Chapter VI.
(Verse 1.). Wisdom is better etc., as if to say: since the powerful who lack understanding are treated in this way, better, that is, more useful, is wisdom, concerning divine things, which, according to the Gloss, "always rightly governs the soul"; than the strength of the body, which often casts one headlong into sins: Ecclesiastes 9: "I said that wisdom is better than strength." And a prudent man, in human affairs, according to the Gloss, not only in eloquence: more than a strong man: Gloss: "In body." Whence one ought not to glory in such strength, according to that saying from Jeremiah 9: "Let not the strong man glory in his strength."
Part II. Exhortation to Wisdom.
Hear therefore, O kings, etc. After he has admonished princes and the powerful toward justice, here he begins to admonish them toward seeking and loving wisdom, and first by a reason taken from the peril of the office of those whom he admonishes; second, by a reason taken from the example of him who admonishes, namely in the seventh chapter; third, by a reason taken from the many benefits of wisdom, to which he admonishes, namely from the tenth chapter to the end.
First he takes his reason from the peril of the office of superiors.
In the first part he first touches upon the punishment and suffering of unwise rulers; second, on the contrary, the reward of wise rulers: To you therefore; third, he admonishes both groups to desire wisdom: Desire, etc.; fourth, he promises to teach it: What wisdom is.
First, concerning the punishment of unwise rulers.
In the first part he first requests from rulers a hearing; second, he adds the reason for hearing: Because it has been given, etc.
(Verses 2–3.). Hear therefore, etc., as if to say: since wisdom is so useful, hear therefore, with the outward hearing, O kings: Gloss: "Prelates"; and understand, with the inward hearing: Proverbs 1: "A wise man hearing shall be yet wiser, and he that understandeth shall possess governance": Matthew 13: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Learn, O judges of the ends of the earth, that is, of distinct lands or provinces. Kings
are called prelates by directing toward the good; judges, by discerning between good and evil. Learn, I say, wisdom, because it is necessary for judges: whence Deuteronomy 1: "Give from among you wise and knowledgeable men."
Give ear, namely both the outward and inward ear, you who restrain, by holding back from evil, the multitudes of peoples committed to your care: Proverbs 14: "In the multitude of the people is the dignity of the king." And you delight in yourselves among the throngs of nations, that is, you glory in your prelacies: against which Gregory says in the Pastoral Rule: "As often as a prelate delights in ruling over men, so often does he fall into the crime of apostasy."
Because it was given etc. Here he adds the reason for listening, namely so that they may be able to escape the punishment to be inflicted for the abuse of power. And first he touches upon the conferral of power; second, the abuse of what was conferred: Because, when you were: third, the judgment for abuse: Horribly etc.; fourth, the equity of the judge: For he will not withdraw.
(Verse 4). Because etc. And you ought to listen, because power was given to you by the Lord: whence Romans thirteen: "There is no power except from God": power: Gloss: "Judiciary on earth," namely as regards the definition of the sentence: John nineteen: "You would have no power against me at all, unless it had been given to you from above." And strength: Gloss: "Of punishing," as regards the execution of the sentence. Or: power in civil cases, strength in criminal cases. From the Most High, namely God established above us: Psalm: "You, Lord, are most high over all the earth." Who will examine: Gloss: "In judgment"; Luke sixteen: "Render an account of your stewardship." Your works, namely exterior ones: Ecclesiastes, last chapter: "All things that are done, God will bring into judgment," etc. For he did not so give power that he would not demand an account; therefore Sirach eighteen: "Before judgment examine yourself, and before God you will find propitiation." And he will search out thoughts, that is, interior works: Gloss: "As one about to judge concerning all things"; above, chapter one: "There will be an inquisition into the thoughts of the ungodly." He will search out: Zephaniah one: "I will search Jerusalem with lamps"; nor will he only search out, but he will also make manifest: whence First Corinthians four: "He will illuminate the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of hearts."
It should be noted, moreover, that a threefold examination will be made of the prelate: first, how he entered: Matthew twenty-two: "Friend, how did you enter here," etc. Second, how he lived: Isaiah twenty-two: "What are you doing here? Or as who are you here?" Third, how he ruled and guarded the flock entrusted to him: Jeremiah thirteen: "Where is the flock that was given to you, your glorious cattle?"
(Vers. 5.). Since, when you were etc. I have rightly said that he will examine etc.: and deservedly so, since, when you were ministers, not lords, of his kingdom, that is, of the Church Militant: 1 Peter 5: "Not as lording it over the clergy, but being made a pattern of the flock from the heart"; likewise 1 Corinthians 4: "Let a man so account of us as ministers of Christ" etc. You did not judge rightly, namely others: whence Isaiah 1: "They do not judge for the orphan, and the cause of the widow does not come before them"; likewise Jeremiah 5: "They did not judge the cause of the widow, they did not direct the cause of the orphan." Neither did you keep the law of justice, namely in yourselves: in the Psalm: "They did not keep the covenant of God, and in his law they refused to walk"; Isaiah 59: "Judgment is turned backward, and justice has stood afar off"; likewise Jeremiah 5: "These have rather broken the yoke, they have burst the bonds." Neither did you walk according to the will of God, sinning against God: Jeremiah 7: "They went after the pleasures and the depravity of their evil heart."
Or it can be said that he touches upon the threefold manner in which a sentence is called unjust: first, from the cause, namely when no just cause underlies it; second, from the procedure, as when the order of law is not observed; third, from the intention, as when one proceeds against someone with a corrupt intention: against which it is said in Deuteronomy 16: "You shall justly pursue what is just."
(Vers. 6.). Dreadfully, that is, terribly: Hebrews 10: "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God": and swiftly he will appear to you: whence Zephaniah 1: "Near is the great day of the Lord, and exceedingly swift." And although the day of the general judgment be far off,
yet the day of the particular judgment, that is, of death, is near: whence Ecclesiasticus 38: "Remember my judgment, for so also shall yours be: yesterday for me and today for you." And truly he will appear dreadfully to you prelates, for a most severe judgment shall be upon those who are set over others. Hard indeed, because they entered badly; harder, because they undertook badly; hardest, because they ruled badly. Or: hard on account of the sins of their subjects; harder on account of the sins of their ministers; hardest on account of the multitude and enormity of their own sins.
Prelates will be punished more harshly than others, first by reason of what was entrusted, according to that of Luke 12: "To whom they have entrusted more, more will they demand from him." By reason of sin, because, other things being equal, the sin of a prelate is graver than that of a subject: Jeremiah 5: "These have broken the yoke all the more" etc. By reason of harm, because namely they corrupt others by their example: Gregory: "When the pastor walks through steep places, it is necessary that the flock follow into the precipice." By reason of scandal, because they scandalize the Church: whence Malachi 2: "You have scandalized very many in the law." By reason of judgment, because namely they are not judged here, according to that of the Psalm: "Against you alone have I sinned" etc.; and therefore in the future they will be judged more harshly both all at once and totally, according to that of 2 Maccabees 6: "For the Lord does not wait patiently, as with other nations, so that when the day of judgment has come, he may punish them in the fullness of their sins." By reason of office, because they also sin by exercising their office unworthily: Romans 2: "In that you judge another, you condemn yourself."
(Vers. 7.). For to the little one, that is, to the weak and humble: whence the Gloss: "To those who have sinned through ignorance, or frailty, or necessity, and have blotted it out by humble penance": mercy is granted: Gloss: "The remission of sins," as regards punishment, whether wholly or in part, here or in the future: Isaiah, last chapter: "To whom shall I look but to the poor little one" etc. But the mighty, that is, those who have abused their power unto sin, shall suffer torments mightily, that is, strongly inflicted, on account of sins, because for their own sins and those of their subjects: whence Numbers 25:
"Take all the princes and hang them up on gibbets against the sun"; likewise 3 Kings 20: "Guard this man, who if he shall have escaped, your life shall be for his life"; likewise Ezekiel 32: "The mightiest of the strong shall speak to him from the midst of hell."
(Vers. 8. 9.). For the Lord will not withdraw, namely from punishment and torment, the person of anyone, namely of the small or the great, out of private affection: Ezekiel eighteen: "I will judge each one according to his ways, O house of Israel, says the Lord." "God is not a respecter of persons," Acts ten. Then he gives the reason, saying: Who is, that is, because He is, the ruler of all; Revelation nineteen: "King of kings and Lord of lords." Nor will He fear the greatness of anyone, namely out of fear, because He Himself is "the great Lord and a great king above all gods," as is said in the Psalm, and again: "Of His greatness there is no end"; whence He surpasses beyond all proportion every other greatness. Because He Himself made the small and the great: Malachi two: "Is there not one father of us all? Has not one God created us?" And because He created all, therefore He will judge all, the small as well as the great, as His creatures: Revelation twenty: "I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the sight of the throne." And He has equal care of all.
Against this: First Corinthians nine: "Does God have care for oxen?" as if to say: no.
It must be said that the care of discipline belongs to God only with respect to rational creatures; but the care of providence belongs to Him with respect to all things.
But if His care of providence is equal with respect to the good and the wicked, then it makes no difference to Him whether one is good or evil.