Ecclesiastes 4

We desire each day to know what is new, and what is knowledge itself but our daily sorrow and abasement? All things that are have already been, and "nothing is new under the sun," but "all is vanity. Therefore I hated the whole of this life," said Ecclesiastes. He who hated his life certainly commended death. And so he praised the dead rather than the living and judged him happy that did not come into this life nor take up this vain toil. "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 person increases his sin as long as he lives, but if he dies, he ceases to sin.

He praised the innocent dead rather than the living because the latter were still engaged in the struggle but the former had been given their reward of everlasting happiness. He complained that he had seen deceit beneath the sun because he knew that above the sun there is a just judge "who dwells on high and looks down upon humble things." Above the sun there are dwelling places in which the righteous receive due rewards for their righteousness.

"I turned myself to other things," etc. Above we treated the vanity of malice in prelates; here in subjects. The vanity of malice is touched upon here with regard to a threefold distinction: first, of calumny, in maliciously harming; second, of envy, in maliciously grieving, there: "Again I contemplated"; third, of sloth, in withdrawing from good work, and this is touched upon there: "The fool folds."

He therefore describes the emptiness of calumny; and with regard to the consideration of calumny he says: "I turned myself to other things," supply: to be considered; "and I saw the calumnies that are committed under the sun," that is, in this world: Ezekiel twenty-two: "The people of the land practiced extortion and seized by violence; they afflicted the needy and the poor and oppressed the stranger with calumny without justice." And calumny is called the violent extortion of goods, as if through justice, but through malice.

And he adds the aggravation of misery, on account of the calamity of the oppressed, because they are oppressed unjustly, inconsolably, irremediably.

Because unjustly, he says: "And the tears of the innocent," namely on account of such calumnies: Job thirty-five: "Because of the multitude of oppressors they will cry out, and they will wail because of the violence of the arm of tyrants."

Because inconsolably: "and no one to console them," which indeed aggravates the cruelty; whence Lamentations one: "There is none to comfort her among all her dear ones." On the contrary, Ecclesiasticus seven: "Do not fail those who weep in consolation, and walk with those who mourn."

Nor does he lack only consolation, but indeed a remedy; whence he also adds: "Nor able to resist their violence, destitute of all assistance," supply: I saw. Of this malice it is said in Proverbs twenty-two: "Do not do violence to the poor because he is poor, nor crush the needy at the gate." Therefore 2 Chronicles twenty: "In us there is not such great strength that we can resist this multitude that rushes upon us."

And leaving all these reflections, I considered and turned in aversion from all the forms of oppression which are done among men; whence some receiving injury weep and lament, who are struck down by violence in utter default of those who protect them, or who should by all means comfort them in their trouble. And the men who make might their right are exalted to an eminence, from which, however, they shall also fall. Yea, of the unrighteous and audacious, those who are dead fare better than those who are still alive. And better than both these is he who, being destined to be like them, has not yet come into being, since he has not yet touched the wickedness which prevails among men. And it became clear to me also how great is the envy which follows a man from his neighbours, like the sting of a wicked spirit; and I saw that he who receives it, and takes it as it were into his breast, has nothing else but to eat his own heart, and tear it, and consume both soul and body, finding inconsolable vexation in the good fortune of others. And a wise man would choose to have one of his hands full, if it were with ease and quietness, rather than both of them with travail and with the villany of a treacherous spirit. Moreover, there is yet another thing which I know to happen contrary to what is fitting, by reason of the evil will of man. He who is left entirely alone, having neither brother nor son, but prospered with large possessions, lives on in the spirit of insatiable avarice, and refuses l to give himself in any way whatever to goodness. Gladly, therefore, would I ask such an one for what reason he labours thus, fleeing with headlong speed from the doing of anything good, and distracted by the many various passions for making gain Far better than such are those who have taken up an order of life in common, from which they may reap the best blessings. For when two men devote themselves in the right spirit to the same objects, though some mischance befalls the one, he has still at least no slight alleviation in having his companion by him. And the greatest of all calamities to a man in evil fortune is the want of a friend to help and cheer him. And those who live together both double the good fortune that befalls them, and lessen the pressure of the storm of disagreeable events; so that in the day they are distinguished for their frank confidence in each other, and in the night they appear notable for their cheerfulness. But he who leads a solitary life passes a species of existence full of terror to himself; not perceiving that if one should fall upon men welded closely together, he adopts a rash and perilous course, and that it is not easy to snap the threefold cord. Moreover, I put a poor youth, if he be wise, before an aged prince devoid of wisdom, to whose thoughts it has never occured that it is possible that a man may be raised from the prison to the throne, and that the very man who has exercised his power unrighteously shall at a later period be righteously cast out. For it may happen that those who are subject to a youth, who is at the same time sensible, shall be free from trouble—those, I mean, who are his elders. Moreover, they who are born later cannot praise another, of whom they have had no experience, and are led by an unreasoning judgment, and by the impulse of a contrary spirit. But in exercising the preacher's office, keep this before your eyes, that your own life be rightly directed, and that you pray in behalf of the foolish, that they may get understanding, and know how to shun the doings of the wicked.

"And I returned and contemplated all the acts of oppression that are committed beneath the sun: Behold! Tears of the oppressed with none to comfort them, and their oppressors have the power - with none to comfort them. "After considering this I turned my eyes and attention to this, so that I saw the slanderers and those sustaining chicanery. And look on those who, oppressed unjustly by more powerful men, are not able to find a comforter for their tears. For this is only permitted in disasters and in protest at the ill will of the matter. And wherever there is more distress and inconsolable suffering they see the slanderers as stronger in their difficulties. And this is the cause: because they are not worthy of consolation. He describes this idea more fully in the seventy-second psalm of David, and Jeremiah in his own book.

