Wisdom of Solomon 16

On account of these things, namely because most wretched people worshipped idols, or on account of the sins of idolatry, and things similar to these, that is, on account of other sins similar to the aforesaid idolatry, they suffered torments deservedly: Ephesians 5: "On account of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of unbelief"; Deuteronomy 25: "According to the measure of the sin, so also shall be the manner of the stripes." For there ought not to be the disgrace of fault without the beauty of justice or of vengeance, according to Augustine. And by a multitude of beasts, namely devastating their land, such as flies, locusts, and frogs and the like; they were destroyed, that is, grievously afflicted, and perhaps some of them were killed: above, chapter 12: "Through the things they worshipped, you gave them the utmost torments"; Deuteronomy 32: "I will send the teeth of beasts upon them."

These words refer to the Egyptians who, being idolaters and given over to various kinds of errors, also unjustly persecuted the people of God. And the Lord punished them with ten plagues, because they did not want to free his people. They thus experienced the cruelty of the beasts: it is described how flies of various types and grasshoppers ravaged them. And also frogs and poisonous toads and other animals that covered the earth, of which it is said in the psalm, "He sent horseflies to ravage them and frogs to molest them. He gave their harvests to the flames and the fruit of their labor to locusts." One understands further that heretics and schismatics are torn to pieces, scattered and destroyed by the beasts (that is, by evil spirits). The former in fact are subject to the will of the latter (and thus also to the righteous judgment of God) and are tormented and scattered by them.

Instead of which torments, that is, in place of which torments, as if by contrast: you dealt well with your people, namely the Israelite people, who were his "peculiar people," as is found in Deuteronomy 7. To whom, that is, to which people, you gave the desire of their delight, that is, a desirable thing longed for: "for desire, if it is fulfilled, delights the soul," as is found in Proverbs 13. A new flavor, into food of a new flavor, preparing for them quail as food, and that bird, namely the quail, is called ortygometra, as they say from the land of Ortygia, in which it was first seen and from there brought away; or preparing foods etc.: and then according to some the plural is used here for the singular, when it says: preparing foods for them, the quail, that is, the quail, according to that verse of the Psalm: "They asked, and the quail came" etc.: Exodus 16: "It came to pass in the evening, and the quail coming up covered the camp"; likewise Numbers 11: "But a wind going out from the Lord, snatching up quails, brought them across the sea" etc. But it is not necessary that the plural be used for the singular, because it can be glossed thus: foods, that is, in place of foods.

So that those indeed, namely the children of Israel, desiring food, namely the meats of Egypt, Exodus 16, on account of those things, namely the quails, which were shown to them, namely to be desired, and sent, namely to be eaten, even from a necessary desire, that is, a very pressing one, might be turned away, that is, so that they would no longer desire the meats of Egypt and a return to Egypt: in the Psalm: "They desired with desire in the desert"; likewise Numbers 11: "The people burned with desire for meats," although it is said in Sirach 18: "Go not after your desires, and turn away from your own will." But these, namely the children of Israel, having been made destitute in a short time, that is, for a little time, because their want lasted but briefly: for God quickly came to their aid, according to that verse of Isaiah 65: "Before they cry out, I will hear them"; destitute, that is, lacking food: had tasted a new food, that is, an unusual food, or of unusual birds.

For it was fitting etc., as if to say: and rightly was it so done; for it was fitting, that is, it was opportune, for them, namely the Egyptians, without any excuse indeed, namely of the fault for which they were being punished: Romans 1: "So that they are without excuse"; likewise ibid. 2: "Therefore you are without excuse, O man": that destruction should come upon them, namely the torment of death-dealing punishment from the supreme Judge for their crushing; Job 18: "Let confidence be torn from his tent, and let destruction tread upon him like a king"; likewise Proverbs 29: "For a man who despises the one who corrects him with a stiff neck, sudden destruction shall come upon him." For them, I say the Egyptians, exercising tyranny, that is, cruel dominion over the children of Israel, oppressing them with harsh labors, as is clear from Exodus 1 and 5, and by drowning their boys in the river, as is clear from Exodus 1. But for these, namely the Israelites, only to show, supply: it was fitting: in what manner their enemies would be destroyed, so that thus, having seen their punishment, they might be corrected, according to that passage of Proverbs 19: "When the pestilent man is scourged, the fool will become wiser"; likewise ibid. 21: "When the pestilent man is punished, the little one will become wiser."

He says therefore: For indeed, as if to say: I have rightly said: but for these only to show etc.; for indeed, that is, because: when upon them, namely the children of Israel, there came the fierce wrath of beasts, namely from the displeasure of the heavenly Judge, whom they had offended by murmuring against him, as is clear from Numbers 21: "The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people." By the bites of perverse serpents, because they were effective for harming, they were being destroyed, namely some of them: whence 1 Corinthians 10: "Do not murmur, as some of them murmured and perished by serpents."

But not forever, that is, without end, such that eternal punishment would be joined to temporal punishment, as in Herod, Acts 12. Your wrath, that is, the effect of your wrath, not the emotion of your mind, according to that saying: "I am the Lord, and I am not angered"; remained, namely in the children of Israel: Habakkuk 3: "When you are angered, you will remember mercy." But for correction, not for condemnation, in a short time, that is, for a brief period, they were troubled, that is, afflicted, namely outwardly, and from that troubled, inwardly: Isaiah 54: "For a brief moment I forsook you, etc., and in a moment of indignation I hid my face briefly from you, and in everlasting mercy I have had compassion on you"; Jeremiah 30: "But I will not make a complete end of you, but I will chastise you in judgment, lest you seem innocent to yourself." Having a sign of salvation; The Gloss: "The bronze serpent set up as a sign, by the sight of which they were healed," as is clear from Numbers 21. For a remembrance of the commandment of your law, namely, to be kept, according to that saying of the Psalm: "And they are mindful of his commandments, to do them," just as a negligent boy is whipped so that he may repeat and fix his lesson.

And I rightly said: having a sign, not a cause: for he who turned, namely either inwardly through repentance toward God, or outwardly toward the bronze serpent to look upon it: not through that which was seen, namely by the bodily eye, was healed, that is, not through the bronze serpent; but through you, the Savior of all, signified through the said serpent: John 3: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up"; just as also a dead man could not be raised by the staff of Elisha, which did not obey him in this, but through him personally, as is found in 4 Kings 4.

In the meantime, the priestly Levitical order must show the way to the people of God—who are leaving Egypt! It is they, in fact, who teach the people to flee Egypt, which is to say from the errors of the world, and to pass through the immense desert, that is, to pass through various kinds of temptations without being harmed by the serpents, which are the bites of demons, and to avoid the poison of perverse counsel. And if it happens that someone is bitten by a serpent in the desert, they also show him the bronze serpent hanging on the cross. The one who sees it, who believes, that is, in him whom the serpent symbolized, by this very fact will escape the devil's poison.

In this moreover, namely in the affliction of the Egyptians and the easy liberation of the Israelites, you showed, that is, you willed to show, although they did not see; whence they cannot complain except about the blindness of their own eyes, just as if the shining sun were shown to someone with bleary eyes and he did not see it, according to Augustine: to our enemies, namely the Egyptians; for the wicked are enemies of the just, namely actively, not passively, because they hate the just, although they are loved by them; you showed, I say, that you are, namely the only one, who delivers from all evil: in the Psalm: "Many are the tribulations of the just, and from all these the Lord will deliver them."

On the contrary: Why are many not delivered from evil?

It must be said that this is to be understood thus: he delivers all who are delivered, just as that passage in John 1, "He enlightens every man," etc., namely, who is enlightened.

For those, namely the Egyptians who did not worship you, the bites of locusts and flies killed: of locusts, Exodus 10, and of flies, Exodus 8: killed, literally some of them, although it is not read there expressly. And no healing was found for their life, namely of the Egyptians, as for the children of Israel from the serpents; in the Psalm: "There is no health in my flesh because of your wrath," etc.; Jeremiah 30: "Your wound is incurable, your affliction is grievous." Because they were worthy, namely as their merits demanded, by such things, namely by vile animals, to be destroyed: whence Augustine on John: "The Lord could have subdued the proud people of Pharaoh with bears and lions, but he sent flies and the vilest creatures, so that their pride might be tamed." For the same reason men are also afflicted by fleas: whence Augustine: "Why do you puff yourself up, human pride? Resist the fleas, so that you may sleep."

But your sons, that is, the Israelites; Exodus 4: "Israel is my firstborn" — sons, I say, your sons, by faith, according to that passage in John 1: "He gave them power to become sons of God, to those who believe in his name"; nor did the teeth of venomous serpents overcome them, that is, of fiery serpents; Deuteronomy 8: "Your guide was in the great and terrible wilderness, in which there were serpents burning with their breath, and scorpions, and the dipsas snake." He speaks here of the good, who are sons of God, not of the wicked.

I said well: but your sons, that is, the Israelites, the teeth of venomous serpents, that is, the bites of fiery serpents, did not overcome them: for your mercy, that is, the effect of your mercy, coming upon them, healed them: in the Psalm: "If I said: My foot has slipped: your mercy, O Lord, helped me"; Jeremiah 33: "I will close up your scar and give you health"; "for he wounds and he heals," Job 5.

For in the remembrance of your words, that is, through the recompense of your commandments, they were being destroyed, some of them, namely, and they were quickly healed, or saved, namely others who were penitent, having seen the death or punishment of others; according to that verse of the Psalm: "When he slew them," that is, some of them, "they sought him," that is, others who were penitent. Or: the same ones were being destroyed, that is, severely punished, and were quickly healed, lest falling into deep, that is, profound, falling, that is, falling inwardly, forgetfulness, namely of despair; namely on account of the delay of help and remedy; they might not be able to make use of your help, that is, of your liberating grace, they, I say, having been made unworthy of your mercy on account of despair; Proverbs 18: "The wicked man, when he has come into the depth of sins, shows contempt"; in the Psalm: "They forgot God, who saved them," etc.

Again, they did not know the Physician. Since the disease had come from a crime against sovereignty, the punishment had to be very heavy. No one, then, could heal, unless he were God and man: He alone would have the power of satisfaction, in whom there would be no concupiscence, and who would have been born, not through the law of nature, but from the Virgin. That He indeed was the Physician, He demonstrated through examples of virtue, documents of truth, incitements to love, and saving remedies. This Physician heals all things: For indeed, neither herb nor application cured them, but Your all-healing Word, O Lord! the Word who was incarnate and crucified and who suffered, and later sent the Holy Spirit into the depths of our hearts.

This, then, is the medicine: the grace of the Holy Spirit. Philosophy is unable to grasp such a Physician and such a grace. Why should you glory, you whose science is unable to know your disease, or its cause, or its Physician, or its remedy?

There is no salvation except through wisdom. For "indeed, neither herb nor application cured them, but Your all-healing word, O Lord!" But wisdom is neither disclosed nor obtained except through faith.

And I said rightly: in the remembrance of your words: for indeed, meaning "because"; neither herb, that is, a potion made from herbs, which is taken internally by drinking; nor poultice, that is, a plaster, which is applied externally upon the place of pain; healed them, namely from the bites of serpents. But your word, O Lord, that is, the command concerning the making and gazing upon the bronze serpent, Numbers 21; which, namely the word, heals all things, namely those things which are healed: whence here there is an accommodated distribution: in the Psalm: "He sent his word and healed them." Or: the Word, uncreated, that is, the Son, of whom John 1 says: "In the beginning was the Word"; this Word, according to the Gloss, "heals bodies and saves souls from spiritual beasts"; Matthew 4: "Healing every disease and every infirmity."

Illness of the soul is much more serious than that of the body. Bodily ills cause temporal death, but illness of the spirit brings eternal death. Indeed, when in paradise Adam transgressed the divine commandment, he did not contract an illness of the body but an illness of the soul, by which he would have perished eternally if the grace of Christ had not rescued him from death. Listen to the prophet who proclaims this, when he says, "By his wounds we have all been healed." The wounds and the passion of the Lord were the remedy that healed humanity. In fact, illnesses of the soul are not healed by the medical arts but only by the grace of Christ. The fever of sin and the wounds of guilt are sicknesses of the soul, which do not enter the body from the outside but from within the soul. These wounds of the soul are not healed by human beings but by God—not by the incision of an earthly knife but by the sword of the divine Word that penetrates into the depths of the soul. Listen to the prophet declare that "it was not an herb or an ointment that cured them but your word, O Lord, which heals everyone." And the words of David, "He sent his word to heal them." And rightly the prophet prays to the Lord about the iniquity of the Jewish people in these terms, "Is there no balm in Gilead, no physician there? Why therefore does not the health of your people recover?" The prophet does not speak of just any balm but of a heavenly remedy, nor of a human physician but of a physician who is God.

For you are, O Lord. I said rightly that your word heals all things: for you are, O Lord, namely the Creator of all things, who have power over life and death, that is, of giving life and putting to death, according to that passage of 1 Kings 2: "The Lord kills and makes alive," etc.; likewise Ecclesiasticus 11: "Death and life are from God."

But to the contrary: Because it is said above in chapter 1: "God did not make death."

I respond: it must be said that although God is not the meritorious or efficient cause of death, nevertheless with respect to the privation itself he has power over death, because, although he is not the cause of evils, he nevertheless has power over evils, because from them he knows how to and is able to bring forth good.

To that which is objected, that death is not from God: it must be said that in death there is a privation of life, which is nothing, and therefore does not have an efficient cause, but rather a deficient one: likewise, there is therein a penal affliction, which is something and is from God, who justly inflicts it upon sinners by the merit of their sins.

And you lead down to the gates of death, that is, to the final extremity of life, and you lead back, namely by healing, as is evident in the case of Hezekiah, Isaiah 38.

But man etc., as if to say: thus you can put to death and give life: but, for "however": man can kill himself but not give life, and this is what it says: but man, namely the sinner, called man from the earth: indeed kills, that is, certainly, through the malice of sin, his own soul, on account of which it is said in the Psalm: "He who loves iniquity hates his own soul"; for he is a murderer of himself: for sin is a two-edged sword, for it kills both body and soul: Sirach twenty-one: "All iniquity is like a two-edged broadsword." And when the spirit has departed, namely from the body through death, it will not return, namely to the body in the present age; Job ten: "Before I go, and return not, to the land of darkness" etc.; likewise 2 Kings fourteen: "We all die, and like waters we flow down upon the earth, which do not return."

But to the contrary: Because it is said in the Psalm: "His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return to his earth."

It must be said that this is understood of the return to the earth of one's natural habitation and body by nature: but that Psalm passage [speaks] of the return to one's earth according to the justice of retribution, and this by divine power.

Nor will he call back, namely man, the soul, separated from the body, which has been received, in its place, namely in glory or in punishment; Sirach eleven: "Wherever the tree falls, whether to the south or to the north, there it shall be."

But your hand, that is, your power, both in the present and in the future, both in life and in death: it is impossible to escape: Job ten: "There is no one who can deliver from your hand"; therefore it is said in the Psalm: "Where shall I go from your spirit, and where shall I flee from your face?" "For the hand of the Lord is not shortened," nay rather it is most far-reaching and contains all things, according to that Psalm: "In your hand, O Lord, are all the ends of the earth."

For denying etc. I rightly said: it is impossible to escape your hand: for the ungodly who denied knowing you, that is, the Egyptians, namely Pharaoh with his servants: denying, I say, by word, whence Exodus 5: "I know not the Lord, and I will not let Israel go"; and in deed those of whom it is said in Titus 1: "They profess to know God, but in their deeds they deny him." By the strength of your arm, that is, by your mighty power: Exodus 15: "Who is like you among the mighty, O Lord?" etc.; they were scourged: Exodus 6: "I will bring them out from the prison of the Egyptians with an outstretched arm"; Exodus 15: "Your right hand has struck the enemy"; with strange waters: and, in place of "that is": with hailstones, for hail is like frozen water, and rains, which are like flowing waters, they suffered persecution; Exodus 9: "Pharaoh seeing that the rain and hail had ceased"; and by fire, that is, falling simultaneously, they were consumed: Exodus 9: "Hail and fire mingled together were carried"; likewise in the Psalm: "He turned their rains into hail, burning fire in their land."

I rightly said: by fire with hailstones: for what was wonderful: namely, that a contrary was not destroyed by its contrary, although it is written in Sirach 3: "Water extinguishes a burning fire"; whence it follows: In water, which extinguishes all things, namely things set ablaze, fire prevailed the more, that is, it acted more powerfully together with water. For the whole world is an avenger, that is, an instrument of vengeance: an avenger, I say, the whole world of the just, that is, avenging the just: whence above in chapter 5: "The whole world shall fight for him against the senseless." Through the aforesaid text he indicates that the punishment of the Egyptians was carried out not according to the order of nature, but according to the order of divine justice avenging the Israelites against the Egyptians, who had oppressed them, Exodus 1; the Gloss: "It is not surprising that hail and fire are carried mingled together, because all things consent to the will of the Creator."

For at a certain time, as if to say: it did not always act uniformly: for, in place of "but": at a certain time the fire was made gentle, namely until the animals of those who feared the words of Moses were called back or brought in from the fields: Exodus nine: "Send and gather your livestock and all that you have in the fields," or field: and afterwards: "He who feared the word of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and livestock flee into the houses." It was made gentle, I say, lest the animals that had been sent to the ungodly be burned, that is, the livestock divinely given to them. Nor only for this reason, but also, so that they themselves, seeing the aforesaid interruption, might know, namely through it, that by the judgment of God, not by natural occurrence, they suffer persecution. Likewise, according to the Gloss, "that they might recognize that every creature is prepared to avenge the injury done to the Creator"; in the Psalm: "The Lord shall be known executing judgments," who, as Bernard says, is not known when suffering injuries. And it should be noted that the Lord punished the Sodomites by fire, Genesis nineteen, without gentleness, and this because there were no good people among them; but the Egyptians by fire with gentleness, because the children of Israel were in Egypt, who were good.

And at a certain time, namely when the animals had been called back, in water beyond its power, its natural power, namely, because by a miracle, the fire blazed forth on every side, namely throughout the whole land of Egypt, so as to destroy the wicked nation of the land, that is, the Egyptians, who were an earthly nation, not a heavenly one; against which, First Corinthians fifteen: "As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear the image of the heavenly."

Instead of which evils, that is, in place of which evils, contrariwise, with the food of Angels, that is, manna, which was prepared by the Angels, you nourished your people, etc.; whence in the Psalm: "Man ate the bread of Angels"; or because it prefigured the food of Angels, namely "the living bread that came down from heaven," John six. You nourished, I say, your people, namely the children of Israel: for with this food he nourished them "until they reached the borders of the promised land," as is found in Exodus sixteen. And ready bread, that is, refreshment, from heaven, namely descending from the airy heaven, according to that verse of the Psalm: "He rained down manna upon them to eat, and gave them the bread of heaven"; you furnished to them without labor.

On the contrary: Because it is said in Numbers eleven: "The people went about and, gathering it, ground it in a mill or crushed it in a mortar, cooking it in a pot and making from it cakes as it were of the taste of bread made with oil."

I respond: without labor of acquiring through agriculture, but not without labor of preparing. We indeed have labor in acquiring and preparing: Genesis 3: "In the sweat of your face."

Having in itself every delight, that is, the effect of every delightful food, producing a similar delight in the one eating: and the sweetness of every taste, that is, every pleasant taste: for it tasted to each person just as he wished, as Gregory says in the sixth book of the Morals.

But against this: It is said in Numbers 11 that it had the taste "as of bread made with oil."

It must be said that by its own nature it had a determined and most sweet taste, namely like the taste "of fine flour with honey"; but by divine grace it had diverse tastes, namely according to the diversity of desires, as the Gloss touches upon on that passage of 1 Corinthians 10: "They all ate the same spiritual food."

But against this: Because if it had the taste desired by anyone, then they would not have desired the meats of Egypt, nor would their soul have been nauseated over the manna as over a most light food, yet the opposite is read in Numbers 21.

It must be said, according to the Gloss: The good found the best taste therein, but the wicked were disgusted. Or it must be said that they required in food not only the delight of taste with respect to the palate, but also of color with respect to sight, and of odor with respect to smell. Jerome: Birds are cooked before the rich in their own vapors, so that they may be refreshed by sight and aroma, just as the luxurious are with wine, yet it is said in Proverbs 23: "Do not gaze upon wine when it turns yellow, when it sparkles in the glass," etc.

For your substance, that is, your power of sustaining, and your sweetness, that is, your power of delighting, which you have toward your children, namely sustaining them through the substance of the food and delighting them through the taste of the same food, you showed etc.; in the Psalm: "You prepared in your sweetness for the poor, O God"; you showed, I say, by bestowing upon them the aforesaid food that sustains and delights. And serving, namely the aforesaid food or bread, the will of each one, namely of those eating, it was turned to what each one wished, that is, to whatever taste: for it had, as was said, one determined taste by nature, but various tastes by divine grace.

Mystically, by the manna Christ was fittingly signified under the Sacrament of the altar, first because he himself is the bread of angels, namely of priests, according to that passage of Malachi 2: "He is the angel of the Lord of hosts."

Second, because it is prepared from heaven, that is, because it is confected by heavenly power; John 6: "I am the living bread, who came down from heaven"; in the Psalm: "You prepared their food, for thus is its preparation."

Third, because those eating from it according to their desire, that is, their devotion, are refreshed, according to that word of the Psalm: "You have granted him the desire of his soul"; likewise in the Psalm: "He brought them their desire, they were not defrauded of their desire."

Fourth, because with it the dew of grace descends and is given, just as dew also descended with the manna, as is found in Numbers eleven. And therefore this bread is called eucharist: eucharist is interpreted as good grace.

Fifth, because, just as the manna appeared like "white coriander seed," so also Christ is received under a white cloud: Apocalypse fourteen: "Behold, a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sitting like the Son of Man."

Sixth, because it was gathered on six days and not on the Sabbath, so Christ is received under the Sacrament in the present, but in the future Sabbath, of which Isaiah sixty-six says: "There shall be Sabbath after Sabbath," He will be seen openly: First Corinthians thirteen: "But then face to face"; likewise First John three: "We shall see Him as He is." Seventh, because they were nourished by that food in the desert for forty years until the entrance into the promised land, so until the end of the world in the desert of this world the faithful of the Church are nourished, according to that word of Matthew twenty-eight: "Behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the age."

That the Son is from the Father—that is, that he is of the same being as the Father—is proven by the following testimonies. The apostle says, "He is the splendor of his glory and the imprint of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." And God the Father, reproaching the bad faith of unbelievers who did not want to listen to the voice of the Son who, while remaining in his being, had spoken through the prophets, said, "They did not listen to the voice of my being." And reproaching with fearsome words because the voice of his being had been despised, he speaks again to the same prophet, saying, "Weeping on the high mountains and grief on the desert roads, because they have failed, no longer being human. They did not listen to the voice of my being, from the birds of the air to the beasts." And again reproaching those who, deviating from the profession of one being, did not want to remain in the being itself of faith, he says, "If they had remained in my being, I would have brought them back from their evil ways and their wicked thoughts." And it is again stated clearly that the Son must not be professed as being other than the being of the Father but that, with faith, he must be contemplated in his very being with the eyes of the intellect, when the prophet says, "Who has been in the being of the Lord and has seen his word?" Thus, that the being of the Father is the Son was already clearly proclaimed by the oracles of the prophets, Solomon saying, "You in fact showed us your being and your sweetness that you have toward your children." The Lord showed that these were poured out from heaven on the people of Israel in the figure and semblance of heavenly bread, saying in the Gospel, "It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven." He declares himself to be the bread when he says, "I am the living bread, who came down from heaven." Of him the prophet David also says, "Human beings ate the bread of angels."

He says therefore: But snow etc. It has been said that fire prevailed more in water: but snow and ice, that is, hail, sustained the force of fire, that is, heat, which is its quality of active power. And they did not melt, that is, they did not liquefy; whence Exodus nine: "The Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt; and hail and fire were carried mingled together"; so that they might know, namely the Israelites, that the fruits of the enemies, that is, of the Egyptians, burning fire was destroying, namely by heat: flashing in hail and rain, namely by splendor. "The flax and the barley were damaged, because the barley was green and the flax was already putting forth pods," Exodus nine.

But this again etc. It should be known that the word this can be of the ablative case, so that it is expounded thus: this, for this reason; or of the nominative, so that it is read thus: but this again, supply: was done, so that the just might be nourished, namely the children of Israel. The fire also forgot its own power, namely by not destroying the fruits of the land of the just, as is clear from Exodus nine, where it is read that "only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, the hail did not fall." So also the fire forgot the force of its power when it did not harm the three just youths in the furnace, as is clear from Daniel three.

The Holy Spirit did not beatify the dove or the wind or the fire, nor did he unite them to himself and to his own person so as to remain in that state forever. Otherwise the nature of the Holy Spirit would be variable and convertible, if those phenomena had not happened by a change in the creatures, but the Holy Spirit was mutably changed from one thing into another, as water changes into ice. Rather, those creatures appeared when it was fitting that they appear, because the creature serves the Creator and was changed and transformed according to the will of him who remains immutable in himself, so as to signify and reveal himself as it was necessary to signify and reveal himself to mortals. Thus, though the Scripture would call the dove the Holy Spirit and would say of the fire, "And tongues as of fire appeared, which parted and came to rest on each of them, and they began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance"—thus indicating that the Spirit was manifested through the fire just as through the dove—we can nevertheless not say that the Holy Spirit is God and dove or God and fire in the same way that we say that the Son is God and man.

For your creature, namely whatsoever creature, serving you its maker, that is, your will, by which you made all things, according to that verse of the Psalm: "Whatsoever he willed, he did": grows fierce, that is, is vehemently moved and stirred up, unto torment, of punishment, against the unjust, that is, your enemies. And is made milder, that is, harmless or innocuous, to do good for those who trust in you, that is, for the just: for creatures obey those who obey God, as is clear in Joshua 10, where it is read how the sun stood still at the command of Joshua, and they rebel against those who rebel: whence above in chapter five: "The whole world shall fight for him against the senseless."

Was it the work of angels when sensible creatures, docile to the will of the Creator, took forms adapted to the circumstances—bodily forms appearing to the eyes of human beings and voices resounding in their ears? Of such docility it is written in the book of Wisdom, "In fact, the creature that obeys you who made it, exerts itself to punish the unrighteous and restrains itself to benefit those who trust in you. At that time, then, adapting itself to all these changes, it served your goodness that nourishes all, according to the desire of those who aspired to you." The power of the divine will reaches, by means of spiritual creatures, even to the visible and sensible effects of bodily creatures. Indeed, where is the will of the Wisdom of almighty God not effective, whose power extends from one end of the earth to the other and governs all with goodness?

For this reason, namely because the creature serves the Creator, and then, namely when the children of Israel were fed with manna in the desert, into all things, that is, into the flavor of all desired things, was transfigured, namely that creature itself, namely the manna: your grace, the nurse of all, that is, your gratuitous good will, so that it is understood of uncreated grace: Baruch 4: "You have saddened your nurse, Jerusalem"; they served, that is, they obeyed: The Gloss: "Let sinners be confounded here, because while all other creatures serve their Maker, they themselves resist. Whence they are scourged by the concord of all creatures." They served, I say, according to the will, to be fulfilled, namely, of those who were desired by you, namely, beloved with a special love, as the children of Israel: Deuteronomy 7: "The Lord your God has chosen you, that you might be his peculiar people from among all the peoples that are upon the earth."

That your sons might know, namely the Israelites, according to that passage of Exodus 4: "Israel is my firstborn"; Isaiah 1: "I have nourished sons"; whom you loved, O Lord, namely with eternal and temporal love: Malachi 1: "I have loved you, says the Lord." Might know, I say, that it is not the fruits of birth, that is, not natural fruits, born from the earth, according to that passage of Genesis 1: "Let the earth bring forth," etc., that nourish men, namely insofar as they are men, that is, according to that by which they differ from beasts, namely according to the rational power or part of the soul. But your word, that is, the created word, that is, your commandment: Matthew 4: "Man does not live by bread alone," etc. Or: the Word, uncreated, that is, the Son, of whom John 17 says: "Your word is truth"; ibid. 14: "I am the way and the truth and the life"; preserves those who have believed in you: Deuteronomy 8: "The Lord gave you manna as food, which neither you nor your fathers knew, to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

For that which could not be destroyed by fire, namely the manna, because it hardened at fire, so that small cakes were made from it, as is clear from Numbers 11; when warmed by even a faint ray of the sun, immediately melted away, that is, it liquefied, as is clear from Exodus 16. Hence it was necessary that it be gathered in the morning.

That it might be known to all, namely through this sign, that one must rise before the sun, that is, before the rising of the sun, for your blessing, supply: to be obtained, that is, to receive and gather the manna, lest after the rising of the sun it be liquefied by the heat of the sun: thus, to obtain the blessing of grace, one must rise before the sun by keeping vigil in the morning, according to that passage of Proverbs 8: "Those who watch for me in the morning will find me"; in the Psalm: "In the morning I will stand before you and I will see," etc. And at the rising of the light, that is, as soon as the light rises, or toward the east, where the light rises, to adore you, namely for the reception of the manna itself: toward the east, I say, because, as Damascene says, everything that is better must be attributed to God; whence, because the east is the nobler part of the sky, therefore one must worship toward the east, according to that passage of the Psalm: "He who ascends above the heaven of heavens toward the east."

It should be noted, moreover, that in the fact that the manna melted at the rising of the sun, it was signified, according to the Gloss, that at the rising of Christ the old sacrament would cease, because "Christ is the end of the Law," Romans 10.

It seems to me that, to complete the argument of the prayer, it would not be out of place after this to discuss briefly the disposition and the attitude that one who prays must have, as well as the place where one should pray and the direction he should face (if circumstances permit) and the choice of the appropriate time for praying, and topics of this kind. Disposition refers to the soul, attitude to the body. Thus Paul says … one must pray "without anger or dissension." The attitude consists in "raising pure hands," expressions that seem to me to be derived from the psalms, which say, "May the raising of my hands be like the evening sacrifice." Regarding the place, "I want therefore that people pray in every place." Regarding the orientation, the Wisdom of Solomon says, "To make it known that one must rise before the sun to give you thanks and worship you before the dawning of the light."

For the hope of the ungrateful etc. Thus I said that it wasted away by the heat of the sun, and this as a sign of this, because the hope of the ungrateful will waste away etc. Or thus: I rightly said that it is necessary to worship at the rising of the light etc. for the reception of the aforesaid benefit, and this to avoid ingratitude, which is greatly harmful. For the hope of the ungrateful, namely of any impious person, or specifically "of the Jewish people," according to the Gloss, like winter ice: The Gloss: "Constricted by the cold of unbelief," according to that passage of Ecclesiasticus forty-three: "The cold north wind has blown, and ice has frozen from the water"; will waste away, that is, will be liquefied, that is, will be dissolved by the heat of the sun of justice on the day of judgment, whether particular or universal: in the Psalm: "As wax melts before the face of fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God." It will waste away, I say, as regards the punishment of loss, namely by losing all goods, whatsoever he had or hoped for, namely the goods of grace and glory; and will perish utterly, that is, will perish in a twofold manner, that is, will suffer torment in body and soul, and this as regards the punishment of sense. It will perish utterly, I say, like superfluous water, that is, useless water, which is poured out or cast upon the ground: so also the ungrateful one, as useless, will be cast into hell, according to that passage of Matthew twenty-five: "Cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness." The hope of the ungrateful therefore will waste away and perish utterly etc.; whence above in chapter five: "The hope of the impious is like down which is carried away by the wind"; likewise Bernard: "Ingratitude is a scorching wind, drying up the fountain of piety, the dew of mercy, the streams of grace."

No one has done more so that we might be good, great and thankful in everything than God who created us. Thus he often lavishes blessings on us beyond our will, blessings that we are for the most part unaware of. If this surprises you, let me point out that this happened, not just to anyone, but to blessed Paul. That blessed one, in fact, being in many dangers and trials, often begged God that temptations would depart from him. God nevertheless did not respond to his request, except to the extent that it was advantageous for him, and to show this he said, "My grace is enough for you. Indeed, my power is fully manifested in weakness." Thus, before telling him the reason why, he pours out blessings without Paul wanting or knowing about it. What is so unusual, then, if he commands us to be grateful in return for such tender care? So let us obey him, having this attitude always. In fact, nothing ruined the Jews more than their ingratitude, and this behavior alone brought on all those misfortunes, one after the other. Indeed, even prior to those misfortunes, it ruined and corrupted their souls. "The hope of the ingrate is like winter frost," it says. It dulls the soul and makes it die, just like the body. This is born of arrogance and from believing oneself to be deserving of something. The contrite person, however, will give thanks to God not only for blessings but also for what seems to be against him, and, when he suffers, he will not think himself to have suffered unjustly. We too, then, the more we embrace virtue, the more we will humble ourselves, because virtue consists above all in this.