First, on account of goods pertaining to both lives.
(Vers. 9.). Therefore, because she is such, I purposed, that is, I firmly resolved in my heart: her, namely divine wisdom, not another adulterous one, such as the poetic disciplines, which Boethius in the Consolation calls "meretricious": to bring to myself, not only to another, against those who only teach others but do not teach themselves, whom the Apostle reproves, saying in Romans 2: "You who teach another, do you not teach yourself?" To feast together, that is, to refresh, namely the affection, not only to illuminate the intellect, as many who are in no way moved by sacred Scripture: Fourth Kings 7: "You shall see it with your eyes, but you shall not eat of it": likewise to feast together, he says, that is, to be refreshed in common and together: because in the goods of wisdom we are fed and refreshed: whence Proverbs 9: "Eat my bread, and drink the wine that I have mingled for you": and she in our goods: whence Proverbs 8: "My delights are to be with the children of men." We ought to serve her the first course, as if from herbs prepared, from the lilies of uprightness: Song of Songs 2: "He who feeds among the lilies, until the day breaks," etc. The second, of kid's flesh, that is, the detestation of all sin and iniquity, both carnal and spiritual: on these two kids she willingly feasts, as did Isaac, Genesis 27. The third, of roasted fish of patience and tribulation: "They offered him a piece of roasted fish," Luke 24. The last, of the fruit of the spirit, that is, of the works of devotion: Song of Songs 5: "Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees." Knowing that she will share with me of goods, namely her own. This is the symbolic invitation of Revelation 3: "I will sup with him, and he with me": and he says: of goods, in the plural, because both of present and future goods. And there shall be comfort: Gloss: "That is, alleviation": of thought, that is, of affliction in thinking, as regards the intellect, according to that passage of Ecclesiastes, last chapter: "Frequent meditation is an affliction of the flesh." And of my weariness, in working, and this as regards the affection: Second Corinthians 1: "We were pressed out of measure above our strength, so that we were weary even of living."
Second, on account of the goods pertaining to the active life.
I shall have etc. Here he touches upon the goods pertaining to the active life, especially those necessary for prelates, and first, as regards the act of judging: second, as regards the act of teaching: When I am silent etc.: third, as regards the act of associating: Moreover I shall have etc.: fourth, as regards the act of governing: I shall set peoples in order.
As regards the act of judging he touches upon two things: first, authority: second, discernment: Young and keen etc.
(Vers. 10.). Through this I shall have, namely through wisdom, which "is bright," as is stated above in chapter six, renown, namely of fame: Matthew 5: "Let your light shine" etc.; likewise Philippians 2: "Among whom you shine as luminaries in the firmament" etc. Before the multitudes, that is, before those of lower rank: and honor, namely of reverence, before the elders, that is, before those of higher rank: Job 29: "The young men saw me and hid themselves, and the aged rising up stood." From these two things a man becomes of great authority, namely from the esteem of those below and the reverence of those above. Though young, that is, vigorous and diligent in investigating.
(Vers. 11.). And keen, that is, subtle in penetrating and discovering, I shall be found in judgment ,- the Gloss: "Judging all things according to the laws": such was Daniel, as is clear from Daniel 13. And, supply: therefore, and in the sight of the powerful, that is, of lesser prelates, I shall be admirable, and the faces of princes, that is, of greater prelates, shall wonder at me. This was literally true of Solomon, as is clear from 3 Kings 10, where it is said that "the queen of Sheba, having heard the fame of Solomon" etc., said: "The wisdom that I have found is greater than the report that I heard." This was also true of our Savior: whence Matthew 14: "The tetrarch heard the fame of Jesus and said to his servants" etc. This is also true of the perfectly wise man: Sirach 24: "In the midst of his people he shall be exalted, and in the holy fullness he shall be admired."
(Vers. 12.). When I am silent, that is, what I am to teach, they shall premeditate: in the Psalm: "The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom." They shall wait, that is, they shall wait in silence, "not daring to speak," according to the Gloss: Job 29: "They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for the latter rain." And when I speak etc., he rightly placed silence before speech, because, according to Jerome, "the teaching of Pythagoras was to be silent for five years and afterward to speak as learned men." And when I speak they shall look upon me, namely attentively, and this as a sign of attention: Job 29: "Attentive, they were silent at my counsel." And when I discourse at greater length, but not superfluously or excessively, because "in much speaking," or in superfluity of words, "sin shall not be wanting," Proverbs 10. Note that plurality is constituted by two or three, but not multitude. They shall lay their hands upon their mouth: the Gloss: "Not daring to resist me": Job 29: "The princes ceased to speak, and laid their finger upon their mouth."
(Vers. 13.). Moreover through her, namely through wisdom, I shall have immortality, namely of eternal glory in heaven: Proverbs 3: "She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her." And a remembrance: Gloss: "Of my works and virtues," eternal, that is, perpetual, as long as the world shall endure: I shall leave to those who shall come after me: Proverbs 10: "The memory of the just is with praises": in the Psalm: "The just shall be in eternal memory."
I shall govern etc. Here are touched upon the goods had through wisdom with respect to the act of governing, and first with respect to subjects: second, with respect to outsiders: They shall fear etc.
(Vers. 14.). He says therefore: I shall govern: Gloss: "I shall instruct," namely by ruling and governing, peoples, having the Law. For a people is a multitude of men living under one law, as the Jews under the law of Moses. And nations, that is, gentiles not having the Law, and they are called nations, because not reborn, but remaining in the uncircumcision and vice of their birth: in the Psalm: "He subjected peoples to us and nations under our feet": Isaiah 55: "Behold, I have given him as a witness to peoples, a leader and commander to nations." Nations, I say, shall be subject to me through obedience.
(Vers. 15.). Hearing me, dreadful kings shall fear me, that is, tyrants and the impious: whence all the kings round about became tributaries of Solomon, 3 Kings 9: likewise Isaiah 60: "The sons of those who humiliated you shall come to you bowed down." And in the multitude, "namely of the faithful," I shall appear good, "that is, benign," and in war, "namely of adversaries," valiant. All these things spiritually, according to the Gloss, were fulfilled in Christ and can be expounded of him, as is clear to one examining the Glosses.
Third, on account of goods pertaining to the contemplative life.
(Vers. 16.). Entering into my house, that is, my conscience, namely by returning from exterior care to interior care, just as the "disciples" after preaching "returned to the Lord with joy," as is found in Luke 10. He placed action before contemplation by reason of time, not by reason of dignity, just as Leah before Rachel, Genesis 29. I shall rest with her, that is, I shall rest together in her, and she with me or in me: Sirach 32: "Run ahead first to your house, and there withdraw and there play," etc. Well did I say: I shall rest with her: for it has no bitterness, of exterior disturbance, her conversation, that is, cohabitation: Sirach 24: "My spirit is sweeter than honey"; nor weariness, namely of interior affliction, her company: ibid.: "Those who eat me shall still hunger," against disgust. These two, namely the bitterness of exterior disturbance and the weariness of interior affliction, are contrary to rest. And therefore she removes them, adding two opposites, when she says: But gladness, namely interiorly, and joy, namely exteriorly: Sirach 1: "She will give delight and joy"; likewise Sirach 15: "The Lord filled her with the spirit of wisdom," etc.; likewise ibid.: "Delight and exultation," etc.
Third, the same is shown from the zeal of seeking wisdom in a threefold manner.
Thinking upon these things, etc. Here third he shows how much he loved wisdom, and this from the zeal of seeking her. And concerning this, first he shows the diligence of seeking: second, the aptitude for receiving: But I was a boy: third, the confidence of obtaining: And as I knew
First, the diligence of seeking wisdom is shown.
In the first part he sets forth three causes moving one to seek knowledge: first, the effect of wisdom in the heart: second, the effect in work: And in works: third, the effect in speech: And in the contest of speech.
(Vers. 17.). These things, namely the foregoing, pondering within myself, frequently meditating on them, and recalling in my heart, namely the following things, bringing them back to memory lest I forget: for the animal that "chews the cud and divides the hoof," namely by remembering and discerning, is clean, Leviticus 11: Luke 2: "Mary kept all these words," etc. That she is immortal , namely by nature, or by the effect of the immortality which she confers: whence above in the same book: "Through her I shall have immortality." In the thought of wisdom, that is, in the understanding: the Gloss: "Whatever is known of her nature, the whole is found to be immortal and ever living": below in chapter 15: "To know your justice and your power is the root of immortality."
(Vers. 18.). And in friendship with her, namely when she is loved, good delight, namely in the affection: good he says as opposed to the delight of sin, which is evil, because it leads to eternal torment, according to that saying of Gregory: "What delights is momentary, what torments is eternal"; likewise the Gloss: "Bodily pleasures weigh down the body, but spiritual pleasures uplift the mind; and the more they are consumed, the more they are hungered for. In the former, the appetite pleases but the experience displeases; but spiritual delights increase desire, and the more they are partaken of, the more eagerly they are loved." And in the works of her hands, that is, in good works, which are done through her hands, that is, by her power and might: John fifteen: "Without me you can do nothing"; honor without failing, that is, perfect honor: for virtue and the work of virtue belong to the genus of the honorable: below in chapter ten: "She honored him in his labors"; likewise above in chapter seven: "Innumerable honor through her hands." And in the contest of her discourse, namely that which takes the form of disputation, in which there is a certain contest between the one objecting and the one responding: wisdom, that is, knowledge; supply: is acquired: Sirach, last chapter: "My soul wrestled with her." And renown, that is, the evidence of illustrious virtue, in the sharing of her words, which namely are shared by way of simple conference: Sirach 24: "Those who elucidate me shall have eternal life"; likewise Daniel 12: "Those who instruct many unto justice shall be as stars for perpetual eternities." I went about: the Gloss: "Diligently and studiously": Song of Songs three: "I will arise and go about the city": seeking, like the woman of whom Luke fifteen says: "Who lights a lamp and sweeps the house, seeking diligently until she finds it." That I might take her to myself, namely as a bride: whence above in the same chapter: "I sought to take her as my bride."
In the aforesaid text, eight things useful to the preacher or teacher concerning the learning of wisdom or concerning the acquisition of wisdom are touched upon: reflection upon her through investigation, recollection through frequent practice, delight through love, action through fulfillment, contention through disputation, communication through conference, going about through questioning, taking up through incorporation.
Second, the aptitude for receiving her.
Now I was a child etc. Here he touches on the aptitude for receiving, first on the part of natural ability, because as a child I was of good natural talent: second on the part of grace, because I obtained a good soul: third on the part of purity, because, since I was more good, I came to an undefiled body.
(Vers. 19. 20.). He says therefore: Now I was an ingenious child: note that he speaks in the person of Solomon. Ingenious by natural industry: Proverbs 20: "A child is known by his pursuits, whether his works be clean and right." And I obtained, that is, attained by the lot of divine election: Acts 1: "The lot fell upon Matthias"; a good soul, namely through grace: 3 Kings 3: "Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David, his father."
And since I was more good, namely from superadded grace, than I was previously from natural industry, I came etc. For according to Augustine, temporal goods are the lowest goods, natural goods the middle, gratuitous goods the highest. I came, I say, by the resolution and zeal of the mind, to an undefiled body, supply: to have and preserve through purity.