VOLUME I - THE
SECOND PART.
________
BOOK VI.
The whole of the fifth chapter, beginning at the third verse,
is explained first in a spiritual sense, a few parts in an allegorical, and
a great many in a moral sense.
[MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION]
[i]
SAVING the historical verity,
I proposed to myself to make out the sayings of blessed Job and of his
friends by the mystical mode of interpretation: for it is plain to all that
are acquainted with the truth, that Holy Writ takes care to hold out in
promise the Redeemer of the world in all its statements, and that it has
aimed to represent Him by all the Elect as by His members. And hence
blessed Job is in the Latin tongue rendered ‘grieving,’ that both by his
name and by his wounds the Passion of our Redeemer might be signified, of
Whom the Prophet saith, Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows. [Is. 53, 4] And the Tempter, having robbed him of every thing,
slew both his servants and his children; in that at the time of His Passion
he smote with the weapon of faithlessness not only the Jewish people, that
served Him out of fear, but the very Apostles also themselves, that were
regenerated in His love. The body of blessed Job is mangled with wounding,
for our Redeemer does not disdain to be pierced with nails upon the stock of
the Cross. And he received wounds, from the sole of the foot to the very
crown of his head, in that not only in her last and lowest members, but even
up to the very highest, Holy Church, which is His Body, is harassed with
persecution by the raging Tempter. Hence also Paul said, And fill up
that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. [Col. 1, 24] And his
wife strives to persuade him to curse, in that all the carnal minds within
the pale of Holy Church prove abettors of the cunning Tempter. For she, who
prompts him to cursing, represents the life of the carnal sort; since, as we
have already said above, all persons of unchastened habits within the pale
of Holy Church, in proportion as they are brought nigh to the good by their
faith, pinch them harder by their life. For because they cannot be avoided,
as being of the number of the faithful, they are borne by the faithful as
the greater harm, in proportion [see
Preface, § 14] as it is nearer home. But his friends, who come as if to
administer consolation, but run out into words of bitter upbraiding, bear
the likeness of heretics, who, in striving to defend God against the
righteous, only offend Him.
2. These things then, which
have been more fully delivered above, I have endeavoured to gather into a
small compass after their mystical representation, that by this very
repetition it might be recalled to the recollection of my reader, that I
minister to the spiritual understanding. And yet, when occasion of
usefulness demands, I also busy myself to make out with minute exactness the
letter of the history, but when it is needed I embrace both at the same
time, that the allegory may put forth spiritual fruit, which same
nevertheless is produced by the historical verity as from the root. Now the
friends of blessed Job, who, we have said, bear the likeness of heretics, we
by no means condemn for their words throughout; for whereas it is delivered
against them by the sentence from above, For ye have not spoken before Me
the thing that is right; [Job 42, 7] and it is thereupon added, Like
My servant Job; it is plainly manifest that that is not altogether set
at nought, which is only disapproved by comparison with what is better. For
they incautiously slip into censure of him, but yet, as they are the friends
of so great a man, from familiar intercourse with him they learnt many
mystical truths. Whence, as we have also said above, Paul uses their very
words, and by taking these in aid of his statement, he testifies that they
were delivered from a source of truth. Which same nevertheless Truth does
rightly censure, in that no sentence, however full of force, should be
delivered against a holy man. Accordingly the words of Eliphaz may be
considered in a mystical sense, whereby he addresses blessed Job, saying,
Ver. 3. I have seen the
foolish taking root; but suddenly I cursed his beauty. [so V.]
[ii]
3. For the Jewish people
shewed itself to be ‘foolish,’ in that it slightly regarded the very
Presence of Eternal Wisdom in the flesh. And it waxed strong, as it were,
by taking root, in that it had power over the life of the Elect to the
extinction thereof in time. And Eliphaz despises such an one, cursing him,
in that all heretics, whom we have said the friends of blessed Job bear a
figure of, while they boast themselves in the name of Christ, censure in a
way of authority the unbelief of the Jews. Concerning which same foolish
one it is forthwith added,
Ver. 4. His children are
far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither shall there be
any to deliver them.
4. They all are ‘the
children’ of this foolish man, who are generated by the preaching of that
unbelief, and these ‘are far from safety,’ for though they enjoy the
temporal life without trouble, they are stricken the worse with eternal
vengeance, as the Lord says concerning these same sons of such an one,
Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for ye compass sea and land
to make one proselyte, and when he is made ye make him twofold more the
child of hell than, yourselves. [Matt. 23, 15] It follows, And they
are crushed in the gate, neither shall there be any to deliver them.
Who else is to be understood by the name of gate, but the Mediator
between God and Man, Who saith, I am the door; by Me if any man enter in,
he shall be saved. [John 10, 9] The sons, then, of this foolish man
advance without the gate, and they are ‘crushed in the gate,’ for the evil
offspring of the Jews, before the Mediator's coming, prospered in the
observance of the Law, but in the presence of our Redeemer itself they fell
away from the service of the Divine Being, proving outcasts by the deserts
of their faithlessness. And verily there is none ‘to rescue them,’ for
while they strive by their persecution to kill the Redeemer Himself, they
cut themselves off from the proffered means of their rescue. And it is well
added concerning him,
Ver. 5. Whose harvest the
hungry eateth up, and the armed one shall seize him.
[iv]
5. Now ‘the harvest’ of this
foolish man was the crop of Sacred Writ. For the words of the Prophets are
like so many grains of the ears, which the foolish man had, but did not
eat. For the Jewish people indeed held the Law as far as the letter, but,
from an infatuated pride, as to the sense thereof, they went hungering. But
‘the hungry eateth the harvest’ of this foolish one, in that the Gentile
folk eats by taking in the words of the Law, in which the Jewish people
toiled and laboured without taking them in. These hungry ones of faith the
Lord foresaw, when He had said by the Evangelist, Blessed are they that
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. [Matt.
5, 6] Of these hungry ones Hannah saith prophesying, They that were
full, have hired out themselves for bread, and they that were hungry were
satisfied. [1 Sam. 2, 5] And as he lost the harvest, it is rightly
added how the foolish man himself too perishes, where it is said, And
himself shall the armed one seize. The old enemy, being ‘armed,’ seized
the Jewish people, for he extinguished in them the life of faith by the
darts of deceitful counsel, that in the very point, wherein they imagined
themselves to be rooted in God, they might resist His dispensation. And
Truth forewarns the Disciples of this, saying, Yea, the time cometh that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. [John 16, 2]
It follows.
And the thirsty shall drink
his riches.
[v]
6. The riches of this
‘foolish’ one ‘the thirsty drink,’ in that by the streams of Sacred Writ,
which the Jewish people possessed in the display of pride, the converted
minds of the Gentiles are watered. And hence it is said to those same
persons by the Prophet, Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the
waters; and he that hath no silver, come ye. [Is. 55, 1] For that the
divine oracles are denoted by the word ‘silver,’ is testified by the
Psalmist in these words, The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver
tried in the fire. [Ps. 12, 6] They then that ‘have no silver,’ are
bidden to the ‘waters,’ in that the Gentile world which had never received
the precepts of Holy Writ, is satisfied with the outpouring of Divine
Revelation, which they now drink of the more eagerly, in proportion as they
thirsted for it long time in a state of drought. Thus the very same Divine
oracles are called at once ‘harvests’ and ‘riches;’ ‘harvests,’ because they
refresh the hungering soul; ‘riches,’ because they array us in a rare
richness of moral excellences. The same things are said both to be ‘eaten,’
and to be ‘drunk,’ for this reason, that whereas there are certain things
therein that are obscure, which we understand not without they be
interpreted, these same we in a manner swallow eating; and whereas certain
other things indeed, that are easy to be understood, we so take as we find
them, these we drink as if unchewed, in that we swallow them unbroken.
These things we have run through in brief mode under their mystical
signification, lest perchance we might seem to have passed over any thing;
but because they could not be the friends of blessed Job, except in some
points they also shone conspicuous for high moral worth, it remains that in
their words we examine the force of their import in a moral sense, that,
whilst the weight and substance of their speech is made out, it may be shewn
what sort of teaching they were masters of.
Ver.3. I have seen the
foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his beauty.
[vi] [MORAL INTERPRETATION]
7. ‘The foolish’ is as it
were made fast in the earth by ‘taking root,’ in that he is fixed in the
love of earth with all his heart's desire. And hence Cain is recorded to
have been the first that builded a city in the earth, that it might be
plainly shewn, that that same man laid a foundation in the earth, who was
turned adrift from the firm hold of our heavenly country. The foolish man
as it were lifts himself up by ‘taking root,’ when he is buoyed up in this
world with temporal good fortune, so that he obtains whatsoever he desires,
is subject to no crosses, prevails against the weak without meeting with
resistance, gainsays those that do well with authority, is ever attaining to
better circumstances by means of worse practices, so that from the very
cause that he is forsaking the path of life, he lives for the time the
happier. But when the weak see that the wicked flourish, they are alarmed,
and being troubled in their own breasts by the prosperity of sinners, they
inwardly falter in the mind's footsteps. It was the likeness of these same
that the Psalmist took when he declared, But as for me, my feet were
almost gone, my step, had well nigh slipped; for I was envious at the
sinner, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. [Ps. 73, 2. 3.]
8. But when the strong see
their glory, they forthwith fix their minds upon the punishment which is to
follow after that glory, and with deep thought of heart within they contemn
that, which swells the proud without with the bigness of empty inflation.
It is then well said, I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I
cursed his beauty. For to ‘curse the beauty’ of the fool is to condemn
his glory by an advised sentence, for he is the more frightfully drowned in
torments, the higher he is lifted up in sins; for the being lifted up is
transient, but the being punished is perpetual; for he, that meets with
honour on his road, will meet with condemnation on his arrival; and he is as
it were coming to a prison through pleasant meadows, who is going on to ruin
through this world's prosperity. But it is to be observed, that, when he
says that he ‘cursed the beauty of the fool,’ he directly adds, suddenly;
for it is the way with man's weak mind to vary according to the modification
of the objects which it beholds. Thus it often happens that his judgment is
led by the mere appearance of the object presented, and his bias and feeling
are framed according to the thing which is before his eyes. For often
persons, while they see the glory of certain individuals, are charmed with
the appearances thereof, and account it something great, and heartily wish
they might themselves obtain the like; but when they see the children of
glory severally either overthrown of a sudden, or perchance even brought to
death, they acknowledge with a sigh that human glory is altogether nought,
so as to exclaim at once, ‘See what a nothing is man!’ Which indeed they
would say with more propriety, if when they saw man in possession of glory,
then thinking of his destruction, they had felt that transitory power is
nought. For it is then that we are to reflect what a nothing human
exaltation is, when by its successes it mounts above others; then we ought
to reflect with what speed happiness will flee away, when it flourishes, as
if for ever, before the eyes of men. For that the glory of a perishable
being is nothing in the actual hour of death, any of the weak sort can
presently consider. For then even they hold it cheap, who even until death
follow after it with affection. So that it is well said, I have seen the
foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his beauty. As if he said
plainly; ‘Against the beauty of the foolish I admitted no delay in my
cursing, for as soon as I discerned it, I saw along with it the punishment
that comes after; for I should not have cursed suddenly, if any delight in
that glory had kept hold of me, but I cursed without tardiness, for
beholding his punishments which are destined to endure, I condemned his
power without hesitating.’ But because in every case the more the wicked
make way in this world, the greater numbers they drag to destruction, it is
rightly subjoined, Let his children be [al. his children shall be]
far from safety. For the children of the foolish one are they, that
after his copy are brought forth in this world's ambition; who truly are so
much the further from safety, in proportion as in the practice of iniquity
they are stricken by no infirmity. Of these it is well added,
Ver. 4. And they shall be
crushed in the gate; neither shall there be any to deliver them.
[vii]
9. For as the entrance of a
city is called the ‘gate,’ so is the day of Judgment the gate of the
Kingdom, since all the Elect go in thereby to the glory of their heavenly
country. And hence when Solomon saw this day approaching for the
recompensing of Holy Church, he said, Her husband is known in the gates,
when he sitteth among the elders of the land. [Prov. 31, 23] For the
Redeemer of mankind is the ‘husband’ of Holy Church, Who shews Himself
‘renowned’ in the gates. Who [a.b.c.d. ‘because he’] first came to sight in degradation and
in mockings, but shall appear on high at the entering in of His kingdom: and
‘He sitteth among the elders of the land,’ for that He shall decree sentence
of condemnation together with the holy preachers of that same Church, as
Himself declares in the Gospel, Verily I say unto you, Ye which leave
followed Me, in the Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the
throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. [Matt. 19, 28] Which same Isaiah also
foretelling long before uses these words, The Lord will enter into
judgment with the ancients of His people. [Is. 3, 14] Of these gates
Solomon says again, Give her of the fruit if her hands, and her own works
shall praise her in the gates. [Prov. 31, 31] For Holy Church then
receives of ‘the fruit of her hands,’ when the recompensing of her labours
lifts her up to the entertainment of heavenly blessings, for her ‘works then
praise her in the gates,’ when the words are spoken to her members in the
very entrance to His kingdom; For I was an hungred, and ye gave Me meat;
I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in;
naked, and ye clothed Me. [Matt. 25, 35] The children then of this
foolish man are lifted up before ‘the gate,’ but ‘in the gate
they shall be crushed;’ in that the followers of this world carry themselves
proudly in the present life, but in the very entrance of the kingdom they
are struck with an everlasting visitation. And it is well added, Neither is
there any to deliver them. For ‘Truth’ delivers from eternal woe those whom
in temporal weal She straitens by discipline. He, then, that now refuses to
be straightened, is left then without the means to be ‘delivered,’ For Him,
Whom they care not to have as a Father in training, the wicked in the season
of their calamity never find a deliverer in succouring. It proceeds;
Whose harvest the hungry
one shall eat up.
[viii]
10. Even the foolish man has
a ‘harvest,’ when any wicked man is vouchsafed the gift of a right
understanding, is instructed in the sentences of Holy Writ, speaks good
words, yet never in any wise does the thing that he says; gives forth the
words of God, yet does not love them; by his praise magnifies them, by his
practice tramples on them. Thus because this foolish man both understands
and speaks that, which is right, yet does not love this in his doings, while
he has a harvest, he goes starving. Which same ‘the hungry eateth up,’ in
that he, who pants after God with holy desires, learns what he hears, and
practises what he has learnt. And, whilst he is invigorated by the right
preaching of a wrong teacher, what else is this than that he is filled with
the produce of the foolish? Did not ‘Truth’ charge His ‘hungry ones’ to eat
up the ‘harvest’ of the foolish, when, they being inflamed by holy desires,
He charged them concerning the Pharisees, saying, All therefore
whatsoever they bid you observe, observe and do; but do not ye after their
works. [Matt. 23, 3] As though He said plainly; ‘By speaking they rear
the harvest of the word, but by evil living they touch it not. Let this
harvest then be the refreshment for your hunger, for it is for you that they
reserve it in their own infatuated loathing.’ And it is well added,
Ver. 5. And the armed man
shall seize him.
[ix]
11. For our old enemy is
conquered as an unarmed man, when, by openly prompting evil things to the
mind of man, he aims to destroy all the good together. But he comes
‘armed,’ when, leaving some good things untouched, he covertly works the
ruin of others. For often he does not tempt some people in the
understanding, nor oppose them in their meditation on Holy Writ, yet he
undoes the life of those in practice, who, while they are praised for the
excellence of knowledge, neglect to have regard to the shortcomings of their
works, and while the mind is decoyed in the delightfulness of good esteem,
no remedy is applied to the wounds of the life; and thus the ‘armed’ enemy
has swallowed up this man, whom under the cloak of deceit, whilst leaving on
one side, he has got the better of on another. It goes on,
And the thirsty shall drink
[so. V.] his riches.
[x]
12. Often the foolish man has
a fountain of inward liquid, but he does not drink thereof; in that he is
vouchsafed parts to understand, yet he disdains to acquaint himself with the
sentences of Holy Writ by the reading of them; he knows that he has ability
to understand by studying, yet he gives over in disdain all study of the
lessons of truth. ‘The riches’ of the mind too are the words of Divine
utterance, yet the foolish man regards these riches with his eyes, while he
never applies them to the purpose of his own adornment. For on hearing the
words of the law he sees indeed that they are great, yet he does not put
himself to pains to understand them with any earnestness of love. But,
reversely, another man has a thirst, but has not ability; love draws him to
meditation, but the dulness of his sense withstands him, and often in the
science of the Divine law, he from time to time finds out that by
application, which the man of parts remains ignorant of from carelessness.
Thus ‘the thirsty drink up the riches of this foolish man,’ as often as
those precepts of God, which the quickwitted know nothing of from disdaining
them, the duller sort follow after with warm affection. In these verily the
eye of love lights up the shades of dulness; for thirst uncloses that to the
slower sort, which disdain shuts up to the quicker. And they for this
reason get to the depths of understanding, because they do not scorn to
practise even the very least things that they have learnt, and while they
aid the understanding with the hands, they lift themselves above the level
of the clever. Hence it is well said by Solomon, The lizard climbeth
with his hands, and is in kings’ palaces. [Prov. 30, 28] For commonly
‘birds,’ which have a wing that lifts them up to fly, dwell in the bushes,
and the ‘lizard,’ which has no wings for flying, ‘climbing with hands,’
occupies the abode of royalty, in that often any that are quickwitted, while
they grow slack from carelessness, continue in bad practices, and the simple
folk, which have no wing of ability to stand them in stead, the excellency
of their practice bears up to attain to the walls of the eternal kingdom.
Whereas then ‘the lizard climbeth with his hands,’ he ‘is in kings’
palaces;’ in that the plain man, by earnestness of right practice, reaches
that point, whereunto the man of ability never mounts. But having heard
this, a question occurs to our mind, wherefore either the gift of
understanding is bestowed on a heedless man, or any earnest mind is hindered
by its slowness? To which an answer is speedily given, in that it is
forthwith added,
Ver. 6. There is nothing
in the earth without cause. [so Vulg.]
[xi]
13. For on this account it
often happens that even a slothful man receives ability, that he may be the
more deservedly punished for his carelessness, because he scorns to acquaint
himself with that which he might attain to without labour. And on this
account the earnest person is straitened with slowness of understanding,
that he may obtain so much the larger rewards of compensation, the more he
toils in anxiety to find out. Therefore ‘there is nothing in the earth
without cause,’ since slowness stands the earnest mind in stead for a
reward, and to the slothful quickness only thrives for punishment. But for
the understanding of those things that be right, we are at one time
instructed therein by earnestness of labour, at another time by pains of
affliction. Hence after it has been said, There is nothing in the earth
without cause, it is fitly added thereupon,
Neither doth trouble spring
out of the ground.
[xii]
14. For ‘trouble springeth
out of the ground,’ as it were, when man, being created after the image of
God, is scourged by things without sense. But because it is by reason of
the hidden deserts of men's souls that the open scourges of chastisements
are sent forth, it happens at the same time that ‘trouble springeth not out
of the ground,’ since it is the perversity of our sense, which requires that
it should be stricken by things that have no sense. For thus we see that
for our correction the looked for rain is withheld from the parched earth,
and the vaporous air is scorched by the fiery heat of the sun; the sea rages
with bursting tempests, and some embarked to cross its bosom it cuts off,
and others are debarred the longed-for passage by the rampant water; the
earth not only yields sparingly the produce of her fertility, but also
destroys the seeds she has received. In all which circumstances we clearly
discern that which a wise man testifies concerning God, And the world
shall fight with Him against the unwise. [Wisd. 5, 20] For ‘the world
fights with the Lord against the unwise,’ when even the very contrariety of
the elements does service in the chastisement of offenders. Yet neither
doth ‘trouble Spring out of the ground,’ for each insensate thing is put in
motion to our annoyance, only by the impulse of our own doings. ‘Trouble
does not spring out of the ground,’ for chastisement never a whit springs
from that creature that strikes the blow, but from that one, without doubt,
which, by committing sin, drew forth the severity of the stroke. But we
must take great and diligent heed, that, when in outward circumstances we
are afflicted with a weight of grief, we reach forward in hope to things
above; that the mind may attain the heights above, in proportion as we are
chastened by the external punishment. And hence it is justly subjoined,
Ver. 7. Man is born to
labour, and the bird to flying.
[xiii]
15. For ‘man is born to
labour,’ in that he, who is furnished with the gift of reason, bethinks
himself that it is wholly impossible for him to pass through this season of
his pilgrimage without sorrowing. Hence when Paul was recounting his woes
to his disciples, he justly added, For yourselves know that we are
appointed thereto. [1Thess. 3, 3] But even in that the flesh is
afflicted with scourges, the mind is lifted up to seek higher things, as
Paul again bears witness, saying, But though our outward man perish, yet
the inward man is renewed day by day. [2 Cor. 4, 16] So then, ‘man is
born to labour, and a bird to flying,’ for the mind flies free on high for
the very same reason that the flesh toils the sorer below.
16. By the designation of
‘man’ too, may be represented the life of the carnal sort. And hence Paul
says, For whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions,
are ye not carnal? [1 Cor. 3, 3] Soon after which he subjoins and says,
Are ye not men? [ver. 4, Vulg.] In this life, then, ‘man is born to
labour,’ for every carnal person, in seeking to obtain transitory things, is
overcharging himself with the burthen of his desires. For it is sore labour
to be seeking this same glory of the present life, at times to win it so
sought, and to guard it with diligence when won. It is sore labour, with
infinite pains to lay hold of that, which he, that shall lay hold, knows can
never remain for long. But holy men, forasmuch as they have no fondness for
transitory objects, are not only laid under no burthen of temporal desires,
but even, if crosses on any occasion arise, in these very straits and
faintings are free from trouble. For what is there more severe than
scourges? and yet it is written concerning the Apostles when scourged,
And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were
counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name. [Acts 5, 41] What then can
be labour to the minds of those, to whom even the chastisement of stripes is
not labour? Man then is ‘born to labour,’ for he really feels the ills of
the present state, who is agape after the good things thereof. For that
mind which hangs on the attraction of things above, has beneath it
whatsoever is set in motion against it from without. Therefore it is well
added, and a bird to flying. For the soul withdraws itself from the
painfulness of labour, in proportion as it raises itself through hope toward
things on high. Was not Paul like a ‘bird born to flying,’ who in
undergoing such countless crosses, said, Our conversation is in heaven?
[Phil. 3, 20] And again, We know that if our earthly house of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. [2 Cor. 5, 1] Like a bird, then, he had
mounted above the scenes below, whom, while yet lingering on earth in the
body, the wing of hope was already bearing up in the heights. But forasmuch
as none by his own strength can transport himself on high, so as to be
raised to the invisible world, while he is borne down by visible things, it
is immediately added with propriety,
Ver. 8. Wherefore I will
entreat the Lord, and unto God would I make my address.
[xiv]
17. As though he said in
plain words, ‘Him I petition, by Whom I know that these things are
bestowed.’ For if he imagined that he had them by himself, he would not
need to make his prayer to God. It goes on;
Which doeth great things
and unsearchable, marvellous things without number.
[xv]
18. Who may see to the bottom
of the marvellous works of Almighty God, how He made all things of nothing,
how the very framework of the world is arranged with a marvellous mightiness
of power, and the heaven hung above the atmosphere, and the earth balanced
above the abyss, how this whole universe consists of things visible and
invisible, how He created man, so to say, gathering together in a small
compass another world, yet a world of reason; how constituting this world of
soul and flesh, He mixed the breath and the clay by an unsearchable disposal
of His Might? A part, then, of these things we know, and a part we even
are. Yet we omit to admire them, because those things which are full of
marvels for an investigation deeper than we can reach, have become cheap
from custom in the eyes of men. Hence it comes to pass that, if a dead man
is raised to life, all men spring up in astonishment. Yet every day one
that had no being is born, and no man wonders, though it is plain to all,
without doubt, that it is a greater thing for that to be created, which was
without being, than for that, which had being, to be restored. Because the
dry rod of Aaron budded, all men were in astonishment; every day a tree is
produced from the dry earth, and the virtue residing in dust is turned into
wood, and no man wonders. Because five thousand men were filled with five
loaves, all men were in astonishment that the food should have multiplied in
their teeth; every day the grains of seed that are sown are multiplied in a
fulness of ears, and no man wonders. All men wondered to see water once
turned into wine. Every day the earth's moisture being drawn into the root
of the vine, is turned by the grape into wine, and no man wonders. Full of
wonder then are all the things, which men never think to wonder at, because,
as we have before said, they are by habit become dull to the consideration
of them; but when he said, which doeth great things, he did well in
immediately adding, and unsearchable. For it was but little to do
great things, if the things that were done could have been searched to the
bottom. And it is lightly added, marvellous things without number. As it
would have been but an inferior greatness, if the things, which He created
‘unsearchable,’ He had made [a] but few in number.
19. But herein it ought to be
impressed upon us, that the Divine miracles should both ever be under our
consideration in earnestness of mind, and never sifted in intellectual
curiosity. For it often happens that the thought of man, when, seeking the
reason of certain things, it fails to find it out, plunges into a whirlpool
of doubt. Hence it comes to pass that some men reflect that the bodies of
the dead are reduced to dust, and while they are unable to infer the power
of the Resurrection from reasoning, they despair of their being able to be
brought back to their former condition. Things that are marvellous then are
to be believed on a principle of faith, but not to be pried into by reason.
For, if reason set them open before our eyes, they would no longer be
marvellous, But when the mind may chance to falter in these, it is needful
that such things as it knows by custom, yet does not infer by reason, should
be recalled to mind, that by the weight of a similar circumstance one may
supply strength to the faith, which one finds to be undermined by one's own
shrewdness. For, when the dust of the human flesh is thought on, the mind
of some is shaken, and despairs of the time, when dust shall return to
flesh, and through the lineaments of the limbs form a body restored to life,
when that dryness of earth shall flush into freshness through the living
limbs, and fashion itself in distinct parts by the forms and shapes of
them. This indeed can never be comprehended by reason, yet it may be easily
believed from example. For who would imagine that from a single grain of
seed a huge tree would rise up, unless he had it as a certain fact by
experience? In that extreme minuteness of a single grain, and with next to
no dissimilarity within itself, where is the hardness of the wood buried,
and a pith either tender or hard compared with the wood, the roughness of
the bark, the greenness of the root, the savour of the fruits, the sweetness
of the scents, the variety of the colours, the softness of the leaves? Yet
because we know this by experience, we do not doubt that all these spring
from a single grain of seed. Where then is the difficulty that dust shall
return into limbs, when we have every day before our eyes the power of the
Creator, Who in a marvellous manner, even from a grain creates wood, and in
a still more marvellous manner from the wood creates fruit? Which doeth
great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number. For
the greatness of the Divine works can neither be made out in respect of kind
and quality, nor reckoned in respect of quantity. Hence it is still further
added,
Ver. 10, 11. Who giveth
rain upon the face of the earth, and sendeth waters upon all things. Who
setteth up on high those that be low; and those which mourn He exalteth with
safety.
[xvi] [MYSTICAL INTERPRETATION]
20. Forasmuch as we believe
that the friends of blessed Job were enlightened by their intercourse with
him, we must needs handle these words of Eliphaz in a mystical manner. Thus
Almighty God ‘gives rain upon the earth,’ when He waters the withered hearts
of the Gentiles with the grace of heavenly preaching, and He ‘sendeth waters
upon all things,’ in that by the fulness of the Spirit He fashions the
barrenness of lost man to fruitfulness; as ‘Truth’ says by His own lips,
Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst.
But by the title of the universe man is denoted, in that in him there is set
forth a true likeness and a large participation in common with the universe.
For every thing that is either is, yet does not live; or is and lives, yet
does not feel; or is and lives and feels, yet neither understands nor
discriminates; or is and lives and feels and understands and discriminates.
For stones are, yet do not live. Trees both are and live, yet do not
feel. For their verdure is called the life of herbs and of trees, as is
declared by Paul concerning seeds, Thou fool! that which thou sowest is
not quickened except it die. [1 Cor. 15, 36] Brute creatures both are
and live and feel, yet do not understand. Angels both are and live and
feel, and by understanding they exercise discernment. Man, then, in that he
has it in common with stones to be, with trees to live, with animals to
feel, with angels to discern, is rightly represented by the title of the
‘universe,’ in whom after some sort the ‘universe’ itself is contained. And
hence ‘the Truth’ saith to His disciples, Go ye into all the world, and
preach the Gospel to every creature. That is, He would have every
creature to be taken for man only, in whom He created something common with
all things.
21. Though in this place,
‘all things’ may be understood in another sense also. For the grace of the
Holy Spirit in bringing the rich under its influence, does not keep back the
poor; while it abases the strong, it does not forbid the weak to come to it;
while it gathers together the noble, at the same time it lays hold of the
base-born; while it takes up the wise, it disdains not the foolishness of
the unskilful. God, then, ‘sendeth waters upon all things,’ Who by the gift
of the Holy Spirit calleth to the knowledge of Himself from every class of
men.
22. Again it may be that by
the designation of ‘all things,’ the mere diversities of characters are set
before us. For one is lifted up by pride, another is bent down by the
weight of fear, one burns with lust, another pants with avarice, one lets
himself sink from listlessness, another is fired with rage. But while, by
the teaching of Holy Writ, humility is given to the proud man, confidence
bestowed upon the fearful, the lustful cleansed from impurity by devotedness
to chastity, the avaricious by moderation cooled from the heat of his
covetous desires, the careless liver made erect by the uprightness of an
earnest mind, the passionate man restrained from the hastiness of his
headlong disposition, God ‘sendeth water upon all things,’ for He adapts the
power of His Word in each severally according to the diversity of their
characters, that each may find in His revelation that, whereby he may yield
the produce of the virtue that he needs. Hence it is said by a wise man of
the sweetness of manna, Thou didst send them from heaven bread prepared
without their labour, having in itself all delight, and the sweetness of
every taste. [Wisd. 16, 20] For the manna contained in itself all
manner of delight and the sweetness of every taste, for this reason, that in
the mouth of the spiritual sort it yielded a taste, according to the eater's
will, in that the Divine Word, being at the same time suited to all minds,
yet never at variance with itself, condescends to the kind and character of
its hearers; and whereas every elect person understands it with profit
according to his own fashion, he as it were turns the manna he received into
a taste at will. And forasmuch as after the toils of good practice comes
the glory of compensation, it is rightly subjoined after the sending of
water, Who setteth up on high those that be low, and those which mourn He
exalteth with safety.
23. ‘Those that be low are
set on high,’ in that they, who are now despised for the love of God, shall
then come as judges along with God, as ‘Truth’ pledges this which we have
just named to the same humble ones, saying, Ye which have followed Me, in
the Regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory,
ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
[Matt. 19, 28] Then ‘those that mourn the Lord exalts with safety,’ in that
they who, being inflamed with desire of Him, flee prosperity, endure
crosses, undergo tortures at the hands of persecutors, chasten their own
selves with grieving, are then vouchsafed a safety so much the more exalted,
as they now from devout affection kill themselves to all the joys of the
world. Hence it is that it is said by Solomon, The heart knoweth his own
soul's bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy.
[Prov. 14, 10] For the human mind ‘knoweth its own soul's bitterness,’ when
inflamed with aspirations after the eternal land, it learns by weeping the
sorrowfulness of its pilgrimage. But the ‘stranger doth not intermeddle
with his joy,’ in that he, that is now a stranger to the grief of
compunction, is not then a partaker in the joy of consolation. Hence it is
that ‘Truth’ saith in the Gospel, Verily, verily I say unto you, that ye
shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be
sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy. [John 16, 20] And
again, And ye therefore now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and
your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. [ver. 21.
22] The Lord, then, is said ‘to exalt with safety those which mourn,’ in
that to all, who for His sake are stricken with grief in time, He vouchsafes
true salvation for their comfort. But at the same time nothing hinders but
that this may be understood of God's Elect even in this life.
24. For those that be ‘low
are set on high,’ in that when they abase themselves in humility, they mount
above all sublunary things in the discernment of a lofty mind. And, while
they reckon themselves to be worthless in all things, by the discriminating
view of a right mind, they surmount and trample upon the glory of this
world. Let us look at lowly Paul. Mark how he says to his disciples,
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your
servants for Christ's sake. [2 Cor. 4, 5] Let us see this ‘humble man
set up on high.’ He says, Know ye not that we shall judge Angels? [1
Cor. 6, 3] and again, And hath raised us together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places. [Eph. 2, 6] Perchance at that moment the
chain was holding him outwardly fast bound. Yet he had been ‘set on high’
within, who, by the certainty of his hope, was already sitting in heavenly
places. Holy men then are objects of scorn without, and as unworthy persons
have every indignity put upon them, yet in sure confidence that they are
meet for the heavenly realms, they look with certainty for the glory of the
Eternal world. And when they are hard pressed without in the assaults of
persecution, they fall back within into the fortified stronghold of their
mind; and thence they look down upon all things passing far below them, and
amongst them they see passing even themselves as in the body. They dread no
threats, for even tortures they so endure as to set them at nought. For it
is hence that it is said by Solomon, But the righteous shall be bold as a
lion. [Prov. 28, 1] Hence it is written again by the same, The
righteous man shall not be grieved by any thing that shall happen to him.
Prov. 12, 21] For because all the righteous are seated on the lofty height
of their purposed mind, whereas in dying they are not sensible of death, it
is so in a marvellous manner, that the missiles of the reprobate at the same
time both strike them, and do not reach them. Those then that are ‘low are
set up on high,’ in that from the very circumstance that they despise
themselves in all things, they are rendered the more secure against them
all.
25. Contrary to which it is
rightly delivered by the Prophet to the lost soul under the likeness of
Babylon, Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit
on the ground; there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans.
[Is. 47, 1] For here I think the human mind is called a virgin, not as
undefiled, but as unproductive. And forasmuch as Babylon is rendered
‘confusion,’ the barren soul is rightly named the daughter of Babylon,
who, in that she never puts forth good works, whilst she is framed on no
method of a right life, is as it were engendered of the parentage of
confusion. But if she is called a virgin not as being barren but undefiled,
after that she is fallen from the state of saving health, it is only to the
increase of her ‘confusion’ that she is called that which she once was. And
it is fitly that the Divine voice, in rebuking her, saith to her, Come
down; for the human mind is stationed on high, when it covets the
rewards above; but it ‘comes down’ from this station, when being overcome it
yields itself cowardly to decaying worldly desires. And it is immediately
subjoined to her with justice, And sit in the dust. For ‘coming down
she sits in the dust,’ in that quitting heavenly scenes, she grovels in the
very lowest [b], being stained with earthly imaginations. And here it is
yet further added by way of repetition, Sit on the ground. As if in
uttering reproaches he said in plain words, ‘Because thou refusedst to lift
thyself by a heavenly conversation, laid prostrate beneath thyself, be
degraded in earthly courses.’ And hence it is forthwith added by a necessary
consequence, There is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans.
For the Chaldeans are translated ‘fierce.’ And they are very fierce, who,
pursuing their own wills, refuse to spare even their own lives. Earthly
desires are ‘fierce,’ which render the mind hard and insensible not only to
the precepts of the Creator, but also to the blows of stripes. But the
‘daughter of the fierce ones has no throne,’ in that the mind that is born
to the love of the world by bad desires, and is by those same desires
rendered obdurate, herein that she yields herself to earthly concupiscence,
parts with the seat of judgment, and she sits as mistress upon no throne
within her, in that she lacks the balance of discernment, and is withheld
from the sitting of her judgment, because she ranges abroad among external
lusts. For it is clear that that mind, which has lost the seat of counsel
within, in a thousand ways dissipates itself without in desires. And
because it shut the eyes to doing what it understands, it is deservedly
blinded, so as not even to know what it does; and oftentimes by a deserved
visitation it is left in its own will, and is set loose under those very
toilsome services of the world, which it pants after with solicitude. Hence
it is fitly added in that place, For thou shall no more be called tender
and delicate. Take the millstones, and grind meal. [Is. 27, 2]
It is well known that parents spare their tender daughter, nor charge her
with hard and servile employments. So Almighty God as it were calls a
daughter tender when He recalls the well-beloved soul of each person from
the wearisome services of this world, that, whilst it is charged with
external works, it be not hardened to internal desires. But the ‘daughter
of the Chaldeans’ is not called ‘soft and tender,’ in that the mind, which
is abandoned to evil inclinations, is left in this world's travail, the
thing which it most anxiously desires. So that like a handmaid she drudges
in the service of the world without, who refuses as a daughter to love God
within. Hence she is bidden to ‘take the millstone, and grind meal.’ A
millstone is whirled round in a circle, and the meal is thrown out. Now
each separate course of this world's action is a mill, which, while it heaps
up a multitude of cares, as it were whirls the minds of men in a circle, and
she as it were throws forth the meal from herself, in that, when the heart
is turned wrong, she is ever producing infinitely little thoughts. But it
sometimes happens that he, who while at rest is accounted of some worth, on
being placed in any scene of action is stripped bare. Hence we have it
forthwith subjoined in that place, Uncover thy baseness, make bare the
shoulder, uncover the thighs, pass over the rivers. For in the
execution of a work ‘baseness is uncovered,’ in that the base and abject
soul is made known in the manifestation of working, whereas before while at
rest, it was accounted great. The mind ‘makes bare the shoulder,’ when it
brings to light its practice, which was kept from view. It ‘uncovers the
thighs,’ in that it plainly discovers, by what strides of desire it reaches
after the advantages of the world. Furthermore ‘it passes over the rivers,’
in that it unceasingly pursues the courses of this present life, which are
daily running out to their end. And, whilst it gives over one set, and
follows after another, it is as it were ever going on from river to river.
These things we have delivered by way of discussion in few words, in order
to shew where that mind lies grovelling, which has been unseated from the
throne of a holy purpose. For if it ever cease to pant after the things
which are above it, it plunges even unceasingly below itself. But it is
fixed on high, if, abandoning the love of temporal things, it is bound fast
to the hope of a changeless eternity.
[LITERAL INTERPRETATION]
26. It is well said then,
Who setteth up on high those that be low. And it is fitly added, And
those which mourn He exalteth with safety. Oftentimes in this world
even any that be glad of heart are ‘exalted,’ whilst they are swoln by the
mere gloriousness of their fortune, but ‘those that mourn, the Lord exalts
to safety,’ in that he raises His sorrowing children to glory by the solid
substance of true joy; for they are exalted by safety, and not by madness,
who, set fast in good works, rejoice with a sure hope in God. For there are
some, as we have said, who both do misdeeds, and yet do not cease to
rejoice. Of whom Solomon saith, Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in
the things that be froward. [Prov. 2, 14] And again, There be wicked
men, who are as secure, as though they had the deeds of the righteous.
[Ecc. 8, 14. Vulg.] These, truly, are not ‘exalted by safety,’ but by
foolishness, which same are full of pride when they ought to be loaded with
sorrow, and for the very reason that these wretched persons let themselves
out in exultation, they are wept over by all good men. Verily not unlike to
the senses of madmen, they account that insanity, in which they surpass
others, to be strength. They know not that it comes from disease, that they
are able to do more than the sane, and they as it were esteem themselves to
have increased in powers, whilst they are drawing near to the end of life by
accessions of sickness. These because they have no perception of reason,
are wept for, and they laugh, and they expand in an extraordinary exultation
of heart, in the very same proportion that from insensibility they are
ignorant of the evil they are undergoing. Those then that ‘mourn’ the Lord
‘exalts with safety,’ in that the mind of the Elect is full of joy, derived,
not from the madness of the present life, but from the certain prospect of
eternal salvation. Hence it is fitly added immediately afterwards, with
respect to this very destruction of the wicked,
Ver. 12. He disappointeth
the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their
enterprise.
[xvii]
27. The minds of the lost are
ever awake to evil imaginations, but very often the Providence above
counteracts them, and though not even when they are crushed with adversities
do they amend the wickedness of their counsel, yet that they may never
prevail against the good, He puts a check upon their power. And against
these it is brought to pass by marvellous retribution, that whilst the
effect of their evil doing is lacking to them, still conscience gives them
over convicted to the just sentence of the Judge. Whereas then they devise
evil things, they shew what they themselves are about; but, whereas they
cannot ‘perform their enterprize,’ they, against whom it was imagined, are
protected; and hence is yet further added aright,
Ver. 13. He taketh the
wise in their own craftiness, and the counsel of the froward is carried
headlong.
[xviii]
28. For oftentimes, some that
are puffed up with human wisdom, when they see that the decrees of God are
contrary to their inclinations, set themselves to oppose them with crafty
manoeuvres, and that they may bend the power of the dispensation of the Most
High to meet their own wishes, they busy themselves in cunning contrivances,
they devise schemes of excessive refinement. But they are only executing
the will of God by the very way they are labouring to alter it, and whilst
they strive to withstand the purpose of the Almighty, they are obeying His
behests; for it often happens that that renders good service to His
provident ordering, which on the part of human efforts makes a silly
opposition to Him. Therefore the Lord taketh the wise in their own
craftiness, when the acts of man even then conveniently serve His purposes,
when they are opposed to them. Which we shall the better shew, if we bring
forward a few instances of actual facts.
[Joseph’s Brethren]
29. Joseph had been visited
by a dream, how that his brother's sheaves fell down before his sheaf; he
had been visited by a dream, how that the sun and moon together with the
other stars worshipped him. And because he related these things guilelessly
to his brethren, envy and fear of his future dominion over them forthwith
smote their breasts; and when they saw him coming to them, they said with
malice burning against him, Behold this dreamer cometh. Come now
therefore, and let us slay him, and we shall see what good his dreams will
do him. [Gen. 37, 19. 20.] And fearing to become subject to his
dominion, they let down the dreamer into a well, and sell him to Ishmaelites
that were passing by. He, then, having been brought into Egypt, subjecled
to slavery, condemned on the charge of lust, being vouchsafed aid for the
merits of his chastity, and set up for his judgment in prophecy, was
advanced over the whole of Egypt; and by the wisdom from on high with
prudent foresight he collected stores of corn, and thus met the impending
peril of a scarcity. And when the famine poured itself over the earth,
Jacob, being distressed for the providing of food, sent his sons into
Egypt. They find Joseph, whom they did not know, master of the distribution
of corn, and that they might win the favour to have food given them, they
were forced to worship the distributor thereof with their necks bent down to
the earth. Now then let us consider the course of the transaction; let us
consider how the power of God ‘took the wise in their own very craftiness.’
Joseph had for this reason been sold, that he might not be worshipped, yet
he was for this reason worshipped, because he was sold; for they dared to
try a thing in craft, that the counsel of God might be changed; but by
resisting they helped on the decree of God, which they strove to get quit
of. For they were constrained to execute the will of God by the very act by
which they laboured craftily to alter the same. Thus whilst the Divine
purpose is shunned, it is fulfilling; thus while human wisdom resists, it is
‘caught.’ Those brethren feared lest Joseph should grow to an height above
themselves. But that which was arranged by the Divine disposal, their
precautions were the cause and occasion of bringing about. Human wisdom
then was ‘caught’ in itself, when in the very way that its purpose was to
oppose the will of God, it did service toward the completion thereof.
[Saul]
30. Thus, whereas Saul saw
David, his subject, grow up in a daily advance in valorous achievements, he
betrothed his daughter to him in marriage, and demanded that an hundred
foreskins of the Philistines should be given by him for her dowry, that when
the soldier thus challenged sought to exceed his own measure, being
delivered over to the swords of his enemies, he might bring his life to an
end; according as it is written, The king requireth not any dowry, but an
hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies.
But Saul thought to make David fall by the hands of the Philistines. [1
Sam. 18, 25] But David, strengthened by the favourable aid of the interior
Disposal, engaged himself to give the hundred, and he brought back two
hundred foreskins. By the convincing force of which deed Saul being
overcome, was ‘caught’ in the purpose of his wisdom by Providence above; for
by the very means that he looked to destroy the life of the rising soldier,
he raised to the highest pitch the fame of his merits.
[Jonah]
31. But because the very
Elect sometimes strive to be sharp-witted in a degree, it is well to bring
forward another wise man, and to shew how the craft of mortal men is
comprehended in the Inner Counsels. For Jonah desired to be sharp-witted in
prudence, when being sent to preach the repentance required of the
Ninevites, because he feared that, if the Gentiles were chosen, Judaea would
be forsaken, he refused to discharge the office of that preaching. He
sought a ship and settled to fly to Tharsis, but straightway a storm arises,
the lot is cast, that it may be found out to whose fault it is owing that
the sea is in commotion. Jonah is found in the offence, he is plunged into
the deep, devoured by the whale swallowing him, and there he is brought by
the beast carrying him, where he despised to go of his own accord. See, the
tempest of God finds out the runagate, the lot binds him, the sea receives
him, the beast encloses him, and because he sets himself against paying
obedience to his Maker, he is carried a culprit by his own prison to that
place, whither he was sent. When God commanded, man would not administer
the prophecy; when God breathed on it, the beast vomits the Prophet. God
then ‘taketh the wise in their own craftiness,’ when He brings back even
that to serve the purpose of His will, by which the will of man sets itself
in contradiction to Him.
[The Jews]
32. Let us, yet further, look
well into the wisdom of the Hebrews, that we may see what in its foresight
it resisted, what by so resisting it brought about. Surely, when a
multitude of believers was gathering together at the miracles of our
Redeemer, when the priests of the people, kindled by the torches of envy,
declared that all the world were going after Him, saying, Perceive ye how
ye prevail nothing? Behold, the world is gone after Him [John 12, 19];
that they might cut away from Him the strength of so great a concourse, they
endeavoured to put an end to His power by death, saying, It is expedient
that one man die, and not that the whole nation perish. [John 11, 50]
Yet the death of our Redeemer availed to the uniting of His Body, i.e. of
the Church, and not to the severing away of it. And hence it is commanded
by the Law, that in representation of our Sacrifice, the throat of the
turtledove or the pigeon should be cut, and not entirely severed, so that
even after death the head should cleave to the body, in that verily the
Mediator between God and man [1 Tim. 2, 5], i.e. the Head of all of us,
and the Sacrifice of the true cleansing, from the very cause that He
underwent death; was more truly joined to us. After the cutting, then, the
head of the turtledove adheres to its body, for neither does the death that
intervenes sever Christ from His Church. His persecutors then did that
which they laboured after with pernicious intent, they brought death upon
Him; that so they might cut off from Him the devotedness of the faithful;
but faith only gained growth from thence, whence the cruelty of the
faithless looked to extinguish it. And while they reckon that they are
cutting off His miracles by persecuting Him, in truth they were forced to
extend them without knowing it. Therefore the Lord took the wise in their
own craftiness, when He reduced even that to the service of His pitifulness,
in which the fierceness of man raged against Him.
33. For the Just and Merciful
One, as He disposes the deeds of mortals, vouchsafes some things in mercy,
and permits other things in anger; and the things which He permits He so
bears with, that He turns them to the account of His purpose. And hence it
is brought to pass in a marvellous way, that even that, which is done
without the Will of God, is not contrary to the Will of God. For while evil
deeds are converted to a good use, the very things that oppose His design,
render service to His design. For hence it is said by the Psalmist, The
works of the Lord are great, sought out unto all His wills. [Ps. 111, 2.
Vulg.] For His works are so great, that by every thing that is done by man,
His Will is sought out; for it often happens that it is done by the very
act, whereby it was thought to be thrown aside. Hence again it is said,
Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in Heaven and in earth. [Ps.
135, 6] Hence Solomon saith, There is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor
counsel against the Lord. [Prov. 21, 30] It remains that, in all that
we do, we search out the potency of the Supreme Will, to which same, when we
know it, all our conduct ought devoutly to render service, and to follow it
as the guide of its course, lest it serve the same even against its will, if
it declines it from pride. For the potency of the Divine purpose cannot be
evaded, but he that bridles himself in under His nod, tempers it to himself
with great efficacy; and he lightens the weight thereof to himself, who
willingly bears it on the bowed shoulder of the heart. But as we have above
made mention of His persecutors, let us proceed to shew how the words that
are subjoined likewise fit their blindness. It goes on;
Ver. 14. They shall meet
with darkness in the day-time, and grope in the noonday as in the night.
[xix]
34. They ‘meet with darkness
in the day-time,’ for in the very presence of Truth, they were blinded by
the deceitfulness of unbelief. For we see clearly in the day-time, but in
the night the pupil of our eye is dimmed. Therefore whilst the persecutors
beheld the miracles of Divine Power, and yet doubted of His Divine Nature,
they were subjected to ‘darkness in the day-time,’ for they lost their
eyesight in the light. Hence it is that ‘Light’ Itself admonishes them,
saying, Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.
[John 12, 35] It is hence that it is said of Judaea, Her sun is gone
down, while it was yet day. [Jer. 15, 9] It is hence that the Prophet
again took up in himself the strain of persons in a state of penitence, in
these words, We stumble at noonday as in the night, we are in dismal
places as dead men. [Is. 59, 10] Hence again He says, Watchman, what
of the night [b]? Watchman, what of the night? The watchman said,
The morning cometh, and also the night. [Is. 21, 11. 12] For ‘the
watchman came by night,’ in that the Guardian of the human race even shewed
Himself manifest in the flesh, and yet Judaea, being close pressed by the
darkness of her faithlessness, never knew Him. Where it is well added in
the voice of the watchman, The morning cometh, and also the night.
For by His presence hath a new light shone out upon the world, and yet the
former darkness remained in the hearts of unbelievers. And it is well said,
They shall grope in the noonday as in the night; for we search out by
groping that which we do not see with our eyes. Now the Jews had seen His
undisguised miracles, and yet they still went on seeking Him, as it were
groping for Him, when they said, How long dost Thou make us to doubt?
If Thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. [John 10, 24] See, the light
of miracles was before their eyes, yet stumbling in the darkness of their
own hearts, they continued to grope in seeking for Him. And this same
blindness of theirs burst out into cruelty, and their cruelty even to the
extent of overt acts of persecution. But the Redeemer of mankind could not
for long be held by the hands of His persecutors. Hence it is forthwith
added;
Ver. 15. But He shall save
the poor from the sword of their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty.
[xx]
35. For it is this very Poor
Man of whom it is said by Paul, Though He was rich, yet for our sakes He
became poor. [2 Cor. 8, 9] And because the Jews in accusing betrayed
the Lord, Whom, when so betrayed, the Gentiles put to death, by ‘the sword
of the mouth’ may be signified the tongue of the Hebrews, that were His
accusers, of whom the Psalmist saith, Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongue a sharp sword. [Ps. 57, 4] For, as the Gospel also
witnesses, they cried out, Crucify Him, Crucify Him. Luke 23, 21;
John 19, 6] But by ‘the hand of the violent’ may be set forth the very
Gentile world itself, which crucified Him, which in our Redeemer's death
fulfilled in act the words of the Hebrews; God then ‘saved this Poor One
both from the hand of the violent,’ and from ‘the sword of the mouth,’ in
that our Redeemer, in His human Nature, was subjected both to the powers of
the Gentiles, and to the tongues of the Jews by dying, but in the power of
His Divine Nature He overcame them by rising again. By which same
resurrection what else is brought to pass than that our weakness is
strengthened to conceive the hope of the life hereafter? And hence it is
well added immediately afterwards,
Ver. 16. And so the needy
shall have hope.
[xxi]
36. For when the poor man is
rescued, ‘the needy’ is restored to hope, for the lowly people of the
faithful is shaken with dismay at our Redeemer dying, but is established
firm by His rising again, for the very first poor ones of His people, viz.
the chosen Preachers, were smitten by the sight of His death, but restored
by the manifesting of His resurrection. When, then, the poor man is saved,
‘the needy’ recovers hope, for by the Lord rising again in the flesh, every
faithful soul is strengthened to have a confident expectation of eternal
life. But, now, the Truth has already come in an open manifestation, He has
already undergone the death of the flesh, and destroyed the same by rising
again, already the glory of the Ascension has ennobled His Resurrection, and
yet the tongue of the Hebrews does not yet cease to urge Him with insults;
and He indeed suffers them with patience, that by such sufferance He may
turn some, and others that refuse to be turned He may one day visit with
severer punishment. For the tongue of unbelievers will then be struck dumb
from their habit of unbridled speech, when it shall see Him coming as a just
Judge, Whom now it has judged unjustly. And hence it is well added,
And iniquity shall stop her
mouth.
[xxii]
37. For now iniquity still
opens wide her mouth, in that the tongue of unbelievers never ceases to urge
with insults the Redeemer of the human race. But she shall then ‘stop her
mouth,’ when this same, which she will not shut in good will, she shall shut
in punishment. Yet this may also be well understood of the conversion of
the persecutors. For when ‘the poor is saved,’ whilst ‘the needy’ returns
to hope, iniquity is struck dumb, her mouth being stopped, in that by the
miracle of His Resurrection shining out, whilst a full number of unbelievers
is brought to the faith, it has ceased from the mocking and abuse of its
Redeemer. For its mouth, which it opened in mocking God, it has now shut in
the dread of Him.
[MORAL INTERPRETATION]
38. It is good to run through
these points in a moral sense, putting aside the signification of the Jewish
people, and to trace out in what manner they are transacted by wicked men in
general. For the minds of the wicked, when they see some things done well
by their neighbours, are strained upon the stretched rack of their jealousy,
and they undergo the grievous chastisement of their own malice, when with a
consuming heart they see good in others. Therefore it is well said, They
meet with darkness in the day time. For when their mind is grieved for
the superiority of another, there is an overshadowing from the ray of the
light; for oftentimes while they view the unconcealed good qualities in
their neighbours, they look closely if there be any evil points lying
concealed from sight, and they busy themselves in eager scrutinies, if they
may chance to find somewhat with which they may be able to charge them.
Sound limbs indeed are all they see, but, with the eyes of the heart closed,
they seek by feeling to find a sore. And hence it is rightly subjoined,
And grope in the noonday as in the night. The day of good deeds shines
outwardly in a neighbour, but they ‘grope as it were in the night,’ because
inwardly they are under the darkness of their jealous feeling. They busy
themselves to get to some points which they may censure, they seek out an
opening for detraction, but forasmuch as they are unable to find this, they
search about in blindness without. Which is well set forth in that
occasion, when from the Angels protecting Lot, the inhabitants of Sodom
could not find the doorway in his house, as it is written, And they
pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. But
the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and
shut to the door. And they smote the men that were at the door of the house
with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to
find the door. [Gen. 19, 9-11] What does it mean that, when the wicked
are up in arms against him, Lot is brought back into the house, and
defended, but that every righteous man, while he encounters the assaults of
evil ones, is brought back into his interior, and abides undismayed. But
the men of Sodom cannot find the door in Lot's house, because the corrupters
of souls detect no opening of accusation against the life of the righteous
man. For, stricken with blindness, they as it were go round and round the
house, who, under the influence of envy scrutinize words and deeds; but
because in the life of the just, strong and praiseworthy conduct fronts them
every way, groping at random they feel nothing else than the wall.
Therefore it is well said, And grope in the noonday as in the night.
For while the good, which they see, it is out of their power to impeach,
being blinded by wickedness, they search out for impeachment evil which they
see nothing of.
39. And here it is properly
subjoined, But he shall save the poor from the sword of their mouth, and
from the hand of the mighty. For the ‘poor’ is everyone that is not set
up in his own eyes. And hence ‘Truth’ saith in the Gospel, Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [Matt. 5, 3]
Now a person is drawn into sin in two ways. For either he is led on by
pleasure, or overcome by fear. For ‘the sword of the mouth’ is the
mischievousness of persuasion, but ‘the hand of the mighty’ is the
opposition of power. But because he that is truly humble, who is here
called ‘the poor,’ as he covets none of the good things of this world, so
also undauntedly sets at nought even its adverse fortune, it is well said,
But He saveth the poor from the sword of their mouth, and from the hand
of the mighty. As if it were put plainly; ‘God doth so firmly establish
the souls of the humble in Himself, that neither the alluring arts of
persuasion can draw them, nor the pains of punishment break them in to the
practice of sin. For hope rears the spirit into the eternal world, and
therefore it is not sensible of any of the ills without, that it falls
under. And hence it is subjoined, So the needy shall have hope.
Unto the fruits of which same hope, verily, when the poor man attaineth,
everyone that is exalted is struck dumb; and hence it is yet further added,
And iniquity shall stop her mouth. For the wicked man detracts from
the good, and the righteous ways, which he cares not to practise, he never
ceases to pull in pieces by slander, but iniquity at that time stoppeth her
mouth, when her eyes are opened to see how great is the glory of the
recompense provided for righteous souls. For then he is not at liberty to
speak against the good, in that torments hold his tongue tied by the
deserved retribution of his misdeeds. Hence it is well delivered by Hannah,
speaking in prophecy, He will keep the feet of his Saints, and the wicked
shall be silent in darkness. [1 Sam. 2, 9] But that every elect soul
may escape eternal woe, and the poor mount up to everlasting glory, he must
be bruised here below with continual stripes, that he may be found purified
in the Judgment. For we are every day borne downwards by the mere weight of
our infirmity, but that by the wonderful interposition of our Maker we are
relieved by succouring stripes. Hence it is added,
Ver. 17. Behold, happy is
the man whom God correcteth.
[xxiii]
40. The highest virtue is to
avoid sins, that they should never be done, and second to that, at least to
amend them when they have been committed. But for the most part we not only
never at all avoid sins that threaten, but we do not even open our eyes to
them, when committed. And the mind of sinners is enveloped in the deeper
darkness, in proportion as it does not see the deficiency of its own
blindness. Hence it is very often brought to pass, by the bountifulness of
God's gift, that punishment follows upon transgression, and stripes unclose
the eyes of the transgressor, which self-security was blinding in the midst
of evil ways. For the inactive soul is touched with the rod, so as to be
stimulated, in order that he, that has lost, by being self-secure, the firm
seat of uprightness, may mark, upon being afflicted; where he is laid
prostrate; and thus to him [A.B.C.D. ‘huic’] the very sharpness of the
correction becomes the source of light; and hence it is said by Paul, But
all things that are proved [c], are made manifest by the light
[Eph. 5, 13]; for proof of saving health lies in the force of the pain.
Hence it is that Solomon saith, For healing will cause great offences to
cease. [Ecc. 10, 4. Vulg.] Hence again he saith, For whom the Lord
loveth He correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.
[Prov. 3, 12] Hence the Lord addresses John by the voice of the Angel [d],
saying, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. [Rev. 3, 19] Hence
Paul saith, Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of
righteousness, unto them that are exercised thereby. [Heb. 12, 11]
Although therefore grief and happiness can never meet together, yet it is
rightly said here, Happy is the man whom the Lord correcteth. For by
this means, that the sinner is straitly visited with the pain of correction,
he is sometimes trained to happiness, which knows no intervention of pain.
It proceeds,
Therefore despise not thou
the chastening of the Lord.
[xxiv]
41. Whosoever is smitten for
a fault and lifted up in murmuring against the stroke, ‘reproves the
chastening of the Lord.’ For he lays to His charge, that he has this put
upon him unjustly. But they that are stricken, not for the cleansing of
guilt, but for the testing of their fortitude, when they inquire into the
causes of the stroke, must by no means be said to ‘reprove the correction of
the Lord;’ for their aim is to discover in themselves what they are ignorant
of. And hence blessed Job, breaking out into a voice of liberty, amidst the
visitings of the scourge, the more rightly questions the judgments of the
smiter concerning him, the more he is really ignorant of causes for his
suffering in himself. Eliphaz, then, forasmuch as he reckoned that he was
visited, not with the trial of probation, but of purification, when he spoke
with freedom amidst the stripes, supposed that he ‘reproved the correction
of the Lord.’ And we have said that he at the same time bears the likeness
of heretics with great fitness, in that whatsoever is done aright by Holy
Church, is ever, in their judgment, turned and twisted awry, to some fault
of crookedness. But forasmuch as it is with a good intention that he is led
to speak, yet he takes no heed to discriminate who he is speaking to, he yet
further subjoins, and proclaims the dispensations of the supreme governance,
saying,
Ver. 18. For He maketh
sore, and bindeth up; He woundeth, and His hands shall make whole.
[xxv]
42. In two ways Almighty God
wounds those, whom He is minded to bring back to saving health; for
sometimes He smites the flesh, and consumes the hardness of the heart by the
fear of Him. Thus He recalls to saving health, by dealing wounds, when He
afflicts His own Elect outwardly, that they be quickened with inward life.
Whence He also says by Moses, I will kill and I will make alive, I will
wound and I will heal [Deut. 32, 39]; for He ‘kills,’ that He may ‘make
alive,’ He ‘wounds,’ that He may ‘heal;’ in that He for this reason applies
stripes without, in order that He may heal the wounds of sin within. But
sometimes, even if strokes without should seem to have ceased, He inflicts
wounds within, in that He strikes the hardness of the heart with the desire
of Himself; yet in wounding He heals, in that when we are pierced with the
dart of His dread, He recalls us to a right sense. For our hearts are not
well sound, when they are wounded by no love of God, when they feel not the
wofulness of their pilgrimage, when they do not go sorrowing with the least
degree of feeling for the infirmity of their neighbour. But they are
‘wounded,’ that they may be ‘healed,’ in that God strikes unfeeling souls
with the darts of His love, and straightway makes them full of feeling,
through the burning heat of charity, and hence the spouse saith in the Song
of Songs, For I am wounded with love. [Cant. 2, 5. LXX] For the
diseased soul, laid prone upon the litter of this place of banishment in
blind self-security, neither beheld the Lord, nor sought to see Him. But on
being struck with the darts of His love, it is wounded in its innermost
parts with a feeling of pious affection, burns with the desire of
contemplation; and in a marvellous manner she is made alive by wounding, who
aforetime lay dead in a state of health: she glows, she pants, and yearns to
see Him already, from Whom she turned. By being smitten, then, she is
brought back to a state of soundness, who is recalled to a secure state of
inward repose by the disturbing of her self-love. But when the wounded soul
begins to pant after God, when, setting at nought all the alluring arts of
the world, it stretches forth in desire to the land above, all is forthwith
turned to its trial, whatsoever aforetime was accounted pleasing and
alluring in this world. For they that had a fond affection for him living
in sin, cruelly assault him when he lives aright. The soul that is raised
up toward God, is subject to rude assaults from the flesh, wherein it
formerly lay grovelling in enjoyment, the slave of evil habits; former
pleasures recur to the mind, and push hard the resisting soul with a
grievous conflict. But because that, while we are afflicted with transitory
labour, we are rescued from everlasting pain, it is fitly subjoined;
Ver. 19. He shall deliver
thee in six troubles, yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee.
[xxvi]
43. For what is denoted by
the number ‘six,’ which is followed by ‘the seventh,’ saving the labour and
course of the present life? For God, finishing all things on the sixth day,
created man, and God rested on the seventh day; and this same seventh day is
without an evening, for there is no longer any end to close the rest that
followeth. When all things, then, are completed, the rest followeth, in
that after the good works of the present life, the recompense of eternal
rest follows. Therefore ‘in six troubles the Lord delivers us,’ that ‘no
evil may touch us in the seventh,’ in that by the training of His fatherly
pity, He exercises us with the labours of the present life, but at the
coming of the Judge, He hides us from the scourge, that He may then bring us
out the more sure for His salvation, in proportion as we are now scored the
more cruelly with scourges. And immediately reckoning up with fitness both
the ills of the present life, and the aids of Protection from above, adds,
Ver. 20. In famine He
shall redeem thee from death, and in war from the power of the sword.
[xxvii]
44. As the ‘famine’ of the
flesh is the withdrawal of the support of the body, so the hunger of the
soul is the silence of divine revelation. Hence it is rightly delivered by
the Prophet, I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor
a thirst of water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord. [Amos
8, 11] And forasmuch as when the divine communication leaves the human
soul, the temptation of the flesh gains force against it, it is fitly
brought in, And in war from the power of the sword. For we suffer a
war, when we are assailed by the temptations of our flesh. Concerning which
same war the Psalmist saith, Cover my head in the day of battle. [Ps.
140, 7] Therefore, whereas the reprobate, whilst their strength fails from
a ‘famine’ of the word of God, are furthermore pierced with ‘the sword of
war,’ the Lord both ‘in famine redeems’ His Elect ‘from death,’ and ‘in war’
He hides them ‘from the sword.’ For while He refreshes their souls with the
food of His word, He makes them strong to resist the temptations of the
body. Yet there be some, who, though they recruit themselves, out of the
store of the word of God, from the famine of the interior, though they be
already stayed up against the temptations of the body by the virtue of
continency, yet still fear to be stricken with the slanders of their
fellow-creatures, and oftentimes, whilst they dread the arrows of the
tongue, they strangle themselves with the noose of sin. And hence it is
fitly added,
Ver. 21, Thou shalt be hid
from the scourge of the tongue.
[xxviii]
45. ‘The scourge of the
tongue’ is the taunting of insults offered. They strike the righteous ‘with
the scourge of the tongue,’ who pursue their deeds with mockery. For
oftentimes the tongue, while it utters jibes, recalls from a good deed, and
puts itself out like a scourge, in that it cuts the back of the cowardly
soul. Which ‘scourge of the tongue,’ the Prophet had seen plotting against
the elect soul, when He said, promising the aid that is above, Surely He
shall deliver thee from the snare of the hunter, and from the rough word.
[Ps. 91, 3. Vulg.] For ‘hunters’ seek nothing else than flesh, but we are
‘delivered from the snare of the hunters and from the rough word,’ when we
overcome both the snare of carnal persons, and the reproaches of sneers, by
setting them at nought. For their words are ‘rough,’ which are arrayed
against our righteous ways. And to ‘escape the roughness of words,’ is to
trample down the mockings of calumniators by shutting our eyes to them, the
holy soul then is hidden from ‘the scourge of tongues,’ in that whilst in
this world it never seeks the honour of applause, neither does it feel the
insults of calumny. But there be some that already set at nought the words
of the scornful, already care nothing for their jeers, yet they still stand
in dread of the pains and tortures of the body. For our old adversary, in
order to withdraw us from a right bent of mind, assaults us in diverse
modes, and prosecutes the tempting of us one while by a famine of the word,
another while by the conflict of the flesh, now by the scourge of talk, now
by the distress of persecution. But because every perfect person, when once
he has overcome the evil habits in himself, straightway goes on to brace his
mind to meet the inflictions of suffering, it is properly subjoined,
Neither shalt thou be
afraid of calamity when it cometh.
[xix]
46. For holy men, for that
they see that they are engaged with an adversary of manifold form, equip
themselves variously in their conflict. For against a famine, they have the
sustenance of God's word; against the sword of war, they have the shield of
continency; against the scourge of the tongue, the defence of patience;
against the hurt of outward misfortune, they have the aid of inward love.
Hence in a marvellous method it is brought to pass, that the more manifold
the temptations which the craft of the enemy brings upon them, so much the
richer in virtues are the wary soldiers of God rendered. And forasmuch as
all the Elect severally, whilst they bear with courageous hearts the
conflicts of the present life, are providing for themselves security under
the terrors of the future Judgment, it is rightly subjoined;
Ver. 22. In destruction
and famine thou shalt laugh.
[xxx]
47. For the lost shall then
suffer ‘destruction and famine,’ when, being condemned in the last Judgment,
they are parted asunder from the sight of ‘the Bread’ eternal. For it is
written, Let the wicked be taken away, that he see not the glory of God.
[Is. 26, 10. lxx.] And the Lord declares by His own lips, I am the
living Bread, Which came down from heaven. [John 6, 51] Thus at one and
the same time both ‘destruction and famine’ combine to torture those, who
not only feel torments without, but farther suffer death within by the
plague of starvation. Hell ‘destroys,’ in that it burns, famine kills, in
that the Redeemer hides His face from them. For well and justly they have
their recompense both within and without, in that the wretched people both
by thought and by deed did commit offence. Whence it is well said by the
Psalmist, Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of Thine
anger: the Lord shall confound them in His wrath, and the fire shall devour
them. [Ps. 21, 9] For that, which is ‘devoured’ by fire, is kindled
from the outside. But an oven is set on fire within. And so in the time of
God's anger all the unrighteous are both ‘made as a fiery oven,’ and also
‘devoured by the fire,’ in that at the appearing of the Judge, when all the
multitude of them is banished from the sight of Him, both within the
conscience is set on fire from the misery of want [‘Desiderium’], and
without hell torments the flesh.
48. ‘The scourge of the
tongue’ too may be understood to mean the sentence of the final doom,
whereby the Just Judge saith to the lost, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into
everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. [Matt. 25, 41]
The righteous man then is ‘hidden from the scourge of the tongue,’ and from
the coming woe, because in that exceeding strictness of doom, he is then
comforted with the, mild voice of the Judge, when it is said, For I was
an hungred, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was
a stranger, and ye took Me in: naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye
visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me. [ver. 35, 36.] Before
which it is premised; Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. [ver. 34.] Therefore
‘in destruction and famine’ the righteous man ‘shall laugh;’ for, when the
final vengeance smites all the wicked, he himself joys in the glory of a
meet reward. Nor does he at that time any longer compassionate the damned
by virtue of his human nature. For, incorporated into the Divine Justice by
resemblance [per speciem], he is, by the unshaken force of interior
strictness, made thoroughly firm. For the souls of the Elect, being reared
up in the clear light of the Righteousness above, are touched by no sense of
compassion, in that the height of their bliss makes them strangers to
misery. Hence also it is well said by the Psalmist; The righteous also
shall see this, and shall fear, and shall laugh at him, and shall say, Lo,
this is the man that made not God his helper. [Ps. 52, 6. 7.] For now
the righteous see the wicked and fear, then they shall see and laugh. For
because they may now fall in imitation of them, here they are holden of
fear, but because they cannot then advantage the damned, there they
entertain no sympathy. Therefore, that they should not commiserate those
that are doomed to eternal woe, they read in that very justice of the Judge
wherein they exist in bliss. For, a thing which it is not right to imagine
of them, they lower the character of the happiness vouchsafed them, if, when
placed in the kingdom, they wish for something which they never can
accomplish. But whosoever orders himself after the precepts of life,
already tastes here below the first-fruits of that secure estate which shall
last for ever, so that he has no fear of our old enemy; nor at the coming on
of the crisis of death in any degree dreads his violent assault. For to the
righteous the beginning of their recompense is most commonly nothing else
than the very security of their minds in dying. Hence it is rightly added,
Neither shalt thou be
afraid of the beast of the earth.
[xxxi]
49. For our crafty foe is
called ‘a beast of the earth,’ in that he ravins with the violence of his
savage nature, to seize upon the souls of sinners at the hour of their
death. For those whom he deludes by flattery during their lifetime, he
seizes with cruelty when they are dying. Contrary whereunto the Lord gives
a promise concerning the Church of the Elect through the Prophet, The evil
beast shall not go up thereon. They then in dying fear the ‘beast of the
earth,’ who when living fear not the power of their Maker. For good men,
because they submit themselves from the core of their heart to the dread of
God, put away every weight of fear arising from the adversary's coming. For
it is hence that the Psalmist beseeches the Lord, in these words, Lest he
tear my soul as a lion. [Ps. 7, 2] Hence again he says, Hear my
voice, O God, in my prayer, preserve my soul from fear of the enemy.
[Ps. 64, 1. 2.] For while they live they perfectly fear the Judge, that
when they die they may not dread the accuser. Well then is it said,
Neither shalt thou be afraid of the beast of the earth. As if it were
in plain words, ‘Forasmuch as thou art not now overcome by the enemy in his
alluring address, thou shalt not hereafter fear him in his rage. But when
we live well, it is very needful to be on our guard, that the mind, looking
down upon others, be not lifted up by the pride of standing alone. Hence it
is that the blessing of fellowship is fitly called to mind, where the words
are immediately introduced thereupon,
But with the stones of the
countries shall be thy covenant.
[xxxii]
50. The Churches of the
nations are like separate countries in the world, which, while they be
planted in one faith, are separated by a diversity of customs and of
tongues. What then do we take the stones of the countries to mean but the
Elect ones of the Church, to whom it is declared by the voice of him who was
the first among the teachers, Ye also as lively stones are built up a
spiritual house? [1 Pet. 2, 5] Concerning whom the Lord by His
Prophet promises Holy Church, saying, Behold, I will lay thy stones in
order. [Is. 54, 11] Whoso then lives aright, joins himself in covenant
‘with the stones of the countries.’ For herein, that he conquers the
desires of the world, without doubt he ties his life to an imitation of the
Saints that have gone before. But when he is departing from the practice of
the world, the assaults of malicious spirits increase, which nevertheless,
the more they afflict a man in sorrow of heart, bow him the more humbly to
his Creator. And hence it is added,
And the beasts of the earth
shall be peacemakers to thee.
[xxxiii]
51. First it is to be
observed, that he does not say, ‘made peaceful,’ but, ‘peacemakers,’ that is
to say, not that they are at peace, but that they make peace; for the crafty
foes in making plots distress, but the distressed soul delights the more in
her return to the heavenly home, the more she lives toiling in this woful
place of exile, and most truly abases herself to the gracious regard of her
Helper, when she considers the most violent plots of the enemy against her.
The beasts of the earth then are rendered ‘peacemakers’ to the Elect, in
that the malignant spirits, when they bear down the hearts of the good by
their hostility, drive them to the love of God against their will. Thus
there arises a firmer peace with God, from the same source, whence a tougher
fight is occasioned us by our adversaries.
52. By the ‘beasts of the
earth’ too may be understood the motions of the flesh, which, while they
gall the mind by prompting conduct which is contrary to reason, rise up
against us like beasts. But when the heart is bowed down under the Divine
Law, even the incitements of the flesh are reduced, so that, though in
tempting us they give a low muttering, yet they never mount so high as to
the execution of the deeds, as to the madness of open biting. For who that
still subsists in this corruptible flesh, completely tames these beasts of
the earth, when that preeminent Preacher that was caught up to the third
heaven, says, But I see another law in my members, warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is
my members. [Rom. 7, 21] But it is one thing to see these beasts raging
in the field of practice, and another to hold them ravening within the door
of the heart. For when they be forced back within the bars of continence,
though they still roar by tempting, yet, as we have said, they go not such
lengths as the bite of unlawful practice. The beasts of the field then are
peacemakers, in that though the motions of the flesh beat high in the
desire, yet they never assail us with the open resistance of deeds, (though
by this same circumstance, that they are called ‘peacemakers,’ even this
same that we have said of malicious spirits is not unsuitably understood.)
For the motions of the flesh ‘make peace’ for us with God, when they offer
opposition by tempting us. For the mind of the righteous man, in that his
way is directed to the realms above, is sore bestead by a grievous war
arising from the corruptible body. And if at any time it be hindered in
heavenly aspirations by any enjoyment of this world however slight, by that
very war of temptation, which it undergoes, it is urged on to set all its
affections in that, which is disturbed by no opposition. Whence it comes to
pass that it recalls to mind the interior repose, and fleeing from the
enticements of the flesh, sighs after it with a full affection. For
temptation constrains every man to mark from whence and whereunto he is
fallen, who after he has forsaken the peace of God, feels a strife rise up
against him from out of himself, and then he more truly sees what he has
lost of the assured love of God, who having fallen down to himself, finds
his own self insulted within himself. The beasts of the earth then make
peace for us, in that the motions of the flesh, whilst by offering
temptation they irritate us, urge us forwards to the love of the interior
repose. Now it is rightly added,
Ver. 24. And thou shalt
know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace.
[xxxiv]
53. In holy Scripture full
peace is described in one way, and peace in its beginning in another. For
‘Truth’ gave to His Disciples peace in its beginning, when He said, Peace
I leave with you; My peace I give unto you. [John 14, 27] And Simeon
desired to have perfect peace, when he besought saying, Now lettest Thou
Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word. [Luke 2, 29] For
our peace begins in longing for the Creator, but it is perfected by a clear
vision. For it will then be perfect, when our mind is neither blinded by
ignorance, nor moved by the assaults of its fleshly part. But forasmuch as
we touch upon its first beginnings, when we either subject the soul to God
or the flesh to the soul, the ‘tabernacle’ of the righteous man is said to
‘have peace,’ in that his body, which he inhabits by his mind, is held in
from the froward motions of its desires under the controlling hand of
righteousness. But what advantage is it to restrain the flesh by
continence, if the mind is uninstructed to expand itself by compassion in
the love of our neighbour? For that chasteness of the flesh is as nothing,
which is not recommended by sweetness of spirit. Whence after the ‘peace of
the tabernacle’ it is fitly subjoined,
And thou shalt visit thy
likeness, and shalt not sin.
[xxxv]
54. For the likeness
of man is another man. For a fellow-creature is rightly called our
‘likeness,’ in that in him we discern what we ourselves are. Now in the
visiting of the body we go to our neighbour by the accession of steps, but
in the spiritual visiting, we are led not by the footstep but by affection.
He then ‘visits his likeness,’ whoever direct his way to one, whom he sees
to be like to himself in nature, by the footsteps of love, so that by seeing
his own case in another, he may collect from himself how to condescend to
another's weakness. He ‘visits his likeness,’ who, that he may remodel
another in himself, takes account of himself in another. For hence ‘Truth,’
in telling by the mouth of Moses what had been done, denoted what was to be
done, saying, And the earth brought forth grass and herb yielding seed
after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, each one bearing seed after his
kind. [gen. 1, 12] For ‘the tree produces seed after its kind’ when our
mind gathers from itself thought for another, and produces the
fructification of well doing. Hence the wise man saith, Do not that to
any, which thou wouldest not have done to thyself. [Tob. 4, 15] Hence
the Lord saith in the Gospel, Therefore all things whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye even to them. [Matt. 7, 12] As if He
said in plain words, ‘Visit your likeness in another man, and from your own
selves learn what conduct it behoves you to exhibit to others.’ Hence Paul
says, And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to
them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that
are under the law; to them that are without law, as without law, (being not
without law to God, but under the law to Christ.) [1 Cor. 9, 20. 21.]
And soon after, I am made all things to all men, that I might save all.
[ib. 22] Not indeed that the great Preacher, to become like a Jew, broke
away into faithlessness; nor, that he might become ‘as one under the law,’
did he turn back to the fleshly sacrifice; nor, that he might become ‘all
things to all men,’ did he change his singleness of mind into variety of
deceit; but by lowering himself, not by falling, he drew near to the
unbelievers, to this end, that by taking each one into himself and
transforming himself into each one, by sympathizing with them, he might
gather what it was, that, if he himself were like them, he would justly have
desired should be bestowed upon him by others; and might go along with every
erring person so much the more to the purpose, in proportion as he had
learnt the method of his salvation by the consideration of his own case.
Well then is it said, And thou shalt visit thy likeness, and shalt not
sin. For sin is then perfectly conquered, when everyone sees from the
likeness of himself, how to expand in the love of his neighbour. But when
the flesh is kept in check from evil practices, when the mind is exercised
in virtuous habits, it remains that every one should by word of mouth reach
the life, which in his own ways he observes. For he gathers abundant fruits
of his preaching, who sows before the seeds of welldoing. Whence after the
‘peace of the tabernacle’ and the ‘visiting of our likeness,’ it is rightly
subjoined,
Ver. 25. Thou shalt know
also that thy seed shall be manifold, and thine offspring as the grass of
the earth.
[xxxvi]
55. For after the ‘peace of
his tabernacle,’ after ‘the visiting of our likeness,’ the manifold seed of
the righteous man ariseth, in that after the macerating of the members and
the fulness of the moral virtues, the word of preaching is bestowed upon him
so much the more productive, in proportion as it is anticipated in his
breast by the tillage of perfect practice. For he receives eloquence to
speak well, who expands the bosom of his heart by the exercises of right
living. Nor does the conscience hinder the speaker, when the life goes
before the tongue. It is hence that the Egyptians, who, by Joseph's
management, were subjected to a state of public servitude, when they humble
themselves by submitting their persons to the king's power, carry away corn
even for seed. For we receive, even when free, fruit to eat, when we are at
the same time fed by the sacred word, and yet in the gratification of our
pleasures roam after different objects, which we seek after in this world.
But when we become slaves, we receive corn for seed too, in that while we
are made wholly subject to God, we are replenished further with the word of
preaching. And since a vast progeny of faithful souls succeeds, when holy
preaching is first bestowed, after the multiplying of the seed, it is
rightly subjoined, And thine offspring as the grass of the earth.
The progeny of the righteous is compared to the grass of the earth, in that
he who is born in a copy of him, while he quits the decaying glory of the
present life, comes out green with hope in the things of eternity. Or
truly, the progeny of the righteous springeth up like ‘the grass,’ in that
while he shews forth by his living what he declares by his preaching, an
innumerable multitude of followers arises. But whosoever already looks down
upon all earthly objects of desire, whoever spreads himself out in the
labours of an active life, finds it by no means suffice him to do great
things without, unless by contemplation he also have power to penetrate into
interior mysteries. Hence too the words are thereupon fitly introduced,
Ver.26. Thou shalt come to
thy grave in fulness, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.
[xxxvii]
56. For what is denoted by
the name of the grave, saving a life of contemplation? which as it were
buries us, dead to this world, in that it hides us in the interior world
away from all earthly desires. For they being dead to the exterior life,
were also buried by contemplation, to whom Paul said, For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Christ in God. An active life also is a
grave, in that it covers us, as dead, from evil works; but the contemplative
life more perfectly buries us, in that it wholly severs us from all worldly
courses. Whoever then has already subdued the insolencies of the flesh in
himself, has this task left him, to discipline his mind by the exercises of
holy practice. And whosoever opens his mind in holy works, has over and
above to extend it to the secret pursuits of inward contemplation. For he
is no perfect preacher, who either, from devotion to contemplation, neglects
works that ought to be done, or, from urgency in business, puts aside the
duties of contemplation. For it is hence that Abraham buries his wife after
death in a double [in spelunca agri duplici Vulg.] sepulchre, in that
every perfect preacher buries his soul, dead to the desires of the present
life, under the covering of good practice and of contemplation, that the
soul which aforetime, sensible of the desires of the world, was living in
death, may as it were, without being obnoxious to sense, lie buried from
carnal concupiscence under an active and contemplative life. It is hence
that the Redeemer of mankind in the day time exhibits His miracles in
cities, and spends the night in devotion to prayer upon the mountain,
namely, that He may teach all perfect preachers, that they should neither
entirely leave the active life, from love of the speculative, nor wholly
slight the joys of contemplation from excess in working, but in quiet imbibe
by contemplation, what in employment they may pour back to their neighbours
by word of mouth. For by contemplation they rise into the love of God, but
by preaching they return back to the service of their neighbour. Hence with
Moses, whilst a heifer is slaughtered in sacrifice, scarlet wool twice dyed
is enjoined to be offered together with hyssop and cedar wood. For we slay
a heifer, when we kill our flesh to its lust of gratification; and this we
offer with hyssop and cedar and scarlet wool, in that together with the
mortifying of the flesh, we burn the incense of faith, hope, and charity.
The hyssop is of use to purify our inward parts; and Peter says,
purifying their hearts by faith. [1 Pet. 1, 3] Cedar wood never decays
by rotting, in that no end finishes the hope of heavenly things. Whence too
Peter saith, He hath begotten us again by a lively hope by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away. Scarlet wool flames with the
redness of its hue, in that charity sets on fire the heart she fills.
Whence also ‘Truth’ saith in the Gospel, I am come to send fire on the
earth. But scarlet wool twice dyed is ordered to be offered, that in
the sight of the internal Judge our charity may be coloured with the love
both of God and of our neighbour, that the converted soul may neither so
delight in repose for the sake of the love of God, as to put aside the care
and service of our neighbour, nor busying itself for the love of our
neighbour, be so wedded, thereto, that entirely forsaking quiet, it
extinguish in itself the fire of love of the Most High. Whosoever then has
already offered himself as a sacrifice to God, if he desires perfection,
must needs take care that he not only stretch himself out to breadth of
practice, but likewise up to the heights of contemplation.
57. But herein it is above
all things necessary to know, that the compositions [‘conspersio,’
dough, paste.] of souls are infinitely varied one with another, for there
are some of such inactivity of mind, that, if the labours of business fall
upon them, they give way at the very beginning of their work, and there be
some so restless, that if they have cessation from labour, they have only
the worse labour, in that they are subject to worse tumults of mind, in
proportion as they have more time and liberty for their thoughts. Whence it
behoves that neither the tranquil mind should open itself wide in the
immoderate exercising of works, nor the restless mind stint itself in
devotion to contemplation. For often they, who might have contemplated God
in quiet, have fallen, being overcharged with business; and often they, who
might live advantageously occupied with the service of their
fellow-creatures, are killed by the sword of their quiescence. It is hence
that some restless spirits, whilst by contemplation they hunt out more than
their wits compass, launch out even to the length of wrong doctrines, and,
whilst they have no mind to be the disciples of Truth in a spirit of
humility, they become the masters of falsities. It is hence that ‘Truth’
saith by His own lips, And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out,
and cast it from thee; for it is profitable for thee to enter into life with
one eye, rather than having two eyes be cast into hell fire. For the
two lives, the active and the contemplative, when they be preserved in the
soul, are accounted as two eyes in the face. Thus the right eye is the
contemplative life, and the left the active life. But, as we have said,
there be some, who are quite unable to behold the world above, and spiritual
things, with the eye of discernment, yet enter upon the, heights of
contemplation, and therefore, by the mistake of a perverted understanding,
they fall away into the pit of misbelieve. These then the contemplative
life, adopted to an extent beyond their powers, obliges to fall from the
truth, which same persons the active life by itself might have kept safe in
lowliness of mind in the firm seat of their uprightness. To these ‘Truth’
rightly addresses the warning which we said before, And if thy right eye
offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee; for it is good for thee to
enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into
hell fire. As if He said in plain words; ‘When thou art not qualified
for the contemplative life by a fitting degree of discretion, keep more
safely the active life alone, and when thou failest in that which thou
choosest as great, be content with that which thou heedest as very little,
that if by the contemplative life thou art forced to fall from the knowledge
of the truth, thou mayest by the active life alone be able to enter into the
kingdom of heaven at least with one eye.’ Hence He says again, But whoso
shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better
for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were
drowned in the depth of the sea. [Matt. 18, 6] What is denoted by ‘the
sea,’ but this present state of being? what by ‘the millstone,’ but earthly
practice, which while it binds down the neck of the soul by foolish desires,
sends it out into the round of labour. Thus there are some, who, while they
quit earthly courses and rise beyond the powers of their understanding in
pursuance of the exercises of contemplation, having laid aside humility, not
only cast themselves into error, but separate any that be weak from the
bosom of unity; and thus ‘it would be better for him, that offends one of
the least, with a millstone fastened to his neck, to be cast into the sea,’
in that indeed it would have been more expedient for the froward mind, if,
busied with the world, it were employed in earthly matters, than, in the
exercises of contemplation, to be free to work the destruction of numbers.
On the other hand, if it were not that the contemplative life suited some
minds more than the active life, the Lord would never say by the voice of
the Psalmist, Be still, and know that I am God. [Ps. 46, 10]
58. But herein it is
necessary to know, that often at one and the same time love stimulates
inactive souls to work, and fear keeps back restless souls in the exercise
of contemplation. For a weight of fear is an anchor of the heart, and very
often it is tossed by the stormy sea of thoughts, but is held fast by the
moorings of its self-control; nor does the tempest of its disquietude make
shipwreck of it, in that perfect charity holds it fast on the shore of the
love of God [d]. Whence it is necessary that whoever eagerly prosecutes the
exercises of contemplation, first question himself with particularity, how
much he loves. For the force of love is an engine of the soul, which, while
it draws it out of the world, lifts it on high. Let him then first examine
whether in searching after the highest things he loves, whether in loving he
fears, whether he knows either how to apprehend unknown truths, while he
loves them, or not being apprehended to reverence them in cherishing fear.
For in contemplation, if love does not stimulate the mind, the dulness of
its tepidity stupefies it. If fear does not weigh on it, sense lifts it by
vain objects to the mist of error, and when the door of secret things, being
closed against it, is slow in being opened, merely by its own presumption
alone it is forced the farther off there-from, for it strives to force a way
to that which it seeks after without finding, and when the proud mind takes
falsehood for truth, in proportion as it is advancing the step as if
inwards, it is directing it without. Thus it is for this reason that the
Lord, when about to give the Law, came down in fire and in smoke; in that He
both enlightens the lowly by the clearness of His manifestation of Himself,
and darkens the eyes of the highminded by the dimness of error. First then
the soul must be cleansed from all affection for earthly glory, and from the
gratification of carnal concupiscence, and next it is to be lifted up in the
ken of contemplation. Hence too, when the Law is given to them, the people
are forbidden the Mount, namely, that they who, by the frailty of their
minds, still have their affections set upon earthly objects, may not venture
to take cognizance of things above. And hence it is rightly said, And if a
beast touch the mountain, it shall he stoned. For ‘a beast touches the
mountain,’ when the mind, which is bowed down to irrational desires, lifts
itself to the heights of contemplation. But it is ‘smitten with stones,’ in
that being unable to bear the highest things, it is killed by the mere blows
of the weight on high.
59. Let all then that strive
to lay hold of the summit of perfection, when they desire to occupy the
citadel of contemplation, first try themselves, by exercising, in the field
of practice, that they may heedfully acquaint themselves, if they now no
longer bring mischiefs upon their neighbours, if when brought upon them by
their neighbours, they bear them with composure of mind, if when temporal
advantages are put in their way, the mind is never dissipated by joy, if,
when they are withdrawn, it is not stung by overmuch regret, and then let
them reflect, if, when they return inwardly to themselves, in this work of
theirs of exploring spiritual things, they never draw along with them the
shadows of corporeal objects, or when drawn along, as they may be, if they
drive them off with the hand of discretion [al. districtionis,
severity]; if, when they long to behold the unencompassed light, they put
down all images of their own compass, or in that which they seek to reach
unto above themselves, conquer that which they are. Hence it is rightly
said here, Thou shalt come to thy grave in abundance. For the
perfect man does ‘come to the grave in abundance,’ in that he first gathers
together the works of an active life, and then by contemplation wholly hides
from this world his fleshly sense, which is now dead. Hence too it is fitly
subjoined,
Like as a shock of corn
cometh in in his season.
60. For the season for action
comes first, for contemplation last. Whence it is needful that every
perfect man first discipline his mind in virtuous habits, and afterwards lay
it up in the granary of rest. For it is hence that he, who was left of the
legion of devils at the bidding of our Lord, seats himself at His Saviour's
feet, receives the words of instruction, and eagerly desires to leave his
country in company with the Author of his recovery, but That very ‘Truth’
Himself, Who vouchsafed to him recovery, tells him, Return first unto
thine own house, and shew what great things God hath done unto thee.
[Luke 8, 39. &c.] For when we have the least particle imparted to us of the
knowledge of God, we are no longer inclined to return to our human affairs,
and we shrink from burthening ourselves with the wants of our neighbours.
We seek the rest of contemplation, and love only that which refreshes
without toil. But after we are cured, the Lord sends us home. He bids us
relate the things that have been done with us, so as that in fact the soul
should first spend itself in labour, and that afterwards it may be refreshed
by contemplation.
61. It is hence that Jacob
serves for Rachel, and gets Leah, and that it is said to him, It is not
the custom in our country to give the youngest before the first-born.
For Rachel is rendered ‘the beginning seen [c],’ but ‘Leah,’ ‘laborious.’
And what is denoted by Rachel but the contemplative life? What by Leah, but
the active life? For in contemplation ‘the Beginning,’ which is God, is the
object we seek, but in action we labour under a weighty bundle of wants.
Whence on the one hand Rachel is beautiful but barren, Leah weak eyed, but
fruitful, truly in that when the mind seeks the ease of contemplation, it
sees more, but it is less productive in children to God. But when it
betakes itself to the laborious work of preaching, it sees less, but it
bears more largely. Accordingly after the embrace of Leah, Jacob attains to
Rachel, in that every one that is perfect is first joined to an active life
in productiveness, and afterwards united to a contemplative life in rest.
For that the life of contemplation is less indeed in time [i.e. age], but
greater in value [merito] than the active, we are shewn by the words of the
Holy Gospel, wherein two women are described to have acted in different
ways. For Mary sat at our Redeemer's feet, hearing His words, but Martha
eagerly prosecuted bodily services; and when Martha made complaint against
Mary's inactivity, she heard the words, Martha, Martha, thou art careful
and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful: and Mary hath
chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. [Luke 10,
41. 42.] For what is set forth by Mary, who sitting down gave ear to the
words of our Lord, saving the life of contemplation? and what by Martha, so
busied with outward services, saving the life of action? Now Martha's
concern is not reproved, but that of Mary is even commended. For the merits
of the active life are great, but of the contemplative, far better. Whence
Mary's part is said to be ‘never taken away from her,’ in that the works of
the active life pass away together with the body, while the joys of the
contemplative life are made more lively at the end. Which is well and
briefly set forth by the Prophet Ezekiel, when, beholding the flying
creatures, he says, And the likeness of the hands of a man were under
their wings. [Ezek. 10, 21] For what can we suppose meant by the wings
of the creatures, saving the contemplations of the Saints, by which they
soar aloft, and quitting earthly scenes, poise themselves in the regions of
heaven? What do we understand by the ‘hands,’ saving deeds? For whereas
they open themselves in the love of their neighbour, the good things, which
abound to them, they administer even by bodily ministration; but ‘the hands
are under the wings,’ in that they surpass the deeds of their action, by the
excellence of contemplation.
62. Moreover by ‘the grave’
it may be that not only our contemplation in this life is understood, but
the rest of our eternal and interior reward, wherein we more thoroughly
rest, the more perfectly is killed in us the life of corrupt existence. He
then ‘goes down to the grave in abundance,’ who, after he has stored up the
works of the present life, being perfectly dead to his mutable condition of
existence, is buried in the depth of the true light. Whence also it is said
by the Psalmist, Thou shalt hide them in the secret of Thy presence, from
the provoking of men. [Ps. 31, 20] And the comparison that is added
brings this home to us with effect, where it is subjoined, Like as a
shock of corn cometh in in his season. For corn in the field is touched
by the sun, in that in this life the soul of man is illumined by the regard
of the light above. It receives the showers, in that it is enriched by the
word of Truth; it is shaken by the winds, in that it is tried with
temptations; and it bears the chaff ‘growing’ along with it, in that it
bears the life of daily increasing wickedness in sinners, directed against
itself; and after it has been carried away to the barn, it is squeezed by
the threshing weight, that it may be parted from the bold of the chaff, in
that our mind, being subjected to heavenly discipline, whilst it receives
the stripes of correction, is parted from the society of the carnal sort in
a cleaner state; and it is carried to the granary with the chaff left
behind, in that while the lost remain without, the Elect soul is transported
to the eternal joys of the mansion above. Well then is it said, Thou
shalt come to thy grave in abundance, like as a shock of corn cometh in in
his season; in that, whereas the righteous after sufferings meet with
the rewards of the heavenly land, it is like as if the grains after pressing
and squeezing were carried away to the granary. And it is in another's
season indeed that they feel the strokes, but in their own that they rest
from being struck. For to the Elect the present life is another's season,
whence to some that were yet unbelievers ‘Truth’ saith, My time is not
yet come, but your time is alway ready. [John 7, 6.] And again, But
this is your hour, and the power of darkness. [Luke 22, 53.] Thus ‘he
cometh to his grave in abundance, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his
season,’ in that he receives the rest eternal, who, that he may be set free
of the chaff, which is destined to be burnt, first feels here below the
pressure of discipline. But whereas Eliphaz in the course of his address
mentioned ‘the tabernacle,’ ‘the stones,’ ‘the beasts,’ ‘the seed,’ ‘the
herbs,’ and ‘the grave,’ he himself intimates that he did not speak of these
according to the letter, in that after all of them he thereupon subjoins;
Ver.21. Lo this, as we
have searched it, so it is.
[xxxviii]
63. Assuredly it is clear,
that in these words he says nothing upon a view of the surface, in that a
thing, that is ‘searched,’ is not set before the face. He then, who shews
that he had ‘searched’ these things, proves that in outward words inward
things were what he had in view. And after the whole he is brought to the
foolishness of boasting, in that he thereupon adds;
And now thou hast heard it,
turn it in thy mind.
[xxxix]
64. With whatever lessons of
instruction the mind may be furnished, it argues great want of skill to wish
to instruct one that is superior, whence the very things which are rightly
delivered by the friends, are not pronounced right by the interior Judge.
For they lose the efficacy of their rightness herein, that they are not
suited to the hearer. For even medicines lose their efficacious properties
when they be administered to sound limbs. In all, then, that is said, it is
necessary that the occasion, the time, and the individual, be taken into
account, whether the truth of the sentiment confirms the words delivered,
whether the fitting time calls for it, whether the character of the person
does not impugn both the truth of the sentiment, and the suitableness of the
time. For he launches his darts in a manner to deserve praise, who first
looks at the enemy that he is to strike. For he masters the horns of the
strong bow amiss, who in sending the arrow with force, strikes a
fellowcountryman.
BOOK VII
