Chapter XII.
Part three, member II. On punishment which is pure affliction, treated both generally and specifically.
Remember your Creator etc. He treated above the vanity of punishment which is both penalty and occasion of sin; here he treats of that which is pure affliction, which recalls from evil and urges toward good. And this part has two sections: because first he touches on punishments and miseries in general; second, in particular, at: When they shall be moved etc.
Art. 1. Punishment which is pure affliction is described generally.
He therefore describes punishment in general with respect to three things: first, with respect to the presence of what is harmful; second, with respect to the absence of what is pleasant; third, with respect to the lack of remedy; from the consideration of which he exhorts us to remember God.
(Vers. 1.). Therefore, with respect to the presence of what is harmful, he says: Remember your Creator, giving Him praise and confession, in the days of your youth, that is, as long as you are young and healthy: Sirach 17: "You shall confess while living; alive and healthy you shall confess and praise the Lord, and you shall glory in His mercies." And the reason for this is that the time of old age should not be awaited, in which there is the presence of what is harmful; on account of which he says: Before the time of affliction comes: Sirach 18: "Before sickness apply the remedy, and before judgment examine yourself." And the years draw near of which you shall say: They do not please me. These are the years in which human nature is troubled by many afflictions; and these are in old age and draw near, because in the Psalm: "Our years shall be considered as a spider's web" etc.
(Vers. 2.). With respect to the absence of what is pleasant, he says: Before the sun grows dark, in whose sight there is great delight: above in chapter eleven: "The light is sweet, and it is delightful for the eyes to see the sun"; whence Tobit 5: "What joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness and do not see the light of heaven?" And to signify the complete absence, he excludes every heavenly light; whence he says: Before the sun grows dark, so that it may not be seen in its circuit, and the light, so that its influence may not be seen, and this during the day; and the moon and the stars, during the night: Isaiah 13: "The stars of heaven and their splendor shall not spread forth their light; the sun is darkened in its rising, and the moon shall not shine with its light."
With respect to the lack of remedy, he says: And let the clouds return after the rain. After rain the sky is accustomed to clear; when therefore after rain the turbulence of clouds returns, it is a sign that there is no return to exultation and gladness: Tobit 3: "After a storm You make calm, and after weeping and tears You pour in exultation." But those days shall be turned into darkness and shall not return to light: Job 3: "Let it expect light and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning aurora."
Spiritually, he exhorts here that each one should remember the benefits of God and the benefactor himself, before man is handed over to a reprobate sense and falls into the blindness of error. Therefore they ought to remember God, because he is creator. First indeed he gave essence: Isaiah forty-five: "I made the earth and created man upon it"; therefore God must be remembered; against which, Deuteronomy thirty-two: "You have forgotten God, your Creator." He gave power; Deuteronomy eight: "You shall remember the Lord your God, because he himself gave you strength, that he might fulfill his covenant." He gave good operation: Philippians two: "God works in us both to will and to accomplish"; and Isaiah twenty-six: "All our works you have wrought in us, O Lord"; and therefore he must be remembered; Psalm: "I was mindful of the works of the Lord, for I shall be mindful from the beginning of your wonders."
Because he was incarnate for us: Song of Songs one: "We shall exult and rejoice in you, mindful of your breasts more than wine."
Because he is redeemer, who suffered for us: Lamentations three: "Remember my poverty and transgression," etc.; who was given to us as food from heaven: Psalm: "The merciful and compassionate Lord made a memorial of his wonders; he gave food to those who fear him."
Because he is rewarder according to merit: Psalm: "You shall render to each one according to his works"; on account of this it is said elsewhere in the Psalm, "I was mindful of your judgments," etc. As to desire, Isaiah twenty-six: "Your name and your memorial are in the desire of the soul," etc.; and therefore it is added, "My soul desired you in the night." Rewarding beyond desire: Isaiah sixty-three: "I will remember the mercies of the Lord above all things that the Lord has rendered to us," etc.
Of this Creator, therefore, we ought to be mindful both by giving thanks and by turning to him: before the sun is darkened, namely the sun of justice, Christ, when man falls from faith: Amos eight: "The sun shall set for them at midday"; and the light, of grace, when man falls from charity, for then he loses grace: Wisdom five: "We have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice did not shine upon us"; and the moon, the understanding of Sacred Scripture, which receives its light from Christ: Apocalypse twelve: "A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet." The woman clothed with the sun is the Church of the nations, to whom was given the full understanding of Sacred Scripture. And the stars, the examples of the perfect: Baruch three: "The stars gave light in their watches," namely at night, "and said: We are here." And the clouds return, etc., that is, the teaching of the preachers ceases: Ezekiel three: "Son of man, I will make your tongue cleave to your palate."
Art. 2. On purely afflictive punishments in particular, according to their threefold distinction.
When they shall be moved, etc. Above he treated of the penalty which comes upon and follows youth in general; here he treats in particular. And first he treats of the miseries antecedent to death; second, of those concomitant, at: Because man shall go; third, of those consequent, at: Before the silver cord be broken.
On the miseries antecedent to death.
The first part has two sections: because first there is treated the penalty which is observed in the weakness of the members; second, the sign of weakness, at: They shall also be afraid of that which is high.
(Vers. 3.). First, therefore, he shows the future weakening in old age with respect to six kinds of members: first, namely, with respect to the shaking of the bones, which are ordered to protecting the body, when he says: When the keepers of the house shall tremble. The house is the frame of the body: this is fragile, and therefore needs a keeper; and so the Philosopher says that nature made the bones hard for guarding the soft members, as the ribs for the belly, and the skull for the head. These are shaken when their joints become loose.
Likewise, with respect to the weakening of the legs for sustaining the weight of the body; whence he says: And the strong men shall bow themselves: the strong men are the legs, because, as strong men bear the weight of war, so the legs bear the weight of the body. These strong men totter when the legs tremble and waver and do not securely support.
Third, with respect to the diminishing of the teeth for chewing food; whence he says: And the grinders shall be idle, being few in number: the grinders are the two jaws, which after the manner of two millstones grind food. These, when the number of teeth is diminished, are idle, because they cannot grind food for chewing.
Fourth, with respect to the darkening of the eyes for seeing; therefore he says: And they that look through the windows shall be darkened: they that look through the windows are the eyes, which are like two openings for seeing. These are darkened when the aged cannot see light, as Eli: 1 Kings 3, who "could not see. The lamp of God, before it was extinguished," etc. As also Isaac, of whom Genesis 27: "Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim," etc.
(Vers. 4.). Fifth, with respect to the immobilization of the lips for speaking, when he says: And the doors shall be shut in the street: the doors are the lips, by which the gate of the mouth is closed. These doors are shut in the street when a man on account of old age cannot speak loudly so as to be heard by many; therefore he says: In the lowness of voice of the grinders, that is, of those speaking softly: he says grinding means speaking, because, as a man moves his jaws for grinding food, so he moves his jaws and lips for pronouncing formed words.
Sixth, regarding the deafness of the ears for hearing, he says: They shall rise up at the voice of the bird, that is, the cock, because the elderly cannot hear high sounds, because they are easily disturbed and most easily startled. They cannot hear sonorous and harmonious sounds either: whence he says: And all the daughters of song shall be brought low. The daughters of song, which hear harmonious sounds, are the ears: these grow deaf in the elderly, because they cannot hear sonorous voices; 2 Kings 19, Barzillai said to David: "I am eighty years old; are my senses still keen to discern sweet from bitter, or can I still hear the voices of singers, men and women?"
These therefore are the six defects that follow upon or accompany old age: because the elderly cannot repel harmful things, cannot sustain
themselves, cannot eat, cannot see, cannot speak, cannot hear.