1 Wisdom bildide an hous to him silf; he hewide out seuene pileris,
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 Christ, he means, the wisdom and power of God the Father, hath builded His house, i.e., His nature in the flesh derived from the Virgin, even as he (John) hath said beforetime, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." As likewise the wise prophet testifies: Wisdom that was before the world, and is the source of life, the infinite "Wisdom of God, hath builded her house" by a…
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 [Wisdom said] to the unwise, "Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you." In these words, surely, we recognize that the wisdom of God, the Father's coeternal Word, has built a house for himself, namely, a body in the virgin's womb.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 "Wisdom has built herself a house, she has hewn out seven pillars." This house is principally built by wisdom, and thus wisdom builds the Church and the soul, so that it may be a dwelling place of God: a house pleasant, a house beautiful, and a house strong.
2 he offride his slayn sacrifices, he medlide wijn, and settide forth his table.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 And the phrase, "She hath killed her beasts," denotes the prophets and martyrs who in every city and country are slain like sheep every day by the unbelieving, in behalf of the truth, and cry aloud, "For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we were counted as sheep for the slaughter." And again, "She hath mingled her wine" in the bowl, by which is meant, that the Saviour, u…
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 "Wisdom has prepared her table, she has slain her victims, she has mingled her wine in the bowl and cries with a loud voice, Turn in to me and eat the bread which I have prepared for you, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you." The mind, when nourished by this food of wisdom to a whole and perfect state, as man was made in the beginning, will be restored to the "image…
Bede · AD 735 She has mixed her wine, etc. For those unable to grasp the mysteries of her divinity, she revealed the sacraments of the assumed humanity and prepared for us the nourishment of the sacred Scriptures by revealing them.
3 He sente hise handmaides, that thei schulden clepe to the tour; and to the wallis of the citee.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 And again, "She bath sent forth her servants: "Wisdom, that is to say, has done so-Christ, to wit-summoning them with lofty announcement.
Bede · AD 735 She has also sent out her maidens, etc. She chose weak and despised preachers, who would gather the faithful people to the heavenly edifices of the supernal homeland.
4 If ony man is litil; come he to me. And wisdom spak to vnwise men,
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 "Whoso is simple, Let him turn to me," she says, alluding manifestly to the holy apostles, who traversed the whole world, and called the nations to the knowledge of Him in truth, with their lofty and divine preaching. And again, "And to those that want understanding she said"-that is, to those who have not yet obtained the power of the Holy Ghost.
Bede · AD 735 Whoever is simple, let him come to me, etc. He calls the humble the simple; he calls the foolish those who have no arrogance of worldly wisdom. But he calls such to make them wise and noble by his teaching.
5 Come ye, ete ye my breed; and drynke ye the wiyn, which Y haue medlid to you.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 "Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled for you;" by which is meant, that He gave His divine flesh and honoured blood to us, to eat and to drink it for the remission of sins.
Didymus the Blind · AD 398 The same food is called "meat," "bread," "milk" and "wine." However, fools say that they take it as [simply] bread and mixed wine. But if it were really taken in that manner, how would we interpret the words: "So men ate the bread of angels"?
Bede · AD 735 Come, eat my bread, etc. In the bread, the divine words are expressed; in the mixed wine, the united nature of his divinity and humanity in one person of Christ is expressed, as was said above. Or certainly in the bread, it is shown the sacred mystery of his body, and in the mixed wine, the holy mystery of his blood, with which we are satisfied on his altar, that is, his table.
6 Forsake ye yong childhed, and lyue ye; and go ye bi the weyes of prudence.
Bede · AD 735 Forsake foolishness and live, etc. After offering the feast, he also adds the admonitions of life, so that those whom he refreshed with the mysteries of his incarnation, he may also instruct equally with the words of his teaching.
7 He that techith a scornere, doith wrong to him silf; and he that vndirnymmeth a wickid man, gendrith a wem to him silf.
Bede · AD 735 He who corrects a scoffer, etc.
8 Nile thou vndirnyme a scornere; lest he hate thee. Vndirnyme thou a wise man; and he schal loue thee.
Augustine of Hippo · AD 430 It happens regularly and it happens often that a man is cast down for a short time while he is being reproved, that he resists and fights back. But afterwards he reflects in solitude where there is no one but God and himself, and where he does not fear the displeasure of others by being corrected, but does fear the displeasure of God by refusing correction.
Bede · AD 735 Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. He speaks of a wise man who is in progress, that is, a lover of wisdom, whom he previously called a little one due to humility. For a perfect wise man does not need to be rebuked.
Bonaventure · AD 1257 "Do not rebuke a scoffer, lest he hate you: rebuke a wise man, and he will love you." It is better to be corrected by a wise man than to be deceived by the flattery of fools. A fool, when he is corrected, does not withdraw from evil nor is he led to good. He who recognizes his faults, and they displease him, is wise.
9 Yyue thou occasioun to a wise man; and wisdom schal be encreessid to hym. Teche thou a iust man; and he schal haste to take.
10 The bigynnyng of wisdom is the dreed of the Lord; and prudence is the kunnyng of seyntis.
Tertullian · AD 220 Discipline is an index to doctrine. [The heretics] say that God is not to be feared. So everything is free to them and unrestrained. But where is God not feared, except where he is not present? Where God is not present, there is no truth either; and where there is no truth, discipline like theirs is natural.
Desert Fathers · AD 500 He also said, 'The beginning and the end is the fear of the Lord. For it is written, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Ps. 111:10) and, when Abraham built an altar the Lord said to him, "Now I know that you fear God" (Gen. 22:12).'
Bonaventure · AD 1257 The fear of God avails for obtaining the illumination of divine wisdom, because "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." For the fear of the Lord is the extrinsic principle of wisdom and the intrinsic principle and the complement of wisdom; because there is servile fear, and this is the initiator of wisdom, because, just as the needle introduces the thread and does no…
11 For thi daies schulen be multiplied bi me; and yeeris of lijf schulen be encreessid to thee.
12 If thou art wijs; thou schalt be to thi silf, and to thi neiyboris. Forsothe if thou art a scornere; thou aloone schalt bere yuel.
Hippolytus of Rome · AD 235 Observe that the wise man must be useful to many; so that he who is useful only to himself cannot be wise. For great is the condemnation of wisdom if she reserves her power simply for the one possessing her. But as poison is not injurious to another body, but only to that one which takes it, so also the man who turns out wicked will injure himself, and not another.
13 A fonned womman, and ful of cry, and ful of vnleueful lustis, and that kan no thing outirli,
Bede · AD 735 A foolish woman, clamorous and full of allurements, etc. This woman is heresy, clearly opposed to wisdom, which above sang her sacraments. But she also sits at the doors of her house, that is, in the teachers of falsehood, who introduce the miserable to the innermost parts of deceit. Moreover, she claims for herself a chair of preaching.
14 sittith in the doris of hir hous, on a seete, in an hiy place of the cite;
Bede · AD 735 On a high place of the city. He speaks of wisdom as giving her voice in the high and elevated places; but she rises in the sublimity of virtues, this one elevates herself in the arrogance of pride.
15 to clepe men passinge bi the weie, and men goynge in her iournei.
Bede · AD 735 To call passersby who walk by the way, etc. Heresy often calls the Catholics to deception, seeing them proceed on the right path, wishing to quickly pass through this world and hasten to the eternal homeland.
16 Who is a litil man `of wit; bowe he to me. And sche spak to a coward,
Bede · AD 735 Whoever is simple, let him turn here, etc. Wisdom also seems to invite the little ones and the foolish to her feast with nearly the same words; but it differs, as she simply asks them to come to her, whereas this one urges them to turn aside to her.
17 Watris of thefte ben swettere, and breed hid is swettere.
Clement of Alexandria · AD 215 Scripture sets down bread and water in clear reference simply to the heresies that use bread and water in their offertory contrary to the rules of the church. There are some who actually celebrate the Eucharist with plain water. "Jump up; do not linger in her place." Scripture is using the ambiguous word place to designate the synagogue rather than the church.
Gregory the Dialogist · AD 604 What does water signify but human knowledge? This is in accord with Solomon's words implying the voice of heretics: "Stolen waters are sweeter." What does the Lamb's raw flesh indicate but his humanity that has been thoughtlessly and irreverently disregarded? Everything which we think of profoundly we cook, as it were, in our minds.
Bernard of Clairvaux · AD 1153 Having taken occasion from the difference between the image and the soul which is made to the image, I thought it worthwhile to make this excursus, so that if any perhaps have at some time drunk something from stolen waters, which seem sweeter, having taken the antidote, they may vomit it up, and with the stomach of the mind purged, approaching what remains to be said concernin…
18 And wiste not that giauntis ben there; and the gestis `of hir ben in the depthis of helle. Sotheli he that schal be applied, ether fastned, to hir; schal go doun to hellis. For whi he that goith awei fro hir; schal be saued.
Bede · AD 735 And he did not know that giants are there, etc. The adulteress does not know, the heretic does not know, that unclean spirits inhabit their houses, and those who suffer eternal punishments in the depths of hell delight in the acts of the luxurious, and in the dogmas of the heretics, as if they were lavish banquets.