Cap. 8, Vers. 1-21
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/8/q/bon-sap-c8
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### Chapter VIII.

#### *Secondly he shows in three ways how much he loved wisdom*

*She reacheth therefore* etc. Having shown how he acquired wisdom, here it is shown how much he *loved* her; and he shows this from three things: first from the *desire of having* her; secondly, from the *purpose of acquiring* her: *I purposed therefore;* thirdly, from the *study* *of finding* her: *Thinking these things* etc.

#### First, of the twofold desire of having her.

In the first he shows the *desire of having* her as caused in himself, first from her *absolute* worth; secondly, from her *comparative* worth: *And if riches.* — Her *absolute* worth he shows first from her *virtue;* secondly, from her *beauty* (*formositate*): *Her have I loved* etc.; thirdly, from her *nobility: Her nobility;* fourthly, from her *usefulness: For she teacheth.*

(V. 1.). *Therefore,* since wisdom is such as has been said, *she reacheth,* by a touching of power (*virtuali*), not a bodily one, according to that of the first of Kings, the tenth: « Whose hearts God had touched »; *from end to end;* the Gloss: « From eternity unto eternity »; or: « from the beginning of the world unto the coming of Christ »; to the Romans, the tenth: « The end of the law is Christ » etc. *Mightily;* the Gloss: « Because she is the power of God »; the first to the Corinthians, the first: « Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God ». *And ordereth all things,* namely the highest, the middle and the lowest; *sweetly;* the Gloss: « Because she is the wisdom of God ». *She ordereth all things mightily* through justice, and *sweetly* through mercy; the Psalmist: « All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth », namely of justice; the same: « The mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him. And his justice unto children's children » etc.

It is to be noted that *Wisdom,* that is, the Son of God, *reacheth mightily* the things that are in *heaven,* by casting out the proud devil with his companions; Job, the twenty-sixth: « His wisdom hath struck the proud one »; Ezechiel, the twenty-eighth: « Thou hast sinned, and I cast thee out from the mountain of God and destroyed thee, O Cherub »! the things that are in the *world,* by overcoming and casting out the prince of the world; John, the twelfth: « Now shall the prince of this world be cast out »; the things that are in *hell,* by carrying off the spoils of hell, according to the Gloss on Zacharias, the ninth: « Thou also by the blood of thy testament hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit, wherein is no water ». — And she *ordereth sweetly* the things that are in *heaven,* by confirming in grace the Angels who stood; in the Psalm: « By the word of the Lord the heavens were established »; the things that are in the *world,* by redeeming the human race with her own blood; the first of Peter, the first: « You were not redeemed with corruptible things as gold or silver etc., but with the precious blood » etc.; the things that are in *hell,* by leading the souls of the Saints out of limbo, according to that of Zacharias, the ninth: « Thou also by the blood of thy testament hast sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit » etc.; likewise in the Psalm: « Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive » etc. — Or thus: since uncreated wisdom is the middle person in the Trinity, it can be said that she *reacheth from end to end,* that is, from the Father unto the Holy Spirit, namely through identity of substance, so that a local distance is not understood, but a personal distinction; *mightily* as regards the Father, to whom power is attributed; *and ordereth all things sweetly,* as regards the Holy Spirit, to whom benignity is attributed. — Or: *she reacheth from end to end,* that is, from the Godhead unto the humanity, namely in the incarnation, in which the lowest things are united to the highest; *mightily,* that is, through infinite power; in the Psalm: « Stir up thy might, and come »; the Gloss: « Thou thyself into flesh ». *And ordered* (*disposuit*) *all things sweetly,* in the *providing for human redemption;* Matthew, the eleventh: « Learn of me, because I am meek and humble of heart ». He was *meek* in the *nature of the humanity* assumed; for man is an animal meek by nature, discerning by reason, upright in stature. In *his manner of life;* whence John the Baptist, seeing him walking one day, said: « Behold the Lamb of God » etc., John, the first. In *preaching;* Matthew, the fourth: « Do penance » etc.; likewise John, the sixth: « Thou hast the words of eternal life »; Matthew, the eleventh: « Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you ». In *the forgiving of sins;* John, the eighth: « Go, and now sin no more »; likewise Luke, the sixth: « Forgive, and you shall be forgiven ». In *the passion;* whence Isaias, the fifty-third: « He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter » etc.; likewise Jeremias, the eleventh: « I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim ».

(V. 2.). It follows: *Her,* namely wisdom, because she is of such virtue, *have I loved,* namely *with the affection of the heart;* whence above, the seventh: « I loved her above health and beauty ». *And have sought her out* (*exquisivi*), that is, sought her outwardly (*extra quaesivi*), *with the effect of good work,* according to that of the first of John, the third: « Let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth ». *From my youth,* as if he were saying: in the flower of my age; Proverbs, the eighth: « They that in the morning », namely of youth, « watch for me, shall find me »; therefore Ecclesiasticus, the sixth: « My son, from thy youth up receive instruction ». *And have desired* (*quaesivi*), namely with the study of reading and of prayer; Luke, the eleventh: « Seek, and you shall find »; *to take her for my spouse.* He says *spouse* by reason of *love;* Proverbs, the seventh: « Say to wisdom: Thou art my sister, and call prudence thy friend ». Likewise, by reason of *delight;* Proverbs, the fifth: « Rejoice with the wife of thy youth ». By reason of *inseparability;* Matthew, the nineteenth: « For it is not lawful to put away a spouse except it be for fornication »; but this has no place in wisdom; « for no defiled thing cometh into her », above, the seventh. By reason of *generation;*

Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-fourth: « Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits » (*a generationibus meis*). *And I became a lover of her form,* that is, of the beauty of wisdom, and this by perseverance and by the love of fervent charity (*dilectionis*), turning her as it were into a habit; Zacharias, the ninth: « For what is the good thing of him, and what is his beautiful thing, but the corn of the elect, and wine springing forth virgins »? that is, but wisdom, which refreshes the affection and chastens or purifies the understanding from the corruption of error.

(V. 3.). *Her nobility* etc. Thus *have I loved* wisdom etc., and rightly, because uncreated wisdom, *being conversant with,* that is, having fellowship and dwelling together with, *God;* the Gloss: « With the Father, because she is coeternal with him »; John, the fourteenth: « I am in the Father, and the Father in me »; likewise John, the first: « In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God »; *glorifieth her nobility,* « that is, *represents* the nobility of the Father », according to the Gloss. For the Son of God himself represents in himself the glory of the Father, because he is « the brightness of his glory and the figure of his substance », as is had to the Hebrews, the first; likewise Proverbs, the tenth, according to another reading: « The glory of a father is a wise son ». Likewise he *makes* his glory *manifest to the world;* whence John, the eighth: « I seek not my own glory, but I honour » etc. *Yea and the Lord of all things,* namely the Father, of whom it is said in the Psalm: « The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son » etc.; *hath loved her;* « The Father loveth the Son », John, the fifth.

(V. 4.). And rightly; *for she is the teacher of the discipline of God* (*doctrix… disciplinae Dei*); Baruch, the third: « He found out all the way of discipline » etc. Discipline is twofold, namely of *deeds* and of *words;* whence in the Psalm: « Thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end, and thy discipline, the same shall teach me ». On this account he says: *Teacher* etc., namely *by words.* And note that the discipline of God is formed faith, which makes disciples of God; Acts, the ninth: « Saul, as yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord », that is, against the faithful. *And the chooser of his works,* that is, of the discipline which is in *deeds; the chooser of his works,* that is, teaching to choose the works of the discipline of faith. « For faith without works is dead », James, the second.

*And if riches be desired.* Here he shows the desire caused by the comparative worth of wisdom, and first in comparison with *money,* which is the perfection of fortune; secondly, in comparison with *industry,* which is the perfection of nature: *And if sense;* thirdly, in comparison with *virtue,* which is the perfection of grace: *And if a man love justice;* fourthly, in comparison with *knowledge,* which is the perfection of intelligence: *And if a man desire much.*

(V. 5.). *And if riches be desired,* although they ought not to be desired; « for they that will become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil », the first to Timothy, the sixth; likewise in the Psalm: « If riches abound, set not your heart upon them »; *in life,* namely the present one, for its sustenance and sufficiency; *what is richer than wisdom, which maketh all things?* John, the fifth: « My Father worketh until now, and I work »; *I,* namely uncreated wisdom; nor can he be poor who makes all things. For she knows how to make silver and gold and suchlike; therefore Proverbs says, the eighth: « With me are riches and glory, glorious riches »; Augustine: « Exceedingly rich is the Christian religion, to which it is given to possess all things in the possessor of all things ».

(V. 6.). *And if sense,* that is, natural or acquired industry, *do work,* because « art imitates nature » in working, according to the Philosopher; *who is a more artful worker than she of those things that are?* as if he were saying: none; whence in the Psalm: « Thou hast made all things in wisdom ». The Lord filled Beseleel with wisdom, that he might know how to make the works of the tabernacle, as is had in Exodus, the thirty-first.

(V. 7.). *And if a man love justice,* namely general justice, that is, the rectitude of human life, of which above, the first: « Love justice » etc. *Her labours,* namely wisdom's, by which one labours to have her; and he says *labours* in the plural, because to have her one must labour much; the second to the Corinthians, the eleventh: « In very many labours »;

*have great virtues,* that is, acquire them; the Gloss: « Nothing idle, nothing slothful in her works ». *For she teacheth sobriety* etc.; the Gloss: « He sets down four principal virtues »: *sobriety,* « that is, temperance », in avoiding superfluous evil; below, the ninth: « She shall lead me soberly in my works »; *and wisdom* *she teacheth,* in discerning and loving the good; *and justice,* in rendering what is owed; *and virtue,* « that is, fortitude », to which the name of *virtue* more befits, as of one who guards with force (*vi tuentis*) in sustaining what is difficult and undertaking what is arduous. Of these three, Proverbs, the eighth: « Mine is equity, mine is prudence, mine is strength »; the Gloss: « No one has had these virtues, save one on whom God, the origin of all virtues, bestowed them, in whatever time, under whatever law, in whatever nation. Some, however, having an appearance of piety, have not known virtue ».

But did the philosophers have virtue? And it seems that they did; because, according to the Philosopher, virtue is had by acquisition.

It must be said that they did not have perfect virtues, but imperfect ones, because they were without merit and unformed. Or they had them from God through grace freely given (*gratis data*), though not through grace that makes pleasing (*gratum faciens*).

*Which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in life,* that is, in the human life of man towards man.

But are not the theological virtues more profitable and better?

It must be said that, as has been touched upon, he speaks of the human life of man in comparison with man, not with God, since that he presupposes; but than these nothing is more profitable to men, because they profit a man in *acting* and in *suffering:* in *acting,* because through prudence there is the right *choice* of things to be done, through justice the right *execution;* in *suffering,* because through temperance we are rightly disposed towards the *soothing* passions, through fortitude towards the *saddening* passions. Therefore the Gloss says: « He who is temperate, prudent and strong and just, what does he lack »?

(V. 8.). *And if a man desire much knowledge* (*multitudinem scientiae*) etc. Some have: *And the likeness of knowledge* (*similitudinem scientiae*), but that reading is false, although the present knowledge of man may rather be called *a likeness of knowledge* than *knowledge,* because it is mixed with much doubtfulness and much ignorance. *If,* I say, *a man desire much knowledge,* namely speculative knowledge, according to that of the Philosopher: « All men by nature desire to know »; *she knoweth things past,* namely wisdom herself, *and judgeth of things to come* (*de futuris aestimat*), with certitude, although they are hidden by the condition of time, because things past have already passed away, but things to come have not yet come about. *She knoweth,* I say, *things past* etc.; whence Moses, taught by her, prophesied of *things past;* Genesis, the first: « In the beginning God created heaven and earth »; likewise of *things to come,* Deuteronomy, the eighteenth: « The Lord will raise up a prophet of thy nation and of thy brethren ». *She knoweth the subtilties of speeches,* that is, the obscure cunnings of simple propositions, as of riddles, and not only the subtilties of simple propositions, but also of compound ones; whence it follows: *And the solutions of arguments,* that is, of reasonings, which nevertheless lie hidden through the intricacy of human craftiness; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-ninth: « He will seek out the hidden meanings of proverbs », namely the wise man, « and will be conversant in the secrets of parables ». Whence Christ, « in whom were hidden the treasures of wisdom and knowledge », could not be caught in his speech, as is plain from Matthew, the twenty-second; and no word of the queen of Saba could lie hidden from Solomon, taught by wisdom, as is plain from the third of Kings, the tenth. *Signs,* namely the lesser ones, which are done beside nature, *and wonders* (*monstra*), which are done against the common course of nature, *she knoweth before they be done,* as well as when they have already been done. Of these two, John, the fourth: « Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not ». Now these are likewise hidden by reason of natural difficulty, because « a miracle, according to Augustine, is an arduous and unwonted work beyond the hope and the power of him who wonders ». *And the events of times,* that is, of those things that come about in the present time, *and of ages,* that is, of those that follow, which come about in eternity and in the future. But to know these is not man's; whence Acts, the first: « It is not for you to know the times or moments, which the Father hath put in his own power »; and these are hidden by reason of a hidden cause.

#### Secondly, that same is shown from the purpose of acquiring her.

*I purposed therefore* etc. Above he showed how much he loved wisdom, and this from the desire of having her; here from the *purpose of acquiring* her, and this on account of the goods which come from her, and first on account of the goods pertaining in common to *both lives;* secondly, on account of those pertaining to *the active life: For her I shall have;* thirdly, on account of those pertaining specially to *the contemplative: When I go into my house.*

#### First, on account of the goods pertaining to both lives.

(V. 9.). *Therefore,* since she is such, *I purposed,* that is, I firmly settled in my heart; *her,* namely divine wisdom, not another, adulterous one, such as the poetic disciplines, which Boethius in *On Consolation* calls « little harlots »; *to take to me,* not only to another, against those who only teach others and do not teach themselves, whom the Apostle reproves, saying to the Romans, the second: « Thou that teachest another, teachest not thyself ». *To feast with me* (*ad convivandum*), that is, to refresh, namely the *affection,* not only to enlighten the *understanding,* as many do who are in no way moved in sacred Scripture; the fourth of Kings, the seventh: « Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof »; likewise *to feast with,* he says, that is, to refresh *in common* and together; because in the goods *of wisdom* we are fed and refreshed; whence Proverbs, the ninth: « Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you »; and she in *our* goods; whence Proverbs, the eighth: « My delights were to be with the children of men ». We ought to serve her the first dish, as it were made of *herbs,* of the lilies of honour; the Canticle, the second: « Who feedeth among the lilies, till the day break » etc. The second, of *the flesh of kids,* that is, the detestation of all sin and iniquity, both carnal and spiritual; on these two kids she feeds willingly, as did Isaac, Genesis, the twenty-seventh. The third, of the *broiled fishes* of patience and tribulation: « They offered him a piece of a broiled fish », Luke, the twenty-fourth. The last, of the *fruit of the spirit,* that is, of the works of devotion; the Canticle, the fifth: « Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees ». *Knowing that she will communicate to me of her good things,* namely her own. This is the symbolic invitation of the Apocalypse, the third: « I will sup with him, and he with me »; and he says *of good things* in the plural, because both of present and of future goods. *And will be a comfort* (*allocutio*); the Gloss: « That is, a relief »; *of my cares* (*cogitationis*), that is, of affliction in *thinking,* as to the understanding, according to that of Ecclesiastes, the last: « Much study is an affliction of the flesh ». *And grief* (*taedii mei*), in *working,* and this as to the affection; the second to the Corinthians, the first: « We were pressed out of measure above our strength, so that we were weary even of life ».

#### Secondly, on account of the goods pertaining to the active life.

*For her I shall have* etc. Here he touches on the goods pertaining to the *active* life, which are chiefly necessary to prelates, and first, as to the act of *judging;* secondly, as to the act of *teaching**: When I hold my peace* etc.; thirdly, as to the act of *conversing: Moreover by the means of her I shall have* etc.; fourthly, as to the act of *ruling: I shall set the people in order.* — As to the act of *judging* he touches on two things: first, *authority;* secondly, *discernment: Young and quick* etc.

(V. 10.). *Through* *her I shall have,* namely through wisdom, which « is glorious », as is had above, the sixth, *glory* (*claritatem*), namely of renown; Matthew, the fifth: « Let your light shine » etc.; likewise to the Philippians, the second: « Among whom you shine as lights in the firmament » etc. *Among the multitude,* that is, among the lesser; *and honour,* namely of reverence, *with the ancients,* that is, with the greater; Job, the twenty-ninth: « The young men saw me and hid themselves, and the old men rose up and stood ». From these two a man comes to be of great authority, namely from the renown among the lesser and the reverence of the greater. *Young,* that is, strong and diligent in searching out.

(V. 11.). *And quick* (*acutus*), that is, subtle in penetrating and finding out, *I shall be found in judgement;* the Gloss: « Adjudging all things according to the laws »; such was Daniel, as is plain from Daniel, the thirteenth. *And,* supply: therefore, *in the sight of the mighty,* that is, of the lesser prelates, *I shall be admired, and the faces of princes,* that is, of the greater prelates, *shall wonder at me.* This was literally true of Solomon, as is plain from the third of Kings, the tenth, where it is said that « the queen of Saba, having heard of the fame of Solomon » etc., said: « Thy wisdom is greater

than the fame which I heard ». This was also true of our Saviour; whence Matthew, the fourteenth: « The tetrarch heard the fame of Jesus and said to his servants » etc. This is also true of the perfect wise man; Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-fourth: « In the midst of her people she shall be exalted, and shall be admired in the holy assembly ».

(V. 12.). *When I hold my peace,* that is, premeditating what I am to teach; in the Psalm: « The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom ». *They shall wait for me,* that is, they shall wait in silence, « not daring to speak », according to the Gloss; Job, the twenty-ninth: « They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for a latter shower ». *And when I speak* etc.: he rightly set silence before speech, because, according to Jerome, « the teaching of Pythagoras was to keep silence for five years and afterwards, once instructed, to speak ». *And they shall look upon me when I speak,* namely diligently, and this as a sign of attention; Job, the twenty-ninth: « Being attentive they held their peace for my counsel ». *And if I talk much* (*plura*), but not things superfluous or many (*multa*), because « in the multitude of words », or in superfluity of words, « there shall not want sin », Proverbs, the tenth. Note that two or three make up a *plurality,* but not a *multitude. They shall lay their hands on their mouth;* the Gloss: « Not daring to resist me »; Job, the twenty-ninth: « The princes ceased to speak, and laid the finger on their mouth ».

(V. 13.). *Moreover by the means of her,* namely through wisdom, *I shall have immortality,* namely of eternal glory in heaven; Proverbs, the third: « She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her ». *And a memory;* the Gloss: « Of my works and virtues », *everlasting,* that is, perpetual, as long as the world shall last; *I shall leave behind me to them that come after me;* Proverbs, the tenth: « The memory of the just is with praises »; in the Psalm: « The just shall be in everlasting remembrance ».

*I shall set in order* etc. Here are touched on the goods had through wisdom as to the *act of ruling,* and first with respect to *subjects;* secondly, with respect to *outsiders: Kings shall be afraid* etc.

(V. 14.). He says therefore: *I shall set in order;* the Gloss: « I shall instruct », namely by ruling and governing, *the people,* those having the Law. For a people is a multitude of men living under one law, as the Jews under the law of Moses. *And nations,* that is, the gentiles not having the Law, and they are called *nations* because they are not reborn, but remain in the foreskin and the fault of their birth (*nativitatis*); in the Psalm: « He hath subdued the people under us and the nations under our feet »; Isaias, the fifty-fifth: « Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, for a leader and a preceptor to the gentiles ». *Nations,* I say, *shall be subject to me,* through obedience.

(V. 15.). *Terrible kings hearing shall be afraid of me,* that is, tyrants and the impious; whence all the kings round about were made tributaries to Solomon, the third of Kings, the ninth; likewise Isaias, the sixtieth: « The children of them that afflicted thee shall come bowing down to thee ». *And among the multitude,* « namely of the faithful », *I shall be found good,* « that is, kind », *and in war,* « namely against adversaries », *valiant.* All these things, spiritually, according to the Gloss, were fulfilled in Christ and can be expounded of him, as is plain to one who looks into the Glosses.

#### Thirdly, on account of the goods pertaining to the contemplative life.

(V. 16.). *When I go into my house,* that is, my conscience, namely by returning from the outer care to the inner, as « the disciples » after their preaching « returned with joy » to the Lord, as is had in Luke, the tenth. Now he set action before contemplation by reason of time, not by reason of dignity, as Lia before Rachel, Genesis, the twenty-ninth. *I shall repose myself with her,* that is, I shall rest together in her, and she with me or in me; Ecclesiasticus, the thirty-second: « Run before into thy house, and there withdraw thyself, and there take thy pastime » etc. I said well: *I shall repose myself with her; for her conversation hath no bitterness,* of outward disturbance, *her conversation,* that is, her dwelling with one; Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-fourth: « My spirit is sweet above honey »; *nor her company* (*convictus*) *any tediousness,* namely of inward affliction; in the same place: « They that eat me shall yet hunger », against loathing. These two, namely the *bitterness* of outward disturbance and the *tediousness* of inward affliction, are repugnant to rest (*quieti*). And therefore he removes them, adding two opposites, when he says: *But joy,* namely inwardly, *and gladness,* namely outwardly; Ecclesiasticus, the first: « He shall give

pleasantness and joy »; likewise Ecclesiasticus, the fifteenth: « The Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom » etc.; likewise in the same place: « Pleasantness and exultation » etc.

#### Thirdly the same is shown from the study of seeking wisdom, in three ways.

*Thinking these things* etc. Here thirdly he shows how much he loved wisdom, and this from the *study of seeking her.* And concerning this he first shows *the diligence of seeking;* secondly, *the aptitude for receiving: And I was a witty child;* thirdly, *the confidence of obtaining: And as I knew*

#### First is shown the diligence of seeking wisdom.

In the first he sets down three causes moving one to seek knowledge: first the effect of wisdom in the *heart;* secondly the effect in *work: And in the works;* thirdly the effect in *speech: And in the exercise of conference.*

(V. 17.). *Thinking these things,* namely the foregoing, *with myself,* by meditating on them often, *and pondering them in my heart,* namely the following, recalling them to memory lest I should forget them; for the animal that « cheweth the cud and divideth the hoof », namely by remembering and discerning, is clean, Leviticus, the eleventh; Luke, the second: « Mary kept all these words » etc. *That she is immortal*, namely by nature, or by the effect of immortality which she confers; whence above in the same chapter: « By the means of her I shall have immortality ». *In the thought of wisdom,* that is, in the understanding; the Gloss: « Whatever is known of her nature is found to be wholly immortal and ever living »; below, the fifteenth: « To know thy justice and thy power is the root of immortality ».

(V. 18.). *And in her friendship,* namely when she is loved, *is good delight,* namely in the affection; he says *good* against the delight of sin, which is evil, because it leads to eternal torment, according to that of Gregory. « Momentary is what delights, eternal what torments »; likewise the Gloss: « Bodily delights weigh down the body, but spiritual ones lift up the mind; and the more they are eaten, the more they are hungered for. In the former the appetite pleases, the experience displeases; but spiritual delights increase desire, and the more they are taken, the more eagerly they are loved ». *And in the works of her hands,* that is, in the good works which are done through her hands, that is, by her power and might; John, the fifteenth: « Without me you can do nothing »; *honour without failing* (*defcctione* [so printed: *defcctione* for *defectione*]), that is, perfect honour (*honestas*); for virtue and the work of virtue are of the kind of the honourable (*honesti*); below, the tenth: « She made him honourable in his labours »; likewise above, the seventh: « Innumerable honour through her hands ». *And in the exercise of her conference* (*certamine loquelae*), namely that which is after the manner of a disputation, in which there is a certain contest of the one objecting and the one responding; *wisdom,* that is, knowledge, supply: is acquired; Ecclesiasticus, the last: « My soul hath wrestled with her ». *And glory* (*praeclaritas*), that is, the evidence of bright virtue, *in the fellowship of her words,* namely those which are communicated by way of a simple conference (*collationis*); Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-fourth: « They that explain me shall have life everlasting »; likewise Daniel, the twelfth: « They that instruct very many to justice, as stars for all eternity ». *I went about;* the Gloss: « Diligently and studiously »; the Canticle, the third: « I will rise and will go about the city »; *seeking,* like the woman of whom Luke, the fifteenth: « Who lighteth a candle and sweepeth the house, and seeketh diligently until she find it ». *That I might take her to myself,* namely as spouse; whence above in the same chapter: « I sought to take her for my spouse ».

In the foregoing text are touched on eight things useful to a preacher or teacher concerning the learning of wisdom or concerning the acquisition of wisdom: *thought* about her by investigation, *pondering* by frequenting, *delight* by love, *working* by fulfilment, *contending* by disputation, *communicating* by conference, *going about* by questioning, *taking to oneself* by incorporation.

#### Secondly, the aptitude for receiving her.

*And I was a witty child* etc. Here he touches on *the aptitude for receiving,* first on the part of *natural industry,* because *I was a witty child;* secondly on the part of *grace,* because *I had received a good soul;* thirdly on the part of *cleanness,* because, *whereas I was more good, I came to a body undefiled.*

(V. 19. 20.). He says therefore: *And I was a witty child;* note that he speaks in the person of Solomon. *Witty* through *natural industry;* Proverbs, the twentieth: « By his inclinations a child is known, if his works be clean and right ». *And had received* (*sortitus*), that is, obtained by the lot (*sorte*) of divine election; Acts, the first: « The lot fell upon Matthias »; *a good soul,* namely through *grace;* the third of Kings, the third: « Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David, his father ». — *And whereas I was more good,* namely by grace added over and above, than I had been before by natural industry, *I came* (*accessi*) etc. For according to Augustine temporal goods are the lowest goods, natural goods the middle ones, gratuitous goods the highest. *I came,* I say, by the purpose and study of the mind, *to a body undefiled,* supply: to be had and kept through *cleanness.*

But the Gloss objects that this can scarcely be understood literally of Solomon, because « he loved also strange women », as is plain from the third of Kings, the eleventh.

But the solution is plain by a distinction of times: in his youth he loved cleanness, but in his old age lust. Yet these things can better be understood of Christ.

#### Thirdly, the confidence of obtaining her.

(V. 21.). *And as I knew,* namely with the most certain knowledge of faith and of reason, *that I could not otherwise* *be continent, except God gave it.* « For every best gift and every perfect gift is from above » etc., James, the first; and continence is a most perfect gift; Ecclesiasticus, the twenty-sixth: « No price is worthy of a continent soul ». *And this also was a point of wisdom*, that is, a certain effect of wisdom in me, namely *to know whose gift it was;* above in the same chapter: « She is the teacher of the discipline of God ». *As I knew,* I say, etc., *I went to the Lord,* by the intention of the mind, not by the steps of the body. In the Psalm: « Come ye to him and be enlightened ». *And besought him,* namely with the word of vocal prayer; James, the first: « If any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God ». *And said with my whole heart,* namely with the fervour of devotion, according to that of Isaias, the twenty-sixth: « Yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to thee »; in the Psalm: « I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord ».

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