Ecclesiastes 2

Judging, therefore, that it stood thus with this matter, I decided to turn to another mariner of life, and to give myself to pleasure, and to take experience of various delights. And now I learned that all such things are vain; and I put a check on laughter, when it ran on carelessly; and restrained pleasure, according to the rule of moderation, and was bitterly angry against it. And when I perceived that the soul is able to arrest the body in its disposition to intoxication and wine-bibbing, and that temperance makes lust its subject, I sought earnestly to observe what object of true worth and of real excellence is set before men, which they shall attain to in this present life. For I passed through all those other objects which are deemed worthiest, such as the erecting of lofty houses and the planting of vines, and in addition, the laying out of pleasure-grounds, and the acquisition and culture of all manner of fruit-bearing trees; and among them also large reservoirs for the reception of water were constructed, and distributed so as to secure the plentiful irrigation of the trees. And I surrounded myself also with many domestics, both man-servants and maid-servants; and some of them I procured from abroad, and others I possessed and employed as born in my own house. And herds of four-fooled creatures, as well of cattle as of sheep, more numerous than any of those of old acquired, were made my property. And treasures of gold and silver flowed in upon me; and I made the kings of all nations my dependants and tributaries. And very many choirs of male and female singers were trained to yield me pleasure by the practice of all-harmonious song. And I had banquetings; and for the service of this part of my pleasure, I got me select cup-bearers of both sexes beyond my reckoning—so far did I surpass in these things those who reigned before me in Jerusalem. And thus it happened that the interests of wisdom declined with me, while the claims of evil appetency increased. For when I yielded myself to every allurement of the eyes, and to the violent passions of the heart, that make their attack from all quarters, and surrendered myself to the hopes held out by pleasures, I also made my will the bond-slave of all miserable delights. For thus my judgment was brought to such a wretched pass, that I thought these things good, and that it was proper for me to engage in them. At length, awaking and recovering my sight, I perceived that the things I had in hand were l altogether sinful and very evil, and the deeds of a spirit not good. For now none of all the objects of men's choice seems to me worthy of approval, or greatly to be desired by a just mind. Wherefore, having pondered at once the advantages of wisdom and the ills of folly, I should with reason admire that man greatly, who, being borne on in a thoughtless course, and afterwards arresting himself, should return to right and duty. For wisdom and folly, are widely separated, and they are as different from each other as day is from night. He, therefore, who makes choice of virtue, is like one who sees all things plainly, and looks upward, and who holds his ways in the time of clearest light. But he, on the other hand, who has involved himself in wickedness, is like a man who wanders helplessly about in a moonless night, as one who is blind, and deprived of the sight of things by his darkness. And when I considered the end of each of these modes of life, I found there was no profit in the latter; and by setting myself to be the companion of the foolish, I saw that I should receive the wages of folly. For what advantage is there in those thoughts, or what profit is there in the multitude of words, where the streams of foolish speaking are flowing, as it were, from the fountain of folly? Moreover, there is nothing common to the wise man and to the fool, neither as regards the memory of men, nor as regards the recompense of God. And as to all the affairs of men, when they are yet apparently but beginning to be, the end at once surprises them. Yet the wise man is never partaker of the same end with the foolish. Then also did I hate all my life, that had been consumed in vanities, and which I had spent with a mind engrossed in earthly anxieties. For, to speak in brief, all my affairs have been wrought by me with labour and pain, as the efforts of thoughtless impulse; and some other person, it may be a wise man or a fool, will succeed to them, I mean, the chill fruits of my toils. But when I cut myself off from these things, and cast them away, then did that real good which is set before man show itself to me—namely, the knowledge of wisdom and the possession of manly virtue. And if a man neglects these things, and is inflamed with the passion for other things, such a man makes choice of evil instead of good, and goes after what is bad instead of what is excellent, and after trouble instead of peace; for he is distracted by every manner of disturbance, and is burdened with continual anxieties night and day, with oppressive labours of body as well as with ceaseless cares of mind—his heart moving in constant agitation, by reason of the strange and senseless affairs that occupy him. For the perfect good does not consist in eating and drinking, although it is true that it is from God that their sustenance comes to men; for none of those things which are given for our maintenance subsist without His providence. But the good man who gets wisdom from God, gets also heavenly enjoyment; while, on the other hand, the evil man. smitten with ills divinely inflicted, and afflicted with the disease of lust, toils to amass much, and is quick to put him to shame who is honoured by God in presence of the Lord of all, proffering useless gifts, and making things deceitful and vain the pursuits of his own miserable soul.

He condemns pleasures as futile. For he says, “I said in my heart, Come hither, I will test you in merriment, and also in good, and this too is futility.” For he did not give himself to this kind of experience straight away or slide into partaking of pleasures without having tasted the austere and more devout life. Rather, after training himself with these things and achieving in his character the severity and determination through which the lessons of wisdom come most readily to those who pursue them, he then descends to things considered agreeable to the senses. [He does this] not because he is drawn down to them by passion but in order to investigate whether the sensual experience of them makes any contribution to the knowledge of true Good. That is why he makes his own what he had originally regarded as alien, laughter, and calls the condition dizziness, in that it is equivalent in meaning to “frenzy” or “madness”; for what else would anyone properly call laughter? It is neither speech nor activity directed to any end but an unseemly loss of bodily control.

When a person has attained this knowledge, he condemns pleasure as vanity. Ecclesiastes next states “I said in my heart, ‘Come now, I will prove you with mirth, and behold, you have good things, and behold, this also is vanity.’ ” He does not immediately submit himself to such an experience nor has he tasted a more severe, solemn life to obliterate pleasure; rather, Ecclesiastes experienced such things and pursued a sober, constant course of action which yields wisdom for those who pursue it. Ecclesiastes shrinks away from sense delights because passion does not attract him to these vanities; he believes that knowledge of the true good confers perception to anyone faithful to it. From the beginning the enemy indulges in laughter and mirth and calls passion anything mad or deranged. Anything else is rightly called laughter for it is irrational and has no purpose such as merriment which is unbecoming to the body such as agitated breathing, commotion of one’s entire body, facial contortions, bearing of teeth, gums and palate, twisting of neck and the uncontrollable breaking of a strained voice accompanied by short breaths of air. What can this be except madness?

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 2

"I said to myself: Come, I will experiment with joy and enjoy pleasure. That, too, turned out to be futile." After I detected that pain and labour were in the essence of wisdom and the accumulation of knowledge, and nothing else except vain and endless struggle, I felt joyful that I would overflow with excess, accrue riches, amass great wealth, and take temporary pleasures before I die. But even in this I saw my vanity, for past pleasures do not help the present, and do not fill up what is empty. It is not just the pleasures of the flesh however, but also spiritual joys that are a temptation for one who possesses them. Hence I desired greatly, because I had been grabbed by this incentive and the angel of Satan too, who had knocked me down with such force that I could not recover. Solomon says about this "Don't give me riches and poverty" [II Cor. 12, 7], and immediately writes underneath "lest I be full and a liar" [Prov. 30, 8.], and lest I should ask, "who is looking at me?" [Prov. 30, 9.], for the devil strikes down in abundance righteous men. In the apostles it is also written, "lest enraptured by his pride, he should fall into the judgement of the devil " [I Tim. 3, 6.], that is 'into such a judgement, as the Devil himself falls ". But having said this, spiritual joy, just as the other kinds, is claimed to be vanity, because we see it through a mirror and in mystery. But when it has been seen for what it is, then it is called vanity for no reason, but rather truth.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Those who live under discipline should avoid very carefully even such intemperate action as is commonly regarded lightly. Indulging in unrestrained and immoderate laughter is a sign of intemperance, of a want of control over one’s emotions, and of failure to repress the soul’s frivolity by a stern use of reason. It is not unbecoming, however, to give evidence of merriment of soul by a cheerful smile, if only to illustrate that which is written: “A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance,” but raucous laughter and uncontrollable shaking of the body are not indicative of a well-regulated soul, or of personal dignity, or self-mastery. This kind of laughter Ecclesiastes also reprehends as especially subversive of firmness of soul in the words: “Laughter I counted error,” and again, “As the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of fools.” Moreover, the Lord appears to have experienced those emotions that are of necessity associated with the body, as well as those that betoken virtue, as, for example, weariness and compassion for the afflicted; but, so far as we know from the story of the gospel, he never laughed. On the contrary, he even pronounced those unhappy who are given to laughter.

The Long Rules 17

"I said of laughter, It is madness! And of joy, What does it accomplish?" Wherever we read "madness" the Hebrew text has "molal", which Aquila took to be "planesin", that is 'delusion' [Hier.. "error"], Symmachus has "thorubon", 'commotions' [Hier.. "tumultus".]. But the Septuagint and Theodotion as in many places, so too in this, also agree and translate it as "periphoran", which we, expressing word for word, can call 'revolution'. [Hier.. "circumlationem".] Those men therefore, who are carried around on the 'breeze' of all doctrines, are unstable and fluctuate between interpretations. Thus those who guffaw with that laugh, which the Lord says must be muted in holy weeping, are seized by the delusion of time and its whirlwind, not understanding the disaster that their sins will cause, nor bewailing their former faults, but thinking that brief joys are going to be perpetual. Then they exult in these, which are more worthy of lamentation than joy. Heretics also believe this, who agree with false doctrines and promise themselves happiness and prosperity.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

Let your rejoicing of the heart in God be calm and moderate, in accordance with the words of the apostle: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice.” In another place, he says, “The fruit of the spirit is joy.” Such happiness does not disturb the mind with the base act of laughter but lifts the soul to the place of rest that is above where you can hear “Enter into the joy of your master.” One can usually tell what is in a nun’s heart by her laughter. A nun would not laugh impudently if her heart were pure. A man’s face is the mirror of his heart: a nun does not laugh wantonly unless she is wanton in her heart. “Out of the abundance of the heart,” says the Lord, “the mouth speaks”;9 likewise, the face of a nun laughs from the abundance of a vain heart. See what is written about this: “Of laughter I said: ‘Mad!’ and of mirth: ‘What good does this do?’ ” And again, in the same place: “Let laughter be mingled with sadness, and the end of joy may be sorrow.” And the Lord says, “Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” And the apostle spoke the truth to those insanely joyful: “Let your laughter be turned into mourning.” Flee laughter, therefore, sister, as a sin and change temporal joy into mourning, that you may be blessed if you grieve that you are a sojourner in the world; for those who mourn, according to God, are blessed and shall be comforted.

The Training of Nuns 21

But I, he says, sought the true good, which is equally good at any age and every time of life, and of which satiety is not expected or fullness found. Appetite for it and partaking of it are exactly matched, and longing flourishes together with enjoyment and is not limited by the attainment of what is desired. The more it delights in the good, the more desire flames up with delight; the delight matches the desire, and at each stage of life it is always a lovely thing to those who partake of it. Amid the changes of age and time the good alters not at all; when our eyes are closed and when they are open, when we are happy and when we are sorrowful, by day and by night, on land and on the sea, active and at rest, ruling and serving—for every person alive [the good] is equally absolutely good, since the accidents inflicted on one by chance make it neither worse nor better, nor smaller nor larger. This, as I understand it, is the good that truly is, the thing Solomon sought to see, which people will do under the sun throughout all the number of the days of their life. This seems to me to be none other than the work of faith, the performance of which is common to all, available on equal terms to those who wish for it, lasting in full strength continuously throughout life. This is the good work, which I pray may be done in us too, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever.

“I,” however, said Ecclesiastes, “have sought the good proper to youth and every other stage of life. We are never satiated; rather, appetite is common to us all while passion flowers with enjoyment and is not circumscribed by the attainment of its desire.” But inasmuch as we perceive the good in pleasure, any delight sets desire aflame, for pleasure is united to desire and is always attractive to each stage of our growth. Neither is the good associated with instability; it provides instruction and is a model in both prosperous and calamitous situations whether they occur at night or day, travelling, on the sea, at work or rest, ruling or serving or in any of life’s circumstances. Neither does the good suffer diminution or grown in anything which may befall us whether it happens to be harmful or beneficial. In my opinion this is the true good which Solomon seeks and which men do under the sun while they are alive. For me it is nothing more than the work of faith common to all men who wish to have it abide throughout their entire lives. This is the good work done in us in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 2

"I thought to stimulate my body with wine while my heart is involved with wisdom, and to grasp folly, until I can discern which is best for mankind to do under the heavens during the brief span of their lives. " I wanted to stimulate my life with enjoyment, and to lull my body, as if freed from all worries by wine, in the same way with desire; but my deep consideration and inborn reasoning, which God the creator mingled even into my sins, drew me away from the idea and led me back to seek wisdom and to spurn foolishness, so that I was able to see what was good, that men can do in the span of their lives. But he has compared desire eloquently with intoxication. Since he intoxicates and destroys the vitality of his spirit, which he was able to change into wisdom and obtains spiritual happiness, (as it is written in certain manuscripts), he is able to discern which things ought to be sought out in this life, and which avoided.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

It is not the acuity of the mind but rather the disposition of the soul, being employed beneficially or shamefully in making use of the gift, which is to be praised or condemned.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:3

The confession about planting vines encompasses a great catalogue of effects on the person. The text includes in its meaning the full extent and nature of the effects caused by wine. Who in the world does not know that once wine immoderately exceeds what is necessary, it is tinder for licentiousness, the means to selfindulgence, injury to youth, deformity to age, dishonor for women, a poison inducing madness, sustenance for insanity, destruction to the soul, death to the understanding, estrangement from virtue? From it comes unjustified mirth, lamentation without reason, senseless tears, unfounded boasting, shameless lying, craving for the unreal, expectation of the impracticable, monstrous threats, groundless fear, unawareness of what is really to be feared, unreasonable jealousy, excessive bonhomie, the promise of impossible things—not to mention the unseemly nodding of the head, the shaky, topheavy gait, the indecency due to immoderate intake, uncontrolled movement of the limbs, the bending of the neck which can no longer support itself on the shoulders, when the flabbiness brought about by the wine relaxes the neck muscles. What caused the unlawful heinous act of incest with daughters? What distracted Lot’s mind from what was happening, when he both committed the heinous act and was ignorant of what he committed? Who invented, like a riddle, the weird names of those children? How did the mothers of the accursed progeny become the sisters of their own children? How did the boys have the same man both as father and grandfather? Who was it who muddled their identity by breaking the law? Was it not wine, exceeding moderation, which caused this unbelievable tragedy? Was it not drunkenness that shaped such a myth into history, one which surpasses real myths in its monstrosity? Homilies on Ecclesiastes

Whether [Solomon] really did these things or made the story up for our benefit, so that the argument might reach its logical conclusion, I cannot say precisely. Nevertheless he does speak of things with which nobody who was aiming at virtue would willingly be associated. However, whether it is by benevolent design that he discusses things that had not happened as if they had, and condemns them as though he had experienced them, in order that we might turn away from desire for what is condemned before the experience, or whether he deliberately lowered himself to the enjoyment of such things, so as to train his senses rigorously by using alien things, it is for each to decide freely for himself, whichever conjecture he likes to pursue. If however anyone were to say that Solomon really was involved in the practical experience of pleasures, I would agree.

