Chapter 9
9:1 The God of our fathers and Lord of mercy, who made all things by your word 9:2 and by your wisdom formed man, that he might rule over the creatures made by you, 9:3 and govern the world in holiness and righteousness and in uprightness of soul judge judgment, 9:4 give me wisdom, the ensemble of your thrones, and do not reject me from among your children. 9:5 For I am your servant and the son of your maidservant, a weak man and short-lived and inferior in understanding of judgment and laws;
RABANUS. In the Gospel, after presenting the example of the one who persistently asked his friend, who was in a room, for three loaves of bread, the Lord immediately turned his speech to the disciples, saying: Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened (Matt. 7:7-8). Similarly, the apostle James admonishes his hearers to implore wisdom from God, saying: But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all abundantly and does not reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5). From this it is clear that whoever asks rightly, and for those things which are according to God's will, will not be frustrated in the effect of his petition. Therefore, this wise petitioner begs God the Father to give him wisdom, the assistant at his throne, namely that wisdom which always remains with him, and reigns, and can never be separated from him, which is also his Word, through whom all things were made, and man himself, rational, was created in the image of God, so that he might surpass all earthly creatures, and, subject to God, might rule the world placed under him. However, in a higher sense, this can be referred to our Redeemer himself, who, sent by the Father into the world, consented to be born as a man through the Virgin, and who rules and governs the world of the Church by his own will. His judgment never fails, because, as the Prophet testifies: Righteousness shall be the belt of his loins, and faithfulness the belt of his waist (Isa. 11:5). He will judge the world in equity, and the peoples in his truth (Ps. 96:13), who was not rejected but rather chosen by God, of whom it is said through Isaiah: Behold my servant, I will uphold him, my chosen one, my soul delights in him (Isa. 42:1). He also agreed to be called by the name of servant, therefore the divine voice said to him through the aforementioned prophet: It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth (Isa. 49:6). His mother also did not refuse to profess herself the handmaid of God, who, when the angel announced to her the divine birth in the Gospel, replied: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38). Therefore, the saints are his members, who, reborn by water and the word through the mother Church, and cleansed from the stain of sins by the grace of the Holy Spirit, humbly submit themselves to his service. Therefore, the Son prays to the Father, the head interceding for the body, that it may be enlightened by his grace and led in the way of righteousness; for he knows that whatever good he has in speech, will, and deed is his gift. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:6 for even if anyone be perfect among the children of men, if your wisdom be absent, he will be regarded as nothing.
RABANUS. This is also read in the book of Job: Is not wisdom found among the aged, and does not understanding come with long life? With Him are wisdom and strength; He has counsel and understanding. If He tears down, none can rebuild; if He shuts a man in, none can open (Job 12:12-14). It is clearly evident that human weakness, unless it is sustained by divine help, will fail in countless ways and be reduced to nothing. For by the grace of God we are saved, and every perfect gift comes from above. Aware of this, Paul says of himself: Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? The grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:24). And again he says: By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me (1 Cor. 15:10). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:7 You have chosen me king of your people and judge of your sons and daughters; 9:8 you have said to build a temple on your holy mountain and an altar in the city of your dwelling, a copy of the holy tent, which you prepared from the beginning. 9:9 And with you is wisdom, who knows your works and was present when you made the world, and who understands what is pleasing in your eyes and what is right in your commandments. 9:10 Send her forth from your holy heavens and send her from the throne of your glory, that she may labor at my side and I may know what is pleasing to you.
RABANUS. The history of the kings narrates that King David, wishing to build a temple, was forbidden by the Lord through the prophet, because his son, who would succeed him in the kingdom, would be the one to build a temple for the Lord; and so it happened that Solomon, who is considered the author of this book, built a wondrous temple for the Lord in Jerusalem. Therefore, now the same king, recalling the benefits of God, asks that His wisdom, through which He made the world, remain with him, and that his actions and heart be directed according to His will. But because the temple itself prefigured the Church of Christ, which the true peacemaker and our King, the Lord Jesus, builds daily through His workers, that is, the holy preachers, for the praise, glory, and honor of His name, we cannot inappropriately transfer these prayers which Solomon offered for himself to the person of the teachers of the holy Church, who know that all things pertaining to the governance of the people of God are not of their own power but of divine gift. Therefore, they also daily ask that He who is the author of every good work may Himself be the giver of supreme perfection. For whatever is written in the divine Scriptures about the wisdom of God, we ought to refer to none other than the mediator between God and men; for He is our peace, who made both one, who is called by the Apostle the power and wisdom of God: the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, because in Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things were created through Him and in Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together, and He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He might have preeminence in all things: because it pleased the Father that in Him all fullness should dwell, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace through the blood of His cross, whether things on earth or things in heaven (Col. 1:15-20). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:11 For she knows all things and understands them and will guide me sensibly in my actions and will guard me in her glory; 9:12 and my works will be acceptable, and I will judge your people justly and will be worthy of my father's thrones.
RABANUS. For all things are naked and open before the eyes of the wisdom of God, nor does any thought escape it; therefore, the one whom it governs, it leads soberly along the path of virtues, and truly protects from the injuries of adversaries, and by making his works acceptable, will render him worthy of the reward of the saints in the heavenly kingdom. But because it belongs to God alone to know what He Himself wills, and He acts in all things by His own command, therefore this praiser of the works of God, suddenly struck with awe, marvels at His greatness. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:13 For what man can know the counsel of God? Or who can think what the Lord desires?
RABANUS. Whose excellence Paul, amazed, says: O the depth of the riches of wisdom and knowledge, how incomprehensible are His judgments, and unsearchable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor? Or who has first given to Him, and it shall be repaid to him? For from Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things; to Him be honor and glory forever and ever (Rom. 11:33-36). [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:14 For the thoughts of mortals are timid, and our designs are uncertain.
RABANUS. Therefore the thoughts of mortals are timid, because they are fragile, and therefore the foresight of man is uncertain, because his soul is changeable, and his flesh is corruptible, as the following sentence shows. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:15 For a perishable body weighs down the soul, and this earthy tent burdens the mind with many concerns. 9:16 And we scarcely guess at what is on earth and with work find what is at hand; but who has traced out what is in the heavens? 9:17 And who would have known your counsel, unless you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? 9:18 And so the paths of those on earth were set right, and men were taught the things pleasing to you,
RABANUS. Blessed is the man who is always fearful (Prov. 28:14), and does not presume to think, speak, or act at any time. On the contrary, the foolish people of heretics are confident and ensnared, caught by their own words; therefore Scripture says: But he who is stubborn of mind will fall into evil (Ibid.). For it is fitting for the servant of God to deal soberly with earthly things and cautiously with heavenly things, and let him remember what is written: Do not seek things that are too high for you; God made all good things in their own time, and handed over the world to their conflict, so that man may not find the work which God has done from the beginning to the end (Eccles. 3:11). And elsewhere: I applied, he says, my heart to know wisdom, and to understand the dispensation that is at work on earth; and I understood that of all the works of God, no man can find the reason for those things which are done under the sun: and the more he labored to seek, the less he would find. Even if the wise man says he knows, he will not be able to find it (Eccles. 8:16–17). Therefore it is rightly said here: What is in view we find with labor, but what is in the heavens, who has investigated? But lest he should cause us to despair of inquiring into divine things, he brings us consolation by adding the grace of the Holy Spirit. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD
9:19 and were saved by wisdom.
RABANUS. But who has known your mind, unless you have given him wisdom, and sent your Holy Spirit from on high ? For it is clear that we can only perceive knowledge of divine things through the grace of the Holy Spirit, because no one knows what is in a man except the spirit of the man which is in him. So also, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God; he himself enlightens the hearts of the saints, and instructs them about invisible and heavenly things, so that they may perceive the understanding of the divine majesty according to their capacity, and are always compelled to love his goodness. For by wisdom all those who pleased you, Lord, from the beginning have been healed . Now he begins to explain that through the wisdom of God, that is, Christ, all who pleased God have been healed. [Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Wisdom, PL 109] 780-856AD