WISDOM The author has questioned, in questioned, in 6: 12, the possibility of determining ultimate good. Here he admits that there are certain ways of living which are "better" than others. And so he gives his advice about how to find these. 1. Honor is better than luxury 1. 2. Sobriety is better than levity 2-7. 3. Cautiousness is better than rashness 8-10. 4. Wisdom with wealth is better than wisdom alone 11-12. 5. Resignation is better than indignation 13-14. 6. Moderation is better than intemperance 15-22. 7. Men are better than women 23-29. 1. Honor is better than luxury: "A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth" [1]. To have a good name, that is, a good reputation (cf. Prov. 3:4; 22: 1), is better than having the luxury of much fine perfume. An honourable life makes a man's day of death better than his day of birth, for at the end he knows he has made something our of life. 2. Sobriety is better than levity: 5 "It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that {is} the end of all men; and the living will lay {it} to his heart. (3) Sorrow {is} better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. (4) The heart of the wise {is} in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools {is} in the house of mirth. (5) {It is} better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools. (6) For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so {is} the laughter of the fool: this also {is} vanity. (7) Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad; and a gift destroyeth the heart" [2-7]. Sympathetic understanding of sorrow and death gives one a proper appreciation of life. When one visits the house of mourning [4], he is reminded of the brevity of life and therefore of the need for wise living. The phrase, "by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better" [3], implies a thoughtful serious mind concerned about the problems of life. :2 On this account, he who had gone over every kind of luxury said, "It is better to go into the house of mourning than into the house of mirth." (Eccl.vii.2.) And so "here" you wilt show forth great wisdom, and "there" wilt hear those words which are worth ten you sand blessings. St. John Chrysostom 1. Homilies on John, 60:5 7:2 +"It is better to go into the house of mourning than into the house of rejoicing." From the one is gained the merit of a good work, from the other a lapse into sin. Lastly, in the one case you still hope for the reward, in the other you have already received it. Feel with those who are afflicted as if also afflicted with them. St. Ambrose 1. Letter63:106. 7:2 + By the latter the soul is inflamed. For if we can imitate the luxury, then we are encouraged to self-indulgence, and if we can not, we are grieved. In the house of mourning there is nothing of this kind. If we can not afford to be luxurious, then we are not in any pain; and if we can, then we are restrained. Monasteries are indeed houses of mourning. There is sackcloth and ashes, there is solitude, there is no laughter, no pressure of worldly business. There is fasting, and lying upon the ground; there is no impure savor of rich food, no blood shed, no tumult, no disturbance, or crowding. St. John Chrysostom 1. Hom. on 1 Tim., 14. 7:3 And so, if anyone wants to ascend, let him seek, not the joys of the world or the pleasant things or the delights, but whatever is filled with pain and weeping; for it is better to go into a house of sorrow than into a house of rejoicing. Indeed, Adam would not have come down from paradise unless he had been beguiled by pleasure. St. Ambrose 1. Flight from the World, 1:3 (Fathers of the Church). 3. Cautiousness is better than rashness: "Better {is} the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: {and} the patient in spirit {is} better than the proud in spirit. (9) Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. (10) Say not thou, What is {the cause} that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this" [8-10]. It is best to take a quiet second look at the past and present before saying that "the former days were better than these" [10]. The years have probably obscured difficulties in the past similar to those of the present. It is best to be slow to anger [9], and not to make a rash statement for which one will be sorry. The phrase, better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof" [8], suggests the wisdom of cautious speech, since only after one has spoken is he able to determine the full effects of his words. 6 7:10 Nor can we become partakers of wisdom, even though we are considered wise by universal consent, for "anger rests in the bosom of fools." St. John Cassian 1. The institutes, 8:1. 4. Wisdom with wealth is better than wisdom alone: "Wisdom {is} good with an inheritance: and {by it there is} profit to them that see the sun. (12) For wisdom {is} a defence, {and} money {is} a defence: but the excellency of knowledge {is, that} wisdom giveth life to them that have it" [11-12]. The author is quick to acknowledge that wealth can provide a man with good things (cf. Prov 13: 8), and when this wealth is combined with wisdom, the man has double means for finding life's few pleasures. 5. Resignation is better than indignation: "Consider the work of God: for who can make {that} straight, which he has made crooked? (14) In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also has set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him" [13-14]. This is a summation of much of the author's philosophy of life. Since our lives are in the iron grip of God, both the day of prosperity [14], and the day of adversity have been determined by him. Therefore, let a man make the best whatever life may bring. 6. Moderation is better than intemperance: "All {things} have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just {man} that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked {man} that prolongeth {his life} in his wickedness. (16) Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself? (17) Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time? (18) {It is} good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all. (19) Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty {men} which are in the city. (20) For {there is} not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not. (21) Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken; lest thou hear thy servant curse thee: (22) For oftentimes also thine own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise hast cursed others [15-22]. Experience has shown that the righteous do not necessarily live longer and happier lives than the wicked (cf. Ps. 1:3,4). Therefore the best way to live is moderately. Be not righteous over much [16], for this will not guarantee happiness; and be not over much wicked [17], for evil may bring a premature death. Therefore moderation is the answer, for why should you destroy yourself? That is, Why should you alienate yourself by extreme conduct from the few good things that life can provide? (7:15, 9:9) + Ask those who lived in days gone by, learn from former generations; consider, during the days of your empty existence, where are the wise? Where are the philosophers and rhetoricians who gained a reputation for their consummate skills of speech? Where are the kings with their crowns? Or the men with a reputation for strength and might? Ask the earth and it will show you; ask Sheol and it will reveal to you how no realm endures- not even those who grow rich and wealthy. Fr. Babai 1.1. Letter to Cyracus, 5. 7. Men are better than women: All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it {was} far from me. (24) That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out? (25) I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason {of things}, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness {and} madness: (26) And I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart {is} snares and nets, {and} her hands {as} bands: whoso pleaseth God shall escape from her; but the sinner shall be taken by her. (27) Behold, this have I found, says the preacher, {counting} one by one, to find out the account: (28) Which yet 7 my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. (29) Lo, this only have I found, that God has made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions" [23-29]. A good example of the wickedness of folly [25] is an evil woman [26] who lures men into sin. It is difficult enough to find a good man, but a (good) woman is almost impossible to discover [28]. Although God has made man upright, men have deviated from this condition in going after inventions, that is purposes or devices (perhaps here, devices of women) which have brought corruption and evil into the world [29]. 7:23, 24 + Thus Solomon, who was the wisest of all men, whether before him or in his own time, to whom God gave breadth of heart, and a flood of contemplation more abundant than the sand, even he, the more he entered into the depth, the more dizzy he became, and declared the further point of wisdom to be the discovery of how very far off she was from him. St. Gregory of Nazianzus 1. The Theological Orations, 2:21. 7:25,26 + "My heart took a circuit to know the joy of the impious man and to examine carefully and to seek wisdom and a mode of calculating and to know joy through the impious man and trouble and disquietude, and I find that it is bitterer than death-not because death is bitter, but because it is bitter for the impious one. And yet life is bitterer than death. For it is a greater burden to live for sin than to die in sin, because the impious man increases his sin as long as he lives, but if he dies, he ceases to sin. St. Ambrose 1. Death as a Good, 7:28. (Fathers of the Church) 7:26 + And Solomon seems to me very wise in bestowing upon an indecent woman the face of every heresy, and then saying about her that it is necessary to repudiate and to flee such a woman, "who is a hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and in her hands are bonds. "The good man before the face of God will be rescued from her and the sinner will be ensnared by her. St. Cyril of Alexandria 1. Letter 31:3. 7:29 We were created good by the good; for "god made man upright," but by our own free will, we became evil. we had power from being good to become evil, and we shall have power from being evil to become good. St. Augustine 1. Sermons on New-Testaments Lessons, 11:2. 7:29 Lxx + God made man good; so runs the scripture, "god made man upright; and men themselves found out many cogitations." Run from these "many" to one, gather up thy scattered things into one: flow on together, fence thyself in, abide with one; go not to many things. St. Augustine 1. Sermons on New-Testaments Lessons, 46:6. 7:29 + Accordingly God, as it is written, made man upright, and consequently with a good will. For if he had not had a good will, he could not have been upright. The good will, then, is the work of God; for God created him with it. But the first evil will which preceded all man's evil acts, was rather a kind of falling away from the work of God to its own works than any positive work. St. Augustine 1. City of God, 14:11. 8 7:29 We ought not then to ascribe this wandering inclination of our heart either to human nature or to God its Creator. For it is a true statement of Scripture, that "God made man upright; but they themselves found out many thoughts" The character of these then depends on us ourselves, for it says "a good thought comes near to those that know it, but a prudent man will find it." For where anything is subject to our prudence and industry so that it can be found out, there if it is not found out, we ought certainly to set it down to our own laziness or carelessness and not to the fault of our nature. Abbot Serenus 1. Cassian, Conf., 7:4. 7:29 + Moreover as the wisest Solomon says: "God made man upright," i.e., always to enjoy the knowledge of good only, "but they have sought out many imaginations," for they came, as has been said, to know good and evil. Abbot Chaeremon 1. Cassian, Conf., 13:12. 7:29 + For that we sin of our own free will the Prophet says plainly in a certain place: Yet I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly true: how are You turned to bitterness,(and become) the strange vine? The planting was good, the fruit coming from the will is evil; and therefore the planter is blameless, but the vine shall be burnt with fire since it was planted for good, and bore fruit unto evil of its own will. St. Cyril of Jerusalem 1. Cat. Lect. 2:1.
Welcome