Chapter 3
Chapter III.
Second, he urges toward the likeness of the just in two ways.
In the preceding he drew back from the imitation of the wicked; here he urges toward the imitation of the good, and first through the commendation of their state: second, through the reprobation of the opposite state, at: But the ungodly, according to what they thought, etc.
First he urges through the commendation of their state in two ways.
In the first part, on the side of the retribution of the just, there is touched upon first their liberation from evil: second, their reward in good: The just shall shine, etc.
In the first, there is touched upon first their liberation from the evil of eternal damnation: second, from the evil of temporal death, at: They seemed in the eyes, etc.; third, from the evil of present vexation or tribulation: And if before men they suffered torments.
(Verse 1). But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, etc. Rabanus continues thus: "In the preceding chapter the sentence of the wicked was expressed, which they brought forth against Christ: now they are condemned for foolishness, because they think the Saints perish, whom they slaughter for his confession." But it can be continued in this way: I rightly said that those "who are on his side" "imitate" the devil. But, standing for "however"; the souls of the just, etc., "that is, of the Martyrs," according to the Gloss: which is also true of other just persons, but Martyrs are called especially just, because "just is he who disregards loss for the sake of a friend," as is found in Proverbs 12: and this the Martyrs do especially, because for Christ they disregard the loss of possessions and of carnal friends and even of their own bodies, as is clear from Hebrews 11. The souls, I say, of the just: he does not say bodies, because "the earth," that is, the body made from earth, "is given into the hands of the wicked," Job 9. He does not say temporal goods: Job 1: "Behold, all that he has is in your hand," etc. But the souls are in the hand of God, that is, in his protection, and therefore they are secure; Psalm: "He who dwells in the aid of the Most High," etc.; John 10: "No one shall snatch them from my hand." And the torment of death shall not touch them, namely "eternal" death, as the Gloss says: whence Job 5: "In six tribulations he will deliver you, and in the seventh no evil shall touch you," that is, the torment of Gehenna. This torment is described in Job 24: "From the waters of snow he shall pass to excessive heat"; likewise in a Psalm: "He shall rain snares upon sinners, fire," etc. By the name of death, taken in its general sense, is understood here eternal death, because that is true death: but temporal death is as it were the shadow of death: for it is a certain passage to life, according to that saying in John 5: "He does not come into judgment," namely of condemnation, "but has passed from death to life."
(Vers. 2.). They seemed to the eyes etc. It should be noted that the wicked and unbelieving regard the death of the Saints as death in the separation of the conjunction of soul to body, affliction in the pain of the conjoined, destruction in the perdition of the soul, which they regard as perishing with the body; the way of destruction with regard to the subsequent incineration of the body. According to this it is read thus: They seemed, that is the just, in the eyes of the foolish to die, namely by eternal death, when nevertheless they pass over to a better life. Whence Augustine: "God bestowed so great a grace upon the Christian faith that death, which is known to be contrary to life, became an instrument through which one might pass over to life." In the eyes, he says, of the foolish, who "set their eyes to decline toward the earth," that is, who consider only present things and not future things: and therefore to such people they seem utterly to die, but in the eyes of the wise they seem to be born, on account of which the death of the Saints is called a birthday, according to that passage in Job 11: "When you think yourself consumed, you shall rise as the morning star." And it was accounted, namely by the impious, as affliction, namely alone without any benefit, their departure, from the body, when nevertheless it is for them a consolation, according to that passage in Philippians 1: "Having a desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ." Bernard: "The Saints hold death in desire, life in patience." But for the reprobate, there is affliction of departure in their death, and this because, as the same Bernard says, "for them there is pain in departure, horror in passage, shame in the sight of God."
(Vers. 3.). And from the just path, that is from the way of justice, they went away into destruction: the Gloss: "That is, in the estimation of the wicked," because "they regard the palm of martyrdom as affliction and destruction," that is, a retreat into nothingness as regards the soul, which they think is reduced to nothing: and repeat: the just went away, in the estimation of the impious, into the way of destruction, that is incineration, as regards the body; which destruction or way of destruction is from us, that is from our first parents: Romans 5: "Through one man death entered the world." Or: destruction he calls temporal death, because it excludes from the present life: way however of destruction he calls eternal death, because it excludes from eternal life: Baruch 3: "They were destroyed and descended to the netherworld." And with this, there one passes or goes from deadly punishment to deadly punishment, according to that passage in Job 24: "From the waters of snow he shall pass to excessive heat." Such people err in thinking thus: whence below in chapter 5: "We fools accounted their life madness and their end without honor." But they are in peace; the Gloss: "Of perpetual rest, now in hope, at last in reality"; Apocalypse 14: "From henceforth now, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors." For the end of the just is peace: whence Isaiah 32: "The work of justice shall be peace."
And if before men etc. Here is touched upon the deliverance from the evil of present vexation, and first the deliverance in hope: second in reality, at: Afflicted in few things etc.; third the cause of both, at: For God tested them etc.
(Verses 4, 5). It is said therefore: And if, that is, although, before men: the Gloss: "Because before God is the crown of glory"; they suffered torments, namely various and grievous ones, as is evident in the Martyrs, concerning whom Hebrews eleven says: "They were stoned, they were cut asunder" etc. Their hope, namely of the just, according to that saying of Proverbs fourteen: "The just man hopes in his death": is full of immortality, an immortality, I say, not such as was the immortality of the first parents, namely with the possibility of dying; not such as that of the damned in hell, namely with the perpetual desire of dying: Revelation nine: "They shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them"; not such as that of little children in limbo, namely with the lack of the glorious life, but such as that of the Blessed in heaven: Romans five: "We glory in the hope of the glory of the children of God".
And rightly they hope, because, afflicted in few things, the Gloss: "Bodily"; in many things they shall be well disposed: Matthew twenty-five: "Because you were faithful over a few things, I will set you over many things"; Luke twenty-two: "I dispose to you a kingdom" etc. But what those many things are, is said in Isaiah sixty-four: "Eye has not seen, O God, apart from you, what you have prepared for those who wait for you".
But there is a doubt about what it says: Afflicted in few things etc., because it is said in Hebrews eleven: "They were stoned, they were cut asunder" etc.
It must be said that their torments were many in themselves, but few by comparison: first, by comparison with their own estimation, according to that saying of Genesis twenty-nine: "The days seemed to him," namely to Jacob, "few because of the greatness of his love." Second, by comparison with the Passion of Christ: Lamentations one: "O all you who pass by the way"; likewise in the Psalm: "They were swallowed up, joined to the rock," namely to Christ, "their judges," that is, the Apostles themselves and other Martyrs. Third, by comparison with the future reward: Romans eight: "The sufferings are not worthy" etc.; likewise, Second Corinthians four: "That which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation works for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory." Fourth, by comparison with eternal affliction: Job six: "He who fears the frost, upon him shall the snow rush." Fifth, by comparison with the debt and the obligation, that is, the punishment owed on account of things omitted and the obligation on account of things committed: the Psalm: "What shall I render to the Lord for all the things that he has rendered to me"?
For God tested them etc. Here the cause of the aforesaid is touched upon, and first, their chastisement: second, their purification, there: As gold in the furnace etc.; third, the future recompense, there: And in the time there will be etc.
I rightly said that they will be well disposed in many things, for God tested them: Gloss: "That is, He chastised them with various tribulations"; 2 Corinthians 6: "As chastised and not put to death."
But to the contrary: "God tempts no one," as is found in James 1.
It must be said that He does not test in order to learn, as a man does: Daniel 1: "Test us, I beseech you" etc.; nor in order to deceive, as the devil does; Matthew 4: "The tempter, approaching, said to Him" etc.; likewise 1 Corinthians 7: "Lest Satan tempt you"; but in order to instruct, as a master instructs a disciple; Psalm: "Prove me, O Lord, and test me" etc.
And He found them worthy of Himself, namely "of the participation of His blessedness," which is acquired through tribulations: whence Acts 14: "Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of heaven"; likewise Tobit 3: "If he shall have been in trial, he shall be crowned."
(Verse 6.) As gold in the furnace He tested them, namely on the part of the soul, purifying them through the fire of tribulations but not consuming them: Gloss: "Just as gold in the furnace is not burned up but is tested, so the Martyrs do not fail but are prepared for glory"; Sirach 2: "Gold and silver are tested in fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation," which, namely, comes through present tribulations: Job 23: "He tested me as gold that passes through fire." And as a victim of holocaust, which is entirely consumed in the sacrifice of the Lord's body: He received them, namely on the part of the body, by approving or accepting their devotion: Romans 12: "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God." And in the time, namely of retribution: Gloss: "The death of the Saints is not perpetual, but in the day of judgment there is abundant recompense"; there will be regard for them, that is, they will be regarded by God, namely with the eye of mercy, which the Psalmist sought, saying: "Look upon me and have mercy on me." Regard, I say, for them, that is, of the just, who now seem to be abandoned by God, according to that verse of the Psalm: "God, my God, look upon me, why have You forsaken me?"; likewise, to be despised, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Why do You turn Your face away?"
The just shall shine etc. After he has treated of deliverance from evil, here he adds concerning reward in good, first, as regards the stole of the body: second, as regards the honor of judicial power, there: They shall judge the nations etc.; third, as regards the glory of divine fruition, there: Those who trust in Him etc.
(Vers. 7.). I said well that there will be in time a regard for them, because the just shall shine, namely by the endowment of clarity in the judgment as regards the substance of the body, according to that passage of Matthew thirteen: "Then the just shall shine as the sun"; but the sun shall shine sevenfold more than it does now: whence Isaiah thirty: "The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold." And they shall run about like sparks, that is, they shall be apt for running about through the endowment of agility, and this as regards the operation or motion of the body, according to that passage of Isaiah forty: "They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles"; Augustine: "Where the spirit wills, there immediately shall the body also be." Like sparks, I say, in a bed of reeds, which they set ablaze and consume. A bed of reeds here signifies the assembly of the reprobate, because it is outwardly splendid through pretense, inwardly void of truth, laden with no fruit of good works, continually watered by the swamp of carnal concupiscence, agitated by the wind of pride, fit for eternal burning. In this bed of reeds the Saints are said to run about, trampling them underfoot; Malachi, last chapter: "You shall tread down the wicked." In the spark, moreover, the four endowments of the body can be noted, namely on account of its fiery clarity, subtlety, agility, and active power, through which impassibility can be understood.
(Vers. 8.). They shall judge nations. This is said specially of the perfect Saints, who shall judge and shall not be judged. For there shall be four orders in the judgment, as the Gloss says on that verse of the Psalm: "The wicked shall not rise in the judgment."
But how shall the Saints judge, since it is written in John five: "The Father has given all judgment to the Son"?
It must be said that there is a judgment of authority, by which the whole Trinity shall judge: of judicial examination, by which Christ alone as man shall judge: of assessorial dignity, by which only the more perfect Saints shall judge: of approbation, by which all the good shall judge: of comparison, by which the good, that is, the less wicked, shall judge: Matthew twelve: "The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it."
And they shall have dominion over peoples, namely after the judgment: Revelation five: "We shall reign upon the earth," that is, over the earthly. Or: they shall have dominion over peoples, after death: Matthew fifteen: "The little dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters," that is, we of the benefits of the Blessed. And He shall reign, with them, or in them, their Lord, namely Christ: Revelation nineteen: "King of kings," etc.: forever: Luke one: "Of His kingdom there shall be no end"; Psalm: "Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages."
Who trust in him. Here he touches upon the glory of fruition: and he touches upon this in three respects, namely in the knowledge of truth, in the adherence to goodness, there: And the faithful in love: in the perfection of comprehension, there: For gift and peace is etc.
(Vers. 9.). He says therefore: Who trust etc., as if to say, not only will they judge, but also those who trust in him, namely God, in the present, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Sion"; shall understand the truth, by open vision: First John 3: "We shall see him as he is": Gloss: "According to true confidence, the understanding of truth is given." And the faithful in love, that is, those loving him faithfully and inseparably, as the Apostle, who said: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ" etc., Romans 8: Ecclesiasticus 6: "To a faithful friend there is no comparison"; shall rest in him: Gloss: "Because in the future they will not be able to be torn from his fellowship, whom here they already held by faith and hope." Therefore rest in God through love will succeed the understanding of faith. For gift: Gloss: "Of eternal satisfaction"; Psalm: "I shall be satisfied when your glory shall appear"; likewise: "They shall be inebriated with the abundance of your house." And peace, "eternal," according to the Gloss: Isaiah 32: "My people shall sit in the beauty of peace": likewise Philippians 4: "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding": is for his elect, the Saints, whom God chose from this world: John 15: "You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you from the world." - This can also be expounded concerning present merit, which consists in the knowledge of truth through faith, in the conformity of human and divine will through love, so that gift is referred to the knowledge of faith, and peace to the tranquility of love.
Second, he urges toward the likeness of the just through the threefold reprobation of the opposite state.
But the ungodly, according to what they thought etc. Here he sets forth the reprobation of the opposite state; and first he shows that the error of the ungodly concerning their own impunity is false; second, that their opinion concerning the reward of the continent life is erroneous, there: For blessed is the barren: third, concerning the punishment of incontinence, there: But the children of adulterers etc.
In the first part he touches first upon their punishment in themselves: second, the equity of the punishment, there: For wisdom and discipline etc.; third, the overflowing punishment even upon their own, there: Their wives are senseless etc.
(Vers. 10.). There follows therefore: But the ungodly etc. I have rightly said that the just shall be so rewarded: but, for "yet": the ungodly, according to what they have thought, that is, by the desert of their evil thoughts, utterances, and works proceeding from their evil thoughts: shall have correction, "that is, punishment," as the Gloss says, whence it says: "When the just shall enter into rest, the ungodly shall go into eternal punishment." Who have neglected the just, in the neuter, "that is, justice"; or in the masculine, the just one, "that is, God himself," according to the Gloss, and this by omitting the good: Jeremiah 48, according to another reading: "Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord negligently"; Seneca: "Grave is the loss that comes through negligence." And they departed from the Lord, by openly committing evil; Jeremiah 2: "Know and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken your God"; evil, on account of the punishment of loss: bitter, on account of the punishment of sense; the Gloss says: "They depart from the Lord who cast away discipline and wisdom": and this is very evil.
(Vers. 11.). For wisdom etc. For, that is, "because": he who casts away, the Gloss says: "By working evil," wisdom, concerning eternal things, discipline, concerning temporal things: or rather: wisdom, of faith, discipline, of morals: is unhappy, namely his person, that is, unworthy of felicity. But on the contrary, "Blessed is the man who finds wisdom," Proverbs 3; and therefore in the same place: "My son, do not cast away the discipline of the Lord"; likewise Hebrews 12: "Do not neglect the discipline of the Lord." And empty is, namely in effect, their hope, the present one: the Gloss says: "By which they thought temporal things would be eternal, and sins would go unpunished": Ecclesiasticus 34: "Vain hope and falsehood to a senseless man." And labors, in enduring, without fruit: the Gloss says: "Of eternal reward"; Ecclesiastes 10: "The labor of fools shall afflict them." On the contrary, to the just one it is said: "You shall eat the labors of your hands; blessed are you, and it shall be well with you." From this it is clear that the life of the ungodly is laborious; whence below in chapter 5: "We have walked difficult ways," but unfruitful; whence Habakkuk 2: (For the peoples shall labor in much fire, and the nations in vain, and they shall fail." And their works are useless, in acting: useless, "because they do not merit the heavenly dwelling," as the Gloss says; Galatians 5: "They who do such things shall not obtain the kingdom of God." — From the foregoing it is clear that such persons shall incur four evils, which are: unhappiness of person, emptiness of hope, fruitlessness of labor, uselessness of work, or demeritorious work.
(Vers. 12. 13.). Their wives etc., as if to say: not only they themselves, but also their wives, that is, their spouses, are senseless, that is, lacking wisdom; and most wicked are their children, because they are imitators of their father's wickedness—wickedness, I say, against themselves and against their neighbor and against God, and therefore most wicked. — Cursed is their creature, "that is, their handiwork," according to the Gloss; "for the wisdom which God created by blessing does not curse, but shows that the work of the reprobate is worthy of eternal malediction."
According to the Gloss, these things can be expounded allegorically of heretics, so that we say: Wives, "that is, carnal pleasures, or perverse interpretations or doctrines"; and children, "that is, wicked works"; and their creature, that is, their disciples. — Or: cursed is the creature, not simply, but theirs, insofar as it comes to their misuse.
For blessed is the barren etc. Here he shows the reward of the continent life, which the reprobate thought to be nothing; and first he shows this on the part of the feminine sex; second, on the part of the masculine sex: And the eunuch etc.
He says therefore: For etc., as if to say: rightly did I say that their wives and the children begotten from their lust are cursed, because on the contrary blessed is the barren, that is, chaste in body—and he puts the consequent for the antecedent—and undefiled, in mind. Luke twenty-three: "Blessed are the barren and the wombs that have not borne": who has not known, by the knowledge of experience, the bed in transgression, "of adultery," says the Gloss. How great the sin of adultery is, is touched upon in Ecclesiasticus toward the end almost throughout, and in Proverbs six: "It is not a great fault when someone has stolen" etc.; and below: "But he who is an adulterer, through poverty of heart, shall destroy his own soul."
The Gloss also expounds this of spiritual adultery, saying: "Blessed is the chaste and continent soul, which is polluted neither by heresy nor by idolatry." She shall have fruit: the Gloss says: "The fruit of eternal beatitude," namely either thirtyfold, which is owed to the married, or sixtyfold, which is owed to widows, or a hundredfold, which is owed to virgins. Concerning this manifold fruit, it is said in the parable of the seed in Luke eight: "And having sprung up, it bore fruit, some a hundredfold" etc. In the visitation of holy souls: the Gloss says: "On the day of judgment, when God shall look upon holy souls by rewarding them, and they themselves shall look upon him by contemplating him."
(Vers. 14.). And the eunuch etc. Here on the part of the masculine sex, there is touched upon first the merit of continence; second, the reward, at: There shall be given etc.; third, the reason for the reward: For the fruits of good labors etc.
(Verse 14.). It follows therefore: And the eunuch, "who namely made himself a eunuch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven," Matthew nineteen. Who has not wrought iniquity with his hands, that is, he has not committed the sin of incontinence in deed, but is clean in body. Nor has he thought most wicked things against God, that is, nor has he sinned by consent or will, but is clean in heart: for both kinds of purity are required: whence Augustine: "Where the Lord in judging shall find corruption of mind, He will condemn even the incorruption of body together with it." Such a eunuch, I say, repeat: is blessed, now in hope, but at last in reality. For there shall be given to him, in the present namely, a chosen gift of faith: of faith, I say, which makes blessed in hope, according to that passage in John twenty: "Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed." A chosen gift he calls the gift of faith, because it is given from divine election and makes men elect: Philippians one: "To you it has been given, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him." And a lot, that is, a portion in the future, in the temple of God: Gloss: "In heaven": Psalm: "The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord, His seat is in heaven."
But on the contrary: Because Apocalypse twenty-one: "I saw no temple in it," namely in the heavenly city.
It must be said that there is no material temple there, but a spiritual one.
Most acceptable. It should be noted that a lot is acceptable in the goods of nature, more acceptable in the goods of grace, most acceptable in the goods of glory. This is the "best gift," of which James one speaks.
(Verse 15.). For the fruit of good labors is glorious: Gloss: "That is, eternal joy," First Corinthians three: "Each one shall receive his own reward according to his own labor." And the root of wisdom that does not fall, intransitively: "for wisdom is the root of this fruit." This root does not fall, because "it brings forth the fruit of perpetual salvation," according to the Gloss; Ecclesiasticus one: "The root of wisdom is to fear the Lord." This root is known to few; Psalm: "The fear of the Lord is not before their eyes"; Ecclesiasticus one: "To whom has the root of wisdom been revealed?"
But the children of adulterers etc. Here he determines the punishment of incontinence, which the reprobate thought to be nothing, and first the punishment to be inflicted on them in the future is touched upon; second, that inflicted in this world, at: And if indeed; third, the reason for the punishment, at: Nations etc.
(Vers. 16.). He says therefore: Children etc. I have rightly said that the continent shall be rewarded; but, that is, however; the children of adulterers, namely imitators of paternal incontinence, shall come to destruction, "that is, to eternal destruction," according to the Gloss: Exodus twenty: "Visiting the sins of the fathers upon the children," namely the imitators of paternal wickedness. And from an unlawful bed, namely of adultery, the seed, supply: brought forth, shall be destroyed: The Gloss: "In the future," when namely they shall be cast beyond the borders of the land of the living: whence Baruch three: "They have been destroyed and have descended to the nether regions." The Gloss, however, expounds otherwise concerning children and seed, that is, concerning the disciples of heretics, to whom he here threatens the punishment of sense and the punishment of loss, because they adulterate the word of God. Concerning such it is said in Second Corinthians two: "We are not as many, adulterating the word of God."
(Vers. 17.). And if indeed they shall be of long life, namely in this world, they shall be counted as nothing, namely without any value in themselves: Augustine: "Sin is nothing, and men become nothing when they sin." Or: they shall be counted as nothing, according to the Gloss: "That is, their memory shall forever lack blessing." And without honor, namely shown by others, First Kings two: "Those who despise me shall be ignoble." Without honor, I say, shall be the last old age of those, which nevertheless ought to be revered: whence Leviticus nineteen: "Honor the person of the elder"; likewise here below in chapter four: "Old age is venerable, not by length of time nor reckoned by the number of years."
(Vers. 18. 19.). And if they have died more quickly, that is, overtaken by death, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days." They shall have no hope, that is, the thing hoped for after death, namely eternal life, because "the hope of the wicked shall perish," Proverbs 10. Nor in the day of recognition, namely the universal one, which will be at the judgment, according to the Gloss. Now the day of judgment is called the day of recognition with respect to the good, because then they will be recognized by God, just as the brothers of Joseph were by him, Genesis 45. Likewise, with respect to the wicked, because their hidden things will be made known; 1 Corinthians 4: "He will illuminate the hidden things of darkness," etc. Likewise, with respect to God himself, because he will be known by the Saints: 1 Corinthians 13: "Then I shall know, even as I am known." Likewise, with respect to Christ as man, because then he will be openly seen by all: Isaiah 40: "All flesh shall see what the mouth of the Lord has spoken"; likewise of the same, 52: "All the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God"; likewise Revelation 1: "Every eye shall see him." Likewise, with respect to the world itself, in which then nothing will be hidden or concealed, according to that passage of the Psalm: "The foundations of the world were revealed." Nor in the day, I say, of recognition, repeat: they shall have, an address, that is, a gentle or consolatory one, but a most harsh dismissal: whence Matthew 25: "Depart from me, you cursed," etc.
For wicked nations, that is, doers or imitators of iniquity, are of a dreadful end, that is, conclusion, namely they have harshness of punishment in the end, whatever may be the case regarding the beginning, or regarding the middle, because:
The last things do not correspond to the first by the same course;
Ecclesiasticus 41: "The inheritance of the children of sinners shall perish, and with their seed shall be a perpetual reproach."