah twenty-six. And she showed him, namely on the way through an imaginative vision, the kingdom of God, because "he saw a ladder reaching up to heaven," Genesis twenty-eight. But the devil shows the kingdom of the world: whence Matthew four: "He showed him all the kingdoms of the world." And she gave him the knowledge of the saints, that is, the understanding of sacred things, because "understanding is needed in a vision," as is found in Daniel ten: of sacred things, I say, which he had seen, she gave him understanding, that is, so that he might understand what the ladder which he had seen signified, and the ascent and descent of the Angels. For the ladder is obedience, through which the Angels ascend to attend upon God and descend to minister to us: Daniel seven: "Thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him." She made him honorable: The Gloss: "That is, she enriched him," according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus eleven: "It is easy in the eyes of the Lord to suddenly make a poor man honorable": and he speaks according to human custom, which is accustomed to regard the wealthy as honorable persons. In his labors, that is, on account of his labors, not through injustice and plunder, as many enrich themselves. But such riches do not make one honorable nor blessed, but rather one's own labors, or riches acquired from just labors: in the Psalm: "For you shall eat the labors of your hands, blessed are you," etc. And she brought to completion, that is, she led to the desired end, namely by bringing him back to his father in the land of Canaan: his labors: The Gloss: "Which he endured in tending sheep," concerning which, Genesis thirty-one: "Day and night I was scorched by heat and frost."
She the fugitive etc. From this place up to: In the fraud of those circumventing, there is touched upon the manifold benefit that the Lord bestows upon His Saints, of which the first is justification at the beginning of their conversion: Romans 8: "Those whom He called, them He also justified": and this is touched upon when it says: The just one. The second is guidance in the progress of one's way of life: She guided him etc.: in the Psalm: "Your good Spirit will guide me into the right land." The third is the showing of the kingdom in grace or in the secret of contemplation: She showed him: Exodus 33: "I will show you all good." The fourth, instruction in the knowledge of the divine will: And she gave him the knowledge of holy things: Baruch 4: "Blessed are we, O Israel, for the things that are pleasing to God are made known to us." The fifth is ennoblement, that is, enrichment in the abundance of merit and virtue: She enriched him etc.: Job 5: "You shall enter the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in at its time." The sixth, completion in reward: And she completed etc.; above in chapter four: "Being made perfect in a short time, he fulfilled long times, for his soul was pleasing to God": likewise above in chapter three: "The fruit of good labors is glorious."
(Vers. 11.). In the fraud of those circumventing him, that is, of those wishing to circumvent him, "Laban and his sons," as the Gloss says: she stood by him, namely by guarding him, lest he be deceived or harmed: Genesis 31: "Your father has circumvented me and changed my wages ten times." And she made him honorable, the Lord, that is, wealthy: Genesis 31: "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and enriched from his possessions, he has become illustrious."
(Vers. 12.). She guarded him from enemies, namely from Laban and his sons who were pursuing him and wishing to despoil him: Genesis thirty-one: "Unless the God of my father had been with me, perhaps you would have sent me away empty." And from deceivers she protected him, namely from Esau and his men, who perhaps intended to seize him when they were coming to meet him. But the Lord changed the heart of Esau through the offering of gifts which Jacob sent ahead to him, as is clear from Genesis thirty-two. And she gave him a strong contest, the Gloss explains this of the contest against Laban and his sons, Genesis thirty-one, or against Esau: or more truly it can be understood of the contest in which he wrestled with the Angel, Genesis thirty-two: with the Angel, I say, stronger than himself. For if a wicked angel is so strong that "there is no power on earth that can be compared to him," as is found in Job forty-one: how much more a good Angel? So that he might conquer, namely the contest itself: Hosea twelve: "In his strength he was directed with the Angel and prevailed," etc. So that he might conquer, I say, and know, namely by obtaining the victory, through wisdom, that is: that wisdom is mightier than all things, because she is powerful to deliver from any evil man: whence Genesis thirty-two: "If you have been strong against God, how much more shall you prevail against men"?
She the just one who was sold. Here he shows the benefit of wisdom bestowed upon the person of Joseph, and first in his deliverance: second, in the exaltation of the one delivered: Until she brought.
(Vers. 13.). She, namely wisdom, the just one, "that is, Joseph"; for out of justice he accused his brothers of their crimes before his father: Genesis thirty-seven: "He accused his brothers before his father of a most wicked crime"; the one sold, "namely by his brothers," who "sold him to passing Ishmaelites," in the same place: did not abandon, namely by withdrawing from him: in the Psalm: "The Lord will not abandon his Saints forever." But she delivered him from sinners, from the wife of Potiphar and his servants, "when he was accused of adultery," Genesis thirty-nine. And she descended with him into the pit: the Gloss: "Of the prison": for he was handed over into the prison in which "the king's prisoners were kept," where wisdom descended with him, which was evident because "she gave him favor with the chief of the prison," Genesis thirty-nine.
(Vers. 14.). And in the chains of the prison she did not abandon him, because through the wise interpretation of dreams she freed him from his chains, Genesis forty-one. Until she brought him the scepter of the kingdom, that is, the principate over all of Egypt after Pharaoh: whence in the same place: "You shall be over my house," etc.: and power, namely of judging or of vindicating himself,
if he had willed, against those who were oppressing him: that is, against his brothers, who had oppressed him, upon whom he struck great terror, as is clear from Genesis forty-two. And she showed those who had stained him to be liars, namely with the stain of infamy, namely the wife of Potiphar and his servants: Job thirteen: "First showing you to be fabricators of lies and cultivators of perverse doctrines." For through his divine exaltation it was shown and believed that the whole thing was a lie, with even the woman herself perhaps acknowledging this afterward. Concerning this stain of infamy, Ecclesiasticus forty-seven: "You placed a stain upon your glory." And gave him eternal renown, namely of perpetual fame, according to that word of the Psalm: "The just shall be in everlasting remembrance": or of eternal glory, namely when Christ led him together with the other Patriarchs from hell into glory. "Ascending on high, you led captivity captive."
It should be noted that in the aforesaid six persons six ways are touched upon by which wisdom delivers the saints, according to that word of Job five: "In six tribulations he will deliver you, and in the seventh evil shall not touch you." For she delivers from the temptation of the enemy, as with Adam; from the temptation of the corruption of concupiscence, as with Noah, while the rest perished on account of the corruption of the flesh; likewise, from the temptation of pride and interior haughtiness, as Abraham from the pride of the giants which might be imitated, or from the imitation of pride; likewise, from exterior temptation, namely of wicked example and corrupt conduct, as with Lot; likewise, from the temptation of human deceit and circumvention, as with Jacob; likewise, from the temptation of worldly adversity, as with Joseph.
Likewise it should be noted that there are three enemies of ours, namely the devil, the flesh, and the world, signified by the three enemies of Solomon, concerning which see 3 Kings eleven. Now the temptation of the demon is twofold, namely exterior and visible, interior and invisible. Deliverance from the first is signified in the deliverance of Adam; from the second, in the deliverance of Abraham.
The temptation of the flesh is likewise twofold, namely according to nature and against nature. Deliverance from the first was signified in the deliverance of Noah; from the second, in the deliverance of Lot.
The temptation of the world is likewise twofold, namely through fraud and violence. Deliverance from the first is signified in the deliverance of Jacob; from the second, in the deliverance of Joseph.
The benefits conferred upon one people are treated in three ways.
She [delivered] a just people. After he has shown the benefits of wisdom conferred upon individual persons, here he shows the benefit bestowed upon one people: and first the general benefit is touched upon, second the special benefit: She entered etc., third the thanksgiving for both: Therefore the just etc.
(Vers. 15.). This, namely wisdom, a just people, "namely the Israelite people," justified through faith, according to that passage in Romans 5: "Justified by faith": or: just, through the working of good; and a blameless seed, namely through the avoidance of evil: seed, "namely of the Patriarchs," as the Gloss says: likewise Tobit 2: "We are the children of the Saints": delivered etc. Of this deliverance he set forth a twofold cause, namely the goodness of the people, when he says: A just people: secondly, the holiness of the Fathers, when he says: And a blameless seed she delivered from the nations, "that is, from the Egyptians," remaining in the vice of their birth. Who oppressed him, that is, vexed them, "namely in clay and brick" and straw, as is evident from Exodus 1. And note that through this oppression or vexation can be understood the vexation of the devil, by which he vexes his servants in the works of the clay of lust and the brick of avarice and the straw of pride: Exodus 3: "Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people" etc.
She entered etc. Here he touches upon special benefits, first those done in Egypt: secondly, after the departure from Egypt: And she rendered: thirdly, in the departure itself: And she brought over etc.
(Vers. 16.). She entered, that is, wisdom herself, into the soul of the servant of God: Gloss: "That is, of Moses," above in chapter 7: "Through nations she transfers herself into holy souls": likewise Exodus 4: "I will be in your mouth and will teach you what you shall say." And she stood, namely steadfastly: whence Exodus 9: "Moses stood before Pharaoh": she stood, I say, against dreadful kings:
Gloss: "Pharaoh and other princes": in wonders, that is, in greater miracles, and in signs, lesser ones, "which she worked in Egypt"; whence Exodus 7: "I will multiply my signs and portents in the land of Egypt"; Ecclesiasticus 45: "He magnified him in the sight of kings": above in chapter 8: "Dreadful kings shall fear me."
(Vers. 17.). And she rendered to the just: Gloss: "Of the Israelite people": the reward of their labors: Gloss: "The promised land," which he had previously promised to them: Genesis 12: "To your seed I will give this land." And she led them, namely to the aforesaid land, by a wonderful way: Gloss: "Through the desert": in the Psalm: "In a desert land, pathless and waterless." This way, moreover, was wonderful, because it was in no way passable for so great a host without many miracles. Whence it follows: And she was to them a covering by day, that is, from the heat of day, namely "through a pillar of cloud": and in the light of stars by night, that is, in place of the light of stars, and this "through a pillar of fire," as the Gloss says: Exodus 13: "Never was the pillar of cloud lacking by day nor the pillar of fire by night"; likewise Isaiah 4: "The Lord will create over every place of Mount Sion etc., a cloud by day" etc.
(Vers. 18.). And she brought them across etc., namely in the departure from Egypt, through the Red Sea: Exodus fourteen: "The water was divided, and the children of Israel entered through the midst of the dry sea." Now it is called the Red Sea from the color which it derives from the adjacent red earth. And she carried them across through the exceeding water, namely of the sea itself, whose waters were for them as a wall on the right and on the left, in the same place. And note that he says through the Red Sea with respect to quality, through the exceeding water with respect to quantity.
(Vers. 19.). But their enemies, namely the Egyptians, she submerged in the sea: Exodus fifteen: "The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he cast into the sea": likewise: "They sank as lead," etc. And from the height, that is, the depth, of the nether regions,
"that is, of unspeakable afflictions," as the Gloss says: she brought forth them, namely the children of Israel, in this, namely, that their enemies, who wished to kill them by sending them thither, he sent or cast thither: Ecclesiasticus, the last chapter: "From the depth of the belly of hell and from a defiled tongue and from a lying word." Therefore the just, namely because wisdom was with them: the just, namely the children of Israel, carried off the spoils of the ungodly: the Gloss: "The golden and silver vessels of the Egyptians," as is clear from Exodus twelve: Proverbs thirteen: "The substance of the sinner is kept for the just." Note that he does not say they stole, because they did these things by the command of a superior, namely God: and therefore they did not commit theft or robbery, at least those who did these things not out of greed but with the intention of obeying God.
(Vers. 20.). And they sang forth, that is, they sang devoutly, namely after the crossing of the Red Sea: O Lord, thy holy name: Exodus fifteen: "Let us sing to the Lord, etc., the Lord is as a man of war, almighty is his name": thus they sang forth for their deliverance. And thy victorious hand, that is, thy power, they praised together, that is, at the same time, namely for the overthrow of their adversaries: whence in the same place: "Thy right hand, O Lord, is magnified in strength."
(Vers. 21.). Because wisdom etc., as if to say: and rightly did they sing and praise etc.: because wisdom, namely delivering them, opened, namely unto the praise of the divine name, the mouth of the mute, previously struck dumb by fear; Exodus 14: "The children of Israel saw the Egyptians behind them and feared greatly." And the tongues of infants, that is, of those unable to speak, she made eloquent, that is, fluent in speech, perhaps literally, the tongues of the Hebrew children, according to that passage of Psalm 8: "Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings" etc. Or: of infants, that is, of the unskilled, those not knowing how to speak after the manner of infants, according to that passage of Jeremiah 1: "I know not how to speak, for I am a child"; Luke 21: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom" etc.; Exodus 4: "Who made the mouth of man?" The Gloss: "Without the wisdom of God the human mind can neither think anything nor worthily utter it. From Him therefore both wisdom and eloquence must be sought."