CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER 11
ECCLESIASTES 11:1-10
REMEDY AGAINST THE VANITY
OF SECURITY ARISING FROM A
LACK OF JUSTICE IN
PUNISHMENT
1. Cast your bread, etc. Earlier he has given a remedy against an apparent lack of direction by providence during a disorder in government. Here in a second point he gives a remedy against what is seen as lack of just retribution. Because of this lack a person grows active in evil and slothful in doing good. Now the remedy consists in a reflection on future retribution. And since God gives good things to those who do good and bad things to those who do evil things, he first challenges to good by a consideration of reward. Second, from a reflection on punishment he calls his readers back from evil where verse 8 reads: If a person live many years, etc.
ECCLESIASTES 11:1-7 CHALLENGE TO GOOD FROM A
CONSIDERATION OF REWARD
2. Now the good to which he challenges us is the good of mercy, which is profitable in all respects,1 and is the major
1See 1 Timothy 4:8. In 1 Timothy pietas has the meaning of "godliness."
Bonaventure, however, generally takes pietas to mean "mercy," as the immediate context makes clear.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
reason why the just are saved, as is clear in Matthew 25 where only the works of mercy are enumerated.2 So he exhorts here to works of mercy and almsgiving for the sake of a reward. He exhorts us first to give alms willingly. Second, that our almsgiving be in abundance where verse two reads: Give a portion to seven. Third, that our almsgiving be constant where verse 4 states: The person who observes the wind will not sow. – Therefore, since he exhorts to give voluntarily and willingly, he begins with the exhortation and adds the reason.
3. (Verse 1). So he exhorts us to give alms willingly and says: Cast your bread, that is, willingly and generously, not from being pressured or forced. 2 Corinthians 9:7 reads:
"Everyone as he has determined in his heart, not with sadness, or of necessity. For God loves a cheerful giver."
Your bread, not someone else's.3 Sirach 34:24 states: "The person that offers sacrifice from the goods of the poor is like a person that sacrifices the son in the presence of the father." Upon the running waters. The many waters are many people, as Revelation 17:15 says.4 The running waters are people who move from one people to another and from one kingdom to another. Such are pilgrims and strangers to whom alms should be given. Isaiah 58:7 has:
"Deal your bread to the hungry and bring the needy and the homeless into your house."5 Another interpretation is:
The waters are present troubles, according to what Psalm 68:2 reads: "The waters have come up even to my soul."
2See Matthew 25:35-36: "For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. Naked, and you covered me. Sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me."
3Hugh of St. Cher, 101k makes the same point.
4Revelation 17:15 reads: "The waters that you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and nations and tongues." Hugh of St. Cher, 101l quotes
Revelation 17:15 in its entirety.
5Hugh of St. Cher, p. 101n also cites Isaiah 58:7.
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The running waters are the poor and afflicted, because they pass from troubles to rest. Alms are to be given to such people. Luke 14:13 states: "When you give alms,6 invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind," etc.7
And he gives the reason: For after a long time you will find it again, that is, a reward for your alms. Therefore, the reward is not lacking, but deferred. We read in Sirach
12:2: "Do good to the just, and you will find great recompense. And if not from him, assuredly from the Lord." Luke
16:9 says: "Make for yourselves friends from the mammon of iniquity," etc.
4. (Verses 2-3). Give a portion to seven, etc. Here in a second point he exhorts us to give abundantly and does so by giving an exhortation and then adding the reason. So he encourages us to give in abundance when he says: Give a portion to seven, and also to eight. This means to give in accord with the amount of alms you can afford, so that, whether you are poor or rich, you give a seventh or an eighth of your goods, that is, you give a goodly portion to the poor. 2 Corinthians 8:14 reads: "Let your abundance supply their want." And Luke 11:41 says: "Give alms from what remains."8 So he says: Give a portion to seven. For by seven we understand the amount necessary for one's own needs and what is over after that is called seven and eight.
This excess is to be given to the poor, not hoarded as earthly treasures, but as heavenly treasures. Matthew 6:20 states:
"Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither 6On p. 88 n. 3 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate has facis convivium ("you give a banquet") while Bonaventure reads facis eleemosynam ("you give alms").
7Hugh of St. Cher, 101l quotes Luke 14:12-14.
8On p. 88 n. 5 QuarEd accurately mention that the Vulgate reads Verumtamen quod superset date elemosynam ("But give as alms what remains") while Bonaventure has Date eleemosynam de eo quod superset
("Give alms from what remains").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
rust nor moth consumes." And Tobit 4:9 has: "If you have much, give abundantly. If you have little, take care that it, too, is willingly given."9 He gives the reason for this largess, when he makes the point: For you do not know what evil, etc. He adds a multiple reason, namely, to guard against evil and says: For you do not know what evil will be upon the earth. Therefore, since you do not know, you must provide for yourself and avoid falling into danger.
The best safeguard against danger is abundant almsgiving.
Sirach 29:15 states: "Shut up alms in the heart of the poor, and it will obtain help for you and will deliver10 you from all evil."
5. On account of the increase of merit he says: If the clouds be full. Supply: from God. They will pour rain upon the earth, making the earth fertile. Hosea 6:3 reads: "He will come to us as the early and the late rain to the earth." The rain makes the earth fertile and multiplies the goods of the earth by the merit of almsgiving. Just as full clouds moisten the earth with rain, so abundant alms moisten the soul with grace. 2 Corinthians 9:10 states: "And the person who ministers seed to the sower will both give you to eat and will multiply your seed and increase the growth of the fruits of your justice." On account of the stability of the reward, which could not be changed or lost. So he says:
If the tree fall to the south. This tree is a human being, about whom Job 14:7 states: "A tree has hope. If it be cut, it will grow green again."11 The south represents the 9On p. 88 n. 6 QuarEd correctly notice that the Vulgate reads si exiguum fuerit etiam exiguum libenter inpertire stude (If you have very little, take care to give willingly even that little") whereas Bonaventure has Si parum, etiam illud libenter impertiri stude ("If you have a little, take care that it, too, is willingly given").
10On p. 88 n. 7 QuarEd rightly point out that the Vulgate does not read et liberabit ("and will deliver").
11On p. 88 n. 9 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate reads virescit ("grows green") whereas Bonaventure has virescet ("will grow green").
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warmth of love and the state of glory. The Song of Songs 4:16 has: "Arise, O north wind, and come. O south wind, blow through my garden." Wood falling to the south indicates a person entering glory after death. The person will be there, that is, could never be moved. Revelation 3:12 reads: "The person who will overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out no more."
– If the tree fall to the north, there shall it be, that is, if it be for infernal punishment. Jeremiah 1:14 says: "From the north every evil will break forth."12 The person who falls into hell will be there, because there will never be any release from there. For it is said to the just person in Isaiah
66:24: "Their fire will not be quenched, and their worm will not die."13 In whatever place it will fall, there will it be, either good or bad. Galatians 6:8 notes: "What things a human being will sow, these also will he reap."14
6. (Verse 4). The person who observes the wind, etc. Here he exhorts his readers to give without ceasing. First, he teaches that seasons are not to be calculated. Second, divine works are not to be analyzed. Third, that works of mercy are to be continued.
7. Concerning the first point he says: The person who observes the wind will not sow, because wind frequently comes when it is not wanted and does not come when wanted.
And the person who considers the clouds will never reap.
And so one ought not wait, but one ought to sow and to reap at their proper times. In the same way a person should do good while there is time. Sirach 4:3 says: "Afflict not 12On p. 89 n. 1 QuarEd accurately indicate that the Vulgate has a different reading. Douay translates: "From the north will an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land."
13On p. 89 n. 1 QuarEd rightly notice that the Vulgate has these clauses in reverse order.
14Hugh of St. Cher, 103d also quotes Galatians 6:8.
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
the heart of the needy, and defer not to give to the person who is in distress." And Proverbs 4:28 reads: "Do not say to your friend: Go and come again, and tomorrow I will give to you, when you can give at the present time." And so one should not wait.
8. (Verse 5). As you know not what is the way, etc. He said above that seasons are not to be calculated, and now in a second point he teaches that divine works are not to be analyzed or scrutinized, because that is beyond us. So he continues: As you know not what is the way of the spirit.
The Spirit, who is God, because we are ignorant of this way. For John 3:8 reads: "The Spirit breathes where he wills, and you hear his voice, but you do not know," etc.15
And Job 9:11 states: "If he come to me, I will not see him.
If he depart, I will not understand." We do not know the way, that is, the origin or end of the spirit that is a soul or spiritual creature. Earlier Ecclesiastes 3:21 said: "Who knows whether the spirit of the children of Adam ascends upward." We do not know the way, that is, the origin, of the spirit which is wind. For Psalm 134:7 reads: "Who brings forth winds out of his stores." Exodus 15:10 states: "Your wind blew, and the sea covered them." So he says: As you know not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones are joined together in the womb of her who is with child, that is, how they are joined together and yet distinct For even Avicenna himself says that the power joining limbs together is a divine power.16 2 Maccabees 7:22 has: "I know
15Hugh of St. Cher, 102m quotes John 3:4-8.
16On p. 89 n. 5 QuarEd quote from Book I, Fen 1, Doctrina 6, chapter 2 of Avicenna's Liber Canonis. See Avicenna, Liber Canonis,
Reprografischer Nachdruck der Ausgabe Venedig, 1507 (Hildesheim:
Georg Olms, 1964), 23v: "Now the forming and impressing power is the one from which, at the command of the Creator, the delineation and figuration of the members proceed." The editors also refer to Book III,
Fen 21, Tractatus 1, chapter 2 where Avicenna teaches that the work of this power is "from the secrets of God." See Liber Canonis, 362v.
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not how you were formed in my womb, for I neither gave you breath, nor soul, nor life, neither did I17 frame the limbs of each of you." But God framed the limbs. To God Job
10:11 speaks: "You have framed me with bones and sinews." Why are you ignorant of these things that are carnal? So you do not know the works of God who is the maker of all. Works, that is, hidden judgments, of which we read in Psalm 110:2: "Great are the works of the Lord, exquisite in all their delights." We are ignorant of these works.
Romans 11:33 says: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways."
9. (Verse 6). In the morning, sow, etc. Here in a third point he exhorts his readers to do good without ceasing. He begins with an exhortation. Then he adds the reason for the exhortation. And third, he adds the reward.
10. So he exhorts his readers to do works of mercy without ceasing by saying: In the morning, sow your seed, that is, while you are a youth,18 because as Lamentations 3:27 states: "It is good for a man when he has borne the yoke from his youth."19 And in the evening let not your hand cease, that is, in old age,20 as if to say that in every season and age good works are to be done unceasingly. Galatians
6:9 reads: "And let us not fail to do good. For in the acceptable time21 we will reap, if we do not fail."
17On p. 89 n. 5 QuarEd rightly mention that the Vulgate reads ego ipsa ("I myself") whereas Bonaventure has ego ("I").
18Hugh of St. Cher, 102n interprets morning as the time of a young child.
19Hugh of St. Cher, 102v, a also cites Lamentations 3:27.
20Hugh of St. Cher, 102q also interprets evening as the time of old age.
21On p. 89 n. 7 QuarEd correctly indicate that the Vulgate reads tempore enim suo ("for at the due time") while Bonaventure has tempore enim accepto ("for at the acceptable time").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
11. For you do not know, etc. Here he notes the reason for the exhortation, namely, because a person does not know when or what works God accepts, just as the sower does not know which seed will bear fruit. So he says: For you do not know which may rather spring up, this, that is, the evening sowing, or that, that is, the morning sowing. He had said earlier in Ecclesiastes 9:1: "And yet a person does not know whether he be worthy of love or hatred." And if both together, it will be the better, because "many goods are to be chosen rather than a few."22 Isaiah 32:20 reads:
"Blessed are you that sow upon all waters."
12. (Verse 7). The light is sweet, etc. Third, he notes the reward, namely, the vision of light and of the eternal sun in which is the highest delight. Thus, it is a great reward.
So he says: The light is sweet, that is, to look at. Of this sweetness Psalm 30:20 says: "O how great is the multitude of your sweetness, O Lord," etc. And it is delightful for the eyes to see the sun, that is, the sun about which Malachi 4:2 states: "The sun of justice will arise for you who fear God."23 It is delightful to see this sun. For 1 Peter
1:12 reads: "On whom the angels desire to look." And since only those on the right will see this sun, Psalm 15:10 has:
"At your right hand are delights even to the end."
13. These verses can also be briefly interpreted to apply to spiritual almsgiving that consists in instructing one's neighbor. As he did earlier, Ecclesiastes exhorts us to do this willingly or liberally, abundantly, and without ceasing, when he says: Cast your bread,24 etc., that is, give freely.
22On p. 89 n. 8 QuarEd refer to Book III, n. 2 of Aristotle's Topica.
See WAE, vol. 1, 117a: "Moreover, a greater number of good things is more desirable than a smaller, either absolutely or when the one is included in the other, viz. the smaller number in the greater."
23On p. 90 n. 1 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate reads nomen meum ("my name") while Bonaventure has Deum ("God").
24See Ecclesiastes 11:1.
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Matthew 10:8 reads: "Freely have you received, freely give."
Give bread, that is, the bread of teaching,25 about which Lamentations 4:4 says: "The little ones asked for bread, and there was none to break it for them." Upon the running waters, that is, those who despise temporal goods. To these alone should the bread of teaching be given. Matthew 7:6 states: "Do not give what is holy to dogs."26 Another interpretation: Upon those, about whom Psalm 65:11 says: "We have passed through fire and water, and you have brought us out," etc.
14. Alms are also to be dispensed abundantly, and so he says: Give a portion to seven.27 By seven we understand the teaching about Christ in the Old Testament, because there it was commanded to observe the seventh day.28 By eight we understand the teaching of the New Testament, because there it is commanded to observe the eighth day.29
25Hugh of St. Cher, 101i also interprets the bread as "teaching."
26Hugh of St. Cher, 101m, in talking about spiritual bread, cites Matthew 7:6.
27See Ecclesiastes 11:2.
28Hugh of St. Cher, 101pq comments: "Give seven parts] observe the Old Testament, which is understood by sevens on account of the seventh day and seven times seven, and the seventh month, and the seventh year which must be observed as jubilee. And also eight] moreover, observe the New Testament, which is represented by eight, on account of the eighth day of the resurrection."
29On p. 90 n. 3 QuarEd quote the pertinent comments of Jerome on this verse. See his Commentarius in Ecclesiasten in CCSL lxxii, 345:
"What is commanded in both Testaments, namely, the Old and the New, we are to believe with equal reverence. The Jews gave seven parts, believing in the Sabbath, but they did not give eight, since they denied the resurrection of the Lord's Day." The editors go on to say that Augustine explains the text in the same way. See his Letter 55, chapter
13 n. 23 in Saint Augustine, Letters, Volume I (1-82), trans. Wilfrid Parsons, FC 12 (New York: Fathers of the Church, Inc., 1951), 279: "In Ecclesiastes it is used to signify the two Testaments: 'Give a portion to seven and also to eight' . . . after such Resurrection had taken place in the Lord's Body, so that the head of the Church might foreshadow what the body of the Church hopes for at the end, then the Lord's day – that is the eighth, which is also the first – began to be observed."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
And since a person cannot give teaching in abundance unless that person is filled, he says: If the clouds be full, they will pour out rain upon the earth.30 The clouds are good preachers,31 who fly to the heights through contemplation.32 Isaiah 60:8 reads: "Who are these who fly as clouds and as doves to their windows?" These are filled with knowledge from the Lord. Isaiah 11:9 states: "The earth has been filled with your knowledge like the water of the covering sea."33 This knowledge comes through the Holy Spirit. Wisdom 1:7 has: "The spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world." Such full clouds pour out rain, that is, the teaching of the divine word. Sirach 39:9 reads: "He will pour forth the words of his wisdom like showers."
30See Ecclesiastes 11:3.
31Hugh of St. Cher, 101v, b comments: "Mystically. The clouds are preachers, who should be raised up from the earth by contempt for earthly things and suspended on high through the desire for things eternal."
32On p. 90 n. 5 QuarEd quote Jerome's exposition. See his Commentarius in Ecclesiasten in CCSL lxxii, 345-346: "The clouds are prophets and every holy man, who, after developing many disciples in their hearts, will then be able to rain down precepts of teachings." The editors also state that Augustine maintains that the clouds refer to preachers. See, e.g., Enarratio in Psalmum 35 n. 8 in Expositions of the Psalms 33-50, trans. Maria Boulding, Works of Saint Augustine III/16
(Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2000), 78-79: "Truly, brothers and sisters, these clouds are the preachers of the word of truth. When God utters threats through his preachers, he is thundering through his clouds. When he works miracles through his preachers, he is sending brilliant flashes of lightning through his clouds. He terrifies us through his clouds, and through them waters the earth with his clouds." Finally, the editors refer to Book XVII, chapter 31 n. 36 and XXVII, chapter 30 n. 54-55 of Gregory the Great's Moralia in Iob. See CCSL cxliii a, 871:
"Now the word 'cloud' in this text is nothing other than the holy preachers, that is, apostles. . . ." See also CCSL, cxliii b, 1374: "Now the clouds that shine their light are holy preachers, who spread the examples of life both by speech and action."
33On p. 90 n. 4 QuarEd rightly indicate how Bonaventure's quotation differs from the Vulgate, whose text is translated: "The earth has been filled with the knowledge of the Lord like the covering waters of the sea."
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Isaiah 55:10-11 states: "As the rain and the snow come down from heaven and . . . soak the earth and water it . . . so will my word be," on the earth of the heart to make it fruitful. We read in Hebrews 6:7: "The earth that drinks in the rain which . . . falls upon it and brings forth vegetation useful," etc.34
15. Alms are also to be distributed without ceasing. So he says: The person who observes the wind will not sow.35 To sow is to preach the word of God. Matthew 13:3 reads:
"The sower went forth to sow," and afterwards in 13:19 states: "The seed is the word of God."36 This wind is the wind of detraction and slander, about which Job 1:19 says:
"A . . . wind came . . . from the side of the desert and shook the four corners of the house." The person who observes this wind of detraction never sows, because the person who fears the words of people who detract does not preach fruitfully, but is rather shaking like a reed. Matthew 11:7 says:
"What do you go out into the desert to see, a reed shaken by the wind?"37 And the person who considers the clouds will never sow.38 Clouds, according to a Gloss,39 are the flattery of adulation. And if a person wants to have this, he or she will never sow eternal life, because, as Matthew
34Hebrews 6:7 concludes with: ". . . to those by whom it is tilled, receives blessing from God."
35See Ecclesiastes 11:4.
36On p. 90 n. 6 QuarEd are right when they indicate that Bonaventure is actually quoting Luke 8:5, 11 when he thinks he is quoting Matthew
13:3 ("Behold, the sower went out to sow") and Matthew 13:19 ("When anyone hears the word of the kingdom"). Luke 8:3 reads: "The sower went out to sow his seed." Luke 8:11 says: "Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God."
37Jesus' rhetorical question refers to John the Baptist and his courageous preaching.
38See Ecclesiastes 11:4.
39On p. 90 n. 7 QuarEd cite the Glossa Interlinearis apud Lyranum:
"Clouds, the adulations of flatterers."
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
6:5 says, he has received his reward.40 Such a person is sowing in the flesh and will reap corruption, as Galatians
6:8 says: "The person who sows in the flesh," etc.41 And wherefore, these things are to be condemned, when the preacher preaches morning and evening. 2 Timothy 4:2 states: "Preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season." Acts 20:31 reads: "For three years I did not cease day or night,42 as I admonished everyone of you with tears."
ECCLESIASTES 11:8-10
ECCLESIASTES RECALLS US FROM
EVIL BY A CONSIDERATION OF
FUTURE PUNISHMENT
16. If a person lives many years, etc. Above he has exhorted us to do good by a reflection on the reward. Now he intends to recall us from evil by a consideration of future punishment. He does this in the following way. First, he says that a person must remember the many days still to come. Second, he censures present joy. Third, he exhorts us to put aside all wrongdoing and multiplication of evil.
17. (Verse 8). He exhorts and admonishes a person to remember days still to come, especially the person who abounds in present prosperity. So he says: If people have
40On p. 90 n. 7 QuarEd accurately mention that the Vulgate reads receperunt ("have received") while Bonaventure has receipt ("has received").
41Galatians 6:8 continues: ". . . from the flesh will also reap corruption."
Hugh of St. Cher, 102v, e has three winds: persecution, temptation, and detraction. About the latter he writes: "Similarly the person who observes the wind of detraction, that is, the person who, because of the fear of detraction and slander, is extremely afraid of doing good or of teaching. Such a person will never reap, except perhaps the corruption that he has sown by living a slothful and carnal life. For Galatians 6 says: The things that a person sows, these, too, will he reap. For the person who sows in his flesh will also reap corruption from the flesh."
42On p. 90 n. 7 QuarEd rightly mention that the Vulgate reads nocte et die ("night and day") while Bonaventure has die ac nocte ("day and night").
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lived many years, because in truth, even though the years seem to be many, they cannot be many according to what
Sirach 18:8 states: "The number of the days of a human being at the most are a hundred years." And have rejoiced in them all, like those referred to in Job 21:12-13: "They take the timbrel . . . and rejoice at the sound of the organ.
They spend their days in good things," etc. They must remember the darksome time, that is, the day of judgment.
Zephaniah 1:15 reads: "That day is a day or wrath43 . . . a day of darkness and dark clouds." He must also remember the many days. These are the days or years of eternity.
Psalm 83:11 says: "Better is one day in your courts than thou-sands elsewhere." One should remember the day of judgment, so as to fear. One should remember the day of glory, so as to hope and rejoice, and this according to works done. For Sirach 11:27 states: "In the day of good things do not be unmindful of evils, and in the day of evils do no be unmindful of good things." He says: The many days,44 which, when they shall come, the things past will be accused of vanity, that is, they will be clearly shown to have been vain.45 Thus, Jerome comments: "When the reign of Christ shall come, all kingdoms will vanish."46 The things
43On p. 91 n. 2 QuarEd accurately notice that the Vulgate reads dies irae dies illa ("that day is a day of wrath") while Bonaventure has dies illa dies irae ("that day is a day of wrath").
44The Vulgate reads et dierum multorum ("and many days").
45On p. 91 n. 3 QuarEd quote Jerome's twofold interpretation of Ecclesiastes 11:8. See CCSL lxxii, 348: "Indeed, if you live for many years and have all good things or have done good works and have known that you will die . . . you will despise all these present things as unstable, fragile, and earthly. . . .A person, who has understood (namely, the saving knowledge of both Testaments) will see light, will see Christ, the Sun of justice . . . ."
46On p. 91 n. 3 QuarEd state that Bonaventure's citation of Jerome stems from his Commentariorum in Danielem Prophetam, but do not provide an exact source for Bonaventure's actual words. They quote what Jerome has to say about Daniel 12:7. See PL 25:578A: "Daniel is
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
past will be accused of vanity, namely, of the vanity of being subject to change. Wisdom 5:8-9 reads: "What has pride profited us or what advantage has the boasting of riches brought us? All these things have passed like a shadow."
They are accused of the vanity of iniquity. Sirach 17:30 states: "What is more iniquitous than that which flesh and blood have invented?" And these are accused. Ephesians
5:13 says: "For47 the things that are accused are made manifest by the light."
18. (Verse 9). Rejoice, therefore, O youth, etc. Second, he censures present joy, stating that human beings will be judged for this. Wherefore, he says ironically: Rejoice, therefore, O youth, in your youth, for that age is well suited to joy. Thus, Wisdom 2:6 reads: "Come, let us speedily enjoy .
. . creatures as in youth." As if to say: Do not rejoice in youth nor be sorrowful in old age. For Sirach 5:2 has: "Do not follow in your strength the desires of your heart." And he explains joy, so that it may be complete in soul and in work and in sign. – Concerning the joy of delight in soul, he says: And let your heart be in that which is good.48 As if to say: You will not rejoice in your heart, because
Ecclesiastes 7:5 above says: "The heart of a fool49 is where there is mirth." – Concerning joy in work he says: And walk in the ways of your heart, that is, do externally in actions what you desire in your heart. As if to say: May clearly speaking of the coming of Christ and the saints, because the kingdom referred to is a kingdom of such power and size as to exceed all kingdoms under heaven. It is given to the saints of the Most High whose reign will be forever, and all kings will serve and obey this kingdom."
47On p. 91 n. 4 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate does not have enim ("for").
48The Vulgate concludes with in diebus iuventutis tuae ("in the days of your youth").
49On p. 91 n. 6 QuarEd correctly mention that the Vulgate reads stultorum ("fools") whereas Bonaventure has stulti ("a fool").
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you not walk. Sirach 18:30 has: "Son, do not go after your lusts, but turn away from your own will." – Concerning joy in sign, he says: And in the sight of your eyes, so that the eye sees those things that the heart desires and your hand does them, according to what is said in 2 Peter 2:14 about these matters: "Having eyes full of adultery and of sin that ceases not." As if to say: Do not walk in this way. We read in Isaiah 3:16: "Since the daughters of Zion are haughty and have walked with preening necks and wanton glances of their eyes," etc. It is clear that he is speaking here ironically, because he threatens evil for those who rejoice in this way.50 So he adds: And know that God will bring you into judgment. And therefore, everything is to be shunned.
Job 19:29 reads: "Flee from the face of the sword, for the sword is the revenger of iniquity.51 And know that there is judgment."
19. (Verse 10). Remove anger, etc. Here in a third point there is an exhortation to put away all wrongdoing, namely, malice of the heart and uncleanness of the flesh. With respect to sin in the heart he says: Remove anger from your heart, so as not to get angry, because anger makes a person evil. Matthew 5:22 reads: "But I say to you that52 ev50Hugh of St. Cher, 102v, l states that there are three ways of reading this verse: the way the Jews read it (obey God's commands, enjoy the goods of life while possible, knowing that judgment awaits for all things done); ironically; consultatively of the day of judgment. On p. 103 a-f
Hugh of St. Cher comments: "Second, this verse is interpreted ironically.
As if to say: since all past things are to be accused of vanity in the judgment. a Rejoice, therefore, O youth, in your youth] that is, do not rejoice, because such rejoicing is vain, and is accused of vanity. . . .e In the days of your youth], that is, let them not be joyful, but days of sorrow and fear. f And walk in the ways of your heart], that is, in your desires and concupiscences. As if to say: Do not walk."
51On p. 91 n. 9 QuarEd accurately notice that the Vulgate has iniquitatum ("iniquities") while Bonaventure reads inquitatis
("iniquity").
52On p. 91 n. 8 QuarEd rightly indicate that the Vulgate reads quia ("that") while Bonaventure has quod ("that").
ST. BONAVENTURE'S COMMENTARY ON ECCLESIASTES
eryone who is angry with his brother, will be liable to the judgment." And if a person gets angry, that anger should not continue. For Ephesians 4:26 states: "Do not let the sun go down on your anger." – With regard to uncleanness of the flesh he says: And put away evil from your flesh, and thus exclude all uncleanness of the flesh. James 1:21 says:
"Casting away all uncleanness and abundance of malice, receive the ingrafted word with meekness." A person who mortifies the flesh removes evil from the flesh. We read in Colossians 3:5: "Mortify your members that are upon the earth." And Ecclesiastes adds the reason for this: For youth and pleasure are vain, since they pass away quickly. 1 John
2:17 says: "The world passes away and its concupiscence."
And therefore, Wisdom 5:8-9 states: "What has pride profited us or what advantage has the boasting of riches brought us? All these things have passed away like a shadow," etc.