COLLATION VII.
On the eighth, ninth, and tenth commandments.
SUMMARY. - Introduction, 1. - Review, 2. - Part I. On the eighth commandment. Threefold lie: officious, jocose, pernicious, 3. 4. - Eight kinds of lies, 5. - Part II. On the ninth and tenth commandments. A twofold concupiscence is prohibited, namely the illicit internal act of the concupiscence of the flesh and of the eyes, 6. - Review and confirmation of the preceding collations, 7-9. - Part III. On the ten plagues of the Egyptians and the ten condescensions of Christ. Wisdom is learned through scourges: the ten plagues, 10. - These correspond to the transgressions of the ten commandments, 11-14. - Christ alone delivers from these through ten condescensions, 15-17. - Admonition to keep the Passover with Christ.
1. You shall not speak false testimony against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods. Nor shall you desire his wife.
Consider that I have set before you life and good, and on the contrary death and evil, that you may love the Lord your God and walk in his ways and keep his commandments. In the beginning let us beseech God, etc.
2. In Deuteronomy Moses speaks of the ten commandments, which the eternal God set forth through his mouth, so that the Jews would not despise them; and he shows that in the observance of the commandments there is life and good, and in their transgression death and evil.
I said on another occasion that the first distinction of the commandments is according to the twofold part of justice, which orders us toward God and toward our neighbor, and according to this two tablets were given to Moses. On the first are contained the commandments by which we are ordered toward God, and there are three. On the second are contained the commandments by which we are ordered toward our neighbor, and there are seven, of which one is affirmative and the other six negative. Concerning the affirmative and three negative commandments, it has already been said.
3. There now follows concerning the others, the first of which is: You shall not speak false testimony against your neighbor. Here is prohibited the lie that is harmful to one's neighbor. And according to the general understanding, every pernicious lie is here prohibited: and it is to be understood that every lie is evil. Augustine distinguishes and says that there is the officious, jocose, and pernicious lie. A lie is called officious that harms no one and benefits someone. The jocose lie is one that is made not with the will to harm but with the desire to lie, and sometimes it harms, but does not benefit. The pernicious lie is one that is made with the intention of lying, and this in order to harm; and it benefits no one but harms all. And Augustine says that "in the first lie there is minimal fault, in the second moderate, in the third grave."
4. The officious lie occurs in three ways: either for defending someone's temporal goods, or for protecting life, or for preserving chastity. The jocose lie occurs in two ways: either from the sheer desire of lying, or of pleasing. The pernicious lie occurs in three ways: either in the doctrine of religion against sacred Scripture, or in the imputation of a false crime: and in these two ways it benefits no one, but harms all. In the third way, a pernicious lie occurs in the case of someone; and thus it benefits one person and harms another.
5. Thus it is clear that there are eight kinds of lying. And Augustine says that God can make it so that theft is not a sin; but He cannot make it so that lying is not a sin. And this is on account of the nobility of truth: because a lie is a false utterance of speech with the intention of deceiving, and God cannot depart from truth, because He is truth itself; but with theft He can well dispense, so that it is not a sin. Whence it is most necessary for man that he keep faith and have truth in speech, because Seneca says: "He who loses faith has nothing more to lose." — The matter is now clear concerning this commandment: You shall not speak false testimony against your neighbor.
6. Afterwards He joins two commandments together: You shall not covet your neighbor's goods, nor shall you desire his wife; in which He prohibits the twofold concupiscence, namely of the eyes and of the flesh, which are the kindling of all evils and the root of all sins: because when the concupiscible power is infected and corrupted, it corrupts all the other powers of the soul. In the preceding commandments: You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not speak false testimony, every illicit exterior act committed against one's neighbor is prohibited. In these two: You shall not covet your neighbor's goods, nor shall you desire his wife, the illicit interior act is prohibited, and here the concupiscence of the eyes, or covetousness, is prohibited, which is the root of all evils ; the concupiscence of the flesh is also prohibited, which is the kindling of all sins. Through this twofold concupiscence occurs the transmission of all evils and sins; and therefore the divine law prohibits it, and in this prohibits all evils and all sins. This is the fever by which all the children of Adam are feverish, and which generates all evils.
7. It is now clear that there are ten precepts of the sacred decalogue. In the first three, right ordering toward God is commanded; in the fourth, right ordering and beneficence toward parents; in the other six, right ordering and innocence toward one's neighbor is commanded.
8. Let us take up again these precepts, which are: You shall not have strange gods before me. You shall not take the name of your God in vain, etc. We ought to understand that although certain precepts are called affirmative and certain negative, nevertheless all contain both affirmation and negation within themselves. When God prohibits something in a certain commandment, He commands its contrary; and conversely, when He commands something, He prohibits its contrary. This is evident. For in the first commandment, humble adoration of the divine majesty is commanded, and idolatry is prohibited. In the second, faithful assertion of the divine truth is commanded, and perjury is prohibited. In the third, devout love of the divine goodness is commanded, and lack of devotion is prohibited. In the fourth, piety toward parents is commanded, and dishonor is prohibited. In the fifth, meekness is commanded, and wrath is prohibited. In the sixth, chastity is commanded, and adultery is prohibited. In the seventh, generosity is commanded, and theft is prohibited. In the eighth, truthfulness is commanded, and lying is prohibited. In the ninth, liberality of heart is commanded, and concupiscence for temporal things is prohibited. In the tenth, purity of mind is commanded, and concupiscence of the flesh is prohibited.
9. See that all the precepts contain within themselves affirmation and negation, and that in every precept there is life and good, death and evil. In the observance of the commandments there is life and good, and in transgression there is death and evil. And from the observance of the law follows blessing, and from transgression, cursing. For from the observance of the law a man becomes reverent, faithful, devout, pious, meek, chaste, generous, truthful, content with his own possessions — that is, liberal in heart and undefiled in mind. On the contrary, from the transgression of the law a man becomes an idolater, a blasphemer, undevout, impious, a murderer, an adulterer, a thief, a liar, covetous, and carnal. Therefore the transgressor of the law and the observer are more distant from one another than hell is from paradise, because the one is at the center and the other is at the circumference; nor can the God of heaven do otherwise, because He is just and cannot deny Himself.
10. See now that men do not learn wisdom except through scourges, and therefore the Lord sent ten scourges, that is, plagues, upon the land of Egypt.
The first was of blood; the second, of frogs; the third, a multitude of gnats; the fourth, a multitude of biting flies; the fifth, the death of cattle and beasts of burden; the sixth, of sores or swelling blisters; the seventh, the destruction of temporal goods by hail; the eighth, of locusts; the ninth, of darkness; the tenth, the death of the firstborn.
Now see how the Holy Spirit scourged the Egyptians and led them by the hand to the observance of the commandments, and most fittingly leads us by the hand as well.
11. There are ten transgressions of the law, and accordingly there were ten plagues corresponding to them.
- The first was of blood, by which idolaters were struck, because the Psalm says of them: They poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
The second plague was of frogs, by which blasphemers and perjurers were struck, who are compared to frogs. For the frog is a noisy animal and consumes itself by its croaking. Similarly does a man when he loses the stability of truth.
The third was the plague of gnats, by which the undevout were struck, who did not keep the Sabbath day, which is the day of devotion. Gnats are small flies, and they greatly disturb and vex men. Similarly the undevout are disturbed. In this sign the magicians of Pharaoh failed, as a sign that we cannot escape the restlessness of thoughts except through devotion. Of blessed Gregory it is read that scarcely in an entire day did he have a single thought about earthly things.
12. The fourth plague was of dog-flies, by which the impious were struck, who have among themselves dog-flies, that is, carnal affections.
The fifth plague was the death of livestock, by which murderers were struck; because everyone who kills by the sword is guilty of death. Such men die like beasts, because they are worthy of neither divine nor human protection; because he who kills another destroys himself and does not perceive his own brutishness.
The sixth plague was of swelling blisters, by which adulterers are struck, who have swelling blisters, that is, infected flesh. Blisters arise from a humor causing itching, and when a man scratches himself, afterward he suffers pain. Similarly, he who indulges in lust first takes pleasure, afterward suffers pain.
13. The seventh plague was the destruction of temporal goods, by which thieves are struck, because he who takes what belongs to others deserves to lose what is his own. This was the plague of hail, which destroyed everything. It is remarkable that he who commits fornication, if he repents, can be reconciled to God; but he who seizes what belongs to others cannot be reconciled to God unless he restores what belongs to others.