Chapter X.
(Verse 1.). Therefore he adds: dying flies, that is, the thoughts of sinners succeeding one another and inclining toward mortal sin, destroy the sweetness of the ointment, that is, they destroy the anointing, and thus many good things, because First John 2: "The anointing teaches you about all things." Or: the sweetness of the ointment, that is, interior devotion and the sweetness of wisdom: Proverbs 27: "The heart is delighted with ointment and various fragrances."
(Verse 1. 2.). More precious is wisdom. Here, thirdly, wisdom is set above the height of worldly glory, or even above the foolishness that fools desire. Therefore he says: More precious is wisdom and a little glory, that is, with little glory, for a time, that is, temporally — better, I say, than foolishness, even with great glory: above in chapter 4: "Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king." Or the sense can be that wisdom is better than foolishness; and also that a little glory, for a time, that is, bestowed at the proper time, is better than foolishness.
And the reason is added: The heart of the wise man is at his right hand, and the heart of the fool at his left; by the right hand good things are understood, by the left hand evil things: Matthew 25: "He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left." He means therefore to say that the wise think good things and the foolish think evil things: Proverbs 10: "The lips of the just consider what is pleasing, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse." The right hand gives us to understand eternal goods, the left hand temporal things: whence
Proverbs 3: "Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory." He means therefore to say that the wise think upon and desire eternal goods, and the foolish temporal things: Song of Songs 2: "His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me." The fool therefore thinks vain things and knows not how to consider things with discernment, neither in himself nor in others, which is a greater disadvantage. Therefore he adds: But also the fool walking in the way, namely in that way which seems good to him: Proverbs 12: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes." Since he himself is foolish, that is, since he walks foolishly, because in darkness; above in chapter 2: "The fool walks in darkness." He esteems all others to be fools, whence Proverbs 26: "The sluggard seems wiser to himself than seven men who speak wise sayings."
Question.
Here arises the question concerning what he says: He who shall offend in one thing, etc.
1. For if God always punishes less than what is deserved, then he who sins in one thing ought not to be punished except in one thing: therefore he ought not to lose many things, but one.
2. Likewise, from this it seems that there is a connection among the vices, just as among the virtues; because if vice is the privation of good, then if by one sin many good things are lost, then by one sin a man incurs many vices; but this is only through connection: therefore there is a connection among the vices.
3. Likewise, that there is a connection in vices with respect to all things is apparent; it is said in James 2: Whoever offends in one point is become guilty of all: therefore it seems that whoever perpetrates one vice is as guilty as if he perpetrated all of them.
But on the contrary: 1. Because some vices are contrary to each other: therefore if there were a connection in vices, then two contraries would exist simultaneously in the same subject, which is unlawful to say.
2. Likewise, vices are not from God, but acquired from our own work: but it is certain that temperance and justice are not acquired in us by the same act, when they are habitual: therefore similarly also in vices.
I respond: it must be said that one can speak of sin by reason of deformity and by reason of obligation to punishment. If by reason of deformity, that indeed regards three things, namely the privation of gratuitous good, the privation of natural good or natural aptitude, and furthermore the inclination to a disordered act, which is called a certain disposition. By reason of the first good there is indeed a connection in vices, because whoever sins in one sin loses grace and all the virtues, insofar as they are gratuitous. But by reason of the privation of aptitude there is no connection, but rather a distinction among them, because each vice deprives its own proper aptitude. By reason of the third, namely the inclination to act, there is neither complete distinction nor complete connection, but rather in some cases one inclines to another, and in some cases it inclines only sometimes, as the sin of gluttony to the sin of lust, and similarly in spiritual matters, pride to envy.
One can speak again of sins with respect to the obligation of punishment, and thus they obligate to a twofold punishment, namely the deprivation of the vision and the harshness of fire. With respect to the first there is a connection, because whoever sins in one sin loses the glory owed to all the virtues. But with respect to the second there is no connection, but distinction, because to each corresponds its own proper harshness.
This word of Ecclesiastes and of blessed James is therefore understood with respect to the loss of grace and glory.
1. To the objection, therefore, that one is punished beyond one's desert: I say that this is false, because whoever sins in one act sins against the grace of all the virtues, and therefore deserves to lose the whole.
If the spirit of him who has power. The contempt of the wise man has been set forth above, and conversely his just commendation: here is subjoined thirdly the promotion of fools. And because the authority of fools is burdensome, therefore the armor of patience is set forth first, and the disordered authority of fools is subjoined, at the text: There is an evil which I have seen, etc.
(Vers. 4.). Therefore the armor of patience is set forth first, for the possession of which he says: If the spirit of him who has power, that is, the fury of a prelate: for spirit is called fury in Isaiah 2: "Cease from man, whose spirit is in his nostrils"; 3 Kings 19: "A great and strong spirit, overturning mountains and crushing," etc. Ascend upon you, namely to oppress: Jeremiah 4: "Behold, he shall ascend like a cloud, and his chariots like a tempest: woe to us, for we are laid waste." Do not leave your place, that is, the place of patience and constancy, in which the soul finds rest, according to that passage in Luke 21: "In your patience you shall possess your souls"; 1 Peter 2: "Servants, be subject in all fear to your masters, not only to the gentle, but also to the harsh: for this is grace, if for the sake of conscience toward God one endures," etc. And the reason for its usefulness is given: Because healing will cause the greatest sins to cease. Here healing is called the affliction of scourges, by which man is healed: Wisdom 6: "The care of discipline is love, and love is the keeping of the laws." The predication is causal in both cases, because if through many scourges one arrives at love, and through this the law is kept: therefore it causes sins to cease.
It is expounded otherwise: If the spirit of him who has power, that is, if the spirit of ambition, that is, the malice of the ambitious, ascend upon you, that is, if it comes into your mind that you wish to be a prelate: do not leave your place, namely the place of subjection and servitude, concerning which Luke 14: "When you are invited to the wedding, recline in the last place," and Sirach 11: "Trust in God, and remain in your place." And the reason is given: Because healing will cause the greatest sins to cease. The translation of Symmachus has: Because modesty: whence 1 Corinthians 9: "I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, having preached to others, I myself should become a castaway."
It is expounded otherwise concerning the devil: If the spirit of him who has power, that is, of the devil: Job, the penultimate chapter: "There is no power on earth that can be compared to him"; ascend upon you, and this by tempting: Luke 11: "When the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he walks through waterless places, seeking rest, and does not find it." Do not leave your place, namely the place of penitence: Ephesians 4: "Do not give place to the devil." Because healing will cause the greatest sins to cease: Origen's text has: salvation, which indeed is through the medicine of penitence: Sirach 11: "The malice of one hour causes forgetfulness of the greatest pleasure," that is, brief penitence for a great sin.
(Vers. 5.). There is an evil which I have seen etc. Here the second point is touched upon, namely the disordered promotion of fools, both on account of a defect of knowledge and on account of a defect of life, because the foolish and wicked are placed in authority, while the wise and those rich in good morals are cast down. On account of which he says: There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, that is, in the present state of men, as it were proceeding from error, not from error according to truth, but apparently from error, yet nevertheless according to just judgment: from the face of the prince, namely of him from whom is all power, who by just judgment sometimes gives wicked prelates: Hosea 13: "I will give you a king in my fury, and I will take him away in my indignation."
(Vers. 6.). And he expresses what that evil is with regard to the defect of knowledge: The fool set in high dignity: set, he rightly says, because there is nothing there but a false placing: Psalm: "You set them up, you cast them down when they were lifted up." Or: set as a useless stone: whence in Zechariah 11 it is said to the foolish prelate: "O shepherd and idol! abandoning the flock, a sword upon his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall utterly wither, and his right eye shall be completely darkened": and therefore Proverbs 26: "As he who casts a stone into the heap of Mercury, so is he who gives honor to a fool." On the contrary: The rich sitting below: rich, namely in good morals and knowledge and grace, of whom in 1 Corinthians 1: "In all things you are made rich in him, so that nothing is wanting to you in any grace"; and Isaiah 33: "The riches of salvation are wisdom and knowledge."
(Vers. 7.). With regard to the defect of life he says: I have seen servants upon horses: servants, he calls sinners, of whom in John 8: "He who commits sin is the servant of sin"; upon horses, he says in the plural to express pomp: Deuteronomy 17: "When he shall have been established, he shall not multiply horses for himself." On the contrary: Princes walking as servants, namely those princes who rule themselves through a good life: Seneca: "If you shall have ruled yourself well, you will be a prince": these he saw as servants, but in the future it will be the contrary: Luke 14: "Everyone who humbles himself shall be exalted, and he who exalts himself shall be humbled."
QUESTION.
It is asked here whether it is just that the wicked should rule over the good. That it is, it seems: