COMMENTARY ON THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON
By Rabanus Maurus (9th Century)
with excerpts from the Early Church Fathers
Translated by John Litteral
COMMENTARY ON THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON
By Rabanus Maurus (9th Century)
with excerpts from the Early Church Fathers
Translated by John Litteral
CONTENTS
Introduction 1
Commentary 6
INTRODUCTION
This work originally began as a catena on the deuterocanonical Old Testament book called the Wisdom of Solomon, which quickly developed into a complete translation of the commentary on Wisdom of Solomon by Rabanus Maurus, with added excerpts by the Early Church Fathers. I did make some modifications to the text of the commentary by using the Greek Septuagint version of the Scripture text of the Wisdom of Solomon instead of the Latin version used by Rabanus. Rabanus used the Latin Vulgate for the Scripture text in his commentary, which has some minor differences from the Greek Septuagint, such as in readings and in verse numbering on some occasions.
This translation of the commentary by Rabanus on the Wisdom of Solomon is the first ever English translation as far as I am aware of. Rabanus is the first person to write a commentary on the Wisdom of Solomon. Many of the commentaries by Rabanus have not been translated into English at this point. I also translated most of the other excerpts from the Early Church Fathers in this commentary. I found most of those excerpts in the 1601 Venice edition of the Glossa Ordinaria. That edition has the glosses of the original Glossa Ordinaria with the addition of added excerpts from a variety of Church Fathers. I adopted nearly all of those added excerpts from the Venice edition Gloss, which many of them have not been translated until now. Here are those names of the twelve sources found and adopted into this commentary: Augustine of Hippo (354-430AD), John Chrysostom (died 407AD), Ambrose of Milan (died 397AD), Anastasius of Sanai (620-700AD), Vigilius of Thapsus (5th century), Jerome of Stridon (died 420AD), Cerealis of Castellum Ripense (480AD), Gregory the Great (died 604 AD), Victor Vitensis (430-486AD), Didymus of Alexandria (313-398AD), Eusebius of Caesarea (died 339AD), and Ambrosiaster (around 370AD).
Below is an overview on the life and works of Rabanus Maurus that I gleaned from the prologue of volume 107 of the Patrologia Latina, pages 1-40.
Early life
RABANUS, so called by his native name, received another name, MAURUS, from his teacher Alcuin, as he himself testifies in the preface to the commentaries on the Kings, where he says that in those places which he explains himself, he marked the letter M in the margin, expressing the name Maurus: "which my master, Albinus of blessed memory, gave to me." Indeed, in that age, it had become customary among learned men living in these parts, that besides their family name, which was often somewhat harsh in sound, they would adopt another name from Latin or Greek, rarely from Hebrew, seeking the smoothness of a more refined language…
It is clear that he was a Frank, that is, born in eastern France, not indeed at Fulda, but at Mainz. Listen to Rabanus himself, offering his books on the Cross to the pope in the person of Alcuin, and speaking therefore of himself: "He himself is of Frankish descent, and an inhabitant of the forest of Bochonia," etc. For he was a monk at Fulda, which is a town situated in Bochonia; but he was not born there, but in the city of Mainz, as he himself sings in the caption: "Indeed, I was born in this city, and baptized at the holy font: After this, I learned sacred doctrine at Fulda."… Nevertheless, it is certain that Rabanus was born of illustrious lineage, as he had a brother Tutin, a man of the highest nobility,… Rabanus was born around the year 776. Certainly, he began to write two books on the praises of the Holy Cross before the year 810, when he had completed six lustra, that is, thirty years… He was a monk of Fulda from boyhood… While Rabanus was teaching literature, the Fulda academy enjoyed great renown, abounding then in books of all disciplines and producing illustrious teachers for the Christian world…
So great was his love for literature that neither the labor of teaching nor the duties of regular life, nor various occupations, nor even illness could draw him away from his devotion to writing. Indeed, he was easily inclined to obey the wishes of his friends; his sole concern was to be able to benefit the Church of Christ and the salvation of others…
His love of the Church Fathers
Appointed head of the Fulda academy, although he was occupied with regular trainings and instructing the youth, he nevertheless did not cease from composing commentaries from the opinions of the Fathers, as his letter to Haistulf, Bishop of Mainz, attests, regarding his exposition of Matthew: “Therefore, intent on reading these, as much as the countless bonds of monastic service allowed me, and for the nourishment of the young—which brings us no small annoyance and does injury to reading—I myself, being both author and scribe, took care to record on a slip of paper what they had expounded, either in their own words or, for brevity’s sake, in mine.” He imitated the Venerable Bede, whose words are almost the same, as related in his Eulogy from the previous century. Having become abbot, he cultivated the same study, although living in deserted places and detained by great occupations, by which he was compelled daily to serve and provide necessities for the servants of Christ living under the Rule of St. Benedict. He had no leisure to fully examine the sayings of the Fathers, as he writes in his letter to Freculf, Bishop of Lisieux in Gaul, to whom he sent his exposition of Leviticus; he had said the same in a letter to him when he sent his explanation of Genesis… The extent of his reverence for the holy Fathers is shown by all his works, which he composed from their opinions, with their names placed in the margin: “So that I may not be accused of stealing the sayings of the elders and composing them as if they were my own,” he says in the preface to the Gospel of Matthew. He did this, as he himself says, for the benefit of others: “So that the poor reader who does not have an abundance of books, or who cannot examine the deep meanings of the Fathers in many works, may at least find sufficiency for his need here.” No one can deny that this was done with the best intention, who considers the scarcity of books as it was at that time. For outside the monasteries, there were hardly any libraries, not even in most cathedral churches, as Freculf testifies about his own church of Lisieux in his letter to Abbot, from whom he requested Commentaries on the Pentateuch composed from the sayings of the Fathers: “Therefore, if you attempt to offer any excuses to avoid undertaking a work of such size and immense labor, and try to answer why I do not examine by my own effort those books from which I command these things to be made, and gather whatever I please by picking them out, let the vigilance of your charity consider that we have no abundance of books to do this, even if the smallness of our dull mind were vigorous: for in the bishopric entrusted to our insignificance, I do not even find the canonical books of the Old and New Testament, much less their expositions.”…
Death
In the year 856, it is recorded in the Annals of Fulda, in the month of February, on the fourth day of the month, Archbishop Rabanus of the Church of Mainz died, having served as bishop for 9 years, one month, and four days…
The commentaries by Rabanus
Made abbot in the year 822, Rabanus dedicated Commentaries on Matthew and certain Homilies to Haistulf, who died in the year 826. Around the year 830, he submitted an Explanation of the Octateuch to Freculf, bishop of Lisieux in Gaul, who obtained it from him through letters and requests… At about the same time, he expounded the Book of Joshua at the request of Frederick, Bishop of Utrecht on the Rhine, who was killed in the year 834, preceded by a memorial letter, a fragment of which was related by Henschenius, received from Peter Franscisco Chiffletius… along with the Commentary itself divided into three books, which does not exist in the published editions. Shortly after, at the request of Humbert, Bishop of Würzburg, he explained the Books of Judges and Ruth; then the Books of Kings at the request of Hilduin, abbot: which exposition he offered to Louis the Pious at Fulda; and not long after, he sent commentaries on the books of Chronicles to King Louis. Around the year 836, he dedicated his writing on the books of Judith and Esther to Monarch Judith, after she had defeated her enemies to a considerable extent, whose preface, not yet published in print, which we received through the kindness of the same learned man Peter Franscisco Chiffletius, is to be rendered here from the Benignian and Fontan manuscripts. Afterwards, he dedicated his explanation of the Books of Maccabees to Gerold, Archdeacon of the palace of Emperor Louis, before the year 840, then the Exposition on Wisdom and Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) to Olgar, Archbishop of Mainz; and he wrote a letter to Noting, Bishop of Verona, before the death of Emperor Louis. After the year 840, with Louis the Pious dead, he offered the Books on Jeremiah to Emperor Lothair: which Hartmot, dean of Saint Gall, took care to have written, as Ratpert reports in chapter 9. At the beginning of the year 842, he sent the Collectarium on the Epistles of Paul to Lupus, then abbot of Ferrara, who had recently returned from the Fulda school to Gaul, as stated: about the same time, he inscribed the Commentary on Ezekiel to Lothair the Emperor; and the penitential book to Otgar, Archbishop, in whose chapter 15 he mentions the Battle of Fontanet, which was fought between the sons of Louis the Pious in the year 841. To the same period must also be referred the Letter on Chorepiscopi to Drogo, Bishop of Metz, as well as the letter to Regimbold, Chorepiscopus of Mainz, concerning certain questions of penance. At the same time, he also explained the Book of Daniel the Prophet, at the request of friends, and later inscribed his work on this subject to Louis, King of Germany; to whom he also dedicated the Exposition on the Canticles, which are read at matins throughout the week.
PREFACES
RABANUS. To the most reverend lord and to the holy man, to be observed with the sincerest devotion of love, and most worthy of all honor, Otgar, Archbishop, Rabanus sends greetings in Christ. Whenever I think of your presence, most blessed Father, I am always refreshed by sweet delight, recalling the gentleness and humility, modesty and temperance, which especially flourish in your holiness, so that from this you are truly recognized as an imitator of Him who commanded His disciples, saying: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart. Therefore, many, inspired by sacred love, have rushed to the service of your honor, and wish to offer whatever duty they can with devoted minds. Therefore, although I do not possess the riches of earthly things, because I have only those which pertain to relieving the needs of Christ’s holy poor, yet that which I have received by divine grace, I have added as a voluntary gift to the sacred riches which you abundantly possess in wisdom and knowledge of the divine law, wishing greatly that whenever it is presented to your sacred sight, you may remember me, and if you find any usefulness in it, you may agree to adapt it both for your own use and for the use of your people. For indeed the gift of which I speak is the present volume, which I recently published as an explanation of the Book of Wisdom, which by many is entitled under the name of Solomon; yet blessed Jerome maintains that it was not written by Solomon, as is commonly believed, but by the most learned Jew Philo, whom he designated as a falsely attributed work, because he claims for himself the use of another’s name. For this volume expounded by the presbyter Bellator, he testified that he had undertaken it in eight books. About which Father Augustine and Saint Ambrose spoke some things under the name of homilies. The wording of this book also is most sweet and truly magnificent with the dignity of its name, and most useful for instructing the Church of God, although the above-mentioned interpreter of the divine law Jerome says that the same book is nowhere found among the Hebrews, but rather scents of Greek eloquence, nor is it received among the canonical Scriptures by the ancients, as are the books of Judith, Tobit, and Maccabees, which even in modern times the holy Church enumerates among the sacred Scriptures, and reads them publicly like the other canonical Scriptures; and frequently also orthodox teachers use the same passages in their doctrines. The true reason why I undertook the labor of expounding this book was this: because I found no previous exposition on the whole book, although the aforesaid priest Bellator mentions that he made eight books on it, as I said above; these have not yet reached us. However, I have summarized this work of mine in three little books, so that I might provide the eager reader with some understanding of the mysteries of the aforementioned book; but I reserve more perfect things for the more perfect. But you, most religious bishop of Christ, make use of the gift bestowed upon you by your devoted servant, and if you find anything pleasing in it, attribute it solely to the gift of God; but if you find anything blameworthy, ascribe it more to my ignorance and weakness than to spite, and do not delay to let me know in what way it should be corrected; also, support my weakness with your prayers before the divine mercy, so that since He has already given the will and in some way the beginning, He Himself may grant all things perfectly according to His will. Nor do I think it should be concealed from your reverence that I have another work in hand, that is, an explanation of the book of Ecclesiasticus, which they call the Wisdom of Jesus, son of Sirach, and which contains many rituals of Christ and the Church. This also, when, God willing, it has been gratefully received by your holiness, I will soon try to send to you with a generous mind. May the Holy Trinity and undivided Unity consent to preserve your love unharmed and unstained forever, holy Father, be mindful of us. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
JEROME There is also the all-virtuous [πανάρετος] book of Jesus son of Sirach, and another falsely attributed work [ψευδεπίγραφος] which is inscribed Wisdom of Solomon. Of these, I found the former in Hebrew, not Ecclesiasticus (Sirach), as among the Latins; but marked Parables, to which Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs were joined, so that it matched the likeness of Solomon not only in the number of books, but also in the kind of subjects. The second is nowhere found among the Hebrews, since even its style breathes Greek eloquence; and some of the ancient writers affirm that this is the book of the Jew Philo. Therefore, just as the Church indeed reads the books of Judith, Tobit, and the Maccabees, but does not receive them among the canonical Scriptures: so let it read these two volumes for the edification of the people, not for confirming the authority of ecclesiastical doctrines. [Jerome of Stridon, Preface to the Books of Solomon, PL028 1241A] died 420AD
Chapter 1
Wisdom, which is Christ, commands the inhabitants of the earth to love righteousness, indicating to them that perverse thoughts separate from God, and that wisdom will not enter into a wicked soul.
1:1 Love righteousness, you who judge the earth, think about the Lord with goodness, and seek him with simplicity of heart;
RABANUS. Love righteousness, you who judge the earth. Divine wisdom admonishes the rulers of God's people, to whom the power of judging has been given, that they should love righteousness and preserve equity in judgment. Otherwise, this statement may generally pertain to all who are endowed with reason and have an understanding mind, so that, judging the earth, that is, their own flesh, they may love righteousness; namely, that they do not make provision for the flesh in its lusts, but, subjecting it to the command of the spirit, devote themselves especially to the virtues by which the soul is nourished; then let them care for their body according to necessity, and not according to pleasure, always recalling that saying of the law: For man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4). think about the Lord with goodness, and seek him with simplicity of heart. But he thinks about the Lord with goodness who reads and understands Sacred Scripture according to piety, and he seeks Him in simplicity of heart who humbly submits himself to His will, namely to keep His commandments. For he who devoutly seeks the Lord honors Sacred Scripture, and does not criticize what he does not yet understand, and therefore does not resist: this is to be meek, of whom in the Gospel Truth itself says: Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth (Matt. 5:5). Therefore, philosophers of the world and their heretical followers are excluded, who think that by human reason they can grasp divine secrets, since it is written: Who shall investigate the wisdom of God that precedes all things? (Rom. 1:33) And the Apostle clearly says: The judgments of God are incomprehensible, and His ways unsearchable; He is to be worshipped in this present life with right faith, rather than with reckless conflict. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
1:2 for he is found by those who do not test him, and he appears to those who do not distrust him. 1:3 For crooked thoughts separate from God, and when power is tested it exposes the foolish.
RABANUS. Because He is found by those who do not test Him, but He appears to those who have faith in Him. For it is dangerous to tempt God by human assumption, since it is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God. (Deut. 6:16) But it is beneficial to honor Him with true faith, because the righteous shall live by faith. For true wisdom by no means enters a wicked mind, nor can it dwell in a wicked man; therefore the philosophers of the Gentiles flatter themselves in vain, and all heretics, as well as false Christians, who think that with a defiled mind and criminal conduct they can receive the wisdom of God, which only those of a pure heart deserve to receive by the gift of the Holy Spirit. For perverse thoughts separate from God; but proven virtue corrects the foolish. It is clear that every wicked thought and depraved will can in no way be joined to the Lord, nor be in harmony with the highest good; for there is no fellowship between light and darkness, nor agreement between Christ and Belial. But where the intention and pursuit of sacred virtues are present in a devout heart, they always reject the vices of the foolish and refute their errors; therefore, those who truly love wisdom must cleanse their hearts and direct the whole intention of their mind to the love of their Creator. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
1:4 Because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul, nor dwell in a body enslaved to sin; 1:5 for the holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit and remove from thoughts without understanding and will be put to the test when unrighteousness comes in.
RABANUS. For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins. In agreement with this testimony, the apostle James wrote similarly in his Epistle, saying: Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a vine figs? So neither can salt water make sweet. Who is wise and learned among you? Let him show by good conduct his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your hearts, do not glory and be liars against the truth. For this wisdom does not descend from above, from the Father of lights; but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where there is jealousy and dispute, there is instability and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first indeed pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, judging without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace (James 3:12-18). For true wisdom does not enter into a hateful mind, nor can it dwell in a wicked man; therefore, in vain do the philosophers of the Gentiles flatter themselves, and all heretics, as well as false Christians, who think that with a base mind and wicked conduct they can receive the wisdom of God, which only those with a pure heart are worthy to receive as a gift of the Holy Spirit. Because wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul .Therefore, it is most certain that Mani, Arius, and Eunomius, and the other heretics, composed their doctrines, most full of errors, without the grace of the Holy Spirit, because the good Spirit of the Lord always leads into the right way; but the evil spirit deceives, and drags his followers with him into the snare of eternal perdition, concerning whom it is also added: and will be put to the test when unrighteousness comes in. For when the time of retribution comes, all the wicked and sinners will receive perpetual punishment for their iniquities. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. Where the entire Trinity is called holy. Holy Father, holy Son, holy Holy Spirit. Of the Father in Ezra: For holy is God; truth. And in Leviticus: Be holy, for I also am the holy Lord your God (Lev. 11:44). Of the Son in the Gospel: I know you who you are, the holy one of God (Mark 1:24). Likewise there: That which shall be born of you shall be called holy, the Son of God (Luke 1:35). Of the Holy Spirit in Solomon: For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from deceit, and remove himself from thoughts that are without understanding (Wis. 1:5). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
VIGILIUS. On common discipline. The discipline of the Father, the discipline of the Son, the discipline of the Holy Spirit. Of the Father in Solomon: My son, do not neglect the discipline of God, nor grow weary when you are rebuked by Him (Prov. 3:11). Of the Son in Psalm seventeen (Vers. 36): Your right hand has received me, and Your discipline itself will teach me, and Your doctrine will guide me to the end. Of the Holy Spirit in Solomon: For the Spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and will remove itself from thoughts that are without understanding (Wis. 1:5). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
1:6 For wisdom is a kindly spirit, and will not acquit a blasphemer from what his lips have spoken; because God is witness of his inmost being, and a true observer of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue.
RABANUS. This statement refutes the error of those who, just as good thoughts are known to be inspired in us by God, also believe that evil thoughts are generated in our minds by His instigation. In no way does God, who is supremely good and wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, impose the necessity of an evil word or wicked deed on anyone, through which he might perish, as the apostle James shows when he says: "Let no one, when he is tempted, say: I am tempted by God; for God is not the tempter of evils, and He Himself tempts no one" (James 1:13); as if he were saying: Let no one, when he has committed robbery, theft, false testimony, murder, adultery, or other such things, say that he was compelled by God to do these things, and therefore could in no way have avoided their outcome. “For God is not a tempter of evils,” it is understood, of temptations; for He Himself tempts no one, namely with that kind of temptation which deceives the wretched so that they sin. For there are two kinds of temptation: one which deceives, the other which tests; according to that which deceives, God tempts no one; according to that which tests, God tempted Abraham. Concerning this, the Prophet also asks: Prove me, O Lord, and try me (Ps. 26:2). But each one is tempted by his own desire, drawn away and enticed, namely, drawn away from the right path and enticed into evil, into which, however, he is permitted to fall by the just judgment of God, who did not wish to obey the Spirit of truth. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
1:7 For the spirit of the Lord has filled the world, and that which holds all things together has knowledge of what is spoken.
RABANUS. For the spirit of the Lord has filled the world. Therefore, the Holy Spirit, who in the beginning of creation was moving over the waters with invisible power, fills and contains every creature with His majesty, or by the gift of His power fills the whole world of the Church, in which He daily shows the abundance of His gift. Therefore it is added: and that which holds all things together has knowledge of what is spoken, because, as Paul says: To one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit, to another the grace of healing in one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues: for all these are worked by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually as He wills (1 Cor. 12:8-11). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. But in order to teach that the Holy Spirit is spread everywhere, we shall examine the testimony of David, from whose prophecy the Holy Spirit is taught to be diffused not by places, as you, held fast by a heavy sleep, suppose, but by His power, like the Father and the Son, everywhere. For he himself sings and says in Psalm (138:7): Where shall I go from your spirit? and where shall I flee from your face? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; and if I descend into hell, you are present. If I take my wings in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. And in Solomon: The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world (Wis. 1:7). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 395-469AD
1:8 Therefore no one who speaks unjust things will go unnoticed, nor will convicting justice pass him by.
RABANUS. For just as the elect receive the gift of knowledge and virtue through the grace of the Holy Spirit, so heretics and all the depraved, puffed up by their own pride and incited by the evil spirit, cannot hide before the Spirit of God the wickedness of their error, which they shamelessly proclaim, and therefore they cannot escape the just punishment of vengeance; for just as the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers, so the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
1:9 For a searching inquiry will be made into the plans of the ungodly, and the report of his words will come before the Lord to expose his lawless deeds. 1:10 For the ear of jealousy hears all things, and the sound of murmuring does not escape notice.
RABANUS. The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has multiplied and come to the Lord, and He descended to see whether they had completed by deed the outcry that had come to Him. Therefore, the Lord rained upon the sinners sulfur and fire from the Lord, and overthrew these cities and the entire surrounding region. Therefore, also the murmuring of the children of Israel went up to the Lord, and behold, the wrath of the Lord was stirred up against the people, and He struck them with a very great plague. For the Lord God is a consuming fire, a jealous God, and He will render to each according to his works. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Wisdom commands its listeners to guard themselves against murmuring, detraction, and lying, for justice is immortal, nor will the wicked grasp it.
1:11 Therefore guard yourselves against useless grumbling, and refrain your tongue from slander; for no secret utterance will go unheard, and a lying mouth destroys the soul.
RABANUS. How wicked grumbling and detraction are can be proven by many statements of the Holy Scriptures and by examples of the judgments of the Lord; especially since the Lord Himself is often found to have sent vengeance upon those who grumble and complain. And Scripture says that every scoffer is an abomination to the Lord (Prov. 24:9). The Apostle also says: Whisperers and detractors are hateful to God (Rom. 1:30). Therefore, the psalmist also says: Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him I will destroy. And elsewhere it is read: Whoever slanders anything binds himself for the future, and just as a serpent bites in silence, so does he who secretly slanders his brother. (Ps. 101:5) Death and life are in the power of the tongue. He who is of a perverse heart finds no good, and he who twists his tongue falls into evil. And it is well said that an obscure answer will not go in vain, because it will be reserved for the judgment of the Lord. Therefore, that saying of the Lord: Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. (Matt. 12:36) For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned. and a lying mouth destroys the soul. Therefore, a lying mouth kills the soul of the liar himself, because it pierces it with the sword of sin; therefore, every lie must be most carefully avoided, although sometimes there is a kind of lie that is a lesser fault, if someone lies in order to do a good deed. This is clearly expressed by Father Augustine in his book On Lying, where he mentions that there are eight kinds of lies; anyone who wishes can find out how he discusses this there. But whoever thinks that any kind of lie is not a sin deceives himself disgracefully, while he considers himself to be an honest deceiver of others. Therefore, when examples of lying are presented to us from the Holy Scriptures, either they are not lies, but are thought to be so because they are not understood; or if they are lies, they are not to be imitated, because they cannot be just, but as it is written: God did well to the Hebrew midwives and to Rahab the prostitute of Jericho, not because they lied, but because they were merciful to the people of God. Therefore, it was not their deceit that was rewarded, but their goodwill; the kindness of their mind, not the wickedness of their lying. For just as it would not be strange or absurd if God wished to forgive evil deeds previously committed by them because of their later good deeds, so it is not surprising that, at one time and in one case, God, seeing both aspects of the same act, mercifully rewarded the act as good and, because of this good, forgave the evil in it. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
1:12 Do not seek death in the error of your life, nor draw destruction upon yourselves by the works of your hands; 1:13 for God did not make death, nor does he take pleasure in the destruction of the living.
RABANUS. Above, he has listed those things which are harmful to man, that is, grumbling, detraction, and lying, from which he has commanded us to guard ourselves. Now he repeats the same in other words, namely, that we should not do those things which are subject to death, because our destruction does not please God, who wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the Truth. He who speaks through the prophet: Why will you die, house of Israel? For I do not will the death of the one who dies, says the Lord God (Ezek. 18:31-32). Turn back and live. For God is the author of our salvation, not of our destruction, who saw all that He had made, and it was very good. But according to the Apostle, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Rom. 6:23). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AMBROSIASTER. How then does the same Solomon say, “God did not make death,” when in another place he says, “Good and evil, life and death, poverty and honor are from God”? (Wis. 1:13; Eccles. 11:14) There is no doubt that all good things are from God, but the evils which He has said are only evils, since vengeance is taken upon us. For punishment, although justly inflicted, still seems evil to the one who suffers it. For God also speaks to sinners through the prophet, saying, “I will bring evils upon you,” (Jer. 11:11) that is, “I will subject you to punishments.” But life and death are therefore from God, because He gave the law, which promises life to those who keep it, but death to those who despise, though that which is called the second death. For in judging each one what he deserves, from Him is either absolution unto life or guilt unto death. Therefore, He is not the inventor of death, but the judge, because the author of death is sin. How then could God, who knows not how to sin, make death? But when He repays sins, death is said to be from Him, though it is not from Him, but from the one who sinned. By the same reasoning, poverty and riches are from God. For some, having the fear of God, despise luxury, flee wasteful living, and do not turn away their eyes from the needy and the poor: such persons increase good things. For it is written in Proverbs, “Discipline takes away poverty and dishonor” (Prov. 13:18). But those who do not have the fear of God, living more carelessly and despising the needy, as it is written, “in need He shall deliver”; (Ps. 72:12) are not only negligent and foolish toward themselves, but also despise of the law given them. In this way God made the poor and the rich: because while the violation of the law produces want, He is said to do it as the author of the law; and when some, through fear, keep the discipline of the law, they are made rich by God, the author of the law. [Ambrosiaster, Q&A on the Old and New Testaments, PL 35, 1st cat. Q.34] around 370AD
ANASTASIUS. For our salvation and destruction are indeed in our own power and free will, as it is written: He made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his own counsel. (Eccles. 15:14) And: Before men are life and death, and whichever he chooses shall be given to him. (Eccles. 15:18) Therefore the Wise Man also warns: Do not be zealous for death in the error of your life, nor acquire destruction by the works of your hands. For God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living. (Wis. 1:12-13) But showing that our downfall is chosen by us of our own accord, he says again: But the wicked have called it to themselves by their hands and words. (Wis. 1:16) A witness to this matter, to speak theologically, is he who was called Lucifer because of his brightness, and became darkness because of his pride. [Anastasius of Sanai, PL 89, Questions 27] 620-700AD
1:14 For he created all things that they might exist, and the generations of the world are wholesome, and there is no destructive poison in them, nor has Hades’ dominion on earth.
RABANUS. From this statement, as in the previous one, it is evident that the Lord is the author of good works, not of evil ones; therefore, He is a just judge, who punishes wicked deeds and sins. Nor do we sin out of necessity when we transgress, but by a stubborn will, which proceeds from the quality of free will. We therefore acknowledge God as just and good, the creator of human substance and of both inner and outer senses, so that absolutely everything pertaining to nature is from Him, and absolutely nothing that is against nature is from Him. But sin is against nature, from which death and all things that arise from death originate. Man then clothed himself with these evils when, deprived of faith and obedience, the Devil led him away from the law of God into trust in his own promises, and bound all the offspring of his successors to himself by the condition of the appointed lineage. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
1:15 For righteousness is immortal. 1:16 But the ungodly summoned him with hands and words, considering him a friend; they wasted away and made a covenant with him, because they are worthy to be of his portion.
RABANUS. Therefore, righteousness is rightly said to be perpetual and immortal, because it frees those who obey it from eternal death. Unrighteousness, on the other hand, is the purchase of death, because the torments of Hades are the certain reward of sinners. The immoral have summoned unrighteousness with their hands and words, because they follow it in their deeds and speech, and, deceived by error, confidently believe they can sin with liberty, in no way consenting to be separated from its company, since, already condemned by the just judgment of God, they do not strive to escape it. Therefore the saying from the Gospel: But he who does not believe is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God (Jn. 3:18). And again: He who believes in the Son of God has eternal life. But he who does not believe in the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him (Jn. 3:36). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 2
Here the wicked, despairing of their salvation, declare that they will perish, and that they will live only in the present age.
2:1 For they said among themselves, reasoning not rightly: our life is short and sorrowful, and there is no healing in the end of a man, and no one has known one who has been released from Hades. 2:2 For we were born by chance, and afterward we shall be as though we had never been; for the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and thought is a spark in the movement of our heart, 2:3 which being extinguished, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will be dispersed like thin air. 2:4 And our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will remember our deeds; and our life will pass away like traces of a cloud, and like mist it will be scattered, driven away by the rays of the sun and weighed down by its heat. 2:5 For our life is the passing of a shadow, and there is no turning back of our end, because it is sealed, and no one returns. 2:6 Come, then, let us enjoy the good things that exist and make use of creation eagerly, as in youth. 2:7 Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes, and let no flower of spring pass us by. 2:8 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither. 2:9 Let none of us be without a share in our revelry; everywhere let us leave tokens of joy, for this is our portion and this our lot.
RABANUS. This is the voice of the lost, who, like brute animals, look only at the present and do not think about the future, nor do they have any hope of eternal rest after the end of this life, about whom it is said by the psalmist: Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like them (Ps. 49:20). The prophet Isaiah rebukes their voice, saying: For you have said: We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we will make an agreement. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, it will not come upon us, for we have made lies our hope, and we are protected by falsehood (Isa. 28:15). Therefore says the Lord: I will set judgment as a measuring line, and righteousness as a plumb line; hail will sweep away the hope of falsehood, and waters will overflow the shelter, and your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Hades will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it; whenever it passes through, it will take you away (Isa. 28:17–18). To which the prophet Amos added similar words, saying: Woe to you who are wealthy, and separated for the day of evil, and who draw near to the throne of iniquity; who sleep on beds of ivory, and indulge on your couches; who eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the herd; who sing to the sound of the harp, and, like David, think themselves to have instruments of song. Who drink wine in bowls, and are anointed with the best ointment, and do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore now you will go into exile at the head of the exiles, and the revelry of those who indulge will be taken away (Amos 6:4-7). And again: Because you plundered the poor, and took the best spoil from him, you build houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you plant pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine: for I know your many crimes, and your mighty sins. (Amos 5:11–12) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AMBROSE. [Verse 7] But the luxurious say: Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes. For they anoint themselves with perfumes, who seek the pleasure of bodily fragrance. Yet those perfumes are accustomed to stir up the allure of lust. There is a different perfume of sobriety, about which the Church says to her spouse: Your name is poured out like perfume (Songs 1:2); and another oil by which the limbs and certain members of the soul are made fat. Therefore, David also says: You have made my head fat with perfume (Ps. 22:5). And this is the oil of gladness, with which Christ was anointed by God the Father, so that He might stand out above all His companions. This He commands to anoint our head, so that all insincere sadness may be covered with the oil of gladness; lest you appear to sell your fasting to men, lest you seem to grieve over the salvation of your soul. For no one who is sad is crowned, no one who is sorrowful triumphs. Therefore anoint your head, where the senses of the wise are; for the eyes of the wise are in his head. You are called to mysteries, and you do not know: you learn, when you come. And remember this: Like ointment on the head, which descends upon the beard of Aaron (Ps. 132:2), then you know what it means: Anoint your head; how you have pleased God, so that He might reveal His mysteries to you, and grant you spiritual grace. [Ambrose of Milan, On Elijah and Fasting, PL 14.10.36] died 397AD
The council of the ungodly Jews against Christ, discussing his death, and accusing him because he reproached them for sins against the law.
2:10 Let us oppress the righteous poor man, let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the gray hair of the aged. 2:11 But let our strength be the law of justice, for what is weak is shown to be useless.
RABANUS. Although these things may generally pertain to those who, despising God, spare neither sex nor age, but through injustice and greed wish to oppress all, nevertheless, in a deeper sense, they can be applied to the treacherous persecutors of Christians and to heretics, who burden the poor people of the Church with their wickedness and persecutions, and that widow of whom it is written: “Blessing, I will bless his widow, I will satisfy his poor with bread,” (Ps. 132:15) they intend to crush with the worst will, and strive to find fault with the prophets and apostles, whom he here calls elders, in their words; by no means do they endeavor to keep the statutes of the divine law, but strive to proceed in the unorthodoxies of their own error, nor do they themselves obey our Head, but presume to utter such words of wickedness against Him. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
2:12 Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us and opposes our deeds, and reproaches us for sins against the law and charges us with sins against our upbringing; 2:13 he professes to have knowledge of God and calls himself a child of the Lord; 2:14 he has become to us a reproof of our thoughts; he is grievous to us even to look at, 2:15 because his life is unlike others, and his ways are different; 2:16 we were counted by him as counterfeit, and he avoids our ways as from impurities; he blesses the final end of the righteous and boasts that God is his father.
RABANUS. The dishonest Jews were then planning to bypass righteousness, when, confronted by the words of the Gospel, they were admonished through Christ to abandon their former filth of vices and to follow the truth of God's commandments. But where they ought to have hoped for the cause of salvation, taking grave offense, they considered killing him as if he were a blasphemer. As it is written in the Gospel: The Jews took up stones to stone him. Jesus answered them: I have shown you many good works from my Father; for which of these do you stone me? The Jews answered him: We do not stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God, etc. (Jn. 10:31-33). For, instigated by envy, they did not consider what he was doing, but what they themselves were unwilling to do; in the rays of light they became darkened. Therefore such words suited them, so that they said: He is even a burden to us to look upon, because his life is different from others, and he keeps himself away from our ways as from filth. And because they did not think about the future life, they therefore grieved that the hope of future life was preferred to their own pleasure; and therefore, by wicked counsels, they aimed at his death, as the following words demonstrate. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
2:17 Let us see whether his words are true, and let us test what will happen to him; 2:18 for if the righteous man is a son of God, He will take care of him and deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 2:19 Let us test him with insult and torment, that we may know his gentleness and prove his patience; 2:20 let us condemn him to a shameful death, for there will be an examination of him according to his words.
RABANUS. They are clearly described in the Gospel, where the chief priests and Pharisees took counsel on how they might deliver Jesus to death, and when he was placed on the cross, the chief priests with the scribes and elders, mocking, said: He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him now if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God (Matt. 27:42-43). He calls the most shameful death the cross, because until the passion of Christ it was the punishment of criminals, which now is the trophy of victory and the glory of believers. For when he says, “for there will be an examination of him according to his words,” this refers to his resurrection; for the unbelieving Jews wanted to test whether he could raise his flesh after death, because they remembered that he had said: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (Jn. 2:19). And elsewhere: Behold, he said, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on; and after they have scourged him, they will kill him, and the third day he shall rise again (Luke 18:31-34). Wherefore, even during His Passion, they said to Pilate: Lord, we remember that this deceiver said while still alive: After three days I will rise again. Therefore, command that the tomb be guarded until the third day, lest perhaps His disciples come and steal Him away, and say to the people: He has risen from the dead; and the last error will be worse than the first (Matthew 27:64). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
2:21 These things they reasoned, and they went astray; for their wickedness blinded them, 2:22 and they did not know the mysteries of God, nor hoped for the reward of holiness, nor judged the prize for blameless souls.
RABANUS. Therefore, they were not able to grasp the mystery of God's counsel, envious and deceitful, “for wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul” (Wis. 1:4); nor could they understand that the death of Christ is the honor and salvation of holy souls, because through it they hope for the reward of justice, and receive entrance into the heavenly kingdom. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
2:23 For God created man for incorruption and made him an image of His own proper nature; 2:24 but by the envy of the Devil death entered into the world, 2:25 and those who belong to his side put him to the test.
RABANUS. By this statement, the error of the Manichaeans is refuted, who introduced two natures and substances, that is, good and evil: because our Creator is not the author of our downfall, and as far as the truth of nature is concerned, we were created immortal by Him. However, by assenting to the serpent’s suggestion, we were subjected to the sentence of death; yet the first robe of immortality, which the human race, created in the image of God from the beginning but lost in Adam through the Devil’s envy and seduction, was received again through the death of Christ: for our death was destroyed in His death, and our life was restored in His resurrection, although those who choose to be imitators of the Devil’s envy rather than of Christ’s humility and gentleness do not belong to that destiny. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
EUSEBIUS. What is it to apostatize, if not to depart from God? And indeed, because one is separated from God, one is joined to the Devil. But can anyone who is envious be without a demon, as Scripture says, “but by the envy of the Devil death entered into the world, and those who belong to his side put him to the test, Catholic Scripture likewise testifies. For if the prophet says, “You have been deceived by the spirit of fornication.” [Eusebius of Caesarea, quote found in Glossa Ordinaria, Venice edition] died 339AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. For it is written of him: But by the envy of the Devil, death entered into the world (Wis. 2:24). Because he himself lost heaven, he envied the man who was created, and, ruined, he increased his own damnation by ruining others. The envious must be admonished to recognize the many falls to which the growing ruin subjects them, because, while they do not cast envy out of their hearts, they are led into open wickedness of deeds. For if Cain had not envied his brother’s accepted offering, he would not have come to extinguish his life. Therefore it is written: And the Lord looked upon Abel and his gifts; but to Cain and his gifts He did not look. And Cain was very angry, and his face fell (Gen. 4:4). [Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule, PL 77.3.10] died 604 AD
Chapter 3
Of the holy martyrs, that their glory through present tribulation will be eternal.
3:1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.
RABANUS. In the previous chapter, the opinion of the wicked was expressed, which they put forth against our head with perverse understanding and nefarious words. Now, however, their error is condemned, which they believed occurred in the destruction of his members, when they slaughtered them with various punishments for the confession of his name. But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, that is, under his protection, and the torment of eternal death cannot harm them in any way. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was accounted as misery 3:3 and their going from us as destruction; but they are in peace.
RABANUS. They were truly foolish when they considered the suffering and extermination of the martyrs to be a defeat, since these were for them the cause of victory and perpetual peace. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:4 For even if in the sight of men they be punished, their hope is full of immortality; 3:5 and having been a little chastened, they shall be greatly benefited, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 3:6 as gold in the furnace he proved them, and as a whole burnt offering he accepted them.
RABANUS. Temporal death and the affliction of this present life have brought perpetual prosperity as a reward to the saints of God, because their hope was unfailing and their solid faith endured to the end. For God chastised them with various temptations, and through the endurance of patience proved them worthy of the eternal crown. The two examples he set forth, that is, gold tested in the furnace and holocausts burned in fire, show their most thorough examination and perfect purity, because just as gold is not burned by fire but tested, so the holy substance of the martyrs is not brought to destruction, but prepared for immortality and future glory; and just as the holocaust, which is wholly offered to God through fire, is a most acceptable sacrifice, so also the passion of the martyrs, offered to the Lord in the fragrance of sweetness through the heat of faith and the fervor of love, stands as a most pleasing gift and a most precious offering to Him. Therefore it is said by the Psalmist: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. (Ps. 116:15) And what is added: as gold in the furnace he proved them, [Verse 6] signifies that the death of the saints is not perpetual according to the estimation of the reprobate; but rather, on the day of judgment, when Christ judges, their reward will be most abundant. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. [Verse 6] On common testing. The Father tests, the Son tests, the Holy Spirit tests. Of the Father, to the Thessalonians: So we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tests our hearts (I Thess. 2:4). Of the Son, in Solomon: As gold in the furnace he tested them, and found them worthy of himself (Wis. 3:6). Of the Holy Spirit, in Solomon: The Spirit of the Lord tests hearts (Prov. 17:3): but he will destroy the wicked from the earth (Prov. 2:22). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
3:7 And in the time of their visitation they shall shine forth, and run to and fro like sparks among stubble;
RABANUS. By presenting another example, he demonstrates that at the final judgment there will be a sudden reward for the saints, and a swift punishment for the depraved. For when the elect are changed from corruption to incorruption, from mortality to immortality, from disgrace to glory, then they will rise to judge their adversaries, and just as a spark of fire suddenly kindles a flame in a field of reeds, so the sentence of the just Judge of the saints brings strong and swift vengeance of punishments upon the reprobate. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. Again, through the pen or reed, the pursuit of temporal glory is expressed, as it is said of the just through Wisdom: The just will shine, and run to and fro like sparks among stubble (Wis. 3:7). For indeed, he calls the life of worldly people stubble, who, like stubble, advance outwardly through temporal glory as if to lofty heights, but inwardly become empty of the solidity of truth. Therefore, the kingdom of the Jews is also compared to stubble, when, through the prophet, it is said of the Lord appearing in the truth of the flesh: A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoking flax he will not quench (Isa. 42:3). [Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. Sixth and last part.4.7] died 604 AD
3:8 they shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord shall reign over them forever.
RABANUS. The saints will judge the nations, but through them God judges, who presides over their minds. They will rule over peoples, for no adversity of opposition resists them. Their Lord will reign forever, because the kingdom of Christ will endure without any end. Concerning this, the angel said to Mary: The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luke 133). Therefore, it is also said through Isaiah: His dominion will be multiplied, and there will be no end of peace (Isa. 9:7). The saints will also reign with their king, that is, the members with their head, as the words of the angel testify to Daniel in prophetic vision, saying: But the kingdom and power and greatness of the kingdom under all heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is everlasting, and all kings will serve him and obey him. (Dan. 7:27) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:9 Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and visitation with his chosen ones.
RABANUS. It is clear that whoever perfectly trusts in the Lord in this present life, according to the distribution of the Holy Spirit, perceives here an understanding of the truth in a manner appropriate to himself; because now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face; now we know in part, but then we shall know even as we are known. But now remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:12-13) Because when the others pass away, that alone remains, therefore it is said: The faithful shall abide with him in love, for the elect of God, after the end of the world, delighting in the good which they formerly sought with faith and hope, will in no way be able to be separated from His company, since, rewarded with the gift of eternal satisfaction, they will enjoy perpetual peace. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
The wicked will receive fitting punishments according to what they have done, because they have turned away from the Lord.
3:10 But the ungodly shall have punishment as they devised, those who neglected the righteous and departed from the Lord.
RABANUS. The sentence of the universal judgment will be completed when the saints, united with their King, joyfully enter the kingdom of their heavenly homeland; then the wicked and sinners who were negligent regarding their salvation, according to the wickedness of their hearts and actions, will be plunged with the Devil into the abyss of Gehenna, where they will be tormented without end, for their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished. (Mark 9:48) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:11 For whoever despises wisdom and discipline is miserable, and their hope is vain, and their labors unprofitable, and their works useless;
RABANUS. Now he shows what this is, which he previously said had departed from the Lord, that is, to cast away wisdom and discipline, of which hope is empty, and labors are without fruit, because they vainly hope that they can use temporal things perpetually, or that by committing sins they can escape unpunished. The labors of these people are without the fruit of future reward, and their works are rundown: for the workers themselves cannot make anyone a participant in the heavenly dwelling. Against this, when the Psalmist foretold the crimes of the chief of all the wicked by reproaching him, he said: Therefore God will destroy you forever, He will pluck you out and remove you from your tent, and uproot your root from the land of the living (Ps. 52:5). Heretics also cannot inappropriately be understood in this statement, who, rejecting divine wisdom and the rule of right faith, spend the labors of their doctrine and the sects of their errors in vain and without the fruit of eternal life, whose intention is foolish and whose works are most wicked. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:12 Their women are senseless, and their children are most wicked.
RABANUS. He calls women either carnal desires or interpretations of wicked sense: from which the most wicked children, that is, nefarious acts or perverse doctrines, proceed, who are liable not to the reward of the heavenly kingdom, but to the torment of Hades. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:13 Their cursed creature, for the barren woman is happy; and the undefiled one, who has not known the bed in sin, will have fruit in the consideration of holy souls;
RABANUS. The cursed creature of those, that is, their creation. For divine wisdom does not impose the mark of a curse on the creatures of God, whom their Creator blessed at the beginning when He created them, but shows that the work of the depraved is worthy of eternal curse. for the barren woman is happy; and the undefiled one, who has not known the bed in sin, will have fruit in the consideration of holy souls. He praises the barren, that is, the chaste and disciplined soul, which is not defiled by the filth of heretics, nor contaminated by the impurities of idolatry; for this soul will have fruit in the regard of holy souls, indeed on the day of judgment, when the saints will be taken up to contemplate the glory of God, then she too will receive the reward of her labor in heavenly blessedness. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:14 and the eunuch who has not worked iniquity with his hand, nor thought wicked things against the Lord, for a chosen grace of faith shall be given to him and a portion in the temple of the Lord more pleasing.
RABANUS. According to the rule of the figurative interpretation, in the name of this blessed barren one, or eunuch, virgins can be understood, about whom it is written accordingly in Isaiah: Let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree,” for thus says the Lord to the eunuchs: “Who have kept my sabbaths, and have chosen what I desired, and have held fast my covenant, I will give them in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not perish” (Isa. 56:3-5). This barren one is fruitful in virginity. This eunuch forces his way into the kingdom of heaven and aggressively seizes it. He is the keeper of the sabbaths, and will never perform the works of marriage. He has chosen what the Lord wished, so as to offer more than is commanded, so that he considers not the apostle’s indulgence but the Lord’s will. He holds fast the Lord’s eternal covenant, so that he does not devote himself to prayer only for a time and then return again to it, but knows that he will receive in the house of the Lord, which is His Church, the best place: for there are many dwelling places with the Father. (Jn. 14:2) And whoever is a eunuch and does all that is written, will have the best place within its walls, so that he may indeed become a tower of the Lord, and stand in the priestly rank, so that for sons of the flesh he may have many spiritual sons. Such a eunuch, whom Jesus loved most dearly, was the evangelist John, as ecclesiastical histories relate; he who reclined on the breast of Jesus (Jn. 13:23); who, while Peter walked more slowly, ran to the Lord, lifted on the wings of virginity. Therefore, let all the mockery of the Jews be put away, and let them cease to make themselves a laughingstock by claiming that the kingdoms of heaven are closed to eunuchs, since it is by chastity, not by bodily weakness, but by the will of the spirit; nor will sloth have the merit of a good reward, but virtuous striving. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:15 For the fruit of good labors is glorious, and the root of understanding does not fail.
RABANUS. The fruit of good labors is indeed glorious; for eternal joy and certain rest follow them, nor do those seeds of doctrines or actions which have proceeded from the root of true wisdom ever fail, but they will bring forth the fruit of everlasting salvation. But on the contrary, the dogmas of heretics and the disciples and followers of their wickedness will be exterminated; nor will they have hope of salvation, but condemned to a bitter death, they will be given to perpetual oblivion. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
That the sons of adulterers, that is, heretics, will be in the end, and the generation of the chaste will remain in perpetual brightness.
3:16 But the children of adulterers shall be without perfection, and the seed of an unlawful bed shall be destroyed. 3:17 For even if they live long, they shall be counted as nothing, and their old age shall be dishonorable at last; 3:18 and if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, nor comfort in the day of reckoning; 3:19 for the end of an unrighteous generation is grievous.
RABANUS. Indeed, heretics are adulterers, who, adulterating the word of God, attempt to transfer it into another meaning. Their children, that is, their disciples, will be at the end, because they tend toward eternal perdition. These, having been brought up from a wicked bed, nourished by the poisonous nourishment of a polluted conscience, even if they are long-lived upon the earth, yet this will profit them nothing, when they are to be destined for the burning of eternal fire. and their old age shall be dishonorable, because their memory will forever lack blessing, nor on the day of recognition, namely at the hour of the universal judgment, when the elect, recognized by their judge, will be invited to the possession of the heavenly kingdom, will they be consoled by any hope of their restoration, but will be expelled to be tormented forever from the presence of the human king. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 4
4:1 Better than childlessness with virtue; for immortality is in her memory, because she is known both by God and by men; 4:2 and when present, they imitate her, and when gone, they long for her; and in the age she, crowned, proceeds in triumph, having conquered the contest of undefiled rewards.
RABANUS. Just as he previously criticized the lead heretics and their schismatic followers, so now he praises the Catholics and their disciples, whose faith is pure, and whose doctrine is simple and eternal; therefore, they are worthy of remembrance, because their generation is approved by the Lord and honorably accepted among men. In this present life, this produces fruit through sacred examples of good works, and when transferred to the heavenly kingdom, it leaves a worthy remembrance of itself to generations to come, nor will there be any sorrow for the completed struggle, when the greatness of persecutions is surpassed by the reward. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:3 But a numerous offspring of the ungodly will be of no use, and from bastard shoots it will not strike root deep, nor establish a secure foundation;
RABANUS. For he alternates, speaking of Catholics and heretics, so that he may show the praiseworthy wisdom of the former and demonstrate the blameworthy cunning of the latter. Indeed, the diverse and various doctrine of the heretics will not be useful, but harmful; nor do their redundant arguments, which indicate spurious offspring, have the root of truth, therefore they do not have the foundation of strength, but when touched by the wind of persecutions or the test of strict judgment, they quickly fall from their firmness. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:4 for even if for a time it sprout in the branches, standing insecurely it will be shaken by the wind and uprooted by the violence of winds. 4:5 Its branches will be broken off before their time, and their fruit useless, unripe for eating and fit for nothing;
RABANUS. He names branches as the sayings of perverse scriptures, and the fruits as the meanings of those sayings; by winds, he also signifies either the troubles of persecutions or the debates of judgment: because just as fragile branches are broken by the wind, so their imperfect sayings, when struck by any hardship or debate, are easily broken, and their fruits are useless and bitter, because the meanings of their words are depraved and poisonous, and therefore suited to no usefulness. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:6 for children born from unlawful unions are witnesses of wickedness against their parents at their examination.
RABANUS. He calls the sons of the wicked either disciples or works, because just as the followers of heretics are, on the day of judgment, an increase of sorrow for those who have been led astray by false doctrines, so evil works, at the time of the final examination, are proof of their wickedness, for which reason they are deservedly condemned. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
That the souls of the righteous after death will be in refreshment, and their passing should not be mourned.
4:7 But the righteous, if he is overtaken by death, will be at rest;
RABANUS. Having previously spoken about the destruction of the wicked, he now afterward explains the rest of the good, because after the end of the present life, which is common to both good and bad, the just will then begin to live better, when they seem to be utterly destroyed by the wicked, since eternal rest will then be given to them, when perpetual punishment follows for these. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:8 for honorable old age is not the length of time, nor is it measured by number of years; 4:9 but gray hair is wisdom for men, and the age of old age is a blameless life.
RABANUS. He shows what should be sought in old age, because it is not the age of the body, but the maturity of the mind and the uprightness of character that are praised in it. Therefore, in the Book of Numbers, the Lord commanded Moses to choose seventy elders, whom He Himself knew to be elders, so that He might appoint them as teachers and judges of the people. (Num. 11:16-17) And Paul, writing to Timothy, says: Let no one despise your youth; but be an example to the faithful in word, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. (1 Tim. 4:12) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:10 Having become pleasing to God, he was loved and, while living among sinners, was taken away; 4:11 he was snatched away, lest evil change his understanding or deceit deceive his soul;
RABANUS. God does not therefore take a man whom He loves out of this world because He cannot keep him, living among sinners, free from sin; He who, sending His disciples as lambs among wolves, praised them to the Father, saying: I do not pray that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from evil (Jn. 17:15); but rather, so that He may observe the order of His judgment: those whom He foreknew and predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, He calls, justifies, magnifies, and glorifies; but the rest, on account of their iniquity, He condemns by His just judgment. Concerning this, the Apostle Peter says: God knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, but to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:9). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
ANASTASIUS. But it also benefits many of the righteous that they live for only a short time, as Solomon once said: He who was pleasing to God was made beloved, and living among sinners, he was taken away; he was snatched away so that wickedness might not alter his understanding, or deceit might not beguile his soul. For the fascination of frivolity obscures good things, and the instability of desire perverts the mind without malice. Perfected in a short time, he fulfilled many years; for his soul was pleasing to God, and therefore He hastened to remove him from the midst of iniquity. (Wis. 4:10-14) [Anastasius of Sanai, PL 89, Questions 18] 620-700AD
4:12 for the bewitching power of wickedness obscures what is good, and the wandering of desire corrupts an innocent mind.
RABANUS. By this statement, although generally the immorality of the wicked is denoted, more clearly, however, the cunning of heretics is reproved in it, which, by depraved doctrines and harmful desire, turns the mind of man away from the path of truth; for it fascinates, that is, it burdens, whoever hinders by flattering or deceives by praising. We read in the Apostle: You were running well; who has fascinated you? (Gal. 3:1). And in Proverbs: The gift of the envious torments the eyes. (Sir. 18:18) He who is envious among us is more significantly called a fascinator among the Greeks. In these examples, we are taught that either the envious person is tormented by another’s happiness, or he in whom there are some good things is harmed by another who fascinates or envies. For the envy of heretics, which is accustomed to offer mere plays, not the foundation of truth, often obscures the good things of mortality in the simple, as in that saying: Evil communications corrupt good manners (1 Cor. 15:33). Therefore Wisdom forbids having fellowship with such people, saying in Proverbs: Do not eat with an envious man, nor desire his foods, for he estimates what he does not know as the likeness of a diviner and a soothsayer. Eat and drink, he will say to you, but his heart is not with you. The foods which you have eaten you will vomit up, and you will lose your beautiful words (Prov. 23:6-8). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:13 Having been made perfect in a short time, he fulfilled many years, 4:14 for his soul was pleasing to the Lord; therefore he rushed away from the midst of wickedness. But the peoples, seeing and not understanding, nor laying such a thing to heart,
RABANUS. Just as in the previous verse he exposed the deceit of the heretics, so now in the following he expresses the glory of the martyrs, who, although they spent their admirable lives in a short time through the tortures of their persecutors, nevertheless that very death is reckoned to them as a long life, because it brought them eternal life. Indeed, their Creator, loving them, separated them from the company of the wicked, and led them out from the oppression of this present life, so that in the heavenly kingdom he might hide them in the secret of his face, from the disturbance of men, and protect them in his tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:15 that grace and mercy are with his elect and visitation with his holy ones.
RABANUS. Therefore, the persecutors of the martyrs could by no means recognize the future glory that followed them, but thought that they would perish together with the torments of their bodies, and that they could not receive the blessedness of eternal life after death; but everything happens differently for each side, because just as life and victory will follow the good after death, so also death and perpetual damnation will follow the wicked after temporal life. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:16 But the righteous who has died will condemn the living ungodly, and youth brought quickly to completion the long old age of an unrighteous man.
RABANUS. It is clear indeed that the martyrs of Christ will be judges of their persecutors after death, just as in the Apocalypse, in the condemnation of Babylon, the divine voice shows, saying: Come out of her, my people, so that you do not partake in her sins, and so that you do not receive of her plagues, for her sins have reached up to heaven, and the Lord has remembered her iniquities. Render to her as she herself rendered, and double the double according to her works. In the cup which she mixed, mix for her double; as much as she glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her that much torment and grief, because in her heart she says: I sit as a queen, and am no widow, and will never see mourning. Therefore in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned with fire (Rev. 18:4-8). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:17 For they will see the end of the wise man and will not understand what the Lord purposed concerning him and to what end the Lord had safeguarded him. 4:18 They will see and scorn, but the Lord will laugh them to scorn 4:19 and after this they will become an object of dishonor and a reproach among the dead forever, because he will dash them down speechless, face down, and shake them from their foundations, and they will be utterly laid waste and be in pain, and their memory will perish.
RABANUS. For the persecutors of the Church of Christ, as we have said, believed that the end of the martyrs was destruction, and therefore they despised the steadfastness of their faith. But the Lord will mock them, when He shows them that what they hoped would benefit them has completely harmed them; for when they wished to defend the false deities of their gods against the followers of Christ, they delivered themselves into perpetual damnation. [Verse 19] For the Lord will overthrow them, swollen with pride, without a word of excuse, so that they will then be in all things inexcusable, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks; but they became fruitless in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools; and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds and serpents and four-footed animals. Therefore God gave them up to shameful passions, and to a debased mind, to do things that are not fitting, filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, fornication, greed, malice, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malevolence, whisperers, slanderers, hateful to God, rude, proud, arrogant, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, without affection, without covenant, without mercy; who, although they knew the justice of God, did not understand that those who do such things are worthy of death (Rom. 1:22-32); and He will shake them from their foundations, because He will utterly overthrow the state of their life, and they will be desolate even to the utmost; for never after this will they be relieved by any comfort, but they will be groaning in torments, and their memory will perish forever. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
4:20 They will come in the reckoning of their sins as cowards, and their lawless deeds will convict them to their face.
RABANUS. Therefore, the wicked will come into judgment, timid because of the conscience of their sins, for their thoughts accuse them for the evil deeds they have previously committed, nor is any place given for defense, where there is no fruit of good works in the conscience. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 5
That at the coming of the Lord the righteous will stand with great devotion against their persecutors, and that these persecutors will finally experience late repentance in Hades for their error and sins.
5:1 THEN the righteous man shall stand with great confidence before the face of those who afflicted him and those who set at nought his labors. 5:2 seeing this, they shall be troubled with terrible fear and shall be amazed at the unexpectedness of salvation. 5:3 They shall speak within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit they shall say: 5:4 This was he whom we once held in contempt and as a good example of reproach, the foolish ones; we counted his life madness and his end without honor. 5:5 How has he been reckoned among the sons of God and his lot among the saints?
RABANUS. Then indeed the righteous will stand with great determination against their persecutors, who afflicted them here with undeserved punishments and reproached their labors as foolish; for, being raised by heavenly brightness, they will judge according to truth those who had previously condemned them unjustly. Therefore, when these persecutors see themselves suddenly changed from glory to humiliation, and equally see their adversaries transferred from temporal affliction to heavenly honor, they will then seek with late and fruitless repentance what they could previously have obtained fruitfully, if they had wished, while it was permitted. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:6 Therefore have we strayed from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness did not shine for us, and the sun did not rise for us;
RABANUS. The way of truth is the Gospel of Christ, and the divine law, from which the sinful have strayed, because they were unwilling to believe and obey. For them, the light of righteousness did not shine, and the sun of understanding did not rise, because for them Christ is not the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world (Jn. 1:9), and the sun of righteousness who rises for those who fear Him. (Mal. 4:2) In whose punishments, too, there is true healing, since in His protection the abundance of eternal life is assured. He did not shine for the faithless philosophers of the Gentiles, nor for the heretics, because, by despising the path of truth, they preferred to follow vain traditions and wicked sects. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:7 we were filled with paths of lawlessness and destruction, and we crossed roadless deserts, but the way of the Lord we did not know.
RABANUS. The philosophers were left on the path of evil and destruction, because by reasoning they wished to elevate the machinery of the world to divine honor, and chose rather to serve the creature than the Creator: in their very inquiry they failed, and found not salvation but destruction. Similarly, the heretics, by walking difficult paths in pride, composed wicked sects, nor did they recognize the way of the Lord, which is truth and life; therefore, they delivered themselves to perpetual destruction, nor did their pursuit of the present life bring them any benefit, for after death not reward but punishment awaited them. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:8 What profit has our pride brought us? And what wealth with boasting has accumulated to us? 5:9 All those things have passed away like a shadow and like a fleeting report; 5:10 like a ship passing through the turbulent water, of which, once it has passed, there is no trace to be found, nor path of its capsize in the waves; 5:11 or like a bird flying through the air, no evidence of its route is found, but the light breeze, struck by the beating of wings and cut through by the force of rushing sound, passes along with the moving wings, and afterward no sign of its passage is found in it; 5:12 or like an arrow shot at a target, the air cut straightway reverts into itself so as to ignore its passage. 5:13 Therefore we also, born, came to an end, and we had no sign of virtue to show, but in our wickedness we were consumed.
RABANUS. Through the five types of likenesses, which, by presenting, he laments that the fruitless repentance of the wicked causes their efforts to flow away, the fleeting nature of life and the deficiency of earthly things are shown to us. For just as a shadow has no firmness in its state, nor does a messenger running about endure delay, and just as a bird in the sky, or a ship in the sea, or an arrow in the air, proceed on an uncertain path, so too is the course of brief life always unstable and uncertain, nor does anything from it remain fixed, except what is expended with virtuous effort for the attainment of eternal life. According to the allegory, however, the shadow can be understood as forgetfulness of the mind or death of the flesh, to which human life is subject. In the messenger running, we can see the passions of the soul or illnesses of the body, which indicate and proclaim the end of corruptible life. By the bird, however, is signified the arrogance of worldly boasting, or heresy. But by the ship is signified the lightness of the human mind, which is tossed by the bitter waves of this age and the blasts of unclean spirits. By the arrow are signified the deceits and snares of the wicked. For all these things are involved in the tribulations of the present life, but after the end is accomplished, they leave fruitless repentance to their possessors in the underworld, for whom they will always groan and will be uplifted by no consolation. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:14 For the hope of the ungodly is like chaff carried by the wind and like thin frost driven away by a storm, and like smoke dispersed by the wind, and like the memory of a guest of one day it passed by. 5:15 But the righteous live forever, and their reward is in the Lord, and their care is with the Most High.
RABANUS. He has further introduced four other examples to demonstrate the weakness of the hope of the wicked, by which they either believed that present things were stable and would endure, or thought that they could live in sin and escape with impunity. For the fuzz that arises from the withering flower of herbs expresses the frailty of the flesh, which is taken away by the wind of sickness or bodily distress, nor is it permitted to remain long, because all flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and its flower has fallen; but the word of the Lord endures forever (Isa. 40:8). But the foam which is produced from the waters and floats on the waters can be understood as the desire for human favor and common boasting: which is scattered by the storm of temptations or the scrutiny of future judgment, because their vanity is proven by such contact. Likewise, smoke demonstrates the vanity of a fleeting life; for just as smoke is dispersed by the wind, so human life is dissolved by the change of times. Therefore, by analogy, it is compared to a passing guest; for we are all guests and strangers here, of which Ecclesiastes says: One generation passes away, and another generation comes, but the earth stands forever; therefore, all is vanity (Eccles. 1:4). For what is more vain than this vanity, that the earth remains, which was made for the sake of men, and man himself, the master of the earth, is suddenly dissolved into dust? Therefore it follows: The sun rises and sets, and returns to its place (Eccles. 1:5). For the sun itself, which is given to mortals for light, daily indicates the destruction of the world by its rising and setting; and all this is to teach that by the changes of times and the rising and setting of the stars, human life slips away and perishes while it is unaware. Therefore, it is just that the wicked, placed in Hades, grieve that they put their hope in that which has no stability, and turned their minds away from Him who, before all things and after all things, remains the same now and forever. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Of the holy martyrs, that they live forever, and that the Lord avenges them against their adversaries.
5:16 Therefore they shall receive the kingdom of majesty and the crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord, because with his right hand he shall shelter them and with his arm he shall defend them. 5:17 He shall take zeal as his armor and arm creation for the defense of enemies;
RABANUS. But when he described the punishments of sinners and their late repentance in Hades, he consequently recounted the glory and reward of the just with the Lord in heaven, who, having been received into the heavenly kingdom, enjoy a blessed life in the contemplation of God; and this is because they placed all their hope and the intention of their mind in the goodness of their Creator, by whose hand they are also crowned and protected by the right hand of His strength. For the hand of God, and the right hand, and the arm, because of their effective power, signify the only-begotten Son of God: through whom all things were made, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, whom the Father raised from the dead and set at His right hand in the heavenly places, above every principality and power and virtue and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come, and He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the Church, which is His body and the fullness of Him who fills all in all. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:18 he shall put on righteousness as a breastplate and place impartial judgment as a helmet; 5:19 he shall take holiness as an invincible shield, 5:20 and he shall sharpen stern wrath into a sword, and creation shall fight with him against the foolish. 5:21 Well-aimed bolts of lightning shall go forth, and from the well-arched bow of the clouds they shall fly to the target,
RABANUS. According to history, therefore, the Creator of all, whose weapons are truth, justice, and judgment, through the creature subject to Him, rebukes and strikes those who do wrong. According to the allegory, however, the same Lord arms the creature for the vengeance of His enemies, when through the preachers of the Gospel He reproves the treachery of the Jews, the foolishness of the Gentiles, and the deceit of heretics, concerning sin and righteousness, and judgment, and pierces their hearts with the darts of words, so that, terrified by wholesome fear, they may yield to the hand of Almighty God and learn to be subject to Him, whose admonition they ought by no means to resist, since they are in no way able to withstand His power. But when he says that the whole world fights with Him against the senseless, he shows that the entire Church of Christ, together with its King, that is, the members with the head, fights against the errors and wickedness of the unjust, through the weapons of truth and justice. And which, founded by the authority of the Lord upon the most solid rock, in no way fears ruin: Because the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18); but fixed and unshaken, it remains through all ages. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. In all these things, it is clearly seen what a certain wise man testifies about the Lord, saying: and creation shall fight with him against the foolish (Wis. 5:20). Indeed, the world fights with the Lord against the senseless when, in the punishment of sinners, the adversity of the elements takes part. Yet pain does not come forth from the earth, because every insensible thing is stirred to our affliction by the impulse of our own actions. [Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 2.14] died 604 AD
5:22 and hailstones full of wrath shall be hurled from a stone-throwing catapult. The waters of the sea shall rage against them, and rivers shall overwhelm them violently.
RABANUS. Lightning emissions are the thunder of proclamations, or the flashes of miracles, which will go directly: because, according to the privilege of their author, they occur for the benefit of the elect or for the damnation of the reprobate. They will be discharged like from a well-bent bow of clouds, when, by the authority of the divine Scriptures, through the virtuous intention of the holy doctors, they are brought forth to terrify adversaries; and they will leap to a certain place, because they proceed in a straight path against those whom it is necessary, nor can it be confused, what divine wisdom is known to be ordered. And hailstones are sent from the stony wrath: because, according to the equality of merits, harsh rebukes are issued. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:23 A spirit of power shall stand against them, and like a whirlwind shall winnow them. And lawlessness shall lay waste all the earth, and wrongdoing shall overturn the thrones of rulers.
RABANUS. And the water of the sea will burn upon them, and the rivers will rush together violently. He calls the disturbances of the sea the troubles of the world, the rivers the agitations of persecutions; because often the hearts of the wicked, which the teachings of preaching do not soften, are broken by the scourges of various corrections through fear. The spirit of virtue is the vengeance of the final judgment, which will separate the wicked and ultimately bring all the land to the end of their iniquity, when it will imitate earthly substance and carnal works; by its sentence, the just judge will assign punishment in Gehenna and eternal desolation. For wickedness will overthrow the seats of the mighty, because the evil of the reprobate is the cause of their damnation. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. The Lord taught in the Gospel that the Holy Spirit is judge, and is able to convict the whole world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, saying: But when the Holy Spirit has come, he will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment (Jn. 16:8). And Isaiah: The Lord, he says, will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Zion by the spirit of judgment (Isa. 4:4). And in Solomon: The Spirit of the Lord will stand against them, and like a whirlwind of wind will divide them (Wis. 5:23). Likewise Isaiah: Behold, I make judgment in my spirit, says the Lord (Isa. 26:9). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
Chapter 6
6:1 Hear therefore, O kings, and understand; learn, judges of the ends of the earth.
RABANUS. Wisdom, therefore, wherever it dwells, always governs the mind well. For the powers of the body, being mostly foolish, often cast themselves into the abyss of sins: therefore the wise is preferred to the strong, because wisdom directs the steps of man; but bodily strength, although sometimes, when it has overcome someone through power, may imitate strength, yet without the guidance of carefulness it will appear weak, when it is exhausted by foolish labor. Therefore it is written in the psalm: He will not take pleasure in the strength of the horse; nor is there delight in the legs of a man. The Lord’s delight is in those who fear Him, and in those who hope in His mercy (Ps. 147:10–11). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Wisdom rebukes the judges of the earth, who have received authority from the Lord, because they did not keep the law of righteousness, foretelling to them the punishments which they will suffer.
6:2 Give ear, you who rule a multitude and boast over crowds of nations; 6:3 for authority has been given to you from the Lord, and sovereignty from the Most High, who will examine your works and inquire into your plans. 6:4 Because, as servants of His kingdom, you did not judge rightly, nor keep the law, nor walk according to the counsel of God. 6:5 Terribly and swiftly He will come upon you, because a severe judgment comes upon those in high place. 6:6 For the lowliest may be pardoned in mercy, but the mighty will be mightily tested;
RABANUS. They admonish the rulers of the Church to keep the justice of God's commandments, and to hurry to learn and understand the truth of the divine testimonies: for just as they themselves, having been appointed by the Lord with given authority, are made teachers and judges of their brethren so that they may judge them according to the principle of impartiality, and teach them to keep the rule of faith with good works, so they themselves also await divine judgment, which neither deceives nor can be deceived, who judges not only their deeds but also their thoughts and wills, and will judge with strict examination those who did not live according to the will of God and the law of the commandments, nor even taught or judged others. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. Of the common kingdom. The Father reigns, the Son reigns, the Holy Spirit reigns. Of the Father in the Gospel: Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God (Jn. 3:5). Of the Son in the ninety-fifth psalm (Verse 10): Say among the nations, the Lord has reigned from the tree. Of the Holy Spirit in Solomon: Power has been given to you by the Spirit of the Lord (Wis. 6:3). And below: And when you were ministers of that kingdom, you judged not rightly (verse 5). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
GREGORY THE GREAT. [Verse 6] In Holy Scripture, when the sun is presented figuratively, sometimes the Lord is signified by it, as is stated in the book of Wisdom, where it is said that all the wicked, upon recognizing their own condemnation at the final judgment, will say: We have strayed from the path of truth, and the light of justice did not shine for us; and the sun did not rise for us (Wis. 5:6). As if they were openly saying: The ray of inner light did not shine upon us. Therefore, John also says: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet. For in the sun is understood the illumination of truth, but in the moon, which wanes with its monthly cycles, is understood the mutability of temporality. [Gregory the Great, Exposition of the New Testament, 24.38] died 604 AD
ANASTASIUS. Through this, God teaches us that from those who are perfect in virtue, God demands an exact account of life, and towards other men, who commit great crimes, He is lenient and merciful; He does not grant this pardon to the saints. A certain Wise Man also said this: "For mercy is indeed to be granted to the least; but the mighty will be examined mightily." The Lord: "For to whom, He says, little has been given, little will be required from him; but to whom much, much will also be required from him." [Anastasius of Sanai, PL 89, Questions 37] 620-700AD
6:7 for the Lord of all will not show partiality, nor will He stand in awe of greatness, because He made the small and the great alike and cares for all equally;
RABANUS. To those who, through ignorance or weakness or even necessity, have committed certain crimes, and yet have not ceased through humility and repentance to erase those sins, the most merciful Judge grants the grace of forgiveness. But for those who, through stubbornness and contempt for the commandments of God, have committed many and grave crimes, and have neglected to repent of them, more severe torments are assigned in Hades: for just as they were more powerful in the act of wickedness, so they endure stronger punishments in the fire of Gehenna. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
6:8 but a strong inquiry is laid upon the powerful. 6:9 Therefore, to you, O tyrants, are my words, that you may learn wisdom and not fall away.
RABANUS. For God is not a respecter of persons, as the apostle Peter testifies; but in every nation, whoever fears God and works righteousness is accepted by Him (Acts 10:35). But for those who are false teachers and introduce destructive sects, and deny the Lord who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction (2 Peter 2), the gloom of darkness is reserved. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to Hades, delivering them into chains of darkness to be reserved for judgment and punishment, and did not spare the original world, but preserved Noah, the eighth, a preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, making them an example to those who would act wickedly; and delivered righteous Lot, oppressed by the unjust conduct of the lawless; for by sight and hearing he was righteous, living among them, tormenting his righteous soul day by day by their wicked deeds: so also now those who walk after another flesh in lust and impurity, bold, self-pleasing, and do not fear to make sects, blaspheming, will perish in their own corruption, receiving the reward of their injustice. For God fears no one's greatness, because He Himself is above all and His greatness has no end. He accepts no one's person, because He will judge each according to his ways. He cares equally for all, because He is the creator of all, and He takes proper care of His work and provides the help by which it may subsist. Therefore, after wisdom has spoken to the powerful and rebuked the hardness of their hearts with words, it now turns the speech of exhortation to the rulers themselves, and wonderfully explains the praise of wisdom. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
6:10 For those who keep holy things holy will be made holy, and those taught them will find a defense. 6:11 Desire therefore my words, long for them, and you will be instructed.
RABANUS. They admonish ecclesiastical rulers, indeed all generally to whom governance of their souls is entrusted, to learn divine wisdom, so that they may not transgress the commandments of God. For those who keep what is just will be justly justified, that is, those who pursue justice will receive from the just Judge the reward of their justice; and those who have learned what is just, surely by believing rightly and acting well, to them it will be given what to answer when the examination of each one takes place, because the good merit of the present life seeks the blessed reward of eternal glory. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Wisdom urges the rulers of the Church to listen to and desire her words, for she freely offers herself to them, granting at the same time integrity of body and chastity of soul.
6:12 Wisdom is radiant and unfading, and is easily seen by those who love her and found by those who seek her,
RABANUS. It is true that whoever loves wisdom and is hard-working in its meditation preserves discipline in morals, nor can a lover of wisdom be proven otherwise unless he is a preserver of discipline. Therefore, Truth itself says: If you love me, keep my commandments (Jn. 14:15). And again: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word (Jn. 14:23). Therefore James also says: Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves, because not the hearers of the law will be justified before the Lord, but the doers of the law (James 1:22). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
6:13 she anticipates those who desire to make herself known.
RABANUS. The glory of wisdom is unfading, and it is open only to those who truly love it and diligently seek it. But those who seek it falsely will in no way attain it, because, as was said above, the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from deceit, and wisdom will not enter into a wicked soul. Therefore, in Proverbs, wisdom says: I love those who love me, and those who rise early to seek me will find me (Prov. 8:17). And again: Blessed is the man who listens to me, who watches daily at my gates, and waits at the posts of my doors. Whoever finds me finds life, and will draw salvation from the Lord. But whoever sins against me injures his own soul. All who hate me love death (Prov. 8:34-36) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
6:14 He who rises early for her will not weary, for he will find her sitting at his gates. 6:15 To think about her is perfection of care, and whoever keeps watch for her will soon be free from care;
RABANUS. This wisdom is Christ, the Son of God, of whom the Apostle says: I speak of Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, in whom all the fullness of divinity dwells bodily (Col. 2:9). Therefore, he anticipates all with his grace, whoever longs for his love, because he himself is the way, the truth, and the life; through him one goes, toward him one strives, to him one arrives. But he who has vigilantly watched with a devoted heart from the origin of dawning faith in himself is not consumed by empty labor but is crowned by him for the zeal of good works. For he will find her sitting at his doors, because he will always have her help ready. Therefore, in the Apocalypse he himself says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone opens to me, I will enter to him, and will dine with him, and he with me (Rev. 3:20). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
6:16 for she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and in their paths she appears graciously, and in every thought she meets them. 6:17 For the beginning of her is the most sincere desire for instruction, and concern for instruction is love,
RABANUS. The thought of pure mind is the desire for divine contemplation; how then will he not be fulfilled in feeling, who is always intent on the love of the highest good, and blessed will he be, who with ever-watchful intention seeks the highest Wisdom, whose true adoption is the perception of true sincerity? But no one becomes exalted suddenly; rather, ascent to the highest must be through progress in virtues. Therefore, in the present life, effort must be devoted to learning wisdom, and in conduct, one must live according to the rule of its discipline. But when it has saturated him and perfectly possessed him, it will make him a participant in eternal happiness. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. [Verse 16] The paths of life lead to the Creator. Through visible things we have departed from God; through the same things we ought to return to God. For the paths to the Creator are the works of creation considered. When we observe what has been made, we marvel at the power of the Maker. In these paths, all wisdom meets us with providence, because the power of the Maker is set before us to be sought in everything that appears to be wonderfully made; and wherever the soul turns, if it pays careful attention, in these very things it finds God, through which it had departed; and it recognizes His power again from the consideration of those things, for the love of which it had abandoned Him; and through those things by which it fell perversely, by these things turned rightly it is recalled. For where we have fallen, there we must strive to rise; and as if by rising there, we fix the hand of consideration where, by the foot of careless love, we had fallen and lay neglected. For since we have fallen from the invisible through the visible, it is fitting that we should lean again on the visible to return to the invisible, so that by the same way by which the soul descended to the lowest, by that same step it may return to the highest; and by the same steps by which it fell, it may rise, while, as has been said, those things well considered call us back to God, which, badly chosen, separated us from Him. [Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 5.14.18] died 604 AD
6:18 and love is the keeping of her laws, and attention to the laws is assurance of incorruption, 6:19 and incorruption brings one near to God. 6:20 Desire for wisdom therefore leads to a kingdom. 6:21 If then you delight in thrones and scepters, O tyrants of peoples, honor wisdom, that you may reign forever.
RABANUS. The Apostle Peter shows the steps of this benefit and progress in his Epistle, saying: But you, brothers, making every effort, supply in your faith virtue, and in virtue knowledge, and in knowledge self-control, and in self-control patience, and in patience godliness, and in godliness brotherly love, and in brotherly love charity. For if these things are present and abound in you, they will make you neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-8). For he who, for the love of wisdom, lives with discipline in this world, keeping the commandments of God, through the progress of sacred virtues, will attain to the incorruption of immortality and eternal life, which is surely in the knowledge of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore he himself says in the Gospel to the Father: And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (Jn. 17:3). But when he has truly known God, then in the contemplation of Him, he will enjoy everlasting blessedness, and reigning together with his King, he will remain in perpetual light. If then you delight in thrones and scepters, O tyrants of peoples. It is necessary to remind the kings of the earth to love wisdom, because without wisdom it is impossible for anyone to rule rightly. Therefore this saying of Plato: The state is well governed when philosophers rule, and rulers philosophize. For to wish to hold the kingdom without wisdom is more an act of tyrannical cruelty than of royal moderation. Therefore, rulers should consider how fitting it is that they themselves be constant in meditation on the divine law. For whoever follows the standard of the sacred Scriptures in learning, teaching, and acting will without doubt receive the joy of the heavenly kingdom. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
6:22 But what wisdom is and how she came to be, I will declare, and I will not hide mysteries from you, but from the beginning of her birth I will search out and set forth her knowledge plainly, and I will not pass over the truth. 6:23 Nor indeed will I keep company with consuming envy, because this does not share in wisdom.
RABANUS. It is clear that the plague of envy is not a companion of wisdom, because through the envy of the Devil, death entered into the whole world, and through the wisdom of God the human race was rescued from the snare of death. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
6:24 But the multitude of the wise is the salvation of the world, and a prudent king the stability of a people. 6:25 Therefore be instructed by my words, and you will benefit.
RABANUS. But the multitude of the wise is the assembly of holy preachers, whose teaching is the health of the world, because through it an innumerable crowd of various nations has been converted to the faith of Christ. Of this crowd, indeed, the wise king is, or rather, the very wisdom and power of God, Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, who becomes the strength of his elect, since, as the Psalmist attests, the Lord is the strength of his people, and the protector of the salvation of his Christ (Ps. 28:8); of whom the same Prophet says: The Lord is my rock and my strength, and my savior, my strong God, I will hope in him (2 Sam. 22:2-3). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 7
7:1 I too am a mortal man, equal to all, and a descendant of the earthborn first-formed man; and in my mother’s womb I was molded into flesh, ten months old, solid in blood from the seed of a man and the pleasure of intercourse. 7:3 and when I was born I drew in the common air and fell upon the earth, akin to all, crying with the same first voice as all. 7:4 I was nursed in swaddling clothes and with cares; 7:5 for no king had any other beginning of birth, 7:6 but one entry into life for all, and an equal departure.
RABANUS. Therefore, wisdom displays its virtue through a vessel suited to itself; first, it makes its own preacher humbly recount the origin of human condition, so that everyone may know what they possess from the origin of the flesh and what from divine gift. For when he says that he was formed in blood and the seed of man during a period of ten months, and by the agreeable pleasure of sleep, he demonstrates the difference of the two sexes. For, as the natural philosophers say, the seed of man is white, and the seed of woman is bloody. Their mixture, within certain periods of time, causes the body of the infant to be formed, until it becomes animated and reaches the time of birth in the tenth month, although not all reach the tenth month, since some are born in the seventh, others in the eighth, others in the ninth; but they assert that the birth which occurs in the tenth month is more perfect, more vital, and healthier than that which occurs in the eighth or ninth month. For this, he says, is the beginning of birth common to all men, both noble and immoral, and he shows that there is one entrance for all into life and a similar exit for all: because every earthly man, sprung from the seed of man and woman, receives the beginning of temporal life, and passes from this world through the death of the body. However, the heavenly Adam, who was born without male seed from a virgin mother, has his own manner of birth, and he also arranged the manner of his death by his sovereign power. Nevertheless, the seriousness of his birth is celebrated by Christians in the tenth month after his conception, when from the eighth day before the Kalends of April, when he is believed to have been conceived, to the eighth day before the Kalends of January, when he is said to have been born, two hundred and seventy-six days are counted, which number of days joins nine months and six days, and therefore that evangelical saying, by which the same Savior foretold to the Jews that the temple of his body, built in forty-six years, would be destroyed, shows the perfection of his incarnation by the multiplication of the number six: because two hundred and seventy-six contains forty-six sixes. From this it is clearly evident that just as he is perfect God, so also is Jesus Christ our Lord perfect man. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
On the fact that he confesses to having received the spirit of wisdom, in which he recounts several gifts of its charisms.
7:7 Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given to me; I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. 7:8 I preferred her to scepters and thrones, and I counted wealth as nothing in comparison with her; 7:9 nor did I liken to her any priceless stone, because all gold in her sight is but a little sand, and silver will be regarded as clay before her.
RABANUS. The lover of wisdom said that he had chosen, invoked, and sought after wisdom, and for this reason, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, he obtained it, because, as the apostle James says: Whoever lacks this, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly and does not reproach (James 1:5); which is rightly preferred to kingdoms, thrones, and all riches, since all precious things of the world become worthless in comparison to it. Therefore, wisdom itself says in Proverbs: With me are riches and glory, heavenly wealth and righteousness; my fruit is better than gold and precious stone, and my gem than chosen silver (Prov. 8:18-19). Therefore, Truth itself in the Gospel likens the kingdom of heaven to a merchant seeking fine pearls; who, having found one precious pearl, went and sold all he had and bought it (Matt. 13:45-46); because whoever truly finds heavenly wisdom, that is, the word of God in the highest, despises all advantages of this present life, all human philosophy, and all eloquence of lecturers, and will rejoice to devote himself solely to divine contemplation. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:10 I loved her more than health and beauty, and chose to have her rather than light, because the radiance from her never sleeps. 7:11 All good things came to me together with her, and countless wealth in her hands.
RABANUS. The salvation of the soul, which is in the possession of divine wisdom, together with works of justice, must absolutely be preferred to all bodily health and to every kind of corporeal things, because, as will be shown later, this wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and surpasses every arrangement of the stars; compared to light, it is found to be purer, since night and darkness follow them, but its light is inextinguishable. Moreover, that all good things came to him together with it was experienced by Solomon himself, who, asking God for wisdom alone, also obtained with it the greatness of the kingdom, riches, and glory. Mystically, however, whoever has truly received the knowledge of Christ rejoices that he possesses the grace of all virtues together, and in the future will possess eternal life with Him. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:12 I rejoiced in all things, because wisdom leads them, though I did not know that she was their mother.
RABANUS. Whoever is guided in all things by wisdom, which leads and governs him in all his counsels and actions, is truly happy in everything; but it is remarkable how he says that he was ignorant that she is the mother of all these things, when previously he said that she anticipates those who desire her and shows herself first to them. Unless perhaps, in the course of his meditation, he realized that he had advanced so much that, by equating his former knowledge with the latter, when he saw that the latter excelled the former, he considered the former as ignorance in comparison to the latter. It is like that passage in the Gospel: for John the Baptist, proclaiming the coming Lord and pointing to him present with his finger, after he had baptized him, said that he did not know him before, but that it was revealed to him when the Holy Spirit descended upon him, saying therefore: "And I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me: 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God" (Jn. 1:33-34). So also among the lights of the world, although the other stars are bright in themselves, in comparison to the sun they are found to be by no means bright. Therefore, the sun itself, because it alone shines with daylight among the other stars, is so named. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:13 I learned without cunning and share without envy; I do not hide her wealth.
RABANUS. Earlier it was said that the Holy Spirit, the giver of divine wisdom, would flee from a artificial discipline, and that wisdom would not enter into a wicked soul. But now the true possessor of wisdom says that he has learned it without deceit, and therefore he could truly attain its knowledge and share it without envy, and did not hide its honesty, because envy can in no way coexist with true wisdom, which is known to be the lover of generosity and mercy. For what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what communion has Christ with Belial? (2 Cor. 6:14) Therefore the apostle James says: Who is wise and disciplined among you? Let him show by good conduct his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter zeal and contentions in your hearts, do not glory, and do not be false against the truth: for this wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there is zeal and contention, there will be instability and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first indeed pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to persuasion, consenting to good, full of mercy and good fruits, judging without hypocrisy (James 3:13–17). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:14 For she is an unfailing treasure for men, and those who use it have gained friendship with God, being commended by the gifts that come from instruction.
RABANUS. The infinite therefore calls wisdom a treasure, because the more diligently one learns it, the deeper one realizes it to be; and the more one advances by meditating on it, the more one understands that it is sought at greater depth; and therefore those who meditate on it become participants in the friendship of God, because they become true knowers of the commandments and will of God. Concerning this, Truth itself says to the disciples in the Gospel: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn. 15:15). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:15 And may God grant me to speak according to my purpose and to think worthily of the things given, because he himself is both guide of wisdom and corrector of the wise. 7:16 For in his hand are both we and our words, and all farsightedness and skill in craftsmanship.
RABANUS. God is the guide of wisdom, for the almighty Father is the author of the incarnation of His only-begotten Son, whom He sent into the world so that the human race might receive the illumination of truth. To Him He gave all power in heaven and on earth, for from Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things, and He made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture (Ps. 100:3). Whatever we rightly think, whatever we rightly speak, and whatever we accomplish in good deeds is His gift. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. And it often happens that they speak boldly, but nevertheless do not know how to live according to what they say. Therefore a certain wise man rightly said: But may God grant me to speak these things with understanding (Wis. 7:15). For understanding is indeed derived from perception. And he who desires not only to speak from knowledge, but also from understanding, wishes to experience what he says by feeling, not merely by knowing. But the mind of the arrogant does not penetrate the sense of their own words, because it is repelled from inward taste and right judgment toward those outward favors which it loves. True knowledge, however, affects, it does not exalt; nor does it make those it fills proud, but rather causes them to lament. When anyone is filled with this knowledge, he first desires to know himself; and now, being conscious of himself, he becomes wiser through it the more he truly recognizes his own weakness in it; and humility itself opens to him a wider path to this knowledge; and while he observes his own frailty, the very knowledge of sublime secrets reveals to him hidden depths, and being pressed by this knowledge, he becomes more subtle, so that he may be drawn to hidden things. Therefore Elihu, in the afflictions of blessed Job, does not find true reason, because he does not know how to seek it humbly; and being more ready to rebuke than to console, he says: This, therefore, is where you are not justified. (Job 33:12) [Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 5.17.31] died 604 AD
7:17 For he himself gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the operation of the elements, 7:18 the beginning and end and middle of times, the rotations of the turning seasons and the changes of the times, 7:19 the cycles of years and the positions of stars, 7:20 the natures of living creatures and the tempers of wild beasts, the violence of spirits and the thoughts of men, the varieties of plants and the powers of roots, 7:21 all that is hidden and all that is visible I learned; for wisdom, the craftsman of all, taught me.
RABANUS. However, how Solomon excelled in wisdom by divine gift, Scripture shows by saying: God also gave Solomon wisdom and very great prudence, and breadth of heart, like the sand that is on the seashore, and Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the Orientals and of the Egyptians, and he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and he was renowned among all the nations round about. Solomon also spoke three thousand proverbs, and he discussed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; and he discoursed about beasts and birds, and reptiles and fishes; and people came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-34). But our Peaceful One, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God, before whose eyes all things are naked and open, not only knows all things that are, and that have been, and that will be, but also gives to his own disciples, that is, to his own members, understanding of his mysteries, so that they may have knowledge not only of visible things but even of invisible things, and may perfectly understand what history teaches, or what allegory shows, what moral teaching recommends, and what anagogy associates about heavenly things. Therefore it is well read in the Gospel: He is the light of the world, who enlightens every man coming into this world (Jn. 1:9), whom whoever follows does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:22 For in her is the spirit of understanding, holy, unique, diverse, subtle, mobile, clear, undefiled, lucid, unharmed, loving the good, keen, unconstrained, beneficent, 7:23 humane, steadfast, secure, free from care, all-powerful, all-seeing, and passing through all spirits that are intelligent, pure, and most subtle.
RABANUS. Isaiah the Prophet, enumerating the divine gifts which he foretold would rest with the sevenfold Spirit upon the flower of the root of Jesse, shows that the fullness of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit exists in the humanity of the Savior, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in whom the fullness of divinity dwells bodily; nor does the Father give the Spirit to him by measure, therefore he confidently says: All things that the Father has are mine; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him (Matt. 11:27). Therefore, when the writer of history wished to recount the power of this wisdom, he said that in it is the Spirit of understanding, because the recognition of truth is discussed through it. Holy, because it sanctifies all things. Unique, because it creates unity and concord among the elect. Diverse, because it bestows variety of knowledge and virtue. Subtle and mobile, because the word of God is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, reaching even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts. Eloquent, because it opens the mouth of the mute, and makes the tongues of infants eloquent. Unstained, because no spot of sin adheres to it. Certain, because it deceives no one nor can it be deceived. Sweet, because it is gentle and merciful to all who call upon it. Loving good action, and forbidding no one to do good, because it does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Humane and kind, because it is merciful, gentle, and virtuous, steadfast, certain, secure, who says in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth, and the life (Jn. 14:6). And it is called steadfast, because by its nature it contains all things. But it is called mobile, because it meets even those who do not know it everywhere. Therefore, holding all things, being steadfast, and presenting itself to all, it is called mobile. But in these words a great question arises for us: why is this Spirit, who fills all things at once, called both mobile and steadfast? But if we return to the usage of human custom, we find the sense more quickly. For a man who moves everywhere in the region where he is, without doubt comes to meet everyone, and is suddenly found where he is not expected. Therefore, the omnipotent Spirit, so that it might be signified as present everywhere, is at once mobile, possessing all power, foreseeing all things, because it gives strength to the weary and light to the blind, for he alone will give strength and fortitude to his people. He comprehends all intelligible, pure, and subtle spirits, because in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and he beholds the heights of the mountains (Ps.95:4). In whose name every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father (Philip. 2:10-11). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. Of the Holy Spirit, as above: For in wisdom there is the spirit of understanding, holy, unique (Wis. 7:22), and below, all-powerful (Ibid., 23) … For that God is Spirit the Son taught in the Gospel, saying: God is Spirit (Jn. 4:24). But that He is all-powerful is shown in Solomon (Wis. 7:23), when it is intimated that the Spirit is all-powerful and all-seeing. [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
Because wisdom, which is the Son of God, reaches everywhere, because it is always with the Father, and abiding in itself, it renews all things.
7:24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her purity she pervades and penetrates all things.
RABANUS. What can be more mobile and subtle than wisdom, which created all things, governs all things, arranges all things, directs all things? For in it we live, move, and have our being. Moreover, it reaches everywhere because of its purity, for it is light, and there is no darkness at all in it. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:25 For she is a breath of the power of God and a pure production of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled enters into her.
RABANUS. It is evident that the only-begotten Son of God, born from the substance of God the Father, is coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial with the Father, and therefore nothing impure is found in him, because no evil approaches the highest good, but the simple good always remains the same. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:26 For she is a reflection of eternal light and an unblemished mirror of the working of God and an image of his goodness.
RABANUS. The Apostle says of the same Son: Who, being the brightness of glory, and the express image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3). For the Father calls him Wisdom itself so that he is his Word, not as a word is uttered from the mouth with sound, or thought before it is spoken; for this is accomplished within the spans of time, but that is eternal, and by enlightening he tells us both about himself and about the Father, what must be said to men, and therefore he says: No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Matt. 11:27). Because the Father reveals through the Son, that is, through his Word. For if this word which we utter is temporal and transitory, and shows itself and that about which we speak; how much more does the Word of God, through whom all things were made, show the Father as he is, because it too is as he is, and this is what the Father is, according to wisdom and essence. For according to the Word, he is not what the Father is, because the Word is not the Father; and the Word is spoken of relatively, as the Son, who certainly is not the Father; and therefore Christ is the power and wisdom of God, because from the Father as power and wisdom, he too is power and wisdom, as the light of God and from the Father as light, and the fountain of life with God the Father, who is surely the fountain of life: For with you, he says, is the fountain of life. In your light we shall see light (Ps. 36:9); because as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself (Jn. 5:26). And he was the true light which enlightens every man coming into this world; and this light was the Word with God, but the Word was also God. Now God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. But the light is not bodily but spiritual; nor is it so spiritual that it is made by illumination, as was said to the apostles: You are the light of the world; but the light which enlightens every man, that very highest wisdom is God, of whom we are now speaking. Therefore the Son is Wisdom, from the Father who is Wisdom: as light from light, and God from God, so that both the Father is light, and the Son is light, and the Father is God, and the Son is God. Therefore both the Father is wisdom, and the Son is wisdom, and therefore both together are one light, and one God, therefore both one wisdom, but the Son was made wisdom for us from God, and righteousness and sanctification, because we turn to him temporally, and that from a certain time, so that we may remain with him forever, and he too from a certain time the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AMBROSE. Therefore the Son is good, for He is the Radiance of eternal light, and the spotless mirror of God’s majesty, and the image of His goodness (Wis. 7:26). How then is He not good, who is the image of goodness? For just as the image of God is God, but there is one God, so also the image of divine goodness is good, but there is one goodness. Certainly, it is useful for me to believe that God is good, since He will be the judge of my sins. Let those who do not wish to believe that He is good see to themselves. And so, because this man who is testing is a lawyer, as is shown in another book, he spoke well: No one is good except God (Mark 10:18); so that he might be reminded that it is written: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test (Deut. 6:16), but rather confess to the Lord, For He is good (Ps. 135:1). (Verse 21.) Finally, He often rebukes him, for he boasted in the law that he had kept all things from his youth; in order to expose his empty boasting, He shows him that he still lacks what is of the Law. And so he is brought to sadness by the command of mercy, so that a certain natural form of judgment might be given against him. [Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, PL 1786C] died 397AD
7:27 And though she is one, she can do all things, and remaining in herself she renews all things, and from generation to generation, passing into holy souls, she makes friends of God and prophets.
RABANUS. Therefore, when something is pronounced or narrated in the Scriptures about wisdom, whether by wisdom itself speaking, or when something is said about it, the Son is especially indicated to us, by the example of whose image we also may not depart from God, because we too are the image of God, not indeed equal, for we are made by the Father through the Son, not born of the Father as that wisdom is; and we, because we are illuminated by the light, but that wisdom truly because it is the light illuminating, and therefore that wisdom is without an example, but for us it is an example. For it does not imitate anyone preceding it to the Father, from whom it is never separable, because it is the very same as He from whom it is; but we, imitating, imitate the one who remains, and we follow the one who stands, and walking in Him we strive toward Him: because He became for us a temporal way through humility, who is for us an eternal dwelling through divinity; for indeed, to pure intellectual spirits who have not fallen by pride, in the form of God and equal to God, and God, He offers the example, so that the same example might also offer a way of return to fallen man, who, because of the uncleanness of sins and the punishment of mortality, could not see God, He emptied Himself, not by changing His divinity, but by assuming our changeableness, and taking the form of a servant, He came to us in this world, who was in this world, because the world was made through Him, so that He might be an example above for those seeing God, an example below for those marveling at man, an example for the healthy to remain, an example for the weak to recover, an example for the dying not to fear, an example for the dead to rise again. In all things He Himself holds the primacy, for man ought not to follow anyone but God to attain happiness, and he could not perceive God by following, so he would follow God made man, at once both the one whom he could perceive and the one whom he ought to follow. Indeed, the Almighty Father begot almighty wisdom from Himself, which, remaining, renews all things in itself, because it, being absolute, rules and orders all changeable things by its will, which, transferring itself into the souls of the elect, by its grace makes them friends of God, and appoints them prophets. For all things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing (Jn. 1:3). Therefore it is said: You have made all things in wisdom, because through His Son, that is, His Word and His wisdom, God made all things. (Prov. 3:9) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:28 For God loves nothing except the one who dwells with wisdom.
RABANUS. If God loves no one except him who dwells with wisdom, then surely He hates all followers of foolishness. Therefore, it is declared in this statement that anyone who hates discipline cannot be a partaker of the grace of God, because the Lord is far from the wicked, and he who hates rebuke will die (Prov. 15:29). Therefore, the heart of the wise seeks doctrine, and the mind of the just will meditate on obedience. But he who trusts in his own heart is foolish; and he who walks wisely, this one will be saved (Prov. 15:10). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:29 For she is more beautiful than the sun and surpasses every constellation of stars; compared with light, she is found to be superior.
RABANUS. According to history, wisdom is said to be more splendid than the sun and the brightness of all the stars: for bodily light, which, being changed by the alternation of day and night, sometimes appears and sometimes is hidden, when compared to the spiritual and perpetual light of wisdom, seems to have scarcely the small brilliance of a certain spark. For every temporary thing, when compared to what is everlasting, seems as if it no longer exists, since it is consumed by eternity. Therefore, in a mystical sense, the brightness of the wisdom of God, which is Christ, when compared to the splendor of any of the saints, whom He here calls by the name of the sun and stars, far surpasses them, because they are changeable, but He always remains the same. The Psalmist, contemplating this, says to the Lord Himself: In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; all of them will grow old like a garment, and like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will have no end (Ps. 102:25-27). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:30 For night indeed gives way to this, but evil does not prevail over wisdom.
RABANUS. Since none of the elect in this life is immune from sin; therefore, no wickedness approaches Christ. Of whom it is written: Blessed is the just man in the Lord who has been found without stain (Sir. 31). And again: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth (Isa. 53:9). To whom the prince of this world comes and finds nothing in him. Nevertheless, he himself bore our weaknesses and carried our diseases, because he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose wounds we have been healed (1 Peter 2:24). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 8
That same Wisdom reaches from end to end mightily, and arranges all things sweetly; she teaches the four principal virtues, that is, temperance and wisdom, justice and virtue, and makes her participants to be glorious.
8:1 And it reaches mightily from end to end and orders all things sweetly.
RABANUS. Therefore, the only-begotten Son of God is co-eternal and co-equal in all things to the Father and to the Holy Spirit. From end to end, that is, from eternity to eternity, he reaches mightily, because he is the power of God; and he arranges all things sweetly, because he himself is wisdom, who in the Revelation of John therefore says: I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord God (Rev. 22:13). The beginning, whom no one precedes. The end, to whom no one succeeds in the kingdom, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. Who elsewhere through the Prophet says: Before me no god was formed, and after me there will not be (Isa. 43:10). Otherwise, wisdom reaches from end to end mightily when, from the beginning of the creation of the world to the coming of the Lord, it mightily asserts the wondrous works of God and the pure testimonies of the divine law through the Old Testament, and from the incarnation of the Word to the end of the world, it sweetly explains the sweetness of the divine commandments through the Gospel. Therefore, the one and the same creator is of both Testaments, namely the mediator of God and men, who in the law commended the fear of himself to his elect, and in the Gospel the love of himself. Therefore, elegantly, wisdom is said to reach from end to end mightily: because everywhere it is proclaimed to be of flawless and perfect virtue; for we often find in the Scriptures that the end is put for perfection, as is that saying of the Apostle: The end of the commandment is charity, from a pure heart and a good conscience, and faith sincere (1 Tim. 1:5). And again: The end of the law is Christ for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4). Therefore also in the Gospel, Truth itself wished to show that the two precepts of love are the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and answered the lawyer, saying: On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 22:40), that is, all the doctrine of the Law and the Prophets is fulfilled in these, and in these is completed. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. On common renewal. The Father renews, the Son renews, and the Holy Spirit does this. Of the Father in Jeremiah: Convert us, O God, and we shall be converted to you: renew our days as from the beginning (Lam. 5:21). Of the Son in Solomon: For it reaches mightily from end to end and orders all things sweetly (Wis. 8:1), and, Being one, it makes all things new (Wis. 7:17). Of the Holy Spirit to the Romans: But now we have been discharged from the law of death, in which we were held, so that we serve in the newness of the spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter (Rom. 7:6). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
8:2 I loved her and sought her out from my youth, and I sought to take her as my bride, and I became enamored of her beauty.
RABANUS. I have loved her, I have sought her from my youth. The lover of wisdom says that he has sought wisdom itself from his youth, that is, from the cradle of human life, and therefore he has truly found it, because he was a diligent seeker of it, according to that promise which she elsewhere made to her lovers, saying: Blessed is the man who listens to me, and who watches at my doors daily, and observes the posts of my gates (Prov. 8:34). Whoever finds me finds life, and will draw salvation from the Lord (Prov. 8:35). And again: I, she says, love those who love me, and those who watch for me in the morning will find me (Prov. 8:17). And I sought to take wisdom as my bride, and I became a lover of her beauty. I sought, he says, to take wisdom as my bride, that is, to join her to myself in a perpetual covenant, from whose companionship I know that I never wish to be separated, and whose beauty I have chosen to desire above all; for the beauty of wisdom is truth, which all who are truly religious especially long to know: because it is by this alone that all the elect of God hope to be made blessed in eternal rest. Therefore, Truth itself says to the Father in the Gospel: This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (Jn. 17:3). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:3 She glorifies noble birth by living with God, and the Lord of all loved her;
RABANUS. Generosity is glorified by having fellowship with God. Therefore, generosity and nobility belong to the only-begotten Son, to have an eternal and omnipotent Father, with whom he himself remains coequal and coeternal from the beginning: because in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (Jn. 1:1-2). The Lord of all sits and loved her. Because the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand: For she is the teacher of God's discipline, and the chooser of his works. John clearly proves this in the Gospel, saying: He who is to come after me has been made before me, because he was before me, and from his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace: because the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him (Jn. 1:15-18). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:4 for she is an initiate in the knowledge of God and an associate in his works. 8:5 And if wealth is a desirable possession in life, what is richer than wisdom, which works all things?
RABANUS. And if riches are sought in life, what is richer than wisdom, which accomplishes all things? Therefore, the wisdom and power of God is the Lord Christ, through whom all things were made, and who, together with the Father, arranges and governs all things by his own will, according to the saying of the Gospel: My Father, he says, works even now, and I work (Jn. 5:17). He contains within himself the riches of all virtues, and distributes them to his lovers according to his will, as is equally declared in both the New and the Old Testament. Therefore, as wisdom itself speaks in Proverbs, saying: With me are riches and glory, lofty sheep and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold and precious stone, and my produce than chosen silver. I walk in the ways of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may enrich those who love me, and fill their treasures (Prov. 8:18–21). So also in the Gospel, the same cries out and says: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (Jn. 8:12). Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matt. 11:28-30). And elsewhere: Everyone, he says, who has left house or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will possess eternal life (Matt. 19:29). This saying can also especially pertain to those who meditate on the divine law, who meditate on it day and night properly, and are constant in contemplation, because whoever seeks it with attentive heart and good determination will be filled with the indescribable sweetness of its inner truth, and will enjoy the abundance of all good things. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:6 And if prudence brings things about, who among the things that are is a more skillful craftsman than she?
RABANUS. But if sense is at work, which of these is more an artificer than that? If, therefore, wisdom is the creator of sound sense and profound understanding, how is it that she herself is not the producer of all good works, of sacred virtues, which offer lasting salvation to their lovers? [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:7 And if anyone loves righteousness, the labors of this are virtues; for she teaches soberness and caution, righteousness and courage, than which nothing is more useful in life for human beings.
RABANUS. And if anyone loves justice, the labors of it possess great virtues. No one can attain the prize of righteousness unless he follows the rule of wisdom, because it preserves the standard of equity and leads by the way of truth to eternal life. For indeed, the labors of it possess great virtues, because there is nothing idle, nothing combative in its works, but whatever things are true, whatever are pure, whatever are righteous, whatever are holy, whatever are lovable, whatever are of good reputation, these it performs; and it entrusts these things to its lovers to be done, so that by the practice of this good they may obtain eternal life; for the fruit of light is in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth. for she teaches soberness and caution, righteousness and courage, than which nothing is more useful in life for human beings. Not only do philosophers believe that there are four principal virtues, but our own authorities also agree, which here are called restraint, wisdom, righteousness, and virtue. Elsewhere, however, these same virtues are called by different names: wisdom, righteousness, courage, and restraint. But what these four are, or what the works of each are, we ought briefly to demonstrate with the Lord enlightening us. Hardly anyone is ignorant that the number four is sacred to perfection, since the whole world is found to be bounded by four parts or corners: east, west, north, and south; and Adam himself, the father of the human race, or the general name which is called “man,” is spelled with four letters. The body also, constructed from four elements, contains within itself the mystery of the number four. Even the soul itself is said to have four affections, by which we are led either to good or to evil; and the ancients discovered this subtly, and their discoveries have been approved and received by their successors. Moreover, the four rivers which flow from the source of paradise, or the four Gospels as the divine course of the wheel, and the four living creatures, their four wings and faces, all abundantly commend the dignity of this number. Therefore, we must carefully consider how much perfection these virtues, which are so numerous, contain in their number, how much sanctity they grant upon the Christian soul, and how there is nothing perfect anywhere which is not found in these virtues. For if restraint makes one moderate, wisdom wise, righteousness righteous, and courage brave, I do not know what could be more perfect than one who acts with restraint, righteously, wisely, and bravely. Therefore, it is indeed difficult for us to show the names of the individual virtues from which perhaps other virtues arise, which originate from those four we have called principal; but when their properties and actions begin to be revealed, it may appear from the effects what virtues arise from each. Nevertheless, above all, we must know and hold that these four virtues, or all those which arise from them, are gifts of God, and that no one has, had, or will have them except to whom God, who is the source and origin of all virtues, has granted them. For whoever at any time, in any nation, believed in God and lived by faith, could certainly become moderate, wise, righteous, or brave by His gift. But those who, not knowing God or even blaspheming, lived without faith, are to be believed to have been unable to receive or possess any of those virtues from God. For all have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is none who does good, not even one (Ps. 14:3). And although they seemed to have a certain appearance of holiness, they were entirely ignorant of its power, because they were unwilling to submit to their Creator. Therefore, searching various things and striving by different inquiries and debates, they did not know the way of wisdom, nor did they find the way of discipline, and therefore they perished. And because they did not have the wisdom of God, they perished by their own wisdom. For God, our God, who is the source of life and the true light, the Word and power and wisdom of God, to whom no other can be compared nor is any like found, He discovered every way of discipline, and gave it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved. After these things, He appeared on earth and lived among men (Baruch 3:36–38). Therefore, all usefulness of discipline and understanding, of wisdom and prudence, must be referred to Him, because every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:8 And if anyone desires great experience, she knows the things of old and can foretell things to come; she understands the turning of words and the solutions of riddles, she foreknows signs and wonders and the outcomes of seasons and times.
RABANUS. It is clear that to the eternal power and wisdom of God, namely our Lord Jesus Christ, all things are open, and everything is possible for Him; there is nothing hidden from Him, nor can anything resist His will. But whatever He wishes, He does in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths; He Himself knows the past and judges the future, as He says through the prophet: “Before Me no god was formed, and after Me there will be none” (Isa. 43:10). And in Proverbs: “The Lord,” he says, “possessed me at the beginning of His ways, before He made anything from the beginning; I was ordained from eternity, and from ancient times, before He made the earth” (Prov. 8:22-23). And again: “When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a law and circle around the depths, when He established the sky above, and balanced the fountains of waters, when He surrounded the sea with its limit, and set a law for the waters so that they would not pass their boundaries, when He hung the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging all things, and I delighted every day, playing before Him” (Prov. 8:27-30). He Himself knows the subtleties of words and the endings of arguments, who in the Gospel said to His disciples: “I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to resist or contradict” (Luke 21:15). He Himself knows signs and wonders before they happen, and the outcomes of times and ages, who, instructing His chosen ones about the future, foretold to them the signs and wonders which will come before the day of judgment and His coming at the end, therefore saying: “There will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and expectation of what is coming upon the whole world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and majesty,” and the rest (Luke 21:25-27). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
DIDYMUS. Because there is no ignorance in Him, Daniel makes this clear, saying about Him: “He who knows what is in the darkness, and light is with Him,” (Dan. 2:22) and also: “Blessed is the knower of secrets, knowing all things before they happen.” (Dan. 13:42) For if He has knowledge of secrets and things hidden in darkness and of all things that are to be done, of what could He still be ignorant? Therefore, this light has no communion with ignorance of intelligible things. Therefore it is written: “What communion has light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6:14) If the heretics wish to say, in order to detract from the divinity, that the presence disagrees with what was said: “He made darkness His hiding place” (Ps. 18:12), this is God; and also: “Moses entered the cloud where the Lord was” (Ex. 24:18), let them know that in these passages, darkness signifies the obscurity of His incomprehensibility. For it is possible that this obscurity arises for us through our ignorance of the reasons, not in God, who is light. Attention must also be paid to the very words, because what is meant by saying that God is in darkness and in a cloud or gloom, and that He made darkness His hiding place, is signified by these words: “And in Him there is no darkness at all.” (1 Jn. 1:5) Therefore, in Him there is no darkness, because it is not in His nature to have any; but He seems to us to be in darkness and gloom, since we do not have comprehension of Him, whose substance is known to exist. [Didymus of Alexandria, Commentary on the first epistle of John 2:4, PG 39] 313-398AD
8:9 I therefore judged this one to be taken for companionship, knowing that she will be a counselor of good things and an encouragement in cares and sorrow.
RABANUS. The wise man, recounting many things about the virtues of wisdom, finally added that he desires to be joined to its company, from which he would have comfort and relief from his weariness; so also the people of the Church, who can truly be said to be king and genuinely wise, because they are members of the heavenly King and Lord, as the apostle Peter says: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession (1 Peter 2:9), rejoice in having the communication of divine wisdom, namely of the Lord Jesus Christ, and delight in remaining continually in his embrace and spiritual banquet, whom they know to be most merciful and kind, and the most generous dispenser of heavenly gifts. Therefore, the same speaks in the Apocalypse of Saint John, saying: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me. To the one who conquers, I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat with my Father on his throne (Rev. 3:20-21). This passage can also be referred to the Virgin Mother of God, who, having the purpose of most chaste virginity within herself, deserved to be made fruitful by the divine word of power, and by giving birth to the Son of God for the salvation of the human race, is to be venerated by all with the proclamation of most celebrated praise. Therefore, she herself says in the song of the Gospel: Because he has regarded the humility of his handmaid, for behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed (Luke 1:48). To which voice also agree those things which are added in this place. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:10 Through her I shall have glory among the multitudes and honor before the elders, though young; 8:11 I shall be found sharp in judgment and shall be admired in the sight of rulers; 8:12 when I am silent they will wait for me, and when I speak they will pay attention, and when I talk they will lay their hands on their mouths.
RABANUS. For the birth from the Virgin has been a wonder for all ages, who came, according to the word of blessed Simeon, for the fall and resurrection of many, and as a sign which would be contradicted. Of whom it is also said through Isaiah: The root of Jesse, who stands as a sign for the peoples, before whom kings will shut their mouths, him the nations will seek, and his tomb shall be glorious (Isa. 11:10). Otherwise, the assembly of holy teachers, filled with the doctrine of the Savior and illuminated by the grace of the Holy Spirit, has brightness before the crowds, when by preaching the Gospel and by recommending the word of God through miracles, it calls together a multitude of the elect from all nations to the faith of God. It has honor among the elders when it subjects the principalities and powers of this world to the Christian religion; or even, according to the mystical sense, it has honor among the elders when it is joined with the patriarchs and prophets in the heavenly kingdom. It is found young and sharp in judgment, when it discerns and judges all things according to the law of God. And it is admirable in the sight of the mighty, when the kings of the earth and princes are amazed at the preaching of the Gospel, and, marveling, revere it, and look upon the speaker, and are unable to resist his argument, as has happened very often, as the book of Acts of the Apostles and the passions of the holy martyrs under the New Testament testify. Therefore, it is read in the aforementioned book that, when Peter was preaching, fear came upon every soul. Many wonders and signs were also done by the apostles in Jerusalem, and great fear was upon all (Acts 1). Similarly, in the same book it is narrated that those who disputed with Stephen could not resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke (Acts 6). Likewise, Saul, after he received the faith of God and was baptized in Damascus through the preaching of Ananias, grew stronger and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus, affirming that this is the Christ, acting confidently in the name of God (Acts 9). The same apostle, when he was preaching the word of God on the island of Cyprus, and there found a false prophet of the Jews named Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, a wise man, when he found that this man was resisting him, he rebuked him and struck him with blindness; immediately the proconsul, when he saw what had happened, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord (Acts 13). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:13 Through her I shall have immortality and leave behind an everlasting memory to those after me.
RABANUS. The saints possess immortality, because, instructed by the truth of faith and rooted and grounded in divine love, they are already partakers of the hope of future immortality, and by the teachings of sound doctrine, as well as by the examples of good works with the fruits of virtues, they will leave a blessed memory to the generations that come after them, and deservedly so, because they will have a great multitude of faithful disciples from all nations as preservers of their discipline. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:14 I shall govern peoples, and nations will be subject to me; 8:15 dreaded tyrants will fear me when they hear of me; in the multitude I shall appear good, and in war brave.
RABANUS. Holy teachers arrange the peoples and the nations subject to them to live with discipline, when they open up and explain to them the testimonies of the Law and the Prophets, and make them obey the sacred words of the Gospel. They no longer allow them to wander, wavering through various sects, but compel them to preserve the truth of faith and the purity of doctrine in all things. Even the most savage persecutors and dreadful kings are forced to yield to their patience, because they are in no way able to resist the power of Christ, who works wonders in them. He said to his disciples in the Gospel: "In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage, for I have overcome the world" (Jn. 16:33). And again: "He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world." (1 Jn. 4:4) Therefore, among the multitude of the faithful, they appear sincere and kind, but in battle against their adversaries, they are loyal and most courageous. But while these things are done outwardly, let us hear what wisdom grants them inwardly. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:16 Entering into my house, I shall rest with her; for her companionship has no bitterness, nor her fellowship any pain, but cheerfulness and joy.
RABANUS. After the preaching of the divine word, after the labors of good works by which holy men outwardly offer comfort to their listeners, returning to the homes of their hearts, they devote themselves in meditation to the contemplation of divine wisdom, and therefore, from the troublesome annoyances of secular affairs, they inwardly attain the peace of heavenly sweetness. For, as it is said, “her company has no bitterness, nor does her companionship bring weariness,” because bodily pleasures, when taken greedily, burden the body; but spiritual delights, the more they are received, the more they uplift the mind. For this is the usual difference between the delights of the heart and those of the body: bodily pleasures, when not possessed, kindle a grievous desire; but when greedily consumed, they immediately turn the eater to disgust through filling. On the other hand, spiritual delights, when not possessed, are a source of weariness; but when possessed, they are desired; and the more they are consumed by the one who hungers, the more they are hungered for by the one who consumes. In the former, desire pleases, experience displeases; in the latter, desire is of little value, experience pleases more; in the former, desire produces filling, filling produces disgust; but in the latter, desire produces filling, filling produces desire. For spiritual delights increase their own desire in the mind as they satisfy it, because the more their flavor is perceived, the more it is understood that they are to be loved more eagerly, and therefore, when not possessed, they cannot be loved, because their flavor is unknown. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:17 These things I considered within myself and pondered in my heart, that there is immortality in kinship with wisdom 8:18 and in friendship with her good delight, and in the labors of her hands unfailing wealth, and in the practice of conversation with her prudence, and in association with her words good repute; I went about seeking how I might take her to myself.
RABANUS. Immortality is in the kinship of wisdom, because whatever is truly known about its nature is found to be wholly immortal and always living. In whose friendship, there is good delight; and the more one advances in love for it, the more sweetly one burns with affection for it. In the works of its hands is honor without failure, because it is the origin of all things, and through it all things were created which are in heaven and which are on earth, and which are under the earth. Of which it is written: You have made all things in wisdom (Ps. 104:24). And in the Gospel it says: All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made; in him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it (Jn. 1:3-5). In the contest of its speech, wisdom and brilliance are in the communication of its words, because wisdom itself opens the mouth of the mute, and makes the tongues of infants eloquent. Indeed, I do not want you to seek all these things outside of Christ, for all things that are of God, Christ is: he himself is his wisdom, he himself is strength, he himself is justice, he himself is holiness, and redemption, he himself, to come to the present, is also forethought. But since it is in the underlying, according to the variety of senses, it is called by different names, wisdom signifies one thing, justice another. For when wisdom is spoken of, it institutes the disciplines of divine and human things. When justice, it signifies the distributor and judge of merits. When holiness, that virtue is described which makes believers in God holy. I was going around seeking to take her for myself. This going around signifies the diligence of seeking and the effort of meditating, through which the hearts of the elect strive to attain the knowledge of wisdom. Therefore, also the bride in the Song of Songs says: I will rise and go around the city, through the streets and squares, seeking whom my soul loves. I sought him and did not find him; the watchmen who guard the city found me. Have you seen him whom my soul loves? Scarcely had I passed them, when I found him whom my soul loves (Songs 3:2-4). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. That the Son according to divinity has always been immortal, or is, the divine writings testify everywhere. Solomon affirming the same more clearly: Immortality is in thought wisdom, and the delight of its friendship is good (Wis. 8:17). Likewise there: In the works of the hands of wisdom is honor without failing, and in the contest of his words immortality, and eternal life, in the communication of his words perpetual brightness (Ibid., 18). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
8:19 I was a child of good disposition, and I had obtained a good soul,
RABANUS. From the Scriptural account of the Kings, we have learned that Solomon, in his youth, asked the Lord for wisdom and a teachable heart so that he might rightly judge the people of the Lord and discern between good and evil, which he obtained, to such an extent that no king before him was like him, nor would any arise after him. Therefore, in a certain way, this statement can be applied to him, because he was granted a good soul, in that he possessed a wise and understanding heart. But it must be considered whether what is added afterwards can pertain to him. Since Scripture itself in many places reproves him, because he loved foreign women, who turned his heart away, and he offended the Lord by building idols for the sake of foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods, therefore it seems to me more fitting, according to the allegory, to refer this to the people of the saints, who, regenerated by the washing of holy baptism and filled with faith in the Savior, received the childhood of good character and similar innocence, and, intent on sacred studies, strive to make progress and to reach the summit of virtues. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
8:20 or rather, being good, I came into an undefiled body.
RABANUS. And when I became better, I came to the defiled body. For the Wisdom of God, which is the unchangeable good, came to the holy and incorrupt virgin, taking from there the defiled body, from which all generations call her blessed. The lover of Wisdom asks God to grant him wisdom, so that he may know what is beneficial before him at all times. And when I became better, I came to a defiled body. For it is written above that the keeping of God's laws is the completion of incorruption, and incorruption makes one to be near to God. But no one can attain to such perfection unless divine grace exalts him. From which, also, the gift of knowledge and the bestowal of virtues are to be sought and hoped for, because, according to the statement of James: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights (James 1:17). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Because the Wisdom of God, which is the unchangeable good, came to the holy and incorrupt virgin, taking from her a body untainted, for which reason all generations call her blessed. The lover of Wisdom asks God to grant him wisdom, so that he may know what is fitting to do before Him at all times.
8:21 And knowing that I would not otherwise be self-controlled unless God granted it, and this too was a mark of prudence, to know whose gift it is, I appealed to the Lord and entreated him, and said with all my heart.
Chapter 9
9:1 The God of our fathers and Lord of mercy, who made all things by your word 9:2 and by your wisdom formed man, that he might rule over the creatures made by you, 9:3 and govern the world in holiness and righteousness and in uprightness of soul judge judgment, 9:4 give me wisdom, the ensemble of your thrones, and do not reject me from among your children. 9:5 For I am your servant and the son of your maidservant, a weak man and short-lived and inferior in understanding of judgment and laws;
RABANUS. In the Gospel, after presenting the example of the one who persistently asked his friend, who was in a room, for three loaves of bread, the Lord immediately turned his speech to the disciples, saying: Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened (Matt. 7:7-8). Similarly, the apostle James admonishes his hearers to implore wisdom from God, saying: But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly and does not reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5). From this it is clear that whoever asks rightly, and for those things which are according to God's will, will not be frustrated in the effect of his petition. Therefore, this wise petitioner begs God the Father to give him wisdom, the assistant at his throne, namely that wisdom which always remains with him, and reigns, and can never be separated from him, which is also his Word, through whom all things were made, and man himself, rational, was created in the image of God, so that he might surpass all earthly creatures, and, subject to God, might rule the world placed under him. However, in a higher sense, this can be referred to our Redeemer himself, who, sent by the Father into the world, consented to be born as a man through the Virgin, and who rules and governs the world of the Church by his own will. His judgment never fails, because, as the Prophet testifies: Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist (Isa. 11:5). He will judge the world in equity, and the peoples in his truth (Ps. 96:13), who was not rejected but rather chosen by God, of whom it is said through Isaiah: Behold my servant, I will uphold him, my chosen one, my soul delights in him (Isa. 42:1). He also agreed to be called by the name of servant, therefore the divine voice said to him through the aforementioned prophet: It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth (Isa. 49:6). His mother also did not refuse to profess herself the handmaid of God, who, when the angel announced to her the divine birth in the Gospel, replied: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38). Therefore, the saints are his members, who, reborn by water and the word through the mother Church, and cleansed from the stain of sins by the grace of the Holy Spirit, humbly submit themselves to his service. Therefore, the Son prays to the Father, the head interceding for the body, that it may be enlightened by his grace and led in the way of righteousness; for he knows that whatever good he has in speech, will, and deed is his gift. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:6 for even if anyone be perfect among the children of men, if your wisdom be absent, he will be regarded as nothing.
RABANUS. This is also read in the book of Job: Is not wisdom found among the aged, and does not understanding come with long life? With Him are wisdom and strength; He has counsel and understanding. If He tears down, none can rebuild; if He shuts a man in, none can open (Job 12:12-14). It is clearly evident that human weakness, unless it is sustained by divine help, will fail in countless ways and be reduced to nothing. For by the grace of God we are saved, and every perfect gift comes from above. Aware of this, Paul says of himself: Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:24). And again he says: By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me (1 Cor. 15:10). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:7 You have chosen me king of your people and judge of your sons and daughters; 9:8 you have said to build a temple on your holy mountain and an altar in the city of your dwelling, a copy of the holy tent, which you prepared from the beginning. 9:9 And with you is wisdom, who knows your works and was present when you made the world, and who understands what is pleasing in your eyes and what is right in your commandments. 9:10 Send her forth from your holy heavens and send her from the throne of your glory, that she may labor at my side and I may know what is pleasing to you.
RABANUS. The history of the kings narrates that King David, wishing to build a temple, was forbidden by the Lord through the prophet, because his son, who would succeed him in the kingdom, would be the one to build a temple for the Lord; and so it happened that Solomon, who is considered the author of this book, built a wondrous temple for the Lord in Jerusalem. Therefore, now the same king, recalling the benefits of God, asks that His wisdom, through which He made the world, remain with him, and that his actions and heart be directed according to His will. But because the temple itself prefigured the Church of Christ, which the true peacemaker and our King, the Lord Jesus, builds daily through His workers, that is, the holy preachers, for the praise, glory, and honor of His name, we cannot inappropriately transfer these prayers which Solomon offered for himself to the person of the teachers of the holy Church, who know that all things pertaining to the governance of the people of God are not of their own power but of divine gift. Therefore, they also daily ask that He who is the author of every good work may Himself be the giver of supreme perfection. For whatever is written in the divine Scriptures about the wisdom of God, we ought to refer to none other than the mediator between God and men; for He is our peace, who made both one, who is called by the Apostle the power and wisdom of God: the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, because in Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through Him and in Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together, and He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might have preeminence in all things: because it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Col. 1:15-20). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:11 For she knows all things and understands them and will guide me sensibly in my actions and will guard me in her glory; 9:12 and my works will be acceptable, and I will judge your people justly and will be worthy of my father's thrones.
RABANUS. For all things are naked and open before the eyes of the wisdom of God, nor does any thought escape it; therefore, the one whom it governs, it leads soberly along the path of virtues, and truly protects from the injuries of adversaries, and by making his works acceptable, will render him worthy of the reward of the saints in the heavenly kingdom. But because it belongs to God alone to know what He Himself wills, and He acts in all things by His own command, therefore this praiser of the works of God, suddenly struck with awe, marvels at His greatness. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:13 For what man can know the counsel of God? Or who can think what the Lord desires?
RABANUS. Whose excellence Paul, amazed, says: O the depth of the riches of wisdom and knowledge, how incomprehensible are His judgments, and unsearchable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, and it shall be repaid to him? For from Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things; to Him be honor and glory forever and ever (Rom. 11:33-36). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:14 For the thoughts of mortals are timid, and our designs are uncertain.
RABANUS. Therefore the thoughts of mortals are timid, because they are fragile, and therefore the foresight of man is uncertain, because his soul is changeable, and his flesh is corruptible, as the following sentence shows. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:15 For a perishable body weighs down the soul, and this earthy tent burdens the mind with many concerns. 9:16 And we scarcely guess at what is on earth and with work find what is at hand; but who has traced out what is in the heavens? 9:17 And who would have known your counsel, unless you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? 9:18 And so the paths of those on earth were set right, and men were taught the things pleasing to you,
RABANUS. Blessed is the man who is always fearful (Prov. 28:14), and does not presume to think, speak, or act at any time. On the contrary, the foolish people of heretics are confident and ensnared, caught by their own words; therefore Scripture says: But he who is stubborn of mind will fall into evil (Ibid.). For it is fitting for the servant of God to deal soberly with earthly things and cautiously with heavenly things, and let him remember what is written: Do not seek things that are too high for you; God made all good things in their own time, and handed over the world to their conflict, so that man may not find the work which God has done from the beginning to the end (Eccles. 3:11). And elsewhere: I applied, he says, my heart to know wisdom, and to understand the dispensation that is at work on earth; and I understood that of all the works of God, no man can find the reason for those things which are done under the sun: and the more he labored to seek, the less he would find. Even if the wise man says he knows, he will not be able to find it (Eccles. 8:16–17). Therefore it is rightly said here: What is in view we find with labor, but what is in the heavens, who has investigated? But lest he should cause us to despair of inquiring into divine things, he brings us consolation by adding the grace of the Holy Spirit. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:19 and were saved by wisdom.
RABANUS. But who has known your mind, unless you have given him wisdom, and sent your Holy Spirit from on high? For it is clear that we can only perceive knowledge of divine things through the grace of the Holy Spirit, because no one knows what is in a man except the spirit of the man which is in him. So also, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God; he himself enlightens the hearts of the saints, and instructs them about invisible and heavenly things, so that they may perceive the understanding of the divine majesty according to their capacity, and are always compelled to love his goodness. For by wisdom all those who pleased you, Lord, from the beginning have been healed. Now he begins to explain that through the wisdom of God, that is, Christ, all who pleased God have been healed. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 10
By Wisdom, that is, by Christ, all those who have pleased God are made holy. That the Wisdom of God always remains with the Father before the ages, through whom in the law, and before the law, and in the Gospel, all things have been ordered.
10:1 This preserved the first-created father of the world, when he was created alone, and delivered him from his own transgression; 10:2 and gave him strength to rule over all things.
RABANUS. By the goodness of the Creator, the first man was created and placed in paradise, and by the order of his Maker, he was set above all living creatures, so that Scripture relates that after all the creatures of the earth and all the birds of the sky were formed, God brought them to Adam to see what he would call them, and Adam named all the animals, all the birds of the sky, and all the beasts of the earth (Gen. 11). But when, because of the transgression of the command, he was cast out of paradise and plunged into the misery of this world, he was again restored through divine wisdom, through which he was first created, that is, Christ; and this is the sign of the great mercy of almighty God, that He decided to restore the man who, having been deceived by another’s persuasion, fell into sin, so that His work would not perish, which from the beginning He had made in His own image and likeness. For He made the nations of the world able to be healed (Wis. 1), and He who did not do evil, lest His work should become worthless, that is, lest His work in man should utterly perish. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
10:3 But when the unjust one departed from her in his anger, he perished together with murderous wrath;
RABANUS. He denotes the first offspring of Adam, that is, Cain, who through the wickedness of envy departed from God and unjustly killed his brother Abel, bringing about his own destruction. When the punishment for this crime was exacted in the flood and the generation of Cain was destroyed, divine wisdom again, through the construction of the ark, preserved Noah, descending from the line of Seth, together with his sons, for the restoration of the world, as the following statement demonstrates: [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
10:4 because of whom wisdom again saved the earth that was being flooded, steering the righteous man by means of a lowly piece of wood.
RABANUS. But in a higher sense, wisdom, governing the righteous through a humble piece of wood, restored the human race, when through the passion of Christ’s cross it erased the sin of the whole world and led the chosen to the entrance of the heavenly kingdom. But again, after the cleansing of the flood, it then adds what wisdom accomplished as a wondrous work: [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
10:5 She also, when nations were confused in the agreement of wickedness, knew the righteous man and preserved him blameless before God, and kept him strong against the feelings of his child.
RABANUS. After the Devil, through pride, deceived the human race in the building of the tower, so that by this transgression the unity of the common language was lost, again the wisdom of God united the offspring of Abraham in the truth of his faith, giving him a law and worship in which they might prove themselves to be true worshipers of the one God. From his seed also, producing the redemption of the human race, He blessed in him all the nations of the earth, and therefore what the pride of the Devil had confounded, the humility of Christ, through His grace, reunited in the knowledge and speech of all languages. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
10:6 This same one delivered the righteous man, when the ungodly were being destroyed, who had fled the fire that came down upon Pentapolis; 10:7 of which still there stands, as a witness to wickedness, a smoking wasteland, and plants bearing fruit in unseasonable times, a standing pillar of salt, a memorial of an unbelieving soul. 10:8 For those who passed by wisdom were not only harmed by not knowing the good, but also left behind in life a memorial of madness, so that in the very things in which they stumbled they might not be able even to escape notice. 10:9 But wisdom rescued from troubles those who served her.
RABANUS. This opinion was in a certain way explained by the blessed Peter in his Epistle concerning the justice of God, writing thus: “He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and he rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the evil conduct of the lawless. For that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard. The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,” etc. (2 Peter 2:6-9) The story is well known, how God sent fire upon Pentapolis and justly condemned the sinful cities, turning the most fertile land into a wilderness, so that it no longer yields any fruit, showing that the souls damned in hell will burn forever without the fruit of repentance. For when Lot fled from there and headed for the mountains, his wife, because she looked back and did not persevere in her begun journey, is said to have been turned into a pillar of salt. This mystically warns us that those who have been regenerated by the grace of God and called to eternal life should not look back to the old way of life, nor remain foolishly midway. The fact that Lot’s wife looked back and remained, and was turned into salt, serves as an example for the seasoning of the faithful, by which others may be salted; for Christ did not keep this silent, saying, “Remember Lot’s wife,” (Luke 17:32) namely, that he might season us as with salt, so that we might not neglect as fools, but be wise and beware. This, too, she admonished when she was turned into a pillar of salt. But the wisdom of God frees those who observe Him from all sorrows and preserves them perpetually in the peace of eternal rest. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
10:10 This one guided the righteous man, a fugitive from his brother’s wrath, in straight paths; she showed him the kingdom of God and gave him knowledge of holy things; she prospered him in labors and multiplied his pains; 10:11 when those who prevailed over him were greedy, she stood by him and enriched him; 10:12 she protected him from enemies, and secured him against those lying in wait, and awarded him a strong contest, so that he might know that godliness is stronger than all.
RABANUS. This passage, although it may seem to pertain specifically to the patriarch Jacob according to the historical account, who, fleeing his brother Esau, went to his uncle Laban in Mesopotamia, where on the journey he saw in a dream a ladder set up, and the angels of God descending and ascending on it, and the Lord leaning on the ladder, saying to him: I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac; the land on which you sleep I will give to you and to your descendants (Gen. 28:13), and upon arriving in Mesopotamia, he took Leah and Rachel, the daughters of his uncle, as wives, for whom he also tended his sheep for a very long time. But although that man tried to deprive him of his wages through deceit, he was kept unharmed by the wisdom of God, and returned to his homeland enriched with great wealth. More generally, however, according to the allegorical interpretation, it pertains to the holy martyrs, whom the divine wisdom, namely Christ our Lord, by His mercy delivered from all persecutions of their enemies, and protected them unblemished from their snares, strengthening them by the grace of the Holy Spirit and the hope of future reward, and finally, with all their enemies defeated, led them as most blessed victors to the eternal kingdom, so that there they might forever sing praises to Him, by whose help they knew themselves to have been preserved and saved. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
10:13 This one did not abandon the righteous man when he was sold, but delivered him from sin; 10:14 she went down with him into a pit and did not leave him in bonds, until she brought him scepters of kingship and authority over those who ruled over him; and she showed as false those who had slandered him and gave him everlasting glory.
RABANUS. The story of the patriarch Joseph seems to recount both his slanders and later happiness, who, having been sold by his brothers, was brought to Egypt, and there, because of the accusation of his master's wife, was sent to prison, therefore, due to his interpretation of dreams, he was brought out by order of Pharaoh and made ruler of Egypt. But just as the wisdom of God delivered him from the hands of his enemies and made him lord of the land, so also, in a special way, He rescued the holy martyrs from the punishments of their persecutors and exalted them in the heavenly kingdom, where, enjoying eternal glory, they will come as judges with Christ over their enemies, so that they may assign to them eternal punishments for their crimes and lies. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Just as he led the people of Israel out of Egypt, according to whose example he freed the holy martyrs from the persecutions of the world.
10:15 This one delivered a holy people and blameless seed from a nation of oppressors; 10:16 she entered the soul of the Lord’s servant and stood against dreadful kings with wonders and signs. 10:17 She gave to the holy ones the reward of their labors, guided them by a wondrous way, and became for them a shelter by day and a blaze of stars by night. 10:18 She brought them through the Red Sea and led them across much water; 10:19 but she overwhelmed their enemies and brought them up from the depth of the abyss. 10:20 Therefore the righteous plundered the ungodly and sang, O Lord, the name of your holy one, and praised with one accord your defending hand;
RABANUS. He calls a just people and a seed without complaint the people of Israel, who, descending from the seed of the patriarchs, became worshippers of the one God, but were oppressed by the Egyptians and other nations. Through the leadership of Moses and Aaron, they were delivered from there and exalted by the wonders of God, that is, by the crossing of the Red Sea, by the protection of the cloud by day, the brilliance of fire by night, and by the other miracles that were abundantly performed among them in the desert. Mystically, however, the Lord delivers his chosen ones from the hands of their persecutors, and through the flashing of miracles terrifies their adversaries, and gives his servants wisdom which none of their adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. Therefore, even before kings and powers of this world, they stand unafraid, confidently speaking the word of God, and through the suffering of the martyrs, they attain the rewards of the heavenly kingdom, where perpetually and without end they sing worthy praises to their King and Deliverer. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
10:21 for wisdom opened the mouths of the mute and made the tongues of infants speak clearly.
RABANUS. It is clear that without the wisdom of God, the human mind can neither conceive anything worthy nor utter anything fitting; therefore, sober understanding and the ability of sound speech must be sought from Him alone, since all things are from Him, through Him, and in Him. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 11
11:1 You showed their works through the hand of a holy prophet. 11:2 They passed through a desert without inhabitants and pitched tents in trackless places;
RABANUS. The former people, departing from Egypt under the leadership of Moses, journeyed through the deserts and pitched their tents in uninhabitable places, as the history of the Pentateuch recounts. In the same way, the people who follow now, that is, the Christians, journey through the desert of this world under the guidance of prophecy, so that, with Christ reigning, they may reach the homeland of the heavenly kingdom. This is also clearly stated by the Apostle Peter, who says: We have the more sure prophetic word, to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
11:3 they stood against enemies and defended themselves from foes. 11:4 They thirsted and called upon you, and water was given to them from a flinty rock, and relief for thirst from hard stone.
RABANUS. But what that rock signified, from which the Israelites drank, Paul testifies, saying: “They drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). This rock, struck by the rod of the cross, which was foretold in the hands, that is, in the writings of the prophets, poured forth living water which fills all the elect and satisfies them with eternal fulfillment. Therefore, Truth itself says: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink, and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” (Jn. 7:37-38). And elsewhere: “Whoever drinks the water that I will give him, it will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn. 4:14). Therefore, this rock is called the highest because in it is contained the most abundant grace of the Holy Spirit; it is called a hard stone because it is firm and stable, upon which every wise man builds his house so that it is not moved by any storm. Concerning this, Moses also says in the song of Deuteronomy: “They sucked honey from the rock, and oil from the hard stone” (Deut. 32:13). Nowhere is such a thing read in the history; if the whole sequence of the Old Testament is reviewed, nowhere did the people suck honey from the rock, nowhere did they suck oil. But because, according to Paul’s word, the rock was Christ, they sucked honey from the rock who saw the deeds and miracles of our Redeemer. But they sucked oil from the hard stone who, after his resurrection, deserved to be anointed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit; as if, therefore, the hard stone gave honey when the Lord, still mortal, showed the sweetness of his miracles to the disciples. But the hard stone poured out oil because, after his resurrection, now made obstructed, he poured forth the gift of holy anointing through the breathing of the Spirit. Of this oil it is said through the prophet: “The yoke will rot because of the oil” (Isa. 10:27). Indeed, we were held under the yoke of demonic domination, but we have been anointed with the oil of the Holy Spirit, and because the grace of liberty has anointed us, the yoke of demonic domination has rotted. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
11:5 For by the things by which their enemies were punished, through these same things they in their need were benefited. 11:6 Instead of an ever-flowing spring, a river troubled with blood, 11:7 as a rebuke of the decree for the slaughter of infants, you gave them abundant water unexpectedly, 11:8 showing through that thirst how you had punished their adversaries. 11:9 For when they were tried, though disciplined with mercy, they learned how, being judged in wrath, the ungodly were tormented;
RABANUS. He commemorates the blessings of God, which were bestowed upon the former people through divine mercy, when, as they thirsted, He brought forth water from the rock and refreshed them with abundant drink. Likewise, on the contrary, he recounts the punishments which their enemies suffered in the slaughter of their firstborn and the various calamities that, by the just judgment of God, came upon them. Mystically, however, it signifies that the people of God and the sheep of His pasture, whom the supreme shepherd redeemed at the price of His own blood, quench their thirst at the fountain of living water, and their persecutors, failing in eternal want, will be delivered to perpetual death. Similar to this is that which the Lord speaks through the prophet Isaiah against His adversaries, saying: Behold, my servants shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, my servants shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, my servants shall rejoice, but you shall be put to shame. Behold, my servants shall sing for gladness of heart, but you shall cry out for pain of heart, and shall wail for breaking of spirit (Isa. 65:13-14). But that drink is to be understood here, which will spring from the fountains of Israel, which whoever drinks will have within himself a fountain of water springing up into eternal life, which also the Savior promises to drink with the apostles in the kingdom of the Father, which gladdens the heart of man, so that those who drink may say: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt. 5:6). And the mother of the Lord, full of the Holy Spirit, prophesied: He has filled the hungry with good things, who previously did not have the food of the Lord, and the rich He has sent away empty (Luke 1:53), who were given for His burial, and whom, though they promised a prophet, they rejected. Concerning whom also in another place the Psalmist sings: The rich have lacked and suffered hunger (Ps. 30:10), that is, the people of the Jews. But those who seek the Lord, that is, the multitude of the Gentiles, will not lack any good thing. And when those serving Christ and believing in Him shall have rejoiced and praised the Lord for gladness of heart and joy, then those others will be put to shame, seeing others received into their place, and will cry out for pain of heart, fulfilling that which is written: There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 13:42), when the lambs of the Gentiles and the righteous will stand at the right hand, and the goats of the Jews and the wicked at the left, the former receiving eternal rewards, the latter everlasting punishments. But the regret of spirit, through pain of heart, is to be understood in the conscience of sinners, according to that which is written: Those who err in spirit will come to understanding (Isa. 29:24), and a contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise (Ps. 51:17). The spirit is crushed when it is lifted up, as is written of the wicked king of Israel: The Lord hardened his spirit. And of the prince of the Babylonians, when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened, so that in pride he said: This is Babylon, and I have made it (Dan. 5:20). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
11:10 for you tested these as a father admonishing them, but those others you examined as a severe king condemning them.
RABANUS. Whoever examines the reading of the Old Testament carefully, easily recognizes how God frequently chastised the Israelites, who sinned often, with deserved punishments, and again, when they repented, comforted them with timely comfort. However, as for foreigners, that is, the Egyptians and the Canaanites, judging them unworthy of His mercy, He exterminated them with harsh vengeance. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
11:11 And both the absent and the present alike were tormented; 11:12 for a double sorrow seized them, and groaning over the memories of the past.
RABANUS. What is said, that both the absent and the present were similarly tormented, either signifies according to history that not only those Egyptians who were present with Pharaoh before Moses and Aaron were struck by the ten plagues, but also all the others who dwelled throughout the land of Egypt were similarly punished; or it refers to the time when not only those whom the Israelites destroyed in each city by recent calamity suffered penalties, but also all the nations of the land of the Canaanites, hearing indeed the victory of the people of God and the power of the signs which were performed at their departure by the will of the Lord, were greatly terrified by them. This is also shown by the words spoken by Rahab the prostitute to the spies of Joshua: “I know,” she said, “that the Lord has given you the land; indeed, your terror has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land have suffered. We have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea at your entrance, when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you destroyed. And hearing these things, we feared, and our hearts suffered, nor did any spirit remain in us at your entrance. For the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath” (Josh. 2:9-11). But although these things were done among the former people in the times of the law, nevertheless, conversely, the Jews who despised the incarnation of the Son of God and refused to accept His preaching, not only within their homeland but also wandering and exiled throughout the whole world, are tormented by various calamities; and the nations who received the faith of God and were converted from their idols to the true worship of the one God, when they sin, accepting paternal correction, are never cast away from the mercy of God. This is the change of the right hand of the Most High, so that those who were once the head now become the tail, and those who were once the tail now become the head. Lebanon has been turned into Carmel, and Carmel has been reckoned as a forest. The Lord is just in all His ways, and holy in all His works (Isa. 29); for therefore the first shall be last, and the last shall be first (Matt. 20:16). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
11:13 For when they heard that through their own punishments those others were being benefited, they perceived the Lord. 11:14 For the one who had long before been cast forth, and whom they had denied while mocking, at the end of the outcomes they marveled at, not thirsting like the righteous. 11:15 But in place of the foolish devices of their injustice, in which they were led astray and worshiped irrational serpents and worthless beasts, you sent upon them a multitude of irrational animals as vengeance,
RABANUS. The misery of the wicked is twofold, when the memory of past evils is not diminished, and the storm of present tribulations increases. Therefore, they have no hope of remedy in the future, because although they may fake repentance for their sins, they have no real intention of improving their ways. Therefore, it is written of the Jews in Psalm 79: When He slew them, then they sought Him, and they returned and sought God early; and they remembered that God was their helper, and the Most High God was their redeemer. And they loved Him with their mouth, and with their tongue they lied to Him, but their heart was not right with Him, nor were they steadfast in His covenant. (Ps. 78:34–37) He does not act in the same way toward the just. Why does He not do the same to them? Because they do not sin in the same way. For the just man falls seven times and rises again; but the wicked shall fall into evil (Prov. 24:16). For when the wicked has come into the depth of evils, he despises. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
11:16 so that they might know that by the things through which one sins, through these same things one is punished. 11:17 For your all-powerful hand, which created the world from shapeless matter, was not at a loss to send upon them a multitude of bears or bold lions 11:18 or newly created beasts full of rage, unknown, either breathing a fiery breath or hissing clouds of smoke or flashing terrible sparks from their eyes, 11:19 whose damage alone could have crushed them together, but whose very appearance, by frightening them, could destroy them. 11:20 And apart from these too, they could have fallen by one breath, pursued by justice and scattered by the breath of your power; but you arranged all things by measure and number and weight.
RABANUS. But for their senseless thoughts, their iniquities. According to their hardness and impenitent heart, they are storing up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, for a hard heart will fare badly (Rom. 2:5). In the end, judgments are prepared for mockers and sinners will pursue evil, but good will be repaid to the just (Prov. 19:29). was not at a loss to send upon them a multitude of bears or bold lions or newly created beasts full of rage, unknown, either breathing a fiery breath or hissing clouds of smoke or flashing terrible sparks from their eyes. It was fitting that those who worshipped the creature instead of the Creator should receive vengeance from the very source from which they sought help. For the world itself fights against the senseless on His behalf. But since in the history of the Old Testament these types of unknown beasts, which are listed, are nowhere else mentioned as being expressed, so that such monsters would punish sinners, it is better to transfer this to a spiritual sense, so that we may understand that all idol worshippers, as well as heretics and schismatics, who follow the sects of their errors as if they were truth, are deservedly punished by spiritual beasts, that is, by unclean spirits, from whom the Prophet prays that faithful souls may be delivered by divine grace: “Do not give the souls who confess to you to the beasts” (Ps. 74:19). Their appearance is terrifying, their cruelty excessive, and their rage immense, because their entire intention is to pursue the human race with hatred and to bring them to be tormented with themselves in the torments of Hades. But since God condemns no one unjustly, and subjects no one to punishment undeservedly. [verse 20] But you have arranged all things in measure, number, and weight. For He does all things according to truth, judgment, and justice, and there is nothing disordered or inappropriate in His works and deeds, but He moderates and arranges all His judgments by the balance of the highest equity. This statement can also be applied to the condition of all creatures; because the almighty Creator made all His works, which He created from the beginning, with a definite number, measure, and weight. Of Him it is written: He counts the multitude of the stars, and calls them all by their names (Ps. 147:4). Therefore also it is read in Job: For He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees all things under the heavens, who made a weight for the winds, and measured the waters, when He gave the rain its law, and a path for the thunderstorm (Job 28:24-26). Therefore also it is said by someone [Philosopher Anitius Boetius 480–524 AD]: All things whatsoever have been constructed from the primeval nature of things seem to be formed by the principle of numbers, for this was the chief pattern in the mind of the Creator. Therefore the multitude of the four elements was changed, therefore the succession of times, therefore the motions of the stars and the revolution of the heavens. Since these things are so, and since the state of all things is shaped by the connection of numbers, it is also necessary that number itself always remains in its own substance equally. Who then is sufficient to comprehend this measure, this number, and this weight of God, so as to be able to describe all His arrangements under these three definitions? In measure, I think, consists quality; in number, quantity; in weight, proportion. These are balanced in the judgment and mercy of God, because they are enclosed within these two holy boundaries, by which He established, governs, and will judge the world; in these, God the just Judge cannot be comprehended, cannot be reproved. Therefore, all that we have said above, or will say, now lie hidden from us within the enclosure of these three: which will then be unlocked only by the keys of God's judgment and mercy, so that they may be known, when at the coming of the Lord they will be revealed, so that praise or punishment may be from God to each one. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AMBROSIASTER. In Wisdom, it says, He who created the world from formless matter: and on the other hand, because we were made from nothing (Wis. 11:18, and Gen. 1:2). That God created confused substances at once, the sense of the Scriptures declares, with darkness, indeed, mingled. He called this confusion of things, that is, air, fire, water, earth, darkness, formless matter, as it is read in Genesis: But the earth was, he says, invisible and unformed (Gen. 1:2). From this confusion therefore He created the world by the established firmament, so that within it, with the waters gathered together into one, there might be a dwelling place for the human race. For the substances having been distinguished and separated, He made in the hollow a habitable home. [Ambrosiaster, Q&A on the Old and New Testaments, PL 35, 2nd cat. Q.20]
ANASTASIUS. [Verse 20] Weight and measure govern and administer all things by the Lord. For when He had set the limit of life to one hundred and twenty years for those who lived in the time of Noah, after He saw sin increase and overflow, He did not wait for the prescribed limit, but cut it short and made it briefer, and in the hundredth year brought the flood upon all. So also to Abraham, He foretold that his offspring would be strangers, and He teaches the reason. For He says, the iniquities of the Amorites are not yet complete up to this point. They have not yet, He says, committed those sins which deserve to perish utterly; therefore I will not allow them to be handed over to you to be completely destroyed now, but I await the measure of iniquity. For our sins, which occur in time, fall under a measure, up to a certain quantity; and now our righteous Judge God inflicts punishments, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. [Anastasius of Sanai, PL 89, Questions 17] 620-700AD
AMBROSE. [Verse 20] Therefore, because fire overflows and boils, water also overflowed on the earth, lest the heat of the rising sun and the burning stars should scorch it, and an unusual vapor should harm the tender beginnings of things. How many springs, rivers, and lakes water the lands; is it not because some internal fire sends up vapor within them? For from where would trees sprout, or grain and crops break forth or be ripened, unless an inner fire also gave them life? This fire is often struck out from stones, and frequently leaps out even from wood itself when it is being cut. Therefore, just as the creation of fire is necessary so that things may remain ordered and arranged, and the kindness of heaven may temper the harshness of the waters; so also the abundance of waters is not superfluous, lest one should consume the other, because unless there is a suitable measure of each, just as fire dries up water, so also water extinguishes fire. And so He has weighed and measured all things; for even the drops of rain are numbered for Him, as we read in the book of Job (Job 28:25). Knowing that there would easily be either a lack of things or the dissolution of the universe if one should prevail over the other, He has so balanced the losses of both; that fire should not consume too much, nor water overflow: but there should be a moderate reduction of each, which would remove the excess and preserve what is necessary. [Ambrose of Milan, Hexaemeron BOOK II ON THE WORK OF THE SECOND DAY. 3.12, PL 14] died 397AD
11:21 For it is always present with you to be mighty, and who will withstand the power of your arm?
RABANUS. Nothing is impossible for the Almighty, therefore no one can resist Him; for all things are placed in the will of the Lord, and there is no one who can resist His will. Whatever God willed, He did in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in the depths. Therefore, the arm of the Lord is none other than the only-begotten Son of God, to whom it is said through Isaiah: Arise, arise, put on strength, O arm of the Lord. Arise as in the ancient days, in generations of old. Was it not you who struck the proud one, who wounded the dragon? etc. (Isa. 51:9). The prophet speaks on behalf of the people to the arm of the Lord, and requests His coming, so that He who for many ages delivered His saints from dangers, now coming in person may defend His chosen ones from their enemies. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
He praises the omnipotence of God, because before Him all visible and invisible things are like a drop of dew and like a moment of the balance, all things.
11:22 For the whole world before you is as a speck on the scales, and as a morning drop of dew that has come down upon the earth.
RABANUS. Similar to this statement is what is read in Isaiah: Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance (Isa. 40:15). And a little later: All the nations, he says, are as nothing before him, and are accounted by him as nothing and emptiness. (Isa. 40:17) This is meant to be understood as that the mind and reason and sense of the Lord, through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made, is the one of whom it is sung in the psalms: By the word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the breath of his mouth (Ps. 33:6). All the nations who do not know their creator, or the whole of mankind in comparison to God, are as a drop from a bucket and as the small dust of the balance, which with slight weight inclines to the other side; and just as the early morning dew-drop, which is easily dried when the sun rises, or as if a small drop flows from a bucket and is disregarded by the one carrying it, so the entire multitude of the nations, when compared to the heavenly splendor, and the ministries above, and the multitude of angels, is considered as nothing. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
11:23 But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things, and you overlook people’s sins, that they may repent.
RABANUS. Therefore, the power of God, always joined with goodness, although it is in need of nothing, nevertheless does not despise His work in men on account of their sins, but by granting forgiveness through repentance, He washes them from sins, and with fatherly compassion, He encourages and nourishes them to be gathered back to Himself. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
11:24 For you love all things that exist and hate nothing of what you have made; for you would not have fashioned anything if you had hated it. 11:25 And how would anything have remained, if you had not willed it, or what had not been called by you been preserved? 11:26 But you spare all things, because they are yours, O Lord, lover of life.
RABANUS. The good worker loves, preserves, and governs good work, and therefore, if ever human weakness strays from the way of truth by sinning, he endures with much patience, waiting for them to be converted for the better through repentance. Therefore, he makes his sun rise on the good and the evil, and sends rain on the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:45). But those who abuse the patience of God and do not turn to repentance are condemned by his just judgment, because the Lord is just and loves justice; his face has seen equity (Ps. 11:7). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 12
Wisdom confesses that the Holy Spirit is gentle in all things, who distributes the good things of God throughout the whole world.
12:1 For your incorruptible Spirit is in all things. 12:2 Therefore you correct little by little those who fall away and admonish them by reminding them of the things in which they sin, so that, being delivered from evil, they may believe in you, O Lord.
RABANUS. For the Spirit of God is gentle, for He Himself is the love of God, and the giver of all good; He Himself reproves men, because He causes those whom He fills to reprove sinners, just as Truth itself says to the disciples in the Gospel: I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see Me no longer; concerning judgment, because the prince of this world is judged (Jn. 16:7-11). Blessed is the man who hears the voice of this Teacher and obeys His commands, for he will be the possessor of the heavenly kingdom. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:3 For you hated the old inhabitants of your holy land 12:4 because they committed most hateful works of sorceries and unholy rites, 12:5 merciless slaughterers of children, and devouring of human flesh and blood, from the midst of a band of initiates 12:6 and perpetrators of murder against helpless parents, you willed to destroy by the hands of our fathers, 12:7 that your land, which is most precious to you of all, might receive a worthy colony of God’s children. 12:8 But even these you spared as men, and sent wasps as forerunners of your army, that they might destroy them little by little. 12:9 Not being unable in battle to give the ungodly over to the righteous, or to destroy them all at once by savage beasts or by a sharp word, 12:10 but judging little by little you gave them room for repentance, not ignoring that their race was evil and their wickedness essential, and that their understanding would never be changed forever. 12:11 For they were a cursed seed from the beginning, and, not even fearing anyone because of the sins they committed, you gave them pardon.
RABANUS. It commemorates historically how the seven nations, which had possessed the land of the Canaanites, were driven out of their places by the Lord because of the infidelity and injustices they had committed, and how the children of Israel, namely the worshippers of His name, were brought into their place. Mystically, however, those seven most wicked nations signify the universality of vices which, after the transgression of the first man, began to possess the human race, but through the grace of Christ were expelled from the hearts of the faithful, and the multitude of sacred virtues was introduced there, so that, with the evil possessors expelled from the land of souls by the Gospel of Christ, legitimate inhabitants, that is, the fruits of virtues, might produce vital shoots there by the working of the Holy Spirit. If anyone thinks it necessary to ask how it is said that the Lord sent wasps before His army into the most depraved nations, so that they might gradually exterminate them, when nowhere in the history of the Old Testament is it read that this happened physically, let him know that many things can happen there in the punishment of the wicked, which the writer of history did not care to express throughout, or rather that wasps are placed here in a figurative expression for the terrors which the Israelites, fighting against the surrounding nations, brought upon them. For the fame of those wars, which were accomplished by the power of the Lord, pierced the hearts of the fearful with the sharpest stings of terror, so that it utterly destroyed in them all strength to resist, and this lasted as long as they faithfully rendered worship to God. But after they sinned and neglected to serve God, they were delivered into the hands of their enemies, so that those who had previously been subject to them afterwards became their superiors. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:12 For who will say, “What have you done?” Or who will withstand your judgment? Or who will accuse you for destroyed nations, which you made? Or who will come before you as an avenger against unrighteous men? 12:13 For there is no God but you, to whom all things matter, that you may show that you judged not unjustly, 12:14 nor will any king or tyrant be able to look you in the face concerning those whom you punished.
RABANUS. He clearly shows by reason that in no way should it be attributed to the Creator that He disposes of His creature according to His own will. For all things are placed in His will, and there is none who can resist His will (Esther 13). Therefore, it is said by Paul: O man, who are you to answer back to God? Does the thing formed say to him who formed it: Why did you make me? Or does the potter not have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? (Rom. 9:20-21) For from Him and through Him and in Him are all things: but the Lord is just in all His ways, and holy in all His works. (Ps. 145:17) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:15 But being righteous you govern all things righteously, deeming it foreign to your power to condemn one who does not deserve to be punished. 12:16 For your strength is the source of righteousness, and your lordship over all causes you to spare all.
RABANUS. What is it that condemns him who ought not to be punished, since the condemnation itself is certainly punishment; but here he uses “punish” for “correct,” as if he were saying: He who does not accept correction will receive correction, he justly condemns to eternal fire him who is outside the power of God, that is, unworthy of divine mercy. For the power of God is the beginning of justice; because the judgment of God, whether in the correction of the elect or in the condemnation of the reprobate, is the highest perfection of equity, and therefore, through His goodness, He delays judgment for a long time so that He may have more to whom He can render benefit. For when the creature, in its pride, raises itself against its Creator, it does not wish to be subject to His dominion; indeed, just punishment avenges, lest the creation seem to prevail against its Maker. This passage can also be aptly transferred to the passion of our Redeemer, whom the Father delivered up to death for us. But it must be considered how He is just and arranges all things justly, if He condemns him who ought not to be punished. Our Mediator ought not to be punished for Himself, because He committed no contagion of guilt, but if He had not taken upon Himself an undeserved death, He would never have freed us from deserved death. Therefore, since the Father is just, punishing the Just One, He arranges all things justly, because by this He justifies all things, in that He condemns Him who is without sin for sinners, so that all the elect might rise to the summit of justice by Him who, above all, endured the condemnation of our injustice. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:17 For you show your strength when men disbelieve in the perfection of your power, and you expose the boldness of those who know it.
RABANUS. For divinity indeed shows its power in the correction of wrongdoers, so that the stubbornness of the proud may not presume upon its own strength; yet it will do so without any passion or disturbance, because God is impassible, and is never changed by any alteration, but always remaining the same, He renews, arranges, and orders all things, as the following statement proves. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:18 But you, mastering strength, judge with gentleness and govern us with great forbearance; for power is present with you whenever you will.
RABANUS. For the Almighty God judges all things with the peacefulness of His nature, but in the patient vengeance of God He seems to restrain His anger, which in fact does not exist, but human emotions, just as bodily members, are ascribed to God in figurative language, so that the divine words may be adapted to our manner and understanding. Therefore, it is also read in the Scriptures: the eyes of God, and ears, mouth, hands and feet, anger and fury, and other emotions which are diverse in men, whereas the simple nature has no division, nor does true unity admit any division, but the one and the same God always works diverse and varied works, of whom it is said through the Prophet: All things shall grow old like a garment, and as a clothing you will change them, and they shall be changed; but you are the same, and your years shall not fail (Ps. 102:25-28). For in the prophet Micah it is written in this way: The Lord shall go forth from His place, and shall come down and tread upon the high places of the earth, and the minds under it shall be consumed, and the valleys shall be cleft (Micah 1:3). Also in Isaiah: The Lord of hosts shall go forth and crush war, and will stir up the heavens, and will cry out over His enemies with strength (Isa. 42:13). Therefore, God will go forth from His place when He is compelled to break His rest and gentleness and mercy for the correction of sinners, who, though by nature He is sweet, becomes bitter through our fault, not to Himself, but to those who endure, for whom the torments are bitter. Concerning His nature, He Himself speaks otherwise through the prophet, saying: I am God and I do not change (Mal. 3:6). Therefore, it is also said through James: With whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration (James 1:17). Therefore Paul also says of Christ: Who is the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15). And again: Now to the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God (1 Tim. 1:17). And in the Gospel it is written: No one has ever seen God. The only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him (Jn. 1:18). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Wisdom praises God's patience, because it gives sinners the opportunity for repentance and does not immediately punish.
12:19 You taught your people by such works that the righteous must be loving toward others; and you made your sons full of good hope because you give repentance for sins.
RABANUS. For by the wondrous works of the almighty God the faithful are instructed to beware of involving themselves in the sins of the wicked, and rather to strive to keep themselves untainted by such matters, and by maintaining faith and hope in the Lord, not to neglect the time granted to them for doing penance and good works; indeed, with all their strength, through love, they should try to serve their Creator. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:20 For if you punished with such great care and discernment the enemies of your children, and those deserving death, giving them time and place by which they might be delivered from wickedness, 12:21 with how much exactness did you judge your sons, to whose fathers you gave oaths and covenants of good promises?
