1 A wise son is the doctrine of his father. But he who ridicules does not listen when he is reproved.
Bede · AD 735 "A wise son is the instruction of a father," etc. There is such a great difference between the wise and the foolish man, that the latter, at some point, arrives to teach even the one who had taught him with the advantage of learning, while the former, when reproved, does not know how to listen.
2 From the fruit of his own mouth, a man shall be satisfied with good things. But the soul of betrayers is iniquity.
3 Whoever guards his mouth guards his soul. But whoever gives no consideration to his speech shall experience misfortunes.
4 The lazy one is willing and then not willing. But the soul of he who labors shall be made fat.
Bede · AD 735 "And the sluggard desires and does not desire," etc. Rightly, the lazy person is marked by the term, who wants to reign with God but does not want to work for God. The rewards delight when they are promised; the struggles deter when they are commanded. Concerning this, James says, "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1).
5 The just shall detest a lying word. But the impious confound and will be confounded.
6 Justice guards the way of the innocent. But impiety undermines the sinner.
7 One is like the rich, though he has nothing. And another is like the poor, though he has many riches.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 It is simply not to be credited that holy Scripture is concerned to advise us on these riches which the proud get such swollen heads about. I mean these visible, earthly riches, of course, as though we should either think they are very important or fear not to have them.
John Cassian · AD 435 And in these allusions and inconveniences all that are at all weak are sure to be entangled, as while they are even doubtful of their own salvation, and themselves stand in need of the teaching and instruction of others, they are incited by the devil's tricks to convert and guide others, and as, even if they succeed in gaining any advantage from the conversion of some, they was…
Bede · AD 735 "There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing," etc. He seemed rich to himself who was clothed in purple and fine linen and feasted sumptuously every day; but because he did not have God, he found in the end that nothing of what he had possessed existed.
8 The redemption of a man’s life is his riches. But he who is poor cannot tolerate correction.
Clement of Alexandria · AD 215 Just as the foot is the measure of the sandal, so the physical needs of each person are the measure of what he should possess. Whatever is excessive—the things they call adornments, the trappings of the rich—are not adornments but a burden for the body.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 A man's riches ought to avail to the ransom of his soul, not to its destruction. And a treasure is a ransom, if a man use it well; on the other hand it is a snare, if a man know not how to use it. What is a man's money to him but a provision for his journey? Much is a burthen, a little is useful.
Bede · AD 735 As Solomon says, "A man's own wealth is the redemption of his soul." This might be temporal wealth which one distributes and gives to the poor so that one's righteousness may endure forever, or it might be spiritual wealth in the form of the righteousness that one has attained by taking pity on the poor or by doing other good things.
9 The light of the just enriches. But the lamp of the impious will be extinguished.
Bede · AD 735 "The light of the righteous rejoices," etc. The light of the righteous, which perpetually rejoices, is the hope of future things; the lamp of the impious, which suddenly goes out, is the happiness of this fleeting world. Among the proud, there are always quarrels, but those who act with counsel are governed by wisdom.
10 Among the arrogant, there are always conflicts. But those who do everything with counsel are ruled by wisdom.
11 Substance obtained in haste will be diminished. But what is collected by hand, little by little, shall be multiplied.
Bede · AD 735 "Wealth hastily gotten will dwindle," etc. Those who want to become rich fall into temptation, and they do not possess those very riches, which they either acquire or desire, forever. But whoever strives justly for the acquisition of the wealth of heavenly rewards will receive the multiple gifts of heavenly blessedness. About this, he aptly adds:
12 Hope, when it is delayed, afflicts the soul. The arrival of the desired is a tree of life.
Bede · AD 735 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick," etc. For certainly, as long as the hope of eternal things is deferred, the soul of the faithful is afflicted, either because of the delay of the good things they love or because of the imposition of the evils they endure.
13 Whoever denounces something obligates himself for the future. But whoever fears a lesson shall turn away in peace. Deceitful souls wander into sins. The just are merciful and compassionate.
Bede · AD 735 "He who disparages something," etc. He who disparages a good thing binds himself in the future because, by doing what he ought not to, he prepares a punishment for himself by which he may be bound.
14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life, so that he may turn aside from the ruin of death.
