1 Betere is a good name, than many richessis; for good grace is aboue siluer and gold.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 A good name is more excellent than money, and good favor is better than heaps of silver. Faith itself redounds to itself, sufficiently rich and more than rich in its possession. There is nothing which is not the possession of the wise person except what is contrary to virtue, and wherever he goes he finds all things to be his.
Bede · AD 735 Better than silver and gold is good grace. He signifies that grace when one is praised by the good for his good work, and indeed, for the conferred gifts of merit, the Father who is in heaven is glorified.
2 A riche man and a pore man metten hem silf; the Lord is worchere of euer eithir.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 The rich and the poor meet together. In what way, except in this present life? The rich and the poor are born alike. You meet one another as you walk along the way together. The poor must not defraud the rich; the rich must not oppress the poor.
Caesarius of Arles · AD 542 I beseech you, beloved brethren, be eager to engage in divine reading whatever hours you can. Moreover, since what a person procures in this life by reading or good works will be the food of his soul forever, let no one try to excuse himself by saying he has not learned letters at all.
Bede · AD 735 The rich and the poor meet together, etc. Do not despise the rich because of their wealth and honors, nor the poor because of their poverty, but revere in each the merit that is the work of God, for they are made in the image and likeness of God.
3 A felle man seeth yuel, and hidith him silf; and an innocent man passid, and he was turmentid bi harm.
Bede · AD 735 The prudent sees danger and hides himself, etc. Many of the leaders believed in the Lord, but because of the Pharisees, they did not confess, so as not to be expelled from the synagogue: for they were prudent, seeing the danger of impending persecution, and they hid the faith of piety which they had briefly conceived.
4 The ende of temperaunce is the drede of the Lord; richessis, and glorye, and lijf.
Bede · AD 735 The reward of humility is the fear of the Lord, etc. By humility, he means the steadfastness of good works; by the fear of the Lord, he means that fear which remains forever.
5 Armuris and swerdis ben in the weie of a weiward man; but the kepere of his soule goith awey fer fro tho.
Bede · AD 735 Swords and arrows in the way of the perverse, etc. This is to be understood in two ways, because the perverse are always armed to harm their neighbors, either by word or wicked deed, and they themselves are always awaited by the prepared retribution of the divine judgment.
6 It is a prouerbe, A yong wexynge man bisidis his weie, and whanne he hath wexe elde, he schal not go awei fro it.
Basil of Caesarea · AD 379 Thus, here also it calls him a new child who was reborn through the washing of regeneration and educated and made childlike, who is made fit for the kingdom of heaven through this process in the same way.
Bede · AD 735 It is a proverb, Train up a child in the way he should go, etc. It is evident that many change from the vices they had as youths in old age, by the gift of the Lord, and conversely, some, by the Lord deserting them, abandon the virtues they seemed to have displayed in their youth.
7 A riche man comaundith to pore men; and he that takith borewyng, is the seruaunt of the leenere.
Bede · AD 735 "A rich man rules over the poor," etc. It is clear according to the letter; but also the rich in virtues in the judgment of the secret inspector rule over those who lack the riches of virtues, indeed they are future judges of them.
8 He that sowith wickidnes, schal repe yuels; and the yerde of his yre schal be endid.
Bede · AD 735 "He who sows iniquity," etc. It is certain that he who teaches iniquity either by word or example, will receive vengeance; but because it follows, "And the rod of his anger will be finished," he seems to be speaking particularly of that iniquity which is perpetrated with a harsh and impious mind, such as practicing robbery, oppressing men with servitude, tearing them apart with…
9 He that is redi to merci, schal be blessid; for of his looues he yaf to a pore man. He that yyueth yiftis, schal gete victorie and onour; forsothe he takith awei the soule of the takeris.
Bede · AD 735 "He who is kind-hearted will be blessed," etc. This is similar to that of the same judge, who discerning the merciful from the impious, says: "Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food," and so forth (Matt. XXV, 34, 35).
10 Caste thou out a scornere, and strijf schal go out with hym; and causis and dispisyngis schulen ceesse.
Basil of Caesarea · AD 379 If some persist in their disobedience, finding fault in secret and not openly stating their grievance, thus becoming the cause of quarreling in the community and undermining the authority of the commands given, they should be dismissed from the community as teachers of disobedience and rebellion.
Bede · AD 735 "Drive out the scoffer, and strife will go out," etc. Drive out the heretic whom you cannot correct from the Church; and when you take away his freedom to preach, you contribute to the peace of the Catholic Church.
11 He that loueth the clennesse of herte, schal haue the kyng a freend, for the grace of hise lippis.
Bede · AD 735 "He who loves purity of heart," etc. He who rightly preaches with a pure heart will be numbered among those, about whom the prophet says to the same King and Creator of the ages: "But to me, your friends, O God, are greatly honored" (Ps. CXXXVIII).
12 The iyen of the Lord kepen kunnyng; and the wordis of a wickid man ben disseyued.
Bede · AD 735 "The eyes of the Lord keep knowledge," etc. The divine inspection always keeps in the Church the knowledge of the truth which it taught; the words of heretics, indeed all speech contrary to piety and justice, because it is not preserved by the ruling Lord, is subverted along with its author.
13 A slow man schal seie, A lioun is withoutforth; Y schal be slayn in the myddis of the stretis.
Bede · AD 735 "The sluggard says: There is a lion outside," etc. Often in his spirit, the one who is lazy in doing good works, timid in confessing the faith he holds in his heart, says: I dare not profess the faith I hold outside, lest the impious persecutor, hearing that I am faithful, should kill me.
14 The mouth of an alien womman is a deep diche; he to whom the Lord is wrooth, schal falle in to it.
Ambrose of Milan · AD 397 The mouth of one speaking ill is a great pit, a steep precipice for the innocent, but steeper for one of ill will. An innocent person, though easily credulous, falls quickly, but when he has fallen rises again. The slanderer is thrown headlong by his own acts, from which he will never emerge or escape.
Bede · AD 735 "A deep pit is the mouth of a strange woman," etc. He who willingly embraces the words or kisses of a harlot, as if he already knocks at the door of the infernal pit, will soon be drowned if he does not withdraw his foot cautiously, if he does not restrain his other members from vices of the penal pit, into which no one falls unless he is a son of wrath.
15 Foli is boundun togidere in the herte of a child; and a yerde of chastisyng schal dryue it awey.
Bede · AD 735 "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child," etc. We know many children endowed with wisdom; for Jeremiah undertook the ministry of prophecy as a child. And Daniel writes, "Because God gave to the children abstaining knowledge and discipline in every word and wisdom" (Dan. II).
16 He that falsli chalengith a pore man, to encreesse hise owne richessis, schal yyue to a richere man, and schal be nedi.
Bede · AD 735 He who oppresses the poor, etc. It is evident that the rapacious, those who take from the poor and also those who seem to justly possess what they have, lose everything equally, when, in the examination of the strict judge, they receive punishment for the things they have done.
17 My sone, bowe doun thin eere, and here thou the wordis of wise men; but sette thou the herte to my techyng.
18 That schal be fair to thee, whanne thou hast kept it in thin herte, and it schal flowe ayen in thi lippis.
Bede · AD 735 Which will be beautiful to you when you keep it in your belly, etc. Often, the doctrine of wisdom seems harsh and undesirable to the foolish; but when one has perceived its power in the innermost heart, and learned to keep it with works, and also to share it with brothers by word, they will find this doctrine more beautiful than the others.
19 That thi trist be in the Lord; wherfor and Y haue schewid it to thee to dai.
20 Lo! Y haue discryued it in thre maneres, in thouytis and kunnyng,
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 Solomon counsels that what we read "be transcribed in the heart in a threefold manner." I shall make known to your ears that which occurs to my mind, even beyond the things that we have said, and you yourself [should] do what is written: "Let one speak and the rest judge." Therefore, as I speak what I perceive, you consider and judge if it is correct or not correct.
John Cassian · AD 435 There are three kinds of spiritual knowledge—tropological, allegorical, anagogical—of which we read as follows in Proverbs: "But you describe these things to yourself in three ways according to the largeness of your heart."
Bonaventure · AD 1257 Philosophical knowledge is a certain knowledge of truth as investigable. Concerning this knowledge it is said in Proverbs: "Behold, I have described it for you in a threefold manner, in thoughts and knowledge, that I might show you the firmness and the words of truth." That word can be the word of Solomon and the word of God. I say that it can be the word of God.
21 that Y schulde schewe to thee the sadnesse and spechis of trewthe; to answere of these thingis to hem, that senten thee.
22 Do thou not violence to a pore man, for he is pore; nethir defoule thou a nedi man in the yate.
Bede · AD 735 Do not do violence to the poor, etc. It can be understood of any poor or needy person, of whom it is said: To you the poor man is left, you will be a helper to the orphan (Ps. XIX). Indeed, because it follows, And He will pierce those who have pierced his soul, it is better understood of Him who, though He was rich, became poor for us (2 Cor.
23 For the Lord schal deme his cause, and he schal turmente hem, that turmentiden his soule.
24 Nyle thou be freend to a wrathful man, nether go thou with a wood man;
Basil of Caesarea · AD 379 A secluded and remote habitation also contributes to the removal of distraction from the soul. Living among those who are unscrupulous and disdainful in their attitude toward an exact observance of the commandments is dangerous, as is shown by the following words of Solomon: "Do not be a friend to an angry man, and do not walk with a furious man, lest perhaps you learn his ways…
Bede · AD 735 Do not be friends with an irascible man, etc. And although this can generally be taken of any irascible or raging person, yet nothing hinders from understanding it of those who raged with mad minds against the Saviour and His disciples; from whose friendship and company all believing in Him, caring for their salvation, were banned, so that also being neighbors to the wicked the…
25 lest perauenture thou lerne hise weies, and take sclaundir to thi soule.
26 Nyle thou be with hem that oblischen her hondis, and that proferen hem silf borewis for dettis; for if he hath not wherof he schal restore,
Bede · AD 735 Do not be with those who bind their hands, etc. Do not be with those who, though free and keeping themselves available to themselves, bind themselves in the care of the salvation of the wicked, promising to render an account to the Lord for their souls.
27 what of cause is, that thou take awei hilyng fro thi bed?
28 Go thou not ouer the elde markis, whiche thi faders han set.
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 This, however, is plain, that many examples have been brought forth either by the apostles or by the evangelists, and inserted into the New Testament, which we have never read in these Scriptures that we hold as canonical, but which are nevertheless found in the apocrypha, and are evidently shown to have been taken from them.
Cyril of Alexandria · AD 444 We do not permit the faith or the symbol of the faith defined by our holy fathers assembled in their day in Nicea to be shaken by anyone, and we do not trust ourselves or others to change a word of what was laid down there, or to depart from a single syllable of it. For we remember the one who said, "Do not alter the everlasting boundaries which your fathers set."
John Damascene · AD 749 He has revealed to us what it was expedient for us to know, whereas that which we were unable to bear he has withheld. With these things let us be content, and in them let us abide, and let us not step over the ancient bounds or pass beyond the divine tradition.
29 Thou hast seyn a man smert in his werk; he schal stonde bifore kyngis, and he schal not be bifor vnnoble men.
Bede · AD 735 Do you see a man quick in his work, etc. Whomever you see quick in his work, that is, in his good work, which was his duty to do, diligent and attentive, know that he will stand in the presence of the apostles in the day of the last examination, who will sit with Christ to judge the world, because he kept their commands and avoided the error of the ignoble doctors, that is, he…