RABANUS. The book of Exodus narrates how the Lord, through Moses and Aaron, struck the Egyptians, namely, the enemies of God’s people with ten plagues, and at times allowed them to breathe amidst these plagues, so that, having been chastised, they might be corrected. But because they persisted in wickedness, they were destroyed by divine vengeance. On the other hand, the people of God, to whom the promise was made and to their fathers, were scarcely chastised and partly comforted, as long as they endured to be educated by discipline. However, after they spurned the Gospel of Christ and crucified the Son of God, they were, in a wondrous manner, turned from friends into enemies, and therefore expelled from their own land, dispersed throughout the whole world, and finally felt harshly chastised, which previously they refused to understand when corrected by paternal kindness. We can similarly interpret this sentiment regarding the martyrs of Christ and their persecutors, because when those persecutors tortured the confessors of Christ with torments, they could, if they wished, be instructed by their patience to abandon the worship of idols and submit themselves to the Christian religion. But just as the martyrs attained eternal glory through temporal sufferings, so too did the persecutors, after the brief joys of this life, sink into eternal punishments. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
What praises its goodness is divine mercy, which is just in all its judgments.
12:22 Therefore, chastening us, while you scourge our enemies with ten thousand lashes, so that we may consider your goodness when we judge, and when judged may expect mercy.
RABANUS. This is what is written in the psalm: Many are the scourges of the sinner, but mercy will surround those who hope in the Lord (Ps. 32:10). For there is a great difference between the judgment of the elect and that of the depraved, because the Lord corrects the former to cleanse them from sins and restrain them from vices, but the latter so that they may pay the penalties for their pride and treachery, and recognize that they cannot resist the ruler of all. Indeed, happy is he who always keeps before his eyes the compassion and goodness of his judge when judging, and just as he wishes the Lord to have mercy on him, so he should not refuse to have mercy on others, because judgment will be without mercy for him who does not show mercy. For blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matt. 5:7). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:23 Therefore also those who lived in the foolishness of life as unrighteous men you tormented through their own abominations; 12:24 for they wandered farther along the ways of error, taking as gods even the most dishonorable among the animals of their enemies, deceived like foolish infants. 12:25 Therefore, as to senseless children, you sent a judgment to mock them.
RABANUS. The punishment for those who lived unjustly and senselessly in their lives was that, through the things they worshipped, they endured torment; and by divine judgment, since they were unwilling to know their Creator and to honor Him as was fitting, they were handed over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not fitting, dishonoring their bodies among themselves, so that in this they would have shame now, and in the future, eternal torment. The apostle Paul explains the truth of this matter in his Epistle to the Romans, saying: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because what is known of God is evident in them. For God has shown it to them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made: even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse; because, when they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up to the lusts of their own hearts, to uncleanness, to dishonor their own bodies among themselves, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Rom. 1:18-25). Therefore their heart was blinded, so that the majesty of the invisible God, whom they had recognized from these works, they changed, not to men, but, what is worse, into an inexcusable crime, into the likeness of men, so that God is called by them in the form of corruptible man, that is, the image of a man; so that those whom they do not dare to call by the name of God while alive, they receive the images of the dead into the glory of God. How great is the sickness, how great the foolishness, to call these wise to their own damnation, among whom the dead have more power than the living, and the dead are preferred to the living; for, departing from the living God, they favor the dead, of whom it is written, “A mortal man makes a dead thing with wicked hands” (Wis. 15:17); for therefore they diminished the majesty and glory of God, that to these things which are least and smallest, they gave the honor due to God’s likeness. For the Babylonians were the first to call a thing god, the image of Bel, once a dead man, who is said to have ruled over them. They also worshipped the serpent, the dragon, which Daniel, the man of God, killed, whose likeness they have. The Egyptians, however, worshipped a four-footed animal, which they called Apis, in the likeness of a cow. Jeroboam imitated this evil, making calves in Samaria for the Jews to sacrifice to, and birds, because the pagans have sacred rites for ravens. Yet the Egyptians worshipped the images of all these things I have mentioned, and others which it is not necessary to mention now. These things were done by those who considered themselves wise in the world; for, because they did not honor the invisible God by doing these things, neither could they rightly understand the things that are visible. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:26 But those who were not corrected by the ridicule of rebuke will experience a judgment worthy of God.
RABANUS. Indeed, those who, having been chastised by the scourges of God, were not corrected, have experienced the fitting punishment of damnation; for God chastises for this purpose, that He may amend, not wishing anyone to perish, because He wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. But he who is ungrateful for God's visitation, and through impatience falls into murmuring, is led from temporal chastisement to perpetual torments. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
12:27 For while they suffered in those things they were outraged about, in these things, those whom they thought to be gods, being punished in them, when they saw the one whom they had long denied knowing, they acknowledged as true God; therefore the end of condemnation came upon them.
RABANUS. Wretched breeding, which for so long served idols, was also deceived by error and believed those to be gods by whose persuasions they were led astray, and because of this they were subjected to various punishments. Therefore, many from among them later recognized the true God, whom previously they refused to believe in through His benefits, as almighty in just judgment. For He could not remain hidden, since He is acknowledged to be the ruler of all, because either He grants mercy here to those who are converted through repentance, or He assigns everlasting punishment in the future to those who rebel through pride. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. We prove that the Son is true, as the Father is, by the words of the prophets and the Gospels, Isaiah saying: To those serving me there shall be called a new name, which shall be blessed upon the earth; and they shall bless the true God, and those who swear upon the earth shall swear by the true God (Isa. 65:15). And in Solomon: Those whom they think to be gods shall fear, by whom they shall be destroyed; seeing him whom they once denied, they have acknowledged as the true God (Wis. 12:27). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
Chapter 13
On the error of idolatry. That the idolaters themselves, seeking the Creator in created things, if they were willing, could find Him with His help.
13:1 For all men by nature were vain, in whom there was ignorance of God, and who were unable from the visible good things to know him who is, nor by attending to the works did they recognize the craftsman;
RABANUS. For all men by nature were vain, in whom there was ignorance of God. And if every living man is altogether vain, how much more vain are those who do not acknowledge their Creator. But all men are vain in whom there is no knowledge of God, that is, the fear and reverence of God. Therefore it is said through Job: Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding (Job 28:28). For he departs from evil who withdraws from the worship of idols; he fears God who keeps His commandments. For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord; a good understanding have all they that do His commandments (Ps. 111:10). and who were unable from the visible good things to know him who is. For from good works they could have known the good craftsman, who truly is, because He is always unchallengeable, who alone has immortality, and dwells in inaccessible light; who is always the same, and whose years never fail: who is eternal and omnipotent, without beginning and without end, always remaining in Himself, according to His will governs and directs all things; therefore, the vanity of men is most vain, who worship creatures instead of the Creator. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
13:2 but either fire or wind or swift air or the circle of stars or violent water or the luminaries of heaven, the rulers of the world, they supposed to be gods. 13:3 If, delighted by their beauty, they thought these to be gods, let them know how much better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty created them;
RABANUS. For some worshipped fire as a divine power, which they called Vulcan; others worshipped the ether or air, which they named Jupiter or Juno; others worshipped excessive water, which they called Neptune; others the circle of stars, who distributed the positions and courses of the stars according to the various shapes of animals; others venerated the sun as God, which they called Phoebus or Apollo; others the moon, which they used to call Diana. For, deceived by such error, they attributed the power of the almighty God to their false inventions, as a certain pagan poet concluded in three verses, saying: “So many and such images did God place in the heavens, and through the dark shadows scattered, He commanded the bright lights to give clarity to the devastating night.” But if it is not possible for the stars to be gods, then neither can the sun nor the moon be gods, since they differ from the lights of the stars not in kind, but in size. But if these are not gods, then neither is the sky, in which all these are contained. In the same way, if the earth which we tread, which we cultivate and till for sustenance, is not a god, then neither will the fields nor the mountains be gods; if these are not gods, then the whole earth cannot be considered a god. Likewise, if the water which serves living beings for drinking or washing is not a god, then neither are the springs from which water flows. If the springs are not gods, then neither are the rivers which are gathered from the springs. If the rivers also are not gods, then the sea, which is made up of rivers, cannot be considered a god. But if neither the sky, nor the earth, nor the sea, which are parts of the world, can be gods, then neither is the whole world a god, which the same Stoics claim to be both living and wise, and therefore God, in which they have been so inconsistent that nothing has been said by them which has not also been overturned by themselves. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
13:4 but if, astonished at their power and activity, let them understand from them how much more powerful is he who made them. 13:5 For from the greatness and beauty of created things their maker is correspondingly perceived.
RABANUS. It would have been fitting that the most beautiful and splendid Creator be recognized through beautiful creatures, but they became vain in their thoughts and chose to serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Therefore, they are refuted not only by the truth but also by their own words; for just as a house, made for the purpose of dwelling, feels nothing of itself and is subject to the master who made or inhabits it, so the world, feeling nothing of itself, is subject to God the Maker, who made it for His own use. Therefore, the sinner is at fault before the foolish for two reasons: first, because they prefer the elements, that is, the works of God, to God Himself; then, because they worship images of the elements themselves, fashioned in human form, for they make images of the sun and moon in the manner of humans, likewise of fire and earth and sea, which they call Vulcan, Vesta, and Neptune. Such is the desire of men for images that they are even more attracted to those which are rare; they delight, of course, in gold and gems and ivory, the beauty and brilliance of these dazzle their eyes, nor do they consider any place sacred unless these things have shone there. Therefore, under the hoax of gods, greed and desire are worshipped; for they believe that the gods love whatever they themselves desire, whatever it is for which thefts, murders, and robberies are daily committed, and for which wars overturn peoples and cities throughout the world. Therefore, they consecrate to the gods their spoils and plunder, whom, indeed, they must admit to be weak and devoid of the highest virtue, if they are subject to desires: for why should we think them heavenly, if they desire something from the earth? Or blessed, if they need anything? Or incorruptible, if they take pleasure in those things in the desire for which human greed is rightly condemned? [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AUGUSTINE. That God is a certain eternal life, unchangeable, intelligible, understanding, wise, making others wise, even some philosophers of this age have seen. They have indeed seen a fixed, stable, unchanging truth, where all the reasons for all created things are found, but they saw it from afar; they saw it, but while in error; and therefore, to that great, indescribable, and beatifying possession, they did not find the way by which one might arrive. For since they too saw (as much as can be seen by a human) the Creator through the creation, the Maker through the thing made, the Fashioner of the world through the world, the Apostle Paul is a witness, whom Christians ought surely to believe. For he says, when speaking of such people: The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. These, as you recognize, are the words of the Apostle Paul. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Did he say they do not hold the truth? Rather: they hold the truth in unrighteousness. What they hold is good; but where they hold it is evil. They hold the truth in unrighteousness. But it might be asked: How do those ungodly ones hold the truth? Did God speak to any of them? Did they receive the law, as the people of Israel did through Moses? Whence then do they hold the truth, even in unrighteousness? Listen to what follows, and it is shown. Because what is known of God, he says, is manifest in them; for God has shown it to them. Did he show it to those to whom he did not give the law? Hear how he showed it. For his invisible things, being understood by the things that are made, are clearly seen. Question the world, the beauty of the sky, the brightness and arrangement of the stars, the sun sufficient for the day, the moon the comfort of the night; question the earth, fruitful with herbs and trees, full of animals, adorned with humans; question the sea, full of so many and such kinds of creatures that swim; question the air, enlivened by so many birds; question all things, and see if by their own sense they do not answer you: God made us. These things even noble philosophers sought, and from the art they recognized the artist. What then? Why is the wrath of God revealed against that ungodliness? Because they hold the truth in unrighteousness? Let him come, let him show how. For he has already said how they knew. His invisible things, that is, of God, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made; even his eternal power and divinity; so that they are without excuse. Because, when they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor gave thanks; but became vain in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. These are the words of the Apostle, not mine: And their foolish heart was darkened; for, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. What they found by curiosity, they lost by pride. Professing themselves to be wise, that is, attributing to themselves the gift of God, they became fools. The words, I say, are the Apostle's: Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Show, prove their foolishness. Show, Apostle, and just as you showed us how they could come to the knowledge of God, because his invisible things, being understood by the things that are made, are clearly seen; so now show how, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Listen: Because, he says, they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things. For the pagans made for themselves gods in the forms of these animals. You found God, and you worship an idol. You found the truth, and you hold that very truth in unrighteousness. And what you knew through the works of God, you lose through the works of man. You considered everything; you gathered the order of heaven, earth, sea, and all the elements; but you do not wish to consider this, that the world is the work of God, the idol is the work of the craftsman. If the craftsman, as he gave the idol its shape, also gave it a heart, the craftsman would be worshipped by the idol itself. [Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 141.1-3] 354-430AD
13:6 Yet even so there is but slight blame for these, for they too perhaps go astray while seeking God and desiring to find him; 13:7 for as they live among his works they search diligently and are persuaded by what they see, because the things seen are beautiful. 13:8 But again, even they are not to be excused; 13:9 for if they were able to know so much that they could infer the age, how quickly did they not find its Lord?
RABANUS. Paul the Apostle, writing to the Romans in his Epistle, as we have already shown above, expressed the likeness of this place, saying: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God has revealed it to them. For the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and divinity, so that they are without excuse (Rom. 1:18-20). The knowledge of God is revealed from the structure of the world. For God, who is by nature invisible, can also be known as visible, for a work was made by him which, by its visibility, reveals the maker, so that through the certain, the uncertain can be known; so that by what is impossible for others, he who made this work might be believed to be the God of all; so that they are without excuse: because they could not be ignorant of his existence and his working for their benefit, for it is clear to all that he has ordained those things which are produced for human use in the course of the year; but when they had known him, they did not glorify him as God or give thanks, but became vain in their imaginations, claiming to be wise, they became fools (Rom. 1:21-22). For they consider themselves wise because they think they are investigating physical principles, examining the course of the stars and the qualities of the elements, but despising the Lord of these things, they are therefore fools. Since these things are praiseworthy, how much more so is their creator? Yet, having suffered the shame of neglecting God, they often use a miserable excuse, saying that through these things one can go to God, just as one reaches the king through companions. Come now, is anyone so senseless or so forgetful of his own salvation as to give the honor of the king to a companion, when, if anyone is found even to discuss such a thing, he is rightly condemned for treason? And these people do not consider themselves guilty who prefer the honor of God's name to the creature, and, leaving the Lord, worship fellow servants, as if there were something more that could be preserved for God! For indeed, it is through the king that one goes to tribunes or companions, because the king is, after all, a man, and does not know to whom he should entrust the state; but to God, whom nothing escapes, for he knows the merits of all, there is no need for an intercessor to obtain favor, but only a devoted mind. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
He mocks the error of idolatry in manufactured things.
13:10 But wretched too are their hopes among the dead, they who called gods the works of human hands, gold and silver, the inventions of art, and likenesses of animals, or useless stone, the work of an ancient hand.
RABANUS. They therefore come to the gods, not so much for the sake of religion, which can have no place in things ill-prepared and perishable, as to feast their eyes on gold, to gaze at the polish of refined marble or ivory, to handle with greedy contemplation the garments distinguished by little stones and colors, or cups adorned with shining gems; and the more decorative and beautiful the temples and statues are, the more majesty they are believed to possess. Therefore, their religion is nothing other than what their desire admires. We have often said that silver and gold can be understood as speech and thought, which, since they are given by God to humans so that they may either speak or think of God and praise their Creator, they misuse this gift in the imitation of idols, according to what is written: I gave them silver and gold, but they made Baal from my silver and gold (Hosea 2:8). Therefore, when someone, terrified by the fear of the Lord, first hides idols in the cave of his heart and, not daring to bring forth what he has wrongly fashioned, conceals them in the depths of the earth, the next step is to cast away what was previously engraved and not allow it to remain in himself, according to that saying of Isaiah: On that day, a man will cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made for themselves to worship, to the moles and to the bats. And they will enter into the clefts of the rocks and into the caves of the stones from the face of the terror of the Lord and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth (Isa. 2:20-21). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
13:11 And if some woodcutter, having chopped a flexible plant suitable for children, easily stripped off all its bark and, skillfully fashioning it, neatly made it into a useful vessel for service in life, 13:12 and used the waste from the work for the preparation of food, he was satisfied; 13:13 but from that same useless waste, a crooked piece of wood grown together with knots, taking it, he carved it carefully in his leisure and shaped it by the skill of understanding, and fashioned it into the image of a man 13:14 or made it like some cheap animal, coloring it red with vermilion and darkening its kind with paint, and covering every blemish in it with paint 13:15 and making for it a dwelling worthy of it, he set it in a wall, securing it with iron. 13:16 So that it might not fall, he took thought for it in advance, knowing that it is unable to help itself; for it is an image and needs help. 13:17 And while praying about his possessions and his marriage and his children, he is not ashamed to speak to a lifeless thing, and for health he calls upon what is weak, 13:18 for life he appeals to the dead, for aid he implores what is most inexperienced, for a journey what cannot even use its feet, 13:19 and for gain and labor and success of hands he asks of the most inert thing with his hands.
RABANUS. This wisdom was brought forth to insult idols and idolaters, so that such makers and worshippers might understand how wicked and how close to eternal death it is to abandon the one omnipotent God and Creator of all things, and to worship various creations as divinity in contempt of God. Therefore, through the prophet, the Lord spoke long ago to His people about His own veneration and the falsity of idols: I am the first and I am the last, and besides me there is no other God. Who is like me? Let him call and declare, and set in order for me since I established the ancient people, and let him announce to them the things to come. Do not fear, nor be troubled; from then on I have made you hear, and I have announced the future: you are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me, or a maker whom I do not know? All makers of idols are nothing, and their most beloved things will not profit them: they themselves are their witnesses, because they do not see nor understand, so that they may be confused. Who has formed a god, or cast a graven image that is of no use? Behold, all his associates shall be confused; for they are craftsmen, and they gather from all, all shall stand and tremble and be confounded together. The ironworker works with a file in the coals, and with hammers he shapes it, and works with the strength of his arm; he will hunger and grow weak, he will not drink water and will faint. The woodworker stretches a line and shapes it with a plane; he makes it with a square, and turns it with a compass: and he makes the image of a man, as a beautiful person dwelling in a house. He cuts down cedars, takes holm oak and oak which stood among the trees of the forest; he plants a pine which the rain nourished, and it becomes fuel for men; he takes some of it and is warmed, and kindles it and bakes bread; but from the rest he makes a god, and worships it; he makes a graven image, and bows down before it. He burns half of it in the fire, and with the half he eats meat; he cooks stew and is satisfied, and is warmed, and says: Aha, I am warmed, I have seen the fire. But the rest of it he makes into a god, and a graven image for himself; he bows down before it, and worships it, and prays saying: Deliver me, for you are my god. They did not know nor understand; for their eyes are blinded so that they may not see, nor understand with their heart. Nor do they consider in their mind, nor know, nor feel, so as to say: I burned half of it in the fire, and baked bread on its coals, cooked meat and ate, and from the rest shall I make an idol? Shall I bow down before a block of wood? Part of it is ashes: a foolish heart has worshipped it, and has not delivered his soul, nor said: Perhaps there is a lie in my right hand (Isa. 44:6-20)? The sense of this prophecy’s narrative is as follows: For when it says: I am the first and the last, it is the same as what is elsewhere read as spoken from divine majesty: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev. 21:6). For He does not say He is alone, but that besides His power and wisdom there is no external God, condemning the opinion of many gods and their images: Who, He says, is like me? Let him call things that are not as if they are, and explain the order of my creation by which I have freed all things with reason, since I made man upon the earth, and not only do I will, but I also seek knowledge of the future. Therefore you, Israel, whose king and redeemer I am, do not fear images, which you learned to be nothing on Mount Sinai. Is perhaps another creator whom I do not know, or besides this is there another world which shows the power of an unknown God? Nor are only the things made, but also those who make them considered as nothing: and when the time of vengeance comes, the works of their hands will by no means be able to deliver them, which blind and insensible things confound their makers. For who can believe that a god is formed by a file, drill, and hammer, or that images are cast in coals, or that by a line, plane, and compass they suddenly arise as gods, especially when the poverty of the craftsman’s art is shown by hunger and thirst: for a wooden statue is made expressing the human form, and the more beautiful it is, the more it is thought to be an imposing god, and it is placed in a temple and enclosed in an eternal prison, which grew for a long time in the forests, and according to the variety of trees was a cedar, holm oak, oak tree, or pine, and in a wondrous manner its segments and shavings are thrown into the fire to warm the maker of the god and cook various stews; but the other part is shaped into a god so that, when the work is completed, its maker worships it and implores help from his own work, nor does he understand or consider, indeed neither flesh nor mind sees with eyes, that it cannot be a god whose part has been consumed by fire, nor can divine majesty be made by the hand of man, and the prophetic word is more fully woven about the mockery of idols, which are easy to understand and do not desire a patchwork or even extra exposition. On which Flaccus also writes in satire, mocking the images of the pagans. “Once I was a fig tree trunk, a useless piece of wood, When a carpenter, unsure whether to make a bench or a Priapus, Preferred to make a god. Therefore I am a god, the greatest fear of thieves and birds.” But whatever has been said about idols can also be applied to the leaders of heresies, who construct and venerate images of their doctrines with cunning hearts, knowing that what they have made is a simulation; nor is their own error sufficient for them unless they have deceived the simple from prayer, and those who think that godliness is a means of gain, and who devour widows' houses, abusing the ignorance of the common people. In this way, with dialectical skill, as with a well-turned axe, file, and plane, they shape their god, and hammer him out, and make golden him with the charm of rhetorical speech, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AUGUSTINE. [Verse 17] The gods of gold, of wood, are as regards their costliness unequal; but as to "having eyes, and seeing not," they are equal. See to what sort of guardians learned men have entrusted Rome, to those "who have eyes, and see not." Or if the were able to preserve Rome, why did they first perish them- selves? The say; "Rome perished at the same time. "Nevertheless they perished. "No," they say, "they did not perish themselves, but their statues." Well, how then could they keep your houses, who were not able to keep their own statues? Alexandria once lost such gods as these. Constantinople some time since, ever since it was made a grand city, for it was made so by a Christian Emperor, lost its false gods; and yet it has increased, and still increases, and remains. And remain it will, as long as God pleases. For we do not to this city either promise an eternal duration because we say this. Carthage remains now in its possession of the Name of Christ, yet once on a time its goddess Caelestis was overthrown; because celestial she was not, but terrestrial. And that which they say is not true, that immediately on losing her gods Rome has been taken and ruined. It is not true at all; their images were overthrown before; and even so were the Goths with Rhadagaisus conquered. [Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 105.12-13] 354-430AD
Chapter 14
14:1 Once again, setting out on a voyage and about to pass through savage waves, one calls upon a more fragile timber than the ship bearing him. 14:2 For the one was devised by desire for gain, and built by craftsmanship with wisdom; 14:3 but your providence, Father, steers the other, because you granted both a way in the sea and a safe path through the waves,
RABANUS. He likewise presents these things, just as the previous ones, as a reproach against idolaters, because it is the greatest folly that a man, created in the image of God, possessing a rational soul from Him, by which he was able to devise the art of how to have a way to travel on the waves, building a ship according to his skill in the craft, does not give honor to Him who gave him this knowledge, but rather invokes an idol which he himself has fashioned with similar skill but even greater vanity. For since he is greater and better by reason of nature than the insensible thing which he himself has shaped into some image, he ought not to have erred so that the greater worships the lesser, because the lesser ought to seek help from the greater, not the greater from the lesser. Moreover, by divine gift, just as the preparation of the ship, so also the course of sailing must be sought, because the Almighty Creator destroys whomever He abandons; but whoever is guided by Him exults in complete prosperity. But all heretics who, in their doctrines, establish various images of errors, are therefore engulfed in the waves of this world, because they have abandoned the ship of the Church and did not wish to have God as their guide. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:4 showing that you are able to save from all things, so that even without skill one may embark.
RABANUS. Therefore, according to the history, the power of the Lord was demonstrated when He made the people of Israel cross the Red Sea on dry foot; likewise, when they left the desert, He led them through the bed of the Jordan, with the waters divided on either side, so as to instill terror in the nations of the Canaanites to be exterminated. But according to the allegory, the Lord Himself prepares for His faithful a path of faith and constancy amid the waves of the world and the torments of persecutors, through which they can pass unharmed from every scandal, nor will they need human comfort there, where the power of the Most High shows the marvelous effects of His virtue. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:5 And because you do not wish the works of your wisdom to be idle, for this reason people trust their lives even to the smallest piece of wood, and, having crossed the surge on a vessel, were saved. 14:6 For even at the beginning, when the proud giants were perishing, the hope of the world, taking refuge on a vessel, left to an age a seed of birth, guided by your hand.
RABANUS. The wondrous Creator gave knowledge to His creature, so that in the present age he might be able to attend to his own necessity, and serve the will of his Lord. Therefore also from the beginning, when the human race began to serve idolatry, and all evils were fashioned upon the earth by proud giants, the almighty Judge commanded His faithful servant Noah to build an ark, through which he and his offspring might be saved, and the species of all living creatures might be preserved for the future restoration of the world. The mystery of this, indeed, the Apostle Peter shows in his Epistle, saying: Christ once died for our sins, the just for the unjust, that He might offer us to God; put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit. In which also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient, when the patience of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water; which now saves you also, baptism of a like figure (1 Peter 3:18-21). They say that the form of baptism is likened to the ark and the waters of the flood, and rightly so, because the very construction of the ark from smoothed wood signifies the building of the Church, which is made from the gathering of the souls of the faithful by the architects of the Word. And that, when the whole world perished, only a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water, signifies that, in comparison to the perishing Gentiles, Jews, heretics, and false believers, the number of the elect is much smaller. Therefore, concerning the narrow gate and the strait way which leads to life, it is said: And few there are who find it (Matt. 7:13-14). And again: Fear not, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom (Luke 12:32). Therefore, that the water of the flood did not save those outside the ark, but destroyed them, undoubtedly prefigured that every heretic, although having the sacrament of baptism, is not raised by the waters but is drowned by them into hell, while the ark is lifted up to heaven. Also, the very number eight of the souls who were saved through water signifies that the holy Church receives the washing of baptism as a sacrament of the Lord’s resurrection, so that just as He rose from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we, cleansed from sins by the water of regeneration, may walk in newness of life. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:7 For blessed is the wood through which righteousness comes; 14:8 but the handmade thing, accursed is it and the one who made it, because the one worked, but the perishable thing was called a god.
RABANUS. This comparison of the two trees is different, because one deserves blessing, while the other deserves a curse. For blessed is the wood of the cross, on which, through the blood of Christ, the world was restored, and the redemption of the human race was perfected. On the contrary, the idol is cursed, that is, the image and worship of false gods, whose destruction is certain, and eternal torment awaits its maker. For the Devil will rightly be punished for having persuaded and agreed to have divine honor offered to himself; and men who worshipped him as God will deservedly suffer torments, because they tried to venerate falsehood instead of truth, and the creature instead of the Creator. But since we often find in the Holy Scriptures that wood is set for man, according to the rule of figurative speech, blessed is the man who speaks words of truth and does works of righteousness. But the heretic who worships the inventions of his own error is cursed, and assigned to eternal destruction, he himself, indeed, and his work, that is, his doctrine, which he presumed to teach falsely as truth. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:9 For equally hateful to God are both the ungodly person and his ungodliness; 14:10 and indeed the thing done together with the doer will be punished.
RABANUS. Therefore, it is also said through Jeremiah: Every man has become foolish by his own knowledge, every maker of idols is confounded by his carved image, because his molten image is false, and there is no spirit in them; for their works are vain and worthy of ridicule; in the time of their visitation, they shall perish (Jer. 10:14-15). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
JEROME. But perhaps you say: If God is my lover, why then do the lashes of my lover so grievously sadden me with severe wounds, and disturb me by hurting me? If He who loves me torments me with the embraces of scourges, then false love now exercises the parts of hatred: now it would be better for Him to hate, so that He would not torment. Rather, be careful that He does not hate; ask that He agrees to love. For love corrects, but hatred threatens punishment. Love is accustomed to bestow discipline, but hatred, when judgment dictates, recites the guilt. This hatred is propagated from God to man by the birth of the human race. And therefore, it is of man when God hates or is angry: He hates when He is offended, He is angry when, being offended, He is not entreated. For he who by hateful deeds makes himself hateful provokes the Lord to hatred of himself, and scorns to entreat the one he has offended. But God loves man as an artisan loves his work, but He hates evil deeds, by which the work is driven to ruin and forced into destruction. And He who hates evil deeds cannot love the doer of evil deeds: as the most holy Solomon declared: "The impious and his impiety are hateful to God" (Wis. 14:9). [Jerome of Stridon, Epistle 30, PL 211 30.0063C-30.0064A] died 420AD
14:11 Therefore there will also be an examination of the idols of the nations, because among God’s creatures they became an abomination, and a stumbling block to the souls of men and a snare for the feet of the foolish.
RABANUS. For the idols of the nations are not gods, and their inhabitants are, evidently, evil spirits, deserving of pardon, since men who were created in the image and honor of God were being led away from their Creator, and by casting them into the snare of their own error, were being overthrown. Likewise, if heretics persist in their wickedness, by which they lead men from truth into falsehood, and do not correct themselves and do penance, they will not escape the judgment of eternal fire. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:12 For the beginning of fornication is the invention of idols, and the discovery of them is the corruption of life. 14:13 For they were not from the beginning, nor will they be forever;
RABANUS. Although there are many kinds of fornication, the worst is that by which the soul fornicates, departing from God and worshipping idols. Similarly, that is also destructive which abandons the truth of divine doctrine and follows the falsehood of heretical opinion. For the Apostle Paul calls greed the service of idols (Eph. 5:5), from which it can be assumed that every evil desire may rightly be called fornication, when the soul, neglecting the higher law by which the lower is governed, is corrupted as if prostituted for a price to the base will of the natures. But all these things, just as they were not created from the beginning, so also they will not remain forever. For the Lord will destroy all deceitful lips, and will cut off all who speak lies (Ps. 12:3). Therefore, it is also said through Jeremiah: The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under these heavens. But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God and the eternal King (Jer. 10:10-11). Therefore idols first arose, the following sentence shows. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:14 for they entered the world through men’s vanity, and therefore their end was devised to be brief. 14:15 For a father, grieved by untimely mourning, made an image of the child quickly taken away, and then honored as a god the man who had died then, and handed down mysteries and rites to those under his control. 14:16 Then in time the godless custom, having gained strength, was kept as law, and carved images were worshiped at the commands of tyrants, 14:17 whom men, unable to honor in person because they lived far away, having reproduced the distant appearance, made a visible image of the honored king, so that by their zeal they might flatter the absent as though present. 14:18 And the ambition of the craftsman also urged on those who did not know, to intensify the religion; 14:19 for he, perhaps wishing to please the ruler, forced by his art the likeness into greater beauty; 14:20 and the crowd, drawn on by the attractiveness of the work, regarded as worship the man who had recently been honored. 14:21 And this became a snare for life, because men, enslaved either by misfortune or by tyranny, bestowed on stones and wood the incommunicable Name.
RABANUS. However, Firmianus Lactantius, in the first book he wrote on the false religion of the gods, presents similar things regarding this passage, saying: It is not obscure by what reasoning men began to be called gods, for it was because of the depravity of men who lived a rural life without any ruler. There is no doubt that in those times they began to praise a man who was king, and his whole people, with the highest praises, so that they even called them gods, whether they truly believed this because of the miracle of virtue, being still rude and simple, or, as often happens, out of flattery for present power, or because of the benefits by which they were brought to civilization. Then, when these kings were dear to them, they also arranged their lives accordingly, and after their death left behind a great longing for themselves. Therefore, men fashioned images of them, so that they might have some consolation from the contemplation of their likenesses, and, going further out of love, they began to honor the memory of the deceased, so that they might seem both to repay gratitude to those who had deserved well, and to attract their successors to the desire of ruling well. Cicero teaches this about the nature of the gods, saying: But the common custom of men has taken up the practice that those who excel in benefits, men, are raised to heaven by fame and will. Therefore Hercules, later Castor, therefore Pollux, later Aesculapius, therefore Liber. And in another place: And in most cities it can be understood that, for the sake of sharpening virtue, or because they would more willingly face danger for the sake of the republic, the memory of the best and bravest men was consecrated in honor of the immortal gods. By this reasoning, of course, the Romans consecrated their Caesars, and the Moors their kings; therefore, little by little, religions began to exist, while those first who knew them in that rite filled their children and grandchildren, and then all their descendants; and yet these greatest kings, because of the fame of their name, were worshipped in all provinces. But privately, each people venerated with the highest reverence the founders of their race or city, or men notable for their bravery, or women remarkable for their chastity, as the Egyptians did Isis, the Carthaginians Urania, the Romans Quirinus, Samos Juno, Naxos Liber, the Moors Juba, the Latins Faunus; likewise, Paphos Venus, Delos Apollo, the Macedonians Scabrius, the Athenians Minerva, Lemnos Vulcan; therefore, throughout peoples and regions, various sacred rites were undertaken, while men desired to show gratitude to their rulers. And why they should bestow other honors on those who lack life, I cannot find: therefore, the devotion of those who succeeded contributed greatly to the error, who, so that they might seem born of divine stock, bestowed divine honors on their parents, and ordered them to be bestowed. Therefore, he says, the incommunicable name was placed upon stones and wood: because the incomprehensible name of the living and omnipotent God, who alone is, they wickedly ascribed to images treacherously composed of insensible and fragile matter, and, together with false religion, shamelessly destroyed themselves with all vices. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:22 Then it was not enough to stray concerning the knowledge of God, but, living also in a great war of ignorance, they call so many evils peace. 14:23 For either they hold murders of children as rites, or secret mysteries, or mad revels from alien customs, 14:24 and no longer keep lives or marriages pure; one destroys another by ambush or grieves him by adulterating him. 14:25 And blood and murder, theft and deceit, corruption, unfaithfulness, turmoil, perjury, confusion over good things hold all men in common, 14:26 forgetfulness of grace, defilement of souls, change of birth, disorder of marriages, adultery and wantonness.
RABANUS. For they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of the image of corruptible man, and of birds and quadrupeds and serpents, and they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever; although they called themselves wise, they became fools: for they were given over to a reprobate mind, so that they dishonored their bodies among themselves, and those who refused to enter into a covenant with God through right faith and good works, being placed under the worship of the Devil, could in no way have true peace among themselves. Therefore they sacrificed their own children, as the pagans themselves did in the rites of Saturn, who sacrificed to Saturn out of hatred for Jupiter, and extinguished tender and innocent souls, which is the age most sweet to parents, without any regard for virtue. Others, indeed, offered human blood to the virtue they called Bellona; for the priests themselves sacrificed not with another’s blood, but with their own, striking themselves with drawn swords. About this, Quintilian rightly says: “If God requires this, He is angry.” Others, performing obscure rites, held vigils full of madness, as they were accustomed to do in the rites of Egyptian Isis and Eleusinian Ceres; for just as Osiris was sought there with the lamentation of his mother, so here Proserpina, abducted for the incestuous marriage of her uncle, was sought. Because Ceres is said to have searched for her in Sicily with torches lit from the summit of Etna, therefore her rites are celebrated with the tossing of burning torches. Likewise, in the rites of Father Liber, vigils full of madness were held; also in the festival of the Great Mother, where, following the example of their gods, who spent the night in feasting and games during her festival, these people consumed the whole night in useless play. Neither life nor marriage was kept pure by the pagans themselves, because they thought they could please their gods through lust and impurities of life; for all things were confused where reason and true religion held no place, but the more wicked someone was, the more he thought he pleased his god. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:27 For the worship of nameless idols is the beginning and cause and end of every evil;
RABANUS. There is no greater madness than to abandon the living God and serve dead idols, and therefore the cause and beginning of all evil is the worship of idols, because after the human mind turns away from its creator, it becomes entangled in the errors of all crimes. For the beginning of all sin is pride (Eccles. 10:13). Likewise, the end, that is, the completion or fullness of all evil, is the same idolatry; for nothing is lacking in any wickedness to him who worships the Devil as divine power; therefore, everything is reckoned to him as evil and sin. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:28 for either they party madly, or prophesy lies, or live unjustly, or swear falsely without delay; 14:29 for trusting in soulless idols, and having sworn wickedly, they do not expect to be wronged.
RABANUS. Their whole life is established in errors; if they rejoice, either at festivals or in their games, they act madly, while they either commit murders or defile themselves obscenely with lust; while they prophesy, they deceive and lead their listeners astray; while they live unjustly, they are dead in soul; if they swear falsely, they are quickly led to hell; when they swear by idols, they pollute the name of God, who commands in the law, saying: You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (Ex. 20:7). And again: By the name, he says, of foreign gods you shall not swear, but by the name of the Lord your God (Ex. 23:13). But when they think they can mock God, they cast themselves into eternal death. Allegorically, however, heretics, worshipping the images of their errors, are themselves the cause of their own destruction, whose doctrine is false, life unjust, joy insane, and death abominable. For when they swear unjustly by an idol and do not hope in the true God, despising justice, they will receive the just punishment of their deeds. This is also consequently implied. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
14:30 But both righteous judgments will overtake them, because they thought wrongly about God by paying heed to idols, and swore unjustly, despising holiness in deceit; 14:31 for it is not the power of those by whom they swear, but the punishment of sinners that always pursues the transgression of the unjust.
RABANUS. By the just judgment of God, those who are condemned and repent too late recognize what, while living before, they refused to believe; therefore also the Psalmist bears witness, saying: The Lord will be known by executing judgments; the sinner is caught in the works of his own hands. The sinners shall be turned into Hades, all the nations that forget God (Ps. 9:16-18). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 15
He confesses to God that His wisdom governs all things.
15:1 But You, our God, are kind and true, long-suffering and governing all things in mercy. 15:2 For even if we sin, we are yours, knowing your power; but we shall not sin, knowing that we have been accounted to you. 15:3 For to know you is complete righteousness, and to know your power is the root of immortality.
RABANUS. Our God is gentle, for His love is indescribable. He is true, because He deceives no one and is deceived by no one. Patient and in mercy arranging all things; for because of His goodness He patiently endures us, waiting for us to turn for the better. Not wishing anyone to perish, but that all may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim. 2:4) As He says through the prophet: I do not desire the death of the sinner, but that he should turn and live (Ezek. 33:11). If we have sinned, we cannot escape His hand, because we are His creation. But if we cease to sin and persist in good works, we will receive a sure reward from Him, with whom the full number of all good deeds is kept. For He knows all, and no secret is hidden from Him. What His knowledge brings us is made clear by the following statement. For to know you is perfect justice, and to know your justice and virtue is the root of immortality. Whoever truly desires to know God strives to abstain from all sin, as the apostle John confirms, saying: Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure (1 Jn. 3:3). And again: Everyone who abides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen him nor known him (1 Jn. 3:6). But to know God is perfect justice, that is, the highest perfection of blessedness; and to know his justice and virtue is the root of immortality. But what is the justice and virtue of God except him of whom the Apostle says: I mean Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God, who has become for us from God wisdom and justice, sanctification and redemption. For to know God and his justice and virtue is the root of immortality (1 Cor. 1:30), that is, the perception of incorruption and the contemplation of truth in eternal life, as Truth itself says to the Father in the Gospel: This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; whom now we know in part by faith, but then we shall know in truth, just as we are known, for we shall see him as he is; for now we see through a mirror and in a riddle, but then face to face (Jn. 17). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. On common truth. True Father, true Son, true Holy Spirit. Of the Father in Solomon: For our God, are kind and true: For to know you is complete righteousness (Wis. 15:1, 3). Of the Son in John: That we may be in his true Son Jesus Christ; this is the true God, and eternal life (1 Jn. 5:20). Of the Holy Spirit in the Gospel: When that Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, shall come, he will teach you all truth (Jn. 16:13). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
AUGUSTINE. [Verse 2] Do we not see how the Israelites got to their own hurt what their guilty lusting craved? For while it was raining manna on them from heaven, they desired to have flesh to eat. (Num. 11:32) They disdained what they had, and shamelessly sought what they had not: as if it were not better for them to have asked not to have their unbecoming desires gratified with the food that was wanting, but to have their own dislike removed, and be made themselves to receive aright the food that was provided. For when evil becomes our delight, and what is good the reverse, we ought to be entreating God rather to win us back to the love of the good, than to grant us the evil. Not that it is wrong to eat flesh, for the apostle, speaking of this very thing, says, Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused which is received with thanksgiving; (1 Tim. 4:4) but because, as he also says, It is evil for that man who eats with offense; (Rom. 14:20) and if so, with offense to man, how much more so if to God. [Augustine of Hippo, Tractate on the Gospel of John, 73.1] 354-430AD
On the various errors of idols, how they have been introduced into the human race; and that the worship of idols has always been a deceiver of human life.
15:4 For neither did the evil trick of men mislead us, nor the barren labor of a shadow-caster, an image stained with varied colors, 15:5 the sight of which brings disgrace to the foolish, and which longs for the lifeless form of a dead image without breath.
RABANUS. He speaks from the perspective of the faithful, who, fortified by the grace of God, in no way wish to involve themselves in the wickedness of the pagans, nor do they deem it worthy to imitate the errors they have in idolatry and various crimes, because such labor is without the fruit of righteousness; indeed, it deserves eternal death. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
15:6 Lovers of evil and worthy of such hopes, both those who do them and those who desire them and those who honor them.
RABANUS. Not only therefore are those who make idols guilty, but also those who love and worship them, placing their hope in them, are guilty and transgressors, because not only those who do evil, but also those who consent to those who do evil are worthy of death. The kind of people who place their hope in their idols is shown by the Psalmist, saying: The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths but do not speak, they have eyes but do not see. They have ears but do not hear, they have noses but do not smell. They have hands but do not feel, they have feet but do not walk, they do not make a sound in their throats; for there is no breath in their mouths. May those who make them become like them, and all who trust in them (Ps. 115:4-8). For a mortal fashions a dead thing with wicked hands and the fool worships the most foolish thing. In an allegorical sense, the inventors and builders of perverse doctrines are heresiarchs; their lovers and worshipers are their followers and disciples, all of whom are guilty and liable to destruction: For all will tremble and stand, and together be confounded (Isa. 44:11). For the Lord will destroy the man who has done this, both the master and his disciple (Mal. 2:12). Woe to their souls, for evil has been repaid to them (Isa. 3:11). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
15:7 For a potter, kneading soft earth with toil, fashions each vessel for our service; but from the same clay he molded both vessels fit for pure works and those that are opposed, all alike; but as to which use of each belongs to each, the potter is judge. 15:8 And with weary labor he fashions from the same clay a vain god, who, having been born a little while ago from earth, after a little while goes away to that from which he was taken, when the debt of the soul is demanded. 15:9 But he is concerned not that he is about to labor, but that he has a brief life; and yet he struggles with goldsmiths and silversmiths, imitates bronze-workers, and considers it glory that he makes counterfeit things. 15:10 His heart is ashes, and his hope more worthless than earth, and his life more disgraceful than clay, 15:11 because he did not know the one who formed him and who breathed into him an active soul and breathed into him the breath of life; 15:12 but they thought our life a game, and our existence a profitable festival; for he says that one must somehow, even from evil, make a gain.
RABANUS. Previously, he had spoken about those who had made idols from wood or stones or certain metals; now he also speaks about those who, following the same vanity in the craft of the potter, are shown to be equally guilty through a similar error. For the pagans themselves have fallen into such foolishness that not only did they make idols from gold or silver, or even from precious stones, but they also fashioned images in the same way from cheap clay, calling a god that which was formed from the clay of the earth by the work of a potter. Therefore, it was justly repaid to them that, since they were made from the earth and did not wish to follow the better part of themselves, that is, the rational soul which is created in the image of God, to worship the living God, by imitating the baser part of themselves, that is, the earthly body, they worshipped a clay god. Therefore, afterwards, without the fruit of good works, they themselves, senseless and useless, were rendered to the insensible earth from which they were taken. Mystically, all heretics and schismatics who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness and worship a lie instead of the truth in the images of their doctrines, even if they sometimes possess attractive speech or seem to have reasonable virtues, will nevertheless be proven to be altogether fragile, as if made of clay, because they invent useless things. Therefore, their heart is ashes, that is, their thought is foul, and their life is more sleazy than any mud, because they are ignorant of Him who formed them and gave them an intelligent mind. Instead, they vanish in their own thoughts, despising the understanding of the holy Fathers, which those Fathers had in the divine Scriptures through the gift of the Holy Spirit. They shamelessly establish new errors, as if vain amusements, for human favor and earthly gain, wandering themselves and leading into error whomever they can, so that they may be inexcusable on the day of judgment, when the Judge of all shall come to judge the secrets of hearts and render to each according to his works. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
15:13 For he knows better than all that he sins, making brittle vessels and carved images from earthy material.
RABANUS. Heretics have no excuse, for they sin knowingly, when they refuse to follow the holy and catholic teachers in right faith and sound doctrine, but according to their own perverse inventions, they choose rather an earthly and fragile understanding than to strive for a spiritual and heavenly one in their dogmas. For all fools are excessively proud in their souls. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
That all wicked things were invented by the pagans because of idolatry, and that on account of it many have suffered torments.
15:14 And all the enemies of your people, who oppressed them, are most foolish and miserable beyond the soul of a child, 15:15 because they also considered all the idols of the nations to be gods, to whom there is neither the use of eyes for seeing, nor nostrils for drawing in air, nor ears for hearing, nor fingers of hands for feeling, and their feet are useless for walking. 15:16 For a human being made them, and one who borrowed breath molded them; for no human being like himself is able to fashion a god.
RABANUS. Indeed, the proud enemies of the people of God and all enemies of justice, although they may seem to rule on earth for a time, yet because they are foolish, they consider the senseless idols of the nations to be gods, which have neither sight, nor hearing, nor touch, nor any sense of life; they are most unhappy, awaiting the destruction of their souls in Gehenna, where there will be perpetual punishment of torment; for their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched, because they did not give honor to the living and true God, and served carved images which they themselves wickedly made (Mark 9:44-48). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
15:17 But though mortal, he makes dead things with lawless hands; for he is better than the objects of his reverence, since he himself lived, but they never did.
RABANUS. For man is better than idols according to the reason of his creation, because he himself lives and understands, but they never do. Yet, because he has followed the vanity of error more than the knowledge of truth, it is fulfilled in him what is said by the Psalmist: Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like them (Psalm 49:20). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
15:18 And they even worship the most hateful animals; for, compared in folly, they are worse than the others; 15:19 nor, as things that happen in the sight of animals, are they even worth desiring as beautiful, but they have escaped both the praise of God and his blessing.
RABANUS. Miserable paganism not only worshipped the human form shaped in insensible things as a deity, but also perversely adored the forms of other animals, nor did it have a just discernment in any matter. For according to the consideration of truth, living things are set before the dead, and sensible things before insensible, and rational animals before other animals; but it was fitting that those who ignored their Creator also did not know how to make proper distinctions among His creatures; for whoever neglects to have the praise and blessing of God within himself will prove himself to err in the observation and discernment of animals. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 16
16:1 For this reason they were rightly punished by similar creatures and tormented by a multitude of beasts.
RABANUS. If you refer this to the Egyptians, who, being idolaters and given to various errors, also unjustly persecuted the people of God, in those ten plagues with which the Lord punished them because they were unwilling to let His people go, it can be understood that they experienced the viciousness of beasts; for there, too, flies of various kinds and locusts are described as having devastated them, likewise frogs and reptiles and other creatures of the earth, of which it is written in the psalm: He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; frogs, which destroyed them; and He gave their fruits to the caterpillar, and their labors to the locust (Ps. 78:45-47). In another sense, heretics and schismatics and all the wicked are also torn, scattered, and destroyed by spiritual beasts, that is, by evil spirits, to whose will they consented and, by the just judgment of God, were subjected to their power, so that they might torment and scatter them. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:2 In place of this punishment, having benefited your people, you prepared a food of unfamiliar taste, to stir desire for appetite, tremble for nourishment, 16:3 so that those, desiring food, might despise even that which was sent to them because of the awfulness of the creatures, while these, after becoming needy for a short time, might partake of an unfamiliar taste. 16:4 For it was necessary that upon the tyrants there should come unavoidable want, but to these only a showing of how their enemies were tormented. 16:5 And indeed when upon them came the terrible rage of beasts and they were perishing by the bites of wiggly serpents, your wrath did not remain to the end;
RABANUS. It is read in the Book of Numbers that when the Israelite people desired to eat meat in the desert, the Lord provided them with a multitude of quails, which they ate until they were satisfied to the point of nausea; nevertheless, the punishment for their desire was not far from them, for the wrath of the Lord, stirred up against the people, struck them with a very great plague, and the place was called the grave of desire (Num. 11). Therefore, wisdom now remembers this, alternating its discussion about the destruction of the Egyptians and the correction of the Israelites, because those who resisted God and exercised tyranny over His people perished suddenly without excuse. However, these were corrected for a time and punished three times in a manner suitable for discipline, yet they were not entirely deprived of divine comfort. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:6 but for a little while they were troubled as a warning, having a symbol of salvation to remind them of the command of your law. 16:7 For the one who turned back was not saved because of what was seen, but because of you, the Savior of all. 16:8 And by this also you persuaded our enemies that you are the one who delivers from every evil.
RABANUS. It is read in the aforementioned book of Numbers that the murmuring children of Israel, in the thirty-fifth encampment, because of the weariness of the journey and labor, and the lack of food, aroused the anger of the Lord against themselves. Therefore, the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and after many had been wounded and killed by them, they came to Moses and said: We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray that He may take the serpents away from us. Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord spoke to him: Make a bronze serpent and set it up as a sign; whoever is bitten and looks at it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it up as a sign, and when those who had been bitten looked at it, they were healed (Num. 21:6-9). But it must be carefully considered what is said: For he who was healed was not healed by what he saw, but by You, the Savior of all. For it was not the bronze serpent, which was set up as a sign in a figurative way, that saved them, but the ritual of the mystery, that is, the death of Christ, who was prefigured in that serpent; He Himself saved the human race: for all these things happened to them as a figure. Moreover, they were written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. But what does it mean that wounds in men caused by the bite of wild serpents were healed by the raising up and looking at the bronze serpent, unless it is that now, in the type of the Savior, who on the wood of the cross triumphed over the wild and ancient serpent, the venom of the Devil is overcome? So that whoever truly and clearly beholds the image of the Son of God and His passion is preserved. For this is also signified by the words of the Lord Himself, saying: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life (Jn. 3:14-15). Therefore, rightly was it a bronze serpent that was suspended on the wood; for bronze is usually more durable than other metals, and openly the bronze serpent was suspended on the wood, so that the Lord might be signified both as dead in the serpent and as eternal in the bronze; namely, that He might be shown as dead through His humanity, and yet, as it were, bronze, because of His divinity. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:9 Those indeed were destroyed by the bites of locusts and flies, and no remedy was found for their souls, because they were worthy to be punished by such things; 16:10 but the teeth of venomous dragons did not overcome your sons, for your mercy came to meet them and healed them.
RABANUS. A distinction must be noted, because just as punishment sometimes tests and admonishes the elect, so that they may avoid sins and persist in works of righteousness, and diligently observe the faith of God and the keeping of His commandments, so also correction applied to the depraved casts them down and destroys them, since no correction or worthy change is found in them; therefore, by the will of God, small animals killed the idolaters, and conversely, the Israelites, worshippers of the true God, could not be exterminated by the venom of serpents, because the Lord knows how to rescue the virtuous from temptation, but to keep the wicked for torment on the day of judgment. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AUGUSTINE. But the mention of locusts in the eighth place, I think, through this kind of plague or detractor, or always by its own discord, is intended to signify the inconsistency of the human race. For the locust, although it has no king, as Scripture says, leads its army in order with one line (Prov. 30:27); but men, although made rational by God, have neither been able to govern themselves in an orderly manner, nor have they patiently endured the moderation of God the King. [Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 20.2] 354-430AD
He confesses to God that He is kind and true, patient and merciful, saving the elect through His word and judging the depraved.
16:11 For they were pierced for the remembrance of your words and quickly were saved, lest, falling into deep forgetfulness, they become unmindful of your generosity. 16:12 For neither herb nor bandage healed them, but your word, Lord, which heals all things. 16:13 For you have authority over life and death, and you lead down to the gates of Hades and bring up again.
RABANUS. Note that he says those harmed by serpents were not healed by bandages and the work of doctors, but by the Word of the Lord, that is, the Son through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made: whose power rules everywhere, and does whatever he wills in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths; he himself heals bodies, he himself saves both bodies and souls from spiritual beasts, that is, evil spirits, nor is there anyone who can resist his will (Esther 13:11). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:14 But man kills indeed by his wickedness, yet when the spirit has gone out he does not restore it, nor does he release the soul once received. 16:15 And it is impossible to escape your hand;
RABANUS. By the hatred of man the soul is slain, that is, by the wickedness of one's own will and the effect of evil deeds. Therefore someone [John Chrysostom] has said: No one can be harmed except by himself, because he is either the inventor of his own crime, or the supporter and encourager of another's wickedness. For if a man guards his mind and does not consent to evil persuasion, he is free from all guilt. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
JOHN CHYRYSOSTOM. Man, through malice and wickedness, that is, by his own will and the effect of wrongful action, kills the soul. Therefore someone has said: no one can be harmed except by himself, because he is either the originator of his own crime or consents to the crimes of others. For if a man guards his mind and does not consent to evil persuasion, he is free from all guilt. [John Chrysostom, No One Can Harm the Man Who Does Not Harm Himself 4] died 407AD
He corrected the inventors of idolatry, showing how, by God's judgment, they were tormented by water, hail, and fire.
16:16 for the wicked, denying that they know you, were scourged by the strength of your arm, pursued by strange rains and hail and relentless showers, and consumed by fire. 16:17 For what was most astonishing: in the water that quenches all things, fire acted more powerfully, for creation is the defender of the righteous.
RABANUS. When Moses compelled Pharaoh by the word of the Lord to allow the children of Israel to depart from Egypt so that they might sacrifice to the Lord in the desert, Pharaoh, hardened in his profane speech, replied: I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go (Ex. 5). Therefore, he was struck with various plagues together with his people, among which he was struck by hail and fire at the same time, as it is read in Exodus: for hail and fire were mingled and carried together, and struck everything that was in the fields, from man to beast, and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the region (Ex. 9:24-25). Nor is it surprising that two contrary elements, that is, fire and hail, struck together, since all things obey the will of their Creator, and there is no opposition where the divine majesty commands. For at one time the fire was gentle so that the animals sent by the wicked would not be burned, but so that those who saw would know that they suffered persecution by the judgment of God. And at another time, fire burned above the power of water everywhere to destroy the wicked nation of the land. Therefore, just as it is read in the book of Genesis that the Lord rained fire and sulfur from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy the wicked (Gen. 19), and in Exodus it is told that a mixture of hail and fire struck the wicked (Ex. 9), so in the book of Numbers it is mentioned that fiery serpents destroyed the rebellious and murmurers, so that the stubborn might recognize that every creature is prepared for the vengeance of the wicked, when they do not fear to rebel against the commands of their Creator (Num. 21). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
He declares that God has given the people of Israel, who fear Him, food of delight.
16:18 For at one time the flame was subdued, so that it might not burn up the living things sent against the ungodly, but that they themselves, seeing it, might know that they were driven by the judgment of God; 16:19 and at another time, even within water, it burned beyond the power of fire, so as to destroy the fruits of an unrighteous land. 16:20 In exchange for these things you fed your people with angel’s food and sent them bread from heaven ready at hand, possessing every delight and suiting every harmonious taste; 16:21 for your very substance showed your sweetness toward your children, while serving the desire of the one who ate, it was changed into whatever each one wished. 16:22 Snow and ice endured fire and did not melt, so that they might know that the fire, blazing in the hail and flashing within the showers, destroyed the fruits of the enemies; 16:23 this again was so that the righteous might be nourished and made to forget their own strength.
RABANUS. Here wisdom commemorates for the people of Israel in the desert the manna, the sweetest and healthiest food given from heaven, so that they might render greater thanks to their Redeemer, who not only mercifully freed them from their enemies when they were oppressed, but also generously fed them with heavenly provisions when they were in need (Ex. 16). If anyone thinks it necessary to inquire what is meant by saying that snow and ice withstand the force of fire and do not melt, let him understand that it was not made known there, that two contrary elements, namely fire and frozen water, struck the wicked in harmony, or that some quality of the heavenly food given as food to the people of God was expressed there, which endured the force of fire where it was necessary, and yet, when it was necessary, melted in the heat of the sun. It is also read in Exodus that in the wilderness appeared something white, small, and cut like hair, resembling frost upon the ground, the taste of which was like flour mixed with honey, nor did it suffer any loss from the force of fire. Therefore it is written in the book of Numbers: Now the manna was like coriander seed, the color of bdellium; and the people went about gathering it, grinding it in mills or pounding it in mortars, cooking it in pots and making cakes of it, the taste of which was like bread made with oil. But when the sun rose, it melted (Num. 11:7-15). Mystically, just as in the scourge of hail and fire there is a harsh rebuke, so divine Scripture is understood to torment sinners, so also in the heavenly food there is a heavenly comfort, which daily refreshes the righteous and those devoted to God. Otherwise, manna signifies that bread which in the Gospel says: I am the bread of life who came down from heaven, and I give life to the world. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. And again: The bread, he says, which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. And again: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (Jn. 6:35-40). Whoever therefore truly attains to the participation of this bread will undoubtedly possess eternal life without end. Therefore, the reprobate are tormented by spiritual hunger, and the elect are healthily fed by the heavenly bread: the former are daily prepared by various labors for future punishment; the latter, however, are daily nourished by divine help for eternal life. Which the Prophet also testifies, saying: Many are the sorrows of the wicked; but mercy shall surround those who hope in the Lord (Ps. 32:10). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. [Verse 20] As a certain wise man says about the sweetness of manna: You provided them with ready bread from heaven without labor, containing every delight and all the sweetness of taste (Wis. 16:20). For manna indeed contained every delight and all sweetness of taste, because, in the mouths of the spiritual, it gave flavor according to the will of those who ate, since the divine word is both suitable for all and not inconsistent with itself, adapting to the capacity of the hearers; and when each chosen person profitably understands it according to his own measure, he transforms the manna received into a flavor of his own choosing. [Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 2.2.22] died 604 AD
VICTOR VITENSIS. Therefore, the substance of the Father is designated as the Son by the prophetic oracles long ago, as Solomon says: For you showed your substance and sweetness, which you have for your sons (Wis. 16:21), which appeared to have flowed down to the people of Israel from heaven in the form and image of heavenly bread. The Lord Himself explained this in the Gospel, saying: Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you bread from heaven (Jn. 6:32); clearly designating Himself as the bread when He says: I am the living bread which came down from heaven (Ibid. 41). Of whom also the prophet David says: Man ate the bread of angels (Ps. 77:25). For in order to show even more clearly the unity of substance and equality of divinity between the Father and the Son, He Himself says in the Gospel: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. And: I and the Father are one (Jn. 10:38, 30). This refers not only to the unity of will, but to one and the same substance. [Victor Vitensis, History of the Persecution of the African Province PL 58 3.23.3] 430-486AD
VIGILIUS. [Verse 21] Where they say that the Son was not born from the substance of the Father. But if they should say: the Son was not born from the paternal substance, but generated from another substance. Response. We also, who confess the Father and the Son to be of one substance, have taught by divine authority that the Son is from the substance of God the Father, as the prophet Jeremiah says: “Take up mourning over the minds, and lamentation over the paths of the desert, because they have failed, since they are not men; because they were unwilling to hear the voice of my substance, from the birds of the sky even to the beasts they have fallen away in mind” (Jer. 9:10). Likewise there: “Who has stood in the substance of the Lord, and will see the word of God? Who has given ear and heard” (Jer. 23:18)? And there: “If they had stood in my substance, and if they had heard my words, and if they had taught my people, I would have turned them away from their most evil pursuits” (Jer. 23:22). And the Apostle: “Who, being the radiance of glory and the form of his substance” (Heb. 1:3). Likewise he himself: “For we have become partakers of God; let us hold fast the beginning of his substance” (Heb. 3:14). And in Solomon: “My substance is my sweetness” (Wis. 16:21). From this, then, recognize that he who is called the substance of God the Father is not believed to be foreign to that same substance. [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
It is told that the Lord alone has power over death and life, who by His will governs all things, punishing the wicked with the scourge, and refreshing the righteous with heavenly bread.
16:24 For creation, serving you who made it, is strained to punish the unrighteous and is relaxed to benefit those who trust in you.
RABANUS. By this sentence all the wicked and sinners are confused, because while the rest of creation serves its Creator, they alone are found to resist His will and commands. But since no one can resist His will, they are deservedly scourged and corrected by the harmony of all creatures, and if they do not repent nor improve themselves, they will be handed over to be tormented with perpetual punishments. But for the good alone true goods are prepared, while for the wicked unending torments are appointed. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:25 Therefore even then, changing into everything, it served your all-nourishing gift according to the will of those in need, 16:26 so that your sons, whom you loved, Lord, might learn that it is not the produce of the fruits that nourishes man, but your word preserves those who believe in you.
RABANUS. Therefore, the people of God in the desert were comforted by various support and cherished by divine mercy. Manna rained down for them from heaven, most abundant water was given to them from the rock, they were fed with the flesh of birds, their garments were not worn out, nor were their shoes consumed; during the day the sun did not burn them, because He led them in a cloud by day, and all night in the illumination of fire, so that they might become more devoted to their Creator, who helped them freely by providing for every necessity. For this reason He cared for them temporarily, so that they might love and understand Him perpetually, according to the mention of this place, since it is not the fruits of birth that feed men, but the word of God preserves those who believe in Him. Moses also proves this in Deuteronomy, saying: He afflicted you with want, and gave you the food of manna, which you and your fathers did not know, to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Your garment with which you were clothed did not fail through age, and your foot was not worn out. Behold, it is the fortieth year, so that you may reflect in your heart, because just as a man instructs his son, so the Lord your God has instructed you, that you may keep the commandments of your God, and walk in His ways, and fear Him; for the Lord your God will bring you into a good land (Deut. 8:3–7). But because they were always ungrateful and clung to figures, they did not wish to receive the truth itself coming to them; therefore, all things were transferred to the fruits of the Holy Church; for all things happened to them in figure. Moreover, they were written for our correction, as Paul also clearly proved, writing to the Corinthians, saying: For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:1-4). For Christ is the foundation of the whole law and the truth of the figures; whoever believes in Him has fulfilled the whole law; but whoever does not believe, as a transgressor of the law, will perish eternally. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:27 For that which is not destroyed by fire was simply warmed by a brief ray of the sun and melted, 16:28 so that it might be known that one must hasten to the sun in giving thanks to you and meet you at the rising of light.
RABANUS. We have already said above that the manna, which endured the odor of fire, would melt at the heat of the sun; but now, since he repeats the same mystery, we believe it is enough to speak of its meaning. For that figurative food fed our fathers in a historical sense, but it melted at the rising of the true sun, that is, at the birth of Christ it was dissolved for spiritual use and was transformed into a heavenly ritual, so that we may anticipate the sun in blessings, that is, proclaim the divinity of Christ with eternal praises, saying with the evangelist John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God: all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made, etc. (Jn. 1:1-3). But at the rising of the light, that is, at the coming of the Savior, let us say: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. But let us see what follows concerning that carnal people. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:29 For the hope of the ungrateful will melt like winter frost and flow away like useless water.
RABANUS. For the hopes of the people, that is, the Jews’ hope which they now have for the coming of their king, namely the Antichrist, melts away like winter ice, that is, it withers cold in unbelief without the fruit of righteousness, and will perish like surplus water, when all the tradition of their doctrine is deemed of no use; for our Savior, speaking to the apostles, says to us: Let them alone, they are blind leaders of the blind. Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up (Matt. 15:13-14). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 17
Wisdom praises God, because His judgments are great and His words are inexpressible, He who wondrously punished enemies.
17:1 For great are Your judgments, and hard to describe; for this cause uninstructed souls went astray.
RABANUS. Great are the judgments of the almighty God, and inexpressible are the words by which, with wondrous command, He governs all creation. For this reason, the senseless souls of unbelievers have gone astray, because they were unwilling to believe and understand their Creator, who made all things by His word, nor did they render to Him the due honor in the worship of devotion. Nor is it contrary to this statement, that the words of God are indescribable, what the Psalmist says: I have declared with my lips all the judgments of your mouth (Ps. 119:13), because those things which He wished to be declared by the mouth, that is, to be made revealed, human frailty can understand and recount; but those things which He Himself has decreed to remain hidden, no one at all has been able to investigate. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
17:2 For lawless men, thinking to oppress a holy nation, were bound with darkness, prisoners of a long night, shut in beneath roofs, exiles from eternal providence. 17:3 For, while they supposed to remain hidden in secret sins, they were scattered under a dark veil of forgetfulness, being terribly intimidated and troubled by apparitions.
RABANUS. It commemorates the fact that in Egypt the enemies of the people of God suffered in the darkness of gloom, which Scripture reports as so dense that it could be felt; in which, having suffered excessive horror, they were justly punished for their sins and for the dark oblivion. Mystically, all persecutors of the Church of Christ, namely Jews, pagans, heretics, and also false Christians, suffer the enormous darkness of their crimes and errors, nor can they be safe and secure anywhere, for the rulers of these darknesses lead them according to their own will, and finally plunge them into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, to be punished perpetually with them. That all those who act wickedly are in darkness is shown by Truth itself in the Gospel, saying: “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light lest his works be reproved; but whoever does the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be manifest, because they are done in God” (Jn. 3:20-21). And again: “He who follows me,” he says, “will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12). Therefore John also says: “He who hates his brother is still in darkness, and walks in darkness, and does not know where he goes, because darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 Jn. 2:11). Of which Peter also says to believers: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the virtues of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but now are the people of God; and who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy” (1 Peter 2:9-10). Therefore Paul also says to them: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light” (Eph. 5:8). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
17:4 For not even the recess that held them kept them secure from fear; but sounds that alarmed them echoed around them, and phantoms appeared with grim faces that did not smile. 17:5 And no power of fire was strong enough to give light, nor did the bright flames of the stars consent to illumine that hateful night.
RABANUS. Horror always accompanies darkness, and the less one can see or discern the things around oneself, the greater fear one has, suspecting adversity on all sides and dreading harm. Therefore, it also happened to the Egyptians, when they endured the greatest darkness for three days, which neither the sun, nor the moon, nor even the stars could illuminate: wherever they hid, they trembled with excessive terror. But when it is said that sad figures appeared to them, causing fear, it could have happened that, by the scheming of evil spirits, certain phantasms appeared to them, which struck them with excessive horror to increase their punishments. Similarly, even now, the persecutors of the Christian faith and the enemies of truth are surrounded everywhere by the darkness of their sins, because they are ignorant of the sun of righteousness, nor do holy teachers illuminate them in any way with the brightness of their doctrines. These also are disturbed by a descending sound, that is, the heavenly preaching foretelling the punishments to come for them, and sad figures, that is, demons who are to torture them, terrify them beforehand; yet this does not generate fruitful repentance in them, but rather, having become worse, they are prepared without ceasing for eternal destruction: for since they despair of themselves, nor do they wish to correct themselves so as to abandon their error and do works of righteousness, they are storing up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each according to his works. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
That the cruel presumption always disturbs the conscience of the wicked, and that they themselves are tormented, terrified by various dreams and imaginations.
17:6 There appeared to them only self-kindled fire, full of fear, and, frightened by the unseen appearance, they deemed the visible things worse.
RABANUS. For from that fire, which was punishing the wicked, they were terrified with fear, dreading punishments on all sides, because the more severe the pains of punishment one feels, the greater the horrors he fears may come upon him. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
17:7 The mockeries of magical art were laid low, and a shameful rebuke of boastful wisdom. 17:8 For those who promised to drive away terrors and troubles from a sick soul themselves were sick with ridiculous dread. 17:9 For even if nothing frightful terrified them, being startled by the passing of beasts and the hissing of serpents, they perished in terror and refused to look upon the air that could in no way be escaped.
RABANUS. How the magi in Egypt resisted Moses by performing false wonders through magical incantations to deceive the people, the book of Exodus recalls; but at last, when they saw themselves overcome by the power of the signs which were divinely performed through Moses and Aaron, they were compelled to confess that it was the finger of God who accomplished these great deeds (Ex. 4:30). And those who just before boasted themselves to be healers of all diseases, at the coming of the serpents and other animals which afflicted them, were struck with fear and suffered in the same way as the others; and so also now, in the times of grace, all who mock the Christian religion, who boast in their own arts, that is, the diviners and soothsayers of the pagans, as well as those who have departed from the unity of the Church through apostasy, such as heretics and schismatics, although they pretend to be victorious, are nevertheless truly overcome by the power of Christ, and in the end will suffer the most cruel enemy, the ancient serpent, with his followers. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AUGUSTINE. But when he says that false prophets will perform many signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect (Matt. 24:24), he certainly warns us to understand that even wicked men can perform certain miracles, which the saints cannot do; yet they are not therefore to be considered as having a higher place with God. For the Egyptian magicians were not more acceptable to God than the people of Israel, because that people could not do what the magicians did; although Moses, by the power of God, could do greater things (Ex. 7–12). But these things are not granted to all the saints, lest the weak be deceived by the most pernicious error, thinking that greater gifts are found in such deeds than in works of righteousness, by which eternal life is obtained. Therefore the Lord forbids the disciples to rejoice in this, when he says: Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:20). Therefore, when magicians perform such things as saints sometimes do, these things indeed appear visibly, but are done with a different purpose and by a different right. For the magicians do them seeking their own glory, while the saints do them seeking the glory of God; and the magicians do them through certain powers granted in their own order, as if by private dealings or sorcery; but the saints do them by public administration, by the command of Him to whom all creation is subject. [Augustine of Hippo, On Various Questions 79.3-4 PL 40] 354-430AD
17:10 For wickedness, condemned, bears witness of its own cowardice, and, constrained by conscience, always takes the harder path.
RABANUS. For in this, he says that those wicked men denied seeing the air, whose presence no living and breathing animal can ever avoid; he expresses the excess of fear, which, because of the oppression of impending punishments, they suffer as their own evil rebukes their conscience. Moreover, since wickedness is always fearful, its own terror gives rise to punishments when it is condemned. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. Therefore, it is well said by a certain wise man: Since wickedness is fearful, it bears witness to its own condemnation (Wis. 17:10). For while fear, striking the conscience because of the deed, reproves, it gives itself damning testimony for the case it commits. On the contrary, it is said by John: If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God (1 Jn. 3:21). Therefore, let the wicked flee from human eyes, but they certainly cannot flee from themselves. For since they know the evil they do, they have conscience as a witness, and their own reason as a judge. Therefore, in the sin they commit, they first encounter the judgment of their own reason against themselves. And this is perhaps what is said by the Psalmist: Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls (Ps. 42:8). For, by a wondrous order of hidden arrangement, the evil that is done is not permitted to be unknown, and the sinner already condemns himself in his conscience by his own judgment, and after his own condemnation hastens to the sentence of the eternal Judge. Therefore, for deep to call to deep is to pass from judgment to judgment. [Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 2.27.25] died 604 AD
17:11 For fear is nothing but betrayal of the supports that reason offers. 17:12 And while expectation is inwardly weaker, it counts ignorance as greater than the cause that brings the torment.
RABANUS. For the conscience is always troubled, and if it does not have the serenity of tranquility within itself, it arrogantly elevates itself, but this presumption is restrained by fear itself. Therefore it is said that his fear is a help, that is, a remedy. It also reveals the weakness of the proud mind, which, by imagining vain hopes of help, was driving itself mad, when it hoped it could achieve what it could in no way accomplish; and therefore, as its inner health was less than the things it suffered outwardly, it thought its power was greater. This often happens also among the persecutors of the faithful; for, because of the blindness of their hearts, they consider themselves powerful when they torture the bodies of the saints with various torments, but when, overcome by their patience, they see that they cannot achieve what they wanted, they are crushed by the anguish of their own mind, and at last they recognize that they are not what they previously thought themselves to be, and they realize that he is stronger who granted his soldiers patience, the endurance to suffer punishments, and the strength to overcome their enemies. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
17:13 But those who truly endured that powerless night, come from the powerless depths of Hades, sleeping the same sleep, 17:14 were alternately driven by monstrous apparitions and paralyzed in soul by betrayal; for sudden and unexpected fear came upon them. 17:15 Then, whoever was falling there, was guarded, having been shut up in an unbreakable prison;
RABANUS. He says this when, in Egypt, the enemies of the people of God were surrounded by the horror of darkness, so that neither those awake nor those asleep had any rest. For either those sleeping were disturbed by terrifying visions, or those awake were tormented by excessive fear; nor was there any opportunity given to them to withdraw freely anywhere, but without a shackle or iron chain, they were confined in the prison of darkness. Therefore it is written: For three days, no one saw his brother, nor did anyone move from the place where he was (Ex. 10:23). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
17:16 for whether one was a farmer or a shepherd or a laborer who toiled in the wilderness, seized in advance, he remained under an unbearable necessity, 17:17 for all were bound with one chain of darkness; whether the whistling wind, or the sweet sound among the spreading branches of birds, or the rushing rhythm of water moving violently, or the harsh crash of falling rocks, 17:18 or the unseen running of leaping animals, or the voice of the fiercest roaring beasts, or the echo returned from hollow mountains, frightened them and left them helpless.
RABANUS. For on every side the wretched were constrained by punishment, for whatever they perceived with their ears from sound, or sensed by any feeling, they feared that all was aimed at their destruction. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
17:19 For the whole world was shining with bright light and was engaged in unhindered works; 17:20 but over them alone was laid a heavy night, an image of the darkness that would later receive them, while to themselves they were heavier than darkness.
RABANUS. For only the wicked were in darkness; but the worshippers of God abounded in the most abundant light. Therefore, it is written: But wherever the children of Israel dwelt, there was light (Ex. 10:23). But it must also be considered what is said: Only for them there was a heavy night, an image of the darkness that was to come upon them, for they themselves were a heavier darkness to themselves. In this it is clearly shown that spiritual darkness, which the mind suffers, is heavier than bodily darkness, which the eye endures; for from these darknesses, that is, of unbelief and error and wickedness, a man is led to the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; which darkness of the Egyptians prefigured, for just as there bodies were held useless for every good work, so here both bodies and souls are shut up in eternal prison, unfit for every good work, because neither reason, nor place, nor time for working is found among the dead. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 18
Of the saints, who in the darkness of Egypt, that is, in the errors of the world, were illuminated by divine light.
18:1 But to your holy ones there was the greatest light; hearing their voice but seeing no form, they praised the fact that what happened to them did not happen to them too, 18:2 and gave thanks that, though formerly wronged, they were not harmed, and they begged for grace to be separated. 18:3 Instead of these things you provided a pillar of fire, a guide for an unknown journey, and a harmless sun for their honorable sojourning.
RABANUS. For the saints of God there was the greatest light, when they were illuminated both outwardly by bodily light and inwardly by spiritual radiance; for the faith of God and the purity of conscience enlightened them within, whose voices the enemies heard, but whose appearance they did not see, because darkness blinded their eyes, and because, by the temptation of the plagues which came upon the Egyptians, these were not struck, but were led by heavenly guidance through the pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud by day, and gave worthy thanks to their Creator. Therefore, since those holy fathers who lived under the Old Testament bore the type of the saints who serve Christ under the New Testament; those in historical Egypt labored afflicted under Pharaoh, while the persecution of the Devil in the world burdens these with tribulations; for the greatest light shines for those who diligently carry the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world, in the dwelling of their heart. Indeed, the enemies hear the voice of their preaching, but do not recognize the form of the truth that is in them, and therefore do not believe them. Both the pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud by day lead them, because the incarnation of Christ always protects them with the shield of His protection in adversity and prosperity. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
18:4 For they were worthy to be deprived of light and imprisoned in darkness, who had imprisoned your sons, through whom the imperishable light of the law was to be given to the world. 18:5 But when they had resolved to kill the infants of the holy ones, and one child had been exposed and saved, you took away from them their own multitude of children for their correction, and destroyed them all together in mighty water. 18:6 That night was made known beforehand to our fathers, so that, knowing surely the oaths in which they trusted, they might rejoice.
RABANUS. By the merit of Egypt, they endured the punishments of darkness, who, blinded by the obscurity of envy, wished to keep the people of God, to whom the light of the divine law was to be handed down, in their prison, and although they intended not even to spare their infants, by the judgment of God, when one son, that is, Moses, was rescued from death by water, a multitude of adversaries was drowned in mighty water through his ministry. In the same way, now the spiritual enemies who strive to destroy the assembly of the faithful, when the elect of God are freed from their enemies through the water of baptism, only those enemies, together with their king the Devil, are overwhelmed in those very waters by the power of Christ. The reason for this mystery was both foreshadowed long ago in the deeds of the ancients, and is now fulfilled through the coming of Christ. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
The exterminator of Egypt, who did not dare to touch the Hebrew doorposts consecrated with the blood of the lamb.
18:7 And your people accepted the salvation of the righteous and the destruction of enemies; 18:8 for by what means you punished our adversaries, by this you called us and glorified us. 18:9 For secretly the holy children of good people offered sacrifices and in harmony established the law of the divine nature, that the saints would share alike the same good things and dangers, already singing the praises of the fathers.
RABANUS. At the time when the people of God were to be led out of Egypt by Moses and Aaron, the people themselves, still situated in Egypt, were sacrificing the Passover victim at the Lord’s command; and therefore it is said that they sacrificed secretly, because, terrified by fear of their enemies, they did this in hiding, just as they learned from Moses’ teaching how the law of the Passover was to be observed thereafter, having suffered the temptation of the wicked for a time, but soon to be freed from the hands of their enemies by divine help. In a similar way, even now in the times of grace, the servants of God to whom the divine law has been given for the harmony of the two Testaments, although they may be hindered for a time by their persecutors from openly celebrating the worship of the Christian religion, nevertheless cannot in any way be prevented from offering sacrifices worthy of the divine presence in the hidden places of their hearts, because it is written: The sacrifice to God is a repentant spirit; a repentant and humbled heart God does not despise (Ps. 51:17). And the same Prophet also says: In me are your vows, O God, which I will repay with praises to you (Ps. 56:12). The vows of the righteous are pleasing to the Lord, and the sacrifices of the wicked are abominable. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
18:10 But the dissenting cry of enemies echoed, and a pitiable crying of children who were being mourned went forth; 18:11 and with a like punishment slave and master were alike punished, and citizen and king suffering the same things, 18:12 and all together had innumerable dead in one name of death; for the living were not even sufficient to bury them, since in a single moment their more honorable generation had been destroyed. 18:13 For while they distrusted everything because of their sorceries, in regard to the destruction of the firstborn they confessed that the people were God’s son.
RABANUS. It commemorates what the Book of Exodus recounts about the killing of the firstborn, when the Lord struck in the middle of the night every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive woman who was in the prison, and every firstborn of the animals (Ex. 11). There, unlike before when they pretended not to agree to the departure of the Israelites, they openly urged the people of God to leave the land of Egypt quickly, saying: We shall all die. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
18:14 For while a still silence held all things and night in its swift course was in the middle, 18:15 your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal thrones, a stern warrior into the midst of the land of destruction, 18:16 bearing as a sharp sword your sincere command, and standing he filled all things with death; and it touched heaven, yet walked upon the earth.
RABANUS. The Word was with God, and the Word was God (Jn. 1:1), through whom all things were made, who elsewhere is also called the arm of the Lord, as Isaiah says: And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? (Isa. 53:1) The same is also called the right hand of the Lord because of the effective power of divine might. Therefore, the Word himself is to be understood as then executing judgment on the firstborn of the Egyptians through the ministry of the Gospel, who afterwards will sanctify for himself the firstborn of the Israelites, and now through the water of his baptism saves the multitude of believers, where he also destroyed the innumerable army of spiritual enemies. For it is said that the Lord’s command carried a sharp sword; because the Word of the Lord is living and effective and more penetrating than any two-edged sword. In truth and without any deception, he judges and arranges all things; standing on earth, he reaches up to the heavens: for although incarnate he lived among men on earth, yet by his majesty he transcended all the heavenly realms. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. [Verse 15] On the common omnipotence of the Trinity. Omnipotent Father, omnipotent Son, omnipotent Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17). Concerning the Father in Solomon: your all-powerful word leaped from heaven, from the royal thrones, came (Wis. 18:15). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5th century
CEREALIS OF CASTELLUM RIPENSE. That the Son is omnipotent is therefore taught. In Solomon it is written: Your omnipotent word, Lord, leaped from your royal throne into the midst of the doomed land (Wis. 18:15). Therefore, he is also king who holds royal thrones. Likewise in the Apocalypse: Therefore says the Son of God, who is and who was the omnipotent God. (Rev. 1:8) In the Gospel: Whatever things the Father does, these the Son does likewise (Jn. 5:19). Likewise in the Gospel: As the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. In Ezekiel the Son says: Behold, I will stretch out my hand over you and those who plundered you shall be plundered, and you shall know that I am the Lord Almighty, and that the Lord Almighty is he who sent me. (Ezek. 25:7) [Cerealis of Castellum Ripense, Against Maximinus the Arian, PL 58 5.0760A- 0760B] 480AD
18:17 Then at once terrifying apparitions of dreams greatly troubled them, and unexpected fears assailed them, 18:18 and each one, thrown down here and there, half-dead, made known the cause for which he was dying; 18:19 for the dreams that had disturbed them had foretold this, so that, not knowing why they were suffering ill, they might not perish.
RABANUS. In the middle of the night, he says that the almighty God sends a word from heaven, from royal seats, a harsh conqueror, to leap into the midst of the land of destruction, and to exercise the judgment of death powerfully upon the wicked. For what is the word of the Lord, if not the Son of God? Of whom John says: In the beginning was the Word, and it is rightly said that the visions of evil dreams and unexpected fears disturbed the enemies of the people of God, so that neither to those awake nor to those sleeping was any rest given, who, because of their crimes, were destined for perpetual torments. But the very plagues warned the guilty so that they might recognize why they suffered evils, lest they perish in ignorance; this is the goodness of God, who therefore chastises sinners so that they may restrain themselves from sins and repent of past evils; but if they persist in evil and abuse the patience of God for the increase of their crimes, condemned by the just judgment of God, they will be punished without excuse in the future. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Of Moses and Aaron it is said that they led the people out of Egypt not by strength of body, but by faith and prayer.
18:20 And the trial of death touched the righteous also, and a destruction of a multitude took place in the wilderness. But the wrath did not remain for long; 18:21 for a blameless man hastened and went ahead with the weapon of his own ministry, bringing prayer and the propitiation of incense, he opposed the wrath and put an end to the disaster, showing that he was your servant. 18:22 And he overcame the crowd not by bodily strength, nor by the force of weapons, but by a word he subdued the punisher, reminding him of the oaths of the fathers and the covenants.
RABANUS. Here is recalled the story, which is narrated in the Book of Numbers, of how after the killing of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, the sons of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying: You have killed the people of God. And when the sedition arose and the chaos increased, Moses and Aaron fled into the tabernacle of the covenant. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: Depart from the midst of this congregation, and I will destroy them at once. And they fell on their faces. And while they lay on the ground, Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer, and having taken fire from the altar, put incense upon it, and go quickly to the people to pray for them, for already wrath has gone out from the Lord, and the plague is raging. When Aaron had done this, and had run into the midst of the crowd, which the fire was devastating, he offered incense, and standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for the people, and the plague ceased. The number of those who were struck was fourteen thousand seven hundred, apart from those who perished in the sedition of Korah (Num. 16). From this, it must be considered how in Sodom, when at least ten were required, by whom perhaps those who dwelled in the Pentapolis of Sodom might possibly be saved, now even if only two such as Moses and Aaron are found, they can serve for the salvation of the whole nation of Israel. What then shall we say is greater in these two, what power, what merit, by which six hundred thousand and more are freed from the destruction of the destroyer? I believe that in Moses the law is signified, which teaches men the knowledge and love of God. In Aaron consists the form of appealing God and begging Him. Therefore, if it ever happens that God is angry with us or with the whole people, and the sentence of vengeance proceeds from God, but the law of God returns to our hearts, reminding us and teaching us to turn to repentance, to make satisfaction for our sins, to plead for our faults, then anger will immediately cease, anger will be calmed, the Lord will be appeased, as if Moses and Aaron were interceding for us and the whole people were petitioning. But if ever the anger of God arises and severe correction comes for sins, and our hearts are not hardened so that we do not turn to God, nor humble ourselves in His sight, so that in the confession of prayers we may lessen His wrath and anger, but on the contrary we say: God does not care about the life of mortals, nor do these things pertain to God; He has long since abandoned us, nor do these things come to His knowledge. If we think such things in our hearts, and these proceed from our mouths, it is certain that Moses and Aaron are not in us, namely the knowledge of the law and the fruits of repentance, by which we can escape the destruction of imminent ruin. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AUGUSTINE. For we accuse you of nothing except the crime of schism, which by persisting wrongly you have also made into heresy. But how greatly this crime is weighed by divine judgment, read what I do not doubt you have read. You will find Dathan and Abiram swallowed up by the opening of the earth, and all the others who agreed with them consumed by fire that came out from among them. Therefore, the Lord God marked out that crime with present punishment as an example to be avoided, so that, since He now most patiently spares such people, He might show what kind of final judgment He reserves for them. [Augustine of Hippo, Epistle 77.4 CSEL 34] 354-430AD
It commemorates how the children of Israel in the desert longed for meat and quail was given to them.
18:23 For already heaps of the dead, fallen one upon another, were lying there; standing between them, he checked the wrath and cut off the way to the living. 18:24 For on his long robe was the whole world, and the glories of the fathers were on the four rows of stone engraving, and your majesty on the crown upon his head.
RABANUS. In what he says about the robe of the ephod, which the high priest wore, that it contains the whole world, and the great deeds of the ancestors engraved on the four rows of stones, and the magnificence of God in the crown which the high priest himself wore on his head, although these express the series of all virtues which the priest of God ought to have in his teaching and conduct, nevertheless, the meaning which the Hebrews characteristic to the priestly garment, placing here its mystical significance, we reserve for discussion elsewhere. Therefore, the four colors refer to the four elements from which all things subsist: they assign linen to earth, because it is produced from the earth; purple to the sea, because it is dyed from its shellfish; blue to air, because of the similarity of color; scarlet to fire and ether, which in Hebrew is called sani; and they recall that it is just that the high priest of the Creator should pray not only for Israel, but also for the whole world. Indeed, this world consists of earth, water, air, and fire, and these elements belong to all things. Therefore, the first linen garment signifies the earth; the second, the blue one, shows the color of air, because from earthly things we are gradually lifted to the heights, and the blue robe itself, coming from the head down to the ankles, indicates the air stretched from the heavens down to the earth. The pomegranates and bells placed at the lower parts represent lightning and thunder, or earth and water, and the harmony of all the elements among themselves, and therefore all things are so intertwined that everything can be found in each part. As for the aforementioned colors being interwoven with gold, they wish it to be understood that the vital color and the providence of divine sense penetrate all things. Over the ephod and the two stones, either emerald or onyx, which are above and cover each shoulder, they interpret as two hemispheres, one above the earth, the other below, or as the sun and moon which shine above. That belt by which the priest’s chest is tightened, and the linen tunic, that is, the earth, is bound, they interpret as the ocean. The breastplate placed in the middle they explain as the earth, which, like a point, although it contains all things in itself, is nevertheless surrounded by all the elements. The twelve stones are interpreted as the circle of the zodiac, or the twelve months, and to each verse is assigned a particular time, and to these are given three months each. Fittingly, this very thing in the middle is called the breastplate of judgment; for all things are full of reason, and earthly things are connected to heavenly things. The intermingling of earthly things and the times of heat and cold, and the double temperance between each, descends from the course and order of the heavens, therefore also the breastplate is more tightly bound with the ephod. Furthermore, what is said in the breastplate, “and analogy,” that is, indicator and teaching or truth, signifies that there is never any falsehood in the reason of God, but that truth itself is shown to men by many signs and arguments, and comes even to mortals. Therefore it has come about that we know the course of the sun and moon, and of the year, and of the months, and of the times, and of the hours, and also of the sowing seasons and winds and all things, receiving the wisdom implanted by God, and with God himself, the inhabitant and teacher of his own dwelling, showing us also the knowledge of the structure; above all, the mitre and the blue ribbon represent the heavens, and the plate of gold which is on the forehead of the high priest, and the name of God written on it, show that all things below are governed by the will of God. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
18:25 To these the destroyer yielded, and these he feared; for the mere test of wrath was enough.
RABANUS. Therefore, the devastator who was sent feared the spiritual, not the figurative, appearance, because he recognized the greatness of the true Pontiff. Now ascend to the higher traces of this word, and from there see how the true Pontiff, Jesus Christ, having assumed the staff of human flesh and placed upon it the fire of the altar, with the soul undoubtedly that magnificent one with which he was born in the flesh, and also adding incense, which is the immaculate spirit standing between the living and the dead, stood, and did not allow death to spread further, but as the Apostle says: He destroyed him who had the power of death, that is, the Devil, so that whoever believes in him may no longer die, but live forever (Heb. 2:14-15). This, therefore, was the mystery that the one who was devastating the people already feared would happen later; for he recognized the figure of the staff and the fire and the incense and what kind of offering should be made to God by him who stood between the dead and the living, he foresaw. And indeed, at that time the prefigured image saved them; but for us, the truth of salvation itself has arrived, nor would that devastator angel have been ashamed of the pontiff’s garments woven of purple, wool, and linen. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Chapter 19
19:1 But the wrath of the ungodly pursued them unmercifully to the end; for he knew beforehand even their future acts, 19:2 that they themselves, having permitted them to depart and having sent them on their way eagerly, would pursue them in repentance. 19:3 For while still holding in their hands the griefs and mourning over the graves of the dead, they drew upon themselves another reasoning of folly, and those whom they had begged and driven out, these they pursued as fugitives. 19:4 For necessity, worthy of this end, drew them on, and oblivion of the events that had happened brought in, so that they might fill up beforehand with punishments what was lacking in their torments, 19:5 and that your people might make a strange journey, while those others might find a death foreign to them.
RABANUS. For this reason, vengeance came upon the enemies of the people of God until the end, because in their morals and life there was no worthy amendment. Therefore, with pretended arguments they pretend repentance, and for this reason, from the inspector of hearts, they did not receive perfect forgiveness. Therefore it is read in Exodus that Pharaoh, when any plague was divinely inflicted upon him and his people, immediately promised to let the people of God go if he escaped the present danger, but after a short interval, he returned again to his former cruelty, until at last, when he was pursuing the departing people, he was drowned and perished in the waves of the Red Sea (Ex. 14). Such is indeed the stubbornness of the unbelieving and proud enemies of the name of Christ, that when they persist hopelessly in wickedness, they finally feel by experience how great is the justice of the omnipotent God in judging. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
19:6 For the whole creation was again fashioned anew in its own kind, serving your commands. So that your children might be kept unharmed. 19:7 The cloud overshadowing the camp, and from that which had stood before the water, the emergence of dry land was seen; from the Red Sea, an unrestricted way and a grassy plain from a violent surge. 19:8 Through which your people passed in whole nation, covered by your hand, having seen wondrous marvels.
RABANUS. Every creature from the beginning is restored to its own kind when it obeys the commands of its Creator and serves His will in all things. For this is the purpose of creation: that it might become subject and obedient to its Creator. How the cloud covered the camp of the Israelites, shining for them at night and shading them against the heat of the sun by day, and how the Red Sea, divided, prepared a way for the people of God and, when it returned upon itself, drowned their enemies, is clearly explained in the history of Exodus. Nor is it any less clear that the cloud which led the people of God signifies the incarnation of Christ, who enlightens believers in this world with the light of the Gospel and protects and guards them by His grace from their persecutors. The Red Sea, moreover, bears the ritual of baptism, where the faithful are saved and the opposing powers are drowned; just as then the children of Israel, having been delivered, sang praises to the Lord, rejoicing with great exultation. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
19:9 For they were fed like horses and leaped about like lambs, praising you, O Lord, who delivered them. 19:10 For they still remembered the things in their sojourning, how instead of the generation of animals the earth brought forth gnats, and instead of aquatic creatures the river spewed forth a multitude of frogs.
RABANUS. Therefore, we also ought at all times to give thanks to our Creator for our deliverance, exulting and saying with the Prophet: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits (Ps. 103:2). The Apostle also seems to teach us this, saying: Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all things, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all of you (1 Thess. 5:16-18). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
He praises God for having exalted His people, whom He led out of the land of Egypt, and for having honored them.
19:11 And later they saw also a new generation of birds, because, led on by desire, they asked for food of luxury; 19:12 for a comfort came up to them from the sea in the form of quails.
RABANUS. Note, wise reader, that for the adversaries of God the earth produced flies, and the river brought forth frogs; but for the worshippers of God the earth gave fruit and the sea provided meat as food, because it is fitting that through His works divine providence should acquire nourishment for His faithful. For His enemies, however, it is fitting that through the creatures subject to Him, the justice of the Almighty should prepare appropriate torment. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
19:13 And the punishments came upon the sinners not without the prior evidences, in the violence of the thunderbolts; for they suffered justly for their own wickednesses, since indeed they had practiced a harsher hatred of strangers. 19:14 For while the former did not welcome those who were unknown and present, these enslaved strangers who had done them good. 19:15 And not only so, but there shall be some visitation upon them, since they received outsiders with hostility; 19:16 whereas those who with feasts welcomed in those who already shared in the same rights, they afflicted with grievous labors.
RABANUS. For if those who harshly and mercilessly treated the ancient servants of God, who came to them out of profane necessity, received fitting punishments, so that, darkened in mind and hardened in feeling, they endured the obscurity of darkness and various idols in bodily sense, how much more will those who dishonorably reject and despise the servants of Christ and preachers of the Gospel be eternally tormented with immeasurable and unspeakable punishments. Therefore, Truth itself says to the disciples: Whoever does not receive you or listen to your words, as you go out from that house or city, shake the dust from your feet. Truly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that city (Matt. 10:14-15). And it is rightly said that they were struck with blindness, just as those were blinded by darkness who wandered at the doors of the righteous man, that is, Lot, seeking the entrance to his door and not finding it; for whoever suffers the darkness of error within is hemmed in on all sides by the gravest losses, since he has not known the way of life. And that door of which the Gospel says, I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture, the one who wanders will not be able to find it (Jn. 10:9). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
19:17 And they were struck also with blindness, as those were at the doors of the righteous man, when, surrounded by thick darkness, each sought the way through his own doors.
RABANUS. Just as in the instrument of the organ, different sounds differ from each other, but musicians agree to temper them for the harmony of the melody, so also, although the various elements differ from each other in quality, they are nevertheless bent to the will of their Creator, preserving the law of their nature; for our Maker did not create His creation contrary to Himself, but made it in all things conformable to His will. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
19:18 For the elements, changing among themselves, as in a psaltery the notes of the rhythm alter the name, always remaining in sound, which one may accurately infer from the sight of what has happened. 19:19 For earthly things were changed into watery, and those that swim passed over onto land; 19:20 fire maintained its strength in water beyond its own power, and water forgot its power to quench; 19:21 flames, on the other hand, did not consume the flesh of perishable living creatures walking among them, nor did the melting, crystal-like, easily melted race of ambrosial food.
RABANUS. For men and beasts crossed the depths of the Red Sea on dry ground, and frogs coming out of the rivers filled the houses of the Egyptians. Fire mixed with hail rained down from heaven, and neither did fire shun water, nor water shun fire, but falling together, they struck the land of the Egyptians. But where the children of Israel were, they harmed no one, so as to show that all the elements of the world not only strive for their own nature, but are subject and serve the will of their Creator. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
19:22 For in all things, O Lord, you magnified your people and glorified them, and you did not overlook them, standing by at every time and place.
RABANUS. This closing passage of the book makes mention not only of the faithful of former Fathers, but also of those present and future at the same time, because our virtuous and merciful Creator, almighty God, never abandons nor will abandon those who hope in Him; rather, He cherishes, protects, and governs them with caring help. Nor should anyone object to us that the bodies of the holy martyrs are handed over into the hands of their persecutors, because this is permitted not for their condemnation, but for their testing, so that just as gold in the furnace of fire is not destroyed but tested, so too the souls of the elect, examined by the fire of tribulation, may be rendered more precious in the sight of their Creator. For it is written: The furnace tests the potter’s vessels, and the trial of tribulation tests just men (Sirach 27:5). For many are the tribulations of the righteous, and from all these the Lord will deliver them. The Lord guards all their bones; not one of them shall be broken. He will redeem the souls of His servants, and none of those who hope in Him will be forsaken (Ps. 34:22). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD