Fragments on Proverbs 151–171

… let us gather from Scripture the noun "prudence" and the verb related to it, "to be prudent", so that we may see whether the word has several meanings or signifies one thing. First, in Genesis, according to the Seventy, it is written: "Now the serpent was the most prudent"; according to Aquila, "cunning"; according to Symmachus, "most cunning". So, as far as this expression of the Seventy goes, one might say that prudence is not a virtue; for the serpent did not have virtue, but cunning, which one also blames as a kind of knavery. This is how prudence is understood here by the Seventy, according to which the cunning one has been called prudent. The Gospel according to Luke also seems to know this meaning, when the Saviour is recorded as saying in the parable: "And the Lord praised the unrighteous steward, because he acted prudently," that is, knavishly, craftily. And perhaps "praised" is said, not of praise in the proper sense, but in a looser use, as we say that someone is praised even in indifferent matters and in the various indifferent arts, as if marvelling at the dexterity that shows sharpness and agility of mind. So too: "Be prudent as serpents," that is, not unacquainted with the serpent's cunning tricks. For you need to be disposed, as the apostle put it, "so that we may not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs." At any rate, the serpent deceived by his cunning the woman who was not prudent. And the sons of this age are not wiser, but more prudent, than the sons of light; and not even this simply and absolutely, but "in their own generation." But the word "prudence" also signifies something else: "God," it says, "founded the earth by wisdom, and prepared the heavens by prudence," that is, by virtue, not by knavery. The Gospel too knows this meaning, in the parable of the prudent virgins. For here prudence is clearly taken as the opposite of folly, which is a vice (from it the fools and the foolish virgins are so called), as is prudence, from which the prudent and the prudent virgins are so called. If the fool is bad, and the prudent man is his opposite, then the prudent man will be either bad or good; for the opposite of what is bad cannot be something indifferent. But the prudent man, the opposite of the fool, is not bad; otherwise the prudent virgins, formed by prudence, would not have gone in with the bridegroom to the wedding. It remains, then, that prudence is good and the prudent are good. By this reasoning prudence is a virtue, and the prudent are such by sharing in prudence, by which the Lord prepared the heavens.

… in transpositions and inversions. For when the speech turns about in its order, and what is being said seems to be interrupted by something said in between, there arises the hyperbaton, also called a turning of speech. And again, when the wording is interchanged in what is called anastrophe, there is as it were a turning of the speech. For example, the psalmist says: "Because I kept silent, my bones grew old." Inverting it, one will say: "Because I kept silent from crying to you all the day, my bones grew old," so that it means: "Since I ceased from crying, supplication and praise to you, therefore my bones dried up." (Of the same.) [Prov 1:3] "True righteousness" can be said in contrast to the righteousness that is an image. For Christ is righteousness itself; and the righteousness in each of the righteous is an image, by sharing in it, and looks to Christ as its pattern; with reference to him, I think, it was written: "The Lord is righteous and has loved righteousnesses." It is contrasted also with symbolic righteousness, for there are many symbols of the truth in the law; and also with false righteousness. But in the Hebrew and in the other translators "true" is not added, since righteousness admits of no contrast. There are three criteria in us: sense, of things perceived by the senses; reason, of things spoken; and mind, of things intelligible. And one directs judgment when he has obtained divine grace before all else; for "a man's steps are directed by God"; since he is mortal, how could he understand his own ways? The other translators rendered it "judgment and uprightness", since no one without discernment has judgment, nor anyone crooked uprightness. And perhaps the virtues are uprightnesses, as the vices are crookednesses. [Prov 1:4] Verse 4: "That he may give cunning to the innocent." The one who is ignorant of malice falls under the cunning of the malicious, being himself simple. As of blameworthy innocence, then, it is said: "The innocent believes every word"; that is why it added: "But the cunning comes to repentance," that is, he repents of what he believed rashly. This innocence the apostle, speaking well of it, called simplicity, saying: "I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts be corrupted from the simplicity that is toward Christ." We must, then, guarding against the cunning of the evil one, be guileless as doves in ourselves, but prudent as serpents toward those who plot against us. "For in malice," it says, "be infants, but in your minds be mature." Innocence, then, is twofold: blameworthy, as has been said, and praiseworthy, as in "I walked in my innocence." [Prov 1:5] Verse 5: "And the man of understanding will acquire steering." For "if a knowledgeable man hears a wise word, he will praise it and add to it." The one who has become a man of understanding will add further, both in practice

and in contemplation, so as to direct the wealth that comes from these. What the human mind lacks is the steering that comes from God; the man of understanding who has it, and is wise besides, will suffer nothing terrible. Such a one, sailing with knowledge toward God, will reach the harbour of his will. But the one who is not such will suffer shipwreck concerning faith, or concerning hope, or concerning love, or concerning some one of the virtues. And one who has been shipwrecked concerning these might fittingly say: "I came into the depths of the sea, and a storm overwhelmed me." And one must always say: "May I be delivered from those who hate me, and from the depths of the waters." (Of the same.) Verse 5: "And the man of understanding," it says, "will acquire steering." [Prov 1:6] Verse 6: "He will understand a parable and a dark saying." For spiritual things are interpreted by spiritual. "But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him." For whatever the Holy Spirit spoke through the prophets in parables and dark sayings becomes easy to understand for those who share and partake in the Holy Spirit, taught by the Spirit himself. For one who is unsealed and without a pilot cannot come to know the divine Scriptures. [Prov 1:7] Verse 7: "The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord." The word "beginning" signifies rule, as in "With righteousness is the throne of rule"; and also the introduction to some teaching, as in "The beginning of a good way is to do what is just," that is, instruction in conduct; and he calls "good way" the contemplation that leads to wisdom. "Beginning" also signifies the cause of a thing's existence, as in "I am the beginning and the end": the beginning as giving being, the end as the source of perfection. Here, then, the beginning is the instruction that introduces one to wisdom, consisting in the fear of God. For fear as a passion is the expectation of terrible things; those who come into fear of punishment turn away from wickedness. This should not properly be called fear of God, even if it touches those who fear "him who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna"; it is the fear that perfect love casts out. But the fear of God is true reverence in worship, by which one "greatly delights in his commandments" with a genuine longing, turning them into works; and it is the beginning of the wisdom of God by way of introduction. You will find it in its fullest form in the one who has been perfected in wisdom, of whom it is said that "there is no want to those who fear God." Verse 7: "And piety toward God is the beginning of perception." Of divine perception, that of the inner man, by which we see the true light, hear the hidden oracles, feed on the bread of life, perceive the fragrance

of Christ, and touch the word of life. This is the beginning of perception: piety toward God, that is, … [Prov 1:8] Verse 8: "Hear, son, the instruction of your father, and do not reject the precepts of your mother." By "father" we understand the words of Scripture; by "mother", the unwritten traditions of the church, such as fasting on Fridays and other things of the kind. So he says: Do not wish to hear everything from writings. One may also understand natural fathers, or else spiritual teachers; for the church is their mother too. [Prov 1:9] Verse 9: "For you will receive a crown of graces on your head." For we are saved by many graces of God. [Prov 4:25] Verse 25: "Let your eyes look straight." Those see straight who have thoughts free of passion and true doctrines. When he says, "Let your eyes look straight," he indicates the sight of the soul. And when he urges, "Eat honey, son, that your throat may be sweetened," by honey he means figuratively the divine teaching, which perfects spiritual knowledge. But wisdom also touches the soul: "Love her, that she may embrace you." And the soul, united to wisdom in an embrace, is filled with holiness and purity. Moreover, the soul's sense of smell perceives the ointments of Christ. [Prov 5:3] Verse 3: "Do not attend to a worthless woman; for honey drips from the lips of a harlot woman." Do not attend to deceitful teaching that entices by fine words. [Prov 5:4] Verse 4: "But afterwards you will find it more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword." He calls punishment a sword, as in "You are wounded by my sword"; or else the judgment, which is like a sharp sword searching out the hidden things of the heart. [Prov 5:6] Verse 6: "And her paths are slippery and not easily known." Her paths are slippery and not easily known, because, through the long familiarity of those who love her, she rolls on from evils to evils; she is slippery, she deprives of the kingdom of heaven, and she sends to Gehenna. [Prov 5:11] Verse 11: "When the flesh of your body is worn away." By the wearing away of the flesh he indicates licentiousness, which is a kind of corruption. And through their vices many wear away the flesh of Christ and squander his blood, counting it common. [Prov 5:14] Verse 14: "I was nearly in every evil." "I was nearly." There was a time when wickedness was not, and there will be a time when it will not be. But there was never a time when virtue was not, nor will there be a time when it will not be; for the seeds of virtue cannot be blotted out. This man too persuades me of it, who was "nearly" but not in every evil; and so does the rich man

