Chapter 16
16:1 For this reason they were rightly punished by similar creatures and tormented by a multitude of beasts.
RABANUS. If you refer this to the Egyptians, who, being idolaters and given to various errors, also unjustly persecuted the people of God, in those ten plagues with which the Lord punished them because they were unwilling to let His people go, it can be understood that they experienced the viciousness of beasts; for there, too, flies of various kinds and locusts are described as having devastated them, likewise frogs and reptiles and other creatures of the earth, of which it is written in the psalm: He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them; frogs, which destroyed them; and He gave their fruits to the caterpillar, and their labors to the locust (Ps. 78:45-47). In another sense, heretics and schismatics and all the wicked are also torn, scattered, and destroyed by spiritual beasts, that is, by evil spirits, to whose will they consented and, by the just judgment of God, were subjected to their power, so that they might torment and scatter them. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:2 In place of this punishment, having benefited your people, you prepared a food of unfamiliar taste, to stir desire for appetite, tremble for nourishment, 16:3 so that those, desiring food, might despise even that which was sent to them because of the awfulness of the creatures, while these, after becoming needy for a short time, might partake of an unfamiliar taste. 16:4 For it was necessary that upon the tyrants there should come unavoidable want, but to these only a showing of how their enemies were tormented. 16:5 And indeed when upon them came the terrible rage of beasts and they were perishing by the bites of wiggly serpents, your wrath did not remain to the end;
RABANUS. It is read in the Book of Numbers that when the Israelite people desired to eat meat in the desert, the Lord provided them with a multitude of quails, which they ate until they were satisfied to the point of nausea; nevertheless, the punishment for their desire was not far from them, for the wrath of the Lord, stirred up against the people, struck them with a very great plague, and the place was called the grave of desire (Num. 11). Therefore, wisdom now remembers this, alternating its discussion about the destruction of the Egyptians and the correction of the Israelites, because those who resisted God and exercised tyranny over His people perished suddenly without excuse. However, these were corrected for a time and punished three times in a manner suitable for discipline, yet they were not entirely deprived of divine comfort. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:6 but for a little while they were troubled as a warning, having a symbol of salvation to remind them of the command of your law. 16:7 For the one who turned back was not saved because of what was seen, but because of you, the Savior of all. 16:8 And by this also you persuaded our enemies that you are the one who delivers from every evil.
RABANUS. It is read in the aforementioned book of Numbers that the murmuring children of Israel, in the thirty-fifth encampment, because of the weariness of the journey and labor, and the lack of food, aroused the anger of the Lord against themselves. Therefore, the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and after many had been wounded and killed by them, they came to Moses and said: We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray that He may take the serpents away from us. Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord spoke to him: Make a bronze serpent and set it up as a sign; whoever is bitten and looks at it shall live. So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it up as a sign, and when those who had been bitten looked at it, they were healed (Num. 21:6-9). But it must be carefully considered what is said: For he who was healed was not healed by what he saw, but by You, the Savior of all. For it was not the bronze serpent, which was set up as a sign in a figurative way, that saved them, but the ritual of the mystery, that is, the death of Christ, who was prefigured in that serpent; He Himself saved the human race: for all these things happened to them as a figure. Moreover, they were written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. But what does it mean that wounds in men caused by the bite of wild serpents were healed by the raising up and looking at the bronze serpent, unless it is that now, in the type of the Savior, who on the wood of the cross triumphed over the wild and ancient serpent, the venom of the Devil is overcome? So that whoever truly and clearly beholds the image of the Son of God and His passion is preserved. For this is also signified by the words of the Lord Himself, saying: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life (Jn. 3:14-15). Therefore, rightly was it a bronze serpent that was suspended on the wood; for bronze is usually more durable than other metals, and openly the bronze serpent was suspended on the wood, so that the Lord might be signified both as dead in the serpent and as eternal in the bronze; namely, that He might be shown as dead through His humanity, and yet, as it were, bronze, because of His divinity. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:9 Those indeed were destroyed by the bites of locusts and flies, and no remedy was found for their souls, because they were worthy to be punished by such things; 16:10 but the teeth of venomous dragons did not overcome your sons, for your mercy came to meet them and healed them.
RABANUS. A distinction must be noted, because just as punishment sometimes tests and admonishes the elect, so that they may avoid sins and persist in works of righteousness, and diligently observe the faith of God and the keeping of His commandments, so also correction applied to the depraved casts them down and destroys them, since no correction or worthy change is found in them; therefore, by the will of God, small animals killed the idolaters, and conversely, the Israelites, worshippers of the true God, could not be exterminated by the venom of serpents, because the Lord knows how to rescue the virtuous from temptation, but to keep the wicked for torment on the day of judgment. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AUGUSTINE. But the mention of locusts in the eighth place, I think, through this kind of plague or detractor, or always by its own discord, is intended to signify the inconsistency of the human race. For the locust, although it has no king, as Scripture says, leads its army in order with one line (Prov. 30:27); but men, although made rational by God, have neither been able to govern themselves in an orderly manner, nor have they patiently endured the moderation of God the King. [Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 20.2] 354-430AD
He confesses to God that He is kind and true, patient and merciful, saving the elect through His word and judging the depraved.
16:11 For they were pierced for the remembrance of your words and quickly were saved, lest, falling into deep forgetfulness, they become unmindful of your generosity. 16:12 For neither herb nor bandage healed them, but your word, Lord, which heals all things. 16:13 For you have authority over life and death, and you lead down to the gates of Hades and bring up again.
RABANUS. Note that he says those harmed by serpents were not healed by bandages and the work of doctors, but by the Word of the Lord, that is, the Son through whom all things were made, and without whom nothing was made: whose power rules everywhere, and does whatever he wills in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths; he himself heals bodies, he himself saves both bodies and souls from spiritual beasts, that is, evil spirits, nor is there anyone who can resist his will (Esther 13:11). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:14 But man kills indeed by his wickedness, yet when the spirit has gone out he does not restore it, nor does he release the soul once received. 16:15 And it is impossible to escape your hand;
RABANUS. By the hatred of man the soul is slain, that is, by the wickedness of one's own will and the effect of evil deeds. Therefore someone [John Chrysostom] has said: No one can be harmed except by himself, because he is either the inventor of his own crime, or the supporter and encourager of another's wickedness. For if a man guards his mind and does not consent to evil persuasion, he is free from all guilt. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
JOHN CHYRYSOSTOM. Man, through malice and wickedness, that is, by his own will and the effect of wrongful action, kills the soul. Therefore someone has said: no one can be harmed except by himself, because he is either the originator of his own crime or consents to the crimes of others. For if a man guards his mind and does not consent to evil persuasion, he is free from all guilt. [John Chrysostom, No One Can Harm the Man Who Does Not Harm Himself 4] died 407AD
He corrected the inventors of idolatry, showing how, by God's judgment, they were tormented by water, hail, and fire.
16:16 for the wicked, denying that they know you, were scourged by the strength of your arm, pursued by strange rains and hail and relentless showers, and consumed by fire. 16:17 For what was most astonishing: in the water that quenches all things, fire acted more powerfully, for creation is the defender of the righteous.
RABANUS. When Moses compelled Pharaoh by the word of the Lord to allow the children of Israel to depart from Egypt so that they might sacrifice to the Lord in the desert, Pharaoh, hardened in his profane speech, replied: I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go (Ex. 5). Therefore, he was struck with various plagues together with his people, among which he was struck by hail and fire at the same time, as it is read in Exodus: for hail and fire were mingled and carried together, and struck everything that was in the fields, from man to beast, and the hail struck every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the region (Ex. 9:24-25). Nor is it surprising that two contrary elements, that is, fire and hail, struck together, since all things obey the will of their Creator, and there is no opposition where the divine majesty commands. For at one time the fire was gentle so that the animals sent by the wicked would not be burned, but so that those who saw would know that they suffered persecution by the judgment of God. And at another time, fire burned above the power of water everywhere to destroy the wicked nation of the land. Therefore, just as it is read in the book of Genesis that the Lord rained fire and sulfur from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah to destroy the wicked (Gen. 19), and in Exodus it is told that a mixture of hail and fire struck the wicked (Ex. 9), so in the book of Numbers it is mentioned that fiery serpents destroyed the rebellious and murmurers, so that the stubborn might recognize that every creature is prepared for the vengeance of the wicked, when they do not fear to rebel against the commands of their Creator (Num. 21). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
He declares that God has given the people of Israel, who fear Him, food of delight.
16:18 For at one time the flame was subdued, so that it might not burn up the living things sent against the ungodly, but that they themselves, seeing it, might know that they were driven by the judgment of God; 16:19 and at another time, even within water, it burned beyond the power of fire, so as to destroy the fruits of an unrighteous land. 16:20 In exchange for these things you fed your people with angel’s food and sent them bread from heaven ready at hand, possessing every delight and suiting every harmonious taste; 16:21 for your very substance showed your sweetness toward your children, while serving the desire of the one who ate, it was changed into whatever each one wished. 16:22 Snow and ice endured fire and did not melt, so that they might know that the fire, blazing in the hail and flashing within the showers, destroyed the fruits of the enemies; 16:23 this again was so that the righteous might be nourished and made to forget their own strength.
RABANUS. Here wisdom commemorates for the people of Israel in the desert the manna, the sweetest and healthiest food given from heaven, so that they might render greater thanks to their Redeemer, who not only mercifully freed them from their enemies when they were oppressed, but also generously fed them with heavenly provisions when they were in need (Ex. 16). If anyone thinks it necessary to inquire what is meant by saying that snow and ice withstand the force of fire and do not melt, let him understand that it was not made known there, that two contrary elements, namely fire and frozen water, struck the wicked in harmony, or that some quality of the heavenly food given as food to the people of God was expressed there, which endured the force of fire where it was necessary, and yet, when it was necessary, melted in the heat of the sun. It is also read in Exodus that in the wilderness appeared something white, small, and cut like hair, resembling frost upon the ground, the taste of which was like flour mixed with honey, nor did it suffer any loss from the force of fire. Therefore it is written in the book of Numbers: Now the manna was like coriander seed, the color of bdellium; and the people went about gathering it, grinding it in mills or pounding it in mortars, cooking it in pots and making cakes of it, the taste of which was like bread made with oil. But when the sun rose, it melted (Num. 11:7-15). Mystically, just as in the scourge of hail and fire there is a harsh rebuke, so divine Scripture is understood to torment sinners, so also in the heavenly food there is a heavenly comfort, which daily refreshes the righteous and those devoted to God. Otherwise, manna signifies that bread which in the Gospel says: I am the bread of life who came down from heaven, and I give life to the world. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. And again: The bread, he says, which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world. And again: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him (Jn. 6:35-40). Whoever therefore truly attains to the participation of this bread will undoubtedly possess eternal life without end. Therefore, the reprobate are tormented by spiritual hunger, and the elect are healthily fed by the heavenly bread: the former are daily prepared by various labors for future punishment; the latter, however, are daily nourished by divine help for eternal life. Which the Prophet also testifies, saying: Many are the sorrows of the wicked; but mercy shall surround those who hope in the Lord (Ps. 32:10). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. [Verse 20] As a certain wise man says about the sweetness of manna: You provided them with ready bread from heaven without labor, containing every delight and all the sweetness of taste (Wis. 16:20). For manna indeed contained every delight and all sweetness of taste, because, in the mouths of the spiritual, it gave flavor according to the will of those who ate, since the divine word is both suitable for all and not inconsistent with itself, adapting to the capacity of the hearers; and when each chosen person profitably understands it according to his own measure, he transforms the manna received into a flavor of his own choosing. [ Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 2.2.22] died 604 AD
VICTOR VITENSIS. Therefore, the substance of the Father is designated as the Son by the prophetic oracles long ago, as Solomon says: For you showed your substance and sweetness, which you have for your sons (Wis. 16:21), which appeared to have flowed down to the people of Israel from heaven in the form and image of heavenly bread. The Lord Himself explained this in the Gospel, saying: Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my Father gives you bread from heaven (Jn. 6:32); clearly designating Himself as the bread when He says: I am the living bread which came down from heaven (Ibid. 41). Of whom also the prophet David says: Man ate the bread of angels (Ps. 77:25). For in order to show even more clearly the unity of substance and equality of divinity between the Father and the Son, He Himself says in the Gospel: I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. And: I and the Father are one (Jn. 10:38, 30). This refers not only to the unity of will, but to one and the same substance. [Victor Vitensis, History of the Persecution of the African Province PL 58 3.23.3] 430-486AD
VIGILIUS. [Verse 21] Where they say that the Son was not born from the substance of the Father. But if they should say: the Son was not born from the paternal substance, but generated from another substance. Response. We also, who confess the Father and the Son to be of one substance, have taught by divine authority that the Son is from the substance of God the Father, as the prophet Jeremiah says: “Take up mourning over the minds, and lamentation over the paths of the desert, because they have failed, since they are not men; because they were unwilling to hear the voice of my substance, from the birds of the sky even to the beasts they have fallen away in mind” (Jer. 9:10). Likewise there: “Who has stood in the substance of the Lord, and will see the word of God? Who has given ear and heard” (Jer. 23:18)? And there: “If they had stood in my substance, and if they had heard my words, and if they had taught my people, I would have turned them away from their most evil pursuits” (Jer. 23:22). And the Apostle: “Who, being the radiance of glory and the form of his substance” (Heb. 1:3). Likewise he himself: “For we have become partakers of God; let us hold fast the beginning of his substance” (Heb. 3:14). And in Solomon: “My substance is my sweetness” (Wis. 16:21). From this, then, recognize that he who is called the substance of God the Father is not believed to be foreign to that same substance. [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5 th century
It is told that the Lord alone has power over death and life, who by His will governs all things, punishing the wicked with the scourge, and refreshing the righteous with heavenly bread.
16:24 For creation, serving you who made it, is strained to punish the unrighteous and is relaxed to benefit those who trust in you.
RABANUS. By this sentence all the wicked and sinners are confused, because while the rest of creation serves its Creator, they alone are found to resist His will and commands. But since no one can resist His will, they are deservedly scourged and corrected by the harmony of all creatures, and if they do not repent nor improve themselves, they will be handed over to be tormented with perpetual punishments. But for the good alone true goods are prepared, while for the wicked unending torments are appointed. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:25 Therefore even then, changing into everything, it served your all-nourishing gift according to the will of those in need, 16:26 so that your sons, whom you loved, Lord, might learn that it is not the produce of the fruits that nourishes man, but your word preserves those who believe in you.
RABANUS. Therefore, the people of God in the desert were comforted by various support and cherished by divine mercy. Manna rained down for them from heaven, most abundant water was given to them from the rock, they were fed with the flesh of birds, their garments were not worn out, nor were their shoes consumed; during the day the sun did not burn them, because He led them in a cloud by day, and all night in the illumination of fire, so that they might become more devoted to their Creator, who helped them freely by providing for every necessity. For this reason He cared for them temporarily, so that they might love and understand Him perpetually, according to the mention of this place, since it is not the fruits of birth that feed men, but the word of God preserves those who believe in Him. Moses also proves this in Deuteronomy, saying: He afflicted you with want, and gave you the food of manna, which you and your fathers did not know, to show you that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Your garment with which you were clothed did not fail through age, and your foot was not worn out. Behold, it is the fortieth year, so that you may reflect in your heart, because just as a man instructs his son, so the Lord your God has instructed you, that you may keep the commandments of your God, and walk in His ways, and fear Him; for the Lord your God will bring you into a good land (Deut. 8:3–7). But because they were always ungrateful and clung to figures, they did not wish to receive the truth itself coming to them; therefore, all things were transferred to the fruits of the Holy Church; for all things happened to them in figure. Moreover, they were written for our correction, as Paul also clearly proved, writing to the Corinthians, saying: For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them; and the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:1-4). For Christ is the foundation of the whole law and the truth of the figures; whoever believes in Him has fulfilled the whole law; but whoever does not believe, as a transgressor of the law, will perish eternally. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:27 For that which is not destroyed by fire was simply warmed by a brief ray of the sun and melted, 16:28 so that it might be known that one must hasten to the sun in giving thanks to you and meet you at the rising of light.
RABANUS. We have already said above that the manna, which endured the odor of fire, would melt at the heat of the sun; but now, since he repeats the same mystery, we believe it is enough to speak of its meaning. For that figurative food fed our fathers in a historical sense, but it melted at the rising of the true sun, that is, at the birth of Christ it was dissolved for spiritual use and was transformed into a heavenly ritual, so that we may anticipate the sun in blessings, that is, proclaim the divinity of Christ with eternal praises, saying with the evangelist John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God: all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made, etc. (Jn. 1:1-3). But at the rising of the light, that is, at the coming of the Savior, let us say: The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. But let us see what follows concerning that carnal people. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
16:29 For the hope of the ungrateful will melt like winter frost and flow away like useless water.
RABANUS. For the hopes of the people, that is, the Jews’ hope which they now have for the coming of their king, namely the Antichrist, melts away like winter ice, that is, it withers cold in unbelief without the fruit of righteousness, and will perish like surplus water, when all the tradition of their doctrine is deemed of no use; for our Savior, speaking to the apostles, says to us: Let them alone, they are blind leaders of the blind. Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up (Matt. 15:13-14). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD