Chapter 7
7:1 I too am a mortal man, equal to all, and a descendant of the earthborn first-formed man; and in my mother’s womb I was molded into flesh, ten months old, solid in blood from the seed of a man and the pleasure of intercourse. 7:3 and when I was born I drew in the common air and fell upon the earth, akin to all, crying with the same first voice as all. 7:4 I was nursed in swaddling clothes and with cares; 7:5 for no king had any other beginning of birth, 7:6 but one entry into life for all, and an equal departure.
RABANUS. Therefore, wisdom displays its virtue through a vessel suited to itself; first, it makes its own preacher humbly recount the origin of human condition, so that everyone may know what they possess from the origin of the flesh and what from divine gift. For when he says that he was formed in blood and the seed of man during a period of ten months, and by the agreeable pleasure of sleep, he demonstrates the difference of the two sexes. For, as the natural philosophers say, the seed of man is white, and the seed of woman is bloody. Their mixture, within certain periods of time, causes the body of the infant to be formed, until it becomes animated and reaches the time of birth in the tenth month, although not all reach the tenth month, since some are born in the seventh, others in the eighth, others in the ninth; but they assert that the birth which occurs in the tenth month is more perfect, more vital, and healthier than that which occurs in the eighth or ninth month. For this, he says, is the beginning of birth common to all men, both noble and immoral, and he shows that there is one entrance for all into life and a similar exit for all: because every earthly man, sprung from the seed of man and woman, receives the beginning of temporal life, and passes from this world through the death of the body. However, the heavenly Adam, who was born without male seed from a virgin mother, has his own manner of birth, and he also arranged the manner of his death by his sovereign power. Nevertheless, the seriousness of his birth is celebrated by Christians in the tenth month after his conception, when from the eighth day before the Kalends of April, when he is believed to have been conceived, to the eighth day before the Kalends of January, when he is said to have been born, two hundred and seventy-six days are counted, which number of days joins nine months and six days, and therefore that evangelical saying, by which the same Savior foretold to the Jews that the temple of his body, built in forty-six years, would be destroyed, shows the perfection of his incarnation by the multiplication of the number six: because two hundred and seventy-six contains forty-six sixes. From this it is clearly evident that just as he is perfect God, so also is Jesus Christ our Lord perfect man. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
On the fact that he confesses to having received the spirit of wisdom, in which he recounts several gifts of its charisms.
7:7 Therefore I prayed, and understanding was given to me; I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. 7:8 I preferred her to scepters and thrones, and I counted wealth as nothing in comparison with her; 7:9 nor did I liken to her any priceless stone, because all gold in her sight is but a little sand, and silver will be regarded as clay before her.
RABANUS. The lover of wisdom said that he had chosen, invoked, and sought after wisdom, and for this reason, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, he obtained it, because, as the apostle James says: Whoever lacks this, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly and does not reproach (James 1:5); which is rightly preferred to kingdoms, thrones, and all riches, since all precious things of the world become worthless in comparison to it. Therefore, wisdom itself says in Proverbs: With me are riches and glory, heavenly wealth and righteousness; my fruit is better than gold and precious stone, and my gem than chosen silver (Prov. 8:18-19). Therefore, Truth itself in the Gospel likens the kingdom of heaven to a merchant seeking fine pearls; who, having found one precious pearl, went and sold all he had and bought it (Matt. 13:45-46); because whoever truly finds heavenly wisdom, that is, the word of God in the highest, despises all advantages of this present life, all human philosophy, and all eloquence of lecturers, and will rejoice to devote himself solely to divine contemplation. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:10 I loved her more than health and beauty, and chose to have her rather than light, because the radiance from her never sleeps. 7:11 All good things came to me together with her, and countless wealth in her hands.
RABANUS. The salvation of the soul, which is in the possession of divine wisdom, together with works of justice, must absolutely be preferred to all bodily health and to every kind of corporeal things, because, as will be shown later, this wisdom is more beautiful than the sun and surpasses every arrangement of the stars; compared to light, it is found to be purer, since night and darkness follow them, but its light is inextinguishable. Moreover, that all good things came to him together with it was experienced by Solomon himself, who, asking God for wisdom alone, also obtained with it the greatness of the kingdom, riches, and glory. Mystically, however, whoever has truly received the knowledge of Christ rejoices that he possesses the grace of all virtues together, and in the future will possess eternal life with Him. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:12 I rejoiced in all things, because wisdom leads them, though I did not know that she was their mother.
RABANUS. Whoever is guided in all things by wisdom, which leads and governs him in all his counsels and actions, is truly happy in everything; but it is remarkable how he says that he was ignorant that she is the mother of all these things, when previously he said that she anticipates those who desire her and shows herself first to them. Unless perhaps, in the course of his meditation, he realized that he had advanced so much that, by equating his former knowledge with the latter, when he saw that the latter excelled the former, he considered the former as ignorance in comparison to the latter. It is like that passage in the Gospel: for John the Baptist, proclaiming the coming Lord and pointing to him present with his finger, after he had baptized him, said that he did not know him before, but that it was revealed to him when the Holy Spirit descended upon him, saying therefore: "And I did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me: 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon him, he it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God" (Jn. 1:33-34). So also among the lights of the world, although the other stars are bright in themselves, in comparison to the sun they are found to be by no means bright. Therefore, the sun itself, because it alone shines with daylight among the other stars, is so named. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:13 I learned without cunning and share without envy; I do not hide her wealth.
RABANUS. Earlier it was said that the Holy Spirit, the giver of divine wisdom, would flee from a artificial discipline, and that wisdom would not enter into a wicked soul. But now the true possessor of wisdom says that he has learned it without deceit, and therefore he could truly attain its knowledge and share it without envy, and did not hide its honesty, because envy can in no way coexist with true wisdom, which is known to be the lover of generosity and mercy. For what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what communion has Christ with Belial? (2 Cor. 6:14) Therefore the apostle James says: Who is wise and disciplined among you? Let him show by good conduct his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter zeal and contentions in your hearts, do not glory, and do not be false against the truth: for this wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there is zeal and contention, there will be instability and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first indeed pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to persuasion, consenting to good, full of mercy and good fruits, judging without hypocrisy (James 3:13–17). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:14 For she is an unfailing treasure for men, and those who use it have gained friendship with God, being commended by the gifts that come from instruction.
RABANUS. The infinite therefore calls wisdom a treasure, because the more diligently one learns it, the deeper one realizes it to be; and the more one advances by meditating on it, the more one understands that it is sought at greater depth; and therefore those who meditate on it become participants in the friendship of God, because they become true knowers of the commandments and will of God. Concerning this, Truth itself says to the disciples in the Gospel: "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn. 15:15). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:15 And may God grant me to speak according to my purpose and to think worthily of the things given, because he himself is both guide of wisdom and corrector of the wise. 7:16 For in his hand are both we and our words, and all farsightedness and skill in craftsmanship.
RABANUS. God is the guide of wisdom, for the almighty Father is the author of the incarnation of His only-begotten Son, whom He sent into the world so that the human race might receive the illumination of truth. To Him He gave all power in heaven and on earth, for from Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things, and He made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture (Ps. 100:3). Whatever we rightly think, whatever we rightly speak, and whatever we accomplish in good deeds is His gift. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
GREGORY THE GREAT. And it often happens that they speak boldly, but nevertheless do not know how to live according to what they say. Therefore a certain wise man rightly said: But may God grant me to speak these things with understanding (Wis. 7:15). For understanding is indeed derived from perception. And he who desires not only to speak from knowledge, but also from understanding, wishes to experience what he says by feeling, not merely by knowing. But the mind of the arrogant does not penetrate the sense of their own words, because it is repelled from inward taste and right judgment toward those outward favors which it loves. True knowledge, however, affects, it does not exalt; nor does it make those it fills proud, but rather causes them to lament. When anyone is filled with this knowledge, he first desires to know himself; and now, being conscious of himself, he becomes wiser through it the more he truly recognizes his own weakness in it; and humility itself opens to him a wider path to this knowledge; and while he observes his own frailty, the very knowledge of sublime secrets reveals to him hidden depths, and being pressed by this knowledge, he becomes more subtle, so that he may be drawn to hidden things. Therefore Elihu, in the afflictions of blessed Job, does not find true reason, because he does not know how to seek it humbly; and being more ready to rebuke than to console, he says: This, therefore, is where you are not justified. (Job 33:12) [ Gregory the Great, Morals on Job, PL 75-76. 5.17.31] died 604 AD
7:17 For he himself gave me unerring knowledge of what exists, to know the structure of the world and the operation of the elements, 7:18 the beginning and end and middle of times, the rotations of the turning seasons and the changes of the times, 7:19 the cycles of years and the positions of stars, 7:20 the natures of living creatures and the tempers of wild beasts, the violence of spirits and the thoughts of men, the varieties of plants and the powers of roots, 7:21 all that is hidden and all that is visible I learned; for wisdom, the craftsman of all, taught me.
RABANUS. However, how Solomon excelled in wisdom by divine gift, Scripture shows by saying: God also gave Solomon wisdom and very great prudence, and breadth of heart, like the sand that is on the seashore, and Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the Orientals and of the Egyptians, and he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and he was renowned among all the nations round about. Solomon also spoke three thousand proverbs, and he discussed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; and he discoursed about beasts and birds, and reptiles and fishes; and people came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-34). But our Peaceful One, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God, before whose eyes all things are naked and open, not only knows all things that are, and that have been, and that will be, but also gives to his own disciples, that is, to his own members, understanding of his mysteries, so that they may have knowledge not only of visible things but even of invisible things, and may perfectly understand what history teaches, or what allegory shows, what moral teaching recommends, and what anagogy associates about heavenly things. Therefore it is well read in the Gospel: He is the light of the world, who enlightens every man coming into this world (Jn. 1:9), whom whoever follows does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:22 For in her is the spirit of understanding, holy, unique, diverse, subtle, mobile, clear, undefiled, lucid, unharmed, loving the good, keen, unconstrained, beneficent, 7:23 humane, steadfast, secure, free from care, all-powerful, all-seeing, and passing through all spirits that are intelligent, pure, and most subtle.
RABANUS. Isaiah the Prophet, enumerating the divine gifts which he foretold would rest with the sevenfold Spirit upon the flower of the root of Jesse, shows that the fullness of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit exists in the humanity of the Savior, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and in whom the fullness of divinity dwells bodily; nor does the Father give the Spirit to him by measure, therefore he confidently says: All things that the Father has are mine; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him (Matt. 11:27). Therefore, when the writer of history wished to recount the power of this wisdom, he said that in it is the Spirit of understanding, because the recognition of truth is discussed through it. Holy, because it sanctifies all things. Unique, because it creates unity and concord among the elect. Diverse, because it bestows variety of knowledge and virtue. Subtle and mobile, because the word of God is living and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, reaching even to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts. Eloquent, because it opens the mouth of the mute, and makes the tongues of infants eloquent. Unstained, because no spot of sin adheres to it. Certain, because it deceives no one nor can it be deceived. Sweet, because it is gentle and merciful to all who call upon it. Loving good action, and forbidding no one to do good, because it does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. Humane and kind, because it is merciful, gentle, and virtuous, steadfast, certain, secure, who says in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth, and the life (Jn. 14:6). And it is called steadfast, because by its nature it contains all things. But it is called mobile, because it meets even those who do not know it everywhere. Therefore, holding all things, being steadfast, and presenting itself to all, it is called mobile. But in these words a great question arises for us: why is this Spirit, who fills all things at once, called both mobile and steadfast? But if we return to the usage of human custom, we find the sense more quickly. For a man who moves everywhere in the region where he is, without doubt comes to meet everyone, and is suddenly found where he is not expected. Therefore, the omnipotent Spirit, so that it might be signified as present everywhere, is at once mobile, possessing all power, foreseeing all things, because it gives strength to the weary and light to the blind, for he alone will give strength and fortitude to his people. He comprehends all intelligible, pure, and subtle spirits, because in his hand are all the ends of the earth, and he beholds the heights of the mountains (Ps.95:4). In whose name every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father (Philip. 2:10-11). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
VIGILIUS. Of the Holy Spirit, as above: For in wisdom there is the spirit of understanding, holy, unique (Wis. 7:22), and below, all-powerful (Ibid., 23) … For that God is Spirit the Son taught in the Gospel, saying: God is Spirit (Jn. 4:24). But that He is all-powerful is shown in Solomon (Wis. 7:23), when it is intimated that the Spirit is all-powerful and all-seeing. [Vigilius of Thapsus, Against Marivadus the Arian, PL 62] 5 th century
Because wisdom, which is the Son of God, reaches everywhere, because it is always with the Father, and abiding in itself, it renews all things.
7:24 For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of her purity she pervades and penetrates all things.
RABANUS. What can be more mobile and subtle than wisdom, which created all things, governs all things, arranges all things, directs all things? For in it we live, move, and have our being. Moreover, it reaches everywhere because of its purity, for it is light, and there is no darkness at all in it. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:25 For she is a breath of the power of God and a pure production of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled enters into her.
RABANUS. It is evident that the only-begotten Son of God, born from the substance of God the Father, is coequal, coeternal, and consubstantial with the Father, and therefore nothing impure is found in him, because no evil approaches the highest good, but the simple good always remains the same. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:26 For she is a reflection of eternal light and an unblemished mirror of the working of God and an image of his goodness.
RABANUS. The Apostle says of the same Son: Who, being the brightness of glory, and the express image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power (Heb. 1:3). For the Father calls him Wisdom itself so that he is his Word, not as a word is uttered from the mouth with sound, or thought before it is spoken; for this is accomplished within the spans of time, but that is eternal, and by enlightening he tells us both about himself and about the Father, what must be said to men, and therefore he says: No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him (Matt. 11:27). Because the Father reveals through the Son, that is, through his Word. For if this word which we utter is temporal and transitory, and shows itself and that about which we speak; how much more does the Word of God, through whom all things were made, show the Father as he is, because it too is as he is, and this is what the Father is, according to wisdom and essence. For according to the Word, he is not what the Father is, because the Word is not the Father; and the Word is spoken of relatively, as the Son, who certainly is not the Father; and therefore Christ is the power and wisdom of God, because from the Father as power and wisdom, he too is power and wisdom, as the light of God and from the Father as light, and the fountain of life with God the Father, who is surely the fountain of life: For with you, he says, is the fountain of life. In your light we shall see light (Ps. 36:9); because as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself (Jn. 5:26). And he was the true light which enlightens every man coming into this world; and this light was the Word with God, but the Word was also God. Now God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. But the light is not bodily but spiritual; nor is it so spiritual that it is made by illumination, as was said to the apostles: You are the light of the world; but the light which enlightens every man, that very highest wisdom is God, of whom we are now speaking. Therefore the Son is Wisdom, from the Father who is Wisdom: as light from light, and God from God, so that both the Father is light, and the Son is light, and the Father is God, and the Son is God. Therefore both the Father is wisdom, and the Son is wisdom, and therefore both together are one light, and one God, therefore both one wisdom, but the Son was made wisdom for us from God, and righteousness and sanctification, because we turn to him temporally, and that from a certain time, so that we may remain with him forever, and he too from a certain time the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
AMBROSE. Therefore the Son is good, for He is the Radiance of eternal light, and the spotless mirror of God’s majesty, and the image of His goodness (Wis. 7:26). How then is He not good, who is the image of goodness? For just as the image of God is God, but there is one God, so also the image of divine goodness is good, but there is one goodness. Certainly, it is useful for me to believe that God is good, since He will be the judge of my sins. Let those who do not wish to believe that He is good see to themselves. And so, because this man who is testing is a lawyer, as is shown in another book, he spoke well: No one is good except God (Mark 10:18); so that he might be reminded that it is written: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test (Deut. 6:16), but rather confess to the Lord, For He is good (Ps. 135:1). (Verse 21.) Finally, He often rebukes him, for he boasted in the law that he had kept all things from his youth; in order to expose his empty boasting, He shows him that he still lacks what is of the Law. And so he is brought to sadness by the command of mercy, so that a certain natural form of judgment might be given against him. [Ambrose of Milan, Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, PL 1786C] died 397AD
7:27 And though she is one, she can do all things, and remaining in herself she renews all things, and from generation to generation, passing into holy souls, she makes friends of God and prophets.
RABANUS. Therefore, when something is pronounced or narrated in the Scriptures about wisdom, whether by wisdom itself speaking, or when something is said about it, the Son is especially indicated to us, by the example of whose image we also may not depart from God, because we too are the image of God, not indeed equal, for we are made by the Father through the Son, not born of the Father as that wisdom is; and we, because we are illuminated by the light, but that wisdom truly because it is the light illuminating, and therefore that wisdom is without an example, but for us it is an example. For it does not imitate anyone preceding it to the Father, from whom it is never separable, because it is the very same as He from whom it is; but we, imitating, imitate the one who remains, and we follow the one who stands, and walking in Him we strive toward Him: because He became for us a temporal way through humility, who is for us an eternal dwelling through divinity; for indeed, to pure intellectual spirits who have not fallen by pride, in the form of God and equal to God, and God, He offers the example, so that the same example might also offer a way of return to fallen man, who, because of the uncleanness of sins and the punishment of mortality, could not see God, He emptied Himself, not by changing His divinity, but by assuming our changeableness, and taking the form of a servant, He came to us in this world, who was in this world, because the world was made through Him, so that He might be an example above for those seeing God, an example below for those marveling at man, an example for the healthy to remain, an example for the weak to recover, an example for the dying not to fear, an example for the dead to rise again. In all things He Himself holds the primacy, for man ought not to follow anyone but God to attain happiness, and he could not perceive God by following, so he would follow God made man, at once both the one whom he could perceive and the one whom he ought to follow. Indeed, the Almighty Father begot almighty wisdom from Himself, which, remaining, renews all things in itself, because it, being absolute, rules and orders all changeable things by its will, which, transferring itself into the souls of the elect, by its grace makes them friends of God, and appoints them prophets. For all things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing (Jn. 1:3). Therefore it is said: You have made all things in wisdom, because through His Son, that is, His Word and His wisdom, God made all things. (Prov. 3:9) [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:28 For God loves nothing except the one who dwells with wisdom.
RABANUS. If God loves no one except him who dwells with wisdom, then surely He hates all followers of foolishness. Therefore, it is declared in this statement that anyone who hates discipline cannot be a partaker of the grace of God, because the Lord is far from the wicked, and he who hates rebuke will die (Prov. 15:29). Therefore, the heart of the wise seeks doctrine, and the mind of the just will meditate on obedience. But he who trusts in his own heart is foolish; and he who walks wisely, this one will be saved (Prov. 15:10). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:29 For she is more beautiful than the sun and surpasses every constellation of stars; compared with light, she is found to be superior.
RABANUS. According to history, wisdom is said to be more splendid than the sun and the brightness of all the stars: for bodily light, which, being changed by the alternation of day and night, sometimes appears and sometimes is hidden, when compared to the spiritual and perpetual light of wisdom, seems to have scarcely the small brilliance of a certain spark. For every temporary thing, when compared to what is everlasting, seems as if it no longer exists, since it is consumed by eternity. Therefore, in a mystical sense, the brightness of the wisdom of God, which is Christ, when compared to the splendor of any of the saints, whom He here calls by the name of the sun and stars, far surpasses them, because they are changeable, but He always remains the same. The Psalmist, contemplating this, says to the Lord Himself: In the beginning, Lord, you founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; all of them will grow old like a garment, and like clothing you will change them, and they will be changed; but you are the same, and your years will have no end (Ps. 102:25-27). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
7:30 For night indeed gives way to this, but evil does not prevail over wisdom.
RABANUS. Since none of the elect in this life is immune from sin; therefore, no wickedness approaches Christ. Of whom it is written: Blessed is the just man in the Lord who has been found without stain (Sir. 31). And again: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth (Isa. 53:9). To whom the prince of this world comes and finds nothing in him. Nevertheless, he himself bore our weaknesses and carried our diseases, because he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose wounds we have been healed (1 Peter 2:24). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD