site: migne

title: Liber Ecclesiastes

author: Anselm of Laon and his school

languages: en la

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 113, coll. 1115D–1126D

source_text:
## B. HIERONYMI IN LIBRUM ECCLESIASTEN PROLOGUS.

[n: (Vide inter Opera Hieronymi, tom. III.)]

## CAPUT PRIMUM.

[1115D]

VERS. 1.-- *Verba Ecclesiastae. [n: (HIERON. in Eccle., t. III.)]* Tribus nominibus vocatus est Salomon, etc. [1116D] *usque ad* et aequalis magister est, et nescit se esse regem.

[n: (ALBINUS.)] Tradunt Hebraei hunc librum Salomonis esse agentis poenitentiam, quia in sapientia [1117A] divitiisque confisus per mulieres Deum offendit. Secum enim omnia vana reputavit esse et ad miseriam devenire eos qui in eis spem ponunt.

[n: (HIERON.)] Allegorice. Pacificus et dilectus Dei Patris Filius, etc., *usque ad* unde: *In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum: et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum [n: (Psal. XVIII)]*.

VERS. 2. *Vanitas vanitatum.* [n: (ID.)] Pro *vanitas vanitatum* secundum quosdam interpretes possumus dicere, etc., *usque ad* donec veniat quod perfectum est.

Antequam suam ponat sententiam, quemdam apparatum videtur et ornamentum facere, cum dicit: *Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.* Postea a majori, id est ab homine incipit, ostendens ipsum vanitati [1117B] subjectum, id est mutabilitati. Et hoc est, *vanitas,* etc. Vanitas omnis homo vivens: quanto magis caetera! Unde, *Vanitati subjecta est creatura, non volens, sed propter eum qui,* etc. Quidquid enim non esse potest, vanitas dici potest, quia mutari potest. Solus Deus semper idem est quod est. Quod autem mutatur, quodammodo evanescit, et non est quod erat; ad comparationem Creatoris, omnis creatura vanitas potest dici et quasi nihilum computari.

[n: (HIER.)] Si cuncta quae fecit Deus, etc., *usque ad* cogor non semel, sed bis dicere, *Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas.*

VERS. 3.-- *Quid habet amplius homo.* [n: (ID.)] Post generalem sententiam, etc., *usque ad* sed nudi in terram redeunt, unde sumpti sunt.

[1117C]VERS. 4.-- *Generatio praeterit,* etc. [n: (ID.)]. Prima recedit generatio Judaeorum, etc., *usque ad* nos autem Deum laudamus non in uno saeculo, sed in saeculis saeculorum.

VERS. 5.-- *Oritur sol et occidit.* [n: (ID.)] Ipse sol, etc., *usque ad* qui oritur fideli, occidit infideli.

VERS. 6.-- *Vadit ad austrum,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Hinc existimare possumus, etc., *usque ad* et ita ad orientem revertitur.

*In circumitu pergit spiritus.* [n: (ID.)] Ipsum solem spiritum vocat, etc., *usque ad* alia frigus consumeret.

VERS. 7.-- *Omnia flumina intrant in mare.* Dicunt philosophi, aquas dulces, quae mari influunt, vel ardente sole consumi, vel salsuginis maris esse pabula. Sed Ecclesiastes noster et ipsarum Conditor [1117D] aquarum, dicit eas per occultas terrae venas ad capita fontium regredi et de matrice abysso in sua semper ebullire principia. Possumus per flumina, et mare, humanum genus accipere, quod in terram, unde sumptum est redit, secundum illud: *Terra es, et in terram ibis [n: (Gen. III)]*. Nec terra impletur multitudine mortuorum. Et Hieronymus dicit torrentes non flumina, eo quod cito transeant.

[n: (HIER.)] Omnes torrentes, etc., *usque ad* quomodo in proverbiis filiae sanguisugae.

VERS. 8.-- *Cunctae res difficiles.* Non potest homo causas et naturas rerum explicare, nec oculus ad plenum intueri, nec auris, instruente doctore, ad summam scientiam pervenire. *Videmus enim nunc [1118A] per speculum in aenigmate et ex parte, donec veniat quod perfectum est [n: (I Cor. XIII)]*, quod in hoc mortali corpore esse non poterit. Haec sententia contra eos est qui sine labore et dicendi studio sanctas Scripturas se novisse putant, et se sapientes, cum insipientes sint.

VERS. 9.-- *Quid est quod.* [n: (HIER.)] De his videtur dicere, etc., *usque ad* ut requiesceret Deus ab omnibus operibus suis die septima.

*Quid est quod,* etc. De naturis in principio mundi creatis, et de successione earum, quomodo veniunt et transeunt; ut homo moritur, homo nascitur, eadem natura est nascentis, quae fuit morientis. Sic de avibus, piscibus, serpentibus et omnibus animantibus; sic de herbis, arboribus et aliis naturis nihil [1118B] novum invenitur quod antea non fuerit: nihil praeteritum quod post non fiat. Unde, *Requievit Deus die septimo ab omni opere suo [n: (Gen. II)]*, a novarum creatione naturarum, non a gubernatione, secundum illud: *Pater meus usque modo operatur, et ego operor [n: (Joan. V)]*. Sic ex primordialibus rerum seminibus totius saeculi tempus naturali cursu peragitur.

VERS. 10.-- *Nec valet,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] *Estne verbum,* etc., *usque ad* et praedestinatione Dei jam ea facta sunt quae futura sunt.

*Jam enim praecessit.* Sicut praeterita quae olim fuerunt apud nos, abscondit oblivio, sic quae nunc fiunt, qui nascituri sunt, scire non poterunt; silentio enim peribunt, et quasi non fuerint, abscondentur.

Vanitas enim vanitatum et omnia vanitas, quia [1118C] omnia more fluentis aquae transeunt, et non redibunt. Cui sententiae totus mundus acclamat, et maxime genus humanum.

VERS. 11.-- *Non est priorum.* [n: (HIER.)] Seraphin propterea, etc., *usque ad* unde post, *Non est memoria sapienti cum stulto in aeternum.*

VERS. 13.-- *Et proposui in animo meo,* etc. Proposuit ergo Ecclesiastes, etc., *usque ad* quam sponte incurrerunt.

Hucusque generaliter de vanitatibus saeculi: hinc ad seipsum redit, et quis esset ostendit, quomodo omnia cognoverit, et docuerit, unde: *Et proposui in animo meo,* et caetera.

*Hanc occupationem.* [n: (HIER.)] Verbum *anian* Aquila, LXX et Theodotio περισπασμὸν quod latine [1118D] *distensio,* etc., *usque ad* ad superiorem sensum cuncta referuntur.

VERS. 14.-- *Vidi,* etc. Consideravi omnia mundana, et vidi vanitatem et malitiam esse, id est, miserias spiritus, quibus animus diversis fatigatus cogitationibus laborat cognoscere, quod homini non conceditur.

[n: (HIER.)] Verbum *Routh* Aquila et Theodotio, etc., *usque ad* quibus anima diversis cogitationibus affligitur.

VERS. 15.-- *Perversi.* [n: (ID.)] Perversus non poterit adornari, etc., *usque ad* ut non possit comprehendi.

VERS. 17.-- *Erroresque et stulti.* [n: (ID.)] Prima sa [1119A] pientia est stultitia caruisse, etc., *usque ad* supra disseruisse sufficiat.

## CAPUT II.

VERS. 1.-- *Dixi ergo.* [n: (HIER.)] Postquam in multitudine sapientiae, etc., *usque ad* tunc non vanitas erit, sed veritas.

VERS. 2.-- *Risum reputavi errorem.* [n: (ID.)] Ubi nos dicimus, etc., *usque ad* laeta sibi et prospera promittunt.

VERS. 3.-- *Cogitavi in corde.* [n: (ID.)] Ebrietas, etc., *usque ad* quid vitandum.

VERS. 4.-- *Plantavi vineas.* In domo divitis, etc., *usque ad* sine qua caetera ligna siccabuntur.

VERS. 6.-- *Et exstruxi mihi piscinas,* etc., *usque ad* et serotinam exspectat de coelo pluviam.

[1119B]VERS. 7.-- *Possedi servos:* timore servientes, et spiritualia desiderantes, nec timentes.

Vernaculos eos dicimus, qui sunt quidem de Ecclesia, et praedictos servos et ancillas antecedunt; nec tamen liberi sunt.

Vernaculi dicuntur filii servorum, qui in domo domini sui nati sunt.

*Armenta quoque et magnos.* Hi sunt, qui absque ratione et scientia Scripturarum laborant quidem in Ecclesia, sed nondum ad hominem perveniunt, id est ad imaginem Dei.

[n: (HIER.)] *Et quidem possessio armenti.* Nota quod, etc., *usque ad* vel vernaculi.

VERS. 8.-- *Substantias regum.* [n: (ID.)] Dogmata philosophorum, etc., *usque ad* et prudentias prudentium [1119C] reprobat.

*Feci mihi cantores.* Cantor, etc., *usque ad, Cantores et cantatrices,* uterque sexus me oblectaret.

*Delicias filiorum hominum.* Sapientiam scilicet, quae, sicut paradisus, poma habet varia et multiplices voluptates. De qua Psalmista: *Delectare in Domino, et dabit tibi petitiones cordis tui [n: (Psal. XXXVI)]*. Et, *Torrente voluptatis tuae potabis eos [n: (Psal. XXXV)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *Qui ante me fuerunt in Jerusalem.* Ad litteram: Non est magna laus. Ante Salomonem enim regnaverunt Saul, cujus tempore regnum coepit, et David, sub quo satis parvum erat regnum.

*Perseveravit.* Alii, *stetit,* id est, ei in carne posito sapientia permansit, non proficiens per momenta, sicut in nobis, sed in plenitudine stans.

[1119D]VERS. 10.-- *Et omnia quae.* Sed quanto studio ista crescebant, tanto sapientia deerat, quia per omnia desideria rapiebat, putabamque hunc esse fructum laborum meorum, si libidini servirem; sed tandem in me reversus, vidi omnia vana esse.

VERS. 11.-- *Sub sole.* [n: (HIER.)] Christo. In sole posuit tabernaculum suum. Qui ergo ad solis claritatem ordinem constantiamque nondum pervenit, in eo Christus non habitat.

VERS. 13.-- *Et vidi quia tantum.* Cum hoc cogitarem, quod sapiens, lux, stultus, tenebrae: illius oculi in coelo, hujus, in terra, repente mihi surrepsit, quare communi morte pereant, communi miseria deprimuntur, et hujusmodi.

[1120A]VERS. 18.-- *Rursus detestatus.* [n: (HIER.)] Spirituali labore sancti die noctuque in lege Domini meditantur, etc., *usque ad* sapientia enim non est terrenas divitias congregare.

*Habiturus.* Hoc ipsi Salomoni contigit, qui non sui similem habuit filium Roboam. Ex quo intelligimus filium nec dignum quidem haereditate patris, si stultus sit.

VERS. 21.-- *Nam cum alius.* [n: (ID.)] Supra de incerto haerede, etc., *usque ad* ex ratione.

VERS. 24.-- *Nonne melius.* [n: (ID.)] Postquam omnia pertractavi, etc., *usque ad* quantum sufficit?

VERS. 26.-- *Homini bono.* [n: (ID.)] Corrigenti mores suos, etc., *usque ad* et spiritus praesumptione composita esse.

## CAPUT III.

[1120B]

VERS. 1.-- *Omnia tempus habent.* [n: (HIER.)] Incertum et fluctuantem statum conditionis humanae supra docuit, etc., *usque ad* nec loco nec tempore continentur.

VERS. 2.-- *Tempus plantandi,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Nulli dubium est, etc., *usque ad* quia perfecta charitas foras mittit timorem.

VERS. 3.-- *Tempus destruendi,* etc. Non possumus aedificare bona, nisi prius destruxerimus mala, sicut Jeremiae dictum est a Deo, ut ante eradicaret et suffoderet et perderet, et postea aedificaret atque plantaret [n: (Jerem. I)].

VERS. 4.-- *Tempus plangendi,* etc. Plangendum est nunc ut in futuro saltemus, illam saltationem, [1120C] quam David ante arcam testamenti [n: (II Reg. VI)]. Saulis filiae displicens, magis placuit Deo.

VERS. 5.-- *Tempus spargendi lapides,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Miror, etc., *usque ad* et ad poenitentiam vocat.

*Tempus amplexandi.* Tempus amplexandi sapientiam, et contemplationi strictius inhaerendi; et tempus longe fieri a complexu, scilicet sapientiae, ut curae temporis, et his sine quibus vivere non possumus, serviamus.

VERS. 7.-- *Tempus tacendi et tempus.* [n: (HIER.)] Docemus in Ecclesiis quod nescimus. Omnes artes absque doctore non discimus, sola haec tam vilis et tam facilis, ut praeceptore non egeat. Nihil nobis videtur esse rectum, nisi quod discimus, ut post multum silentium de discipulis efficiamur magistri.

[1120D] *Tempus loquendi.* Disciplina Pythagorae est per quinquennium tacere, et postea eruditos loqui.

VERS. 8.-- *Tempus dilectionis.* Tempus amandi post Deum uxores, liberos, propinquos, et tempus odiendi eos, in martyrio. Vel, *Quoniam nunc videmus per speculum in aenigmate [n: (I Cor. XIII)]*, etc. Tempus erit diligendi praesentiam Dei, et tempus odiendi, quando, facie ad faciem cernentes, et in melius proficientes, incipiemus odisse et despicere quod amavimus.

*Tempus belli.* Modo, non agentibus poenitentiam; tempus pacis in futuro, quando omnis Israel salvus fiet; *Tempus belli,* ne sis securus, accipe armaturam Dei.

[1121A]VERS. 10.-- *Vidi afflictionem quam dedit,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Dicitur quod propterea Deus, etc., *usque ad* usque ad finem saeculi fecerit crescere, manere et mutari.

VERS. 12.-- *Et cognovi.* [n: (HIERON.)] Ideo colonus in mundo datus est homo, etc., *usque ad* hinc:

VERS. 13.-- *Omnis homo qui comedit et bibit,* etc., Multae enim nunc tribulationes justorum, in futuro autem non erit labor in Jacob.

*Didici,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Nihil est in mundo novum, solis cursus, lunae vices, terrae et arborum siccitas, vel viror, cum mundo condita sunt; et haec idcirco Deus certa ratione temperavit, ut Dei Providentiam in his intelligamus, et timeamus a facie Dei. Vultus autem Domini super facientes mala.

[1121B]VERS. 16.-- *Vidi sub sole.* [n: (ID.)] Cum in hoc mundo judicium et veritatem requirerem, etc., *usque ad, Omnia enim tempore suo requirentur.*

VERS. 17.-- *Dixi in corde meo.* [n: (ID.)] Quasi, etc., *usque ad* et impleri terram pecoribus et armentis.

VERS. 21.-- *Quis novit.* [n: (ID.)] Non dicit, etc., *usque ad* et rei quasi dubiae certus assertor sit.

*Deorsum.* Ad inferos. Fieri enim potest ut cito mutentur, et saepe qui docti videbantur, ad inferos ducuntur; et simplices rustici coronantur.

VERS. 22.-- *Et deprehendi.* Superiori errore turbatus, etc., *usque ad* quae in mundo futura sunt postea.

## CAPUT IV.

VERS. 1.-- *Verti me ad alia.* Plenius hunc locum [1121C] David in psalmo LXXII, et Jeremias in suo volumine prosequuntur.

VERS. 2.-- *Et laudavi.* [n: (HIER.)] Alii hunc locum ita intelligunt, etc., *usque ad* et tandiu eas esse beatas quandiu perfruantur choro angelico.

VERS. 3. *Et feliciorem.* Quia nec vidit haec mala, nec expertus est: nec secundum errorem eorum qui putant animas esse, antequam homines fiant. Melius est itaque omnino non esse quam male vivere: unde, *Melius illi erat si natus non fuisset homo ille,* etc. [n: (Matth. XIV)].

VERS. 9.-- *Melius est.* [n: (ID.)] Post sollicitudines et miserias, etc., *usque ad* calorem vitae aeternae accipere non valemus.

VERS. 13.-- *Melior est puer.* [n: (ID.)], *usque ad [1121D] finem cap.*

## CAPUT V.

VERS. 1.-- *Ne temere, Deus.* Quia omnia audit et videt, et stultitiam tuam arguit quamvis ipse in coelo, et tu in terra.

VERS. 2. *Multas.* Quasi sicut qui multa cogitat, ipsa frequenter somniat, sic in stultitiam recidit, qui ultra se, de Deo disputat. Vel, quia modo videmus per speculum et in aenigmate, quasi per somnum, aestimamus nos tenere, quod non habemus, et tamen nihil habemus.

VERS. 3.-- *Cum votum voveris.* [n: (HIER.)] Melius est non promittere, etc., *usque ad, vapulabit multis plagis.*

[1122A]VERS. 4.-- *Multoque.* Sicut Judaei qui dixerunt: *Omnia quaecunque praecepit nobis Deus, faciemus [n: (Exod. XXIV, XXXII)]*: et adoraverunt vitulum.

VERS. 5.-- *Ne dederis os tuum.* Quasi ne dicas te ex infirmitate carnis tuae peccare, tanquam reflectens culpam in auctorem.

*Coram angelo.* Qui astat unicuique, et omnia Deo nuntiat: ne putes omnia latere Deum.

VERS. 6.-- *Ubi multa sunt.* Quasi, *Ne dederis os tuum,* etc., quia haec vita est quasi somnia, et multa videntur vera, quae sunt falsa; sic et excusatio tua.

VERS. 7.-- *Si videris calumnias.* Ac si dicat: *Ne dicas coram angelo, non est Providentia:* quod est contra eos qui omnia casibus agi putant, et Dei providentiam negant. *Si* tamen *videris calumnias egenorum,* [1122B] etc.

VERS. 8.-- *Universae terrae,* etc. Deus patiens et redditor, qui dicit, *Cum accepero tempus, ego justitias judicabo.*

VERS. 11.-- *Dulcis est somnus.* [n: (HIER.)] Divitem avarum, etc., *usque ad* quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt.

VERS. 12.-- *Est et alia infirmitas.* Possumus haec de philosophis, etc., *usque ad* cum scriptum sit: *Perdam sapientiam sapientium,* etc.

VERS. 17.-- *Hoc itaque mihi visum est bonum,* etc. Melius dicit esse, etc., *usque ad* quam inspirat Dei gratia in adjuvando bona opera.

## CAPUT VI.

[1122C]VERS. 1.-- *Est et aliud malum.* Describit, et aliter divitem avarum, qui cum omnia habeat bona, nihilominus nimia parcitate se cruciat, nesciens cui congreget.

VERS. 2.-- *Vir cui dedit Deus divitias.* [n: (HIER.)] Potest hoc de populo Israel accipi, etc., *usque ad* ad judicium properabimus omnes.

VERS. 3.-- *Sepultura.* [n: (ID.)] Adeo avarus, ut nec de sepultura cogitet, vel, saepe pro divitiis occisus abjicitur insepultus: vel, quia nullam sibi memoriam relinquat, cum omnibus bonis affluat.

VERS. 7.-- *Omnis labor:* hoc est, quod laborando didicit homo, id est rationalis, in ore habet, quia alios docet.

*Anima ejus non implebitur.* [n: (ID.)] Quia semper [1122D] cupit discere quod doceat: et hoc habet stulto plus, quia cum beato paupere tendit ad Christum, qui est vita et qui ait: *Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum.*

VERS. 10.-- *Qui futurus est.* [n: (ID.)] Omnium hominum, qui futuri sunt corpore circumdandi, jam Deus vocabulum novit; ne possit homo respondere contra artificem, quare ita, vel ita sit factus. Quanto enim amplius quaesierimus, tanto magis ostenditur vanitas nostra et verba superflua; et non ex praescientia Dei tollitur liberum arbitrium, sed causae ante praecedunt quare unumquodque sit factum.

VERS. 11.-- *Verba sunt.* Quasi, Dei quidem filius futurus est homo, tu autem noli ultra inquirere [1123A] qualis, quomodo et cujusmodi, sed crede generationem ejus.

## CAPUT VII.

VERS. 2.-- *Melius est nomen bonum.* [n: (HIER.)] Memoria bonorum operum, quae delectet auditorum corda, sicut nares unguenta: Unde, *Memoria justorum in laude, nomen impiorum putrescet.*

*Et dies.* Hoc est, Melius est miserae vitae tormenta, et tribulationes, et labores moriendo evadere, quam ad haec nasci et sustinere.

VERS. 4.-- *Melior est ira,* contra peccatum suum vel alienum, quia corrigis, non quia ultionem cupis [n: (Prov. XXVII)].

VERS. 6.-- *Melius est a sapiente.* Meliora sunt amici vulnera, quam fraudulenta inimici oscula. [1123B] *Verba adulantis magis insensata ad spinas,* id est, saeculi curas moventia, quae ducunt ad gehennae incendia: sapiens perfectus nulla argutione indiget, nulla calumnia turbatur. Ergo de sapiente in profectu posito est accipiendum qui aliquando turbatur de iniquitate judicii, cum Deus statim non punit.

VERS. 9.-- *Melior est finis.* Perfectio. *Qui perseveraverit salvus erit.* Melior est consummata justitia, quam inchoata, et orationis epilogi quam exordia; hic certamen, ibi victoria.

*Arrogante.* Huic arroganti contrarius est, qui in Evangelio pauper spiritu legitur [n: (Matth. V)].

VERS. 11.-- *Quid putas?* Aliter: Sic debes vivere, ut semper praesentes dies sint tibi meliores, quam praeteriti. Semper est enim tempus operandi, ne cum [1123C] coeperis decrescere, dicatur: *Currebatis bene, quis vos impedivit non obedire veritati? [n: (Gal. V.)]*

VERS. 14.-- *Considera opera Dei.* Quam magna, quam mirabilia; alium gratuita pietate elegit, alium justo judicio despicit, unde, *Jacob dilexi, Esau odio habui [n: (Mal. I)]*. Et, *Universae viae Domini misericordia et veritas.*

VERS. 15.-- *Malam diem* [n: (HIER.)] judicii, quae mala videtur malis, unde, *Dies illa dies irae,* etc. Vel, bona et mala, id est prospera et adversa, prout juste evenerint, sustine viriliter. Omnia enim juste, quamvis occulte, et hoc est *non inveniat,* etc.

VERS. 18.-- *Et noli esse. Impii non dimidiabunt dies suos,* quasi, Noli impoenitens provocare Deum, ut etiam viventi inferat supplicium, sicut fecit Dathan [1123D] et Abiron.

VERS. 19.-- *Nihil negligit.* Omnibus sine respectu personarum benefacit. Vel, in prosperis et in adversis providet.

VERS. 20.-- *Decem principes.* [n: (HIER.)] Angelos, qui civitati nostrae, id est Ecclesiae, tanquam custodes, id est auxiliatores, praesunt. Et decem dicuntur, quia denarius numerus est perfectus.

VERS. 22.-- *Sed et cunctis.* Docet sapientem maledicorum linguas non attendere, ne cum ipse idem faciat, sibi velit ignosci et alios reprehendi. Si enim hoc fecerit, semper curiosus et iratus erit, quia nec servorum linguas compescere valebit.

VERS. 27.-- *Venatorum,* daemonum, qui venantur [1124A] animas nostras, quorum mulieres retia, et sagenae haeretici.

VERS. 28.-- *Ecce hoc.* Hoc inveni, etc., *usque ad* facilior ad casum est mulier.

*Ut invenirem rationem.* Quamcunque rem vel discretionem inter homines et eorum mores: quis perfecte bonus nisi solus Christus?

VERS. 29.-- *Virum.* Christum, qui caput est omnium bonorum, quod figuratur per millenarium qui perfectus numerus.

VERS. 30.-- *Solummodo hoc.* [n: (HIER.)] Ne videatur communem omnium hominum naturam damnare, et Deum ejus auctorem accusare, vigilanter adjecit, *Solummodo,* etc. Quasi dicat: Homo quidem bonus factus est, sed libero arbitrio derelictus, [1124B] sponte cadit et immiscet se vanis curis et superfluis.

*Quis talis ut sapiens,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Dixit superius vix bonum hominem inveniri, cum a Deo homines sint boni facti. Nunc quae bona eis dederit tanquam gratulabundus enumerat, sapientiam, rationem, arcana cognoscere.

## CAPUT VIII.

VERS. 2.-- *Ego os regis observo.* [n: (HIER.)] Videtur quidem praecipere juxta Apostolum, etc., *usque ad* hujus voluntati parendum.

VERS. 4.-- *Nec dicere ei quisquam potest,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Praecepta Dei non sunt discutienda quare illa praeceperit, sed facienda.

VERS. 8.-- *Non est in hominis ditione.* [n: (ID.)] Quasi, [1124C] non debes moleste pati, si futura non scire potes, si a potentioribus impiis saepe opprimeris, quia cito omnia finiuntur, et mors omnia aequaliter rapit.

VERS. 10.-- *Vidi impios sepultos,* etc. Nec in morte poenitet, quorum quanto accusatio rarior et difficilior, tanto peccandi libertas videtur eis esse major.

VERS. 14.-- *Sunt justi quibus mala proveniunt,* etc. Ut filiis Aaron sacrificantibus secundum Hebraeum, et Manasses post tanta mala a captivitate in regnum reductus feliciter vixit.

## CAPUT IX.

VERS. 1.-- *Sunt justi,* etc. *Melior est canis.* [n: (HIER.)] Canis vivus, pauper justus, leo mortuus, potens [1124D] iniquus, qui nihil secum aufert de mundo.

VERS. 5.-- *Mortui vero.* [n: (ID.)] Quidam asserunt etiam post mortem crescere, etc., *usque ad* creaturas rationales et promereri.

VERS. 10.-- *Erunt.* Id est, valebunt tibi post mortem.

VERS. 11.-- *Bellum.* Victorum vel etiam imitatores belli, secundum illud: *Sine me nihil potestis facere.*

*Divitias.* Bonorum operum.

VERS. 12.-- *Sicut pisces capientur.* Haeretici quoque habent sagenam suam missam, et laqueos quibus capiant simplices.

VERS. 15.-- *Vir pauper.* Christus, de quo Psalmus: [1125A] *Ego sum pauper et dolens [n: (Psal. LXVIII)]*. Et in quo omnes thesauri sapientiae et scientiae sunt absconditi [n: (Col. II)].

*Per sapientiam suam.* Non per potentiam.

VERS. 17.-- *Verba sapientium.* [n: (HIER.)] Qui favorem et plausum non quaerunt, sed salutem audientium: nec clamant ut audiantur, sed cupiunt, ut exaudiantur.

*Inter stultos.* Stulti qui non quaerunt proficere, sed laudem sibi acquirere.

## CAPUT X.

VERS. 4.-- *Locum.* Stationem fidei retine, ne vincaris: et ne perficias si jam male cogitaveris.

*Qui fodit.* Lacum aperuit, et effodit eum: et incidit [1125B] in foveam quam fecit.

VERS. 11.-- *Si mordeat.* [n: (HIER.)] Quasi, sicut serpens occulte mordens venenum infundit, sic et qui detrahit. Vel, serpens, id est diabolus, mordet in silentio, quando qui, diabolo suadente, peccavit, non vult confiteri.

VERS. 19.-- *In risu faciunt panem et vinum, ut epulentur bibentes.* Praedicant, magis ut alliciant quam ut proficiant.

*Pecuniae obediunt omnia,* etc. Et sacerdotes in mercede docebant.

VERS. 20.-- *In cogitatione tua,* etc. Simpliciter monet, ne vel ira vel levitate majoribus maledicamus, quia saepe eis, etiam cum non timebamus, quae diximus, nuntiantur, etiam si in cubili.

## CAPUT XI.

[1125C]

VERS. 1.-- *Mitte panem.* Aptos fructificationi.

VERS. 2.-- *Da partes septem.* [n: (HIER.)] Vetus Testamentum, cujus septima dies, scilicet sabbatum, praecipue honoratur; *necnon et octo,* quod est novum; sine altero enim non valet alterum.

VERS. 3.-- *Si ceciderit lignum ad austrum, aut ad aquilonem,* [n: (ID.)] quasi diceret: Locum quem hic tibi praeparaveris, in futuro habebis.

VERS. 4.-- *Qui observat ventum, non seminat.* [n: (ID.)] Ac si dicat: Omnipotenti te tribue, vel corporale solatium, vel Dei verbum (ne forte praetereas eum qui dignus est accipere); et omni tempore. *Qui observat ventum.* In media tempestate seminandum [1125D] est, quia nescimus quae sit voluntas spiritus, et hoc est, *Quomodo,* etc.

VERS. 6.-- *Mane semina semen tuum,* etc. [n: (ID.)] [1126A] Omni tempore, scilicet a mane in vesperum, et e converso: vel in pueritia et in senectute. *Qui enim perseverat, salvabitur.*

VERS. 9.-- *Laetare ergo juvenis,* etc. [n: (ID.)] Hinc usque ad finem libri, etc., *usque ad* se judicandos sciant.

## CAPUT XII.

Hinc usque ad finem capituli legitur tribus modis, scilicet de judicio, senectute, captivitate, et serviunt quaedam glossae quandoque duabus sententiis, quandoque vero inveniuntur secundum omnes sententias.

VERS. 2.-- *Antequam tenebrescant sol et lumen, et stellae et luna,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] Sol convertetur in tenebras, etc., *usque ad* nubes et pluviae cessant ei.

[1126B]VERS. 4.-- *Et claudent ostia in platea,* ne videant lusus juvenum: omnia enim talia sunt eis importabilia.

*Et consurgent.* Quia non possunt dormire refrigescente sanguine, siccato humore quibus alitur sopor.

VERS. 5.-- *Dissipabitur capparis.* [n: (HIER.)] Capparis renibus valet, etc., *usque ad* in adversitate vero desistunt a bono.

VERS. 6.-- *Antequam rumpatur funiculus.* Redit ad superiora, ubi ait: *Memento Creatoris tui,* etc., simili fine sententiam concludit.

VERS. 7.-- *Et revertatur.* Antequam revertaris in Babyloniam unde es egressus in lumbis Abrahae, [1126C] et incipias in Mesopotamia conteri, unde profectus es.

VERS. 8.-- *Vanitas vanitatum.* Post descriptionem humanae fragilitatis et mortis, pulchre quod proposuerat concludit: *Vanitas vanitatum.* Quasi, noli luxuriari, noli delicias quaerere, cum scias te celeri fine transire et ad judicium festinare.

VERS. 11.-- *Verba sapientium.* [n: (HIER.)] Ne videatur temere post legem per Moysen, ipso Deo praemonente, datam, nova praecepta cudere, dicit haec verba sapientium esse.

VERS. 13.-- *Finem loquendi.* Quia diversorum diversas sententias, tanquam concionator, induxerat: hoc fine omnes conciliat, scilicet *Deum time.* Hoc solum aiunt Hebraei in auctoritate habitum, [1126D] quia hic intentionem suam ostendit, cum videatur in multis ad voluptates hortari.

english:
## THE PROLOGUE OF BLESSED JEROME ON THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES.

[n: (Vide inter Opera Hieronymi, tom. III.)]

## CHAPTER ONE.

[1115D]

VERS. 1.-- *The words of Ecclesiastes. [n: (HIERON. in Eccle., t. III.)]* Solomon was called by three names, etc. [1116D] *as far as* and he is an equal master, and knows not that he is king.

[n: (ALBINUS.)] The Hebrews hand down that this book is Solomon's, as of one doing penance, because, trusting in wisdom [1117A] and in riches, he offended God through women. For he reckoned within himself that all things are vain, and that those who put their hope in them come to misery.

[n: (HIERON.)] Allegorically. The peaceable and beloved Son of God the Father, etc., *as far as* whence: *Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world [n: (Psal. XVIII)]*.

VERS. 2. *Vanity of vanities.* [n: (ID.)] For *vanity of vanities*, according to certain interpreters, we can say, etc., *as far as* until that come which is perfect.

Before he sets down his own statement, he seems to make a kind of preparation and adornment, when he says: *Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.* Afterwards he begins from the greater, that is, from man, showing him subject to vanity, [1117B] that is, to mutability. And this is, *vanity,* etc. Every man living is vanity: how much more the rest! Whence, *The creature is made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who,* etc. For whatever is able not to be can be called vanity, because it is able to be changed. God alone is always the same that he is. But that which is changed in some manner vanishes away, and is not what it was; in comparison with the Creator, every creature can be called vanity and be reckoned as it were nothing.

[n: (HIER.)] If all the things which God made, etc., *as far as* I am compelled to say not once, but twice, *Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.*

VERS. 3.-- *What hath a man more.* [n: (ID.)] After the general statement, etc., *as far as* but they return naked into the earth, whence they were taken.

[1117C]VERS. 4.-- *One generation passeth away,* etc. [n: (ID.)]. The generation of the Jews departs first, etc., *as far as* but we praise God not in one age, but unto ages of ages.

VERS. 5.-- *The sun riseth and goeth down.* [n: (ID.)] The sun itself, etc., *as far as* who rises for the believer, sets for the unbeliever.

VERS. 6.-- *It goeth to the south,* etc. [n: (ID.)] [var: Vulg. Eccl. 1:6 *gyrat per meridiem*, "goeth round by the south"] Hence we can reckon, etc., *as far as* and so it returns to the east.

*The spirit goeth forward in a circuit.* [n: (ID.)] He calls the sun itself spirit, etc., *as far as* cold would consume the others.

VERS. 7.-- *All the rivers run into the sea.* The philosophers say that the sweet waters which flow into the sea are either consumed by the burning sun, or are food for the saltness of the sea. But our Ecclesiastes, and the Maker [1117D] of those waters themselves, says that they return through the hidden veins of the earth to the heads of the springs, and out of the mother deep boil up ever into their own beginnings. We can understand by the rivers, and by the sea, the human race, which returns into the earth whence it was taken, according to that: *Earth thou art, and into earth thou shalt go [n: (Gen. III)]*. [var: Vulg. Gen. 3:19 *pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris*, "dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return"] Nor is the earth filled with the multitude of the dead. And Jerome says torrents, not rivers, because they pass quickly.

[n: (HIER.)] All the torrents, etc., *as far as* as in the Proverbs the daughters of the horseleech.

VERS. 8.-- *All things are hard.* Man cannot unfold the causes and the natures of things, nor can the eye behold them to the full, nor can the ear, a teacher instructing it, arrive at the highest knowledge. *For we see now [1118A] through a glass in a dark manner and in part, until that come which is perfect [n: (I Cor. XIII)]*, which cannot be in this mortal body. This statement is against those who think that they know the Holy Scriptures without labour and without the study of speaking, and [think] themselves wise, when they are unwise.

VERS. 9.-- *What is it that.* [n: (HIER.)] He seems to speak of these, etc., *as far as* that God might rest from all his works on the seventh day.

*What is it that,* etc. Of the natures created in the beginning of the world, and of their succession, how they come and pass away; as a man dies, a man is born, and the nature of the one being born is the same which was the nature of the one dying. So of birds, fishes, serpents and all living things; so of herbs, trees and other natures nothing [1118B] new is found which was not before: nothing past which is not done afterwards. Whence, *God rested on the seventh day from all his work [n: (Gen. II)]* [var: Vulg. Gen. 2:2 *requievit die septimo ab universo opere quod patrarat*, "he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had done"], from the creation of new natures, not from the governing of them, according to that: *My Father worketh until now, and I work [n: (Joan. V)]*. So from the primordial seeds of things the time of the whole age is carried through by a natural course.

VERS. 10.-- *Nor is any man able,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] *Is there a word,* etc., *as far as* and by the predestination of God those things are already done which are to be.

*For it hath already gone before.* As oblivion hides the things past which once were among us, so those who are to be born will not be able to know the things which are now done; for they will perish in silence, and, as though they had not been, will be hidden.

For vanity of vanities and all is vanity, because [1118C] all things pass away after the manner of flowing water, and will not return. To which statement the whole world cries assent, and most of all the human race.

VERS. 11.-- *There is no remembrance of former things.* [n: (HIER.)] The Seraphim therefore, etc., *as far as* whence afterwards, *There is no remembrance for the wise man with the fool for ever.* [var: Vulg. Eccl. 2:16 *Non enim erit memoria sapientis similiter ut stulti in perpetuum*, "for there shall be no remembrance of the wise man any more than of the fool for ever"]

VERS. 13.-- *And I proposed in my mind,* etc. Ecclesiastes therefore proposed, etc., *as far as* which they incurred of their own accord.

Thus far generally concerning the vanities of the age: from here he returns to himself, and shows who he was, how he came to know all things, and how he taught them, whence: *And I proposed in my mind,* and the rest.

*This occupation.* [n: (HIER.)] The word *anian* Aquila, the LXX and Theodotion [render] περισπασμὸν, which in Latin is [1118D] *distensio,* etc., *as far as* all things are referred to the higher sense.

VERS. 14.-- *I saw,* etc. I considered all worldly things, and saw that there is vanity and malice, that is, the miseries of the spirit, by which the mind, wearied with diverse thoughts, labours to know that which is not granted to man.

[n: (HIER.)] The word *Routh* Aquila and Theodotion, etc., *as far as* by which the soul is afflicted with diverse thoughts.

VERS. 15.-- *The perverse.* [n: (ID.)] The perverse man will not be able to be adorned, etc., *as far as* that it cannot be comprehended.

VERS. 17.-- *And errors and the foolish.* [n: (ID.)] [var: Vulg. Eccl. 1:17 *erroresque et stultitiam*, "and errors, and folly"] The first [1119A] wisdom is to have been without folly, etc., *as far as* let it suffice to have discoursed above.

## CHAPTER II.

VERS. 1.-- *I said therefore.* [n: (HIER.)] [var: Vulg. Eccl. 2:1 *Dixi ego in corde meo*, "I said in my heart"] After that in the multitude of wisdom, etc., *as far as* then it will not be vanity, but truth.

VERS. 2.-- *Laughter I counted error.* [n: (ID.)] Where we say, etc., *as far as* they promise themselves glad and prosperous things.

VERS. 3.-- *I thought in my heart.* [n: (ID.)] Drunkenness, etc., *as far as* what is to be shunned.

VERS. 4.-- *I planted vineyards.* In the house of a rich man, etc., *as far as* without which the other trees will be dried up.

VERS. 6.-- *And I made me ponds,* etc., *as far as* and awaits the late rain from heaven.

[1119B]VERS. 7.-- *I got me servants:* those serving through fear, and those desiring spiritual things, and not fearing.

We call those homeborn who are indeed of the Church, and go before the aforesaid menservants and maidservants; nor yet are they free.

The homeborn are said to be the sons of servants, who were born in the house of their lord.

*Herds also and great flocks of sheep.* These are they who, without reason and without knowledge of the Scriptures, do indeed labour in the Church, but do not yet come to the man, that is, to the image of God.

[n: (HIER.)] *And indeed the possession of a herd.* Note that, etc., *as far as* or homeborn.

VERS. 8.-- *The substance of kings.* [n: (ID.)] The teachings of the philosophers, etc., *as far as* and he reproves the prudence of the prudent [1119C].

*I made me singing men.* A singer, etc., *as far as, Singing men and singing women,* that either sex might delight me.

*The delights of the sons of men.* Wisdom, namely, which, like a paradise, has various fruits and manifold delights. Of which the Psalmist: *Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart [n: (Psal. XXXVI)]*. And, *Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure [n: (Psal. XXXV)]*.

VERS. 9.-- *Who were before me in Jerusalem.* According to the letter: It is not great praise. For before Solomon there reigned Saul, in whose time the kingdom began, and David, under whom the kingdom was small enough.

*It continued.* Others, *it stood,* that is, wisdom remained with him while he was placed in the flesh, not increasing by moments, as in us, but standing in fulness.

[1119D]VERS. 10.-- *And all things which.* But by how much these things grew with zeal, by so much was wisdom lacking, because it hurried [me] through all desires, and I thought this to be the fruit of my labours, if I should serve lust; but at last, returning into myself, I saw that all things are vain.

VERS. 11.-- *Under the sun.* [n: (HIER.)] Christ. In the sun he hath set his tabernacle. He therefore who has not yet come to the brightness of the sun and to its order and constancy, in him Christ does not dwell.

VERS. 13.-- *And I saw that so far.* When I was thinking this, that the wise man is light, the fool darkness: the eyes of the one in heaven, of the other on earth, there suddenly stole upon me [the thought], why they perish by a common death, are pressed down by a common misery, and the like.

[1120A]VERS. 18.-- *Again I detested.* [n: (HIER.)] By spiritual labour the saints meditate day and night in the law of the Lord, etc., *as far as* for it is not wisdom to gather earthly riches.

*Being about to have.* This befell Solomon himself, who had a son Roboam not like himself. From which we understand that a son is not even worthy of his father's inheritance, if he be foolish.

VERS. 21.-- *For when another.* [n: (ID.)] Above, concerning the uncertain heir, etc., *as far as* from reason.

VERS. 24.-- *Is it not better.* [n: (ID.)] After I had gone through all things, etc., *as far as* as much as suffices?

VERS. 26.-- *To the good man.* [n: (ID.)] To him that corrects his own manners, etc., *as far as* and to be composed by the presumption of the spirit.

## CHAPTER III.

[1120B]

VERS. 1.-- *All things have their time.* [n: (HIER.)] Above he taught the uncertain and fluctuating state of the human condition, etc., *as far as* they are contained neither by place nor by time.

VERS. 2.-- *A time to plant,* etc. [n: (ID.)] It is doubtful to none, etc., *as far as* because perfect charity casteth out fear.

VERS. 3.-- *A time to destroy,* etc. We cannot build up good things, unless we have first destroyed the evil ones, as it was said to Jeremias by God, that he should first root up and dig under and destroy, and afterwards build and plant [n: (Jerem. I)].

VERS. 4.-- *A time to mourn,* etc. We must mourn now, that in the time to come we may dance that dance [1120C] which David [danced] before the ark of the testament [n: (II Reg. VI)]. Displeasing to the daughter of Saul, he pleased God the more.

VERS. 5.-- *A time to scatter stones,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] I wonder, etc., *as far as* and calls to penance.

*A time to embrace.* A time to embrace wisdom, and to cleave more strictly to contemplation; and a time to be made far from the embrace, namely of wisdom, that we may serve the care of the time, and those things without which we cannot live.

VERS. 7.-- *A time to keep silence, and a time.* [n: (HIER.)] We teach in the churches what we do not know. We do not learn any of the arts without a teacher, this alone is so cheap and so easy that it does not need a master. Nothing seems to us to be right, save what we learn, so that after much silence we may be made masters out of disciples.

[1120D] *A time to speak.* The discipline of Pythagoras is to keep silence for five years, and afterwards, being learned, to speak.

VERS. 8.-- *A time of love.* A time of loving, after God, wives, children, kinsfolk, and a time of hating them, in martyrdom. Or, *Because now we see through a glass in a dark manner [n: (I Cor. XIII)]*, etc. There will be a time of loving the presence of God, and a time of hating, when, beholding face to face and advancing unto better things, we shall begin to hate and to despise what we have loved.

*A time of war.* Now, for those not doing penance; a time of peace in the time to come, when all Israel shall be saved; *A time of war,* be not secure, take the armour of God.

[1121A]VERS. 10.-- *I have seen the affliction which he gave,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] It is said that God therefore, etc., *as far as* he made them to grow, to remain and to be changed even to the end of the age.

VERS. 12.-- *And I have known.* [n: (HIERON.)] Therefore man was set as a husbandman in the world, etc., *as far as* hence:

VERS. 13.-- *Every man that eateth and drinketh,* etc., For many now are the tribulations of the just, but in the time to come there shall be no labour in Jacob.

*I have learned,* etc. [n: (ID.)] There is nothing new in the world, the course of the sun, the changes of the moon, the dryness of the earth and of the trees, or their greenness, were founded together with the world; and these things God therefore tempered by a fixed reckoning, that we might understand the Providence of God in them, and might fear before the face of God. But the countenance of the Lord is upon them that do evil things.

[1121B]VERS. 16.-- *I saw under the sun.* [n: (ID.)] When in this world I sought judgment and truth, etc., *as far as, For all things shall be required in their own time.*

VERS. 17.-- *I said in my heart.* [n: (ID.)] As if, etc., *as far as* and that the earth is filled with cattle and herds.

VERS. 21.-- *Who knoweth.* [n: (ID.)] He does not say, etc., *as far as* and be a certain asserter of a thing as though doubtful.

*Downward.* To hell. For it can come to pass that they are quickly changed, and often those who seemed learned are led down to hell; and simple countrymen are crowned.

VERS. 22.-- *And I have found.* Troubled by the former error, etc., *as far as* which are to be in the world afterwards.

## CHAPTER IV.

VERS. 1.-- *I turned myself to other things.* This place [1121C] David in Psalm LXXII, and Jeremias in his own volume, pursue more fully.

VERS. 2.-- *And I praised.* [n: (HIER.)] Others understand this place thus, etc., *as far as* and that they are blessed so long as they enjoy the angelic choir.

VERS. 3. *And happier.* Because he neither saw these evils, nor experienced them: nor according to the error of those who think that souls exist before they become men. It is therefore better not to be at all than to live ill: whence, *It were better for him if that man had not been born,* etc. [n: (Matth. XIV)]. [var: Vulg. Matt. 26:24 *bonum erat ei, si natus non fuisset homo ille*, "it were good for him if that man had not been born"]

VERS. 9.-- *It is better.* [n: (ID.)] After the anxieties and the miseries, etc., *as far as* we are not able to receive the heat of eternal life.

VERS. 13.-- *Better is a child.* [n: (ID.)], *as far as [1121D] the end of the chapter.*

## CHAPTER V.

VERS. 1.-- *Be not rash, God.* Because he hears and sees all things, and reproves thy folly, although he himself is in heaven, and thou on earth.

VERS. 2. *Many cares.* As it were, just as he who thinks upon many things frequently dreams of those very things, so he falls back into folly who disputes of God beyond his measure. Or, because we now see through a glass and in a dark manner, as it were through sleep, we reckon that we hold what we do not have, and yet we have nothing.

VERS. 3.-- *When thou hast vowed a vow.* [n: (HIER.)] [var: Vulg. Eccl. 5:3 *Si quid vovisti Deo, ne moreris reddere*, "if thou hast vowed any thing to God, defer not to pay it"] It is better not to promise, etc., *as far as, he shall be beaten with many stripes.*

[1122A]VERS. 4.-- *And much better.* As the Jews who said: *All things whatsoever God hath commanded us, we will do [n: (Exod. XXIV, XXXII)]*: and they adored the calf. [var: Vulg. Exod. 24:3 *Omnia verba Domini, quae locutus est, faciemus*, "all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken, we will do"]

VERS. 5.-- *Give not thy mouth.* As if, say not that thou sinnest out of the infirmity of thy flesh, as though turning back the fault upon its author.

*Before the angel.* Who stands by every man, and announces all things to God: think not that all things lie hidden from God.

VERS. 6.-- *Where there are many dreams.* As if, *Give not thy mouth,* etc., because this life is as it were dreams, and many things seem true which are false; so also is thy excuse.

VERS. 7.-- *If thou shalt see the oppressions.* As if he should say: *Say not before the angel, There is no Providence:* which is against those who think that all things are done by chance, and deny the providence of God. *If* nevertheless *thou shalt see the oppressions of the needy,* [1122B] etc.

VERS. 8.-- *Of all the earth,* etc. God is patient and a repayer, who says, *When I shall take a time, I will judge justices.*

VERS. 11.-- *Sweet is the sleep.* [n: (HIER.)] The covetous rich man, etc., *as far as* for they shall see God.

VERS. 12.-- *There is also another infirmity.* We can [understand] these things of the philosophers, etc., *as far as* since it is written: *I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,* etc.

VERS. 17.-- *This therefore hath seemed good to me,* etc. He says that it is better, etc., *as far as* which the grace of God inspires in helping good works.

## CHAPTER VI.

[1122C]VERS. 1.-- *There is also another evil.* He describes, in another manner also, the covetous rich man, who, although he has all good things, none the less torments himself with excessive sparingness, not knowing for whom he gathers.

VERS. 2.-- *A man to whom God hath given riches.* [n: (HIER.)] This can be taken of the people of Israel, etc., *as far as* we shall all hasten to judgment.

VERS. 3.-- *Burial.* [n: (ID.)] So covetous that he does not even think of burial, or, often, being slain for his riches, he is cast forth unburied: or, because he leaves himself no memory, though he abounds in all good things.

VERS. 7.-- *All the labour:* that is, what a man, that is a rational being, has learned by labouring, he has in his mouth, because he teaches others.

*His soul shall not be filled.* [n: (ID.)] Because he always [1122D] desires to learn what he may teach: and this he has more than the fool, because with the blessed poor man he tends toward Christ, who is life and who says: *Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.*

VERS. 10.-- *He that is to be.* [n: (ID.)] Of all men who are to be surrounded with a body, God already knows the name; that a man may not be able to answer back against his maker, why he was made thus, or thus. For by how much the more we shall have inquired, by so much the more is our vanity shown, and our words superfluous; and free will is not taken away by the foreknowledge of God, but causes go before, why each thing was made.

VERS. 11.-- *There are words.* As if, the Son of God indeed is to be man, but do thou not inquire further [1123A] of what kind, in what manner and of what sort, but believe his generation.

## CHAPTER VII.

VERS. 2.-- *A good name is better.* [n: (HIER.)] The memory of good works, which delights the hearts of hearers, as ointments delight the nostrils: Whence, *The memory of the just is in praise, the name of the wicked shall rot.* [var: Vulg. Prov. 10:7 *Memoria justi cum laudibus, et nomen impiorum putrescet*, "the memory of the just is with praises"]

*And the day.* That is, It is better by dying to escape the torments of a wretched life, and the tribulations, and the labours, than to be born unto these things and to endure them.

VERS. 4.-- *Anger is better,* against one's own sin or another's, because thou correctest, not because thou desirest vengeance [n: (Prov. XXVII)].

VERS. 6.-- *It is better to be reproved by a wise man.* Better are the wounds of a friend than the deceitful kisses of an enemy. [1123B] *The words of a flatterer, more senseless, unto thorns,* that is, stirring the cares of the world, which lead to the burnings of Gehenna: the perfect wise man needs no subtlety, is troubled by no false accusation. Therefore it is to be understood of the wise man set in progress, who is sometimes troubled at the iniquity of a judgment, when God does not punish at once.

VERS. 9.-- *Better is the end.* Perfection. *He that shall have persevered shall be saved.* [var: Vulg. Matt. 24:13 *qui autem perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit*, "but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved"] Better is justice consummated than begun, and the epilogues of a speech than its openings; here the contest, there the victory.

*Than the arrogant.* Contrary to this arrogant man is he who in the Gospel is read of as poor in spirit [n: (Matth. V)].

VERS. 11.-- *What thinkest thou?* Otherwise: Thou oughtest so to live that the present days may always be better to thee than the past. For it is always the time of working, lest, when [1123C] thou hast begun to decrease, it be said: *You did run well, who hath hindered you not to obey the truth? [n: (Gal. V.)]*

VERS. 14.-- *Consider the works of God.* How great, how wonderful; one he has chosen by gratuitous mercy, another he despises by a just judgment, whence, *Jacob I have loved, Esau I have hated [n: (Mal. I)]*. [var: Vulg. Mal. 1:2-3 *et dilexi Jacob, Esau autem odio habui*, "and I have loved Jacob, but have hated Esau"] And, *All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth.*

VERS. 15.-- *The evil day* [n: (HIER.)] of judgment, which seems evil to the evil, whence, *That day is a day of wrath,* etc. [var: Vulg. Soph. 1:15 *Dies irae dies illa*, "a day of wrath is that day"] Or, good things and evil, that is prosperous and adverse, according as they shall have justly befallen, bear thou manfully. For all things [come] justly, though hiddenly, and this is *that he may not find,* etc.

VERS. 18.-- *And be not. The wicked shall not live out half their days,* as if, Do not, being impenitent, provoke God, that he may inflict punishment even upon one yet living, as he did to Dathan [1123D] and Abiron. [var: Vulg. Ps. 54:24 *Viri sanguinum et dolosi non dimidiabunt dies suos*, "bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days"]

VERS. 19.-- *He neglecteth nothing.* He does good to all without respect of persons. Or, he provides in prosperous things and in adverse.

VERS. 20.-- *Ten princes.* [n: (HIER.)] The angels, who are set over our city, that is the Church, as guardians, that is as helpers. And they are called ten, because the number ten is perfect.

VERS. 22.-- *But also to all.* He teaches the wise man not to attend to the tongues of slanderers, lest, when he himself does the same, he should wish himself to be pardoned and others to be reproved. For if he shall have done this, he will always be curious and angry, because he will not even be able to restrain the tongues of his servants.

VERS. 27.-- *Of hunters,* of demons, who hunt [1124A] our souls, whose nets are women, and whose dragnets are heretics.

VERS. 28.-- *Behold this.* This I have found, etc., *as far as* the woman is readier for a fall.

*That I might find the reason.* Whatever thing or discernment there is between men and their manners: who is perfectly good save Christ alone?

VERS. 29.-- *A man.* Christ, who is the head of all good men, which is figured by the number of a thousand, which is a perfect number.

VERS. 30.-- *Only this.* [n: (HIER.)] Lest he should seem to condemn the common nature of all men, and to accuse God its author, he watchfully added, *Only,* etc. As if he should say: Man indeed was made good, but being left to free will, [1124B] he falls of his own accord and mingles himself with vain and superfluous cares.

*Who is such as the wise man,* etc. [n: (ID.)] He said above that a good man is scarcely found, though men were made good by God. Now, as one giving thanks, he enumerates what good things [God] gave them, wisdom, reason, to know hidden things.

## CHAPTER VIII.

VERS. 2.-- *I observe the mouth of the king.* [n: (HIER.)] He seems indeed to command according to the Apostle, etc., *as far as* his will is to be obeyed.

VERS. 4.-- *Neither can any man say to him,* etc. [n: (ID.)] The commandments of God are not to be discussed, why he commanded them, but to be done.

VERS. 8.-- *It is not in man's dominion.* [n: (ID.)] [var: Vulg. Eccl. 8:8 *Non est in hominis potestate*, "it is not in man's power"] As if, [1124C] thou oughtest not to take it ill, if thou canst not know things to come, if thou art often oppressed by more powerful wicked men, because all things are quickly ended, and death snatches all things equally.

VERS. 10.-- *I saw the wicked buried,* etc. Not even in death does it repent them, of whom, by how much the accusation is rarer and more difficult, by so much the greater does the liberty of sinning seem to them to be.

VERS. 14.-- *There are just men to whom evils happen,* etc. As to the sons of Aaron sacrificing, according to the Hebrew, and Manasses, after so great evils, being brought back from captivity into the kingdom, lived happily.

## CHAPTER IX.

VERS. 1.-- *There are just men,* etc. *Better is a dog.* [n: (HIER.)] The living dog, the poor just man, the dead lion, the powerful [1124D] wicked man, who carries away nothing with him out of the world.

VERS. 5.-- *But the dead.* [n: (ID.)] Certain men assert that they increase even after death, etc., *as far as* rational creatures, and to merit.

VERS. 10.-- *They shall be.* That is, they shall avail thee after death.

VERS. 11.-- *War.* Of the victors, or also the imitators of war, according to that: *Without me you can do nothing.*

*Riches.* Of good works.

VERS. 12.-- *As fishes shall be taken.* The heretics also have their own dragnet cast, and snares wherewith they may take the simple.

VERS. 15.-- *A poor man.* Christ, of whom the Psalm: [1125A] *I am poor and sorrowful [n: (Psal. LXVIII)]*. And in whom all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge are hidden [n: (Col. II)].

*By his own wisdom.* Not by power.

VERS. 17.-- *The words of the wise.* [n: (HIER.)] Who seek not favour and applause, but the salvation of their hearers: nor do they cry out that they may be heard, but they desire that they may be heard favourably.

*Among fools.* Fools are they who seek not to profit, but to acquire praise for themselves.

## CHAPTER X.

VERS. 4.-- *Place.* Hold the station of faith, lest thou be overcome: and do not accomplish it, if thou hast already thought evil.

*He that diggeth.* He opened a pit, and dug it out: and he fell [1125B] into the ditch which he made.

VERS. 11.-- *If he bite.* [n: (HIER.)] As if, just as a serpent, biting secretly, pours in venom, so also does he who detracts. Or, the serpent, that is the devil, bites in silence, when he who has sinned, at the devil's persuasion, is unwilling to confess.

VERS. 19.-- *In laughter they make bread and wine, that they who drink may feast.* [var: Vulg. Eccl. 10:19 *In risum faciunt panem et vinum ut epulentur viventes*, "that they who live may feast"] They preach, more that they may allure than that they may profit.

*All things obey money,* etc. And the priests taught for hire.

VERS. 20.-- *In thy thought,* etc. He simply admonishes that we should not, either through anger or through levity, speak evil of our superiors, because often the things which we have said are reported to them, even when we were not afraid, even if in the bedchamber.

## CHAPTER XI.

[1125C]

VERS. 1.-- *Send bread.* [To those] fit for fruit-bearing.

VERS. 2.-- *Give portions seven.* [n: (HIER.)] The Old Testament, whose seventh day, namely the sabbath, is especially honoured; *and also eight,* which is the New; for without the one the other avails not.

VERS. 3.-- *If the tree fall to the south, or to the north,* [n: (ID.)] as if he should say: The place which thou shalt have prepared for thyself here, thou shalt have in the time to come.

VERS. 4.-- *He that observeth the wind soweth not.* [n: (ID.)] As if he should say: Bestow thyself upon the Almighty, or bodily comfort, or the word of God (lest perchance thou pass by him who is worthy to receive); and at every time. *He that observeth the wind.* In the midst of the tempest one must [1125D] sow, because we know not what is the will of the spirit, and this is, *How,* etc.

VERS. 6.-- *In the morning sow thy seed,* etc. [n: (ID.)] [1126A] At every time, namely from morning unto evening, and conversely: or in boyhood and in old age. *For he that perseveres shall be saved.* [var: Vulg. Matt. 24:13 *qui autem perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit*, "but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved"]

VERS. 9.-- *Rejoice therefore, O young man,* etc. [n: (ID.)] From here unto the end of the book, etc., *as far as* they may know that they are to be judged.

## CHAPTER XII.

From here unto the end of the chapter it is read in three ways, namely of judgment, of old age, of captivity, and certain glosses serve sometimes two senses, but sometimes they are found according to all the senses.

VERS. 2.-- *Before the sun and the light, and the stars and the moon be darkened,* etc. [n: (HIER.)] The sun shall be turned into darkness, etc., *as far as* the clouds and the rains cease for him.

[1126B]VERS. 4.-- *And they shall shut the doors in the street,* lest they see the sports of the young: for all such things are unbearable to them.

*And they shall rise up.* Because they cannot sleep, the blood growing cold, the moisture dried up by which sleep is nourished.

VERS. 5.-- *The caper tree shall be destroyed.* [n: (HIER.)] The caper avails for the reins, etc., *as far as* but in adversity they desist from good.

VERS. 6.-- *Before the cord be broken.* He returns to the things above, where he says: *Remember thy Creator,* etc., and with a like ending he concludes the sentence.

VERS. 7.-- *And return.* Before thou return into Babylonia whence thou didst go forth in the loins of Abraham, [1126C] and begin to be worn away in Mesopotamia, whence thou didst set out.

VERS. 8.-- *Vanity of vanities.* After the description of human frailty and of death, he beautifully concludes what he had proposed: *Vanity of vanities.* As if, be not wanton, seek not delights, since thou knowest that thou passest away by a swift end and hastenest to judgment.

VERS. 11.-- *The words of the wise.* [n: (HIER.)] Lest he should seem rashly to forge new precepts after the law given through Moses, God himself forewarning, he says that these are the words of the wise.

VERS. 13.-- *The end of speaking.* Because, as a public speaker, he had brought forward the diverse opinions of diverse men: by this ending he reconciles them all, namely *Fear God.* This alone, the Hebrews say, was held in authority, [1126D] because here he shows his own intention, although in many things he seems to exhort to pleasures.

license_source: Public Domain Mark 1.0

license_translation: CC BY-NC 4.0

license_apparatus: CC BY-NC 4.0