But if from personal experience Ecclesiastes condemns the apparent existence [of vanity] to make us avoid a similar situation, or if he freely rejects the enjoyment coming from pleasure in order to diligently train his senses through unpleasant experiences, let us willingly pay attention to his words and draw our own conclusions. We will now respond to anyone who claims that Ecclesiastes’ experience results in pleasure. Persons who traverse the sea and explore its depths in the hope of finding pearls exert themselves in profitable labor, not in pleasure. If Solomon resembles these men and devotes himself to fishing, he becomes submerged in pleasure; he is not filled with sea salt which to me represents pleasure but seeks that which is profitable for his mind in these depths.

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 3

We correctly assume that the text [Ecclesiastes] offers further elucidation to what we have just read, that is, mental incoherence and the indignity of drunkenness. “I enlarged my work, built my houses” to which Ecclesiastes adds “I planted my vineyards.” The words “I enlarged” and what follows commonly mean abundance. The text does not mean the expansion of personal needs by the planting of vines. “I planted my vineyards,” that is, I have provided material to burn fuel through the increase of pleasures because my mind sank low just as strong drink covers the mind with earth. “I planted my vines.” I have not exercised self-control, Ecclesiastes says, like the drunken Noah because this lovely plant is both an object of pity and ridicule after it is stripped. The more well-disposed sons of Noah pitied their father’s indecency while others laughed and ridiculed him. Vineyards contain an entire list of passions which are aggravated by wine, for who does not know that an immoderate use of wine fuels undiscipline? It includes a multitude of pleasures, youthful outrage, unbecoming old age, disgrace for women, a drug for madness, insanity, obnoxiousness for the soul, death to the mind and alienation from virtue. Drunkenness produces unreasonable laughter and crying, spontaneous tears, hollow boasting, irrational fear, indifference to fear, no reason for arrogance, thoughtless generosity and the promise of unfulfilled work. We may omit further unbecoming behavior such as indecent drowsiness, drunken stupor, unsteady feet and the twisting of one’s neck which cannot remain steady. What kind of abomination makes a person commit incest with one’s daughter? How was Lot deceived to perpetrate a deed of which he was unaware? What new names were mysteriously given to those children? How did the mothers of such a polluted birth become sisters of their own children? How did a son have both a father and grandfather? Did not wine, which makes the mind irrational, cause this tragedy of disobedience? Did not inebriation form the subject of this story and its excesses contribute to the invention of fables?

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 3

If one wants to understand houses as good deeds, then every good deed is the house of its owner. Those who “hear the words of Jesus and do them” … build their foundation on a rock. Since virtue as a whole is one, one who strives after it builds one house, establishing it upon the rock, upon God’s unbreakable Word, that is, upon Christ.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 35:29

“Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity.” Hear also what the prophet says, “He heaps up riches and knows not who shall gather them.” Such is “vanity of vanities,” your splendid buildings, your vast and overflowing riches, the herds of slaves that bustle along the public square, your pomp and vainglory, your high thoughts and your ostentation. For all these are vain; they came not from the hand of God but are of our own creating. But why then are they vain? Because they have no useful end. Riches are vain when they are spent upon luxury; but they cease to be vain when they are “dispersed and given to the needy.”

Homilies on Ephesians 12

Hear what Solomon says, who knew the present world by actual experience. “I built houses, I planted vineyards, I made gardens, and orchards and pools of water. I gathered also silver and gold. I got myself men singers and women singers, and flocks and herds.” There was no one who lived in greater luxury or higher glory. There was no one so wise or so powerful, no one who saw all things so succeeding to his heart’s desire. What then? He had no enjoyment from all these things. What after all does he say of it himself? “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” Vanity not simply but superlatively. Let us believe him, and lay hold on that in which there is no vanity, in which there is truth; and what is based upon a solid rock, where there is no old age or decline but all things bloom and flourish, without decay, or waxing old, or approaching dissolution. Let us, I beseech you, love God with genuine affection, not from fear of hell but from desire of the kingdom. For what is comparable to seeing Christ? Surely nothing! What to the enjoyment of those good things? Surely nothing! Well may there be nothing [comparable]; for “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.”

Homilies on 1 Timothy 15

Serve God with tears, that you may be able to wash away your sins. I know that many mock us, saying, “Shed tears.” Therefore it is a time for tears. I know also that they are disgusted, who say, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” It is not I that say it, but he who had had the experience of all things says thus: “I built for me houses, I planted vineyards, I made me pools of water, [I had] men servants and women servants.” And what then after all these things? “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”Let us mourn therefore, beloved, let us mourn in order that we may laugh indeed, that we may rejoice indeed in the time of unmixed joy. For with this joy [here] grief is altogether mingled, and never is it possible to find it pure. But that is simple and undeceiving joy: it has nothing treacherous, nor any admixture.

On the Epistle to the Hebrews 15:9

"I acted in grand style: I built myself houses, I planted vineyards; "and others such until the point where he says: "The wise man has his eyes in his head, whereas the fool walks in darkness. "Before I discuss each of these in turn it seems useful to me to encompass all of them in a short paragraph, and to reduce their meanings to just one explanation, so that it is easier to understand what is being said. I had all things that have been considered good through the ages. I built myself a palace on high, and covered the hills and mountains with vines. And lest anything be lacking from my excess I planted gardens and orchards of different kinds of trees, which were watered from above by water stored in pools, so that the growth was fed for longer periods with continual moisture. I also had an uncountable number of slaves, buyers and natives, and many flocks of animals, cows of course, and sheep- no king before me in Jerusalem had such a number. I also amassed a huge number of treasure houses of gold and of silver, which I obtained as gifts from various kings and as tributes from conquered races. And because of this it happened that I was prompted by having too much wealth to even more pleasures, and they called to me in choirs of music, flutes, lyres and in songs, and each sex served in entertainment. Those temptations grew in such quantity as I was lacking in wisdom. For desire had dragged me to each and every pleasure and I was being carried along unbridled and headlong, and I thought that that was the fruit of my labours, if I myself was consumed with lust and luxury. Having then at last returned to my senses, and as if waking from a deep sleep, I looked at my hands and saw that my work was full of vanity, full of squalor, and full of the character of my folly. For I found nothing to be good that was considered good in the world. Considering therefore those things which were good for wisdom and which were bad for foolishness I rushed to praise any man, who then refrained from his sins and was able to pursue true virtues. Certainly there is a great diversity between wisdom and foolishness, and virtues are as much separated from vices as day differs from night. It seems to me then that he that follows that path of wisdom always lifts his eyes to heaven and raises his face aloft, and considers those things which are above his head; but he that gives in to foolishness and vices fumbles in the darkness and flounders in his ignorance of the world. "I acted in grand style: I built houses for myself, I planted vineyards. " He, who is raised up equal to the face of God in the heavens, makes his work great; and he builds houses so that the Father and the Son will come, and will live in them. And he plants vineyards to which Jesus will tie up his ass.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

"I made for myself gardens and orchards and planted in them every kind of fruit tree. "In my treasure house are not only gold and silver dishes but even some that are made from wood and pottery. And even the gardens therefore are made on account of certain weaker and sick men, for anyone who is sick will eat vegetables. Trees are planted, not all of them fruit-bearing as we have in the Latin manuscripts, but of all fruits, that is of varied fruits and fruit-trees, because the grace of the Church is also varied. Thus one type of tree is the eye, one the hand and another the foot, and on those things which are most prized we bestow our greatest glory. And amongst those fruit-trees I esteem the wood itself to be primal in life because it is wisdom, for unless that is planted in their midst the other trees will dry up.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

With reference to the natural sense, you find it said in Ecclesiastes, “I made for myself pools of water to water from them a flourishing woodland.” And do not be concerned that he said “pools” instead of “a well,” because Moses said “the Well of Room-enough.” For the man who has transcended this world with a pious mind is freed of all care and anxieties. There Ecclesiastes says “pools” with reason, for he sees that there is no abundance under the sun, but if anyone wishes to abound, let him abound in Christ. There remains for us the well in the mystical sense, and we find it in the Canticle of Canticles, where the Scripture says, “the fountain of gardens, the well of living water which runs with a strong stream from Lebanon.” Indeed if you pursue the depth of the mysteries, the well appears to you to be mystical wisdom set in the deep, as it were.

On Isaac and the Soul

"I constructed pools from which to irrigate a grove of young trees. "The wood in glades and in forests, which is not fruit-bearing, are not nourished by rain from the sky, not by such rain waters but by water which is collected in pools from rivers. Even low-lying Egypt is situated low in the land like a vegetable patch, and is irrigated by waters, which come from Ethiopia. But the Promised Land which is mountainous and raised up waits for timely or late-coming rain from the sky.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

What is such a gross example of arrogance in the matters enumerated above—an opulent house, and an abundance of vines, and ripeness in vegetable plots, and collecting waters in pools and channeling them in gardens—as for a human being to think himself the master of his own kind? “I got me slaves and slave girls,” he says, and “homebred slaves were born for me.” Do you notice the enormity of the boast? This kind of language is raised up as a challenge to God. For we hear from prophecy that “all things are the slaves” of the power that transcends all. So, when someone turns the property of God into his own property and arrogates dominion to his own kind, so as to think himself the owner of men and women, what is he doing but overstepping his own nature through pride, regarding himself as something different from his subordinates?… You have forgotten the limits of your authority and that your rule is confined to control over things without reason. For it says “let them rule over” winged creatures and fishes and fourfooted things and creeping things. Why do you go beyond what is subject to you and raise yourself up against the very species that is free, counting your own kind on a level with fourfooted things and even footless things? … But by dividing the human species in two with “slavery” and “ownership” you have caused it to be enslaved to itself and to be the owner of itself.… He who knew the nature of humankind rightly said that the whole world was not worth giving in exchange for a human soul. Whenever a human being is for sale, therefore, nothing less than the owner of the earth is led into the sale room. Presumably, then, the property belonging to him is up for auction too. That means the earth, the islands, the sea, and all that is in them. What will the buyer pay, and what will the vendor accept, considering how much property is entailed in the deal?… In what respect have you something extra, tell me, that you who are human think yourself the master of a humble being, and say, “I got me slaves and slave girls,” like herds of goats or pigs. For when he said, “I got me slaves and slave girls,” he added that abundance in flocks of sheep and cattle came to him. For he says, “and much property in cattle and sheep became mine,” as though both cattle and slaves were subject to his authority to an equal degree.

Among those things he includes is an expensive home, many vineyards, beautiful gardens, pools and orchards, do we find a person who regards himself as lord over his fellow man? “I obtained servants, maidens, servants born to me in my house.” Do you see here a pride which makes false pretensions? Such words as these rise up against God. As prophecy has told us, all things serve [God] whose power is over them. As for the person who appropriates to himself what belongs to God and attributes to himself power over the human race as if he were its lord, what other arrogant statement transgressing human nature makes this person regard himself as different from those over whom he rules?… You have forgotten the limit of your authority which consists in jurisdiction over brutish animals. Scripture says that man shall rule birds, beasts, fish, four-footed animals and reptiles. How can you transgress the servitude bestowed upon you and raise yourself against man’s freedom by stripping yourself of the servitude proper to beasts?… Man, who was created as lord over the earth, you have put under the yoke of servitude as a transgressor and rebel against the divine precept. You have forgotten the limit of your authority which consists in jurisdiction over brutish animals.… He who knows human nature says that the world is not an adequate exchange for man’s soul. When the Lord of the earth bought man, he acquired nothing more precious. He will then proclaim this surpassing possession along with the earth, island, sea and everything in them. What is the deposit God puts down? What will he receive from the contract by which he has received possession?… How can you who are equal in all things have superiority so that as man, you consider yourself as man’s ruler and say “I have servants and maidens” as if they were goats or cattle? When Ecclesiastes said that “I have servants and maidens” he also speaks of his prosperity in flocks and herds: “I also had abundant possessions of flocks and herds,” both of which were subject to his authority.

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 4

"I bought slaves, male and female, and natives too; I also owned more possessions, both cattle and sheep, than all of my predecessors in Jerusalem." If we want Ecclesiastes, as we have said before, to refer to the person of Christ here too, then we are able to say "his slaves" who have the spirit of fear in servitude and desire more spiritual things in life than they already have. But we can also call the slave-girls "hearts [Hier.. "animas"]" that till now have been bestowed upon the body and upon the earth. They surpass also those natives, who are certain of the Church, both slaves and slave-girls, about whom I have spoken. And the Lord has not yet bestowed upon them freedom or noble-birth. But there are others in the estate of Ecclesiastes like oxen and sheep, who are kept on account of work and their innocence, and who work even in the church without reason and knowledge of the Scriptures. But they have not yet attained such an understanding, that they deserve to be men and return to the appearance of their creator. If you look more diligently too, you will notice that the number is not added in the case of slaves, slave-girls and natives, but in the case of cows and sheep it is said: "I owned more possessions of cattle and sheep". There is more silver in fact in the Church than men: more sheep than slaves, slave-girls and natives. But that which is said at the end- "more than all those who were before me in Jerusalem" does not pertain to the glory of Solomon, or that he was richer than his father the King, since Saul did not rule in Jerusalem, and the city was held by the Jebusites who had themselves occupied the city at that time. Ecclesiastes however was richer at a younger age than were all men, who had preceded him as kings in Jerusalem.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

If therefore something brings no benefit to those who pursue it, whether in terms of beauty or of physical wellbeing or of the relief of pains, for what reason is it pursued? And what is the affection of those who have set their heart on the stuff, when they come to be aware of such a possession? Do they congratulate themselves because they have gained something? If someone were to ask them whether they would welcome the chance to have their nature changed into it, and themselves to become what is honored among them with such affection, would they choose the change? [Would they choose to be] transformed from humanity into gold and be proved no longer rational, intelligent or able to use the sense organs for living, but yellow and heavy and speechless, lifeless and senseless, as gold is? I do not think that even those who set their desire passionately on the stuff would choose this. If, therefore, for rightthinking people it would be a kind of curse to acquire the properties of this inanimate stuff, what is the mindless frenzy over the acquisition of things whose goal is futility, so that for this reason those who are driven mad with the desire for riches even commit murders and robbery? And not only these things, but also the pernicious idea of interest which one might call another kind of robbery or bloodshed without being far from the truth. What is the difference between getting someone else’s property by seizing it through covert housebreaking or taking possession of the goods of a passerby by murdering him and acquiring what is not one’s own by exacting interest?… If someone takes someone else’s money by force or steals it secretly, he is called a violent criminal or a burglar or something like that. But the one who advertises his felony in financial agreements, and who provides evidence of his own cruelty, and who enforces his crime by contracts, is called a philanthropist and a benefactor and a savior and all the worthiest of names. And the profit from thieving is called loot, but the person who strips his debtor naked by this kind of compulsion gives his harshness the euphemism philanthropy. This is what they call the damage done to those in distress. “I gathered for me both silver and gold.” Yes, but the reason why the one who trains humankind wisely includes this also in the lists of things confessed is that human beings may learn, from one who has formed the judgment from experience, that this is one of the things condemned as wrong, and may guard before the experience against the onslaught of evil.

What hope is there, that someone who lives amid so much gold will thereby become wise, sagacious, reflective, learned, a friend of God, prudent, pure, passionfree, detached and aloof from all that draws him toward evil? Or, alternatively, physically strong, pleasant to look at, extending life for many centuries, free from aging, disease and pain, and all the things sought for in the life of the flesh? But nobody is so absurd or so unobservant of our common humanity as to think that these things would come to human beings, if only money were poured out before everyone in vast quantities on demand. Even now one may see many of those already better endowed with much wealth living in a pitiful state of health, so that if their servants were not at hand they would not be able to go on living. If, therefore, the abundance of gold proposed in our argument offers no benefit in body or in soul, it is far more likely that when it is available on a small scale it will prove useless to those who possess it. What benefit would there be to its owner in the substance itself, which is inert to taste and smell and hearing and which feels to the touch of the same value as all its rivals? Let nobody put as an objection the food or clothing obtained by purchase with gold. For someone who buys bread or clothes with gold gets something useful in exchange for something useless and lives because he has made bread his food, not gold. But if a person gathers this stuff for himself through such transactions as these, what joy does he have of his money? What practical advice does he get from it? What training in public affairs? What prediction of the future? What comfort for the pains of the body? He gets it, he counts it, he stows it away, he stamps it with his seal, he refuses it when asked, he even swears by it when disbelieved. That is the blessedness, that is the object of endeavor, that is the benefit, that is the extent of the happiness.

What is more harmful than gold mixed with earth in those locations where the Creator had originally placed it? What is more advantageous for you than the earth’s bounty which the Creator has made? Do not fruit trees contribute to your nourishment? Then why do you violate the bounds of authority? Show what the Creator has bestowed upon you such as mining, digging, burning and gathering what you have not scattered. This is not an accusation against gathering metal from the earth to manufacture money but since the mind cannot be free of avarice, Ecclesiastes adds “The special treasures of kings and princes.” Kings gather wealth from provinces, a clear indication that they impose burdens, collect taxes and take money from their subjects. And so Ecclesiastes says that he gathers gold and silver. But whether or not this is true, I know that a great benefit lies in store for the person who collects such material possessions. Let us exchange neither a mina, drachma or talent with avaricious persons; instead, let us hasten to turn everything into gold. As soon as possible let us exchange the earth, sand, mountains plains and vales for this material. What contribution do these have for happiness? If one sees in the universe what he now beholds on a small scale, how can such wealth benefit the soul or body? How can gold make a person wise, ingenious, contemplative, skilled, dear to God, pure, lacking passion and free from evil? Or if this is not the case, what good is there in being strong in body or in seeing one’s life prolonged for many years and free from illness and harm? However, no one is so vain nor inattentive to human nature to realize that these benefits are available for men even though a great amount of money is available for everyone. We now observe many wealthy persons living pitiful lives; if it were not for people capable of healing them, they would not deem life worth living. If neither body nor soul benefits from our opinion of gold’s abundance, then how much more futile is it to prove gold’s value to persons who possess it! For what material advantage is our lack of taste, smell, hearing or the sense of touch? As for me, let no one offer food or clothing in exchange for gold. The person who gives bread or clothing for gold exchanges a benefit for something useless in order to live, whereas anyone who takes nourishing food instead of gold lives. What profit, advice, lesson, warning or consolation for bodily pains can we derive from such material aggrandizement? A greedy person counts money, stores it up, signs documents, seals them, denies requests and swears falsely to another unfaithful person. Such is his happiness, the goal of his efforts and pleasure, as long as prosperity fuels his false oaths.

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 4

Is there any beautiful object worth pursuing which brings neither health to the body nor relief to pain? And what about deceived persons who cling to gold with their whole heart even though such possessions trouble their consciences? What do they promise themselves when they have something of so great a value? If they could change gold’s substance, would they also desire to change their humanity into gold, a substance which lacks reason, intelligence and sensation as well as being pale in color, heavy, speechless and without soul and feeling? I do not think they would choose these things nor crave after gold. If people of sound mind curse the properties of inanimate nature, what insanity makes them commit murder and steal to possess such a useless object? Not only do they carry this out, but they fail to see how it differs from the fruit [tokos] of evil thoughts, robbery or murder. How does a burglar differ from other robbers when he establishes himself as lord by committing murder or when he possesses what does not belong to him through usury [tokos]?… Anyone who forcefully takes or steals provisions is a violent and rapacious person, but the person who reveals in public the injustice he committed in contracts and so bears bitter witness to the distress it caused and who acknowledges his transgression is loving, kind, a guardian and the like. Gain which results from stealing is called theft, a euphemism for the bitter deprivation of a debtor. Such miserable persons are indeed despicable: “I collected for myself both silver and gold,” but a wise person learns from what Ecclesiastes has listed and enumerated. In this way we may learn from his experience of the need to guard against evil before its assault and not to be associated with thieves and harmful beasts by taking heed of such dangers before they occur.

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 4

In many places of the divine teaching the Spirit and spiritual things are expressed by the image of gold, the spoken word and its virtue by the image of silver. “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver,” that is, his spoken word and everything which he teaches by this spoken word. In the same way the following saying is to be understood: "The promises of the Lord are promises that are pure, silver refined in a furnace on the ground.” But the spirit is gold.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 39:19

As the choir directors assign a place and a pitch to each male and female member of the choir so that a harmony of sound emerges, so those who sing to God and do so in harmony have the Savior himself as choir director. Or the [choir director could also be the] wise man, who here is Solomon, if we understand him in his role as wise man.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 41:10

"I amassed even silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and the provinces; I provided myself with various singers and musical instruments, and with every human luxury- chests and chests of them." Divine scripture always places silver and gold above speech and meaning. The dove in the sixty-seventh Psalm represents this too, which is interpreted as a spirit, and is more noticeable because of its silver wings, so that it hides the underlying significance of the pallor of gold. But he gathers the treasures of kings and of the provinces or kingdoms into the Church of believers. He refers to those kings about whom the psalmist writes "the kings of the earth were there and the chiefs gathered together" [Ps. 2, 2.]. And he refers to those kingdoms to which the Saviour orders us to raise our eyes [Cfr John 4.], since now they burn with fear. The treasures of kings can be called both the doctrines of philosophers and also secular knowledge [Cfr I Cor. 1.], which Ecclesiastes understands well: he takes hold of the wise men in their wisdom, and squanders the wisdom of the wise, and reproves the discretion of the prudent. The choirboys and girls are those who sing with vitality and with intelligence. A male singer sings like a man who is both strong and spiritual about heavenly matters. But a girl flits about the matter, which the Greeks call "hulen". Nor is she able to raise her voice loudly into the air. Therefore wherever a woman is mentioned in the Scriptures and the weaker sex, we are to translate it according to an understanding of the context. Pharaoh does not want the male children to be allowed to live for example, but only the females in this matter. [Cfr Ex. 1, 16.] And another point is that none of the saints is said to have had a daughter [Cfr Num. 26,32 ; 27, 3.], and it is only Salphaat, who died for his sins, that had all girls. Jacob is the father of one daughter amongst the twelve patriarchs, but is endangered by her. [Cfr Gen. 30, 21 ; 34.] The pleasures also of mankind over wisdom must be understood, which have many fruits and desires like paradise. We are admonished against them, saying, "take delight in the Lord and he will give you the request of your heart" [Ps. 36, 4.], and in another place, "you will drink them as the torrent of your desire". [Ps. 35, 9.] (I had wanted to shun reference to the female sex, and even now use the distinction of the male, because the Latin language does not take readily to this.) Aquila explains about the wine-pourers, male and female, in a manner very different to the fashion written here. For Solomon is not naming the sexes of man, clearly either male or female, but types of dish, and he calls them "kulikion" and "kulikia", which is written in Hebrew as "sadda "and "saddoth". Then Symmachus, who was not able to express the idea word for word, translates this in a similar way: "types of table and equipment". Therefore Solomon is believed to have had either pitchers, wine goblets, or bowls arranged in chests, and which were ornate with gold and with jewels. And he drank from a "kulikio" in one, (that is, a bowl) and from "kilikiois" in other places, which are clearly smaller dishes; and the crowd of drinkers received wine at the hands of his servants. Because we explain Ecclesiastes as being Christ, therefore wisdom, having mingled her wine (as it says in Proverbs) calls out to those who wander to come to her. [Cfr Prov. 9, 2.3.] Now we must see the body of the Lord as a very great bowl, in which is not pure divinity as there is in heaven, but there God is blended with humanity on account of us, and wisdom is then poured out by the apostles to smaller "kulikia", small goblets and bowls held by believers throughout the world.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

The wise person always finds himself “increasing” when he prospers. But in life, it is the last and the first thing to reach perfection. In Scripture it is said, “When human beings have finished, they are just beginning.” Of course, even if human beings reach the perfection possible in this life, still, as it is said, “We know only in part.” In the activity of “increasing” there is always something virtuous.… [The prophets and Moses] prophesied what Jesus would do and teach. But Jesus fulfilled the prophecy. The actualization of potentialities is always an “increase.” These prepared the way, but he has perfected the way when he declared about himself: “I am the way, the truth.” And he says to his disciples: “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.” In this you see that Jesus’ disciples had more righteousness than the previous ones.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 42:24

"Thus I grew and surpassed any of my predecessors in Jerusalem; still, my wisdom stayed with me." It seems to me that Ecclesiastes, acting grandly, agrees less with the Lord, unless by chance we adapt this to him: "He [Jesus] increased in wisdom and age and grace" [Luc. 2, 52.]. And, "on account of which God took him on high [Phil. 2, 9.]". He also says "those who were before me in Jerusalem" and is referring to those who, before he arrived, steered the congregation of holy men and the Church. If we explain the text in a spiritual way then Christ is richer than all men; and he only perceives the Synagogue better in bodily form than the Church. Therefore he wears a veil, because it was placed over the face of Moses and he let us see his face in daylight. [Cfr Ex. 34,33. ; II Cor. 3, 13.] More precisely "wisdom has stayed with me", means even in respect to the temptations of the body wisdom stayed with him. For he who receives a profit from his wisdom will not keep wisdom long, but he who does not receive a gain, nor grows through change, but always has plenty- he is able to say, "and wisdom has stayed with me".

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

In the literal sense the following is meant: If I desired something among the things in the visible world, I did not keep my eyes from them. I got everything that I longed for. John says in his letter: “The desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches comes not from the Father but from the world.” Even if they do “not come from the Father” as the gifts of grace and of the Spirit, they are nevertheless from God. Desire for visible things, however, should not be consuming but should instead be appropriate to that which is desired.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 43:23

“Heart” does not here signify the organ but reason. In a different passage [we read]: “Blessed are the pure in heart.” This means with regard to reason. And: “Listen to me, you stubborn of heart.” The heart thus understood does not need to be “kept from pleasure.” It derives pleasure from appropriate views and meditations based on knowledge. By knowledge I mean knowledge that is in accordance with God.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 44:17

As is well known, the person who toils for something in his heart suffers if he does not succeed with it. Ecclesiastes thus wants to say: I did not fail in any of the things I hoped for in my toil. Further: The person who strives for knowledge and pursues virtue “toils.” … The person who toils for the things that are useful for the soul and that adorn the inner person says about himself: “I found pleasure in all my toil.”

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 44:23

"Whatever my eyes desired I did not deny them; I did not deprive myself of any joy. Indeed my heart drew joy from all my activities, and this was my reward for all my endeavours. "The eyes of the heart and the sight of the mind desire to gaze on spiritual matters, which the sinner does not see, so forbids his heart from true happiness. Therefore Ecclesiastes gave himself completely over to this cause and balanced eternal glory lightly in an world of discord. This is our lot, and our continual reward if we work for our virtues.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

They nourish their hearts in self-indulgence who, according to the word of Ecclesiastes, do not prevent their heart from enjoying every wish and from delighting itself in the things which they have prepared. And they count it their due if they themselves make use of their own labors, having no care for the support and solace of the poor.

Commentary on the Catholic Epistles, James 5:5

People who write in water are engaged in drawing the shapes of the letters in the liquid by writing with the hand, but nothing remains of the shape of the letters, and the interest in the writing consists solely in the act of writing (for the surface of the water continually follows the hand, obliterating what is written). In the same way all enjoyable interest and activity disappears with its accomplishment. When the activity ceases the enjoyment too is wiped out, and nothing is stored up for the future, nor is any trace or remnant of happiness left to the pleasure takers when the pleasant activity passes away. This is what the text means when it says “there is no advantage under the sun” for those who labor for such things, whose end is futility.

When tracing formless letters in water, this act of writing only has existence while we perform it because our hand always follows the water’s surface and smoothes over the impressions just made. Our exertions and energy on behalf of pleasure are similar. Once the action ceases, pleasure is blotted out and nothing remains; neither do those persons who have experienced pleasure have any trace of it. Such is the meaning of Ecclesiastes’ words when he says that nothing remains under the sun for those who labor, for their end is vanity.

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 4

My hands are busy and tools fit for work. They toil and are active. And I saw that all that has been created by these visible hands and their activities, was vanity.… This kind of toil is to be rejected indeed—it is vanity. And still, most human beings act vainly. Ecclesiastes counts himself among these people; he is himself a human being. I said it already: No one who talks against wealth is heard if he is poor himself. But one who teaches this needs to have experienced all these human things himself. A teaching thus only reaches its goal and is successful if he who delivers it is acquainted with what he is rejecting. He thereby shows that he himself is able to handle them in an appropriate way.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 45:4

A person who is enlightened by the “sun of righteousness” is not “under” it but “in” it. Thus it is said in the Gospel: “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father,” not “under” the sun. If a person says about himself that he is a Christian and enlightened by the true light, by the “sun of righteousness,” and still concentrates his actions on earthly things and strives after them (and we all are for the most part like these people) this person is “under the sun.” If he is “under the sun” in this way, he has no gain. Even if he quotes much from Scripture but does not act accordingly, he has no gain.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 46:7

"Then I looked at all things that I had done and the energy I had expended in doing them. "He who does all things with diligence and wariness is able to say this. "It was clear that it was all futile and a vexation of the spirit, [and there is no profit under the sun.]" As if he considers that in comparison with other things, all things are cheap which are under the sun, and are different according to the variety of desires. "And there is no profit under the sun". Christ placed his tabernacle in the sun. So Christ will not be able to live, nor be plentiful in whoever has not yet obtained the lucidity of the sun, its regularity and constancy.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

He therefore teaches what human wisdom is, that to follow the real wisdom—which he also calls counsel, which brings about what truly is and has substance, and is not thought of as among futile things—to follow that is the sum of human wisdom. But real wisdom and counsel, on my reckoning, is none other than the Wisdom that is conceived of as before the universe. It is that wisdom by which God made all things, as the prophet says, “by wisdom you made all things” and “Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God,” by which all things came to be and were set in order.… When I saw these things, he says, and weighed, as in a balance, what is against what is not, I found that the difference between wisdom and folly was the same as one would find if light wer.e measured ag.ainst the dark. I think it is appropriate that he uses the analogy of light in the discernment of the good. Since darkness is in its own nature unreal (for if there were nothing to obstruct the sun’s rays, there would be no darkness), whereas light is of itself, perceived in its own essence, he shows by this analogy that evil does not exist by itself. [Instead evil] arises from deprivation of the good, whereas good is always as it is, stable and steadfast, and does not arise from the deprivation of anything which is prior to it. What is perceived as essentially opposed to good, is not; for what in itself is not, does not exist at all; for evil is the deprivation of being, and not something that exists. Thus the difference is the same between light and darkness and between wisdom and folly.

He teaches human wisdom, namely, the following of true wisdom and presents those things which have substance and are not subject to vanity. Indeed, this is the summit of human wisdom. In my opinion true wisdom and counsel are simply another kind of wisdom which provides for creation by which God makes all things. As the prophet says, “You have made all things in wisdom.” However, Christ is the power wisdom of God in whom all things are made and ordained. … “After I have seen these things,” Ecclesiastes says, “and judged in a scale being with non-being, I discovered the difference between wisdom and foolishness as when I had compared light with darkness. It seems to me that this example is a favorable judgment for that which is beautiful.” Because darkness has no substance while light does (if nothing obstructs the sun’s rays, we have no darkness), this example shows that evil does not exist by itself but is a deprivation of the good, while the good always remains fully itself and is not preceded by deprivation. However, anything contrary to the good lacks substance; it cannot exist by itself nor be complete because evil is a deprivation, not a substance. Therefore the difference between light and darkness, wisdom and foolishness, is similar.

Homilies on Ecclesiastes 5

" Then I turned my attention to appraising wisdom with madness and folly - for what can man who comes after the king do?" This seems to discuss heavenly matters until the place where he says, "the eyes of a wise man are in his head". I had summed up all things in one explanation, intending to show the meaning briefly, and because of that, again according to "anagoge [Allegorical interpretation bearing out a deeper sense of the Scriptures.]," I had only touched lightly on some things, but now I ought to explain in a manner similar to that in which I began. For the meaning is quite different here from the interpretation found in the Septuagint. But he says he had returned to seeking wisdom after pleasures and those desires he had condemned, in which he found more foolishness and stupidity than true and recognised knowledge. For man, he said, is not able to know so clearly and truly the wisdom of his creator and of his king, as his creator knows it himself. And so he says that those things that we know, we only think we have grasped and value more than know what is true.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

And what is the use of understanding, you will say, to the poor person? As might be expected you are ignorant; for neither does the blind person know what is the advantage of light. Listen to Solomon, saying, “As far as light excels darkness, so does wisdom excel folly.”But how shall we instruct him that is in darkness? For the love of money is darkness, permitting nothing that is to appear as it is, but otherwise. For much as one in darkness, though he should see a golden vessel, though a precious stone, though purple garments, supposes them to be nothing, for he does not see their beauty. So also he that is covetous, knows not as he ought the beauty of those things that are worthy of our care. Disperse then I pray you the mist that arises from this passion, and then will you see the nature of things. But nowhere do these things so plainly appear as in poverty, nowhere are those things so disproved which seem to be, and are not, as in self-denial.

Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew 83:3

And what is the use of understanding, thou wilt say, to the poor man? As might be expected thou art ignorant; for neither doth the blind man know what is the advantage of light. Listen to Solomon, saying, "As far as light excelleth darkness, so doth wisdom excel folly."

But how shall we instruct him that is in darkness? For the love of money is darkness, permitting nothing that is to appear as it is, but otherwise. For much as one in darkness, though he should see a golden vessel, though a precious stone, though purple garments, supposes them to be nothing, for he sees not their beauty; so also he that is in covetousness, knows not as he ought the beauty of those things that are worthy of our care. Disperse then I pray thee the mist that arises from this passion, and then wilt thou see the nature of things.

Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 83

"And I perceived that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness. "I am allowed, he says, to see through that very wisdom of mankind, which is mixed with uncertainty. Nor is it possible, he adds, for it to flow into our minds so clearly as it does into the king and our creator. I know however that the difference between wisdom and folly is great even as much as one can differentiate between day and night, between light and dark.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

And first of all, let us understand that the structure of the human body is like that of the world. Just as the sky towers over the air, the earth, and the sea, which are like certain members of the world, so too we see that the head stands out above the other parts of our body and is the most excellent of all, like the sky among the elements, like a citadel among the other fortifications of a city. In this citadel, a certain royal wisdom resides according to the prophetic saying: The eyes of the wise are in their head; this is the safest for the rest and from it strength and providence are derived for all the members.

The Six Days of Creation

If we think about “eyes” in the visible sense, then (one can say) that both the foolish and the wise have eyes in their head. The wise [person], insofar as he is wise, turns upwards to Christ, his head. Thus it is written: “Christ is the head of every man.” The head of the wise is the mind; therefore it is written: “But we have the mind of Christ.”

Commentary on Ecclesiastes 48:23

[Daniel 2:28] "But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries." Therefore it is only in vain that thou inquirest (other MSS have: "that he inquire") of men as to something which is known only to God in heaven. Also, by indirectly drawing Nebuchadnezzar away from the worship of many gods, Daniel directs him to the knowledge of the one (true) God.

"Who hath shown thee, King Nebuchadnezzar, what is going to take place (the Vulg. reads: "the things which are going to take place") in the last times." Avoiding the blemish of adulation but cleaving to the truth, he courteously suggests that it is to the king, for it was to him that God had revealed secrets concerning what was to occur in the last times. Now either these "last days" are to be reckoned from the time when the dream was revealed to Daniel until the end of the world, or else at least this inference is to be drawn, that the over-all interpretation of the dream applies to that final end when the image and statue beheld is to be ground to powder.

"Thy dream and the visions of thy head upon thy bed were as follows." He does not say, "The visions of thine eyes," lest we should think it was something physical, but rather: "of thy head." "For the eyes of a wise man are in his head" (Ecclesiastes 2:14), that is to say in the princely organ of the heart, just as we read in the Gospel: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they are ones who shall see God" (Matthew 5:8). Again: "What are ye meditating in your hearts?" (Matthew 9:4). To be sure, other authorities in treating of this chapter, conjecture that the authoritative part of the soul (to hegemonikon) lies not in the heart but, as Plato says, in the brain.

St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER TWO

"The wise man has his eyes in his head, whereas a fool walks in darkness. But I also realised that the same fate awaits them all. "Whoever attains complete wisdom and has deserved Christ to be his aim always raises his eyes to the heavens and will therefore never think about terrestrial matters. When these things are considered in this way and there is such a distinction between a wise man and a fool, one being compared with day and the other with darkness, the former raises his eyes to heaven, the latter looks on the ground. Suddenly this thought occurred to me, why both the wise man and the fool are constrained by a common mortality - why the same wounds, the same fate, the same death and equal troubles confine each one.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

15–16

"So I said to myself: the fate of the fool will befall me also; to what advantage then have I become wise? But I concluded that this, too, was vanity. For there is no comparison between the remembrance of the wise and of the fool at all, for as the succeeding days roll by, is all forgotten? How can the wise man's death be like the fool's? "I have stated that the wise man and the fool, the righteous and wicked are destined to die by the same fate and all wicked things in this world will suffer a similar fate; what profit is there for me then, that I have sought wisdom and worked more than others? On reconsidering the matter and applying myself to it diligently I saw that my opinion was unfounded. For the wise and foolish will not have similar remembrance in the future when the end of the world comes; and they will be confined for no reason by equal death because the wise man will continue to the joys of heaven and the fool to his punishment. The Septuagint translates the meaning of the Hebrew here more clearly, for it doesn't necessarily follow the Hebrew word order: "and to what purpose have I become wise?" Then I said to myself copiously, (for the fool is he, who speaks too much), 'for this is also vanity, because there is no remembrance of the wise with the fool for ever, and so on.' Since he tried to convince us that his prior thoughts were foolish, he bore witness that he had spoken foolishly, and that he had erred, and it was by doing this that he realised his folly.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

A wise person and a foolish person have nothing in common, either in terms of human remembrance or in terms of divine recompense. As for human works, the end already overtakes them all while they still seem to be beginning. But a wise person never shares the same fate as a stupid person.

Paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 2:16

Therefore incline to him of whom the psalmist says, “He has not taken his soul in vain.” To speak now of the troubles of this life, the person has taken his soul in vain who is constructing the things of the world and building the things of the body. We arise each day to eat and drink; yet no one is filled so that he does not hunger and thirst after a short time. Daily we seek profit, and to greed there is set no limit. “The eye will not be satisfied with seeing, nor the ear with hearing.” He that loves silver will not be satisfied with silver. There is no limit to toil, and there is no profit in abundance.

Death as a Good 7:28

"So I hated life, for I was depressed by all that goes on under the sun, because everything is vain and a vexation of the spirit." The world has been given over to unkindness [Cfr I John. 5, 19.] and the apostle moans about the tabernacle saying "I am a wretched man, who will free me from the body of this death?" [Rom. 7, 24.], and he hates quite rightly everything that is done under the sun. That is however only in comparison with paradise and the beatitude of that life, in which we would enjoy the fruits of wisdom and the pleasures of virtues. But now as if we are in a prison camp or cell, and with a wall of tears, we eat our bread in the sweat of our brow.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

If the whole earth is not worth the kingdom of heaven, surely he who has left a few fields leaves nothing, as it were; even if he has given up a house or much gold, he ought not to boast nor grow weary. Moreover, we should consider that if we do not relinquish these things for virtue’s sake, we leave them behind later when we die and often, as Ecclesiastes reminds us, to those to whom we do not wish to leave them. Why, then, do we not relinquish them for the sake of virtue, so that we may inherit a kingdom? LIFE OF ST.

Life of St. Anthony 17

18–19

"Thus I hated all my achievements labouring under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who succeeds me. And who knows whether he will be wise or foolish? - And he will control all my possessions which I toiled and have shown myself wise under the sun. This, too, is vanity. "He seems to be reconsidering wealth and riches, because according to the Gospel, being snatched by sudden death, we do not know with which kind of heir we die - whether he will be a fool or wise who will enjoy the fruits of our toil. This was also the case with Solomon: for he did not regard his son Roboam as similar to himself. We learn from this that a son is not worthy of his father's heredity if he is foolish. But to me studying the work it seems that he is speaking more about spiritual labour, because a wise man will work on the Scriptures for days and nights, and will compose books and will hand down his memory to his descendants, and nonetheless all this will come into the hands of fools, who repeatedly find in them the seeds of heresy, according to the perversity of their own mind, and waste other men's efforts. For if the text now refers to Ecclesiastes' personal wealth, it was necessary to say about toil and wealth: "and he will control all my possessions which I toiled and have shown myself wise under the sun." For what is wise in the pursuit of earthly riches?

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

20–23

"So I turned my heart to despair of all that I had achieved by toiling under the sun. For there is a man who laboured with wisdom, knowledge and skill, yet he must hand on his portion to one who has not toiled for it. This too is vanity and a great evil. For what has a man in return for all his toil and his stress, which he toils beneath the sun? For all his days are painful, and his business is a vexation; even at night his mind has no rest. This, too, is vanity!" Previously he has spoken about the uncertainty of an heir and not knowing whether he will be foolish or wise, the master of the works of another. But even now he seeks the same things but this time the meaning is different, because he might leave his wealth and labours perhaps to his son, to a neighbour, or someone he knows. Nevertheless it happens time and time again that one man enjoys in the work of another, and "sweet toil is to the dead while pleasures are for the living." He thinks of himself as every single one and he will see with how much toil he composes his books, how "often he turns his pen, again he will write those things which are worthy of law" [Horat. Sat. I. 10, 72/73.], and for the man who does not work he will give him his own share. For what good to the wealth of the earth, as I have said clearly, are wisdom, knowledge and virtue, in which he said he had laboured? For although he may be virtuous, wise and knowledgeable he spurns worldly things.

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

24–26

"Is it not good for man that he eats and drinks and shows his soul satisfaction in his labour? And even that, I perceived, is from the hand of God. For who should eat and who should make haste except me? To the man who pleases Him He has given wisdom, knowledge and joy; but to the sinner He has given the urge to gather and amass - that he may hand it on to one who is pleasing to God. That, too, is vanity and a vexation of the spirit." After I examined all things and saw that nothing was more unjust than one man enjoying the work of another, then this work seemed to me to be the most righteous, and like a gift of God, seeing that a man may enjoy his own labour, drinking and eating, and for a time refraining from amassed wealth. And sometimes it is a gift of God, that such a mind as is bestowed upon righteous men, that they squander those things, which they have sought with great attention and vigilance. In fact on the other hand, it is the character of the anger of God, which is set against the sinner, so he amasses wealth day and night and uses if for no purpose, then he bequeaths it to those men who are righteous in the sight of God. But, he says, looking at this more closely and noticing that all things come to a common end with death, I have judged it to be the most vain of all. These readings are very close to the text though, so that I do not seem to completely miss the plain meaning of the words, and while I follow spiritual riches, disdain the poverty of history. For what is good then, or what kind of gift of God is it, either to covet his wealth and like a man in flight gather desire prematurely, or to turn someone else's work to ones own pleasures, and then to think that this is a gift of God, if we take pleasure in others' discomfort and toil? It is good though, to take our own food and drink, which we have found by divine will, from the flesh and blood of a Lamb. For who is either able to eat or when there is need to spare in the absence of God? He warned that sacred food must not be given to the dogs [Cfr Matth. 7, 6.], and he teaches how rations ought on occasion to be given to slaves [Cfr Matth. 24, 45.], and similar to another meaning, that is we ought to eat only honey that has been found, and only as much as is needed. But God gives wisdom and knowledge and happiness to the man who is good. [Cfr Prov. 25, 16.] For unless he was good and corrected his ways beforehand by his own judgement, he will not be worthy of that wisdom, knowledge and happiness, according to that which is said in another place: "Plant for yourselves in justice, make a vintage of the fruit of life, enlighten for yourselves the light of knowledge." [Os. 10, 12. (as in LXX)] In fact, righteousness ought to be planted first, and the fruit of life must be reaped, only then, afterwards the light of knowledge will be able to appear. Therefore just as God gave the good man wisdom and other gifts, in the same way he has forsaken the sinner according to his own judgement, and made him amass riches and contrive false doctrines therefrom. When a saintly man who is pleasing to God sees these things, he understands them, since they are vain and composed of the conceit of the spirit. Nor should we admire what he has said: "he gave vexation to the sinner" and so on. For this must be seen in concordance with that meaning which I have often explained: that for this reason anxiety or vexation has been given to him, since he was a sinner, and the cause of vexation was not in God, but in himself, who had sinned previously by his own volition.

CHAPTER 3

Commentary on Ecclesiastes

We exhort, therefore, the widows and orphans to partake of those things that are bestowed upon them with all fear and all pious reverence, and to return thanks to God who gives food to the needy, and to lift up their eyes to him. For, “Which of you shall eat, or who shall drink without him? For he opens his hand and fills every living thing with his kindness: giving wheat to the young men, and wine to the maidens, and oil for the joy of the living, grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men, flesh for the wild beasts, seeds for the birds, and suitable food for all creatures.” Wherefore the Lord says, “Consider the fowls of heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns, and your Father feeds them. Are not you much better than they? Be not therefore solicitous, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? For your Father knows that you have need of all these things.” Since you therefore enjoy such a providential care from him and are partakers of the good things that are derived from him, you ought to return praise to him that receives the orphan and the widow, to Almighty God, through his beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord; through whom glory be to God in spirit and truth forever. .

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles

We exhort, therefore, the widows and orphans to partake of those things that are bestowed upon them with all fear and all pious reverence, and to return thanks to God who gives food to the needy, and to lift up their eyes to him. For, “Which of you shall eat, or who shall drink without him? For he opens his hand and fills every living thing with his kindness: giving wheat to the young men, and wine to the maidens, and oil for the joy of the living, grass for the cattle, and green herb for the service of men, flesh for the wild beasts, seeds for the birds, and suitable food for all creatures.” Wherefore the Lord says, “Consider the fowls of heaven, that they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns, and your Father feeds them. Are not you much better than they? Be not therefore solicitous, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? For your Father knows that you have need of all these things.” Since you therefore enjoy such a providential care from him and are partakers of the good things that are derived from him, you ought to return praise to him that receives the orphan and the widow, to Almighty God, through his beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord; through whom glory be to God in spirit and truth forever.

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles 4:1.5