Chapter 24
[Proverbs 24:1] -- Do not emulate evil men, etc. Do not desire to imitate those whom you see entangled in the vices I have mentioned, but rather strive to devote yourself to wisdom.
[Proverbs 24:4] -- In doctrine, the storehouses will be filled, etc. The storehouses are the hearts of the righteous, which will be filled with the gifts of virtues only by the doctrine of wisdom.
[Proverbs 24:5] -- A wise man is strong, etc. Not everyone who is strong and wise, but everyone who is wise is to be called strong, because even if he is weak in body, if wisdom is present, he conquers all struggles of his adversary, that is, of the devil.
[Proverbs 24:7] -- Wisdom is high for a fool, etc. A fool cannot attain wisdom. For it is high from him who lies in the depths of vices; who even if he thinks he has some knowledge now, at the gate of the city, that is, at the exit of this life, he will find that he knew nothing.
[Proverbs 24:8] -- He who thinks to do evil, shall be called a fool. Do not think that he whom you see to be dull and slow-witted should be considered a fool, he clearly shows that he should be called a fool who even consents to the suggestions of sin in thought, even if he seems sharp in intellect; but not him who, although he appears dull in sense, resolved to obey the commands of God, which he could learn.
[Proverbs 24:10] -- If you despair, being wearied in the day of distress, etc. Nothing is more detestable than despair, which those who have, lose the constancy of fortitude both in the general labors of this life and, which harms most, in the fight of faith.
[Proverbs 24:11] -- Deliver those who are being led to death, etc. It can be taken mystically. Deliver those who are deceived by heretics, by preaching the correct faith, by showing the examples of good works, liberate those who are being led to destruction by living evilly with Catholics. But also, if you see those fallen or about to fall in the struggle of persecution, strive to restore them to life with diligent exhortation; if you see those perishing from hunger, if you see those freezing, refresh them by giving food and clothing.
[Proverbs 24:13] -- Eat, my son, honey, for it is good, etc. It is very clear why he compares the doctrine of wisdom to honey and the honeycomb, because certainly, as the former surpasses foods, so the latter surpasses other teachings in sweetness. But there is a difference in the significance of each, because the honey, which is ready to eat, implies the moral surface of the letter; but the honeycomb, in which honey is expressed from the wax, figuratively denotes the allegorical speech, where, with the veil of the letter removed, the sense of spiritual sweetness is perceived with some labor or delay.
[Proverbs 24:15] -- Do not lie in wait, nor seek impiety in the house of the just, etc. Do not seek any occasion by which you might slander a just man. For if he falls, he quickly removes his foot, so that he may be free from the vice that is not repeated in deed. But the wicked fall in such a way that they do not rise again, as he subsequently adds, saying:
[Proverbs 24:16] -- For the just man falls seven times, etc. But how is he called just, who is remembered to fall, that is, to sin? unless he speaks of the slight and daily sins, without which none of the just could exist in this life? For certainly through ignorance, through forgetfulness, through thought, through speech, through surprise, through necessity, through the frailty of the flesh, each day, either unwillingly or willingly, we frequently incur guilt. And yet the righteous rises again, evidently because he is righteous, nor does the fall of human frailty prejudice his righteousness. Hence, well, when speaking of the fall of the righteous, he did not add "into evil," because although it is evil that they fall, they are nevertheless not able to remain in evil, by promptly rising again they procure [their recovery]. But on the contrary it is said of the reprobates: "But the impious will fall into evil," because evidently the impious, when they fall, or worse, when they sin grievously, as Scripture says, that is, when they commit capital crimes, they so delight in their fall that they scorn to rise again by repenting.
[Proverbs 24:17] -- When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, etc. Earlier he forbade laying snares for the righteous; now, to perfect himself in all things, he also forbids insulting enemies when they sin or incur some adversity, lest perchance, if by the mercy of the Lord they return to repentance and the salvation of their souls and begin to have faithful friendship with you, you would then blush because you once despised those whom divine grace had reserved for life. But, as much as you can, commiserate with those who have fallen, and help them to rise again; and if your wish and endeavor follow through with success, you will rejoice over the one healed whom you had mourned for being ill; otherwise, however, you will not lack the fruit of your goodwill with God. Or certainly it should be said thus: Do not rejoice over the fall of your enemy, lest perhaps the Lord, casting down your pride, which undoubtedly displeases him, humiliates you by making you fall into sin while your enemy, repenting, gets healed.
[Proverbs 24:21] -- Fear the Lord, my son, and the king. Rightly as he himself said, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22). Neither is there any obstacle in the Lord and king to understand the Father and the Son being designated, who are to be worshipped with one and the same honor of divinity. For he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him (John 5). And do not join with the detractors. Meaning those who, claiming to know God the Father, refused to receive the Son of God appearing in the flesh.
[Proverbs 24:22] -- For suddenly their destruction will rise up, etc. He speaks of both the detractor and the one who, favoring him, was mixed up with him; the slanderers of Christ the leaders, and those deceived by them the people; the tearers of the faith the heresiarchs, and their listeners the auditors.
[Proverbs 24:23] -- These things also to the wise. It is understood, are unknown, when each of the reprobates is suddenly snatched from the world by destruction. Or these things also are to be observed by the wise, which I have taught, not to be mingled with the detractors; because by this particular vice almost the whole human race is endangered. Hence, wishing to remedy this same vice, blessed Father Augustine had these verses inscribed on his table: Whoever loves to slander the life of an absent person with words, let him know that he is unworthy of this table. This verse is more clearly stated in the ancient edition: I say this to you who understand wisdom, for it can not incongruously be the principle of the following sentences.
[Proverbs 24:23] -- To recognize a person in judgment is not good. He taught above to fear the king, and now forbids recognizing a person in judgment. Whence it is understood that subjects ought to render the debt of temporal obedience to princes, so that never out of respect for their reverence or fear they deviate from the path of truth.
[Proverbs 24:26] -- He will kiss the lips, etc. The kiss is a sign of peace and love. Therefore, he who answers correctly will kiss the lips, because whoever follows the words of justice alone, neglecting the acceptance of persons, though he may seem harsh and severe to the unwise, will yet find many prudent people with whom he has peace; many who embrace his sayings with love. Often, too, he will receive as friends and companions those whom he had endured as opponents to his right assertions, but who are afterwards converted to better things.
[Proverbs 24:27] -- Prepare your work outside, etc. What is it to diligently cultivate the field with prepared labor, except to root out the thorns of iniquities and perfect our action for the fruit of retribution? And what is it to return to building the house after cultivating the field, if not that we often learn from good works how much purity of life we ought to establish in thought? For he builds well the house of the mind, who first clears the field of the body of the thorns of vices, lest, if the thorns of desires advance in the field of the flesh, the whole structure of virtues inside be destroyed as the famine of good increases.
[Proverbs 24:28] -- Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor, etc. This also pertains to the cultivation of our field, that is, to the pursuit of good action, namely, not to harm an innocent neighbor with false testimony, not to give any sinner the confidence of sinning further by flattery; not to return evil for evil; for in this way, when you have first well composed outward actions, you will then reach to the cultivation of the purity of the inner man as well, and, as after the exercise of the field, you will begin to adorn and establish the habitation of the mind with pious thoughts. Because the reprobate neglect to do this, it is rightly added: I passed by the field of the lazy man, etc. To pass by the field and vineyard of the lazy and foolish is to see the life of any negligent person, which nettles or thorns fill, because in the heart of the negligent sprout itching earthly desires and the stings of vices. As it is written: Every slothful person is in desires. And the stone wall in the vineyard or field of the fool is broken down, when the beginnings of the defenses of virtues, deceived either by the wickedness of evil men or by the clever persuasion of unclean spirits, any negligent person loses.