This wisdom also I have seen under the sun. He determined above the deficiency of the governance of providence in general: here he intends to show in particular, namely concerning prelacy, because the wise are despised and fools are promoted. There are therefore in this part three parts. In the first he shows the abasement of the wise man: in the second he subjoins the commendation of the abased, there: And I said that better etc. ,- in the third he introduces the promotion of the fool, there: If the spirit of him who has power etc.
The abasement of the wise man is therefore described in this order. First is set forth the praise of wisdom: second is expressed the case in which there is a deficiency of power: third is noted the succor of wisdom: fourth, the contempt of the wise man.
(Verse 13.). There is therefore set forth the praise of wisdom, when he says: This wisdom I have seen under the sun, that is, in worldly things I have known it by its effect: and I judged it very great, that is, I approved and praised it as exceedingly great. For great is wisdom in conquering a lesser enemy: greater, in conquering an equal: greatest, in conquering the most powerful: whence it is said in Job twenty-six concerning the supremely wise One: "His prudence struck the proud one."
(Verse 14.). A small city etc. Here is noted second the deficiency of power, and this with respect to resisting the assailant: therefore he says: A small city, and few in it
men, and this verb must be supplied: 'was,' or construed with the following verb. The siege was completed. And because it was small and had few men, therefore it was weak for defending itself: whence Jehoshaphat said in 2 Chronicles twenty: "In us there is not so great strength that we can resist this great multitude," because, namely, they were few. Especially then they cannot resist, when the assailant is strong: on account of which he says: There came against it a great king, namely through power: and surrounded it, through great malice: and he built fortifications all around, for battle: and the siege was completed, through the inability to resist. An example of this is found in Judith seven concerning Bethulia, which was besieged by Holofernes. This also the Lord foretold to Jerusalem in Luke nineteen: "Your enemies will surround you with a rampart and press you in on every side."
(Verse 15.). And there was found in it etc. Here is noted the third, namely the succor of wisdom, where there was a deficiency of power: Therefore he says: And there was found in it a poor man, and thus powerless: and wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom. An example of this, how a wise person delivered, is found concerning Judith in her book, how she delivered Bethulia from Holofernes by her wisdom, though she was weak. Another example is found in 2 Kings twenty, where it is said that a wise person in Abel delivered the city from the assault of Joab. On the contrary, it is said in Baruch three: "And because they did not have wisdom, they perished on account of their foolishness"; this is said concerning the mighty.
And no one afterwards etc. Here the fourth point is touched upon, namely the contempt of the wise deliverer, the sign of which is forgetfulness. Therefore he says: No one afterwards remembered that poor man. Behold, contempt and ingratitude: against which it is said in Ecclesiasticus twenty-nine: "Do not forget the kindness of your surety, for he gave his life for you " etc.
Spiritually, four things are to be considered here: what the city is, who the great king is, who the poor wise man is, how no one remembers him.
The city is the Church: the Psalm: Glorious things are said of you, O city of God. This city is small through humility, because in these the Lord alone dwells: the last chapter of Isaiah: "To whom shall I look, if not to the poor little one, contrite in spirit and trembling at my words"? Few men in it, in comparison with the wicked: Matthew twenty: "Many are called, but few are chosen." The great king is the devil, of whom it is said in the penultimate chapter of Job: "He is king over all the children of pride"; he is also great, according to what is said in the same place: "There is no power on earth that can be compared to him." This king comes against the city through temptations: he surrounds it, by offering manifold pleasures: he built fortifications, by procuring occasions of sin: and he perfectly besieges it, when he entangles them in transgressions of the commandments. Concerning these things, Luke nineteen: "Your enemies will surround you with a rampart and hem you in and dash you to the ground, and they will not leave a stone upon a stone."
A poor and wise man, who is Christ, who is a man from the strength of virtue: Jeremiah thirty-one: "A woman shall encompass a man." He is also poor: Second Corinthians eight: "Though he was rich in all things, for your sake he became poor"; wise, indeed Wisdom itself: First Corinthians one: "We preach Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." He was found by those who seek: Matthew seven: "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds." He delivered the people, Isaiah nineteen: "They shall cry out to the Lord from the face of the oppressor, and he shall send them a savior and a defender, who shall deliver them"; he delivered them through his wisdom, though he could have done so through power: Job twenty-six: "His prudence struck the proud one." - And no one afterward remembered him, because poverty is despised: Proverbs nineteen: "The brothers of the poor man hated him; moreover, even his friends withdrew far from him." No one remembered him by having compassion, according to what is said in Lamentations three: "Remember my poverty and my transgression, the wormwood and the gall"; but on the contrary, Amos six: "They suffered nothing over the affliction of Joseph." By giving thanks: Luke seventeen: "And there was not found anyone who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner." By imitating in deed: Isaiah seventeen: "You shall be desolate, because you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and have not remembered your mighty helper." By confessing with the mouth: Genesis forty: "When prosperity followed, the butler forgot his interpreter."
And I said etc. The contempt and oblivion of the wise man has been shown; here is shown secondly the commendation of the despised one. He commends wisdom, however, by a threefold preeminence: first, by setting it above the strength of power; second, above the defense of armor; third, above the height of worldly glory.
(Vers. 16.17.). He therefore first sets forth wisdom above strength by his own judgment. For this reason he says: And I said that wisdom is better than strength; Wisdom 6: "Wisdom is better than strength, and a prudent man is better than a strong one." And because it is better, therefore it ought not to be despised; and yet nonetheless it is despised. For this reason he says: How then is the wisdom of the poor man despised? as though it ought not to be despised; but on account of poverty it is held in contempt. Whence in Ecclesiasticus 13 it is said of the poor man: (The sensible man spoke, and no place was given to him; the rich man spoke, and all were silent, and they carry his word up to the clouds. And the sign of contempt for wisdom is added: And his words were not heard; and yet they are very much to be heard. Proverbs 8: (Now therefore, children, hear me: Blessed are they who keep my ways." And that the words of the wise man are to be heard, he adds: The words of the wise are heard in silence, that is, they are worthy to be heard in silence. Ecclesiasticus 32: "Listen in silence, and for your reverence good grace shall come to you"; whence it is also added: "And do not presume to speak in the midst of great men." More than the cry of a prince among fools, and his speech is more clamorous, because however much a man may cry out, the fool does not pay attention. Ecclesiasticus 22: "He who tells wisdom to a fool speaks with one who is sleeping, and at the end of the narration he says: 'Who is this?'" That wisdom therefore is despised, this is on account of the foolishness of the hearers; therefore Matthew 7: "Do not give what is holy to dogs." And the reason for this is given by the Apostle in First Corinthians 2: "The natural man does not perceive the things that are of the Spirit of God."
(Vers. 18.). Wisdom is better, etc. Here secondly he sets forth wisdom above the defense of armor, saying: Wisdom is better than weapons of war, because weapons of war are for protection; likewise wisdom protects. Proverbs 2: "Counsel shall keep you, and prudence shall preserve you, that you may be delivered from the evil way and from the man who speaks perverse things." And that it protects better is clear, because he who loses wisdom through fault cannot defend himself by armor without losing many goods. Whence he says: And he who shall sin in one thing, by departing from wisdom, according to what was said above in chapter 8: "Do not hasten to depart from his face, nor persist in an evil work." Shall lose many good things; for by sinning in one thing, he loses wisdom, and by losing it, he loses many good things. Wisdom 7: (All good things came to me together with her"; and therefore, when she is lost, many good things are lost. Or: he who shall sin in one thing, against charity, shall lose many good things, according to that saying in James 2: "He who sins in one thing is made guilty of all." — And he makes this manifest through a metaphor, because the awareness of sin is compared to a dying fly, because it renders and produces abomination in the affection and in the conscience.