Chapter 3
Of the holy martyrs, that their glory through present tribulation will be eternal.
3:1 But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.
RABANUS. In the previous chapter, the opinion of the wicked was expressed, which they put forth against our head with perverse understanding and nefarious words. Now, however, their error is condemned, which they believed occurred in the destruction of his members, when they slaughtered them with various punishments for the confession of his name. But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God , that is, under his protection, and the torment of eternal death cannot harm them in any way. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was accounted as misery 3:3 and their going from us as destruction; but they are in peace.
RABANUS. They were truly foolish when they considered the suffering and extermination of the martyrs to be a defeat, since these were for them the cause of victory and perpetual peace. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:4 For even if in the sight of men they be punished, their hope is full of immortality; 3:5 and having been a little chastened, they shall be greatly benefited, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; 3:6 as gold in the furnace he proved them, and as a whole burnt offering he accepted them.
RABANUS. Temporal death and the affliction of this present life have brought perpetual prosperity as a reward to the saints of God, because their hope was unfailing and their solid faith endured to the end. For God chastised them with various temptations, and through the endurance of patience proved them worthy of the eternal crown. The two examples he set forth, that is, gold tested in the furnace and holocausts burned in fire, show their most thorough examination and perfect purity, because just as gold is not burned by fire but tested, so the holy substance of the martyrs is not brought to destruction, but prepared for immortality and future glory; and just as the holocaust, which is wholly offered to God through fire, is a most acceptable sacrifice, so also the passion of the martyrs, offered to the Lord in the fragrance of sweetness through the heat of faith and the fervor of love, stands as a most pleasing gift and a most precious offering to Him. Therefore it is said by the Psalmist: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. (Ps. 116:15) And what is added: as gold in the furnace he proved them , [Verse 6] signifies that the death of the saints is not perpetual according to the estimation of the reprobate; but rather, on the day of judgment, when Christ judges, their reward will be most abundant. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. [Verse 6] On common testing. The Father tests, the Son tests, the Holy Spirit tests. Of the Father, to the Thessalonians: So we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, who tests our hearts (I Thess. 2:4). Of the Son, in Solomon: As gold in the furnace he tested them, and found them worthy of himself (Wis. 3:6). Of the Holy Spirit, in Solomon: The Spirit of the Lord tests hearts (Prov. 17:3): but he will destroy the wicked from the earth (Prov. 2:22). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5 th century
3:7 And in the time of their visitation they shall shine forth, and run to and fro like sparks among stubble;
RABANUS. By presenting another example, he demonstrates that at the final judgment there will be a sudden reward for the saints, and a swift punishment for the depraved. For when the elect are changed from corruption to incorruption, from mortality to immortality, from disgrace to glory, then they will rise to judge their adversaries, and just as a spark of fire suddenly kindles a flame in a field of reeds, so the sentence of the just Judge of the saints brings strong and swift vengeance of punishments upon the reprobate. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. Again, through the pen or reed, the pursuit of temporal glory is expressed, as it is said of the just through Wisdom: The just will shine, and run to and fro like sparks among stubble (Wis. 3:7). For indeed, he calls the life of worldly people stubble, who, like stubble, advance outwardly through temporal glory as if to lofty heights, but inwardly become empty of the solidity of truth. Therefore, the kingdom of the Jews is also compared to stubble, when, through the prophet, it is said of the Lord appearing in the truth of the flesh: A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoking flax he will not quench (Isa. 42:3). [ Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. Sixth and last part.4.7] died 604 AD
3:8 they shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord shall reign over them forever.
RABANUS. The saints will judge the nations , but through them God judges, who presides over their minds. They will rule over peoples , for no adversity of opposition resists them. Their Lord will reign forever , because the kingdom of Christ will endure without any end. Concerning this, the angel said to Mary: The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end (Luke 133). Therefore, it is also said through Isaiah: His dominion will be multiplied, and there will be no end of peace (Isa. 9:7). The saints will also reign with their king, that is, the members with their head, as the words of the angel testify to Daniel in prophetic vision, saying: But the kingdom and power and greatness of the kingdom under all heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is everlasting, and all kings will serve him and obey him. (Dan. 7:27) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:9 Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and visitation with his chosen ones.
RABANUS. It is clear that whoever perfectly trusts in the Lord in this present life, according to the distribution of the Holy Spirit, perceives here an understanding of the truth in a manner appropriate to himself; because now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face; now we know in part, but then we shall know even as we are known. But now remain faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor. 13:12-13) Because when the others pass away, that alone remains, therefore it is said: The faithful shall abide with him in love , for the elect of God, after the end of the world, delighting in the good which they formerly sought with faith and hope, will in no way be able to be separated from His company, since, rewarded with the gift of eternal satisfaction, they will enjoy perpetual peace. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
The wicked will receive fitting punishments according to what they have done, because they have turned away from the Lord.
3:10 But the ungodly shall have punishment as they devised, those who neglected the righteous and departed from the Lord.
RABANUS. The sentence of the universal judgment will be completed when the saints, united with their King, joyfully enter the kingdom of their heavenly homeland; then the wicked and sinners who were negligent regarding their salvation, according to the wickedness of their hearts and actions, will be plunged with the Devil into the abyss of Gehenna, where they will be tormented without end, for their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished. (Mark 9:48) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:11 For whoever despises wisdom and discipline is miserable, and their hope is vain, and their labors unprofitable, and their works useless;
RABANUS. Now he shows what this is, which he previously said had departed from the Lord, that is, to cast away wisdom and discipline , of which hope is empty, and labors are without fruit, because they vainly hope that they can use temporal things perpetually, or that by committing sins they can escape unpunished. The labors of these people are without the fruit of future reward, and their works are rundown: for the workers themselves cannot make anyone a participant in the heavenly dwelling. Against this, when the Psalmist foretold the crimes of the chief of all the wicked by reproaching him, he said: Therefore God will destroy you forever, He will pluck you out and remove you from your tent, and uproot your root from the land of the living (Ps. 52:5). Heretics also cannot inappropriately be understood in this statement, who, rejecting divine wisdom and the rule of right faith, spend the labors of their doctrine and the sects of their errors in vain and without the fruit of eternal life, whose intention is foolish and whose works are most wicked. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:12 Their women are senseless, and their children are most wicked.
RABANUS. He calls women either carnal desires or interpretations of wicked sense: from which the most wicked children , that is, nefarious acts or perverse doctrines, proceed, who are liable not to the reward of the heavenly kingdom, but to the torment of Hades. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:13 Their cursed creature, for the barren woman is happy; and the undefiled one, who has not known the bed in sin, will have fruit in the consideration of holy souls;
RABANUS. The cursed creature of those, that is, their creation. For divine wisdom does not impose the mark of a curse on the creatures of God, whom their Creator blessed at the beginning when He created them, but shows that the work of the depraved is worthy of eternal curse. for the barren woman is happy; and the undefiled one, who has not known the bed in sin, will have fruit in the consideration of holy souls . He praises the barren, that is, the chaste and disciplined soul, which is not defiled by the filth of heretics, nor contaminated by the impurities of idolatry; for this soul will have fruit in the regard of holy souls, indeed on the day of judgment, when the saints will be taken up to contemplate the glory of God, then she too will receive the reward of her labor in heavenly blessedness. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:14 and the eunuch who has not worked iniquity with his hand, nor thought wicked things against the Lord, for a chosen grace of faith shall be given to him and a portion in the temple of the Lord more pleasing.
RABANUS. According to the rule of the figurative interpretation, in the name of this blessed barren one, or eunuch, virgins can be understood, about whom it is written accordingly in Isaiah: Let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree,” for thus says the Lord to the eunuchs: “Who have kept my sabbaths, and have chosen what I desired, and have held fast my covenant, I will give them in my house and within my walls a place and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not perish” (Isa. 56:3-5). This barren one is fruitful in virginity. This eunuch forces his way into the kingdom of heaven and aggressively seizes it. He is the keeper of the sabbaths, and will never perform the works of marriage. He has chosen what the Lord wished, so as to offer more than is commanded, so that he considers not the apostle’s indulgence but the Lord’s will. He holds fast the Lord’s eternal covenant, so that he does not devote himself to prayer only for a time and then return again to it, but knows that he will receive in the house of the Lord, which is His Church, the best place: for there are many dwelling places with the Father. (Jn. 14:2) And whoever is a eunuch and does all that is written, will have the best place within its walls, so that he may indeed become a tower of the Lord, and stand in the priestly rank, so that for sons of the flesh he may have many spiritual sons. Such a eunuch, whom Jesus loved most dearly, was the evangelist John, as ecclesiastical histories relate; he who reclined on the breast of Jesus (Jn. 13:23); who, while Peter walked more slowly, ran to the Lord, lifted on the wings of virginity. Therefore, let all the mockery of the Jews be put away, and let them cease to make themselves a laughingstock by claiming that the kingdoms of heaven are closed to eunuchs, since it is by chastity, not by bodily weakness, but by the will of the spirit; nor will sloth have the merit of a good reward, but virtuous striving. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
3:15 For the fruit of good labors is glorious, and the root of understanding does not fail.
RABANUS. The fruit of good labors is indeed glorious ; for eternal joy and certain rest follow them, nor do those seeds of doctrines or actions which have proceeded from the root of true wisdom ever fail, but they will bring forth the fruit of everlasting salvation. But on the contrary, the dogmas of heretics and the disciples and followers of their wickedness will be exterminated; nor will they have hope of salvation, but condemned to a bitter death, they will be given to perpetual oblivion. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
That the sons of adulterers, that is, heretics, will be in the end, and the generation of the chaste will remain in perpetual brightness.
3:16 But the children of adulterers shall be without perfection, and the seed of an unlawful bed shall be destroyed. 3:17 For even if they live long, they shall be counted as nothing, and their old age shall be dishonorable at last; 3:18 and if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, nor comfort in the day of reckoning; 3:19 for the end of an unrighteous generation is grievous.
RABANUS. Indeed, heretics are adulterers , who, adulterating the word of God, attempt to transfer it into another meaning. Their children, that is, their disciples, will be at the end, because they tend toward eternal perdition. These, having been brought up from a wicked bed, nourished by the poisonous nourishment of a polluted conscience, even if they are long-lived upon the earth, yet this will profit them nothing, when they are to be destined for the burning of eternal fire. and their old age shall be dishonorable , because their memory will forever lack blessing, nor on the day of recognition, namely at the hour of the universal judgment, when the elect, recognized by their judge, will be invited to the possession of the heavenly kingdom, will they be consoled by any hope of their restoration, but will be expelled to be tormented forever from the presence of the human king. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD