CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER 8
ECCLESIASTES 7:30B-8:71
THE REMEDY OF WISDOM
AGAINST CONCUPISCENCE
1. Who is as the wise person? He has just described the vanity of concupiscence. Now he wants to give the remedy of wisdom against this vanity, for people are not freed from concupiscence unless they walk with wisdom. So the reader is exhorted in this section to cling to wisdom for four reasons. First, from a consideration of its nobility. Second, of its power. Third, of its usefulness. Fourth, of its suitable time.
2. Thus, the reader is exhorted to cling to wisdom from a consideration of its nobility which is seen in how it makes a person noble and glorious both in appearance and in speech. He does this first by asking a question and then by giving the answer.
3. (7:30b) Who is as the wise person, that is, who is so noticeable? We read in Sirach 8:10: "For her sake I will have glory among the multitude and honor with the ancients,
1On p. 64 n. 6 QuarEd accurately indicate that the words with which Bonaventure commences his commentary on Ecclesiastes 8 actually stem from Ecclesiastes 7:30b. The editors also point out that Jerome commences Ecclesiastes 8 with the text from Ecclesiastes 7:30b. See
CCSL lxii, 313.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
though I be young." The author is speaking of wisdom here.
Who is so noticeable in word? And so he adds: And who has known the resolution of the word? Supply: except the wise person. Wisdom 8:8 states: "She knows the subtleties of speeches," etc. And therefore, in doubtful matters the wise person is to be heard with reverence. Thus, Wisdom
8:11-12 states further: "I will be admired in the sight of the mighty, and they will look upon me when I speak. And if I talk much, they will lay their hands on their mouths."
4. (8:1). Now that he has asked the question, now he gives the answer. So he says: The wisdom of people shine in their countenances. Proverbs 17:24 reads: "Wisdom shines on the countenance of the wise,"2 that is, wisdom is seen in a person's deeds. Sirach 19:26 states: "A man is known by his appearance, and a wise man, when you meet him, is known by his countenance." For as a good person is known by his appearance, so too is a wise person known through his deeds. Nor is it surprising that goodness should be visible in the face, because God made this. So he says: And the most mighty will change their faces. This most mighty individual is God. Job 36:5 reads: "God does not cast away the mighty, whereas he himself3 is mighty." And later in Job 36:22 we read: "Behold, God is high in his strength, and none is like him among the lawgivers." God will change the external face by first changing the interior one, that is, by turning it to himself. For the face of the soul is the higher region of the mind, by which it is destined to see
God.4 Only God changes this face. Proverbs 21:1 says: "As 2Hugh of St. Cher, 92v, a also cites Proverbs 17:24.
3On p. 65 n. 2 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate reads et ipse ("he himself also") while Bonaventure has ipse ("he himself").
4On p. 65 n. 3 QuarEd refer to Peter Lombard and Gregory the Great.
See Book II, d. 24 n. 5 of Magistri Petri Lombardi Sententiae in IV Libris Distinctae, Tom. I, Pars II, Liber I et II, Spicilegium
Bonaventurianum IV (Grottaferrata: Collegium S. Bonaventurae, 1971), 454: "And 'that intent of the mind by which we contemplate things
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the divisions of the waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, whithersoever he will turn it."
5. (Verse 2). Not only is a wise person visible in appearance, but also in a word spoken in wisdom. In the person of such a wise person he says: I observe the mouth of the king. This king is God, of whom 1 Timothy 6:15 says: "The Blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords." The mouth of this King is the Son of God, through whom God speaks to us. Hebrews 1:2 reads: "Last of all in these last days God has spoken to us by his Son." So to observe the mouth of the king is to listen carefully to the word of the Son of God. Luke 11:28 states: "Blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it."5 Wherefore,
Wisdom says: I observe, and my observing leads to deeds in accordance with what Deuteronomy 6:3 has: "Observe, so that you may do what the Lord has commanded you, and it will be well with you." He explains what he observes, namely, the commandments of God. So he says: And the commandments of the oath of God, because they are firm and must not be profaned. Matthew 24:35 states: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
Or: they are the commandments of the oath, because they were given with a covenant and an oath. Exodus 223:8 reads: "Moses took the blood and sprinkled it upon the eternal is called wisdom, but that by which we utilize in a good way temporal things is called knowledge or skill.'" Peter Lombard is quoting
Augustine. See Book X, chapter 15, n. 27 of Gregory's Moralia in Iob Libri I-X, ed. Marcus Adriaen, CCSL cxliii (Turnhout: Brepols, 1979),
556-557: "The inner face of a person is the mind, in which we are undoubtedly recognized so that we are loved by our Creator."
5Hugh of St. Cher, p. 92v, f comments: "The king can be understood to be God the Father, and his mouth Christ the Lord. . . .Or the king is understood as Christ the Lord . . . who through his own mouth preached the Gospel. Matthew 5[2-3]: Jesus, opening his mouth, taught them saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, etc."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
people saying:6 This is the blood of the covenant of the Lord . . . concerning all these words."
6. (Verses 3-4). Do not be hasty, etc. Second, he exhorts his readers to adhere to wisdom from a consideration of God's power, when he says: Do not be hasty to depart from his face, that is, do not move away from God's will, for it is a sin of the heart, as if one were hiding from God. Of such a moving away we read in Deuteronomy 32:15: "He forsook
God who made him and departed from God his savior." So do not depart from his face by wanting to hide in evil.
Sirach 16:16 says: "Do not say: I will be hidden from God and who will remember me from on high." Like Cain, who said to the Lord: "Behold, you cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and I will be hidden from your face."7
7. And if a person were to move away so as not to remain in evil, he adds: And do not continue in an evil work. Sirach
5:8 reads: "Do not delay in being converted to the Lord, and defer it not day to day."8 And the reason for this is a reflection on divine power, because God works omnipotently: For he will do all that pleases him. Psalm 113:11 says: "He has done all things whatsoever he willed."9 And Isaiah 46:10 states: "My counsel will stand, and all my will shall be done." – God also acts without difficulty, and so he says: And his word is full of power. Psalm 28:4-5 confesses: "The voice of the Lord is in power. . . .The voice of the Lord breaks cedars." And Jeremiah 32:17-18 reads:
"No word will be difficult for you. You show mercy unto thousands." God also acts in a blameless way: Neither can
6On p. 65 n. 5 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads et ait ("and said") while Bonaventure reads dicens ("saying"). Further, the Vulgate reads ille ("he") whereas Bonaventure has Moyses ("Moses").
7Genesis 4:14.
8Hugh of St. Cher, 93b also cites Sirach 5:8.
9In the Duoay this is Psalm 113:3. In the NAB it is Psalm 15:3.
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any one say to him: Why do you do this? Romans 9:20 says:
"Who are you that replies against God?"10
8. (Verse 5a). The person who keeps the commandment, etc. Here in a third point he exhorts us to cling to wisdom from a reflection of our own benefit. For there is great benefit from clinging to wisdom and keeping its commandments. So he says: The person who keeps the commandment will find no evil. Rather such a person will receive many good things. Matthew 19:17 states: "If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments." And John 8:3132 reads: "If you continue11 in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
9. (Verses 5b-8). The heart of a wise person, etc. Fourth, he exhorts us to keep the commandments of divine wisdom from a reflection on the opportune time that wise persons ponder in their works. For this reason he says: The heart of a wise person understands time and answer. The wise understand the time when one should work. Ephesians
5:15-16 states: "See, brothers, how you walk circumspectly, not as unwise, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." One should not only consider the time, but also an answer in time. Colossians 4:5-6 says: "Walk with wisdom towards those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always in grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought answer every one."
10. And the wise person, who weighs the opportune time, does well, as the author proves when he says: There is a 10Hugh of St. Cher, 93e also cites Romans 9:20 in its entirety.
11On p. 65 n. 8 QuarEd accurately mention that the Vulgate reads Si vos manseritis ("If you continue") whereas Bonaventure has Si manseritis ("If you continue").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
time and opportunity for every business, and great affliction for men and women. Supply: in reflecting diligently on these things. Ecclesiastes 3:1 above says: "All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven." For there is a suitable time for study. Sirach
38:25 reads: "Write down wisdom during the time of leisure."12 There is also a suitable time for prayer. Psalm
118:62 says: "I rose at midnight to give praise to you."13
There is also a suitable time for doing good. Galatians 6:10 has: "While we have time, let us do good to all."
11. And this opportunity occurs in the present time. The author shows that opportunity comes in the present time by showing the danger of future time which cannot be foreseen. And so he says: Who are ignorant of things past, and things to come they cannot know by any messenger,14 since much less known is the future than the past. Ecclesiastes
7:1 above says: "Who can tell him what will be after him?"
12. A person cannot stop time. So he says: It is not in people's dominion, that is, power, to stop the spirit, namely, from going out, because no one can prevent the coming of the time of death. He explains this by saying: Neither have they power on the day of death. We read in Job 14:5: "You have appointed his bound which cannot be passed." Nor can time be avoided, and so he says: Neither are they suffered to rest when war is at hand, namely, on judgment day. Wisdom 5:21 says: "The world will fight on his behalf15 against the unwise." The wicked could not avoid this
12Hugh of St. Cher, 93v, a also quotes Sirach 38:25 and along with Bonaventure reads sapientiam scribe ("write down wisdom").
13Hugh of St. Cher, 93v, a also cites Psalm 118:62.
1 On p. 66 n. 2 QuarEd correctly indicate that the Vulgate reads Quia ("Because") at the beginning of Ecclesiastes 8:7 whereas Bonaventure has Qui ("Who").
15On p. 66 n. 3 QuarEd accurately mention that the Vulgate reads cum illo ("with him") while Bonaventure has pro eo ("on his behalf").
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war. Thus, in Revelation 6:16 they say to the mountains:
"Fall on us," etc., because then "flight will perish."16 Further, time cannot be disguised, and so he continues: Neither will wickedness save the wicked, as if a wicked person could pretend to be good. Job 36:6 has: "He does not save the wicked, and he gives judgment to the poor." And Proverbs 11:4 reads: "Riches will not profit on the day of revenge. Justice will deliver from death." Wherefore, Job
10:15 states: "If I be wicked, woe unto me."
QUESTIONS 25
I. What does he mean by: I observe the commandments of the oath of God?17 Therefore, God swears.
Contra: 1. Matthew 5:37 has: Let your speech be yes, yes, no, no. Therefore, that which is longer comes from the evil one.18 Wherefore, if it is not fitting for the perfect to swear, and nothing is fitting for God other than what is most perfect, then it is not fitting for God to swear.
2. Moreover, it is excessive, because God cannot lie.19 Therefore, the simple word of God is equally true as an oath.
3. Also, God is not able to swear, because to swear an oath is to bring someone as a witness and support, but there is no one who can confirm God's word. And so God cannot swear.
I reply: An oath for confirmation is the end of all controversy,20 and so an oath is a straightforward and firm
16Amos 2:14.
17See Ecclesiastes 8:2.
18On p. 66 n. 4 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads his abundantius ("over and above these") while Bonaventure has amplius
("longer/more").
19On p. 66 n. 5 QuarEd helpfully cite Hebrews 6:18: "It is impossible for God to lie."
20On p. 66 n. 6 QuarEd cite Hebrews 6:16-17: "For men and women swear by one greater than themselves, and an oath given as a guarantee
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
assertion. There can be nothing more firm, and it establishes a certain trust. So when we want a listener to have certain trust, we swear an oath. So God, condescending to our weakness, indeed swears an oath to make our faith firm.
1. To the objection that this is from evil, I explain that it comes from the evil of punishment, not from the evil of the one swearing. Rather it is from the evil of the person to whom the oath is sworn, that is, due to a doubt in that person.21 – There is still another way of stating the matter: The Lord does not forbid an oath as something evil.
But since people are prone to speak untruths, the Lord forbids swearing oaths too easily, lest one sometimes falls both into a lie and into an oath in contempt of God. And because God cannot lie, this reason does not exist in God.
2. To the objection that God cannot lie, I reply, that even though an oath in God adds nothing in fact to a simple statement, it does add something in our understanding, because our faith is made firmer and because it shows a wondrous condescension towards us.
3. To the objection that God cannot call on a witness, I reply that God himself is a witness to himself, because is the final settlement of all their controversy. Hence God, meaning to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of his will, interposed an oath."
21On p. 66 n. 7 QuarEd explain Bonaventure's complex thought by citing Augustine. See Book I, chapter 17 n. 51 in Saint Augustine,
Commentary on the Lord's Sermon on the Mount with Seventeen Related Sermons, trans. Denis J. Kavanagh, FC 11 (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1951), 75: "If you are forced to take an oath, remember that the necessity for it arises from the infirmity of those whom you are trying to persuade with regard to something. . . .For you do no evil when you make good use of an oath which, although it is not a good thing, is nevertheless necessary for the purpose of persuading someone to believe what you are trying to induce him to believe for a good purpose.
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God is truth. So God himself swears by himself and is the best witness, for the light makes himself and other things clear.22
II. There is also doubt about his words: The person who keeps the commandment will find no evil.23
Contra: Ecclesiastes 8:14 below states: There are just people, to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of the wicked.
I reply: A person experiences an evil that endures and an evil that passes away. Here the author of the experience speaks of an evil that always endures, not of one that is transitory.24
III. There is a further doubt about the words: The person who keeps the commandment will find no evil.25
But He said that it is 'from evil,' that is, from the evil of the man whose infirmity forces you [to] take an oath." The editors also refer to Book
III, d. 39. c. 4 of Peter Lombard's Sentence Commentary.
22On p. 66 n. 9 QuarEd cite Hebrews 6:13: "For when God made his promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself." The editors also refer to Alexander of Hales, Summa
Theologica, P. 2, inq. 3, tract. 2, sect. 1, q. 2, n.5.
23Ecclesiastes 8:5.
24On p. 67 n. 1 QuarEd cite In Ecclesiasten Expositio Mystica of Salonius, bishop of Vienna who flourished ca. 450. See PL 53:1006C for his interpretation of this verse: "It is true, because whoever keeps the precepts of God . . . will not experience any evil in the future, that is, will suffer no evil nor be burdened with evil on the day of judgment.
For even though a person suffers some evils in this life, they are but slight and transitory, while anyone who reaches the glory of eternal happiness will suffer no evil in the future life." The editors also cite
Rupert of Deutz, In Librum Ecclesiastes Commentarius on this verse.
See PL 168:1272C: "Ecclesiastes did not say he will not suffer, but he will find no evil. Whoever, in observing the commandment, have suffered evils, when they have merited to receive the crown of eternal life, have to their benefit and satisfaction found out that they have not suffered evils."
25Ecclesiastes 8:5.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
1. Since there are many commandments to be kept, why does he speak of a commandment in the singular?
2. Moreover, it is possible for a person to keep the divine precepts out of fear, as did the Jews, and yet such people are not saved.
I reply: Although there are many precepts because of the diversity of deeds, there is a unity among them in relation to the one commanding, to the one observing, and to the reason for keeping them. – With respect to the one commanding there is only one who commands. And therefore, the person who transgresses one commandment cannot be obedient to the one commanding, for there is only the one individual commanding. – With regard to the one observing there is a unity, because a person observes all things from the one principle governing all things, namely, charity that overcomes all things. Thus, just as charity loves everybody or nobody, so a person observes all the commandments or none of them. – In relation to the reason or goal there is a unity, because one reward is offered and the commandments are to be observed for the one reward. Therefore, since this triple unity is found in a proper observance of the commandments, he says correctly:
The person who keeps the commandment will find no evil.26
ECCLESIASTES 8:9-12:1
THE SECOND OCCASION OF SIN:
THE VANITY OF FEELING SECURE
13. All these things I have considered. He has treated the vanity of attraction and now goes on to the vanity of security. Since this vanity is dangerous because it pushes one to sin or holds on to one who has been so pushed, he treats
26On p. 67 n. 2 QuarEd helpfully refer to Quaestio #31 that concerns Ecclesiastes 9:18 and occurs after Ecclesiastes 10:3 (#4) below. The editors also refer to Book III, d. 36. q. 4 ad 1 and 2 of Bonaventure's
Sentence Commentary and the footnotes there. See Opera Omnia 3:800.
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first of the vanity and second of the remedy for the vanity where Ecclesiastes 10:8 reads: The person who digs a pit will fall into it.
ECCLESIASTES 8:9-10:7
THE VANITY OF SECURITY
14. Security arises in two ways. First, from what is seen as a lack of just retribution. Second, from what is seen as a lack of the rule of providence. This second point is considered where Ecclesiastes 9:11 below says: I turned myself to another thing, and I saw, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 8:9-9:10
SECURITY ARISES FROM WHAT IS
SEEN AS A LACK OF JUST
RETRIBUTION
15. Now there seems to be a lack of the retribution of justice because of the exaltation of the wicked, because of the lack of goods, because of the confusion of both. So there are three sections. First, he shows how the vanity of security comes from the advancement of the wicked. Second, from the lack of goods where verse 14 reads: There is also another vanity which is done upon the earth, etc. Third, how it arises from a confusion between the just and the wicked were verse 16 states: And I applied my heart to know wisdom, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 8:9-13
THE EXALTATION OF THE
WICKED 16. The rise of security from the exaltation of the wicked is described in the following way. First, he suggests the high position of the wicked. Second, how the vanity of security arises from this in the wicked. Third, how the good derive a benefit from this.
17. (Verses 9-10). First, he suggests the high position of the wicked, a subject that Ecclesiastes reflected on care-
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
fully. So he says: All these things I have considered. Supply: Something I had said earlier. And I applied my heart to all the works that are done under the sun that I might consider them all. Ecclesiastes 1:17 above says: "I have given my heart to know prudence and learning and errors and folly." And in this reflection he saw the high position of the wicked both in power and in fame. With regard to their exaltation in power he says: Sometimes one person rules over another to his own hurt, namely, when an evil person is ruling, for a good person, when he rules well, exercises his rule for his own good. Thus, 1 Timothy 3:1 says: "If anyone desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work." But evil people rule to their own hurt. For Sirach 7:8 states: "Do not bind sin to sin, for even in one you will not be unpunished." An evil prelate binds double sins to himself.
18. With regard to exaltation in fame, he says: I saw the wicked buried, that is, in the depth of despair. Proverbs
18:3 reads: "The wicked person, when he has come into the depth of sins, contemns." Or: buried, with a mound of praise.27 Matthew 8:22 states: "Let the dead bury their dead."28 Gregory observes: "The dead bury the dead when they pile a mound of praise on them."29 Or: buried, by continual transgressions even until death, as if to say: Those
27Hugh of St. Cher, 83v, r has this interpretation: "Buried] with a mound of praise." The same Latin words, aggere adulationis, are found in the subsequent quotation attributed to Gregory the Great.
28On p. 67 n. 8 QuarEd rightly suggest that Bonaventure's quotation is not so much from Matthew 8:22 as from Luke 9:60.
29On p. 67 n. 8 QuarEd quote Book IV, chapter 27 n. 52 of Gregory's Moralia in Iob. See CCSL cxliii, 196-197: "About this it is well said: Let the dead that they may bury their dead. For the dead bury their dead when sinners cover a sinner with favors. For what does it mean to sin other than to fall down? But persons who pursue a sinner with praises is hiding the dead person under the mound of his words."
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who were buried in malice also died in malice. 1 Kings 16:18-19 says: "He died in the sins . . . of Jeroboam who made Israel sin."30 And according to what the Lord said to the Jews in John 8:21: "You will die in your sins." He saw such wicked people exalted in fame, and so he says: Who also when they were yet living, Supply: in their malice, were in the holy place, that is, in dignity as if they were holy, like the Antichrist of whom Matthew 24:15 says: "When you shall see the abomination of desolation . . . standing in the holy place."31 And were praised in the city as people of just works. In this way they were famous. Psalm 9:24 states: "For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul."32
And Proverbs 28:4 reads: "Those who forsake the law praised the wicked person, but those who keep," etc.33
19. (Verses 10-11). But this also is vanity. Here he treats the second point, namely, how the vanity of security arises because others feel secure when the wicked are not punished. So he says: But this also is vanity, that is, a cause of vanity. – And he shows this: For since sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the wicked wait serenely, as we read in 2 Peter 3:9: "The Lord delays not his promise,34 as some imagine, but deals patiently for your sake,
30Bonaventure's quotation is more a summary than an actual quotation of 1 Kings 16:18-19: "And Zimri . . . died in his sins, which he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord, and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel to sin."
31Hugh of St. Cher, 93v, t quotes Matthew 24:15 in its entirety.
32Hugh of St. Cher, 93v, y also quotes Psalm 9:24.
33On p. 68 n. 2 QuarEd accurately indicate that the Vulgate reads laudant ("praise") whereas Bonaventure has laudabant ("praised").
They also note that the Vulgate does not have autem ("but"). Proverbs 28:4 says: "Those who forsake the law praise the wicked person; those who keep it are incensed against him."
34The Vulgate reads Non tardat Dominus promissi ("The Lord of what has been promised delays not") while Bonaventure has Non tardat
Dominus promissionem ("The Lord delays not his promise").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
not willing that any35 should perish, but that all should return to penance." And men and women commit evils without any fear, and so they are secure because they neither think about nor fear the future. Proverbs 28:5 has: "Evil men do not think about judgment," because now they are not being punished. Isaiah 26:10 states: "Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice," etc.
20. (Verses 12-13). But though a sinner, etc. Third, he treats of how the good derive a benefit from this. For from this good people experience divine mercy and are tested in justice. So he says: But though a sinner. But though from this that a sinner does wrong a hundred times, should be taken to mean very often according to what Jeremiah 2:36 says:
"How exceedingly base have you become, going the same ways over again." And by patience be borne with, namely, by God's patience, according to what Romans 2:4 has: "Do you not know that the benignity of God leads you to penance?"36 Thus, Lamentations 3:22 reads: "The mercies of the Lord that we are not consumed." I know that it will be well with those who fear God, that is, who turn from evil.
Proverbs 16:6 reads: "By the fear of the Lord people depart from evil." Who dread his face, and out of reverence for God do not dare to sin, according to what Job says about himself in Job 32:23: "For I have always feared God as waves swelling over me, and his weight I was unable to bear." But this benefit of divine mercy and patience does not reach the wicked, and so it is more useful for them to die than to live.
21. So he says: But let it not be well with the wicked. He does not say this as a wish, but as a prophecy, just like the 35On p. 68 n. 3 QuarEd correctly indicate that the Vulgate reads aliquos ("some") while Bonaventure has aliquem ("any").
36Hugh of St. Cher, 93v, d alludes to Romans 2.
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Psalmist does in Psalm 9:18: "The wicked will be turned into hell." Let it not be well, that is, for glory. Isaiah 26:10 reads: "The wicked is taken away, lest he see the glory of God."37 Nor do the wicked have good in the present life. So he adds: Neither let their days be prolonged, that is, they will not be prolonged. We read in Proverbs 10:27: "The years of the wicked will be shortened." And Psalm 54:24 says: "Bloody and deceitful men will not live out half their days." But as a shadow let those pass away who fear not the face of the Lord. And in fact they do pass away like a shadow, for Psalm 36:35-36 states: "I have seen the wicked highly exalted. . . .I passed by, and lo, he was not." Thus, in the person of the wicked Wisdom 5:9-10 says: "All these things have passed away like a shadow, and like a messenger who runs ahead, and like a ship that passes through the waves."
QUESTIONS 26
I. It is asked what he means by the words: Sometimes one person rules over another:38 whether one person can in justice rule over another. That this is true is seen from the following:
1. Romans 13:1 says: There is no power but from God. The Apostle also says that one must obey masters, not only out of fear, but also for conscience's sake.39 Therefore, if everything from God is right and one person has power from God, then this too is right.
2. Moreover, if conscience only commands what is just because it is right. And conscience binds us to obey, as the 37On p. 68 n. 7 QuarEd rightly mention that the Vulgate differs. Isaiah
26:10b reads: "In the land of the saints he has done wicked things, and he will not see the glory of the Lord."
38See Ecclesiastes 8:9.
39Romans 13:5.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
Apostle says.40 Therefore, it must be right for one person to be subject to another.
3. The Apostle also says in Ephesians 6:5: Servants, be obedient to those who are your lords according to the flesh.
But the Apostle only commands what is right. Therefore, etc.
Contra: 1. By nature men and women are equal.41 Therefore, if one person rules over another, that is against nature. But everything against nature is a sin. Therefore, etc.
2. Also, all people by nature are free. Therefore, when one person is made a servant of another, this is by an unlawful seizure.42 But every unlawful seizure is a sin. Therefore, it is a sin to rule over another person.
I reply by saying that one person can rule over another in justice, as is clear because Noah by divine authority made his son Canaan a servant of his brothers.43
Isaac did similarly with Esau and Jacob.44
40Romans 13:5.
41On p. 69 n. 1 QuarEd quote Book XXI, chapter 15 n. 22 of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Iob. See S. Gregorii Magni, Moralia in Iob Libri
XI-XXII, ed. Marcus Adriaen, CCSL cxliiia (Turnhout: Brepols, 1979), 1082: "For all of us men and women are equal by nature."
42On p. 69 n. 2 QuarEd quote Book I, Title 3 ("The Law of Persons"), laws 1-2 of Justinian's Institutes. See Justinian's Institutes, trans. Peter
Birks and Grant McLeod with the Latin text of Paul Krueger (Ithaca:
Cornell University Press, 1987), 39: "1. Liberty – the Latin 'libertas' gives us 'liberi', free men – denotes a man's natural ability to do what he wants as long as the law or some other force does not prevent him.
2. Slavery on the other hand is an institution of the law of all peoples; it makes a man the property of another, contrary to the law of nature."
43See Genesis 9:25.
44See Genesis 27:29 where Isaac blesses Jacob: "Be master of your brothers."
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1.2 Against the objection that it is against nature and that every person is free, it has to be understood that there is a double status, namely, of nature after and nature before the fall. In their nature before the fall all were free and equal, and they were told only to rule over the animals.45
However, it is another matter with the state of fallen nature. – Since some are worse and more evil than others, it is by a just decree of God that there be servants among them and their posterity. – Another reason for ruling over someone is to restrain the wicked. For if there were no temporal power, each person could do what each thought was right. And so there would be a disruption caused by wickedness, and each one could sin as he or she wished.
For this reason it is right that there can be dominion and servitude among men and women.46 – But whether the wicked can rule over good people is discussed later.47
II. It is asked what he means by: The wicked sins a hundred times and is tolerated.48 Is this a matter of kindness or severity? That it is a matter of kindness is clear because
Lamentations 3:22 reads: It is the mercy of the Lord that we are not consumed. Moreover, the Apostle says in Romans 2:4: Know you not that the kindness of God is leading you to repentance?
But contra: The longer a wicked person lives, the more evil he or she does. And the more evil that is done, the more severely will the person be tortured. Therefore, if the wicked person dies sooner, it is better for that person,
45See Genesis 1:26: "And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness and let him have dominion over the fish of the sea, etc."
46On p. 69 n. 5 QuarEd refer to Book II, d. 44, a. 2, q. 1 and 2 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Opera Omnia 2:1005-1009.
47See Quaestio #32 after Bonaventure's exegesis of Ecclesiastes 10:47.
48This seems to be Bonaventure's summary of Ecclesiastes 8:12: "But though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and by patience be borne with."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
because if the person's days are lengthened, this would be bad rather than good for the person. Therefore, it is of severity.
I reply by saying that there are certain wicked people whom God foresees will return to God. To such people a lengthening of life is a great mercy whether the mercy be perceived or hidden. There are others whom God foresees will multiply their sins and will die in them. To prolong life for such is an act of justice and of mercy. Of mercy, because a cruel punishment is delayed. But of hidden justice, because it is allowed that the person who is filthy is still filthy.49 For this person merits a lengthening of life from a decree of hidden severity.
ECCLESIASTES 8:14-15
HOW THE VANITY OF SECURITY
ARISES FROM SEEING THE
PLIGHT OF THE GOOD
22. There is also another vanity, etc. He showed above how security arises from the sight of the exaltation of the wicked. Here he shows in a second point how it arises from the sight of the misfortune of the good. And he does this in the following order. First, he set out the misfortune of the good. Second, the security of the wicked because of this.
Third, he arrives at the conclusion that this is vanity. Finally, he commends pleasure.
23. (Verse 14). So he treats the misfortune of good people, from which arises vanity and says: There is also another vanity, which is done upon the earth, namely, different from the aforementioned one because it has a different cause.
The preceding vanity came from the exaltation of the wicked, while this comes from the misfortune of the good.
49See Revelation 22:11: "And the person who is filthy, let him be filthy still."
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So he continues: There are just people to whom evils happen, that is, misfortunes; as though they had done the works of the wicked, according to what Hebrews 11:36-37 says:
"Holy people50 experienced the trial of mockeries and stripes, moreover also of chains and prisons. They were stoned; they were cut asunder; they were tried." The story of Tobit's blindness in Tobit 2:11 is an example. In Job
1:13-22 there is also the example of Job, who suffered greatly.51 And the reason for this is given in Judith 8:23:
"All who have pleased God have passed through many tribulations and remained faithful."
