Scholia on Proverbs 1 part 4/5

for he is the pasture of the righteous, and he will surely not abandon you.

'If your enemy falls, do not rejoice over him;'

'and at his stumbling do not exult, because the Lord will see it and it will not please him, and he will turn his wrath away from him.' God turns his wrath away from the one who has fallen, having had mercy on him;

but he is angry with the one who is exalted over the fall of his enemy.

For everyone who rejoices over a perishing soul is like the devil, who does not want all men to be saved and to come to the recognition of the truth.

The Lord has established as law in the Gospels that we should pray.

'For the offspring of evil men will not exist;'

'and the lamp of the ungodly will be extinguished.' The wicked will not beget virtues and right doctrines — for these are the offspring of the soul — because they do not fear the Lord;

but those who are in the fear of the Lord all the day long will have offspring, and their hope will not depart.

'Fear God, my son, and the king, and disobey neither of them' — that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent — 'for suddenly they will punish the impious;'

'but who will know the punishments of both?' How then does the Savior say in the Gospels:

'the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son'? Or is punishment one thing, and judgment another?

And punishment is the deprivation of freedom from passion and of the knowledge of God, together with bodily pain;

but judgment is the coming-to-be of an age, God apportioning bodies to each of the rational beings according to proportion.

'A sword is the tongue of a king, and not a fleshly one;'

'and whoever is given over will be crushed.' Namely also the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 'Not fleshly' stands for 'not perceptible by the senses.'

'for if his wrath is kindled, it consumes men together with their sinews.' The sword of God consumes the old men, who are being corrupted according to the desires of deceit, so that, having put off the old man, they may put on the new man, created according to God.

'and it devours the bones of men, and burns like a flame' — 'I came to cast fire upon the earth' — 'so that it is inedible to the young of eagles.' This one — who has been purified by the Lord and abstains from all vice — is inedible to the demons.

'For I am the most foolish of all men, and the prudence of men is not in me.' He called himself most foolish with reference to the deprivation of human prudence.

'Who has ascended into heaven and come down?' No one has ascended into heaven above, except the Son of Man who came down from heaven. 'Who has gathered the winds in his bosom? Who has bound up water in a garment? Who has grasped all the ends of the earth?' Who, by faith, has altogether gathered together those from east and west and north and sea into the knowledge of God, and has given them to lay up spiritual contemplation in the virtues? And in another way:

Who through true knowledge hid false knowledge? Who laid up true knowledge in the virtues? Who gathered together all the nations from east and west and north and sea, compacting them with the virtues and laying up the heavenly water flowing from the fountain of life? 'Do not add to his words, lest he reprove you and you be found false.' For it is not possible to add to the law of the Lord, nor is it possible to take away from it.

'Remove vain and false speech far from me.' Remove falsely named knowledge far from me.

'lest, being filled, I become false, and say:'

'"Who sees me?"' or, having become poor, I steal and swear falsely by the name of God. 'That,' he says, 'being filled with the utmost knowledge, I might not become proud and say:'

'No one will come to know my wisdom.'

That, being filled with inaccessible knowledge, I might not appear to men as a liar, saying such things as those bound to blood and flesh are not able to know.

And rightly is the following also added: 'lest, becoming poor, I steal and swear by the name of God;'

for someone steals another's contemplative insights, in order to fill a hungering mind.

But this used to happen before the coming of the Savior;

let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him work righteousness, so that, having acquired knowledge, he may share it also with the one who has need.

For what is there that is not ours, that we who have believed in Christ should steal it? For all things are ours, and we are Christ's, through whom all things came into being, and Christ is God's.

This one steals knowledge — not the one who receives that of the one who came before him, but the one who purloins from falsely named knowledge.

For indeed all who have believed in Christ, receiving contemplative insights from the holy prophets and apostles, are not called thieves of another's insights, but rather heirs of ancestral wealth.

'Do not hand over a household slave into the hands of a master, lest he curse you and you be destroyed.' Do not hand over again to vice a mind that has fled vice, since everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.

And here 'sin' is the name given to the devil, who works sin.

'but those who reprove will appear better;'

'and good blessing will come upon them.' The good blessing is the noetic blessing, which stands in contrast to the perceptible blessing.

'Prepare your works for the going forth, and make ready for the field.' Our Lord in the Gospels called the world a field;

but Solomon here has called the contemplation of the world 'field.'

But the field in the Gospels belongs to man, who is composed of soul and body;

but the field indicated here belongs to the mind alone, being noetic and composed of the inner principles of this world, into which pure hearts enter.

'and walk behind me, and you will rebuild your house.' For with wisdom a house is built;

for wisdom will not enter into a crafty soul. 'If you neglect it, it will become fallow, and be entirely overgrown with weeds, and it becomes forsaken;'

'and its stone fences are torn down.' A fence is the freedom from passion of the rational soul, composed of the practical virtues.

'An eye that mocks a father and dishonors the old age of a mother, may the ravens of the valleys pluck it out, and may the young of eagles devour it.' These ravens mystically nourish the just, but punish the unjust, gouging out the eyes of their injustice, because they mocked the Father and God of all, and dishonored the ancient knowledge that begot them.

And he called those who gouge out the eyes of the impious man 'ravens';

but those who devour him entirely he named 'eagles,' because the former are entrusted with partial purification, and the latter with universal purification.

'and a he-goat leading the herd of goats.' If the unclean are the goats standing at the left hand of the Savior, and the he-goat leads them, then perhaps the he-goat here signifies the devil.

'lest, having drunk, they forget wisdom, and be unable to judge the weak rightly.' They will be unable to teach rightly.

'Give strong drink to those in grief, and wine to drink to those in pain, that they may forget their poverty and no longer remember their troubles.' He who is made drunk from the fatness of the house of the Lord forgets his pains.

'Open your mouth and judge righteously;'

'and judge the poor and the weak.' By 'poor' he means the one deprived of knowledge, and by 'weak,' the one who is unclean.

'but the glory of a king honors his commands.' He who possesses the glory of God he called 'the glory of God,' and he who possesses the glory of the heavenly king he named 'the glory of the king.'

For these hide the word of God within themselves, so that they may not sin, and they honor the commands, by means of which they carry them out.

Of vices: those who possess the virtues and the vices.

Thus: 'The Lord is righteous, and he has loved righteous deeds' — instead of saying 'the righteous.'

'And the fear of the Lord hates injustice, insolence, and arrogance' — that is, the unjust man, the insolent man, and the arrogant man.

And here too he has named 'glory of God' and 'glory of the king' the one who has the glory of God and the one who has the glory of the king.

Or perhaps by 'glory of God' he means the one who glorifies God, and by 'glory of the king' the one who glorifies the king, so that what is said would be this:

he who glorifies God conceals his word, and he who glorifies the king honors his commands;

for he who dishonors him through transgression of the law dishonors him.

'Slay the impious from before the king's face, and his throne will be set right in righteousness.' He who by a spiritual word puts to death the old man, who is corrupted according to the desires of deceit, sets his own mind right in righteousness — the mind which is said to be the throne of God.

For nowhere else is it natural for wisdom, knowledge, and righteousness to dwell, except in rational nature;

and all these things are Christ.

'Do not boast before a king, nor take your stand in the places of the mighty;'

'for it is better that it be said to you:'

'Come up to me,' than that you be humbled before a powerful man. Do not say:

'Above the stars I will set my throne;'

'I will be like the Most High.' For it is better that this be said about you: 'Therefore God also highly exalted him and granted him the name that is above every name.'

'Do not rush hastily into strife, lest you regret it in the end.' By 'strife' he hinted at vice.

'But whenever a friend reproaches you, withdraw backward; do not despise [him].' And the Savior too, in the Gospels, reproaches the cities in which most of his mighty works occurred, because they did not repent, saying, 'Woe to you, Chorazin; woe to you, Bethsaida.'

'Grace and friendship set free; keep these for yourself, lest you become subject to reproach.' Solomon quite frequently makes mention both of the friend and of friendship.

Therefore it is good now to attend to the term, [to see] what 'friendship' intends to signify by it;

'For grace,' he says, 'and friendship set free.' And yet the Savior, in the Gospels, says to the Jews who had believed in him:

'If you remain in my word, you are truly my disciples, and the truth will set you free.' And Paul, again, writes:

'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law.' If, then, friendship sets free, and truth sets free, and the Savior sets free, Christ is the truth and the friendship.

Hence all who possess the knowledge of Christ are also friends of one another.

Thus the Savior also called the disciples friends; and John was a friend of the bridegroom, as were Moses and all the saints.

And it is only in this friendship that those who are friends of the same one are also friends of one another.

α. 'But guard your ways with fair dealing.' He who has been taught concerning the virtues and acts in accordance with them guards his ways with fair dealing.

'A golden apple in a necklace of sardius — so is speaking a word to those fitted for it.' As a golden apple suits a sardius, so does the knowledge of God suit a pure soul.

'In a golden earring a precious sardius is set;'

'so is a wise word to an attentive ear.' Set a precious sardius into a golden earring, and the wisdom of the Lord into a mind free from passion.

'As the coming of snow in harvest time benefits during the heat, so a faithful messenger benefits those who sent him.' As snow cools the scorching heat, so the knowledge of the saints dissolves the weariness of the soul.

'In patience is prosperity for kings;'

'but a soft tongue crushes bones.' Here he has named the irascible soul 'soft,' [that is, the soul] which crushes the bones — those naturally apt for speech —

— of one who is unable to gaze continuously upon such contemplation.

'The tooth of the evil man and the foot of the lawless man shall perish in an evil day.' That is, vice and lawlessness shall perish on the day of judgment.

'As vinegar is harmful to a wound, so a passion falling upon the body grieves the heart.' The passions that fall upon the heart are the vices, by the privation of which the one free from passion is named.

α. 'As a moth to a garment and a worm to wood, so grief harms a man's heart.' Blameworthy grief is the privation of a perishable pleasure;

but praiseworthy grief is the privation of the virtues and of the knowledge of God.

'If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink;'

'for by doing this you will heap coals of fire on his head.' By kindness and beneficence purifying his ruling faculty.

'The north wind stirs up clouds;'

'but a shameless face provokes the tongue.' He called the devil a 'shameless face' that provokes the soul.

And everywhere Solomon calls the mind 'the tongue.'

Therefore to show deference to this face in judgment is not good.

'As cold water is pleasant to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a distant land.' So is the knowledge of God from the land of the meek.

'As if one should stop up a spring and spoil the outflow of water, so it is unseemly for a righteous man to fall before an impious man.' Of the thoughts of the mind, some are called its falls, others its risings, others its sittings, others its standings;

and others are called its walking, and some of them are named its stumblings;

and others are hard and soft, and fragrant and sweet, and bitter, and smooth, and straight and crooked;

and again, some of them are called thorns and thistles, others light and darkness and life and death, others sicknesses and states of health;

and others again are named falsehood and truth;

and Scripture assigns many other names both to the soul and to its thoughts.

Now the names it applies to it [the soul] — to mention a few out of many — are these:

mind, soul, heart, human being, man, woman, slave, servant, father, son, spirit, eye, mouth, lips, tongue, throat, belly, bosom, arm, finger, wood, nostril, sheep, kid, shepherd;

And there are many more names of the soul, which it is not possible to set forth now, because the form of the scholia does not admit of prolixity.

Here, then, a righteous mind falls before Satan, when it has received an impure thought or a false doctrine.

'Before him shall all who go down to the earth fall prostrate;'

But this fall contains true knowledge and pure thoughts.

'As a city whose walls are thrown down and which is unwalled, so is a man who does anything without counsel.' Here he called 'counsel' the inclination of the heart toward what is better.

'As a whip for a horse and a goad for a donkey, so a rod for a lawless nation.' Here the rod is a symbol of punishment.

'He who sends a message by the hand of a foolish messenger brings reproach on his own ways.' One must not give holy things to dogs, nor cast pearls before swine.

'Take away the going of the legs, and lawlessness from the mouth of fools.' Remove the fool's evil way, and put false knowledge far from him.

'He who binds a stone in a sling is like one who gives honor to a fool.' Knowledge does not befit a fool, [any more than] a worthless stone [befits] a golden sling.

'All the flesh of fools is greatly storm-tossed;'

'for their derangement is broken.' If the derangement of fools — by which they were estranged from God — is broken, then, becoming pure again, they draw near to God;

'for all flesh shall see the salvation of God.' But it must be noted here that he called souls that have been made thick by vice 'the flesh of fools.'

And thus the Lord also says:

'so is a fool who returns, in his own wickedness, to his own sin.' He who has cast off his vice and turns back again to it is like a dog eating its own vomit.

'The sluggard who has hidden his hand in his bosom will not be able to bring it to his mouth.' If the tree of life grows from the fruits of righteousness, everyone who hides righteousness by injustice will not eat from this tree.

'As one who takes hold of a dog's tail, so is he who takes charge of a lawsuit not his own.' This saying should be applied against those who vote certain unworthy persons into the priesthood or into holy orders.

'With much wood a fire blazes;'

'but where there is no double-minded man, strife grows quiet.' He called the irascible man 'double-minded.'

"Smooth lips conceal a grieving heart." Grief will not overtake a pure heart;

for it has driven out from itself corruptible desires.

"If your enemy beseeches you with a loud voice, do not be persuaded by him." Satan beseeches us — at one time tickling us through impure thoughts and drawing us on by the smoothness of pleasure, and at another time even putting forth an articulate voice as though defeated — one must not be persuaded by him in either case, since he wages implacable war against us.

"For there are seven evils in his heart." These evils are opposed to the seven spirits.

"A soul that is full mocks honeycombs;"

"but to a soul in want even bitter things appear sweet." A pure soul delights in knowledge;

but an impure soul considers even falsely-named knowledge to be true knowledge.

"As a bird, when it flies away from its own nest, so a man is enslaved when he is estranged from his own places." The place of the heart is virtue and knowledge; estranged from these, a man falls into vice and ignorance and becomes a slave, since everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.

"The heart delights in ointments and wines and incense;"

"but the soul is shattered by misfortunes." A mind free from passion delights in manifold wisdom;

but a mind subject to passion will fall into ignorance.

"Do not abandon your own friend or your father's friend." "They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and hewn out for themselves cisterns." "And do not go, in misfortune, into your brother's house." Such was the one who came into the wedding feast and had no wedding garment.

"Better a friend nearby than a brother dwelling far away." Better is the one joined to me through true knowledge than the one joined to me only through nature.

"Take away his garment, for an insolent man has passed by, one who despoils what belongs to others." This is what is said in the Gospel: "and from him who has not, even what he seems to have will be taken away from him."

This signifies, I think, the remnants of the virtues and of the knowledge of God according to the understanding, which are taken away from those men who have made bad use of them.

"He who plants a fig tree will eat its fruits;"

"and he who keeps watch over his own master will be honored." Our master is the fig tree;

for its fruit heals leprosy.

"If you scourge the fool, dishonoring him in the midst of the assembly, you will by no means remove his folly." Not by dishonoring the fool will you turn him away from folly, but by teaching him what manner of dishonor folly brings upon him.

"You shall come to know the souls of your flock with knowledge, and you shall set your heart upon your herds;"

"for might and strength do not belong to a man forever, nor does he hand them down from generation to generation." Give heed to yourself and set your virtues in order, for men are not always equally strong in them, nor do they pass soundly from virtue to virtue or from knowledge to knowledge, since the human condition does not readily admit of this.

That by "generations" he means the virtues and the kinds of knowledge, according to which the saints are begotten, he shows through what he writes:

By this proverb he speaks also to the shepherds of the churches, who ought to pay heed not to faces, but to hearts, and to shepherd the sheep intellectually.

"Take care of the green plants in the field, and you shall shear grass and gather mountain hay." By "field" he means the mind, and by "green plants" the virtues potentially present within it; the one who takes care of these shears grass, which is a symbol of the knowledge of God — the same thing he also calls, again, "mountain hay."

For "mountain hay" is the knowledge of the holy powers, suited to the more irrational condition of souls.

It is the custom of Scripture to call the saints "mountains."

Thus David too lifts up his soul to the mountains, whence his help shall come;

the mountains skip like rams, and the hills like lambs of the flock, at the salvation of Israel.

For if the angels rejoice over one who repents, how much more over so great a multitude journeying from vice to virtue?

Therefore the knowledge of the holy angels alone nourishes the virtues within us, from which the soul puts on a heart of compassion, goodness, patience, humility, faith, self-control, love, and the goods that are begotten from love.

That David too calls the rational souls "fields" one may learn from the following:

"for your fields," he says, "shall be filled with fatness;"

and the valleys shall abound with grain;

they shall cry out, indeed they shall sing hymns;

but hymn and cry are naturally suited to occur only in the rational nature.

"A man valiant in impieties oppresses the poor, like a violent and unprofitable rain." If there is one valiant in impieties, there is also one valiant in virtues;

and if the one valiant in impieties oppresses the poor, the one valiant in virtues comforts the poor;

therefore everyone who comforts the poor is valiant in piety.

"Thus those who forsake the law praise impiety;"

"but those who love the law surround themselves with a wall." Everyone who loves the law does the law;

and everyone who does the law acquires freedom from passion and the knowledge of God.

But if those who love the law surround themselves with a wall, here the wall signifies freedom from passion and the knowledge of God, which alone are naturally able to guard the rational nature.

"An understanding son keeps the law;"

"but he who shepherds dissoluteness dishonors his father." By "shepherd" he means the mind, and by "sheep" the passion-laden thoughts within it, which, by nourishing them in himself through transgression of the law, he dishonors God.

For dissoluteness of the soul is passion-laden thoughts carried out through the body;

but dissoluteness of the mind is the acceptance of false doctrines and theories.

"He who increases his wealth with interest and excess gathers it for him who is merciful to the poor." If the wealth of the impious is vice, and wise men will destroy it, it is clear that the righteous and wise destroy vice, leading the impure back to virtue through spiritual teaching.

"He who turns his ear away from hearing the law, his prayer too is an abomination." It is not the law that abhors anyone's prayer, but the God who gave the law.

Scripture, foreseeing what was to come, puts "the law" in place of "he who gave the Scripture."

"He who conceals his own impiety will not prosper;"

"but he who declares [his] reproofs shall be loved." "I said:"

"I will confess against myself my lawlessness to the Lord, and you forgave the impiety of my heart." "A hungry lion and a thirsty wolf is he who, though poor, tyrannizes over a needy nation." If those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, then those who thirst and hunger for injustice are lions and wolves.

"A king lacking revenues is a great extortioner;"

"but he who hates injustice shall live a long time." The revenues of the wicked king are the vices and the false doctrines;

for these are what those ruled by him pay to him as revenue.

"He who stands surety for a man accused of murder shall be a fugitive, and not secure." He who stands surety for Satan stands surety for injustice, promising to render to him the fruits of injustice.

Concerning this the Gospel also speaks, of one who had been thrown into prison because of murder and insurrection.

"Discipline your son, and he will love you, and he will give ornament to your soul;"

"he will by no means obey a lawless nation." The lawless nation is the order of demons, whom the disciplined son does not obey.

"He who works his own land shall be filled with bread;"

"but he who pursues leisure shall be filled with poverty." He who purifies himself shall be filled with knowledge;

but the impure man shall be filled with ignorance.

"He who has no regard for the faces of the righteous is not good;"

"such a one will sell a man for a morsel of bread." If the faces of the righteous are the virtues, then he who has no regard for the virtues is not good.

And if the faces of sinners are the vices, then he who has no regard for the vices is good.

"The envious man hastens to be rich, and does not know that the merciful one will overpower him." Those who are merciful now, having received mercy from God in the age to come and having become angels, shall rule over the impious.

Such a dignity the Lord also promised to give to his disciples, that they should sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel;

and the throne, on which the mind is seated, is spiritual knowledge, which gathers together those who have strayed from the fear of God.

And here "to judge" signifies "to teach," just as also "Open your mouth with the word of God, and judge all soundly" means "teach."

At the same time one must also know this: that the merciful man, having overpowered the envious man, will not himself become envious, but will rather make the envious man merciful.

In the places of the impious the righteous groan;

but at their destruction the righteous will be multiplied. If the impious put away their being impious, they will become righteous;

for "destruction" here signifies the removal of impiety.

Thus also, when the Lord destroyed Matthew the tax collector, he granted him righteousness.

Better is a man who rebukes than a man who is stiff-necked;

for suddenly, while he is aflame, there will be no healing. He did not say that when the flame has ceased there is no healing, but that while he is aflame there will be no healing — as one who evidently still has wood, hay, and stubble, since indeed it is natural for health to come to those who are burned, after the cauterization.

But when the righteous is praised, the peoples will rejoice;

but when the impious rule, men groan. All who are under the principalities and the powers and the world-rulers of this darkness likewise groan.

A man who loves wisdom gladdens his father;

But he who shepherds harlots will destroy wealth. And he who nurtures evils will destroy knowledge.

The good shepherd is the mind that has acquired thoughts free from passion, and the evil shepherd is the mind that has acquired thoughts subject to passion.

But if this is so, then the kid is the thought subject to passion, and the sheep is the thought free from passion.

Wherefore the Lord also sets the goats on the left, and the sheep on the right;

By "goats" and "sheep" he means those who possess goats and sheep, that is, those who have thoughts subject to passion and thoughts free from passion.

Thus also he called those who have the tares "tares," and those who have the wheat "wheat," naming them from their worst and their best condition.

Such also is the saying in Paul, "Love does not boast," meaning, instead, "he who has love [does not boast]."

A righteous king raises up a land;

but a lawless man tears it down. Christ raises up the rational nature;

but the Antichrist tears it down.

The righteous knows how to judge for the poor;

but the impious does not understand knowledge, and the poor man has no discerning mind. Therefore the poor man is he who does not have a discerning mind.

He is mocked and does not cower. And concerning him, David says, "they will laugh and say:"

"Behold the man who did not make God his helper." Men who share in bloodshed will seek out the devout man;

but the upright will seek out his soul. He who seeks out the soul of the righteous is the one who wishes to understand the things that soul has thought.

The fool vents all his wrath;

but the wise man stores it up bit by bit. This one stores up his wrath bit by bit — either the one who grows angry over just matters, or the one who, through long-suffering, expends his wrath little by little.

And to the simpler [hearers] the first interpretation should be given, but to the more earnest the second.

There will be no interpreter for a lawless nation;

but he who keeps the law is blessed. For those who keep the law there will be an interpreter;

but for those who transgress the law there will be no interpreter, but rather a chastiser — since it is not the word but the rod that is given to a lawless nation.

A hard-hearted servant will not be trained by words;

for even if he understands, he will not obey. That no one is hard by nature is shown by the words, "for even if he understands, he will not obey;"

for one who is hard by nature would never understand anything rightly.

I say this on account of Pharaoh, who was hardened against Israel, and was trained not by words, but by plagues.