Chapter 5
That at the coming of the Lord the righteous will stand with great devotion against their persecutors, and that these persecutors will finally experience late repentance in Hades for their error and sins.
5:1 THEN the righteous man shall stand with great confidence before the face of those who afflicted him and those who set at nought his labors. 5:2 seeing this, they shall be troubled with terrible fear and shall be amazed at the unexpectedness of salvation. 5:3 They shall speak within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit they shall say: 5:4 This was he whom we once held in contempt and as a good example of reproach, the foolish ones; we counted his life madness and his end without honor. 5:5 How has he been reckoned among the sons of God and his lot among the saints?
RABANUS. Then indeed the righteous will stand with great determination against their persecutors, who afflicted them here with undeserved punishments and reproached their labors as foolish; for, being raised by heavenly brightness, they will judge according to truth those who had previously condemned them unjustly. Therefore, when these persecutors see themselves suddenly changed from glory to humiliation, and equally see their adversaries transferred from temporal affliction to heavenly honor, they will then seek with late and fruitless repentance what they could previously have obtained fruitfully, if they had wished, while it was permitted. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:6 Therefore have we strayed from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness did not shine for us, and the sun did not rise for us;
RABANUS. The way of truth is the Gospel of Christ, and the divine law, from which the sinful have strayed, because they were unwilling to believe and obey. For them, the light of righteousness did not shine, and the sun of understanding did not rise , because for them Christ is not the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world (Jn. 1:9), and the sun of righteousness who rises for those who fear Him. (Mal. 4:2) In whose punishments, too, there is true healing, since in His protection the abundance of eternal life is assured. He did not shine for the faithless philosophers of the Gentiles, nor for the heretics, because, by despising the path of truth, they preferred to follow vain traditions and wicked sects. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:7 we were filled with paths of lawlessness and destruction, and we crossed roadless deserts, but the way of the Lord we did not know.
RABANUS. The philosophers were left on the path of evil and destruction, because by reasoning they wished to elevate the machinery of the world to divine honor, and chose rather to serve the creature than the Creator: in their very inquiry they failed, and found not salvation but destruction. Similarly, the heretics, by walking difficult paths in pride, composed wicked sects, nor did they recognize the way of the Lord, which is truth and life; therefore, they delivered themselves to perpetual destruction, nor did their pursuit of the present life bring them any benefit, for after death not reward but punishment awaited them. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:8 What profit has our pride brought us? And what wealth with boasting has accumulated to us? 5:9 All those things have passed away like a shadow and like a fleeting report; 5:10 like a ship passing through the turbulent water, of which, once it has passed, there is no trace to be found, nor path of its capsize in the waves; 5:11 or like a bird flying through the air, no evidence of its route is found, but the light breeze, struck by the beating of wings and cut through by the force of rushing sound, passes along with the moving wings, and afterward no sign of its passage is found in it; 5:12 or like an arrow shot at a target, the air cut straightway reverts into itself so as to ignore its passage. 5:13 Therefore we also, born, came to an end, and we had no sign of virtue to show, but in our wickedness we were consumed.
RABANUS. Through the five types of likenesses, which, by presenting, he laments that the fruitless repentance of the wicked causes their efforts to flow away, the fleeting nature of life and the deficiency of earthly things are shown to us. For just as a shadow has no firmness in its state, nor does a messenger running about endure delay, and just as a bird in the sky, or a ship in the sea, or an arrow in the air, proceed on an uncertain path, so too is the course of brief life always unstable and uncertain, nor does anything from it remain fixed, except what is expended with virtuous effort for the attainment of eternal life. According to the allegory, however, the shadow can be understood as forgetfulness of the mind or death of the flesh, to which human life is subject. In the messenger running, we can see the passions of the soul or illnesses of the body, which indicate and proclaim the end of corruptible life. By the bird, however, is signified the arrogance of worldly boasting, or heresy. But by the ship is signified the lightness of the human mind, which is tossed by the bitter waves of this age and the blasts of unclean spirits. By the arrow are signified the deceits and snares of the wicked. For all these things are involved in the tribulations of the present life, but after the end is accomplished, they leave fruitless repentance to their possessors in the underworld, for whom they will always groan and will be uplifted by no consolation. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:14 For the hope of the ungodly is like chaff carried by the wind and like thin frost driven away by a storm, and like smoke dispersed by the wind, and like the memory of a guest of one day it passed by. 5:15 But the righteous live forever, and their reward is in the Lord, and their care is with the Most High.
RABANUS. He has further introduced four other examples to demonstrate the weakness of the hope of the wicked, by which they either believed that present things were stable and would endure, or thought that they could live in sin and escape with impunity. For the fuzz that arises from the withering flower of herbs expresses the frailty of the flesh, which is taken away by the wind of sickness or bodily distress, nor is it permitted to remain long, because all flesh is grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and its flower has fallen; but the word of the Lord endures forever (Isa. 40:8). But the foam which is produced from the waters and floats on the waters can be understood as the desire for human favor and common boasting: which is scattered by the storm of temptations or the scrutiny of future judgment, because their vanity is proven by such contact. Likewise, smoke demonstrates the vanity of a fleeting life; for just as smoke is dispersed by the wind, so human life is dissolved by the change of times. Therefore, by analogy, it is compared to a passing guest; for we are all guests and strangers here, of which Ecclesiastes says: One generation passes away, and another generation comes, but the earth stands forever; therefore, all is vanity (Eccles. 1:4). For what is more vain than this vanity, that the earth remains, which was made for the sake of men, and man himself, the master of the earth, is suddenly dissolved into dust? Therefore it follows: The sun rises and sets, and returns to its place (Eccles. 1:5). For the sun itself, which is given to mortals for light, daily indicates the destruction of the world by its rising and setting; and all this is to teach that by the changes of times and the rising and setting of the stars, human life slips away and perishes while it is unaware. Therefore, it is just that the wicked, placed in Hades, grieve that they put their hope in that which has no stability, and turned their minds away from Him who, before all things and after all things, remains the same now and forever. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
Of the holy martyrs, that they live forever, and that the Lord avenges them against their adversaries.
