Do Not Envy Saying 20 1 Do not envy men of evil, and do not crave to be with them,
Bede · AD 735 Do not emulate evil men, etc. Do not desire to imitate those whom you see entangled in the vices I have mentioned, but rather strive to devote yourself to wisdom.
2 for their heart murmurs violence, and their lips speak trouble.
Saying 21 3 By wisdom a house is built, and by insight it is established.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 [Solomon] calls Christ wisdom, intelligence and reason. The house is [Christ's] church which he built and whose storerooms he filled with every kind of precious and splendid riches. The storerooms are the hearts of those who believe in Christ and live in imitation of him—those hearts, I mean, which abound in goodness in thoughts, words and deeds.
4 And by knowledge the chambers are filled with all precious and pleasant wealth.
Bede · AD 735 In doctrine, the storehouses will be filled, etc. The storehouses are the hearts of the righteous, which will be filled with the gifts of virtues only by the doctrine of wisdom.
Saying 22 5 A wise man is in strength, and a man of knowledge makes power firm.
Bede · AD 735 A wise man is strong, etc. Not everyone who is strong and wise, but everyone who is wise is to be called strong, because even if he is weak in body, if wisdom is present, he conquers all struggles of his adversary, that is, of the devil.
6 For by guidance you will make war for yourself, and there is salvation in a multitude of counselors.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 [Solomon] calls war a matter full of disorder, a matter in need of many hands. Or, he may be warning us not to rush to war inconsiderately. Behold, he says, When a decision must be taken, is it not always beneficial to have wisdom in the middle of things?
Saying 23 7 Wisdom is too high for a stubborn fool; in the gate he does not open his mouth.
Bede · AD 735 Wisdom is high for a fool, etc. A fool cannot attain wisdom. For it is high from him who lies in the depths of vices; who even if he thinks he has some knowledge now, at the gate of the city, that is, at the exit of this life, he will find that he knew nothing.
Saying 24 8 One who plans to do evil — they will call him a master of schemes.
Bede · AD 735 He who thinks to do evil, shall be called a fool. Do not think that he whom you see to be dull and slow-witted should be considered a fool, he clearly shows that he should be called a fool who even consents to the suggestions of sin in thought, even if he seems sharp in intellect; but not him who, although he appears dull in sense, resolved to obey the commands of God, which he…
9 The scheming of folly is sin, and a scoffer is an abomination to man.
Saying 25 10 If you slack off in the day of distress, your strength is narrow.
Bede · AD 735 If you despair, being wearied in the day of distress, etc. Nothing is more detestable than despair, which those who have, lose the constancy of fortitude both in the general labors of this life and, which harms most, in the fight of faith.
11 Deliver those taken to death, and those staggering to slaughter — if you hold back!
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "Redeem those who are ready to be slain; spare no effort." [Solomon] did not say, "Enquire curiously, and learn who they are," and yet for the most part they who are led away to execution are wicked. This especially is charity. For he that does good to a friend does it not altogether for God's sake; but he that does good to one unknown acts purely for God's sake.
John Cassian · AD 435 And so learn from your own experience to sympathize with those in trouble, and never to terrify with destructive despair those who are in danger, nor harden them with severe speeches, but rather restore them with gentle and kindly consolations, and as the wise Solomon says, "Spare not to deliver those who are led forth to death, and to redeem those who are to be slain," and aft…
Bede · AD 735 Deliver those who are being led to death, etc. It can be taken mystically. Deliver those who are deceived by heretics, by preaching the correct faith, by showing the examples of good works, liberate those who are being led to destruction by living evilly with Catholics.
12 If you say, “See, we did not know this” — does not he who weighs hearts understand? And he who guards your soul, he knows; and he will return to a man according to his work.
Romans · AD 56 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
Saying 26 13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet on your palate.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 In Proverbs it is said: "for a honeycomb is good, that your throat may be sweetened." Do you suppose the Holy Spirit says this — "eat honey" — of that which is in common use, "for it is good"?
Bede · AD 735 Eat, my son, honey, for it is good, etc. It is very clear why he compares the doctrine of wisdom to honey and the honeycomb, because certainly, as the former surpasses foods, so the latter surpasses other teachings in sweetness.
14 So know wisdom for your soul: if you have found it, then there is an end, and your hope will not be cut off.
Saying 27 15 Do not lie in wait, wicked one, against the dwelling of the righteous; do not devastate his resting place,
Bede · AD 735 Do not lie in wait, nor seek impiety in the house of the just, etc. Do not seek any occasion by which you might slander a just man. For if he falls, he quickly removes his foot, so that he may be free from the vice that is not repeated in deed. But the wicked fall in such a way that they do not rise again, as he subsequently adds, saying:
16 for a righteous man falls seven times and rises, but the wicked stumble in evil.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 The words "falls seven times" are employed to express every kind of tribulation, whereby one is cast down in the sight of people; and the words "rises up again" signify that one profits from all these tribulations.
Cassiodorus · AD 585 A Christian is said to rise again in two different senses: when he perseveres in God's gifts of justification after he has been set free by grace from the death of the vices in this world, as the most wise Solomon says: "A just man falls seven times and he rises again." There is also said to be that general resurrection at which the just will obtain their eternal rewards.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 In the same manner, there are four acts of justice: to do good, to flee evil, to beware of prosperity, and to withstand misfortune. Hence the just is warned not to fall. If he does fall, he is advised to rise again. For "the just man falls seven times and rises again."
Saying 28 17 Do not be glad when your enemy falls, and let not your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
Bede · AD 735 When your enemy falls, do not rejoice, etc. Earlier he forbade laying snares for the righteous; now, to perfect himself in all things, he also forbids insulting enemies when they sin or incur some adversity, lest perchance, if by the mercy of the Lord they return to repentance and the salvation of their souls and begin to have faithful friendship with you, you would then blush…
18 lest the LORD see and it be evil in his eyes, and he turn his anger away from him.
Saying 29 19 Do not be enraged because of evildoers; do not envy the wicked,
20 for there will be no end for the evil man; the lamp of the wicked will go out.
Saying 30 21 Fear the LORD, my son, and the king; do not mix with those who change,
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "Fear God, my son, and the king," that is, fear Christ, the true God and king. Or by "king" [Solomon] means the one who, before ruling over others, rules himself. "Do not be disobedient to any of them." Indeed, the one who denies respect to the king elected by God dishonors God. The impious will be immediately punished: certainly nobody knows that hour or day.
Bede · AD 735 Fear the Lord, my son, and the king. Rightly as he himself said, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" (Matt. 22). Neither is there any obstacle in the Lord and king to understand the Father and the Son being designated, who are to be worshipped with one and the same honor of divinity.
22 for their calamity will rise suddenly, and the ruin of them both — who knows?
Bede · AD 735 For suddenly their destruction will rise up, etc. He speaks of both the detractor and the one who, favoring him, was mixed up with him; the slanderers of Christ the leaders, and those deceived by them the people; the tearers of the faith the heresiarchs, and their listeners the auditors.
Further Sayings of the Wise 23 These also are for the wise: recognizing faces in judgment is not good.
Bede · AD 735 To recognize a person in judgment is not good. He taught above to fear the king, and now forbids recognizing a person in judgment. Whence it is understood that subjects ought to render the debt of temporal obedience to princes, so that never out of respect for their reverence or fear they deviate from the path of truth.
24 One who says to the wicked, “You are righteous” — peoples will curse him; nations will be indignant with him.
25 But it will be pleasant for those who rebuke, and a blessing of good will come upon them.
26 He kisses the lips who returns straight words.
Bede · AD 735 He will kiss the lips, etc. The kiss is a sign of peace and love. Therefore, he who answers correctly will kiss the lips, because whoever follows the words of justice alone, neglecting the acceptance of persons, though he may seem harsh and severe to the unwise, will yet find many prudent people with whom he has peace; many who embrace his sayings with love.
27 Prepare your work outside, and make it ready for yourself in the field; afterward you will build your house.
Apostolic Constitutions · AD 380 Therefore he who values the security of his soul will take care to be out of danger, by keeping free from sin, that so he may preserve the advantage of his former good works to himself. .
Besa The Copt · AD 474 It is a day of shouting and the trumpet. It is a day of grief and sighing for those who have not prepared their works well for the way, which means for their departure out of the body, so that they might meet God profitably.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 This happens when a man has good intentions but does not fulfill them: then it is that the thistles of malice and the nettles of cupidity come to grow. The stone wall of the virtues is destroyed because of the dissipation of thoughts. Hence, in the same text: "complete your outdoor tasks, and arrange your work in the field."
28 Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor, and would you deceive with your lips?
Bede · AD 735 Do not be a witness without cause against your neighbor, etc. This also pertains to the cultivation of our field, that is, to the pursuit of good action, namely, not to harm an innocent neighbor with false testimony, not to give any sinner the confidence of sinning further by flattery; not to return evil for evil; for in this way, when you have first well composed outward actio…
29 Do not say, “As he did to me, so I will do to him; I will return to the man according to his work.”
30 I passed by the field of a sluggard, and by the vineyard of a man who lacks heart,
Bonaventure · AD 1257 In Proverbs: "I passed by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man without sense; and behold! it was all overgrown with thistles; its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall broken down." This happens when a man has good intentions but does not fulfill them: then it is that the thistles of malice and the nettles of cupidity come to grow.
31 and see — it had all gone up in nettles; thistles had covered its face, and its stone wall was torn down.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 In Proverbs: "I passed by the field of the sluggard, by the vineyard of the man without sense; and behold! it was all overgrown with thistles; its surface was covered with nettles, and its stone wall broken down." This happens when a man has good intentions but does not fulfill them: then it is that the thistles of malice and the nettles of cupidity come to grow.
32 And I looked — I myself set my heart; I saw, I took discipline.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to lie down —
34 and your poverty will come as one walking about, and your wants like a man with a shield.