Cap. 11, Vers. 1-26
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/11/q/bon-sap-c11
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### Chapter XI.

#### On the benefits pertaining principally to the punishing of the adversaries.

*She directed their works.* Here he treats of the benefits pertaining to the *punishing of the adversaries,* and first of those pertaining to punishing through *lighter* punishments, ordained to their correction, namely in this chapter and in the twelfth chapter; secondly, of those pertaining to punishing through *heavier* punishments, ordained to condemnation, namely in the thirteenth chapter and thereafter.

#### *First, punishing through lighter punishments is treated in two ways.*

In the first part he first treats principally of the punishing of the *Egyptians,* who unjustly pressed down the Israelites; secondly, of the punishing of the *Chanaanites,* who unjustly held back their land, namely in the twelfth chapter.

#### First, on the punishing of the Egyptians for a twofold sin, first for the unjust pressing down.

In the first part it is treated first of the punishing of the Egyptians for the *unjust pressing down* of the children of Israel; secondly, for *idolatry: For some, being in error.*

In the first part there is shown first, toward the children of Israel, whom they wished to hold back, *the mercy of God;* secondly, against the Egyptians, who wished unjustly to hold them back, *the justice of God: For by what things.* — In the first is touched first the *directing* of the Israelites on the way; secondly, the *clearing,* or removal, of the hindrances that met them on the way: *They stood;* thirdly, their *refreshment* on the way: *They were thirsty.*

(Vers. 1.). He says therefore: *She directed,* as if he should say: wisdom not only did the aforesaid benefits for the Israelite people, but she also *directed their works;* the Gloss: « Of the Israelites », namely after their departure from Egypt; *in the hands,* that is, in the power and rule, *of the holy prophet;* the Gloss: « Of Moses », who was a *prophet* as to teaching; Deuteronomy, the eighteenth: « The Lord will raise up to thee a prophet like unto me »; *holy* as to life; Exodus, the thirty-third: « Thou hast found grace before me ». He taught and ruled them not only by words, because a *prophet,* but also by examples, because *holy,* so that that of Luke, the twenty-fourth, could be said of him: « He was a prophet mighty in work and word ».

(Vers. 2.). *They went;* the Gloss: « Hastening to the land of promise »; *through deserts,* that is, through many places forsaken, namely by tillers; *which were not inhabited,* namely by human dwellers. And this

was done, wisdom directing them by the hand of Moses, according to that of the Psalm: « Thou hast conducted thy people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron ». Which many did not acknowledge; whence Jeremias, the second: « They have not said: Where is the Lord, that led us through the desert, through a land uninhabitable and without way »? *And in desert places they made* *cottages* (*casas*); the Gloss: « Tents », that is, poor little houses, and they are called *casae* from falling (*a cadendo*), because they can easily fall; in like manner it is read of Abraham that he dwelt « in cottages », to the Hebrews, the eleventh. And this they did through two and forty stations, which are set down in Numbers, the thirty-third.

(Vers. 3.). *They stood against their enemies,* namely against the Amalecites, fighting with them, as is had in Exodus, the seventeenth, and against the Madianites, Numbers, the thirty-first. *And revenged themselves of their adversaries,* namely of the Amalecites, namely by triumphing and slaying them, and this through the prayer of Moses and the lifting up of his hands, as is clear in Exodus, the seventeenth.

(Vers. 4.). *They were thirsty,* namely on the part of the body, for want of water, as is clear in Exodus, the seventeenth, and Numbers, the twentieth; *and they called upon thee,* namely on the part of the soul, and this through themselves, or through Moses; whence Numbers, the twentieth: « O Lord God, hear the cry of this people »; in the Psalm: « They cried to the Lord, when they were in trouble ». *And water was given them out of the high rock,* that is, out of the lofty crag; Exodus, the seventeenth: « Thou shalt strike the rock » etc.; likewise Numbers, the twentieth: « Speak to the rock, and it shall yield waters to you ». *And rest from thirst* (*requies sitis*), that is, the allaying of thirst by a draught of water, *out of the hard stone,* repeat: was given them; in the Psalm: « He struck the rock, and the waters gushed out »; likewise Numbers, the twentieth: « There came forth water in great abundance, so that the people and their cattle drank ». Now the rock is called *most high,* that is, very lofty, or *most high* by reason of what it signified, namely because it signified Christ; whence the first to the Corinthians, the tenth: « And the rock was Christ ». From this rock go forth the spiritual waters of graces; John, the fourth: « He that shall drink of the water that I will give him » etc.; likewise John, the seventh: « If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink ».

