Chapter 9
Chapter IX.
Third, he shows how devoutly he sought wisdom from God.
O God of my fathers, etc. After he has shown how he received wisdom and how greatly he loved what he received, here he shows how devoutly he sought it from God. And first he touches upon the form of the petition; second, the reason for being heard: But you have chosen; third, the end of the petition: Send her; fourth, the difficulty of the end: For who, etc.
First, the form of the petition is touched upon.
In the first part, he first praises the beauty; second, specifies the gift: Give me [the wisdom] of your throne; third, humbles himself: For I am your servant; fourth, intimates his need: And if anyone, etc.
(Vers. 1.). O God of my fathers, namely through the grace of election: of the fathers, namely the ancient ones: Exodus 3: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham," etc. Or: O God of my fathers, that is, who made my fathers and chose them and sanctified them. And Lord of mercy, that is, merciful Lord, so that it is an intransitive construction; or: Lord of mercy, that is, author [of mercy], so that it is a transitive construction: in the Psalm: "The Lord is compassionate and merciful." Lord, I say, of mercy, namely through the effect of the remission of sins and of justification; for mercy regards misery: Proverbs 14: "Sin makes peoples wretched." Who made
all things, namely through the work of creation, as is evident in Genesis 1: in the Psalm: "He spoke, and they were made": by your Word, that is, through your Son: John 1: "In the beginning was the Word," etc., and afterward: "All things were made through him."
(Vers. 2.). And by your wisdom, that is, by the same Son of yours, according to that verse of the Psalm: "You made all things in wisdom"; you established, that is, you composed from very diverse parts, namely from a rational spirit and earthly clay: man: Sirach 17: "God created man from the earth." And it should be noted that the other things he says were made by the Word alone, but man by wisdom, as if a nobler work, because he is capable of wisdom both created and uncreated, and therefore as if a work requiring greater deliberation; on account of which the Lord, as if deliberating, says in Genesis 1: "Let us make man in our image," etc. That he might have dominion over the creature that was made by you, over the creature, namely not the spiritual or angelic, but the corporeal, and this through power: Genesis 1: "Have dominion over the fish of the sea," etc.
(Vers. 3.). That he may order the world: namely through wisdom: for man is placed in this world as a king in a kingdom. In equity, that is, mercy, and justice: for these two ought to be joined together in governing: Gregory: "Discipline and mercy are greatly weakened if one is maintained without the other." And in the uprightness of heart, namely through goodness, and this through a right intention toward God: in the Psalm: "I will praise you in the uprightness of heart": Job chapter thirty-four: "If he direct his heart to God, he will draw his spirit and breath to himself": let him judge judgment, namely over his subjects. By the name of judgment simply spoken, he understands a "true" or just judgment. For just as a painted or dead man is not a man, so a false or unjust judgment is not a judgment.
(Vers. 4.). Give me, "from whom is every best gift," James chapter one: wisdom, namely understanding, the attendant of your thrones, that is, the indweller of holy souls: above in chapter seven: "She passes into holy souls throughout the nations." Holy souls are called the thrones of God, because in them God sits and rests, presiding over and commanding all their movements and affections: Isaiah, the last chapter: "Heaven is my throne"; the Gloss: "The soul of the just is the throne of wisdom." And do not reject me, giving me goodness and grace in my affection: do not, I say, reject me, as those of whom it is said in Romans chapter one: "He gave them over to a reprobate mind": Jeremiah chapter six: "Call them rejected silver." From among your children, namely by excluding me from the number and fellowship of your children, of whom Isaiah chapter eight says: "Behold, I and my children," etc.
(Vers. 5.). Because etc., as if to say: therefore I ask that you give me wisdom, because I am your servant, that is, prepared to serve you: in the Psalm: " I am your servant, give me understanding ": Third Kings, chapter ten: "Blessed are your servants, who hear your wisdom " . And the son of your handmaid, that is, of the synagogue, concerning which Galatians chapter four says: " It is written that Abraham had two sons". According to the Gloss, these words are " of the Son to the Father ", inasmuch as he is a man seeking wisdom for his members, alleging himself to be his servant according to his humanity, not his Son: Isaiah chapter forty-nine: " You are my servant, Israel, because in you I will be glorified ". And the son of your handmaid, that is, of the Virgin Mary, according to that passage in Luke chapter one : " Behold, the handmaid of the Lord ". A weak man, on the part of the body, on account of the body's frailty: in the Psalm: " Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak ". And of short time, on account of the brevity of life: Job chapter fourteen: " Man born of woman, living for a short time "; and lesser, on the part of the soul, that is, insufficient by natural power, for the understanding : the Gloss says: "For perceiving ": of judgment, that is, of your judgments, by whose example one must judge: and of laws, namely your eternal laws, by whose regulation one must judge: Romans chapter eleven: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how incomprehensible are his judgments, and unsearchable his ways ".
(Vers. 6.). And if anyone etc., in this charity is intimated, he will be consummate, that is, perfect: the Gloss says: " In judgment "; among the sons of men, who are born, namely, from man and woman, in distinction from the Son of Man, that is, of the Virgin alone, concerning whom Matthew chapter sixteen says: " Whom do men say the Son of Man is"? And he says: consummate among the sons of men, because one can be a mere man by nature. If from him it shall have fled or departed , namely as from one unworthy and a sinner, according to that passage above, chapter one: "Into a malevolent soul wisdom will not enter": your wisdom: the Gloss says: " Divine ", not worldly. For worldly wisdom does not flee on account of sin: Jeremiah chapter four: " They are wise to do evil ". As nothing, namely of morals, not of nature , he will be reckoned, namely before God and his Saints: below, chapter thirteen: " Vain are all men in whom there is not the knowledge of God": for by grace a man is what he is with respect to moral being: whence First Corinthians chapter fifteen: " By the grace of God I am what I am "; likewise, without charity a man is nothing, as is clear from First Corinthians chapter thirteen: and according to Augustine, a sinner is nothing, namely insofar as he is such.
Second, the twofold reason for being heard.
But you have chosen etc. Here he adds the manifold reason for being heard, of which the first is the enjoined office of the kingdom: the second is the command to build the temple: And you said etc.
(Vers. 7.). But you etc., as if to say: thus I am by myself insufficient without wisdom. But, standing for "however": nevertheless you have chosen me: The Gloss: "Solomon, or Christ." As king over your people, that is, over those believing in you: in the Psalm: "But I have been established as king by him over Sion" etc.: and judge of your sons and daughters, namely yours, that is, of the faithful, according to that passage in John chapter one: "He gave them the power to become sons of God, to those who believe in his name." The office of a king is to exercise his judgment also in other affairs of the kingdom; but that of a judge is specifically in the cases of the people.
(Vers. 8.). And you said: The Gloss: "You commanded"; for David, who was a man of blood, was not permitted to build the temple, but Solomon the peaceful was chosen for this, as is clear from 2 Kings chapter seven and 1 Chronicles chapter twenty-nine. And you said, I say, that I should build a temple on your holy mountain, that is, on Mount Moriah, where you willed holy things to be done; and in the city of your dwelling, namely Jerusalem, where he was said to dwell because there he was worshipped more excellently; an altar, namely of burnt offerings, of burnt offerings, I say, to distinguish it from the bronze altar, which was in the court before the temple in the open air. A likeness of your holy tabernacle, that is, according to its exemplar, of which Exodus chapter twenty-five speaks, which was made according to the exemplar of the heavenly tabernacle; whence in the same place: "Look and make it according to the exemplar that was shown to you on the mountain." Which you prepared: The Gloss: "Through Moses"; from the beginning, not of creation, but of the giving of the Law; whence the Gloss: "When you were leading the children of Israel out of Egypt." The tabernacle in the desert, as the Gloss says, signified the Church Militant, but the temple in Jerusalem the Church Triumphant. The reason for this is that the tabernacle in the desert was movable, but the temple in Jerusalem was immovable.
(Vers. 9.). And with you, namely prepared it, your wisdom, namely uncreated, "that is, your Son," of whom 1 Corinthians chapter one says: "Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." Who knows your works, as the co-worker of all things, according to that passage of the Psalm: "You have made all things in wisdom." Who was present, with you, then, namely when you made the world: Proverbs chapter eight: "When he was laying the foundations of the earth, I was with him composing all things"; and in the same: "I was delighted with him every day, playing in the world." And she knew that it was pleasing in your eyes, namely as regards counsels; in your eyes, namely of your intellect and your affection, that is, of your mercy and your truth, "for in every work of God there is mercy and truth"; Sirach chapter forty-two: "She found grace before the eyes of the Lord,"
according to another translation. And what was right: The Gloss: "That is, upright and just"; in your precepts: in the Psalm: "The justices of the Lord are right, gladdening hearts."
Third, the end of the petition is touched upon in two ways.