5:16 Therefore they shall receive the kingdom of majesty and the crown of beauty from the hand of the Lord, because with his right hand he shall shelter them and with his arm he shall defend them. 5:17 He shall take zeal as his armor and arm creation for the defense of enemies;
RABANUS. But when he described the punishments of sinners and their late repentance in Hades, he consequently recounted the glory and reward of the just with the Lord in heaven, who, having been received into the heavenly kingdom, enjoy a blessed life in the contemplation of God; and this is because they placed all their hope and the intention of their mind in the goodness of their Creator, by whose hand they are also crowned and protected by the right hand of His strength. For the hand of God, and the right hand, and the arm, because of their effective power, signify the only-begotten Son of God: through whom all things were made, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, whom the Father raised from the dead and set at His right hand in the heavenly places, above every principality and power and virtue and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come, and He subjected all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the Church, which is His body and the fullness of Him who fills all in all. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:18 he shall put on righteousness as a breastplate and place impartial judgment as a helmet; 5:19 he shall take holiness as an invincible shield, 5:20 and he shall sharpen stern wrath into a sword, and creation shall fight with him against the foolish. 5:21 Well-aimed bolts of lightning shall go forth, and from the well-arched bow of the clouds they shall fly to the target,
RABANUS. According to history, therefore, the Creator of all, whose weapons are truth, justice, and judgment, through the creature subject to Him, rebukes and strikes those who do wrong. According to the allegory, however, the same Lord arms the creature for the vengeance of His enemies, when through the preachers of the Gospel He reproves the treachery of the Jews, the foolishness of the Gentiles, and the deceit of heretics, concerning sin and righteousness, and judgment, and pierces their hearts with the darts of words, so that, terrified by wholesome fear, they may yield to the hand of Almighty God and learn to be subject to Him, whose admonition they ought by no means to resist, since they are in no way able to withstand His power. But when he says that the whole world fights with Him against the senseless, he shows that the entire Church of Christ, together with its King, that is, the members with the head, fights against the errors and wickedness of the unjust, through the weapons of truth and justice. And which, founded by the authority of the Lord upon the most solid rock, in no way fears ruin: Because the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18); but fixed and unshaken, it remains through all ages. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. In all these things, it is clearly seen what a certain wise man testifies about the Lord, saying: and creation shall fight with him against the foolish (Wis. 5:20). Indeed, the world fights with the Lord against the senseless when, in the punishment of sinners, the adversity of the elements takes part. Yet pain does not come forth from the earth, because every insensible thing is stirred to our affliction by the impulse of our own actions. [ Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 2.14] died 604 AD
5:22 and hailstones full of wrath shall be hurled from a stone-throwing catapult. The waters of the sea shall rage against them, and rivers shall overwhelm them violently.
RABANUS. Lightning emissions are the thunder of proclamations, or the flashes of miracles, which will go directly: because, according to the privilege of their author, they occur for the benefit of the elect or for the damnation of the reprobate. They will be discharged like from a well-bent bow of clouds, when, by the authority of the divine Scriptures, through the virtuous intention of the holy doctors, they are brought forth to terrify adversaries; and they will leap to a certain place, because they proceed in a straight path against those whom it is necessary, nor can it be confused, what divine wisdom is known to be ordered. And hailstones are sent from the stony wrath : because, according to the equality of merits, harsh rebukes are issued. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
5:23 A spirit of power shall stand against them, and like a whirlwind shall winnow them. And lawlessness shall lay waste all the earth, and wrongdoing shall overturn the thrones of rulers.
RABANUS. And the water of the sea will burn upon them, and the rivers will rush together violently . He calls the disturbances of the sea the troubles of the world, the rivers the agitations of persecutions; because often the hearts of the wicked, which the teachings of preaching do not soften, are broken by the scourges of various corrections through fear. The spirit of virtue is the vengeance of the final judgment, which will separate the wicked and ultimately bring all the land to the end of their iniquity, when it will imitate earthly substance and carnal works; by its sentence, the just judge will assign punishment in Gehenna and eternal desolation. For wickedness will overthrow the seats of the mighty, because the evil of the reprobate is the cause of their damnation. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. The Lord taught in the Gospel that the Holy Spirit is judge, and is able to convict the whole world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment, saying: But when the Holy Spirit has come, he will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment (Jn. 16:8). And Isaiah: The Lord, he says, will wash away the filth of the sons and daughters of Zion by the spirit of judgment (Isa. 4:4). And in Solomon: The Spirit of the Lord will stand against them, and like a whirlwind of wind will divide them (Wis. 5:23). Likewise Isaiah: Behold, I make judgment in my spirit, says the Lord (Isa. 26:9). [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5 th century