*For by what things.* Here is shown the effect of the divine justice against the Egyptians, who wished to hold back the Israelites. And first is touched the *punishing* of the Egyptians through the want of water; secondly, the *fittingness of the punishment: For instead of a fountain;* thirdly, the *intention of the one punishing: Who when they were diminished;* fourthly, the *gravity of the punishing: For these indeed;* fifthly, the *effect in the punished: For when they heard.*

(Vers. 5.). *For by what things* etc.; the Gloss: « Having recalled the benefits given to the former people, the punishment of the enemies is narrated ». *For by what things* etc., as if he should say: abundance of waters was given to the Israelites; *for* (*enim*), for because; *by what things their enemies suffered punishment,* namely the Egyptians, *through the want of their drink,* namely all the water of Egypt being turned into blood, so that they could not drink of it, as is clear in Exodus, the seventh. *And whereas the children of Israel abounded with them,* namely with waters, which abounded in the land of Gessen, or according to the Gloss: « Which had flowed from the rock », Numbers, the twentieth; *they rejoiced.*

(Vers. 6. 7.). *By these,* namely by waters, *when they were wanting to them,* namely the waters, the Gloss: « To the Israelites », *it was well done with them,* because that want was supplied by a miracle. — *For instead of a fountain* etc., as if he should say: well and fittingly was want of water conferred on the Egyptians, but abundance of waters on the Israelites; *for instead of a fountain indeed,* surely, *of an ever-running river,* that is, of the Nile, flowing continually from the beginning of the world; for it is of the rivers of paradise; *human blood,* that is, the appearance of human blood, *thou gavest to the unjust,* that is, to the Egyptians, since, according to the Gloss, « their waters were turned into blood », as is clear in Exodus, the seventh.

(Vers. 8.). *Who,* namely the children of Israel, *when they were diminished in the bringing out of the infants slain,* that is, in the exposing and slaying of the infants, which was done lest the people should be multiplied, but rather diminished, as is clear in Exodus, the first; *thou gavest to them,* namely to the children of Israel, *abundant water unhoped for,* « that is, unexpectedly

(*ex improviso*) », because in the desert, and flowing from the rock by a miracle in the desert. « A miracle is a work arduous and unwonted, existing above the hope and the capacity of the one who wonders ». *Human blood* etc., as if he wished to say, according to the Gloss: to the Egyptians thou gavest blood for water, to the Israelites water for the blood of the children shed.

(Vers. 9.). *Shewing,* O Lord, *by the thirst that was then,* namely in Egypt for the Egyptians and in the desert for the Israelites, *how thou didst exalt thine,* namely in the future, when « thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure »; in this, namely, that thou didst give them drink so wonderfully in the present. *And how thou didst kill their adversaries;* the Gloss: « With eternal thirst », like the rich glutton, of whom Luke, the sixteenth; likewise Isaias, the sixty-fifth: « Behold, my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty ». Or, according to the letter, by this were figured the Egyptians who were to be slain in the Red Sea and the Israelites who were to be delivered.

(Vers. 10.). *For when they were tried,* namely the children of Israel in the desert, by many trials and plagues; the Gloss: « God corrected the Israelites when they sinned with deserved plagues, and consoled them when they repented ». Whence there follows: *And indeed,* that is, surely, *they received discipline with mercy*; in the Psalm: « Thou hast been angry, and hast had mercy on us »; *with mercy,* namely consoling, *discipline,* correcting; or: a merciful and light correction or scourging for their faults, and therefore they ought not to cast it off; Proverbs, the third: « My son, reject not the discipline of the Lord »; to the Hebrews, the twelfth: « But if you be without discipline, then are you bastards, and not sons ». *They knew,* namely by experience, *how with wrath,* that is, how harshly, which the Prophet feared, saying: « O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath »; *the impious being judged,* namely in the present, *should suffer torments,* namely in the future, incomparably heavier: « For he shall rain snares upon sinners » etc. *They knew,* I say, by experience and in this, that they were so harshly corrected; Luke, the twenty-third: « If this is done in the green wood, what shall be done in the dry »? Likewise Proverbs, the eleventh: « If the just man receive in the earth, how much more the impious and the sinner »? Likewise Jeremias, the twenty-fifth: « Behold, I begin to bring evil on the city wherein my name is called upon; and shall you be as innocent and free from punishment »? as if he should say: no.