15 Good doctrine bestows grace. In the way of the contemptuous, there is a chasm.
16 The discerning do everything with counsel. But whoever is senseless discloses his stupidity.
Bede · AD 735 "The shrewd man does everything with counsel," etc. Where he teaches that everything should be done with counsel, he understands more the divine counsel, which is clothed with sacred words, than the human counsel. For he is foolish who lives outside this counsel, even if he seems naturally shrewd and wise.
17 The messenger of the impious will fall into evil. But a faithful ambassador shall prosper.
Bede · AD 735 "The messenger of the wicked falls into trouble." He refers to Arius and Sabellius, and other angels, that is, messengers of Satan, who, because they neglected the counsel of the divine Scriptures, fell into the trouble of hellish torments. "But the faithful envoy is health." That is, every Catholic preacher acquires eternal health for himself and his listeners.
18 Destitution and disgrace are for those who abandon discipline. But whoever agrees with a reproof shall be glorified.
19 The desired, when perfected, shall delight the soul. The foolish detest those who flee from evils.
Bede · AD 735 If desire is fulfilled, it delights the soul, etc. Every desire, whether good or bad, when it anticipates affection, delights the soul; but the foolish, who enjoy only carnal desires, detest those who, for the love of heavenly things, despise lower entertainments.
20 Whoever keeps step with the wise shall be wise. A friend of the foolish will become like them.
Bede · AD 735 He who walks with the wise will be wise, etc. To walk with the wise is to imitate the actions of the wise. Therefore, however simple and rustic one may be, who cannot comprehend the secrets of wisdom, if he nevertheless follows the examples of the wise by living, he will rightly be counted among the wise.
21 Evil pursues sinners. And good things shall be distributed to the just.
22 The good leave behind heirs: children and grandchildren. And the substance of the sinner is preserved for the just.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "A good man will inherit children's children." The verb "he will inherit" does not mean that he will take the inheritance from his sons; in fact, this would be the greatest curse. Rather, it means the opposite, that is, that he will transmit his riches to his posterity and will leave behind descendants.
Bede · AD 735 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children, etc. We often see good men die without children, indeed promising greater rewards from the Lord to those who have preferred the chastity of virginity to the procreation of children, yet also the substance of the just being taken by sinners. For the Apostle glories in those who received the seizure of their goods with joy.
23 Much nourishment is in the fallow land of the fathers. But for others, it is gathered without judgment.
Bede · AD 735 Many foods are in the fresh fields of the fathers, etc. He acts without proper judgment who is diligently occupied with amassing riches and does not himself dispense these accumulated riches to the poor for the redemption of his soul, but reserves them to be dispensed by others after him, as it is said in the superior verse by the letter: And the substance of the sinner is stor…
24 He who spares the rod hates his son. But he who loves him urgently instructs him.
Apostolic Constitutions · AD 380 You fathers, educate your children in the Lord, bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and teach them such trades as are agreeable and suitable to the Lord, lest they by such opportunity become extravagant and continue without punishment from their parents, and so become slack before their time and go astray from that which is good.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 "He that spares the rod hates his son." For, give us a person who with right faith and true understanding can say with all the energy of his heart, "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?" For such a person there is no need of the terror of hell, to say nothing of temporal punishments or imperial laws, seeing that with him it is so…
Bede · AD 735 He who spares the rod hates his son, etc. For both a good father teaches his son, and a catholic teacher instructs his disciple, lest he deflects to iniquity, solicitously.
25 The just eats and fills his soul. But the belly of the impious is never satisfied.
Clement of Alexandria · AD 215 We have been created, not to eat and drink but to come to the knowledge of God. "The just man," Scripture says, "eats and fills his soul; but the belly of the wicked is ever in want," ever hungry with a greed that cannot be quenched.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 If you take [this verse] according to the literal sense that "when the just person eats he will fill his soul but the souls of the impious will be in poverty," it will appear false. For the souls of the impious take food with eagerness and strive after "satiety," but the just meanwhile are hungry.
Bede · AD 735 But the righteous eats and fills his soul, etc. The righteous receive the foods of wisdom, which are found to have sprung in the fresh fields of the fathers, that is, in the works and words of preceding just men, and they transfer these to the profit of their soul by living well.