Cap. 12, 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/12/q/bon-sap-c12
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### Chapter XII.

#### Secondly, on the punishing of the Canaanites and the Amorrhites.

*O how good* etc. After he has treated of the benefits shown to the children of Israel in the affliction or punishing of the Egyptians principally, here he treats of the benefits shown to the same in the affliction of the *Canaanites and Amorrhites,* who inhabited the land of promise, principally.

In the first, first is shown the *just punishing* of those peoples; secondly, the *mercy* shown in the manner of punishing: *But even those;* thirdly, the *instruction* of the people of God in both: *But thou, being master;* fourthly, the *condemnation* of the incorrigible adversaries through both: *Wherefore also to them.*

#### First, on the just punishing of these peoples, in two ways.

In the first, first is touched the pious *intention of the one punishing;* secondly, the *equity of the punishing: For those.* — Of the pious intention he shows first the *cause,* secondly the *sign: And therefore* etc.; thirdly the *end: That leaving their malice* etc.

(Vers. 1.). *O how good* etc. It is an exclamation intimating the insufficiency of the speaker to express the goodness of the Creator; for the sense is: *O how* etc., as if he should say: I am not able to express how much, and this because of the infinity of thy goodness. *Good,* namely by communicating thy goods; « for the good is diffusive of itself », according to Dionysius; Matthew, the nineteenth: « None is good but God alone »; for God alone communicates his own, every creature what is another's, because it has nothing of its own; whence the first to the Corinthians, the fourth: « What hast thou that thou hast not received »? *And sweet, O Lord, is thy spirit in all things,* namely by sparing our evils; in the Psalm: « O taste and see that the Lord is sweet »; *spirit,* I say, *thy … in,* namely us, *all,* the Gloss: « Because the love of God is the fount of all good ». *In all things,* most of all in those in which the mercy of God more appears; in the Psalm: « The Lord is sweet to all ».

(Vers. 2.). *And therefore,* because *good and sweet, them that err,* that is, wander outside the way of truth in faith, or in morals, as those of whom Isaias, the fifty-third: « All we like sheep have gone astray »; likewise Lamentations, the fourth: « They have wandered as blind men in the streets »; *thou chastisest by little and little,* that is, by sending scourges by parts, not all at once, but successively, according to that of Exodus, the twenty-third: « I will not cast them out from thy face in one year », but « by little and little I will drive them out »; Job, the thirty-fifth: « For he doth not now bring on his fury, neither doth he revenge wickedness exceedingly », but a little; *thou chastisest,* I say, either through thyself, or « through others, whom thou fillest with the Holy Spirit », according to the Gloss; John, the sixteenth: « He will convince the world of sin ». *And concerning the things wherein they sin,* that is, concerning the sins by which they sin; *thou admonishest them,* namely by promising pardon, according to that of Matthew, the fourth:

« Do penance » etc.; likewise Isaias, the forty-fifth: « Be converted to me, and you shall be saved » etc.; the Gloss: « Blessed are they who hear the voice of one admonishing »; Isaias, the thirtieth: « Thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing behind thy back ». *And speakest to them,* that is, by threatening punishment; Isaias, the first: « If you will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land; but if you will not hearken, the sword shall devour you »; *that, leaving their malice,* namely of sin, or of unbelief; *they may believe in thee, O Lord,* namely by formed faith; *in thee,* I say, not *thee,* or *to thee* only; Isaias, the fifty-fifth: « Let the impious forsake his way » etc. For the movement of penance is contrary to the movement of malice, because, as that is from good into evil, so this is from evil into good.

*For those* etc. Here is touched the *equity of the punishing,* and first from the consideration of the *fault* itself; secondly, from the consideration of the *punishment: It was thy will to destroy.*

(Vers. 3.). *For those* etc. I said well: *thou chastisest* etc.; which is clear by an example. *For those ancient inhabitants,* namely the Canaanites and Amorrhites and others of this kind, *inhabitants of thy holy land,* that is, promised to thy Saints, namely to Abraham, Genesis, the fifteenth; to Isaac, the twenty-sixth; to Jacob, the twenty-eighth; *whom thou didst abhor,* so much, that thou wouldst not have thy people coupled or mingled with them, according to that of Deuteronomy, the seventh: « Thou shalt not enter into a league with them, nor join marriages, nor have mercy on them ».

(Vers. 4. 5.). *Because they did works hateful to thee,* namely enormous sins, below, the fourteenth: « Likewise hateful to God are the impious and his impiety »; *by medicines,* namely of sorcerers, *and unjust sacrifices,* of idols, and this against *God.* But there were also just sacrifices, which were offered to God, as Noe offered, Genesis, the eighth. — *And murderers of their own children,* and this against their *neighbour, without mercy,* that is, without compassion, because they immolated them in sacrifices of demons with much devotion, according to that of the Psalm: « And they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils ». Against which Deuteronomy, the eighteenth: « Beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of those nations, neither let there be found with thee any one that shall expiate his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire ». *And eaters of men's bowels,* this is not read to have been done, but it is to be believed that it could have been done, as in the time of the siege of Samaria it is read to have been done, the fourth of Kings, the sixth; and Lamentations, the fourth: « The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children »; *and devourers of blood*, human, against that of Genesis, the ninth: « Flesh with blood you shall not eat ».

(Vers. 6.). *And authors,* that is, shedders of blood, *parents,* that is, although they were parents of the blood shed, which is more grievous; *of the blood,* I say, *of souls,* that is, of men; for he puts the part for the whole, and it is synecdoche, as in Exodus, the first, where it is said: « All the souls that went in with Jacob into Egypt »; *helpless;* the Gloss: « That is, of those who could not defend themselves, or whom they would not help », namely of their own little infants, of whose blood they themselves were the begetters and the shedders in sacrifice and the eaters by eating of what was sacrificed. *Murderers,* I say, *of their own children* etc., *it was thy will to destroy,* that is, to expel, *from the midst of thy sacrament,* that is, from the sacred land of promise; and the land of promise is called *sacred* or *sacrament* on account of its signification of a sacred thing, that is, of the land of the living, and on account of the fulfilment in it of the sacraments of our salvation, and on account of the institution in it of the Sacraments of the Church, as of the eucharist and of baptism, and on account of the future dwelling in it of holy men, as of the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Apostles, and on account of the shedding and watering in it of the blood of Christ, and on account of the dissolution in it of holy bodies and dusts, namely of the ancient Fathers buried there; likewise on account of the building in it of a sacred place, namely of the temple, and on account of the birth and conversation of the Holy of Holies. *By the hands of our parents,* namely of those who entered the land of promise with Josue.

(Vers. 7.). *That they might receive a worthy,* namely our parents, *pilgrimage,* that is, the land of pilgrimage, *of the children of God,* namely of the Patriarchs, of whom to the Hebrews, the eleventh: « Confessing that they are pilgrims and strangers on the earth ». *Which,* namely the land of pilgrimage, *is to thee the land dearer of all,* namely of lands, that is, than all lands, namely on account of the salvation of the human race to be wrought there, according to that of the Psalm: « He hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth ».

#### Secondly is shown the mercy shown in the manner of punishing, in two ways.

*But even those* etc. Here is shown the mercy shown in the *manner of punishing;* and of that manner he first *removes the false cause;* secondly *subjoins the true: Since then.* — In the first part he shows first that that manner of punishing was not from *impotence;* secondly, that neither from *ignorance: But by parts;* thirdly, that neither from *fear: Neither fearing;* fourthly, that neither from *injustice: For neither*.

(Vers. 8.). *But even those* etc. Although some read this of the Fathers who were to be brought in, whose enemies the Lord first mercifully terrified, not willing to expose them, as mortal men, to the sudden perils of wars; yet it seems more fittingly to be expounded of the Canaanite nations to be cast out from before their face. He says therefore: *But even those,* although namely they had sinned so enormously, *thou sparedst,* namely by not expelling them all at once and together, *as men,* clothed in frail flesh, and therefore more prone to sinning. « For the sense and thought of the human heart are prone to evil from its youth », Genesis, the eighth. This reason the Lord himself alleges, Genesis, the sixth: « My spirit shall not remain in man, because he is flesh ». *And didst send wasps forerunners of thy host,* that is, a kind of flies that sting sharply; the Gloss says: « Most sharp fears, by which the hearts of the nations were stung ». These are the hornets, of which Deuteronomy, the seventh: « The Lord thy God will send hornets among them, until he destroy and consume all »; Exodus, the twenty-third: « I will send my terror before thee »; and after: « Sending out hornets before, who shall drive away the Hevite » etc. *That they might destroy* (*exterminarent*) *those,* namely the Canaanites, *by little and little,* that is, might put or drive them outside the bounds (*extra terminos*) of the land of promise, or outside the bounds of the present life, or outside the bounds of the land of the living; whence Baruch, the third: « They are destroyed and are gone down to hell », shut out namely from the land of the living.

(Vers. 9.). *Not that thou wast unable in war to bring the impious under the just,* according to that of the Psalm: « Thou hast girded me with strength unto battle, and hast tripped up under me them that rose up against me »; *or by cruel beasts,* that is, or through fierce beasts, according to that of Jeremias, the fifth: « The wolf in the evening hath laid them waste, and the leopard watching over their cities »; above, the eleventh: « For thy almighty hand was not unable » etc. *Or by a hard word,* that is, through a harsh word, *to destroy* them *at once,* according to that of Jeremias, the twenty-third: « Are not my words as a fire and as a hammer breaking the rocks »?

(Vers. 10.). *But by parts* etc. Here he shows that he did not do this from *ignorance,* namely of their actual or original fault, saying: *But by parts* etc. I said well, that *not that thou wast unable* etc.; *but by parts,* « that is, by little and little or by parts » and successively, *judging,* that is, punishing justly; Deuteronomy, the seventh: « He will consume these nations in thy sight by little and little and by parts, lest perhaps the beasts of the earth be multiplied against thee »; *thou gavest place of penance,* so that, some being punished, others might be corrected; Job, the twenty-fourth: « God hath given him place of penance, and he abuseth it unto pride ». *Not being ignorant,* because ignorance does not fall upon God, as neither does darkness upon light; whence the first of John, the first: « God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all ». *That their nation is wicked*, through the malice of fault, because wicked sons of wicked fathers; whence above, the fourth: « All who are born of the wicked are witnesses of their wickedness »; *and their malice natural,* that is, like the natural through the use of depraved custom. « For custom is a second nature »; for as those things which are from nature can be put off with difficulty or never, so neither those which are from custom; whence Jeremias, the thirteenth: « If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots, you also may do well, when you have learned evil »; Gregory: « He rises with difficulty whom the weight of custom presses down ». *And their malice natural;* the Gloss: « Abiding, inveterate »,

namely through the use of depraved custom. *And that their thought could not be changed for ever,* namely on account of the obstinacy of their perverse will; the Gloss: « Hardened by its own wickedness »; Lamentations, the first: « He hath given me into a hand out of which I shall not be able to rise ».

**But on the contrary:** It is in the freedom of choice to sin and after sin to repent.

I respond: *Could not,* that is, could hardly; or could not through itself alone, but with God inspiring. For man is « a spirit going », namely through fault, « and not returning », namely except through grace.

(Vers. 11.). *For it was a cursed seed from the beginning,* that is, in the first parent of their race, namely in Chanaan; Genesis, the ninth: « Cursed be Chanaan ». Or according to the Gloss: *From the beginning,* « that is, in the foreknowledge of God »; or according to the Gloss: *From the beginning,* because, « from the time it had been, a certain depraved quality was in them worthy of cursing ».

*Neither fearing.* Here he excludes *fear* from God by a fourfold reason: first by this, that no one can *discuss* his judgment; secondly, because neither *resist* him: *Or who shall stand;* thirdly, because neither *avenge: Or who shall come in thy sight;* fourthly, because neither *rebuke: Or who to thee.*

(Vers. 11.). He says therefore: *Neither, fearing any one, didst thou give pardon to their sins. Neither fearing any one,* namely as more powerful than thee; Ecclesiasticus, the third: « Great is the power of God alone »; Isaias, the fifty-first: Who art thou, that thou shouldst fear a mortal man »? Likewise Job, the twenty-second: « Shall he, fearing, rebuke thee »? as if he should say: no; nay rather even « the pillars of heaven tremble and dread at his beck », Job, the twenty-sixth; how much more the pillars of the earth?

(Vers. 12.). *For who shall say to thee,* that is, would dare to say, or could reasonably say: *What hast thou done?* namely by *discussing* the reason of thy deed, as if he should say: no one; whence to the Romans, the ninth: « Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it: Why hast thou made me thus »? Isaias, the forty-fifth: « Shall the clay say to the potter: What dost thou »? *Or who shall stand against thy judgment?* namely by *resisting* thy sentence; Job, the ninth: « God, whose wrath no man can resist »; and after: « If equity of judgment be sought, no man dare bear witness for me ». *Or who shall come in thy sight,* that is, will dare to appear, *as an avenger of wicked men?* that is, willing to *avenge* the wicked by punishing thee, as though thou hadst done them injury by condemning them; as if he should say: no one, because Deuteronomy, the thirty-second: « Revenge is mine » etc.; likewise in the same place: « See that I alone am, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand ». *Or who shall impute to thee,* namely by *rebuking* thee of fault, as if he should say: no one; whence John, the eighth: « Which of you shall convince me of sin »? *Who,* I say, *shall impute to thee, if the nations perish, which thou hast made? perish,* through their own fault, *which thou hast made,* as to their nature; the Gloss: « It is not the fault of the Creator if they perish, but the vice of nature »; Job, the twelfth: « If he pull down, there is no man that can build up ».

(Vers. 13.). *For neither* etc. I said well: who will do any of the aforesaid against thy judgment? *For neither is there another God but thou,* according to that of Isaias, the forty-fifth: « Am not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me »? *But thou,* I say, *who hast care of all;* above, the sixth: « Equally hast thou care of all ».

**But on the contrary:** The first to the Corinthians, the ninth: « Is there care for oxen with God »?

It must be said that the care of *providence* is his for all things, the care of *discipline* is for rational things alone.

*That,* namely through this, *thou mayest shew that thou dost not judge judgment unjustly,* the judgment of the punishing of the wicked; in the Psalm: « Thou art just, O Lord, and thy judgment is right ».

(Vers. 14.). *Neither king* etc., as if he should say: thou judgest so rightly, that *neither king,* who rules his own well and according to justice, *nor tyrant,* who namely rules badly and through injustice, *shall inquire in thy sight about them whom thou hast destroyed;* the Gloss: « Whether thou hast destroyed them justly », according to that of Job, the ninth: « Who can say: Why dost thou so »?

*Since then* etc. Here he shows the *true cause* why God showed mercy in the aforesaid manner of punishing, and this first by showing that God exercises *justice* in all things; secondly, that he nonetheless shows *mercy: And because of this;* thirdly, that to the unbelieving he sometimes shows *power: Thy power* etc.

(Vers. 15.). *Since then thou art just,* namely in thy nature, *thou orderest all things justly,* namely in the creature, namely « justly punishing the son » in the present, so that

in the future thou mayest spare him; to the Hebrews, the twelfth: « He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth »; Tobias, the third: « Thou art just, O Lord, and all thy judgments are just »; likewise in the Psalm: « The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves ». *Him also who ought not to be punished,* that is, to be corrected by temporal punishment, *thou condemnest*; the Gloss: With eternal punishment, sparing him in the present, so that in the future thou mayest punish; whence Ezechiel, the sixteenth: « My jealousy shall be taken away from me, and I will rest and be angry no more ». *And thou esteemest it foreign to thy power;* the Gloss: « That is, alien to and unworthy of the divine piety ». For the power of God is piety, according to that saying of Gregory: « O God, whose property is always to have mercy and to spare »; therefore in the Psalm: « In thy power », that is, in thy piety, « judge me ». Or thus: *and him who ought not to be punished,* namely for ever, *thou condemnest,* namely according to the reckoning of the reprobate, because thou chastisest him in the present; *and thou esteemest,* that is, thou makest others esteem, such a one *foreign,* to be namely, *to thy power,* that is, alien to and unworthy of thy piety, as the friends of Job esteemed him unworthy of thy piety, because thou didst punish him so grievously.

(Vers. 16.). *For thy power,* that is, mercy. For the work of justice is said to be *alien* to God, Isaias, the twenty-eighth, but the work of mercy *proper* to him. And this is because he has mercy on us out of his own goodness, but exercises justice upon us out of a cause of ours, namely on account of our fault. *Power,* I say, *thy,* that is, mercy, *of justice,* namely of ours, that is, of our justification, *is the beginning,* according to that of the Apostle to Titus, the third: « Not by the works of justice which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us »; likewise to the Romans, the third: « Justified freely by his grace ». *And because thou art Lord of all,* namely through power, *thou makest thyself to spare all,* through mercy; whence the Gloss: « That thou who art over all in power mayest grow mild in nature »; above, the eleventh: « Thou hast mercy upon all, because thou canst do all things ».

(Vers. 17.). *For thou showest* thy *power,* that is, power in punishing, *thou who art not believed,* namely by those who err, *to be consummate in power,* that is, perfect; Job, the twenty-second: « They esteemed the Almighty as though he could do nothing ». *And those who know thee not,* namely the unbelievers, *thou leadest forth in boldness,* that is, thou boldly leadest them to punishment, and this by the merit of their iniquities, above, the fourth: « Their iniquities shall lead them forth from the opposite side ».

#### Thirdly is shown the instruction of the people of God in both.

*But thou, being master* etc. Having shown the punishing of the adversaries and the mercy of the judge in punishing, here he shows the *instruction of the people of God* in both, and first touches the *example* through which he instructs; secondly, the *mercy* concerning which he instructs: *Thou hast taught;* thirdly, the *manner* in which he instructs: *For if the enemies;* fourthly, the *end* on account of which he instructs: *Therefore, whereas to us.*

(Vers. 18.). *But thou* etc. I said well, that *thou showest* to the incorrigible thy *power* and might; *but,* for yet; *thou, master of power* etc.; this can be understood *intransitively,* so that the sense is: *thou master of power,* that is, powerful; or *transitively* thus: *master of power,* that is, Lord of all powers, namely as well angelic as human; in the Psalm: « The Lord of powers, he is the king of glory ». *Thou judgest with tranquillity,* that is, without disturbance of understanding or of affection; James, the first: « With whom there is no change »; Isaias, the forty-second: « In truth he shall bring forth judgment; he shall not be sad nor troublesome ». *And with much* *reverence,* in effect, that is, with much moderation, *thou disposest of us,* not as that judge « who neither feared God nor reverenced man », Luke, the eighteenth. *For to be able is at hand for thee, when thou wilt;* behold the cause of the tranquillity in judging and of the reverence in disposing or in executing, namely because he is omnipotent; in the Psalm: « Whatsoever he would, he hath done ».

But *it is objected* that according to the account of understanding power precedes will, not will power. He ought therefore to say: to *will* is at hand for thee when thou canst, not to *be able* when thou wilt.

It must be said that power precedes in *being,* but will in *acting;* whence he can do many things which he does not do, because he does not will.

(Vers. 19.). *For thou hast taught* *thy people;* but others are not taught, whence Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-first: « He will not be taught who is not wise in good »; *by such works,* namely of justice and of mercy together. *That one must be just,* because thou art just, *and humane,* that is, mild, because man is by nature a mild animal; and this, because thou art merciful, not only just; whence in the Psalm: « Mercy and judgment I will sing to thee, O Lord »; likewise: « The Lord is merciful and compassionate and just ». And if the Lord, then also the servant; whence Matthew, the eighteenth: « Oughtest not thou also to have had mercy on thy fellow servant, even as I had mercy on thee »? Ecclesiastes, the seventh: « Be not over just », namely so much that thou shut out mercy from thy justice; for the Samaritan poured into the wounded man not wine only, but oil also together. *And thou hast made thy children to be of good hope,* that is, thy faithful, who are thy children, of obtaining pardon; whence John, the first: « He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name ». This is the good hope of which in the Psalm: « Hope in him, all the congregation of the people »; likewise: « In God hath my heart hoped, and I have been helped »; the first of Peter, the first: « Hope in that grace which is offered you ». *Because judging,* that is, punishing sinners, *thou givest place of penance in sins,* that is, to those who remain in sins, namely by waiting for them unto penance; Isaias, the thirtieth: « Therefore the Lord waiteth, that he may have mercy on you ». The place of penance is this world; for after going out from this world there remains no place of penance; on account of which Ecclesiastes, the eleventh: « Wheresoever the tree shall fall, whether to the south or to the north, there it shall be ». Chrysostom: « Then there will be no place of penance, nor time of making satisfaction, nor power of making restitution »; therefore Ecclesiastes, the ninth: « Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work nor reason nor knowledge nor wisdom shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening ».

(Vers. 20.). *For if the enemies of thy servants,* as to sin against the *neighbour,* the servants, I say, to whom it is said in Luke, the tenth: « He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me »; *and those due to death,* as to sin against *God,* who is the life of souls, according to Augustine; *due,* I say, *to death,* according to that of the Romans, the first: « Not only they who do such things are worthy of death » etc. *Thou didst torment with so great attention,* namely not all at once, but by punishing by parts and successively, as is clear in the plagues of Egypt; *and didst deliver*, namely them from these, namely from temporal torments, because, Moses praying, they were delivered from the several torments; something similar also befell among the Canaanites. *Giving time and place, whereby they might be changed from their malice; time,* namely the span of life, *and place,* namely the exile of this world; of the time, the Apocalypse, the second: « I gave her a time that she might do penance »; of the place, Job, the twenty-fourth: « God hath given him place of penance, and he abuseth it unto pride ».

(Vers. 21.). *With what diligence hast thou judged thy children* etc., as if he should say: with much diligence and attention, according to what the Psalmist asked, saying: « Arise and attend to my judgment, my God and my Lord, unto my cause ». In figure of this it is read in Genesis, the third, that God, being about to judge the sin of Adam, walked etc. *Thy children,* namely the Saints, above, the fifth: « Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the Saints ». Or: *thy children,* that is, thy faithful, according to that of John, the first: « He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in his name ». *To whose,* namely the children's, *parents,* that is, the Patriarchs, as Abraham, Genesis, the fifteenth and the twenty-second; Isaac, Genesis, the twenty-sixth; Jacob, Genesis, the twenty-eighth; *thou gavest oaths and covenants,* that is, sworn covenants. Note that a covenant is a simple promise, but an oath a promise with the attestation of a sacred thing; to the Hebrews, the sixth: « That by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have the strongest comfort » etc. *Of good promises,* namely concerning the land of promise and concerning the blessing of the seed.

(Vers. 22.). *Therefore* etc., as if he should say: so beneficent art thou and merciful to adversaries; *therefore, whereas thou givest us discipline,* that is, corrective punishment, which

is not to be cast away, according to that of Proverbs, the third: « The discipline of the Lord, my son, cast not away », because it instructs; whence in the Psalm: « Thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end » etc. *Our enemies,* who namely hate us, although they are loved by us, according to what the Lord admonishes in Matthew, the fifth: « Love your enemies »; *thou scourgest in many ways,* namely inwardly and outwardly, according to that of the Psalm: « Many are the scourges of the sinner »; the Gloss: « Great is the distance between the judgment of the elect and of the reprobate; for those he chastises, that he may amend them; these pay the punishments of pride and of perfidy ». *That we may think on thy goodness,* namely in the present, *when we judge,* namely others, whom we see scourged by thee; the Gloss: « Happy the judge who ever looks upon the goodness and piety of his own judge », namely so that, the piety of God judging being looked upon, he may learn to have piety when he judges others; in the Psalm: « How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart »; Nahum, the first: « The Lord is good and strengthening in the day of tribulation and knowing them that hope in him ». *And when we are judged,* namely through the sending of present tribulations, *we may hope for thy mercy,* namely in the future, namely the reward of eternal life; James, the first: « Esteem it all joy, brethren, when you shall fall into divers temptations » etc.; to the Romans, the fifth: « Glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience hope » etc.

#### Fourthly, on the condemnation of the incorrigible adversaries on account of contempt, six things are touched.

*Wherefore also to them.* Here is touched the condemnation of the *incorrigible adversaries* on account of contempt of both, namely of the divine justice and mercy; and first is touched the *scourge* by which they ought to have been corrected; secondly, the *fittingness of the scourge: For verily* etc.; thirdly, the *incorrigibility of those scourged: But they who* etc.; fourthly, the *manifestation of the incorrigibility: For in those things*; fifthly, the *reason* on account of which they ought to have been corrected: *By those things which they thought;* sixthly, the *destruction* (*exterminatio*) *of the condemnation,* because they were not corrected, there: *For which cause* etc.

(Vers. 23.). *Wherefore* etc., as if he should say: so thou givest discipline to thine own; *wherefore,* namely by the opposite; *also,* for even; *to them who in their life have lived senselessly and unjustly,* as to error in *faith;* or: *in their life,* that is, in which they lived to themselves, not to God; *and unjustly,* as to error in *morals; by the things which they worshipped,* namely by brute animals; *thou gavest the highest,* that is, very great, *torments,* as through frogs and flies and locusts and wasps and things of this kind. *By these* etc.; namely in genus, and without number or species.

(Vers. 24.). *For verily* they *went astray,* not for a short time, but *for a long time,* which aggravates their sin, because, as Gregory says, « sins are so much the worse, the longer they hold the unhappy soul bound ». *In the way of error,* that is, of unbelief, which by antonomasia is called error. Of this way it is said in Proverbs, the sixteenth: « There is a way that seemeth to a man right, and the ends thereof lead to death ». *Holding for gods those things which among animals are superfluous,* that is, animals sculptured by art, not natural ones. But artificial animals are called *superfluous,* because useless; but all natural ones have some usefulness, as Damascene says. *Holding for gods* etc.; to the Romans, the first: « They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man »; likewise in the Psalm: « They changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass ». Note that he does not say *into a calf,* but *into the likeness of a calf,* which is less and counts for worse. *Living after the manner of senseless infants,* as to sins in morals; the first to the Corinthians, the fourteenth: « Do not become children in sense »; likewise the first of Peter, the second: « As newborn infants, rational », not senseless. But in this manner of senseless infants they lived, because they made and adored images, like children, as Ismael is read in Genesis, the twenty-first, to have played with Isaac, compelling him to adore images of clay, as the Hebrews say

(Vers. 25.). *Therefore thou hast given a judgment, as to senseless children, in mockery,* that is, a punishment in which they were mocked, because they were afflicted through frogs and flies and small and contemptible animals of this kind, not through greater and noble ones, as through lions and bears, as is clear from the seventh of Exodus to the twelfth.

(Vers. 26.). *But they who* by *mockeries and reproofs,* that is, by reproofs full of mockery, *were not corrected,* namely from unbelief and perverse conversation; *experienced the worthy judgment of God,* namely of condemnation and death. From this he seems to intimate that some were corrected amid the scourges; whence also some of the Egyptians went with the Israelites, as is clear in Exodus, the twelfth; and the Gabaonites were joined in league with them, as is clear in Josue, the ninth. *For in those things* etc., as if he should say: and deservedly; *for in those things which they suffered,* namely in the divine scourges, *they took it grievously*, bearing it impatiently. *For in the things wherein suffering,* that is, sustaining, so that *patientes* are said from *passio* (suffering), not from *patientia* (patience); *they had indignation,* namely by murmuring against God; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-third: « The inward parts of a fool are as the wheel of a cart ». *By those things which they thought gods,* namely brute animals; *in them,* that is, through them, *when they were destroyed,* that is, were punished; Baruch, the third: « They are destroyed and are gone down to hell »; *seeing him,* that is, God, weighing him as by a sensible experience; for in himself he cannot be seen; the first of John, the fourth: « No man hath seen God at any time ». *Whom of old,* namely in prosperity, *they denied that they knew,* according to that of Exodus, the fifth: « I know not the Lord, and I will not let Israel go ». *The true God,* to be, supply; *they acknowledged,* by a credulity not voluntary, but extorted through punishments; such is the faith of demons; James, the second: « The demons believe » etc.; Isaias, the twenty-sixth: « Lord, in distress they have sought after thee ». « For the eyes which fault closes, punishment opens », as Gregory says. The letter is to be construed thus: *Seeing,* namely the Egyptians and Canaanites, *him whom of old they denied that they knew, they acknowledged the true God,* to be, supply; *they acknowledged,* I say, *by those things which they thought gods,* that is, by brute animals; and this was *when they were destroyed in them. For which cause,* namely, because *they acknowledged God,* yet did not glorify him, according to that of the Romans, the first: « Who, when they had known God, have not glorified him as God » etc.; *the end also of their condemnation,* that is, their final condemnation, of which Matthew, the twenty-fifth: « Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire ». The *beginning* of condemnation is in the separation of the soul from the body; the *middle,* in the torment of the separated soul; but the *end,* in the resurrection, when it will be tormented in hell with the body resumed; *the end,* I say, *of the condemnation of those* who would not be corrected in the present; *shall come* etc.; Gregory: « Those whom scourges do not correct in the present, they pass on to the things to come »; *upon them,* because from heaven unto their oppression, so that they cannot resist, as if overwhelmed or oppressed; in the Psalm: « He shall rain snares upon sinners, fire and brimstone » etc.

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