1. The invitations of Wisdom. (1-12) 2. The invitations of folly. (13-18) 1.The invitations of Wisdom. (1-12) Christ has prepared ordinances to which his people are admitted, and by which nourishment is given here to those that believe in him, as well as mansions in heaven hereafter. The ministers of the gospel go forth to invite the guests. The call is general, and shuts out none that do not shut out themselves. Our Savior came, not to call the righteous, but sinners; not the wise in their own eyes, who say they see. We must keep from the company and foolish pleasures of the ungodly, or we never can enjoy the pleasures of a holy life. It is vain to seek the company of wicked men in the hope of doing them good; we are far more likely to be corrupted by them. It is not enough to forsake the foolish, we must join those that walk in wisdom. There is no true wisdom but in the way of religion, no true life but in the end of that way. Here is the happiness of those that embrace it. A man cannot be profitable to God; it is for our own good. Observe the shame and ruin of those who slight it. God is not the Author of sin: and Satan can only tempt, he cannot force. You shalt bear the loss of that which You scornest: it will add to thy condemnation. 9:1 Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars: But we say that in the earlier part of the book, where he says that “Wisdom has built herself a house” he refers darkly in, these words to the preparation of the flesh of the Lord: for the trite Wisdom did not dwell in another’s building, but built for Itself that dwelling-place from the body of the Virgin. Here, however, he adds to his discourse that which of both is made one — of the house, I mean, and of the Wisdom which built the house, that is to say, of the Humanity and of the Divinity that was commingled with man; and to each of these he applies suitable and fitting terms, as you may see to be the case also in the Gospels, where the discourse, proceeding as befits its subject, employs the more lofty and divine phraseology to indicate the Godhead, and that which is humble and lowly to indicate the Manhood. So we may see in this passage also Solomon prophetically moved, and delivering to us in its fullness the mystery of the Incarnation. For we speak first of the eternal power and energy of Wisdom; and here the evangelist, to a certain extent, agrees with him in his very words. For as the latter in his comprehensive phrase proclaimed Him to be the cause and Maker of all things, so Solomon says that by Him were made those individual things which are included in the whole. For he tells us that God by Wisdom established the earth, and in understanding prepared the heavens, and all that follows these in order, keeping to the same sense: and that he might not seem to pass over without mention the gift of excellence in men, he again goes on to say, speaking in the person of Wisdom, the words we mentioned a little earlier; I mean, “I made counsel my dwelling-place, and knowledge, and understanding,” and all that relates to instruction in intellect and knowledge. St. Gregory of Nyssa: Against Eunomius, 3:2. 9:1 Here certainly we perceive that the Wisdom of God, that is, the Word co-eternal with the Father, hath builded Him an house, even a human body in the virgin womb, and hath subjoined the Church to it as members to a head, hath slain the martyrs as victims, hath furnished a table with wine and bread, where appears also the priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, and hath called the simple and the void of sense, because, as saith the apostle, “He hath chosen the weak things of this world that He might confound the things which are mighty.” (1 Cor. 1:27) Yet to these weak ones she saith what follows, “Forsake simplicity, that ye may live; and seek prudence, that ye may have life.” St. Augustine: City of God, 17:20. 9:1 Testimony of the Holy Gregory, bishop of Nyssa from his Book against Eunomius: — “We assert therefore that when He said above that wisdom built for herself a house, he intimates by the phrase the formation of the flesh of the Lord, for the very wisdom made its home in no strange dwelling, but built itself its dwelling of the Virgin’s body.” Of the same from the same treatise: — “The Word was before the ages, but the flesh was made in the last times, and no one would say on the contrary either that the flesh was before the ages, or the Word made in the last times.” Of the same from the same treatise: — https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 9 2 “The expression ‘created me ‘ is not to be understood of the divine and the undefiled, but, as has been said, of our created nature, according to the dispensation of the incarnation.” Theodoret: Dialogues. 9:1 As to the honor paid to Seven there are many testimonies, but we will be content with a few out of the many. For instance, seven precious spirits are named; for I think Isaiah loves to call the activities of the Spirit spirits; and the Oracles of the Lord are purified seven times according to David, and the just is delivered from six troubles and in the seventh is not smitten. But the sinner is pardoned not seven times, but seventy times seven. And we may see it by the contrary also (for the punishment of wickedness is to be praised), Cain being avenged seven times, that is, punishment being exacted from him for his fratricide, and Lamech seventy times seven, because he was a murderer after the law and the condemnation. And wicked neighbors receive sevenfold into their bosom; and the House of Wisdom rests on seven pillars and the Stone of Zerubbabel is adorned with seven eyes; and God is praised seven times a day. And again the barren beareth seven, the perfect number, she who is contrasted with her who is imperfect in her children.” St. Gregory Nazianzen: On Pentecost, 3. 9:1 For as we read that the Father created the mystery of the Lord’s Incarnation, the Spirit too created it; and so too we read that Christ Himself created His own Body. For the Father created it, as it is written: “The Lord created Me,” and in another place, “God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” And the Spirit created the whole mystery, according to that which we read, for “Mary was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” You find, then, that the Father created and the Spirit created; learn, too, that the Son of God also created, when Solomon says: “Wisdom hath made herself a house.” St. Ambrose: Of the Holy Spirit, 2:6:59, 60. 9:1 Christ, he means, the wisdom and power of God the Father, hath builded His house, i.e., His nature in the flesh derived from the Virgin, even as he(John) hath said beforetime, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” As likewise the wise prophet testifies: Wisdom that was before the world, and is the source of life, the infinite “Wisdom of God, hath builded her house” by a mother who knew no man, — to wit, as He assumed the temple of the body. “And hath raised her seven pillars;” that is, the fragrant grace of the all-holy Spirit, as Isaiah says: “And the seven spirits of God shall rest upon Him,” But others say that the seven pillars are the seven divine orders which sustain the creation by His holy and inspired teaching; to wit, me prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the hierarchs, the hermits, the saints, and the righteous. And the phrase, “She hath killed her beasts,” denotes the prophets and martyrs who in every city and country are slain like sheep every day by the unbelieving, in behalf of the truth, and cry aloud, “For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we were counted as sheep for the slaughter.” And again, “She hath mingled her wine” in the bowl, by which is meant, that the Savior, uniting his Godhead, like pure wine, with the flesh in the Virgin, was born of her at once God and man wiYout confusion of the one in the other. “And she hath furnished her table:” that denotes the promised knowledge of the Holy Trinity; it also refers to His honored and undefiled body and blood, which day by day are administered and offered sacrificially at the spiritual divine table, as a memorial of that first and ever-memorable table of the spiritual divine supper. And again, “She bath sent forth her servants:” Wisdom, that is to say, has done so — Christ, to wit — summoning them with lofty announcement. “Whoso is simple, Let him turn to me,” she says, alluding manifestly to the holy apostles, who traversed the whole world, and called the nations to the knowledge of Him in truth, with their lofty and divine preaching. And again, “And to those that want understanding she said” — that is, to those who have not yet obtained the power of the Holy Ghost — “Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled for you;” by which is meant, that He gave His divine flesh and honored blood to us, to eat and to drink it for the remission of sins. From the Commentary of St. Hippolytus on Proverbs 9:1 He intends the new Jerusalem, or the sanctified flesh. By the seven pillars he means the sevenfold unity of the Holy Spirit resting upon it; as Isaiah testifies, saying, “She has slain” her “victims.” From the Commentary of St. Hippolytus on Proverbs https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 9 3 9:1 Let us then consider Christ in both ways, the divine Word made one in Mary with Him which is from Mary. For in her womb the Word fashioned for Himself His house, as at the beginning He formed Adam from the earth; or rather more divinely, concerning whom Solomon too says openly, knowing that the Word was also called Wisdom, ‘Wisdom builded herself an house ;’ which the Apostle interprets when he says, ‘Which house are we ,’ and elsewhere calls us a temple, as far as it is fitting to God to inhabit a temple, of which the image, made of stones, He by Solomon commanded the ancient people to build; whence, on the appearance of the Truth, the image ceased. St. Athanasius of Alexandria: Four Discourses Against the Arians, 4:34. 9:1-5 Those, however, who receive the representations of Scripture according to the understanding of the apostles, entertain the hope that the saints will eat indeed, but that it will be the bread of life, which may nourish the soul with the food of truth and wisdom, and enlighten the mind, and cause it to drink from the cup of divine wisdom, according to the declaration of holy Scripture. Origen: De Principiis 2:11:3. 9:1-5 Moreover the Holy Spirit by Solomon shows before the type of the Lord’s sacrifice, making mention of the immolated victim, and of the bread and wine, and, moreover, of the altar and of the apostles, and says, “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath underlaid her seven pillars; she hath killed her victims; she hath mingled her wine in the chalice; she hath also furnished her table: and she hath sent forth her servants, calling together with a lofty announcement to her cup, saying, Whoso is simple, let him turn to me; and to those that want understanding she hath said, Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled for you.” He declares the wine mingled, that is, he foretells with prophetic voice the cup of the Lord mingled with water and wine, that it may appear that that was done in our Lord’s passion which had been before predicted. St. Cyprian: Epistle Lxii To Caecilius, On The Sacrament Of The Cup Of The Lord, 5. 9:2 She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. 9:3 She hath sent forth her maidens: she cries upon the highest places of the city, It is a custom to the present day, in Asiatic countries, to send their invitations to guests by a company of females, preceded by eunuchs: they go to the doors of the invited, and deliver their message. 9:4 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wants understanding, she saith to him, 9:5 For no one shall partake of the spiritual table, but one who is called by Him, and who has listened to the wisdom which says, “Take and eat.” St. Dionysius the Great: Extant Fragments, ANF, p. 114. 9:5 Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Among the ancient Jews, Greek, and Romans, wine was rarely drank wiYout being mingled with water; and among ancient writers we find several ordinances for this. Some direct three parts of water to one of wine; some five parts; and Pliny mentions some wines that required twenty waters: but the most common proportions appear to have been three parts of water to two of wine. The masach, mingled wine, was wine mingled, not with water, to make it weaker; but with spices and other ingredients to make it stronger. The ingredients were honey, myrrh, mandragora, opium, and such like, which gave it not only an intoxicating but stupifying quality also. Perhaps the mixed wine here may mean wine of the strongest and best quality, that which was good to cheer and refresh the heart of man. 9:6 Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. 9:7 He that reproves a scorner getts to himself shame: and he that rebukes a wicked man getts himself a blot. 9:8 Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you: rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. 9:8 Or was it for this reason that no one, even of such as these, dared to profess himself a wise man, — because they (the philosophers) imagined that a wise man was one wiYout sin? But our Scriptures do not say this, which say, “Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee.” For doubtless he who thinks a man ought to be rebuked, judges him to have sin. However, for my part, I dare not profess myself a wise man even in this sense; it is enough for me to assume, what they themselves cannot deny, that to dispute of wisdom belongs also to the philosopher, i.e., the lover of wisdom. For they have not given over so disputing who have professed to be lovers of wisdom rather than wise men. https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 9 4 St. Augustine: On the Trinity, 14:1:2 9:9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. Verse 9. Give instruction to a wise man — Literally give to the wise, and he will be wise. Whatever you give to such, they reap profit from it. They are like the bee, they extract honey from every flower. We might proceed to all the other points, but then the discussion would become too long, and its extent too great. We will therefore desist from proceeding farther, and leave it to you to take in hand the rest, for it is in your power at home to put these things together, and examine their difference, and in the same way to go over what remains. “Give,” saith one, “a starting place to the wise, and he becometh wiser.” (Proverbs 9:9, LXX.) The beginning is from us, but the end will be from you. We must now resume the connection. St. John Chrysostom: Homilies on St. John, 14. 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Verse 10. The fear of the Lord — See on chap. 1:7. The knowledge of the holy; μy dq kedoshim, of the holy ones: Sanctorum, of the saints. — Vulgate. boulh agiwn, the counsel of the holy persons. 9:10 PHILOSOPHERS HAD NOT SUCCEEDED! IN DISCOVERING GOD. THE UNCERTAINTY AND CONFUSION OF THEIR SPECULATIONS… Now what wise man is so devoid of truth, as not to know that God is the Father and Lord of wisdom itself and truth? Besides, there is that divine oracle uttered by Solomon: “The fear of the Lord,” says he,” is the beginning of wisdom.” But fear has its origin in knowledge; for how will a man fear that of which he knows nothing? Therefore he who shall have the fear of God, even if he be ignorant of all things else, if he has attained to the knowledge and truth of God, will possess full and perfect wisdom. This, however, is what philosophy has not clearly realized. Tertullian: Ad Nationes, Book 2:2 9:10 “THE beginning” of our salvation and the safeguard of it is, as I said, “the fear of the Lord.” For through this those who are trained in the way of perfection can gain a start in, conversion as well as purification from vices and security in virtue. And when this has gained an entrance into a man’s heart it produces contempt of all things, and begets a forgetfulness of kinsfolk and an horror of the world itself. But by the contempt for the loss of all possessions humility is gained. St. John Cassian: The Institutes, book 4, 39. 9:11 For by me your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased. Verse 11. For by me thy days shall be multiplied — Vice shortens human life, by a necessity of consequence: and by the same, righteousness lengthens it. There is a long addition here in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Vulgate: “He who trusts in falsity feeds on the winds; and is like him who chases the fowls of heaven. He forsakes the way of his own vineyard, and errs from the paths of his own inheritance. He enters also into lonely and desert places, and into a land abandoned to thirst; and his hands collect that which yields no fruit.” 9:11 The divine Instructor enjoins us not to approach to another’s river, meaning by the figurative expression “another’s river,” “another’s wife;” the wanton that flows to all, and out of licentiousness gives herself up to meretricious enjoyment with all. “Abstain from water that is another’s,” He says, “and drink not of another’s well,” admonishing us to shun the stream of “voluptuousness,” that we may live long, and that years of life may be added to us; both by not hunting after pleasure that belongs to another, and by diverting our inclinations. St. Clement of Alexandria: Instructor 3:2. 9:12 If you be wise, you shalt be wise for thyself: but if you scornest, you alone shalt bear it. Verse 12. If You be wise — It is thy own interest to be religious. Yough thy example may be very useful to thy neighbors and friends, yet the chief benefit is to thyself. But if You scorn-refuse to receive-the doctrines of wisdom, and die in thy sins, You alone shalt suffer the vengeance of an offended God. 9:12 The wise man gives counsel to others, as the upright man does, and shares with him in wearing the form of either virtue. St. Ambrose: Duties of the Clergy, 3:2 (14). 9:12 https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 9 5 Observe that the wise man must be useful to many; so that he who is useful only to himself cannot be wise. For great is the condemnation of wisdom if she reserves her power simply for the one possessing her. But as poison is not injurious to another body, but only to that one which takes it, so also the man who turns out wicked will injure himself, and not another. For no man of real virtue is injured by a wicked man. From the Commentary of St. Hippolytus on Proverbs 9:12 For they themselves also “follow flying birds,” since they do not attain to what they desire. But not only the heretic, but everyone who leads an evil life “deserteth the ways of his own vineyard, and hath strayed from the paths of his own field. And he walketh through pathless and dry places, and a land destined to thirst; and he gathereth fruitless weeds in his hands;” because all justice is fruitful, and all iniquity is barren. Those, again, who “drink strange water out of a strange fountain,” are found not only among heretics, but among all who do not live according to the teaching of God, and do live according to the teaching of the devil. St. Augustine: On Baptism, Against the Donatists, 6:12:19. 9:12 LXX And before hell too, we shall here suffer the utmost ills. “For if You be evil,” it is said, “You alone shalt endure the evil; but if good, it is for thyself and for thy neighbor.” Mark, at any rate, how this took place in the former instances also. St. John Chrysostom: Homilies on Matthew, 62:5. 9:12 The Devil is wicked; I grant this indeed, but he is wicked for himself not towards us if we are wary. For the nature of wickedness is of this kind. It is destructive to those alone who hold to it. Virtue is the contrary. It is not only able to profit those who hold to it, but those nearest at hand too. And in order that You mayest learn that evil is evil in itself, but good is also good to others, I provide thee with proverbial evidence: “My son” saith he “if You art become evil, You shall bear thine evils alone, but if wise, for thyself and thy neighbor.” St. John Chrysostom: Resisting the Temptation of the Devil, 3:1. On the contrary, the wicked man strikes himself first, and none other than himself. “For alone,” it is said, “shall he bear his troubles.” (Proverbs 9:12.) Ever in him the soul is full of dejection, his Youghts being ever entangled: whether he must hear aught or say aught, he does all with complaints, with accusation. Far, very far from such do friendship and harmony make their abode: but fightings are there, and enmities, and all unpleasantness. St. John Chrysostom: Homilies on Acts, 7. 9:12 LXX Nemesianus of Thubunae said: That the baptism which heretics and schismatics bestow is not the true one, is everywhere declared in the Holy Scriptures, since their very leading men are false Christs and false prophets, as the Lord says by Solomon: “He who trusteth in that which is false, he feedeth the winds; and the very same, moreover, followeth the flight of birds. For he forsaketh the ways of his own vineyard, he has wandered from the paths of his own little field. But he walketh through pathless places, and dry, and a land destined for thirst; moreover, he gathereth together fruitless things in his hands.” And again: “Abstain from strange water, and from the fountain of another do not drink, that you may live a long time; also that the years of life may be added to thee.” [19]. And in the Gospel our Lord Jesus Christ spoke with His divine voice, saying, “Except a man be born again of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5). The Seventh Council Of Carthage Under Cyprian Concerning The Baptism Of Heretics. 2. The invitations of folly. (13-18) How diligent the tempter is, to seduce unwary souls into sin! Carnal, sensual pleasure, stupefies conscience, and puts out the sparks of conviction. This tempter has no solid reason to offer; and where she gets dominion in a soul, all knowledge of holy things is lost and forgotten. She is very violent and pressing. We need to seek and pray for true wisdom, for Satan has many ways to withdraw our souls from Christ. Not only worldly lusts and abandoned seducers prove fatal to the souls of men; but false teachers, with doctrines that flatter pride and give liberty to lusts, destroy Yousands. They especially draw off such as have received only partial serious impressions. The depths of Satan are depths of hell; and sin, wiYout remorse, is ruin, ruin wiYout remedy. Solomon shows the hook; those that believe him, will not meddle with the bait. Behold the wretched, empty, unsatisfying, deceitful, https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 9 6 and stolen pleasure sin proposes; and may our souls be so desirous of the everlasting enjoyment of Christ, that on earth we may live to him, daily, by faith, and ere long be with him in glory. 9:13-18 But says the Instructor: “Hie away, and tarry not in the place; nor fix thine eye on her: for thus shalt You pass over a strange water, and cross to Acheron.” Wherefore thus saith the Lord by Isaiah, “Because the daughters of Sion walk with lofty neck, and with winkings of the eyes, and sweeping their garments as they walk, and playing with their-feet; the Lord shall humble the daughters of Sion, and will uncover their form” — their deformed form. I, deem it wrong that servant girls, who follow women of high rank, should either speak or act unbecomingly to them. But I think it right that they should be corrected by their mistresses. St. Clement of Alexandria: Instructor 3:11. 9:13 A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knows nothing. Verse 13. A foolish woman is clamorous — Vain, empty women, are those that make most noise. And she that is full of clamor, has generally little or no sense. We have had this character already, see chap. 7:11. The translation of the Septuagint is very remarkable: gunh afrwn kai yraseia, endehv qwmou ginetai, “A lewd and foolish woman shall be in need of a morsel of bread.” 9:13 You wert more inward to me than my most inward part; and higher than my highest. I came upon that bold woman, who “is simple, and knoweth nothing,” the enigma of Solomon, sitting “at the door of the house on a seat,” and saying, “Stolen waters are sweet,, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” This woman seduced me, because she found my soul beyond its portals, dwelling in the eye of my flesh, and thinking on such food as through it I had devoured. St. Augustine: Confession, 3:6 (11). 9:14 For she sitts at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, Verse 14. For she sitteth at the door of her house — Her conduct here marks at once her folly, impudence, and poverty. See above on chap. 7:6, etc., where the reader will find a similar character. 9:15 To call passengers who go right on their ways: 9:16 Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wants understanding, she saith to him, Verse 16. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither — FOLLY or PLEASURE here personified, uses the very same expressions as employed by Wisdom, ver. 4. Wisdom says, “Let the simple turn in to me.” No, says Folly, “Let the simple turn in to me.” If he turn in to Wisdom, his folly shall be taken away and he shall become wise; if he turn in to Foliy, his darkness will be thickened, and his folly will remain. Wisdom sets up her school to instruct the ignorant: Folly sets her school up next door, to defeat the designs of Wisdom. Thus the saying of the satirist appears to be verified: — “Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil surely builds a chapel there. And it is found upon examination, The latter has the larger congregation.” 9:17 Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. Verse 17. Stolen waters are sweet — I suppose this to be a proverbial mode of expression, importing that illicit pleasures are sweeter than those which are legal The meaning is easy to be discerned; and the conduct of1725 multitudes shows that they are ruled by this adage. On it are built all the adulterous intercourses in the land. 9:17 For sin has her own special bread, of her death, and calling to those who are lovers of pleasure and lack understanding, she saith, ‘Touch with delight secret bread, and sweet waters which are stolen ;’ for he who merely touches them knows not that that which is born from the earth perishes with her. For even when the sinner thinks to find pleasure, the end of that food is not pleasant, as the Wisdom of God saith again, ‘Bread of deceit is pleasant to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel .’ And, ‘Honey droppeth from the lips of a whorish woman, which for a time is sweet to thy palate; but at the last You shalt find it more bitter than gall, and sharper than a two-edged sword .’ Thus then he eats and rejoices for a little time; afterwards he spurneth it when he hath removed his soul afar. For the fool knoweth not that those who depart far from God shall perish. And besides, there is the restraint of the prophetic admonition which says, 9:17 https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 9 7 Sinners indeed thirst, but not for the grace of the Spirit; but being inflamed with wickedness, they are wholly set on fire by pleasures, as saith the Proverb,’ All day long he desires evil desires.’ But the Prophet cries against them, saying, ‘Who unto those who rise up early, and follow strong drink; who continue until the evening, for wine inflameth them.’ (Prov. 21:26; Isa. 5:11). And since they run wild in wantonness, they dare to thirst for the destruction of others. Having first drunk of lying and unfaithful waters, those things have come upon them, which are stated by the Prophet; ‘My wound,’ saith he, ‘is grievous, whence shall I be healed; it hath surely been to me like deceitful waters, in which there is no trust.’ (Jer. 15:18). Secondly, while they drink with their companions, they lead astray and disturb the right mind, and turn away the simple from it. And what does he cry? ‘Woe unto him who causeth his neighbor to drink turbid destruction, and maketh him drunk, that he may look upon his caverns.’ (Hab. 2:15 LXX). But those who dissemble, and steal away the truth, quench their hearts. Having first drunk of these things, they go on to say those things which the whore saith in the Proverbs, ‘Lay hold with delight on hidden bread, and sweet stolen waters.’ They lay snares secretly, because they have not the freedom of virtue, nor the boldness of Wisdom, who praises herself in the gates, and employs freedom of speech in the broad ways, preaching on high walls. St. Athanasius of Alexandria: Paschal Letters, 20:2 ‘What have You to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Gihon? And what have You to do in the way of Asshur, to drink the waters of the rivers ?’ (Jer. 2:18). And the Wisdom of God which loves mankind forbids these things, crying, ‘But depart quickly, tarry not in the place, neither fix thine eye upon it; for thus You shalt pass over strange waters, and depart quickly from the strange river .’ She also calls them to herself, St. Athanasius of Alexandria: Paschal Letters, 6:11. 9:18 But he knows not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell. Verse 18. But he knoweth not that the dead are there— See on chap. 2:18. He does not know that it was in this way the first apostates from God and truth walked. μyapr rephaim; gigantev, the GIANTS. — Septuagint. The sons of men, the earth-born, to distinguish them from the sons of God, those who were born from above. See the notes on Genesis 6:1, etc. Her guests are in the depths of hell. — Those who have been drawn out of the way of understanding by profligacy have in general lost their lives, if not their souls, by their folly. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic make a long addition to this verse: “But draw You back, that You mayest not die in this place; neither fix thy eyes upon her; so shalt You pass by those strange waters. But abstain You from strange waters, and drink not of another’s fountain, that You mayest live a long time, and that years may be added to thy life.” Of this addition there is nothing in the Hebrew, the Chaldee, or the Vulgate, as now printed: but in the editio princeps are the following words:Qui enim applicabitur illi descendet ad inferos; nam qui abscesserit ab ea salvabitur. These words were in the copy from which my old MS. Bible has been made, as the following version proves: “Who forsoth schal ben joyned to hir, schal falle doun on to hell: for whi he that goth awai fro hir, schal be saved. Three of my own MSS. have the same reading. 9:18 LXX This Spirit is denoted by the Lord under the name of water: and we have heard from this epistle, “Believe not every spirit;” and those words of Solomon bear witness, “From strange water keep thee far.” St. Augustine: On the Epistle of St. John, hom. 6:11. 9:18 “But go forth,” says he, “do not linger in her place, nor fix thine eye on her;” lest if the angels see us taken up with unclean and foul Youghts, they may not be able to say to us in passing by: “The blessing of the Lord be upon you.” (Ps. 128:8). For it is impossible for the soul to continue in good Youghts, when the main part of the heart is taken up with foul and earthly considerations. For this saying of Solomon’s is true: “When thine eyes look on a strange woman, then shall thy mouth speak wickedly, and You shalt lie as it were in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a great storm. But You shalt say: They have beaten me, but I felt no pain; and they mocked me, but I felt not.” (Prov. 23:33-35). St. John Cassian: Conference 20:9. 9:19 And again, sacred Scripture warns, and says, “Keep thee from the strange water, and drink not from a fountain of strange water.” It is required, then, that the water should first be cleansed and sanctified by the priest, that it may https://coptic-treasures.com/ Proverbs 9 8 wash away by its baptism the sins of the man who is baptized; because the Lord says by Ezekiel the prophet: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be cleansed from all your filthiness; and from all your idols will I cleanse you: a new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.” (Ezek. 36:25,26). But how can he cleanse and sanctify the water who is himself unclean, and in whom the Holy Spirit is not? since the Lord says in the book of Numbers, “And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean.” (Numbers 19:2). Or how can he who baptizes give to another remission of sins who himself, being outside the Church, cannot put away his own sins? St. Cyprian: Epistle Lxix To Januarius And Other Numidian Bishops, On Baptizing Heretics 9:19 LXX What, then, is to be made of what is written, “Abstain from strange water, and drink not from a strange fountain,” if, leaving the sealed fountain of the Church, you take up strange water for your own, and pollute the Church with unhallowed fountains? For when you communicate with the baptism of heretics, what else do you do than drink from their slough and mud; and while you yourself are purged with the Church’s sanctification, you become befouled with the contact of the filth of others? And do you not fear the judgement of God when you are giving testimony to heretics in opposition to the Church, alYough it is written, “A false witness shall not be unpunished?” (Prov. 19:50. Epistle Lxxiv: Firmilian, Bishop Of Caesurae In Cappadocia, To Cyprian, Against The Letter Of Stephen. AD 256., 23. 9:22 Accordingly it is added: “For he hath forsaken the ways of his own vineyard, and wandered in the tracks of his own husbandry.” Such are the sects which deserted the primitive Church. Now he who has fallen into heresy passes through an arid wilderness, abandoning the only true God, destitute of God, seeking waterless water, reaching an uninhabited and thirsty land, collecting sterility with his hands. And those destitute of prudence, that is, those involved in heresies, “I enjoin,” remarks Wisdom, saying, “Touch sweetly stolen bread and the sweet water of theft;” the Scripture manifestly applying the terms bread and water to nothing else but to those heresies, which employ bread and water in the oblation, not according to the canon of the Church. St. Clement of Alexandria: Stromata 1:20.
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