in Hades, judged for his wickedness, yet pitying his brothers. And to pity is the finest seed of virtue. [Prov 6:24] Chapter 6, verse 24: "To keep you from a married woman." From the teaching of those who hold other doctrines and their slanderous word. [Prov 6:25] Verse 25: "Nor be carried off by her …" Let not the sorceries of her elegant phrasing carry you off. [Prov 7:5] Chapter 7, verse 5: "From the strange woman …, if she assails you with words that charm." The teaching of many gods. For she teaches sweet things, being glib: pleasure and love of money. [Prov 11:29] Chapter 11, verse 29: "He who does not deal kindly with his own house will inherit wind." Dealing kindly with his wife, as with the weaker vessel; with his children, so that they do not lose heart; with a sister, being useful in her needs; with his slaves, giving them what is just and fair. [Prov 23:1] Chapter 23, verse 1: "If you sit to dine at a ruler's table, understand intelligently what is set before you," [Prov 23:2] verse 2: "and put out your hand, knowing that you must prepare such things." The ruler's table is the words of the prophets, which one must hear, lift up from the history to contemplation, and so seize them eagerly. Do not stop at the bare event, nor be content with the first course; you are invited to dine, not to breakfast. Seek not so much the historical as the intellectual meaning. For since it is a ruler's table that is set before you, seek to be fed on nothing low, nothing earthy, but on whatever is spiritual and heavenly. [Prov 30:15] Chapter 30, verse 15: "The leech had three daughters." The leech is the devil, since he sucks out the blood of souls, that is, their vital power. He has daughters and not sons; for there is nothing manly about him, but all pleasure made effeminate. Hades, or wickedness, is a daughter of the devil, destroying souls and never having its fill; the love of a woman, or the godless teaching of deceit, which is never filled; and the earth not filled with water, a sandy and barren soul, always watered by the Scriptures but none the better; and upon all of them is the fire of punishments.

… of words and thoughts; and mind is the contemplation of intelligible things. Just as through the senses the mind applies itself to things perceived by the senses, so through the virtues it beholds intelligible things; that is why wise Solomon teaches us that piety holds the place of the principle of perception. [Prov 1:7] Those who acquire wickedness set wisdom at nought by being wicked; and not having the fear that makes the beginning of perception, they become insensible and set wisdom at nought. How? By not practising it nor pursuing it; for "everyone who does evil hates the light." Yet wisdom is not dishonoured by its own nature, but by their ignorance. The pious, however, choose instruction, so that, being purified in soul, they may receive wisdom, which does not enter a soul that devises evil. But those who do not have the fear of God that makes the beginning of perception are insensible to wisdom and instruction, and set both at nought, like those who do not accept the Old Testament and slander the Creator as cruel. [Prov 1:9] Just as the head and the neck here signify the mind, so the crown and the collar here signify knowledge. For this is the custom of the Holy Spirit: he has given many names to God and his angels, to the mind, to virtue and knowledge, to ignorance and wickedness, and to the devil himself and his angels. He does not set down the names at random, as some think; they are marks of different activities: of God working on us through the angels, and of us in him, and of demons against us. [Prov 1:14] These are joint heirs with the adversaries, who share in the same wickedness as they; and "common" is what does not belong to the one God. See an evil concord, and destruction. [Prov 1:17] The net is eternal punishment, the manifold penalty brought by the just Judge on unclean souls for the destruction of wings that have grown wrongly. And the winged ones are we human beings, who have the power, if we wish, to fly up. [Prov 1:20] He now calls "ways out" the soul that has gone out from wickedness and ignorance. Such was the exodus of the children of Israel, which took place after the birth that comes from God's judgment and teaching. And he calls the same soul "broad": "Open wide your mouth," it says, "and I will fill it"; and "You too, be widened," says Paul in the letter to the Corinthians. By the soul that goes out in this way wisdom is hymned; and in a land widened by the virtues she speaks boldly. [Prov 1:21] By "the tops of her walls" he means the highest freedom from passion; for those who love the law set a wall about themselves, and for that wall David too prays, saying: "Let the walls of Jerusalem be built," that is, the parts of such a soul that had fallen down, clearly on the occasion of Uriah. [Prov 1:26] How then does Solomon say earlier, "He who rejoices over

