Chapter 4
Chapter IV.
Third, the justice of man toward himself is treated by a twofold comparison.
O how beautiful is etc. Here he treats of the justice of man toward himself. He commends justice and reproves injustice, comparing the state of the just to the state of the unjust: first, before the judgment, namely in this chapter; second, at the judgment, in the following chapter.
First, the state of the just is compared to the state of the unjust before the judgment in three ways.
Before the judgment in three ways: first, with regard to the state of the present life; second, with regard to the state of death: The just man, if by death; third, with regard to the state after death : He condemns etc.
First, with regard to the state of the present life, in two ways.
In the first part, the commendable state of the just is shown first in itself; second, from the reproval of the opposite state, namely of the unjust: The manifold etc.
He first commends the state of the just from its beauty; second, from its immortality: It is immortal etc.; third, from its edification: When it is present etc.; fourth, from its remuneration: And in perpetuity etc.
(Vers. 1.). O how beautiful etc., as if to say: thus I said, "that the generations of the ungodly are of dire consummation"; but O how beautiful etc., he says this in admiration: beautiful, "with regard to works"; a chaste generation, "with regard to innocence of mind"; with brightness, "with regard to the splendor of virtues," according to the Gloss. Song of Songs 4: "You are all beautiful, my beloved" etc.; likewise Luke 12: "Let your loins be girded," through innocence, "and lamps burning," through the splendor of virtues; "and you yourselves like men waiting for their lord," through solicitude for good works. And I rightly said that it is beautiful, namely with spiritual beauty. For the memory of it is immortal, through happy remembrance: Proverbs 10: "The memory of the just is with praises." For it is known also with God, through approbation: 2 Timothy 2: "The Lord knows who are his." And with men, namely those who use reason and are wise, through praise or the continuation of praise; Sirach 44: "Let the peoples declare the wisdom," namely of the Saints, "and let the Church proclaim their praise."
(Vers. 2.). And I rightly said that it is immortal etc. For when it is present, "namely in the present life," they imitate it, as a most beautiful exemplar; Philippians 3: "Be imitators of me." And they desire it, namely to see the beautiful and chaste generation of the just, namely for imitation: when it has departed, from this life through death: Job 9: "They have passed like ships carrying fruit," which namely leave behind their fragrance after their passage: Song of Songs 1: "We will run after the fragrance of your ointments."
It should be noted that God leads the just out of the present life effectively, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Lead forth from custody," that is, from prison, "my soul." But they themselves lead themselves out by consenting, or by desiring and asking for this: in the Psalm: "My soul has thirsted for God, the living fountain; when shall I come and appear before the face of God"?
And crowned forever, namely with the crown of perpetual life; Apocalypse 2: "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life." She triumphs, that is, by triumphing she acquires the prize of undefiled contests, that is, what is owed to undefiled contests, that is, not defiled by a lack of perseverance: the prize, I say, conquering, a prize given for a competitive contest, as the Gloss says, whence 1 Corinthians 9: "They, that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one." Or: a conquering prize, that is, surpassing the magnitude of persecutions, according to that verse in Romans 8: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the future glory that will be revealed in us"; whence the Gloss: "A prize that is greater than those contests and persecutions which they endured in the present."
Of manifold kind, etc. Here he touches upon the state of the unjust reprobate, censuring it, first in themselves: second in the branches: And if in the branches: third in the fruits: And the fruits: fourth in the posterity: From the wicked, etc.
(Vers. 3.). But of manifold kind, etc., as if to say: such is the beautiful and chaste generation of the just. But (in the sense of "however"): the manifold multitude of the impious, etc.; Ecclesiastes 1: "The number of fools is infinite." Here he touches upon a threefold plurality or multitude of the impious in three words, namely because it is scattered through diverse errors with respect to the rational power, against which James 3: "Do not become many masters"; likewise, through diverse appetites with respect to the concupiscible power: Hosea 10: "Their heart is divided, now they shall perish"; likewise, through diverse hatreds with respect to the irascible power: Micah 3: "Jerusalem shall be a heap of stones," that is, without the cement of charity. He touches upon or indicates the first through what he says: Of manifold kind, that is, generating many errors: the second, through what he says: Multitude, as if without the unity or bond of charity: the third, through what he says: Of the impious, in the plural, that is, without piety, but with much cruelty. The manifold, I say, multitude of the impious will not be useful, "indeed harmful," as the Gloss says; Isaiah 30: "They were not for help or for any usefulness, but for confusion and for reproach."
But on the contrary: "Because, as Augustine says, if there were fewer wicked than good, they would not dare to try the good"; but this trial is useful for the good, because Gregory says that "he cannot be Abel whom the malice of Cain does not try." Likewise in the Psalm: "Upon my back sinners have wrought," namely, a perpetual crown for me.
But it must be said that the just will not obtain this benefit from the intention of the wicked, because they do not intend to benefit them, but from their own goodness, or from their own good will, making good use of their evils.
And spurious shoots shall not take deep root, etc. So reads the text of Rabanus and all the ancients; likewise Ambrose in a certain letter says to certain persons: "You are noble shoots," that is, noble plantings. But Augustine says that it would be better said adulterous plantings; and on account of this adulterous plantings remained in the text in the newer Bibles.
It should be noted, however, that shoots are fruitless plants which grow beside the trunk of the vine, whence vitulamen is said from vitis (vine); or according to some it is said from vitulus (calf), because such a plant grows in land plowed by calves or oxen. Spurious, however, means the same as ignoble or degenerate; whence spurious shoots, that is, degenerate or unnatural plantings, and adulterous plantings, that is, impious generations, born from spiritual adultery, namely, multiplied through the propagation of impiety: Matthew 12: "An evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign."
They shall not take deep root, in themselves, that is, thoughts and affections reaching toward heaven, but fixed in the earth. For man according to the Philosopher is an inverted tree; whence he ought to send and fix his roots upward, namely, his intellect and affection; whence in the Psalm: "The meditation of my heart is always in your sight"; likewise: "Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem"; likewise: "Lord, before you is all my desire"; likewise Colossians 3: "Seek the things that are above," namely, by searching with the intellect; "savor the things that are above," by savoring with the affection; the Psalm: "Taste and see." Nor shall they establish a stable support, or foundation, namely of right faith toward God: for faith is as it were the foundation of the spiritual edifice; whence Hebrews 11: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for," etc.; 1 Corinthians 3: "No one can lay another foundation besides that which has been laid, which is Christ Jesus," that is, faith concerning Christ Jesus.
Otherwise, according to the Gloss, it is expounded concerning heretics and their disciples.
(Vers. 4.). There follows: And if in the branches, that is, in exterior goods, etc. Such were the branches of that Babylonian tree, namely Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel chapter four. They budded for a time, that is, for a short time they showed some beginning of good, according to that passage of Isaiah chapter eighteen: "The unripe fruit shall bud forth." Being weakly established, "that is, for an hour," as the Gloss says; or: weakly established, that is, feebly rooted in good, they shall be shaken by the wind, that is, by a lighter temptation, according to that passage of Ezekiel chapter seventeen: "Shall it not wither when the burning wind touches it?" And by the violence of winds, that is, by a more severe persecution, they shall be uprooted: the Gloss: "They shall be utterly torn out"; Matthew chapter fifteen: "Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be uprooted."
(Vers. 5.). For the imperfect branches shall be broken off, namely, without hope of restoration, by the most severe persecution: Job chapter fifteen: "The flame shall wither his branches"; or: for the imperfect branches shall be broken off, that is, their teachings or works lacking the perfection of charity; Colossians chapter three: "Above all things have charity, which is the bond of perfection." And their fruit, namely their own, that is, their evil works, according to that passage of Matthew chapter seven: "A bad tree brings forth bad fruit"; is useless, so as not to nourish: Isaiah chapter fifty-nine: "Their works are useless works." And bitter to eat, so as not to delight but to torment: Deuteronomy chapter thirty-two: "Their grape is a grape of gall, and their cluster most bitter"; Ezekiel chapter eighteen: "The fathers have eaten a sour grape," etc. And fit for nothing, so that they profit in nothing from themselves: Ezekiel chapter fifteen: "When it was whole, it was not fit for any work: how much more, when the fire has devoured it."
(Vers. 6.). From the wicked, etc., as if to say: truly the manifold multitude of the ungodly shall not be profitable, etc. For all children who are born from the wicked, not only by birth of propagation, but also of imitation, concerning which John chapter eight says: "You are of your father the devil." They are witnesses of wickedness against their parents, through the likeness of depravity, in their examination, that is, in the scrutiny of divine judgment, for God the just judge "will examine their works, " below in chapter six; likewise their words: Matthew chapter twelve: "Of every idle word," etc.; likewise their thoughts: above in chapter one: "There shall be examination of the thoughts of the ungodly," etc.
Allegorically, the Gloss expounds this concerning heretics, who are a manifold multitude, because they are divided through the diverse sects of diverse heresiarchs: who are useless to the Church, nay rather harmful, because they persecute her. Adulterous plantings are their disciples, who are generated from their erroneous doctrine. They do not put down deep roots, because they are not established in Christ, God and man. Their branches are unstable, because, if they seem to have anything good, in a time of persecution they are uprooted from the Church. Their fruit is useless, because by their doctrines and expositions simple people are poisoned. Their children are witnesses of wickedness against their parents, because from the multiplication of disciples the errors of the master will be more gravely condemned.
Second, with respect to the state of death, in three ways.
But the just man, etc. Here he sets forth a comparative commendation of the just with respect to the state of death: and first it is shown here that the hastening of temporal death is not harmful to the Saints: second, the reason for the hastening is added, at: Pleasing to God: third, the foolish opinion of the people looking on: But the peoples seeing.
(Vers. 7.). But the just man, etc., as if to say: thus it is with the wicked: but, standing for however: if the just man shall have been overtaken by death, that is, prevented by death hastened before its time, according to that passage in Isaiah thirty-eight: "While I was yet beginning, he cut me off." He well said: overtaken, because the just man cannot die by sudden death, that is, by unforeseen death, because it is said in the Psalm concerning the person of the just man: "I foresaw the Lord in my sight always," etc.: likewise: "My soul is in my hands always," as if to say: I am prepared to render it up, whenever it shall please God that I die. The just man, I say, if he shall have been overtaken, shall be in refreshment, namely of eternal rest: the Psalm: "We passed through fire and water, and you led us out into refreshment."
(Vers. 8. 9.). For old age, etc., as if to say: nor does the being overtaken in age cause harm: for venerable old age, etc.: the Gloss: "Not the age of the body, but the maturity of life and the uprightness of morals is praised"; venerable, I say, that is, worthy of veneration before God and the Angels and just men: is not of long duration, by a multitude of days: Job thirty-two: "The wise are not long-lived"; nor reckoned by the number of years, that is, nor by a multitude of years. "For a child of a hundred years shall die, and a sinner of a hundred years shall be accursed," Isaiah sixty-five. For gray hairs are the understanding of a man, that is, in place of gray hairs: the Gloss: "As if to say: he is well gray-haired who is well endowed with understanding," according to that passage in Daniel thirteen: "God has given you the honor of old age," that is, discretion and wisdom, which is wont to be in the elderly, according to that passage in Job twelve: "In the ancients is wisdom, and in length of time prudence"; likewise Sirach twenty-five: "The crown of the aged is great experience."
And the age of old age, that is, supplying the place of age, an unspotted life, " as if to say: well is the old man who is clean and simple": Proverbs 16: "Old age is a crown of dignity, which shall be found in the ways of justice".
Pleasing God etc. Here is set forth a manifold reason for the hastening of death, of which the first is the dignity of the just: second, the usefulness of death: He was snatched away etc.: third, the dangerousness of life: Fascination etc.; fourth, the opportuneness of time: Being made perfect etc.; fifth, the good pleasure of God's will: Pleasing etc.
(Vers. 10.). Pleasing God, namely through true faith, according to that passage in Hebrews 11: "Without faith it is impossible to please God": he was made beloved, on account of perfect love, according to that passage in Proverbs 8: "I love those who love me": and living, namely through grace, not dying through sin; among sinners, namely undefiled, which is a very great thing, since it is written in the Psalm: "With the perverse you shall be perverted"; but the just man is as a lily among thorns, because he neither loses the brightness of his purity nor the fragrance of his good name: Song of Songs 2: "As the lily among thorns" etc. He was taken away, from the exile of this world to the heavenly homeland, from death to life, from struggle to the crown.
It should be noted that the transfer is manifold: the first, from sin to grace: 1 John 3: "We know that we have been transferred from death," namely of sin, "to life," of grace, "because we love the brethren." The second, from imperfect grace to perfect grace: 2 Corinthians 3: "We are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." The third, from perfect grace to glory: of which it speaks here: He was taken away.
(Vers. 11.). He was snatched away, as if to say: he was not only taken away, but snatched away, because he died quickly and was taken up as if by violence beyond nature's due course. Now there is a rapture of the Saints in their life: whence Second Corinthians twelve: "I know a man fourteen years ago caught up" etc.; and in death, concerning which it is said here: He was snatched away etc.; and after death, concerning which First Thessalonians four: "We shall be caught up with them in the clouds to meet Christ in the air." He was snatched away, I say, lest malice, that is, open iniquity, should alter his understanding, by turning him away from the truth and sincerity of faith; or lest deceit, that is, feigned righteousness, concerning which Augustine says: "Feigned righteousness is not righteousness, but a twofold iniquity, because it is both iniquity and pretense." Lest deceit, I say, should deceive, that is, corrupt, his soul, namely by turning his affection away from the love of God: Second Corinthians eleven: "I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so your senses should be corrupted." (Vers. 12.). For the bewitching etc., as if to say: it was indeed necessary for him that he should be thus snatched away etc.; for the bewitching of vanity, from without, that is, trifling and flattering praise, according to which malicious men are said to bewitch children by praising them, obscures good things, namely those of the just, even if it does not destroy them; obscures, I say, because it causes the defects and imperfections of those very goods not to be seen, and through this causes pride in them; Galatians three: "O foolish Galatians! who has bewitched you" etc.; First Corinthians fifteen: "Evil communications corrupt good manners." And the inconstancy of concupiscence, from within, namely of the concupiscible appetite, which makes a man inconstant: James one: "A double-minded man," namely one who partly follows reason, partly sensuality, "is inconstant in all his ways." The inconstancy, I say, of concupiscence, that is, of the concupiscible appetite, perverts, namely from good to evil, the sense that is without malice, that is, one previously good and simple: James one: "Every man is tempted by his own concupiscence, drawn away and enticed."
(Vers. 13.). Being made perfect in a short time, that is, perfected in grace in a brief span of time: Isaiah ten: "A short consummation shall overflow with justice"; he fulfilled a long time, namely by the fulfillment of merit, because he acquired in a short time the merit that others acquire over many ages; or by the fulfillment of reward, because he attained eternity, which in its perfection surpasses many ages.
(Vers. 14. 15.). For his soul was pleasing to God: behold, the cause of consummation, namely divine grace and love. Pleasing, I say, through faith of heart inwardly and gentleness of conduct outwardly: Sirach 1: "Faith and gentleness are well-pleasing to God." Therefore he hastened to lead him out from the midst of iniquities, that is, from the world, which is full of iniquity: 1 John 5: "The whole world is set in wickedness."
But the peoples: Gloss: "The persecutors"; seeing, "the punishment," and not understanding, "the future glory," nor laying up in their hearts, that is, inwardly in the heart, although they sometimes hear it preached: Isaiah 57: "The just man perishes, and there is no one who considers it"; such things, namely, which follow: above in chapter 3: "They seemed in the eyes of the foolish to die, but they are in peace."
Because the grace of God, namely for working well: 1 Corinthians 15: "Not I, but the grace of God with me": and mercy is upon his holy ones, for delivering from evils: Sirach last chapter: "You have delivered me according to the multitude of the mercy of your name": and regard is upon his elect, namely for attaining the reward: Gloss: "That is, condign retribution." And note that they are called holy through present justice; elect, through eternal predestination, according to that text in Ephesians 1: "He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and immaculate in his sight in charity."
Third, regarding the state after death in a fourfold manner.
But he condemns etc. Here is set forth the comparative commendation of the just with regard to the state after death: and first, in comparison with the impious still living: second, in comparison with those dying: And they shall be after these things etc.: third, of the dead: Because he shall break etc.; fourth, of those rising: They shall come in the thoughts of their sins etc.
In the first part is touched upon first the condemnation of the impious by the just: second, the reason for the condemnation: For they shall see the end of the wise man.
(Vers. 16.). But the just man who is dead condemns the living impious: Gloss: "The martyr his persecutors," namely by comparison of a better deed, as the Ninevites, Matthew 12. And youth more quickly consummated, namely of the just man, condemns the long life of the unjust: Gloss: "That is, of the persecutor," because he did more good in a short time than that one in a long time, whence he shall be judged more strictly: Apocalypse 2: "I gave her time to do penance, and she does not wish to repent" etc.
(Vers. 17.). They shall see etc. Here is set forth a twofold reason for the aforesaid condemnation, namely ignorance and contempt. The first he sets forth saying: For they shall see, namely the impious, the end, "that is, death," as the Gloss says. Of the wise man: the Gloss: "That is, of the Martyr": whence concerning the Martyr is read that passage of Sirach fourteen: "Blessed is the man who shall abide in wisdom." And they shall not understand what God has purposed concerning him, "that is, what He has purposed to give him in the future, according to the Gloss, eternal life"; Proverbs twenty-eight: "Evil men do not consider judgment." And why the Lord has fortified him, namely in the present life: the Gloss: "With the arms of faith," according to that passage in Ephesians six: "In all things taking up the shield of faith"; likewise: "Put on the armor of God."
(Vers. 18.). Then he sets forth the second reason saying: They shall see him, as if to say: and because they do not understand these things, they shall see him, the Gloss: "Die"; and they shall despise him, whence below in the fifth chapter: "These are they whom we once held in derision" etc.; likewise Job twelve: "The simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn." Thus the Jews despised Christ in His dying.
But them, namely the impious, the Lord shall deride: the Gloss: "At the judgment," that is, He shall judge them worthy of derision as fools: Psalm: "He who dwells in heaven shall deride them" etc. Not only at the general judgment, but also at the particular judgment, that is, at death: whence Proverbs one: "I also will laugh at your destruction" etc.
(Vers. 19.). And after these things they shall be, namely after the persecution of the good and the Lord's derision, that is, after they have afflicted the good in the present life, and they themselves have been derided by God at death: they shall be falling, that is, falling downward through the fall of death into hell: Psalm: "Even as the green herbs they shall quickly fall." Without honor, that is, of the society of the blessed: and in reproach, namely of the confusion of the reprobate: among the dead: the Gloss: "The damned"; forever, that is, without end: Jeremiah twenty-three: "I will give you over to everlasting reproach and to perpetual shame, which shall never be blotted out by oblivion."
For He shall burst them etc. Here is touched upon the commendation of the just in comparison with the impious dead; and first is touched upon the separation from the body: second, the uprooting from the world: And He shall shake them: third, the exclusion from glory : And even to the highest, or the supreme: fourth, the thrusting down into punishment: And they shall be groaning: fifth, the blotting out from the memory of men: And their memory shall perish, or shall perish.
(Vers. 19.). There follows therefore: For he shall break etc. I have rightly said that they shall be falling etc., for he shall break them, "namely the Lord," according to the Gloss: Hosea thirteen: "I will rend the inner parts of their liver." Them, I say, puffed up, with the wind of pride: First Corinthians five: "And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned." Without voice, "of excuse"; Matthew twenty-two: "But he was struck dumb." And he shall move them from their foundations: Gloss: "He shall overturn their life, which they thought to be stable": Job twenty-two: "Who were taken away before their time, and a flood overturned their foundation." And they shall be laid waste even to the uttermost, that is, to such an extent that they shall lose the highest place, that is, even to this, that they shall be excluded from the loftiness of glory, as the foolish virgins, of whom it is read that "the door was shut," Matthew twenty-five. And they shall be laid waste even to the highest degree, that is, they shall be punished until they pay the last farthing, that is, the penalty for every sin, both great and small: Matthew five: "You shall not go out from there until you pay the last farthing." The first exposition, however, accords more with the aforesaid division. And they shall be groaning: Gloss: "In punishments: because they shall be lifted up by no consolation." And their memory, not any whatsoever, but of happy remembrance, shall perish, before God and men, according to that verse of the Psalm: "The face of the Lord is upon those who do evil, to destroy their memory from the earth."
(Vers. 20.). They shall come at last, namely at the end of the world: whence the Gloss: "To judgment"; for then they shall go out from hell. They shall come, I say, in the thought of their sins, their conscience gnawing at them, fearful, on account of the punishment to be inflicted: below in chapter five: "Seeing this, they shall be troubled with terrible fear." And they shall convict them: Gloss: "Into eternal fire"; from the opposite side: Gloss: "Accusing them," as an adversary accuses his adversary; their own iniquities, that is, sins perpetrated by them in heart, mouth, or deed; Jeremiah two: "Your own wickedness shall reprove you." Sins, moreover, are said to accuse the reprobate, because they shall be the matter of their accusation and damnation: Romans two: "Of thoughts among themselves accusing, or also defending" etc.