Do not be overly righteous, and do not inquire too much, lest you become astonished. If you see someone strict and harsh towards all the faults of his brothers, that he does not forgive in a sinful conversation, nor does he forgive due to natural occasional laziness, know that this person is more righteous than is just. For when the Savior commands, saying: Do not judge, so that you may not be judged (Luke 6:37); and let no one be without sin, even if his life were only a single day, it is inhumane justice to not pardon the fragility of human condition. Therefore, do not strive to be overly righteous, for it is a heavy burden and a small burden is displeasing to the Lord. Thus, even among philosophers, virtues are found in moderation, and anything that is excessive, whether it be upward or downward, is considered a vice. Furthermore, when he says, 'Do not seek more, lest you become troubled,' or, 'Do not be amazed,' he knows our mind cannot fully comprehend wisdom and teaches us to acknowledge the measure of our own frailty. Finally, Paul also asked him, who could know more than a man, saying: Why do you still complain? For who resists his will? He answered: O man, who are you to answer God (Rom. IX, 19), and so on. For if the one who is introduced as questioning had heard the reasons for the question from the Apostle, he might have been stunned and felt the grace to be useless. For it is also a gift, according to the same Apostle, which does not profit the one to whom it is given. The Hebrews interpret this commandment, that is: Do not be overly righteous, concerning Saul who showed mercy to Agag, whom the Lord had commanded to be killed (1 Samuel 15). But also that servant from the Gospel (Matthew 18), whom the Lord had forgiven, and he himself did not want to forgive his fellow servant, can be related to this verse, that he had been overly righteous.
Do not act wickedly or be foolish; why will you die before your time? As the Lord says: I do not desire the death of the one who dies, but rather that he turn back and live (Ezek. XVIII, 32): Once is enough to sin; we must rise up after a fall. For if they know, those who dispute with physicians, that the swallow feeds its young from its beak, and the wounded wild goat seeks dittany, why do we ignore that the medicine of repentance has been proposed for sinners? But when he says, in regard to Moses and Aaron, 'Lest thou die in the time not thine own.' (Num. XVI); we know that Core and Dathan, and Abiron by reason of the sedition against Moses and Aaron, were suddenly devoured by the gaping earth, and for a warning to others were judged even in this life before the day of judgement. Therefore, what he says is this: Do not add sins to sins, lest you provoke God even here to inflict punishment on you.
It is good to hold on to that. And indeed, do not let go of your hand from this; for whoever fears God will go out to all things. It is good to do good to the righteous, but also to do good to sinners is not unjust. It is good to support the members of the faith, but also to give to everyone who asks, it is a commandment. For whoever fears God, and imitates his creator, who rains upon the just and the unjust, hastens to do good to all, without regard for persons. Otherwise: Because this wretched life is constantly varied by different events, both adversities and prosperity, a just mind should be prepared and should seek the mercy of the Lord, so that whatever happens, it may endure with a balanced mind. For whoever fears God is neither lifted up by prosperity nor oppressed by adversities.
Wisdom strengthens the wise person, surpassing the power of ten who are in the city: for there is no righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin. Therefore wisdom strengthens the just and the help of all the rulers of the city exceeds him, because although someone may be just, as long as he is in this flesh, he is subject to vices and sins, and needs greater protection. Alternatively, the ten who have power and reside in the city are angels, who have reached the perfect number of ten, and assist the human race. But if someone considers all help, the greatest help is the wisdom, that is, of our Lord Jesus Christ. For after the angels said: We have healed Babylon, and it was not healed, let us abandon it, and everyone go to their own land (Jer. 51:8), then the master of physicians himself descended, and sprinkled us with his blood, and with the blood that was soaked with sins, which we had spent all our substance on physicians, he healed us with the touch of his hem (Luke 8). But He healed in the city, that is, in this world, and strengthened the wise, or, as the Seventy translated, helped. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance. However, because the man placed in sins was in need, and fixed in the deep mire, he needed greater assistance; therefore Wisdom itself came. Otherwise: Above, He had said that good must be done both to family and to strangers. Therefore, someone could answer: If I want to do good to everyone, I do not have from where I can do it. The righteous person cannot possess such great riches which usually abound more for sinners; therefore now he says: Assist those whom you cannot help with material things, with advice and comfort. For wisdom can provide more in times of distress than any great powers. And do this with prudence. Indeed, the balance of justice is great, and it is important to give to whom, and how much, and for how long, and in what way, either in a matter or in advice.
And indeed, in all the conversations they will have, do not give your heart, for you will not hear your servant cursing you. For often your heart knows that you have cursed others. Do what is commanded, and with the help of wisdom, prepare your heart for good or evil, and do not care about what your enemies say about you, or what the opinion of strangers is. For it is not the behavior of a wise man to listen to a murmuring servant, or to lend an interested ear to what is being said about him in his absence. For if he does this, he will always be in trouble, and his anger will be stirred up by the muttering of a servant. So it is also the behavior of a wise man to follow the path of wisdom and not to consider vain rumors. But it teaches by another example that a just man should not care deeply about what people say, saying: How does your conscience know that you have spoken about many things and often detracted from others: thus you must also forgive those who detract from you. And at the same time it teaches that one should not judge easily, and that if you have a beam in your eye, you should not speak about the splinter in someone else's eye.
I have tried all these things in wisdom, and I said: I will become wise, but wisdom itself has become further from me, more than it was before, and its depth is so profound, who will find it? It is said that even the books of the Kingdoms testify (3 Kings 3 and 4) that all men have sought wisdom and have tried to reach its end, but the more they have sought, the less they have found, and they have been immersed in the midst of darkness, surrounded by the shadows of ignorance. Another way: A man who has been educated in the Scriptures, the more he begins to know, the more darkness arises for him in these things every day. Another way: The contemplation of wisdom in this life is seen in a mirror and in an image: therefore, when I reflect on revealing knowledge face to face with Him in the future, then I clearly recognize that I now widely differ from His knowledge.
I have traveled around and searched my heart, in order to understand, contemplate, and seek wisdom and reason, and to know the wickedness of fools and the error of the foolish. And I have found woman to be more bitter than death, she is a trap and her heart is like snares, her hands are like chains. The righteous will be delivered from her, but the sinner will be trapped by her. Because the Septuagint put it: I have traveled around and searched my heart, in order to understand, Symmachus interpreted it, saying: I have passed through all things with my senses, to know, learn, and investigate. Therefore, since the Preacher had said above that he had tried everything in wisdom, and the more he sought it, the further it eluded him; now he also says that he sought something else in his wisdom, namely, that in human affairs evil precedes all evils, and that those things which hold dominion in impiety, folly, error, and madness. And he says that he found woman to be the head of all evils: for through her, death entered into the world, and she captures the precious souls of men. For all adulterers, indeed, adulterate, as if their hearts like an oven: which causes the hearts of young people to fly away. And when the thought of the wretched lover comes to mind, it draws him towards the precipice: and it does not allow him to look back at his own feet, but like a snare, it entangles the heart of the young man with its bond. For his hands are bound. Concerning this, the eagle interprets: His hands are bound, which is said in the Hebrew language as Assurim. For it can advise, but it cannot force violence: nor can it draw those who are unwilling to itself. The righteous and good person in the eyes of God will be saved from it; but the sinner, captured, will be led to death. Let us not lightly think that Solomon presented this judgment about women: he speaks from experience. Therefore, indeed, he offends God because he is captured by women. And this is according to the literal meaning. However, according to spiritual understanding, we understand by 'woman' any sin in general, and wickedness that sits under the appearance of a woman in Zechariah on the lead talent (Zech. 5:7): or we figuratively understand 'woman' to mean the devil, because of his effeminate power; or certainly idolatry, and to come closer, the Church of heretics, which calls the foolish in mind to itself, so that he may accept stolen bread and stolen water, that is, false sacrament and polluted baptism.
Behold, I have found this, says Ecclesiastes, one by one, to find the number that my soul has been searching for, and I have not found it. Among a thousand men I found one, but among all these I have not found a woman. Only this I have found: that God made man upright, and they have sought out many schemes. This, he says, I have found, diligently searching through everything, that by gradually sinning and adding one offense to another, we accumulate a great sum of sins. Indeed, they translated Essebon () with a unanimous voice, according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew language, we can say both the number, the sum, the ratio, and the thought. But this, he said, my soul has sought to find out if a righteous woman can be found. And when I could hardly find a few good men, such that only one could be found out of a thousand, I could not find a good woman at all. For all have been led not to virtue, but to luxury. And because the heart of man is set to evil from his youth (Gen. VIII, 21), and almost all have offended God: in this ruin of the human race, woman is more prone to falling. About whom even the pagan poet says:
...Varium et mutabile semper Femina...(Virg. IV, Aeneid. V. 35.) Et Apostolus: Semper, ait, discentes, et numquam ad scientiam veritatis pervenientes (II Tim. III, 7). Et ne videretur communem hominum damnare naturam, et Deum auctorem facere mali, dum talium conditor est, qui malum vitare non possint, argute praecavit, et ait, bonos nos a Deo creatos: sed quia libero sumus arbitrio derelicti, vitio nostro ad pejora labi, dum majora quaerimus, et ultra vires nostrasvaria cogitamus. Alternatively: Considering the reason for every thing with me daily, I have not been able to find a thought that is not disturbed by perverse thinking from outside. However, among a thousand men, I found one man who is formed according to the image of the creator: and among not just any thousand, but among a thousand men: a number that a woman cannot fulfill. And among a thousand who have not approached a woman, and therefore have remained very pure. But all these things are to be understood in a tropological sense. For in many studious persons (or studies) who sweat through everyday meditation, a pure thought is scarcely found, and a man worthy of the name. We can take thoughts to be men, and works to be women, and say that a pure thought of someone can hardly be found. For, because they are administered through the body, they are always mixed with some kind of error. But as for what we have said interpreting the Hebrew word: One by one, in order to find a number, or a sum, or a ratio, or a thought: Symmachus has interpreted it more clearly, to find an order one by one. For what we usually refer to in an absolute and neutral way, that is what I sought, that is what I wanted to find, the Hebrews pronounce it in the feminine gender, as in the psalm: One thing have I asked of the Lord, this I will seek (Psalm 27:4), because it is one.
(Cap VIII)
(Chapter 8) Who, like a wise man, and who knows the solution of a word? The wisdom of a person will enlighten their face, and the strong will change their appearance. Above, it was taught that it is difficult to find a good person, and the coming challenge was answered: that good people are created by God, but have fallen into sin by their own choice. Now, God enumerates what good things He has given to a person, as if boasting, namely wisdom, reason, and providence, to know the hidden mysteries of God, to enter into the secrets of His heart with understanding. But he speaks indirectly about himself, that no one has been so wise as he himself, and no one has known the solutions to problems in the same way, and his wisdom has been praised by all the people, which has not only been hidden internally, but has also shone on the surface of his body and in the mirror of his face, and has painted the wisdom of his mind on his face for all men to see. They have translated 'seventy' for 'what we have set': Who knows the wise. And concerning that which we said: And the strong will change his face, they have added: And the shameless will be hated for his countenance. And truly, although there are many who promise wisdom, it is difficult to find someone who can discern the true wise person from those who only appear wise. And although there are many who claim to be able to solve the hidden meanings of the Scriptures, it is rare to find someone who discovers the true solution. But what follows: The wisdom of a person will illuminate his face, and the wicked will be hated for his countenance, we can explain it in this way, by quoting the words of Paul: But we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18): and of the Psalmist who sings: The light of your countenance has been signed upon us, Lord (Psalm 4:7). But this man speaks of no wisdom except the wisdom of God. And when it is the wisdom of God, according to the capacity of man, it begins to be his, who has deserved to have it. Every heretic and defender of false doctrine is shameless. Finally, Marcion and Valentinus claim to be of a better nature than the Creator. And this could be somewhat acceptable, if they claimed to have hope of attaining this, and not already possess it.
I guard the mouth of the king and the language of the oath of God. Do not rush to leave his presence, and do not stand in evil words, because he will do whatever he wants. As the king says, having power: and who will say to him, What are you doing? Indeed, it seems to be commanding according to the Apostle, obedience to kings and authorities (Titus, 3:1), especially the Seventy Interpreters saying in the imperative mode: Guard the mouth of the king; but I think it is now said about that king, about whom David says: Lord, the king will rejoice in your strength (Psalm 20:1). And in another place, so that it might signify the unity of the Father and the Son in one kingdom, Scripture recalls: 'Give your judgment to the king, O God, and your justice to the king's son' (Psalm 72:1).'For the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son' (John 5:22). The Son, who is the King and Son of God the Father, is to be obeyed and His will is to be carried out. And this is what is written in the Book of Tobit: 'To conceal the mystery of the king is good' (Tobit 12:7). And especially he warns us not to question why God has commanded each thing, but rather to hasten to fulfill whatever mandate he sees fit, with a pious mind. And in the law of the Lord will be his will. However, the Septuagint translated it differently, saying: Do not hasten to walk away from his presence, whether in an oath or in a word of God: know that the oath of God is written in the divine volumes. Therefore, this oath, sacred and secret, from the word of God, we should not disclose to anyone, and bring it forth into the public, and quickly form an opinion about it. Not to be hasty like Moses to see the face of God, but to endure until He Himself passes by, and only then to behold His aftereffects. Also, let us understand the following: 'Do not stand in evil speech,' and the rest, as referring to one who is led astray by the error of heresy, or to one who, although having faith in the Church, is nonetheless overcome by sins, so as to be faithless. Do not persist in detraction, nor in vulgar language, luxury, greed, or lust. If you persist, the king of vices and sin, the devil, will work your destruction, and do whatever he pleases.
The one who keeps the commandment will not recognize evil: and he knows the time and judgment of the wise heart. It should be noted that 'will not recognize evil' is used to mean that he will not tolerate or be involved in it. Indeed, it is written about the Savior: 'He who knew no sin, for us he made sin' (2 Corinthians 5: 21). Symmachus also interpreted the word in this way, saying: 'The one who keeps the commandment will not experience anything evil.' He ordered to preserve the king's command, and to know what, and why, and at what time he commands.
Since every business has its time and judgment. For the affliction of man is great upon him, because he does not know what will happen in the future; for who can declare it to him? Although different events may occur, and the righteous cannot know what will happen to him, nor understand the causes and reasons of individual things (for no one is conscious of the future), nevertheless he knows that all things are done by God for the benefit of men, and are not disposed without his will. For it is a great affliction for the human race, as the poet says (Aeneid. X, 501):
The mind of men is ignorant of the fate and the future of chance, hoping for one thing and experiencing another: it waits for the enemy from one place and is wounded by the spear of another. But as for what the Seventy Interpreters and Theodotion have said: Because the knowledge of man has many things over him, in Hebrew it has malice, not knowledge: but because the Hebrew letters Res and Daleth, except for a small apex, are similar, instead of Raath (), they read Daath (), that is, instead of malice, knowledge. He will understand this better who has knowledge of the same language. Also, what is written at the end of these verses: Because he does not know what has happened; and what will happen after him, who will announce it to him? We have now translated word for word from the Hebrew language, so that we may know another meaning, namely that we can know neither what has passed, nor what will be future, as they are future.
A man does not have power over the spirit, to prevent the spirit, and he does not have power over the day of death, and there is no escape in war, and wickedness will not save one who has it. Our soul is not in our power, so that it may not be taken away from us, and when the spirit departs to the kingdom of the Lord, it is of no avail to shut our mouths and try to retain our fleeing life. And when death, the enemy of our life, and the adversary comes, we cannot accept a truce. Nor do former kings, who once ravaged everything with their impiety, have power to face death: but we will be dissolved into ashes and earth. Therefore, there is no need to mourn if we cannot know the future, and we are often oppressed by unjust and powerful people, since all things end with death, and the proud and powerful, who have plundered everything, cannot retain their own soul when it is seized. In another way: The spirit, who orders everything, cannot be prohibited by anyone and receive laws to breathe. About which it is said above: The spirit goes round by going round. In the day of death, we are not powerful; for in the day of life, the enemy is easily avoided. Similarly, whoever is in war and does not have the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will not have release, of which it is said to the bride: Your releases are a paradise with the fruit of apples (Song of Songs 4). And because impiety will not save someone who has it, piety will save them from being condemned. Impiety can be called the devil, and piety our Lord Jesus Christ.
I have seen all of these things, and I have devoted my heart to every work that has been done under the sun. And I have seen how one person dominates another, to oppress them. And then I have seen the wicked buried, and they came out of the holy place and were praised in the city, because they had done such things. But even this is vanity. Because there is no consequence for those who do evil, therefore the hearts of the children of men are filled with them, to do evil. I have given," says the writer, "my heart to observe everything that happens under the sun, and especially this, that one person has power over another to afflict and condemn whoever they wish. Therefore, when I directed my mind to contemplate these things, I saw the impious dead with such an opinion, and thus buried, as if they were considered holy on earth; who even when they were alive, were thought worthy of the Church and the temple of God. Moreover, walking in pride, they were praised in their evils, as it is written: 'The sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and he who does wicked things is blessed' (Ps. IX, 24). But this happens for the following reason: because no one dares to contradict the sinners, nor does God immediately avenge the wickedness, but He defers punishment while waiting for repentance. But sinners, because they are not immediately rebuked and corrected, thinking that judgment will never come, persist in wickedness. We can use this testimony against the bishops, who have received power in the Church, and scandalize those whom they should have taught and encouraged towards better things. Often, these individuals are praised in the Church after death and are publicly proclaimed blessed for actions they likely did not do, either by their successors or by the people. And this, therefore, is vain, for they do not hear as they have done, nor are they immediately corrected in their sin (for no one dares accuse the superior), thus, as if they are holy and blessed, and walking in the commandments of the Lord, they increase sin with sins. Accusing a bishop is difficult. For if he has sinned, he is not believed, and if he is convicted, he is not punished.
Because the sinner commits evil a hundred times, and it is prolonged for him. From this I understand that it will be good for those who fear God, who will fear His presence. For because the sinner sins excessively, as it were, a hundred times, God gives room for repentance and does not immediately punish him in his wickedness, but waits for him to turn away from his iniquity. I understand how kind and merciful God will be towards those who have fear of Him and tremble at His word. Symmachus translated this passage as follows: For the wicked sinner is dead, having been granted long-suffering. Moreover, I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, who have feared his presence. But there will be no good for the wicked, nor shall it endure for a long time, for they have not feared the presence of God. And because it is clear what this passage means, it must be said that the Hebrew word 'Maath' (), which the Septuagint translated as 'mortuus est' ('is dead'), we have used a hundred times, Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion have interpreted it as 'mortuus est' ('is dead'), so that the meaning is, he who sinned and did evil, is dead: in that he sinned, he died immediately. But according to the Septuagint translators, if he is dead, as it is, we will read from then on, according to some, the sense here is: The sinner does not sin for the first time when it appears to commit a sin, but he has already sinned before: Sinners are alienated from birth, they have strayed from the womb (Ps. 58:4); and they seek to interpret what follows: They have spoken lies, but it does not seem to have a simple explanation: for it does not seem to have a logical consequence to say that children, sinners as soon as they are born, speak falsehood.
And it is not good for the wicked, and may his days not be prolonged like a shadow, who does not fear God's face. He curses those who do not have the fear of God, and wishes that punishment is not delayed, but that they are immediately taken away by death and receive the torments they deserve. The Apostle speaks in a similar manner: I wish those who disturb you would be cut off (Galatians 5:12). And elsewhere: Alexander the coppersmith showed me many evil things; may the Lord repay him according to his deeds (2 Timothy 4:14). It is necessary to investigate how these things have been spoken kindly. This according to the truth of the Hebrew sense. But if anyone follows the Seventy Interpreters, who, as if beginning from another sense, said: 'And I also acknowledge that it will be good for those who fear God, that they fear him, and it will not be good for the impious, and their days will not be prolonged in the shadow, because they do not fear the face of God.' This he can say: 'Indeed, those things will happen, which I previously mentioned; however, I most clearly know that it will be good for those who fear the face of God. For the countenance of the Lord is upon those doing evil.' (Ps. 33:17). And the wicked will not prosper; for they do not fear the face of God, and their days will not be prolonged in shadow, that is, the days of their life, which are like shadows to the living. For it is not those who live a long time who prolong their days, but those who make them great through the magnitude of their good works. Therefore, Jacob, confessing himself as a sinner, says: 'My days are few and evil' (Gen. XLVII, 9). And in the psalm of confession, he says: 'My days have declined like a shadow' (Ps. CI, 12), and I have withered like grass. Not because he sought a long life in the present, in which everything we live is brief and shadow, and image: For in image man walks (Ps. XXXVIII, 7): but because he fears for the length of his life in the future, where true life is, to be shortened.
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after. The Gospel gives the example of the rich purple-clad man and the poor Lazarus (Luke 16). The 72nd psalm also speaks about this: why do bad things happen to the righteous and good things happen to the wicked? As for what we have set forth: Vanity of vanities, which is done on earth. Symmachus translated it absolutely, saying: It is difficult to understand what is done on earth. The Hebrews interpret the righteous who experience bad things and the wicked who receive the works of the righteous as the sons of Aaron and Manasseh, respectively, indicating that those who were sacrificing perished, while this man, after so much adversity and captivity, was restored to power.
And I praised joy; for it is not good for man under the sun, except to eat, and to drink, and to rejoice. And it will go with him from his labor in the days of his life, which God has given him under the sun. This we have interpreted more fully above, and now we say strictly: it is allowed to prefer, though briefly and quickly to be finished, the pleasure of eating and drinking to the hardships of the world, and to those things that seem unjust in the world: for this alone seems to man to have from his labor, if he enjoys even a little refreshment. But this interpretation approves as miserable those who are fasting, hungry, thirsty, and mourning, whom the Lord calls blessed in the Gospel (Matthew 5) if it is understood in the following way, as it is written. And so let us spiritually receive food and drink, and let us find joy in them, which we can scarcely find in the toil of our lives. That these things should be understood as we have said is demonstrated by the following verse, in which it says: I gave my heart to learn wisdom and occupation, that is, that people on earth may be occupied and may meditate on the Scriptures day and night, so that often sleep may flee from the eyes in the quest for truth.
Therefore, I gave my heart to know wisdom and to see the task that has been done on the earth. For even in the day and in the night, he does not see sleep with his eyes. And I saw all the works of God: because man will not be able to find the work that has been done under the sun, in which man has labored. So that he may seek it, but he will not find. Indeed, even if a wise man says he knows, he will not be able to find it. He who seeks the causes and reasons of things, why this or that has happened, and why the world is governed by various events: why one is blind and weak, another is born seeing and healthy; why this person has poverty, that person has wealth; why this person is noble, that person is dishonored; gains nothing but torment in his own questioning, and holds disputation as torture, yet still does not find what he seeks... And when he claims to have known these things, then he begins in ignorance and remains in profound error. However, it shows that there are reasons for all things and justice for why each thing happens in a certain way, but these reasons are hidden and cannot be comprehended by humans.
(Chap. IX.)
(Chapter 9) I have given all this in my heart, that I may consider everything: because the just, and the wise, and their works are in the hand of the Lord. And indeed love, and indeed hatred: no man knows all things in their face. Even Symmachus interpreted this passage more clearly, saying: I have set all these things in my heart, that I may weigh everything: for the just and the wise, and their works are in the hand of God. And moreover, man does not know friendships or enmities: but all things are uncertain before them, because similar things happen to both the just and the unjust. Furthermore, here is the sense: Indeed, I have given my heart to this and I wanted to know whom God would love and whom He would hate. And I found that the works of the righteous are indeed in the hand of God, and yet whether they are loved by God or not, they cannot know now, and they fluctuate in doubt, whether they endure what they endure for proof or for punishment. Therefore, in the future, they will know, and in their countenance is everything, that is, the knowledge of this matter precedes them when they depart from this life, for then is judgment, and now is the struggle. And whoever endures hardships, whether they endure them through the love of God, like Job, or through hatred, like many sinners, is now uncertain.
In all events, one, just and unjust, good and evil, clean and polluted, sacrificing and not sacrificing. Thus good as a sinner, thus swearing as fearing an oath. Those things which are by themselves neither good nor evil, but are called middle by the wise of the world (because they happen equally to the just and the unjust) disturb even the simple, why they happen in this way, and therefore they do not consider it to be a judgment, since there is a future distinction in all things, and here all things are confused. But when he says that the outcome is the same for everyone, both the righteous and the wicked, whether it signifies hardships or death, therefore neither the knowledge of God's love nor hatred is in them. Also, sacrificing and not sacrificing, and the other things that are enumerated as opposites, are to be understood spiritually, according to the words: A contrite spirit is the sacrifice to God (Psalm 50:19).