Ibid.—And he shall be taken away by the breath of his own mouth. 56. He is most grievously tormented on account of the loosened reins of his tongue.—For every proud man, the more he prevails in this life, the more boldly does he loosen the reins of his tongue to himself, so that he may speak whatever perverse things, fear nothing from his own words, strike these with insults, and hurl curses upon those. Sometimes indeed he is carried off into blasphemy against his Maker, as is said of such through the Psalmist: They have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has passed over the earth (Ps. lxxii, 9). Whence also the rich man, placed in the fire, asks that water be dropped upon his tongue from a finger (Luke xvi, 24). From which it is understood that where he had sinned more, there he burned more terribly.
Rightly, therefore, is it now said: And he shall be taken away by the breath of his own mouth, because he received the sentence of punishment by that very thing whereby he did not restrain the breath of his mouth under the fear of God. There follows: