Wisdom of Solomon 7

Second, he takes a reason for exhorting to wisdom from his own example. For I myself am etc. Above he admonished rulers to acquire and love wisdom through a reason taken from the danger of their office; here from his own example. And first he shows how he received wisdom, namely in this chapter; second, how much he loved it, namely in the eighth chapter; third, how devoutly he sought it from the Lord, namely in the ninth chapter. First he shows how he received wisdom. In the first part, in order to descend to his purpose, first he describes the misery of human frailty; second, he shows that this occasion provoked him to acquire wisdom: Therefore I wished etc.; third, he shows by whom he was instructed: But to me. First, on the misery of human frailty. In the first, first he touches on the defectibility of human nature; second, the vileness of human conception: And in the womb; third, the condition of birth: And I; fourth, the labor of upbringing: In swaddling clothes; fifth, the commonality of misery: For no one etc.

(Verse 1.). For I myself am etc. Thus I admonished you to receive the discipline of wisdom "through my words": and this you can do not only through my words, but also by my example, because I myself also am: indeed, that is, certainly: a mortal man, just as you are: mortal, I say, that is, able to die from the first condition, but having the necessity of dying from the first transgression; for man, according to Boethius, is a rational, mortal animal; likewise Romans 8: "The body indeed is dead because of sin," that is, subjected to the necessity of dying. Like all others in this condition of mortality; 2 Kings 14: "We all die, and like waters slip away into the earth, which do not return." And of the race of that earthly one, namely Adam the transgressor, who was first made, from the earth namely; whence Genesis 2: "God formed man from the slime of the earth"; likewise 1 Corinthians 15: "The first man was of the earth, earthly"; likewise in the same place: "As was the earthly one, such also are the earthly ones." And in the womb of my mother I was formed into flesh. For according to Augustine in the book of Eighty-three Questions, in the first six days the seed is like milk; in the remaining nine the milk is converted into blood; in the remaining twelve it is formed into flesh; in the remaining eighteen it is formed into an organic body. And then around the forty-fifth or forty-sixth day the soul is infused into the body. And during the entire remaining time after the infusion of the soul, the body is nourished and grows.

Therefore, wisdom displays its virtue through a vessel suited to itself; first, it makes its own preacher humbly recount the origin of human condition, so that everyone may know what they possess from the origin of the flesh and what from divine gift. For when he says that he was formed in blood and the seed of man during a period of ten months, and by the agreeable pleasure of sleep, he demonstrates the difference of the two sexes. For, as the natural philosophers say, the seed of man is white, and the seed of woman is bloody. Their mixture, within certain periods of time, causes the body of the infant to be formed, until it becomes animated and reaches the time of birth in the tenth month, although not all reach the tenth month, since some are born in the seventh, others in the eighth, others in the ninth; but they assert that the birth which occurs in the tenth month is more perfect, more vital, and healthier than that which occurs in the eighth or ninth month. For this, he says, is the beginning of birth common to all men, both noble and immoral, and he shows that there is one entrance for all into life and a similar exit for all: because every earthly man, sprung from the seed of man and woman, receives the beginning of temporal life, and passes from this world through the death of the body. However, the heavenly Adam, who was born without male seed from a virgin mother, has his own manner of birth, and he also arranged the manner of his death by his sovereign power. Nevertheless, the seriousness of his birth is celebrated by Christians in the tenth month after his conception, when from the eighth day before the Kalends of April, when he is believed to have been conceived, to the eighth day before the Kalends of January, when he is said to have been born, two hundred and seventy-six days are counted, which number of days joins nine months and six days, and therefore that evangelical saying, by which the same Savior foretold to the Jews that the temple of his body, built in forty-six years, would be destroyed, shows the perfection of his incarnation by the multiplication of the number six: because two hundred and seventy-six contains forty-six sixes. From this it is clearly evident that just as he is perfect God, so also is Jesus Christ our Lord perfect man.

(Vers. 2.). In the time of ten months I was compacted in blood from the seed of a man, according to the natural philosophers, as the Gloss says: "The seed of the woman is sanguineous, the seed of the man is white: from the commingling of these, the one as passive and the other as active, coagulation occurs": Job 10: "Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese"? This coagulation occurs in the first part of the ten months: but the entire duration of formation itself is a period of nine months.

But to the contrary: Because the common time of formation is nine months: whence 2 Maccabees 7: "Have pity on me, my son, who bore you nine months in my womb."

I respond: As the Gloss says, "some are born in the seventh month, some in the eighth, some in the ninth: but those born in the tenth are said to be more perfect, healthier, and more vigorous." But Christ, according to the Gloss, was in His mother's womb "nine months and six days": whence what he says, ten months, is taken synecdochically: "for it was from the eighth of the Kalends of April to the eighth of the Kalends of January."

And with the pleasure of sleep concurring, or of concurring [sleep], that is, by the pleasurable act of the common sleeping together of a man with a woman. This pleasure is compared to the pleasure of sleep, because it binds reason and quickly passes, just as the pleasure of sleep.

After the banishment from paradise and the loss of immortal life, Adam knew his wife, and thus carnal relations were introduced, this mixture of emissions that is more appropriate to animals than to human beings endowed with intellect and that is the foreboding of corruption and death, though it assures the continuance of the race. Acting, then, with such wisdom and love toward humanity, what does Emanuel do? He reunites both natures in one, that is, the creature that had been privileged with the grace of immortality (the soul) and that linked to corruption (the body) in a birth that comes from their union. He who in the beginning fashioned human beings from the earth was fashioned from the Virgin, taking flesh from the Holy Spirit and from her. This flesh is consubstantial with ours, which is animated by a soul endowed with intellect. And this did not take place through sleep, by concupiscence or with the emission of human seed. What characterized our creation at the beginning was a coming in the flesh without seed. But for us, what distinguishes this second way of coming into existence is to come entirely from the woman. (Likewise, the conception took place in time, because "the time came for her to have her child.") The sacred Scriptures say on the one hand regarding the mother of God that this took place in a marriage but on the other hand that everything began without her having experienced carnal union and was accomplished in virginity, since, after the birth, the seal of her virginity remained intact.

(Vers. 3.). And being born I received the common air, for the necessity of breathing: Ecclesiastes 3: "All things breathe alike." And in like manner I fell, from the womb of my mother, upon the earth that was made, namely by God, Genesis 1: and this with respect to the necessity of life and sustenance. And the first voice, like all others, namely those being born, I uttered, crying. Augustine says that "a child from his crying begins to be a prophet of his own calamity"; "but they report, that is, they say, that Zoroaster alone, king of the Bactrians, laughed when he was born." John the Baptist alone also, contrary to the law of those being born, anticipated his own birth with joy and exultation; Luke 1: "The infant leaped for joy in my womb."

(Vers. 4. 5. 6.). In swaddling clothes, namely of cloths, I was nurtured: Luke 2: "She wrapped him in swaddling clothes." And with great cares: 2 Maccabees 7: "For three years I gave you milk and brought you up to this age."

For no one among kings had a different beginning of birth, because in natural things there is no difference between kings and subjects, but only in the goods of fortune.

Therefore there is one entrance into life for all, namely through temporal birth so lowly, as has been said: and a similar departure, namely through death so harsh, as is described in the last chapter of Ecclesiastes. Likewise, there is one entrance, namely through a poor birth; and a similar departure, namely through a most impoverished death: Job 1: "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither": Ecclesiastes 5: "A most wretched infirmity: as he came, so shall he return."

Beloved, what has been celebrated in you? What has been accomplished this night in your regard that did not take place on previous nights? In what way have you been brought, each of you, from hidden places, to be shown before all the church? Down there, after bowing your head, which was wrongly exalted before, was your examination celebrated, with the humiliation of feet placed in sackcloth? Was the proud devil rooted out of you when the humble and most high Christ was invoked over you? You were all, therefore, humble, and you implored humbly, praying, singing and saying, "Test me, Lord, and know my thoughts." He has tested, he has examined, he has touched the hearts of his servants with fear. He has cast out the devil by his power and freed his family from his dominion. Here the poor and the rich have not been treated differently, or the master and the slave. In fact, "all enter life in the same way." If this is true for this fragile, fleeting life, how much more will it be true for the life that is immortal and eternal?

But when God expands somewhere in tribulation; then the breadth of the heart will become like the innumerable sand of the sea. What is this breadth? Listen to the holy Solomon saying: I wished, and understanding was given to me; and I called upon, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me (Wisdom 7:7). For in order to receive wisdom from God, he asked not for riches, nor nobility, nor power; but he asked for wisdom, and in that he found all that he did not even ask for. Where the Scripture says that such was the breadth of his heart, as the innumerable sand of the sea (3 Kings 4:29). Hence, to perceive this breadth, he says, knowing about himself: In the breadth of your heart, describe it (Proverbs 7:3). And therefore, let the one who has wisdom not hold it in secret, not for a moment; but let him proclaim it with authority, everywhere that he feels it.

Holiness is an immediate disposition toward wisdom: hence a yearning and a strong desire are the door to wisdom. "Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her. Nor did I liken any priceless gem to her; because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her, and I chose to have her rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. And I rejoiced in them all, because Wisdom is their leader, though I had not known that she is the mother of these." But the author says that he came to this Wisdom through prayer and pleading. For if She is the supreme good, She must be loved supremely; and if She is all good, She must be desired universally and above anything else.

Second, he shows that, prompted by this occasion toward wisdom, he says. For this reason I desired, etc. Here he shows that this occasion prompted him to acquire wisdom: and first he touches on the attainment of the desired wisdom; second, the estimation of what was attained: And I preferred her; third, the love of what was esteemed: Above health; fourth, the communication of what was possessed and loved: Which I learned without pretense.

(Verses 7-8). For this reason, that is, struck by the consideration of the aforementioned miseries, I desired, namely wisdom. And understanding was given to me, that is, wisdom: Proverbs 10: "The desire of the just shall be granted." And I called upon, the Gloss says: "the Lord"; James 1: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God." And there came into me, as I called upon him, the spirit of wisdom, according to that verse of the Psalm: "I opened my mouth," namely in prayer, "and drew in the spirit"; likewise Ecclesiasticus 15: "In the midst of the church he opened his mouth, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom."

Beloved brothers and sisters, how is it that Solomon, though possessing wisdom in such great abundance and knowing all those things hidden in the secrets of mysterious providence, says that some things are impossible to know? He clearly received wisdom from God. He knew the beginnings of the ordering of the world and about the heavens that all see, suspended at an unreachable height. He knew how the world is surrounded and covered by air, balanced in equilibrium in its midst and attracted downward by its inert weight. He knew the reasons why the eager course of the waves of the liquid element roils within the limits fixed by the shores. He knew the principles and ends of things and the relationship between the two. Nor were the divisions and changes of times unknown to him. He understood how the years succeed one another, as the world completes its cycle, and why the stars followed their course, sometimes unexpectedly going ahead or remaining behind, as well as the place of their rising and setting. And he knew many other things, because he was told them by wisdom. It is surprising that he would say that some things were beyond his reach or that he could not know or see them. But, because everything collected in the divine books by the proclamation of the prophets had its preordained time, it is right that Solomon could not know, prior to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, about the flight of an eagle, or a serpent on the rock, or a boat that ploughs the waves or the way of a young man in his youth. It was not yet the time in which the reality would emerge from shadows or the truth from the image. To us, however, our Lord Jesus Christ has shown that everything concerning him was written in the Law and that, for us, nothing is hidden that will not be revealed. And after that book sealed with seven seals, which no one could open except Christ, it was permitted and granted to us to see. We know all things, as the Lord says, "I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you kept these things hidden to the wise and have revealed them to the simple." Furthermore, "To you it has been given to know this mystery." And I have said all this, not as a reproach to Solomon because he did not know things that he could not have known but to indicate that it was not yet the time to know them.

The lover of wisdom said that he had chosen, invoked, and sought after wisdom, and for this reason, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, he obtained it, because, as the apostle James says: Whoever lacks this, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly and does not reproach (James 1:5); which is rightly preferred to kingdoms, thrones, and all riches, since all precious things of the world become worthless in comparison to it. Therefore, wisdom itself says in Proverbs: With me are riches and glory, heavenly wealth and righteousness; my fruit is better than gold and precious stone, and my gem than chosen silver (Prov. 8:18-19). Therefore, Truth itself in the Gospel likens the kingdom of heaven to a merchant seeking fine pearls; who, having found one precious pearl, went and sold all he had and bought it (Matt. 13:45-46); because whoever truly finds heavenly wisdom, that is, the word of God in the highest, despises all advantages of this present life, all human philosophy, and all eloquence of lecturers, and will rejoice to devote himself solely to divine contemplation.

Of wisdom the Wise Man says: "Her I loved and preferred to kingdoms and thrones, and I deemed riches nothing in comparison with her; above health and beauty I loved her. And all good things came to me together with her, and innumerable riches through her hands; and I rejoiced in all things, because this wisdom went before me." The Philosopher says that wisdom has the greatest delights. If it is a great thing to be illuminated by wisdom, it is a greater thing to be gladdened, insofar as one loves one's principle.

Holiness is an immediate disposition toward wisdom: hence a yearning and a strong desire are the door to wisdom. "Therefore I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her." But the author says that he came to this Wisdom through prayer and pleading. For if She is the supreme good, She must be loved supremely; and if She is all good, She must be desired universally and above anything else.

And I preferred her, namely in estimation of value, to kingdoms, that is, to the dignities of kings, and to thrones, that is, to the dignities of judges: and rightly so, because she says: "By me kings reign," Proverbs 8. And I counted riches as nothing in comparison with her: Proverbs 3: "She is more precious than all riches." "For what does it profit a fool to have riches, when he cannot purchase wisdom?"

(Verse 9). Nor did I compare to her, that is, to her price or power, any precious stone: in the Psalm: "I have loved your commandments above gold and topaz"; likewise Job 28: "It shall not be compared with the dyed colors of India, nor with the most precious sardonyx stone, or the sapphire." "Neither shall the topaz of Ethiopia be equal to it." For, etc., as if to say: and rightly so, because all gold, that is, all the gold that is in the world, in comparison with her is sand, that is, unfruitful earth: Bernard says: "What is gold but red earth"? of small account, that is, of little weight: Job 28: "Fine gold shall not be given for it." And as clay, that is, of no value, shall silver be esteemed in her sight: Job 28: "Silver shall not be weighed in exchange for it": Proverbs 3: "The gaining of her is better than the trading of gold and silver," etc.

But silver is compared to clay because it stains the hands and the soul: Habakkuk 2: "How long does he heap up against himself thick clay?"

It should be noted that wisdom is preferred to silver and gold and every worldly treasure, first by reason of origin, because worldly treasure is from the earth: Job 28: "Silver has the beginnings of its veins, and there is a place for gold where it is refined," indeed "it is earth," according to blessed Bernard: but wisdom is from heaven, as is clear from James 3.

Second, by reason of nature, because worldly treasure is a corporeal thing, but wisdom is a spiritual thing: whence Isaiah 11: "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom," etc.

Third, by reason of power, because treasure is finite, but wisdom is infinite: whence below in this same chapter: "She is an infinite treasure to men, which they that use are made partakers of the friendship of God."

Fourth, by reason of operation, because treasure can accomplish few things, but she accomplishes all things: whence below in chapter 8: "What is richer than wisdom, which works all things?"

Fifth, by reason of estimation, because treasure falls under estimation, but she does not: Job 28: "It shall not be compared with the dyed colors of India," etc.

Sixth, by reason of utility, because wisdom without riches profits, but riches without wisdom do not profit, but rather harm: whence Ecclesiastes 5: "Riches kept to the hurt of their owner."

Seventh, by reason of duration, because "wisdom is glorious, and never fades away," above in chapter 6; but riches are corrupted: whence James 5: "Your riches are corrupted"; likewise James 1: "The rich man shall wither away in his journeys."

Eighth, by reason of inclination, because wisdom, since it is from above, elevates upward, but gold and silver drag downward, namely toward the earth: whence Baruch 3: "They that hoarded up silver and gold, in which men trust, have been cut off and have descended to the netherworld."

Above health etc. Here he shows the love of esteemed wisdom. And first he shows the greatness of this love; second, its reason: But all good things came to me etc.

(Verse 10). Above health: the Gloss says: "Of the body," namely interior health; the Psalm: "For vain is the salvation of man"; and beauty, the Gloss says: "Of corporeal things," namely exterior beauty, because, Proverbs 31, "favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain"; I loved her, namely wisdom, because insofar as the spirit is better than the body and more dearly to be loved, so much more are spiritual things better than corporeal things and more to be loved. And I loved her so greatly that I purposed to have her for my light, which light, I say, is the most beautiful and most delightful and best among corporeal things, according to Augustine: so wisdom among spiritual things is the light of the soul; Sirach, the last chapter: "In his wisdom my soul shone, and he illuminated my ignorances"; below in the same chapter: "She is more beautiful than the sun." There follows: For her light is inextinguishable, namely as far as it is in itself; below in the same chapter: "Being compared with light, she is found before it, for night succeeds that light."

The salvation of the soul, which is in the possession of divine wisdom, together with works of justice, must absolutely be preferred to all bodily health and to every kind of corporeal things, because, as will be shown later, this wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and surpasses every arrangement of the stars; compared to light, it is found to be purer, since night and darkness follow them, but its light is inextinguishable. Moreover, that all good things came to him together with it was experienced by Solomon himself, who, asking God for wisdom alone, also obtained with it the greatness of the kingdom, riches, and glory. Mystically, however, whoever has truly received the knowledge of Christ rejoices that he possesses the grace of all virtues together, and in the future will possess eternal life with Him.

The Son was in the bosom of the Father from the beginning, and from the Father's heart he has poured forth a good word. And how can one fail to believe that he who is in the Father's heart, together with him, dwells in inaccessible light? Could the Father have remained in the Son without light or rest without light in the tabernacle of the Son, given that the Son is the radiance of the eternal light and the spotless mirror of the divinity? Solomon says to have preferred this light to his health, wanting always to delight in its beauty. Does he not say, "I loved her more than health and beauty, I preferred the possession of her to light itself, because the splendor that comes from her never sets"? For this reason, having desired this light, in his distress the prophet David proclaimed, "Send forth your light and your truth." And also, "In your light we see light." In the splendor of this light the Son anticipated his manifestation on the mountain to the three disciples. They prostrated themselves, deathly afraid, convinced that their lives were about to end. In fact, the Son proclaimed this light by showing it in himself, admonishing his disciples that they should walk in it: "Walk while you have the light." And further, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life." And the Evangelist also says, "He was the true light, which enlightens every person who comes into this world." If it has been shown that this light that is promised to the faithful is in the Son and is eternal along with him who is eternal, how is it that you separate the Son from the Father's inaccessible light?

For the carrying out of the seven offices of the virtues there must be seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. For fear disposes to temperance, since fear transfixes the flesh; piety to true justice; knowledge to prudence; fortitude to fortitude or patience; counsel to hope; understanding to faith; wisdom to charity. Whence, just as charity is the mother and consummation of all the virtues, so wisdom is of the gifts, such that the Wise Man truly says: All good things came to me together with her, and innumerable honor through her hands.

"And I rejoiced in them all, because Wisdom is their leader, though I had not known that she is the mother of these." But the author says that he came to this Wisdom through prayer and pleading. For if She is the supreme good, She must be loved supremely; and if She is all good, She must be desired universally and above anything else.

In the second place, it is lifted up to the vision of the city coming down from heaven, that is, of the assumed humanity. Indeed, the Son of God descended to our humanity, and this, for Jerusalem, is to come down. But the souls do not come down. He said: "I am the bread that has come down from heaven," and with Him [came down] all the charismatic graces. Wisdom says: "All good things together came to me in her company." And so, when the soul is lifted up by an influx into it of divine strength, light, and warmth, it worships piously, sees clearly, and enjoys holily, and through this it comprehends the marvelous origin, the marvelous fall, the marvelous ascent or ascending, the marvelous return. Then it has the four sides of the city coming down from heaven. I mean there is a marvelous origin in the nativity, a marvelous fall in the crucifixion, a marvelous ascent in the resurrection and ascension, and [there will be] a marvelous return at the time of the judgment.

(Vers. 11.). All good things came to me, namely of graces, within me absolutely: together with her, namely with uncreated wisdom, that is, the Son of God: whence Romans 8: "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not also with Him give us all things?" The Gloss: "Whoever receives the knowledge of Christ equally has the grace of all virtues and in the future eternal life." Or: with her, that is, with created wisdom, because she herself is the most perfect of gifts. "Solomon experienced this, to whom when he asked for wisdom the Lord added riches and glory." And innumerable honor, outwardly in comparison to others: through the hands, that is, the works, of her, supply: came to me: whence below in chapter 10: "She honored him in his labors," etc.

(Vers. 12.). And I rejoiced, filled with joy, in all things, namely the gifts of wisdom: Sirach, the last chapter: "My heart rejoiced in her." For this wisdom went before me, namely by directing my steps: Sirach 4: "She receives those who seek her and goes before them in the way of justice." This is the pillar of fire and cloud going before the children of Israel by night and by day, Exodus 13. And I did not know, namely before I possessed her: The Gloss: "By the progress of meditation he understands that he has advanced so much that, comparing his former knowledge with the latter, he considers it ignorance." I did not know, I say, that she is the mother of all these things, namely of goods: Sirach 24: "I am the mother of fair love and of fear," etc.; likewise in the same place: "In me is all grace," etc.

Whoever is guided in all things by wisdom, which leads and governs him in all his counsels and actions, is truly happy in everything; but it is remarkable how he says that he was ignorant that she is the mother of all these things, when previously he said that she anticipates those who desire her and shows herself first to them. Unless perhaps, in the course of his meditation, he realized that he had advanced so much that, by equating his former knowledge with the latter, when he saw that the latter excelled the former, he considered the former as ignorance in comparison to the latter. It is like that passage in the Gospel: for John the Baptist, proclaiming the coming Lord and pointing to him present with his finger, after he had baptized him, said that he did not know him before, but that it was revealed to him when the Holy Spirit descended upon him, saying therefore: "And I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me: 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God" (Jn. 1:33-34). So also among the lights of the world, although the other stars are bright in themselves, in comparison to the sun they are found to be by no means bright. Therefore, the sun itself, because it alone shines with daylight among the other stars, is so named.

Which without pretense etc. Here first is touched upon the liberality of the communication of wisdom; second, the reason for communicating: For it is an infinite treasure.

(Vers. 13.). Which without pretense, that is, with my whole heart, I learned, knowing that "the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful," above in chapter 1; likewise Proverbs 2: "If you seek her as money, and dig for her as for treasures," etc. And without envy I communicate, namely not withholding useful things, above in chapter 6: "Neither will I journey with consuming envy"; likewise Proverbs 5: "Let your fountains flow abroad." And her honor, that is, her beauty, I do not hide, by veiling with obscure words: Sirach 4: "Do not hide your wisdom in her beauty"; likewise Sirach 20: "Hidden wisdom and an unseen treasure, what profit is in either?"

Everything that exists must give thanks to God, rendering him perpetual veneration, since all things have being from him and subsist in him. Without stint he gives a share of his gifts to all without being asked, and he wants everyone to be saved and to partake of his goodness. He is patient toward us sinners. He makes the sun rise on the righteous and the unrighteous and makes it rain on the bad and the good, also because for our sake the Son of God became like us, making us partakers of his divine nature, since we will be like him, as John the theologian says in the catholic epistle.

Earlier it was said that the Holy Spirit, the giver of divine wisdom, would flee from a artificial discipline, and that wisdom would not enter into a wicked soul. But now the true possessor of wisdom says that he has learned it without deceit, and therefore he could truly attain its knowledge and share it without envy, and did not hide its honesty, because envy can in no way coexist with true wisdom, which is known to be the lover of generosity and mercy. For what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what communion has Christ with Belial? (2 Cor. 6:14) Therefore the apostle James says: Who is wise and disciplined among you? Let him show by good conduct his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter zeal and contentions in your hearts, do not glory, and do not be false against the truth: for this wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there is zeal and contention, there will be instability and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first indeed pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to persuasion, consenting to good, full of mercy and good fruits, judging without hypocrisy (James 3:13–17).

(Vers. 14.). For she is an infinite treasure in herself, to men: whence she is also inexhaustible through communication; and therefore Cicero says that knowledge is a noble treasure of the soul, which when distributed receives increase and disdains the avaricious possessor: unless it is made public, it slips away. Augustine: "Every good which does not diminish by giving, if it is possessed and not given, is not yet possessed as it ought to be possessed"; Ecclesiasticus 1: "He will fill her whole house from his generations, and her storehouses from his treasures." Those who have used this, namely the treasure of wisdom, governing themselves according to her, have been made partakers of the friendship of God: whence below in the same chapter: "She makes friends of God and prophets." On account of the gifts of discipline, that is, of wisdom, gifts which they possess not through their own industry, but through the distribution of the Holy Spirit, according to that passage in 1 Corinthians 12: "All these things," namely the gifts of graces, "one and the same Spirit works, dividing to each one as He wills." Commended, that is, made commendable, namely to God and to men: 2 Corinthians 10: "For not he who commends himself is approved, but he whom God commends."

The infinite therefore calls wisdom a treasure, because the more diligently one learns it, the deeper one realizes it to be; and the more one advances by meditating on it, the more one understands that it is sought at greater depth; and therefore those who meditate on it become participants in the friendship of God, because they become true knowers of the commandments and will of God. Concerning this, Truth itself says to the disciples in the Gospel: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn. 15:15).

Third, he shows from whom he learned wisdom. But God gave me to speak, etc. Here he shows from whom he learned wisdom: and first he shows who taught him; second, what things he taught: For He Himself gave me, etc.; third, through what medium he taught him: For the artificer of all things, etc.

First, who taught him.

(Verse 15). But to me etc. I have rightly said: Those who have used etc.: but I have used: but, in place of 'because': God gave me to speak, that is, not only to know, but also to teach: Isaiah 50: "The Lord gave me a learned tongue, that I might know how to sustain with a word him who has fallen." To speak, I say, according to judgment, that is, with firm determination: Proverbs 12: "The lip of truth shall be established forever": the Psalm: "The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom, and his tongue shall speak judgment," that is, a firm judgment. And to presume. It should be noted that there is a presumption of arrogance, concerning which Judith 6: "Those presuming in themselves and glorying in their own strength you humble." And there is a presumption of confidence in divine power and mercy, concerning which in the same place: "You do not forsake those who presume in you" etc.; likewise Judith 9: "Hear me, wretched and presuming upon your mercy." And to presume, that is, to act confidently, things worthy, namely works, of those things which are given to me, that is, to perform vigorous and fitting works according to the gifts bestowed upon me: "For to whom more is committed, more shall be required of him." For he himself, namely God, is the guide of wisdom: Gloss: "That is, the author": Ecclesiasticus 1: "All wisdom is from the Lord God." Likewise the giver: James 1: "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God" etc. And the amender of the wise, that is, the corrector: Revelation 3: "Those whom I love, I rebuke" etc., namely if it happens that they err in something.

Sometimes even good Homer nods.

Likewise Augustine: I may err, but I shall never be a heretic.

"For God has given me to speak according to judgment and to conceive thoughts worthy of those things that are given to me. In his hand are both we and our words." It is impossible that wisdom should become doctrine except through speech. But speech is not sufficient for teaching unless it is full of meaning. And a man does not speak meaningfully unless his speech is analytical, inquisitive, and persuasive, namely, that he have speech powerful enough to express everything that can be apprehended or known, or toward which the affections can be inclined. Moreover, he fittingly expresses what he says through grammar, rationally investigates through the science of logic, and effectively persuades through rhetoric. This therefore is a part of philosophy, namely the science of discourse, which is threefold, as is evident, which Solomon attained.

And it often happens that they speak boldly, but nevertheless do not know how to live according to what they say. Therefore a certain wise man rightly said: But may God grant me to speak these things with understanding (Wis. 7:15). For understanding is indeed derived from perception. And he who desires not only to speak from knowledge, but also from understanding, wishes to experience what he says by feeling, not merely by knowing. But the mind of the arrogant does not penetrate the sense of their own words, because it is repelled from inward taste and right judgment toward those outward favors which it loves. True knowledge, however, affects, it does not exalt; nor does it make those it fills proud, but rather causes them to lament. When anyone is filled with this knowledge, he first desires to know himself; and now, being conscious of himself, he becomes wiser through it the more he truly recognizes his own weakness in it; and humility itself opens to him a wider path to this knowledge; and while he observes his own frailty, the very knowledge of sublime secrets reveals to him hidden depths, and being pressed by this knowledge, he becomes more subtle, so that he may be drawn to hidden things. Therefore Elihu, in the afflictions of blessed Job, does not find true reason, because he does not know how to seek it humbly; and being more ready to rebuke than to console, he says: This, therefore, is where you are not justified. (Job 33:12)

God is the guide of wisdom, for the almighty Father is the author of the incarnation of His only-begotten Son, whom He sent into the world so that the human race might receive the illumination of truth. To Him He gave all power in heaven and on earth, for from Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things, and He made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture (Ps. 100:3). Whatever we rightly think, whatever we rightly speak, and whatever we accomplish in good deeds is His gift.

Since concerning everything that must be explained in the light of faith and love, there are many things to say and many ways in which experts can speak about them, who knows, at the present moment, what would be useful for us to say or to hear, except the one who sees the hearts of all? And who makes us say what should be said, in the right way, if not him in whose hands are both we and all of our words? Therefore, even if one learns everything there is to teach, all that he ever wanted to know and teach, and acquires the ability to speak, as is appropriate to a church leader—when the moment comes to speak, he should remember that what the Lord says is more fitting than all his valid arguments. "Do not worry about how and what you are to say, because what you are to say will be given you in that moment. Indeed, it will not be you who are speaking but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you." If, then, the Holy Spirit speaks in those who have been handed over to persecution for Christ, why would he not also do so in those who hand over doctrine to those who want to know Christ?

(Verse 16). For in his hand etc. I have rightly said that he is the guide and amender of the wise: for in the hand of him: Gloss: "That is, in his power"; are both we, who possess wisdom: Jeremiah 18: "As clay in the hand of the potter, so also are you in my hand"; likewise Proverbs 21: "As the divisions of waters, so is the heart of the king in the hand of the Lord." And our words: Proverbs 16: "It is for man to prepare his mind, but for the Lord to govern the tongue"; Matthew 10: "It is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father" etc. And all wisdom, which namely is the knowledge of divine things, and of works, namely human, the discipline of knowledge; Isaiah 26: "All our works you have wrought in us, O Lord."

Solomon says that he attained the other part of philosophy, namely that which concerns the truth of things. Whence he says in the book of Wisdom: "God gave me true knowledge of the things that are, that I might know the disposition of the whole world and the powers of the elements." It is certain that the knowledge of the truth of things is threefold, according as there are concrete forms, abstract forms, and separate forms. The natural philosopher considers concrete forms, the mathematician abstract forms, and the metaphysician separate forms. Whence he says: "God gave me the knowledge of the things that are," that is, of beings principally, which are truly beings, with respect to metaphysical science; "that I might know the disposition of the whole world," with respect to mathematics; "and the powers of the elements," with respect to natural philosophy. Solomon knew the course of the year from the disposition of the stars, the natures of animals, and the powers of roots; Solomon taught all things.

Second, what sort of things he taught. For he himself gave me. Here he shows what things and what sort of things God taught him, and first, that he taught him the knowledge of temporal causes; second, of temporal changes: The beginning and the end; third, of temporal effects: The natures of animals.

(Vers. 17.). For he himself, namely God, who alone teaches hearts, according to that saying of Augustine: "He who teaches hearts on earth has his chair in heaven": gave me, of the things that are, that is, of existing things, because there is no knowledge of non-existing things: whence the Philosopher says: "What does not exist cannot be known." "For each thing, as it is related to being, so it is related to truth," as he himself says. True knowledge, that is, certain cognition unmixed with any falsehood: 3 Kings 4: "God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great prudence." That I might know the disposition of the whole world, that is, of the heaven encompassing the entire world: Ecclesiasticus 24: "I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven": and the virtues of the elements, that is, the qualities and seminal reasons and mixtures or connections and temperaments of the elements: Proverbs 8: "When he prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a certain law and compass he enclosed the depths."

According to John, however, it is written thus: "As the Father knows me, and I know the Father." But in the forty-fifth psalm it says: "Be at leisure, and know that I am God." Therefore the chief office of knowledge is to know the Trinity; but in the second place, to know His creature, according to him who said: "For He gave me the true knowledge of the things that are, the substance of the world, and the power of the elements, the beginning, and the end, and the midst of the times," and the rest.

Great is the heart of man, and spacious and capacious, if only it be clean. Do you wish to know its greatness and breadth? See how great a magnitude of divine perceptions it can contain. It itself says: "he gave me true knowledge of the things that are: to know the constitution of the world and the operations of the elements, the beginning and the end and the middle of the ages, the changes of the seasons and the transitions of the months, the circuits of the years and the positions of the stars, the natures of living creatures and the ragings of beasts, the violences of spirits and the thoughts of men, the diversities of trees and the power of roots". You see that the heart of man is not small, which can contain so much. And understand its greatness not in the quantity of the body, but in the strength of perception, which can contain so great a knowledge of the truth.

However, how Solomon excelled in wisdom by divine gift, Scripture shows by saying: God also gave Solomon wisdom and very great prudence, and breadth of heart, like the sand that is on the seashore, and Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the Orientals and of the Egyptians, and he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and he was renowned among all the nations round about. Solomon also spoke three thousand proverbs, and he discussed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; and he discoursed about beasts and birds, and reptiles and fishes; and people came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-34). But our Peaceful One, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God, before whose eyes all things are naked and open, not only knows all things that are, and that have been, and that will be, but also gives to his own disciples, that is, to his own members, understanding of his mysteries, so that they may have knowledge not only of visible things but even of invisible things, and may perfectly understand what history teaches, or what allegory shows, what moral teaching recommends, and what anagogy associates about heavenly things. Therefore it is well read in the Gospel: He is the light of the world, who enlightens every man coming into this world (Jn. 1:9), whom whoever follows does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

(Vers. 18.). The beginning and the end and the middle of times, namely of the four seasons or parts of the year, which are caused by the motion of the sun, according to the four quadrants of the zodiac: the alternating changes, that is, of the successions of days and nights, by which the quality of the air is changed, namely from brightness to darkness and conversely: and the consummation of times, that is, of months both solar and lunar. Some add here: the changes of customs and the divisions of times: the changes of customs, that is, of human habits, according to the diverse states of men: the divisions of times, that is, of the ages of the world or of man.

(Vers. 19. 20.). The course of the year, that is, the time caused by the motion of the sun through the entire zodiac: Genesis 1: "That they may be for signs and for seasons and for days and years." And of the stars, namely of those other than the sun, the dispositions, with respect to the quality of nights: in the Psalm: "The moon and the stars to rule the night."

The natures of animals, namely of tame ones, and the rages of beasts, that is, the impulses of fierce animals, such as the lion and the like. And it should be noted that he says: the natures of animals and the rages of beasts, with respect to sensible substances. Then he adds with respect to things inanimate: the force of winds, which are twelve, four principal and eight collateral: and they are of great power, as is clear in Job 1 and Exodus 14, in the drying up of the sea, and in many other places. And the thoughts of men.

Against this: God alone knows the hearts of men: whence 1 Corinthians 2: "For what man knows the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?" as if to say: no one except God.

It must be said that here he speaks of the knowledge of conjecture, not of certitude. Or it must be said that through the revelation of Wisdom they can be known by man, not through nature or one's own industry.

The differences of shrubs, that is, of plants, and the powers of roots, namely, of herbs: 3 Kings 4: "He discoursed on all trees from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop," etc.

Because this wisdom is attained only through grace, a wise writer attributes all hidden and unforeseeable things to the Holy Spirit and to the Word Himself, as having to be revealed by them. Hence he says: "And all such things as are hid and not foreseen, I have learned: for Wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me."

(Vers. 21.). And whatever things are hidden, or concealed, from their causes, and unforeseen by men, I learned: Ecclesiastes 7: "I surveyed all things with my mind, that I might know and consider and seek wisdom."

Third, through what medium he was taught. For the artificer of all things etc. Here he shows through what medium he was taught, namely, through uncreated Wisdom, begotten of the Father; and that she was able to teach, knew how, and willed to do so, he shows first through the Holy Spirit, who is from her; second, through the nature and power that is in her: For more mobile than all things, etc. In the first part, he first touches upon the procession of the Holy Spirit from uncreated Wisdom; second, his manifold effect in us: Holy, manifold, etc.; third, his goodness in his own nature: Undefiled; fourth, his universal sufficiency: Having all power. He touches upon his effect in us, first interior, second exterior: Modest. He touches upon a fourfold interior effect, namely, the amendment of fault, when he says: Holy; the multiplication of grace, when he says: Manifold; the unity of concord, when he says: One; the subtlety of understanding, when he says: Subtle. A threefold exterior effect, namely, modesty, when he says: Modest; eloquence, when he says: Eloquent; obedience, when he says: Mobile.

(Vers. 21.). The artificer of all things is shown, namely, of things above, things in the middle, and things below, namely, God, Hebrews 11. Wisdom taught me, that is, through Wisdom: the Gloss: "Because through her the knowledge of truth is given," because man can teach outwardly, but not inwardly; whence Gregory: "Unless there is one within who teaches, the tongue of the teacher labors in vain outwardly."

For this writer of divine wisdom, when he had enumerated each single thing, said at the last that he had received the knowledge of the hidden and the manifest things: showing without doubt that each one of those things which are in the manifest is referred to some one of those things which are in the hidden; that is, that each single visible thing has something of likeness and reason to the invisible things. … he who made all things in wisdom so created each single kind of visible things on earth, that in them he might place a certain teaching and knowledge of the invisible and heavenly things; whereby through these the human mind might ascend to spiritual understanding, and might seek the causes of things in the heavenly places, so that, taught through the wisdom of God, it might itself also be able to say: "The things that are in the hidden, and the things that are in the manifest, I have known." … It knows also the elements of the world, not only the visible, but also the invisible, and the powers of both.

We will now speak of the fact that no one is without sin, except God. We ask of our adversaries to teach that there is sin in the Holy Spirit. They cannot teach this, however, instead demanding an authoritative testimony showing why we teach from the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit has not sinned, as one reads of the Son that he has not committed sin. And they would accept that we teach with the authority of Scripture, since it is written, "Because in wisdom there is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, penetrating, without blemish." The Scripture calls him "without blemish." But has it perhaps lied regarding the Son, so you might believe it has also lied regarding the Spirit? In fact, the prophet said in the same passage of the book of Wisdom that "nothing defiled gains entrance into her." Wisdom is without blemish, and its Spirit is without blemish. If, therefore, there is no sin in the Spirit, he is God. But how could the one who forgives sins be guilty of sin? Therefore he has not committed sin. And since there is no sin in him, he is not a creature. Every creature is in fact subject to sin. Only the eternal divinity is exempt from sin and without blemish.

After many descriptive phrases it says of the Spirit of wisdom, "Acute, mobile, certain, immaculate." Thus the Wisdom of God is also mobile. Now, if it is mobile, when it dwells in one place, does it perhaps not dwell in another? Or if it is here, does it depart from there? What, then, about speed? Its speed derives from this: that it is always everywhere, and nothing can contain it. But we are incapable of thinking of such things—we are slow. Who could ever think of them? In fact, brothers and sisters, I have said something to you as best I can (if I have in fact understood something), and likewise you have understood as best you can. But what does the apostle say? "To him who can accomplish more than all we can ask or think." What can we deduce from this? That even when we understand, we do not understand how things really are, objectively. Why is this? "The corruptible body weighs down the soul." Therefore, as long as we are on earth we will be cold, whereas speed burns with heat—and all hot things are fast, but what is cold is slow. We are slow, and thus cold, while Wisdom runs at the maximum limit of speed. It is therefore exceedingly hot, and no one can escape its heat.

Because this wisdom is attained only through grace, a wise writer attributes all hidden and unforeseeable things to the Holy Spirit and to the Word Himself, as having to be revealed by them. Hence he says: "And all such things as are hid and not foreseen, I have learned: for Wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me." And he says the same as Paul. "For in her is a spirit intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle," etc. This spirit lifts up the soul and teaches unforeseen things.

(Verse 22.). For there is in her etc., as if to say: and well was she able to teach me: for there is in her, namely in wisdom, a Spirit etc., in her, namely according to humanity, by dwelling: Isaiah 11: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him"; in her according to Divinity by emanating from her. A Spirit, I say, of understanding, [its] giver: Job 32: "The inspiration of the Almighty gives understanding." Holy: the Gloss: "Sanctifying all things": above, chapter 1: "The holy Spirit of discipline," etc. Manifold: the Gloss: "Giving manifold graces": 1 Corinthians 12: "There are divisions of graces, etc. But all these things one and the same Spirit works, dividing to each one as he wills." One: the Gloss: "Uniting the good"; Ephesians 4: "Careful to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace." Subtle, that is, causing hidden things to be penetrated: 1 Corinthians 2: "The Spirit searches all things," that is, causes all things to be searched, "even the deep things of God." Likewise, subtle, that is, producing subtlety or furnishing keenness of understanding: whence he is called "the spirit of understanding," Isaiah 11. Modest, that is, teaching to maintain measure in all things: Philippians 4: "Let your moderation be known to all men." Eloquent, that is, making others eloquent: below, chapter 10: "He made the tongues of infants eloquent." Mobile, that is, making others mobile through obedience: Ezekiel 1: "Wherever the spirit went, the wheels likewise were lifted up, following him. For the spirit of life was in the wheels."

Undefiled etc. Here he describes his goodness in his own nature and first his absolute goodness in himself: second, his goodness in comparison to us: Loving the good: third, the immutability of both: Steadfast. He touches upon absolute goodness in three respects, namely in purity, when he says: Undefiled: in truth: Sure: in tranquility, when he says: Sweet.

(Verse 22.). He says therefore undefiled: the Gloss: "That is, without stain," whence he also cleanses stains in baptism: John 3: "Unless one is born again of water and the Spirit," etc.; likewise Titus 3: "Through the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit," etc. Sure: the Gloss: "He neither deceives nor is deceived"; whence it is said, John 16: "The Spirit of truth." Sweet, that is, tranquil, having nothing of harshness: the Gloss: "Gentle and merciful"; below, chapter 12: "O how good and sweet is your Spirit in us, O Lord!"

Spirit indeed is God eternal before all ages, coeternal with the Father and the Son, we must ask why He is said to run about. For everyone who runs about approaches a place where he was not, and leaves the place where he was. By what reasoning, then, shall we say that the Spirit runs about, since all things are within Him, and there is nowhere a place where He is not? As it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world." And yet, when the praise of wisdom was being described, it was added: "For in her there is a spirit of understanding, a spirit unique, manifold, subtle, mobile." And shortly after: "Steadfast yet humane." In these words again a great question arises for us: why is this spirit who fills all things said to be both mobile and stable at the same time? But if we return to the custom of human usage, we more quickly find the meaning of the speaker. For a man who runs about everywhere in the region where he is, without doubt comes upon everyone everywhere, and is suddenly found where he was not expected. Therefore the Almighty Spirit, to signify his presence everywhere, is said to be both mobile and stable at the same time. Stable, because by nature he contains all things; but he is called mobile because he meets even those who are unaware of him everywhere. Therefore holding all things he is called stable; showing himself present to all he is called mobile. Therefore the brightness of fire, and the lightning going forth from the fire, runs among the winged creatures, because the Holy Spirit is present to individuals and to all at the same time, and sets on fire those whom he touches, and illuminates those whom he sets on fire, so that after their former coldness those who have been kindled may burn, and through the fire of love which they have received may give back flames of examples.

"I said, 'You are gods, and all children of the Most High.' And yet you will die like human beings and fall like one of the mighty." Thus they fell from the true discipline dictated by the knowledge of nature, that which was passed down to them by their ancestors and that the first man, he who appeared just after the creation of the universe, could obviously perceive directly and pass on to his posterity with his certain reason. That first man saw the very infancy of the world, when it was still young and, in a certain way, throbbing and uncultivated. The fullness of wisdom, however, dwelled in him to such a high degree, along with the grace of being able to see the future, given him by divine infusion, that he was able to name all the living creatures, though he was still only a rude inhabitant of this world. And he not only knew how to distinguish all the species of beasts and the fury of serpents but also the virtues of herbs and plants, as well as the qualities of minerals. He also knew the changes of the seasons, even when they had not yet occurred, such that he could say of himself, "He has given me the knowledge of what exists, to understand the structure of the world and the power of the elements, the alternations of times and the succession of the seasons, the cycle of the years and the position of the stars, the nature of animals and the ferocious instincts of wild beasts, the power of spirits and the thoughts of human beings, the variety of plants and the properties of roots. All that is hidden and all that is clear, I know."

As light does not admit darkness, so the Holy Spirit is by nature incapable of all that is sordid. He departs from thoughts that are without God. He infuses himself into holy souls, transforming them into servants of God and prophets. Therefore, if someone does not have the Holy Spirit, neither the Father nor the Son—from whom he is, and with whom he is one God—will come to him to make their dwelling in him. This is the spirit of wisdom, who is consequently called manifold, since he has many things in himself and is what he has—and in everything he is still one. The things he does do not change him in any way, like the image of a ring left in wax, without leaving the ring.

Isaiah the Prophet, enumerating the divine gifts which he foretold would rest with the sevenfold Spirit upon the flower of the root of Jesse, shows that the fullness of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit exists in the humanity of the Savior, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in whom the fullness of divinity dwells bodily; nor does the Father give the Spirit to him by measure, therefore he confidently says: All things that the Father has are mine; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him (Matt. 11:27). Therefore, when the writer of history wished to recount the power of this wisdom, he said that in it is the Spirit of understanding, because the recognition of truth is discussed through it. Holy, because it sanctifies all things. Unique, because it creates unity and concord among the elect. Diverse, because it bestows variety of knowledge and virtue. Subtle and mobile, because the word of God is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, reaching even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts. Eloquent, because it opens the mouth of the mute, and makes the tongues of infants eloquent. Unstained, because no spot of sin adheres to it. Certain, because it deceives no one nor can it be deceived. Sweet, because it is gentle and merciful to all who call upon it. Loving good action, and forbidding no one to do good, because it does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Humane and kind, because it is merciful, gentle, and virtuous, steadfast, certain, secure, who says in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth, and the life (Jn. 14:6). And it is called steadfast, because by its nature it contains all things. But it is called mobile, because it meets even those who do not know it everywhere. Therefore, holding all things, being steadfast, and presenting itself to all, it is called mobile. But in these words a great question arises for us: why is this Spirit, who fills all things at once, called both mobile and steadfast? But if we return to the usage of human custom, we find the sense more quickly. For a man who moves everywhere in the region where he is, without doubt comes to meet everyone, and is suddenly found where he is not expected. Therefore, the omnipotent Spirit, so that it might be signified as present everywhere, is at once mobile, possessing all power, foreseeing all things, because it gives strength to the weary and light to the blind, for he alone will give strength and fortitude to his people. He comprehends all intelligible, pure, and subtle spirits, because in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and he beholds the heights of the mountains (Ps. 95:4). In whose name every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father (Philip. 2:10-11).

The image has come into the world and investigates nature. He looks for plants and finds them—investigating their roots, he understands. He becomes an artisan and the inventor of all things. But so that he does not think to have found these things by himself and not thanks to the power of him who gave this capacity to his nature, by a single discourse it is indicated that God is the teacher of all of these things to our nature. Blessed Solomon came, saying, "He has given me an unerring knowledge of all that exists, to understand the structure of the world and the power of the elements, the beginning, the end and the middle of times, the cycle of the years and the position of the stars, the nature of animals and the instincts of wild beasts, the various plants and the properties of roots. All that is hidden and all that is clear, I know." And how did the image know this? "Wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me."

Of the Holy Spirit, as above: For in wisdom there is the spirit of understanding, holy, unique (Wis. 7:22), and below, all-powerful (Ibid., 23) … For that God is Spirit the Son taught in the Gospel, saying: God is Spirit (Jn. 4:24). But that He is all-powerful is shown in Solomon (Wis. 7:23), when it is intimated that the Spirit is all-powerful and all-seeing.

If the Spirit came from one place and went to another, then the Father would also be in a place, as well as the Son. If he were to leave a place when sent by the Father or the Son, it would certainly seem, as in godless interpretations, that the Spirit, moving and going to a place, would leave the Father and the Son, as with a body. I say this after the manner of those who say that the Spirit has a descending movement. But the Father is not circumscribed by a place, since he is above all things—not only those of a corporeal nature but also invisible creatures. Nor is the Son limited by the places and times of his works, because as the creator of every creature he is above every creature. And neither is the Spirit of truth, being the Spirit of God, circumscribed by any kind of corporeal limit. Indeed, being incorporeal, he is higher than every intelligible created being, because of the unspeakable fullness of the divinity. He blows where he wills and inspires whom he wills, endowed with power over all things.

Loving the good etc. Here he shows his goodness in comparison to us, first, in the love of the good; second, in its promotion: Who nothing [hinders]; third, in the communication of himself or communion: Humane: fourth, in the communication of his own, there: Kind.

He says therefore: Loving the good, in act; 1 Corinthians 13: "It does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices with the truth": who in no way hinders doing good, indeed he assists; Romans 8: "The Spirit helps our weakness"; Proverbs 3: "Do not forbid doing good," etc.

(Vers. 23.). Humane: The Gloss: "Common to all"; Acts 10: "In truth I have found that God is no respecter of persons." Or: humane, that is, compassionate, the sign of which is what is said in Romans 8: "The Spirit intercedes for us with unspeakable groanings." Or: humane, that is, willingly dwelling among men; Proverbs 8: "My delights are to be with the sons of men." Kind: that is, generous "by innate goodness"; above, chapter 1: "The spirit of wisdom is kind," etc.; likewise: Kind, by forgiving evils, giving good things, directing toward the homeland; whence kindness is said to be a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5. Steadfast, namely in himself, according to that saying of Boethius: "And remaining steadfast," etc.; likewise, giving steadfastness in his promised gifts. Nor is it surprising if here he is called steadfast and above in the same passage mobile, because here it is said with respect to diverse effects, concerning which the Psalm says: "He set my feet upon a rock and directed my steps." Or: mobile in active things, steadfast in contemplative things; or: steadfast in Christ, mobile in other Saints; John 1: "Upon whom you shall see the Spirit remaining." Or thus: steadfast, in the good; sure, that is, constant in the true; secure, from evil, according to that saying of the Psalm: "No evil shall approach you." And just as in himself he is steadfast and sure and secure, so also those whom he inhabits he makes steadfast in the good, sure in the true, secure from evil; Colossians 1: "Grounded in faith and steadfast and immovable from the hope of the Gospel."

Having every virtue. Here he shows its universal sufficiency, first, in goodness; second, in wisdom: Overseeing all things; third, in power: And who comprehends all intelligible spirits.

He says therefore: Having every virtue; in the Psalm: "By the Spirit of his mouth is all their virtue."

But to the contrary: Because he does not have faith, since faith is enigmatic knowledge and an imperfect virtue.

It must be said that he speaks of every virtue, not any whatsoever, but perfect virtue.

Beholding all things: Job 37: "He beholds above all the heavens, and his light is over all the ends of the earth"; likewise Hebrews 4: "All things are naked and open to his eyes." And who apprehends all spirits, namely the angelic ones, "because they run within him, wherever they may be sent," according to Bede on that passage in Luke 1: "I am Gabriel, who stand before God." Spirits Angels are called with respect to their substance or nature; intelligible, with respect to their power, or because they are by nature not uniteable to bodies. Or: apprehends, that is, causes to apprehend, all spirits, that is, all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, concerning which Isaiah 11: "The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding," etc. Pure, namely through the purity of innocence: for Angels are, according to Dionysius, "pure and most brilliant mirrors"; and he adds: pure, to distinguish them from unclean spirits, that is, demons. Subtle, through the keenness of understanding; or: subtle, through wisdom; Gregory: "What is there that they do not see, who see him who sees all things?" Some books have pure, subtle: pure the spirit of wisdom is, because without the dregs of matter; subtle, because it is pure form. But the first reading is more correct, because thus Rabanus has it in the text and in the exposition. Or: pure the spirit of wisdom is called, because it cleanses from past sins and preserves from future ones; or because in the present it purges from guilt, in the future from punishment; undefiled, because it can contract no impurity either from itself or from another; subtle, because it penetrates all things, or because it works in us subtlety of affection with respect to the gift of wisdom, and of understanding with respect to the gift of intelligence or understanding.

For more mobile than all mobile things. Here he shows that wisdom, through its nature and through the power that is in it, was able to be the medium by which he was instructed. And to demonstrate this he first adduces its mobility; second, its purity: But she reaches; third, its power: And being but one; fourth, its beauty: For she is more beautiful.

(Verse 24). I have rightly said that in her there is a spirit, etc. For more mobile than all mobile things, by whatever kind of motion, namely whether in substance, or in quality, or in quantity, or in place, wisdom is more mobile, that is, swifter in working; the Gloss: "Nothing is more subtle and mobile than wisdom, which created, governs, and orders all things"; more mobile, I say, not because it is moved, but because it moves all things while remaining itself immobile, according to that saying of Boethius:

And remaining stable, you give all things to be moved.

Likewise Acts 17: "In him we live and move and have our being."

But she reaches, etc. Here he shows her purity, first through this, that she proceeds, or emanates, from the most pure fountain; second, because she represents in herself the brightness of the fountain: She is the brightness, etc.

Thus I said, that wisdom is more mobile than all mobile things: and not only so; moreover, standing for "but": but what is more, it reaches everywhere, that is, from the limit of the highest creature to the lowest creature: Ambrose in the Hexaemeron: "Divine wisdom has penetrated even to the locust."

But against this: Job 28: "The abyss says: It is not in me; the sea says: It is not with me."

The response is that there he speaks not of creatures, but of the defects of creatures. Or better it should be said that God is not in the abyss or in the sea by containment, since he can be contained by nothing, but he is there by presence, according to that Psalm: "If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I descend into hell, you are present."

On account of its purity, that is, its abstraction from all material dregs: for because it is entirely immobile, therefore it is uncircumscribable, according to Damascene.

Wisdom 7: Wisdom is more mobile than all mobile things: it is clear that he speaks of uncreated wisdom: therefore if wisdom itself is most mobile, it seems that the divine being is most mutable among all mutable things.

To this it must be said that something is called mobile in three ways: either through efficient causality, or through representative exemplarity, or through inherent variation. In the first and second ways wisdom is called most mobile, because this pertains to perfection: but not in the third, because this pertains to incompleteness.

Or it can be said that because a mobile thing according to position is made present to many places by its very motion, and that which is moved more swiftly is more swiftly presented to more places; hence it is that since divine wisdom is most present to all things, it is called most mobile among all mobile things, not because it passes from one thing to another, but because it is present to all things. And this is what Dionysius says in On the Divine Names, chapter nine: "That God is moved must be devoutly understood not according to conveyance, or mutation, or alteration, or modal or local motion, not rectilinear, not circular, not from both combined, not intelligible, not animate, not natural, but that God acts upon substance and contains all things and provides for all things totally, and that he is present to all things by encompassing all and by provident processions and operations toward all existing things."

The psalm sings truthfully, "Great is the Lord our God, almighty, his wisdom has no limit." And to show the limitless immensity of this infinite eternity, it says elsewhere, "Great is the Lord and worthy of all praise; his greatness cannot be measured." Indeed, it is necessary that he who is by nature eternal also be proclaimed immeasurable by nature, since what always exists cannot be measured, and what is everywhere cannot be enclosed in a place. Thus finally another testimony of Scripture says, "By her purity she pervades all things." And a little later, "She reaches mightily from one end to the other, and governs all things well." And if now we hear that wisdom reaches from one end to the other, we must understand that if she reaches from one end to the other, she surpasses both ends by the immensity of her infinite nature. Indeed, only one who cannot be enclosed within creation can reach the entire creation, since, if in filling the heavens she is immeasurable, she is likewise infinite in reaching from one end to the other.

For other heretics [the Arians], Christ, who is the very way by which one goes to the Father, is not equal to the Father according to his divinity. And even if he says, "I and the Father are one," they say, "If he was sent by the Father, he is inferior. The one who sends is greater than the one who is sent." This is a human argument, not a divine testimony. O heretic, the Trinity's way of doing things is different from yours, and you do not understand it, because you understand it carnally. Your heart is not pure, even regarding God. In fact, Christ is called "sent" in that he assumed human existence. As God, he is equal to the Father. Where did the Father send the Son that he himself would not be, together with him? Where did the Son go, that he would not be with the Father, as he says, "I am in the Father and the Father in me," and, "Philip, one who has seen me has seen the Father." He is the one who says through the prophet, "I fill heaven and earth," and of whom Solomon says, "He reaches from one end of the earth to the other with power, governing all things well. By his purity he pervades and penetrates all things." But you, heretic, say that the one who sends is greater and the one who is sent less, because you think in terms of intervals of time. But you err greatly by placing within time the one who made time. If you profess that the Father is God and that the Son is God and believe that the Father and the Son are eternal, do not consider the Son inferior because he made you, just because he made himself inferior to redeem you. But, you reply, he said, "The Father is greater than I." If you mean this phrase regarding the humanity he assumed, you err no longer. He says, "The Father is greater than I" in the same way that the prophet said of him, "You have made him a little less than the angels." Tell me, under what aspect do you consider him to be inferior? Power? "The Father judges no one, only the Son." Works? "Everything was made through the Son." If you believe, regarding time, that because you are older than your son, it is like this with God and his Son—may God keep the faithful from hearing these words! It is unworthy to believe such things of God. If in fact the Son is the Word according to the divinity of God, as John the Evangelist says, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God," could there have been a time when the Father was without the Word, or was there a beginning before the beginning itself, given that the Son said that he was the beginning? Indeed, when the Jews asked him, "Who are you?" he replied, "The beginning." Thus what is written in Genesis, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," refers to the Son, who is the beginning. So, the Father is always God and the Son is always God, because the former has never not been Father and the latter has never not been Son. The Father did not diminish himself in generating the Son but generated from himself another like him, so that he would remain entirely in him. The Holy Spirit is not separated out as though he were a portion of that from which he proceeds; rather he is complete from another who is himself complete. And by proceeding from him, the Spirit does not diminish him, nor by being united to him does the Spirit make him any greater. And these three are one God, of whom the prophet says, "You are the only great God."

What can be more mobile and subtle than wisdom, which created all things, governs all things, arranges all things, directs all things? For in it we live, move, and have our being. Moreover, it reaches everywhere because of its purity, for it is light, and there is no darkness at all in it.

It is said of the virtues in the Book of Wisdom: For "she is an aura of the might of God and a pure effusion of the glory of the Almighty." Later, "she is the refulgence of eternal light," referring to purity or moderation; the "mirror," referring to prudence; "she reaches from end to end mightily," referring to fortitude; "and governs all things well," referring to justice.

First to appear, then, in the eternal light, are the exemplary virtues, or the exemplars of the virtues, that is, the height of purity, the beauty of clarity, the strength of power and the straightness of diffusion. "Vapor is from the power of God and is a certain pure emanation from the clarity of the omnipotent God; and therefore nothing sullied is found in it." Behold, the height of purity.

(Verse 25). For it is the vapor of the power of God, that is, emanating from God the Father, as vapor from heat: the Gloss: "That is, to warm the cold of our unbelief": Sirach 24: "Like an uncut Lebanon I sent forth vapor in my dwelling." And it is a certain emanation of the brightness of almighty God, that is, emanating from God the Father, as splendor from light, namely to illuminate the darkness of our intellect: Hebrews 1: "Who being the splendor of glory" etc.; likewise Isaiah 62: "Until his just one goes forth as splendor." Pure, without admixture of darkness: 1 John 1: "God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all." Moreover this procession is without diminution of the paternal substance, or separation, but with personal distinction, according to that of Athanasius: "Neither confounding the persons, nor separating the substance." And because it proceeds as light, which cannot be contaminated, therefore nothing defiled, by defilement either culpable or even natural, falls upon it, namely uncreated wisdom: the Gloss: "Evil does not approach the highest good."

Because the Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, since he is light from light. If there is a parent, there is also a Son. If there were not a son, how, and of whom, would there be a parent? But both exist, and exist always. Since God is light, Christ is radiance. Since the spirit exists (in fact, "God is spirit"), by analogy Christ is called emanation. Indeed, "he is an emanation of the power of God."

Although it is said of Wisdom that it "is an emanation of the power of God," nevertheless the Holy Spirit also, whose nature is fire, can be correctly compared (to the extent that the knowledge of divine things requires it) with an emanation, according to the words of the apostle, "Be fervent in the Spirit."

It is evident that the only-begotten Son of God, born from the substance of God the Father, is coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial with the Father, and therefore nothing impure is found in him, because no evil approaches the highest good, but the simple good always remains the same.

The apostle says that Christ is the image of the Father. He says in fact that he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creatures. He speaks of the firstborn, and not of the first created, so that we would believe that by nature he is generated, and first from all eternity. Elsewhere the apostle says, "He made him heir of all things, and through him he also made the world, the one who is the radiance of his glory and the imprint of his being." The apostle says that he is an image, and Arius says that he is different. Why, then, speak of an image, if he were not the same? People ordinarily do not accept the image of a portrait as being different from the original, but Arius asserts that the Father is different from the Son. He maintains that the Father generated someone who is different from him, as though he were incapable of generating someone like himself. The prophets say, "In your light we see light." They say, "He is a reflection of the eternal light, an unspotted mirror of the majesty of God and an image of his goodness." See in how many ways they speak. "Radiance," because the brightness of the Father's light is in the Son. "Unspotted mirror," since the Father is visible in the Son. "Image of his goodness," since it is not one body seen reflected in another but the whole power of the Godhead in the Son. "Image" teaches that here is no difference. "Imprint" indicates that he is the manifestation of the Father. "Splendor" bespeaks eternity. In fact, the "image" is not the bodily face, nor is it made with colors or from wax but is simply from God. He is from the Father, pouring forth from the spring.

Therefore the Son is good, for He is the Radiance of eternal light, and the spotless mirror of God's majesty, and the image of His goodness (Wis. 7:26). How then is He not good, who is the image of goodness? For just as the image of God is God, but there is one God, so also the image of divine goodness is good, but there is one goodness. Certainly, it is useful for me to believe that God is good, since He will be the judge of my sins. Let those who do not wish to believe that He is good see to themselves. And so, because this man who is testing is a lawyer, as is shown in another book, he spoke well: No one is good except God (Mark 10:18); so that he might be reminded that it is written: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test (Deut. 6:16), but rather confess to the Lord, For He is good (Ps. 135:1). (Verse 21.) Finally, He often rebukes him, for he boasted in the law that he had kept all things from his youth; in order to expose his empty boasting, He shows him that he still lacks what is of the Law. And so he is brought to sadness by the command of mercy, so that a certain natural form of judgment might be given against him.

What wonder, therefore, if He is sent, not because He is unequal with the Father, but because He is "a pure emanation issuing from the glory of the Almighty God?" For there, that which issues, and that from which it issues, is of one and the same substance. For it does not issue as water issues from an aperture of earth or of stone, but as light issues from light. For the words, "For she is the brightness of the everlasting light," what else are they than, she is light of everlasting light? For what is the brightness of light, except light itself? and so co-eternal with the light, from which the light is. But it is preferable to say, "the brightness of light," rather than "the light of light;" lest that which issues should be thought to be darker than that from which it issues. For when one hears of the brightness of light as being light itself, it is more easy to believe that the former shines by means of the latter, than that the latter shines less. But because there was no need of warning men not to think that light to be less, which begat the other (for no heretic ever dared say this, neither is it to be believed that any one will dare to do so), Scripture meets that other thought, whereby that light which issues might seem darker than that from which it issues; and it has removed this surmise by saying, "It is the brightness of that light," namely, of eternal light, and so shows it to be equal. For if it were less, then it would be its darkness, not its brightness; but if it were greater, then it could not issue from it, for it could not surpass that from which it is educed.

See God, see His Word inhering to the Word speaking, that the speaker speaks not by syllables, but this his speaking is a shining out in the brightness of wisdom. What is said of the Wisdom itself? "It is the radiance of eternal light." Observe the radiance of the sun. The sun is in the heaven, and spreads out its brightness over all lands and over all seas, and it is simply a corporal light. If, indeed, thou canst separate the brightness from the sun, then separate the Word from the Father. I am speaking of the sun. One small, slender flame of a lamp, which can be extinguished by one breath, spreads its light over all that lies near it: thou seest the light generated by the flame spread out; thou seest its emission, but not a separation. Understand, then, beloved brethren, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are inseparably united in themselves; that this Trinity is one God; that all the works of the one God are the works of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

That wisdom is a light descending to illuminate our intellective power is evident, because it is written in the book of Wisdom that "she is the brightness of eternal light, the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of his goodness. And being one, she can do all things, and remaining in herself, she renews all things, and through nations transfers herself into holy souls and constitutes friends of God and prophets. For God loves none but him who dwells with wisdom. For she is more beautiful than the sun and above every arrangement of the stars; compared to light, she is found to be prior." Rightly is wisdom called the seat of God, and the soul so described, which is more beautiful than heaven, indeed than the whole universe, is the seat of God.

Observing justice helps to obtain wisdom, as the tendency of matter inclines to the form and makes it able to be joined to the form through the medium of dispositions. And so keeping justice brings forth wisdom. Hence, "she is the refulgence of the eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness. And she, who is one, can do all things, and renews everything while herself perduring; and passing into holy souls from age to age."

It is said of the virtues in the Book of Wisdom: "She is the refulgence of eternal light," referring to purity or moderation; the "mirror," referring to prudence; "she reaches from end to end mightily," referring to fortitude; "and governs all things well," referring to justice.

"Brightness is from eternal light, a spotless mirror of God's majesty and an image of His goodness." And: "This light, then, is more beautiful than the sun, and its brilliance is incomparably superior to any pattern of stars." Behold, the beauty of clarity. But where there is a mirror and an image and brightness, there is necessarily representation and beauty. "Beauty is nothing else but harmonious proportion." And here, there are proportionate relationships retraced to unity. And because this light is most beautiful, it reaches everywhere on account of its purity.

The second mode of generation is by means of expression: as in the case of the species coming out of the object, the imprint out of the seal, the speech out of the speaker, or the concept or thought out of the mind. And in these, there is deficiency. In the first, the reality of the object is lacking, for the species in the eye or in the soul is not the reality of the thing. In the second, simplicity is lacking, for the image or figure does not consist in a point or in something simple, but has parts. In the third, permanence is lacking, for speech passes away and does not remain. In the fourth, substance is lacking, for the concept of the mind is neither a substance nor a hypostasis. Take away such defects, and suppose an expression like the species deriving from the object but having reality, like the imprint produced by the seal but having simplicity, like the word coming forth from the speaker but having permanence, like the concept proceeding from the mind but having substance: and then you have the first part of the mirror.

The Psalm refers to the first manner of expression: "My heart overflows with a goodly theme." And there follows: "Fairer in beauty are you than the sons of men." Wisdom refers to the second: "For she is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness." And the Apostle: "He is the image of the invisible God." Job refers to the third: "God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing the second time." Understand this as meaning "in the Son," in the sense that He always is, and will never cease to be nor even be changed. In the fourth manner of expression, suppose substantiality, for the concept of the eternal mind is a hypostasis, and this mental concept is most noble and perfect. Hence, in Proverbs: "When there were no depths I was brought forth." And so He is sometimes called the Word, the Species, the Image, the Word remaining forever, the Concept—not as existing within a mind, but as being substantial: a hypostasis. And in this way we have the other part of the mirror.

(Verse 26). And truly nothing defiled falls upon it. For it is the brightness of eternal light, that is, the purest light from eternal light, namely proceeding from the Father; whence it is sung: "Light from light you appeared, O Christ." In this light the eternal light is seen, according to that Psalm: "In your light we shall see light"; likewise John 14: "He who sees me sees the Father also." It is therefore the brightness of eternal light, with respect to the representation of wisdom, and the spotless mirror of the majesty of God, with respect to the representation of divine majesty and power, according to that of John 5: "For whatever things he," namely the Father, "has done, these the Son likewise does." Without spot, I say, of sin, because "he did not commit sin" etc., 1 Peter 2. And the image of his goodness: the Gloss: "That is, the full representation of his goodness": Colossians 1: "Who is the image of the invisible God."

It should be noted that the mirror is the Son of God, immaculate in act and in potency. The mirror is also the Angel, according to Dionysius, pure and most clear, and although immaculate in act, yet stained in potency, at least remotely. The mirror is also the human spirit, in which the divine image shines forth, Genesis 1, stained in act and in potency. The mirror is also said to be every creature, because through it, as through its vestige, the invisible things of God are represented: Romans 1: "The invisible things of God are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood through the things that have been made": likewise 1 Corinthians 13: "We see now through a mirror in an enigma." The mirror is also Sacred Scripture: James 1: "He is compared to a man considering the countenance of his birth in a mirror."

The Arians clearly show themselves to worship two gods when they deny that the Son is equal to the Father. And they declare him less, not regarding the assumption of the flesh (which the truth of the faith teaches) but with respect to the nature of the immeasurable divinity, even though it is said of him who is the wisdom of God that he is "a reflection of the eternal light." It is also said of him, in the letter to the Hebrews, "that he is the radiance of his glory and the imprint of his being." They should look at the "reflection of the eternal light" and recognize that, as that eternal light is infinite, so its reflection is in no way secondary or inferior by nature. Its eternity, rather, is identical to its infinity and its infinity to its eternity.

So as to show that the Son is infinite along with the Father, the sacred Scripture was careful to say of wisdom, "It is the reflection of the eternal light, a spotless mirror of the majesty of God and an image of his goodness." In this testimony are shown the oneness of nature, the distinction of persons and the infinite equality of the Father and the Son. No one can doubt that in this passage the Father is called the light and the Son the reflection. About this, the apostle also says authoritatively, "He is the radiance of his glory and the imprint of his being and sustains all things with the power of his word." See that it is said that the Son is the reflection and governs all things. If someone thinks that the Father is infinite but that the Son has limits, let him show us in what way the light and its reflection could be different beings, when, even if they are differentiated by name, they are not distinct in kind, nor do they differ in extension. In fact, the light and its reflection do not have the same name, but neither do they have different natures.

If, about what we all profess, you wanted to suggest some similitude in God, I am not sure if you could specify your comparison more clearly. For example, if you were to say "light from light" and had to explain it in detail, I would ask you how you conceive of this light from light. Perhaps like a lamp from a lamp, or a sun from the sun? Or would this example lead you to deduce that there are two lamps or two suns, as though there were two gods? Or would you understand the light from light as the effect of the light of the lamp itself or as the brilliance of the sun shining from the sun itself, comparing the figure of the Father with the source of the light and the Son with the brightness of its radiation? In fact, of this the prophet said, "In you is the source of life, and in your light we see light." Or Solomon, when he says, "She is a reflection of the eternal light, a spotless mirror of the majesty of God and an image of his goodness." The apostle also preached that our Savior is the image of the invisible God, because the image of the sun is its light, which proceeds from the sun itself.

The Apostle says of the same Son: Who, being the brightness of glory, and the express image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3). For the Father calls him Wisdom itself so that he is his Word, not as a word is uttered from the mouth with sound, or thought before it is spoken; for this is accomplished within the spans of time, but that is eternal, and by enlightening he tells us both about himself and about the Father, what must be said to men, and therefore he says: No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Matt. 11:27). Because the Father reveals through the Son, that is, through his Word. For if this word which we utter is temporal and transitory, and shows itself and that about which we speak; how much more does the Word of God, through whom all things were made, show the Father as he is, because it too is as he is, and this is what the Father is, according to wisdom and essence. For according to the Word, he is not what the Father is, because the Word is not the Father; and the Word is spoken of relatively, as the Son, who certainly is not the Father; and therefore Christ is the power and wisdom of God, because from the Father as power and wisdom, he too is power and wisdom, as the light of God and from the Father as light, and the fountain of life with God the Father, who is surely the fountain of life: For with you, he says, is the fountain of life. In your light we shall see light (Ps. 36:9); because as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself (Jn. 5:26). And he was the true light which enlightens every man coming into this world; and this light was the Word with God, but the Word was also God. Now God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. But the light is not bodily but spiritual; nor is it so spiritual that it is made by illumination, as was said to the apostles: You are the light of the world; but the light which enlightens every man, that very highest wisdom is God, of whom we are now speaking. Therefore the Son is Wisdom, from the Father who is Wisdom: as light from light, and God from God, so that both the Father is light, and the Son is light, and the Father is God, and the Son is God. Therefore both the Father is wisdom, and the Son is wisdom, and therefore both together are one light, and one God, therefore both one wisdom, but the Son was made wisdom for us from God, and righteousness and sanctification, because we turn to him temporally, and that from a certain time, so that we may remain with him forever, and he too from a certain time the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.

"O the depths of the riches, the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable his judgments and unsearchable his ways! In fact, who has ever known the thoughts of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Or who has given him something, so as to receive something in return? Since from him, because of him and for him all things are. To him be glory forever." Of whom does this speak—the Father or the Son? Perhaps of the Father? But the Father is not the Wisdom of God, because the Wisdom of God is the Son. And what can Wisdom not do, of whom it is written, "Though one, she can do all things; though remaining in herself, she renews all things"? Thus we read that Wisdom is not something temporary but permanent. According to Solomon, then, Wisdom is all-powerful and permanent. You will also read that it is good, because it is written, "Against wisdom, wickedness cannot prevail."

Observing, then, all the other things put beneath you, I discovered that they neither wholly exist, nor do they wholly not exist. They exist, since they are from you, but they also do not exist because they are not what you are. For only what exists immutably, truly exists. It is good for me to be in union with God then, since, if I do not remain in him, neither can I remain in myself. He, by contrast, "remaining stable in himself, renews all things." "You are my Lord, because you have no need of my goodness."

You believe in God, the Father almighty, invisible, immortal, king of the ages, creator of all things visible and invisible, and so on according to what is said of him, either by right reason or by the authority of sacred Scripture. From this greatness of the Father, then, you must not exclude the Son. Because these are things that are not said exclusively of the Father, as though he were unrelated to the one who said, "I and the Father are one," and of whom the apostle said, "Who, being divine in nature, did not consider robbery his equality with God." Robbery is the usurping of something that belongs to another, but this equality is his by nature. Consequently, how is the Son not almighty, through whom all things were made, who is also the power and the wisdom of God, that wisdom about which it is written, "Being one, she can do all things"? That nature is therefore also invisible, by the very fact that he is equal to the Father.

If spiritual light was created when God said, "Let there be light," you must not think that this was the true light, coeternal with the Father, through whom all things were created and who enlightens every person. Rather, it was that light of which Scripture could say, "Among all things, Wisdom was created first." In fact, when that eternal and immutable Wisdom, which is not created but generated, communicates itself to spiritual and rational creatures—as to holy souls so that, enlightened, they might shine—he constitutes in them, so to speak, a state of enlightened reason that can be understood as the creation of the light when God said, "Let there be light!" If there already existed a spiritual creature called by the name "heavens" in the passage where it is written, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," these heavens are not the corporeal heavens but the incorporeal. They are superior to any body, not by the ordering of space into levels but because of the exceeding dignity of their nature.

The world is the greatest of the visible beings. God is the greatest of the invisible beings. But we see that the world exists, and we believe that God exists. No one makes us believe with more certainty that God created the world than God himself. And when did we hear this? Nowhere better than in the holy Scriptures, where his prophet said, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Was this prophet perhaps present when God created the heavens and the earth? No. But the Wisdom of God was there, through whom all things were made. Entering holy souls, this Wisdom makes friends of God and prophets, silently making her works known in them. With them the angels of God also speak, who always see the face of the Father, and communicate his will to those to whom it must be communicated. And one of these was this prophet who said and wrote, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." And this is a text so trustworthy for belief in God that, thanks to the same Spirit of God through whom he knew these revealed things, he also predicted, long ago, the advent of our faith.

If Adam had been capable of understanding the word that God communicates to angelic spirits through his own essence, it cannot be doubted that God, without being moved himself through time, would have moved Adam's spirit in a mysterious and ineffable way. He would have taught him a useful and salutary precept of truth and, by the same Truth, what punishment awaited its transgressor. This is how all the salutary precepts of unchanging Wisdom that are communicated to holy souls at particular moments, at this or that time, should be seen and understood. If, however, Adam was righteous only to the extent that he still needed another holier and wiser creature through whom he would come to know the will and command of God (as we have had need of the prophets, and they of the angels), why should we doubt that God would have spoken to him through such a creature, using a language that Adam could understand?

Observing justice helps to obtain wisdom, as the tendency of matter inclines to the form and makes it able to be joined to the form through the medium of dispositions. Not that these dispositions perish, or even less, that they are fulfilled either in the human bodies or in others. And so keeping justice brings forth wisdom. Hence, "she is the refulgence of the eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God, the image of His goodness. And she, who is one, can do all things, and renews everything while herself perduring; and passing into holy souls from age to age."

But as soon as the soul has been made to resemble God, it enters into that Wisdom, because "She is the refulgence of eternal light, the spotless mirror of the power of God." And consequently, "she passes into holy souls from age to age." Without holiness, a man cannot be wise.

(Verse 27). And being one, namely in essence with the Father, according to that saying of John 10: "I and the Father are one"; she can do all things, that is, she has the same power as the Father; whence below, chapter 18: "Your almighty word, O Lord, came from the royal throne."

But, if she can do all things, then she can lie or die: which is false.

It must be said that she can do all things that do not contradict her goodness, or those things which to be able to do is some power, not impotence.

And remaining in herself, namely unchangeable, according to that saying of James 1: "With whom there is no change" etc.: she renews all things, namely temporal things through continuous generation; Ecclesiastes 1: "A generation passes away, a generation comes": and spiritual things through spiritual regeneration: 2 Corinthians 5: "If any be a new creature in Christ, the old things have passed away": Revelation 21: "Behold, I make all things new." And through nations, carnal, or rather spiritual, of which John 3: "Unless one be born again of water" etc. Into holy souls, that is, those cleansed from sin, she conveys herself, through the spiritual coming of grace into the mind: John 14: "We will come to him" etc. It should be noted that to convey herself is said not through a new position or by changing place, but through a new effect: whence it follows: Friends of God, through the enkindling of the affections, and prophets she constitutes, through the illumination of the intellect: John 15: "I will no longer call you servants, but friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you."

Therefore, when something is pronounced or narrated in the Scriptures about wisdom, whether by wisdom itself speaking, or when something is said about it, the Son is especially indicated to us, by the example of whose image we also may not depart from God, because we too are the image of God, not indeed equal, for we are made by the Father through the Son, not born of the Father as that wisdom is; and we, because we are illuminated by the light, but that wisdom truly because it is the light illuminating, and therefore that wisdom is without an example, but for us it is an example. For it does not imitate anyone preceding it to the Father, from whom it is never separable, because it is the very same as He from whom it is; but we, imitating, imitate the one who remains, and we follow the one who stands, and walking in Him we strive toward Him: because He became for us a temporal way through humility, who is for us an eternal dwelling through divinity; for indeed, to pure intellectual spirits who have not fallen by pride, in the form of God and equal to God, and God, He offers the example, so that the same example might also offer a way of return to fallen man, who, because of the uncleanness of sins and the punishment of mortality, could not see God, He emptied Himself, not by changing His divinity, but by assuming our changeableness, and taking the form of a servant, He came to us in this world, who was in this world, because the world was made through Him, so that He might be an example above for those seeing God, an example below for those marveling at man, an example for the healthy to remain, an example for the weak to recover, an example for the dying not to fear, an example for the dead to rise again. In all things He Himself holds the primacy, for man ought not to follow anyone but God to attain happiness, and he could not perceive God by following, so he would follow God made man, at once both the one whom he could perceive and the one whom he ought to follow. Indeed, the Almighty Father begot almighty wisdom from Himself, which, remaining, renews all things in itself, because it, being absolute, rules and orders all changeable things by its will, which, transferring itself into the souls of the elect, by its grace makes them friends of God, and appoints them prophets. For all things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing (Jn. 1:3). Therefore it is said: You have made all things in wisdom, because through His Son, that is, His Word and His wisdom, God made all things. (Prov. 3:9)

The Father renews, the Son renews, and the Holy Spirit does the same. About the Father, we read in Jeremiah, "Make us return to you, Lord, and we will return. Renew our days as of old." About the Son, in Solomon, "She reaches mightily from one end to the other and governs all things well." And also, "Though one, she renews all things." The Holy Spirit, in the letter to the Romans, "But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit."

In your opinion, even those who are born foolish—whom sacred Scripture says should be pitied more than the dead—receive their foolishness as fate from God their creator. But even with these, God undoubtedly loves their souls in some way, because they exist, live and feel, and in any case they are greater than beasts, even if they are dull-minded souls. But that love is different, of which it is written, "God loves no one so much as the one who lives with wisdom." You, however, ask why God has more love for the souls of babies, for whom he provides the washing of regeneration, sending them to the kingdom, and why would he not give this benefit to others, since babies have no merits of the will to distinguish them, nor is there preference of persons with God. This is a completely stupid argument, which you are always bringing up to us. That where it was said, "You love souls," it did not say "all souls," there is no question. Perhaps it was said this way in the sense that God creates all souls but loves only those whom he distinguishes from the others, not based on their merits but by the generosity of his grace, so that they might live with wisdom, as it is written, "God loves no one so much as the one who lives with wisdom—but the Lord gives the wisdom!"

(Verse 28). For God loves no one except him who dwells with wisdom, namely by remaining with him "who shall meditate on the law of the Lord day and night," according to the Gloss: Proverbs 8: "I, wisdom, dwell in counsel and am present among learned thoughts." And if God loves no one except him who dwells with wisdom: "blessed therefore is the man who shall abide in wisdom," Ecclesiasticus 14.

God loves no one etc. - On the contrary: Below in chapter 11: "You love all things that are," and yet not all things dwell with wisdom.

But it must be said that there he speaks of natural love, here of gratuitous love.

If God loves no one except him who dwells with wisdom, then surely He hates all followers of foolishness. Therefore, it is declared in this statement that anyone who hates discipline cannot be a partaker of the grace of God, because the Lord is far from the wicked, and he who hates rebuke will die (Prov. 15:29). Therefore, the heart of the wise seeks doctrine, and the mind of the just will meditate on obedience. But he who trusts in his own heart is foolish; and he who walks wisely, this one will be saved (Prov. 15:10).

Who would ever ruin the loveliness of a beautiful face by joining it with a beast-like body and claws? Indeed, the appearance of virtue is admirable and splendid, and especially the beauty of wisdom, as the succession of events narrated by Scripture demonstrates. Wisdom is more dazzling than the sun, and, compared with the light of the constellations, it surpasses them all. Indeed, whereas the night absorbs their light, wickedness cannot overcome wisdom.

"Brightness is from eternal light, a spotless mirror of God's majesty and an image of His goodness." And: "This light, then, is more beautiful than the sun, and its brilliance is incomparably superior to any pattern of stars." Behold, the beauty of clarity. But where there is a mirror and an image and brightness, there is necessarily representation and beauty. "Beauty is nothing else but harmonious proportion." And here, there are proportionate relationships retraced to unity. And because this light is most beautiful, it reaches everywhere on account of its purity.

Because He is illuminating light: For she is "fairer than the sun and surpasses every constellation of the stars." For although the sun possesses the means by which it can radiate, it yet does not have the species described within itself. Wherefore more beautiful is this Exemplar which has light and also the clear species of light.

Concerning the wisdom of the Exemplar, there is in the seventh chapter of Wisdom: "For she is fairer than the sun and surpasses every constellation of the stars." It is indeed a beautiful wisdom, because it is light, but it is more beautiful than the sun, since the sun is unable to give birth to its radiance within itself, while the Eternal Sun begets the most beautiful Radiance within Himself. Likewise, eternal wisdom exerts its influence over all things.

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 contemplating the Supreme Good: "For she is fairer than the sun." Wisdom makes the soul taste the Supreme Good and be united to it.

For she is more beautiful etc. Here he treats of the beauty of wisdom, preferring it to the beauty of the sun, and first he sets forth the comparison; second, the proof of the comparison: For night succeeds it.

(Verse 29.) I have rightly said that God loves him who dwells with wisdom, and deservedly so. For she, namely wisdom, is more beautiful than the sun, because spiritual beauty surpasses corporeal beauty: above in the same chapter: "Above health and beauty I loved her"; than the sun, namely the material sun, because she is the beauty of the sun of justice, of which Malachi 4 says: "The sun of justice shall arise for you who fear my name." And above every arrangement of the stars, it must be repeated: she is more beautiful. For she herself made the stars, Genesis 1, and it is certain that she retained more beauty for herself than she gave to the stars; therefore above in chapter 4: "O how beautiful is the chaste generation with brightness!" namely, of wisdom. Compared to light, namely both of the sun and of the stars, she is found to be prior, namely in eternity, dignity, and causality; whence Sirach 24: "I caused an unfailing light to rise in the heavens"; the Gloss: "Corporeal light, which now sets, now rises, compared to spiritual light, appears as a spark. Christ also far transcends the brightness of the saints."

According to history, wisdom is said to be more splendid than the sun and the brightness of all the stars: for bodily light, which, being changed by the alternation of day and night, sometimes appears and sometimes is hidden, when compared to the spiritual and perpetual light of wisdom, seems to have scarcely the small brilliance of a certain spark. For every temporary thing, when compared to what is everlasting, seems as if it no longer exists, since it is consumed by eternity. Therefore, in a mystical sense, the brightness of the wisdom of God, which is Christ, when compared to the splendor of any of the saints, whom He here calls by the name of the sun and stars, far surpasses them, because they are changeable, but He always remains the same. The Psalmist, contemplating this, says to the Lord Himself: In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; all of them will grow old like a garment, and like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will have no end (Ps. 102:25-27).

From this it follows that the eternal light is also the most powerful. Hence, it is said: "Wickedness prevails not over Wisdom. Indeed, she reaches from end to end mightily." Behold, the strength of power. It reaches from the summit or the supreme unto the infinite, from the intrinsic unto the extrinsic, from the first unto the last, for the center of its might is everywhere: and that is the very reason why its power is infinite.

(Verse 30.) For night succeeds it, namely corporeal light, according to that passage in Genesis 8: "Night and day shall not cease"; likewise Isaiah 21: "Morning comes and also night." But night does not succeed spiritual light; whence it follows: But malice, which is spiritual darkness, does not overcome wisdom, which is spiritual light, according to John Damascene; whence John 1: "The light shines in the darkness."

If our physician is an expert, he can heal every infirmity. If he is our merciful God, he can forgive every sin. A goodness that does not prevail over every evil is not perfect, nor is a medicine perfect if some disease cannot be cured by it. Indeed, it is written in the sacred texts, "Evil does not prevail over wisdom." Our physician's omnipotence is proclaimed in the psalm with these words, "Bless the Lord, my soul, and all my being bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all his benefits. It is he who pardons all your sins, who heals all your weakness, who rescues your life from the grave, who fulfills your desires with good things, who crowns you with mercy and goodness. Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's." I ask you: What should we think cannot be forgiven us, since the Lord is kindly in all our misdeeds? Or what should we suppose cannot be healed in us, since the Lord heals all our weaknesses? Or how is it possible that one who is whole and righteous would still have some lack—one who is content to desire good things? Or up to what point do we think that one could not avail himself of the benefit of the full remission of sins—one who has been crowned with goodness and mercy? Let no one, therefore, remain in his infirmity, despairing of the physician. Let no one destroy himself in sins, belittling the mercy of God. The apostle declares that "Christ died for the godless." And he likewise says, "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners."

Since none of the elect in this life is immune from sin; therefore, no wickedness approaches Christ. Of whom it is written: Blessed is the just man in the Lord who has been found without stain (Sir. 31). And again: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth (Isa. 53:9). To whom the prince of this world comes and finds nothing in him. Nevertheless, he himself bore our weaknesses and carried our diseases, because he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose wounds we have been healed (1 Peter 2:24).