(Vers. 11.). *For these indeed;* the Gloss: « The Israelites »; *as a father admonishing,* namely to greater progress or to advancing for the better, *thou didst prove,* that is, by admonishing them concerning their correction thou didst render them proved. « For whom the Lord loveth he scourgeth every son whom he receiveth », to the Hebrews, the twelfth; and Proverbs, the third: « For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth, and as a father in the son he pleaseth himself »; likewise above, the third: « As gold in the furnace he hath proved them ». *But the others;* the Gloss: « The Egyptians, or the Chanaanites »; *as a severe king,* namely by the effect of punishing, thou who in thy nature art kind; *examining,* namely by punishments and by the questionings of torments, as robbers and thieves and evildoers are put to the question and tortured; Gregory: « Punishment questions whether one at rest loves the truth ». *Thou didst condemn,* because by the scourges they were not amended, but made worse; Ezechiel, the twenty-fourth: « Great pains have been taken, and the great rust thereof is not gone out, not even by fire »; likewise Jeremias, the sixth: « Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them ».

(Vers. 12.). *For whether absent* etc., as if he should say: well have I said that thou didst harshly *condemn* them. *For whether absent,* namely the Egyptians, from the presence of Moses and of Pharao, or from the children of Israel, *or present,* namely expressly consenting to the malice of Pharao; or also, according to the Gloss, the Chanaanites, whether those who were slain by Israel, or those who heard of the others' victory; *they were tormented alike,* because the plagues were « in all the land of Egypt », as is clear of the plague of blood, Exodus, the seventh. Or: *the present were tormented* in body, *the absent,* who heard this, *were tormented* in mind.

But then it is asked: how therefore *were they tormented alike,* namely the absent in mind, but the present in body?

It must be said that they were alike *in genus,* namely as to this, that both these and those were tormented, but not alike *in species* or in mode.

(Vers. 13.). *For a double … had taken hold of them,* namely as it were in possession, *weariness* (*taedium*), that is, affliction, according to that of the Psalm: « Let them be covered with their confusion as with a double cloak »; Jeremias, the seventeenth: « With a double destruction destroy them ». *Double,* I say; *and* (*et*), for that is; *mourning,* at the onset of present evils; *with the remembrance of things past,* that is, with the sorrow which they had from the recollection of past evils, seeing that plagues followed upon plagues. The Gloss: « *A double weariness,* that is, the recollection of past evils and the storm of present ones ».

*For when they heard* etc. Here is shown the *effect of the punishing in the punished,* first on the part of the Israelites; secondly, on the part of the Egyptians: *For him whom* etc.; thirdly, on the part of both: *Not as.*

(Vers. 14.). As if he should say: truly thou didst *prove these* and *condemn those*. *For when they heard,* namely the children of Israel, Moses preaching this, *that by their torments it was well with them,* that is, profitably, namely for their salvation, according to that of the Romans, the eighth: « To them that love God all things work together unto good »; *they remembered the Lord,* whom namely they had as it were given over to oblivion; who were *despairing;* in the Psalm: « They remembered not his hand » etc.; likewise: « They forgot his benefits, and his wonders that he had shewn them »; yet afterwards, *being afflicted,* they remembered him: « For the eyes which fault closes, punishment opens », as Gregory says; in the Psalm: « And they remembered that God was their helper ». *Wondering,* namely at the power and mercy of God, *at the end of the event,* that is, after the end of the outcome of the matter; for right judgement depends on the end. « For the outcome proves the deeds »; whence Peter also followed Christ « to see the end », Matthew, the twenty-sixth.

(Vers. 15.). *For him whom* etc., as if he should say: and truly it is so; *whom,* namely the Israelite people or Moses, *cast forth in a wicked exposing,* that is, cast forth into the river badly and perilously, *they scoffed at,* namely the Egyptians, as one about to perish in the river, the basket notwithstanding. *At the end of the event they wondered,* that is, after the end of the outcome of the matter, seeing, namely, Moses so exalted by miracles; whence Exodus, the eleventh: « And Moses was a very great man in the sight of the servants of Pharao and of all the people ». Or: *at the end they wondered,* namely at the people miraculously delivered; Exodus, the fourteenth: « Let us flee from Israel; for the Lord fighteth for them against us ». So the impious err, not considering the end of the just, but only their present affliction; above, the fifth: « We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honour ». *Not as* etc., as if he should say: thus thou didst condemn the impious and deliver the just; thou, I say, *not doing as to the just*; the Gloss: « As to the unjust »; because Proverbs, the sixteenth [so printed; the verse is Prov. 24:16]: « A just man falleth seven times in a day and riseth again, but the impious shall fall down into evil ». But the reason of the diversity is not on the part of God, since he « is not a respecter of persons », Acts, the tenth, but on the part of the unjust.

(Vers. 16.). Whence there follows: « *But for the thoughts;* well have I said: *not as; but* (*autem*), for but rather; *for the foolish thoughts,* that is, hardened in evil, *their iniquities*, namely the outward ones, are, as if he should say: for evil thoughts they are permitted to fall into evil deeds; whence the Gloss: « Wicked works proceed from thoughts », because the reprobate do not change their heart amid the scourges of the Lord; to the Romans, the second: « According to thy hardness and impenitent heart thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath » etc.; Apocalypse, the twenty-second: « He that is filthy, let him be filthy still ».

#### Secondly, on the punishing of the Egyptians for idolatry.

*For some, being in error* etc. Here is touched the punishing of the Egyptians for *idolatry,* and this through the *sending in of flies.* And the fittingness of this punishment is shown first on the part of *the one sinning;* secondly, on the part of *the judge punishing,* there: *For thy … was not unable.*

(Vers. 16.). *For some* etc., as if he should say: thus were they punished for the oppression of the Israelites; *for* (*quod*), for because; *some,* of the Egyptians, *being in error,* namely from the faith; Proverbs, the fourteenth: « They err that work evil ». *They worshipped dumb serpents; dumb* he says by way of difference from the serpent which spoke to Eve in the earthly paradise, Genesis, the third; *and worthless beasts,* that is, useless for worshipping; for the Egyptians worshipped Aesculapius under the form of a serpent, Mercury under the form of a dog, Jove under the form of a ram, Apis under the form of an ox; to the Romans, the first: «

They changed the likeness of the incorruptible God into the likeness of corruptible man, and of birds, and of fourfooted beasts, and of serpents ». *Thou sentest upon them a multitude of dumb beasts for vengeance,* namely frogs and flies, sciniphs and locusts, according to that of the Psalm: « He sent among them divers sorts of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them; and he gave up their fruits to the blast, and their labours to the locust ».

(Vers. 17.). *That they might know that by what things,* that is, by such things as, *a man sinneth, by the same,* that is, by like things, *also,* (*et*), that is, even, *he is tormented;* the Gloss: « That from the likeness of the punishment they might know the quality of the fault », as « Aman was hanged on the gibbet which he had prepared for Mardochai », Esther, the seventh; and Goliath was slain by his own sword, the first of Kings, the seventeenth; and Holofernes was slain with his own dagger by a woman whom he had wickedly lusted after, Judith, the thirteenth.

*For thy … was not unable* etc. Here is shown the fittingness of the punishment on the part of *the judge punishing,* who wills rather to use mercy than power. And first it is shown that such light punishing *was not from want of power;* secondly, that it *was from mercy: But all things;* thirdly is added the *proof of the power: For great power;* fourthly, the *proof of the mercy: And* *thou hast mercy.*

In the first he shows that he could punish them otherwise, namely either by an instrument of vengeance *already created,* or by another *to be created anew,* there: *Or of a new kind;* or *immediately by himself: For* *even without these.*

(Vers. 18.). He says therefore: *For … not* etc. Well have I said that thou didst punish them by the things by which they sinned, and this on account of the agreement of the punishment with the fault, not on account of thy want of power. *For … was not unable,* that is, very powerless, *thy hand,* « that is, thy Son », according to that of the Psalm: « Put forth thy hand from on high »; *almighty;* whence below, the eighteenth: « Thy almighty word, O Lord » etc. *Which created,* that is, formed, *the world; to create* is to make something from nothing, but *to form,* from pre-existing matter. Now the world was from pre-existing matter, yet created before as unformed; whence there follows: *Of unseen matter* (*ex materia invisa*), that is, of prime matter, which was then *unseen,* that is, invisible, both on the part *of itself,* because it lacked distinct form, and on the part *of the agent,* because light was lacking, which is necessary for bringing the sense of sight from potency into act; whence Genesis, the first: « The earth was void and empty », namely as to the first defect; « and darkness was upon the face of the deep », as to the second. *To send upon them,* namely for vengeance, *a multitude of bears, or fierce lions,* which are strong and ravening animals; on account of which David glories in overcoming them, the first of Kings, the seventeenth: « I have killed both a lion and a bear ». *To send,* I say, *lions* etc., as he did when he sent lions into the land of Samaria, which devoured the peoples carried over there, because they did not worship God.

(Vers. 19. 20.). *Or beasts of a new kind, full of rage and* *unknown,* and therefore the more terrible; Deuteronomy, the thirty-second: « I will send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the fury of creatures that trail upon the ground » etc. *Or breathing out a fiery vapour,* or one *of fires,* namely to consume; *or sending forth a stinking smoke,* namely to infect the air; *or shooting horrible sparks out of their eyes,* to terrify. — *Whereof not only the hurt,* namely that done by striking, *could destroy them* (*exterminare*), that is, put them outside the bounds (*extra terminos*) of life; *but also the very sight,* by seeing, *could kill them through fear,* namely the unjust and wicked; for of the just man it is said in the Psalm: « Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon ».

But it is to be noted that by the various beasts aforesaid six kinds of sins can be understood: by the *bear* the vice of gluttony; by the *lion,* of pride; by the *beasts full of rage,* of anger; by *those breathing out a fiery vapour,* of lust; by *those sending forth a stinking smoke,* of avarice; by *those shooting sparks out of their eyes,* of envy.

(Vers. 21.). *For* *even without these* etc. Not only couldst thou punish them in this way, *for even without these,* that is, without the aid of these beasts, *they might have been slain with one blast;* the Gloss: « That is, with one indignation or command ». So *spirit* (*spiritus*) is taken where it is said in Genesis, the sixth: « My spirit shall not remain in man », that is, my indignation etc. Or: *with one* angelic *spirit,* as Sennacherib and his army, as is clear in Isaias, the thirty-seventh. *Persecuted,* namely as by a meritorious cause, *by their own deeds,* so that they should perish by their own works, as the viper perishes by its own offspring; Luke, the third: « Ye offspring of vipers » etc.; in the Psalm: « According to the works of their hands give thou to them ». *And scattered,* namely through

divers places outside their land, *by the breath of thy power.* This can be understood *intransitively,* and then it is understood of the uncreated spirit; or *transitively,* or effectively, and then it can be understood of a created spirit; Job, the fourth: « I have seen those that work iniquity perish by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath ».

*But all things* etc. Here he shows that he punished *from mercy* and punished less than he could; and first by this, that he did not punish beyond what the *quantity of the fault* required, because *in measure;* secondly by this, that he did not punish beyond what the *multiplicity of the fault* required, because *in number;* thirdly, because not beyond what the *condition* or quality *of the one sinning* required, because *in weight.*

(Vers. 21.). Well have I said that thou dost not punish according to the immensity of thy power, that is, as much as thou couldst; *but all things* etc., as if he should say: not only the creatures themselves, but also their requitals and punishments or punishings, *thou hast ordered in measure,* so that they do not exceed *the quantity of the fault; and number,* so that they do not exceed *the multiplicity of the fault; and weight,* so that they do not exceed *the condition of the one sinning* or the circumstance of the sin. Now that he punishes according to *measure,* Apocalypse, the eighteenth: « As much as she hath glorified herself and lived in delicacies, so much torment and sorrow give ye to her »; likewise Isaias, the twenty-seventh: « In measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it »; likewise Luke, the sixth: « With what measure you shall mete, it shall be measured to you again ». That according to *number,* Apocalypse, the eighteenth: « Double unto her double according to her works »; likewise Isaias, the fortieth: « She hath received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins », that is, a double punishment, namely the punishment of loss and the punishment of sense, or a bodily outward punishment and a spiritual inward one, that is, the remorse of conscience. That according to *weight,* is clear above, the sixth: « To him that is little, mercy is granted, the mighty shall be mightily tormented ».

Otherwise it can be expounded thus: *all things,* namely bodily things as to their nature, *thou hast ordered in measure, number and weight,* because the measure of all bodily things is the four elements, which have number, weight and measure, as is clear. — Or otherwise: *weight* is referred to the power of the one working; *number,* to the wisdom of the one ordering; *measure,* to the clemency of the one preserving; to the Romans, the eleventh: « Of whom are all things », as to the power of the Father; « by whom are all things », as to the wisdom of the Son; « in whom are all things », as to the clemency of the Holy Spirit. — According to the Gloss of Rabanus: « *In measure,* quality; *in number,* quantity; *in weight,* proportion ». — According to Augustine, the *measure* of a creature is its fixed quantity, by which it is called great or small or middling; *number,* the fixed quality, by which it is marked off from another; *weight,* the property by which it rests in its own place; whence according to Augustine *measure* is the same as mode; *species* is the same as number; *order* the same as weight. « These three », namely mode, species and order, « where they are great, are great goods; where small, small; where none, none », as he himself says. — Or this can be expounded of measure, number and weight in *uncreated things* thus: *in measure,* that is, in thee measuring all things, that is, prescribing to each thing its mode; *in number,* that is, in thee numbering all things, that is, bestowing on each thing its proper species; *in weight,* that is, in thee weighing all things, that is, assigning to all a proper and fixed order. With this agrees a certain exposition of Augustine, who says: « In measure, that is, in thyself, who art measure without measure, prescribing to each thing its mode; number without number, furnishing species to every thing; weight without weight, drawing every thing to stability ». The first in the account of *efficient* cause, the second in the account of *exemplar,* the third in the account of *final* cause. — Morally thus: *In measure,* against the vice of *superfluity; in number,* against the vice of *singularity; in weight,* against the vice of *levity*.

But it is objected: if he ordered all things in measure, number and weight: then measure in measure etc., and so to infinity.

It can be said that, speaking of number, weight and measure in *uncreated things,* the distribution is *universal;* but speaking of *created things,* the distribution is *accommodated,* in such wise, namely, that the distribution is understood to be made for things measured, numbered and weighed. Or: *All things,* complete beings, not concreated in another. But measure, number and weight are not such; rather they are concreated in other things, since they are not beings standing by themselves and complete.

*For great power* etc. Here is set down the proof of the divine power, first by its greatness in itself; secondly, by the smallness of the creature: *For as* etc.

(Vers. 22.). *For great power* etc., as if he should say: it is well clear that it was not from want of power that he punished them thus; *for great power,* that is, to be very powerful, *always belonged to thee alone,* and without the help of another, namely on account of the infinity of thy power. « For that is infinite, of which, for one taking its parts or quantity, there is always something outside to take »; Luke, the first: « No word shall be impossible with God »; *always,* that is, at every time or for ever, according to that of Daniel, the seventh: « His power is an everlasting power ». *And the strength* (*virtuti*), that is, the perfect power, because, according to the Philosopher, « strength (*virtus*) is the uttermost of power in a thing »; *of thy arm,* according to that of Isaias, the fifty-first: « Put on strength, O thou arm of the Lord »; *who shall resist?* as if he should say: none can; and this is because he suffers from nothing.

(Vers. 23.). *For* etc., as if he should say: truly it is so; *for* the whole *world,* that is, the universe of creatures, *before thee is,* that is, in thy disposal, or in comparison with thee, *as the least grain of the balance* (*momentum staterae*), that is, that small amount by which the balance inclines this way or that; whence *momentum* is said from moving (*a movendo*), or because, as it is easily and as it were in a moment moved this way or that, so by the divine power the world is moved at the nod of God; whence Isaias, the fortieth: « Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance »; *and as a drop of the morning dew,* that is, falling before the light (*ante lucem*), *that falleth down upon the earth,* which is easily dissolved before the face of the sun and cannot resist it. And it is to be noted that he says the creature is *as the least grain* etc. in respect of God as to the ease of acting upon it; and *as a drop of dew* etc., as to the impossibility of suffering from it; Isaias, the fortieth: « All nations are before him as if they had no being at all ».

*And* *thou hast mercy upon all* etc. Here is set down the proof of the divine mercy; and first he proves it by the effect of *overlooking;* secondly, by the effect of *love: For thou lovest;* thirdly, by the effect of *preservation: And how could* etc.; fourthly, by the effect of *remission: But thou sparest.*

(Vers. 24.). *And thou hast mercy upon all,* that is, in all things thou exercisest the effect of mercy, according to that of the Psalm: « His tender mercies are over all his works »; likewise: « All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth »; likewise: « The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord ». *Since thou canst do all things;* whence all things are thy makings and thy works, according to that of the Psalm: « Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them ». *And overlookest* (*dissimulas*), namely for a time by not punishing, *the sins of men;* he does not say *of angels,* because the sin of the angels was punished at once; whence Isaias, the fourteenth: « How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning »? *For the sake of repentance* (*poenitentiam*); whence to the Romans, the second: « Knowest thou not that the benignity of God leadeth thee to penance »? Ezechiel, the eighteenth: « If the impious do penance for all his sins etc.; living he shall live, and shall not die ».

(Vers. 25.). *For thou lovest all things that are,* namely by approving and preserving their goods; whence Genesis, the first: « God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good »; the Gloss: « A good craftsman loves his work »; but God did not make sin; whence John, the first: « Without him was made nothing », that is, « sin », according to Augustine. And therefore he does not love sin, but hates it, according to that of the Psalm: « Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity ». *And hatest none of the things which thou hast made,* namely by rejecting none.

On the contrary, there is what is said in the Psalm: « I have hated the wicked »; likewise: « Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity »; likewise Ecclesiasticus, the twelfth: « The Most High hateth sinners ».

But it must be said that he does not hate his making, but the fault of the making, as a craftsman loves the statue that he has made, and yet hates some knot on the part of the material existing in it.

*For thou didst not hating,* that is, unwillingly, *appoint anything,* namely by creating it from nothing, *or

make it,* by forming it from pre-existing matter; whence Boethius:

> Whom no outward causes drove to fashion
> The work of fluid matter, but the inborn form
> Of the highest good etc.

Whence Proverbs, the sixteenth: « The Lord hath made all things for himself ».

(Vers. 26.). *And how could anything,* that is, any creature, *endure,* namely in its *being; if thou wouldst not,* that is, unless thou preservedst it willingly by thy goodness? as if he should say: in no way; whence Gregory: « All things that are would tend to nothing, unless they were sustained or held by the hand of the Creator ». *Or that which was not called by thee,* that is, unless thou didst approve it by beholding it with thy wisdom; to the Romans, the fourth: « Who calleth those things that are not » etc.; *be preserved?* as if he should say: nothing.

(Vers. 27.). *But thou sparest all,* namely men, who are called *every creature,* according to that of Mark, the last: « Preach the Gospel to every creature »; *thou sparest,* I say, because it is proper to thee, according to that saying: « O God, whose property is always to have mercy and to spare ». *Because they are thine, O Lord;* Ezechiel, the eighteenth: « All souls are mine »; *who lovest souls;* which is clear, because thou hast laid down thy soul for them; John, the fifteenth: « Greater love than this no man hath » etc.; whence Bernard: « Thou hadst a greater, laying it down for thine enemies ».

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