24. And there are wicked people. Here he notes the second point, namely, the security of the wicked. Since the wicked see bad things happening to good people and good things to themselves, they feel secure. Therefore, he says: And there are wicked people, who are as secure as though they had done the deeds of the just, and this because they are free from misfortune. An example of this is the rich man who loved feasting, for to him it was said in Luke 16:25:
"Remember that you received good things in your lifetime, and likewise Lazarus evil things."52 And so the wicked are made to feel secure, because they prosper. Thus, Jeremiah
12:1 asks: "Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why is it well with all who transgress," etc.?
25. But this also I judge most vain. Third, he draws the conclusion that the security of the wicked is a vanity. So he says: But this also I judge most vain. For it is vain when good things come to the good and to the wicked, because the wicked have no right to this. It is more vain when bad
50The Vulgate reads Alii ("Others") while Bonaventure has Sancti ("Holy people").
51Hugh of St. Cher, 94s mentions Job and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
52Hugh of St. Cher, 94x also mentions the rich man who loved to feast, but from the aspect that he wore purple and fine linen.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
things happen to the good and to the wicked, because the good do not deserve this. It is most vain when bad things happen to the good, and good things happen to the wicked, because this is both unjust and undeserving. So a person becomes indignant, as though wanting to argue with God over this situation. Habakkuk 1:13 queries: "Why do you not look upon those who do unjust things and hold your peace, when the wicked devour the person who is more just than they are?"
26. (Verse 15). Therefore, I commended mirth. Fourth, he commends pleasure from his detestation of the vanity by which good things come to the wicked and bad things to the good. And this is a word of praise from a person who is upset. So he says: Therefore, I commended mirth, namely, pleasure of the flesh, as if this were the only good. So he continues: Because there was no good for people under the sun, but to eat and drink53 according to what Isaiah 22:13 states: "Behold, joy and gladness … to slaughter rams, to eat flesh and drink wine,"54 as if there were no other life or reward. So he adds: And that they should take nothing else with them of their labors, as if nothing else is to be expected other than to rejoice in the days of their lives, which God has given them under the sun. We read in Wisdom 2:9: "Let us everywhere leave tokens of joy, for this is our portion."
QUESTIONS 27
It can be asked here: Which status is better and more useful, namely, the condition of prosperity or adversity.55 That adversity is better is seen from the following:
53The Vulgate reads comederet et biberet atque gauderet ("might eat and drink and be merry").
54Hugh of St. Cher, 94z quotes Isaiah 22:13 in its entirety.
55See Ecclesiastes 8:14-15.
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1. For it is said in Revelation 3:19: I rebuke and chastise those whom I love. Therefore, tribulation is a sign of divine love.
2. It is also said in Hebrews 12:6: Now God scourges every son that he receives. Therefore, to be scourged is a sign of being a child of God.
3. Also, Tobit 12:13 says: Because you were acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove you.
Therefore, etc.
4. Furthermore, Judith 8:23 reads: All, however many there are to please God,56 have passed through many tribulations and remained faithful. Therefore, this condition is better.
Contra: 1.The Church asks for peace: "Lord, give peace in our days."57 Therefore, if the Church asks for what is better, the condition of prosperity is better.
2. Also, the Apostle in 1 Timothy 2:2 would have us pray those who are in high positions that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all piety and chastity. Therefore, a condition of tranquility is better.
3. Moreover, if there were no sin, there would not be adversity, but total tranquility and prosperity. Therefore, a condition of prosperity is more in accord with the state of 56On p. 70 n. 6 QuarEd accurately intimate that the Vulgate reads qui placuerunt Deo ("who have pleased God") whereas Bonaventure has quotquot placuere Deo ("however many there are to please God").
57On p. 70 n. 7 QuarEd give this generic reference: "In an antiphon of the Roman Breviary for peace." Diligent searches through the Roman
Breviary and books of Gregorian Chant have failed to uncover the exact source for this prayer. See, however, Sirach 50:25: "May God grant us joy of heart and that there be peace in our days in Israel forever."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
innocence and glory. But "what is more similar to what is better is itself better."58 Therefore, etc.
I reply by saying that the conditions of prosperity and adversity can be examined in relation to good and wicked people. If examined in relation to wicked people, who are happy when prosperous and cast down when afflicted, neither condition is useful unless divine grace helps, so that when they are afflicted externally they are enlightened inwardly. In this way when affliction is accompanied by inspiration, something that often happens, a condition of adversity is more useful.
However, if we speak of the relation to good people, it has to be said that some good people are perfect. About these it is said in Proverbs 12:21: Whatever shall befall the just person, it shall not make him sad. In view of this it is better and more useful for the perfect to be in a condition of adversity, for in adversity they are tested as gold is tested in fire.59 The condition of prosperity is not useful to them, because they do not make progress or they become lukewarm or because their spirit fails them, as happened to David, who was strong in war, but fell at the sight of a woman.60
Other good people are imperfect. They love God and are led by temporal advantages. Since they do not have
58On p. 70 n. 9 QuarEd refer to Book III, n. 2 of Aristotle's Topica. See WAE, vol. 1, 117b: "Another commonplace rule is that which is nearer to the good is better and more desirable, i.e. what more nearly resembles the good: thus justice is better than a just man. Also, that which is more like than another thing to something better than itself. . . ."
59Onp. 70 n. 11 QuarEd helpfully cite 1 Peter 1:6-7: "Over this you rejoice. Though now for a little while, if need be, you are made sorrowful by various trials, that the temper of your faith – more precious by far than gold which is tried by fire – may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
60See 2 Samuel 11:1-27.
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perfect charity, they fall easily and for such people prosperity is more useful. Since the Church has more delicate and weak than strong children, the Church is forced to pray for peace. Therefore, it is a gift of God that bad things happen to good people in the present, according to what
Philippians 1:29 states: Unto you it is given, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him.61
ECCLESIASTES 8:16-9:10 SECURITY ARISES FROM
CONFUSION BETWEEN THE GOOD
AND THE WICKED AND BECOMES
A PRINCIPLE OF PLEASURE
27. And I applied my heart, etc. It has been seen how the vanity of security arises from the exaltation of the evil and also from the repression of the good. Third, he shows how it arises from confusion between the good and the wicked.
Since the wicked cannot be discerned from the good, the wicked feel secure. And since this security arises from the confusion between the good and the wicked and also becomes a principle for pleasure, he divides this material into two parts. He shows, first, how security arises from the confusion. Second, how pleasure comes from the security where Ecclesiastes 9:4 reads: There is no one who always lives, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 8:16-9:3
HOW SECURITY ARISES FROM
THE CONFUSION BETWEEN THE
GOOD AND THE WICKED
28. The first point is described in this order. First, he notes the vain effort of discernment. Second, the uncertainty of the inquiry. Third, the reason for the uncertainty. Fourth,
61On p. 70 n. 12 QuarEd rightly mention that the Vulgate's text is different. Philippians 1:29 goes: "For it has been granted to you for Christ, not only so that you may believe in him, but so that you also may suffer for him."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
from this he draws the conclusion about the origin of the vain security.
29. (Verses 16-17). First, he treats the vain effort of discernment, an effort that was diligent. So he says: And I applied my heart, that is, I applied my mind, to know wisdom concerning what is invisible and to understand the spread of things that are upon the earth, concerning what is visible, for Romans 1:20 says: "The invisible things of God, from the creation of the world, are clearly seen, being understood by the things that have been made." And this effort is vain, because no matter how much one works it cannot be found. So he adds: For there are some who day and night take no sleep with their eyes, but work ceaselessly at their search. Ecclesiastes 3:10-11 above reads: "I have seen the trouble, which God has given to the children of men and women to be exercised in it. . . .He has made all things good in their time and has delivered the world to their consideration." And even though they work so much, they make no progress.
30. So he continues: And I understood that a human being can find no reason for all those works of God that have been done under the sun. We read in Sirach 43:34: "Do not be weary, for you can never go far enough." And the more human beings shall labor to seek, so much the less will they find. For Psalm 63:7-8 says: "A human being comes to a high heart,62 and God will be exalted," that is, he will be turned aside. Augustine comments: "God is on high. If you raise yourself, God flees from you. If you humiliate your62The Vulgate reads Accedet homo et cor altum ("A human being and a high heart come") while Bonaventure has Accedet homo ad cor altum
("A human being comes to a high heart").
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self, God comes to you."63 Yea, though the wise shall say that they know it, they will not be able to find it, that is, if people think they know, the less they understand, because it is said in Romans 1:22: "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." Ecclesiastes 7:24 above says: "I have said: I will be wise, and it departed further from me."
And he repeats his effort, adding that it was an effort born of curiosity, for to be solicitous in matters that are not useful is curiosity.64
31. So he says: All these things I considered in my heart, that I might carefully understand them.65 And this is condemned in Sirach 3:24: "In unnecessary matters be not over66 curious, and in many of his works you shall not be67 inquisitive." And this makes clear the distinction between effort that is diligent and vain, and therefore, curious.
63On p. 71 n. 2 QuarEd refer to six places in Augustine where such a quotation occurs. See, e.g., his Sermon 177 n. 2 in PL 39:2083: "God is on high. You lift yourself up, and God flees from you. You humiliate yourself, and God descends to you." See also PL 36:598; PL 37:1082; PL
37:1779.
64For Hugh of St. Victor's definition of curiosity, see the commentary on Ecclesiastes 1:13 (#13) note 82 above: "Curiosity is an eagerness to examine things it is useless to know."
65On p. 71 n. 5 QuarEd say: "With all the codices, Hugh of St. Cher, and Lyranus we make these words verse 17 of Ecclesiastes 8, but the Vulgate commences Ecclesiastes 9 with them."
66On p. 71 n. 6 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads multipliciter ("over") while Bonaventure has multum ("over").
67On p. 71 n. 6 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate has non eris ("you shall not be") whereas Bonaventure reads ne fueris ("you shall not be").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES