Expositio in Proverbia

 the things that have fallen, that is, from the pretext of Uriah. How then does Solomon say before: “He who rejoices 17.165 at another's destruction wi

 would have difficulty, just as the desire for money a pure mind draws near to wisdom since it knows well but the impure will be far from it. Adam i

 but here, that he names the mind a good gift, on account of the one who unjustly receives gifts in his bosom, and is not prospered for those unjust g

 of virtue And this persuades me, in a small way, that the rich man being judged in Hades for his wickedness was not completely given over to every ev

 to you, You shall not be angry. It must be noted here that he calls the natural harmonious movement of the ant, wisdom for indeed one wiser than a wi

 for he was the lamp that was burning and shining a light, the New Testament For I, he says, am the light of the world a refutation of evil things,

 of the kemphos fish in the sea, flying in schools here and there which the sailors, having baited a many-hooked line, catch and not only does it not

 come to the introductions but when they become wise, and are strengthened, reprove them. And Christ, when his disciples were still young, did not rep

 of the evil one. But the impious who sin will not only fall from the kingdom, but they will inhabit the fire and not the earth. Instead of, he is full

 be not silent to me, says David, and I will be like those who go down into the pit. A lawless man will be passed over in silence by God, that is, he w

 sinning. Here he calls the senses ways but he who guards them, keeps his own soul from death unto life for life is the Holy Trinity that gives life

 afflicted, distressed? And how will the unbeliever not have an obol, when many unbelievers are clothed with much wealth, I mean kings and rulers of th

 the love of God for humanity which also brings us to God the Father himself, as sons weaned, and desiring spiritual solid food so that just as his S

 your eyes, say: for many, even without having begun virtue, not only advise others to act rightly, but also compel and exhort them. Here he says man

 body is profitable to the foolish man for he will trample it underfoot, being a pleasure-loving pig and by sensible luxury his flesh will be moved t

 that is, to imitate the virtues of the righteous and prophets who shone in the six ages before the coming of Christ, who also feed the widow and orpha

 of the Lord, is the knowledge of the Lord, and the light of the Lord is the breath of men, therefore the knowledge of the Lord is the breath of men b

 He calls the mind a horse, which is warred against by the devil, and which wars in return For you will mount, he says, upon your horses and your rid

 he slanders us to God, taking from us the virtues which he has not given us, so also we slander him taking from him the vices which we have not given

 But do not enter into the land of those who have orphaned themselves from God, who possess wickedness as the property of demons, on account of which t

 but vice diminishes virtue, and virtue obviously corrupts vice and this will happen in the age to come, until vice ceases for shall be defiled, in

 earth-born nations, and having strengthened them with virtues in faith in him, Christ the God, and having stored up the heavenly water that which flo

 is, the law given to us by him in righteousness and those who gouge out the eyes of the impious, he called ravens but those who devour him whole, he

 of lands, he keeps his own justly. Cast a precious sardius into a golden earring, and the wisdom of the Lord into a dispassionate and obedient mind to

 defines servants or those under his hand for the rod is a symbol of punishment. From his own feet, etc. Here he calls servants 'feet' and from them

 to the devil who made it, to yield as to a brother, so as to be destroyed with him. -Better is he who is joined to me through true knowledge, than he

 lawless, are the doctrines of demons, which the instructed son does not obey and by son he means the mind but he who restrains his mind from being c

 of blood are the demons, who killed those living in Christ by the shedding of blood but the upright will seek out his soul these are they who wish t

 a soul of abundance for its bodily house. He says that the soul of the diligent man has the Church as a tree of knowledge and a tree of life of knowl

defines servants or those under his hand; for the rod is a symbol of punishment. From his own feet, etc. Here he calls servants 'feet'; and from them the master brings reproach upon himself, who sends a word through a foolish messenger, or of counsel, or of wisdom, or of an embassy, or of an alliance, or of words of sympathy. For the foolish man is defeated in everything; for indeed the Lord says in the Gospels: One must not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast pearls before swine. 17.240 Remove from a fool an evil way, and make false knowledge far from him. He who imparts knowledge to a fool is like one who fastens a worthless stone in a golden sling; or who casts a precious stone with a stone-throwing sling. If the ecstasy of the foolish is crushed, by which they have departed from God, becoming pure again they approach God; For all flesh shall see the salvation of God. But it must be noted here, that he has named souls grown thick from wickedness, the flesh of fools; so also the Lord says: My spirit shall not remain in men, because they are flesh. He who has cast off, he says, his own wickedness, and has returned to it again, is like a dog eating its own vomit; such was Lot's wife, and he to whom the unclean spirit returned. This saying should be used against those who elect certain unworthy men to the priesthood, or to the clergy; for no one from among us has made the just judgment and freedom of the Church; nor is it ours, but Christ's, for whom He judged, justifying Himself, to be given to slaughter, and that His blood be shed for her; so also everyone who desires to be entrusted with the helm of the Church, ought to give himself up, and to take hold of the tail of the evil one, and to free those under his wickedness, and to bring them to the knowledge of Christ. As fire in wood, so in evil thoughts anger towards the passions of the mind flourishes and burns; but where one is not double-minded, that is, double-souled, but either for God or for mammon, the one will be stilled by him from the other; either the commandment of God, having conquered, will dissolve that of the evil one, and wickedness will be brought to peace; but if he should choose both, he would both fall from life, and will be deprived of temporal things. Here he calls thoughts 'lips'; but he who does not open the lips of the mind against the evil one, confessing to God the evil things, as many as he might sow in him against God, but hides them, covers his own heart with grief, out of foolishness not thinking he has a sin in these things; not knowing the compassion of God; that rather to those who thus endure and declare these things to Him, He awards crowns as to those who strive daily for His sake. He takes 'mocks' instead of 'rejoices'; for a pure soul, delighting in the knowledge of the Scriptures, rejoices being filled; but an impure soul considers the falsely-named knowledge to be entirely true. Or the place of the heart is virtue and knowledge, from which a man being alienated falls into wickedness and ignorance, and becomes a slave of sin by doing it; for inasmuch as he is rational, his place is virtue. 17.241 A dispassionate mind is delighted by various things, by wisdom and knowledge, and by hymnody; but a passionate mind is broken down in ignorance and wickedness, and comes to a great and hard-to-heal fall. God is our friend, and of the fathers of old, and of those after us; for He Himself said: They have forsaken me, a spring of living water, and have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns. -Here the brother is Christ according to grace; but into the house of your brother, without the commandments which he has given to us, for the authority to enter into his house, that is, into the kingdom of heaven, do not enter being without these; for such also was he who entered the wedding, not having a wedding garment; and being bound hand and foot he was cast out of the wedding. -Here our brother is the choir of angels; for according to the nature of angels before the transgression and fall, the devil existed among the angels and us; but our friend is God; and it is better to dwell near and closer to our nearer and true God and friend, than to the one far from Him, oneself

σθήτους οἰκέτας ἢ ὑποχειρίους ὁρίζεται· ἡ ῥάβδος γὰρ σύμβολόν ἐστι κολάσεως. Ἐκ τῶν ποδῶν αὑτοῦ, κ. τ. λ. Πόδας ἐνταῦθα τοὺς οἰκέτας φησίν· ὄνειδος δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν ὁ δεσπότης ἑαυτῷ ποιεῖται, ὁ ἀποστέλλων λόγον δι' ἀγγέλου ἄφρονος, ἢ βουλῆς, ἢ σοφίας, ἢ πρεσβείας, ἢ συμ μαχίας, ἢ λόγων συμπαθείας. Ὁ γὰρ ἄφρων ἡττᾶ ται ἐν παντί· καὶ γὰρ ὁ Κύριος ἐν Εὐαγγελίοις φη σίν· Οὐ δεῖ τοῖς κυσὶ διδόναι τὰ ἅγια, οὐδὲ βάλ λειν τοὺς μαργαρίτας ἔμπροσθεν τῶν χοίρων. 17.240 Περίελε ἄφρονος ὁδὸν κακὴν, καὶ γνῶσιν ψευδῆ μακρὰν ποίησον ἀπ' αὐτοῦ. Ὁ μεταδιδοὺς ἄφρονι γνῶσιν, ὅμοιός ἐστι τῷ λί θον ἄτιμον ἐν σφενδόνῃ χρυσῇ προσπήξαντι· ἢ λί θον ἔντιμον ἐν σφενδόνῃ λιθοβολούσῃ λιθάσαντι. Ἐὰν συντριβῇ ἡ ἔκστασις τῶν ἀφρόνων, καθ' ἣν ἐξέστησαν Θεοῦ, πάλιν καθαροὶ γενόμενοι προσέρ χονται τῷ Θεῷ· Πᾶσα γὰρ σὰρξ ὄψεται τὸ Σωτή ριον τοῦ Θεοῦ. Προσεκτέον δὲ ἐνταῦθα, ὅτι τὰς πα χυνθείσας ψυχὰς ἀπὸ τῆς κακίας, σάρκας ἀφρόνων ὠνόμασεν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Κύριός φησιν· Οὐ μὴ κατα μείνῃ τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς σάρκας. Ὁ ἀποβαλὼν, φησὶ, κακίαν αὑτοῦ, καὶ πρὸς αὐ τὴν πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας, ὅμοιός ἐστι κυνὶ ἐσθίοντι τὸν ἴδιον ἐμετόν· οἷα ἦν ἡ τοῦ Λὼτ γυνὴ, καὶ πρὸς ὃν τὸ ἀκάθαρτον πνεῦμα ἐπέστρεψεν. Χρηστέον τούτῳ τῷ ῥητῷ πρὸς τοὺς ψηφιζομένους τινὰς τῶν ἀναξίων ἐν ἱερωσύνῃ, ἢ ἐν κλήρῳ· οὐ γὰρ ἐκ τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς τις τὴν δικαιοκρισίαν καὶ ἐλευθε ρίαν τῆς Ἐκκλησίας ἐποιήσατο· ἢ ἡμετέρα ἐστὶν, ἀλλὰ Χριστοῦ, δι' ἣν ἔκρινε δικαιώσας ἑαυτὸν σφαγῇ δοθῆναι, καὶ χυθῆναι τὸ αἷμα αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς· οὕτω καὶ ὁ πᾶς τις Ἐκκλησίας οἴακας ἐγκεχειρίσθαι ἐπιθυμῶν, ὀφείλει ἑαυτὸν ἐκδοῦναι, καὶ τῆς κέρκου τοῦ πονηροῦ κρατῆσαι, καὶ τοὺς ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτοῦ κα κίαν ἐλευθερῶσαι, καὶ εἰς τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπίγνωσιν προσαγαγεῖν. Ὥσπερ ἐν ξύλοις τὸ πῦρ, οὕτως ἐν πονηροῖς λο γισμοῖς θάλλει καὶ καίει ὁ πρὸς τὰ πάθη τοῦ νοῦ θυμός· ὅπου δὲ οὐκ ἔστι δίθυμος, τουτέστι δίψυχος, ἀλλ' ἢ τῷ Θεῷ, ἢ τῷ μαμμωνᾷ, ἡσυχασθήσεται ἐξ αὐτοῦ τὸ ἓν τοῦ ἑτέρου· ἢ τὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ πρόσταγμα νικῆσαν, τὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ τακήσεται, καὶ τῇ κακίᾳ προσειρηνεύσει· ἐὰν δὲ τὰ δύο ἕλοιτο, καὶ τῆς ζωῆς ἐκπέσοι, καὶ τῶν προσκαίρων στερηθήσεται. Χείλη ἐνταῦθα τοὺς λογισμούς φησιν· ὁ δὲ τὰ χείλη τοῦ νοῦ μὴ ἀνοίγων κατὰ τοῦ πονηροῦ, πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν ἐξομολογούμενος τὰ κακὰ, ὅσα ἐνσπείρειεν αὐτῷ κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ κρύπτει, λύπῃ καλύπτει ἑαυτοῦ καρδίαν, ἐξ ἀφροσύνης μὴ νομίζων ἔχειν ἁμάρτημα ἐν τούτοις· οὐκ εἰδὼς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐ σπλαγχνίαν· ὅτι μᾶλλον τοῖς οὕτως ὑπομένουσι καὶ ἐξαγγέλλουσιν αὐτῷ ταῦτα, στεφάνους ἀπονέμει ὡς καθ' ἑκάστην ἀθλοῦσι δι' αὐτόν. Ἐμπαίζει, ἀντὶ τοῦ χαίρει, ἔλαβε· ψυχὴ γὰρ κα θαρὰ, κατατρυφῶσα τῆς γνώσεως τῶν Γραφῶν, χαίρει ἐμπιπλαμένη· ψυχὴ δὲ ἀκάθαρτος, καὶ τὴν ψευδώνυμον γνῶσιν, ἀληθῆ πάντως νομίζει. Ἢ τόπος καρδίας, ἀρετὴ καὶ γνῶσις, ἀφ' ὧν ἀπο ξενωθεὶς ἄνθρωπος πίπτει εἰς κακίαν καὶ ἀγνωσίαν, καὶ γίνεται δοῦλος τῆς ἁμαρτίας ποιῶν αὐτήν· καθὸ γὰρ λογικός ἐστι, τόπος αὐτοῦ ἡ ἀρετή. 17.241 Νοῦς ἀπαθὴς ποικίλοις τέρπεται, σοφίᾳ καὶ γνώ σει, καὶ ὑμνῳδίᾳ· νοῦς δὲ ἐμπαθὴς, ἐν ἀγνωσίᾳ καὶ κακίᾳ καταῤῥήγνυται, καὶ εἰς πτῶμα ἔρχεται δυσ ίατον καὶ μέγα. Φίλος ἡμῶν καὶ τῶν πρόπαλαι πατέρων, καὶ τῶν μεθ' ἡμᾶς, ὁ Θεός ἐστιν· αὐτὸς γὰρ εἶπεν· Ἐμὲ ἐγκατέλιπον πηγὴν ὕδατος ζῶντος, καὶ ὤρυξαν ἑαυτοῖς λάκκους συντετριμμένους. -Ἐνταῦθα ἀδελφὸς ὁ Χριστός ἐστι κατὰ χάριν· εἰς δὲ τὸν οἶ κον τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου, ἄνευ τῶν ἐντολῶν, ὧν ἡμῖν δέδωκεν, εἰς ἐξουσίαν τοῦ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, τουτέστιν εἰς τὴν τῶν οὐρανῶν βασιλείαν, μὴ εἰσέλθῃς ἀτυχῶν τούτων· τοιοῦτος γὰρ ἦν καὶ ὁ εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν γάμον, μὴ ἔχων ἔνδυμα γάμου· δεθεὶς δὲ χεῖρας καὶ πόδας ἐξεβλήθη τοῦ γάμου. -Ἀδελφὸς ἡμῶν ἐνταῦθα ὁ τῶν ἀγγέλων χορός ἐστι· κατὰ γὰρ τὴν τῶν ἀγγέλων φύσιν πρὸ τῆς παραβάσεως καὶ πτώσεως ὁ διάβολος τῶν ἀγγέλων καὶ ἡμῶν ὑπῆρχε· φίλος δὲ ἡμῶν ἐστιν ὁ Θεός· κρεῖσσον δὲ τῷ ἐγγυ τέρῳ καὶ ἀληθινῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν καὶ φίλῳ ἐγγὺς καὶ πλησιεστέρως οἰκεῖν, ἢ τῷ μακρὰν ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ἑαυτὸν