Cap. 1, Vers. 1-15
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/16/d/1/q/bon-sap-c1
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### Commentary on the Book of Wisdom.

#### The general division.

Since, as has been said, princes and prelates, and consequently all, are summoned in this book to the study and love of wisdom; but because wisdom cannot be had without the observance of justice; *for into a malicious soul wisdom will not enter* etc., below, in the first chapter; likewise Ecclesiasticus, the first: *Son, if thou desire wisdom, keep justice:* therefore, according to the Gloss, he first exhorts to *justice,* namely up to the sixth chapter; secondly, to *wisdom,* namely from the sixth chapter to the end.

#### Part I. Exhortation to justice.

In the first part he does three things, according to the three parts of general justice. For first he treats of the justice of man with respect to *God,* in the first chapter; secondly, of justice with respect to *one's neighbour,* in the second and third chapters; thirdly, of the justice of man with respect to *himself,* in the fourth and fifth chapters.

#### First, on the threefold justice of man with respect to God.

In the first he first rouses to the justice of the *heart;* secondly, of the *mouth: Benevolent is* [*the spirit of wisdom*]; thirdly, of *work: Seek not* [*death*].

#### *On the justice of the heart; it is treated in three ways.*

In the first he first sets down an *exhortation to the good of justice;* secondly, *the profit of those who acquiesce: For he is found;* thirdly, *the detriment of those who despise: For perverse thoughts* etc. — In the first, first with respect to right *affection,* saying: *Love justice;* secondly with respect to right *estimation: Think of the Lord;* thirdly with respect to right *intention: And in simplicity.*

### Chapter I.

(Vers. 1.). He says therefore: *Love* etc.; the Gloss: « Not only do it ». For a work of justice is not meritorious unless it be done out of love of justice; Gregory: « The branch of a good work has nothing of greenness, unless it have remained in the root of charity ». *Justice,* namely *uncreated,* which is the rectitude of the divine will; and *created,* which is the rectitude of the human will, according to Anselm. *Love,* I say, *justice,* that *you may be conformed to God,* because « the Lord is just, and hath loved justice »; likewise, that *you may be filled* with spiritual *gladness,* according to that of the Psalm: « Thou hast loved justice etc., therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows »; likewise, that *you may be beatified,* according to that of Matthew, the fifth: « Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice ».

*You that judge the earth; specially* indeed you, prelates, who *judge the earth* by *public* judgment;

*the earth,* of the subject people; the Gloss: « To whom the power of judging is given »; *subject,* I say, by the desert of sin. For Gregory says: « Where we do not offend, there we are equals ». And therefore he says well: *the earth,* that is, those who love earthly things; not the *heavenly,* because there is no need; « For the spiritual man judgeth all things », namely in hope, « and he himself is judged of no man », that is, ought to be judged, the first to the Corinthians, the second; but the *beastly,* according to the Gloss on that of Genesis, the first: « Let him have dominion over the beasts » of the earth, that is, over those who live beastly. — Likewise, you all *generally, who judge,* by *private* judgment, *the earth,* of your own body; the Gloss: that is, who « restrain the body with discretion », so that « your service may be reasonable », to the Romans, the twelfth.

But it is to be noted that a fourfold *earth* is read of, namely the *higher* earth, the earth, I say, *of the living,* of which in the Psalm: « I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the earth of the living ». The *lower* earth, namely *of the dead;* Ezechiel, the thirty-first: « Behold, thou art brought down with the trees of pleasure to the uttermost earth ». The *exterior* earth, namely *of the dying,* namely the present world; the Apocalypse, the eighth: « Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth »! that is, in the world. The *interior* earth, namely *of death,* that is, the mortal and earthly body; Ecclesiasticus, the tenth: « Why art thou proud, earth and ashes »?

The first earth is not subject to our judgment, because it is not in our power; and therefore it was well said to Peter, Matthew, the sixteenth: « Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth », not upon heaven. — The second is already judged and cannot repent; John, the third: « He that doth not believe is already judged ». — The third is to be judged by the judgment of justice, according to that of the Psalm: « Judge right things, ye sons of men ». — The fourth is to be judged by the judgment of discreet discipline, according to that of Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-third: « Fodder and a rod and a burden for an ass; bread and discipline and work for a servant », that is, for the body, which is to be compelled to serve the spirit, by the example of blessed Martin, who « compelled his limbs, failing with fever, to serve the spirit »; likewise by the example of Paul, saying: « I chastise my body and bring it into servitude », the servitude, namely, in which it was in the state of innocence; *I bring it,* by virtue and the works of penance. To the aforesaid servant is owed the sustenance of bread, lest he *fail;* the rod of discipline, lest he *grow wanton;* and the occupation of holy work, lest he *grow sluggish.*

(Vers. 1.). *Think,* that is, estimate rightly, *of the Lord in goodness,* that is, well, not ill, as the heretics do. And he admonishes to think well both with the exterior sense, by reading the divine Scriptures piously, and with the interior sense, by understanding them piously. Whence the Gloss: « Read the Scripture piously and understand it », *piously,* namely by devoutly approving and carrying out what you understand, and not by refuting and despising what you do not understand. — *And seek him in simplicity of heart,* namely by directing the whole intention of the heart to him. Whence the Gloss: « Subject yourselves to his will »; which hypocrites do not do, and therefore they are inconstant, according to that of James, the first: « A double-minded man is inconstant in all his ways »; and on account of this it is said to them in Ecclesiasticus, the second: « Woe to them that are of a double heart »! The heart is *double* when its parts are borne principally to divers things, which is the occasion of spiritual death, according to that of Osee, the tenth: « Their heart is divided: now they shall perish ». But the heart is *simple* when all its parts are borne to one most simple thing, namely to God, according to that of Ecclesiasticus, the thirtieth: « Gather together thy heart in holiness ». *In simplicity of heart,* that is, in the simple unity of the heart. This unity is made by *faith* in the rational part, according to that of the Ephesians, the fourth: « One Lord, one faith » etc.; by *charity* in the concupiscible; the first to the Corinthians, the sixth: « He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit »; by *peace* in the irascible; to the Ephesians, the fourth: « Careful to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace ». The first unity forbids the division of *errors* in the understanding; the second, of *desires* in the affection; the third, of *schisms* in the effect.

(Vers. 2.). And well did I say: *In simplicity* etc. *For he is found,* through *grace* in the present, according to that of the Canticles, the third: « I found him whom my soul loveth »; *by them that tempt him not,* by pretending one thing outwardly and intending another inwardly, as the Scribes and Pharisees tempting Christ; and this he says against hypocrisy and duplicity; Matthew,

the twenty-second: « Why do you tempt me, ye hypocrites »? — *But he appears,* namely in the future through *glory;* the first of John, the third: « When he shall appear, we shall be like to him »; and to the Colossians, the third: « But when Christ shall appear, your life, then you also shall appear with him in glory ». *To them that have faith in him;* this he says against heresy and unbelief. — And note that he says: *In him,* because it is not enough to believe *him* (*illi*) or to believe *him* (*illum*), but to believe *in him,* which is the act of formed faith, according to Augustine. — Or: *He is found,* on account of the devotion of the affection; *he appears,* through the contemplation of the understanding; the Psalm: « Taste », by the affection; « see », by the understanding.

But it is to be noted that according to Gregory « to *tempt* is the same as to make crafty trial »; and according to this it happens that God is tempted in four ways, namely either by wishing unduly to make trial of his *power,* as those who, tempting Christ, sought a sign from heaven, Matthew, the sixteenth; or of his *wisdom,* as the Sadducees, putting to him a question about the resurrection which in their judgment was insoluble for those who posit the resurrection, Matthew, the twenty-second; or of his *justice,* as the Pharisees, by asking about the payment of tribute: « We know that thou art a true speaker » etc.; or of his *mercy,* as the Jews, by asking about the judgment of the woman taken in adultery, John, the eighth. And because every such temptation comes from distrust, and God is in no wise to be distrusted; therefore every such temptation is forbidden; whence Deuteronomy, the sixth: « Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God »; likewise Ecclesiasticus, the eighteenth: « Be not as a man that tempteth God ».

*For perverse thoughts* etc. Here he touches the manifold detriment of those who despise the exhortation to the good of justice; of which the first is exclusion from *the fellowship of God: For perverse thoughts;* the second, exclusion from *the fellowship of wisdom: For into a malicious soul;* the third, exclusion from *the fellowship of the Holy Spirit: For the Holy Spirit.* The first pertains to the Father, the second to the Son, the third to the Holy Spirit; whose presence is had through the love of justice; whence John, the fourteenth: « If any one love me etc., and we will come to him and will make our abode with him »; but their absence or lack, through the hatred of justice.

(Vers. 3.). *For perverse* etc. Well did I say that he appears to them that have faith in him, and not to others; *for perverse thoughts,* namely by perversity of faith or of morals, *separate from God,* with respect to the punishment of *loss;* the second to the Corinthians, the sixth: « What fellowship hath light with darkness »? Proverbs, the seventeenth: « He that is of a perverse heart shall not find good »; likewise Isaias, the fifty-ninth: « Your iniquities have divided » etc. — *But being tried* etc., as if he said: nor does this suffice for the punishment; *autem* for *sed.* *The power, being tried,* that is, « true power », according to the Gloss, namely the divine power; *reproveth,* by punishing; the Psalm: « O Lord, reprove me not in thy wrath ». *The unwise;* the Gloss: « that is, all unwisdom »; this he says with respect to the punishment of *sense.*

(Vers. 4.). *For into a malicious soul* etc. Well did I say that they separate etc., *for into a malicious soul,* with respect to spiritual sins, *wisdom will not enter,* by pouring itself into it; *wisdom,* I say, « which is from above, which first indeed is chaste » etc.; although that wisdom enter which is from beneath, « earthly, namely, sensual, devilish », James, the third. *Nor dwell,* by remaining, *in a body subject to sins;* this he says with respect to *carnal sins,* which, though they be of lesser guilt, are yet of greater infamy, as Gregory says.

*It is objected* that all things desire the good: therefore no soul is malicious, that is, willing evil.

It must be said that no one wills evil *of itself,* but *by accident,* because, namely, he wills that which is evil, namely an evil action, not inasmuch as it is evil, but inasmuch as it is delightful and an apparent good.

Again *it is doubted:* the body cannot be the dwelling-place of wisdom nor the subject of sin or of unwisdom or of grace: therefore he supposes what is false when he says: *Nor dwell* etc.

To this it must be said that *body* is not there called the bodily part of man only; but by synecdoche, according to which the part is wont to be put for the whole,

the *body* is taken here for the whole man, inasmuch as he follows the passions of the body. Whence the Gloss: « He who is subject to sins is *body,* not *spirit* ». In such a one wisdom does not dwell; whence the Gloss: « Heretics, Pharisees, false Christians flatter themselves in vain; for only the clean of heart can receive the wisdom of God ».

(Vers. 5.). And well did I say that *it will not dwell* etc. *For the Holy Spirit of discipline;* the Gloss: « Who teaches all discipline », according to that of John, the sixteenth: « He will teach you all truth », namely rational, natural and moral; the Psalm: « Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge ». He is called *Spirit* inasmuch as he breathes life in; John, the sixth: « It is the spirit that quickeneth »; *holy,* inasmuch as he purges and renews, according to that of the Psalm: « Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created; and thou shalt renew the face of the earth »; *of discipline,* inasmuch as he takes away ignorance and gives wisdom, according to that of Isaias, the eleventh: « The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom » etc. *Will flee,* that is, in the present will flee far, *from the deceitful,* that is, the sinner, according to that of the Psalm: « Salvation is far from sinners », and especially from the hypocrite, who is properly deceitful; Job, the thirteenth: « No hypocrite shall come before his presence ». *And will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding,* that is, false and erroneous ones; for understanding is of true things only. *He will withdraw himself* etc.; behold, the punishment of *loss; and he shall be reproved* etc.; behold, the punishment of *sense.* — Likewise, it is to be noted that he is said *to withdraw himself,* because naturally the commission of guilt precedes the withdrawal of grace; for God is first in approaching and last in departing. And although he withdraws himself from them, yet they will not remain exempt; whence he adds: *And he shall be reproved* etc.; *correction* is made with words, *reproof* with scourges. *He shall be reproved,* I say, namely the deceitful man in the future, that is, he shall be punished, *by iniquity coming upon him,* that is, on account of iniquity coming upon him; whence the Gloss: « The deceitful man, when the day of retribution shall come, will be punished for iniquity ». *Coming upon,* that is, « overwhelming », for which reason it is said to be *coming upon,* as one who overwhelms comes upon. — Or: *He shall be reproved,* that is, he shall be carried off at once in soul and body to the penalty.

#### *On the justice of speech; it is treated in three ways.*

*For benevolent* etc. Here he admonishes to the justice of *speech,* by drawing back from evil discourses. And first he *removes* from those very evil sayings *the confidence of impunity;* secondly he *foretells their punishment: Therefore he that speaketh* etc.; thirdly he *admonishes to caution against depraved speech: Keep yourselves* etc.

In the first, first he *removes the confidence of impunity* which might arise from *the mercy of the judge: Benevolent;* secondly, from *his ignorance: For of his reins* etc.; thirdly, from *his impotence: For the spirit of the Lord.*

(Vers. 6.). He says therefore: *For the spirit is benevolent* etc. Well did I say that the deceitful man *shall be reproved* etc.; *for the spirit of wisdom is benevolent,* namely of *uncreated* wisdom, namely of the Son, by whom the Holy Spirit is given; or of *created* wisdom, which he himself gives; below, the twelfth: « O how good and how sweet is thy spirit, O Lord, in all things »! The Psalm: « Thy good spirit » etc. *And yet he will not acquit the cursed* etc., although he be benevolent; because, as Gregory says, « discipline and mercy are much impaired, if one be held without the other ». Or thus: and because he is *benevolent, he will not acquit the cursed* etc., because benevolence is contrary to malice; as the Gloss says: « *He will not acquit,* I say, *the cursed,* that is, the one who curses », who is *cursed,* because he acts against the commandment of God, who forbids cursing; the Psalm: « Cursed are they who decline from thy commandments »; behold, the curse in the *present.* Likewise, Matthew, the twenty-fifth: « Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire » etc.; behold, the curse in the *future.* *From his lips,* that is, from the sin of his lips, or from the punishment which he merited by the sin of his lips; Matthew, the twelfth: « By thy words thou shalt be condemned »; likewise in the Psalm: « The labour of their lips shall overwhelm them ». And it is to be noted that the *consequent* is put for the *antecedent,* when he says *the cursed* for *the one cursing.*

*For of his reins* etc., as if he said: he will in truth be punished for his sins, although hidden; *for of his reins,* that is, of the affections or « of the carnal delights, whose seat is in the reins », *witness*

*is God,* that is, a certain knower, as a witness of the matter for which he bears testimony; Jeremias, the twenty-ninth: « I am witness and judge, saith the Lord ». *And of his heart,* that is, of the thoughts going forth from the heart, Matthew, the fifteenth; *he is a true searcher,* that is, an infallible inquirer; whence the first to the Corinthians, the second: « The Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God »; likewise Jeremias, the seventeenth: « I am the Lord who search the heart and prove the reins »; the Psalm: « God searcheth the hearts and reins ». *And of his tongue,* that is, of the utterances which are formed by the tongue, *a hearer,* that is, an immediate knower without another's report; the Psalm: « He that planted the ear, shall he not hear »? as if he said: yes. And it is to be noted that he puts the instruments for the operations proceeding from them, because, just as the instruments stand more immediately to the soul than their operations, so God more immediately than anyone else knows all the acts of man, interior as well as exterior.

(Vers. 7.). *For the spirit of the Lord* etc., as if he inferred: well did I say that the spirit can do this; *for the spirit of the Lord, intransitively,* that is, which is the Lord, according to that of Athanasius: « The Father is Lord, the Son is lord, the Holy Spirit is lord »; or *transitively,* that is, the spirit which is from the Lord, according to that of Isaias, the sixty-first: « The spirit of the Lord is upon me » etc.; likewise John: « The Spirit of truth, who proceedeth from the Father ». *Hath filled the whole world,* by assisting all things with his presence and containing them; Jeremias, the twenty-third: « Do not I fill heaven and earth »? because, according to Gregory, « God is everywhere, within all things not shut in, outside all things not shut out, above all things not lifted up, below all things not pressed down ». *And that which containeth all things,* namely the Holy Spirit, containing all things by conserving them with his power. For as Boethius proves in the book *On Consolation*, « the world would not have come together into one form out of parts so diverse and contrary, and the discordant diversity, once joined, would have dissociated them, were there not one who joined them and contained what he had woven together ». *Hath knowledge of the voice,* that is, of all utterances and tongues, by knowing all things.

From this it is clear that he can know and punish all things, deeds on account of his universal presence as well as words on account of his universal knowledge.

Another exposition, or according to the Gloss: *That which containeth all things,* « that is, the Holy Spirit, who contains all things, that is, the Church », outside which whatever is, is nothing, as outside the ark of Noe. *Hath knowledge of the voice, causally* speaking, « that is, he grants men the intelligence of Scripture »; or *formally: Hath knowledge of the voice,* « that is, he is of the same knowledge with the voice, that is, with the Word », that is, the Son, of whom John, the first: « In the beginning was the Word » etc.

*Allegorically,* according to the Gloss, it can be expounded of *the temporal coming of the Holy Spirit.* And first is touched *the person of the one sent,* when it is said: *The spirit;* secondly, his *eternal origin: Of the Lord;* thirdly, the *temporal mission: Hath filled;* fourthly, *the manifestation of the mission: And that which containeth all things.*

He says therefore: *The spirit of the Lord hath filled;* the Gloss: « with gifts »; *the whole world,* « that is, the Church spread abroad through all lands », as the Gloss says. *And that which containeth all things;* « that is, man, who has agreement with every creature », for which reason he is called *every creature* in Mark, the last, according to Gregory. *Hath knowledge of the voice;* the Gloss: « Of divers tongues, from the Holy Spirit », as is plain in Acts, the second. — Now the primitive Church is compared to *the world* first on account of *its spreading abroad,* according to that of the Psalm: « Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth ». — Secondly, on account of *its perfection,* which is understood through the roundness of the orb; Canticles, the sixth: « One is my dove, my perfect one ». — Thirdly, on account of *its stability;* Ecclesiastes, the first: « For the earth standeth for ever ». — Fourthly, on account of *its compression and attrition;* the first to the Corinthians, the fourth: « I think that God hath set forth us apostles the last, as it were men appointed to death » etc.; just as the earth is the last of bodies, whence it is trodden on and trampled by all. — Fifthly, on account of *the sustenance and vivification of the human race,* because it lives from the earth and is sustained by the earth, as by the primitive Church; Job, the ninth: « Under whom they stoop that bear up the world »,

namely the apostles and their followers; yet they are not broken, because in the Psalm: « I have established the pillars thereof ». — Sixthly, on account of *the adornment and the production of all the virtues,* according to that of Genesis, the first: « Let the earth bring forth the green herb » etc. — Seventhly, on account of its being *the origin of the waters,* that is, of the wisdom of saving teaching, according to that of Genesis, the second: « A spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth ».

*Therefore he that speaketh* etc. The foolish confidence of impunity having been removed, here he *foretells the punishment of evil speech;* and first, that *he will be brought into judgment;* secondly, that *he will be examined by the judge: In the thoughts of the impious;* thirdly, that *it will be published to all: For the ear of jealousy.*

(Vers. 8. 9.). He says therefore: *Therefore,* namely because the Holy Spirit has knowledge of the voice, that is, of all speech; *he that speaketh wicked things,* like those of whom in the Psalm: « The mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things »; *cannot be hid,* namely from the Holy Spirit in the present; whence to the Hebrews, the fourth: « All things are naked and open to his eyes »; likewise Proverbs, the sixteenth: « All the ways of men are open to his eyes ». *Nor shall pass by,* namely by overlooking, *him,* namely the one speaking wicked things, *the reproving,* that is, punishing; or *reproving,* that is, carrying off at once his body and soul, or all his evil works and words and thoughts; *judgment,* namely the future one; « for all things that are done God will bring into judgment », as is had in Ecclesiastes, the last. — *For in the thoughts of the impious,* that is, concerning the thoughts of the impious, in which there is less sin than in depraved discourses; *there shall be an interrogation,* that is, *an examining by the judge* and an examination, according to that of the Psalm: « The Lord questioneth the just and the impious »; Job, the last: « I know that no thought is hid from thee ». And if there shall be an examining of thoughts, much more of utterances; on account of which he adds: *But of his discourses* etc.; as if he said: not only of thoughts. *Autem* for *sed;* *the hearing of his discourses,* that is, the examination, *shall come to God,* as to the examiner and judge, *and to the reproof,* that is, the punishing, *of his iniquities,* which he committed by speaking wicked things; Genesis, the eighteenth: « The cry of the Sodomites and the Gomorrhites is multiplied » etc.

(Vers. 10.). And well did I say that *it shall come* etc.; *for the ear of jealousy,* of the jealousy, I say, of God, who is jealous for souls as for brides, *heareth all things,* that is, knows them, as one who hears all things, namely words evil as well as good as well as indifferent, just as a jealous man diligently hears and notes the words of his bride and of those speaking with her; Exodus, the twentieth: « I am God, mighty, jealous » etc. *And the tumult of murmurings,* by which men murmur against God; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-third: « The heart of a fool is as a wheel of a waggon ». And it is called *tumult,* because a man murmuring as it were makes a tumult within his teeth, and does not enunciate clearly. *Shall not be hid,* but shall be divulged to the whole world; Luke, the twelfth: « There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, nor hidden that shall not be known »; Exodus, the sixteenth: « I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel ».

*Keep yourselves* etc. Here he admonishes to *caution against depraved speech,* and first he sets down *his exhortation;* secondly, *the necessity of the exhortation: For an obscure speech* etc.

(Vers. 11.). And it is to be construed or joined thus: since *the tumult* etc. *shall not be hid, keep yourselves therefore from murmuring,* namely against God, *which profiteth nothing,* nay rather does much harm; whence the first to the Corinthians, the tenth: « Some of them murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer ». *And from detraction,* namely against one's neighbour; Job, the sixth: « Why have you detracted the words of truth »? *Spare the tongue;* it is not said: *spare the neighbour,* but *the tongue,* namely your own, because he who detracts from another first harms himself. Whence detraction is worse than a serpent's venom; Seneca: « That venom which serpents put forth for the destruction of others they hold without harm to themselves; detraction itself drinks a part of its own venom ». The Gloss: « Murmurings and detractions are pernicious »; to the Romans, the first: « Detractors, hateful to God ». He says *detractors* in the plural, because detraction is made in several ways, namely either when a hidden good is denied, or when an open one is diminished, or when a hidden evil is divulged, or when an open one is spread abroad more widely. — And well did I say: *Spare the tongue, for an obscure speech;* the Gloss: « Hidden », as is the word of murmuring; *shall not go for nought,* that is, shall not remain without punishment, because not even an *idle* word does; Matthew, the twelfth: « Of every idle word » etc.: therefore much more of a malicious word. « An idle word,

as the Gloss says there, is that which is said without profit to the speaker or the hearer »; Jerome: « Everything that does not edify the hearers turns to the peril of the speakers ». *But the mouth that belieth,* namely by detracting, *killeth the soul;* the Gloss: « With the sword of sin, the soul of the liar »; the Psalm: « Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie ». — And it is to be noted that he speaks here of the *pernicious* lie, which is mortal, not of the *jocose* or the *officious;* whence the Gloss: « A lie is of lighter guilt when one lies in rendering a benefit ».

But it seems that some lie is good and meritorious, because the midwives, lying, merited a reward with the just judge, namely God, who cannot be deceived, as is plain in Exodus, the first.

But it must be said, according to the Gloss, that « it was not the lie that was rewarded, but the benevolence of their piety ».

But was not one and the same deed a sin, and yet did it have the merit of benevolence? And it seems that it did; for the Gloss says: « God, for the sake of the good, forgives the evil in one and the same deed, and rewards the good itself ».

It must be said that it was one by *connexion,* not by *indivisibility;* because the intention of delivering was one thing, the will to lie another, although co-ordinated with it.

#### *On the justice of work; it is treated in two ways.*

*Seek not* etc. Here he exhorts to the justice of *work,* and first through reasons taken from the side of *creation;* secondly, from the side of *retribution,* there: *For justice* etc. — From the side of *creation,* first through a reason taken from *the goodness of the Creator: For God;* secondly through a reason taken from the side of *the end of creation: He created;* thirdly through a reason taken from the side of *the condition of the creature: There is not in them.*

(Vers. 12.). *Seek not* etc., as if he said: because lying kills, *seek not,* that is, do not love or desire with your affection, *death,* namely the soul's, which it incurs through guilt, according to that of Augustine: « True death is that which men do not fear; namely the separation of the soul from God, who is the blessed life of souls, as bodily death is the separation of the body from the soul ». *Death,* I say, *in the error of your life,* constituted there causally, according to that of Proverbs, the fourteenth: « They err that work evil »; for every evil man is erring, according to the Philosopher. *Neither procure,* in effect, *destruction,* that of eternal punishment; which is in our power, according to that of Osee, the thirteenth: « Destruction is thy own, O Israel; thy help is only in me ». *With the works of your hands,* causally, that is, by the merit of your works.

But *it is objected* that, according to Augustine, all desire life and beatitude: therefore no one desires death or destruction.

It must be said that this is true *of itself;* but *by accident* and *by consequence* those are said to desire it who desire the act which is the cause of death and destruction. Whence he puts the *consequent* for the *antecedent,* adding: Well did I say that error is the cause of death, and evil works the cause of destruction.

(Vers. 13.). *For God,* who is the author of all things, according to that of John, the first: « All things were made by him »; *made not death,* namely the present one.

**But on the contrary:** Ecclesiasticus, the eleventh: « Life and death, poverty and honesty are from God ».

It must be said that here he speaks of the death of *guilt;* or if of the death of *nature,* he speaks with respect to the *privation,* not with respect to the *sense of pain.* Of the death of *gehenna* too, with respect to the punishment of *loss,* what is said here is true: *God made not death.*

**But on the contrary:** Every punishment is just, and everything just is good, and everything good is from God.

It must be said that when it is said: every punishment is just, it is understood *of itself,* namely according as it is *punishment,* not according to that which it *is;* whence it cannot be concluded that it is *simply* from God, but according as it *is punishment*.

*Neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living,* namely the future destruction.

**On the contrary:** Proverbs, the first: « I also will laugh in your destruction » etc.

It must be said that he does not delight in punishment inasmuch as it is *the destruction of nature,* but inasmuch as it is *the effect of justice;* whence Isaias, the first: « Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries, and I will be revenged of my enemies ». And well did I say that he does not delight or *have pleasure in the destruction,* which is the way to *non-being.*

(Vers. 14.). *For he created,* Genesis, the first, *all things that they might be;* the Gloss: « Not that they might perish »; whence also he put into all things a natural appetite for existing, that is, gave it within. And because « it is a common conception of the mind, according to Boethius, that everything that is tends to the good », and all things tend to *being;* he proves that the *being* of all things is good. *And healable,* that is, created in spiritual health through innocence and capable of being brought back to health through penance, lest they perish; for he « desireth not the death of the sinner » etc. *Healable,* I say, *he made the nations of the world,* that is, all, as many as are born in the world. Their being unhealable therefore is from themselves, not from God; Jeremias, the thirtieth: « Thy bruise is incurable, thy wound is very grievous ». — *For there is not in them;* the Gloss: « In their nature », namely of the nations, *a medicine of extermination,* « that is, the cup of sin », according to the Gloss, which is the cause of extermination in present death; Baruch, the third: « They are rooted out, and are gone down to hell ». *Extermination* is said of *sin,* because it puts one outside the bounds of grace; likewise of *temporal death,* because it puts one outside the bound of the life of nature; likewise of *the death of gehenna,* because it puts one outside the bounds of glory; and he speaks by antiphrasis, as if *poison* were called a medicine, and as a *fishpond* is the name given to water lacking fish.

But *it is objected* against what he says: *There is not in them* etc., because to the Ephesians, the second: « We were by nature children of wrath ».

But it must be said that here he speaks of *actual* sin, or of *nature as instituted,* that is, before the fall, not as *destituted* by sin, of which the Apostle speaks.

*Nor the kingdom of hell,* that is, eternal destruction, *upon the earth,* that is, in man made from the earth; Genesis, the second: « God formed man of the slime of the earth ». He intends therefore to show that *the death of sin* and *the destruction of eternal penalty* are not from nature, but from a perverse will. Of *the death of sin* it is plain through the Gloss, which says: « We do not sin by necessity, but by a perverse will »; of *the destruction of penalty* it is plain through another Gloss, which says: « The devil would have done man no harm, had man not acquiesced ».

*For justice is perpetual* etc. Here he admonishes to the justice of work from *the consideration of retribution;* and first he touches *the reward of justice;* secondly, *the penalty of injustice: But injustice* etc.; thirdly, *the equity of the penalty* or of the punishment inflicted: *But the impious* etc.

(Vers. 15.). *For justice is perpetual* etc.; as if he said: well did I say that death is not from God nor from nature, but from the injustice of a perverse will. For justice is perpetual, by bestowing eternal life, according to that of Proverbs, the twelfth: « In the paths of justice is life ». *And immortal,* by delivering from perpetual death; whence below, the third: « The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them ».

*But injustice is the acquisition of death,* namely both of temporal and of eternal death; whence to the Romans, the sixth: « The wages of sin is death »; likewise Proverbs, the twelfth: « The by-way leadeth to death ».

*But the impious* etc. Here he shows *the equity of the retribution,* because, namely, the impious merited this, first, by *doing* injustice, on account of which he says: *But the impious with their hands* etc.; secondly, by *loving it familiarly,* there: *And esteeming* etc.; thirdly, by *adhering to it inseparably: And they have made a covenant* etc.; fourthly, by *defending it stoutly: Because they are worthy of death* etc.

(Vers. 16.). *But the impious* etc. Well did I say that death is not from God, or from nature; *autem* for *sed;* *the impious,* towards God and their neighbour; *with their hands and words,* the Gloss: « By deeds and sayings »; *have called it,* as if he said: it did not thrust itself in, but they themselves summoned *it,* namely impiety and death, as is plain in our first parents, Genesis, the third. — *And esteeming it a friend,* that is, useful and not harmful; the Gloss: « Because they think that they sin with impunity »; *they have fallen away,*

that is, they have flowed downwards, the Gloss: « into eternal death »; but first into the death of guilt, secondly into the death of temporal punishment, thirdly into the death of eternal punishment; to the Hebrews, the second: « We ought to observe the things which we have heard, lest perhaps we should let them slip ». — *And they have made a covenant with it,* that is, an inseparable compact as of espousal, through the impenitence of obstinacy; the Gloss: « That they may not be separated »; Isaias, the twenty-eighth: « We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell ».

And deservedly have they fallen away into death, *because they are worthy of death who are of its part,* namely of injustice, by holding to it and defending it, as a man defends the party to which he belongs; to the Romans, the first: « They who do such things are worthy of death ».

Now there can be noted here a *procession* in sins, of which Ecclesiasticus, the twentieth: « There is a procession into evil for an undisciplined man »; because first there is *impiety* in the *heart* through consent to iniquity; then in the *hand* through the consummation of the work; then the *word* of defence or of boasting; then *friendship* and the hope of impunity; afterwards the *falling away* through the repetition of a depraved custom; next the *covenant* through obduracy of mind; last of all the *death* of final impenitence.

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