Scholia on Proverbs 1 part 2/5

And this is the one who walks upon the coals: he who destroys his own soul through sin committed in actual deed.

"So he who goes in to a married woman shall not be held guiltless, nor anyone who touches her." He calls evil the married woman:

for her husband is the devil, who together with her begets the lawless sons.

And the Savior too, in the Gospels, [says] to the Jews:

"You," he says, "are of your father the devil." ... "It is no wonder if someone is caught stealing:"

for he steals in order to fill a hungry soul;

"But if he is caught, he shall repay sevenfold, and give all the possessions of his house, and so deliver himself." But if he is caught by true knowledge, then he who formerly, through want of knowledge, was stealing from the wisdom that our Savior made foolish, will lay aside all false knowledge.

"But the adulterer, through want of sense, procures destruction for his own soul." Everyone who has fellowship with evil is an adulterer with the devil, who first married evil and who has been a murderer from the beginning.

"For her husband's wrath is full of jealousy; he will not spare in the day of judgment." Here he shows that on the day of judgment we shall have the devil as the accuser of the things we have done.

This also holy Paul says:

"that the one who opposes us may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say concerning us." ... "Son, honor the Lord, and you will be strong;"

"but besides him, fear no other." If someone dishonors God through transgression of the law, then clearly, by keeping the law he honors God.

"Say that wisdom is your sister;"

"and make prudence your own acquaintance." Wisdom is our sister, because the Father who made the incorporeal nature made her also.

But here he speaks of wisdom not as the Son of God, but as the contemplation of bodies and incorporeal beings, and of the judgment and providence at work within them—of which prudence, knowledge, instruction, and understanding are likewise a species.

"so that she may keep you from a strange and evil woman, if she should assail you with flattering words." The flattering words cast at you are the passionate thoughts.

"For looking out from the window of her house into the streets, whichever of the foolish sons she sees—a young man lacking sense—passing by the corner in the passages of her house, and speaking in the darkness of evening, when the stillness of night is dark and gloomy, the woman meets him, having the appearance of a harlot, who makes the hearts of the young fly away." He here calls the flesh of man a window:

for through this the evil one works deceptions upon men who wish to travel the wide and broad way that leads to destruction.

But here one must pay attention to what Solomon says about evil: that it does not, at the outset, lead a man onto the broad way, nor compel him to walk in the passages of her house, or draw near the corner, or speak in the darkness of evening; but if it sees someone giving himself over to pleasures, it immediately meets him, having the appearance of a harlot, who makes the hearts of the young fly away.

He called the nocturnal and gloomy stillness the unclean condition of the soul, according to which, being kindled, it works out sin through the body.

But those who wander about outside these bounds are moved contrary to nature, seeking the bed of males and receiving fantasies of certain other forbidden things.

If, among thoughts, some are pure and some are unclean, and if, among lines, some are called straight and some are broken-straight, and a corner is a broken straight line—then the intelligible corner is the unclean thought.

Therefore, [the statement that] evil lies in ambush at every corner signifies that she deceives the soul through all the unclean thoughts.

And a demonic kiss is a passionate notion that summons the soul to a shameful deed.

"For this reason I came out to meet you:"

"desiring your face, I have found you;"

"I have spread my bed with cords;"

"and I have covered it with tapestries from Egypt;"

"I have sprinkled my bed with saffron;"

"and my house with cinnamon." Evil seeks to put to shame the face of our soul through the cords, and the bed, and the tapestries, and the saffron, and the cinnamon—all of which signify the various evils and passions that arise among the inventors of evils.

"For my husband is not at home;"

"but he has gone on a long journey, having taken a bundle of silver in his hand;"

"after many days he will return to his house." If "after many days he will return to his house," then Paul, gazing most spiritually upon the [divine] economy, writes that death, the last enemy, is to be abolished.

"But he followed her, having been made a fool [like a gull]." Of herons there are three kinds: the gull-heron (kepphos), the white heron, and the one called the starry heron.

Of these, the gull-heron mates and copulates with difficulty:

for while copulating it cries out and, as they say, sheds blood from its eyes, and it gives birth badly and painfully.

These things, then, we have set down from Aristotle's History of Animals.

And it seems that Scripture has fashioned this expression, for the one who is persuaded by the harlot woman, from the natural history of the gull-heron: he is "gulled" and made like the bird through his licentiousness.

"[That is, having been stirred up.]" ... "for she has wounded and cast down many, and countless are those whom she has slain." She wounds us with thoughts:

but she slays with sins.

"For she is upon the high summits;"

"and she stands in the midst of the paths." Courage stands between recklessness and cowardice.

"For she sits beside the gates of the mighty;"

"and at the entrances she is praised." He says that wisdom is praised, sometimes at the exits, sometimes at the entrances—that is, among those who go out from evil and come in to virtue:

for he calls the one going out and the one coming in, respectively, "exit" and "entrance."

And we have often noted this habit of his: that from the [moral] states he names those who possess those states, whether the best or the worst.

"Understand craftiness, you who are innocent;"

"and you who are untaught, take a heart to yourselves." Here he has spoken of "heart" as the virtue that comes to reside within the heart.

"Receive instruction, and not silver, and knowledge rather than tested gold,"

"for wisdom is better than costly stones." Here he has taken wisdom as the genus of instruction and knowledge:

for having placed instruction and knowledge first, he then adds:

"for wisdom is better than costly stones"—inasmuch as instruction and knowledge are contained within wisdom, which is the first gift of the Holy Spirit, if indeed it is through the Spirit that the word of wisdom is given.

And this very same thing is also called the Spirit of adoption as sons.

"The fear of the Lord hates injustice, insolence and pride, and the ways of the wicked." It should be noted that by "injustice," "insolence," and "pride" he means the unjust man, the insolent man, and the proud man, naming him from his worst disposition.

'She has slaughtered her victims, she has mixed her wine in the bowl.' The same food is called both meat and bread and milk and vegetables and wine.

However, the foolish are said to partake of it as her bread and as mixed wine.

But if this is so, how are we to understand 'man ate the bread of angels'? The bowl is spiritual knowledge, containing the accounts concerning incorporeal beings and bodies, judgment, and providence.

'She sent forth her servants.' If Paul the apostle is a servant of Christ, and Christ is wisdom, then Paul the apostle is a servant of wisdom.

In the same way we shall draw the same conclusion concerning the rest of the apostles and the prophets, showing them to be servants of wisdom.

'Calling together with a lofty proclamation to the bowl, saying.' This proclamation alone is lofty, since it proclaims the places of the knowledge of God.

'Come, eat of my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you.' She did not say 'of my meat.'

for solid food belongs to the perfect. 'Do not reprove the wicked, lest they hate you.' One ought not to reprove the wicked for their sins, but rather converse with them concerning the fear of God, which persuades them to depart from wickedness.

'And to know the law belongs to a good understanding.' If to know the law belongs to a good understanding, then also to do the commandment belongs to a good understanding.

Yet doing the commandment comes before knowing the law, since knowledge is by nature accustomed to come after purification.

'He who relies upon lies shepherds the winds.'

'and the same man will pursue flying birds.' Being carried about by every wind of teaching, and having made shipwreck concerning the faith.

'For he has left the paths of his own vineyard.'

'and has gone astray from the furrows of his own farming.' For he has left the vine that said.

'I am the vine, you are the branches,' and.

'My Father is the vinedresser.' 'and he gathers unfruitfulness with his hands.' Unfruitfulness is wickedness and ignorance.

'A foolish and impudent woman becomes needy of a morsel, she who does not know shame.' Since shame is something that can be taught, it is said 'she does not know shame.'

And David also says that the fear of God is something that can be taught.

'For come,' he says, 'children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.' But if fear and shame are natural passions of the soul, how can they be taught? Or perhaps by 'fear of the Lord' he means the teaching concerning the fear of the Lord, which teaches us how we ought to turn away from wickedness, since it is by the fear of the Lord that everyone turns away from evil.

And again he calls 'shame' the words concerning repentance and shame which lead us to a consciousness of our own sins.

'I will behold the heavens, the works of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have established' — that is, I will behold the accounts concerning the heavens and the moon and the stars.

'Taste with pleasure hidden bread and sweet stolen water.' The bread of falsehood was sweet to them, and after this their mouth will be filled with gravel. 'But leap away; do not linger in the place, nor fix your eye upon her.' The mind ought not to linger over base notions.

'For no one will bind fire in his bosom without burning his garments.' 'But abstain from strange water, and do not drink from a strange fountain.' Just as with God there is a fountain of life, so also with the devil there is a fountain of death.

But if God's fountain is a fountain of virtue and knowledge, then clearly the devil's fountain is a fountain of wickedness and ignorance.

And in the same way one must understand this also concerning rivers and wells and waters and rains.

'Treasures will not profit the lawless.'

'but righteousness will deliver from death.' Treasures will not profit the lawless, which they have stored up on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break through and steal.

'The Lord will not starve a righteous soul.'

'but he will overturn the life of the ungodly.' If the life of the ungodly is wickedness, and the Lord will overturn this, then clearly the ungodly will at some point no longer be ungodly.

For after this overturning, the Lord will deliver up the kingdom to God the Father, that God may become all in all.

'Discipline guards the paths of life.'

'but discipline that is not corrected goes astray.' He calls 'discipline that is not corrected' the evil conduct of the soul, which also becomes for it the cause of its error.

'Righteous lips conceal enmity.'

'but those who utter reproaches are most foolish.' By 'enmity' he means wickedness.

For through this we become enemies of God.

'For if, being enemies,' says Paul, 'we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son.' But if enmity is wickedness, then friendship is virtue and the knowledge of God, through which we become friends of God and of the holy powers.

For on the basis of this friendship, those who are friends of the same one are also friends of one another.

'but the desire of the righteous is acceptable.' 'Lord, all my desire is before you,' says David.

'The fear of the Lord adds days.'

'but the years of the ungodly will be shortened.' If the fear of the Lord adds days, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, then these days are parts of wisdom, coming into being through the sun of righteousness, concerning which David also prays, saying.

'Do not take me up in the midst of my days.' And Abraham too, having fulfilled these days, died; concerning whom it is said.

'And Abraham died an old man, and full of days.' 'The righteous will never give way.'

'but the ungodly will not dwell on the earth.' 'For ever,' instead of 'throughout life.'

'I will never eat meat forever,' he says, 'lest I cause my brother to stumble' — calling 'forever' the span of time coextensive with the duration of his life.

'The lips of righteous men drip graces.'

'but the mouth of the ungodly is perverted.' Here he has spoken of the mind as 'mouth.'

'Those who have no guidance fall like leaves.'

'but safety lies in much counsel.' Being carried about by every wind of teaching and making shipwreck concerning the faith.

'The evil man does harm when he mingles with the righteous.'

'but he hates the sound of security.' He called the words concerning salvation 'the sound of security.'

'A merciful man does good to his own soul.'

'but the merciless destroys his own body.' Here he has directly called the soul 'body.'

And Christ too, in the gospels, calls the soul 'body,' saying, 'The lamp of the body is the eye' — calling the mind 'lamp' (for it is that which is receptive of knowledge), and 'body' the incensive and desiring part of the soul, which some call the irrational part, and others the passible part.

'He who unjustly strikes hand into hand will not go unpunished.'

'but he who sows righteousness will receive a faithful reward.' This man 'unjustly strikes hand into hand' who becomes a teacher of evil deeds and doctrines.

And this man 'sows righteousness' who puts forth words concerning the virtues and the knowledge of God.

'There are those who, sowing their own, make more.'

'and there are also those who, gathering, are diminished.' Opposed to those who sow their own and make more are those who gather and are diminished.

But if those who sow their own are those who sow to the Spirit and reap life, then those who gather are those who sow to the flesh and gather corruption for themselves.

'He who withholds grain — may he leave it to the nations.'

'but blessing be upon the head of him who shares.' Similar to this is also what is said by our Savior in the gospels.

'No one, having lit a lamp, puts it under a bushel, but upon the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.' 'He who fashions good things seeks good grace.'

The 'craft' is the working of the virtues, that is, the practical life.

'From the fruit of righteousness grows the tree of life.'

'but the souls of the lawless are taken away untimely.' This is the tree of life that was planted in the midst of paradise, which, after the sin, Adam is prevented from touching, having cast away the seeds of righteousness from which the tree of life grows.

'Better is he who finds favor with the Lord, but the lawless man will be passed over in silence.' 'Lest you be silent toward me,' says David, 'and I become like those who go down into the pit.' 'The good man will inherit sons' sons.'

'but the wealth of the ungodly is stored up for the righteous.' The wealth of the ungodly is wickedness.

And the righteous will consume it entirely, clearly through good teaching, either now, or also in the age to come, becoming rulers over five and ten cities.

'but according to your hardness and impenitent heart you store up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.' 'All things are contrary to a foolish man.'

'but wise lips are the weapons of perception.' For nothing evil arrays itself against wisdom, because it is an invincible weapon.

For it is only against her that the demons are powerless.

The houses of the fools shall owe purification;

but the houses of the righteous are acceptable — so that, having become pure, they may see God;

for this is the blessed end that is reserved for every rational nature.

The bold-hearted man shall be filled with his own ways;

but the good man, with his own reflections. By 'reflections' he here means the habits of the virtues, which he has set in contrast to the ways of the bold-hearted man.

Fools shall apportion out wickedness;

but the crafty shall lay hold of perception. He has set wickedness in contrast to perception.

But if wickedness is opposed to virtue, then 'perception' here signifies virtue.

In abounding righteousness there is much strength;

but the impious shall be utterly rooted up and perish out of the earth — 'Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall by no means enter the kingdom of heaven' — and the instruction of the guileless is made known by those who pass by;

but those who hate reproofs come to a shameful end. By 'reproofs' he here means the commandments;

for these reprove us when we sin.

At all times the eyes of the wicked look forward to evils;

but the good are at rest always. Stillness is abstention from wickedness.

The ways of life are the reflections of the man of understanding, that turning aside from Hades he may be saved. By 'the ways of life' he means the practical virtues that lead to knowledge.

All the ways of righteous men are acceptable before the Lord;

and through them even enemies become friends — as Paul proclaimed:

'who, being once enemies, were reconciled to God through the death of his Son;'

Yet one must take heed whether all enemies become friends through the righteous, so that Christ may also say to all of them:

'No longer do I call you servants, but friends.' — An oracle is upon the lips of a king;

and in judgment his mouth shall not err. Christ is the knower of hearts, and he shall judge the world in righteousness.

The wrath of a king is a messenger of death;

but a wise man shall appease it. The angel who understands the accounts concerning punishment is called the wrath of God.

The broods of wisdom are more to be chosen than gold;

but the broods of prudence are more to be chosen than silver. The knowledge of wisdom [is more precious] than gold;

and the knowledge of prudence [is more precious] than silver.

He who receives instruction shall be among good things;

but he who keeps reproofs shall be made wise. By 'reproofs' he means the commandments of God;

for these reprove us when we sin.

Understanding is a fountain of life to those who possess it;

but the instruction of fools is evil. By 'the instruction of fools' he here means instruction that admits no scrutiny.

But if the instruction of fools is wickedness, then instruction that admits no scrutiny is folly.

The heart of the wise man shall understand the things that come from his own mouth;

and upon his lips he shall bear discernment (epignōmosynē). He has called knowledge 'discernment,' because it fully recognizes all things.

A crooked man sends forth evils, and kindles a lamp of deceit for evils, and divides friends. The saying [means] that the demons, being taught by the devil, undertake [attacks] against the saints, and try to separate them from knowledge, which by nature joins them in friendship to the heavenly powers.

And this same thing, I think, Solomon has also made clear through this proverb: calling Satan the 'crooked man,' and by 'deceits that are kindled' [meaning] the evil demons, in place of saying that they are 'being taught' [by him]; and by 'friends' [meaning] the saints, who are joined to one another through knowledge.

Fixing his eyes, he devises perverse things, and with his lips he determines all evils;

this man is a furnace of evils. Of this furnace, the whistling spirit of dew shakes off the flame.

All things come into the bosom of the unjust;

but from the Lord [come] all just things. It must be noted that here he has called the hearts of the unjust 'bosoms.'

And I think that everywhere 'bosom' signifies either the mind or knowledge.

But if 'bosom' is also [used] in a blameworthy sense, it will clearly signify ignorance.

An intelligent household-servant shall rule over foolish masters;

but among brothers he shall divide portions. If everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin, then everyone who has departed from wickedness and, through the virtues, has mastered the demons, has mastered foolish masters.

And such a man shall also become a steward of the mysteries of God, giving spiritual knowledge to each of the brothers according to the measure of his condition — giving the Corinthian milk to drink, but nourishing the Ephesian with more solid food, discoursing concerning height and length and breadth and depth, and through these dimensions signifying the division of rational nature, which encompasses the accounts concerning the judgment and providence of God — accounts exceedingly profound and surpassing the human condition.

So also Joshua the son of Nun divided the land of promise among the twelve tribes, which is a symbol of the knowledge of God and of the things that have come into being through him.

Yet this must be known: that the accounts concerning the incarnation of Christ and his coming among us are laid up in the knowledge of Judah;

for in this one's portion Christ is born.

And I think that the accounts concerning providence are fitting to the hidden condition of Judah and Benjamin — names which I consider to be tokens distinguishing different and pure states, since Judah is interpreted 'confessing,' and Benjamin 'son of days' or 'son of the right hand.'

The evil man hearkens to the tongue of the lawless;

but the righteous man does not attend to lying lips. This is the man who hearkens to the tongues of the lawless — he who receives from them unjust thoughts and hastens to act according to them; it is these [thoughts] that the righteous man is said not to attend to, that is, not to nourish further within himself.

To the faithful man belongs the whole world of riches;

but to the unfaithful man not even an obol. The faithful man, it says, shall behold the principles of this world, which he has figuratively called 'the riches of the mind';

but the unfaithful man shall not know the principle even of a chance thing, on account of the impurity of his soul.

And that the wealth of the soul is the knowledge of God, Paul teaches through what he writes: 'that in everything you were enriched, in all knowledge and all wisdom.'

But if someone should wish to show that this is not the meaning of this proverb, let him say where those who went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, ill-treated, afflicted, destitute, ever abounded in riches;

and how also will the unfaithful man not have even an obol, when many unfaithful men are clothed with wealth — I mean many kings and rulers of this world?

'For what participation has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?' — He who conceals wrongs seeks friendship;

but he who hates to conceal separates friends and kinsfolk. Through righteousness we conceal injustice, and through self-control [we conceal] licentiousness, and again through love [we conceal] hatred, and through freedom from love of money [we conceal] covetousness.

And we also conceal, through humility, pride, and through gentleness, rashness — seeking spiritual friendship, which signifies holy knowledge.

And in Paul too, some of the saints are said to have become fellow citizens and members of the household of Jerusalem, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.

He who repays evils for good, evils shall not depart from his house. If the one who repays evils for evils is lawless, how much more lawless is the one who repays evils for good? Such did Israel become toward God in the wilderness, to whom Moses says in Deuteronomy:

'O crooked and perverse generation, is this what you repay to the Lord?' — The beginning of righteousness gives authority to words;

but strife and battle go before want. Knowledge follows upon righteousness;

but wickedness goes before ignorance.

He who judges the unjust man just, and the just man unjust, is unclean and abominable before God. Like this man is he who calls the bitter sweet and the sweet bitter, and who names light darkness, and darkness light.

To what purpose has the fool possessions? For the senseless man shall not be able to acquire wisdom. The 'possessions' of the fool are the follies concerning each of his particular affairs;

for it is because of these [follies] that, having become senseless, he is unable to acquire wisdom.

He who makes his house high seeks its destruction;

But he who turns aside from learning will fall into evils. But he who turns aside from learning that the Lord opposes the proud will fall into evils.

Let a friend be present to you at every season;

And let brothers be useful in times of need. If the sons of Christ are brothers to one another, and the angels and righteous men are sons of Christ, then the angels and the holy men are also brothers to one another, being begotten by the spirit of adoption.

For it is for this reason that they are begotten. For it is for this reason that they are begotten by wisdom: that they may guide men from wickedness to virtue, and from ignorance to the knowledge of God — since indeed creation itself groans and travails together with us, and was subjected to futility, not of its own will.

A man fickle in tongue will fall into evils. This is the fickle man: he who readily changes from virtue to vice.

For him who unjustly takes gifts into his bosom, his ways do not prosper;

But the ungodly man turns aside the ways of righteousness. For him who receives unjust thoughts in his heart, his ways do not prosper;

For he named the passion-laden thoughts "gifts" offered to us by the demons.

Or: the ungodly man will take gifts into his bosom, so as to turn aside the ways of judgment.

But the heart of the fool is a grief to him who possesses it; a father does not rejoice over an untaught son;

But a prudent son gladdens his mother. The prudent son, indeed, gladdens the mother;

but the foolish son grieves her who bore him.

The face of an understanding man is that of a wise man;

But the eyes of the fool are on the ends of the earth. But the heart of the fool is in the extremity of vice.

A foolish son is anger to his father, and grief to her who bore him. The prudent son has both her who bore him and a mother;

but the foolish son has only her who bore him;

for the mother is also she who bore him;

but she who bore him is not always also a mother.

For if that which was born should die in vice and ignorance, she is indeed she who bore it, but she is not its mother, because that which was born has not even partaken of the spirit of adoption.

And in the same way this is to be understood also in the case of mothers perceived by the senses, and in the case of sensible death;

for we shall call the mother also her who bore the child;

but her who bore him we shall no longer call the mother, once the child has died.

for they seek not what is ours, but us.

He who spares himself from uttering a harsh word is a man of understanding;

And a patient man is prudent. He called the thought that stirs up anger a "harsh word."

Or: he called the word that stirs up his neighbor's anger a "harsh word."

To the foolish man who has asked about wisdom, wisdom will be reckoned to him;

And one who makes himself mute will seem to be prudent. If the one who wishes to learn something about wisdom is the one who asks about wisdom, then the one who wishes to know nothing about wisdom is the one who is silent about wisdom;

wherefore the former is also said to be more prudent than the latter.

A man who wishes to separate himself from friends seeks pretexts;

but at every season he will be reproached. He calls "pretexts" the sins;

"for," it says, "to devise pretexts for sins." And by "friends" he means all the saints to whom he was joined through virtue.

He who lacks understanding has no need of wisdom;

for he is rather led by folly. For he loved the darkness rather than the light.

To admire the face of the ungodly is not good, nor is it holy, so as to turn aside justice in judgment. He who accepts the vice inherent in the devil and acts according to it, this man admires the face of the ungodly.

The lips of the fool lead him into evils;

and his impudent mouth calls upon death. If death is begotten from impudence, and death separates the soul from that which truly is life, then impudence separates us from him who said:

"I am the life." And just as death is begotten from impudence, so life is begotten from gentleness;

for gentleness is opposed to impudence.

Fear casts down the slothful. Fear casts down the slothful — whether the fear of the enemy, or that of the Lord — separating them from sloth through good works.