Send her, etc. Here he shows the end of the petition, that is, for what purpose he sought wisdom: and first he asks for wisdom in order to know and do the will of God. Second, he shows that it avails for the attainment of such an end: For she knows.
(Vers. 10.). He says therefore: Send her, namely wisdom, etc. It should be noted that there is a twofold sending of Wisdom, namely one visible into the flesh, concerning which John 10: "Whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world"; the other into the mind, which he asks for here. From your holy heavens, that is, from yourself, who are heaven by containing all things; in the Psalm: "From the highest heaven is his going forth," likewise James 3: "The wisdom that is from above is first indeed pure," etc. He says from the heavens in the plural on account of the multitude of things contained and of effects in the things contained, just as the days of eternity are spoken of in the plural: Micah 5: "And his going forth is as from the beginning of the days of eternity." And from the throne of your greatness: The Gloss: "From yourself, who sitting and at rest, govern all things"; Isaiah 18: "I will be at rest and will consider in my place, as the noonday light is clear."
And it should be noted that uncreated Wisdom is sometimes said to be in the bosom of the Father, as John 1: "The Only-begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, has declared to us"; sometimes to be begotten from the womb, in the Psalm: "From the womb before the daystar I begot you"; sometimes to proceed from the mouth of the Father, Sirach 24: "I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, the firstborn before every creature"; sometimes to be sent from heaven, as here; sometimes to sit in holy souls, whence above in the same place: "Give me the wisdom that attends your thrones," etc. The first on account of concealment, the second on account of consubstantiality, the third on account of manifestation, the fourth on account of illumination, the fifth on account of tranquility.
That she may be with me, namely within, in the essence of the soul, both by dwelling through grace and by informing: Sirach 24: "Dwell in Jacob," etc. And may labor with me, the motive power of the soul for action by perfecting: Sirach, the last chapter: "I remembered your mercy, O Lord, and your work, which are from of old." That I may know, that is, that you may make me know, the cognitive power of my soul by illuminating, what is acceptable before you, or in your sight; in the Psalm: "Teach me to do your will."
(Vers. 11.). For she knows all those things, namely all things pertaining to the knowledge of reason, such as lower things: and understands, namely all things pertaining to the understanding of the intellect, as are higher things, above in chapter seven: "Beholding all things." And she will guide me soberly in my works: Gloss: "Lest I offend," by directing in good work: above in chapter eight: "She teaches sobriety," etc. And she will guard me in her power: Gloss: "From adversaries," by protecting: in the Psalm: "Unless the Lord guard the city," etc.: likewise: "Behold, he shall neither slumber nor sleep," etc.
(Vers. 12.). And my works will be acceptable: Gloss: "Before God," as done purely out of love for him. And I shall govern your people justly, namely by rightly governing subjects: whence above in chapter eight: "I shall govern peoples and nations." And I shall be worthy of the thrones of my father, by imitating him: he says thrones in the plural, because there is the throne of the present kingdom, according to that passage in Proverbs eight: "By me kings reign": and of the future: Gloss: "By the recompense of the heavenly kingdom."
Fourth, the difficulty of this end is shown in two ways.
For what man, etc. Here he shows the difficulty of the end, first showing that the will of God cannot be known without wisdom: second, that it can be known only through her: But your meaning.
That it cannot be known without her, he shows first from the profundity of the divine mind: second, from the imperfection of the human mind: For the thoughts: third, from comparison with sensible things, there: And we judge with difficulty, etc.
(Vers. 13.). Rightly I said: Send her forth, etc.: for what man, namely a mere man, will be able to know, namely without your wisdom, the counsel of God? which consists in foreseeing and disposing things to be done: Isaiah forty: "Who has helped the spirit of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" Or who will be able to think, that is, to know by thinking, what God wills? namely by carrying out what has been foreseen, as if to say: no one: whence Romans eleven: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God," etc.
(Vers. 14.). For the thoughts of mortals, namely as long as we are in the state of mortality, are fearful: Gloss: "That is, fragile": and this with regard to those things which are above reason. And our foresight is uncertain: Gloss: "Because the soul is changeable, and the flesh is corruptible," and this with regard to those things which are beneath reason and the contemplation of truth.
(Vers. 15.). For the body, which is corrupted, that is, which is subject to continual corruption, on account of which it is compared to rottenness; Job twenty-five: "Man is rottenness, and the son of man a worm." Weighs down the soul, namely by drawing back its affection from heavenly things: Galatians five: "The flesh lusts against the spirit."
The body, which is corrupted, weighs down the soul. It should be noted that the body stains the soul with original sin: Job 14: "Who can make clean what is conceived of unclean seed?" Likewise, it binds to the necessity of venial sin: Romans 7: "The evil that I hate, that I do." Likewise, it inclines to mortal sin: Genesis 8: "The senses are prone, and the thought of the human heart is prone to evil from youth." Likewise, it clouds the intellect from the contemplation of truth: above, chapter 2: "Our time is the passing of a shadow," namely by the interposition of an opaque body between the soul and the sun of justice. Likewise, it retards the affection from the love of heavenly things, as here: "The body, which is corrupted, weighs down the soul." Likewise, it hinders and binds the motive powers from good: in the Psalm: "Bring forth from custody, or from prison," "my soul"; likewise Romans 7: "The good that I will, that I do not." Likewise, it stirs up continual war against the spirit: Galatians 5: "The flesh lusts against the spirit." Likewise, care for itself makes the spirit anxious, against which Matthew 6: "Be not anxious," etc. Likewise, it disturbs the soul with its troubles: Daniel 13: "Distresses are upon me from every side." Likewise, by its mutability it disturbs and unsettles the soul's repose: Job 14: "And never remains in the same state."
And the earthly habitation presses down, that is, presses downward by drawing back from the contemplation of eternal things, that is, by inclining toward earthly things: the sense, that is, the human intellect: Genesis 8: "The sense and thought of the human heart are prone to evil from youth": therefore Romans 7: "Unhappy" etc. The sense, I say, that thinks on many things, that is, temporal things, which are many, not eternal things, which are one, according to that of Luke 10: "You are troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary."
(Vers. 16.). And with difficulty etc., as if to say: And this is evident, because we judge with difficulty, that is, we know estimatively, not with certitude: Ecclesiastes 1: "All things are difficult": the things that are on earth, that is, lower sensible things. And the things that are in sight, "that is, in the open," such as the natures of higher sensible things: we find with labor: Ecclesiastes 8: "There is a man who day and night takes no sleep with his eyes: and I understood that of all the works of God, man can find no reason." The Philosopher: "As the eye of the owl relates to the light of the sun, so our intellect relates to the most manifest things of nature." But the things that are in the heavens, who shall search out? since they are so remote from us: Sirach 3: "Seek not things higher than yourself": Ecclesiastes 5: "God is in heaven and you are upon the earth: therefore let your words be few."
But your sense etc. Here he shows that the divine will can be known only through wisdom. He shows this by attributing to it a threefold effect, namely the effect of instructing the intelligence, correcting fault: And thus were corrected: healing nature, there: For through wisdom etc.
(Vers. 17.). But your sense, that is, your counsel and will, who shall know it? as if to say: no one. Unless you had given wisdom, illuminating the intellect: Sirach 1: "According to his gift he bestows it upon those who love him": James 1: "He gives to all abundantly": Daniel 2: "He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who understand learning." And had sent your Holy Spirit, inflaming the affection, as if to say: no one. For just as no one "knows the things of a man, except the spirit of man which is in him," as is found in 1 Corinthians 2, "so neither does anyone know the things of God, except God, and him to whom he wills to reveal them." From the most high, that is, from you, who are most high, and from the Son, who is most high, and I say most high adjectivally, not substantively.
(Vers. 18.). And thus, namely through the gift of wisdom and the sending of the Holy Spirit, the paths were corrected, that is, the operations, of those who are on earth, that is, of men, and this through recall from evil: John 16: "He will convict the world of sin"; and he well says: The paths of those who are on earth, that is, of those sinning on earth: for the paths of sinning angels cannot be corrected. And men learned the things that please you, through formation in the good: John 14: "The Paraclete Spirit etc., will teach you all things."
(Vers. 19.). For through wisdom etc. I well said: And thus were corrected etc.: for through wisdom they were healed, namely from blindness of intellect and corruption of affection; Sirach 24: "I am like the river Dorix," which is interpreted as medicine of generation. Whoever pleased you, Lord, from the beginning, "namely of the world," according to the Gloss: below in chapter 16: "For neither herb nor poultice healed them" etc.: in the Psalm: "He sent his word and healed them": Proverbs 3: "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her." Hence it is that spiritual dogs, that is, doctors and preachers of wisdom, have medicinal tongues: and he says all, because, according to Augustine, the same faith of the Mediator saved the ancients which saves us also.