Chapter 2
Here the wicked, despairing of their salvation, declare that they will perish, and that they will live only in the present age.
2:1 For they said among themselves, reasoning not rightly: our life is short and sorrowful, and there is no healing in the end of a man, and no one has known one who has been released from Hades. 2:2 For we were born by chance, and afterward we shall be as though we had never been; for the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and thought is a spark in the movement of our heart, 2:3 which being extinguished, the body will turn to ashes, and the spirit will be dispersed like thin air. 2:4 And our name will be forgotten in time, and no one will remember our deeds; and our life will pass away like traces of a cloud, and like mist it will be scattered, driven away by the rays of the sun and weighed down by its heat. 2:5 For our life is the passing of a shadow, and there is no turning back of our end, because it is sealed, and no one returns. 2:6 Come, then, let us enjoy the good things that exist and make use of creation eagerly, as in youth. 2:7 Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes, and let no flower of spring pass us by. 2:8 Let us crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither. 2:9 Let none of us be without a share in our revelry; everywhere let us leave tokens of joy, for this is our portion and this our lot.
RABANUS. This is the voice of the lost, who, like brute animals, look only at the present and do not think about the future, nor do they have any hope of eternal rest after the end of this life, about whom it is said by the psalmist: Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like them (Ps. 49:20). The prophet Isaiah rebukes their voice, saying: For you have said: We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we will make an agreement. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, it will not come upon us, for we have made lies our hope, and we are protected by falsehood (Isa. 28:15). Therefore says the Lord: I will set judgment as a measuring line, and righteousness as a plumb line; hail will sweep away the hope of falsehood, and waters will overflow the shelter, and your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Hades will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it; whenever it passes through, it will take you away (Isa. 28:17–18). To which the prophet Amos added similar words, saying: Woe to you who are wealthy, and separated for the day of evil, and who draw near to the throne of iniquity; who sleep on beds of ivory, and indulge on your couches; who eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the herd; who sing to the sound of the harp, and, like David, think themselves to have instruments of song. Who drink wine in bowls, and are anointed with the best ointment, and do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Therefore now you will go into exile at the head of the exiles, and the revelry of those who indulge will be taken away (Amos 6:4-7). And again: Because you plundered the poor, and took the best spoil from him, you build houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you plant pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine: for I know your many crimes, and your mighty sins. (Amos 5:11–12) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AMBROSE. [Verse 7] But the luxurious say: Let us fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes . For they anoint themselves with perfumes, who seek the pleasure of bodily fragrance. Yet those perfumes are accustomed to stir up the allure of lust. There is a different perfume of sobriety, about which the Church says to her spouse: Your name is poured out like perfume (Songs 1:2); and another oil by which the limbs and certain members of the soul are made fat. Therefore, David also says: You have made my head fat with perfume (Ps. 22:5). And this is the oil of gladness, with which Christ was anointed by God the Father, so that He might stand out above all His companions. This He commands to anoint our head, so that all insincere sadness may be covered with the oil of gladness; lest you appear to sell your fasting to men, lest you seem to grieve over the salvation of your soul. For no one who is sad is crowned, no one who is sorrowful triumphs. Therefore anoint your head, where the senses of the wise are; for the eyes of the wise are in his head. You are called to mysteries, and you do not know: you learn, when you come. And remember this: Like ointment on the head, which descends upon the beard of Aaron (Ps. 132:2), then you know what it means: Anoint your head; how you have pleased God, so that He might reveal His mysteries to you, and grant you spiritual grace. [Ambrose of Milan, On Elijah and Fasting, PL 14.10.36] died 397AD
The council of the ungodly Jews against Christ, discussing his death, and accusing him because he reproached them for sins against the law.
2:10 Let us oppress the righteous poor man, let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the gray hair of the aged. 2:11 But let our strength be the law of justice, for what is weak is shown to be useless.
RABANUS. Although these things may generally pertain to those who, despising God, spare neither sex nor age, but through injustice and greed wish to oppress all, nevertheless, in a deeper sense, they can be applied to the treacherous persecutors of Christians and to heretics, who burden the poor people of the Church with their wickedness and persecutions, and that widow of whom it is written: “Blessing, I will bless his widow, I will satisfy his poor with bread,” (Ps. 132:15) they intend to crush with the worst will, and strive to find fault with the prophets and apostles, whom he here calls elders, in their words; by no means do they endeavor to keep the statutes of the divine law, but strive to proceed in the unorthodoxies of their own error, nor do they themselves obey our Head, but presume to utter such words of wickedness against Him. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
2:12 Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is troublesome to us and opposes our deeds, and reproaches us for sins against the law and charges us with sins against our upbringing; 2:13 he professes to have knowledge of God and calls himself a child of the Lord; 2:14 he has become to us a reproof of our thoughts; he is grievous to us even to look at, 2:15 because his life is unlike others, and his ways are different; 2:16 we were counted by him as counterfeit, and he avoids our ways as from impurities; he blesses the final end of the righteous and boasts that God is his father.
RABANUS. The dishonest Jews were then planning to bypass righteousness, when, confronted by the words of the Gospel, they were admonished through Christ to abandon their former filth of vices and to follow the truth of God's commandments. But where they ought to have hoped for the cause of salvation, taking grave offense, they considered killing him as if he were a blasphemer. As it is written in the Gospel: The Jews took up stones to stone him. Jesus answered them: I have shown you many good works from my Father; for which of these do you stone me? The Jews answered him: We do not stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because you, being a man, make yourself God, etc. (Jn. 10:31-33). For, instigated by envy, they did not consider what he was doing, but what they themselves were unwilling to do; in the rays of light they became darkened. Therefore such words suited them, so that they said: He is even a burden to us to look upon, because his life is different from others, and he keeps himself away from our ways as from filth. And because they did not think about the future life, they therefore grieved that the hope of future life was preferred to their own pleasure; and therefore, by wicked counsels, they aimed at his death, as the following words demonstrate. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
2:17 Let us see whether his words are true, and let us test what will happen to him; 2:18 for if the righteous man is a son of God, He will take care of him and deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 2:19 Let us test him with insult and torment, that we may know his gentleness and prove his patience; 2:20 let us condemn him to a shameful death, for there will be an examination of him according to his words.
RABANUS. They are clearly described in the Gospel, where the chief priests and Pharisees took counsel on how they might deliver Jesus to death, and when he was placed on the cross, the chief priests with the scribes and elders, mocking, said: He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him now if he will have him; for he said, I am the Son of God (Matt. 27:42-43). He calls the most shameful death the cross, because until the passion of Christ it was the punishment of criminals, which now is the trophy of victory and the glory of believers. For when he says, “ for there will be an examination of him according to his words ,” this refers to his resurrection; for the unbelieving Jews wanted to test whether he could raise his flesh after death, because they remembered that he had said: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (Jn. 2:19). And elsewhere: Behold, he said, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on; and after they have scourged him, they will kill him, and the third day he shall rise again (Luke 18:31-34). Wherefore, even during His Passion, they said to Pilate: Lord, we remember that this deceiver said while still alive: After three days I will rise again. Therefore, command that the tomb be guarded until the third day, lest perhaps His disciples come and steal Him away, and say to the people: He has risen from the dead; and the last error will be worse than the first (Matthew 27:64). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
2:21 These things they reasoned, and they went astray; for their wickedness blinded them, 2:22 and they did not know the mysteries of God, nor hoped for the reward of holiness, nor judged the prize for blameless souls.
RABANUS. Therefore, they were not able to grasp the mystery of God's counsel, envious and deceitful, “for wisdom will not enter a deceitful soul” (Wis. 1:4); nor could they understand that the death of Christ is the honor and salvation of holy souls, because through it they hope for the reward of justice, and receive entrance into the heavenly kingdom. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
2:23 For God created man for incorruption and made him an image of His own proper nature; 2:24 but by the envy of the Devil death entered into the world, 2:25 and those who belong to his side put him to the test.
RABANUS. By this statement, the error of the Manichaeans is refuted, who introduced two natures and substances, that is, good and evil: because our Creator is not the author of our downfall, and as far as the truth of nature is concerned, we were created immortal by Him. However, by assenting to the serpent’s suggestion, we were subjected to the sentence of death; yet the first robe of immortality, which the human race, created in the image of God from the beginning but lost in Adam through the Devil’s envy and seduction, was received again through the death of Christ: for our death was destroyed in His death, and our life was restored in His resurrection, although those who choose to be imitators of the Devil’s envy rather than of Christ’s humility and gentleness do not belong to that destiny. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
EUSEBIUS. What is it to apostatize, if not to depart from God? And indeed, because one is separated from God, one is joined to the Devil. But can anyone who is envious be without a demon, as Scripture says, “ but by the envy of the Devil death entered into the world, and those who belong to his side put him to the test , Catholic Scripture likewise testifies. For if the prophet says, “You have been deceived by the spirit of fornication.” [Eusebius of Caesarea, quote found in Glossa Ordinaria, Venice edition] died 339AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. For it is written of him: But by the envy of the Devil, death entered into the world (Wis. 2:24). Because he himself lost heaven, he envied the man who was created, and, ruined, he increased his own damnation by ruining others. The envious must be admonished to recognize the many falls to which the growing ruin subjects them, because, while they do not cast envy out of their hearts, they are led into open wickedness of deeds. For if Cain had not envied his brother’s accepted offering, he would not have come to extinguish his life. Therefore it is written: And the Lord looked upon Abel and his gifts; but to Cain and his gifts He did not look. And Cain was very angry, and his face fell (Gen. 4:4). [ Gregory the Great, Pastoral Rule, PL 77.3.10] died 604 AD