Thus I said, that wisdom is more mobile than all mobile things: and not only so; moreover, standing for "but": but what is more, it reaches everywhere, that is, from the limit of the highest creature to the lowest creature: Ambrose in the Hexaemeron: "Divine wisdom has penetrated even to the locust."
But against this: Job 28: "The abyss says: It is not in me; the sea says: It is not with me."
The response is that there he speaks not of creatures, but of the defects of creatures. Or better it should be said that God is not in the abyss or in the sea by containment, since he can be contained by nothing, but he is there by presence, according to that Psalm: "If I ascend into heaven, you are there; if I descend into hell, you are present."
On account of its purity, that is, its abstraction from all material dregs: for because it is entirely immobile, therefore it is uncircumscribable, according to Damascene.
(Verse 25). For it is the vapor of the power of God, that is, emanating from God the Father, as vapor from heat: the Gloss: "That is, to warm the cold of our unbelief": Sirach 24: "Like an uncut Lebanon I sent forth vapor in my dwelling." And it is a certain emanation of the brightness of almighty God, that is, emanating from God the Father, as splendor from light, namely to illuminate the darkness of our intellect: Hebrews 1: "Who being the splendor of glory" etc.; likewise Isaiah 62: "Until his just one goes forth as splendor." Pure, without admixture of darkness: 1 John 1: "God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all." Moreover this procession is without diminution of the paternal substance, or separation, but with personal distinction, according to that of Athanasius: "Neither confounding the persons, nor separating the substance." And because it proceeds as light, which cannot be contaminated, therefore nothing defiled, by defilement either culpable or even natural, falls upon it, namely uncreated wisdom: the Gloss: "Evil does not approach the highest good."
(Verse 26). And truly nothing defiled falls upon it. For it is the brightness of eternal light, that is, the purest light from eternal light, namely proceeding from the Father; whence it is sung: "Light from light you appeared, O Christ." In this light the eternal light is seen, according to that Psalm: "In your light we shall see light"; likewise John 14: "He who sees me sees the Father also." It is therefore the brightness of eternal light, with respect to the representation of wisdom, and the spotless mirror of the majesty of God, with respect to the representation of divine majesty and power, according to that of John 5: "For whatever things he," namely the Father, "has done, these the Son likewise does." Without spot, I say, of sin, because "he did not commit sin" etc., 1 Peter 2. And the image of his goodness: the Gloss: "That is, the full representation of his goodness ": Colossians 1: "Who is the image of the invisible God."
It should be noted that the mirror is the Son of God, immaculate in act and in potency. The mirror is also the Angel, according to Dionysius, pure and most clear, and although immaculate in act, yet stained in potency, at least remotely. The mirror is also the human spirit, in which the divine image shines forth, Genesis 1, stained in act and in potency. The mirror is also said to be every creature, because through it, as through its vestige, the invisible things of God are represented: Romans 1: "The invisible things of God are clearly seen from the creation of the world, being understood through the things that have been made": likewise 1 Corinthians 13: "We see now through a mirror in an enigma." The mirror is also Sacred Scripture : James 1: "He is compared to a man considering the countenance of his birth in a mirror."
(Verse 27). And being one, namely in essence with the Father, according to that saying of John 10: "I and the Father are one"; she can do all things, that is, she has the same power as the Father; whence below, chapter 18: "Your almighty word, O Lord, came from the royal throne."
But, if she can do all things, then she can lie or die: which is false.
It must be said that she can do all things that do not contradict her goodness, or those things which to be able to do is some power, not impotence.
And remaining in herself, namely unchangeable, according to that saying of James 1: "With whom there is no change" etc.: she renews all things, namely temporal things through continuous generation; Ecclesiastes 1: "A generation passes away, a generation comes": and spiritual things through spiritual regeneration: 2 Corinthians 5: "If any be a new creature in Christ, the old things have passed away": Revelation 21: "Behold, I make all things new." And through nations, carnal, or rather spiritual, of which John 3: "Unless one be born again of water" etc. Into holy souls, that is, those cleansed from sin, she conveys herself, through the spiritual coming of grace into the mind: John 14: "We will come to him" etc. It should be noted that to convey herself is said not through a new position or by changing place, but through a new effect: whence it follows: Friends of God, through the enkindling of the affections, and prophets she constitutes, through the illumination of the intellect: John 15: "I will no longer call you servants, but friends, because all things whatsoever I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you."
(Verse 28). For God loves no one except him who dwells with wisdom, namely by remaining with him "who shall meditate on the law of the Lord day and night," according to the Gloss: Proverbs 8: "I, wisdom, dwell in counsel and am present among learned thoughts." And if God loves no one except him who dwells with wisdom: " blessed therefore is the man who shall abide in wisdom," Ecclesiasticus 14.
God loves no one etc. - On the contrary: Below in chapter 11: "You love all things that are," and yet not all things dwell with wisdom.
But it must be said that there he speaks of natural love, here of gratuitous love.
For she is more beautiful etc. Here he treats of the beauty of wisdom, preferring it to the beauty of the sun, and first he sets forth the comparison; second, the proof of the comparison: For night succeeds it.
(Verse 29.) I have rightly said that God loves him who dwells with wisdom, and deservedly so. For she, namely wisdom, is more beautiful than the sun, because spiritual beauty surpasses corporeal beauty: above in the same chapter: "Above health and beauty I loved her"; than the sun, namely the material sun, because she is the beauty of the sun of justice, of which Malachi 4 says: "The sun of justice shall arise for you who fear my name." And above every arrangement of the stars, it must be repeated: she is more beautiful. For she herself made the stars, Genesis 1, and it is certain that she retained more beauty for herself than she gave to the stars; therefore above in chapter 4: "O how beautiful is the chaste generation with brightness!" namely, of wisdom. Compared to light, namely both of the sun and of the stars, she is found to be prior, namely in eternity, dignity, and causality; whence Sirach 24: "I caused an unfailing light to rise in the heavens"; the Gloss: "Corporeal light, which now sets, now rises, compared to spiritual light, appears as a spark. Christ also far transcends the brightness of the saints."
(Verse 30.) For night succeeds it, namely corporeal light, according to that passage in Genesis 8: "Night and day shall not cease"; likewise Isaiah 21: "Morning comes and also night." But night does not succeed spiritual light; whence it follows: But malice, which is spiritual darkness, does not overcome wisdom, which is spiritual light, according to John Damascene; whence John 1: "The light shines in the darkness."