(Vers. 11.). In the fraud of those circumventing him, that is, of those wishing to circumvent him, "Laban and his sons," as the Gloss says: she stood by him, namely by guarding him, lest he be deceived or harmed: Genesis 31: "Your father has circumvented me and changed my wages ten times." And she made him honorable, the Lord, that is, wealthy: Genesis 31: "Jacob has taken away all that was our father's, and enriched from his possessions, he has become illustrious."
(Vers. 12.). She guarded him from enemies, namely from Laban and his sons who were pursuing him and wishing to despoil him: Genesis thirty-one: "Unless the God of my father had been with me, perhaps you would have sent me away empty." And from deceivers she protected him, namely from Esau and his men, who perhaps intended to seize him when they were coming to meet him. But the Lord changed the heart of Esau through the offering of gifts which Jacob sent ahead to him, as is clear from Genesis thirty-two. And she gave him a strong contest, the Gloss explains this of the contest against Laban and his sons, Genesis thirty-one, or against Esau: or more truly it can be understood of the contest in which he wrestled with the Angel, Genesis thirty-two: with the Angel, I say, stronger than himself. For if a wicked angel is so strong that "there is no power on earth that can be compared to him," as is found in Job forty-one: how much more a good Angel? So that he might conquer, namely the contest itself: Hosea twelve: "In his strength he was directed with the Angel and prevailed," etc. So that he might conquer, I say, and know, namely by obtaining the victory, through wisdom, that is: that wisdom is mightier than all things, because she is powerful to deliver from any evil man: whence Genesis thirty-two: "If you have been strong against God, how much more shall you prevail against men"?
She the just one who was sold. Here he shows the benefit of wisdom bestowed upon the person of Joseph, and first in his deliverance: second, in the exaltation of the one delivered: Until she brought.
(Vers. 13.). She, namely wisdom, the just one, "that is, Joseph"; for out of justice he accused his brothers of their crimes before his father: Genesis thirty-seven: "He accused his brothers before his father of a most wicked crime"; the one sold, "namely by his brothers," who "sold him to passing Ishmaelites," in the same place: did not abandon, namely by withdrawing from him: in the Psalm: "The Lord will not abandon his Saints forever." But she delivered him from sinners, from the wife of Potiphar and his servants, "when he was accused of adultery," Genesis thirty-nine. And she descended with him into the pit: the Gloss: "Of the prison": for he was handed over into the prison in which "the king's prisoners were kept," where wisdom descended with him, which was evident because "she gave him favor with the chief of the prison," Genesis thirty-nine.
(Vers. 14.). And in the chains of the prison she did not abandon him, because through the wise interpretation of dreams she freed him from his chains, Genesis forty-one. Until she brought him the scepter of the kingdom, that is, the principate over all of Egypt after Pharaoh: whence in the same place: "You shall be over my house," etc.: and power, namely of judging or of vindicating himself,
if he had willed, against those who were oppressing him: that is, against his brothers, who had oppressed him, upon whom he struck great terror, as is clear from Genesis forty-two. And she showed those who had stained him to be liars, namely with the stain of infamy, namely the wife of Potiphar and his servants: Job thirteen: "First showing you to be fabricators of lies and cultivators of perverse doctrines." For through his divine exaltation it was shown and believed that the whole thing was a lie, with even the woman herself perhaps acknowledging this afterward. Concerning this stain of infamy, Ecclesiasticus forty-seven: "You placed a stain upon your glory." And gave him eternal renown, namely of perpetual fame, according to that word of the Psalm: "The just shall be in everlasting remembrance": or of eternal glory, namely when Christ led him together with the other Patriarchs from hell into glory. "Ascending on high, you led captivity captive."
It should be noted that in the aforesaid six persons six ways are touched upon by which wisdom delivers the saints, according to that word of Job five: "In six tribulations he will deliver you, and in the seventh evil shall not touch you." For she delivers from the temptation of the enemy, as with Adam; from the temptation of the corruption of concupiscence, as with Noah, while the rest perished on account of the corruption of the flesh; likewise, from the temptation of pride and interior haughtiness, as Abraham from the pride of the giants which might be imitated, or from the imitation of pride; likewise, from exterior temptation, namely of wicked example and corrupt conduct, as with Lot; likewise, from the temptation of human deceit and circumvention, as with Jacob; likewise, from the temptation of worldly adversity, as with Joseph.
Likewise it should be noted that there are three enemies of ours, namely the devil, the flesh, and the world, signified by the three enemies of Solomon, concerning which see 3 Kings eleven. Now the temptation of the demon is twofold, namely exterior and visible, interior and invisible. Deliverance from the first is signified in the deliverance of Adam; from the second, in the deliverance of Abraham.
The temptation of the flesh is likewise twofold, namely according to nature and against nature. Deliverance from the first was signified in the deliverance of Noah; from the second, in the deliverance of Lot.
The temptation of the world is likewise twofold, namely through fraud and violence. Deliverance from the first is signified in the deliverance of Jacob; from the second, in the deliverance of Joseph.
The benefits conferred upon one people are treated in three ways.
She [delivered] a just people. After he has shown the benefits of wisdom conferred upon individual persons, here he shows the benefit bestowed upon one people: and first the general benefit is touched upon, second the special benefit: She entered etc., third the thanksgiving for both: Therefore the just etc.
(Vers. 15.). This, namely wisdom, a just people, "namely the Israelite people," justified through faith, according to that passage in Romans 5: "Justified by faith": or: just, through the working of good; and a blameless seed, namely through the avoidance of evil: seed, "namely of the Patriarchs," as the Gloss says: likewise Tobit 2: "We are the children of the Saints": delivered etc. Of this deliverance he set forth a twofold cause, namely the goodness of the people, when he says: A just people: secondly, the holiness of the Fathers, when he says: And a blameless seed she delivered from the nations, "that is, from the Egyptians," remaining in the vice of their birth. Who oppressed him, that is, vexed them, "namely in clay and brick" and straw, as is evident from Exodus 1. And note that through this oppression or vexation can be understood the vexation of the devil, by which he vexes his servants in the works of the clay of lust and the brick of avarice and the straw of pride: Exodus 3: "Seeing I have seen the affliction of my people" etc.
She entered etc. Here he touches upon special benefits, first those done in Egypt: secondly, after the departure from Egypt: And she rendered: thirdly, in the departure itself: And she brought over etc.
(Vers. 16.). She entered, that is, wisdom herself, into the soul of the servant of God: Gloss: "That is, of Moses," above in chapter 7: "Through nations she transfers herself into holy souls": likewise Exodus 4: "I will be in your mouth and will teach you what you shall say." And she stood, namely steadfastly: whence Exodus 9: "Moses stood before Pharaoh": she stood, I say, against dreadful kings:
Gloss: "Pharaoh and other princes": in wonders, that is, in greater miracles, and in signs, lesser ones, "which she worked in Egypt"; whence Exodus 7: "I will multiply my signs and portents in the land of Egypt"; Ecclesiasticus 45: "He magnified him in the sight of kings": above in chapter 8: "Dreadful kings shall fear me."
(Vers. 17.). And she rendered to the just: Gloss: "Of the Israelite people": the reward of their labors: Gloss: "The promised land," which he had previously promised to them: Genesis 12: "To your seed I will give this land." And she led them, namely to the aforesaid land, by a wonderful way: Gloss: "Through the desert": in the Psalm: "In a desert land, pathless and waterless." This way, moreover, was wonderful, because it was in no way passable for so great a host without many miracles. Whence it follows: And she was to them a covering by day, that is, from the heat of day, namely "through a pillar of cloud": and in the light of stars by night, that is, in place of the light of stars, and this "through a pillar of fire," as the Gloss says: Exodus 13: "Never was the pillar of cloud lacking by day nor the pillar of fire by night"; likewise Isaiah 4: "The Lord will create over every place of Mount Sion etc., a cloud by day" etc.
(Vers. 18.). And she brought them across etc., namely in the departure from Egypt, through the Red Sea: Exodus fourteen: "The water was divided, and the children of Israel entered through the midst of the dry sea." Now it is called the Red Sea from the color which it derives from the adjacent red earth. And she carried them across through the exceeding water, namely of the sea itself, whose waters were for them as a wall on the right and on the left, in the same place. And note that he says through the Red Sea with respect to quality, through the exceeding water with respect to quantity.
(Vers. 19.). But their enemies, namely the Egyptians, she submerged in the sea: Exodus fifteen: "The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he cast into the sea": likewise: "They sank as lead," etc. And from the height, that is, the depth, of the nether regions,
"that is, of unspeakable afflictions," as the Gloss says: she brought forth them, namely the children of Israel, in this, namely, that their enemies, who wished to kill them by sending them thither, he sent or cast thither: Ecclesiasticus, the last chapter: "From the depth of the belly of hell and from a defiled tongue and from a lying word." Therefore the just, namely because wisdom was with them: the just, namely the children of Israel, carried off the spoils of the ungodly: the Gloss: "The golden and silver vessels of the Egyptians," as is clear from Exodus twelve: Proverbs thirteen: "The substance of the sinner is kept for the just." Note that he does not say they stole, because they did these things by the command of a superior, namely God: and therefore they did not commit theft or robbery, at least those who did these things not out of greed but with the intention of obeying God.
(Vers. 20.). And they sang forth, that is, they sang devoutly, namely after the crossing of the Red Sea: O Lord, thy holy name: Exodus fifteen: "Let us sing to the Lord, etc., the Lord is as a man of war, almighty is his name": thus they sang forth for their deliverance. And thy victorious hand, that is, thy power, they praised together, that is, at the same time, namely for the overthrow of their adversaries: whence in the same place: "Thy right hand, O Lord, is magnified in strength."
(Vers. 21.). Because wisdom etc., as if to say: and rightly did they sing and praise etc.: because wisdom, namely delivering them, opened, namely unto the praise of the divine name, the mouth of the mute, previously struck dumb by fear; Exodus 14: "The children of Israel saw the Egyptians behind them and feared greatly." And the tongues of infants, that is, of those unable to speak, she made eloquent, that is, fluent in speech, perhaps literally, the tongues of the Hebrew children, according to that passage of Psalm 8: "Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings" etc. Or: of infants, that is, of the unskilled, those not knowing how to speak after the manner of infants, according to that passage of Jeremiah 1: "I know not how to speak, for I am a child"; Luke 21: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom" etc.; Exodus 4: "Who made the mouth of man?" The Gloss: "Without the wisdom of God the human mind can neither think anything nor worthily utter it. From Him therefore both wisdom and eloquence must be sought."