Cap. 2, Vers. 1-25
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/2/q/bon-sap-c2
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### Chapter II.

#### Secondly, the justice of man towards his neighbour is treated in two ways.

*For they have said* etc. Above he treated of the justice of man towards God; here principally of *the justice of man towards his neighbour;* and first, by *drawing back from the likeness of the unjust,* namely in this chapter; secondly, by *provoking to the likeness of the just,* namely in the third chapter.

#### *First he draws back from the likeness of the unjust, noting three things.*

In the first part, first, on the side of the unjust, he sets out the moving cause of living unjustly; secondly, he describes the unjust life, there: *Come therefore* etc.; but thirdly he shows that it is not to be imitated, there: *These things they thought* etc.

In the first, a threefold moving cause is touched on: the first on the side of *state;* the second on the side of *nature: For we are born of nothing;* the third on the side of *name* or fame: *And our name forgetfulness* etc. — On the side of *state,* threefold: first, as to the state of *the world,* there: *Short and with tediousness* etc.; secondly, as to the state of *paradise: There is no refreshment* etc.; thirdly, as to the state of *hell: And there is none who has been known to have returned from hell.*

(V. 1.). *For the impious have said, reasoning with themselves, not rightly* etc. Well did I say that « the impious with their hands and words have called » injustice and death. For *the impious have said,* that is, those lacking piety towards God and their neighbour; the Gloss: « It is the voice of the lost, who like brute animals love the things that are present and despise those to come, nor hope for eternal rest after this life ». *With themselves,* because « they dare not openly », according to that of the Psalm: « The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God »; for if they were to say it openly, they would fear to incur punishment. *Reasoning not rightly,* nay, badly. *Short is* etc., on account of brevity, according to that of Job, the fourteenth: « The days of man are short ». *And with tediousness,* on account of penalty; Job, the fourteenth: « Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries ». *The time of our life;* the Gloss: « Present », namely the life in which they live to themselves, not to God; therefore he adds: *our,* against which is the second to the Corinthians, the fifth: « That they also who live may not now live to themselves, but unto him who died for them and rose again ». *And there is no refreshment in the end of a man;* the Gloss: « That is, rest after death ». This, however, is false, because it is said in the Psalm in the person of the Saints: « We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment »; likewise Jeremias, the sixth: « Ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk ye in it; and you shall find refreshment for your souls »; likewise the Apocalypse, the fourteenth: « Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord etc., that they may rest from their labours ». — *And there is none who has been known to have returned from hell.* By this they intend to exclude that there is a hell; but by the same reasoning they can say that there is no death, because no dead man returns to life. Hence their reasoning is not valid, because from privation to habit there is no return according to nature; and therefore from the *lower* hell no one returns according to the common law; whence Job, the seventh: « He that shall go down to hell shall not come up ». Some, however, are read to have returned

by the privilege of grace, as the young man whom John the Evangelist raised, and Trajan, whom Gregory did. But from the *upper* hell Christ returned, and many others were raised through him or through his disciples.

*For we are born of nothing* etc. Here is set down the moving cause on the side of *nature;* and first, from the consideration of human *origin;* secondly, from the consideration of *composition,* there: *For the breath is smoke;* thirdly, from the consideration of *resolution: Which being extinguished.*

(V. 2.). Well did I say that there will be neither refreshment nor penalty, because there is not even a subject capable of such things; *for we are born of nothing,* by an origin immediate as to the soul and mediate as to the body; whence the second of Machabees, the seventh: « Understand that God made them out of nothing, and mankind also ». — *And after this,* that is, after this life, *we shall be as if we had not been,* as if he said: we shall return into nothing, according to that of Damascene: « Everything that began from change is subject to change »; likewise Augustine: « It is natural that what is from nothing can be resolved into nothing »; which is to be understood of the possibility of first aptitude, not of necessity; because they are held by the hand of the Creator, lest they fall into nothing, as Gregory says. — *For the breath is smoke,* namely as to the vital spirit, *corporeal and intrinsic;* for *smoke* is a fiery vapour, and the vital spirit is a subtle fiery body; *and a blast*, that is, wind, as to the *exterior corporeal* spirit, which is breathed; James, the fourth: « What is your life? It is a vapour which appeareth for a little while »; Job, the seventh: « My life is wind »; the Psalm: « My days have vanished like smoke ». — *In our nostrils,* this he says specially, giving the whole body to be understood by a part, on account of *easy exit,* as though it were in the nostrils; likewise, on account of *manifestation,* because there, in breathing in and breathing out, it is more manifest. *And speech of a spark to move our heart,* « that is, the soul, comparable to a spark », as the Gloss says; whence the second of Kings, the fourteenth: « They seek to quench my spark ». Now the soul is called *speech* according to the reckoning of unbelievers, because according to them it is nothing in reality, but only according to *name* or *speech;* but it is compared *to a spark,* because according to some philosophers the soul was said to be of a fiery nature. Or better: the soul can be called *speech* from its effect, namely because it has the power of discoursing; but it is compared *to a spark* on account of *the subtlety of its nature* and on account of *the agility of its motion;* whence below, the third: « And they shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds »; likewise, on account of *the brevity of its duration,* according to the unbelievers; whence the Gloss: « Comparable to a spark, which at once becomes nothing ». *To move our heart,* « that is, to quicken or to vegetate », according to the Gloss; breathing is *in our nostrils,* that is, in our bodies, as ready to go out of the body as a blast from the nose.

There follows: *Because, extinguished* etc. Well did I say that the soul is compared to a spark, because it is quickly extinguished, because our body will be *extinguished ashes,* namely after the extinction of the soul, which according to the unbelievers is extinguished in death. But the truer reading is: *Which being extinguished* etc. Here he touches on the moving cause from the consideration of *resolution,* and first, from the consideration of resolution as to the *body;* secondly, as to the *spirit,* there: *And the spirit shall be poured abroad;* thirdly, as to *life: And our life shall pass away* etc.

(V. 3.). He says therefore: *Which,* namely the soul, *being extinguished,* according to them, *our body shall be ashes;* Ecclesiasticus, the seventeenth: « All men are earth and ashes »; likewise Genesis, the eighteenth: « I will speak to

my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes »? For through the consuming of the natural moisture by heat the body is consumed and turned into ashes; *and the spirit, corporeal* and vital, *shall be poured abroad,* namely by returning into its own composing principles; *as soft air,* that is, easily and invisibly; but the air is called *soft* because it does not resist touch. Or: *the spirit, incorporeal,* that is, the soul, *shall be poured abroad,* that is, shall vanish and be dissolved, according to them, after that of the Psalm: « The spirit shall pass in him, and shall not be » etc. *And our life shall pass away,* that is, through the annihilation of its principles it shall wholly cease. *And as the trace of a cloud,* which does not appear after the resolution of the cloud; Job, the thirtieth: « My prosperity hath passed away like a cloud », namely the temporal; likewise in the seventh chapter: « As a cloud is consumed and passeth away, so he that shall go down to hell shall not come up ». *And as a mist it shall be dissolved,* which, namely, is the remnant of a cloud; for a *cloud* consists of a grosser and lower vapour, but a *mist* of a rarer one. *Which,* namely the mist, *is driven away by the rays of the sun,* the heat of the containing air uniting and driving away the parts of the cold vapour; *and weighed down by its heat,* the same heat driving the cold of the cloud to the inner parts and so accidentally condensing the parts of that matter, and so weighing it down and afterwards resolving it into water; Job, the thirty-seventh: « Suddenly the air will be gathered into clouds, and a wind passing will drive them away ».

*And our name* etc. Here is shown the moving cause on the side of *fame* or name; first the *abolition* of fame is touched on; secondly, the *reason* for the abolition, there: *For the passing of a shadow.*

(V. 4.). He says therefore: *And our name,* as if he said: not only shall our essence or substance pass into nothing, but *our name also,* that is, fame as to the person, *shall receive forgetfulness in time,* that is, the long lapse of time; Proverbs, the tenth: « The name of the impious shall rot ». *And no man shall have remembrance of our works,* as to *life;* Job, the eighteenth: « Let the memory of him perish from the earth »; likewise in the Psalm: « Their memory hath perished with a noise »; and on the contrary: « The just shall be in everlasting remembrance ».

But *it is objected* that the works of many reprobates, namely of Cain, of Pharao, of Nero etc., are still remembered.

It must be said that this word is the word of the reprobate; and therefore it is not unfitting to say that it is false. Or it must be said that they are not remembered with a *praiseworthy* remembrance, or one useful to them; and of this he speaks here.

But *it is objected* that the famous and praiseworthy deeds of many reprobates are remembered.

To this it must be said that they were not theirs, but God's in them, according to that of Isaias, the twenty-sixth: « Thou hast wrought all our works for us, O Lord ».

(V. 5.). Now for remembering two things are required, namely a strong impression and frequent repetition, and he excludes both when he adds: *For the shadow* etc.; *the passing of a shadow,* on account of the speed of passing; the first of Paralipomenon, the twenty-ninth: « Our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no stay »; *the passing,* I say, *of a shadow is our time,* that is, that which we spend on doing our own will, not God's; but the Lord will at some time take that very time to himself; the Psalm: « When I shall take a time, I will judge justices ». *And there is no going back of our end,* on account of the impossibility of returning; Job, the tenth: « Before I go, and return no more » etc. *For it is sealed,* namely our return, that is, closed under seal; the Gloss: « Sealed, as it were not appearing, because it is not ». *And no man returns* to life, namely according to the common law; the Psalm: « Their sepulchres shall be their houses for ever », namely according to their opinion; but according to the truth all shall at some time rise again by the divine power; whence the first to the Corinthians, the fifteenth: « We shall all indeed rise again » etc.

Now it is to be noted that the life and state of the impious is said to be *smoke* on account of the blinding of the rational, below, in the same chapter: « Their malice blinded them »; likewise to the Romans, the first: « Their foolish heart was darkened ». It is likened *to a blast* on account of the restless disturbance of the irascible, Isaias, the fifty-seventh: « The impious are like the raging sea »; *to a spark,* on account of the inflaming of the concupiscible, Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-third: « A hot soul is a burning fire, it will never be quenched »; *to air,* on account of the emptiness of intention; *to ashes,* on account of the fruitlessness of works, below, the third: « Their works are unprofitable »; *to a denser cloud,* on account of opposition to grace; *to a lighter mist,* on account of the elevation or elation of mind; *to a shadow,* on account of outward pretence.

*Come therefore* etc. Here he describes the unjust life; and first is touched on *the concord of the unjust* and their mutual exhortation to the dissolution of their own life; secondly, *the oppression of the just,* there: *Let us oppress* etc.

First, then, they exhort one another *to be free for dissolution*, first, *speedily,* secondly, *abundantly,* there: *With precious wine* etc.; thirdly, *openly,* there:

*Let us crown ourselves;* fourthly, *in common* or universally, there: *Let none of us;* fifthly, *merrily,* there: *Let us everywhere leave.*

(V. 6.). *Come therefore,* as if they said: since the present life passes, and we do not hope for a future one; *come therefore* etc. *Come,* they say, because, says Seneca, « the possession of no thing is pleasant without a companion »; and therefore they exhort one another. For this is the invitatory at the matins of the devil. For it is to be noted that, as the Church of the just has different invitatories and *Venite* for different feasts, so too the synagogue of sinners. One is of *vanity;* Genesis, the eleventh: « Come, and let us make ourselves a city and a tower ». Another, of *iniquity;* Genesis, the thirty-seventh: « Come, and let us kill him and cast him into some old pit ». The third, of *avarice* and cupidity; Proverbs, the first: « Come with us » etc. The fourth, of *pleasure,* of which here, namely: *Come, and let us enjoy the good things that are* etc. To these answers that of Matthew, the twenty-fifth: « Depart from me, you cursed, into fire » etc. *Let us enjoy,* I say, *by loving affection,* desiring nothing further; « for to enjoy is to cling to some thing with love for its own sake »; *the good things that are,* that is, present goods, *and let us use, by delighting in effect;* Augustine: « To use is to take something into the faculty of the will »; Augustine: « The whole evil of man is to enjoy the things to be used and to use the things to be enjoyed ». *Let us use,* I say, *the creature,* namely with the Creator despised; for otherwise it would not be a sin to use the creature. *As in youth,* that is, as long as we are young; because the sense of the young perceives delight more than that of the old; whence the second of Kings, the nineteenth: « I am this day fourscore years old, are my senses quick » etc.; therefore Ecclesiastes, the eleventh: « Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth ». *Speedily;* the Gloss: « Lest we and those things pass away before we enjoy them », according to that of Isaias, the twenty-second: « Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die ».

(V. 7. 8. 9.). *With precious wine,* inwardly, as to *taste,* stirring up heat from within; *and with ointments,* outwardly, as to *touch,* stirring up heat from without; *let us fill ourselves,* by superfluous and immoderate use; Amos, the sixth: « That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best ointments » etc. *And let not the flower of the time pass us by,* that is, pleasantness as to *sight;* Jeremias, the forty-eighth: « Give the flower of Moab » etc. Such men do not care for the fruit of the heavenly autumn, but only for the flower of the present spring. — *Let us crown ourselves with roses, before they wither;* Isaias, the fortieth: « The flower is fallen »; and in the twenty-eighth chapter: « Woe to the fading flower »! *Let us crown ourselves with roses,* for delight as to *smell;* but « woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim »! Isaias, the twenty-eighth. *Let there be no meadow which our riot does not pass through,* that is, no pleasant place; this he says as to *universality of place;* Jeremias, the second: « On every high hill and under every green tree thou didst prostitute thyself, O harlot ». *None of us,* this is said as to *universality of persons.* Such was Sodom, in which not even ten just men could be found, as is plain in Genesis, the eighteenth. — *Let none,* I say, *of us be without his share in our riot,* that is, without a lot, that is, without part or exempt. *Let us everywhere leave tokens of our joy;* this is said as to *universality in deed;* Ezechiel, the sixteenth: « At every head of the way thou hast set up a sign of thy prostitution ». *For this,* namely such a dissolute life, *is our portion,* namely on the side of the soul; *and this is our lot,* namely on the side of the body. Or: portion and lot are the same in reality, but differ in account, because a portion is named from the side of the one receiving, a lot from the side of the one giving; Isaias, the fifty-seventh: « In the parts of the torrent is thy portion, this is thy lot ». On the contrary the just man says: « The Lord is the portion of my inheritance »; likewise: « God of my heart, and God is my portion for ever ».

*Let us oppress the poor just man* etc. Here he describes the unjust life as to *the oppression of the good,* first, because they oppress without *reverence for the person;* secondly, because without *fear of justice,* there: *But let our strength* etc.

(V. 10. 11.). *Let us oppress;* the Gloss: « It is the voice of the lost »; *the poor just man,* namely anyone at all; Job, the twenty-fourth: « They have oppressed together the meek of the earth ». *And let us not spare the widow;* the Psalm: « They have slain the widow and the stranger » etc.; *nor honour the grey hairs of the aged of much time,* that is, any old man whatever; Baruch, the fourth: « They have not reverenced the ancient ». — *But let our strength be the law of injustice,* that is, let us reckon lawful whatever we are able to do; Habacuc, the first: « Judgment is given, and opposition is more powerful ». Or: *of justice;* whence the *interlinear* one: « As though we were to hold strength for justice », that is, what we shall not be able to do through

justice we may do through violence. *For that which is feeble* etc., as if he said: let us not oppress only the poor and weak, as widows and old men, but whomsoever we can; *for that which is feeble,* namely in itself, as a widow, a poor man and an old man, *is found unprofitable,* namely to others; whence of such men little or nothing is to be cared for. Not so did the Lord think, who « chose the weak things of the world, that he may confound the strong, and the base things of the world and the things that are contemptible » etc. Not so Paul, who said that « power is made perfect in infirmity », the second to the Corinthians, the twelfth.

*Allegorically* this is expounded of heretics, who do not spare *the poor just man,* that is, the Christian people; nor *the widow,* that is, the Church; nor *the aged,* that is, the Apostles and Prophets.

#### The persecution of Christ is specially described, first as to its threefold cause.

*Let us therefore circumvent the just man* etc. Here he specially describes *the persecution of Christ,* and first touches on *the cause;* secondly *the end,* there: *Let us see then if his words* etc.; thirdly *the manner,* there: *With contumely and torment* etc. — *The cause* on account of which the Jews persecuted Christ he touches on in three ways: first, on the side of their *operations;* secondly, on the side of their *thoughts,* there: *He is become to us;* thirdly, on the side of their *speech,* there: *As triflers.*

In the first part, on the side of *works,* he touches on a threefold cause, of which the first is the *detestation* of the works of the Jews; the second, the *upbraiding* and defaming of their transgressions, there: *And he upbraids us* etc.; the third, the *commendation* of Christ, there: *He promises himself* etc.

(V. 12.). *Let us therefore circumvent* etc. Since I said: *Let our strength be the law of injustice,* and this we cannot do unless we circumvent the just man; *let us therefore circumvent the just man* etc., namely that we may freely exercise the law of our strength. *Let us circumvent,* I say, through fraudulence, *the just man,* that is, Christ, who by antonomasia is called *the Just;* Jeremias, the twenty-third: « This is the name that they shall call him: The Lord our just one »; « because he did no sin », actual sin, the first of Peter, the second; nor did he contract original sin in his conception; whence Jeremias, the twenty-third: « I will raise up to David a just branch », that is, Christ in the branch, that is, in his conception; Isaias, the forty-fifth: « Let justice spring up together » etc. Or: *Let us circumvent* etc. can be the voice of any wicked men whatever against *any just man whatever,* against which the Apostle warns, the first to the Thessalonians, the fourth: « That no man circumvent his brother in business »; just as he himself had not done; whence the second to the Corinthians, the seventh: We « have injured no man », namely by deed; « we have corrupted no man », namely by depraved example; « we have circumvented no man », namely by word. *Because he is unprofitable to us;* the Gloss: « Although they saw his usefulness in all things », according to that of Acts, the tenth: « Who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil ». But they reckoned him unprofitable to themselves in temporal things; whence John, the eleventh: « The Romans will come and take away our place and nation ». *And he is contrary to our works,* namely as good is contrary to evil, according to that of Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-third: « Against evil stands good, and against the just man the sinner ». *And he upbraids us with the sins of the Law,* that is, that we sin by transgressing the Law; whence John, the seventh: « Did not Moses give you the Law, and yet none of you keepeth the Law »? *And he defames against us,* that is, against us, or by turning back upon us, *the sins of our discipline,* that is, by saying that we sin in teaching our traditions, or holding them, or making them be held; whence Matthew, the fifteenth: « Why do you transgress the commandment of God for your tradition »?

(V. 13.). *He promises that he has the knowledge of God;* the Gloss: « That is, that he knows all things as God », and this as to *essence. And he names himself the Son of God,* « that is, consubstantial and coeternal with God », as to *person;* John, the fifth: « He said God was his Father, making himself equal to God ». So every just man has *the knowledge of God* in the understanding, and is *a son of God* through grace in the affection; whence in the Psalm: « I have said: You are gods », namely knowing good and evil, « and all of you the sons of the Most High ».

*He is become to us an exposure.* Here is set down the moving cause on the side of *thoughts,* and first is touched on the *manifestation* of the thoughts of the Jews through Christ; secondly, *the effect of the manifestation,* caused not on the side of Christ but on the side of the Jews, namely their envy, there: *He is grievous* etc.

(V. 14.). *He is become to us an exposure,* that is, a publishing abroad, *of our thoughts;* the Gloss: « He brings our thoughts out into the light », that is, he leads them out into knowledge; whence Matthew, the ninth: « Why do you think evil in your hearts

»? So is *to expose* taken in Matthew, the first, namely for *to manifest,* where it is said: « He was not willing to expose her ».

(V. 15.). *He is grievous unto us even to behold,* namely on account of the *manifestation* of their sins; Augustine: « To sick eyes light is hateful »; John, the third: « He that doth evil hateth the light ». And this, that they could not bear to see him, was a sign of envy; whence the first of Kings, the eighteenth: « Saul did not look on David with a right eye », namely because he envied him. *For his life is unlike to others,* namely the whole outward life or conversation.

**On the contrary:** to the Hebrews, the second: « It behoved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren ».

It must be said that the Apostle speaks of likeness of passible nature; here, of likeness of guilt.

Now it is to be noted that his life or conversation was unlike to others both as to its *beginning,* because conceived and born without sin; Isaias, the sixth: « That which shall stand therein shall be a holy seed », that is, in Mary; Matthew, the first: « That which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit ». And as to its *middle,* because he lived without sin; the first of Peter, the second: « Who did no sin, neither was guile found » etc. And as to its *end,* because he died without the debt of death; the Psalm: « Then did I pay that which I took not away ».

*And his ways are changed;* the Gloss: « They have been made unlike », namely his deeds and discipline; Isaias, the fifty-fifth: « For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord ».

*As triflers* etc. Here is touched on the moving cause on the side of *speech,* and first is set down *their own reprobation;* secondly, *the approbation of others,* there: *And he prefers the latter end* etc.; thirdly, *his commendation of himself,* there: *And he glories that he has God for his father.*

(V. 16.). *As* therefore *triflers we are esteemed by him,* that is, doing and saying empty things; Sophonias, the third: « The triflers that were departed from the law, I will gather together ». *And he abstains from our ways;* the Gloss: « That is, from our actions and traditions »; *as from uncleannesses,* and justly indeed, because they truly were uncleannesses; whence Ezechiel, the thirty-sixth: « Their way was before me like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman ». *And he prefers the latter end of the just,* that is, the end, and deservedly indeed, because « the death of sinners is very evil », but the death of the just is precious, according to that of the Psalm: « Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints »; therefore Balaam said in Numbers, the twenty-third: « Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them ». Or according to the Gloss: *He prefers the latter end of the just,* « that is, eternal life to pleasure ». *And he glories that he has God for his father;* John, the eighth: « It is my Father that glorifieth me ».

#### Secondly, the persecution of Christ is described as to its end.

*Let us see then if his words* etc. Here, in the person of the Jews, he first touches on *the end of the persecution* of Christ, which was that they wished to know the truth about Christ; secondly it is added *how they could know this,* there: *For if he be the true Son of God* etc.

(V. 17. 18.). *Let us see* etc., as if they said: since he so glories, let us see, as it were *from afar,* by treating of his death; John, the eleventh: « The chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council » against Jesus. *Let us see,* I say, *if his words be true,* namely that he is truly the Son of God. This the centurion saw and knew, who, seeing him expire with a cry, and the earthquake and the other signs, said, Matthew, the twenty-seventh: « Indeed this was the Son of God ». *And let us try,* from *near at hand,* namely by crucifying him and exposing him to death, *what things shall happen to him,* namely whether he can free himself; Matthew, the twenty-seventh: « He saved others; himself he cannot save ». *And we shall know,* or: that we may know, *what shall be his last end,* namely whether he will rise again. And this we shall know by guarding his sepulchre; whence Matthew, the twenty-seventh: « Sir, we have remembered that that seducer said while he was yet alive: After three days I will rise again ». — *For if he be the true Son of God,* as he foretold, not by the grace of adoption, as we are, but by the natural property of eternal generation, *he will take him up,* namely in glory; Isaias, the forty-second: « Behold my servant, I will uphold him ». *And he will deliver him,* namely from punishment; and this is what follows: *From the hands of his adversaries,* that is, of those who crucified him, who were adversaries to him. Both of these God did for him; for he *delivered him from punishment,* according to that of the Psalm: « My deliverer from my enraged enemies », namely on the very day of the passion, after he had undergone temporal death; and he raised him up, but not at once, rather on the third day, according to that of Sophonias, the third: « Wait for me in the

day of my resurrection »; and he *took him up with glory* on the day of the ascension; whence in the Psalm: « With glory thou hast received me ».

#### Thirdly, the persecution of Christ is described as to the special manner of the oppression.

*Let us examine him with contumely and torment* etc. Here he touches on the special *manner of the oppression,* and first as to the very things *disposing to death;* secondly, as to *death itself: With a most shameful death* etc.

(V. 19. 20.). He says therefore: *With contumely,* namely of words; *and torment,* namely of stripes; to the Hebrews, the eleventh: « The Saints had trial of mockeries and stripes »; *let us examine him,* that is, let us test him. So was it done, as is plain in Matthew, the twenty-seventh, and John, the nineteenth, because he was mocked with contumelious words and beaten with scourges and at last fastened with nails on the gibbet of the cross. *That we may know his reverence,* that is, the humility with which he reveres God; to the Hebrews, the fifth: « He was heard for his reverence ». *And try his patience,* namely through *torments;* that is, whether he is truly humble and patient. And truly so, because « when he was reviled, he did not revile; when he suffered, he threatened not », the first of Peter, the second; Gregory: « Contumely inflicted proves what sort each one is hidden within himself ». — *With a most shameful death;* the Gloss: « That is, with the death of the cross, which up to the passion of Christ was the punishment of the guilty, but now is the trophy of victory and the glory of the Church »; Augustine: « The cross has passed from the punishments of robbers to the foreheads of emperors ». And because the death of the cross was most shameful, therefore, to show the usefulness of the death of Christ, the Apostle says to the Philippians, the second: « He humbled himself etc., even to the death of the cross ».

Now the death of Christ was most shameful by reason of *place,* because outside the city in the place of Calvary, that is, the place where the heads of the beheaded were cast, Matthew, the twenty-seventh. By reason of *time,* because on a solemn day and at a greater hour, namely « the sixth hour », John, the nineteenth. By reason of *instrument,* because on the wood of the cross; the first of Peter, the second: « He bore our sins in his body upon the tree ». By reason of *company,* because among robbers, Luke, the twenty-third. By reason of *reproach,* because many reproaches were heaped upon him as he hung, as is plain in Matthew, the twenty-seventh.

*Let us condemn him.* It is to be noted that Pilate condemned him by authority; the Jews, by persuasion. *For there shall be respect had unto him from his words,* that is, knowledge of the truth of his words; the Gloss: « We shall see whether after death he can raise up the flesh; for he said: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rebuild it », John, the second.

*These things they thought, and they erred.* Here he shows that the life of such men *is to be fled* as erroneous; and first he touches on the meritorious *cause* of their error; secondly, the *matter* of the error: *And they knew not* etc.; thirdly, the *author* of the error: *But by the envy of the devil* etc.

(V. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.). *These things,* namely the aforesaid, *they thought,* namely the impious, and carried out; *and they erred;* whence below, the fifth: « Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the lumen of justice hath not shone unto us »; likewise Proverbs, the fourteenth: « They err that work evil ». *For their malice blinded them,* namely their inner eye; whence in the prayer of Jeremias: « Woe to us, because we have sinned; therefore our eyes are become dim »; likewise the second to the Corinthians, the fourth: « The god of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers ». — *And they knew not the mysteries of God,* that is, the sacred and secret counsels and dispositions concerning the passion and resurrection of Christ; to the Ephesians, the third: « The mystery has been made known to me, which in other generations was not known ». *Nor did they hope for the wages of justice;* the Gloss: « That is, of the death of Christ », namely his exaltation through death, of which, to the Philippians, the second: « For which cause God also hath exalted him ». *Nor did they judge;* the Gloss: « That is, they understood », *the honour of holy souls,* that is, the salvation of holy souls to be obtained through the death and resurrection of Christ; whence the Gloss: « They did not understand that the death of Christ is the honour and salvation of souls »; the Psalm: « Exceedingly honoured are » etc.; likewise the first of Peter, the second: « To you therefore that believe, he is honour » etc. — And well did I say: *Honour,* because *God created man inexterminable,* that is, able not to die, on the side of the body; *and to the image,* namely on the side of the soul; Genesis, the first: « Let us make man to our image and

likeness »; *to the image,* namely in natural things; *of his own likeness,* namely in gratuitous things; or: *to the image,* in the *cognitive* power; *to the likeness,* in the *affective* power; for an *image* is the principle of knowing, a *likeness* the ground of loving; for « every » « beast loveth its like », Ecclesiasticus, the thirteenth; *he made him.* — *But by the envy of the devil,* who namely envied the happiness of our first parents, *death came into the world.*

**On the contrary:** to the Romans, the fifth: « By one man sin entered, and by sin death ».

It must be said that it entered through the devil suggesting and through man consenting.

*But they imitate him,* namely the devil, by envying the just, *who are of his side,* namely the impious, who are of the devil's party. « For he is the head of all the wicked », as Gregory says.

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