CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER 4
ECCLESIASTES 4:1-6
VANITY OF MALICE IN SUBJECTS
1. I turned myself to other things, etc. He has dealt with the vanity of malice in prelates. Now he treats of it in subjects. Vanity of malice is considered here under three headings. First, the heading of oppression in harming maliciously. Second, the heading of envy in being saddened maliciously where verse 4 reads: Again I considered. Third, the heading of sloth by abandoning a good work where verse 5 has: The fool folds his hands.
2. (Verses 1-3). He describes the vanity of oppression, and in his reflection on oppression he states: I turned myself to other things. Supply: for reflection. And I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, that is, in this world.
Ezekiel 22:29 reads: "The people of the land have used oppression and committed robbery. They afflicted the needy and poor, and they oppressed the stranger by calumny without judgment." A violent seizing of goods is called oppression, when done not in justice, but in malice.
3. And he goes on to state the increase of misfortune, because of the oppressions that are done and because people are oppressed unjustly with no consolation and without remedy. – Unjustly, because he says: And the tears of the innocent, namely, on account of such oppression. Job 35:9
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
states: "By reason of the multitude of oppressors they will cry out and will wail on account of the violence from the arm of tyrants." – With no consolation, because they had no comforter, a situation that increases cruelty. Lamentations 1:2 says: "There is no one to comfort her among all those who were dear to her." Sirach 7:38 talks about the contrary: "Be not wanting in comforting those who weep.
And walk with those who mourn." – Not only do they lack a comforter, but they are also without remedy. So he adds:
They were not able to resist their violence, being destitute of all help. Supply: I saw. Of such malice we read in Proverbs 22:22: "Do no violence to a poor person, because he is poor. Do not oppress the needy in the gate." Thus, 2
Chronicles 20:12 reads: "As for us we have not strength enough to be able to resist this multitude that comes violently upon us."
4. Concerning a detestation of sin the text continues: And I praised the dead rather than the living, namely, in that they do not see this evil and cruelty which no good person can see without sorrow. In 1 Kings 19:4 Elijah said: "It is enough for me, Lord. Take away my soul, for I am no better than my fathers." – And I judged that person happier than them both, namely, any dead or living person who is not yet born nor has seen the evils that are done under the sun. He speaks as if to see or to have seen such evils is a great misfortune. 1 Maccabees 2:7 reads: "Mattathias said:
Woe is me. Wherefore was I born to see the ruin of my people and the ruin of the holy city and to dwell there?" So he has given a reflection on oppression and an increase of misery, because the oppressed are desolate and without assistance. And so he comes to a detestation of the sin.
5. (Verse 4). Again I considered, etc. Second, he treats of the vanity of envy, when a person out of malice is sad to see a neighbor's good fortune and prosperity. So he adds:
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Again I considered.1 This consideration or contemplation is a free and penetrating and fixed gaze.2 I considered and contemplated, he says, all the labors of men and women, with regard to the body; and their industries, with respect to the soul. – Or: labors and industries, that is, efforts. For the other translation reads: every effort at work.3 Note what he had said earlier in 2:18: "Again I hated all my application wherewith I had earnestly labored under the sun."
And I remarked, that is, saw in my soul. That their industries are exposed, that is, laid open to the envy of their neighbors, because when they see them, they are immediately sad. Sirach 14:8 says: "The eye of the envious is wicked, and he turns away his face and despises his own soul." So in this also is vanity, namely, the vanity of malice. Proverbs 28:22 reads: "A man that makes haste to be rich and envies others," etc.4 And fruitless care, namely, of sin, because while envious people should be thinking of their own goods, they are always thinking of the goods of others. So we read in Proverbs 23:6-7: "Eat not with an envious person and desire not his food, because like a soothsayer . . . he is delving into something about which he knows nothing."
1The Vulgate is contemplatus sum or literally: "I contemplated."
2On p. 38 n. 1 QuarEd quote Homily 1 of Hugh of St. Victor's In Salomonis Ecclesiasten Homiliae XIX. See PL 175:116D-117A: "There are three visions of a rational soul: thought, meditation, and contemplation. Thought exists when the mind dwells in a passing way on an idea of something, when the thing itself is suddenly put before a soul by its image or through the senses or arising from memory.
Meditation is a careful and wise reflection of thought trying to explain something complicated or searching to delve into what is hidden.
Contemplation is a penetrating and free gaze of the soul onto things to be perceived, but that are scattered everywhere." Obviously,
Bonaventure's definition of consideration/contemplation is almost identical to that of Hugh of St. Victor.
3On p. 38 n. 2 QuarEd state that this reading is found in the Septuagint and in Jerome. The LXX reads: syn pasan andreian.
4Proverbs 28:22 concludes: ". . . is ignorant that poverty will come upon him."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
6. (Verses 5-6). Fools fold their hands, etc. Third, he treats of the vanity of sloth, by which a person becomes weary and lazy in everything that is good and so becomes stupid.
Therefore, Ecclesiastes says: Fools fold their hands. And so is stupid because of laziness. Proverbs 12:11 states: "The person who pursues idleness is very foolish." Proverbs 6:6 reads: "Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider its ways and learn wisdom." These stupid people fold their hands, because they refuse to work. Proverbs 26:15 says: "The slothful person hides his5 hands under his armpit, and it grieves him to turn them to his mouth."6 Since the slothful refuse to work, they become poor and skinny from a lack of food. Wherefore, the text continues: And they eat their own flesh, saying. This is said in hyperbole, for he has become emaciated and has no food. Proverbs 21:25 states: "Desires kill the slothful, for his hands have refused to work at all." – But from this laziness of sloth a person can gain a lesson in wisdom, for he says: Better is a handful with rest than both hands full with labor and vexation of mind. This is how a slothful person thinks as an excuse. And so we read in Proverbs 26:10: "The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than seven men who voice their opinions." In this way Ecclesiastes describes the inactivity of the slothful, because he folds his hands; the diet of poverty, for he eats his own flesh; the excuse of ignorance, because he praises rest.
QUESTIONS 13
I. What does he mean by: I praised the dead rather than the living?7
5The Vulgate does not read suas ("his").
6The NAB of Proverbs 26:15 has: "The sluggard loses his hand in the dish; he is too weary to lift it to his mouth."
7Ecclesiastes 4:2.
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Contra: 1. Ecclesiastes 9:4 below says: A living dog is better than a dead lion.
2. Moreover, reason proves this, because it is better to have than not to have. Therefore, to have life is better than to be dead. So from things that come in pairs,8 better are the living than the dead.
I reply: To praise or prefer one thing more than another can happen in two ways, namely, simply or according to some condition. Speaking simply, a person prefers what is living to what is dead, unless you add the condition of beatitude. But speaking according to some condition, what is dead can be preferred to what is living. First, because the dead do not have so many occasions of sin.
For the Apostle used to say in Romans 7:24: Unhappy human being that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? Second, when there are not so many occasions for sadness, because one no longer sees so many evils.
Jonah 4:5 reads: "It is better for me to die than to live." In this condition death is preferred to life as an exaggeration of the present evils and miseries.
II. What does he mean by: I judged that person happier than them both, who is not yet born?9
Contra: 1. Such a person enjoys no good, and therefore is not happier.
2. Moreover, everything that provides in any way a reason for happiness is to be desired, but no one is able to desire
8On p. 38 n. 6 QuarEd cite Book II n. 9 of Aristotle's Topica: "All pairs are named from their inter connection, as justice, a just person, just, and justly; it is clear that each of these is named because of an inter connection, as good or praiseworthy, when one is named all the others are included, as when justice is praised, so too justly, a just person and to be just are praised." See also WAE, vol. 1, 114a.
9Ecclesiastes 4:3.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
non-existence, as Augustine maintains.10 Therefore, whoever is not yet born is in no way happy.
III. It is also asked whether, if one's desire is ordered, anyone can wish non-existence rather than suffer punishment.
That this is so we read in Matthew 26:24: Therefore, it were better for him if he had not been born. So if what is better is to be desired and preferred, then one can choose this.
That this is not so is proved, because death takes away all good. And so nothing is worse than death.
I reply: Happiness exists in someone in two ways: in fact or putatively. There is only one way of being happy in fact, but one can be reputed to be happy from many points of view and conditions found in diverse circumstances. Because the good is most delightful, Epicurus found happiness in pleasures and other things. For a happy person is not troubled by any malice or misfortune. And since someone not born is in this condition, Ecclesiastes, thinking of this condition, says: I judged that person happier, etc. I also add that because of the nature of this condition, it is desired by many troubled people.
When it is asked whether this should be desired or preferred, it has to be said that there is a double punishment: temporal and eternal. Neither punishment takes away the whole, but eternal punishment always takes it away. Corruption takes the whole away into non-existence, but only once. So if such corruption into non-existence is compared to temporal punishment, it is simply worse. If it
10On p. 38 n. 8 QuarEd refer to Book III, chapters 6-9 n. 18-24 of Augustine's De libero arbitrio. See The Teacher, The Free Choice of the Will, Grace and Free Will, trans. Robert P. Russell, FC 59 (Washington:
Catholic University of America Press, 1968), 181-192.
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be compared to eternal, we are dealing with an excess, because temporal punishment exceeds in taking away while eternal punishment exceeds in duration. Eternal punishment is infinite in duration while temporal punishment is but momentary. And so eternal punishment exceeds in this and can reasonably be fled and rejected.11
IV. What does he mean by saying: I remarked that their industries are exposed to the envy of their neighbors?12 I ask if a person should abandon a good work because of someone's envy? – That it should be abandoned seems clear, for a neighbor is to be loved more than any present benefit. Therefore, if a neighbor were to perish from envy, the work should be abandoned.
Contra: A good work gives a good example and inspires others to good. Therefore, if a good work is exposed to praise, it should not be hidden because of the envy of a neighbor.
I reply: A work is done either out of necessity or out of usefulness. If a work is performed out of necessity, it should never be stopped. If it is done out of usefulness, one can either be as well off if it is done or not done. If one is as well off without the work being done, it should be abandoned to take away any occasion of envy, when it is probable that there would be such an occasion. If one cannot be well off without the work being done, he should do it, and this does not give an occasion for envy, although someone might take such an occasion from it.
11On p. 39 n. 2 QuarEd refer the interested reader to Book IV of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary: "IV. Sent. d. 50. p. 1. a. 1. q. 2."
12Ecclesiastes 4:4.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
ECCLESIASTES 4:7-12
VANITY OF AVARICE
7. Considering, I found, etc. Having treated of the vanity of malice, he now deals with the vanity of avarice. He does this, first, with a reflection on avarice. Second, since the avaricious person does not want a companion, Ecclesiastes judges him by praising the company of a companion where verse 9 reads: It is better, therefore, that two should be together.
8. (Verses 7-8). So he says about the vanity of avarice: Considering, I found also another vanity under the sun, that is, another, because he has already spoken of the vanity of malice. – So he adds: There is but one, and he has not a second, no child, no brother, and so he should be content with little as he is alone, because he does not even want a companion. Sirach 11:19 says: "I have found me rest, and now I will eat of my goods alone." However, all vanishes in avarice: in effect and affection and understanding. In effect, for the text continues: And yet he ceases not to labor.
Sirach 31:3 states: "The rich person has labored in gathering riches together. . . ."13 In affection, as the text adds:
Neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. Sirach 14:9 reads:
"The eye of the covetous person is insatiable in his portion14 of iniquity; he will not be satisfied. . . ."15 In understanding, for he adds: Neither does he reflect, saying: For whom do I labor and defraud my soul of good things? We read in Psalm 38:7: "He stores up and knows not for whom he will gather these things."16 So from all this he draws a 13Sirach 31:3 continues: ". . . and when he rests, he will be filled with his goods."
14On p. 39 n. 4 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads in parte ("in portion") while Bonaventure has in partem ("in portion").
15Sirach 14:9 continues: ". . . till he consumes his own soul, drying it up."
16Hugh of St. Cher, 83a also cites Psalm 38:7.
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conclusion about vanity: In this also is vanity and a grievous vexation. Ecclesiastes 5:12-13 below states: "Riches kept to the hurt of the owner, for they are lost with grievous vexation."17
9. (Verses 9-12). It is better, therefore, that two should be together. He treats here, secondly, of praise for the company of another. And he does this in the context of his condemnation of the solitude of an avaricious person. So he says: It is better, therefore, that two should be together, although the avaricious person may prefer to be alone. He adds the reason: For they have the advantage of mutual companionship.18 For Luke 10:1 states: The Lord "sent the disciples19 two and two before his face."
10. He shows a triple benefit in this, namely, in relieving, protecting, and defending. About relieving he states: If one fall, he will be supported by the other. Deuteronomy 22:4 says: "If you see that your brother's ass or his ox has fallen along the way, you shall not slight it, but shall lift it up with him." A solitary individual lacks this help, and so he adds: Woe to the person who is alone, for when he falls, he has no one to lift him up. This applies to the miserly person, for Psalm 24:16 says: "Look upon me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor."
11. Relative to the benefit of protecting, he adds: And if two lie together, they shall warm one another, that is, they are protected from the cold. Ephesians 5:29 has: "For no 17The Duoay masks the fact that both Ecclesiastes 4:8 and 5:13 contain the same words, that is, afflictio pessima ("grievous affliction") by translating those words in 5:13 by "very great affliction."
18The Vulgate reads societatis suae ("their companionship") while Bonaventure has societatis mutuae ("mutual companionship").
19The Vulgate reads illos ("them") while Bonaventure has discipulos ("disciples").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
man ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it." A solitary person lacks this help, and so he continues: How will one alone, when he sleeps, be warmed?
There is an example of this in 1 Kings 1:1-4, where it is told how David, old and unable to keep warm, was given
Abishag the Shunamite, who slept in the king's bosom and warmed him. He could not warm himself since he was alone.
12. With regard to the benefit of defense he adds: And if a person prevail against one, two will withstand that person, and so is valuable for defense. 2 Samuel 10:11 reads:
"If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you will help me. But if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you." He makes this clear with an example:
A threefold cord is not easily broken. Just as one cord joined to another is stronger, so it is with people. Proverbs 18:19 says: "A brother, who is helped by his brother, is like a strong city."20
13. In the spiritual interpretation one notes here the triple effect of charity, namely, mutual relief, mutual consolation, and mutual defense. Concerning relief he says: If one fall. We read in Galatians 6:1: "If a person is overtaken in any fault, you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness." For it is said in Sirach 37:17: "Establish within yourself a heart of good counsel. – About the benefit of consolation he says: They will warm one another. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 states: "Console the pusillanimous." And also in 1 Thessalonians it is said: "We became little ones in your21 midst, as if a nurse were comforting her children."22 – For the benefit of defense he says:
20Hugh of St. Cher, 83s also cites Proverbs 18:19.
21On p. 40 n. 2 QuarEd accurately mentions that the Vulgate reads vestrum ("your") while Bonaventure has vestry ("your").
221 Thessalonians 2:7.
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Two will withstand. Isaiah 50:8 reads: "Let us stand together. Who is my enemy?" – Because of this triple effect of charity it is called a threefold cord.23 Hosea 11:4 has: "I will draw you24 with the cords of Adam, with the bands of charity."
QUESTIONS 14
I. It can be asked here whether a solitary life should be preferred to communal living.25 That this is so is seen from what follows:
1. Since it is said about a good youth in Lamentations 3:28 that he will sit solitary and hold his peace, it is good to be alone.
2. Moreover, Bernard says: "As often as I was with people, I returned less a person."26 Therefore, it is not good to be among people.
23Hugh of St. Cher, 83v, a gives these explanations of the triple cord:
"faith in the Trinity . . . faith, hope, and charity. . . .Power of the Father, wisdom of the Son, goodness of the Holy Spirit. . . .Threefold manner of loving God, with one's entire heart, mind, and strength. . . .Or total thought, affection, and operation. . . .Or contrition, confession, and satisfaction or thought, speech, and deed; or love, fear, shame or . . . the height of love . . . the width of love . . . the strength of love."
24On p. 40 n. 2 QuarEd correctly indicate that the Vulgate reads eos ("them") while Bonaventure has te ("you").
25See Ecclesiastes 4:8-12.
26On p. 40 n. 4 QuarEd indicate that this opinion is also cited in Book 1, chapter 20 n. 2 of Thomas à Kempis, On the Imitation of Christ. See his De Imitatione Christi Libri Quatuor, Ex nova recensione Jacobi
Merlo Horstii (Cologne: Balth. Ab Egmond, 1675), 45: Dixit quidam:
Quoties inter homines fui, minor homo redii ("Someone has said: As often as I was with people, I returned a lesser person"). Both
Bonaventure and Thomas à Kempis seem to be indebted to Seneca's Epistulae morales 7.2-3. See Seneca ad Lucilium Epistulae Morales I, trans. Richard M. Gummere, LCL (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1934), 31: "But nothing is so damaging to good character as the habit of lounging at the games; for then it is that vice steals subtly upon one through the avenue of pleasure. What do you think I mean?
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
3. Furthermore, when in society it is necessary for one to think how one has to conform to social norms. But the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 7:32-34 that it is good not to marry so as to avoid the worry of pleasing a wife. Therefore, it is good to flee from all company.
Contra: 1. Genesis 2:18 states: It is not good for a person to be alone. Therefore, solitude is blameworthy, and on the other hand company is praiseworthy.
2. Likewise, Matthew 18:20 reads: Where there are two or three gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
He does not say: Where there is one, but where there are two or three. Therefore, it is better to live in a group than alone.
3. Furthermore, it is proved also by Ecclesiastes himself in 4:9-12, because a group lifts up, warms, and defends.
And those who live alone lack these three good things.
I reply: There are three kinds of solitude. One comes from a lack of love, as in an avaricious person who does not want a companion to share his riches, in an envious person who does not want to share good things, in a proud person who does not want to share great things. Such solitude is completely wrong. – Another kind of solitude comes from a lack of consolation, as it is said in Psalm 24:16: I am alone and poor, and this solitude is miserable. – Another kind of solitude comes from the quiet of contemplation, and this is praiseworthy and honorable.
I mean that I come home more greedy, more ambitious, more voluptuous, and even more cruel and inhuman, – because I have been among human beings." The editors also follow MSS Vat. and point to Sermon 40 n. 45 of Bernard's Sermons on the Canticle of Canticles, but stress that Bernard only exhorts people to love solitude and on the correct way to converse with people. See the next note.
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Similarly, there are three kinds of company or society.
One kind is disturbing and holds one back, such as the company of evildoers. Another kind is a company of those needing support and solace, as in the company of wives and of the sick. Yet another kind is a group helping and causing one to advance, as in the company of the perfect.
One must flee from the first, tolerate the second, and desire the third. This third is found in religious orders. When, therefore, Scripture commends company or society, it is to be understood of this last kind. And this is not inconsistent with the solitude of contemplation, because Bernard says: "When among others a person can be entirely alone, provided he flees curiosity."27 – And in this way the objections are resolved.
ECCLESIASTES 4:13-16
THE VANITY OF IMPRUDENCE
14. Better is a child, etc. He has dealt with the vanity of malice and avarice. Here he treats the vanity of imprudence. Since the vanity of imprudence is culpable and detestable, he speaks against it in two ways. First, because of the present evil. Second, because of evil that follows it or is caused by it where verse 15 says: I saw all those living.
15. (Verse 13). Evil that is present and accompanies imprudence is what puts the rich, old king under the poor child who was prudent. This is indeed a great vanity. So he says: Better is a child that is poor and wise than a king that is old and foolish, even though the king has more
27On p. 40 n. 10 QuarEd cite Sermon 40 n. 5 of Bernard's Sermons on the Canticle of Canticles. Bonaventure's citation is not exact. See SBOp
2.27 and On the Song of Songs II, trans. Kilian Walsh, Cistercian Fathers Series 7 (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1976), 203: "Do you not see that you can be alone when in company and in company when alone? However great the crowds that surround you, you can enjoy the benefits of solitude if you refrain from curiosity about other people's conduct and shun rash judgment."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
power than the child and more wealth and age. Ecclesiastes 10:1 below states: "Wisdom and a little glory28 are more precious than short-lived folly." And Proverbs 12:9 reads:
"Better is a poor man who provides for himself than the person who is glorious and wants for bread." He explains what he means by foolish, in that he is slack in providing for the future, which is one element of prudence.29 Thus, he says: Who knows not to foresee for hereafter, namely, future events. Deuteronomy 32:29 states: "O that they would be wise and would understand and would provide for their last end."
16. (Verse 14). Because out of prison and chains sometimes a person comes forth to a kingdom. We read in Wisdom
10:13-14: "She did not abandon the just when he was sold bound in chains, but delivered him from sinners, . . . till she brought him the scepter of the kingdom."30 And another, who is born king, is consumed with poverty, because of his pride. Sirach 10:17 reads: "The Lord31 has overturned the thrones of proud princes and has set up the meek in their stead."
17. (Verse 15). I saw all the living. Here he treats of the evil that follows from imprudence, because one person is put down and another raised up. Thus, he says: I saw all
28On p. 41 n. 1 QuarEd intimate that the Vulgate reads et gloria parva ("and a little glory") while Bonaventure reads parvaque gloria
("and a little glory").
29On p. 41 n. 1 QuarEd refer readers to Book III, d. 33, dubium 2 of Bonaventure's Commentary on the Sentences for the elements of prudence. See Omnia Opera 3:728: "There are three elements of prudence, as Cicero says, namely, 'memory, understanding, and providence,' and only providence looks to the future." The reference is to Book II chapter 54 of Cicero's Rhetorica.
30The "she" is Wisdom. The Vulgate reads in vinculis ("bound in chains") in verse 14, not in verse 13: "13. She did not abandon the just when he was sold, but delivered him from sinners. . . .14. And she did not abandon him bound in chains, till she brought him the scepter of the kingdom."
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the living who walk under the sun, that is, many or a limitless number in the sense of hyperbole. With the second young man, that is, who follows him in the kingdom. So he continues: Who will rise up in his place. And others follow this youth who took over and despised the older man. There is an example of this in David who rose up in the kingdom of Saul, and the people of Israel followed him and abandoned the house of Saul. So it is said in 2 Samuel 5:1 that all came to David.32
18. (Verse 16). The reason why they follow the younger man and abandon the older man is that the foolish old man did no good for them. This is implied in the verse that follows: The number of all the people who were before him is infinite, that is, those who were under the foolish king before the coming of the young man whom they joined.
And those who will come afterwards. Supply: who are still loyal to the old king. Will not rejoice in him, that is, in the foolish old king, since he does no good for them and will do no good for them, for he does not know how to do good.
Sirach 20:17-19 states: "A fool will have no friend, and there will be no thanks for his good deeds,33 . . . for he does not distribute with right understanding that which was to be had." From this he draws the conclusion of vanity: But this too is vanity and vexation of spirit. This is another vanity from the ones mentioned earlier in Ecclesiastes 1:14:
"I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity."34 In Ecclesiastes 1:15 he adds the 31The Vulgate reads Deus ("God") whereas Bonaventure has Dominus
("the Lord").
322 Samuel 5:1 reads: "Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, saying: Behold, we are your bone and your flesh."
33On p. 41 n. 4 QuarEd accurately indicate that the Vulgate reads et non erit gratia bonis illius ("and there will be no thanks for his good deeds") while Bonaventure has et nec erit gratia in bonis illius ("and there will be thanks for his good deeds").
34Ecclesiastes 1:14 continues: ". . . and vexation of spirit."
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reason: "The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is infinite." – This concludes the section of the vanity of sin.35
19. In a spiritual sense this can be applied to Christ. The poor and wise child is Christ, who is a child by reason of innocence. For Isaiah 42:1 says in another translation:
"Behold, my child, my elect, in whom my soul has been pleased."36 Since he was made needy for us, he is poor. 2
Corinthians 8:9 states: "You know, brothers and sisters,37 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that, although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes." He is wise, indeed
Wisdom itself. 1 Corinthians 1:24 reads: "We speak of38 Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." And Ecclesiastes 9:15 below says: "There was found in it a man poor and wise."
20. The old and foolish king is the devil.39 He is old. Job 40:14 reads: "He was the beginning of the ways of God."
Thus "he has grown old in evil days."40 He is king, because 35That is, Ecclesiastes 3:16-4:16.
36The English of the Vulgate of Isaiah 42:1 is: "Behold, my servant, I will uphold him, my elect, in whom my soul has delighted." The English of the Septuagint is: "Jacob, my child, I will take him up; Israel, my elect, my soul has taken him." Matthew 12:18 reads: "Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, in whom my soul was well pleased."
37The Vulgate does not read fratres ("brothers and sisters").
38The Vulgate does not read dicimus ("we speak of").
39On p. 41 n. 5 QuarEd quote Jerome's commentary on Ecclesiastes 4:13. See CCSL lxii, 290: "Origen and Victorinus do not differ much among themselves. For after that general opinion which is obvious to everyone that a poor and wise youth is better than an old and foolish king. . . .They interpreted this passage to be about Christ and devil.
They take Christ to be the poor and wise child. . . .Now he was poor, because although he was rich, he became poor. . . .He was born during the reign of the old man. . . ."
40On p. 41 n. 6 QuarEd rightly point to Daniel 13:52 and the Vulgate's reading of inveterate ("O you who have grown old") while Bonaventure
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he reigns among the evil. For Job 41:25 states: "He is king over all the children of pride." He is foolish, since he attempted what he could not do. Thus, Isaiah 14:13 has: "I will ascend into heaven. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God."41 Although he is most cunning in deceiving, he does not know how to foresee that sometimes a person comes out of prison to a kingdom, as Christ came out of the prison of flesh and the chains of the passion to the kingdom of heavenly glory. Hebrews 1:3 reads: "He sits at the right hand of majesty on high." Also the devil, who is born king, that is, to take over the kingdom, is consumed with poverty, as is stated in Colossians 2:15: "Despoiling the principalities and the powers, he has confidently exposed them."
21. What follows now is an explanation of what comes before Christ's reign. And I saw all the living who walk under the sun with the second young man, that is, Christ.
John 12:19 says: "Behold, the whole world is gone after him." This one will rise up to throw the devil out of the kingdom. John 12:31 reads: "Now is the judgment of the world. Now will the prince of this world be cast out." The number of the men who were before him is infinite,42 that is, before the coming of Christ. And the faithful, who will come afterwards will not rejoice in him, that is, in the stupid king, that is, in the devil, because they now rejoice only in Christ. For the Apostle states in Philippians 4:4: has inveteratus ("he has grown old"). Daniel is addressing one of the old men who are falsely accusing Susanna of sin."
41On p. 41 n. 6 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate reads In caelum conscendam ("Into heaven I will mount") while Bonaventure has Ascendam in caelum ("I will ascend into heaven").
42Bonaventure's citation is not exact: it omits omnibus ("all") and has virorum ("men") rather than the Vulgate's populi ("people").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
"Rejoice in the Lord always." A person should rejoice in the Lord, not in the devil.43
ECCLESIASTES 4:17-7:23
TRIPLE REMEDY AGAINST TRIPLE
VANITY 22. Guard your foot. Ecclesiastes has dealt with the vanity of sin above. Since this vanity is mortal and destructive, he deals here with the remedy against it. Because he has shown that there is a triple vanity, namely, of malice, avarice, and imprudence, he now gives three remedies. First, he gives a remedy against malice. Second, against avarice where Ecclesiastes 5:9 reads: A covetous man will not be satisfied. Third, against imprudence where Ecclesiastes
6:8 asks: What more has the wise person than the fool? But since the sickness of malice is incurable in itself and can additionally corrupt others, he deals here with a remedy not against malice, but against the corruption of malice or the evil coming from it in others who see malice in another.
ECCLESIASTES 4:17-5:8
THE REMEDY AGAINST THE
VANITY OF MALICE
23. A triple disorder comes from this malice, namely, in work because of the disobedience of deviation; in the mouth through foolish speech; in the heart through wrong thinking. Anyone, who without caution gazes on the malice of another, falls into all these evils. For when someone thinks that evil is not punished, believing there is no providence,
43See Hugh of St. Cher, 84d for a different interpretation: "With the second young man] that is, with the Antichrist, who is said to be the second youth with respect to the poor and wise child about whom the text spoke earlier, that is, with regard to Christ, who is the first youth."
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this is erroneous thinking. And from this a person freely says what is foolish, because he does not believe that there is anyone to reprimand him. And finally, a person transgresses the commandments, because he does not believe that there is anyone to punish him. So first, he gives a remedy against disobedience. Second, against foolish speech where Ecclesiastes 5:1 says: Do not speak anything rashly, etc. Third, against wrong thinking where
Ecclesiastes 5:7 reads: If you see the oppressions of the poor, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 4:17
REMEDY AGAINST DISOBEDIENCE
24. (Verse 17). As a remedy against disobedience he introduces exhortation and adds the reason for exhortation. Now he exhorts people to keep careful custody over their feet, lest the divine commandments be transgressed. Therefore, he says: Guard your feet, lest you stray from the right path.
We read in Hebrews 12:13: "Make straight steps for your feet, so that no one who is lame may go out of the way."
When you go into the house of God, that is, into a church or into the service of God, into which a person should enter with fear. For Psalm 5:8 reads: "I will come into your house.
I will worship towards your holy temple in fear of you." So you are to keep your feet from disobedience and ready to obey. For this reason he continues: And draw near to hear, that is, to obey. He says draw near, because Deuteronomy
33:3 states: "Those who draw near to his feet will receive from his teaching." To hear, that is, by obeying. Jeremiah
17:20-21 reads: "Hear the word of the Lord, all who enter in by these gates. Thus says the Lord: Guard your souls."
25. And he adds the reason for the exhortation: For much better is obedience than the victims of fools, who know not what evil they do, for they do not acknowledge their transgressions nor take care to obey. Gregory states: "Obedience is better than victims, because in obedience one's own
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
will is offered up. In a victim the flesh of another is offered."44 The comparison is faulty, because obedience is good and so is pleasing.45 Lamentations 3:27 says: "It is good for a man when he has borne the yoke from his youth." On the other hand the victims offered by fools are displeasing. Proverbs 15:8 has: "The victims of the wicked are abominable to the Lord." For Saul was condemned, because he transgressed a divine commandment out of love for an offering.46 1 Samuel 15:22 reads: "Does the Lord desire holocausts and victims and not rather that the people obey him?47 For obedience is better than sacrifices and to listen attentively is greater than to offer the fat of rams."48
44On p. 42 n. 5 QuarEd indicate that in Book XXXV, chapter 14 n. 28 of his Moralia in Iob, Gregory is interpreting 1 Samuel 15:22: "Obedience is better than victims. . . .Indeed, obedience is rightfully preferred to victims, for through victims the flesh of another is sacrificed, but through obedience one's own will is offered up." See S. Gregorii Magni Moralia in Iob, Libri XXIII-XXXV, ed. M. Adriaen, CCSL cxliiib (Turnhout:
Brepols, 1985), 1792. Hugh of St. Cher, 84p also cites Blessed Gregory on 1 Samuel 15: "Because by obedience one's own will is offered up, but another's flesh by a victim."
45On p. 42 n. 6 QuarEd refer to Book VII n. 4 of Aristotle's Physica for the conditions required for a strict comparison. See WAE, Vol. 2, 249a:
"Must we then say that, if two things are to be commensurable in respect to any attribute, not only must the attribute in question be applicable to both without equivocation, but there must also be no specific differences either in the attribute itself or in that which contains the attribute – that these, I mean, must not be divisible in the way in which colour is divided into kinds? Thus in this respect one thing will not be commensurable with another, i.e. we cannot say that one is more coloured than the other where only colour in general and not any particular colour is meant; but they are commensurable in respect of whiteness."
46See 1 Samuel 15:15: Saul tells Samuel of his disobedient action:
"the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds that they might be sacrificed to the Lord your God, but the rest we have slain."
47On p. 42 n. 6 QuarEd correctly maintain that the Vulgate reads voci Domini ("voice of the Lord") while Bonaventure has ei ("him").
48Hugh of St. Cher, 84p devotes seven lines to the example of Saul and the citation of 1 Samuel 15:22.