Cap. 4, Vers. 13-16
by St. Bonaventure
Source text: Public Domain Mark 1.0. English translation/apparatus/encoding: CC BY-NC 4.0, Wroot Press.
https://bonaventure.wrootpress.com/browse/15/d/4/q/bon-eccl-c4-v13-16
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#### Art. 3. *On the vanity of imprudence, which is first to be detested on account of the present evil.*

*Better is a child* etc. He treated above of the vanity of malice and of avarice; here he treats of the vanity of *imprudence;* and since the vanity of imprudence is culpable and to be detested, he therefore inveighs against it in two ways: first, on account of the *present* evil; secondly, on account of the evil *succeeding* or consequent, at: *I saw all men living.*

(Vers. 13. 14.). The *present* evil, the one accompanying imprudence, is that it subjects a king rich and old to a child poor and having prudence, and this

is indeed a great vanity. And therefore he says: *Better is a child that is poor and wise than a king that is old and foolish,* although the latter exceed him in power, exceed him in wealth, exceed him even in age; below, the tenth chapter: « Wisdom, and a little glory, is more precious than folly for a time »; and Proverbs, the twelfth chapter: « Better is the poor man that is sufficient for himself than he that is glorious and wanteth bread ». And he explains what he said, *foolish,* because he has a defect of providence regarding the future, which is one part of prudence; hence he says: *Who knoweth not to foresee for hereafter,* namely the outcome of things; Deuteronomy, the thirty-second chapter: « O that they would be wise and would understand, and would provide for their last end ». — *Because out of prison and chains sometimes a man cometh forth to a kingdom;* Wisdom, the tenth chapter: « She forsook not the just man that was sold, in bonds, but delivered him from sinners, until she brought him the sceptre of the kingdom ». *And another, born into the kingdom, is consumed with poverty,* and this on account of his pride; Ecclesiasticus, the tenth chapter: « The Lord hath destroyed the thrones of proud princes, and hath made the meek to sit in their stead ».

#### Secondly, it is to be detested on account of the evil succeeding.

(Vers. 15. 16.). *I saw all men living.* Here is touched, secondly, the evil *succeeding* upon him on account of his imprudence, since he himself is brought low and another is exalted; hence he says: *I saw all men living, that walk under the sun,* that is, many or innumerable, hyperbolically, *with the second young man,* that is, the one who follows him in the kingdom; hence he says: *who shall rise up in his place.* And so others follow the succeeding young man, despising the old one. An example is David, who rises up into the kingdom of Saul, whom the children of Israel followed, leaving the house of Saul, as it is said in II Kings, the fifth chapter, that all came to David. — And the reason on account of which they follow the young man, leaving the old one, is that the foolish old man did good to no one; and the text following intimates this: *The number of the people, of all that were before him, is infinite,* that is, before the coming of the young man they were under the foolish king and adhered to him. *And they that shall come afterwards,* supply: adhering to that old man, *shall not rejoice in him,* that is, in the foolish old man, since he has done good to no one nor will do so, because he does not know how; Ecclesiasticus, the twentieth chapter: « A fool shall have no friend, nor shall there be thanks for his good things; for what was to be had he hath not distributed with right understanding ». And from this he concludes the vanity; hence he says: *But this also is vanity and affliction of spirit,* namely another vanity than those aforesaid, above, the first chapter: « I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity »; and the reason is added: « The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is infinite ». — And so is ended the part on the *vanity of fault.*

*Spiritually* this can also be expounded of Christ. The *child poor and wise* is Christ, who is a *child* on account of innocence; hence Isaias, the forty-second chapter, according to another text: « Behold my child, my elect; my soul hath been well pleased in him ». *Poor,* because for us he became needy; II Corinthians, the eighth chapter: « You know, brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sakes he became poor, being rich ». *Wise,* nay rather Wisdom; I Corinthians, the first chapter: « We call Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God »; and below, the ninth chapter: « There was found in it a man poor and wise ».

The *old and foolish king* is the devil, who is *old;* Job, the fortieth chapter: « He is the beginning of the ways of God »; hence « he is grown old in evil days ». *King* he is, because he reigns among the wicked; hence Job, the forty-first chapter: « He is king over all the children of pride ». *Foolish,* because he attempted what he could not; hence, Isaias, the fourteenth chapter, he said: « I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God ». Although he be most cunning at deceiving, he *knoweth not,* however, *to foresee that out of prison a man cometh forth to a kingdom,* as Christ from the prison of the flesh and from the chains of the passion comes forth to the kingdom of heavenly glory; Hebrews, the first chapter: « He sitteth on the right hand of the majesty on high ». The devil too, *born into the kingdom,* that is, to receive the kingdom, *is consumed with poverty,* as is said to the Colossians, the second chapter: « Despoiling the principalities and powers, he hath exposed them confidently ».

And what follows is an explanation of what precedes. *And I saw all men living under the sun with the second young man,* that is, Christ; John, the twelfth chapter: « Behold, the whole world is gone after him ». He *rises up* in that he cast the devil out of the kingdom; John, the twelfth chapter: « Now is the judgment of the world; now shall the prince of this world be cast out ». *The number*

*of men that were before him is infinite,* that is, before the coming of Christ; and the faithful, *who shall come afterwards, shall not rejoice in him,* that is, in the foolish king, that is, the devil, because they have rejoiced in none but Christ; hence the Apostle to the Philippians, the last chapter: « Rejoice in the Lord always ». In the Lord one is to rejoice, not in the devil.

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