Cap. 9, Vers. 13-18
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/9/q/bon-eccl-c9-v13-18
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#### Secondly, the failure of order in the government of providence is shown in particular, and this in three ways.

*This wisdom also I have seen under the sun.* He determined above the failure of the government of providence in general; here he intends to show it in *particular,* namely in regard to prelacy, because the wise are despised, and fools are promoted. There are therefore in this part three parts. In the first he shows *the abasement of the wise man;* in the second he adds *the commendation of the one abased,* there: *And I said that better* etc.; but in the third he infers *the promotion of the fool,* there: *If the spirit of him that hath power* etc.

*The abasement,* then, *of the wise man* is described in this order. First *the praise of wisdom* is set forth; secondly the case is expressed in which there is *a failure of power;* thirdly *the succour of wisdom* is noted; but fourthly, *the contempt of the wise man.*

(Vers. 13.). *The praise of wisdom,* then, is set forth when he says: *This wisdom I have seen under the sun,* that is, I have known it by its effect in worldly things; *and I proved it greatest,* that is, I approved and praised it as very great. For great is wisdom in overcoming an inferior enemy; greater, in overcoming an equal; greatest, in overcoming the strongest; whence it is said in Job, the twenty-sixth, of the supremely wise: « His prudence hath struck the proud ».

(Vers. 14.). *A little city* etc. Here is noted secondly *the failure of power,* and this for resisting one who rises up against it; therefore he says: *A little city, and few men in it,*

and this word must be supplied: was, or it must be construed with the following verb: *The siege was perfect*. And because it is little and has few men, therefore it is weak for defending itself; whence Josaphat said, in the second of Paralipomenon, the twentieth: « In us there is not so great strength, that we may be able to resist this multitude » great, because namely they were few. Most of all they cannot then, when the assailant is strong; on account of which he says: *There came against it a great king,* namely by power; *and invested it,* by much malice; *and built bulwarks round about it,* for the fight; *and the siege was perfect,* by impotence of resisting. An example of this is had in Judith, the seventh, of Bethulia, which was besieged by Holofernes. This too the Lord foretold to Jerusalem in Luke, the nineteenth: « Thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and straiten thee on every side ».

(Vers. 15.). *Now there was found in it* etc. Here the third is noted, namely *the succour of wisdom,* where there was a failure of power: On account of this he says: *Now there was found in it a poor man,* and so impotent; *and wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom.* An example of this, how a wise one delivered, is had of Judith in her book, how she delivered Bethulia from Holofernes by her wisdom, though it was weak. Another example is had in the second of Kings, the twentieth, where it is said that a wise woman in Abela delivered the city from the onslaught of Joab. Against which it is said in Baruch, the third: « And because they had not wisdom, they perished through their folly »; it is said of the strong.

*And no man afterward* etc. Here the fourth is touched upon, namely *the contempt of the wise man who delivered,* whose sign is forgetfulness. Therefore he says: *No man afterward remembered that poor man.* Behold, contempt and ingratitude; against which it is said in Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-ninth: « Forget not the kindness of thy surety; for he hath given his life for thee » etc.

*Spiritually* there are four things to be considered here: what *city,* who *the great king,* who *the poor wise man,* how *no man remembers him.* — *The city* is the Church; the Psalm: « Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God ». This city is *little* by humility, because in these alone the Lord dwells; Isaias, the last: « To whom shall I have respect but to the poor little one and to him that is contrite of spirit and trembleth at my words »? *Few men in it,* in comparison with the evil; Matthew, the twentieth: « Many are called, but few chosen ». — *The great king* is the devil, of whom it is said in Job, the last but one: « He is king over all the children of pride »; he is also *great,* according to what is said in the same place: « There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him ». This king *comes against the city* by suggestions; *invests it,* by offering delights in manifold ways; *built bulwarks,* by procuring occasions of sins; and *besieges it perfectly,* when he entangles it in transgressions of the commandments. Of these, Luke, the nineteenth: « Thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee and straiten thee and shall beat thee flat to the ground and shall not leave stone upon stone ». — *A man poor and wise,* who is Christ, who is *man* (*vir*) from the strength of power (*virtus*); Jeremias, the thirty-first: « A woman shall compass a man ». He is also *poor;* the second to the Corinthians, the eighth: « Since he was rich in all things, for your sakes he became needy »; *wise,* nay Wisdom itself; the first to the Corinthians, the first: « We call Christ the power of God and the wisdom ». He is *found* by those who seek; Matthew, the seventh: « For every one that asketh, receiveth, and he that seeketh, findeth ». He *delivered* the people, Isaias, the nineteenth: « They shall cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he shall send them a saviour and a defender, to deliver them »; *he delivered by his wisdom,* though he could have done so by power; Job, the twenty-sixth: « His prudence hath struck the proud ». — *And no man afterward remembered him,* because poverty is despised; Proverbs, the nineteenth: « The brethren of the poor man hate him: moreover also his friends have departed far from him ». No man remembered him *by suffering with him,* according to what is said in Lamentations, the third: « Remember my poverty and transgression, the wormwood and the gall »; but on the contrary, Amos, the sixth: « They suffered nothing over the affliction of Joseph ». *By giving thanks;* Luke, the seventeenth: « And there was no one found to return and give glory to God, but this stranger ». In *imitating him in work;* Isaias, the seventeenth: « Thou shalt be desolate, because thou hast forgotten God thy saviour, and hast not remembered thy strong helper ». In *confessing him with the mouth;* Genesis, the fortieth: « When prosperous things followed, the butler forgot his interpreter ».

*And I said* etc. The despising and forgetting of the wise man has been shown; here secondly is shown *the commendation of the one despised.* Now he commends wisdom by a threefold

pre-eminence: first by setting it before *the strength of power;* secondly, before *the defence of armour;* thirdly, before *the height of worldly glory.*

(Vers. 16. 17.). First, then, he sets wisdom before *strength* in his own judgement. On account of this he says: *And I said that wisdom is better than strength;* Wisdom, the sixth: « Wisdom is better than strength, and a prudent man is better than a strong man ». And because it is better, therefore it ought not to be despised; and yet nonetheless it is despised. On account of this he says: *How then is the wisdom of the poor man despised?* as if it ought not to be despised; but on account of poverty it is held cheap; whence in Ecclesiasticus, the thirteenth, it is said of the poor man: « He spoke wisely, and no place was given him; the rich man spoke, and all held their peace, and they carry his word even to the clouds ». And the sign of the contempt of wisdom is added: *And his words are not heard;* and yet they are much to be heard; Proverbs, the eighth: « Now therefore, ye children, hear me: Blessed are they that keep my ways ». And that the words of the wise man are to be heard, he adds: *The words of the wise are heard in silence,* that is, they are worthy to be heard in silence; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-second: « Hear in silence, and for thy reverence good grace shall come to thee »; whence also it is added: « And presume not to speak in the midst of great men ». *More than the cry of a prince among fools,* and his speech more clamorous, because, however much a man cries out, the fool does not attend; Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-second: « He speaketh with one that is asleep, who telleth wisdom to a fool, and in the end of the telling he saith: Who is this »? That wisdom is despised, then, is on account of the folly of the hearers; therefore Matthew, the seventh: « Give not that which is holy to dogs ». And the reason of this is given by the Apostle in the first to the Corinthians, the second: « The animal man perceiveth not the things that are of the spirit of God ».

(Vers. 18.). *Better is wisdom* etc. Here secondly he sets wisdom before *the defence of armour,* saying: *Better is wisdom than weapons of war,* because weapons of war are for protection; likewise wisdom *protects;* Proverbs, the second: « Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee, that thou mayest be delivered from the evil way and from the man that speaketh perverse things ». And that it protects *better* is plain: because he who loses wisdom through fault cannot defend himself by armour from losing many good things; whence he says: *And he that shall offend in one,* by departing from wisdom, according to what was said above, the eighth: « Be not hasty to depart from his face, and do not continue in an evil work ». *Shall lose many good things;* for by sinning in one thing, he loses wisdom; and by losing it, he loses many good things; Wisdom, the seventh: « All good things came to me together with her »; and therefore, she being lost, many good things are lost. Or: *he that shall offend in one,* against charity, *shall lose many good things,* according to that of James, the second: « He that shall offend in one is become guilty of all ». — And this he makes manifest by a metaphor, because the knowledge of sin is compared to a dying fly, because it renders and makes abomination to the affection and the conscience.

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