CHAPTER 9
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1. ( Verse 1) There are just and wise people, etc. Second, he treats of the uncertainty of discernment. Individuals do not know whether they are good or evil, even though they are good. So he says: There are just and wise men and women, and thus good. And their works are in the hand of God, that is, in God's power of knowing, accepting, and rewarding. In God's hands are merits and rewards. There are merits for good thoughts. Proverbs 21:1 reads: "As the divisions of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord." There are merits for good affections. Psalm
94:4 says: "In his hand are all the ends of the earth." There are merits for good speeches. Wisdom 7:16 states: "In his hand are both we and our words." There are also merits for good works as in this very verse. Rewards are also in God's hands. Wisdom 3:1 has: "The souls of the just are in the hand of God." And since they are in the hand of God, they should be known. And yet men and women do not know whether they be worthy of love or hatred, and so a person does not know how to discern. We read in 1
Corinthians 4:4: "I have nothing on my conscience. Yet I am not thereby justified," etc.1
11 Corinthians 4:4 concludes with: ". . . but the one that judges me is the Lord."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
2. ( Verse 2). But all things are kept uncertain for the time to come. Third, he notes the reason for the uncertainty. The uncertainty comes from the fact that merits are not rewarded at the present time, but the reward is kept for the future. And so he says: Men and women do not know. . .
.But all things are kept uncertain for the time to come, namely, so that they can be made evident. 1 Corinthians
4:5 reads: "Do not judge before the time, until the Lord comes, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will manifest the counsels of hearts." God does not do this now, but holds back according to what Job 14:17 says: "You have sealed up my offences, as it were, in a bag."
So all things are hidden for the present moment.
3. Ecclesiastes continues: Because all things equally happen to the just and to the wicked, etc. All things, good and evil, happen equally to the just and to the sinner, whom he describes under six differences. To the just and to the wicked with regard to steadfast faith, because faith justifies a wicked person.2 Habakkuk 2:4 says: "The just person lives by his faith."3 – To the good and to the evil, with respect to the purity of love, because holy love makes a person good.
Matthew 7:18 states: "A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit." – To the clean and to the unclean relative to goodness of speech. For this is concerned with external things as Tobit 4 testifies.4 – To persons who offer holocausts and victims and to those who despise sacrifices with respect to right worship. We read in Exodus 12:43: "This is the service of the Passover. No foreigner shall eat of it."
2Bonaventure is alluding to Romans 4:5: "But to the person who does no work, but believes in God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited to him as righteousness."
3The Vulgate reads vivet ("will live") while Bonaventure has vivit ("lives").
4For example, care of parents (4:3-5) and alms to the poor (4:8-12).
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4. As the good is, so also the sinner, with regard to observation of the commandments, for to observe them makes a person good and to disobey them makes a person evil.
Daniel 9:5 reads: "We have sinned. We have committed iniquity and have revolted. We have gone aside from your commandments and your judgments." – As the perjurer, so he also who swears truth, with respect to truthful speech.
Here the prefix of the verb augments the verb's force rather than decreasing it.5 He swears, that is, he really swears according to the meaning accepted in 1 Samuel 20:17: "And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him."6
To all these people the same things happen according to the condition of nature, as Wisdom 7:6 states: "For all people have one entrance into life and a similar exit." It also stems from the condition of sin. Romans 3:23 reads:
"All have sinned and have need of the glory of God." It also comes from the condition of punishment. Sirach 8:6 has:
"Remember that we are all worthy of corruption."7
5. ( Verse 3). This is a very great evil, etc. Fourth, he treats of the origin of vain security, because great security comes from this confusion that is the occasion of many sins. So he says: This is a very great evil among all things that are done under the sun, that the same things happen to all people. It is very great, because it is the occasion of many sins, for it seems that God is not concerned with us. This gives rise to the opinion found in Job 22:14: "The clouds are his hiding place, and he does not consider our things."
5Bonaventure is referring to the prefix de of the verb dejerare ("to swear") which is also spelled dejurare. Hugh of St. Cher, 94v, a also enters into this discussion of grammar and uses the terminology of de privativum and de intensivum.
6Hugh of St. Cher, 94v, a also cites 1 Samuel 20:17.
7On p. 72 n. 2 QuarEd accurately notice that the Vulgate reads correptione ("worthy of correction") while Bonaventure has corruptione
("worthy of corruption"). The editors also state that Hugh of St. Cher and Lyranus also have Bonaventure's reading.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
That evils come from this is clear, because it gives rise to a security by which a person falls into malice and contempt.
So he says: Whereby also the hearts of men and women, that is, of evil and carnal people are filled with evil and with contempt. The word filled indicates a multitude of sins, for evil is in the concupiscible part of the heart and contempt is in the irascible part of the heart. These are the two roots of sin. Genesis 6:11 reads: "The earth was corrupted before God and was filled with iniquity." This happens while they live, while they have the opportunity to merit. 1 Thessalonians 2:16 states: "So that they might fill up their sins always." And since such people fall into punishment, the text continues: And afterwards they will be brought down to hell. We read in Psalm 54:24: "But you, O God, will bring them down into the pit of destruction." And Job 21:13 has: "They spend their days in good things, and in a moment they go down into hell."8
QUESTIONS 28
I. A question arises from what he says: I understood that a human being can find no reason for the works of God.9
1. Therefore, if we should know the reason for what we understand and we can find no reason, then we understand nothing.10
2.Also, the purpose of rational nature is to understand and see reasons. So if we cannot find the reasons, we possess our rational power in vain.
8Hugh of St. Cher, 95v, x also cites Job 21:13.
9On p. 72 n. 5 QuarEd correctly intimate that the Vulgate of Ecclesiastes 8:17 reads omnium operum ("all the works") while
Bonaventure has operum ("the works").
10On p. 72 n. 6 QuarEd provide a useful parallel in chapter 11 n. 25 of Augustine's The Advantage of Believing. See Saint Augustine, The Advantage of Believing, trans. Luanne Meagher, FC 4 (New York: CIMA
Publishing Co., 1947), 425: "What we understand, accordingly, we owe
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I reply that "words are to be understood with reference to the topic."11 But he is not speaking about the works of God in general, but of divine judgments which are the works of God according to what Psalm 110:2 says: Great are the works of the Lord, etc. As Gregory says: "These judgments are not to be discussed, but venerated in an awesome silence."12 While they have a reason, it is a hidden reason that is beyond us. If we do understand, it is by an inspiration of the Holy Spirit, who searches the depths of God,13 not by human effort. With other works, for example, those of creatures, many reasons are worked out through many fields of knowledge, but Ecclesiastes is not talking about these works here.
II. Likewise, there is a doubt about the words: Men and women do not know whether they be worthy of love or hatred.14
This seems to be false. 1.For Romans 8:35-36 states: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? . . . I am certain, etc. So this text is an example of knowing whether a person is loved or not. – You will say that the Apostle knew this by revelation, but the objection presumes possible human knowledge on its own terms. For the dignity of divine love puts within us a grace that makes us pleasing to to reason; what we believe, to authority; and what we have an opinion on, to error."
11On p. 72 n. 7 QuarEd refer to Book II, n. 2 of Aristotle's Ethica nicomachea. See WAE, vol. 9, 1104a: ". . . the accounts we demand must be in accordance with the subject matter."
12On p. 72 n. 8 QuarEd cite Book XXXII, chapter 1 n. 1 of Gregory's Moralia in Iob. See S. Gregorii Magni, Moralia in Iob Libri XXIII-XXXV, ed. Marcus Adriaen, CCSL cxliii b (Turnhout: Brepols, 1985), 1626:
"Divine judgments, when they are not known, are not to be discussed in bold speech, but venerated in an awesome silence."
13On p. 72 n. 9 QuarEd helpfully refer to 1 Corinthians 2:10: "For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God."
14Ecclesiastes 9:1.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
God. But Augustine says that things in the soul by reason of their essence are better known than things in the soul according to an image.15 Therefore, if we are certain of things about which we know according to their image, for example, something sweet placed on the tongue, we should be more certain of grace.
2. Furthermore, Augustine says that whoever has faith is certain about having faith.16 Therefore, whoever has love or charity is sure about having it. And so whoever has grace is sure about having it and, therefore, is certain whether he or she is pleasing to God.
3. Also, people can be certain about hatred, just as people who have sinned or want to sin are sure that they are worthy of hatred.
Contra: 1.1 Corinthians 4:4 reads: I have nothing on my conscience, yet I am not hereby justified, etc.
2. Moreover, Job 9:11 states: If he comes to me, I will not see him. If he departs, I will not understand. Again Job
9:21 says: Although I should be without dissimulation, even this my soul will not know about.
3. Furthermore, Sirach 5:5 has: Concerning sin that has been forgiven, do not be without fear. Wherefore, nothing is certain.
15On p. 72 n. 11 QuarEd refer to four passages in Augustine. See, for example, Book XII, chapter 6 n. 15 of De Genesi ad litteram. See On Genesis, 470-471: "Now anything that is seen not in images, but as it properly is in itself, and is not seen through the body, is seen with a kind of vision that surpasses all the other kinds. . . .But the third kind, by which love is understood and looked at, touches on things which do not have any images that are like them without actually being what they are."
16On p. 72 n. 12 QuarEd cite Book XIII, chapter 1 n. 3 of Augustine's The Trinity. See Saint Augustine, The Trinity, trans. Stephen McKenna,
FC 45 (Washington: Catholic University of America, 1963), 371: "Faith
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Some answer this by saying that the text is to be understood of the hatred of predestination and of condemnation, about which no one is certain. And so it does not apply since predestination makes no effect in us by which it can be known. – Another response is that the previous answer does not correspond to the text. For the text states:
Men and women do not know whether they be worthy of love, but no one is worthy of nor merits predestination. So the text is to be understood of present justice.17
For this reason others reply that there is a double knowledge. The first one is necessary and infallible. We cannot have this kind of knowledge, because no one can know with certitude whether he or she has grace, other than by a revelation as in the case of the Apostle. The second knowledge is probable and comes through signs.
And this, indeed, can be possessed and is possessed, because many know from probable signs that they are in grace.
1-2. So to the objection that a person sees into the essence of the soul, I say that habits of the soul are known only by the soul seeing itself capable of some action. And since acts of unformed and formed faith and acts of love due to grace and to nature are so similar, so that a person can hardly or never distinguish between them, a person does not know whether the habit comes from grace or not.
3. To the objection about hatred, I say that Ecclesiastes is speaking about the just, because they do not know whether is not so seen (through images) in the heart in which it is, by him whose it is; but we know most certainly that it is there, and our conscience proclaims its existence."
17On p. 73 n. 4 QuarEd refer to Book I, d. 40, a. 2, q. 2 and d. 41, a. 1, q. 1-2 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Omnia Opera 1:711 and 1:728-736 respectively.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
they are worthy of love or of hate. He is not speaking of people who openly do evil.
However, whatever men and women know or do not know, namely, whether they have love and faith, they do not know whether they are worthy of God's love or hatred.
For we can believe, but how do we know that God hates evil people and loves good people when so many and such great good things happen to the evil as well as to the good?
So Ecclesiastes did not say that they did not know whether they are just, but that they do not know whether God loves them.18
III. One can also doubt the following words: This is a very great evil … under the sun, that19 the same things may happen20 to all people.21
Contra: 1. It is worse when good things happen to evil people and bad things happen to good people than when the same things happen to both. For, as was said above on Ecclesiastes 8:4, that is not merited nor fitting.
2. Also, it was said above in Ecclesiastes 8:14: This also I judge most vain, namely, about this that the evil are secure, and evil things happen to the just. But "what is said as an exaggeration applies only to one thing."22 Therefore, etc.
18On p. 73 n. 5 QuarEd refer to Book I, d. 17, p. 1, q. 3 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Omnia Opera 1:298.
19The Vulgate has quia ("that") and Bonaventure reads quod ("that").
20The Vulgate reads eveniunt ("happen") whereas Bonaventure has eveniant ("may happen").
21Ecclesiastes 9:3.
22On p. 73 n. 7 QuarEd refer to Book V, n. 5 of Aristotle's Topica. See WAE, vol. 1, 134b: "So he errs if he has not expressly distinguished the property that belongs specifically, because then it will belong only to one of the things that fall under the term of which he states the property: for the superlative belongs only to one of them, e.g. 'lightest' as applied to 'fire'." See also Book VII, n. 1 and WAE, vol. 1, 151a.
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I reply by saying that intensifying and lessening in vanity and evil can be taken in a proper sense. An example of intensification is found in the saying that a pearl is whiter than a horse. And so in terms of intensification, vanity is greater when evil people are exalted and the good are put down. The degrees of more and less can be understood further in an extensive sense, because this situation is the cause or occasion of sin in many or for many. In this sense confusion between good and evil people is a greater vanity, because it is a source of many evils. For if bad things were to happen to good people and good things to evil people, good and evil people could be distinguished. But when the same things happen to both, no discernment is possible.
ECCLESIASTES 9:4-10
PLEASURE ARISES FROM THE
FEELING OF SECURITY
6. There is no one who lives always. Ecclesiastes has already shown how the vanity of security stems from this confusion. He now in a second point shows how pleasure arises from this security, and he does this in the following order. First, he notes the certitude of death. Second, the deterioration of one's condition by death. Third, an approval of pleasure. Fourth, a confirmation of this approval.
7. (Verse 4). First, he notes the certitude of death from the fact that no one can avoid its decree. So he says: There is no one who lives always. Psalm 88:49 reads: "Who is the person who will live and not see death?" And into this condemnation Adam and his posterity fell. To him it was said in Genesis 3:19: "You are dust, and unto dust you will return." – Or who hopes for this thing. Supply: there is no one. For this thing, that is, the hope of living forever. Job
7:6-7 states: "My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver and are consumed without any hope. . . .For my life is a wind, and will not return," etc.23
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
8. A living dog is better than a dead lion. Second, he shows that a condition of deterioration follows death and states this by means of a metaphor: A living dog is better than a dead lion. Although a lion surpasses a dog, death makes it inferior, because a live dog can do something while a dead lion can do nothing, even though while the lion was alive it was more powerful than a dog. Proverbs 30:30 says: "A lion, the strongest of animals,24 has no fear of anything it meets." So he wants to say metaphorically that any living thing, no matter how lowly, is better than something dead, no matter how good.
9. (Verses 5-6). He proves the previous point, first, by the act of knowing. For the living know that they will die. At least they are sure of this. 2 Samuel 14:14 reads: "We all die, and like waters that return no more, we fall down into the earth." Or: We will die, that is, we are subject to the necessity of death. Romans 8:10 says: "The body is dead because of sin."25 – For26 the dead know nothing more, because knowledge presupposes life. And so the living surpass the dead in the act of knowledge, for the dead can neither move nor feel. With regard to the act of remembering he continues: Neither have they a reward anymore, namely, of fame remembered by others, for the memory of them is forgotten. Ecclesiastes 2:16 says: "There will be no remembrance of the wise no more than of the fool forever and the times to come," etc. Or: Because no memory of them is recalled. Job 7:9-10 states: "The person who goes
23Job 7:7 concludes with: ". . . and my eye will not return to see good things."
24On p. 73 n. 9 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate has bestiarum ("beasts") while Bonaventure reads animalium ("animals").
25Hugh of St. Cher, 95q also cites Romans 8:10.
26The Vulgate reads vero ("but") whereas Bonaventure has enim ("for").
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down27 to hell will not come up, nor will he return anymore into his house, nor will his locale know him anymore."
10. With respect to the act of affection the text says: Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy have all perished, because they are no longer honored as they were when alive. - Relative to the act of external deeds he says:
Neither have they a part in this world. And then he explains what he means: And in the work that is done under the sun, because they cannot work anymore, according to what John 9:4 says: "The night comes, when no one can work."28
11. (Verses 7-9a). Go, then, and eat, etc. Third, he treats of the approval of present pleasure. He exhorts his readers to embrace this pleasure, first, with regard to taste. So he says: Go, then, and eat your bread with joy. By bread he includes all things connected with food. – And drink your wine with gladness. By wine he includes all things connected with drink. – Because your works please God, as if to say, you are not sure whether they are displeasing, so presume that they are pleasing and eat and drink securely according to what Isaiah 22:13 says: "Behold, joy and gladness . . . to eat flesh and to drink wine. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die."
12. Then regarding sight, he says: At all times let your garments be white, so as to appear neat in clothing. And let not oil depart from your head, so as to appear neat in appearance. All who adorn themselves to appear pleasing in 27On p. 74 n. 2 QuarEd accurately indicate that the Vulgate reads descenderit ("will do down") while Bonaventure has descendet ("goes down").
28Hugh of St. Cher, 95v, q cites all of John 9:4.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
the sight of others act in this way. For example, Judith adorned herself when she wanted to be pleasing to the eyes of Holofernes, according to what is said in Judith 10:24. But Judith did this for a good reason, for otherwise it would be blameworthy. Sirach 11:4 counsels: "Glory not in apparel at any time."
13. Next concerning touch, he says: Live joyfully with the wife whom you love. Such enjoyment is described in Proverbs 7:18: "Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts, and let us enjoy the desired embraces, till the day appears."
And this is to be done not just once, but all the days of your unsteady life, which are given to you under the sun.
Our life is truly unsteady, according to what Job 14:2 has:
"And never continues in the same state."29 To add more emphasis he says: All the time of your vanity. Our life is a time of vanity. For Psalm 143:4 states: "Human beings are similar to vanity. Their days pass away like a shadow."
14. (Verses 9b-10). For this is your portion in life, etc.
Fourth, he treats of the confirmation of this approval. And the confirmation consists in this that a person expects no other reward or receives any other benefit. Therefore, people must take what they can. So he continues: For this is your portion in life and in your labor wherewith you labor under the sun, namely, to take pleasure in the present moment. Wisdom 2:9 reads: "Let us everywhere leave tokens of our30 joy, for this is our portion and this our lot."
15. And since there is nothing else to be expected, a person should take this as much as possible. So he says: What29Job 14:1-2 reads: "Human beings, born of women, living for a short time, are filled with many miseries. Who come forth like a flower and are destroyed, and flee like a shadow and never continue in the same state."
30On p. 74 n. 8 QuarEd rightly note that the Vulgate does not have nostrae ("our").
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soever your hand is able to do, do it earnestly, that is, while there is time and do not wait for the future. And so he adds: For neither work, in things to be done, nor reason, in things to be decided; nor knowledge, in things to be known; nor wisdom, in things to be loved, will be in hell, whither you are hastening. Such things are not in hell, because, as it is said in Job 10:21-22: "That land is dark and covered with the mist of death . . . where . . . no order, but everlasting horror dwells."31 Sinners are hastening thither, and all, before the coming of Christ, went as far as Limbo. Job
17:16 says: "All that I have will go down to the deepest pit." Thither sinners are hastening, as one day follows another. Deuteronomy 32:35 states: "The day of destruc-tion is at hand."
16. Now this can be expounded in a spiritual sense, as, first, an exhortation to the joy of contemplation, and second, to urgent action. Now the following are necessary for contemplative men: to meditate on Sacred Scripture, to have a pure conscience, to embrace interior devotion. – With respect to meditation on Sacred Scripture he says: Go, then, and eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with gladness: bread concerning what is difficult and wine concerning what is easy. Wisdom says in Proverbs 9:5:32 "Come, eat my bread and drink the wine that I have mingled for you."33
31On p. 74 n. 9 QuarEd correctly point to Bonaventure's adaptation of this citation for his purposes. Job 10:21-22 reads: "Before I go and return no more, to a land that is dark and covered with the mist of death: a land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwell."
32Hugh of St. Cher, 95v, b also cites Proverbs 9:5.
33On p. 74 n. 10 QuarEd cite Book I, chapter 21 n. 29 of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Iob. See CCSL cxliii, 40: "Sacred Scripture is sometimes food for us, sometimes drink. It is food in the more obscure passages, because as it is expounded, it is broken and is swallowed after it is chewed. It is drink in the clearer passages, because it is drunk
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
17. With reference to purity of conscience he says: At all times let your garments be white, that is, with a clean conscience. Revelation 3:4 reads: "They have not defiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white garments."
On the other hand, we read in Isaiah 9:5: "A garment mingled with blood will be burnt and be fuel for the fire."
And since inner joy comes from a clean conscience, he says:
And let not oil depart from your head. For Psalm 103:15 states: "That he may make the face cheerful with oil."
Matthew 6:17 reads: "But you, when you fast, anoint your head," etc.34
18. Concerning an embrace of inner devotion he says: Live joyfully with the wife whom you love. This wife is the religious institute, in which time must be given to contemplation. Proverbs 5:18-19 states: "Rejoice with the wife of your youth. Let her be your dearest hind," etc. Such a beloved wife is prefigured in Rachel, for whom Jacob served seven years, according to Genesis 29:20.35
19. With regard to an active life he says: Whatsoever your hand is able to do, do it earnestly. To do something earas it is found." See also Homily 10 n. 3 of Book I in Sancti Gregorii
Magni Homiliae in Ezechielem Prophetam, ed. Marcus Adriaen, CCSL xclii (Turnhout: Brepols, 19710, 145: "But it is to be noted that [Sacred
Scripture] is sometimes food, sometimes drink. For in the more obscure passages which cannot be understood without exposition, Sacred
Scripture is food, for whatever is expounded so that it may be understood is like food that is chewed before it is swallowed. But in the clearer passages it is drink. For we swallow a drink without chewing it. So we drink the more clear commandments, since we can understand them without any exposition."
34Hugh of St. Cher, 95v, g also cites Matthew 6:17.
35See Bonaventure's commentary on Luke 10:42 (#75) in St.
Bonaventrue's Commentary on the Gospel of Luke Chapters 9-16, trans.
Robert J. Karris, Works of St. Bonaventure VIII/2 (St. Bonaventure, NY: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2003), 1006: "And this was well designated in Jacob's two wives, namely, Rachel and Leah, one of whom designates the active life and the other contemplative life."
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nestly means to do it quickly, and this is against negligence. Sirach 31:27 reads: "In all your works be quick, and no infirmity will come to you." To do it enthusiastically.
Proverbs 18:9 says: "The person who is loose and slack in his work is the brother of the person who wastes his own work. To do it continually. Sirach 27:4 has: "Unless you hold yourself diligently in the fear of the Lord, your house will be quickly overthrown." To do it with perseverance.
We read in 2 Timothy 2:5: "The person who strives in the contest is not crowned, unless he strives lawfully," that is, with perseverance.
20. He adds the reason why one should act earnestly in doing good at the present time, namely, because the time for gaining merit is brief. Therefore, he says: There is no work in hell, for the exercises of piety. We read in John 9:4:
"I must work … while it is day." And therefore, it is said in Galatians 6:10: "While we have time, let us do good to all, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith."36 There is no reason for searching and discerning what is good and what is evil. Job 12:25 reads: "They will grope as in the dark and not in the light,37 and he will make them stagger like people who are drunk." Isaiah
19:14 states: "And the Lord has mingled in the midst thereof a spirit of vertigo." There are no wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge to contemplate God in God's works. Wisdom to contemplate God as God. About these Isaiah 33:6 says: "Riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the very fear of the Lord is the treasure."38
36Hugh of St. Cher, 95v, q also quotes Galatians 6:10.
37On p. 75 n. 6 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads non in luce ("not in the light") while Bonaventure has non in lumine ("not in the light").
38On p. 75 n. 6 QuarEd accurately mention that the Vulgate has eius ("his") after thesaurus ("treasure").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
QUESTIONS 29
I. It can be asked what he means by the words: The dead know nothing more.39 This seems to be false, because a soul separated from the body is freer and the freer a substance is from the body, the more capable it is of knowledge.40 Therefore, the dead are better able to know, for either the soul perishes or it knows.
II. There is also a doubt about the words: Neither have they a reward anymore.41 – This is clearly heretical, because it takes away divine justice.
III. Moreover, there is doubt about the words: Love and hate have perished at the same time.42
Contra: Bad will always remains. Therefore, if bad will comes from love and hatred, therefore, etc.43
IV. Furthermore, there is doubt about the words: Go, then, and eat your bread with joy and drink your wine, etc.44
If we want to respond to points I-III by saying that Ecclesiastes is speaking in the person of Epicurus, then the answer is clear. But if we want to hold that he is speak
39See Ecclesiastes 9:5.
40See the second question of Quaestio #12, after Bonaventure's commentary on Ecclesiastes 3:22 (#24) above.
41See Ecclesiastes 9:5.
42See Ecclesiastes 9:6.
43On p. 75 n. 8 QuarEd refer to Augustine. See Book XIV, chapter 6 in Saint Augustine, The City of God, Books VIII-XVI, trans. Gerald G. Walsh and Grace Monahan, FC 14 (New York: Fathers of the Church, 1952),
358: "Man's will, then, is all-important. If it is badly directed, the emotions will be perverse; if it is rightly directed, the emotions will be not merely blameless but even praiseworthy. The will is in all of these affections; indeed, they are nothing else but inclinations of the will."
44See Ecclesiastes 9:7
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ing in his own name, it has to be said that the words the dead know nothing more are to be understood of things in this world. They know nothing more of things in this world.
They are not remembered by people still in the world nor do they feel affection for the things of this world. This is clear from the words: They do not have a part in this world.45
To the fourth point, I say that the exhortation is not stated absolutely, but the conclusion is drawn from the aforementioned vanity. So he says: Go, then. These words are directed to persons who cannot discern that they must please God in the present and be rewarded in the future. I say, if a person cannot know this, neither can such a person live always. Then such a person can seek pleasure with confidence. But Ecclesiastes does not hold this unless it is presumed that the Lord will not reward in the future in a way different from now. This is the previously mentioned vanity which he will destroy as Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 states below.46
ECCLESIASTES 9:11-10:7
A SENSE OF SECURITY ARISES
FROM WHAT SEEMS TO BE A
LACK OF GUIDANCE BY
PROVIDENCE
21. I turned myself to another thing, etc. As was said above, those who do evil feel secure for two reasons: first, because there seems to be a lack of an application of justice, and second, because the guidance of providence seems to be lacking. Consideration has already been given to the lack that appears to be present in the application of justice.
Here in a second point Ecclesiastes deals with the lack 45See Ecclesiastes 9:6.
46On p. 75 n. 9 QuarEd refer to Book IV, d. 50, p. II. a. 1, q. 2 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Omnia Opera 4:1047.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
which appears to be present in rule of providence. For in these two areas control does not seem to be ordered, but by chance. This section has two parts, as he shows, first, the lack of order in general, and second, the lack of order in particular where verse 13 reads: This wisdom I have also seen, etc., concerning disorderly rule.
ECCLESIASTES 9:11-13
THE LACK OF ORDER IN
GENERAL 22. He deals with the first point as follows. First, he shows the disorder and chance which seem to be present in the course of a life. Second, he shows the order and chance that seem to be present in the ending of life in death where verse 12 says: A human being does not know his own end.
23. (Verse 11). So he shows the disorder in the course of a life, because things are not adjusted to what is suitable.
So he says: I turned myself to another thing, for he had already considered the application of justice and now wants to reflect here on order. And I saw that under the sun, and he lists five gratuitous gifts that are frustrated in their very use. The race is not to the swift, even though people are fit to run. Amos 2:14 reads: "Flight will perish from the swift." – Nor the battle to the strong, even though people are capable of fighting. 2 Samuel 1:27 states: "The valiant have fallen and the weapons of war perished." – Nor bread to the wise, even though people are able to distribute food.
Isaiah 3:7 has: "I am no healer, and in my house there is no bread." – Nor riches to the learned, even though people are capable of owning everything. Later in this very book
Ecclesiastes 9:15 says: "Now there was found in it a poor man." – Nor favor to the skillful, even though people are capable of fashioning pleasing objects. We read in Isaiah
20: "All who have worked well have been confounded."47
47On p. 76 n. 2 QuarEd discuss the manuscript tradition and rightly indicate that Bonaventure's quotation is not found anywhere in Isaiah
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24. But time and chance in all, as if everything happens by chance, and temporal things are changed. Ecclesiastes
3:1 above states: "All things have their season, and in their times pass under heaven." And the aforementioned gifts are distinguished in this way: the first two apply to the body: speed in obtaining what is desired and strength in resisting a threatening evil. The next three concern the soul, namely, wisdom in the heart, teaching in the mouth, and skill in work.
25. (Verse 12). No one knows his own end, etc. Second, he treats of the defect in government concerning the ending of death, because no one decides when or how they are to die. And it seems that death comes by chance in one way or another. And so he says: No one knows his own end, that is, the day of death. Matthew 24:42 reads: "Watch therefore, because you know not at what hour your Lord will come."48 And he gives an example of disorder and uncertainty by saying: But as fish are taken with the hook, namely, in ignorance, and as birds are caught with a snare, that is, by deceit. Sirach 11:32 states: "As the partridge is brought into the cage and as the roe into the snare, so also is the heart of the proud." So men and women are taken in the evil time. We read in 1 Thessalonians 5:3: "When they will say: Peace and security, . . . sudden destruction will come. . . ." When it will suddenly come upon them, that is, unexpectedly. Isaiah 30:13-14 reads: "Its destruction will come suddenly, when it is not looked for. And it will be . . . broken all to pieces like the potter's vessel."
26. In a spiritual sense Ecclesiastes indicates here the heavenly election of the good, and afterwards the hidden dam nation of the wicked. Therefore, so that all the efforts of 20, but may have a basis in Isaiah 19:9: "They who worked with linen will be confounded."
48Hugh of St. Cher, 96f also cites Matthew 24:12.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
the good will be attributed to God, he says first: The race is not to the swift, because their running is not from themselves, but from God. Romans 9:16 states: "It is not of him who wills nor him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."49
– Nor the battle to the strong, because we read in Psalm 32:16: "The king is not saved by a great army." – Nor bread to the wise, from themselves, but from God. John 6:32 says:
"My Father gives you the true bread from heaven." – Nor riches to the learned, for wisdom and knowledge come from God, not from oneself. 1 Corinthians 1:5 has: "In all things you have been made rich in him," namely, in Christ. – Nor favor to the skillful, from themselves, but from God. Psalm
83:12 confesses: "God loves mercy and truth. The Lord will give grace and glory."
27. Now concerning the hidden damnation of the wicked, he says: No one knows his own end, for "the way of the wicked is dark," etc.50 As fish are taken with the hook, that is, pleasure seekers who are taken with the hook of pleasure. Habakkuk 1:15 reads: "He lifted them all up with his hook." As birds are caught in the snare, that is, ambitious people with the snare of honor. 1 Timothy 3:6 says:
"Not a neophyte, lest being puffed up with pride, he fall into the judgment of the devil." Thus human beings are taken, that is, the avaricious in the evil time. Job 27:19 reads: "The rich person, when he shall fall asleep, will take nothing with him."51
49Hugh of St. Cher, 95v, c also quotes Romans 9:16.
50See Proverbs 4:19: "The way of the wicked is dark; they know not where they fall."
51On p. 76 n. 5 QuarEd refer to Jerome's commentary on Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 in his Commentarius in Ecclesiasten. See CCSL lxxii, 328-330 for some general parallels, e.g., the quotation from Romans 9:16.
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QUESTIONS 30
I. There is a doubt about what he means when he says that he saw time and chance in all.52 According to this it would seem that everything happens by chance.
But contra: It seems that not everything happens by chance:
1. For when things happen as a result of a decision, they do not happen by chance. And many things are a result of a decision. Therefore, not everything happens by chance.
2. Moreover, it seems that nothing happens by chance, because, as Plato says: "With the exception of the first cause there is nothing whose origin is not preceded by a legitimate cause."53 Therefore, according to this nothing happens by chance, but all things come from a definite cause.
3. Furthermore, in every work God is the principal agent.54
But whatever God does as the principal agent, God does knowingly and on purpose, and nothing comes about by chance. Therefore, nothing entirely happens by chance.
I reply that chance and luck are incidental causes, not because other causes are causes through themselves,55 but because when nature and knowledge fashion something
52Ecclesiastes 9:11.
53On p. 77 n. 1 QuarEd quote from p. 23 of the 1876 Wrobel edition of Plato's Timaeus: "Now everything generated from some cause is necessarily generated. For nothing comes to be, whose origin is not preceded by a legitimate cause and reason." See Plato VII, Timaeus,
Cleitophon, Critias, Menexenus, Epistles, trans. R.G. Bury, LCL (London:
Heinemann, 1929), 49-51: "Again, everything which becomes must of necessity become owing to some Cause; for without a cause it is impossible for anything to attain becoming."
54On p. 77 n. 2 QuarEd refer to Book II, d. 37, a. 1, q. 1 of Bonaventure's Sentence Commentary. See Omnia Opera 2:861.
55The Latin is per se and is in contrast to per accidens.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
that is their proper object, they do this through themselves and not by chance.56 But when something happens from their efforts concerning something that is not their proper object and another cause is involved, this is by chance.
Take the examples of finding a creditor in the market place and of a stone falling on a person's head.57 I say, therefore, that if a succession of events is referred to the first cause, namely, to God, and since God foresees everything, nothing happens by chance in the order of divine foreknowledge. But if we speak of a comparison with created causes, this can be about something unchangeable such as the movement of the heavenly bodies or about something changeable such as inferior causes under the sun. In the succession of such changeable factors, it can hardly happen that an unforeseen and unintended factor does not intervene. In this way there is chance in everything, not because all things happen by chance, but because some element of chance is present in every changeable creature.
3. The objection about divine foreknowledge is already resolved. For one does not speak of chance in reference to divine foreknowledge.
56On p. 77 n. 3 QuarEd refer to Book II, n. 4-5 of Aristotle's Physica.
See WAE, vol. 2, 198b: "We have now explained what chance is and what spontaneity is, and in what they differ from each other. Both belong to the mode of causation 'source of change', for either some natural or some intelligent agent is always the cause; but in this sort of causation the number of possible causes is infinite. Spontaneity and chance are causes of effects which, though they might result from intelligence or nature, have in fact been caused by something incidentally. Now since nothing which is incidental is prior to what is per se, it is clear that no incidental cause can be prior to a cause per se. Spontaneity and chance, therefore, are posterior to intelligence and nature. Hence, however true it may be that the heavens are due to spontaneity, it will still be true that intelligence and nature will be prior causes of the All and of many things in it besides."
57Both these examples are found in Aristotle's Physica. See WAE, vol. 2, 196b-197b.
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2. To the second objection that all things have a cause, it has to be said that it is true that everything has a legitimate cause, namely, nature or knowledge.58 But this does not exclude that they could do something or actually do something outside a set order, God excepted.
II. It is asked what he means by the words: As fish are taken by the hook.59 Is the capture of fish by chance or not?
That it is by chance would seem to be so:
1. Because, that one fish rather than another is caught does not come from nature or knowledge, and therefore it comes from chance.
2. Also, that one person catches a fish while another does not, is not due to nature or skill, and therefore it happens by chance.
But contra: If someone digs with the intention of finding gold, this is not done by chance.60 Therefore, when a person fishes with the intention of catching fish, this is not chance.
58On p. 77 n. 4 QuarEd cite Book II, n. 5 of Aristotle's Physica. See WAE, vol. 2, 198b, to which reference is made in footnote 54 above. The editors also cite Book X, n. 8 of Aristotle's Metaphysica. See WAE, vol.
8, 1065b: "Since nothing accidental is prior to the essential, neither are accidental causes prior. If, then, luck or spontaneity is a cause of the material universe, reason and nature are causes before it." In addition, the editors refer to Book II, d. 37, a. 2, q. 2 of Bonaventure's Sentence
Commentary. See Omnia Opera 2:871.
59Ecclesiastes 9:12.
60On p. 77 n. 5 QuarEd quote Book V, prosa 1 from Boethius'
Consolation of Philosophy. See LCL, 387-389: "Whenever, she said, something is done for the sake of some given end, and another thing occurs, for some reason or other, different from what was intended, it is called chance: as, for example, if a man digging in the ground in order to till his field were to find he had dug up a quantity of gold. Now this is indeed believed to have happened by chance, but it does not come from nothing; for it has its proper causes, and their unforeseen and unexpected coming together appears to have produced a chance event.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
I reply that the text speaks about the capture of fish, not about those capturing fish. And so is not talking about chance. The text refers to fish that take the hook, and they go to the hook for food. And if something else happens, then it is chance.
ECCLESIASTES 9:13-10:7 THE LACK OF ORDER IN
PARTICULAR
28. This wisdom I have also seen under the sun. He has just spoken of a defect in the rule of providence in general.
Here he intends to show this in particular, namely, about the rule whereby the wise are despised and the stupid promoted. There are three parts to this section. He first shows the putting down of the wise. In the second he adds the approval of this putting down where verse 16 reads:
And I said that wisdom is better than strength. In the third he notes the advancement of the stupid where Ecclesiastes
10:4 states: If the spirit of the person who has power, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 9:13-15 THE PUTTING DOWN OF THE
WISE 29. So he describes the putting down of the wise as follows.
First, he praises wisdom. Second, he states a case in which there is a lack of power. Third, he notes the help of wisdom. Fourth, he expresses the contempt of the wise.
30. (Verse 13). So he begins with the praise of wisdom as he says: This wisdom I have also seen, that is, I learnt from its effect in earthly matters. And it seemed to me to be very great, that is, I approved and praised it as something very great. For it is great wisdom to overcome a lesser enemy. It is greater wisdom to conquer an equal. It is very
For if the man tilling his field were not digging the ground, and if the man who put it there had not hidden his money in that particular spot, the gold would not have been found."
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great wisdom to overcome the strongest. So it is said in Job 26:12: "His wisdom struck the proud person.
31. (Verse 14). A little city, etc. He notes here the lack of power to resist an attack. So he says: A little city, and few men in it. One must supply here the verb was, that is, there was a little city. Or the verb is to be construed from the following words: The siege was perfect. Since it was a small town with few men, it was weak in self-defense. Thus,
Jehoshaphat says in 2 Chronicles 20:12: "We have not strength enough to be able to resist this multitude," which is great. For they were few. They are least able to do this when the opponent is strong. So he continues: There came against it a great king, namely, in power, and built a trench around it, with great malice. The king built bulwarks round about it, for war. And the siege was perfect, because of the lack of power to resist. An example of this is seen in Judith
7:1-22 when Holofernes besieged Bethulia. The Lord also prophesied this about Jerusalem in Luke 19:43: "Your enemies will built a trench about you . . . and hem you in on every side."
32. (Verse 15). Now there was found in it, etc. Third, he notes the help of wisdom when power was weak. So he says: Now there was found in it a man poor, and therefore weak. And wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom.
An example of how a wise person delivered a city is found in the person of Judith. In her book the story is told of how she, although weak, freed Bethulia from Holofernes by her wisdom.61 Another example is found in 2 Samuel 20:16-22 where the story is told of how a wise woman freed the city of Abel from the attack of Joab.62 On the other hand, we
61See Judith 8-15. Hugh of St. Cher, 96v, e also refers to this story.
62Hugh of St. Cher, 96v, e also refers to this story. In Hugh of St. Cher the story of the wise woman of Abel precedes the story of Judith.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
read in Baruch 3:28: "And since they did not have wisdom, they perished through their folly." This is said of the strong.
33. And no one afterward, etc. Fourth, he treats of the contempt for the wise man who freed them. For forgetting is a sign of contempt. So he says: And no one afterward remembered that poor person. Behold, contempt and ingratitude. For a contrary view, it is said in Sirach 29:19: "Forget not the kindness of the person who provided surety for you, for he has given his life for you."
34. There are four questions to be taken into consideration relative to the spiritual sense, namely, What is the city?
Who is the great king? Who is the poor, wise man? Why is it that no one remembers him?
35. The city is the church. Psalm 86:3 reads: "Glorious things are said of you, O city of God." This city is small because of her humility, for only the Lord lives in it. Isaiah
66:2 states: "But for whom will I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my words?" And few men in it, in comparison to the number of the wicked, as Matthew 20:16 says: "Many are called, but few are chosen."63
36. The great king is the devil, of whom it is said in Job 41:25: "He is king over all the children of pride."64 He is also great, according to what Job 41:24 states: "There is
63Hugh of St. Cher, 96q-r comments: "q The small city] is the humble Church. About it Psalm 121: Glorious things are said of you, city of God. . . .r And there are few men in it] that is, strong and robust people, in comparison to the wicked, or those called by God. For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 20 & 22."
64Hugh of St. Cher, 96s has a similar interpretive beginning: "A great king came against him] that is, the price of this world, the devil. Job
41. Who is king over all the children of pride." Hugh of St. Cher's interpretation of "the great king" offers few other parallels to that of Bonaventure.
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no power upon earth that can be compared with him." This king comes against the city, by his suggestions. He digs a trench by offering multiple delights. He builds bulwarks by creating occasions for sins. And the siege is perfect, when the devil involves people in transgressions of the commandments. About these Luke 19:43-44 reads: "Your enemies will dig a trench about you . . . hem you in . . . and beat you flat to the ground . . . and not leave . . . a stone upon a stone."
37. The poor and wise man is Christ and is a man in the strength of his power. Jeremiah 31:22 reads: "A woman65 will compass a man."66 Christ is also poor. 2 Corinthians
8:9 reads: "Although he was rich in all things,67 he became poor for your sakes." He was wise, in fact Wisdom itself. 1
Corinthians 1:24 states: "We say that Christ is the power and wisdom of God."68 He is found by those who see him.
Matthew 7:8 says: "For everyone who asks receives, and the person who seeks finds." He delivered the people. Isaiah
19:20 has: "They will cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he will send them a savior and a defender to deliver them." He delivered by his wisdom, when he could have done so by his power. We read in Job 26:12: "His wisdom struck the proud one."69
65On p. 78 n. 6 QuarEd accurately indicate that the Vulgate reads femina ("woman") while Bonaventure has mulier ("woman").
66On p. 78 n. 6 QuarEd refer to Isidore. See Book XI, chapter 2, n. 17 of Isidori Hispalensis Episcopi Etymologiarum sive Originvm Libri XX,
Volume II, ed. W. M. Lindsay. (Oxford: Clarendon, 1911): "Man is so called, because a man has more strength than a woman. And so the word virtus (strength) is used of a man. . . ." That is, "man" is vir in Latin, and strength is virtus in Latin. See Bonaventure's commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:28-29 (#40) with note 75 above.
67The Vulgate does not read in omnibus ("in all things").
68The Vulgate does not have dicimus ("we say"). Also the Vulgate reads Dei ("of God") both after "power" and "wisdom."
69Hugh of St. Cher, 96y offers this mystical interpretation: "Christ the Lord, who alone is the true and perfect man, having nothing of
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
38. And no one afterward remembered him, because poverty is despised. Proverbs 19:7 reads: "The brethren of the poor person hate him. Moreover, his friends have also departed from him." No one remembered and felt compassion, according to Lamentations 3:19: "Remember my poverty and transgression, the wormwood and the gall." But on the contrary as Amos 6:6 says: "They are not concerned for the affliction of Joseph."70 Giving thanks. Luke 17:18 states: "And there is no one found to return and give glory to God, but this stranger." Imitating his actions. Isaiah
17:9-10 has: "You will be desolate because you have forgotten God your savior and have not remembered the strong helper."71 Proclaiming with the mouth. Genesis
40:23 reads: "The butler,72 when things prospered for him, forgot his interpreter."
ECCLESIASTES 9:16-10:3 THE APPROVAL OF THE PERSON
SO DESPISED
39. And I said, etc. He has shown the contempt and forgetting of the wise person. Here in a second point he shows the approval of the person so despised and commends wisdom for its threefold pre-eminence. First, by preferring it to the strength of power. Second, by preferring it to the bulwarks of armor. Third, by preferring it to the height of earthly glory. feminine softness. About this Jeremiah 31:[22] says: 'The Lord will make something new upon the earth: a woman will compass a man.'
Furthermore, he was poor, because he neither had nor loved riches.
Psalm 68:[30] says: 'I am poor and sorrowful.' Moreover, he was Wise, because in him are all the treasures of Wisdom and of the knowledge of the hidden God. . . ."
70Hugh of St. Cher, 96v, c also cites Amos 6:6.
71Hugh of St. Cher, 96v, e also quotes Isaiah 17:9-10.
72On p. 78 n. 7 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads praepositus pincerarum ("the chief butler") whereas Bonaventure has pincerna ("butler").
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40. (Verses 16-17). First, in his judgment he prefers wisdom to strength. So he says: And I said that wisdom is better than strength. Wisdom 6:1 reads: "Wisdom is better than strength and a wise man is better than a strong man."
And since it is better, it should not be despised, and yet it is despised. Wherefore, he says: How then is the wisdom of the poor person slighted, when he should not be despised, but yet he is made little of because of his poverty. For Sirach
13:27-28 says this of the poor person: "He has spoken wisely, and no room was given to him. The rich man spoke, and all held their peace. And they extol73 to the very skies what he said." And he adds a sign of their contempt of wisdom: And his words were not heard. However, there is much to listen to. Proverbs 8:32 states: "Now therefore, children, hear me. Blessed are they who keep my ways."
41. He indicates that we should listen to the words of the wise when he says: The words of the wise are heard in silence, that is, are worthy to be heard in silence. Sirach
32:9 states: "Hear in silence, and for your reverence good grace will come to you." For this reason Sirach also adds:
"In the company of the great do not presume to speak."74 – More than the cry of a prince among fools, and his speech is louder, because no matter how much a person calls out, a fool does not listen. Sirach 22:8-9 has: "He speaks with one who is asleep who utters wisdom to a fool,75 and at the 73On p. 79 n. 1 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate reads perducent ("will extol") while Bonaventure has perducunt ("extol").
74See Sirach 32:13 which Bonaventure has adapted and which reads in full: "In the company of the great do not presume [to speak], and when the elders are present, speak not much."
75Hugh of St. Cher, 96v, k quotes this first part of Sirach 22:8-9 in the same words that Bonaventure uses. This citation occurs in the third of the thirteen reasons Hugh of St.Cher gives why the world does not listen to the words of the poor Wise Christ.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
end of the discourse he says: Who is this?"76 So the reason why wisdom is despised is found in the foolishness of the listeners. Matthew 7:6 reads: "Do not give what is holy to dogs."77 The Apostle gives the reason for this in 1
Corinthians 2:14: "But the sensual person does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God."78
42. (Verse 18). Better is wisdom, etc. Second, he prefers wisdom to bulwarks of armor, saying: Better is wisdom than weapons of war, because weapons of war are for protection. But wisdom is also a protection. Proverbs 2:11-12 has:
"Counsel will guard you, and prudence will preserve you that you may be delivered from the evil way and from the person who speaks perverse things." It is clear that wisdom is a better protection, because those who lose wisdom through sin cannot defend themselves by armor without losing many good things. So he says: And the person who will sin in one, by withdrawing from wisdom, according to what has been said above in Ecclesiastes 8:3: "Be not hasty to depart from his face, and do not continue in an evil way."
He will lose many good things, for by sinning one loses wisdom, and in losing wisdom many good things are lost.
Wisdom 7:11 reads: "Now all good things came to me together with her." And so with the loss of wisdom many good things are lost. Another interpretation is this: The person who will sin in one, against charity, will lose many
76Bonaventure has adapted Sirach 22:8-9 which reads in full: "Who speaks a word to the person who doesn't listen is like the person who rouses an individual from a deep sleep, who speaks to the foolish and in the end he says: who is this?"
77Hugh of St. Cher, 96v, h quotes all of Matthew 7:6.
78Hugh of St. Cher, 96v, h alludes to 1 Corinthians 2:[14] and then quotes Matthew 7:6 in full.
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good things, according to James 2:10: "The person who will sin in one point has become guilty of all."79 – And he makes this clear with a metaphor by saying that knowledge of sin is compared to a dying fly, because it brings about an abomination to the affections and to conscience.80
79On p. 79 n. 5 QuarEd point to Bonaventure's adaptation of James 2:10 which reads: "For whoever keeps the whole law, but sins in one point, has become guilty of all." Hugh of St. Cher, 97v, b quotes James
2:10 in its entirety.
80This metaphor occurs in Ecclesiastes 10:1.
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