CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER 7
ECCLESIASTES 7:1
DO NOT SEARCH OUT THE
SUBLIME 1. (Verse 1). Why do people need? Third, he calls his readers away from inquiring and searching out the sublime when they have enough to do to know their own or common evils. So he says: Why do people need to seek things that are above them? As if to say, there is no need. We read in Sirach 3:22: "Seek not the things that are too high for you."1 And Romans 11:20 states: "Be not high-minded, but fear." He adds the reason why a person should not seek what is higher: Whereas they do not know what is profitable for them in their lives, that is, what is useful. Wisdom
9:16 says: "Hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon the earth, and with labor do we find the things that are before us. But who will search out the things that are in heaven?" We are ignorant of what may be useful for us in this brief life. Wherefore, he adds: in all the days of their pilgrimage. Genesis 47:9 has: "The days of the pilgrimage of my life . . . are few and evil." 2 Corinthians 5:6 reads: "While we are in this body,2 we are pilgrims away
1Hugh of St. Cher, 88a cites all of Sirach 3:22.
2The Vulgate reads dum ("while") while Bonaventure has quamdiu ("while"). Also the Vulgate does not read in hoc corpore ("in this body"), but simply in corpore ("in the body"). Hugh of St. Cher, 88d also quotes
2 Corinthians 5:6 and reads dum ("while") and in hoc corpore ("in this body").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
from the Lord." – And the time that passes like a shadow. 1
Chronicles 29:15 states: "We are on pilgrimage before you and strangers, as were all our fathers. Our days upon earth are like a shadow, and there is no remaining." And so he is not able to search out or learn from another. Therefore, he adds: Or who can tell them what will be after them under the sun? For human beings do not know the future, unless the Lord reveals it by grace. Therefore, human beings should not investigate the future. Isaiah 48:7-8 reads: ". . . before the day when you heard them not, lest you should say: Behold, I knew them. You have neither heard nor known. Nor was your ear opened of old."3 Ecclesiastes 8:7 below says: "Since he is ignorant of things past, and things to come he cannot know by any messenger." For only god knows and reveals the future.
QUESTIONS 19
I. What does he mean by the words: It is better to see what you may desire than to desire what you do not know.4 So he does not allow that a person can desire what he doesn't know.
Contra: 1. Augustine says that "we are able to love what is not seen, but in no way can we love what is not known."5
Therefore, against this objection: For something to be loved and desired, it must be known.
3Isaiah 48:7 commences in this way: "They are created now, and not of old. . . ."
4Ecclesiastes 6:9.
5On p. 54 n. 1 QuarEd refer to Book VIII, chapter 4 n. 6ff. and Book X, chapter 1 n. 1ff. of Augustine's De Trinitate and say that this opinion is treated extensively in these passages. It seems to me that nowhere does Augustine actually say what Bonaventure attributes to him. See, for example, Book X, chapter 1 n. 1 in Sancti Avrelii Avgvstini De
Trinitate Libri XV Libri I-XII, ed. W. J. Mountain and Fr. Glorie, CCSL l (Turnhout: Brepols, 1968): Ac primum quia rem prorsus ignotam amare omnino nullus potest ("And first since no one can love a thing at all that is entirely unknown").
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2. Moreover, affection follows knowledge. Therefore, when knowledge does not come first, there can be no affection.
But knowledge does not reach what is not known, and therefore, neither does affection.
I reply: There are two types of knowledge, namely, sure knowledge and knowledge of opinion. There is also a double ignorance. One kind is the lack of any certitude while the other is a lack of any opinion. I say, therefore, that for something to be desired, a sure knowledge is not necessary, for desire can come from an opinion. But some knowledge must be the basis for the opinion. Ecclesiastes is speaking here of ignorance from a lack of certainty.6
II. What does he mean by the words: Why do people need to seek things that are above them?7 From this it would seem that a person is not to examine or strive to know what is above. – This is proved by Sirach 3:22: See not the things that are too high for you. Romans 11:20 says the very same thing: Be not high-minded, but fear.
Contra: 1.Human beings stand between visible creatures and God. But Augustine says that a human mind is darkened when the eye concentrates on what is of the earth and lowly, but it is enlightened when it turns to eternal goods.8 Therefore, one should always seek what is eternal.
But eternal goods are higher. Therefore, etc.
6See Book VIII chapter 4 n.6 of Augustine's De Trinitate in CCSL l, 274-275 and Saint Augustine The Trinity, trans. Stephen McKenna, FC
45 (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 1963), 250-251:
"But who loves that which he does not know? For something can be known and not loved; but what I am asking is, whether something can be loved that is not known? If that is impossible, then no one loves God, before he knows Him. And what does it mean to love God, except to see
Him and to perceive him steadfastly with our mind?"
7Ecclesiastes 7:1.
8On p. 54 n. 5 QuarEd cite Sermon 1 n. 18 of Augustine's Enarratio in Psalmum 58. See CCSL xxxix, 742. See Exposition of the Psalms 5172, trans. Maria Boulding, Works of St. Augustine III/17, (Hyde Park,
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
2. Moreover, the soul never attains a total perfection other than in things higher than itself.9 But whatever can grow in perfection should tend towards and seek the thing in which it is perfected. Therefore, it should seek what is above itself. – If you say that the soul does not know, that it ought not to seek nor study things substantially higher than itself, that it should not reflect on what exceeds the limits of its understanding, then one can object. For all matters of faith are beyond our understanding. And so according to this our mind should not concern itself with believing matters of faith.
3. Also, most blameworthy are those who want to discuss articles of faith. Therefore, all who want to discuss the faith are blameworthy.
I reply: What he means by things that are above them and by to seek needs attention. He calls things that are above them those things that exceed our understanding from the point of view that they exceed. To seek means for him to search and discuss, as if he were to say that it is stupid to study things that our study cannot reach and for which our ability is inadequate. For there are some things that manifest God to us, and these are not above us. So he is not discouraging us from thinking about God.
NY: New City Press, 2001), 163-164: "Consider how it is with the human soul, brothers and sisters. It has no light of its own, no power of its own. The only beauty the soul has consists of power and wisdom, but it is not wise of itself, not strong of itself, nor is it the source of its own light, or its own power. There is another source and wellspring of strength, there is a root of wisdom; there is a country of immutable truth, if I may so express it. When the soul departs from that country it is darkened, but it is illuminated as it approaches. Draw near to him and receive his light Ps 33:6 (34:5), for by moving away you are darkened."
9On p. 54 n. 6 QuarEd cite Book I, chapter 3 n. 5 of Augustine's De Moribus Ecclesiae catholicae. See PL 32:1312: Quisquis enim quod se ipso est deterius sequitur, fit et ipse deterior ("For whoever follows what is lower than himself, also becomes lower himself").
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2-3. Regarding the objection about faith, it has to be said that it does not dissuade us from believing, but from seeking. Moreover, although matters of faith are beyond our mind by itself, they are not above a mind enlightened by grace. Hence, to seek out and to study to that point to which the light of faith reaches is not to reach out to things above us. Every prudent discussion of the articles of faith is done in this way. But if the discussion goes beyond this, it is a blameworthy excess unless it be from God.10
III. What does he mean by: Who can tell them what will be after them under the sun?11
Contra: In our soul there is an ability to become everything and to do everything.12 But the mind, seen from its capacity to receive, allows the soul to think of all that is present, all that is past, and all that is future. Therefore, if the mind, seen from its capacity to act, can realize its potential, persons are able, through their own power, to know the future.
I reply: If the intellect as active can form or abstract in the intellect as possible, it can only do so if certitude about the thing comes from outside the mind and internally from the senses. For "without an object, knowledge stops."13 And 10On p. 54 n. 7QuarEd refer to Book I, Prooemii q. 2. See Opera Omnia
1:9-11.
11Ecclesiastes 7:1.
12On p. 54 n. 8 QuarEd cite Book III, n. 5 of Aristotle's De anima. See WAE, vol. 3, 430a: "And in fact mind, as we have described it, is what it is by becoming all things, while there is another which is what it is by virtue of making all things: this is a sort of positive state like light; for in a sense light makes potential colours into actual colours."
13On p. 54 n. 9 QuarEd cite chapter 7 of Aristotle's Categoriae. See WAE, vol. 1, 7b: "Again, while the object of knowledge, if it ceases to exist, cancels at the same time the knowledge which was its correlative, the converse of this is not true. It is true that if the object of knowledge does not exist there can be no knowledge: for there will no longer be anything to know."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
"without the senses, one source of knowledge that is dependent on that sense will stop."14 Therefore, since future things that may happen do not form a likeness of themselves in the senses, neither by themselves nor by an antecedent determined cause and since they do not have in themselves the permanence needed for knowledge, our intellect, dependent as it is on objects, cannot of itself come to know them, unless through him whose knowledge does not depend on objects.15
ECCLESIASTES 7:2-23
SOURCES OF WISDOM THAT
PROVIDE A REMEDY AGAINST
THE VANITY OF FOOLISHNESS
2. A good name is better. In his earlier treatment Ecclesiastes has given the method of learning. Now in a second place he gives teachings about wisdom, in which is found a remedy against the vanity of foolishness. Since, as it is said in Wisdom 8:7, "wisdom teaches temperance, prudence, justice, and strength"16 or fortitude, he divides this section into four parts. In the first he states instructions on temperance. In the second on steadfastness where verse 8 reads: Oppression, etc. In the third on prudence where verse 11 states: Do not say: What do you think is the cause, etc. In the fourth on justice where verse 17 says: Do not be overly just, etc.
14On p. 54 n. 9 QuarEd cite Book I n. 18 of Aristotle's Analytica posteriora. See WAE, vol. 1, 81a: "It is also clear that the loss of any one of the senses entails the loss of a corresponding portion of knowledge, and that, since we learn either by induction or by demonstration, this knowledge cannot be acquired."
15On p. 55 n. 1 QuarEd refer to Book I, d. 19. p. 1. dub. 8 and Book II, d. 7. p. II. a. 1. q. 3 of Bonaventure's Commentary on the Sentences. See
Opera Omnia 1:352 and 2:194 respectively.
16On p. 55 n. 2 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate reads sobrietatem enim et sapientiam docet et iustitiam et virtutem ("For she teaches sobriety and wisdom and justice and strength").
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ECCLESIASTES 7:2-7
FIVE INSTRUCTIONS ON
TEMPERANCE
3. He gives five instructions about temperance. First, he teaches to prefer what is good to what is pleasant. Second, to prefer the future life to the present. Third, trouble to pleasure. Fourth, sadness to enjoyment. Fifth, severity to softness or adulation.
4. (Verse 2). So he sets forth the instruction in which he teaches to prefer what is good, for example, a good name, to what is soothing such as an ointment. So he says: A good name is better, that is, a good reputation based on good actions. About this Sirach 41:15 says: "Take care of a good name, for this will continue with you more than a thousand precious and great treasures."17 Than precious ointments which have a strong fragrance, according to what is said in John 12:3: "Mary took a pound of ointment of right spikenard, of great price . . . and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment." And although ointments have a fragrance, a good name has a stronger one and therefore better. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 reads: "We are the good fragrance of Christ unto God in every place,"18 namely, with regard to our good reputation.
5. And the day of death. The second teaching is to prefer the future life to the present one, and so to prefer entrance into the other life to entrance into this life. So he contin17Hugh of St. Cher, 88g also cites Sirach 41:15.
18On p. 55 n. 3 QuarEd rightly indicate that Bonaventure has adapted this quotation. 2 Corinthians 2:14-15 reads: "But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ Jesus, manifesting through us the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. For we are the fragrance of Christ for God. . . ." Thus, Bonaventure has taken "in every place" from the end of verse 14 and placed it at the end of verse 15a.
Hugh of St. Cher, 88g cites 2 Corinthians 2:14b-15a and does not adapt the citation as Bonaventure does.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
ues: And the day of death. Supply: is better than the day of one's birth, because we die so as to rest. Revelation 14:13 states: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, the Spirit says now . . . that they may rest from their labors." But here a person is born to labor. Job 5:7 says: "Human beings are born to labor, and birds to fly." Hence, to die is better. So Sirach 30:17: "Better is death than a bitter life, and everlasting rest than continual distress."
6. (Verse 3). It is better to go to the house of mourning, etc.
The third instruction concerns the preference of affliction to pleasure, for example, to mourn rather than to feast.
For this reason he says: It is better to go to the house of mourning, where sins are mourned. For Matthew 5:5 reads:
"Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
Than to the house of feasting, where one finds pleasures.
Proverbs 23:20 says: "Be not in the feast of great drinkers," etc. The reason is that in feasting one is forgetful of oneself, while in a house of mourning one is mindful of one's judgment. And so he adds: For in that, that is, in a house of mourning, we are put in mind of the end of all. We read in Sirach 38:23: "Remember my judgment, for this also will be so. Today is for me, and tomorrow will be for you."19 And the living thinks of what is to come. And this is most useful, for Sirach 8:40 counsels: "Remember your last end, and you will never sin" for, as Jerome says, "people, who are always pondering that they will die, easily despise all goods."20
19On p. 55 n. 6 QuarEd rightly notice that the Vulgate reads mihi heri et tibi hodie ("yesterday for me and today for you") whereas
Bonaventure has mihi est hodie, tibi erit cras ("today is for me; tomorrow will be for you"). Hugh of St. Cher, 88v, g also cites Sirach 38:23. His text agrees with the Vulgate's.
20On p. 55 n. 6 QuarEd cite Jerome's Epistula 140 to Cyprianum n.
16. See PL 22:1177: "For whoever is mindful every day that she will die, despises present things and hastens to the future."
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7. (Verses 4-5). He now deals with his fourth instruction: to prefer sorrow to joy, because sorrow corrects while joy deceives. And so he says: Anger is better than laughter.
Anger, namely, by which a person gets angry over the sins of others. Hebrews 12:6 states: "He scourges every son whom he receives." And Revelation 3:19 reads: "I rebuke and chastise those whom I love." This anger is better than false laughter. Sirach 30:9 has: "Play with your son, and he will make you sorrowful," etc.21 And therefore, anger is better. He adds the reason: Because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected. Proverbs 25:23 reads: "The north wind drives away rain as a sad countenance drives away a backbiting tongue."
8. And he confirms this instruction with the judgment of the wise. So he says: The heart of the wise is where there is mourning. Contrariwise, the22 heart of fools is where there is mirth. The wise look for sadness in the present life; the fools look for joy. John 16:20 states: "You will lament and weep, but the world will rejoice." That one group acts wisely and the others foolishly is clear from the consequences.
For it is said to the sad in Luke 6:21: "Blessed are you who weep now, because you will laugh." But the contrasting woe is addressed to those who are rejoicing in Luke 6:25:
"Woe to you who are laughing now, because you will weep."
9. (Verses 6-7). It is better to be rebuked by a wise person.
He speaks now of the fifth teaching: prefer severity to softness, for example, sharp correction to flattery. So he says:
It is better to be rebuked by a wise person than to be deceived by the flattery of fools. We read in Proverbs 27:5:
21NAB of Sirach 30:9 reads: "Pamper your child, and he will be a terror for you. Indulge him, and he will bring you grief." Hugh of St.
Cher, 88v, h cites Sirach 30:9 in its entirety.
22The Vulgate reads et cor ("and the heart").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
"Open rebuke is better than hidden love," because correction guides, but flattery deceives. Proverbs 16:29 states:
"An unjust man allures his friend and leads him into a way that is not good." And Isaiah 3:12 says: "O my people, those who call you blessed are the same ones who deceive you," etc.
10. He illustrates the reason by a parallel. Flattery does not last long for the fool and makes a lot of noise, like thorns burning under a pot. So he says: For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, making much noise, so is the laughter of the fool. The literal meaning is that the fool is laughing loudly. Sirach 21:23 reads: "A fool lifts up his voice in laughter, but a wise man will scarce laugh low to himself." Or: loud laughter, when the flattery is a clamoring. Proverbs 27:14 states: "The person who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice at early morning will be like the person who curses." Now this also is vanity, namely, such flattery. We read in Psalm 61:10: "Vain are the children of men and women, the sons of men and women are liars."
QUESTIONS 20
I. What does he mean by: The day of death is better than the day of birth?23
Contra: 1. Death is a privation while life is a habit. But a habit always has more existence and goodness than a privation.24 Therefore, life is better than death. Therefore, the day of birth is better than death.
23See Ecclesiastes 7:2.
24On p. 56 n. 3 QuarEd cite Book I, n. 8 of Aristotle's Physica: privation "is by its very nature non-being." See WAE, vol. 2, 192b: "Privation in its own nature is not-being." The editors also refer to Book IV, n. 22 of Aristotle's Metaphysica. See WAE, vol. 8, 1022b: "(2) 'Having' or 'habit' means a disposition according to which that which is disposed is either
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2. Moreover, there is a rule that "if the corruption of something is good, then its generation is bad."25 But death is a corruption of life. The person whose death is good has a bad life. But only the life of a sinner is bad. Wherefore, only the death of a sinner is better than life. But this is false, because a sinner on dying goes to hell.
I reply: Something is preferred at one time by reason of itself, and at another by reason of something consequent to it. When something has more good in itself, it is to be preferred by reason of itself, for example, a human being is better than a horse. On the other hand, a thing is to be preferred by reason of something consequent to it, for example, death is preferred to life, for its dissolution, namely, death has as its consequence rest and existence with Christ.26 Ecclesiastes is speaking of such a death, because during life a person is in danger, work, and distress. After death a just person is in joy, security, and tranquility.
The answer to the first objection is that death is not preferred by reason of itself.
The second objection can be resolved in the same way.
Death is called bad from two points of view: either because it takes away a great good, that is, a good life, a life well or ill disposed, and either in itself or with reference to something else; e.g. health is a 'habit'; for it is such a disposition. – (3) We speak of 'habit' if there is a portion of such a disposition; and so even the excellence of the parts is a 'habit' of the whole thing." In footnote 1 the translator writes: "The word hexis does duty for 'having', 'habit', and 'permanent state'."
25On p. 56 n. 4 QuarEd quote Book II, n. 9 of Aristotle's Topica. See WAE, vol. 1, 114b: "For those things whose modes of generation rank among good things, are themselves also good; and if they themselves be good, so also are their modes of generation. If on the other hand their modes of generation be evil, then they themselves are evil."
26On p. 56 n. 5 QuarEd rightly allude to Philippians 1:23: "Indeed, I am hard pressed from both sides – desiring to depart and to be with Christ, a lot by far the better."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
that is good, true, and useful or because it leads to a bad end. In the first way, the death of the just is bad, that is, destructive. But in the second way it is very good. And from this point of view it is to be preferred.
II. It is also asked what does he mean by: Anger is better than laughter.27
Contra: 1. Matthew 5:22 reads: Whoever is angry with his brother will be in danger of the judgment. But whoever laughs is not liable to any punishment. Therefore, it is worse to be angry than to laugh.
2. Furthermore, to laugh can be without sin. But to be angry, when a disturbance of the mind is involved, is hardly without venial sin. And it is never without some punishment.28 Hence it is much worse to be angry than to laugh.
I reply: There are anger over sin and anger of nature.
The first comes from virtue and is good. The second comes from sin and is bad.29 The case is similar with laughing at good and laughing at sin. The first is good while the second is bad. So Ecclesiastes is speaking of anger and laughter that is bad.
Similarly, another rule can be given about good: laughter is better than anger. – And it has to be said that in the present life there is more bad than good. So there are more things that occasion sadness than occasion rejoicing, and so he prefers anger to laughter.
27Ecclesiastes 7:4.
28On p. 56 n. 7 QuarEd helpfully point to James 1:20: "For wrath of human beings does not work the justice of God."
29On p. 56 n. 8 QuarEd cite Book I, chapter 18 n. 4 of Augustine's Retractiones. See Saint Augustine, The Retractations. Translated by Mary Inez Bogan. (FC 60; Washington: Catholic University of America
Press, 1968) 81: ". . . one who is angry at the sin of his brother is not angry with his brother. He, then, who is angry with his brother, but not because of his sin, is angry without cause."
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ECCLESIASTES 7:8-10
INSTRUCTIONS ON CONSTANCY
11. Oppression troubles the wise person. He has given above his instructions about temperance. In this second part he presents lessons about acquiring constancy. And since constancy is lost through oppression and anger and preserved by patience and perseverance, he divides the material into four parts. In the first part he shows that oppression is to be avoided. In the second that perseverance is to be loved.
In the third that patience is to be kept. In the fourth that anger is to be shunned.
12. (Verse 8). In the first part he shows that oppression is to be avoided, because when a person is disturbed, that person becomes inconstant. So he says: Oppression troubles the wise person. Calumny, a special form of oppression, is a litigious criminal accusation, and therefore is to be avoided.30 Isaiah 54:14 reads: "Depart far from oppression, for you will have no fear." And it will destroy the strength of his heart, that is, the fortitude of love. Matthew 24:12 states: "Since iniquity has abounded, the charity of many will grow cold."
13. (Verse 9). Better is the end, etc. Here he treats of the second instruction, in which perseverance is preferred to justice merely begun. So he says: Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. It is better to persevere in good than only begin. Matthew 10:22 reads: "The person who perseveres to the end is the one who will be saved." Thus,
Bernard comments: "Perseverance is the culmination of 30On p. 57 n. 1 QuarEd quote q. 68 of Augustine's Quaestiones in Leviticum. See PL 34:707: "Calumny is nothing other than when a neighbor is hurt by the accusation of a false crime." The editors also quote Justinian. See Book XLVIII, section 16, n. 1 of The Digest of Justinian, Vol. 2, ed. Alan Watson, (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998): "Calumny is the bringing of false charges."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
all the virtues."31 Better is the patient, etc. Here he gives the third lesson in which patience is commended, because without it there can be no constancy. So he continues: Better is the patient person than the presumptuous. The comparison is misapplied, for patience is good while presumption is wrong. Proverbs 16:32 states: "The patient man is better than the valiant," etc.
14. (Verse 10). Do not get angry quickly. He gives now the fourth instruction, in which he teaches that anger is to be shunned. So he says: Do not get angry quickly. We read in James 1:19: "But let every person be swift to hear, but slow to speak, and slow to anger."32 He supplies the reason: For anger rests in the bosom of a fool. Job 5:2 observes:
"Anger indeed kills the foolish man, and envy slays the little one." Well does the text say rests, because anger lingers, and the wise person ought not to stay angry day by day. Ephesians 4:26 reads: "Let not the sun go down upon your anger." Do not be like the fool, of whom it is said in Proverbs 27:3: "The sand is heavy" in the bosom of a fool.
QUESTIONS 21
I. There is doubt about the words: Oppression troubles the wise person.33
Contra: Proverbs 12:21 states: Whatever shall befall the just person, it will not make him sad. Therefore, if the wise are just, they will not be saddened by oppression or calumny.
31On p. 57 n. 2 QuarEd cite Bernard's Epistola 129 n. 2. See SBOp 7.323: "Strength of strengths, it (perseverance) is the culmination of the virtues. . . .Finally, it is not the person who begins, but the one who perseveres to the end who will be saved."
32Hugh of St. Cher, 89v, a also cites James 1:19.
33Ecclesiastes 7:8.
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This is answered in one way, that is, the sadness of impatience does not sadden a just person, but the sadness of compassion does sadden a just person. Thus, the Apostle says in 2 Corinthians 12:29: Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?34 As if to say: no one. – But the second half of the verse cancels this exposition by adding: And will destroy the strength of his heart. So the solution is that the text in Ecclesiastes refers, as stated in the Glossa, to a wise person who is just and perfect.35 To him the text of Proverbs 12:21 applies. And to an imperfect person, about whom the present text is speaking.
II. Also, what does he mean by: Do not get angry quickly?36
Contra: Psalm 4:5 reads: Be angry and do not sin.
I reply: It has to be said that anger has many forms.37
ECCLESIASTES 7:11-16
INSTRUCTIONS ON PRUDENCE
15. Do not say what do you think is the cause, etc. After giving instructions about temperance and steadfastness, he now provides lessons on prudence. Since it is prudence's
34On p. 57 n. 6 QuarEd refer to Book I, d. 48, a. 2, q. 2 and dubium 4 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Opera Omnia 1:857 and 861 respectively.
35On p. 57 n. 7 QuarEd cite the Glossa Ordinaria on Ecclesiastes 7:6, which is taken from Jerome's observations on 7:8. See PL 113:1123: "A wise, perfect person has no need of proof, is not troubled by oppression.
Therefore, it is to be understood of such a wise and perfect person that he will sometimes be troubled by the iniquity of a judgment, when God does not immediately punish."
36Ecclesiastes 7:10.
37On p. 57 n. 9 QuarEd offer five references, of which two are selected here. MSS Vat. observes: "Note that there is an anger that is permitted, and this is a venial fault. Be angry and sin not (Psalm 4:5). And the condition just stated is essential. There is anger that is forbidden, and this is a mortal fault: Anger has no mercy, nor fury when it break forth
(Proverbs 27:4). There is a anger that is commanded, and this is an anger of justice and zeal. Of this anger Ecclesiastes has said earlier:
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
task to discern where error occurs,38 he gives four instructions about discretion. The first is discernment of what is useful. The second is discernment of divine works. The third is the discernment of the times. The fourth is discernment of the merits of men and women.
16. (Verses 11-13). So his first instruction deals with the discernment of what is useful. For at different times what is useful varies from diverse causes. So he says: Do not say what do you think is the cause that former times, that is, of the ancients, were better? That is, because there was scarcity of things during them. Than they are now, that is, when there is now an abundance of things. Since this question stems from a lack of thought, he continues: For this manner of question is foolish. And the reason is that the person does not consider the usefulness of wealth. Therefore, he instructs the person to discern when he states:
Wisdom with riches is more useful. Proverbs 13:8 reads:
"The ransom of man's life are his riches."39 And brings more Anger is better than laughter (Ecclesiastes 7:4), provided that the anger is controlled and does not go to excess." See Book IV, n. 5 of Aristotle's
Ethica nicomachea and WAE, vol. 9, 1125b: "The man who is angry at the right things and with the right people, and, further, as he ought, when he ought, and as long as he ought, is praised. This will be the good-tempered man, then, since good temper is praised. For the goodtempered man tends to be unperturbed and not to be led by passion, but to be angry in the manner, at the things, and for the length of time, that the rule dictates; but he is thought to err rather in the direction of deficiency; for the good-tempered man is not revengeful, but rather tends to make allowances."
38On p. 57 n. 10 QuarEd refer to Book VI, n. 5 and 8ff. of Aristotle's Ethica nicomachia. See WAE, vol. 9, 1140b: "Practical wisdom, then, must be a reasoned and true state of capacity to act with regard to human goods. But further, while there is such a thing as excellence in art, there is no such thing as excellence in practical wisdom; and in art he who errs willingly is preferable, but in practical wisdom, as in the virtues, he is the reserve. Plainly, then, practical wisdom is a virtue and not an art."
39Hugh of St. Cher, 90a also quotes Proverbs 13:8.
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advantage to those who see the sun, that is, to those who have a right intention. For we read in Sirach 13:30: "riches are good to the person who has no sin on his conscience, and poverty is very wicked in the mouth of the ungodly."
17. He shows that money is useful from its effect: For as wisdom is a defense, namely, from sin. Proverbs 2:10-11 states: "If wisdom shall enter into your heart and knowledge please your soul, counsel shall keep you and prudence shall preserve you." So money is a defense, provided it is spent well. Sirach 29:16 says: "The alms of a man are like a purse with him and will preserve the grace of a human being as the apple of his eye."40 And although both are useful, wisdom is more useful. So he adds: But learning and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to the person who possesses them. Thus, Proverbs 4:10 reads: "Hear,
O my son, and receive my words that years of life may be multiplied to you." And Proverbs 3:18 has: "Wisdom is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her." But money without wisdom brings death. James 5:1 states: "Come now, you rich, weep and howl over your miseries." And so wisdom is to be preferred to money. Proverbs 8:10 says: "Receive wisdom41 and not money, choose knowledge rather than gold."
18. (Verse 14). Consider the works of God, etc. This is the second instruction, in which he teaches a discerning consideration of divine works or judgments, because no one brings back the person whom God despises by a judgment of rejection. So he says: Consider the works of God, that is,
40On p. 58 n. 1 QuarEd accurately indicate that Sirach 28:16 does not exist in the Vulgate. The exact same words that Bonaventure cites as Sirach 28:16 occur in Sirach 17:18. Hugh of St. Cher, 90b also quotes
Sirach 28:16, but as Sirach 29:16.
41On p. 58 n. 2 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads disciplinam meam ("my instruction") whereas Bonaventure has sapientiam ("wisdom").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
divine judgments, that no one can correct whom he has despised, that is, whom God himself by his judgment has decided to visit. So we read of the sons of Eli in 1 Samuel
2:25: "And they hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the Lord had determined to kill them." Such works and judgments are for our reflection to increase fear.
Habakkuk 3:2 reads: "I considered your works and was afraid."42
19. (Verse 15). In the good day, etc. This is the third instruction, in which he teaches the need to discern the times, because God did not make all times uniformly, but different one from another. And a person has to watch the different times. So he says: In the good day enjoy good things, that is, do the good joyfully. Sirach 14:14 states: "Defraud not yourself of the good day, and let not part of a good gift pass you by,"43 because that day is the place and time for working. Thus, John 9:4 reads: "I must work . . . while it is day." Similarly the Apostle warns us in Galatians 6:10:
"While we have time, let us do good to all." And beware beforehand of the evil day, namely, that of which Zephaniah
1:15 speaks: "That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery."44 Whoever want to beware of that day must keep in mind what
Sirach 11:27 states: "In the day of good things be not unmindful of evils." The Lord made the days and ordered them justly. Therefore, Ecclesiastes says: For God has made both the one and the other, that is, the good and the evil days. And God did this justly: So that human beings may
42On p. 58 n. 3 QuarEd accurately mention that the text of the Vulgate does not match Bonaventure's text. Habakkuk 3:2 says: "O Lord, I have heard your hearing and was afraid. O Lord, your work, in the midst of the years bring it to life." The editors note that the Septuagint reads: "I considered your works and was speechless."
43Hugh of St. Cher, 90m also cites Sirach 14:14.
44Hugh of St. Cher, 90o also quotes Zephaniah 1:15.
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not find any just complaint against God. Wherefore, God makes good things for the good, and evil against evil people.
For Psalm 144:17 reads: "The Lord is just in all his ways."
20. (Verse 16). These things I also saw on the day of my birth.45 Here he states the fourth instruction, in which he teaches the careful discernment to be made of merits, because they hide much. So he says: These things also I saw on the day of my birth, that is, after I was born I saw what would happen. What happens is this: Just people perish in their justice, because they are judged to be wicked. We read in Isaiah 57:1: "The just perish, and no one lays it to heart."
And the wicked live a long time in their wickedness, as if they were righteous. About this Jeremiah was indignant in Jeremiah 12:1: "Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why is it well with all those who transgress and do wickedly?" And Ecclesiastes 8:14 below says: "There are just people, to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of the wicked. And there are wicked people, who are as secure as though they had done the deeds of the just."
QUESTIONS 22
I. What is the meaning of: Wisdom with riches is more useful?46
1. Therefore, it is better to be a rich wise person than a poor wise person. Therefore, it is not a more perfect state to be poor.
2. Moreover, "art and virtue are concerned about what is difficult."47 But it is more difficult for a rich person to be
45The Vulgate reads vanitatis ("vanity") while Bonaventure has nativitatis ("birth").
46Ecclesiastes 7:12.
47On p. 58 n. 7 QuarEd refer to Book II, n. 3 of Aristotle's Ethica nicomachea. See WAE, vol. 9, 1104a: "But both art and virtue are always
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
saved than for a poor person. Therefore, the poor person has the greater virtue. Therefore, poverty is the more praiseworthy state.
Contra: The Lord preferred the state of poverty both in deed and in word, as in Matthew 19:21.48
I reply: 1. There is a triple poverty: one in which a person is happy to be poor. Another in which poverty is tolerated. A third is poverty with impatience. The first is good and perfect. The second is imperfect. The third is to be avoided. Sirach 13:30 states: "Poverty is very wicked in the mouth of the ungodly." When it is said that wisdom is better with wealth than without wealth, it is to be understood of poverty that is tolerated or that causes impatience.49
2. Relative to the objection about the difficulty, it has to be said that there is a difficulty by reason of the kind of work, and this leads to greater virtue. There is also a difficulty by reason of a disordered will, as when a covetous person finds it more difficult to give a gift than does a generous person. And this does nothing for greater virtue. In this sense it is more difficult for a rich person to be saved. –
Another solution is to apply the words to abundance and excessive need. concerned with what is harder; for even the good is better when it is harder." Bonaventure also cited this passage from Aristotle in his second response after his commentary on Ecclesiastes 5:11 (#14) above.
48Matthew 19:21 reads: "Jesus said to him: If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me."
49On p. 59 n. 2 QuarEd refer to Bonaventure's Quaestiones disputatae de perfectione evangelica, q. 2, a. 1, ad 1 where a solution to the following objection is suggested. See Omnia Opera 5:128 where Bonaventure cites Ecclesiastes 7:12.
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II. It is asked what he means by: That no one can correct whom God has despised.50
1. But God despises all sinners, because Sirach 12:3 says:
The highest hates sinners. Wisdom 14:9 states: To God the wicked and their wickedness are hateful alike.
2. Also, whoever cannot be corrected cannot be saved.
Therefore, this text should not be applied to such a person.
I reply: There is a double love, namely, an eternal love and one according to present justice.51 In the same way there is a double despising of people. The text is speaking not of any person whatever, but of a reprobate person. Nor is it speaking of any despising whatever, but of a despising based on eternal rejection, a sign of which is hardness of heart in this present life. So the reference is not to every sinner, but only to the reprobate.
To the objection that the text should not be applied to oneself, it has to be said that God despises no one without reason. Hence, although a person could not rise unless God extends a hand, this is no excuse, because it is one's own fault that a hand is not extended. In his book on Correction and Grace Augustine says that no one is corrected unless they want to be corrected.52
50See Ecclesiastes 7:14. The Vulgate reads possit ("could") while Bonaventure has potest ("can"). The Vulgate does not have Deus ("God").
51On p. 59 n. 1 QuarEd refer to Book I, d. 40, 1. 2, q. 2, ad 1 and 2 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Omnia Opera 1:711.
52On p. 59 n. 6 QuarEd refer to chapter 5, n. 7 and chapter 14, n. 4344 of Augustine's De correptione et gratia. On chapter 14, n. 43 see St.
Augustine, Admonition and Grace, trans. John Courtney Murray, FC 2 (New York: CIMA Publishing Co., 1947), 298: "Actually, when men come, or come back, to the way of justice as the result of an admonition, who is it that effects salvation in their hearts, but God?. . . .To say 'yes' or 'no' is indeed in the power of the man who says it, but in such a way that he may not thwart the will of God nor overcome His power."
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III. It is also asked what he means by: Just people perish in their justice, and the wicked live a long time in their wickedness.53
Contra: 1. Psalm 54:24 states: Bloody and deceitful men will not live out half their days.
2. Furthermore, about good people Exodus 20:12 says:
Honor your father and your mother, that you may be long lived upon the land and live for a long time. Therefore, to observe the commandments is to prolong life.
I reply: What we read about the just in Wisdom 4:13 has to be said: Being made perfect in a short space, he fulfilled a long time,54 showing that few is to be construed as many. But it is different with evil people, and also with the number to be saved and to be damned. The days of good people are longer, because they are better and not because they live longer.
Note, however, that the years of people are sometimes shortened, lest they become evil. Wisdom 4:11 reads: He was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding, etc. This happens sometimes, lest people become worse. Psalm 54:24 says: Bloody and deceitful men will not live out half their days. – The days of good people are lengthened for the sake of purgation. Sirach 2:5 has: For gold and silver are tried in the fire. Romans 2:4 states: Do you not know that the goodness of God is meant to lead you to repentance?
53Ecclesiastes 7:16.
54On p. 59 n. 9 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads explevit ("fulfilled") while Bonaventure has complevit ("fulfilled").
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ECCLESIASTES 7:17-23
INSTRUCTIONS ABOUT JUSTICE
21. Do not be too just. He has already dealt with instructions about temperance, steadfastness, and prudence. Here in a fourth point he deals with instruction about acquiring justice. Since justice is not genuine when it is excessive in rigor or cruelty, unless it be tempered by compassion, he provides four lessons here. In the first he forbids a rigorous severity or an excess of justice. Second, he forbids a lapse into mercilessness. Third, he commends a display of mercy. Fourth, he commends a hiding of one's own injury.
22. (Verse 17a). In the first instruction he warns against being excessively just when imposing punishment by saying: Do not be too just, that is, do not be excessive in the rigor of justice, because it is wrong to pursue every wrong.
Thus, James 2:13 states: "Judgment without mercy will be to him55 who has not acted mercifully."56 Nor should you be relentless in searching out faults. Therefore, he says:
And do not be more wise than is necessary, because we read in Proverbs 30:33: "The person who squeezes forcefully brings out blood." Therefore, Romans 12:3 states: "Do not be more wise than it is necessary to be wise, but be wise with moderation."
23. (Verses 17b-18). Lest you become senseless, etc. Here he deals with his second instruction which forbids a lapse into mercilessness. For mercilessness renders a person senseless in affection and rigorous. So he says: Lest you become senseless. Jeremiah 31:30 reads: "Every person who shall eat the sour grape, his teeth will become senseless."57
55On p. 59 n. 11 QuarEd correctly state that the Vulgate has illi ("to him") whereas Bonaventure reads fiet ei ("will be to him").
56Hugh of St. Cher, 90v, f also cites James 2:13 and reads fiet ei ("will be to him").
57Hugh of St. Cher, 91a also quotes Jeremiah 31:30.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
Mercilessness makes a person cruel. So he says: Do not be too wicked, that is, do not act with cruelty. Psalm 74:5 states: "I said to the wicked: Do not act wickedly." And Sirach 7:3 has: "Do not sow evils in the furrows of injustice, and you will not reap them sevenfold." Mercilessness also blinds the mind, and so he says: Do not58 be foolish.
We read in Proverbs 24:8: "The person who devises to do evils will be called a fool. The thought of a fool will be called sin."
24. Since sin and foolishness hasten death, he adds the reason: Do not be foolish, lest you die before your time, that is, lest you hasten the time of your death, for Psalm 54:24 reads: "Bloody and deceitful men will not live out half their days."59 And again Luke 12:20 says: "You fool, this night do they require your soul of you." An example of this is seen in Dathan and Abiram who "went down alive into hell."60
25. (Verses 19-21). It is good that you should hold up the just. He states now his third instruction, in which he warns us to show mercy. He begins with an exhortation and supplies a reason. – He exhorts by saying: It is good that you should hold up the just, namely, in justice. Proverbs 24:15
58The Vulgate reads et noli esse ("and do not be").
59Hugh of St. Cher, 91d will cite the example of Dathan and Abiram from Numbers 16 (he erroneously has Numbers 26) and will quote
Psalm 54:24; he does not refer to Luke 12:20.
60See Numbers 16:33. On p. 60 n. 1 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate of Numbers 16:33 reads descenderuntque vivi in infernum ("and they went down alive into hell") while Bonaventure has descenderunt viventes in infernum ("went down alive into hell"). Bonaventure's point is actually articulated in Numbers 16:29-30: Moses said: "If these men die an ordinary death, merely suffering the fate common to all humanity, then it was not the Lord who sent me. But if the Lord does something completely new, and the ground opens wide its mouth and swallows them alive into hell, with all their belongings, then you shall know that these men have defied the Lord."
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reads: "Do not lie in wait, nor seek after wickedness in the house of the just nor spoil his rest." For it is said in Proverbs 17:26: "It is not a good thing to do harm to the just nor to strike the prince who judges rightly." Not only is a just person to be held up in a just cause, but the hand should be extended to him in almsgiving. And so he adds:
Yes and from him do not withdraw your hand. Sirach 12:2 states: "Do good to the just, and you will find great recompense, and if not from him, then assuredly from God."61
After this exhortation he adds a threefold reason. And the first is the divine will. About it he says: The person who62 fears God neglects nothing, namely, of those things that God wants to be done. Sirach 7:31-34 says: "With all your soul fear the Lord . . . and for your negligence purify yourself with a few."63
26. The second reason is the dignity of the just person. About this dignity he says: Wisdom has strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city. Wisdom 6:1 states: "Wisdom is better than strength, and a wise man is better than a strong man."
27. The third reason is human weakness. About this weakness he says: For on the earth there is no just person who does good and sins not, and therefore, a sinner is to be shown mercy. Proverbs 24:16 reads: "A just person falls seven times a day64 and will rise again." Indeed, even the 61On p. 60 n. 3 QuarEd accurately mention that the Vulgate has et si non ab ipso, certe a Domino ("and if not from him, then assuredly from the Lord") while Bonaventure reads et si non ab illo, certe a Deo ("and if not from him, then assuredly from God").
62The Vulgate reads quia qui ("for the person who").
63The context would seem to indicate that "a few" include sacrificial gifts to the priestly ministers.
64On p. 60 n. 5 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads Septies enim cadet iustus ("For a just person will fall seven times") while
Bonaventure has Septies in die cadit iustus ("A just person falls seven times a day").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
most perfect person sins sometimes. 1 John 1:8 proclaims:
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."65
28. (Verses 22-23). But do not apply your heart to all words, etc. He deals here with the fourth lesson, in which he exhorts us to hide our own injury. One should not search into nor believe every word, and so he says: But do not apply your heart to all words that are spoken, that is, do not trust every word, because little trust is to be put into words. For many say many things. For this reason Sirach
19:4 states: "The person who is swift to trust is light of heart."66 And since it is difficult to hear and not believe,
Sirach 28:28 reads: "Hedge in your ears with thorns. Do not hear a wicked tongue." So people should not be anxious to hear what is said about them. He gives the reason:
Lest perhaps you hear your servant reviling you, as happened when David heard Shemei curse him as 2 Samuel
16:9 says. As a result Abishai said to David: "Why should this most wretched67 dog curse my lord the king? I will go and cut off his head."
29. And this often happens, as human beings know from their own experience: For your conscience knows that you also have often spoken evil of others. And so you must not pay careful attention nor punish. Sirach 31:18 states:
"Judge the matters of your neighbor as you do your own."
For as it is said in Matthew 18:33: "Should not you, then, have had compassion also on your fellow servant, even as I had compassion on you?"
65Hugh of St. Cher, 91o also cites 1 John 1:8.
66Sirach 19:4 reads: "The person who is swift to trust is light of heart and will be lessened; and the person who sins against his own soul will be despised."
67The Vulgate reads moriturus ("about to die") while Bonaventure has pessimus ("most wretched").
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QUESTIONS 23
I. First, what does he mean by: Do not be too just?68
Contra: 1.In itself this is true, because the just person is good. Therefore, the more just a person is, the more good.
Therefore, the completely just person is the completely good person. Therefore, in the area of justice there is not too much.
2. Also, whatever is said of God, is said in the highest way.
But God is said to be just. Therefore, God is supremely just. And it is assured that this is not evil. Therefore, if the height of justice is not evil, then there is no superfluity there.
II. It is also asked what he means by: Do not be more wise than it will be necessary.69
1. For whoever has more love is wiser, but no one can love too much. Therefore, no one is too wise when speaking of love directed to God.
2. Moreover, no one is exceedingly wise nor can one be.
Therefore, no one can be wiser than it is necessary.
Contra: Virtue consists of the middle way and is damaged by too much and by too little.70 Therefore, just as there can be sin in excessive forgiving, so also in excessive punishing.
68Ecclesiastes 7:17.
69The Vulgate reads necesse est ("it is necessary") whereas Bonaventure has necesse erit ("it will be necessary").
70On p. 60 n. 8 QuarEd refer to Book II, n. 6 of Aristotle's Ethica nicomachea. See WAE, vol. 9, 1106b: ". . . virtue must have the quality of aiming at the intermediate. I mean moral virtue. . . .Now virtue is concerned with passions and actions, in which excess is a form of failure, and so is defect, while the intermediate is praised and is a form of success; and being praised and being successful are both characteristics
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
I reply: 1. The word just person is understood in one way as the person having such a virtue. In this sense an excess of justice means to move to the middle way, and so there can be no superfluity there. For no one can be exceedingly virtuous nor have come too close to the middle way.71 Another way of speaking of the just person is in reference to an action of that virtue, namely, to punish.
Excess in this sense does not refer to the middle way, but to superfluity. Thus the person is said to be too just who punishes too much. And to punish in an extreme way is not good.72 The text is to be understood in this sense. of virtue. Therefore virtue is a kind of mean, since, as we have seen, it aims at what is intermediate." The Latin dictum is: virtus stat in medio.
71See the previous note on "virtue occupies the middle ground." In this understanding of virtue, striving excessively to be virtuous means to strive to always be in the middle ground.
72On p. 61 n. 1 QuarEd cite Book I, chapter 10 of Cicero's De officiis.
See Cicero, De officiis, trans. Walter Miller, LCL (London: Heinemann, 1947), 35: "Injustice often arises also through chicanery, that is, through an over-subtle and even fraudulent construction of the law. This it is that gave rise to the now familiar saw, 'More law, less justice.' Through such interpretation also a great deal of wrong is committed in transactions between state and state; thus, when a truce had been made with an enemy for thirty days, a famous general went to ravaging their fields by night, because, he said, the truce stipulated 'days,' not nights."
The Latin for "more law, less justice" is summum ius summa iniuria.
The editors also call attention to Bernard of Clairvaux' interpretation of Ecclesiastes 7:17 in Book I, chapter 8 n. 10 of his De consideratione.
See SBOp 3.405: "Do not be excessively just, says the Wise Man, showing by this that that justice is least to be approved which is not braked by the controls of temperance." The editors also quote Augustine. See
Tractate 95 n. 2 of St. Augustine, Tractates on the Gospel of John –111, trans. J.W. Rettig, FC 90 (Washington: Catholic University of America,
1988), 188: "Because as it has been written, There isnot a just man upon earth who will do good and will not sin [Eccl 7:21]. And therefore, even when a just man is convicted, he is convicted of sin, not of justice.
Because even in that divinely expressed remark that we read Be not over just [Eccl 7:17], it is not the justice of the wise man that has been identified, but the pride of the presumptuous. Therefore, he who becomes over just by his very excess becomes unjust. For he makes himself just to excess who says that he does not have sin, etc."
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2. The second objection states that whatever is said of God is said in the highest way possible. That is true for what is said of God absolutely and when it refers to something constant in God. But it is not true of God's actions that they are done in the highest way possible. Thus, God does not punish nor pardon in the highest way possible, but according to what is fitting.73
To the question about wisdom, it has to be said that the habit of wisdom can never be in excess. But note that in acting wisely there are three elements, namely, to taste, to know, and to discern. In tasting and knowing, no one can do so excessively, but in discerning well there can be excess. And the reason for this is that excessive discerning leads to a bad taste, but love, when directed to God, cannot be excessive, because God is to be loved in the highest way.74
III. It is also asked what he means by: Do not be foolish, lest you die before your time.75
Contra: Job 14:5 states: You have appointed his bounds which cannot be passed.76 So it seems that they cannot be increased on account of goodness. Therefore, neither can they be diminished because of malice.
If this is true, how is it that in Scripture God promises long years?77 – Also, how is it that God increased the life of 73On p. 61 n. 2 QuarEd refer to Book IV, d. 46, a. 2, q. 1, ad 4 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Omnia Opera 4:963.
74On p. 61 n. 3 QuarEd refer to Book III, d. 27, a. 2, q. 5 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Omnia Opera 3: 611.
75Ecclesiastes 7:18.
76Job 14:5 reads: "The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with you. You have appointed his bound which cannot be passed."
77On p. 61 n. 5 QuarEd quote Exodus 20:12: "Honor your father and your mother, that you may live long upon the land which the Lord your
God will give you."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
Hezekiah by fifteen years according to 2 Kings 20:6?78 – Likewise, God also shortens lives. Psalm 54:24 says: Bloody and deceitful men will not live out half their days.
I reply: To die at one's time has a threefold meaning. In one sense it means to die at the time of one's salvation, something to which everyone is destined. In this sense all the good die in their time, but no evil people do, because evil people never reach this. I am speaking of people who are evil to the end. – In the second sense to die in one's time is to die a natural death, which occurs through using up the basic fluids of life.79 The elderly and decrepit die in this way. – In the third sense to die in one's time is to die at the time which God has determined for a person. This is a time set in the divine foreknowledge that is never mistaken. No one anticipates or extends this time. In the first sense, evil people die in a time which is not their own. In the second sense both good and evil people die when they suffer an accidental death. No one dies in the third sense.
Therefore, Ecclesiastes and Scripture are speaking of death in the first sense. But Job speaks of death in the third sense. Similarly it is said of Hezekiah that God changed his mind.80
IV. It is also asked what he means by: The person who fears God neglects nothing.81
782 Kings 20:6 reads: "And I will add to your days fifteen years."
79On p. 61 n. 7 QuarEd refer to Opera Omnia 1:316 note 12 and 2:736 note 3.
80See 2 Kings 20:1-6 and Isaiah 38:1-5 for the story of how Hezekiah through his prayers is freed from the sentence of death pronounced on him by Isaiah. 2 Kings 20:5-6: "I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you. . . .I will add fifteen years to your life."
81Ecclesiastes 7:19.
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But whoever sins neglects something. Therefore, no one who sins fears God. But there is no just person who does not sin.82 Therefore, there is no just person who might fear
God.
V. It is asked further whether any just person could be sinless. – It is clear that the answer to this is no because of what is said here and in 1 John 1:8: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
But that it is possible seems to be true:
1. It is proved by Job 17:2: I have not sinned, and my eye abides in bitterness.83
2. Also, if it is not possible, how can we say that no one sins in what he cannot avoid?84 Therefore, etc.
I reply: In one sense negligence implies contempt, and so is a mortal sin. And this is the sense used in the text here. In another sense negligence implies an omission of some circumstance, and this is a venial sin. And from this no one is free. – It is also used of mortal sin, from which many are free, and of venial sin from which no one, who has free will, is free other than Christ. We also believe this of the most blessed Virgin.
1. To the objection based on Job, I reply that Job does not say that he has not sinned, but that he has not sinned in a way that deserves such punishment. Also our heart blames
82Ecclesiastes 7:21 reads: "For on the earth there is no just person who does good and sins not."
83The NAB translates the last clause: "My eyes grow dim."
84On p. 61 n. 12 QuarEd quote Book III, chapter 18 n. 50 of Augustine's De Libero Arbitrio. See FC 59, 210: "Who sins in what cannot be prevented?"
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
us when we take pleasure in sin. But when we do what we do not want to do, even if it is sinful, our heart does not accuse us.85
2. From what has been said about the impossibility of avoiding sin, it has to be said that a person has been thrust into this state from sin. And therefore, that person is not absolved from sinning in some way. Moreover, although sin cannot be completely avoided, particular sins can be avoided. Therefore, etc.86
PART III
ECCLESIASTES 7:24-12:7 THE VANITY OF BEING SUBJECT
TO PUNISHMENT
30. I have tried all things, etc. He has treated above the vanity of being subject to change and of iniquity. In this part he intends to deal with the vanity of being subject to punishment. There is a double punishment, namely, the occasion of sin such as concupiscence, and another which is a simple affliction such as death and bodily infirmity.
So he first treats of the first subjection to punishment, namely, an occasion of sin, and then, about those things which are simple afflictions where Ecclesiastes 12:1 reads:
Remember your Creator, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 7:24-12:1 OCCASIONS OF SIN
31. The punishment in an occasion of sin is twofold, namely, one from a lack of love, and this is a propensity. The other is from a lack of fear, and this is unconcern. The first makes
85On p. 61 n. 13 QuarEd helpfully point to 1 John 3:20-21 as a source for this thought: "Because if our heart blames us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence towards God." The editors also refer to Book
XIII, chapter 30 n. 34 of Gregory's Moralia in Iob.
86On p. 61 n. 14 QuarEd refer to Book II, d. 41, a. 2, q. 1 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Opera Omnia 2:947.
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a person prone to evil while the second makes the person unconcerned, since he has no fear and does not think of being punished. So this section has two parts. The first deals with the vanity of propensity. The second treats the vanity of feeling secure and commences in Ecclesiastes 8:9 below: All these things I have considered and applied my heart, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 7:24-8:8 THE VANITY OF PROPENSITY
32. And since the vanity of the propensity to concupiscence is dangerous and since no one is free from it without the help of divine wisdom, he treats first of the discovery of concupiscence. Second, he gives the remedy of wisdom where verse 30 states: Who is as the wise person, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 7:24-29 THE FINDING OF
CONCUPISCENCE
33. As in the situation when something hidden is found after a careful search, so he describes in the first place the careful search for it, and, in the second place, the finding of concupiscence where verse 27 says: And I have found a woman more bitter than death, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 7:24-26 THE SEARCH FOR
CONCUPISCENCE
34. So his diligent search for it, which in fact was so diligent that it degenerated into curiosity, is described by speaking first of the presumption in his curiosity, the extent of his search, and the intensity of his thinking.
35. (Verses 24-26). So with regard to the presumption of curiosity he says: I have tried all things in wisdom, that is, in my search, which is a search of curiosity. Sirach 3:22 states: "In many of his works do not be curious." I have said: I will be wise, and this is the height of presumption.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
We read in Isaiah 5:21: "Woe to you who are wise in your own eyes," etc. And 1 Corinthians 3:18 says: "If any among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise."
36. Concerning the extent of the search he continues: And it departed further from me, much more than it was. For the more he searched, the more he realized that this is a more difficult question because of the severity of divine judgment. Romans 1:22 reads: "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." It was also more difficult because of the depth of the question, and so he says: It is a great depth. Who will find it out? The depth of the search for wisdom is profound. Sirach 24:7 states: "I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud."87
Hence, who can find it? Few do so adequately, but none perfectly. Sirach 43:34 has: "Be not weary, for you can never go far enough." And Romans 11:33 says: "O the depths of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God," etc.
37. Relative to the intensity of his thinking he adds: I have surveyed all things with my mind, that is, I have looked at and reflected on the question from every side. Sirach 6:19 says: "Come to her as one that plows and sows and wait for her good fruits." And he touches on the reason motivating him when he says: to know, and retain as a habit; and consider, in actual study; and seek out wisdom, in the desires, and seek out reason, in works. Viewed from the opposite perspective, the reason is to know the wickedness of the fool, in what is to be done, and the error of the imprudent in what is to be believed. Ecclesiastes 1:17 above says: "I have given my heart to know prudence, and learning and errors and folly.
87Wisdom is the "I" speaking.
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ECCLESIASTES 7:27-30A THE FINDING OF CONCUPISCENCE
38. And I have found, etc. Having described the diligent search, he now describes the finding of carnal concupiscence, and this in a threefold condition. First, the propensity of concupiscence itself is noted. Second, its universality. Third, its causality.
39. (Verse 27). First, he treats of the powerful attraction of concupiscence, because it leads to extreme bitterness under the guise of sweetness. So he says: And I have found more bitter than death a woman, and this after the perpetration of a wicked deed, to which concupiscence drew him.
Thus, we read in Proverbs 5:3: "For the lips of a harlot are like a dripping honeycomb, and her throat is smoother than oil." It is concupiscence that drew him to this, concupiscence that began with a woman and finds its fuel in a woman, who by her beauty snares through love. So he says: Who is the hunter's snare, that is, of the demons, who hunt for the souls of men and women. She snares by words and looks. Proverbs 7:21 reads: "She entangled him with many words and drew him away with the flattery of her lips." She snares by the beauty of her face. Sirach 9:9 states:
"Many have perished because of the beauty of a woman."
She snares also by words. Sirach 9:11 has: "Her conversation burns like fire." Not only does she snare in love, but she also swallows up in wicked deeds. Therefore, he says:
Her heart is a net, when at her wish one consents to an evil deed. This is the net of the devil. Habakkuk 1:15 states:
"He lifted up all with his hook and gathered them into his net." But afterwards she binds by affection, and so he says:
And her hands are bands. We read in Proverbs 7:22: "He follows her, not knowing that he is drawn like a fool to chains." This attraction is so strong that a person escapes from it only with the Lord's help. Wherefore, he says: The person who pleases God will escape from her, according to what 1 Corinthians 6:18 has: "Flee from fornication." Wis-
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
dom 8:21 states: "I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, unless God gave it." But the person who is a sinner will be caught by her. Proverbs 5:22 cautions: "His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins."
40. (Verses 28-29). Behold, this I have found, etc. Second, he treats the universality of concupiscence, the reason for which it was difficult to see. So he says: Behold, this I have found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing, namely, the propensity to concupiscence itself, after another, that is, its universality. – Supply: I labored, that I might find out the reason which my soul still seeks. This is the reason for the universality of concupiscence and why it is in everyone. And I have not found it, namely, by his own ability, because the philosophers had not come to find it. But by faith the reason is known and by experience its effect is known, namely, its universality. So he continues: One man among a thousand I have found. A woman among them all I have not found. This is hyperbole and means that he found very few men in whom concupiscence did not hold sway. But he found no women. This is not surprising, for Sirach 25:26 says: "All88 malice is short lived in comparison to the malice of a woman." – We might be able to interpret this text of Christ,89 who alone escaped from the corruption of original concupiscence and who alone was "free among the dead."90
88The Vulgate does not have omnis ("all").
89See Hugh of St. Cher, 92n: "Mystically, this text is interpreted of Christ, who alone is outside this universality."
90On p. 63 n. 5 QuarEd indicate that this is a citation from Psalm 87:6 and go on to quote Alcuin's commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:28-29.
See Alcuin's Commentaria super Ecclesiasten in PL 100: 698C: "I have carefully considered all things in my search, so that I might find the reason for the one or the other, that is, for every thing or might distinguish between peoples and their customs and might ascertain who is perfectly good. But of all men only one did I find to be perfectly
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41. (Verse 30a). Only this have I found. Third, he deals with the causality of concupiscence, which truly is not from God, but from the first sin. So he says: Only this have I found, that God made human beings right. Sirach 17:1 says: "God created the human being out of earth and made him after his own image." And the sign of this is the uprightness of human stature which still remains in the body.91 And they have entangled themselves, that is, by their own freedom, in an infinity of questions, because by abandoning the one human beings have become prone to many and indeed to an infinite number of things. For in these their concupiscence is not finished or satisfied. Proverbs
30:15-16 reads: "There are three things that never are satisfied, and the fourth never says: It is enough: Hell and the mouth of the womb and the earth," etc.92
QUESTIONS
I. When he says, I have tried all things in wisdom,93 it can be doubted whether he is blameworthy in this. It would seem to be so: good, that is, Christ, as the Prophet says [Psalm 13:1.3]: There is none that does good, no not one. Only Christ was found to be good, without any stain of sin. The number thousand stands for the saints as distinct from the sinners, who are represented by the word woman in this text.
For man comes from virtue or strength while woman comes from softness." The last derivation of meaning might be seen in the Latin: vir = VIRtute; mulier = MoLlis.
91See Part II, chapter X of Bonaventure's Breviloquium in his Omnia Opera 5:228: "In order that the human body might be conformed to a soul tending upward toward heaven, it possessed rectitude of stature and a head lifted high. In this way bodily rectitude might give witness to mental rectitude." See also what Bonaventure has to say in Question
II. 1 after his commentary on Ecclesiastes 3:22 above.
92Proverbs 30:16 reads: "Hell, and the mouth of the womb, and the earth which is not satisfied with water, and the fire never says: It is enough."
93Ecclesiastes 7:24.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
1. From the text itself: I have said: I will be wise, and it departed further from me.
2. Also from what is said in Sirach 3:22: Do not be curious in many of his works.
Contra: 1. The spiritual person judges all things, and he himself is judged by no one.94 Therefore, if Solomon had the spirit of wisdom, he was able to judge all things.
2. Moreover, the Apostle says in 1 Thessalonians 5:21: Test all things. Hold fast to that which is good. So it is good to test all things.
I reply: There are two ways to test something. One way is to know by experience, for example, when someone knows and tests the taste of a wine. Another way is through examination and approbation and rejection. In the first way only things that are useful are tested. To go beyond this is curiosity. In the second way to test and to examine mean the same thing, and this is the sense in which Paul takes to test. And so all things are to be examined, not only the good and useful, but also the useless. In this sense it is said that the spiritual person judges all things.95 The Apostle also says: Test all things, that is, examine all those things in our works about which we can have doubts whether they are good or bad. But it is curiosity to test and examine the works of God, which we must presume were done well. Therefore, since Solomon examined more things than are relevant for salvation, he was engaged in curiosity. And this has to be conceded. – These two authorities are to be understood of things pertaining to sal941 Corinthians 2:15.
95On p. 63 n. 11 QuarEd cite the Glossa Ordinaria apud Strabum on this verse. See PL 114:522D: "All things, not indeed everything contained in divine knowledge, but all things sufficient for justice and life. That is the meaning of all things are to be judged."
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vation and so concerned Paul himself, but Solomon went beyond this.
II. There is also doubt about what he means by: One man among a thousand I have found.96 According to this statement it would appear to confirm that heresy which stated that no woman is saved. And heretics try to prove this:
1. Because, if only what Christ assumed is to be saved and Christ assumed only the sex of a man, therefore only men are to be saved.
2. They try to prove this from what is said in Mark 16:16:
He who believes and is baptized will be saved. The text does not say: She who believes and is baptized.97 The same thing is stated in John 3:3.98
Contra: 1. The text of Matthew 21:31 reads: The harlots will go into the kingdom of God ahead of you.99
2. It is also clear that the Lord received both sexes, healed the bodies of both, and called both through the Apostles.
Solomon himself praised both sexes and said of the valiant woman in Proverbs 31:25: She will laugh on the last day. How then does he say: A woman among them all I have not found?
96Ecclesiastes 7:29.
97The key word here is baptizatus ("is baptized") which has a masculine ending, not the feminine ending baptizata ("is baptized").
98John 3:3 reads: Nisi quis natus fuerit denuo, non potest videre regnum Dei ("Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"). Again the word natus ("born") has a masculine ending. On p.
64 n. 1 QuarEd cite Book I, Heresy XXV or XLV, Contra Severianos of Epiphanius' Adversus Haereses. See PG 41:834BC: "Moreover, they say that woman is the work of Satan. . . .And therefore, those who have intercourse with them in marriage perform the work of Satan. Further, they affirm that one part of humankind is from God, the other from the devil."
99The Vulgate reads praecedunt ("are going ahead") while Bonaventure has praecedent ("will go ahead").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
I reply: He is speaking of the universality of concupiscence, and he speaks of this in two ways. One way is by referring to it being handed on through carnal propagation. The other way is to refer to its continuance in actual sin. If he is using the first way of speaking, his word is true and proper, because only Christ was conceived without sin and did not have original sin. If he is using the second way of speaking, he is using hyperbole. The hyperbole is clear, because not only is there just one good man to be saved, but indeed many. And he spoke in this way because in Solomon's time there were but a few who were free from acts of concupiscence.
1. To the objection of the heretics that Christ assumed the male sex, I reply that even if Christ assumed the male sex, it has to be noted that he assumed it from a woman.
Christ would not have done this unless it had a bearing on salvation. Moreover, man and woman are of one nature and are one body.100
2. Concerning the two Gospel texts, which use the masculine form, it has to be said that the masculine stands for both sexes since it refers to nature in those texts, not to gender. And frequently in Scripture the masculine gender in a word includes the feminine.101
100On p. 64 n. 4 QuarEd helpfully point to Ephesians 5:28-33. In the same note the editors also refer to Book III, d. 12, a. 3, q. 1 and 2 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Opera Omnia 3:263-265.
101On p. 64 n. 5 QuarEd offer four additional points of evidence. The blessed of Matthew 25:34 and the accursed of Matthew 25:41 include both men and women. They also cite Book III, Titulus 42 De baptismo et eius effectu, chapter 3 (Maiores ecclesiae). See Decretales D. Gregorii
Papae IX, suae integritati una cum glossis restitutae Ad exemplar Romanum diligenter recognitae, Editio ultima (Tavrini: Apud Nicolaum
Beuilaquam, 1621), 1383: "Now the Gospel text makes no distinction:
Unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. From this general statement no sex or
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age is excluded." Moreover, the editors cite a Glossa on John 3:5: "In fact, it is inclusive since the feminine is included in the masculine form when it says: Unless a man, etc." Finally, see Book IV, chapter 16 n. 1 of The Digest of Justinian, Vol. 2, ed. Alan Watson, (Philadelphia:
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998): "1. Ulpian, Edict, book 1: This expression 'if anyone' covers both men and women."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES