But he is called the sun of understanding because his light is apprehended by the eye of understanding alone, because by his ray, namely by the spirit of understanding, the intelligence is illuminated.
We are wearied etc. Here he touches upon the confession of the error of the impious concerning their own life: and first they confess the toilsomeness of their own life; second, the blindness: But the way of the Lord; third, the uselessness: What has profited us etc.; fourth, the instability: They have passed away.
(Verse 7). We are wearied therefore, by our own strength, in the way of iniquity, as regards guilt in the present: Jeremiah 9: "They have labored to act unjustly"; and of perdition, as regards punishment in the future; Proverbs 2: "The impious shall be destroyed from the earth, and those who act unjustly shall be taken away from it." Nor is it a wonder if we are wearied by our own strength, because we have walked difficult ways, by their very nature, namely the ways of sinners, which greatly afflict the soul in the present through the remorse of conscience. For the order of divine justice does not permit that even for a moment there be guilt without punishment.
Whence Augustine: "You have commanded, O Lord, and so it is, that every disordered soul is its own punishment"; Sirach 21: "The way of sinners is paved with stones."
But against this: Matthew 7: "Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to perdition."
It must be said that it is easy at the entrance, as if strewn with flowers, namely with the sweetness of present delight and temporal pleasure; but difficult in its progress on account of the remorse of conscience; more difficult at its exit on account of separation from present pleasure; but most difficult after the exit on account of the torment of hell.
But the way of the Lord, namely that by which the Lord comes to us, by which we go to him, namely charity, according to that word of the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 12: "I show you a yet more excellent way"; we have not known, namely with a crass and affected ignorance; whence Job 21: "Who say to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of your ways." He who is ignorant with such ignorance "shall be ignored," as the Apostle says, 1 Corinthians 14. (Verse 8). What has pride profited us, namely in the excellence of honors, as if to say: nothing; indeed rather it has harmed us, because it is said in the Psalm: "He will repay abundantly those who act with pride"; Proverbs 16: "Pride precedes destruction"; Luke 1: "He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart." Or the boasting of riches, namely concerning the abundance of exterior goods, what has it conferred upon us? As if to say: nothing; Ecclesiastes 5: "He who loves riches shall reap no fruit from them"; likewise Luke 6: "Woe to you who are rich!" etc.
They passed away etc. Here he touches on the confession of the instability of the state of the reprobate under a manifold metaphor: first under the metaphor of a shadow; second, of a messenger: As a messenger; third, of a ship: And as a ship; fourth, of a bird: Or a bird; fifth, of an arrow: Or as an arrow.
(Vers. 9. 10.). All those things passed away, namely riches, pleasures, and honors of secular power: whence 1 John 2: "Everything that is in the world" etc., and in the same place below: "The world passes away and its concupiscence": that is, the concupiscible things that are in it, namely as regards the outward form, not as regards substance: whence 1 Corinthians 7: "The form of this world passes away." As a shadow, namely by darkening the mind: Ecclesiasticus 34: "As one who grasps at a shadow and pursues the wind, so is he who attends to lying visions," because the soul, by its turning toward earthly things, is darkened and eclipsed by the interposition of the earth between it and the true sun.
And as a messenger running ahead, by its passing removing the mind: Job 9: "My days were swifter than a runner." And as a ship that passes through the surging water, by enduring many tribulations: Luke 10: "You are troubled about many things." Of which, when it has passed, no trace is to be found, namely in the water: Proverbs 30: "Three things are difficult for me, etc., the way of a ship in the midst of the sea." Nor the path of its keel in the waves, that is, of the small boat, which usually accompanies the larger ship for escape from danger. Or: keel can be said to be the middle part or the middle place of the ship, according to those verses:
The prow is the front part of the ship, the stern the last part. Call the side the hull, call the belly the keel.
(Vers. 11. 12.). Or a bird, namely, by exalting the heart into pride and wantonness: Proverbs 10: "He who relies on lies feeds the winds: and the same pursues birds in flight." Which flies across through the air, namely swiftly, of which no evidence is found, namely no certain sign, of the passage of that one: but only a sound is heard, a sound, I say, of wings beating the light wind, that is, the moved air, according to that saying of Damascene: "Wind is moved air": and cutting, that is, dividing, by the force of its passage the air, namely the still air. So the light sound of fame accompanies the wicked, according to that saying of the Psalm: "They called their names upon their lands": Isaiah 18: "Woe to the land of the cymbal of wings," etc. And with wings set in motion, it flew across, namely to another place: Hosea 9: "Ephraim flew away like a bird." And after this no sign, that is, no certain indication, is found of its passage: Proverbs 30: "Three things are difficult for me, etc., the way of the eagle in the sky"; likewise Job 28: "The bird knew not the path, nor did the eye of the vulture behold it." Or as an arrow, namely, by wounding the heart fatally; shot toward its appointed place, by the archer: Proverbs 7: "Until the arrow pierces his liver." The divided air, namely by the motion of the arrow, immediately closed back upon itself, so that its passage might be unknown. The Gloss: "Because it left no traces of itself."
(Vers. 13.). So we also, having been born, immediately ceased to exist, that is, quickly after birth; or: immediately we ceased, that is, we began to cease, according to that saying of Augustine: "What is our life but a continuous course toward death?" The Gloss: "So also the course of this life is uncertain and unstable"; Job 14: "Man born of woman, etc., and flees like a shadow." Or: we cease to exist continually, through the acceleration of sinning. And indeed we were unable to show any sign of virtue, namely in our life through good conduct: Mark, last chapter: "These signs shall follow those who believe"; Galatians, last chapter: "I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body." In our wickedness for we were consumed, through final impenitence; Job 13: "I who am to be consumed like rottenness": John 8: "You shall die in your sin."
Such things they said, etc. Behold, the confirmation of their confession through fitting examples, first, through the example of down: second, of foam: And as foam: third, of smoke: And as smoke: fourth, of a guest: And as the memory of a guest.
(Vers. 14.). Such things therefore said in hell those who sinned: they said, I say, by interior speech through the remorse of conscience, even if not perhaps by exterior speech, since they are in hell without bodies until the day of judgment and without bodily organs, although not without the powers of the organs: Luke 16: "Lifting up his eyes," that is, the power of sight, which had used the organs of the eyes in the present life.
In hell etc. How did this author know that they thus said in hell? Since he had never been there, nor had another come from there who had reported it to him: whence above in chapter two: "No one has been recognized who has returned from the underworld."
It can be said that he knew this through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, because, according to Ambrose, every truth, by whomever it is spoken, is uttered at the dictation of the Holy Spirit: likewise 2 Peter 1: "Holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit." Or: They said, that is, they were able to say.
(Vers. 15.). Because etc., as if to say: and they spoke truly, because the hope of the ungodly, that is, temporal prosperity, in which the ungodly place their hope: Isaiah twenty-eight: "We have made falsehood our hope"; is like down, that is, the flower of the thistle, with respect to the fragility of the flesh: which is carried away by the wind, that is, by a slight breeze: the Gloss: "Down expresses the fragility of the flesh, which is quickly carried away by the wind of sickness or trouble"; Isaiah forty: "All flesh is grass." And rightly is the fragility of the flesh compared to the flower of the thistle, because the flesh generates thorns and thistles of temptations: whence Genesis three: "Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you." And like thin foam, generated from the agitation of waters, which is scattered by the storm. Like foam etc., he speaks with respect to the vanity of boasting: whence the Gloss: "This is the appetite for human favor and popular boasting, which is scattered by the storm of tribulation and of some present or eternal adversity": Hosea ten: "Samaria has caused her king to pass away, as foam passes over the face of the water"; likewise Jeremiah twenty-three: "Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord's indignation shall go forth, and a tempest shall burst upon the head of the ungodly." And like smoke, which is dispersed by the wind, with respect to the brevity of life: James four: "What is your life? It is a vapor appearing for a little while"; dispersed by the wind: for when it is lifted on high, it is forced to vanish, according to that saying of the Psalm: "As soon as they are honored and exalted, failing they shall fail like smoke"; the Gloss: "Just as smoke is dissolved by the wind, so is human life by the change of times." And like the memory of a guest of one day passing through, with respect to the brief duration of fame: Job thirteen: "Your memory shall be compared to ashes." He compares man existing in this life to a guest, because we are pilgrims and guests as if in another's house, according to that saying of the Psalm: "I am a sojourner with you and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were": likewise Hebrews eleven: "Confessing that they are pilgrims" etc. Passing through, because we pass from life to death: Lamentations one: "O all you who pass by the way" etc.; likewise Ecclesiastes one: "A generation passes away" etc. Of one day, because we remain here but a short time; whence Hebrews thirteen: "We have not here a lasting city" etc.
Third, concerning the retribution of the just and the reprobate, in two ways.
But the just forever. Here he sets forth the fitting retribution of the just and the reprobate, and first, the reward of the just; second, the punishment of the reprobate: And he shall take up armor.
He touches upon a twofold reward of the just: first, for the doing of good; and second, for the victory over evil: Therefore they shall receive etc.
(Vers. 16.). But the just etc., as if to say: such is the life and death of the impious: but, that is, "however." The just, on the contrary, shall live forever: The Gloss: "They shall live with eternal life," of which John 17: "This is eternal life" etc. And with the Lord, that is, in the Lord himself through hope, according to the Gloss: in the Psalm: "But it is good for me to adhere to God," namely through charity, "it is good to place my hope in the Lord God"; is their reward: The Gloss: "The recompense of labor": for he himself is the reward of the Saints: Genesis 15: "I am your protector and your reward exceedingly great": likewise Numbers 18: "I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel." And their thought etc., as if to say: and deservedly with the Lord is their reward, because their thought, that is, their whole solicitude and intention through faith, is with the Most High, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Cast your thought upon the Lord" etc. Or: thought, that is, the knowledge of their understanding, is with the Most High alone: for the just think only about God, or about those things which contribute to possessing him, according to that passage of 1 Corinthians 7: "The unmarried woman thinks about the things of the Lord."
(Vers. 17.). And because they are such in the present, therefore they shall receive the kingdom of glory, that is, a glorious kingdom with respect to the golden crown or the essential reward; Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor" etc. And the crown of beauty, that is, a beautiful one: The Gloss: "The enemy having been conquered"—and this with respect to the aureole or with respect to the accidental reward: 2 Timothy 4: "There is laid up for me a crown of justice." Concerning both, Exodus 25. From the hand of God, or of the Lord;- The Gloss: "That is, from Christ, who is called the hand and arm and right hand of God the Father." For he is the hand by working: "For all things were made through him," John 1: the arm by protecting, according to that passage of the Psalm: "My arm shall strengthen him"; the right hand by rewarding: Matthew 25: "He shall set the sheep on his right hand." For his right hand shall cover them: The Gloss: "Here and in the future," from the wrath of the supreme Judge: Isaiah 49: "In the shadow of his hand he protected me": Sirach 34: "A shelter from the heat and a shade from the noonday." And with his holy arm, that is, of his holy power, he shall defend them, namely from every attack of the adversary, according to that passage of the Psalm: "The Lord is the defender of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?"
And he shall take armor etc. Here he touches upon the punishment of the reprobate under the metaphor of a king taking up arms against his adversaries. And first he describes the king's purpose: second, his equipment: He shall put on etc.: third, the battle: They shall go forth directly: fourth, the effect of the battle: And he shall bring to desolation: fifth, the remedy for the battle: Better is wisdom.
(Vers. 18.). And he shall take armor, namely against adversaries, his zeal: Proverbs six: "The zeal and fury of a man will not spare in the day of vengeance." "His arms, however, are truth, justice, and judgment," according to the Gloss. And he will arm the creature, namely as his army, according to that passage below in chapter sixteen: "The creature serving you its Maker burns against the unjust"; for the vengeance upon enemies: Psalm: "God of vengeances" etc.