Wisdom of Solomon 10

The Christ, who died for us, descended into the realms of death, not of necessity but by power, and loosed the pains of hell. In this way it must be understood that Wisdom released Adam from his crime. Not without reason does the church believe that he was released from those bonds by the holy flesh of the only Son of God—of whom Adam was the progenitor, being the father of the human race and thus also the father of the Christ, who was made man for the salvation of human beings—not by his own merit but by the grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

It must be understood that, according to the book of Wisdom, Adam was released from his crime. That book does not say this as an accomplished fact, but predicted it as future, though using the past tense. It says, "He freed him from his fall," just as it was said, "They have pierced my hands," and all the other events that are said there of the future using the verbal form of the past tense.

She protected him etc. In the preceding chapters he admonished rulers specifically to acquire wisdom, and this by reasons taken from the peril of the office of those whom he admonishes, namely in chapter six; secondly, by reasons taken from the example of him who admonishes, in chapters seven, eight, and nine. Here thirdly he exhorts them to the same by reasons taken from the many effects and benefits of wisdom, to which he urges them. Now wisdom is beneficent by advancing the wise, namely her friends, and by punishing the foolish, the adversaries of the wise. Therefore he treats first of the benefits pertaining to the advancement of the friends of God, namely in this chapter; secondly, of those pertaining principally to the punishment of adversaries, namely in chapter eleven and thereafter.

Thirdly he exhorts to acquiring wisdom by reasons taken from its effects, and first from the benefits pertaining to the advancement of the friends of God. In the first part he first sets forth the benefits conferred upon individual persons; secondly, the benefits bestowed upon one people: She protected the just people.

In the first part he shows the benefits of wisdom in six individual persons among the ancient Patriarchs: first, in the person of Adam, when he says: She protected him, who was first etc.; secondly, in the person of Noah, there: From her when he departed; thirdly, in the person of Abraham: She also, in the conspiracy of pride; fourthly, in the person of Lot: She delivered the just man from those perishing; fifthly, in the person of Jacob: She moreover the fugitive etc.; sixthly, in the person of Joseph: She the just man who was sold. In the first, concerning Adam, he shows the benefit first of grace, secondly of nature.

She protected him. I have rightly said that through wisdom all were healed, which is evident through examples. She indeed, namely wisdom, him, namely Adam, who first, of all men, was formed by God, namely immediately; Job 10: "Your hands have made me" etc. The father of the world, that is, who was to be the father of the whole human race; Malachi 2: "Is there not one father of us all"? When he had been created alone, namely before the formation of the woman; Genesis 2: "It is not good for man to be alone." It should be noted that formed is said with respect to the body; hence Genesis 2: "God therefore formed man from the slime of the earth"; and created, with respect to the soul; Genesis 1: "God created man in his image and likeness" etc. When alone, I say, he had been created, she protected him, namely from sin in the earthly paradise in the state of innocence. "For he placed him in paradise, to work and to guard it," Genesis 2.

There is no doubt that the man was made in the image of God and that God, as is written in another text, "gave him power to rule all things." Yes, all things were under him, but above him was the One who created all. And the man had responsibility for everything that was under him, but even more so, he had to attend to the One above him. Keeping in mind the One who was above him, he would have peacefully dominated what was below him. Separating himself from the One who was above him, he came to be dominated by what was below. Take the example of three people. One of them has a servant and also a master (it often happens that wealthy servants have servants under them). Note well: such a person has a servant and a master. He is subject to the one and commands the other. With respect to the servant he is superior, with respect to the master he is inferior. In the third position we place the one who is the servant of the servant, and in the first position the one who is the master of the master. In the middle is the one who is servant and master—the master of his servant and the servant of his master. The third is therefore only a servant, the first only a master, whereas the one in the middle is both servant and master. He will possess his servant peacefully if he is not in conflict with his master. And yet we have spoken of three persons, all three of the same race, all three of the same essence, all three of the same nature. The same cannot be said of the following three: God, human beings and creatures inferior to human beings. Of an entirely different condition and of a very different substance are the maker and what is made, the producer and the product, the craftsman and his work, the creator and his creature. As for created things, by a generic term they are all called creatures, but they differ between them in nature, dignity, merits and condition.

And she led him out, namely, the woman having already been made, him who had become a transgressor, Genesis 3, from his transgression, namely through the infusion of penitence and the remission of fault. And it should be noted that here the penitence of Adam is expressed more explicitly than elsewhere.

And she led him out of the slime of the earth, namely on the part of the body: Ecclesiasticus 17: "God created man from the earth." And gave him power, that is, authority, to contain all things, by ruling all things and having dominion over all, and this on the part of the soul, namely through reason, according to that passage in Genesis 1: "Have dominion over the fish of the sea," etc.; likewise in the Psalm: "You have subjected all things under his feet."

From this, etc. Here he shows the benefit of wisdom specially bestowed upon Noah and upon those who were with him in the ark, when it delivered him from the flood and destroyed the wicked. And first he touches upon the first cause of the destruction of the wicked; second, the first cause of the deliverance of the good.

He says therefore: From this, namely wisdom, when he departed: Proverbs 1: "Fools despise wisdom and doctrine"; for by this, that one departs from wisdom, one departs from God: above, chapter 1: "Perverse thoughts separate from God": the unjust one, namely Cain, who is called unjust antonomastically, because he was the head and exemplar of the unjust: in his wrath, by which he was wrathful against his brother Abel: Genesis 4: "Why are you wrathful," etc. Through the wrath of murder, that is, which wrath was spiritual murder, according to that passage in 1 John 3: "He who hates his brother is a murderer"; or transitively, so that the sense would be: Through the wrath of murder, that is, which was the cause of corporeal murder: whence Genesis 4: "Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him." Brotherhood perished, that is, the fellowship of brotherhood, Abel having died corporally and Cain spiritually.

On account of which etc., namely sin: for that sin was the first cause of the corruption of Cain's posterity, from which corruption spread even to a great part of Seth's posterity: and that was fulfilled in Genesis 6, where it says: "All flesh had corrupted its way." When the water destroyed the earth, destroying, namely, earthly man from the surface of the earth: Genesis 6: "I will destroy man, whom I created, from the face of the earth." For all perished who were written in the earth, namely the wicked, of whom Jeremiah 17: "Those who depart from you shall be written in the earth"; destroying also all flesh living on the earth according to Genesis 7: "All flesh was consumed that moved upon the earth." Wisdom healed again, namely the world, just as she had previously healed Adam: she healed, I say, the world, namely by purging it of wicked men: through a contemptible wood "that is, through the ark," contemptible in its material and despised by those who believed it was being built in vain, the just one, "namely Noah," of whom Genesis 6: "Noah was a just man" etc.: governing, namely delivering him from drowning amid the floods of waters: 2 Peter 2: "He preserved Noah, the eighth, a preacher of justice, bringing a flood upon the world." Now that wood signified the cross, because it is contemptible to unbelievers, although to the faithful it is venerable; whence 1 Corinthians 1: "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing" etc.: likewise in the same place: "We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews indeed a stumbling block" etc.

She also in the agreement etc. Here he touches upon the benefit of wisdom conferred in the person of Abraham, first with respect to himself: second, in his posterity.

He says therefore: This one, namely wisdom, and, also, when the nations, that is, the people of that time persisting in the vice of their birth, had exalted themselves, that is, had carried themselves beyond their measure by elation of heart and striving of work, against which it is said in the Psalm: "Lord, my heart is not exalted," etc. In the consent of pride, that is, coming from pride, by which consent, or which pride, they wished to build a tower reaching up to heaven and to make their name famous: both of which were pride, Genesis eleven. When, I say, the nations had exalted themselves etc.; she knew, namely wisdom, by approving and choosing and separating from the wicked: Second Timothy two: "The Lord knows who are his"; on the contrary, to the wicked it is said, Matthew seven: "I never knew you": the just one, namely Abraham, who is called the just one par excellence. And she preserved him without blame before God, "in the midst of a depraved and perverse nation," which was difficult: Luke one: "They were both without blame." And in his children, that is, his descendants, she kept strong mercy, namely by multiplying them out of his mercy and strongly defending them from adversaries and finally conferring upon them the land of promise, as he had promised, Genesis thirteen and fifteen and seventeen.

This one the just from the perishing etc. Here he shows the benefit of wisdom conferred in the person of Lot, who was freed from the destruction of Sodom, and first he touches on the liberation of Lot: second, the punishment of the others; third, the equity of the punishment.

This one, namely wisdom, the just one, "namely Lot," as the Gloss says; likewise Second Peter two says of him: "In sight and hearing he was just": from the perishing impious, namely from the company of the perishing impious, that is, of the Sodomites: she freed him as he fled, both from the fellowship of guilt, according to that passage in the same place: "He rescued the just Lot, oppressed by the injury and wanton conduct of the wicked": and from the fellowship of punishment: concerning both liberations, it is found in Genesis nineteen. When fire descended, from heaven, not sent from the earth; in the same place: "The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire" etc.; upon the Pentapolis: the Gloss: "That is, upon the region of the five cities," namely Sodom, Gomorrah, Segor, Seboim, and Adamah.

To whom, namely those perishing, as a testimony of wickedness, namely of burning and foul lust, smoking, that is, emitting smoke from itself; whence in the Psalm: "Smoke ascended in his wrath": the desolate land stands, namely desolate of plants and trees: Job twenty-eight: "The land from which bread arose in its place was consumed by fire": likewise in the Psalm: "A fruitful land into saltness, from the wickedness of those dwelling in it." And at a certain, namely determined, time, trees bearing fruit, useless, as is said, because it is reported that fruits grow there outwardly beautiful, but inwardly ashy and full of cinders: the Gloss: "They show that without the fruit of penance, damned souls will burn in hell for eternity." And a figure, that is, a statue, of salt, for seasoning all who hear and see with the salt of wisdom against the corruption of carnal concupiscence or foolishness: a figure, I say, standing as a memorial, that is, a remembrance: Luke seventeen: "Remember the wife of Lot"; a memorial, I say, of an unbelieving soul, that is, of the unbelief of Lot's wife, who looked back, refusing to believe the Angel who forbade it, as is evident in Genesis nineteen.

It should be noted, moreover, that the desolate land testifies to their uselessness for good works; the smoke, their blinding by carnal concupiscence; the useless fruits, their evil manner of life; the statue of salt, their dissolution and corrupting putrefaction through carnal concupiscence.

For wisdom etc., as if to say: and deservedly they were thus punished: for passing over wisdom, that is, the Sodomites casting it aside, and therefore wretched; whence above in chapter three: "He who casts aside wisdom and discipline is wretched": therefore also they perished, according to that passage in Baruch three: "Because they did not have wisdom, they perished on account of their foolishness": nor did they only perish because they passed over wisdom, but they also left a memorial of their foolishness. And this is what he adds: Not only etc. Passing over wisdom, I say, not only did they fall into this, that they should be ignorant, namely with the ignorance of which First Corinthians fourteen says: "If anyone is ignorant, he shall be ignored": of good things, namely those pertaining to their own life and salvation. But also of their foolishness, because "they were compared to foolish beasts and made like unto them": they left a memorial to men, as regards evil fame, namely thus, so that in those things in which they sinned, that is, so that in those sins which they committed, they could not even be hidden, because they did not wish to be hidden, but sinned publicly: Isaiah three: "They proclaimed their sin as Sodom and did not hide it." And therefore the Lord willed that their sins be made known to the whole world through public punishment.

Sin lies hidden by the cunning of sinning: 2 Kings 12: "You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel." By the pretense of holiness: Matthew 23: "You are like whitewashed sepulchres," etc. Of dignity or of prelacy by the authority, according to that saying of Gregory: "No one does more harm in the Church than he who, acting perversely, holds the name or rank of holiness; for no one presumes to rebuke such a one, and the fault spreads powerfully as an example, when the sinner is honored out of reverence for his rank."

"They will see the death of the wise. The foolish and the senseless will perish as well, and they will leave their riches to others." He thus arrives at the second way of teaching when he says that the sinners of this world will die along with the wise and that their riches, which they loved exceedingly, will be given as an inheritance not to their own but to strangers, which hurts even more. Not even their own heirs would enjoy the possession of those things for which they committed every kind of sin, as Solomon says: "Not even in the things in which they sinned were they able to rejoice." The sinner sees that the wise of this world, like, for example, Solon of Athens, Philo of Lacedemonia, Aristippus, and all the others who were highly praised for worldly wisdom, are not free from death. Rather, he sees that they die, like all those whom he considered to be partakers of divine Wisdom. It then says that "the foolish and the senseless will perish together." It is indeed necessary that the foolish and the senseless perish in desperation, knowing that their wise ones die. Nevertheless, these things must be understood in a more spiritual way. The senseless are those who did not want to listen to the proclamations of the prophets. Rightly called foolish are those who did not want to receive Christ the Lord, even when he came in person. They will perish together, because they will be condemned in the future judgment. The Jews left their riches to strangers, since, having despised the Lord and Savior, the rewards of their salvation passed to other peoples. - "Explanation of the Psalms 48.11"

"They will see the death of the wise. The foolish and the senseless will perish as well, and they will leave their riches to others." He thus arrives at the second way of teaching when he says that the sinners of this world will die along with the wise and that their riches, which they loved exceedingly, will be given as an inheritance not to their own but to strangers, which hurts even more. Not even their own heirs would enjoy the possession of those things for which they committed every kind of sin, as Solomon says: "Not even in the things in which they sinned were they able to rejoice." The sinner sees that the wise of this world, like, for example, Solon of Athens, Philo of Lacedemonia, Aristippus, and all the others who were highly praised for worldly wisdom, are not free from death. Rather, he sees that they die, like all those whom he considered to be partakers of divine Wisdom. It then says that "the foolish and the senseless will perish together." It is indeed necessary that the foolish and the senseless perish in desperation, knowing that their wise ones die. Nevertheless, these things must be understood in a more spiritual way. The senseless are those who did not want to listen to the proclamations of the prophets. Rightly called foolish are those who did not want to receive Christ the Lord, even when he came in person. They will perish together, because they will be condemned in the future judgment. The Jews left their riches to strangers, since, having despised the Lord and Savior, the rewards of their salvation passed to other peoples.

But Wisdom, as if to say: just as those unjust ones were punished for their contempt of wisdom: but, meaning on the contrary, wisdom those who her, namely wisdom, observe, that is, who diligently keep her in heart, word, and deed: delivered from sorrows, namely of eternal punishments, concerning which Isaiah 50 says: "You shall sleep in sorrows"; likewise in the Psalm: "The sorrows of death surrounded me."

Therefore it is necessary to have another brightness, namely that of gratuitous knowledge, which is the form of the two preceding brightnesses. You fail in the third sign if you do not have this knowledge. This knowledge is of truth as believable and lovable, a holy awareness. Of this knowledge it is said in the book of Wisdom: "The Lord led the just one through right ways and showed him the kingdom of God, He honored him in his labors and gave him the knowledge of the Saints." Gratuitous knowledge is called the knowledge of the Saints for a threefold reason.

But she conducted the fugitive etc. Here he touches upon the manifold benefit of wisdom bestowed upon the person of Jacob, of which the first was his advancement in good: the second, his preservation from evil: the third, assistance in triumph.

She, namely wisdom, the fugitive from the wrath of his brother, namely the one fleeing and turning away from the wrath of his brother, or from his angered brother: Genesis twenty-seven: "Behold, Esau your brother threatens to kill you. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, and arise and flee to Laban, my brother." The just one, namely Jacob, according to that passage in Genesis thirty: "My justice shall answer for me tomorrow": she guided through straight paths: The Gloss: "Through Mesopotamia": Deuteronomy thirty-two: "The Lord alone was his guide." Straight, he says, because "the path of the just is straight," as is found in Isaiah twenty-six. And she showed him, namely on the way through an imaginative vision, the kingdom of God, because "he saw a ladder reaching up to heaven," Genesis twenty-eight. But the devil shows the kingdom of the world: whence Matthew four: "He showed him all the kingdoms of the world." And she gave him the knowledge of the saints, that is, the understanding of sacred things, because "understanding is needed in a vision," as is found in Daniel ten: of sacred things, I say, which he had seen, she gave him understanding, that is, so that he might understand what the ladder which he had seen signified, and the ascent and descent of the Angels. For the ladder is obedience, through which the Angels ascend to attend upon God and descend to minister to us: Daniel seven: "Thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him." She made him honorable: The Gloss: "That is, she enriched him," according to that passage in Ecclesiasticus eleven: "It is easy in the eyes of the Lord to suddenly make a poor man honorable": and he speaks according to human custom, which is accustomed to regard the wealthy as honorable persons. In his labors, that is, on account of his labors, not through injustice and plunder, as many enrich themselves. But such riches do not make one honorable nor blessed, but rather one's own labors, or riches acquired from just labors: in the Psalm: "For you shall eat the labors of your hands, blessed are you," etc. And she brought to completion, that is, she led to the desired end, namely by bringing him back to his father in the land of Canaan: his labors: The Gloss: "Which he endured in tending sheep," concerning which, Genesis thirty-one: "Day and night I was scorched by heat and frost."

She the fugitive etc. From this place up to: In the fraud of those circumventing, there is touched upon the manifold benefit that the Lord bestows upon His Saints, of which the first is justification at the beginning of their conversion: Romans 8: "Those whom He called, them He also justified": and this is touched upon when it says: The just one. The second is guidance in the progress of one's way of life: She guided him etc.: in the Psalm: "Your good Spirit will guide me into the right land." The third is the showing of the kingdom in grace or in the secret of contemplation: She showed him: Exodus 33: "I will show you all good." The fourth, instruction in the knowledge of the divine will: And she gave him the knowledge of holy things: Baruch 4: "Blessed are we, O Israel, for the things that are pleasing to God are made known to us." The fifth is ennoblement, that is, enrichment in the abundance of merit and virtue: She enriched him etc.: Job 5: "You shall enter the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in at its time." The sixth, completion in reward: And she completed etc.; above in chapter four: "Being made perfect in a short time, he fulfilled long times, for his soul was pleasing to God": likewise above in chapter three: "The fruit of good labors is glorious."

In the fraud of those circumventing him, that is, of those wishing to circumvent him, "Laban and his sons," as the Gloss says: she stood by him, namely by guarding him, lest he be deceived or harmed: Genesis 31: "Your father has circumvented me and changed my wages ten times." And she made him honorable, the Lord, that is, wealthy: Genesis 31: "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and enriched from his possessions, he has become illustrious."

Likewise, the fruit of wisdom is born of the last four by contrast. Corresponding to this fruit, there are four acts, for wisdom is comforting, struggling, contemplating, and extolling. It is also struggling, against evil: "Better is wisdom than weapons of war." Again, Wisdom "gave him a strong conflict, that he might overcome and know that wisdom is mightier than all." It is also contemplating the Supreme Good: "For she is fairer than the sun." Wisdom makes the soul taste the Supreme Good and be united to it.

She guarded him from enemies, namely from Laban and his sons who were pursuing him and wishing to despoil him: Genesis thirty-one: "Unless the God of my father had been with me, perhaps you would have sent me away empty." And from deceivers she protected him, namely from Esau and his men, who perhaps intended to seize him when they were coming to meet him. But the Lord changed the heart of Esau through the offering of gifts which Jacob sent ahead to him, as is clear from Genesis thirty-two. And she gave him a strong contest, the Gloss explains this of the contest against Laban and his sons, Genesis thirty-one, or against Esau: or more truly it can be understood of the contest in which he wrestled with the Angel, Genesis thirty-two: with the Angel, I say, stronger than himself. For if a wicked angel is so strong that "there is no power on earth that can be compared to him," as is found in Job forty-one: how much more a good Angel? So that he might conquer, namely the contest itself: Hosea twelve: "In his strength he was directed with the Angel and prevailed," etc. So that he might conquer, I say, and know, namely by obtaining the victory, through wisdom, that is: that wisdom is mightier than all things, because she is powerful to deliver from any evil man: whence Genesis thirty-two: "If you have been strong against God, how much more shall you prevail against men"?

She the just one who was sold. Here he shows the benefit of wisdom bestowed upon the person of Joseph, and first in his deliverance: second, in the exaltation of the one delivered.

She, namely wisdom, the just one, "that is, Joseph"; for out of justice he accused his brothers of their crimes before his father: Genesis thirty-seven: "He accused his brothers before his father of a most wicked crime"; the one sold, "namely by his brothers," who "sold him to passing Ishmaelites," in the same place: did not abandon, namely by withdrawing from him: in the Psalm: "The Lord will not abandon his Saints forever." But she delivered him from sinners, from the wife of Potiphar and his servants, "when he was accused of adultery," Genesis thirty-nine. And she descended with him into the pit: the Gloss: "Of the prison": for he was handed over into the prison in which "the king's prisoners were kept," where wisdom descended with him, which was evident because "she gave him favor with the chief of the prison," Genesis thirty-nine.

And in the chains of the prison she did not abandon him, because through the wise interpretation of dreams she freed him from his chains, Genesis forty-one. Until she brought him the scepter of the kingdom, that is, the principate over all of Egypt after Pharaoh: whence in the same place: "You shall be over my house," etc.: and power, namely of judging or of vindicating himself, if he had willed, against those who were oppressing him: that is, against his brothers, who had oppressed him, upon whom he struck great terror, as is clear from Genesis forty-two. And she showed those who had stained him to be liars, namely with the stain of infamy, namely the wife of Potiphar and his servants: Job thirteen: "First showing you to be fabricators of lies and cultivators of perverse doctrines." For through his divine exaltation it was shown and believed that the whole thing was a lie, with even the woman herself perhaps acknowledging this afterward. Concerning this stain of infamy, Ecclesiasticus forty-seven: "You placed a stain upon your glory." And gave him eternal renown, namely of perpetual fame, according to that word of the Psalm: "The just shall be in everlasting remembrance": or of eternal glory, namely when Christ led him together with the other Patriarchs from hell into glory. "Ascending on high, you led captivity captive."

It should be noted that in the aforesaid six persons six ways are touched upon by which wisdom delivers the saints, according to that word of Job five: "In six tribulations he will deliver you, and in the seventh evil shall not touch you." For she delivers from the temptation of the enemy, as with Adam; from the temptation of the corruption of concupiscence, as with Noah, while the rest perished on account of the corruption of the flesh; likewise, from the temptation of pride and interior haughtiness, as Abraham from the pride of the giants which might be imitated, or from the imitation of pride; likewise, from exterior temptation, namely of wicked example and corrupt conduct, as with Lot; likewise, from the temptation of human deceit and circumvention, as with Jacob; likewise, from the temptation of worldly adversity, as with Joseph.

Likewise it should be noted that there are three enemies of ours, namely the devil, the flesh, and the world, signified by the three enemies of Solomon, concerning which see 3 Kings eleven. Now the temptation of the demon is twofold, namely exterior and visible, interior and invisible. Deliverance from the first is signified in the deliverance of Adam; from the second, in the deliverance of Abraham. The temptation of the flesh is likewise twofold, namely according to nature and against nature. Deliverance from the first was signified in the deliverance of Noah; from the second, in the deliverance of Lot. The temptation of the world is likewise twofold, namely through fraud and violence. Deliverance from the first is signified in the deliverance of Jacob; from the second, in the deliverance of Joseph.

Joseph is put in prison. Our Joseph, the Christ, as Isaiah says, "was numbered among the wicked." The innocent man is led among the guilty by the wisdom of God, which "descended with him," as it was written, "into the pit and did not abandon him in chains." Our Joseph, Christ, exclaims, "I have become like a man without strength, free among the dead." What follows—that is, that the chief jailer saw how full of grace Joseph was and gave all of the keys and all oversight into his hands13—had to happen in the sense that, to him before whom the heavens bowed down in the figures of the sun, the stars and the moon, and the earth in the figure of the sheaves, would also submit the subterranean creatures of the prison, so that before our Joseph, Christ, "every knee would bow, of heavenly beings, of earthly beings and of those under the earth." Nor do I find it incompatible with the mystery of our Lord's passion that two of Pharaoh's eunuchs were thrown into prison with him, so that in a certain sense the number of the three crucified would be fulfilled. Our Joseph, Christ, revealing the mysteries, had to punish the one with a merited punishment and save the other by a gratuitous grace. These sacred acts were done then under the veil of allegory, so that the full revelation would be reserved to us.

She delivered a just people. After he has shown the benefits of wisdom conferred upon individual persons, here he shows the benefit bestowed upon one people: and first the general benefit is touched upon, second the special benefit, third the thanksgiving for both.

This, namely wisdom, a just people, "namely the Israelite people," justified through faith, according to that passage in Romans 5: "Justified by faith": or: just, through the working of good; and a blameless seed, namely through the avoidance of evil: seed, "namely of the Patriarchs," as the Gloss says: likewise Tobit 2: "We are the children of the Saints": delivered etc. Of this deliverance he set forth a twofold cause, namely the goodness of the people, when he says: A just people: secondly, the holiness of the Fathers, when he says: And a blameless seed she delivered from the nations, "that is, from the Egyptians," remaining in the vice of their birth. Who oppressed him, that is, vexed them, "namely in clay and brick" and straw, as is evident from Exodus 1. And note that through this oppression or vexation can be understood the vexation of the devil, by which he vexes his servants in the works of the clay of lust and the brick of avarice and the straw of pride: Exodus 3: "Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people" etc.

She entered etc. Here he touches upon special benefits, first those done in Egypt: secondly, after the departure from Egypt: thirdly, in the departure itself.

She entered, that is, wisdom herself, into the soul of the servant of God: Gloss: "That is, of Moses," above in chapter 7: "Through nations she transfers herself into holy souls": likewise Exodus 4: "I will be in your mouth and will teach you what you shall say." And she stood, namely steadfastly: whence Exodus 9: "Moses stood before Pharaoh": she stood, I say, against dreadful kings: Gloss: "Pharaoh and other princes": in wonders, that is, in greater miracles, and in signs, lesser ones, "which she worked in Egypt"; whence Exodus 7: "I will multiply my signs and portents in the land of Egypt"; Ecclesiasticus 45: "He magnified him in the sight of kings": above in chapter 8: "Dreadful kings shall fear me."

We read that it is written of wisdom, "Its memory is immortal, by the fact that it is recognized by God and by human beings." How can it be recognized by human beings if it is not interior to them, but exterior? It cannot be recognized if it does not enter the soul of the person. It is said of wisdom, "Though remaining in itself, it renews all, and through the ages it enters holy souls." And so that we should not think that to move into souls is something different than to enter them, the text of Scripture refers to it again with these words, "It freed a holy people and a blameless race from a nation of oppressors. It entered the soul of a servant of the Lord and withstood fearsome kings with wonders and signs." This entry into souls is also proclaimed in the Apocalypse of John: "See, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone listens to my voice and opens to me, I will come to him, I will sup with him, and he with me." By this same movement the Father and the Son enter the one who loves them, and they establish their dwelling in him, as the Son says: "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and the Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him." And if this coming of the Father and the Son to the one with whom they make their dwelling were exterior and not interior, we would then like to know: where will they come to, and where will they make their dwelling with him? Moreover, we have seen that Christ dwells interiorly in his faithful ones, as Paul proclaims, saying, "That Christ would dwell in your hearts through faith."

And she rendered to the just: Gloss: "Of the Israelite people": the reward of their labors: Gloss: "The promised land," which he had previously promised to them: Genesis 12: "To your seed I will give this land." And she led them, namely to the aforesaid land, by a wonderful way: Gloss: "Through the desert": in the Psalm: "In a desert land, pathless and waterless." This way, moreover, was wonderful, because it was in no way passable for so great a host without many miracles. Whence it follows: And she was to them a covering by day, that is, from the heat of day, namely "through a pillar of cloud": and in the light of stars by night, that is, in place of the light of stars, and this "through a pillar of fire," as the Gloss says: Exodus 13: "Never was the pillar of cloud lacking by day nor the pillar of fire by night"; likewise Isaiah 4: "The Lord will create over every place of Mount Sion etc., a cloud by day" etc.

If you love God with your whole heart and meditate on the books of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, committing yourself to doing what you have read, then the spirit of wisdom will rest on you. Indeed, "all wisdom comes from the Lord" (and it could not be otherwise), since, "it has always been with him and exists from before time." If you seek it and keep it once you find it, you will be blessed and can be called wise. Moreover, "it will guide you on a marvelous way," sustaining and protecting you with its holy right hand. It will bring you to eternal life, which gives happiness, and will let you feel its embrace, and on you will rest the spirit of wisdom.

God gives to Moses the following instructions for the celebration of the Passover—that is, of that passage that represents all of the action of our faith and the mystery of the passion of the Lord. The Jews were to ask the Egyptians for gold and silver objects and clothing and, carrying them away, to despoil the Egyptians of what they had given them under the devastating shock of the loss of the firstborn. Fearing also for themselves, the Egyptians sent the Jews away with all they had given them, so that "to the just," as the prophet says, would be restored "the reward of their labors." Considering the two cities they built for the Egyptians, the spoils the Jews carried away in no way constitute a theft but only the restitution of what was owed them. In fact, this passage had a mystical sense. According to the divine command, they must slay an unblemished year-old lamb under the tent, bathing the doorposts of the house with its blood. None of its bones are to be broken. It must be eaten with bitter herbs and unleavened bread, with loins girded, in all haste. Nothing must be left for the next day. The authority of the Gospel tells how all of these instructions, which had a symbolic sense, are to be fulfilled. It commands us to eat the flesh of lambs until that day that will have no sunset—that is, until the resurrection—"not with the old yeast but with the unleavened bread of purity and truth." We are to eat after marking with his blood the doorposts of those on whose foreheads his cross will shine, eating "with bitter herbs," it says, that is, with those who pass a bitter life in grief. But these latter are blessed, because they will be consoled.

And she brought them across etc., namely in the departure from Egypt, through the Red Sea: Exodus fourteen: "The water was divided, and the children of Israel entered through the midst of the dry sea." Now it is called the Red Sea from the color which it derives from the adjacent red earth. And she carried them across through the exceeding water, namely of the sea itself, whose waters were for them as a wall on the right and on the left, in the same place. And note that he says through the Red Sea with respect to quality, through the exceeding water with respect to quantity.

But their enemies, namely the Egyptians, she submerged in the sea: Exodus fifteen: "The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he cast into the sea": likewise: "They sank as lead," etc. And from the height, that is, the depth, of the nether regions, "that is, of unspeakable afflictions," as the Gloss says: she brought forth them, namely the children of Israel, in this, namely, that their enemies, who wished to kill them by sending them thither, he sent or cast thither: Ecclesiasticus, the last chapter: "From the depth of the belly of hell and from a defiled tongue and from a lying word." Therefore the just, namely because wisdom was with them: the just, namely the children of Israel, carried off the spoils of the ungodly: the Gloss: "The golden and silver vessels of the Egyptians," as is clear from Exodus twelve: Proverbs thirteen: "The substance of the sinner is kept for the just." Note that he does not say they stole, because they did these things by the command of a superior, namely God: and therefore they did not commit theft or robbery, at least those who did these things not out of greed but with the intention of obeying God.

And they sang forth, that is, they sang devoutly, namely after the crossing of the Red Sea: O Lord, thy holy name: Exodus fifteen: "Let us sing to the Lord, etc., the Lord is as a man of war, almighty is his name": thus they sang forth for their deliverance. And thy victorious hand, that is, thy power, they praised together, that is, at the same time, namely for the overthrow of their adversaries: whence in the same place: "Thy right hand, O Lord, is magnified in strength."

Because wisdom etc., as if to say: and rightly did they sing and praise etc.: because wisdom, namely delivering them, opened, namely unto the praise of the divine name, the mouth of the mute, previously struck dumb by fear; Exodus 14: "The children of Israel saw the Egyptians behind them and feared greatly." And the tongues of infants, that is, of those unable to speak, she made eloquent, that is, fluent in speech, perhaps literally, the tongues of the Hebrew children, according to that passage of Psalm 8: "Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings" etc. Or: of infants, that is, of the unskilled, those not knowing how to speak after the manner of infants, according to that passage of Jeremiah 1: "I know not how to speak, for I am a child"; Luke 21: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom" etc.; Exodus 4: "Who made the mouth of man?" The Gloss: "Without the wisdom of God the human mind can neither think anything nor worthily utter it. From Him therefore both wisdom and eloquence must be sought."

It is written that "wisdom opened the mouth of the mute and loosed the tongues of infants." Wisdom indeed opened the mouths of the mute, so the incredulous might believe, and loosed the tongues of infants, so that they might preach what they believed. Therefore, not without reason does Paul attribute his faith and his ability to speak to the gift of the Holy Spirit, saying, "Moved by that same spirit of faith of which it is written, "I believed, therefore I spoke," we also believe, and therefore we speak." A person believes with the will, and with the will speaks. The human will, however, cannot possess these things of its own if they are not given by God, "because wisdom opens the mouth of the mute and loosens the tongue of infants." - "On the Truth of Predestination 2.6.9"

It is written that "wisdom opened the mouth of the mute and loosed the tongues of infants." Wisdom indeed opened the mouths of the mute, so the incredulous might believe, and loosed the tongues of infants, so that they might preach what they believed. Therefore, not without reason does Paul attribute his faith and his ability to speak to the gift of the Holy Spirit, saying, "Moved by that same spirit of faith of which it is written, 'I believed, therefore I spoke,' we also believe, and therefore we speak." A person believes with the will, and with the will speaks. The human will, however, cannot possess these things of its own if they are not given by God, "because wisdom opens the mouth of the mute and loosens the tongue of infants."

If only I could sing like the choirs of angels! Oh, with what devotion I would pour myself out in your praises, reciting unceasingly and most excellently the hymn of your glory in the middle of the assembly! Will I perhaps keep silent because I cannot sing like them? Lord, woe to those who keep silent on your account, because "you open the mouth of the mute and loosen the tongue of infants." Since infants can only babble your praises, I ask you to accept the sacrifice from the tip of my tongue, from the love of my heart.