one who perishes will not go unpunished"? Or perhaps Wisdom rejoices in the way she rejoiced at the "perishing" of Matthew the tax collector, and at the perishing of the robber who believed in Christ? For in the one Wisdom destroyed the robber, and in the other the tax collector. [Prov 1:27] The siege is moral teaching, overthrowing the badly built soul when God lays siege to it. Just as infants are between the righteous and the unrighteous, so all human beings are between angels and demons, being neither demons nor yet called angels, until the consummation of the age. [Prov 1:32] He said "they wronged infants", of whom Christ said, "Do not cause one of these little ones to stumble." [Prov 1:33] The one who is free from passion rests without fear of any evil thought, and before long will dwell in the kingdom of God, as one who has heard and kept his commands, because he hoped in him. [Prov 2:1] One hides the commandment of God by doing it, or by not doing it for vainglory; which is why the demons too, by not allowing us to do it, are said to snatch it away. [Prov 2:5] Then you will understand how the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and how it brings about the knowledge of God, when in faith and longing you stand in need of him. But wisdom and understanding must be present beforehand for one to be able to understand the fear of the Lord. Let us put this before those who set wisdom and understanding at nought and wish to take refuge in fearing God as in something easy. [Prov 2:12] For if Christ does not deliver us, we shall walk the evil way as though it were good. The saints say everything that is faithful; others do not; and the devil says nothing faithful, that is, worthy of belief. For here he calls the devil "a man", as in the Gospels, since "an enemy man sowed the tares." And the greatest danger, it seems, is to meet with evil counsel and with deceitful, treacherous and wicked men. [Prov 2:17] If evil counsel, crushed or darkened, is a movement of the mind, how did it forsake the teaching of its youth? And how did it forget the divine covenant? For he speaks to us of evil counsel as of a rational living being. Or else he now calls the devil evil counsel; for he counselled evil when he said: "I will set my throne above the stars, and I will be like the Most High." And he forgot the divine knowledge, forsaking the teaching of his youth; this youth shows his former state, in which he too was admired. And if wisdom can give understanding to the young, where there is much unruliness, …, much more is she helpful to the old. [Prov 2:19] Those who are overtaken by the years of life, through the works of the life to come that lasts for ever, these overtake

the straight paths of the untroubled and undivided life; they are not overtaken by his mercies into the paths of the straight, everlasting life. For "the Lord loves those who pursue righteousness," and the counsel of the evil one will not overtake them; but those who trust in the devil do not lay hold of the straight paths of life, nor will they turn back to the kingdom of God. [Prov 3:1] That man forgets the law who does not live lawfully; that man remembers the law who lives by it; that man keeps the words of God who not only does them but also counsels others to do them; but that man destroys them who is unwilling to do them and hinders others. For it is not the hearers of the law who will be justified. [Prov 3:8] Healing is the health that comes from virtue to your way of life; and the grace and care of God come to your reasonings and thoughts. When the powers of the soul, that is, the virtues, receive care, then "all my bones will say: Lord, Lord, who is like you?" For the remembering power of the soul, once it has received care, will surely say, "I remembered God and was glad"; likewise the power of sight will say, "I considered your works and was amazed"; the desiring power, "Lord, before you is all my desire"; and the reasoning power will say, "I considered the days of old." The same will happen with the other powers. [Prov 3:15] That is, she has nothing difficult for those who are willing, as the desire for money has. A pure mind draws near to wisdom, since it knows the good; but the impure will be far from her. [Prov 3:18] Adam, after the transgression, is prevented from partaking of this tree, since "from the fruits of righteousness a tree of life is planted"; and the tree of life is the wisdom of God. Justly, then, every lawless person is prevented from touching this tree. [Prov 3:19–20] God founded the earth by wisdom, and through his perception the depths broke open and the clouds poured out dew. What he here called earth, the holy Paul named breadth; the heavens spoken of here he calls height, in the letter to the Ephesians; the depths, spoken of figuratively, he names depth; and the dewy clouds he calls length. All these are symbols of rational natures, distributed among worlds and bodies in proportion to their state. This also fits the Son of God. But the faithful soul too is earth bearing fruit a hundredfold; and it is wise from its fatness, which is wisdom, since God founds it upon wisdom; for he settles it, making the gathering of teaching and its firmness out of wisdom; and as it ever advances he makes it heaven, the purest creation, the dwelling of angels and of intelligent beings, having received perception

of what is, and coming to understand the exactness of things, as it were the many-sided wisdom of God's judgments. [Prov 3:21] Against wisdom alone the demons are powerless: they are not permitted to cast thoughts into the heart of the one made wise; for the mind that lays hold of the contemplations of wisdom becomes closed to unclean thoughts. A pure mind draws near to wisdom, since it knows the good; but the impure will be far from her. [Prov 3:23] The stumbling of a rational nature is an unclean thought or false knowledge; but the one surrounded by the counsel of God does not stumble in these. [Prov 3:25–26] Neither the attack of evil thoughts, he says, will frighten the one who has become wise, nor will the ungodly coming from outside destroy his strength, though they wish to strip him of what is good by nature; for no one will be able to take what cannot be captured. And yet what is more insolent than the ungodly? But you will overcome, he says, even the beast of every kind, being meek and gentle, since the Lord is with you. [Prov 3:24] From this we learn that almsgiving removes the frightening apparitions that come upon us at night, or even in contemplation; and not only these, but it also removes, from those who think in this way, the evil accusations at their departure and the harmful punishments at the judgment. The same is done by meekness, freedom from anger, long-suffering, and whatever by nature calms the troubled temper; for frightening apparitions usually arise from the disturbance of anger. [Prov 3:27] Do not refrain from doing good to the needy, not only with food, but also with knowledge of God, and wisdom, and commandments; and whatever is dear to God and brings one close to him, do not refrain from doing that good to the one who needs you. [Prov 3:29] This enmity toward one's neighbour works evil for someone, not only of the body but also of the soul. [Prov 3:33] Ignorance of the Lord is in the houses of the ungodly, but knowledge of God in the souls of the righteous. "The dwellings of the righteous are blessed" when Christ distributes the rewards to each according to his works; but to the ungodly he gives a curse and not a blessing. [Prov 3:34] Extreme wickedness, exalted to the utmost, is called pride. And the Lord resists the unrighteous as righteousness, liars as truth, and the proud as humility; that is why he is a friend to those who are humble in mind. This is the meaning of "He gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud." [Prov 3:35] Those who have learned and taught the divine wisdom will inherit heavenly glory; but the ungodly have raised up dishonour for themselves from Christ before angels and men. [Prov 4:1] By "instruction" he means moral virtue; by "understanding", divine knowledge; and a son of the virtues is one who has been formed according to them,

one who does what accords with virtue for no other reason than for virtue's sake. [Prov 4:2] "I give you a good gift": the heavenly kingdom, if you do not forsake my law. Note here that he calls the mind a good gift, in contrast with the one who "receives gifts in his bosom unjustly and does not prosper"; for by those unjust gifts he means the things of the evil one, and the mind that receives them does not prosper in its ways. [Prov 4:9] The crown of graces is the commandments of God, which give the crown of the kingdom in return to those who do them; and the crown of delight is the knowledge of God, which shields us and drives away every passionate thought and all false knowledge. [Prov 4:11] These many ways lead to one way, the one who said: "I am the way"; by many ways he meant the virtues that bring one to the knowledge of God. [Prov 4:10] The years of life will be multiplied for the one who hears the heavenly Father through the prophets, and receives his words through the only-begotten Son, so that he may be directed in the ways of righteousness in this life and be saved for the life that lasts for ever. [Prov 4:15] The place of this army is wickedness and "knowledge falsely so called" and whatever is unacceptable to God; for ungodly thoughts are enemies, which kill souls. [Prov 4:16] If the Lord gives sleep to his beloved, and the ungodly are not his beloved, then the Lord does not give sleep to the ungodly; from this one can also show persuasively that demons by nature do not sleep. [Prov 4:18] The virtues go before us and give us light in the present life, which, compared with the life to come, which is day, is called night, "until the day is set right," the day on which the Sun of righteousness rises. Or else: they do not leave us until they have established us in safety; for this is the property of day, to dissolve darkness, as Christ too said: "He who walks in the day does not stumble." [Prov 4:19] The opposite is true of the ways of the ungodly: since they did not know or understand, they walk in darkness. They stumble, but they have no pardon, as if they stumbled through ignorance; for they made the darkness for themselves. See how virtue makes light even in darkness, and wickedness makes darkness even in light. The ungodly do not know the manner in which they sin, nor do they know the cause of their stumbling; they do not even know that they are transgressing, which is the mark of the utmost wickedness. [Prov 4:21] He calls the virtues springs, from which is born the living water of the divine words, which is the knowledge of Christ. And David says: "For the springs of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were uncovered," clearly at the coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. [Prov 4:25] "Let your eyes look straight," he said, that is,