But with regard to the detestation of fault he adds: "And I praised the dead more than the living," namely because they do not see these evils and cruelties, which no good person can see and not grieve: 3 Kings nineteen, Elijah said: "It is enough for me, Lord; take my soul, for I am not better than my fathers."

The question is raised here concerning what he says: "I praised the dead more than the living."

Against: 1. Below in chapter nine: "A living dog is better than a dead lion."

2. Furthermore, this seems evident by reason: because a positive state is better than a privation, therefore life is better than death; therefore, from conjugates, the living are better off than the dead.

I respond: it must be said that to praise one thing more than another, or to prefer it, can be done in two ways: either absolutely, or with respect to some condition. Speaking absolutely, the living is preferred to the dead, unless the condition of blessedness is added; but with respect to something, the dead is preferred to the living: first, because he does not have so many occasions of sinning; whence the Apostle said in Romans 7: "Unhappy man that I am, who will deliver me from the servitude of this body?" Second, because he does not have so many occasions of sorrow, since he does not see so many evils; Jonah, last chapter: "It is better for me to die than to live." And with respect to this condition, the dead is preferred to the living, to emphasize present evils and miseries.

"So I consider more fortunate the dead, who have already died, than the living, who are still alive. But better than either of them is he who has not yet been, and has never witnessed the evil that is committed under the sun." In comparison with the difficulties, which trouble mortal men in this world, I had judged the dead to be happier than the living according to that which Job says in his argument regarding the dead: " there they rested with tired bodies, with those who had been in chains, now without cares, not hearing the voice of the expeller." [Iob. 3, 17, 18.] But it is better for these two, for the living it seems and for the deceased, who has not yet been born. For one man will suffer ill, another unclothed will escape it as if from a shipwreck. Moreover he who has not yet been born is happier in that, becausehe has not yet experienced the ill of the world. But he says this, not because he who has not yet been born, exists before he has been born, and he is happier in this, since he has not yet been weighed down by his body; but better to be sure is not existing, or not having a sense of wealth, than either being unhappy or living unhappily. Just as the Lord speaks to Judas, referring to his coming anguish: "it was better for that man never to have been born" [Matth. 26, 24.], since it would have been better for sure for him not to have existed, than to suffer eternal torture. Some people in fact understand this passage in this way: they say they are better, who have died, than those who are living, it is permitted to them before they were sinners [Cfr. Origines peri Archon I. 5,5 ; Hier. Epist 124, 3. sqq]. For until now the living were in battle and were held back as if closed in by the prison of the body; but those who have opposed death are already without cares and have stopped sinning. Just like John, in which he was not greater in respect to the sons of women, he is less than him, who is the lowest in the realm of heaven and is freed from the burden of the body. He does not know how to say like the apostle: "I am a wretched man, who will free me from the body of this death?" [Rom. 7, 14.]. But he says he is better than those two, who has not yet been born, nor does not see the wickedness, by which men are oppressed in the world. For our souls mingle among the gods, before descending to these bodies and are blessed so long as the heavenly ones are held in Jerusalem and in the choir of angels.

"And I judged happier than both," namely than the dead and the living, "him who has not yet been born nor seen the evils that are under the sun"; as though to see or to have seen these evils were a great misery: 1 Maccabees two: "Woe to me, said Mattathias, why was I born to see the destruction of my people and the destruction of the holy city, and to sit there?" — Thus therefore there is noted here the consideration of calumny, the aggravation of misery, because they are oppressed, desolate, destitute of assistance, and then the detestation of fault.

Likewise, there is a question about what is said: "I judged him who has not yet been born happier than both."

Against: 1. He has nothing good; therefore he is not happier.

2. Furthermore, everything that has in some way the character of happiness is to be desired; but no one can desire non-being, as Augustine says; therefore he who has not been born is in no way happy.

Likewise, it is asked whether anyone can will this, namely to prefer non-being to punishment, with a rightly ordered appetite.

That he can: Matthew 26: "It would have been better for him if he had not been born"; therefore if everything better is to be desired and preferred, so also is this.

That he cannot, it seems, because it takes away all good; therefore nothing is worse than that.

I respond: it must be said that happiness is in someone in two ways: truly and by estimation. Truly it is in one thing alone; by estimation it is in many things, according to diverse opinions and considerations and its conditions found in diverse things. For because it is the most delightful good, Epicurus therefore placed it in pleasures, and so with the others. Because, therefore, the happy person is troubled by no evil or misery, and this condition is found in him who has not yet been born, by reason of this condition he says: "I judged happier," etc. I say also that by reason of that condition, it is desired by many who are afflicted.

As to what is asked, whether it ought to be desired or preferred: it must be said that punishment is twofold, temporal and eternal. Neither punishment takes away the whole, but nevertheless eternal punishment always diminishes it; corruption into non-being, however, takes away the whole, but only once. If, therefore, such corruption into non-being is compared to temporal punishment, it is absolutely worse; but if compared to eternal punishment, they stand as mutually exceeding, because the former exceeds in what it takes away, the latter in its continuance. And because the latter is infinite in duration, while the former is momentary, in this respect it exceeds and can more reasonably be fled and spurned.

Wise, therefore, was he who forbids us even to dine in company with an envious person, and in mentioning this companionship at table, he implies a reference to all other social contacts as well. Just as we are careful to keep material which is easily inflammable as far away as possible from fire, so we must refrain insofar as we can from contracting friendships in circles of which envious persons are members. By so doing, we place ourselves beyond the range of their shafts. We can be caught in the toils of envy only by establishing intimacy with it. In the words of Solomon, "A man is exposed to envy from his neighbor." And so it is. The Scythian is not envious of the Egyptian, but each of them envies a fellow countryman. Among members of the same nation, the closest acquaintances and not strangers are objects of envy. Among acquaintances, neighbors and fellow workmen, or those who are otherwise brought into close contact, are envied, and among these again, those of the same age and kinsmen and brothers. In short, as the red blight is a common pest to corn, so envy is the plague of friendship.

"I again contemplated" etc. Here secondly is touched upon the vanity of envy, in grieving maliciously over the good and prosperity of one's neighbor, which he also saw; whence he adds: "I again contemplated." This contemplation is a free, penetrating, and fixed gaze. "I contemplated," I say, "all the labors and industries of men: labors," as regards the body; "and industries of men," as regards the soul.

Or: "labors and industries," that is, virtues; whence another translation: "Every virtue of work"; above in chapter two: "I detested all my industry, by which I most diligently labored under the sun." "And I observed," that is, I perceived in my mind, that they "lie open," that is, are exposed, to the "envy of one's neighbor," because the envious person, seeing good things, immediately grieves; Ecclesiasticus chapter fourteen: "Evil is the eye of the envious, turning away his face and despising his own soul." "And in this therefore is vanity," namely of malice; Proverbs chapter twenty-eight: "The man who hastens to become rich and envies others," etc. "And superfluous care," namely of punishment, because, when he ought to think about his own goods, he always thinks about those of others; whence Proverbs chapter twenty-three: "Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods, because like a diviner he reckons what he does not know."

Likewise, a question is raised about what he says: "I observed that all things are exposed to the envy of one's neighbor." I ask whether a man ought to cease from a good work on account of his neighbor's envy.

It seems that he should: because one's neighbor is to be loved more than any present advantage; therefore, if one's neighbor perishes through envying, that work ought to be omitted.

On the contrary: A good work provides a good example and stirs to good; therefore, if a good is to be made manifest for praise, a man ought not to conceal it on account of his neighbor's envy.

I respond: that work is either of necessity, or of utility. If of necessity, it is by no means to be abandoned. If of utility, either it can be done equally well in his absence as in his presence, or not: if so, a man ought to remove that work from his eyes, so as to take away the occasion, when he reasonably conjectures that the other envies; but if he cannot, he ought to do it, and he does not give the occasion, but the other takes it.

I have seen, he says, every sort of wickedness and boldness in the one who is evil. For, such a one [as Satan] thinks he is brave even when in [his] ungodliness he oppresses the poor or again, sees himself as a "creature" who was "made to be mocked by the angels" of God. Also I have seen all the jealousy that he has acquired towards human beings, which is vain and governs his heart, since God certainly "will become all in all." And when God does so, this will fulfill the prayer of Christ, which said, "Grant that they also may be one in us, as you and I are one, Father."

"And I saw that all labour and skilful enterprise spring from man's rivalry with his neighbour. This, too, is futility and a vexation of the spirit! " I turned my attention once again to other things and I saw the strength and honour of those men who were toiling, and I discovered the good of one man to be the evil of another, while the envious one is tortured by another's happiness, and the boastful lies open to trickery. For what is more vain, what is for nothing like the spirit in this way, than for man to weep for misfortunes that are not his own, or to bemoan his own sins, or be envious of better men.

Let one who still doubts hear the testimony of the Gospel, for the Son of God said, "We have played for you, and you have not danced." The Jews who did not dance and knew not how to clap their hands were abandoned, but the Gentiles were called and applauded God in spirit. "The fool folds his hands together and eats his own flesh," that is, he becomes involved in the concerns of the body and eats his own flesh, just as does all-powerful death. And such a one will not find eternal life. But the wise person who lifts up his works that they may shine before his Father who is in heaven has not consumed his flesh; instead, he has raised it to the grace of the resurrection. This is the wise person's honorable dance which David danced, mounting by the loftiness of his spiritual dance to the throne of Christ that he may see and hear the Lord saying to his Lord, "Sit at my right hand."

But if any one is in want by gluttony, drunkenness or idleness, he does not deserve any assistance or to be esteemed a member of the church of God. For the Scripture, speaking of such persons, says, "The slothful hides his hand in his bosom and is not able to bring it to his mouth again." And again, "The sluggard folds up his hands, and eats his own flesh." "For every drunkard and whoremonger shall come to poverty, and every drowsy person shall be clothed with tatters and rags." And in another passage [we read], "If you give your eyes to drinking and cups, you shall afterwards walk more naked than a pestle." For certainly idleness is the mother of famine. .

"The fool folds" etc. Here thirdly is touched upon the vanity of sloth, on account of which a man is rendered weary and lazy toward every good and thereby foolish. Therefore he says: "The fool folds his hands"; therefore a fool, because lazy; Proverbs chapter twelve: "He who pursues idleness is most foolish"; Proverbs chapter six: "Go to the ant, O sluggard, and learn wisdom." This fool "folds his hands," because he refuses to work; Proverbs chapter twenty-six: "The sluggard hides his hands under his armpit and finds it labor if he brings them to his mouth." And from this, that he refuses to work, he becomes poor and thin on account of the want of poverty; whence he says: "And he eats his own flesh," saying: this is said hyperbolically, because he becomes thin, not having food; Proverbs chapter twenty-one: "Desires kill the sluggard, for his hands refused to do anything."

"The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh." This is the man that is described as slow to comprehend in Proverbs [Cfr Prov. 19, 24.], holding his chest in his hands. For poverty, although he is a fast runner, catches up with him and he eats his own flesh because of the extent of his hunger, but this is said in exaggeration. He is the sort of man who thinks that having one fist of corn and living idly and in a stupor is better than filling each hand by working. But he sows everything so that he can show that he that both works and acquires possessions leaves himself open in the world to envy. Conversely he that desires to live a simple life is oppressed by poverty and because of this both of these two is poor: while the one runs a risk on account of his wealth, the other is consumed by want because of his poverty. Or indeed perhaps it is to be understood in this way: he who envies the happiness of another man is seized as if by the fury of the spirit, and takes envy into his lap, and nourishes it in his heart: thus it is he eats his soul and his flesh. For as much as he sees that man whom he envies as happier, he himself more so wastes away and perishes, and little by little becomes more full of envy and jealousy. Another way of reading this is: his hands are taken on many occasions to lead him to work, just as the passage which states, "the act of the Lord which is done in the hand of Haggai" [Hagg. 1, 1.], or of Ecclesiastes, or of his prophet, because he has done such work, that he appears to be worthy, in whose work is the speech of the Lord. And the man, who corresponds to this man is David, "who leads my hands in battle" [Ps. 143, 1.]. Therefore the fool embraces his hands, that is he draws them together and doesn't want to open them, and so does not eat the toil of his hands, which he does not have, but his flesh, living by the wisdom of his flesh and eating the toil of his flesh.

But if any one is in want by gluttony, drunkenness or idleness, he does not deserve any assistance or to be esteemed a member of the church of God. For the Scripture, speaking of such persons, says, "The slothful hides his hand in his bosom and is not able to bring it to his mouth again." And again, "The sluggard folds up his hands, and eats his own flesh." "For every drunkard and whoremonger shall come to poverty, and every drowsy person shall be clothed with tatters and rags." And in another passage [we read], "If you give your eyes to drinking and cups, you shall afterwards walk more naked than a pestle." For certainly idleness is the mother of famine.

But in this laziness of sloth he seems to himself to have an excuse of wisdom; whence he also adds, saying: "Better is a handful with rest than both hands full with labor and affliction of spirit." This is the maxim of the sluggard, by which he excuses himself; whence it is said in Proverbs chapter twenty-six: "The sluggard seems wiser to himself than seven men who speak maxims." — And thus is intimated in the sluggard the torpor of sloth, because he folds his hands; the endurance of penury, because he eats his flesh; the excuse of ignorance, because he praises rest.

The "chasing after wind," I believe, refers to the will of the soul caught up with passions. That is why a handful of virtue is better than two handfuls of wickedness, ignorance and "chasing after wind." … It is as if someone said it is better to learn contemplation of one spiritual thing than to have numerous visions of foolish wisdom.

"Better is one handful of pleasantness than two fistfuls of labour and vexation of the spirit." It is better to have modest power, than great riches of sins. And in Proverbs it says, "To receive a little through righteousness is better than gaining much by injustice." [Prov. 16, 8.] Justice rightly has rest, injustice toil. And since a single number is always seen in a good context and a dual seen as wickedness, therefore one fist has rest, and two hands are full of toil.

According to the words of Solomon, "A single handful with repose is better than two handfuls with toil and presumption of spirit." All those who are very weak are inevitably entangled in these illusions and losses. Even though their own salvation is in doubt and they still stand in need of others' teaching and instruction, they are prompted by diabolical illusions to convert and to govern others. And even if they have been able to acquire some gain and to make some conversions, they will lose whatever they got because of their impatience and their immoderate behavior. .

As Solomon says, "Better is a single handful with rest than both hands full with labor and vexation of mind." And in these allusions and inconveniences all that are in the least weak are sure to be entangled. Even as they doubt their own salvation and stand in need of the teaching and instruction of others, they are incited by the devil's tricks to convert and guide others. And even if they succeed in gaining any advantage from the conversion of some, they waste whatever they have gained by their impatience and rude manners.

Above he treated the vanity of malice; here he treats the vanity of avarice: and first is set forth the consideration of avarice; second, because the avaricious man does not wish to have a companion, in detestation of it is set forth the commendation of the fellowship of another, at the passage: "It is better therefore that two be together" etc.

In the consideration therefore of the vanity of avarice he says: "Considering, I found another vanity under the sun," namely another, because what was spoken above was of malice, but this is of avarice.

"Then I returned and contemplated futility beneath the sun: a lone and solitary man who has neither son nor brother, yet there is no end to his toil, nor is his eye ever sated with riches, nor does he ask himself, 'For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of goodness.' This too is futility, indeed, it is a sorry task." I turned to other people and I saw that they work more than is necessary and amass wealth by good and bad means and do not use it once accumulated; they have all things, brood over their riches, keep it for another, and do not enjoy their work. Then at the end of their life they have neither son nor brother, nor close friend so that the pious work seems reserved for necessities only. And so I discovered nothing more vain than that man, who collects riches, or to whom an ignorant man bequeaths them. We are even able to understand this in a religious interpretation, and understand it as those, who write books and leave them to fastidious readers. Some say that this passage from where it says "there is one, but there is not a second" is about the Saviour, because he came down to save the world alone and without any companion. And although there are many sons of God, they are called his brothers by adoption, though not one remains worthy, who should be joined to him in this work. There is no end to this work, for those carrying our faults and sins and suffering for us; and his eye will not be filled by riches, but always with those desiring our safety, and the more you see his sins, the more he encourages him to repent.

Whence he adds: "There is one alone, and he has not a second, neither son nor brother," and he ought to be content with little as one who is alone, because he does not even wish to have a companion: Ecclesiasticus 11: "I have found rest for myself, and now I will eat of my goods alone"; and yet he is wholly consumed by avarice both in deed and desire and understanding. In deed: whence he says: "And yet he does not cease to labor": Ecclesiasticus 31: "The rich man has labored in gathering substance." In desire: "His eyes are not satisfied with riches": Ecclesiasticus 14: "The insatiable eye of the covetous in a portion of iniquity shall not be satisfied." In understanding: whence he adds: "Nor does he reflect, saying: For whom do I labor and defraud my soul of good things?" Psalm 38: "He stores up treasures and knows not for whom he shall gather them." From these things therefore he infers vanity: "In this also there is vanity and a most grievous affliction": below in chapter 5: "Riches kept to the hurt of their owner: for they perish in a most grievous affliction."

The vanity of avarice renders one busied, and through this subject to many labors: Ecclesiastes 4: Considering, I found yet another vanity under the sun: there is one alone, and he has not a second, and yet he does not cease to labor, nor are his eyes satisfied with riches. For riches are foreign gods, concerning which, in Jeremiah 16: You shall serve foreign gods, who will give you no rest day or night.

"It is better, therefore, that two be together" etc. Here is touched upon secondly the commendation of the companionship of another, and this in detestation of the solicitude of avarice: on account of which he says: "It is better, therefore, that two be together," although the avaricious man would prefer otherwise: and he subjoins the reason: "For they have the advantage of mutual companionship": and therefore, in Luke 10, the Lord "sent the disciples two by two before his face."

And he shows a threefold advantage: namely in raising up, in preserving, and in defending.

Here it is asked concerning the solitary life, whether it should be preferred to companionship. That it should, it seems:

1. Because it is said in Lamentations 3 concerning the good youth: "He shall sit alone and keep silence": therefore it is good to be alone.

2. Furthermore, Bernard says: "As often as I have been among men, I returned less a man": therefore it is not good to be among men.

3. Likewise, whoever is in companionship must necessarily be anxious about how to conform himself to the companionship: but the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 7 that it is good not to marry in order to avoid anxiety about pleasing a wife: therefore likewise it is good to flee all companionship.

On the contrary: 1. Genesis 2: "It is not good for man to be alone": therefore solitude is blameworthy, and by the opposite, companionship is praiseworthy.

2. Likewise, Matthew 18: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them": he does not say: where one, but where two or three: therefore life in congregation is better than the solitary life.

3. Likewise, this is proved by this text, because companionship supports, warms, and defends, which are three goods of which the solitary are deprived.

I respond: it must be said that solitude is threefold: one through lack of love, as the miser does not wish to have a companion in riches, nor the envious in goods, nor the proud in great things: and this solitude is altogether evil. Another solitude is through want of consolation, as it is said in the Psalm: "I am alone and poor," and this is wretched. And there is another solitude through the quiet of contemplation, and this is praiseworthy and honorable.

Similarly, companionship exists in a threefold manner: one namely that disturbs and hinders, as the companionship of the wicked: another needing support and solace, as the companionship of wives and the infirm: and another that aids and advances, as the companionship of the perfect. The first is to be fled, the second to be tolerated, but the third to be sought: and this exists in religious life. When therefore Scripture commends companionship, it is understood of this kind: and this does not conflict with the solitude of contemplation, because Bernard says on the Canticles: "Among many a man can be entirely alone, if he flees curiosity." And thus the objections are answered.

"Two are better than one, for they get a greater return for their labour. For should they fall, one can raise the other; but woe to him who is alone when he falls and there is no one to raise him! Also, if two sleep together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone? Where one can be overpowered, two can resist attack; A three-ply cord is not easily severed!" After the misfortunes of loneliness in which he has been seized, and he who torments himself in acquiring wealth without a definite heir, now the subject of companionship is treated. And it asks what good ther is in a tent of friends and what comfort there is in company, since one man's distress or domestic strife is lifted by another's help, (any man who has a faithful friend will sleep better all that night, than he who sleeps only with his wealth which he has amassed. And if a stronger enemy rises up against one man, the weakness of one is sustained by the comfort of friends. And just as two differ from one if they are joined in love, so the tent of three is stronger. For even true charity, which has been violated by no envy increases as much in number as it grows in strength. And this idea is conveyed in relatively few words. But since previously we have placed the discussion of the intelligence of certain men before Christ, those things which are still left must be discussed by the same order. It is better for two to be equal, than one. For it is better for a man who lives alone to have Christ, than alone to leave himself vulnerable to ill-intentioned plots. Since the reward of the tent is shown at once in the very usefulness of society. For if one man fell, Christ would raise up his partner. Woe indeed to him who collapses, he will not have Christ rising up in him. For if one sleeps, that is, if he had been dissolved by death and had Christ with him, he will revive more quickly having been made warm and given life once again. And if the devil, being stronger in his attack, should attack a man, the man will stand, and Christ will stand in place of this man, in place of his companion. Not because virtue is weak (the virtue of Christ alone) against the devil, but because the decision of man is left free and for us, who are dependent, but virtue itself will become stronger through fighting. And even if the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit should come, that friendship is not broken easily. But although it is not broken easily, it will be broken nonetheless at some point. And the cord from the apostle to Judas was threefold: but after the breaking of the bread Satan entered him and that cord was broken. More precisely what he says above is, "and even if two are sleeping, then they will be warm: and how will one keep warm on his own?" We can take an example from Elisha, because he is in a pact with a lad, and slept with him and warmed his body, and in this way revived the recovering boy. [Cfr IV Reg. 4, 32-36.] Unless therefore Christ sleeps with us and rests in death, we are not able to receive the heart of eternal life.

Fittingly does Ecclesiastes say, "For if one falls, he raises up his companion." He himself is not raised up, for Christ was not raised up by another's help and power, but he himself raised himself. Indeed, he said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. This he said of the temple of his body." It is well that he who did not fall should not be raised by another, for one who is raised by another has fallen, and one who falls needs help to be raised up. Additional words also teach this when Scripture says, "Woe to him that is alone: for when he falls, he has none to lift him up. And if two lie together, they shall warm one another." We have died with Christ, and we live together with him. Christ died with us to warm us, and he said, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth."

In the solitary life, what is at hand becomes useless to us and what is wanting cannot be provided, since God the Creator decreed that we should require the help of one another, as it is written, so that we might associate with one another. Again, apart from this consideration, the doctrine of the charity of Christ does not permit the individual to be concerned solely with his own private interests. "Charity," says the apostle, "seeks not her own." But a life passed in solitude is concerned only with the private service of individual needs. This is openly opposed to the law of love, which the apostle fulfilled, who sought not what was profitable to himself but to many that they might be saved. Furthermore, a person living in solitary retirement will not readily discern his own defects, since he has no one to admonish and correct him with mildness and compassion. In fact, admonition even from an enemy often produces in a prudent person the desire for amendment. But the cure of sin is wrought with understanding by him who loves sincerely. Holy Scripture says, "for he that loves, at times corrects." Such a one it is very difficult to find in solitude, if in one's prior state of life one had not been associated with such a person. The solitary, consequently, experiences the truth of the saying, "Woe to him that is alone, for when he falls he has none to lift him up." Moreover, the majority of the commandments are easily observed by several persons living together, but not so in the case of one living alone, for while he is obeying one commandment, the practice of another is being interfered with. For example, when he is visiting the sick, he cannot show hospitality to the stranger, and in the imparting and sharing of necessities (especially when the ministrations are prolonged), he is prevented from giving zealous attention to [other] tasks. As a result, the greatest commandment and the one especially conducive to salvation is not observed, since the hungry are not fed nor the naked clothed. Who, then, would choose this ineffectual and unprofitable life in preference to that which is both fruitful and in accordance with the Lord's command?

On account of raising up he says: "If one falls, he will be supported by the other": Deuteronomy 22: "If you see the donkey of your brother fallen on the road, you shall not despise it, but shall lift it up with him." The solitary man lacks this benefit: therefore he adds: "Woe to him who is alone, because when he falls, he has no one to raise him up," and therefore he is wretched: whence in the Psalm: "Look upon me and have mercy on me, for I am alone and poor."

Spiritually here is noted the threefold effect of charity, namely mutual raising up, mutual consolation, and mutual defense. On account of raising up he says: "If one falls": Galatians, the last chapter: "If a man is overtaken in any fault, you who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meekness": whence it is said in Ecclesiasticus 37: "Set the heart of good counsel with you."

And since, where anyone has fallen, he must lie there, unless someone lends a hand and assists him to rise: our soul could not be perfectly raised from these sensible things to the contemplation of itself and of the eternal Truth in itself, unless the Truth, having assumed human form in Christ, had become for it a ladder repairing the prior ladder, which had been broken in Adam.

Since the majority of persons who intend to lead a life of virginity are still young and immature, they must concern themselves with this before all: the finding of a good guide and teacher on this path, lest, on account of their ignorance, they enter upon trackless places and wander away from the straight road. For, as Ecclesiastes says, "Two are better than one." The one is easily overcome by the enemy lying in ambush on the divine road, and truly, "woe to the solitary man, for if he should fall he has no one to lift him up." In the past, certain people have made an auspicious beginning in their desire for this life, but, although they have attained perfection in their intention, they have been tripped up because of their vanity. They deceived themselves, through some craziness, into thinking that that was fair toward which their own thought inclined. Among these, there are those called "the slothful" in the Book of Wisdom, who strew their path with thorns, who consider harmful to the soul a zeal for deeds in keeping with the commandments of God, the demurrers against the apostolic injunctions, who do not eat their own bread with dignity but, fawning on others, make idleness the art of life. Then there are the dreamers who consider the deceits of dreams more trustworthy than the teachings of the Gospels, calling fantasies revelations. Apart from these, there are those who stay in their own houses, and still others who consider being unsociable and brutish a virtue without recognizing the command to love and without knowing the fruit of long-sufferinility.

"And he began to send them forth two by two." He sent them two by two that no one of them, being abandoned and alone, might fall into a denial, like Peter, or flee, like John. Human frailty quickly falls if it proudly relies on itself, despises companions and is unwilling to have a colleague. As Scripture says, "Woe to him that is alone, for when he falls, he has none to lift him up." The same Scripture testifies how much one is strengthened by another's aid, when it states, "A brother that is helped by his brother is like a strong city."

Do not follow the wolf instead of the shepherd, or enter into a flock that is diseased. Do not be alone by yourself, lest you be seen carried off by the wolf who destroys souls or succumb to one disease after the other and so die spiritually, or, as you succumb, you attain to that woe. He who gives himself in the hand of a good teacher will have no such worries but will live without anxiety and be saved in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

As for the advantage in preserving he adds: "And if two sleep together, they will warm each other," that is, they will be preserved from the cold: Ephesians 5: "No one has hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it." The solitary man lacks this benefit: whence he adds: "One alone," if he sleeps, "how will he be warmed?" An example of this: in 3 Kings 1 it is said that David had grown old and could not be warmed, and it is added that they sought Abishag the Shunammite, who slept in the bosom of the king and warmed him: by himself he could not be warmed, since he was alone.

Spiritually, on account of consolation he says: "They will warm each other": 1 Thessalonians 5: "Comfort the fainthearted": and in the same, chapter 2: "We became little ones in your midst, as if a nurse were to cherish her children."

Paul fled too, that he might pass out through a window and be lowered in a basket. Yes, he knew that the triple-stranded rope could not break, but he fled so that he might preach the gospel of the Lord in the entire world, and consequently he was taken up into paradise. Let us also flee through the window while heeding the Lord's precepts and keeping them with steady vision and chaste eyes.

As for the advantage in defending he adds: "And if anyone prevails against one, two will resist him," and thus it avails for defense: 2 Kings 10: "If the Syrians prevail against me, you shall be an aid to me: but if the sons of Ammon prevail against you, I will come to your aid." And this indeed he makes manifest by an example: "A threefold cord is not easily broken." Just as a cord joined to a cord is stronger, so also is a man: Proverbs 18: "A brother who is helped by a brother is like a strong city."

Spiritually, on account of defense he says: "Two will resist": Isaiah 50: "Let us stand together: who is my adversary?"

On account of this threefold effect of charity it is called a threefold cord: Hosea 11: "I will draw you with the cords of Adam, with the bonds of charity."

By a "cord," faith is expressed, as Solomon witnesses, who says, "A threefold cord is not easily broken" because the faith in truth that is woven by the mouth of preachers from the knowledge of the Trinity remains firm in the elect. It is broken only in the heart of the reprobate.

"Better is a child," etc. He treated above of the vanity of malice and avarice: here he treats of the vanity of imprudence: and because the vanity of imprudence is culpable and detestable, therefore he inveighs against it in two ways: first, on account of present evil; second, on account of succeeding or consequent evil, at: "I saw all the living."

The present evil accompanying imprudence is that it subjects a rich and elderly king to a poor boy who possesses prudence, and this indeed is a great vanity. And therefore he says: "Better is a poor and wise boy than an old and foolish king," although the latter surpasses in power, surpasses in wealth, surpasses even in age; below in chapter ten: "More precious is wisdom and a little glory for a time than folly"; and Proverbs twelve: "Better is a poor man who is sufficient for himself than a boastful man who lacks bread." And he explains what he said: foolish, because he has a deficiency of foresight regarding the future, which is one part of prudence: whence he says: "Who does not know how to foresee for the future," namely the outcome of events: Deuteronomy thirty-two: "Would that they were wise and understood and foresaw the last things."

Spiritually, this can also be expounded concerning Christ. The poor and wise child is Christ, a child on account of innocence: whence Isaiah forty-two, according to another reading: "Behold, my child, my chosen one, my soul is well pleased in him." Poor, because he was made needy for us: Second Corinthians eight: "You know, brothers, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor, though he was rich." Wise, indeed Wisdom itself, First Corinthians one: "We proclaim Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God"; and below in chapter nine: "There was found in it a poor and wise man."

The old and foolish king is the devil, who is old; Job forty: "He is the beginning of the ways of God": whence "he has grown old in evil days." A king, because he reigns among the wicked: whence Job forty-one: "He is king over all the children of pride." Foolish, because he undertook what he could not accomplish: whence Isaiah fourteen, he said: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God."

"Better is a poor but wise youth, than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to take care of himself; because from the prison-house he emerged to reign, while even in his reign he was born poor. I saw all the living that wander beneath the sun throng to the succeeding youth that steps into his place. There is no end to the entire nation, to all that was before them; similarly the ones that come later will not rejoice in him. For this too is futility and a vexation of the spirit." Symmachus translates this passage in this way: "better a poor man who has wisdom, than an old and foolish king who does not know to beware of change". For the one leaves the body to reign in heaven, and the other indeed, although he had been born a king, is restricted by poverty. I saw all men living, who grow up under the sun in propitious adolescence, which increases in them. Each and every nation that was before is unending, and those that come after do not rejoice in the previous. But this too is empty and a vexation of the spirit. My Hebrew tutor, whose teachings I often refer to, bore witness while he was reading Ecclesiastes with me, that Bar Akiba wrote these things above the present passage, and he is greatly admired by other scholars: better is the inner part of man, which arises in us after the fourteenth year of puberty, than the outer, physical man, who is born from his mother's womb, and he does not know how to abstain from vice because it comes to this that he rules over his vices from the house of chains, that is from his mother's womb. For he is made poor because of his power and by carrying out all wicked deeds. I saw those men, who lived as those former men, and were changed afterwards into that second man, in him that has been born in place of the former. And I understood that all men sinned in that prior manhood, before the second is born, when they become two men. But once these men have changed for the better, and after the learning of philosophers, they leave the left path and hurry towards the right, and they follow the second man, that is the newest man, and do not rejoice in him that is the former. The apostle agrees with these two types of men [Cfr Rom, 7, 15.] and Leviticus also mentioned them: "Man, man" [Cfr Lev. 17, 13; 19, 20; 21, 17. etc.] who desired this or that. That saintly man Gregorius Pontus the bishop, to whom Origen preached, understands the passage in the following way in his" Metaphrasis of Ecclesiastes:" "I however prefer a youth who is poor yet is growing wise, to an old king who is foolish, to whom it never occurs that it is possible for someone from those whom he has conquered, will leave the body to reign in heaven; and then he destroys himself from his unjust power. For it happens though that those who were growing wise at the time of youth are without sadness; but that they changed before the time of becoming an old king. For those that have been born afterwards, since they do not know the wickedness that has gone before, they are not able to praise youth, which arises afterwards, and are led astray by perverse ideas and by the force of the opposing arguments." [Grego. Neocaesar. Metaphr. In Eccl. -PG 10, 1000 A] Laodicenus has asserted that great matters are expressed in this short passage, and he wrote here in his accustomed fashion: "Ecclesiastes now speaks about the change of good men into wicked, expressing the foolish man as he who tries, and who not thinking of the future, enjoys the transient and failing things as if they are great and perpetual. And after the many things which usually happen (or change) to men in their life, he asserts something of a general opinion of death, since the great number perishes and little by little is consumed and pass across, with each one leaving the other in his place, and another's successor dying." [Apollinarius Laodic.] Origines and Victorinus [Origenes. Victorinus Poetouion] did not think very differently on this matter. After the general statement that reveals to all that the poor yet wise youth is better than an old king who is foolish, and that it often happens that the lad leaves the prison of the king because of his wisdom, and commands in place of a cruel dictator, and as a foolish king loses all his power, which he had obtained. They saw this passage in relation to Christ and the devil, because they wished to view the poor and wise boy as Christ. The poor boy is the same as that one in "it is great for you to be called my boy" [Is. 49, 6. According to LXX], but the poor man, since he has been made poor [cfr II Cor. 8, 9.], when once he was rich and wise, because "he was proficient in age and wisdom and thankful to God and men." [Luc. 2, 52.] That man is born in the reign of an old man and therefore he says, "if this was my rule in the world, that my servants struggle on my behalf so that I am not handed over to the Jews. But now it is not my rule." [Ioh. 18, 36.] So in the reign of that foolish old man who displays all the rule of the whole world and his glory, the most excellent boy comes from the house of chains, about which Jeremiah speaks in Lamentations, saying, "so that he lowers to the feet of that man all those who have been conquered in the world." [Thren. 3, 34.] And that boy goes on to rule and goes away to a far off region, and as king after some time is turned against those, who do not want to rule. So with some insight Ecclesiastes saw that all men who are alive and who are able to be part of youth, say, "I am life" [Ioh. 14, 6.], having left behind them that old foolish king, to follow Christ. At the same time the two nations of Israel are to be understood here. The first, which was before the arrival of the Lord, and the next, which will support the Antichrist in place of Christ, for the first is not deep down despondent, since the first church was formed from Jews and the apostles; and in the end the Jews, who will support the Antichrist, will not rejoice in Christ.

"That from prison and chains sometimes one goes forth to a kingdom": Wisdom ten: "She did not abandon the just man who was sold into bondage, but freed him from sinners, until she brought him the scepter of the kingdom." "And another, born to a kingdom, is consumed by want," and this on account of his pride: Ecclesiasticus ten: "The Lord has destroyed the thrones of proud rulers and has made the meek to sit in their place."

Spiritually, although the devil is most cunning at deceiving, he nevertheless does not know how to foresee that one goes forth from prison to reign, so that Christ goes forth from the prison of the flesh and from the bonds of the Passion to the kingdom of heavenly glory: Hebrews one: "He sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high." Even the devil, born into the kingdom, that is, to possess the kingdom, is consumed by want, as it is said in Colossians two: "Despoiling principalities and powers, he led them away openly."

Here is touched upon secondly the evil succeeding on account of his imprudence, because he himself is cast down and another is exalted: whence he says: "I saw all the living who walk under the sun," that is, many or innumerable, hyperbolically, "with the second youth," that is, who follows him in the kingdom: whence he says: "who shall rise up in his place." And so others follow the succeeding youth, despising the old man. The example is of David, who rose up to the kingdom of Saul, whom the children of Israel followed, having abandoned the house of Saul, as is said in Second Kings five, that all came to David.

Spiritually: "And I saw all the living under the sun with the second youth," that is, Christ: John twelve: "Behold, the whole world has gone after him." He rises up because he cast the devil out of the kingdom: John twelve: "Now is the judgment of the world, now shall the prince of this world be cast out."

And the reason why they follow the youth, having abandoned the old man, is because the foolish old man did good to no one; and the following text implies this: "Infinite is the number of the people of all who were before him," that is, before the coming of the youth they were under the foolish king and adhered to him. "And those who shall be afterwards," supply: those adhering to the old man, "shall not rejoice in him," that is, in the foolish old man, because he did good to no one nor will he, because he does not know how: Ecclesiasticus twenty: "The fool shall have no friend, nor shall there be gratitude for his goods; for he does not distribute with right judgment what ought to be given." And from this he concludes vanity: whence he says: "But this also is vanity and affliction of spirit," that is, another vanity from those previously mentioned, above in chapter one: "I saw all things that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity"; and the reason is subjoined: "The perverse are corrected with difficulty, and the number of fools is infinite." And thus the section on the vanity of fault is concluded.

Spiritually: "The infinite number of men who were before him," that is, before the coming of Christ: and the faithful, "who shall come after, will not rejoice in him," that is, in the foolish king, that is, the devil, because they rejoiced only in Christ: whence the Apostle, the last chapter of Philippians: "Rejoice in the Lord always." One must rejoice in the Lord, not in the devil.

"Guard your foot when you go to the House of God; better to draw near and hearken than to offer the sacrifices of fools, for they do not consider that they do evil." He gives some general precepts for life, and does not want to offend us, who go to church. Since it is praiseworthy in his view, not just to enter the House of God, but to enter without offence. And if it was intended for all who are in the church of God to hear this passage, he would never have added, "and approach so that you might hear". But then it was only Moses who approached near to God to hear [Cfr Ex. 24, 2.], the other men were not allowed. For the foolish commit sins, not knowing that there is a remedy; they think that they can satisfy God with the offering of gifts, and do not know that this is also evil and a sin; for they want to make correction for what they have done, not with obedience and good work, but with gifts and sacrifice. What others have said elsewhere agrees with this too: "obedience above sacrifice" [I Reg. 15, 21.]. And "I want pity and not sacrifice". [Os. 6, 6.]